Wow, I am absolutely disgusted as I sit here blogging and considering what precisely to type out. It is the things that I am most passionate about that are expressed with the utmost difficulty. Please forgive me if this blog is horribly offensive but, I am not editing my raw thoughts in this instance to save the feelings of others. In 1991, I was a freshman in high school, on the track team, involved in the Forensics Society, the Chess Club, a player in the school musical, Anything Goes. I an innocent kid, like most, I took the bus to my Catholic High school which was 45 minutes from home. In 1991, Jaycee Lee Dugard was 11 years old when she was snatched from her school bus stop right in front of her helpless stepfather, by a man and a woman, who turned out to be, Phillip Garrido, a convicted sex offender /rapist and his wife. Jaycee was held captive in his backyard for 18 years and forced the bare this criminal’s children in squalor starting at age 14.
A similar crime came to light in Austria last year where a man imprisoned his daughter for years and impregnating her seven times, but, Jaycee’s abduction and torture played out here, in the United States in California. Phillip Garrido was convicted of kidnapping and raping a 25 year old woman in 1976. He did a short stint in jail and was freed. Upon being released from prison he was out trolling for more women to abduct.
A 1997 study found that 52% of child molesters would most certainly reoffend over the course of a 25 year period. There are numerous studies and all the data shows the same thing, there is a very low rate of recidivism for these people, if they should even be identified as human beings. This beast, Phillip Garrido should not have been out of jail.
The ACLU will fight tooth and nail to defend the civil liberties of criminals. What I want to know is who is going to fight for the most innocent among us, the children? It’s great that Megan’s Law actually exists and there is now some kind of database available to make you aware where the sex offender’s live. I do not think Megan’s Law is enough. We need more to be done to protect our children.
To start with, we need to quantify who is classified as a sex offender. In certain states two teenagers of close age, one year apart having intercourse can be classified as statutory rape and the older in turn is labeled a sex offender if convicted. The term sex offender needs to be redefined.
Here comes the portion of the blog some may find offensive, I believe true child sex predators should spend life in prison; I would even go as far as to say that I am in favor of mandatory sterilization. Put these beasts on an island, keep them away from the general child filled population. Simply and plainly put something needs to be done because the status quo is not fair for the children.
When I think about little Jessica Lunsford being stolen out of her bedroom and away from the protection of her family in the middle of the night I grow sick to my stomach. If we cannot protect our children at home, where can we protect them? What John Cooey did to her over the course of a few days before burying her alive is horrific, and most certainly inhumane. I am sorry but, he forfeits all of his civil liberties, ACLU.
Our terrific Congress with their 20 percent and dwindling approval rating allowed Jessica’s Law which would have required sex offenders to wear GPS tracking bracelets five years following their release from prison, or for life if determined to be a predator, and forced states to verify address’ in their sex offender registry twice annually, allowed the bill to die. The 109th congress adjourned and felt this was not worth their time.
Most state legislatures have passed some form of Jessica’s Law to compensate for the incompetent congress. Colorado, New Jersey, Idaho, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Utah, North Carolina and New Mexico should be ashamed for failing to move toward passing some form of Jessica’s Law legislation citing it unconstitutional.
This is a travesty. Forget about unconstitutional! Where’s the justice for Mark Lunsford? Where’s the justice for Jaycee Lee Dugard? There is no justice.
Additional point, people, John Cooey’s relatives knew he was holding Jessica Lunsford prisoner for days and they allowed it to go on. In this Jaycee Lee Dugard case, neighbors of Garrido suspected something awry and chose to say nothing.
When did we become a world of drones that elect to close our eyes and our mouths saying nothing? This is atrocious. Perhaps I am overly emotional and overly involved but, I care about other people, even the one’s I do not know by name. I am concerned for my neighbor’s children if I see them playing in the street. I intervene. We should all intervene.
Over the course of the 18 years since this girl in California was taken I went through high school, college, had a career, met and married a wonderful man, and had two beautiful children. Poor Jaycee spent the last 18 years living in a shed being molested and repeatedly raped. She’s just shy of 30 now and this is what she has known of life.
So the legislators are on recess right now, hopefully this garners some of their attention, if even for a fleeting moment. Maybe one of them thinks to draft some new legislation to prevent this from occurring ever again. Someone needs to take this up as their cause and force people the pay attention.
