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With the mass paranoia about this, and the fact no one allows their kids to go outside anymore, what difference does it make? Seriously.
This has come to the point of pathetic to be so paranoid of everything and everybody for the simple reason that you fabricate most of it in your heads.
How sad it is that this country has become so paranoid and afraid. People invent problems where there are none. Give it a break.
Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
8,309 posts, read 38,789,849 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cabolissa
You can clearly see what and when they were convicted (not accused) of their crime. And how do you know they won't re-offend? As an adult survivor of molestation, I KNOW that most crimes go unreported. These are just the reported ones which resulted in a conviction. You can never be too careful with your kids. I don't care how "innocent" these criminals are now. It's something they'll just have to deal with for the REST of their lives - like their INNOCENT VICTIMS will!!! Brother!
An all too true and pertinent reminder of why community awareness is important, however, I have to agree that people become overly sensitive. I'm not talking about the guy I found on the website two neighborhoods over with three convictions for sexual indecency with a child (two five-year-old victims, one eight-year-old), I'm talking about the guy three blocks away who has to register as a sex offender for a public urination conviction at Mardi Gras Galveston when he was 22 and, to a lesser extent, the guy who pissed off his 17 year-old girlfriend's parents when he was 20.
With the mass paranoia about this, and the fact no one allows their kids to go outside anymore, what difference does it make? Seriously.
This has come to the point of pathetic to be so paranoid of everything and everybody for the simple reason that you fabricate most of it in your heads.
How sad it is that this country has become so paranoid and afraid. People invent problems where there are none. Give it a break.
And chances are that if they're getting molested it will be by a relative or family friend/acquaintance.
Here are some statistics from my good friend, Wikipedia:
Most sexual abuse offenders are acquainted with their victims; approximately 30% are relatives of the child, most often fathers, uncles or cousins; around 60% are other acquaintances such as friends of the family, babysitters, or neighbors; strangers are the offenders in approximately 10% of child sexual abuse cases.
And chances are that if they're getting molested it will be by a relative or family friend/acquaintance.
Here are some statistics from my good friend, Wikipedia:
Most sexual abuse offenders are acquainted with their victims; approximately 30% are relatives of the child, most often fathers, uncles or cousins; around 60% are other acquaintances such as friends of the family, babysitters, or neighbors; strangers are the offenders in approximately 10% of child sexual abuse cases.
With the mass paranoia about this, and the fact no one allows their kids to go outside anymore, what difference does it make? Seriously.
This has come to the point of pathetic to be so paranoid of everything and everybody for the simple reason that you fabricate most of it in your heads.
How sad it is that this country has become so paranoid and afraid. People invent problems where there are none. Give it a break.
Who's paranoid? Paranoia is a thought process characterized by excessive anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion.
This is a real concern. Not one to become anxious over, but one to be aware of, nonetheless.
Just so you know, I posted this thread for info purposes... The Watchdog exists in order to be INFORMED when purchasing a home in a new area, or keeping an eye on your present neighborhood. In order to access the database, you have to agree that the information will not be used for harassment purposes - that's illegal. For the record, and it is a valid point, I in no way condone vigilante justice, or harassment of the sex offenders. I use the database in order to stay informed.
As far as the number of innocents who are forced to register on the list, I'm not especially sympathetic. The registrants are all convicted in a court of law. Particularly when you consider that if you don't like the "sympathetic" jury system, you can always choose to have your case adjudicated by a judge instead.
Oh yeah, I'm sure they'd rather be judged by the former prosecutors who now reside on the bench.
Sorry if you don't agree, but molestation is now the de facto allegation against anyone if you want to get them in trouble. It's almost impossible to prove, which is why the police department often has the guilty on tape because they'll have the alleged victims call the guy and try to get him to admit what they did without telling them they're being recorded. The probem with these cases is it's he said-she said unless they're caught on tape or video or the DA's office has some sort of corroborating evidence. It's way too subjective when you're talking about people who may very well be harassed for the rest of their lives because they're on some list when in reality any kid is much more likely to be molested by someone they know. Maybe parents should be less concerned with total strangers and more concerned with the people they currently have in their lives.
As for why I was speaking to harassment, I'd been in a conversation earlier in the day about the News of the World in the U.K. and we were talking about when they went on some anti-pedophilia kick, putting sex offenders' pictures in the paper. This led to vigilante action and many mistaken identities to the point that a woman pediatrician's house was attacked and vandalized by a mob whipped into a frenzy by grossly irresponsible journalism. This thread was similar (not in a grossly irresponsible way, but it was talking about sex offenders which reminded me of my earlier conversation) so I figured that I'd just point out that we don't always know the circumstances. And despite your protestations to the contrary, I looked up sex offenders near my dormitory and out of the more than 100 in the city, I looked at about 50 profiles and I'd say that maybe only 5 of those had the victims' age or the molesters' age at the time of conviction.
Oh yeah, I'm sure they'd rather be judged by the former prosecutors who now reside on the bench.
Sorry if you don't agree, but molestation is now the de facto allegation against anyone if you want to get them in trouble. It's almost impossible to prove, which is why the police department often has the guilty on tape because they'll have the alleged victims call the guy and try to get him to admit what they did without telling them they're being recorded. The probem with these cases is it's he said-she said unless they're caught on tape or video or the DA's office has some sort of corroborating evidence. It's way too subjective when you're talking about people who may very well be harassed for the rest of their lives because they're on some list when in reality any kid is much more likely to be molested by someone they know. Maybe parents should be less concerned with total strangers and more concerned with the people they currently have in their lives.
As for why I was speaking to harassment, I'd been in a conversation earlier in the day about the News of the World in the U.K. and we were talking about when they went on some anti-pedophilia kick, putting sex offenders' pictures in the paper. This led to vigilante action and many mistaken identities to the point that a woman pediatrician's house was attacked and vandalized by a mob whipped into a frenzy by grossly irresponsible journalism. This thread was similar so I figured that I'd just point out that we don't always know the circumstances. And despite your protestations to the contrary, I looked up sex offenders near my dormitory and out of the more than 100 in the city, I looked at about 50 profiles and I'd say that maybe only 5 of those had the victims' age or the molesters' age at the time of conviction.
You obviously know someone who's been wrongly accused and now have taken up this cause. I'm not interested in engaging in this argument further, I wanted to post the information for interested parents. Feel free to start a thread of your own which discusses how horrible you feel our legal system is.
You obviously know someone who's been wrongly accused and now have taken up this cause. I'm not interested in engaging in this argument further, I wanted to post the information for interested parents. Feel free to start a thread of your own which discusses how horrible you feel our legal system is.
Assumptions are great, aren't they?
No, I'm not friends with any of the "falsely accused" but my dad is a defense attorney and I do get to hear a lot more about the case than what is printed in the paper since I work in his office. I get to see the transcripts and I get to hear the back stories for most of these people. I didn't think it was really an argument, I was just pointing out that the justice system isn't infallible, especially when it comes to hearsay. And, if you'll recall, I did mention that the site itself wasn't a bad idea and I was focused more on the actions of the people who use it. And, to tackle the other assumption, I don't think the legal system is horrible. I feel that it's not completely balanced at present and the prosecution is given too many advantages and isn't always expected to meet the burden of proof, but I don't think it's bad. And never forget, when you assume, you make an ass out of u and me (I'm guilty of it myself on occasion).
No, I'm not friends with any of the "falsely accused" but my dad is a defense attorney and I do get to hear a lot more about the case than what is printed in the paper since I work in his office. I get to see the transcripts and I get to hear the back stories for most of these people. I didn't think it was really an argument, I was just pointing out that the justice system isn't infallible, especially when it comes to hearsay. And, if you'll recall, I did mention that the site itself wasn't a bad idea and I was focused more on the actions of the people who use it. And, to tackle the other assumption, I don't think the legal system is horrible. I feel that it's not completely balanced at present and the prosecution is given too many advantages and isn't always expected to meet the burden of proof, but I don't think it's bad. And never forget, when you assume, you make an ass out of u and me (I'm guilty of it myself on occasion).
Well, let's see. What was it that you said in your PM to me? That you wanted to find a forum to discuss how hard it is for some people who need to register, even if they were convicted on an accusation of some sort?
As for your opinion on the legal system: my assumption is based on your bashing of the "sympathetic juries" who are partial to the accuser's stories, and then your dismissal of a adjudication based on your ASSUMPTION that all judges are former-prosecutors (and therefore also impartial)...
Since your dad is a defense attorney, and you work in his law office, you are familiar with the legal process. It sure sounds like you have a lot of excuses (partial juries, partial judges, imbalanced advantages to the prosecution, improper hearsay evidence)...
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