A few days ago a Charlotte, NC man was charged with three counts of rape of a child under 13 and five counts of indecent liberties with a child. I am already feeling sick when I read this:
In 1997, Webber was convicted of taking indecent liberties with a child – charges stemming from a 1991 incident in Gaston County. He received a suspended sentence and probation for the crime, N.C. Department of Corrections records show. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/breaking/story/218944.html
How many times have you read about some guy getting arrested for raping a child only to learn that he has a history of committing sex crimes? How many times are we going to slap their wrists and let these guys continue preying on innocent children?
So, there is some research out there that suggests that sex abusers can stop doing it under the right conditions. This is from stopitnow.org:
With specialized treatment, a person with a history of having sexually offended who accepts full accountability for his or her crime can learn to control his or her abusive behavior. Without treatment, the sexual recidivism rate for sex offenders is 17 percent. With treatment sexual recidivism among sex offenders drops to 12 percent (Hanson, R. K., Gordon, A., Harris, J.R., Marques, J.K., Murphy, W., Quinsey, V.L., Seto, M.C. (2002) First Report of the Collaborative Outcome Data Project on the Effectiveness of Psychological Treatment for Sex Offenders. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 14(2), 169-197).
I'm not all that impressed by a 5% drop in recidivism. Still, until the criminal justice system begins treating child sexual abuse seriously enough, I am all for treatment for convicted offenders. The thing is, the justice system was created with two main goals: punishment and retribution. Only later, as jails became overcrowded and recidivism rates were tracked, was rehabilitation added as a goal. Rehabilitation is an important goal for sex offenders, given that many of them serve no jail time or will be released again into the public.
But people who prey on children should also be punished severely for their actions. The criminal justice system is the catalyst for offenders to "accept full accountability." We must not respond to sex crimes against children with a "slap on the wrist" followed by no real punishment and no rehabilitation. Local prosecutors must treat these crimes with utter seriousness, and we as citizens must protest each time we learn of a repeat offender who has gone free to torture more people.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
The PROTECT Act passes!
Many, many thanks to all of you who wrote your Senators and requested their support for children! Senate Bill 1738 passed the Senate by unanimous consent on September 25th. I am grateful that our Senators could see the importance of this bill and stop the partisan back-and-forth.
Check out protect.org for additional detailed information about the bill, including video of Congressional testimony from experts and internet trafficking victims. Click on:
Check out protect.org for additional detailed information about the bill, including video of Congressional testimony from experts and internet trafficking victims. Click on:
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Urgent Call to PROTECT Our Children
The Senate vote for the PROTECT Our Children Act is this Friday, September 26th. Please see my first post for instructions on how to encourage your Senators to do the right thing.
The economy is tanking--not helpful when it comes to passing legislation which authorizes spending. Please make children a priority, even in this economy, by supporting this legislation.
The economy is tanking--not helpful when it comes to passing legislation which authorizes spending. Please make children a priority, even in this economy, by supporting this legislation.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Arkansas Raid
Did you see the news about a child-pornography investigation and raid on the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries in Arkansas? Tony Alamo is an extremist who preaches hatred in the name of Christ and said recently that for girls having sex, "puberty is consent." News reports state that six girls have been taken into custody after the raid this past Saturday.
There are child abusers and child pornographers in every walk of life, but those who hold themselves out as speaking God's truth and who then practice such sick behaviors are especially deserving of our condemnation. They not only inflict agony and suffering on innocent children, they also spread an acceptance of their sickness. They spread hate and sin and call it God's will.
Of course, Tony Alamo is an extreme example because he leads a cult. But be vigilant, because in our culture we do accept that child abuse will happen. As much as we all shudder to think of it, we also don't seem to believe it can be eradicated. Talk to other adults about what goes on--help others understand the problem and watch for warning signs--and help support a culture which has a NO TOLERANCE policy of any kind of child abuse.
For ideas on how to begin, check out:
There are child abusers and child pornographers in every walk of life, but those who hold themselves out as speaking God's truth and who then practice such sick behaviors are especially deserving of our condemnation. They not only inflict agony and suffering on innocent children, they also spread an acceptance of their sickness. They spread hate and sin and call it God's will.
Of course, Tony Alamo is an extreme example because he leads a cult. But be vigilant, because in our culture we do accept that child abuse will happen. As much as we all shudder to think of it, we also don't seem to believe it can be eradicated. Talk to other adults about what goes on--help others understand the problem and watch for warning signs--and help support a culture which has a NO TOLERANCE policy of any kind of child abuse.
For ideas on how to begin, check out:
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Save Our Kids from Sex Predators!
Okay, so here goes, my very first blog post. I am a former child advocate and lawyer who now stays home with my son and a new baby-to-be. I have been feeling that perhaps I can do more with my time, so here is a small way I can contribute: by blogging my thoughts on child advocacy. Here's the first one:
You may have seen the Oprah show a few days ago where she highlighted the problem of child pornography and how inadequate our efforts are to stop it. This includes sexual abuse and torture of children as young as infants, which is captured on film or video and sold to other sick people, many of whom also molest children. My husband and I watched 5 minutes of the show and could not watch anymore.
But there are things we can do, and what I am asking you to do is very easy. Please, please ask your state senators to pass the PROTECT Our Children Act, which will provide necessary funding to law enforcement to find and STOP these atrocities. THIS BILL WAS ALREADY DEFEATED ONCE, this past July, and is at risk again because of partisan politics (see article below) by both Democrats and Republicans. I think we can all agree, whatever your political inclination, that our police should have the resources to protect children from crimes of sexual violence.
Please use the following format which I have copied from Oprah's website and email your senators by going to http://www.senate.gov/.
Dear Senator:
I know that you believe, like I do, that we must do everything possible to protect children from sexual predators. That is why I am asking for your help.
Last year alone, U.S. law enforcement identified over 300,000 criminals who were trafficking in movies and pictures of young children being raped and tortured. Experts say that one in every three of these criminals has local child victims. Child pornography trafficking over the Internet has given us a trail of evidence that leads straight to their doorsteps, but the vast majority of these children will never be rescued because investigators are overwhelmed, outnumbered and underfunded.
As your constituent, I urge you to do everything in your power to pass the PROTECT Our Children Act (S. 1738, Biden-Hatch). This bipartisan legislation passed the House 415-2, but it is now the victim of petty partisan politics.
Now that we know where these children are and how to protect them, there is no excuse for the Senate to fail to take action this session.
(Your name here)
If you want to know more about the Act, go to:http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20080911_tows_predators or http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.03845: and click on "CRS Summary" for a summary of the new law's provisions.
If you want to know why this Bill is at risk in the Senate, see: http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/senator-no-is-facing-his-toughest-foe-senator-o-2008-09-15.html
Finally, please pray for the innocent victims of this kind of violence. They are completely and utterly vulnerable, voiceless, and without recourse. Please ask God to intervene on their behalf and to send angels to them to protect them from further harm.
And please share this blog and the information in it with others.
You may have seen the Oprah show a few days ago where she highlighted the problem of child pornography and how inadequate our efforts are to stop it. This includes sexual abuse and torture of children as young as infants, which is captured on film or video and sold to other sick people, many of whom also molest children. My husband and I watched 5 minutes of the show and could not watch anymore.
But there are things we can do, and what I am asking you to do is very easy. Please, please ask your state senators to pass the PROTECT Our Children Act, which will provide necessary funding to law enforcement to find and STOP these atrocities. THIS BILL WAS ALREADY DEFEATED ONCE, this past July, and is at risk again because of partisan politics (see article below) by both Democrats and Republicans. I think we can all agree, whatever your political inclination, that our police should have the resources to protect children from crimes of sexual violence.
Please use the following format which I have copied from Oprah's website and email your senators by going to http://www.senate.gov/.
Dear Senator:
I know that you believe, like I do, that we must do everything possible to protect children from sexual predators. That is why I am asking for your help.
Last year alone, U.S. law enforcement identified over 300,000 criminals who were trafficking in movies and pictures of young children being raped and tortured. Experts say that one in every three of these criminals has local child victims. Child pornography trafficking over the Internet has given us a trail of evidence that leads straight to their doorsteps, but the vast majority of these children will never be rescued because investigators are overwhelmed, outnumbered and underfunded.
As your constituent, I urge you to do everything in your power to pass the PROTECT Our Children Act (S. 1738, Biden-Hatch). This bipartisan legislation passed the House 415-2, but it is now the victim of petty partisan politics.
Now that we know where these children are and how to protect them, there is no excuse for the Senate to fail to take action this session.
(Your name here)
If you want to know more about the Act, go to:http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20080911_tows_predators or http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.03845: and click on "CRS Summary" for a summary of the new law's provisions.
If you want to know why this Bill is at risk in the Senate, see: http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/senator-no-is-facing-his-toughest-foe-senator-o-2008-09-15.html
Finally, please pray for the innocent victims of this kind of violence. They are completely and utterly vulnerable, voiceless, and without recourse. Please ask God to intervene on their behalf and to send angels to them to protect them from further harm.
And please share this blog and the information in it with others.
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