Mentally Ill? Maybe. Still Culpable? Definitely.

Another previously convicted sex offender in Charlotte has been arrested for raping a child. Marcus Kennedy was picked up yesterday for raping a 12-year-old girl in the bushes near her school bus stop. He was arrested due to the good work of some witnesses who chased him down and handed him over to police. Some in this community are calling out for justice, mostly against the judges and lawyers who allowed Kennedy to be on the street despite 30 prior arrests.

Today we are learning more about the man charged, including a troubled past and mental health diagnoses of Schizoaffective disorder and substance abuse. His troubled history goes all the way back to being homeless at age 5 before an aunt took him in. It is deeply troubling that terms of probation forcing mental health treatment were never enforced. And it is not just the adult system which is at fault--a long arrest record starting at age 16 hints that there may have been a juvenile record as well, although the public cannot know for sure.

Sure, his mental illness may be a mitigating factor in how the legal system reacts to this most recent and most heinous of crimes. And, having worked with many troubled youth myself, I have deep sympathy for mentally ill children who grow up without treatment and become mentally ill adults. But does any of this change his responsibility for raping a 12-year-old? Or the threat he poses to the rest of our children?

In a legal sense, his mental illness may mean he can't be convicted, although that outcome is highly unlikely. But even if he is unfit for trial or unable to hold the requisite intent needed for a guilty verdict, he should be locked up permanently. Can we ever trust a person like this to be walking around our streets again? Can we ever trust a failing mental health system and an overtaxed legal system to provide appropriate treatment and supervision? The answer, for now, is no. Kennedy, mentally ill though he may be, is also too much of a threat to be allowed among us.

If we want to solve this problem, we can't start with a 28-year old man with over 50 criminal charges on his record. We've got to start with the children who are currently suffering mental illness, homelessness, and abuse of all kinds. In very short order these needy children will grow up to be tomorrow's Marcus Kennedy. Advocate for better funding for the mental health system as well as prosecutors in our communities. Contact your local child advocacy organizations to see how you can help save a child's life now.