Friday, April 20, 2012

The Road to Hell


          I contend that our current laws dealing with sex offenders, far from protecting our children, actually brings about what they were written to prevent.  They endanger children’s lives.
          One reason for this is that the rolls are cluttered with non-violent offenders and those not fixated on children.  All of them must be monitored, and with every state financially stretched, that means fewer people to handle an every increasing work load.  It is inevitable that some violent pedophiles will slip through.  It also makes it that much harder for the general public to determine where the real dangers lie.
          Another reason is that offenders who deeply regret their action and want very much to reform, are discouraged from doing so by these very laws.  Their chances for employment are nonexistent.  They are forced to live in areas where crime is the norm.  In every way they are indoctrinated into believing they are scum sex offenders and that that is all they will ever be.  If all hope is taken from these people, no one should be surprised at the very few who do reoffend.
          Lastly, these laws give a false sense of security.  If people check the data base and find no sex offenders living in their area they may conclude that their children are safe.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  There are plenty of child predators out there who have never been caught or have yet to claim their first victim; and the ones who are registered are not like a dangerous intersection or an open manhole—they move around.  They could be anywhere.  Ironically, the only people on the registry who care about complying with the multitude of restrictions are the ones who are law abiding and not a danger.
          I understand people’s rage and need to do something when these terrible crimes against children occur.  They feel helpless and threatened.  On a much lower level, they just plain want revenge.  But shaming and circumscribing every sex offender is only going to make things worse.  We need to concentrate all our efforts in researching what causes these people to become monsters and keeping track of those who are.
          The complete saying that gave this post its title is: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”.

No comments:

Post a Comment