Recently in the news there was a story about an abducted little boy by a registered sex offender. Luckily, the little guy was returned to his home, in the middle of the night, by the same person that supposedly took him. The little boy's home was empty, his doors unlocked, and the person slipped right past road blocks to put him back home.
People have criticized the police in this story, wondering how the little boy was returned to his home in the middle of the night, undetected? I feel like shaking them and saying, "Do you think the house was empty by mistake? Do you really think that the house was unlocked by mistake? Would you rather the little boy be safe at home, or still lost to society with a known sex offender?" If it was my child, I would have readily vacated my house and paid for my street to be vacated if it meant my little person would be returned home.
I don't think it was by fluke that the house was open and empty, nor that the person was able to come into town undetected (supposedly) by law enforcement to return the little dude. I wholeheartedly agree with the parents that in this case, our justice system failed our society, not that the police or the amber alert system failed society.
I'm watching the news last night and see a story about the Tories tough on crime bill and how they are planning to pass that bill. I hear the critics of the bill say that it's going to be tougher on the kids growing pot in the basement than it will to catch the big dealers. They say that it's going to do nothing for us right now because crime is at an all time low in the country, and that they "know" that deterrents don't work.
But included in that plan is a plan to get tough on sex offenders. I think that it's long overdue. I think it's a shame that people can commit crimes against children and get no more than five years - even after multiple offences.
Before you start to criticize me, let me explain. I would LOVE to support programs that would help kids get out of gangs and get out of the drug trade. I would LOVE to support programs that would encourage all inmates to get an education and be able to be fully functioning members of society - even if it meant providing rehab for some of their families - especially when they are coming from a background where there may be a lot of substance abuse etc. I think that every person in society is worth saving, and I would love to see more programs that help people do just that - rehab those who need help, those that commit the crimes, their families that may be suffering because of that crime that was committed, and families that are suffering from the effects of drug and alcohol abuse.
I also believe in trying to rehabilitate sex offenders because I am smart enough to know that not all sex offenders are those that rape children. There are those people that have been convicted of statutory rape because that's the law, not necessarily because they were being a predator. But rules are rules. If you truly love someone, you will wait for them and provide them the space that they need to experience their own life before you try and meld them into yours. I know that there are parents out there trying to save their children from people that they feel are "too old" for them. I know that some of these sex offenders are not the monsters of whom I am thinking of.
But I would like to see the laws changed for those sex offenders who have committed multiple offences against children. I would like to see the "dangerous offender" status applied to those who have committed these multiple offences and who have shown society that they are not interested in changing, and nor do they want to change. I think it is an atrocity that we would force our children to endure further hardship by forcing them to testify at a dangerous offender hearing against someone that just stole them.
But the reality is that society as a whole will not encourage more rehabilitation programs until the current system is taxed to the point of no return. We have to change society's moral values to rehab in order to alleviate some of the stress on the jail system. It might cost us just as much because in order to fix the squeaky wheel, we also need to see the wagon that is sitting on it. We might be faced in trying to help a family break the cycle of violence or abuse in order to give that inmate a safe place to return to.
The change starts with us first, and until we truly believe that society is worth changing, our inmates won't change either.
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