Also - I don't think that the media released the photo of the child playing happily at home with his family for OUR benefit so much as for the suspect's. They want him to see and know that he has done a very good thing and that the child is happy to be home, and loved.... I'd do the same thing if I were LE.
I think they are right when they say Kienan was brought back because of the plea.
I think Randall brought him back when he realized that
this little boy
did have a family who loved him, cared for him and missed him.
That even though his own family wouldn't have cared if he was abducted, this little boy had a family who did.
craftybatchy said:
Randall Hopley's life was pretty much over the moment he was born. He was intellectually disabled, functionally illiterate, and very socially awkward. His mother put him in foster care but kept all of his siblings (how is that for rejection). He did at one time have a birthmark on his forehead near the hairline which was removed surgically, leaving him with obvious scarring on the right side of his face above his cheekbone and eyebrow. He has obviously dysmorphic facial features suggestive of some sort of congenital syndrome in addition to prenatal alcohol exposure.
Is this the same mother who is doing the interviews? Or was he adopted?
http://www.calgaryherald.com/Randal...h+could+talk/5405920/story.html#ixzz1Y1wh09ki
Our views on these things are shaped by our experiences. That is why I have compassion for Randall when so many others don't.
I have seen the whole spectrum. Babies, kids and adults. Adored, loved, abused, neglected, starved, institutionalized, abandoned... all of it.
I have seen what kids like Randall can become if they are given to a loving adoptive family at birth.
I've seen what they can become when they are institutionalized... and I've seen the in-between like Randall.
When my daughter was born with Down syndrome family members reacted differently.
I had worked with kids with disabilities so I was more aware of the current reality and when I knew she was healthy, I was okay.
My Dad, was just thrilled to have a granddaughter.
My Mom, had worked in the state hospital with institutionalized adults and that was all she knew... she freaked out a little.
A family member who had aborted a child with Down syndrome that was due when my daughter was... has lost her family... attempted suicide.
Watching my daughter grow up, realizing what she is missing has haunted her. Her older children hate her for taking that away from them.
A family member who was adopting a child with Down syndrome celebrated, she was SO excited.
Another family member who institutionalized her "child" with Down syndrome when "it" was born... just won't acknowledge my daughter.
All of these people would react differently to Randall... as would people who haven't had experiences with people with disabilities.
While I agree with the gist of your post regarding the penalites that should be imposed, I think you are underestimating the effects of FAS. I think that for every FAS adult that offends, the birth mother should serve the same sentence but that's a whole other thread LOL. But here are the odds that were stacked against Hopley before he was even born.
95% will have mental health problems;
60% will have "disrupted school experience";
60% will experience trouble with the law;
55% will be confined in prison, drug or alcohol treatment centre or mental institution;
52% will exhibit inappropriate sexual behaviour.
http://www.faslink.org/fasmain.htm
Also:
On a study on male pedophiles
Additional disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorder and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome were noted in 70% of the group.
Statistically, punishments do not work with FAS. The damage is done - and as harsh as this sounds, Hopley is, I believe, incurable. Again, I am not suggesting he be given a pass, or be allowed on the streets. I just think with the whole "tougher laws" suggestions we also need to consider attacking and solving the root of the evil if we want to really start putting a stop to these people wandering the streets to protect innocent children.
I completely agree.
I also totally agree that he
doesn't just need to be released because it's not his fault.
But he also doesn't need to be released into the general population like he's Ted Bundy.
He needs to be kept where he cannot hurt children. Where he can get treatment in a contained location. The public needs to be protected.
For the rest of his natural life. We need to make that happen for those who are incurable... and make it a true lifelong sentence.
LE appears to have compassion for Randall... which tells me something... there is a reason for that. Maybe they know he doesn't have evil intentions and just has never gotten the help he needs?