Sex Offenders Set Up Camp

[southcitymom]

O wow I hope nobody thinks I posted the article in support of sexual predators because that certainly was not my intention. Although I do know of somebody that had gotten in trouble for going to the bathroom outdoors and because it was close to a park he was convicted and labeled a sexual predator. Each case is different but I certainly do not support real sexual predators.

I posted the article because I cant believe that our system has gotten so screwed up that it has come to this. As a Miami resident it is quite a shock to realize how screwed up our laws are. The law itself could be great but they should have looked at all the angles of it which they didn't. Again, I hope I didn't offend anybody here. I love this site and last thing I would ever want to do is to upset anybody here.

It's great that you posted this, jipc, and don't think anyone here thinks you support sexual predators. But I agree with you that it is a screwed up law leading to a screwed up result. Here in Atlanta, they recently tried to pass a law like this but, thank goodness, it was shot down.

 

[southcitymom]

Amraann,

Thank you for posting.

I agree that the law should allow for the difference of degrees of the offense. Peeing on a tree shouldn't even be lumped in with the catagory of a sex offense!! How ridiculous! I also agree with you that sex offenders and child molesters don't stop.
Southcitymom seems like a true sweetheart in all of her posts I've read. She is much more forgiving than I am. There are some criminals that probably can be , and have been rehabilitated. I've just read and seen too many reports that say sex offenders don't fit in that group. They have a sickness. One of which there seems to be no cure for.

You are absolutely right, Talisman, that many child sexual abusers re-offend. I am not a person that thinks a a person who is truly a pedophile can be cured of that orientation any more than I can be cured of my heterosexual orientation.

Situational child sexual offenders have a better chance of changing, but in order to even take a stab at that change, they need structure and stability - a place to live, a job, support in not abusing alcohol or drugs (present 99.9% of the time when someone abuses situationally). Even with these things in place - there is always a danger.

But do we really want either type of sexual offender living under a bridge - does that strike you as safe for society? If we make laws that make it impossible for these folks to live anywhere, we are setting up a powder keg situation for them to reoffend - either in the state where they live under the bridge or some other state.

If our laws say it's okay for these people to be back in society, then there needs to be somewhere in society for them to be. We are smart enough to come up with a better solution than this. That's my only point.

I'm not saying I feel sorry for these people and I don't think the article plays violins for them either. I'm saying I don't feel like this is a safe solution for the law abiding people who live in that area.

 

[Talisman]

southcitymom,

Thank you for posting.

I agree that it doesn't sound safe for society to have them living under a bridge. Personally I want to know where each and every offender is at any given time. The parts of the article I read sounded like they were playing the sympathy card for these offenders ... but I admit, it wasn't completely read.

I hope you didn't take my comment wrong about you. You do seem like a person with a much bigger and more forgiving heart than mine, that is all I meant by that. I have read many of your posts and you are always so compassionate.

Thank you southcitymom, you always add so much to any given thread you post on.

 

[southcitymom]

southcitymom,

Thank you for posting.

I agree that it doesn't sound safe for society to have them living under a bridge. Personally I want to know where each and every offender is at any given time. The parts of the article I read sounded like they were playing the sympathy card for these offenders ... but I admit, it wasn't completely read.

I hope you didn't take my comment wrong about you. You do seem like a person with a much bigger and more forgiving heart than mine, that is all I meant by that. I have read many of your posts and you are always so compassionate.

Thank you southcitymom, you always add so much to any given thread you post on.

You are very kind, Talisman. I do have a lot of compassion for human beings - probably because my own path here has been so checkered and imperfect and people have been very patient with me as I struggle to find my way!

There are certainly parts of the article that try to show these men under the bridge as human beings - the 82-year-old dirty-old man and his son, etc..etc...I think there is everything to be gained by realizing that any person - regardless of the poor choices they have made - is a human being and, in my view anyway, a brother or sister to all of us. Since we can only be as strong as our weakest links, we have to address these ills as a society.

Like you, I'd rather know these people had a bonafide address! It's not comforting to the greater welfare of society to have them living anonymously under a bridge, like rats or roaches, breeding in darkness and stealthing off to do God knows what in the night!

We can never make ourselves or our children completely safe from known or unknown offenders. There is an inherent danger in living on this planet. But if we are going to try to protect ourselves with laws, let's at least make smarter ones that could have a real impact.

This law is reactionary. It appeals to people who want to hate sex offenders and want them to be punished and made to live like insects. I understand the emotions behind those feelings. What this law does not do is keep us safer - in fact, it creates a breeding ground for more danger. I want laws that work for the greater good - not laws that "satisfy" the part of me that wants to punish the bad guys but leave me in more peril in my bed at night.

 

[Filly]

Those words from that blues tune run through my head when I look at this thread "Serves ya right to suffer". SCM, you are a very compassionate person. That speaks volumes. Usually I am as well, but I want to see even that dirty old man suffer. I so do. Can't see this working though. I also keep thinking about one of them Red Hot Chilli Peppers guys lived under a bridge. Pay me no mind. Stream of conciousness.

 

[Pandora]

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. -- A group of registered sex offenders and convicted felons who were told by the Department of Corrections to live under a bridge in Fort Lauderdale have been chased away by neighbors, police and the Department of Transportation.

On Friday night, police officers posted "No Trespassing" signs underneath the Oakland Park Boulevard Bridge over the intracoastal and told the former felons that if they didn't leave they'd be arrested. The group packed up their things and headed west.

They set up a camp on the edge of the Everglades, far away from schools, parks and civilization.


More at link:
http://www.local10.com/news/15107218/detail.html

 

[Amraann]

Good!!! I hope they all become gator food!!

Here Gator,gator, gator its lunch time!

 

[Observer]

I just hope the gators don't get a tummy ache!!!

 

[Floh]

First and foremost in this post i do not want anyone to make the mistake i have compassion for sex offenders as i most certainly do not. secondly, i do not think southcitymom is expressing compassion or forgiveness for these men, however, i believe she is pointing out the fact they are being pushed into a corner and from this corner dreadful consequences may arise. when they have nothing more to lose what's to stop them rising up as a mob en mass and taking what they want — not only reoffending sexually, but anything?

are there enough police to control a large-scale organised civil disobedience revolt? the national guard is down in numbers as many soldiers are out of the country. who will stop a rebellion?

i also believe, for example, 18 year olds who sleep with 16 year olds (with consent, even though i understand a 16 year old isn't entitled to give consent) should not be put on the sex register for life.

as for those caught pissing up a wall or tree: although objectionable in today's (or any day's) society should they really be on a life-time sex register? really?

in the end there can only be the deepest of trouble for a communty which takes any chance of rehabilitation away, IMO.

the alligators aren't going to solve the problem.

 

[pixies]

Sex offenders cannot be fixed. They cannot be helped.
I agree that an 18 year old should not be on the list if his partner was 16. Also peeing on a tree shouldn't put you on the list. That should be fixed.
The man who rapes 7 year old boys should be put to death. Not on some list that doesn't work.
Life without parole or the death penalty is the only thing that will save our children from these monsters. Parents also should be more aware of what their kids are doing and where they are and who they leave them with. But now the pervs are sneaking into our homes and stealing these kids from their beds.

I hope that if these men step anywhere near a child the parents take the law into their own hands. That is the only way to make sure these freaks do not harm any other child until our laws can be fixed to protect our kids not the scum who rapes them.

 

[Karole28]

I'm happy to hear they're all nesting together. Makes them much easier to nuke from orbit.

Seriously, where are the terrorists when you need them?

 

[stealthy]

A lot of RSOs like to say that MOST Of them are on the registry for peeing on a tree and such, but that's not the case. Here's a good wiki article which demonstrates that.

http://wikisposure.com/SOSEN

I also think that there should be some distinguishing a true sex offender from some guy who peed on a tree or an 18 yo who slept with his 16 yo GF.

I'd rather they had an address, though, for sure, so we can keep track of them. Of course, a lot of them, like the group in that article above, try very hard to circumvent the conditions of registering, but, hey, if they end up back in jail for that, I don't mind. Better that than for molesting another child.

 

[southcitymom]

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

I'm happy to hear they're all nesting together. Makes them much easier to nuke from orbit.

Seriously, where are the terrorists when you need them?

Okay - I'm not a fan of this camp thing, but that was funny!

 

[Paladin]

Geez. It seems to me they should just give these people life in prison. I don't really see any other recourse.

 

[Floh]

Geez. It seems to me they should just give these people life in prison. I don't really see any other recourse.

I wonder why they aren't given life in prison? surely the protection of children is paramount?