Should Repeat Sexual Predators Be "Put to Sleep"?
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Let me get this right. Jerry Andrew Active, the 24 year old Alaskan who violently raped a toddler and killed her great-grand parents, had been let out of jail on parole only twelve hours before. He was, in fact, according to an article in USA Today: ". . . a registered sex offender convicted of breaking into a home and assaulting an 11-year-old girl four years ago." He was paroled after serving less than two years in prison, but had been returned to jail several times since for violating his parole. The Alaska Department of Corrections saw fit to let this sexual predator out on parole again. They wanted to make room in the overcrowded prison system for what -- bank robbers, muggers, drug dealers, gang members?
America needs desperately to have a national conversation on how best to protect our children from sexual predators. Arresting these people, and letting them out on parole after having served a fraction of their sentence is nonsensical. In such cases, the public's only protection is an obscure link on the Internet listing the addresses of recently released sexual predators.
I do not favor capital punishment. But if what ails adult sexual offenders is not correctable, which is the consensus in the criminal psychology community, then pedophiles should be removed from everyday society permanently. Lawyer, Andrew Vachss asserts in a recently released paper:
We don't let people who have been diagnosed with highly contagious forms of tuberculosis roam the streets, infecting people at will. Why should we do any less in order to protect our children from repeat sexual predators?
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| Andrew Active raped toddler, killed grand-parents |
America needs desperately to have a national conversation on how best to protect our children from sexual predators. Arresting these people, and letting them out on parole after having served a fraction of their sentence is nonsensical. In such cases, the public's only protection is an obscure link on the Internet listing the addresses of recently released sexual predators.
I do not favor capital punishment. But if what ails adult sexual offenders is not correctable, which is the consensus in the criminal psychology community, then pedophiles should be removed from everyday society permanently. Lawyer, Andrew Vachss asserts in a recently released paper:
A 1992 study of 767 rapists and child molesters in Minnesota found those who completed psychiatric treatment were arrested more often for new sex crimes than those who had not been treated at all. A Canadian survey that tracked released child molesters for 20 years revealed a 43-percent recidivism rate regardless of the therapy. The difference between those simply incarcerated and those subjected to a full range of treatment appears statistically negligible. And the more violent and sadistic the offense, the more likely it is to be repeated.
Another factor that thwarts rehabilitation is the need for offenders to seek higher and higher levels of stimulation. There is no observable waning of their desires over time: sexual predators do not outgrow their behavior. Thus, while most sadistic sex offenders are not first arrested for homicide, they may well try to murder someone in the future.
How to protect the innocent from adult sexual offenders in ways that harmonize with our constitutional guarantees, our collective morality and financial limitations is what this "national conversation" must be about. New York State has made a valiant attempt at keeping sexual predators off the streets, even after their prison terms are complete. But paying out $185,000 per year for each prisoner is preposterous, with hefty fees going into the pockets of psychologists who pretend to be rehabilitating these people.
We don't let people who have been diagnosed with highly contagious forms of tuberculosis roam the streets, infecting people at will. Why should we do any less in order to protect our children from repeat sexual predators?
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