Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Something Needs to be Done NOW!!!

I followed the Jessica Lundsford story and it broke my heart to find out that she was molested and murdered. All because of some burned out, looser, repeat, sex-offender. Now we have Jeseta Gage. Once again, it is a REPEAT OFFENDER!!!

I worry every day when my children leave the house. I wonder if some nutjob is going to come after one of them. D-just turned 10, K is 7, and J is 5. K, my only daughter, I worry about the most because she is entering that target age for them sick-os. She is daddy's little girl.

I don't blame Mark Lundsford asking to meet John Couey just once. That is all it would take. It would save tax-payers thousands of dollars.

Until they make kidnapping/child molestation/murder a capital offense and apply the death penalty, we need to arm us as parents with what the government has given us. The National Sex Offender Registry and your local State Sex Offender registry, mine is KY. I know this only warns us of the convicted offenders. But it is a start. I put in my zip code and found 6 in my city, 10 in one city next door (come to find out, there is one about a block from my house), and 33 in the city on the other side. I have gone through them and plan to refresh myself with them on a regular basis. I don't want any of them near my kids.

The main flaw in this system is that we can't look out for the first time offenders. That is where we as parents give our kids the knowledge. I know the simple "don't talk to strangers" sounds lame, but it is a start. "Don't take candy." "Don't get a car." My mom started something with me when I was young. It was the color code words. Ours was green-green, our eyes. We never had to use it. My parents were involved in anything I did. If they weren't coaching, they were at least there cheering, encouraging, and supporting me. I thank them for it. It has made me to be a better person and parent for it.

The problem in the Jessica case was that Couey wasn't even staying at the location he gave when he registered. We need to up the security of our children. If Martha can wear it, I think all sex offenders should wear them. They need to wear GPS devices. They can not be allowed to roam too far from home. This will cover the "I forgot" excuse. I think they need to wear them during their probation period. If they prove they can behave, then they can have it removed. But, like a said before, there is one about a block away. He can't be restricted to only his front lawn. Or could he. Would it be better if they were locked up forever or what if this was done?

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