|
|
Undoubtedly for some, and certainly for this writer, those who kill or bring physical pain to sex offenders is a hero. Stephen Marshall of Nova Scotia, Canada, may fit the role of such heroic efforts after police linked Marshall with the deaths of two men listed on the sex offender registry in the state of Maine.
According to police reports, Marshall searched 34 sex offenders across the state of Maine, hunted down, and shot offenders Joseph Gray, 57, and William Elliot, 24, on April 16 at the men's homes in the northern part of the state.
Eyewitness News, channel 3, in Maine quoted one sex offender after the murders as saying, "It is target practice and we're the target..." and social worker Scott Efland (who treats sex offenders) told the broadcast that the pedophiles are "very afraid."
What a shame that sex offenders aren't as afraid of the boys they pick.
Unfortunately, police may never know for certain what was behind 20-year-old Marshall's killing spree of two sex offenders -- however, it doesn't take a public investigation to know why.
Men in-the-know can smile a little for our unspoken hero who was brave enough to kill the true enemy: Pedophiles. Marshall however took his own life after police in Boston caught up with him on a bus.
How is Marshall described by co-workers? Marshall had no previous run-in with the law, and coworkers described the young man as kind and gentle. Pedophiles love kind and gentle boys...because they are least likely of the two genders to ever report what men will do. Marshall's own childhood perpetrator, most certainly, is breathing a sigh of relief that his victim took his own life first.
The net result now is to debate whether or not public sex offenders database should be available online, which the state of Vermont takes-up for approval this week.
Why not keep the rules simple? If a man (or woman) engages in any sexual activity with a boy (or girl) the pedophile's name, address, photograph, and place of employment should be public knowledge and available for all to read online.
As for you...pedophile, you should be afraid. While you might think it takes courage to undress and play with a boy for your pleasure...it takes the extreme of masculine bravery for that boy to hunt you down and seek revenge. You alone create that fate with your hands in the boy's crotch.
Thank you very much Stephen Marshall. You brought to life the fantasy of many male victims. May you rest in peace.
Visit the United States Department of Justice's sex offender public registry.
Read other stories on male sexual abuse on Think & Ask:
However, one reader from Oklahoma submitted her comments on this subject, which we agreed to print (nearly) in its original form.
G. Hughes
With that said, the person who wrote this opinion has some personal issues to say the least. Not only that, but he or she certainly did not research the facts before forming an opinion. This opinion is the result of pure and unadulterated ignorance. I cannot imagine why...you would post such useless drivel.
First of all, the 24-year old offender (William Elliot) was on the registry because of a consensual sexual relationship that he had with a young woman days shy of her 16th birthday when he was 19-years-old. Unfortunately he was one of the thousands on registries for statutory crimes. He didn't molest children; he didn't commit a violent, predatory crime. So how is his death justified?
Second of all, out of almost 600,000 registered sex offenders nationwide, only about 21,000 are deemed predatory. Sex offenders have the second-lowest rate of recidivism when compared to other classes of crime -- second to murderers. But don't take my word for it, check out the DOJ's study on the recidivism of sex offenders released in 2003. (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/rsorp94.pdf) They certainly don't have anything to gain by printing false information.
One reason for this low rate of recidivism is because of the sheer volume of individuals convicted of so-called "sex crimes," everything from urinating on a tree to --as your author so eloquently put it— 'play[ing] with a boy.' As a society, we have lumped all sex offenders together and use the terms 'predator' and 'offender' interchangeably.
The result? We have unwittingly created a false sense of security among the public. We have created an environment where parents are secure in the knowledge that their children can go out and play with as little supervision from them as possible. They are safe in the knowledge that Big Brother is watching all those bad guys who harm kids.
Forget the fact that little Johnny has a better chance of being molested by Pastor Bill, Uncle Joe, or dad for that matter, than he has of being snatched by a tree-jumping pedophile.
The fact of the matter is that Stephen Marshall of Nova Scotia was a sociopath, not a hero. Your author, and those who think like he or she does, might as well bow to the memory of Adolph Hitler, kiss our Constitution and Bill of Rights goodbye, and blow up the Statue of Liberty while they're at it.
Get a grip, OFFENDERS aren't the problem -- PREDATORS are. Learn the difference. Think and Ask!"
---Reader's Comments---
Think & Ask received numerous e-mails on this opinion story, which (apparently) upset some male readers who enjoy sexual relationships with boys...however, while we do sometimes run anonymous comments to protect the identity of the reader the publisher refused to use anonymous comments on this piece. None of the two-dozen 'men' who wrote in support of men-to-boy or girl sexual relationships wanted their names or locations used as reader comments.
Tulsa, OK
"...The name of the website, thinkandask.com, and its content suggests that you promote the conscious effort of people to think about current events and ask relevant questions rather than just blindly accepting what people (namely the government and others in positions of authority) tell us.
---This content is copyrighted by Think & Ask, reproduction of any kind is not permitted without written consent.---