tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post4525348729458988023..comments2024-03-15T05:45:01.402-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: Ignorance, paranoia over phony Halloween sex-offender 'threat' more frightening than ghosts and goblinsGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-25211091326449757232010-11-03T12:02:51.766-05:002010-11-03T12:02:51.766-05:00"As a journalist, I have a rather tedious hab..."As a journalist, I have a rather tedious habit of caviling over the details. What I wonder is where that stat came from anyway?"<br /><br />Well, as a journalist, you know that 89.95 per cent of all stats are made up on the spot; another 27.25 per cent are made up during editing.<br /><br />Personally, I have discovered that you won't be bothered by those noisy trick-or-treaters if you just put up a sign that says, "Registered Sex Offender" <br />on your door.Holden McGroinhttp://whitehouse.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-81924633561108198432010-11-02T20:52:33.682-05:002010-11-02T20:52:33.682-05:00Okay, I know it was days ago, but I'm sitting ...Okay, I know it was days ago, but I'm sitting here bored waiting for election results trickle in, so I looked back at this thread.<br /><br />Anyway, I'm the one who posted about Leroy Floyd, and I wasn't trying to make a point one way or another about what registered sex offenders should be doing on Halloween.<br /><br />I was merely protesting a statistic quoted in this entry:<br />"In the nation's entire history, there's only been one instance - in Wisconsin in 1973 - where a child was abducted and molested while trick or treating"<br /><br />As a journalist, I have a rather tedious habit of caviling over the details. <br />What I wonder is where that stat came from anyway. How would you go about compiling that information?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-38483460841650120322010-11-02T13:34:29.516-05:002010-11-02T13:34:29.516-05:00guess the gangbangers figured the cops would be to...guess the gangbangers figured the cops would be too busy watching the ex sex offenders and it was open season!<br /><br />http://news.findlaw.com/ap/other/1110/11-02-2010/20101102012000_05.html<br /><br />Family: Boy, 5, shot in head on Halloween, dies<br /><br />LOS ANGELES (AP) - Family members say a 5-year-old boy has died after he was shot in the head by suspected gang members while showing off his Halloween costume in the backyard of his South Los Angeles home.<br /><br />His grandfather William Shannon told the Los Angeles Times that Aaron Shannon Jr. died about 10 p.m. Monday night, hours after he was declared brain-dead by doctors at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.<br /><br />Police and family members say the boy was proudly showing off his Spider-man costume Sunday afternoon when two suspected gang members opened fire from a nearby alley.<br /><br />The boy's grandfather and uncle were grazed by bullets. The two suspected gang members fled and have since eluded capture.<br /><br />..............<br /><br />Maybe if one of the kid's parent's or his grandfater had like the majority been a sex offender... they would have been watching their house and this poor child might still be aliverodsmithnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-5918570971902454322010-11-01T19:41:35.926-05:002010-11-01T19:41:35.926-05:00Well i see we made it though another halloween and...Well i see we made it though another halloween and i still have not seen the FIRST REPORT of a child snatched or abused by someone on the sex offender registry duuring it. Any guesses on just HOW MUCH money and time has been wasted on stupidity like these roundups and checks!rodmsithnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-28922557516547062292010-10-31T11:10:45.092-05:002010-10-31T11:10:45.092-05:00I also work in a county that does a "roundup&...I also work in a county that does a "roundup" at Halloween time. We pay for group that night, and it takes the place of a group they would have had to normally do that week, per their court orders. We've done it for the last ten years or so. No news, no fanfare, no media hype. When asked, all our offenders claim to appreciate it. They, as pointed out earlier, do struggle with day to day decisions, and claim that knowing if something did happen they will not be accused simply for being a registered SO is worth it. <br /><br />My comments actually speak to the people who claim their sons/family/friends are registered SO's for consensual sex with someone "a little more than three years". The problem you have lies not with the LEO's, but with your DA. We encounter this exact scenario more often than I would like where I work, but our DA actually uses his brain instead of his brawn, and reduces the charge to a non registerable offense. I think I can safely speak for most people, no one wants a sex offender registry full of 19 year old boys because of a 15 year old girlfriend. If your DA was doing his job, that would never have happened. <br /><br />Thank you Grits. I may not always agree, but I do enjoy reading your blog.TxPO alsonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-7793220616642327152010-10-29T22:23:32.067-05:002010-10-29T22:23:32.067-05:00Lisa said...
Grits, you rock. I wish legislators w...Lisa said...<br />Grits, you rock. I wish legislators would listen with their heads instead of their hearts. Laws must be proven to be effective. These laws are just insanity 101. Halloween? Come on! This is just a ploy to make the public continue to be scared of the monster hiding in the bushes ready to pounce on their children the moment they turn their heads. Absolutely crazy. Thanks, again, for telling it like it is. Wish we'd have had someone who ran for governor with your thoughtful insight!<br /><br />10/28/2010 12:31:00 PM<br />----------------------------------<br />Lisa, you make some excellent points...EXCELLENT but you don't understand the centerpiece of the problem. Texas voters, by and large, are an uneducated bunch of fools* (I DIDN'T SAY ALL, JUST A LOT) who are fed this mantra of being TOUGH ON CRIME until it comes out there nostrils. The legislators in this state DONT listen, THEY DICTATE from a capital bent on keeping the SHEEPLE ignorant.<br /><br />*Texas ranks near the bottom in H.S. graduates.<br /><br />*Texas ranks near bottom in number of college graduates.<br /><br />Texas lawmakers seem themselves as SAVING is and we LET THEM!Hook Em Hornshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04660612847019528535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-62857810503649166612010-10-29T21:47:22.947-05:002010-10-29T21:47:22.947-05:00Misguided militant lesbians... You guys crack me ...Misguided militant lesbians... You guys crack me up!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-45063047249729086182010-10-28T19:10:35.264-05:002010-10-28T19:10:35.264-05:0010:53, You are citing a study that was metadata...10:53, You are citing a study that was metadata'd off of Koss' study that has now been proven to be false. The 1992 study included answers that Koss 'believed' to be yes when in actuality the respondent replied "i don't know", or "No" and especially on the question of have you have had sex while intoxicated, if the victim answered "yes" Koss rated this as rape, thereby skewing the numbers for the 1 in 4/ 1 in 5 garbage.<br /><br />Mental Health professionals have already debunked this study, yet the wymin's groups still spout it out. so sorry, "only 12% reported" is nonsense. I will agree that any rape is 1 too many, however I for one am tired of the man-hater society that has come into being due to misguided militant lesbians.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-55103961109122563492010-10-28T17:31:19.924-05:002010-10-28T17:31:19.924-05:00Grits, this practice started long before I knew wh...Grits, this practice started long before I knew what probation was, let alone became an officer. The CSCD that I work for has NEVER advertised this, however, the Sheriff, being an elected official, has recently jumped on the press release bandwagon. The program we have was initiated by the sex offender PO because she was noticing that many of her offenders were ending up with technical violations on Halloween through, mostly, no direct fault of their own. By having the report to the sheriff's office, we were able to cut down on manpower (officers could spend Halloween with their own children, rather than running around the county checking in on sex offenders on probation) and also provided a great opportunity to have all of the sex offenders, regardless of their treatment status, complete a unique treatment program, and the law enforcement representative could educate them on changes in laws, sex offender registry requirements, and city ordinances restricting their residence, travel, etc.A Texas POnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-50741545211542355642010-10-28T13:37:56.538-05:002010-10-28T13:37:56.538-05:00If counseling and therapy were offered to families...If counseling and therapy were offered to families and children of abuse before prison would more families come forward to get the help?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-48781558760662206572010-10-28T13:34:23.109-05:002010-10-28T13:34:23.109-05:00That leroy floyd person was not on the registry wh...That leroy floyd person was not on the registry when he was arrested in 2003.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-92011068757344993132010-10-28T13:30:58.700-05:002010-10-28T13:30:58.700-05:001:17, here's another fact: By far the greater ...1:17, here's another fact: By far the greater threat to kids being molested comes from family members and trusted family friends. By any measure, they're more likely to be molested when they get home from trick or treating than going door to door in costume.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-49916115593062972542010-10-28T13:17:04.623-05:002010-10-28T13:17:04.623-05:0012:35
FACTS
So many of the bloggers paint the pic...12:35<br />FACTS<br /><br />So many of the bloggers paint the picture of the one required to register as being a 19 year old who was caught with his 15 year girlfriend. There may be a few who suspect that this is not exactly factual or typical.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-86855504563218682792010-10-28T12:35:15.005-05:002010-10-28T12:35:15.005-05:00This Halloween thing has gone too far. It's a...This Halloween thing has gone too far. It's all over the news even! Where are the lawsuits? Where are the lawyers ready to get onto this? Where are the P.O.'s that will stand up and say it's wrong to "round em up"? I really don't get it - when there is so much evidence on the other side that are true FACTS, why aren't our legislators and town councils and such doing the right thing? Perplexing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-39899293589903638922010-10-28T12:31:48.788-05:002010-10-28T12:31:48.788-05:00Grits, you rock. I wish legislators would listen ...Grits, you rock. I wish legislators would listen with their heads instead of their hearts. Laws must be proven to be effective. These laws are just insanity 101. Halloween? Come on! This is just a ploy to make the public continue to be scared of the monster hiding in the bushes ready to pounce on their children the moment they turn their heads. Absolutely crazy. Thanks, again, for telling it like it is. Wish we'd have had someone who ran for governor with your thoughtful insight!Lisanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-23632300408041300032010-10-28T11:34:37.602-05:002010-10-28T11:34:37.602-05:0010:53, what does that have to do with this post or...10:53, what does that have to do with this post or any of the discussion in the comments? Those not caught won't be on the registry and won't be subject to Halloween restrictions, so how does that relate to anything being discussed here?Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-22760238158361510992010-10-28T10:56:40.856-05:002010-10-28T10:56:40.856-05:00As the mom of a young man who chatted online with ...As the mom of a young man who chatted online with a teenager and never made any attempt to contact, I have lots of thoughts on this subject. First of all I'd like to point out that it isn't just at Halloween that we cannot have decorations. The first year my son was on probation, we were told we would have to close our front blinds if we wanted to have a Christmas tree in our living room. No decorations were to be visable from the street - that's for all holidays.<br />Secondly, the PO officer is correct in saying that it is the technical violations that do them in. My son went to prison for watching a porn movie while on probation. Now he's on parole and spends hours every week mapping out routes that he can drive safely because he's not allowed 500 feet within a school crossing zone, home or business day care, church, McDonalds, school, park - you name it, it's probably a child safety zone. Try finding a job with that barrier. This hysteria is crazy. Did he do something wrong? Yes. Is he a pedophile? Unequivocably NO. He gets to stay home on Halloween but either his PO or the local police will be by to make sure the house is dark and he's there. This whole system is so broken, I don't know if it CAN be fixed.Sharonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-60818901542755897692010-10-28T10:53:07.377-05:002010-10-28T10:53:07.377-05:00Myth:
"The majority of sexual offenders are ...Myth: <br />"The majority of sexual offenders are caught, convicted, and in prison." <br /><br />Fact: <br />Only a fraction of those who commit sexual assault are apprehended and convicted for their crimes. <br /><br />Many women who are sexually assaulted by intimates, friends, or acquaintances do not report these crimes to police. Instead, victims are most likely to report being sexually assaulted when the assailant is a stranger, the victim is physically injured during the assault, or a weapon is involved in the commission of the crime. <br /><br />A 1992 study estimated that only 12% of rapes were reported (Kilpatrick, Edmunds, and Seymour, 1992). The National Crime Victimization Surveys conducted in 1994, 1995, and 1998 indicate that only 32% of sexual assaults against persons 12 or older were reported to law enforcement. (No current studies indicate the rate of reporting for child sexual assault, although it generally is assumed that these assaults are equally under-reported.) The low rate of reporting leads to the conclusion that the approximate 265,000 convicted sex offenders under the authority of corrections agencies in the United States (Greenfeld, 1997) represent less than 10% of all sex offenders living in communities nationwide.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-46229719090554033342010-10-28T10:51:25.699-05:002010-10-28T10:51:25.699-05:00Doran, LSOTP is a "Licensed Sex Offender Trea...Doran, LSOTP is a "Licensed Sex Offender Treatment Provider."<br /><br />Texas PO, thanks for your thoughtful comments. Your points about SOs being "paralyzed when trying to make basic daily decisions" and the risks of vigilantism are well taken.<br /><br />I'm curious: When did your agency begin its annual Halloween roundup? My impression is this has just become faddish in the last several years.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-39818047404848458942010-10-28T10:22:20.670-05:002010-10-28T10:22:20.670-05:0010:11, I found the story in the Enterprise archive...10:11, I found the story in the Enterprise archives <a href="http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/deputies_pick_up_man_accused_in_abduction_07-06-2008_12_27_35.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>, though you're right it doesn't come up in a Google search.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-51343298960243199752010-10-28T07:46:27.641-05:002010-10-28T07:46:27.641-05:00Boo....I am so scared it is the Return of the Sex ...Boo....I am so scared it is the Return of the Sex Offenders. Whatever happened to worrying about razor blades in the apples? I am pretty sure that, that was a wise tale also. <br />Who is really protecting the children?.....Studies show that it is most likely the child’s own parent or friend of family who is who they need to be protected from. Neither of which would be on the registry yet or they would not be trick or treating with the kids or handing out candy from their house. Can you just picture Chester the molester opening the door and grabbing one of the goblins without complete hell breaking loose?<br />Wake up people this society has gone to hell in a hand basket but this is not a problem that parents should worry about. Trick or treat with your kids and try to have fun!<br />Parents should worry about their kids ending up on the registry or themselves God forbid you get caught peeing in public you will never get to have Halloween again!NotaSOmomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06482538695211173995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-24344602118635890472010-10-28T07:35:15.467-05:002010-10-28T07:35:15.467-05:00Grits, I love your blog and it has opened my eyes ...Grits, I love your blog and it has opened my eyes to issues beyond the daily scope of my job. I see that there are plenty of policy-pushers in Austin and at the local level who pander to the 1% of fearful idiots that have been grabbing all of the attention from politicians, such as the Tea Party movement and the far-right "moral majority." But as a PO in Texas, I also see that sex offenders under supervision are at risk not just from themselves (and I know the blogosphere will try to hang me for saying that, but there are SOME offenders who are struggling to stay out of trouble, while the vast majority are so afraid of minor technical violations sending them to prison that they are nearly paralyzed when trying to make basic daily decisions), but also from the community at-large. A recent home-owners association meeting almost became a pitch-fork wielding mob when someone demanded that the HOA and city forcefully remove a registered sex offender from the neighborhood. Luckily cooler heads prevailed, but there were paranoid people standing outside this young man's house on Halloween last year to "keep an eye on him." My CSCD has a program like those mentioned in this blog (I will not name the county because I can't afford to lose my job) but we do not advertise it, we do not flaunt it publicly, and we do not even have a name for it. We have all of our sex offenders on probation meet at the sheriff's office on Halloween, supervised by a PO and a deputy, and they participate in a treatment group free of charge. This way, we know that they are safe and are not becoming victims of fearful mobs, and thus we know that they are not violating the conditions of probation, whether on purpose or by mistake. I know many readers of this blog will not like this idea, but it has worked for us, and keeps our local LEOs from having to go door to door "checking" on these folks. They are able to keep a watchful eye on trick-or-treaters, and conduct their normal patrols on this very busy night. Will attitudes change? I have no doubt that they will. Look how far we’ve come in other areas in the last 200 years. Anything is possible, but policy-pushers will always pander to the 1% on the whacky fringe who actually exercise their right to vote.A Texas POnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-46071278987212347722010-10-28T07:05:52.733-05:002010-10-28T07:05:52.733-05:00Okay, what is LSOTP?Okay, what is LSOTP?dorannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-7672388076217877342010-10-28T03:51:14.525-05:002010-10-28T03:51:14.525-05:00leroyleroyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-11437025009883587252010-10-28T03:50:54.665-05:002010-10-28T03:50:54.665-05:005:02 and grits, just looked and there is no leoy ...5:02 and grits, just looked and there is no leoy floyd on the texas sex offender registryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com