Disturbing Pasts?
In an article entitled, “Child Porn Brings Seven Year Sentence,” I read about a guy who had been charged, and admitted to having a sexual obsession with a 12-year-old girl. The article pointed out the evidence- he had been sending pornographic pictures of children (trading) these pictures with a “friend” in Utah, who was actually an undercover cop. Therefore, he was given a seven year sentence, gathering that all the evidence was relevant and true.
When I read/hear about stories like this, I feel disgusted and I think what everyone else thinks ‘He should not be allowed to live a normal life anymore.’ That the person is so horrible he shouldn’t have another good day in his life. What I sometimes forget to think about- is the fact that he IS a human being and does need to be treated with respect (even though what he did was so terrible). The fact is, nobody will ever look at him the same, including his family members. The same goes for any person in this situation. I will admitt that I would be one of these people, who just can’t go near the person and feel comfortable again.
There is one thing I completely disagree with in the justice system. It’s the fact that these people, who commit these crimes, are being put into a jail cell, in which they will most likely be mistreated and abused (by other prisoners). This situation definitely does not help the fact that the person has a mental illness and needs to be helped, not tortured and further damaged. I feel the solution (or maybe a step towards the solution) to these problems is to further investigate the reasons/causes for this type of crime (why they do what they do- feel that looking at children in that way is right). I also start to question ‘Did these people have disturbing pasts that need a closer look?’ I would say yes… but we won’t get to the bottom of the problem if we keep allowing others to beat them up. It’s the same thing as fighting terrorism with violence.
Steph's Sillyness 