Sandusky Guilty as the Mob Howls
I do know something about a couple of things, after all.
Thursday, this issue came up on Facebook:
Facebook screencap @8:10 PM PDT 22 June 2012
I only say this because, when the Jerry Sandusky defense attorney came out and spoke half an hour ago, he said precisely that. Sandusky wanted to testify, they told him it would be disastrous, since the Prosecutor could have then brought Matt out as a “rebuttal witness” and they decided NOT to have Sandusky take the stand in his own defense.
Found guilty on 45 of 48 counts, according to the New York Times, and subject to a minimum of 60 years in prison, according to MSNBC.
Or, as the MSNBC host called him “a monster.”
Goya – The sleep of reason breeds monsters
I believe that he is a truly sick individual and needs institutional treatment every bit as much as punitive imprisonment. (See “The Story of a Child Predator.”)
But what is my voice against the whirlwind of the self-righteous and the modern equivalent of the torches and pitchforks crowd who would have stoned a “harlot” to death, but for the intercession of a bearded guy in sandals, fabled of story and film?
If we were to recognize that this is a widespread problem (a small but significant number, with yet another priest convicted yesterday) and work on isolating and treating — rather than smugly demonizing and imprisoning — I’m sure a lot more boys like me would have done what they could to get predators help.
Bill Maher made a funny joke about it tonight: Those death row inmates know what to do with child molesters.
Yeah. That’s how many steps up from the Middle Ages?
Still, I know a little something about criminal trial procedure and tactics.
Courage.
====================
A writer, published author, novelist, literary critic and political observer for a quarter of a quarter-century more than a quarter-century, Hart Williams has lived in the American West for his entire life. Having grown up in Wyoming, Kansas and New Mexico, a survivor of Texas and a veteran of Hollywood, Mr. Williams currently lives in Oregon, along with an astonishing amount of pollen. He has a lively blog His Vorpal Sword. This is cross-posted from his blog
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Dunno, Hart. But if my boy had been one of those raped by this monster — yes, I said monster — I would be a very angry, self-righteous father only a few steps from the Middle Ages.
But that’s just me …
Did you read “The Story of a Child Predator”?
I’m being serious here. Not just a hit-and-run opine and scoot.
Although such individuals are (likely) sickly disturbed (meaning that literally, btw), they have also committed horrible crimes. This is not the same case as a sick individual who looks at a child naked–these kids were used sexually.
Treatment would seemingly be nice, but there is also the requirement to protect society from such predators. As my brother-in-law said, it is hard to sympathize when Jesus talked about attaching mill stones to such individuals.
I am being serious, too, Hart. Very serious. I am not talking about some other person or story, I am referring to a monster who has been found guilty of numerous horrible crimes committed against children, Sorry!
That took courage to speak out both your experience and diverging voice from the overall collective expression on these cases. It sounds like you made the choice you could live with.
It sounds to me the greater wounding is mob as mother, which is also part of the dynamics of these cases. The anger at the ‘silent partner’ is often greater than the predator. In an indirect way you bring up a good question. With Mob as ‘Silent Partner’; what are we doing as a society to push our children into the hands of those that are not trustworthy? When the violation comes forth we as a society, denounce the predators without examining our own collective contributions. Maybe in some strange ways we as collective have been your mother’s energetic? Maybe in some situations, and ones like these, it takes a ‘village’ to molest a child?
After years of working with victimization. as a therapist and for mitigation with Public Defenders, the reality is we have not found successful treatment for predators…
Can sexual orientation be changed? For me sexual orientation is what it is….it is not easily changed for any of us…Straight, Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Celibate we do best to leave that to each individual… But when one’s orientation scars and violates the most vulnerable, as in childhood molestation, rape, or violent fetishes there has to be a ‘no’ and a separation from society.
Pedophilia is notoriously resistant to treatment and counseling. In the case of a man like Sandusky, who has committed these crimes for decades, I would side with the rights of parents to keep their kids safe from predators over a sick man’s need for treatment.
Sick or not, he acted by choice and had a sophisticated system in place to harvest his victims, who he knew were without protection.
I’m saving my empathy for his scores of victims and their families.
“I believe that he is a truly sick individual and needs institutional treatment every bit as much as punitive imprisonment.”
You can’t have it both ways. A”truly sick individual” needs treatment, healing and release. A truly guilty individual needs prosecution, conviction and punishment. But that’s the problem with the Hart Williams’ “sick” school of criminal analysis. It operates on the principle that “evil” is a step down to the Middle Ages. Given its way it will send murderers, rapists, abusers of children, etc., to hospital until they’re healed.
The reparation of whatever damage they’ve caused can be turned over to wakeful Reason’s grief counsellors, drug therapists, and other social technicians. Their office-clinics will be set up in the same building where the non-monsters are being treated. After all, once everything “evil” is turned into “sick.” all the monsters will disappear…right?