Well unfortunately a lot of the laws do too now because of the schools shootings in the 1990s. My girlfriend went to school where the Westside incident happened and was there the day it happened. The kids who did it were 11 and 13. The laws at that time prohibited them being charged as adults so they could only be held until their 21st birthday. This enraged many people and still does today as many, especially in this area, feel these kids should have been locked up their entire lives. So what did most of the states do? They made the age where a person could be charged as an adult much much younger. I personally don't agree with it but it's the system we live under.
as a family member of someone that was violently raped and has seen the lifelong effects of that action, Im fine with the sentence. I dont care how old the kid was, you wanna commit adult crimes, serve adult time. I will not apologize for feeling this way....think less of me...whatever. Ive seen the damage violent rape causes on the victims...trust me, the 6 yr old will be damaged by this for alot longer than that kid is gonna serve in jail.
I think you misunderstand the meaning of aberrant. In this case it is referring to whether this was an action essentially with no cause, an aberration in the behavior of this boy. Under US laws the insane aren't culpable for their crimes. If this boy was shown to be insane this wouldn't be an abberrant act for him since he would have no understanding of right or wrong. Further if he was insane there is a chance he could be still be rehabilitated. From the original article there's not enough to tell.
I don't feel less of you or Mr. Meowgi for your opinion. There's no denying this is boy committed a horrible act. The problem I have though is that while I agree he has to be locked up for public safety if he is somehow mentally damaged and / or there is a chance for rehabilitation what good will it do to lock him away forever? Does it undo the damage?
Well, punishing people for crimes serves two purposes: (1) prevent the criminal from doing harm to society in the future, and (2) acts as a deterrent for future criminals thinking about doing the same thing. The problem I have with this sentencing is that it doesn't serve as a deterrent for future cases like this. I'm guessing this sentence will deter any deranged 13 year olds from commiting a crime like this in the future. So the question becomes, is this kid so beyond help that he must be removed from society for the rest of his life? I find it very hard to believe that would be the case for a 13yr old. Also, they might as well just make this a life sentence. I'm guessing when the kid is out on parole when he's 64, he's not exactly going to blend into society very well.
I agree with you. I wish the law was harsher in Germany. In Germany, this kid could not have been punished AT ALL as he was below 14. Now that's ridiculous.
This is a tough one. I understand pgabriel's sentiment that maybe this is going too far. On the other hand, the act that was committed indicates a value system that this kind of act is ok. That value system, once embedded, is not likely to reverse itself absent an epiphany. The recidivism rate of sex offenders supports the theory that if released, he is likely to offend again. The harsh nature of the act, the disregard for whether or not the girl lived, and the tender age of the victim all indicate that while he understands right from wrong, he simply does not care. I have a huge problem with him being in the general prison population at age 13. Given his age and the nature of his crime, he is sure to have awful things happen to him in prison. I would prefer that he be placed in a maximum security juvenile facility until age 21 and then transferred to an adult facility for at least another 20 years and then have a full psych eval to see if he is still a danger. If so...keep him in for the full sentence.
The "full psych eval" thing bothers me some --- if a person is away from his temptation for 20 yrs it's easy to appear that he is 'cured'. Many pedophiles cleared to be released from prison repeat their offense. I think certain crimes are so bad that by committing them you lose your right to be part of society -- the risk is to great.
Since we do not have life sentences without the possibility of parole for sex crimes, there must be some mechanism in place to determine timing of release.
Nicely said, and I agree. Some people, like this offender, have demonstrated an inability to live safely within society among others. For whatever reason. However harsh and cruel it may sound, I have no problem with eliminating them from society. For the good of society. Forever.
If I were running the show, I'd give him 2 options. Life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 25 years. He would seriously have to reform in order to be elgible for parole. Or 5 years in prison, if he accepts getting almost beaten to death, and sodomized by someone serving life in prison for commiting a similar act. This would really show him what he did ****ed up that little girl, and he will think twice before doing it again. Eye for an eye.
What baffles me is that repeat sex offenders often walk with a slap on the wrist. Why are cases like this so varied in punishment? I think 60 years is a bit much.
The only problem I have with it is him getting charged with sodomy AND attempted sodomy. Why not add on attempted kidnapping? It's just silly and smacks of railroading. 50 years would have been fine.
There's an old saying a rapist gets 5-10, the victim gets life. Yes, IMO the judge was making an example of this kid but, lets be honest here, this is NO ACCIDENTAL happening! He pretty much premeditated this desire to do what he did and then, fatefully went through with it. He ruined that child's life, her path in life will be forever altered. Her relationships with ALL men are going to be forever altered for most her natural adult life. 60 years is perhaps harsh but, he would definitely serve at least 30-40 in my book. He destroyed a life psychologically and emotionally, he should pay back with a major portion of his own incarcerated where hopefully he'll come to grips with the egregious decision he made and perhaps, learn from it but don't count on it! Smokey's right this type of crime is second to only murder and in a way is worse than actually killing someone. Something snapped in this kid's head and he obviously created a new reality for himself and justified this behavior as normal. Sad, unbelievably sad. Everyone loses in this case. God, imagine being the parents and finding out your son is basically gone FOR LIFE! GONE!
Not defending the kid but most sex offenders tend to reform after getting busted. The chances of re-offending are much less than that of other repeated criminal activity. You just wouldn't get that impression if you were an avid L&O:SVU viewer or really caught any criminal mystery television show. I don't know the details of what the kid did other than what the newspaper did. Chances are it'd probably disgust me enough to think 60 years was too little, but I'd like to think especially for someone as young as the kid, that he'd be able to reform like most offenders.
60 yrs is just right. I wanna lock him up for life but we should give him a goal to work for (like parole after 40yrs) so he does not go wild in the jail. You will be suprise on how people would act if there is a sense of hopelessness.
A problem I see with this is, if this is the case, why not just put him (and any other sex offenders if they are dangerous after release) to death or have life in prison? What's the point of releasing him somewhere between the age of 65 and 75, depending on his parole status? He will have never been an adult in any normal sense. What exactly is he going to do when released at that age? He'll have no parents at that point. No job skills, no social skills, no understanding of how to be an adult, what to do, nothing.
