by Tom Blair
Columnist

As I sit on my sunny patio in Arizona, I am reading in the Fargo Forum about another one of those sex offenders getting their wrists slapped in Clay County. It ceases to amaze me why child molesters are constantly let back on the streets in the North Country.

In case you missed the story, a convicted sex offender from Dilwoth, already serving prison time in another case, was sentenced to three more years for molesting a three-year-old girl. Hello? Are ya listening? A THREE YEAR OLD girl… and “Court documents alleged that in 2010, this guy sexually abused the girl several times.” Two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct were dismissed as part of a plea deal.

Bargain pleas are common… strong or weak cases and it seems to not make much difference if the creeps have multiple offenses in the past or not.

According to the article, in 2005, this guy admitted to sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl at the Moorhead Sports Center, a guilty plea that brought up to 15 years of probation and no prison time. Ouch how cruel huh? Victims of sexual assaults and crimes often suffer the rest of their life in one way or another.

That ain’t all folks… Five years after that case was settled, he was accused of having sexual contact with an underage boy multiple times while still on probation. For that offense, he was ordered in 2012 to serve 12 years in prison, a sentence he must complete in addition to the three-year term he received Friday.

Well, maybe this guy will spend a few years in prison before he is released back into the general population. Will he continue to molest children? Every article I have read goes something like this: “There is substantial anecdotal and statistical evidence of recidivism by sex offenders.” That means prison time isn’t gonna make them any nicer or rehabilitate them.

New York attempted to keep sex offenders in some kind of containment after their sentence was served. It was based on a widely publicized case in which a Florida man, John Couey, was convicted of murder for kidnapping and raping a 9-year-old girl and then burying her alive. Couey had previously been convicted of molesting a child. (What’s new?)

But since our bruised and battered Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, we can’t give them an eye for an eye punishment, but it sure would be wonderful to see those who harm and kill our children to be in a cage… forever and ever… amen.

Tom “Road” Blair

Website: www.tomroadblair.com