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Guest view: New approach needed on sex predators

Evan Williams

Is it time? When will we grasp the gravity of our situation? When will we understand that recidivist sexual predators are virtually incurable and will continue to prey on our wives, mothers, sisters and especially our precious little boys and girls as long as we allow them to access society at large? We have ordinances to protect our children from vicious dogs, but we can’t seem get our liberal courts to stop these habitually offending sexual predators from destroying our progeny. Every week we witness the latest heinous case of child abuse in a long, long string of vile acts perpetrated by these sick, sub-human creatures; but when will it be enough for us to demand reform in the laws and courts concerning these animals who live among us?

Sure, it’s great that we have Megan’s Law so we can find out if that strange man down the street actually is a convicted sexual predator, but what recourse do we have after that? Imagine, for instance, if there were a mountain lion strolling about your neighborhood; is it likely you would say, “Well, we know he has the potential for attacking any one of us at any time, but since he hasn’t attacked anyone for a while, we’ll just have to let him be. But don’t you worry, we know exactly where his lair is and if he should attack one of our children, we’ll know right where to look for the remains!” No? I didn’t think so. I dare say we would demand the menace be dealt with immediately, and forcefully, despite mountain lion protection laws to the contrary. In fact, since mountain lions have taken to attacking and consuming joggers, cyclists and hikers, the state routinely dispatches these predators with a hunting rifle. Isn’t it well past time to dispatch sexual predators, too? I’m not necessarily advocating killing them, but we’d better seriously consider locking them up for life, because history clearly shows, just like the animals they are, they will attack again whenever they are released.

Megan’s Law was a step in the right direction, however, there is a really absurd California provision relating to Megan’s Law, highlighted by NRO columnist, Catherine Siepp, “Did you know that in California, child molesters and rapists are a protected class? It’s true. Not only are California landlords banned from using the state’s Megan’s Law database to decline renting their properties to sex offenders, they’re not even allowed to warn other tenants that these paroled criminals are now their neighbors. If they do the first, they can be fined $25,000 for housing discrimination. But if they don’t do the second, they can be sued for failing to protect tenants against a known danger. Landlords are caught between a rock, a hard place and the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee, which last April stalled a bill designed to fix the Catch-22.”



For most of us, passing Prop 83 is a “no-brainer,” however, it does beg the question, “Why has this not been done before by our representatives in Sacramento and why has it taken the citizenry, rising up and using the initiative process, to get this referendum on the ballot?”

With both the Assembly and Senate controlled by leftist partisans we get leadership like Fabian Nunez, who, after gaining the speakership, went out of his way to put soft-on-crime politicians on the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee, and made Mark Leno its powerful chair – Mark Leno, who argued that sexual offenders merely need better economic chances from society in order to reform themselves. Huh? Sen. George Runner of Palmdale, a frustrated Republican, said, “What drove us to the ballot with Jessica’s Law is that we are tired of getting ignored or greatly watered down versions of what needs to be done for California.”



The effort to strengthen laws to keep these offenders locked up and off our streets is long overdue, so now we must do what cowardly legislators fear to do, get tough with criminals. We must send a message to the filthy dregs of humanity that we now, finally, have had enough, and that we are going to defend our children and families and severely punish perpetrators. Virtually every law enforcement and victim’s advocacy group in the state favors the longer and mandatory sentences, restrictions on residency within communities and greatly improved monitoring which are the key provisions in this proposition; let’s see them enacted.

In remembrance of our own Jaycee Lee Dugard, Krystal Steadman and countless other victims, please vote yes on California Ballot Proposition 83, “Jessica’s Law”, and let’s protect the most vulnerable among us.

– Evan Williams is a businessman in South Lake Tahoe.


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