[LOCKED] OT: Oregon State pitcher is a sexual predator
I realize college baseball is done for most of you, but this is big local news. Also, it's pretty big in the world of college baseball given he is arguably the top pitcher (11-1 record and 0.76 ERA) on the #1 team in the country and this story broke just before the Super Regionals and MLB draft this weekend.
Summary: Heimlich abused a female family member (6 years old or younger) back when he was 15. He plead guilty to the felony and did his time. What he failed to do was register as a sex offender when he moved to Oregon for college. There are questions as to what OSU knew and when they knew it.
I'm torn on this topic. On one hand, what he did as a 15 year old was probably the most vile thing a human can do. He also did not fulfill his legal duty to re-register in Oregon (though he is registered now and the police did not pursue any chargse). On the other hand, he has fulfilled every other part of his guilty plea, and appears to be on the "straight and narrow" now.
Should his extremely poor judgement in the past affect his future indefinitely? Should he be banned from starting tomorrow? Should his stock fall in the MLB draft Monday? Where do you draw the line for something like this?
http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2017/06/why_we_published_th…
MOD EDIT - In reading some of the comments, I think we'll lock this one for now. - LSA
that I don't think you can group all illegal activity under one big umbrella. If he had stolen something at 15 and been punished, I wouldn't think twice about letting it go. But molesting a little girl, your sister none the less, for 2 full years........ Well, that is something that would make me think twice...... At the very least I would want to know he has received extensive counseling to go along with his time served, because that is not something a normal person does, even at 15
Unpopular Opinion Alert
Yeah, there is a reason those lists were put into place... because the chance of an offender doing it again is very high. Child molestation is different than most crimes... it is rarely a one-and-done situation.
So basically, child molesters are nothing like Kentucky basketball recruits?
"They've got a name for people like you. That name is called 'recidivism'."
"No, sir. That's one boneheaded name, but that ain't me anymore."
Name the movie, WITHOUT the Googles...
I of course want to stress that I have no sympathy for sexual predators.
However...recidivism rates for armed robbers are higher than they are for sex offenders, but there is no armed robbery list that one has to register for.
That's not the point he is trying to make, it is that offenders of this nature are treated completely different than any other crime in the world. The point is, the offender should either be viewed as a a further risk (to which they should be detained), or they should be viewed as properly rehabilitated to which they should be able to live their lives and hopefully have a positive impact on society. The lists do neither, they don't really protect anyone from the risks that a sexual predator provides, but they also don't let people who have done their punishment continue with their lives.
I'm not saying I agree, but I see the point, and it certainly isn't a "poor child molesters" viewpoint.
Clarification: People are on the sex offender registry for a variety of crimes, many of which do not involve children.
Could you not know the same information simply by looking at public records? As someone stated below, people are on that list for a variety of reasons, and it creates a massive stigma. For many, it is deserved, but for so many others, it is not.
You would also want to know if a murderer moves in next door, that is why there is access to public records (I realize that some states have registries for this). The biggest problem about these lists is that it doesn't really provide anyone with new information, because anything you learn on these lists, you could easily find through public records. It does however put an incredibly high and unfair stigma on people who commit minor crimes and are grouped in to this category, such as public urination.
If you wanted to have a list to make the public more aware of people that have further risk, I'm all for it. But the grouping of people has to be severly more narrowed down than it currently is.
That is a fair point. I don't want to come across as someone who sympathizes with child molesters, I am just of the opinion that the current list system is very flawed. And my original post was simply to explain the well reasoned opinion of one poster that was rudely misinterpreted by another.
Clearly any solution towards sexual rehabilitation is a difficult thing to accomplish and have most feel comfortable with, i get that. However, people who make others who don't automatically feel like the current system works feel like they are supporting sexual offenders doesn't help the situation and is a version of misguided hate. I'm not saying you were doing that, but the OP I was responding to was insinuating that.
I mean, honestly, I have no idea what you do with sex offenders. I understand the sentiment, but just saying Fuck em forever is overly simplistic and ignores the ongoing impact that their lives have on people besides just themselves.
1)Many perpetrators are child molestation victims themselves, perpetuating the cycle
2)A convicted child molestor like this pitcher is someone I personally wouldn't hire, rent to, or be friends with. Many people feel that way. Maybe he doesn't deserve to get a job, live near you or me, or have normal productive citizens as friends. But what's the probable outcome of that? Unemployment, homeless, drug abuse, continuation of the abuse etc. And then that winds up burdening all of us with that shit as he impacts others.
3)Actions do have eventually have consequences on other people. For example, here's a fairly prominent case, a former victim who got his Dexter on and murdered two other convicted sex offenders:
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/12/the-vigilante-of-clallam-county/281968/
So you've got your murdered sex offender there, Gary Blanton Jr. And here's the stories on his 5 year old son, whose child abuse eventually ended in his death in his foster home.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/may/01/sheriffs-office-opens-investigation-into/
It would seem wrong at some level if he winds up getitng a fat contract from some MLB team. On the other hand, isn't it a better outcome if he winds up being a functioning member of society who spends tons of money on therapy, pays his taxes, and plays baseball instead of being another homeless guy on opioids trying to grab children in a walmart bathroom or something?
however, we (the american legal system) don't post names of other offenders.
Unpopular Response Alert
Execute them and make the world a better place.
Yes, I am serious.
Execute them? All of them? Even the ones who got caught sleeping with their 16 year old girlfriend as a 20 year old college student and the girls' parents turned them in? Maybe those don't make the "list," but if so I'm not sure how that's worthy of execution.
I dated a few girls right out of high school that were still in high school. One or two of them I met at a church camp. I don't think what I did was wrong, but I was always fearful of our legal system as an 18 or even 20 year old constantly having to make sure I'm hanging out with girls who are over 18.
Heck, back in the day I'm pretty sure my grandma married my grandpa at the age of 16 or 17 when my grandpa was 10 years older than her. That was OK then.
I'm not saying I disagree with the laws of protecting minors, but my point is that not every case is like the other. I'm not sure making a "list" deserves execution. And maybe that's not what you were meaning, but I do think that sometimes we put too much judgment on specific categories or don't even realize/differenciate between the severity of cases/individuals who have been caught.
And in all honesty, I fully believe this has become a much bigger problem since the internet has become a thing. And I think it needs to be addressed more in schools and more help needs to be offered to kids or even young adults who struggle with these things. The mind can easily become polluted by what is out there, and there needs to be more help/therapy for those individuals that is more easily accessed without complete judgment. These opinions are well known to offenders and make their problems that much more difficult to resolve.
For me, the question pertains to whether he actually knew he was supposed to register in Oregon. I have no clue about the law here - he committed his crime in Washington, where he fullfilled his sentence correctly (ie: within the law). When he moved to Oregon, does his sentence change, or follow him? I guess my question is how obvious was it that he was supposed to register in Oregon?
Did OSU know of his offense/conviction when they recruited him/accepted his committment/enrolled him? And if so, did they counsel him with regards to correctly following Oregon law in regards to his conviction?
When he (theoretically) changed his address within Washington's registry, did Washington state authorities contact him regarding any follow-up requirements of his conviction? (IE: Was it unambiguous that he was supposed to register in Oregon?) Did Washington authorities notify Oregon authorities that he was moving in?
I simply don't know enough about the law to decide whether I should be outraged, or not...
OP: You displayed poor judgment yourself by cluttering up the board with a post that has #$%@-all to do with Michigan sports.
If you begin the title with "OT", you are allowed to write a post about your sexual fetish vis-a-vis hairless cats. Thems the rules!
Indeed, those are the rules. There have been hundreds of enjoyable OT posts (e.g., the C-Rex diaries). I should have elaborated a bit. Here you go:
What's even vaguely interesting/novel here? Regrettably, this type of thing happens every day probably thousands of times. What useful discussion can this particular news spur on a site like this? IMO it would make sense only if the "perp" had a Michigan connection.
I'd classify the James Hardy news similarly. At least he played against Michigan a few times and is probably recalled by several here.
Certain religious leaders married 6 year olds. Are you going to post that too?
He did not use "poor judgment", he committed a sick, perverse crime which ruined the life of a child. Most Pedophiles do not heal and remain that way for life. Any team that drafts him will be taking a massive leap of faith, and will have to deal with many potentially bad consequences.
Normally Im all about second chances, but there is much more to this situation.
Note, I have some experience with this. I was physically abused (not sexually) as a child so I understand the impact that abuse can have on a child's life as they grow up....
...and one of my closest friends growing up sexually abused and murdered a 4 year old boy, years after we had graduated from HS and lost touch. He is currently serving a life sentence in Jackson for it.
Unless he was home schooled and never watched television, he knew what he was doing. He took advantage of a defenseless person and as a teenager, you understand what you're capable of doing. Odds are he didn't realize he was screwing up his relative for life, but I don't think he was considerate of her feelings anyway.
I have worked with too many young people that were sexually abused by teenage and pre-teen relatives to feel a ton of sympathy for this guy.
It's not like he stole a car, doing his time doesn't fix the psychological damage inside this man's head. He's going to do it again.
What he did was horrible..no doubt.....he was 15 and it appears that there hasnt been an issues ever since and he did the time..Should a 15year old life be ruined for ever for one incredibly stupid and horrible thing?...If this had happened repeately since then well thats a no brainer but it hasnt....
I mean probably every single one of us did something really stupid when we were 13 or 14 or 15...maybe not that bad but u get the just...
Sounds like hes turned his life around .... Isnt that whats supposed to happen? I say lay off the kid
I did plenty of stupid things when i was 13 14 15. None of them involved traumatizing another human being for the rest of their life.
mlbpipeline.com is reporting that at least one scout doubts he'll be drafted by any team on Monday. Keep in mind the draft lasts 40 rounds.
Just want to chime in to say how grateful I am to be a part of this discussion board. These responses are, for the most part, really well informed, articulate, and thoughtful. I can't imagine any other sports related discussion board talking about this issue in such a way. What all of these responses help me to realize is that there are no easy answers to this problem. I guess that's obvious. What a fucking mess.