Some of my regular blog readers have noticed the Code Amber ticker I have at the top of the blog. For some reason it has had the same last three names on it for months but the first alert up (when one is active) is always the newest so I leave it up.
Today there was a local alert. Since I'm out and on a section of rural highway at odd hours (doing a newspaper route in the mornings to make a few extra quarters before breakfast) I always read the Arizona Amber alerts and those from surrounding states. The alert profiled a five year old Phoenix girl, Natalie Flores, who was abducted earlier this afternoon.
Luckily this one had a happy ending. Police were tipped off and spotted the suspect's vehicle and rescued Natalie, who from preliminary reports appears to be unharmed. The suspect is in custody.
This is the kind of ending that reminds us of why the Amber alert system was created and why it is so important. And for Natalie's family it helped produce a real Christmas miracle today.
Showing posts with label Amber alert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amber alert. Show all posts
Friday, December 25, 2009
Friday, January 12, 2007
Something to be grateful for-- two kidnapped boys found alive
For several months I have had the Code Amber ticker running up at the top of this blog. Just this week I read another Amber alert on the ticker, and it featured one of two boys who has been recovered alive in Missouri today.
Kudos to the police officers who noticed a rusty white pickup truck with a camper shell like that used in the kidnapping while they were visiting the building where it was parked on an unrelated case.
This is a superb outcome, and uncommon. One of the boys had been missing for more than four years, and I am sure that his family must be overjoyed at the news.
They haven't said it yet, but you can be sure that the man who kidnapped and held these two boys is a child molester.
As I've blogged before, (for example in a post called what to do about chronic child molesters,
we have to separate them from the rest of society. I believe that most of them are sick and sexually addicted, but since in society there will inevitably be children, it is not like they can be removed from continual temptation if they are out on the street. So we have to look at solutions that will keep them away from kids. And prison, while appropriate to the crime that was committed, is not a realistic permanent solution. In a post I wrote on the topic after Oklahoma and South Carolina had legislated the death penalty for child molesters (which is a stupid waste of taxpayer money for reasons I went into in the post) I summarized my position from earlier posts as follows:
1. People convicted of child molestation or rape should serve their full term in prison.
2. Ideally, if we are serious about keeping them away from children, we should create an institution (similar to the old mental institutions but more humane) which would offer more freedom than a prison (freedom on the grounds, freedom to have visits from family members regularly [of course minor family members only under strictly scrutinized conditions] , and perhaps some supervised group activities on the outside) but would remain secure (of course, it being better than a prison, prison would still remain as the place to send someone who committed a crime inside.)
3. Until we can implement such a plan, put on tracking devices similar to the one Martha Stewart wore (which of course she never should have had to wear, but it does make sense for sex offenders.)
Like chronic drunk drivers, I don't think that most child molesters want to be evil, but if they are unable to control their urges then it is incumbent on society to protect our children from them.
Kudos to the police officers who noticed a rusty white pickup truck with a camper shell like that used in the kidnapping while they were visiting the building where it was parked on an unrelated case.
This is a superb outcome, and uncommon. One of the boys had been missing for more than four years, and I am sure that his family must be overjoyed at the news.
They haven't said it yet, but you can be sure that the man who kidnapped and held these two boys is a child molester.
As I've blogged before, (for example in a post called what to do about chronic child molesters,
we have to separate them from the rest of society. I believe that most of them are sick and sexually addicted, but since in society there will inevitably be children, it is not like they can be removed from continual temptation if they are out on the street. So we have to look at solutions that will keep them away from kids. And prison, while appropriate to the crime that was committed, is not a realistic permanent solution. In a post I wrote on the topic after Oklahoma and South Carolina had legislated the death penalty for child molesters (which is a stupid waste of taxpayer money for reasons I went into in the post) I summarized my position from earlier posts as follows:
1. People convicted of child molestation or rape should serve their full term in prison.
2. Ideally, if we are serious about keeping them away from children, we should create an institution (similar to the old mental institutions but more humane) which would offer more freedom than a prison (freedom on the grounds, freedom to have visits from family members regularly [of course minor family members only under strictly scrutinized conditions] , and perhaps some supervised group activities on the outside) but would remain secure (of course, it being better than a prison, prison would still remain as the place to send someone who committed a crime inside.)
3. Until we can implement such a plan, put on tracking devices similar to the one Martha Stewart wore (which of course she never should have had to wear, but it does make sense for sex offenders.)
Like chronic drunk drivers, I don't think that most child molesters want to be evil, but if they are unable to control their urges then it is incumbent on society to protect our children from them.
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