Monsters under the bed

Who are Sandra Cantu, Jaycee Lee Dugard, Clay Moore, and Jessica Lunsford? They are the four youngsters have caught the media's eye because they have all fallen victim to child predators and child abusers. It seems as though this decade has had a never ending laundry list of young victims all across the United States. The first step to understanding the seriousness of the security risk these sick perverts pose to Americans is to learn the true stories of the victims. Sandra Cantu, an 8-year-old Californian, was kidnapped, raped, murdered, and crammed into a suitcase by Melissa Huckaby.

It turns out that Huckaby was the mother of one of Sandra Cantu's neighborhood friends. In 1991, Jaycee Lee Dugard vanished from her school bus stop in South Lake Tahoe, California. Jaycee was rescued in August 2009, a frightening 18 years after her kidnapping. She was kept as a sex slave to Philip and Nancy Garrido and has fathered two of Philip Garrido's children. After being thrown into a truck in early 2007, bound to a tree in the middle of nowhere, 13-year-old Clay Moore managed to escape from his captor, Vicente Beltran-Moreno. Moreno kidnapped Clay with the intent to hold him for ransom.

In February 2005, Jessica Lunsford was snatched from her Florida home and held captive by John Couey. After a weekend in captivity, Couey confessed that he chose to rape Jessica and bury her alive. Several months later, Jessica's body was found buried near his home. As a society, we have to shed light on the horror stories that occurred.

The brutality that child predators are capable of is simply unbelievable. They are sick and twisted. Since we know the truth about their intentions, then why are so many released into society? Take a look at the hundreds of cases of rape, molestation, and other predatory crimes, many happen to be repeat offenses. The reports of sex offenders living in communities all over America are staggering. There are massive data bases that log the numerous offenders that live near our homes and communities. They have successfully been reintroduced into the population. WHY ON EARTH IS THIS THE CASE?! Remember Philip Garrido, he was arrested in 1972 and charged with drugging and raping a 14-year-old girl. It was also the third sexual crime Garrido was accused of. Oh yeah, John Couey had an impressive record of 24 arrests prior to the Lunsford case.

During one of his burglaries, he grabbed a child and kissed her and molested a 5-year-old girl in 1991. Couey was released immediately after the 1991 arrest.

Leniency has often been advocated for human rights reasons. A select group of judges (who are severely misguided) and groups like the Human Rights Watch have taken the liberty to claim the moral high ground and be the good souls to protect the child predators. Bravo to all of you! We have so much to thank you for, like bringing convicted rapists and molesters next door and letting them prance along our streets eyeing their next targets. Human Rights Watch has released a report criticizing the current laws addressing convicted sex offenders. Registration laws that require offenders to notify local law enforcement and governments about their residence are too strict or certain residency restrictions, like keeping them as far away from schools, also infringes on their rights. They claim these laws violate "a panoply of protected rights." There seems to be an apparent fear of community back lash, and harm and safety concerns for the offenders. Some nerve the Human Rights Watch has. They are looking out for the rights of the wrong people and the criminals are laughing in the faces of these foolish advocates.

Look at what leniency and forgiveness brought to Jessica Lunsford and Jaycee Dugard. Folks, sexual predators and rapists cannot be rehabilitated. Second chances only bring more suffering and pain.Remember, the young victims don't get a do-over, they are gone physically and/or mentally. I suggest execution, chemical castration, and life imprisonment (of course without chance for parole) as the only fool proof combination of sentencing. We ought to block out any distractions that might cloud our judgment and remember the most vital piece of information, these are children. We were once kids, and who knows, we may even have families of our own.

This is a problem that will only continue to haunt us. These monsters are hiding under our children's beds, in their closets, on street corners, near schools, next door, and in parks. They are among us.