This case if horrific and was totally preventable. As long as judges are not going to listen to public outcry about NO BAIL FOR CHILD RAPISTS, the communities where these people are released are going to have to be vigilant (note I did not say vigilante).
When the young man who raped our children was released pending his trial, there was no bail as he was a juvenile. His parents attempted to return him to school in our town (a school where one of his victims attended and two of our older children who were not victims attended). We threatened to remove all our children from all the local schools. This would have been a major blow to the schools financially as most of our kids "pulled" in special ed funds. There was a rushed meeting and the rapist was ordered to stay out of our town and away from our children and other minors. His parents were ordered to supervise him at all times. Well, so much for that.
I soon learned that his parents had enrolled the rapist at a school in a nearby city. I decided to be a little bold and called the principal of that school (I was just learning to speak up loudly). That principal was shocked beyond belief. As the youth's name was not public at that time, the principal had no idea who his new student was. He asked if he could call me back in a few hours time. I waited for the call and when it came, I was told I was on speaker phone. Numerous school administrators and attorneys were present and introduced themselves. I told our story. There was a lot of silence in that room.
I learned that within days of enrollment at the new school, the youth was "helping" out some special ed students. He was noted to be "very friendly and helpful" (from my notes taken during the phone call). We learned that he was not supervised in any way and had access to the school restrooms. Being that all his victims in our town were special ed students and he was charged with (and later convicted of) rape in our school restroom), the school administrators were a tad concerned. By the end of the day, the boy was provided with a private home tutor and removed from the general population. His parents, of course, were furious with me.
I've always thought that my call most probably saved another child from abuse. This rapist had an MO and would not be deterred. It did not surprise me at all that he made a beeline to the special ed department at the new school. The issue here is communication and going out on a limb. The community must do that to keep our children safe. Everyone had to keep in mind that the youth was not yet convicted. However, there was a massive amount of evidence against him. It was liability, I'm sure, which kept him out of the schools. I didn't care what it was, I just wanted the children in the nearby city kept safe. I couldn't bear to think that another child and family would have to go through what we were.
Oh, the youth was also ordered to not leave the county. The parents forgot that rule and took him on a vacation to Mexico as he was stressed. I've always worried about the children in the resort town the family visited.
The rapist is now 25 and was released this summer. He is a registered RSO for life. But, he's done his time and has no supervision. As he never admitted, he received no treatment. I find it not surprising at all that he moved to an apartment directly across from a popular and large city park.
