Well, here’s something new. How about an 85-year-old woman from a small Wayne County town rushing to the defense of a convicted sex offender she doesn’t even know?
And how about that same sex offender agreeing to sit down for an interview with the Beacon Journal just days after a thorough public shaming? Full OpEd Piece
It makes me sad and mad… every story.. it’s like I can see my own story has a repeat to everyone else’s.
I worked pretty hard after my failures.. completed college and can’t hold a long term job for long…
“For sex offenders, the rate of recidivism is particularly high. But even those rates aren’t 100 percent.”
And here we go once again.
I want to thank Mike for the information and links to studies he has posted. I have used a part of your plaintiff report you have posted to email the author of this oped. He needed to be educated on the facts surrounding the comment that a recidivism rate was high for RCs. We need to educate those that are in a position to educate society.
Good story till they say recidivism for rso is high. Despite all our obstacles a.d the stigma recidivism is incredibley low.
The writer does leave his e-mail address and phone number at the end of the article. I believe we should write and call them when they do this to educate them as much as we do the politicians when we want to oppose, or support legislation.
Let’s bombard him with emails. I already sent one.
One of the reasons we post news articles on this site is to encourage those affected to respond on each article with research, facts and reason, in the hope that they will do so civilly and factually. Writing on this site is helpful in sharing information but it is preaching to the choir to a large degree.
I did email him, and let him know he just made victims of the guy’s family. It isn’t just the “former sex offender” who is now getting flak for this, it is his family as his well.
OK so we all want to correct Bob and his recidivism comment and point out the entire family is now targeted and suffering. Understandable? Of course! But before we all shoot off emails chastising him I think we should think about trying to make him our ally instead:
His stories and columns have won 59 regional and national awards
In 2008, the National Society of Professional Journalists voted him Best Columnist in the Nation
He has been named Best Columnist in Ohio by at least one professional journalism organization for seven consecutive years
He has written three books, one of them spent four weeks on the New York Times bestseller list in 2002
AND MOST IMPORTANT, He was one of the lead writers for A Question of Color, a year long examination of racial attitudes in Akron that won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994
This writer has a great reputation and is widely read. He understands investigative research and is willing to do the work if the subject interests him. He could be a huge asset for our cause…
Of course, we should all be polite when writing to these journalists no matter how messed up their facts are. This is a very emotional subject for everyone on this site, so I would encourage anyone writing to him to stop and read what they wrote before sending the e-mail off. Education is the key, and many of them are likely writing what they have heard from politicians, such as the high recidivism rate. We may not be able to convince them all, but we will be able to convince some and in turn when they write their next story they will be able to inform others of the facts. One rung of the ladder at a time.
No angry comments. E mailed him links to studies that showed the truth on recidivism rates. Polite and professional. All others should be the same.
Received an a mail reply from Bob Dyer.
“Thank you for your note. I’m planning a follow up column that will look closely at recidivism rates.”
Perhaps a standard reply to everyone?
That right hookscar all those studies and reports are the most recent and are by the most credible leading authorities on the subject and I hope everyone uses those to educate people with facts not fictions.
Next in the series:
http://www.ohio.com/news/local/bob-dyer-sex-crime-punishments-incredibly-inconsistent-1.589742