The remains of Jacob Wetterling have been found in Minnesota. Jacob was abducted in 1989 at age 11 in a case that scared, scarred and deeply saddened people around the globe. As his mother Patty texted to the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Saturday: “Our hearts are broken. We have no words.” Full Article
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His family still held out some hope. Who can blame them? Patty Wetterling may have helped start the panic, but she had good reason for concern, and she began to speak out against the over-broad regulations when she saw it going too far. My heart goes out to her and hers, which sounds so damn trivial in comparison.
May his precious soul rest in peace! My heart is heavy for his family.
I hope the person responsible for this is punished to the fullest extent of the law, but please don’t continue to punish countless American families who had nothing to do with it and who could never do something so unspeakable.
I gotta ask: Was the guy who did this a prior sexual offender AT THE TIME this happened in 1989? Thus, would all of this registry nonsense (if it were in place in 1989) have even helped to catch him? I’m thinking the answer to those questions are both: NO.
Lenore Skenazy: http://reason.com/blog/2016/09/05/body-of-jacob-wetterling-the-missing-kid
“On this sad night, I won’t get into all the reasons the public sex offender registry hasn’t made us safer.
You can read the Bleyer piece: http://www.citypages.com/news/patty-wetterling-questions-sex-offender-laws-6766534 to see how Patti Wetterling herself has come to question this legacy of her son’s disappearance.
And she’s not alone. Just a few days ago the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Michigan declared that many of the registry’s ever-increasing requirements are unconstitutional. It is terrible how bad crimes make bad law.
But the real point tonight is that one young man did not get to live out his days. His family has lived without him for 27 years, and they have just learned they must live without him forever.
We pass laws because we wish there was a way to ease this sadness. It’s an understandable impulse, even if the result seldom makes for good public policy.”
Of all the registrants I have met in therapy programs, RSOL/ACSOL meetings, and in life period (please include yours truly on this list), I have yet to encounter one person who put a gun to a kid’s head. Nor have I met anyone who shot/stabbed/poisoned/hanged/killed a child. We have to promote and stand by the fact that this guy is plain and simply a murderer. A sex registry would prove obsolete in this type of case, as the killer would likely face life in prison or death. Only a suggestion here – might be a good idea to commission a study on the numbers of similar cases and how a sex registry is fruitless, because the killers either died behind bars (i.e. Gacy and Vickers) or are currently spending the rest of their lives locked up.
No law will ever stop people from doing bad things. I hope this lady finds rest and closure finally.
this is actually a individual I really feel sympathy for and do hope she can find closer..I do believe that she was working in good faith on her mission even though her attempt at a solution was at best misguided….it must be really hard to lose your child like that and then to have his legacy being usurped by corrupt politicians to cause pain and suffering for thousands of people….she knows it’s wrong and has been outspoken about that fact..hopefully she gets some peace of mind and finds it in her heart to really push back hard on these laws and right the wrong that she inadvertently helped start….