JOLIET, IL — An 81-year-old man who was a convicted sex offender took his own life on Friday morning by jumping off the downtown Cass Street Bridge, police said. A call came into the Joliet Police Department’s communications center at 6:59 a.m. in reference to someone who jumped into the Des Plaines River. A few officers were in the immediate area. They quickly accessed a police boat and tried to save the man from drowning.
“As the officers observed the man in the water, he attempted to be drowning himself, placing his head in the water and drinking the water,” Deputy Police Chief Ed Gregory said. “The officers said that he was determined to kill himself.”
Would be interesting to know what was said or done to him while he was at the police station, unfortunately, we will never know.
This is such a sad commentary on what “might” have been a consequence of having to register, and at 81 no less. So sad.
This article doesn’t really serve anyone who reads it. Why make mention about his being a RC? Given the sketchy details, there is no apparent connection. That he killed himself, and that he did so shortly after registering, doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with his having been a RC. Actually, I’d be more likely to think there’s a connection if he did it while on the way to register or such. Definitely a sad story, but it seems to be a suicide that happened to be a RC, not a RC (rooted) suicide.
This country is all about labeling everyone: young, old, gay straight, conservative, liberal, etc. That a newspaper would use the term “Sex Offender” in the headline is not a surprise. Better to attract attention to an otherwise sad personal story.
How sad that the first two words in the headline are proven, surefire attention getters: sex offender.
Not Grandfather Commits Suicide
Or
Retiree Leaps to Death
Or
Senior Citizen Drowns
Or
Police Attempt Rescue of Drowning Grandfather.
Communicating the story and informing people has absolutely nothing to do with this article. Everything is about the headline amd getting eyeballs on the page to view the advertisments. Get the click-through rates higher to get your advertising rates higher.
Journalistic integrity, if there ever was such a thing, is dead as the proverbial door nail.
Update on article:
“Police were on hand to rescue the 81 year old man so as to charge him with being within 1200 feet of a public park. Once they recovered the lifeless body of this unfortunate soul they charged him with a Felony and remanded him to the county morgue awaiting a court hearing on said charge. His cadaver will most likely be remanded to the state prison for at least two years for violating the terms and conditions of of his sex offender status.”
My 26 year old friend and roomate took his life last November in my home because he could not stand the thought of spending the rest of his life as a marked man. His crime? 21 year old college kid with a 17 year old girlfriend. Both families approved, the cop who saw them kiss in the park decided his life was worth nothing.
I feel for this man.
Maybe I am being overly sensitive, but the fact is the his status as a registered sex offender was considered not sensitive information, before even his name. they had to get the permission of relatives before they could disclose that information. If he had relatives and I was one of them, I would not now give them permission to disclose his name, now that it is widely know he is a registrant. For what safety reason would the police disclose that fact to the press? What safety concern is there from a dead registrant. No the disclosure is all for the drama factor. We or our relatives don’t own our information anymore. There is no privacy or respect, even in death.
I wonder are there any statistics on suicide by RC’s? I am sure that the rate must be very high.