We can’t imagine how unsettling it must be to find photographs of your child that were taken without permission and posted online by a sex offender. Nor can we imagine the frustration in discovering that it is perfectly legal.
But as the Legislature considers a solution to this upsetting situation, brought to light in the case of an Augusta man who was taking photos in public places around the city, it’s worth acknowledging where we are most vulnerable to sexual predation. Full Editorial
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ME: Lawmaker Seeks to Ban Sex Offenders From Photographing Kids
I know I’m, preaching to the choir here but in case anyone else is reading: (I sent the same message to the article publisher).
Taking or posting photographs (non-nude) of children online isn’t illegal. If someone doesn’t want their photo taken, stay out of the public.
Most sex offenders aren’t like Larry Nassar. In fact, 95% plus are not. Most sex offenders are not monsters, are not sickos, and will never offend again. Also, protecting children from registered sex offenders is very misleading as 90% of new sex crimes come from NON-previously convicted sex offenders. The old and the new crimes were/will be committed by people the children knew/know; family, friends, teachers, law enforcement, etc., not from strangers.
The person taking the photos didn’t do anything to upset the parents. The media and ridiculous laws instilled fear into them and created the hysterical parent.
From the article at https://www.centralmaine.com/2018/01/26/our-view-the-right-way-to-take-on-sex-offenders/, “The effectiveness of public sex offender registries, for instance, is highly questionable, with studies showing little impact on sex crimes or recidivism. Restricting where sex offenders can live also doesn’t do much for public safety; in fact, by hindering an offender’s ability to find housing, these laws make it more likely that someone will re-offend.”
From article: “But if it [the proposed legislation] ignites a discussion about how we can protect kids, then it is worth considering.”
Oh, indeed! And if it gives families something to discuss around the dinner table, what better reason for an unnecessary, unconstitutional new law!! (Sacrasm fully intended!) 😡
whats next ? no camera’s ? how bout RC’s not being aloud to own or carry a mirrors because we might see a reflection of a child . what if the child is not the intended subject matter ? it reminds me of this show that use to be on a few years back , it was about life guards , and beach cops , and this lady made a big deal out of this guy using his camcorder out on the beach , and he was mostly shooting the surf , but cot some kids that all you could see was their heads bobbing out in the water , and this lady was all freaked out , the cops got their acting like he was out there with a gun , but they checked the cam out to see what was on it , it was funny because even one of the cops snickered , and they showed the footage , and after the surf footage it showed this rather plump lady in a truly funny looking bathing suit yelling and pointing at him , then blur out her flipping him off , but the cops still made him take his cam off of the beach TO KEEP THE PEACE ! lol it truly was funny ! at the same time unsettling to think you can be out on the beach in great whether ,great day , and cant even enjoy the day , with out some Kill Roy screwing your whole day up with this over baring freak show , beating this boring old drum that never changes its beat ,EVER ! it just seems that people would be begging for some real entertainment , rather than the junk they are stuck with to feed their heads with, have people lost the ability to form an opinion or thinking proses of their own ? with out just jumping at the opportunity to jump on some bandwagon that has to do with punishing people ? I myself would be much happier if I was out building surveil shelters , fishing , camping , maybe take a few pictures of good old mother nature , creating memories with my very deserving family , these so called “Justus” crazed people remind me of the old native story called “The Coyote That Became A farmer” the ol hungry coyote watched the farmer from the tree line , and seen the farmer working , and taking care of his Critters , the coyote was amazed to see all the critters just walked into their cages , easy pray he said to him self , so the coyote set out to put his plan into action , he went about the whole day gathering all the wire and things he would need to build the finest cage of all the land , one the critters could never get out of , the more hungry he became thinking of all the pray he could keep locked up , all the troublesome critters he “hated” that always steal the fattest chickens , he worked all night , even when Mister Owl landed on a limb above him ,saying , Coyote you should work well rested and not think about your dislike for those you plan to put in your contraption , and think of how your going to care for them ,, and, and,,, the coyote but in on mister owl saying , the harder I work the more I hate , the more I hate the less I have to care , the owl became sick of listening and flew off , the coyote watched the owl fly away , he worked harder and faster in a complete frenzy , tell finely he had to rest even if it was just a moment , and fell a sleep . When he woke the coyote lay looking at his work , and said what a great cage , well worth the little walk to get him a drink of water so badly needed , he got up and started to walk , he was in shock to see that there was no way out , no matter how hard he tried he could not get out of the cage , soon he seen some of the critters he hated so much the night before , he yelled at them , HELP ! HELP ! , they all just looked at him and kept walking , it was like that all day , the sun began to fall he was hungry and sick with fear , Mister Owl land on the limb one again , The coyote said please let me out of this cage!, , NO one will help me! , Mister Owl Said , Mister coyote you know I cant let you out of that cage because you built it out of anger and hate , and it is much to strong , and flew off , Morel of the story is don’t build cages out of hate , for you will find your self in a cage of your own design ,