The numbers are often repeated in discussions about sexual assault, but they never become less shocking. One out of three women in Utah will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime; one out of eight will be raped.
But while there is evidence that a large percentage of sex crimes go uninvestigated and unprosecuted, there are still more people in prison in Utah for sexual assault than for any other category of crime. Full Opionion Piece
Well, it should come as no surprise that locking people up over sex isn’t going to fix any problems, and will only bring about much bigger expenses for the state of Utah. Here is a solution for you: suspend the prison sentences for most of these crimes, charge an appropriate fine instead, and make it all conditional on some sort of rehabilitation work: classes on the right way to handle marriage, or women, for instance. That lowers your prison population, reduces your expenses, and even provides a new income stream for the state. And since you now have an income stream from these people, you want to eliminate any requirement to register—-such a requirement would likely prevent them from generating the income they need in order to pay their fines.
And this is why we need to change the language of the law. Sexual assault can mean a number of different things and then there are all the other sex offenses. The wrong question is being asked here. Nobody should be dealing with prison issues anywhere. Once in prison, the system has already failed. The whole purpose should be putting into place programs, social structures, and initiatives that redirect people away from going down a path to prison.
Extremely difficult questions must be asked regarding the root causes of illegal activity and more specifically for this instance, sex offenses.
Certainly one reason that there seems to be more sex offenders in Utah prisons by percentage is not difficult to figure out. First, the state is not exactly a hotbed of violent crime one would associate with urban communities (not PC to say, but it has to be mentioned with regard to the numbers). In addition, sex crimes are committed by (mostly) men in every class of society, including professionals such as doctors and laywers. Finally, sex offenses are among the longest prison sentences.
This is actually very easy to determine if they did more drill-down researching, but political correctness rules the day.
When I was in LA County jail waiting for transfer to state prison I heard a lot of stories from the other inmates. Stories claiming ex-girlfriends and ex-wives claiming things were done to them or their children but didn’t actually happen. I’m sure there is a percentage that were being honest and were actually innocent.
I haven’t seen the numbers but I’m sure conviction rates for sex offenses are much higher than other crimes. Considering some cases are taken to trial without any evidence just the word of the victim is enough to convict. No DNA, no pictures or video, no texts or e-mails, no recorded pre-text calls, and/or witnesses to the crime except the victim. I’m sure conviction rates are higher for sex crimes more than any other type of crime. That’s my opinion; I could be wrong.
What can I say; they are manufacturing consent for whatever they decide to do. Let’s face the truth; fear sells and can be very profitable to some, either monetarily and other ways too.