Register at the Morgue

I'm a big fan of Dateline's "To Catch a Predator" series, where they set up a police decoy to chat online, posing as a minor. Men of all ages make sexual advances on these "little girls," then arrange to meet them in person, when they think the parents aren't home. Here is a link where you can watch one of these #@*&*%'s as he arrives at a home, thinking he's about to have a sexual encounter with a minor child.

One of my daughter's friends wanted her to go to a high school football game last year, and I had to quiz the father taking them by asking, "Do you let your daughter run around all over the stadium?" You see, it's a small town, and I already knew the answer. I knew the other child and that she did not sit in the stands and actually WATCH THE GAME. Kids that age (12) are there to socialize, and run amuk. My daughter's classmates are all allowed this privilege. He scoffed at me, and when I didn't let my daughter attend the game with the family, I was labeled as "overprotective." People have become complacent, assuming that bad things don't happen here. When I first moved here, people didn't lock their cars or their homes. I was flabbergasted, b/c I grew up in a place where if you didn't lock your car, you wouldn't HAVE a car in less than fifteen minutes.

Our little town has hopefully woken up. Just last week, a level-three registered sex offender arrived at a local ballpark and attempted to lure two young girls into his van by offering them a ride. Fortunately, the heads-up mother alerted the police after her daughter told her what had happened, and the bastard is once again behind bars. What's worse? The sex offender was registered IN THE NEIGHBORING COUNTY. It can happen anywhere. And parents had better pay attention, know where their children are at all times, and check on them frequently. I'd rather be called "paranoid" and "overprotective" than "grieving mother," anyday.

And I believe the only place a sex offender should be registered is at the morgue.