Posted on 04/22/2005 11:19:32 AM PDT by halieus
OCALA, Fla. — A convicted sex offender apparently committed suicide in despair over signs posted in his neighborhood calling him a child rapist.
Clovis Claxton (search), 38, was found dead by his father with one of the signs beside his body. It was less than a day after his release from a psychiatric hospital.
His mother blames Marion County (search) Commissioner Randy Harris (search) for her son's death. Harris proposed putting up flyers in the neighborhoods of sex offenders to alert neighbors.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Welcome to FR.
Knew the guy, huh?
no, I looked stuff up.... not every piece of information is in any one place
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My feelings exactly, no joy at the suicide but more concern for our kids.
1. He killed himself. Who are you upset at?
2. If he was slandered or libeled, he should sue.
The problem is the recidivism rate, which range from 13% to 77%, depending on the study and other factors.
That is higher than other crimes.
The fact he is in a wheelchair has nothing to do with it.
The fact he was mentally younger had nothing to do with it.
The fact he only got caught once means a few things: possibly he didn't do it again, or he did and didn't get caught and didn't turn himself in.
While exposing himself is less physically damaging to a child, it is still mentally damaging, or could be.
If there was a convicted sex offender in my neighborhood, I would not hesistate to put up signs.
The best thing would have been for him to never pull his thingie out in front of children.
I agree. A lot of the sex offenders are guys who at 16 had consenual sex with their 15 year old girl friend. They need to separate out the worst - child rape, rape, kidnapping, child molestation and so forth, and institute harsher punishments for the more severe crimes.
Although for these crimes, suicide sounds like and excellent punishment. Suppose a few fliers would convince all child rapists to kill themselves?
LOL. Ain't it the truth.
I agree. There is a young man in my neighborhood listed as a sex offender because he slept with his 17 year old girlfriend (a minor) when he was 18 (an adult). What I was upset about was that so many here took delight in this man's death. No one should ever delight in another's demise. That's not to say that death is not a sometimes necessity, but that is all it should be -- a necessity -- not a cause for joy.
Moreover he almost killed himself in January with an OD of alchohol and drugs, 4 months before the posters were printed, causing more damage to his already damaged brain. Now those are the facts of the matter and my hope is he asked God for forgiveness before he went.
I seriously doubt it. It sounds like this person was on the verge anyway. I can't imagine someone who could rape a child being upset over a poster. I'm not sure what good posters would do really. And, I have sympathy for innocent members of the criminals family who are shamed even more. I'm more for not other means such as longer sentences and closer supervision after release.
I'm not even sure the offender listings do any good. I haven't heard of any case where they were of benefit in stopping a crime. Law enforcement needs quick access but they already have it.
Thus far, posters and lists - particularly given the way it's done discussed earlier - seem to be promoting hysteria which just adds another problem to the problem.
Thanks for your reply.
The guy at the time of the incident was 20 and had the mental capabilities of a 11 yr old due to childhood illness. While at a babysitters he played 'show me' with a 9 yr old girl. She was not raped, just simply saw a the guys willy. IN the 18 yrs since the incident this wheel chair bound guy has no other offenses and the girl and her family are friends and visit him regularly. Local police say he was no threat to anyone.
So just to clarify;
1. It is wrong to kill a fetus/child/one who is not of "a predefined mental state".
2. The suicide of a physically older but mentally handicapped "well under 18 in terms of mental capacity" individual is acceptable.
a. When for the crime of exposing one's self to a minor this would be looked at as removal of a burden from our society.
b. The insinuating diligence that caused said suicide is acceptable because it protects our children.
Q:
1. Does the absence of a registered offender allow/cause parents to be any less diligent? Does this fit into the same concept as prime time TV censorship?
2. Are we willing to sacrifice the moral high-ground by going with our guts on how something "feels" right? rather than looking at the facts?
I'm as git-er-done as anyone out there but knee jerk reactions to things that "feel" like the truth are exactly the thing that's destroying our culture's (those of us that frequent FR.com) image.
Intellect and principal CAN go hang in hang so long as we're willing to THINK about things on merit rather than how they fit a framework.
This case certainly demonstrates good reason for such.
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