Posted on 04/22/2005 9:42:50 PM PDT by Former Military Chick
Residents in a Ocala neighborhood could face charges after a convicted sex offender apparently committed suicide in despair over signs labeling him a "child rapist" posted in his neighborhood, according to Local 6 News.
Clovis Ivan Claxton, 38, who was convicted of sexually assaulting a child in Washington in 1991, had lived at 3230 SE. 45 Street in Ocala for about two years.
Tuesday, Claxton noticed bright yellow, laminated signs displaying his picture, date of birth, address and the words "child rapist" hanging on power poles in his neighborhood. A county commissioner proposed posting such information in the community but Sheriff Ed Dean rejected the idea.
After seeing the signs, Claxton called the sheriff's office and said that he felt "extremely scared and feels that people in the neighborhood are now out to possibly hurt him."
"Once he made these type statements our deputies took this man into custody under the Baker Act law and transported him to a local mental health facility for evaluation," Marion County Sheriff's Capt. Denis Strow said. "He was later released."
Tuesday morning, Claxton's parents found him dead of an apparent overdose with one of the child rapist flyers by his side.
Jane Claxton blames County Commissioner Randy Harris, who proposed the flyers, for her son's death, according to a report.
"Just don't get on the bandwagon," she said. "There's going to be other (deaths) if Randy Harris has his way. He hasn't been in trouble for 18 years, and he's branded for life."
Harris said sex offenders need to take responsibility for their actions.
"I don't blame his death to the signs," he said, adding he was undeterred in his quest to alert people to sex offenders living in their neighborhoods.
Dean said it is an example that police work should be left to authorities.
"We need to keep calm, do the right thing," Dean said. "Not go overboard with it. Protect our children. Use all of the resources we can but not stir a community up to a frenzy."
Claxton's death follows the high-profile arrests of sex offenders in the separate killings of two Florida girls less than seven weeks apart. State lawmakers have responded by passing a bill to require lifetime supervision of some child sex offenders.
State law allows for flyers to be printed and distributed, Local 6 News reported. But, altering the signs or flyers is against the law.
Claxton's address had been added to the top of the flyer along with the words "child rapist."
"It is a violation of the law," Strow said. "And should we find who perpretrated it, I'm sure it is a case that would be reviewed by the state's attorney office to see if they wish to pursue it."
The person responsible for the flyers faces up to 1 year in jail.
The sheriff's office is investigating and an autopsy was scheduled for Friday.
Marion County is located northwest of Orlando and has more than 600 registered sex offenders.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
When it comes to sex offenders, you are so frighteningly off course that I'm almost afraid to say anything to you. Your help in "prison ministry" immediately puts you in jeopardy.
A sex offender is also a pathological liar. His lies have been formulated before he commits a crime, and they are intricate and involved. A sex offender will tell you "it only happened once" (the one they are in prison for) and they will also tell you that they have "gone to guidance therapy" for it (they haven't because they "don't need it") and they will tell you that prison was a "good experience" for them, but not for the reasons you want to believe.
"Bad judgement" is believing these "people" are capable of "change." They aren't, because they don't want to change. There are no "appropriate ways" to deal with child molesters. Ever. They start when they are young, and they start WITH the young. They use coercion and authority and guilt to achieve their goal of the almighty orgasm, which controls their lives.
If you have girl children, you had better listen up and keep an eye on their every movement. If you have boys, you had better listen twice as hard. Do NOT excuse sex offenders! They are who they are because that is who and what they want to be.
There are no true victimless crimes.
Even crimes against society are crimes.
Again, you've not offered a good retort. Please recheck your position.
Your comparison STINKS. Never known anyone who has been molested have you? You love these molesters so much let them move in where you live.
Amen! The worst ones to watch out for are the ones that caught religion. People should never fall for that lie. Child molesters are master manipulators and will use even the bible to fool people. I am not happy about suicide BUT parents have a right to know in order to protect their children.
"Your comparison STINKS. Never known anyone who has been molested have you? You love these molesters so much let them move in where you live."
I think he needs to rent a room to them, while his little sisters or baby daughters (even sons and brothers) are in the same house. I suspect he will believe the molesters before he believes his own kin.
As we say in Ebonics, "No bettah fo' HIZ ass!"
"Once he made these type statements our deputies took this man into custody under the Baker Act law and transported him to a local mental health facility for evaluation," Marion County Sheriff's Capt. Denis Strow said.
Wow. The "Baker Act Law", huh?
The WORST sex offenders are the ones who use Scriptures of whatever religion they "believe" as a lever against the innocent victims they prey upon.
I have a link somewhere, and as soon as I find it, I will FReepmail it to you, if you aren't online.
A child predator is a child predator. Period.
I do believe in repentance but I also believe in satanic temptation. No one should have their children put at risk.
You are SO misguided. How old are you, and how far did you go in school?
Something tells me you are a troll.
Are you really this naive, or do you JUST NOT GET IT????
A sex offender is a SEX OFFENDER because this is what he WANTS to be. He will lie. He will use every tool at hand, including the Bible, the Talmud, the Quran and any other Scripture he has available to convince a child to "consent" to his sexual advances, and may even go so far as to say the 3 year old neighbor was "asking for it by flirting" with him.
"When you say "His lies have been formulated before he commits a crime" I would only say that virtually every wrong has this at its heart."
Wrong. Most crimes are committed with a minimum of preparation, which is why most of them fail. A sex offender, however, is stealthy and insidious.
"That said, there are responsibilities we must take upon ourselves by keeping an eye on those who have been known to have broken any and every law. For that matter, should we know about other things someone does that are unethical or immoral, I have no problem with shunning such people to encourage behavior modification."
There is no such thing as "behavior modification" for a sex offender because THEY WANT THE ORGASM.
"Let's fashion a punishment that metes out what we expect is appropriate from those who do wrong. And after such is done, let's live our lives remaining vigilant and respectful of any and everyone. Isn't this what allows us "liberty" in the first place?"
What about the "liberty" of the children whose lives have been changed (or eliminated) because of the sex offender? How can a child of two tell her daddy she doesn't want him to do to her what he did the last time he changed her diaper?
You think you have a good argument, but buster, you picked the wrong place to present it. You are ignorant of what constitutes "SEX OFFENDER." I hope your life is such that you never have to find out first hand. May my words never have occasion to haunt you for the rest of your life.
Listen at yourself, you are defending a child molester. Good night. If you have children I hope you keep them safer than you would have us protect ours. Good grief...
Our legislators in Washington State want to protect the privacy of child molestors. As is stands now we know if they are a level I, II, III offender. If they have their way a bill will pass that will prohibit us from knowing their crimes and what level they are assessed at.
In AZ, they are only "online" when they reach Level II. If they are Level III, they can live quietly, unless they move to a "sensitive neighborhood" or commit another crime.
Once they have been imprisoned, however, most sex offenders learn "the tricks of the trade" and when they are released, they are slicker and more dangerous than ever; but they NEVER quit.
Ping
In addition, if a person knows his whereabouts are/can be tracked every moment, that will be a determent...geese - they put Martha Stewart in a leg bracelet - like who was she going to hurt?
"We've all felt guilt, if we're human. I can't imagine what a truely contrite person must feel for such a crime. I'd be suicidal too."
Sex offenders feel no guilt. Always remember this.
"I also can't imagine what his victim must have felt."
A sex offender has more than one victim because he starts early and molests whenever there is an opportunity. Many victims are too young to protest.
"Don't know what to say about this sort of thing. Pray, is my only advice."
Prayers will not help the victim (Heavenly Father has taken all this into consideration) and the prayers for the offender are wasted. They don't want the prayers, they don't think they need prayers, and they think the victims they abuse want the "attention."
They don't care. They think they are more clever than anyone else. The smokescreen they have built was begun when the molesters were very young. Public humiliation means nothing to them because "you've got the wrong guy." In prison, they are housed with other sexual offenders who can tell them how to be a little more clever, and a lot more convincing.
I hate to tell you this, but nothing you can do to a sex offender who is on the streets will be convincing enough to make him change his ways. No ankle bracelet in the world will stop a sex offender. It just makes him more clever and inventive in his ways of capturing victims.
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