# Man charged with raping 3-year-old girl...sick, sick, sick
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-charged-with-raping-3-year-old-girl-sick-sick-sick/233939
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [March 12, 2004, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-charged-with-raping-3-year-old-girl-sick-sick-sick/233939 "2004-03-12T18:00:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-charged-with-raping-3-year-old-girl-sick-sick-sick/233939/21 "2004-03-15T14:16:56Z")
Opening myself up for some flaming too but…lets just remember that the guy hasn’t actually been convicted yet. Sure, the evidence as outlined in the article certainly points to a guilty verdict but it wouldn’t be the first time a story was wrong, exaggerated, etc…
Aside from that, I personally believe that those who wish slow, painful deaths on others for whatever reason don’t have too much to be proud of. YMMV.
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### Author:  [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-charged-with-raping-3-year-old-girl-sick-sick-sick/233939/22 "2004-03-15T14:44:47Z")
My son is 3, and he wouldn’t have any problems explaining in detail what happened. He doesn’t have any problems explaining in great detail what happened on “Teen Titans” last night. You guys need to hang out with more three year olds. They are way beyond “goo-goo, gah-gah”.
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### Author:  [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-charged-with-raping-3-year-old-girl-sick-sick-sick/233939/23 "2004-03-15T21:26:30Z")
> [@manx](#):
>
> And so it will probably not run for pages. People will look in, agree that there are some truely sick fucks in the world and it will drop off the front page.
>
> People take what they want from threads like this. I agree: they’re not looking for an argument, but it’s just registering disgust, and it’s in the right forum.
I didn’t say it should be in another forum; I just said I don’t get the mentality.
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### Author:  [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2004, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-charged-with-raping-3-year-old-girl-sick-sick-sick/233939/24 "2004-03-15T22:06:12Z")
> [@blowero](#):
>
> So it’s therapeutic for you when people find news stories of child-rapists, and start threads about how they would like to slowly torture and kill them? I’m not a psychiatrist, but that doesn’t sound too healthy to me. I would think getting yourself into a support group would be an infinitely better way to work on the healing process. I sincerely wish you the best of luck.
>
> If there were no outrage toward rapists, I could see the importance of bringing it up. But it’s something that is so commonly known, I’m not seeing the point. It seems rather like starting a thread to say how much you hate Hitler - you simply aren’t going to get an argument from anyone.
My healing process is pretty much complete thanks. I really don’t care if the posts are here or not, I was just responding to the idea that they serve no purpose. This stuff has always gone on, it has not always been reported and spoken about. That has meant it has been hard getting the services that have been needed. It is nice to know on some level that had what happened to me been happening now there would be less inclination of everyone to turn a blind eye and deny the possibility which was my story.
Times have changed, that is a good thing. I like seeing it, I don’t need to see it for me personally but I like that people care enough about strangers to be so full of anger, that leads to political and societal change and hopefully improvements.
I think some things, though uncomfortable, are better not ignored or swept under the rug.
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### Author:  [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-charged-with-raping-3-year-old-girl-sick-sick-sick/233939/25 "2004-03-15T23:29:25Z")
> [@Thylacine](#):
>
> My healing process is pretty much complete thanks. I really don’t care if the posts are here or not, I was just responding to the idea that they serve no purpose.
If you’re o.k. now, then I don’t see what that purpose is, in light of what you said.
> [@](#):
>
> This stuff has always gone on, it has not always been reported and spoken about. That has meant it has been hard getting the services that have been needed. It is nice to know on some level that had what happened to me been happening now there would be less inclination of everyone to turn a blind eye and deny the possibility which was my story.
I’m really sorry that that happened to you, but I don’t see how posting rants about random news articles and talking about how we would like to torture and kill those responsible is helping the situation at all. Is anyone denying that rape and child molestation exist? I certainly wasn’t aware that anyone denied it. In fact, I would say there is a very high level of awareness of the issue.
> [@](#):
>
> Times have changed, that is a good thing. I like seeing it, I don’t need to see it for me personally but I like that people care enough about strangers to be so full of anger, that leads to political and societal change and hopefully improvements.
I don’t think it’s fair to imply that if one doesn’t post rants about torturing some random child-rapist, that they don’t “care about strangers”. I care a lot. If one thinks improvements need to be made, a more effective strategy would be to start a thread in Great Debates about the need for these changes. BBQ Pit threads about “I want to torture so-and-so” don’t really fit the bill.
What improvements do you think need to be made? There seems to be a great deal of public awareness of the issue, and those who are convicted of child molestation or rape can look forward to long prison sentences, severe physical abuse by their fellow inmates, and having to register with the government for the rest of their lives, effectively ending all privacy forever. Support services are readily available for victims. If more needs to be done, we should discuss it rationally. Short of continuing to torture them _after_ they get out of prison, I’m not sure what else it is that you want. We could make the sentence for rape more severe than the sentence for murder, but it seems to me that would simply encourage rapists to always kill their victims, which I don’t think would be better.
> [@](#):
>
> I think some things, though uncomfortable, are better not ignored or swept under the rug.
Again, you’re being unfair. Nobody has swept anything “under the rug” here. I haven’t seen a lot of “I hate Hitler” threads in here; does that mean we swept him under the rug? Of course not. I’m all for discussing it if that’s what you want to do, but simply saying “This bastard needs to die a slow death” is not useful in any way, and we just don’t need any more of these kinds of threads. Yes, we are ALL outraged by child-rape. Is there ANY point at which people would accept this as a given? Do we _need_ to keep stating the obvious over and over and over and over?
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### Author:  [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2004, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-charged-with-raping-3-year-old-girl-sick-sick-sick/233939/26 "2004-03-16T08:13:04Z")
Hitler is dead, this evil lives amongst us in every community. I do not blame those who are enraged by that fact for expressing it. While I don’t think I have ever joined in I do find it on some level personally validating. If you think that healing from abuse is supposed to lead to sitting around hugging perpetrators and telling them it is ok you would be wrong.
Is it necessary? Probably not. Is it any less necessary than 90% of the rants posted in the pit? Probably not. People rant about all sorts of stuff that pisses them off, I am really glad this stuff pisses people off. If everyone keeps getting pissed off it won’t fall off the front page and more adults will look out for it in kids they know and perhaps we will get adequate services for those in need of help. Only a tiny proportion of kids being abused are discovered at the time of the abuse. That is a tragedy we should all be pissed off about. Sure, we need the intellectual and political arguments too but human beings should feel outraged about child abuse and the pit is all about expressing rage isn’t it?
your milage clearly varies, the thread was clearly marked, why did you read it?
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### Author:  [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2004, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-charged-with-raping-3-year-old-girl-sick-sick-sick/233939/27 "2004-03-16T08:17:28Z")
> [@blowero](#):
>
> Is anyone denying that rape and child molestation exist? I certainly wasn’t aware that anyone denied it. In fact, I would say there is a very high level of awareness of the issue.
But there wasn’t always, and widespread awareness is a new enough phenomenon that there are still victims walking around who can remember telling outright what was happening and not being believed.
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### Author:  [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2004, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-charged-with-raping-3-year-old-girl-sick-sick-sick/233939/28 "2004-03-16T09:02:53Z")
> [@Thylacine](#):
>
> If you think that healing from abuse is supposed to lead to sitting around hugging perpetrators and telling them it is ok you would be wrong.
Yes, that’s exactly what I said.:rolleyes: This is going nowhere; bye-bye now.
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### Author:  [@The\_Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tim)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2004, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-charged-with-raping-3-year-old-girl-sick-sick-sick/233939/29 "2004-03-16T09:22:36Z")
**blowero** most threads are pointless. Really they don’t do anything. They don’t even change the minds of participants that often. Occasionally useful information is exchanged but usually threads are idle chatter. Humans like chattering, especially about news and things with an emotional impact.
I personally use the boards as a sort of news/website filter. I’m more likely to be interested in news items linked from threads than looking at news websites. There are a lot of people who read news websites as part of their daily online routine. It is people like this who are likely to find these news items. They aren’t searching every source of news on the Internet, they are running across the items as part of their daily routine.
I do agree that the call for torture is an ugly part of these threads. It is a strange situation. If the offenders cannot be redeemed it makes the most sense to simply kill the convicted, or put them away somewhere forever if that’s cheaper. Hurting them doesn’t serve any practical value, it just satisfies our savage desire for retribuition. On the other hand if there is something that can be done to make convicted offenders better (i.e. law abiding citizens) we clearly don’t know what it is, and it seems like we don’t really care to find out.
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### Author:  [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2004, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-charged-with-raping-3-year-old-girl-sick-sick-sick/233939/30 "2004-03-16T19:15:47Z")
> [@The Tim](#):
>
> **blowero** most threads are pointless. Really they don’t do anything. They don’t even change the minds of participants that often.
I would say virtually never.
> [@](#):
>
> Occasionally useful information is exchanged but usually threads are idle chatter. Humans like chattering, especially about news and things with an emotional impact.
I think you’re quite right, but I would add that there is a difference between “chattering” about the mundane (some guy stole my parking space today, etc.), and “chattering” about subjects of dire importance, like child rape. Since we’re getting analytical here, such chattering about really serious subjects is borne out of frustration at life in general. I don’t think people are able to come to terms with the fact that there _is_ evil in the world, and that the good guys don’t always win. When something bad happens, it creates cognitive dissonance, and these people think “Oh my gosh - we have to DO something.” The problem comes when we already _have_ done something. I think people look at the world and say, “Evil still exists - something must be _wrong_, therefore I will prattle excessively about it.” They become obsessed with wanting a solution to that which cannot be solved. We put Charles Manson in prison, but he’s still evil. You can drive yourself nuts wringing your hands about why we can’t make him “not evil”, or you can suck it up and just focus on making _yourself_ not evil. We simply aren’t going to completely wipe evil off the face of the Earth, so mindless repetition of what is abundantly obvious doesn’t help.
> [@](#):
>
> I personally use the boards as a sort of news/website filter. I’m more likely to be interested in news items linked from threads than looking at news websites. There are a lot of people who read news websites as part of their daily online routine. It is people like this who are likely to find these news items. They aren’t searching every source of news on the Internet, they are running across the items as part of their daily routine.
I disagree. They may not be doing web searches (or maybe they are - who knows?), but I think people tend to find whatever they are looking for. If you have your mental filter set for “What sick bastard can I find to rail against today?”, then that’s what kind of news stories you will find. If you have a more balanced outlook, you might see an article, make a mental note that, ‘yes, there are still evil individuals in the world but most of us are trying to be good - and I will strive to be good’; then you get on with your life.
> [@](#):
>
> On the other hand if there is something that can be done to make convicted offenders better (i.e. law abiding citizens) we clearly don’t know what it is, and it seems like we don’t really care to find out.
I disagree. I think a lot of thought has been put into that very idea - can we change people so that they no longer have the desire to prey on the innocent? Unfortunately, the answer doesn’t seem easily forthcoming.
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