# So, I've got a fucking convicted child rapist as a co-worker now! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 24, 2006, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946 "2006-04-24T05:26:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946/21 "2006-04-24T09:45:12Z")
If there’s one thing this threads show, some wrongs are more wrong than other wrongs. What I gather from the OP, he/she is upset that the manager has hired a child rapist. It being near an elementary school seems to be another issue. Saying that we shall give the guy another chance seems to run against the grain here, It’s not easy saying that and practising that, either. But the manager is really a jerk if he did mean it with that line about the children being all immigrants. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946/22 "2006-04-24T10:51:16Z")
> [@Chotii](#): > > Unfortunately, “serving his time” rarely seems to prevent sexual predators from repeat offenses. Actually, that’s not the case. Supervision followup on sex offenders seems to put the recidivism rate at [less than non-sexual offenders](http://www.johnhoward.ab.ca/docs/sxoffend/page1.htm) and that [supervision can help greatly in preventing other acts](http://www.johnhoward.ab.ca/docs/sxoffend/page2.htm). I can easily see how you wouldn’t want to work with him, and how working near a school would be an issue. However, restrictive laws about how close a sex offender can live or work to a school/day care center/etc. make it hard for these people to find somewhere to live or work, can lead to them being “dumped” by the state into certain - typically poorer - neighborhoods (one issue being discussed in Chicago lately) as a result or because that’s the only place zoned for “halfway”/supervised living houses, and so forth. This kind of treatment has a high potential for very bad results. Recent items in the news here discussed how because placing parolees can be so difficult in this area due to all the zoning rules that many end up serving out their “parole” in prison, and then because their parole is over, once they get out they don’t have to report to a parole officer, just like the offenders who served out their parole outside. Some of these parole-in-prison guys give an address that either doesn’t exist or they never live at, then just disappear. Since they don’t have the parole officer checking up on them, it can be a long while before anyone discovers that this “registered” sex offender’s address is bogus, and that person is essentially gone in the eyes of the police. ---
**Author:** ![Jaade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@Jaade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaade)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946/23 "2006-04-24T10:58:31Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > The whole front office is picketing and quitting. Think of how a man who’s paying off his debt to society feels when everywhere he goes he’s spat on and ostracized. Making him feel like more of an outsider–making him more likely to do it again to ease his pain. If he makes a child at that school his victim, I hold every picketer responsible. You think shitting all over his attempts to give back to the society that’s healing him is going to make him _more_ likely to resist his temptations? Of course we have a high recidivism rate. It’s probably hard enough for a monster to get over his temptations, and then he’s cast out of every responsible thing he tries to do. Do you think that makes him feel like he owes something to society? I disagree with this completely. You cannot hold the picketers responsible for that man’s actions, past, present or future. That’s just a terrible thing to say. A person must be accountable for his or her own actions and to say that if he rapes again it will be the fault of the people who protest the fact that he works close to an elementary school is absurd. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946/24 "2006-04-24T11:10:37Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > As far as the repeat offender rates go, I’m no expert, but I’m pretty certain that it is not 100%. Actually I think you will find that plenty of people in the medical, psychological and penological fields would think that the recidivism rate is precisely 100%. I can’t recall ever hearing of any course of treatment that changed the sexual orientation of child abusers. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946/25 "2006-04-24T11:19:55Z")
Here’s a [site](http://www.sexoffender.com/sorecidivism_review.html) on recidivism rates. It runs anywhere from 7% to 39%. I’ll admit to being torn on this. I understand that child molesters need to find work too after prison. On the other hand, raping a seven year old at gunpoint is just disturbing. That’s a level of nutty that I don’t think I’d be comfortable working with. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946/26 "2006-04-24T11:28:14Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > Actually I think you will find that plenty of people in the medical, psychological and penological fields would think that the recidivism rate is precisely 100%. I can’t recall ever hearing of any course of treatment that changed the sexual orientation of child abusers. It might come down to a question of definitions. If someone comes out of the system with still an inclination to commit a repeat offense, for example, and happens to die of an accident before he can - then does he count for the recidivism rate or not?? ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946/27 "2006-04-24T11:29:59Z")
> [@Jaade](#): > > I disagree with this completely. You cannot hold the picketers responsible for that man’s actions, past, present or future. That’s just a terrible thing to say. I wouldn’t blame the picketers individually, but the way society treats these people is shameful, and they’re diving right in. We incarcerate them for many years, then let them out into society. We expect them, at that point, to be good law-abiding citizens, but treat them like worthless chattel. You can’t live where you want, we will pick your neighborhood for you, here’s a nice shack next to the abandoned warehouse. You can’t work where you want, hell you probably can’t work at all because any manager STUPID enough to hire you will have the rest of the staff leave. So, sit by yourself in your shitty home, unemployed, until your parole officer comes to visit, there’s a good boy. These are already people with demonstrated mental problems, and we pile on the stress, make them feel worthless and ostracized, and expect them to keep it together. Frankly, it wouldn’t surprise me to find that some repeat offenders do so precisely because of society’s unwillingness to let them live in peace. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946/28 "2006-04-24T11:32:05Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > Actually I think you will find that plenty of people in the medical, psychological and penological fields would think that the recidivism rate is precisely 100%. I can’t recall ever hearing of any course of treatment that changed the sexual orientation of child abusers. Personally, I couldn’t be less interested in their “orientation”. I care whether or not they rape another child, or should we start being the thought police and lock these people up for what they think? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946/29 "2006-04-24T11:37:14Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > Actually I think you will find that plenty of people in the medical, psychological and penological fields would think that the recidivism rate is precisely 100%. I can’t recall ever hearing of any course of treatment that changed the sexual orientation of child abusers. That’s a pretty broad definition of recidivism. Typically I’ve seen it defined as “convicted of another offense” or even tried for or accused of one. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946/30 "2006-04-24T11:42:48Z")
[Here’s](http://www.csom.org/pubs/recidsexof.html) another site on recidivism. And [here’s](http://www.johnhoward.ab.ca/PUB/PDF/C24.pdf) a pdf, so stand warned. I’ve yet to see 100%. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946/31 "2006-04-24T12:16:54Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > I’ll admit to being torn on this. I understand that child molesters need to find work too after prison. On the other hand, raping a seven year old at gunpoint is just disturbing. That’s a level of nutty that I don’t think I’d be comfortable working with. I feel the same way. I really wouldn’t want to find myself in such a situation and have to decide what to do. Fortunately it never happened (though in the past I did have a coworker just released from jail for murder or being accomplice to a murder, I never knew exactly), and it’s essentially impossible that it could happen in the future if I stay in the same line of work. There’s no satisfying answer to the OP, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946/32 "2006-04-24T12:19:28Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > These are already people with demonstrated mental problems, and we pile on the stress, make them feel worthless and ostracized, and expect them to keep it together. Frankly, it wouldn’t surprise me to find that some repeat offenders do so precisely because of society’s unwillingness to let them live in peace. Um, when you rape a seven year old at gunpoint, it seems to me that having other people “make you feel worthless and ostracized” is a foregone conclusion. Oh, the poor child rapist! People were \*mean \* to him! No \*wonder \* he was forced to do it again! Does the man deserve no consolation?!?!? Bullshit. Yes, he needs a job. He does \*\*not \*\* need a job _next door to a school_. If my kid went to that school, you’d better believe I’d be raising holy hell. If he wants to be left alone, then \*he’s \* the one obliged to make sure that no one has any reason to bother him. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946/33 "2006-04-24T12:36:45Z")
> [@](#): > > This is not a driveby post, but a genuine question; why shouldn’t the guy be allowed to work there? He’s either paid his debt to society or has been exonerated by the court, and he has to work somewhere. Also consider that his change of recitivism goes way up if he has a unstable life, having a stable job & housing are key to him never doing this again. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946/34 "2006-04-24T12:46:28Z")
a) Very puzzled by the nonchalance about the school; you’d think at least that would be something of a red flag. b) He does have the right to pick up the pieces of his life, **while under strict supervision** c) The other employees DO have a right to be offended and choose freely to not associate with him. d) The “100% recidivism rate” has become something of an article of faith; when challenged with statistics, often the counterargument will be _“well, those are just the ones who get caught!”_; the presumption being that this crime is so heinous that anyone with the inclination who COULD restrain themselves, already DOES, and anyone who offends has proven their urge overpowers everything. e) That said, _forcible rape of a 7-year-old at gunpoint \* should mean a sentence of \*\* long, hard time_\*. f) **Zebra** , it’s pretty easy to find out: convicted sexual offenders are required to enter a registry that is a public document and always includes their current location. BTW this is not only child rapists, or common rapists, it can also, depending on jurisdiction, include convicts of such things as lewd behavior, obscenity, downloading CP, some indecent exposures, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946/35 "2006-04-24T12:51:21Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > Sexual offenders. Kill 'em all, or let them try to make good on life. I’ll take door #1, Monty. Child rapists don’t deserve a second chance. They deserve to be put down like the animals they are. It doesn’t necessarily have to be cruel. Just kneel 'em down, and put one in the back of their head. Problem solved. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946/36 "2006-04-24T13:05:48Z")
Ah, armchair executioners. Just like armchair anything, they’re hilarious in their nonchalance! ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946/37 "2006-04-24T13:16:22Z")
> [@Ferret Herder](#): > > Actually, that’s not the case. Supervision followup on sex offenders seems to put the recidivism rate at [less than non-sexual offenders](http://www.johnhoward.ab.ca/docs/sxoffend/page1.htm) and that [supervision can help greatly in preventing other acts](http://www.johnhoward.ab.ca/docs/sxoffend/page2.htm). > > I can easily see how you wouldn’t want to work with him, and how working near a school would be an issue. However, restrictive laws about how close a sex offender can live or work to a school/day care center/etc. make it hard for these people to find somewhere to live or work, can lead to them being “dumped” by the state into certain - typically poorer - neighborhoods (one issue being discussed in Chicago lately) as a result or because that’s the only place zoned for “halfway”/supervised living houses, and so forth. This kind of treatment has a high potential for very bad results. > > Recent items in the news here discussed how because placing parolees can be so difficult in this area due to all the zoning rules that many end up serving out their “parole” in prison, and then because their parole is over, once they get out they don’t have to report to a parole officer, just like the offenders who served out their parole outside. Some of these parole-in-prison guys give an address that either doesn’t exist or they never live at, then just disappear. Since they don’t have the parole officer checking up on them, it can be a long while before anyone discovers that this “registered” sex offender’s address is bogus, and that person is essentially gone in the eyes of the police. Acorrding to [this article](http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/rsrch/reports/r49/r49e_e.shtml) > [@](#): > > It is notable that the pedophile group on caseload had the highest rate of sexual recidivism relative to incest offenders or rapists. They are the worst case for recidivism and most likely to not only repeat but to increase the severity. Additionally, it talks to the number of cases that are _discovered_ and the likelihood that the conviction case was unlikely to be the first event. I feel very strongly that this is an unforgivable act and they should be put down like a mad dog. Many say it does not serve as a deterent, but it certainly holds down on recidivism. Some talk of his hours keeping away from kids. Does this also prevent him watching children from a window? Learning the times and habits of those that walk to school or stay late for programs? **dnooman** > [@](#): > > People make mistakes, learn from them, and stop making those mistakes, that’s what our penal system is based on. I hope this is not your position on this particular crime and that you lean more to the extinguish idea is more in keeping with the best approach. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946/38 "2006-04-24T13:17:26Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Um, when you rape a seven year old at gunpoint, it seems to me that having other people “make you feel worthless and ostracized” is a foregone conclusion. Oh, the poor child rapist! People were \*mean \* to him! No \*wonder \* he was forced to do it again! Does the man deserve no consolation?!?!? Sorry, I would have thought that you’d be more interested in helping this guy NOT rape another child. As it is, society wants to continue to punish him, marginalize him, make it impossible for him to live even a semblance of a normal life, until he snaps and rapes again. Too bad about the second raped kid, but at least the rapist got treated like shit while he was out, and that’s what’s important. > [@](#): > > Yes, he needs a job. He does \*\*not \*\* need a job _next door to a school_. If my kid went to that school, you’d better believe I’d be raising holy hell. If he wants to be left alone, then \*he’s \* the one obliged to make sure that no one has any reason to bother him. Is there any evidence whatsoever to suggest that living or working near a school increases the chance of recidivism? There are schools everywhere, it’s impossible to go about your life without going near one at some point, if you don’t live or work near one, you’re sure to drive by one going to the store or something. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946/39 "2006-04-24T13:18:14Z")
how does the OP know of the circumstance of the crime? most SO registries I"m familiar w/would give the law the person broke, not details such as is described (ie, they would say “person under the age of x” not “child of 7” “force used” not “gun used” and the like. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946/40 "2006-04-24T13:24:48Z")
> [@Silentgoldfish](#): > > Ah, armchair executioners. Just like armchair anything, they’re hilarious in their nonchalance! Given the opportunity, I would happily get out of my armchair and do the deed myself. With a wife that works in Children’s Aid, I’ve given this more than a passing thought. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ive-got-a-fucking-convicted-child-rapist-as-a-co-worker-now/353946.md?page=3)