If you grew up in America, chances are good that, at some time, you engaged in some sort of sex play with other kids. Until very recently this part of a child's learning process was, if not exactly celebrated, regarded as normal and inevitable. But that was before the child welfare industry and a few unethical prosecutors decided that the old solutions to "playing doctor"--a spanking and a lecture, for example--weren't good enough. As hard as it is to believe, children in this country have been prosecuted for sexual assault for this conduct even when it was consensual and even when it never involved any sort of penetrative sex act.
This is a subject that few people are comfortable talking about, but we have to get past our squeamishness and talk about it anyway. The alternative is to let the craziness go unchallenged, and that would be a betrayal of the children who have been victimized by unscrupulous prosecutors and the loathsome "child protection" agencies.
Wisconsin is not the only state where these practices occur, but it seems to be among the leaders, which is why I am focusing my attention there.
Case #1: In Walworth County, Assistant D.A. Diane Resch (now Diane Donohoo) charged a 10-year-old boy, Stephen T.,with sexual assault because of the following: "In the first incident, he touched a next-door neighbor during a game of truth or dare. In the second, he created a new rule for a game of capture-the-flag—the girls had to lift their shirts when they were captured. One of the girls said [Stephen] touched her underneath the shirt."
Resch argued, in defending this atrociously frivolous charge, that Wisconsin law does not distinguish between childhood sexual exploration and an adult with intent to be sexually aroused. "This is just as wrong as an adult playing these games with little kids," she told the court. (My question to Diane--are you utterly insane or just evil?)
Judge Kennedy then ordered Stephen to be placed on one-year supervision at home with psychological counseling, restitution and community service. The judge also ordered him to register as a sexual offender and provide a DNA sample. Because he wanted to see under girls' shirts. If you live in Walworth County, aren't you glad your public officials are keeping you safe from these dangerous anti-social elements?
Philip Koss is the D.A. in Walworth County, and he and Resch have a history of questionable prosecutorial practices. Koss admits to being "aggressive" in sex cases and that "we prosecute cases that other counties wouldn't." No kidding, Phil! Click on his picture at right to let Governor Doyle know what you think about curious 10-year-old kids being treated like junior Jeffrey Dahmers.
Case #2: As nice as it would be to believe that Walworth County has a monopoly on this sort of lunacy, alas...in Fond du Lac County a 9-year-old boy was convicted of three counts of sexual assault for "crimes" nearly as frivolous as those committed by Stephen T. of Walworth. This boy's actions did go a bit further than Stephen's, according to the October 7, 2003 news article in the Janesville Gazette, and were more frequent. But they apparently were consensual and did not involve penetration. Despite this, the Gazette, as well as WBAY-TV 2 chooses to describe the events as "sexual assault", conjuring up mental pictures of knifepoint rapes in an alley. Because of his curiosity, this boy has been stolen from his parents and may be in custody and treatment until he is 18--apparently with the aim of teaching him that sexual activity is "disgusting" (his choice of words, according to the news article.)
And the authorities wouldn't stop there. They are now busily victimizing a pair of 11-year-old girls who dared to be curious. Are we going to let them get away with this outrage?
Let me be blunt. If these lunatic prosecutors had been around when I was a kid, they would've had to string barbed wire around my whole town. Kids are curious. They're supposed to be that way. Those who can't distinguish between childhood experimentation and a sex crime should not be trusted with a position of authority. But it is not innocent confusion we are up against here. What we are seeing here is the latest flowering of the ominous alliance between right-wing sex haters and left-wing male haters; the view that male sexuality per se is dangerous and abusive, even in the person of a 9-year-old. In the name of this alliance's innumerable victims, it's time to send these cretins--"liberal" social wreckers and "conservative" D.A.'s alike--home in the disgrace they've earned.
This page is under construction, there will be much more to come. Other counties and states have engaged in this sort of insanity, and they too will be called to account. |
