Perverted Boys Meeting Stoopid Girls

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First, a couple definitions...

STOOPID (n) - An act that is so dumb or ignorant as to go beyond even the boundaries of the definiaiton of normal stupidity.

STOOPIDITY (n) - An action currently being engaged in that would be considered STOOPID.

Alrighty.

The topic mentioned in the title has come up because of at least four stories in the news recently.

The first is the case of the Duke "rape" case, and I put "rape" in quotes because we have a victim who was seen at another party before she attended the one she was "raped" at, another woman who was with her called the rape allegations "a crock", and the DNA samples from the victim did not match up to the three people arrested. This to me is a defense lawyer's dream case.

The second story is the murder of Tiffany Souers, a student at Clemson University. Ms. Souers was killed by a sexual predator who described himself as " a monster". This man, Jerry Buck Inman, has spent time in jail in Florida for sexual assault, and he recently broke into another woman's house, and was about to rape and murder her. She apparently said that she told Inman about God, and how He would forgive Inman for his sins...or something like that. This worked, and Inman simply stole some money and left the scene. In the case of Ms. Souers, Inman strangled her to death with her bikini top, and now may face the death penalty for his vicious crimes.

Next, we have the story of a teenage woman who made the high-school honor roll, ending up in Jordan. We'll exerpt from Fox News for the details on this case:

A 16-year-old honor student from Michigan tricked her parents into getting her a passport and then flew off to the Mideast to be with a West Bank man she met on MySpace.com, authorities say.

U.S. officials in Jordan persuaded her to turn around and go home before she reached the West Bank. She was on her way home Friday.

Katherine R. Lester is a straight-A student and student council member, her father said. "She's a good girl. Never had a problem with her," Terry Lester said.

Katherine disappeared Monday after talking her family into getting her a passport by saying she was going to Canada with friends, sheriff's officials said. She apparently planned to visit a man whose MySpace account describes him as a 25-year-old from Jericho, Undersheriff James Jashinske said.

And finally, we have the story of 15-year old Jason Pickler, who met a 10-year old Michigan girl online. The two had an online friendship for the next 1 1/2 years, until Mr. Pickler, now 17, and the unidentified girl, now 12, decided that they were in love.

According to the story in the Casper Star-Tribune of June 10, 2006, Pickler confided in his parents, who apparently agreed to attempt to gain custody of the girl should Pickler himself not be able to do so. Pickler then went out to Michigan, met with the girl, who gathered her things, and came back to Wyoming with Pickler. Pickler has been charged with kidnapping and custodial interference, and faces up to 25 years in jail.

I tell you these stories because we have in each of them a case of either a perverted boy or man, and/or a girl or woman who makes some rather questionalbe..OH Ok, STOOPID decisions.

And stoopidity is not limited to these cases. Remember the case last year of the "runaway bride"? Well news update, the wedding's been called off again...this time, the husband has left...probably the best thing he could do for his sanity.

I guess my point here is that just when I think we've reached the bottom of the barrel as far as male sexual predators go...just when I think that THIS TIME they've caught the scum of the earth, another case is revealed that makes me shake my head and ask WHAT? in a sort of tone that sounds like I can't believe anyone would be that STOOPID.

And on the other side, after EONS of women fighting for their rights, fending off sexual predators, through the advent of self-defense courses, pepper spray, and just sheer knowledge, you would think that girls and women would get the point. Yet some of the women in these cases clearly were on the STOOPID pill or something.

These cases show why parents must do more to protect their children, both boys and girls from those who would do serious harm to them. Even after they are out on their own, parents should be there to relate to their children as responsible adults and be ready and watchful for trouble.

I don't want to scare anyone, but the stories I have highlighted show that there is trouble out there in the hinterland, and sometimes even adults, or "responsible" children don't have the intelligence not to get themselves into seriously dangerous situations.

And I hope that these stories put to rest the notion that the Internet is simply the children's playground. Places like MySpace and Yahoo chat are nice when used responsibly, but as the Lester story proves, these places can be extremely dangerous, as people hide themselves behind the Anonymous monicker, or use fake identities.

And if you think children are not visiting adult websites, think again. Most adult sites simply ask if you are 18 or older before letting you in, and the websites are not babysitters...they rely on your honesty to click NO if you are under-age. Like that will stop a teenager who wants to see what's behind the curtains...

These stories are examples of why parents must step up, take responsibility, and fend for their kids. In the case of Ms. Lester and the Pickler case, the parents nearly lost their daughter into a situation that would be problematic to say the least.

They are very lucky people.

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John B.
Blogger Guy