Thoughtprints

Hubs and I went to the Town Meeting last night regarding the Sexually Violent Predator who's come to town. Turns out the guy is 63 and on oxygen. He was confined to a wheel chair while in prison for 5 years, but miraculously began walking again once released. Sick pervert. He was originally charged with sexual assault on a child, but then pled down to attempted sexual assault on a child and got 5 for it. He never took responsibility for his crime while in prison, and never agreed to undergo treatment (I don't know what treatment is for, anyway! It doesn't work - they'll always be predators!). Anyway, his name is Tommie Osman, who is now residing in an apartment building on the north side of town. Come to find out, his parole officer uses that apartment building "for a lot of my sexual offenders released from prison". HUGE bit of news to all of us!! That apartment bulding happens to be in close proximity to the skating rink and movie theater!! She went on to say, "there really is no good place to 'put' a sexual offender". Gee, ya' think?? How 'bout clear out in the friggin' boon toolies with nothin' but coyotes and rabbits to keep 'em company!!! ANYway, we got his picture and all his information. This was his second conviction and incarceration for sexual assault. We were also given mug shots and info on all registered sex offenders within the City limits, and in the County. There's 37 of them in all, but as they said, the list changes every single day. That's some scary shit, don'tcha think?! As of last night, there were 10,661 registered sex offenders in the state of Colorado! Damn! That's a lot! Twenty-one of them are Sexually Violent Predators, one of which is located in my County - in my Town. I really, really HATE that, but like the cop said, the ones we really have to be concerned about are those they don't know about - yet. *shudder*

All in all, the meeting went well; no one lost their cool and started yelling or anything. It was very informative with regard to how sexual offenders are "labeled" upon release, too. Apparently they must meet 4 very stringent criteria in order to be deemed a Sexually Violent Predator. Didn't really make any of us feel better hearing that - all it meant was that this guy is as bad as they get. When we got home we immediately showed our daughter all the pictures and stuff so that she is aware of what these people look like. We hated doing that, as it freaked her out some, but I'd rather have her a little freaked and aware than completely ignorant about it all. Ignorance is not always bliss! The whole thing makes my skin crawl and makes me feel very uneasy about my daughter being out there in our little town. I guess our bubble has burst. What a pity. It was so nice while it lasted.