IJ wrote:I think we're coming at this from different perspectives. Mine is I'd like to actually have some data and sources before deciding this is a pervasive problem (not than one is appropriate), and yours is that its a serious problem, any questioning of the party line is inappropriate and every futher anecdote cinches the case further. Suit yourself, but establishing this issue instead of stating it might actually cause something to be done about it--there's enough readers here to get a reform movement started, for one.
ANY prosecution of someone defending themselves, their loved ones or other innocents is just wrong and I, for one, am sick and tired of the PC crowd giving the perps a pass while going after those who stand up against the perps. This isn't any "party line" at all. I don't claim to have a slew of data for you. I agree that data, cites and sources are important. I simply do not have the time currently to do any more homework for you. This latest isn't an "anecdote" at all... it's in the news in the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts and the AG bitch we have came out yesterday and refused to support anyone protecting their child in such a case! Her position is that your only recourse if your child is being grabbed/assaulted is to call 911. (If I see
her being grabbed/assaulted, I guess I'll just hope my cell phone has enough "bars" when I try to call 911 -play the theme to Jeopardy here- )
IJ wrote:In this example, I wonder:
1) may we have a news reference? Heck, may we have an email address for the DA after that, so we can do something, besides grumble privately?
2) who stuck around in the bathroom with a pervert to wait for the police, anyway? Conversely, who stuck around with an angry dad to wait for the police? I'd have to guess the pervert was held there by the dad. Which likely means the dad is the larger or more capable of the two. Which may mean he could have ended the problem without entering that stall (I think I would have gone after my kid before the pervert if a grab was under way). Details matter, because...
3) Is there not a difference between intervening to save a child's life in an ongoing beating (I've never even heard an anecdite about this being prosecuted) and entering a closed bathroom stall to extract a little revenge? I'm not saying the perv didn't deserve it, but I am saying that the less danger there is, and the greater the separation between the event and the response, the more likely I would guess prosecution becomes.
For example:
Interrupting a grab of a kid: golden
Popping a pervert after entering their stall (that is, reducing the separation between yourself and the suspect): devil's in the details
Following the pervert home: assault/battery or murder, depending.
4) Was the pervert charged? If getting punched relieves you of guilt, that would certainly be a whacked out, politically motivated DA (just whom are those masschusettsians voting for over there??!!). On the other hand, I doubt being "politically motivated" explains giving a child molester a pass and arresting a worried dad who protected a child. What public is going to get excited about that prosecutor? The coveted NAMBLA voting block? There's got to be something else happening... maybe just an undeveloped mind that looks at law/police power as something to be mindlessly applied by the executive, confidant in the let-the-judicial-sort-them-out approach?
As an aside, I moved to Cali in 2004.
Good for you. I'm working on moving out of this effin State too... But it won't be to yet another effin place like the PRoCA!
This should answer your questions on the incident...
http://www.enterprisenews.com/homepage/ ... cery-store
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Police: Child groped inside Raynham grocery store
4-year-old boy’s father charged after allegedly punching suspect
By Tim Faulkner, staff writer
GateHouse News Service
Posted Jul 10, 2008 @ 09:14 AM
RAYNHAM —
A 4-year-old boy was allegedly groped in a bathroom at the Market Basket by a store employee last month, inciting the boy’s father to attack the perpetrator during the incident.
Valerio Rodriguez, 71, of Providence, was charged with a felony count of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 after he reached underneath a bathroom dividing wall and touched the boy high on his leg as he was standing on a bucket to use the adjacent urinal, police say.
The stall’s partition is elevated 18 inches off the ground, police say, providing “plenty of room for Rodriguez to reach under the stall.”
The boy’s father, Jason R. Beatrice, 31, of Oak Street, who was also in the washroom during the incident, told police he forced open the stall door and punched Rodriguez several times, resulting in a minor cut on the suspect’s lip and a welt on the middle of his head.
Panther's comment: He deserved a LOT more than that!
Speaking through a store employee, Rodriguez, who speaks Spanish, told police he was wrong for touching the boy and “only fooling around.”
Panther's comment: Bull Sh*t! He finally got caught! How many other kids has he groped and gotten away with it? "Only fooling around"?!?! Even as a lame excuse it doesn't even count as a "lame excuse!"
Police charged Beatrice with assault for hitting Rodriguez, saying they empathized with his actions but would have preferred Beatrice detain the suspect until police arrived.
Panther's comment: Only in these effin liberal bastions of political correctness do we charge a parent for defending their child! Only in these effin commie states do the "officials" take the side of the perv/perp and go after the hero trying to protect a child! Welcome to the liberal utopia... disgusting!
Although Rodriguez faces a felony charge, police decided not to arrest the suspect at the scene due to his advanced aged and lack of a criminal record.
Panther's comment: WTF! The perv assaults/grabs/gropes a young boy and the stupid cops decide not to arrest him? Only in places like Massachusetts...
“The reason you would [make an arrest] would be to stop the crime or you don’t think the person would show up in court,” Raynham Police Chief Louis Pacheco said.
Panther's comment: What happened to arresting someone for COMMITTING A CRIME?!?!
Arresting Rodriguez, he said, would have required police to also arrest Beatrice, a scene that might have further traumatized the young victim.
Panther's comment: Absolutely a bald-faced LIE! Arresting the perv in no way requires arresting the Father who came to his young son's defense! This CLEO should be fired!
Decisions like giving Rodriguez a summons rather than handcuffing him at the scene are the police chief’s responsibility, said Gregg Miliote, spokesman for the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office. “They have the discretion until the arraignment, then it’s our case,” he said.
Panther's comment: See... It's at the Chief's discretion! What a jerk! Only in places like Massachusetts!
According to a flyer circulated around town, Rodriguez however, was still seen working at the Market Basket as recently as last week.
Panther's comment: I contacted my local Market Basket in the last week and informed them that I would be going to their competitors as long as they knowingly employ child molesters... even if they ARE trying to be "PC".
A spokesman for Tewksbury-based Demoulas Supermarkets, owner of the Market Basket chain, did not immediately respond to inquiries regarding the incident, but a report in the Raynham Call stated Rodriguez was suspended from his job pending the investigation.
Panther's comment: It was on the news as recently as this past weekend that the perv was still going to work.
Rodriguez is scheduled to be arraigned in Taunton Superior Court July 29. Beatrice will be arraigned July 31.
Panther's comment: So... How much in time and money do you think it will cost Mr. Beatrice to "justify" his actions to some "PC" kangaroo court? He should be getting a parade for stopping a perv/perp, instead it costs him $$$$, time and maybe more.
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From Debbie G:
I was at Market Basket when this happened. That poor father was completely distraught and his son was so scared. Jason kept saying I promised my son I would never let anything happen to him and I failed. I saw the prev come out of the bathroom and he didn't look very upset. Yes he had a bloody lip but he deserved more than that. The father was trying to get any employee to call the police and the prev just took off. That father should not be charged with anything because he was protecting his son. In Texas he could have shot him with a warning and no charges would have been brought. Since when do we punish parents for trying to keep their children safe!
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Please note that this woman says that "the perv just took off"... So, again, WHY didn't the police feel the need to arrest him? Why did they think that he would/will show up for arraignment? Even if this is the ONLY case where someone has been charged for defending their child, it is ONE TOO DAMN MANY! GET IT? If not, you're part of the problem. (And you wonder if a
gun owner is likely to get charged... I think that the Father should have had not only the RIGHT, but the DUTY to take the effin perp OUT and save us all the time of a trial! And the AG in MA is a PC commie whore for not backing up someone who came to the protection of their young child!
While I'm on this little rant/pet-peeves, I'm also sick and tired of the LEOs who think it is their right to put a black plate with a blue reflective line across it on the front of their private vehicles. They're breaking the law that requires their front plate to be attached, they use it as a "get out of jail free" card, they are driving recklessly and wildly for no good reason. A few days ago, I was driving (with MY infant son in the car-seat) and one of these rat bastards came up behind me going over 100mph, nearly ran me off the road (and then swerved towards me making me move
another lane over, but there was a tractor-trailer rig there) because I didn't get out of his way fast enough. The SOB actually LAUGHED and shot me the finger! I got his plate and called it in. I was told in no uncertain terms that if I pursued it,
I would have a hard time on the roadways because
I would be watched by every Cop out there! Welcome to the Fascist State!