This week, State Attorneys released surveillance video and 911 call recordings from the night of Cherish Perrywinkle’s abduction.
Let’s start by saying every member of the Perrywinkle family was horribly victimized by this tragic event and presuming the suspect, Donald Smith, did the crime, he deserves everything the justice system will impose on him and more!
That said, the information released, while it will undoubtedly create another round of “sex offender panic” sheds light on something that people should be a million times more concerned about, but are not… responsible parenting.
In reading one of the articles that were just released from one of the most anti-registered-citizen media outlets, there are a few statements that struck me:
– “Surveillance video shows Smith shopping with Cherish and her family inside the Walmart”
– ““I’m hoping he’s not raping her right now,” a sobbing Perrywinkle told the 911 operator.”
– “Perrywinkle wept bitterly as she lamented to the operator that she couldn’t remember details about what Cherish was wearing or what Smith’s van looked like. She only knew that it was a white van.”
– “Authorities put out an Amber Alert with details of Smith’s van about six hours after police received Perrywinkle’s 911 call.”
What this screams to me is:
– A mom is shopping with this stranger (shouldn’t she be teaching her children to avoid strangers?)
– She’s very aware of the risks (if she’s thinking of the likely scenario after she’s gone, WTF was she thinking before?)
– She’s in this horrific situation, keenly aware of the risks and doesn’t bother to make a mental note of what her kid was wearing or the details of the stranger’s car she got into (again, WTF?)
– It took the police six hours to issue the Amber Alert??? (He could have made it from Jacksonville, through Georgia, through South Carolina and into North Carolina within 6 hours! What’s the point of having an Amber alert)
Wouldn’t it make more sense to spend money on programs to educate parents on responsible supervision techniques? For example; don’t let your daughter go off with strangers. Or how about; if you’re going to get into a car with a stranger snap a few pictures of the car and the license plate (who doesn’t have a camera phone?).
Wouldn’t it make sense, if police have the tools, to use them for their intended purpose and not wait until the kid is potentially 4 states away? I imagine that issuing Amber Alerts is easier than testing rape kits, but our State doesn’t seem to assign priority either.
We get that nothing is guaranteed and there’s no way to absolutely eliminate abduction and sexual abuse, but there are certainly some effective tools and techniques to prevent a lot of it.
Question your lawmaker whether what we are doing is the best thing we could be doing.
Actually this was not a “stranger danger” scenario The mother knew him and went to the store with him – Also he fits the exact profile of what experts say are the most like sex offenders to re-offend. They are usually career criminals with long rap sheets and he fit that bill.
Amen!
This was a truly horrific event. I remember watching the news media updates. Cried for days… I also remember the legislative response the following session. We are now saddled with more well meaning ineffective policy which costs our tax payers millions and yet we still ignore over 93% of victims and potential victims as we do nothing towards true prevention. I for one have been asking my legislators for 6 years now to use empirically driven research to drive policy and not create new policy based on emotion. But effective policy is not what gets them reelected… Hype does and the illusion that they are protecting there constituents. Not once have I asked any legislator to show me what evidence by experts and research do they base policy and not once have they been able to provide anything. They just say my constituents want me to be tough on sex offenders, so that’s what we will do. It’s not our job to tell our constituents what to do or even what is right but ours is to do what they want.
If Florida’s citizens want to continue to keep their head I the sand regarding the safety of our citizens especially our children we will continue to see horrific events such as this. Responsibility needs to be with every citizen and to share the facts. Fact is the majority of children are safe when under the watchful eye of responsible adults… However keep in mind these are isolated incidents the majority of abuse still occurs in the home or by a person known to the victim and their family.
EDUCATION ON HOW TO PREVENT YOURSELF FROM BEING A VICTIM AND FOR THOSE WHIO MAY OFFEND TO GET THE HELP THEY NEED BEFORE THEY ACT!!!
This is a socialtal and systemic problem including mental health, substance abuse and public health.
How many more lives will need to be ruined before we get it?
“THOSE WHIO MAY OFFEND TO GET THE HELP THEY NEED BEFORE THEY ACT”
I think this is a major issue that needs to be addressed. It is too bad that current registration laws require so much attention because this is a serious problem as well.
As it stands now, if someone needs help with such issues and seeks it from a mental health professional, the professional has a mandate to report that to the authorities. They’ll get help all right, but we know the system through which that help’ll be administered.
If someone is offending/has a desire to offend and has the clarity of mind to want to seek help, then they are most likely going to be rational enough to not seek any, since it will most likely come with a life sentence.
as a side note, Foucault’s ‘Madness and Civilization’ is an awfully good read and highly pertinent to our case