Error on registry leads to vandalism on Halloween
A Washington County man claims his home was mistakenly vandalized because of an error on the sex offender registry.
The vandals targeted his home on Halloween night and left about $10,000 in damage. They spray-painted “child rapist” on his garage and “unforgivable” on his driveway, covered his Ring camera and threw toilet paper and eggs all over his home and truck.
“Nobody was here, and there was just spray paint on the driveway, spray paint on the garage with some foul things being said. Toilet paper everywhere, eggs all over the house, all over the truck. It ended up taking paint off the truck and taking paint off the front door,” homeowner Connor Barrett said.
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One of my concerns with these types of reporting, the registry, as well as the #metoo movement is this. The increasing number of young people who desire to commit violence and destruction against persons forced to register. Including those who have only been charged and not convicted in a court of law. It seems everyday the online news overloads their reporting with these types of crimes. It seems as if humankind is going backwards to vigilantism.
I have lost compassion for people. If this Connor guy supports the registry, then my response is LOL. And I feel this reporter is still trying to support the registry. She’s part of the problem.
I don’t believe this victim of vigilantism expressed any opinion on the registry.
“We’re like, ‘Holy cow. I wonder how many other houses are being told that’s the address when it’s not,’” Barrett said, as he found the same errors. “It’s a big scare for sure. If it’s wrong, then people can get targeted. I think it’s huge that that information is correct.”
If conor felt the registry was wrong, we would have said something besides “we need to make sure registry info is correct.”
I hope this man is able to sue the county for the error, AND the state for having a registry that encourages this type of behavior and not caring when things like this happen.
Hear me out. This could be a good thing (Not for the family) but to show how ridiculous the registry is, at least as a public scouting exhibition. Imagine if the people had been murdered. And who is going to re-imburse for the damages? I hope someone is charged for this crime and made to pay up.
Can’t say I feel bad now that the public is getting what they wanted
For the news media to report “mistakenly vandalized” is outrageous and sickening. If this man had actually been on the registry it would have been deemed acceptable and never even reported. We need to stand united and educate the public to include our leaders, community, and those who report the news. This type of behavior is criminal and the perpetrators prosecuted. It isn’t acceptable whether the man is on the registry or not ~ David W McDaniel, Executive Director, Registered Citizen Advocacy Partnership (RECAP)
I agree.
It should actually read ‘Registry incited destructive vandalism’.
Absolutely good point on the wording. Could be a minor oversight in editing, but the implications of the slight language change is real. Should be more detailed, like “home vandalized after criminal mistook it for home on the registry”
David do you guys have a website?