The following article is being shared for two reasons:
1- Again, it goes to show that anyone, even a police officer recognized for his work rescuing children, can be a sex offender, and
2- The recognition that the quality of life as a sex offender is not worth living.
JACKSONVILLE — Authorities say a decorated Florida police detective killed himself just before he was to be arrested on charges that he possessed child pornography.
The Florida Times-Union reports that Jacksonville sheriff’s Detective Vernon Richardson killed himself Tuesday, shortly after detectives obtained a warrant for his arrest.
The neighboring St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office began an investigation in December after receiving a tip he had child porn on his computer. Detectives found an image of two adolescent boys having sex.
He was questioned Feb. 1 and denied looking at child porn. Investigators say his computer was seized and two photos of naked children were found.
Richardson was the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s local officer of the year in 2012 for his work finding missing children.
Sexual Assault Of Detained Migrant Children Reported In The Thousands Since 2015
https://news.google.com/articles/CAIiEOzEQmxgA7nJg838Mlz-S78qFggEKg4IACoGCAow9vBNMK3UCDCvpUk?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen
As NPR’s John Burnett reported,
“The federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is in charge of caring for under-age immigrants, received more than 4,500 allegations of sexual abuse and sexual harassment between 2015 and 2018. The reporting begins under the Obama administration. Of those complaints, some 1,300 were serious enough to refer to the FBI, but an official says ‘the vast majority’ proved to be unfounded.
“Most of the assault allegations involved one minor abusing another. But 178 of the complaints were against staff at the shelters — in particular, youth-care workers who escort the children everywhere they go. The complaints range from inappropriate romantic relationships between children and adults, to touching genitals, to watching children shower.”
It seems that NONE of the people were registrants. Does that mean the registration is working because registrants aren’t committing new crimes?
Now if only we could get a ‘Minority Report’ type thing going, we’d have it all covered. Until then, I guess we’ll just continue to use Lauren Book’s cracked crystal ball. (I think she needs the broom to chauffeur her dad around for a bit)🤣🤣
Being in Law Enforcement he knows that labeled a Sex Offender is as good as Death
First and foremost, my heart goes out to this man’s family. They will have to live with his shame the rest of their lives. This incident illustrates how a person is reduced to subhuman status upon the mere accusation of a sex offense. None of the good that this man ever did will be remembered, just that he was a pedophile, child molester, baby raper, etc.
As more prominent members of society fall to the scythe of the War on Sex, maybe, just maybe, there will be a tidal shift. Robert Craft, owner of the Patriot football dynasty, arrested in a massage parlor sting. Where? In Floriduh, of course. Instead of protecting the public, Floriduh LEOs go after the public to create more “criminals” and “sex offenders” to keep the state coffers overflowing with cash, which they use to do more stings, ad nauseam. All prostitution is now sex trafficking. All Johns are now sex traffickers. Let’s see how a man who can hire the best lawyers and pay off judges gets out of this!
I wish that they haven’t killed themselves because I feel they should endure what 900,000 plus Registry citizens have to live with every day!!!!. Karma has a funny way of paying back to people what that they did to others.
Regardless who submitted the tip…….. people might feel this is a morbid statement. I am glad it is hitting those in judical branches as well that they can see the infliction of pain and gain the empathy to see that registry is destroying lives in all walks of life
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and assume that before he turned himself into a corpse that he wasn’t on the registry.. Isn’t the efforts of Lauren Book and her criminal father to prevent people from possessing cp by putting them on the registry? Looks like they and their registry failed again to prevent anything AGAIN!! Hopefully his suicide will be noticed by people that matter and they will see that this registry is absolutely punishment in the worst way!! So much so that this man killed himself to avoid its shame.
2 pics on a cops puter?they sure it was suicide?
Forest Gump could punch holes in that prosecution
SO laws are formulated by design, by the legislature and law enforcement, with their extreme punishment and lifelong shame and endless restrictions and requirements, for the offender to commit suicide rather than go through the extreme and endless processes and of being a pariah and outcast of society…Don’t most people know this?
Those of us that refused to comply with the expected result have to learn to live with the consequences and hope for changes in the future…
There’s an awful lot of questions around the circumstances of this situation. Who did the tip come from and how did they find it? Did the tipster actually put it there? Where on the drive was it? On his desktop or some obscure file that the average user is unaware is even there?
Another thought. This former officer knows full well, better than most, that proving innocence is impossible (Let’s be realistic here – those accused of sex offenses HAVE to prove their innocence and even if they can, odds are they’ll be convicted anyway). Could that have been a factor in his suicide? I’d say so, for whatever it’s worth.
They would find him in Colorado, believe me. Where did the tip some from? Think about that. Anyone who uses a computer or cell phone can be found. I find this very sad that he killed himself after they found 2 photos. The punishment and societal shaming for something like this, in my opionion, does not fit the crime. 2 photos and now he’s dead.
2 pictures for arrest? It’s supposed to be 5 or more.
Where is it “supposed to be 5 or more”?
I’ll have to look it up again, I was indicted for possession of 6 pictures of a known 15 year old female in “varying conditions of undress” in 2002 on a very old disk. The number 6 was important as my lawyer told me possession was 5 or more. I checked the statutes and he was correct. Facing 30 years I took a plea because I was technically breaking the law. Back in the Sheriff Nick Navaro (Broward) days I also found it to be true when he was getting warrants to search bookstores and record stores (see Two Live Crew). Unless it changed possession was 5 incidents or more.
1 or two counts should be incidental unless you were looking for it.
Trying to put this behind me, I’d have to go through the statutes again and see if it was changed.
They can go after you if you have 1 photo the reason 5 is a number your thinking of is because if you plea and only have 4 or less photo’s that may not be enough to place you on the RSO list. The Judge of course can still make the judgement to do it but on the scoring system they use the judge can use his/her judgement to put you on or keep you off if you have 4 or less photo’s
I guess it save the tax payer some money. Really I wish could express some type of emotion other than bitterness but I feel the officer took the easy way out.
Seminole Ridge High School(loxahatchee FL) coach Keith Gruber, of Belle Glade, 36 arrested, accused of inappropriate relationship with former student 02/19/2019. This is the second teacher at that school in a 3 month period to be arrested for this
same thing happened to an officer in ft lauderdale in 2016 Sgt. Kreg
Costa, 43, called 911 at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, then pulled the trigger at his Sunrise home, less than eight hours after being released on bond for child porn charges. He died at a hospital at 11:30 p.m.
It unfortunately happens every day somewhere whether its a teacher/policeman/politician etc…
But he knew, better than most, what the consequences would be. He obviously did not want to be subjected to the craziness to follow that would affect him and his family for life…even though most of them are non-punitive (sarcasm, in case you missed it :))
I think we need to register EVERYONE. Because taking a more sensible approach such as being a parent and protecting your children does not seem to be an option. Let’s put the burden on others because we are to busy/lazy to know what our children are doing.
…I also see now that his entire identity may have been bound up with being a decorated officer and a protector and minister to children. You can see where a suicidal impulse might have been strong in such a person accused of such a thing.
This is devastating.
True, he would no longer be able to work in law enforcement or child protection. But hadn’t had enough time to realize that there’s more to life than that.
Suicide is a mental health issue. It is NOT the answer for having committed a sex crime.
He would have made it through this difficult phase, had he lived. FAC members are proof of that. Some are struggling, but they are NOT doing this.
Jacob, I agree. Life feels like it’s coming to an end when faced with losing everything. A good Christian friend reached out to me in my darkest moments and offered me a new life in Christ, where one’s identity is not wrapped up in position or performance, but is hinged on our identity being in Christ (Gal 2:20). It was the most free I’ve ever felt in my life.
I still had to walk through the valley of prosecution, incarceration, and supervision, but since that day I gave control over my life to the Lord, I’ve never looked back. It breaks my heart to think of what people miss out on when they lose the battle with despair.
Society simply doesn’t understand the dynamics of sexual offenses and offenders. If they did, they would (if only out of concern for their own sons and daughters potential future behavior) move away from this caustic approach toward one of restorative justice that seeks to heal the injury of sexual offense rather than seek retribution for it.