“Get Fixed or Get the Hell Out”: A Sheriff’s Words and the Families Left Behind

Every person on the registry has a different story. People have different histories, risks and paths forward. Some are caring for elderly parents. Others are older themselves and need help. One person’s alleged crime cannot tell us who all those people are.

That is why Sheriff Rick Staly’s words deserve a careful look. We can support victims, protect children and demand accountability without treating an entire group as beyond hope.

What the sheriff said then and now

The Tampa Free Press reported new charges against Joseph Nichols on October 28. Authorities allege that his phone contained child sexual abuse material and images of animal sexual activity. These are serious allegations. Charges are not convictions, and the case must be judged on its evidence.

The article also quotes Staly saying that “sex offenders cannot be rehabilitated.” He attributes that belief to his mother, whom he describes as a mental health supervisor. He also tells people he calls perverts to “get fixed or get the hell out of Flagler County.”

Those words did not begin with this article. In the full August 28 Operation Offenders: Endgame press conference, the sheriff invokes his mother’s view at about 38:26 and then draws on his own career experience.

Readers should hear the full context. In August, the warnings to comply or leave were framed around people not following registration rules. At about 41:04, a reporter raises an important distinction between past crimes and the registration charges being announced. That distinction belongs in this discussion, too.

The August operation focused on registration compliance. Its published charge list included failures to report vehicles, internet identifiers and other information. Such charges do not, by themselves, establish a new act of sexual abuse. The October allegations against Nichols do not establish what anyone else has done.

The Florida Action Committee also examined Operation Offenders: Endgame in its September 5 video, On the Heels of a Lawsuit. That analysis discusses the reporting charges and questions about the operation’s timing. Timing alone does not establish retaliation.

A family belief is not a research finding

We do not need to attack someone’s family to question a claim. A parent’s work experience and a sheriff’s personal experience are not enough to prove that nobody in a broad group can change.

The U.S. Justice Department’s archived review of treatment research gives a more careful answer. It finds evidence that some approaches can reduce sexual reoffending, while noting limits in the research and differences in results. Treatment does not work the same way for everyone.

That does not promise that every person will change. It does challenge the claim that nobody can. Public safety should be guided by evidence about individuals, not a blanket judgment.

What about the families who cannot leave

Think about someone who takes an aging parent to medical appointments, prepares meals or helps that parent stay at home. What would leaving mean for both of them?

Think about an older registered person who depends on a nearby relative, a familiar doctor or housing they can afford. Moving is not a simple choice when care, money or health makes it difficult.

These are questions about families, not excuses for unlawful conduct. A spouse, parent or child should not be treated as disposable because someone they love is on a registry. People who follow the law should not have to wonder whether a public official’s broad words include them.

The danger of treating people as targets or labels as “perverts”

The Florida Action Committee has reported on the Palm Bay Compound case. In a May announcement, prosecutors said Lucas S. Jones, then 19, was indicted for first-degree murder in the death of Colie Lee Daniel, 28. They allege Jones selected Daniel through the registry. An indictment is an accusation, not a conviction.

News coverage has compared that case to the television series Dexter. That label must not turn a real death into entertainment or make an accused killer sound like a hero. Daniel was a person, and his family lost someone.

Some visible comments under this report praise or excuse the killing. This should never take away from the crimes that occurred. A mother and family left without their son.  To me this and Tennessee case are the worse examples.

There is no evidence presented here that Staly’s words caused that killing. It happened before the August and October remarks discussed here. Our concern is the broader risk of language that makes a whole group seem less human or less worthy of protection.  This language is being in Florida and accross the States too.

We can condemn abuse and reject vigilante violence at the same time. We can enforce the law and recognize that people have different lives. Judge each person by their own actions. Do not use one case to condemn everyone who shares a label.

The post “Get Fixed or Get the Hell Out”: A Sheriff’s Words and the Families Left Behind appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).