Yesterday, I came across an article online that disgusted me beyond words. The headline read:
Calif. man pleads no contest to rape of 5-year-old, sentenced to 90 days of house arrest
Say WHAT???? Naturally, one would expect a self-confessed child rapist to be locked far away from society for many years. But like my father and other sexual deviants recently headlined Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby, child predator 79-year-old Lyle Burgess was not permanently removed from a world where children and women roam within his disgustingly evil menace. With his wealth, he was able to hire an attorney who must also live with the leniency mandated by a weak judge. After only 90 days of house arrest, Burgess will be a free man. He will not even have to register as a sex offender! As stated by family attorney Ken Meleyco, “A 5-6-year-old little girl was molested. Normally the sentence is state prison and then after you’re released, you have to register as a sex offender.” When Deputy District Attorney Kathy Murray was asked why Burgess was charged with just statutory rape and would not have to register as a sex offender, she did not respond. If I could address Burgess and all who were involved in this terribly botched child sexual abuse case, I would remind them that the little girl he raped will never be free. She will live with that memory, just as I, my siblings, and all other survivors of such abominable ruination must live with ours, for the remainder of her life.
It seems obvious why Burgess was only given a slight tap on the wrist. He was wealthy. He bought his way out of what should have been incarceration in a state penitentiary with others who could have given him a sample of the helplessness, the pain that little girl experienced when he sexually abused her. And possibly the court felt sorry for him because he was elderly. But the abuse happened in 2016, when Burgess would have been 77 years old! Like my father, he most likely sexually abused dozens, if not hundreds of other children during his life time. As someone once said of my father, “Any child that was within any proximity of him was free prey.” So now, Burgess will be free to roam your streets, to molest your children and your grandchildren as he engages in activities where they may well be his next victims, his prey, because he will not be required to register as a sex offender.
THIS HAS TO STOP! I propose a new movement called KIDS TOO!
WE DESPERATELY NEED A NATIONAL LAW(S) TO PERMANENTLY LOCK AWAY CONVICTED SEXUAL PREDATORS FROM OUR INNOCENT CHILDREN! I have requested face-to-face meetings with Indiana’s State Representative Larry Buschon and State Senator Todd Young. I ask not only for your support, but also for your many prayers.
Our children deserve to be heard – above the money, above the powers which have stolen their innocence far too long. They deserve permanent protection TODAY from sick sexual child molesters. Please join me in this long-overdue and much needed fight.
Blessings To You and Yours,
Laura
Author. Professional Public Speaker. Educator. Passionate Child Abuse Prevention Advocate.