West Alton Marina manager arrest for alleged sex crimes

[mowtorman]

Vermont in the 80s had a model program for sexual offenders run by Dr. Pithers.

Google for details not fit for this forum. Aversive program with high recidivism rates.

I don't know if they still use it...one victim of a reoffender is too many.

It's like when I got bit by a dog and the owner said "he hasn't bit anyone in 3 years".

Thanks a lot time to put that dog down huh?

[Poor Richard]

Attn: LoveLakeLife

I apologize for the way I interacted with you in this thread a few weeks ago.

I've sent you a PM that elaborates a bit on why I reacted the way I did and, even though it doesn't excuse my responses, I am still sorry for the way I spoke to you.

[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by Poor Richard

Attn: LoveLakeLife
I apologize for the way I interacted with you in this thread a few weeks ago.
I've sent you a PM that elaborates a bit on why I reacted the way I did and, even though it doesn't excuse my responses, I am still sorry for the way I spoke to you.

Poor Richard, I reread your posts and I don't see any need for an apology. You said LLL has a low IQ. There are different types of intelligence, namely intellectual and social-emotional. The parenting style that LLL advocated shows a low understanding of children's needs. There is now a huge body of research-based knowledge about the aftermath of abuse, going back to at least the 1940s. Come on, we can even see the impact of abuse on dogs!

LLL made the following statements:

• It’s problematic that some elementary schools have psychologists.
• “Self esteem” by definition is established by oneself, not outside influences.
• Mental “scarring” is internally manufactured and then whines about like “stress”. Non-snowflakes choose their own attitude.
• Much fewer people got screwed up in the old system.

Those statements are factually incorrect and unenlightened. If you think that saying that LLL has a low IQ was rude, fine, but please don't let go of your beliefs about the damage caused by child abuse, because they have been proven by a tremendous amount of research.

If you read between the lines in this thread you might guess that several posters are reacting emotionally to what happened at the marina due to their own experiences of abuse, whether it happened to them, a family member, etc. That's not surprising---the CDC says that at least 1 in 7 U.S. children experiences abuse or neglect each year. That's an epidemic. For every person with views like LLL's who deny the harm caused by abuse, there are a hundred people who know the opposite because they experienced it or witnessed it. Knowing the truth and reacting emotionally when someone denies the reality of what child abuse does to a person right through adulthood needs no apology! I'm sorry you felt obligated to make a public apology. On the contrary, an apology was owed to you.

[John Mercier]

I think you are confusing punishment with abuse.

The Greatest Generation endured the Spanish Flu, the Great Depression (Dust Bowl), and WWII because they were forced to become mentally hard even as children.

[Poor Richard]

There's no need to go back over everything. Having a difference of opinion is not the "ok" to start cutting people down. I felt I went too far and that's that.

Its been a challenge to keep a level head about the happenings at WAM. I had a great relationship with John...the laughs, the stories...all erased and I'm gutted knowing how much good he has to offer and still he chose to go another route. "Disappointed" doesn't even scratch the surface.

As far as my thoughts on adults hitting children, it's really not a great idea at all.

[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by Poor Richard

Its been a challenge to keep a level head about the happenings at WAM. I had a great relationship with John...the laughs, the stories...all erased and I'm gutted knowing how much good he has to offer and still he chose to go another route. "Disappointed" doesn't even scratch the surface.

It's very hard to reconcile two opposite things that you know about a person. But sometimes people really are two different people and both sides of them are true.

I once had a college professor who I revered. He went way out of his way to help me personally and professionally and we stayed in contact for decades after I graduated. Years later he committed a sexual crime that turned him into a social outcast. This was totally crushing for me. I had to watch this being played out in the media day after day.

More recently, I had a very positive business relationship with someone
who treated me with total respect and was very helpful to my own client. He was later arrested on multiple accounts of child abuse and child pornography. I was floored when I read about what he had done. When he was arrested, I reflected on the tremendous harm that predators do all across society. Think about all the lost time and money and grief they cause to their victims; the victims' families; their own wife, children, and extended family; judges, lawyers, and jurors; the company they work for and their coworkers; their customers who put their faith in them; and other people they interacted with, like youth groups. It is very hard to understand what goes on in their minds---why they would jeopardize everything they have for these acts.