http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=813609&auth=Tracy+McConkey

This story was in my local paper this morning.  I happened to open the paper at school today in the staff room.  When I read this story I was so angry I was almost in tears.  Not a good thing when you need to go teach.  But I felt slightly nauseous.

I knew about this case.  It's been in the news several times.  The actual crime is horrendous enough.  Read the article carefully.  The man who committed these crimes is a sick individual.  No question.  He committed a horrible crime against some of our most vulnerable citizens.  But that isn't what made me sick, believe it or not.  It was the comments from his lawyer and from the judge. 

This is the comment from the prosecuting attorney:  "I can not think of a more vulnerable victim," Flossman said. "He picked the ones that couldn't speak ... they were confined within their own bodies ... these are offences of stark horror."   Sounds reasonable. 

However his defence attorney disagrees:  it is unknown how much damage has been done to the victims.

"We can't hear from the victims," he said, noting the rapes do not match the horror of beatings or abuse in rape cases that get penitentiary sentences.    So because these individuals cannot speak, are developmentally disabled, may not be fully aware of the scope of the crime against them, that makes them less able to feel the horror of what he did to them?  They were at his mercy.  They were relying on him to care for them.  They cannot protect themselves, so that makes them less worthy as a victim?  less important?  The crimes committed against these vulnerable people are not as severe as the same crime committed against a person of average intelligence?  I'm speechless.  I realize that his job is to defend his client, and I support our justice system.  But he can do that in a number of ways that don't involve negating the impact of the crimes on the victims because they are disabled. 

But wait, there's more.  Then the judge weighs in.  The parents of the children are here. I'm sure hearing about their children is horrific. It might have been horrific for the children. These are the things I have to ponder."   What exactly does he mean by "might have been".  You are an individual in a wheelchair, completely dependent upon caregivers and one of them removes your diaper to rape you - and it MIGHT have been horrific?????   What planet is he from?  The judge has to ponder these things before he decides upon a sentence.  Maybe he should spend a day at the group home, speaking with these individuals, and take the opportunity to see them as fully human, not less than.  He can bring the defence attorney with him.

I believe we measure our worth as a civilized society, by the way we treat those most vulnerable amongst us.  I can only hope in the end that this judge comes through to prove that we are still a civilized society.  Once we start saying that the disabled are less than, it's a slippery slope  - are women less than?  children?  visible minorities?  gays?  Does anyone remember the Holocaust? 

We need to stand for those who can't stand for themselves.