Prepare to feel conflicted. A father who says he found a man trying to molest his 4-year-old may be facing a whole other kind of trial. Cops in Shiner, Texas, say the little girl's dad put a stop to the assault then beat the man to death.
So far what cops will do with the dad remains up in the air. I'm not surprised; there's no easy answer here for them. Say you were put on a jury to face a case like that. Would you be able to make a decision that would let you go to bed that night with a clear conscience? I don't think I would.
I want to say that the fatal beating the Lavaca County sheriff says happened in a family house (no names have been released to protect the sexual assault victim's identity) on Sunday afternoon was the right thing and cheer from the rooftops.
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I'm a parent, for cripes sakes. I never want to see a child being hurt in any fashion. Just last night I sat in my house with my heart beating fast against my chest because I'd heard a rumor that a local teen had to be airlifted out of an accident scene (good news: it was one of those exaggerations that spreads on Facebook -- she's fine). In that sense, if the allegation of abuse is true, then I would have been shaking with anger and horror both. If I were that father, I would have wanted to kill that man.
But wanted to does not equal would have.
Consider this: when you take justice into your own hands, what happens? You get in trouble. You, the person who, up until that very moment, was in the right.
You may say it's "worth it" because the other person got what you thought was "coming," but you are forever marred by having sunk to the criminal level. You are what you profess to despise.
I can imagine that if this dad beat this man, he thought he was doing it for the right reasons. I hope that the police and prosecutors treat this whole case with that in mind. But there is no way to walk away from this one feeling anything but conflicted, is there?
What's your read? Do you think the accusations against this dad make him a criminal or a hero?
Image via Tex Texin/Flickr
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Comments 1120
Anyone that could catch someone in the act of molesting their CHILD and keep a clear head... well I would say the clear headed one is the more screwed up.
If I caught someone attempting to hurt my children, I would be on them like a goddamned lioness on an injured baby elk. Nobody hurting my children, would survive the encounter.
WOW! I don't think any parent in their right mind would have gone into that with a clear mind. He went into parent mode and protected his child.
What is it that we teach our children... that 2 wrongs don't make a right. Yes, people can cheer that they would have done the same thing, but in the end a man was killed when he could have been restrained and the police called.
Murdering him is not justice for this little girl, it just means that she was twice vicimized.
Bullcrap! AND.. it doesn't say ANYWHERE that the molester died at the scene.. it could've been hours later at the hospital. Serves him right.
Does this guy need bail money??