In 1998, two weeks before Robbie Middleton turned 8, he was allegedly raped by 13-year-old Don Collins. Then, on his birthday, Collins reportedly tied Middleton to a tree, threw a cup of gasoline in his face, and lit the boy on fire in a forest near the boys' Splendora, Texas home. Middleton's eyelids were burned off and it took over 200 surgeries to try and repair the damage.
In 2011, at the age of 20, Middleton passed away due to a cancer that doctors think resulted from the multiple skin grafts. On his deathbed, Middleton made a video that revealed, for the first time, the rape incident, and named Collins as his abuser.
Now, the Middleton family has filed felony murder charges against 27-year-old Collins.
Collins, in fact, was just released from prison where he was serving time for an unrelated child abuse conviction. Even though the Middletons were awarded $150 billion in a civil case back in December of 2011 (the money was just to set an example, they're not likely to see a dime), the Middleton family now wants Collins to pay for his crime in a criminal court case. Robbie's death, after all, was ruled a homicide.
In most cases like this, it's easy to hope that the criminal is punished to the fullest extent, it's easy to wish that whoever raped an 8-year-old boy, then tied him to a tree and lit him on fire would rot in hell. But there's something about this case that makes it hard for me to get angry at Collins.
He was 13 when he allegedly committed the crime. He was a boy, too. What happened in his childhood that made him capable of such a crime? What did he endure at home that even gave him the idea to rape a boy then set him on fire? It's a possibility that Collins was a child psychopath, but what if his behavior wasn't inherent, but was learned?
Regardless, it doesn't, nor should it, absolve Collins of his reported crimes. He's still gotta pay for what he did. But if Collins was part of some twisted cycle, it would be good to hear that whoever turned him into that monster would have to pay for their crimes, as well.
What do you think?
Photo via thenetfrancesco/YouTube
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Comments 63
Some people are just born evil. String him up. Give this family some restitution.
he was 13, i'm pretty sure at that age you should know not to rape and set fire to people. and honestly (i'm going to get bashed for this, but oh well) i'm kind of tired of this liberal, open heart - open mind approach we have to all criminals. would it somehow make you feel better, more justified, if you found out the 13 year old boy had been raped and abused growing up? does making it a "string of horrors" instead of just the sick mind of one child make you feel safer about your own children? NO. no it doesn't. sometimes, there REALLY are people in this world who are not right in the head. their upbringing may or may not have anything to do with it, but he is now 27 years old and has abused at least another child (that he served time for). what good is blaming someone now? he stopped being the victim when he hurt a defenseless 8 year old boy back in 1998.
@dirtiekittie I agree with you simply put 2 wrongs don't make a right!
If he was abused it might explain why he chose to do the horrible things he did but it cetrtainly doesn't excuse them or mean he should be held less accountable for his actions.
I actually do not care if it was inherent or learned. He did it and he should be punished. If every single victim became an abuser, that would be one thing, but the fact is many victims do not grow up to be abusers and that in itself proves to me that becoming like the evil you endured is a conscious decision one makes. He knew what he was doing and probably wanted to make someone else feel as bad as he did. And for that, he should be severely punished.