A toddler was raped, but as horrific as the thought is, those who raped her shouldn't be punished. You see, her attackers were just boys -- 7- and 9-year-old boys who shouldn't even know what rape is. Someone is to blame, but it's not them.
It happened in Memphis this past summer. The 2-year-old victim's brother, 5, saw it occurring and told his mom. Thank goodness he did. While the boys first blamed each other, they later admitted to the crime.
The boys are due in court today where prosecutors are recommending they be removed from their families' homes and placed in state custody for treatment, not punishment. They want to determine what these boys have been exposed to that would make them do this to another child. James Sanders, the attorney defending the 9-year-old boy, told the Memphis Commercial Appeal:
What happened to this victim is horrible, nobody is minimizing that. But my client has a lot of problems and needs some immediate help. Somebody's got to rescue this kid.
Someone has to rescue them all.
This is one of those stories that I recount through tears, because it's so awful and so unimaginable that such vile, evil things can happen to innocent children. And really, at this point, all three should still be innocent. Something has to be very, very wrong in one's life for a mind that young to be infected like this.
But as much as I don't want to blame these boys because of their age, where do we draw a line? Is there really an age at which one suddenly should be able to account for his tragic background, overcome what he's been exposed to, and now be able to stand up and do the right thing? Yes, we have to expect that, but we also have to expect that some won't be able to. It doesn't in any way make what the victim suffered any less horrifying or their actions justifiable in the least, it just make the whole situation more tragic.
Do you think these boys should be punished?
Image via davedehetre/Flickr
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Comments 1038
"Sorry folks but kids today are seriously screwed up."
Really? They weren't "screwed up" yesterday? Or was the information concerning things simply not as available? I believe that the latter is actually more accurate. And punish them? In what manner, exactly? Considering their age, in what way do you wish to create further damage by "punishing" them?
o be careful what you wish for.
This is mind blowing that children so young have thoughts of raping a toddler. They must have been on the Internet, looking at child porn. How else would they get this idea? In any event, the toddler has been traumatized and will suffer residual effects for years to come. These boys definitely need professional help but also need to be told, in no uncertain terms, that this behavior is intolerable and inexcusable and punishment needs to be doled out. Question is: what kind of punishment do you give to two boys who are 7 and 9 years of age? Putting them in juvenile hall really isn't the answer. They'll just be exposed to older juveniles who have done even worse offenses. It's really a tough call to make. But this behavior needs to be addressed or these boys will end up doing even worse crimes in the future.
thank god for the 5 year old brother. hes gonna need help also to see that happen to his sister had to have tramatized him. and the other boys need help n punished. if they are starting this young, this is who they will grow up to be if its not handled properly now.
this is why i don't let my kids on the internet when i'm not there to supervise. if left alone, kids will find the bad stuff, and may be tempted to emulate what they see. (with the nearest available victim)
God help us all.......they learned it from somewhere....Poor little girl. i dont think these boys can be helped because it obviously is already engrained.....but someone should try AND they should be punished AND find out who did this to them or let them witness such atrocities and punish them as well.