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OpinionSunday Night by MaryHelen Swanson, editorIn the early 90s, my daughter, with a tiny kitten snuggled in the palm of her hand, headed off to another year of college. She was sharing a home with friends and could finally have a pet. Well, she graduated, came home and the cat came to live with us because apartments donít take pets. So I came to know this soft, white creature as a friend. The only thing that bugged me about her was her insistence upon drinking from the bathroom faucet instead of a dish. She was a house cat, but enjoyed a frequent walk around the yard, never moving beyond the sound of my voice and always responding to her name to come back in the house. On the day of the Chisago County Fair parade, Tímone did not come when called. And we have not found her. And, even while putting things in perspective, I miss her a lot. Now, as precious as this fur ball was to me, I cannot imagine sending a five-, six- or seven-year old child out to play in the yard never to see them alive again. Something must be done about child predators. If thousands of people can fill the Crystal Cathedral in California for the funeral of a little girl they did not know, why canít thousands of people make it known to their elected officials that stronger measures must be taken to prevent these terrible tragedies. Talk about homeland terrorism. What could be more horrible than to have a child, an innocent child, snatched from her own yard, tortured with sexual acts and then murdered or left to die, whether she does or not. I am no expert in the field of sexual predators, or pedophilia, but something must be done to stop this terror. Is it a disease, a genetic disorder, a learned behavior? All the money that goes into senseless research, surveys and studies on seemingly ridiculous topics, and you have all heard of them, could be better spent on finding out why men, and it is mostly men, must prey upon our precious children. Do they need tougher penalties, longer sentences, medical help? Iíd actually like to see a cure, if such a thing is possible, so that no more little girls and boys have to go through hell before they become angels in heaven. ©ECM Post Review |