Something sick is happening in Ocala and I must confess it has me more worried about anything else I can think of and especially so since the birth of my daughter some weeks back. As I ponder the future for myself and my family I worry often about a number of issues but sex crimes on children are by far my greatest concern.
Living here in Ocala has always felt safe and far away from these things but recent news and a closer look at available information makes you wonder just how safe we are from sexual predators in Ocala and Marion County. In the past week alone two old men were caught and have seemingly confessed to child rape on children as young as 5 years old. What kind of person can imagine sexual relation with a child? How sick are we as a society cannot even respect the sanctity of childhood and let them grow up before we corrupt them with our evil ways?
I realize that all children are at risk of becoming victims but I think little girls have the most pressure on them and this will continue that way for their entire lives now it seems. From babies to young girls on to adults and even old people from both sexes it seems everyone is a potential victim. Then again the same group can be considered predators as well when you consider that children are now committing some of the offenses as well. Apparently we can't trust any group of people and everyone who comes in contact with children has a part of it including preachers, teachers, coaches, doctors and a of course friends and even family a child can no longer trust anyone in this world not to be a potential rapist or threat to their safety.
I am proud to say that I have three beautiful children and for years now I have openly shared photos of them with the world. Over that time I have had many people comment on the photos and how special they are. I often wonder though just who is looking at them. I realize by exposing yourself online you take the risk of attracting some freak who wants to molest your children. I hope that we are doing a good job in teaching our children to be cautious and aware of the situation. As shameful as it may be we teach our children to be trusting of no one because we feel its the most we can do to protect them. "Bad people" are everywhere and anyone can be dangerous is our motto at this point and however cold it may seem it will work for now that we control who they know and how they interact with them.
We have never used a babysitter other than our parents or siblings whom we know we can trust and we hope that when they become older teens we won't give them reason to run off as so many of these 13-14 year olds seem to do so often. How this man was able to track an young female over the internet and meet her without her family aware of it. How she could think this was OK seems strange to me but perhaps these people are more persuasive than we know. Looking at the scoundrels I do wonder how they were ever allowed near a child but I wouldn't judge the parents when I know nothing about them.
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Having worked on the web for over 10 years now I can say I have seen some very disturbing images of questionable legality. Bad in the early days of file trading a music file could easily come with some images attached and many of the firsst videos on the web were porn flics that people sent you links to. I remember Microsoft had a chat room with people as avatars so you could walk around the room and great avatar representations of each person and than initiate chat. half of the people in there claimed to be young children and would send some pretty nasty photos as attachments. I sent copies to Microsoft but never received a response and after some time they ended up shutting the service down.
I have my ideas about some of the bad habits which internet use have brought to us and the proliferation of sexual crimes seems to me to be directly related to the massive growth of internet filth. As good as the web has been for the majority of the world there is certainly a bad side to it that has created some of the more horrid problems we face as a society and as parents.
if you have children be aware of the issues you face with sexual predators and trust no one with your children. if you live in Florida search the sexual predator database for perverts in your neighborhood and familiarize yourself with their faces. Watch out for your children and please be careful of who your kids are with even here in Ocala.
Murray James “Jim” Thwaites arrested for molesting 5 year old child he babysat | Ocala.com
Published: Friday, July 30, 2010 at 10:05 a.m. Last Modified: Friday, July 30, 2010 at 1:58 p.m. OCALA – A 71-year-old man who baby-sits a friend's children was arrested and accused of molesting one of the children, according to officials. Murray James "Jim" Thwaites (Marion County Jail) Detective Stephen Thibodeau arrested Murray James “Jim” Thwaites, of Ocala, at 11:45 p.m. Thursday and charged him with lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under 12 and promoting a sexual performance by a child under 18. Officials say the victim is 5 years old.
Andrew Dukes accused of urinating on teen girl, raping her | Ocala.com
Published: Friday, July 30, 2010 at 1:41 p.m. Last Modified: Friday, July 30, 2010 at 1:47 p.m. OCALA – Days after a 65-year-old man was charged with sexual battery on a 13-year-old girl, he was slapped with another charge of sexual battery, this time on a girl age 14.
July 30, 2010
Ocala News