| Topic Name: |
Sex Offender Hysteria |
| Message Name: |
This Story Illustrates.... |
| Date Posted: |
05/05/2005 |
| In Reply To: |
From WPEC - West Palm Beach.
Sex Predator On the Loose.
Written By : Lauren Smith
May 4, 2005 - 7:42AM
A convicted sexual predator, just released from prison, has cut off his ankle bracelet and is on the run.
39-year-old Patrick Bell broke a GPS ankle bracelet Tuesday afternoon.
He got out of prison last month after serving five years for raping and molesting a little girl.
Cops say he took off from his registered address at Paul's Hotel on Lake Worth Road, and went to his mother's apartment on Silver Beach Road in Lake Park, but has not been seen since.
The ankle bracelet was found at the mom's house.
It gives off a signal that let's the department of corrections know its been cut.
Detectives say they're concerned for the safety of all children in the area.
Authorities say if you see Bell, you should immediately call 911. |
| Message: |
what's wrong with coverage of the sex offender issue. Yes, WPEC should have covered this story--it's important to notify the public that a sexual predator is on the loose, minus his GPS tracking braclet.
I'd like to see WPEC (and other local stations) dig deeper on this story. How many offenders are wearing the braclets? How many remove them? And, more importantly, how difficult is it to track them down once the GPS braclet is removed, and how many cops are assigned to the seach? It's worth remembering that the local sheriff's office received a letter to look for John Couey six months before he murdered that young girl. But, at that point, searching for a missing sex offender wasn't a priority.
And, how about looking into these issues relating to sexual predators and our kids: their recidivism rate is staggering--over 80% by some counts--yet parole boards keep releasing them. Also, certain geographic areas seem to be magnets for the predators, due to lax registration, parole enforcement and a lower cost of living. Cursory information suggests there are a disproportionate number of paroled offenders living in rurual Georgia and Florida. Has anyone bothered to look into that disturbing trend?
The public is rightly concerned and outraged by released predators who molest and kill their victims. Unfortunately, few TV stations are willing to put the resources on this story to fully explore the issue and explain it to their audiences. Besides, it's sweeps month. Need something catchy to put more faces in front of the screen, like that infamous series on "things people insert in their rectums."
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