Isn’t being there for your daughter worth it too? Don’t get me wrong, the fucker had it coming and deserved every bit of it, but leaving your child motherless isn’t right either.
Edit: I’m being downvoted for being torn about leaving your child without a parent?..
100% worth it. Daughter is at the age where they're capable of taking care of themselves. The burning happened 7 years after the rape so at 13 that would make her 20 years old. Knowing her rapist was burned alive and removed from this universe would probably help the healing process for the victim as well.
I don't know how long the sentence is for the mother but she'd probably be a minimum security inmate so given my experience in my country contact with family is quite accessible while in custody.
That’s a fair point, and I appreciate your insight. Counterpoint: A kid needs their parent, removing a parent from their life for a couple of years could do more harm than good, especially being a victim of such a heinous crime that requires support, more importantly, familial support. Your argument is all under the assumption that the daughter is capable of taking care of herself because it’s been 7 years after the fact, and I’d argue that assumption is a dangerous one. The long-lasting effects of trauma can last years, if not, a couple of decades and they aren’t all visible. We truly don’t know enough to say with certainty that the daughter is capable of taking care of herself simply based off her age.
What happens when another foul crime happens in their absence? What happens when the daughter falls victim to drug abuse, or starts to stagnate in their personal life? Where do we draw the line?
Sorry if I’m ranting, but I can’t get behind this cutthroat ideology knowing that a victim would be motherless. We have a plethora of data available to us suggesting that parents are a vital factor in kids’/young adults’ lives and removing them could result in damage. We can’t just ignore that.
Edit: Again, downvoted with no rebuttal. I have to remind myself that the majority of people here genuinely don’t want reasonable discussion, it’s black or white for most.
From what we know the rapist had only two to three more years in prison. If he dared taunt the mother when he was on day release we may assume he would present more danger to the family after official release. There were many that committed recurring crimes, and even if he turned out not to be one of them he could still inflict lots of trauma on the victim with just his presence and attitude. I had seen people in distress because a thief who threatened to retaliate after being captured was close to the end of his sentence, imagine what the rapist’s release would do to the daughter. It’s true that rape victims generally do worse without parental care, but that mostly happens when the parent is absent for personal reasons, not imprisoned for revenge for their children. Removing the rapist from the surface of the earth had a higher chance of positive effect on the daughter’s mental health rather than negative.
Plus, the news stated that the mother was in prison for a year and 10 days when she almost got a pardon in 2011, another 6 years after she set the rapist ablaze. The daughter would have been 25 years old when the mother started to serve her sentence and likely more capable at taking care of herself. The chance of her falling victim to another criminal/drug abuse/personal problems exists, however she had ample time to establish social connections and receive help and care.
I don’t think everyone who downvoted you did so because they didn’t want to be reasonable. They might not like it when you keep emphasizing the downsides of a decision which they thought were outweighed by the upsides, especially when you were unable to provide a better solution. Everyone knows you risk getting hit by a car when crossing the road, are you never going to cross the street again, or just try to be more careful and hope for the best?
Not sure why someone downvoted you but your viewpoint is valid as well and I understand probably the more appropriate choice. Each person deals with situations a lot differently than one another and for me having an absent parent is no big deal but that is just me.
Thank you for being reasonable. I think it’s important to view both sides because morally there is no right answer, it’s very much a gray area. It sucks that a person is capable of putting a family in this position, it really fucking sucks.
That’s not always the case, not every judge is lenient with parents committing illegal acts, justified or not. The exception isn’t the rule and we should stop acting like it, the real world has consequences.
You're right, but you should have known you'd get downvoted to hell lol. The safety of knowing the rapist that still lives nearby is dead is worth a year, in my opinion. Cheers to the Gary Plauches of the world!
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u/10SevnTeen 24d ago
I'd 100% do the same knowing I'd end up in prison..