Monday, April 16, 2012

Letters to a pedophile

Everyone needs human contact; even convicted pedophiles. I understand that. I think everyone would agree. Human contact is essential. The nature of the contact should be supervised when one is a pedophile. It would be unwise for pedophiles to establish any kind of unsupervised relationship with a child, especially while incarcerated. I think we can all agree on that too. It is common sense. If it is common sense, then why did a Lutheran school teacher have her students befriend pedophile Rickey R. Rowlett when he was sitting in a local jail?

Officials at a Houston private school said they are investigating how a teacher arranged for a group of fourth-graders to correspond with a man who had been charged with child sexual molestation.

Laura Perry was working as a 4th grade teacher at Trinity Lutheran Church and School when she had her students send letters to Rowlett as a class project. Perry believed Rowlett had been wrongly accused. This is personal. She knew the man. The safety of her students and her moral compass be damned. She was on a personal mission, but was it also sanctioned by her church?

It gets better… Perry’s husband stands charged with possessing and promoting child pornography. He too had access to the students. Her friend is a convicted pedophile and her husband might be a child pornographer, and she is what… horribly irresponsible?

Perry, the school and church, and pastor Michael Dorn are all named in a lawsuit brought by the students' families. In my opinion, the best way to handle cases of misconduct like this are to sue the church out of existence.