Thursday, May 18, 2006

Publish Day - Ink Blog - Sex offender goes free

It bothers me when I read about repeat offenders being let out of jail, especially when it's an easy assumption that they're just going to continue to find new victims.

This news item bothered me: a guy named Edward Kelly has a habit of having unprotected sex with women, conveniently forgetting to tell them he's HIV-positive. Rehabilitation hasn't worked, and he's been castigated at every parole board hearing for showing no remorse and no willingness or ability to address his deviant behavior. Here's what I published in today's paper:
Bail decision makes mockery of justice
Published Thursday, May 18, 2006
The London Free Press

The fact that Edward Kelly is free on bail sends another signal that Canada’s justice system coddles criminals and ignores victims’ rights.

The London man just finished doing time for aggravated sexual assault after having sex with four women without revealing his HIV-positive status.

He was released last May after serving two-thirds of his sentence, but was jailed again in September after starting a relationship with an 18-year-old woman. Once again, she didn’t know he carried HIV.

In December, the parole board told Kelly that he is indifferent to the consequences of his actions. Yet he walked free on Monday.

We all know it takes two to tango. No one should initiate any relationship without full knowledge of a partner’s HIV status. Safe sex is a virtual given.

But the fact remains a man serially initiates relationships with the biological equivalent of a loaded gun.

Why is he walking the streets?

-30-
Your turn: Do you think his picture should be published periodically as a warning against would-be victims? It was recently published in the paper, but who keeps newspapers? I'm thinking more along the lines of a web site that keeps the faces of serial offenders visible on an ongoing basis. Thoughts?

One more thing: He's scheduled to be in court June 14th. I'll let you guess the charge. Stay tuned.

14 comments:

kenju said...

You know what I think they should do to people like him? If he cannot be locked up for good, then tattoo "HIV POSITIVE" on his forehead.

I do like the idea of the web-site. We have several like that in the US, but I sometimes wonder how often they are updated.

Anonymous said...

Websites can be a good and a bad thing. There's no doubt they can serve as a valuable communication tool. However, there's always a danger that people may misuse the information. For an example, see the recent case in the news where Stephen Marshall looked up sex offenders on a website, then hunted them down and killed them.

I say: "lock him up and throw away the key."

Tammy said...

They should post his face on every street post in town. Along with a billboard. What a creep.

keda said...

i'm with cora l. why aree they letting this murderer go free??? but disgunstingly its nothing new... sex offenders generally get comedy sentences, 18 months for rape is not uncommon.
parole should never be on offer for dangerous animals like this.

sadly so many sex offenders also walk the streets without ever being tried due to fear and disbelief. i should know. child molesters virtually never get punished.
if we can't change the legal system then i suppose the internet is the only thing to do... though i too worry about misuse of these things. but better to be prepared.

well written again babe.

keda said...

i meant i should know, because i was abused as a child and then found many more victims close to me when i started to finally talk about it! sorry i didn't make that clear before... please feel free to edit!

Ontario Emperor said...

It's a tough situation. Usually when someone is convicted of a crime, there's an understanding that the person will be punished for x months/years and then go free. However, that's not the case in sex crimes. Once you're branded a sex offender, you're pretty much punished for life. Granted, you're punished in a way that effectively allows you to commit more crimes, but your freedom is still restricted. You can't really live anywhere, since once the neighbors hear about you, they protest and harrass you until you leave for another home (until you have to leave that one). Perhaps they can live with nuclear waste, but that's about it.

I'd agree to longer sentences for repeat sex offenders, but a significant portion of society would not, for whatever reason (and they may be noble reasons). As long as this continues, repeat sex offenders will get short sentences in the slammer, and lifelong sentences outside of the slammer.

Anonymous said...

AS a poz man, his behavior is unconscionable. And his picture should be published. as Canadian Media has gone the extra mile to publicize men like that, (e.g. the football player) i forget the team here in Canada.

men like that should be on a list, like pedophiles and criminals, because to have sex and not disclose for some countries IS a criminal offense and punishable by law (e.g. the U.S.)

He's sick. He's infected many people, in essence, he;s committed uncoscionable murder because of what they will endure and now carry themselves. Add to that (their) partners, in the future. This man surely does not comprehend nor cares about the meaning of disclosure and why it is SOOOO important.

Castrate him. or incarcerate him for the rest of his life. Since it seems that his behavior has not changed and rehabilitation is useless in his case.

That's just sickening.

Peace
Jeremy

Mrs. Falkenberg said...

I think he needs a stronger sentence, perhaps drug induced castration. But, I cannot help but think that women who have unproctected sex are really not in a position to complain when they get a disease.

Anonymous said...

Didn't we used to have two nice peices of hard wood that were hinged together at one end and had two opening for a pair of hands and a bigger opening that would fit snuggly around a neck and finaly a lock at the other. Didn't we as a society then put the summa'beeech worthy of this wooden crown into it and lock it up and make him drag his worthless behind around town? I think thats a solution. I could be wrong.

I am not sure from you artical if the sex was consentual and he is up on charges for knowing he was HIV positive or if this was also a case of rape. If its just the latter then as much as this guy gets the "waste of sperm award" there is a partial responsibility on the women to NOT HAVE UNPROTECTED SEX. Still doesn't make the guy any less of an arseclown.

I came by to wish you a good weekend .

Cheers,

P.

srp said...

Here from Michele.
This may be radical but I think a Dolly Parton line from the very old movie "9 to 5" would be appropriate here. "I can turn a rooster to a hen with one shot." Get my drift?
Actually I like Judy's idea of a head tattoo. Sort of like the "Scarlet Letter" of earlier days.

shpprgrl said...

Sex offenders like this goon are another thing I tend to get on soapboxes about. I say the pictures should be out there. I search my state's database regularly. The really scary ones are the 'undocumented' ones.

Have a nice weekend. Here again from Michele's!

The Gnat's Trumpet said...

What scum. You may recall from my site M.P.'s husband not caring about passing on HIV to M.P. (he wasn't infected but he really believed that he had been). It might be time for the scarlet letter to reappear as kenju says.

Nic said...

My question - why isn't he castrated yet? Nothing else is working, why not take away from him the ability to use his "nether regions" as a deadly weapon?

Anonymous said...

I am one of the women that charged him in the first case. I think that they should kill him the way he is killing others. I went to every court date and now I have this all over again to make sure he doesn't hurt others. He always goes for women with children.

I wish he would just except the responsablity and do the things that the health unit have set out in the court order!