Reply #28: Your positions are sound, but still....

[DeSwiss]

...these children were adopted by this family, apparently with little or no investigation by the state of Alabama. They are most likely now, and will continue to be placed back with the state Dept. of Human Resources after such a terrific blunder of placing them there in the first place. My wife also works in child and adult protective services and I understand the thinking, if not always agreeing with it. But not all cases are the same. How much abuse is necessary before someone goes to jail? Why even have laws that include jail time if we're not going to apply it in appropriate cases? Is not this case appropriate?

We say that to put the child in a position of testifying against a "parent" is worse than allowing the perpetrators of this evil to skip away -- as in this case. I disagree. I would think that the oldest child (16) might also agree. And I would think that the trauma these children have already endured could hardly be topped by testifying against this bastard. In fact, it could be the beginning of kind of closure for them in knowing that not only is he being punished, but that they had a hand in it by standing up to him.

I'm afraid I can't agree with probation in such an egregious case. Over ten years of abuse??? The last four years of which the authorities knew about and still did nothing. If anything, the probation plea allows those who are also responsible in government to also escape punishment as much as this piece of human excrement. IMHO

DeSwiss