Tracking offenders.....

[natasha]

I do understand that parents want to know where these sicko's are living but I once knew a man who lived by me in England. He wasn't a sex offender ( I checked on websites and also went the police station with him to prove her wasn't, apparently it's ok to do this if they are with you).

My Prat of a brother and his mates decided that this man looked like a peodophile they had seen on watchdog that supposedly lived in our neighbourhood.. They made this mans life hell. They punched and kicked him in the street. They threw things at him,bricked his windows,smashed his car to pieces. I used to see him getting his milk from the porch in the morning with black eyes and swollen lips.

I tried to tell my brother that it wasn't him, they had got it wrong, but they didn't care. Once they have it in their head there is no stopping them.

This went on for years. I went to see him some days. He was such a kind man. He said he understood why they did it, if he knew someone that did awful things to little children he would want to hurt them himself, he understood that they had just mistaken him for some peadophile but no matter how manby times he told them, they just wouldn't listen.

I knocked on his door oneday as i hadn't seen him for a few days. No answer. I called the police station as they knew him quite well because the amount of beatings he got from my brothers mates.
The poor man had killed himself. Hung himself in his living room. His daughter had found him.

I felt so responsible because my brother had contributed to this! He and his mates didn't care at all. Didnt get charged with anything as the man wasn't alive to press charges.

The saddest thing is that this man was a decent man, he had children and grand children.
I don't know what the best thing is. To know if you have a sex offender living near you or not, I just know that people need to be so careful with their accusations.

[Little Gorilla]

I do understand that parents want to know where these sicko's are living but I once knew a man who lived by me in England. He wasn't a sex offender ( I checked on websites and also went the police station with him to prove her wasn't, apparently it's ok to do this if they are with you).

My Prat of a brother and his mates decided that this man looked like a peodophile they had sen on watchdog. They made this mans life hell. They punched and kicked him in the street. They threw things at him,bricked his windows,smashed his car to pieces. I used to see him getting his milk from the porch in the morning with black eyes and swollen lips.

I tried to tell my brother that it wasn't him, they had got it wrong, but they didn't care. Once they have it in their head there is no stopping them.

This went on for years.

Gees that is terrible.....after reading a few peoples posts on this thread, I think I am a bit of a fence-sitter on the issue at the moment...half of me wants to know...then the other half thinks harsher penalties for the offenders in the first place would keep them off the streets and away from anymore victims....its a tough one for me.