Suspected child molester commits suicide

[Horse with no Name]

I don't know what political affiliation this guy had--but Plano is veryyy Republican.
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa060803_wz_drummond.7499dd0.html
>>>>snip
PLANO — A Plano soccer coach facing allegations of touching two young girls was found dead at his home on Thursday morning.

Dennis Gene Drummond, 65, had been indicted on five charges of indecency with a child, according to a grand jury report released on Wednesday.

Plano police have ruled out foul play. The medical examiner said Drummond committed suicide, and he died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Drummond's body had apparently been in his garage for several days.

Drummond coached five teams over three years for the Plano Youth Soccer Association before taking his teams to the Plano Sports Authority.

[MrSlayer]

1. Good job.

Wish they would all do that at the first urge.

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be that way.

http://www.rawstory.com/showoutarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fhosted.ap.org%2Fdynamic%2Fstories%2FT%2FTUTOR_CHARGES%3FSITE%3DMIDTF%26SECTION%3DHOME%26TEMPLATE%3DDEFAULT%26CTIME%3D2006-08-03-05-00-59

[CoffeeCat]

6. Unfortunately, molesters twist reality...

...until there is no reality.

My therapist treats pedophiles, and we've had numerous discussions about "pedophile thinking."

They actually believe that they are doing the child a favor. Most pedophiles also believe that
the child wants and initiates the molestation.

It's interesting that this monster in the article chose to molest children under 13 who had
disabilities. He makes the claim that children CAN consent to sex---yet he sexually violates
the most innocent, vulnerable and helpless members of society.

These people are sick. The damage they do to people is catastrophic and an epidemic in this country.

My therapist has said that it takes an average of two full years of intensive therapy, just to get
these perps to admit that they molested a child---even when multiple witnesses come forward or
videotape evidence is available. After they admit it--then you have to crack through their
perverse web of mental distortions. They all insist that the molestation was the child's fault
and that the child enticed them.

I think it's critical that our society understand how deluded and dangerous these people are--and that
they are pretty much damaged good for life. We need to put these people away for decades--not months.

[undergroundpanther]

9. If we cannot lock them away forever

I'd say why not kill them off?

[CoffeeCat]

12. Part of me agrees with you...

The part of me that is angry wants all pedophiles shot on sight.

The part of me that wants children safe--wants longer incarcerations, mandatory minimums and intensive therapy for these perps.

What we're doing now, is not working. I've read many articles about child molesters being caught and convicted--and most
receive months in jail. That's more sick than what the perp did! The price for sexually violating a child is MONTHS in
jail? What message does that send to the victim?

I understand your wanting to rid the world of these scumbags.

[High Plains]

18. Uh, because we strive to be a humane society?

Maybe we should torture them first. Would that make you feel better?

[undergroundpanther]

29. No

Don'torture. Torture is worse than death.Sadism is not required here. Death is suffecient. In death the perp feels nothing and the victims and all potential victims of this perp are safe from him forever.

[MadMaddie]

3. Agreed....he just saved the taxpayer a lot of money....

I have no sympathy for child molesters....

[MadMaddie]

4. After reading the article....ummm would you leave your

young child with this man? Seriously......

[webDude]

11. Listen to you people! Get a grip

No, I would not leave my child with anyone that I did not trust with my life, WOULD YOU?

Some of you

1) don't know the difference between indictment and conviction. My dog could get a conviction with some of these grand juries. The charge of child molestation is the EASIEST thing to get an indictment on.

2) case in point: about 5 years ago, 4th grade teacher is locked up for 5 days when 2 girls claim that he touched them. He is released when the girls admitted that they lied about it. Oh, by the way, the guy was black, and a Nigerian("talked funny"). These 2 girls got a lot of attention in school about this.

3) case in point: McMillan school in California, about 20 years ago. An accusation by a Mother, who had several arrest of her own, and a diagnosed borderline personality disorder, started an investigation that years later, turned up no convictions, only allegations that they flew children out into the desert, showed them animal sacrifices, abused them, and returned them in time for their parents to pick them up, in 4 hours time, impossible given the distance involved. Many contradictions on the stand, over-zealous police and prosecutors. A major cluster-f$#k, wasting millions, and destroying the lives of 10 or so people, that were found innocent.

Don't get me wrong, if someone molested my child, you would have to keep me from killing him/her. But, of ANY website, this should be the one where we don't jump to conclusions. My God, GW pulled the wool over a LOT of people's eyes about going to war with Iraq, you don't think children could collaborate and stir up some s$%t accusing someone that they did not like, dragging people into it?

From all of the witch hunting that goes along with these accusations, false OR true, even if I was innocent, I could see it getting to me enough to just want to get away from it all, and sucking on a bullet.

Walk a mile in the falsely accused person's shoes, then pontificate.

[CoffeeCat]

14. It is not easy to get a child molestation conviction...

...In general, there has to be proof or a credible witness coming forward.

Many times, the police won't issue arrests because the children are too young. They wouldn't be effective on the witness stand...so charges
are brought.

Furthermore, I've met hundreds of survivors of sexual abuse. All express frustration with the justice system because the police will not issue
arrest (or even open an investigation) when adults come forward and report that someone molested them during their childhood.

After telling Federal and local authorities that I was molested, photographed in sexually explicit situations with adults and children--I was
told, "Thank you for the information, but we need a 'fresh case' before we can even open an investigation." I understood. I wasn't happy,
but I understood that you can't go around arresting people or searching their homes because someones says abuse happened thirty years ago.

I also work closely with a victims' advocacy service--and it is difficult for arrests to be made when there is no evidence and it's the victim's
word against the perpetrator's version of events. The police and investigators often do not take these cases. I've seen this happen hundreds
of times.

I'm not sure why you feel that it's easy to get an indictment for child molestation. In my experience--in the trenches--that is not true.

[webDude]

17. In my experience, "in the trenches", I've seen more shit than you can ...

shake a stick at. I am aware that it will make an ENORMOUS difference in the area. An enormous difference in the prosecutor. In Harris County, Texas, they would give child abuse cases to the newbie prosecutors because they were easy.

I have no doubt, given that you are an open person, that the stuff you see is true. Bear in mind, that you, and possibly me, are skewed as to the exposure that we get to experiences. I.E. -- all the cases you see are abuse cases, ergo, it is all around. I have been exposed to abuse allegations that usually turn out to be child-custody battles, so I can't say that I am totally un-biased. Both of us see injustice that makes us highly outraged at the situations. I Would dare say that corruption could stand to be cleaned up, all around.

[IdaBriggs]

27. I was once asked a challenging question about the death penalty.

If 99 out of 100 people who were / are executed are actually GUILTY, would you release them all from prison to save the one innocent man?

I was asked this question many years ago, and I have watched my answers change over the years. Originally, my answer was "free them all -- save the innocent!" Later, as I came to realize that my DUTY was to protect those who couldn't protect themselves, I reconciled myself to that one innocent man either being executed, or spending his life unfairly behind bars. I want the system to work fairly, and believe that striving to "fix" the problems so we can identify the "truly" innocent versus the "truly" guilty to decrease those odds from "one in a hundred" to "one in ten thousand" instead.

Does it always work? Probably not. Nor do I know the "real" percentages of guilty versus innocent people convicted of heinous crimes. Is it closer to 50/50? A thousand to one? 95% accuracy? At what point is the "wrongly convicted innocent man" ratio going to be high enough for me to shout ENOUGH?

As I said, my answer changes over the years, but when it comes to pedophiles and child molesters, my current experience is "personal knowledge" of about thirty or so different cases, where only ONE perpetrator (who molested his thirteen year old step-daughter) spent ANY time in jail -- in this particular case, ten days. The rest of the survivors I know have NEVER seen "justice" in the court systems.

[undergroundpanther]

30. Thank you

For saying this.The truth.

[NashVegas]

28. No I Wouldn't .. But

Unless more kids come forward, this guy strikes me as the type who is on the way to pedophilia and molestation, but hasn't quite crossed the line yet. It's a tragedy, but I'm not sure for whom.

[elocs]

5. What if the case were not as clear cut as this one?

There is absolutely nothing worse than for someone who loving care and compassion for children and concern with their well-being to be falsely accused of being a child molester or a pedophile. In our society, an accusation is all that is needed and the accused will be branded as scum and unworthy of life by the public. There is no innocent until proved guilty and even if the charges are dismissed the accused will live with that brand for the rest of their lives. Can anyone imagine how horrible that must be, caring for children, but knowing for your own well being that you can never again have any kind of unsupervised contact with them? What if you were falsely accused of molesting your own children? Imagine the kind of hell you will live through the rest of your life, particularly if they are still young.

True child molesters and pedophiles are scum and they need to be separated permanently from society for the protection of our children. They are like vampires who create more vampires by their bite. Child molesters and pedophiles may be "sick", but unless you are a certified psychopath, when you become an adult you should know the difference between right and wrong and be held responsible for your choices. But the accusation of "pedophile" is easily thrown out like that of "witch" as the hysteria takes hold and many innocent people have their lives ruined just as many truly guilty escape punishment. What is truly heart wrenching in our society is that children have the most to fear from those who are supposed to love and care and watch out for them. And the kids never seem to tell and hold this sadness, trauma, and sickness inside of them. This is one of the truly evil plagues of humanity and is one of the reasons that I can no longer believe in a god who would allow this to happen when I, as a mere human, would have the moral responsibility to stop it if I could.

[CoffeeCat]

10. If someone is falsely accused...

...of course that is a tragedy.

However, the statistics on REAL child abuse---are staggering. One in four girls and one in seven boys will be molested before the age of 18. Ninety percent
of sexual abuse victims never tell. They are simply too scared; or their perp terrorizes and manipulates them into silence. There are so many victims who
never get help and they suffer immense pain.

In this case discussed in this post, the alleged perpetrator inappropriately touched students with whom he taught. Nothing was ever done. Now, he is accused of doing the same thing as a coach. Children reported this behavior--and the police found enough evidence to charge him with a crime.

I do understand that false accusations are a tragedy, but I really don't understand why people insist on bringing up "false allegations" whenever someone
is accused of child molestation. The facts demonstration that 90 percent of victims never tell. Don't we under cut victims when we constantly throw around
anecdotal tales of false accusations whenever the subject of child molestation is discussed?

It's like planting a seed of doubt in ever victims' story.

Your initial question, "What if this case were not as clear cut as this one?" is interesting. Often, there is no physical proof of molestation. It
is a child's word against the alleged perpetrator. There is rarely evidence of sexual molestation, which leaves most cases "not as clear cut." Many
victims do not have the strength, knowledge or resources to come forward until they are adults. Decades after they abuse, there is rarely evidence
and most child molesters aren't exactly truth tellers. So, those cases are definitely not "clear cut."

Since 90 percent of children never tell---they suffer in silence and grow up in pain---shouldn't we ask, "How can we help this victim heal?" more than
we ask, "What if these allegations are false?"

When someone robs a bank and these allegations are brought to light---you NEVER hear, "We must wait. Wait for more proof. This allegation might be false, you know."

Society is in denial about childhood sexual abuse. I think we throw in these "this might not be true" rationalizations to anesthetize ourselves from the grave reality--
that these crimes against children are horrific and happening so often.

This kind of denial and rationalization only helps the perpetrators, and it impedes healing for the victim.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't ever discuss false allegations, or that we should convict a person before they've had a fair trial. I'm just wondering
why many child molestation accusations are met with knee-jerk denial and the notion that the victim might be lying.

[webDude]

13. Er, MOST child abuse accusations,...

are eagerly gobbled up by the public at large, while false accusations are rarely believed, look at the bulk of these posts, on a "LIBERAL" site. Just imagine them on a conservative site.

Most child abuse accusations are DEFINITELY NOT met with "knee-jerk denials" as you put it.

[CoffeeCat]

16. On DU....

...most discussions of child molestation come with reminders about how common and rampant false allegations are.

I agree with you, that most of the posts do not do this. However, a few people almost always arrive on the scene
to insinuate (without any proof) that the allegations might be false and child molestation investigations are
like witch hunts. This happens on nearly all discussions of child molestation.

I find it offensive when crimes against children are discussed--as part of news stories, that people find it important to stress
that the victim may be lying--or could be like the deranged lunatic in a story they once heard.

[elocs]

25. I'm sorry, apparently you didn't read my entire post.

A person can overcome a false murder accusation easier than a false accusation of child molesting. We like to consider ourselves to be inlightened here at DU, but it seems that we are as quick to convict the accused as the right wingers are. After all, the police would never arrest somebody who was not guilty.

Please, please, read my entire post. There should be a special hell for child molesters and a special heaven for those who were falsely accused because they deserve it also.

[cynatnite]

7. Mixed emotions...

If he's innocent of the charges, then the accusations must have traumatized him enough to take his own life...

However, if he's guilty, he's a cowardly pedophile that shouldn't have been able to escape justice.

[undergroundpanther]

8. Ahh Good

All pedophiles should follow his example ,as should all sociopaths and authoritarians.

[High Plains]

19. That's a pretty fucking sick attitude.

[NashVegas]

26. Self-deleted

..

[ContraBass Black]

15. I hope he was guilty.

It would be monstrous if he wasn't.

[Horse with no Name]

21. That I agree with. n/t

[McCamy Taylor]

20. Child abuse and suicide are both tragic and call for compassion.

[Seabiscuit]

22. "Another one down, another one down, another one bites the dust". n/t

[madmusic]

23. Suicide is murder.

I don't know if he was guilty or not, but I'm sure as hell glad he didn't take a child with him.

[upi402]

24. Here's a 30 yr vet cop who raped a boy

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/280105_giles04.html

Cops aren't usually liberals.

[SmokingJacket]

31. At least the old groper didn't kill anyone.

"Inappropriate touching" is of course sick and calls for punishment... but not death.

[porphyrian]

32. I hope he was guilty. - n/t