A reader asked me what I thought of the recent brave escape of Amanda Berry and her child from the home of sexual deviant and subhuman animal Ariel Castro, who held three women he had abducted years earlier in his house of horrors in Cleveland.  For me, it is the ultimate triumph of good over evil.  In spite of what this piece of shit did to these women FOR YEARS, they lived through it, right under the noses of police who were supposedly looking for them, and Amanda Berry escaped, got help and this weasel was arrested.  

I think the bigger question was, what does this kind of case (which is sadly not unprecedented–consider Elizabeth Smart, Shawn Hornbeck, and others) trigger in someone like me?  Aside from the obvious–gratitude that these women are still alive, it triggers all kinds of responses.  Anyone who suffers from some form of post-traumatic stress disorder, whatever the reason/source, understands.  But that said, my response is probably very similar to yours.  

Thankfully, the press seems to be treating these women and their families with respect and dignity.  What has been revealed about their treatment (which, I can assure you, is completely minimized), makes me think that if it were me, I would have wished every day if I was in this man’s house of horrors, that I was dead.  So I am filled with awe that they chose to live.  

When I saw his photos online, I wanted to puke.  Wielding that power over girls/young women, who he held captive until they turned to women; restrained because he was such a pussy he could only have a woman in his life if he held them captive.  He will only be charged with the death penalty if the prosecutor decides to make that charge based on his murder of the fetuses the women he raped were carrying.  I don’t believe in the death penalty for reasons that I will gladly debate; however, if the voters of a state believe the death penalty is appropriate for murderers under “special circumstances,” I believe it is appropriate for aggravated sex crimes.  Sex crimes sentence the victims to a living death.  The perpetrators deserve nothing less.  

I’m sorry, but you asked–I feel the moral, legal and ethical issues are addressed fully if a defendant receives a fair trial (after a fair police investigation–good luck with that one) in a sex crime case or a murder case if, after conviction, the defendant is placed in the general population (no special treatment, big boy), for the rest of his life.  They are nothing special.  If defendants guilty of drug crimes get tossed in the general population, these pussies should get the same treatment.  One strike on sex crimes, just like it is for drug crimes or murder, regardless of who you or your daddy is.  A drug addict or murderer has a better chance of turning his life around than a sex predator.  Your fellow inmates get it better than we do. 

Another feeling–oh come on, more “he was such a nice guy, great neighbor, blah, blah, blah”??!!  What do you think now that you know what was going on in that house, neighbors?!  Hey, let’s have a beer on the porch with old Ariel.  Such a friendly guy! 

Here’s another thing this horrifying and appalling case triggers for me–the “runaway response.”  Cops always want it to be a runaway situation.  Sure, just wait another 36 to 48 to 72-hours? I can’t tell you how many people told me in the first 72-hours that Tim “probably just ran away.”  That is what people tell themselves so they don’t have to think of the alternative.  Even if the person is found to have runaway or ditched out on obligations, isn’t it better to assume the worst and then hope for the best?!  It’s a runaway situation–let’s focus on traffic issues for another 36 hours and hope this issue goes away.  

This stuff rattles me big time.  It makes me sad, it makes me mad, it makes me want to put duct tape over Ariel Castro’s eyes and pull it off, repeatedly, for the next nine years.  But that’s not what’s going to happen.  He will get a public defender, a fair trial, and life in prison–probably in protective custody.  Because that’s the way our system rolls.  The parents of Ariel Castro will fare better than the parents of Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight and Amanda Berry.  That’s just the way it works.