I think our justice system is a bit overboard

[Killer Kitten]

A friend of mine posted this article on his blog.


He grabbed girl's arm -- now he's a sex offender

July 1, 2005

BY STEVE PATTERSON Staff Reporter

Fitzroy Barnaby said he had to swerve to avoid hitting the 14-year-old Des Plaines girl who walked in front of his car.

She said he yelled, "Come here, little girl," before getting out of his car and grabbing her by the arm.

He said he simply lectured her.

She said she broke free and ran, fearful of what he'd do next.

In a Thursday ruling, the Appellate Court of Illinois said the 28-year-old Evanston man must register as a sex offender.

While acknowledging it might be "unfair for [Barnaby] to suffer the stigmatization of being labeled a sex offender when his crime was not sexually motivated," the court said his actions are the type that are "often a precursor" to a child being abducted or molested.

Though Barnaby was acquitted of attempted kidnapping and child abduction charges stemming from the November 2002 incident, he was convicted of unlawful restraint of a minor -- which is a sex offense.

'Most stupid ruling'

Now, he will have to tell local police where he lives and won't be able to live near a park or school.

"This is the most stupid ruling the appellate court has rendered in years," said Barnaby's Chicago attorney, Frederick Cohn. "If you see a 15-year-old beating up your 8-year-old and you grab that kid's hand and are found guilty of unlawful restraint, do you now have to register as a sex offender?"

But Cook County state's attorney spokesman Tom Stanton said Barnaby should have to register "because of the proclivity of offenders who restrain children to also commit sex acts or other crimes against them."

In the criminal case against him, Cook County Judge Patrick Morse said that "it's more likely than not" Barnaby planned only "to chastise the girl" when he grabbed her, but "I can't read his mind."

"I don't really see the purpose of registration in this case. I really don't," Morse said. "But I feel that I am constrained by the statute."

Recognizing the stigma that comes with being labeled as a sex offender, the appellate court said "it is [Barnaby's] actions which have caused him to be stigmatized, not the courts."

[Mistomeer]

Yeah, that's dumb, but do you really get out of your car and grab some kid's arm in that situation? That's pretty dumbass...

[Artha]

That and some of the recent Supreme Court rulings make me not like the judicial branch of government so much.

What can I say? He had it coming.

- Arkans

[Brattt8525]

In this day and age, you can't or shouldn't touch a child. Do I agree? no. Sadly it is the day we live in, he should have never gotten out of his vehicle.

[Skirmisher]

Unless there is much more to this mans history than was revealed, this is a completely unacceptable decision.

The judge should be removed and the prosecutor made to pay some form of reparations as I can not think of any stigma in our society as great as being publicly labeled a sex offender.

[Mistomeer]

True, it's not a fair label, but who in their right mind would go grab someone's kid? I had a kid run out in front of me, and I just sat there a second after nearly running him over and the drove off. I didn't get out and grab the kid.

[AnticorRifling]

Thats why you hit the kid with your car and take a slap on the wrist manslaughter charge and nature gets a boost in natural selection. The herd needs to be thinned.

[AnticorRifling]

And I say this with all honesty...I don't swerve for shit. If you're not in a cross walk and you come in front of my car I'm going to bounce you. I've broken one kids arm when he pulled out in front of me on his bike when I was in a parking lot and I don't feel bad at all. I will follow the traffic laws but I will not take extra steps to protect you if it means I might lose control and damage my shit. If it's your fault you should feel the pain not me.

[Fengus]

If whats in that article is what happened I agree with the judge. Thinking about it deeper you have to see that holding a childs arm is forcing them to do something (like staying put), and doing that to someelse's child is complete out of line. That guy can hate life more, but if that saves one child from being abused by some deviant then I think its cause for celebration. Give that judge a medal. And I bet that guy won't be getting out of his car molesting girls anymore.

Also since when did roads become the exclusive space for motor vehicles? Anticor's statements are completely ignorant. And while ideally you may only get manslaughter, children are a hot button so those are wistful dreams at best. Secondly, unless you flee the scene of the accident you run the risk of a serious beating, I'm talking lynch mob sorta stuff, saw one of these the other day up the road and the kid wasn't even killed. Its a bit sobering to see a grown man screaming "I didn't mean to do it" in mortal fear while backing away from a mob.

[Kenn]

Yeah, that kind of ruling is complet bullshit. He didn't hit the stupid little brat, he didn't pull a gun on her, he was probably (rightfully so) just a tad worked up about almost splattering this little girl over the hood of his car. He probably expected her to bolt, so he called her over and held her arm so he could talk to her without her running away and getting mowed down in the near future.

But, I'm a little biased. I had a bad experience with our judicial branch that left me nursing a deep wound.

I'm not sure about Illinois, but the reason I got the book thrown at me was because the judge (who was voted into office in Sacramento) didn't want to tell the Sacramento Bee why she went soft on a kid. Not to mention the legal system usually glorifies the "victim" no matter how at fault they may be.

I already have a manslaughter conviction on my record, and I can safely say that I would take that over a sex offense ANY day. Lesson learned from this experience: hit the little bastards and let the EMT's sort them out.


Edit: And I've had hands laid on me for doing stupid shit in my younger years. I just fought back, I didn't go crying rape like most of these little kids do now. Granted, I'm sure the risk is much higher for young girls than boys.

[Edited on 7-2-2005 by Kenn]

[Kyra]

Originally posted by AnticorRifling
And I say this with all honesty...I don't swerve for shit. If you're not in a cross walk and you come in front of my car I'm going to bounce you. I've broken one kids arm when he pulled out in front of me on his bike when I was in a parking lot and I don't feel bad at all. I will follow the traffic laws but I will not take extra steps to protect you if it means I might lose control and damage my shit. If it's your fault you should feel the pain not me.

Honestly I don't blame you the way I see kids AND adults who are plenty old enough to know better running out in front of traffic not giving a shit either way. Like they are invincible & that everyone/everything stops for them no matter what.

Heaven forbid you say anything to these damn fools either because you will either get cussed out, threatened or have some asshole kid call the cops on you.

In town here there have been over a dozen cases of people getting attacked when they stopped & or slowed for some "kid" in the street & their friends would come carjack them. Screw that, I will run someone down before I'm getting yanked out of my car & or shot thru the window.

K.

[DeV]

It is a bullshit ruiling and way overboard, and even worse that it's a Cook County ruiling. I could see if they got him on assault charges or something of that sort, but having to register as a sex offender now, that's pretty much fucked his entire life.

When my girlfriend first moved to Chicago she was driving down one of the city blocks on a drizzling rainy day and all of the sudden a little girl shoots out in front of her car, she was being chased by an older sister. My girl slams on her brakes but is sure the little girl is under the front bumper of her car, and fearful that she hit and injured her. The little girl is black, my girlfriend is white. She is scared senseless, I'm not there either so I am telling her what to do over the phone. She didn't leave the scene but instead she backed up because that's what people were screaming for her to do, once she does the girls sister picks her up and carries her into their house. My girl then calls the police, her insurance company, and then me and again, is afraid of what may happen.

On the one hand you have a situation that could turn into something really bad considering the circumstances of the accident and the kind of block my girl was on, and on the other hand the police just may charge her with reckless driving even though this was NO fault of hers. The parents weren't even home at the time, the little girl was 3 or 4 and being watched by an 11 year-old whom was doing the chasing. In this case, the situation could have gone either way, both being not in favor of my girl. She could have easily driven off the scene when the girls sister took her in the house, but she didn't. Everything turned out just fine in the end; the little girl was okay and my girl didn't even get a ticket.

In this man's situation, he had a choice to make and he took the wrong one, only when he put his hands on the kid in that incident. Though, had he actually hit the girl, would that have made it any better really. I guess the possibility of a vehicular manslaughter charge would be much easier to swallow than having to register as a sex offender.

[Kuyuk]

He shoulda hit the fucking kid. Would have been easier for his life.


K.

[Sylvan Dreams]

Originally posted by AnticorRifling
And I say this with all honesty...I don't swerve for shit. If you're not in a cross walk and you come in front of my car I'm going to bounce you. I've broken one kids arm when he pulled out in front of me on his bike when I was in a parking lot and I don't feel bad at all. I will follow the traffic laws but I will not take extra steps to protect you if it means I might lose control and damage my shit. If it's your fault you should feel the pain not me.

I'm with Anticor, somewhat. I'll squeal my breaks for animals. Even a damn chipmunk. It would torment me to no end if I squashed something. A person not obeying traffic rules however, should learn to get the hell out of the way. Animals can't understand laws, people can. I've tapped quite a few drunk frat boys that would run out in front of my car downtown thinking I would slow down. SURPRISE! I didn't.

Granted, back then I was driving a Mirage, and I don't think that car had enough weight to it to kill anything anyway. My friends used to get a kick out of carrying that car and moving it from my parking spot.

[Gan]

I agree with Anticor, and even though pedestrians have the natural 'right of way' here in Texas, its stupid to walk out in front of a moving vehicle and expect it not to hit you. Those that do fall right into Darwin's theory of survival.

[Doyle Hargraves]

Assuming there's not more to this story than what was in the article...


While acknowledging it might be "unfair for [Barnaby] to suffer the stigmatization of being labeled a sex offender when his crime was not sexually motivated," the court said his actions are the type that are "often a precursor" to a child being abducted or molested.

They acknowledge that his "crime" isn't sexually motivated and call him a sex offender in the same sentence. That's the dumbest shit I've heard all week. Next to...


And I bet that guy won't be getting out of his car molesting girls anymore.

You're kidding right? Grabbing some stupid little snot by the arm and lecturing them on how running out in front of moving cars is a bad thing = molesting girls?

You're a fucking retard if you honestly believe that, and are part of what's wrong with this country today.

I'm with Anticor. Run the little fuck over. Then sue their parents for the damage it caused to your car.

If the guy was smart he woulda just beat the shit out of the kid instead of grabbing her by the arm and lecturing her. He probably would have gotten a lesser charge.

If I were that guy I'd send out a copy of that news article with every "Hi I'm new to the neighborhood and apparently a sex offender" letter when he moves into a new area.

He's guilty of scaring some stupid kid, nothing more.

The world (at least this country) is nothing but one big gigantic pussy these days.

[EDIT: KillerKitten, can you post a link to that article?]

[Edited on 7-2-2005 by Doyle Hargraves]

[CrystalTears]

Here, I found it for you.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-molest01.html

[Killer Kitten]

Yeah, CT found it. I didn't originally post the link because I thought you had to register with the site to access it, and I really hate having to jump through those hoops just to read an article. Was easier for me to just cut and paste the thing than potentially put people through that.

Maybe I was wrong about the registering thing... I looked at a couple of links that friends had posted last night and remember having to register for something. When you get as old as me, the mind sort of goes...

And of course there was that time I touched a kids shirt because he was killing a goose, so I'm probably a sex offender, too.

[CrystalTears]

Originally posted by Killer Kitten
And of course there was that time I touched a kids shirt because he was killing a goose, so I'm probably a sex offender, too.

You know, when you posted this article, I thought of you with the child and goose incident. You're not a sex offender, hon. :hug2:

The judgement made on this man made no sense to me, and it's because of intolerant people of today stating, "Don't ever touch my child!" or children yelling, "Touch me and I call the police!" that we have this happening now.

The situation is almost identical and you would be labeled a sex offender now? So someone holding a knife and yelling at someone is a murderer? Or someone grabbing someone by the hair is a rapist? One or two actions does not reenact a crime. Geez.

I'm still stunned and worried for the future. My god if my child ran out in the middle of a street, I'd want someone to talk some sense into my kid if I was nowhere to be found. I just.. I just don't get it. :?:

[CrystalTears]

Originally posted by Doyle Hargraves

While acknowledging it might be "unfair for [Barnaby] to suffer the stigmatization of being labeled a sex offender when his crime was not sexually motivated," the court said his actions are the type that are "often a precursor" to a child being abducted or molested.

They acknowledge that his "crime" isn't sexually motivated and call him a sex offender in the same sentence. That's the dumbest shit I've heard all week.

Heh, they may as well have called it precognitive since three psychic kids in a pool saw it happening. Oh shit, it was a minority report! :rolleyes:

[Skirmisher]

But Cook County state's attorney spokesman Tom Stanton said Barnaby should have to register "because of the proclivity of offenders who restrain children to also commit sex acts or other crimes against them."


So even though, I am willing to wager that, no complaint of a sexual nature was lodged by the girl or her guardians, the mere fact that this guy MIGHT have wanted to do something else no matter how unlikely is enough to label him a sex offender.

That is just scary.

Makes one wonder what they will decide next.

[ElanthianSiren]

Originally posted by Ganalon
I agree with Anticor, and even though pedestrians have the natural 'right of way' here in Texas, its stupid to walk out in front of a moving vehicle and expect it not to hit you. Those that do fall right into Darwin's theory of survival.

Ha, my stastics teacher was from U of Houston I think. She pretty much said the same, in addition espousing to us how she wanted to strike about 30 collegiant bowling pins a day. Was funny.

I pretty much agree with Anticor and Ganalon. If the person is dumb enough to go playing in traffic, accept the consequences. For God's sake, if you're in the situation of being a parent, BE A PARENT. An 11 year old watching a 3 year old is unacceptable.

-M