The Dallas Morning News carried another great article Sunday. Here's a link:
Do tough sex laws help or hurt?
Here's a Quote:
"'We're focusing on stranger danger," she said of the crackdown, which includes 25-year minimum sentences and the death penalty for some child rapists. "That's not who's molesting the vast majority of our children.'
According to federal statistics, juvenile sexual assault victims know their perpetrator a staggering 93 percent of the time. Often, it's a family member. Frequently, it's another child. Rarely is it a stranger.
Texas' push to increase punishment for sex crimes was driven by top state officials wanting to send a "no tolerance" message. Although the laws are politically popular, most such crimes are never reported; those that are prosecuted often end in a plea bargain with a relatively light sentence, and about a third of sexual offenses are committed by juveniles not covered by the enhanced penalties.
Like most survivors, Ms. Harbaugh never told anyone what her father did. In nine years as a counselor, she's known just one client who prosecuted. It wasn't her."
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