StG

"As an after-thought. HAS he actually done his time?. Didn't he get released BECAUSE the judge (who lives on the other side of the city) decided he wouldn't get a fair trial?."

Didn't you read Ludwig's introduction? Not being likely to get a fair trial was only part of the reason he was released. The other reasons given were that the crown case was weak and that the time he'd served in prison waiting for the case to be heard was already more than the likely length of the sentence he would have received anyway.

"It would've been dead and buried but you resurrected it like some champion of rhetoric CPR."

Nothing is dead and buried when in print. You may have long forgotten your intemperate little spray, but unfortunately it lives on and continues to be read and to offend.

StG: << Are you a extreme greenie leftie touchy feely everyone deserves a break civil liberty spruiking knob?. >>

I think Bronwyn's point - which has obviously escaped StG - was that StG's little spray negated absolutely anything of value he might have had to say. When I read a post that starts out with that kind of rant, I for one roll my eyes and move to the next comment.

It's the attitudes voiced by vigilante sympathisers like StG that, somewhat ironically, negate the capacity of Ferguson to get a fair trial and thus in this case have allowed him to avoid being brought to justice on the most recent charges.

The supreme irony is that if he was convicted of those charges, he would be subject to the new provisions for sexual offenders that would enable him to be detained indefinitely. In this case, it seems that it's the actions of the vigilantes and the media who feed them that have directly led to Ferguson being released into the community.

The electric chair should be used for repeat sex offenders (especially those against children). And yes before someone says it should apply to Priests and Politicians just the same.

Vigilante sympathiser?. lol. Yeah, you really didn't read it.

Runner, I'm with you.

I'd go further and use the chair for priests and politicians, regardless of whether they were beasts (old jail-bird term for molesters) or not.

Vigilantism makes for good Hollywood fodder but all it does in real life is cheapen legal and civil rights for all of us.

Paedophilia is an abhorrent crime and it is easy to be swayed by emotion. I also have no sympathy for paedophiles and as such would like to see them fully rehabilitated prior to release and monitored closely afterwards. Suitable and safe housing for paedophiles would go some way in preventing a later relapse, but not in close vicinity of children.

A policeman friend of mine once told me on release one paedophile was placed in a housing commission complex full of single mothers with children, purely because of the lack of other accommodation. This would go against all logic and commonsense.

If Bronwyn is right about the length of time already served then justice has been done even if not 'seen' to be done.

Whether or not Ferguson has been rehabilitated is another issue and there might be room for improvement on how paedophiles are returned to society ie. ongoing counselling, monitoring, medication if necessary (perhaps medication can be included in the terms of release where appropriate).

This event also raises issues about the role of the media and suggests some further tweaking is needed to restrict some of the more sensationalist media from train-wrecking the legal process.

Isn't it funny how some that are pro-life in the case of abortion and euthanasia are the first to advocate for the death penalty. God obviously works in mysterious ways for some people.