If you check your local sex offender registry you will probably be shocked by the length of the list. (You may also be shocked to find out who's on it.) The shear number of American men who have been convicted of raping women and children is staggering. When considering these depositories of depravity, all kinds of questions come to mind, including why there are so many sex offenders in America. And has it always been this way?
Everyone knows that rapists and pedophiles tend to be repeat offenders and the harm they inflict on their victims is serious and long-lasting. This reality begs the question of why these registered sex offenders are out of prison in the first place. If you follow media crime reporting you regularly come across cases where men with extensive sex conviction histories, after getting out of prison, are arrested for the same kinds of offenses. Are judges and parole board members idiots? For example, under what rationale would a man who has raped a child ever be let out of prison? Why are American judges so lenient in these cases? Other than first degree-murder and aggravated assault, what is worse than rape? Could these judges be so naive as to believe these pathological offenders can be rehabilitated? Or is it simply that our prisons are so full of other criminals there's no room for sex offenders?
Patrick Dunn and Gary Blanton rented rooms in the same house near Sequim, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula in the northwestern corner of the state. Dunn, 34, had served time for assault and various drug related offenses. Twenty-eight-year-old Gary Blanton, in 2001, had been convicted of raping a 17-year-old girl when he was in high school. In June 2012 Blanton had been charged with child abuse. As a result of the rape conviction, Blanton was a registered sex offender in a state data bank the public could access.
In the early morning hours of Saturday, June 2, 2012, Patrick Dunn, armed with a 9 mm pistol, shot and killed Gary Blanton. After shooting the victim several times, Dunn drove his rented car a few miles to the home of 56-year-old Jerry Ray, another registered sex offender. In August 2002, Ray had been convicted of raping two children, ages seven and four. After shooting Mr. Ray to death, Patrick Dunn abandoned his car on a remote road on the Olympic Peninsula.
After receiving 911 calls regarding a suspicious person on foot near Sequim, deputies with the Clallam County Sheriff's Office came upon Dunn's abandoned rental vehicle. Inside, next to a box of 9 mm rounds, officers found a note signed by Dunn in which he took responsibility for killing Blanton and Ray, stating that "it had to be done."
The following afternoon, after a three-hour manhunt featuring a Customs/Border Patrol helicopter and tracking dogs, police found Mr. Dunn hiding in a woodshed deep in the forest. Later that Sunday, Dunn told his interrogators he had murdered Gary Blanton and Jerry Ray because they were sex offenders. The suspect said he had also intended to kill a third sex offender who lived in Jefferson County and had planned to kill more registered sex offenders.
On Monday, June 4, 2012, a judge informed Patrick Dunn that he had been charged with two counts of first-degree murder. The magistrate appointed Dunn an attorney and denied him bail. If convicted of the two murders Dunn would be eligible for the death penalty.
In August 2012, Dunn pleaded guilty to both murders to avoid the death penalty. On September 18, 2012, Superior Court Judge S. Brook Taylor sentenced Dunn to two life sentences without the possibility of parole.
After the sentencing, the Clallam County prosecutor, in referring to a cluster of people associated with the dead sex offender's victims who were in the courtroom to show support for Patrick Dunn, said this to reporters: "It is unfortunate there are people who admire what he [Dunn] did. It is despicable and disgusting." One of Dunn's courtroom supporters, a relative of a sexual victim, called Dunn a "hero." Gary Blanton's widow called the Washington state sex registry a "hit list." (The authorities had classified Blanton and Ray as "level-two" sex offenders which meant they considered the risks of them re-offending as "moderate." One might argue that if there is any risk of re-offending, the state should error in favor of the public.)
While Patrick Dunn got what he deserved for committing cold-blooded double murder, the fact there are those who consider him a hero reflects the frustration many people have over what they perceive as the criminal justice system's failure to protect women and children from sex offenders.
Everyone knows that rapists and pedophiles tend to be repeat offenders and the harm they inflict on their victims is serious and long-lasting. This reality begs the question of why these registered sex offenders are out of prison in the first place. If you follow media crime reporting you regularly come across cases where men with extensive sex conviction histories, after getting out of prison, are arrested for the same kinds of offenses. Are judges and parole board members idiots? For example, under what rationale would a man who has raped a child ever be let out of prison? Why are American judges so lenient in these cases? Other than first degree-murder and aggravated assault, what is worse than rape? Could these judges be so naive as to believe these pathological offenders can be rehabilitated? Or is it simply that our prisons are so full of other criminals there's no room for sex offenders?
Patrick Dunn and Gary Blanton rented rooms in the same house near Sequim, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula in the northwestern corner of the state. Dunn, 34, had served time for assault and various drug related offenses. Twenty-eight-year-old Gary Blanton, in 2001, had been convicted of raping a 17-year-old girl when he was in high school. In June 2012 Blanton had been charged with child abuse. As a result of the rape conviction, Blanton was a registered sex offender in a state data bank the public could access.
In the early morning hours of Saturday, June 2, 2012, Patrick Dunn, armed with a 9 mm pistol, shot and killed Gary Blanton. After shooting the victim several times, Dunn drove his rented car a few miles to the home of 56-year-old Jerry Ray, another registered sex offender. In August 2002, Ray had been convicted of raping two children, ages seven and four. After shooting Mr. Ray to death, Patrick Dunn abandoned his car on a remote road on the Olympic Peninsula.
After receiving 911 calls regarding a suspicious person on foot near Sequim, deputies with the Clallam County Sheriff's Office came upon Dunn's abandoned rental vehicle. Inside, next to a box of 9 mm rounds, officers found a note signed by Dunn in which he took responsibility for killing Blanton and Ray, stating that "it had to be done."
The following afternoon, after a three-hour manhunt featuring a Customs/Border Patrol helicopter and tracking dogs, police found Mr. Dunn hiding in a woodshed deep in the forest. Later that Sunday, Dunn told his interrogators he had murdered Gary Blanton and Jerry Ray because they were sex offenders. The suspect said he had also intended to kill a third sex offender who lived in Jefferson County and had planned to kill more registered sex offenders.
On Monday, June 4, 2012, a judge informed Patrick Dunn that he had been charged with two counts of first-degree murder. The magistrate appointed Dunn an attorney and denied him bail. If convicted of the two murders Dunn would be eligible for the death penalty.
In August 2012, Dunn pleaded guilty to both murders to avoid the death penalty. On September 18, 2012, Superior Court Judge S. Brook Taylor sentenced Dunn to two life sentences without the possibility of parole.
After the sentencing, the Clallam County prosecutor, in referring to a cluster of people associated with the dead sex offender's victims who were in the courtroom to show support for Patrick Dunn, said this to reporters: "It is unfortunate there are people who admire what he [Dunn] did. It is despicable and disgusting." One of Dunn's courtroom supporters, a relative of a sexual victim, called Dunn a "hero." Gary Blanton's widow called the Washington state sex registry a "hit list." (The authorities had classified Blanton and Ray as "level-two" sex offenders which meant they considered the risks of them re-offending as "moderate." One might argue that if there is any risk of re-offending, the state should error in favor of the public.)
While Patrick Dunn got what he deserved for committing cold-blooded double murder, the fact there are those who consider him a hero reflects the frustration many people have over what they perceive as the criminal justice system's failure to protect women and children from sex offenders.
Considering other false accusations too, I have to wonder how many on that registry actually committed the crimes they were accused of. It's not a very reliable source to go judging people by.
ReplyDeleteI agree, and to make matters worse they have to live in embarrassment or die like Blanton. Judicial systems are corrupt.
DeleteNot to mention that many sex offenders on the list didn't even rape or sexually molest anybody in order to make it on the list.
ReplyDeleteSometimes peeing in public will put you on that list. and other times you just recently 18 but your girlfriend is 16 going on 17... and it just happens that the girl's parents didn't really like you very much and took the opportunity to file a compliant against you once you turned 18.
Heck, even streaking for fun will put you on that list too nowdays.
So yeah, I would wonder whenever a vigliate like this would even go though the full descriptions of each crime to see whenever the sex offender label was even justified at all. or if he would think that all sex offenders were the same.
If you know anything about this case you know that he purposely wasnt going to attack anyone who peed in public or had sex as a minor or in a similiar case. He purposely went for Gary Blanton Jr., who when in highschool raped a deaf girl!!!!!!!! and was physically abusive to his then 2 year old.... why do you think he was living with Patrick while married anyway? Then he immediately drove to Jerry Ray's house. Who raped..... let me type it again....RAPED!!!!!... a 4 and 7 year old boy that he knew very well. These people are disgusting and not of this world. So if you're wondering if he went through the full descriptions.. I'm wondering if you just read this article about it, or you actually knew about the trail and the crime? I'm thinking the first option!!
Deletedoes deaf mean retarded or something cause I heard the only reason it was an issue was because the girl's parents pressed the issue. The other dude I don't care as much though it wasn't exactly right to just gun him down. Patrick shot his best bud over twenty times (he didn't shoot the other dude that many) so it was a personal thing. Probably him living alone too long in isolation, personality conflicts mixed with a little jealousy is powder keg. I think he killed the other dude just to cover his tracks because wanted to kill his friend. The sex offender thing was an excuse.
DeleteI understand a person can get on the sex offender list for things like a high school romance (ehere the kids are similar ages but one kid is slightly over the age of consent and one is slightly under.) Urinating in public, even breastfeeding. So I would take this list with a grain of salt.
ReplyDeleteCheck this out. People get put on the sex offender registry for the stupidest reasons. http://www.solresearch.org/report/Look_Whos_on_Registry_Now
ReplyDeletehttp://www.alternet.org/story/140591/15_shocking_tales_of_how_sex_laws_are_screwing_the_american_people
ReplyDeleteHey Anonymous Aug 31. I looked up the Washington State sex offender list and punched in the public library address for Sequin. While there is a description, it is very short and vague. So no.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it wasn't right legally speaking to kill those two men but then again these are men who had it coming. I just wish that when he tried to rape a child, a mom or dad caught them before they did it and shot them in an appropriate locale! That would be justice.
ReplyDelete