Commentary originally posted on Facebook, March 10, 2015
Yesterday’s post from Protect was on the money. Calls for legislative remedies to “re-homing” are necessary. But we’ll only get one chance to make lasting change, and we have to make certain we do not overlook an even uglier aspect to recent events.
It’s easy to say, “Children are not property.” But so long as the conduct committed in Arkansas is legal anywhere in America, children *are* property. Didn’t the perpetrators sign over to that child to a rapist?
IT’S TIME TO OUTLAW ALL “STRAWMAN” TRANSACTIONS OF CHILDREN. There is currently no barrier to an “acceptable” party adopting a child, holding the child for a few months, and then TRANSFERRING OWNERSHIP to a predatory pedophile. None.
Does this mean all such (or even most such) “re-homing” transactions constitute trafficking? Of course not. But shouldn’t we slam the door on any such possibility, before such possibilities occur to the predatory underground, always eager for new victims? How many convicted sex offenders would be barred from adopting … but would present welcoming destinations for “re-homing?”
What is the point of demanding (or even enacting) anti-trafficking legislation in a single state? Were the practice to be outlawed in any one state, it would surface in another. How many NAMBLA members are feverishly interested in charting “age of consent: laws (which vary from state to state)?
Certainly, the Arkansas matter screams out for a true investigation. Lost in all the rhetoric is the fact that there were two “re-homed” children. It is now undisputed that Eric Francis, the human who “took title” to the “re-homed” children, was well-known to those who “transferred ownership” of the children to him. Remember, this is not some allegation; Francis has already pleaded guilty to child rape, and has been sentenced. And there were still other children who accused Francis of assaulting them.* The wife of this predatory pedophile knew he used child pornography.** Apparently, she was not sufficiently appalled to contact the authorities, or to oppose her husband’s taking possession of children — another evil twist on the “grow your own victims” mantra of the serial incest offender.
This is not about party politics, not about superior little Facebook quips blaming this on any given religion, or any particular part of America … it is about protecting our country from an opportunistic cancer.
Our society *must* stop anyone from transferring ownership of already-vulnerable children without notice or scrutiny. Only Congress can enact federal legislation. And we should Congress should become inundated with this demand. Drafting such legislation can be done — but, first, we have to have a commitment from Congress. Elections are coming, and it is time to send a message.
We don’t care if our political representatives do the right thing for the right reasons. We care only that they DO THE RIGHT THING.
So will you write to your Congressperson and tie your vote to this demand? If enough of you do, Congress will do what it always does: bend to the hurricane.
Read the story in the Arkansas Times, March 5, 2015: A Child Left Unprotected
Citations:
* State police investigators found other young girls who accused Francis of sexually assaulting them while on a trip to a lake with members of a church.
** During interviews with investigators, Francis’ wife told Arkansas State Police that her husband viewed pornography and that on at least one occasion, she found him with child pornography and she was appalled.