In response: Sex offenders and bus... 4.28.2008 |
***I'm not sure why there are so many comments about no sex offender on Devinney Road. I found it pretty quick ... here's the link
When Mistie Meadows came to me about the bus situation, it was obvious she had done her homework. She had made many, many phone calls trying to resolve the situation. She got answers, she said, but they were not what she wanted to hear. She hoped that publicity about the situation could get something changed. And I hope she's right.
I can assure you, she's looked a lot of possible solutions and thought a lot about how to work things out but a working solution just hasn't presented itself.
For the sake of length, safety and relevance, I left out some of Mistie's story and information... But the story she tells leaves you with a creeped out feeling. For me, the most powerful thing she said was "You never see this guy until the kids are walking home from school."
A few things ...
When Mistie Meadows came to me about the bus situation, it was obvious she had done her homework. She had made many, many phone calls trying to resolve the situation. She got answers, she said, but they were not what she wanted to hear. She hoped that publicity about the situation could get something changed. And I hope she's right.
I can assure you, she's looked a lot of possible solutions and thought a lot about how to work things out but a working solution just hasn't presented itself.
For the sake of length, safety and relevance, I left out some of Mistie's story and information... But the story she tells leaves you with a creeped out feeling. For me, the most powerful thing she said was "You never see this guy until the kids are walking home from school."
A few things ...
- The men's charges: Both sex offenders were charged with indecent liberties with a minor. You can look it up on any number of state and watchdog sites. Due to the nature of the crimes, no further information or details of the crimes are available. Both men appear to be following instructions to register as offenders and so far don't seem to have broken any laws in regards to this situation. Any officer will tell you, there's nothing illegal about walking down the road you live on.
- The children do not go to an empty home. Their grandmother lives with them but because of poor health cannot drive or walk to get them. Also, house numbers and locations were left vague or completely omitted to protect the children and the offenders which as I've said above really haven't done anything wrong in this situation.
- Both W.D. Smith and Bruce Boyles said if there was a place to turn around, the bus would. Many schools have the new, longer buses which has required some routes and turnarounds to be altered. The layout of the road ... well, check it out for yourself, but a bend in the road makes the solution of neighbors watching them safely home impossible.
- A comment on the story -- this sums up an appropriate attitude I think and shows that this situation isn't all that rare or easily resolved:
My children live in a cul-de-sac and the school says it isn't long enough for the bus to come down to pick up my children. Something about road lengths. The cul-de sac is plenty big for the bus to go around. This means that I would have to sit in my car at the end of the road wasting that precious gas to keep them warm and then my children would have to ride a different bus home to a day care so that "I" can protect my precious children from a registered offender in our area. Readers, we do care about our children. Not all of us are rich enough to stay at home or pay someone to watch them. My children are old enough to stay home now but the bus situation and sex offenders prevent that from happening. Not all neighbors want to get involved or be bothered. After all they are my children. I do the best I can to protect them. The buses could make the little extra effort to drop them off in front of their homes. Once a sex offender gets hold of your child you can't turn the clock back. Its a simple solution. Drop them off in front of their homes. -- Sherry - Apr 28, 2008 10:33:15 AM
Labels: bus, Cleveland County Schools, education, sex offenders, Waco