Pedophilia And Repeat Offenders – When Will We Learn?
Kenneth Glen Hinson is on trial in South Carolina for raping two teenage girls, binding them with duct tape and leaving them to die in a “dungeon-like space behind his home.” Hensen’s defense is that the sex was consensual. However, to the best of my knowledge he has yet to explain how the two teenagers became duct taped, how they came to be confined in the dungeon like room, and why they were left to die.
What I find most infuriating about this case is that the two 17 year old girls should never have been victims! In 1991 Henson was convicted of raping a 12 year old girl and sentenced to 20 years in prison. However, after serving only 9 years – less than half of his sentence – he was released. To make this even more infuriating is that:
Just before Hinson’s release, a review committee recommended that he be committed indefinitely to a Department of Mental Health facility for treatment, but Circuit Judge Edward Cottingham rejected the recommendation, saying prosecutors failed to show Hinson would likely offend again.
“I can’t control what comes before me as a judge,” Cottingham said Friday. “And I deal with what’s before me and make a ruling to the best of my judgment.”
In other words, in order for Henson to engage in this alleged rape the state had to release him 11 years early and a judge had to disregard the recommendation of the review committee to commit him to a mental facility. In light of these facts, I find Judge Cottingham’s statement that “Obviously I regret that these young children were raped by this man” to be less than inadequate.
I am fully aware that members of parole committees and judges are humans and that we all make mistakes. However, it is time that people making decisions start accepting responsibility for them. Here a dangerous pedophile allegedly raped two 17 year old girls, a crime that could only be committed by releasing him 11 years early and refusing to have him committed as was recommended. Under these circumstances saying “sorry” to Henson’s victims is simply not enough.
There is a difference between an independent judiciary and an unfettered one subject to no control. As much as I hate to say it, and I know it can be a slippery slope, but it is time that we start demanding accountability from our judges. The question is how to do so effectively while maintaining a fair and impartial judicial system.
