[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 21



TEXAS:

Fighting crime harder as federal funds wane


Police investigate a fatal shooting in Camden on Wednesday.

8 years after federal community-policing initiatives put 84 new officers
on the streets of Camden, the funds have evaporated, criminals who were
locked up are returning and drug-related homicides continue to plague the
city.

Many cities like Camden have been struggling with the loss of
community-policing initiatives that provided $7 billion in federal funds
between 1994 and 2001.

Camden garnered $12.1 million in federal policing initiatives between 1995
and 2000 that allowed the city to hire additional officers and upgrade
crime-fighting technology.

But as those funds dried up, police ranks dwindled and drug-related
violence has begun to make an unwelcome comeback.

With 31 homicides logged in Camden as of Saturday, the city could exceed
last year's toll of 33 killings.

Featuring the state's densest population of parolees and probationers and
growing traffic in illegal guns, Camden may be experiencing the delayed
effects of the 1990s anti-crime efforts, said Richard Harris, director of
the Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs at Rutgers-Camden.

"The big crackdown on gangs and drugs 10 years ago -- a lot of them are
coming out now," Harris said. "If you take people arrested for lower
offenses, they become hardened criminals, and they come back to their
cities with a new skill set."

Camden is hardly alone, as other cities have seen far more dramatic hikes
in violence.

Philadelphia tallied 406 homicides in 2006, a 10-year high, and could
exceed that count in 2007. Newark -- reeling from the execution-style
shootings of three college students in August -- recorded 105 slayings in
2006, up from 59 in 2000.

Data from 55 large cities show rising homicide rates in many communities,
according to the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington-based
membership organization of national law-enforcement leaders.

Funding cuts

In the 1990s, Camden received nearly $12 million in federal funds that
were part of a $7 billion federal pledge to put 100,000 new police on U.S.
city streets and update aging equipment in municipal departments.

The tab included $1.2 million for equipment and technology designed to
improve efficiency, while the majority allowed the department to hire and
train new officers.

Camden's police department reached a high-water mark of 435 uniformed
officers in 2003, but now has 414 -- a loss of 5 percent. And while
Camden's overall population has also declined, the percentage of city
residents who are returning from prison has not.

Law-enforcement experts and local government officials said homeland
security initiatives have swallowed up the federal money, leaving cities
vulnerable to a resurgence of urban violence.

"It's like a one-eyed cyclops whose eye is on homeland security," said
Douglas Palmer, mayor of Trenton and president of the U.S. Conference of
Mayors. "We also need hometown security."

"After Sept. 11, that funding dried up," Camden deputy police chief Edward
Hargis said.

Indeed, after spending billions on community policing in the 1990s, the
U.S. Department of Justice provided $208 million for local departments
this year. Camden did not receive anything.

"Many of those funds have been shifted to homeland security, which also is
very important in this day and age," University of Nevada criminologist
William Sousa said. "I think, though, in shifting those funds, people fail
to realize that you have drug dealers who are terrorizing people in their
own neighborhoods. . . . A lot of terrorism goes on that's homegrown."

Diminished resources

In Philadelphia, funding cuts reduced a force of 7,000 officers in the
1990s to 6,500 today, Capt. Benjamin Naish said.

Most police cars in Camden need to be replaced, and only 20 of the
department's 170 cruisers are equipped with computers, said Arturo
Venegas, Camden's police executive.

As a result, Venegas said, supervisors cannot track officers in the field.

"Our capacity for responding and deploying intelligently as to what's
occurring in the community -- that is diminished," Venegas said. "It's
easier to finance infrastructure in Baghdad than it is to finance
infrastructure in Philadelphia or Camden, New Jersey."

And that, he said, hampers efforts to solve and prevent crime.

Funding cuts have also left the city without means to replace 200 to 300
aging police radios or acquire a computer-based dispatch system, Venegas
said. While the portable radios should be replaced after five years, he
said, most in Camden are 9 years old.

"After a while, it's an officer-safety issue," he said.

But Charles Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said
police funding cannot be linked to crime rates.

"We don't have anything that would show specifics as to what factors have
caused a rise in violent crimes," Miller said. "We don't know the full
causes. I can't point to anything specific, like the COPS (Community
Oriented Policing Services) program."

Although violent crime in Camden has declined overall since the 1980s,
law-enforcement initiatives of the past are reverberating today, experts
contend.

Conditions that favor crime

In New Jersey, the inmate population in state prisons more than quadrupled
from 6,017 in 1977 to 27,891 in 2002, mirroring national trends, a 2003
report by the Urban Institute Justice Policy Center found.

Ex-offenders return to Camden at a higher rate than any other municipality
in New Jersey, the report found.

In 2002, Camden (pop. 79,904) had 1,144 parolees, compared to Newark (pop.
273,546), which had 804 parolees, the report said. Today, that number has
grown to 1,181 in Camden.

Camden also had more probationers per capita than Newark, according to the
report, which found that Whitman Park, Marlton, Pyne Point, Bergen Square,
Stockton, Lanning Square, Fairview and Parkside neighborhoods were each
home to more than 100 probationers.

Those figures do not include former inmates who were released after
completing their prison terms, Buccino said.

Many former inmates leave prison with gang affiliations, said Tracy Swan,
a project manager of the Camden Safer Cities Initiative at the Rand
Center.

"They're pretty sophisticated organisms that are doing recruitment in
prison," Swan said.

Statistics collected by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms reveal the flow of guns into Camden jumped 55 percent between
2000 and 2004 and that juveniles carry more of the firearms.

In 2000, the ATF tallied 110 firearms used to commit crimes in Camden,
including nine guns possessed by juveniles age 17 and younger; 45 from
youths ages 18 to 24; and 56 in the hands of adults age 25 and older.

By 2004, 170 guns were recovered from crimes in Camden, of which 20 were
in the possession of juveniles, 77 were used by youths and 73 by adults.

That pattern suggests gun dealers have already saturated the adult market,
said Bryan Miller, executive director of Ceasefire New Jersey.

"Like any business, it needs a new market and those markets are younger
and younger people," Miller said.

Such patterns are occurring in many cities, said George Kelling,
co-founder of the Police Institute at the Rutgers-Newark School of
Criminal Justice.

"Gun carrying has become widespread, and youths are settling disputes by
shooting each other," Kelling said.

The availability of guns and the lack of jobs provide a toxic temptation
for many in Camden, said Harris, the director of the Walter Rand
Institute.

"Getting involved in the drug trade looks like almost a no-brainer,"
Harris said.

Of the 31 homicides in Camden this year, law-enforcement officials believe
21 were drug-related.

Acknowledging a troubling trend, Gov. Jon S. Corzine this month announced
a pilot program to provide 1,300 parolees returning to Camden, Trenton and
Newark with job training, education and other services to help them find
legitimate means of employment.

Corzine also pledged to beef up law-enforcement efforts to target gangs
and offered new support for programs for at-risk youth.

Violent crime in most cities has yet to reach the chilling levels of the
early 1990s and in some places, it continues to fall. But law-enforcement
officials have identified rising murder rates in many cities as a growing
threat.

According to the 2006 FBI Uniform Crime Report, there were 428 homicides
in New Jersey last year, the highest number since 1990 and a 44 percent
increase since 2000.

The pattern is not unique to New Jersey or its environs. 35 school-age
children were killed in Chicago since the start of the previous school
year, and San Francisco -- which cut its homicide rate by more than half
in the past decade -- is on a pace to exceed 100 slayings for the 1st time
since 1993.

New tasks for police

At the same time local police are grappling with conventional crime,
homeland security efforts have saddled them with new responsibilities,
while diverting the attention of federal law-enforcement agencies, Kelling
said.

"Cities are having to be concerned with problems of terrorism," Kelling
said. "That's been a considerable drain on resources."

For example, when authorities announced in 2004 that financial centers
including Newark's Prudential Building faced a heightened terror threat,
Kelling said, city police were deployed to safeguard the structure.

In Camden, deputy police chief Hargis said, the responsibilities have come
infrequently, yet city police are sometimes tapped to help with
counterterrorism investigations or to secure the waterfront.

"It's something you have to deal with," Hargis said. "We're right across
the river from Philadelphia."

Kelling said the FBI and other federal agencies have left it to local
police to handle organized crime as they shift their focus to
anti-terrorism.

Naish, of Philadelphia, backed up that view.

"The FBI has clearly redirected some of their efforts toward national
security," Naish said.

Jerri Williams, a spokeswoman for the FBI field office in Philadelphia,
disagreed.

"We have more task forces for guns and gangs and drugs than we did
before," Williams said, adding that those groups collaborate with local
police departments.

In fact, on Oct. 9, federal officials announced the arrest of 1,313
violent gang members as part of a three-month strategy to enforce
immigration laws. 27 of the arrests were in Newark.

Still, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., criticized President Bush for
cutting funds that eliminated "vital crime-fighting programs."

"The Bush administration's misplaced priorities have put our communities
at greater risk," Lautenberg said in an e-mail message.

Harris credited innovations like incorporating neighborhood-oriented
policing into regular patrol operations as one reason why violent crime
occurs less often in Camden than it did in the 1980s and early 1990s.

"It's not that there's more police on the ground," Harris said. "Community
policing has been woven into the business of policing."

Safeguarding Camden

Under a new deployment policy, Camden police are assigned to work when and
where they are most needed.

The deployments, scheduled to begin by Nov. 1, will ensure that the same
officers patrol the same neighborhoods every day.

The department also hopes to hire up to 14 civilians, which would allow
officers now assigned to administrative posts to return to patrol duty,
Hargis said.

Camden officials are exploring their prospects for installing surveillance
cameras in the city, Councilman Bill Spearman said.

But the cost of the project and funding sources are unknowns, Spearman
said.

Surveillance cameras can themselves pose a potential cause for concern,
said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research
Forum.<> "It is symptomatic of what police departments are having to do --
they're having to do more with less," Wexler said. "Cameras are a real
force multiplier, provided that you have someone on the other end,
monitoring them."

Lamenting the disappearance of federal funds that once trained community
leaders how to collaborate with local police, Venegas said such programs
were "the best tool for ensuring homeland security."

(source: Courier Post)

***************************

Walker sends note to daughter's killer


Joe Walker, father of the late Sarah Anne Walker of Frisco, has said on
more than one occasion that he forgives Kosoul Chanthakoummane, the
27-year-old man who killed his daughter and faces a death sentence for her
murder on July 8, 2006, in a McKinney model home.

He said it at Sarah Walker's funeral, before he even knew who
Chanthakoummane was, up through his capital murder trial, which ended
Wednesday with a guilty verdict and a death sentence after eight days of
emotional testimony.

Last week, he said it for the 1st time to Chanthakoummane in a letter
provided to his attorney, Steven Miears, Walker said.

"Although I do not condone the murder of my daughter, I want you to know I
truly and completely, without any animosity, forgive you," the letter
read.

"I believe the quote below, so I pray that way. Our Lord said, 'The prayer
that pleases me most is for the conversion of sinners. This prayer is
always answered.'"

Chanthakoummane was sentenced to Death Row on Wednesday in 380th District
Court, a week after he was convicted of capital murder.

Prosecutors said Chanthakoummane stabbed, beat and bit Sarah Walker in the
act of robbery. He was transferred from Collin County Detention Center to
a Texas Department of Criminal Justice facility Thursday, said Sgt.
Michael Davis, of the Collin County Sheriff's Office.

Walker said from his home in Greenville that he sent the letter because
his faith calls him to forgive Chanthakoummane.

"That's how I believe," he said. "I said it from Day 1 at the funeral that
I would pray for the perpetrator. At that time, I didn't know who it was
and I forgave him. The fact of the matter is that not only is it what the
Bible says, and not only what my Catholic Church believes and the late
Pope John Paul II has advocated and said, "unless you're able to forgive,
you're never going to start to heal."

Walker said he knows his and Sarah's family and friends will have to take
some time before they completely heal from the events that have unfolded
since Sarah's brutal murder more than 1 year ago.

"It'll be quite some time and I mentioned at the press conference that my
lovely daughter (Sarah) only suffered for 20 minutes, but my family and
friends, I can't tell you the tens of thousands of hours they've suffered
over this," Walker said. "You couldn't imagine it unless something like
that happened to you."

He believes the healing process has already started, since he doesn't get
as many e-mails as he used to about the trial or his daughter.

"I'm getting very few e-mails from anybody, so I guess that means they
just want to go on," Mr. Walker said.

Chanthakoummane hadn't responded to the letter as of Friday, but Walker
said he just hopes that he will at least read it.

"I hope he'll have a chance to repent, and I don't know what else I can
do," he said. "He might not even read it, but if he wanted me to come see
him, I might do that."

Attempts were made to reach Miears and defense attorney Keith Gore, but
phone calls were not returned by press time.

Chanthakoummane could not be reached for comment.

(source: McKinney Courier-Gazette)

********************

Many Offenders in Child Sex Cases Avoid Prison


Despite new get-tough Texas laws aimed at harshly punishing child rapists,
many offenders sentenced in the most heinous of child sex crimes initially
receive no prison time at all, according to a newspaper analysis published
Sunday.

Research by The Dallas Morning News found that in 13,000 cases involving
aggravated sexual assault of a child since 1991, four of every 10
sentenced offenders received deferred adjudication.

When an offender was sent to prison, less than 1 in 5 got 25 years or
longer.

Under stricter sentencing laws passed in Texas this year, prosecutors can
seek the death penalty for some repeat child rapists. But experts say that
dealing harshly with sex offenders isn't as easy as it seems.

One reason: Federal statistics show that 93 percent of juvenile sexual
assault victims know their perpetrator, and parents are often reluctant to
take a relative or friend to trial.

"It is our family members; it's our friends. It's our big bothers; it's
our Little League coach," said Torie Camp, deputy director of the Texas
Association Against Sexual Assault, a nonprofit organization of rape
crisis centers across the state.

"And when it comes to putting away that person in prison, it gets really
difficult."

State Rep. Debbie Riddle, who authored the "Jessica's Law" bill in Texas
that allows the death penalty in some child sex cases, said she's
confident the new law that took effect last month will deter and punish.

Prosecutors are often criticized for using deferred adjudication on child
molesters, but do so when there are problems with the case, said Shannon
Edmonds of the Texas District and County Attorneys Association.

Children may be easily confused on the witness stand, may not want to
testify or have parents who want to shield them from the trauma of a
trial.

But under tougher new law, which no longer allow juries to give probation
on certain charge, Edmonds said longer sentences in plea agreements may be
struck.

"People who got 10 years on a plea bargain may now get 20 years," he said.

Victims advocates say most sexual offense crimes go unreported. Even of
cases that do surface, the Texas Council on Sex Offender Treatment reports
that about a third are committed by juveniles, who can't be sentenced
under the new, harsher penalties.

Some victims advocates say that while the new legislation may be
politically popular, it doesn't attack the root of the problem.

The legislative changes are "a way for everybody to feel like they've done
something that's going to be real helpful - but not have to really deal
with the issue," said Dr. Liz Hodges, director of the incest recovery
program at The Family Place in Dallas.

(source: WOAI, TX)

********************

Crackdown on sex offenders


The state has gotten tough on child sex abusers. But laws are easier to
apply to a stranger in the shadows. 93% of offenders are people their
young victims know and trust. Can you ask a child to put Daddy away?

Even at 46, Deena Harbaugh says it's hard to see her father as a monster.

She loved the "good Daddy" who took her for rides on his motorcycle and
watched sports with her. She hated the "bad Daddy" who came into her
bedroom at night and molested her for years.

As a sexual abuse survivor, the Dallas woman understands the emotional
appeal of harsher sentences for child abusers. But she says the new
get-tough Texas laws promise more than they can deliver because they won't
affect the vast majority of sex offenders.

"We're focusing on stranger danger," she said of the crackdown, which
includes 25-year minimum sentences and the death penalty for some child
rapists. "That's not who's molesting the vast majority of our children."

According to federal statistics, juvenile sexual assault victims know
their perpetrator a staggering 93 % of the time. Often, it's a family
member. Frequently, it's another child. Rarely is it a stranger.

Texas' push to increase punishment for sex crimes was driven by top state
officials wanting to send a "no tolerance" message. Although the laws are
politically popular, most such crimes are never reported; those that are
prosecuted often end in a plea bargain with a relatively light sentence,
and about 1/3 of sexual offenses are committed by juveniles not covered by
the enhanced penalties.

Like most survivors, Ms. Harbaugh never told anyone what her father did.
In 9 years as a counselor, she's known just one client who prosecuted. It
wasn't her.

Even when abusers are prosecuted, they rarely get long sentences. A Dallas
Morning News analysis of sentencing in more than 13,000 cases in Texas of
aggravated sexual assault of a child since 1991 found that four of every
10 offenders initially received no prison time at all. And when an
offender was sent to prison, less than 1 in 5 got 25 years or longer.

Among the reasons: Parents are reluctant to take a relative or friend to
trial; children may make poor witnesses; and despite depictions of the
tattooed ex-con hiding in the bushes, most sex offenders look like the
harmless guy next door.

"We all have a kind of image of what a monster is ... one of them is that
guy lurking out there who's going to kidnap our child and sexually molest
and abuse them," said Dr. David Lisak, psychology professor at the
University of Massachusetts, Boston, who works with prosecutors, judges
and police.

"Unfortunately, the majority of sex crimes involve people like 'Uncle
Jimmy,' " he said, "and Uncle Jimmy's not a monster. And all of a sudden,
we're not so sure Uncle Jimmy should be put in prison."

Stranger danger

The strict sentencing laws sweeping the country are a direct response to
the horrific abduction of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford of Florida. She was
abducted and raped by a convicted sex offender, then buried alive, still
clutching a stuffed animal.

"Jessica's Law," as the legislation was called, "sends a message to those
monsters who want to hurt our children," declared Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst,
a Republican who championed the bill in the Legislature: "Not in Texas."

Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, had the same reaction when she heard about
the Lunsford case.

"It took me about 30 seconds to call my chief of staff," she said, to tell
him to find a way to punish sex offenders "firmly and harshly."

The measure she authored took effect last month, but dealing with sex
offenders "firmly and harshly" is harder than it seems, experts said.

"It is our family members; it's our friends. It's our big brothers; it's
our Little League coach," said Torie Camp, deputy director of the Texas
Association Against Sexual Assault, a nonprofit organization of rape
crisis centers across the state. "And when it comes to putting away that
person in prison, it gets really difficult."

Ms. Riddle said she's confident the new law will deter and punish those
who know their victims and strangers - "anybody who has such a hole in
their heart, such a high degree of evil, that they would sexually assault
or sexually abuse a child."

Such talk sounds good, Dr. Lisak said, but "it's actually very rare that
that kind of political reaction makes for good public policy."

Crimes in which a child is snatched by a stranger are extremely unusual,
despite public paranoia. Of almost 800,000 missing children in a 1-year
period, just 115 were victims of a stereotypical kidnapping, and half of
those involved sexual assault, according to the Department of Justice.

The legislative changes are "a way for everybody to feel like they've done
something that's going to be real helpful - but not have to really deal
with the issue," said Dr. Liz Hodges, director of the incest recovery
program at The Family Place in Dallas.

Dr. Hodges said a better way to combat child sexual assault would be more
affordable counseling services and greater awareness and education to
increase reporting.

Discouraging victims

Deena Harbaugh worries that instead of keeping more sex offenders off the
streets, the new laws may discourage victims from speaking up.

When she was being abused, she didn't know her father's actions were
criminal. But even had she known, she said, she probably wouldn't have
prosecuted because she wouldn't want the responsibility for sending Daddy
to prison or death row.

"I just wanted the abuse to stop," she said. "I didn't want my dad to be
killed."

She also didn't want to destroy her family.

Carole Hemler, Ms. Harbaugh's mother, said she had concerns about her
husband's behavior, such as when he wrestled with his daughter in a way
that didn't always seem playful. But she didn't recognize what was going
on at the time.

"I never really dreamed that my husband would do something like that," she
said.

Like Deena, she said she's not sure she would have prosecuted.

"I don't know that I would have, especially when you're talking about 25
years or death," she said. "I hope I would have had the strength to say,
'I'm getting a divorce.' "

The abuse continued until Ms. Harbaugh was around 15, when her father fell
ill. He died three years later without ever being confronted about the
abuse.

Ms. Riddle said she doesn't worry that fewer victims will come forward.
Most children don't comprehend the concept of a 25-year sentence, she
said.

"If you're the one abused and you're more concerned about your dad going
to prison than you are for your safety or your child's safety, that's your
decision," she said.

Dr. Hodges said families find it difficult to report a relative or friend
because it's hard to believe a loved one would do such a thing. Wives, in
particular, may find it difficult to acknowledge that their husband is
capable of molestation because they believe it reflects poorly on them.
And reporting the offense may destroy the family. They may also be
pressured into not reporting friends accused of abuse.

"It's not hard to get the guy hiding in the bushes," she said. "But it's
hard to get people to look into their children's bedrooms. We ask children
every night in this country to live with their rapist."

Ms. Hemler said she wishes she'd known what was happening so she could
have helped her daughter. "I cannot tell you how much shame there is ...
that you did not protect your child," she said.

'Far more awareness'

LaTonsha Carraway did what few people do: She prosecuted her abuser as a
child, testifying against her father for impregnating her when she was 13
years old.

Ms. Carraway, 33, of Dallas, would like to hear politicians rail less
about strangers who snatch children and more about stamping out sexual
abuse at home.

"There has to be far more awareness," Ms. Carraway said.

That's why she's telling her story for the first time, painful as it is.

She experienced all the misplaced shame and guilt, the unwillingness to
break up the household that keeps many victims from stepping forward. But
she said that if children can endure sexual abuse, they can endure the
pain of prosecuting.

Though there is often little physical evidence in cases of child sexual
assault, Ms. Carraway had indisputable proof: a DNA test that proved her
father was also the father of her child.

Freddie Carraway was sentenced to 16 years in prison; he served 5.

In the 1990s, after he went to prison, legislators began tightening
release policies. Today, 80 percent of sex offenders serve their entire
sentences, said Geralyn Engman, manager of the prison system's Sex
Offender Rehabilitation Program.

Ms. Carraway is in touch with her family only infrequently. Aside from an
occasional twinge of loneliness, she said, she's never regretted pressing
charges. She did not send her father to prison, she said, his actions did.

"I'm the person who kind of broke the family secret," she said. "But I
don't feel bad about that because I think about the next generation. ...
Somebody has to protect the children."

Sometimes victims speak up years later. "What perpetrators fail to realize
is that kids keep their mouth shut," Ms. Harbaugh said, "but then we grow
up, and then we're adults - and we tell their dirty little secret."

"Mary," who agreed to speak on the condition that she be identified with a
fictitious name, reported her uncle for sexually assaulting her - but not
until she was 26, years after the abuse ended.

The new law eliminated the statute of limitations for many sex crimes -
which used to be 10 years after the victim's 18th birthday - and many
survivors are pleased with that aspect. That's good, experts say, because
victims rarely come to terms with their abuse until well into adulthood.

Mary reported her uncle for sexually assaulting her when she was 11. The
abuse lasted a few months, the Dallas woman said.

It stopped when "I got in trouble for spitting on him," she said. She told
her mother what he was doing, but was befuddled by the response.

"The first question she asked me was, 'What were you wearing?' "

Then her mother asked, "What do you want to do about it? It's your
choice.' "

"I was just a scared little kid," Mary said, "so she didn't do anything."

Mary said she struggled emotionally for years, even attempting suicide.
Then last year, she reported the abuse out of concern for children in the
family.

Her mother asked her to keep quiet. "She said, 'You don't know what you're
doing; you don't know how this is going to affect the family.' "

But Mary filed charges anyway. At the request of police, she taped a
conversation in which her uncle admitted the abuse.

"I've had to disassociate myself from my family," she said, but she has no
regrets. "People like that, that don't support me, I don't need 'em if
they think that it's OK to molest children."

Last month, her uncle received deferred adjudication - a type of community
supervision that is not considered a conviction.

Mary's not surprised he won't serve any time behind bars. Unlike the
public image of sex offenders, he's a hardworking, churchgoing family man.

Deferred adjudication

Most Texans are shocked to learn that someone charged with aggravated
sexual assault of a child can be sentenced to community supervision, but
The News analysis found that 36 percent of such cases resulted in deferred
adjudication.

That hasn't changed much since 1991, when a study of seven Texas counties,
including Dallas, showed that offenders got deferred adjudication in 40 %
of cases involving sexual assault of a child.

Though prosecutors are frequently criticized for using it, there are good
reasons for it, said Shannon Edmonds, director of governmental relations
for the Texas District and County Attorneys Association.

"They do it because there is a problem with the case," he said. For
instance, physical evidence may not exist. Children may be easily confused
on the witness stand. They may not want to testify at all, or their
parents may want to spare them the trauma of a trial. Their truthfulness
may be doubted, and there have been cases in which children have made
false allegations.

And, like Mary's uncle, many sex offenders look good on paper - they
support their families, go to church and play golf at the country club,
making it harder for judges or juries to see the need to put them behind
bars.

In those cases, deferred adjudication offers a way for authorities to keep
an eye on an offender and, if he breaks the rules, put him in prison.

When legislators were debating the new law, prosecutors fought to retain
deferred adjudication. It stayed, though juries are no longer allowed to
give probation on certain charges.

Losing the chance to get jury-ordered probation, combined with the 25-year
minimum sentence if the case goes to trial, may result in plea agreements
to longer sentences.

"People who got 10 years on a plea bargain may now get 20 years," Mr.
Edmonds said. "People who got 5 years may now get 10 years."

The new laws are "sheer demagoguery," said veteran Dallas defense lawyer
Vincent Perini, noting that long sentences were already available. And
while plea bargains could result in longer sentences than before, the
ability to plead to a lesser offense still exists.

"You wind up going elsewhere to get what you need," he said. "Both sides
are creative."

Mr. Edmonds does not expect the death penalty for child rapists to be used
frequently - if at all.

Prosecutors may be hesitant to seek the death penalty because defense
attorneys can use the fact that the victim was left alive to show that the
offender does not deserve to die.

And more important, it's not clear whether the U.S. Constitution allows
for execution in any crime that doesn't involve the death of a victim.

"Since there is a chance it will be found to be unconstitutional, whatever
prosecutor decides to charge this is going to have to commit his county to
a trial that's going to cost several millions of dollars and years of work
- and that's not something that prosecutors do lightly," Mr. Edmonds said.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a Louisiana case this session
regarding the legality of the death penalty for rape of a child.

'I'm the bad guy'

Nine men enrolled in the sex offender rehabilitation program at the
Hightower Unit in Dayton, near Houston, doubt that the harsher sentences
will do much good unless awareness and reporting are increased.

Of the group, only one was sentenced to 25 years or more. And seven of
them assaulted someone they knew.

If his victim hadn't spoken out, Rob Avara, 49, said, his behavior would
have continued unchecked. "I would absolutely have been one of those
hidden sex offenders," said Mr. Avara, who is nearing the end of a 9-year
sentence for sexual assault of a child.

Most of the men said they've never made amends because contact with
victims generally is prohibited.

But if he could, Mr. Avara said, he'd tell her: "It's not your fault. You
did nothing wrong. I'm the bad guy."

Those who know their abusers shouldn't worry about turning them in, he
said.

"Nice guys don't do that," said Mr. Avara, a father of nine. "If I was a
good daddy, I wouldn't be sitting here on my blessed assurance. Good
daddies aren't in prison. ...Good men don't rape women. It's the bad
ones."

(source: Dallas Morning News)