You probably remember all too well the heartbreaking chain of events, gleaned from after-the-fact media reports over the past few months, surrounding the tragic death of little Jessica Lunsford down in Homosassa, Florida.
First, Jessica’s distraught family reported that their pretty 9-year-old child had simply disappeared from her bedroom late on the night of February 23. There was no sign of a struggle, and no forcible entry of the home. Police and volunteers launched a massive search of the area. They interviewed nearby neighbors repeatedly, to no avail. Finally they gave up the fruitless search.
Then a tip led them to focus on a known sex offender, John Evander Couey, 46, who had left Florida by bus under an assumed name on February 28. He was finally arrested at a Salvation army shelter in augusta on March 17, and the next day he confessed to killing Jessica. He waived extradition and on March 19, he led Florida law enforcement agents to Jessica’s body, which was buried about 150 yards from her house.
Couey, who had been staying at his half sister’s trailer within sight of the Lunsford home, admitted that he sneaked into the house, kidnapped and raped little Jessica. Police now suspect that she was inside the trailer when searchers interviewed the people who lived there, while Couey cowered in another room reportedly in a "drug haze." Jessica may have been kept alive for as long as two days after her abduction.
Couey then tied Jessica’s hands and feet with stereo wire, wrapped her inside two large plastic garbage bags, and buried her alive. She died of asphyxiation, still clutching the tiny blue stuffed dolphin she had brought from her bedroom when Couey kidnapped her.
If you are anything like I am, you feel both rage and shame that such a depraved and senseless crime could occur in america. There is something called a conscience inside all of us that abhors and is repulsed by such an act of gross depravity. Somewhere along the way, clearly, Couey lost that sense of conscience.
You see, John Couey had a criminal history that included 24 arrests and went back more than 30 years. as a convicted sex offender who had been released on parole, Couey was required to register any change of address with the police. But he had moved into his half sister’s trailer without notifying anyone.
That’s where he saw little Jessica and later made her his victim. Whether he had met her before the crime is still unclear, but the possibility is unsettling. No parent wants to think that a known child sex predator is living right next door. But nobody knew he was there.
"We know the dangers to children are far greater from someone they know than that nameless, faceless predator they don’t," said Nancy McBride, safety director for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, adding that only 10 percent of all sexual abuse cases involve total strangers. "That concept of a mean, ugly, bad and dirty stranger is the stereotype of the myth of the man in a trench coat under the bridge."
So, then, what should we do with a depraved child predator like John Couey? In my book, he is both a prime candidate for the death penalty and an excellent example of why that form of punishment is appropriate. (By the way, after confessing to the crime and leading detectives to his victim’s grave, Couey has now changed his plea to "Not Guilty" and is being represented by a court-appointed public defender.)
The Florida legislature reacted swiftly to the publicity surrounding Jessica’s brutal death, and also the april 10 abduction and murder of 13-year-old Sarah Lunde of Ruskin, Florida, by another sex offender. By a unanimous vote of 118-0, the lawmakers passed the Jessica Lunsford act, which requires prison sentences of at least 25 years for those who sexually abuse children under 12. If the criminal is ever released from custody, he will be on probation for life and his location will be monitored electronically by Global Positioning Satellite. Gov. Jeb Bush signed the bill on april 22, calling the tough new law "right and just."
Well, I’m OK with that solution for starters. after all, if Martha Stewart has to wear an ankle bracelet, why shouldn’t a convicted sex predator who preys on our children?
Realistically, though, I think we need even tougher measures on the Federal level — like maybe an implanted chip to monitor these criminals’ whereabouts, so they can’t just cut it off and disappear, like they could an ankle bracelet. If local police could have tracked John Couey directly to that trailer, little Jessica would still be alive today.
Some civil libertarians may scream that this drastic measure would be an "invasion of privacy," but I say these sick perverts forfeited their right to privacy when they started sexually abusing our precious children.
You know what else I think? In extreme cases, especially involving repeat offenders — assuming they aren’t summarily executed — we need to seriously consider removing the offending body parts. That corporal approach just might have a little deterrent capability.
If public policy makers don’t respond forcefully to the sex predators who are victimizing our innocent children, we will continue to see more gruesome crimes in the future. We owe it to our children to make a change.
Copyright © 2005 by Nathan Tabor
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