Guilty until proven innocent...

Why is it in our society we have a tendency to look upon people accused of sex crimes as guilty until proven innocent? And in many cases even if those accused are found innocent they still carry the stigmata of being accused for the rest of their lives.

I have to admit what has me cranky about this is the recent coverage of Michael Jackson's life. I keep hearing people say they are glad he's dead, and how he was a horrible pedophile. Yes he was a strange, strange man but I just don't accept that he should be labeled as some kind of monster when there is very little proof he ever did anything wrong.

What bothers me is his first accuser's family settled for money, Let me ask you if your child was abused would you be out for cash or blood? I think this should cause serious doubt in anyones mind. Unfortunately after this first go around he should of cut off any contact with minors, but because he loved children he was foolish enough to stay in a situation where anyone looking for a quick buck could exploit the situation.

Look I'm all for protecting our children but I think we as a society have went off the deep end when it comes to this type of thing. People think everyone who smiles at their child in the store wants to molest them, It's gotten rather ridiculous. Another thing that is out of hand is these registry lists for sex offenders. A 18 year old who sleeps with his high school girlfriend who is 16 can be slapped with statutory rape and forced to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. And don't say it doesn't happen, there have been numerous cases of this.

And recently we have the case of a young girl who posted nude pics of herself on MySpace, she was charged with distribution of child porn... And now under Megan's law she could be forced to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life.

As I said we need to protect our children, but we also need to find a balance where the laws put into place to do it are not abused by overly zealous prosecutors. We also as a society have to stop this insane attitude that anyone who is even remotely accused of doing something needs to be locked away for life. I truly feel sorry for anyone who is falsely accused of these crimes, I cant imagine a worse feeling then being treated as if you are guilty before you even have your day in court... And if you are found innocent it can still haunt you for the rest of your life.

If anyone has the chance they should watch the documentary Witch Hunt on MSNBC, it tells the tale of a man who was locked away for 20 years of his life only to be released after his accusers recanted their stories and admitted nothing happened. When did this become acceptable?