father punches man molesting his son and gets arrested

[Taomon]

This is what the great state of MA does to parents who protect their kids from perverts.

Ma will not pass Jessica's law because it is too harsh. Authorities in MA will arrest a parent for stopping a pervert from fondling a child.

Indecent assault raises concern - Taunton, MA - The Taunton Gazette

Quick recap

A father of a 4 yr old sees a man snake his arm under a bathroom stall in a local supermarket and fondle his sons genitals. Said father opens the stall and punches the pervert, a 71 yr old employee of the supermarket, in the puss. The cops arrest the father for felony assault and let the pervert go. Said pervert was still working in the store after the incident.

On a local radio station, the atty general of MA, Martha Coakley, stated that authorities in MA discourage "self help" meaning that if you or your children are assaulted that you should just stand by and allow yourself or your kids to be victimized while you patiently wait for police to come and save you.

WTF is wrong with this picture.

And think I used to wonder why I left MA.

So the estate of MA is bad because of two police officers? The people of Taunton are outraged that the father was cited and the employee still had a job.

That should speak louder than the poor judgement of two police officers. Your assumptions, as usual, are illogical.

 

[Diuretic]

Jillian agrees, she disagrees that the word of the father is enough. Which of course begs the question , with no priors, no history of mental problems, no drug history, why did the guy just randomly assault the fellow with his son in tow?

That's exactly what the trier of fact (judicial officer with or without a jury) would have to consider. The cops know that.

 

[Skull Pilot]

So the estate of MA is bad because of two police officers? The people of Taunton are outraged that the father was cited and the employee still had a job.

That should speak louder than the poor judgement of two police officers. Your assumptions, as usual, are illogical.

Hey Tampon,

this is just one incident where victims have been charged while protecting themselves

And the "poor judgement" of cops seems to be an epidemic in MA. And the Atty general herself said the boy's father should not have attacked the pervert. The MA state legislature will not pass Jessica's law because it is too harsh on perverts, I guess we know whose rights are more important in MA The problem goes much deeper than 2 cops.

 

[Tech_Esq]

So if I come to Virginia, run into you in the hallway by the restoom, and claimed you assaulted me...you'd automatically go in front of the magistrate? That seems a bit extreme if there are no witnesses.

No, they would take you to jail for filing a false police report.

 

[Ravi]

No, they would take you to jail for filing a false police report.

So there you see the problem. Neither had criminal records and it's only one person's word against another.

You've excused the behavior in both cases, the actual one and my hypothetical one, based solely on your own opinion. That's not how the law works.

 

[Tech_Esq]

So there you see the problem. Neither had criminal records and it's only one person's word against another.

You've excused the behavior in both cases, the actual one and my hypothetical one, based solely on your own opinion. That's not how the law works.

Your hypothetical was improperly constucted so I gave it what it was due, a cavalier backhand. Would you care to try your hand at constructing a properly analogous hypothetical?

I said if you commit an assault and battery, you should be hauled into jail, made to stand in front of a magistrate, have him set bond. Pay the bond (and if you had no priors it will probably be quite low and could actually be personal recognizance), then turned loose unless you have an immigration problem. The same thing happens here if you are caught going 81 MPH on the highway. What's so damned difficult to understand? What is it you think is so patently unfair about that?

 

[Ravi]

Your hypothetical was improperly constucted so I gave it what it was due, a cavalier backhand. Would you care to try your hand at constructing a properly analogous hypothetical?

I said if you commit an assault and battery, you should be hauled into jail, made to stand in front of a magistrate, have him set bond. Pay the bond (and if you had no priors it will probably be quite low and could actually be personal recognizance), then turned loose unless you have an immigration problem. The same thing happens here if you are caught going 81 MPH on the highway. What's so damned difficult to understand? What is it you think is so patently unfair about that?

You actually said:

If you commit assault and battery in Virginia you will stand in front of a magistrate on your first offense.

making it sound as if in Virginia one is not innocent until proven so. If that isn't what you meant, fine.

In this case, the alleged molester has been charged with a felony. I'm not sure what the father has been charged with, but if it were Virginia I guess he'd have to be charged with assault and battery, correct? The cops stated that the reason neither man was arrested and summoned instead is because neither had a prior record or appeared to be a flight risk. And since both seem to be hanging around waiting for their day in court, I'd say the cops did the right thing.

 

[manifold]

Hey Tampon,

That one gets the official mani aped screenname seal of approval!


Wish I thought of that!

 

[Tech_Esq]

You actually said:

If you commit assault and battery in Virginia you will stand in front of a magistrate on your first offense.

making it sound as if in Virginia one is not innocent until proven so. If that isn't what you meant, fine.

In this case, the alleged molester has been charged with a felony. I'm not sure what the father has been charged with, but if it were Virginia I guess he'd have to be charged with assault and battery, correct? The cops stated that the reason neither man was arrested and summoned instead is because neither had a prior record or appeared to be a flight risk. And since both seem to be hanging around waiting for their day in court, I'd say the cops did the right thing.

I see, maybe I'm overly familiar with the court system and assumed that you knew as much. The function of the magistrate in Virginia, as well as many other states, is not to try the case, but merely to set an equitable bond or to issue warrants etc.

My point is that it should not be within the cops discretion to "just figure" these guys aren't a flight risk etc. Especially when a felony is involved, substantial depravation of liberty is at stake and the proper judicial authorities need to be involved from the beginning to make sure that the rights of the defendant are protected and to make sure that no mistakes are made that may allow the alleged criminal to go free.

 

[Diuretic]

Hang on, did this happen in Virginia or Massaschusetts?

 

[manifold]

Hang on, did this happen in Virginia or Massachusetts?

Mass.

But regardless, I still don't know why people are making this into something that it is not. The cops did their job. I'm surprised that pisses off so many alegedly "law-abiding" conservatives.

 

[Ravi]

Here's what the cops said. I honestly can't see anything to criticize in their actions.

Rodriguez was charged with indecent assault June 1, but he was not arrested. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Taunton Superior Court July 29.
Police also charged Beatrice with assault for hitting Rodriguez, saying they sympathized with him but would have preferred he had waited for police to arrive.
Beatrice is scheduled to be arraigned July 31.
Police said they did not arrest Rodriguez at the scene due to his advanced age and lack of a criminal record.
“The reason you would (make an arrest) would be to stop the crime or you don’t think the person would show up in court,” said Pacheco, the police chief.
Arresting Rodriguez, he said, would have required police to also arrest Beatrice, a scene that might have further traumatized the young boy.
Decisions like giving Rodriguez a summons rather than handcuffing him at the scene are the police chief’s responsibility, said Gregg Miliote, a spokesman for the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office.
“They have the discretion until the arraignment, then it’s our case,” he said.

Raynham father warns Market Basket shoppers of ?predator? employee he says groped his 4-year-old son - Brockton, MA - The Enterprise

 

[Tech_Esq]

Hang on, did this happen in Virginia or Massaschusetts?

It was MA, Ravi and I were having a slightly side discussion in comparative enforcement. I put up VA as an example of how things should have happened rather than the way they did happen in MA.

 

[Ravi]

Mass.

But regardless, I still don't know why people are making this into something that it is not. The cops did their job. I'm surprised that pisses off so many alegedly "law-abiding" conservatives.

Maybe they think arresting dads in front of their little boys is a good learning experience.

 

[manifold]

It was MA, Ravi and I were having a slightly side discussion in comparative enforcement. I put up VA as an example of how things should have happened rather than the way they did happen in MA.

How should it have happened again?

 

[Tech_Esq]

Here's what the cops said. I honestly can't see anything to criticize in their actions.

Raynham father warns Market Basket shoppers of ?predator? employee he says groped his 4-year-old son - Brockton, MA - The Enterprise

You may not, I think the Chief should be fired. If he thinks that you are going to charge someone with a felony and just give him a summons, then he doesn't know his job and the town should hire someone that does. Maybe he just has a softspot for kid touchers.

 

[Wow]

You mean if I didn't kill him myself?

I'd want them to do their job. And part of their job is to not take one person's word against the other without evidence. If I said you molested my kid would you have no problem staying in jail until the trial?

Most of the reaction to the June 1 incident during which, a 4-year-old boy was reportedly touched high on the leg by a Market Basket employee in the store’s bathroom

“There was debatable dispute on the facts as the elderly man says he was ‘just joking around’


He also noted that Rodriguez did not understand English

I'll assume you read this article and you are not a parent.

Rodriguez "admitted" to touching the boy under the bathroom stall.

You admit you would deal out your own justice, ONLY if it were your child.

It seems rather obvious, you could careless about other children being molested but if it were your child, you would murder him!

Do you think that's a tad bit self-centered?

This sounds more like the Police Dept is more concerned about getting sued by the ACLU, than protecting children.

If you think this man was just joking around, you should never be a parent!

This is the cultural problem in America being promoted by greedy lawyers.

 

[Tech_Esq]

How should it have happened again?

Read the second part of post #66

 

[Ravi]

You may not, I think the Chief should be fired. If he thinks that you are going to charge someone with a felony and just give him a summons, then he doesn't know his job and the town should hire someone that does. Maybe he just has a softspot for kid touchers.

Maybe. And maybe the cops in your town would have a soft-spot for rapists? Surely you can't be serious. If so, you'd have to accept being brought before the magistrate if I claimed you assaulted me. Remember, the cops have no discretion.

 

[manifold]

Read the second part of post #66

So you think both men should have been arrested on the spot and detained huh?

I don't agree but at least that's better than many of the others here that think the cops should have adjudicated the matter at the scene.