[Vision2020] the difference (ws personal invitation to Mr. Schwaller)

Tue May 29 20:00:14 PDT 2007

Tom Hansen has ably explained why a recently-convicted, just-released pedophile, one who faced only one count but admitted to many, many others, is of greater concern than the majority of other sex offenders.  I will now try to explain why there is so much indignation expressed by "certain elements" on this list.  I'll try to do so without self-righteously pointing out that while Schwaller appears to be blithe and disingenuous, Crabtree appears to be merely stubborn and truculent.No critique of anything having to do with anyone at Christ Church, it seems, can be judged on its own merit or lack thereof in Gary's world -- while professing to be a fair-minded guy, he has apparently decided that origin of critique and substance of critique are the same thing.  And since Christ Church staff and defenders rarely stick around Vision 2020 when the going gets tough, it becomes easy to blast any Vision 2020 questions regarding Kirk practice, doctrine, or engagement with the community as the cynical whisperings of a "certain element" dedicated to trashing a quirky but entirely innocent group of God-worshippers.  Kirkers hide behind pseudonyms or leave the forum in a huff, sniffling and snorting while Gary bravely points out that those who are concerned about Sitler's conviction, sentence, release and supervision haven't properly memorized the adjudication of every sex offender now living in Latah County.  The truth is that while Christ Church did not hide a pedophile among them during the time Sitler offended, they did hide from the community that a serial pedophile had been among them -- an important distinction and one that Crabtree, much less the merry men of the Kirk, refuse to acknowledge.  Sitler's parents' church immediately warned the community -- with name and picture published throughout the community -- that Sitler was a pedophile and that Sitler had been active in the Colville area.  Wilson and company waited for several months to tell predominately male heads of households that "a sex offender" -- there's some question whether or not Sitler or the nature of his deeds was named -- had been among them and would likely be returning.  The only women worthy of official notice were those unmarried HOHs who bothered to attend meetings; the mothers of young children had to find out from their "covenant heads," even though -- God, I'm tired of saying this -- mothers of young children are generally in a better position than anyone to correlate certain symptoms with possible acts of depravity.  And as for the non-Kirk community -- well, a brave blogger in the know broke the news.  He was smacked down and hung out to dry; Wilson and the elders blathered on and on about "the victims;" and I am not aware of even one time when Wilson has acknowledged that MAYBE his neighbors, and the mothers who call him "pastor," might be deserving of a heads-up.  Not once.Sin is sin, crime is crime, and sex crimes of all nature are inherently stomach-churning.  But most thinking people can make a moral determination that there is a quantitative if not qualitative difference between a guy in his 20s who has sex with his underage girlfriend.  That guy, while deserving of all the law has to hand out and a swift kick in the ass as well, isn't generally a threat to others.  The adult, Christian college-educated man who repeatedly uses toddlers for sex and does so in the most brazen, arrogant, and reckless fashion is different.  Sitler and only Sitler is accountable for his actions; Wilson and the elders, and only Wilson and the elders, are accountable for the disdain with which they treated the community in not immediately and publicly sounding the alarm.  We all know that there is not a class of pedophilia that limits its victims to "those also in the offenders church," and we know serial pedophiles are virtually certain to reoffend.  It's tragic if they do so within or outside of their particular community.I know that Gary Crabtree is a smart guy who sees this.  I just wonder
when Gary will be the honest guy that I believe him to be and finally
acknowledge that all is not well at the Kirk and certainly wasn't
during the time Sitler confessed.  Or is it more fun to simply blast away at the straw men erected to strengthen his contention that the Kirk is being persecuted?  Because if so, that's not curmudgeonly and libertarian, Gary -- it's foolish.keelyFrom: jampot at adelphia.netTo: kjajmix1 at msn.com; vpschwaller at gmail.com; bherodotus at yahoo.com; vision2020 at moscow.comSubject: Re: [Vision2020] A personal invitation to Mr. SchwallerDate: Tue, 29 May 2007 14:31:34 -0700

It's rather difficult to take all the indignation and self 
righteousness expressed by a certain element on this list as seriously as one 
might otherwise. Why is Sitler singled out for all the condemnation (not 
that he doesn't deserve every ounce of it) when there has there 
been nary a peep when it comes to others who have committed the very same (or 
worse) crime in this county and also still reside here. Where is your 
"legitimate fears" when it comes to Michael Ashcraft, Christopher Busting, and 
Mike Brazington? Why are you not so vocally "concerned" about Robert Buckingham, 
Frank Burkgart, and Harvey Hamilton? What about the likelihood of reoffense for 
Michael Hardway, Dennis Hendrix, Wayne Jacobs, Knute Klingler, and Kevin 
Osterberg? Could it be that they get no Vision 2020 scrutiny 
and castigation because to do so would not further an agenda? I'm 
afraid that the pious blather that comes from History Daddy and his little 
band of likeminded friends would be far easier to stomach were it not 
so blatantly just another cynical means to an end.

g

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: 
  keely emerinemix 

  To: Glenn Schwaller ; Bob 
  Herodotus ; vision2020 at moscow.com 
  Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2007 7:52 AM
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] A personal 
  invitation to Mr. Schwaller
  Somewhere between five and 98 percent of all Visionaires who 
  read the post below detect an undercurrent of  snarling, manly 
  arrogance.  I'm guessing that the two percent were raising their Sabbath 
  glasses to him.Either way, his attempts to mask his disdain for his 
  questioner by quoting the gamut of statistics that might address the Sitler 
  situation fell flat.  I'm afraid indifference to the genuine concern 
  expressed by other Visionaires and disdain for them for expressing it leaked 
  out like a robust Syrah in cloudy, cracked stemware.I'll try it the 
  simple, albeit shrill and insistent, manner Schwaller by now knows me 
  for:Can you possibly grasp the anger this community has toward Sitler 
  and those who dealt with him, and can you understand the legitimate fears of 
  those concerned that he's out of jail?  keely

    Date: Mon, 28 May 2007 14:18:47 -0700From: vpschwaller at gmail.comTo: 
    bherodotus at yahoo.com; vision2020 at moscow.comSubject: Re: [Vision2020] A 
    personal invitation to Mr. SchwallerVisionaries and Mr 
    Herodotus,Thank you for the invitation to "return" but I never 
    really left.  I was simply a bit busy over the past few days taking 
    advantage of the weather break to plant the begonias, nasturtiums, and 
    geraniums.I'll attempt to answer your questions, but I do so 
    assuming you are being genuine and not disingenuous in your query.  I 
    mention this only because another visionary has questioned "the truth about 
    (your) opinions", that this individual "Doesn't believe I'll do that" 
    (accept the truth of my opinions), "thank you very much.", then proceeds to 
    demand the answer to 3 additional questions.So, on to your 
    questions.  These are important, timely questions that deserve 
    answers.  However, I don't believe I can give you full nor adequate 
    answers to any of them.  I don't know that definitive answers exist, 
    however one can find just about any answer one wants to fit one's 
    position.  That being said:"1. Can you please tell us the 
    recidivism rate for serial pedophiles?"I don't believe a thorough 
    statistical study has been done for over 10 years.  So keeping that in 
    mind, according to the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice 
    Statistics, within 3 years of release from incarceration, a little more than 
    5 percent of sex offenders were rearrested for another sex crime.  If 
    one looks at ALL crimes committed, about 40 percent of sex offenders were 
    rearrested for other offenses.Within this three year period, 3.5 
    percent of convicted sex offenders were convicted again for a sex crime, 24 
    percent convicted for new crimes, and about 40 percent are imprisoned again 
    because of a parole or probation violation.However, if you're Joan 
    Opyr, in an article she published not quite a year ago, she quotes a 75% 
    recidivism rate.The USDJ study also looked at the relationship 
    between offenders and victims and reported that overall, 46 percent of the 
    victims were a family member.  A 2005 study by the National Crime 
    Victimization Survey reports that 73 percent of sexual assaults were known 
    by the victim: 38 percent were a friend or acquaintance, 28 percent were 
    involved in an "intimate" relationship, and 7 percent were another 
    relative.    An NPR story in 2005 offered a 98 
    percent recidivism rate over a 25 year period, with a 60 percent likelihood 
    of offending again within 5 years under the best treatment available., there 
    is a 60% occurrence of re-offence within five years. The story also mentions 
    that the offender in most sexual abuse cases is a family member or friend of 
    the family  (97 percent for victims under the age of 6, and 95 percent 
    of those between the ages 6 and 12).So, somewhere between 5 and 95 
    percent?"2. Can you please share with us the average number of 
    children that repeat offenders violate before their 
    discovery?"Again, I have no concrete statistics.  There is 
    apparently some information on Mr Sitler's repeated violations before he was 
    discovered (I'm sure Mr Hansen can give you that number off the top of his 
    head).  The numbers seem to run from one to dozens over decades for 
    catholic priests.  And in Portugal, a driver and gardener was accused 
    of molesting children at the school where he was worked.  After 
    questioning and examining more than 600 children, over 125 were reported to 
    have been victimized by this individual.So, somewhere between 1 and 
    more than 125? "3,  Can you please describe for us a worst-case 
    scenario for the children of Moscow (number of victims, age of victims, 
    types of abuse, etc.), if Mr. Sitler resumes his pattern of serial 
    predation?"Quite frankly, I sense an undercurrent of sarcasm in this 
    last question, but hey . . .Maybe you can ask me how many polar 
    bears, perched on their ever-diminishing slab of ice, are going to starve 
    tonight?Well, obviously I can't give you the answers you would like 
    to hear.  I doubt even Mr Sitler himself would know, given the worst 
    possible case, what would be the answers to those questions.  However, 
    if you refer back to the replies to Question 1, you may find some answers of 
    sorts in there.I'd like to think I have the community's, but perhaps 
    not that of starving polar bear's, interests at 
    heart.Schwaller"You can always see it commin', but you can 
    never stop it."  --Michael 
    Timmins
    On 5/28/07, Bob 
    Herodotus <bherodotus at yahoo.com 
    > wrote:
    Visionaries and 
      Mr. Schwaller,I personally invite Mr. Schwaller to return to this 
      forum because I for one found his posts both provocative and enlightening. 
      Hard facts about serial pedophiles are difficult to ascertain and I 
      commend him for sharing his knowledge of this unseemly subject with us so 
      that we as a community can be better prepared to address a predator in our 
      midst.With this in mind, I have a couple of questions for Mr. 
      Schwaller.1. Can you please tell us the recidivism rate for serial 
      pedophiles?2. Can you please share with us the average number of 
      children that repeat offenders violate before their discovery?3. 
      Finally, given your familiarity with Steven Sitler's case file, can you 
      please describe for us a worst-case scenario for the children of Moscow 
      (number of victims, age of victims, types of abuse, etc.), if Mr. Sitler 
      resumes his pattern of serial predation?I believe that these are 
      reasonable questions for a community to ask and I believe that you have 
      our community's best interests at heart.Thank 
      you,Herodotus____________________________________________________________________________________Looking 
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