And frankly it still would be even without the 911 tape. In addition to self defense, lethal force is legal to use to interrupt a "forcible felony," the definition of which usually includes rape, sexual assault, or both. Even if he hadn't been the girl's father, and even if he had expressly intended to kill the man, his actions would still have been legally justifiable.

That's what I do not understand.

He was no billed, which means the family of the pervert can not sue him.

Oneshooter
Armed and Livin in Texas

It's not as if any jury would have voted to convict, in any case.

Problem eliminated.

recidivism. The death of the molester probably saved other children, even if he had been incarcerated.

Good riddance.

The recidivism rate for sex offenders is actually quite low, lower than the average for all convicted criminals. Department of Justice studies have shown a recidivism rate of between 5.3 and 9 percent, compared to a between 40 and 60 percent reoffense rate for all felony convicts.

Because the post referred to the latter, while your response referred to the former.

Huge difference between someone who may have had sex with their 17yr old girlfriend when he was 20, or public urination, and a rapist

rapists/molesters sex offenders? Those two others may be listed as sex offenders but I would guess out of all sex offenders they make a minority while sex offenders as a whole are largely rapers/molesters. I'd be interested in seeing a breakdown but the poster you replied to at-least provided(though un-sourced but I've seen the data before) while the poster above doesn't provide any.

Wiki summary w/ link to actual source

Of the 9,691 male sex offenders released from prisons in 15 US states in 1994, 5.3 percent were rearrested for a new sex crime within 3 years of release. Sex offenders were about four times more likely than non-sex offenders to be arrested for another sex crime after their discharge from prison (5.3 percent of sex offenders, versus 1.3 percent of non-sex offenders). An estimated 24 percent of those serving time for rape and 19 percent of those serving time for sexual assault had been on probation (or parole) at the time of the offense for which they were in state prison in 1991. On a given day in 1994, there were approximately 234,000 offenders convicted of rape or sexual assault under the care, custody, or control of corrections agencies; nearly 60 percent of these sex offenders were under conditional supervision in the community.
Approximately 4,300 child molesters were released from prisons in 15 US states in 1994. An estimated 3.3 percent of these 4,300 were rearrested for another sex crime against a child within 3 years of release from prison. Among child molesters released from prison in 1994, 60 percent had been in prison for molesting a child 13 years old or younger. The median age of victims of those imprisoned for sexual assault was less than 13 years old; the median age of rape victims was about 22 years. Child molesters were, on average, five years older than violent offenders who committed their crimes against adults. Nearly 25 percent of child molesters were age 40 or older, but about 10 percent of inmates with adult victims were in that age group.
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/rsorp94.pdf

It is from '94, however.

to see the breakdown by offense.

18 year old dating a 15 year old? Meh. Kinda creepy I suppose.

40 year old raping a 5 year old? Whole other category.

/plus you have people getting drunk, taking a leak in public, then being arrested for exposing themselves to kids. That was foolish behavior, but it was not predatory.

I accidentaly left this part out. Of released sex offenders who allegedly committed another sex crime, 40 percent perpetrated the new offense within a year or less from their prison discharge. Within three years of release, 2.5 percent of released rapists were rearrested for another rape, and 1.2 percent of those who had served time for homicide were arrested for a new homicide

Taking rapists alone, for instance, studies have shown that only about 2.5 percent were rearrested for another rape. The only crime with a lower recidivism rate is murder. For child molesters, the rate is about 3.3 percent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_offender#Recidivism

Compared to non-sex offenders released from State prisons, released sex offenders were 4 times more likely to be rearrested for a sex crime.
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=1136

You can't say it is high or low w/ that data. All that is saying is sex offenders are more likely to commit another sex crime than non-sex offenders. No shit. But that doesn't say one poster is right and the other is wrong.

dictionary.com:


re·cid·i·vism
? ?[ri-sid-uh-viz-uhm] Show IPA

noun
1.
repeated or habitual relapse, as into crime.

2.
Psychiatry . the chronic tendency toward repetition of criminal or antisocial behavior patterns.


*****************
When you're 4 times more likely to REPEAT a crime, that's recidivism.

It is like saying someone convicted of a drug offense is more likely to be arrested for a drug offense than a non-drug offense criminal.

As to the overall rates out of 100% locked up how much re-offend?

Yes, compared to non-sex-offenders, a sex offender is more likely to commit a sex offense. However, a released sex offender is FAR less likely to commit another sex offense than, say, a burglar is likely to commit another burglary.

than people released after serving time for sex offenses. Within say, a 5 year period, maybe 1.25% of burglars will commit a sex offense, and 5% of sex offenders will reoffend.

On the other hand, 60 or 70% of the burglars will reoffend with a new property crime, and >1% of sex offenders will commit a property crime.

But I guess they had to go through the motions of having the grand jury look into it.

I approve of their decision.

get through this horrendous ordeal so they can live their lives with some sense of normalcy. This has undoubtedly been a terrible experience for both of them.

That has to have happened for all the "approval" here.

The father just got there first.

The homicide would've been justified even if the man hadn't actually gotten as far as he had in the molestation, since he would've been protecting her from assault, just the same.

No one in their right mind would convict this guy.

Parents have a right to protect their children from predators. Period.

All states have at least some provision for interrupting a forcible felony, although some places with more aggressive DAs might have subjected him to more difficulty. But it's likely he would have been exonerated anywhere.

The man did the right thing and for the right reasons. Pedophiles don't deserve any symphony from anyone especially a parent or a judge and jury if he makes it that far.

but in this case justice was done.