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This makes me so sad. My stomach's all in a knot now... 
Two kids, Alex (thirteen) and Derek (fourteen) King, have been sentenced to 22 years in prison each for murdering their father in his sleep with an aluminum baseball bat, then setting fire to his house.
Motive?
So the father (who apparantly was a control-freak) wouldn't get angry when the two ran off to be with a 40-year-old alledged paedophile Ricky Chavis who let them play computer games, smoke pot and stay up late to watch TV at his house.
Who's the real victim here?
Father, beaten to death by his oldest son while lying there helpless in his bed?
Alex, who confesses it was his idea to do it, and says he is in love with Chavis?
Derek, talked into doing the deed by a scheming younger brother?
Or both kids, oppressed by their parent, while possibly 'brainwashed' by Chavis?
Or NONE of the above?
Maybe it's just a tragic case of failure to communicate properly. Of people not fitting into the little boxes society wants to put us in. Who knows. Will anything get better by putting these two kids in JAIL for almost a third of their natural lives? Instead of ruining just one life, let's ruin THREE!
All I know is, my stomach's all in a knot because this is just too damn sad.
-Lenny
"But he that hath the steerage of my course,
direct my sail."
-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act One, Scene IV
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tim
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Really getting into it |
Location: UK, West of London in Ber...
Registered: February 2002
Messages: 842
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Is that we never know the truth. So many parents expose their children to needing the affection given by an older adult elsewhere by witholding their own. This is only a problem if the older adult is predatory.
The word "paedophile" is awkward, because it is in common parlance by the media. But we do not know precisely what his relationship with the child is. If predatory I condemn it. If loving and returned I can not condemn it
What does "Control Freak" mean. If the father loved and showed love for his sons, then his control might not be what it seems. If he beat them to make them submit to his wishes, then I have a different view.
We all need to look inside ourselves when seeing such media items. We are each capable of falling in love with others and ignoring age differences. Please, I am NOT expecting to generate a "this age gap is wrong" debate. Those we have had before.
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warren c. e. austin
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Likes it here |
Location: Toronto, Ontario, CANADA
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 247
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As you point out, I don't think we'll ever know the truth behind this, and similar news items.
We, in Canada, recently were beseiged by the media, especially Radio and Television, regarding a series of incidents that occurred at Maple Leaf Gardens in the 1970's. A frightful mess, and one that never really received a proper hearing in either the courts, or in its' treatment by the media.
Yes, in all likelihood some sort of predatory symbiosis existed between all parties to the affaire, but what was never examined, was who the predator was, and who may have been the victim.
I lived in an apartment building immediately adjacent the the Gardens at the time these event was actually unfolding, both of which are, and were, located in the heart of the then prevailing "Gay" Village of the times.
The recently convicted predator, who at the time of the offences was barely in his early twenties, apparently traded favours for access privileges to events (generally tickets and unpaid admissions, and occasionally opportunities to meet sports figues and celebrities), mostly hockey games. The victims were all in their mid to late teens - so the age spread was in actual fact quite narrow, and at worst maybe five or six years, and certaintly less than ten towards the end.
The actual apparent lack of true disparity between the predator and his victims was never made known to the general public through the media, which had their own agenda throughout the whole ordeal - firstly the allegations, the the charges, and subsequently the trial.
The "Moral Majority" who had been trying desperately to score points with the Ontario Electorate, and obtain control (without success I might add) in local School Boards, through their shareholder control of the Disney Company (ABC Television Network, Family Channel, et al), Coca-cola Ltd. (holding far too widespread to mention here), Procter and Gamble (again staggering ly widespread holdings) and the Christian Broadcast Network (Vision Channel, the Life Network and CBN Television, amongst others), forced the principle Media combines, notably Radio and especially Television (where the companies controlled by the Moral Majority contributed to 2 minutes, out of every three, and often all, during commerical breaks), by threatencing to withdraw it's paid advertizing, the slamming home of one and only one message, until the predator was convicted, and so inflamed the general public it was next to impossible for him to receive an impartial hearing; this message, being that a 50-odd year old male (this was of course some twenty-five years after the last known events had occurred) was, not had been, diddling teenaged boys. Never the truth. Never once was it ever alluded to that the boys "wanted" the favours being offered, and were willing participants to the transactions, and often, especially once it became known that these favours could be had, the initiators.
It should be stated that I don't support predatory behaviour, by anyone, regardless of the nature of the relationship, but "hustling" is, and always has been, a significant part of the urban "Gay" culture which, for whatever reason, seems to be almost entirely youth driven.
The principle claimant, who we'll never know why, after some thirty years in his case, decided to press the matter with the Police, committed suicide after failing to obtain an indictment to his allegations. This in turn led to the subsequent media feeding frenzy, which ultimately spawned a conviction on multiple accounts of child-molestation and sexual-interference, but, and I have to stress this, only as a direct result of political pressures brought to bear by the media, and their fear of lost revenues, not through any initial rabid moral outrage on the part of the community at large. It was only after his conviction, was
it ever revealed his true age at the time of the offenses.
This same senario applies with the King trial. The media is outraged because of the sexual overtones, and the age disparity of those involved, which is very real in this instance.
Unfortunately this offence occurred in an area of the U.S. where the Moral Majority does control the School Boards, and significant numbers of local Council seats. They have an agenda, one which is at cross-purposes with that of the public at large, but because they "hold a cross in one hand" at one and the same time spouting their rhetoric and hate, espousing so called "Christian" values, we are all too ready to not want to challenge them out of fear of retribution and being branded "heretics" in the process.
This very nearly was the case here in Canada, during the late 1980's, until common sense prevailed, and they were told to take a hike, and forced what led to their forming their own television network in order to garner air-time that they were otherwise being denied under statute. Prior to the formation of the Christian Broadcast Network, the Moral Majoity and its' member groups were purchasing blocks of air-time on all of the Canadian networks, three and four-hours at a time, on every channel, leaving viewer with no alternative but to either watch their drivel, or turn their televisions off. The CRTC had to act, and they were thrown off all public broadcast media, and told to seek alternatives to getting their message across.
The true test of their capabilites came with the Gardens scandal, and the rest is history. Our society will never again be the same, nor will we ever be able to trust them again.
I feel for the King family at large, the mother, any of the father's kin, and the boys themselves; but, no-one, neither the boys, or anyone in their extended family has told the entire truth, and will never be allowed to. The family has been tainted by this scandal, and in their own best interests will continue to refuse to comment, and provide details about whatever may have prevailed, and transpired, that led to this unfortunate circumstance.
Warren C. E. Austin
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smith
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On fire! |
Registered: January 1970
Messages: 1095
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This trial ended with a multiple choice question:
What caused this tragedy?
A. A father who destroyed his 2 son's love and trust?
B. A son who, at 12, planned his father's murder?
C. A son, who, at 13, was capable of violent murder?
D. A "family friend" who influenced this tragedy?
E. All of the above?
Adults forget that children and teenagers act on impulse, not considering the future, only wanting immediate gratification. Whatever caused this to happen, they WERE capable. They expected to be able to say "I'm sorry" and be forgiven. Derek, the boy who used the baseball bat on his father was only months older than me. I've felt that impulsive anger....that urge to lash out.I know it doesn't work that way.
The quote in the newspaper read: "They are devastated. The judgement was the first time they realized the weight of what was going on."
The two boys raged against their father, for whatever reason, but in doing so, they proved just how young they are. After he was dead, what did they expect to do? Where did they expect to go? Answer: They didn't think.....because they are children.
[[sidebar]] Their mother moved away when they were 6 and 7. They officially became a dysfunctional family very young.
I only hope they get counselling in the next 22 years, as they
grow up........in jail.
In schools today, children are tested for anger/aggression and labeled EH [emotionally handicapped] but after the label is pinned on their forehead, they fall into the cracks. We all know who these kids are. They're the ones we walk carefully around in the halls; the ones we never argue with.
smith...
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warren c. e. austin
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Likes it here |
Location: Toronto, Ontario, CANADA
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 247
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Typically, smith, you have cut through all the rethoric, and summed it all up in so very few, but clear and concise, words.
Are you sure you're only 15 [just kidding!], but, seriously you should consider a furture career in journalism. Your open and honest questionning of events would be a refreshing breath of clean air.
In my comments, I was addressing Tim's concerns about the general public having gotten the truth (whatever that might be) from the media coverage, and based upon my own experience with our very own media circus a couple of years ago.
In doing so, I paid scant lip-service to the boys and their surviving family, which however angry I may be with the media for their recent behaviour [in Canada], is not fair either.
Our urban landscape (mercifully much less so here in Canada, than throughout the U.S.) is blighted by the walking wounded amongst our teenaged population. Our schools, and community centres are open sores of dissent and controversy bordering on rage, yet few in authority seem to be able to come to grips with it, nor is anyone suggesting remedial solutions.
Both of my own two sons could well have ended up in situations somewhat similar to the King boys, had luck and their own good fortune not intervened, firstly with my youngest and a year later with my eldest. Each was hell bent on self-destruction, and near pathelogically hated their families, in particular their natural fathers.
Nearly twenty years later, both are now able to be seated in the same room with their birth father, but whilst the anger has gone (through counselling and a great deal of self-awareness, love and understanding), neither feels any affection either. The eldest, Alan, has even gone to the point of foregoing the use of his first name, adopting in its' stead his middle name [he's a Junior] when I refused [he was still under age-23 at the time, and when I would have lost my authority under the Children's Aid Act] to allow him to officially change his name entirely. The younger, Paul, chose to enroll in the Army, upon completion of high school, which was kind of ironic in that he could never, and still can't abide by anyone having authority over him.
For some reason known only to themselves, boith were willing to tolerate my authority, but believe me when I tell you they tested it to its' extreme, knuckling under only when they knew they could budge me no further.
Oddly enough, too, considering their background, I never once felt threatened by them; not even the one and only time Alan and I physically came to blows, I breaking his collar-bone and forearm, and he fracturing a couple of my ribs and spraining my wrist. The anger that caused the altercation, dissipated nearly as quickly as it had arisen, and you'd have marvelled at the two of us helping each other in and out of the shower for the next few days, because neither could do it on our own. Ten years later Alan is passive, visibly contented and happy in his own right, and whilst the incident is neither forgotten, no cause for festering anger, it served as a catalyst for healing which he sorely needed. Paul took his anger out on our home, with the extent of the damage dimminishing with time, thus requiring that he spend less and less of his energy repairing that which he had willfully destroyed. Some ten years later he, too, seems content, choosing to live in the wild, and off the land, and only very occasionallly venturing forth into the urban community. Three tours of duty with the U.N. Peace-keeping Forces, firsly in Somalia [what a mess that was] and later Timor, and lastly Kosovo appears to given him the strength to deal with his demons.
Warren C. E. Austin
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e
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On fire! |
Location: currently So Cal
Registered: May 2002
Messages: 1179
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You are right, smith. These boys are children. The real travesty as far as the state is concerned is that these boys were tried as adults. They are indeed capable of committing murder, but they are not capable of thinking like adults. There is no easy answer to the question of what should have been done with them, but it is wrong to have tried them as adults.
It is also a travesty as far as their family is concerned that it came to murder. That their mother left them at an early age, that their father was so harsh, that they fell prey to a previously convicted child molester, and that they killed (or helped kill) their father.
It is also a travesty that this child molester was found not guilty. Jurors in the boys' case have stated that they believed that it was he who wielded the bat and that was the reason the boys were convicted of second degree murder instead of first. The prosecutor, however, did not even ask the jury in the Chavis case to return a verdict of guilty. He only instructed them to "decide" which version of the boys' story was the truth. Obviously the prosecutor made some mistakes.
I am not too old to remember being a teen, upset, angry, enraged at my parents. I recall fantasizing about doing all kinds of horrible things to them, including killing them. But like you, I also had the impulse control not to DO any of it. That is the difference between us and them. Hopefully these boys will get some counseling, but don't expect miracles. Counseling isn't a cure-all and is usually ineffective when the participant is forced to attend.
Think good thoughts,
e
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e
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On fire! |
Location: currently So Cal
Registered: May 2002
Messages: 1179
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The older adult in this case is predatory. He has a previous conviction for molesting children. He is alleged (and still faces charges) to have molested one or both of these boys. He is a repeat offender. Whatever his relationship to these boys, I would not characterize as "loving." He preyed on their vulnerability and took advantage of it. As smith so eloquently put it, these boys are just children. They are not adults and have not shown the maturity of adults. There is no reason to believe that they are capable of making adult decisions and sexual consent is an adult decision.
Think good thoughts,
e
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Guest
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On fire! |
Registered: March 2012
Messages: 2344
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This is more about trying kids as adults....but still falls in with what you are talking about.
_______________________________________________________________
I have not read or heard that much about this case.....so I can not say whether or not they killed their dad or the guy did. But to try them as adults I believe is WRONG!!!
I have a friend who is in prison....for the rest of his life. He killed his parents when he was only 15 (just turned 15) Right before he killed his parents, Colorado lowered the age of when they can try a kid as an adult. If he would have killed them months before they would not have been able to try him as an adult. They made an example out of him....he was the first one tried under the new law....and was the youngest kid ever (at that time) to be tried as an adult in the state of Colorado.
Now I think killing someone is wrong!! I also think trying kids as adults is wrong!! My friend killed his parents because they where mentally, emotionally, phsycally and sexually abusing him and his brother....their entire life. Both brothers had told one of their teachers......a few of their frineds told their parents and/or teachers that my friend and his brother where being abused. My friends brother called 911 several times.....he even went to DSS and told them. NO ONE DID ANYTHING!!!! So my friend did what his parents taught him his whole life.....you sovle your problems with violence.....thats what he learned from them!! I still don't think what he did was right.....yet I think he did the only thing he could do. I do fell that he should have done some time.....in a youth correctional or something like that...and got out when he turned 18/21. I do not think he should have to spend the rest of his life in prison. My friend has told me many times he feels more free in prison then he ever did living with his parent.....to me that is sad....and something needs to be done!!! People need to start listening to our kids and protecting them!!
What really makes me made.....my friend defended himself the only way he knew how! Now he has to spend the rest of his life in prison. When a few years ago, two 17 year old guys drove by two 12 year old boys walking home from another friends house.....pull over and make the two 12 year olds get on their knees and then shot them both in the back of the head!!........for NO REASON!!! Those two 17 year old guys where not even tried as adults!! I can not recall the exact amount of time they where sentenced to.....but it was way under 10 years. I mean come on!!....you have a 15 year old kid who was abused his whole life....finally stands up and defends himself.......gets sent to prison for the rest of his life. Then you have to 17 year olds who were (as they said) bored that night....and kill two kids......just for something to do.
Now where the hell is the justice?!!!
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Thank you Warren and e, for reporting some facts closer to the source than mine (and especially Warren, for providing Canadian and personal background material as well).
smith, you know I asked you to provide insight and you said you could not, yet you have. Thank you also!
I would like to hear more of this case as it develops, if there are any more developments, can you guys help me? Not only are my sources at least one, but likely several steps further away from the source, but they're also translated into a different language thus diminishing accuracy even further, and chances are this tragedy simply isn't deemed newsworthy enough to warrant any further reporting, especially since we're coming closer and closer to another sept. 11...
...And yesterday, like the mother of all ironies perhaps, one of our state TV channels shows the movie "Happiness", which is so plain bizarre and strange... If you've seen it, you know why I find this bizarre and strange. (And the movie is, also.)
Did an all-nighter again tonight by the way. Wrote roughly five thousand words in about eight or nine hours or so. I'm very satisfied, was a really good session. But now I am TIRED, lol, and it's eight thirty in the morning, not really time to go to bed.  (Too bad there's not a cross-eyed smiley, I'd have used that one, haha...)
-Lenny
"But he that hath the steerage of my course,
direct my sail."
-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act One, Scene IV
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...six thousand, maybe a bit more than that even.
It's shaping up real good now, but having gotten all this out of me I realize how much there's still left to write hehe.
Well, at least it's keeping me busy...at NIGHT, lol!
-Lenny
"But he that hath the steerage of my course,
direct my sail."
-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act One, Scene IV
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The first reactions of the jury that found the two boys guilty of 2nd degree murfer was shock when they found out that the adult in the case was found not guilty of murder. They felt that the children were manipulated into this and all they did was open the door, but did not actually do the deed. The jurors feel that a fair trail would have had all defendants tried together so the guilty party could be punished. Now they realize they have sentenced two boys to prison for actions that do not warrant this type of punishment.
BTW, Dateline on NBC will be interviewing jurors from the childrens' trial tonight (Sunday).
Hugs, Charlie
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You KNOW something is amiss when even the jurors are shocked by the outcome of the trial.
I certainly hope this verdict will be appealed and overturned, because sending KIDS to spend a third of their lives in prison is WRONG and barbaric no matter WHAT they've done.
Do you have time to watch the show and do a small report for me? I'd be truly grateful!
-Lenny
"But he that hath the steerage of my course,
direct my sail."
-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act One, Scene IV
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e
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On fire! |
Location: currently So Cal
Registered: May 2002
Messages: 1179
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Lenny, there were two trials. One for the boys and one for Chavis. The same prosecutor prosecuted both. The prosecutor's version of what happened was that the boys killed thier father without the help of Chavis. So even the prosecution did not believe that Chavis was involved. The prosecutor said that the only reason Chavis was even prosecuted was because the boys changed their story. He presented a very unconvincing case to the Chavis jury and didn't even ask them for a guilty verdict. He only asked that they decide which version of the boys' story was the truth and which was the lie. That jury decided that the boys lied when they claimed Chavis was involved. It was precisely the verdict that the prosecutor wanted because he believed that Chavis was not involved. The jury deciding the boys' case, on the other hand, believed the boys' version that said Chavis was involved. They didn't buy the prosecutor's version that the boys committed the crime by themselves. That's why they were so shocked about the outcome of the Chavis trial.
Think good thoughts,
e
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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what they did was abhorant. There are always alternatives... I read somewhere within this thread that teens act on impulse, not taking into account their future, well that is no excuse either.
Homelife and parental love is a thing left in tha past and that being the case, the boys are at a par with the better part of their generation. A break down in the parental-child relationship is not an adequate defense for murder.
Just my opinion.......
Marc
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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I will only speak for myself when I say I find the *punishment* outrageous. So they at the very least helped to have their own father killed, does that warrant destroying their lives as well? Isn't it enough with the father being dead, do we have to remove all possibilities of these kids having an at least somewhat normal upbringing, what's left of it until they become adults?
Them growing up in prison will not fix anything, will not make anything better. Prisonterms in general doesn't make people 'better' either, and especially not for youths in particular.
It may well be you and I are saying the very same thing, except we're sending on different wavelengths. I don't know. Anyway, this is where I stand.
-Lenny
"But he that hath the steerage of my course,
direct my sail."
-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act One, Scene IV
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The telecast covered the entire affair, with the first ten minutes or so just going over the crime itself. Then they showed tape of the boys testifying before the Grand Jury, the in Chavis' trial. Portions only were shown (it was television looking for ratings after all). Also portions of the boys taped confessions obtained shortly after their arrest was played. Then portions of the boys' trial was shown, and finally comments from the some of the people on each jury. e is correct in how the prosecutor presented each case.
My thoughts now. My first impression was that this Chavis fellow is a grand manipulator. But I also saw elements of manipulation from both boys, but especially the younger, Alex.
Then I started wondering what happened in Derek's (the older boy) foster care that he had been living in for five years prior to the crime. By the way, the crime took place only seven weeks after Derek was returned to his father.
Now my biggest question is how could the system fail so utterly to protect and nurture these boys. Obviously the Florida foster care system is in emergency need of complete overhaul, as this is the second high profile incident where that agency is directly involved. (The other was the girl that got lost in the system reported earlier this year.)
Unfortunately, the training I have been receiving for child advocacy has caused me to look at this situation in a totally different light which is causing me great distress. But I fervently vow now that I will do everything in my abilities to ensure that such a gross failure of the system will not recur in any case I may be involved with.
Hugs, Charlie
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Wrote this in an email to a friend of mine, thought I'd share:
--- 8< --- 8< ---
I'm very pleased to hear (read actually, but gah, you know what I mean!) you call conservative right-wings "total crap". I highly approve!
It's rather funny, we're having national, regional and local elections in just five days here in Sweden, the ruling minority government is hurting, and today a TV program was shown where two reporters have travelled around the country with a hidden camera/mic, one pretending to be highly racist to check if the various politicians would 'fess up to their official party line or not.
A scary amount of politicians DID NOT. Several high-ranking region leaders were outright racist, some of them saying things like, 'we got a lot of Chileans, those that Pinochet didn't have time to take care of' and stuff like that. Most weren't that outspoken, but it was BAD ENOUGH. The shit's really gonna hit the fan tomorrow, that I can tell you...!  Exciting stuffs, really! Finally this lame election's starting to heat up.
Apparantly one party stood out from the crowd; the 'Moderate Coalition Party', our most conservative party in the parliament. They OFFICIALLY stand for unrestricted immigration as long as you have secured a job, the only party to go that far actually. But most of the racist politicians were of that party, and in the interviews afterwards they had two representatives of the Moderates, one from the party leadership board and one parliament member; woman, muslim and dark-skinned. She was so shaken her voice quivered with held-back anger after hearing her own party members disparage immigrants and muslims alike, while the party board-member was a lot more restricted in his comments, calling the comments made on tape (and in pictures), 'sillyness' and stuff like that. I expect a veritable hurricane of criticism to strike down on him tomorrow, or at least I hope so. His behavior was cowardly and downright LAME I really must say, and I hope he'll take almost as much crap over this as the racist politicians that were exposed.
I also expect a lot of people to "step back from politics" in the coming days... Heheh! Will be really interesting to see how the polls tomorrow changes because of this, and if the changes are permanent up until the elections. You can't use this as any clear indication of how to vote, the people they interviewed were HOPEFULLY an equal amount of all our major parties, but the persons shown on-screen were of the Social Democrats, Moderates, Christian Democrats and the Center Party (but they're also to the right, not the middle). I don't know if they interviewed anyone from the "Leftist Party" (former communists, but they were always kind of wimpy anyway) or the Environmental Party for example (also mainly to the left). Doesn't mean the conscience of these parties are completely clean, but I expect either to get a boost.
The ONLY guy they showed who totally REFUSED to let himself be goaded into pandering to the racist masses were a guy from the Center Party in a small-ish town. He was very clear when he said he did not agree with the reporter's claims, and the reporters pointed out he was an exception from the rule. Most interviewed did not agree like those shown on camera, but they did not disagree either, vocally or otherwise.
Sad, really!
--- 8< --- 8< ---
Comments welcome.
-Lenny
"But he that hath the steerage of my course,
direct my sail."
-William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act One, Scene IV
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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And we will go over it again and again.....
When we read a story of an adult enticing a minor into a sexual relationship...... No matter how you color it and attempt to justify it.... Wether you are led to believe that it is the minor innitiating the relationship.... or the other way around...
It is manipulation.... plain and simple.....
The aduld bears the responsibility of society's laws and is bound by common sense to abide by them....
The adult in the case mentioned should indeed have been convicted as an accomplice according to the facts as we know then.... But do we know all the facts... I doubt it.
Just my opinion
Marc
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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I AGREE TOTALLY!!!
I am very political myself, but if you were to the left of me you would fall off the world. To prejudge on ANY group or person is somthing for people to fight against everywhere. Maybe I am an idealistic twit, but I want to change the world for the better, even if it is only one little tiny corner of it.
Kevin
"Be excellent to each other, and, party on dudes"!
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warren c. e. austin
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Likes it here |
Location: Toronto, Ontario, CANADA
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 247
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Your comment "But do we know all the facts... I doubt it." is the basis of some of my thoughts on this issue - do we know all the facts, and is the media accurately reporting those that are known? If not, why not, and who is to blame?
In the instance of the case I sighted which occurred in Toronto, Canada, it is now known that the media did interfer with the judicial process by grossly misreporting the facts as they were truthfully presented to and reported in, firstly the Police Interviews prior to the laying of cahrges, and subsequently evidence recorded in the court transcripts, the first of which in turn led to considerable, and undue, political pressure being applied to effect a resolution, and the second continuing to fuel community angst and anger towards a visible, but minority element within that community.
Charges of Judicial Misconduct, Criminal Interference, and others are being considered, with both parties involved - the Television Network and the Fundalmentalist, and extremely right-wing so-called Christian Church group, and the Corporate enterprises they control - all forbidden to make further statements regarding either the events that led up to the trial itself, or the convictions which were lodged. The Privy Council is presently considering the wisdom of staying the proceedings entirely, or requiring a new trial.
Unfortunately the damage has been done; none of the victims - either the alleged (and now convicted) perpetrator, or his slightly younger participants (many of which were forced to testify even though they admitted their own complicity in the events) will ever be able to live "normal" lives again; the suposed manipulator will always, in the mind of the general public, be a fifty-odd year old man who diddles teenage and pre-pubescent (although none that age were ever involved in this case) children; the youths themselves will always be branded as his victims and subject to all sorts of speculation about their participation.
The case had originally been slated to have been heard in "Family Court" where they could be held "In Camera" and not subject to media scrutiny (largely because of the lack of disparity between the age of the accused and those thought to have been victimized at the time the events being considered had actually taken place), but the Television Network, under what is now known to have been threats of implied considerable financial loss from the Church group, challenged this Constitutionally, forcing that they be heard in open sessions in Criminal Court.
I do not, and will not, condone abusive behaviour by anyone towards another, but as a Gay man I do have to wonder why it is that in the past 40-years in Canada, the only instances of child-molestation that ever hits the front-pages of the media are those few (less than two-hundred in Canada in that time period) that have any homosexual ramifications, and never the thousands of (and a last count I'm told in 2000, there were some 3000 of them across the country) involving supposed heterosexual adults interferring with under-age victims of both sexes.
Admittedly, the number of instances of either circumstance reflect only those that ever get reported, and there surely must be far greater numbers of both, but I notice that those involving hetersexual males, in particular, never ever carry the attendant tags of either "paedophilia" or the perpetrators being reported as being "pederasts"; whereas those involving homosexuals invariably do. Kind of ironic as the age of consent in Canada for most things is now considered to be age-13, with no stated disparity for sexual conduct which may occur provided the participants are within their own peer group. Attempts to decriminalize consenual sexual behaviour - this presently reads age-16 - amongst teenaged youth (of either sex) is stalled, but expected to pass the next session of the house. I shudder at, even attempting to consider just what the response that Church group may have should the Bill actually pass.
The "King" trial has similar overtones, with two and significant differences; firstly the predator (and I do consider him to probably have been just that) is some thirty years older than either youth, and secondly that Church group do have de facto political control of large segements of the urban landscape where these events occurred. Neither circumstance prevailed in Toronto, but the Church group through their manipulation of the media were successfully able to create the impression that the first was the reality, and in having done so attempted to foster the impression that they did have the clout to influence the second. It's a travesty of justice that they appeared to have succeeded (in Canada) on both counts, even though reparations will be made to dissemble the impact of both events; but, it does beg the question of just how much interference may have been made in attempts to influence the outcome of the "King" proceedings, and others that have come to light throughout southern and mid-western American States which comprise the groundswell root of their popularity; and too, just what the role of the media will have been in reporting those events?
Warren C. E. Austin
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We as a society have failed. 
Thanks, guys... 
I don't see anyone defending murder, Marc. 
