I read about this when it happened and have wondered if the man's story has been verified. If it's true, it's pretty hard to blame the guy and I don't know what I'd do in the same situation but I think the law would require him to restrain the attacker and call authorities.
I can understand it, and I would almost certainly have done the same thing.
What would be the point of putting this father in jail, anyway?
What would be the point of putting this father in jail, anyway?
As a parent, i'm with the guy. I'm already very protective of my fam, and if i happened to see that, i'm not sure how far i would go beyond the fact that i would pain him.
RascalsMom
Forum Legend
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2012
- Reaction score
- 3,729
FortyTwo
Custom Title
While it was definitely more lawful to restrain him, I do not blame him. If I saw someone doing that I'd try my best to do the same to them.
I don't think we really ever know what we can be capable of when confronted with a situation like that, where you are defending a loved one. Definitely sounds like it was a 'heat of the moment' act. Sad situation.
Lord Snot
Parsley Provider
I don't know what to think about this. I'm not a fan of vigilante justice, or having people loose in society who are willing to kill someone. If it was an accident, and the guy only meant to hurt him but not to kill him, I think that's understandable. If he wanted to kill another human, even a human who had done something so despicable, it's not really someone I want living next door to me around my own family, you know?
Letting him go punishment free would be a bit worrying. I don't want people thinking they can beat people to death because they've committed a crime. On the other hand I don't see what good a jail sentence would do him or his family. The justice system is so incredibly flawed and unhelpful to people, but part of the reason is that we prefer revenge to recompense and rehabilitation.
Letting him go punishment free would be a bit worrying. I don't want people thinking they can beat people to death because they've committed a crime. On the other hand I don't see what good a jail sentence would do him or his family. The justice system is so incredibly flawed and unhelpful to people, but part of the reason is that we prefer revenge to recompense and rehabilitation.
I've got zero problem with it, and like mlp said I would almost certainly have done the same thing.
Vigilante justice is after the fact. Operating under the assumption that his version of events is true, then he was acting in self defense (in this case, defense of another from serious bodily harm or death), which not remotely close to vigilantism. The attack on his daughter occurred on their farm, which I assume is a bit isolated. Expecting the father to defend his daughter while restraining the attacker is unreasonable. Thinking that the average person should be able to know exactly what force they need to exert while engaging in a grapple that will incapacitate but not kill their opponent is again unreasonable. The person he is engaging in combat is someone willing to sexually assault a child. If the father holds back and someone gets injured or incapacitated himself, then it is likely that he will die, as will his daughter when the criminal is done with her.
This isn't a movie where one 1980s-esque karate chop to the neck knocks someone out. It is life or death; you either win or you lose. The silver medal doesn't mean a thing in this kind of fight. If the father gave the perp a few extra punches to the dome to make sure he stayed down while the father attended to his daughter and called for help, he was perfectly justified and any rational human being would do the same thing in a similar situation.
*IF* what the father's version of events is true, he acted in a reasonable, rational, and legal manner and should face no punishment.
Lord Snot
Parsley Provider
You seem to be disagreeing with my post, but if you read it again you'll see I agreed: "If it was an accident, and the guy only meant to hurt him but not to kill him, I think that's understandable."
I do think you're wrong in saying him and his daughter would have died if the attacker hadn't been killed. This kind of sexual assault from a person known to the family rarely ends in them murdering anyone. The likelihood is that he would have bolted and the police would have tracked him down.
You followed it with "Letting him go punishment free would be a bit worrying."
Even if the father intended to kill the attacker, he would be justified under most (all?) self-defense statutes, and what he was doing has no relation to vigilante justice.
Apples/oranges.
Once the father intervenes we are no longer discussing a typical case of child molestation, and there is the possibility of the attacker escalating the violence as well due to being discovered. Would that have happened? I don't know. I am fairly certain that no reasonable person would take that chance.
Lord Snot
Parsley Provider
The comment about vigilante justice was inspired by comments to some of the news articles, and a general feeling, that individuals should be able to hunt down and kill people who've harmed a child or a loved one. This kind of thing stirs up those feelings, which is why I would worry about the message it would send to let this guy go free if he intended to kill someone. In this country you are allowed to use "reasonable force" to defend yourself, and that wouldn't include continuing to beat somebody who's on the floor and unable to fight back. The case would hinge on whether the father believed he was using only force enough to restrain this man, or whether he intended to kill him.
You've set up a false dichotomy. The choice isn't a) kill the guy b) do nothing and let him attack whoever we wants. The best course of action is c) exert enough force to render him harmless, or restrain him. As I said above, the case hinges on something we cannot know from a few news articles. Also, not apples and oranges. There is nothing to suggest the assaulter would have killed the father and his daughter if he had been able to run instead of beaten to death. Most humans would really struggle to kill another human by bare force, even somebody willing to sexually assault a little girl.
Similar threads
