POBT
Brownlow Medallist
I get (and share) the frustrations about the sentencing for his prior convictions. But, somehow, I think that no matter what sentence he served for his prior/s, we'd have been outraged at the fact that (a) he was released and (b) he re-offended in such a heinous way. If he'd been locked up for 10 years and then committed the Morcombe offence, we'd be outraged at the fact he got out after 10 years. Given he returns to society and commits an even worse offence, there is probably nothing the previous court could have done (short of locking him up permanently) that would have prevented the current community anger about the judicial system.
What we don't hear about is the group of sex offenders (75% IIRC) who don't reoffend. Is it something that a progessive and humane society can do - to lock someone up for the duration of their lives, even though they may be rehabilitated and won't re-offend? What is it were someone who was badly abused as a child? Should we deny them the opportunity to return to society?
I don't have answers on these questions. For me, all of the outrage and anger is perfectly understandable. As I said, this case makes me sick, particularly given I have two boys of my own who, rightly or wrongly, I make sure are never out of sight of an adult.
But we have a system that is prepared to believe in people's capacity to change. I'm not sure I want the alternative, even if it gives freedom to unrepentent predators like Cowan.
Having said that, I do support indefinite sentencing with period review for the occasional offender for whom proper re-intergration with society is unlikely. I support restrictions on parole orders for violent or serious offenders. I agree that, based on what we know, the NT sentence for Cowan was grossly insufficient given the nature of his crimes.
What we don't hear about is the group of sex offenders (75% IIRC) who don't reoffend. Is it something that a progessive and humane society can do - to lock someone up for the duration of their lives, even though they may be rehabilitated and won't re-offend? What is it were someone who was badly abused as a child? Should we deny them the opportunity to return to society?
I don't have answers on these questions. For me, all of the outrage and anger is perfectly understandable. As I said, this case makes me sick, particularly given I have two boys of my own who, rightly or wrongly, I make sure are never out of sight of an adult.
But we have a system that is prepared to believe in people's capacity to change. I'm not sure I want the alternative, even if it gives freedom to unrepentent predators like Cowan.
Having said that, I do support indefinite sentencing with period review for the occasional offender for whom proper re-intergration with society is unlikely. I support restrictions on parole orders for violent or serious offenders. I agree that, based on what we know, the NT sentence for Cowan was grossly insufficient given the nature of his crimes.
