July 31, 2005

Maybe They Should Let Him Stay in Mexico?

I always breathe a sigh of relief when I read a story that a child abducted is found:

RENO, Nev. (AP) - An 8-year-old girl was abducted by a convicted sex offender who took her to Mexico, where the two were found staying in a shelter, authorities said.

Officials in Mexico and the United States said the girl was sexually assaulted by Fernando Aguerro, who is accused of kidnapping her from her home near Reno on July 22.

The girl's mother, who was reunited with her daughter Saturday, said she had a romantic relationship with Aguerro.

Authorities found the sex offender and the young girl in a low-income Ensenada shelter, and the mother was flown to San Diego to be reunited with her daughter.   

It was not immediately known when Aguerro may be extradited to the United States. He remains in the custody of Mexican authorities, who want to charge him with rape and kidnapping, NBC TV affiliates in Reno and San Diego reported.

If convicted in Mexico, Aguerro could serve up to 38 years in prison.

Aguerro - who was convicted in Los Angeles in the 1980s of lewdness with a child and served a year in prison - could receive life in prison without parole if convicted of kidnapping in the United States.

I have to say, perhaps we should leave the sicko in Mexico.  He was already a convicted sex offender walking the streets in the U.S.  Perhaps Mexico would actually *keep* him in prison.  Oh, and Mexican jails aren't known for their amenities either.  However, he could receive life in prison without parole if convicted of kidnapping here in the states.  I'm not convinced that's realistic, given the rash of sex offender cases that have popped up where a child (or children!) ends up dying because a sex offender, even with multiple instances of molestation, is still walking the streets.  It seems as though some in the judicial system are somewhat sympathetic to these criminals.  I'd almost rather bet my money on a 38 year sentence in Mexico.  By then, the guy would be elderly and hopefully out of commission if he didn't die in prison first.

The girl's mother said she did not know that Aguerro was a convicted sex offender until he and her daughter disappeared. "I'm glad everybody prayed" for the girl's safe return, she said.

So I went to the state of Nevada's Sex Offender Registry page, and of course this guy isn't listed.  But further looking at the definitions at the site, if they deem a convicted sex offender low risk, they won't even list them in the database.  I don't know if this particular criminal registered or not, but this certainly brings to light for me, yet again, the problems with the state-by-state registry system.  As long as we put the responsibility into the hands of the criminal we cannot rely on this system.  Additionally, protecting the criminal by choosing not to list them on the registry is dangerous.  If Aguerro actually is registered and considered "low risk" - which is entirely possible given his conviction was in the 80s - it proves to me this system is flawed.