I'm one who belives there should be fewer laws jail terms should be much shorter..substituted for public lashing

and, 18 is not a kid, but, a man. Dan calls him a teenager - what bull shit

and why, oh why, would this perv be able to return to the home where the 8 year old girl, brutally traumatized and messed with, still lives? duh, hope the dad ditches the cunt of a wife who would invite the rapist back to her home, even her son

complicated in some ways, but no sympathy here for the family rapist

It seems like other than a few conveniences, you must look with envy on life in the more backward corners of the world. Which is kind of sad when you think about how much effort some of us went to go build you a civilization to live in and here you'd rather be in the Bronze Age.

Which makes the assault and torture of the teenage son by the father all the more horrible. I hope the father has been arrested.

Makes me wonder also if the 8-year old girl had been raped before by someone other than the teenage son. Quite often childhood and family sexual abuse runs in families, from one generation to the next. The father's treatment of the son certainly increases the odds that the son will offend again, since he has been shown that it is "okay" to rape other people.

And most likely the mother knew something, both with the teenage son probably having been sexually abused, and with the possibility that her teenage son might assault her daughter. There's a good likelihood that the mother was sexually assaulted as child by someone in her family - or at the least, that as a child she knew that someone in her family was being sexually assaulted, perhaps a sister or cousin.

People in families where there is sexual abuse learn how to keep secrets and to tune out the obvious, and they often do so for the rest of their lives. The lesson that gets learned is not that the sexual abuse is wrong - since their own father or mothers or relatives are abusing them and these people love them and care about them - the lesson learned is that it is wrong to get caught.

So this whole story is a heartbreaking tragedy. I understand it is horrible and evokes loathsome feelings towards those perceived as the "perpetrator." However I think SLOG commenters who advocate rape as an appropriate solution are really just breeding the next generation of rapists.

You probably know at least one person who has been sexually assaulted as a child: 1 in 4 women and 1 in 8 men have been sexually assaulted; the majority of these assaults occurred before the victim was 18 [from a study in Virginia].

There are lots of online places to get good info, but you can start here.

You obviously didn't read the story that closely. It was a step-family. Man with Daughter married to Woman with Son. I agree the Step-mother probably knew her son was a danger to the little girl, but the girl was not her child. Pedophiles do not begin abusing at the age of 18 when they become adults, they start much earlier. Step Mom probably knew all along what Sonny was, but other children are not HER children and so decided to protect her child rather than protect somebody else's.

Where do you think all those stories about evil step parents come from? Most step parents are not evil, but fairy tales do have a grain of truth in them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinderella_Effect

The father should also have realized that he'll go to jail for what he did, and that means he won't be around to support his daughter at this difficult time.

We really should split this country up. Send the reactionary idiots to a new country comprised of the states of Kentucky, the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

The rest of us merge with Canada.

In Texas? Fat chance of finding a jury down there that doesn't agree with most of the posters here that the kid had it coming.

It would be one thing if the father had just beaten the kid senseless...not that I think the law should condone that either, but the story wouldn't be as disturbing as it is without the rape. When you see a grown man doing something like that to anyone for any reason, let alone a kid, that's really all you need to know about them. Rape is not a tool of justice, except perhaps in the mind of the rapist. The one raped an 8 year old and the other beat and raped an 18 year old and yeah...they both had their reasons, and they both probably felt justified. Don't they all.

That man has no brakes. He's dangerous. They both are, but especially the man. But...it's Texas. The dad will probably walk.

no I dont belive rap is a good punishment under certain circumstances but I do belive capital and corprol punishment might be cheaper options

dont make it required just tell the convicted that they have two options
30 days in jail
suspended licence
ass-load of fees
human tracking device
piss tests
or
15 lashes and be done with it

I'd go with 15 lashes

The mother/father thing is just some sort of pathetic attempt at a tie in to his usual scree against the "strait vs gay" culture war. It serves as an excuse for him to read these, write about them and link to them.

Bottom line, these stories obviously get him hard. Not really surprising considering his background as a degenerate who declares that there is no such thing as moral absolutes. He just hates himself a little for being a guy who gets off on the pain of little children.

I think Dan's point continues to be valid. I'd be curious to know what kind of homosexual parent stories the anti homo crowd could come up with. Of course, there presumeably aren't that many homo parents, so the pool is rather shallow to draw from. We see what comes from the depths of hetero unions, so the the depths of homo unions should be pretty, umm, fucked up (?) too.

It's a fine world we live in. I'm sure the sun will shine tomorrow, children will play and laugh, the world will rotate on its axis and I'll wake from my sleep refreshed and ready to enjoy another day. That's real too and comprises the reality for the majority of us humans. One should never forget this when looking into the Abyss. One should never forget that the Abyss looks into you as well...

Cheers! :-)

Either way, I think I'd want a DNA sample from the dad, if I were a cop. Something's fishy here.

If I had been in the father's shoes, I can definitely say I'd *want* to do something similar to what he did.

It would be wrong, wrong, wrong, and I'd know it somewhere in my mind, but I'd want to do it anyway. I would not be thinking rationally. Who would?

Would I actually do it? I can't honestly answer that question. I would hope not.

And whoever said they thought the stepson had been abused by relative - I'm betting for the father.

Unfortunately, there is the example of the gay foster parents in the UK who were incredibly abusive.

good for him. that kid was just gonna go on to do the same thing to more kids. you really think that the system can turn him around? you really think pedophiles that get released after serving their time are really not thinking (or acting) out their desires?

stepdad should've cut his nuts off

Which brings up an interesting question. Would people be equally outraged by the 18-year-old being shot and killed in a case like this, or is it the lurid, titillating nature of the vengeance that gets people's panties in a twist?

Is rape still considered "worse than death"? Would you rather be tortured, or killed outright?

This being Texas, chances are both stepson and stepfather will get sent to the electric chair, and good riddance to bad rubbish in both cases if ya ask me. But the poor little girl - stuck with that awful stepmother, who will now feel the need to take vengeance for her poor martyred son...

*received two years deferred adjudication probation in November 1996 after pleading guilty to burglary of a habitation.

*avoided prosecution on four other charges: possession of marijuana, theft by check and two cases of assault with bodily injury.

*had his probation revoked in 2000 and was sentenced to two years in prison.

*received a 30-day jail sentence for assault with bodily injury in 2001 and a 20-day jail sentence for possession of marijuana in 2006

So yeah - he's a real "justice" oriented guy, huh?

I'd say the whole damn household goes in the "do over" bin.

However, neither Justice or Revenge should be thought of as primary servants to redemption. Their objective is punishment, and whether or not they make the world a better place is only a secondary concern.

I don't understand why we make excuses for people who have molested and abused children. They will never be cured of that desire, ever.

I say the quicker they're snuffed out the better.