Yesterday, an Oklahoma judge sentenced 66 year old Gary Doby to life in prison for molesting children via skype. He plead guilty, as did his female accomplice. Under Oklahoma law he will first become eligible for parole when he is 104 so Mr. Doby will eventually die in prison. Because he has been convicted of sexually abusing children he will spend every day of that sentence in solitary confinement.
That’s much better than the usual sentence, but I still think it shows evidence that we are unclear in our values. I think protecting children when they are at their absolute most vulnerable is more important than supporting the lives of people who have demonstrated a total lack of humanity.
Keeping pedophiles locked up at taxpayer expense, as if there is some intrinsic value to their lives worth protecting, makes no sense to me. Especially when keeping evil alive and well always carries with it the small possibility that it will someday again become loose in the world and wreak havoc, such as ten years from now when some parole rule changes. The death penalty is permanent, just like the damage done by the pedophile. It matches up nicely.