Events Control the Man, Rarely the Other Way Around

By 1986 John was regarded as a “nerd” he was a big fan of Dungeons and Dragons, but due to the fact, John was also athletic and on the school’s Boxing team not many people teased him because of it.

By 1992, John had quit school, fathered three children and was in his second marriage. He was 21 years old and working with the developmentally disabled a job he enjoyed immensely.

In 1993, his probation for burglary ended and he entered the US military training as a Military Police Officer.

He thought his life had changed for the better.

After a tour of duty in Korea where he made several good friends he remembers in particular a fellow MP of African ~ American/ Native American mix whom he was caught in the middle of a Korean mob with and needed to fight his way out of.

Such fond memories are rare though.

In 1996 he was billeted to Texas, a state where he was not near his family and he was away from the abuse of his Stepfather and mother.

Now the army started to notice problems with the now twenty six year old man and sent him for psychiatric evaluation they concluded that he had a borderline personality, a factor that they feel influenced his later decisions in his life.

Quote:

John

June 2008

This all happened to me prior to moving to Texas in 1996. And even though I do not look badly on all of the experiences, I do see in retrospect that the incidents affected the way I viewed sex and age difference.

John is currently a G3 Custody prisoner due to the length rather of his sentence than the actual crime. There are inmates with the same crime only receiving a 10 year sentence.

In the last two years, since his last Custody Classification Review, he has not had a disciplinary hearing for fighting, nor has he ever made an escape attempt, assaulted a Corrections Officer or taken a hostage.

Despite spending the last seven years in incarceration John has tried to improve himself and learn why he did what he did.

He has sought out organizations that can help him understand why he behaved as he did and has even written leaflets about preventing such things happening again.

He is currently attending classes with the goal being a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology.

1994-1995 ~ Central Texas College, Kileen TX. ~ Law enforcement

(34 credit hours) ~ GPA ~ 3.57

April 2000 – Jan 2001~ San Antonio College now Kaplan Institute ~ Core Classes

(33 Credit Hours) ~ GPA 3.97

2005-2007 ~ Lee College, Bay Town ~ Core Classes ~ GPA 4.0

Were John a free man he would be considered an honor roll student, (Honor Roll starting at 3.5) his 4.0 translates to an A grade.

In conclusion John’s unfortunate life clearly shows that despite the abuse and mistakes he has made the lack of support from Children’s Protective Services (CPS) in Hawaii and his crimes that no one is unsalvageable or without a chance of redemption.

As a society we often complain that the inmates have it “easy” in prison and how they are waste of our time and will only re – offend.

A prisoner re-offends due to feeling outcast in “normal” society and that “They belong in prison with their own kind”.

These people, for that is what they are, were our kinsmen and women, friends, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and partners before they went to prison and are still the same on their release. Should we not look at the root causes of their crimes and learn by what went wrong so as to prevent it happening again. No one is beyond salvation if people are simply willing to listen and learn.

By accepting them into society again we break the cycle of re- offending as

In 2031, John will reenter society a released felon and a sexual offender. Yet this man was not a predator he was an abused child whose boundaries had been blurred by the conduct of his elders and those who were supposed to protect him.

He has paid for his crime with his freedom and liberty. I hope that his recent application for an I60 assessment is granted and he receives the help he so desperately needs. But as a society will we give up on him on his release as unworthy to walk amongst us?

Before you decide ask yourself this one question:

If I had lived that life, could this person be me?

Please note that all quotes are taken directly from correspondence with John and I have typed them with the same punctuation that John used in the original letters.