Monsters among us

"Yesterday, when I read about his confession, I almost threw up. I could sense a rage inside of me grow which I am unaccustomed to feeling."

I am not going to use his name. Nor am I going to use his picture. By now, we all know whom I am talking about. This person - who was not much of a man, but more of a monster. This destroyer of young lives. This pedophile from the central part of our state. And even though we cannot bring back Jacob, maybe we can learn something about how to deal with scum like this in the future.

Looking back in retrospect, the fingerprints this monster left were all over the place. He was habitual, he was serial. He had done heinous things in the past to young boys, and for all we know he was capable of doing them again. 

Yesterday when I read about his confession, I almost threw up. I could sense a rage inside of me grow which I am unaccustomed to feeling. I just wanted to beat this man senseless. I wanted to show him the same mercy which he showed Jacob. I cannot even begin to imagine the terror, the humiliation, the pain this young man went through that awful night. 

Then I thought of Jacob's parents. Having to face this monster in court. Having to hear his confession. The gruesome, vile acts he told. What he perpetrated on their son. If they had rage, it was superseded by their grief and sadness. And the desire to bring their son home. I don't think I could have been that strong.

Soon, Jacob will be laid to rest close to his home. The monster will be sentenced, and start to serve his 20 years in a federal penitentiary. Oh, I don't think he will do much of those 20 years. Word gets out among the inmates. They have a code. Child molesters fare poorly. Child killers fare even worse.

Is it possible to stop monsters like this in the future? I sure wish it were - trust me, I do. But I also believe in the presence of evil. Evil is as much a part of this broken world as good is. We see evil personified almost every day in the Middle East. In the war torn slums of Chicago. In all areas of the world. And now in central Minnesota.

As much as I would have liked to exact vengeance on this monster for abusing and then killing one our young people of promise, I remember this one glaring fact. Vengeance, revenge, are not ours to take. Only justice. And hopefully, justice WILL be served on this monster.