Hale homicide victim was a convicted sex offender
It’s pretty sad and disgusting that this story begins by saying, “Before being killed and buried in his backyard in rural Michigan, a 72-year-old man served time for sexually assaulting a minor. The Michigan Public Sex Offender Registry states Roger L. Knickerbocker II in July 2000 was convicted of two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a victim 13 or younger.”
Regardless of how heinous the crime 17 years ago was, the individual had served his time. The story continues; “Police unearthed Knickerbocker’s body the night of Thursday, Aug. 10. He had been buried several yards behind his secluded house at 5851 Snyder Trail in Hale, underneath a dog house.”
And they say the registry is not punishment!
It’s impossible to say what the man did to warrant his murder (if there is such a thing that is); was it simply because he was a RSO, or was it that he had done something new? I have no idea. But one of the most difficult aspects of being a RSO, is knowing that vigilante justice is always one step away…and sadly, society would likely side with the individual that seeks to do harm to the RSO.
Even though I’m all for protecting children/families, I do feel that the law should also seek to protect individuals attempting to make amends and get on with their lives the best that they can. EVERYTHING is made to be difficult for a RSO…finding a job, a home, a personal life, etc… Knowing that we could also be randomly hunted “for sport” really doesn’t help me sleep at night personally.
Crimes against RSOs should be considered “hate crimes” in my opinion. Commit a crime against a RSO and be treated as if you attempted to perpetuate criminal activity towards someone for their color/creed/orientation/etc… After all, hate is hate; why should people be able to say that RSOs “deserve” the hate where others do not (it is not their place to make that judgement). Until cruel acts against RSOs (to include alienation within society) are genuinely frowned upon by the courts, I’m afraid that it never will be by the general public (media included).
Personally, I do everything that I can all day every day to be a better person, to treat people with respect, and to do what I’m able to, to genuinely be a “good member” of society. Once we’ve done our time, if no further illegal acts are carried out, then please just let us attempt to gather up the wreckage of our lives and move forward with some mild sense of dignity and hope.
Thank you.
That is all good but what about the people that you injured. Along the way !! Who helps them put their lives back together! I’m not one to be for hate crimes or to be judge mental of people . Everyone makes mistakes in their lives and should be able to forget and move on but I do not feel these instances are hate crimes there is some behavior that is absolutely not forgiveable and harming a child is one of those behaviors that is unforgivable!!! People who are able to harm a child in any way shape or form should pay for that crime for the rest of their miserable lives!! These children will grow up mentally scarred for life so do I feel sympathy for the sec offenders of the world hell no!!! I feel sympathy for the children and the families who pay the price for their behavior.
Do you have evidence of this permanent scaring? From my experience it is just not true. Any of us have the ability to become permanent victims but it’s a choice, not a necessity. Each case is different and each victim handles the experience differently.
This shows that the stigma and social shaming one acquires as a result of being on this list dehumanizes the individual. You are no longer looked at as anything except the label – Sex Offender!
The registry is a perfect HIT LIST giving psychos all the information including photo, address, place of work (if they can get a job) for targeting and killing someone that society has thrown away.
This is inhuman, immoral, and SHOULD be illegal in a modern supposedly free society. Clearly that is not the case and lawmakers are consciously allowing incidents such as this to occur over and over.
These lawmakers are just as guilty of murder as if they beat him to death themselves.
remove the offender off the registry after serving their time to the state.
and if on probation or state time make only know to the police.
or this is going to continue to make ex-offenders a target and their families.
Well that is just to bad, the families of the victims are still paying and will for the rest of their lives !!!
I can pretty much tell that Brenda has chosen to be a permanent victim. That choice is going to cost her the benefits of a full, productive life. People change, and that includes the ex-offender. If we don’t offer forgiveness, we cannot expect to ever receive it and no one goes through life not needing forgiveness at one time or another.
Since the registry does nothing positive it must be punishment.
Punishment it should be for life!!!dont do the crime if you can’t do the time !! Lifelong time is what they deserve!!
Is this what America has turned into? Seriously sad. It’s long past due to wage a war on the ignorance of the general population and let them know ” we will not go silently into the night”, we need to shout it from the roof tops and yell it at the top of our lungs” we will not take this abuse any longer, not for ourselves, or our bros and sister’s on this countries registries.” The 81 yr. old man jumps from a bridge, now a 72 yr. old man is murdered and all they can say is he is a convicted sex offender? Those of you reading this, stop sitting on your thumbs and living in fear and start educating the clueless public. The government already took everything from us, so we have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
And this 72 year old man took something away from the children he molested that can never be returned to them and they will and are still paying for his disgusting behavior , so all you bros can keep hanging tough but the sex offender list is a wonderful thing to alert the public and give us a tool to keep our families safe from the sick people in the world. Yes there are some people that are on the sex offender list that probably do not deserve to be there but at least I can read and determine that for myself! So to all the child molesters , rapists you all should suffer a lifetime of misery and punishment.
Likewise should those who judge without knowing the whole story involved in a situation. I, myself, would hate to go through life with a paranoid attitude toward all who have had some sort of failure in life. By and far drug dealers do more harm than sex offenders but even drug dealers can come to see the failings of their way and change. The pastor of my church readily admits he was a drug dealer at one time but came to realize that he was on the path to hell. Today he has contributed to changing the lives of hundreds of ex-drug users. More than anyone, most ex-sex offenders seriously regret their acts and want to live a life to redeem themselves. I would rather have an ex-sex offender living next door than an armed home invader, armed carjacker, armed robber, etc. but even these individuals can experience a life changing event in their lives and come to take a staunch stand against such acts…even help others change their lives. Some sex offenders are dangerous, but statistics will prove that that applies to very few and most either are or can be productive community members. We have to be careful in our judgments as the standards we use could very well be used against us.
Sad that media outlets (some not all) dehumanize SO’s so vehemently. “Hale Homicide Victim Was A Human Being” should have been the title of the story.
Americas might want to ask: Am I next? The only thing we can be sure of is that it won’t be politicians. Equality under the law is a myth. The notion that America remains a Constitutional Republic is a myth. Freedom of the press should not extend to the furtherance of a family’s pain. RIP and prayers to Mr. Knickerbocker II’s loved ones.
As the victim of more than one pedophile who both committed multiple acts to multiple children before any of is told on either of them, I’d have to say I can’t feel sympathy. Every bill Cosby, every pedophile priest, every school teacher causes a sickness in my gut. Not one day since I was a child with a grown mans penis in my mouth has went be that I don’t think about it. Even on the good days. You see a human being. I say a killer of innocence. How do you think a child under 13 assaulted by a grown man with penetration copes? Some write about it, others do drugs, some kill, others molest themselves. But they all live a life sentence.
This description is of but a small number of RSO’s. I remember of reading the story of a well known evangelist who was molested by her father at a young age. She let those experiences haunt her for years. They even had a negative impact on her marriage. She relied on medication to get her through the tough times. Then one day she had forgiveness revealed to her. She realized that her father was a flawed human just as we all are. He, too, had had to live with memories of his failures. Eventually this lady relented to forgiveness and spent time in the last days of her father’s time here on earth caring for him. Forgiveness had helped her see her father in a different light. He left the world forgiven by God and his daughter and his daughter had come to see the way to move in a productive life as a wife, mother, and a voice of God’s will to people needing to hear her story. The person…Joyce Myers. The Bible tells us that if we put our hand to the plow and look back, we are not worthy of the kingdom of Heaven. Given the chance, Satan will use our past to destroy our future.
The punishment should never stop, anyone who commits such a terrible crime to a young child has serious issues which can not be fixed and those children pay for the rest of their lives so who defends them !!! Personally I feel that anyone who has done these terrible things to a child should burn in hell or pay forever on earth!!! There is no reason and no excuse what so ever that would make this okay and to anyone who defends these people they should burn in hell to. All of that religious ranting please give it a rest already God does not agre with any of this crap !! Yes there are some instances where the sec offender list is stupid when someone is 19 and the other one is 17 but for these 35-40 year olds with 13 year olds absolutely not , for the ones who are rapist and child molesters shame on you and shame on anyone who defends these sick disgusting people !! They are a waste of air space end of story!!!!!’
This is not a flawed human this is a sick person and a disgrace to the human race! A flawed human steals or lies or cheats that is a flawed human ! This is a sick disgusting person who is wasting space on earth.
Could it be that people who are so judgmental that they are unwilling to forgive and accept that God can change lives, are also a waste of space on earth? I used to be that way until God changed me after my wife’s death and the extreme bitterness that I experienced as a result. Seeing someone’s life changed for good is such a beautiful experience.
Miss Renee, It is truly tragic and horrific that you suffered and continue to suffer. I can’t imagine anyone on these forums minimizing the effects that certain crimes have on their victims. If they do, they live in denial.
The question is, are all sex-offenders worthy of a lifetime of punishment, or only those such as the one who victimized you?
Foremost, I pray for your healing. Of equal importance, I pray that we return to adherence to the Constitution. Equality under the law applies to even the most heinous of criminals. If we do not revere our Constitution when it is most unpopular to do so, we face the dissolution of the same, and ultimately the threat that all citizens may lose their rights and freedoms under the guise of civil regulations.
No excuse for what happened to you. Sounds like a text-book case for a life sentence.
Respectfully, for those who do not fit the criteria you set forth in your personal experience, a life sentence is not always warranted.
God bless you in your healing ma’am.
I also am sorry for the horror you endured and I hope for your healing. However, as formally said those types of crimes are the minority when it comes to sex crimes. Are all the other people to be treated the same as the worst of the worst? Many people think that those on the registry are the worst (such as your abuser) but that simply is not true.
Again, I hope you find peace and healing.
AMEN!! And all of these types of people deserve all the misery that is brought to them and more. There is no forgiveness for such crimes absolutely none. Some people consider these people human but they are not human they are a disgrace !!!!!
I’m that girl. I’ve wrote about it hundreds of times. The courts make you relive it over and over. I’ve been in counselling for years. I have night terrors from time to time. Only thing they leave out is I was 3 when it started. 10, when it finally stopped. 7 years. 13 when I finally told a school counsellor. I wasn’t the only one, but I was the only one who came forward. He was released when I was about 22, do i feel he should have ever gotten released from behind bars, absolutely not, But i wasnt going to relive what he did to me all those years ago on the hope a judge would hear me out on an appeal. So i left it alone. I knew a ppo went into effect as soon as he was released, so I learned to cope. I learned how to let go. I learned that I am NOT a victim of sexual assault, I am a SURVIVOR. In no way do I feel what these people did is right, but I will say I sleep a little better at night knowing I never have to worry about seeing his face ever again
Title of the story should have been about what he did to those boys they were obviously affected by the crime that Mr. Knickerbocker committed upon them so where is the justice to them? Mr.knickerbocker was obviously a disturbed individual and he committed an unforgivable crime! The families of his victims I’m sure are paying for what he did in more than one way so sympathy for him absolutely not!!! Sorry for his family but more sorry for the victims that he preyed on.
He may have committed an unforgivable crime, but sentence was passed and he was punished according to state law. You may think this punishment too lenient, but that would be an issue to take up with the judiciary committee of the state legislature that sets punishment schemes for crimes. Exacting vigilante’s Justice only creates another criminal.
No Words – RIP Mr. Knickerbocker.
As RSO’s we must put our past behind us and move on. This is not easy and in some…many…cases we must learn to ignore the ‘shame’ that many do-gooders would spew to cover their own guilty consciences. As is told us in the book of Matthew, “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven” (5:16). We have a higher calling than to let the servants of satan keep us from the purpose we have on earth. Live so that no one can contribute any failure of society to your life. Live so as to confuse those who had you wrongly identified and bring shame on those who were so wrong. It worked for me…try it. It’s not easy but so rewarding.
I have lived in fear of reprisal for the pas 6 years and am afraid to be alone for the fear of someone saying something to get me in trouble. I try to account for all of my actions and where I go and what I do. This will go on for the rest of my life. The punishment will never stop.
Brenda. I would never presume to minimize your experience. You are obviously angry and rightly so. However, you are making a judgement based on your experiences and applying it to all. But worse you are saying that it was ok for the murderer to do what they did because of the mans crimes. Where does that stop? Anything you think deserves it should result in murder? I have to believe you are a better person than that. And just to let you know looking at the registry does not help at all. First of all when it says for instance sexual assualt of a child over 12-that could be an 18 yr old boy with a 17 yr old girl. Further, far and away the majority of these crimes are personal. Someone the child knows. It is also the second least repeated crime – second only to murder. Therefore, the people on the list are not going to hide in the bushes and grab your family. They never did. That stranger danger type of crime crime is extremely rare. I live in fear everyday that someone that feels they way you do will harm my son. He is a good man and would be a loss to the World
Reply to Brenda:
What about Roman Polanski’s victim? She has gone on record time and again that she put it all behind her and was more damaged and infuriated by the media and so-called supporters’ insistence that she remain a victim for the rest of her life.
I’ve known many victims of sex offenses over the years. Some took longer than others, but still managed to get past it and lead perfectly normal, happy lives. Several were not “victims” in the sense that they were willing participants or instigators. Not to diminish the truly traumatized, but many victims, if not most, turn out just fine. Would their lives have been different had the abuse not occurred? Possibly, but there’s simply no way to know.
You openly celebrate this man’s murder because he was a sex offender. You know absolutely nothing about this man beyond his name and what he was convicted for. You know absolutely nothing about the circumstances of his crime or the effects on his victim or the victim’s family. You disregard the effects on offender families caused by the registry.
You acknowledge some on the registry shouldn’t be and can read it to judge for yourself. But how do you “judge for yourself” when the registry lists nothing more than the person’s name, address and crime of conviction?
And through it all, you claim you are not for hate crime or judgmental. If you really believe that, whoever taught you the meaning of “hate crime” and “judgmental” made a very serious mistake.
Curious about your views of teenagers convicted as adults for sexting photos of themselves to other teenagers. Are they hopeless, unforgivable pedophiles who deserve nothing less than the most gruesome deaths possible? Or are they helpless, doe-eyed victims rendered incapable of a normal life and whose happiness only comes from the eradication of their abusers and those like them? A simple registry entry won’t answer that.
Seeing this being carried on into December is somewhat of an anomilly. First lets get one thing right, murder is never ok, so lets at least agree on that.
So true, no matter what side of the fence we are on we have to move on and do whatever it takes to help ourselves. Continued hate only hurts us and I have seen it in the unhappy, judgmental, and grieving faces of those who continue to carry grudges and cry out “poor me.”
Forgiveness is very difficult, and many times, close to impossible, that is why when we do forgive it makes life so much easier and fulfilling.
I have tried to live my life by the axiom “Life is 20% of what happens to us and 80% of how we respond”. We can choose to make our lives miserable or we can accept the healing ointment of ‘forgiveness’ and move on. To carry anger around for life is the same as slowly committing suicide at one’s own hands. Life is too beautiful to ruin it with unforgiveness. We have to be careful to not apply the acts of one person to all in one category. The Nazis did that with the Jews, the Japanese with the Chinese, Europe with the gypsies…even sometimes the public does that with politicians. Don’t let one bad apple spoil the whole bushel. Look at life’s experiences as learning events and move on focusing on the positive that life has to offer. It’s not easy for either the hurt victim or the repentant offender but it’s what God would want of us.