Should a pedophile be granted parental visits?

rockin'robin

rockin'robin

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The last time Christopher Culver saw his daughter was when she was 18 months old, around that time Culver was charged with committing multiple sex crimes against young boys who were his students at Okte Elementary School in Clifton Park. In 2008 Culver was convicted. He now wants the right to see his daughter who is five.

"A youngster at the age of 5 is clearly not in the position to make an informed decision of that nature and will rely on a responsible adult around her to help with structuring that." said Dr. Rudy Nydegger, Clinical Psychologist.

It's a judge that will make that final decision. Saratoga County Family Court and the Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court ruled that the visits should be allowed. Culver's ex-wife is appealing that decision to the Court of Appeals.

"You have a judge applying a principal which he is bound to do, which is that a non-custodial parent is entitled to visitation even when he or she is in jail, unless there's substantial proof that it's going to be harmful to the child." explained Albany Defense Attorney, Paul Derohannesian.

DerOhanessian prosecuted sex crimes for 21 and a half years when he worked in the Albany County DA's office. He says, "For me it was one of the most frustrating parts of my jobs, seeing convicted sex offenders convicted of abusing their own children be entitled to have visitation."

The courts in the Culver case have so far ruled that visitation is in the child's best interest. Dr. Nydegger says what's best is not that easy to determine right now.

"I've personally has clients who had been prevented from seeing a parent under various different kinds of different circumstances, who then as they got to be an adolescent or a young adult resented the fact that they never had the opportunity to make the decision about the relationship themselves." said Nydegger.

Should a pedophile be granted parental visits? - WRGB Channel 6 News
 
How can they have a visit when they are DEAD? Which is exactually the way a convicted child sex offender should be.
 
rolling7 said:
How can they have a visit when they are DEAD? Which is exactually the way a convicted child sex offender should be.
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I feel the same way about intolerant, judgemental people who spew hate at every turn.:cool2:
 
Maybe he can have supervised visits. I have heard of this happening.
 
Glenn said:
Maybe he can have supervised visits. I have heard of this happening.
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Yep. It should be on a case by case basis. I pay no attention to anyone's rap sheet since I know from personal experience how one can get slapped with the wrong record.
 
I would hope they would be supervised. No way would I want a 5 year old to be alone with this guy. Supervised, especially if they can figure out a way so that the supervision is somewhat discreet, might work out all right.
 
Glenn said:
Maybe he can have supervised visits. I have heard of this happening.
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Yes. It is done all the time. I have a friend who runs an agency that treats sexually abused children. They also do all of the supervised visitation ordered by the courts. The visitation is very discreet. There is a room dedicated to just that purpose,furinished in a very child friendly manner, with toys and games, etc. A therapist observes the visit through a one way window that also has speakers connected. At the first sign of innappropriate behavior, contact, or word, the parent is removed from the room.


For those that follow the supervised visitation rules, the sessions are then used as content to teach apprpriate parenting to the offender. It is an excellent program. It is also used for the parent that was non-offending, but allowed the abuse to continue. They are often restricted to supervised visitation as well until they have completed legal mandates necessary for unsupervised visitation.
 
I think a parent who is a sexual offender may not have visitation with the child. I have a friend who is in this very predicament right now. Her husband has been charged with sexually abusing and raping her oldest daughter. He is very likely to go to jail upon conviction. He is want visitation to their 5 year old son. I have told her that personally I would not allow it, but it is really up to her to decide what is best for her son. From what I gather - he will be gone for 15+ years looks like. By the time he is released, his son will be a grown man practically and will finally know the truth about his father.
 
I would be very queasy with the idea of allowing this sort of visitation.

After all it's good parent's instinct to protect the child from that.
 
This will be decided in the courts and not by the mother or the father.
 
I do not believe in second chances when it comes to such situations, and am strongly against the current legal encouragement of "always reuniting children with parents whenever possible."

You teach a child nothing good by allowing them to be around a person who abused children. That person has lost their right to parent, even in a supervised and structured visitation scheme.

As far as I'm concerned, "one strike and you're out" should be the policy against serious sex offenders being allowed near their (or anyone else's) children ever again.
 
I'm against it, totally. It happened within my own family, and the victim(s) suffered horribly.
However, on his death bed, he was visited, but did not bother to say he was "sorry"....he died a horrible death!
He was not allowed to see his grandchildren, either.

It is...what it is....once someone molests/rapes/abuses an innocent child, most likely he will do it over and over....

I would not put my child "at risk"...even with those so-called "supervised visitations"...even if the Court ordered me to. I would take my child and run, if necessary!...As some people have done this in order to protect their child.

For those of us who are parents, it's our job to protect our children and not put them at risk or in a position where they could be abused.
 
Dixie said:
I think a parent who is a sexual offender may not have visitation with the child. I have a friend who is in this very predicament right now. Her husband has been charged with sexually abusing and raping her oldest daughter. He is very likely to go to jail upon conviction. He is want visitation to their 5 year old son. I have told her that personally I would not allow it, but it is really up to her to decide what is best for her son. From what I gather - he will be gone for 15+ years looks like. By the time he is released, his son will be a grown man practically and will finally know the truth about his father.
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Actually, if he chooses to press the matter, children's services and a judge will make the decision.
 
Glenn said:
This will be decided in the courts and not by the mother or the father.
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Exactly. If it were left to the parents, statistics show us that the vast majority of these cases would never even be reported, and the family unit would remain intact and continue with the dysfunctional patterns.
 
rolling7 said:
Which means you care more about the criminal and less about the child. Is your hear screwed on backwards?
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:laugh2: At least you are consistent in your intolerance and judgement.:lol: That hate will kill you one day.
 
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