A Strange Day

Today has been kinda strange for me.

First off, I have am currently working at the Oxford US Attorney's office as an extern. Today, at work, no one, at least that I could tell was abuzz. This would normally not be a surprise except for that the Attorney General resigned today. I have never seen a office so nonchalant about their boss quitting. It just seemed odd.

Secondly, this made me really do some reflecting today: http://clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070827/NEWS/708270365/1001/news

Pete Collins was a State Trooper here in Mississippi. He was in great demand as a motivational/alcohol abuse speaker when I was in college and high school. Between the two, I probably saw him speak about 5 times total. He seemed very sincere. He seemed like someone who cared enough about children to warn them of the risks of alcohol consumption. He was very soft spoken and sounded very assuring. His most poignant stories, were of telling parents in the middle of the night that their son had died in a car wreck and his failed rescue of a little girl. Every time he told the story about the little girl he choked up when he said "Darlin, I'm not going to let you die" only to leave the car and return to find her dead.

A couple of years ago, Pete Collins was arrested for criminal groping of a minor. It was a 14 year old girl. I was never a big fan of my high school administration or the administration of my college, so I was pretty amused that they had egg on their face. How embarrassed they must have been to know they opened up their school to a pedophile. And then, a couple of days later, I just forgot all about it.

Last week Pete Collins was convicted of his crime and sentenced to 10 years in prison and labeled a sex offender. Sunday, he committed suicide in his cell.

So now I have a mixture of guilt, sadness, and justice. I think that first offense of any sexual crime against a child should probably result in the death penalty. Most of the people that abduct and kill children started with groping or molestation. So to a degree, I feel justice has probably been served.

Pete Collins at one time was on top of the world. If you read the link, you found he was honored by the State of Mississippi and President Clinton. He probably saved some lives with his alcohol speeches, and no doubt he served the state for a number of years on the Highway Patrol. Yet his fall from grace was so far and so profound. Seeing a very good, if not great man, fall like that, to see a hero (I am sure he was to someone) be reduced to meager lustful human causes some sadness.

Finally, guilt. I feel guilty for feeling a sense of victory over my foes regardless of the human cost. I obviously had nothing to do with what Pete Collins did, but I should not have reveled in it. I don't usually take victory in the personal tragedies of others, but this time I did. For that, I feel guilty.

-J