Not One More Child Sacrifice

So a few months ago, in my hometown of Poway, CA, a girl went missing. Long story short, a sex offender, who lived down the street from a park she was running at, raped and murdered her. I did not know Chelsea King, but I followed the story pretty closely because it's my hometown, and everyone there worked together to find her and fight for her. Unfortunately, the guilty man entered into a plea deal with law enforcement and would only tell them where her body was (and a body of another girl, who he also raped and murdered one year before) as long as he wasn't given the death penalty. So his conviction ended up being life in prison. This whole story has been very upsetting to me because he was already in prison a few years before for being a sex offender, but he was released early (I don't remember why). Maybe if they kept him in prison for his full sentence, this might not have happened to this girl. But then again, this world is getting worse and worse with each passing day, so who knows what could have happened. I know exactly where she went running; I have been there many times myself, and it always seemed like a nice and safe park. It just scares me to think that this could happen to me or someone I love. I don't understand why there aren't harsher punishments for this kind of thing (he was only sentenced to about 5-6 years for his first offense). I just don't know how ANYONE could ever hurt anyone else in this way, especially a child. I just read a story today about a 16-year-old boy who raped and murdered a 5-year-old girl, who lived in the same house as him (I assume their parents were involved with each other/living together). It makes me sick that someone at the age of 16 could ever think this was okay, and it's sad that someone so young would do something like that. Anyways, I guess I'm just a little scared for the future, especially with the way this country has been going. I'm scared for my friends, family, and my future children. But I'm grateful for the knowledge of the Gospel and for eternal families. I know that whatever happens, there will be justice in the next life.... And as long as I'm doing what's right, I will be happy.

Here's a beautiful song written in Chelsea's memory: