Government
Sex-Abuse Survivor Plans 1,000-mile Walk for Victims, New Law
Around the State
Laruen Book, sex-abuse survivor, announces plans to walk 1000 miles | Photo: Lane WrightAs if walking 500 miles across the state of Florida wasn't enough, one sexual abuse survivor is doubling down for victims of sexual abuse.
Lauren Book, daughter of high-powered lobbyist Ron Book, is aiming to lengthen her stride and broaden the reach of her message, by walking 1,000 miles from Key West to Tallahassee. She and her friends will be making stops in the Tampa area and farther west in the Panhandle.
Book is the founder and executive director of Lauren's Kids. She was a victim of sexual abuse for six years, from age 11 to 16, by her nanny.
"We doubled the miles, because, you know we needed people to pay attention!" she said with a smile. "And we really wanted to do the entire state. The Panhandle is a place that does not get the services a lot of the time that they need, so we wanted to get some attention brought to those places," said Book.
But the walk isn't just about awareness. Book is hoping to pass tougher laws against sex offenders.
Rep. Chris Dorworth, R-Heathrow and Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, are sponsoring the Walk in Their Shoes Act, HB 251 & SB 488, which would give additional support and protection for victims of sexual assault. The bill includes provisions to:
• Enhance the Rape Crisis Program Trust Fund
• Admit evidence of prior sexual crimes
• Provide relocation assistance for victims of sexual crimes
• Limit a defendant's access to child pornography evidence and ensure it is securely held
• Include internet safety in comprehensive health education
• Quickly test offenders for HIV.
For the most part, the legislation wouldn't put a strain on an already-tight state budget, but it might create more demand on a limited pot of money designated to assist a wider range of victims in other ways.
The extra money to enhance the Rape Crisis Program Trust Fund would come from expanding the list of offenses that charge a fine for that fund. But the money for relocation assistance would come from the Victim's Compensation Trust Fund. Currently, that fund does not allocate money for relocation assistance.
"All we hear about these days are 'job, jobs, jobs.' Sometimes it's easy to forget there are other issues like protecting the weakest among us, children and victims of sexual violence," said Dorworth.
Book plans to begin her walk March 19th in Key West and end it 39 days (and who knows how many pairs of shoes) later in Tallahassee.
Lane Wright may be reached at Lane@sunshinestatenews.com or 561-247-1063.
Comments (8)
The only questionable thing I see is the "allow past offenses in during a trial" one. I think the current law is fine on this. As it stands if a prosecutor can prove that past crimes prove a pattern of behavior relevant to a current crime, they can be introduced into evidence. Otherwise telling the jury that a defendant is a sex offender is prejudicial.
But otherwise, I think setting up better victim support programs is always a great idea. I'm concenred that victims of sexual crimes do not get proper treatment and assistance in recovering from their abuse. They need help putting their lives back together and understanding what happens to them. Many families can't afford this kind of long term treatment, and many victims have a hard time moving on, and quite a few even become offenders themselves.
Education on the subject is also good, too. I just hope they're teaching kids to be extra weary of those close to them instead of fearing some faceless "stranger", though. I also feel some kind of pre-sentencing screening process to determine risk of offenders should be put into place to make sure the really dangerous guys get nice, long (possibly lifetime) sentences.
All of this makes a lot more sense then just letting all these guys out and passing more and more "rules" they have to follow. All this does is make life harder for the ones who actual want to reform, and won't do a thing to stop the ones who want to re-offend.
But I ramble...
By allowing prior convictions into evidence, it adds to the assumption you are guilty without evidence. People already assume as an RSO you are a threat. By contrast, defendants are already barred from calling the credibility of accusers into question thanks to "rape shield laws."
Second, by disallowing discovery of evidence in a trial, the defense cannot argue against the value of the evidence. There have been a LOT of cases out there where people were accused of CP when it turns out they took innocent pics of their kids playing in the bathtub or just being kids. There was one case where the evidence included a kid holding a sausage in his hands but the prosecutor saw it as sexually suggestive. Also, the Supreme Court has ruled in the past that digitally created porn does not constitute a crime since there are no actual victims. Then there was the 2010 case of alleged CP where 24 year old porn star "Little Lupe" was called in to testify she is 24 despite her jailbait appearance in her work. Without seeing the evidence, one could not argue the legality of the evidence.
I do support education and prevention, but I think Lauren Book is not qualified to do it. If you watch her in public, it is obvious her old man, powerful (and corrupt) lobbyist Ron Book, calls the shots, and she pretty much blindly follows the old man.
Another thing, she didn't walk the whole 500 miles, she walked maybe 1/5 of it at most. Most of the time she rode the tour bus with Ron Book.
I'm sorry about what happened to Ms. Book. But, swamping law enforcement with tens of thousands of people to watch when the only true threats are about 5% of the people on that list isn't going to protect anyone.
I understand the desire to be tough on crime. But, I think it's time we as a society begin thinking about becoming SMART on crime. In the end, I believe the latter will save lives and protect children. And, being smart on crime starts with taking people like Ms. Book and her father, who are way too emotionally involved, out of the legislative loop. They have every right to be angry and to want revenge. But, in the end, I feel that their emotion-fueled legislation will only serve to make our children less safe.