Animals On Campus

My stomach turned as I read the article.  I could feel my knees trying to buckle though I sat in my chair.  My disgust began to bubble and anger began to build.  Fists clenched, jaw locked, anger overcame my normally calm and rational disposition. 

It isn't often that an article in the Orange County Register hits me like that.  The article, by Larry Welborn, was not much more than an abbreviated crime report.  It reads in part:

Raul Barrientos, 22, was accused of approaching a 19-year-old woman, who is severely impaired both mentally and physically, outside a restroom on the Fullerton College campus on April 29, according to a news release from the Orange County District Attorney's Office. The woman, who has a developmental age of a 5- to 6-year-old child, takes special education classes at the college.

Prosecutors contend that Barrientos put his arm around the victim, who wears leg braces on both legs and has impaired speech, and guided her into a stall in the men's restroom, where he sexually assaulted her while she continued to cry.

Barrientos left the woman in the bathroom, where she was found a short time later by a teacher, according to prosecutors. Campus security officers, who were searching for a man matching Barrientos' description because a separate student complained earlier about his suspicious demeanor, then located and detained Barrientos for Fullerton Police.

He allegedly had blood from the victim on his clothes and body, prosecutors said.

What is wrong with this world when such an animal is able to walk, mostly unnoticed, and hurt those who cannot fend for themselves? 

The allegations against Barrientos are extremely disturbing. 

I commend the student who complained to security about Barrientos acting suspiciously.  I also commend the security officers who found Barrientos and held him for police.  I hope that the DA’s Office and Fullerton PD detectives put together a solid investigation and case so that Barrientos never walks free.  Seek every sentence enhancement the Penal Code offers prosecutors. 

Further, it conjures compelling emotions to apply capital punishment in instances such as this.  Perhaps that isn’t the best answer but it certainly seems justified.  Our children and those unable to protect themselves must be protected.