Sex Offenders Pose Dilemma

Parents in Patrick Riggs’ neighborhood reacted predictably when they learned the teenage sex offender was living among them - and their children.

Five women picketed the East Central house where Riggs lives with his mother.

You can’t blame them, but you can examine their strategy.

Riggs, whose crimes include child molestation, served his time and was released. When he felt in danger of committing another offense, he told authorities so, and they attached him to an electronic monitoring device. He spent two months that way without incident.

When he was disconnected, police named the neighborhood - but not the address - where he was living.

As their signs made plain, the women who found the address don’t want Riggs there. And if he moves, his new neighbors won’t welcome him either.

How do “Bagpipes” readers feel about this dilemma? Is the community at large better off knowing where a released sex offender lives and keeping an eye on him? Or is it better off driving him from place to place and perhaps into hiding among unsuspecting neighbors who have vulnerable children of their own?

A crestfallen Angel

A mildly retarded woman’s custody battle for her 2-year-old daughter ended unsuccessfully last week.

Angel Harper has an independent spirit, a flock of admirers and an IQ of 80. The court deems her too impaired to rear a child.

There was nothing arbitrary about Spokane County Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen’s decision. Courts and caseworkers have been studying the issue for more than two years.

If it is help that Angel Harper needs to be a suitable parent, should the state provide it? Or do we just have to accept unhappy endings sometimes? Putting a price tag on playing hooky

State legislators want to withhold funds from local school districts when too many kids are absent.

Advocates say it would give schools an incentive to make sure kids attend school. But since the House Republican budget is counting on $126 million in savings, it sounds suspiciously as if the legislators are banking on truancy.

Tell me: Is this an approach the state can be proud of?

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