Santa battling sex offenders? Are they everywhere?

The USPS is now struggling to shield children from sex offenders and risks during the Santa letter campaign. The Postal Service isn't cancelling the program entirely, but is requiring the child's address to be replace with a code to maintain privacy. Some local branches, especially rural areas, don't have the capacity to install these security measures.

From the USPS press releases: "Last year, a postal worker in Maryland recognized an Operation Santa volunteer there as a registered sex offender. The postal worker interceded before the individual could answer a child’s letter, but the Postal Service viewed the episode as a big enough scare to tighten rules in such programs nationwide. The agency now prohibits volunteers from having access to children’s family names and addresses, said spokeswoman Sue Brennan."

The fear for children target by pedophiles is all to real and frightening. Enter your zip in the National Sex Offender Registry and prepare for a heart attack.

Sex offenders and pedophiles are EVERYWHERE!

A local radio station (Thanks to the Malcolm Out Loud, 820am in Tampa) profiled Predator Patrol and founder Judy Cornett.

http://www.safetyzoneadvocacy.org/Predator_Patrol.html

Some amazing facts from her website:

• 70% of children who are abducted are taken on the way to or from school.

• 36% of children, who are victims of sex crimes, have known their predator for more then a year at the time of the incident.

• More then 20,000 images of children are posted on the Internet each week.

• Approximately 20 new children appear on porn sites each month, many kidnapped or sold into the sex trade.

• 40% of people charged with child porn sexually abuse children.

• 1 of 5 children who use a computer chat room has been approached by a pedophile.

• The chances of being caught for a sexual offense is approximately 3%.

• 93% of juvenile sexual assault victims knew their attacker, 34.2% were family, 58.7 acquaintances and 7% were strangers.

• Nearly 30% of child victims are age 4-7.

• 1 out of every 5-7 boys are sexually assaulted before they are 18.

• 1 out of every 3-5 girls are sexually assaulted before they are 18.

• 89% of sexual solicitations were made in either chat rooms or in instant messages.

• 13 million youth use instant messages.

• 1 in 33 receives aggressive sexual solicitation.

I admire and respect Judy Cornett's conviction and walking the walk to get these evil pedophiles off the streets. There is no truer evil that these sex offenders and pedophiles that shame and violate innocent children while eliciting rage, hate and anger in those their care givers.





This is an old
article from the St. Pete Times. It helps give the Predator Patrol history and struggles that are the back story to the foundation and Judy's advocacy.



Pic and full story: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=6496250&page=1

Losing another Hero: Mallory Code

Struggling with cystic fibrosis, Mallory Code battle came to an end. At only 25 years old, Mallory came a golf star first at Chamberlain High School here in Tampa and then as a Florida Gator. She was admitted to the Hospital over the weekend with a blood infection and pneumonia. As the condition worsened and she contracted severe swelling of the brain and passed away Monday night.

From the press release:

"She poked fun at herself and was constantly smiling. She always thought first about others, even checking herself out of the hospital last month and hurriedly driving over from Orlando so she could attend the long-planned birthday party of her beloved 1-year-old niece."

Self sacrifice is the theme in all of the stories of Mallory Code.

A local radio show, Malcolm Out Loud, dedicated the entire show to the legacy and memory of Mallory.

I had heard of Mallory Code through her website "The Deal Bloodhound" which helped identify ways to save money on groceries and products. She made a post here as recently as November 6th.

"She wasn't going to stop achieving something," her father Brian Code said. "And the thing was, it was always about helping somebody else."

This article from 2005 really reveals Mallory's character and positive outlook on life.

The journalist wrote of Code:

"It wasn't looking good. The woman who somehow always remained more cheery than your neighborhood Wal-Mart greeter, all while taking on a life sentence of cystic fibrosis, asthma and diabetes, was up against it like never before. Her 20-year-old body forever had been a pest, with the cystic fibrosis that promises to end her life far too early; the insulin pump; and the 40 or so pills she takes each day to replace enzymes."

Her response: "Some days I feel like I've climbed a mountain and I get to the top and I see a whole mountain range behind that I still have to climb. I handle it with a little bit of humor and a little bit of tears. Some of both."

Inspiring.

Don't we all feel like the glass is half empty sometimes? The country and the world are falling apart all around us as people lose their homes, their jobs or their lives.

All the while, a woman, only a quarter of a century old, was an inspiration to us all to live fully day by day.



Other inspiring stories:

http://brandon7221.blogspot.com/2009/10/augie-nieto-tribute-thanks-five-for.html