commentary by Patrick H. Moore
Most Americans would no more dream of having sex with a baby than they would fantasize about dousing themselves with gasoline and lighting a match or sticking their head in an oven. Yet, as I peruse the daily crime news, it is becoming increasingly clear that a sizable number of Americans are obsessed with pedophilia (defined as engaging in a sexual act with a child under the age of 12) and are more than willing to risk everything to act out their aberrant and disgusting desires. And oddly enough, a great many of these foul deeds are perpetrated by couples, married or otherwise, acting in collusion in complete disregard of the fact that their victims are tiny vulnerable beings. This was evidenced once again on Friday when 25-year-old Heather Koon, a child daycare worker in Elyria, Ohio was arrested when a video of her having sex with an infant being discovered on her boyfriend James Osborne’s laptop computer.
In was only through a stroke of luck that Koon’s reprehensible actions were even discovered. Her boyfriend, convicted sex offender James Osborne, had been brought in for questioning based on him providing an incorrect address on a Lorain County sex offender registration form. When his laptop computer was confiscated and searched, police — to their horror — came upon video(s) of Koon raping at least two infants. Osborne was arrested immediately and Koon was taken into custody shortly thereafter.
As Koon sat behind bars with Osborne — whose previous offenses include pandering obscenity involving a minor – the infant’s father was livid over how ABC Kidz, the daycare center where the rapes occurred, initially handled the situation.
“I still haven’t wrapped my mind around it. It’s every parent’s worst nightmare,” the baby’s father, who has chosen to remain anonymous, told WOIO. According to the child’s father, ABC Kidz was initially vague about what had happened to his baby. ”They tried to act like it was a simple assault. A few hours later they called us back again and asked us to keep it discreet.”
In order to help the investigation, the anonymous father was required to identify his baby from still photographs.
As his family’s nightmare unfolds, the horrified dad has the following advice for other parents whose children have been cared for at ABC Kidz:
“Any child that’s old enough to talk, they should talk to. Any child that’s not old enough to talk should be taken to a physician.”
When contacted by media, ABC Kidz management naturally declined to comment, citing the sensitivity of the “ongoing investigation.” On what appears to be the daycare center’s website, they stress having a staff of “qualified teachers” and “age appropriate curriculum” in a“nurturing & creating environment.”
Based on the open-ended nature of the case, Lorain County Chief Deputy Sheriff Dennis Cavanaugh told a local newspaper that “this is just the beginning” suggesting that there may be other victims and/or perpetrators who have not yet been identified.
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I guess the obvious question is what produces these monsters — nature, nurture or some combination thereof? Thirty or more years ago, conspiracy theories claiming that multi-generational “incest families” “home-schooled” their children in the ways of incest and pedophilia were rife. As the years passed, these theories were largely discredited until now anyone who gives them credence is likely to be written off as a “conspiracy” kook. Yet the fact remains that there are an awful lot of these fiends out there perpetuating their damage. Are most of these violators born this way, or are they conditioned to a life of pedophilia and child molestation? It’s a valid question which bears looking into. Meanwhile, with disquieting frequency, we are confronted with cases more or less similar to that of Heather Koon and James Osborne.