Connect the Dots

Here are three links and excerpts for you. First, CNN reporting from Richmond, CA.

Investigators say as many as 20 people were involved in or stood and watched the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside a California high school homecoming dance Saturday night ... As many as 10 people were involved in the assault in a dimly lighted back alley at the school, while another 10 people watched without calling 911 to report it, police said.

Second, we have Mark Steyn noting something from England.

A council has banned parents from supervising their children in public playgrounds until they have undergone criminal record checks. Adults have been excluded from two adventure play areas in Watford, apart from a handful of council-vetted 'play rangers' who will assist youngsters, it emerged today. Parents will be forced to watch their children from outside the perimeter fence. Watford Borough Council claims it is just following Government guidelines and cannot allow adults to walk around playgrounds 'unchecked' ...

Council Mayor Dorothy Thornhill said they are merely enforcing government policy at the play areas, in Vicarage Road and Leggatts Way. She said: 'Sadly, in today's climate, you can't have adults walking around unchecked in a children's playground and the adventure playground is not a meeting place for adults.

Finally, we have this little bit of research data:

In a study of convicted child molesters, 77 percent of those who molested boys and 87 percent of those who molested girls admitted to the habitual use of pornography in the commission of their crimes.

Clearly, the best solution to these problems is to increase Federal funding for child care, err, more cops, err, keeping libraries open later, err, um, whatever. Let's just get that stream of funding moving!