Polished Piece 1

The wrestling coach from East Gaston High School was recently arrested and
accused for sex crimes. The Coach, Scott Goins, faces 20 child sex charges. In an article
it states Gary Scott Goins, 46, is standing trial on 20 felony sex crime charges,
including indecent liberties with a child, statutory rape, sex offense with a student, and
crimes against nature.(DePriest) He was convicted and Superior Court Judge Jesse
Caldwell sentenced him to a minimum of 34 years and ten months in prison, and a
maximum of 43 years and four months.(Finnis)
Victims of sex crimes is something I hold dear to my heart and is something more
people need to be aware of. The reason for this is, I was a victim once. I just do not
understand how someone could go to an extent to commit such an act that is so
degrading and so inhumane. I understand what it is like to be a victim, not only are you
scared for your life but you are embarrassed to say anything to anyone because of your
pride. You always have a million questions running through your mind a hundred miles
a minute: Will anyone believe me? What will they think of me? Is this my fault? Did I
ask for this? Will anyone ever love me? Many more run through your mind concerning
your faith such as: Why is God letting this happen to me? Why didnt he just take me
instead? The question that always remains and that will never go away no matter what,
is why? Its like your heart just disintegrates into nothing because you cant understand
or compensate for why such an act has happened to you.
These people that are convicted and sentenced are only put away for so many
years, but we, the victims have to live with the consequences for the rest of our
lives. The minimum jail time for a conviction of a sex crime in the state of North
Carolina is anywhere from 30 days to 300 months.(Markham) That is not enough time
to be given especially when you have affected someones life for forever. Yes you have to
register as a sex offender at the end of your incarceration but that is only on your record
for 10 years, and then it can be appealed. The sex offenders may lose their jobs and
families, and may not, if convicted. However, they can always re-patch their lives as if
nothing ever happened much easier than the victims. A lot of times, they may not even
be convicted because there is not enough evidence against them. Only 40 out of every
100 rapes are reported each year. And only 3% of rapist will serve jail time.(Reporting
Rapes)
The victims suffer so much. Our lives are completely changed forever. Some
victims are forced to therapy, some stay in until life. Depression always follows you and
the effects of it. You have to go around the rest of your life scared to live and
love. Always looking over your shoulder, hoping you dont give the wrong
impression. You are so scared to trust anyone. It takes a toll on your relationships,
always questioning if their main goal and purpose is to hurt you. If you decide to have
children one day you constantly have to worry about if someone will touch
them. Personally I struggle with my self-esteem. I always question if I am good enough,
beautiful, or even normal. These are struggles we all have to face for the rest of our
lives, so why cant they face their headstones in return. I feel that is only fair since they
made us suffer and we have to worry the rest of our lives that they should no longer have
a life, since they have already endangered ours so much and ended it in many ways.
But is that really humane? Maybe not. I may just be speaking out of hate, anger,
and revenge, but we do have a justice system. Would that be considered cruel and

unusual punishment for such a crime? In the Czech Republic and Germany surgical
castration is practiced as a punishment to sex offenders.(Stracansky) Chemical
castration is a new method of punishment introduced. South Korea has passed this law
and implemented it already.(Park and Mallory) At least nine U.S. states, including
California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin
have versions of chemical castration in their laws. It's unclear how frequently chemical
castration is used in the United States.(Park and Mallory) Seeing some of the different
punishments implemented in society by the different governments in the world, would
this be considered a cruel and unusual punishment?
So who is to decide what happens to the criminals? Do we leave it to the victims,
the justice system, or even God himself? Questions will always arise when dealing with
touchy subjects such as these. And many more may come to be. So I guess the real
question is, is there a correct solution for such injustices?

Works Cited:
DePriest, Joe. "Trial of Former Gaston Wrestling Coach Charged with Sex Crimes
Begins." Charlotte News Panthers Hornets Sports Banking. Local News, 17 July 2014.
Web. 4 Dec. 2014.
Finnis, Alex. "High School Wrestling Coach Facing 40 Years in Prison after He Is Found
Guilty of Molesting and Raping His Players ." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 14
Aug. 2014. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.
Markham, Jamie. "Sentencing Rules for Rape and Sexual Offense Against a Child by an
Adult Offender." North Carolina Criminal Law. 27 Nov. 2012. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.
"Reporting Rates | RAINN | Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network." Reporting
Rates | RAINN | Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. RAINN, 1 Jan. 2009. Web.
25 Nov. 2014.
Stracansky, Pavol. "INTER PRESS SERVICE." CZECH REPUBLIC: Castration for Sex
Offenders Triumphs. Inter Press Service News Agency. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.
Park, Madison, and Mallory Simon. "Using Chemical Castration to Punish Child Sex
Crimes." CNN. Cable News Network, 5 Sept. 2012. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.