Presumption of innocence is a foundation of our legal system. Until a person is convicted by a court of law, the crimes charged on them are alleged crimes. A reader, “Miriam,” commented on a recent post stating:

“Can we please remember that this man may be innocent. I don’t know the details but I do know that a person should be proven guilty before sentenced, judged and ruined.”

“Miriam”

“Miriam” is absolutely correct. But there still needs to be controls in place to protect the public from an alleged criminal charged with certain categories of offenses. Consider a mass shooter who opens fire on a crowd of innocent people. Until a jury convicts them, they are presumed innocent. If they were then somehow released on bail, should they be allowed to buy guns while they await trial? It’s the same point here – a man is accused of raping children, and is somehow out on bail. Should he be around children while awaiting trial? If you were a parent, and Jason Gouldon invited you and your children to come over and swim, would it be helpful to know that he’s currently out on bail and awaiting trial for child molestation?

People can make their own decisions, it’s a free country. If you were someone who knows about these charges, and still feels comfortable letting an alleged child predator spend time with them, you can make that call. But what if you didn’t know? And what if something happened to your children? Thankfully, in this case, it was recently ordered that Mr. Gouldon not be around any children while he awaits trial.

Another thing to consider is the charges, and the potential validity of the charges. In the example with the mass shooter above, there would very likely be witnesses, or CCTV footage, or some other damning evidence condemning the alleged shooter. Because of this, the chance of the murderer being released on bail is close to zero. You wouldn’t have to worry about them moving next door to you. But in cases of child molestation, these crimes are inherently private, and happen behind closed doors. So maybe you think that accusations like this are common, and have a high chance of being false or fabricated. But that is simply not the case.

Consider this article on Child Sexual Abuse: The Myths and Truths (Safe Shores. April, 2021). According to research referenced within the article,

“False allegations of sexual abuse by children and adolescents are statistically uncommon, occurring at the rate of 2 to 10 percent of all cases.”

Mikkelsen, E. J., Gutheil, T. G., & Emens, M. (1992). False sexual-abuse allegations by children and adolescents: Contextual factors and clinical subtypes. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 46(4), 556-570.

Let that statistic sink in. According to this accredited research, there’s a 90-98% chance that an accused child abuser actually is. Armed with this data, would you allow a presumed innocent and alleged child molester to be alone with your young children? And wouldn’t you want to know about the alleged charges prior to making that decision?