This Monster Was Created, Not Born

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – A man who was a poster child for victimized children has been sentenced to at least 25 years in prison for raping and choking a 10-year-old girl.  

 Adam Croote — whose own childhood was so wrenching that he was invited to the White House at age 7 as a symbol of the plight of missing children — was sentenced Friday, The Times Union reported. Croote, 23, pleaded guilty in March to attacking a child he was babysitting.

The girl's family knew Croote was a registered sex offender before the assault last June at a home in Berne, near Albany, the newspaper said, citing court documents. But the relatives nonetheless asked Croote to watch the child after school one afternoon, authorities said.

There is so much wrong here.  First, the tragedy that brought Croote to our attention in the first place.  As a boy, Croote learned the world was full of evil and experienced a lot of it firsthand.  Then there is the tragedy of the cycle running on, as he sexually assaults and chokes a girl who managed to get away from him.  The avoidable tragedy?  That her parents knew he was a registered sex offender and still left her in his company.  What.  The.  Hell.

For all the stupidity above, it was two kids who bore the price.  We would do well to remember that.  Every article we read about child abuse, child molestation, neglect, it's all contributing to these people as adults.  Some grow up damaged, some grow up fine, some grow up to choke little girls and rape them.

We can't ever give up the fight to stop this.  Ever.