Victims must go to police immediately

The Tuesday Dispatch editorial “Officers mourned and remembered” has managed to make the president in part responsible for Saturday’s tragedy. The logic is that any allegation, even those about actions decades ago, are equal to a convicted felon’s actions who has a history of violence and an illegally obtained firearm.

I see Saturday as a message to the criminal-justice system since there were multiple calls to the police over years, which did nothing to get this criminal behind bars.

An alleged unwanted touching or kiss from years past has certainly ruined lives without the accused having access to due process to clear their name. Of course, there are cases where people such as Dr. Larry Nasser have committed heinous crimes, but at least in his case he will be punished. The unfortunate part is that this went on so long because his actions were not reported to police when they happened.

I think our takeaway from this should be that victims should contact authorities immediately, and let the case be investigated and necessary charges brought. Unfortunately, we may never know why Saturday’s tragedy, which was handled correctly by the victim in the past, allowed a vicious person to continue violent abuse.

No rational person condones violence, and no one should use a position of power to commit abuse, but cases must be handled by the law and not by allegation and press reporting.

Rick Ventresco Westerville