AN UNUSUAL DEFENSE

Odds are that you don't know Richard Lawson, and you should thank your lucky stars. Mr. Lawson isn't exactly the kind of guy you would want living next to you. In fact, I'm not even comfortable knowing he's breathing the same air as me. Richard Lawson is a child molester and a murderer. But, take heart, at least it should bring you some comfort knowing that Mr. Lawson is serving a life sentence and most likely will never see freedom again. So why would I do a piece on a Piece-of-Shit? Because Richard Lawson was recently charged with molesting a boy even though he's already doing life...and he has an unusual defense that should make all of us think for a moment. He claims he did it while he was an informant for the Detroit Police Dept.and that he had immunity from prosecution.

Now, normally, I wouldn't trust the likes of Mr. Lawson any farther than I could throw him against a strong wind. But he has papers to prove it and Ex-Detroit Police Chief Ike McKinnon admits that he did in fact work with, and pay Mr. Lawson for his help. Add to that the fact that Lawson is already doing life and has no reason to lie and I start to wonder. The Chief however, denies that he ever gave Lawson immunity and claims Mr.Lawson acted on his own. I guess Chief McKinnon sees no problem with exposing young children to a dangerous man with his help. Why doesn't that make the Chief of Police an accessory at the very least? Why would the police department even consider working with a man who was convicted of five counts of first degree sexual conduct and a 1989 murder is beyond me, but let me explain the warped mentality that leads them to think this is right.

"There's no doubt" that you helped us arrest a number of people. Chief McKinnon is quoted as saying to Mr. Lawson. "The reason why I did it was to prevent another hundred children from being molested." the convicted child-molester reasoned. The general excuse is that the ends justifies the means. This is the justification for DEA agents selling drugs or for child molesters or even murderers being given light sentences in exchange for cooperating in other investigations. "Without informants posing as criminals, it's hard to reach the people at the top," they'll tell you. But when is the line crossed? What kind of a world is it where I worry, not only about the child molesters or drug dealers themselves, but also about the police officers that are posing as drug dealers or their paid informants. What difference would it make to me if my child dies from drugs from a dealer or a DEA agent? My child is still dead. Am I supposed to feel better about my child being molested if it's to break up a child pornography ring? What about the murderers who get out early only to prey on other people? Is it right that he was released so that some police Sergeant can make Captain because of a big bust? Will that bring my brother or sister or mother back?

We've all see the police dramas where an informant helps the cops reach the big guy. Everything works out perfect and the informant almost always sees the error in his ways and decides to work with the good guys instead of the bad. That is nothing but pure fiction. In real life, criminals use the police like pawns to get revenge on people who did them wrong. Most of the time the "Big Guy" that they bust isn't even as big as the guy they released. Police routinely take the drugs they capture and put them right back on the streets and convert them back into cash to fund other expeditions. Is it any wonder they like this policy, when it brings them more funding? When it comes to sexual predators, the police know damn well that the perv is only going to prey again. But as long as they get the collar and eventually the promotion they need, they don't care. I should point out here that the majority of cops are good decent people who disagree with these policies themselves but have to play the game the way it's played. Having your paid police officers doing drugs on the job, selling drugs, and profiting from the sale of drugs is just plain wrong and way too close to the same thing the dealers are doing. Where is the moral high ground? This is just one more example of our police going too far. Did Richard Lawson have immunity allowing him to molest children so he would be accepted into a child pornography ring they were hoping to bust? I can't say for sure. But given the other deals that are made every day in this country to catch the "Big Guys", I wouldn't be surprised. H.C.