Friday, July 01, 2005

No Good Deed...

It is oft said that no good deed goes unpunished. Fitzroy Barnaby is certainly feeling the weight of that maxim on his shoulders right now.

It seems that a 14 year-old girl walked in front of his car, he had to swerve to avoid hitting her and he stopped his car to lecture her. In the process of that, he grabbed her arm. Did he strike her? No. Did he grope her? No. Did he even yell at her? No.

Guess what? Barnaby now has to register as a sex offender for life because unlawful restraint of a minor is considered a sex offense.

What do you think of when "unlawful restraint" comes to mind? Tossing a kid in to the back of a sleazy van, kidnapping or something that is actually harmful. But grabbing the arm of a girl to lecture her about walking in front of your car? This is just stupid. This guy should be given a medal by the parents for chewing her out, not prosecuted and treated as a sex offender for doing something that doesn't even closely resemble a sex crime.

Poor guy.