Rejecting Accountability

57-year-old Gene Morrill previously pleaded guilty to 20 charges of molestation- related activities, after his attempt to solicit 13-year-old boys over the internet. In seeking leniency in sentencing, Morrill claims that his actions stem from being molested as a child by this guy:

No lie.

This is also coming from the man identified last year as one of several out-of-state online predators. Despite his claim of abuse from Bigfoot, he was determined to be mentally competent to stand trial and was ordered to serve 20 years in prison.

More disturbing that the crimes he committed is his brazen attempt at justifying them. In addition to being convicted of five counts of "attempting to take indecent liberties with a child, five counts of using electronic equipment to solicit a juvenile..." he was also convicted of "ten counts of reproducing child pornography."

His audacity only parallels the audacity of Arelia Margarita Taveras. Who, you ask? And how? This former attorney dipped into her clients' escrow accounts to finance her gambling habit. In addition to being disbarred, she has lost her apartment her parents' home and owes the IRS $58,000.

In an effort to justify her losses, which she says totals $1 million, Taveras filed a $20-million racketeering lawsuit in Federal Court against six Atlantic City casinos and one in Las Vegas. Her reasoning:

They knew I was going for days without eating or sleeping. I would pass out at the tables. They had a duty of care to me. Nobody in their right mind would gamble for four or five days straight without sleeping.

Open the window and throw out all sense of accountability. What do you get? A clean room full of false promises of second chances. And what happens when people don't claim responsibility for their actions? No one can be held liable for their own failures, and as such, their own lives. Everyone is innocent. At least it would appear that way. There's a disillusionment that runs rampant when such events occur -- an epidemic of failure wildly searching for reason.

In case you didn't know, Ms. Taveras, it is no one's responsibility to take care of you besides yourself. And for someone of your intellect to make such statements makes the situation even more disturbing. Just own up and admit fault, and maybe you won't come off completely incompetent. And with regard to Mr. Morrill, well, I just have no words for you.