Gage Park

Think Gage Park is a safe place to take your kids? Think again! I’m going to share a story with you today. It’s a story about what led me to check out the KBI’s Registered Sex Offenders list. It’s about how I learned that there are 307 registered sex offenders in Shawnee County. And that 284 are right here in Topeka. It’s a story about how last Thursday, events unfolded that led me directly into the path of one of them.
Last Thursday I was traveling east on 10th street listening to Jim Cates as usual. He had Senator Anthony Hensley as a guest. I wanted to talk to the Senator and it just so happened that I was going by Gage Park at the time and decided to pull in to make my phone call. I found a shady spot and pulled over. While I was on the phone a guy in a older, faded red car drove by and waved. About the time I finished my call he pulled up beside me, got out and started asking about my jeep. I was wearing shorts, he complimented me on my tan and asked if he could see how far up my tan line went. I suggested to him it would probably be best if he left me alone.
Before I go any further. I want to be clear this isn’t a gay bashing thing. If you want to be gay, go be gay, I don’t care. It’s none of my business. It’s way more than that. It’s about seeing him again parked on the street just to the east of the train station. There were easily a couple hundred kids there that day. He was just sitting there watching them. The man was trolling the park in search of sex. Now he’s fifty feet from hundreds of kids. This my friends, is a sexual predator.
That night I checked out the KBI’s list of sex offenders. There he was. He’d been convicted in 2001 of Indecent liberties with a child under fourteen. His picture was six years old so he does look older now. According to the birth date he’s 65 years old. That’s exactly how old I thought he might have been. I knew I couldn’t call the police unless I could prove who he was. Saturday I decided I needed his tag number. I had a hunch I’d find him in Gage Park. Sure enough, there’s a shelter house just across the street to the east of the train station. He was in the parking lot behind it. The parking lot has only one way in and one way out. Sneaking up on him was out of the question. So I just pulled in behind him and stopped. He immediately got out his car, shoved his hand down his pants and started rubbing his penis. He was a completely different person this time. I told him there was no reason to get out but he was coming anyway. I got a good look at his tag and left him standing there with his hand still in his pants. I went straight to the Police Station and turned him in. I gave them a description of him, his car, and gave them his tag number. I was told they’d do what they could.
Because I can’t prove the man I saw on the sex offenders list is the same one I’m telling you about, I won’t use his name. However I can tell you what he looked like and what he drives. He looks to be about 65 years old. He stands about 5’-8” and weighs about 125lbs. He was wearing a white T-shirt and blue jean shorts, he’s bald, and has very hairy ears. He was driving a small, faded red, hatchback kind of car. It was something like an old Chevette or something similar with a Shawnee County license plate. If you see him, all I’m asking you to do is keep an eye on him. But if you see him doing anything out of line call the Police, call 911. Based on how aggressive he was during our second encounter, I believe he’s dangerous, don’t approach him. And whatever you do, keep an eye on your kids. Don’t let them out of your sight.
We were outraged over Judge Dowd giving Orlando Cisneros probation in a recent, well publicized, child rape case. We only heard about it because the young girl’s father went public. What we didn’t know is that this is just the tip of the iceberg. This is a discussion we need to have. Why do the courts seem so hell bent on turning these people lose on us.
There are those who’ll cry about them having their right to privacy and all that. Here’s what I believe. I believe I have the right to pull over in a park to make a phone call without being sexually assaulted. More than anything I believe our children have the right to live without the fear of being abducted by one of these sick people. And I believe first and foremost that old guy in the faded, red car needs to understand that now he’s the one being watched!
Kevin McGinty can be reached at: kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net