Ah yes, the Book family = 'nuf said :-(

As a non-profit organization the Financial Statements of Lauren's Kids are in the public domain.

The salary for Lauren Book, CEO, from that organization in 2012 was $85,250. This is from the organization alone and does not include any other income (i.e. Book sales, speaking engagements. etc).

It sure pays to be a life-long victim...

we have 'winners' all over the place!!

I read her story. She was horrifically abused by her nanny, who was clearly a psychopath. It was extremely nasty with the nanny abusing her sexually, peeing on her, physically and psychologically abusing her. The nanny apparently dreamed of making Lauren her "wife", taking her back to Haiti with her, and starting a coffee farm. This was truly a very bizarre story, especially since the parents seem to have been no where in sight when all of this was happening...!?!

Lauren's point in the book, since her father is a wealthy lobbyist, that if she can be abused, anyone can. Of course, that is true, as Nak has pointed out. (Sorry about such a strong family connection to this, Nak.)

But Lauren's story if FAR from typical. Nak is so right. Marching around with cool teeshirts and making large sums of money off of being a victim is an outcome only someone like a lobbyist could dream up. It is total fluff. Kumbaya and all of that. It doesn't touch the reality because the reality is not anything anyone wants to consider.

The reality is SEX OFFENDERS IS US! Not to say we are all sex offenders, but the dynamic that creates it comes from everyone. When Lauren Book makes it a black and white, good and bad issue, she is missing the point (Why should she care, with a wallet that size!) and she is dragging many others into her fantasy world.

This is not like marching for a cure for breast cancer. It is more like the when we realized the dangers of second hand smoke. It took a social movement to protect people who chose not to smoke from the smoke of others. But we all had to change our behavior in some way. I realize that this is flawed metaphor, but I hope you can see my point. If someone has a better idea, I'd be glad to hear it.

That was my thought as well.
Thanks Peek

If Lauren Book was more like someone like Erin Merryn, who focuses on education/ prevention rather than revenge against everyone with a label, or Samantha Geimer, who refuses to play the lifelong victim, I'd have NO problems with Lauren Book.

I think that Lauren Book and Elizabeth Smart have the same problems. Both lived in a very sheltered and well-to-do environment as children. Both have alpha-male, powerful fathers that control much of their lives, even today. Both have foundations in their names BUT are run by their fathers. It seemed for a while both seemed open to exploring the issue in other ways but the typical "destroy all sex offenders" propaganda espoused by their parents (Lauren Book visited a civil commitment center and talked with registrants, and she also stated residency laws were backfiring; whereas Erin Smart seemed determined to live a life away from the issue, even to the point of telling off Nancy Grace). Of course, both returned to the victim industry cult and are becoming proficient at spewing the victim industry propaganda.

Lauren Book is sounding more and more like her father.

Ron Book has often referred to Registered Citizens as “monsters” and “the creeping crud of society ” [Skipp, Catherine. “The Lobbyist Who Put Sex Offenders Under a Bridge.” Newsweek. Web. 24 July 2009. <http://www.newsweek.com/lobbyist-who-put-sex-offenders-under-bridge-81755>]

In September 2013, Lauren Book stated that those on the registry were “monsters” and “ticking time bombs” during a TV interview in support of a “Cherish’s Law."

“These monsters can be put away for the rest of their lives, they murder children's childhood, my childhood was taken from me… In so many instances these individuals should never ever be allowed out for a second chance, they're ticking time bombs, it’s not a question if they a re-offend, it's a question of when they re-offend.” [Jones, Brittany. "Petition gains support for 'Cherish Law.'" WTXL-ABC-27. Web. 3 Sept. 2013. < http://www.wtxl.com/news/petition-gains-support-for-cherish-law/article_d6793758-14e5-11e3-b07f-0019bb30f31a.html>]

Later, Lauren Book testified before the Florida legislature in favor of a bill to mark the state ID cards of those the state claims are “Sexual Predators” with those very words in scarlet letters. Lauren Book even described the mark as a Scarlet Letter in a media interview:

“This designation is a tool that we as community members – from law enforcement officers to TSA agents to teachers, daycare workers, doctors, nurses and everyone in between – can use to further protect the children and families of Florida,” says Book. “I believe a statutory reference is too benign. This is a scarlet letter that clearly states ‘WARNING! Keep this individual away from children!’ They are a clear and imminent danger, and parents and families have a right to know .” [Staff Report. "Florida Lawmakers Pass Bills to Create “Sexual Predator” Designation on Driver’s Licenses." The Bradenton Times. Web. 6 May 2014. ]

Lauren's Kids supports the strategy of building "pocket parks" to make communities off-limits to Registered Citizens. [Saenz, Saul. "Daytona Beach park to keep neighborhood safe from sex predators." News 13. Bright House Networks. Web. 9 Apr 2014. <http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/
content/news/articles/cfn/2014/4/9/park_built_to_keep_s.html>]

Speaking of marches, it is past due we have one of our own. The question is who among you would go?

Hey, Derek. Would I march? No, I wouldn't. Why?

I had read about Erin Merryn several years ago, but did not have the perspective to understand what she was actually talking about. You are right. She is a brave young woman. She chose to forgive and move on. But more than that, she wanted to teach others to do the same thing.

Marching? Lauren Book marches. It makes her lots of money because she has blind followers. Her message to them is one of judgement and hatred. So, what does marching do for her? It gives her a fan base. Nothing more. What she does gives nothing back to society.

So, my question to you would be, what is the purpose of marching? What does it prove? What are we planning to do to give back to society? Most importantly, who are we forgiving? Not to minimize our stories of pain because they are real, but what is the gift we bring? If we had a real gift to bring, then a march could be valuable. If its just to expose our wounds....frankly, nobody will care.

Too often, we get nothing accomplished because we look for ways NOT to do something. No one cares so why try? Well, why bother coming here then? Lets just sit and wait for our Auschwitz to arrive.

Or, we can make people listen. It is easier to dehumanize a hidden opponent. Staying low merely feeds into this mentality. We need to be more visible and make these people look us in the eye.

Our plight isn't about forgiving and moving on. We can't compare our situation to Erin's because her abuse ended while we are currently experiencing abuse. It is about fighting for our right to live. That is a different fight.

I know not everyone has the guts but you know what? I never thought I was that kind of guy, but I became the way I am by necessity. I wonder what it will take to finally help some of you develop some intestinal fortitude.

I have to side with Once here - we have to do what we can. Right now in the USA (at least for now lol) we have the right to protest and to free speech. Yes, we are the villains of society, the modern day lepers but we still have the right to speak out - most of the public believes that if someone is on the registry they must be the worst of the worst. If they see us protesting and we have informational spiels and pamphlets to educate the curious will come just to see and then they will learn. The is power in knowledge and strength in numbers.

I remember a very heated debate in my classroom several years ago becasue the KKK was holding a march in our town. Do I think that their message is scary - yes I do but as long as they are not breaking the law they have every right in this country to spew their rhetoric. I may hate it - but I have to support their right to do it. The same thing applies to us -

Oh got on my soapbox and forgot to mention that Book should be the first one to educate - she is the perfect example of how the laws are based on the belief of stranger danger and yet she KNOWS that belief is untrue and she is the perfect example of it! She also KNOWS that living restrictions would not have changed a single thing in her situation and at one time she started to speak out (as Once mentioned) that the RSO laws were counter-productive but I guess the bright lights and notoriety draw was too much to resist. Meanwhile as these parents are marching where are the kids they want to protect?

I know who's doing this march and if I were there I would be part of it.

Getting back to this marching thing. I am totally not against getting out there and doing something, but I am not into marches. I don't know what they accomplish. Yeah, occasionally there is an important one, but for the most part, they don't seem to be very effective. If you think they are, you can certainly do it. I just think that this issue is far too complex to be reduced to something that could be easily digested by the sound bite level of thinking that a march has to portray. Also, anyone who marches against the indignities of sex offender treatment is likely to put themselves at risk...seriously. I would not do it.

There have to be better ways to make your points.

march? yes i would if there were a march close enough for me to join up with.

nothing much is going to get done unless we are all willing to stand up against the laws that are driving us to silence and into hiding.

do i want my picture plastered all over the news? hell no!! but without all of us growing some and getting out there? why even bother to breath???

I look at it this way-- we can choose to march now or we can wait to be marched off to an internment camp someday, but we will march at some point. I'd rather not wait for the calls to ship us off to camps or deserted islands to be taken seriously.

As far as having "better ways to make your points," consider how many legislative sessions, media appearances, conferences, online petitions, social media/ websites/ email campaigns and the like we've engaged in over the years. We've done it all. However, we're being kept away from the ones who need to here our messages the most. We aren't going to be given opportunities to confront those most responsible for doing us harm. Sometimes we have to make our presence felt.

I've been on the Dr. Drew show three times now, so I've had a few discussions with those who make the show. I asked one of the producers why I'm not pitted against a John Walsh or a Mark Lunsford. The answer is they don't want to go up against someone like me-- someone opposing them with real facts. The other side of this issue is as whitewashed as our grade school history books. Their message is sterilized and processed for easy consumption. Sex offenders laws good, save the childrenz good, those on registry bad. Ugg.

The other side fears us as much as most of you fear them. We have done the victim industry a great service by staying hidden because it is far, far easier to promote fear and loathing of unseen "enemies." So we stay hidden because that's what "perverts, predators and pedophiles' do-- "sickos" "hide like cockroaches and scurry when the light is shined upon them." By being visible, those who propagate these beliefs can no longer do so with impunity. It is much harder to discriminate against someone to their faces.

Those worried about retaliation, consider the fact I've been visible for many years. I stated Once Fallen in 2007 and was active before then. I attended a rally before on this very issue, in Columbus Ohio in December 2007. About 60 or so rallied against the AWA (here in Ohio it was called SB 10). Opposing us was Bikers Against Child Abuse, Judy Cornett (a Florida Vigilante who has been on Oprah and other big TV shows), and Absolute Zero United, an affiliate of the Perverted Justice website.

Here's an article about the event:

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2007/12/02/THERALLY.ART_ART_12-02-07_B4_FF8L84F.html

After the rally, I went over to the wannabe biker thugs and spoke to them man to man (secretly recording them all the while) and I managed to get them to agree with me on some key issues. They were embarrassed when my video was released on YouTube.

You can see the rally here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkJBDLeAabQ&list=PLC4987059582ADDB2

So we've actually had a public event before, and no one was hurt or killed. The worst anyone experienced was some online hate from the AZU cowards.

As far as what the rally in Columbus accomplished--

1. We accomplished actually having a rally without the worst fears materializing. At the worst, a few rally attendees got some internet hate, and if a few typed words scare you, the internet may not be your thing.

2. The rally got people excited, at least for a while, and motivated people to organize. In December 2007, RSOL was little more than an online petition signed by a few researchers and experts. There was no such thing as an RSOL conference or a state affiliate group. Our current sex offender advocacy network came into existence because people caught rally fever and that led them to organize in a better way. If you were around in 2007, you'd understand just how far we've come in 8 years.

3. The rally inspired me personally. I was already someone with the heart of the protester, but when I first got out of prison, I wasn't thinking of reforming the registry. I was simply a guy trying to get by like everyone else, working and paying rent. After experiencing homelessness, housing and employment discrimination, and harassment by the American system of "justice," I decided to fight. Back in 07, we didn't have many organizations willing to help us. Many of the rally attendees just formed new groups. SOSEN was around then but up until the fall on 07, they were nothing but a Yahoo group. Back then our only real representative was a group called SOHopeful. SOHopeful opposed the rally in Columbus, citing many of the same fears and concerns as I have gotten by those questioning the need for a rally in 2015. But, the rally came and went, and people left SOHopeful for SOSEN, and SOHopeful slowly faded into obscurity (I bet most of you never even heard of it). I created my website right after the rally, and I've put thousands of hours into that and my other works, so if any of you value my site, that was a result of the rally as well.

Our turnover rate is pretty high and most current activists weren't around in 2007. That's at least two generations ago by RSO reformist standards. Three years ago when I went to the RSOL Conference in Albuquerque, people were actually shocked to hear there was actually a rally in Columbus in the first place. But it happened. I was there and I filmed the event. And despite how big of an A-hole some of you might think I am, I've done all this for all these years without getting beat up. I think the ones most likely to be targeted by vigi thugs are the ones unwilling to fight. People not willing to fight make easier targets. That's why people like the reptile dysfunction from Davie FL lurk here, in fact.

This is a very lengthy rant, I know, but the point of all this is I wouldn't be pushing so hard for this idea if I didn't think we need an event like this. It has been years since this movement took our message to the streets, to those who need to hear it. It is time to stop preaching to the choir and at least turn and face the congregation, or even testify to the non-believers.

I don't believe any one event, even a rally, is going to magically change the minds of people. However, It can lead to greater things. It already has.

Yes I agree with you Once - 100% - I have tried to get my son to become more involved but even though he was always a champion for the downfallen after this whole debacle he does not want to fight. I think it will come back someday (I hope so) - I tell him all that I learn and keep him informed.

It is really hard - but you have to be willing to sacrifice for what you believe in - reform of these laws does not mean we think no one should be punished it just means we want justice to be fair and not punish people for life long after their sentence imposed by a court of the land is complete - it means that we want fair sentencing for these crimes. When murderers are raised to an accepted status in the eyes of the justice system and the public over RSOs something is wrong. We want laws and reform based on the statistics and numerous studies that have been done over the years and not laws that are based on knee jerk reactions and false fears.

Once is not fair off in his predictions - they will eventually put us in a modern day leper camp - just look at the progression of the things that have already happened. The public list, notification of employers and neighbors, proximity restrictions, living restrictions, allowing counties and cities to apply their own new rules so that no one can possibly keep up with them all. No homeland security has with one letter made it so that no RSO can travel out of the country - so they have boxed us in and are pushing us closer and closer to one little stretch of land we will be allowed to exist. All based on falsehoods. So why don't people cry out at the injustice? Because the media and politicians have told them what to think and believe. I saw a very old friend for the first time in many years the other night - she is one of the most liberal and intelligent women I know - I do not tell people about my son unless I am face to face with them. So over dinner I told her and her initial reaction was to recoil in disgust. I looked at her in her eyes and asked her twice - Do you trust me? Her answer was yes - and I said All you think you know about RSOs is false - all of it. She wants to learn and I have little by little been sending her relevant items - so far her reaction is very good.

But for now the media and politicians have them wrapped around their fingers - think of this - how many times have you heard something or read something in the news that an RSO was doing this ir that so they could get more victims etc.? Like not registering his address or something? And all the people nod their heads that the monster was lurking in that unknown house waiting to victimize yet another child - but what is the truth? The person just needed a place to live!!