Michael Charles Etchison

Two years ago, Michael Charles Etchison was given a stamp of approval and released into the public as 'no a risk' to society. Evidence that he was no longer a risk included helpful comments like "he was a model inmate" and that he'd not "committed any sexual assaults" in 25 years. Left out were the comments I would have personally added "he's not committed any rapes because he's been in prison" and "if he's such a model prisoner, keep him there, since his time in society he spent raping women and even butchering one".

Now, two years later,  Etchison has moved into a community, and is pleading his case that his past is his past, and hie neighbors have nothing to fear from him.

n 1972, a then-17-year-old Etchison was convicted of forcible copulation against a young woman he then murdered with a meat cleaver. As a minor, he served two and a half years in the California Youth Authority. In 1979, he committed forcible copulation again, was sentenced to three years in prison and served half the term.

In 1981, Etchison sexually assaulted three young women in separate attacks on the same day. One incident involved a woman at the now defunct Burlingame Drive-In. A judge sentenced Etchison to 20 years in state prison after a jury convicted him of forcible oral copulation. SOURCE

But we shouldn't be concerned with him now, according to his recent appearance on a radio station:

"I've been a terrible person," Etchison said on Sacramento's "The Capitol Hour" on KTKZ. "I've done a lot of crimes, as you're all aware of, and they have been very bad and I take full responsibility."

Etchison's lengthy criminal history includes four sexual assaults on young women as well as the murder of a woman with a meat cleaver when he was 17. Etchison moved into the community last week and registered with police as a sex offender as required by law.

"I am a changed man," Etchison said. "Today I do the right thing at all times. Jesus Christ is in my life and he holds me accountable."

I have a problem with people who invoke Jesus into their speeches about being a changed person, especially when they say they do the right things at all times. That's a pretty broad statement, coming from someone who clearly has a past that is hard to overlook.

"There's fear. There's anger. I want to apologize and ask for forgiveness," Etchison said. "Everywhere I go, this has potential to come out. I need to settle down. If they [residents] just give me a chance, they'll see I'm a man of God."

I believe that people deserve second chances, but according to my count- he's had his second chance over and over again. At some point- the rope of chances runs out- and I'd have to say that happened a long long time ago. Years of being a sexual deviant aren't erased just because the last 25 have went well for him- after all, except for two years- this freak has been under the complete control of the state. That's why he's not committed another heinous crime, not because of his own free will, but because of lack of opportunity.

Residents have had a town hall meeting, and are actively voicing their concerns on the web, although it's almost certain that they will be stuck with this man for the long haul. I can only caution that they be viligent in protecting themselves, and watching closely for any questionable activities.