Evidence that the Media is twisting stories

I recieved notice of this amzing fact from serveral people but Mary from Virginia had the most research and presented the most evidence of this. It is sad enough that a young girl was killed and raped but now the mother is on a vendeta to chase Former Sex Offenders out of her community by falsly claiming the man arrested for this crime was a Former Sex Offender. Now the media is going out and claiming he was one also. The other day on a 20/20 repost even people within our movement thought that he was a former offender after watching it. They did such a good job presenting falsehoods as fact that every one believed them. Only some asstute watchers questioned their facts and did the research and learned the truth. Many people are writing to the media outlets and letting them know we don't appreciate being lied to. Read on for the full story.....

Every day we search for news articles from across the U.S. To post in the Articles section of our web-site, http://WWW.rsolvirginia.org/articles.HTML

In the last few days of reading articles to post we've noticed the U.S. Media is now saying Somer Thompson's accused killer is a Sex Offender by either claiming he’s “convicted” or if the Sex Offenders hadn’t been  allowed to live in Somer’s neighborhood her murder could have been prevented.

 

CBS- http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20002679-504083.html

 

ABC- http://blogs.abcnews.com/pressroom/2010/04/abc-news-chris-cuomo-investigates-the-disapearance-and-murder-of-sevenyearold-somer-thompson-in-an-h.html

 

Jarred Harrell moved out of Somer’s neighborhood after she disappeared. At that point he was NOT a Registered Sex Offender or charged with a Sex Offense..

 

Then child porn was found on his computer and while investigating those charges authorities realized he was once a neighbor of Somer’s and he became a suspect in her murder.

 

So why did last nights viewers of ABC’s 20/20 News Program walk away believing Harrell is a Sex Offender? Because ABC and Somer’s mother lead you to believe that. Why?

 

Because it hypes the fear of Registered Sex Offenders and it gives Somer’s mother a platform to kick all of the RSO’s out of her town and into the next.

 

Here’s an article from when Harrell was first arrested, he was not a Sex Offender so 20/20’s story about Somer’s murder and the local Registered Sex Offenders is highly misleading and poor journalism.

 

Arrest in Girl’s Murder Highlights Sex Offender Myth, March 26, 2010:
http://news.discovery.com/human/arrest-in-girls-murder-highlights-sex-offender-myth.html

 

We are extremely disappointed in 20/20 and CBS for knowingly misleading their viewers and readers.
It’s the media's responsibility to deliver facts even when a distraught mother wants to twist those facts.

 

RSOL of Virginia