Victim of sex abuse stands up to abuser – Released after 2 months in jail
James Alan Irvin, 57, was sentenced to 18 months in jail for sexually assaulting his teenage victim. Irvin was released after only two months. Why? Because Ohio officials performed an analysis that determined he is “unlikely to re-offend”. WHAT?!?! Unlikely? Thats like saying maybe the crack addict is unlikely to walk away from a dealer having a buy one get one free special. The state is not offering a guarantee that he won’t re-offend.
Well his victim, who was one of Irvin’s students at a high school in which he was an administrator, is going door to door in the neighborhood where Irvin lives and telling the residents about what happened. The victim, 19 year old Nick Swonger, is putting his identity out to tell people about the type of person that Irvin is. In an interview with a local Fox news station in North Canton, Ohio, Nick had this to say:
“Never will I leave him alone,” said Nick. “Never will he be able to escape me, or what happened, or what he did to me. Every time he thinks it’s over, it’s not over and I will never stop fighting you.” (Quote from Fox 8 News)
I wish more victims were able to be this diligent. Sadly most victims are so traumatized that they can’t muster the strength to go through something like this. Nick is able to stand up and make sure that he does everything he can to prevent Irvin from being able to do this again. Irvin, is considered a “Level 1″ offender in Ohio, which is the “least dangerous”. I’m sure in Nick’s mind, Irvin is pretty dangerous. And I have to agree. I don’t care if you are a Level 1 or a Level 100, Irvin should not be walking around free after abusing a child. And just keep in mind definition of a child is anyone under the age of 18. So just because his victim was a teenager, don’t be saying he should have defended himself better and some other crap making the Sex Offender a victim.
I support Nick. He is doing the right thing. Make this man’s crime known. Make sure everyone around him knows what he did. Keep this man from getting the chance to make someone else his victim. If he doesn’t re-offend, chances are, Nick’s actions were more the cause than Irvin keeping himself under control.
