Yesterday in Jackson County Circuit Court, Hon. Judge Rob Ratton took the negotiated guilty plea of a former school teacher, Christopher Bullington, in a resolution that will see Bullington register as a sex offender having been found guilty of Stalking in the Third Degree.
Unfortunately, in this case as in so many others, the juvenile victim deals with hardships that go far beyond the Courtroom floor. While the State may have dealt with the offender, the victim remains subject to the unkindness, bullying, and unsubstantiated ridicule of fellow students and sadly, their parents.
The victims of sex offenses do not have it easy—the echoes of today’s plea do not cease when the ink is dry on the paper. Our office releases this statement in a plea of its own—to young people who don’t know the impact of their statements as well as to citizens who are old enough to know better. Victims of sex crimes have enough to deal with without having to hear whispers and slurs implicating their character.
Gossip isn’t harmless.
In a world where you can be anything….BE KIND.
John Pettie
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney