Horror No. 3: Sex Offenders

I don't even know what to say about this one. I put at Horror No. 3, but just the nature of it should put it higher. I'm keeping it at No. 3 because it didn't happen in the library.

"Sex abuse charges against Alabama A&M University's dean of library services will be dropped..."

"Clarence Toomer, 57, of 2504 Little Cove Road, was indicted in late 2008 for second-degree sexual abuse, court records show. That is defined as sex with someone between the ages of 12 and 16 or someone unable to give consent."

Okay, here is librarian, and not just a librarian, but the dean of library services at a state university, having sex with a child. I can't even calculate how offensive that reads.

The only thing that keeps this from being truly vile is that I might imagine that he had sex with a 16-year-old prostitute who told him he or she was 18. And this is still offensive, but I've seen enough Lifetime movies that I'm desensitized toward the plight of teens who turn to prostitution.

Or, and this is a stretch, if he had sex with "someone unable to give consent," maybe he had sex with a zombie.

The fact that the State of Alabama won't prosecute Toomer if he completes some sex offender treatment program leads me to believe that it was a hooker. And how often have we seen men of power (in this case, a dean) get caught with prostitutes and not be punished? If the Lifetime for Women channel is any indicator, every day at 8:00 p.m.