Saturday, July 23, 2011

Article: Domestic violence deaths need to end

Published:
Saturday, July 23, 2011 6:07 AM EDT
The fourth annual Nicole’s Run/Walk last Saturday served as a reminder of the tragedy that can result from domestic violence while raising funds to prevent it in the future through supporting Caring Unlimited.

Nicole’s Run is named after Nicole Oliver, a young mother of two from Wells who was killed by her husband in July 2007. The run and walk was first organized by her friends and family to benefit Caring Unlimited, which provides York County residents with domestic violence prevention programs. Organizers say they hope to raise awareness about the prevalence of domestic violence while also remembering and honoring Nicole’s memory.

The run comes after two more women were killed this spring by their husband and ex-husband, respectively, and two children were killed by their father.

In early June, Nathaniel Gordon, 32, shot his 30-year-old wife, Sarah Gordon, outside her home in Winslow. After killing his wife, Nathaniel Gordon left the home in his car and fatally shot himself in his car at 9 p.m. after being chased by State Troopers along the Maine Turnpike in Gray. The couple had two children.

Just one week later, Steven Lake, 37, of Wellington, shot and killed his 38-year-old estranged wife, Amy Lake, and their two children, 13-year-old Coty and 12-year-old Monica, at their home in Dexter, before turning the gun on himself.

This second shooting in particular – resulting in four deaths – raises some major concerns about how domestic violence offenders are dealt with in Maine.

Lake was out of jail on bail after he violated a protection from abuse order, according to published reports, and was in possession of a shotgun, despite being prohibited from having one.

Amy Lake told police one year earlier, in June 2010, that her husband held a gun and talked about killing himself, the children and her at their Wellington home. He was charged with criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and a misdemeanor of domestic violence criminal threatening. Amy Lake also filed a protection from abuse order against her husband, which he was later accused of violating. They were in the process of divorcing when he killed his family.

While Lake is ultimately responsible for killing his family, reforms may be needed in the release conditions and probation of domestic violence offenders.

In addition to having more stringent rules of probation and oversight of those rules, gun control is also often a problem when criminals continue to commit crimes. Despite orders that convicts not possess weapons, they often end up with weapons that they can purchase easily or steal, and keep hidden from their probation officers.

The Maine Domestic Abuse Homicide Review Panel reported of the 31 homicides in 2008, 65 percent were domestic violence related, and of the 25 homicides in 2009, 35 percent were domestic violence related. These numbers are too high, and protections need to be in place and enforced to keep victims of domestic violence and children in those families safe.

In a recent radio address, Gov. Paul LePage told about his own experience with domestic violence, saying, in part, “I left home at the age of 11 with nowhere to go. But being homeless was the better alternative of being abused. I understand how domestic abuse can tear a family apart, and I am aware of the sensitivity of the issue.”

He went on to say we need to make domestic violence socially unacceptable through a coordinated community response, and he asked men to step up and speak out against it. He also called for stronger domestic violence laws to hold abusers accountable. He said Public Safety Commissioner John Morris is working on legislation that addresses the issue.

As legislation is considered and made into law, we hope policy for enforcement and supervision of domestic violence offenders plays an important role to help keep incidents of domestic violence – and particularly related deaths – from escalating and increasing in the future.

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