"Ride For Their Lives" Tour Makes Salina Stop
Todd Pittenger - Sun 01:34 PM 09/05/2010
(from left) Kansas Attorney General Steve Six talks with Ed Smart, the father of Elizabeth Smart who was abducted in Utah in 2002, and Ahmad Rivazfar, the father of Sayeh and Sara who were abducted in Florida in 1988.
A cross-country bicycle tour with a mission of raising awareness about child predators, and safety, stopped in Salina on Saturday.
Kansas Attorney General Steve Six welcomed the "Ride for their Lives" tour.
The "Ride for their Lives" is a cross-country bicycle ride by Ed Smart, the father of Elizabeth Smart who was abducted in Utah in 2002, and Ahmad Rivazfar, the father of Sayeh and Sara who were abducted in Florida in 1988. Sayeh survived, but Sara did not.
Mark Lunsford is riding along on a motorcycle. His 9-year-old daughter Jessica was kidnapped, raped, and murdered, in Florida in 2005. Following her death, her father, Mark Lunsford, pursued new legislation to provide more stringent tracking of released sex offenders . The Jessica Lunsford Act was named after her. It requires tighter restrictions on sex offenders, such as wearing electronic tracking devices, and increased prison sentences for some convicted sex offenders. Jessica's Law refers to similar reform acts initiated by other states, including.
Along with Attorney General Six, all three riders spoke. Each spoke about the cases involving their children. Each had a message of becoming more involved in the lives of children, and being an advocate.
All three are member of the Surviving Parents Coalition. The group is made up of parents of children who were abducted, sexually assaulted, murdered, recovered or are still missing. Through legislative efforts they hope to significantly improve public awareness about prevention as well as legislative progress, facilitate hands-on safety education in schools for children through young adults and promote best practices for law enforcement and communities in responding to predatory crimes.
One of the main goals of the group is to advocate for a national DNA data base of all criminals convicted of a felony crime.
Salina was the 13th of 25 stops planned on the ride, which started in Rochester, N.Y., on Aug. 20. It will culminate in Los Angeles on Sept. 22.
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cfcoklahomaorg
Sunday 5 September 2010 14:38 Report this comment
:Ride for their Lives Brochure - CFC Guest Forum - Citizens for Legislative Change-Oklahoma http://t.co/6Alq0hE
cfcoklahomaorg
Sunday 5 September 2010 15:24 Report this comment
We are ruining the lives of hundreds of thousands due to the AWA and Jessica's Law. Enough is enough! Congressman Bobby Scott says, "Once your on the public registry, your life is pretty much shot." http://youtu.be/pteugppl-Ko
lawabider
Sunday 5 September 2010 16:38 Report this comment
More like this link: http://tiny.cc/cd8y4
Chip8
Tuesday 7 September 2010 08:40 Report this comment
I have No simpathy for these people! They have no rights any more. They have shown society they cannot coexist with humanity...child rapist and killers should be put to death! Thank You "RIDE FOR THEIR LIVES"!!
Grateful
Wednesday 8 September 2010 08:00 Report this comment
Good luck and thank you to all of you participating. This is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. Our prayers are still with you and you're children. Gone but never forgotten. Ride On!
robin
Wednesday 8 September 2010 14:59 Report this comment
I would like for someone to tell me why Salina stopped the RUN FOR THE WALL do you not like all the bikers that come into Salina that helps bost up a little money for Salina , or could it be that Salinans have forgotten the many that are still MIA & of the POW and the ones that never made it back to their homes and family ,you do a big stink about people riding bycycles into Salina ,big deal look out your windows if you want to see them ride their bycycles I sure do miss all the NICE people that came from all over to ride in the run for the wall
StevenYoon
Tuesday 21 September 2010 03:12 Report this comment
This rides "advocate[s] for laws and prevention education"? How so? How does drawing attention to a few very rare murdering psychopaths bring about true education? More than likely it will only result in more punitive sex-offender legislation- the kind that has done very little to prevent sexual offenses and sexual recidivism. Although sex offender laws arise from particular publicized crimes, the laws focus on this small, atypical group of offenders without providing meaningful relief to victims. If sex-offender laws were truly about the victims and preventing sexual abuse in the future, they would included legislative provisions allocating funds for victim counseling and research into programs that address the underlying causes of abuse. To date, we have not heard that this was the focus of the '3000 mile + bike ride for child predator awareness'.... Steven Yoon Canadians For A Just society canadiansforajustsociety[dot]webs[dot]com