Charged sex offenders shouldn’t be on the street
I read the Wednesday, Jan. 13 article on “Man indicted on sex abuse” and was appalled that the man, Mr. Svendsen, who had three counts of continuous sexual assault of a minor under 14 at various times along with three other cases of first-degree assault and alleged specific instances was released.
My daughter was also sexually abused and we moved to Kona to get away from having to put my child anywhere that this could happen again. For Deputy Public Defender Ann Datta to argue that Mr. Svendsen be on a supervised release with
electronic monitoring (if necessary) is crazy.
If necessary?
How are they really going to monitor this pedophile? Just because he turned himself in, does not change the fact that he was indicted, and there are encounters since 2009-2011 on this poor 14-year-old child.
Why would any public defender argue that that bail would even be an option? Why would Ann Datta and Dale Ross not ask to keep this man in a facility, or a guarded secured home, until his trial on April 12?
In the meantime, all of our children are in danger of not knowing where this man is, and it is almost certain since this is a disease of the mind, for pedophiles to have the urge to do this to another child. I am appalled to see this in Kona, an island that is supposed to be away from all the child related crimes that are committed by this type of person. The judicial system needs to look closely into this manner, and more knowledge given to these public defenders that would even ask a judge to honor their request.
Jamie Larson
Kailua-Kona
Young student sad to see garden go
I first went to the Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden when I was in preschool. I distinctly remember because it was the largest garden I had seen in my 3-year-old life. And to this day it still is. I also vividly remember walking into the shop at the very front of the garden and seeing all the beautiful stones. I had to touch every single one of them to be satisfied. I never knew rocks could be so beautiful.
I have made so many wonderful memories at the garden. It is devastating to me that anyone would ever even consider closing such a breathtaking Big Island gem. The beginning of this year I made a few trips to the garden for my mentorship to help clean up the strawberry guava trees. We helped create a shaded area for the garden. I felt proud and feel so sad that it will no longer be put to use.
I have learned so much about Hawaiian flowers by visiting Amy’s garden. I love the variety of flowers. I remember so many marvelous scents. I also appreciate the amount of work and effort put into the garden. It disappoints me that my younger siblings will never get to have the same experience.
The garden was opened when Amy Greenwell died in 1974. Her dying wish was to have her property become a garden open to the public. I do not understand how her wish could be overlooked. I hope whoever takes over Amy’s garden doesn’t destroy it and continues to keep it open to the public. Bishop Estates, please don’t close Amy’s Garden.
Ajay Silva
7th grade student
Innovations PCS