An unusual and encouraging experience!
It was a very unusual call. I’d never spoken with him before.
He told me “A guy pled accused of child sex crimes pled guilty, but not until his lawyer bargained the charge down to an offense that will keep him OFF the sex offender registry. This isn’t right. It puts kids at risk of more harm.”
Then he asked “What can I do?”
We talked for 30 minutes, then briefly a few more times and exchanged a several emails,
Just a few days later, he and two dozen others held their first-ever news conference outside the local courthouse, urging the judge in the case to remedy this injustice.
It garnered nearly immediate coverage from two news outlets.
And within hours, a mom emailed me. The man who abused her daughter is still ‘under the radar.’
She too asked “What can I do?” We plan to speak soon, though I’m not sure I can help her.
But this outcome, this week – folks speaking out about abuse, getting attention and getting results (at least one more person promptly reaching out for help) – feels great.
But guess what else feels great? The ‘he’ in this story is a Protestant minister! His name is Keith Kepley.
To me, he’s an absolute hero!
In the past 35 years or so, since I first got involved in the struggle to help survivors, prevent abuse and expose cover ups, precious few good, concerned ministers, priests and church officials have ever called me.
And I’ve been sympathetic and supportive and patient to each one who has contacted me. But I’ve also prodded them to take prompt and usually public action to make the truth known and pressure decision-makers to do what’s right.
Sadly though, only a handful ever have.
All of this makes Keith’s quick action and smart focus on this case, this judge and this remedy – getting an almost certainly guilty man on the state sex offender registry – stand out even more.
I’m deeply grateful to him. And impressed by him.
It of course remains to be seen what impact, if any, Keith’s courageous and compassionate sidewalk event has on judges in the area. (Feel free, even though you don’t live in Richland County Illinois, to write the just in this particular case, whose name and address is below.)
But regardless, clearly some good has already come of the 25 concerned Olney area citizens who took to the sidewalks to make a stand for right.
Finally, I hope you’ll read Keith’s remarks below. At the beginning, he mentions white squirrels. Yes, white squirrels. They’re an unusual tourist attraction in his small town.
While you won’t immediately understand where Keith’s going with this, but please keep reading!
COMMENTS BY KEITH KEPLEY – 7/17/24
In Olney, IL our entire community identity is built on our commitment to protect our most vulnerable: our precious white squirrels. This October, at least 35 members of the Olney community will volunteer to canvas the town and count albino squirrels. This annual census helps this community continue its tradition of protecting our most vulnerable citizen. We are “home of the white squirrel” because we have decided to be.
Our government officials show this commitment not only by creating and maintaining a list of white squirrels each year (64 in 2022, 73 in 2023), but also by creating and maintaining a list of white squirrel predators. Thanks to an ordinance passed in 2022 making it illegal for cats to roam free, the feral cat population in Olney decreased from 106 in 2022 to only 85 in 2023. Our government cares so much about protecting our most vulnerable citizens that our leaders create and maintain a list of the predators who are most likely to harm them. We are the home of the White Squirrel, and protectors of these most vulnerable of God’s creatures, because we have decided to be.
Kyle Shipman was charged with four felony sex crimes against children. Our leaders have accepted a guilty plea from him to a single misdemeanor without requiring him to register as a Sex Offender. Your neighbor’s pet cat is on a watchlist in Olney, IL, but as of today, Shipman is not.
Will Olney, IL be the home of children who are safe and loved? Only if we decide to be. We must maintain an accurate registry of those most likely to harm children.
Our community does not expect its leaders to do a perfect job of protecting our children. Perfection is impossible. What our community has trusted our leaders to do, rather, is to use their power to equip us with what we need to protect our children ourselves.
Of all the gifts our government officials have given us, the Sex Offender Registry is the most consequentially positive. While the registry does not protect children directly, it equips parents, educators, coaches, and pastors with the ability to do background checks that warn us regarding who in our community poses a particular danger to children. It is a most vital tool.
When an individual pleads guilty in a case where they are accused of sex crimes against children, it is a necessity that this person be required to register as a sex offender, so that the community is equipped to do its job of protecting its most vulnerable citizens.
I am stunned that this standard was not met in the Kyle Shipman guilty plea arrangement. I had assumed that any guilty plea that did not involve him registering as a sex offender would not be considered. I was incorrect.
I am speaking up now, as repentance for my false assumption. I am using my voice and encouraging others to do the same. I do not have much power. I am not a judge. I am not a lawyer. I know that I do not understand the intricacies of the law or the limits of a judge’s specific powers.
What I do know is that our leaders, like Judge Vaughn, have more power than I do. When he speaks, more people in power will listen. If I state that never again in Richland County will there be a guilty plea to sex crimes against children that fails to require the perpetrator to register as a sex offender, very little is impacted. If, on the other hand, Judge Vaughn makes it clear that this will be his standard going forward, the rest of the legal community who serves Richland County will adjust accordingly over time.
Judge Vaughn, please use your voice and your power to help. Please equip us with the resource we need - an accurate Sex Offender Registry - to protect our children. Please.
Fellow citizens, please raise your voice. Write Judge Vaughn at 103 W Main, Olney, IL 62450. Tell him how important it is for our community to have an accurate Sex Offender Registry. Insist that Shipman be required to register, and that this be the last plea deal of its kind in our community.
Olney, IL is known as the home of the white squirrel. The most important word in that slogan is “home.” Home is a place where children are both safe and loved. I dream of a day a few years from now, when my children have children of their own. If they are to call Olney, IL “home”, it will be because we as a community have decided to be one.
Write Judge Vaughn. Tell him to register Shipman. Tell him to end plea deals for sex crimes against minors. Tell him to give us the tool we need to keep our kids safe and loved. Together, let’s put the “home” back in “home of the white squirrel.”
Will Olney, IL be the home of children who are safe and loved? Only if we decide to be. Where there is a will, there is a way.
Thank you.
Here, in case you’re interested, is one TV station’s coverage:
Protestors speak out against Kyle Shipman plea deal
By: Ben Verbanic Jul 17, 2024
Protestors say that they wish Shipman had been forced to register as a sex offender in Illinois
RICHLAND COUNTY, Ill. (WTHI) - On Wednesday morning, a group of over two dozen protestors met outside of the Richland County Courthouse to protest the plea agreement in the Kyle Shipman case.
In June, Shipman, who is a former Richland Elementary School teacher, pleaded guilty to one count of battery. Originally, he was facing additional charges, including child pornography. Under the plea deal, Shipman will serve 90 days in jail. He also cannot take another teaching position for two years.
News 10 spoke with several protestors who are upset with the plea deal. They say that the courts have a duty to protect children. They feel this plea agreement doesn't do that. According to the protestors, they wish that Shipman had been forced to register as a sex offender through the child pornography case, which was dismissed under the plea.
"What's the point of her coming forward to see her voice heard? Because she could be a victim at any moment. Anyone could. And if they are not going to believe the children, and if they are not going to take them seriously then who will?" says Krista Mitchell; a concerned parent whose daughter attends the elementary school where Shipman was employed.
News 10 reached out to the Richland County judge who presided over the case, Shipman's attorney, and the Richland County State's Attorney's Office. None of these entities provided a comment by the time this story was published.