Found Guilty!

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/12/10/utah.smart.trial.verdict/index.html?hpt=Sbin

"More than eight years after a homeless street preacher abducted and sexually assaulted her, a beaming Elizabeth Smart said that a federal jury's guilty verdicts Friday sent a message that victims can find justice."

I can remember when I first heard about the Elizabeth Smart case, I was on a camping trip with my family. I remember it because she was my age and I remember thinking that if it could happen to her...it could happen to anyone.

After the guilty verdict that Brian David Mitchell received this last week, it was a releif to children and parents everywhere. One less child to be abducted. One more preditor off the streets.

"I hope that not only is this an example that justice can be served in America, but that it is possible that people can move on after something terrible has happened," she told reporters outside the Salt Lake City, Utah, courthouse Friday afternoon. "We can speak out, and we will be heard."

I can say, that for me, this makes me believe that there is hope for children these days. It's scary to think that preditors are out there and that they can be caught no matter the length of time.

I also give credit to Elizabeth Smart, having spend eight years waiting to bring the man who kidnapped and raped her to justice.

Not only has she recieved long awaited peace, but she also stood her ground during the trial, giving her own personal statement, without bias or anger.

Smart was taken from her home in 2004 by Mitchell and then transported out of the state and forced into a marraige with him. She was then raped daily until she was found 9 months later.

"I felt that because of what he had done to me, I was marked," Smart testified. "I wasn't the same. My personal value had dropped. I was nothing. Another person could never love me," she added. "I felt like I had a burden the size of a mountain to carry around with me the rest of my life."

I feel that because of her bravery and her efforts, she can be thanked for never giving up hope.

One man caught. One girls bravery.