Dennis Ferguson - Interview

For those not in the know, Dennis Ferguson is a man who was convicted of child molestation in the late 1980s. Since his conviction, he has steadfastly maintained his innocence. This refusal to admit to a crime he claims not to have committed led to his exclusion from sex offender treatment programmes in prison and thus also excluded him from the possibility of early parole. He served his full 14 year sentence and was eventually released from prison to an awaiting media frenzy. Since his release he's been hounded from house to house as successive communities have been whipped into a frenzy.

None of us will ever know for sure if he really did commit that vile crime or if he was indeed wrongly convicted as he claims. He's been exposed to massive media coverage yet few of us really know much about him besides the one dimensional caricature the media present. For this reason it was interesting to watch the progamme devoted to him on Four Corners tonight. He doesn't present well but that's largely to do with his physical characteristics and the facial expressions that come with his blindness.

My gut feeling is that he is indeed guilty of molesting those poor kids and deserved the sentence he received. Still, he's now paid his debt and should be able to get on with his life without being constantly hounded and harassed by the unwashed masses - in particular the media whore Sean Killgallon who he's been driven to apply for an Apprehended Violence Order against. Check out the interview and story and make up your own mind.

LINK TO FOUR CORNERS SITE