There’s one aspect of the Milton Orkopoulos case, which has not only stirred some debate between some of my mates, but I’ve spent some time thinking about. It’s about dobbing him in and it’s about supporting him.
We know that this mongrel’s mother, Stamata, and brother, George, have maintained their support of Orkopoulos.
His mother has revealed that she speaks with her son almost daily and looks forward to hearing his voice. "I tell him I love him, he has been a very good son to me,'' she said.
George told the Tele that Milton had suffered at the hands of people motivated by money and greed. He claimed there was a lot more to the case that was not revealed throughout the lengthy trial. He said he hoped one day the truth may come to light.
Now I don’t know about any of that and if they didn’t quite get it right, so what? Most of those dirty deeds had no room for ambiguity- none at all - so damn him forever.
OK, so here’s my question: If a member of your family committed at least one act of indecent assault on a minor, would you still support them?
I can understand how mothers wouldn’t abandon their sons. But if my brother had committed a similar act, I probably wouldn’t back him.
It’s just one crime - probably because I’m now a Dad - its one crime, I wouldn’t cop. Can’t stand.
I’d be interested to know what you thought.
Would you back a close family member, even if the crime was indecent assault on a minor?
And let’s get back to this suspicion, that members of the Labor Party turned a blind eye to Orkopolous’s dirty deeds. If you knew of someone close to you who was playing around with kids, would you dob ‘em in?
Let’s say it’s also a family member. We’ve been arguing about this in the office this morning. If it was a family member I’d try and stop it, rather than dob them in. But given a court case, I’d abandon them.
A discussion I had with a close mate a few months back ended in some acrimony, because I told him that no matter how close we were, if he played around with kids he’d lose me completely.
His wife said that her hubby, my mate, would never abandon me, no matter what I was convicted of.
And there’s another point: Would you wait until conviction before walking away? Or would never walk away? Think about all that.
Whatever way, it’s a tough decision.
