Sex Offender Wins Alaska Lottery

Maybe I should be a sex offender in the 49th state of the Union. Then, I'll be lucky as the three-time sex offender.

In what has to be a case of irony, Alec Ahsoak, who was convicted in 1993 and 2000 for sexual abuse of a minor, played in a lottery run by a group that helps sexual abuse victims. Proceeds went to the Standing Together Against Rape, a nonprofit in Anchorage that helps sexual assault victims.

He won the $500,000 lottery.

Ahsoak will reportedly give $100,000 to the center.

You can watch the story from ABC by clicking on the title.

But Ahsoak isn't the only sex offender to win big bucks in a lottery.

Last year, Fred Topous, who pleaded guilty to assault with intent to commit sexual penetration in 1999, and pleaded guilty for breaking and entering in 1984 and 1988, won $57 million in the multistate Mega Millions game.

And in Massachusetts, a man who was convicted for sex crimes committed in the 1970s and 1980s won $10 million last year.

On one hand, these men did gamble legally- apparently there were no stipulations preventing them from doing so- and won fair and square. So, yes, I'll say that they deserve the winnings. On the other hand, however, you have to question if there should be some oversight in who gets to win the prizes. But then, if you do that, you're going into privacy issues. In other words, there are no easy answers here. And I suppose there never will. The lottery commissions, and nonprofits in Alaska who do their lotteries as well, could make out a set of guidelines. But then, you're going into the risk of making generalizations.

Again, no easy answers.


Copyright (C) 2009 by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.