I am deeply saddened by the gaslighting op-ed written by a Woodstock official town employee. And I’m here to answer her question, “Have you ever done something you’re ashamed of?”
I agree that everyone has acted in ways they’d prefer not to have publicly revealed. At times, we may fear that if our behavior is put on display, others would form opinions and share perspectives that don’t 100% fit the narrative of one’s own point of view. It is certainly unfortunate when this occurs.
However, most folks probably don’t have a dark secret that if revealed would be punishable by law. Have I ever broken a law? Personally, I have. But I can 100 percent say I have never committed a violent crime of violation against another’s body, leaving them with lifelong trauma and triggers. I also have never supported the sexual trafficking industry of small children by downloading videos of their rape to my personal devices. I’ve never been interested in watching an eleven-year-old being assaulted in such a manner.
When such violence is perpetrated on other humans, the type that leaves lifelong scars, one can only expect that the community might have legitimate feelings of revulsion, concern, and interest in knowing more about what happened.
Sex offender is not a stereotype. Sex offender is a title earned through one’s own actions.
The case is made that Michael Innello is neither a pedophile nor a rapist. The definition of a pedophile is a person who is sexually attracted to children. In the law, there is a difference between viewing child pornography and possessing it. Mr. Innello had in his possession five videos of an eleven-year-old girl being forced into sexual activity. That’s a crime, and I’d say it is fair to assume he was getting some sort of feeling out of owning these five videos.
On the claim Mr. Innello is not a rapist, it’s a fair point in legalese, though probably an unimportant distinction for his victim. His sex-offense charge is sexual abuse in the first degree. This charge does not have to include penetration. It is written he also did not drug the victim. Either way, Mr. Innello somehow came across the unconscious body of a young woman. It does not appear he tried to help her. Instead he set up a recording device and violated her sexually. The fact that he had the time and forethought to create a video of his actions tells me all I need to know about whether or not this was a “mistake”. And I’m left with the question of what he was planning on doing with that recording. Saving it as a souvenir? Distribution to a wider audience? Blackmail?
To the charge that Mr. Innello does not jeopardize anyone’s safety, I say he already has proven himself to be a person that is willing to invade another’s safety. What he has not proven is his intent to not continue to do so. The man is out of prison not even a year. He served a short sentence compared to the lifelong scars inflicted on his victims. He is on parole and on a watchlist. To cast commonsense concern about this situation as heedlessness and hate is outrageous.
There is no witchhunt occurring in Woodstock. There is a public outcry about the nepotistic decision of our town supervisor to hire a recently released sex offender who is dating his personal secretary into a public facing and engaging position on the streets and in the public parks of Woodstock.
To expect the onerous of getting to know Michael Innello to fall on the entire Town of Woodstock is a ridiculous proposition. There have been several meetings where the public heard about Mr Innello being in town. Has he taken the opportunity to show up and introduce himself to the public? Why has he hidden behind the skirt of his girlfriend’s op-ed rather than write one himself? Should he not take responsibility to explain his actions to the community he’d like to be a part of? The whole argument about not getting to know this individual takes the burden of personal accountability off Mr. Innello and onto the townspeople of Woodstock. Quite frankly, I deny the responsibility of having to get to know this man when he hasn’t tried to get to know us.
Did you know that not all sex offenders are placed on watch lists when released from prison? Some are. Those with concern for re-offense or whose crimes are particularly egregious. It was sad to hear that Mr. Innello chose to save himself the possibility of being assaulted in a new prison environment rather than attend his own hearing. I get it, being assaulted really sucks. Perhaps the judge was having a “bad day” when he chose to place Michael on a Level 3 list. Either way, Mr. Innello was being released onto a watchlist because of the possibility of re-offending and/or the violent circumstances of his crimes.
Let me share a little about me. I have been volunteering in the domain of helping women for over 30 years, both through domestic violence advocacy and mentorship programs. I am a lifelong feminist. While I do not hold a degree in Women, Gender, and Sexuality, I am a student of feminism through classes and reading. Ms. Marino’s gaslighting of victims and the community by somehow linking the calling out of Mr. Innello’s hiring with not being a healed or conscious human being is particularly grating and devoid of empathy for victims still working their way through the journey of trauma.
In addition to being a female advocate, I’m also active in prisoner advocacy. I am directly responsible for two (non-violent) felons being released early from long sentences and earning commutations from president Joe Biden. I believe in prison reform and find parts of our criminal justice system to be wholly unjust. I believe the best way to reduce recidivism is to help past prisoners to reintegrate into society in transparent and holistic ways. However, this cannot be done glibly or in secrecy especially when reintegrating violent criminals. Some jobs are more appropriate than others in this regard. Placing a watch listed sex offender into a public facing position seems the height of irresponsibility.
The stance that Mr. Innello should be lauded for his in-prison behavior is a double-sided argument, in my point of view. It is necessary for felons to work on themselves in the same way it’s necessary for us all to work on ourselves to achieve change and growth. The urge to do so should be applauded in anyone’s life. However, to equate his behavior in a prison, where there were no unconscious women or young girls to interact with sexually to his presumed behavior out of prison is not a fair correlation. It sounds like Mr Innello, in an act of self-preservation, didn’t go up against the fully conscious prison guards and earned himself some privileges. I probably would have made the same choice in his circumstances.
Ms Marino’s linking of sex offenders and LBGTQ+ members as equally oppressed and misunderstood blew my mind. This analogy is so offensive. While the rest of the op-ed is manipulative, this is such typical homophobic rhetoric as to be labeled completely delusional at best. If Ms. Marino doesn’t understand the inappropriateness of this statement “Obviously most gay men are not pedophiles, and obviously not so obvious: not all people labeled sex offenders are vile, repulsive pedophiles. Nor are they all rapists,” she shouldn’t be publicly speaking on the issue.
I am a multi-generational human being that lives on this planet. I am an activist, educator, artist, and volunteer in every community I’ve ever lived in.
My personal history and Ms. Marino’s personal history have nothing to do with whether Bill McKenna acted appropriately or in the town’s best interest by hiring a recently released sex offender. In fact, I’d make the argument that Ms. Marino’s personal relationship with both McKenna and Innello precludes her from casting a reasonable judgement on this situation. There is societal custom of folks recusing themselves from casting judgement when intimately involved in a situation.
By her own words, there is a long relationship between herself and Mr. Innello. By her own admission, she doesn’t have as long-running relationships with the townspeople of Woodstock. Well, I do, because unlike Ms. Marino and Mr. Innello I actually live here, work here, volunteer here, and interact both publicly and personally with many community members. I cannot say all my interactions have been positive. What I can say is that this is one of the most conscientious, publicly active, and thought-provoking communities I have ever lived in. Fearmongers? Shame on you, Melanie.
I’m happy that Ms. Marino feels supported by her co-workers here in town. That is a beautiful thing. However, she doesn’t get to cast the rest of us as the villains. Having concerns with hiring a just-released sex offender to publicly facing position is not heedless or hateful. It’s just common sense.
This is a public and political issue of governance in our town. Ms Marino’s ‘s personal religious beliefs have no place in this discussion. I leave the reader to consider a fundamental aspect of our nation’s formation called the separation of church and state.
The only question here is whether this was an appropriate hiring into an appropriate position done with respect for the entire community and without nepotism.
Looking forward.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Hudson Valley One.
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