I am grappling with the issues raised by the recent events on Third Street, I am…listening, reading and trying to take in what I am hearing from neighbors, friends and commenters on OTBKB.

I am hearing that neighbors on Third Street are joining together to aid the man accused of child molestation. He will NEED money for his defense – someone said $10,000. I am wondering if anyone is COLLECTING MONEY ON HIS BEHALF?

Ironically, the over-exposure of this situation could result in his getting the money for the lawyer he needs. Is there a defense fund for him. If not, there should be. He has no money and he needs help.

Everyone deserves good legal counsel.

Quite a few people I’ve spoken to say that the mother was wrong putting the man’s name on the infamous flyer. And I agree. Even putting her own name up there violated her daughter’s privacy. Now the local news will not reveal the name of the mother to protect the girl. But the man, his name is smeared all over the city.

Did the mother have a good reason to take matters into her own hands? He’d been arrested, faced a Grand Jury and is now awaiting trial. What more did she want? Couldn’t she just let the judicial system do what it needs to do?

It think it would have been possibe to spread the word without naming him. She could have written something like: There is an accused sex offender living on this block. He is awaiting trial. In the meantime, do everything you can to assure that your children are well supervised, safe and educated in what to do if such a situation arises.

But you don’t need a weather man to know which way the wind blows.

We all KNOW that there is danger in this city, this country, this world. That’s why we act prudently and cautiously. We protect our children every single day from danger. We oversee their activities, supervise them, stay in touch with them, and NEVER EVER introduce the to situations that might be dangerous. That is the pact we make when we have children. Bottom line: it is our responsibility every day to protect our children and teach them to be smart about imminent danger.

Danger lurks all around. But for the most part, we manage to avoid it by staying alert to the fact that the world is a complicated place and complicated things happen.

The Daily News paraphrased something I said about "stranger danger." Most kids are warned about  strangers when it is actually really nice, familiar people who harm them in this way (I am not suggesting that the man is guilty – I am speaking generally here).

Right from the beginning, I saw parents, understandably, go into "protective parent over-drive." How do I protect my kid, what do I say, how do I even explain what the sign said?

These are just some of the thought rumbling around in my brain. Someone asked me tonight if I think I made a mistake putting the story about finding the sign on my blog. It’s quite possible that I did make a mistake. That it was done without enough thought of what the ramifications might be.

I never imagined that he was someone so many people knew. Once I heard that he was a familiar face on the block, a well-liked person, "a good man," I knew things were going to get very complicated.

And god knows they have.