Father Saves Daughter From Molester - by Beating Molester to Death

He's not being charged with a crime

A small town dad is the nation's official Vigilante of the Day. Or he would be if such a designation existed.

Jason Howerton at The Blaze reports on the news of a father beating and killing a man he caught molesting his 4-year old daughter in a horse barn in Shiner, Texas.

The local sheriff, Micah Harmon, said the alleged molester was a 47-year-old man from Gonzales, Texas, whose name is being withheld until his next-of-kin can identify him.

The identity of the father is likewise being withheld to protect his daughter's privacy, and so far no arrest has been made. Judging from the reaction of Shiner residents to news of the killing, however, he can expect a good deal of community support, whoever he is.

"A lot of people have said that he got what he had coming to him," said the owner of a local convenience store. "They've been supportive of doing what needed to be done to take care of the problem."

Original story posted June 12th, 6pm PST

Update, June 21st, 10:45am PST: Those of you who commented below that the father was legally justified and shouldn't face charges were quite right. The dad in question is not being charged with a crime by Lavaca County's district attorney and sheriff, The Huffington Post reports. A jury too has reached a verdict that the father, whose name is still being withheld, was justified in his use of deadly force to stop a sexual assault being committed against his daughter by the man now identified as Jesus Mora Flores.

Does a case like this show when vigilante action is acceptable?

[FollowTheMoney]

I wonder if Al Sharpton and his crew will interject themselves, in the name of the molester?.

[LogicNeeded]

Wait, where did it say that the molester was black?

[ir0nw0lfe]

Why would it matter? Your not suggesting that Sharpton and company only care about black people are you? Why that would make him a racist!

[Bobolinsky]

I don't think the dead molester was black but your comment made me laugh out loud thinking about Sharpton... a dead molester... "We will much...uhh...conversate about whether or not the molester was should have been in the barn in the first place... Who in their right mind would allow a child molester into a barn alone with his daughter. This was premeditated murder of a black child molester simply because he was molesting while black."

[FollowTheMoney]

No, I wasn't suggesting the molester was black. I don't know why ,but I had a funny picture of Sharpton trying to get Medea coverage by defending this molester.

[Fuchsia]

I have a feeling that the molester was Hispanic male, though I have no proof as of yet. As for Al Sharpton, he once visited a White man in the hospital who was literally a**-raped by the cops. A police officer had shoved his radio antenna inside him. The man wasn't even a suspect, just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[okboston]

Catching the guy in the act is not an act of a vigilante. It is a crime of passion. Think of the money this guy saved the local government with a trial and imprisonment.

[ir0nw0lfe]

It's not a crime of passion. It's not a crime at all. It's protecting his daughter. It's called justice.

[Stratton]

Ironwolfe is correct. Legally, this is considered self-defense in the third person - the father was defending his daughter.

[Gatordude]

As the father of two girls and one boy I do believe I would have reacted in the same manner. Tough shiz you dirty nasty perv.

[ir0nw0lfe]

I don't believe in advocating violence or in taking law into your own hands. As far as I'm concerned in this matter, the molester committed suicide when he chose his course of action. Sounds like the father was within his rights. Best thing the public can do is give the family the privacy they deserve. I'll save my sympathy for the victim in this case.

[LogicNeeded]

I don't really condone beating someone to death, but he had it coming.

[marine1]

Good job,people like that do not deserve a second chance. The next little girl no longer needs to worry. Thank you.

[aynrandsux]

First: This article is from "The Blaze"...Glenn Beck.. so it is suspect right from the start. Second...The U.S. is founded (or suppose to be) on the rule of law..including DUE PROCESS. The dead man was denied due process, a legal maxim of American jurisprudence. He was also denied the legal maxim of innocent until proven guilty by a jury of his peers. Is the U.S. a nation of laws or a lawless nation? You can't have it both ways.

[ir0nw0lfe]

And yet, strangely enough, I'm good with it. What if it was your 4 yrs. old daughter? Why is Glenn Beck immediately suspect? He's out there but what has he lied about?

[Stratton]

Aynrandsux, before you start throwing around big words like "jurisprudence", maybe you should educate yourself on some simple legal concepts such as "self-defense". Due process and the right to a jury trial do not obligate people to stand by and allow a heinous crime to be committed without interposing themselves - violently if necessary. I shudder to think of what it would be like living in a country where YOU designed the legal system.

[Bobolinsky]

You know what? You may very well be right Ayn. It is possible that the dead molester was incapacitated and this father knowingly dealt a death blow to a defenseless child molester.
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If that were the case, then not prosecuting this father who killed a child molester whom he caught in the act of molestation would indeed be an example of lawlessness.
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I think I can tolerate a level of lawlessness that looks the other way in instances like this.
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Lawlessness I can't tolerate are things like bags of heads being delivered to police chiefs in small mexican towns. Headless bodies hanging from bridges in Juarez. Rape trees along coyote routes.
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Or how about some lawFULness that is intolerable. How about gays being publicly hung in Iran, or children born in North Korean work camps being systematically dehumanized and indoctrinated to believe that they are responsible for their ancestors sins against the Dear Leader.
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Nope. I'd rather we were a society that had a weakness for fathers that kill child molesters.

[ir0nw0lfe]

Bob, I could get to like you.

[ded]

Or children born to child-abusing Christians in the southern United States being systematically indoctrinated to believe that modern science is a lie.

[pezcore64]

While the molester may have deserved it, we still have laws and rules in this country that EVERYONE is expected to follow. if the parents actions were justified, he has nothing to fear from a court. anybody who commits a crime, regardless of circumstance, should have a day in court for it.

[Stratton]

Under the law, the father's actions qualify as self-defense in the third person since he is directly responsible for his minor daughter. I'd be surprised if he's charged.

[classychazy]

Why so they can serve 3 years in prison? Then get out and do it again and again. Your comment is a JOKE!!!

[Fuchsia]

Yes, and everyone includes the rapist. I believe in the case of abuse, the abused should get a free pass in stopping the abuse. For instance, in a case where a bullied teen rightfully killed his tormentor, he should have been given a medal and praised as a hero, not sent to prison. And the mother of the piece of trash bully who was every bit as a bad as a child molester would still have her son if she would have used whatever discipline it took to permanently destroy any possibility of bullying in her son. But she was lashing out at the real victim in this, and that is the boy who must be in prison because she failed to control her piece of trash bullying son who should have been aborted in the first place. Parents of rapists, bullies, and homicidal gang members should all be sterilized so they won't make any more like that. If you have kids that bully, you should get at least a month in jail each time they bully.

[seedtick]

A Grand Jury is the first step in the system. If they don't true bill him he does not go to trial...If the evidence had been against him he would have been arrested and had bond set pending a trial. Those are the laws you and I live with. That is why the District Attorney put it before a Grand Jury.

[Conserv]

I think anyone with a child would have done the same. I know I would have had it been mine.

[imceci]

I am the mother of 5 girls and 11 grand daughters..... Believe me, I would have beat him to death too!

[Vlemx]

Yes!

[Truthinesss]

I'm all for the law, but I have no sympathy for child molesters. If it turns out that's what was going on, then good for him. One less we have to worry about.

[ded]

He beat him to death out of anger. He had already got the daughter to safety. How can you be in favor of that and "all for the law"?

[Truthinesss]

See where I said I'm all for the law, BUT....its an opinion of mine that child molesters should be given the death penalty. So yea, if it turns out that was what happened, then he saved the people money from paying for him to sit in jail. If you have a child, you should understand. Find someone molesting them, and see what you do in that situation.

[Mr_GO_HERD]

I'd kill anyone who even attempted the same thing on my son let alone actually catching someone doing the act.

[Keyjo]

As someone else already pointed out, this was an act of defending his four year old daughter against being harmed. The father has full community support. After an autopsy on the perv, it will likely be presented to a grand jury. Unless the investigation reveals other details than we now have, a grand jury probably will find the father was justified. Texas has a "stand your ground" law much like the one being tested in Florida re: Martin/Zimmerman.

[WONDERING]

He got just what he deserved.It's a parents duty to protect their child.DIRTYno good for nothing.

[AlexanderKM]

Good going dad. I'd have done the same in your shoes!

[Joe6Pack]

So much for trial by jury.

[AlexanderKM]

I take it you'd just stand there and wait for the Law then?
No sir, I'd nip the problem in t he bud and shoot that bastard before he harmed my little girl.
If he dies, oh well. If he's paralyzed, oh friggin' well. His fault for assaulting my daughter. Perfectly legal.

[Fuchsia]

Someone like this deserves a jury alright - a jury of 12 bullets, or 10 fingers and 2 bullets.

[Patty12]

In Texas this man was defending his daughter, what would you have him do? One has the right to bear arms in defense of self or family and or property etc.. This country needs more fathers who come to the aid of their children and wives!

[ded]

He had already got his daughter to safety when he separated her from the attacker. He then lost control and beat the guy to death. That's not defense.

[MarkJM]

Great Job Dad!! I would have done the same exact thing. No way would I wait for law enforcement if I saw some sicko going after my 4 year old daughter. This sick freak got his ass beat to death and rightfully so. Completely justified in my book. This father should be praised a hero and no criminal charges should come out of this. The beating was justified in my opinion.

[LeslieAbi]

Kudos to this dad! He stood up for his daughter. I hope the courts don't make him out to be a criminal. He was protecting his child. Isn't that his job as a parent?

[ded]

No, he wasn't protecting his child. He had already got his daughter to safety, when he separated her from the attacker. What he then did was out of anger.

[LeslieAbi]

And rightfully so! He should be angry. He reacted as any sane person would. Have you known or ever been molested/raped? It is an infuriating idea that makes you go berzerk in your head. It's terrible, and although I never acted on it, statute of limitations had already passed once I found out, I have definitely thought about it more than a time or 2. If that isn't your reaction to protect your child or loved one in that way then you are a sad excuse of a person. I would even venture to say I would feel the same way if I saw that happening to a complete stranger.

[Janniel]

As others have said, this wasn't vigilantism.

[ded]

It was done out of anger. He has already got his daughter to safety. What he then did was punishment.

[Janniel]

DED, I see your point. However, to say that his man should have had the presence of mind to coldly calculate how far he should go to protect his daughter is not really valid. As a parent myself, I'm not sure I could stop myself from killing someone in that situation. That is our instinct, and nothing brings out base instincts more than when someone harms or threatens our kids.

[Ghaleon]

The man should be put up for murder. What he did was right but killing someone is wrong. You should not be allowed to take the law into your own hands. Also how do you let you 4 year old girl out of your sight. Just want to know the full story.

[appalled]

As one of several very young child abuse survivors, this father did the right thing. You can't predict what such a criminal will do and wait and call the police. If a man tried to rape me and I had a gun, I would try to shoot not to kill, but if he died, I would not be in any way a criminal. Rapists and child molesters kill.

[Fuchsia]

This was defending his daughter, not taking the law into anyone's hands. He was defending her as it was happening. What should he have done? Given him a gold medal? Joined him in raping his daughter? He didn't exactly let the girl out of his sight. If he had, he would not have loved her enough to stop the attack. Love ALWAYS harms those who harm those they love. If you are not willing to die or kill to protect me, then don't call yourself my friend at all. And the man here killed nobody. The rapist gave up his right to personhood the moment he attempted to sexually penetrate the man's daughter. If the attacker wanted to remain alive, he wouldn't have done that. Even a stupid person knows that raping a loving parent's daughter is tantamount to suicide or a death warrant. If you want to remain alive, don't rape. How much simpler can I make it?

[FollowTheMoney]

Your comment really showcases exactly whats wrong with our country. You are probably a very nice person, but some times we have to make the hard decision to kill. To remove from the earth, that what would attack the most innocent thing on this planet, a four year old child. To put another child at risk by allowing this monster to live is stupid. To waste one minutes resources to keep this thing alive , well you get my point...

[CommonSense]

By the time the police got there she could've been dead. The father had no choice. He had to save his daughter.