I'm not sure what I find most offensive about this: the fact that the local media chose to try to sweep this under the rug as much as possible without completely being derelict in their duties, or that the NAACP would allow a convicted felon—one convicted of multiple homicides and an apparent attempt to cause a third— to hold office.

So much for standards and accountability:

Stokes County sheriff's deputies arrested the president of the local NAACP chapter on child sex and firearms charges Monday.

CBS affiliate WFMY reports that Larry Lash, 54, of Walnut Cove, was charged with six counts of statutory rape and two counts of sex offense and first-degree sex offense, among other sex charges.

Sheriff Mike Joyce told WFMY that there were three victims, including two under 16-years-old and that the alleged sex acts took place at Lash's home over a period of time.

Investigators found five guns and ammunition at Lash's house when they arrested him, leading to a charge of possession of a firearm by a felon. According to state Department of Correction records, Lash was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 1974 and assault by pointing a gun and discharging a firearm into property in 1978.

If the there is any evidence at all that Lash used the influence and prestige of his position to carry out his assaults, I hope that the families of the victims sue the state and local organizations into bankruptcy as a warning that no organization is above the law, and especially one chartered to fight for equality.

In this day and age where you have to submit to a criminal background check for everything from applying for loans, to applying for jobs, to volunteering in many organizations, there is no excuse at all for the NAACP not vetting their officers on every level, including Lash.

The other possibily—that the NAACP knew Lash was an convicted killer, and allowed him to serve anyway—is even more dangerously negligent, and I hope is far from the truth.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 12:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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