http://www.miamiherald.com/news/5min/story/1300083.html

Two arrested in attack on accused child molester
Two Broward men were in jail Sunday after allegedly beating a third man with concrete blocks when a young boy said the man had fondled him.
BY JON BURSTEIN
Sun Sentinel
The Fort Lauderdale man who police say was severely beaten by a furious father after allegedly fondling a 3-year-old boy had been arrested twice before -- but never convicted -- in sex crime cases, according to court records.

Luke Petruschke had to be placed in a medically induced coma Saturday after he was kicked, punched and bludgeoned with concrete blocks and rocks by Manuel Vega, 27, and another man, according to Davie police. The attack took place just after Vega's son revealed that Petruschke had fondled him the night before at the family's home in Davie, authorities said.

Officials at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood would not release Petruschke's medical condition Sunday afternoon.

Petruschke, 38, was acquitted in 1997 of two sex-related charges in Sarasota County and, four years later, prosecutors in Osceola County dropped a lewd and lascivious molestation charge against him, online court dockets show. Details of the two cases were unavailable Sunday.

Davie police spokesman Sgt. Greg Gasse said that if Petruschke recovers, he will face charges of lewd and lascivious molestation.

While Vega's anger was understandable, Gasse said, it was not his place to act as ``judge, jury and executioner'' immediately after the boy made the accusation.

Vega now faces more serious charges than Petruschke, and whatever the boy suffered will be compounded by having his father behind bars, Gasse said.

Vega's mother said her son is a good father who ``lost it.'' Vega met Petruschke about two months ago, and they would go fishing and play cards together, said Evelyn Vega, the 3-year-old's grandmother.

``I pray that [Petruschke] lives for my son's sake because if he dies, my son will be in jail for a long time,'' she said. ``We will not drop these charges. He will pay for what he did to my grandson.''

Manuel Vega and his friend, Krish Carter, 43, are being held at the Broward County Jail without bond, facing attempted murder charges. Vega has a criminal history that includes convictions for grand theft, burglary and cocaine possession.

Petruschke had spent Friday night at Vega's home in the 5100 block of Davie Road after having dinner with the family, police said. The next morning, as he prepared to leave, the boy told his parents that Petruschke had fondled him.

Davie police responding to a 911 call about the suspected molestation arrived to find a bloody Petruschke staggering out of a nearby wooded area with severe head injuries.

Vega claimed that Petruschke had wrecked his Chevy Cavalier, but an investigator quickly concluded the damage wasn't the result of a crash, police said. Car windows had been smashed and there were two bloody chunks of concrete inside.

A witness later told police he saw Vega and Carter breaking out the car's windows with the concrete, punching Petruschke inside the car and then pulling him out to continue beating and kicking him. Vega and Carter left Petruschke motionless on the ground and went into Carter's home to wash their hands, the witness told police.

When Vega was arrested, he told the officers, ``That is my son, man. What would you do?''

Evelyn Vega said her grandson seems to be doing fine emotionally, but has asked for his dad.

``Manuel has been in jail before and done his time, but he loves his son and he cares for his son dearly,'' she said. ``I'm pretty sure he's driving himself crazy because he can't see [his son], talk to him and give him a hug. I know Manuel is destroyed in there thinking about this.''


I would have shot him

Hint: turn off multiple options.

Also, include Other, my answer is: for a Klondike Bar.

I would have beat the !@#$ out of the man with the butt of my shotgun before shooting him in the knee.

Oh, and btw, you should make it so people can only choose one option..

There is law enforcement for a reason.

Rage in that situation is understandable. But put the guy in a coma? These guys got way too carried away.

Yes we do, they did a real good job for first two kids he attacked.

Manuel Vega just ensured that if this guy survives he won't serve a day in prison. What an idiot.

He probably wouldn't have anyways. Besides, I always found that revenge is better felt when smashing the other person's face in. Jail is just too good for some people.

I wouldn't beat the guy with concrete blocks, assuming I did it at all. His feelings are entirely justified (assuming the man is guilty) but he has absolutely no place doing what he did. He made things worse for his son, that's all.

Indeed, not only does the kid have to accept what happened to him but also life without a father because of his response. One must ask if your objective is to protect your kid then why do something that would take any chance of your doing so away.

Would I have smacked the guy? Hrm...I dunno...probably not with concrete blocks. That's a bit excessive and probably warrants a $50 fine.

I'd probably have killed the man. I completely despise child molesters. Who has the guts to do something that low and ruin a kid's life?

I see no reason to make his sin my own.

Most likely. Doesn't make it right, of course. There is a reason that sentences aren't defined by the victims/families.

Well, they didn't put him in a coma, the hospital staff did. But when you consider that probably means morphine wasn't sufficient to kill the pain...

He wasn't convicted. That's the problem with that damn "innocent until proven guilty". It means that I can't just accuse someone of a crime and have that person serve a sentence for committing the crime.

I'm inclined to say no, though I don't have kids, so I will concede that I may in fact have wound up decking the guy. Beating him with concrete blocks? Not so much.

Would have likely killed him.

But I don't want kids, so its a non-issue. heh.

By molesting him?

This is the Sunday school answer I would give...


However, if this happened to my son, well, let's just say there would be no need to try a dead child molester.

I agree

Having been through sexual abuse before, I wouldn't hesitate to beat the sick !@#$%^& into a pulp.

Yeah, those doctors are A-holes.

I probably would've attacked him...

But I certainly would expect to be held accountable for that.

It depends, for me anyway, on whether or not I was around when the guy did it (which hopefully I would be... but that's beside the point).

If I was there, I'd probably hit the guy once if simply walking up wasn't enough to get rid of him, after hitting him once though, well, I'd pick the kid up and walk away and file charges.

If I was not there, I'd just file charges and keep my kid the hell away from the guy.

This situation does not warrant beating someone with concrete blocks.

No, I don't want to be in prison. And beating him wouldn't be nearly as satisfying as knowing *he* was in prison as a convicted child molester, knowing what awaited him there.

Unless he got off at trial and I was sure he did it ... in which case I can't say I wouldn't seek justice my own way.

This describes my view on it too... I would have kicked the guy's $@! but if I really $%&@ed him up then I should expect to be held accountable for my actions.

Actually somewhat hard to answer.

I'd be very tempted to practise the 3S's.

I pretty much agree with you here. The problem is that a child's word - taken alone - simply isn't reliable enough in cases like this to take such actions. Report first, if the justice system fails, resolve it your own way. Honestly, just make sure the body ends up somewhere where it won't be found for a while.

If there's one abuse victim on the jury, you don't have a thing in the world to worry about.



$25 fine for first-offenders. Thank you for paying your debt to society, would you like a hot apple pie with that?

I would definitely beat the holy hell out of that guy, but concrete blocks would be unnecessary

I would have shot him....no one molests my kid.

If there were definitive evidence that my child had been treated in that manner, I cannot guarantee that I would be able to exercise complete restraint. However, there is a reason why children are seldom used as witnesses in court cases. They are notoriously unreliable in their testimony, and are very easily manipulated into telling falsehoods. As such it doesn't make much sense to completely take a child's word for it if the veracity of their accusation has not yet been thoroughly tested by a professional. First have a child psychologist interview them, and then draw conclusions based on those findings.

Yeah, I was never used as a witness in my case, looking back eight years I'm glad I wasn't, I probably would have said something to get my uncle off the hook, and the whole trial could have screwed my life up even worse.

Does anyone remember the movie 'A Time to Kill'? It was a great movie with a plot similar to this one.

Would there really only be a 25 dollar fine for beating the living hell out of someone?

If he is beating up a child molester that is molesting his kid, I don't particularly care. There should be some punishment: fine, anger management courses, community service? But it's not like I think the guy should go to jail. At least not for this

Well I can somewhat agree with this... the only problem I can see arising with this idea is if someone just says that he beat the !@#$ out of someone for molesting his kid when this actually never happened, in reality he just doesn't like the guy for some reason. AKA what if someone just says that the guy he beat up molested his kid but this isn't true at all?

We know that probably ain't true, because this is a guy that's been arrested for child molestation charges twice before.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi3Hyxuf5AE

Don't molest children in the south.

Well yes but I am talking about in general here. What if a guy who was never arrested for anything is beat up and the other guy just claims that the guy molested his kid? Or what if the guy in question genuinely stopped molesting kids but the other guy knows about the fact that the guy in question used to molest kids and as a result he uses that as an excuse when he beats the !@#$ out of the supposed molester.

In the case in the OP I do admit that I would beat the hell out of the molester too, but in general it could be different and not always so clear that one can say in all cases similar we can just allow people to beat the hell out of people.

As much as I hate to say it...but whatever happened to "innocent until proven guilty"? Not just about this specific case..but...say...rape. Remember the Duke case? Now, imagine if the woman who accused the Duke lacrosse players had been a student. Now imagine if her father had gone and beaten one of the suspects with a concrete block and put him in a coma. What now?

Personally, I think convicted child molesters deserve a lot more punishment than what they usually get, and I'd totally be up for the dad to beat him, then the son to beat him (it can be a good old-fashioned father-son beat off... )...

Not something I'm particularly concerned with in this case to be honest.

there are times when old fashioned vendettas solve more problems than a whole host of law enforcement. I can comment because I had been on the brunt side once.

When I was kid, around 9-10 years, old an old guy , a distant relative, had abused me. I told about it to my uncle and cousins. Next day they cornered him in the main junction and thrashed him in public. Since then that degenerate has not abused anybody else.

That guy received what was in store for him, public humiliation, physical pain. If ever a case were to be registered against him, his age would make it sure that he wont get convicted. But now he has received ample punishment.

I would have done nothing, invited him for dinner a day or 2 later and spiked his food with cyanide. Maybe an almond pie (almonds being the main ingredient) to keep him from noticing the taste. Then I'd of put him in the back seat (with the car in the garage so as to stay out of site) then nonchalantly driven off like nothing was wrong and he was just sleeping. Drop him off in the woods on some country road and let the vaulters deal with him. 3 days or so later, no evidence.

I definitely would have thrashed the guy. Maybe not with cinder blocks, they are a little extraneous.