King said where Venables and Thompson are concerned, their judge showed a tender heart toward two young men who have been thought of as monsters by an entire country. If the judge thinks these kids have a chance at life then, wow, she's showing a lot of mercy and it'll be interesting to see what they do with it. Thurman said victims' rights in Texas have improved through the years, but even today, there's little a justice system can do to make sure victims' families are happy with the outcome of a trial or of an offender. Information, however, can be a major key to moving on after a tragic event, Thurman said. In Amarillo, juvenile crime victims are notified of court hearings and some judges will allow victims' families to address the juvenile offenders at sentencing, Thurman said.
Information is very empowering.
Sometimes with that information you can come to some sort of closure. You can try to move on. Since the boys now look completely different than they did while on trial, theoretically, the new adults could move into a home next door to the little toddler's family without the family ever knowing. And I'm sure that happens now where you have the victim and the offender and they meet each other in the grocery aisle. But for the London boys, the judge was also concerned about what Londoners would do to the boys if they were found.