Les Belcher was my next door neighbor when I was a child. I remember during my childhood that he was very perverted. Children can be cruel, and I used to taunt him with "Lester Pester Dog Molester." Although mean, the taunt reflected his actions as I had once caught him doing just what the taunt suggests.
Les Belcher was my next door neighbor when I was a child. I remember during my childhood that he was very perverted. Children can be cruel, and I used to taunt him with "Lester Pester Dog Molester." Although mean, the taunt reflected his actions as I had once caught him doing just what the taunt suggests.
Les was the oldest of four brothers, and he was mentally retarded. Neither he nor his family would admit this, and he tried to live as a non-challenged human being. As far as I know, he never sought help for his disabilities. His behavior into puberty swung to someone who cannot control their base desires. He stockpiled a huge porn collection as a teen and masturbated with obvious signs detectable to anyone who visited his house. I won't get into those details out of respect for one's appetite. I have nothing against porn or masturbation, but most people try to keep those activities private.
Several incidents marked that something was wrong with him. My sister and I lived with my great grandparents as children, and my great grandfather grew muscadines behind his tool shed. One day, we were playing around the muscadine vines, and Les came around the corner of the shed. I can't remember what he said to us, but he exposed himself and invited my sister to do sexual things. Of course, we didn't stick around to figure out what he was talking about. We were in elementary school at the time.
Later on, when my sister was in junior high and high school, she would freak out thinking someone was peeping in the window at her. The last time this happened, it had snowed and there were tracks from her window going to and from the Belcher's house.
I'm not sure why the police were never called during these incidents. Perhaps my great grandparents were from a simpler time, when you tried not to create trouble with your neighbors. Still, those few things were just the tip of the iceberg of illegal and mean actions that came from next door. Reporting them would have been the proper thing to do.
If something had been done all those years ago, perhaps Les wouldn't be in prison, where he will serve at least 25 and a half years.
A Pacolet man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after jurors found him guilty of sexually abusing a child with developmental delays.
Giles C. Belcher, 34, was found guilty of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor. Prosecutors said the crimes occurred repeatedly in 2002 and that the child disclosed the incidents to a counselor in 2003. The investigation continued until 2005 because the child was unable to communicate with officers then because of her cognitive ability.
One day, a babysitter was giving a 2 year old girl a bath. She discovered the toddler could not sit in the tub, so she examined her and found the girls privates were swollen. She took the little girl to the emergency room where they determined the girl had been sexually and physically abused. There was only one man who had any private time with the 2 year old, and that was her father.
Les Belcher raped and abused his 2 year old daughter, covering her in bruises and likely irreparably damaging her reproductive facilities. Allegedly, his wife knew about it and did nothing to stop it. If true, she's just as guilty as him in my view.
This is one of the most heinous crimes I've ever heard of, and that little girl will be scarred for the rest of her life. Hopefully, she will have no memory of what took place as she grows older.
Les may one day get out of prison. However, a person of his mental condition will always be a danger to society. I know him: he has no empathy for others, and this is evidenced by what he did to his own 2 year old daughter. I'm sure there are sociopaths who learn how to operate within society's confines, but Les is certainly handicapped and lacks the control necessary to follow the rules. How can someone like that ever be reintegrated into society?
I'm sure that question will never need to be answered. In prison, they know what you did before you get there.