I'm not sure whether to cheer this story or go take a long, hot shower. So let me dig in.
A man convicted on three separate incidents of sex abuse of a minor - two in 1993 and a third in 2000 - has won the lottery. According to Alaskan law, games of chance have to benefit a charity, including this one - the first-ever statewide lotto. In this case, the non-profit chosen was Standing Together Against Rape (STAR), a charity for sex abuse victims. Fitting, isn't it?
Alec Ahsoak of Anchorage walked away with $350,000 after taxes on the half-a-million-dollar prize, and now he says he'll use the money to turn around a life that has been troubled since childhood when he was a kid growing up in the foster system. He'll also be setting aside $100,000, which he'll be donating to the folks at STAR to help their cause. He'll be helping kids in the state where sex abuse rates are the highest in the nation, the state where he is listed on the Department of Public Safety Sex Offender/Child Kidnapper Central Registry.
Obviously Ahsoak has reoffended as so many sex offenders have. He has, however, served his time and has been "clean" for the past nine years. He claims he's a changed man, and the money will help him plan for retirement. That he's even considering turning money over the charity says something about where he is today, and the charity can use this as a teaching point in its awareness campaign. This could potentially work out even better for them than the initial linkage with the lottery and the accompanying money and publicity.
But a part of me is still feeling skeeved out by this whole coincidence. Does this sully the waters for charities linked to the lottos in Alaska?
Image/Source: KTUU
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