Update on the arrested kids in Florida

On Sunday, I posted a few pictures of kids being led off in handcuffs in Florida and wondered "What kind of parent does this?" I then suggested that the parents weren't going forward to get arrested themselves because (and yes, I know I'm quoting myself):

Hell, these are wingnuts we're talking about here. Probably a lot of prior arrests and outstanding warrants. So they send the children, making them the pro-life equivalent of underage drug mules.

So once again, I asked the question "What kind of parent does this?" And I got my answer. He's a registered sex offender, charged with two cases of rape and one case of kidnapping.

The story said some of the children at the protest carried signs accusing Terry Schiavo’s husband of murdering her and urging that he be sent to jail.

The Charlotte Observer story, however, revealed that Heldreth had pleaded guilty to sexual battery, was in jail for parts of 1992 and 1993, according to court records, and served time on probation.

“The former Naperville, Fla., resident remains listed on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's sex offender registry,” the Observer reported, “but he's not registered on North Carolina's; the N.C. equivalent applies to offenders convicted on or after Jan. 1, 1996.”

According to the story, Heldreth claimed that his religious beliefs came to him while in jail. Before then, he said, "I basically agreed with everyone trying to kill Terri Schiavo." Then, he said, he accepted Christ and turned his life around.

Heldreth declined to discuss the specifics of the incident that led to his jail time. Online research shows that Heldreth was arrested after an incident at Ohio University and charged with two counts of rape and one count of kidnapping.

We've got a glass house that could use some new windows, folks.

Update (10:36 Eastern Time): Father and son are on Fox on "On the Record" RIGHT NOW. Dad is holding (but not actively thumping) a bible. Dad wasn't arrested (he claims that it is because he wanted to wait until his son was released.) Of course, he didn't mention the prior arrests. He also said that they were in Bradenton, FL visiting family, which means that he didn't drive down entirely to try to save Terri. Which means that they lied in the AP interview. But I'm sure you could guess that.