Like many others I am relieved to see an arrest in the JonBenet Ramsey case and like many others I too believed that it was the parents who either murdered her or clumsily covered up a domestic accident. Not true as it appears now.

Still, there continues to be a stain of guilt that will be attached to the Ramseys forever, no matter how compelling the evidence that has now been uncovered. Parents who showcase their six-year old daughter in beauty pageants and who feel it completely appropriate to dress her up like a tart set themselves up for some fierce moral condemnation and quite possibly deliver an open invitation to commit the sort of horrendous crime that ended JonBenet’s short life. It’s odd that out of all the press and media reactions today, very few focused on this crucial and rather disgusting aspect of the entire affair. And no, there can be no exonerating explanation by the family as to JonBenet’s consent of being part of beauty pageants for kids. Six year olds generally do not have the mental bandwidth to understand that these events border on a form of child exploitation that have somehow achieved a bizarre measure of acceptability in American culture.

UPDATE: The details remain fishy, so it doesn't look like this case is closed at all. Think about it, even if DNA evidence is conclusive, how would that exonerate the Ramseys involvement given that the murder took place in the basement of their own house? More doubts here.