Grab the pitchforks. Light the torches. Prep the Inquisition stake.

The social media mob is on the march.

They are demanding Regina Lackey resign from the Manteca City Council.

And they are doubling down by circulating a petition calling on her to do so.

Lackey’s high crime against humanity?

What was her alleged malfeasance in office?

Three words — Manteca Property Services.

Those eager to serve as judge, jury, and executioner to rid the earth of things they don’t like have turned Manteca Property Services into a code word for political persecution.

Let’s get what is not in dispute out of the way.

Robert Wolfe owns/works for Manteca Property Services.

Wolfe was convicted by the State of California of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 and released from prison in 2016.

The City of Manteca entered into a contract with Manteca Property Services in March of 2023 to conduct cleanup of homeless-related trash and other garbage such as bags of rubbish, appliances, couches, and mattresses that “sheltered” residents of Manteca see fit to dump on city streets.

In three years, there has never been a complaint made to the city about any alleged inappropriate behavior on Wolfe’s part.

And for the record, that is also the case going back to 2016.

Wolfe seems to be following the law, but is everyone else?

Yes, what Wolfe did was repulsive by societal standards.

But under the law, he paid the price that the justice system said he must pay including living the rest of his life as a registered sex offender.

Using the Megan’s Law registry data to harass, threaten, or intimidate a registered sex offender is strictly illegal. The public registries are meant for community safety. Using the information for harassment, property damage, or unlawful discrimination violates state and federal laws and carries severe criminal and civil penalties.

Note the words “harassment” and “unlawful discrimination.

Now take a look across social media platforms.

Of course that’s not harassment in the eyes of the poster.

But guess what?

The same law enforcement and judicial system that makes people pay for crimes protects them after they are released if they are being harassed or discriminated against.

The law, like it or not, protects the innocent and those that are despised.

None of this undoes what he was convicted of nor does it give him a free pass going forward.

But it is supposed to protect him from vigilante justice going forward after he has served his time.

He was not a city employee per se. He was not a volunteer.

Both can require background checks via fingerprints.

And here’s an inconvenient truth. It is illegal for an employer to discriminate in the hiring process against someone based on their criminal pass unless their is a legal exception carved out.

In the case of sex offenders, it is if they work with children.

Again, he was never a city employee. The city contracted with the firm that hired him.

The city violated no state laws in hiring Manteca Property Services nor did the cleanup firm in having him on their payroll.

Lackey invoked outrage because she has taken a measured response that takes into consideration the law and her own personal repulsion at what led to the conviction.

Lackey was very upfront about the whole issue.

She had no inkling of the man’s background.

But then she explained she once considered him a friend based on how he conducts himself today and not knowing his past.

Going forward, she made it clear that as long as the law is followed he may not be a friend any longer but it doesn’t automatically nullify and void Manteca Property Services contract and his ability to work as a contracted employee of a vendor the city honor.

In other words, Lackey dislikes intensely what he was convicted of doing but under the law that she as a council member swore to uphold she must treat him fairly.

Such a measured stand is not done in vacuum that lacks empathy for victims.

Roughly 30 years ago when she was serving in the Air Force and stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Base, Lackey and another airman volunteered to start a program to mentor at-risk youth near Tucson, Arizona.

Then she had a child as a toddler who was physically abused at a day care prompting her going forward to become active in community and school endeavors designed to mentor, nurture, and protect youth.

She had extensive involvement in the Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts. She is the proud mother ofntwm Eagle Scouts — a son and a daughter.

And, in the past year, she has become active in grassroots efforts to raise awareness and to combat human trafficking of youth and adults alike.

Lackey is doing the job she was elected to do to serve the community without letting personal biases.

She clearly has no tolerance for those that commit sex crimes and is committed to making sure all Manteca residents — regardless of how repugnant they might be to others whether that is by skin tone, faith or their actions — are protected by laws that have been put in place.