Alaska Lottery Winner Goes Back on Promise

Last year there was outrage when a sex offender won a lottery in Alaska that was intended to help victims of rape and other sexually based crimes. Lottery winner Alec Ahsoak, a three time sex offender, won the $500,000 jackpot. When the winner was announced a local television station received an email stating that Ahsoak was a sex offender causing widespread anger.

Lottery winner Ahsoak was assaulted on a downtown Anchorage Street by a person wielding a tire iron or metal pipe. Ahsoak later said he would donate $100,000 to Standing Together Against Rape. Mr. Ahsoak has gone back on his promise and the Anchorage based charity said they had never heard from him said executive director Nancy Haag.

Ms. Haag said the group is looking forward and will not dwell on Mr. Ahsoak's broken promise. Ms. Haag stated, "I know that probably in the moment he probably was very excited and probably thought he could do more with his money than he really was able to."

Lottery winner Ahsoak, who kept $350,000 after taxes, has kept a low profile since the attack. Efforts to reach Ahsoak have been fruitless and no one is answering the door at the midtown inn where the lottery winner lives. Lottery operator Abe Spicola was the first to announce that Ahsoak intended to make the large donation after news about Ahsoak's past surfaced.

Spicola, owner of Lucky Times Pull-Tabs lottery which operated the lottery said he does not want to bring any more hardship on lottery winner Ahsoak. He also said that people need to remember that perpetrators of sexual abuse often have been victimized themselves. Some of the parents of Ahsoak's victims think that all of the money should go to his victims.

Spicola said that Lucky Times will sponsor another lottery to benefit Standing Together Against Rape. Hopefully history will not repeat itself.

Many states now check lottery winners against law enforcement databases for outstanding warrants, unpaid fines and back child support. Had this private lottery had the ability to check such a database this travesty probably would not have happened. Several states in the US are toying with the idea of allowing online lottery ticket sales. State lottery websites offering online lottery tickets could be easily connected to several law enforcement databases. Most lottery players have indicated they would welcome the ability to go on the internet and make an online lottery purchase. Hopefully lotteries will consider going online to prevent a repeat of the Alaska travesty.