The Good Fight

 As we look towards the future of 2011 I am sorry to have to report that the true facts reveal the first eight weeks of this new year clearly shows that crimes against children and young people are still accelerating at an alarming rate. Crimes against children have more than tripled since 2008. Disappearances, kidnappings, trafficking cases, rapes, and even murders have all been reported. All of these crimes seem to show a marked increase. Here we live in the greatest nation on earth, at least for the present time, and yet somehow we have missed the mark for the protection, justice, and compassion that our children deserve. I have to ask myself just why are these atrocities still happening and what has changed in our nation to make people more than willing to sacrifice our young and innocent? Have we become godless or just apathetic and wanton?

 I have read in the news about the growing number of cyber-predators who have produced and distributed thousands of pornographic pictures of children, thirteen year old girls being videotaped while they are being gang raped, boyfriends beating to death the two and three year old children of single mothers, middle-aged men buying young teenage girls for sex, parents abusing their newborns, and the brutal bloody list goes on. I have to say that the vermin that would do these things to children turn my stomach! And need to be dealt with! These forms of abuses are assaults that are not only on a child’s body, but the results from these monstrous crimes reach down into the very souls of the child victims who survive and change their lives forever. It is the destruction of their innocence and robs them of hope. Those people who would victimize our children must be stopped by all of us.

 Unfortunately, we seem unable to change the goals of those workers of evil who are willing to sacrifice the young for their own deviant purposes, but we can educate our children and young people against those who would do them harm. Parents hold the brunt of the responsibility for their children and should always be a child’s first defenders and protectors. If the parents fail to protect or educate their children, it is the child who pays the ultimate price by becoming the next victim of a child abusing animal. In failing to protect our children, we betray their future as well as our own, and quite probably the future of our country. I cannot ever overemphasize the education of our children. They must be taught to resist the temptation of a stranger’s plea for help. They must be instructed that they should never trust a stranger for any reason. Children must be taught to understand that there are bad people wherever they might be who would victimize, steal, or hurt them. Victimizers come in every shape, size, sex, and color. In fact they should be pointedly told that a child molester could be a teacher, principle, scoutmaster, preacher or a babysitter. And one of the most important things is to not be judgmental of your child if they do suggest they have been approached by a molester. Talk to your kids and keep the lines of communication open.

 Kids must be allowed to use any means available to them to resist someone who would hurt them and know that they will not be held at fault. They should be taught to kick, scream, bite, or run for somewhere safe, which is the right thing to do. If they are in a public place and a predator tries to accost them, the child can even go so far as to knock things off shelves or break merchandise. Managers come running fast when they believe their goods are in jeopardy! Predators depend on the assumption that the child will respond fearfully or hesitantly. Teach your kids to not be afraid, but to take action. Kids should be reminded to be observant and to travel in groups if at all possible. Molesters and others who would harm our children are creatures of habit and prefer children alone and afraid as targets of opportunity.

 Reaction is needed. Parents, if you see or suspect an abuse in progress, or something untoward happening to a child, get involved. Call the police. Write down license plate numbers, colors, and descriptions of suspicious vehicles and report them. If you are physically able, get personally involved. Don’t be the one to see a child’s picture in the newspaper and say to yourself, “I thought there was something going on. I should have said something.”The child you save may be your friend’s child, or maybe your kid’s friend, or maybe a neighborhood kid. Contact you congressmen and legislators about stiffer penalties for crimes against children. Too many people believe that it is only victimization when they are the victims. It is our responsibility to speak out for the children. They are the victims without voices. We can give them their voice!  

 If we can all work together in this important task in order to keep our children safer we CAN make a difference. If we can do this, we might turn what very well could be a record year in kidnappings, murdered, molested, and children in slavery into a year when we finally say, “we’re going to stop this crime at any cost and in any way we have to.” This could be the year we could say. “The reign of fear and pain caused to our children by our countries indifference to the monsters and animals that live among us is coming to a halt!” I want everyone to join a group dedicated to fighting this despicable crime committed upon our children. Be a part of the good fight!

Broken Bodies, Shattered Dreams, Stolen Lives – Part 2

 

In my last blog I said that this would be the story of four children. Now, I will tell you of the two other children that were brought into the life of sexual depravation.

It happened one summer in the early sixty’s to a boy, not quite a young man, who was approximately thirteen years old at the time. For his protection we will call him Bobby, which isn’t his real name. Bobby was sent to stay at a relative’s house for the summer and work. He had never heard much about child molestation except for in veiled whispers. He did know of one girl that it had happened to, but Bobby had never thought it could happen to a boy, let alone him. The relative’s wife and her friend both were habitual pill addicts and drinkers. They decided one day it was high time that Bobby learned what pleased women. Of course, he couldn’t understand where they were taking him, or did he have any real idea of what their intentions were. They went across the street to the friend’s house where no one would bother the women in their quest to give him an education and whatever the Hell kind of pleasure they wanted for themselves. They said the same things that we hear predators say to kids today. They told him about how natural sex was and how other boys would be envious of him. After all, he would learn how to be a real man! With no experience Bobby learned the female anatomy and how women like to be treated, along with how women treat men. Bobby was forced to perform oral sex and learn how to service women with sex toys. The women kept telling him how special he was and how he would be proud some day of their secret. In actuality, he felt ashamed, but he knew that he was with relatives who were supposed to protect him. Bobby asked himself what he had done to deserve this treatment. Where was his mom? Bobby had no one to tell and even if he did, he would be too disgusted to explain it. After a daily routine of this type of treatment, Bobby had to tell someone. He bucked up and put on his brave face. When he finally spoke, he told the woman’s husband. All he received for his trouble was being called a liar and a beating that broke his jaw and arm. Then, he was sent home in shame. Bobby figured if one person didn’t believe him, no one would. He was unable to speak of his physical and sexual abuse until he was thirty-four years old. People often forget that child molesters can be women. We often think that anyone who is a mother would never molest a child. This is no more the case than a father cannot be a molester, and we know that is not true! To say a boy “wants it” just because he is a boy, is ludicrous.

 And then there was Lisa. Her mother had just remarried a much older man. It was certainly not a marriage made in heaven, but her mom had to have a man in her life. Any man. This new daddy was sort of mean and smelled bad, but Lisa had been no stranger to neglect, so even at three and a half she was pretty self-sufficient. She would spend her days playing by herself and staying out of the way of her three teenaged step-brothers. She did not like them either because they were always mean to her and called her bad names. They pushed and punched Lisa every time they saw her. One day she was playing under the kitchen table with her crayons and for some reason known only to a child, she felt the wall needed a pretty picture on it. That was when the brothers came in. They grabbed Lisa and started yelling and calling her bad names. While Lisa kicked and screamed, the three held her down and took off her pants. They told her they would take care of those crayons! Lisa fought and hoped someone would come in and save her, but nobody did. The crayons were shoved roughly up her rectum. There was bleeding and a lot of pain that she will never forget. This was not just a case of sexual gratification, but one of ultimate power over someone smaller. This was torture. Lisa could tell the brothers liked it when she cried. The more she cried, the more they laughed. This was the first incident of sexual abuse. Their abuse and the drunken violence by her stepfather continued for the next six months. By the time she was four, Lisa did not cry anymore. She knew she was to little and would be overpowered. Finally, Lisa’s grandparents became suspicious and took Lisa with them. Her mom eventually moved away and divorced the stepfather. This was fifty years ago. Secrets like this were KEPT secret. Of course, that made Lisa believe it was something that she had done to cause the abuse. She believed it was her punishment for being bad. These are the kinds of ideas that make victims remain victims all of their lives.

 Child abuse and sexual molestation is just what it is. A violent, destructive, despicable, and immoral crime! These crimes follow the victim into adulthood and torment their souls, unless they are like Debbie and Jenny. Victims that can no longer live with themselves, and so they don’t. The children I spoke about are just a few in a sea of millions. Remember that when you find yourself becoming aware of a possible crime against a child. Speak out. Ask questions. Don’t look the other way and pretend someone else will take care of the situation. Any time a child reports abuse, take it seriously. It is not something to keep secret. You just might save a child’s life, and it very well may be your own child.

Hope for the New Year

It seems that each time I sit and write something, it has to be about the horrible things that happen to children. The sexual slavery, the abuse and harm that they come to at the hands of their parents, caregivers, pedophiles, and the perverts that run on our city streets. As we begin a brand new year, I want to write something that is about hope, charity, and how there are those who put the needs and safety of others before the needs of themselves. So, today I will write about hope, caring, and the people who are bringing justice and brighter prospects to the ones that have no voice. The children who are the victims of degradation. The good news? The number of children’s heroes is growing.

First, I would like to take you on a journey to Cambodia and to a special woman named Somaly Mam. Somaly was abandoned by her parents at the age of ten and became the indentured servant of an elderly man who she was taught to call “grandfather.” This grandfather was the first of many men who would come to abuse her. At the age of twelve, she was sold to a brothel and was forced into prostitution. Over the following years, she was raped beaten, tortured, and forced into an unwanted marriage. When she was in her mid twenties, an aide worker from France helped Somaly to escape this slave situation. That was when she found she was not the only girl to be forced into sexual slavery and vowed to help as many other girls as possible. Now, she is a human rights activist and the founder of the Somaly Mam Foundation. Along with the others on her team, she has been instrumental in saving women and girls from sexual slavery and helping to rebuild their lives. So far, she has helped almost 5,000 women and girls. Her ultimate goal? A world where all women and children are safe from any form of slavery.

Next, then let us travel to the India-Nepal border where we find Anuradha Koirala. A victim of domestic abuse herself, she got out of the relationship and is the founder of Maiti Nepal, which translates to “Mother’s Home.” She is spending her life giving voice, legal defense, and rehabilitation to victims of sex trafficking. Her goal is to provide safe shelter and support services to girls from Nepal who are victims of domestic abuse or trafficked to India and sexually exploited. With the cooperation of her group she helps the girls become economically independent and reintegrated back into society.  According to the U.S State Department there are 10,000 to 15,000 of these girls trafficked to India each  year. Anuradha has helped over 12,000 of these women and girls since 1993. This year she received the CNN Hero of the Year award.

Here in the United States we have two law enforcement officers who come to mind when I think of those who are helping to end sexual exploitation of children. First, we have Sergeant Doug Justice of the Portland Oregon Police Department’s vice squad. Portland, now dubbed “Pornland”, has become a major hub for child sexual exploitation and child sex trafficking. According to Federal law enforcement agencies, Portland ranked second in the country for rescued child prostitutes. Why? I believe it is because of the concerted efforts of Sergeant Justice and his comrades to end this heinous crime and return Portland to a place where people are proud to raise their children. On the other side of the country, we have Sheriff Grady Judd and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in Florida. Their investigation, called “Operation Child Shield” resulted in the arrest of more than fifty persons and brought to light the fact that a tutorial on how to have sex with children from birth to twelve years old was being distributed across the U.S I quote Judd as saying, “We’ll chase these perverts around the world if we can find the jurisdiction that will cooperate.”

The movie and music industry has child heroes also. Just to name a few celebrities who have been instrumental in educating the public on  child sex crime around the world is Ricky Martin, Jason Priestly, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Bill and Melinda Gates, Susan Sarandon, and Jacques Villeneuve. A few of the organizations for children are The Adam Walsh Foundation, Klaas Kids, Unicef, Worldvision, Pixelproject, BraveKidsVoies, TheCAASE, Love146, and Save the Children. As I said, these are just a few. There are so many others I would never be able to mention them all. This is very good news for children in need. These people are bright and shining starts in the battle for saving the innocence of children.

We are lucky because the future is always changing and through letting more and more people know that these crimes DO exist, we can make the right changes happen. It is truly gratifying to realize that after being involved in the recovery of children that help is now coming on-line. With our pleas for help falling on just so many deaf ears and ignorant officials, finally this cause is drawing the attention of noteworthy people like movie stars and dedicated police officers. These people, who not long ago were trying to stay ignorant, are now championing the cause that is so important to Boots and I, and hundreds of thousands of kids around the world. Where there was once only darkness on the subject of child sexual abuse and prostitution, there is now a light on the horizon. Where there were only deaf ears and blind eyes, they now see and can hear. Awareness changes despicable acts. For the year 2011 I now feel hope where I used to feel despair. A world with its eyes open can see the truth. Where there is life, there is hope and hope is eternal, much like the dedication that we share for the children. Continue to spread the word and one day all children will have that bright future that is a God-given right. We the people can give the children of the world hope. Hope to live and grow as children should. To have a happy new year.

May God bless each and every one of you this year.

A Christmas Wish

 

The season is here upon us when many Americans will once again celebrate Christmas by opening packages and presents. Now is the time that we will ready ourselves for a feast filled with a vast variety of foods in huge proportions. We will sit with grandmother, grandfather, Aunt Trudy, and Uncle Joe.  When I look deep inside this picture of the perfect family get-together I see Jennie, Tommy, and little Sarah, the princess of her grandma and grandpa’s heart. This is the time we glorify God’s gift to each of us. His son. I for one, wish that every family and every child will be safe, happy and overjoyed by these events that are unveiling themselves.

 Boots and I and our extended family and friends will prepare and celebrate this Christmas, but it is tempered and darkened by the thought that not every child is at home in a loving environment where they belong. We will think of those kids who are trapped by the threat of violence, and unfortunately witness unnecessary harm to their families. Most of these kids have no voice because of their tender ages. Gone from their heads are the thoughts of the fabled sugar plum fairies and Santa Claus. Gone are the squeals of joy at the thought of opening presents. These are the children whose only real thought is to survive another day.

 For the child who is trapped into sexual slavery there are none of these dreams. There is no hope, no love, and no feelings of peace and happiness. I speak of the lost children of the world who will open up men’s flys for Christmas. For these children there is only fear, terror, degradation, and violence. They look deep into themselves and wonder what the future holds for them. They experience pain and abuse on a daily basis. So, as I attempt to celebrate Christmas it will be in hopes that we will get the call for Boots to go and track down another child, and then return them to their home or to a place of safety.

 It is our fondest wish that on Christmas for those who read my site, and for those who are out there fighting the good fight and the long battle to have a joyous and merry Christmas. I also extend this wish to everyone out there. It is also our fervent hope that you, all of you, remember those who are unable to be at home with their loved ones. Remember to pray for them. It is our deepest desire that all the people in America, as well as around the world, stay vigilant to help in the battle to return missing children to their homes and families. To help those who cannot help themselves. Continue to intervene if something is happening to a child that you know in your heart is wrong. It is the only way we have to ultimately end this travesty. United, we have the power.

 May the universal spirit rest with all of you during this season and throughout the year, and may your blessings abound.