Advertisement
A heinous crime to be sure, and so repulsive that both presidential candidates took the opportunity to criticize the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn laws in six different states authorizing the death penalty for the rape of a child. A 5-4 decision, the case was unfortunately underscored by the fact that no one in the United States has been executed for this crime in the past 44 years.
But now that Barack Obama and John McCain have assured us that they are as repulsed as we are, my hope is they will move on from the court’s decision against the ultimate punishment and challenge themselves and society to understand the magnitude of the problem.
Childhood sex abuse is rarely about a strange predator lurking to kidnap and rape an innocent child from a neighborhood park. In fact, childhood sexual abuse is most often about a family member who slowly grooms his own child, a niece or nephew, or perhaps the child of a close and trusted neighbor and eventually establishes a “secret” relationship that is seldom referred to as the “rape” that it really is. Then there is the parish priest who rapes the adolescent boy whom he has been counseling; the favorite drama teacher who rapes his student over an eight-year period; the softball coach who “befriends” the squad’s star pitcher; the school custodian or bus driver who is having sex with students they have “looked after.” Yes, these are actual cases, and yes, they are rape.
No doubt, as the ultimate solution to keep sexual predators from re-offending, the death penalty works — but so would life in prison — and frankly, when only 10 percent of all cases of childhood sexual abuse are reported, focusing on the issue of the death penalty does not move us any closer to justice or prevention. It would do little to get at the estimated 90 percent of child sex abuse cases that are not prosecuted.
There have been a plethora of laws passed over the past few years in an effort to control sexual predators and keep them away from children, but in reality, sex offender registries and predator-free zones are useless when it comes to the multitude of offenders who hide behind very short criminal and civil statutes of limitation and the knowledge that their victims will most often remain silent. In addition, because of a lack of understanding and training on how to recognize a child who may be a victim, many mandated reporters are hesitant to act on their suspicions.
Clearly, efforts to prevent the tragedy of childhood sex abuse will not reach the level of success we aspire to until sufficient resources are applied to training care providers, families and professionals who work with children to detect the signs of child abuse. Only when children feel safe enough to identify their abusers will we make significant progress in preventing further abuse.
Thankfully, there are many elected officials around the country who understand this, and Minnesota Sens. Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar, along with Congressman Tim Walz, are leaders among them.
Through their efforts and with the help of many others, The National Child Protection Training Center program based in Winona has received significant federal funding that allows NCPTC trainers to travel to every region of the country and train about 10,000 prosecutors, law enforcement officers, social workers, and other child protection professionals and organizations.
The initiative, a joint project of the St. Paul-based National Association to Prevent Sexual Abuse of Children and Winona State University is a part of a much larger plan with its goal being the elimination of childhood sexual abuse in the United States within three generations.
A tall order, but if considered in the context of a comprehensive ultimate solution, it can be done.
Ted Thompson is the president of NAPSAC.
|
More News: |
