Why are there so many sex offenders in the paper?Can't you write about good news?
These are questions I hear on a constant basis...
Just about every week because just about every week I cover a court hearing dealing with a sexual assault of a child.
Mind you that the community I cover stories in is a small rural county - approximately 25k people at any given time call Juneau County Wisconsin home.
Now here is the answer to those questions -
I cover a lot of court hearings, many dealing with sexual assaults of children. And yes, just about every week I can write an article about such a case currently happening in the Juneau County court. The reason for this is this heinous crime is rampant throughout every community in this country...in the world. This crime that rapes the soul of an innocent light happens every day in every community - this crime that is so repulsive - uncomfortable and has such far reaching consequences for the victim, those who love them and even the predator's family is every where we look, unless - of course - we turn our backs to it.
So please don't ask me why there's an article in the paper about a sex offender, a rapist of children - rather ask what can we do as a community to prevent the crime from happening.
The first thing, in my opinion, is acknowledging it is here...it's rampant...and there's a reason why statistics report 1 in 4 girls...1 in 7 boys report being sexually assaulted before their 18th birthday -
Rremember those numbers the next time you're at a school function and in a room with the kids of your community - look at those faces...that group of a dozen girls and realize that at least three are living the nightmare of child sexual assault AND realize the next time you're watching a local high school football game that at least 2 to 3 boys running on that field could also be victims carrying that dark secret in their core - then ask yourself after you see their faces -why wouldn't you want to know WHO would do such a thing to the children in YOUR community...your backyard??
Or, are you more comfortable with just knowing who is writing hots checks and who ran a downtown stop sign last week?
As to the second question -
On average I write anywhere from 6 to 9 articles a week. From court happenings, to school board meetings and community functions. There's always at least one "feel good" article...if not more. There's almost always 1 or 2 pictures with cutlines on a donation or celebration - could it be you're more disturbed by that one article about a person harming a child and it frustrates you that with it in the paper ...in front of your eyes...you cannot just turn your back to it and walk away like it never happened?
If that's the case...then why are we as a society shocked that officials at Penn State would cover up something like the Sandusky scandal?
We owe the victims of child sexual assault more....
We owe the children in our communities a safe place to call home...
We are the core of our justice system....we elect the judges...some communities elect their district attorneys...we pay the salaries of the law enforcement who investigate these crimes...we pay the salaries of all those mandated reporters of child abuse..the public worker salaries...all those teachers, the social workers.....if we are willing to turn our backs on child sexual assault..not want to read about the ones in our commnity, then why would we be surprised when they do? When the justice systems fails the victims?
Yeah, the crime - the picture child sexual assault creates is ugly and uncomfortable...it's repulsive and it should be...
But get the word "sex" out of your brain and realize it for what it is - violence - violence upon an innocent child - it's a crime about POWER and CONTROL -
Do you want the predators to have and keep the control knowing that the shame so many feel uttering the term sexual assault can be silencing to a community - giving them the playground they need to carry out their violence on our children?
Or should our society...our communities take back the control and place the SHAME where it belongs...on the predators and EXPOSE every single one of them for the MONSTERS they are?|
I don't know about you, but I am of the mindset you expose every one of these creeps for what they are - and when you run into one of them you say to them..."Say Cheese, YOU'RE GOING TO BE EXPOSED and JUSTICE will be served"
Our children need to learn that the shame should never be carried by their innocent souls - it doesn't belong to them ......................we can only do that by keeping the message out there that sexual assault is a CRIME and predators are CRIMINALS that WILL BE DEALT WITH.
The following video is very disturbing - a victim tells her story of growing up in a family where sexual assault was the norm and how it affected her soul - it's stories like this....children like she was...that predators need to be exposed and justice needs to be forthright - if you're a survivor please be warned this video may be a trigger for you -
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