UNITED KINGDOM
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
Posted by Barbara Blaine on October 18, 2012
In light of the Jimmy Savile scandal, every mom and dad must stress to themselves and their families this simple fact: child molesters come in every shape and size and occupation. Neither prominence and power, nor charm and charisma, means an adult is “safe.”
When we see a masked man with a gun and a sack fleeing a bank, we assume he’s a robber. When we see a furtive-looking man trying repeatedly to open cars in a dark parking lot, we assume he’s a thief.
But when we see a glib, charismatic man violating kids’ boundaries and excessively hugging them and making sexual jokes, we assume he’s “odd” or “affectionate” or “harmless.” We just can’t seem to bring ourselves to believe he may be a molester. And thus, we continue to fail our children.
We fail our children by our ignorance and our inability to use our common sense and good judgment. We fail our children when we refuse to act prudently and honor our gut feelings. We fail our children when we put our own comfort level above our children’s’ safety.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.