UNITED STATES
Religion News Service
Boz Tchividjian | Jan 9, 2014
As much of the nation was recently celebrating Christmas, a Memphis pastor was arrested for sexually abusing a 16-year-old family member. What makes this heartbreaking story even more repugnant is that church and family members had been informed about the abuse two years earlier, but failed to report the crime to the police. Instead, they decided that the best response was to simply pray for the offender and hope for the best. Tragically, this response to child sexual abuse by those within the church is not uncommon. Equally as tragic is that such responses fuel perpetrators to continue destroying the bodies and souls of untold numbers of children.
The statistics of child sexual abuse are startling to say the least. In her book, Predators, Pedophiles, Rapists, and other Sex Offenders, clinical psychologist Anna Salter outlines the results of numerous studies that clearly demonstrate the prevalence of this offense and the dangers of those who offend. Here are just a couple she mentions:
Abel Harlow Child Molestation Prevention Study:
This study found that pedophilia molesters average 12 child victims and 71 acts of molestation. An earlier study by Dr. Abel found that out of 561 sexual offenders there were over 291,000 incidents totaling over 195,000 total victims. These are enough victims to fill 2 ½ Superdomes! This same study found that only 3% of these sexual offenders have a chance of getting caught.
Russell Study:
This study revealed that up to 38% of women were molested before turning 18 years old. This same study found that up to 16% of boys are molested before they turn 18 years old. Dr. Russell also discovered that only 5% of child sexual abuse had been reported to law enforcement.
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