confront the bogeyman

In a nice wrap up of an article about stranger danger and bad guys that molest, kidnap or kill innocent children like JonBenet and Polly Klaas, Tracey O'Shaughnessy points out stats about abductions and then sexual misconduct by those placed in positions of trust and authority like school teachers.



No question the numbers cited in Tracey's article are absolutely correct quotes from government reports. What makes these reports misleading is the fact that molestation crimes are so grossly under-reported.

For many reasons numerous victims simply can't talk about being molested, even after questioning. Some 30% never tell anyone--






Stranger Danger and Real Parental Fear
by Tracey O’Shaughnessy

"...A few months ago, my 6-year-old son came home from school with a worksheet encouraging him to “Run,” “Report” and “Remember.” It included coloring sheets in which some scary dude jumps out of a car and tries to nab a kid...

It’s tempting to wonder what kind of thoughts raced through my son’s mind. He cannot possibly know the depths of degeneracy that lead a pervert like Waterbury, CT’s John Regan to prowl around high school parking lots, looking for prey.

He couldn’t possibly imagine the moral turpitude of snakes like John Mark Karr, who find some sort of twisted pleasure in shattering a child’s innocence.

Most of these high-profile abuse cases — people like Richard Allen Davis, who abducted and killed Polly Klaas — beggar the imagination...

Last year, an Associated Press investigation found 2,570 cases from 2001 to 2005 in which teachers were punished or removed from the classroom for sexual misconduct. The allegations ranged from fondling to rape. The AP noted a 2004 Congressional report that estimated that 4.5 million students out of 50 million in American public schools “are subject to sexual misconduct by an employee of a school sometime between kindergarten and 12th grade.”...

The eerie reality is that those whom we are most inclined to trust may be those who deserve it least.

Perhaps it’s human nature to fetishize a bogeyman, rather than confront the deviant in our midst."