SEPTEMBER 30, 2018
PEDOPHILES ARE WOLVES IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING
Children and adolescents—vulnerable human beings in need of protection. But, what happens when sexual perversion hides inside trusted professionals? When evil lurks behind the closed doors of experts? When human depravity prowls within the minds and bodies of specialists with degrees, licenses, and reputations? Manipulators, liars, deviants—devouring innocence. Buying and selling child pornography—crimes of aberration. And for what? Sick sexual gratification. Perverted predatory power. Insatiable appetite for control.
If we could see what’s on the inside of these child molesters, we would cringe in horror—but their disguises are crafty, cunning, and clever. Expensive suits, white coats, and monogrammed shirts cover up deeds of deception—their sheep costumes fit so well. Big smiles plastered on fake faces. Words as smooth as silk pour from lying lips. Sooo polite!
Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing
Predatory wolves in sheep’s clothing look like sheep, dress like sheep, talk like sheep, act like sheep, but they abuse, rape, and violate the sheep.
Former prominent Olympic doctor, Larry Nassar, was sentenced to 175 years for abusing girls. “How could USA Gymnastics have required hundreds of girls under its care to submit to mandatory treatment from a man who would give them “pelvic exams” in their hotel or dorm beds at night, wholly unsupervised?” is a question asked in The Guardian.
www.theguardian.com/.
Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, a once nationally respected trainer, sexually abused boys for decades. Few believed that Sandusky was capable of such reprehensible disgusting acts against children.
“For 15 more years, Earl Bradley raped, molested and sodomized pediatric patients… Before he finally went to jail in 2009, he victimized 1,200 children, maybe more. Their average age was 3. The youngest was 3 months old,” reported a 2016 article at www.norwalkreflector.com/. Dr. Bradley was a pediatrician.
Robert Keith Bryan was a former elementary teacher. “Over a 34-year career in Coachella Valley Unified and Desert Sands Unified schools, Bryan was allowed to continue teaching despite 15 students reporting him for inappropriate touching over five separate occasions. Bryan kept teaching until 2012, when he was arrested for touching eight more students, then resigned amid a police investigation that eventually sent him to prison,” according to a 2017 article in the Desert Sun. www.desertsun.com/.
“It’s important to understand that pedophiles often go undetected because they’re so “nice.” Friends and neighbors of Anthony Barron, 54, were stunned when he was convicted of 89 offenses against young girls. Barron was a volunteer treasurer for the Scouts and was active in a parent-teachers organization. He knew how to get people to trust him. But over a period of nine years, he molested at least 11 girls,” wrote Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D., coauthor of the 2009 book, Inside the Minds of Sexual Predators.
Adults are the Protectors
Many well-intentioned organizations, agencies, professionals, and parents teach tips to help children stay safe. Yes, that is one way to educate children. But, keeping kids safe from dangerous predators is the responsibility of adults, first and foremost. Not just parents, but all adults.
It’s an adult’s responsibility to protect children from pedophiles. It’s society’s job to protect children from pedophiles. It’s the state medical board’s responsibility to protect children from pedophile pediatricians. It’s the school system’s responsibility to protect children from pedophile principals, teachers, substitute teachers, coaches, custodians, and other personnel. It’s the daycare owners and administrators that are responsibility for protecting children from pedophile teachers and helpers. It’s the church board and the congregation that are responsible for protecting children from pedophile priests and preachers, youth leaders, Sunday school teachers, and vocational Bible school helpers.
What would happen if every parent would politely tell every male and female professional (pediatrician, coach, teacher, daycare worker, pastor, nursery worker, dance instructor, piano teacher, babysitters, childcare worker) that interacts with their child the following: “I am the protector of my child, and therefore I am knowledgeable about how to keep my child safe.” Would we accuse these parents of being overly dramatic or possible childhood victims of abuse? Or would we applaud their diligence?
“I may seem like a lamb on the outside but I’m a lion on the inside,” the Lansing State Journal reported Natalie Woodland proclaimed during Larry Nassar’s sentencing hearing. “And while standing up here, I’m finally realizing that I am not alone and that my story is important and I have a right to be heard. I refuse to be held in bondage by what this man has done to me.”
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Melissa Martin, Ph.D, is an author, columnist, educator, and therapist. She lives in Southern Ohio. www.melissamartinchildrensauthor.com. Contact her at melissamcolumnist@gmail.com.
