In a sarcastic article about molestation and sex offender rights, Terry Brown cites a real statistic about child molestation:
“Sexual assaults committed by youth are a growing concern in this country. Currently, it is estimated that adolescents (ages 13 to 17) account for up to one-fifth of all rapes and one-half of all cases of child molestation committed each year.”
This statistic tells you to remember that you have to take care to protect your children from other children as well as adults. For the same reason you would not leave your child alone with an adult you cannot trust, you also do not want to leave your child alone with other children. Additionally, you want to teach your children about sex, and teach them about inappropriate touching. Make sure they know to tell you if anyone touches them in appropriately.
If you suspect someone may have abused your child, get a professional to interview them as quickly as possible, preferably on video tape. The more people that talk to a child about an alleged incident before the child officially reports it, the less reliable the child’s testimony. Many alleged sex offenders get acquitted by claiming that adults may have lead the child, which thus casts reasonable doubt on the reliability of the child’s testimony.
Talk to your children before incidents occur, not after.
What do you think?
