The Child Protection eNewsletter

The NAMBLA defense…
Call it the NAMBLA defense, named for the famed North American Man-Boy Love Association vol1_iss1 and vol1_iss5. It used to be laughable—the notion that child sexual abuse victims, even toddlers, actually enjoy the abuse and therefore it does no harm. But now teachers, particularly female teachers who abused boys are using the argument and sympathetic journalists http://abcnews.go.com, judges http://www.nytimes.com and http://radgeek.com, victims’ friends http://www.freerepublic.com and even some appellate courts are buying it. See State v. Cortes, 2005 WL 3041367 (Conn.) Supreme Court of Connecticut VICTIMS' RIGHTS - USE OF THE WORD)

Adults are even marrying children when one of the two is pregnant. http://hosted.ap.org and http://www.cnn.com

In the eloquent words of Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, “This case was not about two star-crossed lovers in a modern-day version of Romeo and Juliet. This case was about a grown man having sex with a child.” http://www.journalstar.com

Kathleen Parker in The Dallas Morning News reminds us that Adult-Child sex is ALWAYS wrong. http://www.dallasnews.com It is amazing that we have come to this point.

The real target in this somewhat loosely organized campaign is age of consent laws. (Again, see http://www.nytimes.com)

Age of consent laws exist for two principal reasons. The first is because a child simply cannot handle the variety of complex emotional, sexual and psychological complications that arise from engaging in a sexual relationship, especially with a much older partner. In California almost 70% of teen births are fathered by adult men. http://www.ageofconsent.com Abused children are many, many times more likely to become abusers themselves. This in no way means that all or even most sexually abused children will become abusers. Two studies effectively document all the ramifications of adult-child sexual relationships. http://www.guttmacher.org and http://www.mafamily.org

The second reason is much more practical. If prosecutors have to show “harm” no parents would allow their children to testify. The damage would be too severe. It is already happening today. http://abcnews.go.com and http://news.tbo.com

Statutory Rape laws leave no room for discretion by design. If an adult has sex with a child, he or she has broken the law and goes to jail. It used to be that simple. It needs to become so once again. There is no need for sex offender registries and amber alerts if we lose this underlying principle. The stakes are that high.

In other news…
Legislation that would allow childhood victims of sexual assault sue churches, schools and other nonprofits for the actions of their employees passed the New Jersey state Assembly Monday. http://www.dailyrecord.com and http://www.nj.com The measure which was opposed by the Roman Catholic Church, is likely to become law, since acting Gov. Richard J. Codey already voted for it in his role in the State Senate when it passed that house in May 2004.

A boy whose parents are accused of making their special-needs adopted children sleep in cages vol3_iss54, vol3_iss52 and vol3_iss53 testified Thursday that the couple forced him to live in the bathroom as punishment for urinating in his enclosed bed. http://hosted.ap.org

Jonathan Dalton, a psychologist at the Maryland Center for Anxiety Disorders at the University of Maryland in College Park, reminds us all that children — like many adults — are susceptible to holiday stress and, in some cases, even more serious anxiety. http://www.msnbc.msn.com “Kids are often stressed for the same reasons adults are, and they respond to the same kind of stress adults do,” says Dalton. “That means travel, gifts, family stress and change can leave children just as unhinged as grown-ups.” Stressed-out kids may have more trouble sleeping. To help them get their rest during the busy holidays, experts recommend sticking to normal bedtime routines as much as possible.



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