".... except for when you've been drinking alcohol and you are around children,"
In previous submissions, I've asked the question - what value do we put on a child's life? And today, I come across an article where a man has been convicted of sexually abusing two family members, a boy 6, and a girl 7 - (emphasis mine)
Randall Nicholson, 53, was found guilty of four counts of sex abuse of a minor, three counts of third-degree sex offense and three counts of second-degree assault in February for abusing a 7-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy.
And, as we have discussed and read about several times through our fellow survivors, these children's lives are changed - forever. I equate it to the death of a child. Because who they were supposed to be is infinitely changed - forever.
During sentencing, the Prosecutor asked for 50 years. found guilty on 10 counts- two children's lives affected - doesn't seem too unreasonable right?
Also, the Prosecutor brought up previous charges against the man -
including a case in 1990 when he pleaded guilty to assault with the intent to rape. In that case, the victim was a 15-year-old girl who was related to Nicholson.
The Judge's response? (more after the jump)
Link to Story
In court Thursday, Circuit Court Judge W. Newton Jackson III handed down the sentence after saying Nicholson had engaged in "terrible conduct."
"It appears that you are otherwise a good person, except for when you've been drinking alcohol and you are around children," Jackson said. "What you've got going in your favor, Mr. Nicholson, is your age."
How can we look at a convicted pedophile and say they otherwise look like a "good person"???
Am I the only one who is incensed by this? Blaming alcohol and proximity to children - instead of blaming the perpetrator? The pedophile who used children to get his jollies? Who cared nothing for THEIR little lives - who stole from them their childhoods - who instilled in them a lifetime of fear, betrayal, trust issues?
Thank you, Mr. Jackson, III, for trivializing the rape of children as "terrible conduct" and then in the next breath claiming that the pedophile seemed to be "otherwise a good person."
We must change the perception of child sexual abuse and stop excusing the behaviors of adults. The acts are committed against CHILDREN. And children cannot protect themselves - it is our responsibility to keep them safe.
Recently I had someone who wanted to donate to our charity, TREE Climbers but wanted to do so anonymously - didn't want their name attached to it AT ALL - why?
Because they were afraid people would think they had been sexually abused as a child.
And? And?? So what? Do we say the same thing for St. Jude? I don't want people thinking I was a child of cancer?
THE VICTIM RE-VICTIMIZED YET AGAIN. People continue to place the blame squarely on the victims - and NOT on the perpetrators!
Am I angry - you BET. Stop excusing the rape of children and start protecting the innocent little kids. We don't get over it - we don't grow out of it - we are never fully okay. When you are RAPED as a little girl or little boy - who you were dies. And yet a JUDGE declares the rape of children as "terrible conduct" - Really?
I am a survivor of child sexual abuse. And I am proud to stand before you and show you my face - because what happened to me wasn't my fault. I was 5 years old. I didn't ask for it, I didn't want it, I didn't encourage it, all I did was trust someone who was supposed to love and protect me.
I am not ashamed to stand with other survivors - and if YOU are not ashamed to stand up for children of child sexual abuse, I invite you to visit our website and make a donation so that together we can help victims and survivors in their recovery. We can show them that THEY MATTER - and that there is no shame in what happened to them.
To make a donation click here
To visit our Wall of Survivors click here
To reach me, email me directly at Roxine@treeclimbersinc.org
Thank you -