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If I ruled the world…
By Betsy Richter | 5:31 pmToday, I’m heartsick and angry and pissy and fighting back tears.
I’ve been sitting by helplessly as a friend deals with the revelation that her daughter’s father had systematically been sexually abusing the girl for years during his visitations. She’s been lining up support for her child, while hacking through legal thickets to get the guy locked up already. And, naturally, she’s been dealing with crushing guilt – as any mother would do in light of this kind of shattering news.
Today, she tells me that it’d be easier to prosecute him if her child showed more visible signs of trauma: bad grades, emotional outbursts, misbehavior, etc. And then my brain exploded and I had to stop from screaming down the house.
I’ve never met the girl’s father. Have no idea where he lives, what he looks like, what makes him tick.
But I’d like to rule the world for an hour or so – long enough to castrate him with a rusty, dull butter knife. One that’s been marinating for a while in a culture of antibiotic-resistant staph germs.
Can someone grant me the power, please?
Topics: I'm *Serious* Here | 4 Comments »
November 16th, 2006 at 9:35 pm
OMG, if it were up to me I’d totally put you in charge. Stuff like that just makes me sick to my stomach… it is so sad and heartbreaking and it just makes me feel so despondent about the state of this world.
[SIGH] Prayers and positive energy will be sent in your (and your friend’s) general direction…
November 17th, 2006 at 6:44 am
You have my blessings, Betsy! Go forth and . . .
I am near to a situation where there is alleged sexual abuse and custody hearings and a father who is manipulating the system to gain access to his children. I don’t know the truth of it but my gut tells me that you err on the side of keeping kids safe not on parental rights and yet . . . what if the allegations are wrong? It’s so horrible all around. But bottom line, I looked at the faces of two little girls yesterday who are scared because they knew that their mom and dad were fighting over them and the police were involved. Oh, it’s so sad and ugly. Why can’t people just do the right thing? :(
November 17th, 2006 at 7:29 am
My niece’s friend finally came forward to tell about what her dad had been doing to her for the last 5 years. He’s in jail now. They got physical evidence. He’ll be away for a long, long, long time.
All my best to your friend and her daughter. May that man find himself at the mercy of someone bigger and stronger than he is.
November 18th, 2006 at 2:19 pm
I read a factoid in the paper recently that of adult women who are raped, those that were beat up in the process tend to recover more quickly and more thoroughly. With visible injuries, people around them are far more likely to take the situation seriously and therefore provide more emotional support.
It’s a sick, sick world sometimes.