Every state has its own limitations on providing protection for children and protection for those offending. What? you may be asking. Why do child predators need protection, and who was protecting my child while he/she was being offended? That's a great question, but quite often the parent will be the first to be blamed for having the alert blinders on; for not paying better attention of when the issues started.
The truth of the matter is, pedophiles actually have more rights than the victims do. In most states, the law stipulates the crime needs reporting at eight years or less after the crime's occurrence. Each state's individual limitations. This is rather tricky, though.
What this means is when a child suffers threats against self, family, or pet, or perhaps doesn't even realize the extent of the behavior and "Uncle Tom" is abusing her, she suffers the lifelong injuries. Now she may not have a fully functional and healthy relationship, or even be physically fit to have painless sexual relations. But because the perpetrator wasn't detected on time, your child's life is swept under the rug and away from the eyes of Justice. According to Child Protection Tips nearly 1 out of 4 people convicted of this disgusting activity re-offend while on parole or probation of doing committing the crime the first time.
Do this: Close your eyes and have someone hand you something you aren't familiar with while blindfolded. The blindfold puts you in an environment where you cannot readily describe things around you, much like a baby, or child, who hasn't yet learned the proper names for things and might recall them incorrectly because of this. According to Parents Magazine, babies remember things before they have a title to place on the item. This means their memory is relative to the feeling the occurrence evokes, rather than what its given title may be. Children, as well as adults, typically appreciate hugs from people they care about, while hugging someone they don't know doesn't feel the same. Why is that? From the time we are infants, our mind connects hugs with nurturing and protection. It makes sense we don't like hugging strangers as much as those we love, doesn't it?
90% of the time, a child's perpetrator is someone he knows and 68% of the time the perpetrator is a family member, according to KidSafe Foundation. Do you trust your child to stand up to grandpa and tell him that what he's doing is wrong? Grandpa probably has the power to punish your child, take privileges or special treats away, and at least make your child feel guilty for "getting grandpa in trouble," even though grandpa did it to himself. It's so important to consider this scenario from a child's point-of-view; the point-of-view of having a blindfold on and not knowing who to trust.
Teaching is more than telling. Teaching is showing and enforcing that what you say goes. The child needs to understand that assertiveness is his right too. Now this isn't saying you should encourage your child to argue. Set the rules down with a legitimate reason as to why it is a rule, right after telling him the correct procedure, without your child prodding by asking "Why?" What this will do is instill to your child there are rules with reasons aside from "because I said." Then you are setting an example of empowerment your child can mimic himself, with good reasons connected to perform his own Critical Thinking.
While you cannot watch what your child does 100% of the time, no matter who you are, you can instill guidelines and open communication with your child to deflect the offense before it happens. After all, it's easier to avoid an incident than making a failed attempt to patch it up "good as new" after the fact. This is an event no parents wish to patch up with their own children.
If you are interested in insuring your own child, and those of your neighbors, you'll want to sign the attached petition here: Insure YOUR child's innocence.
