UK court blocks sex offender's removal to US

I blogged on this story back in April on this pedophile requesting not to be extradited to the US for fear of Minnesota's civil commitment program. He claimed that if he were to be civilly committed it would violate his human rights. http://www.memoirofaredemptivelife.com/2012/04/americas-most-wanted-paedophile-fights.html I thought that there would be no way that he wouldn't be extradited. I was wrong. This predator left the US and was on the run for seventeen years. He went to Ireland to avoid being held accountable for his predatory behavior. I am amazed that even though this child sexual predator has been convicted at least twice of sexually abusing children while on the run from the US, that his appeal against extradition was approved. The county lawyers in Minnesota couldn't guarantee he wouldn't be civilly committed. They did guarantee that they would pursue prosecuting this child sexual predator.

So basically this child sexual predator is getting away with harming children. He won't be able to be held accountable for his crimes. His victims won't get their day in court to tell what was done to them. It's not like this child sexual predator stopped his predatory behavior. In all likelihood this behavior won't stop. According to this article http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2166204/Paedophile-Shawn-Sullivan-spared-extradition-US-courts-say-vulnerable-Gary-McKinnon-MUST-go.html?ito=feeds-newsxml this predator will be able to walk free without any restrictions. Even though this child sexual abuse predator has abused children in Ireland he is going to be able to roam fee so other children can be put at risk. This is just a deplorable story. What about the human rights of his victims? Rosie

Last updated 07:30 29/06/2012

Judges Alan Moses and David Eady endorsed 43-year-old Shawn Sullivan's appeal against extradition after US authorities refused to guarantee that Sullivan wouldn't be placed in Minnesota's civil commitment program, which provides for the indefinite detention of people found to be "sexually dangerous."
The judges said that commitment to the program would be in "flagrant denial" of Sullivan's human rights.
Sullivan, a dual US-Irish citizen, is accused of raping a 14-year-old girl and sexually molesting two 11-year-olds in Minnesota in the 1990s. He escaped to Ireland as prosecutors prepared to file charges, and while staying there was convicted of sexually assaulting two 12-year-old girls.
Authorities finally caught up with him two years ago in London, where he'd moved using an Irish passport that spelled his last name in Gaelic as "O'Suilleabhain."
The British judges made clear in an earlier decision that they would have supported Sullivan's extradition had it not been for the sex treatment program, which they described as among the toughest in the United States.
The Minnesota program, which began in the mid-1990s, allows civil courts to commit a person for sex offender treatment if a judge decides the person is sexually psychopathic or sexually dangerous. As of April 1, 641 people were in the program.

Coping With Traumatic Responses

I thought it was important to discuss the on-going recovery process from PTSD.  http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/coping-traumatic-stress.asp
One of the things with PTSD is, that recovery is a life long process. There will be times when PTSD symptoms will be far and few between. There will be other times where seemingly out of the blue PTSD symptoms come back with a vengeance. I know that the anniversary of traumatic events can cause PTSD triggers. I think that is why the holidays are so hard sometimes. Learning that holidays trigger me means I have to be aware of this fact and pay attention to how I am doing. Also realizing that just because I am experiencing PTSD symptoms doesn't mean I get to take things out on those around me. It also means it is up to me to communicate what is going on with me to those I am with.That is why it was important for me to start traditions at the holidays after I got out of my marriage. Adding these traditions that weren't part of holidays when I was married to my ex was a good way to reduce the likelihood of PTSD symptoms. This has worked wonderfully and the traditions have continued for over twenty years.

Knowing situations that can trigger PTSD is of the utmost importance for people with PTSD to be aware of. I have worked hard not to purposely put myself in a position where I know my PTSD will trigger. That doesn't mean it always works because I am human. We need to nurture our self when set back happens so we are able to stop the PTSD symptoms sooner then later. For me it is vitally important for me to have my own private space where I can re-center myself. I read, listen to music or veg out watching a movie. Please take the time to nurture yourself you deserve it. Rosie

Coping with Traumatic Stress Reactions

When trauma survivors take direct action to cope with their stress reactions, they put themselves in a position of power. Active coping with the trauma makes you begin to feel less helpless.

• Active coping means accepting the impact of trauma on your life and taking direct action to improve things.
• Active coping occurs even when there is no crisis. Active coping is a way of responding to everyday life. It is a habit that must be made stronger.

Know that recovery is a process

Following exposure to a trauma most people experience stress reactions. Understand that recovering from the trauma is a process and takes time. Knowing this will help you feel more in control.

• Having an ongoing response to the trauma is normal.
• Recovery is an ongoing, daily process. It happens little by little. It is not a matter of being cured all of a sudden.
• Healing doesn't mean forgetting traumatic events. It doesn't mean you will have no pain or bad feelings when thinking about them.
• Healing may mean fewer symptoms and symptoms that bother you less.
• Healing means more confidence that you will be able to cope with your memories and symptoms. You will be better able to manage your feelings.

Treatment of PTSD-My journey through treatment

Today is National PTSD Awareness day. So I thought I'd do a blog on treatment of PTSD. I cut and pasted this from The NATIONAL CENTER for PTSD http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/treatment-ptsd.asp I didn't know I had PTSD until I was 30 years old. I clearly had the symptoms. Anxiety, panic, agoraphobia, crying for no reason, getting angry for no reason, being afraid of situations with no apparent reason and being hypervigilant. At one point my hypervigilance wouldn't allow me to even go on a vacation if there wasn't a hospital within five miles. To those around me it just seemed like I was being "quirky." To an abusive spouse it only added to his stress which added stress to our children. The scary thing is that I didn't have coping skills to deal with PTSD. I also didn't have self-awareness of triggers. I am very fortunate that in 1991 I received treatment for my agoraphobia at Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Ct. They were doing a double blind study on a new medication (I believe it was Klonipan) and needed study participants. My aunt Gerry helped arrange this for me. My ex had been dealing with everything due to my being agoraphobic and gave in an let me get treatment. Up to that point he had refused rightfully stating that, "If you get treatment you'll leave me." He was pretty insightful with that but was sick of all of the responsibility my agorophobia put on him.

In order to be part of the study I had to have physical exams, several psychiatric evaluations so they could determine the extent of my mental health issues. After all of my examinations I was accepted into the study. This was the first time I heard the words Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It was a double blind study which meant that there was a placebo and the real medication. Each of the participants were given a medication to take daily and we didn't know which one we were on. The study consisted of weekly 1:1 sessions with the psychiatrist, group therapy and intensive cognitive behavioral therapy. The cognitive behavioral therapy consisted of being exposed to different stimuli that triggered my agoraphobia, panic and anxiety. It also consisted of learning how to deal with the "chatterbox" in my head. This meant I had to journal each week and then discuss my journal in group therapy. I had to write down all of the negative thoughts that popped into my head and interfered with my getting better.

It was very hard for me to be calm and centered. As part of the exposure therapy I had to learn to relax. I went home each week with homework. I had to draw a bath and set in it for five minutes the first week. This was very hard for me. That first five minutes were hell. By the end of the first week I had been able to sit in the bath for the five minutes each day. This sounds so trivial but it wasn't to me. I was proud of myself for sticking to it. I also had to journal how sitting in the bath made me feel, especially any emotions that came up with it. Then they were discussed in group therapy. I hadn't driven in almost a year, this was in response to the agoraphobia and my ex's refusal to let me drive. By the third week as part of my exposure therapy the psychiatrists over seeing the study insisted I drive to and from my weekly therapy sessions. My ex had a fit and didn't believe me. He thought I was lying. He would take me to therapy sessions each week and sit outside in the car waiting for me. When I got to the car after my therapy sessions and told him about driving he insisted on going back into the hospital and talking to the main psychiatrist. I was humiliated but there was nothing I could do. When the psychiatrist explained it was part of my therapy he relented. The first time I went to take the car for therapy he had taken the distributor cap off of the car so he would be forced to take me. I found it and put it back on and when he heard the car start he ran down stairs and tried to catch me so I couldn't leave without him. I just kept driving, my heart was pounding like crazy and I was terrified but felt free at the same time. I knew if I was able to gain control of my life then I would be able to leave my abusive marriage. When I got to therapy that day I told the group therapy class that I felt wonderful and empowered.

I was convinced I was on the "real" medication because my anxiety, agoraphobia and panic symptoms subsided some. By the fourth week I was able to be in the bath for fifteen minutes each night, I was going out some and was feeling calmer. When I got to my therapy the fourth week the two psychiatrists who were running the study asked to meet with me. They told me that I was on the placebo and that they felt I needed to be taken out of the study. They told me that I was the worst agoraphobic they met up to that point and that they felt ethically I needed to be on an antidepressant. They allowed me to remain in the group and exposure therapy. I was amazed at this I had been convinced it was the "medication" that was responsible for my being able to be calmer and go out more. This is the first time I realized I was in control of my life and it felt so awesome. They also gave me the imipramine for free. This was the first time in my life that I was put on any type of medication to help my mental health symptoms. When I got home and shared this with my ex he had a fit and threaten me that he wasn't paying for the medication. I told him they were giving it to me for free and he threatened to throw it out. I actually had to hide it in order to take it. He was glad I was able to do more things but was convinced that once I got myself together the marriage was over. So his way to keep the marriage was to continue to be abusive towards me.

This cognitive behavioral therapy was helping me in many ways. I was learning that the panic attacks weren't going to kill me, even though I felt like they would. I learned that up until I received the therapy through Yale that I was never relaxed and was always on heightened alert. Most of the time my panic attacks would last for hours. Once I was able to change some of the "chatter" in my head when I was having them they became lessened. I was able to stand in a line at the grocery store. Something that always triggered a panic attack. When you have panic attacks you attribute that where you have them is a trigger so you avoid them. This is exactly what I had done. My exposure therapy helped me to gain control over this. I learned new ways of talking to myself when I had a panic attacks. This treatment lasted for eight weeks. I had no insurance which made it hard to get a therapist where I lived. The main psychiatrist still saw me each week and the hospital continued to give me my imipramine, which had started at 5 mg a day and by this time was up to 25 mg a day. The psychiatrist worked on and found me a local therapist.

As I was becoming better the domestic violence became worse. The more control I took over my life the more control my ex tried to display over my life. I was able to deal with it until he got to the children and threatened to get custody of them. There was no way I was going to let him have custody of them. They needed to have the best life possible and I knew that his domestic violence wouldn't end with the end of our marriage. I started this therapy in June of 1991 and by September of 1991 I was ready to take control over my life and started to plan divorcing my ex. In September I had started to go to a domestic violence support group. My ex would leave with the car as a way to keep me from going but I had a wonderful friend who would come, pick me up and watch the children while I was at the meeting. When my ex got home and the children and I weren't home he started calling people to find me. When I got home he refused to let me attend the group any more. I told him there was no way I wasn't attending.

Nearly 80 Juveniles Recovered in Nationwide Operation Targeting Underage Prostitution

I found this press release from the FBI yesterday http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/nearly-80-juveniles-recovered-in-nationwide-operation-targeting-underage-prostitution
This is the fourth investigation I have posted on in the past month where there were major investigations across the globe who found victims of child sexual abuse.They found seventy nine victims with this investigation. Which makes the total over two hundred victims of child sexual abuse that have been found. This is good news. It shows how different jurisdictions and agencies can work together to protect children. This press release states:

 To date, the 47 Innocence Lost Task Forces and Working Groups have recovered more than 2,200 children from the streets. The investigations and subsequent 1,017 convictions have resulted in lengthy sentences, including eight life terms and the seizure of more than $3.1 million in assets.

I really hope that these investigations are starting to worry those involved with this organized, demeaning, soul stealing, dark, evil business. We need to remember for many of those involved with this are in it for the money they obtain related to their commodity, children. Children being made to do things that no child should even know exists. There is a market for it our it wouldn't exist. That is the most disgusting thing to me. I am glad so many children are being rescued and hope that this continues. Rosie

Washington, D.C. June 25, 2012

FBI National Press Office (202) 324-3691

Hundreds of FBI special agents partnered with thousands of local police officers, deputy sheriffs, state troopers, and other law enforcement personnel throughout the United States this past week, arresting those responsible for exploiting underage children through prostitution. The sixth iteration of Operation Cross Country, a three-day law enforcement action, led to the recovery of 79 children. Additionally, 104 pimps were arrested by local and state law enforcement on a variety of prostitution related charges.
“Child prostitution remains a major threat to children across America,” said Kevin L. Perkins, acting executive assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch. “It is a violent and deplorable crime, and we are working with our partners to disrupt and put behind bars individuals and members of criminal enterprises who would sexually exploit children.”
Operation Cross Country is part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative that was created in 2003 by the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, in partnership with the Department of Justice and National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), to address the growing problem of domestic child sex trafficking in the United States.

The False Memory S(word)Foundation and The Sandusky Case

It's been quite a while since I blogged on Pamela Freyd and the FMS(word)F. I have been thinking a lot about what a difference 20 years makes. In 1992 Pamela Freyd and her husband Peter started the False Memory Syndrome (doesn't exist) Foundation. http://www.fmsfonline.org/ They started it in response to their daughter's coming forward to them and sharing her sexual abuse at the hand of her father. The daughter Jennifer never went public with her story until she had to defend herself after her mother anonymously wrote an article about it.

The FMS(word)F started as a way for parents of children who said they were abused by a parent to gain support from one another. It quickly became one of the fastest growing anti child sexual abuse machines. Their advisory board and other supporters had a lot of political power. They would help the plaintiffs in lawsuits to sell their bullshit, yes I said bullshit that child sexual abuse doesn't have any long term affects on children. They also claimed that there was no such thing as traumatic amnesia or dissociation. They also made claims that children found sexual relationships with their abuser pleasurable. That these type of sexual relationships were good for the child. I am not joking. I have written extensively about this on this blog. As a survivor of child sexual abuse and ritual abuse I started doing research after my memoir was written and I started this blog. I couldn't believe what I was finding and how connected the False Memory S(word) Foundation was with pedophiles.

I noticed that since 2009 Pamela Freyd has lost the clout she had since 1992. I hate to say this but if the Sandusky case happened back in 1990's or early 2000's I believe the outcome would be different. You just have to look through the cases they've been involved with. http://www.fmsfonline.org/lipton.html The False Memory S(word) Foundation would have been all over the press making their claims that repressed memories don't occur. That children don't forget traumatic events, actually that the brain doesn't allow them to forget traumatic events. And that child sexual abuse doesn't have long lasting effects on children. When I first started reading the propaganda they put out to say I was incensed was an understatement. For me if I didn't have traumatic amnesia and didn't dissociate I probably would be dead. The brain is an amazing gift and when a child is dealing with something so horrible that the child can't make sense of it. The brain goes into overdrive and helps the child "leave." This leaving is a coping skill that I am grateful as a survivor of child sexual abuse I had.

96 Percent of Children Who Report Sexual Abuse Are Telling the Truth

I found article this morning on twitter. It is from Dec, 2011. It addresses the fact that children tell the truth about sexual abuse almost one hundred percent of the time. http://blogs.phillymag.com/the_philly_post/2011/12/22/96-percent-children-report-sexual-abuse-telling-truth/

What people need to know is that, according to the literature on the subject, if a child discloses abuse, about 96 percent of the time some sort of abuse did occur. That’s the figure—around 96 percent.

This is an important piece of information that parents, teachers, guardians, etc. need to know. If a child tells they were inappropriately touched and you as the adult know that children typically don't lie about this, I believe more children would be believed. Which would mean more child sexual predators would be held accountable for their behavior.  The more child sexual predators are held accountable the more children will be safe from further harm by them. This is a article on disclosure of child sexual abuse and what the research shows http://www.wondercatdesign.com/mecasa/images/pdfs/disclosure%20of%20child%20sa.pdf

I know first hand that pedophiles are very hard to treat. When they feel that their "attraction to children" is a "sexual orientation" and not a mental illness they are very dangerous. This leads to the further belief that if they act on their attraction to children it isn't wrong. They especially believe as part of there cognitive distortions that a child can consent to sexual relationships with adults. If you feel there is nothing wrong with you, then why would you get treatment? That is the reality for many who are pedophiles. This is why groups like B4U-ACT are so dangerous. They believe that pedophilia is a "sexual orientation."

When we’re talking about actual pedophiles, then we’re talking about people, often, who go seeking victims. And they can be very difficult to treat because to them their behavior is not strange. It’s part of the way they live, the way they behave, and peer pressure—other people thinking it’s wrong, society declaring it wrong—has less effect on them.

I know I have talked at length about grooming this article has some specific things for parents, teachers guardians, etc. to pay attention to.

when an adult’s behavior just doesn’t look right. Sometimes, it’s right to go with your gut feeling. But if someone is showing overt interest in a particular child or teenager, it is not inappropriate to ask why. What you should really look out for are people who insist on alone time with a child—deliberate alone time, behind closed doors, no one can ask about it, that kind of thing.

I get very frustrated sometimes with the claim that child molesters are not pedophiles. This just isn't true. They talk about situational child sexual abusers. I agree there are those who just prey on children because the situation arises. I have read articles on human trafficking where adults prey on children because of the deviance behind it. So they can push the boundaries of sex. Most pedophiles are molesters. They seek out, groom and sexual abuse children. I have said before for some reason using the terminology child molester makes the reality of a child being sexually abused lessened. Child molester is one of the words that helps the movement to normalize pedophilia. We need to call child sexual abuse predators what they are; CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE PREDATORS. Maybe we need to stop using the word pedophile and child molester altogether. When we confuse the terminology it lessens the impact to society. No matter the reason or the mental illness behind it. A child sexual abuse predator is just that. Child sexual abuse should never be tolerated or be described in terms that lessens it's impact. We need to remember this is a life sentence for the child. A child will suffer the impact of their surviving child sexual abuse for the rest of their lives. That is the real truth behind this diabolical epidemic. Rosie

Sorting myth from fact in a world with pedophiles

By Steve Volk   12/22/2011

 

 

First, former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky was accused of sexually abusing a series of children over decades. Now, even closer to home, Daily News sports writer Bill Conlin—a local legend—is accused of molesting kids decades ago. But after all the coverage, are any of us better prepared to protect our own children or recognize suspicious behavior on the part of the adults in our midst?

Let's end stranger danger and start focusing in on real child predators

This is a good article that discusses the importance of parents/guardians of talking to children about child sexual abuse. The author recommends parents should have a life long discussion on the importance of communication with your child. She feels that as parents we need to call children's body parts by their real name. She feels that breaks down the stigma of not talking about "sex" and keeps the lines of communication open. Children need to be believed if they share that someone touched them in an inappropriate way. Unfortunately there are times that children are not believed which compounds the abuse that they have suffered. We need to cut out training on stranger danger. This seems useless at this point since:

The vast majority of offenders are adults known to a child -- a parent, relative, neighbor, teacher, coach, priest, physician -- someone in a position of power and trust who abuses both.

There are generally people in positions of power over children. They are usually well liked and active members in their community. They purposely put themselves in a position to have access to children.  They also tend to be more comfortable being around children then adults. They are also very good predators:

Parents also need to know that susceptible children tend to be those who are compliant and obedient. They may come from unhappy or broken homes and may be eager for attention and affection.

It is disgusting in my opinion how these child predators are able to know the children who will be able to be sexually abused. Preying on these children's vulnerabilities is monstrous. That is why we have to safeguard children. Parent's are preyed on as well. Child sexual predators have to groom all of those around a child. This means that they will go out of their way to convince people how nice, generous, kind, well-meaning,and helpful they are. They may offer to help provide rides to and from sporting games, school activities, etc. They tend to prey on single parent households which means they will study the family system and find weaknesses and prey on them. For instance if a family is struggling they might purchase food, or cook a meal or offer gas money. While this comes off as generous and kind the real reason they are doing what they are is diabolical and devious. And in my opinion PURE EVIL. 

I am learning that educating on child sexual predators grooming techniques is one of the main ways to help protect children. This does require time and commitment from families, but I think in the long run it is imperative to be done. Rosie

Tell toddlers what's private about their bodies

By Cindy Cristian, Special to CNN

updated 9:41 AM EDT, Wed June 20, 2012

Editor's note: Cindy W. Cristian, M.D. is the chairwoman of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a professor of pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at The University of Pennsylvania

(CNN) -- Little of the reported testimony from the Jerry Sandusky trial surprises me. I have heard these stories thousands of times over the past 25 years.

As a child abuse pediatrician, I know how predators lure susceptible children with special gifts or outings, how they coerce and manipulate their victims to comply with their advances, how they ensure secrecy with bribery or threats. I've met thousands of parents whose children were victims of sexual abuse over these years, many of whom were unaware of the crimes being committed against their children, and most of whom were devastated by the knowledge of the abuse.

I've learned lessons along the way, and want to share some weapons that parents can use in the fight against sexual abuse.

Cindy Cristian

The first is knowledge. Not the knowledge that child sexual abuse exists -- most parents understand that -- but that child maltreatment is a public health problem that affects millions of children annually, and can have lifelong health consequences for victims.

Very Young Trauma Survivors: The Role of Attachment -PTSD

Doing research on the National Center for PTSD they had the following article on very young trauma survivors. http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/very_young_trauma_survivors.asp Some times I think we forget the very young child when it comes to trauma.

Very young children may not show the same PTSD symptoms we see in adults. This may be because many of the symptoms of PTSD require that the child be able to talk about what happened.

Early trauma affects the child's nervous system. The nervous system is shaped by the child's experiences. Stress over a period of time can lead to changes in the parts of the brain that control and manage feelings. That is to say, stress and trauma early in life can change the brain. This can have long-term effects on physical, mental, and emotional growth. What's more, the impact of early abuse often extends into later childhood, teen, and even adult years.

I believe that one of the reasons my PTSD has been so bad is because my childhood abuse started at birth. Due to the fact Ruth was so mentally ill already, she had a tough time bonding with me and a couple other siblings. This lack of bonding lead to her leaving me in dirty diapers for long periods of time. I have scars on my behind that are from the severe diaper rash I had because of my diapers not getting changed. Ruth liked to share the story that I scratched myself so much that to prevent me from scratching myself she put gloves on me. When I was really young I liked the story. I felt she was trying to protect me. When I got older and was told by Ruth's family the reality of why I scratched myself I no longer felt the same way about the story. When my daughter had my first grandchild she seemed in awe of my response to him. When he was about three months old she told me that it made her feel good knowing how I nurtured him. She said it was obvious to her by my ability to nurture him, that I did the same thing to her. She shared her concern that she knew I loved her but do to the traumas I survived she wasn't sure how nurturing I was when she was very young. This shows that even though some people don't get parented/nurtured correctly doesn't mean they can't learn the skills. I did a lot of reading when I was pregnant with her. I was wanting to know everything I could do to help her develop correctly. I also spent a lot of time with my step-mom and step-family who mentored me on how to be a good mother.

It is important that there are new ways of looking at PTSD in very small children. There are so many world disasters that impact the lives of thousands. Like wars, famine, and natural disasters where emergency interventions are put in place. Learning how young children respond to traumas is important in helping to work them through them so they can lead healthy productive lives. The same goes for abuse and neglect of young children. Children can end up with developmental delays with severe neglect. That is why it is important for early intervention programs for children who are at risk. There are good programs out there now for newborns and hospitals have good assessment tools that help at risk families when children are born. It stands to reason that if someone was abused as a child they will not have all of the tools to parent properly. The better we get at helping families put interventions in place from the day a child is born, the less need for long term services will occur across the child's life span. When these children grow up they will have the skills to parent properly and we can stop future generations of abuse from happening.

There are times I have gotten very frustrated and angry because of my PTSD. At times it feels very unfair to carry this burden for nothing I created myself. Those are the times I allow myself to wallow in self-pity. These times are far a few between and I am very grateful for that. Life is five percent of what happens to you and ninety five percent how you respond to it. I have learned throughout my life seeing the glass as half-full is a better way to live. Rosie


Years ago, little was known about PTSD in infants and young children. Today, we know that trauma and abuse can have grave impact on the very young. We also know how much the attachment or bond between a child and parent matters as a young child grows. This can make a difference in how a child responds to trauma. Below we discuss rates of trauma-related problems in infants and young children, as well as treatment options.
Please see PTSD in Children and Teens to learn about trauma in older children and teens.

Breakdown of Sandusky verdicts, by victim-Glad the victims were believed

Yesterday the world witnessed the fact that ten victims of child sexual abuse were believed. This whole case has shed a beacon of light on the reality of the horrors of child sexual abuse. It has made numerous media outlets aware of this epidemic. When Pa. States Attorney General Kelly made her statement last night she made it clear that child sexual abuse needs to continue to have a national dialog. She explained that this epidemic has to end. She also thanked the victims for their bravery of coming forward. http://www.abc27.com/story/18861541/ag-kelly-thanks-victims-for-testimony-against-sandusky. I think what she said was eloquent and heart felt. When Sandusky's attorney Joe Amendola was speaking he got booed a couple of times. Especially when he said there have been cases of people being on death row who were innocent. Implying that Sandusky can really be innocent. He said they will be appealing which was expected.

I hadn't addressed my response to Matt Sandusky coming forward and admitting that his father sexually abused him. http://www.abc27.com/video?clipId=7425874&autostart=true I think it was brave of him to come forward. There have been lots of questions around why he took so long to come forward. And that he had been in court supporting his father. I believe we need to try to put ourselves in his place. I can't imagine how hard it was for him knowing full well that he can be responsible for his father going to jail the rest of his life. It is also possible that he started having flashbacks of the abuse do to the trial and that lead him to come forward. I have also read there were concerns about Sandusky touching his grandchildren inappropriately (Matt's children). This also could have been the catalyst to him coming forward. I think we will find out more as time goes on.

I have cut and pasted Sandusky's verdict. It is broken down per victim http://www.abc27.com/story/18861422/breakdown-of-sandusky-verdicts-by-victim I think the jury did a good job of going through all of the evidence thoroughly. I am sure we will hear from some of them about what it was like serving on this jury. Sandusky petitioned to have his trial in Bellefont, Pa. I think he thought that because he was so well known where he lived that, that would help him in his defense. This most likely comes from his delusional thinking that what he did to his victims wasn't wrong. He got away with his behavior for years. Some specialists say since the 1960's he has been victimizing young boys. Sandusky probably thought because he had gotten away with it for so long that he would continue to get away with it. I am sure this verdict has rocked his family. They are now going to have to come to terms with their husband and father being a child sexual predator. This must be horrible to have to deal with, but no more horrible then the lives of his victims. I am sure that we will be hearing stories of more victims coming forward. I am glad this trial is over. I am glad that their is a national focus and conversation about child sexual abuse. I hope this continues. Rosie


Posted: Jun 22, 2012 11:42 PM CDT Updated: Jun 22, 2012 11:42 PM CDT

 

Jerry Sandusky is led from the Centre County courthouse in handcuffs after his conviction on 45 child sex abuse charges.

By The Associated Press
Former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted Friday of 45 counts of sexually abusing 10 boys. Here's a breakdown, by victim, of what he was found guilty of doing and the three counts of which he was acquitted:

We are 6 days away from National PTSD Awareness Day. I thought I would focus on PTSD in Children and Teens in this post.http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/ptsd-children-adolescents.asp
There are almost 6 million children each year who suffer some form of abuse. These are the cases that Child Protection Services get involved in. I bet you this number is almost double. Especially when it comes to child sexual abuse. Most cases of any type of sexual abuse/assault go unreported. According to the National Center for PTSD:

Child protection services in the U.S. get around 3 million reports each year. This involves 5.5 million children. Of the reported cases, there is proof of abuse in about 30%. From these cases, we have an idea how often different types of abuse occur:

• 65% neglect
• 18% physical abuse
• 10% sexual abuse
• 7% psychological (mental) abuse

Also, 3-10 million children witness family violence each year. Around 40-60% of those cases involve child physical abuse. (Note: It is thought that two-thirds of child abuse cases are not reported.)

If you add the numbers up according to current statistics that would mean that there are between 9 and 16 million children a year who suffer some form of abuse. That's not including the number of unreported cases. If two-thirds of child abuse is unreported that would make the statistics higher. It would mean that between 27 and 48 million children a year suffer some form of abuse. According to the latest census http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html there are almost 75 million children under the age of 18 in the US. If we count just the numbers reported it means that between 12 and 21 percent of children 18 and younger suffer some form of abuse. If we include those numbers of unreported abuse. It would mean between 33 and 64 percent of children 18 and younger experience some form of abuse. These are high statistics and in my opinion pretty mind boggling.

 Children and teens that go through the most severe traumas tend to have the highest levels of PTSD symptoms.

To give an example of children who suffer severe trauma (I use the terminology multiple traumas). My children were being raised in a violent home, because of that they were definitely neglected and at times physically abused. Both of their parents had undiagnosed mental health issues and the whole extended family system they were around were violent. Or I should say tolerated violence. They have PTSD and at times for each of them it still is hard. They are learning their triggers and they wrestle with admitting they have PTSD because it means they were affected by their environment when they were really young. They have shared frustration because they don't remember a lot of the violence so they think they weren't affected. I am grateful they don't remember a lot of the violence. I am also grateful that they have a life that is violence free. Their children will be the first generation in five generations that will be raised without violence.

Some effects of trauma are:

• fear, worry, sadness, anger, feeling alone and apart from others, feeling as if people are looking down on them, low self-worth, and not being able to trust others
• behaviors such as aggression, out-of-place sexual behavior, self-harm, and abuse of drugs or alcohol

I think that children with behaviors such as aggression in school are labeled as some sort of behavior problem. When if the school knew that it was possible that the child displaying aggressive behavior may be due to some type of trauma the child would be better served. Once a child is labeled a problem it takes away from what the child may have experienced. Their experience gets pushed to the back because their behavior seems to be the immediate issue. PTSD is very complex and more needs to be done to educate those who work with children. The sooner PTSD symptoms can be addressed the better life the child will have in the long run. Rosie

PTSD in Children and Teens

This fact sheet provides an overview of how trauma affects school-aged children and teens. You will also find information on treatments for PTSD in children. To learn about PTSD in very young children, please see our fact sheet Very Young Trauma Survivors: The Role of Attachment.

What events cause ptsd in children?

Children and teens could have PTSD if they have lived through an event that could have caused them or someone else to be killed or badly hurt. Such events include sexual or physical abuse or other violent crimes. Disasters such as floods, school shootings, car crashes, or fires might also cause PTSD. Other events that can cause PTSD are war, a friend's suicide, or seeing violence in the area they live.

Trial Notes - Day Seven-Sometimes words are hard to find.

So tomorrow the closing statements will be taking place. I was surprised that Sandusky didn't testify. I think it was a smart move as his interview with Costas was such a blunder. http://www.abc27.com/story/18835614/trial-notes-day-seven  Apparently the defense thought that because Mike McQueary didn't go into details as to what he witnessed Sandusky doing in the shower with that young boy. The boy wasn't being sexually abused. That is preposterous. To me it seemed that he was really shaken up and couldn't find the words to describe what he saw. Not to mention that what he witnessed was so over the top and the implications were so big. I hope the jury saw right through this.

  "When I came in, John was there, Mike was there … Mike was on the couch, he was visibly shaken and upset, John told him to tell me…what he was going to tell me and that was that he had gone in to the Penn State locker room to put away some sneakers…and he had heard some sexual sounds… I asked him what he meant…[he said] ‘Well sexual sounds, you know what they are.'…I said ‘No, Mike, what do you mean?'…he couldn't go on and just seemed to get a little bit more upset." Dranov told the jury that McQueary said something about looking "toward the locker room shower…he made eye contact with the boy…he [the boy] didn't seem scared….an arm reached out and pulled the boy back….[he said] something about going back to his locker…and said a man came out and it was Jerry Sandusky."

I didn't think that the defense put on a good argument. The biggest thing to come out of this situation is that Sandusky is now the poster boy for what a pedophile is. Once we can wrap our heads around the reality that those who sexually abuse children are people you might never expect. The better steps we can take to educate and protect children. The reality is if an adult seems to want to be around children more then adults that should be a red flag. There have been numerous red flags throughout this trial that very few if any person took seriously. Rosie 

Posted: Jun 20, 2012 10:23 AM CDT Updated: Jun 20, 2012 10:23 AM CDT

By Sari Heidenreich - email

BELLEFONTE, Pa. (WHTM) - Court notes from Day Seven of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse trial:
9:28 a.m. – We're told court will start shortly. We believe the reason for the delay is a motion by the Patriot-News to squash Sarah Ganim's subpoena.
9:30 a.m. – Court is in session. Cleland tells the jury, "Despite the delay of getting started, we are still on schedule." Juror 6 was too ill to come in to court this morning so Juror 13 (Alternate 1) is going to replace her. Rominger calls Dr. Jonathan Dranov is called to the stand. He is a friend of Mike and John McQueary.

Trial Notes - Day Six-Just Goes to Prove That Pedophiles Are People Who Are Well Known and Well Liked

To me today's testimony didn't do anything to take away what the victims testified to. http://www.abc27.com/story/18824380/trial-notes-day-six
I had to laugh when I read:

 Rash has known Victim 4 for about 18 years. She said he is known well in the community and has a reputation. She said his reputation was that, "He was a dishonest person and embellished stories."

It really is a low blow to think that you have to pick on an 18 year old victim. And the worse thing that is said is, "he was dishonest and embellished stories." My response to that is Jerry Sandusky taught him to be that way. Child sexual abuse predators teach the children they abuse to be this way. When you are being sexually abused you are being dishonest because you are afraid to tell people what is happening to you. A lot of times you are threatened that something bad will happen if you tell. You aren't really able to be honest with yourself. It is part of the dissociation that occurs as a way to help you survive what is happening. It is a matter of your survival and is a form of self-preservation. You learn to embellish stories because to tell the truth is so horrible and frightening. Not to mention that if the person who is sexually abusing you is a parent, guardian or a someone you rely on and are attached to. It has been said throughout the trial that victims didn't tell because they didn't believe anyone would believe them. I took the following quotes from the defenses witnesses testimony today. To me all they show is that PEDOPHILES, HEBEPHILES AND EBOPHILES aren't some stranger in a trench coat. They come from all walks of life and from all socioeconomic levels. There are cases of child sexual predators abusing children where children did come forward and those in their community didn't believe them. The guidance counselor in one of the schools didn't believe one of the victims in this case. Today's testimony in my humble opinion supports the boys fear that if they came forward no one would believe them. Just because someone appears to be nice doesn't mean they are. Rosie

 "All the people I know who know Jerry think he's a wonderful man."

 "Amendola asked. Of Sandusky's reputation, Mohr said: "It's wonderful; it's great."

 "He was a very respected man in the community by helping the children in The Second Mile and for all the other activities he's done with the kids."

 Green confirms that Sandusky's reputation is as a peaceful, law abiding citizen

  "We all looked up to him; he was a class A,"

"I never heard anyone have anything negative to say about Coach Sandusky…I would say it's very positive, very strong and people supported him in things that he was doing."

"Thanks to Jerry, half my tuition was paid," she said. She said she has heard positive things about Sandusky: "

"I think he was an honest caring…"

 "We all just revered Jerry, think the world of him," she said of Sandusky. She said among her friends and the staff "I think all of us feel that Sandusky led a purpose driven life…"

Posted: Jun 19, 2012 9:38 AM CDT Updated: Jun 19, 2012 1:59 PM CDT

By Sari Heidenreich - email

 

Jerry Sandusky arrives at the Centre County Courthouse on Tuesday.

BELLEFONTE, Pa. (WHTM) - Court notes from Day Six of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse trial:
9:05 a.m. – Sandusky is in the courtroom now with a paralegal. We're waiting on the judge.
9:16 a.m. – Assistant defense attorney Karl Rominger enters. Prosecutors and judge enter by 9:18. Court is in session.
9:19 a.m. – Tenessa Anne Inpoofe takes the stand. She is from Bellefonte. She has known Sandusky for about 17 years. She met him through The Second Mile and went for several summers. "Enjoyed every minute of it," she said. "I would go over for picnics with the football players, play football in the backyard …learned to cook dinner, thanks to Dot." She said she stayed over Sandusky's home about five times. "He was a very respected man in the community by helping the children in The Second Mile and for all the other activities he's done with the kids." McGettigan has no questions on cross-examination.
9:22 a.m. – Joshua C. Green from Milesburg takes the stand. He is 33 years old. He said he has known Sandusky since 1990 or 1991. He was involved for three years. Green said he spent time alone with Sandusky "I asked for it myself," he said. During camp one year, "I jokingly said, ‘how about you take me to a football game,' and he agreed." He said he spent time at Sandusky's home overnight about 3-4 times and in general 15-20 times. Green confirms that Sandusky's reputation is as a peaceful, law abiding citizen.
9:25 a.m. – Megan Lynn Rash takes the stand. She is from Milesburg. "You look about 12, how old are you?" Rash is 25 years old and pregnant. She was in the Second Mile for about four years and started when she was in elementary school. She said it was an amazing experience. Rash enrolled in the military after high school and spent a year in Iraq. She was honorably discharged a year ago.

Mothers with a history of childhood sexual abuse: key issues for child protection practice and policy

I found this paper when I was doing research into child sexual abuse and PTSD http://www.aifs.gov.au/acssa/pubs/researchsummary/ressum2/ressum2.pdf. I think it is interesting and useful.

The consequence of prolonged early trauma is a “complex” disorder, sometimes referred to as a
“complex trauma response”. Among victims of childhood sexual and physical abuse, borderline
personality disorder complex and post-traumatic stress disorder are often overlapping diagnoses.

I saw myself as a parent (when my children were very young) in several areas of this paper. I definitely wasn't emotionally stable part of the time. I was very immature and reactionary. Something I have talked about in other blog posts. I got involved in a domestic violent marriage and when I filed for divorce the first time I was 27,  I got involved with another violent man. I also found it extremely scary to take control over my life. Of course I was dealing with PTSD, agoraphobia, and panic disorder. Which were all undiagnosed at the time. 

One of the things the paper doesn't cover is that when you survive extreme abuse as a child and your child becomes the age you were when you were being abused. Your mental health suffers terribly. This was part of my complex trauma issues. As my daughter hit 4 and 5 years old my PTSD and panic disorder was out of control a lot of the time. I didn't understand why this was happening. I didn't even know what my mental health issues were. It wasn't until I received the intensive cognitive behavioral treatment and therapy that I was able to understand what was happening. A lot made sense to me at that point. It also allowed me to learn new ways of coping which allowed me to distance myself from my past. This was imperative not only for me but for my daughter.

I knew that if I wanted to break the cycle of intergenerational abuse I had to be willing to get myself help. Get my children help and most importantly get out of the violent marriage. My children were 5 and 8 when I was able to finally get out of the violent marriage. I will carry guilt with me forever that I didn't get them out of that environment earlier. This guilt was very overwhelming at the beginning. It eased up as I got better and my children got better. They were able to see their mother change from a scared, emotionally charged, irrational person into a person; who took complete control and responsibility for her life, who went to college and got a bachelor's and a master's degree that went from very dysfunctional to very functional. Throughout all of this I never tried to convince my children that what they remembered didn't happen. One of the worst things that happens when you suffer multiple traumas as a child is that you are taught not to trust yourself. When I would tell Ruth things about being abused she always told me it was a bad dream or that it didn't happen. When you hear that long enough you believe it. I had to relearn how to trust that inner voice. In doing so it has enabled me to get far in my life. Learning where we come from is so important in preventing repeating cycles and creates better lives for children. Rosie

• Cindy Tarczon
• Australian Institute of Family Studies

PDF	Mothers with a history of childhood sexual abuse: key issues for child protection practice and policy

29 May 2012 This publication reviews the literature examining the impacts of a history of maternal childhood sexual abuse on parenting capacities and the impacts on children.
It specifically examines the domains of mental health, intimate partner violence, substance abuse and homelessness and the overlap with a history of maternal childhood sexual abuse, highlighting the difficulties faced by these women when engaging with statutory and welfare agencies.

Trial Notes - Day Five-Sandusky Groomed Parents as Well

This is the daily trial notes from ABC 27. http://www.abc27.com/story/18813951/trial-notes-day-five
As I am reading them the following statement about showing with young boys at the YMCA isn't true. 

Anderson said he was aware that Sandusky was spending a great deal of time with young boys. He said he was aware that Sandusky was showering with young boys. He said, "Yes, I have also," showered with boys. "Yes, I still do it," he said. "At the YMCA. Do it all the time."

I belong to the YMCA where I live and children under the age of 16 years old are not allowed to be in the adult locker rooms. They have separate locker rooms for girls and boys under 16 and they also have a family locker room.  

Victim 9's mother took the stand today. She shares similar symptoms to the symptoms in my previous post on warning signs that a child might have been sexually abused. She also discuss his underwear and how he always made up excuses for why he didn't have underwear. I think it is telling that his socks went missing too! It seems like he needed to get rid of a lot of evidence of his being sexually abused. The level of guilt this mother is carrying is high. She talks about it in her testimony. One of the things she talked about today is that her son had a therapist. Here's this child who can't say anything to anyone because he feels he won't be believed. Even though he has his own therapist. The level of mistrust was obviously very high. He probably still has this level of mistrust. It will take him years to get that back.

 Victim 9's mother said sometimes Victim 9 would say he didn't want to go to Sandusky's home. She said, "I would ask him why and he would just say he didn't feel like it and I would just make him go anyways." During the time he spent with Sandusky Victim 9's mother said, "He had a lot of stomach problems. He was sick a lot. He had behavior issues. His sleep patterns were very different. His school work was very difficult."

  "I always wondered why he never had any underwear in the laundry," she said. "Never underwear, never socks. He would just tell me he had an accident and he would throw them out….and that was odd to me."

One of the things Sandusky did was to buy victim number 9's mother things.

  She said Sandusky bought her clothes athletic clothes, sneakers and racquetball equipment.

We always need to remember that a child sexual predator grooms anyone they need to, so they can gain access to the child. That is why most child sexual predators are prominent in their community. They purposely put themselves in this position. This is why it takes a whole community to combat child sexual abuse. I can't stress enough how much more education needs to be done. I am grateful this isn't the twenty years ago because unfortunately then child sexual abuse wasn't taken as seriously mainstream as it is now. The whole "false memory syndrome" debauchery was going on. It's to bad that more children had to get abused in the process. Rosie

Posted: Jun 18, 2012 9:14 AM CDT Updated: Jun 18, 2012 2:09 PM CDT

By Sari Heidenreich - email

 

Jerry Sandusky arrives at the Centre County courthouse Monday.

BELLEFONTE, Pa. (WHTM) - Updated 2:10 p.m. to correct an error in the 17th paragraph. 
Court notes from Day Five of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse trial:
9:01 a.m. – Joe McGettigan and Karl Rominger enter the courtroom.
9:02 a.m. – The prosecution has one more additional short witness who will be called at 10 a.m. In the meantime, the defense will make several motions. Rominger begins presenting his motions. He says the following charges are too nonspecific: counts 1-6, Accuser 1; counts 12-15, Accuser 3; counts 16-23, Accuser 4; counts 24-17, Accuser 5; counts 32-35, Accuser 7) He said Sandusky kept a professional schedule and that it is "incredibly difficult" to defend a case without specific time frames.

National sexual violence resource center info & stats for journalists-What is child sexual abuse?

When doing research on the Sandusky trial this morning, I came across the media packet, that the Nation Sexual Violence Resource Center put together for the media covering the Sandusky trial. http://nsvrc.org/sites/default/files/Publications_NSVRC_Media-Packet.pdf 
I thought readers might be interested in this. It is 12 pages long. I have only cut and pasted their definition into forms of child sexual abuse and signs that a child may have been sexually abused.

Interestingly a lot of the signs that a child might have been sexually abused are signs that Sandusky's victims displayed. I saw this morning on twitter that the mother of victim number 9 always wondered why her son didn't have underwear in the laundry. That was very telling. We have a long way to go to educate on child sexual abuse. Rosie

• Forms of child sexual abuse:
  
  • A person sexually abuses a child when he or she exposes the child to sexual acts or behavior. Forms include (Finkelhor, Hammer, & Sedlak, 2008): Sex acts that involve penetration. Touching the child’s breasts or genitals
  • Making a child touch the perpetrator’s breasts or genitals
  • Voyeurism (when a perpetrator looks at a child’s naked body)
  • Exhibitionism (when a perpetrator shows a child his or her naked body)
  • Showing a child pornography or using a child in the production of pornography (Putnam, 2003).
  • Child sexual exploitation, such as trafficking or sex trafficking
  • Internet-based child sexual abuse, such as creating, depicting, and/or distributing sexual images of children online; or stalking, grooming, and/or engaging in sexually explicit behaviors with children online.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!

Sexual Abuse of Children--A big factor in PTSD

In focusing on PTSD I thought it would be important to discuss the sexual abuse of children and PTSD. I found the following article http://www.aaets.org/article124.htm. It gives a great description of child sexual abuse. The impact to the child. The type of support system that allows the child to deal with their abuse easier. It even talks about putting a relapse plan together for those who sexually abuse children. The following quote comes from the article.

The most commonly experienced effect of sexual abuse is posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Posttraumatic stress disorder is a clinical syndrome whose symptoms fall into three clusters: reenactment of the traumatic event; avoidance of cues associated with the event or general withdrawal; and physiological hyper-reactivity.

While I survived multiple traumas as a child. The sexual abuse I survived was so pervasive and long term that it played a large role in my PTSD. I know that just by my aunts taking me during the summers and my not being sexually abused while I was with them. Allowed me to be able to not be so hypervigilant. I remember not being so afraid when I was with them. I couldn't tell them what was really going on because I knew I would get in big trouble with Ruth. They were well aware of Ruth's verbal and physical abuse. She did it right in front of her family. I am forever thankful to my aunts for doing this for me. I was able to tell them thank you when I was going through all of my flashbacks. They helped me to learn that not all little children were abused. They also helped me to speak up for myself toward Ruth when I got into my teens.

When it comes to sexual abuse of children people seem to think that it means that there was actual intercourse/rape. While it is rape when it occurs some adults expose themselves to children. My grandfather used to make me stand in the bathroom in front of him while he shaved. He had his underwear on but his penis would be right in my face. He would move forward while shaving so that his penis ended up right on my face. Then he would use the bathroom in front of me while I was in there. My grandmother did nothing to intervene. She didn't seem to think this was inappropriate behavior for a man to do in front of his granddaughter. He also touched me inappropriately and made me take naps with him on the couch. When taking naps I would have to lay on top of him and more inappropriate touching occurred. I was four and five years old when this was occurring. I remember as a child loving my grandfather I thought he was the best grandfather ever. He gave me things and made my favorite food. He was also well liked professionally and in his community. I didn't realize of course that this was part of his grooming of me. I was his youngest granddaughter and I'm pretty sure that this happened to every single one of us. The following quote talks about the myths  of sexual abuse:

These include the following: sexual abuse is limited to sexual intercourse between an adult and a child; the perpetrator of the sexual abuse is always a stranger; and rape occurs with adult women, not children

Most children are sexually abused by family or close family friends. I completely understand the need to educate children on stranger danger, but this gives a false sense of security in light of the statistics on child sexual abuse. School systems need to do a better job with educating on what sexual abuse is and that it doesn't matter who is perpetrating the abuse, it is still wrong. I watched a video yesterday on a woman who was sexually abused by her father and was convinced she was the last he abused. This wasn't true he abused her children and her grandchildren. For me the question is why did you allow your children around someone who you know ran the risk of sexually abusing your child? The complexity of family systems plays a large role in the continuation of sexual abuse in families. Of course this woman wasn't at fault for the behavior of her father, but once I grasped the enormouity of my abuse as a child. My children were not allowed around Ruth period. I learned that it was more important for my children to be safe then for me to continue to have a relationship with Ruth.

 stranger abuse comprises only a small percentage of total victimizations; and children are approximately three times more likely than adults to be victims of rape.

Some people don't understand that an older child can sexually abuse a younger child. This is particularly common in families where incestuous pedophilia occurs. When children in a family are taught that touching each other is okay and are not taught appropriate boundaries the children think this is normal. When children are being touched inappropriate by other family members if another one does it they think it is normal. One of the things that is happening is that older children are watching pornography on the computer and then acting out on younger siblings or friends. This is a very dangerous trend. Which is why it is important that families monitor what their children are doing on the computer. They also need to know what parental controls will block their children from accessing pornography. I think for some the computer becomes the babysitter. When my kids were growing up the trend was for the TV to be the babysitter. To me the computer is much more dangerous and because of the anonymity, children will do things on the computer they wouldn't do in person.  The statistic below is scary.

 Sexual contact between an adult and a minor child, as well as an older teen and a younger child, are both examples of sexual abuse. In fact, among females, almost 30% of all forcible rapes occur before the age of 11 years, and another 32% occur between the ages of 11 and 17.

If we reduce the number of children who are sexually abused. We will decrease PTSD and other health problems that come with surviving this horrendous innocence stealing epidemic. Rosie 

Introduction
Child sexual abuse is a significant public health problem in the United States and across the world. In the United States one out of three females and one out of five males have been victims of sexual abuse before the age of 18 years. Sexual abuse occurs across all ethnic/racial, socioeconomic, and religious groups. Unfortunately, sexual abuse is considered a relatively common experience in the lives of children. A report released by the National Institute of Justice in 1997 revealed that of the 22.3 million children between the ages of 12 and 17 years in the United States, 1.8 million were victims of a serious sexual assault/abuse. There are gender differences with regard to sexual abuse incidents; specifically, girls are at twice the risk than boys for sexual victimization throughout childhood and at eight times the risk during adolescence. Because significant physical, emotional, social, cognitive and behavioral problems are related to childhood trauma, the need to more effectively address the issue has become paramount.

Trial Notes - Day Four-More of the same-Sandusky continually used the same grooming techniques

This is a site that shares all of the notes from the Sandusky trial daily. Here are the notes from yesterday. http://www.abc27.com/story/18788267/trial-notes-day-four  Three more victims testified and the prosecution rested. It is expected that the defense will start their testimony on Monday. I went through the notes from yesterdays testimony to show the grooming techniques that Sandusky used.

He firsts meets his victims via some type of activity relating to Second Mile. One of the things I have noticed in all of the victims testimony is that a counselor from school whether or not is was primary or secondary school recommended them to go to Second Mile. It would be interesting to get their opinion of how they feel about unknowingly putting these children in harms way. I am still stunned on why people think it was okay for Sandusky to hang around children often, hug on them and spend time alone with them. The question I would ask is why? The question is where was his wife? I know many have asked this. Didn't she think it was weird that her husband wanted to be around children so much? This is not typical behavior of an adult. It is typical behavior of a pedophile, hebophile, and/or ebophile.

 He met Sandusky at a Second Mile picnic; he never went to the Second Mile camp but went to monthly activities. (v 6)

 Victim 3 said he got involved with the Second Mile through the Big Brother, Big Sister.

  He went to Second Mile summer camps a couple of times. He met Sandusky in the pool at camp. (v 9)

After Sandusky sets his sites on a child he then goes into inviting them to football games, to work out and to his house. He is building trust. As far as I have read almost all of these boys had no active fathers in their lives. They were all disadvantaged financially and didn't seem to have close families. Sandusky used this knowledge to his advantage.I find this heinously despicable.

 Sandusky invited him to go work out at a Penn State facility. Sandusky confirmed that with Victim 6's mom.

 This was his second year at camp. Sandusky asked him if he wanted to go to his football camp.(v 3)

   Victim 9 said Sandusky called his mom to ask and then later they spent time together. The first time they spent time together they went to Sandusky's house and to football games

Once Sandusky started to build his hideous trust with these boys he then starts with the innocuous touching. He seems to have done this with all of his victims. He touched their legs while driving and then would move his hand up to his thigh and then farther at times. I am guessing that if a boy didn't back away from him Sandusky took this as permission to go farther. I have read over and over again where pedophiles, hebophiles and ebophiles feel that children seduce them. They have very skewed cognitive perception. 

 I was sitting in the passenger seat. He reached over and put his hand over next to my knee, leg, knee, the top part (v 6)

 Sandusky put his hand on his knee. "That was a big thing for Jerry, rubbing the knee and the inside of the way and tickling me and stuff,"(v 3)

 "I felt a little uncomfortable with it but it was Jerry Sandusky so I didn't want to make him mad, (v 6)

 Victim 3 said Sandusky would tickle him on his kneecap and then work his way up his thigh.

Once Sandusky spent time with the boys/victims his innocuous touching proceeded to tickling, wrestling, blowing on the child's stomach, and pelvis area. He seems to have done with with all of his victims. It's like he was using the same playbook with each boy.

 After that, they wrestled a little bit on the carpet. "He was showing me how to pin…he would pin me…we were just kind of rolling." (v 6)

 I went over and he made a lot of jokes to make me laugh…and was just joking around a bunch and started to tickle me. I think he said, he was the tickle monster.

 I remember he made me laugh and he got excited, jumped in to bed with me and started tickling me, blowing on me, blowing on my stomach and pelvis. Sometimes he would touch my (edit). "It was frequent, pretty frequent."(v 3)

Sandusky did his usual of inviting children over to his house. I did notice that victim number 6 didn't stay over his house. It seems his mother put her foot down about that. She was the one that went to  the police in the late 90's. Sandusky showered with her son and she felt that was inappropriate. Again I ask where the hell was his wife? Didn't she think it was weird that her husband would go downstairs and spend time with children late at nigh? I have read where there are those who feel she should be charged as well.

 He stayed at his house almost for every weekend from Friday to Saturday between 50 to 100 times. (v 9)

  Victim 3 said he stayed at Sandusky's house about 50 times over a three year span. Sandusky would invite him. (v 3)

 he stayed the night at Sandusky's home. (v 9)

Another common grooming tactic Sandusky used was buying the children/victims things. He would offer them the ability to do things that they wouldn't otherwise have been able to. He took them out to nice restaurants with the biggest gift being to able to go to Penn State games. Each victim has said how they really liked going to the football games. This must have made them feel so special that they were able to hang around this larger than life person who had access to the Penn State football program.

  "Yeah, I didn't want to get him in trouble," Victim 6 said. "Because I still wanted to hang out with him and go to the game and he, he told me about, he had, this was back in 1998, he told me that he had a computer and that he would let me sit on his lap and we would get on the computer together and I wanted to do that." (v 6)

 he went to many football games with Sandusky and stayed in regular contact with him.(v 6)

  They would then go home, to play racquetball, to the gym or Holuba hall.(v3)

 Sandusky would take him out to dinner, etc…Sandusky gave him sneakers, racquetball equipment, etc. (v 9)

"He made me feel like I was part of something, a family … he gave me things … I didn't want to give any of it up." (v 3)

  Victim 9 said Sandusky was nice, bought him gifts and stuff. McGettigan: Did he ever tell you how he felt about you? Victim 9: "He told me he loved me and missed the best for me…he wanted ?? towards me." McGettigan: "What did you think of that?" Victim 9 said, "It was creepy…I was a kid so."

As a hebophile/ebophile Sandusky's goal of his grooming was to have sexual contact with the child/victim. He would push the touching, tickling, kissing and that stupid thing he did on the victims belly's. These were small children who have all said his touching made them feel uncomfortable. They were put in a position by Sandusky who knew full well that he was giving them time, attention, gifts, the feeling of a father figure and that these children wouldn't say no to him because of this.

 Victim 3 said Sandusky touched his (edit). "He would touch me and rub me and grab me and he gave me an erection and at that time I would try to roll over and get away from him

 "He would come to the bedroom with me when I would go to bed and start burring my stomach and stuff…hugging and kissing me and stuff,"(v 9)

  Sandusky would then kiss him on the cheeks and later on the lips. The Victim pauses. "He started getting physical…Made me touch his (edit) and stuff," (v 9)

 Sandusky would make him feel bad about that, like that he didn't love him or that he was scared of him. "He would wash my shoulders, my butt, my back…he would pick me up and bear hug me."(v 3)

 "He made me..uh, how do you put it…suck his (edit), is that how you put it," Victim 9 said. "He came in the room, pulled his pants down, laid on top of me, kind of forced it in." Did he say anything?: "Ya, he said ‘suck my (edit).'"(v 9)

Every single one of Sandusky's victims talked about their ability to push the damaging memories away. They have all expressed that once they started to talk about what happened more memories came back. This is very common. Once one's psyche knows that you can handle things this allows more memories to come up. If they remembered every single thing Sandusky did to them they wouldn't have been able to function. He made all of these boys feel ashamed, embarrassed and guilty. How someone lives with themselves for doing this, I don't know.

 "Everything that is coming up now is because I thought about it more…it tried to block this out of my brain for years." (v 3)

 "I feel violated…I've gone through a lot of emotion roller coasters since then.'(v 6)

  "I just dealt with it…I have a different way of coping with things." "I never told anyone, I didn't even tell my own mom." (v 9)

Victim number 9 said something very profound:

   "Who would believe you, I mean, he was an important guy, everybody knew him, he was a football coach, who would believe kids."(v 9)

Isn't this the truth. When the guidance counselor was told by one of the victims that Sandusky was touching him inappropriately. The counselor told the child something to the effect that Sandusky had a heart of gold and wouldn't do that. It's possible that if these victims came forward earlier they would have been pushed aside as well. I read this article http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1017979/1/index.htm from 1999 when Sandusky retired. They all but worship him in this article. Victim number 6's mother went to the police in 1998 which can be why Sandusky ended up retiring. I have read before that Penn State pushed him into retiring when the first round of allegations came out. The most obvious truth is that Penn State failed all of the boys. They made football more important then the innocence of children. Rosie

Posted: Jun 14, 2012 10:11 AM CDT Updated: Jun 14, 2012 3:47 PM CDT

By Sari Heidenreich - email

 

Jerry Sandusky arrives at the Centre County courthouse Thursday morning for the fourth day of testimony in his child sexual abuse trial.