On June 22nd, former Penn State University assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky, was convicted of 45 counts of child sex abuse, from abuse that took place over a 15 year period (as the video news clip below describes). Lighthouse Trails has been an advocate for children since our inception, when we released Laughter Calls Me in 2003. Since then, we have covered various news stories such as the story of Lisa and Isabella Miller, Ted Haggard (not a child abuse case), the molestation of children by Catholic priests, and most recently Tom White of Voice of the Martyrs. We also published the book, The Color of Pain by Gregory Reid, a tribute and encouragement to men who were sexually abused as boys.
There have been a few readers who have criticized our coverage on child sex abuse, saying that sometimes people are falsely accused of sex abuse. We acknowledge that this does sometimes happen, and for a person to be falsely accused of this kind of crime is horrible and devastating to that person and his family. And we would never wish that on anyone. However, the incident of child sex abuse is so rampant in today’s society, worse than ever because of the humongous pornography industry (where anyone can access it through the Internet), that to ignore it is a travesty to children. We post these stories with the hope that it may help prevent child sex abuse by educating and alerting parents on how to protect their children.
In the fall of 2012, Lighthouse Trails will be releasing a book, Seducers Among Our Children, written by a retired New York police sergeant. Patrick Crough, through the lens of his Christian faith, shares his experience as an investigative officer for child sex abuses cases for many years in New York. The book includes many case examples, which illustrate how abuse can happen at the hands of trusted individuals, such as in the Sandusky case. While Crough acknowledges that there are many wonderful teachers, coaches, youth pastors, etc. who are truly giving their lives to serve children, there are also predators in these stations of life who are hunting for innocent children. Crough’s book gives practical and vital instruction and information on how to protect your children from sexual predators. Crough’s faith in Jesus Christ permeates the pages of his book – he realizes that without that, he could not have accomplished his role successfully both as a police officer and as a father of three children.
On the heels of the Sandusky case, and in a time when the American Psychological Association is trying to normalize pedophilia, we pray that brothers and sisters in Christ will not turn their backs on children. As Patrick Crough states in his book, parents are the shepherds of their children. Will we allow wolves to devour these precious sheep while in our care? Can we justify before God doing such a thing?
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Child Sex Abuse – Can We Ignore It?
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