Predators Live Among Us: Protect Your Family from Child Sexual Abuse
Copyright © 2010 Diane Roblin-Lee
All rights reserved
Foreword by Melodie Bissell
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Roblin-Lee, Diane, 1945-
Predators live among us [electronic resource] : protect your family from child sexual abuse / Diane Roblin-Lee ; foreword by Melodie Bissell.
Includes bibliographical references.
Electronic monograph.
ISBN 978-1-927355-01-5
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-927355-00-8
1. Child sexual abuse--Prevention. 2. Child sexual abuse.
3. Child molesters. I. Title.
HV6570.R643 2012 362.76’7 C2012-904167-X
Published by
Castle Quay Books
1307 Wharf Street, Pickering, Ontario, L1W 1A5
Tel: (416) 573-3249
E-mail: [email protected]
Cover and interior layout and design: Diane Roblin-Lee
Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New King James Version of the Bible. Thomas Nelson Publishers ©1984, 1982, 1980, 1979 and New International Version of the Bible, copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishers.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this booklet are those of the author and do not constitute part of the curriculum of any program. The development, preparation and publication of this work has been undertaken with great care. However, the author, publisher, editors, employees and agents of Winning Kids Inc., are not responsible for any errors contained herein or for consequences that may ensue from use of materials or information contained in this work. The information contained herein is intended to assist communities, churches and individuals in establishing effective response to a controversial issue and is distributed with the understanding that it does not constitute legal or medical advice. References to quoted sources are only as current as the date of the publications and do not reflect subsequent changes in law. Organizations, communities and individuals are strongly encouraged to seek legal counsel as well as counsel from an insurance company when establishing any policy concerned with this topic.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission of the publisher.
Purpose
How could a wife be married for 38 years and not know her husband had begun to molest children 25 years prior to being charged? It sounds impossible, but that was my experience. Because it is obviously very difficult to recognize the predators who live among us, I have researched and written this book in an attempt to bring something positive out of the devastation exacted upon our family. By sharing my hard-won insight, I hope to help parents and grandparents be more effective in protecting their little ones and escape the shattering fallout of child sexual abuse.
The purpose behind Predators Live Among Us – Protect Your Family From Child Sexual Abuse is sevenfold:
• to deter people who are fantasizing about molesting a child from acting on their fantasies
• to protect children from molestation through raising awareness on many levels
• to look at the new challenges of parenting in the 21st Century
• to deepen the understanding of all levels of society affected by the molestation of a child
• to find healing for victims and families
• to encourage the kind of justice and community action that prevents predators from initial offending and re-offending
• to demonstrate to all those who have been molested that I, and many others who labour to protect children, care very deeply about what you have endured and, in honour of you, are doing all we can to protect other children from sharing your experience.
Diane Roblin-Lee
Foreword
I am so thankful for the day I met Diane Roblin-Lee. We met in an elegant tea house for afternoon tea and scones. We were surrounded by beauty and grace! However, the topic of conversation was one with which we both felt God had burdened our hearts. It was the darkest of topics – child maltreatment and sexual abuse. I had found a new friend who shared my ever increasing burden and passion for the protection of children and youth. Diane had just completed a project of research and writing on the topic. Winning Kids Inc. ® had the audience to read it.
In Plan to Protect™, the Winning Kids Inc.® protection plan for children, youth and those that work with them, we (the authors of Plan to Protect™), have dedicated an entire module to the reporting and response of abuse.
I wish I could say that, with the focus and attention abuse prevention and protection protocol has received over the last decade, the incidences of child sexual abuse are decreasing. I wish I could say that people seldom need to refer to this module. However, the maltreatment of children is on the rise. The exploitation of children globally is one of society’s most shameful preoccupations.
Children are at risk! They are at risk in our communities, churches, schools, play grounds and sporting arenas; children are at risk even in our own homes!
Having been profoundly impacted personally, Diane recognizes the risk. But have we as a society, community, church, family, not all been profoundly impacted? The children certainly have been.
Francis T. Murphy, Presiding Justice (retired) of the Appellate Division, Supreme Court said,
“Children have neither power nor property. Voices other than their own must speak for them. If those voices are silent, then children who are victims of abuse may lean their heads against window panes and take the bitter emptiness of violated childhoods.”
Thank you Diane for speaking on behalf of the children!
Every parent and care-giver, and everyone working with children and youth should read Predators Live Among Us: Protect Your Family From Child Sexual Abuse. On behalf of the children, I ask you to please take the contents seriously. If you aren’t convinced that we need to step up our efforts to protect them, I implore you to research this topic. The more I read, the more diligent and dedicated I am to winning the race against abuse.
Please join us!
On behalf of the children,
Melodie Bissell
President
Winning Kids Inc.® / Plan to Protect™
Suite 14, A7-1390 Major Mackenzie Dr. E.
Richmond Hill, ON Canada L4S 0A1
1-877-455-3555
“But when they were oppressed they cried out to You. From heaven You heard them, and in Your great compassion You gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.” Nehemiah 9:27
1. Why All the Fuss?
Not too many years ago, there was something called “childhood”—a carefree time of life when Little League, hopscotch and pushing