New Jen's Horde


Saturday, January 20, 2007

Pass it On

 
A poster at Websleuths pointed out this great article that was published yesterday.The author is Michael Reagan (the son of Ronald Reagan) giving his insider's view on why Shawn Hornbeck couldn't just get away from his captor.

The Reason Why

People who wonder why child victims of sexual abuse remain silent about their experiences have to understand that after that first episode the molester takes ownership of the youngster for a variety of reasons including shame and threats to tell his parents their child is a sexual deviant.

In my case the reason why I didn’t run away although this man was molesting me for a year was simply this: he owned me.
It's a powerful article, and I hope it makes the rounds and everyone reads it.

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Comments:
It sounds like that boy who was kept captive will take years to heal.
 
Amen to what Sheri said... everyone needs to leave the poor child, and his family, alone!

M is a little better (calmer) with the increase in his meds, but I can tell he's just more sedated, but continuing to struggle with an increase in symptoms. :( Thanks for asking...

Maura
 
I liked the last part too... they should all shut up and let the kid heal.
 
I actually like Bill O'Reilly most of the time, but I have to agree with your previous post.
I think it is okay to ask questions about why Shawn didn't try to leave, but it is not okay to be accusatory about why he didn't leave without knowing anything about what actually happened to him. If anyone deserves understanding and the benefit of the doubt it is Shawn Hornbeck. That poor kid was only 11 when he was abducted by that horrid man and then forced to do God-only-knows what. I can't imagine the fear and shame he has felt over these past four years. I think he longed for home but also felt ashamed about things that occurred as well as scared to death about what might happen if he attempted to leave.
I don't think anyone can imagine the power child molesters have over their victims unless they have lived through it themselves. Kids in these situations adapt to them in order to survive.
I don't think O'Reilly was out of line for asking questions and trying to get to the bottom of the story, but he turned the blame onto the kid very early on in this story, and that was his error.
 
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