INNOCENCE ROBBED

I vividly remember my first day as an Assistant State Attorney, thirty two years ago on March 17^th. I had recently graduated from law school and I believed that I had learned and seen it all. I quickly learned during my first assignment to Juvenile Division in our office that I was terribly wrong.

As an Assistant State Attorney newly assigned to the Juvenile Division, I was responsible for handling two kinds of cases, delinquencies and dependencies. Delinquent cases involve those cases in which a juvenile is charged with a crime. Dependency cases involve cases in which a child is found to have been abused, abandoned or neglected.

Our goal in dependency cases is to not only protect the child from the abuser but to also insure that the court considers what is in the best interest of the child in their placement pending a criminal trial for the accused as well as afterwards.

My first dependency case still haunts me as they all do. The social worker came down the hall to my office escorting two beautiful little girls. It was all I could do to keep from crying as I realized that they were so very young, six years old and four years old. I had already familiarized myself with the facts of their case. They had been sexually abused by their mother’s boyfriend. Their mother had abandoned them and had run with her boyfriend in an attempt to elude arrest. My maternal instincts were on full alert and my heart broke for these little girls. The older sister was holding onto her baby sister’s hand as if to communicate that she would protect her in this adult world at any cost. I looked at both of them and realized these beautiful little girls had forever been robbed of their innocence. I fought the urge to remain professional and detached. My heart would not allow it. I reached out to these two angels and hugged them trying to convince them through my comforting hugs, that not all adults hurt children.

That day my innocence was robbed as well. I will never forget these two little girls. I often think of them and pray that they are living happily with their own families now somewhere with these bad memories forgotten. I may have forgotten their names but their faces are etched in my heart and memory forever. Their case convinced me that I am and always will be dedicated to protecting children from the monsters in our society and to help with educating the public and encouraging everyone to become involved in protecting our children.

I challenge each of you to become involved with Whatafan.com’s commitment to blacking out child abuse. NO child should be robbed of their innocence. Each week I will be sharing various aspects of child abuse including tips for prevention and detection as well as a glimpse into some of the many cases that I have handled during the last thirty two years. Come join us on our journey……… Please do not hesitate to respond, or post and make suggestions for future discussions on this issue. With yourinvolvement and support anything is possible.