Whenever society rightly confronts a serious problem it seeks to resolve, common sense often suffers. This has become the case with child sexual abuse.
If you’re like me, you can’t put yourself into the minds of the abuser, because the actions seem so alien. And, yet, this very contempt for what we perceive as horrendously unacceptable behavior can lead us collectively to be unreasonable.
I remember seeing a PBS documentary decades ago about school teachers being charged with conspiring to sexually abuse very young students, even though there was no compelling evidence. The filming was done during the trial. Some of the accused were offered sentencing without jail time if they’d simply plead guilty.
They refused to accept the lenient sentences on ethical grounds. The children had obviously been poisoned into thinking bizarre sexual crimes had involved them, even though it was obvious that the memories had been planted by psychologists. Finally, they were found guilty and sentenced to decades in prison. And one of the jurors stated that he thought the accused were probably innocent, but couldn’t risk that verdict, because the children must be protected.
I’ve tried to find the original video, but it predated the internet and doesn’t appear anywhere that I can discover. But it made a great impression on me. And I’ve ever since been alert to instances where logic surrenders to emotion in regard to sexual crimes alleged against children. I think the story of this young girl (which isn’t unique, by the way) being threatened with child pornography charges is an example of emotions overruling logic. — MC
Mike Caro says: