PART 1 :Child Series

Let me start by saying that I am extremely nervous about doing this series . What started out to be just one post on the abduction , rape and or murder of children has grown into a series. I don't know exactly how many parts to the series there will be at this time but there are several areas I want to cover . As I have said many times , I am not really that good with wording so if you have a problem understanding what I am trying to say please let me know.

CHILDREN AND SEXUAL ABUSE
It makes me sick to hear of a child that has been sexually abused and it makes me hold my own children a bit closer to me . In todays world , it is a very common thing to see on the news or read in the paper about a child who has been molested . However , this isn't something that has just started happening in the last few years . The difference being that today some children are coming forward and taking action to help others who have been or are in the same situation , such as Amie Zyla .

Wisconsin
In January 2005, Amie Zyla, then age 17, was watching her local news when she saw a report of someone being arrested for molesting teens. She was dismayed to find out that the person who had been arrested was none other than Joshua Wade. "I was mad and kind of hurt. It didn't seem like it mattered what he did to me," was Amie's response when asked how she felt at the time. In 1994 Wade , then 14, raped Amie Zyla , then 8 . Wade spent jail time for raping Amie.
At the time of his second arrest, Wade, then 23, was working at a summer camp. The camp had done a background check which came up clean since his juvenile records had been sealed. He is now accused of molesting four boys and videotaping dozens of children showering at his apartment. He is charged with four counts of repeated sexual assualt on the same child , four counts of child enticement and one count of capturing an image of nudity , all felonies. Wade's sentencing is set for this month and if found guilty , he faces a possible 70 years in prison .

Zyla then decided that she would create something more positive from the situation. With help from her father, Mark, she contacted State Representative Mark Gundrum. The Zylas helped Gundrum and fellow Representative Donald Friske write the new law which would become known as "Amie's Law". The new law would allow law enforcement officials to release information about juvenile sex offenders if they're a risk to the public and would also add the names of those convicted to a national registry.

On May 2, Governor Jim Doyle, at a press conference with Zyla in attendance, signed the bill into law for the State of Wisconsin.
On June 9, 2005, Zyla went before the United States Congress in order to urge them to create similar federal legislation. When testifying before the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, she said, "The simple truth is that juvenile sex offenders turn into adult predators. Kids all over the country need the same kind of protection as in Wisconsin."

Most pedophiles do not serve time for their crimes , fortunately in Amie Zyla's case her offender will serve time. The majority of pedophiles are male , only a very small percentage of women abuse children sexually , and usually they are led by a male aggressor. Most pedophiles can't resist their sexual urges towards children and therefore they put themselves in an environment that allows access to or authority over children , such as Josh Wade working at a summer camp. Also , the majority of pedophiles prefer children who are on the brink of puberty because usually those children know nothing of sex . While doing my research on this I came upon an article where an author of a book was interviewing a pedophile, the author asked the man how he chooses his victims and this is what the pedophile said " you show me a child that knows nothing of sex , and you have given me my next victim."

One thing that we as parents/adults need to do is bring awareness to our children . I have always told my children that if someone touches them , even if it is a small pat on the shoulder , and it makes them uncomfortable , I need to know about it because if it makes them uncomfortable then something isn't right . I want my children to know that it is okay to talk to me about anything especially something like this . However , we can't be sure that our children will talk to us if they are being sexually abused . I was sexually abused for ten years as a child and my husband was the first person I ever told what had happened to me . Two years after telling my husband , then boyfriend , I had to face my offender in court . The reason I had to face him in court was because he and his wife were divorcing and they had four children , 1 boy and 3 girls , and I came forward because he was trying to get sole custody of the girls and I didn't want that to happen. Taking the stand and telling in detail of everything he had ever done to me , was the hardest , most humiliating thing I have ever had to do. He was not granted sole custody of the girls but joint custody because of some things his wife had done . Four years after we were in court , he was caught molesting one of his daughters and he never served not one day in jail .

My 13 year old daughter knows that I was molested , she doesn't know the details but she knows and that helps her understand why I am the way I am with them . When my other two children are old enough to understand , I will tell them because I want to instilll in them the fact that they can come to me if it is happening because I have been there. The reason I never told was because he threatened me and I was ashamed of what he was doing to me . That is what needs to end here and now. It would be shocking to know how many children out there have been or is being molested . Alot of people call child molestation "soul murder" because it doesn't only damage physically , but also mentally and emotionally and they are worse than the physical damage .

Another thing is the trust we put in people . My offender was my parents best friend . In alot of child molestation cases , the victim knows or is related to their offender. It seems that most offenders are those that we least expect . Alot of them are widely known in their communities for being a good citizen and family man . More or less what I am saying is that it is almost always someone that you least expect . I am not telling you to walk around on pins and needles , looking at everyone as if they are out for your children but I do ask that you pay closer attention .

One thing that alot of people do not understand is that it isn't really the sex that most offenders want but the power over another human being that they feel when they are in the act of molesting a child . They have control of the situation and that is what gets them off .

There are actually organizations out there that have close to 5,000 members and they believe that their is nothing wrong with having sex with a child . They are trying to have laws passed that will allow them to have sexual relationships with children . Sad isn't it? I didn't know that until I started my research and it really scared me when I read about these organizations .

In closing I want to say that I haven't even scraped the surface on this subject . Google "child molestation" and read all the information that is out there . I am still reading things such as excerpts from books that people have written reguarding pedophiles , sexually abused childern and some of those books are written by pedophiles . You never know what you might learn that might save your child or another child from becoming a victim of sexual abuse.