Posted on 08/15/2002 8:35:08 AM PDT by Jadge
A very good friend of mine has had an extremely dysfunctional family life. His parents divorced many years ago when it was discovered that his father had been molesting his older sister. No charges were ever filed against him, and he is a free man.
His mother, a school teacher, remarried a school administrator she'd been dating for years. They seemed to have a very normal life. She taught, and he was an administrator or principal (in Delaware I believe).
Recently, my friend's younger sister, now in her early 20's, came forward and told the family that the stepfather had molested her for years. The family brought this news to the mother, who immediately left the stepfather.
My friend's sister did not want to press charges, for various reasons, including shame, reluctance to relive the events, humiliation, etc. So nothing has happend to the administrator. He is a child molester who walks around a free man, and is surrounded by children!
I am asking FREEPERS if there is another way put this guy away without involving the victim? This guy belongs behind bars, and if the girl won't press charges he will get away with this. He could very well be abusing others. Any advice is welcome.
It's likely he has and/or is abusing others. If the victim you know won't come forward, then you'll have to look for other victims who will be willing to come forward. There's no way a person can be put away if no victim is willing to testify, because then there's no case.
Frankly, I hope she does come forward, for the sake of others who may get abused in the future, especially given that her mother has clearly been completely supportive. It's obviously up to her though and nobody should judge her for not coming forward. The case may not even go to trial (guilty plea) if it's open and shut, and once she comes forward the prosecutors and police will start looking for other possible victims.
If the family won't do anything about it, the only real hope is to research and see if anyone else has ever brought charges against the guy. As you have said, she is almost certainly not the only victim of a person like this. Find out his background and where he worked and so forth, that might give some hints of where to look.
The Constitution give the defendant the right to be confronted by his accuser.
It's certainly understandable that your friends sister doesn't want the humiliation. Perhaps your friend can help support her in what I consider a moral act of courage.
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