>>>Sidenote ... I am thinking it may be possible that we will be seeing many more men coming out to disclose they were abused by an adult when they were kids. I think the Penn State issue has opened some wounds and people have found courage to speak up as adults.<<<
I’m also thinking, sadly, that you’ll see many more attention addicts speaking up against powerful and not-so-powerful public figures to cash in on the action.
A lot of questions circulate in my mind reading the minimal amount of material here. The incidents took place 50 years ago - when the alleged victim was 12 and the alleged perp was 31. The victim is now in a mental hospital. What came first - the mental illness or the abuse? Why wait 50 years? Are there others? Yes, most of the time there is a pattern of behavior, but sometimes there is not, too. Statistics aren’t individuals. It is just as easy for me to imagine a guy walking around burdened with guilt and shame as it is for me to imagine a guy walking around looking for the next kid to molest. The timing seems odd, especially in light of the Penn State incident. I see online the congressman is retiring, too.
Rep. Kildee might be guilty as hell, but that’s for a jury to decide. My fear is that we’ll all be 80 years old somewhere and something shameful that we had done many decades earlier - and that includes just about everyone - will suddenly be broadcast online as happening news. There are things I did in my youth for which I have enormous shame and regret, and those self-recriminations changed my character. I’m not the same guy I was when I was 20 years old; in fact, I’m unrecognizable compared to him.
Maybe it’s time to rehabilitate forgiveness and mercy. Just a thought.