Dear Editor,
At the recent annual meeting of the Owego Village board, a lawsuit was presented suing members of the current board for passing a law to try and protect our children. These members of our current village board and our new Mayor had the courage to take the road of the greater good and pass a law to restrict where certain level sex offenders could live.
This law was passed in response to the grave concern of many parents with small children suddenly finding out that their neighbors were sex offenders. Our village is a small community with many churches, a library, several Little League fields, and of course our Elementary and Middle schools. The individual suing states that it has caused him financial hardship by not being able to rent to the level of sex offenders that are spelled out in the law that was passed.
This same person also goes on to state that the law is unconstitutional because of a stated court decision. The person states that the law also somehow constitutes opposition against religious beliefs and practices.
In fact, if you read the charges that the person states, it appears that he is overwhelmingly in support of the sex-offender and not the innocent children who are the real victims.
I have included a few items below that show that we as a society need to not only protect our children from future abuses, but also the victims whose lives have been affected for a lifetime.
The “Protecting God’s Children” program was instituted in the Catholic Church after the gross abuses of children by certain Priests. Although this program is in place now, there are many victims still suffering.
Child abusers seek to operate and abuse their power within nurturing, child-friendly environments where it is assumed that nobody would want to harm a child. Religious organizations of all faiths are an easy target.
The Protecting God’s Children program implements safety mechanisms that send a message to all abusers and potential abusers: child abuse is not tolerated; children are vigilantly protected; victims are listened to, heard, and shielded from further abuse; and offenders are identified and punished.
By utilizing best practices for training and loss prevention, the Protecting God’s Children program helps make churches safe for all people – especially children.
Residency restrictions have withstood constitutional challenges in trial and appellate courts in Illinois, Iowa, Ohio and South Dakota. At issue in these cases collectively was whether the restrictions 1) impose criminal sanctions that penalize offenders whose convictions are final in violation of the ex post facto clause of Article I, Section 10, Clause 1, of the U.S. Constitution, 2) violate the constitutionally-protected right to travel, or 3) discriminate against offenders in violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
These courts have held that 1) residency restrictions are a form of civil regulation intended to protect children and thus prohibitions on ex post facto laws do not apply; 2) the federal constitution does not include a right to live where one chooses; and 3) residency restrictions are rationally related to states’ legitimate interests in protecting children from harm – see Doe v. Miller, 405 F. 3d 700 (8th Cir. 2005); State v. Steering, 701 N.W. 2d 655 (Iowa 2005); Coston v. Petro, 398 F. Supp. 2d 878 (S.D. Ohio 2005); and People v. Leroy, 357 Ill. App. 3d 530 (2005).
This is an excerpt from a letter that I think says it all.
Dear Sexual Abuse Survivor,
I don’t really like the word victim. Even survivor has a strange connotation. And I’m not too keen on victor. None of those words encapsulate what happened to you, the devastation sexual abuse enacted on your heart. But we’re strangled by language sometimes–even writers can’t adequately express horror.
I much like the word BRAVE. Because it’s so darn brave to walk away from something like that. It’s brave to forgive. Brave to live your life in the wake of sexual trauma. Brave to hold your head high.
First let me say I am sorry. I’m so terribly sad that sexual abuse is part of your story. It’s not right. Someone chose to take something from you – your volition and your body. That person (or people) violated you. They used their power and bully persuasion to overwhelm you with their sinful desires. And now you’re the one left feeling dirty and used – while so many perpetrators walk this earth free. It’s not fair.
Someone’s selfish gratification is not your fault. You were abused. You didn’t want it. Someone took from you – like a thief. They may have used slick words, threatened you, and persuaded you that you wanted it, but it’s not true. Thieves are often liars.
In sexual abuse’s aftermath, you’ve possibly thought of suicide. You’ve cut your skin until the blood came. You over-ate. You spent years hard as rock, bitter as horseradish, always vigilant – ready to fight. You’ve protected your heart with ironclad resolve. No one will EVER hurt you that way again. Not on your watch.
That’s not living. It’s existing. It’s pushing stuff down that you hope stays submerged forever. I know there are questions.
Why do I have to suffer seemingly forever for something someone else did to me?
Why can’t I ever feel normal?
Was I put on this earth to be stolen from?
Why am I here?
Why do other people keep telling me it was a long time ago and I should be over this?
I want to assure you that these questions are entirely, utterly normal. And you should ask them. You should wrestle with them. Some of them will not be answered from this side of eternity. Sexual abuse is devastating. It pulls the rug out from under your worth. It keeps you scared. It infiltrates nearly every area of your life, consciously and subconsciously.
Let the village board know we support their efforts to protect our children and grandchildren. Please take the time to support Mayor May, and Trustees Hartman, Phelps and Manville.
Sincerely,
John M. Loftus (Father and Grandfather)
Owego, N.Y.
