The National Coalition for Child Protection Reform
needs to wither and die

By Roland Murphy
Originally published on LiveJournal, February 05, 2010

MSNBC is reporting child abuse rates in the U.S. have dropped sharply. Now, I haven't read the actual report yet, but one likely cause is that efforts like those of the National Association to Protect Children have led to more appropriate penalties and longer incarceration for offenders in many states over the course of the study's timeline.

However, abuser-apologist group the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform wants to use the reduction as an excuse to gut investigation and prosecution of abusers. Executive Director Richard Wexler said, "The best use of scarce child welfare dollars is on prevention and family preservation — not on hiring more people to investigate less actual abuse." This when fewer than half of child abuse reports around the country are ever investigated at all.

These evil idiots are staunch advocates of "family preservation and reunification," and laud the "Alabama 'System of Care' " as a model, rather than a spectacular failure. They claim on their website, "The rate at which children are taken from their homes is among the lowest in the country, and re-abuse of children left in their own homes has been cut sharply."

What they don't tell you is that in instances where an abuse victim is reunited with the abuser, there's no incentive to report further attacks. They've already bucked up their courage once, split up the "family," been traumatized by investigations and trials, and ended up right back where they were. If someone locked you in a room and beat you or worse, you reported it, stood up at trial and then, rather than seeing justice served the judge ordered you to attend "therapy" sessions with the person who beat you until they got their pitch smooth enough that the judge decided you should go live with him again, how likely would you be to drop a dime on them again?

Imagine how terrifying and humiliating that would be. If you're reading this, you're almost certainly an adult. Imagine how many times greater that terror and humiliation would be if you were a small child.

Ten years minimum for a first offense of significant violence or any sexual abuse, followed by lifetime supervised probation and life without parole on any second attempt. That's a lot kinder than my primary inclination, but it's the bare minimum of justice for abused kids, not some softhearted and softheaded therapy and rehabilitation. You cannot rehabilitate evil, and any attempt only teaches the evil ones the means to better scam the system.

If you can spare it, send any size donation you can muster to PROTECT. They're the only professional PAC lobbying for investigation, funding, and treatment for victims rather than abusers, and there's never enough gas in the tank to ensure crossing the finish line.

Since 1992, Roland Murphy has worked as a reporter, business consultant, corporate marketer and private chef. He has also contributed dispatches to the PROTECT newsletter and done occasional research. A longtime fan of Andrew Vachss' writing and message, he stepped into the ring to fight for children almost from the first moment he heard about PROTECT and regularly uses the power of the whisper-stream to spread the word and bring in new recruits. His motto: "You don't have to work for a news outlet to be a reporter, you just have to care enough to observe and speak. Real journalists aren't in newsrooms spinning stories for advertisers. They're on the street spreading the truth." You can read other dispatches by Mr. Murphy: