I don't know why Social Services WOULDN'T take these steps, given these revelations. If even one girl was untruthful in stating that the abuse had ended more than 3 years prior to the December 2006 interviews, the parents obstructed the investigations if they coached their daughters. And checking to see there was nothing going on in Josh's own family would be reasonable. If a man will molest his sisters, are his daughters safe?
Unfortunately, many of our laws are not proactive and without new allegations, I don't think CPS could legally open an investigation.
One day my daughter told me about a little girl in her neighborhood coming over and telling her that when the police would come, she had to hide from them. Her father or step-father, was a convicted child molester and on the registry as a high level offender. I contacted the department of the sheriffs office that does the periodic checks on registered sex offenders. I was told that as long as the offender is no longer on parole, there is nothing that can be done, unless of course, there are new allegations of abuse. There are sex offender laws in place that try to keep offenders away from schools, etc., but there are no laws that prevent them from marrying or living in households full of children or having many children of their own.
Another thing I find extremely troubling, is the mindset of the women that marry and live with these offenders. While there are those of us on one side that advocate for laws and preventive measures to protect children, there is also a large group, made up of many wives, girlfriends, mothers, etc. of sex offenders that work feverishly to attempt to abolish all sex offender laws. Some have made their way into political positions or have managed to influence those in political positions by spreading false information. Many have blogs where they frequently whine about their lives and the laws.
All of these sex offender "advocates" that I have encountered seem to tell the same story of the offender being wrongly accused and convicted or, if the offender was convicted at a young age I will frequently here the story of it being "consensual". When further examining the police reports and court documents, this is very far from the truth of what actually happened.
There is much talk from these sex offender "advocates" about innocence, forgiveness and the fact that because they served their time, they feel there shouldn't be any other criteria for these offenders. I hear ZERO talk from them about the victims of the offenders crimes or any preventive measures to see that children are protected from the offenders.
I have asked myself, are these women that live with or marry child molesters that desperate for a man that they will place that above the safety of their own children? I think so many confuse what forgiveness really means. Forgiveness to me anyway, is not opening your home and life and those lives around you up by taking huge risks of safety for yourself and the other members of the family.
I find the many preachings of forgiveness among religion to be extremely dangerous, because of the message sent is it's the christian thing to do. Taken to extremes, some feel it is acceptable and the right thing to do and that leaves them and their family members extremely vulnerable for abuse. These false interpretations of forgiveness, have allowed many predators access to additional victims and provided protection for offenders by keeping things silent within certain circles.
Another thing that comes to mind when I see they family members, spouses and partners defend these perpetrators is the frequent denial we see that is so common in most all criminal cases. "My son, my husband, my friend is such a good person and wouldn't do anything like that. They may have had a past but found Jesus and turned their life around".
Michelle Duggar chose to advocate against LGBT rights using the example of a pedophile dressing as a woman to gain access to female restrooms. I have never personally heard any stories from victims of sexual assault that happened by strangers in restrooms. (I'm not saying it never has happened). There are hundreds of thousands of instances of sexual assault that have occurred within the home ones circle, by offenders that are/were family member and so called close friends.
Is Michelle Duggar in denial, is she trying to deflect or is she just plain ignorant?
