The Real Monsters

I only recently started as Director of Development and Communications at DCAC.  And I must admit that my prior experience as a fundraiser was for arts organizations....quite a different mission and case.  So, obviously, I've been schooling myself on the subject of child abuse and neglect in order to get my arms wrapped around the mission of DCAC to "Prevent Abuse - Strengthen Families - Restore Childhood."  As a relative outsider, I have been astounded by the unimaginable crimes that adults are capable of committing against innocent children. 

It has been a couple of weeks since Halloween, but I have been thinking about how the REAL monsters out there are people....they look just like you and me....and they have an uncanny way of luring their prey (young boys and girls) into their trap.  The results are no less frightening than the worst horror movie you can think of.

Through my research, I recently learned that  Tom Arnold (of "Roseanne" fame) had been sexually abused from the time he was four until he was seven by his twenty-something male babysitter.  Mr. Arnold came out with this story when he was making the movie, "Gardens of the Night"  a grim story about child predators and abuse.  Making the movie was somewhat therapeutic for him.  He agreed to take on the role because of his own abuse...because he wanted to actually portray his abuser.  He insisted on his costumes being similar to what his babysitter wore.  He wanted to authentically play a pedophile in order to convey to audiences the reality of abuse and how quickly and easily it can happen.  When he was 30, Mr. Arnold confronted his abuser as part of his rehabilitation.  The man was a church leader, the owner of his own company and was about to adopt his fourth child.  The confrontation was liberating for Arnold.  Although authorities told him that there was nothing they could do about his accusations regarding his own abuse, he brought enough light to the situation to prevent the pending adoption from going through. 

"Gardens of the Night" represents the worst case scenario of abuse...it is, unfortunately, not an uncommon scenario.  The children in the movie grow up to become drug addicts, prostituting themselves, bathing in gas station bathrooms and generally living a tortured life.  The observer is forced to ask, "What might have been?"  And more importantly, "What IS going on NOW?" 

We see the pictures of faces posted on the walls every time we leave a Wal-Mart or a Sam's Club.  Most often, I know I breeze on by....scarcely thinking about the reality.  The fact is that the depravity of "Gardens of the Night" IS real.  Who knows how many of those faces are children who are living a similar reality?  Those are the MOST horrifying kinds of stories.

Thankfully, there is hope.  Daily, DCAC serves the victims of these monsters...the "hero" who manages to save the day.  Of course, it's not that simple...we can't really "save the day."  But little by little, we will continue "restoring childhood" and attempting to put an end to this devastating epidemic.  And hopefully one day "Gardens of the Night" will be a work of fiction.

Scott Finlay - Director of Development & Communications