It all started with a support group
This past Sunday, I had a bit of an epiphany. I was getting ready to receive an award for my work on behalf of SNAP for creating awareness for support groups. The organization honoring us—SHARE! The...
View ArticleNo secrets: It’s easy for kids to keep promises … for the wrong people
One of the most important things I teach parents about empowering children against abuse is: “no secrets.” Yesterday I was reminded about how important it is to REINFORCE this lesson as children get...
View ArticleFriday Round-up: Aldana, Adrian, Arizona, and the AG
It’s been an interesting week: Ricardo “Richard” Aldana is goin’ to the pokey Former JSerra High School teacher Richard Aldana was convicted on three felony counts of lewd acts upon a child. The victim...
View ArticleWhen a child is abused … by another child
I have written on this subject before. But today’s story out of Sacramento is more tragic and upsetting. The mother of an eight-year-old sodomy victim has filed a lawsuit against the mobile home park...
View ArticleVetting and the board of the Vatican Bank
Last week, Pope Francis sacked his entire Vatican “watchdog” board, replacing them with an international “who’s who” list of financial reform and investigation gurus. One of the names on the list...
View ArticleCarlson plays the memory card … and loses
Yesterday, attorneys for victims of child sexual abuse in Minnesota and Missouri released a recent sworn deposition of St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson. In the deposition, which can be read here and...
View ArticleA bishop’s “epic fail” is a lesson to all of us: How to report abuse
St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson has a lesson for all of us, and I don’t think it’s the lesson he intended. The situation: When asked by victims’ attorney Jeff Anderson in a recent deposition if he...
View ArticleLawsuit: White House “Model” program didn’t report child sex abuse
**Update** Thanks Glenn Reynolds for the INSTALANCHE! This press release crossed my desk this morning. Apparently, the White House and the US Department of Education didn’t check to make sure that...
View ArticleBig News: Hawaii Civil Window for child sex abuse victims EXTENDED; Includes...
Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie just signed a law that extends Hawaii’s two-year civil window for sex abuse victims. But there’s more: victims in public schools are NOW eligible for accountability...
View ArticleThe Best Revolutions Begin With One Small Action
This blog has long rallied against the problem of the cover-up of sexual abuse in public schools. Unfortunately, the victims in these cases—when they are ready and able to come forward and get...
View ArticleWhat is “grooming” and how do child predators target children?
Grooming is a predator’s “ticket” to your child. It is the careful means by which a predator befriends, flatters, builds trust, removes inhibitions, and blurs sexual and body boundaries in order to...
View ArticlePope Francis, Eric Swearingen and another failure of “Zero Tolerance”
If Pope Francis were truly sorry for the sexual abuse of children in the Catholic church, he’s take a gander at a little Catholic diocese is California, where a cleric found guilty of abuse in a civil...
View ArticleWandering Wadeson: A banned priest is exposed
I know it’s been a little quiet here at The Worthy Adversary. I have been pounding away at the manuscript for The Well-Armored Child (found a publisher!), and it’s summer, so there’s not a lot of quiet...
View ArticleJust because they shout the loudest, doesn’t mean they’re right
The big discussion at the 2014 SNAP conference was “everybody’s favorite pontiff,” Pope Francis. Journalist Jason Berry—who faced raised eyebrows for earlier comments criticizing SNAP’s methods and...
View ArticleTHE WELL-ARMORED CHILD got an agent
I am very excited to announce that I have found a literary agent for THE WELL-ARMORED CHILD. Since I haven’t “signed on the dotted line” yet, I’ll keep the name under wraps. Besides, everyone loves a...
View ArticleIndiegogo campaign helps survivors expand support groups
Even $5 can make a huge difference. I have often mentioned my volunteer work with SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. They are the nation’s largest and oldest support group for...
View ArticleKatie Reed at Andrea Hurst agrees to represent THE WELL-ARMORED CHILD
I teased last week that I had secured an agent for THE WELL-ARMORED CHILD. Now that the paperwork is signed and the deal is sealed, I am very excited to disclose the big news that Katie Reed at Andrea...
View ArticleTwo parenting must reads
1) Call the cops, not your college president. There has been a ton of press about the problem of sexual assaults on campus. Recent government intervention—telling universities that they must have...
View ArticleThomas Stitts and the 40-year Minnesota “memory loss”
A couple of things struck me about the recently released clergy file of St. Paul and Minneapolis Archdiocese priest Thomas Stitts. I saved the best for last, so be sure to read to the end. There is the...
View ArticleLafayette bishop must release names of accused priests
My op-ed in today’s Lafayette Advertiser: Releasing priests’ names a matter of public safety
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