Thursday, January 27, 2011

Shaken Up

On Tuesday afternoon a 10 year old boy was sexually assaulted in the mens room of the library where I used to work. I still go here several times a week to do my library business.

I hope the young man recovers from this horrific crime and gets the treatment he deserves.

When I stopped by yesterday to pick up my stuff, all three of the local news trucks were there, and had filmed or were about to film for their evening newscasts. Attention the library does not need. Last week a teenager was followed out of the library then beaten and robbed as he waited for a bus a couple of hundred yards from the branch.

When I worked there, I was always worried about a crime happening that was more violent, and not hidden in a bathroom stall. A lot of people acted out in public areas back then, and may still do.

The staff I spoke to understandably had a rough day, and I am sorry they had to go through this. Obviously it is not something you want to happen. This hits close to home for me, being the parent of an eight year old. But it's not something the library staff are trained to fix, or even prevent. How can you stop a monster?

2 comments:

katie said...

Everything that I've read about sexual abusers is just bad, bad bad. We can only hope that helping abuse victims now prevents them for becoming abusers themselves. I wish that I had a file in my brain for these types of stories where I could store them and not have to ruminate on them.

Someone Said said...

It seems the accused admitted to the crime and that it was wrong. He also had a record and I think was living in a group home for teenagers near the library. Wanting this to be an isolated incident and trying not be be negative. Hard to find anything good here.