Rolf Harris the Truth and the Trusted Child Molester

It was with some disbelief that I read, in December last year, that Rolf Harris had been interviewed by the police during Operation Yewtree. I had been following the Jimmy Saville case, so I knew that Operation Yewtree was a wide investigation into the conduct of people surrounding Jimmy Saville while he was sexually abusing victims all over England. I thought it might be that he was a witness to something someone ELSE did, not Rolf. Not Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport, wobbleboard playing, Her Majesty The Queen painting Rolf Harris.

[Image3 by Mcconnors from morgueFile]

But I was wrong.

He was the 'Person Who is Above Suspicion', at least to me, and judging by the amount of victims he allegedly assaulted, he was above suspicion to a great many other mothers and fathers as well, parents who let their children sit on his lap, visit his daughters and stay overnight at his house. And by all accounts these girls were simply too afraid to say anything, because he was who he is. Above suspicion.

I read comments online that say, “Why would anyone let their kids get abused like this! Blame the parents!” Why? If a parent locks their child away, no sleepovers, no visits to other families then that is seen as controlling and overprotective. If they do let their children out of their sight and something happens, they are immediately blamed for not doing enough to prevent it. In the court of public opinion there is not one guilty party here, there are many. And then we move on to the reality of the Trusted Child Molester.

There is no particular set of features that define a child molester, except that they molest children. To focus too much on profiling child molesters can be dangerous, because it gives security to the atypical child molester – the monster that is Above Suspicion.

[Image2 by Jensoi from MorgueFile]

You would think that a high profile man like Rolf Harris would be under scrutiny all the time – but he has been accused of molesting women while on television sitting next to them. How much more observation is there?

Rolf Harris will likely die in prison, serving his time while the lives he ruined try to pick up the pieces and move on.

[Image1 by Grietgriet from morgueFile ]

Meanwhile, as parents we must try to be vigilant without being overprotective, teach our kids to listen to the little voice inside that tells them something is wrong even when another adult or older child is telling them it is right. We must believe our children when they tell us that someone is making them feel uncomfortable. Most importantly of all, we must foster trust with our own children so that they know that even the biggest children’s entertainer in the world would not be believed over them, and that they can speak out to us about anything without fear of repercussion.

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#molestation_
#evil_
#safety_


%parent101