When Roman Polanski dies, he will not be known for his brilliant films like Rosemary’s Baby or The Pianist.

He will be known as a sexual predator who used his riches and fame to escape the hand of the law.

Yes. It is a shame that such a brilliant talent will go down like that.

A bigger shame is that he’s gotten away with it for so long.

As a survivor of sexual crimes, it makes me ill to see that he’s never fully acknowledged his crime or served the penalty for victimizing a 13-year-old girl.

As a mother of a 5-year-old girl, it makes me sick think that we have not eliminated people like this from society. I constantly worry about someone taking her innocence as mine was.

As a citizen of the world, it makes me nauseous that France and Poland are asking the United States to turn a blind eye to this man’s crimes because they occurred more than 35 years ago.

While time gives us perspective on life, it may not heal all wounds, especially these kinds of wounds.

The irony of the situation does not escape me. Polanski’s mother died in a concentration camp. Would the crimes against his family been more forgivable if they had been at the hand of a brilliant German artist? Are the crimes of the Holocaust any less heinous because they occurred more than 75 years ago? How can he and those that defend him not see this? Of, if they do see it, ignore it and claim that hampering Polanski’s artistic potential is more important than justice for his victim?

Does it matter that Polanski used drugs and alcohol to coerce his victim instead of a gun or a knife?

I’m sorry Whoopi Goldberg and Martin Scorsese. Rape is rape. He took her innocence. He’s gotten away with it. He needs to serve his time.

The only thing that’s more disgusting than people defending Polanski’s actions is the energy that’s been expended on this particular case. How many other children are voiceless victims of sexual predators?

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics:

• 67 percent of all victims of sexual assault were juveniles
• One out of seven victims in reported sexual assaults are under six
• Convicted rape and sexual assault offenders serving time in State prisons report that two-thirds of their victims were under the age of 18, and 58% of those–or nearly 4 in 10 imprisoned violent sex offenders–said their victims were aged 12 or younger.
• In 90% of the rapes of children less than 12 years old, the child knew the offender.

That should make you sick.

If you’re a parent, think of your child’s class. There are probably 30 or so kids in that room. By the time they finish high school, how many of them will have their innocence stolen by someone they trusted.

We have a choice here. We can keep the spotlight on Roman Polanski and hold him accountable, or we can focus our energies on protecting out kids from people like him. As much as I’d love to see him pay his price,

I have to choose prevention over punishment. One more victim is one too many.

Learn more about what you can do to keep our kids safe at organizations like Prevent Child Abuse America or The Child Abuse Prevention Association or an organization near you.

When I first saw the headline on the Internet, I thought I was being “Punk’d.”

Yes, Drew Peterson is engaged. Remember him? He’s the former cop from Illinois whose wife vanished last year. He’s been in People and on Dr. Phil, two staples in my household, so I’m familiar with his case. 

There are no details about his fiancee other than she’s young (23) and lives about 15 minutes away from Mr. Peterson.

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I’m applying to be a CASA, G-d help me.

For those not familiar with the term, CASA is an acronym for Court Appointed Special Advocate. The short version is, when a child has entered the SRS system for anything ranging from neglect to abuse to behavioral issues, the Court will appoint a CASA to independently research the case and present their views on what will be in the best interest of the child (when a volunteer is available, which is sadly not always the case).

Yeah, I know it’s going to break my heart on a daily basis. But that already happens everytime I read the news, and I’m sick of just feeling sick about it.

Even before I found an established religion that resonated with me, I prayed. A lot. Even when I proclaimed myself to be a cynical hard-ass bitter atheist.

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If you haven’t heard the appalling news about 11-year-old Madeline Neumann’s tragic death of diabetic ketoacidosis last week, you can read about it here in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  The gist of it was that her parents decided to pray over her body instead of take her to a fucking doctor after she had been sick for two weeks and, at ten or so days in, COULD NO LONGER WALK OR TALK.  Madeline was healthy before her episode.  At her death, she was emaciated, as the body eats it own fat to raise insulin levels during diabetic ketoacidosis.

Around the same time, the idiot parents of poor little 15-month-old Ava Worthington of Oregon were indicted in Ava’s death for their attempts to ”faith-heal” the baby of her bronchial pneumonia–which led to a blood infection that could have been treated with antibiotics. 

As the article about Ava notes, laws were passed in the 1990s that struck down legal shields for faith-healers after the deaths of several children whose parents were members of the fundamentalist church.  The Worthingtons were indicted on Friday on manslaughter and criminal mistreatment charges, but it is unclear whether the Neumanns will be charged.  According to a Chicago Tribune report, Wisconsin law says that a parent cannot be accused of abuse or neglect of a child if “in good faith” they selected prayer as a basis of treatment for a disease.  An investigation has begun into whether the Neumanns had a “a good faith belief” that their daughter could be cured through prayer.  

My thought is that if Madeline was FUCKING BEDRIDDEN, there’s no way in hell the parents could have had a good faith belief she would be fine if they lit some candles and said a few Hail Marys.  Fucking assholes.

I believe in God, and I pray.  I pray more when I need or want more, which sucks, but you can bet your sweet ass that I’d be praying to my God, everyone else’s God, the real doctors and the people that play them on TV if my babies were that ill.  If my babies were lethargic and wanted to stay in bed for a few days, and they appeared to be getting thinner, and they just wanted me to hold them, I would probably have a Civil Protection Order against me to stay AWAY from the doctor’s office because I’d been there too many times.  

My son had a five-day fever last year and the doctor’s office staff was probably referring to me as “Norm” from Cheers I had been there so many times.  I’m not saying I drugged him up with everything under the sun, but I wanted a professional medical person overseeing my child and informing me thoroughly so that I could make proper decisions about his care.

My son ended up losing five pounds with that fever and looked so thin that I burst into tears when I put him in the bath at the end of that week.  I called in my husband so I could run out and buy milkshakes. 

What about the Worthingtons and the Neumanns?  I wonder what they’re feeling now.  Milkshakes aren’t going to bring back their beautiful daughters, and I hope all their asses get locked up for so long they forget what ice cream tastes like.  

What happened to the punishment fitting the crime? Everything is bigger in Texas — go find one hell of an oven.

Man jailed for microwaving baby

A jury in Texas has sentenced a man to 25 years in prison for severely burning his two-month-old daughter in a microwave oven last year.

The jury rejected Joshua Mauldin’s defence that he was insane when he placed his daughter Ana in the oven.

Prosecutors said Mauldin had a history of violence, lying about being mentally ill and was angry about his marriage.

Ana, now aged one, suffered second and third-degree burns to her face and left side and required two skin grafts.

Part of her left ear had to be amputated.

Her foster mother, Heather Croxton, told the court of the painful daily treatments Ana has had to undergo since being left in the microwave for up to 20 seconds.

“There is no excuse for your actions and I hate that one day you will be set free and allowed to move on with your life while Ana continues to pay for your actions,” she said.

Mauldin’s lawyer, Sam Cammack, said his client would not get the treatment he needs for mental illness in prison.

— BBC News