Teacher Molestation

After the molestation occurred I went about my business as usual. I was in the sixth grade, but things had definitely changed. I looked at the world differently and became sexually aware. Now a days, it isn't uncommon to see young children expressing a sexual awareness at a young age, I believe that the media plays a vital role in "sexually molesting" young minds. I am very strict regarding what my children see, etc. and encourage other parents to guard the minds of their children as diligently as they can.

It's strange how the mind works. I can remember the day my teacher molested me clear as a bell, but I cannot remember the rest of sixth grade, strange since there were four more months of school, followed by summer vacation. I returned to the same school and I don't remember much of seventh grade, but there came a pivotal time. One day, I was home watching television and a movie came on, called "Fallen Angel." It was the first time I had ever seen a movie regarding child molestation or sexual abuse and I began to understand that what my teacher had done to me was not only wrong, but it was a crime. I watched the movie with an intensity like you wouldn't believe. When the movie ended, I couldn't shake the realization of what had happened to me, and how I had been violated. Honestly, I didn't understand the nature of the sexual abuse until I saw that movie. However, I still didn't tell anyone about what had transpired, though that was soon to follow.

My sister came to me later that year and told me that the same teacher who had molested me (I hadn't told her what had happened) had asked her to stay after class. I couldn't believe it; he was going to molest my sister. I had to tell her what happened to me. She immediately went and told my parents. I don't think I was ready to tell them, because I wasn't ready to talk about it. When my parents found out, they arranged a meeting with the teacher, the principal, and me. I can't begin to tell you how intimidating that was. Yet, I believed that I was fighting a criminal, and like in the movie, I would see justice prevail. I was wrong.

I was very excited that I was going to have my day in court and do a wonderful thing- put a child molester in jail. In fact, I started thinking about how he was going to molest my sister, and decided to ask the girls who had been in my class the previous year (all of the girls who were overly developed, like I was) if they had any "strange" experiences with the teacher. Sure enough, I found four girls who had said that he molested them, and one girl who said that he had raped her. Word started spreading around my class regarding my allegations and it became a very difficult time. One day, I went to lunch and two girls approached me. During the course of lunch, one girl confided in me that the school principal, yes, the school principal, had raped her. Remember, I am talking about girls in my 7^th grade junior high school.

Well, my justice was short lived. I was told by my father that due to a Massachusetts statute of limitations, the fact that I had waited one year to tell about the abuse, and the fact that I wasn't "definite" about the details of my molestation (I was very uncomfortable talking about it with my parents and didn't even understand the nature of the sexual acts involved in the molestation, let alone to describe it in accurate terminology) that there wouldn't be enough of a case to take the teacher to court.

I don't know what happened to the girls who told me they were abused in the seventh grade. I began to have serious emotional issues and ended up leaving home and moved with my Aunt during the summer after seventh grade. The teacher? Well, he is now the assistant principal of the high school. He has been teaching since I left, and that was 30 years ago.

I do not understand the "statute of limitations" when it comes to child sexual abuse cases. How in the world, can I, the victim write this article, and not mention his name, for fear of being accused of "harassing the abuser"? How can a teacher (who taught for many years before I was in his class) continue to stay in the public school system for over 30 years?

I homeschool my children and you know what? I believe that I am entitled to homeschool my children and keep them safe from a public school system that caters to child molesters and pedophiles. Do you know what else I think? I believe that I should be entitled to sue the state of Massachusetts for not protecting me from pedophiles.

This entire system is sick and it is riddled with pedophiles and they are the ones who are protected, they are the ones who have the favor of the courts and the law. They can commit their crimes and slide right by due to a "technicality" a law that says, "Well, your victim didn't report their crime fast enough, therefore we'll forget all about it and let it continue."

I watched that movie and believed that there would be justice for me. There has been no justice, not for me, and not for any other victims that this pedophile has abused in the past 30 years.