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| Michael Jackson 'grooming' a young victim |
This happened to me last night upon watching a recorded episode of Law and Order: SVU (Special Victims Unit). For those unfamiliar with this long running TV series, it is mostly about how law enforcement and the criminal justice system in New York City deal with sex crimes.
The particular episode I saw was about child sexual abuse. The point brought home to me most is the way survivors deal with it when it happens to them. Which is often to try and bury it somewhere deep in their psyche. Which of course doesn’t really work. But that usually prevents them from reporting it. They are embarrassed and do not want to talk about it with anyone. And surely not wanted made public by testifying in court. That is the last thing they want to do.
Ironically this episode was broadcast about the same time Leaving Neverland (a documentary dealing with sexual abuse that took place decades ago) was set to be broadcast. Two survivors of abuse by pop icon, the late Michael Jackson came out and told their stories. In vivid detail.
These are the same two people that as children testified in favor of Jackson at a trial where he was accused of sex abuse by another one of his victims. Their testimony led to Jackson’s acquittal. They have now recanted that testimony and have told the truth. They were molested by Jackson. That seems pretty clear now despite objections by Jackson’s family who claim they are lying and doing it for the money.
Back to SVU. I believe that episode reflected the reality of survivors. Their strong emotions made it clear to me how sexual abusers are able to continue their abuse for years. Claiming many more victims. It showed how extremely hard it is for survivors to come out of the closet and expose themselves to the world.
A fictional drama based accurately on fact can do what words on paper (or online) cannot. In this case it drove home as much as any fiction based on reality can - what survivors of abuse widely face in ways I could not have otherwise imagined - unless it actually happened to me or to a loved one.
Back to Jackson. I don’t think there can be any doubt that he was a pedophile and a predator. His memory and songbook should be erased from the public memory. I would say the same thing about Shlomo Carlebach. Although his sexual abuse was not against minors - the trauma his victims suffered is real. But his music is so pervasive, it would be virtually impossible to erase it all… or any of it really. Besides - that brings up an entirely different issue which is beyond the scope of this post: How should we treat the great artistic contributions of particularly vile people? Should we for example boycott the music of Wagner or Strauss because they were antisemites?
As I said that is not the point of this post. It is to reiterate my agreement with the New York legislature for extending the statute of limitations on lawsuits brought by survivors against pedophiles and their enablers. But is is also to say that it is not enough.
In my view it ought to include - not just lawsuits, but also prosecution of offenders. Every survivor deserves to have his day in court no matter how long ago the abuse took place. Offenders do not deserve their freedom just because a certain amount of time has passed. If I were a survivor of sexual abuse, I think that would be even more meaningful than any money I might get from a lawsuit.
When there is certainty that a crime was committed, where is the justice in not being able to prosecute the criminal just because the victim could not bring himself to go public until after a certain amount of time has passed? If there was ever an unjust law limiting the time pedophiles can be prosecuted - this is it.