My friend Greg often talks about interruptions to our lives, those moments when our preconceptions and our mindset are interrupted and often we are left changed.
This happened to me this week at the sentencing of a 31 year old man for child sex trafficking. I'll admit, straight up, that I walked into the courtroom desperate to see this guy go down and to go down hard. Such a despicable crime deserves the harshest, hardest penalty possible and I wanted a long, long sentence. It turned out that I got what I wanted. He received 26 years in a federal prison.
However, there is a part of me that is changed forever from the experience. The offender, 31 years old, had ended up in this position after a lifetime of darkness. A single Mum struggling, sexual abuse as a child, passed from family member to family member, disregarded and uncared for. Gang involvement by 10, drugs, women, crime. As he sat weeping in the courtroom a part of me cried for the brokenness of him. If only as a child HE had been protected. If only he had been Loved…if only he had been taught how to Love others. Here at Love146 we talk about how Love can restore survivors, how it empowers and heals. This week I've expanded my gaze a little. This interruption has made me think a little differently. We failed this trafficker. As a young boy he needed to be protected and Loved. Instead he was molested and violated in a house used to sell crack cocaine, dismissed by his family and by those around him.
As we continue in our fight for abolition we need to look at the big picture. The brokenness of our own communities play a part. I'm convinced this man had no idea of the penalties for sex trafficking and that in itself is tragic, that his own moral judgement was so broken. We need to be teaching children to respect each other, to Love well.
At Love146 we are people of hope… it's a hard reminder to be challenged to hope for the perpetrator as well. To hope for justice (which we got), and to hope for restoration.
Interruptions while not always comfortable are needed. I am seeing things differently.
Jo Coles
Collective Shout Officer - Advocacy and Interns
PS - You can read the news report on the case here.
Such a sad sad world, where
Submitted by mother4justice (not verified) on Thu, 06/09/2011 - 9:05am.
Such a sad sad world, where does it end and how did it start when it comes to blame and justice can we acknowledge the whole truth.
read more of Jo Coles's blog Interrupted Posted by Jo Coles
Submitted by Regina Landry (not verified) on Thu, 06/09/2011 - 9:21am.
Pedophiles are poor sick broken people who need help AND incarceration from society until we can discover a cure for this disease which is currently incurable and infectious to approximately half of its former victims who later grow-up to become perpetrators themselves. We can not let sympathy for the perpetrators cloud our ability to completely segregate them from civilized society until a cure can be found.
He is a sinner just as we all
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 06/09/2011 - 11:25am.
He is a sinner just as we all are. However, we are not to hate the sinner- but are to hate the sin. LOVE146, thank you for the part you are playing in bringing restoration to the broken...both the victims and the perpetrators.
Wow
Submitted by Craigsnedeker (not verified) on Thu, 06/09/2011 - 3:21pm.
I never really took the time to look at it this way. Thanks for posting this.
Thank you for sharing
Submitted by 365give (not verified) on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 7:25pm.
Thank you for the story. So many times we judge others without knowing their story. I so agree with you that he had never been taught any differently. As an adoptive mother I sometimes wonder what woudl have happened to my son we hadn't been blessed with him in our lives. His story could have ended up very much like this young man's but instead my husband and I have taught him about unconditional love. It's not always genes but what and how you teach your children.
Great article. Compassion for
Submitted by vegansonya (not verified) on Fri, 06/10/2011 - 7:52pm.
Great article. Compassion for ALL life, even that we consider "vile or disgusting".
Inspirational x
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Inspirational x
We could have been just like "him".
Submitted by Krizia | Women Entrepreneurs HQ Show (not verified) on Tue, 06/14/2011 - 3:38am.
Jo, That is a powerful story. His crime is unspeakable. However, I do agree that he past has left him broken. So many of us are adults, but it's that broken, sad, lonely, scared, hurt, unloved 8-9-10 year old that is really driving our entire life. These stories always make me stop and reflect because in the end, we all have the potential of acting with so much cruelty if we were exposed to horrors as kids. His case is one of good versus evil. On one hand you want to see him punished for his crime (to break the evil in him) on the other hand you want him to heal from his past and learn to love himself so he can emerge into a loving being (nuture the good in him). Perhaps some time in prison will allow for both. Maybe he will find his way in prison and come out and help others as opposed to abuse of them. This is an amazing post! Thanks for sharing. Krizia Women Entrepreneurs HQ Show
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Though measuring the extent
Submitted by jeromechiaro (not verified) on Mon, 06/18/2012 - 1:00pm.
Though measuring the extent of this practice is difficult due to its criminal and covert nature, the International Labour Organization estimates that there are as many as 1.8 million children sexually trafficked worldwide, while UNICEF's 2006 State of the World's Children Report reports this number to be 2 million. Cufflink Square
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