A pastor. A step-uncle. A youth baseball coach. A father. A stepfather. A friend's stepfather. A baby sitter. ...
Children often have no choice but to trust and rely on these people. But sometimes these caretakers, these authority figures, break that trust in unimaginable, unconscionable ways. It can happen without a moment's notice, but the pain and recovery can last a lifetime.
This list of people, specifically, committed sex crimes against children whose stories are told in Broken Trust, The Herald Bulletin's three-part special report that begins in today's newspaper.
The necessity of this special series became increasingly clear to us over the course of the past few years as a litany of exasperating, heartbreaking cases involving sexual victimization of children crossed our news desk.
Several months ago, we began compiling statistics; reaching out to local, state and national experts; and connecting with survivors — and offenders.
The work has been dark and depressing. Nothing good ever comes from child molestation or exploitation or solicitation.
We learned that Madison County ranked fourth among Indiana's 92 counties in the number of convictions for sex crimes against children.
At first, this only deepened our depression. "Why is it happening so much in our community?" we asked repeatedly.
But the truth is, it might not actually be happening more here. It's just that, collectively, our social services, health care providers, schools and criminal justice system have gotten better at helping victims tell their stories — and then bringing offenders to justice.
The most important step is to stop the abuse before it happens. And there are indications we're getting better at that, too.
We also learned that, when it comes to sex crimes against children, nobody really knows how much it happens. Yes, some estimates suggest that 20 percent of girls and 5 percent of boys are victimized. But it could be considerably more.
That's because many survivors never tell. And many who are aware of another person's victimization never tell. And, of course, few offenders willingly confess.
That's the reason it's so important for The Herald Bulletin to publish Broken Trust — to raise awareness of the problem and what can be done to forestall it.
That's why you should read Broken Trust, no matter how distressing you find it. That's why you should suffer through the stories of the survivors we interviewed. That's why you should read about the offenders, too.
Ignorance is the dark cloak that covers sex crimes against children. Awareness shines a piercing light to protect the most vulnerable among us.