Abuse Of Children

In its own official journal, the Hare Krishna movement has published an unusually candid expose detailing widespread physical, emotional and sexual abuse of children who were sent to live in the group's boarding schools in the United States and India in the 1970s and 1980s.Parents were often unaware of the abuse because they were traveling around soliciting donations in airports and on the streets, leaving their children in the care of Hare Krishna monks and young devotees who had no training in educating children and often resented the task, the report says.

Have you seen the latest demon movie? Al Pacino in "Devil's Advocate," with his novelty-store fangs? Have you heard the new tune by Marilyn Manson (who hit the heights with "Antichrist Superstar"), or anything by other devil-worshipping rock stars?If so, you might wonder at the continuing preoccupation in this country with satanism, satanic cults and all their foul and bloody rituals. Such as they are. Clearly, these days people expect the worst. Especially these days.Why else would those who run animal shelters around the state (( be extra protective of the black cats under their care in the weeks before Halloween?

A 28-year-old illegal immigrant convicted of molesting three young children at an apartment in Savage was sentenced yesterday to 33 years in prison. Without comment and after an emotional plea from the mother of one of the children, Howard Circuit Judge James B. Dudley imposed a series of consecutive terms on Savage resident Gerardo Cardenas for various sexual offenses committed against two girls, ages 7 and 8, and a boy, 9. The abuse occurred over a two-year period and ended when the 8-year-old girl confided in the boy, leading the boy to break his silence last summer, according to testimony at Cardenas' trial in June.

If the Catholic church spent the time, effort and resources on resolving the priest abuse of children issue as they do in restricting and preventing a woman's freedom of choice, the abuse issue would have been resolved long ago. Joyce Kelly, Ellicott City

The emotional and media hype over the career of a college football coach is misdirected attention away from a pandemic problem occurring in this country and around the world, and that is the sexual exploitation of children. The U.S. Attorney General submitted a report to Congress in August 2010 that defines the scope of this global issue ( which involves sexual abuse of children and infants. If you believe that Howard County is immune to this problem because you checked the Sex Offender Registry site before moving here, you are naive.

In this part of the country, the Ravens are white hot. All things NFL make people sit up and pay attention. For the most part, this area gets to see some of the best of the NFL - millionaire football players doing good things. That was the case last weekend when Ed Reed (and for those who don't know who he is, this probably isn't the editorial for you) and some of his teammates descended on Harford County. The Jarvis Appliance Ed Reed Flag Football Classic was one of the attractions of the seventh annual Race Against Abuse of Children Everywhere foundation's fundraiser.

The Baltimore Sun has, along with other media, followed closely the trial of two brothers accused of animal abuse ( "Mistrial in case against twins accused of burning pit bull," Feb. 8). The pictures of the badly burned dog have generated outrage by concerned citizens throughout our community. The same response occurred recently when cats were also intentionally injured. Our previous mayor created a Task Force on the Prevention of Animal Abuse. While this is an important problem in our community, a far greater problem is the abuse of children of all ages.

BOSTON -- Some years ago, Rolling Stone magazine published a survey on the attitudes of baby boomer parents. The gist of it was that the people who had gone through the sexual revolution did everything, regretted nothing, and wanted their children to do none of it. This didn't surprise me. Nothing changes your perspective as much as becoming a parent, and the first order of child-raising is protection. I remember Hillary Rodham Clinton's wry sexual advice back when she was first lady and the mother of a teenager: "My theory is don't do it before you're 21, and then don't tell me about it."

As I watched Everyman Theatre's production of The Turn of the Screw, I couldn't help thinking about the infamous McMartin Preschool case and the way that the most well-intentioned, pure-hearted adults can instill false - and immensely damaging - memories into susceptible children. The McMartin case involved the six-year prosecution of the proprietors of a California day-care center in the 1980s, and focused on allegations of Satanic rituals and the sexual abuse of young children. No convictions were obtained, and one of the alleged victims later recanted his testimony.

What do parents want to know about preventing or detecting child sexual abuse? Professionals at the Rape Crisis Intervention Service want to know.The private, nonprofit agency in Westminster wants parents to call or write to the service's office with questions they would like to have answered.The input will help community educator Diana Steppling prepare a presentation that will be televised in September on Channel 3, the community access channel, she said."We had done a program last year on why kids need to know about sexual abuse," Ms. Steppling said.