Incest

A letter published Monday was written by Jay Mack and John Wilson of Finksburg. We erroneously printed the wrong first name for Ms. Mack.Let the people vote on aid to IsraelGeorgia Ann Geyer's Sept. 18 column, "Helping Israel avoid delusion," merits comment.Both Congress and President Bush offer the excuse (not the answer) that the reason there is no aid available to help the poor, the homeless, our decaying cities and to meet other national and local needs is that there is no money.Yet, year after year, we open the spigot and given billions in aid to Israel a process that has continued unabated for more than 40 years.

From: Members of Onionskin CollectiveAnnapolisYour Aug. 14 story about The Onionskin Collective (The Sun, "Incest victims' group shaken by sex charges") leaves a lot of misinformation and biased opinions in the minds of your readers. We want your readers to know that TOC is not falling apart in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct by one of its co-founders.Kimberlee Shaffir, who is no longer a member of TOC, has taken it upon herself to grossly misrepresent the views of the members of this organization.

An Annapolis-based support group for adult survivors of incest has been shaken by charges that a co-founder fondled three women, including a 19-year-old member of the organization.David B. Fulghum, 42, is also charged with attempting to fondle a 15-year-old girl, according to records in Anne Arundel County District Court. Mr. Fulghum is the boyfriend of Gloria E. Arnold, co-founder and executive director of the Onionskin Collective, a private, non-profit support group operated by the couple from their Annapolis home.

Last March, when Sunday school teachers Ralph and Betty Smith were convicted of subjecting two of their children to more than a decade of incest, daughter Lisa Smith Clark knew life would never be the same for her and her siblings.Crying happy tears, Clark gestured toward the sister and three brothers who had stood behind her. (Her other two sisters had testified on behalf of their parents.) "We start to live," she said that day. "This is our birthday."It wasn't just the criminal trial, although Clark and her siblings were quick to say they felt vindicated when a county Circuit Court jury convicted the Pasadena couple after deliberating only 40 minutes.

The accusation is made, a charge so ugly to be unimaginable to many, of sexual abuse within a family. The accused vehemently denies the charge. There is no physical evidence.Will the truth ever be known?"The divergence in stories [about sexual abuse] is something that we're confronted with more and more," said David Wells, a Baltimore psychologist who treats a number of incest victims."It's not unusual for a family to be split down the middle," said Chris Courtois, a Washington therapist and author of "Healing the Incest Wound" (Norton Books, 1988)

It's become a cliche whenever a monstrous crime is revealed. Someone will always say: "He's the last person you would think would do something like that."This time, the speaker is attorney Bill Porter and the subject is his client, a 43-year-old Baltimore man who pleaded guilty Monday to repeatedly raping his three daughters during much of their adolescent years, resulting in at least five pregnancies that ended in abortions. His 43-year-old wife also pleaded guilty to rape for her complicity in the abuse.

The Onionskin Collective InfoCenter, a statewide telephone referral center for adult survivors of incest or child sexual abuse, will open today in Annapolis.The center, which can be reached at 1-263-1151, will not provide therapy but will refer clients to legal, medical and financial services."We hope to be a one-stop shop for that kind of information," said Gloria Arnold.An incest victim herself, she is launching the effort as an offshoot of The Onionskin Collective, a support group she began last year for victims of incest and abuse.