Justice For Kids

Pond Koi, Japanese Garden, Maymont Park.  Copyright 2012: singeronthesand

Can you build a fire in your lap

and not burn your pants?

Can you walk barefoot on hot coals

and not get blisters?

Proverbs 6:27-28

Very, very rarely do I wish catastrophe on another human being, and I would almost never cheer when someone has the bottom of their world drop out.  But this morning, when I clicked on to the Internet and read the latest news headlines, I cheered, I grinned, I thanked God:  Jerry Sandusky has been found guilty of 43 counts of sexual crimes against children.  I had frankly been afraid that somehow this man would walk; that if put on the stand, he would charm the jury and the world into believing he did not do these horrible things.  The possibility of that charade ended, however, when Sandusky's own adopted son came forward and said, "He abused me as well."  The prosecution warned the defense that if they put Sandusky on the stand, prosecutors would counter with his own son, and the entire house of cards came tumbling down.  The jury did not know about the son's accusations prior to handing down their guilty verdict.  They found out after it was all said and done, and it only strengthened their knowledge that they had decided correctly.

My father often talked about the "slippery slope:" that could appear when someone made a really bad decision.  Most people on the planet (except, perhaps, Mr. Sandusky's defense team) instinctively know that it is a terrible choice for an adult male or female to shower naked with naked young children (male or female) who are not their own kids.  Mr. Sandusky somehow justified such behavior in his own mind, and the children he dragged down that slope with him will suffer for the rest of their lives because of what he chose to do.  

One of the recurring themes of the victims' testimony was, "Who would believe a kid?" - particularly against a powerful man within a powerful sports program of a powerhouse university.  Yesterday, a jury of seven women and five men answered that question.  They listened, they believed, and they convicted.