Big Kid

Helpless. Exasperated. Sad. That's how I feel when I keep reading stories like the latest one about the sicko moving man who allegedly took "upskirt" video of a 5-year-old he came upon while helping a family move. Who would have ever imagined! This is far from the only story like this. The dad in Texas who found a child molester raping his 4 year old daughter before beating him to death. The man who managed to grope a 10 year old as he walked passed her on a busy street -- with her mom right there! These creeps are constantly around us and our children waiting for even the slightest opportunity to strike, and makes you wonder if there's really anything we can do to stop them and their evil.

Not all molestations mean rape or penetration obviously. Even a quick groping, touching, and picture with a cell phone camera counts. Lord knows who is snapping pictures of kids at the park and during what innocent contortion or position that these peverts might get off on. Who knows where those pictures might end up. Makes you wonder what types of "less obvious" violations have happened to our children that we don't know about or ever will.

The 21-year-old man in the recent case was only found out because the little girl's 7-year-old brother supposedly saw him pull down the girl's underwear and take pictures of her genital area. When questioned, the girl reported that Justin Summers also touched her private parts before taking the pictures. Police found two upskirt videos of the girl, fully clothed, on his phone.

Getting more furious by the minute, too? It's shocking and infuriating but also so concerning because the mom only found out because the brother spoke up. Just think about how many children don't speak up because they don't recognize anything being wrong.

Have the "good touch, bad touch" discussion with your children, parents, as soon and as often as possible. It's our first line of defense in these cases, and oftentimes, the only one.

Have you had the "touching" conversation with your children yet? Do you think they'd tell you if someone did something like this to them?

Image via fczuardi/Flickr