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Drexel Height Fire District
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AVIVA Children's Services
Monitor: Parent-Child Visits

By Michele Schubert, Virginia Yrun, Sarah Jones and Kent Burbank

Over the past few weeks, our community has learned of several incidents of inappropriate sexual behavior between adults and youth. These stories have reached us from the national level, as in the case of former Congressman Mark Foley's sexually explicit e-mail communication with a 16-year-old page. Other stories have occurred locally, as in the case of Veronica Bullock, who sexually molested a 12-year-old boy.

Our community has also been subjected to a barrage of excuses, justifications and finger-pointing by the perpetrators, their lawyers and even politicians wanting to shift blame in an election year. We are deeply troubled by these cases, primarily because of the damage they inflict upon the young people who are the victims of these assaults. Additionally, they send mixed messages to our community.

There is one and only one clear message: Sexualized language or conduct between an adult and a minor is an assault and is always wrong. It is always the fault of the adult perpetrator, and is never justified, defensible or excusable.

We were appalled that Bullock, the perpetrator of sexual assault against a 12-year-old boy, was sentenced to 30 days in jail and given six years' probation. The message that this sentence sends is that sexual abuse of a child is not taken seriously.

The Arizona Daily Star and other media outlets provided the perpetrator and her lawyer an unwarranted amount of space to justify her crime. Bullock's excuse was that "she had an unstable childhood," had been in "abusive relationships" and was "heavily intoxicated at the time."

While we encourage adult survivors of abuse to seek services and support to resolve the impact of abuse, there is absolutely no excuse for perpetrating violence against another human being.

Bullock also blamed the victim, stating that he is "large for his age," "looks older than he is" and that he "initiated the incidents."

It is appalling that Bullock and her attorney would assert that "she succumbed to his advances." Statements like this in the media must not be left unchallenged.

The message to our community must be crystal clear: A child is never responsible for sexual assault or misconduct perpetrated against him or her. Adults are in a position of power over children and are the only ones responsible, even if a child is sexually curious.

In the case of Bullock, we are forced to ask whether there is a double standard for men/women and boys/girls. It is unlikely that an adult male who had sexually molested a 12-year-old girl would have received only probation.

We, as a society, must ask ourselves why we find sexual molestation by a female adult against a boy less deplorable than that of an adult male against a child. The consequences for perpetrators should not be based on gender.

This trend of excuses (i.e., I was drunk, I was abused as a child, et cetera) have regularly been offered. In Foley's case, the media has done a better job airing objections to his excuses and demanding that he accept responsibility for his actions.

In that case, however, some politicians have decided to make an issue of Foley's sexual orientation. Just as most heterosexual men and women resent being lumped into the same category as Bullock, most gays and lesbians despise Foley's grossly inappropriate behavior.

This is not a gay or straight issue. Sexual violence does not belong with any specific demographic. No one group is more susceptible to or immune from this inappropriate behavior.

Blame for abuse lies only with the perpetrator — never with the victim. We as a community must hold all perpetrators accountable and reject their excuses and victim-blaming.