The pedophile nobody suspects

In most molestation cases, the predators have true affection for kids, and seek a role as their champions, said Frank Bruni at The New York Times.

Frank Bruni

The New York Times

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This is how it usually works. In most molestation cases, the predators have true affection for kids, and seek a role as their champions. Their affinity for kids “just happens to have a sexual element, the satisfaction of which they’ve convinced themselves isn’t such a big, harmful deal.’’

Most adults who work with children are, of course, not pedophiles. But parents should be on alert for warning signs, such as adults who give kids gifts and treat them with a creepy attentiveness. As the abuse scandals involving the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts, and now Penn State have shown, “institutions do an awful job of policing themselves.’’