Over the past few weeks we’ve seen a horrifying upswing in the incidence of crimes committed against (and by) children. School shootings, sexual assaults and abductions have created an atmosphere that has some Americans wondering if there is any safe place for our children. Frankly, I don’t believe a safe haven exists at present. Not even in the home.

Let’s take a brief look at recent events…

Charles Roberts walked into a one-room Amish school house near Lancaster, PA. Roberts released everyone except 10 young girls. The girls were restrained with “disposable handcuffs.” Roberts also was armed and had 600 rounds of ammunition. Law enforcement officials believe he’d been planning the attack for a week.

By the time police broke into the school, five children were fatally wounded. Roberts’ had taken his own life shortly after shooting the girls. According to suicide notes Roberts had left at home, he was filled with anger and despair over the death of his newborn daughter. Roberts also claimed in the notes that he was haunted by dreams of earlier molestation of two relatives.

In Cazenovia, WI, fifteen year-old Eric Hainstock broke into his parents’ gun cabinet and stole two firearms. Shortly thereafter the young man gunned down his school principal, who died a few hours later from his wounds.

Hainstock’s motive? Principal John Klang had issued him a verbal warning for having tobacco on campus. Hainstock will be tried as an adult, and could get life in prison for his crimes. True, Hainstock was less a victim than a perpetrator in this incident, but that does not alter the fact that yet another young life has been destroyed.

Fifty-three year-old Duane Morrison calmly walked into Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, CO and locked himself in a classroom with six girls. It is believed he sexually assaulted all of them. When police stormed the building, he fatally shot 16 year-old Emily Keyes and then killed himself.

In early September of this year, an HIV-positive girl, 11 years old, was coerced into having sex with as many as 20 people in Milwaukee, WI. Police have rounded up most of the suspects and the girl is recovering. She was being “coached” by a 16 year-old girl. One 40 year-old man involved said she looked “grown up.”

In mid-July, 20 year-old Craig Roger Gregerson abducted 5 year-old Destiny Norton, smothered her, and sexually abused her after her death. He then concealed her body for several days in his basement, soaking her body with cleaning fluids to cover the odor as she decayed. Destiny lived with her parents next door to Gregerson, who even went as far as to participate in a neighborhood candlelight vigil held for Destiny before her body was discovered.

And how’s about good old Congressman Mark Foley, who helped pen the very legislation that could put him behind bars? C’mon Mark… sending tawdry e-mails and IM’s to a 16 year-old congressional page? Bad idea.

And let us not forget Dean Schwartzmiller, who may be the “Dean” of all child molesters. Schawrtzmiller was recently convicted on 11 counts of child molestation.

It is alleged that Schwartzmiller has molested 100 young boys in three countries since 1969. Consider this bit from Fox…

Prosecutors pointed to a graphic 456-page memoir, 10 binders full of child pornography and 1,500 notebook pages with headings including "no, but yes boys," "best of the best, 13 and under" and "single-parent boys." (FoxNews)

Sadly, I could continue citing one case after another of violence and perversion against children. I haven’t even scratched the surface. According to Psychology Today, roughly one in five American children have been molested. Think about that for a moment… in a school classroom with 30 children, six of them may have been molested. In a school with 500 children, 100 of them may have been molested. And that molestation may be ongoing.

What drives people to desire sex with, and violence against, children?

The causes of pedophilia depend upon who you ask about it. Some will lay the blame on hormone imbalances. Others will claim that an offender was molested as a child. Mark Foley is now making this claim. Some say it’s genetic. And still others claim it’s the lack of Godliness in our culture.

Violent behavior is generally rooted in one’s upbringing and environment. One who grows up with violence is far more likely to engage in violence as an adult. William Walsh, Ph.D., and his colleagues at the Health Research Institute in Illinois have theorized that low levels of zinc and copper in the blood can also be triggers for violent behavior in males. Outside influences can play a significant role both in pedophilia and violence against children. The all too-common (and dangerous) mix of sex and violence in movies and video games is certainly a factor.

A wide range of therapy is being used to treat pedophilia, but success has been limited, as evidenced by the many repeat offenders. One report (ATSA) states that fifty-two percent of pedophiles who molest young boys will offend again. Compare that to thirty-nine percent for those who attack adult women. Overall, 14% to 20% of sex offenders are repeat offenders. Even the lowest of those numbers is too high.

Here’s an idea for an effective treatment: Lock’em up and throw away the key.

Coroner found gory scene at Amish school

http://www.theconservativevoice.com/ap/article.html?mi=D8KHVIHG0&apc=9001

Colorado Town Mourns Girl Killed in School Shooting

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,216838,00.html

Wis. Teen Who Complained About Being Teased Fatally Shoots Principal

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,216823,00.html

Wisconsin Teen Charged in Group Sex Assault on 11-Year-Old Girl

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,213665,00.html?sPage=fnc.national/crime

Court Papers: Neighbor Planned Abduction of Murdered 5-Year-Old Utah Girl

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,206559,00.html?sPage=fnc.national/crime

International Serial Child Molester Convicted of Abusing 2 Boys

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,214439,00.html?sPage=fnc.national/crime

Psychology Today: Pedophilia

http://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/pedophilia.html

Self-Help: Overcoming Pornography Addiction

National Sex Offender Registry

http://www.nsopr.gov/

Facts About Sex Offenders

http://www.atsa.com/pdfs/ppOffenderFacts.pdf