Identifying Child Molesters: Preventing Child Sexual Abuse By Carla Van Dam

In Identifying Child Molesters: Preventing Child Sexual Abuse by Recognizing the Patterns of the Offenders, Carla Van Dam points out that child sexual abuse is the only safety issue in which the main responsibility is currently placed upon children. Adults take the main responsibility in child road safety, for example, by building cross walks, passing laws to make school buses that are unloading children illegal to pass, and holding children’s hands while crossing the street. It would only make sense that adults establish similar boundaries and guidelines to prevent child sexual abuse. Child molesters typically are already-trusted individuals who put their victims and the adults who work with their victims through a grooming process that can be prevented by adults who work with children having knowledge of what constitutes sexual abuse and the grooming process. Child sexual abuse, it is important to be known, is still a prevalent problem among the United States that frequently ravages the lives of children. Van Dam cites studies, claiming, “Now it is generally accepted that at least approximately one out of every four women and one out of every six to ten men have been sexually abused during childhood

Carla van Dam asserts, “if something seems too good to be true, the price tag is hidden. Do not accept help from those who seemingly want nothing in return.” (van Dam, p. 169) If someone simply helps parents time after time, without any expectation for return services, parents who are desperate for help will gratefully allow that person to become a trusted aide with children. Parents who are desperate for help, accordingly, become ideal targets for molesters. To avoid child molesters, on the other hand, parents should avoid being too desperate for help through building a strong support network in which return services are always