The author of this story has chosen to remain anonymous, but is known to Mamamia.
I’ve heard the debate for years about whether child sex offenders should be named and shamed. Yesterday, I discovered that perhaps it’s a pointless debate because, in my experience, many people don’t care anyway.
Last week my father-in-law, Saul* pled guilty to molesting my daughter.
She was a toddler at the time. He didn’t spend a single day in jail. The fact that he received no punishment whatsoever has left me traumatised.
I can’t speak for my daughter as she’s only a child so is unaware of the outcome. Her trauma is likely to come some time in the future.
Saul appeared to be great with all the kids, not just ours. I remember telling him he’s such a natural he should be a hockey coach. He said he had done that for years and loved it.
Recently, still haunted by the memories, I went to his house.
It was raining quite heavily so I didn’t want to park too far from where I thought his house was and the one spot where I could pull over was directly in front of the house I suspected was his.
I sat in my car for a while, trying to figure out if I was in the right place. Then the garage door opened and he drove in. Liz*, his wife, got out of the car and waved to me. I waved back. I felt frozen. Now that they’d seen me I didn’t know whether to just drive off or sit there. I didn’t want that scumbag of a man thinking he could scare me off so I sat there for a few minutes, contemplating my next move.
Top Comments
The fact that this monster's wife, extended family and neighbours still stand by him is truly horrifying. Even though they know that he abused his granddaughter. It's as if the victim of his abuse does not matter at all. And that he did not receive any jail time. Where is the justice in that ?
My father was abusive towards us in all ways, including sexually inappropriate behaviour, in particular towards my first younger sister and I when we were teenagers. My mum didn't say a thing; just stood there silently and looked embarrassed. She hated him yet she stood by him, until his death 36 years ago. I was so relieved when he died.