What Scares Me Most About Child Predators

I recently read a gut-wrenching story about a man following two young girls down a main street street in Montclair, New Jersey in an attempt to get them into his luxury SUV. The girls, ages 9 and 11, were walking their dog in the middle of a Sunday afternoon. This particular predator was very persistent and continued to follow the girls as they ran across two lots to reach their home. When the girls reached their home, the suspect parked and got out of his car. The girls ran inside and told their father but the suspect was gone by the time the father got to the window.

The rape and murder of little Sandra Cantu is currently the most publicized child abduction case in prominent media, in part because of the circumstances surrounding her abduction and because her alleged attacker was a female Sunday School teacher whose daughter was close friends with the victim. Reactions ranged from outrage and fear to judgment and condemnation of the victim's mother for allowing her young daughter to wander around the mobile home park they lived in without adult supervision. For some, the words "mobile home park" conjure up Hollywood images of rectangle boxes on wheels with card tables and beer cans adorning the front entrance. This particular community, Orchard Estates, offers affordable housing complete with a community pool and clubhouse ($70,000 gets you an 1150 s.f. home with 3 beds, 2 baths, central air, deck and 2-car garage). It was built more than twenty-five years ago with young families in mind and it isn't unusual for someone who was raised in Orchard Estates to start their own family there.

It also isn't unusual to live near a sex offender in this mobile home park. According to the California State Sex Offender Registry there are thirteen registered sex offenders within 1/10 of a mile of the home Sandra Cantu shared with her mother, Maria in the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park. But the alleged rapist and killer isn't among those registered in California. In fact, her brushes with the law involved theft and drug use. One might argue that Maria Chavez knew, or should have known, that it wasn't safe for her self-described "tiny, little eight-year-old" to play outside alone especially after an incident at the pool two years ago when an adult male neighbor kissed the little girl on the mouth "to be nice." But, let's suppose Sandra was not allowed to walk to a neighbor's house unattended and that it was unusual for her to be away from home at 8 p.m. on a school night. Can we really say that this would have kept her safe? Remember, she was allegedly raped and killed by the mother of her close friend, a Sunday School teacher, the granddaughter of the local pastor who also lives in the community, a woman with no record or known history of child abuse or sexual assault.

Even the most diligent parents can find their children at risk. Take the recent case of an attempted abduction in a town near Phoenix, Arizona. A man jumped out of his truck in a grocery store parking lot and grabbed a girl who was walking with her mother. The mother reportedly dropped her groceries and physically fought the girl's attacker to keep her safe.

There are stories every day about attempted abductions by predators posing as delivery men, snow shovelers and lost drivers. And we have all heard the stories of assaults by male relatives and clergy and sick teachers. But, this is a first for me. And I admit that it unnerves me more than a little. I'm not looking at parents of my daughters' friends any differently. They aren't allowed to have sleepovers at other people's homes. And the friends in our circle generally don't allow their daughters to sleep over at other people's homes. So, the girls rarely have sleepovers. They don't take trains and buses to shop in the city and they don't walk dogs or jog alone. And, yet, I know that this offers no guarantees. While we were working hard to protect our children from physical harm at the hands of Chester The Obvious Child Molester, the Internet and social networking sites were unknowingly providing predators a whole new way to lure our children into a web of evil.

Experts agree that education is the key to prevention. It's never too young to start talking to your children about safety. We used a video from the creator of America's Most Wanted titled Stranger Safety (see link on this page) to help our daughters understand how to spot danger and what to do. I only hope that they will trust their instincts to stay out of danger and use their legs and lungs if danger lurks nearby.

My heart aches for Sandra Cantu's family and all of the children who are harmed at the hands of predators. And my response is to work that much harder to keep my children safe.