Oh boy, all this rain is just great, isn’t it? California has been starved for water for six years now, a drought almost always punctuated with the word “historic,” and now we’re getting more water than we know what to do with!
Retention basins are filling up, sinkholes have opened, and car accidents are happening. I shouldn’t have to explain this, but slow the hell down when the highway looks more like a river than a road!
Apparently this is secret knowledge I am doling out, just based on the sample of drivers I observe on as I fly to the office. I know everyone is in a hurry, but the laws of physics aren’t very forgiving, and peeling out into another vehicle or hydroplaning into a ditch is not much fun.
The Los Angeles Times actually printed an article last month about how to drive in the rain, giving pearls of wisdom like “slow down,” and “pay attention.” Now, I would like to believe that those living on the Central Coast don’t need such an obvious public service announcement, but I may be overly optimistic.
You know what does need a public service announcement, but is definitely more touchy and subtle a subject than driving in the rain? The issue of who fits the profile of a child predator.
Waves of shock are rippling through Lompoc after retired California Highway Patrol officer Anthony Michael Durham pleaded guilty to 17 counts of child molestation for crimes he committed against two boys. A lot of the shock comes because of Durham’s history with the Lompoc City Council—on which he served as an interim councilmember in 2009 after Dick DeWees passed away while in office—and his history as Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office and Fire Department chaplain and a drug resistance outreach officer in local high schools. The guy was voted Lompoc’s “Man of the Year” in 2008, for crying out loud!
Lompoc’s current mayor, Bob Lingl, said that Durham was “way at the bottom of the list” of locals he thought would be a child predator.
Ready for the public service announcement?
Stop assuming there are people who are more likely to be child predators than others! While it’s generally true statistically that more child predators are men, who either are or have been married, thinking that you can judge a person’s likelihood of being a child predator based on your gut is ridiculous.
Public officials aren’t immune to that criminal activity. Neither are law enforcement officers, chaplains, coaches, or family members.
In order to truly address the issue of child safety in our community, we should all refrain from assuming that certain people could never commit such crimes. Predators know how to levy whatever power they have—whether it’s as priest, police officer, or patriarch—and giving those with authority a collective pass is just one reason that victims struggle with coming forward. That collective pass is also exploited by the predators, some of whom even use their power and persona to get others to keep their secret.
Stop it already.
Predators are perfectly capable of playing the part of the friendly guy, giving “big hugs” (as Durham was known to do), and playing a positive role in their community. The good things these people did were real, and the positive relationship they had with the community was too, but they were also holding onto a terrible secret.
The Canary wants victims to feel empowered and report predators. Send your thoughts to [email protected].
