Who is to blame for the long and winding road of justice given to sex abusers? The length of time that road to justice takes to traverse has surely contributed to the long term suffering of abuse victims.
Of course it is the mentally sick abusers themselves who are most responsible. But it is also the mentally un-sick enablers who by their unwillingness to act – or worse - who are protecting them responsible that is responsible for the delay or even escape from justice. Those who actively protect the abusers... well… there is no place deep enough in hell for them, in my view:
I can think of no group of people who are more in need of rabbinic and judicial support, than child-abuse victims. For the vast majority of them were abused or neglected many, many times – first by the monsters who ravaged their innocence and cruelly stole their childhood, later inadvertently, by the adults in their lives who weren’t attuned to their silent cries for help while the abuse was taking place, and finally by those who passively or actively protected the abuser, rather than the victim, once the abuse became known.
The above quote taken from Rabbi Yakov Horowitz's website is a strong condemnation of the enabling and protecting society we live in. It is from a message - were he given the opportunity to address them - he would deliver to the judges in Israel who are involved in the extradition of perhaps the most infamous of sex abusers, Avrohom Mondrowitz .
Rabbi Horowitz does not shy away from telling it like it is. He does not mince words about those who would protect him. Here is how he puts it:
Word on the street is that there are powerful people backing Mondrowitz. Having him successfully avoid extradition will confirm that suspicion in the minds of many. It will also reinforce a horrific message – unfortunately the one that is prevalent – to the public at large and more specifically to abuse victims – that the blood of innocent children can be washed away if the molester knows the right people.
If the ‘word on the street’ is true – and I strongly suspect it is – then those ‘powerful people’ ought to crawl under a rock where they belong and society ought to make sure they stay there.
In any case, this article is a must read. It demonstrates that just as there are powerful people who protect molesters, there are also powerful people on the right side of this issue. People who are willing to speak up for the victims and let them know they are not alone anymore. People like Rabbi Yakov Horowitz who has a mighty ‘pen’ which can be mightier than the ‘sword’ of the abuser's protectors. God bless him.
