Is there no escape from predators? Evidently, a man has been charged with drugging and sexually assaulting two women AT A SHELTER FOR TORNADO VICTIMS in Tennessee!
There have also been abuse cases involving kids in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers and Border Patrol agents in Texas and Arizona.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/27/us/immigrant-children-sexual-abuse.html
And just this week in St. Louis, Massage Luxe employee Douglas Boyd reportedly abused a client on the job, later found her on Facebook and offered her free massages if she’d withdraw her criminal complaint.
Last month, we wrote about abuse on airplanes.
https://adamhorowitzlaw.com/sexual-abuse-on-an-airplane-really/
The sad, sad lesson here is that those who want to prey on the vulnerable will do so virtually anywhere they can. So constant vigilance is the best short term remedy, even around purported “Good Samaritans” and those in the “helping professions.”
But employers must also step up their efforts to screen out, as best they can, any prospective workers with troubling pasts (not just those who’ve been convicted of sex crimes in the past). And they must educate and reassure those they serve that they WANT anyone who sees, suspects or suffers sexual misdeeds to speak up immediately.
And all of us, as consumers, should speak up at businesses and non-profits where abuse cases have been reported, asking “What are you all doing to ensure that more crimes don’t happen in the future?”
By being vigilant, we protect ourselves and our loved ones. And by speaking up, we prod those in positions of power to work harder at prevention.