No matter when you were hurt, the time to report the crime is now. Why?
Because he may be hurting another kid right now, especially during the pandemic.
What’s the pandemic got to do with child sexual abuse? Lots.
These days, “police suspect that abuse (is) actually more prevalent, given that most people are stuck at home. But with no teachers to spot bruises in the classroom, and nowhere for people to escape their abusers, such crimes were less visible, they said.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/26/us/coronavirus-crime.html?searchResultPosition=1
Evidence backs up this speculation. The Associated Press reports a four-fold jump in child cyberabuse in April 2020 over April 2019. (The headline puts it bluntly: “Alarming rise in online child sex abuse reports.”)
https://apnews.com/c8898aad60175df06ebd160023285001
“Kids are more vulnerable at the moment and predators know it,” one expert said.
And with school cancelled, families staying home, and millions no longer working, predators have more time around children than ever.
So it’s very possible that the man who molested you is molesting another child right now.
That’s the best reason to overcome your hesitancy and call the police.
Our minds, however, give us plenty of excuses to minimize risk, stay stuck and do nothing.
“Back when he hurt me, he was drinking all the time, but maybe he’s not drinking as much now.”
(Liquor sales spiked 55% in March of 2020, over March of 2019)
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/26/health/coronavirus-alcohol-addiction.html?searchResultPosition=2
“He only hurt me during that time he was stressed out about losing his job.”
(Millions of Americans of course have lost their jobs over the past few weeks. Millions more fear they will soon be let go.)
“He only hurt me those few months when he and mom were having a tough patch in their marriage.”
(Many intimate relationships are very strained these days, given health fears, lay offs, furloughs, economic uncertainty, ‘stay at home’ orders and other unusual and stress-inducing restrictions.)
“Now that mom’s laid off/working from home, and she’s around more, Billy and Sally are safer. . .”
(It takes just seconds to molest a child. Predators are smart and determined. No adult can constantly monitor and oversee and protect a child.)
There are other, more positive reasons to report abuse now. Here are just two.
—Crime has dropped dramatically during the pandemic. It’s likely police now have more time to investigate child sex abuse reports than ever.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/26/us/coronavirus-crime.html?searchResultPosition=1
—In recent years, police and prosecutors have developed new technologies and new approaches to pursue even older sex crimes and cover ups.
We at Horowitz Law aren’t police or prosecutors. We can’t guarantee you that reporting your abuse now will be easier or more fruitful than before.
But evidence suggests now’s a very good time to do it. We hope you will.