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York Gathers to Form Child Sexual Assault Awareness Campaign

By Deborah McDermott
Seacoast Online
May 3, 2017

http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/20170502/york-gathers-to-form-child-sexual-assault-awareness-campaign

Dennis O’Connor was abused by his parish priest when he was a kid, and his disclosure ultimately led to the priest’s prosecution. “We need to figure out how keep these people away from kids,” he said.

A York mother said she was 11 years old when she was sexually abused. Now the parent of an 11-year-old girl, “I want to know what I can do to keep her safe.”

These York residents were among a group of about 30 people who came to the York Library Friday afternoon to become involved in a local campaign to raise awareness of child sexual abuse.

The event was organized by Dr. Jeanine Ward, an emergency room physician at York Hospital; resident Kara DioGuardi, a music producer, songwriter and former “American Idol” judge; and York Police Officer Jamie Rooney — all of whom are comfortable now sharing their own child sexual abuse stories. But they recognize that many people are not, and many more do not want to hear about it.

“People don’t want to talk about it,” said DioGuardi. “It’s ugly. The public doesn’t get angry enough to say, ‘We have to stop this.’ They see it on TV, and they turn it off. But we’re not going to deal with this issue if we run from it. Don’t we want to protect our children?”

 

 

 

 

 




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