NEW JERSEY
NJ.com
By MAI FERNANDEZ
The critically acclaimed movie “Spotlight,” currently in theaters, is a compelling real life look at the cover up of heinous acts by priests against children in Massachusetts that was unearthed by the Boston Globe. It is a powerful story about the active efforts to hide the truth as well as the harm done to innocent victims. It is time that the spotlight be put on New Jersey.
New Jersey is no exception to these horrors and, what is worse, it does little to protect the victims. In fact, the state is ranked in the bottom half of the country in safeguarding children from sexual abuse and letting molesters off the hook, according to an analysis of all 50 states by SOL-Reform.com.
According to data from the Crimes Against Children Research Center, one in five girls and one in 20 boys are sexually abused before the age of 18. In more than half those cases, a trusted person, such as a family member, a coach or a scoutmaster, abused the child. Despite the prevalence, up to 90 percent of the cases are never reported.
We must do better to protect our most innocent of victims. Yet the State Senate refuses to act on bipartisan legislation introduced by Senator Joe Vitale, a Middlesex County Democrat, who is trying to bring decency and good sense to our state.
Institutions that enable sexual predators have been lobbying tenaciously to prevent the bill’s passage as they successfully did in 2012. They seek to avoid responsibility for failing to protect the children placed in their care. How is it that a bill intended to serve such vulnerable and innocent victims is so obviously being stalled?
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