CLEVELAND (OH)
cleveland.com
June 10, 2018
Guest Columnist Melissa Martin, Ph.D, is an author, columnist, educator, and therapist. She resides in Southern Ohio. www.melissamartinchildrensauthor.com.
The tragic story of the rape of Tamar, a young royal princess who was sexually violated by her half-brother and then betrayed by her powerful father, King David, can be found in the Old Testament.
The Bible neither covers up nor ignores sexual assault.
Around 25 years ago, when I practiced as a licensed and ordained minister, I listened as a speaker and former pastor related a gut-wrenching story that had happened in his church in Florida. Two teenage brothers volunteered to help in Sunday school and children’s church. Allegedly, they sexually molested several children when they took them to the church bathroom. Members of the church were so devastated that they closed the church doors and put it up for sale.
Around this same time, a youth leader in the same denomination where I was a former member went to prison for having sexual relations with a minor, a girl in his youth group.
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