Aaron Thompson - Golden Boy
Meet Golden Boy Aaron Thompson. I met Aaron in 2000, when we both worked for the same church. I was church administrative staff, Aaron was one of the school coaches/PE teacher. He was so great with the kids. Parents loved him, the kids adored him. And soooo cute. Aaron was the golden boy. Everything he touched turned to gold.
He had such a great head on his shoulders. If I had a son, I wanted him to grow up to be just like Aaron. Aaron was the kind of boy every mother wanted her daughter to bring home.
Until that Monday I filled in for the Pastor's Secretary. That was the day police detectives came to our church and school. That was the day I fielded calls from reporters and attorneys. That was the day I typed up a statement to the media, that had been prepared by our attorneys.
Ultimately, our friend, our golden boy, Aaron Thompson, who had grown up in our church since he was 5 years old, attended our private school, and never had a criminal record, pleaded guilty to molesting 8 boys and is currently serving a 25-year sentence.
Aaron Thompson - Pedophile
To say we were all shocked is an understatement. We had no idea. We didn't see signs because there were none. He was so freaking good at manipulating everyone and everything. Truly, we were all duped. 200 staff. 700 students. Thousands of parents and church members. Duped. He must have thought us all so incredibly stupid.
On the upside, I no longer trust everyone implicitly. I check things out in people's backgrounds. If my kids don't like someone, I'm more cautious of that person.
This week (May 2009), I talked to both kids about people touching them where their underwear is. I tried to convey, without freaking them out, that it was not okay for anyone to touch them there and that regardless of what anyone says, anyone who touches them there is naughty and they can always tell us.
Then Motor Mouth threw me for a curve. He asked what about if a kid touches them where their underwear is? Will the kid go to jail? Which made me wonder, had a child touched him? Oh boy, I should of read something about how to do this, before I jumped into it.
Here is some help for you:
How to Talk to Your Child
http://missourifamilies.org/features/parentingarticles/parenting79.htm
or,
http://web1.seattle.gov/police/sexoffender/TouchingSafety.aspx
How to Find a Sex Offender Near You
http://www.familywatchdog.us/
You can also check online for your local police department's sex offender registry.
That is the worst part of most sex offenders.. they work their way into your life. They manipulate. Glad he was stopped. H
ReplyDeleteI just found out that our area doesn't even do background checks on volunteers working with "vulnerable" parties (i.e. kids, elderly). That means...you have NO IDEA just who is coaching your kid's little-league team. Parents can't be too careful. So sad. So true.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this helpful information! You never expect how little ones will respond and that is awesome how Motor Mouth is really thinking about such a difficult subject. One day when G gets a little older we will have this conversation and any info to help prepare for that day will be so helpful.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that Motormouth asked you that, because older children/teens are huge molesters as well.
ReplyDeleteThen, there's the just plain curiosity thing, which is different (ie. kids of the same age playing "doctor" when very young).
Many molesters are sociopaths, and manipulation and great cunning are their MOs.
Great post.
I would say, don't wait til your kids are 'older.' They need to know when they are old enough to know the word 'no.' When I was 4, my mom felt prompted by God to tell me about this stuff. She did think I was too young as well, but did it anyway. A couple weeks later, the neighbour boy put his hand down my pants and I went hollering to my mom. If she had waited and not told me then, maybe I would have been too confused to know what he did was wrong. Who knows. There is no big mystery about telling your kids, 'no one should touch your privates but you. If they do, tell mommy or daddy because it's not right, they are your privates and no one else's.' Just my personal experience.
ReplyDeleteWe had a similar thing happen at our church in Cali. Everyone was stunned! Man can reach such depths of depravity if God isn't first in life.
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