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February 18, 2005
State of California Also on Trial With Michael Jackson for Allowing Molesters Within the Home to Avoid Prosecution
A Coalition of angry citizens groups, including film and television actors, attorneys and progressive civil rights leaders, will be in Santa Maria, Calif., on Tuesday, Feb. 22, when the Michael Jackson trial continues. They will not be there because of the Michael Jackson trial. They will be there to let the public know that the state of California is guilty, because its law allows child abusers to get probation and therapy, instead of prosecution, even if they rape and molest repeatedly, if the victims are children living in their own household.
Shari Karney, who was the subject of the NBC TV movie 'Shattered Trust, the Shari Karney Story' was the attorney who spearheaded the successful drive to extend the California statute of limitations on child sexual abuse, (SB 108). She is one of the main reasons for the Catholic Church being sued today. Karney, who will be attending the press conference added "If Michael Jackson had allegedly molested his own children, he probably would have been sent to 'therapy' and not to stand trial. Well, it is time to put California on trial."
The ugly truth is that California law rewards child molesters for growing their own victims" says Grier Weeks, executive director of Protect, a national anti-child abuse membership association that has sponsored California Senate Bill SB 33. This bill would reverse a 24-year old policy put in place to encourage reunification of child sexual abusers and their victims.
"The State of California is spending millions to prosecute one man. Yet, California laws tolerate the sexual exploitation and abuse of thousands of children every year. These are children who have endured an unthinkable betrayal, only to be betrayed again and again by the State," says actress Alison Angrim.
"While the press just focuses on the sensationalistic stories of NAMBLA (man-boy love association) the prosecution of Catholic priests, and the Michael Jackson case, there are thousands of children, crying for help from behind locked doors, in the homes where they live. It's time we kicked down those doors and brought this issue into the light. Those sexually abused kids cannot speak for themselves, so we will do it for them, says Robin Tyler, executive director of the Equality Campaign.
Posted by Nealus at February 18, 2005 05:22 PM
