Maelie could tell you how it happens…
She wasn’t grabbed and thrown in the trunk of his car. She hadn’t run away from home in search of thrills on the street. No, she was lured away…charmed away…friended away. For him, it was easy enough, with a bit of patience–a promise of something she needed, or something she wanted bad enough to take a chance. Her body, young as it was, would bring in lots of cash; she was worth the time it took to recruit her. For her anguished parents, distraught and desperate to locate that “normal” child who disappeared into a dark relationship, the nightmare had begun.
You see, there is an insatiable market for sex with children and there is a lot of money to be made off eager buyers–it’s a matter of supply and demand.
But it’s also a matter of evil. This evil is thick and rank along the crowded brothel allies; it smirks as it describes the ‘high’ of taking away a child’s innocence; it slashes her with a box cutter when she refuses; it tells her what happened to her was all her fault; it reminds her that she is nothing but trash. The sheer weight of such evil is stunning and threatens to immobilize us…but for the stories of those that have overcome, like Maelie and the family that loved her and brought her home again!
Together we must act to protect our children and take back those who have been lost. Please go online today and download your state’s Protected Innocence Challenge Report Card, then share it with your state legislators. You have a powerful voice for change. Use it!
