Having had the pleasure of working for Kenneth in his quest for protecting our children, he has always shown exemplary courage, integrity, character and leadership. Kenneth motivates all those that come into his path and his influence and passion for children is contagious. His passion for being an advocate for justice for our children shows his determination to make a difference in their lives. He has allowed the power of forgiveness to transform his destiny into living a victorious life and leading others to live victorious, as well. He didn't allow his past to determine who he would become in the future. He moved from victim to victor! I pledge to support him in his fight to keep our children safe. This book is sure to be a blessing to all those who read it.
Keisha Smith-Poole
Consultant
From Abused
to Protector: "Claiming Your Life After Your Church Sexually Abuses
You" A Story of Hope, Forgiveness and Triumph
Author: Kenneth F. Joe Sr.
(excerpt from pages 70 & 71)
The
problem of child abuse (both physical and sexual) is a
homegrown/worldwide terrorist threat right under our noses. But
we are not powerless to fight against this pernicious threat. It’s
a complex topic, but here is a summation of things average people can
do to make children’s lives better:
1.
Parents need to be watchful of all children as if they were
their own.
2. Parents
should know the parents and other family members of their children’s
friends before allowing them to play unsupervised or spend a night at
the friend’s house.
3. All
parents should be involved in the PTA at school.
4. We must demand that Child Welfare
programs be fully funded so that case loads are manageable.
5. Our Child Welfare system
should be preventive rather than reactive. We shouldn’t be
working with a foster care system that doesn’t graduate children and
bounces them around to strangers instead of family members.
6. Churches need to require
background checks for all personnel.
7.
There should be a strict curfew for all children.
8. We must demand that all
Child Welfare professionals be competent – especially the leaders!
9. We have to make sure that
those engaged in social work have their heart in the right place.
Just having the right degrees is never enough. These
are jobs that require passion and commitment. There is no
room for complacency.
10. Realize
that, regardless of how much money we might spend, ultimately it is not
up to the government to fix this problem. Communities
must live up to their own responsibilities right in their own
neighborhoods, schools, churches and homes. Sexual and
physical abusers are no match for dogged vigilance. They
can and must be stopped!
(excerpts from pages 51
& 52)
There are no such thing as secrets when you evaluate
the victims that are still coming forward disclosing the abuse at the
hands of their priest. People knew, so it wasn’t a secret.
Well again some will read this and say of course it is clear
that bishops, priest and other church officials knew and covered it up.
The bishops, the priest and other clergy ultimately report to
the people! My mother’s eyes were closed as much as
society’s eyes were closed at the possibility that priest could actually
take advantage of their trusted status given to them by society.
Many people will read this and say, “I would have never let this
or that happen. I would have made better decisions for my
child”. Really? What latitude do you give
clergy now with children? This type of abuse will continue
in the church until “we” as a church demand that our church do the
right thing concerning the protection and care of our children. Every
parish should have open scheduled dialogue to talk about the do’s and
don’ts as related to anyone in the church caring for children on
activities or working with children regularly in church groups. Some
communities will say, “we don’t have that problem”. There
is no use of addressing the issue when it has not affected us”. That
unfortunately is part of the problem that led to the years of
“systematic secrecy” within the church. How do you know
you have not been affected? I bet most parishes that have
had to deal with this hurt as a congregation thought the same thing
until their priest who they have grown up with and children have been
baptized by was found to have sexually molested/raped children. This
is a call to everyone to wake up and expect the same standards we
expect from teachers, doctors, lawyers, social workers and all who
operate with a trust that must be given by the community. I
say trust with supervision. We must end the blind trust
that we have given to the church. Even now our church
struggles with focusing on the right response versus the liability of
giving the right response. If we care about children as I
know we do as a people built on faith, we must ask and demand an
understanding of how we want our children to be treated and cared for in
our parishes. We must be preventive and proactive by
talking as a faith community of how we will enforce standards that
protect our children. We do not need directives from the
bishop’s or the Pope in order to decide what should be done in our
parishes. Should those in ministries working with children
undergo background checks? Should their always be two
adults when working with children? These are only some
questions that could be asked and decided by faith communities. For
those that say this is over the top, I hope the necessity for
proactiveness is not triggered by someone you love being victim to this
abuse. I say we must all “care enough” to be involved in
this solution. We can all agree that our children deserve
no less.