Like a Ticking Time Bomb

Child Abuse is Like a Ticking Time Bomb

Lewicki is high on my list of wanted suspects in the Philippines where he was charged on November 19, 1995, in Pasay City, Metro Manila with sexually abusing Camilla a 13-year old street child. Camilla, with two younger sisters and her abandoned mother lived and under the bushes of the manicured gardens of the Cultural center of the Philippines. A pimp brought Lewicki to her and with the mother they went to the Longwood hotel in Pasay he allegedly severely abused the child according to a police report.

Held without bail but apparently bribed his way out
Lewicki was arrested and charged .He was held without bail but apparently bribed his way out and fled the Philippines. In 1996 he was arrested in the Czech Republic for sexually abusing as many as nine gypsy children after drugging them. He had an apartment in Zurich, Switzerland and police there found hundreds of child pornography videotapes.

The shocking thing about this man is that the sentence he received for abusing the Irish child was 3 1/2 years, a paltry and lenient sentence. Because he has already served it in the most luxurious of prisons while awaiting trial he was set free last Friday.

Another similar case was that of Thomas B. , A German who abused a 9 year old child in the Philippines and fled to Germany. We pursued him, had him arrested and brought to trial in Germany. I was there with the child and social workers from the PREDA Children's therapeutic center that I set up in 1974. The child bravely testified and Thomas B. was found guilty and sentenced to 3 1/2 years, the maximum the law allows. We campaigned for a change in German law since then but to no real avail it seems as the Lewicki case shows. Some say the laws are written my men out to protect their own interests and not women and children.

They can be jailed from 12 years to life
In the Philippines we at the Preda child protection and therapeutic center, (Preda is an acronym for People's Recovery, Empowerment, Development, Assistance, Foundation) have brought several child abusers to Justice in the Philippines where they can be jailed from 12 years to life imprisonment. A harsh sentence in the most inhospitable of prison systems but one that fits the terrible crime of child rape. Penalties for crimes against property are more harsh than those against children.

New research into the devastating effects of sexual abuse on the brain points out the susceptibility of the young children to suffer physical brain damage especially if the abuse is repeated or prolonged. The child's brain, they say is in its developing period when it is being physically changed by life experience and physical and sexual abuse can alter the brain structure itself. All sorts of chemical and neurological changes can cause irreversible damage.

It's no wonder then that children can suffer depression, withdrawal, excessive fear and even suicidal tendencies. The anger and the fear and even hatred frequently repressed. Later it can surface with devastating effects. It is especially true if the child receives little or no support and understanding. In fact the damage becomes worse if the child has to suffer alone and is even blamed for what happened.

Most are survivors, silent and alone
The feeling of being rejected and abandoned is pathological and neuroses develops. The outward expression can be seen in depression, anxiety, in aggressive behavior and hostility to adults and to other children. Most are survivors, silent and alone. Yet others can become pedophiles, bullies dictators, torturers and maniacs.

The children are angry at the adult world for hurting and abusing them in this way and especially when it is done by their own father or relative. 80% of sexual abuse is in the home. Incest, that horrific word and deed, unspoken for generations is so common that it would make us shudder if we only knew.

Fr. Shay Cullen of Ireland is a Columban Father working in the Philippines since 1969. PREDA (www.preda.org) was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001.

By Fr. Shay Cullen
Published in the COLUMBAN MISSION
February 2003 Issue