Rachael Denhollander’s college-aged abuser began grooming her when she was 7. Each week, as Denhollander left Sunday school at Westwood Baptist Church in Kalamazoo, Mich., he was there to walk her to her parents’ Bible-study classroom on the other side of the building. He brought Denhollander gifts and asked her parents for her clothing size so he could buy her dresses. He was always a little too eager with a hug. The Denhollanders led one of the church’s ministries out of their home, which meant the man would visit their house regularly, often encouraging Rachael to sit on his lap, they recalled.
The man’s behavior caught the attention of a fellow congregant, who informed Sandy Burdick, a licensed counselor who led the church’s sexual-abuse support group. Burdick says she warned Denhollander’s parents that the man was showing classic signs of grooming behavior. They were worried, but they also feared misreading the situation and falsely accusing an innocent student, according to Camille Moxon, Denhollander’s mom. So they turned to their closest friends, their Bible-study group, for support.
The overwhelming response was: You’re overreacting.One […]
We are a society laden with fear of what people will say or think. Parents turn the blind eye because of it. I have not made up my mind yet about a society that walks around with ‘sexy clothes’ but cry’s sexual abuse. Not that a person’s dress code should permit sexual abuse. I ask is grooming girls and boy something that happens because we are cowards with needs to control those weaker than us. Are we a society of bullies using the cover of religions to over power those weaker than us.
Most of all Stephan Schwartz, how do I help. Yet knowing that I may reach any degree of success.