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Watching Over Their Innocent Worlds
By Randy Wyles | July 15, 2010
My wife and I have a rock solid policy; our little girls never, ever go into a public restroom alone…period. They go with each other or my wife takes them. If I’m out with them, I stand beside the door to the restroom – and dare any “perv” to just “accidentally” go in the wrong door. The same thing was true when my grown son was just a little boy. Either I or one of his little friends went with him – but I still kept an eye on the door.
I’m not paranoid; I’m a parent – and an investigator. And I’ve seen too many cases like the “Magic Jeff” case – the former youth minister from a Kennesaw, Georgia church named Jeffrey Alan Wasley, 39, who was sentenced to 20-years in federal prison this week in Atlanta.
A security guard from a local Target store reported Wasley to police when a little boy said “Magic Jeff” wanted to help him tuck in his shirt in the restroom of the store.
When they searched his home, police discovered over 17,000 images of child pornography on Wasley’s computer. The pornographic images that police found included images of six boys in the restrooms of several Metro Atlanta Target and Walmart stores.
Wasley did not fight the charges, though he did try to kill himself when police decided to make the arrest. Wasley barricading himself in his garage, cut his wrists and neck and stabbed himself multiple times.
He had also left an apologetic note to his wife and children. Police say that, in addition to the pornographic images, they found the manuscript of a novel he was writing about a child molester who had been abused as a child.
Following his prison sentence, Wasley will be on the probation for the rest of his life. He admitted to the charges from the beginning and has agreed not to appeal the sentence in the future.
But back to the matter at hand.
I’m certainly not saying that parents who allow their kids to go to into public restrooms alone are bad parents. Not at all. Heaven knows, when you’re in the middle of a meal with the family at a restaurant or you’re trying to grab some groceries with the kids in tow and get out of the store in time to get home and make dinner, you just get sidetracked sometimes. And, of course, when your child needs to go, it’s usually right then!
So, you say “fine” and give a quick look as to the general location of the restroom – and let them go. It’s a fairly common occurrence. No problem, right? Besides, kids want to be “grown up” and they want to go to the restroom alone because they feel it makes them more “grown up” – because they see the older kids and adults do it. It’s perfectly logical in their young minds.
But, as the parent, you have to keep in mind that these people – like “Magic Jeff” – are out there…and not just out there “somewhere else.” They are out there in your neighborhood. They infiltrate family settings and public venues where children play and learn. And they lay in wait – for that innocent child. Our job as parents is to remember to be vigilant.
So, go the restroom with them. I use to make it seem to my little boy that I just happened to be going at the same time. Once I saw the room was clear, I’d just happen to finish up before him and let him know that I would be “right outside” the door. Even though it was only a minute or two, it gave him a sense of being on his own, without really being on his own.
Let a friend or sibling go with them. There is safety in numbers. Of course, you still keep an eye on the door to see who comes and goes.
Finally, report anything suspicious. If some guy steps out of the ladies room – let someone know…right then! If you notice a guy just loitering in the men’s room, report it…right then!
And let me be perfectly clear and absolutely “politically incorrect” about this; I’m not concerned with, nor could I care any less at all, whether child molesters were once victims of child abuse. I don’t care about their excuses – those are issues for therapists. My concern is the safety of my kids – and getting these “pervs” off of the street – or out of the restroom, as the case may be.
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