Crime-Safety-Security
Newsletter
26 February 2008

LAURA'S STORY: EXPLOITED, HUMILIATED, SCARRED
Laura R. was molested as a 7-year-old – 22 years ago – by Gary George Vadnais, a chess coach for decades who taught hundreds of children. Police described Laura’s interviews: "The only way Laura, sitting on her mother's lap, would talk was if "she had a blanket over her head and face." ... "I was very confused. I knew what he did was wrong and I wanted it to stop, but I didn't want to lose a friend. I thought I was in trouble by just being there. I remember my mom in her grief saying, 'I told you kids about good touch and bad touch!!' I know there's no way she could blame herself for something so terrible, but for me those words meant I screwed up." ... She was later treated for depression: "I wanted to die." School staff caught her mutilating herself. Drugs and homelessness followed. "As far as the genital warts that I was given at age 7, I will have that for the rest of my life. It will make me prone to cervical cancer. ... Today she is married and has a good job but still attends group therapy. "I am not a vigilante, or always plotting to get back at him. I'm just trying to live my life and want to make people aware of what he did to me, and to make sure that people know and that kids are safe. That's all."
Excerpted from The Pioneer Press (MN) – 10 February 2008

See Child Safety - Molesters and Child Safety - Safeguarding.

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21 February 2008
Letter-to-the-Editor,
my step daughter was tortured for hours then killed ... in [city deleted]... i cant deal with this alone.... please help..
[survivor] CANADA

[I’ve deleted the name and city to protect the survivor’s privacy – ML]

survivor,
My heart goes out to you. You do not have to deal with this alone – many people want to help you. There are hundreds of support groups worldwide for the bereaved loved ones of murder victims. They’re experts at coping with grief – and recovering.

Of the handful listed below, some are located in the US, some in the UK, and one in Australia. But it doesn’t matter where you’re located. Contact any or all of them. They’ll be happy to help you from the other side of the globe – and also refer you to a group near you for face-to-face counseling. They’re very willing to help you.

• The National Center for Victims of Crime at (US) 800-394-2255.
• Victim Support at www.victimsupport.org.uk.
• Parents of Murdered Children (POMC) at www.pomc.com.
• Survivors of Homicide www.survivorsofhomicide.com.
• Witness Justice at www.witnessjustice.org.
• Michigan Victim Alliance at www.mivictims.org.
• Compassionate Friends at www.compassionatefriends.org.
• Enough Is Enough at www.enoughisenough.org.au.

Also see Crime Survivors - Overview of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and grieving the loss of a loved one to murder.

Please let me know if I can be of any further help.

Michael

Contact Us with any questions, comments, or requests. I’ll answer as many as possible in the next newsletter.

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