Messages By: teeka1234

 Throughout history, man (and in some cases women) have abused children. We call ourselves civilized, yet this horrible practice still goes on today. When will it end?

I have written a book about a terrible case of child abuse here in Canada. Byron Prior is the oldest of 12 children. He is now in his '50s, but when he was just 4 years old, he was molested by his own mother. Byron had to watch as each child was either abused by her, one of her many paramors - or both.

The sexual predators included not only men from the local fishing community, but also a Salvation Army officer, a prominent businessman and even a Supreme Court judge. Any wonder that none of the accuesed have ever been brought to trial to face charges, let alone spend one moment in jail?

In the small town where Byron lived in Newfoundland, those prominent people ran the show and even today, no one will take him seriously. Thus he is still fighting for justice, even spending many months on Parliament Hill in Ottawa with signs that actually name the judge who raped and impregnated one of his younger sisters so many years ago when she was very young. Yet, Byron has not been charged. Hello!

The real problem is twofold. First of all, the courts are far too lenient on sexual predators. The police can get them to court, but there is nothing they can do about the ridiculous sentences that are handed out. Rob a bank and you get 10 years; abuse a child and you might get 2 years, less a day (with 1/3 off for good behavior). That is criminal!

The second problem has to do with treatment, which is woefully inadequate. These types of people have serious issues (usually stemming from some kind of abuse forced on them early in their lives) and resolving those issues takes time. Add that to a short time being held behind bars and you can be sure that the predator will be back on the streets ready and able to commit this crime over and over again.

I was raped at 15 and I also have a daughter who was abused by a stepfather. I can tell you that the man who took advantage of my trusting little girl does not - to this day - believe he did anything wrong. He abused young girls before her and also after her, and has been in jail a few times. Nonetheless, he feels he hasn't hurt any of them.

In a predator's mind, he is being loving and nice - warped I know, but that's how they think. They think the kids actually enjoy it. Well, perhaps physically some do, but the affect on the mind is horrible. They feel used, dirty, not worth the dust under anyone's feet and it can take their lifetime to get over it - if they ever do.

 I can't wait to see this show! I have had a number of paranormal experiences myself and have also written a couple of books on the subject. I've seen James Van Praagh before and have a movie about his life. I believe he is very honest about his abilities.

Thanks Dr. Phil!

Take care,
Martha Jette

I would say divorce is never a good thing, but sometimes it really is. Danny has had years to straighten out his act and has not managed to do so, except for short periods of time here and there. I once lived with a man who abused alcohol and was angry a great deal of the time, so I know it must have been hell for his wife. It must have been horrible for the children as well. After so many years and giving Danny so many chances I think she might really be finished with him.

I have seen Danny on TV frequently and have witnessed both his good and bad behavoir. He needs some serious, lengthy and indepth counseling, but I think it's too late to save his marriage.

Dr. Phil is so right when he says that child abusers are often the people closest to you. This horrible thing happened to my daughter when she was just 8 years old. The man I was with at the time had a very high IQ, a job and great charisma. Unbeknownst to me, he was also a compulsive liar who could make black look white and vice versa. This man whom I loved very much abused my child for three years!

But unlike the woman on this show, I would never have stayed with him had I known. I ended up leaving him due to his ever increasing drinking and rapidly escallating violent talk and behavior. I never would have thought this of him in the beginning. I did not find out about the abuse until after I picked up and left with my children (my daughter then nearly 11 and my new daughter with this man, just a baby). We moved into a very small apartment and one day about three months later, two detectives came to the door. When they confronted my daughter about the abuse, she broke right down and I went into shock.  Apparently, my daughter's friend had been his victim too and she told her mother who subsequently called the police.

It took my daughter and myself months of therapy to recover from what that man did. There were so many issues that we had trouble dealing with. My daughter was terrified, because he had told her he would kill her if she ever told (and he wasn't even in jail at that point!) She resented me because I didn't know about it and I felt deep guilt that I had been so dumb. I also felt totally betrayed and could not understand why any grown man would want a child. The pain was terrible for both of us on many levels. We both had nightmares of him breaking into our home and killing us. Thanks to good therapy, we did get through it and went on with our lives.

My daughter has been married for many years now and has given me two wonderful grandchildren. While that man came very close to destroying both of us forever, he did not succeed. As for him, he has been in jail a couple of times since then for doing the same thing with other unsuspecting women and their children. He was supposed to have judge ordered therapy, but I don't think it ever worked in his case.

Maybe some child abusers are just beyond help.

In the case of the show, I cannot for the life of me understand how this (or any) woman could live with that man knowing what he was doing. It just makes me sick at heart for what that once little girl had to go through.