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AS THE nation turns it eye to the commonwealth in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse allegations, this is a time to raise awareness about the potential of sexual abuse in our communities.

Children are sexually abused at alarmingly high rates. The Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates one in three girls and one in seven boys will be sexually abused before they turn 18. While strangers do abduct children, the rate of stranger abductions is only about .0017 per 1,000 children. The real danger for children comes from neighbors, relatives, coaches, priests and teachers.

As soon as a parent trusts the well-being of their child to another adult, that adult has the ability to abuse. Sexual abuse knows no socio-economic, racial, religious or cultural limitations. White, wealthy, heterosexual men with families and wives sexually abuse more than any other group of people. Sex offenders are charming, skilled deviants who take time to groom their victims into submission or at least silence.

Our society sexualizes everything from toothpaste to soda in advertising. But, we fail to prepare children to respond to sexually abusive acts. Victims, who are children, are made to feel responsible for the acts of adults. Childhood abuse does immeasurable damage to self-esteem and one’s ability to trust.

Sexual abuse is the silent epidemic that is damaging generation after generation of our children. It is time we stop allowing our own fears about discussing sexuality and criminal behavior to create fertile ground for sex offenders to prey on the trust of our children.

This latest case, like every case of child sexual abuse, deserves an immense public outcry. According to news accounts, children were raped and nothing was done about it. Most startling, an adult supposedly witnessed a child being raped and did not stop that assault.

Listening to the news accounts, this story seems almost as much about Penn State University and its football program as it is about a child or children being raped by a grown man. In fact, the news media are coding the alleged rapes in nice words such as “sexual abuse,” “sexual assault” or “inappropriate touching.” These are violent acts.

Minimizing the truly violent nature of child abuse fuels the messages that offenders often tell themselves. Offenders often have groomed their victims so well that the offender thinks the abuse is a consensual act. This delusional justification is part of the pathology that allows sex offenders to continue preying on children for decades.

The most important lesson we can take from this case has nothing to do with football or coaching, but is simply that adults can prevent child sexual abuse.

We do in fact have a collective moral responsibility to prevent, stop and report suspected abuse. It is law enforcement and child welfare’s responsibility to determine what legal actions to take, but it is your responsibility to make that call to Child Line at 1-800-932-0313.

In every case of child sexual abuse that I know, some adult knew something was not right long before a call was made. Step up and do what is right, send a message that you will not tolerate child abuse in your community.

Jenna Mehnert is executive director of the National Association of Social Workers – Pennsylvania Chapter. Visit www.nasw-pa.org.