Dear Editor,

I am very disturbed by the stories I read almost every day about children being molested. I personally know of many, many cases.

A child molestor or a paedophile is a person who finds an environment where he can have access to children, especially children who are poor and mostly in a single parent home. He offers them gifts and money. He is not necessarily a homeless or crazy person. He can be a person of good standing in society.

Paedophiles gain the trust of the children and then molest them. They often threaten to harm or kill these children and their parents if they tell anyone and that is why so many children are afraid to say anything when they are molested. Some child molesters are married and have children of their own.

Parents and children must have the courage to come forward and press charges. No amount of money can compensate for the pain and shame a child suffers. I have a friend who had a male relative stay at her house and woke up in the night to find her four-year-old daughter crying. This male relative raped her daughter. His parents offered her a substantial amount of money not to file charges. She being a very poor single parent, decided to take the money. Instead, his parents bought him a ticket and sent him to Barbados, she never got the money. I bet, wherever he is today he is still molesting children.

Yours faithfully,

Diane Lee