Children are often trusting of adults, especially when those adults seem nice, give them gifts or otherwise try to make the children feel as if the adults are trustworthy. Unfortunately, predators in New Mexico and elsewhere often use these tactics and then use that trust to sexually abuse children. Regrettably, several children could be subjected to abuse from the same person before the information is known.
It was recently reported that a 78-year-old man in another state is facing criminal charges after accusations surfaced that he sexually abused multiple children in a neighborhood. One victim’s mother stated that the man was a “grandfather figure” to many of the children in the area. He would give them candy, help them repair their bicycles and perform other acts of deceptive kindness.
The man’s abuse came to light after a young girl told her older sister that the man had told the child to pull his pants down, exposing himself, before further sexually abusing the child. The older sister then told their mother, who called police. In addition to this victim, several other children in the neighborhood alleged the following behaviors from the man:
- Squeezing their buttocks
- Watching children through their windows as they changed their clothing
- Making inappropriate sexual comments to the children
- Asking the children if he could take their pictures
Children often feel helpless in these situations because they want to trust the adults that they have come to know and who have treated them kindly in the past. Unfortunately, cases like these are not unusual in New Mexico and across the country. If parents believe that their children have been sexually abused, they may want to gain information on how to pursue justice against the abusers.