Child Abuse is Like a Ticking Time Bomb
Published in The Universe
(October 13, 2002)
Andres
Ernst Friedrich Lewicki, a 68 year-old German pedophile walked free from
a German court last 27th September after being found guilty of sexually
abusing a Irish six-year-old child. This was done with the help of the
two relatives, why they were never charged as accessories to the crime
of child rape has yet to be investigated.
The abuse took place between 1977 and 1986.
Lewicki is high on my list of wanted suspects in the Philippines where he
was charged on November 19, 1995, in Pasay City, Metro Manila with
sexually abusing Camilla a 13-year old street child. Camilla, with two
younger sisters and her abandoned mother lived and under the bushes of
the manicured gardens of the Cultural center of the Philippines. A pimp
brought Lewicki to her and with the mother they went to the Longwood
hotel in Pasay he allegedly severely abused the child according to a
police report.
Lewicki was arrested and charged .He was held without bail but apparently
bribed his way out and fled the Philippines. In 1996 he was arrested in
the Czech Republic for sexually abusing as many as nine gypsy children
after drugging them. He had an apartment in Zurich, Switzerland and
police there found hundreds of child pornography videotapes.
The shocking thing about this man is that the sentence he received for
abusing the Irish child was 31/2 years, a paltry and lenient sentence.
Because he has already served it in the most luxurious of prisons while
awaiting trial and was set free last Friday.
Another similar case was that of Thomas B. , A German who abused a 9 year
old child in the Philippines and fled to Germany. We pursued him, had
him arrested and brought to trial in Germany. I was there with the child
and social workers from the PREDA Children's therapeutic center that I
set up in 1974. The child bravely testified and Thomas B. Was found
guilty and sentenced to 31/2 year the maximum the law allows. We
campaigned for a change in German law since then but to no real avail it
seems as the Lewicki case shows. Some say the laws are written my men
out to protect their own interests and not women and children.
In the Philippines we at the Preda child protection and therapeutic
center, (Preda is an acronym for People's Recovery, Empowerment,
Development, Assistance, Foundation) have brought several child abusers
to Justice in the Philippines where they can be jailed from 12 years to
life imprisonment. A harsh sentence in the most inhospitable of prison
systems but one that fits the terrible crime of child rape. Penalties
for crimes against property are more harsh that those against children.
New research into the devastating effects of sexual abuse on the brain
points out the susceptibility of the young children to suffer physical
brain damage especially if the abuse is repeated or prolonged. The
child's brain, they say is in its developing period when it is being
physically changed by life experience and physical and sexual abuse can
alter the brain structure itself. All sorts of chemical and neurological
changes can cause irreversible damage.
It's no wonder then that children can suffer depression, withdrawal,
excessive fear and even suicidal tendencies. The anger and the fear and
even hatred frequently repressed. Later it can surface with devastating
effects. It is especially true if the child receives little or no
support and understanding. In fact the damage becomes worse if the child
has to suffer alone and is even blamed for what happened.
The feeling of being rejected and abandoned is pathological and neuroses
develops. The outward expression can be seen in depression, anxiety, in
aggressive behavior and hostility to adults and to other children. Most
are survivors, silent and alone. Yet others can become pedophiles,
bullies dictators, torturers and maniacs.
The children are angry at the adult world for hurting and abusing them in
this way and especially when it is done by their own father or relative.
80% of sexual abuse is in the home. Incest, that horrific word and deed,
unspoken for generations is so common that it would make us shudder if
we only knew. (To be continued)
