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In 1933, my mother was abducted from her stroller in front of a building(back then it was ok to leave your kid outside, so it was thought). She was taken to an alley, beaten, pissed on and left for dead. We don't know if she was sexually assaulted-those things were not discussed. The perpetrator, a boy of 11 or 12, was sent to a reform school.
Around 1935 or so, at Coney Island, my father, about 5 years old, was pushed and held under the water until someone yelled at the scumbucket. He took off.
In 1964 , a man in a car pulled up to the curb as my sister was walking home from school (she was 7), and told her her mother told him to come give her a ride home. She screamed, "NO! SHE DIDN"T!" and ran home. After describing the car as 'plaid', the cop told my mother he couldn't be of help.(she meant covered in spots of primer-to a kid, that's plaid)
This past year, an internet prowler, who used, among others, the name 'partyxenema', worked his way into instant messages with my daughter and a couple of her friends. The police are investigating.
Long way of getting to, it's not new. Their methods may change as society becomes aware of their previous ones, but they've always been around and will continue to be, unfortunately. It's a sad state of affairs when, while playing dollhouse with your kids, your have to pretend a bad stranger is coming, and instruct them about how they should react, but it's necessary.
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