Is my thread header pertinent? I believe so. We need to pay close attention to the precursors to child rape and assault, IMO. Otherwise, how will we know how to systemically affect change? Did my own community let this young man down? Are we somehow culpable in this toddler's assault?
The story is beyond tragic. I well remember Zeman, a monster who thoroughly terrorized his victims. It doesn't surprise me in the least that one of his young male victims turned to drugs and then acted out his inner rage. Does it excuse it? Heck no. Not a bit. But I get it. We absolutely must commit ourselves to reaching out to victims--and especially not forget the male victims--before it's too late. In our county, as in most, there are slim choices for teens who are struggling with the aftermath of abuse. They fall through the cracks far too easily.....until they rise to the surface years later, when another child is brutalized.
My heart goes out to this little boy and his Mama.
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120309/NEWS/203090326
Alleged toddler abuser was sex victim himself
March 9, 2012
"A Medford man accused of brutally beating and sexually assaulting his toddler stepson was himself sexually abused as a teen, court records show. Matthew Karl Hyrup, 27, of the *advertiser censored* block of South Columbus Avenue, pleaded not guilty Wednesday before Judge Tim Barnack in Jackson County Circuit Court to three Measure 11 charges first-degree assault, first-degree unlawful sexual penetration and first-degree sodomy. He is being held in the Jackson County Jail on $1 million bail. The toddler continues to be treated at a Portland hospital...."
and
"....Hyrup was among a string of victims who were sexually abused by Daniel Paul Zeman in the 1990s and 2000s. Zeman, now 72, befriended youths at local motocross events, invited them to his east Medford home and chaperoned them on out-of-town trips. Medford police Detective Diane Sandler testified at Zeman's trial that the case was the most horrific she'd worked on. Several adult men curled up in a fetal position during interviews at the Police Department and sobbed, she told the judge. Two men became suicidal after coming forward, she added. Hyrup told investigators before the trial that he'd lived with Zeman and was sexually abused "approximately 400 times" when he was between the ages of 12 and 16...."
and
"...Mercy Flights medical personnel responded to a call of a child in distress at the home at 4:22 p.m. The boy was taken to Rogue Valley Medical Center, where doctors found both internal and external injuries all over his body, determined the child had been severely beaten and sexually assaulted, and called police...."
More at link (plus mugshot)
The story is beyond tragic. I well remember Zeman, a monster who thoroughly terrorized his victims. It doesn't surprise me in the least that one of his young male victims turned to drugs and then acted out his inner rage. Does it excuse it? Heck no. Not a bit. But I get it. We absolutely must commit ourselves to reaching out to victims--and especially not forget the male victims--before it's too late. In our county, as in most, there are slim choices for teens who are struggling with the aftermath of abuse. They fall through the cracks far too easily.....until they rise to the surface years later, when another child is brutalized.
My heart goes out to this little boy and his Mama.
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120309/NEWS/203090326
Alleged toddler abuser was sex victim himself
March 9, 2012
"A Medford man accused of brutally beating and sexually assaulting his toddler stepson was himself sexually abused as a teen, court records show. Matthew Karl Hyrup, 27, of the *advertiser censored* block of South Columbus Avenue, pleaded not guilty Wednesday before Judge Tim Barnack in Jackson County Circuit Court to three Measure 11 charges first-degree assault, first-degree unlawful sexual penetration and first-degree sodomy. He is being held in the Jackson County Jail on $1 million bail. The toddler continues to be treated at a Portland hospital...."
and
"....Hyrup was among a string of victims who were sexually abused by Daniel Paul Zeman in the 1990s and 2000s. Zeman, now 72, befriended youths at local motocross events, invited them to his east Medford home and chaperoned them on out-of-town trips. Medford police Detective Diane Sandler testified at Zeman's trial that the case was the most horrific she'd worked on. Several adult men curled up in a fetal position during interviews at the Police Department and sobbed, she told the judge. Two men became suicidal after coming forward, she added. Hyrup told investigators before the trial that he'd lived with Zeman and was sexually abused "approximately 400 times" when he was between the ages of 12 and 16...."
and
"...Mercy Flights medical personnel responded to a call of a child in distress at the home at 4:22 p.m. The boy was taken to Rogue Valley Medical Center, where doctors found both internal and external injuries all over his body, determined the child had been severely beaten and sexually assaulted, and called police...."
More at link (plus mugshot)
