Dear Abby: Steer daughter to counseling after son-in-law is in jail

Posted: November 02, 2012

DEAR ABBY: We recently learned that our son-in-law, "Mike," was fired from his job as a community-service officer. He committed second-degree criminal sexual assault on two women inmates he was supervising. We hope he'll be convicted so our daughter can put her life together.

We don't know how to get through to her that she deserves better. She refuses to divorce, even though this happened during her marriage and pregnancy. How can we help her realize that life without him would be so much better and that sex offenders are never really "cured"? They tell us they are "constantly praying" and that "God has already forgiven" him.

- Worried Parents

DEAR PARENTS: Your son-in-law's abuse of his authority is appalling. But as long as he's still around and "constantly praying" (probably more for a sympathetic jury than forgiveness), you won't get through to your daughter.

Fortunately, the justice system has sentencing guidelines for men who abuse their power the way Mike has, and he may be going away for a long, long time. Once he's gone, start talking to your daughter about counseling to deal with the trauma she has been through, and let a mental-health professional shed some light on this. If the message comes from a person with no bias, it stands a better chance of getting through.

Index by Keyword
|
Index by Date
|
About Philly.com
|
Contact Us
|
Terms of Use & Privacy Statement
|
Copyright 2013