Abduction Danger = Playing Russian Roulette with Your Child's Life
On September 11, 1995, our 9-year-old son Jimmy Ryce was kidnaped and murdered by a sexual predator. When our children are kidnapped and raped or sodomized, they are robbed of their liberty and happiness. If they are killed, they are robbed of the remainder of their lives, and their children and their children's children are never born. In killing our young, sexual predators steal from us the joy we know in loving them and being loved by them, the joy of watching them unfold and bloom like a flower. In taking those that sparkle with vitality, predators steal our future leaders and creators. Every time a sexual predator steals a child, the destruction is horrific. Some people claiming to be “experts” argue that attacks on our children by sexual predators are isolated events and that the chances are very small that a child will ever be confronted by a sexual predator. The truth is we really don’t know the extent of the danger, because there has been no requirement that local law enforcement departments report to a central agency the crime of child abduction, much less attempted abductions. The most recent statistics we have give us a glimpse of the magnitude of the problem of predatory abduction. The Second National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children, NISMART-2, which periodic study the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, OJJDP, is required by law to conduct, states that there were 58,200 non-family abductions in the United States in 1999. That's one every nine minutes. It also states that almost two thirds of the sexual assaults in America committed against children under 18 are committed against children under 12, with the remaining third against children 12 through 17. This number of abductions of children under 18 by non-family abductors should be unacceptable in any civilized country.Logic informs us the number significantly understates the number of child abductions, which actually occur each year. First, many sexual assaults are only reported as rapes or homicides even though they also involve abduction or false imprisonment. Secondly, missing children are misclassified as runaways when they have actually been forcefully abducted or abducted by seduction. Thirdly, the number does not count those who are abducted or confined and sexually exploited after they voluntarily run away. Fourthly, abductions by a sexual predator who is a relative by blood or marriage are not included in the 58,200 non-family-abduction figure, even if the child is murdered as well as sexually assaulted. Lastly, children 18 or older abducted in the United States and children of all ages abducted in other countries are not counted at all. As you can see, it is anyone’s guess how many children are abducted for sexual purposes each year.
In our fight against sexual predators, we must start by teaching our children how to protect themselves. They are, after all, their own last defense. We can teach them to recognize potentially dangerous situations. We can teach them how to escape if they are ever confronted by a sexual predators. Go to the Escape section of this website to learn Jimmy Ryce's Great Escape Maneuvers, Jim's GEMs.Don’t believe for a minute educating our kids on how to maximize their chances of getting away from sexual predators takes away their innocence. It empowers them when we teach them how to protect themselves. Fire drills do not traumatize children about fire dangers. Practicing how to escape simply teaches our children what to do if the danger jumps up in front of them.
Abductions
Jimmy Ryce's home in rural Redlands.
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