Some Things Never Change

The following article originally appeared in Coronet Magazine, August 1946

 “A heartbroken father, his voice trembling with grief and terror, went on the air.  Sobbingly he pleaded with the kidnapper who had snatched his daughter from her bed the night before.  He begged him not to harm the child.  He would do anything -- anything at all -- if only his little girl was returned home, safe and sound. 

For weeks newspapers followed the case, reporting every minor development of the ensuing manhunt.  Finally, newsboys were hawking murder headlines that shocked and angered every American.  The missing child had not been kidnapped for ransom.  She had been abused and butchered.  Her kidnapper had been a sex criminal—a depraved prowler who had stolen her from her bed and then had tried to hide his crime by killing a helpless child.

Frantic parents asked for extra patrols around their homes.  Americans were aroused, angry, infuriated--and never was anger more justified.  No wonder Americans rage and fume every time shocking headlines meet their eyes.  It is ever present, terribly real, and deadly serious.  It should not only make us angry--it should keep us angrily determined to fight the menace until the solution is finally reached.  For there is a solution: As the first step toward it, we must completely revise our present thinking about sex crimes and sex criminals.”