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April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. This week, April 10-16 marks National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. I would ask our community to take a second and reflect on what is like for crime victims, and especially child abuse victims.

Like the old rope swing that used to be on Sand Creek, the criminal justice system acts as a pendulum. Presently we are all the way out on the rope in favor of criminal defendants. Folks from the political left and political right are pushing for reforms to lighten sentences, release offenders from jails and prisons and punish police and prosecutors for perceived abuse of power. Our TV shows and movies are filled with the wrongfully accused and wrongfully convicted. All of this takes a toll on a group that has been forgotten in the media — the victims. While criminal defendants have rights and it is vital we make sure they are afforded their rights, many people don’t realize the Idaho Constitution also provides rights to victims. Unfortunately many people who are victims of crime feel like they are being re-victimized going through the criminal justice system.

Even though we have limited resources we have tried to bring comfort to our child victims by starting the Courthouse Dog Project and training and deploying Ken, our resident Black Lab. I wish we could do more. I wish I could stop child abuse, but the truth is citizens in our community are the only ones who can. It is extremely difficult for a child to break away from abuse when the overwhelming odds are the abuser is someone they know and often times love. I have had too many meetings with women and men who have been victimized as kids and still feel the pain for decades afterward. I would respectfully ask members of our community to pray for our victims and keep our eyes and our minds open. You never know when a suspicion could save a child from a lifetime of emotional pain.

LOUIS MARSHALL

Sandpoint

Bonner County Prosecuting Attorney