Friday, April 22, 2016

Abuse/Harassment


The couple was enjoying a camping trip, but couldn’t help but notice something odd about the pair in the camper next to theirs. The husband repeatedly reminded the woman to go inside out of the sun. The next morning, the campers found the woman with a swollen face and unable to leave her bed. They immediately called the local sheriff’s office.

The deputy who arrived thankfully knew that the sick woman hadn’t been the victim of a beating, but was suffering from an autoimmune attack brought on by too much sun. Was the woman who called authorities embarrassed? Probably. Was she wrong to have done so? No.

If you see a child that’s possibly being abused, call DHR. You might be wrong, but you might just save a life. It’s sad that some who knew of Serenity Renfroe’s abuse didn’t call anyone. It’s also sad that those who did call DHR, including a physician, didn’t receive an ideal response from that organization…but at least they did something.


*****

Do you ever wonder what kind of person harasses another? We’re sure there are many reasons for such behavior and also many ways a person can react to harassment. Sometimes it’s better to stop being nice to a person because you feel sorry for them. You can be sure they have no such feelings for you; intimidation, or at least attempted intimidation, is usually best handled quickly and with, if needed, legal recourse.

We may be sorry for anyone with an addiction, but we’re much more sorry for his victims. That is not going to change. Right is not going to change, no matter how often you attempt to justify a friend/relative’s actions or lie about his behavior to others. Did you ever think that if you put as much effort into actually helping your addicted friend instead of trying to cover up for him, your friend just might have made some real progress? Or perhaps you would have realized he’s a sociopath that no amount of help can fix?

*****

Our friend Nick Ireland is a crime writer based in Huntsville. He’s currently working on accounts of North Alabama murders which he hopes to publish in the near future. This is his second article for Shoals Crime:




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