This sad, terrible story is not likely going to be covered on any major news outlets, but it is worth acknowledging:
For years, a man regularly confined his adolescent stepson to a bedroom rigged with an alarm, molested him several times a week and often denied him food, water and access to a bathroom, authorities said.
The 17-year-old boy, who lived with his stepfather for nearly six years, told police Robert J. Pratt would smash his head into a wall when he resisted his advances and sent him to school in long-sleeved shirts and pants so no one would see his bruises and scars.
Pratt was being held without bail on sex assault charges, accusations that surprised acquaintances who know him as a quiet, helpful neighbor.
The boy came forward after Pratt, 37, of Bennington, kicked him out of the apartment they shared and he moved in with his mother, who lived in the same apartment complex.
Later in the article, one of the police officer’s handling the case commented:
“When this was brought to the attention of law enforcement, we all were taken aback at the pervasive and lengthy abuse that was going on, and had been going on for years,” prosecutor Erica Marthage said Wednesday. “It was concerning to all of us that this was something we potentially missed for this long. It just makes you wonder.”
It does. It makes you wonder how no one noticed the boy’s situation or how none of the teachers noticed any changes in his behavior of bruises on his head or face. It makes you wonder how none of the neighbors heard the violence or the beatings. It makes you wonder why his mother was not involved in his life when she lived so close.
What it does not make one wonder about is how they missed this for so long. The victim is a boy, and as far as people are concerned, boys cannot be abused like this. No one would bother to think this would actually happen to boys, and would likely not believe it without some sort of corroboration.
These sorts of situations occur far more often than people like to think. More often than not, people like this boy’s mother do not report the abuse. If they are not already aware of it, they bury it, and the boys simply try to block it out and move on.
The good thing is that this boy came forward, that he mother reported it and that the police took it seriously, although they were skeptical enough to have the boy wear a wire to confirm the abuse.
