Matt Sandusky's Oprah interview is a seminar in child sexual abuse, Italian court acquits Berlusconi in sex case

Matt Sandusky's Oprah interview is a seminar in child sexual abuse that's difficult to watch -- but we all should
By David Jones July 18, 2014

It is hard to watch. But just think of how much harder it was to experience.

Matt Sandusky's interview with Oprah Winfrey, aired last night, is wrenching and disturbing and visceral in the worst ways. It is not particularly graphic. It is just difficult to view a victim of child abuse try to put words to such horrific acts.

So, why would anyone want to watch this? That's a good question. I avoided it for most of the day, even knowing that it had made news. I just didn't want to put myself through it. It was easier not to.

And that's why I think it might help if everyone watched it....

Because it puts a very specific description to what child sexual abuse is, how it is germinated, how victims are groomed and what the effects are. Knowing can prevent it. Just looking at Matt Sandusky's face as he struggles to find the terms to articulate his memories and emotions during various stages of his childhood with a pedophile as his adopted father is enough to bring those effects home. In that way, it's similar to Jeremy Schapp's interview with MLB pitcher R.A. Dickey who was similarly abused as a kid.

Part of the reason these sick people so often get away with what they do is that their acts are so repugnant that it's our natural inclination to turn away. We just don't want to know that such a thing is possible....

The best part about what Matt Sandusky does is the way he keeps himself together – though it's clear how difficult that is – and explains in simple and clear detail without being lurid exactly how the progression of grooming was made.... 
http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/07/matt_sanduskys_oprah_interview.html


Italian court acquits Berlusconi in sex case
Associated Press By COLLEEN BARRY July 18, 2014

MILAN (AP) — An Italian appeals court on Friday acquitted former Premier Silvio Berlusconi in a sex-for-hire case, reversing a lower court conviction that had carried a seven-year prison sentence and a lifetime ban on holding political office.

The case has grabbed global attention, offering an unseemly peek into the 77-year-old three-time premier's private life with witness testimony revealing raunchy, sex-fueled bunga-bunga parties at his private villa attended by a bevy of aspiring showgirls.

The prosecution alleged that Berlusconi had paid for sex with underage Moroccan prostitute Karima el-Mahroug, better known as Ruby, and then used his influence to cover it up.

He denied the charges, saying the case was politically motivated by magistrates trying to drive him from power. Both he and el-Mahroug, who was 17 when she frequented the then-premier's villa, denied ever having had sex....

Berlusconi's defense lawyer, Franco Coppi, said the decision "goes beyond the rosiest predictions," adding that he would have been satisfied with an acquittal for lack of evidence. But the court went further, saying that no crimes had been committed....

Berlusconi also is on trial in Naples accused of political corruption, and under investigation in Milan accused of witness-tampering in the sex-for-hire trial and in another related case involving three aides who were convicted of procuring prostitutes for his parties....
http://news.yahoo.com/italian-court-acquits-berlusconi-sex-case-111848165.html