Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Heart of darkness

It's always a surprise when the dark side of the human soul appears in your backyard.

At first blush, the story of a teenager who ran into a gym seeking shelter seemed a prank. But it became soon apparent that it was a true case of depravity, a story of a boy escaping slavery and untold abuse that grabs national headlines because of its utter atrocity.

The story is always the same: a "normal" family in a quiet subdivision, neighbors who didn't suspect a thing, and an unlikely escape. The upshot is also the same: a young person's life ruined.

We're not unfamiliar with the plot — and that's the truly scary thing. We've heard it before. But it doesn't get any easier with repeated listenings. It gets more and more difficult to fathom.

Let's hope our two (or, police say, three) Tracy abusers are punished to the full extent of the law if found guilty.

Let's also remember that such evil is not everywhere, but it can surface anywhere. This is not an indictment of Tracy as a town or a place to live. This is a crime perpetrated by individuals. And, if guilty, they should be held responsible for what they've done.

1 comment:

Dr. Mike McLellan said...

Jon:
I live just down the street from the house and never thought about what could be going on inside. I pass it two, three, maybe four times a day. It brings to mind how little I know about my neighbors or even about those people we all hold in high regard. We are all strangers in today's world. Just driving by, we do not know the joys or pain that lie behind those doors.