Editorial: For once a victory

Oh, those ruined children over there, those damaged teens, that suicidal newlywed — those are state problems, not local ones. When you explain it that way ... No, really, thanks for clearing that up.

The candidate was speaking from a position of cynical political expediency, of course — who wants to get dragged into a conversation about that with a reporter mere days before an election — and not ignorance, but the end result is much the same.

The truth is, most of the denial that is still so widespread about this subject, the damage wreaked on children by vicious adult abusers, is no longer the result of ignorance but of political expediency. Whether the denier is a school official, a community leader or a politician, sexual abuse is a very inconvenient subject.

That’s why the conviction of Baruch Mordechai Lebovits this week is so heartening. It’s the first win in a long time for the victims and the advocates who speak for them — many of whom were victims themselves.

Lebovits was convicted of eight of the ten charges brought against him and several more cases are pending. Michael Orbach reports in our page 1 story, Lebovits went directly to jail — bail was denied — and at least one monster who preyed or dozens, if not hundreds of children, from behind a guise of rectitude and respectability, has been removed from circulation, hopefully for good.

Just as infuriating as the faux denial so often encountered is the common tactic used to discredit victims.

Lebovits’ attorney attempted to paint the victim in the case as an extortionist who concocted the allegations against the well-to-do Lebovits for the purpose of squeezing money from him.

So often, it’s all too easy to make that type of argument. So many victims of sexual abuse do tragically leave their families and faith behind and turn to a life of drugs, petty crime and degeneracy. Obviously, such situations, or worse, develop because of the abuse. To pretend that the victims are not to be believed because of the lives they now lead is beyond cruel, callous and calculating. It’s purely evil.

It’s nice that at least one such evildoer is no longer free to find new victims.