This is the kind of nasty we can expect from the GOP now.

[rasputin1952]

39. That was not in the story...

However, it makes it even worse.

You are certainly correct that at 14 she was indeed a child.
No one should ever be abused, in particular a child, it is one of the Red Lines that I feel cannot be crossed.

I don't know much about "morality" as that is a religious aspect, and I am an atheist. What I do know is right from wrong, and I learned it the hard way. This idiot was not even in school yet when I was in an ill-conceived war, consigned to taking the lives of others, while protecting those around me. For some abstract reason, some people feel no repercussions for their actions, I am not one of them. I came back, became a Medic, and went back to save lives, both American and Vietnamese. Every day, I live with everything I've ever done, this has brought me to a state where compassion and empathy often overrule my sense of self-preservation.

I obviously do not know you, but as I type this, I can almost feel the terror you and Victoria went through, but I can truly never know. Over the years, I have stopped two sexual abusers because of the cries I heard. I'm no one special, and certainly no hero, but the two perpetrators were in bad shape when the police arrived (Red Lines). That was quite a few years ago, with a few years interspersed between the incidents. I am truly sorry that you or any girl or woman goes through this, and you are brave to have posted what you have. I only wish that I, or someone like me, were close enough to intervene.

When Victoria took her own life, she was a woman, traumatized, and bereft.

My heart goes out to you, and I hope the individual paid dearly. I am a man of principles, and have learned that what I have done in the past cannot be undone. I can't bring the dead back to life, nor can I repair their families. What I can do is teach and protect those who would be devoured by their thoughts, or the rabid wolves that prey on others.

Empathy is a somewhat cheap word, but the emotion is real.

Stay safe and strong.