Washington Post...

I am a pretty lucky guy.

Dude, your family was crushed by a fucker with a badge who betrayed everyone. Kind of a screwed up notion of being lucky.

OK, I will not argue that. Maybe lucky is a little strong. But soon after the final hearing, something happened that allowed us an opportunity to look at what happened differently. Alex Prout, of I Have The Right To introduced me to Jen Abelson of The Washington Post who was working with Jessica Contrera on a series of articles about police officers that used their power to sexually assault children. They said that our case was on their radar and they were hoping to speak to us about what happened. At the time, I had begun to explore the idea of working on the laws in PA but hadn't made any commitments at that point. But when I shared that idea, they were especially interested in learning more.

My youngest and I spent the next nine months talking with Jessica about what happened and what we were doing. For G, it allowed her to tell her side of the story that was missing from the local media articles. For me, it was an opportunity to talk about HB1847 and put some pressure on lawmakers to do their jobs. For both of us, it meant a little bit of healing from the hurt over the past couple years and being able to walk a little taller. Somebody was listening to us.

On June 12, 2024, the article dropped and the buildup was over. For nine months, we had been getting ready for this moment and it was a bit anxiety inducing. Jessica warned me that I should expect quite a bit of media attention and G should consider putting all of her social media on private until things cool off in a couple of weeks. The morning the article was released, we held our breathe and got ready for the onslaught.

<crickets>

And then nothing.

I have to admit we were both a bit surprised by the article. You can read it here. G was under the impression that it would include quite a bit more details about her case and I was under the impression that the article would focus more on the bill. Don't get me wrong; the article was incredible, the work Jessica put in was astounding. But it didn't quite match what we were expecting after nine months of interviews. I sent the link to friends and family and several came back and said they couldn't find our part. A bit disheartening.

There was no flood of media inquiries. No phone calls. No jump in LinkedIn requests. Nothing. Rep Joe D'Orsie who introduced the bill was watching for the article since Jessica reached out to him for comment, which also was not in the article, asked what I thought of it.

It was good...I guess.

A couple days after the article dropped, Jessica called me and asked me how I was doing. I shared some of my disappointment and she said she totally understood. But then she read to me an email from a reader. Essentially, the reader shared that she had been sexually assaulted by a cop 30 years ago and she carried that shame throughout her life. The article inspired her to not hold on to the hurt and shame and to leave it in the past.

It occurred to me that while everyone involved in the article may have had their own motivations for being part of it, the end result was someone feeling like they were not alone. Someone felt like they mattered.

It's easy to focus on the shit. Cleaning up the mess that that asshole put my family through will take a long time. That kind of betrayal is pretty hard to come back from. But I have the ability to make that choice. Not saying it's an easy one, but it is mine to make.

So I have to remind myself, someone read about one of those brave kids that shared their story with Jen and Jessica and realized that someone understands how they feel. Some dad might have read our story and just might cut himself some slack for feeling like he let his kid down. Maybe I helped him feel less shitty about himself.

Few people get to appear in The Washington Post. And even fewer get to use that experience to be part of something that makes someone feel like they matter. To feel like they are not alone.

And for that reason, I am a pretty lucky guy.