It was good to hear 'evil' being used to describe George case
But parents have been left in anguish by the abuser's refusal to identify her victims, writes Patricia Redlich
Sunday October 04 2009
UP TO 30 infants were sexually assaulted in Little Ted's Day Nursery in Plymouth, England, but no parent knows if their baby was among the victims or not. Vanessa George, who minded their kids, won't say. The pornographic photos she sent to her partners in crime, Colin Blanchard and Angela Allen, were often taken during nappy changes. So parents are left in anguish, wondering.
It was good to hear the British police force use the word "evil" in connection with the case. It's a word no longer used by secular society, which shies away from its religious connotations. Even strong believers shun it. In our touchy-feely world it sounds too harsh, too uncompromising, too fundamentalist. Instead we think solely in terms of people being misguided, requiring understanding, in need of counselling. And we entirely miss the point.
Human beings have the capacity to be good, or evil. To be good, however, careful nurturing of conscience, training in frustration tolerance, schooling in empathy for others, and imposed practice of self-restraint are all required in childhood. And to keep us on track, society has to impose and maintain standards. Goodness is a function of civil society in action. We need to be policed. Else evil prevails. And evil is not for turning. Therapy won't hack it. Nor, of course, will custodial sentences, however long. Yes, there is redemption. But that's of a different dimension, a discussion for another time.
It is significant that the three offenders met, and carried out their crimes, on the internet, never actually meeting until they appeared in court together. Not that they met "by chance" as Vanessa George claimed. They unquestionably sought each other out, prowling until they found like-minded individuals, happy to share in Vanessa's evil deeds. Of course, paedophile rings are formed without the aid of cyberspace. So are crime gangs of every hue and persuasion. The internet just makes it easy. And not merely in finding others.
Human beings are anchored in the detail of their daily lives. In the privacy of computer chatter, however, social constraints are weakened. Vanessa George, for example, is married and the mother of two teenage daughters. It is possible that their presence could have subtly, but powerfully, curbed her enthusiasm if she had been sitting in her living room with Colin Blanchard, who had spent five years on the sex offenders' register for possession of indecent images of children, and Angela Allen, an ex-prostitute described as "truly sinister" by police, while planning her next depraved move. Cyberspace facilitates fantasies which might otherwise be held in check.
Hardest of all is the insight forced on parents by the awful revelations of Vanessa George's crimes. She was a fully trained nursery worker, 39 years old and experienced, who had passed the routine criminal records check required by anyone working with children. She simply took advantage of the fact that, under these circumstances, she was allowed to be alone with the babies. It is not, therefore, possible for parents to feel certain that their babies are safe.
Older children, even mere toddlers, can give us some clue if something is going wrong. But babies?
Originally published in
