An Andrew Vachss Kind of Day

An Andrew Vachss Kind of Day
AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal
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Andrew Vachss is needed this week. There are a couple, no three, no make that four or five news stories this week that singe the soul. I won’t go into too much detail, because I do not want to singe anyone’s soul second hand. I want to encourage and strengthen.

A mother laughed as she beat her toddler to death. Another mother threw her 6-year-old off a bridge. The Archdiocese of Chicago released thousands more files about priests who abused children, because the retiring cardinal wants to get that job finished before he retires. In Alabama, a ring of child abuse was revealed after a victim vanished.

Rescued

A man kidnapped a woman off the street in Philadelphia, who fought him and was rescued by police Wednesday. He had previously kidnapped a woman, doused her with gasoline, and asked her how she wanted to die, according to police who arrested him. Thank you, police. His previous victim had escaped to tell the story.

According to police, the man, Delven Barnes, was being held Wednesday night on an unrelated Virginia warrant alleging attempted capital murder, assault and malicious injury with acid, explosives or fire, and he would face federal charges in the Philadelphia abduction, authorities said. 

This is one dangerous world. 

Some people come close to not being human. 

That is why I love Andrew Vachss.

Attorney and author Andrew Vachss, photographed in New York July 12, 1996, wages a daily war in his battle against child abuse. As an attorney, Vachss represents children exclusively, and as a writer of fiction he brings his case before an even larger audience. The eyepatch is a legacy of a childhood injury. (AP Photo Mark Lennihan)
Attorney and author Andrew Vachss, photographed in New York July 12, 1996, wages a daily war in his battle against child abuse. As an attorney, Vachss represents children exclusively, and as a writer of fiction he brings his case before an even larger audience. The eyepatch is a legacy of a childhood injury. AP Photo Mark Lennihan
Mary Silver
Mary Silver
Author
Mary Silver writes columns, grows herbs, hikes, and admires the sky. She likes critters, and thinks the best part of being a journalist is learning new stuff all the time. She has a Masters from Emory University, serves on the board of the Georgia chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and belongs to the Association of Health Care Journalists.