a university of ky athletic trainer was arrested on tuesday for sending naked photos of himself to an underage girl at a school he worked at. you can read about it at:

http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/133586.html

i found out today that the girl is the daughter of a friend of mine.

apparently, he has been tormenting this girl for 3 years. it started when she started high school at 14 years of age. she used to be an equipment assistant at her school, and quit because of this man. we thought she quit for other reasons.

she didn't tell her mom because she was afraid her mom would freak out (which, of course, she did anyway). she didn't tell her dad or older brother because she was afraid they'd end up in trouble for trying to kill this guy. (which, of course, they haven't, thank the gods above).

if i'm stating the obvious, forgive me. but what is very obvious to grown ups may not be so for young children or teenagers. my point is this: tell your kids that yes, you will probably freak out in a situation like this, but that you'll get over it. tell them that when people do things like this, they deserve to be punished, and that it might prevent other kids from going thru the same hell. tell them that they DESERVE to be treated well by everyone they meet, and that this type of behavior will not be tolerated. and tell them that no matter what they do - no matter how irresponsibly they act - no matter how much trouble they think they'll be in - there is NOTHING they can do that will make you stop loving them. it's ok to be mad at each other, but that you'll forgive them and love them and will still want to protect them and stand behind them.

repeat, repeat, repeat. whatever it takes to protect these kids.

i've had the talk with my daughter. i hope it's helped.

i know my friend and her husband and i know they've had talks with the daughter. they have a wonderful relationship. i cannot imagine why this child would have held this in for 3 years.

as far as anyone can tell, the girl never had sex with this man, and we don't think he ever touched her past a touch on the arm or an unwelcome advance. but even that's too much. he did trap her in rooms at the school and try to persude her to have sex. he did take photos of himself at the school in the nude standing under the school banner. in the last 2 weeks he emailed her 30 nude photos of himself. her boyfriend happened to be at her house when the last email came and he convinced her to tell her parents.

how in the hell does this stuff happen??? how did the guy manage to get nude in the school and take photos of himself??? WHAT IS WRONG WITH SOME PEOPLE???

i just don't understand. how can people be so sicko???