For a long time, there was this misguided belief that associating with Christians gave a reassured implicit message of safety, serenity, and high moral ground. Not so much anymore, where a game of word association starting with “priest” goes almost immediately to “pedophile,” where televangelists rack in millions in the name of God while their constituents barely scrape by.
I’m not a religion-basher like Pamela Geller—and I do consider myself a Christian—but I think the fact that so many people buy into the supposed safety offered by the mere mention of “We’re a Christian organization” and learn, to their grief, that this really means very little since people are people is an issue worthy of discussion.
Bottom line? An autistic teenager working at a Christian camp allegedly tried to engage in sexual acts with a third-grader.
Prosecutors said a worker at a New Hampshire Christian camp tried to lure an 8-year-old girl into a secluded area and sexually assault her.
Stephen Tecce, 19, of New Jersey, was indicted on a charge of attempted sexual assault. Police said he was working at Camp Spofford, a Christian family camp in western New Hampshire, when the assault took place.
“He is alleged to have lured an 8-year-old girl to a secluded place and attempted to solicit sex from her,” said Assistant Cheshire County Attorney Keith Clouatre.
There are two sides to every story, and it’s important to keep this in the back of your mind when contemplating this one. On one end is an eight-year-old child, and on the other is a nineteen-year-old with Asperger’s Syndrome (a form of autism). There are no winners here, and I just wanted to make myself very clear there.
And the details are pretty creepy, actually.
According to court paperwork, Tecce was working as a maintenance staff member at the camp in July. In the paperwork, police said he took the girl on a walk and told her he wanted to have sex with her. When she said no, he allegedly told her he wanted “to play a game of ‘tie up,’” according to the paperwork.
Police said Tecce then “attempted to place tape with something on it” over the girl’s mouth.
Clouatre said the girl was able to scream and run to her family for help.
This one really breaks me up, not gonna lie.
I have worked with autistic children through my role as a secondary school English teacher for nearly ten years now, and Asperger’s kiddos are among the most misunderstood (and interesting) human beings in the world—check out Jodi Picoult’s House Rules or Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time for some really interesting (and surprisingly realistic) literary takes on this condition.
As a mother, however, I don’t care what sort of extenuating circumstances the offending party had going on—if someone hurts my kids, I go into hard core Mama Grizzly mode (and I’m not talking Sarah Palin here, I’m talking nature).
Prosecutors are arguing that Tecce is likely to do something like this again, making him a threat to society, and I have to say that there’s unquestionably some truth to that.
So what’s Tecce’s camp saying?
Tecce’s lawyer said that his client denies the allegations. He said Tecce and his family have attended Camp Spofford for 14 years and never had a problem.
Which brings me back to my basic point. Why is Tecce’s decade-long attendance at a Christian camp supposed to be some sort of proof that he is “okay”? Just because you say that you walk with Jesus Christ doesn’t mean that you follow the basic tenets of his teaching—and there are millions of very specific examples of that.
I know a little girl who was allegedly molested by her mother’s boyfriend. Her allegations were very specific, her statements compelling enough for the court system to remove her from her mother’s custody. And to this day, this child’s mother does not believe that her boyfriend did it.
In almost every case, young children are not sophisticated enough to lie effectively over a sustained period about something so serious. Professionals are trained to check every facet of their story since charges of sexual offenses are so serious, so my personal take is that Tecce’s lawyer is full of shit, that his client probably did what he was accused of doing or prosecutors would not be pursuing the case.
The Asperger’s excuse does make it a bit more problematic, although it really pisses me off the way that this is being used. If your child has a condition that makes social interactions difficult and awkward, it is your responsibility to make sure that he or she is supervised, particularly around young children. You can’t have it both ways.
This is a very sad story all around (and, even more sadly, not unique).
Aspies aren’t completely inept. I know a couple, and they don’t seem to have a problem picking age-appropriate dates. It’s detrimental to Aspies to even throw out a suggestion that the Autism is to blame. A child molester is a child molester…Asperger’s doesn’t flip a switch and make 8 year olds attractive.
Well said.
Having Autism doesn’t make one unable to tell the difference between right and wrong. The kid knew what he was doing was wrong. The fact that he had attended the camp for so long means nothing; I’ve heard lots of stories about bible camp, and some involve losing virginity. Bible camp isn’t a wellspring of wholesomeness.
In the 7th grade,Ricky Swenson showed our entire cabin how to masturbate,using a bratwurst as a teachers aid! I think about him every time I grill one!
Wow… There are so many issues at hand here.
First of all, Autism covers such a wide spectrum. Just how autistic is the boy? If his autism is mild, then it shouldn’t even factor into the situation. Mild autism can effect a persons ability to pic up on social cues, but it wouldn’t stop a boy that age from knowing that what he was doing is wrong. If the boy’s autism is more severe (and it sounds like it isn’t) then the blame belongs on the parents, who should have been providing 24/7 supervision.
Secondly, I have known so many people who have attempted to use religion to hide what they really are. Not only do churches provide a wonderful disguise, they also provide access to victims. When I was 15 I was sexually assaulted by an older friend who was 22 at the time. When I came forward about what he had done he was violent and even stalked me at school. Ten years later, I still worry, so I keep tabs on him through internet searches. Recently I discovered that he is the Youth Pastor at a church working with kids who are the same age I was when he assaulted me. He wasn’t a Christian when I knew him and I wonder if he joined the church just to get access.
@ McKenzie – the teen has Asperger’s, or what has been regarded as a more mild type of Autism. They have trouble functioning socially, but sexual deviancy is not a symptom. They know right from wrong.
My guess? The boy was sexually abused himself at a young age.
Within the next few years the term aspergers is going to be eliminated in medical texts and everything is going to be categorized as autism, either mild, moderate, or severe. Anyway, even if the boy did have a mild form of autism, there is a wide spectrum of functioning. At the very mild end, some kids just have a few sensory integration issues and a touch of social awkwardness. At the upper end of “mild autism”, kids are verbal but have significant issues with socialization and understanding social cues. There are some children with mild autism or aspergers who have trouble being told no or have difficult predicting the outcome of their actions. They can also have difficulty empathizing with others or estimating how their own behavior will impact others. Those sort of symptoms are a recipe for sexual assault if proper supervision and education isn’t provided.
@Jillian What makes YOU the expert of if they know the difference between right and wrong? I’ve had officers tell me that “if your kid is taking medication then they know the difference between right and wrong”… you’re all filled with ignorance!
Uh, what? Hey, instead of making blanket accusations, how about you say something substantial! Too hard? I thought so.
Acting up and being sexually attracted to an 8 year old are two totally different things.
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i’m not sure if the father of this teen was trying to use asberger’s as an excuse for malignant behaviour. i would actually think the opposite, since the defense was pleading “not guilty.” it just says at the bottom of the article that the accused boy’s father told the paper that his son has asberger’s.
and in terms of the “christian camp being an excuse” angle, it certainly doesn’t prove anything… but i don’t think it was meant to prove anything. i think this kid’s lawyer was just trying to imply that stephen is a functioning human being with no history of violence, despite having been repeatedly in similar situations to this one since he was five years old.
l think ur so full of it l don’t see where dna was used of dusting for fingerprints on the tape prove me but justice was not right
I grew up battling autism. aAs a result, I endured much misunderstanding. I therefore find it deeply offensive that you make an association between the henious crime commited and the mental condition of the culpret. Such biased reporting only serves to feed public prejudice against people who are “a bit different”. The ignorance displayed my “McKenzie” is exremely disturbing. At the height of my autism, which was very severe, I would never have commited such gross acts supervised or not. Would you like to explain to me man to man why you make such ridiculous comments. Also I am a Christian. I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour when I was 18yo. His spirit within me has changed me from the inside out and also given me a measure of healing. The culpret mentioned here is not a true Christian. He obviously does have the Spirit of God within him. Working or volounteering for a Christian organization does not make a person a Christian. We must all answer to God one day. Autistic, non-autistic alike. Thankfully it will be God on the throne judging me and not McKenzie. God’s judgement is completely fair.
I came down very hard on McKenzie in my last post. And rightfully so. His/her comments were reprehensible. I was however extremely dissappointed to learn that McKenzies blog was banned from this site. I defend the right of every person to free speech. Mckenzie should have the right to air his/her prejudiced views. Free speech must extend to all people. By the way, I echo Jillians comments. A very level headed comment indeed.
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