The Possible Price Of Doing Right

By now many people have heard the story---especially you fellow People readers---about Teri Hatcher's brave admission and honorable deed. I read it first in our newspapers here since the event it was linked to took place approximately ten minutes from where I live.

Several years ago, a young teenage girl took her own life, leaving a note implying that a neighbor man---a trusted family friend---would know why she felt that ending her life was the only answer to her situation, her pain. Revelations of molestation quickly followed but there was nothing really to prove it and soon the man was going to walk. Until Teri Hatcher (of Desperate Housewives fame) courageously stepped forward and contacted our local police. She revealed that when she was young, this same man---who had once been married to her aunt---had also molested her. Her statement, her willingness to be a witness, caused the man in question to plead guilty, and he's now behind bars where he belongs. Disgustingly, however, he "has shown a remarkable lack of remorse."

One thing that struck me about this story was the fact that Ms. Hatcher had to pause and consider how much damage such a step would do to her career. Would stories circulate that she'd stepped forward to boost her at-the-time flagging career? Would there be suspicion of an ulterior motive? I'm glad that despite those possibilities---the possible negative impact to her livelihood---she made the right decision. They say without her testimony they wouldn't have had enough to convict.

It's too bad that anyone has to consider whether doing the right thing will be a bad move. It's too bad that Hollywood is so shallow that it's a real possibility to be an outcast because you revealed something ugly from your past---something that you had no power or control over. Something that someone else did. Something that you conquered and rose above and became strong despite its happening.

Hopefully more people will have the courage to do what might be hard if it means saving a child, saving anyone. Hopefully we as a society can judge less harshly the stain of rape and molestation and similar abuses and remember that the victim is a victim. Hopefully coming forward to help can be a badge of honor and not a cause for dismissal.