RAUL MAGALLANEZ is a parent’s worst nightmare, but he is all too real.
Magallanez, who was convicted Tuesday of nearly 50 sex-related crimes against young girls, is a sexual predator. But he is not the criminal stranger children are warned against. Neither is he the twisted family friend or relative that wise parents and teachers must take into account when they warn children about inappropriate touching.
Magallanez raped not by force but by seduction. He convinced his victims that he, more then anyone in the world, cared about them — even as he gave them drugs and alcohol to cloud their judgment and make controlling them easier.
He had accomplices — people who helped him get together with the girls and covered for him. But his most useful accomplice was the message purveyed by popular culture that equates romance with lust and love with sex, telling young girls that their worth as human beings is in direct proportion to their sexual attractiveness to men.
Parents of girls know how demeaning and dangerous that message is. Parents of boys should be worried by it, too. Just as those movies, television shows and advertisements help form the expectations that girls have of themselves, they also provide models for male behavior that is both dangerous and destructive.
Magallanez turned those expectations against the girls he targeted, promising love, approval and validation of their status as desirable women. But he gave them nothing and took everything, making the girls unwitting accomplices in their own victimization.
How can girls be protected against rapists who masquerade as lovers? The parents of the girls in the Magallanez case told heartbreaking stories of their attempts to protect their daughters from the rapist only to find their daughters withdrawing from them and lying to keep from losing their “lover.”
In the end, it took a criminal trial to protect the girls.
A Lyon County jury had no problem seeing Magallanez for what he is — a particularly nasty form of sexual predator. The rapist will be sentenced soon and is likely to spend many years in prison.
He will be gone, but the questions raised by the case could — and should — continue to occupy the whole community.
Patrick S. Kelley
Editorial Page Editor
hjcary (anonymous) says...
Well written. It is so scary. We live in a very nice neighborhood full of mostly older retired couples and we are raising our 4 small children. I noticed online a few weeks ago we have a person living just one street over from us that is on the CBI website with a sexual felony conviction. They do not say what was done all they give is a discription, name and age. I wish I knew what he has done. It is a scary world to raise our children in these days.
September 6, 2007 at 2:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Weltha (anonymous) says...
Very well written. I have a young daughter and fight myself every day to not just lock her up some where until she is 50+ years old. I talk to her regularly about this type of topic. Something similar but not as bad happened to me when I was that age. I can testify to fact it stays with you for your entire life. If there is any one reading this young or old don't hold it in. Talk to some if anyone crosses the line in any sexual situation. Sorry for preaching.
hjcary- If this person has been to prison in Kansas you will find them on the KASPER web sight and it tells you what, when, where etc... Hope this helps.
September 6, 2007 at 2:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
KristieR (anonymous) says...
Definatly important to realize that rape is not always by force. That is why so many young girls (and boys) don't always realize they are being victimized. We need to teach our children self-esteem so they don't turn to predators to validate their worth.
It's not always just adults that do this. A teenaged boy can also talk his teenaged gf into sex too soon with "but, I love you, don't you love me too?" type coercion.
September 6, 2007 at 2:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Weltha (anonymous) says...
Amen!!!! KristieR You hit the preverbial nail on the head.
September 6, 2007 at 2:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Well said, Mr. Kelley, and you were painfully correct when you said, "But he gave them nothing and took everything, making the girls unwitting accomplices in their own victimization." That very sentence should be the topic of conversation in every home with children old enough to understand the issues.
Perfect title to your piece too. Demon Lover is right. I feel so sorry for the parents who tried desperately to prevent their daughters from making fatal choices that will haunt them forever.
And thanks, TEG, for keeping the link to Sexual Predators in your paper. Some addresses need to be updated by Lyon County. Those should be updated constantly.
September 6, 2007 at 3:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )