Today is April 30, 2007 at 3:48 A.M. and I just picked up the Times and see a subject close to my heart on the front page.

Just yesterday I was talking with my sister about the abuse that was swept under the rug at Turley Children's Home (now known as Hope Harbor at Claremore, Oklahoma) near Tulsa, Oklahoma, back in the 60's where we lived after the death of our father.

There was much physical, emotional and sexual abuse that went on at that church run orphanage and it seldom was reported because instinctively we knew that we would be the ones punished rather than the abuser.

Within my own cottage, then known as Blue Haven, I witnessed sexual touching of the younger children and I took it within my own hands to go to our social worker. All that happened was the superintendent came to our cottage one Saturday morning and talked to us girls and the housemother (not housefather) and the only change that was to be made was that he told our housemother not to leave us alone with our housefather. I was smart enough to stay away from him because I had been warned not to go near him but some of the younger children were not so smart. On one occasion he even got his glasses broken when he came onto my sister in the laundry room but he was smart enough to keep his broken glasses to himself.

And on another occasion one of the young girls came up to me after church and asked me to go into the bathroom to look at something so I did. I was in shock when she uncovered massive bruises on her backside so I told her "tomorrow I will take you to the school nurse" and that is what I did. (The housemother I was reporting was not my own that was also abusive but one in another cottage.)

I knew I had broken the law when I reported the abuse but the nurse assured me she wouldn't tell that I was the one who reported the abuse, however she would have to investigate so she came to the home that day before we came home from school. The superintendent was waiting for us where the bus let the children off each day. Naively I walked up to him and told him that I was the one who had reported Teresa's abuse. Why I was so brave I do not know but I did and he told me my housemother would deal with me and deal with me she did.

She didn't dare lay a hand on me. She lectured me for hours and told me how she had even beaten her own daughter one time with a garden hose and that her child had to be put to bed because she was so badly beaten.

My punishment for reporting the abuse was that I was not to wash my hair, take a bath and I had to wear the same unwashed clothes for the next six weeks. I also was grounded and could attend no after school functions.

However the funny part about this punishment was that on Sunday morning my housemother suddenly remembered that was the day that our cottage was used as a show case where church members could visit and give donations to support our "worthy cause" so immediately she knew that she had to get my hair washed, rolled and me under the dryer before the day of blow dryer hair styles! Well I think even she knew that was hypocritical so my grounding was off. However it took a year before the abusive housemother that I reported was finally fired.

On another occasion a young girl rode home with a minister from another church and he attempted to rape her but she resisted and told no one until I got back home from a vacation at my cousin's house.

The following Wednesday night this minister visited our church. (I think to find out what reaction he would get.) She was sitting by me in church and ran out crying when she saw him come into church.

She was questioned by the personnel from the home as well as church members. He was questioned too and nothing was done!

The young girl finally ended up in a mental hospital after attempting to poison our sexually abusive housefather. She stayed there eight months and wouldn't talk. Finally one day the doctors put her under truth serum and she told it like it was and what had happened to her at the home and they believed her and let her go back home to her mother in Texas.

It took me almost forty years to find this young girl, a kid sister to me. She is in Hawaii and doing fine but she wants her story told so badly because justice still needs to be served and there are a few people alive who can be served with warrants because there are no time lines when it comes to reporting sexual abuse. Somehow her life turned out OK anyway. She is an artist and is just one more piece to the story I have to share.

The minister who tried to rape her remembers me because when I called nine years ago to find out about the home reunion he was the one who answered the phone because he was on the board of directors at that time. He asked me if I remembered him and I responded "yes" and left it at that. He resigned from he board just two weeks before the reunion but those in charge of the reunion wouldn't allow any of the grown up orphans to talk and I believe it was because they were fearful of what we might let spill out of the bag which had been swept under the rug back during the Donna Reed days when people could be convinced that things were as appeared to be!

Most often abuse doesn't get reported because the child gets into trouble rather than the adult! Now the orphanage homeschools the children which is just one more way of sweeping dirt under the rug because the children have less opportunity to report abuse, however, it still occurs. One reporter recently located a rape case that occurred at the home that has moved to Claremore, but fortunately the little girl was able to get it reported and the man is in prison today. (That story can still be found in the Claremore Progress archives but I wonder how many other cases are still hiding to protect not only the child but the offender.)

Even while living at the orphanage I was on a mission to report the abuse as much as I could then and after I was grown. If we as adults don't protect children who will?