Like every little girl and boy I was taught to be wary of stranger’s invitations – don’t speak to strangers.

Strangers we were warned, are scary people who drive around in cars and offer you a ride home. They entice you with candy and puppies and linger around playgrounds and ice cream trucks.

We learned which strangers are dangerous.

Bad strangers are sinister men who lurk in dark movie theatres not wealthy men who live in opulent mansions and own private jets.

Menacing strangers are unsavory men who live in the shadows of society,  not well-connected men who cavort with former presidents and princes.

Unsafe strangers are never ever friendly women.

Like the woman who waited outside a high school offering to help a 14 year old  girl. A friendly woman who promised to  introduce the girl to a friendly man. A stranger yes but one who is kind and wealthy and would help her with her dream of becoming a broadway acrtress. He did not sound like a scary stranger.

Except this strangers name was Jeffrey Epstein.

He did not lurk in movie theatres or pull up in a car. He didn’t offer candy but he offered cash. He used employees and assistants to lure underage girls for sex at his NY townhouse and Fl mansion.

One thing is clear about this stanger.

He was danger.

He preyed on children not adolescent women. That description is an oxymoron worthy of  a moron. There is no such thing.

Thoughts and Prey

He preyed on children who were already vulnerable. He preyed on children without a good support system.

He preyed on girls from disadvantaged families and from  single parent homes . He preyed on children in the foster care system.

He preyed on girls that had experienced traumas and preyed  upon children already being abused.

I could easily have been one of those teenage girls. As a victim of childhood sexual abuse I would have been easy prey for Jeffrey Epstein. I too had been  taught to believe like these girls that my body was not my own. Like them, I felt had  no voice. Exactly Jeffrey Epsteins type. The type this stranger preyed on.

Today I pray for the women these girls have become and I pray that justice is served.