with one hand, pointed the other at Marvin and cried, “Take me back. Take me back right now.” This 8 year old turned his back on a dream he had held since he could remember. He rejected the dream of a place of his own, and demanded that Marvin take him back to the foster home. His screaming was so loud that Marvin had no choice.
On the trip back, Marvin had to figure out an excuse for bringing the boy back in the early morning. He decided on the story that Eddie’s hyperactivity had gone out of control and he was unable to control the child. Then Marvin turned his full attention on the little boy crying in the back seat of the car. He couldn’t kill him, although that was within his limitations. People knew where the boy was and who he was with. He’d never get away with that. Marvin decided that he had to frighten Eddie so badly that the child would be afraid to tell.
During the entire length of the ride back to the foster home, he spat hurtful and scarring things to Eddie. He was relentless and cruel wanting to inflict these images onto Eddie’s psyche and his heart. This monster was far more frightening and cruel than any of the monsters that resided in Eddies worst nightmares, as Marvin unleashed all his verbal ammunition in his arsenal on this 8 year old little boy. He told Eddie that no one would believe him. He said he would tell the people at the foster home that Eddie was a liar, and that no one would like him anymore. Marvin told this little boy that once the word got out about his lying, no one would want him. “You’ll never be adopted,” he said. “You will live, unwanted, in a foster home forever.”
When Marvin dropped Eddie off at the foster home he gave his explanation of being unable to control the boy’s hyperactivity, and drove away. And Eddie told. This little 8 year old depicting a mountain of courage, described Marvin’s attempt at molestation, and the staff believed him. As protocol required, they reported the incident to Child Protective Services. They in turn reported it to the police. After interviewing Eddie and investigating the circumstances, the police filed child molestation charges against Marvin. Somehow, Marvin got away unscathed.
Chapter Seventeen — JOSEPH
Sometime after Marvin and I were divorced, I married again, this time to a man with three young sons, ages 8, 10, and 12. The boys lived with their biological mother, but spent weekends, some holidays, and summer vacations with their father and with me. Motherhood is always hard. Instant step-mothering must be one of the most difficult jobs there is. Three months after my marriage, I received a call from Marvin telling me he had adopted a child, a 10 year old boy named Joseph. I hadn’t heard of this before, and was shocked. I knew of the charges in Penny’s case, but also knew the charges had been dropped. The authorities had approved Ben’s adoption, and nothing unusual had surfaced yet. There was nothing yet that a rational mind could capture, no concrete evidence of Marvin’s pedophilia. But my emotional self was beginning to over-ride my rational being. It wanted me to look beneath the surface and find what might be there.
I hesitate to tell you what happened next, but I received a message in my mind from somewhere outside my intuition. It was telepathic. It said, “Things are not what they appear to be.” That was all. “Things are not what they appear to be.” I was flooded with an overwhelming sense that I needed to be vigilant, that Joseph was in danger. The experience took my breath away.
I wanted nothing more to do with Marvin. I wanted to push him as far away from me as I could. Instead, I had just been “requested” to do the opposite. I felt I had to do what I could to protect Joseph; that I had to encourage his presence in my life. That persistent voice from somewhere outside of my mind was telling me to do what I could to protect someone else’s child. I had to try, but I was filled with dread.
I took this opportunity to have a discussion with the boys, the one about “telling” if someone ever tried to touch them on their “privates” without their permission, all the while tailoring the information so young boys could comprehend the danger. They promised me at that kitchen table, that not only would they tell, but that they would “beat the person up.” They showed me how, rushing around the kitchen demonstrating moves they’d learned from Power Rangers cartoons. I laughed, but made them promise they would tell.
Marvin was persistent. He called me often, checking on me and saying “you two must need a break from those three rambunctious boys. How about I babysit them for a couple of days. Joseph would enjoy their company.”
I told him we never felt the need for a babysitter that the children weren’t with us very often so our time together as a family was important. Marvin never gave up asking, reminding me he wanted my boys to spend the weekend “for Joseph’s sake”.
Instead, I invited Joseph to come over to our place to play with the boys, sometimes for the weekend. At first, Marvin declined the offer. He didn’t want to leave Joseph alone with anyone for fear that he would tell. However, one day he agreed to let Joseph come spend the night. He allowed this twice. Both times he called and spoke at length to Joseph. I can only assume he was making sure that Joseph would not tell.
Now when Marvin would call, I would intentionally guide him off the subject of himself, and onto Joseph. I had to be careful to limit my questions by picking and choosing which ones appeared to need my additional attention; the ones where 'red flags' would wave. And the questions themselves had to be hidden in the discussion, as if I weren't questioning at all but just making conversation, all the while weaving the subject I wanted to know more about into its mix. It was critically important that he not become suspicious of me for fear this would cause him to become either guarded or cut me off all together. I had to play dumb, to appear non-threatening to his activities. Joseph depended on me to perfect this personal dance that was so delicate between his adoptive father and myself. This was so important and so fragile that it frightened me, and I wasn't up against any normal human being, I was up against a cunning monster. I knew the consequences that even one slight misstep on my part meant for his victims. Two could play at this manipulation game. Mine a force for good, his a force for evil. So I continued to encourage conversation with the Devil.
During the course of one of our telephone talks, he told me that he’d borrowed $35,000 from the bank so he could install an in-ground pool in his back yard for Joseph. I wondered aloud if there was room. Marvin assured me it would fit. It left no room for Joseph to play, but Marvin felt it would improve Joseph’s social contacts. He was designing the devil’s playground. And that’s what it became.
Marvin had become “Mr. Fun”. He proclaimed this aloud in front of the children. He would allow them to do anything they wanted while they were at his house. He even encouraged them to watch pornographic movies on the television in his family room. He plied the older boys with alcohol and marijuana. He was getting bolder, and he was taking chances. He was nearly caught several times. One time a boy told his parents he smelled pot at Marvin’s house. Another time a mother found a joint in her son’s pocket. Another boy, younger, told his mother he wanted to direct porno films when he grew up.
The underwater groping under the guise of “Marco Polo” became endemic. Marvin always claimed he couldn’t see underwater, or, “you moved. I didn’t mean to touch you there.” But Marvin wanted even more. He infiltrated Joseph's school, and volunteered to coach basketball.
Marvin had never played a game of basketball. He didn’t even know the rules. This didn’t pose a problem. He looked up what he needed, and became the after-school basketball coach. The boys looked up to him and respected him; they called him coach. And of course these boys would get sleepover invitations to Marvin’s house along with all the others.
Conveniently, the shower-head nozzle In Joseph’s bathroom quit working. Marvin told Joseph that he and any overnight guests would have to shower in Marvin’s bathroom, a bathroom that adjoined the master bedroom. He walked in on whoever was using the shower, never apologized, but always found a reason to linger. Many of the boys complained to Joseph, and told him it was weird. What they didn’t know was that Marvin had installed a video camera that filmed the naked boys while they were showering. He replayed these films for his twisted viewing pleasure on the rare nights he was alone.
After spending the night with Joseph, a 10 year old boy named Stuart told his mother that Joseph’s dad had “touched” him. Marvin’s explanation to this single mother was that he was helping Stuart apply medicated cream to his jock itch. He then seduced her to silence her suspicions.
An 11 year old boy Curtis told his mother that Joseph’s dad had “touched his wiener”. Marvin’s explanation was that they were cooking hot dogs on the grill and the joke related to that. He said it was all a misunderstanding. Curtis refused to discuss this incident again, not with his friends, not with his parents, and not later with the
