The biggest fear of many parents came true in the state of Colorado. Not only were there child abusers on the loose, but the state officials who were told about the abuses also overlooked it for almost two decades as the abuse continued.
But wait, there’s more: According to Law and Crime, the abuse might not have been relegated to just Colorado, as there have been arrests of three suspects and records obtained by local journalists show a pattern of abuse that stretches more than 15 years and across multiple states.
The first suspect, Allan Richard Long, 51, is facing a total of 41 counts of sexual abuse of children, according to a press release by the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Department who also said that he has “very specific ties” to the City of Colorado Springs. Long is being accused of sexually victimizing at least seven children — including his own children — over the course of at least two decades.
The second person in custody is Ginger Delgado who police believe could have committed child sexual abuse crimes in Kansas, Wyoming, and Montana. Oh, and potentially other states as well, due to her years working as a long-haul truck driver. Authorities are asking that any other victims connected with Delgado come forward to assist in prosecuting the alleged offender.
There are others, too. Martha “Loni” Long, 52, was charged with four counts of sexual assault on a child by someone in a position of trust and one count of aggravated incest, and one count of sexual exploitation of a child. Another detainee, Rona Culler, 55, has now been charged with 10 counts of sexual assault on a child as part of a pattern of abuse, five counts of aggravated incest, and one count of sexual exploitation of a child.
Denver NBC affiliate KUSA reported that documents reviewed by them allege abuse that began in 2001 and included children between the ages of four and 17, and one person told police that she was molested from the time she was a child up to the age of 21. Abuse that has allegedly been perpetrated by Long supposedly began in 2004, or at least that’s when one of the children told her grandmother that she had been “molested” by the defendant. That took place in Wyoming and the Department of Family Services. However, no law enforcement follow-up happened in that case, and no legal action was taken.
It was 2007 when Colorado law enforcement chose not to follow up on another alleged abuse that was reported to them. The father of that victim reported Long to the Sheriff’s Office but court documents indicate that a detective “appeared to take no further action in this case, based on his reports.”
According to KUSA, there were at least six additional reports that were made between May 2009 and February 2015 to the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services and all of them were reports concerning either Allan Long or Martha Long and, according to reports, at least one of the complaints contained an allegation that Allan Long had child pornography in his possession, including pictures of 4- or 5-year-old girls.
The reports continued to stream in, including 2015 when there were two more allegations sent to the Colorado Springs Police Department. But according to NBC, the agency only took a cursory look at the accusation and the case was “eventually closed inactive after they were unable to contact Allan,” court documents state.
When we have come to a place in life where we exhaust our resources on taking people to jail over having dogs on leashes and running down purse thieves, we have a problem.
Our children that cannot defend themselves are not only victims of abuse but also victims of the crippling pursuit of self-interest. While we are quick to descend upon homes and cart people off to jail for looking at child pornography, it is so very rare to hear of anyone taking down a ring of pedophiles who produce child pornography.
It speaks volumes about our country that we invest more of our time and energy into drug rings and bank robberies than protecting human life. But, what do we expect when the current president sees nothing wrong with killing babies even before they are born into the world?
