The Guardian

for a variety of sexual misconduct. His sheet read like a resume for the sexually depraved and demented. There were arrests, but no convictions.
    “Well, you’re right.” Halloway said looking up at Griffin. “Get everything you can on this guy, where he works, eats, and shops, went to school, his whole past life. I want to know everything on this dirt bag.”
    “Already beat you to it Lieutenant.” Griffin said, smiling handing him another set of papers.
    “Good job Griffin; let’s see what we have here.”
    “Anything on that note he had around his neck?” Halloway asked.
    “Oh ya, well, it’s in Italian alright. Castellano over in special details says it’s got something to do with Karma or the bible or something. It says, “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free, John 8:28” Not sure exactly what that means in this case, but once you read that file there you may be able to come up with something.” Griffin explained.
    “Well he was obviously quoting from the Bible.” Halloway said.
    As Halloway started to read over what Griffin had given him, it was the same typical pattern he had seen a thousand times before.
    Radcliff grew up in the Midwest in a small rural area in Missouri. His mother was also a victim, along with his two other brothers. Their father had been a drunken, abusive son-of-a-bitch who, according to the sheet had grown up in an abusive home himself as a young boy. There had been numerous reports of abuse. The schools would call and make inquiries as to the bruises and marks on the children at school. The mother had even called the police on numerous occasions. However, as was typically the case, she would later change her mind and refuse to press charges saying that it was an accident. Back then it worked because they didn’t have the policies like they do now. Now days if an officer has to respond for a domestic violence call, somebody’s going to jail. End of story.
    As for the boys, it was always a playground accident; they fell down, clumsy, etc, etc. The boys would never say what really happened. The mother wouldn’t admit to anything and the old man sure as hell wasn’t giving anything up. No, the laws protected the parents. They still do by in large, but we are making some progress.
    Halloway read the scenario, knew all the signs. There were no charges ever filed. Nothing had ever been done. There had never been any arrests and it was clear that what ever was going on all those years ago, continued for a very long time. The very sad, awful truth was, he was very surely convinced that there were far worse things going on than anyone ever knew about.
    Chapter 10
    The old man was a control freak. Charles’ mother beaten for little or no reason regularly also had scars. From the time they could walk, the three boys, physically and sexually abused, would suffer the rest of their lives.
    Charles, the oldest, was forced to sleep with his father until he was 12 years old. When they were bad, the old man would sodomize them with broom handles covered with Vaseline. The first time it had happened, Charles was only 8 years old. His father had come home and Charles wasn’t home from school yet. He had stopped to catch frogs by the creek. When he got home, the old man sent him to his room, gave his mother some money, and told her to get lost. He made Charles lie on his bed, face down, naked and spread eagle with his hands and feet tied to the bed posts. After beating him with his belt across his buttocks and the backs of his legs, he grabbed the toilet plunger out of the bathroom and proceeded to abuse him with it. He left him there, sobbing. His hind end covered in blood. The old man made his brothers clean up the mess so they would know what could happen to them. Having made the mess, Charles was beaten again. After that, it seemed a never ending occurrence. Being forced to perform oral sex, and would be sodomized repeatedly.
    All the boys were being beaten for what ever reason the old man could think of. The boys never talked about it amongst themselves. His two younger brothers were living the same nightmare as he was. They each knew about the punishment to the others. You could hear the screams. All you could do was hide, for fear you would be next. They never resisted the sexual abuse, for if they did then the beatings would start.
    The old man was a mean son-of-a-bitch, to that there was no doubt. When he drank, which was often, he was even worse.
    An older