In 2007, 14-year-old Alexandria Quinn met 32-year-old Levy Kelly Jr, a police officer in Tuskegee, Alabama. For the next two years, Kelly would sexually abuse her. Quinn documented it in her diaries: “You had took something From me I could never get back [sic].” In 2012, Kelly was charged with raping another teenage girl. And more than ten years went by without any consequences.
Between 2005 and 2022, at least 1,800 police officers were charged with child sexual assault, according to a recent Washington Post report. Of those convicted, 40% were not sentenced to prison. Why not?
The blue wall of silence means cops, prosecutors, and judges can manipulate investigations and their results. And increasing surveillance of these officers is a lackluster solution. How can we center victims of sexual abuse? For children especially, the system compounds the fear, embarrassment, and attachment to abusers they experience.
Seventy percent of survivors don’t report their assaults. And when only 30% of reports actually lead to arrest, and 2.4% to incarceration, why would a victim of a police officer feel empowered or protected by the system? How many abuse survivors are incarcerated?
When the criminal legal system frequently harbors sexual abuse and re-traumatizes survivors, it isn’t worthy of survivors. When survivors consistently choose remaining silent over reporting to the system, there is something foundationally wrong. The current system doesn’t prevent abuse or keep survivors safe. It’s worth asking: What can?