Reporting on sexual assault is a valuable public service provided by journalists across the country.

Reporting on these crimes can shape public perception about victims/survivors, offenders and about sexual assault as a societal issue. It is important to remember that language matters and that the words sex and sexual assault are not interchangeable.

These are two very different acts. One is a consensual mutual decision and the other is a crime.

The recent Times Leader article by Kevin Carroll “Man, 33, had sex with girl, 15,” is a perfect example of reporting that uses these words inaccurately. This 33-year-old man did not have sex with a 15-year-old girl. He groomed her and sexually abused her.

Sexual abuse of a child is not the same as “engaged in a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl.” At 15 years of age, this young girl is unable to legally consent to anything with a 33-year-old man. This headline prevents the public from fully understanding that the act was criminal and not mutually consensual. We should call it what it is, child sexual assault. A better headline would have read “Man, 33 charged with statutory sexual assault.”

Victim blaming is always disturbing, but it is particularly alarming when journalists imply that children, who have been groomed for sexual abuse, participated in a crime an adult man chose to commit against them by using inaccurate language.

Young people in our community are at such a high risk for sexual assault that we must do everything possible to provide as much accurate information as possible.

We all play a role in preventing child sexual abuse, and we must all do our part to be an educated public.

Suzanne M. Beck

Chief Program Officer

Victims Resource Center