[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]A twenty-eight-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, Paul Bishop currently directs a Sexual Assault Detail with responsibility for investigations in more than twenty-five percent of the city. (Original article here.)
[/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The events portrayed in this article are by their nature graphic. I hope, however, you will find the impact of the Lords presence in the scenario as affecting as I did myself. I share this experience not to shock you, but as testimony to the power of the Lords presence when it is brought to bear in the deepest darkness. [/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Several weeks ago, I groped through the darkness to answer my ringing phone. The digital glow of my bedside clock was blurry without my glasses, but I could still decipher it was a tick or two away from midnight. Experience has taught my wife to sleep through these late night phone interruptions. She has heard me dispense advise to police officers in the field so often, she claims she could handle the situations herself if I was not around. [/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Most times, I am able to provide guidance before hanging up and trying to return to sleep. This latest off-hours call, however, was different. A pregnant woman had been kidnapped and detectives from the sexual assault detail were needed to respond immediately. My unit has jurisdiction over the sexual assaults for approximately twenty-five percent of the city of Los Angeles. The detectives and officers who work the unit are highly experienced and dedicated. Part of our lot in life is dealing with the worst kinds of crimes, but this case would make all of us shake our heads in disbelief. [/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Once in the field, the investigation broke quickly. We were fortunate to be able to track and rescue the victim within six hours of her disappearance. Unfortunately, during that time period she had been put through a horrendous ordeal involving multiple sexual assaults, torture, curling iron burns, beatings, several violent attempts to force her to abort her baby, and had survived her own slow strangulation. The suspects ― the victims ex-boyfriend (father of her unborn child) and his new girlfriend ― were arrested and are currently facing numerous charges and the possibility of life sentences when convicted.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The location of the crime, a suburban residence in an upscale neighborhood, was owned by the female suspect and came equipped with a sadomasochistic torture chamber right out of a film set. The house was large and rambling. Additions and remodeling had been carried out to the extent there were virtually no hallways in the house. Instead, one room would open to two or three others, which would in turn open into two other rooms or odd spaces. [/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The entire location was filthy. Every kitchen counter was piled with dirty dishes. Rotting food sat on refrigerator shelves, overflowing ashtrays were everywhere, and toilets were stuffed up. Closets were so crammed with broken items and old boxes that clothing was simply dumped on floors and beds. As if this wasnt enough, the thirty-seven-year-old female suspects two daughters, aged seven and eleven, also lived in this vile hellhole.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As the rest of my unit was serving a search warrant at the location and gathering evidence, I wandered through the house. Every room I walked into was the same ― covered windows, piles of dirty sheets and blankets, unidentified scurrying noises in the corners, a vague stench. Eventually, I found myself in what I determined to be the eleven-year-old daughters room. It was here that I made a startling discovery.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]One wall was taken up with an overstuffed closet. Another wall was covered with posters of Brittany Spears. A crammed bulletin board and photos of boy bands I didnt recognize were above the dresser on the opposite wall. [/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The wall behind the bed, however, was different. Very different.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This wall had been painted a light blue. In marking pen in the eleven-year-olds handwriting, life-affirming quotes had been scribbled everywhere ― Love is stronger than hate, One person can make a difference, If you dont change things, who will? [/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Most poignant of all, however, were the two small cards taped above the childs pillow ― an LDS pass-along card with a picture of Christ, and another with a picture of an LDS temple. The quotes and the cards were the only things on the wall ― a shrine of hope in the midst of one of the adversarys darkest hiding holes.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]How did this child of God receive these cards? As the search of the house proceeded, I kept looking for a Book of Mormon amongst the drug paraphernalia and other implements of the adversary. There was a Bible, but no book of Mormon.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]If the family didnt have an LDS connection, had the young girl come into contact with the full-time missionaries in some fashion? Did a friend give the cards to her? Did she find them on the street and recognize something in them?[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Pursuing these answers within the secular setting at the time was not appropriate. Making sure of the child and her sisters safety with their father ― who shared custody with his estranged wife ― was the prime consideration. Dealing with the in-custody suspects and the gathering of evidence also took professional precedence. [/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I was, however, overwhelmed by two thoughts. [/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]At first, I felt completely helpless to do more for this child and her sister than my job, which was to secure their physical safety. Then I realized if I did one other thing ― pray ― the Lord (who was already clearly present) would take care of the rest.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Secondly, this realization of the Lords presence moved me to hidden tears. Personally experiencing how the light of Christ had somehow made it into this girls room and into her heart was almost beyond comprehension. Knowing His protection was here, even in one of the most depraved situations I had uncovered in twenty-eight years of crime investigations, was an amazing comfort. It spoke volumes about hope ― about these latter days in which we will need the Lords strength and presence to persevere step by step.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The power of Christ is boundless, his love of the innocent supreme. Darkness may envelop light, but it can never extinguish its glow.[/font]
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[/font]
[/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The events portrayed in this article are by their nature graphic. I hope, however, you will find the impact of the Lords presence in the scenario as affecting as I did myself. I share this experience not to shock you, but as testimony to the power of the Lords presence when it is brought to bear in the deepest darkness. [/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Several weeks ago, I groped through the darkness to answer my ringing phone. The digital glow of my bedside clock was blurry without my glasses, but I could still decipher it was a tick or two away from midnight. Experience has taught my wife to sleep through these late night phone interruptions. She has heard me dispense advise to police officers in the field so often, she claims she could handle the situations herself if I was not around. [/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Most times, I am able to provide guidance before hanging up and trying to return to sleep. This latest off-hours call, however, was different. A pregnant woman had been kidnapped and detectives from the sexual assault detail were needed to respond immediately. My unit has jurisdiction over the sexual assaults for approximately twenty-five percent of the city of Los Angeles. The detectives and officers who work the unit are highly experienced and dedicated. Part of our lot in life is dealing with the worst kinds of crimes, but this case would make all of us shake our heads in disbelief. [/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Once in the field, the investigation broke quickly. We were fortunate to be able to track and rescue the victim within six hours of her disappearance. Unfortunately, during that time period she had been put through a horrendous ordeal involving multiple sexual assaults, torture, curling iron burns, beatings, several violent attempts to force her to abort her baby, and had survived her own slow strangulation. The suspects ― the victims ex-boyfriend (father of her unborn child) and his new girlfriend ― were arrested and are currently facing numerous charges and the possibility of life sentences when convicted.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The location of the crime, a suburban residence in an upscale neighborhood, was owned by the female suspect and came equipped with a sadomasochistic torture chamber right out of a film set. The house was large and rambling. Additions and remodeling had been carried out to the extent there were virtually no hallways in the house. Instead, one room would open to two or three others, which would in turn open into two other rooms or odd spaces. [/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The entire location was filthy. Every kitchen counter was piled with dirty dishes. Rotting food sat on refrigerator shelves, overflowing ashtrays were everywhere, and toilets were stuffed up. Closets were so crammed with broken items and old boxes that clothing was simply dumped on floors and beds. As if this wasnt enough, the thirty-seven-year-old female suspects two daughters, aged seven and eleven, also lived in this vile hellhole.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As the rest of my unit was serving a search warrant at the location and gathering evidence, I wandered through the house. Every room I walked into was the same ― covered windows, piles of dirty sheets and blankets, unidentified scurrying noises in the corners, a vague stench. Eventually, I found myself in what I determined to be the eleven-year-old daughters room. It was here that I made a startling discovery.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]One wall was taken up with an overstuffed closet. Another wall was covered with posters of Brittany Spears. A crammed bulletin board and photos of boy bands I didnt recognize were above the dresser on the opposite wall. [/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The wall behind the bed, however, was different. Very different.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This wall had been painted a light blue. In marking pen in the eleven-year-olds handwriting, life-affirming quotes had been scribbled everywhere ― Love is stronger than hate, One person can make a difference, If you dont change things, who will? [/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Most poignant of all, however, were the two small cards taped above the childs pillow ― an LDS pass-along card with a picture of Christ, and another with a picture of an LDS temple. The quotes and the cards were the only things on the wall ― a shrine of hope in the midst of one of the adversarys darkest hiding holes.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]How did this child of God receive these cards? As the search of the house proceeded, I kept looking for a Book of Mormon amongst the drug paraphernalia and other implements of the adversary. There was a Bible, but no book of Mormon.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]If the family didnt have an LDS connection, had the young girl come into contact with the full-time missionaries in some fashion? Did a friend give the cards to her? Did she find them on the street and recognize something in them?[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Pursuing these answers within the secular setting at the time was not appropriate. Making sure of the child and her sisters safety with their father ― who shared custody with his estranged wife ― was the prime consideration. Dealing with the in-custody suspects and the gathering of evidence also took professional precedence. [/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I was, however, overwhelmed by two thoughts. [/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]At first, I felt completely helpless to do more for this child and her sister than my job, which was to secure their physical safety. Then I realized if I did one other thing ― pray ― the Lord (who was already clearly present) would take care of the rest.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Secondly, this realization of the Lords presence moved me to hidden tears. Personally experiencing how the light of Christ had somehow made it into this girls room and into her heart was almost beyond comprehension. Knowing His protection was here, even in one of the most depraved situations I had uncovered in twenty-eight years of crime investigations, was an amazing comfort. It spoke volumes about hope ― about these latter days in which we will need the Lords strength and presence to persevere step by step.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The power of Christ is boundless, his love of the innocent supreme. Darkness may envelop light, but it can never extinguish its glow.[/font]
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