Crime Expert BURL BARER. Edgar Award Winner and NYT Bestselling Author:

I do a live true crime talk show every Saturday on Outlaw Radio, and we have our own approach to the topic, guests, and content. One thing we avoid doing is having a panel of talking heads offer their opinions and speculations on current high profile cases under investigation. .

The reason for this policy isn't simply that there are other established shows both on radio and television that use that as their basic format, and there is no need to cover the same ground they already do so well, but because I have concerns about what can become "trial by talk show" and "indictment by sound bite." That doesn't mean that I turn down guest appearances on some of these programs, but rather that I personally will not speculate on an ongoing investigation because of the concerns expressed by the FBI at an important symposium, and published on the FBI website.

The public’s interest in serial murder cases makes serial murder an attractive storyline for the media. To further the public’s interest in these cases, the media uses people who are willing to speak as experts on the topic of serial murder and more specifically, individuals willing to comment on the current, featured case. These commentators are commonly referred to as talking heads, and it appears that there is no shortage of people willing to do this.

Individuals utilized by the media to comment on serial murder cases include both experts and pseudoexperts. Experts are identified as academicians, researchers, retired law enforcement officials,mental health professionals, and retired law enforcement profilers who have developed specific knowledge and experience in serial murder investigations. Pseudoexperts are self-proclaimed profilers and others who profess to have an expertise in serial murder, when, in fact, their experience is limited or non-existent. The media will recruit talking heads, whether true experts or pseudoexperts, to offer their opinions on current cases, when they have no official role in the investigation and no access to any of the intimate facts of the case.

When individuals appear in the media and discuss ongoing cases, they have an enormous potential to negatively influence investigations and may even cause irreversible damage. They often speculate on the motive for the murders and the possible characteristics of the offender. Such statements can misinform the public and may heighten fears in a community. They may contribute to mistrust and a lack of confidence in law enforcement and, more importantly, may taint potential jury pools. These statements may also impact the behavior of the serial murderer, because it is unlikely that an offender discriminates between a talking head and a law enforcement official actively involved in the case. When offenders are challenged by statements or derogatory comments made in the media, they may destroy evidence, or more tragically, react violently.

I certainly wouldn't want to be responsible for violence or destroyed evidence in my quest for ratings or controversy.

On Friday, May 17th, 2010-Amanda Rodgers was sworn in as an advocate for abused and neglected children involved with the juvenile court system. As a CASA volunteer, Rodgers completed 35 hours of training, but her credentials for compassion come from life experience.

" I was step-daddy's little sex toy, and a prisoner in the one place that I should have been the most safe and protected,".explains Rodgers. :"I didn't have anyone there for me, but I have vowed to be there for others. Even if I can help just one child, and be their voice, they will know they aren't alone."

Amanda Rodgers took pen to paper, and wrote an open letter to the man whom she alleges repeatedly molested her, stole her innocence, and denied her a childhood. She shared it with me, and with her permission, I'm sharring it with you. Brace yourself.

You are the man who molested me. You are the man who stole my one and only opportunity to be a free spirited child along with my innocence

I want you to know exactly what your actions have done to me. To begin, it was like I was a zombie in the vast darkness. I felt alone & ashamed because as a little girl you told me, on several occasions, that you were doing what you were doing because it was my fault because I wore shorts or skirts & I was just too cute.

I have flashbacks, nightmares that literally make me sick to my stomach. I have severe anxiety issues. Let me tell you about the nightmares.....VIVID! So vivid that I wake up with my stomach hurting from crying in my sleep, my face & pillow soaked from the tears

. I am a restless sleeper because I am afraid of what dream I will have that night. It was the same when I was a child, only then I was restless from knowing that I would have to wake up with you at the foot of my bed.. As that little girl, I cried myself to sleep & still do at times now, wondering when & where does the pain ever end? You have been out of my life now for quite some time now & the touch of your hands have been over for almost 12 years now, but the pain is still there.

Remember the winters? Remember me wearing layer upon layer of clothes? You thought it was because I was cold & trying to keep warm? You couldn't have been more wrong. I tried thinking of every possible way to make the touch of your hand more of a hassle or to try to make you hesitate violating me. I guess I couldn't have been more wrong huh? It didn't stop you. Nothing did. I tried to stop the "Monster in the Night". That's what you were to me. Not that the night hours were the only time you would prey on & violate me.

The clothes don't ring a bell? How about me sleepng in the fetal position? With the blankets tucked under me, that way I would at least have a warning that you were there. Still nothing? How about the showers? Remeber those? You would tell my so called "mother" that you were going in there to pour ice cold water over the top of the shower....yea, right. If she only knew what you were really doing.

Let me tell you how I would go about preparing myself for a shower...I would lock the door with the latch lock, that you put on the door. Undress myself, while looking through the key hole, to see if you were coming....hurrying in the shower....trying to take a fast shower to get out of there before you came in. I'd be just about finished with my head tilted back, rinsing the soap out of my hair. I'd tilt my head foward to rinse the soap off my face, open my eyes & BAM! There you were, at the end of the shower, watching me with that sick smile on your face & excitement in your eyes. You'd make your perverted comment & just walk away. There was never any ice water poured over me, but to this day the memory sends chills down my spine.

Why my so called "mom" never suspected anything is beyond me because there was never any "ice pouring" over the boys when they were in the shower, just me.

Remember anything yet? How about the porn? How you would make me watch it with you & the comments you would make? You would say,"don't that look like fun? We should try that one of these days"..It was showing a woman having oral sex with a man, sometimes 2 or 3 men at the same time! I prayed every morning & night that the day would come that you would get caught because I knew that you would never just 'stop' because you were already looking foward to having oral sex & possibly actual sex with me when I got older.

When people ask about my childhood, I want to say, "What childhood? I was step-daddy's little sex toy..." There's not one single picture of me, as that little girl, that I can look at say that I was happy. You know when people say, "oh to be a kid again"? I say, "no thanks, I"ll pass". In the pictures, you see the smile? It's fake. Behind that smile is a little girl who is trembling with fear and angst, because she knows that before the days' end that she will have to endure the touch & hear the perversion of her mothers' husband's hand. So take a real good look at the pictures of the 'seemingly' happy little girl & know that she was terrified, lost & lonely.That she was hoping that someone, anyone would notice that her life was full of secrets.

I pursued legal action against you, and when you escaped justice, I felt like that little girl all over again. I had to be put on medicine that I never had to be on before. Medicine for my nightmares, my anxiety, depression & post traumatic stress disorder....ever heard of those things? I know I am not the only child you molested, or the only person upon whom you forced yourself. I know about them all, every one of them.

You are in my past now & that's where you will stay. God waits until a person's life has ended before there is judgement. I refuse to hold on to my hatred and disgust because I know its corrosion will destroy me. In order to be free of you and your evil, I must let go.

I condemn your deeds. I have no power to condemn your soul. Forgiving is not forgetting, nor is it excusing or overlooking. Forgiveness is freedom from your control over my mind, my body, and my emotions. I will never forget what you have done.

If ever there is a day that someone needs my help to put you behind bars, I will be there for them. In the meantime, if there is a child suffering what I suffered -- a child fearful and alone, I want them to know that I am there for them, I will be their voice, and they are not alone.

Today, Amanda Rodgers is a happily married mother of two children. "My husband is my backbone," says Rodgers. “He is everything a father or step-father should be - kind, loving, supportive, encouraging and compassionate. Because of his love for me, and mine for him, I am overcoming issues of fear and distrust. My husband and children have given me a new life. I am incredibly happy. Today, by becoming a CASA volunteer, my life has more purpose and more focus than ever before.””

90% of child sexual abuse victims know the perpetrator in some way; 68% are abused by family members.

The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The hotline counselors work with translators who speak 140 languages to help people who call and speak something other than English. All calls are anonymous. (The hotline counselors don't know who you are and you don't have to tell them.)

1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) then push 1 to talk to a hotline counselor.

For more information on CASA, visit their website.

http://www.casaforchildren.org