Child Abuse Articles By Eli Newberger, M.D.

A number of articles on child abuse and child health issues, by renowned physician and Harvard professor of pediatrics Eli Newberger, M.D., now are available on line on his web site. Dr. Newberger is the author of "The Men They Will Become."

The Incest Loophole Closed in New York

Andrew Vachss has a followup article out on the "incest exception" to the laws against child sexual abuse.

"The Incest Loophole has finally been closed in New York. To read about this victory and what it means for children, please read, 'A Long Time Coming: Closing New York's Incest Loophole' by Andrew Vachss."

Excerpts from the original article, The Incest Loophole, at http://www.vachss.com/av_dispatches/nyt-11202005.html

What if I told you that a father who was regularly raping his 8-year-old daughter could reasonably expect to avoid prison if he were discovered? You'd be outraged, right? But this is a fact of life in New York, thanks to the "incest loophole"...

When they were first written, laws against incest were founded on biblical prohibitions and intended to prevent the conception of genetically impaired children. The paradigm was first cousins marrying, not parents raping their children. The New York incest statute pre-existed by decades any public recognition of child sexual abuse. It has never evolved in recognition of the unsavory but indisputable reality that the overwhelming majority of sexual crimes against children are not committed by strangers...