The summer of 1990 was memorable for me. I learned a valuable lesson and discovered that no place is completely safe for kids. Not even the parking lot of a church.
It was a bright sunny morning in June, and I sent my two young boys out to play. My oldest son was seven years old, and the youngest was four.
Our home at the time sat at the end of the church parking lot. Our house’s driveway actually connected to the church parking lot. The lot had two entrances/exits, one near the front of the church with a side lot that connected to the back lot, and a driveway that merged with my driveway. That was the second exit or entrance. So my boys loved to ride their bicycles because they had a large area to play. They especially loved the speed bumps in the driveway.
As a mom, I was grateful for the large space for the children to play and felt completely safe and comfortable letting them outside and keeping a casual watch from time to time. On that particular day, everything changed for me.
That morning I had a few dishes to wash from breakfast, so I dropped the dishes in soapy water in the sink. Right above the kitchen sink was a window that faced the back of the church and most of the parking lot where my children were playing. That’s when I noticed a white car slowly drive through the church parking lot.
Every now and then someone would drive through our church parking lot from one street to the other to avoid a stop sign or a U-turn. But when we added the speed bumps, that all stopped. So I was a little surprised to see this car come through our parking lot at such a slow rate of speed.
But I grew alarmed when the car stopped beside one of my children.
Dropping the washcloth, I quickly ran outside wiping my soapy hands on my shorts. I walked up to the car and ask the man if he needed help. He said no, he was just looking for houses for sale in the area. I told him there weren’t any, he said thank you, and drove off.
But I’m glad I listened to that little voice from God, because I paid attention to the make and model of the car, and details of the man’s appearance. You know, just in case.
I’m glad I did.
Going back to my dishwashing, I continually looked out of the window to check on the children. And that’s when I saw the white car slowly cruise down the same street that connected to our driveway. I quickly ran back outside and looked down the street, but the car was gone by then.
I stayed outside with the children for a little while, but he didn’t come back, so thinking all was well I went back in the house to do some laundry. As I was carrying a basket of laundry through the kitchen to the laundry room, I passed by the window above the kitchen sink and gave a quick glance outside to be sure everything was okay.
It wasn’t.
I saw the white car again, but this time he pulled over behind some large bushes in an empty lot about 50 yards away from the driveway. He was watching my kids play.
I had enough!
Grabbing my husband’s shotgun, I called 911 and told the dispatcher that I needed an officer immediately because I had a loaded shotgun, and I was going to kill a pedophile so they’d better hurry. I gave a description of the car and driver and then sat down on my front porch with my gun and waited.
It is amazing how quickly not one, but three North Charleston police officers arrived at my home. It was 3 minutes. Unfortunately, the man in the white car heard the sirens and quickly drove off.
When the police arrived, one officer slowly made his way out of the car to talk to me while I put down the shotgun and stood up with my hands raised. I explained what had happened and repeated the description. The other two cars peeled out to chase down the suspect while I gave the third officer a statement.
Minutes later, the other two officers arrived back at my home. They had found the suspect, pulled him over, and checked for any outstanding warrants or a record. They found nothing and had to let him go. I was so disappointed until they told me that he was now on their “radar” and they had my police report to back up anything he might try again in the future with my children or anyone else’s.
The officer looked me in the eye and told me it was a good thing I had been paying attention. He said, “The man definitely was a predator, and it’s a good thing you were watching so closely. He probably would have snatched one of your kids.” That’s frightening for any parent to hear.
I was so relieved the incident was over and thanked the officers for showing up so quickly.
They told me to call back if I saw him again, and of course, they also warned me about the shotgun and taking the law into my own hands…blah, blah, blah. But deep down, I am pretty sure I saw a glimmer of respect.
