By Maya Smith, Kansas Reflector
LAWRENCE — A child sex abuse survivor and advocate thinks it’s “more than a coincidence” that three men accused of child sex crimes died by suicide in December.
Survivors of the three men are now left without the possibility of seeing their alleged abusers held accountable for their crimes, said Kim Bergman, a survivor of child sex abuse who has advocated for changes in state policy at the Statehouse in Topeka.
“Survivors are coming forward sooner. Perpetrators are actually having to deal with the ramifications of what they do,” Bergman said. “Child sex crimes are all about power. When they’ve been arrested, they’ve lost the power, and I think sometimes their way of taking that back is putting their destiny in their own hands.”
Roger Golubski, Matthew McCarthy and Brian Black killed themselves before they could stand trial for crimes including aggravated sexual abuse, rape and aggravated indecent liberties with a child.
Golubski was a former Kansas City, Kansas, detective accused of underage human trafficking and civil rights violations. He was found dead at his home after failing to show up for the first day of his trial. McCarthy attempted suicide at the Shawnee County Jail and died after being hospitalized. He was being held on crimes that included rape and aggravated indecent liberties with a child. Black died by suicide at his Arkansas City home while out on bond after being arrested in the rape of a 16-year old, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said in a news release.
Bergman said this could become more of a trend among perpetrators, especially those whose crimes involve children.
“I think a lot of people might think, ‘Oh, that’s good. He can’t hurt anyone anymore,’ ” she said. “But also to still be thinking about the kids that this happened to and how it will affect their lives … for the people that are survivors of those that did go on and kill themselves, (a trial) is something they’re never gonna have.”
Lesa Patterson-Kinsey, a survivor of child sexual assault who advocates alongside Bergman at the Statehouse, said there are two stages of coming forward — telling someone and pressing criminal charges.
When an abuser kills himself, she said, “survivors are denied their opportunity to hold their abusers accountable in public.”
“Although it can be really traumatic to go through a court case, as survivors and victims of child sexual abuse, we didn’t have much choice,” Patterson-Kinsey said. “We didn’t have much choice in any of this. So having one more choice taken away doesn’t feel right.”
According to Darkness to Light, a Child Sex Abuse Prevention nonprofit, only about one-third of child sexual abuse incidents are identified and fewer cases are reported. Many cases are “screened out” by Child Protective Services for lack of information. Of the cases that are investigated, few are substantiated.
Bergman said law enforcement should be aware of the potential for suicide deaths and look for signs of possible suicidal ideation with offenders in the future.
“It’s such a small percentage of perpetrators that actually end up getting arrested,” Bergman said. “When you look at how few kids actually say something, and then how many of those reports actually get investigated, and how many of those that actually go forward with an arrest, I think law enforcement needs to be aware of this trend and be looking for signs.”
Outside of the courtroom, people like Bergman and Patterson-Kinsey continue to advocate for survivors by focusing on legislation to extend the civil statute of limitations for sex abuse cases. Patterson-Kinsey says she “sends strength and love” to the survivors healing from these crimes.
“I tell survivors a lot, ‘Don’t base your healing on the judicial system or the legislative system. We can only control that so far,’ ” Patterson-Kinsey said. “I really hope they’d know that they’re not alone out here. There’s a lot of us, more than there should be, but we’re all here to help each other.”
