March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Pittsfield man asks community to deal with rape

PITTSFIELD — Reports of rape and sexual assault have rocked the conservative foundation of Pittsfield in recent weeks.

Before police began their investigations into a reported rape and additional reports of sexual assault, most residents believed it couldn’t happen in this small town. They were proved wrong by allegations made by several of the community’s young women.

In the aftermath, one man is speaking out.

“If I don’t speak out, I’m as much a victim as these girls,” said David Post, a local mail carrier, father, singer, writer and sometimes preacher.

Citing the reports of school shootings in the nation and of rape in his chosen community, Post said it is the public’s nature to throw up its arms and ask, “What can we do?”

Post’s answer is simple: “Assault is wrong.”

It’s a message he will carry throughout the community with signs and ribbons in the coming weeks. He will moderate a public service at the First Universalist Church at 10:45 a.m. Sunday, June 5, designed to bring people together on the issue.

The issue has come to a head after Pittsfield police went public with the report of the rape of a 16-year-old high school girl in early March in order to elicit information on the attack. The victim refused to provide details. Then, on May 15, brothers John and David Heaton of Pittsfield were arrested on charges of unlawful sexual contact allegedly involving dozens of young girls.

In a recent column in a local publication, Post asked: “Who told them?” He questioned why these accused young men believe rape or sexual assault is acceptable. Why did the young women who were assaulted believe they couldn’t tell? Why were so many young women willing to put themselves at risk of assault to be with their peers?

Society made them victims, he said.

“Most people have this feeling of being powerless,” he said. “They’re waiting for the government to solve all the problems. The government can’t solve problems. Only we can in our own communities.

“I can stand up and say no, and say it loudly,” he said. “If others choose to join me then we have a group, and eventually a movement. Individually, people have agreed this [assault] is wrong. When enough people are willing to say no, the walls [of silence] will come down.”

Post would especially like men to join his movement to contradict the unspoken message that reports of rape and assault seem to give its victims — that it’s a woman’s problem.

“If our kids know we care, it may change what they do,” he said. “I know someone is going to ask, `Who is that? Some activist from the ’60s?’ It’s important that I am outraged. It’s important that men are outraged. Otherwise this just becomes another `women’s issue.”‘

It takes a very courageous individual to take a stand as Post is doing, said Karen Wagner, who grew up in Pittsfield and recently returned. During her time away, Wagner worked with victims of domestic assault and rape.

“People feel silenced by victimization. It’s a feeling of being powerless. I admire David for what he is doing. It takes a whole community, and a community’s outrage to address this issue,” she said late Sunday.

“This is not a new problem. It’s just more publicized right now. And it’s time to take advantage of that awareness. We all bear responsibility for the messages we are giving or not giving our kids,” she said.

When people don’t speak out about assault, it would appear they condone it, she said.

“I know people don’t feel that way. This is a private issue. People don’t want to bring it up in a public forum. But it’s the most important thing to bring up in public, so we can share ideas and strategies,” she said of the crusade to correct the perceptions of the victims and the victimizers.

With the success of community awareness and outrage, Post said, the community will send a message to everyone involved. And next time someone chooses to rape or assault, they can’t be certain their victim won’t speak out. Community awareness and support will “change the environment,” Post said.


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