Tiffanie: What if I told you the US Government protected a serial pedophile for decades? Even after seven young girls came forward? 

Today, you'll hear how one survivor is breaking her silence. The State Department tried to bury. Why is it that some people get special treatment from the US Government? It is bullshit. Nobody should have special treatment when it comes to pedophiles. This is True Crime Connections. I am Tiffanie, your host, and today joining me is Kristen Louise Duncombe, who is the author of the book Object. She talks about how the US Government protected a serial pedophile who abused children for more than 30 years before getting arrested. Kristen Louise Duncombe writes about childhood sexual abuse in new book Thank you so much, Kristen, for being here. This is such an important topic. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yes, and thank you so much for having me, because as I think I said when we first made contact, I am on a mission to tell the world about this story because I was sort of pushed into silence for way too long. And I want to devote this next part of my life to making sure people learn about what happened. So I'm delighted to be able to talk to you about it. Tiffanie: It's important, and it's time that the government stops protecting bad people. It doesn't make any sense to me. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yes, it's. And admittedly, the story I'm going to tell you, took place in a different era in. It happened when I was a kid. I'm in my mid-50s now. And the abuse story that I'm going to tell you started when I was 10 years old. So that was the late 70s, early 1980s. Some things have changed since then, because when I explained to you the reasons given for not prosecuting this guy and protecting him, I don't think that that would be possible today. And still today, we know that there are sexual abusers and rapists that still proceed with impunity, such as. And this is the thing that spurred me to finally write the book many years after the story played out. The Larry Nassar story. Do you remember the USA Gymnastics Larry Nassar? I do, yes. So that's a great example. It's very similar to what happened in my case. Larry Nassar had been reported by many gymnasts for molesting gymnastics team. But he was protected by his employer, who allowed him to continue to have access to so many girls. And that's why, by the time he was stopped, his list of people that he had abused was in the hundreds. Should I tell you and the listeners what my story is? Tiffanie: Absolutely. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Okay. My story starts in West Africa. I'm an American citizen. My father was in the foreign service. He was a U.S. diplomat. So I grew up moving around all over the world. And When I was 10 years old, my father was posted to the US mission in the Ivory Coast. It was, it's a small West African country and this embassy, it was a very small, insular US community. All the kids of the embassy staff, we all went to the international school and in fact, I'll show you. So this is the book and I've dedicated the book to one of the victims. This is me when I'm 10 and this is my friend Rose. And the reason the book is dedicated to Rose is that Rose was also an embassy kid and Rose was the pedophile's daughter. So my father worked with the pedophile. His name was William Francis Mulcahy. He was a senior diplomat with USAID based at the embassy in the Ivory coast. And his 10 year old daughter went to the international school with me. So my path with this man crossed in two ways. He was friends with my parents and he was my best friend's father. And basically what the story is is that starting when I was 10 years old and until I was 12 years old, he 00:05:00 Kristen Louise Duncombe: sexually molested and assaulted me on a regular basis. I thought that I was the only one. It was very much a private story. I was living where I had frequent contact with him. And sometimes the aggressions were just sort of like getting felt up in the car when he would drive me home after a birthday party, for example. Other times it was more aggressive, but the point is that it was only when he molested another child in the US Embassy community who was new to Post, who didn't know of his reputation. Everyone loved the Mulcahy family and in particular they loved Mr. Mulcahy. He was the quintessential pedophile. He played grandpa for all, you know, all these American families living far from their own actual grandparents. He was babysitting for people. He played Santa Claus at the Ambassador's Christmas party. He was always hosting Thanksgiving dinner he had attended. He was Catholic, so he attended mass every Sunday and made a big production of being this great community guy. 

Tiffanie: So he was like a certified groomer? Kristen Louise Duncombe: Oh yeah, he was certified. He could teach, you know, the PhD in grooming. He was a super groomer. And what happened is, is that when this new family moved to Post, they had been at Post for like three days when he molested the daugh of this family. And she had no idea who the Mulcahys were. And so she told her parents immediately when that happened. The father reported it to the security people at the embassy and Washington, I'll give them a little bit of credit for this. They removed him from post immediately. The family had three days to pack up their lives and leave. For me, it was devastating because my best friend Rose was being taken away. None of the families, and by families, I mean parents, the, embassy officials, none of them were informed that there was this allegation against Mr. Mulcahy. So to add insult to injury, all of the parents, and that includes my parents and clamored around Mr. Mulcahy to help him sell his car and pack up his possessions and close up his life and go back to the States, literally in a matter of three days. The storyline was he had gotten a big promotion. He was needed back in Washington. It was only after he left that the community was informed, the community of adults was informed of this allegation. And that's actually how my book starts. It's the night that my parents sit me down to tell me, now that they're gone, we want you to know about this horrible rumor that's going around. Poor Mr. Mulcahy. Isn't it awful? That girl Jenny has this terrible misunderstanding and now that the poor man's life is ruined and all around the community, parents were having that conversation with their children. And one by one, all of these children, and in my family there was two of us, and I didn't even know that my little sister was also a victim. One by one, children in the community were going, well, actually, it's true, he did that to me too. So then what went from being a very private sort of trauma that you just sort of dealt with, at least that's how I had been living it just, you know, over the course of two years, these frequent molestations and aggressions, I would just sort of deal with it and then he would do his thing and then we would go back to just life as normal. Suddenly all the spotlights were shining on any child that identified themselves as a victim. And it was this massive blow up where the parents were devastated to discover that this man that they had supported and loved had totally duped them all. But then to make everything worse, what they quickly learned from the powers that be in Washington is he was not going to be prosecuted and he was not even going to lose his job. 00:10:00 Kristen Louise Duncombe: And they, yeah, it's so fucked up. And the reason they said so this was when this all blew up. This was in 1982. M. M. Mulcahy abused children at the State Department So also try to imagine. And I know for some people, and actually, because I, I can see through the screen that you're younger than me. Do you even know what it was like to live without Internet? Do you remember the days without it? I don't think you do. Are you sure? Because I was going to say that, you know, there's even a whole generation of people now that don't even know what life was like before Internet. 

Tiffanie: So this born in 1980. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Oh, so you do know what life is with, before, I thought you were going to say you were more born in 1990. You look great. Okay, well, so I was born in 69, so I remember. I think I've heard people say that my generation is the only generation of people that had like many years of non Internet life and now many years of Internet life. So what I can tell you is that when this whole thing blew up in 1982, it was still the time when you couldn't even make long distance phone calls, you know, unless you were prepared to spend thousands of dollars. So all of this fighting about what was going to happen to Mr. M. Mulcahy, the child molester, was taking place by telegram. And I have all of these telegrams and I want to make sure that I don't forget to tell you about what's happened most recently because I recently tried to open the case back up at the State Department. And I'll get to that. But just to tell you, these telegrams went back and forth. I was only 12 at the time and I was totally in crisis because my parents were in crisis. So I think there was a lot of what happened that I wasn't privy to and I only learned about it later as an adult. But what I can tell you happened at was the people in Washington said that an investigation was conducted. They gathered all the information. There was seven girls in the US Embassy community who had been repeatedly molested by him. And they said that because he committed those acts off of US Soil in a foreign country, he had diplomatic immunity. And they also said there was no federal crime against pedophilia and therefore there was nothing to charge him with. So they said we have to protect his, civil liberties and the case is closed. And my parents and I think the other parents did what they could to fight back. But this is also one of the things that I talk about in my book because, you know, for anyone that is familiar with institutions like the Foreign Service, it's also quite similar. Like if you work for the military, your employer is kind of like the patriarch. It's a family in which you have to follow certain rules. So in the same, same way that us kids were told, don't tell anyone, just zip your lips and shut up about what's going on. The way Mr. Mulcahy did that to us kids, that's what the State Department did to our parents. Our parents were completely dependent on the State Department. These are people that had committed their careers to working for the government and getting transported around the world every couple of years. Our housing, our school, our parents salaries, all of it is controlled by the State Department. And the State Department said, drop it. He will not be prosecuted and he will not lose his job. His civil liberties need to be protected. Move on. And so our parents were silenced. And you can imagine there was so many different layers of trauma related to this. And I would be happy to, if you want to talk about the impact psychologically of the abuse. But before, you know, if we go into that, what I want to tell you about is what happened next with the State Department, because the story doesn't stop there. So I did go on to develop all sorts of problems. I had what is called complex trauma or developmental trauma that manifested. The abuse came to an end when I was 12. And by the time I was 13, I had developed several addictions. I had an eating disorder, I was severely bulimic 00:15:00 Kristen Louise Duncombe: for many years. And then a little bit later into my adolescence, I had lots of problems with setting limits with guys. So I was constantly getting re victimized. So I just was having so many problems. Even as on the other side, I was a very high functioning person keeping it all together. And when I was 22 years old, I had a little bit of a nervous breakdown after I got into yet another date rape situation. And I was living in Seattle, Washington at that time. I ended up in front of a crisis counselor at a place called the sexual Assault center at Harborview Medical Center. And she encouraged me to get in touch with the State Department Once I had told her the whole story of my history. She encouraged me to get in touch with the State Department and insist that they pay for my therapy. And surprise, surprise, once I contacted them, they sent me the paperwork to fill out what is called a tort claim, where I had to literally list out the various acts of abuse and try to give an estimate of like, how many times did he do genital fondling? How many times did I have to see his penis? How many? It was just this unbelievable thing, filled that out. And then they sent me a check for $20,000. This was in 1992. And I thought I was rich. I was 22 years old and I was so excited. $20,000. That money was meant to pay for therapy. And as you can imagine, even though it was 1992, that money did not go very far. And I signed, if I remember correctly, because I don't have a trace of that tort claim. That is in my disorganized way, that is not something I kept. But if I remember correctly, I signed away my rights to bother the State Department any further with this story. But I accepted that. But then Fast forward another 10 years. So the abuse started when I was 10. It all blew up when I was 12. The COVID up then took place. And by the way, Rose, my friend that I showed you in the book, it's always important for me to mention this. Think of that poor kid. She was sent back to Washington D.C. with her pedophile father and no one thought about that child that was stuck in the house with a known pedophile. But we'll get to that. So when I'm 22, the State Department cuts me a check for $20,000 when I am 32 and by then I'm already living here in Paris, where I live now. I got contacted speaking of the Internet. Someone that was one of the child victims from the Ivory coast found my name on Google and messaged me because she said, her name is Francesca. She said, oh my God, is this the same Kristen Duncombe that lived in the Ivory coast in these years? Blah, blah, blah. Yes. Oh my gosh, how are you? Haven't heard from you for so long. And she said, click this link. It's terrible. Prepare yourself. So I click the link and it's an article in the Boston Herald that is a big photo of Mr. Mulcahy, except now his hair is all white and he's like 75 years old. And the headline is Ex Foreign Service officer turned Eucharist Minister arrested on Cape Cod for raping an eight year old girl. Francis allegedly abused a young girl when he was posted to Ivory Coast And so all these years later, it blew up again. And you know, sometimes when I talk about this, people say to me, but wait, do you actually think that was like the first act of abuse he had committed since you were 12? And no. The answer is no, absolutely not. But I, One of the things that I regret, but I treat myself with compassion for this because I don't really know what I could have done. You know, I was part of a community that was silenced by the powers that be. And I never felt able to try to address that story. But of course I knew that he must still be raping and molesting people. And so when Francis got away with. Tiffanie: It, in a sense, 00:20:00 Tiffanie: you know, why would he, Kristen Louise Duncombe: So when he was finally stopped on Cape Cod, all of these people came out of the woodwork because that 8 year old girl that he raped, that was his granddaughter. And it wasn't like an anonymous 8 year old, it was a family member. So then of course, the family went into complete crisis and all of these children emerged from the woodwork of the family. Children that were now adults saying, oh my God. Yeah, he did that to me too. He did it to me too. The quintessential me too. All of these people, boys and girls, men and women, saying, yes, he did it to me too. So then there was this whole long list, plus there was us people from the Ivory Coast. One of the details that emerged. So before he was posted to the Ivory coast, he was posted in the Philippines and Vietnam. And there is suspicion, suspicion from what his family has said, because of the rapidity with which he was transferred, that he had probably committed crimes. I mean, he must have. He's, I think he was a lifelong sex offender. So there are certainly so many more victims at his hands than have even been revealed. So. So what happened then at that moment is by then there was a statute of limitations. I couldn't testify as much as I want to, but I was able to submit a deposition and so were the other people from my cohort of victims. He ended up going to jail for five years, which is nothing when you consider the crimes that he committed. Then he was released and shortly thereafter he died. So he is now dead. However, what I wanted to make sure that I mention, because I'm really bothered by this. And it's just funny how everything, like comes together. There's this whole thing has happened. And then I finally, for several reasons, got organized and decided that I am gonna write the story and I'm gonna tell the story of what happened and what influenced that. Well, part of it was my rage at the Larry Nassar story, and part of it was my rage at, the Kavanaugh story and the Donald Trump grabbing him by the pussy story. And, you know, whatever your politics are, because I know that there might be some people listening that are maybe pro Kavanaugh, pro Trump. I don't think anyone's really pro Larry Nassar. But the reality is we live in a culture where people are allowed to, use abusive language and commit abusive acts against girls and women. And they don't get. They're not held Accountable for it. And that was part of what spurred me to finally write the book. The other thing that spurred me is that I had finally left my marriage. And my. How to say it, you know, I mentioned re victimization. So I'm not trying to say that my husband was an abuser. He wasn't. But I came into adulthood with so many self image problems and self esteem problems as a result of the abuse that one of the legacies of that is that I just had so many relationships with men that where I got chosen, but I didn't really choose who I wanted to be with. And so even though the marriage that I had, it was a 20 year marriage, there was many good things that happened in it. We were not the right partners for each other. And so when I finally found the courage to leave, that sort of kicked off, my own process of really trying to reconstruct what had happened to my self image. And that's why I call my book Object, because I think that I had spent my life as a girl and a woman believing that I was an object to be sort of picked and used for men's pleasure. And I really, in my late 40s, had to learn what it means to choose things and, and to have limits with other people. And once I started learning that, it was a, it was a quick learn. I don't feel that now 00:25:00 Kristen Louise Duncombe: people can't take advantage of me anymore the way they used to. But I spent a lot of my life, as I keep saying, being re victimized. Anyways, I'm going, that's very common. Yes. Oh, it's very common. Very common. Tiffanie: A lot of people who were molested and raped as a child, they end up sex workers or most are hooked on drugs, you know, because you have to do what you can do to deal with the pain. And sometimes now sex isn't about intimacy anymore. It's like that part's cut out. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah, yeah, well, and because one of the things that happens, and I think this is a really critical piece, it's very common for abuse survivors. Most people have heard of post traumatic stress disorder. There's fight, flight or freeze. But there is a fourth F which is very, very common for people that have survived sexual abuse. And that's fawning and fawning. And this is why so many abuse survivors get re victimized. Fawning is when you act agreeable or compliant in order to ensure relational safety. Sean Combs trial raises questions about whether he abused girlfriend Cassie And you want to know, I have been thinking about this so much now because I'm sure many people have been listening to this. The Sean Combs trial in New York. And his defense team is arguing that if you look at the. The behavior and the text messages that his girlfriend of 10 years, that he was so abusive to Cassie was sending, that in many of those messages she was saying, oh, baby, yes, baby. But then there was also other messages where she was saying, I don't want to do this anymore. I think that is a perfect example of fawning because apparently in her testimony, she was saying, look, I was terrified of losing the safety of my relationship. He paid my rent, my record contracts were through him. And if I pissed him off by not going along with what he wanted, I risked losing everything. And I also risked physical violence. And so that's what happened. Tiffanie: He gets off, I'm going to fucking lose it. Kristen Louise Duncombe: I know, I know. Well, I mean, and that's the thing is he just may. I hope to God he doesn't. But there's so many, cases like that where people as you know, have, have or they get lesser. Tiffanie: Money talk. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah, money talk. Money does talk. What I wanted to tell you is that after my book came out just about a year ago, it came out In August of 24, I made contact with some people at the State Department and I said, so I have written this book and I would like you to read it. And I would like to open the files from that time because I have, as I was mentioning earlier, I do have an envelope of documentation that my parents kept from that time, but there must be more there. I have maybe 20 pieces of paper, but this was a whole drama and like the person who conducted the investigation, interviewed every single victim. There must be a whole file from 1982, when Mr. Mulcahy was transferred back to Washington. So I tried to delve into that. Could not get any human, like, face to face contact to help me. But I was referred to this portal called the Freedom of Information Act. So I used that portal and I entered all the information and I sent the explanation and I asked for the files, any files. And what I got back was, there are no files. And I'm like, wait a minute, surely there has to be some files. And then they said, no, no. Well, and also, it was that long ago, so there isn't. Okay. So then I said, I want the files for the tort claim that I filled out in 92 because a check for 20,000 bucks was cut. There must be some record of that. And again, I've been told there is no file. 00:30:00 Kristen Louise Duncombe: And. Okay, so this is where my own skills fall short because right at the moment that I was getting no, no, there are no files. What was also happening was do was sweeping Washington and then they were dismantling usaid. And so just with all this kerfuffle, I just have stopped doing anything. I am planning on going back to it, but I feel a little bit paralyzed because, you know, it's not like in a Hollywood movie. Like I keep trying to figure out, like what would a true investigative reporter do. I don't really know how to get the information. It is something I'm planning on going back to, but I feel sort of at a loss because I'm using this portal and I'm being told there is no file. And I even did when the first time they said there are no records. I wrote back and I said, well, this is not possible because I have some of the records. I have this envelope that my parents cut and it's the official letterhead of the US Embassy and the State Department. Do you have thoughts or knowledge about how to uncover something It's interesting because when I knew I was going to speak to you, and I know that you have experience with true crime, that was one of the things that I wanted to ask you about. Do you have thoughts or knowledge about how to uncover something? Tiffanie: So there is Google Files that you can look in and it's like archived. So if there was anything that was ever on the Internet or maybe even submitted in other ways, you can look at it that way. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Okay. If I go on to Google and I type in William Francis Mulcahy, like I can find that article from the Boston Herald, I can find the article in the Cape Cod Times. But do you mean something beyond just Googling? Tiffanie: Yeah, it's a special Google because you know, they have Google images, they have Google Earth, they have Google all this stuff. Well, it's like Google Files. I'm going to double check the name on that, but I'm almost positive that's what it is. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Okay. Tiffanie: And it's all archived stuff that you can't find otherwise. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Okay. But see, I wonder if something that took place in 82 would be there because that, as we know, was pre Internet. So maybe it never got archived. Tiffanie: I mean there's always a possibility of that. But like in the field that I work in, if it, if it wasn't documented, it didn't happen. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah. Tiffanie: So for the most part you would think somebody had to document something somewhere. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah. Tiffanie: And how it gets submitted to all these different places, of course, I do not know. But I mean I'd be willing to help you and See if there's anything that I can. Could find. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Oh, my gosh. Well, I would never say no to that. I would love to, because I will take anyone's help ever. Because I. Yeah, I feel sometimes it's like that old feeling of powerlessness. Tiffanie: You feel deflated. It's sad. Yeah, it's time that we stop normalizing abuse. Yeah, it's time. That statute of limitations is. Especially when you got 30, 40 people coming to you and you're going to be like, sorry, it's passed. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah. Tiffanie: All these people aren't making this up, so that needs to go by the wayside. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah. Tiffanie: Because people, I mean, a lot of my guests, it takes them 30 years to tell anyone their husbands don't know, their children don't know. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Exactly. Tiffanie: I mean, you have to process this for your life and you don't say it until you're ready to say it. Kristen Louise Duncombe: You're absolutely right about that. And that's what makes me even more upset about this story. Because in our case, that wasn't even the case. You had seven little girls. We were between the ages of six and 12 when the whole thing blew up in 1982. And every single one of us gave a full accounting of the things he did to us. So it wasn't even like speculative. It was, the information was all there. We all quote, unquote, testified to the person leading the investigation. This whole business about diplomatic immunity and there's no federal law, what bothers me so much is that, and I'm not a lawyer, I don't know what the various laws are, but I just cannot believe that none of the adults in Washington 00:35:00 Kristen Louise Duncombe: had any just common sense or creative work around to say, well, regardless of no federal law and regardless of diplomatic immunity, an adult man cannot get away with sexually assaulting girls between the ages of 6 and 12. And what about his 12 year old daughter who is still right. And by the way, so she is, as it turns out, one of the things that happened in 2003 when my friend Francesca contacted me to say that he had been arrested. Then I was finally, after all these years, put back in touch with Rose because I had been forbidden to ever speak to her again and I had never spoken to her again. And that poor kid had been living with her own secret abuse for he had abused her for many, many years. And not only had she been the victim of that abusive incest, and this adds weight to the theory that he had probably molested people in other postings as well, because she, one of her great traumas was why she was never able to keep friends because they would always have to leave post very quickly and then her friends would never speak to her ever again. Tiffanie: So it's traumatic for a kid. Every kid wants to be accepted and have, ah, friends. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah. It's awful. Just completely. Tiffanie: So was it her daughter that he ended up molesting? Kristen Louise Duncombe: No, it wasn't her daughter. It was her son. Sister's daughter. It was her sister's daughter. Yeah. And many almost wonder, like, why would. Tiffanie: You allow him around your kid, knowing what kind of person he is, but at the same time, maybe you're hoping he's not that way anymore. I mean, you can go way down the rabbit hole on that one. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Well, and that is indeed a very complicated story, I think, for that family. And I don't want to speak, on their behalf. I just know, though, from having, by the way, the family, they were all very much in support of my book. I felt nothing but support their backing of my releasing the book because I was afraid of bringing more pain, to their lives, especially because I use the real name. I consulted with them before publishing the book because their father, I mean, it's public record. I wasn't going to change his name. But like I asked Rose, do you want me to change your name? And she said, no, I want. I have no illusions about what I am coming from. And I also do not feel responsible for my father's behavior. and there was something similar from her siblings as well. But of course, it's been a very traumatic, story for all of them. And I think that of the siblings, because that's a big Catholic family of the siblings that I know better than. I don't know all of them. But what they have had to grapple with within themselves is just their own, denial and repressed memories and, yeah. The isolation, you know, kind of like the way I was saying that I thought that I was the only one. Well, they also thought they were the only one. Tiffanie: Months, of course. And that's usually the case. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah. Tiffanie: And sometimes when a kid does realize that another child has been, that's when they stand up for it because they're like, oh, no, like, I allowed him to do this to me, but I'm not going to allow him to do this to this person. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Right. Yeah, exactly. Some people who have been victims end up becoming therapists or leaders Yeah. Yeah. Tiffanie: So it's time for change. It's so time for change in the system. And once a pedophile, they don't change. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah. Tiffanie: Something doesn't just click off. This is who they are. They're showing you who they are. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah. Tiffanie: So that's what pisses me off. When you get a guy gets arrested for molesting a child, he's out in a year, two years. Do you really think he's not gonna go out and find another child? Because he is. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah. Tiffanie: Then he'll get arrested again. Maybe he'll do five years then. And then he'll get out, and then he's going to kill a child. Because then it's going to escalate. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah. Tiffanie: And it's time to nip it. Nip it in the ass. If you want to touch children, stay behind bars. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah, exactly. Tiffanie: Get the help you need. Because unfortunately, some of them are even victims themselves. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yes. Well, and that's the thing. I think that in the case of Mr. 00:40:00 Kristen Louise Duncombe: Mr. Mulcahy, apparently he had also been a victim as a child. But I was talking about this with someone else. Of course you feel compassion for anyone who's been a victim. But why do some people that have been victims end up victimizing others and then other people that have been victims end up becoming therapists and trying to help other people? Being a victim doesn't mean that you have to turn around and repeat that. Tiffanie: Oh, absolutely. Kristen Louise Duncombe: I mean, as you know something, Right? Yeah. Tiffanie: So that does not give you the right to hurt others. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah. Tiffanie: I don't know if it's either they've been brainwashed and they. They feel like it's okay even though society is telling them no. I don't know if maybe they just don't care. They want other people to hurt the way that they hurt. I mean, I've always wondered that, like, when you do this to a child, you. You just changed their entire life. And do you even give a shit about that? Do you care what these children. I think, right? Kristen Louise Duncombe: I think not. Because I think that the narcissism runs it so deeply that it is impossible for the perpetrator to. To see beyond their own desires and wants. Tiffanie: I have heard of a few that noticed that there was issues and they took note. And they won't even be around children. Like they seriously do not want to take part. But, they still have the urges. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah. Tiffanie: But they know better that if they better not act. Act on it. So, yeah, I have heard of that a few times. So, I mean, that's. It's a blessing in disguise. You know what I mean? Kristen Louise Duncombe: That's. It's interesting, isn't it? Because I've heard some stories like that as well, but we don't hear much about that. And it would be. I would love to, to hear from people kind of like the way. And this is a very simplistic analogy that I'm making. I don't want to. I'm not trying to be glib, but kind of like the way, like me, I don't keep milk chocolate in the house because I know that if it's in the cupboard, I'm eating all of it. So if there are, abusers that are trying to take responsibility for their compulsive behaviors by staying away from children, it would be good to know about who those people are because maybe they could be leaders for some kind of reform. Tiffanie: Oh, absolutely. And if anyone who is listening knows someone, you know, don't be afraid to come out and say, this is what I'm fighting. Because you're fighting for it. And I would love to have you on the show because we need more of that. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah. Tiffanie: We need to care about what pathway are we sending our children on. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah, yeah. Tiffanie: It starts in childhood. Everything starts in childhood. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah. Yeah, indeed. Tiffanie: I'm so happy that you got the help that you needed and you're doing better. You know, I know writing that book was probably lethargic, but also inspiring and so many different. It's a healing journey. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Oh, very much. Yeah. Yeah, very much. And yeah, thank you. Because it's. Kristen Duncombe says State Department mishandled child abuse case For me, it has been extremely. Yeah, it's been very healing, not just to write the book, but now to do things like this, to go around talking about it. Because as I said, that all took place in the early 1980s. But. And he's dead. but I still think that the State Department needs to be held accountable for, for their feckless negligence. Negligence, indeed. Indeed. By handling it the way they did, they paved the road for that man to, continue abusing children, that had not even been born yet. Like that 8 year old girl that he raped. She hadn't even been born yet. And there was, there's many people like that. They just paved the way for him to the path of destruction. Yeah. Tiffanie: You literally just gave him the path and it's horrible. And I feel the same way about judges who let certain people out. You should be held accountable. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah. Tiffanie: Because you should know better. You should know how they work. You guys should all take a class or something. I don't know, like, I'm not even a judge and I can tell you ain't going to change. Yeah, it's not going to change. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah, indeed. And it's so frustrating because there are so many problems with the criminal justice system. Because then. 00:45:00 Kristen Louise Duncombe: And again, I don't know exactly how things are changing right now because I don't follow this that closely, but I know that so many people are locked up for things like possession of marijuana. It's so ridiculous. It's like, why are you chasing that when there's so many more horrible things that need. Tiffanie: You'll find someone who gets arrested with like an ounce of weed and they'll do like 10 years, but then you go and molest the child and you're out in two. Please explain that to me. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Nuts. Complete nuts. Tiffanie: Doesn't make any sense at all. Kristen Louise Duncombe: No, it does not. Tiffanie: If someone wanted to buy object, where is it at? Ah, on Amazon. Kristen Louise Duncombe: So the easiest is to just go online. You can go onto Amazon, Barnes and Noble, any of the the online, or you can go into. It's probably not in your local bookstore, but you can order it through your local bookstore. Tiffanie: Do you have a website if somebody. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Wanted to contact you? My website is my name without the Louise. So my author name, as we were talking about, is Kristen Louise Duncombe. Louise was my grandmother's name, but my website is Kristen Duncombe dot com. So if you just Google my name, you'll find my website and then you can find out everything about my books and my coaching and therapy practice. If you're interested in getting in touch, my email address is there. I'm always happy to exchange, chat about, you know, all of these matters. Tiffanie: Absolutely. And any sleuths out there, if you want to do some digging and see. Kristen Louise Duncombe: What you can find as well. lady in Paris, France, that needs help with her sleuthing. Sam says the world needs help with PTSD Tiffanie: Well, I want to thank you so much for being here and thank you for now helping others in this time of need because it's important and we all need healing. God, this world just needs Xanax or something. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yeah. Big dose of Xanax and a mega triple dose of Prozac. All of it we need. Yes. I so agree with you and I want to thank you for your interest in my story and for giving me this opportunity to talk about it. Thank you so much. Tiffanie: Absolutely. This. This is the shit that, like, keeps me up at night. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yes. Tiffanie: So, yeah, it's time to make some changes and I want to be part of the change. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Yes. Yeah. Thank you. Tiffanie: You are so welcome. Thank you. If this story moved, you, share with someone who needs to hear it. Don't forget to follow, rate and review. It helps more survivors find our community. Do you want to be part of the conversation and share your story? Visit true crime connections.com until next time. Be safe, be seen, and never forget, your story has power. Kristen Louise Duncombe: Sam. 00:48:28