NASHVILLE, Tenn. -
Marie Crist, makes it her personal mission to protect children from sexual predators and has found a creative way to do it.
In her first novel she draws from personal experience to illustrate the dangers parents may not be aware of.
In the first few pages, a group of children walk home from school, but they are not alone. Someone is watching them. She writes, "He knew their routines as well as those of the neighborhood. He knew that when the girls got off the bus the street would be empty."
Crist told Nashville's News 2, "My readers are parents [and] any adult who wants to protect their children and understands there are people who are hunting them."
Crist describes herself as a child advocate and the scenarios in her book are drawn, in part, from real life stories reported in the news.
Crist takes readers inside the mind of a pedophile and into the hearts of his victims.
She explained, "I write these scenarios so that you are almost in this situation with these children. You feel what they are feeling [and] see what they are seeing."
Crist has seen the hurt and felt the torment of young victims too many times to count after working with dozens of foster children who have been in her parents' care after experiencing sexual abuse.
Crist and her mother, Pamela Wright have become a sort-of "on paper" crime fighting duo. The pair scours Web sites and chat rooms where pedophiles are known to share information with one another.
"I wanted to learn everything I could about how pedophiles and child abusers get the children, how they abuse them, what motivates them so I could turn around and use that information to educate the public on how to protect their children," Crist said.
Wright added, "I have seen some troubled children. It has not just appalled me, it has really touched my heart, my spirit and in order to work through these things, I have written this series."
Their work doesn't come without a cost. Crist said she has received death threats from pedophiles that have discovered her series.
She told Nashville's News 2 she does what she can to protect herself, hides her true identity with a pseudonym and carries a concealed weapon. She also requested her interview with Nashville's News 2 take place away from her home.
"There's nothing they can do to stop me, I mean nothing they can do," Crist said, adding, "I'll be doing this 'til the day I die."
Crist said while her writing is graphic, she believes that parents need to be aware of the dangers associated with pedophiles.
"They need to be scared. I mean we can't be desensitized as a society to the fact that right now how many pedophiles are living in your zip code," she said.
Nashville's News 2 spoke with former child sex crimes detective David Imhof regarding Crist's work.
According to Imhof, the stranger assault that Crist writes about is just one scenario children could encounter.
"We've all talked about stranger danger and what do you do if a stranger comes up and offers you something to get you in the car. Those situations are real, they are somewhat rare, but they are real," he said.
According to Imhof, more often a pedophile will attempt to disarm an entire family before approaching the child; however, he did say an attentive parent can often spot red flags.
"Don't make your child an opportunity. Don't make your child vulnerable. Educate them so they can protect themselves and let them know you are there to protect them no matter what," he said.
Marie Crist, makes it her personal mission to protect children from sexual predators and has found a creative way to do it.
Crist and her mother, Pamela Wright have become a sort-of "on paper" crime fighting duo.
