Are you kidding me? I realize I was lucky to have really really really protective parents, but I can tell you that if I'd been in a similar situation, the only scared person in the picture would have been this 19-year-old jerk. My mother always packed, so he very quickly would have been making his arguments to a very ladylike-sized pistol that fit very handily into her purses (which always matched her high heels). And nobody ever wanted to get on the bad side of my father. His reputation was legend and he would never let his expensive suits and French cuffs stop him from delivering a message to a guy who didn't get it the first time. My stepmother has a more gentle nature on the outside, but she's not one bit less scary as a mother bear. She has tons of friends and family from both sides of the tracks, and, like the little Amish boy who rang the bell in "Witness," all she had to do was make a call and that guy would be having a really awful day.

I remember once a very bad man threatened me when I was about 11 years old. He said I'd better not call for my mother or he'd hurt me. As soon as he said that, I wasn't even scared anymore, and I remember almost laughing at him. I looked him square in the eye and confidently confronted him with the only weapon I needed: "My mother will kill you." I must have sold it because he couldn't get away from me fast enough.

All that is to say that a parent's premier job is to do everything in their power to protect their minor children. Everything else comes second. We all have our weaknesses, but in this area, there is no substitute. Of course, we cannot always keep harm from our babies, however kids should feel that passion that their parents will fight to the death for them. Children should know that it is they who will be believed if there is ever a question; that their parents are their raving fans and anyone who tries to hurt them will experience the worst kind of pushback. Parents who somehow didn't get the "papa bear" instinct to protect their cubs should admit they are not up to the task should be willing to call in law enforcement, friends and relatives to take care of business. Children carry that confidence with them and I think that others sense it.

Quientana Ray, if she and her parents are telling the truth, is a survivor of unspeakable abuse and, in my view, she was let down by numerous adults who should have stepped in to convince Mr. Karr that if he didn't leave that child alone, he'd soon become the bride of Bubba the Bruiser in Cellblock 4.

We can be thankful that she now lives to tell her story and, regardless of the outcome on the JonBenet charges, we can only hope that enough evidence will be assembled to give him a day in court. Perhaps, if these horrific stories are found to be true, no other little girls will have their childhood tragically ended.