All: Child abuse storylines?

[DRW50]

Yes, the Vietnam vet.

I still see the sexual abuse as a rewrite. Ben suddenly becomes a serial killer, and only when this happens do we learn of this abuse. Up to then, in the two years Ben had been back in Springfield, this had never been an issue. And while people can be sexually abused no matter how much their parents might love them, the problem was Fletcher was not even involved in the story. I can't even remember if he was mentioned. So they basically trashed a major part of Ben's life without even trying to acknowledge anything fans felt.

[Paul Raven]

One of Loving's first story was the sexual abuse of Lily Slater (Jennifer Ashe) by her father Garth (John Cunningham). Doug Marland stated that ABC decreed the story be wrapped up and not referenced again by Jan 84 because the network was heavily promoting the Ted Danson TV movie 'Something About Amelia' as the first in depth study of child sexual abuse, and they didn't want some obscure soap stealing their thunder.

[MichaelGL]

I think we could all agree....the Ben Reade storyline could have been done better, retcon or no retcon.

The Doctors did a child abuse story with Ricky Match, who was being abused by his aunt M.J.'s fiance Tom Caroll. Guess who played Tom? James Rebhorn, who would later play the abusive Bradley Raines(GL) and Henry Lange(ATWT)......

[LegalGirl82]

Yes, it was Jake's Uncle Charley (his father's brother) who molested him. When Jake finally remembered it was Charley and not his father, he confronted his uncle, who promptly tried to kill Jake. When that failed, Charley tried (and may have succeeded...I don't remember) to commit suicide.

On Days, Duke Johnson was an equal opportunity abuser. He physically abused Steve (Patch) as a child, until his wife, Jo, abandoned both Steve and his brother, Billy(?), later known as Jack Devereaux. Jo made the decision to abandon the boys after she realized Steve was about to kill his father. Sometime after, Jo gave birth to Adrienne. It was evident that Duke continually beat Jo throughout their marriage. When Adrienne came to Salem looking for Steve, she brought Jo with her. After she finally convinced Jo to leave Duke (she was staying at a shelter), he took it out on Adrienne by raping her (when she wouldn't tell him where Jo was). When he was about to rape her for the second time, Adrienne shot and killed him.

Also on Days, Kim Brady was sexually abused as a child, but I can't remember the particulars.

On AW in the early '80s, it was revealed that Blaine Ewing's mother had physically and emotionally abused her as a child. Blaine had written about the abuse in her childhood diary. Cecile obtained the diary and, along with Alma Rudder, used it to torture Blaine.

On GL, Beth Raines' very first scenes had her in the hospital after being physically abused by Bradley (although it wasn't specifically stated so at the time). She was "accident prone." The rape came six months later. Bradley was also emotionally abusive to Lillian and several times he almost took a swing at her.

[Khan]

The day James Rebhorn is cast as something other than an abusive creep or a hard-nosed law enforcement official is the day I'll know the apocalypse is near.

[Paul Raven]

Re The Doctors and Tom Carroll.James Rebhorn was the first Tom,but by the time MJ and Tom married,Jonathan Frakes was playing Tom,so the Ricky abuse story would have been with Frakes

[dc11786]

Wasn't Rebhorn's character on "Texas" a mild mannered servant of the Wheelers who was trying to get a novel published?

[teplin]

I don't remember James Rehborn as "Tom Carroll." When I was watching -- granted, only during the summer -- Jonathan Frakes (Mr. Genie Francis) was in the role. Frakes was anything but a "Rehborn type," and his seeming ordinariness made the story even more horrifying.

[dsvd79]

B&B- Stephanie was abused by her father.

[Mr. Vixen]

Well, it wasn't sexual, but there are always Bobbie and Luke from GH...Their father beat them, and because of that Bobbie ended up living with her aunt, and becoming a prostitute...So you could say his physical abuse led to her being sexually used/abused as a prostitute.

I have always kind of wondered if we would find out that Bobbie was sexually assulted. I mean, back when she was a big part of the show, it's a storyline I played out in my mind. Where her father might have raped her or molested her and she blocked it out, as she couldn't handle accepting that along with the physical abuse of her mother and brother....For a long time I thought they would go there, but it doesn't seem likely anymore.

[Sindacco]

DAYS:

Austin and Billie were abused by Curtis. Brandon and Nicole were abused by Paul.