I signed this change.org petition and hope you will consider doing so, too.
Not a damn thing was done to stop Frank Shelden’s decades-long child rape spree. Ever. He left a sea of victims around the world. This small memorial will acknowledge what took place on N. Fox at the hands of Shelden, his cronies and “clients.”
The petition took my breath away. I hope it succeeds.
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Signed and posted to FB. I hope it succeeds!
Thanks, Mary.
Signed and contributed to it. Who initiated this? Most of MI has “memory holed” this. I hope the memorial will bring more visibility to this justice denied.
Dylan Harrington created the petition after learning of and then researching N. Fox Island. He sent a proposal for this memorial to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (the state owns the island now), but has been ignored. He sent me the following email this morning:
“I recently learned about North Fox Island. As a Michigan native, I’m shocked I haven’t learned about it. As a disabled veteran with my own trauma, I feel for those men. As a husband and father, I fear for today’s youth. I am a writer and have contributed/am contributing non-fiction to The War Horse.
North Fox Island has shook me, I’ve researched the case in-depth. I feel, given the circumstances, the abuse of those men has basically been immortalized through deflection, avoidance, shame. Some sought justice and it was never attained. I feel they likely feel a sense of public shame, vulnerability, invalidated.
Recently, I wrote a proposal to the DNR (since they now own North Fox Island) about installing a simple bench and plaque on the island that reads: “for the boys abused by Francis Shelden, Gerald Richards, Dyer Grossman, and many others. Your silence is felt.”
I don’t intend on some sort of ceremony, or sensationalizing their abuse. My intent is simple and innocent. To validate them, I feel that having the DNR do this (even though they’re obviously completely unaffiliated with the abuse) would restore some of their faith in institutions, encourage them to “try again,” if that’s something they want to do. But I know this is a very complex issue.
I wouldn’t ask anyone to visit, or for statements, anything. I just feel like victims knowing that it’s there, that rich folks aren’t just happy-go-lucky camping on the same land they were abused on. I also feel like it would send a message to pedophiles today, a sort of, “it doesn’t get forgotten. You will be discovered.”
I use ChatGPT as a research assistant and it referred me to you and essentially said if anyone could tell me whether or not it’s a positive issue I should continue pursuing, it would likely be you (I will be writing to the state representative for support as the DNR is this far ignoring me). My cousin is in the process of trying to set up a memorial page that operates as a memorial and support page for making them install a bench and plaque on the island. In my proposal, I offered to fund it.
If you’re interested, I can also send you the proposal letter I sent to the DNR.”