Roger A. Canaff, an award winning legal thriller author whose writing is influenced by his experiences as a child protection and anti-violence against women advocate, legal expert, and speaker, is our guest on the Lean to the Left podcast.
Canaff has devoted his legal career to the eradication of violence against women and children, first as a prosecutor in Alexandria, Virginia, then as a Special Victims ADA in the Bronx.
In the episode, Canaff has some choice words for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate despite sex abuse charges brought by Christine Blasey Ford, who testified that as a teenager in the early 1980s Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her during a party. Kavanaugh denied the accusations.
Roger also was president of the Board of Directors of End Violence Against Women International, an organization that provides training, technical assistance, research and advocacy. He now teaches undergraduate and law school classes, and trains and consults privately, both nationally and internationally.
He is a charter member of CounterQuo, an organization of allied professionals challenging the way our culture responds to sexual violence.
Most recently he became a consultant with Justice3D.com, a leading educator in issues related to investigating and prosecuting sexual assault, child abuse, and domestic violence cases.
Roger Canaff is the author of four novels, including his latest, "City Dark," to be published October 1. He lives and works in New York City.
Here are some of the questions we asked Canaff during the interview:
Q. What prompted you to focus your work on violence against women and children?
Q. What were some of the experiences in your life, in your work, that informed the four novels that you’ve written?
Q. Tell us about your books, especially City Dark, which is due out on October 1.
Q. I did a podcast interview with an author, Sandy Phillips Kirkham, whose book, “Let Me Prey Upon You,” describes how as a teenager she was seduced and eventually raped by the youth pastor of her church, a fundamental protestant denomination. She said she had been “groomed” by this pastor.
I noticed in my research that you’ve given a presentation with Justice3D.com entitled “Introducing evidence of grooming and dynamics of victimization in child sex abuse cases.” Can you explain what that’s all about?
Q. Another talk you’ve given focuses on holding offenders accountable. What are some of the challenges and opportunities that arise with respect to that? Kirkham said her abuser was protected by his church, while she was virtually kicked out.
Q. All of this also can be related to sex abuse within the Catholic Church.. You’ve done some work in this area?
Q. What did you think of the sex abuse accusations against Judge Kavanaugh when he was being considered for the Supreme Court and how they were handled by the Senate Committee? You said on CNN that you had never seen a witness more compelling than Christine Blasey Ford, who testified that as a teenager in the early 1980s Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her during a party, which, of course, Kavanaugh denied. Should Kavanaugh be on the Supreme Court today?
Q. What’s next for you? Another book?
Q. Just curious, where do you get the names and descriptions of the characters in your books?
Q. Where can listeners find your books or reach out to you?
Listen to the episode: