Bikers Against Child Abuse Roar Into Court
Dec. 23, 2003
Adapted from the Philadelphia Inquirer
Risa Ferman said she had never seen anything like it. After the roar of motorcycle engines quieted, Montgomery County's first assistant district attorney said, a "rough-looking bunch" of long-haired men, clad in denim and leather, dismounted from their Harley-Davidsons. The patches on the jackets identified them as belonging to the same "tribe." They filled the parking lot outside a Lansdale district justice's office.
"What is going on?" Ferman recalled thinking.
It was December 2001 at the courtroom of District Justice David Keightly. Ferman was there to represent the commonwealth in its case against a Montgomeryville man charged with murder in the death of his 7-week-old daughter. Members of Bikers Against Child Abuse of Montgomery County Inc. filled the back rows of Keightly's courtroom.
Since then, members of the bikers' group have been attending court hearings in child-abuse cases in Montgomery and upper Bucks Counties to show support for child-abuse victims and their families. In November, members of the group made an appearance at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown to support two teenage girls who alleged they had been sexually abused by their Jenkintown karate instructor.
Showing up at court hearings goes beyond the traditional role of the group, which is to raise money for children's causes, orchestrate toy drives, and draw attention to child-abuse issues.
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