My View, from Fox 13's John Wilson

One of the most asked questions I get lately is: Don't you get tired of telling us about the ugly things that people do to each other?

The answer is of course, yes.  But we do what we have to do, even when it involves people we know.  I knew John Bryan.

How can John Bryan go from being one of the best city councilmen who ever served at City Hall in St. Pete, to a monster?  He was a strong supporter of CASA, the Center Against Spouse Abuse.  He was such an outgoing and genuinely pleasant guy, who had a dark side, an ugly secret: he sexually abused his children, then killed himself when his sordid private life became public.

The public officials he worked with in St. Pete, including the mayor, did the best they could.
 
He probably cajoled his children; I just can't imagine him threatening anyone.  He could have said, "This is our little secret" or told his adopted daughter -- who is now an adult -- "who would believe you?"

And how tortured is his wife now -- whom some will blame for not stopping it?  How could she not know it?  And the one who did know, the adopted daughter, now 38, who became a nanny for them.  Why didn't she come forward?

Maybe she did.  Maybe she called DCF.  That would have brought the police in.  It takes someone willing to say, "Yes, it happened to me and he did it." 

The whole family will need counseling, there will be an inclination to focus on the children, but Mrs. Bryan may need the most of it.  She is probably in real torment now

We don't really know what demons anyone faces.  The media would certainly have been one for him after it became public.  And he would have wound up in jail, behind bars instead of living in his beautiful home and serving as chairman of the St. Pete City Council.

Ironically, the center against spouse abuse in St. Pete counted on John Bryan for help and a vote at budget time.  He was one of the center's most active supporters.

Linda Osmanson, the head of CASA, said it's hard to find any sympathies for this man now.  It points out the frustrating nature of abuse, which she said happens much more often than anyone knows.

About a third of all relationships are abusive, and no matter how much we want the victims to come forward and tell police or some authority about being raped by a relative, no one knows about the fear and shame unless you have been a victim yourself.

This is about power and whoever has it, usually wins.  That's why we didn't know about it until John Bryan's power at home finally collapsed when someone turned him in.

That's My View.