braveprophecycloud

[braveprophecycloud]

Craig Cedermark: Dentist and Pedophile Enabler.

I think that I spend more time lost in the past than the average person. A lot of people I have known impulsively say what pops into mind, and the fallout is what it is. In contrast, I tend to ruminate on the 'small stuff' a lot longer than anybody I've known. For the most part, I don't think it's a good thing, but at the same time: I am who I am.

And so, one day, I googled Craig Cedermark. He was a roommate of mine at The College of New Jersey (often referred to as 'TCNJ'). I moved in with total strangers, because the college only offered me a place about 3 miles off campus and I did not drive (I don't recall there being a busline to the college from those apartments, either). The danger of moving in with total strangers is that you don't know who you are going to end up with.

There was Dmitry Dorofeev, whose days were filled with pot smoke and, far more damningly, smashed his girlfriend's head against the counter of her home. He knocked her unconscious. I don't know what caused his rage, but it wouldn't surprise me if he was on drugs. He proceeded to make his life drama our issue, and we spent some days prepared that her father or the police would show up to the door and ask us some questions about what Dmitry had told us.

There was Rachel Mockler (might have spelled her last name wrong... not sure), who was dating Craig and would have sex with him out in the open. I would often hear giggling and... other sounds, just walking through the house. In short, it was weird. I will disclose, since she has been public about it and made it our household drama as well, that she had a lot of loose sex, both with Craig and others (she cheated on him), and has had a number of casual abortions. Again, I am only mentioning this because she insisted on making it our household drama. She was quick to call the landlord, Tom Lynch, for the slightest of issues. My understanding is she's out on a commune in Montana now, engaging in some cult rituals that I haven't bothered to probe into.

Ah, and finally: there's Omid. Omid, who drove around children's playgrounds playing a Sesame Street audio cassette from his car, windows rolled down. Who had an obsession with talking about diapers (yes, really) and would get aggressive if you told him to stop or that you weren't interested in hearing about it. I later asked him directly if he was a pedophile, and he confessed to it. I can't explain the feeling of learning that your roommate is a pedophile. I don't know if he is an actual predator, and I have no evidence that he is. But his behaviors and words were enough that I was thrilled that he moved out shortly after, even if I have a number of painful memories of him (such as the time he picked up my guitar, without my consent, and made up a ridiculous song claiming that I was in love with my mother, and he refused to stop and went on for minutes singing his strange lyrics).

This post is long enough as it is, so I'll keep it simple: one day, Omid got relentlessly invasive and insisted on sexually harassing me, hitting on me (he repeatedly told me he 'loved' me, in a sing songy voice, as well) even after I told him I wanted to be left alone and was not interested in him, and his expressions of his diaper fantasies got more and more ridiculous and unwanted. My best guess is he viewed himself in a power struggle with me and demanded to be the 'winner'. At some point, I started screaming, because I do not believe in being physically aggressive and, at the least, if he did not stop it might bring attention of a roommate to educate Omid on sexual harassment and personal boundaries.

However: that did not happen. A roommate did come downstairs from his bedroom, but not to stop Omid. Instead, Craig came downstairs and demanded that I stop yelling. I informed him of what Omid had done, and Omid's pedophilic behavior, and Craig did not care. Given that Omid had moved to the United States from Swaziland and followed an obscure religion, Craig had a habit of expressing an admiration for Omid's story, and he sided with Omid on anything that I can remember. And so he did: even on Omid being a pedophile.

After telling me to stop yelling, Craig called me the n-word, and followed it with the word 'pig'. Eventually, he left because he said he was 'uncomfortable' with me yelling (strange, because he also yelled at me during the conversation), even if it was to stop a repeated act of sexual harassment. Eventually, Craig left, Omid went back to his diaper comments and 'love' songs, and eventually I gave up and left, while Omid followed me to my bedroom and repeatedly told me that he 'loved' me. Although I had a door, there was a vent between his room and mine. He proceeded to go back to his room and 'love' talk me through the vent and peer at me. I would find out on another occasion that Omid used to look at me naked through that vent (he volunteered that information), and that he was studying my naked body during those events, without my knowledge or consent.

I have told many people about Omid's behavior since. He proceeded to hibernate and delete his various social media, before reactivating or re-registering it years later. I have informed his brother (Anis) as well as a girlfriend of his who proceeded to break up with him.

As for Craig? He got a doctorate from Columbia and became a dentist. He has a child now. I'm very concerned that that child is not safe in his household. I hope that Craig, in addition to being an enabler, is not also someone who shares Omid's desires.

Craig, like Omid, had a tendency to pick on me (for example, if I sat on the couch in the living room, he'd angrily accuse me of 'never doing anything') and make his personal life our drama (his breakup with Rachel). Rachel confirmed to me that Craig was born rich and never had faced accountability in his life. This did not even remotely surprise me.

It felt good to write all that. It was a long time ago, but these thoughts get lodged in my head and refuse to leave, sometimes.

Thanks for reading.