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Elizabeth Smart is more than deserving of every accolade coming her direction for the way she handled the horrendous ordeal of the past eight years. She especially warrants praise for the dignity and composure she maintained during the five-week trial of the man convicted of kidnapping and relentlessly abusing her in 2002.
We can all breathe a collective sigh of relief now that Brian David Mitchell has been convicted of his atrocious crime. Justice is being served. His sentencing on May 25 should be but a legal step on the path to his spending the rest of his life behind bars.
While Mitchell's name will be etched among the most despicable of Utah criminals, Elizabeth Smart will be remembered with admiration for the exemplary way she has dealt with her victimization. She is a most extraordinary young woman. Foremost, she gives hope, as she said after the verdict was announced, "to other victims who have not spoken out about what's happened to them."
"It is possible," she said "to move on after something terrible has happened."
Now it is time for Elizabeth to move on, most immediately to complete her LDS mission in France. KSL hopes the public will let her do it in peace and relative privacy.
