Among the many public school teachers recently arrested for child sex abuse
One would think that the school summer vacation season would not see many stories of stomach-turning child sex abuse by public school teachers, but this summer has seen an avalanche of shocking cases of teacher sex abuse.
Here is a sampling of stories just from the past week:
- A former middle school teacher in Tennessee pleaded guilty to performing sex acts on 10 students, some of which occurred in the classroom (link);
- Police arrested an Oklahoma band and choir teacher and charged him with "18 counts of rape, sodomy and lewd molestation" of a 14-year-old student (link);
- A court sentenced a New York gym teacher to prison after a jury found him guilty of molesting a girl from kindergarten through fifth grade (link);
- A Los Angeles Unified School District middle school teacher accused of repeatedly molesting a 14-year-old girl led police on a high-speed chase that ended with him crashing into a tree (link, with crash video);
- A grand jury indicted a Kentucky high school teacher for engaging with sex acts with students (link);
- A grand jury indicted a Virginia teacher for sex offenses with a minor (link);
- A retired teacher in Alaska was sentened for having sex with an underage girl (link);
- An Illinois teacher was sentenced for having sex with a student (link);
- Police arrested a Texas teacher on suspicion of having sex several times with a student at various hotels (link);
- Police arrested a California high school choir teacher for sexual misconduct with a student (link);
- A jury is hearing the case of a Pennsylvania teacher accused of having sex with two students (link);
- After a court sentenced a Dallas-area teacher to 62 years in prison for acting out a sickening diaper fetish, three parents sued the school for failing to prevent the abuse (link);
- In what even the media dubbed "an extraordinary move," prosecutors actually charged a California elementary school principal for failing to report alleged abuse by a teacher who was arrested and charged with sexually abusing five students (link); and
- Fourteen mothers of former students of a Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) elementary school sued the district and two principals on the claim that LAUSD and officials "ignored sexual abuse of minor students" by a former teacher (link).
So … How many stories like this do there need to be before Maureen Dowd and the editors at the New York Times finally take notice of this epidemic happening today in our public schools?
We are still waiting for the Times to follow up on its shocking blog item in April that there were "248 complaints of sexual misconduct involving school employees" just in the first three months of 2012 in New York City public schools.
While the Times and other major media still harp over decades-old allegations of abuse by Catholic priests that happened before many of their readers were even alive, they continue to ignore the abuse in government schools going on today.
Will major media outlets ever change their ways and take a deeper look into these sickening scandals – like they did with the Catholic Church?
Stay tuned – but don't hold your breath, because, as we have said previously, the media's obsession with sex abuse in the Catholic Church has little to do with sex abuse and more to do with advancing a political bias.
Heartbreaking…………
There is post worth reading: Family of dead woman ridiculed by Nancy Grace hires Lake Elmo Attorney.
Any thoughts SNAP?? Why should any individual or professional endure repeated public humiliation
if justice is being served, and, forgiveness and healing are in the works?
How many children have to suffer before SNAP and the New York Times actually care?
Blackboard Bungle Case Settled
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/k-12/blackboard-bungle-case-settled
[Editor: Please note: graphic language warning on this link. It is a story/case about a middle school teacher that asked students to write vulgar, sex-related terms in a sex ed class. Thanks. (I also fixed the link.)]
These stories are truly heartbreaking. Thank All that is Holy that these sex abusers were not preaching at Sunday Mass and being passed off as Other Christs. And that they have been stopped, rather than passed around all over the United States.
Once again, FAAF has volunteered a useful bit.
S/he tries with a rather heavy-handed obviousness to somehow bring it back to the SNAP agenda.
Whereas actually, following the agenda SNAP piously purports to pursue, the following questions should instantly be asked: 1) If there are this many, then how many more? 2) How long has this been going on? 3) What institutional cover-ups have been perpetrated? 4) What specific organizational instruments have been devised (e.g. specific clauses in various union contracts) precisely to prevent legal or career consequences from coming into play against offending (or suspected) teachers and staff?
In regard to (4), by the way: if there are such clauses or provisions in formally-endorsed union contracts, then we shall have a far more concrete evidence of institutional ‘cover-up’ or a ‘culture of abuse’ than any investigation has discovered in the Church cases.
Lastly, FAAF deploys by implication the classic SNAP mantra that no matter where else such sex-abuse might exist, the Catholic Church is a ‘unique’ offender, because it is – or claims to be – so unique and Divinely-missioned. Such a marvelous (if back-handed) ‘respect’ for the Church and her Mission. Although it counts for nothing when it comes to violence against accused priests and against the entire hierarchy. And, of course, FAAF is not the most rabidly anti-Catholic of SNAP-ish commenters who are dead-set against the Church, religion, ‘men’, or even God Himself.
But surely the key concern should be the damage – if genuine – done to the victims. And especially if that damage is being perpetrated not in the past but in the present. Thus the FAAF/SNAP effort to keep things focused on the Church’s past record – such as that record genuinely supports concern – seem weirdly out of sync with a concern for what are apparently many many more numerous victims of a system that has received neither publicity nor reforming pressures and is churning on even as we speak.
But none of that would Keep The Ball Rolling. And that’s what – now – it’s all about.
For SNAP. It remains to be seen whether the great sharks in our troubled political waters are going to continue ferrying the remora that is SNAP and its agenda on precisely congruent paths. SNAP may soon have to start doing more swimming for itself. And I don’t think that its Oz-like illusions will last very long without all that larger enabling help which has been available to it for the past 25 years or so.
Hi, guys. Fitasafiddle has indicated that she wants to make it very clear that she is not a member of SNAP.
So let's steer away from saying this.
Otherwise, thank you to everyone for contributing to the discussion!
Best,
TheMediaReport.com
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Would this suggest "SNAP" is becoming an unappealing acronym?
This duplicity from the news media is nothing new, but it seems to be shared by the courts as well. I found a flagrant example awhile back in the case of Fr. Gordon J. MacRae who is his 18th year of wrongful imprisonment in New Hampshire. The accusations against him were brought by a 15 yr. old claiming assaults alleged to have occurred in 1983. A hapless Superior Court judge in Concord, NH ruled that the three year civil statute of limitations begins to toll when the "victim" becomes aware he was injured. More recently, an accuser has come forward claiming a sexual assault at age 15 by a public school teacher alleged to have occurred in 1983. The very same court ruled that the teacher and school district cannot be sued because "A reasonable 15 yr. old would know that having sex with a teacher would be a violation of her rights" and so the three year statute of limitations expired years ago. Same crime, same time, same place, same court, but one standard for the teacher and another for the priest.
Fit as a Fiddle's comment demonstrates very well that SNAP folks care nothing about victims outside of the Catholic Church. They are heartless, with a very narrow and focused agenda.
Hi, guys. Fitasafiddle has indicated that she wants to make it very clear that she is not a member of SNAP.
So let's steer away from saying this.
Otherwise, thank you to everyone for contributing to the discussion!
Best,
TheMediaReport.com
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Would it be helpful if this blog were read by all employees of the archdiocese and colleges?
Would it be encouraging for the priests to be reassured the adults surrounding them
are learning the truth? It is one thing for the priests to feel appreciated by their parisioners,
but what about this, too? More individuals need to participate for the immediate and long -term
success of this site. Even if they simply "reply" with their initials, that is evidence of more individuals
are learning.
When I read all of the above I became very greatful that I was never subjected to sex abuse by anyone. It could have easily happened because I went to five different schools altogether (one of which was a Catholic school!) but it didn't.
While it could be argued that the crimes of the Church are somehow more grave because of what it supposedly stands for, Dave Pierre is still doing us a great service by pointing out such double standards. May God bless Mr. Pierre for his untiring efforts.
SHALOM
God Bless y'all
Keep up the good work and keep on provin the truth !!!
I read Ryan MacDonald's comment twice because I could not believe what I was reading. It is certainly worth the effort to digest, but it sent a chill down my spine. The double standard has never been clearer to me. I learned of The Media Report when Father MacRae wrote of it recently on his blog, These Stone Walls. I subscribed at that time, and I thank you Mr. Pierre for opening our eyes and keeping them open. This is a side of the story we cannot see anywhere else, and I am convinced of the truth of it all. You are doing a great service to your Church and the truth.
Where is always crazy David Clohessy of SNAP in all this?
Clohessy doesn't care, because it doesn't involve the Catholic Church and the potention for lawsuit.
Are there copies of this book in public libraires? Are there planned book sigining events at
the few precious bookstores left? Do colleges which offer courses and degrees in journalism,
communications and public relations require this book for reading? This is important work because it
will help retore faith in the church and strengthen public support for the priests. With regards
to strength, thank you good priests for your unwavering dedication over the past decade.
I would have caved within the first year, what about everyone else??
kmc: 3 bucks on my Kindle. Read it in one afternoon. Best 3 bucks I ever spent.
Fit as a Fiddle makes me uncomfortable, SNAP member or not, because she is rolling SNAP's ball of always bringing it to Catholic priests no matter what and that they are always guilty, as SNAP always says. It is becoming clear to our horror that innocent priests are getting caught up in this, their lives ruined, and some in jail. I don't care what happens to the guilty priests. But the innocent ones are heartbreaking and they deserved to be heard also. We have no idea if accusations against a priest from 40 years ago or earlier really are true in some cases, especially when it is one or two people making the accusation and there is money to be had. SNAP works to put names out there and a template, and lobby for laws, in order to generate huge numbers of lawsuits, whether the priests are guilty or not. I am getting very uncomfortable with what is going on. When the tune has one note, there is something very off.
My own comments in regard to FAAF worked off the congruence between FAAF's comments and the SNAP agenda – and thus whether FAAF is/was or is not/wasn't a SNAP member was never a key point. Let me say here that in any subsequent comments it may be taken as given that I do not presume or infer that FAAF is formally a member of SNAP.
The question arises in my mind, however: is FAAF's recent insistence purely a) merely a fact-check type of minor correction, or is it b) an effort by FAAF to distance herself from SNAP or c) an effort by SNAP to distance itself from FAAF?
As I have said, I don't troll listserves, but if you make a simple review of such easily-accessible sites as the 'National Catholic Reporter' (in its 'Accountability' section articles on priest-abuse matters) or that site set up to cover the Philadelphia trial or even some of the commentary on this site then you get a sense of what sort of ideas and indeed mentalities are behind so much of the 'Catholic abuse crisis'.
"ideas and indeed mentalities" that have always unapologetically and brazenly lobbed out accusations and presumption of guilt with no regard for the veracity of any given allegation. And now we see this exact same mindset advocating mob mentality and flat out illegal violence. Not in my America!
When SNAP and those of a similar mindset illustrate that they value the truth over agenda, and demonstrate that they will always seek out the truth BEFORE presuming and proclaiming guilt, I will support them. It's that simple.
The comment by ‘Ryan A. MacDonald’ about the two cases in NH is the clearest example I have ever seen of the double-standard at work in this Catholic clerical abuse matter. (And thanks and congratulations to him for bringing it to light).
I would add that the NH example he mentions is a result of the synergy between several elements.
First, the type of ‘injury’: before the victim-friendly acceptance of psychological and emotional and behavioral conditions as ‘injury’, the ‘tolling’ mechanism of civil-litigation was still anchored to some demonstrable reality. Thus, if a plaintiff only discovered the injurious consequences of a defendant’s action(s) later on – and could not reasonably have known of those consequences earlier – then the law (rightly, I would say) allowed the ‘tolling’ to come into effect. So if – say – a defendant caused a traffic accident and only later did medical specialists discover an injury that the layman would not have noticed, then that ‘tortious’ consequence could not ‘reasonably’ have been known by the plaintiff until the doctors discovered it, and the ‘tolling’ comes into play to allow the plaintiff a reasonable time to act on it legally if s/he wishes. The medical reports and technological scans and expert testimony of the doctors provide clear and demonstrable proof of the injury, of the ‘tort’.
But what we see in these abuse-cases is a much more dubious form of ‘evidence’: 1) the victim’s self-reported ‘problems’, which are of such a nature (emotional, psychological) that the problems are not easily observable to any other person (a judge or a juror, most relevantly);
2) The mechanism so often claimed for this ‘discovery’ by the allegant-plaintiff is some form of ‘repressed memory’ – which is hugely debatable and no longer enjoys the confidence of courts – or else the issue is clouded (strategically) by the claim that it took the allegant-plaintiff all this time to work up the ‘heroism and courage’ to speak up (although for the past decade, at least, the general public atmosphere is such that one can make such a claim with no more embarrassment or fear than somebody pulling a fire-alarm hook. In fact, one comment-maker on the Philadelphia site mentioned that s/he had very recently overheard a youngish waiter at a restaurant matter-of-factly relating a story of abuse to the people he was serving, as if it were ‘just a thang’;
3) Nor is there clear evidence that the alleged ‘abuse’ actually caused the emotional or psychological or behavioral ‘problem’ that the victim, years or decades later, now claims is purely a result of the alleged abuse. Thus: an allegant now, say, in his/her 40s or 50s claims that a decades-old alleged abuse (and not necessarily anything as overt as genuine rape) is responsible for the ensuing years’ or decades’ worth of alcoholism, psychological difficulties, and/or behavioral issues that have resulted in a greatly impaired maturity and adult life. But there are any number of elements that may have contributed to such an impaired adult performance: genetic, familial, personal (including ‘poor choices’, as it might be called nowadays). Judges and jurors (and – through the media – the public) are quickly rushed by this vast and glaring set of possibilities, often using the excuse of ‘not blaming the victim’ (although right here you run into the huge and utterly vital disconnect that the allegant has not yet been proven to be a genuine and actual ‘victim’ of the alleged act and its alleged perpetrator in the first place).
So, to use a recent relevant example: it has never been formally established either that a) William Lynch was indeed raped by the priest as he claims in justification of his assault or that b) William Lynch’s entire failed adult life (as he describes it) is totally or greatly ascribable to whatever Lindner may have done to him; and – indeed – there is certainly reasonable grounds for considering the possibility that Lynch preceded his (quite possibly premeditated) assault-and-battery on Lindner by lying about the effects of Lindner’s alleged act 40 years ago so as to absolve himself of any responsibility for the failed-adulthood he now so publicly claims.
Now, finally, other – and perhaps even more substantial – arenas of abuse are coming under public attention. It is quite possible that there has been an organizational tendency by both teachers and administrators (and politicians) to cover-up. But I think it’s clear also that any group would want to avoid the type of un-balanced and highly-weighted (not to say ‘rigged’) public treatment that has been heaped upon the Church for years now.
And this is the problem with such inflated, exaggerated, unbalanced, non-rational and in myriad other ways selective forms of public and official examination: the (legitimate) fear of being the target of such a powerfully deranged dynamic creates by itself an equally non-rational desire to avoid any publicity or public examination at all.
And this is ascribable not simplistically to the ‘perp’s’ desire to escape investigation and possible punishment, but also the natural desire to avoid stepping into the path of such a lethally irrational but highly focused type of public investigation as you wind up with in sex-abuse matters.
Genuine abuse – the perpetration of it and the suffering it creates – is an issue worthy of serious public inquiry. But that inquiry has to be precisely that – ‘serious’ – and not the sly but irrational P.T. Barnum show that has been played out for so long, turning the public forum into a circus-tent.
One parishioner’s response to the report of a Miami priest being arrested for shoplifting twice in December potentially a result of media bias. Here is why: One parishioner responded: "He cannot comeback to Saint Clare's". "Oh, Heavens, no." Really, why?
This response does not seem “typical” and/or compassionate.
We loved our parish and the priests. If this had happened to any of them, this would have been our response: First, we would have felt sad that our priests were having the problem and publicity associated with the problem. Second, we would have questioned the underlying problem. Third, we would have questioned whether as parishioners there was more we should be doing, including recalibrating our expectations in general and especially "December."
Finally, we would have purchased a gift certificate for him for twice the amount of the items taken and hoped he waited until January so he pays closer to what the merchandise is actually worth.
**This "does" have to do with the sex abuse crisis. This incident illustrates the power of attitudes and opinions.
Would the parishioner have disowend a family member or close family friend? This question is key because if the answer is "no", why the priest?
Quick Question: *SNAP seeks max for Penn
Would it be possible for someone to approach "SNAP" and ask them to consider
changing the "P" to another word that starts with P, making it more relevant to current events?
There is no other profession I am aware of that must endure their professional/vocational title
being used in this way.