Sexual Abusers Allowed to Continue Preying On Chilldren Because Of Inaction
Once again, organization protects itself at expense of children's lives
The recent arrests of former Penn State defensive coordinator Gerald "Jerry" Sandusky, as well as two Penn State officials, Athletic Director Tim Curley and Senior VP for Finance and Business Gary Schultz, are a sobering reminder that those who are responsible for the administration of some of our most venerable and trusted institutions - schools, churches, charities, and governmental entities included - are all too susceptible to the irrational practice of making protection of peers, employees, institutional reputations, and revenue streams a higher priority than the safety, security, and dignity of the most vulnerable members of society, our children. In the case of Gerald Sandusky, multiple opportunities to put a stop to his serial sexual assaults on young boys were squandered in deference to status quo, resulting in severe, unwarranted, and preventable damage to several young lives.
Sandusky was arrested Saturday, November 5 after the release of a grand jury report detailing an investigation into allegations that Sandusky had engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with eight boys, as young as seven years old, over a period of roughly 15 years. Included among 40 counts in the indictment are are seven counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.
The report alleges that Sandusky met the boys through The Second Mile, a charity program for troubled youths which Sandusky founded in 1977, coming into contact with the boys through a camp which the charity operates on Penn State's University Park campus. Much of the abuse is alleged to have occurred on the Penn State campus. Though Sandusky retired from Penn State in 1999, he held the regular privileges of a professor emeritus, including an office and telephone in the Lasch Football Building at the University Park campus.
The victims of Jerry Sandusky and those at the Penn State University who allowed these horrific crimes to continue, are likely suffering in silence. All will be traumatized for life, and some will become suicidal. In the wake of the scandal we cannot lose sight of what is most important, namely that another group of vulnerable children lost their innocence through a program that offered hope.
One of the greatest criticisms of the Church is that despite all their resources and knowledge about sexual abuse they never reached out to help in treating the survivors until litigation started. The University has a department of psychology and a child study center, the university should be reaching out to the victims and their families to provide support at this traumatic time which will help mitigate the damages. The revelations and cover up are a painful reminder that Childhood Sexual Abuse is a wide spread national concern that crosses all aspects of our lives and is a problem with Churches, Doctors, Coaches and in many other areas. This should be a shot across the bow that tells people in positions of authority and responsibility that their first duty is to the child and to the law.
Click Here for Grand Jury Findings and Charges