July 12, 2012 · 5:21 pm

Tarnished

An internal investigation on Penn State’s reaction to abuse by Jerry Sandusky has reaffirmed that Joe Paterno and other officials chose to shield the school’s reputation, rather than the children abused there for over a decade.

Officials failed to comply with mandatory reporting requirements; their inaction facilitated the abuse.

Loyal fans have been hostile toward victims, as if their sole purpose in coming forward was to malign Paterno’s reputation.  Handwritten notes and emails confirm that Paterno was aware of the abuse, and actively involved in the decision to cover it up.

That should tarnish his reputation.

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June 28, 2012 · 5:17 pm

Public Awareness

Recent Pennsylvania verdicts re: the cover-up by Catholic Church officials of pedophile priests, and repeated betrayals of trust by a former Penn State assistant coach have put abuse in the headlines.

Raising public awareness is vital to the prevention of child abuse.  So is public involvement.

Even as I write this, abuse continues.  Locally, news reports indicate a 6 year old boy in the advanced stages of starvation when first hospitalized, was twice returned to the custody of the very parents who had neglected him.

As a community, we are responsible for the welfare of our children.  However welcome guilty verdicts against predators may be, the criminal justice system can only seek to remedy past injury. Prevention is the ideal.  No child should bear these scars.

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June 22, 2012 · 5:13 pm

Guilty

Former Penn State assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky has been found guilty of 45 of the 48 counts brought against him for having abused 10 boys over a period of 15 years, using his charity The Second Mile to trawl for victims.

One of Sandusky’s adopted children came forward to say he, too, was abused.

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June 22, 2012 · 4:58 pm

Held Accountable

Msgr. William Lynn has been found guilty in Philadelphia of a single count of endangerment for the systematic cover-up by Catholic Church officials of pedophile priests.

Offending priests were deliberately transferred from one unknowing parish to another at the direction of now deceased Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua.

The testimony by adult abuse survivors was wrenching. The verdict does not begin to offset their suffering, which continues to this day.

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May 23, 2012 · 4:50 pm

Nuremberg…Again

Philadelphia’s trial of Msgr. William Lynn for the systematic cover up by Catholic Church officials of pedophilia by priests continues.

The defense rests on two grounds: the advice of legal counsel that reporting to law enforcement was unnecessary, since the statute of limitations had run; and the orders of now deceased Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua.

Of course, the Statute of Limitations had not yet run when many claims were initially made. Often, it was the delayed handling by church officials which caused the statute to run. Nor was there a re-examination of the issue, when the Statute of Limitations was extended by the legislature.

In fact, had the Catholic Church acted in the best interests of the victims, it could easily have waived the Statute of Limitations at any time.

As to the second ground, it was previously raised by Adolf Eichmann at the Nuremberg war crimes trials.  He was “only following orders,” too.

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March 30, 2012 · 4:36 pm

Landmark

A landmark case is being tried in Philadelphia with the purpose of holding accountable in the US for the first time a Roman Catholic Church official for his handling of the sex abuse complaints made against more than 60 priests.

The testimony being elicited after 8 years of investigation and 2 grand juries is as appalling as expected. Grammar school children raped, reports of abuse ignored for decades, the transfer of known offenders from one parish to the next.

Child molesters returned to work with children, monsters provided fresh hunting grounds.

The church abandoned the most vulnerable of its charges. What justice may come out of this is long, long overdue.

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March 9, 2012 · 1:00 am

Feral

Outside Houston, two children – a 5 year old boy and 11 year old girl – have been found living in an abandoned school bus.  The bus is fitted with running water, heat, electricity, and plumbing. It sits on property covered in garbage.

The children were left in the care of an aunt more than a year ago, when their parents were convicted of fraud. It is unclear whether this aunt shared the bus, or merely stopped by with food. The children seem never to have been schooled, and have no shoes.

Psychologists call a child isolated from human contact from a young age a feral or wild child. Such children are deprived of loving care and exposure to ordinary social behavior.  Many experience severe abuse before being discarded.

The terms “feral” and “wild” are an insult to animals everywhere. Only humans would do this to their children.

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February 16, 2012 · 1:00 am

Crimes Against Children

There are multiple stories of child abuse in the news, almost too painful to address.

Three children testified their grandfather denied them food and water, choked, and kicked them during a 19-mile hike in the Grand Canyon with temperatures over 100 degrees.

A two year old Wisconsin boy died after being thrown to the ground by his adult sitter. Another Wisconsin couple starved their daughter, allowing her to be molested from the age of ten by her brother. Child protective services were several times alerted, for all the good that did.

Here in Pennsylvania, Msgr. William Lynn is being charged with clerical abuse for his failure to turn multiple pedophile priests over to police.

We cannot alter these crimes, but we can bear witness to them and seek whatever redress is still possible. Our children deserve no less.

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February 7, 2012 · 1:00 am

Long Odds

There are 48 Catholic schools in Philadelphia expected to shut their doors by September. Now area public schools will be closing their buildings nights and weekends, dealing a fatal blow to after school athletic programs.

The decisions impact thousands of kids – kids who will lose the chance to learn in a safe environment, to learn fair play and positive values, to learn at all. Class sizes will rise, both in public and parochial school.

Already staggering under their load, parents will try to make up for the loss. But there really are no options. And kids who spend the summer on the streets will not be the same in September. The odds against them will grow longer.

Fewer than half of the young men of color in Philadelphia high schools graduate now.

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January 24, 2012 · 1:00 am

Kindergarten

West Philadelphia residents recently camped out in the January cold, in hopes of assuring their kindergartners admission to a public elementary school. Granted, this particular school has had better than average results.

Devoted parents everywhere can understand the motivation of these mothers and fathers. The real question is why such an extreme step was necessary. Why in the United States of America, in this land of milk and honey, a good education is not the right of every child.

Are the children at the back of the line less deserving or those whose parents were unable to participate at all? Perhaps we should come right out and institute a trial by fire, a sort of educational Olympics. There is already a lottery in place for charter school slots.

Until we value every child, regardless of economic status, this nation will be the loser.

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