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The WaPo and Inconvenient Truth
The Washington Post’s recent op-ed “The Catholic Church’s Defiance and Obstruction on Child Sex Abuse” is a little misleading, as the editors are keen to make sure that no inconvenient facts get in the way of promoting their chosen narrative. Perhaps they were disappointed in Pope Francis because Amoris Laetitia did not meet their expectations and did not sanction gay marriage, transgender restrooms, or pro-choice restrooms in the Vatican, or declare abortion a sacrament. Nibbling away at Church teaching is not good enough for some, especially those in newsrooms. They write:
Meanwhile, church officials have fought bills in state legislatures across the United States that would allow thousands of abuse victims to seek justice in court. The legislation would loosen deadlines limiting when survivors can bring lawsuits against abusers or their superiors who turned a blind eye. Many victims, emotionally damaged by the abuse they have suffered, do not speak until years after they were victimized; by then, in many states, it is too late for them to force priests and other abusers to account in court.
Eight states have lifted such deadlines, known as statutes of limitations, for victims who are sexually abused as minors. Seven states have gone further, enacting measures allowing past victims — not just current and future ones — to file lawsuits [regardless of when the crime took place] in a finite period of time, generally a two- or three-year window.
A typical case is Maryland, where bills to extend the statute of limitations until the alleged victim turns 38 have failed even to come to a vote, owing to opposition from House of Delegates Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph F. Vallario Jr. (D-Prince George’s) and the Catholic Church, among others.
The WaPo — for reasons known only to themselves — do not name the “others.” Though I’m not in possession of all the facts myself, I suspect they might include teacher’s unions, public school administrators, and Planned Parenthood employees. In other words, anyone who might be put in a position of mandatory reporting of sexual abuse to law enforcement agencies.
Why do I think so? Let’s look a recent story from the editorialists’ very own newsroom:
Prince George’s paid $1.5 million to settle a claim involving a 15-year-old girl who was sexually abused by a county teacher, ending a case that alleged failures in investigating sexual misconduct and supervising employees in the Maryland school system.
The deal reached in December, after more than three years of litigation, was disclosed by the school system in response to an open-records request filed by The Washington Post. The disclosure of the district’s payment comes as the school district examines its policies on preventing and reporting child abuse amid a new sexual-abuse case that is one of the largest in the region in recent years.
Deonte Carraway, 22, an elementary school volunteer in the county was arrested in February for allegedly directing children as young as 9 to perform sexual acts and video-recording them. Police say that there are at least 17 victims and that some of the offenses occurred during the school day at Judge Sylvania W. Woods Elementary School in Glenarden where Carraway volunteered.
As the investigation of Carraway continues, the county’s history in handling such issues is drawing close scrutiny.
In 2012, the State of Maryland Board of Education mandated that school districts develop policies to prevent child abuse in schools. It appears that no policies have been implemented. It also appears that no sanctions have been implemented to enforce this policy. From yet another recent WaPo story:
Jennifer Alvaro, a longtime clinician in the field of child sexual abuse who advocates for better safeguards in neighboring Montgomery County, said the policies and procedures she examined in Prince George’s “seem to me like someone did the bare minimum a very long time ago.”
In 2012, the Maryland State Board of Education called on each of its school systems to establish a policy addressing teacher and staff conduct with students after a case involving a Montgomery teacher that the state board said it hoped would “shine a light” on abusive behavior toward children.
States operate under sovereign immunity and, in most cases, no suits are allowed if the abuse is not reported within 90 days. For obvious reasons, teachers unions and public school administrators have little desire to change that policy and lobby against those proposals when they reach the state legislature.
But those same groups have no problem with extending the time limit against the Catholic Church. The Post labels it and its bishops as “obstructionist” on legislation yet, when it comes to the public school system and their obstruction to legislation, they are strangely silent. I suppose defining abuse rests upon the premise of who the abuser is, and where it happens rather than the action itself.
We should try and defend children at all times and in all places.
Published in General
Doug,
You are right on target. The MSM endlessly wheels out its blanket condemnation of the Catholic Church while ignoring sickening problems in the secular school system. There is nothing fair or balanced on their coverage of this issue.
Regards,
Jim
We mostly stay silent about child abuse that occurs in non-Catholic institutions because we’re reflexively accused of trying to deflect blame – I speak from experience here.
And yet, we read constantly of teachers abusing their students. I haven’t followed it for a while, but The Daily Caller used to have an ongoing series of salacious stories where the teachers solicited sex from their students.
Rather than deflecting anger at Catholics, I’d just point out that we probably should be paying attention to the larger issue. If this happens when certain people are placed in authority over children, and we’ve lost any sense of loco parentis, then maybe theology isn’t the problem.
I carry no water for Catholic bishops whose craven, bureaucratic, PR-centric approach to this scandal was inexcusable. But the bills to expand the statute of limitations that the WaPo whines about are gratuitous political eyewash. In tort actions in every state, statute doesn’t run until the victim is of age to bring an action.
Bringing suit against governments and government officials is harder than it should be. Traditional presumptions of integrity and good faith by our government agencies and courts is fading fast and there needs to be accountability at least as strong as applied to private entities and individuals.
As my totally existing police detective friend* will confirm, the most cases of sexual abuse happens in the school, the church is far from that. The problem with the news is that they are less interested in stemming pedophilia, they are more interested in discrediting the Church, especially the most recognizable denomination in the world.
If anything, sexual abusers are looking for places where they can act freely and with little suspicion. Even better if they are in a position where they are normally trusted with those they seek to prey upon. But Social Progressives are wrapped up in identity politics. To point out there is a danger at schools (which serve for some as a sort of Progressive Seminary) is to be painted as an attack on teachers and education in general.
This is only because they are using this very tactic against the Catholic church. There is very little concern for the victims, truly. Instead this is a chance for them to strike out against the Church.
*My good friend passed his detective exam and is presently serving on the missing persons and sexual predator team. He occasionally posts warnings that can curl your hair. I suspect he’s not sharing even half of what he finds.
I am a Catholic and I agree that abusing children is not a problem unique to the Catholic Church. However, I do think that in many cases efforts to keep the issue under wraps have been harmful to the Church and to the victims of abuse. I propose that if states want to allow victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by priests to have an extended opportunity to recover monetary damages, then those same legislatures should, to be consistent, expand the recovery for victims in all such cases regardless of the perpetrator.
Perhaps the Church or diocese where such proposals are being considered should say – yes, hold us liable and hold all perpetrators of sexual abuse liable. This would put the Church in the position it should be – revealing past bad acts, seeking to make amends for those past bad acts, and encouraging other institutions we entrust with the care of children to follow suit.
Yes, you bring to mind an article I came across some time ago regarding an online forum frequented by pedophiles which had been shut down by federal law enforcement. What they discovered was that while all the horror you can imagine was being discussed the number one topic of conversation for these monsters was how to get into a position of trust for groups of children: educator, counselor, etc. Chilling.
It really is scary, when you volunteer to help with kids programs at a Catholic church (Sunday school) you have to go through about a few hours of training of how to identify the warning signs of a predator, it is the most depressing thing I’ve ever done.
I used to teach Sunday School at a small, independent church in Portland. As a sobering reminder of the times, all volunteers for Sunday School had to submit to a background check.
Same for Catholic catechists, together with annual review of training.
At this point, it’s not wise for any adult man to be alone with a child professionally. Even counselors should seek consent to record sessions via audio to protect themselves.
I sympathize with the victims of child abuse and have known some. But I also sympathize with the victims of a litigious society that ruins many lives without solid evidence of wrongdoing. Sexual abuse accusations seem rampant. It is sad that true victims of molestation struggle for sufficient evidence, but a person’s word should not be enough to destroy someone.
Good people want to protect the weak among them, so there is a natural inclination to believe accusers over the accused when such heinous crimes are involved. But we should remember the legal abuse which arises from the absence of a loser-pays standard. And when both parties are unfamiliar strangers, why trust one over the other?
Aaron,
Isn’t it interesting that the most ordinary concepts that constitute a just hearing in a trial are now in question? This is the legacy of the irrational left.
Regards,
Jim
First of all I’d like to thank the editors for refining my essay.
Not all accusations are truthful. A simple way to look at that would be: Some human beings lie. Accusers are human beings, therefore some accusers lie.
The investigation process should be scrutinized. There has been a tendency to allow non-law enforcement personnel to take part in the investigation process of sexual abuse of minors. That has lead to pyscho-babble, such as repressed memory syndrome becoming part of the evidence process. I am also not in favor of school counselors conducting interviews of students about sexual abuse claims, whether it is someone being accused that works for the school, or someone outside the school.
Mandatory reporting, at least to me means once the complaint has been made then the police are notified and they conduct the investigation.
The Penn State debacle is a good example of what can happen when school administrators thought they were in the position of determining whether sexual abuse claims were credible. They could have saved themselves a lot of grief by immediately reporting the claims to the Pennsylvania State Police.
Unfortunately the Catholic Church made the same mistake by not notifying the police about sexual abuse allegations. The sad thing is that it was not the monetary claims that hurt the most. Who were hurt the most were the children who were abused later by the same priests who came to a bishops attention. Who were hurt the most were faithful Catholics. No sin is committed in a vacuum, especially a grave sin such as sexually abusing a child.
Issues include:
Matthew 18:6 — but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Growing up, I swallowed the myth that reporters only gave facts, and if they reported that something happened in a particular way, then I could trust that was exactly the way it happened.
Then I turned eleven, and haven’t believed that since.
In the same way, for all of the assurances that the law is blind, and that no legal proceedings will succeed without sufficient evidence, I’ve come to see the courtroom as prejudiced as the media.
But the difference is that, unlike the media, we intend courts to be adversarial. The system is designed to encourage advocacy. We want the litigants to be passionate and to present the best case. The saving grace of our legal system, however, is that each side gets a fair and fighting chance.
And the danger coming true now, I think, is that one side or the other isn’t getting a fair chance, and that verdicts are decided by feelings, never mind evidence or argument. They use “The Force.” That’s why juror selection is as important (if not more) than the actual presentation of the case … it’s because people have gone completely relativist. The consequence of intellectual and moral relativism (and frankly, its appeal) is that it frees people to treat their feelings as authoritative guides.
My advice? Stop using the Force. The Force is fiction.
I suspect they have to. Otherwise they could be accused of targeting the Church for special persecution which carries First Amendment issues.
One of the reasons I do not believe schools, or bishops for that matter should investigate abuse allegations is they do not know the law.
As C. U. Douglas has stated his friend, who is a detective has not only experience as a uniformed officer he now has received training as a detective to investigate sex crimes. He understands the statutes, probable cause, and reasonable belief. The DA’s office will read his reports and then make two decisions. Will we be able to convict based upon the evidence gathered, and are there charges we can drop or add to the detective’s charges.
KC is touching upon what I call PMS, Perry Mason Syndrome. I never made an arrest based upon hearsay. Hearsay is not admissible in court.
How many are wrongfully accused? When you have an entire Inuit town being decimated by predators, it is no wonder that legal action and legislative action has been taken. The institutional control of the Church on this issue has been severely wanting, and that is a well documented fact.
Back in the early 80s the Boy Scouts in the Bay Area decided that homosexual scout masters and assistant scout masters could no longer have access to the boys, for obvious reasons. At that point United Way came out against funding the Boy Scouts. I decided that I would donate to the Boy Scouts and used United Way to do so. They wanted the donations so they had to put up with people like me.
The grim reality in the church and society is we have sexualized every human interaction then pretend that any sexual act within the loose context of an institution that doesn’t fit our political or religious world view must be coerced and illicit rape.
Once the Catholic Church is crushed by the weight of endless claims of sexual abuse/pederasty/pedophilia and no long effective as a moral voice, Pederasty will become the next cause celebre by the Left and no one will oppose it who now find it morally reprehensible in the Church.
I am familiar with many cases of later claimed abuse for money where if before the claims anyone examined the relationship they would find it impossible to describe it as anything more than the mutual moral depravity of two individuals.
The American Church was wrong to allow Homosexuals (85% of the cases were homosexual) into Priestly Formation and ordination and wrong to treat as an opportunity for Psychological counseling by people who saw no moral problems or sin with the action.
Self inflicted wounds are always stupid.
I have no idea what you are talking about. I thought the point of this post was to discuss the proper method of ending sexual abuse against children. Do you argue that children can consent, and if so, at what age?
I think he’s getting at the fact that most of the cases of priest sex abuse in America were homosexual sex between priests and post-pubescent boys. And that the American Church invited this trouble when it made the seminaries a therapeutic setting for gay men in post-sexual revolution America.
Further, that, today, if those same post-pubescent boys were having homosexual sex with anyone other than a priest, the Left would likely make it a “rights” issue (who are we to say at what age consent is possible?) and would be working on legislation making it permissible in public restrooms. Where else can high schoolers have a safe space for sex?
This is ugly stuff. The Left isn’t really interested in protecting children or securing (unalienable) rights for anyone. Its aim is to destroy western civilization, with a focus on the Church, who handed it the paint for the big fat target painted on Her. Which in no way is meant to excuse the conduct of abusive priests and the bishops who covered for them. We just have to be realistic about the Left being an ambitious, vicious enemy of the Church. Ends justify the means for the Left.
WestC,
Bingo!
Regards,
Jim
The book Goodbye Good Men is a depressing read but a necessary one if someone wants to understand what happened to the Church. Well over 80% of abuse cases involved post-pubescent sexual contact. That is not pedophilia, that is homosexual activity. The Left prefers to call it pedophilia because it is a more damaging accusation and it does not offend the gay lobby. That in no way excuses the behavior, or those that did nothing more than wish the scandal would go away.
The WaPo should know that sexual abuse cases in the public school system are and have been at a much higher rate than in the Catholic Church. At one time, and it still may be true today the NYC school system was averaging approximately 365 cases a year. That is just one public school system in the US.
There is a phrase that is used in the public system called “passing the trash”. Teachers that offend are transferred to another school, or another district.
Even worse, thanks to union contracts, it’s next to impossible to fire a teacher, even for criminal behavior like this. “Kimmy Schmidt” season one showed a room where horrible teachers do no work but can’t be fired, well those rooms exist, and the pedophiles are there, still in schools.
The question of the age of consent especially with Pederasty will be determine by the culture in the coming years and it will be much lower than either you or I would ever imagine or want but you seem to believe that large numbers children were actually abused when the statistics show that actual incidents of real prepubescent sexual contact by accused Priests was ~2% (nearly all male on male) below the general population while 84% was post pubescent male on male and 14% male on female. The American Catholic Church paid out about 4 billion dollars to only about 1,500 plaintiffs where a majority of the claims could not be prosecuted criminally for lack of both evidence and credible testimony. Hush money was always the first recourse of the Plaintiffs and they would shop their claims for bigger pay offs.
p.s. I knew, studied and worked with about a dozen of the men some later accused of abuse and they were invariably homosexuals, their “victims” homosexual boyfriends who profited from the relationship with gifts and rich living. There was no child rape involved in any of their relationships. The final consensus is restricting homosexuals from the Clergy would have eliminated the scandal.
Thanks for the clarification