The Penn State Case, Sexual Abuse and Children
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-11-08/penn-state-case-sexual-abuse-and-children
Pennsylvania's attorney general blasted Penn State University for failing to report suspected sexual abuse of young boys. The case has shaken the nation since the arrest over the weekend of the alleged molester, former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. He denies the charges. Two top administrators were also charged - with perjury and failure to report the allegations. For many it brings to mind painful episodes with the Catholic Church and Boy Scouts of America over their handling of allegations involving sexual abuse of children. Diane and her guests talk about the Penn State case, the responsibility of individuals and institutions and how to help young victims.
One place to go to for help: Childhelp's hotline 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453)
Guests
Sara Ganim
reporter, Harrisburg Patriot-News.
Jeffrey Rosen
professor of law at The George Washington University; legal affairs editor at The New Republic.
Nikki Sample
therapist and residential program coordinator at Childhelp's Alice C. Tyler Village, in Lignum, Virginia.
Frank Cervone
executive director, Support Center for Child Advocates.
Comments
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In our sexualized culture many of our competitive sports have become associated with pedophilia. We are out there way beyond the cult of the body because of advertising and innocent bodies promoted as a commodity. Many analysts have observed recently how college athletes are prostitutes within a lucrative spectacle. The "privileged characters" who run big money sports can be expected to indulge in "the forbidden", just as politicians and the wealthy do. Sexual slavery, bodily fetishism and pedophilia all require willing consumers. These consumers must be developed with the appropriate appetites by highly refined recruitment and socialization. Apparently, a middleaged coach having sexual relations with a 10 year old boy in a college shower was no longer considered unusual at Penn State as early as 2002, and many other places. It may be like many other crimes today, OK if you are considered "important." Is this what capitalism in its terminal stages requires?
I do not see much distance between financiers screwing innocent consumers and he-men bigshots molesting innocent children. How far are we from legalizing highly unusual practices in order to keep our materialistic system of greed and corruption going? How long before we get a man-boy love reality show sponsored by lotions and lubricants? It may be pretty close.
Why didn't the grad assistant call the police in the first place? If I see a crime happening in front of me I dial 911.
Out of all the details of this story this is your comment?
At the risk of incurring the wrath of your panel, I think you have to recognize the difficult position those responsible for reporting are in. They likely respect the alleged perpetrator. They didn't witness the behavior, so they don't know themselves if the allegations are true or they may think the witness misapprehended the situation. They understand the possibility of ruining the person's life if the allegations are untrue. They understand they themselves may be attacked. It has got to be a difficult decision to come forward. This is not to minimize the responsibility to ensure the safety of children, but I think the issue is more nuanced than just outright villainizing (and criminalizing) those who fail to report. In some situations, the balance may be difficult to strike. Perhaps not in this case, but certainly in some. The strategies developed for dealing with this issue should take this into account or they are not likely going to be effective.
I am in the midst of a situation involving an alleged perpetrator and a YES! there is legal discouragement for taking moral action. I have responsibly told people who need to know about the allegations against this man and now he is threatening me with a defamation lawsuit. Smart perpetrators learn this "trick of the trade," that is, to silence people by threatening or even filing a libel/slander lawsuit.
Can someone comment on what can be revealed to others once an allegation is reported. How can an organization report the status of the investigation when the organization is required to maintain privacy of an individual
I think this question about passing the buck, one must keep in mind that it is very treacherous waters that one navigates when making the allegations. There is also a procedure to be followed in order to stay compliant with "innocent until proven guilty". Charges must be investigated, and in order to get the person fired, extensive documentation is required. If any mis-step is made the evidence is thrown out and possibly the perpetrator is let go.
I am perhaps jumping the gun, but how do we innoculate our children to be safe from this type of abuse? The Boy Scouts now require parents to discuss a pamphlet about abuse before the boy receives his first advancement award. What are sports organizations doing to help their kids be safe?
One thing I haven't heard about yet is the role of RESTORATIVE JUSTICE in these situations - why should perpetrators of abuse change their behavior if they can legally defend and bend the truth so as to avoid legal consequences - they will continue to find ways to abuse. On the other end, victims of the abuse struggle to overcome that pain and find closure, even if a their perpetrator is legally convicted. Individuals struggle and suffer. Communities struggle and suffer. Society struggles and suffers.
I didn't get this in for the show in time, but what is going on with Second Mile? Did anyone there know of this? If not, why not?
Is this is true you have to hope all involved are brought to account.
I knew of a nurse at a state college who sexually molested her nephews and other adults. I reported it to every authority from the local and state police to the FBI. Nothing was done or I was not given any information if anything was done. They acted like I was to supply a complete case complete with all the evidence.
One of ur guests suggested that if the children had had the courage to report they could have stopped the ongoing abuse. As a survivor, I take offense. Those children struggled and will continue to struggle to find the courage to survive. It is the responsibility of adults in community to report and support. I would like to see Penn State set up a foundation for support of mental/emotional healthcare of these kidsand their families in perpetuity. It is up to us to demand that the chain of abuse be broken.
It is not only about power.
It, unlike the Catholic Church, is about a football culture incapable of accepting a coach that might be gay.
The priests of the Catholic Church take a vow of celibacy, as far as I know coaches do not.
The vulnerable children (and their mothers as well as some fathers - as your caller this morning) are the ones bearing the brunt of this limited view of being a real man and getting the job done.
For the details, I thank you for your show. Always a pleasure to listen to.
As one of the guests stated, this is all about power, relationships, and dependencies. This is also about a country, a culture with institutions that value the "go along to get along" far more than telling the truth or doing the right thing. Those who "go along" to get along do so because of their relationships with those who have the power. The tendency to seek power at the expense of doing what is right is nothing new. The people who protected the wretched coward who molested young boys should be held accountable for this and should share the punishment for this disgraceful behavior. And for those of us who are horrified at yet another example of another powerful person taking advantage of their position....well ask yourselves if you've ever looked the other way at bad behavior because it didn't directly affect you or your immediate relations...This kind of thing happens because good people don't want to take a chance at rocking the boat...
I am amazed there is any gray area on this subject. These children were violated! There should be no one, who knew any bits of this story, to think they should not have been responsible to report this to the authorities.
If anyone saw any signs of abuse they should have come to the aide of these children.
Yes, Penn State should clean house. Anyone who thinks they didn't know ALL the details are hiding from their own conscience!
These were educated people who sat back and let these children suffer, and Penn State. They knew better and did nothing. What a shame. This refleclts on all of us.
Sandra Wochholz
I want to speak very generally about the societal issue involved in the sexual abuse of children. In this particular case, journalists ought to find out exactly what harm the particular children (teenagers?) suffered, rather than assuming statutory harm.
This case to me is an instance of vastly overblowing the harm that whatever happened may have caused to the teenagers involved. It's an easy target to assume that sexual behavior in children, which they themselves may well have invited of the older men, is always harmful and the worst thing that could happen to them.
I understand that sexual abuse is a serious psychological situation, and, partly because of peoples' reluctance to talk about taboo topics, may cause lasting effects. But in the context of how, as Nat Hentoff used to point out, children are the only class of citizens legally allowed to be beaten, and compared to the ordinary physical harm(!) any parent is allowed to inflict, spanking or slapping, or psychological harm caused by, for example, not speaking to a child for days on end, why does sexual abuse leap to the top of societal attention as the worst? If a child were deceived by, say, being cheated out of money, would that be seen as inflicting inevitable lifelong harm on their sense of things? Shouldn't observers be required to report seeing the assault of a child, in any form?
I am only a layman, so I would request that Diane at least seek out wise psychological experts who might counter the witch-hunting atmosphere of such a scandal. Wouldn't the cognitive-behavioral therapy for a child, who seemed harmed, be to minimize the experience, put it in a more general context of the good and bad in people, teaching a kind of social resilience for how people really are?
Again, I understand it's serious, but is it more serious than the thousands of other harms that children face, both from families and others, as they grow up?
It is amazing how many rights and options sexual offenders have to defend themselves. There are actually public defenders in my area who specialize in defending child abusers.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME!
We always focus on certain well-known perpatrators and organizations, when countless children are being raped right now all over the country (and the world) by regular people. Usually the publicized crimes involve men raping boys. This serves to perpetuate the big lie that Gay men are child abusers, even though most male child rapists practice heterosexual sex with adult women. If a woman assaults a boy it is called an affair. If a woman assaults a girl you will never hear about it. Today in Mississippi the Christian activists are voting to mandate a ban on abortions for girls and women who have been impregnated by rapists.
Meanwhile, on television, Allen Gregory seduces his elementary school principal, Stewie is a queer adult baby, and Simon Cowell turns giggly 13 and 16 year olds into virtual pole dancers. (All on Fox. I only get four channels, but am pretty sure Fox is not the only offender.)
As for the legal issues, We the People are taught that crimes are brought to a court of law. This is our fantasy, since a prosecutor will never bring a case he considers un-winnable. And children are universally considered poor witnesses by lawyers.
Many will dismiss Pancake Rankin's comments as extreme. They are not. It's called "patriarchy".
Marty makes the important point that in the US it is legal to hit children.
At the same time, it's impossible to rate abuse or accurately quantify the amount of damage any abused person sustains. Yes, being "simply" ignored is devistating to a child. Neglect is probably the most common form of violence committed against children and is a (if not THE) major cause of developmental disability. And even our governmental institutions are willing to engage in child neglect.
All styles of abuse are not only serious, but deadly. See some statistics:
http://www.childhelp.org/pages/statistics?gclid=CIC8zPvAp6wCFYHe4AodQSZM1w
By law, Mandatory reporters do not get to choose which situation to report and which one they dont report. Mandatory reporters are to report ALL allegations and let the Child Protective agency do their investigation of findings. There is a reason for this and why we are called MANDATORY reporters. This was an injustice and all involved in not seeking safety for the children involved should see charges.
I was abused as a young child. I am outraged that no one contacted the police or tried to find the child who was abused in the locker room. Doing the minimum doesn't protect children as this case points out.
I volunteer for SNAP, an organization that works to support those who were abused as children as well as do everything possible to protect children.
My heart cries for those children that were abused and their families. I also want to thank those brave victims who have come forward. I know how hard it can be to speak out, It took me 38 years to do so. I hope others that were abuse by this man find the courage to come forward to the police so that they can begin to heal. Childhood abuse robs us of soo much and the pain lasts a lifetime.
Becky Ianni
SNAPVirginia@cox.net
703-801-6044
Diane, I caught part of your show today, so perhaps what I am going to say was brought up at some other point. First, I want to say that as a PSU alum who attended grad school while Sandusky was there, I am both saddened and disgusted. One of your guests brought up today something to the effect that the PSU legal counsel should have done more...well, the PSU legal counsel at the time was a man named Wendell Courtney WHO coincidentally was ALSO the counsel for The Second Mile during that same time frame. Hmmmm....My source for this is from reading various accounts in the media in recent days, so this can be easily verified. I am NOT a JoePa fan and I think he should have done more to follow through, as stated, from a MORAL standpoint, even if he might not have been considered a mandated reporter under PA laws.
Also, Diane, I forgot to mention in my last comment that the grad student in question has been reported to be Mike McCreary, who is on the PSU football coaching staff. It makes one wonder if he was given his current job in exchange for silence...
I was a victim of sexual abuse by my mother when I was a toddler. It took me until I was in my early 20's to verbalize what had happened to me. My whole childhood was filled with shame and self loathing. When I admitted to myself and a therapist what had happened I was still filled with tremendous guilt. Being a survivor of sexual abuse is carrying with you a whole lifetime of hurt and pain that affects every aspect of your life. Please do not assume that any child has the courage to contact someone when they are being abused. I was quite offended by one of your guests suggesting that it was that easy for a child to follow this course of action. Also, (like in my instance) it may be decades for a victim to have the courage to come forward, identify the culprit, and actually talk about their abuse. The laws regarding statute of limitations and the need for absolute proof of wrongdoing deter many of us to speak the truth.
Exactly, midwestmama...(I am also a school psychologist)...he would have groomed these kids and probably/possibly used his position of authority to say that if they told, no one would believe them...So sorry for what happened to you...
Diane, they're really rocking in Brooklyn (& elsewhere)----How come nobody ever hears about it but Catholics are always targeted as on the show today?
Jewish Survivors of sex abuse; these incidents are usually handled locally, internally, and not internationally in the media---and so it's seldom in the consciousness of most people. The media (Well!) is in no small part to blame for this as well.
http://jewishsurvivors.blogspot.com/
http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/
I am hoping your guest who stated that had the children who were being abused (some 10 years old!) had the courage to speak up that the perp would have been stopped sooner will write in and take it back. It shows a serious lack of understanding of the dynamics of abuse and is a slap in the face of anyone who has been abused. I know it was at the end of the show but there was time for the host or another guest to speak up and correct this statement before going off the air. Too bad no one did.
Regarding concerns about who might be hurt if one reports: this is why the Duty to Report laws were created. It takes away all the what-ifs when you are legally liable if you do not report. I have been so grateful for this law when I learn, usually late in the evening, that a child is being abused or an adult is a danger to themselves or others.
I direct an on-line grief support organization and this occurs regularly. Knowing that the person I contact, usually a police or sheriff's department, will take my information and treat it with the utmost seriousness and respect makes it much easier to do something I truly never want to have to do. The law is very clear: if you have reason to suspect, you report. It's the same as witnessing a car crash, a fire, armed robbery, or any other event in which someone can be or has been hurt. You don't wait and think it over for awhile. You yank out your cell and press 911. Social sanction that this is correct helps so much.