The recent Jerry Sandusky/ Penn State Sexual Abuse scandal has been the topic of many discussions across the country. Mr. Sandusky, the former defensive coordinator for the Penn State College football team, is facing 40 counts of sexual abuse charges. The grand jury report lists the explicit sexual accounts of eight different victims who claim to have been touched inappropriately by Mr. Sandusky. In some cases, there were even witnesses to the abuse. Admittedly, the indictment reads like a pedophile’s bucket list. The details are offensive and in humane. The idea that anyone could witness these incidents and not act immediately is appalling. Where is the moral intuition?
In a similar case, The Catholic Church Archdiocese of Chicago agreed to a settlement of $3.2 million with a male individual who was abused by a priest at a parish school he attended. The priest, Daniel McCormick, pleaded guilty in 2007 to sexually abusing five boys and was sentenced to five years in prison. Child abuse settlements, such as this, have financially devastated the Catholic Church. Over the course of the past ten years, the Catholic Church has paid nearly $2 billion in settlements.
The Penn State scandal marks the latest incident involving innocent children who were abused. Other events concerning the neglected welfare of children include the Casey Anthony tragedy and most recently, Baby Lisa, the missing infant from Missouri. Far too often, we hear reports of child neglect. If the parents are not protecting their children and the mentors are abusing them, then who shall the child’s advocate be?
What is seldom mentioned, are the unfortunate psychological ramifications rendered on the innocent victims. The emotional trauma produces the most latent and deepest scars. As individuals in a society, we must remember who, what, when and where we are. A male mentor as influential as Jerry Sandusky was had such a deep impression upon the children he mentored. What is crucial is the time, more specifically, the age of the children. These acts of abuse allegedly occurred when these children were vulnerable and could not protect themselves. The where is very relevant because these events took place happened in private, behind closed doors when the children were under his supervision.
Decisions have consequences. Mr. Sandusky decided to include these innocents in his “immoral evaluations” and concluded his desire was more important than the well-being of the children he was supposed to protect. Society has lost many innocents to the hands of various predators and this problem continues to worsen.
One of the most tragic events involved the recent death of the 7-year-old adopted daughter of a fundamentalist Christian couple, Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz of Paradise, California. The parents claim while disciplining the child as God instructed them, they accidently killed the little girl. The couple was in the practice of physically disciplining all nine of their children. Kevin and Elizabeth are facing 22 and 12 years in prison respectively, a price that pales in comparison to the unnecessary death of an innocent child.
Unfortunately, children have very few rights and even fewer people to protect them. It is imperative for our legislators to write and pass laws that protect our nation’s youth. Most importantly, we must find ways to prevent the types of abuse documented in this text. Although the aforementioned incidents took place in America, child abuse exceeds the boundaries of country and culture. Internationally, there exists a very prominent slave trade involving youths. Many are sold into prostitution while still only adolescents. This abusive pandemic shows no signs of ceasing.
On December 2, 2011, Kimberly Crain, an elementary school teacher was arrested on child porn charges. Crain allegedly held a Christmas party for her 3rd grade students, dressed them up in bras and panties and took pictures of them posing in suggestive positions. Her charges include possession of child pornography and lewd acts with a minor. Furthermore, Crain has been considered a flight risk and is being held on a $1 million bond.
As the year comes to close, another grand jury report has been released containing statements from a tenth and eleventh victim accusing Jerry Sandusky of rape. Sandusky, 67, was arrested once again on Wednesday, December 07, 2011. He now faces over 50 counts of sexual abuse charges.
There was once a time when innocence was protected. Now we live in a world where the same innocence is exploited. What will become of our world when these abuse children become adults and perpetuate the same behavior?
References
Curry, C. (December, 2011) Jerry Sandusky Arrested on New Sex Abuse Charges ABC News http://abcnews.go.com/US/jerry-sandusky-arrested-sex-abuse-charges/story?id=15104944
Martinez, E. (February, 2010) DA: Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz Killed Daughter with “Religious Whips” for Mispronouncing Word CBS News http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-6009742- 504083.html
Newcomb, A. (December, 2011) Third Grade teacher Put Students in Lingerie ABC News http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/12/teacher-fired-after-putting-students-in- lingerie/
Scalzitti, J., Donavan, L. (November, 2011) Chicago Archdiocese to pay 3.2 million to Abuse Victim SouthtownStar Chicago Times Company http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-12- 07/news/30487926_1_sandusky-grand-jury-sexual-assaults
Staff, (January, 2012) Roman Catholic Church Sex Abuse Cases New York Times http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/r/roman_catholic_church_ sex_abuse_cases/index.html
Thompson, Teri (December , 2011) Sandusky Arrested, Faces Charges NY Daily News .com http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-12-07/news/30487926_1_sandusky-grand-jury-sexual- assaults
Cortney Bonner - I studied Communications at Howard University. Currently, I am pursuing a degree in Finance. Enjoy writing articles, but I also write ...
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