On June 22, two very big court verdicts came from Pennsylvania that were watersheds for the protection of children from sexual abuse. One, of course, was 45 (out of 48 counts) guilty verdicts against former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky on charges related to the sexual abuse of children. The other, which got coverage but didn’t get a live break-in on ESPN, was the conviction of Monsignor William J. Lynn of Philadelphia on one count of child endangerment, making him the first American Catholic priest and/or official to face criminal sanction for covering up child sex abuse by priests. In Sandusky’s case, there is evidence university higher-ups covered up his activity, and a few, notably the late Coach Joe Paterno, lost their jobs as a result. It remains to be seen if they, like Lynn, face criminal charges for what they did. Well before these cases came to light, many youth sports organizations were doing what they could to root child sex offenders out of their midst. Anyone volunteering to coach is familiar with having to fill out criminal background check forms as a matter of course. In that sense, what the Sandusky and Lynn cases are about is accounting for past misdeeds, of which, giving other coaching and priest scandals, there are many already known, and maybe more to know. Alas, filling out forms isn’t a guarantee that sexual predators aren’t in youth coaching, given that the forms only catch those who have already been convicted of a crime. On the other hand, for what it’s worth, a system appears to be in place where offenders are caught, and dealt with, early, and organizations are much less apt to engage in covering up such activity.
For example, a story like the following is upsetting, but compared to Sandusky and Lynn, represents progress in how child sexual abuse is handled. From NBC San Diego:
A youth football coach from Chula Vista was arrested Thursday on charges of alleged child molestation involving a victim under the age of 14, according to Chula Vista police.
Police said 20-year-old Carlos Ojeda – a volunteer coach with the eastern Chula Vista Pop Warner football organization and a contract tutor at Lauderbach Elementary School — was taken into custody without incident around 12 p.m.
Police began investigating Ojeda on Wednesday after a minor disclosed that Ojeda had been allegedly molesting them since July 2011. The underage victim reported the last molestation incident involving Ojeda happened about three weeks ago, investigators said.
At the least, there is an environment where a victim can step forward, and authorities believe him or her. Granted, Ojeda (who, let’s be clear, is innocent until proven guilty) is no overwhelming authority figure like a college football coach or a Catholic priest. On the other hand, not all that long ago a child would have been hesitant to step forward to say any adult was being abusive, fearing that no one would believe it.
The Sandusky and Lynn cases, other than creating more revulsion, are a reminder to youth sports organizations that protecting children comes first, before coaching them to be future pros. And it’s also a reminder that they need to be ready to listen to the disturbing stories of children, no matter who is being accused of what. It’s disturbing enough that a coach and priests were abusing children. What makes it worse is that others in authority knew, and did nothing.