from a transcript at the 2012 conference
During the last year there have been some major developments in the
child abuse prevention field. Several legal cases developed involving
either cover ups or the networking of serial child abusers.
Probably the most famous case is the case of Jerry Sandusky and Penn State.
This case includes many media reports over the last few months.
Sandusky faced 52 criminal counts for alleged abuse involving ten boys.
It was reported he wrote intimate letters to the victims. He had a
charity, which tried to help children from disadvantaged families and
broken homes. Sandusky kept a private list of boys the charity was
helping. It is believed this list may have been a list of potential
targets for him to abuse. Victims alleged that contact with Sandusky
began with showering together and progress to abuse over time.
In June, Pennsylvania prosecutors considered bringing criminal
charges against former top Penn State University officials for allegedly
concealing what they knew about Sandusky’s conduct.
Sources stated, that former university President Graham Spanier and
others discussed whether they were obligated to tell authorities about a
2001 allegation involving a late-night encounter in a Penn State shower
room between Sandusky and a young boy, both of whom were naked. They
decided not to inform social services agencies. Later it was found that
they decided this after meeting with Joe Paterno. It was alleged that
Sandusky threatened a victim that if he told, he would never see his
family again. Descriptions during the trial included ways Sandusky
“groomed” his victims, including giving them tickets to football games.
Three people in the late 1990s or early 2000s saw Sandusky in the
showers with boys, one alleged he saw behavior that could be seen as
sexual. There were also allegations of abuse in Sandusky’s basement. One
victim hesitated talking to legal authorities, stating “Who would
believe kids?”
During an interesting interview with NBC’s Bob Costas before the trial, Sandusky stated,
“And I didn’t go around seeking out every young person for sexual needs
that I’ve helped. There are many that I didn’t have – I hardly had any
contact with who I have helped in many, many ways.”
In late June, Sandusky’s adopted son stated he was molested also.
Sandusky was found guilty on dozens of child sex abuse charges. There
were convictions related to all 10 sexual abuse victims on 45 counts of
sexual abuse. Two former Penn State officials face charges of perjury
and failure to report suspected abuse in an alleged cover-up of the
incident.
This case has important ramifications for the child abuse protection
field. It showed how institutions could cover up abuse for years. It
shows how perpetrators find victims, groom them and threaten them so
they don’t talk. It shows how many people didn’t believe that he was
abusing children, even verbally attacking those that stated he did.
I want to read a quote from an article in Boston Magazine.
In the Wake of Jerry Sandusky – To prevent child abuse, something has to change. So why won’t it? By Barry Nolan 6/25/2012
After the verdict came down in the Jerry Sandusky case, Linda Kelly,
the Pennsylvania State Attorney General, stood before the assembled
press and said something very important. She said: “One of the recurring
themes of the witness’ testimony was … ‘Who would believe a kid?’”
Yes indeed, who would take the word of a mere child over that of a
beloved coach like Jerry Sandusky about sexual abuse? Even though we
know that such terrible crimes are far too common and the numbers are
staggering, we can’t believe it. So, from 2005 to 2006 about 135,300
children were sexually abused.
Who would take the word of a child against a respected adult even
though we know that in up to 93 percent of the time, the child knows his
abuser and as many as 47 percent of the perpetrators are family
members.
Who would take the word of a child even though in the vast majority of cases the only witness to child sex abuse is the child?
The ugly truth about child sexual abuse is that we really don’t want
to hear about it. And far too much of it happens after an initial
complaint about a perpetrator has been made and it’s not investigated
thoroughly.
Take the tragic sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, and just
imagine how things could have been different if there had been real
listening and forceful action early on. There were 10,667 complaints of
sexual abuse against 4,392 priests and deacons between 1950 and 2002 and
yet no serious or thorough investigation took place. And so the abuse
was allowed to continue. Until the Globe’s Pulitzer Prize winning series
compelled self-examination and change….
The first child to make a complaint in the Sandusky case came forward
14 years ago. But who was going to believe a kid over Jerry Sandusky?
So the complaint was not thoroughly investigated and, tragically, the
abuse continued….
Back in 1993, most people simply didn’t want to believe the awful
things a kid had to say about what Jackson did behind closed doors.
After all, Michael Jackson was a lavishly talented and beloved public
figure. But Dimond, and a few others, listened carefully and pursued
leads and looked at the evidence. And the awful truth began to come out.
The boy in that case would eventually accept a settlement from Jackson
that was widely reported to be in the range of $20 million.
I asked her for her thoughts on the bigger picture, the Sandusky
case, the scandal in the church, and the Jackson matter. Here is part of
what she sent me in an e-mail:
“Pedophiles are really the very person you think they could never be.
They are the most charming, personable, charitable, and kid-friendly
people you would ever want to meet. They pay their taxes, they go to
church, they cloak themselves in acts of charity and they say they just
want to help you raise your child by being a positive influence in their
lives … Too often detectives believe the perpetrator’s version of
events and they are freed to violate again.”
http://blogs.bostonmagazine.com/boston_daily/2012/06/25/jerry-sandusky-abuse/
Louis J. Freeh, the former federal judge and director of the F.B.I.
spent seven months invesitgating the Sandusky scandal at Penn State.
(from Abuse Inquiry Faults Paterno and Others at Penn State By KEN
BELSON July 12, 2012 NYT)
His report stated:
The most senior officials at Penn State had shown a “total and
consistent disregard” for the welfare of children, had worked together
to actively conceal Mr. Sandusky’s assaults, and had done so for one
central reason: fear of bad publicity. That publicity, Mr. Freeh said
Thursday, would have hurt the nationally ranked football program, Mr.
Paterno’s reputation as a coach of high principles, the Penn State
“brand” and the university’s ability to raise money as one of the most
respected public institutions in the country….
In 2000, a janitor at the football building saw Mr. Sandusky
assaulting a boy in the showers. Horrified, he consulted with his
colleagues, but decided not to do anything. They were all, Mr. Freeh
said, afraid to “take on the football program.” “They said the
university would circle around it,” Mr. Freeh said of the employees. “It
was like going against the president of the United States. If that’s
the culture on the bottom, then God help the culture at the top.”
….One new and central finding of the Freeh investigation is that Mr.
Paterno, who died in January, knew as far back as 1998 that there were
concerns Mr. Sandusky might be behaving inappropriately with children.
It was then that the campus police investigated a claim by a mother that
her son had been molested by Mr. Sandusky in a shower at Penn State.
Mr. Paterno, through his family, had insisted after Mr. Sandusky’s
arrest that he never knew anything about the 1998 case. In fact, he had
testified under oath before the grand jury hearing evidence against Mr.
Sandusky that he was not aware of the 1998 investigation.
But Mr. Freeh’s report asserts that Mr. Paterno not only knew of the
investigation, but followed it closely. Local prosecutors ultimately
decided not to charge Mr. Sandusky, and Mr. Paterno did nothing. Mr.
Paterno failed to take any action, the investigation found, “even though
Sandusky had been a key member of his coaching staff for almost 30
years and had an office just steps away from Mr. Paterno’s.” “In order
to avoid the consequences of bad publicity,” the most powerful leaders
of Penn State, Mr. Freeh’s group said, “repeatedly concealed critical
facts relating to Sandusky’s child abuse from the authorities, the board
of trustees, the Penn State community and the public at large.”….
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/sports/ncaafootball/13pennstate.html
Freeh Report on The Pennsylvania State University
The independent report by Louis Freeh and his law firm, Freeh Sporkin
& Sullivan, LLP, into the facts and circumstances of the actions of
The Pennsylvania State University surrounding the child abuse committed
by a former employee, Gerald A. Sandusky
http://thefreehreportonpsu.com/
In mid July it was found that Penn State did not fully cooperate in
the Sandusky prob, according to the state’s governor. Coach Joe Paterno
(the long time coach and football icon at Penn Sate had his statue
removed.
In July, the NCAA levied unprecedented sanctions against the program
for its role in the sexual abuse scandal involving former assistant
coach Jerry Sandusky, fining the school $60 million, imposing a
four-year postseason ban on Penn State football, significantly reducing
the number of scholarship players the team can field over the next four
years and placing the program on probation for five years. All of Penn
State’s football program wins from 1998 to 2011 were vacated.
Another large international child-porn network was uncovered this year.
….Authorities have identified more than 140 young victims so far and
say there is no end in sight as they pore through hundreds of thousands
of images found on the suspects’ computers. They are also trying to
determine whether the men who talked about murder and cannibalism
actually committed such acts or were just sharing twisted fantasies….
Robert Mikelsons, a 27-year-old day care worker who baby-sat the boy,
was arrested. On his computer were thousands and thousands of images of
children being molested and raped….
Photos and online chats found on computers owned by Diduca and
Mikelsons led to more than three dozen other suspects in seven
countries, including Canada, Britain, Germany, Sweden and Mexico. The
oldest victim in the Netherlands was 4, the youngest just 19 days old….
Mikelsons also received an 18-year sentence, followed by indefinite
psychiatric commitment, after confessing to sexually abusing more than
80 children….
Vast international child-porn network uncovered By DENISE LAVOIE AP Legal Affairs Writer Aug 4, 2012 BOSTON (AP)
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CHILD_PORN_NETWORK?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-08-04-10-44-22
Another large case was Operation Ore – the UK wing of a huge FBI operation.
(50 police officers arrested in child porn raids Wednesday, Aug 01 2012)
Operation Ore is the UK wing of a huge FBI operation which traced
250,000 paedophiles worldwide last year through credit card details used
to pay for downloading child porn. The names of British suspects were
passed on by US investigators. Suspects were traced through the
Landslide web site – a gateway to an international collection of child
pornography sites. Thomas Reedy, who ran the web site and earned
millions from it, is now serving several life sentences in the US.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-151784/50-police-officers-arrested-child-porn-raids.html
The Boy Scout case is also a large case revealing repeat child abuse allegations.
Boy Scout files reveal repeat child abuse by sexual predators
Los Angeles Times review of Boy Scout documents shows that a blacklist
meant to protect boys from sexual predators too often failed in its
mission.
By Jason Felch and Kim Christensen, Los Angeles Times August 5, 2012
For nearly a century, the Boy Scouts of America has relied on a
confidential blacklist known as the “perversion files” as a crucial line
of defense against sexual predators….
Scouting officials say they’ve used the files to prevent hundreds of men
who had been expelled for alleged sexual abuse from returning to the
ranks. They’ve fought hard in court to keep the records from public
view, saying confidentiality was needed to protect victims, witnesses
and anyone falsely accused….
A Los Angeles Times review of more than 1,200 files dating from 1970
to 1991 found more than 125 cases across the country in which men
allegedly continued to molest Scouts after the organization was first
presented with detailed allegations of abusive behavior….
In at least 50 cases, the Boy Scouts expelled suspected abusers, only
to discover later that they had reentered the program and were accused
of molesting again.
One scoutmaster was expelled in 1970 for sexually assaulting a
14-year-old boy in Indiana. Even after being convicted of the crime, he
went on to join two troops in Illinois between 1971 and 1988. He later
admitted to molesting more than 100 boys, was convicted of the sexual
assault of a Scout in 1989 and was sentenced to 100 years in prison,
according to his file and court records.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-boyscouts-20120805-m,0,5822319.story
A landmark Philadelphia priest sex-abuse trial occurred this year.
Allegations were made Msgr. William J. Lynn moved accused priests
around to different parishes, enabling them to prey upon other children.
“Prosecutors say Lynn, 61, covered up child sex abuse allegations,
often by transferring priests to unsuspecting parishes. Lynn’s motive
was to avoid scandal and any potential loss of money for the church,
they argued. His job was to supervise 800 priests, which included
investigating sex abuse claims, from 1992 to 2004. The defense said Lynn
tried to handle documented cases of pedophile priests, making a list in
1994 of 35 accused predators and writing memos to suggest treatment and
suspensions.”
Jury breaks without verdict in Philadelphia church abuse case June 7, 2012 PHILADELPHIA (Reuters)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-crime-churchbre8561g8-20120607,0,7146796.story
Philadelphia Priest Trial: Jury Reaches Split Verdict In Case Of Monsignor William Lynn By MARYCLAIRE DALE 06/22/12 PHILADELPHIA
“A Roman Catholic church official was convicted of child endangerment
but acquitted of conspiracy Friday in a landmark clergy-abuse trial,
making him the first U.S. church official branded a felon for covering
up abuse claims. Monsignor William Lynn helped the archdiocese keep
predators in ministry, and the public in the dark, by telling parishes
their priests were being removed for health reasons and then sending the
men to unsuspecting churches, prosecutors said. Lynn, 61, served as
secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004, mostly under Cardinal Anthony
Bevilacqua….He was convicted of only a single endangerment count, which
carries a possible 3 1/2- to seven-year prison term. The jury could not
reach a verdict for Lynn’s co-defendant, the Rev. James Brennan, who was
accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy in 1999….
The jury, however, did find that Lynn endangered the victim of defrocked
priest Edward Avery, who pleaded guilty before trial to a 1999 sexual
assault.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/22/philadelphia-priest-trial_n_1619355.html
As many people know, the West Memphis Three were released from prison last year after spending 18 years there. One of them was on death row before he was released.
The three entered what are known as Alford pleas, which in essence is
that they admit there is enough evidence to possibly convict them, but
at the same time they don’t have to admit guilt. The court then
pronounced them guilty. This event revived interested in the West
Memphis Three case. Many believe that the murders of the three eight
year old boys were occult crimes. These murders occurred on a full moon
and court testimony stated that the three murders belonged to a teenage
cult. A great deal of information has been written about the case from
the perspectives of those that believe they were innocent and those that
believe they were guilty.
The movies that have been or are being produced about the case are from the perspective of those that think they are innocent.
Most of the easily accessible information on the case on the Internet
is from the perspective of those that think they are innocent. I will
list some resources for the perspective of those that think they are
guilty below.
One good webpage for information on this case is http://wm3truth.com
Our webpage with information on the day care cases from the
perspectives of the alleged victims has an article titled “West Memphis 3
confession, witness corroboration and physical evidence” http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/day-care-and-child-abuse-cases/
Another good page with information is http://callahan.8k.com
This is the most extensive web page on the case on the Internet, with
information from both sides of the case, including many documents.
Dale Griffis, the longtime cult researcher, also has information on his perspective of the case, at:
Dale Griffis – West Memphis Three Case Information
http://ritualabuse.us/ritualabuse/articles/dale-griffis-west-memphis-three-case-information/
Todd Moore wrote the below article in response to an editorial
published in the Jonesboro Sun by Chris Wessel. He is the father of one
of the West Memphis Three murder victims. Father of WM3 murder victim
certain who killed 3 boys By Todd Moore
Guest Columnist Opinion Section of the Jonesboro Sun on Tuesday, June 12, 2012
http://www.terryhobbs.com/2012/06/todd-moore-sets-record-straight.html
These many cases show the repeated cover ups of child abuse crimes and how child abuse exists worldwide. The cover ups of these crimes are similar to the techniques used to cover up ritual abuse crimes today.
As survivors, we should educate ourselves about these cases and learn
from them. For many years, clergy abuse crimes were covered up. The
Sandusky case was not investigated. Many of the techniques used against
survivors in these cases are being used against ritual abuse survivors
today. Abused children were not believed. Through hard work, some are
now being believed.
Often times, what is missing from our side of the story is the
research, which can help unify the survivor movement. This research
strengthens our stories, and shows patterns across all areas of child
abuse. Some of those on the other side want to divide us up. Don’t let
them. Make sure everyone hears our story and the stories of other abused
survivors. Continue to speak out.
The most important thing is to help others. By speaking out, we do this.
Remember “Your silence will not protect you.” Please continue to speak out. Thank you.
