UPDATED 5/24 PA’s Catholic Dioceses receive copies of 884-page report. Public release slated for June. PA’s Catholic Dioceses have said they “won’t block the release” of the Grand Jury report. Bishop says that the report contains information that is “difficult to hear.” UPDATED 5/9 Bishop Trautman Smells Blood in the Water – His Own…Continue reading UPDATED 5/18: PA State Grand Jury Investigates Six Catholic Dioceses: What you need to know
Yesterday, I was a featured speaker at UCI Law School’s series on the #MeToo movement. Our discussion: Victims of child sexual abuse and sexual assault have been empowered to speak out about what happened to us. But what do we do to change the systemic problem in our institutions that made this abuse and cover-up…Continue reading #MeToo: Making a Movement
Yesterday, NY Cardinal Timothy Dolan announced the The Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, a plan to compensate victims of child sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of New York. There are great articles discussing the neutral and negative aspects of the plan, but before any survivor begins the process of working with the committee, there are a few details…Continue reading The Devil is in the Details
*** This post is updated with a statement by Shattuck-St. Mary’s.*** In 2003, Headmaster Nick Stoneman had a choice. His drama teacher had been found with child pornography on a school computer. This same teacher—Lynn Seibel—had admitted to being complicit in “Naked Dance Parties” with male students in school bathrooms. Seibel was also rumored to have…Continue reading Shattuck-St. Mary’s Part 2: The choice
It’s been an interesting week: Ricardo “Richard” Aldana is goin’ to the pokey Former JSerra High School teacher Richard Aldana was convicted on three felony counts of lewd acts upon a child. The victim was a 14-year-old student. Aldana faces up to eight years in jail. JSerra is an independent (not owned by the Diocese…Continue reading Friday Round-up: Aldana, Adrian, Arizona, and the AG
Your question of the day: You see a child being sexually abused and beaten on a street corner. Whom do you call? Answer: The local university, your bishop, your commander or the leader of the closest nonprofit. Ridiculous? Of course it is. Utterly absurd? Yes. Child endangerment? You bet. So let’s try again with the correct…Continue reading Institutions need to get out of the sex abuse investigation business
What if Pablo Escobar had hosted a symposium on Drug Trade Gangland Violence Prevention? No matter what well-respected, hard-working experts he invited, the symposium wouldn’t have stopped the continued promulgation of violence in the Columbian Drug Cartel. Later this month, Penn State will be hosting a symposium on child sexual abuse and prevention. Their list…Continue reading A symposium has never stopped sex abuse and cover-up
Business and moral ethics textbook writers need to find a new hero, and FAST. Joe Paterno just isn’t going to cut it anymore. I’m about halfway through a course in business ethics, which is a part of my track for an MBA. What I found absolutely startling is the fact that in more than half of…Continue reading The Clay Feet of an Ethics Idol
Joe Paterno’s death last weekend came as a bit of a shock and a huge disappointment. I knew he was sick, but my disappointment did not come from grief. My upset was quite different: The man at the center of the biggest child sex abuse scandal of 2011 is gone, and we will never know…Continue reading Ignore the Man Behind the Curtain: Joe Paterno and the Catholic Sex Abuse Crisis
The Penn State scandal has really upset me. Actually, it’s upset me far more than I would like to admit. I’ll begin with what upset me the most—besides the obvious horrific and stomach-turning sex abuse and cover-up, and the fact that the man who admitted to abusing me and another girl still has his job…Continue reading Where are the congressional hearings about the Archdiocese of Philadelphia?
About the Penn State abuse crisis and the stunning parallels to the Catholic Church
