The words from panicky parents ring far and wide: “I went to slumber parties all of the time and, you know, nothing bad ever happened. But things are so different now!” “I’ve never let my child spend a night away from me. But she’s nine now, and all of her friends have slumber parties. I…Continue reading My kid has been invited to a slumber party! What do I do?
A breaking story today has kept my phone ringing off the hook: A southern California third grader has been accused of sexually assaulting a classmate numerous times during the past year. School administrators only found out about it when other students at an after-school program reported what they saw. (Kudos to those kids!) Tragic? Yes.…Continue reading When children abuse: A preventable tragedy
One of the chapters of my upcoming book deals with what I call Institutional Rot, that is, why “good” people do and say bad things in the name of the institution and how children are caught in the crossfire. For an institutional culture to have this kind of crisis, the direction—or I should say, misdirection—has…Continue reading In crisis, Francis fails
The sexual abuse of teens by powerful adults (teachers, coaches, priests, family members) is a trauma double whammy: teens damaged by the abuse AND they are often blamed for the abuse by community members who say that the teen wanted it, was a slut, or should have known better. What these people don’t understand—but predators…Continue reading Predators, Alcohol and Teens … a deadly combination
It’s like having a public swimming pool without a life preserver … A story out of St. Paul, MN, is a latest example of why so-called “Safe Environment” programs create a false sense of security and may even protect child predators. The predator in this case was Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer, a now-convicted child offender who is…Continue reading Safe environment programs: Safe for predators, not so much for kids
Yesterday’s big settlement announcement raised a question for me: What about the wives? One of the perpetrators who was a part of the settlement, Michael Nocita, has now been sued by four different women for sexual abuse. He was removed from ministry and laicized. The Archdiocese has paid out big money to his victims. It’s…Continue reading What about the wives?
A big question I get from parents is: How can I keep my child safe? While I have a book on the subject coming out soon, there is one thing we can all do right now to make our kids safer: Go with your gut. If you are in a situation and things seem odd,…Continue reading Prevent abuse: Go with your gut
Bishops are very quick divert attention from their role in the cover-up of sex abuse by pointing fingers at public schools, where there is another, very real child sex abuse crisis. But why haven’t the bishops helped to publicly fund or support any legislation that helps victims in public schools? Why haven’t they spoken out…Continue reading The victims’ movement doesn’t discriminate
Every once in a while, I catch myself wondering why the child sex abuse awareness movement (especially in the Catholic Church) has never elicited support from Hollywood A-listers. Yesterday, Dylan Farrow gave us a painful and personal reminder. Her immensely brave open letter in the New York Times is raw. She openly accuses Woody Allen…Continue reading You read Dylan Farrow’s letter. Now what?
Child molester Mary Kay LeTourneau is back in the news, but not for what you would think: Letourneau, 51, was arrested on suspicion of driving with a suspended license and booked into King County Jail. A year ago, she’d been cited for driving with a suspended license after failing to pay her tickets. She didn’t show up at…Continue reading Women abuse, too, part 2 —The predator mindset
The Red Herring Award of the month is a doozey: Earlier this week, this op-ed appeared in the Port Huron MI Times Herald. The author, Mike Stechschulte, says that the media and the public need “perspective” about the clergy abuse crisis. He cites “huge improvements in policies,” low numbers of recent clergy sex abuse cases, and…Continue reading No red herrings, please. Let’s talk about the REAL scandal in St. Paul
I don’t know the answer to this myself, but it has been bothering me since learning about Tucson conductor/convicted child sex offender Eric Holtan. Holtan was convicted in 2000 of first- and third-degree sexual assault against two of his former students while he was a teacher in Duluth, MN. According to the Duluth News Tribune:…Continue reading Should Public Arts Organizations Give $ To Convicted Sex Offenders?
Eric Holtan is slowly getting exposed. From The Duluth News: Holtan, who was convicted of first-degree and third-degree criminal sexual conduct, was ordered at his 2000 sentencing to serve two years at the Northeast Regional Corrections Center, register as a sex offender and meet the conditions of his probation for 15 years. Any violation of…Continue reading Holtan makes headlines
Convicted molester works at Tucson church Child sex offender is music minister Man pled guilty in 2000 to molesting girls He did prison time and is still on probation Now, musician heads group that performs in churches SNAP fears he may have hurt or may be hurting AZ kids What: Holding childhood photos, child sex…Continue reading Convicted molester works at Tucson church
To review or download the case history of Eric Holtan’s guilty plea to child sexual abuse, click here. To access the information on the Minnesota Courts website, do the following: Click on the court’s website here. 1. Click on Find a Court Case (one of the tabs at the top of the page)…Continue reading Eric Holtan information
I have never had any kind of tolerance for institutional malfeasance. Shocker, I know. But what really intrigues me is this: Why are the vast majority of America’s Catholic priests silent when it comes to child sex abuse and cover-up in the church? In Los Angeles, a document release in January showed that high-ranking church officials…Continue reading A challenge for the good priests
Governor Jerry Brown denies justice for those sexually abused as children Mark Crawford Last week Catholic officials were jubilant when Governor Jerry Brown chose to kill bill SB 131, which would have temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for some child victims of sexual abuse. The governor made several excuses as to why he struck…Continue reading Brown Denies Justice to Victims – Guest Blog Post – Mark Crawford
Survivors to Bishop: Stand with victims! Three more victims file child sex abuse and cover-up lawsuits Former bishop and two known predators named Victims pass out postcards to neighbors, citizens Group urges people to “pledge to stop donating” and “talk to family about abuse” What: Holding pictures of themselves at the age they were abused,…Continue reading Do you stand with abusers, or with victims?
Four more boys accuse farmer of abuse Predator adopted and fostered boys in CA and HI Five of his “sons” now say that he molested them Victims beg social services, public for help and information Group runs ad begging “If you saw, suspected or suffered abuse, speak up” What: Holding photos of themselves at the…Continue reading Jay Ram accused of abuse by four more “sons”
I am devastated. Read his veto statement here. Sorry the link was broken before. I am out of town for a wedding, and blogging via smartphone isn’t very … well, smart.