In my talks to groups, I always try to impress on people how child sexual abuse destroys communities. When a predator undermines family and community bonds to target a child, the ripples of sexual abuse damage radiate farther than the child victim.
It happened in my case—affecting (and destroying) my family, my peers, and the school community where the abuse was covered-up.
But I have not seen anything like I saw in this article in the Saint Cloud Times, about my friend, Billy Dinkel.
He was recently profiled in the St. Cloud Times, but it was this excerpt that grabbed me.
Billy met or talked by phone with Times’ journalists more than five times in the last year. Reporters examined court records and interviewed Billy’s therapist, wife and many experts in an attempt to corroborate his story. One of his brothers provided a limited interview to the Times, three siblings declined to speak on the record, two other relatives (nephews) declined to comment and several others did not respond to the Times.
No one contradicted Billy’s story of sexual abuse, nor would anyone comment on the record about who may have known of the abuse as it happened. (emphasis mine)
In other words: it happened and his family just wants him to stop talking about it.
Billy won’t stop talking; and he shouldn’t. Telling him things like “Just let it go” or “Forgive and move on” are only tools to perpetuate silence and more abuse.
May Billy stay loud and may he help ensure that other families and other communities are not destroyed like his were.
In public schools, there is a prevalent problem called “Passing the Trash.” It’s when a teacher accused of sexual abuse is quietly moved from school to school within a district once allegations come to light. Evidence is buried by the district, witnesses and victims graduate or move, and the school district relies on the short civil statutes of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse in public schools.
It’s so prevalent, in fact, that educators and administrators use the term “Passing the Trash” themselves to describe the problem.
Want to see a textbook example of how Passing the Trash can destroy kids?
More than 15 kids had accused the teacher of inappropriate touching. The Palm Springs-area Desert Sands and Coachella Valley Unified Schools buried the complaints and let a predator stay in the classroom. Who suffered? You guessed it: the kids. How many victims? We will never know.
Singing and the teaching of singing are very personal and very hands-on. It’s one-on-one (and before the days of awareness about sexual abuse, it was done behind closed doors). It’s not unusual for a vocal coach to touch a student (in a NON-SEXUAL WAY) to show a concept. It’s very personal and can get very emotional. Your body is your instrument. If a piano is out of tune, you hire a tuner. If your voice is out of tune … well, it’s personal.
The scandal in the chorus is very similar to what you’re seeing in U.S. Gymnastics.
The problem with the All-American Boys Chorus is that things really haven’t changed since Coughlin led the group. The culture that Fr. Coughlin created has continued in the decades after he left.
One example: Roger Alan Giese was a vocal coach for the chorus. He had been giving voice lessons to members for years. He was arrested in 2007 on multiple counts of sexual assault on a member of the chorus. Read the charges. They are gross. He conned his victim into thinking that Giese was a member of Delta Force.
Here is the rub: Giese was hired by the same people who were carefully chosen by Coughlin to turn a blind eye to how he was grooming and abusing chorus members. These were same people who should have implemented policies and procedures after Coughlin’s removal to ensure that the abuse NEVER HAPPENED AGAIN. But they didn’t.
Giese was exhibiting “red flag” behavior by telling the victim that he was a member of Delta Force; by having the victim and his brother for overnight visits; and by asking for samples of their body fluids. Yet, the chorus staff had NO POLICIES in place to forbid—or even notice—these behaviors.
What else has been happening in the chorus that we don’t know about? This is a touring group that goes outside of the country to perform. What else is going on when parents aren’t looking?
And who else used the chorus to molest innocent boys in far away locales?
The most tragic part of this story is that Giese was a singer in the chorus when he was boy. I do not believe the argument that being sexually abused as a child makes one more likely to become an abuser as an adult. But I do believe that Giese may have already had those tendencies.
And I believe Giese knew that The All-American Boys Chorus would be the easiest place to find prey.
So now we know that two alleged sex offenders—one with multiple accusations in two states and another who is on the lam in a foreign country—used The All-American Boys Chorus to find easy prey. We know that the same people are in charge now in 2017, who were in charge in 1993 and in 2007 when Coughlin and Giese were targeting kids.
Why would anyone take the risk of enrolling their kids in the choir?
If you have any information on these men or anyone else who hurt kids, call the DA, the police, or contact me and I will point you in the right direction.
The era of secret child sex abuse settlements in California is over.
I am usually quick to beat up on California Governor Jerry Brown for his poor record on protecting institutions who cover-up child sex abuse. But a new law enacted January 1, 2017, slipped under my radar— and organizations who harbor men and women who prey on children should be on notice.
Section 1002 of the Code of Civil Procedure is amended to read:
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a provision within a settlement agreement that prevents the disclosure of factual information related to the action is prohibited in any civil action the factual foundation for which establishes a cause of action for civil damages for any of the following:
(1) An act that may be prosecuted as a felony sex offense.
(2) An act of childhood sexual abuse, as defined in Section 340.1.
(3) An act of sexual exploitation of a minor, as defined in Section 11165.1 of the Penal Code, or conduct prohibited with respect to a minor pursuant to Section 311.1, 311.5, or 311.6 of the Penal Code.
(4) An act of sexual assault, as defined in paragraphs (1) to (9), inclusive, of subdivision (e) of Section 15610.63 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, against an elder or dependent adult, as defined in Sections 15610.23 and 15610.7 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, in a civil action described in paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, of subdivision (a), a court shall not enter, by stipulation or otherwise, an order that restricts the disclosure of information in a manner that conflicts with subdivision (a).
(c) Subdivisions (a) and (b) do not preclude an agreement preventing the disclosure of any medical information or personal identifying information, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 530.55 of the Penal Code, regarding the victim of the offense listed in subdivision (a) or of any information revealing the nature of the relationship between the victim and the defendant. This subdivision shall not be construed to limit the right of a crime victim to disclose this information.
(d) Except as authorized by subdivision (c), a provision within a settlement agreement that prevents the disclosure of factual information related to the action described in subdivision (a) that is entered into on or after January 1, 2017, is void as a matter of law and against public policy.
(e) An attorney’s failure to comply with the requirements of this section by demanding that a provision be included in a settlement agreement that prevents the disclosure of factual information related to the action described in subdivision (a) that is not otherwise authorized by subdivision (c) as a condition of settlement, or advising a client to sign an agreement that includes such a provision, may be grounds for professional discipline and the State Bar of California shall investigate and take appropriate action in any such case brought to its attention.
In other words, if there are damaging documents (with the victims’ and innocent parties’ names redacted) about the guilt/liability of the perpetrator entered into evidence, they must be made public upon settlement.
If there is damaging or embarrassing evidence about the cover-up – all evidence must be made public upon settlement. No more secret settlement documents.
Or the Boy Scouts, who have thousands of pages of perversion files—outlining decades of abuse—that the public has yet to see (and victims they are still fighting in the courts).
Charles T. Ritz III, La Habra High School Teacher accused of abuse
It’s been a roller coaster ride for SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
For those of you who are not familiar with the group, this is an organization where I donate a ton of time, and an organization that’s responsible for whom I have become as an advocate.
Lately, SNAP has been in the news far more than I would like: founder and president Barbara Blaine and executive director David Clohessy (both friends and colleagues) have stepped down after almost 30 years with the organization. On top of that—but totally unrelated—a former fundraiser has sued the group, claiming that they took “kickbacks” from attorneys. The fundraiser’s allegations are completely unfounded. The woman suing the group admitted that she never spoke to any of the dozens of volunteer leaders who do what I do.
What do I do?
My phone number is the first that many adult survivors of child sexual abuse and sexual assault call. I get tons of email messages every week from survivors, family members, spouses, cops, private investigators, concerned Catholics, parents, and others asking for help. I do my best to help these people find therapists, other survivors to talk to, find documents, locate alleged abusers, expose hidden offenders, get attorney referrals, and access the suicide hotline. I am very good at what I do.
I help survivors get healing and justice, no matter the abuser. I work every day to keep children safer from abuse, no matter where or when that abuse occurs. I show victims how to use their voice, the criminal justice system, the civil justice system, the media, the Internet, therapy, and available support systems to make sure that what happened to them never happens to another child. SNAP does not pay me.
But I am not unique
All of SNAP’s volunteer leaders do what I do with the same passion. Many answer their phones more often than I do. Others may show more compassion. Many don’t have young children and have much more time. We are able to do what we do with the support of the SNAP main office—who helps us training, materials, advice, social media, our network, a shoulder to cry on, answering our phone calls 24/7, and all of our media outreach.
The mission of the volunteer leaders is the same as SNAP, now led by Managing Director Barb Dorris and SNAP’s volunteer board of directors: Help survivors heal and stop the cycle of abuse.
Together, we will all give our time and talents (and yes, our donations) to make sure that no survivor falls through the cracks.
