I was cranky when I posted about the Senate Bill, mostly because of the lack of retroactivity (meaning that statutes were not revived for victims who had proof of crimes, but whose time limit had already passed).
I shouldn’t have been.
In fact, these bills are great first steps in allowing victims more time to heal and come to terms with their abuse in order to report the crime.
Hopefully, they will also embolden state lawmakers to pass robust retroactive civil laws that get predators off the streets RIGHT NOW.
That big BOOM you heard this morning in Southern California? That was my head exploding after reading the cover story in today’s Orange County Register.
Though the diocese’s growth was exponential, there was also a period of turmoil when the nationwide Catholic Church sex abuse scandal erupted. Bishop Tod Brown, who took the helm in September 1998, faced the brunt of the sexual abuse lawsuits. The diocese was the first to arrive at a settlement, for $100 million, on Jan. 15, 2004.
Brown apologized to 87 alleged victims and issued a Covenant of the Faithful, promising to be transparent with the media and the public. However, Brown later was criticized for not divulging that he also had faced an allegation of sexual abuse. That allegation was dismissed by church officials. Brown said the accusation was not true.
Speaking recently from his office in the Christ Cathedral’s pastoral center, the retired bishop said he was “unaware of the problem” when he took office. (emphasis mine)
I really hate it when people lie.
Unaware of the problem? Brown knew. He knew very, very well.
Brown just can’t claim ignorance and let things go. He has to make it worse for victims:
“The challenge for me was to come to grips with what it was and what we needed to do to get the healing started and protect our youth in the future,” Brown said. “(Sexual abuse) is a problem that is endemic to humanity. We had it in the Catholic Church, too.”
Ugh. I hate it when people say, “Well, EVERYONE was doing it.” This isn’t smoking pot in the back of your friend’s camper. We are talking about sex crimes against children here. Of course child sexual abuse is a social problem. But the real issue here was the systemic cover-up and protection of predators and abuse.
I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday who had just read a pretty expansive article on child sexual abuse and civil laws. What struck her was the author’s (correct) assertion that most child predators are NOT pedophiles.
Of course, I said. True “pedophiles,” that is, adults who are sexually attracted to prepubescent children, are only a small portion of the people who prey on children.
But the media and apologists tend to only focus on them, even though there is a far larger and more diverse population of people who commit sex crimes against children.
Jared Fogle: was is pedophila or was it power? Does it matter to the victim?
This is something that the survivors’ community knows well, but that gets lost in the great discussion.
An example: Bill Donohue, the president of the (somewhat questionable) Catholic League, is always quick to say that most of the sexual abuse in the Catholic Church is “ephebophila,” a non-specific term meant to describe adults who are attracted to children who have reached or in the middle of puberty. He says it’s less of a crime and less damaging to the children. Nothing could be more wrong.
When we use labels like “pedophila” and “ephebophilia,” we make child sexual abuse all about sex. But it isn’t about sex: it’s about power. Otherwise, why else would a child bully and sexually abuse another child? Why would sports hazing move into sexual assault and rape? Why would a teacher molest dozens of high school students? It’s the power.
Puberty is a physical state, not an emotional one. In my son’s school, there are 12 year olds who look like they are barely nine. There are 12 year olds who look like they are 17. They are vastly different physically, even though emotionally and mentally, they are at the exact same maturity level.
And here is what we need to understand: children are horribly damaged by abuse, no matter how “physically developed” they are. Any adult who would sexually abuse a kid wants the power. Sex is secondary.
The age of the perpetrator is also secondary. The young child who is sexually abused by a 15-year-old can be just as damaged and just as scarred as the young child molested by the adult. The 15-year-old molested by an adult can suffer the same psychic damage as a 9-year-old.
It’s time to shift the focus away from categorizing predators. It’s time to instead focus on victims and ending the crime.
My friend Manny Vega and I had the opportunity to make a video for Buzzfeed about our experience as survivors of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
Thanks to producer Ricky Sans for the amazing end product.
