Submitted by Dee Word

Dateline May 2015; Respected 73 years old retired speaker of the US House of Congress Dennis Hastert , former teacher and coach accused of having alleged sexual relationships with a student 30+ years earlier during period when he was a teacher and coach at a high-school.

Dateline June 2012; News reports advised that the principal, chaplain and several teachers of the Horace Mann private school in NY were involved in sexual activity with students dating back to the 1970s through the1990s. After these first reports were publicized the NY Times journalist who wrote the article received correspondence from several other previously unidentified former student victims who told similar stories of molestation.

Dateline 2010; The US Courts awarded a sum of $18.5 million to a Boy Scout who had been molested back in the 1980s. He was the unfortunate ‘poster boy’ for the over 2000 cases of reported abuse prior to 1994. The Washington Times said this in a report they published in 1991: “The Boy Scouts are a magnet for men who want to have sexual relations with children…Paedophiles join the Scouts for a simple reason: it’s where the boys are.”

Dateline late 1980; Rumours appeared in the media of sexual molestation by Catholic priests of primarily boys under their tutelage. In 2002 these reports exploded into public attention when investigatory news reports confirmed the pervasive nature of this molestation in Ireland, Canada, across Europe and in the USA. Reports noted that hundreds of children – one or two as young as three years old – were exposed to this perfidy.

So stop for a moment and reflect on our little island. We mimic the industrialized countries with our own comparative acts of malfeasance re political corruption, police intransigence, infidelity and general criminality but over the years we have not been exposed to any comparative problems related to sexual misconduct towards our youth by teachers/coaches etc.  It is naïve to think that we do not have our scandals lying dormant because as the very short list above highlights they can lie uncovered for many, many years. So one can only pray that our victims have been able to get appropriate counselling and guidance which led them from despair.  And lead them too from starting the cycle again as adults.

Maybe our society could adequately handle a comprehensive investigatory report detailing even a fraction of a story like Horace Mann. Maybe the long ago rumours of coaches and other teachers interfering with boys have already worked through our psyches and we would not be as disgusted,scandalized or shocked.

Or maybe not.

As the Denny Hasterts of our island enjoy their seniors years one can only hope that they truly repay society in a meaningful way for their actions. But if they are to be identified as the paedophiles that they are, then so be it. Let the chips fall where they may.

This is a tragic tale about which we may never know any details (which is OK) but our Child Care authorities need to be aggressive in identifying and handling these types of cases and we need to continue to educate our youth not to be scared or ashamed to tell another adult.