(CBS News) Jerry Sandusky’s denials that he sexually abused young boys over the span of years are traumatizing his alleged victims all over again, an attorney representing some of the accusers said. “They’re really suffering despair, confusion and, really, fury because Sandusky and those around him remain free to speak and deny. And every time they do, speak and deny, they are really putting salt in the wounds, they are really putting a dagger in the heart, they are really wounding the soul even further and, in that way, we are really trying to work with these survivors to help them …
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Amidst an increased nationwide focus on accountability for child sexual abuse, the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph stands as a prime example of an institution’s failure to put its house in order. Today, in lieu of another indictment on misdemeanor charges for the willful disregard of Father Shawn Ratigan’s production of child pornography and exploitation of children, Bishop Robert Finn entered into a compliance agreement with the Clay County Prosecutor. This agreement provides the Clay County prosecutor unique oversight of the Diocese and its handling of child abuse…
In the wake of the scandal at Penn State University, the public dialogue has suggested that Americans are both shocked by the incidents of sexual abuse and appalled by the extensive cover-up perpetrated by top officials at the University. There is now increased awareness that predators will utilize the very institutions designed to help protect and save vulnerable children to gain access to and abuse children.This week that violation of trust has shifted to Minnesota.
For decades, Minneapolis attorney Jeff Anderson has represented alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse. This week, he says he’s seeing some of the same “institutional failures” at Penn State that he says have long plagued the Catholic Church. “We have learned whether it’s the Boy Scouts, Penn State, the Roman Catholic Church, the most trusted institutions everybody seems to give deference to the offenders,” Anderson said on Thursday. “The more powerful the institution, the more perilous it is to the children,” he added. Anderson believes Penn State leaders have their wo…
I have a few bones to pick about some of the reaction to the mushrooming Penn State University sex-abuse scandal. But first, a quick summary for the uninformed. According to a grand jury presentment, Mike McQueary, then a graduate assistant of the college football team and now an assistant coach, saw Jerry Sandusky, a longtime former assistant coach and PSU booster, sodomize a 10-year-old boy in a school shower in 2002. He informed legendary coach Joe Paterno, who acknowledged this week he was told that the incident involved fondling of a sexual nature. Paterno alerted Tim Curley, the athl…
Both are managed by male dominated-hierarchies. Both are revered by millions of people. And both allegedly dealt with accusations of sexual abuse of children internally, without going to law enforcement authorities.To many victims’ advocates, commentators and others, the parallels between this week’s allegations about how Penn State dealt with reports of sex abuse and decade-old revelations about sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church are uncanny. “It is really a striking and almost identical factual pattern that has emerged in the Catholic Church cases and at Penn State,” says Jeff…
In addition to severe reputational damage, Pennsylvania State University faces the prospect of huge financial exposure from lawsuits by sexual-abuse victims who can credibly charge the university had ample warning that its former assistant football coach preyed on children but did little or nothing to stop it, say trial lawyers who have been following the case. Particularly troubling for the university, at least from a legal liability standpoint, is that the broad parameters of a civil case already are being vividly laid out by state Attorney General Linda Kelly. She has charged athletic dir…
News outlets and commentators have been quick to remark on the story out of Penn State. Many have yet to address the most critical issue- the children who were abused by Sandusky. While we certainly agree that the recent scandal exposes gaps in accountability and demonstrates institutional failure, the focus now must be on the kids. Survivors of abuse by Sandusky must know that what happened to them was not their fault. They should not have to suffer in secrecy, silence and shame. Joe Paterno and those at Penn State who did not report despite suspicions about Sandusky’s relationships
The High Court in the United Kingdom ruled yesterday that the Catholic Church can be liable for sexual abuse committed by its priests. This ruling, for which we are very grateful, will give great hope to survivors of sexual abuse by clergy in the United Kingdom. The High Court’s decision allows the case against the Diocese of Portsmouth that we wrote about this summer to move to trial. The case involves a woman known as “Miss E” who says she was sexually abused by Father Wilfred Baldwin at The Firs, a children’s home in Waterlooville.
This is not about Joe Paterno.
If these boys really were molested, groped and raped by a middle-aged ex-Penn State football coach, then whatever misjudgment Paterno made will be a single lit match compared to the bonfire these boys will walk in for years to come.
If, as many people believe, the institution that is the Catholic Church should be held legally responsible for the child sexual abuse crimes perpetrated by its priests and the subsequent cover up of the worldwide scandal by their superiors, then shouldn’t Penn State — not to mention football coach Joe Paterno and other top administrators — be held similarly accountable for the alleged crimes committed by longtime assistant coach Jerry Sandusky?
Report released by the PA Attorney General’s Grand Jury investigation of allegations of child sexual abuse by Jerry Sandusky.
William Mitchell College of Law recently honored Jeffrey R. Anderson ’75 and William M. Orth ’80 at the college’s Annual DeParcq Leadership Dinner. The dinner is held in honor of William H. DeParcq ‘30, prominent Minnesota personal injury lawyer who died in 1988, to recognize those who make a difference in the lives of our students, our law school, and our community.
The parallels between the cover-up of an authority figure sexually abusing children at Penn State University and the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church are clear and disturbing.This weekend, Jerry Sandusky, former defensive coordinator of Penn State’s storied and successful football team, was arrested following a grand jury investigation into Sandusky’s sexual abuse of young boys. The grand jury indictment includes over 40 criminal counts involving the sexual abuse of eight boys between 1994 and 2009. According to the grand jury report, the University’s athletic director, Tim Curl…