Penn State Child Sex Abuse Scandal

Like many of you, I have been reading stories about the child sexual molestation charges brought against the former coach for Penn State, Jerry Sandusky.

In 1977 Mr. Sandusky founded a group home called, "The Second Mile." It later changed into a charity organization to serve children from dysfunctional homes. It is through this organization that Mr. Sandusky had virtually free access to vulnerable youths. With incidents being reported as far back as the late 1990’s, and even an eye witness count in 2002, why is it we are just now learning of an arrest in 2011. You can see the time line here: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/133418383.html

That is well over a decade where the perpetrator had access to thousands of kids.  I find it hard to believe, that in all of that time, only two people saw something.  What I do believe is there were many individuals that saw something, or suspected CSA, but simply didn’t know what to do.

You may have even found yourself feeling a bit helpless when reading the reports.  Maybe it reminded you of an incident were you were suspicious, but kept quiet.

That in itself is one of the top reasons molesters get away with such horrific abuse. They rely on the naivety of adults. The rely on the fact that, no one wants to believe it is happening, few people know what to do if they suspect such abuse, and no one is going to go out on a limb to “possibly” falsely accuse someone they know and trust. And so they go on, from one victim to the next.

But there is some good news, child sexual abuse can be prevented. There is a coalition of companies and individuals that are preventing child sexual abuse one adult at a time. They are hosting a “Prevent Now” breakfast on December 8th from 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. at Children’s Health Care of Atlanta, 1644 Tullie Circle NE, Classroom 6, Atlanta, GA 30329.  The contact person is Willa Boswell, WillaB@gacfca.org or (678) 904-2880.

If you are interested in what you can do, maybe you can find the time to meet them for a cup of coffee and hear what they have to say.  As more adults seek out information on how to spot potential abusers, there will be less abuse possible.  Protecting young people is an adult’s responsibility.  And sometimes those adults are school administrators, coaches, city officials, DFAC workers, parents, and other adults.