What would be the reaction to a significant, on-going sex abuse scandal in a Catholic diocese? Would the national media cover it for weeks, or years, if there were 18 new (not decades old) reports? How big would the outrage be if those 18 cases were at a single Catholic elementary school?
You can bet that it would occupy the national media’s attention for a long time. Calls for swift and stiff prosecution would be shouted from the rooftops. Who were the priests involved, are they in custody, who covered it up, how many lawsuits have been filed, what can be done to clamp-down?
If this were the case, such outrage would be *justified*. I have written about sex abuse before (see sex scandal).
The situation is much worse. Not 18 cases but more than TEN TIMES THAT – 189 (so far). ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY NINE.
Why have you not heard about it then? Because it is not damaging to the Church but is damaging to a public school. To the completely biased, political agenda driven national media, public schools and their teacher unions are a protected class. The story simply does not fit their narrative. Shameful, completely shameful.
The Media Report (a media watchdog) has the story:
Reports of rampant child sex abuse committed at an elementary school in Los Angeles continue to explode. On the heels of other recent shocking reports involving child sex abuse in L.A. schools, NBC4 in Los Angeles has reported:
“On the same day that attorneys for students at Miramonte Elementary School announced that four additional lawsuits have been filed against LAUSD [Los Angeles Unified School District] over alleged sexual abuse at the school, the district said it faces 189 claims resulting from the scandal…
“The claims are on behalf of 126 students, with the remainder from their family members, [LAUSD general counsel David] Holmquist said.”
189 claims?? 126 students? From just one school?
Is there any doubt that if there were 189 claims at a single Catholic parish that there would be screaming front-page headlines in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Huffington Post? One can easily imagine the folks at the Times becoming hysterical and calling for the federalization of the Catholic Church.
Once again: Double … standard.
The article and comments are here: Where’s the Outrage? Another L.A. School Sex Abuse Shocker: 189 Abuse Claims at Just ONE School!.
The sex abuse rate per 10,000 male adults in the public school system, in therapy professions, in private lessons (chess, martial arts, all the lessons parents drive their kids to after school) and in “eastern religions” is reported to be worse than in the Catholic clergy, at least in the USA, but the public doesn’t realize it. I’m glad you posted this. Whenever I see a tiny story about a huge crime in a government institution or a college e.g. I say, if this had happened in a church it would be front page news for months. Since it didn’t, it will be sifted over and buried in hours. We have to keep raising the issue. Thank you.