Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Church Sued, Schools Protected

H/T to Brian.

National Catholic Register has a interesting article about a new bill in Colorado which attempt to hold the Church liable for abuse which occured as long as 80 years ago.

Not outraged yet? Just wait. Jennifer Kraska, executive director of the Colorado Catholic Conference told NCR, “Since Jan. 1, 2006, 44 public school teachers have been charged with sexual contact with children. That number only reflects those who’ve been caught and turned in.”

So, what is the state doing about it? They are cracking down on priests who died decades ago. All this while Colorado law prevents the public schools from being sued. There is currently a fluff bill in the works to only allow immunity if the public school performed a background check.

Still not outraged?
Bill Donahue from the Catholic League listed the way abusers are treated in public school systems.

• Instead of punishing child molesters, they’re simply moved from place to place in the school system without anyone getting a heads-up.

• It takes almost a year-and-a-half to investigate claims of abuse in the public schools.
• If the accused public school teacher is guilty of touching a minor or accessing porn on a computer, he can continue working, provided he sees a shrink.

• Public school molesters who admit to their crimes are given a second chance.

• Investigators are not commissioned from the outside, but are all staffed from inside the public school system.

• Deals are routinely cut for accused public school molesters in secret, protecting the identity of the molester from the community.

• The accused public school molesters not only walk, they can walk away with cash settlements, health insurance and letters of recommendation.

Sound familiar? It should, but for some reason it's acceptable for public school teachers. That is not acceptable for ANYONE! Not for the Church, not for the schools, not for ANYONE!

Read the Register article here.

No comments: