Will The Media Go After All Athletic Coaches The Way They Did All Catholic Priests?

In 2002, the Boston Globe reported sexual abuse involving Catholic priests that brought on a national firestorm of lawsuits against the Church and criminal cases against individuals. The paper garnered a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage but what it really started was a demonization of all priests that continues today in the media.

Other news outlets did whatever they could to fan the fans of outrage among Catholics that resulted in an acute loss of trust and support for their parishes. On the front page of a New York City newspaper, there was a post urging victims of pedophile priests to call the paper with their stories. I'm waiting for that same journalistic fervor to follow the Penn State pedophile sex abuse scandal that will spread to include all athletic directors and coaches around the country. What are the odds of that happening? Although many will see the Penn State scandal as similar to that of Catholic priests, in actually it is far, far worse.

Although the sins against the innocent victims are equally heinous, what distinguishes the cases is that the pedophile coach Jerry Sandusky was witnessed in the act by a 28-year old grad student. The charges against the priests in large part came from the victims themselves or members of their families. Critics of the church administrators in the dioceses blamed them for ignoring the abuse charges and covering up the incidents.

In a John Jay report of the scandal, of the 4,392 priests who were accused, which represented roughly 4% of the 109,694 priests in active ministry, the allegations were found to be credible for 1,671 priests and not credible for 345 priests. In other cases at least 300 priests and deacons were completely exonerated. Ultimately, the percentage of abusers among the catholic clergy turned out to be lower than those in other faiths and professions. Nevertheless, all priests are still tarred with the same brush and while there was definite negligence in pursuing the cases and removals of the charged priests, a witness sighting would have brought swifter action with reports to the appropriate authorities.

What happened at Penn State is beyond belief and I hesitate to even provide the details other than to state that the scandal that erupted is turning out to be the tip of the iceberg. The question on everybody's mind is why didn't the graduate assistant who witnessed the sodomizing of a ten year old boy by Coach Sandusky do something to stop the attack? He went home and waited until the next day to report it to Coach Joe Paterno. This was in 2002 but as far back as 2000, Sandusky had been observed by two janitors at the Lasch Football Building with a boy as young as 11. Officials at the university were advised but no police reports were ever filed.

It was disheartening to hear Mark Fuhrman, a Fox News contributor, discussing the Penn State scandal, likening it to the pedophile priest scandals. Sorry but there was no concerted effort throughout all the parishes to hide the sex abuse of children. Nor was there fear that people would lose their livelihoods for rocking the boat in the parish. What makes the Penn State scandal so mind boggling is the dominating influence that football played over everyone's moral judgment. Football is the king on campus and what needs to happen now is a full-fledged investigation into whether Penn State was an anomaly or if this abuse is occurring elsewhere wherever school sports bring in the big bucks.

In the Beaver County Times, reporter Mark Madden, hinted that Sandusky might have been pimping out children with The Second Mile program he founded to rich Penn State donors. This has not been validated but anyone who has studied the history of child abuse in The United Kingdom has heard this story before. Wealthy predators gravitate towards vulnerable children and what greater resource for them than in charities set up by one of their ilk?

One question that I've heard people ask over and over is why didn't the children report what abuse they suffered? A well-adjusted child would do that, of course, but that is not whom pedophiles target. As a person who was abused as a child while living in the barrio, I found it easy to answer that question. If you come from a dysfunctional family, "don't make waves" is your modus operandi. Also, exactly who could you report it to if your home life is worse than the abuse suffered on campus by people pretending to like you and showering you with gifts and tickets like Sandusky did to his victims? Another reason that might prevent disclosure is the feeling of guilt that you are somehow responsible for provoking the pedophile's behavior.

A lesson I've learned from my past is that children are not responsible for mistreatment or sexual abuse by an adult. As a mother I made sure to assure all my children that they could come to me if anything untoward happened to them and I would be on their side. There is of course the possibility that children may lie and falsely accuse an innocent person. Lives can be destroyed by these lies and I wish someone would invent a reliable lie detector test. Nevertheless, a close parental bond can ensure that such a possibility would be rare.

Before we start linking this disgusting Penn State scandal to the one that is still haunting the Catholic priesthood, let's see how far the media will pursue their investigation beyond Pennsylvania. Let's wait for Bill Maher to joke about the besmirched walls of Penn State the way he still does about priests. We don't yet know which wealthy patrons were in league with the pedophile coach but it might be someone who could cost Maher his job.

We live in a society that tolerates bad behavior that's excused and glamorized by Hollywood. Consider how celebrities defended director Roman Polanski despite his rape of a 13 year old girl. Michael Jackson is still adored and worshipped as a Pop Culture giant even though he was a middle aged man sleeping with young boys with their parents' approval. How can we allow a group like NAMBLA to even exist? Is it because its members include wealthy powerful men from elite professions? Was Coach Sandusky ever a member?

In 2000, the ACLU defended this despicable association when the parents of a slain ten-year boy sued the North American Man-Boy Love Association of whom their son's killer was a member. They charged that this organization's web site encourages the rape of children. The ACLU contends that this is an issue of free speech and that even NAMBLA deserves to be defended. The so-called free speech that was being defended on the web site included helpful hints for approaching a child, what to do if approached by the police, etc. These are criminal activities banned by law and yet this organization is flourishing. Sick, sick, sick

In a nation fueled by Viagra, no child is safe.

Alicia Colon resides in New York City and can be reached at aliciav.colon@gmail.com and at www.aliciacolon.com