There simply is no excuse that no one did anything-not a thing-to confront former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky about allegations that he had engaged in child sex abuse or get law enforcement involved. Were they all so afraid of being wrong to accuse, or even worse afraid of the fallout if child abuse was discovered at Penn State, so they chose silence over action?
Abuse only stops when someone steps in and reports it-when all too many responsible authority figures turned a blind eye to alleged abuse of minors in a locker room, they failed in their ethical responsibilities as human beings.
We have laws in all of our states that say:"person...who has reason to believe that a child has been subjected to abuse or neglect shall...notify the local department or the appropriate law enforcement agency" It doesn't get any cleaner than that. And those laws are in addition to the mandatory requirements placed upon health practitioners, police officers, educators, and human service workers.
These laws don't state that you need to get permission from your supervisor, your rabbi, your priest, your school principal, an investigatory committee-they state that you need to report abuse when it's suspected. You call 911, you call your child protective services.
But what good are laws if citizens-parents, adults, bystanders-don't act upon and use them? It's time we stopped our collective communal inaction. Our leaders urge us to report suspected terrorists; it's time we report suspected child abusers. What do you think?
Rev. John.
