Don't leave clergy alone with children: :::report

[moobu2]

They recommended clergy and youth workers should never be alone with adolescents where abuse could occur, such as a home, church or car.

The report, released yesterday, showed the church averaged nearly a complaint a month between 1990 and 2008, that boys between 10 and 15 were most at risk, and that most victims took more than two decades to complain.

In a study the researchers believe is the second of its type worldwide, University of Sydney professors Patrick Parkinson and Kim Oates examined every completed report of child sexual abuse — 191 by 135 abusers.
About half the complaints involved more than one abusive act. Most abuse occurred in the abuser's home or on church premises, while camps and cars were also common locations.

The report said the church needed to concentrate its effort on the areas of most risk, such as youth groups, rather than its present blanket approach.


THE Anglican Church in Australia etc etc etc

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. One a month for almost twenty years?

And those were the ones that were reported. Like an iceberg, most of the violations were never reported, I'll wager.

Maybe the churches ought to pay more attention to the men they're sending out as clergy. I mean, I've met some seminarians who were so "off," it didn't take a trained professional to know that these people should never have been in any kind of position of authority or power.

One, alas, was a relative of mine, but he moved up very nicely in the church hierarchy. Fortunately, he was never a parish priest, never involved with kids.......................................

[struggle4progress]

4. The complaints alleged abuse since 1940: about 54 of those complaints involved

abuse since 1990. 90% of the males and 70% of the females waited more than two years to report the abuse. The median length of time between the alleged abuse and the first complaint to the church was 23 years.

[rurallib]

2. while the ckergy seems to be more conspicuous than others

any adult who works with kids really needs to be checked.
Americans have always given a lot of deference to those given a mantle of authority by their position. They are willing to trust their kids with people they do not really know based on that person being an authority figure. Teachers, clergy, police, politicians, the list goes on and on.
Used to be when an accusation was made the child had to be lying, because a (cop, priest, teacher) would never do anything like that. Plus children are naturally shy and easily intimidated

[struggle4progress]

3. Link to the report (pdf):

http://www.anglican.org.au/docs/Study%20of%20Reported%20Child%20Sexual%20Abuse%20in%20the%20Anglican%20Church%20May%202009%20Full%20Report.pdf

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. In the U.S. Episcopal Church, you can't even be a Sunday School teacher

unless you've taken a training in appropriate boundaries for working with children and youth.

Scout leaders, coaches, camp counselors, and teachers are others who can be sexual predators.

[Critters2]

6. I'm not allowed to be alone with children,

though I've never had even the hint of impropriety in my life. Sometimes, it's a bit problematic. Like the family whose dog was desperately ill and needed to go to an emergency clinic an hour away. They asked me to stay with their sleeping child, and I had to say "no". I would've read or watched TV while the child slept, but I couldn't. So, together we scrambled to find someone else to do it.

I just want to throttle the clergy who've created this mess!!