In this past week, three major stories concerning child molestation have been in the news – the Catholic Bishop found guilty of conspiring to cover up charges of sexual abuse by priests; a father who was not indicted for killing a man attempting to rape his daughter; and the jury finding the assistant coach at Penn State University guilty of 45 of the 48 charges against him.
A nationwide outcry was heard that the father who was protecting his daughter against a rapist should not be punished. Letters were written, op-ed pages were filled with support for the father and emails flooded prosecutors and judges. The public outcry was overwhelming.
But why wasn’t there a greater outcry over the molestation charges against the priests in the Roman Catholic Church or the football coach at Penn State? Why was no action taken to prosecute when authorities in both the church and the university were told of the initial allegations? In a general sense, why is there an outcry from the public when young girls are molested – but not when young boys are subjected to the same offensive actions?
One reason is the general public misunderstands the difference between pedophilia and homosexuality. Many people believe that molestation of young boys is the result of homosexuality. That is not true and the public needs to understand that difference. In the cases of the Catholic priests and the football coach, no allegations of adult molestation were made. They were only molesting young boys – preying on young boys with whom they had had built a relationship of power and authority. Part of the problem lies in the homophobia that is fairly prevalent in American society.
In addition, Americans seem to have faith in men of the cloth and coaches, believing that they are only the good of the flock. “Why else would grown men take an interest in my young son?” the mindset of many parents. Surely, they think, the cleric or the coach will do no harm to my son. Would they have the same attitude if the cleric or the coach were showing the same interest in their daughter?
We Americans have become so enamored with athletics that in many cases, the coaches are almost gods, and they are beyond suspicion. In my own alma mater, the basketball coach is a well-paid hero. He is admired as much as any movie star was in the 1930s and 40s and the coach can do no wrong, except lose. Football players and coaches have become the idols of their adoring fans and the university hierarchy. Is it any wonder that university officials take a hands-off approach when they hear of such allegations? This happened in the case of the Penn State coach even when police wanted charges filed.
Now that a high-ranking official in the Roman Catholic Church has been sentenced to prison for conspiracy to cover up molestation and the coach has been found guilty, we must not be quick to be suspicious of all coaches or clerics. Most do wonderful work, and we will probably see some stop doing valuable work with young men because of the vile and degrading acts of a few.
Yes, we need to be alert, but we must not cast all men in the same light. There is wonderful work being done by some. It is too bad that we have become enablers of those who aren’t.
