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#215458 - 11/15/11 02:31 PM
Cain and Penn St: Sexual Misconduct Common Thread
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Boomer in Chief
Registered: 03/11/10
Posts: 3212
Loc: Illinois
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I don't mention it very often, but my professional background is in public relations. And in that capacity, I spent a bit of time training business owners and community leaders how to effectively speak to the media. But that was years ago, and I don't think about it that often. Until lately... Given my background, I have had more than a passing interest in the Herman Cain and Joe Paterno/Pen State incidents of late. But I've also been equally as interested in one of the story lines on one of my current favorite TV shows, "The Good Wife." In fact, the "Good Wife" story has been quite intriguing, as it also involved sexual misconduct. Specifically, a show regular, campaign manager Eli, is brought in to help a potential candidate, who has an embarrassing photo in his background. (It's a situation of college pranks being photographed, and the fact that we live in a Facebook age.) In last Sunday's episode, Eli advises the man -- after carefully first asking him if there are ANY OTHER embarrassing pix of him out in the wild, and being told definitively "no" -- to "out" himself personally with regard to the photo, so that he and Eli can "manage" the flack that will certainly ensue following publication of the potentially embarrassing photo. Of course, once they bring in the big media guns and put the potential candidate out on the Chris Matthews show -- it turns out that Matthews has discovered that there ARE more "smutty" photos, and the advantage is not only lost, but the potential candidate's career is probably all washed up... Art imitating life, I guess, since Herman Cain and Joe Paterno are both on the hot seat these days, due to bad responses to sexual abuse situations. I recently read an article on the Less Than Obvious Commonalities Shared Between Herman Cain and Penn State written by a guest poster to the well-respected PR blog, Bulldog Reporter's "Daily Dog." It's a long article, but I thought it was worth sharing. Take a look. And then let's chat about this topic...
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#215482 - 11/17/11 12:02 PM
Re: Cain and Penn St: Sexual Misconduct Common Thread
[Re: jabber]
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Boomer in Chief
Registered: 03/11/10
Posts: 3212
Loc: Illinois
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I totally agree with you, Jabber.
However, just as on "The Good Wife," the TV show I mentioned earlier, where the campaign manager was consulted on how to "spin" the photo, I have no doubt that PR people will be called in to help.
In fact, I read an article yesterday that said which big PR firm has now been hired by PENN STATE to help them with their image.
Sexual misconduct is never acceptable, and child sexual abuse ought to be harshly punished, IMHO.
But that won't stop these people from seeking out crisis management experts, to try to clean up after the mess they've made...
I'm not talking about the PR efforts as a way to EXCUSE sexual abuse, especially child sexual abuse. It is horrid and once it happens people are often impacted for life. (My mother was sexually abused as a child, so I KNOW these things.)
What I was initially commenting on was that as a former PR practitioner, I am absolutely positive we are going to see these men (and Penn State) attempting career (and entity) "damage control."
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#215547 - 11/22/11 01:38 PM
Re: Cain and Penn St: Sexual Misconduct Common Thread
[Re: jabber]
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Boomer in Chief
Registered: 03/11/10
Posts: 3212
Loc: Illinois
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Jabber, I have been following an awful case of child sexual abuse in my local newspaper, which took place in northeastern Iowa. In this case, the abuser was a grade school principal! Here's the story: CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- A federal judge on Monday ordered the former Sageville Elementary School principal who pleaded guilty to secretly videotaping more than 50 male students in a school bathroom to the maximum punishment.
Robert Burke, 43, was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for his crimes, committed between January and June. He also was fined $25,000 and faces 20 years of supervised release after serving his prison time.
U.S. District Judge Linda Reade called the crimes, which she said occurred against children between the ages of 5 and 11, some of worst she'd ever encountered. She called Burke a danger to the community.
"This is one of the most aggravating circumstances and crimes I've ever seen as judge," Reade said in federal court in Cedar Rapids on Monday afternoon. "This, I must say, is the most depraved I've heard of for some time."
Burke accepted a plea agreement on Aug. 2 to one of seven charges against him -- attempting to use minors younger than 18 to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of such conduct. The other six child pornography-related charges were dropped.
Before the hearing, the federal government revealed in documents that Burke produced videos depicting the genitals of at least 59 identifiable boys who attended the school, as well as a number of victims who could not be identified.
During online chats, Burke allegedly discussed his sexual interest in children and made part of his Internet child pornography available for others to download. Court documents state that Burke wrote, "Let me know if you're interested and I'll get those files ready."
Investigations revealed no evidence that he shared the videos he produced at school. Once again, this is a situation of an adult who takes a job that allows him access to young people. It's an atrocity and I wish I knew some way that parents could better safeguard their kids. I mean, this story pretty much gives me the impression that parent have to investigate every teacher, scout leader, Sunday School teacher, bus driver whom comes in contact with their children. When my kids were little I taught them about "stranger danger," but this is another case where the "bad guy" is not a stranger, and is in a position of authority. Worse, I noted the newspaper also had a sidebar with a chart showing this man's work history. He began his career as a music teacher, and worked in 4 or 5 other school districts before he ended up in Sageville. I believe all of his earlier appointments were in Catholic schools. Of course, I have to wonder how many children might have also been abused in those schools. I'm especially concerned because churches seem to have a history of NOT prosecuting sexual abuse when it happens with their priests. Any thoughts on how our communities - and parents themselves - can better deal with this? Anne
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