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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