April 15, 2010
ASSOCIATED PRESS GETS WISE ADVICE
Catholic League president Bill Donahue offers the Associated Press (AP)
some words of advice:
What a fabulous story the AP has today on 30 Catholic priests accused of
abuse who were transferred or moved abroad. AP put some money into this
investigative report: it spans 21 countries in six continents. Now
consider the following:
* In October 2007, AP released a report on sexual misconduct
committed by public school teachers and found 2,570 cases over a five
year period. In fact, it's much worse than this. As AP disclosed, "Most
of the abuse never gets reported." [My emphasis].
* Why does most of the abuse go unreported? "School
administrators make behind-the-scenes deals to avoid lawsuits and other
trouble. And in state capitals and Congress, lawmakers shy from tough
state punishments or any cohesive national policy for fear of
disparaging a vital profession."
* What happens to molesting teachers? "Too often, problem
teachers are allowed to leave quietly. That can mean future abuse for
another student and another school district." Indeed, it happens so
often it is called "passing the trash" or the "mobile molester."
* Moreover, "deals and lack of information-sharing allow abusive
teachers to jump state lines, even when one school does put a stop to
the abuse."
Advice to AP: Do a story on the "mobile molesters," using the report on
priests as a model, i.e., don't just write an article-name the names of
the teachers, principals and school superintendents. Also, track down
molesting teachers in Maine where it is illegal to make public the cases
of abusing teachers. Go back to California and Hawaii where AP was
stonewalled in 2007 from getting hard information on molesting teachers,
and this time do your own investigating. For more advice, call my
office.
Contact Michael Oreskes, the AP official who oversees investigative
reporting: moreskes@ap.org
Jeff Field
Director of Communications
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
450 Seventh Avenue
New York, NY 10123
212-371-3191
212-371-3394 (fax)
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