XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.misc, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: or.politics, alt.atheism   
   From: nowomr@protonmail.com   
      
   The clergy sex abuse scandal has focused attention on the widespread and   
   systemic sexual abuse of children by priests.   
      
   But child sexual abuse is not just a Catholic problem.   
      
   The Catholic Church - with scandals out of the Boston and Philadelphia   
   archdioceses, to name just two - has been at the center of child sexual   
   abuse, but in recent years a number of horrific cases of child sex abuse   
   has served to focus attention that it is a non-discriminating scourge.   
      
   Studies show that one in 10 children are sexually abused before their 18th   
   birthday. It ranks the second most costly victim crime - second only to   
   murder.   
      
   Predatory priests   
      
   The arrest last week of Father David Poulson, of the Diocese of Erie, once   
   again focused attention on pedophilia in the Catholic Church.   
      
   More than 10,000 Catholic priests have been credibly accused of child   
   molestation and rape - an average of 228 cases per year since the 1950s.   
      
   But the Catholic Church, in fact, is not an outlier.   
      
      
      
   Abuse across Protestant churches   
      
   Child sex abuse happens across Protestant and evangelical churches - and,   
   at times, at a higher rate.   
      
   An investigation by The Associated Press recently found three insurance   
   companies in the United States that provide liability coverage for 165,000   
   Protestant churches typically receive 260 reports every year of children   
   being sexually abused by Protestant clergy or other staff.   
      
   In 2013, Boz Tchividjian, a Liberty University law professor, said the   
   Christian mission field is a "magnet" for sexual abusers.   
      
   Tchividjian, a grandson of the late evangelist the Rev. Billy Graham,   
   excoriated evangelicals for turning a blind eye to abuse among their   
   ranks.   
      
   The Presbyterian Church   
      
   In recent years, the Presbyterian Church, one of the most progressive   
   mainline denominations, has been rocked by child sexual abuse cases. The   
   majority of cases involved  the children of missionaries serving overseas   
   from the 1950s to 1990.   
      
   In the wake of mounting allegations, the church commissioned an   
   independent panel  to investigate the reports. The panel found that at   
   least nine individuals, including ministers ordained with the   
   denomination, had abused children.   
      
   A similar investigation in 2002 found "overwhelming" evidence that at   
   least 22 girls and women had been sexually abused by a  Presbyterian   
   minister and missionary  over a 40-year period.   
      
   The abuse took place in Africa and the United States.   
      
   Matt York/AP   
      
   Southern Baptists   
      
   A survey by the Journal of Pastoral Care in 1993 found that 14 percent of   
   Southern Baptist ministers said they had engaged in "inappropriate sexual   
   behavior."   
      
   By 2000, a report to the Baptist General Convention found the incidence of   
   sexual abuse by clergy had reached "horrific proportions." Victims   
   advocates have derided church leadership for protecting predators and   
   covering up crimes.   
      
   In 2016 the Southern Baptist Convention elected Steve Gaines as its   
   president. A few years earlier, Gaines, at the time head of a  Memphis,   
   Tennessee, church was implicated in clergy child molestation case.   
   Investigators said Gaines knew for years that one of his ministers had   
   sexually molested a child. Gaines neither reported the crime to police or   
   his congregation, police said.   
      
   Jehovah's Witnesses   
      
   Leaked internal documents this year catapulted the Jehovah's Witnesses   
   church unto the child sex crimes roster.   
      
   The insular church discouraged victims of sexual abuse from reporting the   
   abuse, the documents showed.   
      
   The leaked documents exposed sexual abuse accusations from three accusers   
   against a member of the church. The documents outline the efforts by the   
   church to cover up the scandal and keep it from the "worldly court of   
   law."   
      
   Since the news broke, hundreds of church members have come forward with   
   their own accounts of abuse. Attorneys believe there are thousands of   
   victims involved.   
      
   Predators: not so much pastors but volunteers   
      
   The majority of accused predators in faith settings are not clergy or   
   staff but church volunteers.   
      
   That is according to the Christian Ministry Resources, which serves more   
   than 75,000 congregations and 1,000 denominational agencies nationwide.   
      
   Annual surveys from the organization suggest that in recent years, the   
   pace of child-abuse allegations against American churches has averaged 70   
   a week.   
      
      
   Ultra-orthodox Jews   
      
   The New York community of ultra-Orthodox Jews has faced a backlash for   
   asking observant Jews to consult a rabbi instead of going immediately to   
   police with evidence of child sexual abuse.   
      
   Similar cases have sprung in other cities, including Baltimore and Miami,   
   involving allegations of sexual misconduct by orthodox Jewish leaders.   
      
   The case involving  Rabbi Shmuel Krawatsky, formerly of the Beth Tfiloh   
   Dahan Community School in Baltimore, involves the alleged abuse of at   
   least three boys at a summer camp.   
      
   According to a report by The Jewish Week, the rabbi, who was naked and   
   alone in a pool changing room with two alleged victims, touched the boys   
   inappropriately before asking them to touch his "private parts" in   
   exchange for $100."   
      
   The report also states that the rabbi threatened the young boys not to   
   tell their parents.   
      
   Given the faith's shroud of secrecy there is no hard data regarding the   
   number of potential abuse victims in the Orthodox Jewish community.   
   Experts estimate that there  could be thousands of victims  dating back   
   decades.   
      
   The principle of mesirah forbids reporting a Jewish practitioner to   
   secular authorities. Issues are supposed to be handled internally within   
   the greater faith community.   
      
      
      
   Dennis Hastert   
      
   In 2016, Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the   
   House in U.S. history, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for   
   structuring payouts in order to cover up the sexual abuses he perpetrated   
   as a wrestling coach in Illinois decades ago.   
      
   "The thing I want to do is say I'm sorry to those I've hurt and misled.   
   They looked at me and I took advantage of them," Hastert told a judge.   
      
   U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin called Hastert "a serial child   
   molester."   
      
   Hastert was released last year from a federal prison in Minnesota after   
   serving nearly 13 months.   
      
   The former Republican powerhouse was ordered to serve two years of court-   
   ordered supervised release .   
      
      
   Jerry Sandusky   
      
   Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky is serving up to 60 years   
   in prison for sexually abusing 10 boys between 1994 and 2009.   
      
   Sandusky targeted his victims from among the boys who attended his Second   
   Mile camp, a charity that he ran for at-risk youth. He was convicted of 45   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)