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Posted on 06/15/2007 4:25:54 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The three companies that insure the majority of Protestant churches in America say they typically receive upward of 260 reports each year of young people under 18 being sexually abused by clergy, church staff, volunteers or congregation members. The figures offer a glimpse into what has long been an extremely difficult phenomenon to pin down -- the frequency of sex abuse in Protestant congregations.
Religious groups and victims' supporters have been interested in the figure ever since the Roman Catholic sex abuse crisis hit five years ago. The church has revealed that there have been 13,000 credible accusations against Catholic clerics since 1950 -- 228 a year.
Protestant numbers have been harder to come by because the denominations are less centralized than the Catholic church. Some of the only numbers come from three insurance companies -- Church Mutual Insurance Co., GuideOne Insurance Co. and Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Co. Together, they represent a large chunk of all U.S. Protestant churches.
Abuse reports don't always mean the accused was guilty.
Even with hundreds of cases a year ''that's a very small number. That probably doesn't even constitute half,'' said Gary Schoener of the Walk-In Counseling Center in Minneapolis. ''Sex abuse in any domain, including the church, is reported seldom.''
Insurance officials said churches are working harder to prevent child sex abuse by conducting background checks, installing windows in play areas and requiring at least two adults in a room.
Patrick Moreland of Church Mutual said churches are particularly susceptible to abusers.
''By their nature, congregations are the most trusting of organizations, so that makes them attractive targets for predators,'' he said.
Does anyone know how many cases of sexual abuse are reported from the offices of the liberal press?
I’d guess it’s more than 260.
We should also look into cases of sexual abuse reports in the federal government. I bet Teddy Kennedy and Chris Dodd top out at 260 a day.
Someone should send this to Sean Hannity.
>>Religious groups and victims’ supporters have been interested in the figure ever since the Roman Catholic sex abuse crisis hit five years ago. The church has revealed that there have been 13,000 credible accusations against Catholic clerics since 1950 — 228 a year. <<
Ping for truth be told.
The Catholic Church dug itself a deep hole not because of the number of cases of abuse, but because of its attempts to cover it up, including the moving of predatory priests to new territory with unsuspecting new prey.
As is so often the case, it’s not the crime, it’s the coverup.
Probably not. Assuming 100 million church members, that would be 30 or fewer per congregation.
One of the few institutions with similar total numbers and access to children is the public schools.
It would be interesting to compare total abuse cases in the public schools to those in churches.
It won’t happen, of course, because the public schools are supported by the media while the churches are hated.
Do you remember the great witch hunt of the 1980s?
One of our local churches got caught up in that and more than a dozen members were arrested and stripped of their children. They were all acquitted when it was found that consulting child psychologists were coaching the children to lie in court.
Not even close. Abuse cases involving Catholic clergy pale in comparison to what takes place in public schools.
Sex Abuse by Teachers Said Worse Than Catholic Church
"Now, on the heels of the Catholic abuse scandal comes another of historic proportions—one that has the potential to be much greater and far-reaching. According to a draft report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education, in compliance with the 2002 "No Child Left Behind" act signed into law by President Bush, between 6 percent and 10 percent of public school children across the country have been sexually abused or harassed by school employees and teachers.
To support her contention, Shakeshaft compared the priest abuse data with data collected in a national survey for the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation in 2000. Extrapolating data from the latter, she estimated roughly 290,000 students experienced some sort of physical sexual abuse by a school employee from a single decade—1991-2000. That compares with about five decades of cases of abusive priests."
In terms of actual, physical sexual abuse (not just inappropriate comments, etc.)?
Something like 29,000 students a year, thereabouts.
Beat me to the punch.
I agree but one is too many.
Perhaps because there aren’t many male lesbians?
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