David Watkins was married (divorced in 2006, after his wife found out about his predilections for little boys BTW) and had two children with his wife, coached his son’s little league team.
Documents paint troubled picture of scoutmaster accused of assault
Brett Tayler was also married and had children with his wife who he also is claimed to have abused.
Her ex-husband is former Boy Scout leader and Gwinnett library board member Harry Brett Taylor
Douglas Smith Jr. - married to the same woman for over 30 years.
Smith, who lives in the Fort Worth suburb of Colleyville and has been married for more than 30 years
Before I have to don my flame proof asbestos suit, the point I am trying to make here, that may be lost on some, is that these pedophiles, just as with Jerry Sandusky, were not known as being openly gay men and as far as I can tell, they didn’t even engage in homosexual sex with other adult homosexual men, didn’t frequent gay bars, march in gay pride parades, etc.; they preyed on children pure and simple, in some cases even on their own children. Sometimes their own wife didn’t know what was going on until it was too late or their wives themselves were in deep denial. That’s what a pedophile does, that’s how he operates.
As in the cases of all too many of these pedophile cases, excepting for Catholic priest pedophiles, they are often married or were married, have children of their own, outwardly appear to be fine upstanding men, leaders in their community, even church going men, didn’t come off as being “effeminate” and are probably the very last person one would expect to be a pedophile.
Is that to say I think the BSA should welcome gay scout leaders? No! Absolutely not!
Is that to say that if I had a young son, that I would be OK with my son spending time alone with an openly gay man? No! Absolutely not!
But my point is that parents should not just focus their attention on openly gay men as being a potential threat to molest their boys, but should be vigilant at all times and not be lulled into a false sense of security that just because a BSA scout leader or an athletic coach or a teacher or a minister who is not openly “gay”, one who is married and may even have children of his own, that he can be ruled out as being a pedophile. It should also be mentioned that these men in their association with the BSA, all these abuse cases took place without the BSA accepting openly gay men as scout leaders so there is a bigger problem that needs to be addressed.
So while I believe that the BSA should stand strong and not change their rules under the pressure of political correctness and the “gay lobby”, they also have to recognize, and just as with any organization dealing with children, that there needs to be more oversight, more vetting and that no adult, even one who on the surface seems trustworthy, and now days very sadly I have to say, should probably never be left alone with children in their charge. There should always be at least one other adult present at all times.
And I’m sure I’m going to get some heavy flamage for saying this; but not all homosexual men (or homosexual women) are pedophiles. I do know a few homosexuals and at least the ones I know with whom I’ve had frank discussions with about these cases, they find pedophilia to be just as abhorrent as I do and think much as I do, that the rape of a child should be a capital offense.
It should also be mentioned that not all pedophiles prey on children of the same sex. Some pedophiles prey on children of the opposite sex, some on children of both sexes. Some pedophiles have never had sexual relations with an adult of the opposite or of same sex and some have had only at least seemingly normal heterosexual relations with other adults, even only with their wife, but none the less, have a secret and deeply closeted predilection for children.
My point is that the “monster” next door may not always appear to be the obvious “monster”.
Parents should be, while not paranoid to an extreme, not frighten their children to the point that they become fearful and distrustful of any and all adults, should be ever vigilant and never let their guard down. They should be aware of changes in their children’s behavior and demeanor that could be signs of abuse, they should have age appropriate conversations with their children about “bad touching” and empower their children to be completely honest with them about all things and about any behavior by another adult that makes them feel bad or dirty or uncomfortable. They should tell their children that no adult under any circumstances should ever pressure them into to doing something they do not want to do or be told that “this” is “our secret” or that if they tell, that no one will believe them or that harm will come to their family if they tell.
As you noted: the “monster” next door may not always appear to be the obvious “monster”. The Catholic Church has had to deal with the same problem. They developed and implemented a program entitled Virtus. With this program in place, anyone who comes in contact with a child (religious, teacher, janitor, etc.) must be certified by Virtus. The process mandates being fingerprinted, a police background check and two training sessions in identifying sexual predators. The BSA would do well to either adopt this program or create one of their own.