UNITED STATES
Verdict
Marci A. Hamilton
If you have even glanced at a headline, television screen, or the Internet this summer, you cannot have missed the multitude of stories about child sex abuse and the justice system. The fight against such abuse has taken a laudable turn, for the benefit of victims. And all of these developments have occurred in one state: Pennsylvania. By dint of geography, it has been impossible to avoid comparisons between the institutional cover-ups of abuse at Pennsylvania State University, and in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. To put it mildly, neither institution emerges smelling like a rose.
There is so much that is happening, on so many fronts, it is as though a tsunami of justice has been released. We have been drowning in stories, data, coverage, and new revelations. Indeed, there is so much breaking news about the child-sex-abuse scandals that some reporters have been driven to specialize in either one institutional cover-up or the other.
The trial of the Philadelphia Archdiocese’s Monsignor Lynn ended in a verdict of child endangerment against him, and a sentence of 3-6 years. The trial of former defensive Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky resulted in guilty verdicts against him on 45 out of 48 charges, with sentencing still to be scheduled; and former FBI Director Louis Freeh recently released his scathing report on how child sex abuse by Sandusky was covered up by Penn State from 1998 to the present. The Freeh Report, in turn, formed the foundation for the NCAA to issue history-making sanctions against the Penn State football program.
And it is not over. Trials await against the Philadelphia Archdiocese’s lay teacher Bernard Shero and Fr. Charles Englehardt, as well as against Penn State’s former Vice President Gary Schultz and Athletic Director Tim Curley. Meanwhile, grand juries are likely busy in both central Pennsylvania and Philadelphia. There is reasonable certainty that former Penn State President Graham Spanier will face criminal charges, and that Sandusky will face more charges. And it is possible that past officials of the Philadelphia Archdiocese may face additional charges as well.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.