UNITED STATES
The Star-Ledger
By Star-Ledger Editorial Board
on October 26, 2012
The Boy Scouts of America called it the “Perversion Files” — documentation of sex abuse allegations in the Scouts, culled from police and newspaper reports over 25 years, including statements from boys who were victimized. Police were rarely notified, and some of the abusers simply moved on to other troops, to prey on other youths.
The 1,200 files were released by court order after news organizations requested access to the files. Similarities to the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal that unspooled over the past 10 years are unmistakable.
What are we learning about these crimes against children and the adults who commit them? The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops commissioned two reports over the past decade, the latest one delivered last year by a research team at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. Their findings demolish many closely held stereotypes, especially the one that equates homosexuality with child abuse.
Editorial writer Linda Ocasio spoke with Margaret Smith, a member of the research team, about its findings.
Q. The Boy Scouts and Catholic Church both ban gays from membership. Yet they are the two organizations hardest hit by sex abuse scandals involving gay men and boys. Why is that?
A. It’s really a mistake to perceive this as a problem of homosexual men and adolescents. First of all, there is no reason to think that homosexuals are any more likely to abuse a child than heterosexuals.
In general, the typical man who abuses a boy is a married heterosexual. This finding is common to many social science studies and is endorsed by those who treat abusers. We found in our research that 80 percent of the priests who abused boys also had sexual relationships with adults.
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