MISSOURI
The Kansas City Star
BY MARK MORRIS
THE KANSAS CITY STAR
10/25/2014
When the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph child abuse ombudsman took the job three years ago, she was prepared to occasionally be surprised by what crossed her desk.
But Jenifer Valenti, a former Jackson County prosecutor, now sees something that goes beyond surprise. Valenti wrote in a recent report to the diocese that she was “alarmed” by increasing reports of students in local Catholic schools sexually abusing other students.
The youngest case involved a 3-year-old preschooler acting out sexually with classmates, she said.
“It is shocking to get a minor-abusing-a-minor call,” Valenti said.
But if Valenti wanted to compare her figures with those of the surrounding public school districts, she’d find it challenging because of a blind spot in federal law.
Three years ago, the U.S. Department of Education launched an effort to have public primary and secondary schools deal more aggressively with student-on-student sexual abuse. But those officials did not require schools to report what they found.
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