MISSOURI
Hamilton and Griffin on Rights

Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Last week, a Missouri prosecutor did something I’d never seen before. His courage prompted me to think about how district attorneys handle child sex abuse cases, especially involving influential institutions and oppressive cultures.

My conclusion: prosecutors deserve both praise and prodding. Too often, they seem to play it safe, pursue only the low hanging fruit and carefully avoid confronting powerful organizations. But increasingly, some of them seem to be acting with more creativity and vigor. They deserve recognition for doing so.

So first, the praise:

In Platte County Missouri, after two hours of police questioning, Darren L. Padden pled guilty to sexually assaulting a girl 200 and 300 times over a decade, starting when she was four.

Sadly but not surprisingly, almost 20 adults in the community publicly rallied to Padden’s side. Here’s the shocking part…