Image, Assets & Liability Pt. 1..."Silent Associations"

This is the first of a three part series in which I will briefly examine the fallout from covering child sexual abuse in both the secular and religious world. 

Recently, in the news, we have witnessed organizations and individuals held liable for the abuse and mistreatment of individuals. Let's look at the first of a few examples:

Penn State University

"We're going to hold off on making a crime log entry. At this point in time I can justify that decision because of the lack of clear evidence of a crime."  email from Penn State Police Chief Thomas Harmon to Penn State President Gary Schultz regarding a mother's report to campus officials that Jerry Sandusky had engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with her 11 year old son. 

At Penn State University, we are witnessing a whole collegiate system being held accountable for covering up, shuffling off and otherwise accommodating ONE convicted and confused child molester and rapist Jerry Sandusky. I'm quite sure that none of the individuals who were aware of Sandusky's actions would have ever thought that they would be held accountable for what he was doing. They didn't understand that their silence was similar to them taking part in the rape and abuse of children as well. 

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Turning To God In Times Of Crisis, He Is Our Only Help!

Penn State University may have lost a hard fought, last home game of 2011 to a very talented Nebraska team, but as an institution, led by the young people that attend, and joined by the opposing team and fans, almost 100,000 turned to God before anything was done on Saturday November 12th. 

Pregame: Penn State (14) vs Nebraska (17) Penn State University 11/12/2011

In what can only be described as a surreal setting, and to the chagrin of atheists and other non believers, players from both teams, along with coaches and staff,  joined at midfield led in prayer by Ron Brown, one of the Nebraska Assistant coaches, for the victims of the unfolding sexual abuse scandal and for the strength and courage of all who have been so deeply effected by the revelation of abuse and the weeks current events. 

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What The Church Should Learn From The Penn State Sexual Abuse Scandal

"...with the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."

 ~ Penn State Head Football Coach Joe Paterno 11/9/2011

For those who don't know, the institution of Penn State University has been rocked by failure to act in regards to alleged sexual abuse and molestation of children on the college campus by one of its former football officials. It all begins in 2002 when former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky a 32 year assistant coach who according to ESPN News retired in 1999, was alleged to have sexually molested and abused eight young boys under his direction over a 15 year period of time. Some of whom were abused on the college campus. The problem is heightened by the fact that it appears that no Penn State official took immediate action by either investigating or filing police reports. In essence, their silence allowed Mr. Sandusky continued access and credibility in dealing with young boys and potential victims.  

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