Spain’s 300,000 Stolen Babies: Why isn’t this Front Page News?

December 2, 2011 by 1 Comment

You may have already heard the story: 300,000 babies taken from their mothers – who were told, often cruelly, their babies were dead – and sold to infertile couples for money. All with the help of the Catholic Church and a network of doctors, midwives, priests and nuns.

I keep googling this story to find out more, to hear a reaction from the Catholic Church, something. This story was from Nov. 18th, and it’s the last major news I can find.

What began as a trickle of revelation about General Francisco Franco’s ideological cleansing by taking children from their parents is now a fully engaged scandal in a country wracked by debt, unemployment and civil unrest. As many as 300,000 babies, Spaniards have been told, were wrested from their mothers between 1960 and 1989 by a network of doctors, midwives, priests and nuns who then sold them to infertile couples for huge sums.

The scandal emerged four years ago, when a dying father revealed to his son, Juan Luis Moreno, that he and a childhood friend, Antonio Barroso, had, in fact, been bought from a priest and a nun for about 200,000 pesetas each in 1969, money that could have bought a small flat. Pesetas were the Spanish currency until 2002.

Nobody knows for sure how many children — and parents — are living false lives. Nearly 1,000 lawsuits have been filed in courts ill-prepared to handle them. And with the scandal has come a stream of shocking details — tiny corpses kept in freezers as decoys to show grieving parents; nuns with million-dollar real estate holdings and caskets exhumed after decades found empty.

via World News: Searching for Spain’s stolen babies – thestar.com.

Filed under human rights, News, opinion, politics, religion Tagged with , , , , , ,

Gov. Tom Corbett, former Atty. General who investigated Sandusky, approved grant for Sandusky charity

November 21, 2011 by Leave a comment

Gov. Tom Corbett this summer approved a $3 million state grant to The Second Mile, the charity founded by suspected child molester Jerry Sandusky, despite knowing about the sex abuse investigation that later resulted in charges against Mr. Sandusky.

The grant is now on hold, said Mr. Corbett’s spokesman, Eric Shirk.

Mr. Corbett as attorney general supervised an investigation that began in 2008 when a 15-year-old Clinton County boy came forward with complaints that Mr. Sandusky had sexually abused him. The governor spoke about the case in a live radio interview on Tuesday but was not question

via Corbett approved grant for Sandusky charity.

Filed under miscellaneous, News, opinion, politics Tagged with , , , , , ,

Abusers Not-Anonymous: Jerry Sandusky’s (And his lawyer’s) Cries For Help

November 17, 2011 by Leave a comment

Jerry Sandusky and his lawyer, Joseph Amendola

By now you’ve seen the interview with Bob Costas and Joseph Amendola. (If you haven’t, it’s right here.)

Let me say right up front that the help these men should get would be something on the order of, say, keeping them alive while they are systematically burned to within an inch of death. I am anti-death penalty, and this is clearly a case where death is too good for the criminal.

And I use that term – criminal – advisedly. Jerry Sandusky has already admitted to naked showering and “horseplay” with children. I’m making the argument that he is proving to the world that he is guilty of the atrocities of which he is accused. Sandusky doesn’t use the exact words, of course, but his behavior is strong evidence he is exactly the kind of victimizer who is so delusional they don’t know what their lies sound like: his lies and the way they are told are practically textbook. He – perhaps only subconsciously – wants you to know he’s guilty.

Given the grand jury testimony already published, Amendola would have to be the worst lawyer in the world to put his client on the phone with Bob Costas. Any legal counselor in their right mind would, had they been stupid enough to start the interview, have cut Sandusky off immediately. Unless, of course, he’s just as delusional as his client. He’s not the world’s worst lawyer, maybe just the worst for Jerry Sandusky.

It turns out the attorney representing the accused child molester has an interesting back story himself: He got a teen-age client pregnant during the mid-1990s. From the NY Daily News:

Amendola, 63, married the girl several years after the birth of their child, The Daily reported Monday night, citing documents filed at the Centre County, Pa., courthouse.

Amendola represented a 16-year-old girl then known as Mary Iavasile when she filed an emancipation petition in September 1996. The emancipation petition said the girl had graduated from high school in two years with a 3.69 GPA and held a fulltime job at Amendola’s law office.

The girl gave birth to Amendola’s child when she was 17 years old, her mother, Janet Iavasile, said. Amendola would have been about 49 years old at the time. The age of consent in Pennsylvania is 16.

Janet Iavasile said she didn’t know the extent of the relationship between her daughter and the attorney. She thought he was more of a mentor than a paramour.

Sound familiar?

The Boston Herald put it this way:

So unusual was Sandusky’s interview with Costas that both lawyers speculated Amendola must have had some unknown reason to allow it. Perhaps, they said, Sandusky insisted on talking.

Addressing the matter on NBC’s “Today” show on Tuesday, Amendola said: “I explained to Jerry that this was an opportunity for him to tell people how he felt and what is happening in his life, and the fact that he’s not guilty of these offenses. In fact, Jerry has wanted to talk about this for a long, long time.”

Uh-huh. And you let him because? My guess is, because Joseph Amendola is one of the club. He’s from State College; what do you want to bet that he and Jerry Sandusky go way back? It’s no longer a conspiracy theory, there already has been a cover-up. What else could so quickly have brought down all the top officials from Penn State – and much more has been alleged.

Bob Costas’s reaction to the interview was guarded, but he clearly didn’t understand why either one of them would have done it. Costas should be proud of the job he did; these days it’s rare to hear any newsperson – especially a sports newsperson – ask a tough question. And he asked them all. The last one was perhaps the most telling:

Bob Costas:  ”Are you sexually attracted to young boys, to underage boys?”

Jerry Sandusky:  “Am I sexually attracted to underage boys?”

Costas:  ”Yes,”

Sandusky:   “Sexually attracted, you know, I — I enjoy young people,” Sandusky says. “I — I love to be around them. I — I — but no I’m not sexually attracted to young boys.”

The college-sports website Bleacher Report summed it up this way:

What the hell was going through Sandusky’s brain when he decided to answer that question in that manner on national television?

Overall, what I learned from this interview is that Sandusky is hell bent on self-destruction after destroying so many innocent lives over the years.

And his lawyer is at least complicit in that.

Filed under News, opinion, politics Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Reality Will Do That: A Man Loses His Faith Over The Penn State Tragedy

November 16, 2011 by 1 Comment

Thomas L. Day has a few things to say about where he grew up, where he went to college, and where he got help: the Second Mile foundation. He was not abused (though he knows he could have been) but part of him has been damaged just the same.

His story begins as a stinging rebuke of the generation that brought us this latest scandal – and the decline we’re in – and ends as a call to arms for the next generations to make a difference. In between, a man loses faith in all the things people from his part of the country hold holy. I’m not sure if the wool being pulled off is a good thing – from a christian perspective I would think it would be another tragedy, but I have my own hope for another enlightened person fighting the good fight. The leader  Thomas Day is looking for may be him.

It’s a must read:

I’m 31, an Iraq war veteran, a Penn State graduate, a Catholic, a native of State College, acquaintance of Jerry Sandusky’s, and a product of his Second Mile foundation.

And I have fully lost faith in the leadership of my parents’ generation.

I speak not specifically of our parents — I have two loving ones — but of the public leaders our parents’ generation has produced. With the demise of my own community’s two most revered leaders, Sandusky and Joe Paterno, I have decided to continue to respect my elders, but to politely tell them, “Out of my way.”

They have had their time to lead. Time’s up. I’m tired of waiting for them to live up to obligations.

Think of the world our parents’ generation inherited. They inherited a country of boundless economic prosperity and the highest admiration overseas, produced by the hands of their mothers and fathers. They were safe. For most, they were endowed opportunities to succeed, to prosper, and build on their parents’ work.

For those of us in our 20s and early 30s, this is not the world we are inheriting.

We looked to Washington to lead us after September 11th. I remember telling my college roommates, in a spate of emotion, that I was thinking of enlisting in the military in the days after the attacks. I expected legions of us — at the orders of our leader — to do the same. But nobody asked us. Instead we were told to go shopping.

The times following September 11th called for leadership, not reckless, gluttonous tax cuts. But our leaders then, as now, seemed more concerned with flattery. Then -House Majority Leader and now-convicted felon Tom Delay told us, “nothing is more important in the face of a war than cutting taxes.” Not exactly Churchillian stuff.

Those of us who did enlist were ordered into Iraq on the promise of being “greeted as liberators,” in the words of our then-vice president. Several thousand of us are dead from that false promise.

We looked for leadership from our churches, and were told to fight not poverty or injustice, but gay marriage. In the Catholic Church, we were told to blame the media, not the abusive priests, not the bishops, not the Vatican, for making us feel that our church has failed us in its sex abuse scandal and cover-up.

Our parents’ generation has balked at the tough decisions required to preserve our country’s sacred entitlements, leaving us to clean up the mess. They let the infrastructure built with their fathers’ hands crumble like a stale cookie. They downgraded our nation’s credit rating. They seem content to hand us a debt exceeding the size of our entire economy, rather than brave a fight against the fortunate and entrenched interests on K Street and Wall Street.

Now we are asking for jobs and are being told we aren’t good enough, to the tune of 3.3 million unemployed workers between the ages of 25 and 34.

This failure of a generation is as true in the halls of Congress as it is at Penn State.

Read the rest at: Penn State, my final loss of faith – Guest Voices – The Washington Post.

Filed under News, opinion, politics, religion Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In The Wake Of The Penn State Child Rape, We DO Need New Laws: See Something, Say Something

November 14, 2011 by Leave a comment

I am still reeling from the disgusting revelations – with more to come I’m sure – about the coverup of child abuse at Penn State. I cannot fathom how someone would not fight to stop the abuse, go immediately to the police, and then make it their mission to see the perp prosecuted. But apparently that’s not the human way, so we need new laws to force people to speak up.

Michael Smerconish is talking about Pennsylvania, but we need to have national laws forcing people to speak up when they witness a crime:

Among the many things that need to change in the aftermath of the Penn State scandal is Pennsylvania law.

First, the commonwealth needs to require that any witness to child abuse call the police. Second, the statute of limitations for civil claims against child abusers needs to be expanded.

Consider that when Mike McQueary saw a 10-year-old boy being raped in the shower at the campus’ Lasch Football Complex, he was under no legal obligation to dial 911 — much less intervene. According to the grand jury report, on March 1, 2002, McQueary saw Jerry Sandusky, a retired Penn State coach, raping a boy believed to be about 10 years of age. The report makes no mention of any intervention.

Instead, the report says the 28-year-old graduate assistant told his father, and the father suggested he tell Joe Paterno, which he did the next day.

Pennsylvania’s Child Protective Services Law was put on the books in 1975. The law imposes a child-abuse reporting mandate on any individual who comes into contact with children in the course of his or her work or professional practice — medical professionals, child-care workers, teachers — and has “reasonable cause to suspect” that the minor has been abused. The law requires these “mandatory reporters” to notify a person in charge or a designated agent, not the police.

Arguably, applying the law to McQueary, he discharged his duty when he reported what he’d seen to Paterno, his supervisor, not law enforcement.

“Shouldn’t we all be mandatory reporters?” asks Mary C. Pugh, executive director of Montgomery Child Advocacy Project. “Who is expected to take care of abused and neglected children? I think everyone.”

She notes that aside from “mandatory reporters” mentioned in the state law, Pennsylvania does not require the report of any crime against a child, however heinous.

“Common decency and the moral conscience dictates that a person try to stop the commission of a vile crime, like the rape of a child, or at the very least a report to authorities,” Pugh said. “As a child advocate, I see too many children who have been abused physically and sexually, and many people knew or should have known….

“Sadly, there is still a stigma about sexual abuse where people do not want to get involved — it is too dirty. Everyone needs to take ownership and protect the children who are being harmed by those whom they trust. It is our duty as people.”

via Michael Smerconish: See Something, Say Something.

Filed under News, opinion, politics Tagged with , , , , , ,

For The Love Of God, Indict ‘Em All

November 8, 2011 by 2 Comments

Can someone please explain to me why the outcry is louder over a sports program? Don’t get me wrong, it should be DEAFENING, but it also should be for EVERY institutionally abetted abuse. Dan Savage:

If these guys are facing charges for covering up and facilitating child rape…

Former Penn State football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky used university facilities to sexually abuse young boys over a span of at least 10 years, and top university officials lied under oath about their knowledge of the events, according to a 23-page grand jury presentment.

Sandusky, 67, of State College, was indicted Friday on 40 counts on seven different charges stemming from incidents where he allegedly sexually abused eight young boys from The Second Mile program—the non-profit organization he founded in 1977 for underprivileged children—in Penn State football locker rooms, his home and other locations. Additionally, Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley and Penn State Interim Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz were each charged Saturday with perjury and failure to report in connection to the case. According to the grand jury’s findings, both men were aware that Sandusky engaged in “sexual conduct” with a young boy in a shower located in the Lasch Football Building and did not notify police.

…why aren’t these guys?

The “sexual conduct” that Sandusky engaged in those showers? He was observed fucking a 10-year-old boy in the ass. Curley and Schultz were given an eyewitness report, they did nothing, they didn’t notify the authorities, they told the eyewitness not to worry about it, and Sandusky went on to rape more children. Allegedly, allegedly.

Does that sound familiar?

When do the Catholic bishops, archbishops, and cardinals who did the exact same shit—failed to report, covered up crimes, told witnesses and victims to STFU, and made it possible for known pedophiles to rape more children—get their perp walks?

These scumbags heard a firsthand account of the rape of a young boy and not only said nothing, they covered it up. I’m against the death penalty, but extremities-in-a-meat-grinder doesn’t sound so cruel and inhuman to me right now.

via Indict ‘Em All | Slog.

Filed under human rights, News, opinion, politics, sex Tagged with , , , , , ,

Of Course They’ll Be Punished, They’re Not Priests: Jerry Sandusky Child Sexual Abuse Scandal At Penn State

November 7, 2011 by Leave a comment

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Two top Penn State officials charged with covering up allegations of an explosive child-sex abuse scandal related to former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky stepped down late Sunday after an emergency meeting of the university’s Board of Trustees.

Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley requested to be placed on administrative leave so he could devote the time needed to defend himself against perjury and other charges, university President Graham Spanier said. Gary Schultz, vice president for finance and business, will step down and go back into retirement, Spanier said. He declined to comment to reporters after the meeting.

Resignations of famed football coach Joe Paterno and Spanier weren’t discussed at the meeting, which was arranged Sunday and lasted two hours, university spokesman Bill Mahon said.

Curley and Schultz were charged Saturday after a grand jury investigation of Sandusky. He’s been charged with sexually abusing eight boys over 15 years. Lawyers for all three men have said they’re innocent.

Sandusky, once considered Paterno’s heir apparent, retired in 1999 but continued to use the school’s facilities for his work with The Second Mile, a foundation he established to help at-risk kids. Curley and Schultz were accused of failing to alert police – as required by state law – of their investigation of the allegations.

“This is a case about a sexual predator who used his position within the university and community to repeatedly prey on young boys,” state Attorney General Linda Kelly said Saturday.

Paterno, who last week became the coach with the most wins in Division I football history, wasn’t charged, and the grand jury report didn’t appear to implicate him in wrongdoing.

In a statement issued Sunday night, Paterno said he was shocked, saddened and as surprised as everyone else to hear of the charges.

“If this is true we were all fooled, along with scores of professionals trained in such things, and we grieve for the victims and their families. They are in our prayers,” Paterno said in a statement issued by his son, Scott.

Under Paterno’s four-decades-and-counting stewardship, the Nittany Lions became a bedrock in the college game, and fans packed the stadium in State College, a campus town routinely ranked among America’s best places to live and nicknamed Happy Valley. Paterno’s teams were revered both for winning games – including two national championships – and largely steering clear of trouble. Sandusky, whose defenses were usually anchored by tough-guy linebackers – hence the moniker “Linebacker U” – spent three decades at the school. The charges against him cover the period from 1994 to 2009.

Sandusky, 67, was arrested Saturday and released on $100,000 bail after being arraigned on 40 criminal counts. Curley, 57, and Schultz, 62, are expected to turn themselves in on Monday in Harrisburg.

Tim Curley, Gary Schultz Step Down Amid Jerry Sandusky Sexual Abuse Scandal At Penn State.

Filed under human rights, News, opinion, politics, religion, sex Tagged with , , , , ,

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 475 other followers