By James Varney, RealClearInvestigations
Part 1: Forbidden Fruit and the Classroom
Given the roughly 50 million students in U.S. K-12 schools each year, the number of students who have been victims of sexual misconduct by school employees is probably in the millions each decade, Varney reports. Such numbers would far exceed the high-profile abuse scandals that rocked the Roman Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America. For a variety of reasons, ranging from embarrassment to eagerness to avoid liability, elected or appointed officials, along with unions or lobbying groups representing school employees, have fought to keep the truth hidden from the public.
Part 2: You the Taxpayer Are on the Hook
In the wake of the #MeToo movement and infamous cases such as those involving Catholic priests, Hollywood, and top-tier sports, momentum is building for what might comprise the biggest group of victims in sexual misconduct scandals: K-12 students victimized by teachers and other school employees. A review of insurance industry reports, legal blogs and media accounts by RealClearInvestigations turned up $1.2 billion in settlements for school districts in the last decade. And there are clear indications that the pace and amount of legal liability has been rising, along with the impact that has for taxpayers and schools.
Part 3: It's Pass the Trash, not Catch the Trash
Passing the trash to create a class of mobile molesters: This is a shadowy and largely undocumented aspect of the national crisis involving the sexual abuse of K-12 students by teachers, administrators, coaches, bus drivers and other staff. Many students are victimized after flares had previously gone up about a predator at a school, only to see them fizzle and disappear when the falsely cultivated good reputation of the predator quiets them or the predator moves on to another school or district. Experts say the hundreds of school employees arrested each year and the more than $1.2 billion in related settlements paid out by school districts in just the last decade represent a mere fraction of the problem in a system that works to deny and hide the abuse of minors.
Related: A Sex-Abuse Suspect Ensnared by His Alleged Victim
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