Theme park employees caught in sex stings, child porn arrests

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/14/us/theme-park-employees-child-sex-stings/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Clermont, Florida (CNN) -- Just days after getting arrested in a child sex sting, Robert Kingsolver is a long way from his beloved job at Walt Disney World.

Inside his rented house in a suburban Orlando neighborhood filled with children, he sits in a folding chair in a nearly empty room, wires dangling in the corner where his computer used to be connected.

Now, he can't be online or near children.

"My life is ruined," he told CNN in an interview at his home. "My family's life is ruined. My kids' life is ruined. I've devastated my parents because of bad judgment."

Robert Kingsolver is one of at least 35 Disney employees arrested since 2006 on charges of sex crimes involving children.

Kingsolver, 49, is one of at least 35 Disney employees arrested since 2006 and accused of sex crimes involving children, trying to meet a minor for sex, or for possession of child pornography, according to a six-month CNN investigation that examined police and court records, and interviewed law enforcement officials and some of the men who have been arrested

[IDeciam 3]

Heartbreaking.

Why is there so much of this in our society? It seems to have become almost common.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Heartbreaking.

Why is there so much of this in our society? It seems to have become almost common.

That's one way of putting it. I am reading the article now, sounds like this guy says he was trying to protect this 14 year old girl. He should have never agreed to meet her in the first place.

[Jacque67 7,328]

That's one way of putting it. I am reading the article now, sounds like this guy says he was trying to protect this 14 year old girl. He should have never agreed to meet her in the first place.

C'mon. What kind of man would arrange to protect 14 year old girl by himself!!

It's kind of like how lots of whack jobs seek out jobs as hospital porters in hospitals.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

C'mon. What kind of man would arrange to protect 14 year old girl by himself!!

It's kind of like how lots of whack jobs seek out jobs as hospital porters in hospitals.

Exactly.

[IDeciam 3]

C'mon. What kind of man would arrange to protect 14 year old girl by himself!!

It's kind of like how lots of whack jobs seek out jobs as hospital porters in hospitals.

Did we read the same article? I think it was a 14 year old boy??

I think there are definitely people who would go out of their way to help or protect a young person, with sincere good intentions, even taking a risk to themselves. It's possible someone could just do it spontaneously, without thinking of calling authorities. Maybe a kid says "please don't call the police." That does happen.

However, in the other cases, the article says the men were sexting the kids (or undercover police officers) before arriving on site. That's not protecting. So,

hopefully, the police have specific evidence beyond just the fact that the man showed up.

Child trafficking is such a nightmare for these kids; I thank God for any attempt to put an end to it.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/14/us/theme-park-employees-child-sex-stings/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Clermont, Florida (CNN) -- Just days after getting arrested in a child sex sting, Robert Kingsolver is a long way from his beloved job at Walt Disney World.

Inside his rented house in a suburban Orlando neighborhood filled with children, he sits in a folding chair in a nearly empty room, wires dangling in the corner where his computer used to be connected.

Now, he can't be online or near children.

"My life is ruined," he told CNN in an interview at his home. "My family's life is ruined. My kids' life is ruined. I've devastated my parents because of bad judgment."

Robert Kingsolver is one of at least 35 Disney employees arrested since 2006 on charges of sex crimes involving children.

Kingsolver, 49, is one of at least 35 Disney employees arrested since 2006 and accused of sex crimes involving children, trying to meet a minor for sex, or for possession of child pornography, according to a six-month CNN investigation that examined police and court records, and interviewed law enforcement officials and some of the men who have been arrested

I think a lot of them are drawn to jobs that put them in contact with kids. That is why there is so much of this in the clergy

[Teddy B 17,252]

Heartbreaking.

Why is there so much of this in our society? It seems to have become almost common.

Granted the internet and other modern technology make it easier for pedophiles to lure their victims, but I don't believe that pedophilia in general is any more prevalant today than it was 30 or 100 years ago. Also, the coverage of these crimes in the media is much more pronounced.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Granted the internet and other modern technology make it easier for pedophiles to lure their victims, but I don't believe that pedophilia in general is any more prevalant today than it was 30 or 100 years ago. Also, the coverage of these crimes in the media is much more pronounced.

I am quite sure, that back in the day, a lot of it was swept under the rug. Catholic church is a prime example

[IDeciam 3]

Granted the internet and other modern technology make it easier for pedophiles to lure their victims, but I don't believe that pedophilia in general is any more prevalant today than it was 30 or 100 years ago. Also, the coverage of these crimes in the media is much more pronounced.

In many of these cases, they are not luring their victims...rather, they are being lured. What I mean by that is the child trafficking; there are adults who are selling and trafficking these children and offering them to other people for sale.

[Teddy B 17,252]

I am quite sure, that back in the day, a lot of it was swept under the rug. Catholic church is a prime example

Yep and remember the "crazy uncle" you were told to steer clear of? Families would cover it up too and still do.

In many of these cases, they are not luring their victims...rather, they are being lured. What I mean by that is the child trafficking; there are adults who are selling and trafficking these children and offering them to other people for sale.

No doubt that child trafficking has become a huge underground industry.

[IDeciam 3]

mmm.....there was always sexual abuse and sexual deviance....

but this is a case of trafficking, of buying and selling children, often across international borders.

I think it is common to just say "it's reported more now," but I personally believe it has increased...a lot.

[rlogan 2,036]

No, it has decreased a lot at the same time government, media, and self-interested groups have hyped so-called "trafficking" to imbecilic proportions. Consider that in previous centuries a 14 year old wife and mother was nothing unusual whereas now they are referred to as "children", like in this article. The term adolescent is almost never used anymore. There have been some waves of hysteria over child prostitution, the first one in the late 1800's that resulted in age of consent laws in the US going from as low as 9 years old to even as high as 18 depending on the situation now. The most recent wave has been the "position of trust" laws where even if the age of consent is 14, 15, 16, 17, or whatever the person is guilty of statutory rape if they were a teacher or something. That's one reason you see it so much more now - because the law has increasingly criminalized what was not criminal before. People like to use the term "swept under the rug" which gives the false impression illegal acts were ignored in the past. It wasn't illegal because our society did not consider teenagers "children" before now. It's kind of ironic actually that in the undeveloped countries they are treated as adults and in the developed countries like infantiles despite our educations and training supposedly being superior.

Child prostitution was rampant in the 1800's in both England and the USA, along with child labor, orphanages, abandoned children, indentured servant arrangements, etc. Over time as we have become wealthier, the necessity from poverty has simply declined. They are coddled now like never before in our history, which is one of the reasons any act at all is sensationalized into national news whereas a working child prostitute passed on the street in times past was not even worth a second glance to most citizens. A six year old working in a factory was not even newsworthy historically but today it would be some horrific criminal act.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Church lawyer details cover-up claims on sex abuse

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/church-lawyer-details-cover-up-claims-on-sex-abuse/2014/07/15/0a64b9c0-0c39-11e4-bc42-59a59e5f9e42_story.html

A canon lawyer alleging a widespread cover-up of clergy sex misconduct in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has made her most detailed claims yet, accusing archbishops and their top staff of lying to the public and of ignoring the U.S. bishops’ pledge to have no tolerance of priests who abuse.

Jennifer Haselberger, who spent five years as Archbishop John Nienstedt’s archivist and top adviser on Roman Catholic church law, also charged that the church used a chaotic system of record-keeping that helped conceal the backgrounds of guilty priests who remained on assignment.

Haselberger said that when she started examining records in 2008 of clergy under restrictions over sex misconduct with adults and children she found “nearly 20” of the 48 men still in ministry. She said she repeatedly warned Nienstedt and his aides about the risk of these placements, but they took action only in one case. As a result of raising alarms, she said she was eventually shut out of meetings about priest misconduct. She resigned last year.

“Had there been any serious desire to implement change, it could have been done quickly and easily with the stroke of a single pen,” Haselberger wrote in the affidavit, released Tuesday in a civil lawsuit brought by attorney Jeff Anderson. “The archbishop’s administrative authority in his diocese is basically unlimited.”

The archdiocese has for years pledged it was following the national bishops’ policy, known as the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” which lays out a series of requirements — from conducting background checks to alerting parishioners about offender priests and barring guilty clergy from parish assignments. Archbishop Harry Flynn, who led the Minneapolis archdiocese until retiring in 2008, was an architect of the 12-year-old plan.

But Haselberger said she discovered in 2008 that the archdiocese hadn’t conducted background checks on most priests since the early 1990s. When she drew attention to the lapse, she said she was told to eliminate references to the date of background checks in a form pledging a priest is suitable for ministry.

Haselberger said scattered among storage locations throughout the archdiocese, she found priests’ records, including the history of allegations against them, their compliance with the monitoring program and evidence of their misconduct. “The presence of so many files in so many different locations meant that often important information did not make its way into the priest’s personnel file,” she said.

She also said the archdiocese gave inaccurate information to auditors hired by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to monitor dioceses’ compliance with the child protection plan. Haselberger noted the auditors didn’t have access to church files to check whether the archdiocese’s report matched the records. “They would have found out that it did not,” she said.

Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens said in a statement that Haselberger’s “recollections are not always shared by others within the archdiocese.” He said the archdiocese was taking steps toward “greater transparency and accountability.”

Since the clergy abuse scandal began in 1984, then erupted into a national crisis in 2002, the American church has been flooded with revelations — from civil lawsuits, grand jury inquiries and the bishops’ own research — about how dioceses consistently put the interests of the church above victims. Still, Haselberger’s accusations stand out because of her credentials and timing.

She is the highest-level official from a U.S. diocese to make claims of a cover-up. A canon lawyer educated at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, she served as a judge on church tribunals in Minnesota and was trained through the U.S. bishops’ conference on child safety and monitoring guilty clergy.

Also, Haselberger is coming forward in what Anderson calls “real time.” The bulk of previous disclosures about U.S. bishops sheltering abusers had been made years, if not decades, after the wrongdoing. Haselberger alleges a cover-up is happening now in Minnesota.

When Haselberger’s allegations were first made public, in a series of reports last September by Minnesota Public Radio, the archdiocese initially defended its record on preventing abuse. Since then, Nienstedt has apologized for any mistakes and said in a deposition he hid some information on accused clergy from police. A task force Nienstedt formed to review how the archdiocese handled abuse claims released a report in April conceding “serious shortcomings” by church officials.

Haselberger said the Rev. Kevin McDonough — the archdiocese’s vicar general or top aide for 17 years, and brother of White House chief of staff Denis McDonough — never accepted the discipline plan American bishops adopted in 2002 that streamlined church law so guilty priests could be barred from ministry or removed from the priesthood altogether.

McDonough continued his previous approach of striking agreements with accused offenders to remain priests but stay away, sometimes providing them extra payments to do so. McDonough oversaw clergy misconduct cases until last September.

“He explained to me his position that dismissal wasn’t the right solution for the church,” Haselberger wrote.

McDonough had called the archdiocese’s monitoring system for priests guilty of sex misconduct “state of the art,” Haselberger said. However, she said the program relied heavily on self-reporting by the guilty priests with no verification of what they reported. In one example, she said the Rev. Robert Kapoun, accused of molesting several young boys, is enrolled in the monitoring program, but spends the winter months in Florida without oversight.

Another priest, just out of prison after he had been convicted of victimizing an adult woman during counseling, was placed in a retired priests’ home where minors worked. Haselberger said the archdiocese learned of the problem from the priest’s probation officer. When the top Nienstedt lieutenant, the Rev. Peter Laird, learned about the problem, he said the young people should be fired, Haselberger said. Laird resigned as vicar general last September. He did not respond Tuesday to an email request for comment.

Nienstedt meanwhile announced July 1 that allegations had been made against him several months ago of inappropriate sexual behavior and he had hired a firm to investigate. Nienstedt told the Catholic magazine Commonweal he never engaged in sexual misconduct, nor had he made any sexual advances. Haselberger told Commonweal that she was interviewed by the firm, and investigators have about 10 sworn statements alleging sexual impropriety by Nienstedt.

Last year, Minnesota lawmakers temporarily abolished time limits on civil lawsuits over child sex abuse, for three years. Similar windows for lawsuits in other states have resulted in total payouts by dioceses in the tens of millions of dollars and more.

[rlogan 2,036]

Nature Boy that is a great point, and one that is really in sore need of addressing.

Pedophiles are attracted to positions where they can surround themselves with potential victims. But we have political agendas that push myths about the problem in order to line their own pockets or seek power for themselves. The media is of course selling copy. So the canard you generally see is about little girls being "trafficked" as sex slaves by pimps. In one survey that actually interviewed underage prostitutes, it was 10% characterized as such whereas for the other 90% it was volunteer, just doing it because it paid. A lot of them were runaways from abusive homes, but this doesn't sell copy or get politicians elected who beat the human trafficking hysteria drum.

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2011-11-02/news/lost-boys-demolishing-the-underage-prostitute-stereotype/

But in terms of the pedophiles inserting themselves into positions with children - look at the church. Look at the Boy Scouts. Schools, etc. It isn't pedophiles lurking across the street from the church or scout camp or school - it is the people WORKING for them doing most of the abusing and these are represented politically so they have managed to keep attention away from that fact and help foster an image of the child predator snatching kids on the streets or this big myth about "human trafficking" instead of abusive parents.

Do we hear parents being told that they should watch specifically for child predators in exactly those positions where employees regularly deal with kids? Like church, Disneyland, boy scouts, etc? No - but that is certainly what they need to be told. We are trained to think of them as safe. Clean cut, soft spoken, "cultured", etc. Whereas we look askance at the grease ball mechanic who is gruff and uncouth. Yet, that's the guy who doesn't want to be anywhere around kids because they are totally uninteresting to him. He's got pin-up girls in the shop because he wants to do playboy playmates, not your ten year old son.