Feels like my head is going to explode!

[lazarus]

I feel like my head is going to explode. See the section I have underlined.

(Of course all are innocent until proven guilty)

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Five name college in sex abuse suit

Renowned ex-choral director at AU is accused

By Karen Nugent TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

LANCASTER— A lawsuit has been filed in Worcester Superior Court against Atlantic Union College and its well-known former choral director and music professor, Francisco de Araujo, for allegedly sexually abusing four students and a consultant in 2005 and 2006.

The complaint, filed Jan. 30 by Boston lawyer Nance Lyons, also alleges that college officials not only ignored the men’s accusations but had them expelled and spread rumors and slander that made it difficult for them to get jobs.

The complaint also alleges that college employees and contractors who complained about the sexual abuse on behalf of the students were fired and that college officials were well aware of Mr. Araujo’s alleged previous history of predatory sexual behavior with students.

“Doe” is used for the last name for the five plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Ms. Lyons said yesterday.

Besides Mr. Araujo, who retired last summer, and the college, the complaint names former college president George P. Babcock and Donald G. King, president of the Lancaster-based Atlantic Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, which oversees the Adventist college. Mr. King is chairman of the college’s board of trustees.

The complaint requests a jury trial for several counts against Mr. Araujo of sexual assault and battery, outrage, negligent infliction of emotional distress, negligence, violation of civil rights, invasion of privacy and false imprisonment.

http://www.telegram.com/article/20080209/NEWS/802090352/1116/NEWSREWIND

[Dr. Shane]

Clifford Goldstien says that in the end times many Adventists will be placed in jail not because of obeying God's law, but because that is where they belonged all along. Are Adventists ready to have their faith shaken by scandals that will place their leaders in jail for shameful and unacceptable conduct?

[lazarus]

My faith is in no way shaken.

I'm am simply angry at the conduct of those in leadership those who take the name of Jesus and who are willing to sacrifice the innocent to protect the guilty. This is not new but it still angers me.

[David Koot]

My faith is in no way shaken.

I particularly angered by those who are wiling to sacrifice the innocent to protect the guilty. This is not new but it still angers me.

And it is an abuse of power which seems too frequent in small, in-grown institutions. There is the need for accountability. In a closed system, such as a church/school/administrative complex, quite often there is no real accountability.

[fccool]

Originally Posted By: lazarus

My faith is in no way shaken.

I particularly angered by those who are wiling to sacrifice the innocent to protect the guilty. This is not new but it still angers me.

And it is an abuse of power which seems too frequent in small, in-grown institutions. There is the need for accountability. In a closed system, such as a church/school/administrative complex, quite often there is no real accountability.

That's true to a degree as institutions will likely to seek saving their face and reputation. Yet thinking about a case from my high school years as a man who I knew really well... my good friend and basketball coach was jailed for the alleged sexual abuse of his player. Years down the road she admitted that she has done it because he denied her playing time. Yet by that time the damage could not be undone. The man is divorced, will never teach or coach again... and much more. So I have to give whoever it is a benifit of a doubt, unless he will be proven guilty.

[Bravus]

True in a way, but high quality investigative processes and taking allegations seriously protects those accused as well as those accusing, because it checks into the truth of the claims in detail, hopefully in a private setting, before formal charges are laid. On the whole, though, I think false accusations are less of a problem than the covering up of real abuse. (And some of the alleged cases of false allegations are definitely cases where the victim of abuse has later decided for other reasons to withdraw the accusation, but the abuse still happened.)

Not commenting on this specific case, by the way, but on general issues.

One such general issue is that it's not the crime that kills the institutions, it's the cover-up. Facing up to abuse and dealing with it quickly and as cleanly as possible is the safest thing to do as well as the right thing.

[David Koot]

And, I should add, Monsieur fccool, that the investigative process is generally fairly thorough. It is true that a teacher, for example, may be placed on admin leave pending an investigation. But jail time? That is a whole different issue. For an investigation to result in jail time, a prosecutor would typically need more than an alleged victim's statement. He/she would also need corroborating evidence, either in the form of an admission by the accused, or eyewitness testimony, etc. The fact that the alleged victim 'told' on her teacher because of anger does not, in itself, mean that nothing happened. I am simply saying that for a conviction to occur, beyond a reasonable doubt, there needs to be some pretty solid evidence.

Dave

[fccool]

David,

I realize that the legal system does not just throw the convictions around, and perhaps I am expressing the partiality on behalf of this individual. Yet I do have reasons to believe his innocence. The point is that judicial system does err at times and is as perfect as people who run it. I don't defend the behavior, but I do defend the right of people to clear their name.

XXXXX, a basketball coach at XXXX has been charged with sexual battery for having sex with a 15-year-old student twice - once at the school, and once at his home.

That's all the news I can find.

Even if he was not convicted, I don't think he would ever be hired anywhere again after such news coverage.

[lazarus]

Quote:

One such general issue is that it's not the crime that kills the institutions, it's the cover-up. Facing up to abuse and dealing with it quickly and as cleanly as possible is the safest thing to do as well as the right thing.

From the court filing:

Prior to his hiring at AUC, FA had engaged in sexual abuse of students and choir members within his role as a teacher in the Adventist church.

The board of Administrators at AUC knew of or should have knows of Arujio's history of sexual abuse and inappropriate relationships with students.

Yet AUC put him charge of the choir and selected him to recruit scholarship students

AUC allowed A to share his apartment with students.

[David Koot]

XXXXX, a basketball coach at XXXX has been charged with sexual battery for having sex with a 15-year-old student twice - once at the school, and once at his home.

[David Koot]

From the court filing:

Prior to his hiring at AUC, FA had engaged in sexual abuse of students and choir members within his role as a teacher in the Adventist church.

The board of Administrators at AUC knew of or should have knows of Arujio's history of sexual abuse and inappropriate relationships with students.

Yet AUC put him charge of the choir and selected him to recruit scholarship students

AUC allowed A to share his apartment with students.

Lazarus, Lazarus . . . if I were still in practice, oh would I EVER have a field day with a case like that! I would anticipate a VERY large damages award, of which the atty would receive a nice cut. Large enough award to bankroll the rest of his life.

Yet, we are only hearing one side.

[CyberGuy]

The church will most likely settle out of court and not let this go to trial. It is cheaper that way.

[Guest gem]

Not only cheaper but avoid too much exposure of the church scandal to the media.

[Guest gem]

And it is an abuse of power which seems too frequent in small, in-grown institutions. There is the need for accountability. In a closed system, such as a church/school/administrative complex, quite often there is no real accountability.

I agree, it is absolutely an abuse of power. And the person who is doing it knows what he is doing. Just taking advantage of the trust that the church people has given him. He may say to his "victim" "don't let anyone knows about it" but then he would say the same thing to another. And like the saying goes "You can't hide the smoke forever."

People do trust the leaders in church (well, most). I recently attended a tribute party for somebody and someone came to me and said, "If something bad happen in here right now it will be ok for me because I feel safe knowing that there are four pastors attending with us." See how much trust this person has on our leaders? And this wasn't the first time I heard such thing. Some local members don't even realize that some leaders might have committed "big sins" than they do.

OTOH, how is big and small sins differ in the eyes of GOD....

[carolaa]

Originally Posted By: lazarus

From the court filing:

Prior to his hiring at AUC, FA had engaged in sexual abuse of students and choir members within his role as a teacher in the Adventist church.

The board of Administrators at AUC knew of or should have knows of Arujio's history of sexual abuse and inappropriate relationships with students.

Yet AUC put him charge of the choir and selected him to recruit scholarship students

AUC allowed A to share his apartment with students.

Lazarus, Lazarus . . . if I were still in practice, oh would I EVER have a field day with a case like that! I would anticipate a VERY large damages award, of which the atty would receive a nice cut. Large enough award to bankroll the rest of his life.

Yet, we are only hearing one side.

Church employees are basically forbidden to discuss these matters with anyone for fear of a slander lawsuit. School/church board members also are accountable for what they report to others. And since potential employers will be contacting church employees or board members for references, they aren't going to get a lot of information.

If the prior abuse was proven and well documented, then they can very carefully state facts, nothing more. Likely, the teacher would not be hired in that case, but who thinks to ask about a spouse? If charges were not pressed or nothing was proven, they go on to school after school and no one can say anything about it.