I grew up reading comic books wanting to be a superhero. Comics taught me that those who speak the truth are heroes, all the rest are liars.

Friday, March 23, 2007

Who Speaks For the Abused Children?

The very organizations and people who should be protecting our children instead have banned together to defeat legislation that would protect our children.

Democrat Rep. Joe Mullery, chair of the public safety/cilvil justice committee has joined with church hierarchy, school boards association, and day care associations to oppose legislation that would allow victimes of child abuse to bring civil suit. Defeating this legislation also continues to put children at risk to child abusers that have yet to be exposed.

Earlier this week leaders of the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul, the Northerneastern Minnesota Synod(ELCA), the Minnesota Childcare Association and the Minnesota School Boards Association opposed child sexual abuse prevention legislation from moving gorward in the House of Representatives. Leaders of these organizations said Minnesota should continue to limit the ability of victims of childhood sexual abuse from suing their organizations.

According to the Sexual Abuse Prevention Network, "An institution is only going to be held accountable if it knew, or should have known that its employees were molesting children." Which makes you wonder why these groups would oppose it.

It's a sad day when organizations put their own self interests ahead of those they've been entrusted to care for within the community. It's even a sadder day when that self interest could protentially endanger the children they are entrusted to care for from further abuse.

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