PSA - Sex abuse at Washington Hebrew

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That was a painful meeting last night. I just want to send hugs to all of us going through this. This is incredibly hard to go through as a parent and so unfair.

What exactly are you going through? I still haven't read any account if anything.

A child told a parent about "inappropriate contact/conduct" by a teacher at the school. It was vague what that inappropriate contact/conduct was until last night when fliers were distributed about spotting sexual abuse and professionals were brought in to discuss how to talk to your children about this and identify if they might have been abused. The police, to the surprise of the school officials, suggested that their investigation of the allegation indicated that multiple children were involved. The teacher has been placed on administrative leave and was employed starting in the Spring of 2016 until August 15, 2018. They are going to hold additional training for parents and will be sending out an email with resources.

Thank you for this factual, informative post. Is it safe to asdume this staff member was a male teacher and the children invovled were female??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That was a painful meeting last night. I just want to send hugs to all of us going through this. This is incredibly hard to go through as a parent and so unfair.

What exactly are you going through? I still haven't read any account if anything.

A child told a parent about "inappropriate contact/conduct" by a teacher at the school. It was vague what that inappropriate contact/conduct was until last night when fliers were distributed about spotting sexual abuse and professionals were brought in to discuss how to talk to your children about this and identify if they might have been abused. The police, to the surprise of the school officials, suggested that their investigation of the allegation indicated that multiple children were involved. The teacher has been placed on administrative leave and was employed starting in the Spring of 2016 until August 15, 2018. They are going to hold additional training for parents and will be sending out an email with resources.

Thank you for this factual, informative post. Is it safe to asdume this staff member was a male teacher and the children invovled were female??

No. The gender of the teacher and the gender(s) of the involved children were not identified. Also noteworthy, an arrest has not been made.

[Anonymous]

Statistics on Perpetrators of Child Sexual Abuse
-Offenders are overwhelmingly male, ranging from adolescents to the elderly (page 171).
-Some perpetrators are female. It is estimated that women are the abusers in about 14% of cases reported among boys and 6% of cases reported among girls.
-Approximately one-third of offenders are themselves juveniles (page 172).
-23% of reported cases of child sexual abuse are perpetrated by individuals under the age of 18 (page 3)
-Only 14% of children who suffered sexual abuse were violated by an unknown perpetrator (page 172).
-60% of children are sexually abused by someone in their social circle. Hence, the phrase “Stranger Danger” is misleading (page 172).
-Meta-analysis estimates that 14% of sexual offenders commit another sexual offense after five years, 24% after fifteen years (page 172).
-Child Maltreatment 2010 reports that 6.2% of child abusers sexually abused a child (page 77).
-40-80% of juvenile sex offenders have themselves been victims of sexual abuse (Advances in Clinical Child Psychology, page 19).

http://victimsofcrime.org/media/reporting-on-child-sexual-abuse/statistics-on-perpetrators-of-csa

[Anonymous]

This makes my heart hurt. My daughter did toddler time there last year. Thankfully she was never alone. I loved the class but when I toured the preschool I thought it was weird the philosophy is basically kids can do whatever they want. It seemed like there were kids just running around all over the place. We picked a different school.

[Anonymous]

Concerning that no arrest has been made. What is to stop this individual from hopping on a plane? He or she could end up in a preschool abroad. There’s been no news coverage. How would a director of a preschool in another country even know if the last employer was left off the resume?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Concerning that no arrest has been made. What is to stop this individual from hopping on a plane? He or she could end up in a preschool abroad. There’s been no news coverage. How would a director of a preschool in another country even know if the last employer was left off the resume?

Or conversely, isn't it nice that we live in a country where allegations are thoroughly investigated before people are arrested and careers ruined? I'm all about protecting children, but I also believe in our legal system and that someone is innocent until proven guilty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Concerning that no arrest has been made. What is to stop this individual from hopping on a plane? He or she could end up in a preschool abroad. There’s been no news coverage. How would a director of a preschool in another country even know if the last employer was left off the resume?

Or conversely, isn't it nice that we live in a country where allegations are thoroughly investigated before people are arrested and careers ruined? I'm all about protecting children, but I also believe in our legal system and that someone is innocent until proven guilty.

Thank you for reminding all of us that the alleged perpetrator is in fact innocent until proven guilty and our best hope is that they are in fact innocent, that this is all a terrible misunderstanding. Although it is very scary for all of us as parents, it was said last night that they do not have enough information and/or evidence to make an arrest and that their investigation has not yet turned into a criminal investigation. If it is found that there is enough information for a criminal investigation, an arrest will be made and we will be informed. Unfortunately, the reality is that we will remain mostly in the dark while the investigation is conducted. For myself, I am focusing on what is in my control and thus I have bought the books recommended and plan to talk to my 3-year olds using those books and the open-ended questions that were suggested by the experts who shared last night based on their many years of experience working with children in cases such as this. I am quite worried but also recognize that being hysterical does not serve me or my children well. And I think it is a wake up call for me that, regardless of these circumstances, I do need to be talking to my children about safety and their bodies because none of us is immune to these risks - at this school or any other school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Concerning that no arrest has been made. What is to stop this individual from hopping on a plane? He or she could end up in a preschool abroad. There’s been no news coverage. How would a director of a preschool in another country even know if the last employer was left off the resume?

Or conversely, isn't it nice that we live in a country where allegations are thoroughly investigated before people are arrested and careers ruined? I'm all about protecting children, but I also believe in our legal system and that someone is innocent until proven guilty.

Thank you for reminding all of us that the alleged perpetrator is in fact innocent until proven guilty and our best hope is that they are in fact innocent, that this is all a terrible misunderstanding. Although it is very scary for all of us as parents, it was said last night that they do not have enough information and/or evidence to make an arrest and that their investigation has not yet turned into a criminal investigation. If it is found that there is enough information for a criminal investigation, an arrest will be made and we will be informed. Unfortunately, the reality is that we will remain mostly in the dark while the investigation is conducted. For myself, I am focusing on what is in my control and thus I have bought the books recommended and plan to talk to my 3-year olds using those books and the open-ended questions that were suggested by the experts who shared last night based on their many years of experience working with children in cases such as this. I am quite worried but also recognize that being hysterical does not serve me or my children well. And I think it is a wake up call for me that, regardless of these circumstances, I do need to be talking to my children about safety and their bodies because none of us is immune to these risks - at this school or any other school.

Couldn't agree more. I, too, am purchasing the books and attending the suggested trainings.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, very little is understood about how the school will better manage ALL staff(admin, teachers, subs, etc) to protect our children going forward. There was a lot last night about the outside parties who were working on the investigation and/or could be resources around the investigation. The lack of information from the school about how this will be prevented in the future was negligible at best. Mirrors? Walkie talkies? How about two administrators before the school day begins staying until after the last child is picked up. The school had little to no presence on the bima, literally and figuratively.

[Anonymous]

I was very disappointed in the Rabbi. He treated the parents like children, frequently pausing until parents stopped talking (mind you quietly to one another). While no one was disrespectful or attacking towards DJ in that forum, he was quick to publicly defend her, which I found really odd as the investigation is not complete. I'm glad that I don't have the decision of withdrawing my child as she is attending another school, but if I was faced with that decision, his response would be the reason. How can you automatically defend someone without any of the facts revealed? Very strange. Oh, and the stereotypes he was supporting of the jewish parent being more worried than the average parent...I couldn't believe my ears.

[Anonymous]

When the legal counsel mentioned "a special place in hell" if the allegations are true, I was shocked. The allegations must be pretty serious to say something like that and draw that many detective, police, social workers, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was very disappointed in the Rabbi. He treated the parents like children, frequently pausing until parents stopped talking (mind you quietly to one another). While no one was disrespectful or attacking towards DJ in that forum, he was quick to publicly defend her, which I found really odd as the investigation is not complete. I'm glad that I don't have the decision of withdrawing my child as she is attending another school, but if I was faced with that decision, his response would be the reason. How can you automatically defend someone without any of the facts revealed? Very strange. Oh, and the stereotypes he was supporting of the jewish parent being more worried than the average parent...I couldn't believe my ears.

DJ isn't the alleged perpetrator. She didn't create this. All teachers are drug tested, background checked, finger printed, references are called, and need two letters of recommendation. How else can WHC screen their staff legally?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was very disappointed in the Rabbi. He treated the parents like children, frequently pausing until parents stopped talking (mind you quietly to one another). While no one was disrespectful or attacking towards DJ in that forum, he was quick to publicly defend her, which I found really odd as the investigation is not complete. I'm glad that I don't have the decision of withdrawing my child as she is attending another school, but if I was faced with that decision, his response would be the reason. How can you automatically defend someone without any of the facts revealed? Very strange. Oh, and the stereotypes he was supporting of the jewish parent being more worried than the average parent...I couldn't believe my ears.

What?!? Like neurotic? If so, that’s really awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was very disappointed in the Rabbi. He treated the parents like children, frequently pausing until parents stopped talking (mind you quietly to one another). While no one was disrespectful or attacking towards DJ in that forum, he was quick to publicly defend her, which I found really odd as the investigation is not complete. I'm glad that I don't have the decision of withdrawing my child as she is attending another school, but if I was faced with that decision, his response would be the reason. How can you automatically defend someone without any of the facts revealed? Very strange. Oh, and the stereotypes he was supporting of the jewish parent being more worried than the average parent...I couldn't believe my ears.

DJ isn't the alleged perpetrator. She didn't create this. All teachers are drug tested, background checked, finger printed, references are called, and need two letters of recommendation. How else can WHC screen their staff legally?

No one was saying that DJ was the alleged perpetrator, nor is anyone saying that she is directly responsible as there is nothing yet identified for her to be responsible for.....BUT to come to her defense publicly without all of the facts on the table seems foolish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was very disappointed in the Rabbi. He treated the parents like children, frequently pausing until parents stopped talking (mind you quietly to one another). While no one was disrespectful or attacking towards DJ in that forum, he was quick to publicly defend her, which I found really odd as the investigation is not complete. I'm glad that I don't have the decision of withdrawing my child as she is attending another school, but if I was faced with that decision, his response would be the reason. How can you automatically defend someone without any of the facts revealed? Very strange. Oh, and the stereotypes he was supporting of the jewish parent being more worried than the average parent...I couldn't believe my ears.

What?!? Like neurotic? If so, that’s really awful.

Yes, on more than one occasion, he said that jewish parents were more anxious and worried more. Weird.