Specifications are needed

Janice Palm’s special column on July 6 [“Failure to be aware of sexual abuse puts children at risk,” Opinion] dwells primarily on Jerry Sandusky with a casual reference to “others.”

While I absolutely agree with everything she said, she missed the boat on specifics. Just who should parents should be “aware of”?

The public has shown a bright light on the “problems” in the Catholic Church, but it should be pointed out that these abuses are not specific to that particular religious group. If we are to be warned, the alerts should state clearly who to be looking for — it’s not enough to say “a youth worker.” Men of the cloth, of every stripe, should be duly mentioned specifically and often.

Religious leaders who use their powers to abuse are the most likely not to even be considered, and are the most likely to be protected through silence and their organization’s cover-ups. Not to mention that parents consider these men to be Godlike and wouldn’t for the world look askance at them — the abusers know this.

Parents and other adults need to have this stated clearly, they need specific listings of who to look for.

— Kaye Kilgour, Seattle