By Rudy Miller
The Express-Times
November 26, 2011
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/breaking-news/index.ssf/2011/11/penn_state_scandal_galvanizes.html
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| Former Penn State football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky sits in a car as he leaves the office of Centre County Magisterial District Judge Leslie A. Dutchcot on Nov. 5 in State College, Pa. |
After years of advocating on behalf of victims of pedophiles, it took only one coach to prompt a steady stream of victims to Juliann Bortz.
Bortz, of the Allentown chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, has waged a long campaign for victims of clergy abuse.
More than the case of a priest, however, it's been the case former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky to get more people talking about the issue.
"I personally have had more calls from victims since the Penn State scandal. It’s really triggered a lot of new victims," Bortz said.
Sandusky, 67, is charged with abusing eight boys over 15 years, sometimes on Penn State’s campus. The former defensive coordinator vows to fight the 40-count indictment.
Bortz said she usually gets a stream of new reports, about six or 10, around the holidays. She’s gotten 13 calls since the Sandusky story broke this month.
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| John Morganelli |
“There are far more numbers (of victims and abusers) in the priest-abuse scandal, and one might even think larger violations of trust,” Frank Cervone, executive director of the Support Center for Child Advocates in Philadelphia, told the Associated Press. “Ironically, more people are upset (now).”
Bortz credits the Sandusky media reports with making it easier for victims to step forward because they break the stigma surrounding the abuse.
However, the stories also stir negative feelings among victims. A significant number of local victims feel slighted seeing around-the-clock coverage of a single man facing these charges when priests accused of committing similar crimes remain living in anonymity.
“Several victims have been calling. Several have asked me ‘Why is this guy getting so much attention compared to the Church?’ I don’t have an answer for anyone. I wonder that myself,” she said.
District Attorney John Morganelli said the Penn State scandal has had important details leak out gradually over the last two weeks, keeping the story on the front page for days on end.
The sex scandals surrounding the Catholic Church, however, have been spread out over a longer period, and individual cases have not been released all at once, he said.
Despite the differences, Morganelli said the cases have a great deal in common. In each case, a person who was in a position of trust was protected by administrators and people around them. The power structure around them eventually became just as involved as the people who allegedly committed the initial crime.
“The Sandusky case has been somewhat of an institutional cover-up. In that sense, it’s been very similar to the Catholic church scandals,” he said.
Frustrated victims from the Catholic Church sex scandals are finding their options in outing their abusers limited, Bortz said.
While Sandusky was indicted by a grand jury of abusing eight boys, most victims have to bring a civil suit if they want their story publicized. Bortz, who said she is a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of a Catholic priest, said she brought a lawsuit for that very reason.
“That’s the only way for people to get the perpetrators name to the public. It’s so sad,” she said.
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