PENNSYLVANIA
The Express-Times
By Matthew Bultman | The Express-Times
Statements made by former Warren County employees revealing years of suspicion that ex-Sheriff
Edward Bullock had a perverted interest in young boys carry potentially heavy weight in civil litigation against Bullock and the county, according to legal experts.
The experts, including one with experience in similar lawsuits, agreed the county appears vulnerable as the statements indicate those in a position of authority knew — or should have known — Bullock may have been preying on children but took no steps to prevent it.
“It’s very significant that people would come forward,” said Jeffrey Fritz, a Philadelphia-based attorney who represented numerous victims in the Jerry Sandusky case at Penn State. “It’s the smoking gun.” …
Mark Crawford, director of the New Jersey Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the parallels are stark between what is alleged to have happened in Warren County and previous high-profile sexual abuse scandals involving the Catholic church, Penn State and the Boy Scouts.
People are often hesitant to be a whistleblower, particularly if the person is in a position of authority or is well respected within the community, Crawford said. There can be additional concerns over bad publicity being brought upon the organization, he said.
“Whenever you have an institution that has a vested interest in keeping a reputation, people tend to look the other way,” Crawford said. “Instinctively, they try to protect their own reputation, so to speak, instead of doing the right thing.
“It appears this may be one of those examples,” he said.
Kenneth Lanning is a former FBI agent, who worked in the agency’s behavioral science unit, and authored the book, “Child Molesters: A Behavioral Analysis.” He said cover-ups or cases of people looking the other way often come down to two factors: ignorance and damage control.
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