BY FR. SHAY CULLEN
GOOD teachers everywhere are the most trusted people that children look to for help and support in crises and challenges in their lives. Parents trust their children to the protection of teachers and expect that they will be safe and protected.
The danger is that the institution will protect its name and reputation before protecting and getting justice for the child. This is what we see frequently in the church when there are reports of child sexual abuse.
In the school institution, it is at times the same; the crimes of abuse against children are played down and even brushed under the carpet. Parents are paid off and the child is told to stop making complaints and live with the abuse. It is the adults that fail to help children.
In the recent Christmas, there were celebrations that joyfully recalled the birth of Jesus of Nazareth because he brought the Good News that the human race could be saved from gross immorality and self-destruction if humans chose to believe him and his teaching that human rights and dignity were to be respected and love and compassion and justice were to be the great values embraced by mankind.
He said that children are the most important in the kingdom of God and in the world. He also said clearly that child abusers must be held accountable when he a said a big mill stone be tied around their neck and they be thrown into the deep sea (Matthew 18:1-7). It seems that most humans ignore these values and justice has to be fought for and won. This is the case of one young boy who had the courage and bravery to fight for justice and bring his abuser to justice. Let’s just call him Juanito.
When teachers receive a credible report of child sexual abuse in a school, they and the Department of Education officials have to act to protect that child and many other children from the suspected abuser. They must act without delay and many do. In New Cabalan National High School, a teacher recruited two drop out students to be pimps and traffickers of other students and supply victims for sex abuse to the abusive paedophile teacher. The two teenage boys who were recruited as traffickers were found guilty in 2021 of supplying a victim to a teacher in the said school. On the other hand, the teacher was found guilty by Judge Gemma Theresa B. Hilario-Logronio on Dec. 6, 2022 of sexually abusing a trafficked teenage boy.
A strong prosecution case was made by dedicated Asst. City Prosecutor Ria Nina Sususco against the teacher for using a trafficked teenager in prostitution. The experienced prosecutor presented the victim who, after therapy in the Preda home, gave testimony that is “candid, simple and straight-forward, credible and consistent in all material points” and defeated with a powerful cross examination the defense of denial and alibi of the accused. The punishment of prison in a tough Philippine jail for 14 years and eight months for the teacher indicates the severity of the crime against teenage children. (To be continued)/PN
