Tuesday, May 8

Shapiro's Unequal Justice

AG Josh Shapiro's comments and tweets after the convictions of two Johnstown priests confirm there is unequal justice in Pennsylvania

By
Ray Blehar
May 8, 2018, 9:05 AM EDT

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro's hypocrisy was exposed in the aftermath of child endangerment convictions of two Johnstown priests who supervised the late Brother Robert Baker. Baker committed suicide in 2013 amid allegations he sexually abused scores of children.

Shapiro commented:

“These defendants knew the abuser was a serious threat to children — but they allowed him to engage with children and have access to them as part of his job within their order.  They chose time and time again to prioritize their institution’s reputation over the safety of victims.”
He also added that Pennsylvania law allows for the prosecution of “people in Pennsylvania, not just those who directly abuse children but those who enable it and cover it up.”
Shapiro's words ring hollow as his office has never brought endangerment charges against any of the individuals at The Second Mile who decided in 2009 that Jerry Sandusky would be allowed to continue as the public face and head fundraiser of the charity.
At the time of the decision, the charity's board was informed that Sandusky was under investigation for child sexual abuse and had lost his clearance to work with children.  


Without Fear and Without Favor?


Shapiro contends that his office will enforce the law without fear and without favor, however, the fact of the matter is that ample evidence exists on the public record that Sandusky was continuing to access and abuse children after the charity's 2009 decision.

That evidence is also damning for the Pennsylvania State Police, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (formerly the Department of Public Welfare) and then AG Tom Corbett's AG office -- who did nothing to protect children from Sandusky from January 2009 until November 2011.

However, it goes deeper than that.

Shapiro and other Pennsylvania government officials have been putting the Commonwealth's children in harm's way for years and a real investigation of The Second Mile would have exposed how the "system" approved funding for high risk programs that involved unsupervised one-on-one contact between adults and children.

That officials at The Second Mile were never charged wasn't a matter of luck - it was a matter of self-preservation.



Next:  The "Luck" of The Second Mile Board


6 comments:

  1. I heartily agree that Second Mile officials should have been prosecuted for child endangerment, especially CEO Jack Raykovitz.

    Raykovitz's testimony was very damning, especially when he admitted that Sandusky told him it was a Second Mile boy in the showers in 2001. Also very incriminating was that Raykovitz condoned Sandusky showering alone with a Second Mile boy as long as Sandusky wore a swimsuit!

    I wonder if prosecutors didn't give Raykovitz immunity for his testimony in the Spanier trial.

    Dr. Dranov and Mike McQueary's father should also have been prosecuted but I suspect prosecutors gave them a tacit immunity deal to keep Mike McQueary a cooperate witness.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tim,
      Thanks for your comment.

      I don't believe Dr. Jack got immunity for his testimony.

      Prosecutor Ditka didn't think Dr. Jack's swim suit solution was a big deal. That would be akin to recommending that Jerry should wear pajamas the next time he's in bed with a child.

      Geesh!!

      Delete
    2. Prosecutors and Freeh vilified Curley, Schultz and Spanier because they never got the name of the boy in the shower.

      A prosecutor could have more easily vilified Raykovitz after he testified that Sandusky told him it was a Second Mile boy. Spanier's lawyer should have raised that issue when he cross-examined Raykovitz. He should have also asked why Raykovitz did nothing after PSU banned Sandusky from bringing Second Mile boys on campus. PSU did not condone Sandusky showering alone with a boy, but then Raykovitz did.

      Delete
  2. Another part of the unequal justice seems to be that the two priests only got 5 years probation when Curley, Schultz and Spanier got jail time.

    It also seems unequal justice that 88 child sexual abuse victims of the late Brother Robert Baker settled for a total of $8 million. About half that number of Sandusky victims settled for a total of over $100 million.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tim,
      It takes two to tango.

      The Old Guard of the BOT (and Balwin) were dance partners with the AG.

      Delete
  3. Shapiro and his ilk should be in orange jumpsuits for suborning perjury, fraud, and obstructing justice. I don't give a damn if JS is guilty or not. The data seems to indicate that JS was an incredibly stupid jock who did some things that some people would consider lewd acts with a minor, but I don't buy any of the explicit sexual acts he was accused of. Too many pathological liars and frauds. I don't see how any rational person could conclude that JS was a pedophile based upon the data presented. Based upon the extent data, I do not believe that JS abused any of of those men.

    ReplyDelete