So what would you have done? (June '07)

I'm going to give you the abbreviated version because I frankly just don't have the energy to write it all out.

Lets' go back to the late '90's, when the Yankee was in school at a little religious college in the mid-Atlantic region. The student body was not particularly diverse in race or religious creed--as is the case with most such colleges--or even in terms of geographic origin. Most of the students came from the same state in the same region. This place was insular, and a somewhat protected world.

Now, there was one gent at this school who was a little different. I'll call him "Joe." Joe was a black man from a military family, who carried himself with a little more confidence than the average student. Joe and I never became close friends, but since we both had military backgrounds and such, we did hit it off in a casual way. After college, Joe even helped me get a job where he worked. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

One summer, Joe stayed at the school for summer classes. Another student--we'll call him "Frank"--let Joe borrow his computer. Frank was a good guy with a bit of a reputation as a troublemaker. Joe was at this time a model student. Joe was the minority student who made it to the cover of every brochure, who led tours for prospective students, and who became part of the student leadership.

I say all of this because after the summer was through, Frank got his computer back and set himself up in his room. Frank had a screen saver program that took image files from his hard drive, and randomly scrolled them across the screen. As Frank was getting settled in, one of the Deans came by. It was at this moment that the pictures on Frank's computer screen took a nasty turn. Child Porn began scrolling across the screen. Most of it was homosexual child porn at that--an extra big "no-no" at a religious college.

Frank was in deep trouble. Despite his protests, the administration was ready to throw him out on his backside and call the authorities. Luckily, thanks to the work of a few clever and level-headed tech. guys, Frank was able to prove his story and thus exonerate himself. To my knowledge, Frank never received anything resembling an apology from the administration.

At this point, Joe was on the hotseat. Joe did not like being on the hotseat, so Joe did something that was in my opinion extra shady. Joe told the administration that he was being set up and singled out because he was black, and that if they kicked him out of school, he would slap them with a racial discrimination lawsuit.

The school is rather paranoid about negative press, and some of you may remember that in the late '90's, hate crimes legislation, etc. were big topics in the news. The school saw negatives no matter which way they turned, so guess what they did?

The school put Joe on some kind of super-secret non-probation and bascially let him keep going to school and living on campus with no punishment, though I believe he did have to step down from a student leadership role.

Most of the student body had no idea about any of this at the time that it happened.

As the years flew by, there were many rumors that Joe fancied other lads, and especially younger ones. I dismissed most of these as silly rumors. After all, I knew Joe in a casual way, and he'd never mentioned anything to me!

Joe graduated when I was a junior, and went on to work in a juvenile detention facility. A year later, Joe called me and asked me if I would like a job there, too. I accepted, and began my first stint as a juvenile jailer. For those that might not have figured this out, this was a job where we worked closely with troubled young boys.

That same year, a number of disturbing revelations came up regarding Joe. I played soccer during college, and thus got to know several of the guys on the team. This included several younger, "prettier" guys.

That last year I found out that when Joe was an RA, he had several of these boys come to his room at different times for "private meetings." In these "private meetings," Joe would break down and tell them that he was "struggling with lust," but that if they sat there and watched while he masturbated, the shame might convince him to stop--especially if they were willing to touch him in some way while he performed.

I know that many of you are aghast at this point, and are wondering how any college-age male could be taken in by such a weak story. Remember that this is an insulated locale with a very naive population, by and large. These lads had no real concept that they were dealing with a sexual predator who was using them for some kind of gratification. Some got uncomfortable and left, some got uncomfortable and stayed because they thought they were "helping" him. Most were left feeling confused and upset, but had no idea what to do about it...so they kept quiet.

Now it was several years later, and Joe was gone, so these guys felt they could talk about it. I didn't tell them that I was working with Joe. I just listened and got more and more uneasy as time went on.

I asked a few of them if they would be cool with telling the authorities. They all said "no way," and acted really embarrassed. That's part of the game that these abusers play--they make the victim feel ashamed, so that no one comes forward.

Now here's the crux of the matter:

Joe came to me at work one day and told me that he was leaving. He said he had just been hired to become "Dean of Boys" at a large local private school. I stayed calm on the outside, but inside I was freaking out. By now I knew about the child porn on the computer and the "private meetings" with the younger guys. I had a fair idea that Joe was a danger--and especially to young boys. I saw the fox being led to the hen house on a red carpet.

But what could I do?

I knew so much, but I couldn't prove any of it. The people involved wouldn't come forward, the school would not discuss the affairs of former students, and I knew that I would be in deep legal doo-doo if I came forward with an accusation and couldn't prove it. With all of the hubbub in the media at that time, I was seriously worried about being charged with a "hate crime" if my accusation didn't hold up, because I am "white," and Joe is "black," so the same charge could hold more severe penalties (by the way, this is why I am firmly against "hate crime" legislation. One crime should have one punishment, no matter who did it.)

Not knowing what to do, I did nothing.

A year and half later, Joe was on the front page of the local paper, being led out of the school in handcuffs. I don't think I need to tell you what the charges were...

Think about the world you live in. Think about the little "secrets" you know right now. What would you have done in my shoes? What will you do if the problem becomes your own?