Tens of thousands of Dutch children abused in Catholic institutions and by church

[Skybird]

Tens of thousands. Now that sets a mark.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16216174

That is organised crime. It is unbelievable that regarding crime laws as well as financial laws and civil laws, the church in different countries is still accepted special legal status setting them apart from ordinary people or public or economic institutions.

[Takeda Shingen]

Truthfully, I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up with those kind of numbers stateside as well, when all is said done; the cycle of abuse and reassignment have been going on for decades. The chickens of this widespread institutional denial are still coming home to roost.

[Jimbuna]

Looked at that earlier today and was immediately put off posting it.

Sadly, I suspect it has not only been happening in Holland.

[Reece]

Gee that's just horrible, I can't believe that human kind can be that bad, especially in the guise of a Christian institution!

[August]

Originally Posted by Reece

Gee that's just horrible, I can't believe that human kind can be that bad, especially in the guise of a Christian institution!

It seems to be systemic for all institutions:

But the report also found that one in five children who attended an institution suffered abuse - regardless of whether it was Catholic

[Platapus]

There is an awesome book entitled "what cops know" by Connie Fletcher.

In the chapter on sex crimes, the interviewed cops stated that everyone knows a pedophile, they just may not recognize him or her. It is that prevalent.

In any job, especially low paying jobs, that involve working with kids, two different types of people are attracted

1. Those who like being around kids
2. Those who *like* being around kids

Fortunately the majority of people who work with kids are decent, but the other type is a non-zero percentage. How big that percentage is we will never know. But it is somewhere between "not-zero" and "not 100".