First, Candace isn't living in unusual times, she's
living in real time.  Pedophiles are out there and
have been lurking for quite a while.  The Catholic
church and accusations thereupon have shown the
flashlight on pedophilia, and parents are paying
closer attention.  Good for them!  Ask anyone who was
ever the prey of a pedophile how important this issue
is.  The scars can be lifelasting.

As for the allegations that the owner of the stable
may be a pedophile, I think folks are confusing a few
things.  On the one hand, a conviction would be a part
of the record.  An arrest with or without conviction
would be another.  A failure to arrest because an
intimidated victim refused to testify is a third
circumstance.  The owner of the stable could be
completely innocent and could be completely guilty but
scot free if they terrified or shamed the victim into
some sort of silence.

My perp had to be dead, and I had to be 33 before I
could talk about it.  Too late to prosecute, but he
was going to kill my dad if I outted him.  My best
friend is 44.  Her perp has been dead for two years.
She still has trouble discussing it, and it makes her
hysterical at times.

So don't assume the stable owner is innocent just
because there may not be a conviction.

Then, again, a horseback ride has been known to break
a hymen or two.  Even if it appeared there were monkey
business, absent testify from a (probable) minor, you
may not be able to tell.

As to the allegation that cops are horrible, my cop
retires after 30 years on the police force in 4
business days.  Walk a mile in their shoes and see
what they really have to do and how much they actually
care about victims (especially kids).  A cop who has
had to deal with the problems of child abuse first
hand may be more apt to squeal.  And, by the way, is
9/11 that easily forgotten?  It was just a little
while ago we were celebrating first responders!

I see a lot of legal mess in this situation:

1.  Transporting kids somewhere (permission slips).
2.  Liabilities if the kids are injured around the
horses.
3.  Liabilities if the stable owner is falsely accused
by the museum, or there's an air thereof.
4.  Liabilities to the museum if it has reason to
believe a pedophile is present and does not act to
protect the kids.

Needless to say, Candace, you have a mess on your
hands.

Is there any possibility of simply having someone
bring a horse to the museum parking lot, with
instruction outside, and heavy adult supervision
(docents and such)?



--- Pamela Sezgin <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Candace,
>
> Thanks for sharing.     Call your local school
> board.   They deal with these
> situations all the time.   The head of personnel for
> your school system can
> advise you on how to deal with the situation without
> stepping-on-toes or doing
> something illegal in your fact-finding.
>
> Also, do a google.com or webcrawler search using the
> names of the people
> involved, including the person spreading the rumor
> (or alerting you, if the charge
> has merit) as well as the person under suspicion.
> See what has been in the
> local press, if anything.  Check the state
> government websites, too.   Some
> states list the names of people who were indicted on
> such charges.
>
> Good luck!
>
> pamela sezgin
>

=====
Indigo Nights
[log in to unmask]

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