Child Sexual Abuse

Maryland First Lady Catherine Curran O'Malley announced Monday that Baltimore City, Talbot and Worcester counties have been selected for a new statewide initiative to prevent child sexual abuse by training adults. The Family Tree, a Baltimore non-profit, was granted $25,000 in private funding to replicate the Enough Abuse Campaign, which originated in Massachusetts. The Family Tree will provide free training to child advocacy organizations in the three communities. The program emphasizes educating adults to recognize abused children, to communicate with children about appropriate interactions with adults, and to advocate for victims.

A former volunteer firefighter who worked with youths at the Lansdowne department pleaded guilty Monday to sexually abusing a teenage boy he mentored in a training program at the station. Anthony Maurice Cottle, 23, who appeared Monday in Baltimore County Circuit Court, also faces federal charges. Cottle, a resident of Owings Mills, was also a paid firefighter with the Baltimore County Fire Department. He has been suspended without pay from that department since being charged in October.

A Howard County man, who has been convicted in four other child abuse cases, was sentenced yesterday to three years in state prison for sexually abusing the daughter of a Finksburg woman he met through square dancing.James Winstead Hunter, 32, of Ellicott City pleaded guilty yesterday in Carroll Circuit Court to one count of third-degree sexual offense. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped a battery charge against him and agreed to argue for a maximum sentence of four years.Circuit Judge Luke K. Burns Jr. sentenced Hunter to six years in prison, with three years suspended, and five years of supervised probation after his release.

He was a bearded, Bunyanesque defensive tackle whose rugged play helped the Baltimore Colts to three straight division championships in the 1970s. But Tuesday, when Joe Ehrmann addresses a national gathering convened to deal with the problem of child sexual abuse in sports, he'll take part in one of the most meaningful huddles of his life. His words will weigh heavily on the audience at the two-day Safe to Compete summit in Alexandria, Va., because Ehrmann - minister, motivational speaker and onetime Gilman coach - is himself a survivor of child sexual abuse.

The following is a list of priests and brothers who have served in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and have been accused of child sexual abuse, according to church officials. The list includes some men who have admitted abusing children, as well as some who have denied any improper conduct. A number of the allegations cannot be corroborated, according to the archdiocese. In a few instances, the archdiocese said, it excluded allegations from the list when an investigation concluded that the facts did not indicate that sexual abuse occurred.

A 46-year-old Carroll County man was arrested Thursday night by Maryland State Police after a one-day investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse.According to the state police, the man, whose name was not released, was charged with second-degree rape, a second-degree sex offense and child abuse.He was arrested at his home, taken before a District Court commissioner and confined at the Carroll County Detention Center on $50,000 bail.Neither the age of the victim nor the relationship of the accused to the victim was revealed by police.

Carroll County jurors are expected to continue deliberations today in the case of a 47-year-old Upperco man accused of sexually abusing his wife's grandson about a year ago.County Circuit Judge Raymond E. Beck Sr. sent the jury of six men and six women home about 7:30 last night. The panel is expected to reconvene this morning at 9 a.m.The man -- who is not being named to protect the child's privacy -- was charged in November 1994 with rape and child sexual abuse. He was also charged with assault with intent to murder because he has HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

A former Naval Academy midshipman will spend 90 days in the Anne Arundel County jail for sexually abusing the 2-year-old granddaughter of an Annapolis couple with whom he spent weekends.Jeremy Michael Coale, 20, was sentenced yesterday by Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Raymond G. Thieme Jr. He pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse Aug. 12.Coale, from East Grand Rapids, Mich., could have been sentenced to 15 years.Assistant State's Attorney Laura Kiessling said that since Coale arrived at the academy in September 1995, he had spent weekends at the Eastport house of a couple volunteering in a program to give midshipmen a home away from home.

Felony child sexual abuse charges against a former Carroll County student teacher were dropped yesterday, five weeks after police arrested her and accused her of having sex with two teen-age boys she met at Francis Scott Key High School. Tracie L. Mokry, 22, of Westminster, still faces two misdemeanor charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for allegedly providing alcoholic beverages to the underage boys. But Mokry, her mother and her attorney said yesterday after a brief hearing in Carroll County District Court that she has done nothing wrong.

Courting the attention of no one in particular, the young girl dressed in knee-high boots, a miniskirt and heavy makeup saunters along the pathway that snakes alongside the basketball courts at a Westminster playground. Although her provocative attire suggests there is more to her story, this much is clear: the carefree days of a 10-year-old seem to have eluded the pretty fifth-grader. Fortunately, for Rachel Kotmair of Westminster, it's all an act. On a recent sunny day, the scene is captured on camera for It's Up To Us, an instructional video that will be used to train teachers, doctors, ministers and community organizations, such as local parent-teacher associations, about the importance of reporting suspected child sexual abuse.

Following a string of recent cases in which coaches used their positions to sexually abuse children, the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation says it is trying to help sports organizations better screen people who work with young athletes. The foundation has created an online resource that offers training for employees and volunteers. The site also directs sports organization leaders to a legal research website where they can search potential staff members' criminal histories at a minimal cost.

Every week, dozens of parents, guardians and leaders at youth-serving organizations tell me that they want to do whatever they can do to keep their children safe from abuse. One such tool is the state's sex offender registry. Accessible by the Internet, sex offender registries provide a simple map and list of people who have committed sexual crimes against children, or sexually violent crimes against adults. There are even apps for viewing the registry on mobile devices. One need only to do a routine check every so often in order to be reminded that the threat of child sex abuse impacts every neighborhood and that every community has its share of offenders.

Elizabeth Ann Murphy's response to Vice Chancellor Sean Caine's letter justifying the Archdiocese of Baltimore's response to allegations of child sexual abuse by John Merzbacher was revealing in its account of her own experience as a victim of such abuse ("Merzbacher victim: Archdiocese has much to answer for," Dec. 6). We in the child advocacy community understand the long-term ramifications of this type of abuse. The hurt to the victim doesn't go away, and to justify any institution's reaction that does not fully embrace that concept is shameful.

Regarding Baltimore Archdiocese Vice-Chancellor Sean Caine's recent letter justifying the church's response to allegations of child sexual abuse, I am glad that in 1993 Maryland's attorney general made it clear that all abuse cases should be reported ("Archdiocese acted responsibly," Dec. 2). So much for the Catholic Church being a moral leader. When I returned to the archdiocese in 1993 to again report the abuse I had suffered, it was through Fr. William Mannion. At that point I had been in touch with 17 other victims of John Merzbacher.

The case of John Merzbacher, the former South Baltimore Catholic middle school teacher who turned out to be a serial child sexual abuser, represents a terrible tragedy of child abuse fostered by too many others willing to turn a blind eye. But if his case is extreme, it is not unique, and it's particularly galling to hear of cases like that involving Mr. Merzbacher, whose behavior went unreported for decades, or Penn State's Jerry Sandusky, where...

I agree with Betsy Schindler's contention that we need more open dialogue about child sexual abuse and the need to advocate for help and support for the victims ("Put the victims first," Oct. 19). We all have to be more vigilant of this societal evil and the need to keep pedophiles out of situations where they can do harm to children. Penn State was a good example of how these people can create havoc in the lives of children that can last a lifetime. Evil in any form tends to infect everything around it. Even an outstanding organization like the Boy Scouts of America, which for years has been making a positive contribution in the lives of millions of young people, has had to face the consequences of this same evil surfacing in its midst and is currently dealing with it in a constructive way. There is no doubt in my mind that by facing up to the situation and by taking positive steps to deal with it, the Boy Scouts will continue to attract outstanding leaders who will continue to contribute positively in their communities.

Michael S. Craig took the "for better or for worse" in his marriage vows seriously.He has stood beside his wife for 24 years, including the past five as Sandra Ann Craig hurtled through Maryland's judicial system, dogged by charges of child sexual abuse."

The little girl's stepmother was right. Twenty years in prison is not enough for Richard C. Wilson, the Laurel boat mechanic sentenced this week for the most lurid kinds of child sexual abuse. Even the maximum penalty is too light.The court dockets are full of sexual abuse cases, but this one was particularly vile. For a one-year period beginning when she was 9, trial testimony showed, this child was subjected to bondage sex. Hung from a ceiling hook. Forced to wear her mother's black dress while being abused.

Columnist Susan Reimer and Elizabeth Letourneau seem to have forgotten the harmful role that some mental health practitioners have played - and may continue to play - in the worldwide clergy abuse scandal ("Child sexual abuse needs prevention, not just punishment," July 19). Many abusive priests were not only weren't reported to the authorities by their bishops but were sent to sympathetic treatment centers that didn't report them either. Contrary to Ms. Letourneau's assertion that "there is no way for someone to get help for themselves or someone else without involving the criminal justice system," too often mental health practitioners sent abusers back to communities where they could continue to rape children.

What we knew before former FBI director Louis Freeh's investigation into the coverup of child sexual abuse by former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky was bad enough, but as I listened to and then read Mr. Freeh's 200-page report, I was once again overcome with rage ("Report faults PSU leaders in abuse," July 13). We idolize the men and women who play various forms of "catch" for a living. Across the nation and around the globe, billions of dollars are made and spent on teams, fields, stadiums, naming rights and their associated amenities.