• circuscritic@lemmy.ca
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    20 hours ago

    In a community that’s small, there is no way many of these same families and homeowners weren’t aware of that predator.

    The community enabled him and now the community has to pay for that choice.

    What’s your alternative solution?

    • chisel@piefed.social
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      20 hours ago

      The families that sued him and settled for $7.5M were from the community. Did they enable him? What about the children that attend the same school and will now have less funding for their education? Did they enable him? Do they deserve to partake in the punishment?

      Make the people that did the offense pay for it.

      • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
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        20 hours ago

        So your proposal is to completely scrap how American liability laws work and create something new?

        I don’t think that would be all bad, definitely ambitious.

        What about the the current victims? How should they receive their restitution in the meantime?

    • a4ng3l@lemmy.world
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      20 hours ago

      That’s a very judgmental take… you have insider knowledge or are talking you arse out? Man I wish that kind of shit never happen in my village because I’d be bundled with other peasants I might have seen at the baker for a brief 30 seconds while fetching bread once over 8 years and suddenly I would be enabling someone…

      • TranscendentalEmpire@lemmy.today
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        19 hours ago

        The four officials — the former principal of Ninnekah High School, a former superintendent, a former athletics director and a former secretary — were dismissed from the lawsuit as part of the settlement.

        ^Word of Akins’ relationship with Jane Doe No. 2 began to spread in the school district. Multiple adults and former students told authorities district staff were aware of the rumors but brushed it off, according to law enforcement reports.

        I currently live in OK, Ninnekah is a tiny shithole in the middle of nowhere with like 700 people in it. If more than a couple of adults knew about it, the whole town knew about it.

        • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
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          16 hours ago

          I do not think any elected official would go around telling any member of their constituency that they diddles their kids. Not even Trump, nor his appointed cabinet. I don’t see how the town would know about it if the adults do not tell others.

          It says “former”. I take that to mean the people did hold the officials accountable after finding out.

          • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world
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            8 hours ago

            I do not think any elected official would go around telling any member of their constituency that they diddles their kids. Not even Trump, nor his appointed cabinet. I don’t see how the town would know about it if the adults do not tell others.

            Then you are probably unaware of how proud pedophiles often are of their behavior, how much they like to find and even team up with others of the same tastes, how any iota of self-awareness they possess that might stop them from bragging is generally rendered irrelevant by both their arrogance and mountainous sense of entitlement, how much everyone who actually knows what is going on has a strong disinterest in interfering, and how much non-pedophiles do NOT want to believe or acknowledge even the possibility of the truth of such statements even when they hear or overhear it directly for themselves.

            From Jerry Sandusky to Jeffrey Epstein, it’s the same story, over and over again.

            In other words, these people talk, sometimes in lightly coded language but often not even bothering, because they do not believe they are in the wrong, they do not believe they will be caught, they think they have every right to do what they do, they like feeling invincible, and if you are the one person who actually has enough of a problem with it to make a stink out of all the countless others who are silently in the know, they’re sure no one will believe you. . . because if someone cares to ask, there’s nothing they can’t talk their way out of. Far too frequently, they are 100% right on all counts.

            EDITED to add link that demonstrates the significant number of people that heard, saw, or knew and did nothing, or worse, quietly stood in the way of anyone who wanted to do anything about it, including making the police files go away from the first victim who reported: https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2021/08/14/lawsuit-alleges-ronald-gene-akins-preyed-on-former-basketball-players/8122541002/

            • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
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              2 hours ago

              Al Capone is the most well-known gangster. His status as a public figure when he was active is not representative of the publicity gangsters go for at all. In fact, he was that well-known only because of how unusual it was for a gangster to seek such publicity. I don’t see reason to suspect anything different about pedophiles.

      • MangoCats@feddit.it
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        18 hours ago

        a very judgmental take

        This is a very judgement based situation. Schools I attended in the 1970s left single adults alone with kids in all kinds of situations that make this kind of abuse possible. Changing how they operate, making less private spaces available for abuse on school campuses to occur in, placing less trust in the individuals and relying on larger groups to ensure that behavioral norms are followed… all those are things that should have been happening 50 years ago, but apparently didn’t in this small town. Maybe now they will, or maybe they’ll just bury their heads in the sand until the next case comes along and slaps them with another tax hike.

      • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
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        20 hours ago

        “…the alleged abuses were allowed to continue for years…”

        If you’ve lived in a small town than you know that word of this was in many households that stayed silent.

        That’s just how small rural towns in America work on issues of abuse.

        If you believe this was a completely contained secret, then I have a bridge to sell you.

        But yes, many people who are completely innocent will be impacted. What’s your alternative solution?

        • chunes@lemmy.world
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          14 hours ago

          I’ve lived in a village of 600 people for about 6 years and I don’t know anyone here, and don’t want to.

        • MangoCats@feddit.it
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          18 hours ago

          many people who are completely innocent will be impacted.

          And motivated to make changes for the better, as opposed to ignoring the problems.

        • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
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          20 hours ago

          Here’s the full quote:

          Not only has the case caused outrage among the community, who discovered that the alleged abuses were allowed to continue for years, but it is now going to weigh financially on their shoulders.

          It’s clearly saying that the community did not know about the abuses and that the administration was allowing the abuses to continue for years.

          Just asserting they know without citing evidence or precedent like a witch hunt is not enough to convince me. Keeping up appearances with outsiders is how these predators survive.

          • grue@lemmy.world
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            18 hours ago

            Boo fucking hoo.

            The citizens voted for an abuse-enabling school board that hired the abuse-enabling administration, so they deserve what they get.

            Don’t like it? Fucking vet your political representatives better!

            • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
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              16 hours ago

              New York’s 3rd is one of the nation’s most wealthy and educated districts. They elected George Santos.

              It could happen to you.

              How could you vet that your representative without any history of doing so would commit or allow sexual abuse?

              • grue@lemmy.world
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                12 hours ago

                It’s never guaranteed, admittedly. But given which party people in rural Oklahoma, of all places, likely support, and given that party’s pervasive, to the last man support for pedophiles, I think there are some pretty fucking obvious changes they could make to start off with. Don’t you agree?

                Edit: and if you don’t believe me about the “pervasive, to the last man support for pedophiles” part, Ted Cruz just confirmed it. Holy fucking shit.

          • a4ng3l@lemmy.world
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            17 hours ago

            Thanks for bringing the whole quote. It’s sad that we are seeing the above behaviour / selective quoting here on the fediverse.