Media Report Concerning Former Mandarins Staff Member

[dckid80]

The missing piece here is education for the marching members.

The NBA and NFL aomng others have programs that educate new athletes to the sport about being careful of all kinds of predatory behavior that they are likely to run into.

So where is a mandatory educational compoment for marching members that tells them what to watch for, how to react and who to go to if they have or become aware of a problem?

DCI should really step up in this area.

[Jeff Ream]

That sure is a scary thought...

in a few cases, they fessed up but nothing legal happened. but still.....

[Jeff Ream]

Like you, I don't see the need for background checks on " supporters ". However, those who have close daily contact wih the Corps, even " volunteers " , ie kitchen staff, etc. need to have criminal background checks, in my opnion. It protects the Corps too from later losing in court if charges were ever brought aganist the Corps for negligence in their fundamental oversight obligations in running a youth activity.

The old adage... " better safe, than sorry ", should be the Corps position. Corps have worked long and hard to get to a place of trust and responsibility in having parents entrust them with their kids. To potentially throw it all away because of the inability to do proper due diligence with criminal background checks and/ or revealing the name(s) of staff that have had sexual assault convictions in the past, is not too sympathetic a Corps to let it all slip away like this. It would very unfortunate... but certainly easily avoidable.

if you are going to be around the corps in any capacity other than fan, you need to have the background checks done. Even, IMO, judges should have it

[Liahona]

Like you, I don't see the need for background checks on " supporters ". However, those who have close daily contact wih the Corps, even " volunteers " , ie kitchen staff, etc. need to have criminal background checks, in my opnion. It protects the Corps too from later losing in court if charges were ever brought aganist the Corps for negligence in their fundamental oversight obligations in running a youth activity.

The old adage... " better safe, than sorry ", should be the Corps position. Corps have worked long and hard to get to a place of trust and responsibility in having parents entrust them with their kids. To potentially throw it all away because of the inability to do proper due diligence with criminal background checks and/ or revealing the name(s) of staff that have had sexual assault convictions in the past, is not too sympathetic a Corps to let it all slip away like this. It would very unfortunate... but certainly easily avoidable.

I strongly agree with BRASSO on this subject and I really think the key phrase here is "those who have close daily contact wih the Corps, even ' volunteers '." As for myself, I'm actually more concerned with protecting our children than protecting the corps themselves per se, but the point of loosing trust in a heartbeat should be taken heed by the corps out there and perhaps DCI as a member organization as well.

[BRASSO]

Agreed and this is common for many Churches and other organizations that serve youth such as Boy and Girl Scouts of America.

Boy Scouts and Church Groups, other Youth Organizatons ( particularly the Catholic Church ) have all had to pay lots of money in civil award damages to victims of sexual assault even though the crimes did not surface for as many as 50 years ago in some cases.

Again, since this is a Mandarins Drum Corps thread, lets also now remind everyone that there is no allegation of ANY impropriety on the part of the Mandarins Drum Corps here. As a matter of fact, the news article posted on this thread never even mentions "The Mandarins "... nor even " Drum Corps"..... AT ALL.

Edited July 15, 2010 by BRASSO

[DAvery]

It looks like the band director at that same HS was also charged a week later.

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories...er.1fefa79.html

I haven't done alot of research on this, but I would be suprised if these accusations are true.

Edited July 15, 2010 by DAvery

[BRASSO]

at the expense of those who are still innocent until proven guilty.

And as a side note, most of these sex offenders do not have any criminal record that would prohibit them from working with kids prior to them actually engaging in the illegal act with a child. Background checks can't turn up something if there's nothing to turn up. If they don't have a serious criminal record, they can easily pass a background and be able to work at the local school, corps, etc...

This is true. But its another matter altogether if a Corps was to knowingly have on their staff a convicted Juvenile Sex Offender. There is no " cure " for these persons. Jail and rehab efforts fail according to all the research data.. They need to be kept out of environments that put them on a regular ongoing basis with childen. They are required to do so under the terms of their conviction... even after incarceration...and to do so for LIFE. Whenever they move, authorities are to be notified.

Thus, a criminal background check would easily show even a 3rd degree sexual felony for a Corps that conducted a criminal background check on a potential staff member. Failure to do a criminal background check on adult personnel in a Corps would be a recipe for disaster if something like a sexual assault should happen on their watch. And as any judge would tell them " ignorance ( of the law ) is no excuse, nor defense ". And to knowingly allow a staff member to continue to work a Corps that has a past Juvenile Sex Offender conviction... without notifying the parents of this, opens hte Corps to an immediate financial collapse for such a Corps if that sex offender makes an unwanted sexual advance move on a marcher..... and if the Corps goes on summer tour with that staffer, to high schools schools all over the country where there are junior and high school kids present ?... whoa... talk about a ticking time bomb for that Corps.

Edited July 15, 2010 by BRASSO

[Gbassman5]

It looks like the band director at that same HS was also charged a week later.

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories...er.1fefa79.html

I haven't done alot of research on this, but I would be suprised if these accusations are true.

those actually sound more credible than the ones against the color guard instructor. text messages are pretty damming... they're what got my former band director put in jail for a year...

[shostahoosier]

When I was marching I knew of a drum major who made a habit of this. Now he's on staff with a finalist corps in a pretty high position and it makes my skin crawl to imagine that he's possibly working with high school students still.

[wvu80]

Most of the time. But it depends on varying state laws outlining the age of consent, as well as the individual's emancipated status.

Mr. Z is correct. State law (not a single national law) prevails, and it is different from state to state.

For most laws of this type I'm familiar with, they have de-criminalized rape if the person is over the age of 16 and the older person is within 4 years. It used to be they had rape as the only charge and then the convicted rapist would go to prison for 20 years. The problem became no jury would convict a young person to prison for 20 years for having sex with another young person, so they came up with degrees of rape with lessor sentences, and now they have more convictions. I think Ohio has six degrees of rape, from inappropriate touching, to the most serious charges involving penetration with an adult against a child over a period of time.

For older people having sex with younger people, they put the hammer down, as that clearly is a perp taking advantage of a young victim. Again generalizing, if the victim is under 14 it is almost always statutory rape, consent of the victim or not, and regardless whether or not there was penetration. Over the age of 14 consent can be considered a mitigating circumstance in the charges.

+++

To me this is a legitimate issue for DCI to investigate, and to check with all its member corps to see there are safeguards in place. I would call on DCI to do just that.