Scerpella Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 (edited) If it's a loose based organization and policing is up to the individual corps, than how can the organization say "we have the power to ban you" in one case and "it's not up to us to police you" in another? Forehead slap...doh!! That kind of cuts to the heart of it, great point. But....the issue here is not the matter of policing but the nature of the offense, and when it was perpetrated. DCA has no power to direct individual member corps as to who they can allow to join, but they can (and in this instance must) respond when a unit is accused of behavior that might jeopardize the organizations ability to conducts its championships. Edited October 16, 2012 by Scerpella Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scerpella Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 This is a general question then, addressed at no one about no one but obviously based on this discussion. If someone is accused tried and convicted of a sexual offense. Serves their punishment and completes their probation but because of the laws regarding this offense must continue to register wherever they live and work, and assuming they have reported their status to the corps, the venues they are in and DCA......why isnt this good enough? I am leaning back towards Peashey on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 (edited) People have been done in by false accusations was my point. In fact the mere false accusation could kill someones teaching career. I am not making any point about the person in question however. Mainly I am just noting Jeff's hard line on this when he could as easily be in this persons shoes. Not sure about Jeffs stand on accusations but agree we have to worry about what actions to take before anything is proved/not proved. And my take is coming from the fact that I was threatened with a lawsuit from a guy told to "quit hugging the teenage girls" (direct quote). His claim is we said he WAS harrassing or molesting (forget which) so the false accustion came from the other direction. So guess I can add accused slanderer to my sig... still waiting for the suit... My earlier point, which might have not been your point, is if anyone is on the list they have been found guilty. Edited October 16, 2012 by JimF-LowBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 This is a general question then, addressed at no one about no one but obviously based on this discussion. If someone is accused tried and convicted of a sexual offense. Serves their punishment and completes their probation but because of the laws regarding this offense must continue to register wherever they live and work, and assuming they have reported their status to the corps, the venues they are in and DCA......why isnt this good enough? I am leaning back towards Peashey on this. That's assuming anything is said. That's where the crux of the matter lies. Tom said very clearly fron his heart he wouldn't have had a known predator on board if he would have been aware of it. Same for me. Same for just about anyone with a scintilla of common sense and desire to protect their organization long-term. Tom's point if a corps has a minimum age limit was also well taken. It would obviate the need and concern for an issue like this. It would also keep some people out- it would have kept me out of my first 2 seasons for instance. I appreciate Tom's speaking from his heart and his sincerity and thoughtfulness on the issue. It's not easy to talk about it. I want to make sure he knows where I stand on that with him. Much of what he said, I know where he's coming from from within my own framework in the activity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomPeashey Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 That's assuming anything is said. That's where the crux of the matter lies. Tom said very clearly fron his heart he wouldn't have had a known predator on board if he would have been aware of it. Same for me. Same for just about anyone with a scintilla of common sense and desire to protect their organization long-term. Tom's point if a corps has a minimum age limit was also well taken. It would obviate the need and concern for an issue like this. It would also keep some people out- it would have kept me out of my first 2 seasons for instance. I appreciate Tom's speaking from his heart and his sincerity and thoughtfulness on the issue. It's not easy to talk about it. I want to make sure he knows where I stand on that with him. Much of what he said, I know where he's coming from from within my own framework in the activity. Thanks BigW - it's almost impossible to talk about... Maybe it's my age having watched how these things are handled (or not handled) change radically over the years, but my main point was that drum corps is a safer activity than most... I'm very confident of that... our track record is phenominal... and some people on here who I think the world of are unjustifyably trashing the activity I know they love... just kind of making me wonder - but I guess it's the passion of it all... and no one is more passionate about kids than me... but I was clear on how dispicable I think the person involved is (not was - IS - based on court testimony I read as I don't know him personally) and I said I would never hire him or have anything to do with him... the bond of a teacher/student is sacred... it should be the same bond between a corps director/instructor and a junior member of a drum corps... any teacher who even "thinks" about sex with a student of any age (even college) needs to immediately find a new line of work... perhaps ditch-digging... But ... most on here seem still convinced it's DCA's problem... what can I say? I have to disagree... it's the corps' problem... or it's the government's problem if the person involved is not living up to the laws of the land... that's my opinion and I am sticking to it... and i still say that it's a shame we're creating a heck of a google trail on an incident that happened 20 years ago to a dci corps member - not even DCA... put "sex offender drum corps" into google and you all know exactly what comes up... not his trial... not his name... not the fact that it was 20 years ago... not that it was REALLY a DCI corps, not anything else... just this thread!!! and DCA wasn't even involved... You see NO ONE is more passionate about drum corps than ME - and many of the comments on here when taken out of context and without the FACTS make it seem that we have a big problem with children being molested by sexual predators in DCA... WE DON'T... period... end of story... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted October 17, 2012 Author Share Posted October 17, 2012 People have been done in by false accusations was my point. In fact the mere false accusation could kill someones teaching career. I am not making any point about the person in question however. Mainly I am just noting Jeff's hard line on this when he could as easily be in this persons shoes. No offense, but if the criminal system says you're guilty, well then, sorry....you're guilty. I'm not talking about rumors Dan...i'm talking about people on the national sex offenders list. You don't get put on that based on a rumor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted October 17, 2012 Author Share Posted October 17, 2012 This is a general question then, addressed at no one about no one but obviously based on this discussion. If someone is accused tried and convicted of a sexual offense. Serves their punishment and completes their probation but because of the laws regarding this offense must continue to register wherever they live and work, and assuming they have reported their status to the corps, the venues they are in and DCA......why isnt this good enough? I am leaning back towards Peashey on this. well, let's see: "hi mrs Josephina, we'd love your son to be in our corps!" "well, he's interested, but I need to know...do you have sex offenders in your corps? Does your circuit have policies in place about them?" cricket, cricket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted October 17, 2012 Author Share Posted October 17, 2012 Thanks BigW - it's almost impossible to talk about... Maybe it's my age having watched how these things are handled (or not handled) change radically over the years, but my main point was that drum corps is a safer activity than most... I'm very confident of that... our track record is phenominal... and some people on here who I think the world of are unjustifyably trashing the activity I know they love... just kind of making me wonder - but I guess it's the passion of it all... and no one is more passionate about kids than me... but I was clear on how dispicable I think the person involved is (not was - IS - based on court testimony I read as I don't know him personally) and I said I would never hire him or have anything to do with him... the bond of a teacher/student is sacred... it should be the same bond between a corps director/instructor and a junior member of a drum corps... any teacher who even "thinks" about sex with a student of any age (even college) needs to immediately find a new line of work... perhaps ditch-digging... But ... most on here seem still convinced it's DCA's problem... what can I say? I have to disagree... it's the corps' problem... or it's the government's problem if the person involved is not living up to the laws of the land... that's my opinion and I am sticking to it... and i still say that it's a shame we're creating a heck of a google trail on an incident that happened 20 years ago to a dci corps member - not even DCA... put "sex offender drum corps" into google and you all know exactly what comes up... not his trial... not his name... not the fact that it was 20 years ago... not that it was REALLY a DCI corps, not anything else... just this thread!!! and DCA wasn't even involved... You see NO ONE is more passionate about drum corps than ME - and many of the comments on here when taken out of context and without the FACTS make it seem that we have a big problem with children being molested by sexual predators in DCA... WE DON'T... period... end of story... Hi....lil ole me again...I started the thread. I never said people in DCA were molested. I said DCA had at least 2 people I know of on the field this summer who are registered sex offenders, and wanted to know DCA's position on this. You've made it clear DCA wants nothing to do with it. Cool. I pray to god it doesn't bite them in the ###. It'll make a trashed hotel look very small in the long run Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomPeashey Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 "You've made it clear DCA wants nothing to do with it. Cool." no my young friend... I've made my OPINION clear... I'm retired... I have no idea what DCA wants or doesn't want to do... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickhaltsforlife Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Have the specifics of any incident come up in this thread??? If they have, can some one point them out to me? And I hope a google trail leads to this. And hopefully DCA and DCI act on it. I don't care how long the person has been out of jail. I don't care if they served their time. I wouldn't want my kid, if I had a kid (god help the world if that ever happens) to be in a corps with someone on the list. My kids will NEVER be around that close family member of mine no matter how much he wants to be a part of my life when he gets out of jail. Yeah it's different case to case. But a corps that marches kids under the age of 18 should not have anyone on that list in or around the corps. Maybe I am just less forgiving... but the safety of kids is something I get very serious about. And there are kids who march in DCA and DCI. And really all it takes is one lawsuit in this day in age, and say bye bye to DCA or DCI. I see no problem with DCA and DCI covering their ##### on this manner. And it's not just covering their own #####.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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