When I read the grand-jury report in the case of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, I thought, "Things can't get much worse than this."
Turns out I was wrong.
Since the Sandusky case broke, we've had a string of child sex abuse cases connected to sports--from allegations against former Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine to those against a former clubhouse manager (now deceased) for the Boston Red Sox.
But the most chilling story of all might be unfolding now in Troy Ohio.
From The Dayton Daily News:
The FBI will pursue federal sexual exploitation charges against three men who are accused of raping the adopted children of one of the men.
The FBI also said Wednesday that the adopted father, Kenneth H. Brandt, 39, of Troy was once president of the Foster Parent Association for Miami County.
FBI officials said they have enough evidence to pursue the charges, along with the U.S. Attorney’s office, against, Brandt, Jason M. Zwick, 29, of Beavercreek and Patrick Rieder, 31, of Dayton, according to Tim Ferguson, supervisory senior resident agent at the FBI’s Dayton office.
Brandt is charged with raping his three adopted sons, ages 9, 10 and 12, and prostituting one of the sons to adult males. He also has a 9-year-old adopted daughter.
All four children were from Texas and one adoption was not yet finalized.
If that doesn't turn your stomach,
check out this from The Troy Daily News:
A 10-year-old boy shook when asked about being prostituted to two other men by an adoptive father who regularly had sex with him, according to police, who said the boy was fearful of talking because he didn't want to be taken from his home or separated from his new siblings.
The adoptive father, Kenneth Brandt, 39, of Troy, has been charged with raping three boys in his care and compelling prostitution by hiring the 10-year-old out for sex. He and two other men remained in jail Thursday on rape charges.
Federal and local law enforcement officials said they're widening the investigation into child sexual exploitation allegations against the father, who worked out of his home as an insurance claims adjuster.
Troy police said they impounded the father's truck and seized four laptops from the home and a video camera and two wooden paddles from the master bedroom.
We have sports figures and adopted fathers molesting boys--and it appears that many of these predators are married and self-identify as heterosexual. What is going on?
I remember reading about the Franklin Scandal, which erupted back in the late 1980s and had reported ties to the Reagan and George H.W. Bush White Houses. That story more or less wound up being swept under the rug. Maybe if we had addressed the sexual abuse of boys then, we wouldn't have to be facing it now.