02/18/20

Boy Scouts bankruptcy a warning to others who have ignored sexual abuse

Read Paul’s USA TODAY Op-Ed on the Boy Scouts of America, the most iconic youth organization in the nation, has 110 years almost to the day after its founding in the United States, declared bankruptcy under the weight of its awful sexual abuse.

Catholic priest
12/31/19

Pennsylvania Was A Start. Now We Need Grand Juries For The Catholic Church In Every State

Read Paul’s Buzzed Op-Ed on why district attorneys and attorneys general should follow in the footsteps of the Pennsylvania Grand Jury and conduct a child abuse investigation of every diocese and archdiocese in the nation.

Dispondant woman
10/27/17

Harvey Weinstein's alleged pattern of harassment echoes that of child sexual abusers

In this Op-Ed that Paul wrote for the Los Angeles Times he draws compelling comparisons between the claims of woman sexually harassed by Harvey Weinstein and the claims of victims of childhood sexual abuse. Even though the Weinstein victims are adults, Paul points out that both groups share similar dynamics in terms of emotionally dealing...

06/09/16

The Greatest Myth of Child Sexual Abuse

Perhaps the most enduring and pervasive American myth concerning child sexual abuse is that nice guys don’t molest children; and it’s a pernicious myth because it denies the reality of a victim’s suffering.

View of court room from judge's bench
05/01/16

The Illusion of Justice for Sexual Abuse Victims

In this Op-Ed for the Washington Post, Paul writes about why the high school wrestlers that disgraced Congressman Dennis Hastert sexually abused while he was a high school coach were denied real justice. He explains why, even on a national scale, most state statute of limitations thwart the filing of sexual claims by victims.

11/19/14

Rice and Peterson: A Double Standard for Violence

The Adrian Peterson and Ray Rice stories starkly reveal an inherent contradiction about family violence and the treatment of our children. Ray Rice was arrested for hitting his girlfriend — he violated the rule of law that says, absent acting in self-defense, a man cannot hit a woman (or any other adult or child for...

03/19/13

Video Games Hold No Answers

For over 30 years I have represented teens throughout the nation charged with homicide. I have not conducted any laboratory controlled studies on the relationship between violent video games (or for that matter slasher movies or violent music lyrics) and homicidal or aggressive behavior in young people. I have however, come to many understandings about...

01/17/12

Protecting Kids From Sexual Abuse: It's More Complicated 'Than See Something Say Something'

If Jerry Sandusky is convicted of the charges against him, then anyone who cares about protecting children from molestation will need to understand exactly how he got away with it for so many years. It’s deceptively easy to answer that question with the explanations that have been repeated in the media so often in this...

01/11/12

The Perfect Crime

On the surface, the Penn State scandal would seem to be another example of an institution of trust failing in its moral obligation to protect children. In fact, what the tragic web of human actions and inactions behind this outrage really shows us is that child sexual abuse is close to the perfect crime.