Yes, the Justice Department’s just-announced investigation into clergy sex abuse in the Pennsylvania Catholic Church is long overdue. It is the first statewide investigation of its kind by federal authorities.
However, if these cases, which date back to the 1940s, justify a federal probe, then the 520 cases of child rape and sex abuse in the Chicago Public Schools since 2008 should move President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to take swift action as well.
Back in June, a Chicago Tribune investigation uncovered 523 credible cases of rape and sexual abuse of students in CPS over the last ten years. Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a Democrat, has been in office eight of those years. No federal action was taken by President Barack Obama during his eight years in office either.
The Tribune’s report was horrific. The investigation found CPS routinely ignored prior criminal histories and failed to warn out-of-state schools about teacher misconduct. In one case, a 16-year-old track star was raped 40 times by her coach, a convicted felon. In another, CPS failed to warn a Florida school district about a serial groper who taught disabled kids how to access hardcore pornography. The Chicago Tribune’s initial report did not include the older case of Marvin Lovett, a social worker at Johnson Elementary School. Lovett allegedly abused at least 19 other children until he was shot dead in 2000 by a boy he had abused since he was 12.
Mayor Emanuel should be held accountable for this scandal. He appointed the heads of the Chicago Board of Education and the Chicago Public Schools, who knew about these cases. CPS lawyers interrogated student sexual abuse survivors and reported back to CPS. All of this was hidden from the public.
Emanuel should fire the CPS leaders involved in these cover-ups and resign — but he won’t. In fact, he hinted he may run for the U.S. Senate if Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., calls it quits.
The media covered this scandal for a few days and in the time since, nothing. It’s as if it never happened. All of this raises the question: Is this the same media that dedicated round-the-clock coverage to the salacious and uncorroborated abuse allegations against Justice Brett Kavanaugh? Where are national Democrats and Code Pink activists who stalked, harassed, and screamed at senators on Capitol Hill during the Kavanaugh nomination? Why aren’t they shrieking outside of Mayor Emanuel’s fifth-floor office at City Hall?
At a recent Chicago press conference, I posed this question to Durbin: Would he call for a federal criminal investigation into the scandal? He refused.
The question to Durbin was more than fair. After all, wasn’t it Durbin who demanded that Kavanaugh request a seventh FBI investigation on himself? The Chicago Tribune has also criticized Sen. Durbin for giving Mayor Emanuel “a pass” on the scandal.
Democrats have ignored this scandal in advance of the midterm elections, and they do so at their peril.
Thankfully, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has taken some action by denying millions of dollars in federal grants to the Chicago Public Schools, citing its failure to protect students from sexual violence. Unfortunately, that’s not enough.
The Emanuel administration has buried this scandal, failed to warn school districts of sexual predators sent their way, and enabled dangerous sexual predators to have access to children. How many cases of abuse in Chicago Public Schools have there been dating back to the 1940s?
If President Trump and Attorney General Sessions take action, Republicans could be the unlikely heroes of this story — and heroes are exactly what these Chicago survivors need.
A native of Chicago’s South Side, William J. Kelly (@Williamjkelly) is the host of the Citizen Kelly Show and the founder of RevDigital.
