Catholic educators learn facts of abuse

AUBURN – More than 350 principals and teachers from Catholic schools across Maine attended a “Protecting God’s Children” program at St. Dominic Regional High School last week.

During the summer, Maine priests, deacons, chancery employees and other Catholic groups participated in the program. On Friday, it was the educators’ turn. Videos provided a glimpse into the world of child molesters and the effects of abuse on young victims.

“To hear the perpetrators just talk about it, that was kind of scary,” said Martha Hart, a teacher at Mount Merici School in Waterville.

Speaker Monica Applewhite tried to dispel myths about child molesters. She said about 40 percent of abusers in child care settings are women, that 60 percent of abused children are victimized by people they know, and that only 5 percent of active child molesters have criminal records.

Discussions centered on what teachers and schools could do to prevent child abuse, including mandatory background checks for all school employees and volunteers.

Brenda Bourque, a teacher at Mount Merici, said it was frightening to realize how calculating and manipulative child molesters could be – and how quiet their victims were about being abused.

She called the seminar a “positive first step” to preventing abuse. “I think it’s real. I think it’s today. I think it’s what has to be happening,” she said of the seminar. Sue Bernard, spokeswoman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, said the diocese decided to teach about child-abuse prevention before the recent priest sexual abuse scandal erupted earlier this year.