Is the Pendulum Beginning to Swing Back in Favor of the Accused?
In the realm of child protection, the prevailing wisdom is that an organization cannot be too careful in monitoring and enforcement of boundary violations in order to keep kids safe. Is the pendulum beginning to swing back in favor of protecting the rights and reputation of the accused? A volunteer with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth has filed suit against the Diocese for dismissing him due to claims of boundary invasions with youth (Jordan v. Roman Catholic Diocese of Forth Worth, filed TX Dist. Ct . 12/10/12) The Diocese barred Jordan from working with its youth organizations and provided notice to the organizations of same. Jordan claims he is now regarded as a child molester and pedophile in his own faith community. Churches, schools and other youth organizations will want to keep an eye on how the courts address the flip side of keeping children safe and how the competing interests should be balanced.
