This is my blog, therefore, my personal opinion. You don't have to agree with me, that's fine. And let me be clear, the abuse, the whole situation, is sick and wrong. Kids that are abused will be affected the rest of their lives. I'm not arguing that. Let's just be clear on that.
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I think it's firing Joe is effed up. He reported the abuse. If I went and reported one of my co-workers for something, but the co-worker remained on the job, I could only assume that they investigated and found said co-worker not guilty. If I tried to find out what happened with the investigation, I'd be turned away and told it's none of my business. How is this not the same thing?
The man has been around for years. He reported it and he probably knew that he did what he was supposed to and it was in somebody else's hands. The people he reported it to are at fault, not him. He could have kept reporting it or going back and asking questions, but if they found the other party not guilty, then the accused could of sued him for slander. The man did what he was supposed to, he followed the chain of command. Our world isn't set up to allow the reporters to keep reporting, in fact, a lot of places look down on that (Is that right? No.) I agree, it's wrong, but the thing that gets me is that he reported it. He did what he was supposed to do. Yet, the higher up's didn't do anything. It's not like he really has the power to fire someone, it's a chain of command. The chain failed, but he's getting the blame. That's what I disagree with.
Someone tried to tell me that because Joe didn't report it to the authorities (the police) that he was satisfied with the actions that were taken (or not taken in this case). This is my response to that.
I don't agree with you, I don't believe that Joe was satisfied, but our corporations, our businesses, aren't created to allow others to know what's being done within an investigation or even after a reported allegation. If I went and reported to my boss that a co-worker told me that he saw another teacher sexually abusing a student, my boss might be able to pass on what I said, but all that does is start an endless game of telephone. The WITNESS should have been the one to report the abuse, the WITNESS is the one responsible for reporting the abuse.
Placing the blame on Joe isn't right, firing him because the witness didn't report the abuse isn't right. Joe followed the appropriate chain of command, it was the chain that failed the system. What if Joe would have gone to the authorities (after ignoring the process his institution has in place), the media got wind of it, the allegations ended up being false - who would be fired and probably sued for defamation of character? Joe, that's who.
I agree wholeheartedly that something should have been done and that the whole thing is absolutely horrible, sick in fact...but I believe it was the responsibility of the witness and the people in higher authority at the university, not Joe. Firing him wasn't right. And to give you one more example, say a student of mine is dealing drugs - I report it to the parents and my principal. They investigate, but the authorities (police) are never involved. Two weeks later this kid is busted selling drugs again on school property and the drugs he sold killed another kid. Am I responsible for that kid's death? Am I responsible for the kid selling drugs? I reported it, I did what I was supposed to do. It was my understanding that the issue had been handled (and yes, this could mean the student is still in school), but obviously someone higher up, someone with more power than me, allowed the student to stay at school. Should that blame be placed on me? No, I did what I could. I reported it. That's what Joe did. He reported it (and didn't even see it first hand like I would have) - he shouldn't have been fired.
End rant.
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