The latest news in the deaf community about sexual abuse by a priest at a deaf school is astonishing for people who are not aware that there are indeed issues at deaf schools all over the nation.  The reason that this has not been a widespread issue is because not all deaf schools are affiliated with the Catholic religion.

Priest Abuse Scandal in Deaf Schools Widespread?
Catholic priests have been under investigation for sex abuse in the recent decade and most recently, the Pope has been pointed at for not being more strict with priests around the United States. Is this a widespread scandal or are we only focusing on the 200 deaf boys who were molested in Wisconsin?

The Pope has been berated for not defrocking a priest, Lawrence Murphy, who was indeed molesting children. Not only did this priest molest children, he molested over two hundred deaf boys. The first round of news hit on Wednesday indicating that the Pope, then Cardinal Ratzinger, did not alert proper authorities when he discovered that the problem was going on. This priest worked at the same deaf school, St. John’s School for the Deaf, for 24 years from 1950 to 1974.

Closer Monitoring Needed
The question still lies, how many more Deaf schools affiliated with the Catholic Church have gone through issues with the priests who worked there? This is another reason why parents need to monitor the activities at any residential school, Catholic or not.

This doesn’t only apply to deaf schools only; it also applies to schools all over the nation that are either day or boarding. There have been reported cases of sexual assaults at deaf schools all over the nation.

Check out these links to articles that talk about sexual assaults at other deaf schools in several states, the Maryland School for the Deaf, and the Louisiana School for the Deaf.