Over the past few years, there has been a disturbing increase of people in authority becoming g involved is sexual abuse of minors and young adults. What is happening to our society when we can no longer trust our teachers, our police officers, our attorneys, our religious leaders, and sometimes our own family?

This is a hot topic right now and one that deserves discussion. Yet, in a curious move, our hometown newspaper is looking to dissuade discussion of the topic by censoring and deleting comments. This needs to be discussed out in the open, not shunned like some oddball relative.

Cifala And the 16 Year Old

Most recently, Anne Arundel County police Lieutenant James Cifala has been charged with the possession of child pornography by federal authorities. It appears that Cifala, 47, married, and a 27 year police veteran, has had an ongoing sexual relationship with a 16 year old girl. While the relationship is not “illegal” it is certainly immoral; and federal prosecutors know that–hence the charge of child pornography.  Cifala and his wife, own the Rita’s Water Ice franchise on Mayo Road. While little is known about the girl, one has to wonder if she worked for Cifala. One also has to wonder how Cifala could be so naive as to take photos of himself on his cell phone and include distinctive furnishings from his home in the background.

Did this girl have something to do with this? Absolutely. But having an affair with an older person is not a crime in Maryland. Did she realize what she was doing was illegal? Probably not? Will she be charged? And the question also needs to be asked, how many other people knew about this long going affair and kept their mouths shut? The County police department has been known to be a tight knit community and have protected their members in the past. Did this happen this time?

Sex For Drugs

The Capital also reported on a local attorney, Jeff Marcalus,  who traded a Vicodin (drug) for  a sex act.  Sleazy attorneys are nothing new, but this seems a bit over the line. However, it is not a unique situation. I have heard (and cannot personally confirm) that another local attorney is usually willing to trade legal services (usually divorce work) for sex with his clients. I have heard of another that offered to reduce his billing hours for a date to be arranged with a client’s married sister. And to boot, one of these attorneys actually had the gall to toss his name in the ring for the Circuit Court vacancy which now exists. With crooked cops, do we really need equally crooked lawyers and judges?

Schoolteacher Crush?

Well, it seems that the roles might be reversed. Over the past few years, there have been many national cases of teachers being involved with students. The most notorious was likely Mary Kay Letourneau. But a few weeks ago, right in our own backyard, we have Kristyn Breeds who had a sexual relationship with a 17 year old student. Breeds has been charged with a 4th degree sex offense. But is there a double standard at work here? In this technologically advanced age, are we to believe that over the course of a 9 month relationship with the student, there was no sexting going on? Sexting (and the possession of image of a person under 18) is what nailed James Ciafala.  Do we find ti somewhat less appalling that a boy was a victim and not a girl?

Cover Ups

Remember the tale of Officer Joseph Mosmiller? He was an Anne Arundel Cop who pulled over unsuspecting women and offered to let them out of a traffic stop (that he never radioed in) if they would allow him to see and photograph their breasts with his cell phone. Mosmiller ultimately got the traditional slap on the wrist for which judges in Anne Arundel County are famous–6 days in jail and 30 days at home watching Oprah. But there was a controversy surrounding this case and several other officers were disciplined for their knowledge of the incidents and their failure to report them. I am all for having a friend’s “back”, but at what point does it go too far?

Safe At Home?

One might think that the only place you are safe is at home. Not so much. Back in early 2007, Anne Arundel County retired (now) Judge Joseph Manck sentenced a Severna Park man to 4 months in jail and then allowed him to serve it at home so he could continue to work as a rel estate agent. He had an 8 year history of sexually abusing children including his own 7 year old daughter!

So where exactly are our children safe today? Certainly not in school (and this does not even address the sexual and physical confrontations amongst peers in schools). It appears that they are not safe from police officers. What is the solution there? Maybe we need to distrust all police officers and when pulled over continue to drive to a police station where there are other witnesses. We cannot trust the attorneys we hire to represent us in court. We cannot trust the judges to hand down appropriate sentences.

What happened to the days when a kid could come home from school and ride as far as his bike would take him until called for dinner?  What happened to the days when you felt in danger that you could trust a police officer to help you? Where are the days when parents looked out for everyone’s kids? What the hell is happening?

Editors Note: All comments will be published. Please keep them on topic. Do not personally attack others for their opinions.  Vulgar comments will be deleted. Other than that, play nice.

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