Sexual abuse cases are a call to action

Former O. B. Whaley Elementary School Principal Lyn Vijayendran was distraught on the witness stand last week. She clearly wished she had acted on the first report that teacher Craig Chandler had behaved improperly with an 8- year- old girl. Chandler was arrested months later when another child came forward, and he is charged with committing lewd and lascivious acts on five children.

“Now, looking back, I have a different lens,” Vijayendran testified.

Given the number of cases of past abuse coming to light recently in South and East Bay schools, Vijayendran can’t be the only one who needs a clearer focus on the legal mandate to immediately report possible abuse to the police. Districts need to examine their policies and make sure there’s sufficient training on mandated reporting for all employees— teachers, human resources staff, everyone.

Professionals may prefer to err on the side of caution in casting suspicion on a colleague, but the law says to err on the side of children and speak up. Some districts make this crystal clear, but obviously not enough of them.

The outrageous nature of the Vijayendran case in San Jose’s Evergreen School District prompted the Santa Clara County district attorney’s office to prosecute her, and on Monday a jury convicted her of failing to report Chandler. This will ripple through school systems. At least we hope it does.

For sheer cluelessness and medieval attitudes, however, nobody tops the East Bay’s Moraga School District. In response to a lawsuit by sexual abuse victims, the board has hit a new low by raising the possibility of an old defense: Blame the victim. That would be a 14- year- old girl in this case. Her teacher and coach, Julie Correa, already is in jail for raping her over a period of four years.

The board says holding the victim responsible is just one of nine possible arguments to fend off damage claims, so it’s no big deal. Come on. Nobody who cares about kids would even want to win that argument. Rape victims, especially children, already feel unwarranted guilt and stigma. If the law found them culpable, why would anyone report abuse?

Board members who would even consider making this case in court ought to be recalled en masse.

Moraga is working on new policies to better comply with mandated reporting laws, but it’s also a matter of culture change. When Correa was accused of 23 counts of sexual abuse, more than 20 current and former school employees showed up to testify on her behalf at a bail hearing. What does that say to kids in Moraga schools? Correa now is serving an eight- year jail sentence.

The Whaley case was extraordinary in its own way. The principal said she saw nothing sexual in a child’s report that Chandler blindfolded her, told her to lie on the floor with her legs spread, then put something gooey in her mouth and wiggled her head until she tasted something salty. Chandler said it was a lesson on Helen Keller. Incredible.

Vijayendran had talked to Chandler instead of calling police partly on the advice of a human resources employee— who said she was never trained in the law on mandated reporters. That’s hard to believe, but if it’s true in Evergreen, it’s probably true elsewhere.

Parents need to start asking questions.