Protection of Children and Youth, Part Two

Written by Paula L. Ratliff and Chester L. Quarles

In Part One of this two-part series, we looked at a scenario in which a church had to face accusations made against its youth leader/deacon. We looked at some basic facts about child molestation and exploitation. In Part Two, let's look at some more facts about these crimes and ways your church can protect children and youth.

Church Administration

A Message to Parents

• Christian youth leaders should be encouraged not to object to the presence of other Christian adults.
• Church workers should not direct all of the youth activities alone. Other mature Christians should be present.
• Be leery if activities take place and parents aren’t invited to attend. If parents and other adults are not included, it may be an indication that the church worker has something to hide. Be suspicious of any person who wants to spend time alone with your child and who would prefer that you aren’t there. Secrecy helps the molester thrive. Openness prevents sexual abuse and exploitation.
• Also be suspicious of any person or home where neighborhood children like to stay. Molesters make their homes into a child-friendly atmosphere by offering cookies, soft drinks and ice cream. As the children get older, alcohol and drugs will also be provided. Molesters and exploiters always have time for your child, even if you don’t.

While over 50 percent of all sexual abuse and exploitation is incestuous (confined within families), the majority of children who are attacked, exploited, or abducted are attacked by someone that they know. Churchgoers want to believe that “church people are different," but recent studies indicate that the sexual mores of our time influence the “Christian” home at just about the same level of the non-Christian home.

Reputations at Risk
Church workers are now under intense public scrutiny. Pastors and church members have occasionally been found guilty in courts of law. The law requires church leaders to report incidents of criminal activity unless those crimes were discovered in legally protected counseling sessions. Otherwise, concealing a misdemeanor (a crime for which you can go to jail for a year) is known as misprison.

Obstruction of justice is the charge normally leveled when felonies (for which you can go to prison for more than a year) are hidden. Churches have occasionally been found negligent by a civil court of law for refusing to provide a safe environment and having systems in place to protect the innocent. It only takes one scandal to damage a church’s reputation.

Precautionary Practices

• Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) is a very worthwhile investment in the church nursery, daycare centers, kindergartens, and the lower grades of church schools. Used in almost every bank, grocery store, and shopping center in America, a CCTV could be a tremendous benefit for the church. Indoor CCTV units are fairly inexpensive to purchase and maintain. Indoor units are self-contained while the outside units require canopy, windshield wipers, dehumidifiers, heaters, and air conditioners. Outdoor units are very expensive.

Cameras should be installed at prominent locations overlooking primary child care areas, baby beds, educational and recreation areas. With a timer, the date and time are recorded on the film’s surface and it may be possible to deduce whether improper conduct took place out of the range of the camera’s eye.

• Child care areas should also have sign-in and sign-out sheets that are maintained in administrative files for at least two years. Daily schedules and sick slips should also be maintained on employees and children. These records prove who was present at a particular time and can often prove or disprove a particular event. These records have demonstrated that lies were told in some cases.
• Child-care workers should also be given an exceptional pre-employment background investigation, even if church members are working in these slots. On the application, obtain each job applicant’s permission to investigate criminal records, credit records, apartment and housing records, and employment histories. You will be glad you did.

Co-author Quarles has performed hundreds of background investigations over a period of years for a public boarding school. Homosexual chaplains, drug-dealers and prostitutes have applied for employment. These people are attracted to employment in places where crime targets are young, impressionable, easily intimidated, or frightened.

Summary
This article is not all inclusive. While churches are not always required to comply with state mandates governing child care facilities, you should carefully review the state guidelines to ensure that you are reasonably in compliance with good security guidelines. Being in compliance will help protect your children, keep you out of court and your church out of the news. You can do what you do best, ministering in the name of our Lord.

Paula Ratliff has completed her Master’s Thesis on Church Crimes in America through the National Crime Prevention Institute at the University of Louisville.

Chester Quarles is a Professor in the Criminal Justice Program at the University of Mississippi and a deacon at Tula Baptist Church.