scotzoidman,

Yes sir, no arguments there. I guess I was approaching the issue from the other direction. When is there a reasonable basis for being suspicious of the motives of the volunteers who offer their time to help steer children through youth into adulthood? Is there any plausible reason for assuming the worst of volunteers – because they are volunteers?

When you and I, and (I assume) almost anyone opens a newspaper and reads articles containing stories as Lilith has detailed above, we wince and rightly condemn the perp. When can one suspect a volunteer of being a predator?

There will always be those who fly off the handle and say silly things like "we have to make sure this will never happen again!", ignoring the reality of human nature. One need only look to NASA’s astronaut corps to realize that even with the best psychological testing that money can buy; eventually an undesirable will slip past. There will also always be those who will attempt to exploit these situations, either for personal gain, or to advance a political agenda.

Setting these distractions aside, there remains a real problem of identifying and excluding the foxes from the guardians of the henhouses. As society (and its assumptions expectations) changes, the volunteer organizations must change appropriately.

I am sure I am not alone when I wonder what those changes should include.

__________________
Eudaimonia