On a clear July morning in 2004, Pat Miller's cell phone rings as he drives home from a morning meeting. It's another father, his voice straining and cracking. The man's daughter has just flown home from school, and when she got into his car, she came apart. "I have to be careful with what I say," the father says nervously.
Pat's face flushes. He grips the wheel tightly, "Just tell me, " he whispers. "Scale of 1 to 10, how bad is it?" The answer comes quickly: "It's a 10." Miller's heart skips, but his mind races to where the other father has already gone. The girls.
They're in Oregon - with Rick. "Pat, your children are not safe with that man."
Amid surfacing rumors and even newspaper reporting, the parents refused to believe that this coach, Rick Lopez, was preying on many of these basketball girls. Years and years later, one girl finally admits that Lopez and she had sex like four times a week for over three years.
Authoritive figure, control, fear, etc.........the trappings are all there.
Sad, really sad. I wonder if those girls had "counsellors" much like the ones abused by lcm had. Telling them they were doing the right thing. -->
It's so hard to believe that parents would believe the word of a coach over the word of their own children, but we've all been too close to a similar situation to know it doesn't happen. Think about what that does to the children's faith and confidence in their parents.
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skyrider
Here's an excerpt from the article:
On a clear July morning in 2004, Pat Miller's cell phone rings as he drives home from a morning meeting. It's another father, his voice straining and cracking. The man's daughter has just flown home from school, and when she got into his car, she came apart. "I have to be careful with what I say," the father says nervously.
Pat's face flushes. He grips the wheel tightly, "Just tell me, " he whispers. "Scale of 1 to 10, how bad is it?" The answer comes quickly: "It's a 10." Miller's heart skips, but his mind races to where the other father has already gone. The girls.
They're in Oregon - with Rick. "Pat, your children are not safe with that man."
Amid surfacing rumors and even newspaper reporting, the parents refused to believe that this coach, Rick Lopez, was preying on many of these basketball girls. Years and years later, one girl finally admits that Lopez and she had sex like four times a week for over three years.
Authoritive figure, control, fear, etc.........the trappings are all there.
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Belle
Sad, really sad. I wonder if those girls had "counsellors" much like the ones abused by lcm had. Telling them they were doing the right thing.
-->
It's so hard to believe that parents would believe the word of a coach over the word of their own children, but we've all been too close to a similar situation to know it doesn't happen. Think about what that does to the children's faith and confidence in their parents.
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excathedra
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skyrider
Thanks ex.....
This article really is worth reading......it just shows how good people in all walks of life can get sucked into "a system."
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