Dozens of Disney workers arrested since 06'

[Tonka's Skipper]

300,000? That sounds really high.

This article says 53,500

http://www.orlandostop10.com/Employers.aspx

CNN said 70,000

I have seen the 70,000 figure quoted before.

AKK

 

[tim123]

You did write the post and it has a totally misleading title, IMO. Just because a tabloid has a controversial title doesn't mean that anyone has to copy it.

First of all I didn't write a post. I posted a link and used the article's title as it appears online.
Go ahead re-title it. I just thought it was a pertinent article. Are you saying the article isn't true because its in a tabloid? Re-title it if you are offended by what an enormous international newspaper wrote about child abuse workers arrested at WDW. I would be happy to edit the Post title.

 

[robinb]

Three of the dozens of arrests are new: Allen Treaster, Zachary Spencer and
Matthew "Cody" Myers. They are from the sting a week ago.

 

[JimmyV]

Disney said the numbers represented one one-hundredth of one percent of the number of employees they have. In 2008 the Catholic church asserted that their scandal was caused by "no more than 1 percent" of the approximately 410,000 priests. Going by the numbers, my children are 100 times safer at Disney World than they are at church.

Honestly, I think you are being a bit too dismissive of this problem. First of all, the statistic you cite regarding the clergy is from 2008 when the Catholic church was still well in denial. I believe that the current Pope has suggested that the estimate is 1 in 50, which is 2%. But more to the point, that number cannot be juxtaposed against the number of Disney employees who have been arrested. Those two statistics do no line up. What the Catholic church is reporting is the estimate of actual pedophiles, not the number of priests actually caught. To make the percentages measure up, one would have to know what percentage of Disney employees are suspected of being pedophiles, not the percentage of those caught. By sheer logic, the total number has to be larger than the number caught, unless the police work is 100% efficient and perfect, and we know that it cannot be.

That said, the problem in the Catholic church has cost the church literally billions of dollars. A single employee at Penn State cost that institution hundreds of millions, and when revenue from TV and other media is added in, perhaps over a billion dollars. 35 employees over the course of a decade at a place that attracts and caters to children is not something to be easily dismissed as "not that bad". That is cold comfort for the hundreds of children and their parents that these monsters have injured. Yes this is old news and I have no idea why it is in the press today. But the problem remains real and is a big deal and cannot be dismissed through the law of large numbers and some wistful praise that the overall percentages are low. This is an issue everywhere. But when the organization in question is one that attracts young children, it is especially dangerous here. I am certain that the number of day care providers is at least as large as the number of employees at WDW. And I am certain that the percentage of such providers who are child molesters is very low. But we do not shrug off the issue when we find that a husband and wife who run a day care center have been preying on young children for years. They are only two people. But it is still newsworthy and a cautionary tale.

The Disney name always gets put in headlines because it attracts attention.

As well it should. Our kids don't spend much time at IBM or Bank of America. If a sting at those companies produced 35 arrests, it would make news to be sure. But Disney is different when it comes to the presence of children and as a result, the news coverage will be different.

 

[davedmaine]

Disney said the numbers represented one one-hundredth of one percent of the number of employees they have. In 2008 the Catholic church asserted that their scandal was caused by "no more than 1 percent" of the approximately 410,000 priests. Going by the numbers, my children are 100 times safer at Disney World than they are at church.

It's not like Disney came forward proactively and made the announcement. They were backed into a corner by CNN. There's no reason to expect them to be 100% forthcoming now with their stats.

 

[robinb]

First of all I didn't write a post. I posted a link and used the aritlre's title as it appears online.
Go ahead re-title it. I just thought it was a pertinent article. Are you saying the article isn't true because its in a tabloid? Re-title it if you are offended by what an enormous international newspaper wrote about child abuse workers arrested at WDW. I would be happy to edit the Post title.

It does sound like dozens of people were arrested today instead over over the last 8 years. You could add "since 2006" and it would be more accurate.

 

[asmit4]

Anyone else feel safer at Disney than they do anywhere else in the world? I know I do!

 

[DisUniversal]

As well it should. Our kids don't spend much time at IBM or Bank of America. If a sting at those companies produced 35 arrests, it would make news to be sure. But Disney is different when it comes to the presence of children and as a result, the news coverage will be different.

It's different, but honestly, what can Disney do besides background checks and having a zero tolerance policy towards this type of thing? Someone suggested polygraphs, but that's ridiculous. As long as they're doing the same types of checks that a daycare center would do before hiring someone, I would think that's adequate.

 

[robinb]

Anyone else feel safer at Disney than they do anywhere else in the world? I know I do!

Really? There are still predators working there .

 

[tim123]

It does sound like dozens of people were arrested today instead over over the last 8 years. You could add "since 2006" and it would be more accurate.

Will do.

 

[JimmyV]

It's different, but honestly, what can Disney do besides background checks and having a zero tolerance policy towards this type of thing? Someone suggested polygraphs, but that's ridiculous. As long as they're doing the same types of checks that a daycare center would do before hiring someone, I would think that's adequate.

I'm not suggesting that they can do anything different. (But since I don't work there, I don't know what precautions they are using. Having written the Policies and Standards for our church's "Safe Church" program, I do know a bit about employee conduct and practices, but I do not know what Disney does, so I cannot comment if they are deficient in any way.) The point of my post is that too often, Disney goggles cause people to conclude that "this isn't so bad. I'll bet other places are worse." But that is the wrong way to look at this issue. A problem is a problem and it doesn't become less of one simply because one can look to the right or to the left and find a problem that is bigger.

 

[Gracie09]

Really? There are still predators working there .

They also work in schools , day cares, churches/temples etc, toy stores, police departments, grocery stores, local park and Rec centers. Just about everywhere you go there is then potential for a pedafile to be working there. However, the vast majority of abuse is perpetrated by people your kid knows and trusts, a teacher, coach, scout leader, relative, neighbor. At Disney pretty much everywhere is in tape. They know they are being watched. At schools it is not likely they are being watchex

 

[Bullseye]

First of all I didn't write a post. I posted a link and used the article's title as it appears online.
Go ahead re-title it. I just thought it was a pertinent article. Are you saying the article isn't true because its in a tabloid? Re-title it if you are offended by what an enormous international newspaper wrote about child abuse workers arrested at WDW. I would be happy to edit the Post title.

Come on Tim, you know you're supposed to sugar coat anything negative that has to do with Disney when you post on these boards...unless it has to do with FP+

 

[JimmyV]

Anyone else feel safer at Disney than they do anywhere else in the world? I know I do!

Nonsense! I don't know how old you are, but based on the visits you list, (which go back to 1988), you are clearly an adult. It's great that you feel safe. But let's say that you took your 6 year old daughter to BBB and as part of the process, a CM wanted to take her alone to a back room to get some clothes or hair toys, and asked you to wait where you were. In that moment, you would not feel any safer at WDW than you would anywhere else in the world. And if you did, I am sorry to say that you would be a fool. And if a CM approached you and said that he really admired your 8 year old son and asked if he could take him for the afternoon and serve as your son's private tour guide. You wouldn't do that at WDW any more than you would at the local mall. Would you? Andif you would, now having read the cited article, do you still feel the same way?

At schools it is not likely they are being watchex

If your school system does not have a "windows in every door" policy and a "no teacher alone with a student without another teacher informed of it" policy, then it should.

 

[Bullseye]

They also work in schools , day cares, churches/temples etc, toy stores, police departments, grocery stores, local park and Rec centers. Just about everywhere you go there is then potential for a pedafile to be working there. However, the vast majority of abuse is perpetrated by people your kid knows and trusts, a teacher, coach, scout leader, relative, neighbor. At Disney pretty much everywhere is in tape. They know they are being watched. At schools it is not likely they are being watchex

So true Gracie! We should never assume because someone is working for a trusted organization, or is your neighbor, or even some one hired to safeguard your children that there isn't the potential for something like this to happen.

 

[Gracie09]

Really? There are still predators working there .

They also work in schools , day cares, churches/temples etc, toy stores, police departments, grocery stores, local park and Rec centers. Just about everywhere you go there is then potential for a pedafile to be working there. However, the vast majority of abuse is perpetrated by people your kid knows and trusts, a teacher, coach, scout leader, relative, neighbor. At Disney pretty much everywhere is in tape. They know they are being watched. At schools it is not likely they are being watchex

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Anyone else feel safer at Disney than they do anywhere else in the world? I know I do!

I don't know if I would say *anywhere*else, but I do feel safer with my kids in the day and grandkids now, a lot saver in WDW that most places.



Disney security is pretty good.

AKK

 

[PEC]

Disney workers are a crosscut of society. I know they do background checks, etc. but there are bad people in this world. Keep in mind until a person is caught then you can do all the background checks you want and the persons record will be clean. The concern here is not the one caught, there workdays at Disney are/were limited. The concern is the ones not caught. That said this is all parenting common sense. No different at Disney than any other place. Back to the beginning there are bad people in this world.

 

[Allison]

300,000? That sounds really high.

This article says 53,500

http://www.orlandostop10.com/Employers.aspx

CNN said 70,000

The article says 300,000 people over the time frame.

 

[surferdave]

Nonsense! I don't know how old you are, but based on the visits you list, (which go back to 1988), you are clearly an adult. It's great that you feel safe. But let's say that you took your 6 year old daughter to BBB and as part of the process, a CM wanted to take her alone to a back room to get some clothes or hair toys, and asked you to wait where you were. In that moment, you would not feel any safer at WDW than you would anywhere else in the world. And if you did, I am sorry to say that you would be a fool. And if a CM approached you and said that he really admired your 8 year old son and asked if he could take him for the afternoon and serve as your son's private tour guide. You wouldn't do that at WDW any more than you would at the local mall. Would you? Andif you would, now having read the cited article, do you still feel the same way?

Where are you getting these scenarios? All I saw in the article was Chris Henson style internet setups & stings off site. Did they present any evidence that any of these people were predatory at Disney? I wouldn't go along with "let me take your child into another room" anywhere, there's nothing unique about Disney there. Has a CM asked you to take your child away alone in the past? Did you report it to Disney? I would.

If your school system does not have a "windows in every door" policy and a "no teacher alone with a student without another teacher informed of it" policy, then it should.

I was in charge of our church Safe Sanctuary program for 3 years as well. As I recall we had to put windows in all the doors, run background checks on all employees and on all members who would be working with children, and put in place procedures to always have two trained adults who were not married to each other with children at all times (among many other things). About all an organization can do is check people when they hire them and maintain transparency in the workplace.

That article didn't make me fell any better or any worse about Disney, and I still believe it's sensationalist yellow journalism by CNN to present it this way. I also believe that sheriff is way out of line with his ideas about running polygraph tests on people.