» And parents were protesting outside: Roughly three dozen parents and supporters protested outside the L.A.-area school Monday, which has been rocked by two shocking but unrelated allegations of sexual molestation. The first case, involving a former teacher accused of doing unspeakable things to his students (note: trigger warning), was shocking enough; the second case, involving a teacher active until last week, only worsened things, as the allegations against him came out only as a result of the first case. The initial allegations did not lead to parents keeping their children home en masse (as the school had over 90 percent attendance throughout last week), but the second case, however, did. Low attendance hurts the school’s funding, so this hurt financially, but the school will also close Tuesday and Wednesday for emergency staff meetings, so the pain could go even deeper for the school. And things might go deeper: A third allegation at a different school in the region led to the arrest of a janitor.
Trigger warning: We have to warn you that this story is NOT pleasant, so please take care when reading.
Mark Berndt, a 61-year-old teacher who taught for three decades at Miramonte Elementary School in South L.A., is accused of lewd acts with 23 children between the ages of 7 and 10 — allegedly tying children up and putting giant cockroaches on their faces. And something else we’re not going to print. Berndt, who was fired in March and is being held on a $2.3 million bail, wasn’t caught as the result of children coming forward, but a photo-processor who turned pictures of some of the heinous acts over to the authorities. The L.A. Times has more, including a felony complaint. This is just appalling.
Good morning all. Our night was relatively painless as far as hurricanes go. Tucker Barnes, a reporter for FOX affiliate WTTG, had a much tougher go of it. He got covered in raw sewage while reporting on the hurricane in Ocean City, Maryland. Eww. We hope that most of you on the East Coast are having better luck this morning than Mr. Barnes. (On a side note, our post on fact-checking Hurricane Irene photos appears to have gone viral, which warms our hearts because it means people care about fact-checking. Good work, internet!)
» And worse: The unidentified man, referred to as an “important member” of the pedophilia ring, had a suitcase full of children’s clothes. Officials say he was ”producing and posting online child sexual abuse materials.” Ugh. Disgusting.
Here’s what this Anglican pastor Thomas Musoke had to say: “The world has gone crazy. People are turning away from the scriptures. They should turn back, they should abandon what they are doing. You cannot start admiring a fellow man.” Hey, Mr. Musoke, this is a GAY MAN WHO WAS KILLED BECAUSE OF ANTI-GAY BIGOTRY. AND YOU HAVE THIS TO SAY AT HIS FUNERAL?!?!? This world is a disgrace sometimes, and we’re not sure we even want to be on the same planet as people such as these. David Kato was the gay activist beaten to death Wednesday, which we noted in an article that shocked many on Tumblr. source
» Breaking the rules, and then some: The clinic was performing illegal late-term abortions en masse, some as late as eight months in. He would induce birth and then … ugh, we don’t even want to talk about it. The fetuses were aborted so late in pregnancy that Gosnell, whose clinic was a mess, will be charged with murder for the fetuses along with the mother who died. No matter where you fall on the abortion debate, we can probably all agree that this is not how they should be done – with bent and gruesomely ignored rules all over the place. *shudder*
» So … Ever write about something and want to take a shower immediately afterwards? We kinda want to take a shower now. Ugh.
Haitian workers take on the cholera problem head-on. (Eww.): Well, that’s one way to stop the cholera problem. This guy jumps into Port-au-Prince’s disgusting canals to clean them out. By hand. Uh, thanks, man. source