In what might be viewed as courageous transparency or strategically heading off the type of media converging on Penn State University (or both), Citadel president, Lt. General John W. Rosa and the chairman of their Board of Visitors, Doug Snyder, issued a statement to the press, revealing that officials at the military college were aware of a child sex abuse allegation against one of their alumni and former camp counselors, who recently admitted in an affidavit to performing sexual acts on boys.
There are similarities to the Penn State case, which presumably is why the Citadel has decided to release a press statement. A grand jury recently indicted Mr. Jerry Sandusky, a former coach at Penn State, on 40 counts, including sexually assaulting eight boys over a period of 15 years. All the boys were affiliated with the Second Mile organization, which Sandusky founded. That organization operated a camp on Penn State’s campus and some of the alleged abuse took place in the men’s football locker room shower at the university.
According to the statement issued by President Rosa and board member Snyder, in 2007, the administration received an allegation from a former Citadel camper that Mr. Louis Neal “Skip” ReVille invited him (and another camper) to his room in 2002, where they watched pornography on Mr. ReVille’s computer and then masturbated together. Snyder and Rosa make clear that ReVille and the camper “did not touch each other, but they engaged in sexual activity.”
Rosa and Synder defend the institution’s decision to not inform authorities. They point out:
“A thorough review of Mr. ReVille’s records revealed no other complaints, and interviews indicated that he was highly regarded by those at camp. His file included a clean background check conducted by an outside organization. Unlike his admissions to current charges, Mr. ReVille strongly denied the accusation. Mr. ReVille was a highly respected cadet whose peers elected him chairman of the Honor Court, and at graduation he was presented the award for excellence in public service.”
With that reasoning, first time sex offenders would never be caught. Some media have made a connection between Mr. ReVille and another Citadel-connected pedophile, Michael Arpaio, who pleaded guilty and was court-martialed for conduct unbecoming a Marine (related to charges of molesting campers between 1995 and 2001). These two men overlapped at the Citadel youth camp over a brief period. Arpaio was later sued for sexually abusing boys. In Arpaio’s case, at least one camper lived with him and alleges that he was plied with alcohol, regularly slept with Arpaio, and was forced to participate in sexual acts with the marine. At least one other camper came forward in a tort suit and claimed that Arpaio raped him. As happens too often in sex abuse cases involving children, the statute of limitations tolled, and the action was dismissed. However, the Citadel is said to have settled claims related to Arpaio’s sex abuse for $3.8-million.
What’s clear is that officials at The Citadel did nothing more in the ReVille case than their own investigation. For those following the Penn State debacle and tragedy, where senior administrators did very little in light of known allegations of child sexual abuse, it could appear that The Citadel’s efforts were slightly more far-reaching, after all there was the effort to follow-up with the parents.
However, it’s worth thinking about what the appropriate university response should be to an allegation of child sex abuse that occurs on campus or off campus with one of its employees. The state of South Carolina requires that allegations of child sexual abuse be reported (see below) to authorities. Based on the Citadel statement, it appears that its president and general counsel unlawfully failed to comply with this regulation.
Further, it is worth considering whether a visit from the general counsel was more of a help or hindrance to investigating the case, whether it provided a reasonable opportunity to discuss the allegation or intimidated the child and family. Was the general counsel trained to investigate child molestation allegations? Who knows, but certainly an interview by the general counsel cannot serve as a substitute or proxy to compliance with South Carolina law.
Rosa and Snyder emphasize that the parents wanted to maintain their privacy. If this is true, it may have placed the Citadel administrators in an awkward position. However, whether or not the parents desired the matter to be pursued is legally irrelevant; by law, the university administrators had an obligation to inform the relevant state authorities because a case of child sexual abuse was brought to their attention.
South Carolina law (SC Code §63-7-310) exhaustively defines who must report child abuse allegations: from film developers and healers to teachers, counselors, child care providers, and undertakers. Possibly the Citadel decided not to report because the list does not spell out “university presidents.” That notwithstanding, the Citadel sponsored a summer camp, where they were responsible for the care, housing, custody, and control of children, and thus legally on notice to inform authorities with an allegation of abuse.
ReVille now faces very serious child sex abuse charges and yet again, university officials wish they had done more.
