Gu Case Shows Reform Is Called For
There’s a scrap of irony in the $1.1 million civil judgment a former Gonzaga University student won against his alma mater Tuesday.
If Ru Paster had obtained the teaching certificate he wanted and if one of his students had come to school showing signs of possible child abuse, Paster would have been required by law to tell authorities.
He wouldn’t have needed proof and he wouldn’t have had a choice. Had he ignored his suspicions and kept his mouth shut, he could have been in trouble - especially if the child really had been abused.
That is essentially the position GU was in after Paster’s ex-girlfriend turned up at the campus health clinic in 1992 and said things that made clinic workers think a sexual assault had occurred.
Ultimately, the ex-girlfriend testified that those suspicions were inaccurate. She had not been raped.
Nevertheless, GU officials spent a year investigating the situation without ever telling Paster there were allegations against him. He had no chance to face his accuser - since he had none - or to defend himself against the conclusions of third-hand and fourth-hand sources.
Only when Paster had finished his course work in 1994 and wanted to apply for a state teaching certificate did he learn about the concerns. That’s when university officials told him they couldn’t forward his application without noting that they had reason to think he might be a sex offender.
No thanks, said Paster. Then he sued.
Except for the clumsy way it handled the 1993 investigation, GU did nothing to warrant the hefty judgment against the school. It followed the law, which is where correction is needed.
With good reason, society has determined in recent years that certain crimes - sexual assaults and child molestation being conspicuous examples - require extra measures of public attentiveness. The victims tend to be vulnerable, intimidated by their victimizers and in need of vigilance by those around them.
The laws that oblige teachers to report suspected child abuse - or colleges to report suspected sex offenses - assert social priorities.
But all Americans still do have the right to defend themselves against accusations that jeopardize life, liberty or reputation. For Ru Paster, that right was overlooked.
It’s bad when laws and regulations that address burning issues such as sexual abuse neglect individual rights. It’s worse when an innocent party, such as Gonzaga, has to pay for it.
This case, the first of its kind in the state, signals the need for state policy-makers to clarify their expectations.
, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Doug Floyd/For the editorial board