Dear Editor
I am writing in regards to the article “It’s all a matter of trust” written by Mary Hoisington (4A 2/21/16) -The reason a local mother went public, very public, with an incident such as a sex crime that was committed on a school bus is because Law Enforcement was not contacted until the bus got to Great Bend - when she called them. When Mary Hoisington says the school has done their due diligence, really means sweeping it under the carpet. On live television/radio, Mr. Reed stated no criminal acts were committed. At the same time, two sex offenders were in jail because of the sex crime on the bus. Mary Hoisington claims the school was cooperating with law enforcement
investigation, yet the Superintendant Mr. Reed stated no crime was committed. If it were my child, I would have called an attorney and Nancy Grace. The mother of an abused child exerted her rights because trust flew out the window. This is the second time sex crimes have occurred at 428 and the second time it was swept under the carpet. It will be a very long time before there will be trust in this community due to carpet sweeping. Heads should roll. Adults on the bus should be held accountable as well. Sex criminals shouldn’t be allowed to finish school without label of their sex crimes. The Superintendant should have never held a news conference and stated no crime was committed, because that was just sharing his opinion of those involved. When a 13 year old kills someone, he or she is tried as an adult. Sex crimes should be no different. It is a tough pill to swallow when schools try to protect the criminals and prosecute the innocent. When reporters chop up a story like this, it usually means they are part of the problem. It will be a long healing
process, counseling, and new policies to be implemented. The people sweeping it under the carpet need to be fired. If they had scruples, you wouldn’t be simply calling it “the incident.” People know it was a sex crime. Parents know bad things can happen to children however, they shouldn’t have to worry about them at school. Teachers and school officials should be there to teach and to help protect our children. I’m appalled that our local news paper would even print any article saying - suck it up, move on, saying school officials are doing the right thing, and basically badgering the victims.
Mary Hoisington, you stated you were “praying for everyone involved, hoping for healing to the victims and choosing to trust” - You can bet if this were your child, you would be a lot more proactive. I’m sure people would be fired, and students would be doing their time for this tragedy.
Trust has to be earned!
Gary Parr
A concerned citizen with no children
Great Bend