SEE ALSO: Haitian Children Remain In Adoption Limbo

In 1993, the school board agreed 5-0 to return Acker to the classroom after the molestation allegation, because in the original hearing, there were no witnesses or physical evidence and the alleged abuse occurred during babysitting, rather than during Acker’s teaching duties.  School board Vice President Steve Martin also says that there were numerous students who turned out as character witnesses for Acker, which led to him being reinstated.  It also shouldn’t be left out that at the time, Acker’s father was the county commissioner. School board President Lee Doebler adds:

Looking back, given the evidence we had I would have made the same vote,” Doebler said to the Associated Press. “I wish we had some evidence, but unfortunately, we didn’t.”

After 25 years in the school system, now Acker is being accused of molesting two females under the age of 12.  In addition to four counts of first-degree sexual abuse, Acker has admitted to molesting more than 21 young girls throughout his career.

Columbia University Education Professor Marc Lamont Hill says that our nation’s habit of avoiding conversations on sexual abuse could be the problem:

A school’s primary responsibility is to educate and protect it’s children,” said Dr. Hill, who is the author of the book, “The Classroom and The Cell.” The problem is that our nation has a long history of silence sexual abuse.  As a result, we end up being protective.

The hope is that in the future, we take a more proactive approach to sexual misconduct. Imagine if we had the same vigor when pursuing sex abuse cases that we have toward keeping black kids from bringing weapons to school? We’d take huge steps to avoiding situations like this one.”

This unfortunate situation in Alabama is a reminder that no matter how well we think we know a person, you almost never know the tip of the iceberg when it comes to that individual’s sexuality.  Sexual preferences and desires are the kinds of things that most human beings keep deep within their psyches, almost never allowing these matters to hit the light of day within their social circles.  So the kind, friendly person you know down the street might be a sexual deviant without giving so much as a hint to what lies beneath.

The people of this community were mistaken in their decision to jump forward to defend Ackerman, as if there were no chance he could have committed this crime.  The ability to say that you know someone as a relatively decent human being is very different from being able to confidently say that the person could never have committed a particular sex act.  I also doubt that his father being county commissioner went unnoticed during the proceedings.

As a result of the negligence of the board and this community, a child predator has been on the loose for another 18 years, doing irreparable harm to a multitude of students.  Had the board even taken the precautionary measure of reinstating Ackerman to a different set of responsibilities, there is a chance that he may not have been able to so easily gain the trust of fourth grade girls.  There is enough blame to go around, and this situation could have been avoided.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University.  To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.

SEE ALSO:

Nicotine Gum, Patches Don’t Help Long-Term

Venus Pulls Out Australia Open

Taylor said she felt ashamed that she never had the courage to speak up earlier.

See Also: Bradley Cooper Named Sexiest Man In The World

See Also: Black Travel: Visit Martha’s Vineyard

Speaking to Lawrence O’Donnell on Tuesday, she called the allegations against Jerry Sandusky “deplorable” and “unthinkably evil.” She said that her anger over the cover-up at Penn State prompted her to finally speak up about her own experience.

She said, “If I’m angry that adults did not speak out then, then why am I not angry at myself for not telling my story and helping young women like me combat predators who are in our high schools and middle schools?”

Read more at Huffington Post

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Just when you thought people in the world couldn’t get any sicker…. A Michigan mother offers her 4 year old little girl for sex to a man she meet on the internet. Wait there’s more, the woman sent her would-be online suitor a video of herself and her daughter. WOW that’s really sad.

click picture to see video

HERE ARE A FEW MORE STORIES YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS:

CHRIS BROWN GOES CRAZY AGAIN!!!

DEAF MAN BITES OFF ANOTHER DEAF MAN’S EAR

BEYONCE’ TELLS DADDY DEUCES ON THE MANAGEMENT END (VIDEO)

BEYONCE SHOWS OFF HER FREAKUM DRESS AND STILETTOS

PASTOR TELLS CONGREGATION TO SAY F-YOU

WOMAN SAVES SPERM FROM ORAL SEX TO IMPREGNATE HERSELF

ARE THESE CHICKS REALLY FIGHTING OVER FOOD?

TARAJI P. HENSON GETS NAKED (PHOTOS)

NOW YOU CAN GET YOUR POLE DANCING ON FOR JESUS

MOM STRIPS FOR HER KIDS.

MAN CAUGHT HAVING SEX WITH HOGS

After seven years modeling for Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues, Jessica White is arguably the most successful black model in the magazine’s history. With the latest edition out this week, White spoke with Bossip about her career and to kill certain rumors.

ON “INCRIMINATING” PHOTOS & BLOGS:
“I shouldn’t read the blogs but I do. I read the comments. It’s never what the journalists say; it’s the people. I’m concerned about the people and how they view things. You have to understand you’re on a fashion shoot in these countries working long hours and you’ve been up since 3 am to catch the sunlight. You tend to do silly things on set to have fun and keep spirits light. It’s harmless.”

ON BEING THE LEAD IN TREY SONGZ’ “NEIGHBORS” VIDEO:
“The video is gonna be hot, really beautifully done. It’s art, it really is, a video based on art between a man and a woman.”

ON NE-YO:
“We’re friends, nothing more, nothing less. We went to the Grammy’s because he was nominated and I came as his date to support as a friend. People tend to think just because you were seen with someone of the opposite sex, you’re dating them.”

Supermodel Jessica White Claims T.O. Show Ruined Her Rep

ON MAINTAINING A FRIENDSHIP WITH TERRELL OWENS AFTER DATING
“I was disappointed by it obviously, because it wasn’t supposed to be that way. I expressed that to Terrell and I’m still friends with Terrell, very good friends with him. He knows it and I’ve never been quiet about it. It was to make him to look cool. It was his show, okay, so whatever. At the same time I think he should have been a little bit more concerned that there was another person involved.”

ON HER CHARITY, Angel Wings Foundation:
“I’ve overcome a lot, I started my foundation, Angel Wings Foundation, which will house 40 women admitted on a case-by-case basis. We’re starting in my hometown of Buffalo. It’s filled with women who have been abused, women involved in domestic violence relationships, even women who caused abuse on themselves. These are things I can relate to because I’ve gone through so many things in my life, even at 25. I wanted to be hands on and physically help women because we are the future. I was a victim of sexual victimization. I was a young kid and I watched my sisters, both of them were in abusive relationships and when I was a kid watching that really affected me.”

GALLERY: Jessica White & Other Celebs Get Fab For The Children

READ MORE HERE!

In 1992, at age 19, Gabrielle Union was attacked, beaten and raped at her part-time job in a shoestore. Her attacker later turned himself in and was sentenced to 33 years in prison. The actress recently took to her blog to speak on the gang rape story that took place in Richmond:

So as I’m on the way to shoot Chelsea Lately…I’m sad more than anything. After googling the gang rape story in Richmond and reading comments on blogs, it just leaves me sickened and really sad. The fact that race and socio-economics have been used to explain away a brutal gang rape…just sad…maybe I just have seen every kind of rapist and survivor….every race, color, religion, socio-economic status group…it’s all the same…a lack of regard for violence against women. Tolerated, and in this case encouraged by the mob surrounding the perps…laughing, joking and taking pics.

When I was 19 years old, I was raped. I was working at a shoe store in California, and the store was robbed. The person robbing the store ended up putting a gun to my head and raping me. As he was raping me, I felt as though I was floating over myself, thinking, ‘This isn’t happening.’ I blanked out and had an out-of-body experience, like I was hovering above seeing this ­horrible thing happen to someone else…not me. I was fortunate enough to go the UCLA rape crisis center after this horrific ordeal. It gave me my life back. My dignity and self-esteem were gone and they helped me find them again. That’s why I now lobby for state legislatures across the country and the federal government to help raise funds and awareness for rape crisis centers, and I speak to all different kinds of people across the country about what happened to me. My goal is to never hear the words ‘me too’ from someone after I say ‘I was raped.’

A school teacher in San Antonio, Texas is facing aggravated sexual assault of a child after police say he coerced some of his female students into having sex with him.

Police there say 37-year-old Robert Louis Rosseau is being held in the Bexar County jail under a $100,000 bail.

According to the Express News, Rosseau who taught classes at the Christian Academy of San Antonio, allegedly created a “secret society” to lure teenage girls into having sex with him.

Authorities said Rosseau’s secret society, which included him and two of the girls, began to unravel last month, when the third teen balked at joining the group. That teen told authorities that the two girls who were members of the society, which they referred to as an “order,” attempted to recruit her into the group on two weekends in September. To become a member, the two girls told the teen, she had to be “intimate” with Rosseau to establish trust, according to an arrest affidavit.

School principal Jim Bazar said none of the alleged incidents happened on school grounds and Rosseau has been terminated. Police say Rosseau could face more charges.

The American Psychological Association (APA) warns that this sexualization of girls is harmful to their self-image and healthy development. “[Girls are] experiencing teen pressures at younger and younger ages. However, they are not able to deal with these issues because their cognitive development is out of sync with their social, emotional and sexual development,” the APA reported.

The proliferation of sexual images also undermines a girl’s confidence in her own body. In fact, research links sexualization with three of the most common mental health problems diagnosed in girls and women – eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the cultural influences bombarding our daughters.
Suggestive fashion

Have you shopped for girls’ clothing lately? Toddlers to teens are inundated with adult fashions. Pop singer Beyonce now has her own clothing line that introduces the red-light district to the school lunchroom.

Popular clothing items among teens include thong underwear and shorts displaying suggestive words across the backside. The abundance of racy clothing emphasizes the message: Dress sexy.
Tarted-up toys

As young girls, most moms probably owned Barbie dolls and enjoyed collecting their clothing and accessories. Mattel today takes style to a new level with the introduction of Black Canary Barbie for adult collectors. Designed as a comic-book character, this doll is dressed in fishnet hose, a leather bikini bottom and a black leather jacket. She’s available in toy stores, right next to Ballerina Barbie. Explain that to your preschooler.

Read more here:

Tyler Perry’s latest e-mail message to fans explains his attraction to the film “Precious,” which he is executive producing along with Oprah Winfrey.

The film, which arrives in theaters Nov. 6, tells the story of a 16-year-old Precious Jones (Gabourey Sidibe), a high-school student with nothing working in her favor. She is pregnant with her father’s child—for the second time. She can’t read or write, and her schoolmates tease her for being overweight.

Her home life is ruled by a mother (Mo’Nique) who keeps her imprisoned both emotionally and physically. Precious’s instincts tell her one thing: if she’s ever going to break from the chains of ignorance, she will have to dig deeply into her own resources.

The film’s message struck a chord with Perry, who also had to overcome horrific obstacles in his childhood. Below is an excerpt from his latest e-mail message

The director of Michael Jackson’s upcoming documentary “This is It” says the singer was “excited” about his scheduled 50-date concert run in London for which he was rehearsing just before his sudden death in June.

“He was excited, looking forward to (it), happy, pleased with what we had accomplished up until that moment and looking forward to finishing up the rehearsals in Los Angeles and moving on to London,” Kenny Ortega told Reuters in an interview Tuesday.

“Those last few nights of rehearsals it seemed like he’d gone into another gear, and everyone really believed that we were about to embark on something that was going to be rather remarkable,” Ortega said.

“This is It,” a feature-length film built around footage of those final Los Angeles rehearsals, hits theatres around the world on Oct. 28 and looks set to be one of the biggest movies of the year.

Jackson died of a prescription drug overdose, and his death triggered speculation about his physical state at the time and what drugs he may have taken.

Asked whether Jackson had shown any signs of dependency on drugs, Ortega replied: “No.”

According to Ortega, who had been working with Jackson on staging and choreographing of the “This Is It” concerts, the sellout shows were seen by the singer as his swansong.

“This was it, this was his final curtain call. I think that what Michael wanted to do was to retire from performance and focus on film making and other things. He had said to me before in confidence that he didn’t intend to be out there in the world performing for much longer, so this opportunity came along where he thought that he was young enough to be able to do what it was that he loved, he wanted to share it with his children … to do it for the fans.”