My sincerest apologies in neglecting to post this last week when this showed up in my Bloomberg News Feed. This news story sickens me that there are predators out there that prey on children.
We, as parents, teach our children "Stranger Danger!", but as we can see from this story, many of the pedophiles/child molesters are people we know and come to trust. This pedophile himself was molested as a child and the vicious cycle of this sick behaviour was repeated by him to others.
Some highlights of the story:
- William Vahey was one of the most beloved teachers in the world of international schools that serve the children of diplomats, well-off Americans and local elites.
- The FBI had said that the teacher molested at least 90 boys whose photos were found on a memory drive stolen by his maid in Nicaragua
- The double-cream Oreos that he handed out at bedtime on school trips were laced with sleeping pills - enough to leave the boys unconscious as he touched them and posed them for nude photographs
- The FBI regard William Vahey as one of the most prolific pedophiles in memory
- Vahey, 64, killed himself in Luverne, Minnesota, on Mar 21, 2014
- Although Vahey, then 20, pleaded guilty in 1969 to a single charge of lewd and lascivious behavior, after admitting to pinching the penises of eight young boys at a California high school where he taught swimming, it didn't keep him from embarking on a series of teaching jobs that put him in close contact with children
- Authorities may have missed a warning sign during a later teaching stint in Venezuela: Two students under Vahey's care were rushed to a hospital after falling unconscious in their hotel room on a trip, parents and staff said. Officials were unable to determine why and chalked it up to a possible failing air conditioner
- "I was molested as a boy, that is why I do this. I have been doing this my whole life." ~ William Vahey
Could Vahey have been stopped earlier? Please read on and decide for yourself.
(NPW) Hundreds of boys may have been drugged and molested by pedophile teacher without realizing it, FBI says
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By Associated Press
May 14 (National Post) -- The number of possible victims of a teacher suspected of drugging and molesting boys during a four-decade career at nearly a dozen schools around the world has risen sharply, with the FBI saying hundreds of people have contacted it about the case.
Calling William Vahey one of the most prolific pedophiles in memory, the FBI had said that the teacher molested at least 90 boys whose photos were found on a memory drive stolen by his maid in Nicaragua.
But that figure appeared low after Special Agent Shauna Dunlap said Tuesday that the bureau has now "been contacted by several hundred individuals from around the globe wishing either to reach out as potential victims or provide information in the ongoing investigation."
AP Photo/FBI, File
This combination of photos provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows William James Vahey in 1986, 1995, 2004 and 2013. Vahey, 64, killed himself in Luverne, Minn. on March 21, 2014. The discovery of Vahey, a man the FBI regards as one of the most prolific pedophiles in memory has set off a crisis in the community of international schools, where parents are being told that their children may have been victims, and administrators are scurrying to close loopholes exposed by Vahey's abuses.
"He's one of the most prolific pedophiles that we've seen here due to the sheer numbers," FBI Special Agent Sharon Dunlap said.
Dunlap said officials wanted as many people as possible to call or contact the FBI through its website in order to receive counselling and provide information about Vahey, who killed himself at age 64 after the evidence of molestation emerged.
'One of the most prolific pedophiles we've seen': Police search for victims worldwide after teacher's suicide( http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/05/13/he-ate-the-cookies-too-police-search-for-vicims-of-prolific-pedophile-who-drugged-students-around-the-world-before-abuse/ )
Vahey taught at 10 schools on four continents and was one of the most beloved teachers in the world of international schools that serve the children of diplomats, well-off Americans and local elites. His case has rattled the community of international schools, where parents are being told their children may have been victims, and administrators are scurrying to close loopholes exposed by Vahey's abuses.
Apparently, not even Vahey's victims knew they had been molested. The double-cream Oreos that he handed out at bedtime on school trips were laced with sleeping pills - enough to leave the boys unconscious as he touched them and posed them for nude photographs.
AP Photo/Esteban Felix
In this Wednesday, May 7, 2014 photo, a vehicle drives by the main entrance gate of the American Nicaraguan School in Managua, Nicaragua. U.S. citizen William James Vahey, 64, worked as teacher here from 2013-2014.
He was one of the most beloved teachers in the world of international schools that serve the children of diplomats, well-off Americans and local elites. The FBI regards Vahey as one of the most prolific pedophiles in memory has set off a crisis in the community of international schools, where parents are being told that their children may have been victims, and administrators are scurrying to close loopholes exposed by Vahey's abuses.
Although Vahey, then 20, pleaded guilty in 1969 to a single charge of lewd and lascivious behavior, after admitting to pinching the penises of eight young boys at a California high school where he taught swimming, it didn't keep him from embarking on a series of teaching jobs that put him in close contact with children.
He began his international teaching career at the American School in Tehran, the first in a series of stays around the Middle East, Europe and Asia. He taught history, social studies and related subjects in Lebanon, Spain, Iran, Greece, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, almost always to middle school students. He also coached basketball and led school trips.
Authorities may have missed a warning sign during a later teaching stint in Venezuela: Two students under Vahey's care were rushed to a hospital after falling unconscious in their hotel room on a trip, parents and staff said. Officials were unable to determine why and chalked it up to a possible failing air conditioner.
Seven years later, Vahey and his wife went to work at the Westminster campus of London's Southbank International School, with about 350 pupils from 70 countries. Police say at least 60 of the 90 or so children in the images on the USB drive stolen by the maid were from that school.
Southbank's chair of governors, Chris Woodhead, told Britain's Press Association there had been one complaint against Vahey, but, "The boy's parents agreed that there was nothing untoward and the matter shouldn't be pursued."
In early March, the maid who stole the memory drive handed it to American Nicaraguan school director Gloria Doll, who found it contained photos of unconscious boys, many between ages 12 and 14, often being touched by Vahey.
AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis
This Thursday, May 9, 2014 photo shows the American Community School in northern Athens, Greece where William Vahey taught. When a maid stole a memory drive from him in November, on it was evidence that Vahey molested scores of adolescent boys, possibly more. The discovery of a man the FBI regards as one of the most prolific pedophiles in memory has set off a crisis in the community of international schools, where parents are being told that their children may have been victims, and administrators are scurrying to close loopholes exposed by Vahey's abuses.
Doll confronted Vahey, who told her, according to an FBI affidavit, that he had given the boys sleeping pills, adding:
"I was molested as a boy, that is why I do this. I have been doing this my whole life."
Doll demanded Vahey's resignation, according to the affidavit, and notified authorities at the U.S. Embassy the next day, U.S. officials said. Embassy officials immediately notified Nicaraguan police, but Vahey had already flown out of the country.
He traveled to Luverne, Minnesota, where relatives live.
He checked into a hotel and stabbed himself in the chest with a knife, leaving a note apologizing to his family.
AP Photo/Esteban Felix
In this Wednesday, May 7, 2014 photo, a security guard is reflected in a car mirror in front of the house where U.S. citizen William James Vahey lived, near the American Nicaraguan School in Managua, Nicaragua where he worked as teacher from 2013-2014. Vahey, 64, killed himself on March 21, 2014 - two days after agents in Houston filed for a warrant to search a computer thumb drive that belonged to him.
The storage device contained pornographic images of at least 90 boys, ages 12 to 14, who appeared to be drugged and unconscious, according to the FBI.
AP Photo
This photo provided by former Tehran American School student Mark Turnage shows part of a page about student organizations in the school's 1973 yearbook with a photo of William James Vahey, right, who taught at the school from 1972-1973. Vahey was one of the most beloved teachers in the world of international schools that serve the children of diplomats, well-off Americans and local elites.
That was the public persona of William Vahey until a maid stole a memory drive from him in November. On it was evidence that Vahey molested scores of adolescent boys, possibly more.
-0- May/14/2014 14:09 GMT
If you have information that can help the FBI out, please check out:
Now that you've read about William Vahey, could he have been discovered earlier? What can we as parents do to teach our children? Please leave a comment.
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