The Bell Curve -- Joseph N. Bell

While the Catholic world is being upended by the exposure of child

abuse by priests, while cardinals are summoned to Rome for marching

orders on damage control and rank-and-file Catholics express their anger

at this violation of trust, a young man named Trenton Michael Veches sits

in Orange County Jail accused of similar crimes.

His trust was the care of 6- to 10-year-old boys in the Newport Beach

city recreation program. There is strong evidence to indicate he violated

that trust, strong enough that his bond has been set at $500,000. But

there is little of the public anger that continues to fuel the reaction

to criminal acts by priests. This seemed odd to me and worth exploring.

In the process, I traveled a considerable distance.

My starting point was remembering when my children were involved in

Newport Beach recreation programs. I don’t think I would have been as

understanding then as the local parents whose children were exposed to

Veches seem to be. About 600 sets of these parents were invited to a

meeting last week -- closed to the press and public -- to be updated on

the Veches issue, to ask questions and to listen to counselors.

City Manager Homer Bludau estimates that between 55 and 70 attended.

He told me that “people were emotional and upset -- but not necessarily

angry and not toward the city.” He also said that he hasn’t received a

single phone call from a parent upset by why and how this could have

happened.

He added: “Pedophiles usually have hundreds of victims. We’re lucky

this person was found out. Actually, he was identified pretty early.

Should we have known about him sooner? It’s going to take a little time

and investigation to answer that question.”

It was a question that didn’t come up at all in the City Council

public meeting last week. No one introduced it from the floor, and

several council members were too involved in “Rocky Horror” role-playing

during the Balboa Performing Arts Theater love fest to take up the role

of the council in preventing another Veches case. No help here.

So I turned to Sgt. Steve Shulman, the articulate and straightforward

Newport Beach police spokesman. He told me that the photographs on which

the case against Veches is based probably took place over a couple of

years, and that behavior shots in which Veches is visible involve only

toe sucking and were probably taken by him holding the camera in his

extended hand.

He said that Veches’ aberrant behavior was not detected immediately

because “while inappropriate, it was not so egregious that it would shock

the conscience.” He added that the state believes strongly that Veches’

actions and intent constitute a substantial threat to children.

When I asked Shulman why the public response has been muted, he said:

“There is only outrage when citizen questions haven’t been addressed. The

city has been forthright and direct. Communication is good. Questions

have been answered.”

When I noted the contrast with the anger among many Catholics, Shulman

said: “The big differences are the denial in the church hierarchy and the

promptness of remedial action. There is no denial here. And there has

been immediate action.”

OK, so where does that leave us?

It leaves us with a summer recreation brochure that will be coming out

soon to remind us that the city is still very much in the business of

taking custody of our children. It is important that the parents of those

children be assured that every possible action is being taken to prevent

a Veches episode ever taking place again. Bludau’s investigation is

certainly a step in that direction, so would a review of employee

selection procedures and the frequency and extent of supervisory

overview. Checking out how other cities handle this problem might be

useful.

Meanwhile, the City Council needs to get involved. Members need to

make it quite clear that they regard our children as our major asset.

They might start with a look at an anachronistic administrative structure

in which the Recreation Division is part of a department headed by the

city librarian.

Recreation was once a department of its own, headed by a recreation

director.

Eight years ago, it was folded into the Library Department for what

Bludau called “cost efficiency.” He also told me that “having a

Recreation Department wouldn’t have made an iota of difference in this

situation.”

Maybe so, but council members might ask if restoring its former

stature would cast a different light on the perceived importance of

recreation for our kids in the city’s scheme of things.

They might also take the Veches case as a wake-up call to keep the

well-being of our kids when they are in the custody of city employees

front and center in their deliberations.

* JOSEPH N. BELL is a resident of Santa Ana Heights. His column

appears Thursdays.