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Whistleblower Issues Statement on Penn State Child Abuse Scandal

An FBI whistleblower who exposed the agency’s failures to protect child abuse victims on North Dakota Indian Reservations draws parallels between institutional inaction at the FBI, Penn State, and the Catholic Church, arguing that protecting institutional reputation takes priority over justice.

by Joseph Orr

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Washington, D.C. November 11, 2011. Today, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) whistleblower Jane Turner issued a statement on the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. Ms. Turner, a 25-year veteran Agent, blew the whistle on the FBI’s failure to provide protection for child sex crime victims on the North Dakota Indian Reservations. Ms. Turner reported the allegations to the highest level of the FBI, including Director Mueller. Her allegations included the FBI’s: failure to act on leads concerning a international long haul truck driver pedophile, cover-up of a rape of a 2-year old child by declaring her injuries to be a result of a car accident, and failure to follow-up on the direct evidence that a television personality was sexually molesting children on the Indian Reservation.

In retaliation for exposing FBI failures within its child crime program, Ms. Turner was removed from her position. She was forced to wage a 10-year legal battle to establish her right to blow the whistle. Ms. Turner eventually won her case in front of a federal jury in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Jane Turner issued the following statement:

Unfortunately, I witnessed first-hand the institutional inaction that often happens when someone reports child abuse.  It takes enormous strength to put one’s moral integrity over your personal inclination to protect fellow colleagues who have committed malfeasance, or criminal activity.  The FBI, like Penn State and the Catholic Church, are entities that allows their personnel to report allegations up a chain of command but those in positions of power or change, fail to take immediate or strong actions.  It simply boils down to the fact that those in power have a stronger desire to preserve the reputation of their institution, then taking the road of truth or justice.  Entities like Penn State, the Catholic Church and the FBI all share something in common; they operate in an insular world where rules or laws that apply to everyone else, do not apply to them.
NWC Executive Director Stephen M. Kohn stated:
It is tragedy that it took Jane 10-years to establish her right to blow the whistle on brutal child abuse. Sadly the retaliation she faced is very similar to what most other whistleblowers experience, especially when the molester is an otherwise respected member of the community.

Please contact Lindsey Williams at lmw@whistleblowers.org if you would like to arrange an interview with Jane Turner and/or Stephen Kohn.Links:

Jane Turner’s Meet the Whistleblower’s Page

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