Requiem for Molested Children

The murder of a child is the cruelest death of all. Our hearts break. The loss feels incomprehensible. Trying to cope with the murders of multiple children can overwhelm the emotional reserves of an entire community, a whole city, even a country. 

While the world never knew them, no one will ever forget the nineteen babies and toddlers of Oklahoma City. Or the twenty school children of Sandy Hook Elementary School. We are also reminded daily of the ongoing, never-ending mass murders of children all across the world. 

In the wake of these kinds of deaths, we struggle with the horror as we attempt to honor their memories. How do you celebrate a life un-lived? The years of promise unfulfilled -- all gone in an instant? 

To assuage the emotional upheaval caused by these unimaginable losses, memorials have been held. Monuments have been built. And requiems have been written. 

But what about the children whose souls have been silently and slowly extinguished by sexual predators like Bill Bricker?  The children who die slowly, gradually over the passage of time, left to live with corrosive memories of abuse that eats them from the inside. The children who become alcoholics or drug addicts. The children who begin to suffer from mental illness. Or the children who can no longer bear the pain and finally commit suicide.

Who will honor the dozens and dozens of boys and girls abused by Bricker, who have suffered alone, tortured for decades with the nightmares of remembrance, dying a thousand times each day, crushed under the weight of shame and humiliation, molested by someone they trusted? 

Each one of these children was enthusiastically sacrificed to the respected teacher, scout leader, and camp counselor by the same adults charged with their protection. He was a war hero. So they ignored the complaints. He was popular. So they refused to believe the victims. He had powerful friends. So everyone looked away while Bricker cut the hearts and souls out of three generations of defenseless children. 

Who will write their requiem? Who will build a monument worthy of their memories? 



• • • • •

An anonymous, handwritten note in Bill Bricker's Winnetka school file estimated that he had molested at least 100 children during his decades as a school teacher, scout leader, and camp counselor. These are lives that Bill Bricker destroyed in countless ways. He took away one child's unbridled eagerness, happiness and joy. He ended another child's future dreams and smothered his innocence. He wreaked havoc on dozens and dozens of other children, with psychic devastation that followed many into adulthood.  

He could have been stopped years ago. He should have been tried and he would have been convicted.  

But despite what Bricker did, many of the boys and girls he took advantage of became productive, successful members of society. They survived, albeit wounded. As one of Bricker's survivors pointed out, "I don't know how the molestation affected me, but I know it affected me." 

Bill Bricker died a few days ago, having squeezed every possible accolade and honorarium he could out of his undeserved ninety-four years. Thanks to law enforcement in Wyoming, Bricker's enablers in Illinois could no longer protect him. His illegitimate legacy has been erased with his arrest in September of 2014 for inappropriate behavior with three minors. His public humiliation encouraged of some of his silent victims to finally come forward and speak out about what he did to them. 

A newspaper account of Bricker's passing noted that he would be cremated. There would be no services and no burial. 

Hearing this, someone suggested that his ashes should be flushed down a toilet. I thought the idea was worth mentioning.

What do Bill Clinton and Bill Bricker have in common?

Warning:  Younger and/or more sensitive readers may discover that this entry contains language which your mother doesn't want you to use correctly in a sentence. 

If there's anything I have learned from the Monica Lewinsky scandal, it's that some men have a very narrow definition of sex. For these guys, the only time sex takes place is when the rocket enters the silo, the peg goes through the porthole, or the piston pumps into the cylinder.  

Nothing else counts. 

That's why Bill Clinton so vehemently denied having sex with Monica Lewinsky. "I did not have sex with that woman!" Because she didn't hide his sausage in her buns. She didn't let the rabbit go into the hole. There was no insertion of a member into her clubhouse. 

Instead, she gave him a blow job. Not sex. In fact, you could say as much for any other "jobs" she may have performed. Not sex. Same if he had played motorboat with her "girls." Not sex. 

So when Bill Bricker vehemently denied having sex with any of his students, scouts, or campers, his alleged victims, along with the rest of us, may have wanted to yell "LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE." But Bricker may just be a victim of Bill Clinton syndrome. If his elevator didn't go up and down inside a shaft, then sex didn't take place. Rubbing and touching and fondling and stimulating to ejaculation? Not sex. 

Now maybe you can understand why -- for the last 75 years -- Bill Bricker doesn't think he ever did anything wrong. 

Neither do the Winnetka police, a host of Winnetka School administrators  the Boy Scouts of America, and the owners of the Teton Valley Ranch Camp. 

Unfortunately, the rest of us, plus an estimated more than 100 boys and girls, if not more, would beg to differ.

What Did Bill Bricker Do To You? Please Tell Someone.

Shame and silence. For 50 years. Read today's story [5/13/14] about another trusted teacher who abused kids for decades before he was outed HERE. 

Bill Bricker Update:
I.
There was a comment left just a few days ago on an earlier blog entry written about Bill Bricker. That comment was the first time that anyone has left his real name. It is reprinted below with just his initials. I hope this will encourage more people to come forward. 

PK said...

I attended Crow Island School. In 4th or 5th grade I became a member of Troop 18 led by Bill Bricker. I attended a weekend trip to the Amaquansippi Trail and during that weekend Bill Bricker sexually molested me. I left Troop 18 not long after that happened and never saw Bill again.
         I have moved on in my life, married, had two children and now three grandchildren.
         Bill Bricker should be prosecuted, no matter how old he is and no matter how prestigious his exterior reputation is. He was, and probably still is, a pedophile.

II. 

There is an active case in Wyoming, with preparations underway to file criminal charges. This is a first. The more people who can corroborate the stories of abuse, the stronger the case will be. Bill Bricker worked summers at the Teton Valley Ranch Camp, where kids came from all over the country. Call Detective Dani Spence in Jackson, WY @307-733-4052, if you experienced or witnessed any crimes by Bricker. Or know anyone who went to camp at Teton Valley Ranch. 

III. 
Boy Scouts who were victimized in Bill Bricker's Troop 18 in Winnetka or girls who attended Hubbard Woods Elementary School, where he was a teacher can contact Marc Pearlman in Chicago. His contact info is embedded in this paragraph sent to the blog from someone who decided to do something about what happened when he was a boy:

          I was sexually abused by Bill Bricker many decades ago.  This has preyed on me for a long time and I have finally decided to do something about it.  I would appreciate your contacting Chicago attorney Marc J. Pearlman of Kerns, Frost & Pearlman at his private direct line of 312-261-4554 or via email at mpearlman@kfplegal.com and sharing with him what you may know about Bill Bricker and his victims.  After speaking with him, it might be helpful if you could let other victims know about this and suggest to them that they might want to contact him.  Their identities would be known only to him. If you know of circumstances, dates, or places of instances, it will be helpful. This is the website of the law firm: http://www.kfplegal.com/  Thank you very much.

IV. For boys and girls in Wyoming and Illinois, you can also contact Jason Sipe, litigation assistant at 503-274-1176. He does client intake for a law firm in Portland, OR that specializes in the litigation of civil sex abuse cases -- quite successfully against the BSA and the Catholic Church, in particular. He can be reached at O'Donnell Clark & Crew LLP • 1650 NW Naito Parkway • Suite 302 • Portland, OR 97209-2534. 

V. It isn't much, but here's a screenshot of some confirmation I got from the police: