Disney World Workers Among 22 Nabbed in Child-Sex Sting

[Nemo14]

I think the biggest issue I have with posting the fact that they worked for Disney is that it tends to leave the impression that most CM's must be some kind of perverts. As a former teacher, I saw this happen more than once when fellow teachers (particularly male teachers) were "suspected" abusers whenever any teacher was arrested in this type of thing. I'm not trying to downplay the seriousness of the offense, nor am I denying that careers that involve contact with children attract pedophiles, but I'm confident that most CM's are there because they love their job not because they are "attracted" to children.

 

[Surge38]

Ok, HERE is the root of the issue:

A HEADLINE is meant to be a short blurb summarizing what the article is about. But journalists KNOW if they can use the headline to make the story sound more "sensational" that they will get more "clicks" or buys or viewers or whatever.

"Disney World workers busted in child-sex sting" is a misleading headline because it causes to the casual reader (ie the frighteningly large percentage of people who glance at a headline, never read the article, and form an opinion based on THAT) to incorrectly interpret the article. It makes it sound as if there was a ring of employees kidnapping kids off Mainstreet USA or something.

A more appropriate headline might have been:
"22 Florida Men caught in Child sex sting."

But of course, THAT isn't as attention grabbing, is it? It's much more scandalous to mention Disney in the title. SURE people could get more of the facts by reading the article...but that info isn't what blankets google searches and homepages, is it?

Here's the thing: I have ZERO issue with these articles mentioning that several of them worked at Disney. Thats fair game, and as some have pointed out, important info to mention. However, it is just plain mis-representing the facts of the story to put it in the headline, as the fact that THREE of them were Disney workers is FAR less central a fact in the story as the headline leads one to believe. It's, at best, sloppy journalism, and and WORST, downright negligent.

And, please, don't bring the "freedom of the press" into this. All that means is it is not ILLEGAL for them to report facts. But personally, I think there should be SOME form of journalistic integrity to actually try and convey the facts as they exist, and not re-package them to make their headlines bolder. "Freedom of the press" does NOT mean they can do whatever they need to for ratings.

Make no mistake. Even if there is nothing "untruthful" being said, the main point of that headline is to mislead readers into believing something that isn't true. They are lying with the truth.

 

[Skyway]

If someone had an unhealthy interest in kids, what job would put them in frequent contact with them?

Fast food or retail? Maybe. But they'd deal mostly with adults.

Teaching or child care? Yes. But those also require special licensing or qualifications. Not too easy.

Theme park? Lots of kids, trusting parents, no qualifications, minimal supervision.

For that reason alone, mentioning theme park employment on arrests is noteworthy.

In addition, Disney is Central Florida's biggest employer. And the media that publishes these stories is local Orlando media. I guarantee you the media in other "company towns" like Detroit mentions if an arrestee worked at GM or a casino worker in Las Vegas. News consumers have an interest in those details since they, their family, or their friends may also work at those places.

Do those who criticize the editorial decision really think news consumers are stupid and truly "scared" to go to a theme park because of one headline? No one is going to change their vacation plans based on an employee being arrested. But what they might do is be more cautious and not get lulled into letting their guard down. A theme park worker in uniform probably wouldn't do anything inappropriate while at work. But a parent may also want to end a lengthy conversation between their child and a 45-year-old popcorn vendor.

 

[spacemt354]

Ok, HERE is the root of the issue:

A HEADLINE is meant to be a short blurb summarizing what the article is about. But journalists KNOW if they can use the headline to make the story sound more "sensational" that they will get more "clicks" or buys or viewers or whatever.

"Disney World workers busted in child-sex sting" is a misleading headline because it causes to the casual reader (ie the frighteningly large percentage of people who glance at a headline, never read the article, and form an opinion based on THAT) to incorrectly interpret the article. It makes it sound as if there was a ring of employees kidnapping kids off Mainstreet USA or something.

A more appropriate headline might have been:
"22 Florida Men caught in Child sex sting."

But of course, THAT isn't as attention grabbing, is it? It's much more scandalous to mention Disney in the title. SURE people could get more of the facts by reading the article...but that info isn't what blankets google searches and homepages, is it?

Here's the thing: I have ZERO issue with these articles mentioning that several of them worked at Disney. Thats fair game, and as some have pointed out, important info to mention. However, it is just plain mis-representing the facts of the story to put it in the headline, as the fact that THREE of them were Disney workers is FAR less central a fact in the story as the headline leads one to believe. It's, at best, sloppy journalism, and and WORST, downright negligent.

And, please, don't bring the "freedom of the press" into this. All that means is it is not ILLEGAL for them to report facts. But personally, I think there should be SOME form of journalistic integrity to actually try and convey the facts as they exist, and not re-package them to make their headlines bolder. "Freedom of the press" does NOT mean they can do whatever they need to for ratings.

Make no mistake. Even if there is nothing "untruthful" being said, the main point of that headline is to mislead readers into believing something that isn't true. They are lying with the truth.

Couldn't have said it better.

This is a terrible event. It sickens me. But the sad fact is it happens everyday, in all walks of life. The fact that they work for Disney and committed this horrible actions does not make the story any worse...it just makes the headline look more attractive to readers and promotes bad press for Disney.

Not an apologist here. Sure, Disney made a mistake in hiring these people, but you know what? They aren't the first nor will they be the last to make a mistake like this.

Through clinical psychology research, the motivation of these pedophiles is to establish trust and appear harmless through the utilization of friendly personalities. The line between distinguishing whether or not someone is simply friendly or "too" friendly is very difficult to pinpoint initially, let's say..during the interview when they get hired by a company.

It's just the world we live in and the best we can do is to be alert and aware. And for parents of children, it's best to establish trust and a strong relationship with them, educating children on how to deal with strangers in hopes that children will feel comfortable communicating any potential threats with their parents/guardians.

 

[rael ramone]

My opinion: Reporting this event without mentioning that some worked at Disney (even if the employers of all the others that had 'general jobs' were left out) is irresponsible. So would leaving out if they worked at other jobs in society that gave them access to children (doctors, teachers, etc).

Here's why: People often think they are in a bubble at the House of Mouse. If you are an adult, it may very well be the one of the safest places to vacation.

Combine 70,000 employees, access to young people, and low pay. Best case scenario (not that there really is a 'best case') is the amount there matches the amount in society at large. More likely, there is more of them.

Parents must be more.... much, much, more - not less - vigilant, with the safety of their children there.

Regardless of the intent of the mention in the article, it's something that should be there.

 

[Matt_Black]

Well, of the 5 men listed in the article whose profession is disclosed, 3 work for WDW and one works as a paramedic (and you'll notice that the article does not list either the hospital or ambulance company he works for*). In fairness, yes, all of them might have access to children. However, over 20 were busted. I don't think that only 1 in 5 of these guys work in positions that we'd rather them not.

*You'd think that the hospital isn't going to show up in as many online searchs as Walt Disney World or something.....

 

[Hakunamatata]

I just hope for some of you alls sake you don't see this in an article some day....

" and Joe Sexoffender is known to spend the majority of his/her time when not stalking or working, hanging out with his/her neighbor/college friend/acquaintance ____________ (insert your name here). "

I bet those of you who find it necessary to include a non involved employer in the story would have a different opinion then.

 

[Jimmy Thick]

Sadly, I used to deal with stuff like this almost daily, but as others have stated, Disney can't control what people do after they employ them as weeding out people with records containing the abuse of children would more than likely be a first priority for gainful employment.

But this really has nothing to do with Disney, people like this are everywhere and chances are you come in contact with them everyday and trust your own children with them. You don't know what goes on in the mind of other human beings. Is that paranoid? Absolutely, but first hand I can vouch its always the person you don't think it could possibly be.

Jimmy Thick- Be aware, be safe.

 

[Gabe1]

So you are not sure if you are more disturbed that I might have an opinion that differs from yours or the fact that freaks were out to harm kids? That's a no brainier for me. I hope you get that figured out.

Yes, my opinion is this breaking news was worthy of server space and have posted multiple times on this thread. If your opinion differed from mine you would not post 9 times and counting on a thread that was unworthy of server space.

You are as drawn to the topic and thread as are we who have also posted here, high level interest like we both have keeps the Disney name in the topic longer. So yes I figured it out, we share the same opinion, it is worthy of server space, our post counts on this thread document that.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Yes, my opinion is this breaking news was worthy of server space and have posted multiple times on this thread. If your opinion differed from mine you would not post 9 times and counting on a thread that was unworthy of server space.

You have drawn an inaccurate conclusion. My belief that this is not worthy of server space is in no way tied to my post count in said thread.

 

[Obi]

ok, i have to apologize for the length of this post, but there is a lot that i feel compelled to say.

to start with, the article is about a sex abuse/predator sting. it's about child sexual predators/abusers. some of the people caught in the sting were disney employees. now, i agree that it wasn't necessary to make it known that they were disney employees, but it was done to attract more readers. disney has a chance to play this smart by becoming the biggest fighter in protecting children from becoming abuse survivors by becoming more educated, instructing their employees as well, promoting the truth/facts so that more and more society becomes aware of just how big this epidemic, and that is what it is, has become. they could help put a dent in ending child abuse...

for those that think that sexual abuse doesn't happen on disney property.... well, i've got news for you... it does, has, and will continue unless you, disney, and everyone else becomes more aware of the facts and helps prevent it from happening. how do i know this? i will explain how further on down...

you can take, or leave, my advice, but do know that i am a survivor of child sexual abuse and i have done extensive research into this area. not only for my own recovery, but try and help as many as possible. if my advice even helps one kid from going through what i've been through, then it's worth it!

first off, please know that most predators, abusers are people that the child knows. they WILL seek out places where there are more kids. even though abuse from strangers does happen, it is a significantly smaller % in regards to the abusers that the child knows. predators/abusers take their time in building a relationship with the child. a trusting one. that is why the abuse happens, because the child trusts that person and doesn't suspect anything will happen. that is why most abuse cases are by other family members, parent, sibiling, friend of the family, pastor/priest, person who attends the same church, teachers, doctors, coaches, scout leaders and so on and so on. they build a trusting relationship with the child and even with the parent(s) of the child. that is how predators, like sandusky, were able to do as much damage as they did. to this day there are many supporters of sandusky that don't believe he did anything wrong. they think he's a loveable guy and would never harm children. THAT IS HOW THEY OPERATE! they build these types of relationships and people will protect them instead of believing the child....

now, i'm not saying all of this to scare anyone away from disney or to say you can't trust anyone. what i am saying is that i hope that people educate themselves, and their children, so that they can go to places like disney, play sports, join the scouts or whatever, armed with the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong and to not be afraid to report if something does happen...

to do this people need to be able to have the type of relationship with their children where they can talk to each other. the child needs to know that they can go to their parent(s) and be able to talk to them and be believed. parents need to educate their kids on what is appropriate and what isn't. they also need to tell their kids that it is ok to tell them if something bad happens and that they WILL listen to them and BELIEVE them.

please, educate yourselves and the kids in your lives... this can go a loooooong way in not only having a safe and great trip at disney world, but also, more importantly, hopefully put an end to sexual abuse....

 

[Sully83]

Background checks? Well, sometimes they work. Sometimes not, sadly.

I run criminal background checks for several major and minor corporations around the country......they only work if the person has a record.....even then they only work if the client is searching the correct county the record

 

[Gabe1]

You have drawn an inaccurate conclusion. My belief that this is not worthy of server space is in no way tied to my post count in said thread.

It has everything to do with my conclusion. You are incredibly vested in the thread and topic. If it wasn't worthy of server space we would not be so compelled to continue to post on the subject. You too just keep posting and posting on the topic, shoring up the worthiness of the thread.

Disney was intelligent, they made one generic statement and removed themselves from discussing the topic unlike us. They are the ones that did not find it worthy of continuing to discuss. We make sure the Disney name sticks with the story and thread by debating it. The journalists did their job well cause we are still talking about Disney and the creeps in our posts.

 

[WelshBatman]

What people need to take away from these news stories is that these people are out there at places like Disney and that before you just let your kids run wild because you think Disney is safe and secure and nothing bad will happen there, you should stop and think. It's horrible for people to realize that but it's the world we live in. Obi is right, you need to be able to talk to your kids but you also need to be vigiliant and responsible guardians.

 

[spacemt354]

The sad part about this thread's title is that the conversation moves from how disgusting phedophilia is, to how disgusting Disney is for hiring them...

 

[WelshBatman]

Yeah but you can't blame disney for hiring them if they don't have a record.

 

[slappy magoo]

What people need to take away from these news stories is that these people are out there at places like Disney and that before you just let your kids run wild because you think Disney is safe and secure and nothing bad will happen there, you should stop and think. It's horrible for people to realize that but it's the world we live in. Obi is right, you need to be able to talk to your kids but you also need to be vigiliant and responsible guardians.

Yes, you need to be responsible parents, but let's not confuse things - just because this sting included a few Disney employees doesn't mean they were caught doing anything illegal ON Disney property. WDW has security cameras in so many places it makes a Vegas casino look like an isolated cabin in the middle of the Outback. Outside of what people do in the hotel rooms, there's probably no inch of property - public or backstage - that isn't monitored. I'm not saying to let kids run all over the World unsupervised, but if they do manage to get away from you, they're safer there than most other locations. I'm sure some pedophiles would look at a job at WDW the same way I'd look at a job monitoring the dressing rooms at Victoria's Secret, but that doesn't mean they did anything to kids while on the job. If anything, they'd be on better behavior there because of how much it's monitored and also because if they're caught not only do they potentially go to jail, they lose the sweet gig. It doesn't make me feel better knowing that some WDW employees might be eyeing my kids like a wolf in a Tex Avery cartoon watching an adult woman singing a jazz standard with oogah eyes and flapping tongues, but that could happen anywhere - the mall, their school, their church, in traffic, at Universal (just kidding, we'd never go there!) (just kidding about that too, but waiting till they're older)...not much you can do about what a fella is thinking, only about what he's doing and occasionally about what he's planning to do.

 

[slappy magoo]

The sad part about this thread's title is that the conversation moves from how disgusting phedophilia is, to how disgusting Disney is for hiring them...

Actually, most of the replies I've read seem to be more or less "if these guys didn't already have criminal records, no way Disney could know about these tendencies, not Disney's fault these guys got jobs..."

 

[WelshBatman]

You're absolutely right it can happen anywhere and that's kinda what I meant. I just mean cuz we're on a Disney messsage board... but you're absolutely right that these people are everywhere and anywhere. The last thing you want to do is think that but it's sadly true.

In fact, when they do these stings, they make mention of employment places. If it's Universal they mention it too. But they do mention if these people come into contact with children as part of their professional duties. I guess the goal is to scare parents into being hypervigilant or whatever. I will say it does seem that when they do get arrests of Disney employees more often than not it's people who don't come into contact with guests. It's not true of every case, but it seems to be pretty often.

Don't let your guard down but don't think that every cast member is eyeing your kid like a Tex Avery cartoon (nice/disturbing allusion there slappy magoo). I know so many cast members who go above and beyond and it would break their hearts to know that they're being watched like they're perverts.

 

[Captain Chaos]

You have drawn an inaccurate conclusion. My belief that this is not worthy of server space is in no way tied to my post count in said thread.

And yet, you continue to waste server space in a thread you claim is a waste of server space... If this is a waste, then stop reading and posting... Obviously others find it a topic worth discussing...