Yeah, they REALLY do. How the hell is this stuff going on
inside the school without anyone knowing about it?
I'm certainly not going to defend that counselor or that mother, but I'd also be reluctant to make a judgment on them based only on that article. The article is very, very vague about what exactly was told to those adults (as opposed to what was told to the reporter 21 years later). It does seem strange to me that the "bondage game" behavior could have gone on for 6 years (or however long they ultimately determine it to have gone on) without a single instance of a child reporting it to an adult who in turn reported it to authorities, even given that the children apparently had no idea what the "mystery food" they were being asked to taste was. If that was the worst thing he did (and it may well not be), then I guess right now is probably the most traumatic time for the children involved, because they're being bombarded all at once with the shock and disgust of their parents and the full awareness of what the "game" actually was. And as BAW indicated, obviously this school is in serious need of a review of some of its policies.
Indeed, the articles don't share the full story, and more information will come, but still, even from that bit alone, it's just weird, especially in this day and age, where we can hear stories of a senior who goes streaking at the end of the school year leads to the school freaking out and practically labeling them all but some sort of sex offender, that people aren't jumping on this stuff more quickly. We have kids going to school dealing with literal hell day in and day out, be it horrible bullies or abusive teachers, and either the school can't do something or is completely oblivious or whatever. It's a common theme in so many of these stories and it's really disturbing.
I'm inclined to believe there either were no reports, which is awfully hard to believe, or there were, but for some reason or another, the reports didn't move through the proper channels right away and the necessary people weren't notified. The latter sounds more likely a scenario, because, hell, these kids'
parents didn't even know who their kids' teacher was. It seems there were an awful lot of completely ignorant or genuinely unaware adults running around, and now these kids are paying the horrible price. The whole thing is just insane.
There are always going to be individuals who for whatever reason fail to respond properly to a child's report of an adult's sexually inappropriate or abusive behavior, unfortunately. But it's absolutely not as if things haven't changed massively for the better in recent decades. I'm 40, and I'm pretty sure most other adults my age and up would agree there's been a sea change in public awareness of and responsiveness to these issues over that time. It hasn't happened overnight and some age groups, some communities, some institutions are way ahead of others in recognizing this for the serious criminal behavior it is and responding accordingly, but absolutely there's been dramatic change for the better. Not that that's much comfort or should be when things like this happen.
I hope that is true. I really do. But I do remember reading a
USA Today article a while back about the requirements each state has on who is required to report claims of abuse (this was in relation to the whole Penn State thing), and it kinda surprised me at the amount of people who didn't have to report their concerns. If you're involved with children day in and day out, I don't care in what context, you should be required to report problems right away and follow up on them (that can be verified, of course. I do also know how easy it is for people to falsify things, too, for vindictive purposes, and those people need to be dealt with, too, 'cause that's a serious charge, you don't level that sort of thing lightly).
As for the other stories-that one about that guy adopting his girlfriend, what a weird, incredibly dumb move to make. Sounds like a jackass.
And the story about the father and his sons... Oh. My. God. I think I remember hearing that story on a "Disappeared" episode or something like that a while back, about the mom going missing! And I think I read it in a magazine once, too.
Wow.
Wow. What a tragic ending. Those poor children.
One woman in the LA Times had 6 kids currently/formerly at the school and didn't know her 15 year old had him as a teacher until she (the daughter)mentioned it in front of the reporter. Her reaction was "What? Why didn't you tell me?" 
