Former Moreno Valley Teacher Confesses to Child Molestation Charges

Parents spend their lives and energy protecting their children. They make certain they are fed, clothed, sheltered, and safe. Parents teach their children what they have learned about what is right and what is wrong. They hold their hands when crossing the street; stand by nervously when their children take flight after they release those bicycle handlebars for the first time. All of these wonderful, beautiful, protective measures can seem, in an instant, to be fruitless when allowing children to walk to school or to a friend's house alone; or when signing them up for sports that could land them in the emergency room. A parent may think, "I've kept them safe this whole time and now I am releasing them into the wild!" Even for the simple, traditional rites of passage, I can just imagine how nerve-wracking it is to raise children.

Fifty-four year old Donald Fay, a teacher from Moreno Valley, who was accused of child molestation, confessed to the horrendous charges against him. He could face up to 50 years in prison, but what about the children and families who have been victimized-the parents who, wracked with guilt endure a vicious cycle of self-blame for the wrong done to their child. Consider the now-adults who, when traumatized 29 years ago by Fay, continue to live their nightmare daily. What recompense is there for them? Surely, fifty years payment to society will fail to cover the immeasurable amount of debt accrued by this child molester.

Teachers often times assume the role of short-term parent. They nurture and nourish children; inspire confidence; and cultivate natural born wisdom and intelligence. They serve a unique place in children's lives, which demands respect, honor, and gratitude. Donald Fay, taking advantage of such a special and important relationship, violated a critical bond of trust and respect between teacher and student, between parent and teacher, between human and human.

Parents live a life of concern and consideration for their young that transcends time, reason, and control. Children grow into adults; they marry, and raise children of their own, but the parent's heart continues to wish and hope to protect and nurture and nourish. What justice, then, is there for these victims of abuse? What token of our collective remorse can we offer those who have been traumatized, living with their secret pain, carrying it like a ticking time bomb in their breast pocket?

Source:

John Asbury. Ex-teacher from Moreno Valley Pleads Guilty to Child Molestation. August 5, 2009. Press Enterprise. Retrieved August 8, 2009 from http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_ teacher06.46 6f3ca.html