Oh, for the luvva Christ! Half the posters here are beefing about the fact that Cary was properly circumspect in his appraisal of what MIGHT be so in this case, and many of the rest don't seem to give a rat's ass that the POSSIBLE perp may still be working in the system, which means, without a doubt, all else being presumably true, that he is still preying on children.

What, then, to do? There are two clear paths. One is to just let the thing go; it is too complicated for most people to pursue and too convoluted to likely uncover any other victimizations which may have occurred or still be occurring. Let someone else, some little girl, come forward (or not - they tend to feel pretty uncomfortable reporting this sort of thing) and let the chips fall wherever. OR - attempt to establish a comprehensive, sincere and wholistic friendship with this person who, for some reason, chose LW to disclose to. Yes, it's an "if" thing. Maybe it never really happened. But IF it did, and IF LW manages, through skillful cultivation of a true frienship and not just a mission of pity, she may come to learn more facts and may, perhaps, learn the identity and even the status of the alleged perp. She will also, with any luck, social skills and insight, win a new friensdhip in the bargain. She may also learn there really is a wolf out there among the flock, and if there is, there is NO QUESTION he is still practicing his "hobby." These people continue (and usually progress), inexorably, sometimes for decades.

Now comes the significant part, because any decent human would feel great sympathy (or perhaps even empathy) for the now-adult claiming to have been victimized by such a swine, every teacher in this fair land of ours works under the burden of a federal mandate to report to the local social services agency any reasonable suspicion of molestation or other abuse, whether by a fellow teacher, a parent, stranger, or family member. And anyone who has access to children and this inexplicable desire to exploit them sexually will do so. IF the guy is still in the business and IF LW or some other member of the school's staff has or gains any knowlege of this, then it is not longer an "iffy" situation: there is no true legal choice but to report the problem and let social services and the police deal with it.

Despite the cynicism of many of the respondents here, there is still a place in the world for the occasional champion of justice, the "ordinary" man or woman who finds a cause worthy of pursuit and who sometimes is the catalyst by which someone is saved or justice is served.

Of course, the "victim" in this could just be a lying drunk. I don't think so. That would be ideal, really. But my long relationship with a specialist in child sexual abuse has taught me that this behavior is likely honest and accurate and that something about LW's personality brought out the need to tell someone who felt extremely trustworthy. That being the case, it is LW's call as to whether or not to become the "victim's" true friend and hopefully learn, in as much time as it takes, who the perpetertor is, and where. Then LW can possibly do some sniffing around. It isn't going to be easy to nail such a guy on such a flimsy trail of evidence, given the thin thread offered thus far, but believe me, if he's still doing it, he's leave himself open, because by now he has experienced far too much success. And the next time he steps on his own dick someone may just be watching - or listening - and can make that all-important call. Because, all cliches aside, it IS the children that matter.