The media loves these kinds of stories, but they leave a very distorted view of child sexual abuse. They leave the impression that if we expose every teacher, coach, or priest who abuses a child we can solve the problem. In fact, these kinds of sexual abuse are rare aberrations. Most sexual abuse of children is a family problem -- parents, step-parents, relatives, close friends -- and most is never reported, probably because children are inherently reluctant to do anything that will destroy their family. That makes it a very difficult problem to deal with. Excessive publicizing of these aberrant cases can lead people to conclude that we're making progress in eliminating child sexual abuse. We are not.

I think this is very wrong and I wish Ben the best. Couldn't NEC reverse their decision?

The one good thing to come out of this is that Peter Benjamin has shown the absurdity of the oft-repeated false assertion that pedophiles cannot be rehabilitated. As for the New England Conservatory and their apologists, they should be reminded that filming concerts and rehearsals is not the same as producing child pornography.

So big of you to put my children at risk for your uneducated beliefs. The arrest of the Newton second grade teacher by local and Federal authorities for posing children naked proves the danger these deviates pose. To cast these threats off as mere" aberrations" Implies you are willing to accept child abuse . The sex offender list works when responsible employers and educators use it . You and the New England Conservatory need to revisit your priorities.

Zander was not the only faculty member who knew of Benjamin's past. But after Zander's abrupt dismissal, who do you think is going to speak up?

Apparently you have comprehension problems. I didn't say these offenders shouldn't be arrested and punished. What I said was that overemphasis of them makes people overconfident that child abuse is being beaten back. These cases of predators taking advantage of random children are a very small percentage of the child sexual abuse in our society. For every one of these cases there are several times more children being abused close to home. It's not me who's uneducated.

Wow, you defenders sound like nuts jobs. This pedophile had hundreds of VIDEO'S and PHOTO'S of children on his PC. What do you think he was doing when he saw the eight years old being sodomized? He was j***ing Off. These children are abused, kidnapped, sold, tortured and raped. Do you think he picked up the phone to the police or showed any concern for these innocent children. No, he had no feeling for them. They are trash! How did there lives turn out? What about the boys he raped and filmed? None of you nut jobs think it's a little strange that he is filming kids again? Mr. Zanders takes great pride in hiring the best. Yet, somehow he asked zero questions why a man was in jail for 5 yrs for sex crimes? Mr. Zanders job is to make sure everyone works in a safe environment. He played god at the expense of children.

Perhaps I shouldn't have used the word aberration. I meant that these cases are unusual when compared to most cases of child sexual abuse.

MichaelBates: You are aware that child rapists can not work for schools? Regardless if your the the lunch lady, janitor, filming sporting school or school plays, you prohibited. I wonder why? After all it's" not the same as producing child porn". If Zander sent a letter to parents telling them that he approved a man who had hundreds of videos of children as young as eight, being sodomized, beaten, raped and drugged, or that this same man was in jail for raping three boys and filming them, Mr. Zander would have been fired on the spot. The fact you can't understand this, is not normal and more needs to be done to educate people on this subject.

MichaelBates: You are aware that child rapists can not work for schools? Regardless if your the the lunch lady, janitor, filming sporting school or school plays, you prohibited. I wonder why? After all it's" not the same as producing child porn". If Zander sent a letter to parents telling them that he approved a man who had hundreds of videos of children as young as eight, being sodomized, beaten, raped and drugged, or that this same man was in jail for raping three boys and filming them, Mr. Zander would have been fired on the spot. The fact you can't understand this, is not normal and more needs to be done to educate people on child molesters.

PC negative:100% correct!! Some of these comments are insane!! They forget all about the victims and want to protect the child molesters. More needs to be done to protect children. I'm DISGUSTED by some of the comments!

Again, it is Mr. Zanders job to make sure everyone is in a safe environment. He failed the parents and the children. He never bothered to ask why this person was in jail for five long years for sex crimes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You think it's cool to take a chance at the expense of the kids? What if something did happen? Who fault would it be? Would we put no blame on a man who knew about his sex crimes and did nothing? Maybe schools should hire anyone who served time jail for sex crimes. Your lack all judgment for the safety of children. Stay away from my children!!!