Lecturer Professor Amos Guiora will welcome a group of panelists on Aug. 28 to discuss his new book, “The Complicity of Silence: Confronting Ecosystems of Child Sexual Abuse in Schools.” The panelists include legal experts and law enforcement partners who will discuss institutional complicity in sexual abuse.
Guiora’s book tells the story of 12-year-old Jeremy Bell, who was killed in 1997 by a serial pedophile, teacher and principal who taught for decades in Pennsylvania and West Virginia despite complaints submitted to school administrators. With the help of private investigator Dan Barber, who documented and solved the case, Guiora uses facts from the Bell case to demonstrate how a network of enablers and bystanders allowed a proven predator to access children at schools from 1975 to 2001.
In “The Complicity of Silence,” Guiora also advocates for broader policy changes and social safeguards necessary to prevent such disasters from occurring in the future.
Learn more about the book panel.
Professor Randy Dryer will moderate the event, and panelists include:
- Amos Guiora, Professor of Law, S.J. Quinney College of Law
- Michelle M. Oldroyd, director of professional education at the Utah State Bar
- Adam Sorenson, Associate, Gross & Rooney
- Ken Wallentine, Chief, West Jordan Police Department