It is the same problem that lead to the scandal in the Catholic Church a couple of decades back. Should the priests that were repeatedly accused of sexual misconduct keep getting rotated to positions of authority just because they weren’t convicted? Of course not. Prudence demands they not be given opportunity to continue to molest kids if they are even likely guilty, maybe even possibly guilty.
I hear you, but I think there are some distinctions to be made:
First, one of the problems with the priest scandals, and this was explained to me by a priest who was trained as a Canon lawyer and served as that for our archdiocese before he retired: The tradition in the church is that when it comes to pastoral matters, priests are to be judged by Canon law, not secular law. So while certainly a lot of the motive behind covering up the scandals was to save face and civil liability for the Church, part of it was also to keep it “in the jurisdiction of Canon law” as a matter of principle.
Unfortunately Canon law is woefully out of date in its understanding of sexual predation. In Canon law, if a priest repents, says he won’t do it again and gets absolution, Canon law takes him at his word and gives him the benefit of the doubt. Of course Canon law was written before we had the understanding of the behavior of sexual predators.
My daughter was in the Sexually Violent Predators Unit of the state Attorney General’s office. Her job was to to bring cases against predators who were being discharged from the criminal justice system and to commit them, like an insane person would be committed, to a purpose-built facility in the state. She had to learn every aspect of sexual predation. She told me there is solid evidence that serious predators rarely stop their predation and there are clear signs of whether a predator will likely continue to be a danger. Canon law ignores that learning.
Second, children who have been molested rarely lie about that unless they have been coached to lie. Adult sex scandals can go either way. There can be motives for people to claim sexual harassment that can lead them to falsely accuse. Not saying that is typical, just that it is possible enough that thorough due process should be taken.
Third, a politician who is accused of harassment is dealing with adults, who can get redress if the accused person harasses. Children need special protection.
