It's not just a Catholic problem

The clergy sex abuse scandal has focused attention on the widespread and systemic sexual abuse of children by priests.

But child sexual abuse is not just a Catholic problem.

The Catholic Church - with scandals out of the Boston and Philadelphia archdioceses, to name just two - has been at the center of child sexual abuse, but in recent years a number of horrific cases of child sex abuse has served to focus attention that it is a non-discriminating scourge.

Studies show that one in 10 children are sexually abused before their 18th birthday. It ranks the second most costly victim crime - second only to murder.

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Predatory priests

The arrest last week of Father David Poulson, of the Diocese of Erie, once again focused attention on pedophilia in the Catholic Church.

More than 10,000 Catholic priests have been credibly accused of child molestation and rape - an average of 228 cases per year since the 1950s.

But the Catholic Church, in fact, is not an outlier.

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(AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Abuse across Protestant churches

Child sex abuse happens across Protestant and evangelical churches - and, at times, at a higher rate.

An investigation by The Associated Press recently found three insurance companies in the United States that provide liability coverage for 165,000 Protestant churches typically receive 260 reports every year of children being sexually abused by Protestant clergy or other staff.

In 2013, Boz Tchividjian, a Liberty University law professor, said the Christian mission field is a "magnet" for sexual abusers.

Tchividjian, a grandson of the late evangelist the Rev. Billy Graham, excoriated evangelicals for turning a blind eye to abuse among their ranks.

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The Presbyterian Church

In recent years, the Presbyterian Church, one of the most progressive mainline denominations, has been rocked by child sexual abuse cases. The majority of cases involved the children of missionaries serving overseas from the 1950s to 1990.

In the wake of mounting allegations, the church commissioned an independent panel to investigate the reports. The panel found that at least nine individuals, including ministers ordained with the denomination, had abused children.

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A similar investigation in 2002 found "overwhelming" evidence that at least 22 girls and women had been sexually abused by a Presbyterian minister and missionary over a 40-year period.

The abuse took place in Africa and the United States.

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Matt York/AP

Southern Baptists

A survey by the Journal of Pastoral Care in 1993 found that 14 percent of Southern Baptist ministers said they had engaged in "inappropriate sexual behavior."

By 2000, a report to the Baptist General Convention found the incidence of sexual abuse by clergy had reached "horrific proportions." Victims advocates have derided church leadership for protecting predators and covering up crimes.

In 2016 the Southern Baptist Convention elected Steve Gaines as its president. A few years earlier, Gaines, at the time head of a Memphis, Tennessee, church was implicated in clergy child molestation case. Investigators said Gaines knew for years that one of his ministers had sexually molested a child. Gaines neither reported the crime to police or his congregation, police said.

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Jehovah's Witnesses

Leaked internal documents this year catapulted the Jehovah's Witnesses church unto the child sex crimes roster.

The insular church discouraged victims of sexual abuse from reporting the abuse, the documents showed.

The leaked documents exposed sexual abuse accusations from three accusers against a member of the church. The documents outline the efforts by the church to cover up the scandal and keep it from the "worldly court of law."

Since the news broke, hundreds of church members have come forward with their own accounts of abuse. Attorneys believe there are thousands of victims involved.

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Predators: not so much pastors but volunteers

The majority of accused predators in faith settings are not clergy or staff but church volunteers.

That is according to the Christian Ministry Resources, which serves more than 75,000 congregations and 1,000 denominational agencies nationwide.

Annual surveys from the organization suggest that in recent years, the pace of child-abuse allegations against American churches has averaged 70 a week.

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Carlos Osorio/AP

A trusted coach

The case of Larry Nassar serves as a tragic reminder that child sex crimes perpetrators can come under the guise of a child's most trusted coach.

Nassar, the former doctor for USA Gymnastics, represents the latest chapter of serial pedophilia in this country.

A member of Michigan State's sports medicine staff, Nassar, 54, admitted to molesting hundreds of athletes under his care. More than 300 women and girls have accused him of molestation. The abuse happened as far back as the late 1990s.

Nassar was convicted and sentenced to up to 175 years in prison.

Michigan State University has agreed to pay $500 million to settle claims by 332 abuse claimants. The agreement includes the establishment of a trust fund for future claimants.

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Evan Vucci/AP

Sexual Abuse in hockey

Former NHL hockey player Sheldon Kennedy (pictured above) in 1997 revealed he had been sexually abused by Canadian youth coach Graham James beginning when he was 14. Six other players eventually came forward as well.

Graham was a prominent coach in the Western Hockey League and was named Man of the Year by The Hockey News. The publication eventually rescinded.

Kennedy, formerly a Boston Bruins forward, is shown here testifying before Congress in 2011. He has become an advocate for victims rights.

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Mary Altaffer/AP

Boy Scouts of America scandal

Child sexual abuse occurs most readily in systems cloaked in secrecy. One of the most stunning examples of this has played out across the Boys Scouts of America.

In recent years, a myriad of reports and probes have shown that the youth organization long kept confidential files on suspected sexual abusers among its ranks.

In 2012, those newly opened files showed that authorities - from police chiefs, prosecutors, pastors and local Boy Scouts leaders - had shielded scoutmasters and others accused of molesting children.

The files included thousands of cases of child sex crimes among scouting ranks spanning decades.

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In this 2012 photo, Portland attorney Kelly Clark examines some of the 14,500 pages of previously confidential documents created by the Boy Scouts of America concerning child sexual abuse within the organization. (AP Photo/Greg Wahl-Stephens)

Scout Files Abuse

Under a court order, the Boy Scouts of America had to make public more than 1,200 files on suspected sexual molesters.

The order lifted the veil on decades of alleged abuse identifying hundreds of suspected abusers from all over the country. Among the names of predators were doctors, lawyers, politicians and policemen.

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Mel Evans/AP

Solebury School

Bucks County-based Solebury School last year came under grand jury investigation into the sexual abuse of students spanning a half century.

Investigators found that prior administrators concealed the abuse and fostered a school environment that lacked appropriate boundaries between students and faculty.

The statute of limitations bars prosecution in all but one case, and the victim in that case declines to pursue charges.

The grand jury heard from six other former students who described sexual activity with faculty and staff members.

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Charles Rex Arbogast/AP

Dennis Hastert

In 2016, Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the House in U.S. history, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for structuring payouts in order to cover up the sexual abuses he perpetrated as a wrestling coach in Illinois decades ago.

"The thing I want to do is say I'm sorry to those I've hurt and misled. They looked at me and I took advantage of them," Hastert told a judge.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin called Hastert "a serial child molester."

Hastert was released last year from a federal prison in Minnesota after serving nearly 13 months.

The former Republican powerhouse was ordered to serve two years of court-ordered supervised release .

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Cameron Hart/AP

Jerry Sandusky

Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky is serving up to 60 years in prison for sexually abusing 10 boys between 1994 and 2009.

Sandusky targeted his victims from among the boys who attended his Second Mile camp, a charity that he ran for at-risk youth. He was convicted of 45 of 48 counts of child sexual abuse against young boys from the charity

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Banned swimming coaches

Approximately 150 youth swimming coaches have been banned for life as a result of credible child sex crimes allegations against them.

In 2010, Andy King, a coach with a California aquatics club, was charged with 20 counts of lewd acts with girls 15 and younger. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison for molesting girls training with the San Jose Aquatics Club. King was alleged to have impregnated one of his victims when she was 14.

In 2008, Central Indiana Aquatics coach Brian Hindson was accused of setting up hidden cameras in locker rooms. He pleaded guilty to charges including distribution, production and possession of child pornography and was sentenced to 33 years in prison.

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A coach who failed to step up

Chuch Wielgus, who served as executive director of USA Swimming for nearly 20 years, came under fire for his handling of sex abuse cases.

In 2014, more than four years after rebuking culpability, Wielgus apologized to victims and acknowledged that he should have done more to protect athletes.

He wrote in a blog post: "I wish my eyes had been more open to the individual stories of the horrors of sexual abuse. I wish I had known more so perhaps I could have done more."

Wielgus died in 2017.

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Millions of children abused by teachers

Schools are supposed to be a safe environment for children, but they can actually be one of the most dangerous places for children with regards to sexual abuse.

A study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education found that up to 7 percent of all middle and high school students were the targets of physical sexual abuse by teachers, coaches and other adults working in the school system.

That statistic puts the number of young teens sexually abused by teachers and other school adults in the millions.

A 2015 report found that just under 500 educators were arrested in connection to child sex crimes:

3.5 million students (grades 8th-11th) reported having had physical sexual contact from an adult (most often a teacher or coach).

4.5 million children reported being shown pornography or being subjected to sexually explicit language or exhibitionism.

According to a report by The Washington Post, 35 percent of educators convicted or accused of sexual misconduct with children had used social media to gain access to their victims.

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Ultra-orthodox Jews

The New York community of ultra-Orthodox Jews has faced a backlash for asking observant Jews to consult a rabbi instead of going immediately to police with evidence of child sexual abuse.

Similar cases have sprung in other cities, including Baltimore and Miami, involving allegations of sexual misconduct by orthodox Jewish leaders.

The case involving Rabbi Shmuel Krawatsky, formerly of the Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School in Baltimore, involves the alleged abuse of at least three boys at a summer camp.

According to a report by The Jewish Week, the rabbi, who was naked and alone in a pool changing room with two alleged victims, touched the boys inappropriately before asking them to touch his "private parts" in exchange for $100."

The report also states that the rabbi threatened the young boys not to tell their parents.

Given the faith's shroud of secrecy there is no hard data regarding the number of potential abuse victims in the Orthodox Jewish community. Experts estimate that there could be thousands of victims dating back decades.

The principle of mesirah forbids reporting a Jewish practitioner to secular authorities. Issues are supposed to be handled internally within the greater faith community.

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Erin Gallagher/LEHIGH VALLEY

Neighbor, friend or family

Young children have long been taught about "stranger danger," but, in fact, most perpetrators are individuals close to a child, including a day care worker or volunteer. According to federal health authorities, pedophiles and child molesters, in general:

tend to be male

can be heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual

range in age from teens to midlife

are usually a relative, friend, or neighbor of the child

carry the abuse out in the home of the victim

often claim that they themselves were victims of childhood sexual abuse.

The majority of victims are girls. When boys are victims, the sexual abuse tends to take place outside the home, and the perpetrator may be a stranger.

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