“While we remind everyone that in this country, one is innocent until proven guilty’

tell that to the lacrosse team…..

Mr. Lombard’s pictures and identity being purged from ECOTA’s website indeed reminds one of Stáljinist Russia (or Maoist China) where photographs would be airbrushed of undesireable faces.

It’s probably down to nothing more base than pure mindless panic.

Especially if they’ve been so proud of being inclusive and non-prejudicial, and especially if (allegedly) this man has been more or less their poster boy on racism and gay parenting and so forth.

I imagine they’ve got policies out the door on dealing with this kind of thing, but of course they never dreamed they would actually have to use them, and the first reaction is to purge this guy and say nothing.

I imagine the neighbours are feeling the same way – ‘But he was so charming! How could this be happening here, where we’re all so enlightened and progressive?’

I wouldn’t be surprised if legal advice is telling everyone to say nothing and keep on saying it until a subpoena is actually shoved into their hands, either.

It does seem a little strange; enocommons.org was functional at least last month, but not now. The cached version’s still there and the section about the kids in the community spooks me a bit.

ECOTA’s been preaching about how “inclusive” and “loving” they are. Turns out their poster boy betrayed them. Now they are acting as if they had their hands in the cookie jar and are trying to cover it up.

No one will say what you suggest, Chris, because they don’t have the first clue about sin, God’s grace, forgiveness and healing posers, or how Christians are supposed to behave. That’s why the cover-up. That is why the embarrassment. It’s all PR to them. Their cozy little make-believe world got shattered and they do not know what to do!

Llano Estacado, your post about the neighborhood website’s being taken down reinforces another unhappy idea which has just occurred to me. Lombard was a vestry member. In many parishes Vestry take functional responsibilities for some segment of church life. I have a vague idea that the newsletter photo I saw was of a procession led by a young person carrying a cross. Was his specialty “youth ministry?” In addition to website scrubbing the vicar may be talking to practically everyone in an attempt to gauge the extent, if any, of Lombard’s nefarious activity in the parish. I’m giving the vicar and parish the benefit of the doubt for this one week based upon Todd Granger’s post at SF saying that while he disagrees theologically with this vicar he knows her and considers her a nice and well-intentioned person. She may be trying to get a handle on exactly what she’s dealing with.

They should get some kind of statement out by the end of this week, however, and I hope she’s visited Lombard in jail.

None of this excuses the curious lack of biographical investigation from the Triangle area press. At least the N&O went out to the neighborhood. That’s more than the TV stations seem to have done. Odd.

Katherine,
I could very well be mistaken, but I think what we are seeing is effect that PC-ness has had on the media. You have to remember that the Triangle area of NC is the heart of Liberalism in North Carolina. And Chapel Hill, Raleigh/Durham are right in the middle of it.

I take it this guy was some kind of big wig at Duke University – Director of Global Health? What in heaven’s name is this all about. It could be that the University is calling in some favors from the press to not rock the academic boat. A sex scandal with an athletic team is a different thing. But it sounds like this guy is a member of a “protected class” and the press is afraid to go after him.

I smell several rats her, the University, ECOTA, the homosex community lobbyists, etc., etc. Who knows, there could be some political angles that we do not know about yet. What kind of background checks was he subject to during the adoption process? Has there been a history of pedophilia with Lombard before these incidents came to light? I some state or county agency trying to cover up an administrative oversight?

This is the kind of thing I am thinking may be going on. Is the press so tame in the Triangle that certain institutions or policies are off-limits for them? Inquiring minds want to know.

If I were you, Katherine, I would be looking at what the Charlotte Observer has about this case. That might tell us something.

I think the parish (mission) might at some level understand that this could well spell their demise–not because gay equals paedophilia, or because there were necessarily victims in the parish, or because there was any malfeasance on the part of the church (although in time more along those lines might come out). They understand, I suspect, that people understand that this was a place where a person without any moral scruples felt comfortable and welcome–which means others of similar bent might as well. So there’s almost instantly a creepiness about such a place that will keep others–certainly those with children–away, whatever their politics. How will in their context the smug proclamation that they are “inclusive” ever, ever NOT carry with it the memory of this monster? How can they ever again without snickers (or shivers) assert that God loves you just the way you are and isn’t asking you to change? How can they ever again say, “God made you this way and loves you just like that,” without people running for the doors? The parish is acting suspiciously and irrationally and furtively, but even if totally innocent they might feel they have no choice if they are going to survive.

Did you know that there is a group lobbying the APA (psychology and psychiatry) groups to ‘include’ inter-generational ‘love’ or ‘child sexual rights’ as these #$@!*)! predators euphemistically call their sicko proclivities.

What they are really doing is lobbying the right to destroy a child emotionally – as if they were slashing them to pieces physically with knives.

Remember the lifelong destructive effects the molestation of the Episcopal priest had on the men who attended the Texas boarding school?

Remember the lack of righteous response of the adults when these boys told about the abuse???

Look for the children to receive the least consideration, to be the least valued and cared about in this matter.

After all, the right to sex with anyone, any way, any time, is the most primary human rights issue in the good old USA today.

Kill any infant that gets in the way.

Defame, deride, or prosecute anyone who disagrees or gets in the way of these Sexual Rights.

Did you know that in the state of Georgia (don’t know about other states), nursing homes have to provide a room, no questions asked, for anyone male/female/married/single who wants to engage in sexual acts?

Occam’s Razor.

Allen Lewis, I know about the Research Triangle political climate. I live there when I’m not overseas. The news outlets and academics will behave like pit bulls when some loutish drunken sports team is accused of rape, especially if they’re white and the alleged victim is black. In this case, I doubt that an associate director at a Duke medical research group carries the kind of clout that a professor does. The problem is more likely the liberal world view of academia and the social elite in the area. The accused in this case represents two protected classes — partnered gays and blacks (the child victims). My U.S. Congressman is a liberal former Duke academic and is re-elected with large margins every two years. The idea that something might be wrong with the liberal paradigm doesn’t even occur to newspeople there.

It could also be that the newspaper
still remembers their whole-hearted acceptance of accusations against the lacrosse team and subsequent embarrassment when they were proved innocent, and is reluctant to cast stones in this case lest the same embarrassment ensue.
Far safer to let it play out in court and then report it.

So there’s almost instantly a creepiness about such a place that will keep others–certainly those with children–away, whatever their politics.

Funny you should mention that. A very liberal New Agey friend of mine used to attend a very liberal UCC church here in Winston-Salem. (Yes, I know: “very liberal UCC church” is redundant. Sorry.) Anyway, she stopped attending because all the lesbians made her feel really uncomfortable. Even liberals, if they’re halfway normal, can pick up on the Creepy Index.

Yeah, I can see that, Marie, but the papers haven’t even published a general biography of the guy. The neighbors won’t talk, and the church is busily removing internet links, but they could ask Duke co-workers about him, couldn’t they?

diane in nc with a small d,

Your friend is no aberration, either. I’m aware of a very liberal church full of very liberal people who hired a flamboyantly gay man to be the youth director. The program went into steep descent, because the very liberal parents with very liberal opinions on gay rights weren’t comfortable having their children in such a situation. And that was nothing like the situation in this parish, where something uber-creepy was going on.

I imagine the neighbours are terrified of guilt by association – of being tarred with the same brush.

Would any of us fancy trying to explain, today at coffee break in our place of work, “Yeah, I was the guy’s next-door neighbour and he was on the Resident’s Association but I didn’t really know him” or “We had no idea what was going on there”?

I can understand why both the community and the church are trying to avoid all publicity, especially if the church thinks it might be sued by someone or other, or even worse – that he might have molested the young children of other congregants. They really do need to put up some kind of statement, but I would feel safe betting they’re (1) scrabbling about looking for legal and PR advice, and terrified of doing anything that might be construed as prejudicial to any potential court cases that might be in the offing (2) waiting to hear from the bishop or the diocesan child protection committee or the pastoral council or whomever.

I certainly don’t envy anyone associated with this mess – good God almighty, the abuse of a five year old child? from an even younger age? it’s appalling!

Sinner, if you are reading, do you think this man’s behavior is wrong? Can you fault us for wanting to prevent this? Do you think it is mean spirited and inquisitorial to do so?

Allen, you’re right – that’s an angle I hadn’t considered. Whoever was responsible for giving the go-ahead to this guy to adopt those children is going to be for the chop, and more heads likely to roll.

This is going to drag in a lot of people; I wonder will there be an investigation to see if anyone else associated with Duke was involved in a paedophile ring with this guy? Imagine the papers getting their teeth into that!

Duke not being a Catholic institution, Fuinseoig, you’ll need to settle for imagining.

I imagine the neighbours are terrified of guilt by association – of being tarred with the same brush.

Which makes it all that stranger that their reaction is to close ranks around the accused and stonewall. Most innocent bystanders in such a situation would feel a compulsion to utter the disclaimers you mention, frequently and to anyone who would listen. It’s unusual to see a normal community act like this, especially when a scandal is brand new. After a long period of media harassment, sure, people get fed up and just want them to go away. But on the first day? That usually only happens with close-knit, small groups with something of the cult about them.

My gut feeling is that this “co-housing community” which “emphasizes communal life” is a pervert colony, and the other people are dummying up because they don’t want the scrutiny of their OWN lives that this is going to produce.

For the benefit of doubt, the neighbors may also just be protecting the partner who was away when the “alleged” activity took place.

When there have been other sex crime stories, the newspapers get the usual run of “He seemed like such a nice guy, we had no idea!” That’s what I would expect. I have to agree that there’s something a bit strange about this.

Dr. Mabuse -
I think you may have hit on something there. Whatever is a “co-community?” Is it something like a commune?

When one thinks this through, it just gets more bizarre by the minute!

“If I were you, Katherine, I would be looking at what the Charlotte Observer has about this case. That might tell us something.”
I wish that Allen Lewis were more correct in his presumption that the Charlotte Observer’s crack team of investigators would look more intently at something the Raleigh News & Observer has glossed over.
Unfortunately, as someone who lives in Charlotte and due to non-competition is forced to read the Disturber, within the past year the Observer was bought by the folks that own the N&O. In an effort to reduce costs, news articles written by one paper will not have their efforts duplicated by the other. A fact that I lament almost as much as when the then-owners of the Observer bought the Charlotte News, combined their staffs, and shut down the News (which, to me, was the better of the two papers)leaving us a one-newspaper town.
FWIW.

The triumph of the self and the resulting “hell on earth” do not surprise me. Instances such as this, and the consecration of a practicing sodomite as “bishop” of a “Christian” church, are the natural progression of the “Enlightenment” and the English utilitarian philosophers, coupled with a general loss of faith and a belief in revelation and natural law as guides to moral behavior. The “Godess of Reason” and the “greatest good for the greatest number” now are the guiding principles of society. “Reason” is used to justify the killing of the unborn because they are “reasonably” inconvenient, just as “reason” said the Jews in Nazi Germany were inconvenient. “Reason” cannot forbid selling children for sex. Revelation and natural law can, but they are no longer our controllng truths. Unfortunately, the English philosophers did not foresee the consequences of “the greatest good for the greatest number” when society was dominated by political correctness, moral depravity and sexual perversion. I fear we have a long way to go before all of this finally plays out and the descent is going to be very, very steep.

Michael: Just thank the good Lord that you do not have to line your bird-cage with the Winston-Salem Urinal. :p

In a sane world (and it’s too bad we don’t live in one), the local news would be asking the child welfare authorities how it was that two gay men who live in a commune were be allowed to adopt two young boys. This had red flags all over it, way before the child abuse allegations arose.

Ed, I think the first thing (okay, maybe the second thing) the cops will do is apply to seize his work computer to see if he has anything on the hard drive.

When the forensic team is coming out the door with the PC or laptop or whatever, I think even the liberal papers will have to cover that.

And the guy’s partner – even if he is completely innocent, which is feasible, he’s going to be investigated as a matter of routine, and that’s another wreck – there will be those who think that “Come on, you must have known what was going on; maybe you were involved yourself.” There’s a whole ripple effect spreading out from this, and we’re just seeing the beginning of it.

I think jumping to the conclusion that this private housing estate is a nest of child molesters and perverts is a big leap; it sounds like a nice little enclave of relatively well-off people who wanted ‘people like us’ and got more than they bargained for. Now they’re reacting in the natural human way of sticking their head in the sand and hoping it’ll all go away if they just run the nosy parkers from the papers and the tv news off – but that’s not going to happen.

These predators are very charming, very plausible, very friendly; they deliberately set out to make themselves well-liked and part of the community in order to avert suspicion and worm their way in. Speaking from the RC side, in many (not all, not even a lot, but many) instances where there was an abusive priest, the parishioners didn’t want him moved or told to stand down while being investigated; everyone loved Fr. So-and-So who was such a great guy and did so much for the parish and these charges were just crazy and would be seen to be false!

In Ireland, we’ve also had respectable people like a judge, a swimming coach for the national team and the husband of a celebrity chef found out to be paedophiles. It’s not the guy in the dirty mac lurking in the bushes in the park who’s the one targeting kids; it’s the pillar of society who does so much voluntary work and is such a great guy.

Very well said, Fuinseog-

The computer will be investigated as will the partner.

I think you’re right. To sugegst that the whole commune was a enclave of child molesters is making a big leap, and the residents are doing what one would expect-trying to avoid notice.

That, too is excactly what child molesters do. They worm themselves in to avert suspicion and can often seem to be the most plausible, charming people. That gives them an entre to places where lot of kids are.

Dr. Mabuse, I was curious myself as to what on earth a “co-housing community” could be. Like everything else nowadays, it has its own web site:

http://www.cohousing.org/what_is_cohousing

It seems to be a movement trying to deliberately recreate small town/village-type life, with a smattering of eco-trendiness and a definite savour of ‘hipper than thou’ to it. God help them, it’s very ironic reading the Eno Commons page:

“http://www.cohousing.org/directory/view/2663

Ours is a community of 22 households of folks who have chosen to live here because they want to know their neighbors and be involved. We have clustered our homes to free up more common spaces for play and mutual enjoyment. We have a commons house that is the focus of shared meals and activities. We have an organic vegetable garden that we share as well. We care deeply about our children and want them to grow up in a friendly and stimulating environment. We have designed our community to facilitate spontaneous interactions. For example, cars are located near the edges of the property; the space inside is reserved for people. We believe in learning through the diversity of each other.

We believe we are connected to the larger communities of our adjacent neighborhoods, our city, our county, and our world. Hopefully we will make a difference in each other’s lives and the life of our planet through work and play freely given.”

I get the feeling from this that Lombard may have chosen this place not because it was a nest of like-minded perverts, but because it was small enough and private enough for him to have absolute control over who his children interacted with and what the day-to-day routine was like. A very small group of private housing with (presumably) good security to keep out the riff-raff, no chance of strangers turning up who might be struck by any oddity in behaviour, neighbours whose work schedules he could familiarise himself with so as to know the optimum time for privacy for his activities, the opportunity to make himself personally known and lull suspicions, everyone involved in the ‘let’s not crush the child’s natural creativity by imposing the rote school schedule on him or her, so of course you can take little Moonbeam or Pixie Blossom out of class anytime you like’ mindset… yeah. Perfect for his purposes.

Very astute, Fuinseoig-

I think that would be exactly the thought process of an abuser.

“Learning through the diversity of others” has a really chilling connotation given the circumstances. I suspect that all the other neighbors are wondering what kind of contact Lombard had with their kids.

Yeah…Eno Commons sounds absolutely…crunchy.

Their website is a trip.

Fenelon, that’s the horror of it. The website gave a population of 38 adults – that’s a very small pool, and even if most of them are single/childess, there must be a few kids there.

And naturally, in a small society like that, who would think twice about letting good old neighbour Frank babysit your kids, or have them over to play with his own?

I’m sure the parents are in absolute fear and terror right about now. God help them!

I guess the cached version I was looking at was their old site. But I was struck with a paragraph titled “Paradise for Children” – what got me, and I’m not blaming the community, is that it was anything but paradise for Lombard’s adopted kids.

Michael -
Sorry. My experiences with the Observer were back in the day when it was a real newspaprer, with reporters such as Kays Gary writing for it. That should give you an idea how old I am.

I had not been keeping up with the paper, because we cannot get it here anymore. But I guess all daily newspapers are hurting these days.

Yes, the Eco-Commons would be an ideal place for Lombard to hide his perversion. Especially with people yapping about “diversity” and being oh so liberal and inclusive with two gay daddies in their snug little neighborhood.

What a crock!

If you go to Stand Firm, beginning here, commenter “kilash” has discovered that the Eno Commons co-housing community is gay-friendly by design. “Mari,” at comment #37, says the Duke Chronicle reported that the community was set up by a lesbian who is an active supporter of gay parenting.

Further, WRAL (CBS affiliate) is reporting that gay adoptive parents in North Carolina are worried that this story will affect their situations. The article says that extensive investigations are done of prospective adoptive parents. Either Lombard is a good liar or somebody missed something. Maybe he even used his church activities as a character reference.

So the silence of the news is indeed political.

My comment is in moderation. Too many hyperlinks, perhaps. Anyhow, the Eno Commons community is indeed a place where gay parents are made welcome by design. Hence the neighborhood not wanting to talk about it.

Katherine, I hope your comment makes it out of moderation, because I am interested in those hyperlinks. (Assuming they don’t lead someplace so explicit it will give me nightmares.)

Nasty, Brutish and Short: I agree 100%. But, as someone else said, NC DSS is a strange bunch.

Fuinseoig, the cops are going to turn this guy more inside out than the alien in the transporter in Galaxy Quest. The newsies likely will not, because evil criminal depravity aside he’s Their Sort.

diane, go to Stand Firm, click on the article titled “Attempt to ‘Disappear’ Frank Lombard Moves from church to Commune,” and read the comments. Summarizing, the “co-housing community” is sort of a communal living arrangement, and this one was reportedly founded by a lesbian at Duke, and may contain more than this one gay couple with children. It’s no wonder they won’t talk. They must be very worried, and both there and at the church there must be investigations to determine if there’s abuse of any children other than the one for which Lombard is currently charged.

As to moderation, Chris Johnson has a day job and can’t monitor this place all the time! I don’t usually end up in moderation, but there must have been something about the comment. No worries.

Katherine, thanks! That’s where I’ll go during my lunch break.

http://www.episdionc.org/ – There’s the statement you guys wanted.

Greg Griffith et al (I guess that includes this journal) are capitalizing on the Lombard case to target the liberal Episcopal church for their own political reasons. It is unfortunate, TRAGIC that this type of awful crime happens, but there’s an awful lot of mud-slinging and homophobia happening when it is pretty evident upon honest reflection that pedophilia is a different issue from homosexuality.

[...] decent statement.   The person who alerted me to it felt the need to add [...]

[...] than something to mention in passing, is that there is a Frank Lombard, with a Duke email address, on the vestry of the Episcopal Church of the Advocate in nearby Carrboro, North Carolina (listed here as a “gay friendly” church)… who is involved in anti-racism [...]

[...] to News&Observer.com, the Commons “have kept reporters out.” The midwest conservative journal gives more detail about these neighbors living in communal paradise: A Raleigh News & Observer [...]