Worthy Of Our Attention

To the Editor:

Ok, I’m really trying my hardest to come to grips with how our town deals (or chooses not to deal) with very ugly matters. I was made aware recently that a Newtown coach who I personally worked with last spring was arrested and charged with crimes so serious, it pains me to even think about them. Apparently, as the story goes, allegedly this individual repeatedly over three years, sexually assaulted a family member, a child.

Even though The Bee, in its one and only story regarding this matter, buried on the bottom of the police blotter, did not specifically spell out who it was, anyone with a modicum of intelligence can decipher who the victim is. I was very irritated that the article was written with a bit too much detail as opposed to protecting the victim’s privacy; however, I found it troubling that it was given such a small space in the paper.

I now come to find out through reading the Patch online, that yet another Newtown man was arrested in the early spring for crimes beyond comprehension against very young children. So here’s where I’m getting lost. This man who coached in town was released on $500 bail... this other individual who has a pretrial hearing tomorrow is still in custody with $1 million bond. Why have we not been informed in an appropriate way by The Bee, with prominent articles about either of these issues? Do we weigh Legislative Council issues or school bus issues, which routinely appear with prominence, as more newsworthy? If these stories are not worthy of our attention as parents and residents of Newtown, I’m not sure what would be.

Rob Hoffman

9 Brandywine Lane, Sandy Hook                               August 17, 2011