If a Catholic priest, or, for that matter, any cleric, abuses his position in pursuit of carnal knowledge, expect the story to get front-page treatment. When a public school employee tries to improve his love life by hitting on students, no matter how young, you can find the story covered in…three paragraphs at the bottom of page 19.

“A hulking Bronx intermediate school aide known as ‘Big Tony’ was arrested yesterday on charges that he had sex with a 13-year-old girl who attends the school, law enforcement sources said,” The New York Post reported on August 9, 2007. “Anthony Casey Jr., 22, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 230 pounds, was charged with two counts of rape stemming from three sexual trysts with a JHS 162 eighth-grader, authorities said.”

“Two of the romps allegedly occurred in Casey’s Bronx apartment.” I wonder what “Big Tony” thinks of abstinence education.

Malcolm A. Kline is the executive director of Accuracy in Academia.