Young Eagles and Background Security Checks

[Jim Heffelfinger]

Back in the old days terrible things happened to our youth but we didn’t know it, people weren’t watching or looking the other way ( eg Catholic church) that is not the world we live in and I am okay with that. The days of blind faith that everyone has the best of intentions toward our youth have gone – because it isn’t true and it takes just one child that we know to go missing or be harmed to change that. We know so much more about the effects of abuse these days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advers...eriences_Study
I , like many of you, was left to roam the neighborhood all day, with one house or another hosting lunch and only at dinner would we be missed. People hitchhiked around the country, people left keys in the car and houses open in many communities. That is not the world today. FBI National Crime Information Center’s Missing Person File. In 2014 there were 466,949 entries made by law enforcement for those younger than 18.
I spent 2 ½ years working with youth in middle and high school as an AmeriCorps mentor. The training we received ( plus full DoJ checks) and enforced were put in place to protect first the students, then us and finally the organizations under whose banner we operated. We received training as mandated reporters and I had several occasions to make those reports to CPS/law enforcement. We had a dozen systems in place so that when we were meeting one-on–one or as a group there was little chance of misinterpretation of the activities we were doing. This was to assure a line of trust from students through to parents, guardians and administrators that was of the highest order.
It is true that our contacts are shorter and commonly in groups. Pilots are pretty busy in our small planes so that the possibility is low but the general public doesn’t know that. Parents send their kids to fly in tiny planes with total strangers. Parents are much more anxious these days and building trust is the first step to make that easier. This enhancement to the YE program is part of the trust cycle.
I know that many of our pilots/volunteers will feel put out and leap to the conclusion that they are not trusted. This is a natural reaction ( see posts above) but it’s not about you, it’s about the kids and their parents. Many of us have difficulty with change and this is a bit of a grief cycle to deal with. I hope that those members and chapters will have a chance to work through the feelings and return. If not, you can be very proud of the work you have done, the fostering of love of aviation and supporting career paths in the field . Young Eagles- the world’s greatest outreach program.
We already know that there will be tweaks to this program and our constructive feedback will make it better and more functional.

[Mark van Wyk]

http://www.twincities.com/crime/ci_2...ual-abuse-case

This link was posted on the AOPA Red Board. Note the text in the middle of the article highlighted in bold:

Ramsey man faces more charges in sexual abuse case
By Sarah Horner
shorner@pioneerpress.com
Posted: 01/23/2014 12:01:00 AM CST | Updated: about a year ago

A Ramsey man who used to volunteer with youth faces more charges of sexual abuse against children.

Chad Michael Geyen, 44, was charged in Anoka County Court in November with three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct based on allegations that he had inappropriate sexual relations with four underage boys.

The Anoka County Attorney's office since has tacked on four additional charges related to the discovery of two other alleged victims.

Geyen now faces a total of five counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of solicitation of a child to engage in sexual conduct, according to an amended criminal complaint filed last week in Anoka County Court.

Geyen made his first appearance Thursday on the new charges. He has been free on bail since the first charges were filed against him, according to Amanda Vickstrom, spokesman for the county attorney's office.

Neither he nor his attorney Ryan Garry could be reached for comment Thursday.

Geyen's alleged victims, four of whom are now adults, were from the ages of 4 to 10 when Geyen reportedly began sexually abusing them, according to the complaint.

Geyen is accused of engaging in hundreds of sexual acts with the victims, including oral and anal sex and inappropriate touching.

The abuse is alleged to have taken place at Geyen's home, his cabin, a YMCA, the Blaine airport and in Geyen's Cessna 177 Cardinal airplane.
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The father of two has a private pilot's license and volunteers with the Experimental Aircraft Association's Young Eagles program, which coordinates flights with volunteer pilots for young people interested in flying.

Geyen has flown with more than 100 Young Eagles.

He also volunteered with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program in the Twin Cities from 1989 to 1993, where he met at least one of his alleged victims, according to authorities.

That young man, now 26, served as the ring bearer in Geyen's wedding and temporarily lived with him as his foster child.

The amended complaint also reveals new information of Geyen's life online.

According to an analysis of his computer, he reportedly frequented a website called boylinks.net and created a fake Facebook profile pretending to be a 13-year-old girl. Geyen allegedly interacted with six male teens online under that guise, the complaint said.

His next court appearance is Feb. 21.

Sarah Horner can be reached at 651-228-5539.

Follow her at twitter.com/hornsarah.

[Dave S]

I don't particularly like the idea of a background check but I understand the need for it. My problem is submitting my SSN to an anonymous website. The police can run an instant background check using a driver's license number. Why can't who ever is conducting the check for EAA do the same?

[FlyingRon]

I'm not supposed to be within 200 feet of a school...or a Chuck E. Cheese.

[tomkk]

I don't particularly like the idea of a background but I understand the need for it. My problem is submitting my SSN to an anonymous website. The police can run an instant background check using a driver's license number. Why can't who ever is conducting the check for EAA do the same?

That's the only problem I have. Understand completely the social pressure for background checks, although it's pretty superfluous in the presence of the two person rule, I just don't understand why it was implemented this way wit 2nd and 3rd tier subcontractors, questionable URLs, etc.

[Jeff Point]

The story that Mark posted is awful and is exactly the kind of nightmare scenario that everyone fears, me included.

Having said that, please explain how EAA's new policy, had it been in effect then, would have prevented this? Was he a previously convicted sex offender? Would a background check have revealed anything alarming?

The answer is that in al likelihood, it would not have prevented this. That's why the term "security theater" is used to describe it.

[combahee]

http://www.twincities.com/crime/ci_2...ual-abuse-case

This link was posted on the AOPA Red Board. Note the text in the middle of the article highlighted in bold:

.

So tell me Mark, did this man have a prior record or was he a registered sex offender? Would the EAA's program have caught him? Did he violate anything at the YE flights?

[Mike M]

May we continue to use those Young Eagle brochures for individual (non-Rally) flights without background checks? Did we miss the answer?

And it is still not clear to me if we are now not allowed to perform young eagle flights without being the above stated rigid environment....

OK, for us stupid people...does this mean an individual aviator can't tell a kid at church that flying is fun, offer to take the kid flying, and get the parent's written and signed permission on a young eagles form to take the kid in a two-seat aircraft - without going through all this gobbledegook too???

Remember Exemption 10841? We rejected it. Too onerous. Same thing here? For many, apparently so (emphasis added):

This just continues to make flying less fun and less worthy of sharing - the economic burden is already a barrier of entry to so many, let's make it better by cordoning off the airports and treating the guys who give so much as if they are one step away from becoming monsters.

...I have to weigh in that I see this as equivalent to the big tall black chain link fence that the FAA pays for around our airport. Even though the folks inside the fence smile, the message is still "go away you are not welcome we don't trust you"...

...Not to mention even more structured planning and regimented "rally"... rather than enjoying a day at the airport and sharing our enjoyment of the sport of aviation, we will have to "execute" a 'airplane ride'.

I was blessed to have a happy career getting "paid to fly." The common thread peeking out of the weave here is that so many others are in aviation for the same reason. Not just silly grin fun. The good people we work with. As the FAA reminds us, flight time is compensation. The money was to PUT UP WITH THE BULL MANURE. Eventually the bull goes to the slaughterhouse. Mmm, mmm, t-bone steaks.

(P.S. Three people in my immediate family have been sexually molested, one by a neighbor who was a disabled WWI vet, one when 4yo in the Oshkosh college dorm during whatever they called the convention in '74, one as a young teen by a retired Marine. I know s-it happens. We all are fine, thank you very much.)

[DanH]

Balance.

For every Geyen, we have 20,000 or more volunteers and pilots who are very fine people.

This is Raymond Griffin:



Raymond was one of the ten charter members of our Chapter, and big believer in the YE program. Early on, he noticed something; parents who brought their kids to YE events very often had younger children (less then 7 years old) in tow, and very often those children were hugely disappointed when told they were not old enough for a flight. So Raymond, at around age 80, decided to do something about it. Over the next ten years, working mostly alone in a small shop behind his house, he built two biplanes on powered pedestals, with fully operating controls. And then he donated them to the Chapter.



The "simulators" are very popular. We've taken them to regional fly-ins and the local Air Force base, as well as setting them up at our own YE/Airport Open House events. Naturally, since they're intended to serve the needs of very small children, they require a lot of supervision. And I might add, since many of the children need a bit of help to enter and exit these "real" airplanes, that means picking them up...you know, actually touching them. We depend heavily on volunteers to run the simulators. Here's one:



I apologize sincerely, but I don't know this young lady's name. I think she is related to one of our members. The point here is that she was a true volunteer that day, a walk-on, someone who offered to spend her day making small kids very happy with an airplane experience.

Raymond died a few weeks ago. I knew him as well as anyone, and I'm pretty sure he would have told HQ to stuff their background check. I can't speak for the young lady. I can say that YE is a heck of a lot more than paperwork and rules and corporate style CYA, and demanding pedophile checks from such people is a gross disconnect from reality at the Chapter level.

[skyfixer8]

I'd like to add my $.02 worth with a couple questions for any staff reading these. Since the main argument seems to be having to give out a SSN for a verification check (? ), why doesn't EAA TELL this company they have hired that this WILL NOT not be a requirement. Second, how about local law enforcement at the chapter locations doing the background check and then signing off on an EAA document to be kept by the chapter ? Just a thought.

Bill Landry