The Washington Post are reporting that Rick Curl, once legendary, now infamous, youth swim coach to

You can weigh justice or money…

many of the US’ top swimmers of recent times, will plead guilty to charges of sex abuse dating back thirty years. The victim, Kelly Currin, went public with her allegations this past summer during the Olympics, and now it would appear that justice is finally being served.

There’s nothing we can say to further cement Curl’s status as a sex offender, and there’s no platitude we could offer to deepen anyone’s sympathy for the victim, who is now in her forties. Instead, we look only to comment on one detail that surrounds the five-year pattern of abuse that the defendant is pleading guilty to.

Read down through the linked article – for us the most depressing aspect of this story is what occurred all those years ago when –

“In 1989, Currin and her parents entered into a $150,000 confidentiality deal with Curl, agreeing not to disclose details of her years-long sexual contact with him.”

The italics are ours, but they’re not strong enough to convey our incredulity. Not at the crime – heinous that it is, it’s unfortunately prevalent in our society, and we suspect, shudderingly rife. Instead, we’re aghast at the cover-up. By the parents, no less. Because “confidentiality agreement” is nothing but legalese for a cover-up, so while we should be satisfied that a criminal will finally have to pay his debt, while we admit that our words can never exhibit the sympathy which the victim deserves, what we have to ask is, just what exactly were these parents thinking?

Evidence suggests that the majority of sex crimes go unpunished, if not unknown, and it’s not uncommon for victims to end up suffering twice-over as a system that should protect them ends up treating them as if they were the accused. It’s not a TV cliche that in a “He said, she said” situation, the He’s end up setting the narrative. But that can’t excuse parents taking a bribe at their daughter’s suffering.

We’re incredulous that Gerry Davies, the victim’s father, is writing to the judge to express how much Curl damaged his daughter and his family. Welcome to the party, but you’re a little late, aren’t you? A little late considering adults – defendant, parents, lawyers – decided to set a price tag on the suffering of a child. A little late when that price tag, in fact any price tag, could never, ever, accurately reflect the pain, the damage, the waste of vibrant youth. That money was even a consideration is mind-blowing to us. This was a sex crime involving a child, a physical crime with deep psychological damage, not an act of petty vandalism. To even entertain the idea that money could somehow equate justice is a moral crime, if not a legal one.

Rick Curl was/is a sex offender who tried to buy his way out of trouble, but (thanks largely to the victim) the system will at last ensure that he’ll pay the penalty. But we’re not convinced that the parents shouldn’t have to pay a price of their own, considering that they were party to putting a price on their own daughter. It’s all very well being “mad” at the damage that the defendant has done, but common sense tells us that Rick Curl is far from the only guilty party.

If you don’t agree with us, if you see the victim’s parents as secondary sufferers, then we’ll ask you just one question. How much is your child worth?

It’s perfectly natural for Mr and Mrs Davies to want their pound of flesh; but they also have to admit they were more than happy to take the dollars instead.