Comedian D.L. Hughley is never afraid to tackle controversial topics and he remained true to that when it comes to parents leaving their children in others’ care.
Hughley led the discussion on his TVOne show concerning reports there are more than 12,000 alleged abuse victims in the Boy Scouts of America, as reported in court documents released April 23. The files, which also state up to 7,819 leaders and volunteers are said to be behind the abuse, are connected to a sex abuse case in Minnesota, WSB-TV reported.
“One thing that these things tend to have in common is they have — whether it’s the Catholic Church or whether its television stars or music stars or even Boy Scouts or even Jehovah’s Witnesses, these Christian organizations — is that they have a group that’s above reproach and other groups that are designed to protect that person’s reputation,” the activist and comic says in the clip from “The D.L. Hughley Show” that was shared to his Instagram account Wednesday. “If you’re a Boy Scout, you look at all the things that happened, there were district attorneys and there were judges and police officers that wanted to protect that institution’s reputation.”
Hughley said the same thing happened concerning Penn State, which saw former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky convicted on multiple charges in a 2012 child sex abuse scandal. He also pointed out the same issue with the Catholic Church, which has been rocked by reports of abuse for years.
“There also were predators who were mixed in among everybody else,” Hughley continues, speculating about the nature of the alleged abuse. “They had a ready supply of people who would drop their children off to them and not question them. … The victimizer bears the most responsibility. But the people who looked the other way, too. If you were a judge or you were a prosecutor or you were a police officer.”
However, according to Hughley, most of the responsibility is placed on the parents.
“Parents who led their children to these men were like leading lambs to the slaughter,” he says. “You should have known what was going on with your children. … You are supposed to be the one that protects them. … When all else fails, you should at least have your mama and daddy.
“Parents have a huge responsibility,” he adds. “Who drops their children off around grown men that they don’t know? Who drops their children off and puts them in circumstances that they’re not aware of? … You’re supposed to discipline them and protect them even when we live in a society that won’t. There’s something that we’re supposed to do when no one else does.”
The message resonated with many viewers, who shared their opinions in the comments section.
“AMEN 🙌🙌 thats the way i was raised and thats how i raised children.”
“I was always at my daughter’s girl scout meetings. Stop trying to find babysitters. Be involved in your kids activities.”
“Yes Yes Yes preach D.L. I agree with everything you said Yes!”
But some questioned Hughley’s statements saying that all the blame shouldn’t be put on the parents.
“Our parents trusted family and family does it better than strangers. And my all time favorite from the people who are supposed to protect you “don’t tell outside people our business”🤔”
“I don’t think that’s exactly right to put blame on the parents. I’m sure there’s a lot of good people who have had a child that has been abused by someone who they trusted and the child’s behaviour may not have changed immediately. It’s easy to say things without experience.”
“Loved the boys scouts. I am a licensed clinical social worker so I know how dangerous this world is. We went to all the meetings and camping trips. But please know parents don’t always know when a child is being molested. Sometimes they are ashamed and don’t want to tell them or think they might get in trouble. The most caring parents might not know their child is being abused.”
