NEW YORK – Advocates fighting against teachers and professors who sexually abuse students are highlighting their cause this month with a free public presentation at New York University.

The event, titled The Epidemic of Sexual Abuse in our School and Universities – How these institutions have failed students and what we must do to protect them, will feature a panel of experts on an epidemic of sexual abuse in schools that has grown to epic proportions.

New York U.S. Rep. Carol Maloney will keynote the event, which will take place at New York University Oct. 21, from 7 to 9 p.m. Maloney has helped pass legislation targeting sex trafficking, as well as measures to increase funding for law enforcement to process DNA rape kits.

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Retired judge Leslie Crocker Snyder, who founded the first sex crimes prosecution unit and co-authored New York’s Rape Shield Law, will serve as a moderator and speaker. A special panel will include Richard Condon, special commissioner of investigation for NYC schools; Mari A. Hamilton, a professor at the Benjamin Cordozo School of Law; Day One Executive Director Stephanie Nilva; and Carol Shakeshaft, chairwoman of the Department of Educational Leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University.

“The time is now … we MUST put an end to educator sexual abuse and misconduct in our schools!” according to a news release on the event distributed by Stop Educator Sexual Abuse Misconduct and Exploitation (S.E.S.A.M.E), an advocacy group at the forefront of the important issue.

The most reliable statistics, compiled by Shakeshaft several years ago, estimates that one in 10 students are sexually abused by a school employee the time they graduate high school.

That’s roughly 4.5 million children.

New York City alone spends millions each year on teachers accused of such crimes with children, because teacher tenure laws make it very difficult for school administrators to terminate the perpetrators.

EAGnews has reported on educator sexual misconduct in detail, and continues to highlight this disturbing problem with new cases virtually every day.

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Last year, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would require all school employees, including contractors, to submit to federal background checks, and prevent those with a history of violence or sexual abuse from working with kids.

That legislation would also prohibit schools from engaging in what’s known in the education world as “Passing the Trash,” in which school and union officials orchestrate deals for accused teachers that exchanges a letter of recommendation for a letter of resignation. Those deals have allowed numerous offending teachers to continue to abuse students for years.

Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey introduced the same legislation in the Senate, but objections from the nation’s teachers unions have kept the measure from moving forward.

The upcoming event at New York University is designed to raise public awareness about this growing problem, with the ultimate goal of pressuring senators into taking the matter seriously.

Toomey, who has tracked the number of cases in which teachers are arrested for abusing students, announced at a press conference in September that over 325 teachers have been arrested since Jan. 1, and new cases coming to light every day.

“Every story represents a tragedy, a childhood shattered, and a family torn by grief, betrayal and self-blame,” Toomey said at the start of the school year.

More information about educator sexual misconduct, the event at NYU, personal stories about abuse, or ways to help fight the problem are available at the S.E.S.A.M.E. website at www.sesame.net.