I happen to agree , I have been following this case since I first heard about it in 1990 , and then with the exceptionally high number of priest-pedophile cases in the area (Behind the Pine Curtain) the silence & inaction of LE made me wonder if some of them had something to hide.
I would have been wrong of course (regarding the Wetterling case) .... but there remains the aroma of that strange silence from law enforcement ... they never pointed fingers at the likely suspects
But when it came to the totally innocent Dan Rassier they did not hesitate to splash it all over the news
The aroma lingers.
I am not sure of the mechanisms at play for LEO in that area-- hiding something or no. But I think it is important to remember that the priest-pedophile cases and pedophile cases in general were very uncomfortable back before Jacob's abduction. In my area, many in LE were Catholic and defended the church vehemently because it was a power structure and a major anchor in their lives. I think that for the LEO who were not abused (or, even some who were abused) the thought of going against the church and their community was unthinkable. Additionally, LEO would often counsel families to let abuses go because of the embarrassment for the family or child if it went to court-- the shame, guilt and humiliation. This was one of the reasons that pedophile could reoffend. With issues involving priests, the religious power structures shuffled them around when their crimes came to light as families often went to the church rather than LE-- some families receiving pay-offs if the crimes against their children were heinous enough, more often for female survivors rather than male.
Real training for LEOs in relation to sexual abuse was not something that was instituted before the 1980s with few exceptions. This timeline, (
http://www.scouting.org/BSAYouthProtection/Media_Center/SocietalTimeline.aspx) published by scouting.org, gives a nice view of how that structure began to develop language and program to protect children among politicians, LE, and social organizations. Most LE did not have sexual abuse training available to them until the mid-1980s. I would venture that the officers in the St. Joe's area were not trained on the crest of the wave. Given that they questioned the witnesses about Jacob running away and Patty Wetterling talked about hearing a radio report that said they were looking for a boy lost in the woods, we can infer that the LE in this case got some serious on the job training during the abduction of Jacob which led them back to the other non-discussed Paynesville assaults. We continually hear how this area lost their innocence with this case. I submit that the innocence of many children and families had been lost prior --causing an exquisitely painful secret club ---and that the LE in the area lost their innocence then.
It is important to recognize that there are still pockets of society that can't or won't break down the stigma that sexual abuse has for them, particularly when it comes to males. When I worked at a Rape Crisis Center in the late 80s and into the 90s, I would often encounter LEOs who couldn't see that sexual assault is violence (power over through terror and taboo), not sex. By viewing the situation as sexual rather than violence, the taboos we have as a society in discussing sex take over. Unfortunately for many survivors over time, the officers (untrained in sexual abuse and assault) were the first men and women on the scene and their reports to higher ups set the tone of the investigation. In some areas of my service, we had town LE that refused to believe that assaults could occur among the wealthy.
The monster in this case was on their radar but they didn't connect the assaults or MO and keep the pressure on because they had no tools to really do so. (The largest mistake was the error in thinking that the perp didn't have a car.) The DR stuff came to light after much learning occurred and he appeared more fragile and emotional or suggestible as he questioned his own ability to commit the crime. DR was profiled as a quirky, non-typical male, living at home, running around the area, and emotional alternating between high emotion and strange indifference. He didn't react as one would have thought when he first encountered LE on his property. It may have been easier to see him as the perpetrator because some questioned his sexuality given his profile-- that whole manly man seek women garbage.
Unfortunately, there were lots of monsters in the world that looked like the monster who killed Jacob and committed these crimes. I believe there are still too many monsters on the loose. In fact, this monster had also been abused by a serial abuser. But, the topic was taboo, no psychological help was ever given and the cycle perpetuated itself with more violence.
This case gives the largest credence to the idea that training, more training, and excellent leadership are the best tools in prevention of serial sexual abusers. LE has an obligation to protect us from monsters. As citizens we are also responsible to protect our children by not closing our eyes, giving our children tools if they encounter monsters, and challenging our LE to make sure they are skilled and capable when it comes to the finding and holding abusers accountable.
In short, I believe the aroma of strange silence was due to lack of training and structures to bring forth these crimes into the light resulting in the historic stance that it was better banish the crimes to hushed tones and beliefs that just moving on rather than dealing was better for the survivor and the community. Thank goodness we have structures that provide training which unfortunately come from the price that many children have paid. People like Patty have indeed changed the world.
JMHO