There were decades of missed opportunities to bring William Vahey out of the shadows, The Associated Press revealed this week.
The AP report and follow-up drew on AP's global resources, as explained here by Mexico City-based Michael Weissenstein, a lead reporter in the investigation:
When did the scale of this story become evident to you?
The potential scale of William Vahey's crimes was clear
starting last month, when the FBI announced that they had photographic
evidence that 90 boys had been drugged and molested, and they were
seeking information from students and others who knew Vahey throughout
his 40-year career. The FBI quoted Vahey himself as saying to his boss,
after he was caught but before he killed himself last March, that he had
been doing this all his life. What wasn't clear was the scale of the
missed opportunities to stop Vahey far sooner. This became evident as AP
reporters around the world dug into Vahey's past, digging up records
and finding and interviewing people who had known him over the last four
decades.
What were the obstacles and challenges in reporting it out?
This was a story about one of the most sensitive and upsetting
possible topics _ child sexual molestation _ that sprawled over four
decades and 10 countries on four continents. Many of Vahey's students
from years ago now lived in other countries and never knew they had been
molested. The parents of students who are still minors understandably
were deeply concerned about their children's privacy. And schools and
law-enforcement agencies were reluctant to talk due to concerns about
privacy.
How did the global resources of AP factor into the reporting process?
We had a reporter with local sources and knowledge in every region where
Vahey had worked. Tami Abdollah in Los Angeles dug deeply into the
records of Vahey's 1969 arrest for child-sex abuse, finding detailed
court files and interviewing retired law-enforcement officials who knew
how the system worked at the time. Bureau Chief Josh Goodman in Caracas,
spoke at length to parents and staff there, unearthing details and
anecdotes that allowed us to draw a detailed picture of Vahey's time in
Venezuela. Reporters in London, Minnesota, Jakarta, Dubai and Nicaragua
all contributed further essential facts and color. A story like this
would have been impossible without the ability to instantly activate the
AP's network of experienced reporters across the world.
