California Student Exchange Organizations Headed for Court
January 05, 2006—Within weeks, a female German exchange student will return to Texas to testify. She was raped by her 29-year-old host father, Timothy Jordan, who was arrested on November 8, 2005. The student exchange organization: AYUSA, headquarters in San Francisco, California.
In February, 2006, three male German exchange students will return to Arkansas to testify. These boys were raped by their 35-year-old male ERDT/Share, Area Representative, Doyle Meyer. ERDT/Share is a California-based student exchange organization.
In August 2005, The Grand Rapids Press headlines read, “Foreign exchange host sentenced for videotaping teen” by John Tunison and John Agar. A man who hosted three foreign exchange students in recent years disgraced the program by secretly videotaping a German teen in her bedroom, a judge said.
Police accused Dale Edward LaCosss, 46, of hiding a video camera in a dollhouse of the 16-year-old female German exchange student’s bedroom, with the lens pointed out an upper window. LaCoss’s wife, Susan LaCoss Kahler, 52, pleaded no contest to interfering with a police investigation after detectives said she tried to hide an incriminating note left for her husband at their home.
Note: The student exchange organization is: Youth for Understanding. Mark Nicholas Meier, 54, the YFU representative, was fined $250 after pleading no contest to failure to report abuse. Meier, who police said didn’t immediately report the videotaping when the German teen told him, also is a Plainwell attorney who teaches law enforcement classes at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. In February 2005, the North County Times headlines read, “Former teacher pleads guilty in molest case” by John Hall.
In February, 2005, Peter Ruzzo, 35, pleaded guilty to molesting a 15-year-old female German exchange student. Deputy District Attorney Kelly Hansen said, “The defendant once told the victim that when he saw her foreign-exchange photo that he considered it a challenge, even before she got here, to have sex with her.” The student exchange organization: AFS (American Field Service.)
In December 2004, in Rockville, Maryland, biology teacher Andrew Powers, 27, was arrested on charges of sexually abusing a 17-year-old German exchange student. Powers allegedly went into her bedroom and engaged in what police call inappropriate sexual contact. Police also say he had a habit of walking around naked in the house and touching the girl’s buttocks. The student exchange organization: AYUSA, headquarters in San Francisco, California.
In October, 2003, in Naples, Florida, the Naples Daily News reads, “Ex-Naples priest faces new sex abuse suit” by Alan Scher Zagier. When reports of William Romero’s troubles as a priest surfaced, the California-based exchange program, Pacific Intercultural Exchange (PIE) removed two high school students from Romero’s home. Two, male German exchange students told attorney Jason Weisser that they, too, were abused by Romero while living with him in Moore Haven.
At present, a female Japanese exchange student is living in the home of a convicted felon, John Gallups, in Saint Augustine, Florida. F.A.C.E. is the student exchange organization located in Gainesville, Florida.
We are now receiving a growing number of calls from concerned parents in the United States for the safety and welfare of their child who is studying abroad. Given the fact that these students are not provided with any Child Protection Guidelines only adds to our concern.
You are invited to visit www.csfes.org to read 50 Reports of Abuse that have made headlines throughout the world.