Dr. Lori Handrahan | BarbWire

In 1990, American University’s president, Richard Berendzen, was calling day cares seeking sex with children when he contacted Susan Eva Allen; a mother operating a home-based day care whose husband was a detective with Fairfax County Police Department. A search warrant was obtained.

Susan Allen recorded more than 30 hours of conversation with Berendzen. He asked Susan Allen if “she and her husband included their children in sex” and begged to have sex with Susan Allen’s children. He told her he masturbated while talking with her and offered to procure a child for her to use as a “sex slave.”

The Washington Post, Judy Mann, 8 May 1990

He “described going to sex slave auctions in Chicago and Detroit,” bragged about his abuse of children, his child porn collection, the four year old girl who was his “sex slave” and strapping his wife to a wheel in their basement.

Reported by The Washington Post’s Patricia Davis and Rene Sanchez 25 April 1990; Page A01

Professor Berendzen never spent a day in jail nor has he yet been investigated for child sex crimes.

The Washington Post, Judy Mann, 8 May 1990

In what appears to be clear obstruction of justice, American University protected Berendzen, his career and financial security.

Conspiracy to commit child rape and possession of child pornography are not “administrative” issues. These are criminal matters and must be prosecuted as such. There is no statute on limitation for child sex abuse crimes at the federal level. Professor Berendzen could still be and should be investigation.

The Personal is Political

This is personal for me. I was wrongly terminated from my position as a professor at American University when my publications calling for an end to impunity for child porn related crimes started gaining attention.

Articles like Enable the Fight Against Child Porn, To Catch Government Workers With Ties to Child Porn, Call the IRS, or Executive Branch Porn Problem and television interviews like Impunity for US Government Workers Using Child Porn always seemed to provoke a negative reaction from the president’s office. My dean was told none of my publications about ending impunity for child porn would be posted on the school’s website. The president’s office told American University’s media department not to “pitch” me for media interviews.

At the time, I was solely focused on US government employees involved in the illegal trade of child sex abuse images and videos, otherwise known as child pornography. I did not know about American University’s own history of protecting professors who were accused of committing crimes against children. After my contract was terminated, a colleague met me for lunch, off campus, and told me about Richard Berendzen.

Professors, University Staff and Child Porn

In my last article, //medium.com/@LoriHandrahan2/daycares-pre-schools-child-porn-a0aa2cf28825“>Day Cares, Preschools, Baby-Sitters & Pedosadism, I explored recent arrests for child porn in day cares. Berendzen was calling day cares, for at least a year, seeking to both procure and offer children for sex abuse. I wondered if day cares were a known source supply for pedosadists like Professor Berendzen.

Professor Berendzen’s criminal activity also caused me to wonder how many other professors were involved in the trade of child sex abuse. Until American University, suddenly and without cause, terminated me, it had never occurred to me that my own colleagues, fellow professors, would be returning to their campus offices after teaching students and masturbating to the brutal rape and torture of small children from their campus computers.