Head of Rustic Pathways Sexual Misconduct Scandal

You may want to check out the following article on the sexual misconduct scandal involving the head of Rustic Pathways, who still has ownership of the company and access to all program sites.

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• Two low-ranking male staff members reported being coerced by Venning into sex acts while they massaged Venning, even though the employees had told Venning the contact was unwelcome. Both employees said they were not homosexual, and that they complied with Venning due to Southeast Asian culture that strongly discourages refusing orders from "the boss." A third employee said he rebuffed Venning after Venning touched him "in an unwelcome sexual manner" including his "private area." (The third now-former employee in a message to cleveland.com praised Venning, and denied that anything bad happened to him while he worked for Rustic Pathways.)
• The three employees who the memo said had unwelcome sexual contact with Venning said Venning paid them before or afterward. The company memo described the payments as "pocket money" or "tips."
• Venning impeded the investigation by refusing to provide to company officials records from his computer, the memo said. He also admitted to deleting files from the computer, according to the memo.
• He also intimidated and disparaged an American student whose February 2013 complaint, drawn from conversations with Asian staff, launched the investigation, and pressured subordinates to stop the investigation before it was complete, according to the memo.
• Venning arranged for underage students traveling with the company to be taken to the Red Light District in Bangkok, Thailand, where, the memo said, the students witnessed prostitution and possibly witnessed sexual activity. The trip to the red light district, which the company told cleveland.com was impromptu and unsanctioned, took place during a program through which students learned about impoverished and marginalized people in Thailand.
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Read the full article here.