The heinous crime of child sex abuse — a hurt inflicted on scores of Kamehameha Schools students decades ago by psychiatrist Robert Browne, as well as on members of the Catholic Church — has now embroiled Punahou School and a top city director in disturbing accusations.

Punahou, among Hawaii’s top private schools, is being sued by several prominent alumna over alleged abuse more than a decade ago by a couple of coaches and educators. Mixed-martial arts champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane and her sister, Mahina, are among former basketball players suing former Punahou assistant coach Dwayne Yuen and the school, alleging sexual abuse by him in the mid-2000s. One of these plaintiffs had filed a restraining order in 2006 against Yuen.

Yuen was released from Punahou as initial complaints swirled — but was hired later at Moanalua High, Kamehameha Schools and Momilani Elementary school; he resigned from his DOE job in February 2018 after the state opened an investigation into allegations against him.

This case prompts sharp questions about the thoroughness of background checks, as well as the obligations of schools to disclose prior actions or investigations launched on employees. Student safety should be paramount — and that responsibility should be applied community-wide, not just to a school’s own campus.

Days after the Yuen lawsuit came news of another sex-abuse suit against Punahou, this one accusing former teacher Christopher McLaren, now married to Monica Mamiya McLaren, a Punahou School trustee who has since stepped down from that post.

And this week, city Enterprise Services Director Guy Kaulukukui was put on paid administrative leave, after a lawsuit was filed against him and Kamehameha Schools over allegations he sexually abused a teenage student while a teacher there in the 1980s.

All the lawsuits came just before the April 24 sunset of a state law that enabled civil lawsuits to be filed for long-ago sex abuse within a statute of limitations. Extending the law had been discussed, but wasn’t possible once the Legislature recessed due to the coronavirus shutdown. Lawmakers should take this up again when session resumes.

The April 24 deadline spurred lawsuits by at least 100 former students, church members and medical patients. They include dozens of new claims against Kamehameha Schools, which already is paying $80 million for previous Browne cases.

Sadly, the veneer of respectability can hide ugly predatory deeds, and condone a culture of silence and secrecy. If #MeToo has shown us anything, it is that there are boundaries, and that it is wrong — and criminal — for those in positions of power and influence to use that authority to coerce, or seize, sexual favors. And when that involves a minor, it is particularly heinous.