A pervert priest in Philadelphia pleaded guilty to repeatedly sexually abusing a teenage boy over a period of years in the late 1970s. Prosecutors were able to charge him because he left the state in t he 1980s and the statute of limitations was frozen. Straightforward enough.
What’s really galling here is that the judge shed tears as she said she “agonized for months” over the sentence, gave the pervert probation, and then criticized the Church for doing nothing to stop abusers. Hello! Does she not see the irony? What does she think she’s doing? Oh, the judge says, but he hasn’t abused anyone in 30 years, just ask the people in North Carolina he’s been with all this time. Perhaps any further victims just haven’t come forward. How does she really know that he hasn’t abused anyone else?
Oh, but the victim has forgiven the priest for abusing the boy dozens of times. Good for the victim that he has not succumbed to the damaging effects of hatred, but has learned forgiveness for his abuser. What does that have to do with the criminal sentencing?
Judicial punishment is not just rehabilitative, it’s also retributive. And it’s not just retributive for the victim, but also for society. This guy’s crime didn’t just injure one man, but it also injured a family and a community and the Church. where is the justice in this ridiculous slap on the wrist?
Technorati Tags: Catholic, priesthood, crime, sex abuse
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” ‘I want to say to [Martin Donohoe’s] brother, partner, family and friends, “I’m sorry,” ‘he [the abuser priest] continued. ‘You bear the pain of the one you love.’”
His partner?????
Is this the case of a person whose very sexual identity was compromised by this abuse????
I didn’t say anything about the partner because they never made clear whether it was a same-sex “partner”. Partner seems to be used in all cases now, not just for gay or lesbian.
All the details are in the news stories linked above. I think it occurred over a span of time, and he was 15 when it started.