A Long Island priest was sentenced to jail for molesting teenage boy. Fr. Michael Hands got two years, plus five-years probation under a plea agreement because he testified before grand jury investigating the Rockville Centre diocese.
The victim had been critical of Hands for portraying himself as a victim of the diocese and diocesan leaders during the cover-up of the Scandal. Meanwhile, Hands even suggested in his statement that the boy, who was 14 at the time, welcomed the molestation. “No matter how cooperative he was, I was the adult,” he said. Cooperative? There are a lot of reasons a child might not fight back, but cooperation does not mean welcome.
Pray for the victim who says he has lost his faith and for all the victims during this Lent.
