Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Priest Sex Abuse case coming to Trial
One of the nation's biggest sex scandal trials is about to begin in Philadelphia. One unusual twist is that one church higher-up, a monsignor, was also charged. He was charged not with sexual assault, but with endangering minors. Couple this with the Penn State football sex abuse scandal, this topic will be a hot one. Quite frankly, I'm glad to see some of the higher-ups in both cases called on the carpet. Thanks to Ridgway for the link.
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Remarkably, this is the first time that anyone above the level of abusive priest has been indicted. One level above is not enough, if we are to have any hope of breaking this deeply ingrained culture. Believing that anyone in the church hierarchy was unaware of the existence and scope of the problem is naive. It effectively murders the psyche of the child victims. This is an example of the atrocities that inadequate separation of church and state can spawn by keeping "protected classes".
ReplyDeleteInitially I thought this could be a discussion surrounding the issues of corporate crime. How high up can you go in a company and criminally (not a civil suit) charge them with a criminal offense. Think of the CEO of Union Carbide and the Bhopal disaster, who was charged with manslaughter, and the pollution charges against a Newmont mining company executive in Indonesia.
ReplyDeleteIn Philly it looks more clear cut as the monsignor, indicted by a grand jury with "endangering the welfare of minors," has some hands on responsibility for what occurred, and the CJ system should take over. I did look up the PA statute:
www.havinpa.org/pdf/chapter3.pdf
The case appears to be pretty reasonable, and it shows the offense to be a class A misdemeanor for a single episode with a 3rd degree felony in line if there is a "course of conduct." The penalty is up to seven years and a $15K fine.
In addition to clergy being held to the same criminal statues as lay people, they're also subject to ethical practice standards because of their position of trust. This would include having knowledge of unethical behavior by other practitioners. It's their professional duty to report malevolent offenses to the appropriate civil agencies.
ReplyDeleteThe ethical standards of certain professions, such as judges and LE officers, involve the public trust. These standards are and should be at a higher level and thus cross over into expectations and responsibilities in their private lives. Commit a transgression and your integrity is soiled. Since you can't be trusted, you lose your job. Not so with the priesthood and this terrible, international story.
DeleteSuch standard absolutely does apply to counselors, chaplains and educators, all of which apply to priests. These guys have been accused of crossing a forbidden line in their professional capacity. Unfortunately, their evil and/or negligent acts undeservedly smears the entire priesthood.
DeleteI agree that many priests of good character are being smeared undeservedly . . . however, "belief" itself is not. When clergy and devout families assign superhuman status to the priesthood, they not only drop their guard, they become naive. Power corrupts, and absolute power ---- you know the rest. Many Catholic priests enter the profession with sexual identity issues --- not something that should be mixed with dominating control privileges and children.
ReplyDeleteRidgway said "When clergy and devout families assign superhuman status to the priesthood ...".
ReplyDeleteThis phenomenon is not unique to the priesthood. It can occur with any occupation that depends on the public trust. Be it lawyers, physicians, police officers, you name it. The news is packed with stories about teachers' sex escapes with underage students. The fraternization alone is bad enough. Priests are not some special breed different from anyone else. Stereotyping certain jobs with questionable mindsets isn't fair to a majority of reputable practitioners who keep personal affairs separate from their work. Either they observe their professional standards or they don't. And the latter will be punished.