First US Catholic official sent to jail for abuse coverups

Although pedophiles likely make up 1% or less of Catholic priests, several dioceses across the US have been proven guilty of covering up the sexual abuse of children. Many have ended up filing bankruptcy after victims banded together and cleaned the church out financially in Civil Court.

Anyone who covers up sexual abuse deserves to go to prison for as long as the sex offender themselves.

 

Poop flows downhill but so do orders and the catholic church is no different to any other hierarchical organisation,the soldiers act on orders from the top.

If this sets a legal precedent then practically every catholic leader is culpable as the pattern of behaviour shown by dealing with these cases internally indicates an institutionalised cover up.

Theology aside its another one of those things that's so big it will never be addressed due to the huge implication,just like the financial crisis,barclays lying about interest rates,Iraq war,water boarding,extraordinary rendition yada yada.

Instead we have token beheading's such as this to appease the masses.

So I'm left with the feeling its good but it's far from good enough.:confused

 

In this instance my problem isn't with the catholic organisation as a whole "I hate it with a passion though." it's the notion that there's a law for one set of people and a law for another most namely regular working Joe's and community leaders such at those from the catholic church,in making my post I really made an effort to disjoint my personal feelings toward the church and treated it as just a human organisation.

If the Pope knew or ordered the cover up or knew about the behaviour which is highly likely or people close to the pope did the same shouldn't they be held to account also?

These people aren't any better than regular people they should be treated exactly the same as everyone else and punished for their failings like everyone else,just as in the military if a commander orders someone to cover something up they are liable,they are not liable is the soldier acts upon his own recognisances,the law becomes greyed when orders are implied or not directly spoken such as "We need this to go away" which i guess is what would have happened.

If the thread was entitled "politicians cover up for paedophiles" "UN perverts the course of justice child abuse case" I would have posted and said the same thing.

With all due respect gloozit try to disjoint your own personal feelings about the catholic church and look at them as just people hiding child abuse.

 

We aren't allowed to know where they live,I believe a lot are given new identities due to nature of the crimes and the safety of the perpetrator:confused It's hard to accept that they're free people once they leave prison but they are,I don't think anyone should be harassed by the public once they've served their time but on the other hand more should be done to monitor paedophiles upon released and they should pay for it themselves.

That's a whole other thread and I don't know the answer to that,they obviously have a sexual dysfunction similar to a mental illness that harms children and the public should be protected from them,I don't think any amount of counselling,praying,drugs or punishment will change that. Maybe the 3 strikes law would work great,on the third offence they have to be locked up indefinitely.

It's one of those things I've just stopped tryna wrap my head around,there is no obvious right choice in a civilised society,can't live with them,can't kill them.

EDIT without knowing exactly what the guy has done who lives near to you I don't see how we can pass judgement on him,for instance even if you you sleep with a girl once who's slightly underage you end up on that register,that's not a paedophile in my opinion that's a desperate idiot and he/she won't be a danger to anyone once released.

 

I saw a documentary by Louis Theroux about this problem in the US,after multiple offences when the predator is proven to have a problem and diagnosed witha sexual disorder he is locked up indefinitely after he's served his sentence in prison.

Not in a prison though more like a mental institute,they are free to wander around and get half decent meals and are treated more as a patient than a prisoner.

The moral of the doco I guess was how can humane society do this to it's fellow man or that's how it came across to me but society has the choice between the constitution/Bill of rights and protecting children. Anyone accused of a crime has the right of a speedy and open trial and to know why they are being held and the charges they face,in these cases the constitution is being broken as they are getting none of these rights. I really don't know what the answer is I'm just glad it isn't me who has to make the decision.

I found the doco for those interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcLYsCXjY7A

Wandered off a little but still pretty on topic:-D

 

Here in Belgium that is 76% catholic it has been emerging for a number of years that some of the top Bishops and Archbishops have been committing or covering up pedophiles within their ranks.

this one was very close to me.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/291028

It now has come to light that he committed many more offenses and as of yet no charges have been brought against him or the Archbishops who covered up for him.

I was brought up and educated as a catholic,schooled by nuns and priests but never came across such despicable behavior by any of my tutors though the beatings were severe so i suppose this can be classified as abuse in the sense of the word.

I do not understand how a religion that preaches humanity and peace to all can perpetrate such heinous acts on young children thereby stigmatizing them for life.

I am a great believer that punishment should be swift and hard on all pedophiles regardless of their station in life as they steal the innocence of our young and deprive them of their childhood.

As you may see i hate these people with a passion and would use much stronger language if it were allowed.:***