Posted on 10/21/2005 9:50:13 AM PDT by akdonn
DUMPING GROUND: Pedophile clergy were sent to Alaska, some say.
The fourth lawsuit in less than two weeks accusing an Alaska-based Catholic priest of sexual abuse was filed Thursday, fueling a conviction among critics that Alaska was a dumping ground for problem clergy.
The complaint alleges the Rev. James Laudwein molested a 14-year-old Western Alaska girl in 1980 when she visited the nearby Yup'ik Eskimo village of St. Marys. According to court documents, Laudwein agreed to hear the girl's confession, then took her to a dark room and said "her sins would be forgiven" if she touched his genitals.
Laudwein is the latest of a dozen priests who served in Alaska and have been accused publicly of abusing a child or children in the past. Most of the abuse occurred in remote villages and most of the alleged victims were Alaska Natives -- a common pattern over the decades, critics contend.
"I absolutely believe that church officials intentionally sent abusive priests to minor communities, transient communities, where kids may be less apt to tell and have less faith in the justice system," said David Clohessy, national director of Chicago-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
(Excerpt) Read more at adn.com ...
"then took her to a dark room and said "her sins would be forgiven" if she touched his genitals."
Unbelievable, this is all it takes to have your sins forgiven. And everybody else has to pray and do penance, novenas, etc.
Note extreme sarcasm.
Would the other 488 of you please hold still while we smear you with our broad brush?
"Would the other 488 of you please hold still while we smear you with our broad brush?"
If you read the rest of the article you would know they expect many more people to come forward from rural areas that haven't learned yet that the Catholic Church apparently used Alaska as a dumping ground for perverts in His service.
I did read the entire article and saw that the victim's advocate expects at least 200 victims. No mention of additional expected perpetrators but I imagine there will be more than the 12 if they get more victims to come forward.
What I was looking for, and didn't really see, was where these 12 perpetrators came from that the article writer would slant Alaska as a 'dumping ground'. It's certainly more dramatic but this particular article didn't go into the details underlying that assertion or assumption or fact.
"What I was looking for, and didn't really see, was where these 12 perpetrators came from that the article writer would slant Alaska as a 'dumping ground'. It's certainly more dramatic but this particular article didn't go into the details underlying that assertion or assumption or fact."
I agree that the article is not clear on this; we have been watching as Catholic pedophile priests have been charged, convicted and cashed out by the church for their abuses in Alaska over many years. I don't know if *12* is the total number--or just the latest number--but it is a shameful statement of what the business of religion is really about.
People need to believe something so they pay money to churches who promote mystery and fantasy as fact. Then the same people find out the people who are supposed to provide "spiritual" support and guidance are really just as lost as they are. The Church borrows your watch to tell you what time it is and then steals the watch. It is the definition of betrayal.
The Indians got the bad end on this one too; and they wonder why sexual child abuse is so rampant in villages. Back 50 years ago, the natives were seen as stoneage. Indians killing Indians wasn't even looked into. Just imagine how many kids were abused.
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