Posted on 05/05/2006 6:45:23 PM PDT by petkus
Michael Edwin Wempe, the pedophile priest whom Cardinal Roger M. Mahony said he regretted returning to the ministry, was sentenced today to three years in prison for molesting a boy more than a decade ago.
The 66-year-old retired priest was found guilty in February in the first significant criminal conviction of a Los Angeles cleric since the church's sexual abuse scandal erupted four years ago.
Wempe received the maximum sentence, but has already served 600 days, so he will spend about another year in prison.
He made no statement to the court.
The case garnered close attention because it came as attorneys for the archdiocese were in settlement talks with more than 560 people suing the church for failing to protect them from abuse by priests. Such a settlement would almost surely be record-breaking, likely to reach hundreds of millions of dollars.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
As if being a pedophile in jail weren't bad enough. He's going to get what he deserves on day one.
Does anyone realize that this is a HOMOSEXUAL crime?
THREE YEARS?!!! Thats all he got? And three years was the maxium?!!!
A child was raped! This is NOT a misdemeanor! Since when is three years the Maximum a child rapist gets?
Ya, but like our gov't, your church doesn't have any money...It's your money they're using for their criminal payoffs...
Most convicted "first time offender" child rapists get probation, if that.
Most don't even get charged for rape, the first three or four times.
Plea bargaining saves the courts valuable time and cost, no matter the damage to the victim(s), and just forget all about law and justice.
It's just a sex crime. /sarcasm//
It's rarely mentioned and never by the press. They aren't molesting boys because they're priests, they're molesting boys because they're homosexuals.
Okay so where are the people demanding we "love the sinner" and assuring this creep that the state of being a pedophile is not a sin?
Homosexual actions are sinful. Homosexual orientation, while disordered, is not sinful.
What about pedophile orientation? What about other people's wives orientation? What about ________ orientation? Doesn't all sin begin in the heart?
Are your heterosexual temptations sinful?
What makes pedophilia the most disgusting action is that it involves an adult and a child who is in the most vulnerable part of his life cycle.
While 2 consenting adults where one is a priest, these actions still do not reach the contemptible level of attacking a child!
Cardinal Roger Mahony is a very smart and sophisticated individual who understands the effects of pedophilia and his priest. Mahony can not just claim the I didn't know the effects of pedophilia. Mahony has unlimitied resources at his disposal to make him aware of what is going on.
When Mahony wanted to cover up his actions, Mahony was able to get the best lawyers around a take his case to the US Supreme Court.
When you participate in the coverup of a crime, you are just as guilty as the perpetrator!
Life in prison without parole is the only sentence for a child molester. And yes I am Catholic.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.