Too many important questions dismissed regarding the muderer of defrocked priest John Geoghan.

I first read a few headlines and articles that yelled defrocked pedophile priest John Geoghan had been murdered in prison by another inmate. Details of who did it, in these first articles, were absent. Then, they started to appear. Neo-nazi. A murderer. A homophobic. A sketch of a man formed in my head, not the prettiest one. A man filled with hate for no reason. NY Daily News: "Perv priest's body was pummeled." MSNBC: "Prison inmate had ‘phobia’ toward homosexuals. " A quote appeared again and again, all over the media, saying, "he has a longstanding phobia, it appears, towards homosexuals of any kind... he's filled with longstanding hate." Boston Globe: "He was just a savage, savage person." Hate, hate, hate. Monster, monster. Homophobic. Joseph L. Druce is his name. The media clamored what an awful thing, what a barbaric murder, Joseph Druce had committed against a helpless old man. All kinds of theories were thrown out. "Was it a plan to get transferred to another prison? Maybe he did it for money", CNN asked. And then, as I read one more article, something emerged. The horrible, neo-nazi, murderous individual was a child sexual abuse victim. A victim of a homosexual abuser it seems. No further details. But reading another article, and what is revealed next? "Druce grew up in a broken home and had been sexually abused by men as a young boy, his father, Dana Smiledge said. " Not one abuser, but many. If Druce, as a child, was abused by a host of homosexuals, society failed to protect him in his most basic human rights at a time in his life when he was most vulnerable. But in the majority of media reports there is no mention of the fact that Druce was abused as a child. This "detail" is left out of the picture. However, the fact that he hates homosexuals today is used to crucify him. How convenient.

Homosexuals abusing children is not the type of crime the media have any interest in. It happens every day around the world, but the media do a fine job of keeping silent about it. Just like the Catholic Church did. Mums the word.

How was Druce abused? How long? What great damage did it impair in him? Did he suffer other abuses as well in his childhood? What happened to his abusers? Why is there not a single reporter who is asks these questions or understands why it is important to ask them? Why is the media, after so many years of advancements in sexual abuse knowledge, psychology, trauma, still the terrain of the ignorant reporters? Of homophilic reporters? Stamp a few simple-minded labels (neo-nazi/homophobic) on a person who we certainly have plenty of clues has had a very complicated and complex past and the story is done. No one cares what happened to Druce as a child. Not to him, and not to all the other children that were victimized today, last week, last month. If it were for news on the subject, you would think it’s not happening.

And then I read one more clue. NY Post’s article, by Al Guart, shouts,"PERV REV.'S STRANGLER A HERO IN HIS OWN SICK & EVIL MIND...The 37-year-old lifer launched into a tirade of foul language and insisted he be given special attention because 'I just saved your kids from being raped,' prison sources said."

Isn’t this a major clue? It seems just like the perfect projection of a child abuse victim whom society failed completely and threw into a garbage can.

Did anyone stop Druce’s abusers? Or they just let it happen, like they do now, by keeping silent, by turning their backs, and calling their victims homophobics? Is this what is behind these headlines for this murder? What is Druce’s real story? Did Geoghan represent to Druce his own abusers? To people like Al Guart, Druce is a no-good, sick and evil, criminal madman who fantasizes he’s a hero. But I see a possible logic in Druce views and claims. While I’m not defending his murders, or his character, and it’s clear his mind is deeply troubled, it is also unquestionable that he was not born a murderer. And it seems to me that all the abuse he suffered may have played a major part for him to become a criminal himself. Oh, he certainly hates a lot of people NOW. He is a murderer and should be held responsible for his actions. But a lot of water has gone under his bridge to produce this result.

The Pilot, from the Archdiocese of Boston, published the following, in an article saying while it’s terrible what Geoghan did to his victims, he didn’t deserve to die: "Society has become painfully aware of the damage that child sexual abuse inflicts on victims. The scars of abuse are long lasting, impeding the development of adult relationships, leading some to drug abuse, a life of crime and, in some cases, even to suicide. These are all very real consequences of the actions of child molesters." But The Pilot (and most all of the media) excluded from the group above the one victim that is now in the spotlight for having killed Geoghan.

It’s going out on a limb to take a guess on this case with just a few clues that were reported in the media. But I will go out on the that limb. Was not Druce reliving his own child abuse by homosexuals when he was harassed by this gay (or perceived gay) bus driver that he killed? Even if the bus driver did not sexually harass Druce, Druce seems to have perceived the situation that way. And therefore, Druce was really taking out his rage in a parallel situation where he was profoundly hurt before. These are questions the media does not ask. Is it because reporters and editors are profoundly unknowledgeable in these issues? Many are. Is it because they do not care about sticky issues of GLBs sexually harassing straights and bringing down the illusion GLBs are a victim group that do not perpetrate violence? Most definitely. Does the media want to find out how gay, lesbians and bisexuals abuse children? No way. They will be called homophobic. Sweep it all under the carpet, just like the Catholic Church did. Your can sell more ads that way. Call someone a homophobic and that’s it. No more questions, no more answers. Keep critical thinking out of the articles. Hate crimes sell big, homosexuals abusing children don’t. A host of gays abusing one defenseless boy and who are never brought to justice doesn’t go over well. People like to pretend it’s not happening.

And that brings us to a similar story. You remember the name Matthew Sheppard? The frail, nice, gay kid that was murdered by this horrible, monstrous, homophobic bigot, Aaron McKinney. Although most of the media spree in this murder story focused on what a hate crime this was, and how perverted and sick McKinney is, there was at least one very similar pattern to the Druce murder. McKinney was a child sexual abuse victim. Not only that, he was the victim of homosexual abuse. And years later, he was old enough, big enough, strong enough to let out all of his rage, his hurt, his anger, against a person who apparently may have represented to him his past abuser. We know the rest of the story. He murdered a homosexual. He was tarred and feathered as a homophobic monster. But I still wonder, what happened to McKinney as a child? Who abused him? In what circumstances? What happened to his abuser? Does the homosexual child abuse have a connection to the murder years later? For all the noise the media made on the Sheppard case, I could not find a single article that really delved into these questions. I would not be surprised if nothing has ever happened to all the criminals that abused both Druce and McKinney. Because this is what happens to most child abusers, and that certainly includes homosexual abusers. You can see the total disinterest and dismissal from the media in these cases. It only reflects society’s larger disinterest.

We once lived in a society where women who killed their spouses who were battering them were thought of as monsters. We now know a little better. We understand the horror and the suffering these women go through and that often they have no one to protect them. So they kill the person who is abusing them. If we employ the same framing the media has used in the Druce case, these women are filled with hate, they are spouse-ophobics, if you will.

I’m not suggesting Geoghan abused Druce and therefore Druce killed him. I wonder, however, if Geoghan represented to Druce his homosexual abusers. And so I can see the possible logic in Druce’s mind, just as I can see the logic in a battered woman’s mind. Although a battered woman in this example kills her actual abuser, Druce may have been killing someone that represented his tormentors in his mind. And someone who does away with an abuser in the mind of any child who is being abused is certainly a hero.

Society profoundly failed Druce and McKinney as children. Society failed to protect them from abuse, from torment, from trauma. And it is quite likely (given that I do not know the details of their personal histories, I’m guessing given the outcome years later), society continued failing them after their abuse. Druce’s father claims to have tried helping his son, and I’m not disputing his claim, only suggesting that when the damage and trauma are very deep, it requires a lot of concerted effort and many years for the help to get a firm ground. What help, support, what justice did Druce and McKinney get after they were abused as children? Certainly not enough. Has this anything to do with them taking "justice" into their own hands? Killing another human being? Letting out their rage this way? I haven’t seen the media ask these questions. I believe, however, that they are very important. Maybe there are other explanations, as well.

How long we will have to wait until a reporter (or other competent professional) starts seriously investigating the life stories of these men and their homosexual abusers who have probably always eluded justice? Perhaps it would be wiser to look into these questions rather than just flinging the "homophobic" label right and left, as the media have done again and again.

"How was Druce abused? How long? What great damage did it impair in him? Did he suffer other abuses as well in his childhood? What happened to his abusers? Why is there not a single reporter who is asks these questions or understands why it is important to ask them?"

You are very wrong to paint this stone cold killer as a victim. Why are you obsessed with factors beyond his control that caused him to murder. He was not a victim of Geoghan, Geoghan was a victim of him. He is sane and executed a plan thought out for a month.

You are implicitly forgiving Druce. Why the agenda?

Society profoundly failed Druce and McKinney as children. Society failed to protect them from abuse, from torment, from trauma.

This is liberal bullshit, to blame "society" for the actions of criminals.

Lots of people grow up in dysfunctional families, and manage to adjust to adult life, and work things out.

My grandfather beat the hell out of my dad for the least little thing, yet my father was the most gentle human being I've ever known (overly gentle, IMO; he let my mother nag the hell out of him).

Let's get off this "society's fault" jag. Individuals do things to individuals, and we have to help where we can. But "society" is not to blame for murder.

Something about your post does not sit well with me. Call it a "gut" thing!

I think that you have an agenda, and you actually likely believe that you are being very clever. I bear you no malice, but it all is just not sitting well here from my perspective.

Excellent analysis. While I do not condone the murder of the John Geoghan, I can understand the motivation behind this crime. If the Joseph Druce had not repeatedly been a victim of homosexual rape as a child he probably would not have been in prison and would not have commited the murder of the priest.

Rape is the most degrading and dehumanizing crime that can be perpetrated on anyone. When it happens to a child it will twist their mind and can destroy what should have been a happy and productive life. That appears to be what happened in this case.

People like the John Geoghan destroy the lives of hundreds of children, and no one does anything. That was the lesson that the Joseph Druce had learned as a child. This was why he took it on himself to kill John Geoghan, and why he see himself as the savior of John Geoghan's future victims.

Another good contrast is the case of Jessie Dirkhising vs. the Texas dragging murder. While the Texas straight on homo crime was all over the media for months, the Jessie Dirkhising case was all but buried.

Whether it is in an attempt to push the homosexual agenda or an effort to not be labeled as "Homophobic", the media refuses to acknowledge and publicize the crimes being commited by homosexuals against children.

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