Posted on 03/07/2011 7:23:40 PM PST by Dr. Eckleburg
WILLIAM LYNN FIRST HIGH-RANKING CHURCH OFFICIAL TO FACE CHILD ENDANGERMENT CHARGES; DOZENS ACCUSED OF ABUSE REMAIN IN ACTIVE MINISTRY
(CBS News) Phil Gaughan can't bring himself to talk about it in detail, but said when he was a teenager, he was sexually abused by a catholic priest, reports CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano.
"It just can't happen to anybody else," Gaughan said. "Nobody should have deal with what I've dealt with for 15 years, the way that I felt and no child should ever have to go through this again."
After years of silence, Gaughan is publicly filing suit against top officials in the Philadelphia archdiocese, who he said failed to protect him from a predator priest. One of those named in his civil lawsuit is Monsignor William Lynn.
Lynn is already facing charges in a separate criminal case. For 12 years, Lynn was in charge of recommending work assignments for priests in the Philadelphia archdiocese. The district attorney believes Lynn knowingly recommended abusive priests be reassigned, without ever warning the parishes.
"They did in fact re-offend," said Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams. "They did in fact rape and sodomize other children."
Lynn has now become the first high-ranking U.S. church official ever to face criminal child endangerment charges for allegedly covering-up abuse. But prosecutors said there are other problems.
Allegations against Lynn resulted from a 124-page grand jury report that concludes, "Apparent abusers - dozens of them, we believe - remain on duty in the Archdiocese, today, with open access to new young prey."
For now, the archdiocese has suspended three priests, but according to the report, 34 others accused of abuse or inappropriate behavior with minors remain in active ministry.
The archdiocese has hired a former prosecutor to re-examine past cases.
"I will not turn my back on evidence of a cover up," said Gina Smith.
The archdiocese is not commenting on recent legal action, but church officials have vowed to do better.
"We have now taken action and we hope that our actions speak to our resolve," said Bishop Daniel Thomas with the Philadelphia Archdiocese.
That's little comfort to Gaughan, who hopes by coming forward he's giving children the protection he never had.
No, it's part of exposing a vile agenda.
There’s no need for you to “make it personal” on this thread.
Please obey the rules.
I thought I had seen most tactics of diversion away from unpleasant threads, but I have to admit, this is a new one.
Make that - THIS IS A NEW ONE.
WHAT WOULD THAT “AGENDA” BE?
Mooooooommmmmmm,
He’s looking at me. Make him stop!!!!!
That's a very nicely phrased question. Phrased in the present tense to indicate no progress from years gone by and phrased to include the entire Church to indicate collective guilt and corruption permeating the entire institution.
Well done.
Lurkers who've been paying attention will have noted that the Catholic Church, like many others, has been and is in the midst of a battle with the forces of darkness in general and active homosexuals in particular.
They, until quite recently, were in the ascendancy. Now they're being exposed, flushed and indicted. God is working to remove this cancer from the Church and that is great news.
Why are 34 suspected pederast priests STILL pastoring their churches in this one diocese?
The mystery of inquity, Doc.........the mystery of iniquity.
These are, nevertheless, great times for the Church. How long did these men operate undetected and convinced of their victory? Too long.
The good Lord has put a stop to that and is healing His Church.
These are great times.
The key word is accused. Those accusations should be investigated fully by law enforcement If found to have merit then charges should be filed. If charges are filed the accused should be tried (unless they opt to plead guilty or no contest). If found guilty they should serve jail time for as long as the law demands.
Oh and victims should have recourse in civil court no matter the outcome of any criminal proceedings.
You are right vowing is not enough. There have been procedures in place for quite some time on how to handle accusations. I am assuming these are not accusations that could just be dismissed out of hand but warranted being reported to law enforcement. That this was not done is disgraceful and inexcusable.
I believe this is related to the grand jury investigation that was recently released. You might want to find it and post a link. This is the same grand jury that investigated the abortionist Gosnell (at least it was convened by the same D.A.
From what I remember reading it the Grand Jury did a very thorough job of investigating the Diocese. They did not have any bones to pick with the Church and their motive was only to protect the victims and seek justice for them. Many Catholics served on the Grand Jury and they are to be commended for their unflinching exposure of this foulness.
Demonization of the Catholic Church.
Thin skinned.
Pastor Kenneth Johnson (Florida, convicted)
Pastor Ford (Texas, charged)
Pastor Kerry Clyde Martin (California, Charged(?))
Minister William Bell (South Carolinia, Convicted)
Minister Delton Benson (Guilty)
Preacher Leslie Mason (Charged)
Alas, it seems the protestant slate isn't clear either.
Thicker skin, you see.
Careful, they’ll cry about that post. We’re not allowed to point out that their side has every bit as much of a problem as ours.
Exactly, it’s intersting how “Christian” they claim to be, now “holy” they are.
Pastor Eddie Thomas (Ringgold, LA, Charged) St. Luke Baptist Church
Rev. Gene Francis (Florida, Charged) Church of the Nazarene
Rev. David Valencia (Arizona, Charged) assistant pastor at Christ Church at Grove Farm
Youth Pastor Marty A. Hynes (Charged, 8 counts) First Assembly of God church
Louis Anguiano (JH, Charged) elder at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses
Pastor Dennis Larry Shaw (IL, charged) Baptist
Minister Sabala (Guilty) Four-Square Church
Rev. Thomas Masters (Florida, guilty) New Macedonia Church
Pastor Barasda (RI, Guilty)
Pastor Anthony Shafer (OH, convicted) non-denominational church
Rev. Joseph A. Rinaldi (VT, Guilty) Newbury Bible Church
Pastor Garry Toavs (guilty) pastor of Evergreen Alliance Church
Youth Minister Anthony Waters (Guilty)
Pastor Ilger (Guilty) Hope Chapel of the Valley
Pastor Kemp (NY, convicted) Mount Zion Baptist Church
Shame, shame, shame...
Seems to me that the “I’m not anti-Catholics” are at it again. The real reason the sex abuse scandal happened is simple, Bishops and priests excusing themselves from the Church’s high sexual standards, liturgical abuse, missal abuse, dissent in the seminaries (dissent that made it’s way to the pulpit on Sundays, people became discouraged and left the Church, YOU WONDER WHY WE HAVE A HUGE SHORTAGE OF PRIESTS), hence the sex abuse scandal! I’ll be accused of calumniating and detraction for saying this. It’s a fact.
Did you notice posts #32 and #36?
Nah, their too blind.
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