ZZOT !!!...They Never Miss...;0)
Posted on 07/22/2007 3:08:25 PM PDT by hardback
Republican presidential candidate Rudolph W. Giuliani has close ties to a Catholic priest accused of sexually molesting boys and who also was the lawyer for a now-closed Whitinsville counseling house for troubled priests that has been described as the center of a pedophile sex ring.
Monsignor Alan J. Placa, who works for Mr. Giuliani’s consulting firm, Giuliani Partners, was legal adviser in the 1980s to the House of Affirmation, where priests accused of sexual abuse were sent for psychotherapy and other counseling services. The center closed in 1987 amid a financial scandal.
Monsignor Placa, who while an active priest arranged the annulment of Mr. Giuliani’s first marriage, baptized his two children and officiated at the funeral of his mother, is a childhood friend of Mr. Giuliani and they both attended Manhattanville College.
He was stripped of his duties as a priest, but not defrocked, after Newsday, a Long Island newspaper, published a story in 2002 about young men who alleged that Monsignor Placa abused them in the 1970s. He has been on administrative leave since and has worked for Mr. Giuliani for the past five years.
Catholic activists who are fighting the church over the clergy sex abuse issue say Mr. Giuliani’s association with the monsignor raises serious questions about the former New York mayor’s candidacy.
“The White House should not be inhabited by a man whose closest friend is accused of being an abuser of young men,” said Ann Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org in Massachusetts. “Giuliani has a responsibility to account for his friendship with Alan Placa and I think he should speak with Alan Placa’s accusers and see how credible they are.
“For Giuliani to turn a blind eye to these credible allegations raises questions about his judgment,” she said.
Jeffrey Barker, a spokesman for Mr. Giuliani’s campaign, declined comment, directing questions to Giuliani Partners, Mr. Giuliani’s security consulting firm. Mr. Giuliani leads all GOP presidential contenders in Massachusetts polls.
“Rudy Giuliani believes Alan Placa has been unjustly accused,” Sunny Mindel, a spokeswoman for the company, said in a prepared statement.
Monsignor Placa did not respond to a request for an interview.
The monsignor was closely associated with several Central Massachusetts priests who were at the center of a clergy sex abuse scandal in the 1990s.
At least three lawsuits were filed by area residents who said they were assaulted as boys by priests at the Whitinsville facility. The accused priests included colleagues of Monsignor Placa, one of whom was the Rev. Thomas A. Kane, former pastor of St. Mary Church in Uxbridge.
Monsignor Placa still lives in the rectory of the Long Island church where Monsignor Brendan Riordan, a former director of the House of Affirmation who was named in a sex abuse lawsuit settled by the Worcester Diocese in the mid-1990s, is pastor. He has also owned property in New York with Monsignor Riordan and co-owned property in Florida with him and Rev. Kane.
A 1993 suit filed against Rev. Kane, the diocese and the House of Affirmation by Mark Barry of Uxbridge alleges that Rev. Kane repeatedly sexually assaulted him. The New York Times has reported that Monsignor Placa was the first lawyer Rev. Kane turned to after learning of Mr. Barry’s accusations.
That suit was settled for less than $50,000 and included a non-disclosure provision. Mr. Barry has not spoken publicly about the case since.
David Lewcon, 53, of Northbridge, who worked at the center in the 1970s as a painter and wallpaperer helping his father, a contractor, renovate the 1898 building, has accused Rev. Kane of sexually assaulting him. Mr. Lewcon settled what he described as a “six-figure” lawsuit with the Worcester Diocese in which he alleged he was sexually assaulted as a minor by the Rev. Thomas H. Teczar at St. Mary in Uxbridge.
Mr. Lewcon described the House of Affirmation as a breeding ground for sexual predators.
“It was presented as a retreat for vocational redirection,” said Mr. Lewcon, a publisher of speciality magazines. “What we have found out since, and what it has been called in the Blackstone Valley by people who really know what went on there, is that it was a pedophile boot camp.”
Monsignor Placa’s involvement with the Whitinsville facility drew additional attention after the release of a 2003 report from a Suffolk County, N.Y., grand jury that accuses him of molesting young boys and, in his role as a lawyer, helping to cover up sex abuse by other priests.
He was referred to as “Priest F” in the grand jury’s lengthy investigative report, which quotes a letter he wrote to colleagues in which he touted his track record of settling multimillion dollar clergy sex abuse claims for “sums ranging from $20,000 to $100,000.” The 180-page report was written after more than 30 priests and more than 40 victims of abuse testified.
The report notes that no indictments were issued because the alleged crimes had occurred more than five years previously and could not be prosecuted because the statute of limitations had expired.
Richard Tollner, one of Monsignor Placa’s chief accusers in the Rockville Centre, Long Island, clergy sex abuse scandal, confirmed to the Salon online magazine that he was one of the victims who gave grand jury testimony and that Monsignor Placa was Priest F.
Monsignor Placa has denied Mr. Tollner’s allegations.
Mr. Tollner and other alleged victims in New York have accused Monsignor Placa of presenting himself as a priest in interviews with them when he was really acting as the lawyer for the Rockville Centre Diocese. Monsignor Placa has denied these accusations.
“He was misusing his identity and failing to disclose to them that he was a civil lawyer,” said Daniel J. Shea, a lawyer who has represented victims of clergy sex abuse in Central Massachusetts. “The grand jury report indicated he was representing himself to victims as a priest with a Roman collar.”
With news reports on Mr. Giuliani’s relationship to Monsignor Placa, some clergy abuse victims say they think Mr. Giuliani may be forced to answer harder questions about the link to his boyhood friend and employee.
George “Skip” Shea of Uxbridge, 47, an actor and artist who also agreed to an out-of-court settlement in a sex abuse case against Rev. Teczar, worked briefly at the House of Affirmation in the 1970s as a groundskeeper.
“It was a serious, full-blown sex mentality there,” George Shea said.
“Eventually this will stick,” he said of Monsignor Placa’s links to the GOP presidential contender.
Contact Shaun Sutner by e-mail at ssutner@telegram.com.
One down, How many to go?
Huh?
California Patriot:
This account has been banned or suspended.
angry.... and what happens if he is nominated? You are going to not vote? What happens if Thomson runs as his vice president? Or Duncan Hunter? What then?
I get behind the Republican candidate.
Crack is whack.
I’m backing him - although I could quite happily get behind Fred. I just keep quiet about it though. lol
I think either way they’d make a great ticket.
My only hope is that either way - you guys get a strong republican president.
As a non American - the number one issue for me is the WOT and we need to defeat these damn liberal surrender pushing scumbags.
Famous last words....
I've been noticing Rudy ever since his days as a [Reagan] US Attorney, hauling stockbrokers out of offices in handcuffs. I don't seem to recall his perp-walking any bigwigs, though.
Maybe he did Ivan Boesky, but it's been a while.
(I did a search for to make sure I spelled "Boesky" correctly. He gave $2K to Hillary Q1-2007....)
I wonder if Alan Placa went to St. John's Seminary, either Boston or Camarillo. Both seem to have an old "boys" network of graduates to support and protect pedophiles in general, and gay pedophiles in particular. Primarily the graduating classes of 1960 and 1961.
now THAT is a keeper!
Well he still has his account at MadmanIvan’s WAcko anti-FReeper Roody Rooder site.
BZZZZZT!!!!!
No question that Rudy did a good job in NY, that is a given. But to state that he brought NYC back to 'normal values'--is either a real stretch, or does not say much for your values if you really feel that way.
Regardless,,,,,the major problem with Rudy is this,,,,
Liberal Republicans are much more dangerous than liberal democrats,,,,
because liberal Republicans (like JulieAnnie) BLUR THE DISTINCTION between conservatism and liberalism,,,
making LIBERALISM MUCH MORE ACCEPTABLE!!!
ZZOT !!!...They Never Miss...;0)
Imagine that a RinoRudyBot that ignored the handwriting on the wall.
So wait a second.... are we not allowed to back Republican Candidates at the FR now?
If we support Rudy.... are we banned from the Free Republic... is this the new rule around here?
Last time I checked, Free Republic is a CONSERVATIVE forum and Roody is a liberal.
“Rudy Giuliani believes Alan Placa has been unjustly accused,”
I never said that ... you must be quoting someone else ... I simply said that Julie will be the next one to crash and burn after McCain ....
Last time I checked, we are allowed to have opinions here. So, has the screw finally turned so that the conservative have became the liberals? Are we really there?
I’m shocked if this is the case. What will you do if Rudy gets the nomination and Thomson or Hunter is on his ticket?
Rudy will never, ever get my vote (reference my earlier post).
If the Republican Party abandons its traditional conservative values and principles and does something stupid like nominating Rudy--I go third party, along with my wife and two kids. Ok, Ok, its only four votes,,,and we all know that four votes could never, ever matter. /s
Well you are the one sending email to folks threatening being banned because of their support for evolution and Rudy?
What’s up... you don’t believe in dissenting opinions?
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.