Perhaps the increase in "opportunity" afforded priests to molest is offset by the "moral standing" not to molest, making the overall percent of molestors about the same to the general population? </thinking out loud>
If that's the case, it's more important than ever for the Bishops and seminaries to identify and remove these scumbags.
Absolutely! They should at least be as careful as the Boy Scouts. Also, I don't think the big problem here is the incidence of abuse -- or rather the incidence of abusers (since, overall, they seem to be rather busy little bees). It's the refusal of the bishops to remove them.
I did go to the Boston Globe website to see the documents released in the Geoghan case. They made me wonder whether any of Geoghan's superiors -- in their concern to send him for "treatment", blah, blah, blah -- ever thought to mention to him that what he was doing was wrong. Now, Geoghan was clearly soft as a grape, and I can understand diminished responsibility because of mental illness, but unless you're so bad you think you're a cabbage, you have some responsibility.
In Geoghan's case, there's no evidence I know of that anyone ever told him he was doing evil things -- until he stood before a Massachusetts judge -- we're in a sad state when Massachusetts judges look better than the hierarchy.