Prison Guards Describe Pedophile Priest's Death

Reuters via Yahoo ^ | todayy | svea hebst-bayliss

[Rodney King]

Prison Guards Describe Pedophile Priest's Death

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss BOSTON (Reuters) - Prison officers on Monday described how defrocked priest and convicted child molester John Geoghan was bound, strangled and beaten to death while the door of his cell was jammed shut and guards were distracted.

Officials said Joseph Druce, 37, a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi said to hate homosexuals, strangled Geoghan with a bed sheet and beat him in one of Massachusetts' most secure prisons on Saturday.

Geoghan was a central character in a sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church. Last year, the church paid $10 million to settle cases with 86 of his victims.

His prosecution uncovered a string of pedophile cases among the clergy that ultimately forced Cardinal Bernard Law, the head of Boston's archdiocese to resign last year.

Worcester County District Attorney John Conte said Druce will face murder charges in Geoghan's death. An autopsy is planned to determine the exact cause of death.

The Boston Herald and The Boston Globe reported prison guards said Druce trailed Geoghan into his cell after lunch, jammed the electronically operated door shut and tied the 68-year-old former priest's hands behind his back.

Druce used a shoe to tighten the sheet around Geoghan's neck and then repeatedly jumped onto him from the bed, according to the guards' account.

"An officer heard a noise, went over to the cell, and he saw Geoghan on the floor, gagged and tied," Robert Brouillette, an executive of the 5,000-member correctional officers' union, told the Globe after speaking with the guards.

The Boston Herald reported that Geoghan, a high-profile prisoner segregated from the main prison population in a protective custody unit at the time of his death, told Leslie Walker, executive director of Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, he "was terrified the whole time he was in prison."

"In the prison population, men who have killed or abused children are at the bottom of the totem poll," said Dr Jay Feierman, a psychiatry professor at the University of New Mexico's medical school, who served as psychiatric medical director for the state's prisons.

"The sociopaths somehow have this hierarchy about who is beneath them and child molesters are at great risk."

Geoghan was one year into serving a sentence for fondling a young boy while they were swimming. At least 130 people accused him of abusing them while he served in various Boston area parishes.

Prison spokeswoman Kelly Nantel confirmed Geoghan was being held in protective custody and said the district attorney's office is conducting an investigation.

Some of Geoghan's victims expressed sadness and frustration that their tormentor had been killed, bringing a premature end to their search for justice.

"I had a moment of thinking 'He got what he deserved'," said Michael Linscott, 45, who was molested by Geoghan when he was an altar boy 37 years ago.

"As victims we will live in our own prison forever, but Geoghan got off easy. He is never going to hurt anyone again, but he still had a lot of penance to do on earth," Linscott said on Sunday.

[Hegemony Cricket]

Coventry.

[blackdog]

Well said. But still, what are we to do with the church of god run by men? I would say that god has been a bit neglectful in keeping house.

The RICO act was written with this bunch as the prime example.

As for getting what we deserved and the equity arrangement, I realized I came out way ahead when I was about five.

[CajunConservative]

This is wrong, terribly wrong. Geoghan was a monster but he did not deserve to die like this. He was a tiny man sixty eight years of age, and he was tortured by a much younger and, presumably, bigger man while trapped in a very small space. And it would seem to me that the state of Massachusetts is going to have to pay out a huge sum for its negligence (if that is all it is) in putting Geoghan in such a situation.

On another thread Druce's father said that he was sexually abused by several men and that he hated homosexuals. Gee I wonder why??? When I read how he killed the priest, he was giving back what he was put through IMO.

Geoghan simply reaped what he sowed.

[blackdog]

And do you fancy yourself an expert on Bulgarian prisons by experience or just some preoccupation with penal systems of the world?

I personally liked the French Colony system of Devil's Island. I love gardening and am growing tired of the estrogen stranglehold on my life.

I've begun growing rare cold climate bamboos, rare fruits, and building stone walls. Prison life would be good for those activities I guess. I guess it's my passion for British cars and airplanes that keeps me out of jail.

[DonQ]

Amen. One of the significant characteristics of (Fr) John Geoghan's prison sentence, with the prospect of several more years of prison being tacked on from pending cases involving other children, was that it wasn't a death sentence because - despite the seriousness of his crimes - he hadn't actually killed anyone. The death sentence is usually reserved for killing someone.

From the fact that "one of Massachusetts's most secure prison" allowed him to be killed, and that so many people - here and elsewhere - are cheering this outcome, means that other offenders will have to consider the possibility that any prison sentence will turn into a death sentence. They may well deduce that, since the outcome is no better than if they had been convicted of murder, then maybe they ought to kill the children they molest, since the punishment can't be any worse and with the children dead they might avoid being convicted altogether.

In other words, this ugliness puts children at further risk from offenders who would otherwise not be inclined to kill them.

[Protagoras]

Prison life would be good for those activities I guess.

So go sell a little pot and maybe you can draw a manditory minimum. Then you can be happy.

[AppyPappy]

You were being judgemental by condemning them for being judgemental.

[Protagoras]

You were being judgemental by condemning them for being judgemental.

Thanks for your usual contribution to FR. You have been a wonderful poster.

[fortaydoos]

My take on this is as follows: in the same way I am happy when a suicide bomber blows himself up in the bomb making shed, I am happy when a demon like geoghen gets some small portion of justice served to him.

You molest a hundred or two hundred poor boys, don't be surprised if someone gets some payback.

[thegreatbeast]

Have someone read to you what I wrote. Perhaps then you'll understand it.

[thegreatbeast]

There is prima facie evidence that the Commonwealth was at best negligent in the death of Geoghan. If he has family, they might very well get a huge settlement from the State of Massachusetts.
Besides the fact that no one deserves to be tortured, Geoghan's sentence wasn't the death penalty. As monstrous as his actions were, his victims kept their lives and are no less responsible than you or I for what they do with them.
Geoghan's death might have a chilling effect on subsequent prosecutions of the predatory priests and the verdicts that juries reach in them. It might very well mean that future 'negro padres' are assigned to minimum security prisons where they won't meet people who have nothing to lose. How will justice be served if these guys are gardening or playing tennis in the afternoons?
Be careful of what you wish for.

[Rome2000]

I am happy when a demon like geoghen gets some small portion of justice served to him

What happened to him wasn't justice, he wasn't a murderer

What I really have a problem with is the fact that nothing can be done to the insane animal that strangled him to death.

If he kills a prison guard next, is he still some great justice giver?

The Bible says an eye for an eye.

This scumbag should be shot.

[Rodney King]

It will get rid of having gangs form in prisons, and end the rapes and prison killings.

I agree 100%. Perhaps non-solitary confinement would work on a one strike/back in solitary forever sort of system.

[johnb838]

I say make 'em work the fields for their dinner. They'll be too tired for this kind of crap.

[Protagoras]

My take on this is as follows: in the same way I am happy when a suicide bomber blows himself up in the bomb making shed, I am happy when a demon like geoghen gets some small portion of justice served to him.

Which of course is quite different than advocating nazi criminals murder pedophiles in prison.

[Rodney King]

Is a pedophile beyond the grace and mercy of God?

Yes, Of course.

For my Christian brothers - does John 3:16 apply to pedophiles?

Yes, it does. And I hope that he has truly repented and been forgiven. That does not mean that he does should not reap what he has sown.

[Protagoras]

I say make 'em work the fields for their dinner. They'll be too tired for this kind of crap.

Chain gangs for certain kinds of criminals have been tried and used for many years. Unfortunately, in most places they have been abolished.

[justshutupandtakeit]

You would have to work VERY hard to put any more crap in a post.

[Rodney King]

Judge not, lest ye be judged.

Surely you don't mean that the state should not convict anybody of a crime. You must mean "judge" as in judging his relationship with God and his salvation. I did not do that. I merely support his reaping what he has sown on earth.

[bc2]

prison is for state sanctioned punishment, not prison rapes or vigilante murders.

i hope this thread dies a quick death

God help any man among us who wishes rape or beatings on a prison inmate. God will have His justice for eternity.