Educating To End Abuse

Adult Clergy Abuse Articles

Adult Victims of Clergy Abuse -- They Suffer in Silence

California attorney, John Bisnar, recognizes adult clergy sexual abuse victims. More Women Are Sexually Abused By Priests Than Boys Are

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July 19, 2008

Shamed Cleric Joseph Creegan In Battle To Keep Flat

Feb 24 2008

A MONSIGNOR sacked over an 18-year affair with a parishioner is battling to stay in his grace-and-favour home.

We revealed that Joseph Creegan was sacked by Bishop Vincent Logan over "irrefutable proof" that he had an affair with a married woman.

But last week Creegan sparked a row with the bishop that could go all the way to the Vatican.

Creegan was sacked after the spurned woman at the centre of the affair confessed all to Bishop Logan.

We also revealed he had stayed overnight at the home of divorcee Anne Ogden, who had gone to him for marriage counselling and even owned a share in her Fife home.

Bishop Logan immediately suspended him and apologised to Catholics in Dunkeld diocese for the hurt Creegan had caused

RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- A retired Roman Catholic priest was sentenced to 63 months in prison for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from his parishioners, money he used in part to support his secret family.

Rev. Rodney Rodis walks into court in a 2007 file photo. The former Roman Catholic priest was sentenced to 63 months in prison.

Rodney Rodis, 51, pleaded guilty to mail fraud and money laundering in October in the theft of more than $600,000 in donations from St. Jude Church and Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Louisa County between 2002 and 2006.

U.S. District Judge Richard Williams on Thursday issued the maximum punishment under federal sentencing guidelines and gave Rodis credit for time already served.

The judge also ordered Rodis to repay the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond more than $591,000 and required the Filipino native to meet with federal immigration officials for possible deportation after his prison term ends.

Before Williams handed down the sentence, Rodis recited a litany of apologies to his victims, including the Catholic church, his family and society in general.

"I hope that one day I'll be able to rectify my mistakes," he said.

Authorities said Rodis set up bank accounts and a post office box where he directed parishioners to send contributions. Rodis then transferred the money to his personal account, using it to support his family -- a wife and three children, whom he concealed from parishioners. He also wired money overseas to relatives who used it to buy real estate.

Robert J. Wagner, an attorney representing Rodis, asked for leniency because of his client's poor health, which includes prostate cancer and heart problems.

After the hearing, the priest who succeeded Rodis after his 2006 retirement said he wasn't convinced of the sincerity of his predecessor's apologies.

"He did this for five years, systematically, and in a very organized way," the Rev. Michael Duffy said. "Restitution is what we're after." E-mail to a friend

Rogers priest guilty of one count in retrial of sex-abuse case

He was accused of abusing his position by having sex with two parishioners, at one point telling one that her dead mother spoke to him and said they should be together.

By ROCHELLE OLSON, Star Tribune

Last update: February 20, 2008 - 12:44 AM

John Bussmann was acquitted Tuesday on one count and found guilty on a second alleging that he used his position to have sex with vulnerable female parishioners.

Former local man recounts life-altering events with parish priest that sent him into downward spiral


By Pat Bywater

02/11/08 —

Editor’s note: This is the first part of a two-part series.

The Roman Catholic faith had always played a central role in Kevin McParland’s life.

He served as an altar boy for several years and attended a Catholic school through sixth grade. For years his mother, a Eucharistic minister, gathered the family together each night to pray the Rosary for her husband, who, since a 1972 heart attack, experienced bouts of failing health. When McParland’s father, a medical doctor who often provided free care to priests and nuns, was too sick to attend church, she arranged for a priest to deliver the sacraments in their home.

Even when McParland left home to study at Penn State University’s main campus, he remained dedicated to the church, regularly attending services.

As he returned from college in the summer of 1980, the 20-year-old sophomore was worried about his father once again. McParland’s dad had just suffered another heart attack, and McParland did not know how he could cope if he ever lost his father and the close relationship they enjoyed.

Little did McParland know that an important lesson he was taught at St. Michael’s Catholic School in Greenville would be turned on its head. The nuns there, he said, stressed obedience to the church and to its priests in particular. The lesson was clear, McParland recalls: “If you didn’t do what they said, you would go to hell.”

In the space of just a few days, that summer McParland claims to have had sexual encounters that stripped him of his religion and dragged him into years of mental illness, drug addiction and homelessness that would nearly cost him his life.

McParland claims to have become the victim of unwanted sexual relations at the hands of his parish priest at St. Margaret’s Roman Catholic Church. According to experts in the field, McParland’s dramatic, near-death struggle to recover is not unusual among victims of clergy sexual abuse. His story also shows that while the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie is not alone in refusing to disclose exactly what it has done to address priests accused of sexual impropriety, it did try to help McParland. In the end, however, his requests for help went beyond what the diocese was willing to support.

A life-altering event

McParland stuck to his usual schedule of attending church regularly when he came home the summer of 1980.

What was unusual was his reaction to the parish priest who had just been appointed to his home church that summer, Father Stephen E. Jeselnick.

Jeselnick had been at St. Margaret’s only a short time — maybe a week — when he approached McParland as he was leaving Mass one day. McParland cut the meeting short because he found Jeselnick “a bit creepy.”

Embarrassed by his reaction, McParland later called Jeselnick to apologize. He said Jeselnick suggested a meeting at McParland’s home one evening so they could get to know each other better. McParland agreed.

The night of the meeting McParland was alone at home and had dipped into his dad’s whiskey. Worries about his dad’s health were taking a toll on him. Three or four drinks later, he was admittedly drunk.

The conversation with the Rev. Jeselnick was good — more like two friends getting together. “Talking to him wasn’t like talking to other priests I knew,” McParland said.

At one point Jeselnick began to give McParland a massage that eventually worked its way down to between McParland’s legs. When that happened, “I froze,” McParland said.

Jeselnick did not respond to calls and e-mails seeking comment on this story, but a letter from Jeselnick’s attorney, Brian Balenson, that accompanied a 2005 settlement between Jeselnick and McParland said Jeselnick thought the meetings “were free will and he now recognizes that, although (they) were both young adults, (McParland) did not view the meetings the say way as (Jeselnick) did.”

McParland continued to explain what he claims happened next.

Jeselnick led McParland to McParland’s bedroom, where the sexual encounter continued. McParland claims the priest ripped off his shorts. He said he told Jeselnick no, but the priest didn’t stop.

Looking back, McParland claims several things kept him from stopping the incident.

He was shocked and had been taught to obey.

“I did not even know priests and nuns had sexual organs,” McParland said. “I was taught they are God’s representative and you do what they say.”

He was almost paralyzed.

As the sexual incident unfolded, McParland claims it was almost as if he disassociated with his body. “I thought this can’t be happening. It was like watching it happen to someone else.”

And finally, in general, he was a passive person.

“I did not know how to fight back, especially with a priest,” he said. McParland had never been athletic and did not deal well with confrontation. When it came to bullies and fights in school, for example, McParland said he would always just take what was dished out. He believed that “the best way to have the least pain inflicted was to submit.”

Although some may find it hard to believe, it is not unusual for those who are victimized by priests to freeze up or offer little resistance as the sexual encounter unfolds, according to David Clohessy, director of the Chicago-based Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. Through SNAP, which was founded in 1988 by a female social worker who was victimized by a priest, Clohessy comes in daily contact with victims across the United States. He has been involved with the organization since 1990.

“Catholic children are trained from birth to trust, respect and revere priests and also that they are God’s representative on Earth,” he said. “These are men who can take away our sins and get us in

This “power imbalance,” as Clohessy calls it, combined with Catholic priests’ vow of celibacy, often renders victims helpless when a sexual advance occurs, he said. In many cases victims do little or nothing to resist, according to Clohessy, even in situations like McParland’s when they are abused more than once by the same priest.

In addition, Clohessy believes most abuser priests pick their victims carefully. “These men are unbelievably cunning, shrewd and manipulative,” he said. “They know how to pick people who have a hard time saying no and who won’t report it.”

Often, according to Clohessy, that means finding a victim who is vulnerable, as McParland was over his father’s failing health.

When the encounter was done, Jeselnick simply left.

The incident left McParland confused and scared. “I figured I was going to hell,” he said.

He did not want to tell anyone what happened, but he wanted to find help understanding why it happened and what it meant. He thought what had happened was sinful and had left him in jeopardy of eternal damnation, but how could a trusted priest do such a thing if it was a mortal sin? Had he done something to deserve this? Was God punishing him?

McParland turned to the only person he thought he could trust for answers. “I called him a couple days afterwards because I did not know where to turn,” McParland said. “I thought somehow he could take away what happened.”

McParland said Jeselnick suggested another meeting at McParland’s home. Again McParland agreed, and he says Jeselnick turned the meeting into another sexual encounter when he found McParland alone. Initially, McParland pressed the priest for answers to his questions. Was he doomed to eternity in hell? McParland said the priest responded that the only thing McParland needed to worry about was pleasuring him.

“It was like this wasn’t real,” said McParland of the second incident. He recalls thinking “at a certain point the best way is to submit and get him out of here.”

The encounter ended when McParland’s parents came home. Hearing them approach, Jeselnick stopped, made himself presentable and acted as if he was just visiting. “It was uncanny how he could switch from one character to another,” McParland recalls.

The fact that McParland went back to someone he felt was an abuser for answers is another strand Clohessy finds running through many cases of sexual abuse by a priest. He likens it to a battered spouse who goes back to her or his abuser again and again.

The downward spiral

McParland’s life slowly began unraveling from there.

His drinking was getting out of control, he was smoking marijuana and his studies suffered. He stopped going home for visits and became withdrawn.

to heaven. They are imbued with almost superhuman powers.”

“I cut off all relationships,” he said. “I did not tell anyone about it (the incidents with Jeselnick). I sank into a really deep depression.”

He still wanted to know what would happen to him as a result of the encounters, so much so that he called Jeselnick again. When the priest suggested a meeting at Penn State, McParland hung up the phone. He went to confession at a church near State College. When the priest began asking for graphic details of the incidents with Jeselnick, he left.

The downward spiral continued, but he managed to graduate. “I wanted to get as far away as possible,” McParland said, so he caught a ride to Los Angeles.

The drug abuse escalated, and McParland was unable to hold a steady job and started to have panic attacks.

He again sought help at a local Catholic church. A priest offered counseling, but did not want details about McParland’s abuser. The priest also offered no reassurance about the status of McParland’s soul.

He continued to believe he was destined to go to hell and began to think that “maybe if I am punished enough, God will forgive me.”

He ended up homeless, but lied to his family to keep it from them.

He attempted suicide twice. Then his father died in 1985, bringing him to a new low. McParland nearly died of a drug overdose just months later.

It was all predictable, and some of it may have been avoidable, had McParland known three things. He was not alone. It was not his fault. There was help available.

In some ways he was further victimized by history. As he struggled through his worst days in the 1980s, the national priest abuse scandal had not yet come to light. Victims were isolated and the sources of help were not as obvious as they are today.

In the end, Kevin McParland nearly had to lose his life in order to begin reclaiming it.

Former local man finds healing in speaking out about priest


By Pat Bywater

02/12/08 —

After two sexual encounters with his parish priest in Jamestown that Kevin McParland, then a 20-year-old college sophomore, said were unwanted, he saw his life unravel. He had become a sometimes homeless drug and alcohol abuser with no hope or direction.

McParland had attempted suicide twice and nearly killed himself with an accidental drug overdose after the death of his beloved father.

That it took getting that low to shake McParland out of his downward spiral is no surprise to David Clohessy, director of the Chicago-based Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.

Crippling and potentially deadly drug abuse, self-doubt and self-destructive behavior are common among those who have been abused by priests, he said.

“A huge percentage of victims try to cope with the pain by self-medicating,” he said. “It usually takes victims years or decades to understand the hurt is severe and ongoing.”

Clohessy should know. He, too, claims to have been victimized by his family’s parish priest. Through SNAP, which was founded in 1988 by a female social worker who was victimized by a priest, Clohessy comes in daily contact with victims across the United States. He has been involved with the organization since 1990.

While every instance of sexual impropriety by a priest is a serious matter, Clohessy believes that such instances within the Catholic Church are even more disabling to victims due to the tenets of the faith.

“Catholic children are trained from birth to trust, respect and revere priests and also that they are God’s representative on Earth,” he said. “These are men who can take away our sins and get us into heaven. They are imbued with almost superhuman powers.”

This “power imbalance,” as Clohessy calls it, combined with Catholic priests’ vow of celibacy, often renders victims helpless when a sexual advance occurs, he said. In many cases, victims do little or nothing to resist, according to Clohessy, even in situations like McParland’s when they have more than one sexual encounter with the same priest.

In addition, Clohessy believes most abuser priests pick their victims carefully. “These men are unbelievably cunning, shrewd and manipulative,” he said. “They know how to pick people who have a hard time saying no and who won’t report it.”

Often, according to Clohessy, that means finding a victim who is vulnerable, as McParland was over his father’s failing health.

The fact that McParland went back to the man he felt was his abuser for answers is another strand Clohessy finds running through many cases of sexual abuse by a priest. He likens it to a battered spouse who goes back to her or his abuser again and again.

If the downward spiral victim’s experience does not lead to their death, the victim is likely to hit a pivotpoint in their life that causes them to seek help. For some, like McParland, it takes getting as low as you can — a near-death incident, for example. For others it can be a major change, like getting married or divorced or having a child.

Since the Catholic Church’s priest abuse scandal broke into national consciousness around 2000, it has become easier for victims to find help and know that they are not alone.

“Now, thankfully, many victims are now more skeptical of church hierarchy, more willing to find independent help,” Clohessy said. “It is better than it was pre-2000, but is still an issue.”

Even after counseling, many victims find that the impact of the abuse “is never erased and the harm is never undone,” said Clohessy. “The unacknowledged wound never heals.”

In addition, “almost every one says they want to make sure the priest is not doing it to anyone else.”

In both respects, McPar-land’s case is representative of countless others.

Road to recovery

Thanks to therapy that McParland said led to diagnoses of post-traumatic stress syndrome and panic attacks, he was getting back on his feet by 1991. He was sober, had found new friends and a new job. He believed continuing therapy was the key to recovery, he was looking for some sense of justice, and he had an idea of where these issues would take him. First, however, he needed the backing of his family.

McParland was relieved with his family’s supportive, sympathetic reaction when he finally revealed to them what had happened to him 11 years ago and how it had changed his life. For a long time they had a feeling that something was at issue with Father Stephen E. Jeselnick, who served their parish for only about a year. Jeselnick also served other parishes in the Erie Diocese, including some time in Meadville.

With his family behind him, McParland was determined to approach the Erie Diocese. He knew there would never be a criminal case against Jeselnick — he learned that the statute of limitations had expired, so it was too late to seek prosecution. However, he did hope that the diocese would assist him in his recovery and he did expect church officials would act to ensure others were not at risk of abuse.

During his 1991 meeting with Bishop Donald Trautman, McParland claims he was offered pastoral counseling, which meant he would be counseled by a priest. A letter provided by McParland, sent to him by e-mail from Trautman, refers to both psychological counseling and pastoral care. Although Trautman’s letter indicates McParland received diocese-provided counseling from 1991 to 2007, McParland claims that is not the case.

McParland claims he declined the 1991 offer because he did not want counseling from a priest. He wanted the diocese to pay for counseling from an independent, secular source.

According to McParland, the Erie Diocese’s stance changed in 1996 when he, in the wake of reports of abuser priests in the Los Angeles Diocese, contacted officials there who served as a liaison with Erie.

They helped forge an agreement that led to the Erie Diocese paying for McParland’s counseling, he said.

According to McParland, the diocese paid for his counseling from 1996 to 1999 and from 2002 to 2007. Throughout the process he had to wrangle with the diocese over how much treatment he should receive, he claims.

In 2002, McParland claims to have heard from Erie Diocese sources that Jeselnick was interested in forging a settlement in the case.

In 2005, that led to an agreement between McParland and Jeselnick. McParland received a payment of $25,000. In exchange, McParland released Jeselnick and the Erie and Los Angeles dioceses from all claims, agreed to never contact Jeselnick, Trautman and a number of church officials and agreed to never discuss the incidents with Jeselnick with anyone except mental health and medical officials.

In a cover letter accompanying the agreement, Jeselnick’s attorney, Brian Balenson, wrote: “Let me pass on some direct thoughts from my client. He truly believes his meetings with you were free will and he now recognizes that, although you were both young adults, you did not view the meetings the same way as he did. He sincerely regrets any misconceptions and for the consequences you may have suffered as a result.”

In addition, in an interview for this story, Erie Diocese officials revealed that the diocese outlined and provided a program of pastoral assistance and counseling for Jeselnick.

It appears that Jeselnick has remained active in the ministry, currently in the Baltimore, Md., area. The Erie Diocese would not provide specific information about his assignment and the Baltimore Diocese did not have a record of his activities. Calls to phones and a message sent to an e-mail address listed in his name were not answered. A request for an interview made through his lawyer also did not get a response.

The Erie Diocese official who responded to a request for comment for this article, Monsignor Tom McSweeney, declined to discuss how much the diocese had spent on counseling for Jeselnick and McParland.

Going public

Although McParland did sign the settlement agreement with Jeselnick and it did provide funding for additional counseling, McParland was never particularly comfortable with the arrangement. A part of him did not feel right having agreed to be silent and he said that made him feel victimized again. He felt that his ability to help ensure others weren’t victimized had been limited by the agreement. In addition, he was becoming increasingly frustrated with what he claims to be ongoing wrangling with the Erie Diocese about his treatment.

It was in this context that McParland heard from the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests that there was a reporter interested in doing a story on a person living in Los Angeles who had unwanted sexual encounters with a priest.

He was advised by SNAP officials that agreements like the one he signed with Jeselnick are not enforceable. He decided to talk to the reporter and a series of stories was published.

McParland found the experience therapeutic because it “lets the people know this happens — it happens more than you think” and will perhaps give other victims the strength and inspiration they need to seek help. In addition, he said the articles helped validate his experience. “I am not a freak,” he said. “I am getting my voice back. What happened was wrong, finally validated after 27 years.”

Since those articles appeared in early August 2007, McParland has appeared on a television talk show and made contact with The Meadville Tribune.

In fall 2007, McParland’s agreement with the Erie Diocese to pay for his treatment unraveled when he made a request that the diocese pay for inpatient treatment.

In a letter McParland provided that was e-mailed to him from Trautman, the bishop cites the many years of assistance the diocese provided, dating back to the 1991 meeting when the bishop says the incident with Jeselnick came to his attention.

In the letter the bishop writes: “It is our opinion and the opinion of experts that the Diocese of Erie has taken every reasonable and compassionate measure over the years to assist you regarding the very regrettable event of two adults some 27 years ago. In view of this it is not our intention to provide further assistance.”

McParland’s life is far more stable now, and he believes he is doing an important public service by speaking out and sharing the details of his case. However, he said he still does battle depression, struggles with spiritual issues and rues the loss of so many years to drug addiction and mental illness.

It is unlikely that he will ever feel whole. He said the only thing that would completely satisfy him is beyond anyone’s power — giving him his lost years back. Beyond that, he would at least like to see Jeselnick removed from the priesthood and have his mother paid back the $100,000 McParland said she contributed to his therapy expenses. He has also joined lobbying efforts that would define priests similar to doctors and professional therapists in the eyes of the law. Such a change would open allow victims a longer period of time to seek prosecution and would expose priests to greater penalties.

While such legislation may some day come into being, the rest of the things McParland is looking for will probably never happen.

A statement provided by McSweeney in response to a call for comment on this story reiterated the stance laid out by Trautman in fall 2007 and provided some additional details. It reads, in part: “In responding to this case, Bishop Trautman sought and obtained the advice of members of the Diocesan Review Board. He also has been assisted by several mental health professionals in outlining and providing a program of pastoral assistance and counseling for both Jeselnick and McParland. The Diocese of Erie has provided extensive pastoral care and counseling for McParland for many years. The diocese believes every reasonable and compassionate measure has been applied in its response to the regrettable events of 26 years ago. At the same time the diocese is confident that the parties involved have attained meaningful progress in moving forward with their lives.”

McSweeney explained that the board reviews allegations of moral misconduct on the part of clergy. Its members advise the bishop. It includes trained professionals in the field of rendering pastoral counseling and legal advice and generally includes mix of secular and clergy members.

McSweeney also stressed that because McParland was an adult at the time of the incident with Jeselnick, the case does not fall under the diocese’s Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. Adopted in 2003, it established specific guidelines for those who work with children and young adults, guidelines designed to prevent child abuse and requirements for reporting and handling alleged incidents.

PUBLISHED MONDAY

Kevin McParland experiences a life-altering event at the hands of his parish priest.

Learn more

You can learn more about the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie at its Web site, www.eriercd.org. To learn more about the diocese’s Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, type the title into the search engine on the diocese’s homepage.

You can learn more about Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests at its Web site, www.snapnetwork.org.

Were you victimized by a priest?

Kevin McParland is interested in hearing from and help people who were sexually victimized by priests. You may contact him through Janet Patterson of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests at (620) 456-2330 or through SNAP Director David Clohessy at (314) 566-9790.

Stepson says Clinton hostage suspect 'needed help'

ROCHESTER, New Hampshire (CNN) -- The man who allegedly held hostages Friday at a New Hampshire campaign office of Sen. Hillary Clinton had seen one of her campaign ads about health care and was hoping she could help him, his stepson said.

Leeland Eisenberg surrendered after police said he held hostages in a campaign office of Sen. Hillary Clinton.

more photos »

Benjamin Warren spoke briefly to CNN about stepfather Leeland Eisenberg, who was expected in court Monday afternoon.

Police said Eisenberg entered Clinton's campaign office with what he said was a bomb strapped to his chest. It turned out to be road flares held with duct tape, police said.

Before surrendering, Eisenberg, 46, complained about his inability to get mental health treatment.

Warren said his stepfather "needed help -- he couldn't get it."

Eisenberg had seen one of Clinton's campaign ads about how she helped an underinsured boy get a bone marrow transplant, Warren said.

Eisenberg of Somersworth, New Hampshire, faces state charges of four counts of kidnapping, one count of criminal threatening and one count of false use of an explosive device, Rochester police Capt. Paul Callaghan said. Authorities have said he also could face federal charges. He was being held in a local jail.

Eisenberg walked into the Democratic presidential contender's campaign office in Rochester on Friday afternoon and took hostages, police said. See the location of the office »

Five people, including a small child, eventually were released unharmed by the time the ordeal ended more than five hours later. Watch why Eisenberg went to the campaign office »

During the standoff, Eisenberg had three conversations with CNN employees in Washington and Atlanta, Georgia. He said he had mental health problems and could not get the help he needed. He also said he wanted to speak with Clinton.

Eisenberg said he was a mental health patient who had been trying to get help. He'd been unsuccessful, he said, because he didn't have "thousands of dollars." See photos of the hostage situation »

"I need to speak to Hillary Clinton," he said. "Something's got to change. Ordinary people need help" with their insurance.

Eisenberg also alleged in a 2002 lawsuit against the Boston Archdiocese that a priest raped him.

The lawsuit says one week after the alleged rape, Eisenberg, then 21, tried to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge. Afterward, he went to a psychiatric facility for observation and treatment.

A legal source involved with the case told CNN that Eisenberg also was addicted to alcohol and drugs.

Clinton, who was in Washington at the time of the hostage incident, traveled to New Hampshire on Friday night to meet with the former hostages and their families. At a news conference afterward, the senator from New York said her campaign had no previous contact with Eisenberg.

"It appears that he is someone who was in need of help and sought attention in absolutely the wrong way," she said.

Clinton resumed her campaign schedule in Iowa on Saturday. E-mail to a friend

CNN's Jim

Ex-priest pleads guilty after threat

Thursday, October 25, 2007 ASSOCIATED PRESS

JERSEY CITY -- James T. Hanley, a former Roman Catholic priest at the center of a highly publicized sexual abuse case, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a weapons offense stemming from an angry outburst at a hotel.

Hanley, 71, pleaded guilty in state Superior Court as part of a plea agreement that will likely count a year already spent in jail as time served. Hanley went to jail after missing a court date last October.

Hanley admitted that he used an aluminum baseball bat to threaten three employees at the Extended Stay America Secaucus-Meadowlands hotel in 2006.

A 23-year-old desk clerk told authorities that Hanley was angered after the clerk rebuffed his sexual advances.

Unshaven and walking with the help of a cane, Hanley made no statement as he was released and left court after the plea.

Hanley was removed from the priesthood in 2002, 17 years after church officials learned of complaints against him.

Cheating Priests May Be Named

12 hours ago

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Anglican ministers accused of cheating on their spouses may be included on a proposed church database of child abusers and sex offenders, a church official said Tuesday.

The proposed register would give top Anglican officials access to any complaints made against ministers or lay workers accused of child abuse. But it would also include complaints of sexual misconduct against adults, such as adultery, even if the claims are unproven.

Philip Gerber, the professional standards director of the Sydney diocese, said potential ministers and church workers should be held to a higher moral code than other members of the community.

He said the register would be used to determine internal church appointments, and would distinguish between the types of allegations made, including rumors, written complaints and legal action.

"The church has always had a high expectation, a scriptural expectation, that members of the clergy and church workers lead moral lives," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

"Often people that come in touch with clergy are vulnerable because they're in a pastoral situation and the minister is, in a sense, in a position of power," he added. "We just want to make sure that whenever people come in touch with the church they are safe."

The proposal was being discussed at the Anglican church's triennial synod, or assembly, in the nation's capital, Canberra. If approved, officials said the database could be compiled and running by March.

Critics say marital infidelity should not be included alongside child sexual abuse in the register.

"The serious issues are very important (and we) must deal with them properly, but we're getting to the point where people for, almost for winking at somebody, could end up being on a register," said Muriel Porter, a lay member of the Anglican synod.

DOES THIS MORON THINK WE WERE ALL BORN YESTERDAY?

Vatican priest caught in TV sex sting

Accused Las Vegas Priest Agrees to Plea Deal

Sep 20, 2007 08:09 PM CDT

Diocese bans priest accused of harassment

By DARREN BARBEE

Star-Telegram staff writer

S-T ARCHIVES/IAN McVEA

Do's supporters want him back.

FORT WORTH -- An Arlington priest accused of sexual harassment was banned Thursday from working in the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese, despite the inconclusive results of an investigation.

But diocese officials believed that the two women who accused the priest were intimidated into silence after coming forward. And the priest admitted buying them jewelry.

Bishop Kevin Vann said in a statement that it was in the best interests of the diocese and the priest's divided parish, Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church, for him to permanently remove the Rev. Bartholomew Hoa Thai Do. He was removed in August for the duration of the investigation.

"A pastor is needed who can bring all parishioners together and who has no cloud of past allegations about him, allegations which involve current residents of our diocese," Vann said in the statement.

Vietnamese Martyrs is believed to be the largest Vietnamese parish in the diocese, with an average Sunday attendance of 3,500. Dozens of the priest's supporters gathered Thursday at the diocese headquarters, the Catholic Center in Fort Worth. A Vietnamese Martyrs church member, Le Hoang, said diocese leaders were presented with a petition of more than 2,000 signatures asking for the priest's return.

Hoang said that because the investigation on Do did not produce clear results, the diocese should "not remove him forever."

Do, a member of the religious order Congregation of the Mother Coredemptrix, may be allowed to celebrate a farewell Mass with the bishop's approval, diocese officials said.

The priest was accused of what diocese officials have said was harassment of two women several years ago that involved some form of touching. The incidents occurred while the priest served a parish in another state, but at least one of the women had a connection to the Arlington church. The allegations surfaced in 2004, and a conduct review board recommended to then-Bishop Joseph Delaney that the priest be removed from the parish, diocese officials said.

He was not. After Delaney died and Vann became bishop, the diocese was notified that the case was still open and it launched a new investigation.

The Rev. Michael Olson, diocese vicar general, said he was told that in the midst of the accusations, pamphlets were placed on parishioners' cars attacking the women. "There was some intimidation placed on these women," he said, adding that the women refused to speak with an investigator.

He also said the priest's decision to buy them jewelry -- he wasn't sure what kind -- "just seemed odd, from a pastoral relationship."

Olson said priests should love their parishioners but, "I'm not calling the diamond guys. There's a boundary there."

Darren Barbee, 817-390-7126
dbarbee@star-telegram.com

BECAUSE IT IS A CRIME 

Woman's suit against priest, archdiocese closer to trial

Web Posted: 09/19/2007 11:35 PM CDT

Elizabeth Allen
Express-News Staff Writer
A judge cleared the way Wednesday for a lawsuit against a local priest, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart religious order and the Archdiocese of San Antonio to head to trial in Bexar County.

The lawsuit, filed in 2004 by Theresa Gomez, alleges that Father Michael O'Brien used his position as her counselor to manipulate her into a sexual relationship.

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Gomez alleges O'Brien began counseling her in 2000 on various issues, including her ongoing grief over the death of her husband eight years earlier.

As her trust in O'Brien grew, she confided many personal issues. Late that year, the relationship began to change, according to court documents, and began to include "expressions of affection and the giving of gifts beyond those that would be expected of, or appropriate from, a counselor or priest toward a parishioner," the lawsuit claims.

By midsummer 2001, the relationship had escalated to sexual intercourse, the lawsuit alleges.

Gomez confided to an archdiocesan priest of the relationship, the lawsuit states, and later she reported it to other church officials in 2003; however, "no disciplinary action was taken against O'Brien."

O'Brien has denied the allegations. Tom Jones, the lawyer for O'Brien and the Missionaries, said his comments on the case will be limited.

"All the facts will come out," he said.

On Wednesday, O'Brien and the Missionaries argued that the case should be dismissed because of varying interpretations of a new law that pertains to the suing of health care providers. They also argued that the case doesn't belong in civil district court.

In that motion, lawyers argued that a violation of the separation of church and state occurs if a court of law allows a ruling on how a religious organization disciplines its members.

Judge Janet Littlejohn of the 150th District Court denied both motions.

Gomez said after the hearing that getting this far has been emotionally and physically exhausting.

"If we have a trial date of April 7, it will be literally five years from the date I reported him," she said.

"I was deposed for six hours, and I have to be deposed again."

Priest Accused of Sexual Abuse

Reported by: Leila Walsh Email: LeilaWalsh@woai.com Last Update: 9/17 11:50 pm

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Priest Accused Of Sexual Abuse

The woman says a priest bought her jewelry and gifts. But she says the courtship ended with abuse. A woman says she was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest in San Antonio. Now, her lawsuit is going to court. The woman says the priest bought her jewelry and gifts. But she says the courtship ended with abuse. Court papers show the woman was going through tough times and was looking for someone to talk to. She decided to confide in a priest, a man who had been to her house to perform the sacrament of the sick, when her husband was dying. "He appeared to be a good and trustworthy priest," said the woman who filed suit, Theresa Gomez. Theresa saw Father Michael O'Brien again, eight years after her husband's death. O'Brien was performing a wedding ceremony. At the time, she thought he might be able to help her through some difficult times. "Everything I told him just made me absolutely vulnerable and I believe he took advantage of that vulnerability," said Theresa. Theresa also talked about how she was abused as a child by her step-father and a priest. She tells News 4 WOAI they had several counseling sessions at a restaurant and eventually he told her to meet him outside an HEB. She says he had a Christmas present, which was a teddy bear. "He had black leather, black vinyl outfit similar to Elvis and the bear started singing and gyrating, singing, 'I want to be your teddy bear,'" Theresa said. Court papers say gifts were followed by sexual advances, such as groping, fondling, and passionate kissing. That escalated and eventually resulted in sex. When she reported the activity, she says nothing was done. "I hope to get on with the rest of my life and I don't know what that looks like," Theresa said. Theresa says she wants Father O'Brien and the Archdiocese of San Antonio held accountable. News 4 WOAI checked with a spokesman for the Archdiocese. He says he can not comment on pending litigation. News 4 WOAI also tried to contact the attorney for Father O'Brien. He did not return calls. It is believed that Father Michael O'Brien still lives in San Antonio, but we're told he does not have a current assignment with the Archdiocese.

San Francisco Priest Admits his Infidelity

The secret life of Michael Cleary (entertainer, radio show host, father of two... and priest)

It was the story which shocked Ireland: the revelation that one of the country's most popular clerics had a live-in lover and two children. Now television footage has been discovered which sheds light on his unconventional private life

By David McKittrick

Published: 11 September 2007