Florida priest found innocent of sexual abuse charges

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HAMMOND, USA, July 16 (CNA) - Two years after being accused of sexual abuse,
Fr. Chris Eggleton, OP, has been declared innocent of all charges by a Miami
court. The allegation was part of a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of
Miami.

His former parish community of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Hammond has
organized a mass and reception July 25 to celebrate, reported the Daily
Star. The announcement at the parish brought a standing ovation at the 9:30
mass Sunday.

The case draws attention to the widely ignored situations of false
allegations, which rarely get press. Fr. Eggleton had strongly denied the
allegations when he was first accused, and his parishioners supported his
innocence as well.

Fr. Eggleton has also been cleared according with the guidelines of the
bishops and those of the Conference of the Major Superiors of Men, enabling
him to continue his work in the priesthood. He will begin as the prior of a
Dominican House in Raleigh, N.C., this week.
 
I post the article above not because I knew the priest, but to proclaim that some of the priest accused are innocent. We should remember that because someone files a claim of abuse that it does not mean that they are guilty. Yes, I am aware that most of the accused are most likely guilty and that we should continue to pray that the truth comes out and let God pass judgment on their souls. We should also continue to pray for the innocent victims of the abuse and of wrongful allegations and for forgiveness of those guilty of abuse and of the wrongful allegations.
 
I think it’s good news that he has been found innocent. I wish more people would remember that priests have the same rights as everyone else, including innocence until proven guilty.
 
I like seeing posts that give us hope in these situations.

A friend told me about her Bishop being cleared recently.

Maria
 
RE Two years after being accused of sexual abuse, Fr. Chris Eggleton, OP, has been declared innocent of all charges by a Miami court. Two years is a long time to wait for justice.
 
Joe Kelley:
RE Two years after being accused of sexual abuse, Fr. Chris Eggleton, OP, has been declared innocent of all charges by a Miami court. Two years is a long time to wait for justice.
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true so true
 
I doubt that the local press is devoting as much time on the priest’s exoneration as it did during the arrest. Please tell me I’m wrong.

I am not naive, I know that the press rarely makes a big deal out of an innocent verdict, but it seems to me that a priest being exonerated of being a pedophile warrants more that just a back-page paragraph.
 
Unfortunately, you are right on the ball, Bud. I just went to the Sun-Sentinel and the Miami Herald web sites. For those who don’t know, they are the two big newspapers in South Florida.

At the Sun Sentinel site, I put in first “priest abuse.” I received 8 matches, none being on the innocence of Fr. Chris Eggleton. Here are the 8 titles they had:
Stokes pleads guilty to handgun violations
July 16, 2004
Court Hears Church-Abuse Suits in Calif.
July 15, 2004
Calls grow for bishop’s ouster in Austria
July 15, 2004
Bankruptcy Challenges Portland Archbishop
July 11, 2004
Abuse Victim Advocates Point to Vatican
July 10, 2004
Ore. diocese declares bankruptcy
July 7, 2004
Archdiocese files for bankruptcy
July 7, 2004
Portland Archdiocese files for bankruptcy
July 6, 2004

I then put into the search “Chris Eggleton.” Not a single article.

The same happened with the Miami Herald. Nothing about Fr. Eggleton at all, and 2 articles about the scandle; one which was about Austria, and the other was about a priest in New York.
 
Bud Stewart:
I doubt that the local press is devoting as much time on the priest’s exoneration as it did during the arrest. Please tell me I’m wrong.

I am not naive, I know that the press rarely makes a big deal out of an innocent verdict, but it seems to me that a priest being exonerated of being a pedophile warrants more that just a back-page paragraph.
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I know a priest who was accused.I don’t think it even got as far as Court.When he approached the newspaper who published
the original allegation,he was told people were not interested in his innocence.Of course,we have seen this kind of treatment meted out to politicians.They are assaulted with big Page 1 headlines at first,but when it turns out to be false the apology is about 3 lines long and buried somewhere on Page 7.I remember
a politician being harangued by a news reporter and demolished him by saying,“if there’s anyone lower in the estimation of the public than us politicians,it’s you guys in the media.”
 
I used to be a lawyer, so hopefully I remember enough to shed light on a couple of things.

First of all, many lay people don’t understand why it often takes a very long time for cases to be decided. Two years is actually about average in most states (a crime such as child abuse is strictly a state matter, not federal). Criminal courts are especially overburdened with all sorts of cases. The process generally is that the district attorney, or whatever state office brings cases against those accused of crimes, files the matter in court; there can be all sorts of preliminary hearings, etc. before the actual trial. All of these must be put on the court calendar and there are some that have to occur before others in the process (I would have to ask a practicing attorney to explain the technical stuff!). In fact, whether the trial itself occurs or not will sometimes depend on one or more of these preliminary things. If all of these are taken care of, the court will set a trial date, often doing so months or even a year in advance. Although I don’t remember a lot of details about the whole process, I can safely say that it is all very complicated & that’s why it takes so long.

As for the problem of false or misleading reports in the newspaper, a person might have a legal remedy under defamation law. You don’t hear about it that often because it’s so hard to prove a case - the party alleging defamation must show that he clearly suffered harm as a result of the false or misleading statement, such as losing a job, etc. I would be interested to know how many of these priests who have been cleared of abuse charges went ahead & did this.

The last & perhaps most difficult legal aspect of this whole thing has to do with proof. Many of the abuse cases that have come up in the past few years are based on alleged events that happened 20 years ago or even longer. There’s obviously a big problem with evidence, namely the accuracy of a witness’s testimony, lack of police or medical records, etc. Again, I’m no longer qualified as an expert, but I frankly wonder if half of these cases would have been brought at all were it not for the infamous media frenzy. I’m certainly not making light of this situation or suggesting that abused people shouldn’t have sought justice - everyone is equal under the law and all criminals should be brought to justice - but merely suggesting as a technical legal matter that the evidence in some of these cases may have been weak.

An experienced criminal attorney would have explained this much better, but I think I got the basics. There might be something on William Donohough’s (Catholic Anti-Defamation League?) website that would shed more light.
 
Three months ago a 24-year-old man made a charge that one of our local priests abused him 10 years ago on a CYO trip. The Dallas Charter is playing a large part in this situation. Our Priest was told on a Friday three months ago that he had to vacate the rectory immediately and was not allowed back on the church or school property. He was not given a place to stay, he was not allowed to say goodbye to the parishioners, he was not allowed to perform any priestly functions in public (Mass, Confessions, Weddings, Baptisms, ect.) For Priests there is no innocent until proven guilty. There is just that automatic assumption of horrible guilt. There is publicity with their face, name and Parish plastered all over the TV. There is an automatic association with previously convicted child molester clergy. All this and a very long wait until Rome has a chance to review the case. In the mean time where does he live, what does he eat, how does he prove his innocence, what does he do. Our priest is lucky in one respect his parents live close by but this is heartbreaking for him, his family, the parish, and the Church in general. The Dallas Charter, which I believe was drafted about 3 years ago in response to all the child abuse allegations, has stripped all the legal rights of the accused. There has to be a better way to handle this. When it is found out that the allegations are false what happens to the accuser? We already know that the Priest is not given much if any publicity when he is cleared. The accuser who has pretty much ruined this man and his families’ life not to mention put another black mark on the Catholic Church is not even slapped on the wrist. Something has to be done about this
 
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ATexasCatholic:
true so true
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Maybe he should sue the one who accused him falsely. That may be the only way his innocents gets in the news.
Our priests really need our prayers, all of them have been hurt by the scandal and need our support and prayers. Please say something nice to your priests, let them know they are really appreciated and pray your hearts out for them.
 
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cleofet:
Three months ago a 24-year-old man made a charge that one of our local priests abused him 10 years ago on a CYO trip. The Dallas Charter is playing a large part in this situation. Our Priest was told on a Friday three months ago that he had to vacate the rectory immediately and was not allowed back on the church or school property. He was not given a place to stay, he was not allowed to say goodbye to the parishioners, he was not allowed to perform any priestly functions in public (Mass, Confessions, Weddings, Baptisms, ect.) For Priests there is no innocent until proven guilty. There is just that automatic assumption of horrible guilt. There is publicity with their face, name and Parish plastered all over the TV. There is an automatic association with previously convicted child molester clergy. All this and a very long wait until Rome has a chance to review the case. In the mean time where does he live, what does he eat, how does he prove his innocence, what does he do. Our priest is lucky in one respect his parents live close by but this is heartbreaking for him, his family, the parish, and the Church in general. The Dallas Charter, which I believe was drafted about 3 years ago in response to all the child abuse allegations, has stripped all the legal rights of the accused. There has to be a better way to handle this. When it is found out that the allegations are false what happens to the accuser? We already know that the Priest is not given much if any publicity when he is cleared. The accuser who has pretty much ruined this man and his families’ life not to mention put another black mark on the Catholic Church is not even slapped on the wrist. Something has to be done about this
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I agree! What ever happened to: innocent until proven guilty in a court of law? Sad to also see that many Bishops(HERE in the USA) now don’t even follow DUE PROCESS as required ny Canon Law. As per anyone who falsely accuses a person no matter who the person is, of abuse etc. Just because they want $ or just to heart the reputation of another, SHOULD BE SENT TO JAIL, and actually tougher laws about this should be passed.
 
Why did I not hear this news on CNN? MSNBC? CBS? ABC? NBC? TBN? 700 Club? Etc.?

Is our media just plain anti-Catholic?
 
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Malachi4U:
Why did I not hear this news on CNN? MSNBC? CBS? ABC? NBC? TBN? 700 Club? Etc.?

Is our media just plain anti-Catholic?
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In a word, YES.
 
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ATexasCatholic:
I post the article above not because I knew the priest, but to proclaim that some of the priest accused are innocent. We should remember that because someone files a claim of abuse that it does not mean that they are guilty. Yes, I am aware that most of the accused are most likely guilty and that we should continue to pray that the truth comes out and let God pass judgment on their souls. We should also continue to pray for the innocent victims of the abuse and of wrongful allegations and for forgiveness of those guilty of abuse and of the wrongful allegations.
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Funny it’s not on national news (at least not here) but if the verdict was opposite it would have been. Thanks for posting it!
 
Looks like some of our priests are going to be leading the vanguard of the faithful, about whom Jesus said, “Blessed are ye when men revile ye, and speak all manner of evil against ye, for yours is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Having spent some time on secular boards on this issue, it is astounding to see that, unlike the vicious, venomous, hate-filled posts against not just guilty people, but against the innocent as well (based on labels, and not even accurate ones at that), posts here are more sorrowful, more humble, more charitable even against the unkind, and more balanced in point of view.

Let’s keep all our clergy in our prayers.
 
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