Pennsylvania Priest Caught in Sex Scandal

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Sarabande said:
The sad thing is that I wish more people in society would look at heterosexual abuse as just as evil and unacceptable. Too often, victims of heterosexual child abuse are overlooked, especially if the age of the child is older.
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Not in my experience. Except among those who would pretend that only abuse of a homosexual nature afflicts our priesthood. How about simply calling out any abuse as the crimes of opportunity that they are - and stamping out all opportunity?
 
estesbob said:
Absolutely. we just saw a case where a 54 year old had rapped a 14 year old female student(she later committed suicide) yet he was given only a 30 day sentence
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I think I know which case you are talking about. It just breaks my heart when I read things like that.
 
Sarabande said:
I personally would not call Fr. Paulisch a pedophile because I have not proof that he has ever been interested in pre-pubescent children. If the situation as described in the news report is true… ie. they found each other on Craigslist, he propositions the 15-year-old and they allegedly engage in sexual activity after apparently asking him several times if he was 18… this is where the shades of grey come in. If it was true that the boy reassured him that he was 18 and that he truly believed that this boy was 18, does that still make him an ephebophile? Is it then the common description of abuse if he was under the impression that they were both of the age of consent? I’m in the arts world and know several gay men of a certain generation who would tell older men they were 18, when they were actually younger, because they were curious about their own sexuality and at that time it was the only way to engage in that kind of sexual activity. They do not think of themselves as abuse victims. Some aren’t proud of their sexual exploits as teens with these grown men, but some are pretty unabashed talking about it. Also has anyone seen the ad on Craigslist? That said, to me if you have to ask a young man several times if he was of age, you might want to just drop the whole thing and not take a chance that you would be doing something illegal.
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I didn’t know about the asking if he was 18 several times. I would agree that this changes the situation with regards to the priest’s sexual predilections. He could just be a homosexual man who was seeking out sex with a homosexual man. Still a crime, but not necessarily a ephebophile (still might be). Also, I would add, this doesn’t seem to be a case of a priest betraying someone’s trust. Answering an ad on Craigslist is hardly equivalent to a Church function.
 
seekerz said:
Not in my experience. Except among those who would pretend that only abuse of a homosexual nature afflicts our priesthood. How about simply calling out any abuse as the crimes of opportunity that they are - and stamping out all opportunity?
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88% of the sexual abuse by Priests was homosexual rape of post pubescent boys. Only about 7% involved girls.You cant solve a problem if you dont identify it.
 
estesbob said:
Absolutely. we just saw a case where a 54 year old had rapped a 14 year old female student(she later committed suicide) yet he was given only a 30 day sentence
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He was not tried for her rape because she was the only ‘evidence’ and she is dead. That’s how he got the original deal (no jail time) which he violated and ended up back in court to face 30 days to 20 yrs. The 30 day sentence was for violating the terms of the deal, if my info is correct.

I don’t see where the abuse was ignored, but one still requires evidence to successfully prosecute rape of any nature.
 
Sarabande said:
I think I know which case you are talking about. It just breaks my heart when I read things like that.
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The Supreme court is going to examine the sentence but the MOST they could impose is 23 months. The judges excuse was the sex was voluntary and the girl looked older than she was.Simply disgusting.
 
estesbob said:
88% of the sexual abuse by Priests was homosexual rape of post pubescent boys. Only about 7% involved girls.You cant solve a problem if you dont identify it.
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The problem has been identified ad nauseum. The solution is simple: keep child abusers away from children. Gender is immaterial.
 
Sarabande said:
Have to add, there are adults who are fully matured, but their faces still look very young. My mother looked like a 15 year old even though she was 25. My dad was younger than her and didn’t believe her at first when she told him her age. Now, she was a nurse at the time, so he didn’t think she was any younger than 18. Not making excuses for the priest, but this could have been the situation, if what was reported is true. That’s the important part… IF… We really don’t know, yet, what the entire story is. Still, I think he should have just stopped if he questioned that much his age. He’s still at fault no matter which way you slice it.
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And, of course, there are teens who look more mature. When I was 16, I had a full beard and went out drinking more than once without being carded.
 
estesbob said:
Obviously not. but if you want to solve a problem you have to identify it first. if the Church had decided that the solution to the sex abuse scandal was to carefully screen out anyone with pedophilic tendencies it would have eliminated only about 10% of the abuse. The main problem was nor pedophilia-it was homosexual rape. That is why the Church has now instituted a policy of not allowing those with homosexual tendencies or immersed in the homosexual culture to enter the seminary
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👍
 
SaintAugustine said:
I didn’t know about the asking if he was 18 several times. I would agree that this changes the situation with regards to the priest’s sexual predilections. He could just be a homosexual man who was seeking out sex with a homosexual man. Still a crime, but not necessarily a ephebophile (still might be). Also, I would add, this doesn’t seem to be a case of a priest betraying someone’s trust. Answering an ad on Craigslist is hardly equivalent to a Church function.
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He betrayed the trust society places in him. Whether he also betrayed the boy’s trust, we don’t know, but by his own words (since we seem to be taking that at face value), he was counseling the boy so that implies a relationship of trust. And ‘counseling’ is covered under being a homosexual or being a priest?
 
seekerz said:
Not in my experience. Except among those who would pretend that only abuse of a homosexual nature afflicts our priesthood. How about simply calling out any abuse as the crimes of opportunity that they are - and stamping out all opportunity?
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Wish that were true across the board. Whenever I read about older girls being raped and abused by older men, I always hear or read things that the girls were asking for it. Whenever the story about a female abusing a teenaged boy comes up, the outrage is very minimal, ESPECIALLY if the abuser is attractive. When you look at what people talk about with the sexual abuse scandal in the Church, they only focus on the male on male abuse. There was male on female abuse as well, as I think most people know. It might not have been at the same numbers, but it was still there and still just as evil and awful… yet hardly anyone talks about it. Most focus on the male on male aspect of the abuse. Abuse is abuse.
 
seekerz said:
The problem has been identified ad nauseum. The solution is simple: keep child abusers away from children. Gender is immaterial.
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Gender, and least in the homosexual Priest scandal, was at the core of the abuse
 
seekerz said:
He betrayed the trust society places in him. Whether he also betrayed the boy’s trust, we don’t know, but by his own words (since we seem to be taking that at face value), he was counseling the boy so that implies a relationship of trust. And ‘counseling’ is covered under being a homosexual or being a priest?
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No. He was pretending to counsel the boy, when he was caught, as he thought that he could fool the police. The Craigslist ad wasn’t for priestly counsel.

This is a case of a man who sought out sex through a Craigslist ad, and ended up with a 15-year-old. It is a terrible crime, but it is not the same as pedophilia or a situation where a priest betrayed the trust of a parishioner’s kid.
 
seekerz said:
The main problem was the abuse of children. Unless the Church has changed its teaching, removing active homosexuals from seminaries does not require any basis other than the fact of their active lifestyles.
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What the Church changed was the criteria for men entering the priesthood, not removal requirements. Those with deep-seated homosexual tendencies are not to become priests. Obviously, the Church isn’t going to defrock current priests because they have same sex attraction without any sign of an active sex life.

Hopefully, the priestly formation for new priests and the vigilance on the part of parents will help quell the incidents of sexual abuse.
 
seekerz said:
He betrayed the trust society places in him. Whether he also betrayed the boy’s trust, we don’t know, but by his own words (since we seem to be taking that at face value), he was counseling the boy so that implies a relationship of trust. And ‘counseling’ is covered under being a homosexual or being a priest?
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In the story, he first said that he was counseling the kid, but he then "later admitted to police that he had arranged the meeting with the teen through the “casual encounters” section of Craigslist. " So, we really don’t know the truth in the story, yet.
 
Sarabande said:
Wish that were true across the board. Whenever I read about older girls being raped and abused by older men, I always hear or read things that the girls were asking for it. Whenever the story about a female abusing a teenaged boy comes up, the outrage is very minimal, ESPECIALLY if the abuser is attractive. When you look at what people talk about with the sexual abuse scandal in the Church, they only focus on the male on male abuse. There was male on female abuse as well, as I think most people know. It might not have been at the same numbers, but it was still there and still just as evil and awful… yet hardly anyone talks about it. Most focus on the male on male aspect of the abuse. Abuse is abuse.
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If you read carefully, you don’t have to go far to find people saying the same of this victim, i.e. he was asking for it.

The emphasis on homosexual abuse in the Church, at least by some, is based, to my knowledge on a study (I know of only ONE) which showed same gender abuse to be the predominant type. Strange to me, because growing up, the only factor that seemed to figure in the incidents I heard about was OPPORTUNITY, which at the time favored boys. Girls didn’t get to be altar servers or to be taught by male religious. However I have heard unverified whispers implying the abuse of girls too, and even elder abuse. Never saw any difference in reaction to the allegations other than an exclamation after the word ‘priest’.
 
SaintAugustine said:
No. He was pretending to counsel the boy, when he was caught, as he thought that he could fool the police. The Craigslist ad wasn’t for priestly counsel.

This is a case of a man who sought out sex through a Craigslist ad, and ended up with a 15-year-old. It is a terrible crime, but it is not the same as pedophilia or a situation where a priest betrayed the trust of a parishioner’s kid.
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We should say, “if”. We don’t know for certain, yet, what is the truth. “If” it is true that he sought sex through the ad and really believed he was with a person old enough to give consent legally, then it does have to be evaluated differently.
 
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