By Michael Biniakewitz
Criminal Defense Attorney, The Law Offices of Spar & Bernstein
Unless you’ve been in a cave the last few days, I’m sure you’ve heard the disturbing new disclosure that the Catholic Church apparently looked the other way while a spate of priests engaged in rampant sexual abuse, such as the case of Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy, who may have molested some 200 boys at the school of the deaf in the 1960’s, yet somehow, miraculously, still died a priest in 1998.
Which brings me to the sex offense registry and a scenario that could land someone on such a repugnant list:
A pedophile moves into a place, gains the trust of a young child with promises of things that he thinks will entice the child, make him or her feel safe, secure and trusting. Once that trust is gained, he shatters that child for the rest of his or her natural life. He then gets arrested and convicted for the offense and ends up having to register letting everyone know he’s a child molester and must stay away from kids.
But what about the instances where a man lives in a home among children and is known to be a horrible threat to them, while at the same time there’s an adult living there that cares for these kids, is aware of this predator’s continued despicable acts and turns a blind eye and even a deaf ear when these defenseless kids scream out for help, literally and figuratively?
In most places, the adult that sees no evil nor hears no evil would face prosecution, mainly for endangering the welfare of a child because he had every means available to stop these atrocities.
There are countless examples where one person is prosecuted because he or she failed to step in and help the child from being victimized when they had the ability to do so.
By law, teachers are mandatory reporters to the authorities when they suspect abuse, meaning that if there is reason to believe a child is abused and they fail to report it the teacher and school can be civilly liable.
So, can someone tell me why the pope, or cardinals in these parishes, where a despicable series of rapes and sexual assaults have occurred over and over, have not been prosecuted?
Are the pope and church leaders waiting for divine intervention to stop the abuse at the hands of these priests that are known to them to be sex offenders? Something should be done rather leaving this to correct itself internally.
I don’t think saying four Hail Marys and five Our Fathers will fix this one.
