Anti-gay pastor who cheered Orlando nightclub massacre found guilty of child molestation

[beam me up scottie]

Anti-gay pastor who cheered Orlando nightclub massacre found guilty of child molestation

BRAD REED
11 APR 2017 AT 13:43 ET

An anti-gay pastor who said people massacred at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando “got what they deserved” last year has been convicted on eight charges related to child molestation.

The Florida Times Union reports that a jury this week found 57-year-old pastor Kenneth Adkins guilty of child molestation due to a relationship he had with an underage boy and an underage girl who attended his church seven years ago.

In the case, prosecutors claimed that Adkins had methodically groomed two teenagers to have sexual intercourse with him when they were just 15 years old. The pastor’s male accuser said he wanted to come forward so that the pastor would never again be able to similarly take advantage of young teenagers. The jury came back with a guilty verdict against Adkins after only one hour of deliberation. He is due to be sentenced on April 25th.

Adkins drew national condemnation last year when he sent out a message on social media attacking the victims of Omar Mateen’s shooting rampage at the Pulse nightclub.

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/04/anti-gay-pastor-who-cheered-orlando-nightclub-massacre-found-guilty-of-child-molestation/

[Leghorn21]

1. YEAH - great news, scottie! I just hope this makes the rounds on the Christian broadcasting

thingie and their blogs and feeds and FBs and whatever -

Hell yeah

[beam me up scottie]

6. They'll just say he had a crisis of faith.

He wasn't a True™ Christian, the devil was responsible, etc. It's what they always do when they're caught doing something evil.

[Leghorn21]

7. Well....crap. Thanks, scottie - eom

[beam me up scottie]

8. It's still good news that he's not going to be able to prey on kids anymore.

So that's something.

[Leghorn21]

9. Yes, that's a most excellent "something"' scottie - also, I always savor

the thought of someone like him living out the rest of his days in prison...not "jail" - PRISON -

hell yeah

[guillaumeb]

2. A disgusting reminder that predators seem to cluster where the prey is.

[beam me up scottie]

3. And where they know they'll be protected:

For the first time, the Vatican unveils how it punished thousands of pedophile priests
By Terrence McCoy

Weeks ago, the United Nations released one of the greatest international indictments of the Vatican in years. Among the report’s concerns: “ritual beatings of children,” “torture and other cruel or degrading treatment” and sexual abuse and exploitation.

Worse, the report said, the Catholic Church hadn’t just ignored pleas for reform. It had protected pedophile priests. “Well-known child sexual abusers have been transferred from parish to parish or to other countries in an attempt by the church to cover-up such crimes,” the United Nations alleged.

On Tuesday, the Vatican’s ambassador to the United Nations sat at a desk before a U.N. committee in Geneva to address some of those concerns. Over three hours, the gray-haired archbishop unveiled for the first time the punishment the church has meted out to thousands of priests guilty of committing sexual abuse.

In the past decade, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi said the Vatican defrocked 848 priests. It also sanctioned an additional 2,572 clergymen with lesser penalties, including “a life of prayer and penitence.” In all, he reported, the Vatican handled more than 3,400 cases of sexual abuse since 2004. “There is no climate of impunity, but there is a total commitment to clean the house,” he said, adding that many of the cases of sexual abuse were from decades ago.

He said the church had changed: “I think we have crossed a threshold … in our evolution of the approach to these problems. It’s clear that the issue of sexual abuse of children, which is a worldwide plague and scourge, has been addressed in the last 10 years by the church in a systematic, comprehensive, constructive way.”

Critics immediately questioned that assessment. The main issue, they say, is the fact that the church gave numbers — but no names. “Every step towards more transparency about clergy sex crimes and cover-ups is good,” said David Clohessy, the director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. “But this one — the number of priests defrocked — is largely meaningless. Parents can’t protect their kids from a number. What parents need are the names and whereabouts of child-molesting clerics.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/05/07/for-the-first-time-the-vatican-unveils-how-it-punished-thousands-of-pedophile-priests/

The UN demanded they turn over their records:

Scathing UN report demands Vatican 'immediately' act against child sexual abuse

The United Nations has demanded the Vatican "immediately remove" all clergy who are known or suspected child abusers and turn them over to authorities.

In an unprecedented report, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child said Catholic Church officials had imposed a "code of silence" on clerics to prevent them reporting attacks to police, and moved abusers from parish to parish "in an attempt to cover up such crimes".

It said the Holy See must hand over its archives on the sexual abuse of tens of thousands of children so culprits, as well as "those who concealed their crimes", can be held accountable.

The Vatican responded quickly, saying the church was committed to "defending and protecting the rights of the child" and promising to give the UN report "thorough examination".

However, it also added the UN was interfering in Catholic moral teachings because the report also criticised its positions on homosexuality, contraception and abortion.

The watchdog's exceptionally blunt paper - the UN's broadest critique of the Catholic hierarchy - followed its public grilling of Vatican officials last month.

"The committee is gravely concerned that the Holy See has not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, has not taken the necessary measures to address cases of child sexual abuse and to protect children, and has adopted policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by and the impunity of the perpetrators," the report said.

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-05/scathing-un-report-demands-vatican-act-against-child-sex-abuse/5241300

And a Vatican official told new bishops they don't even need to report sex abuse to the police:

NEW CATHOLIC BISHOPS TOLD THEY DON’T HAVE TO REPORT SEXUAL ABUSE TO POLICE
By Lucy Westcott

A Vatican official has told newly appointed bishops that they have no obligation to report instances of clerical sexual abuse, as it's the responsibility of the victims and their families.

During a presentation for newly appointed bishops, French Monsignor Tony Anatrella said they don’t have a duty to report abuse because it should be the responsibility of victims and their families to go to the police. The comments were first reported by John L. Allen at the Catholic news site Cruxnow.com earlier this week.

Anatrella, a psychtherapist and consultant to the Pontifical Council for the Family and the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, is known for his controversial views on homosexuality, including that the acceptance of homosexuality in the West is creating “serious problems” for children. He also helped to write a training document for newly appointed bishops that further spells out the church’s stance on clerical sexual abuse.

“According to the state of civil laws of each country where reporting is obligatory, it is not necessarily the duty of the bishop to report suspects to authorities, the police or state prosecutors in the moment when they are made aware of crimes or sinful deeds,” the training document, which was released by the Vatican earlier this month, reads. The document says bishops are required only to report the suspected abuse internally.

http://www.newsweek.com/bishops-no-obligation-report-sexual-abuse-425509

[guillaumeb]

4. NO question that it was systematic.

Changing any large organization takes time and commitment. If commitment is lacking...........

[beam me up scottie]

5. It really doesn't. All the pope has to do is instruct them to comply.

That's all it took for Ratzinger to order bishops to silence the victims and he wasn't even the pope then:

Sex crimes and the Vatican

A secret document which sets out a procedure for dealing with child sex abuse scandals within the Catholic Church is examined by Panorama.

Crimen Sollicitationis was enforced for 20 years by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he became the Pope.

It instructs bishops on how to deal with allegations of child abuse against priests and has been seen by few outsiders.

Critics say the document has been used to evade prosecution for sex crimes.

Crimen Sollicitationis was written in 1962 in Latin and given to Catholic bishops worldwide who are ordered to keep it locked away in the church safe.

It instructs them how to deal with priests who solicit sex from the confessional. It also deals with "any obscene external act ... with youths of either sex."

It imposes an oath of secrecy on the child victim, the priest dealing with the allegation and any witnesses.

Breaking that oath means excommunication from the Catholic Church.

Reporting for Panorama, Colm O'Gorman finds seven priests with child abuse allegations made against them living in and around the Vatican City.

One of the priests, Father Joseph Henn, has been indicted on 13 molestation charges brought by a grand jury in the United States.

During filming for Sex Crimes and the Vatican, Colm finds Father Henn is fighting extradition orders from inside the headquarters of this religious order in the Vatican.

The Vatican has not compelled him to return to America to face the charges against him.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/5389684.stm

Why won't Francis order his bishops to comply?

[guillaumeb]

10. Perhaps he is worried that they will not.

Issuing an order is one thing, getting compliance is another.

As Trump is finding out.

[beam me up scottie]

11. That makes no sense. He just ordered a review of Mass translation.

Pope Francis has ordered a review of the new Mass translation rules

Pope Francis has ordered a review of “Liturgiam Authenticam,” the controversial decree behind the most recent translations of liturgical texts from Latin into English and other languages. The commission, established by the pope just before Christmas, is also tasked with examining what level of decentralization is desirable in the church on matters such as this.

The mixed commission includes bishops from all the continents.

http://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/01/26/pope-francis-has-ordered-review-new-mass-translation-rules

We're talking about protecting children here. Are you really suggesting the pope is afraid to tell his bishops to comply with the UN in order to prevent more abuse? That it's somehow less important than ordering a review of how mass is translated?

He can right a great wrong here, would a moral leader be afraid to fail when it comes to this kind of injustice?

What is he afraid of?

[guillaumeb]

12. I am offering an opinion of a possible motivation. Nothing more.

[beam me up scottie]

13. I know what I would do if I was in charge.

It seems like a no brainer - even for a pr pope. If he wins he's lauded as a hero who cleaned up the Vatican. And if he loses he still gets lauded as a hero who tried to clean up the Vatican.

[guillaumeb]

14. It is a huge organization.

Giving an order is not the same as the order being accomplished. And, as the numerous stories about police cover-ups and military cover-ups show, people do cover for guilty co-workers. Is it correct? No. But it does happen.

[beam me up scottie]

15. And he's the head of it. Why can't he at least try?

In the real world people who cover for pedophiles go to prison.

There are no excuses for not turning over the records and siding with the victims - those who were abused in the past and those who will be abused in the future if these men don't go to jail.

If we were discussing sexual abuse outside of the Church people would be screaming for the heads of all those involved in the cover up. Like they did in Pennsylvania.

Why should the Vatican get a pass? Why aren't more people outraged?

[guillaumeb]

16. No one should get a pass.

Outrage fatigue? I have no idea.

[beam me up scottie]

17. Oh please. Outrage fatigue has nothing to do with it.

Like I said - if the head of any other large international organization deliberately refused to allow the UN access to records about the pedophiles it had been protecting people would be screaming bloody murder.

But because it's the pope we're expected to give him the benefit of the doubt. We're supposed to be understanding and realize that it's HARD to do the right thing. Shouldn't he be more concerned with protecting children than priests? Shouldn't he be more worried about his mortal soul than the reputation of his church? There is no excuse for his refusal to cooperate. None.

How are we supposed to believe religion is a source for morality while the head of its largest church continues to protect child sex abusers?

[guillaumeb]

18. Religion is one source for morality, but no one anywhere claimed that any organization

is perfect, or that every member is perfect.

[beam me up scottie]

19. That's a straw man. I don't expect the RCC to be perfect.

I do expect its leader to do the right thing and open up its records on pedophile priests to the UN. I expect him to stop protecting his church and start protecting its most vulnerable victims.

But I'm used to being disappointed.

[guillaumeb]

20. As am I.

I understand loyalty to an organization, to a degree, but protecting people ranks far above protecting predators.

[beam me up scottie]

21. I would also like them to stop supporting and promoting homophobia and misogyny.

I would like apologists to stop excusing their bigotry because it's "inspired" or whatever the latest talking point is. It's still homophobia and misogyny and it doesn't get a pass because it's couched in religion.

And I would like to stop hearing about how we're supposed to praise the "good works" of groups and institutions that actively harm women and lgbt people by vilifying us and advocating legislation that restricts our rights. It's insulting.

But like I said, I'm used to being disappointed.

[guillaumeb]

22. Patriarchy is a problem and has been for thousands of years.

Agreed on homophobia also. It is based on hate.