Woman repeatedly raped and impregnated at 14 by Catholic priest gets record settlement

[moobu2]

Woman repeatedly abused by Catholic priest gets record settlement

An Ontario woman who was repeatedly raped by a Roman Catholic priest while she was a girl has received what is believed to be the largest individual settlement in a sexual abuse case in Canada — $2 million.

The victim, Lou Ann Soontiens, was in grade school when the abuse began at the hands of Rev. Charles Sylvestre. It continued for seven years.

Soontiens testified during Sylvestre's trial that at the age of 14 she was impregnated by the priest and that he arranged a botched abortion. She had to be rushed to hospital for emergency medical care.

Soontiens was one of nearly 70 young female victims of Sylvestre who came forward.

Settlements have been reached with more than 50 victims.

CBC

[elocs]

1. I wonder how the Catholic Church reckons on settling with God over their atrocities

toward women and children. One would hope they have a lot of millstones ready to use on themselves.

[Deja Q]

2. Oh, they probably agree with Bristol's lover Levi:

"It is unrealistic (to abstain)."

:shrug:

[jody]

3. Perhaps any organized religion that does not aggressively try to prevent such things should lose its

tax-exempt status when the first incident occurs.

My argument is no divine entity would condone such evil and its occurrence proves the divine entity has rejected the organized religion.

[rwheeler31]

4. It is so sad that they want the priest's to be

celibate But go out and multiply is the creed.

[get the red out]

5. The fake celibacy routine is getting old

They attract abusers into the Priesthood because they want people who are willing to give up natural sexual relations with consenting adults. Well, people who want to rape kids don't want to have sex with adults, and the Priesthood gives them the perfect way to get access to victims. But it is so much more important to pretend that it is good for Priests (to say they) never have sex!

If these jokers would stop demonizing sex between adults they might do a lot better at weeding out the perverts.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. You're absolutely right there

A profession that says you must forego sex with adult women for the rest of your life is not going to attract a lot of men with mainstream sexual orientations.

There was a time when every family was supposed to "give a son to the Church." Those were the times of priests living with young "housekeepers" and "nieces." No problem as long as the women consented.

But the Catholic priesthood also served as a safe "hideout" for gay men. It was the perfect answer to the question, "Why isn't a wonderful young man like you married?"

However, in addition to gay men, who presumably sought out other adult gay men, you're going to attract pedophiles, and in the days when every parish had a school, that was an explosive situation.

The Catholic Church could reduce the number of scandals by an incredible percentage if only they allowed married priests and women priests. The Catholics have a severe clergy shortage; other denominations are fine, or even have a surplus. That should be a clue.

[MichiganVote]

6. Good for her!

[LiberalFighter]

7. Unfortunately, the priest did not receive suitable punishment.

He died after serving only 3 months of a 3 year term. Only sentenced to 3 years.

Too bad the employer that knew about the abuse wasn't convicted too.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

16. And I can guarantee that those 3 months were hell for him

if Canadian prisoners are anything like American prisoners, I can guarantee that the priest was sexually abused, humiliated and degraded for those 3 months. And if so, it doesn't bother me that much.

[LiberalFighter]

18. The hell was not long enough.

[DURHAM D]

8. I wonder if AIG is the church's insurance provider? n/t

[Bobbieo]

9. What about the 50,000 First Nation Indian children that lost their

lives in the church run residential boarding schools?

[DeSwiss]

10. Further into the article......

''The priest was convicted on 47 counts of sexual assault in 2006. He was sentenced to three years in jail, but died in January 2007, just three months into his sentence.''

- That works out to 3.32 weeks per rape. I'm not surprised.....

[rrneck]

12. The church could

even claim the priest will burn in hell forever and call that justice. Just another corporate cop out.

[54anickel]

13. The concept of eternal damnation - it certainly has 1001 uses. It's the gift that keeps on giving

to those who want power and control over and above all others. It really was a keen concept - keeps folks in line, offers an ultimate sense of justice while the reality of injustice is epidemic and perpetual.

[RagAss]

14. Isn't it time for a mass suicide in the Catholic clergy?

[Leigh Oats]

15. Pope warns Muslim leaders against misuse of religion

So begins a news story dated "16:52 GMT, Saturday, 9 May 2009 17:52 UK" at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8041421.stm:

+++++++++++++++++++

Pope warns of misuse of religion

Pope Benedict XVI has warned against the misuse of religion . . .

+++++++++++++++++++

That's classic holier-than-thou advice from the leader of one group of God-botherers to some leaders of another group of God-botherers.

The case of Lou Ann Soontiens is yet another reason for God to continue rolling in his or her---um . . .

[Dorian Gray]

17. Glad she got a settlement

Much less than what she deserved for her pain and suffering.