Chamblee54

That rascal joemyg-d has a weekly feature that looks at crimes with a religious connection. Often, the way the story is told says as much as the story itself. In this review of a review, we will look at both the story, and how the story is told.
This weeks winner takes place in Michigan. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) claims that some diocese did not do enough to stop a wayward priest. It seems as though Joseph Skelton left seminary, after being accused of entertaining a teenage boy in his room. A few years later, he was ordained as a priest at the Diocese of Tagbilaran, in the Philippines.
This story is reported in Catholicculture.org, which is copyrighted by something called Trinity Consulting. Trinity has an ad above the priest story, where they claim to offer “Truth Based Business Services”.
In Savannah, Georgia, WTOC reports on a man who received a four million dollar settlement from the Catholic Church there. The story is that a priest molested him, more than thirty years ago. Next to this story is an animated ad. It shows a baby in a car seat shaking his head, while the headline says that 9/10 homeowners do not refinance their homes.
In Alabama, a minister got in trouble over a camping trip. In the details, AP reports:(Original spelling is copied.) “Most of the counts involved possession of obsence material. District Attorney Greg Gambril said there were three counts each of sodomy and sexual torture, which he said involved a sex toy.” An ad on this Fox News page offers readers a chance to read “Ann Coulter – Free. Be among the first to read her column each week, right from your inbox. http://www.HumanEvents.com/AnnCoulter.”
Another fox news report is about Michael Joy in Wyandotte County, Missouri. He was a church youth minister, who behaved badly with those underage. The funny part of this story is that Mr. Joy was in prison for child molestation in the eighties. A quote… “Stony Point Baptist Church Pastor Thomas Hamilton said he spoke openly with his congregation about the incident involving one of the church’s youth leaders at services on Sunday. He said Joy confessed he’d been in prison before but lied about why. State records show Joy was convicted of eight counts of child molestation in the late 80s. Hamilton said he feels betrayed and now he and his congregation are working together to move forward and heal.”
The Associated Baptist Press has a tasteful story about the Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Jay, Oklahoma. He had a private service with a fifteen year old girl every sunday for over a year. The site has an ad for “Passport :Summer Camp with a Mission”.
You cannot have a sex crimes roundup without a California story. The pastor of the Koinenia Christ Community Church in Tracy,California, is accused of doing naughty things with underage girls. A fuzzy picture of the accused is displayed, across from an ad for a real estate firm. The realtors display two men, three women, and two dogs. No word is given on which one sells the most.
Down under in Australia, the CathNews has a story to tell, underneath an ad for Office Max. It seems like a young lady, referred to as the “alleged victim”, was abused by a priest. The playmate were recruited by “the nuns”. The attorney of the “alleged victim” has sent a letter to all of the Catholic churches in Victoria, with a request to read the letter to the congregation.
The Archbishop of Melbourne does not want the letter read to the flock. He says that the abuse did not take place in Melbourne, and has been dealt with “under the national protocol”. The Bishop of Ballarat, where the incident was alleged to have happened, said, with certainty, that no assault took place. The “alleged victim” recieved a $12,000 settlement in 2006.
Before anyone thinks that men of the cloth are a bunch of sex crazed perverts, the Belfast Telegraph has this uplifting tale: “Father Norbert Jedrusinski, 37, fled with a £900 haul after threatening staff with a knife at the bank in Szamotuly, Poland, but was arrested when he tried to flee on a bus.” The story was next to an ad from classmates.com.