FEATURED JOBS
I think, Phil Jacobs should be applauded for all the great work that he is doing on behalf of victims. It’s a tough job to undertake, and I’d like to see him be rewarded for it.
COMMENTS
Shapiro Found Guilty
Posted by Elina Feliu on 05/01/12 at 11:34 AM
It is unbelievable such a light sentence prevailed over such a serious offense. These boys lost not only their innocence but self respect as well. I wish this judge presided over my case, (downloading child pornography) where I served 36 months in jail for abusing with only my thoughts and never physically touching or a victim. I admitted my devious actions, am ashamed while being exposed on the Registry which, my conduct deserves. The Judge has disscression to punish this unrepentant sexual deviate, to the fullest extent of the law, not a slap on the wrist. By not excepting and down playing the seriousness of his crime “s”, It’s a matter of time before we hear about shapiro’s, future victims. This decease is a lifetime battle of “learning” , learning how not to victimize again. All you Judge’s keep this in mind when the same individual appears before you for the same crime, and he will. Remember the victims you’ll create and ask yourself, was it worth it?
THANK-YOU SISTER MAUREEN—-I think that our Queen Esther woud be extremely proud of You!I AGREE WITH YOU 100%.. As someone who is a proud survivor of childhood sexual abuse and has/is works hard to heal from this extremely complicated and far-reaching devastating life experience- it is vital for the person who caused this “attempted murder” to be held accountable with no restrictions whatsoever. For this Shapiro guy to go Scott-free is absolutely a travesty; he’s a butcher alright—a butcher of souls and my heart goes out to all of his INNOCENT VICTIMS—but until the laws are changed AND THEY MUST BE—my prayers for all victims who are ready and able to take back their precious energy that they expend in anger and resentment—because it becomes like us drinking poison expecting the OTHER person to DIE—but in fact, it just KILLS off OUR JOY,OUR LIFE,OUR HEALTH—-Speaking again, from personal experience,child sexual abuse,incest,exploitation, in ANY FORM, is WORSE than MURDER.I would not wish the horible confussion on any living being. May Hashem Bless Us with Grace and Guidance to Navigate the Storm to The Sunshine. M.A.
Is this article not an incentive for changes to Maryland’s civil statutes so that all those abused by clergy of any faith are held accountable? We all need to join together to get all statutes of limitation removed regarding the sexual abuse of children as well as Window Legislation for past offenses -
WHAT ABOUT ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY?
There is a need to change Maryland’s inadequate
childhood sexual abuse statutes as was done last year in Delaware for the protection of everyone.
It is as simple and as profound as that.
It is a glaring need, one that should be obvious to
all those concerned with the welfare and protection of children.
Maryland’s archaic civil statutes have been among the most ineffective in the nation, allowing little time for civil action in older cases.
The history of enabling in regard to known sexual
predators is appalling, unconscionable and immoral.
This is especially evident in the recent history of the cover up in the Roman Catholic Church.
Although the Catholic Church has not been alone among religious denominations with problems of sexually abusive clerics, its history of covering up and protecting these offenders has been singularly scandalous.
Instead of being pro-active in supporting adequate legislation in holding offenders accountable it has used all of its power and resources in fighting tooth and nail to obstruct new legislation.
This is supported by the fact that church leadership failed to even address its sexual abuse problem until decades of cover-up were first exposed in the Archdiocese of Boston, ground zero for the Catholic Church in the United States.
Boston Superior Court Judge Constance Sweeney, an
exemplary product of at least sixteen years of
catholic school education, ordered the release of all
records and files on credibly accused pedophile
priests in Boston early on while pastors in churches across the United States were being told not to worry because their diocese had no such problem.
This is tragic and it speaks to the skewered value we as a society place on children, especially those
victims of childhood sexual abuse.
As members of a community of believers, the people of God -
We say we are concerned with the rights of the unborn.
We say we are concerned with the trafficking of
persons.
We say we are concerned about the protection of the
human rights of immigrants, legal or illegal.
But while we may take the moral high ground on these issues, many of us ignore the victims of childhood sexual abuse who are right in front of us and instead talk about greedy lawyers, complain about how unfair it is to hold individuals accountable for their past sins and crimes, make inflammatory statements about the anti-catholic attitudes of anyone who would suggest accountability and the bias of just about every newspaper in the country, calling down God’s eternal wrath on them from time to time.
None of this does much to address the problem.
In fact, statements made by church leadership in
Maryland that HB 858 would have unfairly punished the Catholic Church by forcing it to put millions of dollars toward litigation while hampering its ability to do charitable work is patently untrue and no documentary evidence has been produced to support such am outrageous claim.
What can be documented is the fact that the
Archdiocese of Los Angeles, for example, has spent
millions of dollars per year in fighting tooth and
nail against victims of childhood sexual abuse until the very last moment before the church would have been forced into a courtroom where archdiocesan records and files would have been made public.
This is a continuing tragedy of unspeakable horrors
that is not mitigated by the fact that it may have
happened ten, twenty or thirty years ago. It is an
abomination which must be dealt with, but justice,
like charity, begins at home.
It should have begun in earnest when all the bishops of the United States received the Doyle, Peterson, Mouton Report in 1985.
It should have begun in earnest in 2002 when our
bishops said it would.
It should have begun in earnest when Pope John Paul II said that there is no place in the priesthood for those who would abuse a child.
We are all still waiting for that promised
accountability and transparency even while then United States Conference of Catholic Bishops president Wilton Gregory was telling us that, “The terrible history recorded here today is history.”
No, it is not behind us as Bishop Gregory would have wished because church records, forced into the public venue by the courts, have brought that reality home to us with a vengeance.
One can only blanch at what may lie among the
thousands of documents that too many dioceses around the country refuse to release, but what has already been made public appears to document decisions that may be more criminal in nature then the “mistakes” and “poor decisions” that some official have claimed.
Because their enablers did not put our children first, they did not have the integrity to do what they were morally bound to do in the first place, and that was to call the police.
This reality is much harder to stomach and it is the reason why Marylanders should be demanding legislation that will open a civil window of at least two years to get some of these sociopaths and their records into a civil, if not criminal, courtroom where they belong.
Jesus said, “the truth shall set you free,” but when will the truth be known?
Yes, the tragedy continues in the larger society but the tragedy in our own church continues while the list only gets longer as the forced release of records and files makes evident.
Real accountability requires that all arbitrary, and they are arbitrary, statutes of limitation, criminal and civil, on the sexual abuse of our children be removed and that a window of at least two years be provided to allow previously time barred cases to be brought forward in a court of law.
In addition to the complete removal of statutes of
limitation in regard to the sexual abuse of children, window legislation is the single most effective means of holding sexual predators of any stripe, along with any possible enablers, accountable.
It is unconscionable and downright immoral to be
opposing the removal of SOLs and fighting allegations of crimes, known to be credible, in court on the basis of arbitrary SOLs.
There should be no accommodation in law that virtually barres victims of childhood sexual abuse from bringing their cases forward in civil court.
Statements made by various denominations that
dreadful mistakes were made in its handling of this or that case, is reminiscent of statements made after the release of the Grand Jury Report on the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in September of 2005.
Church spokesmen there even went so far as to blame
everything on the Know-Nothings of the 1850s.
Unbelievable but true.
Church history tells us that the problems of sexual
abuse were seriously condemned from the earliest days of the church. Church Councils and Canon Law were very specific in their condemnations of sexual aberrations and just as specific as to punishments, sometimes even including death.
In Delaware, we were successful is totally removing
statutes of limitation in regard to the sexual abuse of our children by anyone and we included a two year window for previously time barred cases. The Child Victims Law was signed by our Governor Ruth Ann Minner on July 10, 2007, and it covers everyone, everyone.
Delaware was able to accomplish this through its broad based, non-sectarian coalition, Child Victims Voice which included hundreds of individuals and organizations.
Visit the coalition website at
http://www.childvictimsvoice.com.
The people of Maryland deserve better and their state legislators need to pass similar child abuse laws.
Justice and Charity are what Jesus taught. He never
said it was contingent on the price tag.
Sister Maureen Paul Turlish
Victims’ Advocate
25-E Highland Blvd
New Castle, Delaware
302-322-9410
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
_________________________________________________
Sister is a educator, a member of the Delaware
non-sectarian coalition, Child Victims Voice and was a speaker at the November 3, 2007 conference of NAPSAC, the National Association to Prevent Sexual Abuse of Children in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She testified twice before the Delaware legislature in support of their newly passed Child Victims Law. She is a board
member of DACOA, the Delaware Association of Children of Alcoholics.