Pastor Convicted of Rape
 

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/09/27/pa....ap/index.html

Ex-pastor convicted of raping girl
Told child that God ordained the affair

POCAHONTAS, Arkansas (AP) -- A former pastor was sentenced to 35 years in prison for raping a young girl who said the man had told her that God approved of their sexual relationship.

A jury convicted Donald Lee Flanery, 46, on Friday, and recommended the sentence that Circuit Judge Harold Irwin imposed later that day in Randolph County, in northeastern Arkansas.

Prosecutors said Flanery, of Ravenden Springs, assaulted the Maynard girl nearly three dozen times, beginning when she was 11 and ending when she was 13.

At the time of the incidents, Flanery was the pastor of a non-denominational church known as The Family of Christ. Documents filed in the case said the assaults occurred at the church, his residence behind the church and at a new home he was building.

The girl told investigators that Flanery had told her that God approved of a man having more than one woman, despite her age.

"It was biblical," she said.

She also told police that Flanery was a religious man "who would go through bouts of apology," according to investigators.

Sheriff Brent Earley said members of Flanery's church protested the verdict and pointed fingers at prosecution witnesses.

"They stood up and approached the witnesses and some said, `You're going to pay for this," Earley said. Deputies were summoned to help with security.

just another example of how fucked up some churches and the people that run them are...poor girl. I would put him down in my books as the motherfucker who I would kill when he got out of prison for mindfucking me at such a young age if I was the girl.

Would like to see how her life ends up in 15 years..my guess is he has twisted her young brain.

Here's a completely different priest - BISHOP even, also in todays news.

Former Bishop Dupre Indicted on Child Rape Charges
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2004Sep27.html

By Adam Gorlick
The Associated Press
Monday, September 27, 2004; 12:36 PM

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Bishop Thomas Dupre, the former head of the Springfield Diocese, was indicted on child rape charges, accused of molesting two boys in the 1970s, the county prosecutor said Monday.

He becomes the first Roman Catholic prelate indicted in the sex abuse scandal within the American church.


Dupre, 70, resigned Feb. 11 after nine years as head of the diocese, one day after The Republican newspaper of Springfield confronted him with allegations he abused two boys while he was a parish priest. Dupre cited health reasons for his departure. He retains the title of bishop.

The indictment was handed up Friday by a grand jury but unsealed Monday, said Hampden County District Attorney William Bennett.

Dupre's lawyer, Michael Jennings, did not immediately return a call for comment. Mark Dupont, a spokesman for the Diocese of Springfield, said Dupre's successor, Bishop Timothy McDonnell, would have no immediate comment.

McDonnell took over the diocese in April with a promise to heal the wounds inflicted by the sex abuse scandal. Since McDonnell's installation, the diocese has reached a $7 million settlement with 46 people who say they were abused by priests.

There have been at least a dozen grand jury investigations involving how bishops dealt with abuse claims, and four other U.S. bishops have resigned after being accused of sexual misconduct.

Dupre's alleged victims, who also are suing the cleric and the diocese, have said Dupre sexually abused them for years and asked them to keep quiet about the abuse when he was made auxiliary bishop in 1990. He became bishop in 1995.

When he announced he was bringing the case to a grand jury, Bennett initially said the statute of limitations on the alleged abuse had likely expired. But Bennett later said charges were possible because Dupre allegedly tried to conceal the abuse recently.

After his retirement, Dupre went to St. Luke Institute, a private Catholic psychiatric hospital in Maryland where the Boston Archdiocese sent many priests for treatment after sexual abuse allegations were made against them. The institute treats priests with emotional, behavioral and psychological problems.

Dupre's whereabouts Monday were not immediately known.

One of the men, who immigrated to America in 1975, said the abuse began when he was 12 after his family was befriended by Dupre. The man claimed the abuse lasted until he began dating a girl in high school.

Dupre allegedly took him on out-of-state trips and to Canada, and bought pornography with the boy in Connecticut. Dupre is then accused of starting to abuse the other boy. The second victim says he was abused until he was about 20.

Four other U.S. bishops have resigned after being accused directly of sexual misconduct since the scandal erupted in Boston in early 2002.

Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland asked the Vatican to speed up his retirement after it was learned that the archdiocese paid a $450,000 settlement to a man who said Weakland sexually assaulted him. Bishop J. Kendrick Williams of Lexington, Ky., resigned after he was accused of abusing two minors decades ago -- allegations he denied. Bishop Anthony O'Connell of Palm Beach, Fla., quit after admitting he repeatedly abused a student at a Missouri seminary he led. Auxiliary Bishop James McCarthy of New York, who stepped down after admitting to affairs with women.

Roderick MacLeish, the lawyer representing the two men who accuse Dupre, has said one of his clients met with Dupre in December, and said he never wanted sexual relations with him. MacLeish said Dupre gave an unemotional apology, and told his client he wanted to remain friends.

The other client, who is gay, came forward with his claims after hearing Dupre speak out against the legalization of same-sex marriage.

MacLeish did not immediately return a call seeking comment on Monday.

:ak47:

I hope someone will return the favor in jail :mad:

maybe they can get Bush tp help them out

they all seem to speak to god, they should just relay a messge

I hate these individuals who use their position of power to take advantage of others

When I was a kid I always cringed when I heard John Lennon say "Imagine no religion... its easy if you try... no hell below us... above us only sky."

but NOW I see where he was going.

I live there.. I wouldnt let my kid even walk by a church alone in this state.. These preist headlines have been non stop for years... they're shutting down something like 1/3 of the churches in mass just to try to keep up with the payments to all the people they're setteling with.

ehh :mad:

exactly my thoughts:thumbsup

Holyoke4L

All I had to read was Arkansas.

It wouldnt really bother me if some of these preachers or preists were caught fuckin a prostitute. A man has needs. However anyone who molests a child should be murdered.