|
Father Peter J.
Dunne. ordained in 1954, served the Philadelphia Archdiocese as a teacher,
pastor, administrator of a school for delinquent boys, and assistant
director of the Archdiocese scouting program for 40 years. He remained a
parish priest for seven and a half years after Archdiocese officials
learned, in 1986, that he had sexually abused an altar boy who had been in
the priest's Boy Scout troop. During those seven and a half years, Father
Dunne was diagnosed as an untreatable pedophile. He personally paid
$40,000 to silence a victim. The Archdiocese was warned repeatedly that he
had many victims, that he was most likely continuing to commit sexual
offenses, that he should not be in a parish setting, and that he should
not be around children or adolescents. Yet, not until a former
victim threatened a lawsuit did Cardinal Bevilacqua in 1994 finally remove
Father Dunne from his assignment at Visitation B.V.M. in Norristown.
In an effort to
escape legal liability, the Cardinal chose not to place Father Dunne in a
supervised living situation as his therapists strongly urged. A committee
of Cardinal Bevilacqua's advisers concluded that "overwhelming evidence of
pedophilia is here!" But, rather than take action to protect present and
future victims, the Cardinal responded to concerns that the Archdiocese
might risk being held liable for the priest's crimes if it tried to
supervise him. Cardinal Bevilacqua permitted Father Dunne to retire to his
rural cabin where he was known to take boys for sleepovers.
Gordon was 13
years old when Fr. Dunne made the boy handle the priest's genitals. Before
long the priest was demanding "sexual contact," including "ejaculation and
other deviant sexual behavior," whenever they slept together. This
behavior continued until the boy was 17 and picked up again when Gordon
was an adult.
Dr. Myers
explained to the Archdiocese the devastating impact that Fr. Dunne's abuse
had, not only on Gordon, but also on his wife, his children, his patients,
and his medical practice. The therapist wrote that Gordon first came to
him for help in September 1985, because Gordon's wife, "Bonnie," had
discovered he had "sexual inclinations toward their son," who was 11 or 12
years old. It came out later that Gordon himself had begun abusing 12- and
13-year-old boys on camping trips when Gordon was an 18-year-old Eagle
Scout. Gordon followed in Fr. Dunne's path (Fr. Dunne had been a Scout
leader for years), becoming a Boy Scout leader and preying on his young
scouts. In 1991 he lost his medical license for molesting boy patients.-
***
"Ruth told the
Grand Jury that Fr. Cudemo would often insert a Host, the Eucharist, into
her vagina and tell her she had 'fucked God' or 'fucked Jesus.' He told
her she was a 'walking desecration,' that she was 'unworthy of God's
love.' He made her feel ashamed, and then would hear her confession."
"On March 12,
2004, the Archdiocesan Review Board unanimously found credible allegations
that 'Smith took at least three boys playing the role of Jesus in the
parish Passion play into a private room, required them to disrobe
completely,' pinned loincloths around them, and then, during the play,
encouraged 'other boys in the play to whip the Jesus character to the
point where some of the boys had cuts, bruises and welts.'"
"In a May 25, 1948, letter to Fr. Knapp, Fr. Gausch wrote: 'This
afternoon, Sister asked me if I would take some of the 8th grade boys to
camp today. They are finished their exams and they are a job to keep in
tow. I said yes. We always do, you know. She told me to take
my pick. Decision was based on anything but their qualities of soul,
naturally. Kept the crowd small, purposefully. We worked for a while then
lounged -- that's one name for it -- for at least two solid hours.
Result: one more ,e,ory [sic] with a capital' M'. It is the closest
approximation to an old fashioned roll that I have had in years, and the
subject was oh so satisfactory and (this is what makes the story) willin.'"
--
Report of the
Grand Jury Into Sexual Abuse of Minors by Clergy in the Philadelphia
Archdiocese
|
