You have got to be kidding me.
ABC News is reporting:
A Catholic priest who was defrocked for allegedly sexually abusing young girls was hired by the Transportation Security Administration before his background check was complete and has worked at Philadelphia International Airport for the last 10 years.
Thomas Harkins joined the TSA in 2002 after resigning from the priesthood the same year. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the TSA hired the former priest before completing a background check. The Diocese of Camden revealed to the TSA in 2003 as part of the background check that Harkins had been removed from his ministry in the diocese because of allegations he had molested two girls in grade school.
The diocese told ABC News Harkins was ordained in 1971 and was placed under restrictive ministry in 1993 when the diocese was informed of a report of inappropriate sexual contact with an adolescent female. Later that year, the diocese was informed of another report involving another adolescent female, diocesan spokesman Peter Feuerherd said.
The TSA is saying that he isn’t the dude patting people down but who knows what goes on. You think there’s any way they’d admit that this guy was patting down children.
To be fair, charges were never filed against the former priest but the archdiocese paid $195,000 in civil suits. Shouldn’t something like that be taken into account? I mean, Michael Jackson was never convicted of anything but I wouldn’t let my kids go play in Neverland with him and Corey Feldman.
This kind of thing happens because of the litigious society we live in. I’m sure the TSA knew but they also knew that he wasn’t charged so they couldn’t not hire him because of it. Otherwise he could sue. So in order to avoid a lawsuit this guy gets a gig in a position of authority over people.
Everything you read about people who molest children indicates they very rarely get better. Very rarely. Can’t we just have some common sense about this kind of thing. Some?
October 3, 2012 at 1:32 pm
Republicans let this happen. Or the Pope. Maybe the Mormons.
October 3, 2012 at 3:27 pm
It's Bush's fault.
October 3, 2012 at 4:40 pm
Birth control hormones are polluting the ground water. Chemical castration for everybody.
October 3, 2012 at 5:01 pm
Common sense about child molesters? That would require bringing back the death penalty for these creeps. Sadly, we regard these perverts as 'sick', so we give them 'medical treatments' that never end, becase you can't cure something thats not a disease or an illness in the first place.
October 3, 2012 at 10:06 pm
This guy was not a " child molester." The objects of his attention were "adolescent females" who are not children, biologically, although they may be children socially in our society. He was somebody who had trouble handling his normal impulses, not someone whose impulses were perverse. And who know how far he took the inappropriate behavior?
Would you want such a man never to be able to work again, and to be supported on the public dime? Do you want him to ring a bell and cry out "Leper, Leper" as he holds out his begging bowl? If they have employed him in a position which doesn't involve physical contact with the public, that seems perfectly appropriate to me.
Susan Peterson
October 3, 2012 at 10:35 pm
I disagree, Susan. Judging by when he was ordained and when the inappropriate behavior was reported (assuming it was reported in a timely matter; these things aren't always) this was someone in their late 40s to early 50s sexually interested in someone who was not more than 17. That sounds perverse to my ears. And as far as how far he took it, "sexual contact" is way far enough for me. While I think there are plenty of acceptable jobs for such a person, a position in the public trust or a position of coercive authority (whether or not he's doing pat-downs) should not be on that list.
October 3, 2012 at 11:31 pm
As a person who has known several victims of sexual molestation, short of hanging these monsters, I think a begging bowl is more than they deserve!