RC Bishop Raymond Lahey, caught with child porn on multiple computers was protected by Church

Pedophiles are attracted to professions and volunteer in places where child victims are plentiful

I sick at heart over the revelations that revered leaders of the Roman Catholic Church are either pedophiles or harboring them. But Bishop Lahey is the tip of the iceberg on this story. Pedophiles are being discovered among other religious leaders as well.

Bishop Lahey’s computer had hundreds of child porn images, police allege says the Globe and Mail. Settlements with abused boys has almost bankrupted Catholic diocese in Nova Scotia, Boston and all over North America.

The problem has been out in the open for more than ten years but the RC church has stood behind and hidden these perverts from punishment. They have not protected the flock. People feel defrauded by moral leaders who let them wander in this moral sewer.

Of course, lots of Catholics knew the dangers. I was dead set against my two youngest sons becoming altar boys and potential victims. Everyone knew and whispered about the risk. Back in the 1970′s a local Catholic priest ran off with the wife of a client. “Oh well, boys will be boys,” people tsk tsk’d.

The Jehovah’s Witness sect in the United States has been covering up sexual abuse for decades by disfellowshipping victims and their families if they complain. Now with Internet bloggers the dirty little secrets are out of the bag.

In the United Kingdom, the numbers are starting to add up. The number of sex offenders working as charity trustees trebles says today’s story in the Times Online.

Power corrupts even in the name of Jesus. Organized religion is going to have to practice what it preaches by cleaning up its ranks and protecting the flock or the sheep will be gone.

The number of sex offenders working as charity trustees trebles

Times Online.uk – Growing numbers of convicted sex offenders are being appointed as charity trustees, bringing them into contact with vulnerable people, the Charity Commission has found.

The watchdog removed or suspended 30 such trustees last year, three times as many as the year before. The people involved included rapists and paedophiles, the commission says in a report out today.

It urged charities to refer potential trustees to the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) for vetting before making any appointments where children might be put at risk.

In its report, Charities Back on Track 2008-09, the commission said: “We remain concerned that the way charities manage procedures for safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries continues to be a key issue.

“Cases included concerns where individuals on the sex offenders register were proposed, or acting, as trustees. We found cases where checks on the suitability of trustees were not in place, or were insufficiently rigorous, as well as allegations of child abuse in an overseas orphanage run by a local partner charity.”

The CRB aims to process 90 per cent of standard checks within ten days, and 90 per cent of “enhanced checks” — where information held by the police is considered — within a month.

Organisations that faced a statutory inquiry from the commission over “vulnerable beneficiaries” included the World Children’s Fund, the Shiloh Pentecostal Fellowship Trust and the London Mill Hill Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Commission instructed the Mill Hill congregation to introduce a “robust child protection policy” after one of its trustees, Michael Porter, was convicted of indecent assault and gross indecency with 13 children. The offences were committed before Porter was made a trustee. He was removed from the post after his arrest but was allowed to remain a member of the congregation.

Predatory ex-teacher and JW preacher to appeal

The commission found that the trustees “acted appropriately in dealing with the allegations”, but it reminded trustees to carry out CRB checks before making appointments.

In other charities, the report also found failings in financial management, trustee responsibilities and inappropriate political activities. John Carr, the secretary of the Children’s Charities’ Coalition for Internet Safety, said that the report’s findings were shocking and unacceptable.

Andrew Hind, the chief executive of the commission, said: “The number of compliance cases we need to engage in is still comparatively low in relation to the 180,000 charities we regulate, and charities are getting better at reporting serious incidents to us. However, it is worrying that so many of the same serious issues reappear, such as the abuse of vulnerable beneficiaries.”

The Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 disqualifies certain individuals from holding specific positions in children’s charities, including trusteeship.

The report concluded: “Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries must be a key priority of all trustee boards of charities that work with children or vulnerable adults.”

The Home Office said: “The introduction of the vetting and barring scheme means greater assurance that anyone who regularly works or volunteers with children or vulnerable adults will be appropriate to do so.”