RCC study finds gay priests no more likely to molest children then straight priests

11/18/09-by Paula Brooks
A study commissioned by US Roman Catholic bishops on the roots of the clergy sex abuse scandal, has so far found no evidence that gay priests are more likely than heterosexual clergy to molest children.

The full report by researchers from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice won’t be completed until the end of next year, but initial finding are saying that evidence so far has found no data indicating that being gay was a predictor of abuse.

“What we are suggesting is that the idea of sexual identity be separated from the problem of sexual abuse,” said Margaret Smith of John Jay College, in a speech to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “At this point, we do not find a connection between homosexual identity and the increased likelihood of subsequent abuse from the data that we have right now.”

The question has been raised repeatedly within and outside the church because the overwhelming majority of known victims were boys. As part of the church’s response to the crisis, the Vatican ordered a review of all U.S. seminaries that, among other issues, looked for any “evidence of homosexuality”.

Many experts on sex offenders have in the past, rejected any link between sexual orientation and committing abuse. Karen Terry, a John Jay researcher, said it was important to distinguish between sexual identity and behavior, and to look at who the offender had access to when seeking victims.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops commissioned the $2 million study as part of extensive reforms they enacted at the height of the abuse crisis after the scandal rocked the church in 2002 with the cases predator priests in the Archdiocese of Boston, (John Geoghan, John Hanlon, Paul Shanley, Robert V. Gale and Jesuit priest James Talbot) which ultimately resulted in the conviction and sentencing of each to prison. The scandal then spread to nearly every diocese both in the United States and other countries after the church came under  fire for its role in covering up the crimes.

Nearly 14,000 molestation claims have been filed against Catholic clergy since 1950 and abuse-related costs paid out by the church have reached a minimum $2.3 billion in the same period. According to the John Jay report, one-third of the accusations were made in the years 2002-3. Another third of the allegations were reported between 1993 and 2001.

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