GREEN BAY (WI)
Green Bay Press-Gazette
Another former priest was sentenced for sexual misconduct Thursday. James Stein, a former Norbertine, was given a year in jail and 10 years probation for a molestation that was committed in 1988. Prosecutors and the victim had asked for five years in prison, half of the maximum possible penalty.
It was a tough spot for Judge Sue Bishel. She looked at the crime — molestation of a 14-year-old — and at the life the former priest has lived since. She looked at the therapy he has gotten and the remorse he expressed.
Bishel said the case was handled differently because Stein was a priest at the time of the offense. “But for the fact that this gentleman was formerly a priest, (prosecutors) would not, I do not believe, be recommending a prison sentence,” she said.
But Stein was a priest at the time and we do expect more of people in the clergy. We want to be able to trust them when we are at our most vulnerable. That trust has been violated and the light sentence exasperates the issue of public trust.
Posted by kshaw at December 21, 2004 05:20 PM