TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
THE trial of the Rev. Gerald Robinson, due to begin next week with jury selection, has all the ingredients to become the most sensational legal proceeding ever to take place in Lucas County, and it would be foolish to pretend otherwise.
Never before, thankfully, has the courthouse stage been set for testimony about a vicious murder, with a nun as victim and a priest as defendant, fueled by allegations of sexual abuse and occult activities.
No wonder Court TV plans gavel-to-gavel coverage, accompanied by dozens of print and electronic reporters, producers, and photographers, many from out of town.
The knee-jerk reaction would be to categorize the whole thing as a “media circus,” but that would be to discount the intense interest and apprehension, not just in Toledo but from around the world, in one of the most riveting stories of our time — sexual abuse of children on the part of Roman Catholic clergy over many years.
In truth, this 26-year-old murder case probably never would have come to trial had it not been for allegations of that very sort.