Palm Beach Post Series

Palm Beach Post Editorial
May 21, 2004

The Palm Beach Post published in April, 2004, a three reports about the Diocese of Jefferson City, Missouri; its education program for priests at St. Thomas Aquinas High School Seminary and its students. The former rector, Anthony J. O'Connell, led the college prep school for more than 25 years before being promoted to bishop of the dioceses of Palm Beach, Florida (1998–2002), and Knoxville, Tennessee (1988–1998). The following commentary provides some analysis for this sad story:

Why Ex-Bishop Is Free

Palm Beach Post Editorial
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Palm Beach Post
Friday, May 21, 2004

An admitted sex offender who abused boys as young as 13 doesn't seem deserving of a bucolic lifestyle on the neatly manicured, wooded grounds of a South Carolina retreat.

But that is where The Palm Beach Post located Anthony J. O'Connell last month, two years after his crimes surfaced and he resigned in disgrace as bishop of the Palm Beach Diocese.

O'Connell has lived in relative seclusion at the Mepkin Abbey, a monastery near Monck's Corner, S.C., since leaving the county. He sorts eggs, helps with the gardening, and the Vatican also allows him to say Mass and receive communion. The Vatican has kept O'Connell at the abbey – there has been no decision on how long he will stay – while lawyers for some of the victims are making cases against him.
The revelations about O'Connell were especially wrenching, since the Vatican had sent him to the Palm Beach Diocese to repair damage from similar revelations about Bishop J. Keith Symons. He had to leave in disgrace after it became known that had molested five altar boys elsewhere.
Criminal prosecution will be difficult for most of O'Connell's nine accusers because his offenses occurred years ago in several states, and statutes of limitation have expired. The judicial system still fails to recognize that victims who are children cannot understand their legal rights and report crimes as if they were adults. The intimidating nature of predatory offenders too often makes this impossible. The statute-of-limitation clock should begin running only when victims are old enough to comprehend the crimes perpetrated against them.

O'Connell lives a comfortable life, instead of one behind bars, because of legal loopholes and the indifference of the church. His victims are right to feel victimized again.