BishopAccountability.org
	Ex-Parole Officer Now Keeps an Eye on Banned Priests By Patricia Montemurri Detroit Free Press November 14, 2010 http://www.freep.com/article/20101114/NEWS01/11140521/1001/News/Ex-parole-officer-now-keeps-an-eye-on-banned-priests In a 32-year career as a parole officer with the Michigan Department of Corrections, Ina Grant regularly met with thieves, rapists and murderers. Since retiring, she's still monitoring suspected wrongdoers. She's the watchdog who keeps tabs on 13 priests in the Archdiocese of Detroit who were once pillars of parish life but are now prohibited from public ministry because of credible accusations that they sexually abused minors. The men were never charged with crimes, in part, because too much time had elapsed between when the suspected offenses occurred and when they became publicly known. Their names are not on any sex offender registry, but the archdiocese lists them on an obscure section of its Web site. Because the men cannot be prosecuted in criminal courts, government officials have no authority over them. It falls on Catholic Church officials to figure out how to deal with abusers. And in the archdiocese, part of that responsibility falls on Grant. If they try to deny the allegations against them, she tells them: "I don't retry cases." "As far as I'm concerned, they've been tried and sentenced," said Grant. Grant said she has found the priests to be courteous and respectful of her. "But you never forget what they've done, how they've negatively impacted young lives," she said. It's a part-time job. She has an office in the archdiocese's chancery in downtown Detroit. She was recruited for the job by Michigan Court of Appeals Justice Michael Talbot, who was familiar with Grant's previous work and who volunteers for the archdiocese's review board, which oversees internal church handling of abuse cases. "I don't know of a single one of these men who have been accused of acting out since," said Talbot. "I think the monitoring system is working." Grant developed the guidelines for the Detroit program based on her experience with offenders. "I can't restrict where they live," she said. "I can only restrict their contact with children and when they're alone with children. Some of my priests don't have any contact with children because of where they live." Grant visits most of the men at their homes at least twice a year. She visits a priest who lives in Florida at least once a year. The priests who live locally are required to visit her office every other month. That's down from when she first started the job, when the men were required to visit once a month. The men submit monthly report forms, Grant said, that detail their activities, their sources of income and what kind of car they're driving. "I need to know if they're going to travel -- where they will be staying, contact information and if they anticipate having any contact with minors during this trip," she said. Grant asks the former priests whether they've attended outpatient therapy and met with spiritual advisers assigned to them from the archdiocese. If they are uncooperative, the archdiocese can withhold pension checks, she said. "They tend not to be confrontational. They tend not to be argumentative," Grant said. "Many told me they felt totally abandoned by the archdiocese once they were removed from ministry. Some were afraid to contact the archdiocese if they had an issue, and I became their bridge. "It's hard for them to live out here in the real world. They are not prepared." Grant, a Protestant, said she has asked the priests questions about Catholicism. She has tried to help them with résumés. The priests she monitors said they pray for her. "I've got so many prayers going up for me," said Grant. But still, some of the priests deny wrongdoing. "They deny, deny, deny," she said. "The people who want to believe their denials, believe them. And their friends compartmentalize."
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