BishopAccountability.org
	Dec. 8, 2011: Sex Abuse - Church to Playing Field By Bill Fine TheBostonChannel.com December 8, 2011 http://www.thebostonchannel.com/r/29945222/detail.html [with video] Almost 10 years ago, the Boston Catholic Archdiocese was forced to admit its role in the clergy child-abuse tragedy. Like the church, major sports institutions have been forced to do the same today. Think of the disparity: on one side, there are powerful icons of revered institutions and on the other, young boys who worshipped them. The sickening allegations at Penn State have been followed by similar accusations at Syracuse University and now, at Fenway Park. In 2002, former Red Sox clubhouse manager, Don Fitzpatrick, pleaded guilty to four counts of abusing boys. The Red Sox also settled a federal case, involving eight others, for more than $3 million. Fitzpatrick’s criminal lust for young boys spread over two decades, mostly during spring training in Florida. Now deceased, Fitzpatrick’s awful legacy lives on. Two Boston-area men have surfaced claiming abuse as teenagers working at Fenway Park. Reports indicate several former Sox players routinely warned young clubhouse assistants to steer clear of Fitzpatrick. All of which raises the nagging and maddening question here, in Pennsylvania and across America: Why did protecting the institutions rank first always, sometimes while discrediting the abused, and well ahead of protecting children? Has the message finally been received and this mindset changing at long last? We hope so. It’s sad to think that if it had been windows being shattered at Fenway, rather than young lives, the police would have been called immediately
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