The Two Daddies; Archdiocese of Milwaukee's Clergy Offender Files

By Matt C. Abbott
Renew America
July 4, 2013

http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/abbott/130704


A sickening story.

From the Sydney Morning Herald (excerpted; click here to read the article in its entirety):

Standing before an American court convicted of the most heinous of child sex crimes, the double lives of Australian citizen Mark J. Newton and his long-term boyfriend Peter Truong were laid bare.

Newton was sentenced to 40 years in prison for sexually abusing the boy he and Truong, 36, from Queensland, had 'adopted' after paying a Russian woman $8000 to be their surrogate in 2005.

Police believe the pair had adopted the boy 'for the sole purpose of exploitation.' The abuse began just days after his birth and over six years the couple travelled the world, offering him up for sex with at least eight men, recording the abuse and uploading the footage to an international syndicate known as the Boy Lovers Network.

Newton and Truong gave an interview to a local ABC reporter in Far North Queensland in 2010 on their battle to have a child as a gay couple.... Evidence before the court revealed the abuse began before the couple returned to Australia. One video is said to show Newton performing a sex act on the boy when he was less than two weeks old....

"Jail is too good for these guys," said Thomas Hampson, private investigator and founder of the Truth Alliance Foundation. "Unfortunately, we've become a values-free society, and virtues are fast becoming irrelevant."

Indeed.

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has released over 6000 documents pertaining to its clergy sex offenders. I commend Archbishop Jerome Listecki for his candor; he wrote (in part):

...Attorneys for abuse survivors have determined that these documents demonstrate how the archdiocese handled allegations of sexual abuse, responded to reports and dealt with offending priests. It will be painful on many levels. It may contribute to re-living the abuse of victims at the hands of priests. It will disturb the faithful who have placed trust and confidence in archdiocesan leadership. It will embarrass and shame the good priests who have offered their lives in service to the church.

Shortly after I announced the decision to release the documents related to diocesan priests with substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor, I offered an Atonement Mass at St. John Vianney Parish in Brookfield. A person approached me after Mass and expressed appreciation for the decision. The individual believed it would aid in the healing process of victim survivors. I pray that the release of the documents achieves that goal in some small way....

The documents can be viewed at the archdiocese's website, www.archmil.org.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.