Catholic Priest Accused of Grabbing Man's Genitals: Church Insists Victim 'Not a Minor'

By Scott Kaufman
Raw Story
January 21, 2014

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/20/catholic-priest-accused-of-grabbing-mans-genitals-church-insists-victim-not-a-minor/

Topics: indecent assault ♦ John J. Roebuck ♦ Saint Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church ♦ YMCA

Scott Eric Kaufman is the proprietor of the AV Club's Internet Film School and, in addition to Raw Story, also writes for Lawyers, Guns & Money. He earned a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of California, Irvine in 2008.

A priest in Lansdale, Pennsylvania was arrested on Friday and charged with indecent assault for allegedly grabbing a man’s genitals at YMCA last December.

According to police, John J. Roebuck, a vicar at Saint Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church, had a short discussion with the victim in the sauna of the North Penn YMCA.

The victim said that after they exited the sauna, the two men both went into the locker room. As he was using a sink, the victim said, he noticed Roebuck standing behind him. As he tried to walk away, Roebuck extended his hand as if to say goodbye.

While they were doing so, the victim alleges he felt Roebuck’s other hand groping his genitals.

The victim immediately contacted YMCA staff to report the encounter, and a staff member located Roebuck, who had not yet left the building. He was allowed to leave, but at that point police were brought in to investigation the allegations.

On January 13, an arrest warrant was issued. Roebuck was arraigned last Friday on misdemeanor charges of harassment and indecent assault without consent.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia assured parishioners that “[t]he alleged conduct leading to his arrest did not involve a minor,” but that it still found the allegations “deeply troubling.”

Archdiocese spokesman Kenneth Gavin said that his organization is “cooperating fully with the police investigation.”

A former Swiss guard told the same magazine he was propositioned by a cardinal and by another high Vatican official while on his tour of duty in the Vatican.

"We're tired of bishops and cardinals insulting us from the pulpit in the morning, writing tirades against us at noon and abusing or paying Swiss guards to have sex with them at night," Oliari said.

"If Pope Francis wants us to, we are ready to make up a security task force for him. We are openly gay, and we don't need to skulk under the cover of complicity, secrecy and blackmail".

"With Pope Francis, the church has an opportunity to review its sex-phobic outlook, which dates back thousands of years," GayLib secretary Daniele Priori added.

A spokesman for the 110-man army founded by Pope Julius II in 1506 downplayed the issue.

"Our men focus on religious and military matters. Rumors of a gay lobby within the Vatican are really not our problem," Urs Breitenmoser said. The papal army is recruited from a group of Swiss towns and villages, which for centuries have provided the pope's security watchdogs.

During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the Swiss had the reputation of being Europe's most reliable mercenaries - tough fighters who hardly ever changed sides.

The pope himself admitted in June to having to contend with competing factions including a gay lobby.