The Reverend Charles Newman, former president of Archbishop Ryan High School in Philadelphia, was sentenced on Friday to three to six years in prison for stealing almost $1 million from the school, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
As if that isn’t bad enough, prosecutors say that Newman gave about $54,000 to Arthur Baselice III, once a student at the school, as “hush money” so he would keep quiet about their sexual relationship. Authorities contend that the abuse began when Baselice III was 16-year-old junior at the school. He graduated in 1996. Ten years later, on November 30, 2006, Baselice III died of an overdose in a drug house.
During Newman’s sentencing, the young man’s mother, Elaine Baselice, addressed the court. “He plied my teenage son with alcohol and drugs so that Arthur could be more easily abused,” she said, according to the Philadelphia Daily News. “Newman had me believe my son was full of demons. Standing in the courtroom today, I am faced with the true demon!”
Newman was not charged with sexual abuse because the statute of limitations had expired. He was charged only for the theft. The priest spoke briefly during the hearing in disjointed remarks, but did not apologize to the Baselices or explain what happened to the money. The court didn’t buy whatever he said.
“Your explanations are sorely lacking ”¦ and that’s putting it mildly,” Judge Rose Marie DeFino-Nastasi said. “Your explanations are bizarre.”
Reading the coverage of this case, it seemed to me that the Reverend Charles Newman fit the profile of a sociopath.
More info:
Philadelphia Inquirer: Ex-principal gets 3-6 years for theft
Philadelphia Daily News: ”˜Detestable’ conduct nets priest 3-6 years
Child abuse in Ireland
The Newman case was bad, but not nearly as shocking as another story now in the news—the endemic rape and abuse of thousands of children in Ireland, from the 1930s to the 1990s, by Catholic priests and nuns.
On May 20, a 2,600-page report by Ireland’s Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse was released. It found that children in 250 church-run schools, orphanages and other institutions, supported by taxpayer funds, were routinely abused and molested. Catholic religious orders ran more than 50 workhouse-style reform schools. One of the orders, the Christian Brothers, which ran several boys’ institutions, harbored serial child molesters and sadists on its staff.
The report took nine years to complete. Thousands of still-traumatized men and women, now in their 50s to 80s, testified, some traveling back to Ireland from America or Australia.
“A climate of fear, created by pervasive, excessive and arbitrary punishment, permeated most of the institutions and all those run for boys,” the report stated. “Children lived with the daily terror of not knowing where the next beating was coming from.”
At the time, however, the religious orders were concerned only about preventing scandal, not the danger to the children. According to the Associated Press, “The management did not listen to or believe children when they complained of the activities of some of the men who had responsibility for their care,” the commission found. “At best, the abusers were moved, but nothing was done about the harm done to the child. At worst, the child was blamed and seen as corrupted by the sexual activity, and was punished severely.”
The report may not lead to prosecution of the perpetrators because in 2004, the Christian Brothers successfully sued to prevent them from being named. “Most leaders of religious orders have rejected the allegations as exaggerations and lies, and testified to the commission that any abuses were the responsibility of often long-dead individuals,” AP reported.
The Irish government has paid 12,000 abuse survivors an average of $90,000 each, a total of more than $1 billion, and another 2,000 claims are pending. But in 2001, Irish Catholic leaders cut a deal with the government that capped its contribution to the claims at $175 million—a fraction of the total cost.
More info:
The Independent, London: Thousands were raped in Irish reform schools
Boston.com: Catholic Church shamed by Irish abuse report
Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse: Executive summary
Betrayal by Spirit
In The Betrayal Bond, author Patrick J. Carnes, Ph.D., specifically discusses how abuse by clergy affects victims. “It is generally agreed that the impact on survivors of sexual abuse by spiritual leaders is greater than survivors of other forms of power abuse,” he writes. “Since part of coping with trauma is spiritual, sexual abuse by a spiritual leader further complicates the recovery process.”
Why is this so? Carnes writes:
Every journey or recovery depends on the survivor coming to a point where all that person has gone through means something.
Betrayal by the spirit means that the person who betrays the victim also plays a critical role in the resources the victim has for defining meaning. The victim’s spiritual path is blocked. The fundamental question all victims have to answer for themselves is, ”˜Why do bad things happen to good people?’ It is a far more troubling question when the cause of the problem is supposed to be the resource for the answer.
Close to home
For me, all of this scandal hits very close to home. My cousin was abused by a priest. His was one of the early cases—he got a settlement at least 15 years ago. I don’t know how much it was, and I don’t know exactly what happened. According to the terms of the settlement, he’s not allowed to talk about it.
But I do know this: My cousin’s life is a disaster. His marriage fell apart. He was never able to hold a steady job. He spent his settlement money buying drinks for friends in bars. He became addicted to heroin. He assaulted his elderly father. His brothers want nothing to do with him.
When my cousin and two other men first pursued their claims against the priest, his mother, my aunt, took the word of the church over the word of her son. She went to her grave believing that my cousin lied about the entire thing.
I wonder if my aunt could believe today’s news.
It never ends, sorry, but the Catholic Church disgusts me. I can not believe how they protect these evil people just to keep the church’s reputation in check. The lies go all the way to the top. I don’t understand how anyone would want to belong to this church, or trust their children to these people.
it is not just the catholic church. It is ALL denominations. In fact it is a bigger problem in protestant churches with, last time I checked, about 70 cases a week being reported. Sadly many of those other churches point fingers and try to say its a catholic problem also. Thank goodness for SNAP and organizations like them.
And to be blunt the Catholic church has made a least some progress in trying to change in this area although they have a long way to go. The same can not be said for the largest protestant denomination in this country.
It isn’t just “christian” chruches of any denomination, but ALL faiths have psychopaths that mask themselves with “holiness” to cover their psychopathy.
Every day the news is full of church employees, teachers, ministers,Boy Scout leaders, etc. and others in positions of power and authority being arrested for sexual or other abuse of children in their charge. Parents are regularly arrested for incestual relationships with their children now, what could be worse than the betrayal of a parent?
Having actually known up close and personal one of the worst known serial abusers ever convicted Charles “Jackie” Walls III, here in Arkansas, who was known to have abused over 1,500 kids as a Scout leader over 20+ years, and was responsible for one known suicide (his nephew) and the murder of one of his victim’s parents by the victim at Jackie’s orders.
Personally, my opinion is that ALL pedophiles are PSYCHOPATHS, so if you add that number (and apparently, according to Dr. Anna Salter, PhD one of the world’s experts on it, it is RAMPANT in all societies including ours.) that makes a bunch of psychopaths in our society, over and above the 1-4% that Hare acknowledges. My personal position is that maybe up to 20% of our population is personality disordered to one extent or another. The damage done to these victims is probably responsible for much of the pain and suffering in our society today.
If I had a magic wand and could wave it and every psychopath on the planet would disappear, I think “over population” would not be a problem, and earth would be one big “paradise.”
I guess I better get off my soap box before my blood pressure goes through the top of my head and I have a stroke! This particular issue is a hot one for me.
As an attorney friend of mine, who is representing the victims of the abuse in their lawsuits against the Catholic church says “these cases bring new dimension to the phrase ‘putting the fear of God into…'”
Donna,
Thank-you for bringing this to our attention. My most recent experience with an n/p was with a spiritualist, in the more new-age vein. He advertised himself as someone who could advance his ‘students’ enlightenment through body/mind movement. I, being a long practicing dancer, was drawn to movement as expression of my authentic self. So his involvement in movement was very attractive to me, and gave me the impression that he was a deep, creative, and loving person; who was helping others to find their own voice.
Little did I know this was his supply space, and that the students (mostly women) were his sources of admiration, money, car rides, sex, and worship. That hanging out in the ‘new age’ community was a perfect place to sell snake oil.
This mind/body expression extended to our sexual life, which was presented to me as an expression of our higher selves, and way to deepen our awareness of God/Ourselves.
Needless to say, the sex (at the outset anyway) was staged to this affect. Lots of eye-gazing, breathing together, and really tuning in to one another. Now I understand it was like hypnotism, these love sessions. He told me how to breathe, how to look at him, how to move, when to start, when to stop. Total control.
And I would open so completely. Yet I always ended up feeling longing and wanting more. I never felt seen and heard and felt, but thought it was my ‘lack of enlightenment’. Not understanding it was becauase I was trying to experience connection with someone who was only pretending. Like making love to a blow up boyfriend, with a tape recorder inside it, that said the right things. And I didn’t have eyes to see, or ears to hear that ‘he’ was a fake. So I kept thinking it was me, being too attached, too superficial, too needy.
What a shock when it became clear that he couldn’t decide between monogamy and ‘poly amory’, and when the sex devolved into a strange, pornographic, and entirely unsatisfying worship of him….and had absolutely nothing to do with me, or our loving ‘worship’ of one another.
Though I know I have had multiple other relationships with N/P’s, this one was the most damaging and disabling for me. I think the use of spiritual principles and practices disarmed me more than I would have been otherwise. I felt like I was opened wide, exposing my most vulnerable places, in the desire to experience something greater than myself. Only to find myself ultimately alone in the experience.
As Joni Mitchell wrote, “Help me I think I’m fallin’ in love with you…..are you gonna let me go there by myself, it’s such a lonely thing go do….”
Oxy- Yes, I believe child molesters ARE socio’s. This hits home for me as I was abused, as a young child by my grandfather. He was not a particularly spiritual man, but a ‘good’ man; quiet, very calm, friendly, and everyone really liked him, thought of him as a deep and reliable man. He was 20 when he married my grandmother, and she was only 13!
I think he was my initial indoctrination into the psyche of a psychopath. And it has been a long road of learning, and of multiple relationships with pd’d individuals, that my ‘inner child’ kept confusing with the ‘love’ and attention my grandfather paid me (I was a lonely child, isolated, and pining for my absent mother).
I think these two events have much in common. I think they are both deeply wounding, due to the openess they engendered in me. With my grandfather because I was so young and vulnerable and open to him and wanting/needing his affection. And to the toxic spiritual N/P when I allowed myself to be open and vulnerable because I heard a spiritual message, and didn’t imagine anyone would use these principles for selfish use. Both highly vulnerable ‘states’.
I am finding it is a long road finding my way back to my own spiritual sense, my faith, and my trust in what is real. I am sad so much of my life has been taken up in finding my way to the truth of psychopathology. I have yet to find a balance between these ‘terrible’ truths, and the beauty that still exists inside me, in the world, in other people.
Namaste, or the light in me sees and honors the light in each of you,
slim
I believe in God in my way. But this reminds me of my daughter-in-law who I adore, I will call her sister christian overtime. Wouldnt miss church if the house was on fire, thats fine. But a few years ago I went to her church and met her pastor baptist, didnt like him at all. Weak handshake and no eye contact. My daughter in law was very involved with his family( had 3 daughters ) and I was uneasy about my grandsons being around this man, but I kept my mouth shut. Well there had been many bank robberys in my city and the robber kept getting away, he never used a gun just a note that said ‘give me your money and I wont hurt you.’ Yeppers it was pastor baptist, they caught him, he had been robbing the bank and the church and was buying the company of prostitutes. It really wrecked my DIL, but I have never said ‘I told you so” this pastor got 4 years in the pen and has a church in the pen. Religion has screwed up more lives and caused more deaths by war than any other thing ever….ok OX I am off my soap box now too – gonna go drink a beer.
Yes, Henry, the “church” is a great place for hypocrits to hide. Or the synagog or the temple, or the new age as slim one pointed out. SNAKE OIL SALESMEN/WOMEN or people out for a few million bucks “send in your donations brethern and sistern!” while they live in 25 million dollar estates from the donations of all the little old ladies on social security!
When someone like your DIL’s “pastor” is exposed it should give a warning to people who BLINDLY believe that “brother so and so” is so holy! My Trojan Horse Psychopath has got the jive down about pretending to be “saved” and getting the churches to “help” him—and of course he takes advantage of them. My P-son is great at that too! blame it all on the DEVIL tempting you! LOL ROTFLMAO
It is the worst kind of criminal psychopath, but all too common. What makes me think the pedophiiles are psychopaths, ALL OF THEM, is that they NEVER CHANGE and there is NO therapy that “cures” them. Just like the rest of the Ps. Nothing helps them and only gives them the buzz words to pretend to “reform.”
Have a beer for me! If you want more “beer” I will put a bucket under hairy Ass or Fat ass and catch you some! It all looks the same to me, and tastes the same too! Yuk! LOL
Very timely and interesting article (and disgusting and repulsive as well), Miss Donna
You know what really disturbs me concerning the avalanche of abuse cases caused by folks who work in/for religious institutions?
Is the irreparable damage they are causing not only to their once precious, innocent and vulnerable children victims but to the entire spiritual meaning associated with faith.
People hear the detailed accounts of these atrocities committed by pseudo priests, clergymen, nuns and after hearing one too many news articles…they become absolutely disgusted, revolted, frustrated and angry at these so-called pious, righteous religious workers.
And in their anger they lump ALL Christians into the same sick, sordid heap as these abusers. It’s not fair, but I have become much more understanding of polarized viewpoints since I’ve been researching patholigical personality disorders.
Having no current knowledge of the prevalency, of the proliferation of psychopaths in the world, I was also confused and deeply saddened, deeply repulsed by the heinous crimes of the clergy. What good hearted, kind, gentle, decent person wouldn’t be?!
Now…I know the truth. I know the reality. Psychopaths, hell the entire gambit, spectrum of PDIs are discovered in every social, economic, relgious groups of people.
The evil live up on high, in their shiny white towers which disguise the malevolent darkness that abides within and the evil live among the squalor, the reak and muck of despairing poverty.
Apparently, evil does not discriminate when seaking souls to corrupt and destroy. And by allowing, choosing evil to worship they also corrupt, abuse, annihilate and destroy their innocent victims.
We can ask ourselves..”When will it end? When will these atrocities against human beings end?”
Not to sound like a dooms-dayer but it will get much, much worse until more decent people learn, accept and believe the fundamental crisis that is facing modern society: the psychopath.
Religion is for people who dont want to go too hell, spiritualality is for people who have already been there.. I will pass on the beer Oxy