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.
Jen and EC (not ED LOL) I second what you have both said entirely.
I am so sickened by the greedy bas+ards on TV preaching and askin gfor donations whil eliving in 25 million $ houses. One of the tabloids a while back got a helicopter and published aerial photos of them and they looked like the CEO of ENRON’s house, or Madoff’s. Like the Bakkers. PUKE! Also these public POLITICAL “Revernends” that have bastard kids and mistresses and no real church, how are they supported? EVEN WHEN THEY ARE EXPOSED they keep on keeping on and somehow are still “popular” with those that admire their causes. PUKE
No one seems to care a flip about the damage they do, about the greed and corruption they are involved in and they “repent” and keep on SINNING and no one holds them accountable. Is there no “right” or “wrong” any more? Is there no PUBLIC SHAME any more, do people no longer want honest and moral “spiritual leaders”? WHAT THE HECK? Doesn’t make sense to me. I guess I am getting old and cranky, WHERE’S MY SKILLET? Henry did you borrow it again to cook corn bread in—no, I forgot you have your own skillet—guess my CRS must hve misplaced it again!
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news/2002_08_Orth_UnholyCommunion.htm
I took the time to read just ONE account of a lifelong Priest-Abuser – the link to that article is above.
It’s a long read, so only go there when you have a couple hours to do so, and moreso, I suggest you be in the mood to deal with the “down and dirty” details of his entire ministry.
It saddens me to realize that Priests, whom we are to love, trust and depend upon for spiritual guidance, can develop a lifelong “deviance” that ruins so many lives.
Just my 2 cents worth – but it was interesting, especially since I am going to finish my BA in Psychology at a Benedictine University locally. I will watch, learn and also “specialize” in Cluster B personality disorders, testing, evaluations, and will BANG MY DRUM LONG AND LOUD, to educate people about these types of people.
Not all priests are abusers, I realize this – however, the cloistered environment and the tenets of the Church, seminary education possibly lends itself to the development of this scandalous trend.
~hugs to all~
a-real_wife-
PLease back up your claims. I am extremely well-read regarding psychopathy and I have NEVER read that celibacy or a cloister breeds psychopathy. Never. In reality -if teh tenets of the Church were followed , There wouldbe no abuse anywhere.
Sinful people are the problem not the Church’s teachings.
Holywatersalt: I’ll “back the claims” in a back-handed way. Psychopaths look for occupations and situations where they can be predators without a lot of interference. A “job” that involves authority, the trust of the potential victims, and a lot of autonomy is perfect. Also, if the structure means that the perpetrator will be believed far more than any victim, that makes it all the better.
Occupations that serve well for the psychopath are lawyer, psychologist, doctor, coach, high-school principal, Boy Scout leader, music teacher, dance instructor, clown specializing in children’s parties, and yes, priests and other members of the clergy, including youth pastors and Sunday School teachers.
HWS, I agree with Rune on this the psychopaths are already psychopaths when they become “priests”—they FAKE their spiriuality to get into a setting where they can be around kids and have little or NO oversight from anyone.
It isn’t being unable to “marry” for an outlet for their sexuallity, these people are many times “equal opportunity abusers” of both girls and boys. So it isn’t about being “gay” or anything else it is about being a PSYCHOPATH.
Putting these people (who were psychopaths before they became priests) to guide and teach our young people is like putting HITLER IN CHARGE OF THE JEWISH WELFARE LEAGUE.
What better way to supply yourself with a ready supply of victims than be a church leader (in ANY CHURCH)? Because there are so many Catholic schools and boarding schools etc and there is LITTLE OUTSIDE OVERSITE in these institutions it is the perfect playing field for these fiends. They are NOT men of God, they are just “playing at it.”
As for the abuse in the Irish orphanages and schools, in the 1930s there was a lot of “spare the rod and spoil the child” in that culture of beat them until they conform. The sexual abuse was just ICING ON THE CAKE. A kids word was never believed over a man/woman of God who WOULD NOT LIE (of course) so the climate of it all led to the abuses.
It isn’t about not having sex at home being the reason that ANY person cheats, rapes or abuses it is about BEING a psychopath and arranging to have a job that is a job giving control over and access to potential victims.
Psychos look for enclaves- the enclaves don’t create them- that’smy point. I cannot fathom how living a life truly dedicated to prayer and sacrfice would CREATE a psycho.
My own experience runs as follows: I was married to a Catholic (I am also), and when he was caught by me on the internet “just seeing what child pornography was all about”, when I went to the Monseignor, my ex was immediately discharged from Eucharist Minister and from bringing communion to the elderly. I was given counseling that was paid for by the Catholic Church for as long as I needed it, which was a year, and offered free room and board for that period of time at the local retreat house in the city where I was receiving counseling. My ex was offered counseling as well, which he refused. I believe that Pedophiles are already P’s when they enter the church, and that it is just a convenient place to practice their deviancy.
OxDrover said:
I disagree. Not all people who commit sex crimes against children are pedophiles, some are opportunistic predators without a specific predilection for children. Perhaps there is a higher rate of sociopathy among those who actually commit the crime of child molestation. But that does not account for all such crimes: some offenders, particularly pedophiles, are likely to rationalize their behavior with the delusion that the acts were consensual and/or harmless. Those who need an internal rationalization in order to avoid feelings of shame are not sociopaths, as sociopaths do not have any shame to avoid.
Furthermore, according to the research I have read on the topic, not all pedophiles actually offend. Some fraction of the 6.7 billion people in this world are, by some dreadful loss in the genetic or developmental lottery, predominantly sexually attracted to children. Apparently, there are those in that population who recognize the obscenity of engaging children sexually, who feel revulsion and shame over their predisposition, and who vow to never commit any such act.
JaneSmith,
It’s funny you picked up on the ‘idol’ flattery. And stranger still that when I wrote it I had a Kali-like image float through my mind……Goddess of destruction, so that new life and enlightenment can emerge!
Sadly, I agree with your feelings about my idealistic sense of when all of this evil doing will be blasted away by the light of enlightenment. I don’t see enough individual choices being made, based on the desire to create peace. Let alone on a mass scale. Still and all, I do think that is what it may take. This horrible twist in the genetic well-being of the human race may very well take the enlightenment of at least a statistically significant number of us to be overcome…….weeded out of our genetic/cultural profile so to speak.
Pema Chodron, a buddhist priestess, titled one of her books ‘No Time to Lose’ and she implores the reader to take to heart the magnitude of the individual’s choice for peace, for knowing the self, for waking the ‘f’ up (well, she doesn’t say THAT…but she would if she were me).
To All: as for whether all pedo’s are pp’s. I don’t know if my grandfather, or my stepfather were psychopaths or not. I only remember them through a childs eyes/experience. And neither are around (they both died when I was young). BUT what I do know is that I have deep and long-standing ‘feelings/beliefs’ about love and sex that are completely WRONG–but are kind of imbedded in my emotional and physical body. So, what ever they are, they do horrible damage that is very difficult to undo. And they need to be prosecuted, named, and kept away from children. I personally prefer castration….but that is a whole ‘nother moral discussion (where are JaneSmiths wicked sharp knives?!)
JaneSmith – [they do horrible damage that is very difficult to undo.] feelings/beliefs about love and sex that are completely wrong…Jane I just want you to know that you have been a huge support for me over the past year – you understand me – I know you do .