As reported by Will Swaim, defrocked priest Michael Stephen Baker accepted a plea deal on Monday, exchanging the grudging acknowledgment of his abuse of two boys for a prison sentence of ten years and a $20k payout to one of the victims.

We’ve all grown accustomed to the gross inadequacy of sentences for violent crimes, including sexual sadism practiced on children. But let’s not get so used to it that we file the whole thing aways as “2 kids, 10 years.” There were many, many other victims. And when it is all said and done, Baker may be back to trolling the slums of Thailand before the decade is out.

According to records kept by the LA Archdiocese, Baker has been accused of abusing 23 children over the course of 26 years, the most recent known incident occuring in 1999. In 1994 the state of California extended the statute of limitations for child molestation cases (a direct response to the growing clergy abuse scandal) but in 2003 the US Supreme Court overturned this law, effectively preventing the majority of Baker’s victims from seeing the criminal prosecution of their cases. So prosecutors were forced to focus on just four of those 26 years and two of those 23 children, resulting in the following charges: one count of oral copulation with a minor, one count of sexual penetration of an unconscious person with a foreign object, and three counts of sodomy of a minor.

Cardinal Mahoney’s $660 million settlement covers the actions of about 200 priests, averaging out to $3.3 million per offender; Baker, who sometimes smiles at his victims when he sees them in court, is thought to be responsible for as much as $40 million of the payout (the 2003 Supreme Court decision doesn’t prevent victims’ from filing civil suits). And who knows how many children Baker abused after leaving the priesthood in 2000? His arrest while on the way home from a trip to Thailand, a notorious destination for pedophile sex tourists, is an ominous indicator.

Ten years and $20k: not even within shooting distance of adequate.

One more thing: according to the LA Times, “Because of good behavior and other jail-time credits, Baker, who has been behind bars for two years, is expected to serve at least three more years in prison.”

Tags: cardinal mahoney, child abuse, church, michael baker, pedophile, plea deal, Rachel Powers, settlement, thailand

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CATHERINE MARY HENRY 12 months ago 1 point
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This was in the Philadelphia paper recently. And I understand this sister was up in Manhattan a few months ago meeting with New York Assemblywoman, Margaret Markey, and other supporters who want New York's laws changed for the better in regard to the sexual abuse of children. I also "hear" that Bishop Michael Saltarelli of the Wilmington, Delaware diocese is trying to strong arm her superior to shut her down. Is that because she testified in Dover, got her picture taken with Governor Minner, wrote this article or because she was on Philadelphia's Big Talker 1210AM Radio with Dom Giordamo that same day?

Can't something be done to help her?

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/11811202...

COMMENTARY PIECE
Published on Mon, Nov. 26, 2007
Philadelphia Inquirer

IN EFFECT, ARCHDIOCESE GIVES SEXUAL PREDATORS A PASS

There should be no statute of limitations where the sexual abuse of children is concerned, period.

The sexual abuse of children is a major epidemic going on in our country, a pandemic if one considers it in its worldwide proportions.

So it is hard to believe, in light of the statement above, that we continue to have churchmen who actually oppose the removal of statutes of limitations regarding the sexual abuse of our children.

It is unconscionable that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia apparently is still of the opinion that sexual predators and abusers should not be held accountable.

"Window" legislation, as it relates to civil statutes, is the single most important factor in holding sexual predators and their enabling institutions or individuals accountable. ("Window" legislation is so called because it would allow previously time-barred cases - in this case, those concerning childhood sexual abuse - to be brought forward.) There should be a window of at least two years for abuse cases.

How blithely Mary Achilles, victims' advocate for the archdiocese, speaks of the church's failure to comply with the criminal statutes. So much so was the hierarchy's imperious disregard of the law, that the statute of limitations now protects known sexual abusers of children from criminal prosecution forever.

I cannot comprehend the hubris that would occasion the type of behavior that is so graphically delineated in the 2005 Philadelphia Grand Jury Report on the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

And still, the archdiocese questions the rightfulness of extending the statute of limitations.

Why isn't the archdiocese distributing postcards for the members of the Catholic community to sign and send to their legislators in Harrisburg to support the complete removal of statutes of limitations going forward in regard to the sexual abuse of children, criminally and civilly?

This is not a matter belonging to what our church calls the "deposit of faith," and, leaving aside the matter of mortal sin for the moment, the sexual abuse of children is a matter of criminal behavior.

Can there be any question about the intrinsic evil of the sexual abuse of children or of the fact that such individuals are intrinsically disordered?

Certainly not!

Statements made by Donna Farrell, the archdiocesan spokeswoman, are patently untrue. The burden of proof in civil cases falls on the accusers, not on the accused, possibly complicit institutions or their leadership.

Window legislation is not "anti" any particular group; it is pro-child. It forces records, if they exist and have not been destroyed, to be made available in a court of justice and hopefully into the public venue as well.

Moreover, there should be no accommodation in law giving more protection to individuals who have been accused of the sexual abuse of children than to the victims themselves.

We know that pedophiles, rapists, molesters and child abusers come from all walks of life and that the sexual abuse of children happens primarily in the home.

I think now is the time to make those who violate and abuse our children accountable in all states no matter when the abuse took place. Remove statutes of limitations going forward and include window legislation for past crimes.

It is unconscionable for religious denominations and their leadership to protect and enable sexual predators by refusing to support changes in the laws that would hold both the perpetrators and their enablers accountable.

In all good conscience, I would strongly encourage the good Catholics of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to support criminal and civil laws that are as strong as possible in holding the sexual predators of our children and any individuals or institutions, who were complicit in their protection, accountable.

Sister Maureen Paul Turlish is a Delaware educator and victims' advocate who testified in support of the recently signed Delaware Child Victims Law. She was a featured speaker at the November 3, 2007 annual conference of the National Association to Prevent Sexual Abuse of Children in Minneapolis, Minnesota and is a board member of DECOA, the Delaware Association of the Children of Alcoholics.
______________________________

E-mail Sister Maureen Paul Turlish at maturlishmdsnd@yahoo.com.

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