The February 9 Chicago Tribune had a great editorial today regarding the utter failings of Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch after being confronted with pretty concrete evidence that priests in his archdiocese were sexually abusing young people. The editorial actually quotes deposition testimony from Imesch that was unsealed last week. At one point, Imesch was asked about a report to diocesan officials in 1985 that a Woodridge priest might be having a sexual relationship with a 14 year old girl. Imesch was asked if he contacted police. His response? "I would not do that...There is no verification. There is no hard evidence this was happening. And I'm not going to go say, Hey police, go check on my priest." Later, Imesch testified: "I'm not going to go to the police and say that I've got a suspicion that one of my priests is dating a young girl. I'm not going to do that." Why not? A sexual relationship between an adult man and a child is illegal - Imesch surely knew that, but did nothing.
Another bit of testimony that turns the stomach - came about when the lawyer discussed the victim's age...
Q: She was a 14 year old girl.
A: We didn't know that at the time.
Q: You didn't ask.
A: We didn't know who to ask.
I have an idea - how about the priest who is carrying on with the child? A couple of phone calls could have confirmed the victim's age. But Imesch didn't do a thing. Thankfully someone else[with some character]did go to the police and the priest involved was ultimately convicted of criminal sexual abuse.
There was additional questioning about another priest who was accused of abusing young boys in Lombard. Imesch testified the priest acknowledged skinny-dipping with the boys and playing games with them while nude. Imesch simply moved the priest to another parish where he was also accused of abuse. When questioned about the credibility of the Lombard allegations, Imesch responded: "Well, I think what happened happened. It was not considered a crime or a criminal activity so there was not reason for me not to transfer him." The Bishop of Joliet it seems, thinks it is perfectly acceptable for a grown man to play in the nude with young boys.
To add insult to injury, Imesch released a letter last weekend noting that the incidents occurred "...before psychologists recognized that behavior of that kind was indicative of a severe problem..." What a crock. He didn't know that these incidents indicated problems? He is either remarkably stupid, or simply lying in a misguided effort to protect the archidocese from the inevitable legal fallout. Imesch also bemoaned the fact that the media is portraying him as someone who doesn't care about the safety of children. Having read the excerpts above, what else could you conclude about this creep?
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