‘Happier When Accompanied By a Small Boy’: Defrocked Pedophile Priest Releases Terrifying 27 Page ‘Sexual History Essay’
- Posted on June 1, 2012 at 9:44pm by
Mytheos Holt
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SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – (AP/The Blaze) A 27-page sexual history essay written by Rev. Robert Van Handel, a defrocked Franciscan cleric who lives in Santa Cruz County, was obtained by the Associated Press this week.
The essay was penned by Van Handel, 65, for a therapy assignment provides a shockingly candid and detailed window into the troubled mind of a notorious pedophile priest.
Robert Van Handel
The narrative is believed to be the first of its kind to be publicly revealed through civil litigation despite years of lawsuits targeting sexually abusive priests.
Van Handel is accused of molesting at least 17 boys, including his own 5-year-old nephew, local children in his boys’ choir and students at the seminary boarding school where he taught.
St. Anthony's, Van Handel's old place of work
Van Handel’s account, written between 1993 and 1994 during his treatment at Pacific Treatment Associates in Santa Cruz, is corroborated by letters, victim interviews and court papers from his file.
Van Handel currently lives at 15705 Highway 9 in Boulder Creek and is a registered sex offender. This ABC News Report includes further details on the case:
A psychiatrist evaluating him once asked Van Handel about his worst fear. The priest’s answer was specific: The public release of his sexual history.
In the essay, Van Handel – who was himself molested by a priest at age 15 – traces his perilous descent from a sexually repressed pre-teen terrified of puberty to a serial pedophile who handpicked his victims from the members of a prestigious boys’ choir that he founded.
Van Handel seems unaware of how serious his actions are and rarely expresses regret except to describe his paranoia when he thought he would be caught. Instead, he focuses on his own emotional needs in a rare moment of self-reflection.
“There is something about me that is happier when accompanied by a small boy,” he writes. “Perhaps besides the sexual element, the child in me wants a playmate.”
Van Handel now
He also seems mortified by his crimes but also entranced by them: He describes his “most beautiful” victim, a tanned and tow-headed child of seven, and talks about molesting a trio of brothers and taking nude pictures of the youngest sibling that were “quite artistic.”
“Once, or perhaps more than that, I took him up into the tower which was stark concrete with steel barred windows and he posed as a prisoner with few clothes on. I took some photos of him tied up with a big rope,” Van Handel recalls of the 7-year-old. “It was as though I could do anything with him that I wanted.”
Van Handel’s narrative came to light as part of a $28 million settlement between the Franciscans and 25 clergy abuse victims six years ago that also called for disclosure of the religious order’s internal files. The accused priests fought unsuccessfully to keep their documents private in a battle that went all the way to the California Supreme Court.
The priest always started his favorite “game” by having the young boy remove his underwear and put on loose-fitting shorts so he could fondle him more easily. Then, Van Handel would run his hands up and down the child’s body as he stretched across his lap, Walkman headphones on his ears, pretending to be asleep.
The priest would fondle his singers under the guise of tickling games or back rubs during one-on-one choir rehearsals. He had the boys play dart games that ended in sexually charged wrestling. He rubbed the genitals of high school seminary students in their dorms and photographed young boys in the shower on a choir trip to Europe.
Most confidential files unearthed in court cases only hint at the existence of sexual histories, which are a common part of therapy meant to be seen only by the priest and his psychologist, said attorney Jeffrey Anderson, who has handled more than 2,000 church abuse cases.
This is unique,” Anderson said. “It really is a glimpse into the mind of the molester.”
His attorney, Robert “Skip” Howie, said he would instruct him not to comment. Howie said the disclosure of the private medical document will prevent the future identification and treatment of offenders.
“You want the person to be open in the interview, but you totally destroy that avenue if you make these records public,” he said.
Seeing the document has been both painful and cathartic for those who recognize themselves in its pages. One victim said Van Handel’s memories match perfectly with his own, despite the priest’s vastly different perspective.
“It is really validating to read – in his own words – that what we’ve been saying really did happen. We had spoken the truth,” said the man, one of the brothers molested by Van Handel. He requested anonymity to protect his siblings, who are not ready to speak publicly.
The priest begins by describing a lonely childhood with an authoritarian father who moved the family five times before Van Handel turned seven. The family of seven finally settled in Orange County when Van Handel was 10.
At age 13, Van Handel’s father forced him to read a sex education book that terrified the young boy. He dreaded the onset of puberty, when he imagined sexual urges would be like “poison candy,” and prayed to remain a child.
The next year, he entered St. Anthony’s, the Franciscan junior seminary in Santa Barbara, to escape his father and his own sexual anxieties.
Instead, the young seminarian was molested by a priest as he lay in the infirmary.
The priest told Van Handel that the molestation would draw out his fever by making him sweat. “While I don’t think it is of crucial importance in my life, it is curious that this is nearly the exact activity I would perform 10 to 15 years later,” Van Handel writes.
It wasn’t until after high school, however, that Van Handel began to realize his sexual interests were abnormal.
He discovered pornography near his college seminary and purchased magazines featuring naked children. He used a telephoto lens to take pictures of young children splashing in the campus fountain and bought photography books featuring nude boys.
“I asked my best friend once if he saw anything ‘special’ in pictures of children and he said, ‘No, not at all.’ I began to realize that I was different,” he writes. “Sometimes I worried about this, but I thought that as long as it was just a fantasy, there was no reason to panic.”
It wasn’t long, however, before Van Handel’s fantasies became reality.
In 1970, he moved to Berkeley to pursue a master‘s degree and started a boys’ choir for local children. There, he molested a boy of about seven, apparently his first victim. Around the same time, he molested his 5-year-old nephew.
Van Handel tried on two occasions to address his blossoming pedophilia by talking to a Franciscan counselor, but he was so vague that the man never understood.
“I would hint, he would stab and we missed each other entirely,” he wrote.
In 1975, Van Handel was ordained and was sent to St. Anthony’s, where he had been molested more than a decade before.
The young priest hated the assignment and started another boys’ choir as a release – and was soon molesting its members.
He preferred boys between the ages of 8 and 11, he wrote, and their parents always dropped their children off as requested because they trusted the priest implicitly.
“It was clearly my choir and the fulfillment of my fondest dreams,” he writes. “Now I understand that it was also a constant supply of attractive little boys.”
Van Handel is detailed in his confessions, but seems oblivious to the damage he is doing. He recalls his surprise when one of his most frequent victims resisted him for the first time at age 11, after about four years of molestation.
“He started to cry and that snapped something in my head. For the first time, I was seeing signs that he really did not like this,” Van Handel writes.
In 1983, Van Handel saw an article about another boys’ choir director arrested for sex abuse. It threw him into a suicidal depression.
“For the first time it was before me that what I had been doing could be classified as criminal behavior,” he writes. “I imagined every boy’s parents read that article and decided to carefully question their sons about me.”
The priest revealed his sexual fantasies to a psychologist but “never gave him enough information to report me,” he writes.
In an attempt to reform, Van Handel dated three women, two of whom had children in his choir. He slept with one of the women twice and was terrified she would get pregnant.
“I felt a whole new world was opening up for me, and for the most part I felt really good about the experience,” Van Handel writes. “I felt that I was normal.”
Around the same time, Van Handel became rector of St. Anthony’s and was assigned to investigate another priest accused of sexual abuse. He was shocked when he realized the priest’s accusers – two brothers – were also victims of his.
In 1992, the parents of one of Van Handel’s victims wrote him a letter and copied in the Franciscan leadership. Within months, the priest was removed from the ministry.
Two years later, Van Handel pleaded guilty to one count of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor and sentenced to eight years in prison. There were at least 15 other cases too old to prosecute, according to a police report.
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Comments (103)
christos
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 1:34am…Look at the trail of lives he has ruined,the Catholic Church has a long History of Pedophile Priests they seem to be a Magnate for Pedophiles and obviously a hiding place no one reports them they just move them around,,,Atrocious,not sure who’s worse the Church leaders who cover up for these Pedophile Priests or the Pedophiles,,,Disgusting,the DEATH PENALTY is what this guy should be getting,including the ones who cover up for him.
Report Post »johnpaulkuchtajr
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 6:33amRaised in Roman Catholic schools through high school. So repulsed by the church’s tactics of moving pedophile priests that I will never cast a shadow in the door of a Catholic church again.
I see real parallels in the way US taxpayers are raped by local, state and government officials. The elected officials blame the bureaucrats, the taxpayers pay the bills. Now, with the stock market about to go into a free fall, the years and years of corrupt fiscal practices are about to ‘come home to roost’ as a well known Chicago clergyman might say.
Report Post »Anonymouse.
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 9:22amThe Catholic church is a country club for pedophiles. Another great example of the horrific abuses done under the protection of religion. And then there was the loony Pentecostal snake handler who died earlier this week like his father from a rattle snake bite. Brilliant. Superstition kills.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 9:52amIt’s not just in the Catholic church. My abuser was the son of a Methodist Preacher and Boy Scout leader.
Report Post »db321
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 2:12pmloriann12 – you make an excellent point – sorry this happened too you. We have two elements here, people want to be obedient to God – they think they have to follow a Church or a Religion in order to do it. The lesson is too never ever follow a Man – always follow Gods Word in the Bible – Man every time will let you down – God never will!
The Catholic Congregants I have met over the years – are the most loyal of any other Congregant in the World to the rituals and believes of the Catholic Church. I have met many, that have turned from the Catholic Church and are now following Jesus and the Word of God. They have received the Holly Ghost, read the Giant Bible that use to sit on the Coffee Table, and now they have become mighty prayer warrior’s! They still love Mother Mary, but they don’t pray to her any longer – they pray straight to Jesus the friend that sticketh closer than a brother. And when they pray today – it is so powerful it blows Satan’s wig off!
The same scenario is happening today, right before our very eyes, with God Fearing Black American’s – they know that God hates Abortion, Gay Marriage and Non-Support of Israel – yet they still follow Obama. They will vote for Obama and in doing so spit directly in the face of God the moment they pull the lever.
Obama too will too let them down – but they choose Obama and in doing so turn on the true God! Very Sad!
Report Post »frjimt
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 2:45pmread the john jay report on the low level of sexual abuse of minors in the catholic priesthood.
Report Post »It is a lie to try to make everyone guilty of the crimes of a few.
Here is a fact: 90% of abuse occurs between family members…..and most are never prosecuted because the “victim” is afraid or not able to bring up the family secret.
One case of abuse is one too many, however, reading the illness of this man into all priests is very unfair.
TarletonsQuarter
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 3:31pmFRJIMT,
Correct. And the John Jay report illuminated in may other ways as well. 1) The RCC now has the tightest policy of any other denomination. 2) Protestant denominations as a whole have an equal or greater problem but many STILL do not get reported because they do not have the structure the RCC does. 3) Many protestant denominations (e.g. Southern Baptist Convention) still do not have reporting procedures. 4) Other studies have indicated that so-called nondenominationals have the highest rate of abuse because the pastor just moves on and starts a “church” in aother city.
Report Post »TarletonsQuarter
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 3:43pmJOHNPAULKUCHTAJR,
Two points.
1. What organization was not moving pedophiles during the time most of these incidents happened (60′s-80′s)? Virtually none, as the norm in the world of psychiatry was treatment, not punishment. This admittedly warped procedure was used almost universally by the Boy Scouts, public schools, churches, etc.
2. You said you would not step foot into a RCC because of the abuse. Did you cease to be a Christian because among the founders of the church, one gave up Jesus for silver, another denied Him thrice, and 11 of 12 deserted Him in His time of need?
The men that knew Jesus best failed miserably to live up to the heavenly aspirations of Christ. Why would you expect impeccability throughout a 400,000 person clergy 2000 years later? Do you claim there is no corruption in your new church? Do you realize that you are more likley to be sitting in a pew being preached to by an abuser in a non-denominational, baptist, or protestant church than in a RCC?
Report Post »disgustisus
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 6:21pmRead expose molesters.blogspot.com
Report Post »davecorkery
Posted on June 3, 2012 at 11:09amWhat makes it worse is that the current pope is the guy that authorized the transferring of the pedophiles from the 70′s on. He ordered the bishops to threaten the parents of the victims with excommunication if they talked. This is a matter of public record. He is also the only pope to ask the state department if he could be charged as an accessory to criminal acts during a visit he was to make in the early 2000′s. The state dept. answer was that no head of state could be charged that way. They were curious as to why he even asked the question. Now we know. He put the “Rat”in Ratzinger. But as an atheist, somehow, I’M the bad guy!
Report Post »Faith is no reason.
BilderbergBeck12
Posted on June 3, 2012 at 6:05pmThey should hire him at the TSA. Oh wait they already have!
Report Post »rpp
Posted on June 3, 2012 at 6:29pmPublic school administrators hide more pedophiles than even the most heinous of the Catholic bishops would ever dream of doing. And they still do this today. More children are abused by their public school teacher than by any other source of adult contact.
Report Post »trueamerican40
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 1:25amWhat the **** is wrong with our justice system? Touch a child, get a life sentence!
Report Post »flipper1073
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 7:56amI was thinking more along the lines of
Report Post »Single Shot To The Head but if You
Want to pay for their Room & Board
for the rest of their Miserable Lives.
I Don’t
TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 9:48amA good movie along the same lines (child sexual abuse) is called “Sleepers” with Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt, Kevin Bacon, Dustin Hoffmann and Jason Patrick. Even the though the Catholic Priest (De Niro) is the hero at the end and the setting for child abuse is different… it’s a good (sad) movie with a great ending.
Report Post »SquareHead
Posted on June 4, 2012 at 2:25pmI am with Flipper 1073 on this one.
DEATH TO CHILD MOLESTERS sounds like a catching campaign slogan / bumper sticker.
Personally, I think that stoning would be the most appropriate. Stones are natural and 100% recyclable, so the liberals might be more apt to go along with it. Or I supposed that if you used a non- lead bullet they might approve of your single shot solution.
WE ARE SCREAMING FOR JUSTICE FOR THESE MONSTERS. HOW MANY MORE VICTIMS WILL IT TAKE?
Report Post »Cappy1918
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 12:35amThis is one sick person. He got away with it for years like the others in the news lately because he was in a position of power and exemption. The people who knew about it did nothing for fear of their own culpability and not wanting to rock the political boat. Believe, the sodomites are not without influence.
Report Post »sensibleadult
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 1:02amThe problem is queers in the priesthood. This man is a queer. Pure and simple.
Report Post »jzs
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 1:38amASK UNCLE JZS
A concerned reader of my column writes, “Uncle JZS, as one whose knowledge is as deep as the Marianas Trench, and as lofty as the planet Venus (a planet which will pass in front of the sun next Tuesday – this is the best chance in your lifetime to see it so google it), as one with a seemingly limitless ability to understand both science and religion, would you please answer a question for me?
I read a lot of news from a lot of different news sources as I’m sure you do. And the only pedophiles I hear about are Catholics or other Christians who use their religious authority to abuse children. Does this mean that Christians are more inclined than atheists to desire unnatural contact with children?”
Uncle JZS says, “Concerned reader, you give me too much credit. But that aside, the answer to your question is no. Christians are no more likely to be pedophiles than the average person. Your perception that Priests or pastors are more likely to abuse children is based on the fact that the media view those stories as more newsworthy, so you read or hear more about them. Statistically though Christians are no more likely to be pedophiles than anyone else. Including Muslims.”
nzkiwi
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 5:18am@ JZS
Amusing presentation, but you are wrong about the muslims.
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 8:40amsensibleadult
The problem is queers in the priesthood.
I would agree. But the problem is bigger than that. Some hetero men also like boys before they reach puberty because they have traits like women. So it is not all homosexuals as much as I dislike their degenerate culture.
Report Post »Tobias
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 12:21pm@Sensible:
Report Post »You’re an idiot. Plain and simple.
The Third Archon
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 2:25pmThe problem is ecclesiastical hierarchies failing to report, or actively covering up in many cases, the criminal physical and sexual abuse of an exceptionally vulnerable and important population, children–that’s it.
If the Catholic Church had done the right thing, and turned over every single child molesting priest to the law enforcement authorities as soon as they learned that they were molesting children–instead, at best they excommunicated them (and fired them obviously), and at worst they were actively complicity with the behavior, quashing complaints, moving priests to other Dioceses where report and punishment for their activities would be more difficult, etc.
Undoubtedly other religious sects can, and do, commit acts of equally heinous moral misguidance and oversight, and they should all be likewise held to account. But remember that the problem is not the fact THAT the Catholic Church had priests who molested children–as has been pointed out time and time again, there’s no way to GUARANTEE this never happens ANYWHERE, at least hitherto. What IS a problem, is how they RESPONDED.
Report Post »DOra Glasberg
Posted on June 3, 2012 at 8:22pmNormal men do not choose to become priests,
Report Post »They are all a bit ‘off’ in one way or another.
SquareHead
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 12:03amThis proves that we have something to learn from the middle east. They know how to handle these matters. A secondary benefit is that the stones can be recycled.
Report Post »hi
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 10:42amActually the Muslims marry little girls who haven’t gone through puberty. Mohammad married a 6 year old.
Report Post »SquareHead
Posted on June 4, 2012 at 1:55pm@HI
You are correct about Muslims marrying 6year old’s, and that is sick and they should be executed for doing so.
Our courts are sympathetic to perverts due to their own twisted morals.
The fact is that we have released thousands of child molesters on parole, when they should have faced a firing stoning, or firing squad.
True justice is what we yearn for, and when I read about a molester somewhere in the middle east getting stoned, I can say to myself that real justice was done.
Unfortunately we can never say that here in the US… With the perverted sense of justice here that enables these monsters to go on parole.
I am not talking about the 18year old having a relationship with the 17 year old as some 15year old girls can look like women. So in those cases there are some gray.
But in thousands of cases of these creeps raping pre-teen children it is rather black and white and only the death penalty is warranted.
DEATH TO CHILD MOLESTERS would be a good campaign slogan, being Americans are sick of the lack of justice for these vermin.
Report Post »SquareHead
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 11:49pmWonder if this was @Locked’s priest?
Report Post »oneshiner
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 9:01amWhat seems to draw these men into the Priesthood? Easy access to little boys? How sick. Too many so called “religious” people use their power over others, not just little children but adults too.
It isn‘t the pastor’s right to con you into sexual games.
We have a local pastor who councils women with marital problems, and I‘ve heard stories from the horses mouths about how he con’s young women making them think it‘s God’s will. Give me a break.
He has a large church in a good location, and I think his wife apparently approves of his un-Godly method . When angry women start talking, it gets out and she’s heard it too, I’m sure.
It’s hard to trust some in the ministry anymore. But the Bible has warned us about these people.
Report Post »The Catholic church has been the most notable for this blatant disregard for young boys for sure.
God Bless the children, just hope they can get their lives together after this trauma.
hillbillyinny
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 12:46pm@ oneshiner
What draws them. . . to quote the man in this article, he was “SCARED TO DEATH OF ADOLESENCE,“ his desires ”WOULD BE LIKE POISON CANDY”!
Many parents, schools, scout leaders and churches of this period, not just saw sex as BAD, or a “NECESSARY EVIL,” they never acknowedged to children that there even was a thing suchy as SEX! Kid on farms and ranches understood “the birds and the bees” from a young age, weren’t “afraid” of it, understood the consequences and respected themselves and others–except maybe those adolesents who “experimented” with available animal orifaces. . .
Those children who have been raised in a truly sensitive and loving family, who are taught privacy yet hugged, held and respected are taught what is appropriate and what is wrong and will run away from “wrong feeling” situations.
The priest who entered the priesthood in the 40‘s through the 80’s, were not screened, entered pre-programs MUCH TOO EARLY, often to “escape home” as the man above states, and did not employe the SPIRITUAL DIRECTION program available within the Church properly–one confessor at a time who you tell EVERYTHING TO! That confessor helps to guide you out of trouble, and/or advises you to get help as necessary, and when needed reports to higher ups there is a problem, if it means GOING TO THE POPE here on earth, while praying for the sinner’s salvation and assistance to God!
And I’m sorry, but Muslims are not “exempt” from pediphilia, m
Report Post »VoteRightDammit
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 11:42pmAwwwwwww – poor gay pedophile! I am so touched by the trauma of his early life!
Sorry – ZERO sympathy for this sub-human. My only question is: WHY is he not in prison with Bubba as his playmate?
This sub-human is mortified by the release of his private essay and thoughts? Too F’ing bad. Off yourself, Pal. Do what our society apparently lacks the fortitude to do.
Report Post »SquareHead
Posted on June 4, 2012 at 2:19pmWhen are we going institute the Death Penalty for these monsters?
All the child molesters were themselves abused. The circle needs to stop.
I think that stoning is appropriate, but I suppose that firing squad or the gallows would do if stoning gets deemed cruel and unusual punishment.
Report Post »Virginia Rebel
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 11:28pmWhat strikes me is that he was traumatized by early sex education. Educators who insist that little kids need sex education need to know about this. Who knows what warped sexuality they are creating in people with that?
Report Post »ModerationIsBest
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 12:14am@VIRGINIA REBEL
Hahaha really? You’re going to try to find someway to tie this to public sex education?
Instead, let’s look at how closely tied his “education” was to religion.
Overly Authoritarian father? Seems pretty religious to me.
“At age 13, Van Handel’s father forced him to read a sex education book that terrified the young boy.”
At age 13? You mean he didn’t learn about sex education until he was 13? Maybe if they had introduced to him earlier he wouldn’t have been so clueless and “terrified.”
“He dreaded the onset of puberty, when he imagined sexual urges would be like “poison candy,”
Again, if he learned what happens earlier, and actually discussed it with his son, he may not have been so confused and terrified. Seems more like a parent who wants to “protect” their kid from anything sex related.
“and prayed to remain a child.” Enough said there.
“The next year, he entered St. Anthony’s, the Franciscan junior seminary in Santa Barbara, to escape his father and his own sexual anxieties. Instead, the young seminarian was molested by a priest as he lay in the infirmary.”
Again, no comment necessary.
Everything about this guy reeks of growing up in an overly strict, overly rigid religious household, where they are more obsessed about sex then normal people.
The people who have problem with sex are the people who don’t talk about it at all, or those who only talk about it. Much like food. Having a heal
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 9:06amModerationIsBest
I think Virginia Rebel is onto something.
I am sure that the sex education book was written by experts. So how could they write a book that would leave a young boy so anxious?
Is the haughty ModerationIsBest prepared to say that if you have an authoritarian parent that a person will be messed up for life? Of is it more often than not?
What do we have here? We have an authoritarian father, religion & a sex ed book. We have 3 confounding variables. Despite have 3 confounding variable the haughty ModerationIsBest
races out on a limb & blames religion. How sweet! How quaint. :) How predictable.
JZS’s post made much more sense than your post did. Even his opening sarcastic paragraph was briefly entertaining. You post? No so much.
From what I have seen so far Catholic priests are somewhat less likely than protestant ministers to molest (I am not Catholic). I also see big organizations (RCC, Boy Scouts, Penn State, pick one) act the same way when it comes to scandal. Thus I can see only two reasons to “pick” on the RCC or religion. They are supposed to be better or you effing hate the RCC & religion because you want to reshape the culture in your image. You are the piggish latter. Do you spend more time coming to forums & trying disparage the church or trying to make it better (that is if you are Christian)?
If the priesthood was 1% point better than the general population or 33% better than the avearge joe, you would still be
Report Post »ModerationIsBest
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 10:45am@WALKABOUT
“What do we have here? We have an authoritarian father, religion & a sex ed book. We have 3 confounding variables. Despite have 3 confounding variable the haughty ModerationIsBest
races out on a limb & blames religion. How sweet! How quaint. :) How predictable”
You have 3 variables, but religion played a big part in all three of them. The book wasn’t introduced to him until he was 13.
Lol, this story is about a Priest who seems to be shielded from anything sex related until he was 13, then was molested by a Priest who then went on to become a Priest and molest boys.”
This story revolves around religion.
“I am sure that the sex education book was written by experts. So how could they write a book that would leave a young boy so anxious?”
Math books are written by experts, science books are written by experts…….you are still supposed to have someone who actually has experience in that trade to help teach the child and to help them understand. I’m sure if you put a calculus book in front of a child they would be “terrified.”
I also never “blamed” religion. I was simply stating how much of his life seemed “religious” compared to Virginia’s focus on a “sex ed book at the age of 13.”
Anybody who thinks that it was this book was the key factor is obviously not thinking very critically.
This is a very disturbed person, whose upbringing seemed to foster his feelings and fears to where he could eventually unleash those on p
Report Post »oneshiner
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 10:52amWhat’s interesting about sex education is it seems to cause more interest in sexual activities. When my sister and I were just young girls, the only sex education we had was Mom telling us, we never let ANYONE touch us inappropriately unless she was present, like a doctors office. If anyone tried, we were to let her know
Report Post »All this early sex stuff takes away the innocence of children, but just look what they see on TV. There is no longer any innocence and they can’t wait to be like some of the TV tramps and dress like them and be like them. So sad these kids have to grow up before they enjoy being a child..
McNamara
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 11:25pmAnd he’s still breathing, why? She should have faced a firing squad.
Report Post »flipper1073
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 8:37amHe’s not only still breathing
Report Post »if I read the story correctly
He not even in Prison
flipper1073
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 8:40amVan Handel currently lives at 15705 Highway 9 in Boulder Creek
Report Post »Passerby
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 11:09pmThere‘s nothing in the Bible that says you can’t have a wife.
It was only in about 1000CE that they made the rule that the clergy couldn’t have sex with a woman.
Always gonna be a big problem until they fix that. Sometimes it will be exposed and some times it won’t. But it will always be happening. And protected by the senior clergy, who do the same thing themselves.
Report Post »right_thinking_mama
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 2:38amSir, it’s not the lack of a wife that is causing these men to molest young boys. These men are gays, who are drawn to young men and/or boys. I think it’s safe to say that some sickos who know they will have a lot of access to youngsters (priests, pastors, coaches, teachers, etc) are drawn to their given field because of that occupational bonus.
All of the men I know wouldn‘t touch a boy even if they’ve never been with a woman and never could. Straight men are interested in young pretty women and pretty women of all ages. Gay men, who were in sexual relationships with older men as youngsters, are themselves into younger men. THAT is where the problem is.
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 12:50pmPasserby
I believe that before 1000 AD there were prohibitions (or nudgings) for a priest to not have a wife. They just were not enforced. The push to have celibate priest not only went back to older teachings but also had additional reasons like lifting priests out of poverty. If you read about bishops in France around that time they had wives & mistresses. So it was also to prevent scandals & to lift local/parish priest out of poverty.
Personally I like the Greek Orthodox method. If you want to be a priest you can marry, but you will never be Patriarch of the church. You make a choice. You can serve God & the congregation & have a wife or you can serve God & the congregation(s) & become a bishop or patriarch.
I respect that some people want to be priests but can’t go all the way.
I almost think that if we looked the other way the RCC might change their stance a priestly celibacy & adopt the Greek Orthodox way. You just can’t say anything about it or the clergy dig in their heels.
My basis for this belief is Pope Benedict’s work on limbo as a religious lawyer. The church literally painted themselves in the corner with the concept of limbo. But we are dealing with hard concepts. Taking a philosophy sequence in college as a humanities elective sequence, the strictly secular philosophers “quickly run out runway” so to speak. Some of the stuff college ethicists have been uttering is sheer nonsense & dangerous. So I don’t think secular people can
Report Post »davecorkery
Posted on June 3, 2012 at 11:25amWomen will never be in positions of authority in the church because they would rat out the molesters, and not put up with only having them transferred. It’s an old boys club. Priest will never be allowed to marry, since they can’t use birth control, they would eventually have 10-12 kids, and drain the collection plates to feed their kids. The vatican is an $8.2 BILLION corporation for that reason.
Report Post »Right thinking mama: As the Boston church scandal showed us, 10% of the molestations there were priest on boy, the rest were priest on girl, the girls being young underage teenagers. Abuse is still abuse. You are going to let the rest get away if you only chase the gays.
If you really want to be terrified, check out the 4 royal commission reports on the recent church scandal in Ireland.
Passerby
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 11:03pmIf you have to give up sex with a woman to qualify for something, those that aren’t interested in having sex with a woman will tend to apply for the job.
And they seem to be embedded in high places.
(And it’s 80% little boys, not girls, so spare me that.)
Report Post »The_Almighty_Creestof
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 10:56pmToss him naked into the middle of a hardcore prison yard with pedophile tattooed all over him and send the guards on vacation for a week. If he is still alive come day 8…take him out and set him on fire.
Report Post »lassiegirldawn
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 10:50pmThese guys are sick phques, and need to be de-nutted. Their sick minds can’t get the lives that they have destroyed for their sick pleasure. When we have judges and lawmakers in the same boat, how is this sick behavior ever going to change. We are in end times folks and it is only going to get sicker and sicker.
Report Post »hcartexas
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 10:36pmPlease, Please… someone kill this guy.
Report Post »nobull14
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 10:31pmThis is one sick POS !!!!! words cannot say what should be done to him for punishment.
Report Post »toto
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 10:28pmWhy is it that these people think their feelings and well being are more important than that of a child? Vows meant nothing. Forgiveness is for God, but hope in this life that it dawns on him what a less than worthless human being he is.
Report Post »KangarooJack
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 10:26pmThe cycle of abuse needs to end. Prison is not the answer. Therapy is not the answer. Recidivism rate is out of this world….nope, time to take him fishing. He can say his Hail Mary in the boat.
Report Post »Exrepublisheep
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 10:39pmHe can never be allowed around children again. He can’t be imprisoned forever, he’d be released eventually. Children are everywhere. SOOoooooooo…fishing sounds about right.
Report Post »Charley1
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 10:24pmSo, the “child” in you wants a playmate? Well, the adult in me wants you to receive an inter-cranial lead injection. You can do whatever you want with consenting adults. Mess with children, and you should be executed.
Report Post »calmandclear
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 3:00pmThat is hilarious! Hahahahahahaha. Thanks for a good laugh, agree with you one-hundred percent.
Report Post »kfouche
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 10:20pmPeople like him are never rehabilitated and never recover, he needs to do life in prison, make it a comfortable one but nonetheless a forever assignment. Pedophiles are like zombies, it’s the only crimes where the victims go on to become the predator, recruiters.
Report Post »Ironmaan
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 10:17pmWhen you do not allow priests to marry and require them to be celibate (unatural) you create the perfect hiding place for those with deviant proclivities. The Catholic church needs to rethink this policy. Not only does it not work but has proven destructive time and again. http://guerillatics.com
Report Post »coldnorth
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 2:14amHow can a Catholic Priest councel a couple about marriage, when he himself has no experience. A friend of mine used to be a Priest. He fell in love with the woman he would eventually marry, but before that had to retire his priestship. He told me his marriage would have added so much to his ministry, and marriage councling had he been allowed to remain a priest.
Report Post »snooop1e
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 12:25pm@IRONMAN – Your comments are neither biblical nor factual. The Apostle Paul was celibate and never married and wished that all were celibate like him (1 Cor 7:7). Jesus was celibate and never married. Paul also encouraged the unmarried to remain unmarried and even recommended that married couples to live chaste lives in order to grow closer to Christ (1 Cor 7:29-35) In Matthew 19:12 Jesus taught “For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriagec because of the kingdom of heaven.The one who can accept this should accept it.” So choosing a life of celibacy for God is clearly spoken of and encouraged by both Jesus and Paul. Paul was very clear that it is better to be celibate (even if married) and devote yourself completely to God rather than divide your devotion between God and your spouse. God Bless
Report Post »valleyfever
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 10:06pmMolest a child and spend the rest of your life in jail where Bubba can make you his plaything.
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on June 2, 2012 at 9:09amI’m good with putting certain people behind bars forever. I am not good with letting prisons be cesspools of violence among the inmates.
If for no other reason think selfishly of self preservation.
Some people are paroled or finish their prison term (maybe not this guy but others). Do you really want a parade of people who have been brutalized coming out of prison?
Report Post »jhrusky
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 10:00pmWhat a perverted man, and yet he claimed to be Godly.
Report Post »KangarooJack
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 9:59pmFrom the headline…isn’t Michael Jackson dead?
Report Post »Magyar
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 9:58pmDefrocked? This DOG should be spayed!
Report Post »Virginia Rebel
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 11:27pmHe’s male. That would be neutered.
Report Post »Toltepeceno
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 11:40pmVirginia Rebel, neuter and then spay him anyway.
Report Post »Ironmaan
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 9:53pmWhen this man dies the world will be a better place.
Report Post »Brokenstrings
Posted on June 1, 2012 at 9:51pmSome people are just sick…
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