Outrage at friar's claims that it is often the teenage boys who seduce priests in religious sex abuse cases... and he calls Sandusky 'a poor guy'



Father Benedict Groeschel described Jerry Sandusky as a 'poor guy'

He said priests found guilty of abuse should not go to jail if it is their first offence



Father Benedict Groeschel has sparked outrage claiming it is often boys who seduce priests in religious sex abuse cases

A friar has sparked outrage after claiming it is often the boys who seduce priests in religious sexual abuse cases.



In an interview with the National Catholic Register, Father Benedict Groeschel of the conservative Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, said he did not believe a priest found guilty of sexual absuse should go to jail if it was his first offence.

He even went on to describe disgraced Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky as a 'poor guy'.



Father Groeschel, an influential voice in the American catholic community, has written several books and appears weekly on a religious television network.

He said: 'People have this picture in their minds of a person planning to [be] a psychopath.



'But that’s not the case. Suppose you have a man having a nervous breakdown, and a youngster comes after him. A lot of the cases, the youngster — 14, 16, 18 — is the seducer.'

He added: 'Here’s this poor guy Sandusky it went on for years. Interesting: Why didn’t anyone say anything? Apparently, a number of kids knew about it and didn’t break the ice.



'Well, you know, until recent years, people did not register in their minds that it was a crime. It was a moral failure, scandalous; but they didn’t think of it in terms of legal things.'

'If you go back 10 or 15 years ago with different sexual difficulties — except for rape or violence — it was very rarely brought as a civil crime.'



Asked to clarify his commenst he went on to suggest that most of these 'relationships' are heterosexual in nature, which historically have not been thought of as a crime.

He said: 'If you go back 10 or 15 years ago with different sexual difficulties — except for rape or violence — it was very rarely brought as a civil crime. Nobody thought of it that way.



'Sometimes statutory rape would be — but only if the girl pushed her case. Parents wouldn’t touch it. People backed off, for years, on sexual cases. I’m not sure why.

'I think perhaps part of the reason would be an embarrassment, that it brings the case out into the open, and the girl’s name is there, or people will figure out what’s there, or the youngster involved — you know, it’s not put in the paper, but everybody knows; they’re talking about it.

'At this point, any priest, any clergyman, any social worker, any teacher, any responsible person in society would become involved in a single sexual act — not necessarily intercourse — they’re done.

'And I’m inclined to think, on their first offense, they should not go to jail because their intention was not committing a crime.'

But Father Groeschel's comments immediately prompted a string of angry posts.



'Poor guy': Father Groeschel suggested disgraced Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky was a victim

One anonymous writer raged: 'Those comments on abuse make me shiver. I really really hope he doesn't actually think the way he explained things in those answers.



'Jerry Sandusky is a monster and the image people have in their mind when his name comes up is that of an evil pervert committing unspeakable acts on an innocent 10 year old in a shower.'

Another wrote: 'Comments like this about pedophilia take the biscuit. I am disgusted at what I have just read.

'How dare this prominent priest accuse abuse victims of acting as seducers! You can NEVER justify or condone pedophilia. It is a disordered and depraved act. God forgive you for your comments!'

Siginificantly The National Catholic Register is a publication affiliated with the disgraced Legion of Christ religious order.



The legion, which in 1995 helped saved the National Catholic Register from closing, was involved in one of the most damaging Catholic sexual abuse scandals of recent times.

Its former leader, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, who had close links to Pope John Paul II, had been investigated for a string of sexual abuse claims since the mid 1950s.

In 2005, the Vatican was dragged into disrepute after it emerged Maciel had been abusing seminarians for year.

