"The Right Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, then presided over the Eucharist.”

You decide whether you can be in communion with him, and this.

So much for “life-long committed relationships!”

An Email I sent to several of the Massachusetts representatives, the day after the McGee story came out in the Boston Globe.  We have the pleasure of living under the “authority” of this leadership.

to ,
cc ,
date Thu, Feb 7, 2008 at 8:58 AM
subject Parents need to be heard.
Dear Senator Antonioni,

It has come to my attention that as the honored guest at the Massachusetts chapter of PFLAG, you publicly stated that you and Rep. Patricia Haddad, the House Co-Chairman of the Education
Committee, are working together to make sure that the Parents’ Rights Bill (S321) is “dead in the water”.

I also understood that you said that you are working to pass the bills which would expand homosexual programs and the Planned Parenthood curriculum in schools.

As a father with 4 children in the public schools, I need to state that I am both in support of the Parent’s Rights Bill, and opposed to the expansion of homosexual promotion programs in our schools.

Please reverse your position, and begin to think about families who are trying to bring up their children in a healthy manner.

I have become really, really disturbed about the behavior of our Massachusetts leadership, and wonder what is happening behind closed doors, when I see the following representation of our leaderships behavior.  Of course, this behavior is learned and normalized at an early age, which is exactly what your existing political position is promoting through the Massachusetts education system.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/07/key_aide_to_patrick_accused_of_sex_assault/

The boy that McGee assaulted is only 3 years older than my oldest child.  I believe that McGee may have been a strong supporter of PFLAG and promotion of the homosexual agenda in Massachusetts.

Please think about what your position does to families.  We want to support you, but your positions have a destructive influence on what we are trying to do with our kids.

Best Regards,

Charlie Peppler

Charlie Peppler,

Good on ya.

What I find interesting about this is that when Ted Haggard was shown to be engaging in gay sex (though married to his wife) he was publicly condemned as a hypocrite. Last I heard he was seeking help for what he did. I’ll be curious to see if the major media picks up on this story in the same way, especially given the fact we’re told Mr. McGee and partner are so “traditional”.

“Stan and John are deeply conservative and old fashioned and traditional in every way,” said Jennifer Bradley, a college friend of Mr. McGee’s.

I don’t think so!  They both kept their “maiden” names after their “marriage.”

From the first link:

“My parents were far more upset that Stan was a Hilary Clinton-supporting Democrat than they were about us,” Mr. Finley said

It seems Ms. Bradley is badly mistaken about her college friend.  Or perhaps she is just badly mistaken about the definitions of “conservative”, “traditional”, and “old-fashioned”.

But then, she could just be lying.

I’ll second Greg, Charlie Peppler.

One thing that makes me so cynical about politics is that vast majority really is not about ideology, but economic can be easily applied, substitute maximizing votes for maximizing profit in motivations and it actually begins to accurately model. While in many ways this is disillusioning, you did one of the best things to influence your states politics, you’re counted as ten votes and tallied. Politicians do respond to pressure, even if ideologically they disagree.

Hosea 6:6,

I hear what you’re saying.  The problem is, I wrote that only after being so incredibly angry and frustrated at the two faced behavior of those who get into power.  Their positions make no logical sense whatsoever.  “Here, let’s promote gayness as being normal in the schools”, then they behave like it’s normal, and you see the results in the bathhouse.  What do they think we are, brain dead?

Good folks never seem to get into power, because the good folks are typically the ones worrying about working and keeping their family running, healthy and protected.  Good folks don’t have the time or resources to fight these battles with people who fill the power vacuum and can press the agenda. Ever heard of DINK (Double income no kids)?  Well gay couples are just that, and they have time and resources to move their agenda forward.  Mr McGee is the perfect example of the result.  And then, the political “leaders” select them for positions of power!  Geez, you should be doing background checks on your right hand people, Mr. Patrick.  Unless, of course, you knew it already, and that’s the reason you picked him. 

Painful.  How long, Lord?

Such behavior should not surprise us.  Alan Medinger, the founder of Regeneration (an Exodus affiliate) in Baltimore is convinced that male homosexuality is the result of deficient bonding with one’s father.  That could come from a physically or emotionally absent father.  The desire to receive a father’s approval and to receive masculinity (Learning how to be a man and being affirmed in one’s manhood) can then be sexualized in adolescence.  (Medinger has written several books on the subject of male homosexuality and is himself an “ex-gay” man.)

But receiving masculinity is not to be found in the physical coupling of two men, neither of whom is truly settled in masculinity—even if they have a weight lifter’s physique and an abundance of body hair.  Such couplings will never be enough—even if “married.” The search will continue—and it will never end.  (That there are some men who are in steady relationships for many years and that are truly exclusive is true—but such relationships are very rare.)

I had seen this man’s wedding coverage in the NYT a few years ago.  I am not too surprised to see this news item.  And one wonders—were there other events that did not get into the papers because the other party was of age?

#9 Oh ... “I feel your pain,” sometimes I think the Lord allows us to get that red faced to move us out of our comfort zone. I often pray a dangerous prayer of the Lord to keep me in His will even if it’s opening the door, putting a foot on my butt and push me through, one I’ve seen Him answer—Keep the faith & keep on fight the good fight.

Charlie Peppler wrote:

Ever heard of DINK (Double income no kids)?

And here I thought it stood for
“Darwin Is Not Kidding!”
;>)

The Peoples Republic of Massachusetts has been presided over politically-for about as long as I can remember-by Ted Kennedy and Barney Frank. A peoples choice of its elected representatives says volumes about its moral moorings. Kennedy and Frank are not Senator/Congressman for life by fiat. These champions of homosexual “rights” and abortion “rights” are returned to their respective offices again and again and again by V O T E R S. While good folks like Mr. Peppler can make their feelings known, the politicians who are sent via revolving door back to their cushy offices every 2/6 years know on which side their bread is buttered. Mr. Peppler will almost certainly get a phony response containing some fine sounding pap meant to sound like legitimate concern, and then will go back to supporting the same abominations that those who return them to office year after year want them to. Like people, like priest. “The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction;
*my people love to have it so*, but what will you do when the end comes?” Since the majority of voters no longer have a Christian eternal perspective, they don’t know (or care) about the end which will come upon those who persist in wickedness. As long as the people support-with their votes-those who would legislate a thoroughly godless agenda, they are making their voices clear; this is what they want for themselves and their children. And I don’t want to hear “awwww, they just don’t know any better.” If that’s the case, then they should stay home on election day.

Now, if this person admits guilt, or is found gulity- then some comments here make sense- and as I said on another conversation- this is a crime of greatest magnitude and derseves harsh punishment and a life of admission.

That being said-

The accused is in a polictal postion.
This is an election year.
The issue of SSU/ SSM is a hot one in Mass.
This man stands accused- not convicted- of a crime on hearsay evidence.
Could it be politics? Or a proxy fight?

Is he innocent until proven guilty? Or guilty until proven innocent?

Will Greg apologize if he is found innocent? (UNC Frat boys)

Hearsay evidence?  The article I read said his victim positively identified him for the police.

Hey Worldpeas, I’d start looking at the father of the boy.  He may be a political operative that used his son as bait for this McGee guy.  I’m sure McGee would have never sexually assaulted a minor in a steam room had he not been set up.

worldpeas:
Granted, we discuss what we see in the press.  However, given the fact that he was actually arrested, and the attackee was a 15 year old boy, I sincerely doubt that the youngster’s accusation is politically motivated.
Also, reading the articles, this does not have the smell of some concocted political smear campaign as you suggest:

According to a probable cause statement filed by the Lee County sheriff’s office, an “unknown white male” approached the alleged victim the day before the alleged assault, striking up a conversation with him in a bathroom.

The next day, the alleged victim was in a steam room when the same man, later identified as McGee, entered the room and sat beside the teenager.

McGee is accused of masturbating and performing oral sex on the teenager.

An officer from the Lee County sheriff’s special victim’s unit tried to interview McGee that day, but he refused to answer questions without a lawyer present, according to the probable cause statement.

Later that day, another officer spotted McGee, who voluntarily went with the officer.

The alleged victim then “positively identified the individual as the person who sexually battered him, “ the probable cause statement said.

McGee’s arraignment on the charges was scheduled for Jan. 28, but was postponed until Feb. 11, according to Lee County court records.

“Positively identified the individual as the person who sexually battered him” sounds pretty real, and pretty specific.  Either this 15 year old kid was battered by McGee, or he was willing to go through a lot of pain, suffering and humiliation in order to politically “taint” Mr. McGee.
I can’t see a lot of evidence to support your suggestion of a smear campaign.  There is, however, a lot of evidence to suggest that Mr. McGee is acting in a very natural way according to his support of the pushing the homosexual agenda into the schools.  The evidence points to the fact that he likes young kids the way he likes them, and that he wants them available that way on a broad basis.

Charlie Peppler,

Boy can I sympathize with you!  You see, I live in Florida.  You may recall that Mark Foley, once a US congressman from Florida, was a staunch supporter of the Adam Walsh Act, a law that imposes strict regulations on registered sex offenders and registered sexual predators, and even penned an amendment that was added to it.  Then, in 2006, Mr. Foley was discovered to have been having an “online” inappropriate relationship with an underaged male congressional page that he personally knew (and possibly more than one).  Ironic, isn’t it?  Now, knowing all of that, let me add that I am the wife of a registered sex offender in Florida.  My husband’s crime?  Let’s just say it didn’t involve any actual people at all and only four photos that were “questionable” - not definitively illegal, just “questionable”.  Imagine my disgust that Mark Foley, who abused his position of authority and had inappropriate contact with a minor known to him, has yet to be charged with anything while my husband is stigmatized for the rest of his life.  So, Mr. Peppler, I definitely feel for ya!

The American standard is innocent until proven ( in court ) guilty.  I don’t know, and neither do those who are engaged in the postings above what a court will find. 

Blessed Martin Luther in his explanation to “Thou shalt bear no false witness” said

We must fear and love God, so that we will not deceive by lying, betraying, slandering or ruining our neighbor’s reputation, but will defend him, say good things about him, and see the best side of everything he does. (my emphasis)

It is simply wrong to convict someone on the web.  Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable and even if we think it likely it is true in this case, it has not be subjected to our standards of proof. 

For shame!

FWIW
jimB

jimB, you can’t reduce the victim here to the role of “eyewitness”. This wasn’t a split second accident viewed from several blocks away. There was more than sight involved. Please tell me you’re being ironic.

I really do think this one is going over the top. The man *is* innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Which SFIF is not. Sadly, 15 year olds have been known to lie before, too. None of us, I think, is in any position to know what happened.

jimB:  But I thought the “new spirit” of TEC was “guilty until proven innocent” and “damn due process if it gets in our way”....at least that is what our PB’s actions say as regards the Standing Committee in the Diocese of San Joaquin and in other instances.

But not being a disciple of the PB, I think that we should refrain from convicting this guy until the courts do so.  The evidence looks to be very strong though.

I’m trying to look at this in the locus of pastoral counseling. The wife of a prominent parishioner comes to the Rector’s office in tears. Her husband has been arrested for having sex with a 15-year-old girl, and the story broke in the morning news. This would be tough - extremely tough.

In another situation, a priest goes to a godly friend in tears. His male partner has been arrested for doin’ it with a 15-year-old boy. It’s on the wire services.

I guess I would just listen to the priest ventilate, and nod a lot. I don’t know what words of comfort to offer. Reading Psalms 23 and 121, after all, might give flashbacks of Brokeback Mountain.

Maybe this would make a good GOE question.

"flashbacks of Brokeback Mountain”?? I forgot, please remind me?

”...recalling their meeting at a service at the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Cambridge, Mass.” which is itself, a well-known gay bath house.

I hope he goes to jail. This is statutory rape. I’m glad the boy’s father called the police and I’m glad the man has been charged. It is an outrage that this teenager was accosted twice by this man and the second time raped. It is also an outrage that there are people trying to cover for the perp. He was positively identified by the boy he molested. After all, the perp has “platinum” hair and was judged “best dressed in Boston” or some such silliness.

The perp was so-called married to an Episcopal priest in DioMa and Tom Shaw celebrated the so-called Mass at the “wedding.” I wonder if the priest knows that his so-called spouse is trolling in steam rooms in luxury hotels in Florida. Or if he cares. Or if he would do the same, given the opportunity.

This is an outrage and though the perp may weasel his way out of it, that won’t change the facts on the ground. It reminds me of corrupting children, innocents and millstones.

JanDioMa, if he’s guilty I hope they put him *under* the jail. But until he’s convicted, his guilt hasn’t been determined.

worldpeas,

Apologize for what, exactly?

The boy molested made a positive identification of a man who by his own report would be hard to mistake. Only the court can send him to jail. He will have all the lawyers that money and influence can buy. But I accept the report of the young man who was accosted in the steam room by the middle aged man trolling for a young one. I have no doubt that it happened. And the fact that the perp is a high level appointee of Deval Patrick and the so-called spouse of an Episcopal priest in DioMA makes me glad that, pace Rowan, we aren’t under Sharia. Because if we were the young man would hanged.

JanDioMA,
Is it that under Sharia law the young man would be guilty by his own admission of committing a homosexual act and therefore hanged, but there would be no witnesses so the man he accuses would be found not guilty?

Oh dear, I so very well remember the wonderful coverage of the nuptials in the New York Times when it first came out.

SpongJohn SquarePantheist,

Because that is exactly what any victim is, an eyewitness.  That is why we have, except here I guess, trials.  Victims get it wrong, eyewitnesses get it wrong, we have juries and courts for a reason.  Even courts get it wrong, which is why there are appelate courts.

I am not saying the man is innocent, just like you, I do not know.  He is as you or I would be, entitled to the presumption of innocence until he is tried and convicted.  Any thing else is frankly evil (see Luther again!) and contrary to our American constitution, law and tradition.

FWIW
jimB

Sharia law calls for extreme penalties for homosexuals and they are hanged in great numbers in countries like Iran. But nothing is ever that simple. Men in cultures that disappear women turn to other men, or rather more often young boys for erotic exercise. Example, the way the warlords, Taliban or otherwise, in Afghanistan have their boys riding with them. 

My point was that there are many places in the world where the teenager in this scenario would without the help of a wealthy father have been unable to confront this wealthy predator.

This is not an online rumor.  It’s a report of an actual arrest and charge.  Posting the information here is not slander.  If the accused is acquitted, then presumably Stand Firm will post that too.

Sharia requires four witnesses to establish adultery or rape—of women.  I think there was a case in Dubai (?) just recently in which a young boy was raped and the authorities were distressed to find that there was no effective statute criminalizing it.  JanDioMA is correct to say that the use of young boys by adult men has a long history in Muslim countries, and was traditionally not considered “homosexuality.” I have book at home, not here, by ibn Warraq, titled “Why I Am Not a Muslm,” which cites many instances of this across the Muslim world.  This behavior is not approved in Islamic law, but is rather a cultural accommodation to societies in which women are hidden and caravan trips were long.

For those above who have verbalized the sentiment “innocent until proven guilty here in America”, that is true....except for sex offenses.  When it comes to that genre of crime, especially in a he said/she said (or in some cases he said/he said, etc.) situation, the “perpetrator” is almost always treated as “guilty until you can prove yourself innocent”.  I belong to an organization that is fighting to reform sex offender law back to the original intent (tracking the most dangerous predators, not every Tom, Dick or Sally who, at 18, had sex with his/her 15-year-old girl-/boyfriend, for example).  There are more stories than I can count that show that, in court, the onus was placed on the defense to prove the defendant innocent rather than on the prosecutor to prove guilt.  The guilt of the defendant is ASSUMED before the trial ever begins.  And that’s not even talking about the assumed guilt of said person in the media and the public at large.

I challenge you guys to test yourselves.  Next time a news story airs in your area involving a sex crime, listen to what the reporter says, gauge your own reaction and then try to objectively ask yourself if you think the report was unbiased and that your reaction was one of “innocent until proven guilty.” Ask your family and/or friends their opinions.  I think some of you will be surprised at how media bias and popular opinion may very well fly in the face of “innocent until proven guilty.”

jimB, of course he is entitled to a presumption of innocence in a court of law, but there is no such presumption required of public opinion.  Indeed this man’s (alleged) actions confirm our (well founded and reasonable) worst suspicious of the homosexual lifestyle.  Certainly no one here is shocked by these allegations—they were practically to be expected.

I don’t know about where you live, but the steam room at my local YMCA is a notorious gay cruising spot.  15 year old boys enter at their own risk.

If the guy is guilty, this pervert should be sentenced to the longest term in prison allowed for such a crime.  The problem is reasoning from the possibility/likelihood/probability that he is guilty to the conclusion that ALL gays molest childrfen.  Tempting as it is to gloat (his “spouse” is a priest in TEC, he is a trusted government policy maker, the Bishop of Mass. presided at the Eucharist during his “wedding,” the Times trumpeted the nuptials, the invitees spoke so extravagantly of thier “committed” faithful relationship), we ought not take any pleasure in his failings.  Preventing other children from being similarly molested is more important than the exposure of the mendacity/hypocrisy of so many of the advocates of this “new thing.”

Before the lynching committee forms, I would like to point out that all we know about this case is what has been published in a newspaper. I would also like to mention that I spent last week working on a story about a drowning in the river in which I also followed the coverage of two TV stations and a major daily - all three had major factual errors and all three continued to repeat those errors every time they updated the story. As criminal charges may come out of this - what part have they played in shaping a misinformed public opinion? Think about it.  I don’t believe in “gay marriage,” I know there are gay sexual predators just as there are heterosexual ones - but I also know that we don’t know the facts from a newspaper story. And we don’t convict people on that basis either.

Ally, you highlight a legitimate and serious problem, e.g., the broad brush and ambiguity in the sexual offender laws.  In some states, a man relieving himself on the side of the road behind a tree on the way back from a college football game can be arrested and convicted of indecent exposure and could be required to register as a sex offender.  Other states make an insufficient distinction between the possession of pornography (with its varying definitions) and sexual crimes. 

However, the circumstances you discribe with your husband’s conviction is a far cry from the black and white allegations here.  Here, it is not a question of the seriousness of the allegations if proven, just whether the victims own testimony, bolstered by immediate reporting to the police, is credible.  I certainly agree that there have been some notorious instances involving false allegations, most of which generally fall in the suppressed memory catagory.

Ally and Oscewicee--where there’s smoke, there’s fire. 

So, is the celebrant of the Eucharist at their “wedding”, Tom Shaw, busy telling everyone in DioMass that this is all normal and some people are just “misunderstood”? 

Or is the Globe busy covering all this up or downplaying it? 

The more things change, the more they remain the same...pathetic. 

My prayers are with the 15-year-old victim, who deserved better.

My! my! my! This story confirms every thing you’all believe about homosexuals and homosexuality don’t it? If it had been a female school teacher and her 15 year old male student, would you draw the same conclusions about women?

#41 Gray Wolf—In short ... YES!!!!!!

One should bear in mind the presumption of innocence until a case is proved is the current position.  All accused have that right.

DaveG,
I don’t see anyone here “reasoning from the possibility/ likelihood/ probability that he is guilty to the conclusion that ALL gays molest childrfen.”
And your either/ or proposition here is false:

Preventing other children from being similarly molested is more important than the exposure of the mendacity/hypocrisy of so many of the advocates of this “new thing.”

Exposing the mendacity and hypocrisy of so many advocates of this “new thing” is a part of preventing other children from being similarly molested. The social acceptance for homosexuality that is the goal and result of this “new thing” places children in jeopardy of being molested.

What conclusions are Grey Wolf and Hosea6:6 talking about?

Gray Wolf, did you ever wonder WHY it is that we don’t let grown men and 15 year old girls use the same steam-room?  Hmmmm?

#45—Grey Wolf is asking if I find female teacher and male student as offensive as a predatory male. The answer is yes! I don’t care if its man/boy, man/girl, woman/boy or woman/girl—sexual assault is offensive to me. Got it! 

#43 Pageantmaster - I’d agree with you, except Mr McGee accepted a social contract that holds him to a higher standard of keeping yourself out of trouble when he gain political appointment. I happen to know his equivalent at the federal level and she know that there are political powers in her office that would love to take her down and she needs to keep her nose clean. John David Ashcroft is completely innocent of any wrong doing legally, but it’s not to say it was wrong for the public pressure for his resignation. In a sense it is the name of the game and this story has two elements to it. One is like the cop or teacher accused, who rightfully is on administrative leave, then there is the holding a civil authority via political appointments which you gain and loose by who you know and if you are a political benefit or liability to the administration.

I did a little digging and discovered that the Reverend John Finley is a Deacon at the Church of the Redeemer in Chestnut Hill, MA and the head of the Epiphany School--a tuition-free middle school for disadvantaged students somewhere in the Boston area.

Imagine if you were the parent of a boy at the Epiphany School and you discovered that the spouse of the head of the school had been arrested for sexual assault of a minor ... I’m sure the Boston Globe is going to have a field day with this.

They have a story:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/02/07/key_aide_to_patrick_accused_of_sex_assault/

Apparently Mr. McGee is not the first MassEquality activist to be arrested for seeking out sex with younger men. 

http://www.massnews.com/2006_editions/8_august/80106_activist_arrested_i_sting.htm

allyHM, I repeat that, having posted this arrest story, StandFirm is now obligated to post the follow-up, including a prominent notice if the accused is acquitted or if charges are dropped.

I agree with you that the sex offender laws are too broadly written and that sometimes people who are not really dangerous are branded for life.  What I want to know from the registries is whether someone who has actually committed sexual assault, rape, or assaulted a much younger child is in my neighborhood.  This means, for instance, that an 18-year-old who had consensual sex with a 15-year-old is probably not a public danger, whereas a 35-year-old who had contact with a 15-year-old is.

It also seems to me that someone like your husband, whose offense was minor, not involving assault or contact, should be able to clear his record after a certain amount of time with no repeat offenses, although the internet is going to make that difficult.  And, depending upon the exact nature of the offense, probably he’s someone who should never have ended up on a sex offender registry at all.

The sex offender registry in my state, NC, has a way to review what the listed offense actually was, so I can see the exact nature of the charge and decide whether this is something I want to worry about or notify neighbors of.  We should all at least take that step before screaming “sex offender in the neighborhood!”

Off-topic --

I checked the Epiphany School web site.  In their purpose statement I found this phrase:

believing in the Episcopal tradition that we find God in and through each other’s presence.

I think that this tradition would be news to nearly all Episcopalians from before 1980.  Or maybe from before 2000.  I have only heard this idea since the accession of Bp Schori in 2006.  This seems to be an idea that comes out of Matthew 25, but has been cut loose from all the moorings of the rest of the Bible and allowed to grow on its own.

I can see the exact nature of the charge and decide whether this is something I want to worry about or notify neighbors of

Might I suggest that if the cops don’t feel the need to do community notification, perhaps you should refrain?  You never no what type of mob hysteria you might ignite, however mild and well meaning your intent.  Also, how “exact nature” does it get?  Most just list the legal title of the charge (sexual battery against minor, for example), not give details like the exact ages of those involved, what specific acts were formed, whether the acts were forced, etc.  Personally I’d be far more concerned about living next to a neighbor that has been in and out of jail all his live for things like public drukenness, drug possession, assault and battery, burglary, and other such crimes than I would be about living next to a neighbor that committed one sex crime 20 years ago and has walked the straight and narrow ever since.  I fail how all this subjecting people to public harassment, humiliation, vigilantisim (up to and including cases of assualt and murder against people targeted because they were on the list), and making it practically impossible for people to live in communities or get a job makes it easier to rehabilitate people and decrease their chances of offending.  It also put the focus on the wrong area.  Sex offendors that have served their time and have been released have one of the lowest recidivism rates of any crime, where as statistically speaking, the most likely abusers of children are not the strange creepy man living down the street but those in the child’s own home and family.

Not to long ago I saw a article in a local newspaper about a guy that was a teacher at a private school.  The newspaper article simply said that he was cleared of a charge of sexual assualt against a 13 year old girl.  All well and good.  But it also mentioned, quite briefly and casually, that the guy had been convicted of murder a few years back.  I was flabergasted.  The law has no problems with adult murderers becoming school teachers, yet the Adam Walsh Act encourages states put the names, photos, and home addresses of children as young as 14 on public sex offendor registries and banning them from ever working with children.  Not only is such public exposure permantly life destroying because of the response of the general population, but our duly elected leaders, in their desire to appear tough on crime, actually think that making public the pictures and addresses of sexually troubled youth to anyone interested is a way of decreasing sexual crimes against minors.  Sound to me like making a “shopping list” for the true predators.

Anyway, back to some other points:  Yes, it is completly unfair to generalize from this case that homosexuals are any more likely to sexually abuse minors than hetrosexuals.  After all, remember the story of the Italian baker and the 13 year old girl or the bishop of Penn’s brother and the 14 year old.  Not all homosexuals abuse minors, just as not all hetrosexuals abuse minors.  Heck, not even all pedophiles abuse children, and most child abusers aren’t even pedophiles. 

HOWEVER, am I terribly suprised when someone that has made a career out of undermining the foundations of sexual morality goes a step further in private than he advocates for it public? Also, for an institution that has lost its moral foundation, defines itself as “progressive” and wants to make matters of gender and sexuality always at the front of debate and conversaion:  Is it realistic to believe that they will stop at the current “new thing” instead of constantly being “guided by the Holy Spirit” into so many more new things, to the point where such sodomy with minors is affirmed just like other host of immoralities, false doctrines and pagan ideas currently being affirmed?

Katherine:

I repeat that, having posted this arrest story, StandFirm is now obligated to post the follow-up, including a prominent notice if the accused is acquitted or if charges are dropped.

I hope it is as easy as that.  Here are a few things to consider, however:

1. I posted a link above about William Conley, a 59-year old member of Masscussett’s “Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth” who was arrested in 2006 for soliciting sex with college students on craigslist.com.  I’ve googled extensively but can find no reference to the resolution of that case.  It appears to have been swept under the rug.

2. Carl Stanley McGee, the alleged pervert in our current case, was arrested on December 28, yet google news shows that the first report of this event appeared in the Globe on February 6.  Why the 5+ week delay?

Given the above, I hope that SF will be able to post a followup when this case is resolved.  But it may not be possible.

Going Home, Katherine and AndrewA,

Thank you so much for your rational thinking, compassion and encouragement.  You have no idea how heart-warming it is to hear people outside of the reform organization saying things like you all have said. 

AndrewA,

Dude!  You have really done your homework!!!  I’m impressed (and I am truly not easily impressed).  Expect a privat message from me forthwith. 

er...that would be “private”, not “privat”.

This is an important update.  All charges against McGee were dropped.  It appears that the boy probably lied about the entire incident.  Since the charges were on page 1, and the dropped charges are buried somewhere else, how does this man get his reputation and his career back, once it had been wrongfully taken away?

“Assistant State Attorney Francine Donnorummo wrote this week that “there is no corroborating evidence to support child’s rendition of his being forcibly sexually battered,” the Fort Myers News-Press and the Boston Herald reported online Thursday. 
“Donnorummo wrote the teen had difficulty identifying McGee as his attacker. There was also no video surveillance or forensic evidence supporting the teen’s claims, according to the documents.”

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080321/NEWS/803210356/-1/NEWS01

Thanks, VP, that’s a relief.  As Lewis pointed out, any time we desire to paint the portraits of our opponents a little blacker, hatred has set in.  Let’s pray for McGee and Finley, that the truth would be known and the smear blotted out.

Cheers,

Phil Hobbs