UNITED STATES
New York Daily News
Sympathy for ‘this poor guy’ Jerry Sandusky and other pedophiles? New York friar blames youngsters who ‘seduce’ priests, coaches
By Victoria Cavaliere / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, August 30, 2012
A prominent New York-based friar has sympathy for some pedophiles — including defrocked priests and former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky — saying they are sometimes “seduced” by their underage victims.
Father Benedict Groeschel’s jarring comments come amid ongoing fallout from child sex abuse scandals that have rocked Penn State and, over the past decade, the Catholic Church.
In some of these cases, children “looking for a father figure” are responsible for the relationship with someone in a position of power — like a coach or clergy member, Groeschel told the National Catholic Register.
“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,” said Groeschel, a founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal.
Pressed on the point, Father Groeschel says “It’s not so hard to see – a kid looking for a father and didn’t have his own – and they won’t be planning to get into heavy-duty sex, but almost romantic, embracing, kissing.”
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