ILLINOIS
Riverfront Times
[Donovan recommendation]
[with audio]
By Sam Levin Fri., Sep. 13 2013
The “bondage priest” is back.
Father Thomas Donovan was the man behind the 911 call heard round the world in which he told a dispatcher that he was in the rectory and needed help getting out of handcuffs. Why was he stuck? He said he was “playing with them” and needed to be rescued before it became an emergency. When cops arrived on that November day, they allegedly found him — alone — in some sort of leather bondage mask and an orange jumpsuit.
He was soon after granted a leave of absence and now, many months later, church officials say he is returning to the ministry — headed in our direction to Alton. The Diocese of Springfield says it will be a “gradual” process.
First, let’s listen to that call again, via the Illinois Times, which sparked the viral coverage:
Some notable excerpts of the gagged priest’s labored remarks:
“I am stuck in a pair of handcuffs and am going to need help getting out before this becomes a medical emergency,” he says.
Dispatcher: “What’s the problem?”
“I am stuck in a pair of handcuffs,” he repeats. “I was playing with them so I need some help getting out.”
He goes on to explain that he is in the St. Aloysius rectory and that he is the only one there. The priest was soon thereafter discovered in an orange jumpsuit apparently with “a leather bondage-type mask with a bar in his mouth.”
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