STORM LAKE (IA)
Storm Lake Times
November 9, 2018
By Randy Evans
David prevailed over Goliath in the famous tale from long ago using an unconventional weapon, his sling and a few stones.
These days, river rocks aren’t a potent weapon. Now, it might just be the spotlight.
And the spotlight was shining brightly last week in Iowa when an Associated Press reporter cracked open 32 years of cover-up by the Roman Catholic Church’s Sioux City Diocese.
The AP report motivated church leaders in Sioux City to do something they had resisted for decades. They admitted that one of their priests was a sexual deviant, although they did not choose that blunt word. Nor did they use the term “criminal,” although he certainly is that.
Until the disclosures by the AP’s Ryan Foley made headlines across the nation, the diocese had successfully concealed from its 100,000 unsuspecting members, from law enforcement officers and from the unsuspecting public the despicable conduct by one of its priests.
Father Jerome Coyle, now 85, admitted to church leaders in 1986 that he was sexually attracted to and had “victimized” about 50 boys over the span of about 20 years. During that time, Coyle had served in 10 Iowa communities.
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