This is a two-fold cautionary tale. The first, that we shouldn't accept the words of the accusers simply because they make the accusation. The second, that the man who sought to extort money from the priest looked only to the short-term monetary gain and didn't think at all about the long-term loss to himself (both now in legal terms and after his repose in the next).
Can you imagine giving someone $160 US dollars (the rough equivalent) - not 50 cents or a 10 dollar bill - when he comes to you out of the blue only to have him steal your phone and threaten to announce you as a person that looked at child porn?
How do you defend against this? How do you get your reputation back?
(guardian.co.uk) - A blackmailer who drove a Roman Catholic cleric to quit the priesthood in a bogus child pornography photo scam was jailed for five years yesterday. The judge at Swansea crown court told Michael Costello, 38, from Reading, that he had inflicted "colossal damage" on the priest. Father Michael Manning was so marked by his experience he quit his vocation. Manning had given Costello £100 when he claimed to be destitute, the court heard. But Costello stole the priest's BlackBerry phone and alleged it contained indecent images of children. He threatened "to go to the tabloids" with the groundless claims.
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This is sick! If the priest was a good pastor and was so shaken, why didn't he go to someone? Father John Corapi would kick his backside to hell and gone.
ReplyDeleteOn another subject, any news from the OCA on (former) Bishop Mark of Toledo? Been waiting to hear if he has been or will be received and transferred to the OCA Diocese of Dallas.
Enquiring minds want to know.
He was at the recent OCA synod meeting. I expect his placement will take a while as it has to wind its way through the Diocese of the South's Search Committee and the like. As soon as I hear something (either from the Internet or local contacts), I'll post on it.
ReplyDeleteDisgusting. This man has much to repent for.
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