Barry Duke, the Angry Atheist

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   “The curriculum had already drawn tensions among the county’s religious parents, with some worrying about appropriateness and arguing the material…

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   As someone who produced dozens of nativity plays as a teacher and a Sunday School leader, that title ‘A Gay…

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   The defence of a Christian view never seems to be settled by debate: exchange of facts, reference to historical events.…

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   But …… Rwanda is a safe place: Parliament says so.https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2024/8/contentsSafety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024 S 2 Safety…

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   Religion can survive only on the most unquestionable assumptions. The statements made on Sundays on the BBC as if they…

IN 2021 McCarrick, defrocked after a Vatican investigation confirmed he had sexually molested adults as well as children, became the first cardinal in the US to ever be criminally charged with a sexual crime against a minor.

The frail nonagenarian first appeared in a Massachusetts court where he faced three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14. He pleaded not guilty and the case is still ongoing.

Now it’s reported that the disgraced ex-cardinal, who once served as the Archbishop of Washington DC, is facing new sexual assault accusations in Wisconsin tied to an alleged incident that occurred more than 40 years ago

McCarrick has been charged with one count of sexual assault in the fourth degree, the state’s Department of Justice said in a news release issued on Monday.

He is specifically charged in connection with a reported incident said to have taken place in April 1977 at a residence in Geneva Lake.

Justice department officials said in the release:

The complaint alleges that McCarrick engaged in repeated sexual abuse of the victim over time, including the charged incident that involved the alleged fondling of the victim’s genitals while staying as a guest at a Geneva Lake residence.

In a statement, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said it was not surprised by the latest charges in Wisconsin, noting that “serial abusers often have multiple victims.”

In our view, the longer an abusive cleric has a career in the church, the more likely there are more victims. This criminal charge does not surprise us, in fact, it shows that when the names of abusers are made public, regardless of rank, it often encourages others who were hurt to come forward and make a report.

We applaud all of the brave individuals for speaking out against McCarrick and hope that their example inspires others who were hurt to come forward and make a report to the police.

According to Wikipedia, a lawsuit was filed on July 21, 2020, by an anonymous person saying that McCarrick operated a sex ring out of his New Jersey beachouse.

The alleged victim maintained that McCarrick abused him with the assistance of other priests beginning in 1982, when he was 14. The lawsuit stated that boys were assigned different rooms in the house and paired with adult clergymen.

The alleged victim, who attended schools operated by the Archdiocese of Newark, alleged priests and others under the control of McCarrick engaged in “open and obvious criminal sexual conduct” that was kept cloaked by the church and also served as “procurers” for McCarrick.

Once considered the most powerful cardinal in the United States, McCarrick was stripped of his titles and defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019, based on evidence that suggested he had sexually abused children and seminary students for decades.

One year earlier, the Vatican had released a report that said former Pope John Paul II, who had made McCarrick a Cardinal and Archbishop of Washington, DC, knew about the allegations and ignored them.

Not fit to stand trial

In January this year, it was reported that McCarrick is in “significant” mental decline and may not be fit to stand trial.

His legal team said it planned to file a motion to dismiss the case, citing a neurological exam conducted by Dr. David Schretlen, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The results show McCarrick to be suffering from “significant neuropsychological deficits” that “appear to have started relatively recently, to be worsening rapidly, and to impair both Mr. McCarrick’s cognition and his memory,”

A court document said:

Based on preliminary discussions with Dr. Schretlen, counsel have developed serious concerns that Mr. McCarrick may no longer be legally competent to stand trial, because he would be unable to assist meaningfully in the preparation of his own defense or to consult effectively with counsel during trial with a reasonable degree of rational understanding.

Given his age, his frailty, his possible dementia and the fact that he had been laicised, one has to ask whether historic abuse charges against this old pervert will serve any meaningful purpose.

What are your thoughts?

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If you spot any typos in this report, please alert me via email: freethinkered@aol.