Barry Duke, the Angry Atheist

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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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WHEN paedophile Vincent DeLorenzo, above, comes up for sentencing on June 13, the 84-year-old is expected to sent to prison for a year.

DeLorenzo pleaded guilty this week to a charge of sexual assault on the youngster following a family funeral in 1987.

The priest, who served for many years in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lansing, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted criminal sexual conduct in the first degree.

Prosecutors agreed to dismiss charges in connection with the sexual assault of another 5-year-old boy who was targeted in 1995. The abuse continued for five years.

Image via YouTube

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, above, said that when he returns to court in June, DeLorenzo is expected to be sentenced to five years probation, the first of which he will serve in the Genesee County Jail.

He will also have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

In addition, DeLorenzo will have to pay restitution, undergo counseling and listen to a victim impact statement if one is made at sentencing.

It was not immediately clear whether the victim, who is now around 40, would be at the sentencing.

Prosecutors offered DeLorenzo the plea after consulting with the priest’s accusers, of which there were more than two, according to Nessel’s office.

Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), praised Nessel for prosecuting DeLorenzo but said the former priest’s punishment does not fit the crime. It said in a statement:

It is always disheartening when predators avoid further justice through legal loopholes.

We truly hope that the sentencing judge sends a very strong message in this case and points out that regardless of age, justice will prevail.

DeLorenzo was ordained in 1965 and removed from the ministry in 2002, according to the Lansing diocese’s list of credibly accused priests. He served in at least two parishes in the diocese before he moved to the Ocala area in Florida, where he was arrested in May 2019.

DeLorenzo was one of five former Michigan priests that Nessel’s investigators tracked down and charged with sexual offenses against children dating back to 1950.

Image via YouTube

David Kerr, above, spokesman for the Diocese of Lansing, said now that DeLorenzo has pleaded guilty he will be formally defrocked. He also praised the bravery of the priest’s accusers.

In this report, Kerr called Delorenzo’s abuse “gravely immoral,” adding:

He besmirched the good name of the Catholic priesthood, he betrayed the trust put in him by the Catholic community of the Diocese of Lansing, and, most disturbingly, he damaged the lives of his young victims.

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If you spot any typos in this report please notify me at freethinkered@aol.com