Monday, March 26, 2012

Interpol arrested Indian Catholic priest wanted for Sex Crimes: Vatican neglecting sex crimes by its Priests


Source: News Bharati      

$img_titleErode, March 19: Catholic priest Father Joseph Jeyapaul, allegedly involved in hardcore sex crimes cases in the United State was arrested from Tamil Nadu in southern Indi.
A police team on 17 March traced Fr. Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul in a parish near Erode that comes under Ootacamund, his mother diocese.
The police produced him in the Erode Judicial Magistrate Court that ordered that he be handed over to Interpol officials in New Delhi.

Interpol, an organization that facilitates international police cooperation, has been on the lookout for the 57-year-old priest for the past five years.


Fr. Jeyapaul had gone to the States in 2004 and for a year worked in a children’s care home under Crookston diocese, Minnesota. Two teenage girls have accused him of sexually molesting them.
Though a case was registered in the US in 2005, the priest returned to India in the same year. The US police hand over the case to the Interpol that issued an arrest warrant against the priest. It also informed the Tamil Nadu Police to trace and arrest him. Jeyapaul has denied the charges.
undefinedJeyapaul served in a diocese in Crookston, Minnesota, for about a year between 2004 and 2005. During that time, he allegedly abused two teenage girls, according to church documents unearthed in a lawsuit related to the case. The documents show that complaint letters sent from Crookston Bishop Victor Balke to the Vatican were acknowledged by officials there, but no disciplinary action was ever taken against Jeyapaul.
The Crookston Diocese first received reports of ‘inappropriate behavior’ on the part of Jeyapaul in September 2005, according to a letter Balke sent four months later to Cardinal William Levada, head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, the body that deals with cases of alleged abuse.
Balke wrote that according to an internal investigation, Jeyapaul took a teenage girl to his rectory in the summer of 2005, where he molested her. The investigation has noted all the details of this.

Balke also said in the letter that Jeyapaul had misappropriated a substantial amount of money belonging to the parish, and also attempted to give a diocesan vehicle to a third party as payment for an outstanding debt.
$img_titleBishop Balke has even ‘warned’ Vatican that it is impossible to say that Father Jeyapaul does not at present pose a risk to minors.

A police team led by Erode Superintendent of Police S Panneerselvam found him serving as an assistant at Simmittihalli in Thalawady area. Fr. Jeyapaul has repeatedly denied the charges. He has repeatedly told reporters that he was innocent and that he would not resist his extradition to the United States to face the charges since he wanted to clear his name.
In another development September 2011, Crookston diocese decided not to fight the case and settle the case paying US$750,000 to the victims. Along with the sum of money, the diocese agreed to post the Indian priest’s picture and information about the case on its website. It also promised to reach out to and work with other potential victims of the priest.
$img_titleBishopAccountability.org says that, “At a time when the role of the Vatican bureaucracy in abuse cases is coming under increased scrutiny, the Jeyapaul documents show the Vatican allowing a ‘pedophile priest’ to remain in ministry. Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has long possessed strong evidence that he is credibly accused. At a time when foreign (Indian) priests are being used to patch a U.S. priest shortage, the Jeyapaul documents cast doubt on the formation of such priests, and on the system's ability to monitor and discipline them effectively.”
The website of The Diocese of Crookston has published a notice about Reverend Joseph Jeyapaul Palanivel. It says, “Reverend Joseph Jeyapaul Palanivel is known to us as “Fr. Jeyapaul” is a priest of the Diocese of Ootacamund, India. In September of 2004. Upon his arrival Fr. Jeyapaul was in residence at the rectory of St. Bernard’s Catholic Church, Thief River Falls, MN, where he was to acclimate to the Diocese of Crookston and assist the parish priest with his regular duties. In November 2004, Fr. Jeyapaul was appointed administrator of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church of Greenbush, St. Joseph Catholic Church of Middle River and St. Edward Catholic Church of Karlstad. He remained in this assignment until September 15, 2005, a period of ten and a half months.
On August 25, 2005, the Diocese of Crookston received a complaint against Fr. Jeyapaul alleging inappropriate behavior with a teenage girl.  After investigation, the Diocese of Crookston concluded that it was possible that Fr. Jeyapaul violated the Sexual Misconduct Policy and the Code of Ethical Behavior of the Diocese of Crookston.

On September 15, 2005, twenty one days after the Diocese of Crookston received notice of a possible allegation of sexual misconduct, Fr. Jeyapaul’s assignment was revoked and he was informed of the accusations against him. At this time, Fr. Jeyapaul was in India, and has not returned to the Diocese of Crookston since.

On October 4, 2006, the Diocese of Crookston received a second complaint against Fr. Jeyapaul related to his assignment in 2004. The Diocese of Crookston began an investigation, which was suspended on
The Diocese of Crookston says that, “During the discovery phase of the lawsuit the Diocese of Crookston learned of the serious nature of the allegations against Fr. Jeyapaul. These allegations related to sexual abuse of a minor woman, including multiple occasions of sexual assault”.

The notice mentions, “Criminal charges are still pending against Fr. Jeyapaul in Roseau County, Minnesota. Posting Fr. Jeyapaul’s photograph on our website so that other potential victims can recognize him was one of the terms of the settlement agreement.”
undefinedThe documents show that Crookston Bishop Victor Balke wrote repeatedly to Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, urging it to take the Jeyapaul case. Yet as of April 5, 2010, over five years after he allegedly committed the crimes, Jeyapaul is a senior official in the Diocese of Ootacamund, with the schools as one of his portfolios, and the CDF has ignored the case.

It seems that the Mission of Christianity and Roman Catholic Church which is ‘Love and Peace’ in the name of God almighty has been redefined by the Roman Catholic priests to make physical ‘Love’ through sex crimes, abuses and rape on the innocent children and turn their future into ‘Pieces’. 
It is a shame and a black dot on history of humanity that the Child sexual abuse, violence, spiritual terror and pedophile epidemic has become the new face of Christianity.
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