ரூடி ஜூலியானியும் பாலுறவு பலாத்கார குற்றவாளி பாதிரியாரும்

அமெரிக்க ஜனாதிபதி தேர்தலில் நிற்கும் ரூடி ஜூலியானி தனது சிறுவயது நண்பரான ஒரு பாதிரியாரை தனது பிரச்சார அமைப்பில் பய்னபடுத்திக்கொண்டிருக்கிறார். பிரச்னை என்னவென்றால், இந்த பாதிரியார் கத்தோலிக பாதிரியாராக இருக்கும்போது சிறுவர்களை பாலியல் பலாத்காரம் செய்த குற்றவாளி என்று நீதிமன்றம் கூறியிருக்கிறது. கத்தோலிக்க சர்ச் இவரை நீக்கிவிட்டது.

இவரை ஜூலியானி தனது பிரச்சார அமைப்பிலிருந்து நீக்கவேண்டும் என்று "பாதிரியாரால் பாதிக்கப்பட்ட சிறுவர்களின் அமைப்பு" கோருகிறது.

Group Wants Giuliani Priest Pal FiredFRANK ELTMAN
The Associated Press

Wilfredo Lee

Republican presidential hopeful and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani gestures while speaking to supporters at a Cuban restaurant Thursday, June 21, 2007 in Hialeah, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
» More images GARDEN CITY, N.Y. - Advocates for victims of abuse by Catholic clergy on Friday urged presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani to fire a priest who was suspended from the church and then hired by the ex-mayor's security consulting business. A spokeswoman for Giuliani said the firm had no plans to fire Monsignor Alan Placa.

Placa, a childhood friend of Giuliani's, has defended himself for years over allegations in a 2003 Suffolk County grand jury report that detailed decades-old abuses by priests in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y.

None of the priests were ever prosecuted or even identified because statutes of limitations had expired long before the district attorney's investigation. Days after the report, Placa acknowledged in an interview with The New York Times that he was implicated in the grand jury report but he denied that he had ever abused children.

"There's ample evidence showing that Placa consistently protected predators, shrewdly deceived victims, and covered up horrific clergy sex crimes," said a statement from David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. SNAP also contends that he abused children.

Placa was suspended from his duties as a priest in June 2002 after the abuse allegations surfaced. A lawyer, he currently works as a consultant for Giuliani Partners.

Placa was unavailable for comment Friday, said company spokeswoman Sunny Mindel. She said Giuliani was standing by his childhood friend.

"The former mayor believes that Alan Placa has been unjustly accused," she said.

SNAP called for Giuliani to fire Placa following the publication of a Salon profile of the cleric. In the story, the online magazine quotes Richard Tollner, who testified before the Suffolk County grand jury and claimed he had been abused by Placa. Tollner told the magazine Placa molested him and at least two others, but school authorities did nothing when they were told about it.

Placa and Giuliani have been friends since their days together at Bishop Loughlin High School in Brooklyn, N.Y. After he was suspended, Placa received special permission to officiate at the funeral of the former mayor's mother, Helen, in 2002. He also baptized both of Giuliani's children.