Free at last: Rev. Charles Hanel of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee
In September of 2018, local media in Milwaukee went crazy when prosecutors dramatically announced felony sexual assault charges against Fr. Charles Hanel. A 13 year-old girl came forward to claim that the priest had "groped" her during confession almost a year earlier and "made her feel uncomfortable" – whatever that means.
If Hanel were found guilty, he could have faced up to 40 years in prison.
But now, over a year-and-a-half later, the media is not as excited as it once was now that prosecutors have announced that they will drop the charges against Hanel altogether.
During a trial in March (which ended in a mistrial), it surfaced that the accuser and her family were undocumented immigrants and were using the claim of sex abuse as a ruse to gain citizenship. The girl's mother had a history of illegal entry and re-entry into the U.S., which precluded her from the usual paths to citizenship. And as Fr. Hanel's attorney discovered, "The evidence demonstrated that both (parents) were aware that the only path to legal status was a U-Visa, provided to parents of minor victims of crimes such as sexual assault."
Local media trumpeted a bogus 'priest child sex trial' against Milwaukee's Rev. Charles Hanel.
But after he is found innocent, they've gone radio silent.
Fr. Hanel had "served the archdiocese for 35 years without a hint of inappropriate conduct." But Fr. Hanel's unblemished record has now been tarnished forever over an attempted scam by a family of fraudsters. Indeed, Fr. Hanel's attorney also added that during the trial, the girl's mother "pretended not to understand straightforward questions even when translated to Spanish."
Will prosecutors admit their error and go after these criminals? No, they won't, of course. Instead, they've made the laughable claim that their decision to drop the charges was based "out of a consideration of the amount of strain that a future trial will place on all parties, most importantly the victim and her family." Translation: They would lose the trial.
As we have said many times before, faithful Catholics must grasp the massive fraud being perpetrated against the Catholic Church today. False accusations against Catholic priests are at epic proportions. The Church is under relentless attack. But in this instance, at least justice was served.
The tragedy of Fr. Gordon MacRae, abandoned by his bishop, convicted in a kangaroo court proceeding by an politically ambitious prosecuter, a biased judge, false testimony and locked up in a NH prison with 67 year (life) sentence, is an unconscionable miscarriage of justice. Read about Fr. MacRae at: http://thesestonewalls.com/about/
Why do catholics believe this repeated sexual predator of young boys is innocent? There is John Doe VII, VIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX and XX. MacRae admitted guilt and plead guilty on several of their charges. I just don't understand what catholics defend?!???
1. http://www.themediareport.com/2012/02/20/new-evidence-may-exonerate-priest-gordon-j-macrae/
2. http://www.themediareport.com/2013/05/21/rev-gordon-macrae-case-facts/
3. http://www.themediareport.com/2019/10/09/grand-jury-report-not-catholic-church/
Isn't it nice TMR when you can control the conversation. I hope the church is paying you well to promote your biased, false, pro-hierarchy defense of deviant perpetrators of sexual crimes against innocent children. You may think you can fool your brain-dead dumb sheep, but you have not and will never fool God Almighty. Keep promoting your deceiving catholic message, as we sit back and watch your cult of wickedness sent down into the depths of Hell. servant
Dan,
shalom to you. According to your own logic, since you also took a plea bargain, you are automatically guilty.
Incidentally, I do not believe Fr. MacRae admitted guilt; if I am not mistaken (but I admit I don't know all the details of his trial), he felt forced to take a plea to reduce the charges and consequently his punishment, same as you.
Have a safe week, non-Christian brother.
Is the name of the false accuser and her family known? Any other details about her/them?
Their real names are all protected by the media.which is why there are so many bogus charges.
Given the status of the girl and her mother, Fr. Hanel probably won't be able to recover damages from them if he is so inclined. Regardless, they should be charged with filing a false police report. It appears law enforcement and the prosecutor did not do their due diligence in their investigation of this case before taking it to trial. Such a case needlessly costs the taxpayers as well as an individual party. The seal of the sacrament of confession prevents Fr. Hanel from speaking about the matter, which puts him at a distinct disadvantage. In my opinion, he deserves more than admittance of their error and an apology.
Perhaps the scheming parents of the girl were hoping that the law would somehow shield them from any investigation. Usually the name of the alleged victim is protected from publicaton and anything which might identify them. Maybe the parents were counting on that to protect them from any kind of background checking. For example Cardiinal Pell's accuser was completely shielded, so that the court would not even allow discovery access to his medical records. Despite alleged victim's own admisssion that his best buddy was an addict who died from an overdose. The prosecution's case rested entirely on the accuser's words, and the court would not permit evidence that might have helped the jury to judge the credibility and character of the accuser. Yeah, I agree, it's enough to drive you nuts.
Your readers may know that two priests in the Diocese of Lubbock, Texas are suing their bishop for defamation after,of his own accord, he published their names without due process on a list of "credibly accused" priests. The lower court ruled in their favor. Now the Becket Fund is defending the diocese before the Texas Supreme Court stating that no diocese should be penalized for "transparency." I have long cautioned that such lawsuits would become the sad result of this misguided effort by bishops to drink the Kool-Ade of political correctness at the expense of the civil rights of their priests. I just sent the message below to the Becket Fund:
I must register my objection and grave disappointment with the Becket Fund for statements about the defamation law suit brought by two priests whose names appear on their bishop's list of the "credibly accused." Becket's website cites Pope Francis in a call for transparency. Pope Francis also said in 2019 that the names of accused priests should only be made public if the accusation is proven. The U.S. bishops adopted a "credible" standard that does not even come close to that. It is of deep concern that Becket Law appears to either not know this or not care. Catholic priests in America deserve better than to have their civil liberties trampled upon with the apparent approval of the Becket Fund. Please see this article for the great damage done by this practice.
With thanks and blessings,Father Gordon MacRae http://thesestonewalls.com/gordon-macrae/in-the-diocese-of-manchester-transparency-and-a-hit-list/
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