Philly predator priest works for TSA at airport; SNAP responds

We are disturbed that Thomas Harkins, an ousted pedophile priest, works at Philadelphia International, and are extremely confused as to how he was able to get this position. Do TSA agents not have to go through a background check? If so, does child molestation not cause concern? To know of Harkin’s criminal past and then to place him in a position of authority is unconscionable.

The TSA claims that Harkins deals with baggage, not people. Yet Harkins could still use his position to get closer to passengers and kids, whether by detaining the owners of luggage or by switching shifts with other TSA agents in the airport. The fact is that there are many ways in which Harkins could get around his job title and use his position of authority to molest even more children.

Situation like these are indicative of what happens when Catholic officials refuse to monitor child molesting clerics: they move elsewhere or get jobs elsewhere, usually interacting with the public where they can begin to meet and befriend single moms and vulnerable kids. (We think it's much more prudent for Catholic officials to house pedophile priests in remote, secure, independent treatment centers. Also, when priests leave for 'civilian jobs,' we think it's best if they work in factories or other places with little or no contact with the public.)

Harkins should be removed immediately or at least put in a position where he has no contact with the public and no chance to use his authority to abuse more kids. We also want the TSA to account for their screening process and explain how they let a credibly accused child predator have a position like this.

 

Read the story here: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/05/24/i-team-priest-removed-from-ministry-due-to-sex-abuse-allegations-works-at-phl/


Showing 2 comments

  • Bill Fisher
    commented 2012-05-25 19:26:18 -0500
    There were a total of 91 TSA workers arrested in the last 18 months including 12 arrested for child sex crimes, over 25 for theft, ten for smuggling and even one for murder. Crime, abuse and pedophilia are so widespread in TSA that even Kip Hawley, the last TSA Director, has called for its overhaul.

    TSA has done more damage to our liberty, way of life and decency than Al Qaeda could have ever hoped to do and Pistole has been their willing accomplice. They now are a threat to our children and there needs to be a National registry of TSA screeners so we know what kind of people are in our neighborhoods and touching our children.

    TSA child sex crimes in the last 18 months;

    TSA agent among 55 caught in kid porn net
    The Boston Herald
    By Christine McConville
    Wednesday, April 11, 2012
    TSA agent Jose E. Salgado, 59, of Chelsea was suspended from his job after his employers learned that local law enforcement agencies are pursuing criminal charges against him for the possession and sharing of pornographic images of children. Periodic arrests of TSA agents on sex charges across the nation have fueled criticism of the agency’s screening of its own employees, tasked with patting down the traveling public and keeping the airways safe. At least two other TSA officers assigned to Logan have faced sex charges in the past two years. Sex charges against others have been reported in Virginia, New Hampshire, Nevada, Georgia and other states.
    http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1061123719&srvc=rss

    TSA agent Paul David Rains charged in online child-predator sting
    Orlando Sentinel
    Arelis R. Hernández
    December 15, 2011
    Nearly 50 people — including 10 with Central Florida ties — were arrested during a six-month investigation known as Operation Amalgamate that targeted suspected online predators, officials said Thursday. Agencies across the state, including the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, collaborated to root out alleged online sex crimes against children perpetrated in chat rooms, through text messages, dating sites, social networks and classified advertisements, officials said. Suspects include then-Transportation Security Administration agent Paul David Rains, 62, of Orlando, who no longer works for the agency.
    http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/crime/os-online-predator-arrests-20111215,0,7419528.story

    Harold Rodman, TSA worker, arrested for sexual assault
    A Transportation Security Administration employee is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Manassas. The suspect, Harold Glen Rodman, 52, allegedly was wearing his uniform and displayed a badge to the victim, a 37-year-old woman. Police arrested Rodman on Nov. 20. He is charged with aggravated sexual battery, object sexual penetration, forcible sodomy and abduction with intent to defile. A TSA spokesperson confirmed that Rodman works for the agency but wouldn’t say in what capacity or where.
    http://www.wjla.com/articles/2011/11/harold-rodman-tsa-worker-arrested-for-sexual-assault-69420.html

    Former OIA (MCO) TSA employee faces child porn charges
    An Orange County man faces child porn charges, records show, stemming from images authorities say he possessed while working as a TSA employee at Orlando International Airport. A Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman said that Paul David Rains, 62, no longer works for the agency, as of Monday. He was arrested at his home on Havasu Drive about 1:30 p.m. Records show a Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent investigating suspected child-porn distribution in Orange County served a search warrant at Rains’ home on Aug. 3. An arrest report states that Rains confessed to downloading images of child pornography “for the past few years.” He said he downloaded the images “out of curiosity,” the report states.
    http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/crime/os-child-porn-arrest-oia-tsa-20111101,0,7575799.story

    Md. TSA Agent Charged With Child Porn
    A Transportation Security Administration security officer is out on bail after he was arrested and charged with child pornography. Michael Scott Wilson, 41, has been suspended from his job following the arrest. Wilson was charged Monday with possession and distribution of child pornography after agents searched his Perry Hall home.
    http://www.wbaltv.com/news/29447697/detail.html
    http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/tsa/tsa-child-porn-arrest-759031

    TSA Agent Charged With Statutory Rape
    A TSA agent has been arrested in Rutherford County on charges of statutory rape. Clifton Lyles was arrested by U.S. Marshals Tuesday night, following a grand jury indictment. Lyles worked at Nashville International Airport. Details about what led to his arrest were not released. His bond was set at $10,000.
    http://www.wtvf.com/story/15510568/tsa-agent-charged-with-statutory-rape

    Former TSA employee faces child pornography charge
    A Beverly man and former TSA employee arrested on child pornography charges appeared in federal court on Friday. Andrew W. Cheever, 33, appeared before on a complaint charging him with possession of child pornography.
    http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/local/former-tsa-employee-faces-child-pornography-charge-20110902

    DA charges Spring Creek TSA Screener with Lewdness & Child Molestation
    The Elko County Sheriff’s Office was notified in July of possible sexual contact between David Ralph Anderson, 61, and a girl younger than 14. Anderson allegedly taught the victim about various sexual acts and had sexual contact in the form of touching each other’s genitals. Anderson, who is a TSA employee according to Elko County Jail records, is being held on $250,000 bail.
    http://elkodaily.com/news/local/article_5d965fce-cff9-11e0-9d15-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1WFsKaz7C
    http://elkodaily.com/news/local/article_5d965fce-cff9-11e0-9d15-001cc4c002e0.html

    TSO arrested for kidnapping and attempted rape in ATL.
    A TSA employee remained hospitalized today after being accused of kidnapping a young female in Atlanta, then taking her to his Hogansville residence and sexually assaulting her. Randall Scott King, whose age and street address were not given, abducted the woman Wednesday evening from a MARTA parking lot in southwest Atlanta, police said.
    http://lagrangenews.com/view/full_story/10413596/article-BREAKING-NEWSTSA-employee-accused-of-kidnap—assault

    PHL TSA Screener Charged with Child Pornography
    A passenger screener at Philadelphia International Airport is facing charges that he distributed more than 100 images of child pornography via Facebook, records show. Federal agents also allege that Transportation Safety Administration Officer Thomas Gordon Jr. of Philadelphia, who routinely searched airline passengers, uploaded explicit pictures of young girls to an Internet site on which he also posted a photograph of himself in his TSA uniform.
    http://nation.foxnews.com/tsa/2011/04/23/tsa-screener-charged-child-pornography#ixzz1WFtnfBew
    http://nation.foxnews.com/tsa/2011/04/23/tsa-screener-charged-child-pornography

    Orlando TSA agent arrested for molestation
    A TSA agent has been arrested and charged with lewd and lascivious molestation of a minor after police say he tried to keep a girl as a sex slave. Police arrested 57-year-old Charles Bennett of Winter Garden on Friday. A 15-year-old girl was the one who reported him to police. According to reports from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the Orange County Jail, the 15-year-old victim confided in her caregivers that Bennett had touched her inappropriately three years ago when she was 12. She says he also asked the young girl to be his “sex slave,” an accusation investigators say Bennett admitted to in a written statement to police.
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/31/charles-henry-bennett-tsa_n_443707.html
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfhJJdmRXkQ

    TSA Agent Arrested for Rape in Londonderry NH
    A TSA employee who worked at Manchester Boston Regional Airport has been arrested on five counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault, according to police.
    Police arrested Dwayne Valerio, 44, at his 192 Rockingham Road home on Friday, March 18, according to Lt. Robert Michaud. Police released few details on what led to his arrest, citing the alleged victim’s age. “The victim is a juvenile,” he said.
    http://www.eagletribune.com/latestnews/x300769656/Former-TSA-employee-charged-with-sex-assault
    http://www.eagletribune.com/newhampshire/x1527125325/Police-Log

    Logan employee accused of raping 14-year-old girl
    A Transportation Security Administration worker at Logan International Airport is accused of assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Sean Shanahan, 45, of Winthrop is being held on $50,000 cash bail following his arraignment in East Boston District Court. He is charged with statutory rape, enticement of a child and indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older.
    http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/boston/BO137343/
    http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/boston/BO137343/#ixzz1WFwSlFDq
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAZaYO2Zz1E

    RIC TSA Officer Bob Seashols Admits Plot to Post Porn on Christian Site
    On April 10, Bob Seashols, a Coordination Center Officer for the Transportation and Security Administration (TSA) at the Richmond International Airport (RIC) and an administrator for Atheists United’s Facebook page, took part in a coordinated effort to populate pornographic images, extreme profanity, and sexually explicit anti-Christian hate-speech on the Facebook page of Ken Ham, an internationally known Christian ministry leader who serves as president of Answers in Genesis-U.S (AiG) and the popular Creation Museum, located near Cincinnati, Ohio.
    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2704763/posts

    TSA Worker Faces Child Sex Charges – November 2007
    Jason Beauharnois is accused of having sex with an underage child over several years. He was charged, in June, with course of sexual contact against a child in the first degree. Beauharnois was a supervisor for the Department of Homeland Security’s TSA at the Burlington Airport. He has since been suspended without pay. Court documents allege Beauharnois had sex with the child starting when the victim was 7 years old.
    http://www.wptz.com/r/14708068/detail.html
  • Barbara Dorris
    published this page in Official SNAP Media Statements 2012-05-25 09:06:23 -0500

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