Top Philly Catholic official testifies; SNAP responds
“I was just following orders” is not accepted as a defense – legally or morally – in any civilized setting. When colleagues or supervisors give you unjust or criminal orders or requests, you have a moral duty to refuse. When such orders or requests are repeatedly reckless – and endanger kids- you have a moral duty to expose them.
Msgr. Lynn claims top Philly Catholic officials repeatedly told him to defy common decency and common sense and essentially hide and minimize child sex crimes. But Lynn admits he never once contradicted, or even seriously challenged, those immoral edicts. He also admits that he never once even surreptitiously undermined them by quietly calling police about dozens and dozens of known and suspected child predators.
Lynn makes the stunning claim that he "did [his] best, with the parameters given to me." But let’s remember that his “parameters” included many, many options. Among them:
Quitting
Blowing the whistle
Calling the police
Refusing to lie or deceive
Trying to excuse inexcusable inaction and callous decisions, one of Msgr. Lynn’s colleagues said, on the witness stand "You don't say no to Cardinal Bevilacqua." He’s right – IF your goal is to climb the corporate ladder. If, however, you take your religious seriously and care about kids, you DO say no to any official who tries to insist that you conceal and enable child sex crimes.
Winter Appeal 2023
To our friends,
2023 has been a long year with many ups and downs for us all. As we close out the year, we at SNAP hope that you are feeling like you are on your way to being healthy, fulfilled, and happy. This past year has brought both successes and challenges. Thanks to the support you have shown in the past, we’ve been able to celebrate the good days and weather the stormy ones. Now, we are once again asking for your support as we work to support survivors new and old as we ‘Move SNAP Forward.’
At SNAP we are proud to have hosted a very well-attended conference in August 2023. This event allowed us to gather friends, survivors, advocates, and allies for a weekend of camaraderie and connection. We were so happy to be able to welcome many first-time attendees to gather in person and are already looking forward to the next conference.
To strengthen our movement for justice, healing, and prevention, SNAP will be expanding our peer support and providing more volunteer opportunities in the coming year. Through this great work, we are ensuring survivor voices are represented as we work for significant change that will benefit children and survivors.
Right now, survivors worldwide are getting the help they need from SNAP, and more and more reach out to us daily, but we need your help to keep those programs going and get our volunteers the training they need to thrive.
Your tax-deductible gift to SNAP can help offset the cost of our important mission. If you are not in a position to contribute, you can still support us by sharing this letter with those who can. As we continue to fight for survivors across the globe, your donation or sharing the great work SNAP does will help us continue our work to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded, and prevent abuse.
Your donation ensures SNAP will be there for those who need us more than ever!
Warmly,
Michael W. McDonnell, C.P.S.
Interim Executive Director
Showing 5 comments
How can Catholic Leadership fail so miserably?
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.” (Mt 22:37-40)
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 agencyâs 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 â including 10 with Central Florida ties â 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 wouldnât 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 Sheriffâs 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 otherâs 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-NEWS—TSA-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 Unitedâs 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