1. Behavior of Sexually Abusive Priests
Examining Grooming Behavior by Catholic Priests Accused of Child Sexual Abuse
Louisa Strange – Dr. Jason D. Spraitz | Criminal Justice – UW-Eau Claire
Literature Review
Research Methods
Personal (or Self) Grooming
Maladaptive cognitive thoughts of perpetrator including “children as sexual objects; entitlement;… uncontrollability” (Ward & Keenan, 1999, p. 292)
Justifies abuse
Familial and Community Grooming
Gains trust of adults who then encourage interaction between perpetrator and child
Perpetrator is respected in community, further encouraging communication (McAlinden, 2006)
Lowers possibility of abuse being discovered/suspected
Victim Grooming
Befriend victim to establish basis of trust
Create exclusive relationship to make child feel special
Introduce sexual/inappropriate ideas to child
Desensitize child w/ physical contact (McAlinden, 2006)
Retrospective content analysis of 16 priest personnel files from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet (IL).
All 16 priests have allegations against them of child sexual abuse.
Inductive approach used to examine sexual grooming behavior.
I read all 2,995 pages of documentation and identified instances of sexual grooming.
Dr. Spraitz reviewed and confirmed instances as a reliability check.
Many grooming characteristics resemble seemingly “normal adult-child relationships” (Bennet & O’Donohue, 2014, p. 963).
Sexual grooming is present in majority of child sex offenses, but only recently acknowledged in legislation (Lanning & Dietz, 2014).
Findings: techniques of sexual grooming
(The Seal of the Diocese of Joliet, 1948)
Discussion
Alcohol, Cigarettes, & Drugs
Establishing Relationships w/ Parents
Documented in 9 files
Purpose: Lowers victim’s inhibitions, exploits child’s curiosity, priest appears “cool” to child.
“[Priest] held wild parties on weekend nights including drugs and booze.”
“Then after that first night’s dinner, including beer and access to cigarettes it seemed like a 14 year old’s dream to be with an authority figure who was treating me like an adult.”
Documented in 9 files
Purpose: Earn parents’ confidence to gain access to child, avoid disclosure.
“[Victim’s] parents liked [priest] quite well and when [priest] would ask to have [victim] accompany him to the pastoral center they readily agreed.”
“[Priest] was a very good friend of his family, was a frequent visitor to their home, and often took him and his siblings on outings, for ice cream, etc.”
Priests from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet used grooming techniques similar to those used by other general sex offenders, with one addition:
Some priests were able to use the respect they received as clergy to condition their victims and others to not question their behavior.
These findings suggest the existence of a taxonomy of priest sexual grooming.
The eight classifications are outlined in the Findings section.
Description of Sample
Of 16 Alleged Offenders:
132 different parish/diocesan location placements; range of 3-13 per priest.
147 known abuse accusations; range of 1-40 victims per priest (average 9.2/priest).
70 incidents of documented sexual grooming (average of 4.4 per priest).
10 priests thought to still be alive.
Playing Favorites
Guise of Friendship
Documented in 6 files
Purpose: Manipulate emotions (confusion, guilt, etc.), gain control.
“I felt so lucky to have [priest] there for me all the time. He treated me better than all the kids always. He was my hero.”
“I was emotionally dependent on [priest] and when he would pick some boys over me and leave me out, I would become depressed and despondent.”
Documented in 8 files
Purpose: Build trust, relationship, & mentorship.
“[Priest’s] [assignment] further ingratiated himself with the students…joining them in recreational and social activities including games and rough-housing and encouraging selected altar boys to join him for private extra-curricular meetings”
“When he is around young people he is able to communicate with them at their level.”
Physical Play
Future Research
Documented in 5 files
Purpose: Lower victims’ inhibitions, obtain physical access that leads to abuse.
“[Priest] often wrestled with the altar boys and would slap the bare stomachs of the boys. [Priest] also tried to grab [the] boys’ genitals during the wrestling matches.”
“Father has the bad habit of punching and wrestling the boys on the playground and other places.”
Overnights & Trips
Documented in 10 files
Purpose: Builds trust, secludes child, and toughens escape.
“Father took a 10-year-old Peoria boy and traveled approximately 100 miles…to go swimming in an abandoned quarry…they were carrying a blanket and two six packs of beer.”
“[Priest]…invited him to his cottage. [Victim] was flattered and pleased at the invitation…At the rectory before they left…[priest] asked [victim] to take off his pants”
Development of a coding scheme to measure the taxonomic classifications of priest sexual grooming.
Continued analysis of unsealed diocesan files of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors.
Refinement of taxonomy as necessary with findings from future research.
Re-evaluation of files from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and Saint John’s Abbey using the taxonomy developed through this study.
Abuse of Respect
Documented in 6 files
Purpose: Use innate respect to betray and avoid suspicion.
“He was a person of great influence and persuasion as a holy man and authority figure in my life…[Priest] conditioned me to comply with his direction and to look to him as an authority on all matters spiritual, moral, ethical and temporal.”
“Plaintiff felt unable to report [sexual abuse] to his parents who held the clergy in inordinately high esteem.”
Gifts and Other “Cool” Stuff
Documented in 2 files
Purpose: Get victim to like and want to spend time w/ priest.
“[Priest gave his victim] a new ten speed bike, a full size trampoline, and a pool table”
“[Priest] was coming around in the classes giving boys match box cars by putting them in their pockets.”