Priest found not guilty in sexual assault case

I am just wondering about the complete abandonment of Fr. Philip Taban by the Church authorities in El Paso and their active support for his prosecution. Might it be a kneejack reaction in an attempt to avoid possible litigation against them in the current "lawsuit-happy" environment against the Church?

Ferdinand Opada wrote:

I am just wondering about the complete abandonment of Fr. Philip Taban by the Church authorities in El Paso and their active support for his prosecution. Might it be a kneejack reaction in an attempt to avoid possible litigation against them in the current "lawsuit-happy" environment against the Church?

Our Bishop is so affraid of lawsuits that he left this man on his own, I dont agree with his actions however he deserves the help and support of his bretheren. That shows that us as lay men are on our own. New leadership is needed in this Diocese. Bishop Ochoa is more a politician than a pastor of the flock.

Just another reason why the Catholic Church needs to abandon its antiquated rule of not allowing priests to marry. After all, there is no biblical commandment that prohibits priests, rabbis, pastors, to marry. Priests are men with sexual needs too. Perhaps allowing them to marry would have prevented the averted the child sexual abuse crisis currently plaguing the Catholic Church.

why does el paso always stand behind those who do wrong? This is a shameful act and a horrible person. Oh Yeah did I mention he is a Catholic priest. What he did is unforgivable. People in el paso stand behind him. Why? There was not one sentence, not one, about the victim in this case. There was an 18 year old girl involved. The priest is scum. He certainly used his being a priest to get laid. The news and the public should report on that!

If Figures,

Wrong on several counts:
1. El Paso abuelitas have a habit of being unable to imagine THEIR good-looking hispanic kids of any wrongdoing. Other than that, we occasionaly find a way to convict wrongdoers of the crimes.
2. You refer to a shameful act and a horrible person. If you mean to say that the act of which the Father was accused was shameful, I agree. But then again, he was acquitted of that charge. As I was not able to hear all the evidence presented in court, I have no idea of what actually happened.
3. You claimed that what was done was unforgiveable. Theologically speaking, you are utterly mistaken. If the Father had sexual relations with a yong lady, however consensual, he does indeed have a huge hurdle to leap in order to restore himself to a spiritual condition in which he may effectively minister to others. That said, falling to sexual temptation, if that is all he did, does not damn one's sould beyond God's ability to forgive. The Catholic Church, in obedience to Jesus' command and commission in John 20:19-23, has a very well known mechanism for a sinner to obtain the forgiveness necessary to re-enter into a state of grace with God.
4. You insist that the Priest used his position to get laid and yet you probably have no proof that things didn't happen the other way around; perhpas the young lady originally thought it might be fun to nail a Priest. it has happened before.
Your anger is disporportionate to the available evidence; unless you have actual knowledge of this situation that you chose not to discuss with the authorities.

Well, just a few comments. They watched a movie for two hours before having sex??? Doesn't sound forced in any way. The church he was at was standing behind him all the way. The jury had 9 women and three men on it. If a jury was ever stacked against a defendant this was it yet the came back not guilty. On the outside looking in it appears that justice was served.

Rich Brannon wrote:

Well, just a few comments. They watched a movie for two hours before having sex??? Doesn't sound forced in any way. The church he was at was standing behind him all the way. The jury had 9 women and three men on it. If a jury was ever stacked against a defendant this was it yet the came back not guilty. On the outside looking in it appears that justice was served.

Well Said!

Now Now all is forgiven. The priest got what he wanted, the girl got what she wanted,the media got what they wanted, and the immigration will do what they need to do,WIN WIN situation, yea right...

What do you expect from a church that hides and praises homosexual men commiting predatory acts on young innocent children.

Also I got what I wanted, which is the Priest's fist in my @ss.

it figures wrote:

why does el paso always stand behind those who do wrong? This is a shameful act and a horrible person. Oh Yeah did I mention he is a Catholic priest. What he did is unforgivable. People in el paso stand behind him. Why? There was not one sentence, not one, about the victim in this case. There was an 18 year old girl involved. The priest is scum. He certainly used his being a priest to get laid. The news and the public should report on that!

yes he made a mistake but she was 18 and she did consent ...he's still human isn't he just because he's a priest doesn't mean he doesn't have those feelings..

Well, what else is new? The catholic priests have been praying on the floc for hundreds of years and you know why they do not let them get married. So they do not have children to inheret their property. The ignorant flock that support such a rapist, because that is what he is, will keep protecting su phony churh. And then you wonder why the homosexual, pedephile, fake catholic priests all the way to the vatican act and do as they wish.
Read "Fallen Order", "Mexico ante Dios" or "The Family"

As a Mother Cabrini parishoner, I can't fathom how other parishoners can support him so much. She was an 18 year-old with personal problems, and looked to him, AS A MAN OF GOD, for guidance. He took advantage of her vulnerability for his own personal pleasure. A counselor who takes advantage of his or her client's vulnerability and has sex with their client will lose their license to practice. I wonder if Mr. Gallegos would be so supportive if the victim was HIS 18 year-old daughter.

Bikerknight wrote:

If Figures,
Wrong on several counts:
1. El Paso abuelitas have a habit of being unable to imagine THEIR good-looking hispanic kids of any wrongdoing. Other than that, we occasionaly find a way to convict wrongdoers of the crimes.
2. You refer to a shameful act and a horrible person. If you mean to say that the act of which the Father was accused was shameful, I agree. But then again, he was acquitted of that charge. As I was not able to hear all the evidence presented in court, I have no idea of what actually happened.
3. You claimed that what was done was unforgiveable. Theologically speaking, you are utterly mistaken. If the Father had sexual relations with a yong lady, however consensual, he does indeed have a huge hurdle to leap in order to restore himself to a spiritual condition in which he may effectively minister to others. That said, falling to sexual temptation, if that is all he did, does not damn one's sould beyond God's ability to forgive. The Catholic Church, in obedience to Jesus' command and commission in John 20:19-23, has a very well known mechanism for a sinner to obtain the forgiveness necessary to re-enter into a state of grace with God.
4. You insist that the Priest used his position to get laid and yet you probably have no proof that things didn't happen the other way around; perhpas the young lady originally thought it might be fun to nail a Priest. it has happened before.
Your anger is disporportionate to the available evidence; unless you have actual knowledge of this situation that you chose not to discuss with the authorities.

You are crook it in several counts,

1. The Ccatholic church serves its own economic interests, power, and control.

2. Just because the rapist was not found guilty does not mean he is innocent. He has to be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, maybe the prosecutor did not do a good job.

3. The rapist used his position of power to seduce the young girl. She is eighteen years old, a young girl. The rapist, in the other hand, is an old man that knew what he was looking for.
Look at the history of the convents where the supposedly "brides of Crist" have served the priests sexually.
The Ccatholic church has been the leach of society of those countirs where they have ruled with an iron fist.
Popes have been mercenaries and war lords who do not carry the Crist's message, but have killed, tortured, incarcerated, and built armies to exterminate those that do not have their believes. They have been the first religious terrorists bacause it existed before Islam.

Why acuse someone (priest or not) of rape if there was no such act? What was this 18 year old woman really looking for with this accusation? As a woman, I would be embarrased of saying anything to anyone. On the other hand I feel very disappointed with the way our church handled the situation.

What is there to be said except that the nightmare has come and gone for the accused priest. He has been left off the hook but, the situation truly vindicates the remarks of the Pope during his visit to the States: the Church hierarchies in the US have failed in their handling of the cases (eg. the Bishop of El Paso) but the American society takes a share of the blames as well - the daily bombardment of the psyche of people with pornographic pictures. Generally, lots of people need a rethink.

If "Sexual abuse" is the alarm to earn an undeserved sum of money in the USA, why don't you expect the presumed victim of Fr. Philip Taban to make it?! "Sexual abuse" is now like an income generating activity in the USA. It is surely a lucrative noise!! Let us not blame her, she needs money!! A lesson: If Fr. Philip Taban has been found not guilty, let the priests who seek job in America learn that behind any woman (in America) who seeks counselling, there are two "dungeons".

We are not to blame her since she needed money thus making herself a type of "prostitute" who needed money and was ready to do anything to have money. To those priests who seek places in the States, behind any woman (most women) in the States, there are hosts of "wolves" who turn these women into "prostitutes" all for money. Feminists in the States should pay attention to this growing crisis.