Men [of God] at work FLORIDA
27 Feb 2001
FLORIDA
MIAMI - A prominent Roman Catholic priest was netted in a prostitution
sting, the latest in a series of high profile officials arrested in an area
of Miami known as a haven for streetwalkers, police said.
Fr. Patrick O'Neill, 60, a high-ranking priest in the Archdiocese of Miami
and a former university president, was arrested July 5 and charged with
soliciting sex after he pulled his Mercedes to a stop on a downtown street
and propositioned a male undercover police officer, police said. "He offered
$100 in exchange for some sexual fondling," the police spokesman said.
O'Neill was arrested for a misdemeanor but not taken into custody because he
agreed to appear on his own recognizance. He served as president of Miami's
St. Thomas University, a school of 2,100, for nearly a decade in the 1980s
and currently heads the Archdiocese of Miami's campaign to draw lapsed
Catholics back into the fold. He is also president of key local Catholic
organizations including the South Florida Center for Theological Studies,
the National Conference of Christians and Jews and the New Hope Charities
Foundation.
Reuters 7/12/2000
-=-
TAMPA - The search of an unpaid storage locker turned up pictures of young
naked boys and led police to a church youth counselor who now faces child
sex charges.
Marvin C. Thompson, 52, was being held without bond on 8 counts of sexual
battery and lewd and lascivious conduct with children after his arrest in
connection with sexual acts on two boys, ages 5 and 8.
Thompson had worked as a volunteer counselor for the Royal Rangers, a youth
group affiliated with Temple Terrace Faith Assembly and had worked with at
least one other Tampa church youth group, according to investigators.
The alleged victims, however, were not members of the church groups, they
said. Police said Thompson had not paid his rental fee on a storage locker
and when the owner opened it, he found hundreds of pictures of naked boys.
The owner called police.
Detectives said they are searching for other possible victims and that after
his arrest, Thompson told officers of sex acts with children dating back to
the 1960s.
AP 6/7/2000
-=-
CLEARWATER - A former pastor has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after
pleading no contest to charges he molested two young girls.
Rev. Charles Robinson, 63, former pastor of an AME Church in St. Petersburg,
pleaded no contest to 5 felony charges of sexual contact with parishioners,
ages 13 and 15, in 1998 and 1999.
Investigators said while sexual relations were consensual with the older
girl, the younger teen told police he forced her. Under Florida law, it is
illegal for an adult to have sex with a minor even if the contact is
consensual.
In an agreement with prosecutors, Robinson pleaded guilty to 4 counts of
handling and fondling a child under 16 and one of performing a lewd and
lascivious act.
Robinson faced a maximum sentence of 75 years in prison if convicted at
trial. The prosecutor said the minister was offered the plea agreement
because the victims' families wanted to avoid the trauma of trial.
AP 6/7/2000
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