Child Abusing Priest Now Legally Molests Kids

YCMTSU Returns. That would be: You Can't Make This Stuff Up.

Hey folks,

So you molest kids. You get caught. You get removed from the Priesthood. What do you do now? Oh, you go get a job with the TSA. Now you can legally molest kids. Are you kidding me?

I use to travel a bit for my job. I have gone through many Airports, including Philly. I do not travel as much now. This is most likely a good thing. I have a serious problem with the authority that the TSA has been given to invade people's personally property, and even one's own person. It truly is legal molestation.

So you are in charge of the TSA, that can, at will, molest anyone they want. You get an application by an ex-priest, that was removed from his job because he molested two young girls, and you hire him? Not only do you hire him, you make him a supervisor?

(CBS) PHILADELPHIA - A Catholic priest who was removed from the ministry over sex abuse allegations now holds a sensitive security post at Philadelphia International Airport, CBS Philly reports.

Until 2002, Thomas Harkins was a Catholic priest working at churches across southern New Jersey, the station reports. But the Diocese of Camden removed him from ministry because it found he sexually abused two young girls. Now, in a new lawsuit, a third CBS woman is claiming she is also one of Harkins' victims.

CBS Philly reports that this week it observed Harkin working as a TSA checkpoint supervisor between airport terminals D and E, where thousands of people - including lots of kids - pass through every day.

Are you kidding me?

The new lawsuit, filed in federal court against the Camden Diocese, accuses Harkins of sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl 10 to 15 times in 1980 and 1981, the station reported. Filed on behalf of the alleged victim, the suit alleges the abuse occurred while Harkins was a priest at Saint Anthony of Padua parish in Hammonton, N.J., with one alleged assaults occurring in Harkins' bedroom at the rectory.

"They should know who they're hiring," said Karen Polesir, a spokeswoman with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). She believes Harkins' TSA job is inappropriate.

"As the public, we are screened to our underwear getting on a plane, and yet they hire a man like that," she told the station.

A TSA official told CBS Philly Harkins' title is "Transportation Security Manager, Baggage," meaning he deals mostly with luggage, not passengers.

Mostly? What does that mean. Mostly? That means he also deals with passengers. Especially if he is the supervisor.

"Sure, that's his title," Polesir said. "That doesn't mean that's where he stays, that doesn't mean he doesn't fill other roles when necessary."

The TSA says all its employees go through a criminal background check before they're hired, but because the allegations are so old, criminal charges were not filed. A spokesman said the Camden Diocese settled the first two lawsuits with Harkins' accusers, and that it had not yet seen the latest lawsuit.

Harkins was asked about the newest filing as he was leaving his shift at the airport."I have nothing to say," was Harkins' reply.

Asked if the traveling public should be worried, Harkin responded, "No, they shouldn't be."

"The public should not be worried with you in a position like this despite your past?" reporter Ben Simmoneau asked.

"I have nothing to say," Harkins repeated.

He then used his TSA badge to walk into a restricted area where CBS Philly cameras could not follow.

What's next? Child molesters as day care workers? Like I said, you can't make this stuff up.
Peter

Sources:
CBS News - Priest defrocked for child sex abuse now works for TSA, report says