Giuliani Has Connection With Accused Priest

Republican presidential candidate Rudolph W. Giuliani has close ties to a Catholic priest accused of sexually molesting boys and who also was the lawyer for a now-closed Whitinsville counseling house for troubled priests that has been described as the center of a pedophile sex ring.

Monsignor Alan J. Placa, who works for Mr. Giuliani’s consulting firm, Giuliani Partners, was legal adviser in the 1980s to the House of Affirmation, where priests accused of sexual abuse were sent for psychotherapy and other counseling services. The center closed in 1987 amid a financial scandal.

Monsignor Placa, who while an active priest arranged the annulment of Mr. Giuliani’s first marriage, baptized his two children and officiated at the funeral of his mother, is a childhood friend of Mr. Giuliani and they both attended Manhattanville College.

He was stripped of his duties as a priest, but not defrocked, after Newsday, a Long Island newspaper, published a story in 2002 about young men who alleged that Monsignor Placa abused them in the 1970s. He has been on administrative leave since and has worked for Mr. Giuliani for the past five years.

Catholic activists who are fighting the church over the clergy sex abuse issue say Mr. Giuliani’s association with the monsignor raises serious questions about the former New York mayor’s candidacy.

“The White House should not be inhabited by a man whose closest friend is accused of being an abuser of young men,” said Ann Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org in Massachusetts. “Giuliani has a responsibility to account for his friendship with Alan Placa and I think he should speak with Alan Placa’s accusers and see how credible they are.

“For Giuliani to turn a blind eye to these credible allegations raises questions about his judgment,” she said.

Jeffrey Barker, a spokesman for Mr. Giuliani’s campaign, declined comment, directing questions to Giuliani Partners, Mr. Giuliani’s security consulting firm. Mr. Giuliani leads all GOP presidential contenders in Massachusetts polls.

“Rudy Giuliani believes Alan Placa has been unjustly accused,” Sunny Mindel, a spokeswoman for the company, said in a prepared statement.

The monsignor was closely associated with several Central Massachusetts priests who were at the center of a clergy sex abuse scandal in the 1990s.

At least three lawsuits were filed by area residents who said they were assaulted as boys by priests at the Whitinsville facility. The accused priests included colleagues of Monsignor Placa, one of whom was the Rev. Thomas A. Kane, former pastor of St. Mary Church in Uxbridge.

Monsignor Placa still lives in the rectory of the Long Island church where Monsignor Brendan Riordan, a former director of the House of Affirmation who was named in a sex abuse lawsuit settled by the Worcester Diocese in the mid-1990s, is pastor. He has also owned property in New York with Monsignor Riordan and co-owned property in Florida with him and Rev. Kane.

A 1993 suit filed against Rev. Kane, the diocese and the House of Affirmation by Mark Barry of Uxbridge alleges that Rev. Kane repeatedly sexually assaulted him. The New York Times has reported that Monsignor Placa was the first lawyer Rev. Kane turned to after learning of Mr. Barry’s accusations.

That suit was settled for less than $50,000 and included a non-disclosure provision. Mr. Barry has not spoken publicly about the case since.

David Lewcon, 53, of Northbridge, who worked at the center in the 1970s as a painter and wallpaperer helping his father, a contractor, renovate the 1898 building, has accused Rev. Kane of sexually assaulting him. Mr. Lewcon settled what he described as a “six-figure” lawsuit with the Worcester Diocese in which he alleged he was sexually assaulted as a minor by the Rev. Thomas H. Teczar at St. Mary in Uxbridge.

Mr. Lewcon described the House of Affirmation as a breeding ground for sexual predators.

“It was presented as a retreat for vocational redirection,” said Mr. Lewcon, a publisher of speciality magazines. “What we have found out since, and what it has been called in the Blackstone Valley by people who really know what went on there, is that it was a pedophile boot camp.”

Monsignor Placa’s involvement with the Whitinsville facility drew additional attention after the release of a 2003 report from a Suffolk County, N.Y., grand jury that accuses him of molesting young boys and, in his role as a lawyer, helping to cover up sex abuse by other priests.

He was referred to as “Priest F” in the grand jury’s lengthy investigative report, which quotes a letter he wrote to colleagues in which he touted his track record of settling multimillion dollar clergy sex abuse claims for “sums ranging from $20,000 to $100,000.” The 180-page report was written after more than 30 priests and more than 40 victims of abuse testified.

The report notes that no indictments were issued because the alleged crimes had occurred more than five years previously and could not be prosecuted because the statute of limitations had expired.

Richard Tollner, one of Monsignor Placa’s chief accusers in the Rockville Centre, Long Island, clergy sex abuse scandal, confirmed to the Salon online magazine that he was one of the victims who gave grand jury testimony and that Monsignor Placa was Priest F.

Mr. Tollner and other alleged victims in New York have accused Monsignor Placa of presenting himself as a priest in interviews with them when he was really acting as the lawyer for the Rockville Centre Diocese. Monsignor Placa has denied these accusations.

“He was misusing his identity and failing to disclose to them that he was a civil lawyer,” said Daniel J. Shea, a lawyer who has represented victims of clergy sex abuse in Central Massachusetts. “The grand jury report indicated he was representing himself to victims as a priest with a Roman collar.”

With news reports on Mr. Giuliani’s relationship to Monsignor Placa, some clergy abuse victims say they think Mr. Giuliani may be forced to answer harder questions about the link to his boyhood friend and employee.

George “Skip” Shea of Uxbridge, 47, an actor and artist who also agreed to an out-of-court settlement in a sex abuse case against Rev. Teczar, worked briefly at the House of Affirmation in the 1970s as a groundskeeper.

“Eventually this will stick,” he said of Monsignor Placa’s links to the GOP presidential contender.

Here 'tis -- the list...so far. In addition to Ravenel and Vitter, here's just a partial rundown of Giuliani cronies who resigned or were removed from office because of lies, corruption and/or alleged law-breaking.

He appointed high school dropout and former driver Bernard Kerik to NYC Police Commissioner and pushed him for Homeland Security Chief. Kerik turned out to be corrupt and reportedly mob-connected. Giuliani later testified that he had been briefed on Kerik's lawbreaking -- yet he pushed him for the top anti-terrorism post in the country, and then went into business with him.

For NYC Chancellor of Education, Giuliani pushed Leon Goldstein, who later was forced to withdraw his candidacy in disgrace because of allegations that he lied about his qualifications.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE0DB1539F93BA1575AC0A963958260

In 1995, Giuliani pushed Leonard Piccoli to an executive director job in NYC's public hospitals organization, despite the fact that Piccoli had been forced to resign from the same job in 1985 due to alleged substantial contracts and ethics violations.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE6DC1739F93AA25756C0A963958260

One of Giuliani's closest political allies in NYC, Guy Velella, pled guilty to and served time for taking bribes in return for awarding government contracts.

''I endorsed him, I support him, I've worked with him, I know what a good job he's done for New York City and for the Bronx,'' Mr. Giuliani said. The mayor said he thought the disclosures about the criminal investigation would not seriously damage the senator.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B02E3DF1639F930A35752C1A9669C8B63&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fV%2fVelella%2c%20Guy%20J%2e http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0420,robbins,53585,5.html

Giuliani's Probation Commissioner Raul Russi, and Deputy Probation Commissioner Louis Gelormino, later were dismissed from their jobs under Bloomberg because of their involvement in Velella's early release from jail.

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10914FA355F0C708DDDA90994DC404482&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fV%2fVelella%2c%20Guy%20J%2e

After Ray Harding, head of NYC's Liberal Party, endorsed Giuliani, Giuliani appointed his son Russell Harding to head NYC's Housing Development Corporation -- even though Russell Harding was a college dropout with no experience in housing or finance (Giuliani chose a second son, Robert, as NYC's budget director, and later promoted him to deputy mayor). Russell Harding later pled guilty to embezzling hundreds of thousands in public funds, and to possessing child pornography.

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0512,robbins2,62314,5.html

The Russell case brought down another of Giuliani's top appointees. Giuliani appointed Richard Roberts (son-in-law of Vernon Jordan) as NYC Housing Commissioner, and Chairman of the Health and Hospitals Corporation; Roberts was later convicted of perjury related to a $38,000 SUV Russell Harding bought him with city funds.

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0436,robbins2,56554,5.html

Giuliani appointed his lifelong friend, Louis Carbonetti, Commissioner of NYC's Community Assistance Unit. Carbonetti had to resign when news came out that he had allegedly failed to disclose more than $100,000 in business debts and back taxes and held two driver's licenses with slightly different names at the same time. He pleaded guilty in 2004 to perjury. Carbonetti's son, Anthony Carbonetti, was Giuliani's chief of staff and is now his senior political adviser.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/politics/ny-lijani255229113may25,0,729089.story?coll=ny-lipolitics-headlines

Giuliani's friend Alan Placa was hired on at Giuliani Partners after Placa, a Long Island Priest, was barred from the ministry because of allegations of sexual abuse and using his role as a spiritual adviser to gain information from victims to strengthen the diocese's legal position.

http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46&aid=19106

When Giuliani promoted Kerik to Police Commissioner, he appointed William J. Fraser to replace him as Correction Commissioner. Fraser resigned in 2002 amid reports that he had paid Correction employees to work on his home, and had allegedly pushed them to work on Pataki's reelection campaign.

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60A13F73C5C0C748EDDA80994DA404482

Anthony Serra, a Giuliani campaign volunteer and high-ranking official in Giuliani's Dept. of Correction (in charge of all the jails on Riker's Island), resigned after being charged with stealing city property and ordering correction officers to renovate his home.

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40913FB395B0C728DDDAC0894DB404482&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fOrganizations%2fR%2fRikers%20Island%20Prison%20Complex

In 1994, Giuliani appointed Anthony Schembri to Correction Commissioner. Shembri resigned a year later after disclosures that used a workday to make a paid speech in Atlantic City, had the city regularly pay overtime and tolls for department drivers on errands to Rye, N.Y., where he had been Police Commissioner, and broke the law by never establishing a residence in the City. Shcembri went on to head Florida's troubled Juvenile Justice Dept.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E0D71630F937A15752C1A962958260

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/05/13/Citrus/Colleagues__friends_h.shtml

Giuliani hired former Corrections Dept. Chief of Staff John Picciano at Giuliani Partners. Picciano, a close friend of Kerik's, was accused of assaulting his girlfriend and threatening her with his gun in 1998. But he was never arrested. According to Terrence Skinner, a retired corrections supervisor, "{Kerik} told me that I should basically pretend it never happened." Picciano left Giuliani Partners one day after Kerik abruptly resigned.

http://www.officer.com/article/article.jsp?id=19361&siteSection=1

Giuliani appointed Michael Carey, a son of former Gov. Hugh L. Carey, to head NYC's Economic Development Corp. According to a "scathing" audit covering the last 18 months of Giuliani's administration and the first six months of Bloomberg's, the organization was used as a "little bank account for the mayor's office" -- paying for mayoral aides' cars, lavish parties and out-of-town trips. For example, the audit states that it paid more than $11K for Carey's going-away party, and $7K for the going-away-party of Catherine Giuliani, the organization's chief of staff. It also bought at least 11 cars for the mayor's office during Giuliani's administration.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9900E2DC143FF933A25753C1A9659C8B63

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/premium/0286/0286-8873007.html

In discussions with one parent of a sex-abuse victim, Placa used the word “ephebophilia” to describe one priest’s abuse. So many words... and it is all so wrong.

It is part of the pedophile agenda. Have been seeing the same thing here at Free Republic, tolorated by posters for some time.

Break the abuse into smaller sections.

Allege that some sections are more damaging than others.

Gradually promote the concept that the sections you say are less damaging are, in fact - not damaging.

Thus we are seeing right here at FR to promotion of separating pedophilia - legally sex with minors in US Law, Into pedophilia being sex with pre pubescent minors, and pederasty - sex with post pubescent minors. This is a sociological distinction that has the effect of law in Europe and in Islamic countries. The attempt to make a legal distinction between the two is a calculated strategy to erode legal protections for children in the US.

Note that the determining factor for sexual accessability becomes physiological development, not mental or social experiential age.

It is like the hedonistic slogan, "when they're big enough, they're old enough. It isn't an accident, and people who make this distinction do it for a purpose that has everything to do with promoting their own desires.

If you look at the literature of The Stonewall Veterans, And Rooty's other associates you will see this same pattern.

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