| Author
|
Post |
 
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
Arthur A Busch
January 10
.
After serving 10 years in Michigan prisons this former Flushing priest was released by the Snyder Administration in late November 2013, 5 years before his maximum sentence. This man is perhaps the most notorious of all US priests for he left a trail of sexual assault on minor children from Canada to New Mexico parishes. Judge it as you may but in my mind people who abuse the trust of the community to engineer sexual assaults on vulnerable children are by definition the worst of the worst. Early parole for him was not my decision. But if it were my decision I would have upheld the notion that a maximum sentence sometimes in appropriate and just even in the case of a man garbed in the robes of the religious. I don't understand why the Flint Journal or other local media did not report on this story. There are many in Michigan who would have lifted up a voice about his early release.
Convicted priest Jason Sigler up for parole, family of alleged victims, Diocese of Lansing...
www.mlive.com
FLUSHING — A priest who admitted to molesting two Flushing boys will be up for parole in July. Jason E. Sigler is serving a seven- to 15-year term in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2003 for molesting Anthony Otero while he was a priest in… |
|
|
Sun Jan 12, 2014 7:00 am |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
|
|
Sun Jan 12, 2014 7:04 am |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
SNAP Press Statement
For immediate release: Monday, June 7, 2010
Ex-NM predator priest may be released from prison
Statement by David Clohessy, executive director of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314-566-9790 cell, 314-645-5915 home)
Seventeen men in New Mexico settled child sex abuse and cover up cases involving Fr. Jason Sigler for $13 million in 1993. Now Sigler may be getting out of prison.
We call on Catholic officials in NM and MI (where Sigler also worked and molested) to write correctional officials and beg them to keep this dangerous predator behind bars. Kids are safer when serial pedophiles like Sigler are jailed.
We also call on anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered Sigler’s crimes to call police, get help, protect others and start healing. By speaking up now, you may be able to get further criminal charges filed against Sigler, which may help keep him away from children longer.
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world's oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We've been around for 22 years and have more than 9,000 members across the globe. Despite the word "priest" in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
Contacts: David Clohessy (314 566 9790 cell, 314 645 5915 home), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747), Mark Serrano (703-727-4940), Peter Isely (414-429-7259), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003)
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2010/06/convicted_priest_jason_sigler.html |
|
|
|
Sun Jan 12, 2014 7:05 am |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
Convicted priest Jason Sigler up for parole, family of alleged victims, Diocese of Lansing oppose release
David Harris | dharris5@mlive.com By David Harris | dharris5@mlive.com
on June 06, 2010 at 5:18 PM, updated June 07, 2010 at 9:05 AM
FLUSHING, Michigan — A priest who admitted to molesting two Flushing boys will be up for parole in July.
Jason E. Sigler is serving a seven- to 15-year term in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2003 for molesting Anthony Otero while he was a priest in the mid-1970s at St. Robert Catholic Church.
Sigler, 71, is set to get out in December 2011 but could be paroled in late July if approved by the parole board, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections. Sigler’s sentence was reduced for good behavior, a representative for the corrections department said.
John Antos, father of another alleged victim, is speaking out against any early release after he received a letter from the Department of Corrections alerting him that Sigler was up for parole. He said he plans to write to the parole board opposing Sigler’s release.
“I want to see him stay in that 15 years and even longer,” Antos said.
The Diocese of Lansing also opposes Sigler’s early release.
“The Catholic Diocese of Lansing, including Bishop Earl Boyea, remains horrified at the crimes committed by Jason Sigler and certainly understands why the state of Michigan has imposed several lengthy prison terms,” spokesman Michael Diebold said in a statement. “The Diocese knows of no reason why he should be given an early release.”
Sigler also was sent to jail for a year for molesting two Detroit boys before facing charges here. In addition, he pleaded guilty to a sex charge in New Mexico, where he has admitted sexually abusing at least 17 boys in the 1970s and 1980s.
Sigler spent just eight months at St. Robert in 1974 before moving to New Mexico in 1975 and left the church in the 1980s.
According to the Corrections Department, 70 percent of prisoners are paroled the first time. About 1,000 prisoners a month are up for parole. |
|
|
|
Sun Jan 12, 2014 7:08 am |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
Ex-priest who served 9 years for molesting altar boy in Flushing now free and living in New Mexico
David Harris | dharris5@mlive.com By David Harris | dharris5@mlive.com
on January 10, 2014 at 6:00 PM, updated January 10, 2014 at 6:58 PM
FLUSHING, MI – An ex-priest convicted of molesting boys at Flushing's St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in the 1970s is free and living in New Mexico, according to the New Mexico sex offender database.
His release with six years to go on his maximum sentence has upset the mother of a former St. Robert altar boy, as well as the former prosecutor who put him behind bars.
Jason E. Sigler, 75, was sentenced to seven- to 15-years in prison after pleading guilty in Genesee Circuit Court to two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2003 for molesting Anthony Otero in the mid-1970s.
Sigler also pleaded no contest to molesting Otero's brother. Sigler was released in May 2012 after serving 9 years of his term, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Arthur Busch, the Genesee County prosecutor at the time, called Sigler "the worst of the worst."
"My feelings are given the nature of these offenses, lack of remorse and decades of this behavior, I doubt he's rehabilitated," Busch said Friday, Jan. 10. "I can't think of any reason why he would be released with (six) years left (on the maximum term)."
Sigler was on probation for more than a year and was released Nov. 29, 2013, according to a Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman.
MDOC spokesman Russ Marlan said Sigler had earned credits for good behavior while in prison and said the state was obligated to release him from parole in November.
Marlan said Sigler spent his parole living with relatives in Atlanta, MI, a small community near Alpena.
Sigler registered as a sex offender in Albuquerqe, NM, on Dec. 9, 2013.
A message for Sigler was left at a phone number associated with the Albuquerqe address where Sigler registered as a sex offender.
Lillian Antos of Mt. Morris Township, whose son also claimed he was molested by Sigler, said she was unhappy with Sigler's release.
"We didn't care if he rotted in there after what he did," said Antos.
Antos said she and her husband John, who died in November 2012, wrote letters to the parole board in 2010 urging the Michigan Department of Corrections not to release him early. They and other victim families spoke to state legislators and other groups urging them to remove the statute of limitations on such crimes.
Her son continues to have problems stemming from the alleged molestation, she said. Patrick Antos spent time in prison in Utah for an armed robbery to support a drug habit.
Antos and Otero were altar boys at St. Robert in 1974, where Sigler served eight months before moving to New Mexico in 1975. He left the church in the 1980s.
Sigler's case was the subject of a story on CBS' "60 Minutes" news program. He also was sent to jail for a year for molesting two Detroit boys before facing charges here. In addition, he pleaded guilty to a sex charge in New Mexico, where he has admitted sexually abusing at least 17 boys in the 1970s and 1980s.
The New Mexico cases led to $13 million paid to victims and their families in civil lawsuits.
At his 2003 sentencing, Sigler told a Genesee Circuit judge asked for mercy and forgiveness. He also said he had sought counseling and that he had been "healed of my illness" two decades prior.
The lead Flushing detective on the case, Hal Telling, said he also thinks Sigler should have served the maximum possible years in prison.
"He certainly was a predator," said Telling. "Anyone that preys on helpless victims and continues to, it's a really bad situation."
A representative from St. Robert could not be reached for comment.
The Diocese of Lansing has said it is horrified by Sigler's actions and in 2010 opposed his request for parole.
Friday, Diocese spokesman Michael Diebold declined comment other than to say any priest who would harm a child "deserves to answer for those crimes."
He also urged any victims to come forward. |
|
|
|
Sun Jan 12, 2014 7:11 am |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
Arthur Busch
Credits for good behavior Really? How could that be we have truth in sentencing laws. Michigan got rid of good time credits a long time ago.
That is a very interesting and Corrections department spokesman Mr. Russ Marlin and the Snyder Administration should answer that way. Journalists should keep asking the questions on this one. I bet it you did a study you will find that pedofiles don't get released early as a rule.
This Priest had powerful rich lobbyists paid for by the extreme right in the Catholic Church who argued he should not go to prison at all!!!!!!! Keep at it Flint Journal. Bring us the truth and all of it. The bridge in New Jersey story is nothing compared to this one if what I suspect is true. Question to ask is whether the Governor's Office was contacted or the Director of the Department of Corrections had contact with anyone advocating for this ex-priest to be released early. Stay with it you might be surprised what you learn.
Yesterday at 5:53am · . |
|
|
|
Sun Jan 12, 2014 7:16 am |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Register
Profile
FlintTalk.com Forum Index
> Political Talk
