“Father” Tanner, had a lovely wife, two wonderful daughters, and a future as church rector. Young, bright, athletic, and handsome; he inspired the congregation’s vibrant teen and Boy Scout groups. Eventually, he was ordained to the priesthood.
However, Tanner’s sexual relationships with teenage boys were discovered. He was defrocked, dismissed, and ordered to therapy, without legal action. Soon “cured,” he was again hired as Sexton and advisor to parish youth groups.
Thirty years, over 450 victims, and 2,500 counts of sexual assault later, Tanner was imprisoned, where at 67, he died of natural causes; shamed and disgraced, but never cured.
Look both ways.
Be alert for predators where least expected.
Never expect victims to confess.
Mind the gaps, remain skeptical, and verify if you trust.
Our Literary Journey 
Sounds like Tanner wasn’t the only one who would never recover in this story. Why do we as society feel the need to repeat this tale so often in real life?
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This is a true story. I changed the perks name.
I only had 100 words. There is more. Thanks for the comment.
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Very pointed! A good reminder that we must ALWAYS remain VIGILANT against evil… especially when it is disguised as good.
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Thank you.
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Dear Bill,
This sounds all too true. Made my stomach turn and my anger boil. Good job.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dearest Rochelle,
It’s true. Thanks, but I do not ever want to make you angry. I mean, you got that Rocky thing going on.
Peace, Bill
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Well…saw in your comment was true…but of course all too many times it has happened, over hundreds of years. Well done for putting it here. We must never forget and stamp it out.
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It is a much longer story. Thanks.
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Unconscionable! Evil rarely presents itself in an ugly form. We must be wary! Thank-you.
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True. Thank you, Susan, for the comment.
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Bill, humans have a lot of answering to do for their acts upon the innocent. Let’s hope somewhere along the way the madness ends. I blame patriarchy first, institutions that allow men to continue evil acts unabated, but I also blame the choices of each individual monster involved in it. Blame doesn’t effect justice 😦
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I need to finish my memoir, don’t I? Why do we think friends, family, and church people are not predatory? For the record, I grew up in the Catholic church around nuns and priests every day for years. Nothing. This guy was Episcopalian.
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The myth is that monsters are strangers who hide in the bushes and jump out at their victims. Just the opposite is true. The perpetrators are almost always family members or friends or those in positions of authority over their victims.
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True enough. But, as in this case, they are skilled and talented manipulators. Like I said in the story, he was intelligent (academic scholarship), charming, good looking, friendly. The man was extremely likeable and did a lot of good things. He outsmarted the system for over 30 years. He was a perv, but a likeable one. And OMG! a man of the cloth.
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p.s. Plague is a good name for it, as it contaminates/destroys all.
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“Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward.”
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😦
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A true horror story. I just realized that my jaw is clamped shut, my neck and shoulders tense, my right foot pumping up and down–s sure sign of great distress. And that you’ve done an excellent job.
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Thanks, Linda.
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Bill,
Betrayals by those in society that hold positions of trust are particularly heinous. You drive that home with this story, the worse because it’s true.
pax,
dora
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Had one boy not told his father, and that father not complained to the justice system, and that justice system not taken action (finally), it would have continued. It went on for more than 30 years.
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Stories like this are mind-numbingly horrific. Have you been following the Dr. Larry Nassar story? His abuse of hundreds of Olympic athletes not only went on for close to two decades but was ignored by top officials and the FBI until one of the girls (Rachel Delhollander) went to law school, took a law degree, and began taking legal action on her own!
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I was aware of it. Thanks, Dora.
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Bill, this story is a reality for so many people who, years later can’t keep back the tears or pain when they relate the abuse they suffered at the hands of those who in positions of trust. Your story made me cringe but that’s because you did an excellent job telling it.
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Thanks. That is what repressed memories are for. It is important to recover, to have a normal life, to move on.
The hard part of me is that these people go on for years, 30+ in this case. This guy was caught and had his life turned upside-down–destroyed in many ways. But they thought he was cured and they trusted him again, which was absolutely unnecessary. I don’t get it.
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“Never expect victims to confess.”
potent.
and excellent as always, Bill.
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Thank you.
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As I was reading, I realised he was not Catholic, as he was married and had children. Here is that “lovely” proof that it is not only those who have vowed celibacy who are twisted and evil. It has been proven time and again that child molesters cannot be cured. To have had the courage to come forth and then see that it did nothing to protect further victims must have been beyond disheartening.
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I don’t recall the details. I was gone from there. But the first disclosure allegedly involved a car accident and the younger brother of my closest friend. I still do not know the truth. I have news clippings from the trial. I had to research to learn of his death in prison.
I did not intend to start such a discussion with this story.
The topic came up when I was discussing my 15 year old grandson with my daughter. He needs to feel safe to tell her when something is not right. I was able to provide a real life example that involved me. And no Catholic Priest ever bothered me in all those years as a practicing Catholic. 🙂 Sorry to go on.
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Don’t apologise. It’s great when a story creates a discussion – whether the subject is uplifting or not.
It’s so important to let our children know they can safely share truths with us. My late husband was an alter boy who was abused by a Catholic priest. His mother didn’t believe him.
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You nailed it, Dale. The man who ended this was the father of a boy who told him, and then subsequently called the police. Teens are easy targets for several reasons. One is that they are just sexually coming out. Second is that they often have difficult relationships with their parents.
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And how lucky that boy did feel he could talk to his dad. The parents created a loving environment.
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According to the news article I read, many of the sexual assaults occurred in the boys’ homes when the parents were home. WTF? But your point is spot on. Kids need to be able to trust their parents. That is a huge part of the solution.
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These monsters can never be cured — it’s their sexual preference. Horrifying part is this story isn’t new. Happens all too frequently.
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There are monsters everywhere, not just around dark street corners.
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Evil seeps in the cracks; when adults don’t believe children; went society won’t believe the possibilities; justice can truly be blind.
My husband grew up in a very Catholic family/community in a parish where there were preditors in the disguise of teaching brothers. The evil was eventually brought into the hard light of retribution He escaped unscathed and un-scarred; he now wonders about the other kids in his class/church. BTW, he was an alter boy too.
To say nothing of what such exposure does to small towns/parishes where the church ruled supreme . . .
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Whilst we have been made more aware of abuse by priests in recent years, I’ve never heard anything as awful as this. Sadly the church itself often chooses to cover up such misdoings.
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Sad tale for the times. I hope that one day this will no longer be the norm.
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I’m so glad you wrote this. I think this and so many other cases of abuse, especially in a place that preaches about sin and is so obsessed with sexual morals, is the reason why so many people lose their faith and churches are empty.
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I don’t know if there is any good research on why so many people walk away from church. Some do because of bad experiences, for sure. But I think most have many other reasons. Thank you for the comment.
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a wolf in sheep’s clothing. sadly, there are more like him. we must remain vigilant.
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What a horrid horrid man.
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An all too common story, this sort of thing brushed under the carpet. Nice one!
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Thank you.
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What sad bondage! He never knew of a life set free even if his life was lived inside a church. He needed a Savior not a church.
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The stark way you tell your story vividly conveys the outrage, grief and pain you are portraying.
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Thank you, Penny.
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A sadly true story. thank you for sharing.
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A truth repeated all to many times, and all too often silenced. Thank you for the story.
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Right. Did they think turning a priest into a janitor would somehow cure him?
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Or, they figured it will draw fire away from them while allowing them to continue to turn a blind eye to what they knew was wrong but were doing themselves …
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I don’t know. This is long tragic story.
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Yes, seems it is!
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Sad face, even sadder to read it’s a true story.
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Hi Joey. I hope you and yours are more than well.
I changed his name. Most of the info comes from news clips and internet searches.
Yes. So many lives in so many families messed up.
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