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Pedophilia: The Legal Predicament Of Clergy, Raymond C. O'Brien

Scholarly Articles

This Article identifies the present posture of child abuse and admits that the incidence of child sexual abuse among members of the clergy is documental. Indeed, incidents of child abuse seem to be more common each day throughout all segments of the population. This has affected public trust and the public has responded by revoking such traditional clerical prerogatives as the priest-penitent privilege, developing a theory of abuse in gestation, and demanding better treatment for offenders through therapy.

The precise scope of this Article is to offer recommendations concerning the legal, medical and social predicament of pedophilia regarding issues that …