Do the current child protection norms need a radical overhaul?
The scandal of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s alleged abuse has just become even more disturbing. The original allegations were made by men who were adults, or at least not pre-pubescent, at the time. A sexually active priest with a taste for younger men is detestable, but that’s not the same as being a child rapist.
It turns out we may have been too kind to McCarrick. On July 19, the New York Times published an interview with a 60-year-old man identified only as James who claims that “Uncle Ted”, who baptised him, began abusing him at the age of 11 and continued for two decades.
