- Outta my house
Lo, the clouds parted, the weather stilled, and divine justice strucketh in Warren.
Today, the Tribune Chronicle has a story on the Vatican’s decision to defrock a local man of the cloth accused of sexual abuse. According to the paper, Pope Benedict XVI himself has booted Thomas Crum from the clergy, the canonical equivalent to a serious bitch slappin’.
The Vatican passed along the edict to the Diocese of Youngstown. Crum was a presence all over the region, working at a number of churches including St. Mary in Orwell and St. James Catholic Church in Warren. The allegations arise from a stint 30 years ago when Crum was on the faculty of Cardinal Mooney High School. In 2009, when Crum was at Our Lady Peace in Canton, a former student stepped forward and reported he had been abused by Crum in 1975-76; the clergyman admitted to the abuse and asked to be removed from the active ministry, later cooling his heals in at psych treatment facility for evaluation. The diocese brought the story to police, but charges were never filed due to the statute of limitations.
