Friday 21 April 2017

ENGLISH SEMINARY / BOARDING SCHOOL ABUSER

Catholic priest jailed for St Joseph's College sex abuse
 
FATHER HIGGINBOTTOM
Priest’s victim said he cried so often "I could have drowned in my own tears".
Father Michael Higginbottom was found guilty of the "cruel and sadistic" abuse of a teenage boy at St Joseph's College in Upholland, Lancashire.
He was convicted at Liverpool Crown Court of four counts each of a serious sexual offence and indecent assault.
The 74-year-old, of West Farm Road, Newcastle, was jailed for 17 years.
The court heard the victim, now in his 50s, was aged between 13 and 14 at the time of the abuse, which began about a week after arriving at the school.
He said he was locked in Higginbottom's living quarters and ordered to undress before being sexually assaulted.
'Became numb'
The victim said he would be hit with a strap if he did not go to the physics teacher's quarters at allocated times.
In a statement read to the court, he said: "My sexual abuse happened so often I became numb to what was happening to me.
"I cried so often I believe I could have drowned in my own tears."
He said he used to pray that he would die to escape the abuse.
"There are worse things than death - living with an evil man and being left alone at Upholland," he said.
College was described as a venue for "mental, physical and sexual abuse" by the victim
The court heard Higginbottom would give electric shocks to pupils as a punishment.
Sentencing, Judge Andrew Menary QC said: "For a period of six months in the late 1970s you made a young boy's life a living hell.
"What you did to him there effectively destroyed the remainder of his childhood and did a good job of destroying any faith he ever had."
He added: "You employed methods which today, if not then, would be recognised for what they were - cruel and sadistic bullying."
During the trial, the court heard previous allegations had been made against Higginbottom in 2007 by another former pupil and the Catholic Church had settled out of court for £35,000.
Police had investigated the claims and, although Higginbottom had been charged, no evidence against him was offered in court and not guilty verdicts were entered.
St Joseph's College, in Upholland, which has now closed, was attended by boys aged 11 to 18, many of whom were considering becoming priests.
The court heard the victim also made allegations against two other priests at the school, but both had since died.

Higginbottom was told he would have to sign the sex offenders register for life.

44 comments:

  1. As I have honestly and correctly commented before, the institutional Roman Catholic Church is a filthy, disease-ridden whore. And it has a weak 'spic' pope as its pimp.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You poor hate filled wretch. You spew venomous bile from your mouth so readily. The fact that individuals within the church are sick perverts does not taint the 1.3 billion others who belong. You must harbour deep seated enmity in your heart and this is poisoning all your thoughts. I for one will pray for you.

      Delete
    2. I do not agree with much on this blog, but MMM it kills me to say this, but you are right. I feel so sad.

      Delete
    3. Magna carta is quite right . The pope sits in Rome with a bunch of cardinals surrounded by wealth while half the world hungers . All over the world greedy bishops and sex mad priests stand at alters and tel the rest of us how to live . I've herd loads of times on this blogg about the many good priests there are . Total bullshit! A good priest who ignores the truth and dus nothing is no good priest . All it takes for evil to persist is for good men and women to do nothing

      Delete
    4. MournemanMichael22 April 2017 at 14:44

      Anon@13.02.
      I'm sorry you're sad, although I'm unclear why. If it's the tragic reality of so much damaging abuse then most of us share in that.
      If it's the reality that so much abuse was by clerics then too most deplore that with sadness.
      But if your sadness derives from a realisation that such clerical abuse confirms a conviction that religion and it's convoluted belief systems are simply man made farragos then embrace the reality that this life is all we've got live and enjoy it to the full and spread that joy to others following the Golden Rule, ....Do as you would be done by.
      "Religion is for people who are scared to go to he'll.
      Spirituality is for people who have already been there."(Bonnie Raitt)
      MMM

      Delete
  2. Did anyone ever tell you Magna you have a vile disgusting horrible mouth not to mention your mind. You didn't say that about the Church when it was forming you in Maynooth Seminary.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, you told me...a few hours ago.

      When I was in formation, the dark, Satanic side of the whore you so respect wasn't visible to all. To some, but not to all.

      Delete
  3. MourneManMichael21 April 2017 at 08:52

    Time and time again we are made aware of institutionalised abuse within the organisation of the RC church. In consequence, any intelligent rational individual must surely question the nature of this institution, and the integrity of its ministers.
    Invariably its defenders rely on tautological faith based arguements evidencing the integrity of the RC church but regrettably compromised by the weakness and humanity of some of its adherent ministers.
    I find no value in such arguements of defence.
    As we become more aware of priestly misbehaviour I am obliged to continue to question the underlying credibility of the whole farrago of beliefs they profess.
    Some may criticise +Pat for such revelations saying he seeks to destroy the RC church. Rather than criticise, I am obliged to ask if such an evidently corrupt institution is worth saving, and my sympathy goes out to those kind compassionate priests of integrity who originally entered this organisation with the best of intentions and ideals but now find themselves virtually trapped within its insidious clutches.
    MMM
    MMM





    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To MMM
      Please note that the correct spelling is "arguments"

      Delete
    2. I recall as a boy or teenager a tv documentary on a UK junior seminary. Was there only this one? It's name sounds familiar. I recall thinking how wonderful to be schooled within a holy atmosphere and with a view to priesthood. I also wrote to Jimmy Saville during my youth and can now say with much relief that I'm hugely glad that Jim never "Fixed It For Me!!" In the same way I'm now glad I never went to a junior seminary! Although my experience at Farnborough Abbey damaged me and to exactly what extent, maybe I shall never be fully aware,at least I was an adult, albeit a very young,innocent and immature one, but still a lot more resilient than a child.

      Delete
  4. Fr Hinging bottom

    ReplyDelete
  5. Not really anything to say on this. It speaks for itself

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your comments on this blog are forms of an ASD (Attention-Seeking Device).

    There is help available.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The post at 11.34 was intended as a reply to the first poster today at 01.40.

      Delete
    2. Well, 11:34 and 12:57, you've now got my attention.

      Er, which of us is attention-seeking?

      Delete
  7. I think there are seams of pure gold in the church. There are very good and holy priests, exquisite art, music and literature, which makes makes it so bad that above happened to that young man. All he will feel if he goes near a church is anger, fear, humiliation and shame. He is probably crippled for life...just so a priest could indulge his sexual appetite. There were always going to be rogues in the priesthood, there are in every profession, but there has been a subtle pride in the institution that they were above this kind of thing and the laity are children of a lesser god.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. An attempt to bring back balance - - thank you, Jane.

      Delete
    2. The institution itself is corrupt and irredeemable. At its filthy heart is clericalism, the core of which is the lie that priests are somehow superior to everyone else and must be protected at all costs, even if it means sacrificing lots of lambs (raped and sodomized children).

      Until this evil self-delusion among the clergy is exorcised, the whore that some call the institutional Roman Catholic Church will become ever more corrupted by her real master, Satan, and will continue to corrupt others. And she will go on sacrificing the young and the vulnerable for her own protection.

      Delete
    3. You are totally repulsive you horrible excuse of a man.

      Delete
    4. 15:30, you're an institutional Catholic, aren't you? Worshipping the Church rather than the God of the Church?

      Do yourself a favour: come out from under the rapacious skirt of 'Holy Mother Church'. She'll sacrifice you, too, if she feels the need. For her loyalty is to herself, not to Christ.

      Delete
    5. Don't you have any real relationship in your life? Perhaps you are incapable of one, certainly sounds like it. A sad, bitter and twisted man, let's face it the Church spurned you and we know why Maggie.

      Delete
    6. Wow! You know more about me than I know. Amazing! Especially since you've never met me.

      Ever think of writing fiction for a living? You'd be successful at it.

      Delete
  8. I think this subtle pride is called clericalism. It clericalism which is destroying the church. The Pope recognises this as do a lot of bishops and priests within the church. Bishop Pat is just doing the church should have done.

    ReplyDelete
  9. A lot of people have been very hurt by the church. I have. In my psyche there is a terrified traumatised 7 year old. She can react with rage at certain things in the church. I don't think, for me it will ever go away. Normally I am a very placid retired lady. It shocks me at times. Magna Carta may have the same problem. We didn't choose to be like this.

    ReplyDelete
  10. "We didn't choose to be like this" .
    But you can NOW make conscious informed choices not to let bad early experience experiences
    colour and distort your attitudes and thought processes for the rest of your life. (You are already trying to do that, Jane) Sorry, I know that this is a big and complex issue and cannot be sorted in a sentence here. You deserve way more than that, both of you.
    But I am genuinely in a rush here and had happened to notice your comment. I am trying to light one sympathetic candle into your path but sometimes that flicker can be all it takes for an intelligent receiver to manage to turn it up to full beam. Give yourself immense credit for the ways in which you are successful survivors and examine ways to complete your internal healing now even years later. (Research "defence mechanisms" and how they are showing up in how you deal with the world, especially maybe the Church? at present) You're your own best friend in this but give it some very private thought.
    Whatever your blog responses to this, be they none, or kindly, or vitriolic in the extreme, I promise I will understand and know why they are as they are. So I won't retaliate.
    I have already said all I want to. Good luck in all you do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, because it is in the unconscious there is a feeling of intense fear......for no apparent reason. It is a bit like nearly drowning as a child, you just don't want to get into there again. It triggers an unconscious memory.

      Delete
    2. Aaw! Thanks Tom. I have a very strong faith and loads of high quality theological books. However I can be "allergic" to certain church situations.

      Delete
  11. Bishop Pat, you may find interesting the latest turn in the course of that risibly titled document, 'The Gift of the Priestly Vocation'. It does bear some relation to the Higginbottom scandal in that it exposes the lengths to which the institutional Roman Catholic Church, like the Caananites, can go to protect itself by sacrificing the morally innocent.

    As you know, the document was published last December by the Congregation for the Clergy and was endorsed by Pope Francis. Like its 2005 counterpart (and on which it is largely based), it was a reaction (some might argue 'hysterical over-reaction') to the scandal and crisis of widespread sexual abuse of children by priests. Just as these poor children were sacrificed by the institutional Church to protect her (false) reputation, so, too, the recent document sought to sacrifice (scapegoat) celibate and chaste gay clergy and seminarians for this abuse. It effectively bans homosexuals from admission to seminary, even if they are morally good and prepared to commit to celibacy.

    There has now been public reaction to the document in the United States. The Association of US Catholic Priests (AUSCP) in a statement determines that it is 'unfounded and insulting that the...document...' declares that those with a homosexual orientation 'could not relate correctly to men and women'. Moreover, there is absolutely no reputable science of any kind to back up this homophobic conclusion.

    The institutional Roman Catholic Church historically has always sought to sacrifice or scapegoat others for its own terrible failings rather than repent and reform. It is doing precisely this even now, by attempting, in one of the most insidious ways, to blame gay men for the crisis of child-sexual abuse in the Church. This Machiavellian move is even more distasteful, considering that Pope Francis once famously declared himself homophobia-free with his apparently inclusive question, 'Who am I to judge?'

    ReplyDelete
  12. Magna - when are you paying back the money to your diocese for the waste spent on your formation. If you were a decent man after the formation I would have no problem with you keeping it but - YOUR VILE. time to pay it back or YOU WILL BE INDEBTED TO THE CHURCH FOR LIFE. SIMPLES and I love that

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Keep up the good work Magna.

      Delete
    2. Oh, my diocese was more than repaid...with my intellectual genius and insight.

      By the way, it wasn't the diocese that financed my seminary formation, but ordinary, decent, hard-working Catholics. Plus myself and my family, of course!

      The 'diocese' (clerical parasites) financed absolutely nothing. Here's a clue, because you're probably struggling with this one: a parasite doesn't give to its host; it takes from it.

      Delete
    3. To poster @ 17.22

      The correct version is "You're vile" This is because it is a shortened form of "You are"and not the ownership form of "your".

      Delete
    4. Your family or yourself paid nothing - your diocese supported you all the way i have been told. Come on time to give back to the ordinary poor people who funded your life. The man you are today was because of your formation - what a credit to the priests.

      Delete
    5. 18:12, my, oh my! Another one who has never met me, but who presumes to know more of my reality than I do.

      Delete
    6. MourneManMichael21 April 2017 at 19:07

      Anon @17.57 thank you for correcting my 'argument'! Presume it was you?
      I acknowledge my former reasonable spelling has deteriorated, probably from lack of writing/use, and posting here helps keep the neurons sparking! I do notice other words as incorrect, but think that using small keyboards on tablets and smartphones plays a part. Sure it's the message that counts.

      Now here's a message for you. Ignore Anon @ 17.22. There's a huge bee in that one's bonnet rendering him/her insensitive and impervious to all and any suggestions. We just have to hope that eventually he/she will fade into oblivion with his/her sanctimonious cant.
      MMM

      Delete
  13. Pat + i thought I would have seen something today about the great deacon of dublin today on the blog - why his images where not shared in Dublin making it look like he was not there but appeared all over the clogher ones what is going on???

    ReplyDelete
  14. Could someone transfer the photos on here
    I wd love to see a prayerful grinder boy

    P s ...I know I spelt grinder wrongly....so what

    ReplyDelete
  15. Magna Carta, if you are that seminarian who was removed from Maynooth in the 1980s it's not surprising that you are hugely angry. I think most of us would have been if the same thing had happened to us. And in hindsight it was very likely a harsh decision from which you suffered much - and probably are still suffering. Some of your posts here attest to a lot of anger which sounds as if it is still unresolved.

    I don't say this in a condescending way - so please don't take it up that way. You are right to be angry and you probably need some professional intervention to help you process it and to move on with your life. Easily said but also more easily done with help.

    If you are who some here say you are, I actually remember seeing you the day you left Maynooth and can still remember the look on your face when the storm broke and the authorities' decision was made known to you.

    Pax et bonum

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Can you tell me more...without actually naming the student in question? What were the circumstances of his alleged dismissal?

      Delete
  16. So what was Magna accused of ?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Can we have a statement about Magna Carta - what happenend?

    ReplyDelete