Friday, November 13, 2009

Youth leader Brendon McConnell arrested

BrendanMcConnell Brendon McConnell is a catholic youth leader working in the Life Teen Program at Our Lady of Light Parish in Fort Myers.  He stands charged with a sex offense with a child between the 12 and 16 years old.

The victim's mother came across a large number of messages between Brendan McConnell and the victim. The mother said they knew McConnell through church and that he is a core leader in the youth ministries, reports said.

The mother told deputies the messages started out as friendly, but then turned sexual in nature, reports said.

According to reports, the victim told her mother she and McConnell had oral sex twice.

It looks like the church did everything right prior to letting McConnell work with kids. I wonder if they provided adequate monitoring?

As a volunteer around children and vulnerable adults, Mr. McConnell underwent a mandatory criminal background check, which includes fingerprinting, and he was cleared by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Another Catholic. I really should keep track of these people in a separate category.

Comments (11)

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Aspentroll's avatar

Aspentroll · 804 weeks ago

I Bill Donahoe won't make any statement on this one. Or will he?
1 reply · active 804 weeks ago
No - no statements.
The problem with background checks are they seldom work the way we hope they will. I figure when he first got there, he was watched and knew it. All he had to do was take his time and give them a reason to trust him. This type of crime is like any other. If someone wants to commit this kind of crime s/he will find a way to do it.
3 replies · active 804 weeks ago
You are soo far from the what really happen. I wouldn't speak unless you knew the truth.
Hello Ashley - do tell?
Ashley is right about this
you dont even know him!! I know him personally and he is a great guy! The girl wasnt molested she was willing, and her mother is a pig for ruining an innocent mans life because he daughter is a skank
1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
sweet - a blame the victim post. I love you hypocritical Christians.
Jacqueline's avatar

Jacqueline · 796 weeks ago

I know both personally. The girl used to be my best friend. This was completely willing. It is not only Brendan's fault, but also the girls. The on;y shame is that she is not being punished as well. She knew what she was getting into. She knew the risks. As did he. I am not saying this was right, because I do not agree with it either. I simply wanted to state the true facts, instead of having others be mislead.
2 replies · active 796 weeks ago
Jacqueline's avatar

Jacqueline · 796 weeks ago

*only
It doesn't matter if she knew what she was getting into. As long as a person in a position of authority does something like this they are wrong. The truth of the matter is many people over 18 don't really understand what they are doing when they make these types of decisions and anyone under 18 doesn't really have enough life experience to understand what can happen. If you believe she should be punished for what she did then you need to show why and then make the attempt to get the laws changed. If all you are going to do is try to place the blame of it on the girl then you are falling into the same trap many people see a rape victim as. Oh it was her fault for being dressed provocative or some other line of crap those defending a rapist say.

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