CBC Baltimore
January 24, 2012 6:38 PM
Reporting Mike Hellgren
TOWSON, Md. (WJZ)— There’s new insight into a sex scandal involving a local Catholic priest. He faces indecent exposure charges after police found him partially naked in an adult store. Mike Hellgren has more on this high-profile arrest.
The church is asking for prayer and looking for answers behind the alleged conduct of one of its own: a priest who anointed hundreds of the sick and served two Maryland communities.
The Catholic church has seen sex scandals before but this one is hitting close to home.
The Archdiocese of Baltimore is asking a respected priest, a man parishioners in Towson counted on for guidance to get a psychological evaluation after police say they caught Father Stew Bullock naked from the waist down at an adult store in Harford County.
Dr. Jim Dasinger is a clinical psychologist.
“There’s not a soul I believe that, at some point in time, doesn’t make choices that aren’t in their own best interest, regardless of what they’re doing,” Dasinger said. “It would depend on the individual, what kind of drives they have, what kind of needs they have, what kind of things are missing from their lives.”
Police targeted the adult business for stings after receiving complaints.
The church has now stripped Father Stew, as he’s known, of his priestly duties. He can’t even live in the rectory.
Father Bullock was ordained more than five years ago. He served the majority of his career in Severna Park before moving to Towson in 2010. He also administered sacraments to patients at GBMC, a role the hospital severed after the allegations came to light.
As one parishioner at a church in Colorado that is also going through a sex scandal put it, many hold priests to a higher standard.
“People expect more from the Catholic church and specificially priests and leadership in the church, much like we expect more from our military or our cops or our firemen,” the parishioner said.
There was no one else involved in Father Bullock’s case and these are only allegations. He has not been convicted. He will face a court hearing in March.
I don’t see anything particularly new here. A psychologist saying that there’s “not a soul…that, at some point in time, doesn’t make choices that aren’t in their own best interest”? We’ve heard that before. It seems that when it comes to clerical ‘indiscretions’ excuses abound.
What about the best interests of parishioners? What about the best interests of the priesthood? What about the best interests of the Church?