Another day, another pervert:
A Roman Catholic priest in Montana has been charged with felony sexual abuse of children after sexual images of naked children were found on his Nintendo DS gaming console and personal computer.
The Missoulian reported that a woman called authorities last October to report that nude images of young boys were found on a Nintendo DS game console she purchased from Rudolph “Rudy” Carl Bullman, 67, who serves as a priest at Risen Christ Parish in Kalispell.
The priest admitted to a Flathead County Sheriff’s Office detective that he had used the gaming console to view gay pornography, but insisted all the subjects were at least 18 years old.
A search of Bullman’s personal computer uncovered “images of young males between the ages of 12 and 18, either engaged in sexual activity or displaying their genitals,” according to the Missoulian.
“Well those aren’t adults,” Bullman allegedly agreed upon seeing the images.
A forensic analysis of his computer found an additional 23 images of child pornography in his Internet cache and 23 deleted JPG images.
I love how he was caught- selling his Nintendo with the naked pictures still on it. A guy around where I live was caught in pretty much the same way when he took his computer in for maintenance and the tech guys booted it up and found a shitload of kiddie porn and called the FBI.
Bludger
His views? I’m sure his views go something like:
FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
OMGFREEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOMMMM
Dan
Ha ha, and these jerks have really been asking for it but I always try to remind myself that sexual abusers generally were victims once themselves NOT THAT THAT EXCUSES THEM FROM THEIR BEHAVIOR.
chopper
at this point who would buy a used computer off a fucking priest?
scav
The Risen Christ Parish detail is only icing.
beltane
Why would anyone be offended by this? It’s not like the priest was getting off on those evil women with their lady-parts and contraception.
MosesZD
Good title to the post. That was a work of art.
Mike Goetz
Question: are there any non-gay-child-porn priests?
Bueller?
Chyron HR
Yeah, but to be fair it was just the latest Square-Enix game.
Comrade Dread
@chopper: If I did, I’d make sure I had a third party on hand to testify that I just acquired it, then I’d examine the contents of the drives with the same third party present, then (assuming I found nothing) I would wipe the drives repeatedly just to ensure that I hadn’t missed anything.
Then I’d take off and nuke the PC from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
Soonergrunt
This didn’t take long.
Reference from this morning.
Schlemizel
@chopper:
Someone interested in free porn?
Schlemizel
@Mike Goetz:
To be fair not all the victims of this global pedophile ring have been boys. There have been a fair share of girls also but they don’t get as much attention.
Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity
@Mike Goetz: Turns out that most of the payouts by the Church have been to women and girls who were raped/fondled/seduced/drugged/godknowswhat by priests.
The boyfuckers just get the eyeballs, so the media runs with that.
scav
@Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity: they must give the wimminz the payout money so they can call them all hos before congress.
Jennifer
All I can say is, all this news about priests just shatters all the illusions I had from reading The Thornbirds 30 years ago.
I mean, a priest tortured by and trying to overcome his sexual desires? Such a completely unbelievable premise.
El Cid
It’d be a good way to catch a bunch more priestverts, just put up local ads to buy used computers & video games for cheap, and then just turn them over to cops en masse.
MikeBoyScout
Surely the leadership of the Roman Catholic church in the USA has something to say about this, no?
Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?
Kristin
The creepy teacher in LA got caught because he had pictures developed at a store and an employee reported him (film processors are mandatory reporters in CA).
redshirt
Why does a Priest have a Nintendo DS? How odd!
cathyx
@redshirt: Not sure if your being snarky, but what better way to lure your victims to your home, than a game they would want to play. Which then means that he didn’t just view it on the computer.
Persia
@chopper: The FBI?
Bubblegum Tate
This calls for a Congressional panel–no Catholics, please. Just women and some abuse victims.
Mike Lamb
Shouldn’t the fact that a 67 year old had a Nintendo DS have been sufficient to arrest him on child porn charges sight unseen?
Gustopher
About the guy’s views on contraceptives: if you’re a Catholic priest into young boys, contraception doesn’t really come into it, so what’s with the implication of hypocrisy?
David Koch
Stop the war on the religious freedom to molest kids.
Schlemizel
@MikeBoyScout:
Oh yes, they certainly do have something to say! He doesn’t serve that parish any more, he was set up by devious homosexuals, What priest?, It only happens in America, it was the hippies
I could go on (lard knows the church sure has) but you get the point
General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero)
OT
I don’t agree with this, and wish Obama would veto it. But he won’t in an election year. Though I don’t know just how onerous the bill is, but I don’t think we need any more deregulation. People with more knowledge in this area, could change my opinion on it.
Sounds awful, but what do I know?
redshirt
@cathyx: No snark, but when you put it that way, I see your point. Silly me! Didn’t even think it could be used to lure young boys. As you can tell, I’m not very Religious.;)
brettvk
I know I’m an Old, but — priests play video games? Even if you’re a devout Catholic, do you want to confess to someone who’s playing Grand Theft Auto in their leisure hours?
ETA: The bait-for-boys factor didn’t occur to me. Maybe the bishops should think about prohibiting gaming for priests — might be more enforceable than the rules about not raping the parishioners.
J.W. Hamner
@cathyx:
Yes, the DS (and anything by Nintendo) is one of the most popular game systems with young children. Think Pokémon.
ShadeTail
Fuckin’ A, what is wrong with people? It’s 2012. How could anyone still be so ignorant about computers and electronic storage? If you’ve got bad and/or embarrassing stuff stored there, *wipe it before you give the device to someone else*! And for fucks sake, *NEVER* put it in an email or on a social networking site.
The rape of kids, nastily enough, has become practically mundane now. But I’m just agog at the stupidity of this.
Southern Beale
Another “Breitbart” SCOOOOP!
Not really but just as funny. They thought they had an “exclusive” interview with U2’s Bono talking about taxes, in fact it was just some Irish guy in sunglasses who sorta looked like Bono.
Hilarious!
Culture of Truth
“A guy around where I live was caught in pretty much the same way when he took his computer in for maintenance and the tech guys booted it up and found a shitload of kiddie porn and called the FBI.”
Happens all the time. It’s really amazing.
Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity
@General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero): I’m in the tank for Obama but this sorry-assed piece of shit legislation is going to come back and bite either his second term or his legacy in the ass.
MikeJ
@Southern Beale: If only there was some website where this could be discussed…
Bludger
@David Koch:
Stop the war on the religious FREEDOM to view child pornography on Nintendo DS’s
danimal
I used to cringe at the ‘bad clergy’ stories. A lot of good people have been tarnished by association with the bad apples like this priest (apparently). Now I wonder if the good people just looked the other way.
General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero)
@Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity:
Yup, and here is what Harry Reid had to say about it, as he voted for it.
Peachy
wrb
@General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero):
As it is you only are allowed to invest in early stage start ups if you are rich- an “accredited investor” who has $1m assets not including your home.
One thing this bill is open those juicy opportunities to all.
So their is a populist/99% angle to it.
Could it also lead to abuses? Yes.
wrb
@wrb: damn, not allowed to edit
chopper
@Schlemizel:
i’d figure if i were a priest and i was selling a used computer every dude interested in it would either be a pedophile or a detective.
General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero)
@wrb:
I got your drift, i think :-)
wrb
@General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero):
wiki types better:
les
@General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero):
Yeah, it’s fuckin’ awful. They’re really expanding the pool of scammers who can “legally” move money up the income/wealth scale, while providing no information and less value.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
To answer your question, John: There would be less kids to take pictures of if women keep using contraception.
les
Well, maybe things on the child raping front are improving; with official approval, in the 50’s the Dutch Catholic church had a worse solution–ship the victims to (Catholic) mental hospitals, and castrate ’em. The RCC really needs to be banned and burned to the ground.
Soonergrunt
@Jennifer: Hahahahahahahahahaha!
you win the internets today.
David Koch
First they came for the kiddie porn…
liberal
@General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero):
Hah. I was going to post that on some thread or another as Obot-bait.
J. Michael Neal
@Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity: I’m not fond of this bill, but let’s not go overboard on its downside. Very little of what it does is new. Instead, most of it simply expands things that are already going on. I’m not sure that allowing companies raising up to $50 million under Reg A, as opposed to just $5 million, is a big deal. It also raises the number of investors that can hold equity in a company and still have it be considered closely held.
The two parts I’m really down on are allowing general solicitation under Reg D and allowing for more interaction between an analyst and the issuer of an IPO for a small company. Still, even here, I just don’t think the effect will be all that large.
Then again, all of that means that the job creation impact of the thing is grossly overstated, too.
liberal
@J. Michael Neal:
Yeah, and we should take your word for it, cuz you have teh bona fides!
Southern Beale
And also, there’s the question of whether there were any conscience-clauses that might have prevented this surgical mutilation the Catholic church inflicted on these poor souls ….
Baud
@Southern Beale: Since Santorum cares so much about Dutch health policy, I’m sure he will comment on this real soon…
nellcote
Why did the senate defund the import/export bank?
trollhattan
@chopper:
Or bishop.
Cat Lady
@ General Stuck:
According to TPM it looks like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is willing to trade support for the JOBS Act for approval of some judicial nominees.
Baud
White House (via TPM):
srv
I demand Santorum address this issue immediately, how long will his silence last?
Lee
@Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity:
I wondered about that the other day. I was going to ask, but then considered the creep factor might be a little high.
John O
@Baud:
Them’s fightin’ words.
General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero)
@Cat Lady:
Plus I didn’t catch in my first comment, that the senate vote today simply moved the bills forward for debate, and according to my above link @General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero): Reid is likely to require more protections, whatever that means
Gex
@Mike Goetz: Where did it say the gender of the kids? Pedophilia != gay. If a man fucks a boy, he’s not gay, he’s a pedophile. More girls are raped by men than boys are raped by men, but somehow pedophilia is a “gay” thing.
Fuck off.
David Koch
bARRY iZ wUrSt dEn hITlER
rUN pOlL/gLEeENn 2012
Jay C
@General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero):
So the likelihood is that the JOBS bill (flawed as it may be) might die on the arduous journey to and/or from a House/Senate Committee? And over “protections for investors”?
THAT should please those with objections to the bill!
rea
@Gex: No, it didn’t say the dof the kids directly–but it did say that the priest had admitted that he had used the machine to look at gay pornography, claiming that he’d only looked at adults.
Amir Khalid
@John O:
As you well know, it’s not slander when you tell the truth. The Republicans in question really are pig-ignorant and fucking stupid. You wait and see: when they get mad at Jay Carney, it won’t be for lying about them; it’ll be for telling everyone on them. It was supposed to be a secret!
Origuy
@Gex:
Ummm…
David Koch
sTauP bARry
hE kENyAN
sn ǝʌɐs uɐɔ ןן0d unɹ ʎuןo
rUn p))0ll//:hAMshter 2012
replicnt6
@Gex:
Other questions?
LanceThruster
I’m Curious About This Guy’s Views on Contraceptives
Or wetsuits.
Bill Donohue of the Catholic League is always b!tching about about how clergy is singled out exclusively and cites molestation stats for teachers and the non-RCC.
Here in SoCal, we’ve had a rash of molestation/inappropriate touching allegations against LAUSD teachers and nobody seems to be downplaying the seriousness.
He just can’t stand that a group of the supposedly celibate gets caught with their collective hands in the proverbial underage cookie jars and that sticks in people’s memories.
BGinCHI
If anyone is interested in what’s going on in Toulouse with the murders there and the guy who is apparently the perpetrator, here is a great report from the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/21/toulouse-shootings-standoff-mohammed-merah?CMP=twt_fd
David Koch
kEii da bIll
lISteN tW0 jAnE sHE NaUgT rAYcIsT
C3nK/jAN3/gL33Nn/pAul 2012
AA+ Bonds
@Bludger:
LOL he’s a priest so no
The Catholic clergy in the majority are anti-liberal in the sense of rejecting liberalism as defined 300 years ago and everything since
They have their own system which is why it’s so goofy to hear these bishops talk about “religious liberty” like they give a shit about that in anything but a relative way, a few decades of encyclicals doesn’t make it so, especially if they’re old dudes
John O
I wonder how Mitt’s “etch-a-sketch” guy’s day is going.
That’s going to stick. Mark my words.
replicnt6
I don’t know. First of all, I think “felony sexual abuse of children” seems a bit absurd for _possesion_ of child pornography. Not saying it isn’t the law, it probably is. It’s just a pretty damn far cry from actual abuse of children.
Second, 23 images seems like a pretty small number of the guy was actually _seeking_ child pornography. Sounds to me more like trawling around the internets for gay porn and catching some kids in the net (see what I did there?)
If you’ve ever bounced around any tumblr sites with “art” photography, you might want to carefully check your browser caches.
Don’t get me wrong. Child pornography is a Bad Thing. But I think we’ve gotten a little hysterical about it.
General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero)
@Jay C:
Well, you got me there. I just figured if the wingnuts were against the amendments, or for the House bill as was, then those protections for investors are a good thing. It usually is accurate, that method, but not always. So, Touche, to you!!
David Koch
@John O: http://youtu.be/cKtNYmsarUE
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/03/21/1076466/-Newt-Gingrich-lampoons-Mitt-Romney-s-Etch-A-Sketch-Strategy
scav
@BGinCHI: Thanks. Hadn’t checked since this morning. This one looks to be messy on multiple fronts, although there does seem to have been some solid police development and use of evidence over the last few days at least.
AA+ Bonds
Pretty much the only way to avoid illegal images in your cache is to never look for porn on the Internet at all
Also never fuck up clicking after a Google search, pretty much you have to disconnect your computer from the Internet
KG
@General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero): here’s a breakdown (from Forbes) of the key provisions. I don’t really have a problem with raising the cap on the number of shareholders that forces a company public. The “emerging growth companies” thing sounds dubious but I don’t know if it’ll make that big a difference. What bothers me, is lifting the prohibition on Wall Street analysts touting the stocks of their investment banking departments’ clients. Having a conflict of interest rule there seems like a good idea, if only because the old rules probably contributed to the mortgage security mess we are still trying to dig our way out of. Nor am I sure about the modifications to Regulation A and Regulation D (though the idea of commercials aimed at unsophisticated investors is not one that I like).
End of the day, it’s a mess, half good, half bad. So, as compromises go, it’s probably a good one because no one really likes it. As policy? Fuck if I know at this point.
AA+ Bonds
@KG:
That’s a piss poor way to judge anything because it assumes that someone with the time to care or the power to influence the decision is right
Shawn in ShowMe
If Caravaggio was working today, he’d probably be brought up on charges.
eemom
OT, but I’ve been waiting all day to share this headline:
Andrew Sullivan Is Frightened By Complexity
It has the extra added advantage of being a post by Jeffrey Goldberg about guess-where. Go on Cole, FP it — I double dog dare ya.
Mark S.
@John O:
It is going to stick. Real stupid comment by that Romney guy.
KG
@AA+ Bonds: it’s an old line among lawyers. The basic idea is: both sides think they are right and [ETA: think they] either gave up too much or didn’t get enough out of it. Usually, if one side really likes a deal, that means someone got over on the other.
quannlace
These guys must believe that once they unplug their computers, all the stuff evaporates like the morning dew.
*****************
Oh, please. We’re not talking about little babies with angel wings.
Until it was pointed out, that obviously they weren’t.
AA+ Bonds
@KG:
I’ve heard it more times than I can count but it’s a dumb thing to think or say, it universalizes the adversarial system to all things and is grotesquely elitist
Catsy
@Chyron HR:
Please fill out the following form to claim your internet.
AA+ Bonds
@quannlace:
You do understand that an image can show up in your cache even if it shows up a foot down a page and you never actually look at it, right
David Koch
I hope Axelrod buys 100,000 mini etch-a-sketch pads and hands them out to everyone attending the Democratic convention, so they can wave it every time Mittens is mentioned.
AA+ Bonds
I’m just letting y’all know that every time you Google for porn (or anything else) and end up on a non-trusted non-registered porn site you run a very real risk of ending up with illegal material on your computer and even if the site is trusted you still run that risk
It’s just something everyone needs to know and neither the police nor the courts will give a shit that it is in your cache instead of a special folder named something terrible, and the cops have a lot of leeway to seize any PC or mobile device
cathyx
@replicnt6: I think you are a sick dude. To not be outraged by any degree of child pornography tells me you probably partake in some viewing of it yourself.
KG
@AA+ Bonds: politics is fairly adversarial, so I don’t see a problem with that. I’m not sure how it’s elitist, though.
Would I prefer a system where everyone works together and realizes they can’t get everything they want? Yes, yes, I would. I would also like the MegaMillions numbers for Friday in advance. I think I have a better chance of getting the numbers early than I do of everyone working together.
quannlace
@AA+ Bonds:
Yes, I do , dear.
Catsy
@cathyx: No, he’s got a perfectly valid point, as does AA+ Bonds. The law makes no distinction between incidental and unintentional possession of such illegal material and the intentional kind collected by predators. Most cops and prosecutors will not even bother to try to tell the difference: if it’s there, you’re guilty, regardless of how it got there.
There are real predators out there and they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But it is in all honesty far too easy to end up with content on your computer–particularly in your browser cache–that you didn’t choose to put there and didn’t even know you had. If you’ve ever had a virus, clicked inadvertently on a pop-up or link to the wrong place, or gone looking for constitutionally-protected explicit material of adults, there’s a nontrivial, nonzero chance that you’ve had this happen.
Anyone who thinks that can’t happen to them doesn’t know as much about computers or the Internet as they think they do.
Chris
@AA+ Bonds:
Don’t know if I’d say that’s true of the Catholic clergy “in the majority:” it’s definitely true of the bishops and the Vatican, e.g. the Church as an institution, though.
replicnt6
@cathyx:
I hope you’re snarking here, but in case you aren’t: you think that this guy, who has 23 images of underage boys in some state of undress on his computer is as culpable as someone who actually abuses children? And I should be outraged? _That’s_ fucking sick.
cathyx
@replicnt6: Do you really think that the images are only of the boys without a shirt on? Do you really think that if he likes to look at boys naked and/or aroused, and that that is all he does? He had a computer game. Do you really think that he is the one who plays it? Or maybe he uses it to lure boys to his house. That’s the oldest trick in the child molester’s book.
Provider_UNE
Bill Donohue of the Catholic League is always b!tching about about how clergy is singled out exclusively and cites molestation stats for teachers and the non-RCC.
I have always found this “Someone else did it too, look over there” defense troubling at best. Yet it is the go to game plan for the GOP and the Roman Catholic Church.
Invariably the scale of the perfidy on the one side is enourmous compared to the crimes on the other.
We say Rush Limbaugh, they say Bill Maher, Ed Shultz, and while the latter two have tasted their feet from time to time, Limpy’s had like 3000 below the knee leg transplants.
It would be like hitler using “but pol pot, idi amin” as a defense.
It seems to work and the press plays along…
.
MosesZD
@General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero):
I think it’s great. One of the things that really used to bother me when I was still practicing, were the insane hoops smaller companies had to go through to raise capital in order to move up the ladder. With these long-over-due changes, it’ll make it easier for small, successful businesses to raise capital without going through some shit stains that take way too much of the pie for very little effort, like Goldman.
A Humble Lurker
@replicnt6:
Kids have to be molested, abused, or at least spied on in very private places for that pornography to be made. He’s basically paying for all that.
replicnt6
@cathyx:
OK, I guess you _are_ an idiot. You seem to know an awful lot about how pedophiles operate. It makes me think that perhaps you partake in some pedophilia yourself.
I think you’ll find that a _lot_ of people have game consoles. If an investigation finds that he’s molested kids then, by all means, throw the fucking book at him. But to suggest that owning a game console is a prima facie case that he molests children, well, wow. For the record, I do own a game console, and I don’t molest children.
replicnt6
@A Humble Lurker:
I appreciate that, and for that reason agree that consumption of child pornography should be a crime: in order to discourage the production of the material.
However, to put this guy’s (possibly inadvertent) possession of child pornography on a par with child molestation is quite a stretch.
Unless you accept cathyx’s assertion that adults only use game consoles to lure children into their houses for molestation. In which case, hang ’em.
rikyrah
under the jail, please
Winston Smith
Whoa. This is huge. I have had a Nintendo DS for several years and I had no idea you could store pictures on it. Maybe this was a DSi? That has a camera.
Leave it to our lousy news media to omit critical facts.
Catsy
@cathyx:
Do you have any actual information whatsoever that you’re not sharing, or is this just speculation drawn straight from your imagination?
‘Cause it looks a hell of a lot like the latter from here. I sure as shit hope you’re never on any jury that stands between me and a wrongful conviction.
Not saying this guy is innocent, but you’re coming dangerously close to donning a pair of water skis and clearing the shark by a couple meters.
Jado
@danimal:
I agree with you about the good individuals in the clergy, but the RC church institutionally seems to go out of its way to cover-up obfuscate and protect its criminal members. That’s why I have no trust in it, and I believe it should be indicted under RICO
I can’t think of another organization that does so much illegal(allegedly)activity to protect its reputation.
LanceThruster
@Provider_UNE:
Very astute examples.