Re: “Sex offender’s job at Cumberland church with day care facilities raises alarm” (Oct. 8):
Let’s not confuse offering a pedophile a second chance at redemption with taking chances concerning the protection of children from sexual abuse.
Eugene Weir is a convicted child sex offender. He spent nine years in prison. The court ordered that Mr. Weir must register his whereabouts with the sex offender registry for the remainder of his life.
The Maine Sex Offender Registry describes his crimes as the “rape of a child.” The three children he raped were 4 to 7 years old.
The Cumberland police chief and the pastor of the church in Cumberland where Weir is employed are naive in their attempts to guarantee that Mr. Weir has not sexually abused a child since his release from prison, or that he won’t sexually abuse a child again.
The fact that Mr. Weir has not been re-arrested for child abuse proves little to nothing. Most pedophiles are never caught, never mind arrested. Child abusers are cunning and manipulative.
If Mr. Weir is engaged in ongoing professional counseling, living one day at a time in a program of recovery for his pedophilia, then he will be the first to know that he should not and cannot be anywhere near children, let alone – even in the off hours – sweeping and cleaning rooms in which photos and names of children are easily accessible to him.
At least the Catholic Church got this one right. Mr. Weir’s conviction for and history of child sexual abuse render him ineligible to work or volunteer in any parish, school or organization operated by the Catholic Church.
Paul Kendrick
Freeport
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