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 Off the Record

getting better

By Diogenes (articles ) | December 05, 2004 3:21 AM

Back in December of 1998, Fr. Fernando Sayasaya began to feel North Dakota was becoming too hot for him ...

...when two boys told West Fargo police that the priest had gotten them drunk and sexually abused them. One boy, in his early teens, had recently come home with bloody underwear after spending the night at church, his mother reported.

So the good father took an exceptionally well-timed vacation to Manila, from which he never returned. The Dallas Morning News reports that he's presently teaching English. It's a growth-filled experience.

Father Sayasaya, meanwhile, is working with young people in his native Philippines. "I'm trying to restrain myself," he told The News. ... Asked whether he had molested anyone since leaving the United States, he replied: "Mmmm," then paused and added, "My mother is helping me with prayers."

Excellent. And as for the shattered faith of Sayasaya's victims ...?

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