TSA hired priest accused of molesting girls to do pat downs

TSA hired priest accused of molesting girls to do pat downs




The Transportation and Security Administration
(TSA) didn’t bother to do a background check on a priest who had been
defrocked for molesting girls before they gave him a job, which included
doing pat downs on children at Philadelphia International Airport.

The Philadelphia Inquirer on Monday reported
that the agency confirmed that 65-year-old Thomas Harkins had been
forced out of the priesthood over allegations that he had sexually
abused two grade-school girls.

But the TSA took no actions because “[a]n allegation alone does not
warrant dismissal or automatically disqualify applicants from employment
with the TSA,” spokesperson Ann Davis told the Inquirer.

The
TSA said that they had hired Harkins without a background check because
of an urgent need for agents after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11,
2001. Today, the agency no longer conducts mass hirings and a background
check is required for every employee.

A spokesperson for the Camden diocese said that Harkins had been
barred from presenting himself as a priest or attending church services,
according to Camden diocese spokesperson Peter Feuerherd.

The church ended up settling civil lawsuits for $195,000, but the former priest was never prosecuted. A letter obtained by the Inquirer showed that the church had on Sept. 29, 2003 notified the TSA that Harkins had been accused of molesting two girls.

Harkins has since been promoted from the TSA job that required him to
pat down children and now oversees screening operations for checked
baggage.


Source:-
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/10/01/tsa-hired-priest-accused-of-molesting-girls-to-do-pat-downs/#.UGmbO9Bz5jg