Bad priest: Father Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul and the church coverup

By Chellie Cervone - Posted: Dec 10, 2013 at 2:42 pm

Father Joseph Palanivel Jeyapul remains in India unprosecuted for sex crimes in the US.

Father Joseph Palanivel Jeyapul, a sex offender. (Photo: Hosur Online)

Father Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul was shielded by the Church

Father Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul is a bad priest who should have been stopped when his misdeeds came to light.

Growing up Catholic, it was disheartening to admit that the Church shielded pedophiles, but, unfortunately it’s true.

Even after the Catholic Church’s atrocious acts came to light the abuse continued and, if somehow one is still not convinced, the case of Father Joseph Palanivel Jeyapau will convince you otherwise.

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Father Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul was sent to Greenbush, Minn., to work at the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in 2004.

A year later the “good” father was in India visiting his family when Victor Balke, the Bishop of the diocese, received an unsigned letter alleging that the priest had sexual relations with a 16-year-old girl.

The Bishop took the matter very seriously and emailed Jeyapaul telling him not to return to the church.

To his credit, he also informed the appropriate branch of the Vatican, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and requested that appropriate measures be taken against the errant Father.

The church, as they have done in the past, did little.

They sent a letter to Jeyapaul’s new Bishop in India requesting that he monitor the situation.

That was the investigation and no actions were taken.

The Minnesota Bishop again wrote to the Vatican two years later to say that police were involved in investigating an allegation of abuse against a 14-year-old girl by Jeypaul.

He allegedly forced the girl to perform oral sex on him by threatening to kill her family if she didn’t.

He was charged in that case a year later in 2007.

He did not return to the US to face the music and the Church did not take any action.

The Church says they did take action and cooperated with authorities.

They tried to shift the blame to the Bishop in India saying it is jurisdiction and responsibility.

The Indian Bishop, The Most Reverend A. Alamaraj, refused to take action saying Jeypaul is not a threat.

In 2006, Jeypaul said that he would return to the US to face the charges against him.

He claimed that he and Indian Bishop were unaware of any pending charges against him.

Still, he failed to return.

He was finally arrested in India and there has been a lot of legal maneuvering.

In 2013, the Madras High Court in India have ruled that his arrest in India was valid, which mean that Jeyapaul might finally be extradited to the US to face the music.

It’s been 10 years since the first allegation came to light.

In the 10 year time span since sex abuse allegations were brought against Jeyapaul, there could be many more more victims out there due to the failure of the Church to prosecute pedophile priests.