Teary apology from Marist Brother

Berraboy68 – I agree that the apology is hollow. I also believe that the Marist Brothers are the most morally questionable group of tired old men I have ever seen. I do hope the sentence is harsh, and that he is sent to jail………for a long time.

VicePope. Your right the sentencing process is a hard one, by my own opinion is that a person shouldn’t get a lighter sentence because they are old and frail. All that says is if you commit a crime, if you can hide your crimes long enough (or as a group as the Marist Brothers do “hide each others crime long enough”) you can get of with a small slap ont he wrist.

They should get a harsher sentence because they know better.

Lets keep one thing in perspective. Like Lyons, Kostka had many dozens of victims. Just because the law only allows him to be tried for a few isolated cases, doesn’t remove the abuse, the resulting suicides (like in Lyons case) and the blatant and knowingly deliberate cover-ups, and collusion by the Church, the School and the authorities.

This is not a conspiracy theory, it is all fact. And will be proven as such in a court of law……..so as to be put on public record.

I am with you BerryBoy68, Kostka should burn in hell………they all should.

His apology is a sham.He has to give a full explanation for his actions so that we can see what makes these people commit these vile crimes.Until he does that he is not worthy of any sympathy.

BerraBoy68 – If the apology is hollow, trust that the judge will see that. Judges are not appointed because they’re fools. It may be as much as the accused can find it in himself to do.

There’s another issue, and that’s whether the apology might make one or more victims feel even a little restored. If it does, that is a good thing. Ultimately, the evil holds on to those affected until they can put it into the past. If the apology was genuine, accept it for what it was; if it was not, recognise that it says more about the perpetrator than about the victims. That is, it’s another reason to leave the perpetrator in the past.

Sentencing can be so hard. Most courts will move towards the minimum likely to achieve a useful outcome and to demonstrate social disapproval, and the possible range is affected by so many factors – what is the maximum, how grave was this conduct compared with the worst kind of similar offence, how vulnerable were these victims, what was the offender’s awareness, how long did the offences continue. An admission, confession and guilty plea should reduce the punishment, especially if they were early and spontaneous. A sincere apology has to be of some weight – but that’s for the court to assess in each case. Whether the person is of previous good character is relevant. And, I think any court would be likely to consider the practical issues of imprisoning any elderly person, and the treatment commonly given in prison to those who offend against children. How these play out in any case is imponderable to someone outside it and, ultimately, the sentence may not say much of comfort to the victims.

Kostka’s apology is hollow. He claims he’s been having counseling for a ‘sexual disorder’ since 2002, wow that’d be after Lyons gassed himself. There’s no doubt in my mind he felt he was going to be caught like his buddy Paul and got in some counseling so he could raise this as a ‘defence’ when he was finally caught out. As I’ve said before, Kostka was smiling very broadly when he told me his Cassock covered ‘all manner of sins’ last time I spoke to him.

No now he claims he told the Marist’s Bro’s he needed help in 1990’s. While this adds weight to the larger claims that the order failed in its duty of care to many students it does nothing to take away any of his guilt… he’s just looking to rationalise his actions and shift blame onto others. He’s only ‘sorry’ he got caught. Full stop. Burn in hell Kostka, you F***.

Sentencing is hard, and I’m glad that most judges/magistrates who do itare mostly pretty sane and worldly. They’d usually be smart enough to weigh an apology and decide what weight it should have – it’s always helpful, because it shows an awareness of wrong and because it has to be good for a victim to hear an apology. But some apologies are worth more than others – depending on things like when and how it was given, the words used and the judge’s assessment of the person’s sincerity.

That said, sane and good people can properly disagree in many cases.

The TV news was hinting that he’d not go to jail because of his age. You really have to wonder, don’t you. Tehy might argue that the public shaming is “enough”. I think, just from reading posts by his victims here, that it’s not enough.

he’d bloody tear up if he got the punishment he deserves…..

He is probably teary because he is thinking about the consequences (FOR HIM) of his actions. (NOT FOR HIS VICTIMS!)

I’m sure many of the victims would feel a bullet would be too kind.

For once i agree with the Chinese – Use a bullet on the guy and send his family the bill.