INDIANA: State GOP Rep Busted In Craigslist Gay Hooker Scandal

Six-term GOP Indiana state Rep. Phillip Hinkle, a noted anti-gay Christian activist who forced the state to offer an "In God We Trust" license plate, has been accused of hiring a male prostitute from Craigslist's M4M section. Local newspapers have been provided with emails between Hinkle and the alleged hooker.

The emails, sent from Hinkle's publicly listed personal address, ask the young man for "a couple hours of your time tonight" and offer him cash up front, with a tip of up to $50 or $60 "for a really good time." The email exchange is in response to the Craigslist posting in which the young man -- who lists his age as 20 in the ad but says he is 18 years old -- says, "I need a sugga daddy." The young man told The Star that they met, but that he tried to leave after the man told him he was a state lawmaker. He said the lawmaker at first told him he could not leave, grabbed him in the rear, exposed himself to the young man and then later gave him an iPad, BlackBerry cellphone and $100 cash to keep quiet. When contacted by The Star about the emails, Hinkle, a Republican who represents portions of Pike and Wayne townships, did not contest the emails but said, "I am aware of a shakedown taking place." Asked what he meant by shakedown, Hinkle would not elaborate. He directed further questions to his attorney.

Hinkle is married to a woman and has children. He recently voted in favor of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and civil unions. According to VoteSmart.org, he also supports a long list of Christianist political goals.



(Tipped by JMG reader Ken)

AUSTRALIA: 26 Suicides Blamed On Pedophile Catholic Priests

Even though 26 suicides have been attributed to the actions of pedophile priests such as Father Robert Best (above), local Catholic officials in Australia say that no inquiry is needed into the deaths. All of the suicides occurred at schools where Best taught. He has pleaded guilty to dozens of counts of child molestation.

Bishop Connors on Tuesday said not even revelations from Detective Sergeant Kevin Carson that 26 young men had killed themselves after being abused by priests and brothers in Ballarat convinced him that more would be learnt from an inquiry. "I think we've learnt a lot of things about what is appropriate behaviour and what's not appropriate behaviour," Bishop Connors said. "I think people are very well informed nowadays as to what's inappropriate approaches from a male." While conceding the abuse of children was wrong, he said that in the past it had not always been clear to everyone what was appropriate and inappropriate behaviour. "In the past a lot of ignorance was there on the part of lots of people. Parents didn't understand, sometimes bishops didn't understand. We have no excuse now."

BRITAIN: Catholic Anti-Pedophilia Staffer Busted For Producing Child Porn

An official with the Catholic Church has been busted for possessing and producing child porn. Ho hum, you say? How about if he was in charge of stopping people exactly like himself?

A child protection official for the Catholic Church has been caught with 4,000 pictures of child porn. Father-of-four Christopher Jarvis was arrested after uploading pictures of children being abused to a website. Married Jarvis, 49, a former social worker, was employed by the church following sex scandals about pervert priests. His job was to monitor church groups to ensure paedophiles did not gain access to children in the church’s congregations. But he was caught by police in March with more than 4,000 child porn images on his home computer and his work laptop. He admitted 12 counts of making, ­possessing and distributing indecent ­images when he appeared before ­magistrates in Plymouth and is likely to face jail when he returns to court for sentencing next month.

Rep. David Wu (D) Says Goodbye

Resigned in scandal, but waited to vote on the debt first.

Another Dem House Rep Bites The Dust

Wu is the third House rep to resign over sexual scandal in the last six months. It's been a tough year to be a horny Congressman.

PHILADELPHIA: Catholic Archbishop Steps Down Over Pedophilia Scandal

Embattled Philadelphia Archbishop Justin Rigali resigned today after years of growing scandal over his alleged shielding of pedophile priests.

Rigali, archbishop in Philadelphia since 2003, has been struggling to contain the pedophilia scandal in the wake of a Philadelphia grand jury report issued at the beginning of this year. Three priests, a monsignor and a church teacher were indicted as a result of the report. "We would have assumed," said the grand jury in a report, "by the year 2011, after all the revelations both here and around the world, that the church would not risk its youth by leaving them in the presence of priests subject to substantial evidence of abuse. That is not the case." The grand jury said that it found 37 such priests who have been kept in assignments that exposed them to children.

Rigali will be replaced by Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver. The Philadelphia archdiocese has over 1.5M members and is the sixth largest in the country.

BREAKING: Protestor Attempts To Hit Rupert Murdoch With A Pie

UNSURPRISING: Fox News Glosses Over News Corp Phone Hacking Scandal

Murdoch Scandal Hits Home: FBI Launches Investigation Of News Corp

The FBI has launched an investigation into Fox News parent News Corp, looking for evidence that the rightwing news organization may have hacked into the cell phones of 9/11 victims and family members. The inquiry apparently comes at the demand of wingnut Rep. Peter King (R-NY). The FBI has declined to comment on the investigation. According to the British press, Murdoch's organization asked a private detective to hack into the voice mail archives of UK citizens killed at the World Trade Center.