"He's just a prolific sex abuser of small children," Miss Otey said.

Mr. Crewdson said he approached the story with skeptical curiosity because he had not known any sex abusers or victims.

Of the 1,600 young sex abusers whose cases Ms. Ryan has analyzed, a quarter said they started sexually abusing other children before the age of 12.

Some have even suggested as many as 63% of sex abusers may be female.

We have become a paranoid, hysterical society inculcated into believing we are knee deep in perverts, sex abusers and rapists.

Some psychologists who have evaluated sex abusers, on the other hand, expressed sympathy with the cardinals' attempt to establish gradations in their response to priests' behavior.

But why is it sex abusers or harassers keep getting more chances?

They say anywhere from 1 in 10 to 1 in 5 - sounds alot - men are sex abusers of children.

A 'hero' in the estimation of Cardinal Hoyos is one that shields a notorious sex abuser from the authorities.

In fact, psychologically mature priests are the norm, and sex abusers and alcoholics the exception.