By Hilary White
DUBLIN, Ohio, January 15, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A prominent left-leaning Catholic political activist is facing seven felony prostitution charges, including some involving minors. Robert Eric McFadden, 46, of Dublin, Ohio, former president of the lobby group Catholics for Faithful Citizenship and an employee of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, was arrested Wednesday by Ohio police and charged with two counts of promoting prostitution, two counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor, two counts of pandering obscenity involving a nude minor and one count of compelling prostitution.
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien told the Springfield News-Sun that police believe McFadden operated and promoted a prostitution ring run through Craigslist, the online classified ads website. Detectives also suspect McFadden was involved in a “hooker-review” website that led to the creation of a Brewery District brothel.
McFadden, former head of the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives for Governor of Ohio, Ted Strickland, is a well-known political activist on the left. In 2004 he headed Catholics for [John] Kerry and this year served as Hillary Clinton’s lead Catholic outreach organizer, as the State Faith & Values Outreach Director, during the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“Obviously, this is a very sad, shocking and appalling situation,” said Keith Dailey, Strickland’s press secretary.
The “hooker-review” website rated workers from escort agencies, as well as street prostitutes, at least one of whom was a 17-year-old minor. The site ran a raffle, at $10 per ticket, that gave the winner a night of free sex with a local prostitute, for which McFadden would cover the costs.
On McFadden’s online posts, he claimed to be the “guru” of prostitution in Columbus, Ohio. He wrote reviews on prostitution services as well as advice on how not to get caught, reports NBC 4.
McFadden was well known on many leftist Catholic and political internet websites where he regularly attacked conservative Catholics, including Deal Hudson, for their opposition to Barack Obama, whom pro-life activists have identified as the “most pro-abortion president” in US history. On September 2, 2008, McFadden wrote, “Barrack Obama [sic] believes in solutions that reduce the number of abortions, by recognizing that health care and education help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies. This will reduce the number of abortions.”
CNA reports that last year McFadden wrote a letter to the Knights of Columbus, to which he belonged, criticizing Supreme Knight Carl Anderson for telling Catholics that they cannot vote for pro-abortion candidates.
“Carl Anderson should resign as Supreme Knight so the good work of the Knights of Columbus can continue without the stain of partisan politics,” wrote McFadden.