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Catholics for Kerry Leader Pleads Guilty to Prostituting 17-Year-Old

By Kathleen Gilbert

COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 14, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A leader among pro-abortion Catholic circles has pleaded guilty to two felony counts of compelling the prostitution of a 17-year-old girl.

Robert Eric McFadden, 46, admitted last Thursday that he marketed the minor for sex on the Craigslist website. The court dismissed five other counts of pandering obscenity and promoting prostitution. 

McFadden's activity was discovered as part of an online sex sting operation conducted by police investigators in January. Prosecutors say that McFadden took photographs of a girl he had met in an online chat room before offering her services to others on the Internet as a "recommended" prostitute.

Sentencing is scheduled for August 20.  McFadden could face up to ten years in prison.

McFadden has served in several capacities as a leading "abortion reduction" Democrat Catholic: he was the founder of Catholics for Kerry in 2004, and in 2005 was president of the left-leaning Catholics for Faithful Citizenship. In 2006, he was the spokesman for Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, another liberal Catholic group that considers a nominee's stance on abortion negotiable in light of his or her position on other social issues. 

In 2008, McFadden served as a leading Catholic outreach organizer for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.  He is also the former Director of Community and Faith-Based Initiatives for pro-abortion Ohio Governor Ted Strickland. 

An eventual Obama supporter, McFadden criticized pro-life Catholics for opposing the then-presidential nominee's radical abortion agenda, and insisted Obama's social policies would "reduce the number of abortions."

Last year, McFadden wrote a letter the Knights of Columbus criticizing Supreme Knight Carl Anderson for instructing Catholics not to 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, himself a Knight.

In an August 2006 Columbus Dispatch article, McFadden complained that Catholicism had been "co-opted by the religious right."

"During the election cycle in 2004, our Catholic values were whittled down to four or five issues that were nonnegotiable," McFadden said. "We want to bring other issues into the discussion."

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Former President of Liberal "Catholics for Faithful Citizenship" Involved in Online Prostitution Ring 
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jan/09011507.html

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