Film Review: Investigative Journalism: Exposing the Crime of Pedophilia in the Protection of Religious Institutions

In 1976 in Boston there was a case of child sexual abuse committed by a Catholic priest named John Geoghan. An assistant district attorney came to the police station and confirmed that no media had come to cover the incident. In the room there are two children who are victims of sexual harassment accompanied by their mother. The victim's mother spoke with the highest church leadership in the City of Boston regarding the case that is currently befalling two minors. The church leadership begged the mother to resolve the case considering the church's contribution to her family's life was enormous, she assured that she would dismiss the pastor from the church. Legally the case was closed and the victims were asked to accept the painful events that had befallen their children. There is no penalty that should be received by the perpetrator for his crime. The victim's family was only given a promise that the priest would receive a dismissal sanction without any guarantee that in the future there would not be a similar case again.

The Spotlight film, directed by Tom McCarthy, tells of a journalist's investigation into uncovering cases of sexual abuse of children by a Catholic priest in the city of Boston, United States. This film is based on a true story. In 2001, this investigation was carried out by a well-known daily newspaper, The Boston Globe. This story begins with the arrival of a new daily editor, Marty Baron (Liev Screiber). After Baron read a Globe column about a lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley Tucci) who said that he had enough evidence that Cardinal Bernard Law as the Archbishop of Boston knew that priest Jhon Geoghan sexually abused children and the church chose to protect and not commit whatever. Baron through the team editor, Walter "Robby" Robinson (Michael Keaton), asked the Spotlight Team to investigate. The task of contacting Garabedian is taken on by Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), while his colleagues, Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams) and Matt Carroll (Brian d'Archy James) trace other cases that are judged to have the same pattern. The Baron also took legal steps to unseal the documents which stated that the Catholic Church was aware of the cases of these priests.

The investigation begins with Spotlight meeting Phil Saviano (Neal Huff). Saviano was sexually abused when he was 12 years old. Saviano became chairman of the Survivors Network of Those Abuse by Priests (SNAP). Based on investigations from his organization, he suspected that there were 13 priests who had sexually abused children. Pastors target small children who come from poor families who have complex problems in their lives. When the priest is present to give attention, small children consider his helping hand very valuable. Pastor is considered as a holy god and has no reproach. When his attitude leads to sexual harassment, young children will be silent and impossible to escape. The families and environment of the victims will surely understand the deviant behavior of the priests thanks to the sanctity of the names of religious leaders and church institutions.

The case that the Spotlight film is trying to cover is a pedophile crime committed by a priest. In fact, sexual harassment committed by religious leaders does not always target minors as victims. It does not rule out the possibility that there will be cases of harassment of juvenile and adult victims, even those with deviant sexual preferences. Based on research conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, his initial research (2004) studied the nature and scope of problems during the period 1950-2002. It turns out that pedophilia is not the main problem. Less than 5% of abusive priests corresponds to a diagnosis of pedophilia, namely abusing prepubescent children. No less than 78% of the victims were post-pubescent youths. Thus, the nickname "pedophile priest" is not accurate for referring to the perpetrator. In addition, 81% of the victims between 1950 and 2002 were male, apparently because much of the abuse was "situational" and because "the opportunity arose".

The Spotlight team was shocked by the information provided by Saviano. To prove what he said, the investigation team began to collect other information whether it was true that 13 priests in Boston became pedophiles. Rezendes contacts Richard Sipe (Richard Jenkins) who is a former priest who rehabilitates pedophile priests. Sipe also conducted research for several years that 50% percent of priests did not take a vow of celibacy. Based on statistical research 6%, all priests have sexual relations with children, which indirectly shows that as many as 90 priests in Boston (out of 1500 total number of priests) are pedophiles and hebephiles.

Eric Macleish (Billy Crudup) is a lawyer appointed by the Catholic Church to represent them regarding the demands of the victims against the priest. Macleish became a mediator to settle legal disputes in the form of compensation payments and confidentiality agreements. In his meeting with Robby and Sacha, Macleish is bogged down by a clause in the agreement that keeps him from providing much information. From the Spotlight Team's investigation, Macleish got some money from the diocese so he wouldn't spread the case to the public. Macleish's attitude seemed odd, he should have been able to help the victim to demand that the perpetrator be punished accordingly. However, it was eventually discovered that Macleish's attitude was the result of having had no choice since The Boston Globe refused to help him with a list of 20 priests suspected of sexual abuse. Macleish's attitude actually made him a lawyer who did not help victims much and gave many advantages to the diocese.

Of the parties that ultimately decided to benefit the diocese, Garabedian is one of the victim's lawyers who is quite persistent in defending the victim by not filing for closed mediation. Garabedian continued the case until the court process. Garabedian is not interested in the lure of money offered by the Catholic Church. It is this document about Benzevich's testimony warning his superiors in the Catholic Church about Geoghan that the Globe is trying to prosecute. When Rezendes checked the court files, Garabedian's motion on Geonghan was completely blank. In American court institutions, documents that are labeled public can be accessed by anyone (see Janssen and Neutelings in Marhaeni, 2020). These documents can be read, copied, even copied for various purposes. In this case, the Catholic Church can remove legal documents from the court.

When Rezendes came to meet Garabedian, he refused to help with Spotlight's investigation because according to him, Rezendes was just like any other journalist, only wanted to find information to report on, not to reveal the true case. Rezendes convinced Garabedian that the Spotlight investigation was meant to reveal the corruption of the church system that had sheltered pedophiles for years. After being sure enough, Garabedian finally invited one of his clients to be interviewed. It is increasingly revealed that victims who report to Garabedian never receive legal follow-up. The case was resolved in secret, the court files are not publicly accessible. The perpetrators received protection from the church. the church as a religious institution holds a strong influence in the City of Boston. The perpetrators did not receive serious sanctions, after they moved from one parish to another the same incident would continue to be repeated.

The church's action to eliminate court documents is clearly against the law. The Catholic Church builds strong people relationships in Boston. This relationship is used to help the church when faced with difficult conditions. Records of deviant behavior by priests should be suppressed as much as possible. The existence of strong relationships can help the church to minimize potential threats. Those appointed to assist the diocese include Wilson Rogers, the attorney who accompanied Anthony Benzevich and faced Globe's prosecution, and Jim Sullivan, the attorney who officially represented the Catholic Church in cases of priestly sexual abuse of children.

Another Spotlight team, Sacha, met former priest Ronald Paquin who was suspected of having sexually abused children. For the first time the Spotlight Team met directly with the perpetrators who were suspected of committing pedophile crimes. Paquin admitted what he did, but he did not get pleasure from what he had done. However, he did not admit to having raped anyone, especially small children, saying "it's different". When Sacha asked where the difference lay, Paquin replied because he himself had experienced rape. Paquin's statement opened another side of the priest. Pedophiles themselves have experienced sexual crimes. It should be studied further whether this is the reason that makes priests commit sexual violence against children. The position and role of the priest is the perfect cover to cover up deviant sexual preferences and acts of sexual violence against others.

A bright spot was found when Matt found the diocesan archives that recorded every priest and his parish in Boston. In these archives, there are several names of pastors who were transferred and dismissed. Matt suspected the priests were pedophiles who were dismissed for committing sexual violence. The pedophile priests who were revoked from their parishes had the same pattern, namely moving more quickly from one parish to another (2-3 years or according to the discovery of the case) with the statement Sick Leave, Unassigned, Absent of Leave, Emergency Response, and so on. To that end, Spotlight recaps all of the pastor's names with the note. The latest data shows that 87 priests in Boston matched the pattern and were suspected of sexually abusing children. Not only that, their legal case to unseal the Catholic Church's documents was also won by the judge.

Having been constrained by the September 9, 2001 attacks, Spotlight finally managed to get Jim Sullivan's confirmation. Initially Sullivan refused to confirm the name list. He is a party that helps the Catholic Church in protecting sexual predators. His job as a lawyer is to protect clients. However, in the depths of his heart he was starting to get sick of the crimes of the priests hiding under his holy robes. Sullivan also questioned why it took decades for the Globe to come forward to reveal it. From a list of 87 priests Spotlight gave to Sullivan, he confirmed all were perpetrators of sexual harassment.

The Spotlight Team's struggle to uncover this systemic crime is not an easy matter. The film's message is clear, institutions that silence child abuse should not be tolerated. The voices of victims who seek justice are closed because of the great influence of the church. The church as a religious institution that its followers always venerate has depravity in it that it tries to cover up. When victims are unable to voice the truth, it is the media that has the potential to reveal facts to the public. Legally, the problem is not immediately resolved by the facts published by the mass media. However, at least the public will know and be aware that in the life around us there is decay that we are trying to protect. Film is a form of mass media that has an important influence on the socio-cultural, political, artistic and scientific worlds. As one of the mass media, film has turned into an avenue for various kinds of ideas, concepts, ideas, and has an effect on society (Worth in Wahib, 2018).

Great crimes keep happening over and over again because they are kept hidden. There should be someone who dares to reveal the truth. Henceforth, the news is expected to be input for the government or legal institutions in making decisions on a crime case. Film is included in the study of modern mass communication and has a unique influence on its audience. This influence appears and varies greatly depending on how the process of negotiating meaning is carried out by the audience towards the film, if the negotiation of meaning is weak, the greater the influence that the audience will receive on the film (McQuaill in Wahib, 2018).

Spotlight began to print the results of successive investigations from the beginning of 2002 to 2003 which contained hundreds or even thousands of testimonies from victims and their families, as well as a search for evidence suggesting that the dioceses moved pedophile priests without doing anything. This film shows the phenomenon of priests within the scope of the Catholic Church who commit sexual violence against children and adolescents without any consequences. At the end of Spotlight, a list of the names of a large number of dioceses around the world where sexual abuse by priests was discovered was shown. Governments in Canada, Australia, Ireland, the UK and Germany have established independent commissions to investigate the scale and pattern of abuse in public institutions.

Bibliography

Marhaeni, Innezdhe Ayang and Aprinus Salam.Perpetrators of Sexual Violence under State Protection: The Film “Spotlight” (2015) Directed by Tom McCarthy Based on Giorgio Agamben's Political Philosophy. SINTESIS Cultural Scientific Journal, Volume 14, Number 1, March 2020, p. 59-77.

The Nature and Scope of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests and Deacons in the United States 1950- 2002. A Research Study Conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The City University of New York, February 2004. Accessed in pdf format from www.usccb.org. 01 March 2016.

Wahib, Achmad Nur. Analysis of Reception of Journalistic Ethics in Film (Study of Analysis of Spotlight Film Reception (2015) on Journalists in Solo in 2018). Communication Science Study Program, Faculty of Communication and Informatics, Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta. 2018.