02/24/08 - Greenwich Newswire For Sunday

Will Christ Church Be Able To Stop The Child Abuse?

Greenwich News Reports

Tate's apology at sentencing prompts questions
Stamford Advocate - Stamford,CT
By Martin B. Cassidy

Jack Bausman heard Robert Tate, former Christ Church Greenwich choir director, confess Thursday to viewing child pornography and committing decades of sexual abuse of minors. But Bausman said he still has questions about Tate's admission that he had hired two pedophiles who preyed on choir boys.

At his sentencing Thursday, Tate, 66, apologized for knowingly hiring the two unidentified men and called himself "a coward" for firing the men but not turning them into police when they molested boys in the choir.

Bausman, a Christ Church parishioner who has known Tate for 34 years, said he had hoped for the benefit of parishioners that authorities would identify the men and say when they had worked at the church.

"The specifics I don't know and I don't believe they were part of the court record," said Bausman, one of the parishioners who helped put up Tate's $500,000 bond in January 2007. It is difficult to know what to think of Tate's admission without more information, Bausman said....

... Eugene Riccio, an attorney for Christ Church, on Friday said the current leadership of the church was unaware of the two pedophiles hired by Tate until prosecutors disclosed it last week and were reviewing whatever records and statements....

... Caldwell said Tate's actions had changed many lives including his own, playing a role in his leaving Russell's firm, though the former legal associates are still friends.

"Until yesterday, I don't think anybody knew the extent of what Mr. Tate was doing," Caldwell said Friday. "This guy dropped a neutron bomb on a community of people and changed their lives. What was said today, it certainly had a shocking effect on the parishioners."

Surging Greenwich stops New Canaan
Stamford Advocate - Stamford,CT
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Greenwich Time - Greenwich,CT
"It is one of the most architecturally significant houses in Greenwich," said Nils Kerchus, consultant to The Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich. ...

GHS boys ice hockey aims to end playoff drought against Trinity ...
Greenwich Time - Greenwich,CT
By David Fierro As the eighth seed, the Greenwich High School boys hockey team entered the FCIAC Tournament quarterfinals last season against top-seeded ...

Greenwich Blog Post

Greenwich Choral Society
When: Sunday February 24th, 2008 - 05:30 PM Where: Greenwich Library at Cole Auditorium Dixieland Jazz Benefit Concert.
Greenwich Library | Today's Events - http://www.greenwichlibrary.org

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02/22/08 - News Reports From Greenwich Time

Painting program encourages children to use their imaginations

By Meredith Blake

Jessica Aselin, 7, placed her stuffed brown puppy May in front of her and carefully traced its features -- the long face and floppy ears -- onto the dog in her painting.

She was asked to create a story on paper, using tempera paint, during a children's program at the Bush-Holley Historic Site, and May was the main character.....
Former choir director sentenced to 5 1/2 years in child porn case

By Martin B. Cassidy

After owning up to 40 years of sexually abusing minors overseas and viewing hundreds more in illicit pictures, Robert F. Tate, the former Christ Church Greenwich music director caught with child pornography, was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison yesterday.

"There are many people who, all my life, thought I was a good choir master and a good person and a good example for their kids," Tate, 66, said. "I want those people to know today that I was a terrible choir master, a terrible person and I harmed those kids."

As Christ Church parishioners and lawyers looked on, Tate told U.S. District Court Judge Alan Nevas that he never assaulted choir members under his instruction at the church, but did have sex with boys in Thailand, the Philippines and Costa Rica. He also said he knowingly hired two pedophiles to work in the Christ Church choir, standing by when they assaulted choir boys and then quietly firing them.....

Music director's love of music inspires him to travel the world
By Meredith Blake

Trekking alone across the Karakoram Range, Christopher Kabala learned about a new culture, largely unaffected by the world events unfolding just hours away.

"This is not the Pakistan that you read about in the papers," he said, "It is one of the most peaceful places in the world."

Kabala, 61, a pianist, and music director at the Round Hill Community Church, traveled to the country last August to go trekking....
Two teens hurt in crash

By Hoa Nguyen

Two Greenwich teenagers were in critical condition and two other people were hospitalized for minor injuries following a three-car accident yesterday on East Putnam Avenue in Cos Cob.

The accident involving a dark red Jeep sport utility vehicle, gray Volvo sedan and gray Subaru station wagon, occurred shortly before 6 p.m. by the Citgo gas station in Cos Cob, police said.

The SUV carrying the teenagers was traveling west when it struck the Volvo and then the Subaru, police said. The roof of the SUV was ripped open, and one of the teenagers was ejected, officials said

02/21/08 - Another Negitive National Headline About Greenwich. What Dose The Rest Of The Country Think Of This Town?

Ex-music director at Conn. church gets prison over child porn

From: KVIA-TV El Paso

An ex-music director at a Greenwich, Connecticut, church has been sentenced to 5 1/2 years in federal prison for possessing child pornography.

Sixty-6-year-old Robert Tate must also pay a $50,000 fine and participate in sex offender treatment.

Tate last year pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography. He then spent several weeks at long-term treatment centers for sexually deviant behavior.

Tate was choir director for 34 years at Christ Church, creating a music program that gained an international reputation.

Former President George Bush -- who now lives in Houiston -- attended that church while growing up. Funeral services for the ex-president's parents were held at Christ Church....

Former Christ Church Greenwich Choir Master sentenced to 5 1/2 ...
Stamford Advocate, CT
BRIDGEPORT -- Robert F. Tate, the former Christ Church Greenwich music director who pleaded guilty last year to possession of child pornography, ...

Ex-music director at Conn. church gets prison over child porn KTRE, TX Tate was choir director for 34 years at Christ Church, creating a music program that gained an international reputation. Former President George Bush -- who ...

Authorities: Music director hired pedophile at Greenwich church Newsday, NY ... Robert Tate faces nine to 11 years in prison under guidelines when he is sentenced Thursday. Tate was choir director for 34 years at Christ Church, ...

Church Choir Director Hired a Pedophile, Prosecutors Say
New York Times, United States
Mr. Tate, 65, was choir director for 34 years at Christ Church, an Episcopal church, and he created a music program that gained an international reputation. ...