19 years at which time i was in effect mustered out of the priesthood because of my behavior. i am, in effect, a child molester. according to police investigators, mckeown admitted to molesting 22 boys, both during and after his time as a priest. the statute of limitations had run out on all but one. it got him a 25-year sentence. so i certainly had some anxious moments when i walked in because of the way child molesters are traditionally treated in prison, which is not very good, you know. but the truth is, i have not been mistreated at all, either by inmates or staff. mckowen is lucky, as sex offenders go. he s assigned to the prison s
and try to stay out of trouble. in most other prison environments, edward mckeown would be a marked man. i m in effect a child molester, specifically the crime that i m here for, you know, was for a teenage boy who was i guess 13 when i began abusing him. mckeown is a former catholic priest serving a 25-year sentence for sexual battery and rape. i was then and i am now a person of faith. i was certainly a person of faith i was active as a priest who had a very dark secret. who caused a great deal of harm in individuals lives. that secret isn t there anymore. and that s probably this is going to sound crazy, i guess, one of the most one of the biggest blessings, if you can say, about being here. now i would want to think that the outer me and the enemy are pretty much the same. i ll say to people and i ll say
sex offenders go. he s assigned to the prison s one minimum security wing where most of the inmates are more interested in going home than getting in trouble. and it s not the only positive thing mckeown sees in his incarceration. i was a catholic priest for a long time. i was then and i am now, you know, a person of faith. i was certainly a person of faith when i was active as a priest who had a very dark secret. and i don t have that secret anymore. i don t have to hide that. i ve asked god to take care of me and so far, he said, okay, i ll do that. coming up what in the world is this? i have no idea. it s key to survival. but prison food has plenty of critics. how s the food? terrible. everybody complains, you know, everywhere you go somebody is going to complain. my question is where s all the beef at?
one minimum security wing where most of the inmates are more interested in going home than getting in trouble. and it s not the only positive thing mckeown sees in his incarceration. i was a catholic priest for a long time. i was then and i am now, you know, a person of faith. i was certainly a person of faith when i was active as a priest who had a very dark secret. and i don t have that secret anymore. i don t have to hide that. i ve asked god to take care of many he and so far he said, okay. i ll do that. coming up what in the world is this? i have no idea. it s key to survival. but prison food has plenty of critics. how s the food? terrible. everybody complains, you know, everywhere you go somebody is going to complain. my question is where s all the beef at?
goes just like that, oh, lord in heaven, deliver me from this demon. please, lord. just like that, all of a sudden he s found god. i start smashing in the glass. to get to him. it s only halfway in and that s when the whole unit came, guards and all that. they ll tell you, county jail is rough. if a man took too long, nighten, they despised him. nobody, cop, nobody liking a chest chester. if the average sex offender must contend with inmates like nighten, it can be even worse for those whose crimes made headlines. periodically over these 5 1/2 years, you know, i turned the television set on to see my face, you know, on the television set. that s pretty uncomfortable. we met edward mckeown at the river bend maximum security institution in tennessee. i was ordained a catholic priest of the diocese of nashville in january of 1970.