Father Michael Sweeney is a Catholic priest who knew critical information about a series of sexual assaults on altar boys.
History[]
Sweeney first came to the SVU detectives' attention when a transgender prostitute is murdered in his church, with "You have sinned" written, in Latin, on the church wall overlooking the victim. The killer, a young priest, told Detectives Benson and Stabler that he committed the crime because Sweeney molested him when he was an altar boy. The detectives later recovered footage of Sweeney admitting to sexually desiring young boys.
During the investigation, however, the detectives discovered that Sweeney was covering for the real abuser: his superior, Bishop Mallinson. Stabler asked Sweeney why he would conceal the truth; Sweeney revealed that Mallinson confessed to him what he had done, and that he was bound by the Catholic Church's confessional seal from revealing the contents of that confession. He also implied that he does indeed harbor an attraction to adolescent boys, but repressed it because he knows it is wrong. Ultimately, he forsakes his position in the Church in order to identify Mallinson as the abuser. (SVU: "Silence")