The boys called them the party priests.

They held pool and lake galas where drinks were freely flowing, even for their teenage guests. They let the young boys drive and smoke in their cars, left dirty magazines around the rectory for them to read, and talked openly in graphic terms about sex.

For boys just entering the awkward stages of adolescence, nothing seemed cooler than hanging out with Monsignor Thomas O’Brien and Father Thomas Reardon of Kansas City.

Except for the price that many of the boys — now men — say they paid. They allege that the priests used their positions of power to prey on the youngsters, plying them with alcohol, groping them and offering them money for sex.

The Missouri Supreme Court has cleared two dozen suits for trial.  The trials are coming soon.  Another sorry tale, told in a Kansas City Star takeout of 3,400 words in today’s paper.  At least it’s still news.