Convicted killer’s hire as chaplain at Togus concerns federal officials
The chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee said the hiring means the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs must ‘look very closely at their hiring practices.’
By Michael Shepherd
Staff Writer
April 11, 2014
TOGUS — The chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee said Friday that the panel is concerned by a loophole that allowed VA Maine Healthcare Systems-Togus to hire a chaplain who killed his wife without Togus officials knowing of his conviction.
The remarks from U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., came after a tour of the hospital and surrounding buildings on its campus with U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud of Maine’s 2nd District, the top committee Democrat.
The comments were in response to a March story in the Kennebec Journal about the past of James T. Luoma, a Pentecostal minister and Vietnam veteran who is now the head chaplain at Togus.
In 1986, he was convicted of murdering his wife, Sherry, in Ohio, but an appeal led to a new trial, a guilty plea to manslaughter and a shorter sentence. A model inmate by all accounts, Luoma left prison in 2004 and became an ordained minister.
By 2011, he had a chaplain job with the federal Department of Veterans Affairs in Dayton, Ohio. In October, Luoma, now 63, was hired to lead Togus chaplains.
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Saturday, April 12, 2014
Chaplain at Maine VA killed wife
Is this a case of redemption or example of a deeper problem? The VA would not hire a Chaplain like me even though I was trained, ordained, and at the time I was trying to work for the VA, insured. I gave up because I did not meet their requirements of training. While they seem to not want to break the rules, this Chaplain was allowed to work for them. It should depend more on the way he lives his life now. If he can find forgiveness for what he had done in the past, that can be a priceless message.
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He should still be in prison. He is a sociopath and there is no cure or treatment for that!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnyone reading this might be interested to know that he has had nothing but problems in the VA. In spite of numerous issues with his role as the head chaplain in Maine and I am sure many complaints, he was promoted to be in charge of a much larger VA in Baltimore. The VA did nothing and instead promoted him. I imagine his problems have also followed him there as they directly relate to how he treats other human beings.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the insight and you are right. There are always reasons why someone becomes who they are. Or, how they act.
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