May 17, 2008 6:59 am US/Eastern
Nun Forgives Man Who Robbed Her
PARKVILLE, Md. (WJZ) ―
The attack and robbery of Sister Muriel Curran in front of her Parkville apartment lasted only seconds. But it left the 78-year-old nun with bruises, broken ribs, a torn rotator cuff and a big gash above her eye.
"I did not see the person who did it to me," Sister Muriel said.
As she healed, Sister Muriel's case remained open. In September, months of police work paid off. Charles Dodson, 22, admitted he was the man who harmed Sister Muriel and pleaded guilty to one count of robbery.
But as Mary Bubala reports, just before a judge sentenced Dodson to jail, his victim did something unexpected.
Sister Muriel forgave him.
In court, she said, "Charles, I wanted to look you straight in the eye and I wanted you to look straight in my eye so that we would have that meeting with each other."
Then, she offered a prayer for her attacker, saying "I have plans for you, plans for peace not disaster and plans for a future full of hope."
Sister Muriel recalls to WJZ the moment she reached out and touched the man who brought her so much pain. "When I did he was just sobbing and tears were just dripping down."
Those in court that day say tears flowed from every single person: clerks, bailiffs, police officers and attorneys in court for other cases. Everyone who's jaded by what happens in court from day-to-day, say they felt a higher power at work right there in the courtroom with Sister Muriel.
"I knew there was something special about her and this case and I knew it had the potential to be exactly what it came to be," said deputy attorney general Leo Ryan.
Ryan prosecuted the case and tells WJZ it was the single most profound thing he had ever seen or heard in a courtroom.
"Criminal courtrooms are the provence of pain, injury and anger and despair and Sister Muriel brought hope and healing and forgiveness and peace. It was just a wonderful, wonderful thing," said Ryan.
Sister Muriel's actions transcended justice that day, rising above law and order, to deliver a message of redemption for her attacker.
"I want to see the best for him in the future, he's got a future," she said.
Dodson was sentenced to 10 years in prison, suspending all but four-and- a-half years. He will also serve three years of probation upon his release.
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