It's almost like we're trying to create a new stereotype equating priests with child molesters.
There are some signs that even liberals are beginning to see the attacks on the Catholic Church for what they are, even while denying it. Eugene Kane (writing, as he says, "thinking black" out loud) in an April 16, 2002 article in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has some thoughts:

It must be hard being a Catholic priest these days. With all the news about priests sexually abusing young children, it could lead some to believe they are the only group with this problem. It's almost like we're trying to create a new stereotype equating priests with child molesters. Which is definitely not the case. Maybe it's the Catholic church's strict policy on sex that makes priests an easy target for ridicule when this sort of thing gets out.

I'm repulsed that anyone would watch a tape of a grown man having sex with a child, but I'm not naive enough to believe it doesn't appeal to some. I'm also willing to bet, with all the jokes and attention being paid to Catholic priests these days, lots of predatory child molesters are breathing easier. Because as long as this scandal continues, nobody's looking at them. That's the problem with stereotypes; they tend to take your attention off the real thing.

So while the media are definitely not creating a new stereotype, there is a problem with stereotypes they didn't create?