ABUSE TRACKER

• The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to launch an investigation into possible misconduct by “legal representatives” involved in sex abuse litigation.
• The vote follows a Times investigation that uncovered plaintiffs who said they were paid to sue the county in cases that were part of a historic $4-billion settlement.

Los Angeles County launched an investigation Tuesday to determine whether a record $4-billion sex abuse settlement approved this year may be tainted.

County supervisors unanimously approved a motion to have county lawyers investigate possible misconduct by “legal representatives” involved in the recent flood of sex abuse litigation against L.A. County. The county auditor’s office also will set up a hotline dedicated to tips from the public related to the lawsuits, according to the motion.

“It is appalling and sickening that anyone would exploit a system meant to bring justice to victims of childhood sexual abuse,” said Supervisor…

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A new lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Miami has revived a notorious case involving a former Catholic priest convicted of a string of sex offenses more than a decade ago.

The most recent lawsuit, filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court in June, is only the latest accusing the Catholic Church of failing to protect multiple underage boys from ex-priest Father Neil Doherty, a serial sexual abuser who was employed by the Archdiocese as a priest from 1969 until 2002 when he was removed.

“He is probably the most prolific pedophile priest in U.S. history. He sexually abused, we think, thousands of kids over the course of about 40 years,” said Daniel Ellis, senior lead attorney at Herman Law, the firm representing a victim identified only as John Doe 8 to protect his privacy.

According to the lawsuit, Doherty groomed and raped the victim around 1995 when he was around 16…

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Abuse survivors seek dismissal of church’s bankruptcy case, calling latest filing a delay tactic

The Archdiocese of Baltimore was back in court on Monday as a judge weighs whether to grant a dismissal of its bankruptcy case.

The hearing came after the church filed for charitable immunity, which would make it immune to having to use its own assets to pay survivors. Abuse survivors told 11 News they call the move one more delay tactic and the survivors requested a dismissal of the church’s bankruptcy case.

“Just when you think you may have been reaching the end of the Catholic Church’s road of hypocrisy, they manage to pave another 50 miles,” said Frank Schindler, an abuse survivor.

“They want the bankruptcy protection and the exemptions, too, and they’re not compatible. They can’t have it both ways,” said Teresa Lancaster, an abuse survivor.

The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy two…

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Back in 2000, a Michigan entrepreneur named Ron DeHaas co-founded Covenant Eyes, an anti-porn internet accountability software program that has since grown to more than 2 million users.

The idea, he said at the time, was to protect his teenage stepsons from sexual temptation online. Its effectiveness has been lauded by many, including Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson.

But this past Aug. 13, one of those stepsons was arrested at a meeting spot in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he thought he would find a 14-year-old girl interested in having sex with him.

Instead, Thomas Wideman, 38, encountered officers from the Kent County Sheriff’s Office, including a female detective who had been posing as a teenage girl online.

The Roys Report (TRR) attempted to contact DeHaas for comment but did not receive a response.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Wideman began communicating with the detective, Sgt. Anna…

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Work is ongoing to secure financial contributions from religious and secular bodies for survivors of historical institutional abuse.

The work comes after the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry (HIAI) revealed sexual, physical and emotional abuse at the homes from 1922 to 1995.

Sir Anthony Hart, who chaired the inquiry which revealed shocking levels of abuse in that period recommended a permanent memorial, compensation and an official apology to the victims.

Asked for an update on progress at the Assembly on Monday, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said they have received financial contributions from some, and talks are ongoing with others.

“Victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse have endured unimaginable pain and suffering over many years,” she told MLAs.

“We are committed to ensuring they get the redress that they deserve.

“Payments have been received from the Good Shepherd Sisters, Barnardos, De La Salle Order and the Diocese of Down and Connor in…

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Houston Christian University, formerly Houston Baptist University, has terminated the employment of Jay “Bobby” Spencer, associate provost for online learning. HCU is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

The move came following a news article from online outlet The Roys Report alleging Spencer’s abuse of a recent graduate of Liberty University in the late 1990s.

The original Roys Report article, published Sept. 23, features an interview with Rachel Beck, a 1996 Liberty graduate who went on to work at the school as an admissions counselor.

Beck claims she was sexually harassed by the school’s then-president John Borek. When she reported the harassment to Spencer, who was then a Liberty vice president, she says Spencer began grooming her and soon made unwanted sexual advances. 

The two began a sexual relationship that was discovered in August 1998 and labeled an affair, according to The Roys Report.

Beck moved back home to…

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford is seeking to work with survivors of Church-based abuse as part of a new initiative to help shape its safeguarding policies and practices.

The Survivors Reference Panel is being created by the diocese to put the real-life experiences and testimonies of survivors at the heart of its work to protect against all forms of abuse.

Through establishing this new panel, the Diocese of Salford seeks to work closely with those hurt by the actions of the Church in the past, to ensure the voice of survivors plays an integral role in how it safeguards against all forms of Church-based abuse, and how it continues to provide meaningful support and healing to those affected.

This latest initiative offers an additional dimension to progress already achieved with Healing through Community, which provides counselling-specific services to survivors. Whilst healing and support remains available through this valued service,…

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The Archdiocese of Baltimore filed a form Chapter 11 plan of reorganization on Friday, October 3 with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland, which proposes to provide compensation to victim-survivors of child sexual abuse committed by a number of clergy and employees of the Archdiocese over many decades. The form plan confirms the Archdiocese’s longstanding commitment to contribute to the healing of those harmed through monetary compensation, pastoral accompaniment and strong and effective child protection policies.

This present version of the plan proposes that the Archdiocese of Baltimore and affiliated Catholic entities, including parishes and schools, would contribute a combined $33 million to the Survivors Compensation Trust plus all insurance assets available to provide coverage for claims made by victim-survivors to settle the claims filed in bankruptcy court. While the Archdiocese of Baltimore continues negotiations to monetize the insurance assets to be contributed, the Archdiocese believes…

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he Archdiocese of Baltimore was back in court on Monday as a judge weighs whether to grant a dismissal of its bankruptcy case.

The hearing came after the church filed for charitable immunity, which would make it immune to having to use its own assets to pay survivors. Abuse survivors told 11 News they call the move one more delay tactic and the survivors requested a dismissal of the church’s bankruptcy case.

“Just when you think you may have been reaching the end of the Catholic Church’s road of hypocrisy, they manage to pave another 50 miles,” said Frank Schindler, an abuse survivor.

“They want the bankruptcy protection and the exemptions, too, and they’re not compatible. They can’t have it both ways,” said Teresa Lancaster, an abuse survivor.

The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy two years ago, and survivors said they feel it was done in bad faith to…

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Today, I’m sharing a conversation I had a few weeks ago with Ann Yeong, for her podcast, Becoming Me, about spiritual abuse within the context of evangelization. We talk about how a distorted image of God can lead to a distorted evangelization where we “proclaim God in a way contrary to God himself.” We also discuss the critical role of personal integrity and the healthy use of authority for those in positions of spiritual leadership. It was so good to have this conversation with Ann. I hope you enjoy listening.

Listen here or on your favorite podcast app: https://www.catholicthirdspace.com/p/23-ann-yeong-spiritual-abuse-in-evangelization

Ann Yeong is the Founder of Integrō Formation and the host of the Becoming Me podcast. Ann has over 15 years of experience in human and spiritual formation in the Catholic Church in Singapore. She served as Director, Youth & Young Adults Office in the Church of…

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Scores of people suffered sexual, physical and emotional abuse at the homes from 1922 to 1995.

Work is ongoing to secure financial contributions from religious and secular bodies for survivors of historical institutional abuse.

The work comes after the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry (HIAI) revealed sexual, physical and emotional abuse at the homes from 1922 to 1995.

Sir Anthony Hart, who chaired the inquiry which revealed shocking levels of abuse in that period recommended a permanent memorial, compensation and an official apology to the victims.

Asked for an update on progress at the Assembly on Monday, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said they have received financial contributions from some, and talks are ongoing with others.

“Victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse have endured unimaginable pain and suffering over many years,” she told MLAs.

“We are committed to ensuring they get the redress that they deserve.

“Payments have been received from the…

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A Free Press investigation reveals how dozens of Catholic dioceses are subverting the Child Victim Act, stopping lawsuits in their tracks and pressuring victims to accept pennies on the dollar.

The first person to sue the Rockville Centre Catholic Diocese after the passage of New York’s Child Victims Act was a man named Richard Tollner. It was August 2019, and New York was one of seven states that had created a law giving sex abuse victims a limited window to bring lawsuits no matter how far in the past the abuse had taken place.

Tollner, who is now 66, said that he had been raped—and molested multiple times—by a priest, beginning when he was 15 at St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary, in Uniondale, New York. The priest, Monsignor Alan J. Placa, was the “dean of discipline” at the school on Long Island, where Tollner grew up. In 1977, when he was 17, he…

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After joining a multi-state lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has announced that following the filing of the lawsuit, the DOJ has now dropped its plan to impose illegal conditions on nearly $1.4 billion in Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grants. Earlier this year, the Trump Administration, disregarding the clear letter of the law and intent of Congress, declared that states would be unable to access VOCA funds – used to support victims and survivors of crimes – unless they accede to the Trump Administration’s extreme immigration priorities. 

“As Michigan’s Attorney General, one of my main responsibilities is to protect crime victims and fight for their justice,” Nessel said. “The Trump Administration’s attempt to place unlawful conditions on critical VOCA funding threatened to deny survivors the support they need to heal and rebuild their lives. Those conditions would have also required that victims’ detailed…

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In the twentieth century, Marcial Maciel was the greatest criminal in Catholic Church history, and equally its greatest fundraiser, says journalist Jason Berry about this abusive priest, the subject of a new documentary. Think of those two things together. Crime and fundraising. The new film about Maciel explains how the Catholic Church tolerated this abuser for fifty years. Even the popes protected him. The investigations show Maciel abused at least sixty minor children, including his own children. Nonetheless, Maciel never faced any legal penalty. No trial, no conviction, no time in jail, no justice. Maciel’s history reminds us how reluctant the church has been to protect children against sexual abuse.

Maciel was born in Mexico in 1920 and decided he wanted to be a priest. Not just any priest, however. From his youth he wanted to create his own order of priests, one that would follow his own ideas of the…

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Gisèle Pelicot returned to court in France on Monday, 10 months after a mass trial in which 51 men were convicted, most of them for raping her while she was deliberately sedated. The case deeply shocked the country and established her as an international feminist icon.

One of those men, Husamettin Dogan, 44, has appealed both the ruling and the sentence. The second trial, which is being held before the Court of Appeal in Nîmes, in France’s south, will be decided by three judges and a nine-person jury.

Ms. Pelicot, now 72, arrived moments before the trial opened to a crush of flashing cameras, accompanied by her youngest son, Florian. While her much-anticipated presence was not required, Ms. Pelicot’s lawyers said that she had felt compelled to attend the entire process, as she had for the last trial.

“She feels it’s her responsibility to be there,” said Stéphane Babonneau, one…

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Growing up, I learned a certain version of our country’s history. At my Catholic school in the Midwest, I was taught that we were the birthplace of democracy, that we won wars against evil empires and that we were respected as the richest and most powerful country in the world.   

As a young adult, I began to understand the limitations, omissions and, sometimes, falsifications of the narratives that had shaped my formal education. At that time, I discovered the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and became involved with peace and justice organizations. I was proud to call myself a Friend and hear people affirm the important role Quakers played in U.S. history, maintaining peaceful relations with Native Americans, advancing women’s rights and working to end slavery.  

Quakers also believe in seeking the truth.  

One such truth I had not previously been taught was that Quakers were among the many Christian…

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São Paulo, Brazil – After almost two decades at large, Bolivia has requested the extradition of former priest Juan José Santana Trinidad, a Uruguayan national accused of having committed sex abuse against 30 minors between 2005-2007, when he was a missionary in Tapacarí in east-central Bolivia.

Santana, who had been on the run for 18 years, was captured Sept. 26 in the house of his parents in the Uruguayan city of Salto by national police agents. He’s been kept in custody since then, and must be sent to Bolivia when the extradition process is completed, within 60 days.

The laicized priest was in charge of a boarding school in Tapacarí named Ángel Gelmí, where over 70 boys with ages ranging from 8 to 17 lived and studied. In 2007, a local nun discovered he was abusing a boy and denounced him. Other cases also appeared, with victims telling the authorities…

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[Note from BishopAccountability.org – Church bankruptcies have begun to include survivor impact hearings. At one of those hearings, Fr. Paul Ignatius Cloonan was brought to our attention, and his “ledger page” (his diocesan assignment record) was provided to us. We have researched the lawsuits regarding Cloonan filed during New York’s CVA window and updated his entry in our Database of Accused accordingly.]

Named as a sexual abuser by at least 14 men and women in lawsuits filed during the New York Child Victims Act window (click “Read original article” above for access to the ledger page, lawsuits, and other sources). In the seven lawsuits that provide details of the abuse, the criminal acts range from sexual touching to anal rape and include fondling and groping of the victim’s genitals, creation of pornographic photographs, and oral rape.  Cloonan rubbed his genitals and rectum on one victim’s face and chest, and forced…

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Rome – Pope Leo XIV met Monday with Peruvian Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, a conservative lightning rod whose participation in pre-conclave meetings earlier this year became a source of global scandal over allegations of sexual abuse.

Charges that Cipriani, now 81, had sexually abused a minor in the confessional in the 1980s broke in January, along with news that Pope Francis had restricted his ministry and placed limits on his travel in the wake of the accusation.

During the papal transition period, between Pope Francis’s passing and Leo XIV’s election, a global spotlight was shed on the case given Cipriani’s decision to participate in pre-conclave general congregation meetings while wearing his cardinal’s attire, despite the limits Francis had imposed.

Cipriani was long one of the most prominent and influential prelates for the Catholic right in Peru and throughout Latin America, especially during his two decades as archbishop of Lima,…

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The Presbyterian Church has apologised to victims who suffered abuse while in its care.

The public apology was delivered both in Auckland, on Saturday, and in Dunedin the week before (27 October). The dates fall more than a year after the national Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care published its report.

Survivors were emotional as they read poetry to open the ceremony on Saturday, which was purposefully held away from church grounds at the Due Drop Events Centre in Manukau.

Moderator of the general assembly, Reverend Rose Luxford, said the church and people in it had caused pain, and extended a “sincere and unreserved apology”.

“It was our responsibility to care for you,” she said. “We failed. Abuse happened in our care, because we failed to provide protection and we didn’t act when alarms were raised. Such a breach of trust is unjustifiable.”

Though some survivors were on…

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Police allege that the predatory behaviour of northern beaches drama teacher Ella Clements escalated significantly over a five-month period.

Clements, 24, was arrested last month and faced court on Monday, charged over allegations she had sexually abused a student from the Catholic boys’ school, St Augustine’s College, in Brookvale.

The Sydney Morning Herald revealed on Wednesday that the alleged abuse came to light when the father of the boy, who cannot be named due to laws protecting the identity of children involved in criminal proceedings, saw text messages between his son and the teacher.

Court documents obtained by this masthead allege that in May this year, she intentionally sexually touched a 15-year-old boy in her care.

Her alleged abuse of the student worsened with time; police will allege that Clements had sexual intercourse three times with the student between July 7 and September 15, the day before she was arrested.

…

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Sarah Mullally, the bishop of London, has been appointed archbishop of Canterbury. She has been a vocal supporter of the rights of women in the church.

Sarah Mullally, a onetime nurse who became the first female bishop of London, was named on Friday as the 106th archbishop of Canterbury, the first woman to occupy the post, at the helm of the Church of England, in more than 1,400 years.

Archbishop-designate Mullally will succeed Justin Welby, who resigned from the position last November under pressure, after the publication of a report that said he had failed to pursue a proper investigation into claims of widespread abuse of boys and young men decades ago at Christian summer camps.

A former cancer nurse who later served as the chief nursing officer for England, Archbishop-designate Mullally, 63, is a vocal exponent of the rights and role of women in the Church of England. She has…

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In a wide-ranging panel interview, Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob said he doubted he would go along with Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s characterization of Charlie Kirk as a modern-day saint, and said he has discussed the possibility of removing the Sunday Mass obligation for immigrants afraid of federal arrests.

Grob also said he doesn’t “have any fear of” ordaining women as priests or deacons but said he must work within the current rules of the Catholic Church, so he would not be taking that step.

At the Milwaukee Press Club’s Newsmaker Luncheon Oct. 2, Grob, now eight months into his tenure as archbishop, reflected on questions from reporters in a contemplative way. He often answered with open-ended inquiries of his own. He urged more dialogue, criticized division and said he knew he had to wade into the political fray because of the times we live in, but wished it wasn’t necessary.

“I have…

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Nate Tinner-Williams on a film uncovering the scourge of abuse against women religious—centering on the high-profile Jesuit artist Marko Rupnik.

“Nuns vs. The Vatican,” a searing new documentary from director Lorena Luciano, is an exercise in accompaniment and—despite its flaws—has the power to shift the broader understanding of the Catholic Church’s mercurial response to clergy sex abuse.

At the center of the film is the largely unrecognized phenomenon of abuse perpetrated against women religious, with a particular focus on the notorious former Jesuit priest-artist Marko Rupnik and his now-shuttered Loyola Community in Slovenia.

Though he is just one of several villains in the narrative, he is at once the ultimate symbol of religious corruption at the expense of vulnerable women, having engaged in spiritual and sexual abuse over the course of 30 years. The film follows several of his victims and…

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The pastor of the Summit Church in Elkins was arrested Wednesday and faces a felony charge after allegedly soliciting a minor.

Kevin Curtis Jones, 33, is charged with one count of soliciting a minor via computer, a felony, and was being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $50,000 cash-only bond set by Randolph County Magistrate Benjamin Shepler.

According to the criminal complaint, filed by Deputy and Task Force Officer D.A. Cale with the Barbour County Sheriff’s Office and the Mountain Region Drug And Violent Crime Task Force, on Wednesday, Cale assisted Cpl. C. Parks, also with the Barbour Sheriff’s Office, with a soliciting investigation involving Jones.

Parks told Cale he was “investigating Pastor Kevin Jones for soliciting a minor with a computer,” the complaint states. The alleged victim, who is no longer a juvenile, was an attending member of the Summit Church in Elkins. Cale applied for…

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Robert Morris, the founder of Gateway Church in the Dallas area today pleaded guilty to sexually abusing Cindy Clemishire in the 1980s, beginning when she was just 12.

Morris, who grew Gateway into one of America’s largest megachurches, admitted to five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child before Judge Cindy Pickerill. Under a plea deal, he received a 10-year sentence but will serve only six months in county jail. He also will register as a sex offender and pay $270,000 in restitution.

He was handcuffed and taken into custody immediately after the hearing.

Clemishire, now 55, was present in the courtroom with family, witnessing the accountability she had pursued for decades, NBC News reported.

“Today justice has finally been served, and the man who manipulated, groomed and abused me as a 12-year-old innocent girl is finally going to be behind bars,”  View Cache

Church leaders were made aware of a sexual misconduct allegation against a priest years before his abuse of a child came to light, the Church in Wales has confirmed.

A report made against Anthony Pierce by a university student in the 1980s reached the desk of his bishop, but the Church has found no record of him being disciplined.

Pierce went on to become a bishop himself – but in March admitted five charges of indecent assault against a boy under the age of 16 between 1985 and 1990.

A Church in Wales spokesperson said clergy who informed the bishop acted “in accordance with appropriate practice at the time” but a similar allegation would be handled differently now.

Sexual abuse claims against former bishop and vicar investigated

Former bishop jailed for sex attacks on boy

Abuse reported to church 17 years before police told

This is the latest…

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Bishop of London Sarah Mullally shattered a stained-glass ceiling Friday when she was announced as the next Archbishop of Canterbury, the first time a woman has been chosen as the Church of England’s spiritual leader.

Mullally, 63, a former cancer nurse who became England’s youngest chief nursing officer before joining the clergy, faces serious challenges in the church that include divisions over the treatment of women and LGBTQ people. She will also have to confront concerns that church leaders haven’t done enough to stamp out the sexual abuse scandals that have dogged the church for more than a decade.

The choice of Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury-designate marks a major milestone for a church that ordained its first female priests in 1994 and its first female bishop in 2015. She follows 105 men who have held the role since St. Augustine became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year…

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington continues to struggle with financial problems as the embattled organization racks up legal fees tied to the abuse that took place decades ago at St. Joseph’s Orphanage.

The diocese had already paid out more than $20 million to abuse survivors, but it is still struggling to cover about $1.5 million in related legal bills.

Despite their bankruptcy filing in September 2024, the diocese is still required to pay out attorney fees for itself and officially recognized creditors. That includes more than 100 claimants alleging sexual abuse by the clergy.

About 5% of the diocese’s remaining funding has been used to pay those legal bills.

Now, it is forced to cut the hours of staff at their South Burlington headquarters to make up for the deficit.

The church said it is aiming to make a new financial plan before the end of the year.

Some…

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By Communications Department – Archdiocese of Miami

Miami – (Oct. 2, 2025) — The Archdiocese of Miami is in the process of responding to a lawsuit involving allegations of sexual abuse of a minor by a former priest that occurred over twenty-nine years ago. As always, the Catholic Church’s concerns are for the victims and a prevailing sense of justice and healing.

The individual named in the lawsuit, Neil Doherty, was permanently removed from active ministry within the Archdiocese and the universal Catholic Church in April 2002. Since that time, Doherty has been named in multiple lawsuits. As is the Archdiocese’s practice, any allegation of sexual abuse of a minor by a priest is immediately reported to the appropriate State Attorney’s Office in Monroe, Miami-Dade, or Broward County.

Following the landmark meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Dallas, Texas in June 2002, the Archdiocese of Miami has implemented…

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• Archdiocese offers $33.18M from its own funds for survivor compensation.
• Insurance contributions may add hundreds of millions more.
• Charitable immunity defense could limit the archdiocese’s payout.
• More than 900 abuse victims have filed claims in the bankruptcy case.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore on Friday said it would be willing to pay about $33 million of its own money toward an eventual settlement.

The amount offered by the archdiocese would not represent the entire settlement amount; the amount to be paid by insurance companies is yet to be determined. The archdiocese said in a statement that it believed insurance would add hundreds of millions of dollars.

“While there is still much work to do, I am hopeful this form plan will aid us in ongoing conversations and will allow us to move forward toward a quicker resolution to these proceedings,” Baltimore Archbishop William Lori said in the statement.

“As the court process continues, with…

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• October 3, 2025

From Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda

Father Michael Ince, a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, has been authorized to return to ministry after being on a leave of absence since May 2022. This leave followed an allegation of clergy abuse involving a minor dating back to the 1980s.

In accordance with Archdiocesan protocols, the allegation was reported to local law enforcement and reviewed by their County Attorney’s office, which declined to pursue prosecution.

With the permission of law enforcement, the Archdiocese’s Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment (OMSSE) conducted a thorough internal investigation. The Archdiocese’s Ministerial Review Board (MRB) reviewed this matter and, after careful consideration, determined that the allegation was unsubstantiated. Considering Father Ince’s current personal situation as well as other past circumstances reviewed during this process, the MRB recommended that Father Ince be permitted, in collaboration with the OMSSE, to…

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The Diocese of Buffalo in New York has filed a reorganisation plan that would bring to an end nearly five years in bankruptcy court following one of the largest settlements of clergy abuse cases in the United States.

The plan, submitted to a federal judge this week, outlines how the diocese intends to meet the costs of a compensation package worth almost $274 million to be distributed among more than 900 survivors of sexual abuse. A trust will be created to assess claims and determine how much each individual will receive.

The settlement, the second largest of its kind in New York State, comes after lengthy negotiations between the diocese, insurers, and legal representatives of survivors. In May, the diocese agreed to contribute $150 million, raised largely from its parishes, many of which have been forced to close or merge as a result. Last week, two insurers confirmed they would…

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BURLINGTON, Vt. — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington continues to struggle with financial problems as the embattled organization racks up legal fees tied to the abuse that took place decades ago at St. Joseph’s Orphanage.

The diocese had already paid out more than $20 million to abuse survivors, but it is still struggling to cover about $1.5 million in related legal bills.

Despite their bankruptcy filing in September 2024, the diocese is still required to pay out attorney fees for itself and officially recognized creditors. That includes more than 100 claimants alleging sexual abuse by the clergy.

About 5% of the diocese’s remaining funding has been used to pay those legal bills.

Now, it is forced to cut the hours of staff at their South Burlington headquarters to make up for the deficit.

The church said it is aiming to make a new financial plan before the end of…

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A Texas pastor who founded one of the largest megachurch congregations in the country pleaded guilty on Thursday to sexually abusing a girl of 12 in Oklahoma in the 1980s.

Robert Morris, 64, entered the guilty plea during a hearing on Thursday, admitting to felony charges of lewd or indecent acts with a child.

As a part of the plea agreement, the former leader of Gateway Church was handed a 10-year sentence, but will only serve six months in jail and be on probation for the rest of the time.

He must also register as a sex offender and pay $250,000 (£185,000) in restitution.

Morris attended the hearing at a courthouse in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, alongside his wife, his adult children and several of their spouses, according to the BBC’s US partner CBS News.

He was handcuffed and detained after Thursday’s hearing, NBC News reports.

The charges stem from Morris’ abuse…

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MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – A Madison priest charged with child sex crimes after an undercover operation had a not guilty plea entered on his behalf Tuesday, online court records show.

Andrew Showers appeared virtually and stood mute, according to the Waupaca County online court records.

Showers waived his preliminary hearing and was ordered to stand trial.

“Fr. Showers continues to be completely restricted by the Diocese of Madison from all public ministry and is barred from having contact with minors while the case is ongoing,” the Diocese of Madison said in a statement posted Tuesday.

The Diocese urged anyone with allegations against priests, deacons or other church personnel to report them to law enforcement at the Diocese of Madison’s Sexual Misconduct Question and Reporting Line at 608-821-3162.

Showers previously posted bond, which was set at $10,000.

He is scheduled for a status conference on…

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A new lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Miami has revived a notorious case involving a former Catholic priest convicted of a string of sex offenses more than a decade ago.

The most recent lawsuit, filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court in June, is only the latest accusing the Catholic Church of failing to protect multiple underage boys from ex-priest Father Neil Doherty, a serial sexual abuser who was employed by the Archdiocese as a priest from 1969 until 2002 when he was removed.

“He is probably the most prolific pedophile priest in U.S. history. He sexually abused, we think, thousands of kids over the course of about 40 years,” said Daniel Ellis, senior lead attorney at Herman Law, the firm representing a victim identified only as John Doe 8 to protect his privacy.

According to the lawsuit, Doherty groomed and raped the victim around 1995 when he was around 16 years…

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The Diocese of Buffalo has today filed its Chapter 11 reorganization plan with the Federal Bankruptcy Court, as it committed to doing when reaching a settlement with the Creditors Committee last April. The plan aims primarily to provide for financial restitution to survivor-victims of past sexual abuse by members of the clergy and other employees and volunteers of the Diocese and affiliated Catholic entities. It also outlines the financial restructuring of the Diocese, enabling it to continue the essential Catholic ministries carried out across Western New York.

“Since becoming Bishop nearly five years ago, I have continued to assert that we have no higher priority than to work toward the healing of those who have been harmed spiritually, mentally and physically by the crime of sexual abuse, and to provide some semblance of justice and closure,” said Bishop Michael W. Fisher. “This plan represents our best effort to deliver on…

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The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo has unveiled its bankruptcy reorganization plan meant to help settle all of the clergy abuse cases it is facing.

The diocese filed its Chapter 11 reorganization plan in federal bankruptcy court Wednesday.

Documents released by the diocese show a settlement trust will be formed to evaluate abuse cases and decide how much each claim will receive. That’s to be paid out from an abuse claims settlement fund of nearly $274 million — $150 million of that money comes from local parishes, some the diocese has forced to close or merge with other churches.

“Since becoming Bishop nearly five years ago, I have continued to assert that we have no higher priority than to work toward the healing of those who have been harmed spiritually, mentally and physically by the crime of sexual abuse, and to provide some semblance of justice and closure,” Bishop…

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A Louisiana man is suing St. Stanislaus, a boy’s school in Bay St. Louis, saying he has recovered memories of being sexually abused by a Catholic teacher during the 1983-84 school year.

A Louisiana man is suing St. Stanislaus, a boy’s school in Bay St. Louis, saying he has recovered memories of being sexually abused by a Catholic teacher during the 1983-84 school year. At the time, the lawsuit says, William Leimbach taught at the school as a member of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart.

St. Stanislaus, in 2010, settled a lawsuit filed against the school and Leimbach by another former student who claimed he was sexually abused on multiple occasions by the teacher in the same school year.

Leimbach, who was living in a Brothers of the Sacred Heart retirement home in Rhode Island when he recently passed away, had not taught at the school since 1990-91, according…

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For immediate release: October 1, 2025

A prostitution sting in Ohio resulted in the arrest of a clergyman in the Greek Metropolis of Pittsburgh, Protopresbyter Dean Dimon. The cleric had been working at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Cleveland. According to the media advisory put out by the Ohio Attorney General, Dave Yost, Fr. Dimon admitted to a prior offense for solicitation. In response to the arrest, the metropolis put out a statement:

We are deeply disappointed to learn of the arrest of one of our priests in connection with alleged acts of solicitation. These alleged acts are abhorrent and stand in direct contradiction to the moral and spiritual standards we uphold as a Church and which we expect from our clergy. Upon hearing of the charges, we immediately placed Father Dimon on administrative leave, removing him from all pastoral and ministerial duties, while the justice…

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MORRISTOWN — Jurors are expected to hear closing arguments on Monday after the defense rested its case in the Delbarton School clergy sex abuse civil trial at the Morris County Courthouse.

One final witness was called as the proceedings continued on Oct. 1. David Drake said he did not recall a New Year’s party at his house in 1975 that the plaintiff said he attended with the Rev. Edward Lott, then a priest and chemistry treacher at the exclusive all-boys prep school in Morris Township.

The plaintiff, identified only as “T.M.” and now in his 60s, testified last week that Lott took him to the party in nearby Mendham when he was a 15-year-old Delbarton sophomore. Lott, he alleges, plied him with beer and then brought him back to the priest’s secluded apartment on the Delbarton campus and sexually assaulted him on Jan. 1, 1976.

T.M. has said…

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From the Commission Members | MONS. THIBAULT VERNY

KRAKOW — The President of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors opened the Autumn Plenary Assembly in Krakow, Poland on Tuesday September 30, with a clarion call for church leaders to redouble their commitment to every aspect of safeguarding:

“The stakes are high for all of us: welcoming and listening to victims [and survivors] taking the truth into account, preventing abuse so that the Church becomes ever more a safe home” he said in a greeting following the end of the Opening Mass at the Shrine of Divine Mercy, celebrated by Mons. Marek Jędraszewski, the Archbishop of Krakow.

Verny described the gathering in Poland, the first outside Rome since the body’s establishment in 2014, as a concrete sign of the Commission’s commitment to walk alongside local churches and to strengthen a global culture of safeguarding.

Thanking the Archdiocese of Krakow for…

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The judges did not clarify which kind of assistance France sought from Morocco’s judiciary.

Rabat – Judges in Dijon, France, have requested Morocco’s cooperation in the case of priest Yves Grosjean, who was jailed for sexual assaults on minors.

AFP quoted the Dijon Court of Appeal as confirming that the judges addressed an international letter rogatory to Moroccan authorities. The letter is also part of the inquiry into allegations that concern the priest’s years of service in Rabat between 2017 and 2024.

Dominique Brault, president of the Chamber of Investigation of the Dijon Court of Appeal, also said the priest’s request for release was rejected. Brault also did not specify the assistance the French judiciary seeks from Morocco.

Security services put Grosjean in jail at the end of May after a complaint by a young man, who accused the priest of sexual assault. The incident took place in…

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Six months after a deadline for filing claims, a judge will allow a new petitioner — and potentially others — to seek compensation from the state’s largest religious denomination.

BURLINGTON — A year after filing for bankruptcy under the weight of 31 unresolved clergy misconduct lawsuits, the Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese is seeing its number of accusers rise nearly fourfold.

The state’s largest religious denomination had thought the pool of current abuse claimants had plateaued at 118 upon an April deadline for people to seek compensation. But at a hearing Tuesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Heather Cooper endorsed a request by a new petitioner identified only as “John Doe” to add his name — a move that multiple lawyers involved said could potentially open the door for others.

After the diocese asked to reorganize its depleting finances on Sept. 30, 2024, the court said any claimants wanting to join the Chapter 11…

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Ana María Quispe tells EL PAÍS that the Church is obstructing payment for her psychologist, and that an accused priest is escaping accountability by leaving the clergy. Pope Leo speaks out for the first time: ‘There has been a lot of manipulation of the case’

In 2018, EL PAÍS launched an investigation into pedophilia in the Spanish Catholic Church and has an updated database of all known cases. If you are aware of any cases that have not been reported, please write to us at: abusos@elpais.es. If the case is in Latin America, the address is: abusosamerica@elpais.es.

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Ana María Quispe, a 29-year-old Peruvian, is a broken woman. In addition to the sexual assaults she reported in the diocese of Chiclayo (Peru) in 2022, when Robert Francis Prevost was bishop there, she later found herself at the center of a global media storm over accusations that the future Pope had…

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While countries in the Global North are progressing with more transparency over historical child sex abuse in the Church, Latin America remains the epicentre of silence.

On May 11, the first Sunday of his papacy, Pope Leo XIV appeared at the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to address the crowd awaiting him. He called on youngsters to answer the call “priesthood and other religious” callings, with a firm and direct appeal: “Don’t be afraid! Accept the invitation of the Church and Christ our Lord!”

Below, in St Peter’s Square, survivors of sexual abuse committed by members of the Catholic Church greeted those words with rejection. “Youngsters are afraid. Victims are afraid and the Pope needs to say, in so many words, that raping children within the Church is a crime and will be punished,” said Sarah Pearson, spokeswoman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests campaign group,…

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A year after seeking to reorganize its depleting finances in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese is struggling to cover about $1.5 million and counting in related legal bills.

Under federal law, an institution requesting Chapter 11 protection must pay attorney fees not only for itself but also for officially recognized creditors — which, in the diocese’s case, includes more than 100 claimants alleging sexual abuse by clergy.

The state’s largest religious denomination filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 30, 2024, after a series of misconduct settlements reduced its assets by half, to about $35 million. Since then, the diocese has spent almost 5% of its remaining money on legal bills, forcing it to cut the workweek for staff at its South Burlington headquarters to 30 hours.

“We also have encouraged employees to seek other possible employment opportunities because we cannot guarantee any position at…

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The Rev. Nelson Daniel Rupp was assigned to St. Augustine seminary for part of the time Robert Prevost was a student. Highlighted in a report about alleged abuse in the Catholic church, Rupp says he taught Prevost — who as Pope Leo XIV now is tasked with dealing with the scourge of child sex abuse by clergy.

The Rev. Nelson Daniel Rupp merited a chapter in the Michigan attorney general’s report on Catholic priests accused of child sexual abuse from the Diocese of Marquette, saying that, among other ugly behavior years ago, Rupp allegedly took boys to a cottage, “supplied them with liquor, and then sexually abused them.”

On a “sleepover” with children, he “was walking around with only a t-shirt on, with his genitals exposed,” the report stated, also noting a housekeeper for Rupp found children’s underwear in his residence, including a pair “heavily soiled.”

When sent to a…

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A female teacher has been sacked by an elite Catholic boys school after being charged with sexually abusing a student in what has been described as a distressing betrayal of trust.

Ella Clements, 24, is accused of engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a schoolboy at St Augustine’s College in Brookvale, in northern Sydney.

She has been charged with three counts of aggravated sexual intercourse with a child.

Clements also faces one count of intentionally sexually touching a child.

St Augustine’s principal Jonathan Byrne said the college notified police after becoming aware of the allegations and immediately stood Ms Clements down from her role.

Her employment has since been terminated.

“We continue to work with police and relevant authorities and, in the meantime, our focus is on ensuring the privacy and well-being of the student and family,” Mr Byrne said in a letter to parents.

“The judicial process must be…

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A preliminary hearing for a former Lewis County youth pastor accused of sexually assaulting several young girls has been continued until February.

The prosecution has notified the court of new evidence, recorded interviews from when John Radcliff’s alleged victims went to the police years ago. The continuance gives both sides the opportunity to prepare with the new information.

Radcliff is accused of sexually assaulting the girls multiple times between 1987 and 2003.

Radcliff was charged last November with nearly 100 counts of sexual misconduct in Lewis, Harrison, Braxton and Nicholas counties.

Radcliff’s wife, Kathy Radcliff, was charged with being a principal in the case after victims reported that she knew about the abuse and did not report it. The state dropped the displaying obscene matter to a minor charges against her.

Radcliff’s preliminary hearing is now scheduled for Feb. 3.

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A church pastor who raped a woman and abused eight children across four decades has been jailed for 14 years.

Rev James Haram, who had been with the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), was found guilty of 19 charges of physical and sexual abuse.

The attacks took place between 1997 and 2020 at addresses in Glasgow, Dumbarton and South Ayrshire.

The 51-year-old from Dumbarton was found guilty after a trial at the High Court in Glasgow in August.

The Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) is separate to the Free Church following a split in 2000.More stories from Glasgow & West ScotlandMore stories from Scotland

The court had heard how Haram raped, attacked and verbally abused the woman.

This included suggesting she should kill herself.

He also pressured her into sex while making biblical references.

Jurors also heard evidence of Haram’s child abuse, with one girl recalling how she…

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A former Fountain youth pastor accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl while in a position of trust has pleaded not guilty to the two felony charges against him, according to court documents.

Stephen Hutto, 45, entered a not guilty plea in court on Monday after being formally charged with sexual assault on a child and sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust.

Hutto was arrested in March following an investigation by the Fountain Police Department (FPD) after they were alerted in late 2023 about a potential sex assault case involving a minor. At the time of his arrest, he was working as a pastor at Highland Baptist Church in Boone.

Fountain police say the charges stem from an incident that occurred more than 15 years ago, while Hutto was working as a youth pastor at Fountain Independent Baptist Church.

According to an arrest affidavit…

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Matthew Stephen Masiewicz, former lead pastor at Sovereign Grace Fellowship in Nampa, Idaho, was arraigned last week for 13 counts of sexual exploitation of a child. Charges include generating underage images using artificial intelligence.

Investigators found videos of children on his phone and computer and say he denied physical contact with any juveniles. He faces six counts for allegedly distributing child pornography over an anonymous messaging app, six counts of possession of pornographic material and one count for altering an image using AI. He faces up to 270 years in prison.

The crimes reportedly occurred as early as March 2025.

The Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) was notified on Aug. 20, 2025, after six files of child pornography were sent over Kik, an online messaging app.

ICAC investigators served search warrants to request chat logs from Kik and search Masiewicz’s home and church….

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A Madison priest was charged with attempted child sex crimes after prosecutors allege he traveled to Clintonville to meet who he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

Here’s what to know about the case.

Who is charged?

Andrew Showers, 37, of Madison.

Prior to his arrest, Showers served as a Catholic priest in the Diocese of Madison. Showers has since been restricted from the ministry, according to the diocese, and his profile of the diocese’s website says he is on administrative leave.

What are the charges?

Showers is charged in Waupaca County with:

• Attempted use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, a felony.
• Attempted child enticement, a felony.
• Attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child under 16 years old, a felony.

What happened?

According to a criminal complaint:

• On Aug. 10, a Clintonville police sergeant was performing online undercover investigations posing as a 14-year-old girl named Abby….

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A Madison priest charged with child sex crimes after an undercover operation had a not guilty plea entered on his behalf Tuesday, online court records show.

Andrew Showers appeared virtually and stood mute, according to the Waupaca County online court records.

Showers waived his preliminary hearing and was ordered to stand trial.

Showers previously posted bond, which was set at $10,000.

He is scheduled for a status conference on Dec. 3. His attorney declined to comment on the case.

Showers, 37, is charged with attempted use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child and attempted child enticement.

The criminal complaint states a Clintonville Police Department sergeant was posing as a 14-year-old girl, named Abby, on Aug. 10.

The sergeant used Reddit to create a post, claiming to be seeking a man to meet up for sex with in Wisconsin.

Showers allegedly…

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More details have emerged surrounding a Madison priest who is now officially facing multiple charges related to Attempted Sexual Assault of a Child in Clintonville.

According to a criminal complaint obtained by Local Five, an officer with the Clintonville Police Department began an undercover online investigation on August 10, where they posed as a 14-year-old girl on an online messaging platform.

Posing as the child, the officer posted on the messaging platform that they were a girl looking for a man and asked if there was anyone from Wisconsin.

Officers say someone claiming to be a 36-year-old man from Madison messaged the account.

The criminal complaint states that the officer running the account indicated to the man that they were a 14-year-old.

Police report that the messages from the man continued to get more and more sexually explicit.

According to the criminal complaint, arrangements were made for the man to…

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Dean Dimon, who identified himself as a priest for the church, was arrested by the H.E.A.L. Task Force for allegedly soliciting prostitution.

Dean Dimon, 76, of Avon, a priest at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Cleveland, has been placed on administrative leave following his arrest on solicitation charges, 3News has learned.

Dimon, who identified himself as a priest for the church, was arrested by the H.E.A.L. Task Force for allegedly soliciting prostitution. Court records indicate he has a prior offense for solicitation.

The case was filed in Avon Municipal Court, charging him with soliciting sex for hire. Dimon posted a bond and was released.

Dimon’s arraignment took place on Sept. 24, 2025, where he entered a not guilty plea. 

A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Oct. 29

Dimon was arrested as part of a statewide crackdown on human trafficking, the…

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A senior official blamed a ‘misunderstanding’ for previously stating the case had been closed.

A senior official in France’s troubled Strasbourg archdiocese has said he mistakenly told media that a canonical case for child sexual abuse against a reinstated vicar general was closed when it was in fact open.

Canon Jean-Luc Liénard told the French investigative outlet Mediapart Sept. 29 that he had misunderstood the situation surrounding Canon Hubert Schmitt, who was controversially reinstated as a vicar general in July before resigning in early September.

Liénard, who is also a vicar general, said: “I realized that my partial knowledge of the case led to a misunderstanding of it, hence my misinterpretation. The canonical proceedings concerning Canon Schmitt are continuing.”

The admission comes weeks after an anonymous group of priests in the archdiocese in eastern France issued an appeal for a new apostolic visitation of the archdiocese, arguing that a network of cronyism…

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  Tras estar inmerso en escandalos y graves imputaciones de índole terrenal, el polémico Ciro Quispe López, ha dejado de ser el obispo. El vaticano emitió un comunicado este 24 de setiembre anunciando que aceptaron su renuncia “al gobierno pastoral de la prelatura territorial de Juli. El Papá León XIV aún no designó a su reemplazo. Entre tanto, asumirá internamente el obispo de Huancané.

TENÍA QUE SALIR 

El exprelado deja la representación de la iglesia en la pequeña roma de América luego del rechazo público de los aymaras de la zona sur de Puno, a raíz de supuestos abusos y actos impúdicos.

La aparente “renuncia” de Ciro Quispe llega después que feligreses, dirigentes, y organizaciones civiles decidieron organizarse para viajar a Roma con el propósito de pedir su salida en medio de anuncios de paros y movilizaciones de varios sectores de la propia iglesia.

SU SUERTE ESTABA ECHADA

De acuerdo…

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Dear President Dowd and Members of the Board of Trustees,

I am writing in response to the University’s recent statement regarding the allegations of sexual misconduct against former Zahm Hall rector, Rev. Thomas King, C.S.C., who served from 1980 to 1997. While the decision to convene a special committee and launch an external investigation is a necessary first step, the language and posture of the University’s public statement fail to meet Notre Dame’s high standards of always doing “the right thing.”

I write not only as an alumnus but as a victim of sexual abuse that occurred my sophomore year at Notre Dame. This personal experience has made me an advocate for other survivors of abuse in the Catholic Church. As a victim and advocate, I believe that how Notre Dame mishandled King’s abuse of students is part of an institutional pattern of placing Notre Dame’s reputation above…

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ROME – One of Catholicism’s leading experts in the fight against sexual abuse has said that in his recent Crux interview, Pope Leo demonstrated the same “authenticity” that characterizes his broad approach to the church’s abuse scandals.

The pontiff, said Jesuit Fr. Hans Zollner, is “a very authentic person who is not only aware of the full extent of the abuse crisis, but also does everything in his power to ensure that abuse in its many forms is investigated, dealt with, and effectively prevented in an appropriate, professional, differentiated, and diligent manner.”

Among other things, Zollner praised Leo’s comments in the Crux interview for raising “the question of how to deal with perpetrators in a manner consistent with Christian moral teaching, without playing punishment, atonement, penance, and forgiveness off against each other.”

Zollner was reacting to the recent two-part interview Leo XIV gave to Elise Ann Allen of Crux, which forms part of her new…

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How the pope deals with the new vacancy could be a signal of the direction he plans to take.

Pope Leo accepted last week the resignation of a scandal-hit Peruvian bishop, in what could be a signal of the pope’s priorities for the country where he spent almost three decades in ministry.

Bishop Ciro Quispe López resigned as bishop of the Territorial Prelature of Juli at just 51 years old, after a year-long Vatican investigation into allegations of sexual and financial misconduct.

Quispe had led the prelature in southern Peru since 2018.

In July 2024, several Peruvian outlets reported allegations that Quispe had sexual relationships with more than six women, that he misused diocesan funds, and took furniture from diocesan properties to furnish a barbecue restaurant he owns in the city of Cuzco.

The allegations originated with the bishop’s housekeeper, who told local outlet Sin Fronteras that she had found…

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9/29/2025

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — A statewide human trafficking operation conducted last week by more than 100 law enforcement agencies resulted in the arrest of 135 people seeking to buy sex – including from minors, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced today.

“Operation Next Door was named to highlight the proximity and prevalence of human trafficking,” Yost said. “Too often, we are lulled into the false narrative that these crimes happen only in the shadows. This is simply not true – human trafficking occurs in plain sight and, unfortunately, may even be fueled by your co-workers or neighbors.”

Led by AG Yost’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission (OOCIC), Operation Next Door took place in urban centers, suburban communities and rural areas throughout Ohio.

The statewide crackdown was spearheaded by OOCIC’s human trafficking task forces, which were joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

A recap…

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(WJW) – More than 100 people in Ohio have been arrested as part of a statewide crackdown on human trafficking, according to Attorney General Dave Yost.

In a press release, officials said law enforcement from across the state participated last week in “Operation Next Door” where 135 people seeking to buy sex – including from minors – were arrested.

“Operation Next Door was named to highlight the proximity and prevalence of human trafficking,” Yost said in the release. “Too often, we are lulled into the false narrative that these crimes happen only in the shadows. This is simply not true – human trafficking occurs in plain sight and, unfortunately, may even be fueled by your co-workers or neighbors.”

Among those arrested was a 76-year-old man, Dean Dimon, who identified himself as priest for the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Cleveland, and admitted to a prior offense for solicitation, according to…

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A Texas worship pastor, who has sung the national anthem for local sports teams and even President Donald J. Trump, has been charged with possessing and producing child sexual abuse material.

Jon Paul Sheptock, the worship pastor at First Montgomery Baptist Church in Montgomery, Texas, was arrested on Friday, the Montgomery County Precinct 3 Constable’s Office said in a statement. He was charged with one count of promotion of child pornography.

Sheptock was immediately removed from his role at the church, the church’s senior pastor, Chris Gober, said in a statement. The Southern Baptist church, is located an hour north of Houston.

“What Jon is accused of is a grievous sin, and it is heartbreaking for all of our church family and the families of innocent children who may be involved,” Gober said. “We will not cover up sin, and we…

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Pope Leo XIV has appointed an Italian Carmelite and canon lawyer, Archbishop Filippo Iannone O Carm, as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops.

Currently Prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, Archbishop Iannone has also been appointed President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. He will take up his post at the dicastery on 15 October, succeeding Pope Leo himself, whose own discernments in that post were among the achievements that impressed his fellow cardinals during the conclave that elected him earlier this year.

The appointment is Pope Leo’s most senior and most significant to date. It is a further indication of his intelligent, pastoral and detailed approach to governance. As head of Legislative Texts, Archbishop Iannone, 67, is the Vatican’s top lawyer and is experienced in assessing allegations of abuse against clerics. He played a key role in revising Church law, including expanding the reach of Vos Estis Lux…

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Lima, Peru — September 29, 2025

A year ago, the future Pope Leo XIV’s reputation came under sudden and unanticipated attack.

Three biological sisters in Peru alleged abuse at the hands of two Catholic priests in then-Bishop Robert Prevost’s Chiclayo Diocese. Years after reporting the abuse, they retained a new canon lawyer, previously unknown to the sisters, who amplified their complaints by arranging for national media coverage. The young women began alleging that Prevost mishandled their claims, covered up the allegations, and failed to punish the priests they accused of sexually abusing them as minors.

The allegations continue to dog the new pope into the seat of St. Peter.

But the canon lawyer, Ricardo Coronado-Arrascue, now a defrocked priest, has his own trail of problems and an apparent conflict of interest that raises questions about his motives in promoting the allegations against the pope.

In an exclusive…

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Powerful words on the truth of life after residential schools for the generations that followed were shared in Swift Current. 

Locals, officials, students, and members of Nekaneet First Nation gathered for the Flag Raising Ceremony on September 26, officially recognizing National Truth and Reconciliation Day in Market Square. Guest speaker, David Fox, was one of the many voices to speak out about the damages that have rippled through lives like his since residential schools closed. 

His father was a survivor of the final Saskatchewan-based residential school, Gordon’s Indian Residential School. He lived through and saw the atrocities that were committed. Fox was raised on stories of how the Catholic Church abused the children, via beatings and sexual assault, and even on how nuns disposed of children’s bodies.

He shared how, in his own childhood, he witnessed as his father and mother’s relationship diverged, after an early childhood where he saw…

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The priest, who served in multiple parishes around Dijon, was reportedly “exfiltrated” to Rabat in 2017 after a complaint was filed against him in France

Rabat – A French victims’ collective, known as La parole accueillie, has accused the dioceses of both Dijon and Rabat of “silence” and inadequate response in the case of a Catholic priest currently imprisoned in France for aggravated sexual assault. 

The collective published an open letter on Monday, urging the Church to provide transparency on the priest’s activities in Morocco, where he was transferred in 2017 following an initial complaint in France.

The priest, who served in multiple parishes around Dijon, was reportedly “exfiltrated” to Rabat in 2017 after a complaint was filed against him in France, a case that was later dismissed. 

While in Morocco, he continued his ministry until 2024, when new accusations surfaced, this time from alleged victims in Rabat. 

…

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A Catholic priest who left clergy life for positions in the administrations of two former Louisiana governors was arrested on charges of raping and kidnapping a young and vulnerable parishioner in New Orleans two decades ago.

Mark Francis Ford, 64, was cuffed in Indiana on Thursday for charges stemming from allegations at a Roman Catholic church in New Orleans where he used to serve.

An unidentified man, now 31, alleged that Ford began abusing him in 2004, when he was just 10 years old, after meeting the Vincentian priest through a program he ran for children with disabilities.

The exact circumstances of the abuse were not clear, but the man — who is under his mother’s permanent tutorship — said it continued until around 2022 or 2023, long after the clergyman had left the priesthood for greener pastures in government.

The alleged victim suffers from a degenerative spinal cord condition…

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A Worcester Diocese priest placed on leave in 2022 after allegations of sexual abuse, and later charged with indecent assault and battery, was placed on probation this week, court records show, after admitting to a lesser charge of assault and battery.

As part of his plea, the Rev. Alan J. Martineau saw two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person age 14 or older dropped in East Brookfield District Court, records show, while a third such charge was amended to assault and battery, a charge with no sexual assault component.

Martineau agreed sufficient facts existed for a finding of guilty, a legal disposition known as an Alford plea, Sept. 22, records obtained by the Telegram & Gazette show.

A judge placed him on probation for one year, ordering him to stay away from the alleged victim.

Details in the case have been sealed. The docket number for the…

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Earlier this week on Monday evening we interviewed Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch in which he made spontaneous comments about the Catholic Church child sexual abuse scandal of several years ago in which he said, “That was mostly homosexual issues, not pedophilia.” Koch went on to say that “the level in which it happens with teachers and coaches is higher than it was percentage wise than the church.” The comments received lots of backlash from the public, Quincy school board and abuse survivors with some even calling for the mayor’s resignation. Tonight, Dan will address the comments made as we are joined by a sexual abuse survivor who was abused as a child by a Catholic priest, Father Porter, who was convicted. We invite other abuse survivors to share their story and let their voices be heard on NightSide

Click here to listen to more of NightSide With…

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It appears an alleged cult leader will stay behind bars until his trial on accusations of running a huge scam to rake in veterans’ benefits.

The federal bond hearing for Rony Denis continued Friday after being cut short last week when he became ill.

Federal court records indicated Denis will remain in custody for now.

Denis was arrested a couple of weeks ago during an FBI raid of his lavish Columbia County mansion.

He’s accused of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and aiding and assisting in filing a false tax return.

Plus authorities say he stole his identity from someone else, too. They’re not sure what his real name is.

The church Denis founded is known as the House of Prayer Christian Church, but critics claim it’s a cult meant to lure service members and veterans.

Authorities say the aim was to…

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Emir Caner is out as president of Truett McConnell University.

His 17-year tenure at the Cleveland, Ga., school came to an abrupt end on Thursday night after a meeting of the university’s 54-member board of trustees. The results of the vote were shared with faculty and staff in a called meeting Friday morning, followed by a brief four-sentence announcement on the university’s Facebook page.

The 7 a.m. gathering was attended by about 100 individuals and lasted about 30 minutes.

Caner has been under siege since early June when he became the focus of an alleged coverup of sexual abuse between a former vice president and a former student who later joined the staff. While Caner said there was no coverup in the years-long relationship and grooming and sexual assaults against Hayle Swinson by Brad Reynolds, both staff and students corroborated the encounter as an open secret.

In the process of making allegations…

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Emir Caner’s tenure as Truett McConnell University (TMU) president ended today. when trustees announced his firing from the Southern Baptist school in Cleveland, Georgia.

The dismissal comes five months after The Roys Report (TRR) first reported that for years, Caner ignored allegations of grooming and sexual abuse by Bradley Reynolds, the school’s academic vice president. The woman alleging the abuse was TMU graduate and former soccer coach Hayle Swinson.

Caner was suspended by trustees June 6, one week after TRR’s reporting roiled the campus and its northeast Georgia community.

The school’s trustees met yesterday to hear the results of an independent probe into Reynolds’ alleged misconduct and Caner’s alleged coverup. The Now Habersham news website reported that journalists were barred from that meeting.

A search for a new TMU president will now begin, trustees said today. For now, John Yarbrough, TMU’s public policy director, will continue as interim president. Yarbrough was also a…

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The investigation began in August and led to his capture in another Texas city.

A 49-year-old Conroe man was arrested and charged with promotion of child pornography following a months-long investigation by Montgomery County law enforcement, Precinct 3 officials announced Friday.

Jon Paul Sheptock was taken into custody by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers after detectives searched his home. He is currently being held in the Coryell County Jail awaiting extradition to Montgomery County.

The investigation began in August 2025 when detectives from Montgomery County Precinct 3 Constable Ryan Gable’s Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Unit received information indicating Sheptock was in possession of and involved in producing child sexual assault material, including videos and images of a child under 18 engaged in sexual conduct.

Montgomery County Pct. 3 detectives conducted a comprehensive investigation and established substantial probable cause to charge Sheptock with promotion of child pornography, a third-degree…

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The New York Supreme Court has tossed out a lawsuit against the Diocese of Buffalo challenging a diocesan plan requiring payments to help settle the diocese’s abuse settlement.

Parishioners suing the diocese had won a reprieve in July when the state Supreme Court instituted a temporary halt on the payments.

The parishioners had argued that the diocese should await the Vatican’s ruling on a diocesan merger plan before requiring the parishes to pay the highest-level payment rate into the settlement.

But Judge John Delmonte, who had issued the injunction in July, said in his Sept. 26 ruling that the issue turned on whether the Supreme Court “has any measure of jurisdiction” to adjudicate the dispute.

“It has been repeatedly and consistently stated that the courts of this state ‘adhere to the long-recognized and sensible prohibition against court involvement in the governance and administration of a hierarchal church,’” he…

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It may be unrealistic to expect a fully developed strategy against clergy sex abuse from Coadjutor Archbishop James Checchio just days after his appointment. The Archdiocese of New Orleans introduced him as its next leader less than 48 hours ago.

“So, I need to get to know people, to get to know the parishes, to get to know the institutions, to get to know those who all who make this archdiocese the great place that it is,” Checchio said at a news conference Wednesday at Notre Dame Seminary.

Incoming New Orleans archbishop aims to grow archdiocese

Checchio, a New Jersey native, may be unfamiliar with New Orleans, but he is no stranger to the long shadow of clergy sex abuse.

“It’s a dark part of our history. I grew up with it. My whole generation grew up with it. I was ordained a priest in 1992. One of our…

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A Baptist college in northeast Georgia won’t reinstate its president after an investigation into whether he ignored claims that a former administrator was abusing students.

Trustees at Truett McConnell University in Cleveland announced Friday that Emir Caner won’t return. Caner had been on leave since June, when trustees hired an investigator to examine claims that a former administrator and professor sexually assaulted a woman who was a student and later a university employee. She claims she was repeatedly assaulted when she went to the man’s home for Bible study.

John Yarbrough, the director of alumni and public policy who was named acting president in June, will now become the interim president. Trustees said they were naming a committee to seek a permanent leader.

The action came after an investigator presented his findings to trustees Thursday. The university didn’t disclose those findings. In a news conference Friday, Yarbrough said details of…

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In his first major curial appointments since becoming pope, Leo XIV tapped Italian Archbishop Filippo Iannone to lead the influential Vatican department for appointing bishops and to preside over the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, the Vatican announced Friday (Sept. 26).

Pope Leo held both positions before being elected the new pontiff in May — effectively handing Iannone the keys to the curial offices that made Leo a force to be reckoned with at the last conclave. Iannone will take over his new roles Oct. 15.

Iannone, 67, has served since 2018 as head of the Vatican department for legislative texts, which studies and interprets the canon law of the Catholic Church. Leo likely had a firsthand appreciation for his leadership, as he was also a member of the department. Both are experienced canon lawyers. Iannone received his doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.

In…

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Robert Poandl once served in Claxton, Pembroke

After a weeklong trial, a former Catholic priest in Ohio who once worked in Glennville, Claxton, and Pembroke was found guilty Friday on charges he took a 10-year-old boy across state lines for sexual purposes.

A group that follows cases of sexual abuse by clergy, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests — also known as SNAP — hopes other victims will surface and share their experiences with law enforcement.

Robert Poandl, 72, will be sentenced at a later date, according to reports. He has worked in the past in seven Georgia towns as part of Glenmary Home Missioners, which is based in Fairfield, Ohio.

He was found guilty by jury Friday of taking the Cincinnati boy to West Virginia in 1991 for the purpose of sexually assaulting him. He was indicted Nov. 14 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District…

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The bond for Robert Mendez Esquivel, who is accused of rape and sexual battery of a minor child, remains at $300,000.

The bail for a Nampa Catholic priest who is accused of rape of a minor remains unchanged as the judge overseeing his case denied a motion to lower his bond.

RELATED: Canyon County Court charges Nampa Catholic priest with rape of a minor

Canyon County Judge Shane Darrington on Thursday denied Robert Mendez Esquivel’s request to lower his bond, keeping it at $300,000. If Esquivel posts bail, he will have to surrender his passport and must remain in the Treasure Valley.

St. Paul’s Catholic Church’s website previously showed Esquivel served as an associate pastor and is known as “Father Toto.” He joined St. Paul’s Parish in 2022.

Esquivel was arrested and booked into the Canyon County Jail on Aug. 27. During his first virtual arraignment in Canyon County Court,…

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September 2025 Official Committee Update

The Official Committee of Survivors in the Diocese of Santa Rosa bankruptcy, with the assistance of its legal counsel Stinson LLP, has been diligently involved in all aspects of the bankruptcy and is sharing the update below.  Please understand that we are also involved in mediation with all parties and must maintain strict confidentiality.  This prohibits us from sharing some information until agreements are made public.  However, we will continue to update this website whenever possible.

• Litigation Efforts:  Over the summer the Committee secured two big victories.  First, the court granted the Committee permission to sue two Catholic entities in Washington, D.C. (the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services) to recover up to $760,000 from those entities for the benefit of Survivors; that lawsuit is ongoing.  Second, the court granted permission for three Survivors’ lawsuits to proceed against the Diocese…

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A judge has ruled against groups from five Catholic parishes that filed a lawsuit against the Diocese of Buffalo to block payments that would go toward the diocese’s $150 million settlement with more than 800 survivors of sexual abuse.

The settlement was announced in April. The diocese said it would be paid through unrestricted funds of the diocese and individual parishes, as well as contributions from members of Catholic affiliates.

In June, parishes learned how much they’re being asked to pay towards the settlement. The contribution percentages range from 10 to 80 percent of each parish’s unrestricted cash and investments, with the highest percentage applied to parishes scheduled to be closed or merged.

All five parishes involved in the lawsuit — Blessed Sacrament in Tonawanda, Our Lady of Peace in Clarence, Saint Aloysius Gonzaga in Cheektowaga, St. John XXIII in West Seneca, and Saint Bernadette in Orchard Park — are slated…

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A Hot Springs pastor was arrested Wednesday evening on a felony sexual assault charge involving a 17-year-old female member of his church, whom he allegedly “inappropriately touched” on more than one occasion, according to a news release.

Macario Garcia, 54, who lists a Squire Court address, was taken into custody shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday and charged with second-degree sexual assault, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

He was released on a $50,000 bond shortly before 11:30 p.m. Wednesday with a court date to be set. According to court records, Garcia lists no prior criminal history other than traffic offenses.

Garcia was arrested “after a lengthy investigation” led by the Garland County Sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division with assistance from the 18th Judicial Prosecuting Attorney’s office, Sheriff Mike McCormick said in the release.

“The charges stem from an incident involving a 17-year-old female where Mr. Garcia, her…

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An Idaho pastor faces a slew of charges for alleged possession and distribution of child sex abuse material, which a local judge called “horrific.”

Matthew Masiewicz, the senior pastor at Sovereign Grace Fellowship in Nampa, Idaho, was arraigned Wednesday at the Canyon County Magistrate Court, according to court records.

Masiewicz, 53, faces 13 charges: Six counts of knowingly distributing child sexually exploitative material, six counts of willfully possessing or accessing child sexually exploitative material, and one count of visual representations of the sexual abuse of a minor. The final charge means that some of the abuse materials were AI-generated.

The Roys Report (TRR) reached out to Sovereign Grace Fellowship for comment but did not hear back prior to publication.

But Sam Vanderwall, an elder at the church, told the Idaho Statesman that Masiewicz was fired as soon as they learned of the charges. Elders then informed…

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UPDATE: On September 24, 2025, the Louisiana State Police and the FBI began an undercover operation focused on the sexual trafficking of minors in and around Monroe, La. Law enforcement officers worked in an undercover capacity and posted an undercover advertisement on a commonly known website used for the sale of commercial sexual intercourse.

The ad contained photos of two Undercover Law Enforcement Officers (UC’s) with the caption: “Sexy hot girls in town for a few days incalls only. Me and my mini are in townnn hit us upp. NO POLICE.” The ad contained four photos of the UC’s with emojis placed over their faces and a phone number they could be reached at.

At 4:09 PM, the suspect, Boris Braggs, messaged the number regarding the ad asking if they were available. The UC explained she was unavailable, but her ‘mini’ was available. She went in detail that her ‘mini’ was…

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Today, the Vatican announced that Pope Leo XIV has appointed Archbishop Filippo Iannone, prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts to head the Dicastery for Bishops.

Peter Isely, SNAP’s Global Advocacy Chair said:

“Iannone’s promotion sends a chilling message to abuse victims around the world, not only to expect advancement toward zero tolerance to be blocked, but a rollback on the hard-fought progress of clergy abuse survivors and advocates over the years. It was Iannone who shaped the church law on sexual abuse to guarantee that zero tolerance for abusers, and accountability for the bishops who covered it up, would never be included. Leo is putting the oversight and management of bishops in the hands of a man who has fought to enshrine the concealment of abusers in Vatican policy.”

This announcement comes just one week after Leo used his first public interview to redirect the conversation on abuse…

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Bishop Gustavo Óscar Zanchetta was released on parole by an Argentinian court on Friday after serving only part of his four and a half year sentence for aggravated sexual abuse of two seminarians.

In total, Zanchetta only spent about three years and a half under house arrest in a monastery in Orán, including an eight-month hospital stay in Rome between Nov. 2024 and June this year.

Zanchetta was convicted in March 2022 and sentenced to four and a half years in prison for “simple, continued sexual abuse aggravated by the role as a minister of worship.” However, following an appeal supported by local Church authorities, he was allowed to serve his sentence, first in a retired priests’ house, and then in a monastery.

Local Oran courts consistently denied Zanchetta’s requests for house arrest, authorization to travel to Italy for treatment, and for release on parole request. But in all…

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Lawsuit filed in March alleges Rene Touchette, who died in 2012, assaulted plaintiff in 1970s

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Boniface is denying allegations that a man was sexually assaulted by a former priest at the church in Somerset, Man., in the 1970s.

A lawsuit filed in Manitoba Court of King’s Bench in March claims the plaintiff, who is now in his 60s, was sexually assaulted by a priest named René Touchette, who died in 2012.

Touchette was convicted in 1993 of sexually assaulting the plaintiff and other victims from Somerset, according to the March lawsuit. At the time of the assaults, the plaintiff was about 13 to 21 years old, his lawsuit says.

Touchette served as a priest at the church in the village of Somerset, about 120 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, from 1972 to 1990, the March lawsuit says.

The plaintiff alleges in his claim…

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A new documentary on the abuses allegedly committed by Father Marko Rupnik and survivors’ pursuit of justice received high praise at the Toronto International Film Festival, or TIFF, including for Gloria Branciani, an alleged victim who received a four-minute standing ovation.

The film “Nuns vs. The Vatican,” which premiered Sept. 6 at the film festival, had two sold-out screenings, followed by a Q&A session attended by the majority of those who watched the film, according to Emmy-winning director Lorena Luciano and her husband, Filippo Piscopo, the film’s producer and cinematographer.

“It was very emotional when (Branciani) sat down for the Q&A and she said, ‘This applause is very meaningful to me because it’s breaking the silence,’” Piscopo told OSV News Sept. 20.

“People were very emotional,” Luciano added. “We were standing with Gloria, and there were some people who went to her, hugged her. You could tell that they were…

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Survivors of clergy sexual abuse and advocates gathered outside City Hall in Quincy, Massachusetts Friday to denounce controversial comments recently made by Mayor Tom Koch.

Protesters displayed photos and stories of children who had been sexually abused by priests. Among them was Francis Michael Sullivan, who said he was abused 50 years ago.

“This stuff’s been going on for years, it happened to me 50 years ago. Very nervous, sick to my stomach. It just brings back a ton of memories I don’t want to relive,” said Sullivan.

The demonstration came after Koch was interviewed by radio host Dan Rea on his show, Nightside with Dan Rea, on WBZ News Radio Monday evening. Koch was on the show to discuss the legal battle over two statues of Catholic saints that are set to be erected on a public safety building in the city and carry an…

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Mayor Thomas P. Koch of Quincy came under fire this week for comments he made linking the clergy sex abuse scandal to homosexuality.

Koch, who is Catholic, made the comments Monday during an interview with Dan Rea on WBZ News Radio.

When Rea at one point criticized the Catholic church over its response to the abuse crisis, chronicled extensively in a 2002 Boston Globe Spotlight team investigation, Koch said, “That was mostly homosexual issues, not pedophilia.” After Rea mentioned adolescent victims, Koch said pedophilia is defined as attraction to “a younger age” than a teenager.

Koch’s comments were swiftly condemned by Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney who has long represented victims of clergy sex abuse.

“For the Mayor of Quincy to blame mostly homosexual issues for the Catholic Church scandal is baseless, ill-advised, and…

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Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch, who already faces political challenges over his salary and religious statues, apologized after stirring up another new controversy this week with comments about the clergy sexual abuse scandal.

Koch, 62, who first became mayor in 2008, has since apologized.

He appeared on a WBZ News Radio program on Monday, where most of the conversation focused on the controversial plan to install bronze statues depicting Catholic saints Michael and Florian on the facade of the city’s new public safety building.

The plan precipitated a First Amendment legal battle in Norfolk Superior Court. The legal challenge case is being brought by a group of Quincy residents of various faiths who are seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions.

Legal fight erupts over saint statues at Quincy, Massachusetts, public safety building

The conversation pivoted to the clergy abuse scandal when host Dan Rea…

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“For La Luz Del Mundo to claim these survivors is lying is not only false and insensitive – it is cruel and shows the absolute void of morality or compassion.” – Jeff Anderson

In recent news, former La Luz Del Mundo (LLDM) megachurch leader, Naasón Joaquín García, along with five others, have been charged with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking for allegedly victimizing LLDM members for decades. García is already serving a 16-year sentence for sexually assaulting minors.

In response to these charges LLDM sent out a press release, blatantly dismissing the claims that the survivors were sexually assaulted. In the release they claimed that:

“The revealed charges are not based on the truth, but on the voices of a handful of disgruntled former congregants: individuals with pending accounts, personal revenge to pursue and, in many cases, an economic benefit to be obtained through civil lawsuits.”

La Luz del Mundo’s…

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Family and friends noticed alarming changes in T.M.’s personality at his Delbarton graduation party in 1977.

When he enrolled in the Catholic boys school in Morris Township back in 7th grade, he was happy, calm and confident in his ability to accomplish any task, according to a psychologist.

But at the family celebration in L’Affaire, a Morristown restaurant, he was abrupt, nasty and “positively rude” to Father Richard, observed T.M.’s mother. An ice skating pal of T.M. drove all the way from Colorado for the party. He too was surprised to see his unflappable friend “agitated and snippy” to the monk.

It took persistence to pry the reason for such animus from T.M: Father Richard, he confessed to his friend, had sexually abused him on campus during the 1975 Christmas break.

Sworn statements from T.M.’s late mother and his former skating friend were read to a jury Tuesday in Superior…

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An ex-assistant numerary, Anne Marie Allen held the lowest rank of Opus Dei’s hierarchical structure, where she spent almost seven years with the conservative Catholic group in Ireland starting when she was 15.

“I think it is the voice of the weakest that will bring Opus Dei down,” Allen says  matter-of-factly. 

In Serve: My Lost Years at the Heart of Opus Dei, the 62-year-old documents the domestic servitude which she and other Irish women say they were lured into with the promise of vocational training. Her criticism of Opus Dei, including that the promised training never materialized, echoes that of other ex-numerary assistants around the world, including in Argentina, where a criminal investigation involves 43 former members who say they were trafficked and exploited. 

Opus Dei is a conservative and notoriously secretive Catholic group founded in 1928 in Spain by Fr….

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