ABUSE TRACKER

The resignation of an Indonesian bishop has exposed a familiar pattern of secrecy, clericalism and unanswered questions

When announcing his resignation on Jan. 19, Franciscan Bishop Paskalis Bruno Syukur of Bogor addressed a range of accusations levelled against him.

The 62-year-old bishop denied allegations of abuse of authority, embezzlement of Church funds, and condoning cases of clerical sexual abuse — claims he said had driven his decision to step down after 11 years as bishop.

Syukur also described the pressure that led him to decline his appointment as a cardinal by Pope Francis in October 2024. The elevation would have made him the fourth cardinal from Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, and the first to come from the predominantly Catholic island of Flores.

At the time, the Vatican said Syukur declined the red hat because he wished to deepen his service to the Church and the People of God….

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Covering the Vatican, he had a front-row seat to the waning years of Pope John Paul II’s pontificate and the election of Pope Benedict XVI. 

Soon after John L. Allen Jr. hired me as national correspondent for Crux — the news outlet he left this paper to help launch in 2014 — I was due to travel to Rome on one of the many trips John encouraged me to take there under his watch. 

Even though my beat at the time was the U.S. Catholic Church, John insisted that I would succeed better stateside if I understood how the Vatican worked and got to know the place and its players. And John, who died Jan. 22 at 61, was right.

His death was announced by Crux.

As John and I discussed the plans for that particular visit — it was my second trip over for Crux — John asked…

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“It’s a little sad, and it ain’t hit me hard yet, but it will,” Daryl Powell said. Powell sued the church, alleging they were aware of decades of child sexual abuse

New York’s Riverside Church settled the first case resulting from a decades-long child sexual-abuse scandal in its basketball program, agreeing to terms Tuesday with former player Daryl Powell before the matter could go to a Manhattan jury.

Powell, the 64-year-old former college star who now works as a deputy sheriff in Virginia, testified to years of abuse by Ernest Lorch, the multimillionaire director and coach of the once-vaunted Riverside program. He testified that Lorch groped his genitals during frequent “jockstrap checks,” smelled his body when he’d come out of the shower, and routinely paddled his bare buttocks.

On Tuesday, Powell smiled broadly and shook the hands of his attorneys, Riverside’s lawyers, and jurors after state Supreme Court Judge Alexander…

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Numerous lawsuits have now been filed against Riverside Church over sexual abuse allegations involving Ernest Lorch, who led its prestigious basketball team in Harlem.

From the basement of Riverside Church in Harlem, one of the most storied basketball programs in New York took hold, giving teenagers an opportunity to showcase their skills for college recruiters and more.

But buried in the program’s success was a much more sordid history. Its influential head coach and founder, Ernest Lorch, was accused of physically and sexually abusing many of his young players. Nearly all of the men kept their abuse a secret for decades. And the Riverside aides who did speak up about the abuse said church leadership did little to stop it.

On Tuesday, one of Mr. Lorch’s accusers, Daryl Powell, agreed to settle his lawsuit against the church for an undisclosed amount, just as closing arguments were to begin. Mr….

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Following a Louisiana Supreme Court ruling that pushed back the deadline for claimants of childhood sex abuse to file lawsuits, nearly 30 new suits alleging clergy abuse have been filed against the Diocese of Baton Rouge.

Local ABC affiliate WBRZ reported that the 29 lawsuits claim instances of clergy sex abuse occurring between 1963 and 1993. More than one-third of the new suits have already been privately resolved.

The suits name 20 clergy, many of whom are deceased, WBRZ added. Several appear on the diocese’s list of credibly accused individuals, which was published in 2019, but 12 are not.

Reagan Charleston Thomas, an attorney representing one of the claimants, said clergy could not appear on the credibly accused list for a number of reasons and said her “assertion of a survivor’s story” is not based on that factor, according to WBRZ.

Another attorney, Julien Lamothe, said that he…

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An associate pastor at Buffalo Grove’s St. Mary Catholic Church has been asked to live away from parish premises.

BUFFALO GROVE, IL — An associate pastor at St. Mary Catholic Church is being accused of sexually abusing a child 60 years ago in India. According to a letter from the Archdiocese of Chicago sent last week and obtained by Patch, Cardinal Blase Cupich has withdrawn Rev. Denis Manuel Carneiro’s faculties to minister and he has been asked to live away from parish premises.

Carneiro has served as an associate pastor at St. Mary, located at 10 N. Buffalo Grove Road, on three occasions — from June 2004 to August 2004, from November 2009 to May 2013 and from June 2013 to the present.

Similar letters, also obtained by Patch, were sent out to the following area parishes where Carneiro had served in the past:https://80e196b81ebe04b2cced9812d9cb1a05.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-45/html/container.html

• Our Lady of the Rosary Parish,…

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The founder of Rollo Life of Christ Brethren Ministry in Benin, Bishop Gideon Osagie Osazee, has been arrested by the Edo State Government over allegations of sexual abuse involving two biological sisters.

The two sisters told investigators that they were aged 13 and 17 at the time the alleged incidents occurred. In addition, four other girls have reportedly come forward with similar allegations against the cleric, which he has denied.

Officials said Osazee was arrested after several days of surveillance by the state government.

The elder of the two sisters, who said she is now 21, alleged that the incident occurred while she was asleep. She told investigators that she later realised the suspect was her pastor and alleged that she was threatened not to disclose the incident.

The younger sister said she was 13 years old at the time of the alleged abuse.

Osazee denied the allegations, stating that…

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A former intern at one of the largest megachurches in the United States has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material.

Austin Ryder Sewell, 25, was also given a lifetime term of supervised release, ordered to register as a sex offender and required to pay $15,500 in restitution to victims.

Sewell began working as an operations intern at Life.Church’s Midtown Tulsa campus in January 2025. The church told The Roys Report that it only became aware of the charges after his internship had ended.

Authorities said the investigation began after messaging app Kik sent more than 10 cyber tips to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), reporting several videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.

A Kik user later identified as Sewell was found to have shared the videos through multiple accounts and used chats to discuss his sexual interest in…

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Some MLK Day Reflections

“True evil lies not in the depraved act of the one, but in the silence of the many.”

Today, I’m contemplating these words, attributed to a Baptist preacher, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In countless stories of clergy sex abuse, we have seen the tragic truth of King’s words made manifest. Even with childhood histories of having endured horrific depraved acts – of having been molested, raped and sodomized by pastors wielding God as a weapon – many survivors have said that the worst of their experience came when they tried to tell about the abuse within the faith community.

That was when they faced “the silence of the many.”

That was when the relational fabric of community, and often even of family, was torn asunder.

That was when faith itself was deemed a fraud.

Within the Southern Baptist Convention, church after church has stood, not…

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Ten lawsuits have been filed in Lake Charles’ 14th Judicial District Court against churches and schools in southwest Louisiana since the state’s “lookback window” law went into effect in 2021, allowing survivors of sexual abuse to file decades-old lawsuits.

The recent law change from the Louisiana Legislature opened the floodgates for childhood sexual abuse survivors to file civil suits that otherwise would have been barred through the state’s statute of limitations. Still, in some cases, survivors can no longer pursue criminal charges when the statute of limitations has lapsed or their alleged abuser has died.

The lookback window was initially set to expire in 2024, but state lawmakers extended the deadline to file lawsuits until June 14, 2027.

Not every clergy member named in a lawsuit previously appeared on a list of credibly accused clergy members the Diocese of Lake Charles released in 2019. The clergy members named…

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Officials want survivors and witnesses to step forward and share information

The Michigan Attorney General’s office has launched an investigation into Indian boarding schools and other institutions to see if crimes were committed in the state.

The office is seeking to identify, document, investigate and prosecute instances where crimes are believed to have occurred at the institutions, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced recently.

To support the effort, investigators are asking survivors, witnesses, and others who may have firsthand knowledge to come forward and share information.

“This investigation seeks to bring truth and accountability to a painful chapter in our state’s history,” Nessel said in a statement. “My office is committed to ensuring that survivors’ voices are heard and that any criminal acts uncovered are thoroughly investigated and, when possible, prosecuted.”

Michigan is home to 12 federally recognized tribes, and eight schools and institutions have been identified as operating in…

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A former priest, who was accused of sexual abuse by dozens of women in Brazil, was sentenced last week to 24 years and nine months in prison for raping a three-year-old child in 2016.

The court also ruled that Bernardino Batista dos Santos, 78, will have to compensate the victim – who was not identified, given that the case is being handled under seal – at 30,000 Brazilian reais (about US$ 5,580).

The crime occurred during a visit to a country property that was owned by the former priest in the city of Tiros, Minas Gerais State. The girl told her mother what happened and a number of witnesses confirmed that they could hear the victim crying.

Mother and daughter currently live outside Brazil. They were reluctant to file a complaint against the priest, but did so after they were informed of another abuse case involving a young child.

Dos…

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Sr Ranit Pallassery’s decision to speak as a survivor of sexual abuse confronts the misuse of authority within the Church

In the quiet of a convent, where silence is usually a receptacle for prayer, an asphyxiating silence took root at the Missionaries of Jesus Convent in Kuravilangad in 2014. For Sister Ranit Pallassery, bound by religious vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty, her sanctuary was transformed into a site of violation and dissolved before her.

Early this month, she became the first Indian nun to speak as a survivor of sexual abuse on camera and in print, sharing her agonizing but empowering journey of growth.

“I was overwhelmed by shock, fear, anxiety, confusion and later by anger and disgust that a bishop could exploit vulnerable women. I feared retaliation against my family and expulsion for transgressing my vows,” says Pallassery.

Court documents confirm that she confided in spiritual mentors and…

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SÃO PAULO, Brazil – Cleared of abuse allegations by the Vatican in October of 2025 and reinstated in Chile’s Society of Jesus, Father Felipe Berríos, who had been expelled from the order in 2024, said that he decided to leave the Jesuits for good.

Berríos, well-known in the Andean country for his housing activism, claimed the final ruling of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith exonerating him from all charges should put an end to the case, but that’s not what’s happening.

“A canon law expert, who’s a friend of mine, said that’s unprecedented. The Dicastery told the Order to readmit me, but they decided to keep punishing me,” he told Crux.

Indeed, after the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith dismissed the case for “having failed to reach sufficient moral certainty as to the commission of the alleged crimes,” the Jesuits maintained a number of disciplinary measures…

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Are changes coming at the Dicastery for Clergy?

Pope Leo XIV is reviewing the authority of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Clergy to use procedures introduced first by Benedict XVI for the laicization of clerics in special circumstances.

Pope Francis’ apostolic constitution Praedicate evangelium on the reform of the Roman curia gives the dicastery the authority to administratively dispense clergy from the clerical state, a normalization of special faculties created by Benedict in 2009, for priests who have abandoned ministry or engaged in “seriously scandalous behavior.”

But the use of special processes has come under scrutiny in and outside of Rome, with some expressing concern that the procedure has been applied too broadly and liberally, and others expressing concern that the Dicastery for Clergy, already understaffed, is stretched too thin to handle cases expeditiously.

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Several dicasteries of the Roman curia have special legal powers to handle certain kinds of cases under their…

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Bishop Syukur stepped down citing ‘obedience’ to the Holy See

Editor’s note: This story is developing and has been updated.

An Indonesian churchman who declined to become a cardinal last year has resigned 12 years early as a diocesan bishop, citing “obedience” to the Holy See.

The Vatican announced Jan. 19 that Pope Leo XIV had accepted the resignation of Bishop Paskalis Bruno Syukur, O.F.M., as head of the Diocese of Bogor.

The Vatican did not give a reason for Syukur’s highly unusual resignation at the age of 63, 12 years after he was appointed to lead the Bogor diocese and 12 years before he would be expected to tender his resignation to the pope. There have been no public reports that Syukur is suffering from health issues.

The diocese, located in the province of West Java, said Jan. 19 that the bishop had taken part in a farewell event at which…

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A North Carolina bishop returned a priest accused of sexual abuse to active ministry effective January 13, over six years after the priest was placed on administrative leave by the previous bishop.

The priest, Father Patrick Hoare, has denied the allegations of sexual abuse, which allegedly took place well before his ordination to the priesthood. Father Hoare has also expressed remorse for alleged boundary violations with minors while a diocesan priest.

Bishop Michael Martin, OFM Conv, of Charlotte assigned Father Hoare as the new chaplain of Pennbryn, a retirement community. The Pillar, citing diocesan sources, reported that Bishop Martin “considered a parish assignment initially,” with “an expectation that the priest might also engage in campus ministry with college students.”

“Priests were concerned about any assignment for Father Hoare,” a source told The Pillar, “and especially concerned about one that might involve proximity to young people.”

Allegations

In 2017, Bishop Peter Jugis, Charlotte’s bishop from 2003…

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Pope Leo XIV received Czech President Petr Pavel for an audience in the Vatican yesterday morning, where they discussed issues such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, President Trump’s territorial ambitions on Greenland, and sexual abuse in the Catholic church. 

“The Pope sees us as a country that is trying to follow the path that he is also trying to promote,” Pavel told reporters before his visit to the Vatican. “This means not supporting conflicts, but rather contributing to their resolution.” 

In addition to the war in Ukraine, they discussed conflicts in the Middle East and the recent return of Czech citizen Jan Darmovzal from Venezuela, for which the Czech Republic sought the Pope’s help, according to the president.

The president also raised the issue of sexual abuse in the Church, following an open letter from victims of the Czech Catholic Church, who last week asked him to represent them…

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A New York man has filed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Newark, claiming he was sexually abused when he was a student at Paramus Catholic High School four decades ago.

The suit is the second of its kind filed against the high school and Archdiocese in less than a month.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Superior Court of Bergen County, alleges that Bernard Garris, who worked as a coach and teacher at the school, sexually assaulted the victim on school grounds.

“Garris had sexually inappropriate and/or sexually abusive relationships with many minor children,” alleges the suit.

Garris was terminated in 1987 for “physically abusing students,” the suit claims.

Archdiocese of Newark spokeswoman Maria Margiotta said the archdiocese does not comment on matters that are in litigation.

The complaint is the second lawsuit filed recently that accuses Garris of sexually abusing students.

The lawsuit claims the Archdiocese,…

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BATON ROUGE – At least 29 new lawsuits have been filed in the 19th Judicial District Court since the original deadline for the “lookback window” passed for victims of sexual abuse by members of the Catholic Church.  

The deadline, originally set for June 2024, has now been pushed back to June 14, 2027.

In March of 2024, Supreme Court Justices ruled in a 4-3 decision that legislators had violated the state constitution when they removed the statute of limitations for sexual abuse claims and provided victims a temporary window to file lawsuits. In May 2024, the court stated that it would review the decision, and in June, it reversed itself.

Most of the newly filed lawsuits identify clergy members who appeared on the Diocese of Baton Rouge’s list of credibly accused individuals, released in 2019. 

Included in these newest lawsuits filed since June of 2024 are:
– John Joseph Berube, St….

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A former Tullahoma priest has been named in a federal lawsuit that includes the Catholic Church in what the plaintiffs maintain was part of a larger conspiracy by the Vatican to cover up sexual abuse by priests.

Named in the suit is former local priest Father Frank Iazzetta–now deceased–who was at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church and St. Paul the Apostle School in Tullahoma at the time of the alleged abuse. According to the Diocese of Nashville, Iazzetta was an administrator of St. Paul during his time in Tullahoma. He would resign from the priesthood in 1993 and died in March 2007.  

“Father Frank Iazaetta used his position as head priest and head master to sexually abuse the plaintiff when he was a minor child.”

The alleged victim, Miles Jefferies, is listed as the plaintiff and his suit names the Catholic Diocese of Nashville; St. Paul the Apostle…

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A former student of a Catholic school in Kamloops is suing over alleged historic abuse at the hands of a nun.

The former St. Ann’s Academy student alleges the abuse took place while they were a young child and happened multiple times over a three-year period, ending in the early 1990s.

According to a notice of claim in BC Supreme Court, the nun used her position of authority to “ensure” the student wouldn’t tell anyone, while the sexual and physical assaults increased in frequency and intensity over time.

The student is anonymized in the lawsuit and the alleged perpetrator, a nun and teacher, is referred to as “Jane Doe,” but it names the Roman Catholic Bishop of Kamloops and the Catholic Independent Schools of the Kamloops Diocese as defendants.

iNFOnews.ca reached out to both for a response to the lawsuit.

“The Diocese of Kamloops is deeply committed to ensuring that…

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As a parent, there is no greater pain than watching your child suffer, especially when that suffering comes from abuse by someone you were taught to trust. I am devastated by what my son, Charles, has endured because of child sexual abuse by a Catholic priest. I live with the painful knowledge that I failed to protect him, and that is something no parent should ever have to carry.

What I can do now is stand with my son. I support him in every step he takes toward healing and justice. Charles has bravely spoken out in articles published by this paper, not for attention, but to expose the truth about clergy abuse and the lasting harm it causes survivors and families.

Charles and I traveled to Albany alongside other survivors and parents, joining more than a dozen voices demanding change. We went because we…

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Gov. Josh Shapiro has built a national brand on three letters: GSD—“Get Stuff Done.” Yet, three years into his term, Shapiro has failed to deliver for the very people who first put him in the national spotlight: the thousands of survivors of the Catholic Church clergy abuse scandal.

While Pennsylvania remains paralyzed, dozens of other states—from New York to Arkansas—have already acted to provide survivors the compensation and justice they deserve.

Taking him at his word, it’s time he actually “GSD,” so to speak, for clergy abuse survivors in Pennsylvania—before he sets his sights on a bigger stage, perhaps even a presidential campaign.

To understand why, let’s revisit how we got here.

Numerous articles—most recently in The Atlantic—have chronicled Gov. Shapiro’s ambition and his steady climb up the political ladder. At each rung, he has stepped over or pushed aside others in pursuit of higher office. At times, he has used…

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Two former nuns and a retired support workers have been sentenced for abusing vulnerable children, with one jailed for 15 months.

The offences occurred at two homes run by the Catholic order The Sisters of Nazareth in Lasswade and Kilmarnock.

Carol Buirds, 75, Eileen McElhinney, 78, and Dorothy Kane, 68, were found guilty of subjecting multiple victims to cruel and unnatural treatment between 1972 and 1981.

The prosecution presented verbal accounts from former residents, an ex-staff member and a social worker in a five-week trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Ms Buirds, who was known as Sister Carmel Rose, was found guilty of 13 charges including assault to severe injury.

Her offences included rubbing urine-soaked bedding on children and forcing food and soap into their mouths.

She also locked one child in a cupboard and another in an unlit cellar without access…

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Some MLK Day Reflections

“True evil lies not in the depraved act of the one, but in the silence of the many.”

Today, I’m contemplating these words, attributed to a Baptist preacher, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In countless stories of clergy sex abuse, we have seen the tragic truth of King’s words made manifest. Even with childhood histories of having endured horrific depraved acts – of having been molested, raped and sodomized by pastors wielding God as a weapon – many survivors have said that the worst of their experience came when they tried to tell about the abuse within the faith community.

That was when they faced “the silence of the many.”

That was when the relational fabric of community, and often even of family, was torn asunder.

That was when faith itself was deemed a fraud.

Within the Southern Baptist Convention, church after church has stood, not…

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An Acadia Parish priest has been arrested on alleged sex crimes involving children, officials said.

Father Korey LaVergne, 37, is charged with indecent behavior with a juvenile (3 counts) and has since bonded out of the Acadia Parish jail.

Father LaVergne is the pastor at St. Edward Catholic Church in Richard where the “Little Cajun Saint” Charlene Richard is buried.

He was heavily involved with serving his role as the diocese’s courier and delivering a vast collection of documents related to her between the diocese and the Vatican.

The Diocese of Lafayette released a statement:

“The Diocese of Lafayette has received information regarding possible misconduct by a cleric through the Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office. The Diocese was informed that the Sheriff’s Office conducted an investigation and that an arrest was made earlier today of Father Korey Lavergne, pastor of Saint Edward Church in Richard.  The Diocese will continue to assist law enforcement and…

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An Acadiana priest has been arrested on accusations of sex crimes involving children, authorities said Friday.

The Rev. Korey Lavergne, 37, was booked into Acadia Parish Jail on Friday with three counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile, according to jail records.

Lavergne is the pastor at St. Edward Catholic Church in Richard, the home parish of the “Little Cajun Saint,” Charlene Richard.

In fact, Lavergne served as the official courier for the diocese, taking thousands of pages of documents related to her cause for sainthood to the Vatican in July.

The Diocese of Lafayette issued the following statement:

“The Diocese of Lafayette has received information regarding possible misconduct by a cleric through the Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office. The Diocese was informed that the Sheriff’s Office conducted an investigation and that an arrest was made earlier today of Father Korey Lavergne, pastor of Saint Edward Church in…

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Richard LA — A local priest has been arrested on accusations of sex crimes involving children, the Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office confirmed.

Authorities reported Rev. Korey Lavergne, 37, is charged with indecent behavior with a juvenile (3 counts). They said he is being booked into the Acadia Parish Jail. 

Father Lavergne is the pastor at St. Edward Catholic Church in Richard, the home parish of the “Little Cajun Saint,” Charlene Richard.

In fact, Father Lavergne served as the official courier for the diocese, taking thousands of pages of documents related to her cause for sainthood to the Vatican.

The Diocese of Lafayette issued the following statement:

“The Diocese of Lafayette has received information regarding possible misconduct by a cleric through the Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office. The Diocese was informed that the Sheriff’s Office conducted an investigation and that an arrest was made earlier today of Father Korey Lavergne, pastor of…

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The Brief

• A Chicago-area priest, Rev. Denis Manuel Carneiro, has been accused of sexuallyabusing a minor in India about 60 years ago, according to the Archdiocese of Chicago.

• Carneiro, a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Bhopal, lived at several Chicago-area parishes and a hospital from 1999 to 2002 and is no longer permitted to minister or live near parishes.

• The Archdiocese of Bhopal is investigating the allegations, and the Archdiocese of Chicago encourages anyone who may have been abused to come forward and report it.

A Chicago area priest has been accused of sexual abuse of a minor, according to the Archdiocese of Chicago.

What we know: Reverend Denis Manuel Carneiro, a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Bhopal, Indiana, was a resident at multiple Chicago area parishes from 1999 through 2002.

Carneiro has been accused of sexual abuse of a minor that allegedly occurred about 60 years ago…

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The Rev. Denis Manuel Carneiro, an associate pastor at St. Mary Parish in Buffalo Grove, has been removed from pastoral duties amid the allegation. The allegation is being investigated by the Archdiocese of Bhopal, India.

A north suburban Catholic priest has been accused of sexual abuse of a child that allegedly occurred about 60 years ago in India.

The Rev. Denis Manuel Carneiro, an associate pastor at St. Mary Parish in Buffalo Grove, has been removed from pastoral duties amid the allegation, according to the Archdiocese of Chicago.

He was previously a priest with the Archdiocese of Bhopal, India, which is investigating the accusation, according to Cardinal Blase Cupich.

Carneiro “strenuously denies” the allegation, Cupich said in a letter sent Saturday to parishioners.

The Archdiocese of Chicago has reported the allegation to civil authorities, Cupich said.

“I want to stress that the welfare of the children entrusted to our care…

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A priest who served at Chicago area parishes is facing allegations of sexual abuse involving a minor decades ago, according to the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Rev. Denis Manuel Carneiro, a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Bhopal, India, is accused of the abuse that allegedly happened 60 years ago in India, according to the letters sent to Parishes. 

According to the letters from Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, Rev. Carneiro served at Our Lady of Victory Parish in Chicago from July 1972 to May 1974, April 1979 to June 1979, and from July 1989 to June 1999.

He also served at St. Mary Parish in Buffalo Grove from May 2013 to June 2013, as well as St. Alexius Hospital in Hoffman Estates from 1999 to 2002, and Holy Family Parish in Inverness, Illinois, from June 1999 to July 2002, the letters stated.

The letters said in part, “In keeping with our…

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Father Bede was a pillar of the community but behind closed doors he preyed on little boys

To many, Father Bede was a pillar of the community offering spiritual guidance to thousands of Catholics in North Staffordshire. But behind the veneer of robed respectability, he was a predatory paedophile who targeted young boys.

His despicable crimes stretched over decades, from when he worked in children’s homes in the 1970s and continuing after he was ordained in 1979.

More details emerged just this week as the now 72-year-old – full name Alexander Bede Walsh – was convicted of another historic offence of abusing a boy at a church in Cheadle in the 1980s.

He had arrived in North Staffordshire in 1985 as procurator and priest-in-charge at the now defunct Cotton College. He lived in Mow Cop for a time and also worked in Newcastle, Burslem and Alton.

But it was in Cheadle,…

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A court case involving more than 800 plaintiffs suing the Diocese of Buffalo for sexual abuse may be nearing an end, now that a settlement amount has been decided. It’s part of the Diocese’s Chapter 11 reorganization.

One of the final steps is allowing victims and survivors to share their comments.

It’s the Catholic Church’s responsibility to provide any assistance possible with the healing process, but that also includes helping victims and parishioners move on, Bishop Michael Fisher said.

“Part of that is emerging from coming up with the settlement that we need to provide, again, for restitution to them,” he said. “But also, to bring to a conclusion, which we’re expecting from our parishes so that they can move forward.”

There have been two days set at the end of January and two days at the end of February when plaintiffs can share non-testimonial statements, but there could be…

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A priest accused of molesting four children over nearly two decades allegedly raped one of the victims, according to new charges filed by the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office.

Nine additional counts were added to the case against Rev. Theodore Gabrielli, 61, who now faces 35 counts of child molestation, aggravated sexual assault and sodomy by force.

“The victim called it rape,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Lisa B. Muscari told The Tribune.

The crimes allegedly occurred across California, other states and Mexico, but the DA’s Office only has jurisdiction to prosecute crimes that occurred in California, Muscari said.

Gabrielli was arrested in Los Osos on June 12, 2025, according to SLO County Sheriff’s Office booking records.

Originally facing only five counts, an amended complaint in July charged Gabrielli with an additional nine counts of forced oral copulation with a minor in…

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In short:

Nicholas Taylor told a court last year he was sexually and physically abused while he was a student at Hobart’s St Virgil’s College in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

One of the alleged perpetrators was former Test cricket umpire Stephen Randell, who has previously been jailed for child sexual abuse.

What’s next?

Mr Taylor hopes that by sharing his story it’ll help other victim-survivors come forward to seek support or pursue justice.

For decades, Nicholas Taylor lived with the impact of child sexual abuse.

Last year, he told the Supreme Court in Hobart about the abuse he experienced while he was a student at St Virgil’s College in Hobart in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

“For me it was so I could take a little more power back from my abuse,” he said.

“It’d been a long time to get to trial — 38 years.

“It…

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The website for an orphanage with deep ties to Missouri makes no attempt to explain or assign blame for numerous accounts of abuse — revealed in a nonprofit’s independent investigation released on Nov. 12 — against the children in its care.

Instead, nearly 60 years after its founding, all that remains of Niños de México is a statement on its homepage acknowledging “the investigation of our past practices and current systems” and an aim “to find truth and clarity surrounding allegations of abuse and other misconduct.”

“That investigation has concluded,” the statement continued. “It is with heavy hearts that the board of Niños de México has decided to end our ongoing ministry effective immediately.”

It’s a response that still angers Julie Heifner, who volunteered and worked at Niños in various positions from 2010 to 2019. She’d first learned of Niños through her church in Fenton and eventually devoted…

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Alexander Bede Walsh was jailed in 2012 for abusing young boys in Coventry and Warwickshire

A Roman Catholic priest jailed for abusing boys in Coventry has been found guilty of another child sex offence and is likely to die in jail. Alexander Bede Walsh abused vulnerable young people for more than 20 years.

On Tuesday, January 13, Walsh, 72, was convicted of indecently assaulting a boy following a trial at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court. He abused the victim in Cheadle in the 1980s.

Walsh was previously jailed in 2012 after being found guilty of sexually abusing and indecently assaulting young boys between the 1970s and 1990s. He is serving a 22-year sentence at HMP Wakefield in West Yorkshire.

READ MORE: Man banned from Coventry property for repeatedly ‘causing issues’

Boys aged between eight and 16 were abused while Walsh was working in Coventry,  View Cache

Paramus Catholic, the Newark Archdiocese and the Christian Brothers were hit with another sexual assault lawsuit against former teacher and coach Bernard Garris.

A former unidentified student filed the suit Jan. 14, saying they were repeatedly sexually abused by Garris while they were a student. The complaint provides little detail about the alleged incident and does not mention the years the plaintiff was a student.

Maria Margiotta, the executive director of communications and public relations for the Archdiocese of Newark, did not immediately return a request for comment.

This is the second lawsuit in as many months filed against the school, the diocese and the Christian Brothers. Another anonymous student accused Garris and former gym teacher Donn Ernst of sexual assault in the 1980s.

Garris and Ernst have been the subject of several lawsuits by former students. By August 2021, at least 11 lawsuits had been filed against Paramus Catholic, saying the…

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CANTON, Ohio (WJW) — A former Archbishop Hoban High School student is suing school administrators, the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland and others, alleging the school’s former theater director and choir teacher sexually assaulted her numerous times on campus and at his home.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, Jan. 13, in Stark County Common Pleas Court, names former teacher Chad C. Kendall, 37, of Akron, now awaiting trial on 10 felony counts of sexual battery; school administrators including President Christopher DiMauro and principals T. Kirk Griffith and Catherine Perrow; and Brothers of Holy Cross, an Indiana religious order operating in Northeast Ohio.

The new lawsuit alleges the student — who has not been identified and is named in the complaint as Jane Doe — attended the Akron private parochial school from 2021 until graduation in May 2025….

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Does a priest assignment point to broader challenges for the Church?

The bishop of Charlotte, North Carolina has faced pushback after reinstating to ministry a priest removed more than five years ago amid allegations of child abuse.

But the case could point to a gap in the Church’s canonical norms for clerics accused of abuse before ordination, and towards ambiguity about the status of some accused clerics. It could also point to the difficulty posed by differing uses of the term “credible” to characterize allegations of abuse.

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In 2019, the Charlotte diocese announced that a person had come forward to the diocese alleging that Fr. Patrick Hoare had sexually abused him in the early 1990s, in Pennsylvania, before Hoare was ordained a priest.

In July 2020, Bishop Peter Jugis announced that two allegations had by then surfaced against Hoare — “both of which involved accusations of inappropriate touching of relatives…

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Alexander Bede Walsh was jailed in 2012 for abusing young boys in Coventry and Warwickshire

A Roman Catholic priest jailed for abusing boys in Coventry has been found guilty of another child sex offence and is likely to die in jail. Alexander Bede Walsh abused vulnerable young people for more than 20 years.

On Tuesday, January 13, Walsh, 72, was convicted of indecently assaulting a boy following a trial at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court. He abused the victim in Cheadle in the 1980s.

Walsh was previously jailed in 2012 after being found guilty of sexually abusing and indecently assaulting young boys between the 1970s and 1990s. He is serving a 22-year sentence at HMP Wakefield in West Yorkshire.

Boys aged between eight and 16 were abused while Walsh was working in Coventry, Warwickshire, and Staffordshire. He also had a previous conviction for possessing…

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[See also the text of the Inspector General’s 2025 report on the Chicago Public Schools.]

Chicago Public Schools’ watchdog released its annual report Wednesday, detailing dozens of the more than 1,200 complaints it received between July 2024 and June 2025. The report addressed accusations of pandemic program fraud, excessive overtime, stolen equipment, residency violations and sexual misconduct by district employees.

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is an independent body that investigates allegations of fraud, waste and misconduct within the district. The office does not disclose the identities of accused employees in the report.

Pandemic relief fraud

The OIG reported closing two cases in fiscal year 2025 involving former CPS principals who defrauded pandemic relief programs, including one who received more than $41,000 in loans on top of her six-figure salary.

One principal’s termination hearing is pending with the Illinois State Board of Education. The other principal retired amid…

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Last April, the New Jersey Supreme Court finally cleared the way for the attorney general to resume an investigation into clergy sexual abuse — an investigation that was halted for seven years after the Catholic Diocese of Camden sued to block it. That lawsuit effectively stopped the Attorney General’s Office from carrying out a probe it had promised to victims and the public alike.

For survivors, the questions remain painfully unanswered:

What has happened to the promised investigation?

Why has it taken so long?

How many more victims must die — or take their own lives out of despair — before our leaders tell the truth about how our children were failed by powerful institutions and by the very systems meant to protect them?

Across the country, courts are beginning to confront these same failures. In New York, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts and other states, judges have acknowledged the willful stalling, lack of progress and insincere…

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Villa Park IL – A man is suing the Diocese of Joliet, saying one of its pastors sexually abused him in the early 1990s.

The Rev. John Barrett served in Mary Queen of Heaven in Elmhurst, St. Alexander in Villa Park, Notre Dame in Clarendon Hills and Saints Peter and Paul in Naperville during his career. He died in 2014.

Filing the lawsuit on Monday, the plaintiff, who is now about 40, is seeking damages. He said he suffered much pain as a result of the alleged abuse in 1990 and 1991 at St. Alexander in Villa Park, where the plaintiff was a student in the parochial school.

According to the lawsuit, Barrett started sexually abusing children as early as 1968 at Clarendon Hills’ Notre Dame.

The lawsuit said the diocese’s practice was to discuss allegations of sexual abuse internally before transfers were made, but the leaders would never warn…

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A Will County lawsuit claims a priest who died in 2014 had sexually abused a minor who attended a Catholic elementary school in Villa Park in the early 1990s.

The lawsuit was filed on Monday against the Diocese of Joliet by the alleged victim, who is going by the pseudonym John Doe in the case.

John Doe’s lawsuit claims the Rev. John F. Barrett, who died in 2014, had sexually abused him while he was attending St. Alexander Catholic School in Villa Park between 1991 and 1992.

The lawsuit alleged the Diocese of Joliet “breached its duty” of reasonable care to John Doe by allowing Barrett to remain a pastor at the school despite past allegations of sexual abuse by a separate accuser.

In 2002, Barrett was removed from ministry when the latter accuser claimed he was sexually abused by Barrett…

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A former nun who abused vulnerable young people at children’s homes in Scotland has been jailed for 15 months.

Carol Buirds, 75, was found guilty of causing children unnecessary suffering and injury when she worked at homes run by the Catholic order the Sisters of Nazareth between 1972 and 1981.

Another former nun, Eileen McElhinney, 78, was given a probation order and 240 hours of unpaid work over the abuse, while retired support worker Dorothy Kane, 68, was also given 150 hours of community service following a trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

A survivors’ group described the attacks as an “abuse of status, power and trust”.

All of the offences took place over a nine-year period between 1972 and 1981.

They were committed at Nazareth House homes in Lasswade, Midlothian and Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, and at an unknown address in Dunbar, East Lothian.

Jurors were told how Buirds,…

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Sex abuse victims and those affected by the Diocese of Buffalo’s bankruptcy will have a chance to offer statements.

Four separate sessions have been planned through the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York.

Each session will start 10 a.m. at the Robert H. Jackson U.S. Courthouse on 2 Niagara Square in Buffalo. They will include Jan. 27 and 28, and Feb. 25 and 26.

The Diocese of Buffalo became notorious internationally when sexual abuse cover-ups were revealed in Roman Catholic parishes across the U.S. At least 15 priests who served in Genesee, Wyoming and Orleans counties were accused of molesting children over decades.

Multiple molestations and rapes were often attributed to the same priests, who were repeatedly transferred to other parishes within the diocese. Criminal charges were rarely filed among those accused the GLOW region.

The diocese filed for bankruptcy in February 2020. The financial…

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[In this video, Rhode Island Attorney General confirms (at 1:25 in the video) that he conveyed his report to the Diocese of Providence on January 7, 2026 and gave the diocese ten days plus an additional ten days to review it. “Once those 20 days have passed, the public will have that report.”]

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Every level of Church leadership must strengthen and improve its ability to listen to everyone, especially to victims of sexual abuse and those who suffer, Pope Leo XIV said.

The problem of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church “is truly a wound in the life of the Church in many places,” and “we cannot close our eyes or our hearts” to the crisis and its victims, he said at the conclusion of an extraordinary meeting with the world’s cardinals at the Vatican.

“I encourage you to share this with your bishops: often the pain of the victims has been made worse by the fact that they were not welcomed and listened to,” he said Jan. 8. The Vatican published the remarks Jan. 10.

“The abuse itself causes a deep wound that may last a lifetime, but often the scandal in the Church is because the door was closed and the…

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Victims of sexual abuse within the Czech Catholic Church have called on Czech President Petr Pavel to stand up for them during his meeting with Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican on Monday, in an open letter released to CTK earlier this week.

Seven of the eight signatories of the letter also attached their personal stories and experiences of sexual abuse in the church. They called on the president not to sign the Czech-Vatican treaty.

Pavel and his wife Eva will visit the Vatican on Monday, 19 January, where Pope Leo XIV will receive them. A meeting with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin is also planned.

In their letter, the signatories express their trust in the president as the supreme representative of the state, who, according to the constitution, is committed to protecting human dignity and freedom.

“You will visit the Vatican next week. We ask you: Become…

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Two sisters who were abused by a former priest have called on the Catholic Church to ensure every diocese in Ireland is proactive in providing opportunities for direct engagement between abuse survivors and church leaders.

Paula and Margaret Martin from County Donegal said a legally-facilitated meeting with Diocese of Raphoe representatives last year was “deeply healing”.

Con Cunningham, then aged 86, was sentenced to 15 months in prison at Letterkenny Circuit Court in 2021 after pleading guilty to eight counts of indecent assault in the 1970s.

A spokesperson for the Catholic Church said it is committed to “continuous learning and responding positively” to those who have been hurt.

The Martin sisters were nine and 11 when the abuse started.

They waived their right to anonymity to name Cunningham.

Conviction dealt with ‘one part of pain’

The women had gone to the Church three times over a 25-year period about the…

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“I am finally at a point in my healing journey where I can claim my own story.”

Awake: Hi, Jennifer-Marie! Thank you for sharing your story with our community. What would you like to share about yourself and your life?

Jennifer-Marie Burchell: I work as a parish secretary in La Crosse, Wisconsin. I am also an ecclesiastical seamstress and love to spend time designing and constructing Church vestments. I specialize in restoring and repairing older vestments. I love to save embroidery and remount it on new vestments so it will enjoy many more years of use. I am in my mid-50s and blessed with one daughter who has been understanding about the abuse I suffered as a teenager and has been supportive of my healing journey.

Q: Your seamstress work sounds wonderful. And it’s so good to hear that your daughter has been a source of support. What would you…

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Sr. Ranit Pallassery said she will pursue every appeal avenue against Bishop Franco Mulakkal.

An Indian nun who accused a bishop of rape has said she will pursue the case to the Supreme Court, in a television interview aired almost four years after the bishop was acquitted by a lower court.

Sr. Ranit Pallassery made the statement in a Jan. 10 interview with Asianet News in which she publicly disclosed her identity for the first time, choosing to waive the anonymity she is entitled to under Indian law.

A long-form report published in August 2025 by the Indian website The News Minute previously used her name with her permission, but did not publicly disclose her identity fully.

Sr. Ranit told Asianet News: “I have decided to see this case through the High Court and the Supreme Court. Until I get a verdict from the Supreme Court, I will not rest. I will continue…

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Nearly a month after Joe Campbell was arrested on charges that he sexually abused two girls decades ago, he appeared in an Oklahoma courtroom. His accusers attended, too.

This article is part of “Pastors and Prey,” a series investigating sex abuse allegations in the Assemblies of God.

The women kept their eyes fixed on the man seated three rows ahead of them as they waited for his case to be called in a Tulsa County courtroom.

It had been decades since they had seen pastor Joe Campbell, the Pentecostal preacher they say sexually abused them as children.

The hearing was procedural. But for the four women, it was anything but.

They’d come to send a message: “We’re not those little girls anymore,” Lisa Ball said.

Nearly a month after his arrest, Campbell, 68, appeared before an Oklahoma district court judge Monday on…

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One former local preacher is back in court facing serious charges.

Andrew Stephen Ervin appeared in court this afternoon on charges of statutory rape by an authority figure.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Investigation continues after local minister is arrested on sex crime charge

His attorney, William D. Massey, tells us what the status of the case is currently.

“The status is that the discovery has not been completed and we’re waiting to receive that discovery before we can move forward,” said Massey.

Discovery is mandatory before a trial can take place. Because it is incomplete, a new court date of March 2 has been scheduled for Ervin.

“The judge gave us until march the second to get that discovery and review it, investigate it, and meet again and discuss it and tell him where we are come March 2,” said Massey.

The former northside church minister was removed from his position after…

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A former youth pastor who made stops at multiple churches in Oklahoma, Arkansas and other states pleaded not guilty to child sex crimes in court on Monday.

Joseph Lyle Campbell, 68, of Elkland, Mo., was arrested by the U.S. Marshals in Webster County on Dec. 17. He was listed in the Greene County Detention Center in Springfield, Mo., as a “fugitive from out of state.”

A multi-county grand jury in Oklahoma indicted Campbell on one count of first-degree rape and one count of lewd or indecent acts to a child under 16. The alleged crime occurred in 1984 when Campbell was the youth pastor at the Eastland Assembly of God Church in Tulsa.

The indictment said that between May 1 and Oct. 1, 1984, Campbell allegedly raped a young girl in the garage of his home. He is also accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl at the church between March 1…

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A former Myrtle Beach pastor was in court on Monday.

John Paul Miller, 46, of Myrtle Beach, appeared before a federal court in Florence on Monday for an arraignment.

During the hearing, John Paul pleaded not guilty to his federal charges of cyberstalking and making false statements to federal investigators.

John Paul faces up to five years in prison for cyberstalking and up to two years for making false statements.

John Paul waived his right to a speedy trial, which his attorneys said was not unusual, and was released on a $100,000 unsecured bond.

As part of his bond conditions, John Paul must wear an ankle monitor and may not leave South Carolina. He also may not contact potential witnesses or anyone in Mica Miller’s family.

John Paul is accused of sending unwanted and harassing communications to Mica, his then-wife, from November 2022 until her death on April 27, 2024.

…

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In reporting on a scandal at a Georgia Baptist college, Baptist News Global included allegations against professor Jeremy Lyon. Lyon denies the allegations and is suing for defamation.

A former professor at a Georgia Baptist college is suing a Christian publication for defamation, saying he was falsely accused of sexual abuse.

Lawyers for Jeremy Lyon, who taught Old Testament and Hebrew at Truett McConnell University in Cleveland, Georgia, alleged that Associated Baptist Press, known as Baptist News Global, published “fabricated” allegations of abuse against him in a pair of stories about an abuse scandal at the school.

According to the lawsuit, attorneys for Lyon said Baptist News Global failed to contact the professor before naming him in the June 2025 stories and that the publication “fabricated information to support the false and defamatory accusations” against Lyon. The professor “categorically denies” the allegations against him, according to the suit.

In an email, Mark…

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The Archbishop of Madrid confirmed the Pope will visit Spain this year, in apparent affirmation of Vatican support for the scheme after two years of dispute between Church and government.

Church authorities reached an agreement with the Spanish government to set up a process to support and compensate victims of sexual abuse in the Church.

The Minister of the Presidency, Justice, and Relations with Parliament Félix Bolaños, the bishops’ conference president Archbishop Luis Argüello of Valladolid and the president of the conference of Religious Fr Jesús Díaz Sariego OP signed the agreement on 8 January.

Under the new agreement, the Church will fund compensation while the office of the People’s Defender, or ombudsman, will monitor the amounts paid out according to a scheme designed to reach consensus between Church, state and victims’ representatives.

The agreement ends two years of dispute over the Church’s responsibility for abuse, dating from October 2023 when…

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A proposed law in Arizona could see priests facing felony charges if they fail to break the seal of confession after learning of child abuse during the sacrament.

The measure, HB 2039, was introduced in December 2025 by state Rep. Anastasia Travers. It is awaiting action in the state House after Travers prefiled it on Dec. 4.

The bill would amend the state code to require priests to report abuse learned during confession if they have “reasonable suspicion to believe that the abuse is ongoing, will continue, or may be a threat to other minors.”

Failure to report a “reportable offense” could lead to class 6 felony charges under the bill. Those charges in Arizona can lead to up to $150,000 in fines and up to two years of imprisonment.

Travers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the bill and why she proposed…

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Edward Gallagher (58) of Orchard Park in Lifford, County Donegal had been charged with one count of attempted sexual communication with a child on dates between April 2 and April 17, 2025 and seven further offences including inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and causing a child to watch sexual activity on April 17 this year as well as charges of possessing indecent images of children

Derry Magistrates’ Court heard today that the case against a priest facing sex offences involves some 650 pages of communications that police have to go through. 

Edward Gallagher (58) of Orchard Park in Lifford, County Donegal had been charged with one count of attempted sexual communication with a child on dates between April 2 and April 17, 2025 and seven further offences including inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and causing a child to watch sexual activity on April 17 this year…

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Bernardino Batista dos Santos had been a kindergarten director in Belo Horizonte

A court in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais has sentenced ex-Catholic priest Bernardino Batista dos Santos to 24 years and 9 months in jail after it convicted him of raping an underage person, reported the Associated Press.

The court also ordered dos Santos to pay damages amounting to 30,000 Brazilian reais (US$5,570) in its judgment, which was published this week. The complaints against the former priest had dated back to 1975.

According to Minas Gerais state police investigation details accessed by AP, the victim’s family alleged that the rape happened during a weekend at dos Santos’ farm in Tiros. He was a kindergarten director in Belo Horizonte then.

dos Santos was taken into custody in October 2024 and was placed under house arrest with electronic ankle monitoring, Minas Gerais authorities said. He had already been removed from his post…

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Pope Leo XIV has strongly condemned the Church’s failure to welcome survivors of sexual abuse, calling it a ‘scandal’ that deepens their suffering, even though the issue was not a main topic at the 7–8 January extraordinary consistory in Rome.

The door of the Church ‘was closed’ and the victims ‘were not welcomed,’ the Pope told the cardinals.

The final remarks of the Pope to cardinals were published on 10 January by the Vatican. Victims of abuse welcomed the brief text.

‘Even if it wasn’t a specific topic of discussion during our meeting, I want to mention the problem, which still today is truly a wound in the life of the Church in many places, which is precisely the crisis caused by sexual abuse,’ Pope Leo told the cardinals as they were wrapping up discussions of their day-and-a half consistory.

‘We cannot close our eyes nor our hearts’ to victims…

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Making a film that details accusations of the sexual and spiritual abuse of nuns in the Catholic Church while maintaining a message of hope is no easy feat. Yet this is the very challenge that the Italian filmmaker Lorena Luciano took on with her new documentary “Nuns vs. the Vatican.” 

Making its worldwide debut in September at the Toronto International Film Festival, the documentary focuses on the abuse of women religious in the Catholic Church at the hands of male clergy. The film features testimonies and commentary from a variety of women who are raising awareness about clerical abuse in the Catholic Church. These voices include journalists Federica Tourn and Lucetta Scaraffia, activist Barbara Dorris and attorney Laura Sgrò. Mariska Hargitay, famous for her role as Detective Olivia Benson on the NBC show “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” serves as an executive producer.

“Nuns vs. the Vatican” prominently features…

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Sister Ranit recounts stigma and fear following alleged sexual abuse by Bishop Franco

A Keralite nun has opened up about the harrowing ordeal she endured after allegedly being sexually abused by Bishop Franco Mulakkal, recounting eight years of isolation, intimidation, and institutional silence. Speaking to Asianet TV, Sister Ranit described her current life as feeling like her “hands and legs are tied,” with ongoing social ostracism and uncertainty lingering even years after the complaint was filed.

Isolation and harassment

Sister Ranit said that after raising the abuse allegation within the Church, she was immediately isolated. She alleged that three other nuns were forced to leave the congregation due to sustained harassment, including stone-pelting, following the controversy. Those who remained, including herself, now survive by doing tailoring work at the convent, she said, adding that the diocese’s continued silence eventually pushed them to the margins.

She further alleged that Bishop Mulakkal attempted…

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The deal is expected to expand the number of victims who can seek compensation

Spain’s Roman Catholic Church has reached an agreement with the government to compensate victims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy.

The accord follows complaints that religious leaders had failed to tackle the issue adequately.

It means the government will manage possible compensation in co-ordination with the Church, handling cases where other legal avenues are no longer available because the alleged crime took place too long ago or the individual accused has passed away.

Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards are estimated by the government to have suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Church figures. The move follows similar redress schemes in other nations where abuse has been uncovered.

“A democracy should not allow the existence of victims who have never been compensated [and] whose situation, on the contrary, had been covered up,” said Justice…

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The full text of Pope Leo XIV’s speech at the conclusion of the January 7–8 consistory, published today, announces a new meeting of the cardinals in June and insists that victims and survivors of abuse “need to be accompanied with the closeness of authentic pastors.”

Although it was not a specific topic of the Extraordinary Consistory held on January 7–8, Pope Leo XIV took the opportunity to speak to the roughly 170 cardinals—both electors and non-electors—about a problem that “remains a real wound in the life of the Church in many places”: the sexual abuse crisis.

This is a topic Pope Leo, like his predecessors, has repeatedly highlighted in recent months. Even in the Consistory—focused on the themes of synodality and mission, chosen by majority vote of the cardinals—he did not fail to mention this issue.

He addressed it in his concluding speech after the two day meeting, the full…

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A new bill before the Arizona house will force priests and pastors to break their seal of confession. House Bill 2039 could also require priests or pastors to testify about confessions in court about child abuse cases.

The bill states a member of the clergy, the Christian Science practitioner or the priest may withhold reporting of the communication or confession unless there is reasonable suspicion to believe the abuse is ongoing, will continue or may be a threat to other minors.

About half of the states in the U.S. have designated clergy as mandatory reporters. At least 18 others say any person, including clergy, must report any suspected child abuse.

However, many of those laws do carve out an exception for instances like confessions.

Catholic Canon Law states a priest is “prohibited completely from using knowledge acquired from confession to the detriment of…

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After keeping a scandal secret for five years, Arise Vineyard Church in San Luis Obispo has lifted the veil in a very public way.

On the church’s website, you’ll see a prominent headline on the landing page: “FAQ Regarding Rick and Becky Olmstead.”

Click on that you’ll be led to a version of events that — albeit somewhat sanitized — acknowledges the church’s former pastor, Rick Olmstead, “exercised poor judgment when he took unsolicited photographs of young women while waiting in line outside a local store.”

Specifically, he used his phone to surreptitiously photograph young women’s backsides while he was waiting in line outside Trader Joe’s. (This was in 2020, when social distancing rules were enforced on account of the COVID pandemic.)

Olmsted was then seen following young women around inside the store and, according to some observers, he appeared to be possibly be intoxicated, according to…

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A Brazilian court sentenced former priest Bernardino Batista dos Santos to 24 years and nine months in prison for the rape of an underage person, a document obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday showed.

The ruling was issued earlier this week, though the case remains sealed.

In a 22-page document, the court in the state of Minas Gerais also sentenced the 78-year-old dos Santos to pay 30,000 Brazilian reais in damages ($5,570) to the person.

Dos Santos’ lawyer, Leonardo Diniz, said in a short statement he is shocked by the court’s decision and will appeal it.

The Archdiocese of Belo Horizonte removed dos Santos from his position in the neighboring city of Contagem in 2021 following dozens of complaints going back to 1975. His conviction, though, is based on a single case in 2016, after Brazil changed its laws on statutes of limitation in similar cases.

The former priest…

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Police in Jasper County, Missouri, arrested a pastor from Parsons, Kansas, after he allegedly held a 16-year-old girl at gunpoint and sexually assaulted her.

Joshua Price has been charged with first-degree kidnapping, two counts of armed criminal action, first-degree sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of a minor, according to Jasper County court records.

A probable cause affidavit obtained by KAKE stated that officers responded to the report of a sexual assault on November 3, 2025, that took place earlier in the day.

The victim told police she left a friend’s home and decided to walk to another friend’s house in Joplin when she got bored and decided to turn around. While she was near the intersection of 7th Street and Moffet Avenue, a vehicle with Kansas plates pulled up to the teenager and asked the victim if she needed a ride.

Related: Ex Televangelist Arrested in Missouri, Accused of…

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Police have to go through 650 pages of communications in the case against a Lifford-based priest facing child sex offences.

Edward Gallagher (58) of Orchard Park in Lifford, County Donegal had been charged with one count of attempted sexual communication with a child on dates between April 2 and April 17, 2025 and seven further offences including inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and causing a child to watch sexual activity on April 17 this year as well as charges of possessing indecent images of children.

At today’s hearing at Derry Magistrates’ Court, a prosecutor told the court that the Investigating officer was going through all the communications and would then attend the cyber unit to cross reference these. This then would allow files to be prepared for the PPS.

He added that there were 650 pages of communications to be gone through.

Defence solicitor Derwin Harvey said that…

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Making a film that details accusations of the sexual and spiritual abuse of nuns in the Catholic Church while maintaining a message of hope is no easy feat. Yet this is the very challenge that the Italian filmmaker Lorena Luciano took on with her new documentary “Nuns vs. the Vatican.” 

Making its worldwide debut in September at the Toronto International Film Festival, the documentary focuses on the abuse of women religious in the Catholic Church at the hands of male clergy. The film features testimonies and commentary from a variety of women who are raising awareness about clerical abuse in the Catholic Church. These voices include journalists Federica Tourn and Lucetta Scaraffia, activist Barbara Dorris and attorney Laura Sgrò. Mariska Hargitay, famous for her role as Detective Olivia Benson on the NBC show “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” serves as an executive producer.

“Nuns vs. the Vatican” prominently features…

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Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of sexual acts and may be triggering for some readers.

Christian music singer Stacie Joy Orrico has filed a lawsuit, accusing her ex-manager Britt Ham of sexually abusing her as a minor. She also claimed the music industry failed to protect her during events in California.

The complaint, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleges Ham committed acts of childhood sexual assault against Orrico, starting when she was 14. It also names Universal Music Group as a defendant, asserting the company is liable as successor to Orrico’s former label, ForeFront Records, for negligence and failure to supervise.

Orrico seeks unspecified damages and demands a jury trial.

“After the Christian music industry ‘discovered’ twelve-year-old Stacie Orrico, it exploited her and destroyed her innocence,” the lawsuit states.

In a statement released through her attorneys, Orrico added, “The music industry failed…

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The Spanish Bishops’ Conference (CEE, by its Spanish acronym), the Spanish Conference of Religious Orders (CONFER, by its Spanish acronym), and the government have agreed on a channel for compensating victims of abuse within the Catholic Church, in which the Ombudsman’s Office will collaborate.

The agreement was signed Jan. 8 by the president of the CEE, Archbishop Luis Argüello; the president of CONFER, Father Jesús Díaz Sariego, OP; and Minister of the Presidency, Justice, and Relations with Parliament Félix Bolaños.

The agreement reached by the three parties will be valid for one year, renewable for another year.

The agreement reached for this new comprehensive reparations system will be complementary to the one being developed by the Catholic Church through the PRIVA Plan Advisory Commission since September 2024 and must be formalized through an agreement that will be ratified within one month.

PRIVA, a condensed Spanish acronym, stands for “comprehensive reparation…

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[Click to see video.]

Francesco Zanardi is demanding transparency. He wants the Catholic Church in Italy to finally take decisive action against cases of abuse.

Francesco Zanardi was just 11 when he began suffering years of abuse by a priest in northern Italy. Decades later, he founded Rete L’ABUSO, a network exposing clerical abuse and demanding accountability from the Italian Catholic Church.

Despite over 1,250 alleged cases and more than 1,000 accused priests, Italy’s bishops have never referred a case to justice, citing no legal obligation. Cultural resistance and lack of transparency persist, even as Pope Leo XIV has urged decisive action. Survivors are still waiting for real change.

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George Ndungu, 45, was arrested by Bexar County sheriff’s deputies in September 2023; charge dismissed on Jan. 7

BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – In a statement sent to KSAT Friday, the Archdiocese of San Antonio expressed its dismay after an aggravated sexual assault case against one of its priests was dismissed by the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office.

George Ndungu, 45, was arrested by Bexar County sheriff’s deputies in September 2023. He was accused of sexually assaulting a church employee and parishioner after they came forward to the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

Ndungu’s attorney, Joseph Mick Aguilera, shared the case dismissal paperwork with KSAT on Wednesday. On it, the DA’s Office’s reason for case dismissal was “insufficient evidence.”

“The Archdiocese of San Antonio is surprised and disappointed that the Bexar County District Attorney’s office decided to dismiss the aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault charges against…

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PROVIDENCE – Six-and-a-half years after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence agreed to turn over records dating back to 1950 of alleged sexual molestation of children by priests, Attorney General Peter Neronha has finalized his investigators’ report.

Among the findings and conclusions:

The Catholic Church in Rhode Island, in a determined effort to “hide scandal,” allowed “dozens of priests” to abuse “hundreds of children,” unstopped even in the face of credible reports, Neronha told The Providence Journal on Wednesday, Jan. 7, in an exclusive interview on the day he conveyed the long-awaited report to the diocese.

Neronha said what stood out again and again was the “inadequacy” of the church’s response to allegations and the refusal of church higher-ups in Rhode Island – including then-Bishop Thomas J. Tobin – to meet with and talk to his investigators.

Summarizing…

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Leer en español 

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain’s Catholic bishops agreed Thursday to let the Spanish government’s ombudsman have the final say in the church’s compensation of victims of sexual abuse by clergy members who have died or whose possible crimes are too old to be prosecuted.

The agreement, which envisages a one-year window for claims, marks a rare concession by the Catholic hierarchy. It is aimed at resolving disagreements between the left-wing government and church authorities over reparations after victims criticized the church’s original in-house compensation proposal.

The Spanish bishops conference said in a statement that the new agreement will allow victims who don’t want to seek help directly from the church to turn to the government and the state’s ombudsman, who has taken a lead role in shedding light on abuse. The ombudsman will evaluate the claims and ultimately will have the final say on any possible awards.

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The Church of England will take no further action in relation to a complaint about the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury’s handling of an abuse case.

It emerged in December that Dame Sarah Mullally had been accused in 2020 of improperly handling a complaint against a priest in London, but the allegation against her had not been properly looked into.

She acknowledged last month that the complaint against her had not been dealt with correctly but said the original abuse claim had been fully handled by the Diocese of London.

The complainant will be able to appeal against the Archbishop of York’s decision not to further pursue the case against Dame Sarah, who is due to become the first woman to lead the Church at the end of January.

Officials said in December that she had not been told about the complaint against her when…

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A survivor who brought a safeguarding complaint against the Archbishop of Canterbury-elect has said he will appeal against the Archbishop of York’s decision to dismiss the case against her.

Most Rev Stephen Cottrell announced earlier this week that he would take no further action against Rt Rev Dame Sarah Mullally for her handling of abuse allegations by a man known as Survivor N.

N believes Bishop Sarah still has a case to answer because in a December statement to Premier Christian News she said his allegations against a priest in the Diocese of London had been “fully dealt with”. However, yesterday the church announced it was reopening an investigation into those allegations.

Dr Andrew Graystone who is an advocate for victims and survivors of church-related abuse told Premier: “It’s not even logical. Was the initial complaint fully and fairly investigated under Bishop Sarah Mullaly, the Bishop of London as she…

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Later this month, individuals who have filed claims of childhood sexual abuse against the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo or its affiliates have an opportunity to make a statement in the bankruptcy courtroom where reorganization and a victim settlement are still being ironed out.

The US Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York will hold four sessions at the Robert H. Jackson U.S. Courthouse, 2 Niagara Square in downtown Buffalo. The sessions will be held January 27 and 28, and then February 25 and 26, all of which begin at 10 a.m. during which claimants may present nontestimonial statements before the judge, and the parties involved in ongoing mediation.

Those interested in speaking must contact the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors by January 15 at DioceseBuffaloCommittee@pszjlaw.com or 212-319-5527.

The diocese and the committee representing claimants are working to finalize a $274 million settlement. A spokesman for the…

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(OSV News) — The Archdiocese of St. Louis filed a Dec. 23 motion seeking to have several counts dismissed in a lawsuit alleging “decades” of sexual abuse against minors by clergy, men and women religious, archdiocesan employees and other affiliated persons.

Judge Christopher E. McGraugh of the 22nd Judicial Court in St. Louis has granted a request to continue the case until March 26, with his order noting that “the parties are in the early stages of discovery.”

Lisa Shea, director of community and media engagement for the Archdiocese of St. Louis, told OSV News, “We are unable to provide additional information or comments regarding ongoing legal proceedings.”

Details of the suit

The initial suit was brought in July 2024 by 25 plaintiffs, identified only by their initials, who were all minor residents of Missouri at the time of the alleged abuse.

Named as defendants in that suit were the Archdiocese…

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MADRID, Jan 8 (Reuters) – Spain’s Catholic Church, reeling from a clergy sexual abuse scandal, agreed with the government on Thursday to compensate victims of abuse whose cases have expired under the statute of limitations or where the perpetrator has died.

“Today we are settling a debt and doing justice to the victims. We are moving from decades of silence and oblivion to fair reparation paid by the Church,” Justice Minister Félix Bolaños said of the deal signed by his ministry and the Church.

The abuse scandal surfaced after an investigation by El Pais newspaper in 2021 uncovered more than 1,200 alleged cases, echoing similar scandals in the Catholic Church in the United States, Ireland and France.

A 2023 report by Spain’s human rights ombudsman estimated hundreds of thousands of victims over decades, based on a survey of 8,000 people. It urged the creation of a state fund and accused…

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ROME, January 7, 2026 – As Pope Leo convenes his first extraordinary consistory in Rome, the world’s Catholic cardinals – the men who have overseen, enabled, and concealed the largest institutional sexual abuse scandal in modern history – will formally gather behind closed doors. These are the men who transferred known offenders, concealed criminal evidence from the public, obstructed justice, and facilitated hundreds of thousands of sexual assaults across generations. Absent from the consistory’s agenda is any plan to hold themselves accountable, dismantle the systems of secrecy they created, or take any concrete action to end the ongoing cycle of abuse and cover-up they have perpetuated.

On the day of Pope Leo’s election, SNAP delivered a letter outlining a clear and actionable roadmap to stop sexual abuse and institutional concealment within the Catholic Church. Instead of embracing that mandate, Pope Leo has moved the Vatican backwards. In his first interview, he dismissed…

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Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans has issued a formal apology to abuse survivors in that archdiocese, following last month’s court approval of a $230 million settlement in the five-year-long bankruptcy case.

“With this letter, I express on behalf of the clergy, religious, and laity of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, my predecessors, and myself, profound regret over the tragic and inexcusable harm you have suffered at the hands of your abusers,” said Aymond in a widely distributed Dec. 26 letter addressed “to all child abuse claimants” in the archdiocese.

The seventh amended plan for the archdiocese’s Chapter 11 filing — dating to 2020, and prompted by some 500 abuse claims — was approved by Judge Meredith Grabill on Dec. 8.

The archdiocese advised the court on Dec. 29 that “all conditions” required for the plan’s taking effect had been satisfied as of Dec. 26.

Aymond’s apology letter was posted to the archdiocesan website and that…

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A former Greene County pastor will spend 10 years in prison for sexually abusing a minor, child endangerment and felony embezzlement.

A judge handed down that sentence for Rodney Locklear in Greene County Circuit Court Monday, January 5. The decision was made in an almost four hour session.

Locklear, former pastor of Victory Church in Ruckersville, was sentenced on a series of felony and misdemeanor charges involving embezzlement crimes and sexual abuse of a child.

In court, the victim told deputies the abuse was the most traumatic experience of her life, leaving her teenage years marked by fear and uncertainty.

Her parents also testified that they noticed drastic changes in her behavior, saying she became withdrawn and angry. They said this was never part of her personality before attending the church.

Captain Kevin Freid with the Greene County Sheriff’s Office was able to retrieve messages with the minor talking to…

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The Douglas County trial is expected to take eight days.

A jury trial for a former Minnesota pastor charged with repeated sexual assault of a child at a cabin in Douglas County is set to start Tuesday, Jan. 6, in Douglas County Circuit Court.

Jeffrey Anthony Charles, 64, of Danbury, Wisconsin, faces one felony count of repeated sexual assault of a child as a persistent repeater. A cash bond of $500,000 was set at his initial hearing on May 18, 2022. Charles was in custody at the Douglas County Jail as of Monday, Jan. 5.

According to the charging documents:

Charles sexually assaulted a victim three or four times at his cabin in the town of Summit over the course of five years. At the time, the victim was between the ages of 3 and 7. Charles served as the pastor of Neighbors to Nations Church in Princeton, Minnesota, and…

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A Pierce County jury has delivered a guilty verdict on 12 of 13 counts of first-degree child molestation against Jordan Henderson, a former elementary school teacher and volunteer worship pastor.

The jury also affirmed that Henderson abused his position of trust in committing these offenses. Sentencing is scheduled for April 10.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Pierce County elementary teacher, pastor charged with 9 counts of child molestation

Henderson, 34, was arrested at his Gig Harbor home by Pierce County Sheriff’s Department deputies in April 2024 after five female students from Evergreen Elementary School reported being assaulted during school hours.

The allegations led to Henderson being placed on administrative leave by the Peninsula School District. He then resigned.

Prosecutors highlighted the breach of trust in their charges, stating, “The defendant used [his] position of trust, confidence, or fiduciary responsibility to facilitate the commission of the current offense, and against…

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A former pastor of a Red Bank church has been arrested and criminally charged with repeatedly engaging in various forms of sexual activity with a juvenile parishioner, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced last week.

Enrique Molina, 50, is charged with two counts of first-degree Aggravated Sexual Assault, four counts of second-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child, three counts of second-degree Sexual Assault, two counts of third-degree Aggravated Criminal Sexual Contact, one count of third-degree Attempted Aggravated Criminal Sexual Contact, one count of third-degree Hindering Apprehension, and three counts of fourth-degree Criminal Sexual Contact.

An investigation into Molina’s activities was recently initiated by a report received by the Red Bank Police Department, which subsequently coordinated with  members of the Eatontown, Neptune Township, and Ocean Township police departments and the Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Bureau. 

The investigation determined that Molina met the victim at his church – Iglesia Pentecostal…

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A jury has returned guilty verdicts on 12 of 13 counts of child molestation against a Key Peninsula teacher, with jurors also finding he abused a position of trust, court officials said.

The verdicts were announced after a trial involving 34-year-old Jordan Henderson, a fifth-grade teacher at Evergreen Elementary School.

Jurors found Henderson guilty on 12 counts of child molestation in the first degree and not guilty on one count.

For each of the guilty counts, jurors answered “yes” to special verdict questions determining that Henderson held a position of trust over the children involved.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 10.

Henderson was arrested in April 2024 by deputies with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.

At the time, prosecutors charged him with multiple counts of sexual molestation involving children younger than 12, alleging the acts occurred inside his classroom over a two-year period.

Court documents previously detailed allegations from several…

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A Mountain Home pastor accused of sexually assaulting women at his church pleaded not guilty on Monday morning in Elmore County Court.

RELATED | Former daycare volunteer speaks out about Mountain Home pastor accused of sex trafficking

Gregory Wayne Jones, who previously served as the pastor of Liberty Christian Fellowship Church, entered his plea as his case moved to district court after a judge determined there was sufficient evidence to proceed.

WATCH: Mountain Home pastor pleads not guilty

The case centers on allegations that Jones exploited his pastoral role during counseling sessions that prosecutors said escalated into sexual abuse over several years.

During a preliminary hearing, an alleged victim provided hours of graphic testimony detailing the accusations against Jones.

Jones’ defense attorney presented text messages in court, arguing the alleged victims’ actions were based on religious belief rather than criminal coercion.

Jones remains out on bond with his next court hearing…

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Brian Boucher came into contact with 1 of his victims, parole board says

Brian Boucher, a former Montreal priest imprisoned for sexually abusing two boys, has been banned from parts of the city after coming into contact with one of his victims on several occasions.

Boucher is serving an eight-year sentence after being found guilty in 2019 of sexually abusing two boys while he was a priest in LaSalle and, later, in the Town of Mount Royal. He was defrocked in 2020.

Boucher was granted statutory release on July 23, 2024. He is serving the remainder of his time in the community under supervision.

Following his release, the victim’s family said Boucher appeared in “their presence on several occasions,” according to a Parole Board of Canada decision dated Dec. 29, 2025. The location of the run-ins are redacted in the decision.

The victim, according to the parole board, expressed discomfort because…

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New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond has announced the schedule for the group meetings for survivors of sexual abuse.

These meetings are open to survivors of child sexual abuse or other adults who may have experienced sexual abuse by a person in the ministry of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

The archdiocese said the purpose of the meetings is for survivors to listen, question, and freely share their experiences and otherwise freely participate in these open visits for survivors.

Here is the list of when the ten group meetings will be held:

Friday, February 6

• Holy Name of Jesus Parish 12:00 Noon, 6367 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana
• St. Peter Claver Parish 7:00 pm, Office – 1910 Ursulines Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana

Saturday, February 7

• St. Philip Neri Parish 3:00 pm, 6500 Kawanee Avenue, Metairie, Louisiana
• St. Charles Borromeo Parish 6:30 pm, 13396 River Road, Destrehan, Louisiana

Sunday,…

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GRETNA, La. (WVUE) – Gregory Aymond, the outgoing Archbishop of New Orleans, is scheduling 10 in-person group meetings with survivors of clergy sex abuse.

The first meeting will take place Feb. 6 at noon at Holy Name of Jesus Parish in New Orleans. The series of meetings is part of the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ recent multi-million bankruptcy settlement.

It follows a personal letter of apology from the archbishop that was published Jan. 3 and is circulating through Louisiana and some neighboring states’ media outlets. The apology letter is addressed to “All Child Sexual Abuse Claimants in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.”

New Orleans’ archdiocese issues public apology letter to clergy sex abuse victims

For some claimants, the apology contained in the letter rings hollow.

Ever since Jackie Berthelot joined a wave of lawsuits that led to the recent bankruptcy, he says some people treated him like an outcast…

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SÃO PAULO, Brazil – The Bolivian Network of Church Abuse Survivors says it still hopes that an Uruguayan laicized priest involved in several abuse cases against children in Bolivia will be punished for his crimes, after Uruguay decided not to extradite him to the Andean nation in December.

Former Father Juan José Sant’Anna Trinidad, also known as Padre Juanjo, is accused of abusing at least 30 students of a boarding school in Tapacarí, in the region of Cochabamba, in Bolivia.

The scandal emerged in October of 2007, when the first accusation against Juanjo was brought to the authorities. He used to work at the Monseñor Ángel Gelmi boarding school and was in charge of its male sector. His victims were between 6 and 18 years old.

In November of that year, Juanjo was officially charged by Cochabamba’s Social Management Departmental Service to the District Attorney’s office. Shortly later, he ran…

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Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board claims insurance companies ‘pursued an avenue of denial’ by refusing to pay legal costs for civil suits concerning historical allegations of sexual abuse made by former students

Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board is suing insurance providers for more than $21 million after they allegedly denied coverage for lawsuits linked to historical sexual abuse claims.

It alleges the companies “wrongfully refused to acknowledge and defend the claims” brought forward by three former students in 2024, according to an eight-page statement of claim filed in Ontario Superior Court last month.

The sexual abuse claims stem from alleged incidents involving teachers and principals at Catholic schools in Sault Ste. Marie between 1964 and 1987, court documents show.

HSCDSB, which provides education services to both the Sault and Algoma District, claims the insurance companies are liable for all costs of defending the civil suits in court and paying any…

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Despite achieving constitutional separation from the Catholic Church after much bloodshed, the French state is still subservient to the Church when it comes to child abuse, says Keith Porteous Wood.

The 120th anniversary of France’s landmark law codifying the separation of Church and state was commemorated last month. The 1905 law’s ideological origin was of course the Revolution of 1789, which sought to end, through the establishment of a republic, the corruption and excessive power of the monarchs, the aristocracy and the Catholic Church.

However, France wasn’t the first jurisdiction to make religious freedom a right and forbid state support for religion – the US state of Virginia was. There, the Anglican Church was established just as it was, and still is, in England. Virginia’s stance formed the template for the first amendment to the US Constitution in 1789, thanks to visionaries James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, the latter of whom…

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