ABUSE TRACKER

[See also the judge’s decision.]

Parishes are often shielded from litigation during federal bankruptcy proceedings, but Judge Heather Cooper said they potentially constitute the “largest assets” in the Burlington Diocese.

Parishes in the Diocese of Burlington, Vermont, are “not separate legal entities” from the diocese itself and may be included in bankruptcy proceedings related to Church abuse cases, a federal court ruled this week.

Judge Heather Cooper said in a July 28 decision in U.S. Bankruptcy Court that a committee of abuse victims could seek compensation from the reportedly “hundreds of millions of dollars” tied up in diocesan parishes and other assets.

The diocese had argued in part that opening those assets to legal proceedings would require “substantial” litigation “against over 64 defendants” linked to the diocese, though Cooper said that the federal bankruptcy process helps “streamline” such legal disputes.

Attorneys for the diocese also argued that the parishes…

View Cache

On Aug. 9, 1991, two young Polish missionaries were killed by Peru’s Maoist Shining Path guerrillas after refusing to abandon the people they served.

Thirty-five years after Conventual Franciscan Frs. Michal Tomaszek and Zbigniew Strzalkowski were martyred, their legacy endures as a reminder that the Gospel is lived not through privilege, but through closeness to the people entrusted to the church’s care.

For Fr. Jaroslaw Wysoczanski, the only surviving member of the three-man Polish Franciscan team that established the mission in Peru’s western coastal Diocese of Chimbote, the anniversary of their death is not primarily about coming back to the day his friends perished, but rather to why they chose to remain in Peru.

“A good shepherd does not abandon his flock when danger comes,” Wysoczanski, who now ministers to migrants and refugees in El Paso, Texas, told OSV News.

Pope Leo XIV, who spent more than two decades as…

View Cache

A judge has permitted abuse survivors to pursue the inclusion of Vermont’s Catholic parishes and schools in settling claims against the Diocese of Burlington, which has been in bankruptcy proceedings since September 2024.

However, several of the parishes had earlier challenged that effort in a federal district court, saying that imposing such liability on parishes, rather than the “alleged offending priests,” is unconstitutional. 

The survivors’ committee is now seeking to have the bankruptcy court enforce an automatic stay that was previously issued by the state superior court on multiple suits brought by survivors against individual parishes. The committee is also asking the court to have the parishes’ challenge declared a violation of both the stay and the bankruptcy code.

The case highlights the ongoing issue of determining to what extent parishes, schools and affiliated Catholic entities may be held financially liable in settling abuse claims against dioceses.

Litigation to focus on…

View Cache

Two weeks after the Vatican said its canonical criminal trial of Fr. Marko Rupnik was ongoing, OSV News has learned that 22 previously undisclosed letters from women who belonged to the Slovenian Loyola Community and described alleged abuse by the famed mosaic artist are part of the records of alleged abuse.

The letters, written in 2000 at the request of the community’s superior, Sr. Ivanka Hosta, and addressed directly to Rupnik, are held in the archives of the Loyola Community, which are now in the custody of the Archdiocese of Ljubljana, Slovenia, according to people familiar with the case. In the letters, 22 women described alleged spiritual, psychological and sexual abuse by Rupnik while he was their spiritual director.

On Dec. 15, 2023, the Archdiocese of Ljubljana announced that the Vatican had ordered the Sisters of the Community of Loyola to be dissolved within one year, following a decree issued…

View Cache

Jesuit high school deal resolves lawsuit stemming from allegations of molestation by school janitor decades prior

For the second time in as many months, a prominent Catholic high school in New Orleans recently agreed to pay an out-of-court settlement to resolve a lawsuit claiming child molestation decades earlier by a janitor at the institution.

Both the plaintiff and Jesuit high school struck the agreement ahead of a late September trial date in the city’s civil district courthouse, according to 27 July legal filings reviewed by the Guardian.

That pact came after Jesuit and another plaintiff alleging child molestation by the same school janitor – as well as one of his custodian colleagues – served notice in court on 4 June that they had agreed to an out-of-court settlement.

An attorney for both of those plaintiffs, Richard Trahant, in June would not deny that the settlement in that case was worth more than…

View Cache

Every week, Bill Guelker, 78, travels 30 miles each way to attend an older Latin Mass celebrated in the woods by a retired priest.

Before Traditionis Custodes, the 2021 guidance from Pope Francis that restricted the older liturgy, Guelker was attending Little Flower parish in St. Louis, Missouri, but then that Mass was canceled, he said.

For Guelker, staying put was not an option after Little Flower switched to the more contemporary English-language liturgy, approved in the wake of the 1960s Second Vatican Council, which aimed to modernize the church.

“I accept that it’s a valid Mass, but it’s a pathetic Mass, said Guelker, who said he attends the older Latin Mass not because of nostalgia, but because the text is “much better and much more helpful in understanding the sacraments.”

Guelker is one of over a million U.S. Catholics who attend the older…

View Cache

The bishop of Maine says the Catholic diocese has arrived at “financial resolutions” with a number of clergy sexual-abuse victims.“

Even though pending cases that were decades old no longer had legal standing based on the ruling, the diocese recognizes that the harm caused by sexual abuse is not erased with time and still desired to respond with compassion,” Bishop James Ruggieri said in a statement.

Ruggieri said the payments are *intended to acknowledge, in a tangible way, consistent with our resources and obligations, the seriousness of what has been reported and the lasting impact of abuse.”

Paul Kendrick of Freeport, a spokesman for clergy sexual-abuse victims, called the bishop’s announcement “a public relations ploy designed to protect the identities of priest abusers, keep secret evidence of the church’s failure to protect children and low ball financial compensation for the lifelong harms and injuries inflicted upon victims.”

The Portland-based diocese…

View Cache

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has begun evaluating the United States’ formal request to extradite Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) founder Apollo Quiboloy, marking the first step in a legal process that could eventually lead to his surrender to US authorities.

Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez said the request, transmitted through the US Embassy and accepted by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), is now under review by the DOJ’s Office of the State Counsel, the agency tasked with handling extradition proceedings.

US asks Philippines to extradite Quiboloy

“Aaralin nang matindi ng Department of Justice through the Office of State Counsel para tingnan kung ito ay naaayon sa ating extradition law at kung iyan ay consistent sa RP-US Extradition Treaty,” Vasquez said in a DZMM interview on Saturday, August 8.

“Napaka voluminous kasi ng mga documents na pinadala ng US through the US Embassy na pinadaan nila earlier sa Department…

View Cache

Arizona justices unanimously ruled on Thursday (July 30) that trial courts couldn’t interfere in church leaders’ decision to report sexual abuse cases disclosed in confession, according to their own interpretation of religious doctrine.

The Arizona State Supreme Court ruled that church leaders do not need to report cases of sexual abuse, disclosed during confessions, to authorities, in a lawsuit brought against a man who confessed to Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints bishops to sexually abusing his daughter. 

Arizona justices unanimously ruled on Thursday (July 30) that trial courts couldn’t interfere in church leaders’ decision to report sexual abuse cases disclosed in confession, according to their own interpretation of religious doctrine.

“We hold that the First Amendment generally prohibits fact finders from inquiring into a clergy member’s application of his particular religious doctrine — absent fraud or collusion for secular purposes — in determining whether reporting should be withheld…

View Cache

Decades of Vermont bishops, not just the current ones, bear responsibility for hiding clergy abuse.

Letters to the editor are brief reader responses to stories and opinion pieces published by VTDigger. Letters give voice to community members and do not represent VTDigger’s views. To submit a letter, follow the instructions here

Dear Editor,

I’m writing to thank VTDigger reporter Kevin O’Connor for shining a light on corruption in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington in its effort to prevent justice for survivors of clergy sexual abuse in Vermont. There is plenty of shame to go around.

Let’s start with Vermont’s former bishop, Christopher Coyne, and his once second-in-command, John McDermott. According to a whistleblower, a woman who applied for the position of chief financial officer of the diocese, Coyne and McDermott moved the diocese’s money so they could claim that the diocese was broke when it came time to pay the…

View Cache

A former Cheektowaga priest who was removed from the clergy because of accusations that he sexually abused children has been employed to work with seniors at a Buffalo nonprofit for the last 13 years.

David Bialkowski, the former head of St. John Gualbert Catholic Church in Cheektowaga, has been working as a Senior Service Case Manager at the Lt. Col. Matt Urban Human Service Center since 2013.

Bialkowski, who is named on the Diocese of Buffalo’s list of clergy with substantiated claims of sexual abuse and is accused in two Child Victims Act lawsuits, was removed from his parish in 2011 and kicked off the diocese’s payroll in 2020, before being removed from the clergy altogether by the Vatican at some point between 2020 and 2025 – a process known as laicization or defrocking.

In a 2020 interview with the Buffalo News, Bialkowski denied that he sexually abused any child or…

View Cache

Pope Leo XIV will meet with victims of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church during his planned trip to France from September 25 to 28, the Vatican said Friday. The Holy See did not immediately provide details about the meeting, which comes after the pontiff vowed to further efforts within the Church to address its sex abuse scandals.

Pope Leo XIV will meet with survivors of clergy abuse during a four-day trip to France next month that will include a visit to UNESCO headquarters, a meeting with French bishops in Lourdes and an interreligious meeting in the border city of Metz, the Vatican announced on Friday.

The Vatican issued a brief separate statement highlighting the meeting with several abuse survivors and noting that the victims themselves will be involved in preparations for the meeting. The timing and location will be provided at a later date. 

Leo met with six abuse survivors during his recent…

View Cache

Pope Leo XIV will make a four-day apostolic journey to France Sept. 25-28, with a program that stretches from the Élysée Palace and UNESCO in Paris to the Marian shrine of Lourdes and a final stop in Metz, and it will include a private meeting with victims of abuse in the Church, the Vatican has confirmed.

The Holy See Press Office released the detailed schedule Aug. 7, along with a statement to journalists saying, “During his upcoming Apostolic Journey to France, Pope Leo XIV will meet privately with several victims of abuse in the Church. The victims themselves will be involved in preparing for this event. Further details may be provided later.”

The motto of the trip, “That the world may have life,” can be clearly read through the prism of a recent vote made by French lawmakers to legalize “assisted dying,” a move that French bishops called a “radical choice.”

Paris:…

View Cache

 Pope Leo XIV will meet with survivors of clergy abuse during a four-day trip to France next month that will include a visit to UNESCO headquarters, a meeting with French bishops in Lourdes and an interreligious meeting in the border city of Metz, the Vatican announced on Friday.

The Vatican issued a brief separate statement highlighting the meeting with several abuse survivors and noting that the victims themselves will be involved in preparations for the meeting. The timing and location will be provided at a later date.

Leo met with six abuse survivors during his recent trip to Spain, where the Catholic hierarchy has only recently begun reckoning with its legacy of abuse and cover-up after long dismissing the severity of the scandal.

In France, a 2021 report estimated 330,000 children had been sexually abused over 70 years by church personnel. The pontiff last month signaled commitment to continuing the  View Cache

Pope Leo will visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from November 6 to ​17, the Vatican announced on Wednesday, ‌in a major trip for the Catholic leader who spent decades as a missionary and bishop in Peru ​before becoming pope last year.

The pope ​will spend November 6-8 in Uruguay, 8-11 ⁠in Argentina and 11-17 in Peru, the ​Vatican said.

The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.

Leo, the first U.S.-born pontiff, is also ​a citizen of Peru, where he served as bishop of Chiclayo, in the northwest, from 2015 to 2023.

The ​pope will visit Chiclayo as well as ​Lima, Cusco and Pucallpa while in Peru, the Vatican said. ‌In ⁠Argentina, he will visit Buenos Aires, Cordoba and Lujan. In Uruguay, he will visit Montevideo, Paysandú and Florida.

The Vatican did not offer further ​details about ​the visits, ⁠saying the…

View Cache

A local pastor has been charged with indecency with a child, according to the Edinburg Police Department.

Police say Jorge Gonzalez Martinez, 49, was arrested Monday without incident following a police report that was filed earlier this month.

According to a police summary report obtained by ValleyCentral, Martinez was arrested at Iglesia Internacional Poder y Gloria in Edinburg.

ValleyCentral spoke to a woman who identified herself as Martinez’s wife, who said she could not comment on the case but maintained that her husband is innocent.

The alleged incidents happened between March and April 2025, according to investigators.

Edinburg police Chief Jaime Ayala said police began investigating after a girl made an outcry.

More children have come forward with allegations against Martinez, but the investigative findings did not rise to the level of more criminal offenses, Ayala said.

“Part of why we wanted to push this out, if there’s potentially any…

View Cache

Monte Chitty, 64, will be a sex offender for life

A Marathon pastor who briefly fled to Texas while facing charges of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl at his church in 2024 took a plea deal on Thursday, receiving a six-year state prison sentence.

Leer en español

Preacher-turned-fugitive Monte Chitty will now have to register as a sex offender for life. Facing a judge in Marathon on Thursday, the 64-year-old pleaded no contest to sexual battery of a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputies first arrested Chitty, then 62, on March 4, 2024, one day after they said he abused the girl.

Graphic texts, searches incriminate pastor

Investigators said while serving as pastor of First Baptist Marathon, located at 200 62nd St., he provided alcohol to the victim ― who believed the beverage was “spiked” ― and she passed out…

View Cache

A complaint against Rev Canon Andrew Cornes under the Church of England’s Clergy Discipline Measure (CDM) has been upheld by a Bishop’s Disciplinary Tribunal.

Rev Canon Andrew Cornes was told in 1982 by a young man that he had been abused by John Smyth, but a Church of England disciplinary tribunal has found he failed to take appropriate action.

The Bishop’s Disciplinary Tribunal found that Canon Cornes, who was then an assistant curate at All Souls’, Langham Place, should have reported the information, made further enquiries, or taken steps to protect others after learning about the abuse.

The tribunal ruled that, although safeguarding procedures were not in place at the time, his decision to take no further action amounted to neglect in the performance of his duties as a priest.

It found the misconduct charge against him proved. A separate decision on sanction has not yet been published.

The complaint…

View Cache

A suspended Catholic priest on a tiny Caribbean island is embracing calypso to make his voice heard on topics including Gaza and sexual abuse within the church.

Father Gerard Paul, who hails from Grenada, can no longer officiate masses, funerals, weddings or baptisms after repeatedly criticizing the church and clergy. But that hasn’t stopped him from preaching via the lilting rhythms of calypso, an Afro-Caribbean music genre known for its witty lyrics and satirical social commentary.

“It’s a kind of pulpit for me,” Paul told The Associated Press in a phone interview this week.

The 64-year-old priest made his debut this year at Spicemas, Grenada’s biggest soca and calypso carnival. Like many annual carnivals across the Caribbean, it celebrates rebellion against enslavement. Paul sang his way into the finals and is scheduled to compete as “Father Paul” against 10 other singers this weekend, including “Killa B” and “Sour Serpent.”

Paul…

View Cache

Click below for video:

https://www.fox8live.com/video/2026/08/07/clergy-sex-abuse-survivors-accuse-new-orleans-archdiocese-delaying-multimillion-dollar-settlement

View Cache

Deputies arrested Deacon Kenneth Goedeke after he reportedly arranged a meeting with what he believed was a 15-year-old boy.

A deacon in the Archdiocese of Baltimore has been removed from ministry after he was arrested by law enforcement on charges of sexually soliciting a minor.

The Harford County Sheriff’s Office said Deacon Kenneth Goedeke was arrested after arranging a meeting with what he believed was a 15-year-old boy.

Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler said in an official statement on Aug. 6 that the 45-year-old Goedeke had been communicating with an undercover detective rather than an underage boy. He was charged with two counts of soliciting a minor.

Gahler in the statement said he was “angry” and “disgusted” but added that he was “deeply thankful” to detectives for “intervening before a child was harmed.”

In a separate statement on Aug. 6, the Archdiocese of Baltimore confirmed Goedeke’s…

View Cache

A former priest-in-training will serve 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to possessing child porn, according to the DeSoto County District Attorney’s Office.

Johnathan Tu Nguyen-Vuong, 25, was convicted of child exploitation involving the possession, uploading, and downloading of child sexual abuse material.

He was sentenced to 25 years, with 10 years suspended, in the Mississippi Department of Corrections, prosecutors said.Former priest-in-training pleads guilty to child sex crime

Nguyen-Vuong will have 15 years of post-release supervision and will have to register as a sex offender.

In July 2025, deputies participated in an ongoing investigation that involved the transmission of child sexual abuse material over the internet.

During the investigation, they found a device located at St. Michael’s Community House in Nesbit, Miss., that had child sexual abuse material.

Priest-in-training accused of possessing child porn

After obtaining a search warrant, Nguyen-Vuong was identified as the suspect responsible, authorities…

View Cache

Defense lawyer says prosecutors failed to prove specific acts that constituted a crime under Vietnamese law

An Ede Protestant pastor from an ethnic minority in Vietnam’s Central Highlands has been sentenced to seven years and six months in prison for allegedly undermining the policy of national unity, in a case his lawyer says failed to establish specific acts constituting a crime.

The People’s Court of Dak Lak province sentenced Pastor Y Nuen Ayun, 59, on Aug. 5 and ordered him to serve four years of probation after his release.

His wife and children attended the trial, which lasted just over two hours, according to his lawyer, Ha Huy Son.

Nuen Ayun was arrested at his home Oct. 7, 2025. Authorities accused him of using the Central Highlands Protestant Church of Christ as a cover for activities that violated national security.

Prosecutors alleged that he received more than 7.7 million dong…

View Cache

Pope Leo XIV will meet privately with survivors of clerical sexual abuse during a four-day visit to France next month. On Friday, the Vatican published the itinerary for the 25–28 September trip – the first papal state visit to the country since Benedict XVI visited in 2008.

The Holy See said the survivors themselves would help prepare the encounter, with the time and place to be confirmed later, according to Associated Press.

The meeting follows Leo’s recent trip to Spain, where he met six abuse victims and pledged that the Church would step up efforts to tackle abuse.

The issue remains raw in France, where a landmark 2021 inquiry estimated that some 330,000 minors had been abused by clergy or lay Church workers over seven decades.

French Catholic church sex abuse: nearly 1,600 compensation claims since 2022

Last month the pontiff appointed French bishop Thibault Verny to…

View Cache

In short: 

The judge in the trial of the former Catholic Bishop of Broome has instructed the jurors that it is not necessary for them to return verdicts on seven sexual assault charges. 

Christopher Alan Saunders, 76, remains accused of 19 sex offences against three young men when he was the Bishop of Broome. 

What’s next? 

Mr Saunders has chosen not to give evidence in his defence, with closing arguments scheduled to start on Monday. 

The judge presiding over the sexual abuse trial of a former Western Australian Catholic bishop has told the jury to disregard seven charges against him, because of a lack of evidence to convict him.

Christopher Alan Saunders, 76, was one of Australia’s longest-serving Catholic clerics and is accused of committing 26 sexual offences against three young men when he was the Bishop of Broome in WA’s north.

But on Friday morning, Judge Martin Flynn…

View Cache

The United States has formally asked the Philippine government to extradite Kingdom of Jesus Christ leader Apollo Quiboloy to face trial on charges including child sex trafficking and fraud that landed him on the federal most wanted list.

The US request for extradition was sent to the Department of Justice in Manila through the Department of Foreign Affairs in July, Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez said yesterday. The DFA confirmed receiving the extradition request, and said it has been endorsed to the DOJ.

One of Quiboloy’s lawyers  said yesterday afternoon that they have yet to receive any notice that the pastor, once an influential adviser to former president Rodrigo Duterte, is being sought for extradition.

“I have yet to verify that because as of the present, my office did not receive any notification to that effect, and I reserve my comments about that report pending receipt of a formal…

View Cache

Bishop Hendricken High School, an all-male Catholic prep school in Warwick, Rhode Island, has faced a string of publicly documented sexual misconduct allegations involving school leadership dating back to 1986. The accused include a principal, a vice principal, and a priest credibly accused by the Diocese of Providence, raising questions about oversight at the school across four decades.

1986: The Principal Is Arrested

On January 1, 1986, Brother John M. Walderman, then the school’s 40-year-old principal, was arrested on morals charges after allegedly soliciting a 17-year-old boy for sex, reportedly offering to pay him. He was released on his own personal recognizance and did not return to the school. Published reports indicate the charge was later dropped.

2004: A Vice Principal Is Arrested for Soliciting a Minor Online

In December 2004, Vice Principal Timothy Sheldon was arrested after allegedly holding a sexually explicit online conversation with an adult volunteer posing…

View Cache

The Archdiocese of Baltimore was informed by the Harford County Sheriff’s Office of the arrest of Kenneth Goedeke on charges of soliciting a minor. Goedeke served as a deacon at St. Margaret Parish in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and began employment at St. Ignatius Church in Hickory in July of 2026. According to communications from law enforcement officials, these charges are not related to anyone at the parishes or schools where he served.

Pursuant to Archdiocesan policy, the Archdiocese removed Goedeke’s faculties to function as a deacon and suspended him from ministry and employment, pending the results of a full investigation.

Deacon Goedeke was ordained as a deacon in 2023. He served at St. Patrick Havre de Grace and St. Joan of Arc in Aberdeen before working at St. Margaret Church in Bel Air, beginning in 2025. Goedeke previously worked at St. Isaac Jogues Church from 2005 to 2012 and…

View Cache

Popular pastor Kenny Baldwin arrested on 13 counts involving sexual exploitation of PA minor.

Kenneth Baldwin, 47, the former senior pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church in Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia, has been arrested and charged with sexually explicit communication and conduct with a minor from York County, Pennsylvania, that allegedly started when the male victim was 15.

Baldwin faces 13 criminal charges in Pennsylvania, including two felony counts of unlawful contact with a minor, two counts of corruption of a minor, three misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure, and six misdemeanor counts of open lewdness. He was released on an $80,000 unsecured bond and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing this month. As with all defendants, Baldwin is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

Pennsylvania State Police said Baldwin sent the teen weekly explicit text messages and nude photos via text message and WhatsApp between…

View Cache

A Roman Catholic deacon who served at St. Margaret Parish in Bel Air has been arrested and charged with two counts of sexual solicitation of a minor after he allegedly arranged to meet someone he believed was a 15-year-old boy for sexual activity. The person on the other end of the conversation was actually an undercover detective, and 45-year-old Kenneth Goedeke, who lives in Bel Air, was taken into custody before any child was harmed, according to authorities.

Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said detectives intervened before a child was harmed, a detail confirmed by WBAL News Radio in its report on the case. The sheriff’s office reported that the church deacon was arrested on two counts of sexual solicitation of a minor after communicating and arranging to meet the undercover detective. The investigation was carried out through the sheriff’s Child Advocacy Center, which has run an Internet…

View Cache

A deacon for the Catholic Church in Maryland’s Harford County has been arrested and charged with two counts of sexual solicitation of a minor, the sheriff’s department announced on Thursday. 

Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler identified the suspect as 45-year-old Kenneth Goedeke, of Bel Air, Maryland. 

Gahler said in a statement that Goedeke was taken into custody by deputies after communicating with an undercover detective whom he believed to be a 15-year-old boy. The suspect then allegedly arrived at a location to engage in sexual activity with the child.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore released a statement confirming that Goedeke served as a Catholic Church deacon and former Catholic school teacher. It said that before Goedeke was hired, he underwent “a thorough employment screening, which included FBI/CJIS fingerprint criminal history check, and a comprehensive background and reference check.”

Archdiocese of Baltimore statement

The Archdiocese of Baltimore said it was informed by the Harford…

View Cache

A teacher and church deacon was arrested on two counts of sexual solicitation of a minor, according to the Harford County Sheriff’s Office.

Kenneth Goedeke, 45, of Bel Air, was taken into custody Wednesday after communicating and arranging to meet with an undercover detective whom he believed to be a 15-year-old boy allegedly to engage in sexual activity with the child, the sheriff’s office said.

A judge on Thursday denied bail for Goedeke.

According to the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Goedeke served as a deacon at St. Margaret Parish and he started working at St. Ignatius Church in Hickory in July. Citing law enforcement, the archdiocese said the charges against Goedeke are not related to anyone at the parishes or schools where he served.

Per archdiocesan policy, Goedeke has been removed as a deacon and is suspended him from ministry and employment, pending an investigation.

The archdiocese said Goedeke was ordained…

View Cache

A former vice principal at Regis St. Mary’s School, in Stayton, has been acquitted of sexual abuse charges following a three-day trial in Marion County Circuit Court.

Christopher Wayne Seibert, 57, of Salem, was acquitted by Judge Thomas Hart on Wednesday after Hart determined there was not enough evidence to support a conviction.

The case has been closed and Seibert has no other pending criminal matters.

He was indicted July 11, 2025, on four counts of first-degree sexual abuse and one count of second-degree unlawful sexual penetration after a former student claimed Seibert allegedly touched her inappropriately. Seibert denied wrongdoing and was released on $250,000 bail.

The trial began Monday and Seibert waived his right to a jury, allowing a judge to hear evidence and determine guilt instead of jurors. Both the prosecution and the defense presented numerous witnesses including law enforcement, school employees, social workers and those who personally…

View Cache

A $30-million settlement over alleged historical abuse at two Vancouver-area Catholic schools has been approved by the B.C. Supreme Court, but the deal could unravel after the judge gave 12 former students permission to leave the class action and pursue their own lawsuits.

Justice Simon Coval acknowledged the issue of the former students opting out of the class action was “particularly thorny” because it could allow the three settling defendants — Vancouver College, St. Thomas More Collegiate and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver — to cancel the settlement.

However, in the ruling released July 30, Coval said he had “no hesitation” approving the settlement as fair, reasonable and in the best interests of class members, saying it would provide compensation more quickly through an individualized, confidential and trauma-informed process while sparing survivors a lengthy trial.

The agreement, signed Feb. 4 by the plaintiffs and the three settling defendants, does…

View Cache

Paragraph 89 is perhaps my favorite passage from Pope Leo’s encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas. It’s at the end of a short section titled “An examen for the Church,” where Pope Leo makes the case that the Church must live out its own social doctrine “within its own structures” in order to be faithful to the Gospel and to be a credible witness to the world.

In all of the teaching I’ve done about spiritual abuse in the Catholic Church, I’ve contextualized spiritual abuse within the principles and framework of Catholic social doctrine. I do this because I believe the Church’s teaching on things like human dignity, freedom, conscience, subsidiarity, structures of sin, and solidarity can not only show how gravely harmful spiritual abuse is, but also how abuse of power is a systemic problem in the Church that we all can participate in or choose to disrupt. And…

View Cache

Editor’s note: This story contains descriptions of sexual assault that may be disturbing to some readers. Sexual assault resources for victims and their loved ones are available at the bottom of this story.

A Pueblo County pastor arrested in March 2025 on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl when he was a youth pastor in Fountain was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust.

Stephen Hutto, 46, is set to be sentenced for the two felony charges in October after an El Paso County jury found him guilty on July 10.

Hutto was previously a youth pastor at Fountain Independent Baptist Church and, at the time of his arrest, was the pastor of Highlands Baptist Church in Boone in Pueblo County, according to a news release from the Fountain Police Department.

COURT CASE: View Cache

Listen to this ABC Radio National program on the original article.

“Women religious” have led major education, health and charitable institutions. 

They’re a social media hit. Images of nuns playing sport, singing, and generally having a great time proliferate on Instagram. 

But they’ve also been victims of their own church. 

Tracy McEwan and Kathleen McPhillips of the University of Newcastle are running a new project to document the experiences of religious sisters affected by sexual and gendered violence.  

GUEST:

• Dr Tracy McEwan is a sociologist of religion and gender in the School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences at the University of Newcastle

This program is recorded on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation

Credits

• Andrew West, Presenter
• Amanda Roberts, Producer

View Cache

The Roman Catholic congregation has been accused of using tactics that delay settling civil abuse claims and litigations by legal representatives for victims of historical childhood abuse

The Christian Brothers has denied claims it is delaying settlements, adding it has paid out over €40m to more than 200 victims of abuse.

The Roman Catholic congregation has been accused of using tactics that delay settling civil abuse claims and litigations by legal representatives for victims of historical childhood abuse.

Last week, the High Court granted permission for the publication in the Irish Independent of the names of 341 former Christian Brothers who are now co-defendants accused of a breach of duty in a civil abuse claim. They are not accused of any assaults.

The names were published on Tuesday this week in a legal notice in the Irish Independent.

In a statement to the Irish Independent on Wednesday, the Christian Brothers said its focus remained “resolutely…

View Cache

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court will allow clergy abuse claimants to sue for an estimated half-billion dollars in parish assets to fund settlements under the Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese’s current financial reorganization case.

In a written order, Burlington-based Judge Heather Cooper said creditors can pursue not only the highest-level bank and building holdings of the state’s largest religious denomination, but also the trust-sheltered local property and possessions of nearly 70 parishes — from St. Edward the Confessor in northernmost Derby Line, population 687, to St. Joachim in southernmost Readsboro, population 702.

The order doesn’t promise any parish assets, but simply permits abuse claimants to file a lawsuit — what the bankruptcy court labels an “adversary proceeding” — to determine whether they’re entitled to local holdings.

“Unless settled,” Cooper wrote of the question in her July 28 ruling, “there may be years of litigation ahead and millions of dollars spent in attorneys’…

View Cache

Survivor advocates are renewing calls for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence to release internal records after a man reported an allegation of childhood sexual abuse involving the late Rev. Raymond C. Theroux.

According to an attorney, the man alleges that Theroux sexually abused him twice inside the rectory of St. John Vianney Parish in Cumberland, Rhode Island, around 1996. The impacted individual was approximately 9 years old at the time of the alleged misconduct.

Theroux served at St. John Vianney for 28 years and died in December 2024. The Diocese of Providence said it had not been notified of an allegation or lawsuit involving him when contacted about the advocates’ claims. The reported allegation comes as Rhode Island gives childhood sexual abuse survivors a limited opportunity to bring certain civil claims that may previously have been blocked by filing deadlines.

Theroux Was Not Included in the Attorney General’s Report

In…

View Cache

The status hearing for Acadia Parish Catholic priest Korey Lavergne, accused of indecent behavior with a juvenile, has been postponed until next week.

The new date is set for Thursday, July 23. The hearing was initially set for June 12 but was moved to allow for a new judge to preside over the case. Judge David Smith recused himself due to personal connections to the church and to avoid any concern of bias.

Lavergne was arrested Jan. 17, and pleaded not guilty to all charges March 20.

Judge Scott Privat is the new judge who will take over the status hearing and possibly set new dates to move the case forward.

View Cache

Portsmouth Abbey School, a Catholic boarding and day school run by Benedictine monks in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, has confronted sexual abuse allegations twice in recent years, separated by decades. One case involved monks accused of abusing students between 1959 and the early 1980s. The other involved a teacher accused of abusing a student beginning during her sophomore year at the school. Together, they show how institutional failures to protect children can repeat themselves across generations.

An Investigation Confirms Decades-Old Abuse by Monks

In August 2017, Portsmouth Abbey released the findings of an investigation by the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton, which the school and monastery commissioned to review allegations of sexual abuse within the monastic community. The investigation found credible allegations of sexual abuse by two former monks, Father Bede Gorman and Father Geoffrey Chase, dating back as far as 1959 and continuing into the early 1980s. Both men were…

View Cache

In the spirit of transparency and full cooperation with law enforcement authorities, the Diocese of Buffalo wishes to provide the following background concerning the status of Jeffrey Nowak as a suspended priest of the Diocese and further details relating to his removal from active ministry:

In 2019, the Diocese was advised of numerous complaints about Rev. Nowak.  None of the complaints included any allegation of inappropriate sexual contact, possession of child pornography or sexual abuse of a minor.  However, given clear evidence of inappropriate conduct of Jeffrey Nowak with adults, then-Bishop Richard Malone removed him indefinitely from active ministry in 2019.  The Diocese further required Rev. Nowak to engage in professional counseling which he repeatedly failed to do. In 2020, then-Apostolic Administrator Bishop Edward Scharfenberger reviewed Rev. Nowak’s circumstances and decided to remove him from the Office of Pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians through a process required by canon law, despite…

View Cache

A one-person show about surviving clergy abuse is coming to Western Massachusetts later this month and its performer says what happens after the curtain falls is just as important as the play itself.

“Unreconciled,” written and performed by Jay Sefton, is rooted in his own childhood experience growing up outside of Philadelphia. He said he was cast to play Jesus in an eighth-grade passion play directed by a parish priest who was later defrocked and named in a grand jury report for sexual abuse of minors.

Humor and hope alongside heavy subject matter

Sefton said he understands why some audiences may hesitate to attend a show on this topic, but said the goal is connection, not shock.

“I think the humor is the thing that surprises people and also the hopefulness,” Sefton explained. “It can be intimidating to come and see a solo show about clergy abuse and so lots…

View Cache

A priest identified as Enrique “N” has been arrested for alleged sexual abuse of a minor girl based on a preliminary investigation. The Archdiocese of Mexico has initiated a canonical investigation.

The Mexico City attorney generalʼs office announced the arrest of a priest from the Archdiocese of Mexico accused of aggravated child sexual abuse against a 17-year-old girl and stated that a judge has already initiated criminal proceedings against him.

Obtuvimos la vinculación a proceso de Enrique “N” por su probable participación en el delito de pederastia agravada, en perjuicio de una adolescente.

La investigación inició a partir de la denuncia presentada el 4 de junio de 2026 por la madre de la adolescente, quien refirió haber encontrado en el teléfono celular de su hija conversaciones de contenido sexual con un contacto identificado como “Winnie Poo”. La víctima manifestó que dicho contacto correspondía a Enrique “N”, identificado como sacerdote,…

View Cache

Pawleys Island Community Church pastor could not be reached to answer questions about Power of Attorney

A registered sex offender accused of violating his probation by working near children answered his door, but not WMBF’s questions on Thursday.

70-year-old Warren Spence Perry, of Murrell’s Inlet, was arrested on July 14. The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office said Perry violated his probation by doing volunteer work at Pawleys Island Community Church, which also runs an elementary school, preschool, and nursery.

Perry was convicted of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor in 2023 for a crime committed in 2020.

WMBF has contacted the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services to inquire why Perry’s probation officer did not know of his activities at PICC, but has not received a response yet.

Perry declines to answer questions

WMBF reporter Sydney Ryan knocked on Perry’s door Thursday to ask why he worked near children…

View Cache

The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a Hollister man for sexually assaulting at least four children, and authorities believe there could be additional victims.

Emmanuel Marchica, 51, of Hollister, was arrested and booked on July 10, 2026, on charges of lewd or lascivious acts with a child, sexual penetration of a child, oral copulation of a child, and annoying or molesting a child, according to a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office.

On July 5, a report of ongoing sexual abuse of a child was made to the sheriff’s office. Investigators followed up by interviewing witnesses and subsequently identified several other victims, according to the sheriff’s office.

Based on the evidence, authorities said there was enough to book Marchica into the Monterey County Jail.

The investigation uncovered victims whose disclosures date back to 2012. Based on this and other evidence gathered, the spokesperson said there is reason to suspect there…

View Cache

A former Mississippi educator is in custody after police say she had sexual relations with a student.

Olivia Marie Smith has been charged with sexual battery and enticement of a child to meet for sexual purposes.

Smith previously worked as a teacher at Ocean Springs Middle School, where she won “Teacher of the Year” in 2022, and was most recently assistant principal at Oak Park Elementary.

Investigators with the Ocean Springs Police Department said they were first informed of the situation by Ocean Springs School District officials on June 20.

The district said it was “deeply saddened” to hear about the charges being filed against one of its former employees but said it was fully cooperating with the investigation.

“After being tipped off about potential inappropriate behavior taking place involving an employee, OSSD immediately notified OSPD and Mississippi Child Protective Services,” the district shared in a statement. “OSSD has been…

View Cache

Members of St. Sabina Catholic Church are standing by their pastor, Fr. Michael Pfleger, and they’re demanding that the Archdiocese make some changes to how it handles sexual abuse allegations after the priest was accused of wrongdoing for the third time.

“While we fully recognize the church’s sacred responsibility to take every allegation seriously, and to ensure that every person who comes forward is heard with compassion, dignity and respect, we can no longer remain silent about the devastating impact of a process that has repeatedly demonstrated itself to be fundamentally unjust to those who are accused,” said church leader Felicia Chase, standing with about two dozen church members in the basement at St. Sabina.

She said it is “unjust and unnecessary” for the Cardinal to publicly announce that an allegation has been made and to remove the priest before there has been an investigation, without taking into account how…

View Cache

Leaders and parishioners at Saint Sabina Church are calling for the reinstatement of Father Michael Pfleger and demanding the Archdiocese of Chicago reform its investigation policy, days after the senior pastor was removed from the church amid sexual abuse allegations. 

Pfleger is being investigated for an accusation of sexual abuse against a girl when she was a student at Saint Sabina School between 1993-95, the senior pastor said in a July 11 statement. 

The Archdiocese of Chicago asked Pfleger to step aside from his role at the parish and live off campus while the accusation is investigated, Cardinal Blase Cupich previously wrote in a letter to parishioners.

“We do not presume the truth or falsity of an allegation until the process is complete and our Independent Review Board has made a recommendation that I accept,” Cupich wrote in the letter. “Only by conducting a thorough and impartial review…

View Cache

An independent review has concluded that the Church of England repeatedly failed a survivor of alleged sexual and spiritual abuse by clergy, finding that both its initial response to her disclosures in 2001 and a later national safeguarding investigation left her “further traumatised”.

The review, commissioned by safeguarding charity Thirtyone:eight and carried out by Kevin Crompton, examined complaints made by Jane Chevous, co-founder of Survivors Voices and vice-chair of the Church of England National Safeguarding Panel. She has waived her right to anonymity. 

The complaints concern the Church’s handling of allegations against two former priests and senior clergy after they were first reported in the Diocese of Southwark in 2001. The events the complaints refer to occurred between 1979 and 1992.

While acknowledging improvements in safeguarding practice over the past two decades, the review concluded that the Church’s processes are not sufficiently survivor-centred or trauma-informed. It calls for significant reforms…

View Cache

CHURCH deacon John Grant smiled benevolently as he dished out soup to the homeless.

As a prominent member of the Baptist Church, nobody blinked an eyelid when he offered men a temporary place to live in his £500,000 home in leafy Muswell Hill, London.

But behind the scenes, wolfish Grant had already been grooming and abusing vulnerable young men for years – and The Sun can today reveal that the church KNEW he was a sex offender.

Grant, 77, who also ran youth clubs, even told church bosses he had a problem – but they suggested he get counselling instead of going to the cops.

Now police fear he could have victims all over the UK after his abuse went on for more than four decades.

The detective who finally brought him to justice said: “This was textbook grooming.

“His church work facilitated his offending.”

Grant’s twisted crimes only came to…

View Cache

A Terre Haute man faces a charge of sexual misconduct with a minor following his arrest on Wednesday.

The Terre Haute Police Department arrested Tracy Hamilton, 62, after detectives said they became aware of the allegations earlier in the week.

According to court documents, Hamilton is a pastor.

Through their investigation, police said they learned Hamilton was involved in an ongoing sexual relationship with an underage girl.

Hamilton was charged with sexual misconduct with a minor.

View Cache

A Stearns County judge has dismissed four of five felony charges against Joseph Paul Herzing, a Catholic priest and Milaca resident, but ruled that a third-degree criminal sexual conduct charge may proceed.

In an omnibus order filed June 15, District Court Judge Ole Tvedten granted Herzing’s motion to dismiss one count of stalking and three counts of threats of violence, finding they were barred by Minnesota’s three-year statute of limitations.

Prosecutors agreed those charges could not proceed.

The remaining charge, third-degree criminal sexual conduct, stems from an alleged incident on or about Dec. 7, 2021.

Prosecutors allege Herzing engaged in sexual penetration with the woman while acting in what Minnesota law defines as a prohibited occupational relationship — a member of the clergy providing religious or spiritual advice, aid or comfort in private.

The court noted that, under Minnesota law, the charge has no statute of limitations.

Herzing’s attorney, Paul…

View Cache

ngry church members confronted their pastor during a heated meeting after learning that a registered sex offender had been volunteering at Pawley’s Island Community Church and around children, despite restrictions meant to keep him from being alone with minors.

Church volunteer Warren Perry was convicted in 2023 of sexual exploitation of a minor for a crime committed in 2020, according to the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office.

During the meeting, Pastor Don Williams said Perry’s conviction had been known within church leadership for years.

“Mr. Perry’s conviction was known to me, to several leaders within our church, to our church staff, and to the leadership of the PICC,” Williams said.

Williams also said authorities were aware Perry was volunteering on the campus, which includes a school, and that the church had provided restrictions.

“The county was aware that he was volunteering on our campus, which includes…

View Cache

The limited information released by authorities and religious leaders in Mexico City makes it harder for other potential victims to come forward.

Unlike what happened almost simultaneously in Buffalo and Chicago in the United States, the Catholic Church in Mexico City still bets on opacity.

By the time the authorities in Mexico City informed about the arrest, the alleged culprit’s name had been removed already from the sole Catholic official database publicly available.

—————————-

On Wednesday, July 15, the Mexico City attorney’s office released a statement providing some detail on the arrest of a Catholic priest only identified, per the Mexican code, as Enrique “N.”

A few minutes before, Spes Viva, a Mexican human rights advocacy NGO that helps some victims of clergy sexual abuse in their cases, released a short statement of their own, where they offered a bit more detail about the identity of the arrested priest.

Although it also…

View Cache

A technical issue prevented progress in the case against a suspended Londonderry priest charged with child sex offences when it came before court today.

Edward Gallagher (59) is currently in custody at Maghaberry Prison.

Gallagher was arrested and charged after he was confronted by a group of people outside a hotel in Derry on April 17 last year.

The former parish priest and curate in the Diocese of Derry currently faces a number of charges alleged to have been committed between April 2 and April 17, 2025.

He is charged with attempting to sexually communicate with a male he believed to be under the age of 16.

He also faces charges of possessing an indecent image of a child; possessing an extreme pornographic image; making and distributing or showing indecent images of a child; causing unknown children to watch a third person engaging in sexual activity; and sexually communicating with…

View Cache

The diocese also will seek to remove Father Jeffrey Nowak from the clerical state.

The Diocese of Buffalo, New York, has cut a priest off from financial support and is seeking his removal from the clerical state after federal investigators accused him of “abhorrent criminal conduct,” the diocese said this week.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York said in July that Father Jeffrey Nowak of Lackawanna, New York, had been arrested and charged with both the receipt and possession of child pornography.

Nowak had been placed on administrative leave by the diocese in 2019 amid allegations that he had sexually harassed a seminarian. Bishop Michael Fisher, who was appointed to the diocese in 2021, subsequently told Nowak that his priestly faculties in the diocese would not be reinstated and that he would advise other bishops not to accept Nowak in their own dioceses.

View Cache

Would you be satisfied if you knew the priest that violated your brother or sister, classmate, neighbor or extended family was given a pass, not reported to authorities in the criminal justice system?

Key Points:

• Wisconsin’s Attorney General launched an investigation in 2021 into sexual abuse by clergy and faith leaders.
• Survivors and advocates are awaiting the public release of the investigation’s findings.
• The author, a survivor and psychotherapist, has been involved in training investigators for the case.
• The article calls for transparency and accountability from religious institutions and support from the community.

For the past five years, I have been active in supporting and participating in Wisconsin attorney general’s Clergy and Faith Leader Abuse investigation. AG Josh Kaul opened the investigation in April 2021 to investigate ongoing sexual abuse committed by clergy and faith leaders as well as the mishandling of the…

View Cache

Bishop Antonio Santarsiero Rosa denied accusations of sexual abuse that surfaced in April. He submitted his resignation as bishop when he turned 75 in June and the pope accepted it as of July 15.

On July 15, Pope Leo XIV accepted the resignation of Antonio Santarsiero Rosa as bishop of the Diocese of Huacho, Peru, which he has led since 2004.

The resignation was accepted as Santarsiero turned 75, the age at which the Code of Canon Law requires bishops to submit their resignation to the pope. The decision comes just over three months after allegations of sexual abuse and psychological mistreatment against the prelate came to light.

The Holy See Press Office stated only that “the Holy Father has accepted the resignation” without providing further details.

Accusations against Santarsiero

In April, the Spanish news outlet InfoVaticana reported on the accusations, contained in a…

View Cache

In March, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha published a report identifying 72 clergy members credibly accused of child sexual misconduct in the Diocese of Providence.

The late Fr. Raymond Theroux, who served at St. John Vianney Parish in Cumberland for 28 years, was not on the list – but is now the focus of a renewed effort by victims advocates to get the Catholic diocese to release its “secret archive.”

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian says that a man recently reported to him that he had been sexually abused by Theroux twice in the Cumberland rectory.

Theroux was the brother of former Vicar General Monsignor Paul Theroux, who was a diocesan spokesman on clergy sexual abuse cases from 2005 to 2010. The vicar represented the diocese during mediation of what would ultimately become a $13.5-million settlement of 36 sexual-abuse lawsuits in 2002, according to reports at the time in The Providence Journal.

…

View Cache

Last May, congress passed the Take It Down Act, requiring websites to remove “nonconsensual intimate visual depictions” of identifiable individuals. This includes both real and AI-generated content.

But this law only addresses content publication, not the various ways in which it may be created or stored. And as AI models become increasingly more advanced, legislators are having a hard time keeping up.

Gaps in the law

Just months before that bill became law, a Wisconsin district court ruled to protect the right to private possession of AI-generated child sexual abuse materials.

Yes, you read that correctly.

The ruling states it is legal to possess such materials if they are (1) synthetic — that is, does not contain images generated from actual children — and (2) not distributed outside one’s home. The actual production of such materials is not protected by law, although its legality remains hazy.

In making this decision, the court…

View Cache

Catholic anti-trafficking advocates urged Congress to pass legislation strengthening prevention efforts, expanding survivor protections, and combating online exploitation.

Catholic sisters, survivor advocates, and lawmakers gathered on Capitol Hill Tuesday to urge Congress to quickly pass bipartisan legislation they say would strengthen protections for victims of human trafficking and help prevent future exploitation.

Hosted by the Alliance to End Human Trafficking and the National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, the July 14 congressional briefing focused on the need to reauthorize federal anti‑trafficking programs through fiscal 2029 and pass legislation to impose requirements on social media platforms to reduce harms to minors.

Sponsor Rep. Chris Smith, R‑New Jersey, titled his human trafficking bill the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2025 (H.R. 1144), and the measure is next up for House consideration. A separate bill,…

View Cache

An Elkins pastor accused of soliciting a minor appeared in Randolph County Circuit Court for his arraignment Tuesday.

Kevin Jones, 34, was arraigned on four charges — soliciting a minor via computer, distribution of material depicting minors in sexually explicit conduct, delivery of a controlled substance and distribution of a hemp-derived product to a person under 21.

Jones was arrested in October 2025. He was investigated by the Mountain Region Drug and Violent Crime Task Force.

During Tuesday’s court proceedings, the judge ordered that Jones is not allowed to access a cellular device as the case continues, and it was stated in court that the allegations involve messages sent through Snapchat to a minor.

Court officials set Jones’ pre-trial hearing for Sept. 3 at 1 p.m. Trial dates were also scheduled for Oct. 13, 14 and 15 at 9 a.m.

Monongalia County Prosecuting Attorney Gabrielle Mucciola has been named as…

View Cache

Yesterday, the Toledo City Council voted 8-2 to remove the honorary street sign bearing the name of Monsignor Jerome Schmit, despite staunch opposition from the Catholic Diocese of Toledo. The vote culminates a crusade begun more than 20 years ago by the family of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl and survivor advocate Claudia Vercellotti, who believed that evidence uncovered at Father Gerald Robinson’s 2006 trial for Sister Margaret Ann’s murder showed that Monsignor Schmit interfered with the original investigation. The Abuse Survivors Coalition (ASC) applauds the long-awaited action of the City Council.

David Lorenz, a member of the ASC Operations Team and an ASC MD Contact, said, “There is simply no reason to honor a priest who, by all accounts, acted to protect Father Robinson from prosecution for murdering Sister Margaret Ann. Ultimately, Father Robinson was found guilty. It is a common reaction by the Catholic…

View Cache

The defendants in a civil suit that alleges unchecked bullying of a student at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic School in Carmel have requested a judge reconsider a decision to allow the adult plaintiffs to use a pseudonym. 

Attorneys for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette-In-Indiana; Trudy Schouten Young, diocese superintendent of schools; the Rev. Richard Doerr, OLMC pastor; OLMC Principal Timothy Fletcher; and OLMC Assistant Principal Deanna Cotter filed the motion to reconsider June 30. 

The lawsuit, filed by the student’s parents, accuses OLMC officials and the diocese of failing to adequately address and prevent intensifying harassment of their son that became sexual in nature. The parents are identified as James Doe and Julie Doe in the suit. 

The defendants argue that pseudonymity is an “extraordinary, disfavored exception” and that the plaintiffs’ seeking media coverage of the case is a contradiction to “any desire for privacy.” 

“They demanded publicity,…

View Cache

The Catholic Diocese of Maralal has announced sweeping new rules for priests following the suspension of seven clerics accused of violating Church law.

In what Bishop Hieronymus Joya described as the first disciplinary action of its kind in the diocese, the seven priests were relieved of their priestly and pastoral duties pending investigations.

The priests are accused of abusing ecclesiastical authority, administrative negligence, and financial mismanagement.

The suspensions were announced alongside a raft of reforms aimed at strengthening accountability, discipline, and governance within the diocese.

In a detailed four-page letter, the bishop expressed frustration over what he described as years of mismanagement and a lack of cooperation since he took over leadership three years ago.

According to Bishop Joya, preliminary investigations uncovered serious concerns that warranted the suspension of the priests.

“If things are not addressed per the Catholic rules and regulations, we will seek the government’s intervention so that…

View Cache

The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Maralal, Hieronymus Joya, has suspended seven priests over alleged violations of Church law. In a major shake-up, the first of its kind in the diocese, the priests have been relieved of their priestly and pastoral duties pending investigations into allegations of abuse of ecclesiastical power, negligence of administration, and financial mismanagement. As Emily Chebet reports, the Diocese of Maralal has also announced new appointments and introduced a series of stricter regulations aimed at strengthening accountability and governance within the Church.

View Cache

For almost seven years, Jeffrey Nowak has not been allowed to practice as a priest for the Diocese of Buffalo after he was accused in 2019 of harassing a former seminarian and inappropriate contact with children.

Over that period of inactivity, Nowak has been investigated twice by the FBI for allegedly accessing websites with photos and videos of sexually exploited children, and last week he was arrested and charged by federal agents with receipt and possession of child pornography.

Through all of this, the Diocese had continued to pay Nowak “a modest monthly stipend”, which a spokesman said is required by Canon Law, an internal system of regulations that govern its operations and discipline. As of Wednesday, the Diocese said, “In light of the abhorrent criminal conduct recently alleged by federal investigators, the Diocese is no longer providing any financial support to Rev. Nowak, who remains incarcerated pending his trial.”

The…

View Cache

A 47-year-old woman is accused of witnessing the alleged abuse and failing to report it.

A pastor at a Thibodaux church has been arrested in Terrebonne Parish on charges including felony sexual battery and cruelty to juveniles as authorities investigate allegations of physical and sexual abuse involving children, authorities said. 

The Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office identified 57-year-old Thomas J. Tucker III of Houma as a suspect in the case. Investigators also arrested 47-year-old Sharotta Lewis of Houma, accusing her of witnessing the alleged abuse and failing to report it.

The investigation began after child abuse allegations involving Terrebonne Parish juveniles were reported to the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services, according to the sheriff’s office. Detectives with the Special Victims Unit and child protection investigators conducted interviews and gathered evidence.

Authorities say Tucker identified himself as a pastor with Outcast of Society Ministries in Thibodaux, where some of the…

View Cache

The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas has been informed by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (F.S.S.P) that the Archdiocese of Omaha recently received an allegation concerning Reverend Eric Flood, F.S.S.P, involving alleged misconduct with a minor occurring more than twenty years ago. This allegation was immediately reported to law enforcement, in accordance with mandatory reporting requirements.

Consistent with the Archdiocese’s commitment to the protection of children and persons in vulnerable situations, and pending the outcome of investigations by civil authorities and the Archdiocese of Omaha, Father Flood has been temporarily withdrawn from the public exercise of priestly ministry, including celebrating Mass and other public ministerial duties. This administrative measure is intended to protect all parties, including Father Flood, and should not be interpreted as a determination regarding the allegation. No conclusion has been reached, and Father Flood is entitled to the presumption of innocence and to a fair…

View Cache

The Diocese of Buffalo is providing new details about a priest who was arrested on child sexual abuse charges.

Last week, federal agents arrested Fr. Jeffrey Nowak, 46, of Lackawanna, after they seized multiple devices inside his home that contained sexually explicit videos and pictures of children.

In 2019, the diocese said it received numerous complaints regarding Nowak, claiming he was inappropriate with adults. Then-Bishop Richard Malone suspended Nowak that year and required him to get counseling, which the diocese says he never did.

In 2021, now-Bishop Michael Fisher told Nowak he would not consider reappointing him to active ministry. The diocese claims that no allegations they received mentioned Nowak was involved children, and therefore the diocese had no grounds to petition the Vatican to remove Nowak from the clerical state against his will.

The diocese says that, as required by canon law, some level of financial support must be…

View Cache

Federal prosecutors say a Buffalo priest charged in a child pornography case also allegedly shared the Payton Gendron manifesto.

We’re hearing more details about a Western New York priest who remains in custody after appearing in federal court on child pornography charges.

Jeffrey Nowak, 46, a priest in the Diocese of Buffalo, was arrested and charged with receipt and possession of child pornography. 

According to the criminal complaint, Nowak was placed on administrative leave in August 2019 following allegations of inappropriate contact with children and harassment of a seminarian. Investigators say an email address allegedly linked to Nowak was identified as an email address that accessed a New Zealand cloud-based digital storage and file-hosting site that had photos and videos files of sexually exploited children. 

A spokesperson for the US Attorney office confirmed to 2 On Your Side that prosecutors said in court on Monday…

View Cache

Nowak has been charged with child porn possession

In light of the arrest of Jeffrey Nowak, a pastor on administrative leave, the Buffalo Catholic Diocese issued the following statement on Wednesday:

“In 2019, the Diocese was advised of numerous complaints about Rev. Nowak. None of the complaints included any allegation of inappropriate sexual contact, possession of child pornography or sexual abuse of a minor. However, given clear evidence of inappropriate conduct of Jeffrey Nowak with adults, then-Bishop Richard Malone removed him indefinitely from active ministry in 2019.

“The Diocese further required Rev. Nowak to engage in professional counseling, which he repeatedly failed to do. In 2020, then-Apostolic Administrator Bishop Edward Scharfenberger reviewed Rev. Nowak’s circumstances and decided to remove him from the Office of Pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians through a process required by canon law, despite the fact that he was on indefinite leave.

“For a brief…

View Cache

The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that a childhood sexual abuse lawsuit against Grace Christian Reformed Church of Grand Rapids can proceed in Kent County Circuit Court.

The suit, which also specifically names the Christian Reformed Church in North America and a number of its related entities as defendants, had previously been dismissed by the Kent County Circuit Court in 2024 on the grounds that the statute of limitations on the claims at hand had expired. 

Marian Ippel, the plaintiff in the case, is suing over instances of alleged sexual abuse that occurred from 2006 to 2007, when she was three to four years old. At that time, Michigan law stated that, because she was a minor, she had until she turned 19 to file suit. 

The lawsuit was not filed until 2024, when Ippel was 21 — but in 2018, Michigan updated its statute of limitations for sexual abuse…

View Cache

The Diocese of Burlington, Vermont’s former bishop says there was “nothing nefarious” about the intent to shield diocesan assets from potential lawsuits.

A sworn deposition, filed as part of abuse lawsuits in the Diocese of Burlington, Vermont’s federal bankruptcy proceedings, alleges that the former bishop of the diocese asked a job applicant if she would be willing to help shield diocesan finances from a potential abuse settlement.

The prelate himself, meanwhile, told EWTN News that there was “nothing nefarious” in such a proposal, which he said was meant to protect Church assets from additional lawsuits while the diocese was already paying out settlements to abuse victims.

Celeste Heinonen claims in a July 9 court statement that she interviewed for the position of chief financial officer at the Diocese of Burlington in 2020. During that interview she said she spoke to then-Burlington Bishop Christopher Coyne, who she said brought up the topic…

View Cache

In short:

A former Gippsland primary school teacher is standing trial in the Latrobe Valley County Court after being charged with child sexual abuse offences dating back to 1999.

Prosecutor David O’Doherty told the jury Nicole Anne Jones, formerly Nicky Cravino, groomed the boy and sexually assaulted him over a lengthy period.

What’s next?

The trial is expected to run for about two weeks.

A Victorian primary school teacher allegedly groomed, indecently assaulted and made a boy sexually penetrate her in the late 1990s, a jury has heard.

Warning: This story contains detailed descriptions of alleged child sexual assault.

Nicole Anne Jones, formerly known as Nicky Cravino, is charged with 19 counts of indecent act with a child under 16 and one count of sexual penetration of a child under 16.

Sexual assault support lines:

• Men’s Referral Service: 1300 766 491
• Lifeline (24-hour crisis line): 131 114

View Cache

Pfleger is senior pastor at St. Sabina Church on South Side

Dozens of religious leaders from different denominations are publicly backing Father Michael Pfleger as the Archdiocese of Chicago investigates a new allegation of sexual abuse, the fifth such claim he has faced during his 45 years as a priest at St. Sabina Church.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

For decades, Pfleger has been a visible presence at demonstrations, marching and speaking out against issues he believes harm the community. In recent years, he has focused much of his activism on gun violence and on criticizing the policies of President Donald Trump. Those efforts have brought him into close collaboration with other Chicago-area religious leaders, many of whom are now speaking out in his defense.

“It hurts because he is one of the greatest civil rights leaders or our time,” said the Rev. Ira…

View Cache

Victims of Bill Kenneally are to receive compensation for the abuse they suffered, the Minister for Justice said, after the Taoiseach apologised “unreservedly” for a State “dereliction of duty”.

Kenneally, formerly of Summerville Avenue, Waterford city, died last month while serving a prison term after pleading guilty to 10 sample counts of indecently assaulting 10 boys at various locations in Waterford in the 1980s.

A Commission of Investigation, chaired by retired judge Michael White, examined the response of gardaí, Basketball Ireland, politicians and members of the Catholic Church to allegations of sexual abuse made against the former Waterford basketball coach.

It states his activities became known in Waterford to two senior Garda officers as well as a retired politician and senior clergyman in the late 1980s – with one complainant saying he raised the matter with gardaí when he was 14 as early as 1985.

But Kenneally was not brought to justice…

View Cache

Decision comes after years of effort from family and advocate and 11 Investigates documentary that covered Schmit’s role in Sister Margaret Ann murder investigation.

After years of debate and decades of advocacy by a leader of church accountability and the family of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, Toledo City Council voted Tuesday to remove the honorary street sign bearing the name of Monsignor Jerome Schmit.

The vote was 8-2 to remove the sign, with Council President Vanice Williams and Councilman John Hobbs III voting no. 

The vote marks the end of a campaign that began more than 20 years ago as Pahl’s family and Claudia Vercellotti, the founder of the Ohio chapter of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, sought to remove a street sign near Fifth Third Field that honored Schmit. They have argued that evidence uncovered after the 1980 murder showed he helped interfere with the…

View Cache

In a sworn statement, a 2020 chief financial job applicant claims the state’s largest religious denomination asked if she’d help “transfer its assets as quickly as possible so that it could file for bankruptcy.”

Two decades after the Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese aimed to protect local parishes from priest misconduct lawsuits by placing their estimated $500 million of holdings into trusts, a recent job applicant alleges the state’s largest religious denomination’s past and current bishops asked if she’d help shelter more funds.

Utah resident Celeste Heinonen was interviewing for the diocese’s post of chief financial officer in 2020 when she felt “shocked” and “sick to my stomach” receiving the inquiry, she said in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court declaration filed this month in the church’s Chapter 11 protection case.

The diocese created trusts in 2006 to shield local parish property and possessions for what it said were “pious, charitable or educational purposes”…

View Cache

A Chicago priest known for his longtime social justice ministry has been placed on leave, following an abuse allegation for an incident said to have taken place some three decades ago.

In a July 11 letter, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago informed the archdiocese’s Faith Community of St. Sabina that senior pastor Father Michael L. Pfleger had been accused of the sexual abuse of a minor — a claim the priest has “strongly denied,” said the cardinal.

“The abuse is alleged to have occurred at St. Sabina more than 30 years ago,” said Cardinal Cupich. “In keeping with our child protection policies, I have asked Father Pfleger to step aside from ministry and live away from the parish while the allegation is investigated.”

The cardinal, citing the archdiocese’s child protection policies, said that “the allegation was reported to law enforcement authorities and the person making the allegation has been offered…

View Cache

In short:

A Tasmanian woman is suing former Archbishop of Hobart Julian Porteous and the state of Tasmania over allegations of sexual abuse by two others.

She has claimed they had a duty of care to protect her from the alleged abuse.

What’s next?

Both Archbishop Porteous and the state have denied or not admitted to the claims.

A woman is suing both the former Archbishop of Hobart and the state of Tasmania over allegations that she was sexually abused by a Catholic priest and a notorious paedophile.

In her statement of claim filed to the Supreme Court of Tasmania, it is alleged that the plaintiff was sexually abused by Father Bill Egan in 1999, and then by James Geoffrey Griffin in 2007 when he was working as a nurse.

WARNING: This story contains details of an alleged sexual assault of a child.

Sexual assault support services:

View Cache

The outcome of the canonical process will determine whether the case advances to further ecclesiastical proceedings or is ultimately dismissed

The Catholic Church has entered a delicate new chapter in its ongoing effort to address allegations of misconduct with transparency and due process after Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero, Archbishop of Rabat, voluntarily stepped aside from his pastoral responsibilities while the Vatican conducts a preliminary investigation into accusations of sexual misconduct involving adult women.

The 74-year-old Spanish-born cardinal announced his decision on July 7, stressing that he is fully cooperating with the Holy See and firmly denying any criminal or abusive behavior. His temporary withdrawal reflects the Church’s established practice of allowing investigations to proceed without interference while safeguarding both the integrity of the inquiry and the rights of all those involved.

«I have committed neither assault, violence nor sexual harassment,» López Romero said in a brief statement to Spanish…

View Cache

Former Cheektowaga priest Jeffrey Nowak will be held in jail after he was arrested on child pornography charges last week, a federal judge ruled Monday.

Nowak was arrested last Wednesday after the FBI conducted a search at his Lackawanna home and found child pornography on a USB storage device as well as other electronics including a laptop, cell phone and iPad.

Nowak, who said mass at Our Lady Help of Christians in Cheektowaga, was placed on permanent leave by the Buffalo Diocese in 2019 amid allegations of inappropriate contact with children and sexually harassing a seminarian.

The judge ruled that Nowak would stay in jail due to the “nature and circumstances of the offense,” including “strong evidence against him,” which included an alleged confession to distributing child pornography and interviews where he allegedly made more confessions of guilt. The main reason, however, was Nowak’s alleged threats to offer up family…

View Cache

Prosecutors said Jeffrey Nowak threatened family members, shared images of children with others online and possessed child sexual abuse material as a judge ruled he poses a danger to the community.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3FQoxUkNL4

View Cache

The Rev. Michael Pfleger has been here before. Accused without charges. Named and shamed before an investigation got off the ground.

The year was 2021. Two brothers accused Pfleger, the longtime pastor of St. Sabina Church, of inappropriate conduct decades earlier when he was in seminary.

In all, Pfleger has been accused four previous times and cleared each time following a months-long investigation.

He has now been suspended from ministry again. The Archdiocese of Chicago said a woman accused Pfleger of sexual abuse when she was a student at the church school in the mid-1990s.

PREVIOUS: Father Michael Pfleger accused of sexually abusing minor over 30 years ago

Pfleger strongly denies it, and said he wants a swift decision from the Cardinal.

“I do not intend to let this drag on and drain this church family. If it’s not over very soon, I will make a decision,” he wrote in…

View Cache

Dear Pope Leo:

Congratulations on receiving the Liberty Medal from the National Constitution Center on the eve of the United States’ 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I was inspired by these words in your speech: “As every American knows . . . the path to building a society that would embody those high ideals of liberty and justice for all was not always easy and, in many respects, is still a work in progress. Indeed, the effort to realize this vision is one that must be taken up anew in each generation and in the face of ever new challenges.” While you speak next about safeguarding the gift of life from conception to natural death, I would like to turn your attention to the children of the United States. We have not yet established full “liberty and justice” for the victims of child sex abuse in…

View Cache

Archdiocese Announces Investigation Involving Fr. Eric Flood, F.S.S.P.

The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas has been informed by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (F.S.S.P) that the Archdiocese of Omaha recently received an allegation concerning Reverend Eric Flood, F.S.S.P, involving alleged misconduct with a minor occurring more than twenty years ago. This allegation was immediately reported to law enforcement, in accordance with mandatory reporting requirements.

Consistent with the Archdiocese’s commitment to the protection of children and persons in vulnerable situations, and pending the outcome of investigations by civil authorities and the Archdiocese of Omaha, Father Flood has been temporarily withdrawn from the public exercise of priestly ministry, including celebrating Mass and other public ministerial duties. This administrative measure is intended to protect all parties, including Father Flood, and should not be interpreted as a determination regarding the allegation. No conclusion has been reached, and Father Flood is entitled to…

View Cache

The brother of an apostle for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pleaded guilty in a federal court in Ohio on Thursday, admitting that he coerced and enticed a minor, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and up to life in prison.

Wade Christofferson, 73, admitted to coercing and enticing two minors under the age of 10 years old in Ohio and Utah. He also reportedly committed “hands-on sexual abuse of the child in Utah and the second victim in Ohio approximately 20 times,” according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Southern Ohio.

In November 2025, Wade Christofferson was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on a warrant from the Federal Bureau of Investigation after police say he was overheard on a sexually explicit FaceTime call with a minor victim. He had also sent…

View Cache

Newly elected Southern Baptist Convention President Willy Rice has characterized the SBC’s clergy sex abuse crisis as a “hoax” and a “snipe hunt.”

Talk like that helped get Rice elected. Apparently, it was the message many Southern Baptists wanted to hear.

But just eight years ago, Rice was expounding a very different message.

In 2018, on his “Pastor’s Blog,” Rice published “Another SBC ‘Me-Too’ Story” in which he spoke out about church leaders who “fail in their responsibilities due to our unwillingness to reckon with difficult things.”

“In seeking to protect institutions,” he wrote, “we fail people, we fail Jesus and, ultimately, we fail those very institutions we love. Many of us may wish we could hear no more, but that is the very attitude that betrays us in the first place. We wish to be comfortable when what we need…

View Cache

A youth pastor at First Baptist Church of Folsom was arrested Friday (July 10) after investigators said he sexually abused multiple children during the 1990s, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office said.

David Mercer, 72, was taken into custody Friday afternoon and is being held at the St. Tammany Parish jail.

Deputies also searched a residence owned by First Baptist Church of Folsom on Friday as part of the investigation.

Investigators believe there may be additional victims who have not yet come forward.

Anyone who thinks they may have been a victim of Mercer, or who has information that could help investigators, is asked to call the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office at (985) 898-2338 or contact their local law enforcement agency.

View Cache

Fr. Michael Pfleger, a priest in the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, has again been publicly accused of child sexual abuse this week. This is the 5th allegation of sexual abuse that has been made against the priest, the 4th for child sexual abuse. Fr. Pfleger has been removed from St. Sabina Parish while the accusation is being investigated and has vehemently denied the allegation.

The Archdiocese reportedly found “no evidence of wrongdoing” in the previous 4 accusations. Fr. Pfleger was twice removed from ministry during an investigation and then twice returned to St. Sabina. With this 5th allegation, the Abuse Survivors Coalition (ASC) wonders how many survivors need to come forward before their accusations are believed?

Studies have shown that false accusations of child sexual abuse are extremely rare. Even the 2004 John Jay study of the sexual abuse of children in the Catholic…

View Cache

Pfleger asked to step away from ministry, says ‘this is an absolute lie’

Saint Sabina parishioners are speaking out in support of Father Michael Pfleger after he was asked to step away from ministry.

The Archdiocese of Chicago is investigating a new allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against him.

Sunday morning, church members stood and applauded for Pfleger as a letter from the Archdiocese of Chicago was read. The letter noted that Pfleger strongly denies the allegation.

A woman claims the priest abused her when she was a child, more than 30years ago.

The woman is the fifth person to accuse Pfleger of sexual misconduct. He was cleared in previous investigations.

In the letter released Saturday by the Archdiocese of Chicago, Cardinal Blase Cupich said the alleged abuse was reported to have occurred more than 30 years ago at Saint Sabina Parish, 1210 W. 78th Pl., in Chicago’s Auburn…

View Cache

A former pastor and soccer coach pleaded guilty for child sexual abuse, the Erie County District Attorney’s Office said on Monday.

John A. Camardo, III, 47 and of Williamsville, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree rape and one count of second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, officials said.

According to authorities, Camardo engaged in sexual conduct with a victim under 15 years old between April and May 2024.

Between April 2025 and June 2026, Camardo engaged in two or more acts of sexual conduct with a second victim who was under age 13. Officials said Camardo was known to the victims, and both crimes took place in Amherst.

Camardo was a former executive pastor of The Chapel, which has locations in Cheektowaga, Getzville, Lockport and Niagara Falls. He also coached girls’ travel soccer for the Amherst Soccer Association as of 2023.

The Chapel said in a letter to…

View Cache

A Williamsville pastor has pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse, facing up to eight years in prison, according to the Erie County District Attorney’s Office.

A pastor from Williamsville has pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse.

RELATED: Former Buffalo priest appears in federal court following arrest in international child exploitation investigation

According to the Erie County District Attorney’s Office, John A. Camardo, III, 47, has been charged with one count of Rape in the 2nd Degree and one count of Course of Sexual Conduct Against a Child in the 2nd Degree.

Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane says between April 1, 2024 and May 31, 2024, Camardo engaged in sexual intercourse with a victim under the age of 15.

Keane also said Camardo engaged in two or more acts of sexual conduct with a second victim under the age of 13 between April 1, 2025, and June 20, 2026.

…

View Cache

These incidents allegedly happened between 1989 and 1995, says police

A Folsom, Louisiana man has been arrested by the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office (BPSO) after an investigation into multiple child sex offenses.

David Mercer, 72, of Folsom, Louisiana, was identified as the suspect in this case during the course of the investigation, says BPSO.

Detectives began investigating allegations involving, at this time, 4 child victims on June 29.

These incidents allegedly happened between 1989 and 1995 in Bossier Parish, says police.

It was confirmed by investigators that Mercer lived and worked in Bossier Parish when these offenses allegedly happened.

BPSO says Mercer was employed as a youth minister at Cypress Baptist Church of Benton, but resigned from that position in 1995.

Detectives went to Folsom, Louisiana, on July 10 and arrested Mercer without any problems with the help of the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office.

When he was arrested, detectives…

View Cache

A youth pastor at First Baptist Church of Folsom in Louisiana was arrested Friday, July 10 after investigators said he sexually abused multiple children during the 1990s, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office said.

David Mercer, 72, was taken into custody Friday afternoon and is being held at the St. Tammany Parish jail.

Deputies also searched a residence owned by First Baptist Church of Folsom on Friday as part of the investigation.

Former member of Hannibal’s Fifth Street Baptist Church youth group Lacey Blue confirmed to WGEM News that Mercer was her youth pastor at the church in the 1990s. She said she was not a victim of Mercer, nor knows any of the victims who came forward.

Missouri court records do not show any charges against Mercer in Marion or Ralls County.

Investigators believe there may be additional victims who have not yet come forward.

Anyone who thinks they…

View Cache

David Mercer, 72, was arrested in Louisiana on Friday

A second church official has now confirmed that the sex abuse charges filed against youth pastor David Mercer are not related to his time serving in the same capacity at 5th Street Baptist Church in Hannibal between 1998 and 2000.

“David Mercer was taken into custody on Friday, July 10, 2026, for multiple criminal charges in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, during his time as a youth pastor at a church in Bossier Parish. These charges stem from his time at a church in the 1990s,” Pastor Will Robbins of the First Baptist Church in Folsom, Louisiana, said.

Mercer was a youth pastor at the Folsom church from 2023 to 2026. His Facebook page says he retired.

As Muddy River News first reported over the weekend, Pastor Tom Carpenter of 5th Street Baptist Church, 111 N. 5th Street, confirms that Mercer was once…

View Cache

Editor’s note: This story contains descriptions of alleged sexual assault against children.

The son of a Tacoma pastor has been charged with sexually assaulting two children in incidents dating as far back as 1997. When recently confronted with the allegations, he allegedly responded with, “Yes, but I’ve changed,” according to court records.

Prosecutors charged John Marchant Stabbert, 51, with four counts of first-degree rape of a child on June 22. Stabbert has been summoned for an arraignment on July 17, according to Pierce County Superior Court records. He has not been arrested.

Spokesperson for the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s office, Adam Faber, told The News Tribune it’s “very common for sex cases to start with summons rather than an arrest or bench warrant” when asked why Stabbert hasn’t been taken into custody.

John Stabbert’s attorney, Donna Person Smith, declined to comment for this story. The News Tribune attempted…

View Cache