ABUSE TRACKER

SPRINGFIELD (MA)
The Republican

By Buffy Spencer, The Republican

SPRINGFIELD – Andrew Nicastro said it wasn’t until 2008 that he realized continuing sexual assaults by former priest Alfred Graves more than two decades before in Williamstown had led him to become a person ruled by angry outbursts and unable to connect emotionally even with his own family.

He said The Rev. Mark Burke, a priest who became a friend of his, in 2008 helped him to see the role the sexual abuse had played in making him who he was.

“I felt like, ‘I get it,’” Nicastro said.

Nicastro was on the witness stand Wednesday in Hampden Superior Court in his civil suit against two former bishops.

He contends they should be held accountable for his several years of childhood abuse by the Rev. Andrew Graves because they were in supervisory positions in the Roman Catholic Diocese and knew Graves had assaulted two other boys before Nicastro.

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UNITED STATES
NPR

[with audio]

July 25, 2012

Four years ago, a Vatican group called “The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith” began an assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, a member organization founded in 1956 that represents 80 percent of Catholic nuns in the United States. The assessment was designed to take a careful look at whether the nuns were acting in accordance with the teachings of the church.

In the assessment, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said the leadership conference is undermining Roman Catholic teachings on homosexuality and birth control and promoting “radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith.” It also reprimanded the nuns for hosting speakers who “often contradict or ignore” church teachings and for making public statements that “disagree with or challenge the bishops, who are the church’s authentic teachers of faith and morals.”

Bishop Leonard Blair of Toledo, Ohio, is the bishop who assessed the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. Along with Archbishop Peter Sartain and Bishop Thomas John Paprocki, he will be working with the nuns of the LCRW to make sure the group is aligned with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. The bishops and the nuns’ group leaders were also told to develop material “that provides a deepened understanding of the church’s doctrine of the faith.”

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MINNESOTA
San Francisco Chronicle

DOUG GLASS, Associated Press

Updated 12:33 p.m., Wednesday, July 25, 2012

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday tossed out a clergy abuse lawsuit by a man whose case rested on a repressed memory claim, siding with a lower court’s ruling that repressed memory is an unproven theory.

James Keenan sued the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona, claiming that as a teenager he was sexually abused four times in 1980 or 1981 by Thomas Adamson, a priest who has since been defrocked.

Keenan brought his claim in 2006, well outside the state’s six-year statute of limitations, but argued that it should be allowed because he repressed memories of the abuse. A district court rejected that claim, but the state Court of Appeals revived it last year.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with the district court, which found that studies claiming to have proven the existence of repressed memory “lacked foundational reliability.”

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SPRINGFIELD (MA)
WGGB

[with video]

By Ray Hershel
July 25th, 2012

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) — Testimony continued Wednesday in the case of a Williamstown man who says he was abused by a Catholic priest some 30 years ago.

Andrew Nicastro has filed a civil suit against Bishops Thomas Dupre and Joseph Maguire saying they should be held accountable because they were in supervisory positions in the diocese.

At times Nicastro wiped away the tears as he answered questions about how alleged sex abuse by former priest Alfred Graves has impacted his life.

Nicastro says the now defrocked priest sexually abused him for three years when he was between 11 and 14 years old.

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LONG BEACH (CA)
NBC Los Angeles

By Caroline Tan

Wednesday, Jul 25, 2012

A Long Beach parish priest is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon to face sexual assault charges based on allegations made by three female victims.

Luis Jose Cuevas, 67, a priest in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, faces eight misdemeanor counts of sexual battery and one felony count involving lewd acts with a child, officials from the Long Beach Police Department said in a press release.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed formal charges against Cuevas after police officials filed his case on July 19. Cuevas, who was arrested Monday, has been relieved of his duties as pastor, an Archdiocese spokeswoman said.

He was arrested after three female victims — two adults and one minor — approached police and accused the former priest of sexual battery and inappropriate touching.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on July 25, 2012

Our hearts ache for Jim Keenan. He fought a six-year-long heroic battle to expose predators warn parents, and protect kids. But somehow, the privacy of wrongdoer seems to trump the safety of children.

The real losers here are the employers, families and youngsters of Minnesota. They will apparently never be able to learn the names of roughly 46 accused child molesting Catholic clerics, some of whom are credibly accused or have likely even admitted their crimes.

And the real winners here are corrupt Catholic officials who have protect and are still protecting child molesters and their complicit colleagues instead of protecting vulnerable boys and girls.

Dr. Martin Luther King once said “The arc of history is long but it bends toward justice.” He’s right of course. But at times, there’s a terrible step backwards. This is one of those times.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: ABBY SIMONS , Star Tribune
Updated: July 25, 2012

The ruling means a list of 46 priests accused of child abuse will remain under seal.

A man who alleges he was sexually abused by a Catholic priest in the 1980s but didn’t remember until two decades later, may not present expert evidence about repressed memories, the Minnesota Supreme Court ordered Wednesday.

The 4-2 ruling throws out the long-battled case and means a list of 46 priests accused of abusing children will remain under seal.

The decision reverses a Court of Appeals ruling and dismisses a lawsuit brought six years ago by Jim Keenan, 45, against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona, alleging that the church allowed the abuse to occur and then covered it up. Although the ruling is narrow, its effect is wide, said Keenan’s attorney, Jeff Anderson.

“I’ve always been outraged by the Archdiocese’s decision to hide behind the statute of limitations, but in this case and the position they’ve taken on cases like it, they can use technicalities to avoid accountability,” he said. “As long as they do, they can be destined to repeat the same mistakes.”

Archdiocese spokesman Dennis McGrath was not immediately available for comment.

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LONG BEACH (CA)
Los Angeles Times

A Roman Catholic priest who worked at a Long Beach church was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on charges he sexually groped a 14-year-old girl and two women in incidents that started two years ago.

Father Luis Jose Cuevas, 67, of St. Athanasius Church on Linden Avenue was to face eight misdemeanor charges of sexual assault and one felony count involving lewd acts with a child, according to a complaint filed by the L.A. County district attorney’s office.

He was arrested Monday in San Jacinto and was being held on $1-million bail pending his arraignment in a Long Beach court, said Long Beach Police Department spokesman Sgt. Aaron Eaton.

The two adult women, both 20, initially reported the alleged incidents to the archdiocese and then filed a police report, Eaton said. During the investigation, the teenager came forward and alleged repeated incidents during which Cuevas inappropriately touched “an intimate part” of her body for his own sexual arousal, the complaint contends.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

[with poll]

BY JOANNE MCCARTHY

26 Jul, 2012

ON Saturday night Tracey Pirona hugged her husband as she has done many times before, and reassured him: ‘‘We’ll get through this.’’

On Sunday morning she found the letter she had feared for years, and rang police.

John Pirona, 45, of Belmont North, a victim of one of the Hunter’s most notorious paedophile priests, has not been seen or heard from since then.

‘‘The longer this goes on the worse I feel about what the outcome’s going to be,’’ Mrs Pirona said.

Mr Pirona’s letter, with the final words ‘‘Too much pain’’, leaves no doubt the pain is the sexual abuse he suffered at a Catholic high school and the ugly secrets the church knew, but did nothing to stop.

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LONG BEACH (CA)
Contra Costa Times

Staff and wire reportspresstelegram.com
Posted: 07/25/2012

LONG BEACH — A man who served as a parish priest at a Catholic church in Long Beach is scheduled to be arraigned today on nine sex-related counts.

The Rev. Luis Jose Cuevas, 67, is charged with one felony count of lewd act on a child and eight misdemeanor counts of sexual battery involving a 17- year-old girl and two women. The crimes allegedly occurred between July 2010 and February of this year.

Cuevas was a parish priest at St. Athanasius Catholic Church for seven years and lived on the Linden Avenue church grounds at the time, according to police. He was charged last week and arrested at a residence in San Jacinto Monday by Long Beach police with the assistance of U.S. marshals.

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LONG BEACH (CA)
LA Weekly

By Simone Wilson
Wed., Jul. 25 2012

The latest sex scandal and PR nightmare for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles comes by way of northern Long Beach, near Compton:

Father Jose Luis Cuevas, 67, the longtime head priest at St. Athanasius Church, is being charged with “nine counts of sexual assault” for years of allegedly molesting female congregants, including a 17-year-old girl, say Long Beach police.

His arrest and removal from the ministry have been quite dramatic:

Archdiocese officials informed attendees of the church’s weekend services that their trusted leader would be removed “from all ministry and he will be living privately pending the outcome of these matters,” according to City News Service.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Canton Repository

Editorial

The issue: Child sexual abuse cover-ups

Our view: Sentencing of church official, sanctions on Penn State send strong message

Have Americans and some of their institutions decided once and for all that protecting sexual predators at the expense of children is intolerable? Hope that this is the case comes in two developments separated by one day and a scant 200 miles.

Tuesday in a Philadelphia courtroom, a Roman Catholic official was sentenced to three to six years in prison after being convicted of child endangerment. The case against Monsignor William J. Lynn revealed a decades-long pattern in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia of protecting predatory priests at the expense of their victims and parishioners.

“You knew full well what was right, Monsignor,” the judge said while sentencing Lynn, “but you chose wrong.”

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FLORIDA
Orlando Sentinel

By Amy Pavuk, Orlando Sentinel

1:01 p.m. EST, July 25, 2012

Prosecutors released more evidence Wednesday in the case against a local school teacher — who is also an Episcopalian priest — who is accused of traveling to meet a child for sex.

Brian Gerald Shriner, a 46-year-old father of two who worked at The Geneva School, was arrested in June following an undercover operation.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Officehas reported Shriner initiated an online conversation with an undercover detective who was posing as a child.

Shriner and the detective communicated via email for about one month and agreed to meet to have sex June 15, the Sheriff’s Office said.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Irish Central

By
PATRICK COUNIHAN,
IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Wednesday, July 25, 2012

US Catholic clergyman Monsignor William Lynn has been sentenced to three to six years in jail for covering up child sex abuse by priests in Philadelphia.

Lynn is the most senior U.S. cleric convicted in the church’s decades-long sex abuse scandal.

NBC reports that the sentence which was handed down by Judge M. Teresa Sarmina was less than the maximum penalty of seven years in prison for Lynn’s conviction on a single count of child endangerment.

The judge said: “The sentence is meant to punish Lynn for protecting monsters in clerical garb who molested children … to destroy the souls of children, to whom you turned a hard heart.” …

Commentator Terence McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org, which tracks priest-abuse cases, told NBCPhiladelphia.com: “I believe that what Lynn did was done by just about every diocese.

“In most cases, I think the vicar general was well informed, and also the bishop.”

“More than 500 U.S. priests have now been convicted of abuse but Lynn’s three-month trial shows just how hard it is to demonstrate collusion.”

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UNITED STATES
KMOX

ST. LOUIS (KMOX)- Local clergy abuse survivors assess the impact of today’s 3 to 6 prison sentence handed down to a Philadelphia church official for covering up sex abuse claims against priests.

First, SNAP’s David Clohessy says he’s glad the monsignor will spend time behind bars.

“We think that jailing men who conceal child sex crimes is a good way to deter people to concealing child sex crimes,” he says

And, Clohessy says, that sentence may have an impact on a St. Louis-native who could be the next church official to go on trial — Kansas City St. Joseph Bishop Robert Finn.

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ROM
Financial Times Deutschland

Seit Monaten spekuliert Rom über die Frage, ob der Maulwurf im Vatikan Helfer hatte. Eine italienische Zeitung nennt in der Enthüllungsaffäre “Vatikleaks” Namen – der Vatikan dementiert empört.

In der Enthüllungsaffäre “Vatileaks” könnte der verdächtigte Kammerdiener des Papstes einem Bericht der Zeitung “La Repubblica” zufolge drei Komplizen gehabt haben. Sie arbeiteten alle im Umfeld von Papst Benedikt XVI., schreibt das Blatt am Montag, ohne Quellen zu nennen. Von den vatikanischen Ermittlern verdächtigt würden Benedikts Haushälterin und Beraterin Ingrid Stampa, der deutsche Kurienbischof Josef Clemens sowie der für Papst-Reden verantwortliche italienische Kardinal Paolo Sardi. Sie hätten auch vertrauten Umgang mit dem Kammerdiener Paolo Gabriele gehabt. Der Vatikan ist empört und dementierte den Bericht als falsch.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Rhein Zeitung

FELDKIRCH – Das Zivilverfahren eines heute 45-jährigen mutmaßlichen Missbrauchsopfers gegen das Bregenzer Zisterzienser-Kloster Mehrerau am Landesgericht Feldkirch ist am Dienstag zum zweiten Mal vertagt worden.

Der Mehrerauer Alt-Abt Kassian Lauterer, der als Zeuge aussagen sollte, konnte wegen einer kurzfristigen Erkrankung nicht vor Gericht erscheinen. Der Prozess soll nun im Oktober fortgesetzt werden.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
religion@ORF

Der ehemalige Personalverantwortliche der Erzdiözese Philadelphia ist wegen Vertuschung von sexuellem Missbrauch zu mehreren Jahren Haft verurteilt worden. William Lynn habe den Schutz seiner Kirche über den der Opfer gestellt, erklärte Richterin Maria Teresa Sarmina laut US-Medienberichten bei der Urteilsverkündung am Dienstag.

Der 61-jährige Lynn muss zwischen drei und sechs Jahren in Haft. Er ist der erste hochrangige Kleriker, der sich vor einem US-Gericht wegen des Missbrauchsskandals in der katholischen Kirche verantworten musste. Opfervertreter begrüßten den Berichten zufolge den Schuldspruch. Die Erzdiözese sprach von einem „harten“ Urteil.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Welt

Wegen der Vertuschung von Missbrauchsfällen ist ein ranghoher katholischer Geistlicher in den USA zu einer Haftstrafe von drei bis sechs Jahren verurteilt worden. Ein Gericht in Philadelphia im Bundesstaat Pennsylvania verkündete am Dienstag das Strafmaß gegen Monsignore William Lynn. Der 61-jährige Geistliche war im Juni wegen Gefährdung von Kindern schuldig gesprochen worden. Lynn wurde vorgeworfen, pädophile Priester im Erzbistum Philadelphia gedeckt und auf neue Stellen versetzt zu haben.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
kathweb

Gericht verhängt mehrjährige Haftstrafe gegen früheren Personalchef der Erzdiözese Philadelphia

25.07.2012

Washington, 25.07.2012 (KAP) Ein früherer Personalverantwortlicher der Erzdiözese Philadelphia ist wegen Vertuschung von sexuellem Missbrauch zu mehreren Jahren Haft verurteilt worden. William Lynn habe den Schutz seiner Kirche über den der Opfer gestellt, erklärte Richterin Maria Teresa Sarmina laut US-Medienberichten bei der Urteilsverkündung am Dienstag (Ortszeit). Der 61-jährige Lynn muss demnach zwischen drei und sechs Jahren in Haft. Er ist der erste hochrangige Kleriker, der sich vor einem US-Gericht wegen des Missbrauchsskandals in der katholischen Kirche verantworten musste. Opfervertreter begrüßten den Berichten zufolge den Schuldspruch. Die Erzdiözese sprach von einem “harten” Urteil.

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DEUTSCHLAND
MissBiT

Ein Jahr zuvor: Der Vertrag zur Durchführung eines Forschungsprojekts über den sexuellen Missbrauch an Minderjährigen durch katholische Priester, Diakone und männliche Ordensangehörige im Bereich der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz

185. Sitzung des Ständigen Rates der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz am 20./21. Juni 2011 in Würzburg-Himmelspforten

Sexueller Missbrauch im kirchlichen Bereich – Aktuelle Fragen

1. Arbeitshilfe

Seit Bekanntwerden der Fälle sexuellen Missbrauchs an Minderjährigen durch Priester und kirchliche Angestellte im vergangenen Jahr hat die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz eine Vielzahl von Maßnahmen ergriffen. Diese Maßnahmen sind bisher durch Pressemitteilungen und das Internet publiziert worden.

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DEUTSCHLAND
MissBiT

Laut Professor Dr. Christian Pfeiffer ist das “Forschungsprojekt über den sexuellen Missbrauch an Minderjährigen durch katholische Priester, Diakone und männliche Ordensangehörige im Bereich der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz” zu „einem gewissen Stillstand gekommen“.

Am 14. Juli 2012 erschien auf dem Internetportal „kath.net“ ein Interview mit Pfarrer Uwe Winkel, Netzwerk katholischer Priester, „über das Ende eines geplanten Forschungsprojekt der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz, bei dem ein Institut Zugriff auf alle Personalakten der 27 Diözesen gehabt hätte“. (Man beachte den Plusquamperfekt Konjunktiv II!)

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

7/25/2012

The National Survivor Advocates Coalition (NSAC) believes Monsignor William Lynn should have received the maximum seven year sentence given the parameters of the law but the three to six year sentence is significant for his conviction on the endangerment of children in this watershed case regarding the sexual abuse of children.

The sentence should send a clear and direct message to all of the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church: they have failed their people, and given Monsignor Lynn’s defense they created and sustain a culture that fails their people.

If the people of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and Monsignor Lynn’s parish believe the sentence to be unfair, they should urge Cardinal Rigali to step forward and take Monsignor Lynn’s place in jail. For indeed, it becomes increasingly clear with each court case that the cover-up and direction came from the top.

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LONG BEACH (CA)
The Orange County Register

By KELLY PUENTE / PRESS-TELEGRAM

LONG BEACH — A catholic priest from a Long Beach church was arrested this week on suspicion of sexually assaulting two women and a teenage girl, police announced Tuesday.

Father Luis Jose Cuevas, a parish priest at St. Athanasius Catholic Church, 5390 Linden Ave., is facing nine counts of sexual assault following accusations from three alleged victims, said Long Beach Police Sgt. Aaron Eaton.

Police believe there may be more possible victims and are asking anyone with information to come forward.

Eaton said that in April two women accused Cuevas of sexual battery. Both women initially reported the incidents to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and then filed a police report.

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WEST VIRGINIA
WTOV

A STATEMENT FROM THE DIOCESE OF WHEELING-CHARLESTON

Two witnesses whose testimony in a recent trial in Philadelphia led to speculation that Bishop Bransfield may have abused minors in the late 1970s have clarified that they have no such knowledge or information.

In addition, two Philadelphia men have come forward to strongly refute the speculation, and it has been confirmed that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia declared such an allegation unfounded after conducting an investigation when the allegation was first reported in 2007. The details of each of these developments are provided below.

1. At the recent Philadelphia trial of two clerics, a man who was the victim of sexual abuse by another priest, then-Father Stanley Gana, was permitted to testify that on one occasion when then-Father Michael Bransfield visited Gana’s farm outside Philadelphia, Gana told him that Bransfield had been sexually abusing the boy in the front seat of his car. The boy in the front seat of Bransfield’s car on that occasion at Gana’s farm has now been identified as Ronald Rock, a Philadelphia business executive who was a Lansdale Catholic High School student at the time. Rock has confirmed that he was the boy in the front seat of the car and that Bransfield never engaged in any improper conduct of any kind. Rock has explained that his family owned a cabin near Gana’s farm, that he invited then-Fr. Bransfield, a teacher at Lansdale Catholic, to accompany him and a group of his friends to the cabin on one weekend, and that they had visited Gana’s farm that weekend.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
San Francisco Chronicle

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph has been removed from a civil lawsuit over alleged child sexual abuse by a priest.

Jackson County Judge Ann Mesle dismissed one count of failure to supervise children and two counts of fraudulent misrepresentation in a lawsuit against the Rev. Michael Tierney. The judge dismissed three similar counts against Tierney but he still faces civil counts of child sexual abuse and battery.

The suit alleges that Tierney abused a 13-year-old boy in the 1970s. Tierney has denied any wrongdoing.

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CANADA
Hamilton Spectator

By Susan Clairmont

A veteran Crown attorney and a high profile defence lawyer could face criminal charges for cutting a deal that let a priest escape the country rather than face sex abuse charges.

However Dean Paquette, the priest’s council, says there is no basis for such charges against him or the Crown.

The Ministry of the Attorney General will not say if its probe into the controversial handling of the case involving Reverend Jose Silva involves a criminal investigation. But buzz around the John Sopinka Courthouse where the deal was brokered is that technically, criminal charges could be laid against Paquette and assistant Crown attorney Carey Lee.

The reasoning goes like this: failing to appear in court is a criminal offence. Silva failed to appear in court because Lee and Paquette worked together to arrange for him to return to Brazil, where he is from, even though he was facing charges related to the alleged sexual assault of an 18-year-old man who says he was groped.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

July 25, 2012 by Susan Matthews

The Archdiocesan official response to Msgr. Lynn’s sentencing shocked me in its blatant and utter disregard for justice, truth, victims and Church healing. I’m not shocked this is their take on it. I’m floored that they put it out there for the press. I thought the arrogance would have been left at the court room doors after the evidence and testimony were presented. No. The last sentences of the press release prove that arrogance is alive and well at 222.

I beg people to read this statement and compare/contrast to the Penn State response. Two institutions are faced with the same horrible issue. One handled it with compassion – the other with continued callousness.

At the very least, I would have thought Archbishop Chaput would clean house. What about all those names copied on the memos? All the others who knew but can’t be prosecuted? They are still in positions of authority. There is no real contrition or sanction unless the civil courts demand it.

The last sentence proves to me beyond the shadow of any doubt that the Catholic Church is under attack from within. The leadership is destroying the living body of Christ. They can’t even repent properly in words – let alone in action.

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VATICAN CITY
The Telegraph (United Kingdom)

The Pope’s butler has written a letter to Benedict XVI asking to be pardoned for stealing and leaking confidential papers, in a move which may enable him to avoid a trial that could prove embarrassing to the Vatican.

By Nick Squires, Rome
12:28PM BST 24 Jul 2012

Paolo Gabriele, 46, who was formerly a trusted member of the pontiff’s inner circle, sent the confidential letter to express his regret over the theft.

The letter was sent to the Pope via a commission of three cardinals who are investigating the leaks and hunting for other moles within the Holy See.

The letter expresses Mr Gabriele’s “sorrow and contrition” over the stealing of the confidential documents from Benedict’s private apartments, said Carlo Fusco, the butler’s lawyer.

In the letter, the valet reportedly insists that no one else was involved in the theft, denying widespread rumours in Rome that he was an unwitting scapegoat for a much wider plot amid jockeying for power at the highest levels of the Holy See.

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FLORIDA
WTSP

[with video]

Written by
Isabel Mascarenas

TAMPA, Florida — A Largo man who works as a puppeteer and is now charged with child pornography and conspiring to kidnap a child appeared in federal court Tuesday.

Investigators say 57-year-old Ronald Brown fantasized about eating children. He had a bond hearing today, but it has been delayed while Brown tries to hire private attorney Eric Kuske to defend him.

Investigators say Brown had a graphic online chat about kidnapping, sexually abusing, murdering, and eating children. He walked into a federal court in shackles, wearing prison blues and looking calm.

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FLORIDA
Huffington Post

By Andy Campbell

A Florida puppeteer who entertains children at birthday parties, schools and churches, secretly wanted to rape, kill and eat them, cops said.

Ronald Brown, 57, of Largo, was arrested last week after federal agents found that he’d allegedly been chatting online with child pornography suspects about “extremely graphic discussions regarding kidnapping, sexually abusing, murdering and eating children,” according to a federal complaint obtained by the Tampa Bay Times.

The details are gruesome.

Brown — whose Puppets Plus website promises “grins and giggles” for kids — was reportedly caught in online chat rooms with people the feds were investigating as part of a child pornography ring in Massachusetts. He allegedly fantasized about strangling, dismembering and eating his victims.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic News Agency

Philadelphia, Pa., Jul 24, 2012 / 04:28 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Archdiocese of Philadelphia offered prayer and a pledge to protect children July 24, as Monsignor William Lynn received a three to six year prison sentence for his handling of an abusive priest.

“From the challenges the Church has faced both nationally and locally over the past decade, we understand the full gravity of sexual abuse,” the archdiocese said in its response to the sentence handed down by Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina on Tuesday.

In a statement released after the sentencing, the archdiocese reaffirmed its commitment “to protecting children and caring for victims,” while also offering its prayers “for Msgr. Lynn and his family at this difficult time.”

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WEST VIRGINIA
Catholic News Agency

Wheeling, W.V., Jul 25, 2012 / 02:14 am (CNA).- Bishop Michael J. Bransfield of Wheeling-Charleston says accusations of abuse against him have been disproved, with the alleged victim and another witness coming forward to attest to his innocence.

“I am pleased to be able to say that this allegation has been put to rest,” Bishop Bransfield wrote in a July 23 letter, addressing the “false hearsay statements” made against him during the recent trial of Monsignor William Lynn and Father James Brennan.

“Ron Rock, the high school student whom I had allegedly victimized – now a prominent Philadelphia businessman – has now publicly confirmed that this allegation is completely false,” Bishop Bransfield wrote.

“Timothy Love was also with us on that occasion, and he has also confirmed the completely innocent and proper nature of my friendship with them.”

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PEORIA (IL)
Journal Star

PEORIA —

A minister at a Peoria church who was placed on probation in 2010 for aggravated criminal sexual abuse was indicted Tuesday by a Peoria County grand jury on similar charges.

Marcus D. Randle-Howard, 28, of 213 N. Webster St. was indicted on charges of criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse for acts he allegedly committed to a 14-year-old girl in June.

Assistant State’s Attorney Steve Pattelli said the alleged assault occurred at the victim’s uncle’s house. She was visiting Peoria when Randle-Howard came into contact with her at the church, which wasn’t immediately known Tuesday.

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IRELAND
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin

Speaking Notes of
Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin
Archbishop of Dublin

Glenties, 24th July 2012 Embargo 2:30pm

Some months ago a commentator on radio – in all good faith – said that he could not understand the Archbishop of Dublin. I seemed, he said, to be constantly speaking from both sides of my mouth and he felt he did not really know where I stood. On the one hand I had said that the Catholic Church in Ireland was at a crisis point and on the other hand I was saying that it had begun to “turn the corner” of renewal.

I do not see these as opposing comments. I believe that both reflect different aspects of the life of the Catholic Church in Ireland today. The problem is that those who see the Church in Ireland as being in crisis fail to see – or perhaps in some cases do not want to see – the Church already turning the corner to a renewed phase in its history. And those who feel we have turned the corner often feel that the Church has already definitively moved forward – perhaps much more than I would hold – and that it is time now to look forward with confidence and definitively archive the past.

Some years ago I spoke here in Glenties about the situation of the Church in Ireland. I can honestly say that I have found my task today in trying to analyse the situation of the Church in Ireland without a doubt much more difficult than it was then. There is no way I which I can make definitive statements. There is no way in which humanly I can unquestionably say that my vision for the Church in Ireland, at least in the short term, is optimistic or pessimistic. It is only the faith I have that Jesus will be with his Church always which gives me encouragement and light. On the human level there are perhaps more unknowns and challenges and dysfunctionalities than there were a few years ago.

I am by no means a born pessimist. I see the many and remarkable positive changes that have taken place in the Church in Ireland since Vatican II and indeed in recent years and in recent months. There are however many contradictions and levels of ambivalence in the way believers and non-believers look at and evaluate the Church and its role in Ireland today.

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IRELAND
Jamaica Observer

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

LONDON, England (AP) — The archbishop of Dublin says the Catholic Church of Ireland needs to reflect further on the roots of sexual abuse of children by priests and is calling for public investigations into the scandal.

Diarmuid Martin says he believes the public interest could be served by public, research-based investigations into abuse and that the “answers to some questions are not to be found just in the archives of the Church.”

Martin is widely considered to be Ireland’s most reform-minded Catholic leader and the Irish church’s leading voice calling for greater openness on past abuse.

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UNITED KINGDOM
News.va – Vatican Radio

[with audio]

2012-07-24 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Helping survivors of sexual abuse. Ensuring that children are safe in the Church. And supporting religious congregations in their safeguarding endeavours. Those are three key concerns outlined in a new report from Britain’s National Catholic Safeguarding Commission which was published in London on Tuesday. While the fourth annual report highlights many positive developments in this vital ministry, it also says there’s still more that needs to be done to protect children and vulnerable adults from abuse.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Catholic Church of England and Wales

[with download of the full report]

The fourth Annual Report outlining the work of the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission (NCSC) and the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service (CSAS) has been launched today.

This report reflects the work of the Commission and the CSAS. It highlights the many positive developments in the safeguarding ministry in the Catholic Church in England and Wales whilst acknowledging that there is still work to be done and the need to remain vigilant in the protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

NCSC Developments 2011 – 2012

In 2011 the NCSC identified that its main areas of work for 2011/2012 would be to:
•Develop a more sensitive and pastoral response to victims and survivors of abuse
•Ensure that safeguarding standards are maintained throughout the Church
•Seek solutions to support the religious in their safeguarding endeavours

The report describes the progress in these areas.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Catholic Culture

CWN – July 25, 2012

The National Catholic Safeguarding Commission, a lay body formed in 2008 by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in England and Wales and the Conference of Religious, released its annual report on July 24 and found that there were 49 allegations of abuse against a minor in 2011.

“Of the 49 alleged abusers, 28 are clergy or religious, 9 volunteers, 5 employees, and 7 parishioners,” the report stated. “26 victims allege that the abuse occurred in the 1980’s or before, with 1 in the 1940’s and 4 in the 1950’s. 25 victims allege that the abuse occurred in 2011.”

“37 victims alleged sexual abuse, 13 physical abuse, 8 emotional abuse,” the report continued. “This represents a significant reduction in the proportion of sexual abuse allegations compared with an equally significant increase in the proportion of physical abuse allegations.”

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FLORIDA
WFTV

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. —

WFTV has learned that a man accused of sexually abusing children and disabled adults not only worked as a youth pastor and day care worker, but he also worked at a local middle school.

Kenneth Hagins is accused of abusing children and disabled adults while he worked at a Lake County day care and church, authorities said. But Channel 9’s Berndt Petersen found that Hagins also worked at Mount Dora Middle School for eight years before he was fired.

District officials said Hagins worked at the school from May 1999 to Nov. 26, 2007. He had been a teacher’s assistant, custodian and a secretary during his time at the school.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Tribune-Review

By Rachel Weaver

Published: Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Sex-abuse scandals in the past decade have given religious leaders a greater understanding of how to handle allegations, say Roman Catholic Church officials in Western Pennsylvania.

“There is no ‘cure’ for this,” said the Rev. Ron Lengwin, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. “This is not something where you can simply send them away to a treatment center and put them in another parish assignment.”

Individual dioceses set policies for handling abuse allegations, to use in conjunction with national standards of The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.

The Pittsburgh diocese put most of its practices in place in the late 1980s, Lengwin said.

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HELENA (MT)
Independent Record

By EVE BYRON Independent Record | Posted: Wednesday, July 25, 2012

An insurance company has filed a federal lawsuit against the Helena-based Catholic Diocese of Montana, saying that the church is trying to make it cover some of the costs associated with defending former nuns and priests accused of child abuse in the 1930s through the 1970s.

In court documents, the Arrowood Indemnity Company said the diocese has sought a defense from a number of insurance companies in connection with two lawsuits filed in Lewis and Clark District Court. The insurance companies that sold general liability policies to the diocese have agreed to defend the church in those lawsuits.

The diocese also demanded a defense from Arrowood, saying that the company or one of its predecessors sold general liability insurance from 1940 through 1960 that provides coverage to the diocese for the abuse lawsuits, according to the documents.

However, the insurance company says that after an extensive search of its existing historical records, it can’t find any evidence that it provided coverage to the diocese. The company adds an independent investigation by the church also couldn’t uncover any evidence that they sold the diocese insurance.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
New York Daily News

By Charlie Wells / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

The first U.S. Roman Catholic official convicted of covering up child sexual abuse inside the Church was sentenced Tuesday to 3-to-6 years in prison.

Judge M. Teresa Sarmina handed down Monsignor William J. Lynn’s sentence, just shy of the maximum seven-year penalty prosecutors had sought.

Sarmina told Lynn that he had permitted “monsters in clerical garb … to destroy the souls of children, to whom you turned a hard heart.” …

“I believe that what Lynn did was done by just about every diocese,” Terence McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org, a website tracking cases of abuse, said to NBCPhiladelphia.com. “In most cases, I think the vicar general was well informed, and also the bishop.”

According to McKiernan’s group, over 500 priests have been convicted of abuse.

As for Lynn, prosecutors were not at a loss for harsh words.

“His active, even eager execution of archdiocese policies – carried out in the face of victims’ vivid suffering, and employing constant deceit – required a more amoral character, a striving to please his bosses no matter how sinister the business,” they wrote in a sentencing memo obtained by CBS News and filed Friday. “At any time during those 12 years, he could have had a moment of conscience.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Newsworks

[with audio]

By Elizabeth Fiedler

The first U.S. church official convicted for his handling of sexual abuse allegations against other priests has been sentenced to three to six years in prison.

The sentence was handed down today in Philadelphia to Monsignor William Lynn, the former secretary for clergy at Philadelphia Archdiocese. …

District Attorney Seth Williams said the sentence validates years of work.

“This is a very different type of case. One that many people say is unprecedented in American jurisprudence and I am very proud of the men and women of the grand juries and the men and women of the district attorney’s office for bringing this case on behalf of all victims,” he said.

Williams says while Lynn did not abuse children, he didn’t do enough to protect them.

“As the father of three daughters, to know that someone reported potentially that my daughter was raped, didn’t call law enforcement, didn’t even try to let me know that I have a ticking time bomb in the room next to me that needs counseling — is insufficient,” Williams said. “And that is why he’s here. That is why he’s held responsible for his behavior.”

“I think this is a guide for the world,” says Marci Hamilton, the co-counsel in several civil cases brought by plaintiffs who allege abuse and cover-up by Philadelphia church officials.

“I do think that Seth Williams has set the standard so that prosecutors now know that they can get justice for victims of child sexual abuse,” Hamilton says. “And prosecutors were afraid these kinds of prosecutions even 10 years ago. They were elected officials and they were afraid of being targeted as being anti-Catholic.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Daily Times

After three months of silence regarding the child endangerment trial of the Rev. Monsignor William Lynn, who was accused of protecting pedophile priests, officials in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia spoke out late Tuesday afternoon.

They issued a press release expressing profound regret for any pain the trial may have caused the 12 victims of clerical sexual abuse who courageously testified.

They also insisted that things have changed in the Roman Catholic Church since the days those victims were abused.

That being said, archdiocesan officials wanted to make another major point.

They think it’s time to be “fair-minded” in the case of the monsignor who was responsible for the disposition of suspected abusers when he served as secretary of clergy in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004. …

“Fair-minded people will question the severity of the heavy, three to six year sentence imposed on Monsignor Lynn today. We hope that when this punishment is objectively reviewed, it will be adjusted. We pray for Monsignor Lynn and his family at this difficult time,” said the press release issued by officials in the archdiocese headed by Archbishop Charles Chaput.

We don’t even know where to begin in responding to such a tasteless and, quite frankly, incredible statement.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
National Turk (Turkey)

A Roman Catholic Monsignor William Lynn has been sentenced yesterday to serve up to 6 years in prison for allowing a priest suspected of sexual misconduct with a minor to continue to work in an assignment involving contact with children.

US catholic priest William J. Lynn, a former cardinal’s aide, was found guilty of endangering children, becoming the first senior official of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States convicted of covering up child sexual abuses by priests under his supervision in Philadelphia.

The catholic priest Monsignor William Lynn’s sentence is another milestone in a sex-abuse scandal that has shaken the Church in the US and elsewhere for the past ten years.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Journal (Ireland)

THE FIRST ROMAN Catholic church official in America to be convicted of covering up claims of sexual abuse by priests under his supervision was sentenced to up to six years in prison yesterday.

Monsignor William J Lynn was found guilty of child endangerment after a three month trial that reveled decades of glossing over accusations of sexual abuse to avoid scandal, the New York Times reports. …

Defence lawyer Thomas Bergstrom said Lynn was being punished for “things he did and did properly” and confirmed the Monsignor will appeal and is seeking bail.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Daily Times

Published: Wednesday, July 25, 2012

By MARYCLAIRE DALE
Of The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — The first U.S. church official convicted of covering up sex-abuse claims against Roman Catholic priests was sentenced Tuesday to three to six years in prison by a judge who said he “enabled monsters in clerical garb … to destroy the souls of children.”

Monsignor William Lynn, the former secretary for clergy at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, “helped many but also failed many” in his 36-year church career, Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said.

Lynn, who handled priest assignments and child sexual assault complaints from 1992 to 2004, was convicted last month of felony child endangerment for his oversight of now-defrocked priest Edward Avery. Avery is serving a 2½- to five-year sentence for sexually assaulting an altar boy in church in 1999. …

The archdiocese called the sentence severe and hoped it would be “adjusted” on appeal.

“Fair-minded people will question the severity of the heavy, three- to six-year sentence imposed on Monsignor Lynn today,” the statement said. …

“Protecting children has to be first and foremost,” said Barbara Blaine, founder of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “We’re extremely grateful that the judge and the prosecutors did not give Monsignor Lynn special treatment because of his priestly status.”

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UNITED STATES
Daily Times

Published: Wednesday, July 25, 2012

By PATTI MENGERS
pmengers@delcotimes.com

Ten years ago, John Salveson called the resignation of Boston Cardinal Bernard Law in the shadow of hundreds of claims of clerical sexual abuse under his watch, a start in seeking justice for the victims of pedophile priests.

“I think it’s long overdue. I think it’s a good start. What I mean by this, the root of this problem to me is the bishops and cardinals who keep sheltering abusive priests,” the Radnor resident said in December 2002.

But more members of the hierarchy must be held accountable if the Catholic Church is going to fully address the scandal, insisted the former director of the Philadelphia chapter of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, also known as SNAP.

Tuesday, Salveson, who in 2006 founded the Foundation to Abolish Childhood Sex Abuse to lobby for expansion of Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations on sexual assault, finally saw part of his prediction realized after learning that a Philadelphia church official was sent to prison for protecting a pedophile priest.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin and Joseph A. Slobodzian
Inquirer Staff Writers

Msgr. William J. Lynn was sentenced Tuesday to three to six years in state prison by a judge who said he turned a blind eye while “monsters in clerical garb” sexually abused children, devastating families and shaking the Catholic Church across Philadelphia and beyond.

Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said she believed Lynn was once the kind and selfless parish priest that his supporters so passionately described. But as the aide whom Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua tapped to investigate clergy sex abuse, Lynn chose to protect the church over victims, she said.

“You knew full well what was right, Msgr. Lynn, but you chose wrong,” she told him.

The sentence, the first for a Catholic leader for enabling clergy sex abuse, fell just short of the maximum seven-year term Philadelphia prosecutors had sought. It was hailed by victims and advocates who had complained that church officials long eluded justice for accommodating or concealing priests’ attacks on children.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

Monica Yant Kinney, Inquirer Columnist

What’s the appropriate response when your tormentor gets his comeuppance?

Should you clap? Sigh? Sob? Smile in recognition of a rare moment of karmic payback?

Msgr. William J. Lynn didn’t rape anyone, but he still received a three- to six-year sentence in prison for endangering the welfare of children. He’s guilty of inaction more than action. He sullied the priesthood not as a predator, but as the worst kind of company man – a pathologically passive-aggressive coward afraid to question his boss.

Vicky Cubberley, 62, a survivor of clergy sex abuse, never expected this day, so she didn’t know quite what to do when victims finally notched a victory. She reveled for a minute, then got back to the business of trying to survive a life of man-made agony.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

By Mensah M. Dean
Daily News Staff Writer

In a soft and clear voice, disgraced Catholic Monsignor William Lynn stood Tuesday before a packed courtroom and apologized for the years of sexual abuse a young man suffered at the hands of defrocked priest Edward Avery, whom Lynn transferred to the boy’s parish despite knowing that he had abused another boy.

“I did my best,” said Lynn, 61, who served as secretary for clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004.

“The fact is, my best was not good enough to stop” the abuse of the boy, concluded Lynn, a priest for 36 years who never met the boy.

Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina agreed and concluded the sentencing hearing by lambasting Lynn for failing to support and protect not just Avery’s victim, but other children who had been abused by priests.

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CALIFORNIA
Long Beach Post

By Sarah Bennett | Tuesday, 24 July 2012

A Long Beach parish priest, Father Luis Jose Cuevas of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, was arrested today on sexual assault charges including eight misdemeanor charges of sexual battery and one felony count involving lewd acts with a child.

The victims include two female adults and one 17 year-old female who reported repeated incidents of inappropriate touching over a two-year period, said Long Beach Police Sgt. Aaron Eaton.

The 67 year-old Cuevas has worked and lived on the grounds of the St. Athanasius Catholic Church at 5390 Linden Ave. for the last seven years and was arrested by LBPD with the assistance of the United States Marshal’s Office at a residence in the City of San Jacinto, police said. Cuevas is being held on $1,000,000 bail while he awaits arraignment in Long Beach on Wednesday.

In April, the Long Beach Police Department received information from the two adult victims, who say they initially reported the incidents to the Archdiocese. After an investigation, during which the 17 year-old victim came forward, the LBPD presented the case to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office on July 19. The D.A’s Office subsequently filed charges.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
National Catholic Reporter

Jul. 24, 2012
By Brian Roewe

Msgr. William J. Lynn, seen leaving a Philadelphia courthouse in late May, was convicted of endangering children for his handling of priest abuse claims while secretary of clergy for the Philadelphia archdiocese. A judge sentenced him July 24 to a maximum of six years in prison. (CNS photo/Scott Anderson, Reuters)

For failing to protect children from a known predator priest, Msgr. William J. Lynn will spend three to six years in prison.

Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina read the former secretary of clergy for the Philadelphia archdiocese her sentence July 24 before a standing-room-only courtroom.

“You knew full well what was right, Msgr. Lynn, but you chose wrong,” Sarmina said, according to The Associated Press. …

Marci Hamilton, law professor and counsel in multiple abuse cases, was present at the sentencing. She said Sarmina’s statement, which at one point quoted Archbishop Charles Chaput’s Good Friday sermon, carried the theme that being a good priest does not make up for criminal endangerment of children.

“She really contrasted the Lynn that was secretary of the clergy who was, in her words hardhearted and callous, and the Lynn who was the parish priest, who was warm and compassionate, and she said the one doesn’t make up for the other,” Hamilton said. …

Survivor support groups also endorsed the sentencing.

“Considering all the kids whose innocence was shattered (or, in some whose lives were lost to suicide), we believe that Msgr. Lynn deserved the harshest punishment. Still, this sentence sends a powerful message: cover-up child sex crimes and you’ll go to jail,” said a statement from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

“The sentence should send a clear and direct message to all of the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church: they have failed their people, and given Monsignor Lynn’s defense they created and sustain a culture that fails their people,” said the National Survivor Advocates Coalition.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog

Ralph Cipriano

Judge M. Teresa Sarmina told Msgr. William J. Lynn today that she was sentencing him to three to six years in state prison, because he had turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the suffering of victims of sex abuse.

“You knew full well what was right, Msgr. Lynn, but you chose wrong,” she told the defendant, before imposing sentence. Lynn has been in jail since June 22, when he was convicted by a jury of one count of endangering the welfare of a child, a third-degree felony.

The judge contrasted Lynn’s recent service at St. Joseph’s Church in Downingtown, where he was pastor from 2004 until his indictment in 2011, to his 12-year-tenure as secretary for clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004.

The judge said she got hundreds of “heartfelt letters of support” on behalf of Lynn, many from parishioners at St. Joseph’s, who told her that Pastor Lynn would drop every thing to help someone in need. But the judge said that as secretary for clergy, Msgr. Lynn had displayed insensitivity to victims. He was either promising to do something, and doing nothing, the judge said, or he was doing his best to “callously shield the priests.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
SNAP Wisconsin

Monsignor Lynn was sentenced today to prison for 3 to 6 years following his conviction for child endangerment. Lynn is the first high ranking Catholic Church official to be tried and found guilty in a criminal court of law for giving known pedophile priests access to unsuspecting children.

At sentencing Judge Teresa Sarmina told Lynn “You knew full well what was right Monsignor, but you chose wrong”.

Sarmina added that Lynn deserved the sentence imposed on him because of “your support and facilitation of monsters in clerical garb…who destroyed the souls of children as you turned a hard heart”.

Following the sentencing of their Monsignor the Archdiocese of Philadelphia issued a statement lamenting Lynn’s sentence stating “Fair minded people will question the severity of the heavy, three to six year sentence imposed on Msgr. Lynn today. We hope that when this punishment is objectively reviewed it will be adjusted”.

The archdiocese neglected to mention the sentence that was imposed on the child whom Lynn endangered. That child was sexually assaulted by Fr. Edward Avery who Lynn was in charge of supervising. Lynn knew that Avery was a child molester and assigned him to St. Jerome’s parish anyway without warning parishioners that there was a dangerous predator in their midst.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Washington Post

By Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo

Six years in prison for Monsignor William Lynn, former clergy secretary in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia because of his complicity in sexual abuse of minors; $60 million in fines to Penn State and its football program for similar indifference towards a coach. These despicable events are linked by a defect in American society. There is little public conscience to protect those speaking truth to power.

Particularly sad is how these recent events distort what should be an uplifting faith in an institution. Does not Penn State make of its football a weekly religion, replete with dedicated blue-and-white, competing ritually in an arena for honor? Does not Catholic America consider the bishop’s office the watchtower of a living faith? We all regret the sins and sympathize with the victims, but unless we recognize the climate that has fostered wrongdoing and change, these events will be repeated.

The failure to be feared the most lies with the university favoring football wins over integrity and with the clericalism that prefers loyalty over virtue. In short, there is a moral void in American society that does not reward whistle blowing against the interests of an institution.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic News Service

By Matthew Gambino
Catholic News Service

PHILADELPHIA (CNS) — Common Pleas Court Judge Teresa Sarmina closed the latest chapter in the clergy sexual abuse scandal in Philadelphia by sentencing Msgr. William Lynn to three to six years in state prison.

During the sentencing hearing July 24, after more than two hours of arguments and letters presented from victims and Msgr. Lynn’s defense, Sarmina handed down a sentence just shy of the maximum seven years.

The former secretary for clergy, who recommended priest assignments to the archbishop of Philadelphia and investigated claims of sexual abuse of minors by clergy, was found guilty of one felony charge of endangering the welfare of a child June 22.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic Online

PHILADELPHIA, PA (Catholic Online) – Judge Teresa Sermina told Monsignor William Lynn that he was being sentenced to prison because he protected “monsters in clerical garb who molested children.”

Lynn will serve at least three of those years in prison, and possibly longer. A sentence for another, single count of child endangerment is pending and could add a seventh year to his time.

Monsignor Lynn oversaw 800 priests in the Philadelphia Archdiocese and was responsible for investigating claims of abuse. However, instead of involving higher Church and civil authorities, Lynn often covered up allegations of abuse often by transferring priests to different parishes where they continued to prey on children.

In one case, he transferred a known pedophile priest to another parish that was attached to a grade school. That priest went on to abuse a 10-year-old boy.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
AFP

[Trial Narrative and Resources – BishopAccountability.org]

NEW YORK — The highest-ranking US church official to be convicted of covering up child sex allegations, Philadelphia Monsignor William Lynn, was sentenced to between three and six years in prison on Tuesday.

Lynn, whose job it was to investigate reports of abuse in the archdiocese from 1992 to 2004, was found guilty last month of one count of child endangerment.

Defense lawyers had pushed for Lynn to be spared prison, but Judge Teresa Sarmina imposed close to the maximum sentence of between three-and-a-half and seven years.

“It was three to six years,” an official at the court in Philadelphia told AFP by telephone, confirming the tough sentence. …

Shockwaves from the trial are expected to keep reverberating.

“The Lynn trial is of lasting significance because of its guilty verdict, and because the record of the trial contains a dramatic analysis for a single archdiocese of the two crimes that constitute the ongoing sex abuse crisis: a) the sexual abuse of children by priests and b) the enabling and cover-up of the abuse,” wrote bishop-accountability.org, which tracks reported abuses.

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CALIFORNIA
Gazettes

A Long Beach priest was arrested Monday and charged with nine counts of sexual assault on three women, including one felony count of lewd acts with a child.

Father Luis Jose Cuevas, a parish priest at St. Athanasius Catholic Church was arrested by Long Beach police with assistance of the United States Marshal’s Office at a residence in the city of San Jacinto. He was being held in Long Beach City jail on $1 million bail pending arraignment, which was scheduled for Wednesday, July 25.

According to the report from Sgt. Aaron Eaton of the media detail for the Long Beach Police Department, Cuevas, 67, has served at St. Athanasius for the last seven years, living on the grounds at 5390 Linden Ave. In April this year, two women reported to the Long Beach police that they had been victims of sexual battery.

Both women said they initially filed reports with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles before talking with Long Beach police.

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UNITED STATES
CNN

Editor’s note: Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and author of “The American Bible: How Our Words Unite, Divide, and Define a Nation,” is a regular CNN Belief Blog contributor.

By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN

(CNN) – As a resident of the most Catholic state in the nation (Massachusetts), I have watched for more than a decade as the Roman Catholic Church responded to charges of priestly pedophilia with a troubling combination of procrastination and obfuscation.

Far too often, Catholic priests, bishops and cardinals have identified not with abused children but with their “band of brothers,” their fellow priests.

In the case of the sex crimes committed by former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, officials at Penn State also looked the other way.

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CALIFORNIA
Contra Costa Times

By Kelly Puente, Staff Writer
presstelegram.com

July 24, 2012

LONG BEACH — A priest at a Catholic church in Long Beach has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting two women and a teenage girl, police announced today.

Father Luis Jose Cuevas, a parish priest at St. Athanasius Catholic Church at 5390 Linden Ave., is facing nine counts of sexual assault following accusations from three alleged victims, said Long Beach Police Sgt. Aaron Eaton.

Police believe there may be more possible victims and are asking anyone with information to come forward.

Eaton said two women came forward in April and accused Cuevas of sexual battery. Both women initially reported the incidents to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and then filed a police report.

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CANADA
The North Bay Nugget

By MARIA CALABRESE The Nugget

Charges were back in court on Tuesday for a Roman Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing a seven-year-old boy in North Bay dating back to 1958.

John Edward Sullivan, 87, now living in Montreal, is out on bail. His next court date is Aug. 14.

Sullivan was an ordained priest at the Pro-Cathedral of the Assumption when the sexual offences are alleged at various times from 1958 to 1979.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NEWS.com.au (Australia)

A US Catholic Monsignor who “enabled monsters in clerical garb … to destroy the souls of children” has been jailed for up to six years.

Monsignor William Lynn, the former secretary for clergy at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, handled priest assignments and child sexual assault complaints from 1992 to 2004. He was accused of transferring problem priests in one of the country’s largest parishes and keeping complaints out of the public eye.

“You knew full well what was right, Monsignor Lynn, but you chose wrong,” Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said.

Advocates for abuse victims, however, contend that dioceses have kept some accused clergy on assignment. They pointed to the Lynn case as an example.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia

From the challenges the Church has faced both nationally and locally over the past decade, we understand the full gravity of sexual abuse. This year and even this week, Pennsylvania has been the epicenter of this issue, and we know there is legitimate anger in the broad community toward any incident or enabling of sexual abuse. The trial of the past several months has been especially difficult for victims, and we profoundly regret their pain.

The public humiliation of the Church has emphasized the vital lesson that we must be constantly vigilant in our charge to protect the children in our parishes and schools. Since the events some ten years ago that were at the center of this trial, the Archdiocese has changed. We have taken dramatic steps to ensure that all young people in our care are safe, and these efforts will continue even more forcefully now and in the years ahead.

We remain committed to protecting children and caring for victims. Fair-minded people will question the severity of the heavy, three to six year sentence imposed on Msgr. Lynn today. We hope that when this punishment is objectively reviewed, it will be adjusted.

We pray for Msgr. Lynn and his family at this difficult time.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has released a statement just hours after Monsignor William Lynn was sentenced to 3-6 years in prison, calling his sentence “heavy.”

The statement reads:

“From the challenges the Church has faced both nationally and locally over the past decade, we understand the full gravity of sexual abuse. This year and even this week, Pennsylvania has been the epicenter of this issue, and we know there is legitimate anger in the broad community toward any incident or enabling of sexual abuse. The trial of the past several months has been especially difficult for victims, and we profoundly regret their pain.

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WEST VIRGINIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on July 24, 2012

It’s deceitful and insulting for Bishop Bransfield to claim he has “tangible proof” that the allegations against him are false. Bransfield has no sworn affidavits, notarized statements or even signed letters. He has two Catholic men who haven’t faced real scrutiny or questioning and who say he never molested them.

So?

No child molester molests every child he or she encounters. So if Bransfield finds two or two hundred Catholics who say he never molested them, that means virtually nothing.

And very few child molesters molest in front of witnesses. So if Bransfield finds two or two hundred Catholics who say they never saw him molest anyone, that means virtually nothing.

If you come to Missouri, we can show you hundreds of banks that Jesse James never robbed. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t a bank robber.

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MISSOURI
The Kansas City Star

By MARK MORRIS
The Kansas City Star

A Jackson County judge has removed the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph from a civil lawsuit that alleges child sexual abuse by a priest.

In a ruling issued Friday, Circuit Judge Ann Mesle freed the diocese from a suit against the Rev. Michael Tierney by dismissing one count of failure to supervise children and two counts of fraud and fraudulent misrepresentation.

Mesle wrote in her three-page order that she “struggled” with her decision to release the diocese from liability in the case, but said she was bound by other recent court rulings.

Lawyers and spokespersons for parties in the case either did not return calls or declined comment because of a gag order. In the past, Tierney has denied any wrongdoing.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
WorldTVNews

PHILADELPHIA – A group representing victims of child sexual abuse says the prison sentence given a Philadelphia priest who covered up crimes against children sends a powerful message to organizations across the country. Monsignor William Lynn did not sexually abuse children himself. He is the first Roman Catholic Church official convicted of covering up the actions of priests under his supervision.

Joelle Casteix, the western regional director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said Lynn deserved the maximum sentence of seven years. But she said the judge’s sentence of three-to-six years in prison is meaningful.

“This sentence sends a poweful message: cover up sex crimes and you’ll go to jail. Not house arrest. Not community service. Not a fine. You’ll be locked up,” Casteix said.

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CANADA
Irish Mexican

GOOD AND BAD FRUITS IN THE LEGION OF CHRIST CATHOLIC RELIGIOUS ORDER [and in the Regnum Christi]

By J. Paul Lennon, MA, STL.

Presentation by Paul Lennon at the International Cultic Studies Association Annual Conference in Montreal – July, 2012

Introduction
The official Catholic Church stance on this issue is the following: “The Legion of Christ Produces Many Good Fruits; therefore it is a Good Religious Order Blessed by God.” The position was originally made clear at the end of the Vatican statement condemning the founder’s behaviors in May, 2006: “Independently of the person of the Founder, the worthy apostolate of the Legionaries of Christ and of the Association ‘Regnum Christi’ is gratefully recognized.”

When Pope Benedict XVI was interviewed in 2010 and questioned regarding the clergy sex abuse scandal and specifically about the Legion of Christ founder and the viability of the Legion he explained: “Naturally corrections must be made, but by and large the congregation is sound. In it there are many young men who enthusiastically want to serve the faith. This enthusiasm must not be destroyed. Many of them have been called by a false figure to what is, in the end, right after all. This is the remarkable thing, the paradox, that a false prophet, so to speak, could still have a positive effect.”

The belief held by Pope Benedict XVI, by his Delegate to the Legion of Christ, and by the Leadership of the order can be formulated as followed: The Legion of Christ Produces Many Good Fruits; therefore it must be good despite the corrupt and harmful life of the founder.

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SPRINGFIELD (MA)
WWLP

Published : Tuesday, 24 Jul 2012

Laura Hutchinson

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Opening arguments have begun in a clergy sex abuse lawsuit against two former Springfield bishops.

Greenfield Attorney John Stobierski claims his client, Andrew Nicastro, who is 41 now, was sexually abused by Father Alfred Graves, a former priest in Springfield, when he was between the ages of 11 and 14 years old.

In his opening arguments Tuesday, Stobierski provided pictures of Nicastro as a child to the jury.

Nicastro is suing Catholic Church leaders, former Bishops Thomas Dupre and Joseph Maguire, claiming they knew Graves had a history of indecent conduct with a minor.

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SPRINGFIELD (MA)
The Republican

Andrew Nicastro describes alleged sexual abuse by defrocked priest Andrew Graves, says 2 former bishops should have prevented it

By Buffy Spencer, The Republican

SPRINGFIELD – Jurors heard 42-year-old Andrew Nicastro describe how his parish priest in Williamstown sexually abused him about twice a week for about three years when he was between 11 and 14 years old.

Nicastro – apologizing to Hampden Superior Court Judge Constance M. Sweeney when he had to hesitate to clear his tears – said during the same years as he was assaulting him, the former Rev. Alfred Graves was choosing him for the most sought-after altar boy duties.

“I felt special, chosen,” Nicastro said of his altar boy duties at funerals, weddings and other ceremonies.

Graves, then pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish in Williamstown, even sexually assaulted Nicastro in the church during 1981 or 1982 to 1985, Nicastro said.

Nicastro was testifying in his civil lawsuit against two former bishops he said should be held accountable for his childhood abuse by Graves because they were in supervisory positions in the Roman Catholic Diocese and knew Graves had assaulted two other boys before Nicastro.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Los Angeles Times

By Michael Muskal

July 24, 2012

A Roman Catholic monsignor, William J. Lynn, was sentenced to three to six years in prison on Tuesday for covering up sexual abuses by a priest he supervised in Philadelphia.

“You knew full well what was right, Monsignor Lynn, but you chose wrong,” Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said, according to media reports from the courtroom.

“I did not intend any harm,” Lynn said in court Tuesday. “My best was not good enough to stop that harm.”

A former secretary for clergy to the late Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, Lynn managed priests and investigated claims of misconduct from 1992 to 2004. With his conviction last month of child endangerment, Lynn became the first Roman Catholic church official to be convicted of a felony for covering up child sex-abuse claims against a priest.

That priest, Edward Avery, was later defrocked and is serving 2½ to 5 years in prison for sexually assaulting an altar boy in church.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Press TV (Iran)

A Roman Catholic Monsignor, the highest-ranking US church official to be convicted of covering up child sex abuse claims, has been sentenced to three to six years in prison.

The Philadelphia court on Tuesday handed down the sentence to William Lynn, who was found guilty last month of one count of child endangerment in connection to the US Roman Catholic Church scandal.

Monsignor Lynn, secretary of the archdiocese from 1994 to 2001 and tasked with investigating abuse claims, was found guilty of endangering the victim of Edward Avery, a former priest convicted in 1999 of sexual assault.

Lynn enabled “monsters in clerical garb… to destroy the souls of children,” Judge M Teresa Sarmina said.

The trial, the first in the United States involving a senior official in the Catholic Church, also centered on two more Philadelphia priests.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The New York Times

By JON HURDLE and ERIK ECKHOLM

Published: July 24, 2012

PHILADELPHIA — Msgr. William J. Lynn, the first Roman Catholic official in the United States to be convicted of covering up sexual abuses by priests under his supervision, was sentenced to three to six years in prison on Tuesday.

“You knew full well what was right, Monsignor Lynn, but you chose wrong,” said Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina as she imposed the sentence, which was just short of the maximum of three and a half to seven years. …

“I think this is going to send a very strong signal to every bishop and everybody who worked for a bishop that if they don’t do the right thing they may go to jail,” said Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a senior fellow of the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. “They can’t just say the bishop made me do it, that’s not going to be an excuse that holds up in court.”

In a three-minute statement before he heard his sentence, Monsignor Lynn, dressed in a black clerical shirt and white collar, said: “I have been a priest for 36 years, and I have done the best I can. I have always tried to help people.”

He said that he respected the verdict of the jury, and he apologized to the abuse victim in the case at the center of his conviction. He turned toward relatives of the victim in the courtroom and said, “I hope some day that you will accept my apology.”

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ITALY
The Eponymous Flower

Yet again there is another Old Liberal Bishop of the rundown Post-Conciliar Church — named by Benedict XVI — who has been removed.

(kreuz.net)Today Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the surprising resignation of Archbishop Vincenzo Di Mauro (61).

The reason for the resignation is not known.

Vigevano is a 64,000 population city 35 km southwest of Milan.

Dismissed

Msgr De Mauro was the Secretary of the Vatican Prefecture for Economic Affairs.

His dismissal after only three years in an unimportant Italian diocese was widely interpreted as a demotion.

The Italian news agency ‘agi.it’ spoke of the dissmissal of the Archbishop.

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UPPER FREEHOLD (NJ)
Examiner

BY JANE MEGGITT Correspondent

UPPER FREEHOLD — No one could accuse Bruce Novozinsky of backing away from a controversial subject.

With the publication of his book, “Purple Reign – Sexual Abuse and Abuse of Power in the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey, 1972- 2011,” the township resident takes on no less an authority than the Catholic Church and its behavior in the priestly pedophilia scandals.

According to a website promoting the book, “Novozinsky’s unvarnished look at the clerical culture reveals pedophilia as but one facet of the larger crisis — sexually active priests breaking their vows of celibacy with each other; the shielding of clergy through transfers, forced resignations, legal technicalities and prosecutorial deals; the Church’s attempted blame shift to homosexuality and society’s sexual degeneracy; and the silence of victims, secured through the politics of power and intimidation.

“The legacy of a succession of local bishops is that they acted first to protect the institution over the victim and employed every means to spare the realm, demonstrating that the crisis played out no differently in the idyllic New Jersey suburbs than it did anywhere else,” according to the website.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
National Catholic Reporter

by Brian Roewe on Jul. 24, 2012 NCR Today

William J. Lynn, the former secretary of clergy for the Philadelphia archdiocese, was sentenced to three to six years in prison this morning, according to The Associated Press.

Lynn was convicted June 22 on one count of child endangerment for allowing former priest Edward Avery to remain in ministry despite knowledge of past abuse.

Lynn’s defense lawyers had sought a minimal sentence of probation without jail time while the Philadelphia district attorney’s office pushed for a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.

Lynn and his lawyers are expected to appeal the decision.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
BBC News

US Roman Catholic Monsignor William Lynn has been sentenced to three to six years in jail for covering up a sex abuse complaint against a priest.

Lynn supervised hundreds of priests in his role as secretary for clergy at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Last month he became the most senior clergyman convicted in connection to the US Roman Catholic Church scandal.

Judge M Teresa Sarmina said Lynn enabled “monsters in clerical garb… to destroy the souls of children”.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Fox 2

July 24, 2012, by Staff Writer

PHILADELPHIA CNN — The highest-ranking Catholic Church cleric charged and convicted in the landmark Philadelphia child sexual abuse trial was sentenced to three to six years in prison Tuesday.

Monsignor William Lynn, 61, was found guilty in June of one count of child endangerment, the first time a U.S. church leader has been convicted of such a charge.

He was given just under the maximum sentence he faced, which was three-and-a-half to seven years in prison for his conviction on the third-degree felony.

The trial marked the first time U.S. prosecutors have charged not just the priests who allegedly committed abuses but also church leaders for failing to stop them. Lynn is the highest-ranking cleric accused of covering up allegations of molestation and rape against priests by transferring them to unwitting parishes.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
MSNBC

By NBC News and wire services

PHILADELPHIA — Monsignor William Lynn, the most senior U.S. Catholic clergyman convicted in the church’s decades-long sex abuse scandal, was sentenced on Tuesday to three to six years in jail for covering up child sex abuse by priests in Philadelphia.

The sentence handed down by Judge M. Teresa Sarmina was less than the maximum penalty of seven years in prison for Lynn’s conviction on a single count of child endangerment.

Sarmina said the sentence was meant to punish Lynn for protecting “monsters in clerical garb who molested children … to destroy the souls of children, to whom you turned a hard heart.” …

“I believe that what Lynn did was done by just about every diocese,” Terence McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org, which tracks priest-abuse cases, told NBCPhiladelphia.com. “In most cases, I think the vicar general was well informed, and also the bishop.”

More than 500 U.S. priests have now been convicted of abuse, according to his organization. But Lynn’s three-month trial, he said, shows “just how hard it is to demonstrate collusion.”

Bishop Robert Finn and the Kansas City diocese face a misdemeanor charge of failing to report suspected child sexual abuse. Both Finn and the diocese have pleaded not guilty, and are set to go on trial next month.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Msgr. William J. Lynn was sentenced to 3 to 6 years in state prison Tuesday for child endangerment by a judge who said he turned a blind eye while “monsters in clerical garb” sexually abused children and devastated the church and community.

“You knew full well what was right, Monsignor, but you chose wrong,” Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina told him.

The punishment capped a two-hour hearing and a three-month landmark trial, the first for a Catholic church official accused of enabling child-sex abuse. It fell just short of the maximum term that Philadelphia prosecutors sought, but was far more severe than the probation or county jail term that Lynn’s lawyers had argued.

Lynn told the judge that he was sorry for his “failings” during the 12 years he was in charge of managing priests’ assignments and investigating clergy-sex abuse claims for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He repeated his claim that he did his best as clergy secretary,
“But the fact is, my best was not good enough – and for that I’m truly sorry,” he said.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
AlterNet

The highest-ranking US church official to be convicted of covering up child sex allegations, Philadelphia monsignor William Lynn, was sentenced to three to six years in prison on Tuesday.

William Lynn, who was secretary of the archdiocese from 1994 to 2001 and tasked with investigating abuse claims, was found guilty last month of one count of child endangerment.

Lawyers had pushed for Lynn to be spared prison, but Judge Teresa Sarmina imposed close to the maximum sentence of three and a half to seven years.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Daily Telegraph (Australia)

AFP
July 25, 2012

The highest-ranking US church official to be convicted of covering up child sex allegations, Philadelphia monsignor William Lynn, was sentenced to three to six years in prison on Tuesday.

William Lynn, who was secretary of the archdiocese from 1994 to 2001 and tasked with investigating abuse claims, was found guilty last month of one count of child endangerment.

Lawyers had pushed for Lynn to be spared prison, but Judge Teresa Sarmina imposed close to the maximum sentence of three and a half to seven years.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Prensa Latina

Washington, Jul 24 (Prensa Latina) Philadelphia”s Attorney”s Office confirmed today that Monsignor William Lynn will be convicted of being responsible for the Church”s greatest sex scandal in the United States or, even, in America.

Lynn, 61, faces up to seven years in prison for covering up child abuse committed by colleagues under his supervision between 1992 and 2004.

District judge Seth Williams wrote in the pre-sentence that the defendant should have been understood that the protection to U.S. child and the prestige of the ecclesiastical church were his jobs’ main task.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Washington Post

Pa. monsignor who became 1st US church official branded felon for sex cover-up gets 3-6 years

By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, July 24

PHILADELPHIA — A Roman Catholic monsignor who became the first U.S. church official branded a felon for covering up sex abuse claims against priests was sentenced Tuesday to three to six years in prison by a judge who said he “enabled monsters in clerical garb … to destroy the souls of children.”

Monsignor William Lynn, the former secretary for clergy at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, “helped many but also failed many in his 36-year church career,” Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said.

Lynn, who handled priest assignments and child sexual assault complaints from 1992 to 2004, was convicted last month of felony child endangerment for his oversight of now-defrocked priest Edward Avery, who is serving a 2½- to five-year sentence after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting an altar boy in church.

The monsignor said Tuesday: “I did not intend any harm to come to (Avery’s victim). My best was not good enough to stop that harm.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
ABA Journal

Posted Jul 24, 2012
By Debra Cassens Weiss

The first senior Roman Catholic official in the United States convicted for covering up sexual abuse by a priest has been sentenced to three to six years in prison.

Msgr. William Lynn of the Philadelphia Archdiocese was convicted last month on one count of child endangerment and acquitted on two other charges. The sentence imposed today was just below the maximum, the New York Times reports. Lynn’s lawyers had sought probation, according to the Associated Press.

Judge M. Teresa Sarmina told Lynn he enabled “monsters in clerical garb … to destroy the souls of children, to whom you turned a hard heart.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Reuters

By Dave Warner

PHILADELPHIA | Tue Jul 24, 2012

(Reuters) – Monsignor William Lynn, the most senior clergyman convicted in the U.S. Roman Catholic Church scandal, was sentenced on Tuesday to three to six years in prison for covering up child sex abuse by priests in Philadelphia.

Judge M. Teresa Sarmina told Lynn, 61, the former secretary of the clergy for the Philadelphia Archdiocese, that he protected “monsters in clerical garb who molested children.”

Lynn had faced up to seven years behind bars for his conviction on a single count of child endangerment.

Lynn, who oversaw the work of 800 priests, was convicted of covering up sex-abuse allegations, often by transferring predatory priests to unsuspecting parishes.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Daily Record

Posted: 12:01 pm Tue, July 24, 2012
By Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — A Roman Catholic monsignor who became the first U.S. church official branded a felon for covering up sex abuse claims against priests was sentenced Tuesday to three to six years in prison.

Monsignor William Lynn of Philadelphia, the former secretary for clergy at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, handled priest assignments and child sexual assault complaints from 1992 to 2004.

Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said Lynn enabled “monsters in clerical garb … to destroy the souls of children, to whom you turned a hard heart.”

She added: “You knew full well what was right, Monsignor Lynn, but you chose wrong.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Irish Examiner

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

A Roman Catholic monsignor who covered up sex abuse claims against priests in the US has been jailed for three to six years.

Lynn was the former secretary for clergy at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Lynn handled priest assignments and child sexual assault complaints from 1992 to 2004.

A jury convicted him last month of child endangerment for his oversight of now-defrocked priest Edward Avery, who is serving up to five years in prison.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Joelle Casteix on July 24, 2012

We are grateful that Msgr. Lynn was not able to escape with the minimum sentence for his years of concealing heinous crimes against children. But cover ups would be better deterred had he gotten the maximum penalty, and justice would have been better served.

Considering all the kids whose innocence was shattered (or, in some whose lives were lost to suicide), we believe that Msgr. Lynn deserved the harshest punishment.

Still, this sentence sends a powerful message: cover-up child sex crimes and you’ll go to jail. Not house arrest. Not community service. Not a fine. You’ll be locked up.

It says, loud and clear, that child sex crimes are taken extremely seriously, and will be punished as such.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Capital Public Radio

By Eyder Peralta

During sentencing the judge said William Lynn had enabled “monsters in clerical garb” to abuse children.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Monsignor William Lynn, who became the first Catholic leader convicted in the church sex abuse scandal, was sentenced to three to six years in prison.

The AP reports:

“The former secretary for clergy at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, handled priest assignments and child sexual assault complaints from 1992 to 2004.

“Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said Lynn enabled ‘monsters in clerical garb … to destroy the souls of children, to whom you turned a hard heart.’

“She added: ‘You knew full well what was right, Monsignor Lynn, but you chose wrong.'”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Duluth News Tribune

By: Maryclaire Dale, Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — A Roman Catholic monsignor who became the first U.S. church official branded a felon for covering up sex-abuse claims against priests has been sentenced in Philadelphia to three to six years in prison.

Monsignor William Lynn was sentenced today. He was the former secretary for clergy at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Lynn handled priest assignments and child sexual assault complaints from 1992 to 2004. A jury convicted him last month of felony child endangerment for his oversight of now-defrocked priest Edward Avery, who is serving a 2½- to five-year sentence.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Wall Street Journal

By PETER LOFTUS

PHILADELPHIA—A Roman Catholic monsignor was sentenced Tuesday to as many as six years in prison for allowing a priest suspected of sexual misconduct with a minor to have continued contact with children.

A jury last month found Monsignor William Lynn guilty of child endangerment. The verdict marked the first time a senior U.S. church official was convicted of a criminal charge related to allegations of covering up sexual abuse of minors by other priests. Msgr. Lynn, 61, served as secretary for clergy in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004, a job that included investigating abuse allegations lodged against priests in the diocese.

Monsignor William Lynn, shown in June, was sentenced to six years in prison for allowing a priest suspected of sexual misconduct with a minor to have continued contact with children.

Msgr. Lynn’s three- to six-year prison sentence is another milestone in a sex-abuse scandal that has shaken the Church in the U.S. and elsewhere for the past decade. Victims’ groups heralded his conviction as an opening for law-enforcement officials in other cities to look anew at whether other high-ranking church officials could be held criminally liable for looking the other way when priests under their charge were accused of abuse.

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CANADA
Ken Hills

In response to “priest dumping” case troubling, July 23 editorial When Karla Homolka made a deal with the Crown Attorney, in which she agreed to testify against Paul Bernardo, she literally got away with murder. It was after this agreement, termed the deal with the devil, that the incriminating videos, which clearly showed her involvement in her sister’s death, were found in the ceiling structure of that house of horrors. Now we learn that the defense attorney for Rev. Jose Silva, and the Hamilton-based Crown attorney’s office, struck yet another clandestine deal that allows Silva to return to his native Brazil where he is now in therapy, his status as a Catholic priest on hold. When I once asked a criminal lawyer, a member of our family, how he could in conscience defend someone whom he knew was guilty, his answer was clear. His job, he told me, was to offer the best defense possible within the law. And if he was successful in having his obviously guilty client walk free, then it was up to legislators to change the law.

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WEST VIRGINIA
Herald-Star

July 24, 2012

By JENNIFER COMPSTON-STROUGH – Special to the Herald-Star , The Intelligencer

WHEELING – Two men who were among a group of teens that accompanied then-Rev. Michael J. Bransfield to a Pennsylvania farm in the late 1970s to visit another priest told a Philadelphia newspaper this week that Bransfield did nothing inappropriate during their time together.

The men, Ronald Rock and Timothy Love, gave statements to the Philadelphia Inquirer that contradict claims made in a Philadelphia courtroom earlier this year.

During what has been called the “landmark” clergy-sex abuse case, a witness testified that a former defrocked priest who was not on trial, Stanley Gana, told him that Bransfield was having a relationship with one of the boys in the group that visited the farm. The witness, Mark Berkery, who told investigators that Gana had abused him for years, claims that Gana called the group Bransfield’s “fair-haired boys.”

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DEUTSCHLAND
Welt

Scharbeutz (dapd). Nach gut sechs Wochen hat der Vorsitzende des Opferverbandes NetzwerkB, Norbert Denef, seinen Hungerstreik beendet. Die Entscheidung sei nach Rücksprache mit Unterstützern, die sich seiner Aktion angeschlossen hatten, und den Ärzten gefallen, teilte der 63-Jährige am Dienstag im schleswig-holsteinischen Scharbeutz (Kreis Ostholstein) mit. Er hatte sich seit dem 8. Juni nur noch von Tee, Wasser, Gemüsewasser und Limonensaft ernährt.

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DEUTSCHLAND
netzwerkB

netzwerkB Pressemitteilung 24. Juli 2012 (als PDF herunter laden)

46 Tage HUNGERSTREIK – Politik lässt Opfer lieber verhungern als sich für Opferschutz und Kinderschutz einzusetzen

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

MITCHELL NADIN
From:The Australian
July 25, 2012

THE priest known as Father F, the subject of a police investigation into child sex offences dating to the 1970s, is facing fresh allegations of abuse.

Mark Boughton, who was a student at the Catholic primary school in Moree in northern NSW during the late 1970s, last night told the ABC Father F – as he is known for legal reasons – forced him to perform oral sex numerous times when he was an 11-year-old altar boy.

Last week, NSW police established Strike Force Glenroe to investigate the alleged child abuse by Father F of several altar boys in parishes across the state.

Mr Boughton said Father F had abused him after gaining the trust of the boy’s parents. “I thought he was trying to do the right thing and draw the community closer to everyone,” he told the ABC’s 7.30 last night.

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