ABUSE TRACKER

A digest of links to media coverage of clergy abuse. For recent coverage listed in this blog, read the full article in the newspaper or other media source by clicking “Read original article.” For earlier coverage, click the title to read the original article.

September 13, 2012

IL- Bishop plans to reinstate priest, SNAP responds

JOLIET (IL)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Kate Botche on September 12, 2012

Today we learned that Bishop Daniel Conlon of Joliet plans to reinstate a priest to ministry who was removed in 2010 because of allegations of sexual misconduct. This is a shocking and dangerous move by Bishop Conlon. He is the man in charge of children’s safety for all of America’s bishops as head of the bishops committee on sexual abuse.

We are being told that Conlon is being forced to reinstate Fr. Lee Ryan by the Vatican. The victim was told that according to the code of Canon law at the time of the sexual assault the code did not have an age of consent. The victim was fourteen years old when the priest first abused him and it continued for two years.

We don’t know if Bishop Conlon is telling the truth and won’t know until he produces copies of his alleged correspondence with Vatican officials. Even if he is telling the truth, he has many options.

First, he could stand up for kids and against recklessness, telling Vatican officials he refuses to put Ryan back on the job. Second, he could have, at any point over the past few months, gone to every place Ryan worked and begged victims, witnesses, and whistleblowers to come forward – to secular authorities or church officials. Third, he could assign Ryan to prison ministry.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

We shouldn’t turn our backs on Protestant survivors of abuse

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

By Victoria White

Thursday, September 13, 2012

THE boy’s shoe laces were tied together.”

So I’d heard. More than 30 years ago, when I was at school in Dublin. One of my friends said it to me and I never forgot.

I hoped that it wasn’t true. And it’s still possible it wasn’t. However, now it’s been said to me twice I’m beginning to think it was, especially as the second person who said it to me was Colm Begley who was at the Westbank Children’s Home with my schoolmate when he was damaged for life by falling off a train.

Since I wrote in this newspaper about the boy who had this horrific accident on the way home from my school I have been contacted by people who remember him and Westbank Home in Greystones, Co. Wicklow, where he lived.

The detail about his shoelaces being tied together when he fell out of the train was a while coming. But it made me realise I had to write about this again. Because it isn’t over, not by a long shot.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Father John Blair investigated for possible sexual misconduct

ST. LOUIS (MO)
KSDK

[with video]

St. Louis (KSDK) – A local priest is under investigation by the Episcopal Diocese for possible sexual misconduct.

The Rev. John Blair works as a chaplain and supervisor at Christian Hospital Northeast but he also describes himself online as an artist.

His hobby is erotic photography of nude male and female models, some of which have been shown at St. Louis art shows.

“Sexual misconduct as its understood by the church has to do with a pastor relationship between a clergy person and a priest and somebody that’s in their pastoral care which makes this particular investigation somewhat difficult because there’s no indication that Father Blair had a past relationship with any of the people that he photographed,” said Daniel Smith, Canon to the Ordinary Diocese of Missouri.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Lawsuit: Diocese shouldn’t have kept Kelly

STOCKTON (CA)
The Record

September 13, 2012

STOCKTON – The attorneys for a 24-year-old former altar boy who says he was molested by removed Priest Michael Kelly say they want top officials of the Diocese of Stockton to be held accountable for Kelly’s sex crimes.

“Why did (Bishop Stephen Blaire) allow this man to continue to minister?” said John Manly of the Newport Beach-based Manly and Stewart law firm.

Manly announced that the firm has filed a civil lawsuit against the Diocese of Stockton on behalf of the former altar boy referred to in court documents as John CC Doe at a news conference Wednesday in front of San Joaquin County Superior Court.

Manly also represented Travis Trotter, who agreed to settle his child sex-abuse civil case against the diocese and Kelly for $3.75 million in April. Trotter said he was raped by Kelly as a student and altar boy at Cathedral of the Annunciation. He said a lawsuit was his only way of obtaining justice, since the statute of limitations prevented criminal proceedings.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

On Sex and Reformation in the Catholic Church

UNITED STATES
Catholica (Australia)

by A.W. Richard Sipe

In 2012 the Roman Catholic Church is in the throes of a Reformation. Cardinal Carlo Martini—a voice of reason in the Church—said, “Our culture is out of date, our churches are big and empty and the church bureaucracy rises up, our rituals and our cassocks are pompous.”

Human sexuality is the centerpiece of a conflict…

Human sexuality is the centerpiece of a scientific and doctrinal conflict analogous to the time when Copernican observations necessitated a shift of perspective about humanity, our relationship with each other and our place in the world. The crisis of bishops and priests sexually abusing children has led to an awareness of how desperately the church needs, in the words of Martini, “to admit its mistakes and begin a radical change, starting from the pope and the bishops.”

The Church is incorrect and wrong headed in its teachings on human sexuality. We can no longer defend and teach our children with a clear conscience that all sexual activity outside marriage is mortally sinful. Reasonable and sincere people cannot teach that masturbation, contraception, and sexual love outside marriage is intrinsically evil.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Priest won’t face perjury charge

CALIFORNIA
San Francisco Chronicle

Erin Allday

Updated 10:57 p.m., Wednesday, September 12, 2012

The Santa Clara County district attorney will not charge a priest for lying under oath during the assault trial of William Lynch, when the priest told a jury that he did not molest Lynch and his brother 30 years ago.

District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement Wednesday that he believes retired Catholic priest Jerold Lindner did lie during his brief testimony at the trial in July. But to charge Lindner with perjury, the district attorney’s office would have to prove that Lindner’s testimony was critical to the trial.

Since both the prosecution and the defense teams agreed that Lynch had been molested as a child, Lindner’s denial of the molestation was not a key element of the case, Rosen’s office said. A jury eventually found Lynch not guilty of felony assault and elder abuse and deadlocked on a count of misdemeanor assault.

“We believe that Lindner lied. However, perjury is not merely lying under oath,” Rosen said in a statement. “It is a highly technical criminal offense that requires several elements to be proved.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

While Dolan Prayed, His Church Preyed

UNITED STATES
Falls Church News-Press

By Wayne Besen Wednesday, September 12 2012

Last Thursday, Cardinal Timothy Dolan gave the closing prayer at the Democratic National Convention, offering a divisive sermon that touched on abortion and marriage equality.

“We ask your benediction on those waiting to be born, that they may be welcomed and protected.”

“Show us anew that happiness is found only in respecting the laws of nature and of nature’s God. Empower us with your grace so that we might resist the temptation to replace the moral law with idols of our own making, or to remake those institutions you have given us for the nurturing of life and community.”

While he prayed against my family and for the unborn, a Catholic leader in Kansas City, Bishop Robert W. Finn, was convicted of covering up the crimes of a pedophile priest, Rev. Shawn Ratigan, who liked to take nude pictures of the barely born. According to a detailed article by Laurie Goodstein in the New York Times:

In December 2010, Bishop Finn got some disturbing news: Father Ratigan had just tried to commit suicide by running his motorcycle in a closed garage. The day before, a computer technician had discovered sexually explicit photographs of young girls on Father Ratigan’s laptop, including one of a toddler with her diaper pulled away to expose her genitals.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Nyeri Catholic priest sued for upkeep of his teen ‘son’

KENYA
The Star

Thursday, 13 September 2012

BY MAUREEN MUDI

A Catholic priest has been charged in a children court with neglecting a 13-year-old son whom he is said to have sired.

Father Josephat Mweu Mwazia, the parish priest of St Joseph Allamno Mbiriri Social Centre, Nyeri, has been taken to the Tononoka Children’s court by Cecelia Mbiki, who claims the priest is the biological father of the boy.

Mbiki wants the court to compel the priest to accept that he is the father of the boy and to pay Sh35,000 per month for the upkeep of the child. She wants Sh5,000 for school fees, Sh10,000 for food,Sh8,000 for clothing, Sh5,000 for medical, entertainment Sh2,000 and transport Sh5,000.

Through her lawyer Oduor Okumu and Company Advocates, Mbiki says she has been providing for the class eight pupil alone since 1999 and now wants the priest to take responsibility.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Head of Jesuit school apologizes for abuse

SAN JOSE (CA)
UPI

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 12 (UPI) — The head of a Jesuit boys’ school in California has publicly apologized to a former student who says he was sexually molested there in the 1960s.

The Rev. Paul Sheridan of Bellarmine College Preparatory sent the letter by email to alumni, the San Jose Mercury News reported Wednesday. Sheridan named the alleged abuser, Brother William Farrington, and the accuser. …

David Clohessy, founder of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, suggested to the newspaper that Sheridan’s letter is more public relations than substance.

“They’re working harder to look better,” he said.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

NSW bishop turns down Greens invitation

AUSTRALIA
The Telegraph

AAP
September 13, 2012

A NSW bishop’s refusal to publicly debate the need for a royal commission into sex abuse by clergy shows the Catholic Church continues to hide from the issue, a Greens MP says.

Bishop William Wright, of the Maitland-Newcastle diocese, was invited by NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge to speak on the matter at a public forum in Newcastle on Sunday.

But in a statement, Father Barry Tunks, vicar-general of the diocese, said the invitation was declined as the question of a royal commission was a “party political” one the bishop had declined to canvass.

He said Bishop Wright had made it known that it was for the government to determine if any public inquiry would take place and what form it would take.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

New child sex claims made against ex-priest

CALIFORNIA
KTVU

SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, Calif. —

New child sex allegations have been made against a former California priest in a lawsuit filed just months after a jury found him liable for molesting an altar boy.

The latest case filed Tuesday in San Joaquin County claims Michael Kelly sexually abused a 12-year-old boy in the early 2000s when Kelly was a priest at St. Andrews Church in San Andreas.

The lawsuit alleges the boy had served as an altar boy when Kelly repeatedly came to his house unannounced and assaulted him. It seeks unspecified damages, stating the boy had attempted suicide after the abuse.

Five months ago, a civil jury found Kelly liable for the molestation of another altar boy when Kelly was a priest at Cathedral of Annunciation in Stockton in the 1980s. The Catholic Diocese of Stockton paid nearly $4 million as part of the suit.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

No perjury charges for Calif. priest’s testimony

CALIFORNIA
The Sacramento Bee

The Associated Press

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Prosecutors say they won’t be filing perjury charges against a retired priest who testified in the trial of a Northern California man charged with assaulting him.

The decision not to prosecute Jerold Lindner comes even though prosecutors say they believe Lindner lied under oath when he denied molesting boys in the July trial of William Lynch.

Lindner was testifying in the case against Lynch, who was accused of beating the priest for allegedly molesting him during a 1975 camping trip. Lynch was acquitted in the case.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Retired NSW priest faces more sex charges

AUSTRALIA
9 News

A retired Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting four children over two decades has been charged with three more offences that allegedly occurred 10 years earlier.

Finian James Egan, 77, has been charged with indecently assaulting a girl in Leichhardt, in Sydney’s inner west, on three occasions between 1961 and 1962, Downing Centre Local Court heard on Thursday.

Egan was charged in May this year with 17 sexual offences that allegedly occurred between 1972 and 1987 while he was serving as a priest in parishes in Sydney and on the NSW Central Coast.

He has not entered a plea to those charges, which relate to one boy and three girls.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Priest accused of abuse is returned to limited ministry

JOLIET (IL)
Chicago Tribune

By Manya A. Brachear, Chicago Tribune reporter

9:59 p.m. CDT, September 12, 2012
A Joliet-area priest removed from ministry over an allegation of sexual abuse has been reinstated because his alleged relationship with a teenager in the 1970s did not meet the criteria of a crime under church law at that time, according to the Joliet Diocese.

Starting this weekend, the Rev. F. Lee Ryan will minister to homebound parishioners of St. Edmund Catholic Church in Watseka, south of Kankakee, and St. Joseph Mission in Crescent City, the diocese said in a statement.

A spokesman for Joliet Bishop R. Daniel Conlon, who also serves as chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People for U.S. Catholic bishops, declined to say whether a local review board had substantiated the allegation, but he said the decision to reinstate Ryan had been difficult.

“He will not return to (full) ministry, but he is being permitted (a) very narrow ministry,” the statement said. “This was a very difficult decision. I believe it respects the law of the Church and protects children.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Church: Priest can return after abuse accusation

JOLIET (IL)
Southtown Star

JOLIET — The Joliet Diocese is allowing a priest accused of molesting a 14-year-old Joliet boy in the 1970s to return to a limited ministry.

In May 2010, after allegations of sexual abuse of a minor surfaced, the Rev. F. Lee Ryan was removed from his ministry at St. Edmund Parish in Watseka and St. Joseph Mission in Crescent City.

A spokesman for Bishop R. Daniel Conlon confirmed by email Wednesday that Ryan will be allowed “very narrow ministry” to homebound parishioners of St. Edmund Parish and St. Joseph Mission.

A written statement from Conlon said the determination was made after Catholic officials in Rome decided that, according to church law in place at the time of the abuse, Ryan did not commit a serious crime by the church’s standards and could not be permanently removed from ministry.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

New lawsuit filed against Stockton Diocese

CALIFORNIA
The Union Democrat

Written by Alexander MacLean, The Union Democrat

September 12, 2012

A new sexual-abuse lawsuit against a former Catholic priest who ministered in both Tuolumne and Calaveras counties was filed Tuesday in San Joaquin County Superior Court.

The lawsuit alleges Michael Kelly sexually abused a 12-year-old altar boy while head priest at St. Andrew’s Parish in San Andreas from 2000 to 2002.

The plaintiff, now 24, is identified only as “John CC Doe” to protect his privacy as a victim of childhood sexual abuse, according to the civil claim for damages.

The lawsuit names as defendants the diocese, St. Andrew’s Parish, Kelly, Bishop Stephen Blaire, Monsignor Richard Ryan, and 100 unnamed defendants.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Kelly criminal case still under investigation

CALIFORNIA
Lodi News-Sentinel

SAN ANDREAS — The Calaveras County District Attorney’s Office has yet to complete its investigation into allegations that former Lockeford priest Michael Kelly committed clergy sexual abuse against a 12-year-old boy more than a decade ago in San Andreas, according to a spokeswoman from the District Attorney’s office.

However, a civil lawsuit was filed Tuesday against Kelly, St. Andrew Parish in San Andreas, Stockton Diocese Bishop Stephen Blaire and diocese Monsignor Richard Ryan.

Attorney Paul Balestracci, who represents the diocese, said he had just received a copy of the lawsuit Wednesday afternoon and hadn’t had time to read it. The suit was filed in San Joaquin County because the diocese office is located in Stockton.

— Ross Farrow

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

September 12, 2012

Civil case filed against Irish ex-priest for sexual abuse in US

CALIFORNIA
Irish Times

GENEVIEVE CARBERY

A FORMER altar boy has filed a civil case in the US against an Irish priest who, he claims, sexually abused him as a child in California.

The Californian man (24) claims that he was sexually abused and harassed by the now-defrocked Tipperary native Michael Kelly in the early 2000s from the age of 12.

Last April Michael Kelly was removed from ministry by the Californian Diocese of Stockton after a civil jury found against him in a separate civil case alleging sexual abuse in the 1980s.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Only 1 week left for residential school students to file claims

CANADA
CBC News

There’s only one week left for survivors of Indian residential schools to file abuse claims with the federal government — and the offices receiving the claims have been extra busy.

“We expected the applications to increase in the last couple of months … and that has happened,” said Daniel Ish, Canada’s chief adjudictor for abuse claims. “In the month of August, there were over 1,500 applications.”

The five-year period to apply for compensation expires on Sept.19.

Anybody who hasn’t already done so, should get their forms in the mail as soon as possible, Ish said.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Episcopal diocese investigating priest who takes erotic photos

ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

BY TIM TOWNSEND • ttownsend@post-dispatch.com > 314-340-8221

An Episcopal priest who works as a chaplain and supervisor at Christian Hospital in unincorporated St. Louis County is under investigation by the Episcopal Diocoese of Missouri for possible sexual misconduct.

The Rev. John Blair is the BJC hospital’s manager of spiritual care and its clinical pastoral education supervisor.

The diocese began an investigation Tuesday after receiving an anonymous letter complaining about Blair’s ministry, and after the Post-Dispatch called the diocese to ask about a similar letter the newspaper received complaining about Blair’s erotic photography.

Bret Berigan, a spokesperson for Christian Hospital, said only that the matter is “being followed up on internally as appropriate.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Santa Clara Co. prosecutors decline perjury charges against former priest in Will Lynch case

CALIFORNIA
Contra Costa Times

By Tracey Kaplan and Robert Salonga Mercury News contracostatimes.com
Posted: 09/12/2012

Santa Clara County prosecutors have declined to file perjury charges against a former Jesuit priest who denied molesting a boy who as an adult was acquitted of assaulting the ex-clergyman in retaliation.

Jerold Lindner testified during Will Lynch’s trial that he did not molest Lynch as a child in 1975. Lynch said the molestation motivated him, years later, to confront Lindner at his Los Gatos retirement home and attack him.

District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement that while he believes that Lindner lied, the DA’s office was constrained by legal guidelines in its decision. He said his office consulted with Lynch before announcing the decision.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Jeff Rosen Won’t Charge Rev. Jerold Lindner With Perjury

CALIFORNIA
NBC Bay Area

By Lori Preuitt

Wednesday, Sep 12, 2012

Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen announced Wednesday his office will not charge former priest Jerold Lindner with perjury.

That is not the news Rev. Lindner’s victims, who claim he sexually abused them when they were children, wanted to hear.

One of the alleged victims, Will Lynch, went to trial for assaulting the former priest earlier this summer. He was acquitted even though he admitted to the attack.

It was during that trial that Lynch and others said Rev. Lindner committed perjury when he denied the molestation charges on the witness stand.

Lynch has spent weeks pressuring the DA to charge the former priest for lying when he said that.

Rosen said although he believes Rev. Lindner did lie, the charge of perjury is not just about lying under oath.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Voice of the Faithful to hold conference Friday, Saturday in Boston

BOSTON (MA)
Enterprise

BOSTON —

The Catholic Church reform movement Voice of the Faithful will hold a 10th-year conference in Boston this weekend.

Speakers will include Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke; John Morgan, chairman of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church Ireland; Boston College professor Thomas Groome; Brother Donald Cozzens, international commentator and lecturer on religious and cultural issues; David Clohessy, executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests; executive director; Jamie Manson, columnist for the National Catholic Reporter; and Brother James Connell, an advocate for clergy sexual abuse survivors.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Pedophile Priest Arrested at Pelican Hill Resort

CALIFORNIA
Patch

By OC Patch Staff

A former priest who was convicted of sexually abusing two boys was arrested at the Resort at Pelican Hill last month after authorities found him near a swimming pool, according to a report in OC Weekly.

Michael Stephen Baker, 64, was arrested on Aug. 17 and is currently being held in an Orange County jail cell, according to jail records from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department .

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

SNAP Protests Religious Brother in Los Gatos Accused of Sexual Molestation

CALIFORNIA
Patch

By Sheila Sanchez

Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests were walking around downtown Los Gatos at noon Wednesday alerting the community that Brother “Bill” William Farrington, who resides at the Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, has been named as a credible molester of children in Northern California.

Joey Piscitelli, Northern California director of SNAP, stood at the intersection of College Avenue and E. Main Street with fliers in his hand that read, “Protect your children. Accused sex offender Catholic priest!”

“We’re trying to alert the town of Los Gatos that there’s an alleged serial sexual predator that’s been roaming around unsupervised,” Piscitelli said, after Channel 4 had interviewed him about the recent outing of the former religious brother who’s been accused of sexual wrongdoing while working at Catholic schools.

Piscitelly said the Jesuit High School authorities in Carmichael and Los Gatos Jesuit Center officials released statements Tuesday to the public that’s he’s alleged to have molested children. At least one former Bellarmine College Preparatory student in San Jose and another at the Catholic school near Sacramento have come forward alleging Farrington molested them, Piscitelly said.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Jesuit in Bellarmine abuse case also accused of misconduct at Sacramento school

CALIFORNIA
Mercury News

By Mark Gomez and Tracey Kaplan Mercury News
contracostatimes.com
Posted: 09/12/2012

SAN JOSE — A Jesuit brother, accused of sexually molesting a student at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose more than 40 years ago, was also accused on two occasions of misconduct while working at a Sacramento-area Jesuit high school in the 1980s.

Following the accusations in 1987 at Jesuit High in Carmichael, Brother William Farrington was no longer allowed to work with minors, according to the Provincial of the California Jesuits. In an official statement, the Jesuits main office in California characterized the accusation made by the former Bellarmine student as “credible.”

Tuesday, the presidents of Bellarmine and Jesuit High School sent letters to alumni informing them of the allegation of sexual abuse against Farrington, who currently lives at the Sacred Heart Jesuit retirement center in Los Gatos. The allegation was first made by the former Bellarmine student in 2003 and stems from his time as a student at the elite boy’s school in the 1960s.

Farrington served as a teacher, counselor and swim coach at Jesuit high from 1976 to 1987, according to school spokesman Jordan Blair. Farrington’s time at Jesuit High ended in the spring of 1987 following two reports of misconduct, Blair said.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Fort Worth pastor arrested on sexual assault charge

FORT WORTH (TX)
Star-Telegram

By Domingo Ramirez Jr.
ramirez@star-telegram.com

A Fort Worth pastor has been arrested and faces a charge of sexual assault in a 2000 case in which he is accused of performing sexual acts on a then-18-year-old girl at a Crowley residence, according to Crowley police reports released Wednesday.

The female, now an adult, told Crowley police that she had kept quiet about the alleged assault until now because the pastor owned a gun and he told her that no one would believe her, the reports stated.

Crowley police identified the suspect as Darrell Wayne Blair, pastor of New Breed Christian Church in Fort Worth.

Blair, 43, of Waxahachie, surrendered to authorities on Monday and walked out of jail about an hour later after posting $25,000 bail.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Otro cura enjuiciado por abuso sexual

RIO GALLEGOS (ARGENTINA)
Diario Democracia [Junín, Argentina]

September 12, 2012

By Jorge Luis Calcagno

Read original article

Una vez más la sociedad argentina debe lamentarse e indignarse por un nuevo caso de

abuso sexual cometido por un sacerdote en contra de un entonces menor.

Los protagonistas del caso, que está siendo juzgado desde el 21 de Agosto de 2012 por

ante el Tribunal Oral en lo Criminal Nº 8, son el hoy mayor de 36 años Sebastián

Cuattromo y quien habría abusado de él, es el entonces hermano marianista

Fernando Enrique Picciochi. Han pasado veintidós años de los hechos hasta que ¡por

fin! pareciera llegar la justicia.

Hay que subrayar que, en el medio, Picciochi se fugó a los Estados Unidos donde, por

un hecho fortuito –estaba con documentos falsos—fue detenido y posteriormente

extraditado a nuestro país.

El juicio, tal cual lo destacaran casi todos los medios de prensa argentinos, está en

pleno desarrollo. Han declarado testigos de suma importancia para el fallo final,

entre ellos las profesionales que atendieron no sólo a Cuattromo sino a otros dos

entonces menores, también del Instituto Marianista e igualmente abusados, aunque

éstos últimos no hicieron la denuncia. Las mismas detallaron los perjuicios que

causaron los abusos a los damnificados y dieron detalles de importancia en sus

exposiciones.

Declararon, asimismo, el jerarca del Instituto Marianista, y el imputado, Fernando

Picciochi los que, increíblemente, entendieron –y así lo hicieron saber en sus

exposiciones—que el abuso cometido era solamente un supuesto “ juego

inapropiado”. Sobre el mismo, el Instituto Marianista tomó conocimiento en 1991 y

trató de que no se hiciera público el mismo, llegando a pretender arreglar una

indemnización para los damnificados.

Declaró también Enrique Jorge Martín, ex rector del Instituto Marianista, quien

aceptó el poder enorme que tenían en esos años los sacerdotes sobre los niños y sus

familias y la severa disciplina que impartían ellos a sus educandos.

Varias instituciones presentaron “Amicus curiae” en el juicio, que fueron aceptados

por el Tribunal. Entre ellos, y no queremos omitir citarlo, está el que interpuso el

Comité de Aplicación y Seguimiento de la Convención Internacional de los Derechos

del Niño.

Es probable que, esta semana el Tribunal dé a conocer su veredicto, teniendo en

cuenta que ya han finalizado las declaraciones testimoniales previstas y se dieron los

alegatos.

Mientras esperamos dicho fallo, queremos destacar dos puntos que son de

preocupación, diría yo, de toda la sociedad argentina: el primero de ellos es el

número alarmante de curas pedófilos en el mundo, en general, y en nuestro país en

particular. El segundo es la desconexión que, sobre el tema, pareciera existir entre la

opinión del Papa Benedicto XVI y la de la Iglesia Argentina.

En cuanto al primero de esos puntos, tenemos que lamentar, por ejemplo, los casos

de Ángel Tarcisio Acosta, condenado a 18 años de prisión por el delito de corrupción y

violación de menores; el sacerdote José Francisco Armendáriz, párroco de Palmira,

Mendoza dejó embarazada a una menor. El cura se negó a hacerse el examen de

histocompatibilidad, un Tribunal lo obligó a hacérselo y el resultado fue el 99.99% de

certeza y el tribunal ordenó al sacerdote a reconocer a la niña. El cura Walter Eduardo

Avanzini, filmado cuando en Córdoba intentaba corromper a un menor ofreciéndole

dinero a cambio de servicios sexuales. El obispo de Río Cuarto, ante la prueba

evidente, recluyó a Avanzini en una casa de retiros espirituales. Para no extendernos

demasiado, ya que la lista lamentablemente lo es, recordemos los casos más

conocidos: el del arzobispo de Santa Fe, Edgardo Storni, el del Obispo Macarrone de

Añatuya, Santiago del Estero, al del cura Pared que, condenado por corrupción de

menores murió de SIDA en la cárcel. Y desde luego, el del inefable cura Grassi –a

quien ya nos refiriéramos en una nota anterior—que sigue en libertad después de

haber sido condenado a 15 años de prisión por corrupción de menores, abuso sexual

agravado y amenazas coactivas.

Algo muy distinto a la actitud de la Iglesia Argentina, que traslada de lugares y hasta

defiende a los culpables, es la que expresa el Papa Benedicto XVI sobre el tema. Dice al

respecto, por ejemplo, en un reciente viaje a Estados Unidos: “…me resulta difícil

comprender cómo fue posible que sacerdotes traicionaran de tal manera su

misión…”; “…estoy profundamente avergonzado y haremos todo lo posible para que

esto no vuelva a ocurrir…”En Australia, el Papa reiteró su “vergüenza” y pidió que los

culpables “sean llevados a la justicia”.

No es comprensible, pues, que siendo clara y contundente la opinión pública del

Papa, la Iglesia de nuestro país no la siga, teniendo en cuenta que, además –y según

cifras de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de Estados Unidos—un total de 4.392

sacerdotes fueron acusados de pedofilia, alrededor de 14.000 niños y adolescentes

fueron abusados sexualmente en los últimos 40 años y ya ha costado más de dos mil

millones de dólares en indemnizaciones impuestas por la justicia.

Ya terminando esta nota nos llegan por los medios de comunicación las denuncias de

otro hecho de abuso y corrupción de menores cometido por un sacerdote. Esta vez el

aberrante episodio fue cometido entre 1984 y 1992 por el cura Justo Ilarroz en el

Seminario Menor de Paraná y, como es su costumbre, la Iglesia no hizo la denuncia

penal correspondiente a pesar de estar perfectamente al corriente de los hechos.

Habrían sido víctimas de los hechos alrededor de 50 niños. Sería hora que la Iglesia

argentina procediera como corresponde y lo indica el Papa Benedicto XVI .

¿Qué se está esperando?

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If the bishops want to lead, they must first listen

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Sep. 12, 2012
By Brian Cahill

Opinion

A friend who is a faithful Catholic and is at daily Mass once told me the Catholic hierarchy’s idea of communication and public relations seems to be purchasing thousands of gallons of kerosene to pour on the flames they themselves ignited.

The loss of credibility and moral authority of American bishops comes from the abuse scandal, the insensitive treatment of women and gays, and the emphasis on orthodoxy and authority. But the bishops also have been ineffective at public relations. There are many examples.

Cardinal Raymond Burke, head of the Vatican’s highest court, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, said the failure of “knowledge and application of canon law” was a “significant contribution” to the sex abuse scandal. He seems to be saying that if only those pedophile priests had paid more attention to their canon law class, they would have behaved themselves, and if all the delinquent bishops had just consulted their canon lawyers, they never would have covered up any of this.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan navigated his way through the national conventions, but commenting on President Barack Obama’s health care mandate, suggested that if contraception is available, perhaps prostitution services should be available for men with erectile dysfunction. Dolan also compared homosexuality to incest and reminded us that “we bishops are pastors, not politicians,” and reassured us that “it’s not that we hold fast, that we’re stubborn ideologues, no.” Dolan has trumpeted his friendship and admiration of vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, saying he “wants to see him in action.”

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Former Texas priest identified as Reno man arrested for fondling himself on airplane

UNITED STATES
Reno Register-Journal

Written by
Jaclyn O’Malley

The Reno man arrested in Denver for masturbating on a commercial air flight while viewing Internet pornography is a former priest from Texas, who was removed from his small parish there after he was accused of inappropriate behavior with a child, according to reports.

Daniel Michael Drinan was ordained in 1977 with the Eastern Province of Claretians and had served as a priest under the Austin (Texas) Diocese, according to the website BishopAccountability.org.

The Claretians headquarters in Chicago said Wednesday that Drinan is no longer a priest, and is no longer affiliated with their congregation. The headquarters referred further inquiries to a Claretians spokesperson, who did not immediately return a call Wednesday.

Austin Diocese communication director Christian Gonzalez did not immediately return a call Wednesday for comment.

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The Bishop Robert Finn saga

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Phyllis Zagano on Sep. 12, 2012 Just Catholic

One great mystery of Catholicism may be solved soon: how long does it take for something to get from Missouri to the pope’s desk?

While the best way to boost a bishop’s reputation is for The New York Times to call for his removal, the Bishop Robert Finn saga is clearly over the top. Only the most churchy of church types support his staying as bishop of Kansas City,-St. Joseph, Mo., where he was judged guilty of a misdemeanor in not reporting the very strange priest he had sent to a convent.

The good news is Finn got a bench trial — no testimony, no jury — sparing us all the agony of hearing yet again about a bishop who does not (or at least did not) “get it” about pederasty and its relatives. The bad news is despite detailed coverage in the National Catholic Reporter, some first-day-of-school articles in major media and that Times editorial, the story has faded. Finn remains in place.

So, how long will it take? Will anything happen?

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Perjury charges against Los Gatos priest being discussed

CALIFORNIA
KLIV

Matt Burrows Reporting

A group of alleged molestation victims of a retired Los Gatos priest are pushing to have perjury charges filed against him.

Santa Clara County prosecutors are meeting with advocates of the alleged victim group to discuss filing charges against Reverend Jerold Lindner, who testified in the July assault trial of William Lynch.

Lynch claimed he and his brother were molested as children by Lindner, and that he was trying to get the priest to confess when he attacked him at his retirement home in 2010.

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North Palm Beach priest accused of retail theft gets probation, ordered to pay restitution

FLORIDA
Palm Beach Post

By Jane Musgrave
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

WEST PALM BEACH —

A priest who in June left his job at St. Clare Catholic Church in North Palm Beach, pledging to prove he was innocent of shoplifting, this week was placed on probation for 18 months and ordered to pay $895 restitution to Neiman Marcus for the picture frame he stole from its Boca Raton store in December.

Rev. Giuseppe Savaia, 43, refused to confess but agreed that a guilty plea was in his best interest, said prosecutor Kirk Volker.

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Richard Oftedal withheld adjudication before placing Savaia on probation, ordering him to take a theft abatement course and to get psychological treatment.

He also barred Savaia from entering a Neiman Marcus store.

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New Vatican transparency guru brings unique pedigree

VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome

In the abstract, if one were to draw up the ideal profile of a financial expert the Vatican might enlist to help clean up its reputation as a magnet for scandal, the wish list might include the following four points:
•Someone with clear secular credentials as an advocate of transparency and a leader in the fight against money laundering;
•Someone who’s had experience helping a place with a shady past attain new respectability;
•Someone comfortable in a multi-lingual and multi-cultural environment;
•Someone who understands an idiosyncratic small state with a monarchical system of government.

Defined that way, there probably aren’t many people who would fit the bill, but the Vatican seems to have found one: a 40-year-old Swiss lawyer named René Brülhart, who for the past ten years has led anti-money laundering efforts in the tiny European principality of Liechtenstein.

Yesterday the Vatican announced that Brülhart has been hired as a consultant to help organize its response to a first-ever evaluation of the Vatican delivered in July by Moneyval, the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering agency.

That review found the Vatican “has come a long way in a very short time,” but also that serious problems remain. They include confusion about the powers of a new Financial Information Authority created by Pope Benedict XVI, and the lack of external regulation of the Vatican Bank.

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KC – Former KC priest now runs women’s shelter in NV

NEVADA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on September 11, 2012

A Kansas City Catholic priest who is being sued for raping a teenaged girl reportedly now runs a shelter for abused women and their families in his Nevada home. “For the sake of public safety,” clergy sex abuse victims are urging two bishops to stop him and warn others about him.

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are urging the bishops of Kansas City and Reno to “take simple, common sense prevention steps” to keep Fr. Thomas J. Cronin away from “innocent children and vulnerable adults.”

Fr. Cronin, a Kansas City native who was sent to Nevada about 15 years ago, is accused in an Oct. 2010 lawsuit of repeatedly raping a 17 year old girl in 1979 in western Missouri. That suit is still pending.

SNAP is contacting Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn and Reno Bishop Randolph Calvo, begging them to force Fr. Cronin to sever all ties to the shelter. And SNAP wants both bishops to use parish bulletins, church websites, and pulpit announcements to warn the public and parishioners about him.

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Priest accused of sexually abusing girl is head of Fernley women’s shelter

NEVADA
Reno Gazette-Journal

Written by
Brian Duggan

Thomas Cronin, a suspended Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing a 17-year-old girl in Missouri in 1979, is also the president of a Fernley-based women’s shelter called Rachel’s Sanctuary.

Three members of a victims advocacy group called the Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests gathered in front of the offices of the Catholic Diocese of Reno on Tuesday to call attention to Cronin’s involvement with the organization.

“We want to bring things to light and make the community more aware,” said Tim Lennon, a member of SNAP, adding the diocese in Reno should do more to make people aware of Cronin’s affiliation. “We think there could be more, there has to be more and we’re demanding more.”

Cronin was placed on suspension by the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City in October 2010 when a civil lawsuit was filed in Kansas City, Mo., accusing him of molesting and sexually assaulting the teenager at the Sacred Heart Parish in Hamilton, Mo., more than 30 years ago.

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New child sex allegations against ex-priest

STOCKTON (CA)
Monterey Herald

The Associated Press
Posted: 09/12/2012

STOCKTON, Calif.—There are new child sex allegations against a former California priest.
A San Joaquin County lawsuit filed on Tuesday says Michael Kelly sexually abused a 12-year-old boy in the 1980s when he was a priest at St. Andrews Church in San Andreas.

Five months ago, a Stockton civil jury found Kelly liable for the molestation of an altar boy when he was a priest at Cathedral of Annunciation in Stockton in the 1980s.

The Catholic Diocese of Stockton paid nearly $4 million to settle that suit.

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Daniel Drinan, busted for pleasuring himself on plane, a disgraced ex-priest

DENVER (CO)
Westword

By Michael Roberts
Wed., Sep. 12 2012

Former Catholic priest Daniel Drinan made headlines after being charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver for masturbating in view of other passengers on a plane — and they weren’t his first.

Even before this latest incident, Drinan, 63, had an entry on BishopAccountability.org, which describes itself as a “database of publicly accused priests in the United States.” Why?

Here’s the site’s Drinan narrative, sans additional information about the aircraft arrest:

Removed 5/02 after complaint of inappropriate behavior with a minor. Charged with misdemeanor assault not involving sexual contact or injuries to a child. Paid a fine but no jail time. Bishop refused to return him to ministry because of incident & because of other issues from the past discovered during investigation. Working in Reno NV in 2005 at treatment facility for paroled prisoners with addiction problems.

Accompanying this passage are links to articles from the Austin American-Statesman. An April 2002 report notes that Drinan, described as a “member of the Eastern Province of the Claretians” affiliated with Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Austin, had been accused of inappropriate conduct with a minor — news that left many members of his parish in tears. A July 2002 followup notes that the charges against Drinan had been changed to misdemeanor assault — an accusation that, as pointed out above, didn’t include a sexual component or claims of injury to the child in question. Nonetheless, he left the parish.

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Audit: 18 abuse allegations in a local diocese

IRELAND
Kilkenny People

Published on Wednesday 12 September 2012

THERE were 18 allegations of sexual abuse made against 10 priests in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin in the past 37 years.

THE diocese, which encompasses local towns such as Graignamanagh, Paulstown and Bagenalstown, is one of those recently audited by the National Board for Safeguarding Children.

Two of the priests against whom allegations were made are still alive.

One of those, Father Peter Cribben, was convicted of the abuse of a 14-year-old boy in 2009. The second priest was never charged.

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Vatican examines report on sex abuse allegations

SCOTLAND
Scotsman

Published on Wednesday 12 September 2012

A DETAILED report on child abuse allegations against a Scottish Catholic priest has been sent to the Vatican for a decision by the Church’s highest authorities.

Father Thomas Mullen, the priest at Our Lady of Lourdes in Dunfermline, was arrested in March last year by officers from Fife Constabulary in relation to allegations of child sex abuse dating back more than 30 years.

But earlier this year, the Crown Office decided to place the possible prosecution of the priest on hold, after Fiona Cameron, the procurator fiscal at Dunfermline, received a report from the Fife force.

A separate investigation into the allegations against the 
71-year-old priest by the Catholic Church in Scotland was then 
ordered by Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the head of the Church in Scotland.

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Dunfermline priest suspended amid Vatican probe into child abuse allegations

SCOTLAND
The Courier

The Scottish Catholic Church has asked the Vatican to look into claims dating back more than 30 years against Father Thomas Mullen, of Our Lady of Lourdes in Dunfermline.

A police investigation was launched and the priest was arrested after two people alleged they had been molested by him.

However, despite prosecutors deciding not to proceed with the case because too much time had passed between the alleged offences, the Catholic Church considers the claims so serious it is conducting its own investigation.

A spokesman for the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh told The Courier: ”Father Thomas Mullen was placed on administrative leave in 2011 while allegations against him were investigated by Fife Police.”

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State ‘failing’ Magdalene women as report delayed

IRELAND
Irish Times

PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent

SHOCK AND disappointment has followed the announcement yesterday that a report from the interdepartmental committee on Magdalene laundries will not now be available until later this year. It was due this month.

Minister for Justice Alan Shatter announced he had been advised by Senator Martin McAleese, chairman of the interdepartmental committee, that its final report “will be submitted before the end of the year at the latest”. The committee produced an interim report last October.

Mr McAleese had advised that the committee had made “excellent progress despite the considerable challenges faced”. However, “relevant records continue to be identified by Government departments and State agencies and the committee also continues to receive new submissions from representative and advocacy groups”.

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Bp Finn Must Go

KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

by Michael Sean Winters on Sep. 11, 2012 Distinctly Catholic

NCR is based in Kansas City, so I have been content to let me colleagues cover the story of Bishop Robert Finn, who was convicted of failing to report suspected child abuse last week. I was genuinely surprised when I got up Saturday morning, went to the Vatican website, clicked on “Rinunce e Nomine” and did not see Finn’s name. After all, Finn not only violated civil law, he violated canon law, which requires bishops to comply with all civil laws in cases regarding child sex abuse.

I wish to associate myself entirely with the editorial NCR published yesterday afternoon. What credibility the U.S. bishops have left on the issue of child sex abuse is diminished every day Finn stays on the job.

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Vatican Hires Rene Bruelhart, Liechtenstein Anti-Money Laundering Guru

VATICAN CITY
Huffington Post

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY, Sept 11 (Reuters) – The Vatican has hired Liechtenstein’s former top anti-money laundering expert to help the Holy See comply fully with international standards on financial transparency.

Rene Bruelhart, 40, a Swiss lawyer, has been appointed as a consultant on “all matters related to anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism,” a statement said on Tuesday.

The Vatican said Bruelhart was hired as part of its “clear commitment” to respond to recommendations of a report by Moneyval, a department of the Council of Europe, which was made public on July 18.

Bruelhart, from Fribourg, was for eight years the director of Liechtenstein’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the department which gathers and analyses information used by police to combat money laundering, organised crime and the financing of terrorism.

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Worcester diocese must obey state’s fair housing laws

WORCESTER (MA)
Boston Globe

[House of Affirmation – BishopAccountability.org]

Editorial

September 12, 2012

There are no exemptions to fair housing laws for religious organizations in Massachusetts, nor should there be. So when the Diocese of Worcester terminated a real estate negotiation with a gay couple, apparently out of fear that a former church property might eventually be used for gay weddings, the diocese was on the wrong side of the law.

Defenders say the diocese should be able to prevent former church properties from being used for purposes of which the diocese disapproves. And in certain situations, such as turning former church buildings into bars, the diocese may be able to exercise its discretion as a property seller without trampling on anyone’s rights. But it can’t in the case at hand.

The couple seeking to buy the the church-owned Oakhurst mansion in Northbridge said they never even raised the issue of gay marriage during the negotiation. They hoped to turn the estate house into an inn. The diocese, in turn, indicated that its concerns extended only to the buyers’ financial viability. But an inadvertently distributed e-mail from Monsignor Thomas Sullivan, chancellor of the diocese, cited a conversation with the bishop about the “potentiality of gay marriages’’ at the future inn as a reason not to go forward with the negotiation.

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Alleged child molestation victims urge perjury prosecution against Los Gatos priest

CALIFORNIA
Marin Independent Journal

By Tracey Kaplan
tkaplan@mercurynews.com
mercurynews.com

The feds couldn’t get gangster Al Capone for murder, so they went after him on tax evasion. The infamous and brutal crime boss did eight years for the lesser charge, emerging from Alcatraz a broken man.

Now, a group of adults who claim they were sexually assaulted as children by the Rev. Jerold Lindner are hoping prosecutors will go after the 68-year-old Los Gatos priest — the best legal way they can. The deadline to prosecute the cleric for child molestation has long since passed, but Lindner’s alleged victims want Santa Clara County prosecutors to file perjury charges against the cleric for allegedly lying under oath in a recent trial.

At District Attorney Jeff Rosen’s invitation, two of the advocates are meeting with prosecutors Wednesday afternoon to discuss the explosive issue. Attending the meeting will be defense attorney Pat Harris and his client, Will Lynch, the San Francisco man who admitted beating up Lindner in 2010 at a Jesuit retirement home but was acquitted in July for the assault by a sympathetic jury.

Lynch says Lindner raped him when he was 7 and also molested his 4-year-old brother at the same time. The Jesuits paid the brothers $187,000 each after legal fees to settle their lawsuit. But Lindner briefly took the stand during Lynch’s assault trial and denied the molestation charges before refusing to answer any other questions.

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San Jose: Bellarmine says accusation of abuse by Jesuit in late 1960s is ‘credible’

SAN JOSE (CA)
Mercury-Register

By Mark Gomez and Joe Rodriguez
mgomez@mercurynews.commercurynews.com

Posted: 09/11/2012

In a remarkably open letter to alumni, the head of an elite school for boys in San Jose apologized to a graduate of the school who claims he was sexually molested on campus by a Jesuit brother four decades ago.

“There is nothing that we take more seriously than the protection of our students,” wrote the Rev. Paul Sheridan, president of Bellarmine College Preparatory. In an email to hundreds of graduates he called the victim’s story “credible.” Sheridan said he was alerting graduates due to “the responsibility of transparency initiated by my predecessors.”

His letter was followed by an official statement from the Jesuits main office in California. “We desire to further the healing of anyone harmed by a Jesuit of this Province.”

Both Sheridan’s letter and the religious orders statement name the victim and the alleged molester — Brother William Farrington, who supervised the students living on campus from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s. The molestation apparently did not come to light until recently when the former student decided to come forward. Farrington was removed from Bellarmine following a different allegation, although the school did not disclose when that complaint was made.

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New sexual-abuse charges against priest Michael Kelly

CALIFORNIA
Modesto Bee

Bee Staff Reports
local@modbee.com

SAN ANDREAS — Michael Kelly, a priest found guilty in April of molesting a student at Cathedral of the Annunciation School in Stockton in the 1980s, faces new sexual abuse allegations from his time in Calaveras County.

A civil action against Kelly, the Diocese of Stockton, Bishop Stephen Blaire and Monsignor Richard Ryan was filed Tuesday in San Joaquin County.

The accuser says Kelly sexually abused him as a child in the early 2000s at St. Andrew’s Church in San Andreas.

Vince Finaldi, an attorney for the plaintiff, said in a news release, “Father Michael Kelly was known by the Diocese of Stockton to have allegations of sexual misconduct with minors lodged against him in the past. They ignored their statutory duty to report his crimes to law enforcement and placed him in a position of trust and authority as pastor of St. Andrew Parish. There he used his position to sexually assault my client, who was 12 years old at the time of his abuse.”

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Priest facing sex attack allegation

UNITED KINGDOM
Yorkshire Evening Post

A Roman Catholic priest from Castleford has been charged with sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl.

Father William Finnegan, of Acacia Close, Castleford, has appeared before Keighley and Bradford Magistrates Court to face a charge of sexual assault.

The 59-year-old parish priest at St Clare’s RC Church in Fagley, Bradford, was arrested in April this year in connection with the allegation and was bailed for further police inquiries.

Finnegan, who denies the charge, is currentlty on conditional bail and is due to appear before Keighley and Bradford Magistrates Court on October 26.

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Lawyers call for royal commission into child abuse

AUSTRALIA
The New Lawyer

A legal professional body has called for a royal commission into child sexual abuse in religious institutions.

The Australian Lawyers Alliance deman comes after Anglican Bishop Brian Farran supported an open inquiry.

Newcastle Anglican Bishop, Farran, publicly announced the defrocking of three senior priests following several sexual allegations.

He also banned another priest from the ministry for five years as well as a former church worker in a lay position.

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Stockton diocese hit again with abuse allegation

STOCKTON (CA)
The Record

By Jennie Rodriguez-Moore
Record Staff Writer

September 12, 2012

STOCKTON – A 24-year-old man has filed a lawsuit against the Diocese of Stockton alleging that, when he was an altar boy, he was sexually abused by former priest Michael Kelly.

The plaintiff, identified in court documents as John CC Doe, said he was molested by Kelly in the early 2000s when he was 12 years old.

He served as an altar boy at St. Andrew’s Parish in San Andreas.

The suit comes five months after the diocese settled another lawsuit naming Kelly as the abuser for $3.75 million.

Church leaders settled the case with former Cathedral of the Annunciation altar boy Travis Trotter weeks into trial after Kelly suddenly departed to Ireland two days before he was scheduled to testify a second time.

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September 11, 2012

Jesuit Alerts Alumni After Sexual Allegation Against Former Teacher, Coach

CALIFORNIA
CBS Sacramento

CARMICHAEL (CBS13) – A former teacher, coach, and counselor at Jesuit High School has been accused of inappropriate conduct with a student. The allegation dates back to the 1960s.

The private all-boys Catholic high school has sent a letter to alumni. They want anyone who may have been harmed by Brother William Farrington to contact either the school or police.

It’s an allegation that’s more than 40 years old. A former student at Bellarmine Prep in San Jose claims Farrington sexually abused him in the late 1960s. Farrington went on to spend 11 years on the faculty at Jesuit.

“If someone is guilty of this 40 years later, they should still be held accountable, absolutely,” parent Julie Whitney said.

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Bellarmine acknowledges abuse accusation as credible

SAN JOSE (CA)
KGO

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) — Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose Tuesday acknowledged a credible accusation of sexual abuse against a student by a Jesuit four decades ago.

Bellarmine has released a letter it has sent to alumni about the alleged incident, which took place in the 1960s. In the letter, President Paul Sheridan says he has met with the former student, who boarded at the school, to apologize and express support for him. It also encourages other who may have been abused to seek a path to healing.

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San Jose: Bellarmine says accusation of abuse by Jesuit in late 1960s is ‘credible’

SAN JOSE (CA)
Mercury News

By Mark Gomez and Joe Rodriguez
mgomez@mercurynews.commercurynews.com

By Mark Gomez and Joe Rodriguez

A Roman Catholic religious order openly and very publicly apologized to a graduate of one of its elite schools for boys in San Jose who claims he was sexually molested on campus by a Jesuit brother four decades ago.

“We desire to further the healing of anyone harmed by a Jesuit of this Province,” the religious order wrote in a statement sent out to hundreds of graduates of the school, going back decades. The statement named both the alleged victim and molester.

The Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, run Bellarmine College Preparatory, where the abuse allegedly happened during the late 1960s. The event apparently did not come to light until recently when the former student decided to come forward.

In two unusually frank letters to Bellarmine alumni, Jesuit officials named the victim and his alleged molester, Brother William Farrington, who supervised students living on campus during the mid-1960s to 1970s.

Farrington could not be reached for comment. He apparently lives at the Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos. The Mercury News does not normally name victims of sexual abuse without their permission. The former student could not be reached in time for this report.

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Kansas City bishop’s guilty verdict raises national questions

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Sep. 11, 2012

By Joshua J. McElwee

The conviction last week of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., Bishop Robert Finn for failing to report suspected child abuse indicates that “clearly there is a problem” with how the procedures adopted by the U.S. church to protect children are being used, a key adviser to the U.S. bishops on the issue said Monday.

Central to that problem, said Al Notzon III, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ National Review Board for clergy sex abuse, is the question of accountability for bishops who do not comply with the norms and conditions the body of bishops agreed to 10 years ago. The procedures are spelled out in the U.S. bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.

One of Notzon’s predecessors on the review board, Judge Michael Merz, called the Finn case “a serious embarrassment to the church.”

“How can you continue to preach that the charter is effective if, in fact, these types of things continue to happen?” Merz asked.

Notzon told NCR on Monday he planned to bring up the problem with the full review board, then make recommendations to the U.S. bishops.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

1968 Bellermine Grad Accuses Jesuit Brother of Abuse

SAN JOSE (CA)
NBC Bay Area

[with copy of a letter sent to alumni]

By Kris Sanchez

Tuesday, Sep 11, 2012

Bellarmine College Preparatory school in San Jose is in the news today for something that allegedly happened in the 1960s.

A student who graduated from Bellarmine in 1968 says he was sexually abused by a Jesuit Brother during his high school years. A brother is a full member of the religious community, but they are not ordained.

Bellarmine was a boarding school in the 60s and the Jesuit Brother being accused of the abuse supervised the students who lived on campus.

The former student told the California Province of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuit group that oversees Bellarmine, that he is talking about what happened in hopes it would help other possible victims to come forward.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Report: Former priest violates probation at Resort at Pelican Hill

CALIFORNIA
Daily Pilot

A priest convicted of abusing two boys he met in the 1980s remains in Orange County jail after he was arrested for violating his probation at the Resort at Pelican Hill, according to OC Weekly and jail records.

In 2007, Michael Stephen Baker, 64, pleaded guilty to 12 felony counts of oral copulation with a person under 18 in a Los Angeles Superior Court, OC Weekly reports.

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Man Popped for Porn, Exposing Himself on Flight a Former Priest

DENVER (CO)
AVN

By AVN Staff

Sep 11th, 2012

DENVER—A 63-year-old Reno, Nevada man named Daniel Michael Drinan was arrested Saturday night at Denver International Airport for “lewd, indecent, or obscene acts in public aboard an aircraft,” according to a release issued by the Denver Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. A follow-up article published Tuesday in the Denver Post identified Drinan as a former Catholic priest who was disciplined in 2002 for alleged improper contact with a minor.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, “Drinan was on Southwest Flight 1998 en route from Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) to Denver International Airport (DEN) when he allegedly sexually touched himself in full view of other passengers,” Following the issuance of the criminal complaint, which was obtained by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office Monday morning, Drinan was scheduled to appear during the afternoon in U.S. District Court in Denver.

The release contained the following allegations: “According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Drinan was aboard a Southwest Airlines flight. Southwest offers WiFi Internet service to customers for a fee. Drinan connected his laptop computer to the airline’s WiFi service and began to view pornography. One person in a nearby seat noticed the defendant touching himself to the pornography. She waited, hoping he would stop, but ultimately had to alert a flight attendant. That flight attendant contacted a male flight attendant who asked Drinan to ‘put his pants back together.’ At the time the male flight attendant talked with Drinan, the defendant’s genitalia was totally exposed. Investigators were told that at some points during the conduct that Drinan was trying to use his laptop to conceal his behavior.” …

Morality in Media wasted no time in mentioning the Drinan affair, noting in an Action Alert sent out Tuesday by CEO and President Pat Trueman, “Ironically, it’s another flight out of BWI in Baltimore. A man was arrested for viewing pornography on the plane’s Wi-Fi network and touching himself in full view of other passengers. We are contacting Southwest regarding putting anti-porn filters on the Internet they provide in-flight. We will tell you in a later email what repines we get from Southwest.”

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Crowley PD arrests Fort Worth pastor

FORT WORTH (TX)
Crowley Star

Posted: 09/11/2012

Darrell Wayne Blair, pastor at New Breed Christian Center in Fort Worth, was arrested Monday and booked into the Crowley Jail, on charges of sexual assault.

According to a Crowley Police report, a warrant was issued for his arrest Monday morning and around 4 p.m. Monday afternoon Blair, joined by his attorney, voluntarily turned himself into police where he was arrested and booked into jail.

He immediately posted bond and was released.

According the the police report, one of the alleged incidents took place in May 2000 at a residence in Crowley.

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US bishops’ point man on sex abuse addresses Kansas City case

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Sep. 11, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee

In the wake of the first conviction of a Catholic bishop in the decades-long clergy sex abuse crisis, bishops throughout the country have to recognize they are accountable to their own people for their actions to protect children, the bishop who heads the U.S. bishops’ committee tasked with advising their national conference on sexual abuse said Tuesday.

Bishops also have to be “firm” in applying the procedures that the body of bishops adopted 10 years ago to prevent child abuse, said Joliet, Ill., Bishop R. Daniel Conlon, the chair of the U.S. bishops’ committee for the protection of children and young people.

Conlon spoke to NCR by phone from the sidelines of a meeting of the U.S. bishops’ administrative committee. He addressed last week’s conviction of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., Bishop Robert Finn for failing to report suspected child abuse.

In a non-jury trial Sept. 6, Finn was found guilty of one count of failing to report suspected child abuse, a misdemeanor in the state of Missouri, making him the first sitting U.S. bishop to be convicted of a crime stemming in the decades long sex abuse scandal.

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Arizona judge nixes Gallup Diocese’s limit of witnesses, discovery

NEW MEXICO/ARIZONA
Gallup Independent

Published in the Gallup Independent, Gallup, N.M., Sept. 8, 2012

‘Route 66’ clergy abuse

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Independent correspondent

FLAGSTAFF — An Arizona judge has ruled against the Diocese of Gallup on two important issues in the “Route 66” priest sex abuse lawsuit the diocese is fighting in a Flagstaff courtroom.

On Aug. 31, Coconino County Superior Court Judge Mark R. Moran denied two requests by attorneys for the Gallup Diocese that would have severely limited the plaintiff’s attorney from obtaining discovery information about sexual abuse that has occurred in the diocese, limited witnesses the plaintiff’s attorney could interview in depositions, and limited the scope of those deposition interviews.

The lawsuit was filed two years ago by Phoenix attorney Robert E. Pastor on behalf of a man in his early 70s who claims he was sexually abused as a child when he served as an altar boy for the Rev. Clement Hageman in Holbrook, Ariz. The plaintiff claims he repressed memories of the abuse for decades until a 2007 trip through Gallup triggered the memories. Although the diocese has stipulated Hageman “more probably than not” sexually abused the plaintiff in 1952 as claimed, the lawsuit is centered around the plaintiff’s argument that Arizona’s statute of limitations for civil claims should be tolled — legally suspended — because the Gallup Diocese fraudulently concealed information about Hageman’s sexual abuse for more than 60 years.

In April, diocesan attorney Keith Ricker requested a protective order from the court barring discovery of post-1952 information about sexual abuse in the diocese, barring discovery of what the diocese “knew or allegedly should have known” about post-1952 sexual abuse, and barring discovery of information about the diocese’s post-1952 “policies and procedures for addressing claims of clergy sexual misconduct.” In addition, Ricker requested the court limit who Pastor could interview in depositions and the scope of those deposition interviews.

Trying to prevent the discovery of post-1952 clergy abuse information was an important piece of the diocese’s legal defense strategy. No one who worked in the diocese in 1952 is still alive to testify about that time period. And although the plaintiff was sexually abused by Hageman in 1952, evidence from the diocese’s personnel file on Hageman and allegations by other abuse victims indicate the priest continued to abuse children in rural Catholic parishes in Arizona for 23 more years — up until his death in Winslow in 1975.

At least 18 other Gallup priests have been publicly accused of sexually abusing minors since Hageman abused the plaintiff in 1952.

In his ruling, Moran dismantled the diocese’s argument that post-1952 information about Hageman and other sexually abusive clergy in the Gallup Diocese was not relevant to the plaintiff’s claims.

Citing a number of the plaintiff’s allegations, Moran wrote: “All of these allegations are directly relevant to the Plaintiff’s burden to prove that the Defendant acted with an evil mind in its policies, procedures, and employment of Father Hageman. These factors are no less relevant on the issue of punitive damages because they occurred after the abuse of the Plaintiff. If anything, they become more relevant to demonstrate that even with actual knowledge that Father Hageman was abusing boys, the Defendant continued to allow him to serve in the church, and continued to cover up his abuse to prevent harm to the church.”

Moran added these factors “go directly to support the Plaintiff’s claims for punitive damages and fraudulent concealment.”

Moran also denied Ricker’s attempt to limit Pastor’s access to specific witnesses in deposition interviews. Citing Rule 30(b)(6) of the Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure, Ricker requested the court require the plaintiff’s attorney to identify “with reasonable particularity the matters on which examination is requested” and allow diocesan officials to designate who they wanted to answer those questions.

Moran ruled that legal provision did not apply to this case.

“The rule and comment to the rule clearly state that this procedure is appropriate when a party does not know whom it wishes to depose,” Moran said. “Here, the Plaintiff has named individuals within the Defendant’s organization that he wishes to depose because he believes that they do have knowledge on relevant matters.”

According to Ricker’s motion for protective order, the Diocese of Gallup wanted to prevent Pastor from conducting deposition interviews with other known abuse victims of Hageman and at least a dozen diocesan officials who have specific knowledge about Hageman, other abusive Gallup clergy, or policies and procedures regarding clergy sexual misconduct in the diocese.

— Reporter Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola can be contacted at (505) 870-0745 or ehardinburrola@yahoo.com.

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Diocese apologises to victims of clerical abuse

IRELAND
Laois Nationalist

TEN priests in the diocese of Kildare and Leighlin were accused of child abuse since 1975, with a total of 18 allegations being made against them.

The details were revealed at a press conference last Thursday in the Cathedral Parish Centre, College Street, Carlow.

Mgr Brendan Byrne, along with diocesan chancellor Fr Bill Kemmy and Patricia O’Neill, a trainer in child protection issues in the diocese, addressed waiting media on the publication of the review of safeguarding practice in the diocese.

The audit was carried out by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church and a total of 12 recommendations were made, which have been “accepted in full”, according to Mgr Byrne. It is believed that these recommendations will be implemented by the end of the year.

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Michael Stephen Baker, LA Pedophile Priest, Arrested at Resort Pool Surrounded by Kids

CALIFORNIA
Orange County Weekly

By Gustavo Arellano
Tue., Sep. 11 2012

The last time we wrote about Michael Stephen Baker, the pedophile priest was arrested in November of last year for violating his probation for kiddie-fiddling. Turns out he violated his probation again, this time on August 17, when probation officers found him next to a swimming pool where kids were swimming, according to sources who spoke to the Weekly.

But the pool wasn’t just at any ol’ plunge–it was at the tony Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach.

He’s currently serving a four-month term for violating his probation. And what was the probation for? Baker pleaded guilty in Los Angeles Superior Court in 2007 to 12 felony counts of oral copulation with a person under the age of 18 for abusing two boys he met during the 1980s. His original sentence was 10 years, but California justice being as skewed as it is, he was released just last year.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

Sex abuse suit alleges conspiracy on part of Diocese of Stockton

CALIFORNIA
News 10

CALAVERAS COUNTY, CA – A 22-year-old former altar boy has filed a civil complaint against the Diocese of Stockton, charging the diocese knew a now-defrocked priest had been the subject of other molestation allegations and yet it still placed the priest in a position of interaction with minors as pastor of St. Andrew’s Parish in San Andreas.

The complaint accuses the diocese, ex-pastor Father Michael Kelly, Bishop Steven Blaire and Monsignor Richard Ryan of 10 accusations including sexual battery, fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The complaint alleges the diocese ignored a number of sexual misconduct allegations against Kelly as well as a 1999 psychological evaluation in which a licensed psychologist recommended the pastor “not minister to children alone or families in which there are children” because of “underlying or latent pedophilic elements”.

The complainant claims Kelly came to his home unannounced in 2000 when his parents weren’t home and molested him in his bedroom.

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Second clergy abuse lawsuit to be filed against Father Michael Kelly

CALIFORNIA
Lodi News-Sentinel

By Ross Farrow/News-Sentinel Staff Writer

A second sexual abuse lawsuit is expected to be filed late this afternoon against former Lockeford priest Michael Kelly.

Orange County attorneys John Manly and Vince Finaldi are holding a news conference Wednesday morning in Stockton to announce details of the lawsuit, whose victim is identified only as “John CC Doe.”

In addition to Kelly, the Stockton Diocese, diocese Bishop Stephen Blaire and Monsignor Richard Ryan are named in the lawsuit, Finaldi said in a media advisory.

The suit alleges that Kelly sexually assaulted a boy in the early 2000s in San Andreas. The plaintiff, now 24, attended St. Andrew Parish in San Andreas at the time. Kelly was then a priest at the Calaveras County parish.

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CathBlog – Priest’s startling lament for the Church

AUSTRALIA
CathNews

Published: September 11, 2012

BY GARRY EVERETT

“The Church is Dead!” This exclamation is not a byte from last night’s TV news. Nor is it an utterance by a doomsday alarmist.

The words ”The Church is dead” were uttered by an elderly priest – Fr Pete Chiara – on discovering that his Mass attendance had dropped to 17% of his Catholic parish population. At last count, the Australian average Mass attendance by Catholics was close to 12%.

Here at home, and in many countries around the world, churches of all denominations, conduct regular sophisticated surveys which address various aspects of parish or Church life. Data from these surveys provide information for planning purposes, at national, diocesan and parish levels. In a broad sense, the data help us to measure the health of a parish, and to develop strategies and resources to maintain or improve that level of health.

Between 2004 and 2007, the Willow Creek Association in the USA surveyed more than 11,000 followers with a view to learning more about the health of church life in seven member churches of various denominations. The research is published in two reports: Reveal (2007), and Follow Me (2008).

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Vatican hires finance crime expert to aid compliance with global norms

VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In an effort to comply more fully with international standards against financial criminal activity, the Vatican has hired an outside expert in combating money laundering and financing terrorism.

Rene Brulhart, a 40-year-old Swiss international lawyer, started working as a consultant to the Vatican in September on “all matters related to anti-money laundering and financing of terrorism,” Vatican Radio reported Sept. 11.

Brulhart’s “role is to assist the Holy See in strengthening its framework to fight financial crimes,” the broadcast reported.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said in a written statement that the hire is “a powerful sign of (the Vatican’s) commitment to work in this direction.”

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More area Catholic ordinations challenge a national trend

KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

By HELEN T. GRAY
The Kansas City Star

Monsignor William Blacet rises early to start his prayers. He celebrates Mass every day at Our Lady of Good Counsel. He hears confessions and gives counsel. He conducts weddings and funerals.

He cruised past his 90th birthday in December.

“I was not ordained to retire,” explains the oldest pastor in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. “As long as I can do the duties of pastor, that’s what I want to do.”

But is the spirited and beloved priest at the Westport church a poster child for the aging Roman Catholic clergy? Nationally, the average age of all priests is now 63, up from 35 in 1970, according to a study of the widely acknowledged problem. In the Kansas City area, that number is only slightly better. …

The upheaval to which Offutt referred includes the trauma of the sex abuse scandals that have rattled the Catholic hierarchy from Boston to Los Angeles. Recently, Bishop Robert W. Finn was founded guilty of failing to report suspected child abuse regarding a priest and sentenced to two years probation.

But it is more than just the black eye from pedophile priests.

“There are things going on that I don’t understand,” Offutt says. “The emphasis on the good life and sensuality and the decline of the family unit.”

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Judge weighs Missouri disturbing worship law

MISSOURI
San Francisco Chroncile

JIM SALTER, Associated Press

Updated 9:50 a.m., Tuesday, September 11, 2012

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri’s new law that criminalizes disturbing a worship service is overly broad and vague, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union argued Tuesday.

At issue is a law that took effect last month making it a misdemeanor to intentionally disturb or interrupt a “house of worship” with profane language, rude or indecent behavior or noise that breaks the solemnity of the service. Violators could face up to six months in jail and a $500 fine. Repeat offenders could get up to five years in prison.

The ACLU, representing two individuals and two groups that often picket outside of churches over allegations of sexual abuse of children by clergy, is seeking a preliminary injunction to block the law. U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber heard the case in St. Louis, but it wasn’t clear when he would issue a ruling.

ACLU attorney Anthony Rothert and the attorney for the state, Andy Hirth, said the issue was not disruption inside a church, synagogue, mosque or other place of worship. Both agreed intentionally disrupting a service from the inside would merit a crime.

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Magdalene Laundries report ‘by end of year’

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

A report on state involvement in the conditions in the Magdalene Laundries will be submitted to Government by the end of the year.

Senator Martin McAleese, head of the review, has said that information is still coming in which could add to the findings.

“A significant level of information and documentation has been identified,” the Department of Justice said.

“However, relevant records continue to be identified by Government departments and state agencies – and the committee also continues to receive new submissions from representative and advocacy groups.

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PRIESTS HERE ‘N THERE

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

September 11, 2012 11:52 am | Author: Jerry Berger

Is there a curse on St. Louis Catholic clerics who rise through the ranks and leave our town? Archbishop Justin Rigali is promoted in Philly and prosecutors there charge – and convict – a high ranking church official with endangering children. Auxiliary Bishop Edward Braxton moves up to oversee the Belleville Diocese and becomes a lightening rod for criticism (over abuse, spending and other issues). Fr. George Lucas was elevated to head the Springfield IL diocese, and clean up after his predecessor who was accused of sexual misdeeds. Fr. Michael Sheridan took over the reins of the Colorado Springs church and now faces tough questions about Fr. Charles Robert Manning’s presence – and alleged child sex crimes – out there. And last week, Fr. Robert Finn (now Kansas City’s bishop) – who hails from Overland and spent time in Shrewsbury, St. Charles, O’Fallon, and Washington MO – became the first US bishop to be found guilty of failing to notify authorities about suspected child porn taken by Fr. Shawn Rattigan. Note to local priests – maybe think twice when offered a chance to rise through the ranks and leave town! Ironically, an editorial in today’s National Catholic Reporter points out, if Finn tried to volunteer at a parish in his diocese now, official church policy says he should be turned away, because he can no longer pass the background check that’s required by the church’s abuse policy.)

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The real remedy for abuse crisis: screen out homosexual clerical candidates

UNITED STATES
Gene’s Musings

by Fr. Regis Scanlon, O.F.M. Cap

In 2002, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops commissioned a 1.8 million dollar study, popularly known as the “John Jay study,” to uncover the patterns and causes of the sex abuse crisis since 1950. The National Review Board—the entity designated to implement the study—gave the first John Jay report in 2004. In this report, which describes the “Nature and Scope” of clergy sexual abuse, the board pointed out that more than 80 percent of the victims were teenage boys and young men.

This conclusion, in itself, should have been a solid roadmap for truly correcting the sex abuse problem.

Indeed, the bishops quickly responded. They issued guidelines for tough diocesan policies, such as the immediate reporting of abuse to civil authorities, and better oversight of children’s safety.
However, despite those good reforms, clergy with sexual abuse histories were still active in public Church ministry. In early 2011, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia revealed it was involved in yet another major “roundup” of sex abuse cases, a majority of them (82%) involving the original category of identified victims—male teens and young men.

Also in 2011, the Vatican called on bishops and local dioceses to develop comprehensive plans to stop sex abuse. It urged “an even greater importance in assuring a proper discernment of vocations.” Clearly, the Vatican still sees a need to encourage more thoroughness when screening priesthood candidates.

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Oblates should pay ex-Nunavut priest’s medical care, abuse survivors’ network says

CANADA
Nunatsiaq Online

NUNATSIAQ NEWS

The Belgian wing of an international network that represents survivors of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests and other religious authority figures said Sept. 11 that the Oblate order ought to pay for Father Eric Dejaeger’s health care costs.

Dejaeger, 65, faces 77 criminal charges, most of them related to the sexual abuse of children in Igloolik between 1978 and 1982, when Dejaeger served there as a priest.

At a court appearance Sept. 10, his lawyer, Malcolm Kempt, complained that because Dejaeger is not a Nunavut resident, the Government of Nunavut is denying medical care to his client, who suffers from high blood pressure and a heart condition.

At the same time, Dejaeger’s arraignment on the 77 charges, which has been postponed several times, was postponed again until Oct. 1.

But Lieve Halsberghe of the Belgian wing of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the missionary order to which Dejaeger belongs, must pay Dejaeger’s medical costs.

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Email At Center Of Gay Couple’s House Sale Dispute With Church

WORCESTER (MA)
WBUR

[with audio]

By David Boeri September 10, 2012 Updated September 11, 2012

WORCESTER, Mass. — An email written by a monsignor has triggered the filing of a discrimination suit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester by two gay developers.

The men allege that the diocese rejected their bid to purchase a church-owned mansion because of the possibility the hotel the men planned to develop would host gay marriages. …

Gavin Reardon, the attorney for the diocese, denies this. “We never asked their sexual orientation and never knew it,” he said.

But in a sensational act of inadvertence, when the broker for the diocese emailed the would-be buyers that there would be no deal, she attached an internal email she’d received from Monsignor Thomas Sullivan.

“When I read the monsignor’s email, and he said because of the potential of gay marriages there, we no longer want to continue with those buyers,” Beret said.

Actually, the monsignor said even more. Here’s a transcript of the email:

LiSandra,

I just [w]ent down the hall and discussed it with the bishop. Because of the potentiality of gay marriages there, something you shared with us yesterday, we aren’t interested in going forward with these buyers. I think they’re shaky anyway. So just tell them that we will not accept their revised plan and the Diocese is making new plans for the property. You find the language.

Msgr Tom

And here’s a transcript of what the diocese’s broker then sent to the couple’s agent:

Good morning Gary;

We would like to thank you and your buyers for submitting a new revised counter offer. After careful review and consideration, the seller has decided to not accept the new revised counter offer and pursue other plans with the property at this time. Best wishes to you and your buyers.

My best,
LiSandra Rodriguez-Pagan

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Trial Postponed for Councilman Accused of Sexual Abuse

ALABAMA
WAPI

(BIRMINGHAM, Ala.) — The trial for a Fairfield City Councilman, accused of sexually kissing and groping his teenage granddaughter, has been postponed, ABC affiliate 33/40 reports. …

Mack, who also worked as a church pastor and operated a home daycare at the time of the alleged incident, has pleaded not guilty to the allegations.

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Priest pleads guilty to western Newfoundland sex charges

CANADA
CBC News

A Roman Catholic priest pleaded guilty to 35 sex-related charges in Corner Brook Supreme Court on Monday.

George Ansel Smith, 74, had faced more than 60 charges, but the rest were withdrawn in exchange for the pleas. The charges included indecent assault, unlawful assault and gross indecency.

Police say the offences took place in six different communities on the west coast of Newfoundland between the 1960s and 1980s.

Smith also faces eight sex-related charges in a separate case, which are scheduled to be addressed in court on October 1.

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Things to consider in the case of Bishop Finn

KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

by Pat Perriello on Sep. 11, 2012 NCR Today

A few points might be considered in the case of the recent conviction of Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., diocese for failing to alert authorities to one of his priests taking hundreds of lewd photographs of children in Catholic schools and parishes.

Finn is the first U.S. Catholic bishop convicted in the sex abuse crisis. He is saying he wants to stay on the job and carry out his responsibilities. The question is, Should he be forced to resign or should he be removed from office if necessary?

Finn has said he did nothing wrong. He blames policy failures for his failure to notify authorities. Yet this was not the first complaint against him. He reached a deal with authorities in an earlier case to avoid a trial.

Some have called for his resignation. Nicholas Cafardi, a canon lawyer from Duquesne and occasional NCR contributor, says Finn can be removed under canon law, but it should not be necessary. Cafardi said he believes Finn should resign for the good of the church and his diocese.

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U.S.: Bishop convicted for failing to report abusive priest refuses to resign

KANSAS CITY (MO)
Vatican Insider

The bishop in question is Robert W. Finn of Kansas City, who has been found guilty of failing to report a paedophile priest

Maria Teresa Pontara Pederiva
Rome

Bishops have in the past been removed from their posts for various reasons but never has a bishop refused to leave his post despite being forced to do so because of failing to report acts of paedophilia and despite the fact that just last week Mgr. Scicluna had reiterated that the Pope’s Magisterium on this subject was crystal clear. The case of Bishop Robert W. Finn has baffled members of the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City.

On 19 May 2011, Shawn Ratigan, a diocesan priest in Kansas City who served St. Patrick’s parish church and the adjoining school, ended up in jail. He had played a key part in organising pro-life marches and Marian pilgrimages.

The priest was accused of being possession of pornographic images which investigators revealed were taken within the parish church and school. His superior, Bishop Finn, should have implemented the regulations established in agreement with the Vatican.

But he did not. The abuse cases had been reported to the bishop a year prior to this, by numerous parents and by Julie Hess, the school headmistress. Ratigan had even attempted to commit suicide in a garage in 2010 but the complaint about the abuse never reached the right authorities. The priest was removed from the school but a religious body sent him on to the city of Independence in Missouri, where he still had access to a computer and cell phone and even celebrated mass with minors. He was eventually reported, arrested, tried and sentenced in August 2011 but there are still other criminal charges pending against him.

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Nevada man charged with lewd acts on Denver-bound plane

DENVER (CO)
Colorado Springs Gazette

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DENVER — A 63-year-old Nevada man is facing federal charges after being accused of committing lewd acts on an airplane.

U.S. Attorney John Walsh said Monday that Daniel Drinan of Reno was arrested Saturday night at Denver International Airport after passengers complained he had unbuttoned his pants while watching pornography. Prosecutors allege that his genitals were totally exposed when a flight attendant told him to “put his pants back together.”

Drinan was on Southwest Flight 1998 en route from Baltimore-Washington International Airport to Denver International Airport. He was arrested after the flight landed.

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Updated: Reno man charged with fondling self on plane

DENVER (CO)
Reno Gazette-Journal

Written by
Jaclyn O’Malley

A Reno man flying to Denver fondled himself while using the airline’s wireless Internet to look at computer pornography, a Colorado federal criminal complaint outlines.

Daniel Drinan, 63, on Sept. 8 was fondling his exposed penis in front of a 29-year-old Southwest Airlines passenger and a 53-year-old flight attendant, court records filed Monday show. He was charged with obscene and indecent exposure committed on an airplane.

The court document said the passenger complained to the female flight attendant that Drinan was touching himself while watching pornography on his lap top. The woman said she saw him retrieve a bottle of lubricant from his bag. She was reseated after complaining. …

An FBI agent met Drinan at the gate at the Denver International Airport and interviewed him.

“I’m guilty of fondling myself in public,” the complaint quoted Drinan. “I’m sorry. I had no intention of doing anything that would offend people or break the law.”

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TX – Austin priest masturbates on plane & gets arrested

DENVER (CO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on September 11, 2012

An Austin priest has been arrested in Denver for masturbating to porn on an airplane. He is Fr. Daniel Drinan who was removed from his post in Austin in 2002 after an allegation of sexual contact with a minor was brought forward.

Drinan is apparently not functioning as a priest right now. But he’s still on the church payroll, and we strongly doubt if he’s being supervised in any meaningful way.

This case shows – once again – that pedophile priests often re-offend or commit other sex crimes in part because their bishops do the bare minimum. Bishops should house and monitor these dangerous men, and work hard to find others who saw, suspected or suffered their crimes, so they might be prosecuted and kept away from kids.

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Magdalene report due this year

IRELAND
Irish Times

A report on state involvement in the slave-like conditions in the Magdalene laundries will be submitted to Government by the end of the year.

Senator Martin McAleese, head of the review, has said that information is still coming in which could add to the findings.

“A significant level of information and documentation has been identified,” the Department of Justice said.

“However, relevant records continue to be identified by Government departments and state agencies — and the committee also continues to receive new submissions from representative and advocacy groups.

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While Nunavut denies medical care, Dejaeger awaits arraignment

CANADA
Nunatsiaq Online

DAVID MURPHY

The arraignment of the alleged sex offender, Oblate missionary Eric Dejaeger, has been pushed back once more until Oct. 1.

An arraignment, a formal reading of all the charges laid against Dejaeger, which currently sits at 77, was supposed to have been held Sept. 10, but this but was held over so that Crown and defense lawyers can review the final disclosure of charges laid by the RCMP.

The disclosure of the full case against Dejeager has yet to be filed in court, and will likely be worked out at an informal pretrial conference, set to take place before his next court appearance.

“That may include discussion of possible pleas, the lack of, or likelihood, of entering guilty pleas, discussions about sentencing, and so on,” Crown prosecutor Barry Nordin told Nunatsiaq News.

Dejaeger has now served 19 months in solitary confinement since his arrest.

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Vatican drafts in Swiss money-laundering expert

VATICAN CITY
Gazzetta del Sud

(ANSA) – Vatican City, September 11 – The Vatican said on Tuesday that it had drafted in a Swiss expert to help it fight money laundering more effectively. The Holy See is trying to join the ‘white list’ of states that, unlike tax havens, respect international standards on combatting money laundering and the financing of terrorism. In July the Council of Europe’s Moneyval department said in a report that the Holy See had made progress on financial transparency, but added that more reforms were needed and gave it positive grades in nine of 16 areas. Holy See spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told Vatican Radio Tuesday that Rene Bruelhart, a 40-year-old lawyer from Fribourg, Switzerland, had been hired to work on Anti-Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) activities and strengthen the Holy See’s framework to fight financial crimes. “(The appointment) is based on the clear commitment the Holy See has already expressed in its active efforts to address these matters effectively,” Vatican Radio said on its website. Bruelhart spent eight years as the director of Liechtenstein’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

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Priest pleads not guilty in abuse case

SOMERVILLE (MA)
Boston Herald

By Ariel Rodriguez
Tuesday, September 11, 2012

An Episcopal priest accused of having inappropriate contact with a child over a 10-year period pleaded not guilty in Somerville District Court yesterday.

The Rev. Paul A. LaCharite, formerly of St. James Episcopal Church in Somerville, faces “one count of assault to rape a child and three counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14,” according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.

LaCharite was released after posting $10,000 cash bail. Prosecutors had originally requested $25,000 bail.

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Priest to face eight more sex charges

CANADA
The Western Star

Published on September 11, 2012
Cory Hurley

CORNER BROOK — Roman Catholic priest George Ansel Smith pleaded guilty to 35 of 62 sex charges against him Monday.

Represented by his lawyer, Tom Williams, at the Supreme Court appearance in Corner Brook, the 74-year-old is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 22. Williams did not request a pre-sentence report to assist with that sentencing.

There are still eight outstanding charges, the last of the 70 in total he faces to be filed with the court. They are set to be dealt with Oct. 1.

The charges against Smith, who was not present in court Monday, stem from incidents involving young boys in six western Newfoundland communities from 1969 to 1989. The latter eight charges filed with the court involve three complainants, including two incidents alleged to have taken place in Nova Scotia in 1974 and the others in western Newfoundland communities.

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Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to be investigated

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

By Kenneth Lovett AND Glenn Blain / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

ALBANY — State investigators are now going after Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver as they dig deeper into the Vito Lopez case.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics — which had been criticized for limiting its probe to allegations of sexual harassment made against Assemblyman Lopez — approved on Monday an expanded investigation that will include Silver’s handling of a $103,000 taxpayer-funded settlement with two victims, sources said.

Following a closed-door meeting of JCOPE’s board, Chairwoman Janet DiFiore announced its unanimous decision to launch a “substantial” probe. She refused to provide details, but a source said the panel would conduct a “sweeping investigation that will go where it leads.”

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Catholic Church haunted by catalogue of child abuse scandals

SCOTLAND
Daily Record

HUNDREDS of abuse victims have forward in Ireland, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and United States in the last decade.

THE Catholic Church have been rocked by a series of abuse scandals over the last decade.

Religious leaders were accused of covering up and “turning a blind eye” to allegations of child abuse made against priests.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien first apologised for the scandal in 2002.

And he reiterated the Church’s position in 2010 when he said the actions of those who failed to report the crimes “brings shame on us all”.

The cardinal claimed Catholics were “demoralised and confused” by the “many evils” perpetrated by
paedophile priests.

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Selective memory isn’t sacred

NORTHBRIDGE (MA)
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

[House of Affirmation – BishopAccountability.org]

Dianne Williamson
dwilliamson@telegram.com

Memory is a funny thing.

Over the weekend, Msgr. Thomas Sullivan told The Boston Globe that the Diocese of Worcester would never sell properties that hosted Mass to anyone who would hold a same-sex wedding.

“We wouldn’t sell our churches and our properties to any of a number of things that would reflect badly on the church,” he said. “These buildings are sacred to the memory of Catholics.”

So much is wrong with that statement I hardly know where to begin. Neither does David Lewcon, who probably wishes that his memory wasn’t so good.

“The mere fact that I’m stumbling for words pretty much says it all,” Mr. Lewcon said.

First, the monsignor was speaking in reference to the House of Affirmation, a Northbridge building whose very name is synonymous with scandal, not sacred memory. Next, his statement conflicts with what he told me in July, when I asked why the diocese abruptly pulled out of negotiations with two gay men who wanted to turn the aging mansion into an inn and banquet facility. …

“For me, it’s one of the least sacred places in all of Northbridge,” said Mr. Lewcon, 58. He worked at the center as a teenager, and in 2002 settled a lawsuit with the diocese for $110,000 after disclosing that he was sexually assaulted when he was 16 by a priest affiliated with the center. “It’s a dirty, dirty place. What went on behind the scenes, I don’t even want to know about.”

Mr. Lewcon is among several men who settled sexual assault lawsuits against priests closely affiliated with the House. These included the notorious Rev. Thomas Kane, founder and executive director, who operated the center based on a bogus doctoral degree. It was closed in 1987 amid financial improprieties; its victims would later refer to the center as a pedophile boot camp where children suffered repeated sexual abuse.

Sadly, there wasn’t a lot of affirming going on at the House of Affirmation. If this is the building that the diocese claims holds memories so sacred that they’d be tainted by the prospect of a marriage between two loving, committed adults, it has a lot more to worry about than a lawsuit.

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Vatican hires Swiss anti-money laundering expert to boost efforts to fight financial crimes

VATICAN CITY
Daily Reporter

ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: September 11, 2012

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican has hired a Swiss anti-money laundering expert to try to improve its efforts to fight financial crimes.

The announcement Tuesday comes two months after the Holy See passed a key European financial transparency test but received poor grades for its financial watchdog agency and its bank.

The Vatican said attorney Rene Bruelhart would help strengthen the Vatican’s regulatory framework to fight money laundering and terrorist financing.

For eight years Bruelhart was head of Liechtenstein’s financial intelligence unit — the national agency that analyzes information about suspect financial transactions. In 2010, he was also named head of the Egmont Group, the informal group of about 130 countries’ financial units aimed at sharing information.

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Church watchdog chief supported

IRELAND
Irish Times

PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent

THE CHAIRMAN of the Catholic Church’s child protection watchdog, its National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC), has spoken out in support of its chief executive, Ian Elliott.

Speaking to The Irish Times yesterday, John Morgan said: “Ian Elliott has my full confidence and support in his safeguarding activities.” He described Mr Elliott as “a most valuable employee” and said his current contract with the NBSC would continue until next summer. As to whether it would be renewed, he said that by then Mr Elliott would have reached retirement age.

At the weekend it emerged that the Bishop of Down and Connor, Noel Treanor, had apologised to Mr Elliott for accusing him of spinning against the church leadership in off-the-record briefings with journalists.

According to a Sunday Times report, his apology followed an inquiry conducted by former Supreme Court judge Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness at the request of the NBSC. She found the allegations presented by Bishop Treanor were unfounded.

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Third person accuses former solicitor of sexual abuse

SOUTH CAROLINA
WPDE

by Tonya Brown

A 36-year-old Myrtle Beach man has come forward saying former Fourth Circuit Solicitor, Jay Hodge, molested him when he was a cub scout in 1986 , making him the third person to accuse Hodge of sexual abuse.

At the time, the alleged victim was ten years old.

The man has joined in a civil lawsuit with two other men accusing Hodge of sexual abuse when he was their boy scout leader.

They’ve sued Hodge, Boy Scouts of America, Pee Dee Area Council for Boy Scouts of America, First Presbyterian Church of Cheraw and the Estate of the late William Hebard.

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Third Scout joins Cheraw sexual abuse case

SOUTH CAROLINA
SCNow

By: Ellen Meder | SCNow

CHERAW — A third former Boy Scout has joined the civil lawsuit accusing former 4th Circuit Solicitor Jay Hodge and another man of sexually abusing them while they served as scoutmasters, the lawyer for the plaintiffs said Monday.

Attorney Trey Cockrell of Cockrell Law Firm in Chesterfield, who filed the suit on behalf of the plaintiffs two weeks ago, said the new alleged victim came forward after reading newspaper accounts and online accounts of the case this week. He currently lives in Horry County, but grew up in Cheraw.

The man, identified in court papers filed Friday as “Youth Male C,” is now 36 years old. That’s about 10 years younger than “Youth Male A,” or “Youth Male B.” The original defendants are brothers who recalled abuse by Hodge and William C. Hebard at separate times while they two men worked with scouts in Troop 663, sponsored by First Prebyterian Church of Cheraw. Those alleged acts took place between 1975-80. The new defendant said he was abused at Hodge’s house when he was 10 years old. That would suggest an incident occuring in 1986.

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New revelations of church abuse must bring justice for victims

AUSTRALIA
The Conversation

Judy Courtin

As the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into child abuse looms, Archbishop Denis Hart and three of his bishops have forewarned their Victorian flock of imminent disturbing reports about past failures of the Catholic church in responding to clergy sexual abuse.

His Grace and their Excellencies need to be brought up to date with the latest evidence from my research which shows that the “failures” of the church to respond to sexual assaults do not attract the past tense alone – they remain palpably current.

There has been an equally inadequate response by the Catholic church to the brutal physical assaults on children, which continue to be a source of distress for victims to this day.

Horrifying testimony

A few weeks ago in Ballarat, eight men gathered to get help with writing a group submission to the Victorian Inquiry. The issue of physical assaults was aired and it was distressing.

One man said:

He used to push my head down the toilet and hold it there by force until the toilet finished flushing.

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Judge to hear arguments in church protest lawsuit

MISSOURI
KSDK

Written by
Cassidy Moody

ST. LOUIS (AP) – A federal judge will hear arguments Tuesday in a lawsuit over Missouri’s new law making it a crime to disturb a worship service.

Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union are seeking a temporary injunction to block the law that took effect last month.

The law makes it a misdemeanor to intentionally disturb or interrupt a “house of worship” with profane language, rude or indecent behavior or noise that breaks the solemnity of the service.

Violators could face up to six months in jail and a $500 fine. Repeat offenders could get up to five years in prison.

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Exclusive: Sexual Assault Victim Alleges Abuse By Former Youth Pastor

FLORIDA
CBS Miami

[with video]

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) – The young man had one word to describe Jeffery London: evil.

Over a course of years beginning when he was around 9 or 10 years old, the victim said London — a youth pastor — kept him in an unlocked room and raped and beat him.

“This man is pure evil,” the victim told CBS 4′s Carey Codd in an exclusive interview. “A youth pastor child molesting the youth.

The victim said his mother sent him to live with London because London was a youth pastor and believed her son would be safe with him. The young man said he soon began to rely on London.

“My real dad don’t want me,” the victim said. “My mom don’t want me. I started looking at (London) as a father figure. Why would you do this to me? I didn’t have anybody.”

The victim said London raped him repeatedly and promised him gifts to keep him quiet.

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Priest pleads guilty to 35 of 62 sex-related charges

CANADA
The Guardian

Rev. George Smith pleaded guilty Monday in court in Cornerbrook, NL to 35 of 62 sex-related charges against boys.

The retired Roman Catholic priest was accused of sexually abusing young males allegedly victimized nine boys during a 20-year period of serving western Newfoundland parishes.

Smith, who last resided in Truro, N.S., turned himself into the RCMP in Corner Brook late last year.

Smith was serving at St. Malachy’s Parish in Kinkora when the investigation was launched. He stepped down and went to live with a family member in Truro.

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Fagley parish priest charged with sex assault on girl, 17

UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph & Argus

Exclusive By Steve Wright, Crime Reporter

A Roman Catholic priest in Bradford has been charged with sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl.

Father William Finnegan, parish priest at St Clare’s RC Church in Fagley , has appeared before magistrates and will face trial before a crown Court jury.

The 59-year-old priest was arrested in April this year in connection with the allegation and was bailed for further police inquiries.

Finnegan has now been charged with sexual assault and has appeared before Bradford and Keighley Magistrates’ Court.

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Prosecutors: Man Watching Porn On Plane Touched Himself

DENVER (CO)
TheDenverChannel

Deb Stanley, New Media Producer

DENVER — Officers arrested a man at Denver International Airport this weekend after another passenger said she saw the man watch pornography on a flight and touch himself.

The U.S. Attorney’s office said Daniel Michael Drinan, 63, of Reno, Nevada, was arrested Saturday night on suspicion of lewd, indecent or obscene acts in public aboard an aircraft.

Prosecutors said Drinan was on Southwest flight 1998 from Baltimore-Washington International Airport to Denver International Airport when he connected his laptop computer to the airline’s WiFi service, and began to view pornography.

A woman seated nearby notice the defendant touching himself to the pornography, prosecutors said.

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Passenger arrested for watching pornography and fondling himself on board Denver flight

DENVER (CO)
The Daily Mail (United Kingdom)

By Daily Mail Reporter

A 63 year old man was reported to flight attendants when he was seen viewing pornography and touching himself on board an airplane.

Daniel Michael Drinan was seen using the airline’s WiFi internet service to view porn on his laptop by other passengers on the flight.

One passenger alerted a male flight attendant, who went to investigate and found the suspect’s genitalia exposed.

According to a U.S. Attorney’s Office media release, the flight attendant told Drinan to ‘put his pants back together’.

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