ABUSE TRACKER

CANADA
National Post

An Orthodox archbishop accused of sexually assaulting two brothers almost 30 years ago denied doing anything inappropriate but told a Winnipeg court he did talk to one of the boys about puberty.

“It was one of the stupider things I’ve done in my life,” Seraphim Storheim told Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Christopher Mainella on Thursday. “The thing I regret most is engaging in this conversation about puberty.”

Storheim said he met the boys in the early 1980s when he was posted to London, Ont. The 67-year-old testified he saw the boys and their single mother at least once or twice a week during that time. Later Thursday he asked to change his testimony to say he had seen them once or twice a month.

The boys were vivacious, hard-working and obedient, he said.

When he moved to Winnipeg, Storheim said he agreed to have the boys stay with him separately during the summer of 1985 to further their Christian education. He is accused of sexually assaulting the pre-teens during those visits.

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CHILE
Legalbrief

Three men who say they were sexually abused as teenagers by a prominent Catholic priest filed a lawsuit this week against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago for failing to protect them or to investigate their accusations.

A report in The New York Times notes that Juan Carlos Cruz said that he and the others who have accused the Reverend Fernando Karadima of abusing them when he headed the El Bosque parish in Santiago in the 1980s ‘hope to establish the responsibility of the church, which always knew what was going on and looked the other way’. In 2011, the Vatican found Karadima guilty of the abuses and ordered him to retire ‘to a life of prayer and penitence’. The report states that a Chilean judge dismissed criminal charges later that year because a statute of limitations had expired, but he also described the accusations as ‘truthful and reliable’.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Eastbourne Herald

An Eastbourne man who was sexually abused as a child by Church of England priest Roy Cotton has confronted his past and says he can finally move forward with his life.

Brian Bond, 49, was featured in the BBC South East Inside Out programme on Monday night and filmed meeting the family he has not seen for more than 40 years and chatting to the Bishop of Chichester Dr Martin Warner about the abuse he suffered.

Brian was born in Birmingham but placed into foster care in Eastbourne as a baby in 1965 by his single mother.

However, he said his formative years were far from happy, with mistreatment from his foster mother leaving him psychologically and physically abused.

At the age of eight, Mr Bond came into contact with the Reverend Roy Cotton, a Church of England priest at St Andrew’s in Seaside, who he met through a church connected to his primary school and was subjected to a prolonged period of violent sexual abuse, and also sexually abused by one of his associates.

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VATICAN CITY
News OK

Published: September 12, 2013
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican said Thursday it was cooperating with prosecutors in the Dominican Republic who are investigating its ambassador for alleged sexual abuse of teen-age boys, an explosive case that has raised legal questions about the Holy See’s responsibilities when accused priests come from within its own ranks.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, denied the Vatican was trying to shield Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski by recalling him to Rome before Dominican prosecutors had announced their investigation.

The Holy See recalled Wesolowski on Aug. 21 and relieved him of his job as apostolic nuncio after the archbishop of Santo Domingo, Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez, told Pope Francis about the allegations in July.

Dominican prosecutors announced their investigation last week, largely in response to local media reports of allegations of sexual misconduct by Wesolowski, 65, as well as a friend and fellow Polish priest, who is also outside the country.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
McClatchy

By TONY RIZZO AND GLENN E. RICE | The Kansas City Star

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Rev. Shawn Ratigan, the Catholic priest and church pastor who repeatedly used young girls to produce child pornography, was sentenced Thursday to 50 years in federal prison.

The sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Gary Fenner virtually ensures that Ratigan, 47, will spend the rest of his life in prison. There is no parole in the federal prison system.

Federal prosecutors portrayed Ratigan as an arrogant and reckless man who flagrantly disregarded his priestly vows, used young girls as sexual objects, and repeatedly lied to his superiors, fellow priests and police when he was found out.

“Ratigan is a danger to society because he has proven he is not amenable to supervision and is unable to control his impulses,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Katharine Fincham said in a written memorandum filed before Thursday’s hearing.

Before hearing his sentence, Ratigan asked the judge in front of a packed courtroom to limit his sentence to 15 years.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Reuters

By Carey Gillam
KANSAS CITY, Missouri | Thu Sep 12, 2013

(Reuters) – A Kansas City Catholic priest was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Thursday on federal child pornography charges for taking sexually explicit photos of several young girls, including a 2-year-old.

Shawn Ratigan, 47, pleaded guilty in August 2012 to four counts of producing child pornography and one count of attempting to produce child pornography.

“Society needs to be protected from you,” U.S. District Judge Gary Fenner told Ratigan before he pronounced the sentence. “You did this to yourself.”

Prosecutors had sought the 50-year sentence, which they had said would amount to a life term, after it was discovered that he had taken hundreds of lewd photographs of young girls.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Pitch

Posted by Steve Vockrodt on Thu, Sep 12, 2013

Shawn Ratigan spent part of his freedom using his role as a priest in the Catholic Church to help him victimize five young children.

Given that he’s 47 years old, his 50-year sentence handed down on Thursday means he’s probably seen the last of life outside the four walls of a prison cell. The disgraced priest has no opportunity for parole.

The Independence man was the parish pastor at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Kansas City as well as St. Mary’s Church in St. Joseph and St. Joseph’s church in Easton, Missouri. He admitted guilt in 2012 to several child pornography-related charges brought about by his habit of taking sexually explicit photos of young children, who ranged in age from two to 12, after gaining their trust as a member of the church. Beyond the five victims that prosecutors know about, Ratigan was also found to be taking surreptitious non-sexual photos of young children in their bathing suits and at places like the grocery store.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
KCUR

[with audio]

By DAN VERBECK AND STEVE BELL

Shawn Ratigan, a 47-year-old Catholic priest convicted of making child pornography, was sentenced to 50 years by a Kansas City federal judge Thursday afternoon.

Judge Gary Fenner labeled Ratigan a pedophile in serial fashion.

Minutes before, Ratigan choked back emotion as he told the judge, in his words, “Fifteen years is a lot of time, but fifty [years], come on.”

Parents of a two-year-old girl, photographed by Ratigan – the mother said the child considered the priest her “best friend” – told how they never want their child to see him again.

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CANADA
Leader-Post

BY CHINTA PUXLEY, THE CANADIAN PRESS SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

WINNIPEG – An Orthodox archbishop accused of sexually assaulting two brothers almost 30 years ago denied doing anything inappropriate but told a Winnipeg court he did talk to one of the boys about puberty.

“It was one of the stupider things I’ve done in my life,” Seraphim Storheim told Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Christopher Mainella on Thursday. “The thing I regret most is engaging in this conversation about puberty.”

Storheim said he met the boys in the early 1980s when he was posted to London, Ont. The 67-year-old testified he saw the boys and their single mother at least once or twice a week during that time. Later Thursday he asked to change his testimony to say he had seen them once or twice a month.

The boys were vivacious, hard-working and obedient, he said.

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CANADA
CTV

Julia Parrish, CTV Edmonton
Published Thursday, September 12, 2013

An Orthodox Archbishop with an Edmonton connection has taken the stand in his own defence in a Winnipeg courtroom, in response to sexual assault allegations.

In court Thursday morning, Seraphim Storheim responded to an allegation that one young boy saw him naked and touching himself.

“It didn’t happen, I’ve never done that,” Storheim testified.

That allegation is one of several Storheim faces surrounding the alleged sexual assault of two pre-teen brothers in Winnipeg about 30 years ago.

The alleged victims had previously testified Storheim walked around naked, and asked them to touch him sexually – allegations Storheim denied in court Thursday, also saying he never saw the boys naked.

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CANADA
Winnipeg Free Press

Orthodox Archbishop Seraphim Storheim has taken the witness stand in his own defence to deny allegations he molested two young brothers.

Storheim, 67, began testifying Thursday morning. He has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting the boys 28 years ago in Winnipeg. The allegations were only recently reported to police, resulting in criminal charges.

“I felt compassion for this particular family. So I paid more attention to that family, trying to support and encourage them,” Storheim said in direct examination from his lawyer, Jeff Gindin.

He admits talking to the 11-year-old boys about puberty and body development, but denies their claims he fondled them and repeatedly exposed himself.

“If there’s any touching it was certainly by accident,” said Storheim.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph

Sep 12th, 2013

Catholic Diocese of Kansas City ~ St. Joseph
Statement of Bishop Robert Finn
Regarding Sentencing of Shawn Ratigan

(Kansas City, MO / September 12, 2013)

Today, Shawn Ratigan was sentenced in Federal Court on a number of charges related to the production and possession of child pornography for which he pled guilty. To victims of abuse, their families and the community at large, I renew my heartfelt apology and firm pledge to make our Catholic institutions second to none in the protection of children and the vulnerable.

Much has already been done to strengthen a culture of protection in the local Church since the arrest of Shawn Ratigan. I appointed former Jackson County Assistant Prosecutor Jenifer Valenti to independently receive and investigate any and all suspicion of abuse, grooming behavior and boundary violations in our Catholic institutions. Under her direction, every single reported suspicion of abuse is immediately forwarded to law enforcement. All reported suspicion of abuse against minors is additionally referred to the Missouri Children’s Division.

The Diocese also created an Office of Child and Youth Protection under the direction of Carrie Cooper. This team of trained and dedicated professionals is charged with implementing and improving our Safe Environment Training Programs, Victim Outreach Services and Investigation and Action on suspicions of abuse. In the last year alone, this child protection team has:

• Codified new Diocesan Policy for Response to allegations of Sexual Abuse of Minors or Vulnerable Adults with the mandate that all reports of abuse are referred to civil authorities.

• Developed new universal code of ethics for all diocesan personnel: Ethics and Integrity in Ministry (EIM).

• Partnered with The United States Attorney’s Office, FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force, and the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to develop current topical training.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
St. Joe Channel

(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) A former St. Joseph priest has been sentenced to 50 years in prison, more than 2 years after being charged with possessing child pornography.

Shawn Ratigan received the sentence this afternoon in Federal Court in Kansas City.

Ratigan, who had worked at St. Mary’s church in St. Joseph, was charged in May of 2011 after police found a flash drive containing hundreds of images of children.

Prosecutors say he photographed girls in and around the churches where he worked.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
St. Joseph News-Press

By Kim Norvell | St. Joseph News-Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A local priest in the middle of a child pornography scandal has been sentenced to 50 years in federal prison.

The Rev. Shawn F. Ratigan learned his fate Thursday afternoon — more than a year after he pleaded guilty to five counts of producing or attempting to produce child pornography, and more than two years after his initial arrest.

Each count represented the five children he victimized between 2005 and 2011. Federal prosecutors maintained the Rev. Ratigan took lewd images of the girls, who were between the ages of 2 and 12 years old and were parishioners at the various churches and schools where he worked.

The 47-year-old was the parochial administrator for both St. Mary Church in St. Joseph and St. Joseph Mission in Easton, Mo.; and a chaplain at Bishop LeBlond High School from July 2005 to June 2009. He later moved to St. Patrick Catholic Church in Kansas City.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

Dennis Coday | Sep. 12, 2013 NCR Today

Shawn Ratigan, the Kansas City, Mo., priest who had pleaded guilty to possession and production of child pornography last year, was sentenced to 50 years in prison this afternoon, a local TV station and the Associated Press are reporting. It was Ratigan’s case the led to KC Bishop Robert Finn’s conviction for child endangerment, a misdemeanor in county court.

Ratigan told the federal judge, “I know that no words will express my sorrow” for the hurt he caused people who trusted him and “the church I love” but he said 50 years in prison was too long. He asked for 15 years.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
KSHB

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A former Kansas City, Mo. priest will spend the next 50 years behind bars.
A judge sentenced Rev. Shawn Ratigan Thursday in a U.S. District Court in Kansas City.

Federal prosecutors sought a 50-year sentence for the Roman Catholic priest who admitted taking pornographic photos of children.

Before learning his sentence, Ratigan spoke to the victim’s family saying, “There’s no words I can express to tell you my sorrow, but it’s there. I was good friends with all of them; I just couldn’t help it.”
He also apologized to his family and the Church.

The 47-year-old priest pleaded guilty in August 2012 to five counts of producing or attempting to produce child porn — one count for each of five victims.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Sept. 12

Statement by Judy Jones of St. Louis, Assistant Midwest Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 974 5003, snapjudy@gmail.com )

It’s very reassuring to know that Ratigan can never hurt another child. At the same time, the bank robber gets 50 years while the guy who drove the getaway car does no jail time.

Accuracy matters. Ratigan molested girls and made child porn with their photos. He touched and photographed them illegally, inappropriately and hurtfully.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Washington Post

Mo. priest sentenced to 50 years for producing, trying to produce child pornography

By Associated Press, Updated: Thursday, September 12

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City-area priest whose child pornography case led to a criminal conviction against a Roman Catholic bishop was sentenced Thursday to 50 years in federal prison.

Prosecutors had asked that the Rev. Shawn Ratigan be sentenced to 10 years in prison for each of five young victims after he pleaded guilty in August 2012 to five counts of producing and trying to produce child porn.

Ratigan, 47, was charged in May 2011 after police received a flash drive from his computer containing hundreds of images of children, most of them clothed, with the focus on their crotch areas.

Bishop Robert Finn, head of the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, was convicted last September of one misdemeanor count of failing to report suspected child abuse to the state.

Prosecutors said the diocese learned about the photos on Ratigan’s computer on Dec. 16, 2010, after a technician found them on the priest’s laptop and alerted church officials. A day after the images were found, Ratigan missed Sunday Mass and was found unconscious in his garage with his motorcycle running and a suicide note nearby.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Kansas City Star

September 12

BY TONY RIZZO AND GLENN E. RICE
The Kansas City Star

The Rev. Shawn Ratigan, the Catholic priest and church pastor who repeatedly used young girls to produce child pornography, was sentenced Thursday to 50 years in federal prison.

The sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Gary Fenner virtually ensures that Ratigan, 47, will spend the rest of his life in prison. There is no parole in the federal prison system.

Federal prosecutors portrayed Ratigan as an arrogant and reckless man who flagrantly disregarded his priestly vows, used young girls as sexual objects, and repeatedly lied to his superiors, fellow priests and police when he was found out.

“Ratigan is a danger to society because he has proven he is not amenable to supervision and is unable to control his impulses,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Katharine Fincham said in a written memorandum filed before Thursday’s hearing.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANA
Rotativo

Ciudad del Vaticano, 12 Sep (Notimex).- El portavoz del Vaticano, Federico Lombardi, reafirmó hoy la intención de la Santa Sede de colaborar con autoridades de República Dominicana en la investigación por abusos sexuales contra el ex nuncio, Josef Wesolowski.

En una declaración a la prensa, el sacerdote jesuita aclaró que el llamado a Roma del diplomático papal “no constituye absolutamente la intención de evitar que se asuma la responsabilidad sobre lo que eventualmente será confirmado”.

“En el mes de agosto la Secretaría de Estado -a través del embajador de la República Dominicana ante la Santa Sede? ha declarado su intención de colaborar con las autoridades dominicanas si así lo solicitaran”, señaló.

Con esas palabras Lombardi intentó aplacar las crecientes críticas de juristas, políticos y periodistas dominicanos respecto a cómo se ha tratado el caso a nivel eclesiástico.

La prensa ha lanzado tres cuestionamientos puntuales: si las autoridades de la Iglesia tenían conocimiento sobre denuncias contra el nuncio, ¿por qué no las transmitieron a la justicia civil?.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
al Momento

[Summary: Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican press spokesman, said former nuncio Joseph Wesolowski is in Rome. He is under investigation by the Vatican regarding activities in the Dominican Republic.]

CIUDAD DEL VATICANO.- El padre Federico Lombardi, director de la Sala de prensa del Vaticano, aclaró que el ex nuncio Josef Wesolowski, se encuentra en Roma porque fue convocado por la jerarquía eclesiástica para investigarlo sobre sus actuaciones en la República Dominicana.

Indicó que las medidas que han sido adoptadas no representan de ninguna manera la intención de evitar que él asuma sus responsabilidades.

En una rueda de prensa, Lombardi explicó que en agosto, la Secretaría de Estado del Vaticano declaró, mediante el Embajador de la República Dominicana ante la Santa Sede, la intención de colaborar con las autoridades dominicanas cuando ellas lo requieran.

Confirmó que el arzobispo de Santo Domingo, cardenal Nicolás López Rodríguez, informó al Papa en julio (poco antes del viaje apostólico a Brasil de este último) sobre la existencia de acusaciones en contra del entonces Nuncio.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
Noticias SIN

REDACCIÓN INTERNACIONAL.- El portavoz del Vaticano, Federico Lombardi, aclaró que el llamado al ex nuncio Josef Wesolowski para que se presente ante El Vaticano “no constituye absolutamente la intención de evitar que se asuma la responsabilidad sobre lo que eventualmente podría ser confirmado”.

Además aseguró que Wesolowski fue llamado a la Santa Sede, luego de que el cardenal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez comunicó al papa Francisco, sobre las acusaciones de pedofilia que involucran al diplomático en el país.

“El cardenal ha informado oportunamente, en el mes de Julio, poco antes del viaje a Brasil del santo padre, sobre la existencia de acusaciones contra el Nuncio Apostólico en la República Dominicana”, indicó Lombardi.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

[CONCORDATO ENTRE LA SANTA SEDE Y LA REPÚBLICA DOMINICANA]

Santo Domingo.- A group representing several social organizations on Wednesday picketed in front of the Nuncio’s residence demanding punishment for pedophile priests and the abolition of Dominican Republic’s decades-old pact with the Vatican, known as the Concordat.

Chanting slogans waving banners and wearing black armbands, the protesters also called for punishment of those who cover up those actions penalized by law.

“No more rapes! Amen. Repeal the Trujillo-concordat now,” read some of the protesters’ pickets.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
WESA

By DEANNA GARCIA

Members of the group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is taking news about two abuse case settlements to call on the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh to better notify the public when a priest has been accused of sexual misconduct.

The priests in question had both worked in Pittsburgh, though the abuse allegations come from other places they worked.

“Any time that there’s a priest who has been accused in the court of law, we are under the impression that the Pittsburgh Diocese will automatically reach out to the churches, reach out to the congregations, let them know and actively pursue to see if there are any victims,” said SNAP’s Frances Samber. “But they’re not doing that in the case of these two priests and we’re just asking why.”

A sex abuse cases against priests Alan E. Caparella and Richard Deakin were settled in separate states outside of Pennsylvania.

The Rev. Ron Lengwin, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, said the men in question were not diocesan priests but belonged to religious orders, so it was the order’s responsibility to follow up.

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VATICAN CITY
DFW Catholic

Vatican City, Sep 12, 2013 / 10:57 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A Vatican spokesman has said that the Holy See is willing to hand over a former nuncio accused of sexual misconduct to civil authorities in the Dominican Republic if requested to do so.

Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, said that the Holy See continues to cooperate fully with ongoing investigations into Archbishop Józef Wesolowski, former apostolic nuncio to the Dominican Republic.

Because there is no extradition treaty between the Vatican and the Dominican Republic, the Holy See is not required to return the nuncio to Dominican officials. In addition, the Vatican has a legal right to invoke diplomatic immunity in protection of the nuncio.

However, Fr. Lombardi told CNA on Sept. 12 that the Holy See has declared “our intention to cooperate with the Dominican authorities whenever they require it.”

The recall of the nuncio to the Vatican “by no means implies the desire to prevent him from assuming his responsibility for whatever may come out of the investigations” in the Dominican Republic,” Fr. Lombardi explained.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.- Vatican press director Federico Lombardi on Monday affirmed that the measures taken by the Papacy regarding former nuncio in Dominican Republic Josef Wesolowski, don’t represent in any way an attempt to sidestep his responsibilities.

He said in August, the Holy See’s State Department communicated to Dominican Republic’s Ambassador its willingness to the cooperate with the Caribbean nation’s authorities when they so requested.

In a press conference, Lombardi said in July cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez had already reported to the Pope the allegations against the then nuncio in Dominican Republic.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY | Thu Sep 12, 2013

(Reuters) – The Vatican said on Thursday it would cooperate with Dominican Republic authorities investigating the Holy See’s former ambassador on suspicion of pedophilia and denied the envoy had been recalled to protect him from local justice.

Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, 55, was recalled in August and relieved of his duties after local media accused him of sexual abuse of children.

In the first formal statement on the case, the Vatican said its sex crimes prosecutor had opened an investigation into the allegations.

Cardinal Nicolas Lopez Rodriguez of Santo Domingo personally informed Pope Francis in late July that there had been “serious accusations” against Wesolowski, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said in the written statement.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Sept. 8

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com )

Two Kansas City Catholic officials, Bishop Robert Finn and Carrie Cooper, in an act of stunning callousness, have issued a four page abuse ‘report’ that is deceptive and pathetic and harmful. It hides key information, hurts victims, and helps no one.

http://www.diocese-kcsj.org/_docs/OCYP_Report_2013_final_reduced.pdf

First, today Shawn Ratigan is being sentenced. Finn and Cooper rub salt into the wounds of Ratigan’s victims by pulling a carefully-crafted public relations stunt on a long-awaited day of closure for those who have suffered and are suffering because of Ratigan’s crimes and Finn’s crimes.

Their timing is reprehensible. Shame on both of them. Cooper should be particularly ashamed, since she trumpets herself as being involved in ‘healing.’

Second, it’s been said that a fish rots from the head down. So long as a diocese is headed by a criminal, especially one who has suffered no real consequences for his crimes, what low level church employees say is meaningless.

Third, Finn and Cooper insult the intelligence of Kansas City Catholics and citizens with this report issued on this date. They somehow believe that many will not recognize this PR stunt for what it is. We believe KC Catholics and citizens are smarter than that.

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DEUTSCHLAND
FN Web

LIMBURG/MÜNCHEN. Zu den Gesprächen des umstrittenen Limburger Bischofs Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst (Bild) mit dem päpstlichen Gesandten hüllt sich das Bistum in Schweigen. Kurienkardinal Giovanni Lajolo ist seit Montagabend in Limburg und wird noch bis mindestens Ende der Woche bleiben, wie ein Sprecher des Bistums Limburg gestern sagte. Ob der Gesandte von Papst Franziskus noch mehr Zeit braucht, um nach einer Lösung im Streit um Tebartz-van Elst zu suchen, sei unklar. Auch einen Zeitpunkt für eine öffentliche Erklärung gebe es noch nicht. Das entscheide der Bischof, erklärte der Sprecher. Der Gesandte will unter anderem mit dem Domkapitel, Vertretern des 35 Mitglieder starken Diözesansynodalrates und des Priesterrates reden.

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UNITED STATES
TheMediaReport

Background

* After the New York Times published three articles suggesting that Cardinal Dolan committed wrongdoing – possibly even criminal wrongdoing – as Archbishop of Milwaukee, the Times did not publish even a single story of a federal judge’s later decision completely vindicating Dolan;

* Weeks later, however, the Times’ Laurie Goodstein published a story about Church-suing contingency lawyers filing an unimportant motion to disqualify the federal judge who had rendered the very same decision that the Times had completely ignored.

As we reported back in July, the New York Times published three different articles aggressively attacking its local bishop, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, for merely transferring diocesan monies in 2007, when he was Archbishop of Milwaukee, to a cemetery trust fund to ensure that the monies were going to be used as intended by the original donors: for the future care and maintenance of Catholic cemeteries.

The Times and other professional anti-Catholics, such as those at SNAP, claimed that the $55 million transfer to the trust fund was a part of a diabolical plot by Dolan to “protect the assets from victims of clergy sexual abuse who were demanding compensation” by moving the money away.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph

From the Director, Carrie Cooper

When I accepted the responsibility of forming the Office of Child and Youth Protection, I made a promise to work alongside my team to rebuild your trust in the wake of the sexual abuse crisis within our faith community. I asked you to set aside the past and join our team in the battle against sexual abuse. I believe now more than ever that only by standing together can we cast the widest and
strongest safety net of protection for our children.

Throughout our diocese, people have stepped forward to strengthen that net. You are arming yourself with knowledge, standing watch against predators, educating children, and speaking out against abuse. You are beginning to understand why victims of abuse stand silent, alone, feeling needless shame and misplaced guilt. You are offering your prayers to help begin the healing process. Many of you made a call to the Ombudsman when something felt wrong to you. Over 1,000 leaders in our diocese attended Mandatory Reporter Training. And in every parish and school our children are being trained to identify and report abuse.

As you can see in this first comprehensive annual report, we are making a difference. Perpetrators of sexual abuse will continue to inhabit this world. We must remain vigilant. We must support the programs in place to keep children in our parishes and schools safe. It is up to ALL of us in this Catholic faith community to make sure our clergy, teachers and volunteers have the required training and background checks. We all must know the warning signs of abuse. If any of us observe or suspect abuse of a minor, we must report it. We cannot assume someone else will make that report. It is up to each one of us as ethical reporters to help stop abuse.

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.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph

Sep 5th, 2013

The Office of Child and Youth Protection of the Diocese of Kansas City – St. Joseph has released the first comprehensive annual report of its activities.

Last year at this time, Jenifer Valenti produced a report summarizing the first year of her work as Ombudsman. This year’s report covers the work of Victim Services, Safe Environment and Investigations for the period of July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013.

The full report is available as a pdf here.

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.

GERMANY
The Tablet

12 September 2013

The Vatican has sent Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, a former nuncio to Germany, to investigate a “destructive crisis of trust” between the Bishop of Limburg and priests and parishioners in his diocese.

Clergy and laity have accused Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst of lying, narcissism and squandering church money since he was appointed bishop six years ago. Tensions came to head last month when a large number of priests in his diocese used their Sunday homilies to criticise what they described as his authoritarian manner. Telbartz-van Elst was sent a petition with 4,500 signatures calling for more communication and transparency, especially regarding the renovation costs to the episcopal palace, which are said to be €15 million.

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.

VATICAN CITY
The Tablet

Robert Mickens in Rome – 12 September 2013

Pope Francis has temporarily stopped the practice of naming priests “honorary prelates”, which allows them to take the title “monsignor”.

The only exception is for those clerics who work in the Holy See’s diplomatic service. The Rome daily, Il Messaggero, reported the decision today.

The Tablet has learned that the Pope communicated the decision on 12 April, shortly after his election, to top officials the Secretariat of State, the office that grants approval to bishops around the world who propose priests for the honorary title.

During that meeting, Francis said he wanted the granting of such onorificienza to be put on hold at least until October, after he had met his group of eight cardinal-advisors to discuss reforming the Roman Curia and governance of the universal Church.

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.

VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Sep. 12, 2013 The Francis Chronicles

Pope Francis has stopped granting priests the honorary title of “monsignor” in advance of an October meeting with several cardinals on possible reforms in the Catholic Church, the London-based Catholic weekly The Tablet is reporting Thursday.

According to the Tablet’s Rome correspondent Robert Mickens, Francis first made the decision in April shortly after his election as pope. The decision was also reported by the Rome daily Il Messagero today.

The title monsignor is an honorific of sorts normally granted to priests as a reward for service to the church or as a sign of some special function they serve in church governance. The title is usually granted by the pope on the recommendation of the priest’s local bishop.

Some have criticized the practice, saying it leads to an air of careerism in the church.

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.

IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

Thu, Sep 12, 2013

Silenced Redemptorist priest Fr Tony Flannery said in Dublin tonight he believed the best way he could continue to serve the Church was by bringing into the light of day “the arcane and unjust processes that are the modus operandi of the Vatican watchdog, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).”

This was particularly the case as he had “given up hope of being allowed to minister as a priest again.”

Fr Flannery was silenced, removed from public ministry and threatened with excommunication by the Vatican last year because of his views on priesthood and Catholic teaching in the area of human sexuality.

Speaking tonight in the Royal Hibernian Academy at the launch of his new book A Question of Conscience by broadcaster Bill O’Herlihy, he said “it seemed to me that we had reached the end of the road. I was forbidden to minister as a priest and the conditions of returning to ministry were such that I could not comply with them without compromising my integrity.”

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.

IRELAND
The Journal

To give the survivors of horrific childhood abuse the support and care they need, we must properly understand the threat that suicide poses to victims, writes Mark Vincent Healy.

PERHAPS THERE CAN be no darker subjects than suicide and clerical child sexual abuse. When they are combined, where there is strong evidence in countless surveys and reports to suggest there is a direct link between them, one is perhaps doubly horrified by such issues. It’s a topic which can refer all too often to a horrific beginning to one’s life as it does a most tragic end.

I felt moved to do something about the combined suffering of suicide and clerical child sexual abuse and attended the launch of the World Suicide Prevention Week on Thursday 5 September 2013 at the Department of Health, Hawkins House.

As a campaign survivor of child sexual abuse by members of the Spiritans or Holy Ghost Fathers, I am mindful of the failures of this congregation to address my needs and those of others survivors and their distraught families with whom I am in contact. I have been told by the Acting CEO, Ms Teresa Devlin of the National Board for Safeguarding Children that she has received update reports from second tranche participants which once processed will be published later this month.

There is a connection between these events and their subjects and it’s a very tragic and important one.

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.

PORTUGAL
Jornal de Noticias

PJ e peritos descobriram um pedófilo compulsivo, que gosta de vestir-se de mulher e consome pornografia, escondido no padre brincalhão e competente descrito por alguns alunos e colegas que o defenderão em tribunal.

Luís Miguel Campos Mendes, 37 anos, começa a ser julgado no dia 19. Responde por 18 crimes de abuso sexual de criança, abuso sexual de menores dependentes e coação sexual contra internos do Seminário Menor do Fundão.

O padre nega tudo e, no âmbito de uma perícia física no Instituto de Medicina Legal de Coimbra, constante no processo consultado pelo JN, até garantiu ser heterossexual, desmentindo os comportamentos homossexuais que lhe são imputados pelas seis vítimas. Mas, ao mesmo tempo, afirma que nunca teve relações sexuais na vida, apesar de ter tido namorada durante dois anos. Portanto, jura, celibato puro e voto de castidade cumpridos à risca.

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.

CANADA
CBC News

The former Archbishop of Canada’s Orthodox Church took the stand in his sex assault trial in Winnipeg on Thursday.

Kenneth William (Seraphim) Storheim has pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual assault involving two pre-teen brothers who were members of the church more than 25 years ago.

The alleged sex assaults took place when Storheim worked at a parish in Winnipeg’s North End.

Storheim was the highest ranking cleric in the Canadian diocese of the Orthodox Church of America until he was suspended in November 2010, when the charges were laid against him.

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.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Sept. 12

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com )

Shawn Ratigan should be locked up for as long as possible. He shows no signs of remorse or rehabilitation. Ample evidence suggests that he would commit more child sex crimes if ever given the chance to be around kids.

We hope this judge will keep Ratigan behind bars as long as he can. And we hope others who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes and cover ups in Kansas City will dig deep and find courage. If they do, it’s crucial that they call independent sources for help – like police, prosecutors, therapist or support groups – not complicit Catholic officials. That’s how future heinous crimes like this will be prevented and how innocent kids will be spared devastating harm.

No matter what sentence Ratigan gets, we hope every single family that has been so severely hurt by his crimes will keep working hard to recover from this horrific trauma, most of which could clearly have been prevented if just one of a dozen top KC church officials had been decent and caring enough to call 911 years ago.

Ratigan can only be sentenced for the crimes he committed. The judge can’t be influenced by the on-going callousness, recklessness and deceit by Ratigan’s ex-employers and colleagues in the Catholic hierarchy.

Still, it’s worth noting that Missouri church officials have clearly not learned from the Ratigan scandal. They are continuing to keep silent or be deceptive about clergy sex cases, even when allegations are deemed credible and settlements are paid. Here are three very recent examples:

–Last week, newly-disclosed church abuse records showed that a priest from KC’s Assumption parish who attended St. John’s seminary in Kansas City and worked in nine Missouri church assignments was a child molester. He is Fr. John V. “Jack” Farris. A settlement was paid to one of his victims.

http://www.lorpb.com/documents/Clergy-September/Vincentians-(Farris).PDF

–The same church documents show that another predator, Fr. Jose Mendez, spent time at St. Augustine’s Monastery in Kansas City, Kansas. In addition to assaulting kids, Mendez admitted fathering a child. A settlement was paid to one of his victims.

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.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
Fox 4

[with video]

September 12, 2013, by Kathy Quinn

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A federal judge will sentence Father Shawn Ratigan in a child porn case that began in 2010.

The case against Ratigan began when a computer tech found hundreds of lewd pictures of five little girls on the his laptop. Ratigan pleaded guilty to four counts of producing child porn and one count of attempting to produce child pornography.

The pictures were taken by Ratigan on his camera and cell phone while he was a priest as several Kansas City parishes.

Bishop Robert Finn of the diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph, was actually charged for not reporting Ratigan in December 2010 when the pictures were reported to him. Bishop Finn waited several months before telling authorities.

Ratigan faces 15-30 years on each count.

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.

AUSTRALIA
Canberra Times

September 13, 2013

Peter Jean
Chief Assembly Reporter for The Canberra Times.

A Victorian cleric with interests in indigenous and interfaith issues will be the seventh Catholic Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn, the Vatican announced on Thursday night.

Christopher Prowse, the serving bishop of the Victorian diocese of Sale, has been appointed to the Canberra-based post by Pope Francis and will be installed in a ceremony at St Christopher’s Cathedral on November 19.

The archdiocese has been without a bishop since Mark Coleridge was appointed Archbishop of Brisbane in May 2012 and auxiliary Bishop Patrick Power retired a few weeks later.

Bishop Prowse was an auxiliary bishop in Melbourne from 2003 to 2009, when he was appointed to his post in Sale.

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.

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 12 September 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father appointed Bishop Christopher Charles Prowse as archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn (area 88,000, population 620,000, Catholics 176,500, priests 121, permanent deacons 7, religious 203), Australia. Bishop Prowse, previously bishop of Sale, Australia, was born in East Melbourne, Australia in 1953, was ordained to the priesthood in 1980, and received episcopal ordination in 2003

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.

PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Both worked in Pittsburgh & abused elsewhere
Settlements have been paid out in both cases
One is the third predator at one McKeesport school
SNAP blasts Catholic officials for “on-going secrecy”
It urges bishop to post all predator priests on his website

What:
Holding signs and childhood photos, clergy sex abuse survivors and their supporters will disclose that two clergy sex abuse cases have been settled involving

–a local priest who reportedly molested in Massachusetts but also worked in Pittsburgh, and
–another priest who molested in Maryland (and later pled guilty) but was then sent to work in a Pittsburgh church.

They will also hand deliver a letter to the Pittsburgh Catholic headquarters prodding Pittsburgh’s bishop to post the names and whereabouts of dozens of child molesting clerics on his diocesan website (like roughly 30 other bishops have done).

And they will urge anyone who may have “seen, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes and cover ups in Pittsburgh –by these two priests or other church employees – to “speak up, get help, call police, expose wrongdoers, protect kids and start healing”

When:
Thursday, Sept. 12 at 1:30 p.m.

Where:

On the sidewalk outside the Pittsburgh Catholic diocese headquarters (chancery office), 111 Boulevard of the Allies (corner of Stanwix) in downtown Pittsburgh, PA

Who:
Two-three members of a support group called SNAP (the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), including a Pittsburgh woman who is the organization’s local volunteer director

Why:
SNAP has learned that two child sex abuse cases, involving two local priests (who have attracted little or no attention in Pittsburgh), have been settled in other states.

Last week, the Associated Press reported that a child sex abuse case against Fr. Alan E. Caparella has settled.

[NorthJersey.com]

And SNAP has also learned that a case against another Pittsburgh priest, Fr. Richard Deakin, was settled in Baltimore.

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.

LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Victims to leaflet mass-goers
They list seven accused Ark. predators
Most have attracted little public attention
Several molested elsewhere but spent time here
Last year, one led a retreat, another was honored
Group urges bishop to post all child molesting clerics on websites

What
As parishioners leave mass, clergy sex abuse victims will hand out fliers listing seven proven, admitted or credibly accused child molesting Arkansas Little Rock priests, most of whom have attracted little public attention in the state. They will also urge

— Little Rock’s bishop to post the names and photos of these alleged predators on his diocesan and parish websites, and
— urge church officials to “actively seek out” anyone who “saw, suspected or suffered” clergy sex or cover ups and beg them to call police and prosecutors so that kids might be safer.

When
Thursday, Sept. 12 at 12:20 p.m.

Where
On the sidewalk outside the Cathedral of St. Andrew, 617 Louisiana Street (corner of 7th St.), Little Rock, Arkansas

Who
Two members of a support group for clergy sex abuse victims called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, including a Missouri woman who is the organization’s long time outreach director

Why
It’s been almost a decade since Little Rock’s Catholic bishop admitted that 11 priests in the state had been accused of child sex crimes. But despite a decade- old national church policy mandating “openness” in clergy sex cases, church staff have still not , as best SNAP can tell, disclosed all of their identities or ever updated that figure.

Nor has the bishop made clear “whether the allegations against the 11 priests were all substantiated,” according to the Little Rock Democrat. “Clearly, some were, since the diocese identified 18 victims.”

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.

CANADA
Sylvia’s Site

Holy Cross Brother Georges Sarazin had a court date in Montreal this morning (Tuesday, 11 September 2013). I will check tomorrow to see if I can find out when his next court date is.

As always, please keep the complainants in your prayers, and their families.

*****
The names of four Redemptorist priests from the Redemptorists Ste Anne de Baeupre province have been added to the Accused list:

Name of Father Xiste Langevin CSsR
Name of Father Herve Blanchet CSsR
Name of Father Guy Pilote CSsR
Name of Father Jean-Claude Bergeron CSsR

Five more to go. I will carry on tomorrow.

As anticipated I have had to split the Accused list into two pages (1) Accused A to L, and (2) Accused M to Z

I hadn’t wanted to do that but it had reached the point where it was inevitable that it would have to be done sooner than later. So, it’s done! A few hiccups in the process but I believe that thankfully the two new pages are working well.

The site is getting larger and busier. That’s all good, but it creates problems which I didn’t encounter in the past. Technological problems. And you know me and technological problems 🙁 Anyway, one day at a time I guess 🙂

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.

AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

Moshe Gutnick, the president of the Organisation of Rabbis of Australia, has issued an apology for the organisation’s failings to combat child sexual abuse within its components. It is believed to be a world first for a rabbi.

A letter was sent to all leaders of the State Orthodox peak bodies in Australia (as well as New Zealand) asking them to disseminate it to their rabbinic members. Rabbi Gutnick has also requested that the rabbis distribute the letter to their congregants either before or during Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement – Judaism’s holiest day.

Victims’ support group Tzedek, founded by activist Manny Waks welcomed the move. Mr. Waks said, “This is another incredible milestone for the Australian Jewish community. Crucially, this ground-breaking letter provides a frank acknowledgement of past mistakes and an unequivocal apology by Rabbi Gutnick on behalf of the Rabbinate. The letter rightly does not go into specific cases but rather acknowledges that the Rabbinate has in the past dealt abysmally with the issue of child sexual abuse.”

“This is an important development – it is an acknowledgment that many victims and survivors within religious institutions have longed to hear; that finally the national peak Orthodox rabbinic organisation is taking responsibility for the abuse they suffered, as well as for the subsequent cover-ups. Indeed it is what the entire community needed to hear, as without properly addressing the past, it is difficult to move forward towards a better future.”

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.

IRELAND
The Tablet

One of the three co-founders of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) in Ireland is to step down from his leadership role while he considers whether to remain in the priesthood.

Fr Tony Flannery, who has been suspended from ministry and threatened with excommunication by Rome for expressing views at odds with church teaching, told The Tablet he would withdraw from the administrative team at the association’s AGM next month. He said the next six months may determine his future as a priest.

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.

MISSOURI
WICS

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Federal prosecutors in Missouri are seeking a 50-year prison term for a Roman Catholic priest who admitted taking pornographic photos of children.

The Rev. Shawn Ratigan faces sentencing Thursday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City. The 47-year-old priest pleaded guilty in August 2012 to five counts of producing or attempting to produce child porn — one count for each of five victims.

Ratigan was charged in May 2011 after police received a flash drive from his computer containing hundreds of images of children, most of them clothed, with the focus on their crotch areas.

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.

REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
Noticias SIN

SANTO DOMINGO, República Dominicana.- Organizaciones como la Colectiva Mujer y Salud y La Multitud protestarán este miércoles, frente a la Nunciatura ante las denuncias de presunto abuso sexual a menores y mujeres por parte de sacerdote y el destituido nuncio apostólico en el país, Jósef Wesolowski.

La actividad está convocada para las 5 de la tarde frente a la Nunciatura Papal, en la Máximo Gómez esquina César Nicolás Penson.

Sus organizadores protestarán para reclamar “que los crímenes sexuales contra niños, niñas y adolescentes cometidos por exnuncio y los otros curas no queden impunes”.

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.

OHIO
Dayton Daily News

By Tom Beyerlein
Staff Writer

Marianist Brother Bernard Hartman, who was working in Dayton when allegations of long-ago sexual abuse of children on the other side of the globe made headlines in late 2011, has “voluntarily” returned to Australia to face charges, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported Thursday.

The report said the 73-year-old appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on charges he abused four children while working at St. Paul’s College in the 1970s and 1980s. Prosecutors told the court Hartman’s victims were two boys and two girls aged 6 to 16 at the time of the offenses, which took place at the college and the children’s homes, Australian Broadcasting reported.

Hartman’s next court hearing is set for November, according to the report.

In a prepared statement Thursday, the Rev. Martin Solma, provincial for the Marianist Province of the United States in St. Louis, said the Marianists recently received notice that Australian authorities had issued a warrant for Hartman’s arrest.

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.

UGANDA/VATICAN CITY
Legalbrief

Four Ugandan banks have been drawn into an illicit money scandal involving the Vatican Bank. Pope Francis has appointed South Africa’s Cardinal Wilfred Napier to a 15-member task team to reform the bank.

This after international banking giants JPMorgan Chase and HSBC closed the Vatican’s accounts around the world to reduce the risk of money laundering. The Times reports that Ugandan citizen Esther Nobasa has appeared in the Mbarara District Court, near Kampala, after she allegedly received large sums of money from the Vatican Bank. Stanlib and Standard Chartered have confirmed that their officials in Uganda will take part in hearings into how the money was transferred to accounts under their management. The investigation began after Ugandan police received a message from Interpol regarding the unauthorised ‘transfer’ of about $800 000 from the Vatican Bank to four banks.

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.

UGANDA/VATICAN CITY
Legalbrief

A Standard Bank branch in Uganda has been drawn into the illicit money scandal involving the Vatican Bank, according to a Sunday Times report which says a branch of Malaysia’s Standard Chartered in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, has also been linked to the investigation.

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CALIFORNIA
Modesto Bee

By Sue Nowicki — snowicki@modbee

STOCKTON — Roman Catholic Bishop Stephen Blaire sent out a letter to parishioners last weekend, saying the Diocese of Stockton has not made a final decision on filing for bankruptcy protection, but “it appears likely.”

The move would shelter the diocese from paying large awards in current and future lawsuits claiming sexual abuse by priests, specifically against notorious pedophile ex-priest Oliver O’Grady and the Rev. Michael Kelly. To date, more than two dozen of O’Grady’s victims have collected nearly $25million in damages from the diocese; the largest settlement ever paid by the diocese to an individual was $3.75million in a lawsuit against Kelly last year.

In his letter, Blaire promised the 35 individual parishes in the diocese – which numbers 250,000 parishioners and includes St. Stanislaus, Our Lady of Fatima and Holy Family in Modesto, Sacred Heart in Turlock and St. Jude in Ceres, among others – would not be impacted by a bankruptcy filing because they are all separate corporations. So, too, are other diocesan programs: The Catholic high schools in Modesto and Stockton, Catholic cemeteries, Catholic Charities, a retreat center, SEEDS (which provides Catholic school tuition assistance) and the recent capital campaign drive.

The diocese’s operational budget, too, is a corporation called “The Roman Catholic Bishop of Stockton,” according to diocesan officials. That’s the one considering filing for bankruptcy. Its budget is $5.1million for the 2013-14 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.

AUSTRALIA
Big Pond News

Thursday, September 12, 2013

The first public hearing into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse will be held in Sydney on Monday.

Stories have been gathered and parameters set, now Australia will see the behaviour of powerful institutions challenged as never before.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse holds its first public hearing in Sydney on Monday and the focus will be on how institutions, including influential church and state bodies, handled complaints that children in their care were sexually abused.

For thousands of Australians damaged for life by institutionally-protected sex offenders, the hearings represent longed-for acknowledgement and the best hope of opening the door to redress.

For advocacy group Broken Rites, which since 1993 has pressed for a Royal Commission into how churches handle child-sex crimes, the hearings are a path to justice.

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.

AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

AAP

THE national Royal Commission into child sexual abuse wants people to contribute ideas and expertise on the best ways to prevent children living in out-of-home care from being abused.

Out-of-home care includes arrangements by an agency for foster care, relative or kinship care, family group homes, residential care and independent living arrangements.

The fourth issues paper was published by the commission on Wednesday and organisations and individuals have until November 8 to lodge submissions.

The commission is investigating how institutions responded to child sex abuse allegations. It is holding its first public hearing in Sydney on Monday.

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CANADA
Windsor Star

Chris Thompson
Sep 11, 2013

A former Grimsby youth pastor who was most recently living in Windsor has been arrested here in connection with the sexual assault and extortion of a young woman.

Officers with the Niagara Regional Police Service assisted by members of Windsor police arrested the man at his South Windsor home on Tuesday.

Charged with sexual assault and extortion is Andrew Riach, 31.

The charges are in relation to incidents involving a young woman between 2006 and May of this year.

The young woman reported the incidents to police in May.

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.

CALIFORNIA
Monterey County Weekly

Mary Duan and Sara Rubin

1985: Fr. Edward Fitz-Henry is ordained as a priest and begins serving in the Diocese of Monterey.
1990: Fitz-Henry begins serving at Carmel Mission.

Summer, 1990: A mother reports sexually abusive behavior by Fitz-Henry toward her two sons to the Diocese. “They thought that I had shown too much affection or interest or friendship,” Fitz-Henry said in a deposition in 2011.

September, 1991: A 12-year-old victim of sexual abuse by Fr. John Velez reports the abuse to a priest. The Diocese of Monterey places Velez in a retreat center, and does not report the allegations to law enforcement.

Late 1992: The Diocese sends Fitz-Henry to three and a half weeks of treatment at Servants of the Paraclete in Jemez Springs, N.M., a residential congregation for priests and monks specializing in therapy and recovery from addiction, depression and pedophilia, among other issues.

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.

CALIFORNIA
Monterey County Weekly

Mary Duan and Sara Rubin

Judge Thomas Wills
Monterey County Superior Court

“I’m not beholden to anyone. Some have suggested that at times I’m sort of tied into an old boys network on the bench. That’s not true. I’m not. I call it like I see it.”
– Wills, speaking to the Weekly editorial board in 2008, in his campaign for the bench.

Paul Gaspari
Defense Attorney for the Diocese of Monterey, San Francisco and Santa Rosa; law firm of Weintraub Tobin, San Francisco

Paul Gaspari
“Our position is, this case is over and I don’t need to do anything.”

– Gaspari, arguing against the Weekly’s request for sealed documents and other material obtained during discovery in the case against Edward Fitz-Henry and the Diocese of Monterey, Sept. 10, 2013

Vince Finaldi
Plaintiff’s attorney for John R.J. Doe; law firm of Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, Irvine

“Those files show that they knew exactly who (Father Michael) Baker was and what he was doing.”

– Finaldi, in response to the 12,000 pages of documents that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles released earlier this year about how it handled allegations of sexual abuse by priests, including the accused priest Michael Baker. A settlement of nearly $10 million for four sex-abuse cases was agreed to by the L.A. Diocese.

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.

CALIFORNIA
Monterey County Weekly

[Fitz-Henry documents]

The Monterey County Weekly seeks full disclosure of documents in the case of Edward Fitz-Henry, a Catholic priest accused – but never convicted – of child molestation.

Mary Duan and Sara Rubin

On Sept. 10, the Monterey County Weekly sought to lift the veil of secrecy imposed on a civil suit filed against the Diocese of Monterey; Richard Garcia, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Monterey; and Father Edward Fitz-Henry, a Catholic priest and then-pastor of the Mission San Juan Bautista Church.

Fitz-Henry, a native of Dublin, Ireland who in previous years had been pastor at Madonna del Sasso Church in Salinas and the Carmel Mission in Carmel, found himself on the receiving end of a claim filed by a pair of attorneys who specialize in suing the Catholic Church and priests accused of molestation – and who have won numerous multi-million dollar awards on behalf of their clients.

The allegations in the Fitz-Henry suit, filed in Monterey County Superior Court in 2011, were about as unseemly as they come. The alleged victim, who filed under the name John RJ Doe, claimed that over the course of many months starting in 2005, Fitz-Henry engaged in sexual conduct with him at various locations throughout Madonna del Sasso – including oral sex in the church sacristy. Doe was 21 years old when attorneys Vince Finaldi and John Manly of the Irvine-based firm Manly, Stewart & Finaldi filed the suit; the timing puts Doe firmly in his mid-teens when the alleged conduct occurred.

Fitz-Henry’s parishioners, as well as parishioners throughout the Monterey Diocese, found out he was suspended from the priesthood on Feb. 13, 2011, when it was announced during Sunday services. Salinas police investigated, but no charges were ever brought. To this date, Fitz-Henry has never been charged with or convicted of any crime.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Comission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

[fourth issues paper]

Call for submissions – Preventing sexual abuse of children in out-of-home care.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse today released its fourth issues paper and is inviting members of the public to contribute ideas and expertise on the best ways to prevent the sexual abuse of children living in out-of-home care (OOHC).

Royal Commission CEO Janette Dines says out-of-home care includes arrangements by an agency for foster care, relative or kinship care, family group homes, residential care and independent living arrangements.

“The Royal Commission believes it is important to determine whether current practices and regulation adequately protects children from sexual abuse in out-of-home care,” said Ms Dines.

“The Royal Commission is interested in strategies that will keep children in care safe from sexual abuse and in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of current models of oversight of out-of-home care practices.

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IOWA
Addicting Info

Author: Stephen D. Foster Jr. September 11, 2013

By now, we’ve all undoubtedly heard of and been outraged by a Montana judge sentencing a former teacher to a mere 30 days in prison for raping one of his female students. But have you heard of the Iowa youth pastor who is walking free after confessing to raping boys to “cure” them of homosexuality?

Well, that’s precisely what happened in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Brent Girouex, 31, was arrested on 60 counts of suspicion of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist.

According to KRMG in Oklahoma, Girouex confessed to police that he had sex with at least four youths, but eight more have since come forward claiming that they were also violated by the now former pastor of Victory Fellowship Church.

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CALIFORNIA
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

Dear Governor Jerry Brown,

Today is the anniversary of 9/11 in New York City and Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, inspires us to write you (again) to ask you to immediately approve and sign bill SB 131 today because this would be the most significant day for all children, not only in California but throughout the USA and the whole world – as we have proposed that twice a year, September 11 (and May 1) should be the commemoration day to remember all victims of pedophiles (priests) and hence a day also to deter and stop pedophilia forever in the USA and in the world – read more here May 1 & September 11 anniversaries for SNAP and JP2 Army victims http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/07/may-1-september-11-anniversaries-for.html The numbers of victims of Los Angeles and USA pedophile priests outnumber more than three times those of 9/11.

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CALIFORNIA
Catholic San Francisco

September 11th, 2013
By Valerie Schmalz

Opponents are mobilizing to convince Gov. Jerry Brown to veto sexual abuse damages legislation that they say is discriminatory and imperils non profits, Catholic social services, private and parochial schools and poor parishes.

The Senate approved Senate Bill 131 21-8 with 10 no votes on Sept. 6. The Assembly passed it Sept. 4 by a vote of 44-15 with 19 abstentions.

The bill would open non profits and religious institutions to civil liability for alleged sexual abuse that occurred before Jan. 1, 2004, but for which victims only discovered injury after that date.

However, those abused in public schools or by someone in a government agency would not be able to sue for damages under the legislation, opponents said. The abusers themselves would also be exempt from civil suit during the one-year waiver of the statute of limitations which would begin Jan. 1, 2014.

In addition to the Catholic organizations, non-profits as diverse as the YMCA, Little League, Boy Scouts and private schools could face additional abuse claims.

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MINNESOTA
ABC 6

(ABC 6 NEWS) — Another person has come forward, claiming he was sexually abused by a former Rochester Boy Scout leader.

John Doe 17, who came forward and is now identified as Scott Hart, filed a lawsuit against Richard Hokanson, the Boy Scouts of America, the local Gamehaven Council, and St. Piux X Catholic church.

The lawsuit, which you can read here in it’s entirety, Doe 17 says from 1975 to 1981, he was abused 200-300 times in a storage room and classroom of St. Pius and on scouting trips.

Doe 17 was only 11 years old at the time.

The lawsuit was made possible by a change to Minnesota law this year, that remove the statue of limitations.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

by Curtis Gilbert, Minnesota Public Radio
September 11, 2013

A Rochester man is suing the Boy Scouts of America, alleging that a former scoutmaster sexually abused him from the age of 11 to 16.

In a lawsuit filed in Olmsted County District Court, Scott Hart, 48, contends that Scoutmaster Richard Hokanson molested him at least 200 times over a six-year period beginning in 1975.

Hokanson pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct in the early 1980s and was forced to go through psychiatric treatment.

Hart said he’s been through a lot over the last three decades.

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MINNESOTA
Grand Forks Herald

By: Associated Press,

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Rochester man who alleges he was molested by a Boy Scout leader in the 1970s is suing the Scouts.

It’s the third lawsuit involving the former scoutmaster, Richard Hokanson, since Minnesota temporarily lifted its statute of limitations for sexual abuse cases. He pleaded guilty in 1982 to molesting three Scouts in a troop sponsored by St. Pius X Church in Rochester.

At a news conference in St. Paul on Wednesday, Scott Hart said he decided to go public to seek justice on behalf of all children abused by Hokanson.

The lawsuit names the Boy Scouts of America, the Gamehaven Council, the church and Hokanson.

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REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
El Nuevo Dia

BY POR EZEQUIEL ABIU LOPEZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS

SANTO DOMINGO, República Dominicana — El cardenal dominicano Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez reveló que el recién destituido nuncio apostólico, Józef Wesolowski, será juzgado por el tribunal de la Congregación de la Doctrina de la Fe del Vaticano por las denuncias de supuesto abuso sexual de menores.

“Es un asunto sumamente grave, muy grave, lo más grave que le puede pasar a la diplomacia de la Santa Sede”, dijo el prelado a periodistas la noche del martes, luego de participar en una actividad académica.

López, también presidente del Episcopado Dominicano, detalló que él personalmente había viajado al Vaticano para informar al papa Francisco sobre los rumores que vinculan a Wesolowski con abuso sexual de infantes.

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FLORIDA
NBC Miami

[with video]

By Keith Jones | Wednesday, Sep 11, 2013

Father Alberto Cutié, who left the Catholic Church after a scandal stemming from a photo of him on Miami Beach in an embrace with his girlfriend, said he doesn’t believe the notion of priesthood celibacy will be taken up by the church anytime soon.

Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski echoed the sentiment on Wednesday too, and said that like marriage, celibacy takes discipline, prayer and dedication.

“In the life of the church celibacy an marriage compliment each other and are not in any way competing with each other,” Wenski said.

Archbishop Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state of the Vatican, said the church is open to discussion about the idea of priesthood celibacy being revisited. Pope Francis just last year said he was in favor of maintaining the tradition “for the moment.”

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LITTLE ROCK (AR)
UALR Public Radio

By JACOB KAUFFMAN

A former volleyball coach and a former athletic director from Mount Saint Mary Academy are headed to trial next week over allegations of sexual abuse. Kelly O’Rourke previously admitted to molesting a student in 2012 and will face charges over violating parole by attempting to contact the girl she molested. Kathy Griffin, the athletic director and a counselor for 9th grade girls, will face charges for having knowledge of child abuse but failing to report it.

The national group, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, sent a representative, Barbarra Dorris, to Little Rock Wednesday. She visited the Pulaski County Courthouse where the two trials are set.

“The school has done very little. They issued a statement that is extremely vague. You don’t know whether the teacher committed murder, stole school supplies, or molested a child. Parents needed that information to go home and talk to their kids to find out what happened,” said Dorris.

Dorris also offered critical words for Bishop Anthony Taylor of the Diocese of Little Rock, calling on him to use his “bully-pulpit” to visit the school and create a supportive atmosphere so any other potential victims could come forward. She said school and church officials’ response mirrors what is seen elsewhere.

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MISSOURI
Berger’s Beat

[Fr. John Valentine Farris documents]

[Fr. John Edward Ruhl documents]

. . .Hundreds of Catholic church records about predator priests were just released by plaintiff’s lawyers in California. Two of them are Vincentians who studied at a seminary in Perryville. One, Fr. John Valentine Farris, worked at least nine places in the St.Louis archdiocese (most recently, in the 1980s, at St. Gabriel’s in St. Louis Hills). The other is Fr. John Edward Ruhl, who worked in Cape Girardeau (then a part of the St. Louis archdiocese). The files – 130 pages about Farris and 150 pages about Ruhl – are included. .

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IRELAND
Association of Catholic Priests

Fr Tony Flannery has sent a quick reminder that the launch of his book, A Question of Conscience, will take place at the Royal Hibernian Academy tomorrow, Thursday, at 6.30pm. Tony adds:

“I am hoping for a big gathering, as a show of solidarity for the cause of renewal in the Church.”

And seemingly Veritas have at last made their decision that they will not stock the book. A man, who called in there today, sent me the following:

I went to Veritas today to get your book but was told that they will not be stocking it – a ‘Senior Management’ decision. When I said I would like to speak to the ‘Senior Management’ who made the decision my request was met with a smile and a shrug.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Prensa Latina

Santo Domingo, Sep 11 (Prensa Latina) Dominican organizations are planning to ask for former papal nuncio Josef Wesolowski and two priests accused of alleged child rape to be brought to justice.

The demand will occur at a central intersection in the capital, in front of the Papal Nunciature, said two of the organizations, Colectiva Mujer y Salud and La Multitud.

“We will demand that Dominican justice intervene so that these cases do not go unpunished and the victims can be compensated through criminal and civil actions against the defendants,” reads the call.

At least seven children between the ages of 13 and 18 were identified as victims of sexual abuse by Wesolowsk, said Deputy Attorney Bolivar Sanchez yesterday. Sanchez is in charge of the criminal investigation which began last week.

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CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on September 11, 2013
Msgr. John Urell is back in the headlines again, this time featured in the latest document dump by religious orders in the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

From Gustavo Arellano at the OC Weekly:

At the end of the 121-page report is the memo, detailing a conversation that a Vicentian Fathers and Brothers investigator had with Urell after a former prospective seminarian had come forward to claim that Ruhl had made him kneel down, naked, then shoved his face into Ruhl’s crotch “for his penance.”

Urell reassured the Vicentian investigator that Ruhl “was on ‘inactive leave’ and that there were no expectations that he would ever return to active ministry.” Reason? Ruhl “had been confronted with another case of similar inappropriate behaviour and that a lie-detector test had indicated that there was reason to suspect that there had possibly been other inappropriate behaviours.”

Did Urell and the Orange diocese ever report Ruhl to the police? Nope. Did Urell ever tell parents at St. Joseph that they lied to them when announcing Ruhl had gone on leave to care for a mythical sick relative? Nope.

And Urell still has a job as the pastor at St. Timothy’s parish. There is even a nifty photo of him on the website.

Which leads me to my point: It’s way past time for John Urell to go. How many more crimes—facilitating child sex abuse and covering up for offenders—does he need to commit?

But I can hear the Urell defenders now … It’s back to the ol’ “Forgiveness vs. Accountability” argument.

“Oh, Joelle,” they say. “Quit being so angry and forgive him. He is such a nice guy and has done so much good for so many people. He was so kind when my mother died/we got married/my child was ill/I needed someone to listen to me.”

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — While a military-backed dictatorship in Argentina was conducting a clandestine war on suspected dissidents, then-Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the future pope, masterminded a secret strategy to save those being targeted, according to a new book.

Titled “Bergoglio’s List: Those Saved by Pope Francis; Stories Never Told,” also includes the transcript of the then-cardinal’s testimony during a nearly four-hour court interrogation in 2010. A panel of judges was investigating suspected human rights violations committed during the 1976-1983 dictatorship.

The future pope was head of the Jesuit province in the country from 1973 to 1979, the height of the clandestine war, which saw as many as 30,000 Argentines kidnapped, tortured, murdered or disappeared, never to be seen again.

The book, currently only in Italian, was to be released Oct. 1, while excerpts were published in the Italian Catholic daily, Avvenire, Sept. 6.

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ST. PAUL (MN)
Jeff Anderson & Associates

press conference video
lawsuit
John Doe photo
Richard Hokanson file
Richard Hokanson mug shot

September 11, 2013

(Rochester, MN) – At a news conference on Wednesday in St. Paul, prominent Minnesota sexual abuse attorney Jeff Anderson announced the filing of a civil lawsuit on behalf of a Rochester man who alleges he was sexually abused by a Boy Scout Leader in the 1970’s.

The former scout, Scott Hart, who spoke at today’s news conference, is identified in the complaint as Doe 17 and was abused by Hokanson from the age of 11-16 when Hokanson was the scout leader of St. Pius X sponsored Troop 210 in Rochester. “I have decided to come forward today to seek justice on behalf of myself and all of the other kids who were abused by Hokanson” said Hart. “I would like to also extend support to John Doe 180 in his quest for accountability and transparency. The organization that teaches children the oath of the Boy Scout laws and the motto to be honest and have integrity to do the right thing couldn’t practice what they preached.”

“The Boy Scouts failed to warn, inform and train volunteers and scouts about pedophiles in scouting,” said attorney Jeff Anderson, “had the Boy Scouts been transparent and if they would’ve told the truth about the seriousness of the danger of pedophiles in scouting, the abuse of this Scout, now an adult, could have been prevented. We are proud to support Scott in this courageous action and encourage others to come forward who are still suffering in shame and silence.”

A law enforcement investigation in 1982 found that in January 1980, a mother of a troop member told an assistant scout leader that five troop members had reported to her that “Hokanson was gay and he plays with the boys while showing them first aid.” The Assistant Scout Leader refused to report Hokanson, took no steps to talk with the troop members who reported the abuse, failed to initiate an investigation of Hokanson and suggested the mother discuss her concerns directly with the offender, Hokanson.

In another interview with police during the 1982 investigation, a priest assigned to the troop’s sponsor, St. Pius X, acknowledged that he had heard of “homosexual activities” of Hokanson, but neither he, nor anyone else at St. Pius, reported the allegations to law enforcement.

In 1982, Hokanson disclosed to law enforcement officials that he had sexual contact with 2I children who were participating in scouting, was criminally charged for the abuse of just three scouts, and in 1982, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 42 months in state prison, stayed, on condition that he undergo treatment in the intensive sexual abuse program at St. Peter. Hart was involved in the criminal prosecution in 1982 and was also called to testify in Hokanson’s 1994 criminal case in Hennepin County.

In October 2012, as part of an Oregon lawsuit, the Boy Scouts of America released approximately 1,200 “Perversion Files” documenting reports of sexual abuse by Scoutmasters and adult leaders from 1965-1985 including Hokanson and 22 other scout leaders from Minnesota.

As part of John Doe 180’s civil suit, the Perversion Files from 1999-2008 were set to be used in a cancelled trial this week in Ramsey County.

The lawsuit, filed under the Child Victims Act, the new Minnesota law eliminating the civil statute of limitations for children who are sexually abused and allowing a 3-year window for past victims of childhood sexual abuse to file lawsuits, name the Boy Scouts of America, Gamehaven Council, Inc., St. Pius X Catholic Church (the sponsor of the troop) and former troop leader and convicted child molester Richard Hokanson, as defendants.

It is estimated that Hokanson spent at least 22 years as a Boy Scout leader and held other positions in the Rochester area involving youth activities. It is believed that Hokanson currently resides in Faribault, Minnesota.

Note: Copies of the complaint and Hokanson’s IV file are available at: www.AndersonAdvocates.com under “Case Resources” and a video of the press conference will be available on our YouTube channel shortly.

Attorney Jeff Anderson is a St. Paul, Minnesota-based, internationally known trial lawyer widely recognized as a pioneer in sexual abuse litigation. Anderson has represented thousands of survivors of sexual abuse by authority figures and clergy.

Office/651.227.9990 Mobile/612.817.8665

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UNITED KINGDOM
Huffington Post

Religion News Service | By Trevor Grundy
Posted: 09/09/2013

CANTERBURY, England (RNS) Richard Dawkins, one of the world’s best-known and outspoken atheists, has provoked outrage among child protection agencies and experts after suggesting that recent child abuse scandals have been overblown.

In an interview in The Times magazine on Saturday (Sept. 7), Dawkins, 72, he said he was unable to condemn what he called “the mild pedophilia” he experienced at an English school when he was a child in the 1950s.

Referring to his early days at a boarding school in Salisbury, he recalled how one of the (unnamed) masters “pulled me on his knee and put his hand inside my shorts.”

He said other children in his school peer group had been molested by the same teacher but concluded: “I don’t think he did any of us lasting harm.”

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DEUTSCHLAND
Focus

Kardinal Reinhard Marx hat starke Kritik an der Vatikanbank geäußert. Ob diese überhaupt benötigt werde, findet er „umstritten“. Auch allgemein hält er eine Reform der römischen Kurie für nötig, hin zu „mehr Transparenz, Aufsicht und Verantwortung“.

Der Münchner Erzbischof und Kardinal Reinhard Marx hat sich für eine Reform der römischen Kurie ausgesprochen. „Wir brauchen mehr Transparenz, Aufsicht und Verantwortlichkeit“, sagte der 59-Jährige der Wochenzeitung „Die Zeit“. „Eine Institution, die nicht mehr dient, sondern sich lediglich selber stark und fett macht, schadet am Ende allen.“ Marx gehört der neuen Kommission von acht Kardinälen an, die Papst Franziskus bei der Leitung der Weltkirche beraten sollen. Das Gremium kommt Anfang Oktober erstmals in Rom zusammen.

Kritisch sieht Marx die in Verruf geratene Vatikanbank. „Ob der Vatikan überhaupt eine solche Bank benötigt, ist umstritten“, sagte der Kardinal. „Mich empört jedenfalls, dass eine Einrichtung über Jahrzehnte derart den Ruf der Kirche in der Öffentlichkeit und bei den Gläubigen geschädigt hat.“

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DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Rundschau

Der Münchener Kardinal Reinhard Marx sieht den Limburger Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst nicht als Opfer einer Medienkampagne. “Medienkampagnen laufen ins Leere, wenn da nichts ist”, sagt er und verweist darauf, dass die Gebote von Transparenz und Wahrhaftigkeit auch für Bischöfe gelten.

Im Konflikt um den Limburger Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst hat der Münchener Kardinal Reinhard Marx Offenheit angemahnt. Er widersprach zudem im Interview mit der Wochenzeitung “Die Zeit” (Donnerstag) Einschätzungen, erst die Medien hätten den Bischof in Bedrängnis gebracht. “Medienkampagnen laufen ins Leere, wenn da nichts ist”, sagte er demnach. Deshalb seien Aufklärung und Offenheit so wichtig. “Im übrigen gelten auch für Bischöfe wie für alle Gläubigen die Gebote von Transparenz und Wahrhaftigkeit”, wird der katholische Erzbischof von München und Freising weiter zitiert.

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IRELAND
RTE News

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has given additional responsibilities to Auxiliary Bishop Eamonn Walsh, who he criticised in the wake of the Murphy Report four years ago.

Bishop Walsh, whose resignation was rejected by Pope Benedict following the Government-commissioned report, has been made head of the newly-established Office for Clergy in the Dublin Archdiocese.

The additional duties will see him co-ordinating all aspects of the theological and pastoral formation and pastoral care of the archdiocese’s 413 priests.

The 69-year old has served as an auxiliary bishop of Dublin for 23 years.

Between 2002 and 2006, he also administered the diocese of Ferns following the resignation of Bishop Brendan Comiskey over his attempted cover-ups of child sexual abuse scandals.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
The Province (Canada)

BY EZEQUIEL ABIU LOPEZ, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – The Dominican Republic’s Catholic archbishop has confirmed that the Vatican will investigate the country’s recently removed papal envoy over allegations of child sex abuse.

Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez told reporters late Tuesday that Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski will be investigated by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the office that deals with abuse allegations.

“This is an extremely serious issue, very serious, the most serious of its kind for the Holy See,” Lopez said.

It is believed to be the first known sex abuse investigation against a high-ranking Vatican official in recent times, though former Vatican officials have also been accused after they left Rome.

Lopez said he personally travelled to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis to talk about the allegations involving the 65-year-old Wesolowski. …

Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito said if the government finds any concrete evidence against Wesolowski, it would seek his extradition. He noted, however, that the Dominican Republic has no extradition agreement with the Vatican.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

Bravehearts Inc. is a child protection awareness organisation founded and led by Hetty Johnson in 1996. Hetty was motivated by the revelation of abuse of her daughter by a family member. Her organisation employs over 50 people, and is the organisation of choice for media outlets seeking comment on the issue of child sexual abuse.

During the national child protection week, her group runs “White Balloon Day”. This year the main function was attended by Royal Commission chairman, Peter Mc.Clellan, who was the guest speaker and praised the organisation highly.

Johnston has published a book detailing her beliefs called “In the Best Interests of the Child.” In 2004, Hetty Johnston unsuccessfully stood for the Senate, with sponsorship from a television network.

In 2010, Bravehearts invited the Catholic Church to officially participate in her White Balloon Day activities. In a joint press release, Sr. Angela Ryan of the Catholic Church National Committee for Professional Standards (which handles its child abuse complaints), said that “We are happy to accept the invitation from Bravehearts to
participate in this national campaign by flying white balloons outside our Churches and Schools during Child Protection Week.”

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CALIFORNIA
Orange County Weekly

[Fr. John Ruhl documents]

By Gustavo Arellano Wed., Sep. 11 2013

In the spring 1992, a huge controversy emerged at St. Joseph Elementary School in Placentia, as parents and teachers were up in arms against the Diocese of Orange and principal John Ruhl. The former Vicentian was apparently a Grade-A douchebag, physically and verbally assaulting female teachers, and parents wanted him gone. Monsignor John Urell, secretary to then-Bishop Norman McFarland, told the media not to worry: Ruhl had “taken a leave of absence to care for an ailing family member,” and Urell didn’t know when he’d return.

It would be never, because Urell was hiding an inconvenient secret: Ruhl was a pedo-priest. That revelation wouldn’t happen until this week, when personnel files released by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles revealed that Urell and the Orange diocese knew Ruhl was a pedo-priest, but never alerted the public or authorities about it.

Ruhl’s story is already somewhat known; in 2005, his Orange diocese personnel file was inadvertently leaked to the Orange County Register, who–breaking news in the pedo-priest scandal for the first time ever (and taking three reporters to do it)–reported that the priest admitted to diocesan officials that he once duct-taped a student’s penis to stop the teen from masturbating. McFarland, to his credit, had Ruhl removed from active ministry and paid to hook up Ruhl to a lie-detector machine, “results…not included in the portion of his file,” wrote the Reg back in 2005.

The results appeared in a June 16, 1993 memo included in Ruhl’s LA archdiocese files. At the end of the 121-page report is the memo, detailing a conversation that a Vicentian Fathers and Brothers investigator had with Urell after a former prospective seminarian had come forward to claim that Ruhl had made him kneel down, naked, then shoved his face into Ruhl’s crotch “for his penance.”

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ALABAMA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday September 11, 2013

Statement by Barbara Dorris, Outreach Director, 314-862-7688 SNAPdorris@gmail.com

An Alabama church employee who pled guilty to sexually abusing a 17-year-old girl won’t be going to prison.

Instead, Blake Jerrod Earl will be serving a year of unsupervised probation and counseling leaving him on the streets, free to harm children again.

We urge officials at Solid Rock Christian Center in Huntsville to encourage anyone who witnessed, suspected or experienced abuse to come forward and inform the authorities. As victims, we sincerely hope that any additional information presented will be used to keep Earl away from children.

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ROME
Vatican Insider

Cuban artist Erik Ravelo’s photo project “Los Intocables”, depicting violence against children in various contexts,including the Catholic Church, is raising a storm

MEROPE IPPIOTIS
ROME

The paedophilia scandal continues to haunt the Catholic Church, this time through the realm of art – though some may disagree about how appropriate the use of the term “art” is in the case of Cuban artist Erik Ravelo’s project “Los Intocables” (The Untouchables).

Ravelo recently published a controversial photo collection, featuring images of children “crucified” to the backs of a number of symbolic figures representing different contexts in which violence is notoriously inflicted on children. “The images refer to paedophilia in the Vatican, child sex tourism in Thailand, the war in Syria, the trafficking of black market organs “donated” by children in the third world and obesity,” Australian website news.con.au reports. “Erik Ravelo took a series of photos of children hung like Jesus from a cross, but in the place of the cross were soldiers, surgeons, priests and Ronald McDonald,” the website explains.

The images which points the finger at the Catholic Church, depicts a young boy in nothing but his underwear, pinned to the back of a Catholic cardinal is a painful reminder of the sex abuse scandal that has plagued the Catholic Church in recent years.

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NEW YORK
Huffington Post

By Julie Shapiro

BROOKLYN — In a surprise rejection of Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes’ nearly 24 years on the job, challenger Kenneth Thompson won a sweeping victory over the longtime incumbent in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.

Thompson, an attorney best known for representing a hotel worker who claimed she was sexually assaulted by French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn, drew 55 percent of the vote, compared with Hynes’ 45 percent, with 96 percent of precincts reporting.

Thompson’s victory dealt a major blow to Hynnes, whose name will still appear on the Nov. 5 ballot as a Republican candidate, after securing that party’s nomination earlier. …

Hynes, the first Brooklyn D.A. to be voted out of office in more than a century, has faced criticism for allegedly not pursuing sexual assault and pedophilia cases in the Orthodox Jewish community as well as concerns over the conduct of one of his subordinates — weaknesses Thompson exploited in his run against the well-known Brooklyn prosecutor.

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NEW YORK
Gothamist

New York Election Law § 17-142 states that any person who “offers or promises to pay, lend or contribute any money or other valuable consideration to induce such voter or other person to vote or refrain from voting at any election” is guilty of a felony. That being said, South Williamsburg voters at IS 71 can get a chance to win $250 cash prizes and gift certificates—all they have to do is cast a ballot.

A 16-year-old who said he was being paid $350 to man a booth a little more than 100 feet from the polling station at IS 71 told us that families of area yeshiva students received this card in the mail before the election. The card promises entry into a raffle boasting $250 cash prizes and gift certificates when presented to a worker after voting. You could also pick up one of the special cards from a van sitting outside the polling station.

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NEW YORK
Gothamist

What appears to be an orchestrated pattern of voter fraud is being reported at a pivotal precinct in South Williamsburg. According to a Board of Elections poll worker and another poll watcher, groups of young Hasidic men attempted to enter the polling station at IS 71 and vote under the names of other citizens who have yet to vote. “They’re signing signatures, but the ID they show doesn’t match the signature on the forms. Yes, there’s been some illegal stuff going on,” BOE poll worker Antoinette Reaves said.

An NYPD officer standing outside IS 71 told us he had witnessed four men attempting to vote under the wrong name in the two hours he had been posted there.

While some of the attempts were made by men who looked to be of voting age, others struck poll workers as obviously fraudulent. “They’re fourteen, fifteen years old, walking in here with a crowd of people. We stopped them and asked for ID—we know they’re too young to go in there. They’ve been trying it all day,” Reaves said. “The same faces are appearing.”

While Reaves could not say whether or not any of them have been successful, David Greenberg, a poll watcher for city council candidate Stephen Pierson, said the sheer number of attempts suggested that the problem was more widespread.

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REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
al Momento

Por ALI NUÑEZ

Cardenal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez.

SANTO DOMINGO.- El arzobispo de Santo Domingo, Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez, dijo la noche de este martes que había informado al Vaticano sobre las alegadas malas prácticas del exnuncio Jósef Wesolowski, acusado en República Dominicana de prácticas de pederastia.

“Yo recogí algunas informaciones y se las comuniqué directamente al Papa. Fue solamente eso”, explicó.

Aclaró que tenía algunas informaciones confidenciales, pero no pruebas de las mismas.

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VATICAN CITY
John Thavis

As Pope Francis presided over a meeting of Roman Curia department heads today, his new pick for Secretary of State was making news on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Archbishop Pietro Parolin, in an interview with the Venezuelan newspaper El Universal, said among other things that the church’s tradition of priestly celibacy was not dogma and was therefore open to discussion. And he said that while the church was not a democracy, it needs to reflect the democratic spirit of the times and adopt a collegial way of governing.

Neither statement is exactly groundbreaking, but the fact that the new secretary of state feels free to make them says a lot about the current atmosphere in the Vatican.

Parolin said that priestly celibacy, which remains the norm in the Western church, is a tradition that goes back to early Christian times and that has been strengthened through the centuries.

“The effort made by the church to institute ecclesial celibacy must be taken into consideration. One cannot simply say that it belongs to the past,” he said.

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CANADA
Sooke News Mirror

Published: September 11, 2013

Father Philip Jacobs, a parish 63-year-old priest who once served at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Sooke, was sentenced on September 4 to two years probation along with a five-month conditional sentence. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Miriam Gropper found the priest guilty in March and imposed the sentence while stating it was clear Jacobs acted deliberately.

Jacobs was found guilty in March for sexually touching a teenager while ministering at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic School in Saanich between 2000 and 2001. The victim was an alter server at the time and stated Jacobs molested him more than once and “less than 12” times. Jacobs was arrested in 2010, released on $25,000 bail and has essentially been under house arrest since then. Jacobs has been known to live along West Coast Road.

Jacobs was acquited on three other charges that include one count of sexual assault and two of sexually touching a person under 14.

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NEW YORK
Brooklyn Daily

Brooklyn primary voters rendered a stunning verdict on six-term District Attorney Charles “Joe” Hynes — and sentenced him to retirement.

Former federal prosecutor Ken Thompson scored an historic upset against Hynes in the Sept. 10 Democratic primary — bringing the incumbent’s 23-year tenure as Brooklyn’s top lawman to a startling close. Thompson is the first challenger to unseat an incumbent district attorney in more than a century, and will become the first African-American to hold the office.

Hynes — who had already secured the Republican and Conservative lines on the November ballot — chose to bow out of his position. The defeated DA said he would spend the following months working with Thompson to transfer the reins of power. …

Hynes also suffered from bad press over his office’s weak response to sex abuse cases in the Orthodox Jewish community — a powerful voting block that long backed him.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY SIMONE WEICHSELBAUM AND GLENN BLAIN / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

PUBLISHED: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes’ 23-year run as the borough’s top prosecutor has come to an end following his stunning defeat in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.

Hynes was the city’s first sitting district attorney to be voted from office since 1955 after he was defeated by former prosecutor Kenneth Thompson 55% to 44%, according to unofficial results.

A Brooklyn District Attorney had not been voted out of office since 1911.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.- of Santo Domingo Archbishop cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez Tuesday night confirmed that it was he who informed the Vatican about the alleged wrongdoing by former envoy Jósef Wesolowski, accused of sexually molesting several minors.

“I gathered some information and reported directly to the Pope, it was only that, I spent three days in the Vatican,” he said, and confirms reports in that regard.

He said he’s unaware of the ex nuncio’s whereabouts.

Lopez revealed having some confidential information, but no evidence on Wesolowski, who he affirms will be processed in a Vatican court which deals with child abuse cases.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
The Sun Daily

SANTO DOMINGO (Sept 11, 2013): Parents of several children in the Dominican Republic have accused the Vatican’s now-sacked envoy to the Caribbean nation of paedophilia, authorities said Tuesday.

“There are a number of parents who have filed reports” against Josef Wesolowski, deputy prosecutor Bolivar Sanchez told reporters.

Sanchez was tapped by Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito to lead the investigation into the case.

“So far, we have interviewed three (boys) here; in another location we interviewed four more boys,” said Sanchez.

“They are all from 13 to 18 years old and mainly from very poor neighbourhoods,” he said.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Hong Kong Standard

Parents of several children in the Dominican Republic have accused the Vatican’s sacked envoy to the Caribbean nation of pedophilia, authorities said.

“There are a number of parents who have filed reports” against Polish national Josef Wesolowski, deputy prosecutor Bolivar Sanchez said.

Sanchez was tapped by Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito to lead the investigation, AFP reports.

“So far, we have interviewed three [boys] here; in another location we interviewed four more boys,” said Sanchez. “They are all from 13 to 18 years old and mainly from very poor neighborhoods.’’

He added there were “some very painful situations.’’

On August 21 Monsignor Wesolowski, the papal nuncio in Santo Domingo, was sacked. The Vatican did not share the news with the public.

Last week, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told the I.Media news agency on Vatican affairs that an investigation was underway in Rome into allegations of child sex abuse against Wesolowski.

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AUSTRALIA
J-Wire

Rabbi Moshe Gutnick, the president of the Organisation of Rabbis of Australasia, has sent a special sermon on sexual misconduct to rabbis in Australia and New Zealand to be delivered on Yom Kippur.

The text of his letter:

“I am writing to you on the Eve of Yom Kippur with the intention that this letter be read and contemplated in the break between Musaph and Mincha on Yom Kippur. Our Sages teach that notwithstanding the extraordinary holiness of the day, the reading of the Torah at Mincha on Yom Kippur recounts the laws of sexual misconduct, because of their
unfortunate prevalence and the need to seek atonement.

Furthermore we are instructed, that until we make amends with our fellow man, we cannot find atonement with Hashem.

In that spirit I wish to address the issue of child sexual abuse. Over the last few years it has become clear that our community has been affected by this scourge no differently than any other community. It has also become clear that we have not handled this issue in an appropriate manner.

I wish to be frank. For whatever reason a culture of cover up, often couched in religious terms, pervaded our thinking and actions. It may even have been well intentioned, but it was simply wrong. An issue of child sexual abuse must be reported to the police immediately and perpetrators must be brought to justice. It makes no difference whether the crime took place ten years ago or ten days ago. There can be no exceptions and no excuses.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

September 11, 2013

Barney Zwartz
Religion editor, The Age.

Australia’s most senior Orthodox rabbi has apologised for years of mishandling and cover-up of child sexual abuse within the Jewish community and urged abusers to hand themselves in to police.

“For whatever reason a culture of cover-up, often couched in religious terms pervaded our thinking and actions. It may even have been well-intentioned, but it was simply wrong,” said Moshe Gutnick, the president of the Organisation of Rabbis of Australia, on Wednesday.

Ahead of the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, the Day of Atonement, Rabbi Gutnick told victims no one could know their pain and what they had been through.

“And the pain has only been magnified by our inaction. On this holiest of days, I sincerely beg your forgiveness on behalf of all of us who did not hear your voice.

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NEW YORK
NBC New York

Kenneth Thompson, a lawyer best known for representing the maid in the sex assault scandal involving former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn, won the Democratic nomination for Brooklyn district attorney Tuesday, unseating longtime prosecutor Charles Hynes.

With 98 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday night, Thompson was leading with 55 percent of the vote.

Hynes has the support of the GOP but says he won’t run as a Republican. There are no other major party candidates in the general election. …

Charles “Joe” Hynes, 78, held the job more than 20 years — a ubiquitous figure with a tough-on-crime persona won him diverse fans — and critics — throughout the borough.

He was blasted by some for being soft on crime in the borough’s large but insular Orthodox Jewish community. He was accused of catering to powerful rabbis who did not want criminal cases, especially sex abuse cases, handled by secular authorities. Hynes denied the allegations.

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ISRAEL
Religion News Blog

ReligionNewsBlog.com — The sadistic leader of a cult that was based in Jerusalem and the Tiberias region of Israel has been found guilty of a range of crimes, including physically-, mentally-, and sexually abusing six women and dozens of children.

The cult was busted in August 2011, based on report from a young woman who, in May that year, busted in August 2011, based on the report of a woman who called the Israel Center for Cult Victims [Hebrew-language website. English version via Google Translate].

YNetNews says

A gag order has been placed on the full indictment in a bid to prevent the identification of the dozens of young children and their mothers. […]

According to the indictment, D. saw himself as the successor of a well-known figure from his Hasidic movement and the person chosen to distribute his doctrine in the world. He got more and more women to join his cult by convincing them of his “powers.”

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