ABUSE TRACKER

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

November 17, 2013

NL Sorry for Downplaying Priest Sex Abuse Cases

NETHERLANDS
NL Times

The Prosecutor’s Office may have dealt with a bias with cases between against Catholic priests who sexually abused children, prompting an apology from Safety and Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten (VVD).

“An excuse is in order,” Opstelten said on Thursday, during a Second Chamber debate that looked at how the Prosecutor’s Office handled these cases between 1945 and 1980.

“Let there be no misunderstanding; class justice is unacceptable now, but it was also unacceptable back then. I regret the way things were handled; it was different times then, but it is still unacceptable and apologies are in order,” said Opstelten. He said the individual victims would also be contacted directly.

Several members of the Second Chamber had called for an apology during the debate, placing blame on the Prosecutor’s Office and hinting that asking forgiveness would help in the healing process.

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.

A priest’s view: Media and others are overly focused on sex scandals among some Catholic priests

MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

By: Rev. Richard Partika, Duluth News Tribune

This is not intended to justify or excuse any of the scandal caused by some priests. My only purpose is to give some clarity and balance to the way these things are reported. I am not a scholar, and, unlike most of today’s priests, I do not have any academic degrees. I am just a bystander who cares about fairness and sanity.

Let us start with numbers. Considering all the priests, only a very few are abusers. And I readily agree that even one who’s abusive is far too many.

So let us try to learn how some get into the priesthood. Let us realize there are many seminaries in the country, some diocesan and others run by religious orders. Let us assume for lack of knowing the exact figures that the average class ordained each year is 30 men. On average, some of these men began their studies in the ninth grade and were in the minor and major seminaries for 12 or fewer years before ordination.

The role of a seminary is to help a candidate determine, under guidance, whether he has a vocation and, if so, to acquire the education needed to live that vocation along with the spiritual formation.

Each candidate has his own personality, background, motivation and degree of internal honesty in pursuing the priesthood. Some of this may show itself and often then the candidate may be advised either to leave or to shape up. Some may never seek out a spiritual director for help and advice along the way. What an individual keeps hidden within himself may be known only to God. And what the man hides may well be the source of future scandals he may cause.

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.

London Police Drop Sex Abuse Charges against Prominent Rabbi

UNITED KINGDOM
The Jewish Press

By: JTA Published: November 16th, 2013

A police investigation into sex abuse allegations against a prominent London rabbi has been dropped.

The Metropolitan Police said Friday that the Crown Prosecution Service would not bring charges against a 54-year-old man regarding allegations of sexual assault, The Jewish Chronicle of London reported on its website.

Several London rabbis have confirmed to JTA in the past that the 54-year-old man in question in Rabbi Chaim Halpern.

The report said that officers from the London borough of Barnet’s sexual offenses, exploitation and child abuse command, had fully investigated all the allegations.

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.

Mea Culpa woedend om opdragen mis Wiertz in Koepelkerk

MEDERLAND
Dichtbij

ROERMOND – Bisschop Frans Wiertz draagt morgen in de Koepelkerk in Maastricht de heilige mis op. En dat is de organisatie van slachtoffers van misbruik binnen de kerk, Mea Culpa, in het verkeerde keelgat geschoten. Allereerst omdat de parochie het aanvankelijk deed voorkomen dat Wiertz kwam om de 75ste verjaardag van pastoor Schafraad te vieren. Een pastoor die door Mea Culpa bij herhaling beschuldigd is van het misbruik van kinderen in de tijd dat hij nog werkte bij jongensinternaat Bleijerheide in Kerkrade.

Schafraad heeft het misbruik altijd ontkend, maar anders dan de parochie suggereert is Schafraad nooit gerehabiliteerd door het bisdom Roermond of door bisschop Wiertz. Dat kan het bisdom alleen al daarom niet, omdat Schafraad onder het bisdom Haarlem valt.

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.

The Forward – Intentionally? – Gets It Wrong Again

NEW YORK
Failed Messiah

There is a byzantine, serpentine world where black means white and white comes in all shades of gray, from charcoal to battleship, battered and torn, stained, dirty. A place where truth lies broken, torn, shattered, covered in mud, trampled on by hasidim who do not even recognize what it is their feet are stepping on.

It is a world with its own complete structure, its own terminology, its own dialect, its own unique morality. It is a place where conversations often start in the middle and end long before the participants stop talking. This is a place where outsiders are often lost without knowing it. Their eyes only see the surface, the shell, not the meat within. But the hasidim know the shell is only a husk, a covering, meant to be discarded. It’s the stuff inside that matters.

So when the Forward’s Paul Berger, an outsider who has no background with and no real knowledge of the hasidic community and little real knowledge or grasp of the Kellner case, writes what reads like an opinion piece (but is posted by the Forward as news) equating Sam Kellner with accused serial molester Rabbi Baruch Lebovits, one should take it with a large grain of salt – especially because both Berger and the Forward been unethical before this.

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.

Call for debate to lower age of consent for sex to 15

UNITED KINGDOM
ITV

A leading public health expert has called for a renewed debate on the age of consent, arguing it should be lowered from 16 to 15.

Professor John Ashton, president of the Faculty of Public Health, said our society sends “confused” signals about when sex is permitted.

He said it means 15-year-olds who are in sexual relationships “don’t have clear routes to getting some support”.

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.

Lowering consent age ‘sends wrong message’

UNITED KINGDOM
ITV

A lawyer representing 72 of the victims of Jimmy Savile has warned that lowering the age of consent would “send the wrong message to predatory adults.”

I have real concerns about the prospect of the age of consent being lowered.

Predatory adults would be given legitimacy to focus their attentions on even younger teenagers and there is a real risk that society would be sending out the message that sex between 14-15-year-olds is also acceptable.

My work with victims of abuse results in me talking to many who felt pressurised into having sex at a young age but have gone on to live a lifetime of regret.

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.

Joe Soucheray: Archbishop is going about this all wrong

MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Joe Soucheray
POSTED: 11/16/2013

If I were the archbishop, and the chances of that are certainly off the board, I would call a news conference. In fact, I would call one every day if I had to just to keep pace with attorney Jeff Anderson and the St. Paul police, who have reopened an investigation of a child pornography case involving a former Hugo priest.

I was made privy to a letter that Archbishop John Nienstedt apparently sent to Catholic school principals assuring them that the archdiocese is on the job and taking full responsibility for its failure to act more thoroughly on past charges of abusive priests. It was … wooden. It was too written by committee without heartfelt personality. It was boilerplate, is what it was.

This is not the time for boilerplate. The vibe emanating from the chancery offices is off key. The church authorities are not out in front of this mess; they are entangled in it, as though they are peeking from behind the drapes wondering what is going to hit them next.

A thought of admonition, which is not at all to excuse abusive priests, who should have been thrown out of the church and not moved around. That is the significant downfall that compels the current misery, that church authorities for too many years did not properly address low-functioning or even criminally bent employees.

Oh, the admonition. As depleted as modern newsgathering institutions are, they will find the energy to go after the Roman Catholic Church. That is just the way it is. The church is seen as white, powerful and wealthy. And we live in a time when the discipline and ritual of theology is seen as folly, at least through the eyes of post-modernism.

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.

Catholic hierarchy must follow leader

SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Sunday 17 November 2013

The behaviour of the Catholic hierarchy in Scotland over the sexual bullying allegations made in the book Crisis In The Priesthood by Father Matthew Despard stands in stark contrast to the words and deeds of the man who sits at the head of the church:

Pope Francis.

In Blantyre yesterday afternoon, the hierarchy descended on the parish of St John Ogilvie’s and suspended Fr Despard over claims he made in his book in the wake of the Cardinal Keith O’Brien scandal. The sacking took place before parishioners – many of whom wept and reacted with shock and anger.

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.

Child abuse report will help victims

AUSTRALIA
Sunday Telegraph

CARDINAL GEORGE PELL
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

ON Wednesday the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Child Abuse brought down its 700 page report. I welcome the publication of the report. It should help the victims.

While the Inquiry hearings were sometimes unconventional and emotional affairs, the report itself seems fair and reasonable. Naturally it covers the awful abuse which occurred in Catholic communities, mainly between 1960 and 1985.

The report details some of the serious failures in the way the church dealt with these crimes and responded to victims, especially before the procedural reforms of the mid 1990s. Irreparable damage has been caused.

By the standards of common decency and by today’s standards, church authorities were not only slow to deal with the abuse, but sometimes did not deal with it in any appropriate way at all. This is indefensible.

The Report offers valuable recommendations to ensure that crimes are reported, children and vulnerable people are better protected, and those who have been hurt can more easily seek justice.

I strongly support the recommendations to ensure crimes are reported to the police and to establish a statutory body to monitor and audit compliance on child protection requirements; something like what we have in NSW already. These recommendations should apply to all professions and all non-government and government organisations. All victims need compassion and support.

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.

Parish fury as Catholic Church suspends rogue priest over ‘sexual bullying’ exposé

SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Sunday 17 November 2013

A PARISH priest has been suspended from his ­Scottish post for writing a ­controversial memoir that claimed there is a culture of homosexual bullying in the Catholic Church.

Parishioners at St John ­Ogilvie’s Church in High Blantyre, Lanarkshire, reacted with fury and disbelief when they were told just before Mass last night that Father Matthew Despard had been removed from his ministry.

They were greeted by a weeping Father Despard outside the church shortly before the 4.30pm Mass began, and were ushered inside to hear a statement from Bishop Joseph Toal, Acting Bishop of the Diocese of Motherwell.

Angry scenes broke out among the congregation when Bishop Toal informed them “a penal ­judicial process” had been instituted against Father Despard as a result of the publication of his book Crisis In The Priesthood, with parishioners demanding answers over the priest’s suspension.

Father Despard, 48, embarked on a collision course with Church authorities when he published his book on Amazon in the wake of the resignation of Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who admitted to gay relationships and sexual activity spanning decades.

However, it was later reported the priest would escape sanction after Joseph Devine, the previous Bishop of Motherwell, issued a notice ­stating that no action would be taken 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.

Bishop of Lancaster expresses ‘sorrow and regret’ to abuse victim

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A bishop has spoken of “profound sorrow” after the Dean of Lancaster Cathedral was convicted of sex abuse.

The Bishop of Lancaster, The Right Reverend Michael Campbell, commented after Canon Stephen Shield was found guilty of abuse over seven years.

Shield, 54, was convicted at Preston Crown Court, of indecently assaulting man from the age of 18, between 1985 and 1992.

Bishop Campbell said he hoped the victim in the case can now “heal”.

Bishop Campbell said: “It is my sincere hope that, as a result of this conviction, and with the help of God, [the victim] will now be able to begin the process of healing and the rebuilding of his life.”

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.

Local Catholics Can Interact With The Archdiocese On Issues Church Typically Frowns Upon

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

[Click here for the questionnaire]

By David Madden

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Philadelphia Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput wants to hear from clergy and lay people alike, as he prepares a meeting of Bishops at the Vatican next year.

The Synod Meeting will address what’s termed “The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization.” This is the first time the leader of the local Roman Catholic Church has reached out in such a fashion.

Father Dennis Gill directs the Office for Divine Worship, and he insists this is not a survey:

“It’s not so much a questionnaire to challenge church teaching, but certainly a questionnaire that is going to have an impact on church practice.”

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.

Editorial | Louisville Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz: Heed pope’s welcoming calls

LOUISVILLE (KY)
Courier-Journal

[with video]

Editorial

Congratulations to Louisville Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz on his election as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Archbishop Kurtz takes over during a time of great change in the church, brought about mainly by the election earlier this year of Pope Francis, who has called for the church to turn away from what he has said are “small-minded rules” and to be “ministers of mercy.”

We hope Archbishop Kurtz will take that to heart.

Since arriving in Louisville in 2007, Archbishop Kurtz has pushed the type of doctrinal issues that Pope Francis’ two most recent predecessors — Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI — stood for.

Archbishop Kurtz supported state legislation that would remove civil rights protections from some people, all in the name of “religious freedom,” and has spoken out against federal health care mandates that would provide insurance coverage for millions of people, all because they included a requirement that insurance plans pay for artificial contraception.

He sided with those in the Vatican who sought to crack down on nuns who dared suggest that women should take a greater role in the church and were involved in other forms of “dissent.”

He has taken money that could have gone to help the needy in the Louisville and given it instead to a campaign in Maine to overturn legislative approval of gay marriage.

While all those positions fit well into the world views of the dogmatic popes before him, they seem to be anathema to Pope Francis, who has spent the first months of his tenure urging the church to be more pastoral than judgmental.

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

New leader of U.S. Catholic bishops pledges to carry pope’s message of mercy amid culture wars

LOUISVILLE (KY)
The Record

By Rachel Zoll

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The new leader of U.S. Roman Catholic bishops says he will draw on his years as a pastor to guide American bishops as they attempt to shift focus under Pope Francis, who wants more emphasis on compassion than on divisive social issues such as gay marriage.

Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Kentucky was elected Tuesday as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, a role that makes him the U.S church’s spokesperson on national issues and a representative of American bishops to the Vatican and the pope.

Kurtz, a 67-year-old Pennsylvania native and a former bishop of Knoxville, Tenn., pledged after his election Tuesday to focus the bishops’ work on reaching out to the poor and underserved, a mission emphasized by the new pope. …

Some of those victims who remain outspoken on clergy abuse issues said Kurtz hasn’t done enough to heal the lingering wounds from the scandal.

“To me there’s no real outreach to survivors,” said Jeff Koenig, a member of the Louisville chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “We had to approach him, he has never reached out to us.”

Koenig said archdiocese officials have offered the survivors group a brief meeting with Kurtz, but they have sought a longer interaction.

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

Sex abuse case ends in mistrial

ALABAMA
Daily Mountain Eagle

by Rachel Davis

Walker County Circuit Judge Doug Farris declared a mistrial Friday in the case of a Carbon Hill man accused of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12.

The motion for mistrial was made by defense lawyer Herbie Brewer and granted by Farris after hearing arguments from both sides.

Ricky Robinson, a former Carbon Hill pastor, had been on trial all week facing four charges of sex abuse of a child under the age of 12.

Assistant District Attorney Brian Warren said his understanding was that the case would be slated for retrial on the next trial docket in February.

Brewer said he had every expectation that the state would attempt to schedule it again but he would oppose a retrial.

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.

More sex allegations at McCort

PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

Kathy Mellott
kmellott@tribdem.com

JOHNSTOWN — More than 80 people, mostly males who attended Bishop McCort High School, have stepped forward with allegations that they were sexually molested by Brother Stephen Baker, The Tribune-Democrat has learned.

The figure is nearly double the number of victims named in civil lawsuits filed in Cambria and Blair counties, but all are part of the settlement talks between the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese and a number of attorneys.

“The numbers are skewed if you look at the cases filed,” said Altoona attorney Richard Serbin.

“Everything is not in the public, in terms of the numbers.”

Another attorney said that he believes the diocese is trying to settle the cases outside of the public eye.

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.

Inquiry focus on Anglican abuse of orphans

AUSTRALIA
9 News

The devastating long-term effects of child sexual abuse and how the Anglican Church paid off victims from a NSW orphanage where children were brutally beaten will be highlighted at a national inquiry.

Hearings in the third case study by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse open in Sydney on Monday and will focus on the response of the Anglican Diocese of Grafton to claims of child sexual abuse at the North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore.

How the diocese handled a group claim for compensation will also be examined.

In 2007 the church offered a total of $825,000 to 41 former residents of the orphanage.

Some rejected the offer and described it as shamefully inadequate, and civil claims were launched.

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.

November 16, 2013

Poll of the pews

UNITED KINGDOM
The Tablet

The Catholic Church is beginning a process to find out what Catholics think about matters surrounding the family – issues like divorce, cohabitation, same-sex relationships, ­contraception and the raising of children.

In September, The Tablet reported that a Synod of Bishops would be held to discuss matters regarding the family. There is now going to be another, Extraordinary Synod of Bishops “on pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelisation”. This extra­ordinary synod will take place in September 2014, to examine issues, then the main synod will be held in 2015 to produce guidelines.

The synod’s secretary general, Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, has sent to episcopal conferences around the world a 38-item questionnaire on pastoral challenges for ­families and asked them to share it as widely as possible, in order to solicit responses that could be part of the working document for next year’s assembly.

By 20 December – in just a few weeks’ time – each diocese has to feed back to Rome responses to the complex questionnaire. The Bishops of England and Wales have taken the unusual step of posting the questionnaire on the conference’s website to gather responses from individual Catholics, while other countries’ bishops will use other ways to glean information.

Below are the questions. If you want to fill in the actual form, visit: www.surveymonkey.com/s/FamilySynod2014
The following series of questions allows the particular churches to participate actively in the preparation of the extraordinary synod, whose purpose is to proclaim the Gospel in the context of the pastoral challenges facing the family today.

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.

Belgian bishops put synod survey online, seek ‘widest possible’ comment

BELGIUM
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Nov. 8, 2013 NCR Today

Responding to a Vatican request asking the world’s bishops to distribute among Catholics a questionnaire on issues like contraception, same-sex marriage and divorce “as widely as possible,” Belgium’s bishops on Friday posted the document online and are asking Catholics to submit answers by mid-December.

The bishops, one news service is reporting, want “the widest possible consultation” on the survey and are accepting answers by email and postal mail.

The bishops have posted the questionnaire on the website of that service, KerkNet, have posted it at another online news service, and will publish it in two of the country’s weekly magazines. The answers, KerkNet is reporting, will be analyzed by the bishops with the help of experts in pastoral theology.

The European prelates are responding to an Oct. 18 request made by Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, the secretary of the Vatican’s Synod of Bishops, in preparation for a global meeting of Catholic bishops next October.

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.

With Survey, Vatican Seeks Laity Comment on Family Issues

UNITED STATES
The New York Times

By JIM YARDLEY

ROME — Often, when the Vatican speaks, it can be a fairly one-sided conversation, issuing encyclicals and other formal documents stating the Roman Catholic Church’s official position on doctrine or other matters.

But Pope Francis, who has already shaken up the Vatican, is asking the world’s one billion Catholics for their opinions on a questionnaire covering social issues like same-sex marriage, cohabitation by unwed couples, contraception, and the place of divorced and remarried people in the church.

“It’s something that is totally new,” said Msgr. Alberto Pala, a parish priest at the Cathedral of Cagliari in Sardinia, Italy. “And we are very pleased.”

The questionnaire is being distributed to bishops worldwide in advance of their synod next fall. Family is the theme of that meeting, with bishops expected to grapple with how the church should address issues like divorce and same-sex marriage. In the past, the Vatican has determined the agenda for synods and sought opinions from bishops’ conferences around the world.

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.

Lay groups launch surveys to answer Vatican questionnaire

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | Nov. 16, 2013

While U.S. bishops consider how best and how broad to collect information ahead of a 2014 global bishops’ meeting on family issues, several lay Catholic groups took the task into their own hands.

In mid-November, a coalition of 15 church reform groups — primarily members of Catholic Organizations for Renewal — created an online survey for U.S. Catholics to offer their thoughts on the preparatory document to the 2014 Synod of Bishops, which will focus on the theme of “pastoral challenges to the family in the context of evangelization.”

Before the coalition announced the survey, Marianne Duddy-Burke told NCR that the idea emerged from a concern that the U.S. episcopacy would not consult with lay Catholics as they compiled their responses.

“This is a chance for people to have their voice heard,” said Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignityUSA, one of the sponsoring organizations.

Other sponsors include the American Catholic Council, Call to Action, FutureChurch, Voice of the Faithful, the Women’s Ordination Conference and Fortunate Families.

The survey, hosted online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/SynodOnFamilyUS, will remain open for response through Dec. 15. At that point, the coalition will compile and send the responses to four prelates: Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops; Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, papal nuncio to the U.S.; Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the American representative on Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinals; and Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., the newly elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. …

Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good on Nov. 1 launched its version (papalsurvey.com) in English and Spanish, sending it to its 30,000 members and posting it online. As of Nov. 12, more than 3,000 people had completed the survey, with more than half of the respondents coming from outside the nonprofit’s network.

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.

Statement On Curtis Wehmeyer Investigation

MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Date:Friday, November 15, 2013

Source:Jim Accurso

A recent article in the StarTribune called into question the archdiocese’s cooperation in the summer of 2012 with St. Paul Police in the Curtis Wehmeyer case. These allegations are both unfortunate and unfounded, as we fully cooperated with the police investigation that ultimately resulted in Wehmeyer’s current prison sentence.

On September 21, 2012, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi was quoted on MPR saying that the archdiocese “…did the right thing. As soon as they got the complaint from the boys’ mother, they immediately called the police. Then they took immediate action and removed him from his position at the parish. That was the right thing, and we appreciate that in law enforcement.”

On September 24, 2013, Howie Padilla of the St. Paul Police was quoted in the Pioneer Press saying, “ … the archdiocese was helpful in the initial case against Wehmeyer.”

These quotes reaffirm that the archdiocese was cooperative in this case.

We continue to encourage anyone who suspects abuse of a minor or vulnerable adult within Church ministry—or any setting including the home or school—to first contact law enforcement. Any act of abuse against a minor or vulnerable adult is reprehensible and morally repugnant and we will not tolerate it.

Our first priority is to create and maintain safe environments where the Gospel of Jesus Christ can flourish. This means creating an environment for and implementing productive steps to promote a healthy clergy.

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.

Dizzy from Archdiocesan Spin and Furious About the Facts

PHILADLEPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

NOVEMBER 16, 2013

by Susan Matthews

Kathy Kane noticed that Father John Paul’s name was removed from the official clergy list at some point this past week. Father Paul resigned as pastor of Our Lady of Calvary Parish in Philadelphia on Sunday, Nov. 10 for “physical and spiritual” health reasons stemming from two separate allegations of child sex abuse. A name removal from the clergy list is significant and usually doesn’t result from a resignation. For instance, Father John Wackerman of St. Elizabeth’s in Downingtown resigned the same day. His name is still on the list. To be clear, unlike Father Paul, Father Wackerman did not resign under the cloud of sex abuse allegations. However, the archdiocese seemed to defend their decision allow Father Paul to remain in ministry, despite accusations. So why remove his name from the list now? We are waiting for a response from the Archdiocesan Office for Communications.

A carefully-worded article on CatholicPhilly.com, the official news source of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, covered the details Father Paul’s resignation.

Note that children are referred to as minors. I’m a mother of two children – not two minors. Are you a parent? How many minors are you raising? Please don’t dehumanize. I especially enjoyed this line – “after review the Philadelphia district attorney declined to press charges.” Declined? There’s some spin. The current statue of limitations on child sex abuse makes it impossible for the DA to press charges. The decision may have had absolutely nothing to do with evidence, guilt or innocence. It could have everything to do with our current crappy state laws. There’s no statute of limitations on murder. There shouldn’t be one for child sex abuse either.

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.

Former pastor going to prison

PENNSYLVANIA
Herald

[Ex-pastor posts bond after arrest]

By Joe Wiercinski
Herald Staff Writer

MERCER — On Friday, after vigorously proclaiming his innocence, [Lee A.] Moore was sentenced to 9 to 25 years in prison by Mercer County Common Pleas Court President Judge Thomas R. Dobson.

He was convicted of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, statutory sexual assault, corruption of a minor and indecent assault.

Dobson ruled after a Megan’s Law hearing that the former pastor of Mercer United Methodist Church on East Butler Street met the legal definition of a predator based on the recommendation and testimony of a clinical social worker contracted by the Pennsylvania Sexual Offenders Assessment Board to review the case and interview Moore.

Molly M. Wagner, who has a decade of professional experience working with both victims and offenders, said her conclusions were based on an assessment board investigator’s report into Moore’s past, her own September interview with Moore in the presence of his attorney, a court presentencing investigation, prosecutor’s report, trial transcript and other documents.

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.

Judge orders Archdiocese to turn over record of sex abuse complaints

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Fox 2

November 15, 2013, by Chris Regnier

ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI) – “There have been real wrongs of clergy at the highest levels.” Those words today from St. Louis Circuit Judge Robert Dierker as he upheld his own order in a sex abuse suit involving a now defrocked Archdiocese of St. Louis priest.

The civil suit surrounds allegations that Father Joseph Ross abused a then five year old girl from 1997 to 2001 at a south city parish.

SNAP, or the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, demonstrated outside the Carnahan Courthouse before the hearing. They held pictures of members who say they were abused in other cases.

Judge Dierker ruled in May that the Archdiocese must produce 20 years worth of records for any of its employees who had complaints of sexual abuse against them.

Attorneys for the Archdiocese argued that was too long. On Friday, Dierker stood by 20 years for clergy but reduced the timeframe for non-clergy employees to five years.

SNAP members spoke out against the archdiocese.

“I think what it shows is church officials are still very committed to secrecy in these cases and to disclosing virtually nothing unless they`re ordered to,” said ‘SNAP’ director David Clohessy.

The Archdiocese released a statement reading in part, “The breadth of this order appears to include allegations against lay employees and clergy that were not found to be credible. The archdiocese will consult with its attorneys in this lawsuit regarding next steps based on the court`s ruling.”

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.

Archdiocese Hires Insider to Conduct Review of Priest Files

MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson & Associates

Statement of Attorney Mike Finnegan

(St. Paul, Minnesota) – Today the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and Archbishop Nienstedt announced the hiring of Kinsale Management Consulting to conduct a review of clergy files. The firm’s founder, Kathleen McChesney, Ph.D., is the former head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office for Child and Youth Protection.

We are concerned that Archbishop Nienstedt chose another church insider to review the files. McChesney will only be allowed to review information provided by the Archbishop and his attorneys and we suspect she will be required to keep any information she reviews, secret and confidential. This is another example of the Archdiocese and Archbishop’s continuing lack of transparency and accountability in the handling of clergy sexual abuse cases.

If Archbishop Nienstedt truly wants to protect children, and restore trust with the Catholic faithful and the community, then he should turn over all of the files to law enforcement and immediately alert the public about all known offenders.

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.

Sixty-five Australians – including teachers, priests – snared in worldwide child porn ring

AUSTRALIA
Perth Now

Ben McClellan
From: The Daily Telegraph
November 15, 2013

TWO teachers and two priests from NSW are being prosecuted as part of a global operation targeting users of a Canadian child pornography website that has resulted in more than 340 people being charged – a fifth of them in Australia.

As Toronto police exposed the largest child exploitation ring in Canada, Australian Federal Police revealed 65 Australians were being prosecuted based on information from their Canadian counterparts for allegedly using the website.

International authorities have rescued 386 children, including five in Western Australia and one in the ACT, from harm and police said they could discover more Australian victims and expect to make more arrests.

More than half of the Australians charged are from Queensland (33) while nine people are before NSW courts – four are being prosecuted by the NSW Sex Crimes Squad’s child exploitation internet unit for possession of child pornography and using the internet to access child pornography, while the AFP is prosecuting the other five.

Retired Catholic priest Edward Sedevic, 72, of Lake Haven on the Central Coast, is one of the four men NSW Police have charged.

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.

Sydney priest Father Ed Sedevic, 72, is charged re child-porn

AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (updated 17 November 2013)

Father Edward Sedevic, a 72-year-old Sydney Catholic priest now living in retirement at Lake Haven (north of Sydney), is facing charges in court relating to child pornography.

Father Sedevic’s case was mentioned in court for a second time (in an administrative procedure) on 30 October 2013. The court re-scheduled the matter for a further mention later in 2013.

Father Sedevic, who has a family resource centre in Sydney named in his honour, originally appeared in Wyong Local Court (on the NSW central coast) on 4 September 2013. He faced three charges, including possessing child-abuse material and using a service to access child pornography.

This September 4 hearing was a preliminary procedure, in which documents were tabled in court for future attention. Detectives from the Child Exploitation Internet Unit (within the NSW Sex Crimes Squad) had gone to see Father Edward Sedevic at Lake Haven (near Wyong) on August 20. On August 27 the detectives charged him with having used a computer to access child pornography. This led to him appearing in court on September 4.

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.

Australian report finds ‘substantial criminal child abuse’ in Church

AUSTRALIA
The Tablet

15 November 2013 by Mark Brolly

The Catholic Church’s institutions, schools and parishes gave perpetrators the opportunity to exploit vulnerable children in their care for decades and its early response to child abuse in its ranks “continued to conceal rather than expose criminal child abuse in the organisation”, a Victorian parliamentary report has found.

Betrayal of Trust, the report of the Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Non-Government Organisations by Parliament’s Family and Community Development Committee, said there had been “substantial criminal child abuse” in the Church over a long period of time, perpetrated by priests and other members of religious orders in Victoria.

“A culture existed in religious organisations that allowed for the occurrence of systemic criminal child abuse,” it said.

“The initial formal response to criminal child abuse that the Catholic Church in Victoria and in Australia more broadly adopted in the early 1990s was influenced by its previous approach. The response continued to conceal rather than expose criminal child abuse in the organisation.

“There has been a substantial body of credible evidence presented to the Inquiry and ultimately concessions made by senior representatives of religious bodies, including the Catholic Church, that they had taken steps with the direct objective of concealing wrongdoing.”

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.

An unspeakable betrayal of trust: one parent’s journey

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

November 16, 2013

Chrissie Foster

It has been quite a journey, but this week we arrived.

The tabling in State Parliament on Wednesday of the inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations report, with its findings and recommendations, was an emotionally charged occasion.

Morning and afternoon saw both the upper and lower houses of Parliament silent and intent as each of the six Family and Community Development Committee members read their speeches. Every one of them passionate, resolute and united in their damning of the Catholic Church and the atrocities it bestowed on generation after generation of Victorian children.

Their collective disgust at evidence presented before them reverberated throughout the Parliament and every person who listened.

Tears were shed as the strength and clarity of their words damned an organisation that wore sheep’s clothing in public yet, in reality, tolerated, hid and protected criminal clergy who never tired of their lustful crimes and were left unchecked to continue molesting and raping boys and girls.

There were no stops put in place, no checks, and no punishment for these criminal clergy, just further access to the bodies of our defenceless children.

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

Head of Victorian sex abuse inquiry wants Catholic Church to increase victim payments

AUSTRALIA
The Age

November 16, 2013

Barney Zwartz
Religion editor, The Age.

The sex abuse inquiry chairwoman expects the Catholic Church in Victoria to consider increasing payments it has already made to victims as a litmus test of its good faith.

Breaking her self-imposed silence after the Victorian parliamentary committee tabled its report on Wednesday, Georgie Crozier said the suggestion had come from the church itself during testimony to the inquiry.

“The report quotes Francis Sullivan, chief of the Catholic Truth, Justice and Healing Council, who says often, ‘judge us by our actions now’,” Ms Crozier said.

Sydney’s Archbishop Cardinal George Pell “made reference to the miserable payments, and they said they are willing to go back and do that’,” she said. The 750-page report, which made 15 recommendations – including several aimed at making the Catholic Church legally accountable – strongly criticised the church.

In a sharp exchange with committee member Andrea Coote when he gave evidence in May, Cardinal Pell said if there were a good case he would revisit the amount of money paid in compensation, but he could speak only for Sydney.

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.

Italian investigator says pope could be target of Calabrian Mafia

VATICAN CITY
Irish Times

Paddy Agnew

Sat, Nov 16, 2013

At first glance it sounds like a cliche any aspiring Dan Brown might concoct, that Pope Francis’s reforming zeal may have made him a target of the ’Ndrangheta, the Mafia in Calabria in southern Italy.

Senior Calabrian Mafia investigator Nicola Gratteri, whose investigative zeal has forced him to live with police protection since 1989, has said the pope’s plans to reform Vatican structures, including the Vatican bank, the IOR, could prove a problem for the ’Ndrangheta, Italy’s most powerful Mafia.

He said that while Pope John Paul II called on the “military” mafiosi to “repent” in 1993, Pope Francis has gone further, perhaps hitting the ’Ndrangheta where it hurts.

“He has named his G8 [council of cardinals] to overhaul the entire structure of the Vatican, including a review of the Vatican’s economic affairs and in particular, the IOR,” Gratteri says.

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.

Mafia targeting the pope? Vatican sees no cause for alarm

VATICAN CITY
Daily Star

VATICAN CITY: The Vatican has downplayed a warning that Pope Francis could be targeted by the mafia because of his reforms to Holy See financial bodies.

“There is no reason for concern, and there is no need to feed alarmism,” Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said.

He added that the Vatican – and, by extension, the pope – was “extremely calm” regarding the alleged threat.

The warning was voiced by Nicola Gratteri, a respected state prosecutor in the southern Calabria region, who said the vicious local mafia, the ‘Ndrangheta, is “nervous” the pope is threatening its interests.

“Those who up to now have fed off the power and wealth coming directly from the church are nervous, upset,” he said in an interview published by the newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano this week. The pope, Gratteri added, “is dismantling the Vatican’s economic centers. If the mafia bosses can trip him up, they won’t hesitate.”

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.

Thompson Asks Hynes To Freeze Case …

NEW YORK
Failed Messiah

Thompson Asks Hynes To Freeze Case Against Accused Haredi Pedophile Rabbi Baruch Lebovits

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

Incoming Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson has asked outgoing District Attorney Charles J. Hynes to seek the adjournment of the case against accused haredi pedophile Rabbi Baruch Lebovits until Thompson takes office in January, Hella Winston exclusively reports in the Jewish Week.

The written request was reportedly delivered to Hynes earlier today. Copies were also delivered to the trial judge and Lebovits’ attorneys.

“…Based upon the very serious allegations in the case, I request that no disposition be offered to the Defendant, no guilty plea be allowed at the upcoming court conference on November 19, 2013, and that no procedural or substantive steps be taken in the case until I take office. I make this request because it is important that I have a full opportunity to review the Lebovits matter and participate in the decision to take the case to trial or dispose of it by way of a guilty plea. It is also my understanding that the Defendant has been released on bail and therefore would not suffer any substantive prejudice by this brief delay.

“Additionally, I would like to make arrangements to receive a copy of the entire case file and have an opportunity to speak with the assistants who are handling this matter as soon as possible…” Thompson wrote.

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.

Thompson: Adjourn Lebovits Case

NEW YORK
The Jewish Week

11/15/13
Hella Winston
Jewish Week Correspondent

Brooklyn District Attorney-elect Ken Thompson is asking outgoing District Attorney Charles Hynes to seek an adjournment in a high-profile sex abuse case until Thompson takes office in January, The Jewish Week has learned from a source close to Thompson’s transition team.

The request, which was delivered in writing (and copied to the judge and defense attorney on the case) to Hynes on Friday, asks that, “based upon the very serious allegations in the case,” no disposition be offered at the “upcoming court conference on November 19th” and that “no procedural steps be taken in the case until” Thompson takes office.

In the letter, Thompson notes that he is making this request because it is “important that I have a full opportunity to review the Lebovits matter and participate in the decision to take the case to trial or dispose of it by way of a guilty plea.” He also asks Hynes to make “arrangements [for Thompson] to receive a copy of the entire case file and have an opportunity to speak with the assistants who are handling this matter as soon as possible.”

This request from Thompson comes on the same day a group of advocates, abuse survivors, anti-abuse activists, rabbis and concerned citizens are to submit a letter to the judge in the case paralleling Thompson’s concerns, but focusing on a request not to allow a plea bargain until certain “irregularities” in the prosecution’s handling of the case are addressed.

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.

A mess grows in Brooklyn

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

With the defeat of Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes after six terms in office, there appeared to be little reason to comment further on his misrule of the city’s largest prosecution office. No such luck.

His last years were shadowed by a long failure to effectively prosecute sex abuse in the insular ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, a powerful voting bloc; by accusations (taken seriously by two federal judges) that top lieutenant Michael Vecchione had railroaded a man named Jabbar Collins for a rabbi’s murder; and by evidence that now-retired Detective Louis Scarcella may have helped the DA’s office win convictions with hyped evidence.

Denying all wrongdoing, Hynes and Vecchione maintained a united, tough front. Now, though, transformed from roaring lions into quacking lame ducks, they are bequeathing a shambles to successor Kenneth Thompson.

Two veteran prosecutors were demoted and booted from a controversial case after, it is said, one nearly came to blows with Vecchione; a third assistant district attorney was fired after reportedly questioning whether the office was meeting its legal obligations in the Collins case, and a judge ordered Hynes’ office to turn over all documents related to the Scarcella allegations.
You almost need a scorecard to keep all of this straight.

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.

Incoming Brooklyn DA Kenneth Thompson inserts himself into Hasidic sex abuse case

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY OREN YANIV / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2013

In his first communication with the lame duck Brooklyn District Attorney, incoming DA Kenneth Thompson asked that a high profile sex abuse case against a Jewish cantor be pushed back until he takes office.

In a letter delivered Friday to DA Charles Hynes, Thompson requested to put the prosecution of Baruch Lebovits on hold until the new administration takes the helm at the start of 2014.

“I request that no disposition be offered to the Defendant, no guilty plea be allowed at the upcoming court conference (Tuesday) and that no procedural or substantive steps be taken in the case until I take office,” Thompson wrote.

“We’re going to comply with that request,” DA spokesman Jerry Schmetterer said.

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

Thompson Wants Delay in Rabbi Case

NEW YORK
Wall Street Journal

By SEAN GARDINER
Nov. 15, 2013

Brooklyn District Attorney-elect Kenneth Thompson is seeking a delay until after he takes office in the prosecution of an Orthodox rabbi charged with sexual abuse, according to a letter reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

In the letter dated Friday, Mr. Thompson asked outgoing District Attorney Charles J. Hynes to direct his prosecutors to put off a court conference scheduled for Tuesday until January in the case of Rabbi Baruch Lebovits.

Jerry Schemetterer, a spokesman for Mr. Hynes, acknowledged receipt of the letter, saying the office planned to “comply with Mr. Thompson’s wishes.” He added, however, that there had been “no discussions” with Rabbi Lebovits’s attorneys about a possible plea deal—especially one involving no prison time—and they hadn’t expected the case to be resolved before Mr. Thompson took office in January.

“I don’t know why this is an issue,” Mr. Schmetterer said.

Mr. Thompson didn’t return calls seeking comment.

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.

The unbearable lightness of seeing

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

November 16, 2013

Barney Zwartz
Religion editor, The Age.

Georgie Crozier thought she was mentally ready to investigate child sexual abuse in the churches. As a nurse and midwife, she had coped with cases of rape and incest, and heard heart-wrenching stories. But nothing could prepare her for the sheer horror or scale of what happened to thousands of young Victorians in orphanages, schools and church settings over decades.

As chairwoman of the Victorian inquiry into how the churches handled child sexual abuse, she hid her emotions behind a mask of formality through the long months of testimony from victims, advocates, experts and religious leaders. Just occasionally her irritation at some witnesses’ prevarication slipped out.

”It’s very difficult seeing people you know sitting across the table from you, men showing photos of themselves as boys,” she says. ”But I don’t think it was nearly as difficult as it was for them coming before us, and that kept me focused: this is so important for so many people – we just have to get this right.”

The inquiry’s 750-page report, tabled on Wednesday, made 15 recommendations across five areas: criminal law, making the church legally accountable, setting up an independent but church-funded tribunal to investigate claims and determine compensation, and better prevention and monitoring.

It particularly savaged the Catholic Church, but – as Andrea Coote noted in her speech to Parliament – this was because it was the focus of the vast majority of testimony. Also, as the report makes clear, the members were often unimpressed by the testimony of Catholic leaders.

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.

Former Northeast Portland Baptist Sunday School Teacher Accused in Child Molestation Suit

OREGON
Willamette Week

A new lawsuit says a Sunday School teacher molested one of his students in the 1980s and 1990s, and the church’s pastor did nothing to stop it despite knowing the teacher was attracted to children.

The suit says the teacher, James H. Michener, used his Sunday school class at the now-shuttered Evangel Baptist Church in Northeast Portland to befriend children. It alleges he then molested one boy who may have been as young as six at the time of the first incident.

The suit was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court by attorney Erin Olson on behalf of the unnamed boy, who is now 30 years old. The suit also alleges Michener abused the boy at least twice. Once, it alleges, Michener touched the boy under “the pretext of assisting [him] in urinating.” Michener also allegedly persuaded the boy to spend the night at his house, then entering his bed at night to touch him. The suit says the incidents occurred as early as 1989 and as late as 1996.

The suit seeks $3.25 million in damages.

Evangel Baptist closed in 2008, but it is named as a defendant in the suit along with the Northwest Conservative Baptist Association, which the lawsuit said then owned, managed or administered more than 200 congregations across the Northwest, including 19 in Portland and more than 30 in the metro area.

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.

November 15, 2013

Documents suggest archdiocese interfered in Wehmeyer case

MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Brian Lambert

What comes after “rock bottom” …? The Strib’s Tony Kennedy has the latest head-shaker/slapper out of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis: “Law enforcement documents would later show that by the time police got to Blessed Sacrament, [Rev. Curtis] Wehmeyer had removed his camper from church property, [vicar general Rev. Kevin] McDonough had taken Wehmeyer’s work computer to the chancery and church officials had interviewed the child who first came forward to allege abuse. The church’s handling of Wehmeyer’s case infuriated police, interfered with evidence and disrupted the early phase of the criminal investigation, according to law enforcement documents, a parish employee and St. Paul police Cmdr. Mary Nash. … When police searched Wehmeyer’s church residence after his arrest, they found an IBM ThinkPad computer in a closet. Police discovered that it belonged to Wehmeyer and was loaded with child porn.”

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.

French bishops acknowledge and decry ‘spiritual abuse’ in some ecclesial communities

FRANCE
Catholic Culture

The president of the French bishops’ conference has issued a public response to calls for recognition of the “human damage” caused by ecclesial movements that were guilty of abusive practices.

The statement by Bishop Georges Pontier on behalf of the French hierarchy addressed charges of “spiritual abuse” as well as sexual abuse. Critics of the several new ecclesiastical communities had complained of the “destruction of personalities” by cult-like practices. The complaints had centered on groups such as the Legion of Christ, the Beatitudes community, and the Community of St. John—all of which had seen formal charges of misconduct lodged against their founders.

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.

Jailed: school caretaker who sexually assaulted young girls at holiday camps

UNITED KINGDOM
London Evening Standard

ROBIN DE PEYER
Published: 15 November 2013

A school caretaker who preyed on two girls aged six and seven at holiday camps was today jailed for 12 years.

John Lyon, 40, admitted sexual assault by penetration on a seven-year-old victim, as well as another sexual assault of a six-year-old.

Lyon, of Stanstead Abbotts, Hertfordshire, targeted the seven-year-old during a summer camp in north London in July last year. Police were called after the traumatised victim told her mother how she was taken to a bathroom at the camp and assaulted.

Detectives investigating the case then identified a second victim, aged just six, who was assaulted in similar circumstances during the Easter holidays months earlier.

Lyon was arrested just days after the second assault. He was charged in January and pleaded guilty to the offences in September, after what police described as a “complicated and protracted enquiry”.

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.

Enfield primary school caretaker …

UNITED KINGDOM
This is Local London

Enfield primary school caretaker John Lyon, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexually abusing two girls aged six and seven

By Charlie Peat

A school caretaker has been jailed for 12 years for sexually abusing two girls aged six and seven.

John Lyon, of Latymer Way, Edmonton, was a caretaker at St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School in Churchbury Lane when both incidents occurred.

The 40-year-old sexually assaulted a seven-year-old girl in a school bathroom when she was attending a summer camp in Churchbury Lane on July 30, 2012.

During the Easter holidays of 2012, a six-year-old girl told the police that she too had been sexually assaulted in similar circumstances by Lyon.

Mr Lyon was arrested on August 1, 2012 and charged on January 17, 2013.

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.

Bankruptcy Will Not Affect Parishes

NEW MEXICO
Cibola Beacon

by Donald Jaramillo

CIBOLA COUNTY – Earlier this week, it was officially announced that the Diocese of Gallup was filing for Chapter 11 reorganization on Tuesday, Nov. 12, in the United States Bankruptcy Court in Albuquerque.

“As noted in our previous September letter [to church members], the filing will occur in order to mercifully and equitably deal with the sexual abuse claims faced by the Diocese, while also allowing the Diocese to continue to address the needs of our parishioners and charitable outreach missions,” said Suzanne Hammons, media liaison for the Diocese via email.

Information found on the Diocese’s website clearly stated that the bankruptcy filing does not include the parishes. And, the only school affected by the filing is Gallup Catholic School, which is part of the Diocese. The filing will not affect Grants’ St. Teresa Catholic School and San Fidel’s St. Joseph Mission School, both in Cibola County.

The Diocese of Gallup covers more than 55,000 square miles in northwestern New Mexico, including Cibola County.

Pope Pius XII established the Gallup Diocese in 1939 because he felt there was a need for Native Americans in the area to be adequately served for their spiritual needs. Under the direction of its fourth bishop, the Most Rev. James S. Wall, the Diocese ministers to a large and culturally diverse group of Catholics numbering around 58,000 including Native Americans from the Navajo, Zuni, Hopi, Apache, Laguna, and Acoma Tribes and pueblos. It’s been reported that the Gallup Diocese has been ranked as the poorest Diocese in the United States.

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.

MO – Victims to hold vigil outside courtroom

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Archbishop asks judge to reverse himself
Church was ordered to turn over predators’ records
But Catholic officials are delaying & trying to limit info
At same time, Carlson wants a teenage victim’s emails

WHAT
With signs and childhood photos outside a “crucial” court hearing, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will hold a 30 minute vigil and blast St. Louis Catholic officials for

–seeking a teenage victim’s private emails, while
–trying to reverse a judge’s decision ordering them to turn over records about every accused archdiocesan sex offender

WHEN
Friday, Nov. 15 at 8:30 a.m.

WHERE
On the sidewalk outside Carnahan Court House at 1114 Market Street (corner of Tucker) in downtown St. Louis

WHO
Two-five members and supporters of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, (SNAPNetwork.org) the nation’s largest support network for men and women abused in religious and institutional settings

WHY
In May, St. Louis Catholic Archbishop Robert Carlson was ordered to turn over information about every archdiocesan employee (nun, bishop, brother, teacher and priest) who has been accused of sex crimes going back two decades. Six months later, Carlson has not complied.

Now, Carlson’s lawyers are trying to “gut” the judge’s order while also trying to get a teenaged child sex abuse victim’s private emails.

The case involves Fr. Joseph D. Ross, who allegedly molested a girl at an inner city parish in 2000. In 1988, Ross pled guilty to sexually assaulting an 11 year old boy during confession. Despite that conviction, Catholic officials quietly put Ross back on the job but told no one about his crimes.

In May, Judge Robert Dierker ordered Carlson to turn over records about 20 years of allegations of sexual abuse and misdeeds by current and former archdiocesan staff.

Carlson’s lawyers want Dierker to reconsider his order. They say they should be forced to provide records for a shorter period of time, only about alleged child sex crimes, only about accused priests (not bishops, seminarians, brothers, nuns, teachers and other employees), and only records that have already been made public through criminal or civil court filings. They also want to NOT produce correspondence between Ross and the now-retired Cardinal Justin Rigali, who headed the St. Louis archdiocese for years, and material sent by local Catholic officials to the Vatican in their effort to defrock Ross.

“Carlson wants to gut the judge’s order and keep his secrets secret,” said SNAP’s David Clohessy. “If he gets his way, Carlson will get a lot of information from a teenaged victim and, in turn, provide her with virtually nothing new.”

“It’s the worst of both worlds. Carlson wants tons of private emails to and from a deeply wounded teenager, the victim in this case,” said SNAP’s Barbara Dorris. “But he argues that he should have to turn over almost nothing of substance to her.”

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.

IL – Chicago Jesuit is accused of molesting in Michigan

MICHIGAN
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release, Friday November 15, 2013

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

The Chicago Jesuit hierarchy is handling the new case of credible child sex abuse allegations against a priest who molested a Michigan boy.

[Upper Michigan Source]

The Marquette Michigan diocese says it has received and deemed credible an accusation that Father Bernard (“Fr. Ben”) Van der molested a boy in 1989 while substituting for a vacationing Marquette priest.

The Chicago Jesuits are at 2050 N. Clark St., Chicago IL 60614 (800) 922-5327

[Marquette diocese]

Michigan Catholic officials are urging victims to call church figures. That’s wrong. Anyone who sees, suspects or suffers child sex crimes should call secular officials not church officials

Father Van der Schueren is dead. He can’t be prosecuted. But some of his peers or supervisors might be, especially if they destroyed evidence, intimidated witnesses, hid crimes or refused to report suspicions of child sexual abuse to law enforcement. So it’s critical that anyone with knowledge or suspicions about wrongdoing here to call police and prosecutors

We applaud this brave victim for stepping forward. We hope his courage inspires others who are suffering in shame, silence and self-blame to do likewise. Staying silent hurts worse than stepping forward.

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

Top priest faces jail after sex trial

UNITED KINGDOM
Lancashire Evening Post

One of Lancashire’ s most senior Catholic priests is facing jail after being convicted of sexually assaulting a man in the presbytery of English Martyrs church in Preston.

Canon Stephen Shield, 53, the Dean at Lancaster Cathedral, committed the offences more than two decades ago against a man who hoped to join the priesthood.

In a harrowing video interview played to the court the man spoke of how his faith has been rocked by the sexual abuse he suffered.

He said he felt like his soul had been “ripped out” and the room had been “filled with evil”.

He told the court he felt sickened that Shield celebrated mass within hours of abusing him and that years later he still felt a connection to his abuser through the Eucharist, wherever he was in the world.

He said he always feared he would not be believed if he complained about Shield, as the priest had trained at the prestigious seminary in Rome.

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.

Protesters picket hearing for priest accused of child sex crimes

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Fox 2

[with video]

ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI) – The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests is picketing a hearing in downtown St. Louis for a priest accused of child sex crimes going back two decades. SNAP’s Director, David Clohessy, says the protest is focused on a pending civil suit against Father Joseph Ross.

In May, a judge ruled that the Archdiocese must turn over records about 20 years of alleged child sex abuse allegations involving Archdioese employees. Apparently, attorneys for the Archdiocese want the Judge to reconsider that order and limit what they have to turn over.

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.

Lancaster man convicted of sex offences

UNITED KINGDOM
Virtual Lancaster

Stephen Shield, 53, of Balmoral Road, Lancaster, has been found guilty of three counts of indecent assault following a trial at Preston Crown Court.

The three historic allegations related to one male victim aged between 17-24 years, the committed between 1985 and 1992.

Sentence was adjourned until December 13th.

Detective Chief Inspector Jo Edwards, of Preston Police, said: “I am pleased that Mr Shields has been convicted of these offences.

“The victim in this case had lived with the knowledge of Mr Shield’s offending for a long period of time; this has had a significant impact upon him. It was a difficult decision for the victim to come forward and I am please that he felt confident enough in the Constabulary to help bring this man 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.

Dean of Lancaster Cathedral convicted of sex offences

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

The Dean of Lancaster Cathedral has been convicted of three historical sexual offences at Preston Crown Court.

Canon Stephen Shield, 54, had denied indecently assaulting a man between 1985 and 1992, the first occasion when the victim was 18, in Keswick and Preston. He was found guilty by jury.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said he abused his position of trust “for his own sexual gratification”.

Shield, of St Peter’s Cathedral, is due to be sentenced on 13 December.

Joanne Cunliffe from the CPS said: “The defendant was in a position of trust within the Roman Catholic Church and in the community he served.

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.

Santos y Pecadores: Las Sotanas del Pecado y el Escándalo…

TEPIC (MEXICO)
Diario Gente y Poder [Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico]

November 15, 2013

By Abisaí Barajas

Read original article

Las irregularidades en la parroquia de San Blas protagonizadas por el cura Efraín Martínez Delgado amenazan con llegar a las más altas esferas de la Santa Sede, o sea El Vaticano, e incluso a oídos del mismísimo papa Francisco I, quien dicho sea de paso no tolera a obispos y sacerdotes que se sirven de la grey en lugar de servir a la grey católica. 

Es de todos conocidos el caso de los últimos días ocurrido en la parroquia de San Blas, donde el presbítero a cargo Efraín Martínez, ha caracterizado su sacerdocio basado en la codicia y en el pecado, pues también trascendió que el cura vive y mantiene una relación sentimental con una secretaria suya, hechos que han escandalizado a los feligreses.

Lo que comenzó como una inconformidad de la grey hacia el sacerdote por cobrar altas tarifas En el Nombre del Señor, por casar, bautizar, confirmar y oficiar misas de cuerpo presente y de primeras comuniones, fue agravándose ante la falta de atención de las jerarquías superiores, que, poca atención prestaron al asunto.

El caso llegó a tal grado que hoy los católicos de San Blas exigen la inmediata salida del Padre Efraín del municipio de San Blas; y considero en este particular incidente que si hubiera fanatismo religioso -como lo hay en otras partes del País-, seguramente amenazarían con linchar a la secretaria con la que presuntamente se acuesta.

En la Diócesis de Tepic ya se toman cartas en el asunto, pero a decir verdad, se nota poca voluntad de regresar al redil al cura, quien al traficar con la fe católica automáticamente debería ser excomulgado. No son dos o tres voces las que lo acusan, hablamos que tres cuartas partes de la feligresía lo señalan y repudian.

No es un asunto menor, sobre todo si tomamos en cuenta que este sacerdote hace tiempo fue removido de una parroquia de Acaponeta, al parecer por las mismas razones. Entonces pues, lejos de proteger al cura, la Diócesis debería tomarse en serio el caso y remover o suspender de sus funciones al padre Efraín. ¿Es bueno permitir que siga escandalizando? 
Actitudes como la del cura Efraín Martínez, poco ayudan a fortalecer la fe de la grey católica como es el deseo expresado del Papa Francisco I, quien como ya hemos dicho, ha advertido que no tolerará a curas, obispos y cardenales que tienen como prioridad el dinero, las mujeres y un buen estilo de vida antes que el bienestar de la feligresía.

Las dimensiones del problema de sotanas, primero proliferó entre los parroquianos de San Blas y posteriormente reventó en las páginas de los principales diarios de la entidad, así como en los noticiarios televisivos y radiofónicos, en donde se dio voz a las inconformidades de los feligreses y a la respuesta de la Diócesis de Tepic que ya analiza el caso.

Otro escándalo que recuerdo es el que protagonizó el sacerdote Heider Jaime Orduz, quien fuera detenido por agentes de la Policía Estatal en marzo de 2007, acusado de violar a un menor de 14 años de edad el cual formaba parte del coro de la iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Zapopan, ubicada en la colonia Puerta de la Laguna de Tepic.

En su oportunidad la entonces Subprocuradora Rocío Flores Velásquez informó que el cura presuntamente cometió dicho delito tras ingerir bebidas embriagantes con varios menores en su domicilio, localizado a un costado del templo en el que oficiaba misas, consagraciones, bautizos y bodas -y nunca se aclaró si también exorcismos-.

Por llevar a cabo sus más sucios deseos, Jaime Orduz fue objeto de una orden de aprehensión emitida por el Juez Segundo de Primera Instancia, luego de que la madre del agraviado presentó una denuncia ante la PGJ, tras corroborar mediante exámenes médicos la violación y el daño físico causado al adolorido menor.

Echándole una hojeada al caso, y repasando las planas de periódicos que en marzo de 2007 se publicaron, nos podemos percatar que de acuerdo a lo que narró el menor, él y otros dos compañeritos del coro acudieron a la casa del padre Heider donde estuvieron ingiriendo alcohol hasta perder el temor a Dios, la noción del tiempo y de las cosas. 

Sobre este tema del padre Heider podríamos ahondar más, al igual que del caso del cura Efraín Martínez Delgado, sin embargo a nada nos llevaría, ya que son asuntos ejecutados sin la menor pena por los hoy señalados. En todo caso, quien tiene la última palabra en torno a esta problemática desatada en San Blas, será la Diócesis de Tepic. 

No es un asunto de fe, es un asunto de moral, en el que bien cabría el castigo de excomunión tanto para el padre Heider como para el cura Efraín. Mientras que el primero fue procesado conforme a la ley y pese a la intervención del entonces Obispo Alfonso Humberto Robles Cota, el segundo se pasea por las calles de San Blas como si nada pasara.
No imagino el rostro del Papa Francisco I cuando sepa del caso de San Blas, pero seguramente pondrá punto final al cuestionado servicio pastoral del cura Efraín Martínez Delgado, quien debería renunciar a la sotana y al celibato y ponerse a trabajar para darle a su presunta amante, la secretaria, los gustitos y lujitos que desee.

Por hoy es todo amigos, nos leemos en la siguiente entrega de Santos & Pecadores, con más de este o más casos. Si bien nadie está limpio de pecados, quienes renunciaron al mundo y sus halagos deberían poner el ejemplo, pero no es así, se conducen como verdaderos mundanos, saciando sus más bajos instintos y olvidando el pacto que hicieron con Dios. 

Ya es viernes amigos, disfrutémoslo, vivámoslo, nos lo merecemos…

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.

L’Église de France reconnaît des dérives sectaires en son sein

FRANCE
Le Figaro

Par Jean-Marie Guénois
Mis à jour le 14/11/2013

[Summary: The present of the bishops conference has met with 40 victims of sexual and spiritual abuse that involved 14 communities. The Catholic Church, like any institution, does not like to publicly recognize internal scandal. However, Bishop Georges Pontier formally responded to a group of victims who were abused in movements and religious congregations.]

Le président de l’épiscopat Mgr Pontier, répond à une quarantaine de victimes d’abus sexuels et spirituels et met en cause quatorze «communautés nouvelles».

L’Église catholique, comme toute institution, n’aime pas reconnaître publiquement des scandales internes. C’est pourtant ce que vient de faire le président de la Conférence des évêques de France, Mgr Georges Pontier, en répondant officiellement à un groupe d’une quarantaine de «victimes de dérives sectaires au sein de différents mouvements d’Église et congrégations religieuses» qui avaient adressé aux évêques réunis en assemblée plénière la semaine dernière à Lourdes un «appel» pour dénoncer des «dégâts» humains dont ils ont été victimes dans le cadre des communautés dites «nouvelles» et dont les effets décrits peuvent aller de la «dépression», au «suicide» ou la «destruction de personnalités».

La nouveauté de cette affaire ne réside pas tant dans la dénonciation d’abus sexuels que quelques-uns des plaignants ont subis mais dans celle d’«abus spirituel», un concept encore peu usité. Le fondateur, ou le supérieur, utilise son aura et son pouvoir spirituel sur des personnalités souvent jeunes et fragiles, pour enfermer leur liberté dans une dépendance totale afin d’obtenir d’elles le silence absolu couvrant d’éventuels abus sexuels ou autres abus de pouvoir.

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.

Lancaster Cathedral canon Stephen Shield found guilty of sexually abusing young man

UNITED KINGDOM
Lancaster Guardian

A Lancaster Cathedral canon has been found guilty of sexually abusing a young man more than two decades ago.

Father Stephen Shield’s victim, who had hopes of joining the priesthood, said he felt like his soul had been “ripped out” after the sex attacks by the Catholic priest.

Father Shield, who trained in Rome, had denied sexually assaulting the man in the presbytery at English Martyrs Church, Garstang Road, Preston, on two occasions after first meeting him at Castlerigg Manor in Cumbria – where he also abused him.

But today, a jury at Preston Crown Court found him guilty of three charges of indecent assault after a trial.

The offences were committed between 1985 and 1992 when the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was aged 18 and 24.

Shield, 53, of Balmoral Road, Lancaster, became Canon at Lancaster Cathedral before he was arrested and charged with three counts of indecent assault.

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.

WHAT’S BUGGING THE ST. PAUL POLICE?

MINNESOTA
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on the St. Paul Police Department:

For reasons that remain unexplained, the St. Paul Police Department has decided to reopen a case involving a priest from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis who was accused in 2004 of having child porn on his computer. He was investigated for seven months, and when nothing was found, the case was dropped. Now it is being reopened.

The reopening of this case comes on the heels of a public plea by Commander Mary Nash asking anyone who was molested by a priest to come forward. She did not ask if someone had been abused by a rabbi, minister, school teacher, stepfather or police officer—only if it was a priest. Now she is back for a second time, making the same plea. This kind of religious profiling is legally suspect and morally unethical.

In a related matter, there is a curious news story in today’s Star Tribune that cites Commander Nash’s anger with the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis regarding a priest, Curtis Wehmeyer, who pleaded guilty to sexual offenses. The story is curious because it is not news—it is simply a rehashing of a story dating back to June 2012. It is hard not to conclude that this “story” is a spin job on the part of the newspaper to make the police look good and the archdiocese look bad. No matter, it has nothing to do with the concerns of the Catholic League in 2013.

Police Chief Tom Smith will not answer questions regarding this issue, so I am going public. His department reportedly has no funds to continue its “cold case” unit—there are several unresolved murders in St. Paul—yet it has the time and money to reopen a non-homicide case against a priest. Something is wrong, and we intend to find out what it is.

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.

Doctor and priest among ‘totally broken’ men charged in massive child porn bust

CANADA
Metro

The bedroom resembled that of a teenager: Hockey posters on the wall. A computer.

The man it belonged to was in his late 40s.

Police had a serious reason for being in the Chatham, Ont., home where Ronald Inghelbrecht lived with his mother: officers in Toronto suspected he was a customer of a website that sold child pornography, and the Ontario Provincial Police were there to look for evidence.

“I would describe his room as being adolescent — like he decorated it when he was 12, or 14, and he never changed it,” said OPP Detective David Beckon.

Police seized three computers and thousands of images and movies — and just one video was what the officers in Toronto were looking for. It, they say, tied Inghelbrecht to a website they were investigating as part of Project Spade. He was charged with possession of child pornography and accessing child pornography, and the Chatham-Kent police put out a news release on Dec. 5, 2011.

Three days later, they followed with another release — and Inghelbrecht’s legal troubles worsened. …

Popular parish priest

By all accounts, he was a popular parish priest, a church youth leader and an active Scout organizer.

So when Daniel Moreau, 56, was arrested at his living quarters at a local church last March, there was shock and dismay in the town of Sorel-Tracy, about 100 kilometres northeast of Montreal.

Moreau was charged with seven counts of child pornography, part of a nationwide sweep resulting from Project Spade.

“We understand the distress that such an event can cause within the entire community,” diocese officials said in a statement, and announced Moreau had been relieved of his duties.

Most details of the case are under a publication ban, but defence lawyer Gilles B. Thibault told the Star his client was accused of possessing “an important quantity” of child pornography.

“It is not an isolated act, not a single photo or video — it is more than that,” he said.

Thibault confirmed his client was active in the Scouts in various places around Quebec for a “number of years.”

But, he said, “to date they have not found any victim in the Scout movement.”

Moreau’s case is before the courts.

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.

Sexual Abuse Allegation against Deceased Religious Order Priest Deemed Credible

MICHIGAN
Roman Catholic Diocese of Marquette

(11/15/2013)

Officials of the Catholic Diocese of Marquette have deemed credible a recent allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against a deceased religious order priest from Belgium.

Fr. Bernard “Ben” Van der Schueren, S.J.The allegation was lodged against Father Bernard (“Fr. Ben”) Van der Schueren, S.J., a priest of the Society of Jesus, commonly called the Jesuits. The complaint deals with an incident involving a boy that happened during July of 1989 when Fr. Van der Schueren filled in for a diocesan priest at St. Michael Parish in Marquette. Fr. Van der Schueren died in 2009 at the age of 86.

As soon as the allegation was received, diocesan officials immediately began following the Diocese of Marquette’s Policy on Sexual Misconduct in Ministry. In keeping with that policy, the complaint was referred to Jesuit leadership, in this case, the Chicago-Detroit Province.

In addition, the Office of the Administrator of the Diocese of Marquette informed the Diocesan Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People of the complaint, and the diocesan attorney reported the allegation to the Marquette County Prosecutor’s Office.

After the complaint was lodged, the Jesuits of the Chicago-Detroit Province initiated their safeguarding procedures for sexual abuse of minors in pastoral ministries and contacted the Flemish Jesuits in Belgium. The Flemish provincial superior has committed himself to full cooperation with the investigation. The Chicago-Detroit Province Jesuits have taken charge of dealing with the accusations. They have contacted the victim/survivor of the abuse and have offered counseling and spiritual assistance.

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.

Sexual abuse allegations arise against deceased priest

MICHIGAN
Upper Michigan Source

by Ty Czarnopis

MARQUETTE — Credible allegations of sexual abuse against a child have come forward against a priest that filled in at the St. Michael Parish in Marquette, according to Catholic Diocese officials.

The Catholic Diocese of Marquette says that allegations have arisen against Father Bernard Van de Schueren, S.J., a priest of the Society of Jesus. The allegations are in regards to an incident involving a boy that reportedly took place in July of 1989.

“Our first concern is always for the victims/survivors of abuse, and we pray that all of those affected by this situation and others like it will find healing and peace,” said Diocesan Director of Ministry Personnel, Kevin Branson.

According to officials with the church, Father Van der Schueren was filling in for a diocesan priest at St. Michael Parish in Marquette when the alleged abuse occurred. Fr. Van der Schueren passed away in 2009.

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.

Child sex abuse complaint against deceased priest

MICHIGAN
ABC 10

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Mike Hoey

A child sexual abuse allegation has surfaced against a deceased Catholic priest who once served in the Diocese of Marquette.

Diocesan officials say they believe the allegation against the late Father Bernard Van der Schueren is credible.

The complaint deals with an incident involving a boy in July 1989, when Father Van der Schueren was filling in for another priest at St. Michael Parish in Marquette. He died in 2009 at the age of 86.

Diocesan officials say that as soon as they received the allegation, they referred it to the Jesuit Chicago-Detroit Province. Father Van der Schueren was a Jesuit priest.

The Office of the Administrator informed the Diocesan Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People of the complaint. The diocesan attorney also reported the allegation to the Marquette County Prosecutor’s Office.

The Jesuit Chicago-Detroit Province initiated their safeguarding procedures for sexual abuse of minors in pastoral ministries and contacted the Flemish Jesuits in Belgium. Father Van der Schueren was from Belgium. Diocesan officials say the Flemish provincial superior has agreed to cooperate fully with the investigation. The Jesuit Chicago-Detroit Province has contacted the victim, offering him counseling and spiritual assistance.

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.

IHM Church Responds to Former Priest’s Sexual Misconduct

MINNESOTA
Patch

Posted by Becky Glander (Editor) , November 15, 2013

A Catholic priest known for sexual misconduct who was assigned to Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) in Minnetonka for 18 years was sued last week.

The Rev. Jerome C. Kern was accused in a lawsuit filed Nov. 7 of “sexual battery” of a boy in Edina between 1972 to 1976.

Kern was transferred to our Our Lady of Grace Church in Edina in 1969, after accusations of sexual abuse arose at his church in St. Paul, according to the Star Tribune.

The man from Edina is one of at least 10 people abused by Kern that Jeff Anderson & Associates knows about, and the firm is preparing three more suits against him, according to the newspaper.

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.

Court-ordered disclosure would offer best hope of full accounting in priest sex-abuse cases

MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Beth Hawkins

As part of a civil suit pending in Ramsey County District Court, a judge could order the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to release publicly the list of 33 priests “credibly accused” of child sex abuse as well as a list of 13 offenders maintained by the Diocese of Winona.

Absent a grand jury investigation or action by prosecutors, the release of the list offers the best hope of a full accounting of the extent of the sex-abuse cases in Minnesota and any cover up, according to several people who have followed the mushrooming sex-abuse scandal in the local Roman Catholic Church.

The court-ordered release of records pertaining to abusive priests has been pivotal in sex-abuse scandals in other dioceses. Absent the intervention of civil authorities or other strenuous outside pressure, the information disclosed by church leaders often has been woefully incomplete and outdated.

On Monday, Minnesota Public Radio reported that church officials left a confessed child molester, Father Clarence Vavra, in active ministry until his retirement — with an extra $650 a month as an inducement. Church leaders did not inform police or civil authorities of Vavra’s disclosures.

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.

PUBLIC HEARING COMMENCING 9 DECEMBER 2013

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

The Royal Commission will hold a public hearing in Sydney commencing Monday 9 December 2013. The public hearing will look into the Towards Healing process adopted by the Catholic Church in responding to allegations of child sexual abuse.

The public hearing will examine issues including:

The principles and procedures of Towards Healing adopted by the Catholic Church and their application in responding to:

victims of child sexual abuse; and
allegations of child sexual abuse against personnel of the Catholic Church.
The experience of people who have engaged in the Towards Healing process.

Royal Commission CEO Janette Dines said individuals and organisations, who believe that they have an interest in the Scope and Purpose of the public hearing, are invited to lodge an application for leave to appear.

“Applications for leave to appear can be made via the Royal Commission website and should outline why the applicant has a substantial and direct interest in appearing,” Ms Dines said.

The form and the submission should be lodged by 22 November 2013 with the Royal Commission via:

Email: solicitor@childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au; or
Mail: GPO Box 5283, Sydney NSW 2001

For more information on lodging your submission call 8282 3824 or email
solicitor@childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au

The public can attend the hearing, or watch it live on the Royal Commission’s website. For more information, visit www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au or phone 1800 099 340.

Media enquiries: Dani Redmond 0477 392 754 or media@childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au

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.

Our View: A most heinous crime that should be dealt with accordingly

CYPRUS
Cyprus Mail

FOR A society claiming to protect its children, the lack of official reaction to the paltry 18-month jail sentence handed down to a 57-year-old priest for the indecent assault of his foster daughter is nothing short of hypocritical.

We heard nothing from the Church, our politicians, or even the Child Commissioner, who usually has something to say about any articles involving children, even if it’s just all talk.

The priest’s congregation from Ergates even showed up in court this week during sentencing to express their support and were outraged at the “unjust” sentence while the priest’s wife even expressed the wish for the victim to “burn”.

The sentence was close to the upper end of what was available to the court, because the crime took place between 1993 and 2000 when the maximum sentence for indecent assault was two years. But what about those seven years when welfare services were meant to be monitoring the foster family?

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.

Quote for Day: Institution’s Politics “Too Unholy …

UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

Quote for Day: Institution’s Politics “Too Unholy to Abide Much Longer” (with Commentary on USCCB Meeting)

Joan Chittister at National Catholic Reporter:

We are at a tipping point.

The struggle has been too long; the confusion, too deep; and the politics of every institution, too unholy to abide much longer.

I can really relate to this observation, especially as the annual meeting of the Catholic bishops of the U.S. winds down. Not a whit of hope, not a table scrap of new energy for the people of God, from this meeting. More of the same tired politics that have proven so dysfunctional for some years now, as the USCCB allies itself overtly with the religious and political right.

Cordileone’s predictable attack on gay folks: disgusting. The predictable election of Kurtz and DiNardo: no new wine or fresh wineskins there. Those seeking hope, please move on. The same-old, same-old politics designed to undermine the Obama administration by attacking a healthcare mandate designed to expand access to healthcare for millions of people on the margins: sinful in the extreme.

John Gallagher sums up the situation aptly for Queerty, with an eye to the U.S. Catholic bishops’ attitude towards those who are gay, in particular:

[T]here are plenty of reasons to believe that, no matter what the pope says, things won’t be changing all that much among the U.S. bishops for quite some time.

I especially like his observation that the Catholic media are very much a part of the problem and not part of the solution:

The bishops have their own echo chamber. Even though the majority of Catholics are more liberal than the hierarachy would have you believe, especially on marriage equality, the Catholic media apparatus is overwhelmingly conservative. (After all, no one is about to bite the hand that feeds you, let alone blesses you.) After years of beating the drum about the intrinsic evils of homosexuality, they aren’t about to switch gears. Add to that the fact that the bishops have cast their political lot with the religious liberty lobby, which thrives within the right-wing bubble, and you have a lot of voices drowning out the pope’s (emphasis in original).

Michael Sean Winters proves Gallagher’s point in spades with his puerile NCR column yesterday attacking “goofy” groups promoting “various leftie causes” at USCCB. His suggestion that the goofy lefties should simply request meetings with their bishops, who are, most of them, Michael assures us, “very nice men,” is beyond silly.

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.

Against Gay Marriage, General Bergoglio Sent the Nuns in to Fight

ARGENTINA
Chiesa

Instead of challenging the powers head-on, the then-archbishop of Buenos Aires wrote a fiery letter to cloistered nuns. It was his way of “conducting politics.” The account of a direct witness of that battle

by Sandro Magister

ROME, November 15, 2013 – Pope Francis said so loud and clear in his agenda-setting interview with “La Civiltà Cattolica.” The public battles over questions like abortion or homosexual marriage are not priorities for him.

This does not change the fact that the upcoming synod will be dedicated precisely to the issue of the family. And therefore to questions that are today among the most fiercely combated on the political terrain as well.

But there is also uncertainty among the bishops. In Italy, in the United States, in Spain – the countries where in recent years the public efforts of the episcopates over questions of life and the family have been the most combative – there are those who are pushing for greater detachment from political exertion. Following the example – it is claimed – of the pope. …

Well then, what example did Bergoglio give, when as archbishop of Buenos Aires he found himself grappling with the approval of a law that permits persons of the same sex to contract marriage and adopt children?

It was 2010 when that law was approved in Argentina. Cardinal Bergoglio took a position against it in a form that he had studied thoroughly. Not with public declarations that would directly challenge the political powers, but with two internal letters to the Church: the first to the nuns of four Carmelite monasteries of Buenos Aires, and the second to a leader of the Argentine Catholic laity.

The twofold move by Cardinal Bergoglio naturally had a substantial impact on the political terrain as well. But the explanation that was given to it was that the cardinal intended with the two letters not to “conduct politics” but simply “to recall the teaching of the Church to all those who proclaim themselves to be Catholic, asking them to act accordingly.”

This justification of the activity of Cardinal Bergoglio was presented in the Argentine parliament by a Catholic senator very closely connected to him, Liliana Negre, a member of the Peronist party and the first president of the Global Action Network of Legislators and Governors for Life and the Family.

Liliana Negre has recounted chapter and verse how the approval of that law came about in Argentina, in a book about Pope Francis published in the United States, with the testimonies of twenty persons who knew him very closely, Jesuits and others.

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.

Police drop Rabbi Chaim Halpern investigation

UNITED KINGDOM
The JC

By Simon Rocker, November 15, 2013

A police investigation into alleged sex abuse of women by prominent Golders Green rabbi, Chaim Halpern, has been dropped.

The Metropolitan Police said today that a file passed to the Crown Prosecution Service “regarding allegations of sexual assault has resulted in no charges being brought against a 54-year-old man”.

It said that officers from Barnet’s sexual offences, exploitation and child abuse command, who investigated the allegations, “confirm that all allegations have been fully investigated”.

Rabbi Halpern, who is the head of the Divrei Chaim synagogue, was arrested in February but had denied any wrongdoing.

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.

Judge doubts sex offender’s remorse

NEW ZEALAND
Otago Daily Times

Fri, 15 Nov 2013

A police hotline number set up to investigate former Northland school teacher James Parker was used by a church member in Kaitaia to dob in another church-goer for sexually abusing young boys.

The youth leader at Latter Day Saints (LDS) church in Kaitaia complained about Daniel Taylor, 34, who was yesterday jailed by the High Court in Whangarei on nine charges of sexually abusing young boys, including three brothers, over a five-year period.

He was sentenced to five years and seven months imprisonment and must serve two years and 10 months before becoming eligible for parole.

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.

Joining the grassroots revolution in the Catholic church

MINNESOTA
Twin Cities Daily Planet

By Grace Kelly, Minnesota Progressive Project
November 13, 2013

The Head of Catholic Church, Pope Francis is leading in a new direction that moves from a preoccupation with sex and back to the principles that Jesus taught – like caring for the poor. However, the head of local Catholic Church, Archbishop John Nienstedt, is the ultimate in a preoccupation with sex. Not only has Archbishop Nienstedt been involved in condemning gays and condemning women, he lobbied against the Child Victims Act that removes the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse cases going forward. One of Nienstedt’s priests has been convicted of child molestation but went free because the statue of limitations ran out. Over a million church dollars has been spent since since the year 2000 in lobbying for laws that allow priests to get away with sexual crimes while trying to force sexual laws on everyone else. Not only did the Archbishop Nienstedt coverup and defend priests accused of sexual crimes, he rewarded them with extra funds. His actions put others at risk.

While many have left the Catholic church, an amazing grassroots group called Catholic Coalition for Church Reform (CCCR) is striving to reform the church from within. Even on a cold blustery day, many brave souls gathered to ask Archbishop Nienstedt to resign and to urge people to write to the Papal Nuncio about the choice for the new pope (address at bottom).

The CCCR wants Archbishop John Nienstedt to resign from the St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese after the way the church handled accusations of sexual misconduct. The most profound statement is coming from Bob Beutel, “We need healing, but healing cannot begin with the knife still in the wound.” Indeed as victims speak out and church priests have not been brought to justice, the case for resignation grows. New allegations have added more concern. Basically, the Archbishop has tried to make priests untouchable by law, while the CCCR holds that “Religion is no defense for criminal actions.” What is even worse, is that no warning, no supervision and no controls were put on the priests in question. In fact, at least one priest was given immediate retirement with extra money and complete lack of supervision.

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

New Jersey sex crimes: a potential change in the statute of limitations

NEW JERSEY
Digital Journal

Those with old histories of sexual abuse could be subject to a revised and indefinte statute of limitations, providing legislative proposals are enacted.

November 15, 2013 /24-7PressRelease/ — Over the past couple of decades, the Catholic Church has experienced an alarming record of sexual assault scandals within its doors. However, in legal terms, New Jersey’s statute of limitations actually protected former offenders. This is because the statute of limitations, which starts the clock on viable criminal suits, often expired before young victims could report criminal actions by church officials.

In such cases, had the victims reported the crimes within he specified statutory period, many of the offenders could have have faced time behind bars. Instead, they were given second chances.

However, in 1996, New Jersey’s laws transformed and eliminated the time limit for some criminal charges. So, can church officials now be held accountable for former acts, which date back to before 1996? Not exactly. Even within the new legal parameters, sex abuse victims have only two years to sue after linking abuse to other issues, including divorce or depression. This is spurring legal change.

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.

Lake Haven retired priest in child sex abuse

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

Nov. 15, 2013

A RETIRED Catholic priest living at Lake Haven was one of 65 people across Australia arrested as part of a global investigation targeting the users of a Canadian-based child exploitation website.

More than 300 suspects have been arrested worldwide during the investigation as 386 children were removed from harm, including six in Australia.

Police have announced that the three-year investigation by Canadian authorities have referred the details of numerous Australian-based users of the child exploitation website to policing jurisdictions in Australia.

Under what is known as Operation Thunderer, the Australian Federal Police and state and territory police have arrested 65 people who have been charged with 399 offences.

It includes the retired priest, 72, arrested at Lake Haven on August 20 and charged with possessing child abuse material and using a carriage service to access child pornography.

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.

St. Paul police fault archdiocese’s handling of priest before arrest in abuse case

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: TONY KENNEDY , Star Tribune Updated: November 14, 2013

Authorities questioned the visit by the former vicar general and a deacon before arrest in abuse case.

It was June 21, 2012, and the Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer was about to be confronted by officials of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish in St. Paul had been under church supervision for sexual misconduct, and a mother had recently confronted him with suspicions that he was abusing her son. Now she had gone to officials at the chancery.

The doorbell rang, and in came the Rev. Kevin McDonough, the influential former vicar general, and Deacon John Vomastek, a former cop. A parish employee at the scene said they took Wehmeyer into a closed office. A short time later, according to the employee and police accounts, McDonough and Vomastek left the building, and Wehmeyer was left on his own to pack up and move out.

He was free for the next 28 hours, when police arrested him.

Law enforcement documents would later show that by the time police got to Blessed Sacrament, Wehmeyer had removed his camper from church property, McDonough had taken Wehmeyer’s work computer to the chancery and church officials had interviewed the child who first came forward to allege abuse.

The church’s handling of Wehmeyer’s case infuriated police, interfered with evidence and disrupted the early phase of the criminal investigation, according to law enforcement documents, a parish employee and St. Paul police Cmdr. Mary Nash.

“With them going and getting to Wehmeyer before us, it did complicate the case,” Nash said. “It gave him an opportunity to hide the scene of the crime [the camper] and to get out of the sight of police for the short term.”

Questions about McDonough’s and Vomastek’s actions were answered Thursday by archdiocese spokesman Jim Accurso, who said the timeline in the police documents is inaccurate and the archdiocese worked closely with police. “We did not put the police at a disadvantage because they were notified throughout the entire time,’’ he said.

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

Law firm chosen to review Minnesota priest files

MINNESOTA
Faribault County Register

November 15, 2013
Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced Thursday that it has named a consulting firm with experience in addressing issues of clergy sex abuse to conduct a review of priest files.

Kinsale Management Consulting, founded by former FBI executive Kathleen McChesney, will begin its review next month, starting with files of all clergy in active ministry, the archdiocese said. Kinsale will conduct an initial assessment before determining how long the review will take.

McChesney also served as head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office for Child and Youth Protection, where she developed and oversaw a program to ensure dioceses complied with policies to prevent and report sexual abuse.

Critics say McChesney is another church insider. David Clohessy, director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, added that McChesney will be forced to rely on what church leaders choose to divulge.

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.

November 14, 2013

WA children removed from harm and offenders charged as part of international child sex abuse ring

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Five West Australian children have been removed from harm by police, after an international child sexual abuse ring was smashed.

It comes as part of a joint crackdown on those using a Toronto-based child exploitation website.

For the past four months, police officers around the world have been executing search warrants and making arrests.

Globally 386 children have been removed from situations where they were used to create images of child sexual abuse.

Police raided homes in Perth and the Esperance-Goldfields district as part of the operation.

So far four people aged between 30 and 72 have been charged by WA Police.

They are facing a total of 107 offences including indecent dealing of a child under 13, indecent recording of a child under 13 and possession of child exploitation material.

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.

Brennan still faces civil suit

PHILALDELPHIA (PA)
Philly Trib

Written by Larry Miller Thursday, 14 November 2013

The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office may have been legally unable to pursue further prosecution of a Catholic priest accused of sexual abuse, but that won’t stop a wrongful death civil suit from being leveled against him.

On Wednesday, Philadelphia attorneys Marci Hamilton, Daniel Monahan and Jeff Anderson announced they were taking civil action against former Catholic priest Robert Brennan, Monsignor William Lynn and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The civil suit is on behalf of Sean McIlmail, who died of an accidental drug overdose on Oct. 13, 2013 at age 26 and accused Brennan of sexually abusing him when he was a child. McIlmail claimed Brennan abused him for years, beginning at age 11 in 1998. The District Attorney’s Office had planned to prosecute Brennan, but had to drop the charges against Brennan after McIllmail’s death.

The complaint alleges that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, and Msgr. William Lynn knew of numerous child sexual abuse allegations against Brennan at least ten years before Brennan sexually abused McIlmail. Brennan was sent for evaluation several times after which the Archdiocese and its representatives allegedly covered-up the accusations about Brennan’s extreme risk to children and placed him back in ministry.

According to attorneys, whistleblowers came forward complaining about Brennan’s inappropriate behavior with children going back as far as 1988 but the complaints were ignored. Over time Brennan was reassigned to several parishes including St. Mary’s Parish in Schwenksville, Pa., St. Ignatius Parish in Yardley, and Resurrection Parish in Rhawnhurst, among others.

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.

65 Australians arrested as Canadian police smash ‘horrific’ child sex abuse ring

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Sixty-five Australians are among more than 300 people arrested after Canadian authorities smashed what they say is one of the worst child sex abuse rings they have seen.

Canadian police say their investigation into a multi-million-dollar child sex abuse video website has led to the arrests of nearly 350 people internationally, including teachers, police officers, doctors and priests.

A total of 386 victims of the ring were rescued from harm worldwide, including six in Australia – five in Western Australia, and one in the ACT.

“It is alleged that officers located hundreds of thousands of images detailing horrific acts against young children, some of the worst that they have ever viewed,” Toronto police spokeswoman Joanna Beaven-Desjardins said.

Arrests began in August during the Australian-based component of the operation, known as Operation Thunderer, with those charged facing a combined 399 charges of child exploitation offences.

The Australian suspects in the operation are aged between 25 and 72 and have been charged with a range of offences including accessing, possessing, producing and distributing online child exploitation material.

They include a Catholic priest, a former priest and two teachers, all from New South Wales. But Queensland is the state with the largest number of suspects, with 33 people facing charges.

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.

St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese names Kinsale Management Consulting to review priest files

MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 11/14/2013

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has hired a Los Angeles-based management consulting firm to review clergy files in the wake of continuing revelations of sexual misconduct by priests.

Kinsale Management Consulting, led by Kathleen McChesney, in early December will look at “all clergy in active ministry,” said a statement Thursday by archdiocese spokesman Jim Accurso.

The firm’s website says it has “performed security strategy and crisis management reviews for multinational corporations and nonprofit agencies” and “confidential internal investigations of employee misconduct,” among other services.

McChesney spent 24 years with the FBI, retiring at the No. 3 position in the agency, the archdiocese said. She also led the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office for Child and Youth Protection and worked as vice president for global security for the Walt Disney Co. after her career in law enforcement, according to online biographies.

At the bishops’ office, she “developed and oversaw a national compliance mechanism to ensure that all Catholic dioceses complied with civil laws and internal policies relative to the prevention, reporting and response to the sexual abuse of minors,” the archdiocese statement said.

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

Ex-FBI official’s firm to review clergy abuse files

MINNESOTA
Star Trubune

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has hired an outside firm to review its clergy files, it announced Thursday.

The firm, Kinsale Management Consulting, based in California, was founded by Kathleen McChesney, the former head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office for Child and Youth Protection. In that role, she developed legal compliance mechanisms for dioceses regarding preventing, reporting and responding to the sexual abuse of minors.

McChesney is a former FBI official who oversaw that agency’s international operations in 44 foreign countries and at its field offices in Chicago and Portland. She also worked as a vice president for threat assessment and crisis management for the Walt Disney Co.

Kinsale’s website says the firm “has performed security strategy and crisis management reviews for multinational corporations and nonprofit agencies; conducted confidential internal investigations of employee misconduct, theft and fraud; designed security structures, and developed client-specific crisis management plans and training programs.”

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.

Lake Haven retired priest in child sex abuse

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

Nov. 15, 2013

A RETIRED Catholic priest living at Lake Haven was one of 65 people across Australia arrested as part of a global investigation targeting the users of a Canadian-based child exploitation website.

More than 300 suspects have been arrested worldwide during the investigation as 386 children were removed from harm, including six in Australia.

Police have announced that the three-year investigation by Canadian authorities have referred the details of numerous Australian-based users of the child exploitation website to policing jurisdictions in Australia.

Under what is known as Operation Thunderer, the Australian Federal Police and state and territory police have arrested 65 people who have been charged with 399 offences.

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.

St. Paul Police: KSTP ‘Inaccurate’; But Not Wrong On Archdiocese Investigation

MINNESOTA
KSTP

[with video]

By: Jay Kolls

KSTP first reported Tuesday that sources confirmed two top officials at the Twin Cities Catholic Archdiocese were part of an investigation.

Sources tell KSTP it is connected to a child pornography case that has been reopened against a priest.

Those same sources say St. Paul Police want to know what Archbishop John Nienstedt and former Vicar General Father Peter Laird knew about the child pornography, when they knew it, and if they knew about it, why they didn’t report it to police in a timely manner.

A whistleblower has already, in several interviews, named Archbishop Nienstedt and Father Laird as leaders who knew about the possible child pornography and did not immediately turn it over to authorities.

St. Paul Police held a news conference to say our KSTP report was “inaccurate” and that the two church leaders are not the “focus of an investigation.” But, they stopped short of saying our story was wrong.

Matt Entenza is a former prosecutor with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.

He tells us using words like “not the focus of an investigation” and stopping short of saying the story was wrong, “probably means your sources are correct and the two men are most likely part of a broader investigation of obstruction of justice at the Archdiocese.”

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.

Archdiocese hires Los Angeles firm to review priest files

MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

by Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio
November 14, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has hired a Los Angeles-based consulting firm to review the personnel files of all its priests, as part of the church’s approach to dealing with allegations of clergy sexual abuse and misconduct.

The archdiocese on Thursday said it hired Kinsale Management Consulting to conduct a review of the priest files. The firm was founded by Kathleen McChesney, a former top FBI official and former head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office for Child and Youth Protection.

A statement by the archdiocese said the review process is slated to begin in early December and will start with clergy currently in ministry.

The firm did not provide a timeline for when they will finish their work or how much the review will cost the archdiocese.

“Their expertise and leadership in addressing the problem of abuse of minors will ensure that Kinsale’s review of our clergy files will be objective and thorough,” Archbishop John Nienstedt said in a prepared statement. “With the benefit of this level of review, we will proceed confidently with ongoing disclosure.”

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.

Archdiocese names firm to review priest files

MINNESOTA
KARE

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced Thursday they have hired a consulting firm to review clergy files in their ongoing efforts to address issues of sexual misconduct within the church.

Kinsale Management Consulting will begin reviewing all clergy files in early December, beginning with a review of clergy in active ministry. Kinsale will conduct an initial assessment before determining how long the review will take.

Kinsale Management Consulting was founded by Dr. Kathleen McChesney, a former top FBI official. She was also head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office for Child and Youth Protection, where she oversaw a program to ensure dioceses complied with policies to prevent and report sexual 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.

We will never get over it, says sex abuse victim

AUSTRALIA
Border Mail

Nov. 15, 2013

DENNIS Hayes doubts child sexual abuse victims will ever get over the horror.

The recent public scrutiny of institutionalised child sexual abuse, he said, would at least give them a degree of normality.

A big part of that process was the apology — four years ago tomorrow — from then prime minister Kevin Rudd to the “Forgotten Australians”.

These are the roughly 500,000 children who found themselves in orphanages or church-run or state homes between 1930 and 1970.

Mr Hayes does not want to reveal his own story, aside to say that growing up in 11 different institutions qualified him as one of “the forgotten”.

The apology, the federal government’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and the Victorian Parliament’s inquiry into clergy child sexual abuse were important steps in helping victims, he said.

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

Statement Regarding Hiring of Outside Firm for Clergy File Review

MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Date:Thursday, November 14, 2013

Source:Jim Accurso

As part of the plan to ensure a comprehensive approach to address the issue of clergy sexual misconduct, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis today announced it has retained Kinsale Management Consulting in fulfillment of Archbishop John Nienstedt’s stated intention to hire an outside firm to conduct a third-party review of clergy files.

After evaluating the credentials of a number of nationally-recognized firms with established and appropriate expertise, Kinsale was hired. ”We are confident in the credentials and relevant expertise of Kinsale Management Consulting to conduct a thorough review of our clergy files,” said Fr. Reginald Whitt, O.P., the Vicar of Ministerial Standards. “Our number one goal was to find someone with extensive experience and expertise nationally in this area, and Kinsale certainly has those qualities.”

Kinsale was founded by Kathleen McChesney, Ph.D., the former number three official at the Federal Bureau of Investigation and head of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office for Child and Youth Protection, where she developed and oversaw a national compliance mechanism to ensure that all Catholic dioceses complied with civil laws and internal policies relative to the prevention, reporting and response to the sexual abuse of minors. Kinsale’s review will add another level of accountability and – most importantly – will further serve the Archdiocese’s primary goal of protecting minors. Kinsale’s file review process is slated to begin in early December and will start with a review of all clergy in active ministry. Once the Kinsale team is on board and can do an initial assessment, they will be able to provide an estimate of the timeframe required to complete their work.

“Dr. McChesney and her team bring an extraordinary depth of experience, background in law enforcement and the investigation of crimes against children, and dedication to their work in both religious and secular organizations. Their expertise and leadership in addressing the problem of abuse of minors will ensure that Kinsale’s review of our clergy files will be objective and thorough,” said Archbishop John Nienstedt. “With the benefit of this level of review, we will proceed confidently with ongoing disclosure.” Dr. McChesney has thirty years of law enforcement experience and innate talent for inspiring collaboration and change. She created the FBI’s Office of Law Enforcement

Coordination to establish more productive relationships between the FBI and the nation’s 18,000 police agencies, and the National Intel Share project to promote information sharing among the nation’s 680,000 law enforcement officers. She managed the FBI’s international operations in 44 foreign countries and spearheaded the FBI’s efforts to add 11 additional offices through interactions with the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Congress.

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.

Neinstedt hires another Catholic figure; SNAP responds

MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY BARBARA DORRIS ON NOVEMBER 14, 2013

Embattled Twin Cities Archbishop John Neinstedt has hand-picked another bureaucrat

Embattled Twin Cities Archbishop John Neinstedt has hand-picked another bureaucrat to help him cling to and repair his damaged reputation. She’s Kathleen McChesney, who was hired by America’s bishops to head their new Office of Child Protection a decade ago.

McChesney is the quintessential bureaucrat, unwilling to challenge corruption and anxious to please her bosses. She was no ‘profile in courage’ when she helped US bishops out of a jam a decade ago. We doubt she will be now.

Whether Nienstedt shares a few carefully selected records with one retired bureaucrat or ten, or with one lay catholic or a dozen, it won’t matter.

Neither McChesney nor anyone else Nienstedt pays will have subpoena power or real independence.

Catholic officials can scream ‘independent’ over and over. But if they pick and pay the people they’ll consult with, no one can truly believe those new ‘hired hands’ will be unbiased.

It’s very smart and safe for Nienstedt to hire McChesney. She did the bidding for bishops a decade ago and she’ll do this bishop’s bidding now.

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.

St. Paul cops deny that Nienstedt, others under investigation

MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Brian Lambert

In the PiPress, Richard Chin reports that St. Paul police are denying a KSTP-TV report that Archbishop John Nienstedt and other high-level church figures are under criminal investigation: “Police previously declined to comment on whether the investigation was targeting additional priests. On Wednesday, Padilla denied media reports that Archbishop John Nienstedt and the Rev. Peter Laird, former archdiocese vicar general, are part of the investigation. ‘At this moment, at this time that we’re speaking, Archbishop John Nienstedt and former vicar general Father Peter Laird are not the focus of investigation as we sit here and talk,’ Padilla said. ‘Does that mean they won’t be later on? It does not. What it means is they aren’t at this moment.’ He said the two are ‘not the center of our investigation at this time, and as a matter of fact, at this moment as we stand here this day, they’re not being investigated.’ But Padilla also said, ‘We are not going to limit the focus of this investigation.’ ”

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.

St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese names Kinsale Management Consulting to review priest files

MINNESOTA
The Republic

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
November 14, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minnesota — The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has named the firm it has hired to review priest files as part of its plan to address clergy sexual misconduct.

The archdiocese announced Thursday that Kinsale Management Consulting will conduct the review.

Kinsale was founded by Kathleen McChesney, a former top FBI official. She was also head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office for Child and Youth Protection, where she oversaw a program to ensure dioceses complied with policies to prevent and report sexual abuse.

The archdiocese says Kinsale’s review will add another level of accountability and help protect children.

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

Another “win” for Kansas City’s convicted Bishop Finn

MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY BARBARA DORRIS ON NOVEMBER 14, 2013

Imagine this: A bank robber shoots and kills two people – first a custodian and a then a teller – as they run away seeking safety.

The criminal is held responsible for the custodian’s death but not for the teller’s death. Why?

Because when the bullet hit the custodian, he was on bank property but when the bullet hit the teller, she was actually standing on a public sidewalk.

Pretty crazy scenario, right? Why should the actual physical site of a crime enable wrongdoers who commit or conceal that crime to get off the hook?

But that’s exactly what’s happening in Missouri with clergy sex crimes and cover ups.

In 2011, St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson and his colleagues got off the hook because Fr. Cooper molested a boy at a riverside cabin that was owned by the priest (but NOT owned by 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.

Report of Australian Commission on Child Abuse in Religious Organizations Unsparing in Criticism of Catholic Church

AUSTRALIA
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

The committee established by the parliament of Victoria in Australia to conduct an inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other non-governmental organizations has just presented its report to parliament. The report is entitled A Betrayal of Trust, and is online at the parliamentary website (part one is here, part two here, and an executive summary here; all are pdf files). As David Marr reports for The Guardian, the report is “unsparing” in its criticism of the Catholic church.

The report notes that it focuses on the Catholic church because the submissions it received from victims of abuse in Victoria when parliament established the inquiry were preponderantly from people who had experienced abuse by Catholic religious authority figures. A major theme of abuse survivors was the betrayal of trust by religious organizations they had previously trusted–as the report notes, “particularly the Catholic Church.”

That betrayal of trust had eroded their sense of self-worth throughout their lives, survivors reported, resulting in mental health struggles, difficulty establishing healthy relationships, addiction issues, problems in education and employment, and so forth. Regarding religious groups and how their betrayal of victims’ trust affected their lives, the report’s executive summary states,

This feeling resulted from the inconsistent approaches by organisations to victims versus offenders—that is, giving inadequate support to victims, while providing pastoral, legal and financial support to offenders. They spoke of unfulfilled promises by leaders in the organisation and the trivializing of their experiences.

About the response of the Catholic church, in particular, the report states,

In regard to the Catholic Church specifically, the Committee found that rather than being instrumental in exposing the criminal abuse of children and the extent of the problem, senior leaders of the Church:

• trivialised the problem
• contributed to abuse not being disclosed or not being responded to at all prior to the 1990s
• ensured that the Victorian community remained uninformed of the abuse
• ensured that perpetrators were not held accountable, with the tragic result being that children continued to be abused by some religious personnel when it could have been avoided.

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.

Child porn bust: Anatomy of an international child pornography investigation

CANADA
Toronto Star

By: Robert Cribb Foreign, Investigations Jennifer Quinn, News reporter Julian Sher, Published on Thu Nov 14 2013

The customers logged in from around the world: Germany. Spain. Mexico. Australia. Hundreds from Canada and the United States. They came from all walks of life; they worked as schoolteachers and newspaper editors, as police officers and doctors.

What they had in common, police allege, was that they paid a Toronto man to provide them with explicit “naturist” videos of children — and, as a result, they are now caught up in what is believed to be the smashing of the largest, most extensive commercial child pornography ring ever uncovered in Canada.

Among law enforcement, the investigation is known as Project Spade.

For nearly a year, a team of Star reporters was granted exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the child exploitation unit of the Toronto Police Service as they brought their three-year investigation to a conclusion.

At the centre of the ring, police allege, is Brian Way: A 42-year-old with a thin goatee and carefully groomed hair, he faces 24 charges of making, possessing, distributing, exporting and selling the explicit images of boys — who range in age from toddlers to teens — in videos that investigators say were edited, packaged and sold from his west-end Toronto warehouse.

They have also laid a charge of instructing a criminal organization, the first time this has been done in relation to a child pornography investigation. It is a charge more usually associated with gangs or organized crime.

“This case has really challenged people to reconsider what nudism and child modelling are,” said Toronto police Detective-Constable Lisa Belanger, who led the investigation. “It’s caused countries around the world to look at this material and ask whether it’s OK for doctors, teachers, daycare providers and hockey coaches to be buying this kind of material. Countries from South Africa to Australia, Isle of Man to Hong Kong and Spain have all said it’s not OK. I think it’s going to have ripple effects everywhere.”

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.

Hundreds held over Canada child porn

CANADA
BBC News

Police in Canada say 348 people have been arrested and nearly 400 children rescued during a three-year investigation into child pornography.

At the centre of the inquiry was a Toronto-based firm that allegedly sold DVDs and streamed videos of naked children.

Azov Films marketed the footage as “naturist” and claimed it was legal in Canada and the US.

The films were distributed in 94 countries, police said.

In Canada 108 arrests were made, with another 76 in the US and 164 in other countries during the investigation codenamed Project Spade.

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.

348 people arrested in child-porn case connected to Canadian firm

CANADA
The Globe and Mail

TU THANH HA
The Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Nov. 14 2013

A Canadian company raked in $4-million from the sale of images of nude Eastern European boys, Toronto police said on Thursday, revealing details of a major international child-pornography investigation that rescued hundreds of victims.

‪The company, Toronto-based Azov Films, sold mail-order DVDs and streamed online videos of naked boys from Germany, Romania and Ukraine, which it marketed as naturist movies and claimed were legal in Canada and the United States.

After three years of investigation, 348 suspects were arrested in dozens of countries around the world, from Australia to Sweden to Mexico.

Sources say the investigation identified 10 to 15 children in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, who modelled for photographers connected with Azov.

‪In addition, police said, as Azov clients were identified around the world, police found other children who were within reach to those customers and were either physically abused or recorded in illicit videos.

At least 386 minors were removed from harm’s way, said Inspector Joanna Beaven-Desjardins, commander of the Toronto police sex crimes unit.

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 Says 386 Kids Rescued in Child Porn Bust

CANADA
ABC News

TORONTO November 14, 2013
By CHARMAINE NORONHA Associated Press

A sweeping child pornography investigation has led to the rescue of 386 children around the world and the arrest of 348 people, Canadian police said Thursday.

Toronto police describe the Project Spade operation as one of the largest child porn busts they’ve ever seen.

“It is alleged that officers seized hundreds of thousands of videos detailing horrific sexual acts against very young children, some of the worst that they have ever viewed,” Inspector Joanna Beaven-Desjardins said.

Police said 108 people were arrested in Canada and 76 in the U.S. Others were arrested in other countries. School teachers, doctors and actors were among those arrested.

Police said the children were “rescued from child exploitation” but did not give more details.

Beaven-Desjardins said the investigation began with a Toronto man accused of running a company since 2005 that distributed child pornography videos.

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

NSW Police arrest four men …

AUSTRALIA
New South Wales Police Force

NSW Police arrest four men as part of global investigation into online child exploitation

Friday, 15 November 2013 07:31:42 AM

Two teachers, a priest and a former priest have been arrested by the NSW Police Force as part of a global investigation targeting the users of a Canadian-based child exploitation website.

More than 300 suspects have been arrested worldwide during the Toronto Police Service-led investigation, including 65 people in Australia.

Meanwhile, 386 children have been removed from harm worldwide, including six in Australia.

The three-year investigation was announced last night by Canadian authorities who have referred the details of numerous Australian-based users of the child exploitation website to policing jurisdictions in Australia.

Under what is known as Operation Thunderer, the Australian Federal Police and state and territory police have arrested 65 people who have been charged with 399 offences.

That includes four men arrested by the NSW Police Force Sex Crimes Squad’s Child Exploitation Internet Unit:

• A 42-year-old school teacher arrested at Cowra on Wednesday 24 July 2013 and charged with possess child abuse material and using a carriage service to access child pornography;

• A 57-year-old Catholic priest arrested at The Rocks on Monday 29 July 2013 and charged with using a carriage service to access child pornography;

• A 42-year-old school teacher arrested at Emu Plains on Wednesday 7 August 2013 and charged with possess child abuse material and using a carriage service to access child pornography; and

• A 72-year-old retired Catholic priest arrested at Lake Haven on Tuesday 20 August 2013 and charged with possessing child abuse material and using a carriage service to access child pornography.

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.

Child Pornography Ring Busted

AUSTRALIA/CANADA
Triple M

Two teachers, a priest and a former priest have been arrested by the NSW Police Force as part of a global investigation targeting the users of a Canadian-based child exploitation website.

More than 300 suspects have been arrested worldwide during the Toronto Police Service-led investigation, including 65 people in Australia.

Breakdown of Offenders by state: NSW 9, VIC 5, QLD 33, WA 5, ACT 1 and SA 12.

Meanwhile, 386 children have been removed from harm worldwide, including six in Australia.

The three-year investigation was announced last night by Canadian authorities who have referred the details of numerous Australian-based users of the child exploitation website to policing jurisdictions in Australia.

Under what is known as Operation Thunderer, the Australian Federal Police and state and territory police have arrested 65 people who have been charged with 399 offences.

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.

65 Aussies arrested in Canadian porn bust

CANADA/AUSTRALIA
9 News

NSW police say two teachers, a priest and a former priest have been arrested as part of a global investigation into a Canadian-based child pornography ring.

Six Australian children are among the 386 around the world who have been removed from harm, they say.

More than 340 suspects around the world, including 65 Australians, were arrested during the swoop that was led by Toronto police.

The three-year investigation was announced by Canadian authorities on Thursday night.

The 65 Australians arrested have been charged with 399 offences.

In NSW they include a 42-year-old school teacher arrested at Cowra on July 24 and another 42-year-old Emu Plains teacher arrested on August 7.

A 72-year-old retired Catholic priest was arrested at Lake Haven on the Central Coast on August 20 and a 57-year-old priest was arrested at The Rocks on July 29.

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.

St. Paul Police says top archdiocese officials are not being criminally investigated

MINNESOTA
KARE

[with video]

Lindsey Seavert

ST PAUL, Minn— The St. Paul Police department announced an update into the investigation into the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, saying Archbishop John Nienstedt and former Vicar General Peter Laird are not being criminally investigated at this time.

“Archbishop John Nienstedt and former Vicar General Peter Laird are not the focus of the investigation as we sit here in talk. Does that mean it won’t be later on? It does not. What it means they aren’t at this moment,” said Howie Padilla, St. Paul Police spokesperson.

Padilla said his department has not made any arrests or forwarded any cases to the Ramsey County Attorney. He would not comment on any executed search warrants or the number of potential victims who have come forward to police. In late October, St. Paul Police asked these victims to contact authorities.

“We have had very courageous folks bravely come forward with their stories. We’ve asked them to. We told them we would treat them with the utmost respect, do what we could to help them. And hold anybody responsible for criminal activity accountable. We will continue to do that,” said Padilla.

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.

MO – Archdiocese in court Friday, seeks to limit discovery

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Archbishop wants to give less info to victim
Carlson’s lawyers will try tomorrow to limit judge’s ruling
Case involves convicted predator priest who abused in 2000
Catholic officials have been ordered to turn over 20 years of records
The documents would cover child sex abuse allegations vs. all church employees

For immediate release: Thursday, Nov. 14, 2013

For more information: David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP Director (314) 566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com

St. Louis’ Catholic archbishop has been ordered to turn over information about every archdiocesan employee who has been accused of child sex crimes going back two decades.

Tomorrow, lawyers for the archbishop will try to severely restrict that order and limit the information they must provide to the alleged victim of a convicted St. Louis predator priest.

The case involves Fr. Joseph D. Ross, who allegedly molested a girl at an inner city parish in 2000. In 1988, Ross pled guilty to sexually assaulting an 11 year old boy during confession. Despite that conviction, Catholic officials quietly put Ross back on the job but told no one about his crimes.

In May, a St. Louis city judge ordered Catholic officials to turn over records about 20 years of child allegations of sexual abuse by employees of the archdiocese.

Lawyers for Archbishop Robert Carlson want Judge Robert Dierker to reconsider his order. They say they should be forced to provide records for a shorter period of time, only about alleged child sex crimes, only about accused priests (not bishops, seminarians, brothers, nuns, teachers and other employees), and only records that have already been made public through criminal or civil court filings.

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.

Pope Francis now a Mafia target over war on graft, claims leading prosecutor

VATICAN CITY
Irish Independent

NICK SQUIRES – 14 NOVEMBER 2013

Pope Francis is at risk of mafia retribution as a result of his determination to clean up corruption and cronyism within the Catholic Church, one of Italy’s best known anti-mob prosecutors said.

Nicola Gratteri, who has lived under police protection for nearly 25 years, said the Jesuit Pope’s campaign to tackle graft was upsetting powerful crime organisations in Italy, which have in the past enjoyed a cosy relationship with the Catholic hierarchy.

“Those who have up until now profited from the power and wealth deriving from the church are now nervous, agitated. The Pope is dismantling centres of economic power in the Vatican,” said Mr Gratteri (55), who has spent his career fighting the ‘Ndrangheta mafia of Calabria in the far south of Italy.

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.

Pope shuns presidential guard escort for Italy state visit amid new security fears over reform

ROME
Newser

By NICOLE WINFIELD | ASSOCIATED PRESS

Pope Francis shunned a presidential guard escort for his first state visit to the Italian president Thursday in yet another breach of protocol and security, even though some people have expressed concerns for his safety as he ramps up his reform of the Vatican.

Francis’ simple blue Ford Focus and the small Vatican motorcade pulled up quietly to the Quirinale Palace without the blaring of sirens that typically accompanies politicians and foreign dignitaries cruising through central Rome.

Once inside the onetime summer residence of popes, Francis walked slowly with President Giorgio Napolitano past the honor guard and then greeted staff members and their children, further evidence of a more casual approach to official duties by the Argentine “slum pope.”

Francis’ shunning of the trappings of the papacy _ including its security apparatus _ has defined his papacy so far. But his desire to be close to his flock and his aim to curb corruption and waste in the Vatican have raised fresh security fears, beyond the occasional mobbing of his open car by overly enthusiastic pilgrims.

A leading anti-Mafia prosecutor, Nicola Gratteri, this week raised the alarm that Francis’ financial house-cleaning might make him a target for Italy’s mob, though he provided no evidence that such a threat existed or that the mob was planning a hit.

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.