ABUSE TRACKER

SCOTLAND
Ross-Shire Journal

A HIGHLAND police chief has issued an appeal to members of the public who may have been affected by sex abuse at a former school.

Allegations about historic abuse at the Fort Augustus Abbey School have hit the headlines in recent weeks following a BBC investigation.

Now, the Highland and Islands Division of Police Scotland is investigating the historic reports of alleged abuse from former pupils and is appealing for anyone affected to come forward.

The investigation followed a report in March 2013, by a former pupil of the Abbey, of sex abuse at the school during the 1980s.

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

ESTADOS UNIDOS
Terra

Um padre católico do alto escalão da Arquidiocese de Boston, nos Estados Unidos, voluntariamente pediu licença após ser acusado de manter relações sexuais com uma prostituta, de acordo com informações da agência AP.

As autoridades disseram que Arthur Coyle foi liberado após pagar fiança de US$ 500 e se declarar inocente, nessa segunda-feira, da acusação de manter relação sexual mediante pagamento.

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.

WEST VIRGINIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

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

For immediate release August 6, 2013

A 14-year-old girl reported to police in April that the pastor, who also worked at Kanawha County Schools, had inappropriately touched her.

Johnnie Franklin Winnell, a pastor at United Gospel Mission in Charleston, who had previously admitted to authorities that he touched the girl three times, pleaded guilty yesterday at his arraignment.

We urge anyone that may have been harmed by Winnell or may have additional information to report what they know to authorities. Experience suggests that often these offenses are not isolated. Any information about this predator will help to insure he is put in jail, safely away from 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.

MASSACHUSETTS
The Raw Story

By David Edwards
Tuesday, August 6, 2013

A high-ranking priest with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston was arrested over the weekend for soliciting a prostitute after police observed him paying for sex in a graveyard.

Lowell police were in a local neighborhood on Sunday conducting surveillance for prostitution and drug use when they observed a known prostitute riding in a black Chevrolet Equinox with 62-year-old Monsignor Arthur M. Coyle, according to The Boston Globe. Police followed the car to a cemetery where Coyle admitted to hiring the woman for sex, but insisted that “they hadn’t done anything yet.”

The 38-year-old woman told police that she had been paid $40 to perform sexual acts.

A Police report showed that Coyle was observed “well over a dozen different times” driving through areas frequented by prostitutes since last November. The report said that the priest would stop “every time he sees a single female or a known prostitute.”

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

AUSTRALIA
Eureka Street

Ailsa Piper | 06 August 2013

Shadows cast by pilgrims on the Camino MozárabeI grew up in outback WA, where there was no church, or neighbour, within easy driving distance. Stories were what we had, and they were sacred.

Some were poems — ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’ may be responsible for my wanderlust, forever seeking that land of bong-trees. Some were from the Yamiji people — they instilled reverence for this land over which we stomp. Some were Bible stories — angels, miracles, water to wine and dead men walking. Those stories helped form my wish to live an honourable life. To ‘do unto others’.

Later, at convent school, while I resented not being allowed to serve on the altar, I did love the rituals and the rosary’s mantra. I also loved one Q and A from catechism:

Q: What is God?
A: God is love.

As I grew, I reassessed. My mother insisted I make my own choices on morality, faith and ethics. I was not to parrot inherited stances, but to form opinions based on experience and listening.

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.

UNITED STATES
Big Trial

MONDAY, JULY 22, 2013

By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net

Ken Gumbert, an award-winning documentary filmmaker, chronicles the lives of people who have fought back against historic injustices.

His 1990 documentary, Saving Grace, was about the survivors of a Communist social experiment to exterminate religion in Czechoslovakia, particularly the Catholic Church. His 1992 film, Between Two Worlds, was about a family of Ute Indians struggling to retain their native culture on a Utah reservation, amid rampant alcoholism and drug abuse. His 2003 documentary, Red Terror On The Amber Coast, was about the resistance movement in Lithuania, where people fought to the death against a Soviet campaign of mass arrests, property confiscations, and deportations to forced labor camps in Siberia.

Gumbert was in Philadelphia this week to begin shooting his latest documentary about another group of people fighting historic injustice — Catholic priests in America falsely accused of sex abuse.

It’s a subject that Gumbert is passionate about. He’s a Catholic priest of 28 years, and a member of a Dominican order. He’s also a film studies professor at Providence College in Rhode Island.

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

AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

An idea has been proposed to produce a pilot program for a weekly, one-hour, television program on the Royal Commission and related issues. The idea involves control of the format, production and financing, by victims and their friends and associates. It is called the Survivors’ Pilot Project.

Anyone wishing to participate in this project can go to the following website, which contains contact details for the principal proposer: http://www.gofundme.com/3cfgso

Topics which have been suggested include:

* A segment that is focused on healing/understanding in your neighborhood or community.
* Coming out. What to expect and how to work for a better outcome.
* Dispelling myths & legends – what psychology, neuroscience and research can tell us.
* Justice and the law
* The psychology of the cover-up and just what is being covered up.
* Statistics, surveys/polls.
* Guests – local and from overseas (SKYPE).
* Talking to management.
* Guests from government and public services.
* Bring a guest from overseas to Australia every 6 months – produce a weekly on their insights.
* Internet Meme of the week.
* The Commission – This Week’s Review.
* Successes and Failures.
* Social Media This Week.

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.

ISRAEL
Times of Israel

By MITCH GINSBURG August 6, 2013

One day before the verdict in a sexual assault case against Rabbi Mordechai Elon, one of the most prominent modern Orthodox rabbis of his generation in Israel, a website serving the religious community released a dated recording in which another senior rabbi claimed that the charges brought before the court omitted far graver acts committed by Elon.

“The victims don’t want to reveal what happened; their wounds are bleeding and they don’t want to stand before a cross examination and be revealed,” said Rabbi Yaakov Ariel of the acts allegedly committed by Elon. Some of those acts, he said, were “whales” when compared to the charges brought before the court, which he described as “small fish.”

Elon was charged in a Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court with two counts of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

In February one of the alleged victims refused to take the stand and testify against his former teacher, leaving a single complainant remaining and placing the reputation of the religious group that brought the alleged misconduct to light in doubt.

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

CALIFORNIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

[Fr. Ruben Martinez]

Serial predator was unsupervised in Oakland
Cleric estimates he abused “more than 100” kids
New records show church knew of his crimes for decades
Victims will hand out fliers to neighbors about the pedophile
SNAP: He lived “among unsuspecting neighbors” for a decade
Group to Catholic officials: “Come clean about other predators here”

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims will disclose that

–a credibly accused child molesting Catholic priest quietly lived in Oakland for ten years, and
–521 pages of his personnel files were released last week and are now available on line. (The Associated Press say they “paint a devastating picture.”)

Going door-to-door, they will hand out leaflet to neighbors urging anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered his crimes to call police.

They will also call on local Catholic officials to reveal the names of other proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics who live or lived at this church building.

WHEN
Tuesday, August 6 at 11:30 a.m.

WHERE
On the sidewalk outside the Oblate Provincial Mission House, 290 Lenox Avenue (between Montecito Ave. & Van Buren Ave.) in Oakland, CA

WHO
Two-three victims of clergy sex crimes who belong to an international support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org)

WHY
A predator Catholic priest from Southern California who admitted abusing at least 100 kids lived for at least a decade at the Oblate Provincial Mission House. The AP reports that he “confessed shocking details” including that he abused his 5-year-old brother, had sex with male prostitutes, and frequented gay strip clubs.

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

KANSAS CITY (MO)
Fox 4

August 5, 2013, by Michelle Pekarsky

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A former church youth director pleaded guilty in federal court on Monday to porn charges and taking a minor across state lines for illegal sexual activity.

Dennis Myers, 53, of Blue Springs, was indicted in February. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Myers must plead guilty to charges of statutory sodomy in the first degree.

Prosecutors say in the 1990s, Myers met a 16-year-old girl when he was youth director at the First United Methodist Church in Springdale. Myers left the church to open his own DJ business and was training the girl, then 15-years old, to assist him in the business. He admitted that the two were engaging in some sexual activity at that time.

From November 1994 to November 1995, when the girl was 16-years old, Myers took her from Arkansas to Kansas City, Mo. where they had sexual intercourse.

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.

MASSACHUSETTS
My Fox Boston

LOWELL, Mass. (AP/MyFoxBoston.com) – A high-ranking priest with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is facing a prostitution charge.

Authorities say the Rev. Arthur Coyle was granted $500 bail after pleading not guilty Monday in Lowell to a count of sexual conduct for a fee.

Coyle is the Episcopal Vicar for the Merrimack Region, meaning he oversees several parishes in the area. He lives at the rectory of St. Rita’s Parish in Lowell.

Police say the 62-year-old was arrested just after 5 p.m. Sunday after he was allegedly found with a prostitute behind a Lowell cemetery.

Coyle reportedly gave the prostitute $40 to perform a sexual act, and as proof for police, she showed them the two $20 bills. The woman told police it was the second time he had paid her in return for sexual acts.

Police had reportedly been watching Coyle circle known prostitution spots for close to a year and stopping for known prostitutes more than a dozen times in the past 10 months.

FOX 25 spoke with one of the attorneys representing victims of the Catholic sex abuse scandal who says he is shocked by the hypocrisy of it all.

“You have the supervisor soliciting prostitution and apparently seeking it for months, and on the other hand you have that same person supervising priests with regards to their own sexual activity. It’s not rocket science. There’s a problem here,” Mitchell Garabedian 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.

BELLEVILLE (IL)
News-Democrat

[with video]

By GEORGE PAWLACZYK — News-Democrat

BELLEVILLE — The cost of a kitchen renovation for Bishop Edward Braxton, questions about his recent trip to Africa and worry that priests suspected of molesting children aren’t being monitored were the subjects of a small rally Monday outside the Diocese of Belleville’s chancery office.

Seven members of the Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests demonstrated with small signs on the street corner opposite St. Elizabeth’s Hospital.

A prime concern, said David Clohessy, a director of SNAP, is the organization’s belief that six or seven Belleville Diocese priests removed from ministry in the early- to mid-90s and still on the diocesan payroll might molest children. None of these priests has been accused of any crime in a criminal court.

“They say to these priests, ‘You’re too dangerous to be in our parishes, but I don’t care who you hang out with, or where you live,'” Clohessy 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.

LOWELL (MA)
Boston Herald

By:
O’Ryan Johnson

A high-ranking Catholic priest — once honored by the pope and now accused of hiring a prostitute for sex in his car at a Lowell cemetery — has been spotted cruising a local hooker hot spot in the past, according to a police report.

The Rev. Monsignor Arthur Coyle, who received the title of prelate of honor from Pope Benedict XVI last year, has been stopped for circling a part of the city frequented by drug dealers and streetwalkers, and his black Chevrolet Equinox is known to cops who work that area, Lowell police Detective Rafael Rivera wrote in his report.

“Detectives have observed Arthur Coyle in this same vehicle well over a dozen times,” Rivera wrote. “I have further observed him to stop and slow down every time he sees a single female or a prostitute in the area.” …

Police identified the alleged prostitute as Siriwan Kongkaew, 38, of Lowell, and said she will be summonsed for a charge of sexual conduct for a fee. She told police that Sunday was the second time Coyle had picked her up and paid her for sex. She gave police the $40 he paid her this most recent time as evidence, the report stated.

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.

MASSACHUSETTS
Brockton Enterprise

By Maria Papadopoulos
Enterprise Staff Writer
Posted Aug 06, 2013

BROCKTON —
News of the arrest of the Rev. Arthur Coyle on a charge of soliciting a prostitute stunned board members at Cardinal Spellman High School, where Coyle has also served on the board.

“That’s a shocker,” said John T. Yunits Jr. of Brockton, a member of Spellman’s board of trustees, who declined further comment on the arrest Monday.

Coyle, a high-ranking priest with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston who previously served at parishes in Avon and Brockton, has taken a voluntary leave after being accused of soliciting a prostitute in Lowell on Sunday.

It was unclear for how long Coyle, a Weymouth native, has served on Cardinal Spellman’s board of trustees, and whether he would remain on the board after his weekend arrest.

Monday afternoon, Coyle’s photograph and his biography were listed on Spellman’s website among other board of trustee members, then removed by 4 p.m.

“If ever there is anyone with a Spellman connection it is Msgr. Art Coyle!” Coyle’s biography read before it was removed Monday afternoon from the school’s website.

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.

LOWELL (MA)
Boston Globe

By Peter Schworm and Melissa Hanson | GLOBE STAFF | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT AUGUST 05, 2013

LOWELL — Last November, police watched a driver cruise through a neighborhood for some 20 minutes, passing a prostitute several times to get her attention. When officers pulled the man over, he initially said he was “just driving around,” according to a police report.

But when police pressed him and suggested he was not being truthful, the man told officers he “wanted to just go home,” the report stated.

On Sunday afternoon, police had another encounter with Monsignor Arthur M. Coyle, a high-ranking official with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, this time arresting him and accusing him of soliciting a prostitute.

Coyle, 62, pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday at his arraignment in Lowell District Court. He voluntarily took a leave of absence from his position as episcopal vicar for the Merrimack region, the archdiocese said in a statement.

In that role, Coyle oversees one of five geographic regions within the archdiocese and reports directly to Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley.

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.

LOWELL (MA)
Lowell Sun

By Grant Welker, gwelker@lowellsun.com
UPDATED: 08/06/2013

LOWELL — Monsignor Arthur Coyle, a top official in the Merrimack Valley area for the Archdiocese of Boston, was arrested Sunday and charged with soliciting a prostitute, after having been spotted by police circling around known prostitution spots in the city more than a dozen times in the past 10 months.

Coyle, who has lived at St. Rita’s Parish rectory on Mammoth Road for the last year, allegedly drove to the back of a cemetery off Boston Road with a woman in the passenger’s seat who is a known prostitute, according to police. He had paid her $40 for oral sex, police said.

The archdiocese announced Monday afternoon that Coyle has taken a voluntary administrative leave as a result of the charges. While on leave, he is prohibited from performing any public ministry, which will last until an outcome is reached on the case, the office said. …

Coyle, 62, was honored last December — a month after he allegedly was first stopped for suspected solicitation in Lowell — by Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley and Pope Benedict XVI when he was given the title of Prelate of Honor, a rank within the title of monsignor. In a statement at the time, O’Malley credited Coyle for “exemplary service” throughout his priesthood and said Coyle’s leadership as episcopal vicar would be “of great assistance” as the archdiocese moved ahead with plans to reorganize some parishes. …

Three police officers in Lowell’s Special Investigations Section, which investigates drug and prostitution crimes, spotted Coyle on Sunday allegedly driving on Branch Street, near spots known for prostitution. Officers were familiar with Coyle’s black Chevrolet Equinox, seeing him circle around the areas at night “well over a dozen times” since he was first stopped last November, Officer Rafael Rivera said in his report.

Officers routinely keep track of vehicles they see frequently pass through an area known for prostitution or drug-dealing, police spokesman Capt. Kelly Richardson said. Officers in an unmarked car Sunday saw a known prostitute in Coyle’s vehicle so they followed him as he drove to a secluded area, 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.

SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Tuesday 6 August 2013

Colette Douglas Home
Columnist

CHRISTOPHER Walls’s cry from the heart woke me yesterday.

“I was robbed of my childhood. I was robbed of my education. I am left swallowing anger, frustration,’ he told the Today programme on Radio 4. I am left to deal with that on a daily basis, on my own. They can be of no help to me.”

This man, now in his sixties, was responding to an apology from the Bishop of Aberdeen following revelations of abuse at Fort Augustus Abbey School.

Mr Walls, who was beaten daily and sexually abused when he was a pupil at Carlekemp (the Fort Augustus prep school in East Lothian) said: “I think these are sins crying out to heaven for vengeance.’

The Bishop of Aberdeen, Hugh Gilbert, has been applauded for offering an apology for the “shameful abuse” days after a documentary that exposed it to the public.

But Mr Walls remains cynical. He finds the apology “thin”. Over the years he has told his story to members of the clergy and been “shushed”. He made an official complaint to Dom Richard Yeo, Abbot President of the Benedictines, in 2010. An inquiry was launched yet no-one interviewed him or his brother David, a fellow victim.

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.

SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Tuesday 6 August 2013

Jody Harrison
Reporter

POLICE are investigating fresh allegations of sexual and physical abuse by monks at a former ­Catholic boarding school in the Highlands.

An investigation was launched after former pupils at Fort Augustus Abbey school said they had been molested and beaten by monks over a period of three decades from the 1950s.

In a statement, Police Scotland said they were now liaising with a number of law enforcement agencies across the UK and abroad.

There have also been claims of abuse at Carlekemp, the abbey’s feeder school in East Lothian. Both schools are now closed.

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.

WEST VIRGINIA
Daily Mail

A Kanawha County pastor accused of sexually abusing a teenage girl in his home entered a plea of not guilty Monday in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Circuit Judge James Stucky arraigned Johnnie Franklin Winnell, 59, of Gypsum Lane, Monday on charges of sexual abuse by a guardian or person of trust and first-degree sexual abuse. Winnell pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Winnell, who was listed in April as a computer operator for Kanawha County Schools’ transportation office, was arrested in April after a teen girl in his care told Kanawha deputies he touched her inappropriately.

The 14-year-old told a forensic interviewer that Winnell, a pastor at United Gospel Mission on Charleston’s West Side, touched her sexually at least twice, according to a criminal complaint.

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.

SCOTLAND
Telegraph

A former nurse who claims he was assaulted at a Catholic boarding school has rejected the church’s apology to victims of physical and sexual abuse and said he was determined to pursue legal action for compensation.

By Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent
9:09AM BST 06 Aug 2013

The former pupil of Fort Augustus Abbey said he was unimpressed by the apology offered in a mass in the Highland town, and said he believed a group legal action was increasingly likely.

Andrew Lavery, who lives in the north-east of England, attended the school in the mid 1980s and claims he was beaten, sexually assaulted and psychologically tortured by monks when he was locked in a room for days on end.

He spoke out as Police Scotland confirmed that more victims had come forward since the screening last week of a television documentary on abuse by monks at the Benedictine abbey.

Mr Lavery alleges that he was beaten unconscious by a monk and master, and accuses a monk who is now a priest in England of physical and sexual 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.

KANSAS CITY (MO)
KCUR

By ALEX SMITH

The local Roman Catholic diocese has attracted worldwide attention for its problems with child abuse, particularly for Bishop Robert Finn, who is the first and only US bishop to be convicted of failing to report suspected abuse.
.
Later this month, the Diocese’s Office of Child and Youth Protection will release its second annual public report on abuse in the parishes. The report is one of several big steps the Diocese has taken in recent years to address abuse, but some say these steps aren’t enough.

In the northern end of downtown Kansas City, Mo., employees of the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese and Catholic Charities come to work in a 19th century brick and brownstone high rise, and quietly carry out the administrative work for a diocese that serves more than 130,000. But even among these faithful employees, there’s anger at the Church. In a meeting room, Ombudsman for the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese, Jenifer Valenti, remembers the upset that she shared with millions when she learned about the sexual abuse scandals.

“I grew up Catholic and I watched the scandal unfold nationally and now it’s unfolding worldwide,” says Valenti. “There are many times I was disappointed about the way it was handled.”

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.

MASSACHUSETTS
National Catholic Reporter

Catholic News Service | Aug. 5, 2013

BOSTON An episcopal vicar in the archdiocese of Boston began a voluntary administrative leave Monday after he pleaded not guilty to allegedly paying for sex with an female prostitute.

Msgr. Arthur M. Coyle, episcopal vicar of the Merrimack region since 2008, was arrested Sunday near the Polish Cemetery in Lowell after police said they witnessed him paying a fee for sex in a vehicle behind the cemetery.

In a statement Monday, the archdiocese said Coyle, 62, had taken the voluntary leave “as a result of his arrest on charges related to sexual misconduct involving an adult.” He will not be permitted to perform any public ministry until the case is resolved, the statement said.

“The steps taken today do not represent a determination of Msgr. Coyle’s guilt or innocence as it pertains to these charges,” it added. “The archdiocese asks for prayers for all impacted by this matter.”

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

CALIFORNIA
National Catholic Reporter

Gabrielle Canon | Aug. 5, 2013

LOS ANGELES It was 7:15 p.m. Friday. Seats in the dimly lit auditorium adjacent to the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Pasadena, Calif., were beginning to fill. More than 200 Catholics from the Los Angeles area had gathered to hear the presentation by Austrian priest Fr. Helmut Schüller, who is calling upon Catholics to defy church hierarchy.

As a leader in a worldwide reform movement, Schüller has spent the last two and a half weeks meeting congregations in cities throughout the United States as part of his “Catholic Tipping Point” tour. Sponsored by 10 Catholic organizations, each presentation details the intentions behind the “Call to Disobedience,” a document published by the Austrian Priests’ Initiative.

The lights flickered, signaling that the event was about to begin, and as people began to quiet, Fr. Kevin Steen, a local priest and host of the event, took the microphone. The evening began with a prayer, followed by prayers for intercession led by members from the congregation. Each petition outlined the objectives the reformers in attendance hoped would be addressed.

“Celebrating the beauty of God’s image in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people — we pray,” a woman quietly said into the microphone. “Lord, hear our prayer,” the congregation answered.

“Longing for the day when, like St. Mary of Magdala, women can proclaim the Gospel from our pulpits — we pray.” “Lord, hear our prayer.”

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.

MASSACHUSETTS
Patriot-Ledger

LOWELL —
A high-ranking priest with with long ties to the South Shore was arrested after police allegedly found him with a prostitute behind a Lowell cemetery.

Authorities say Msgr. Arthur Coyle, a native of Weymouth, was granted $500 bail after pleading not guilty Monday in Lowell to sexual conduct for a fee.

Police say he was arrested just after 5 p.m. Sunday.

Msgr. Coyle, 62, is the Episcopal Vicar for the Merrimack Region, meaning he oversees several parishes in the area. He lives at the rectory of St. Rita’s parish in Lowell.

A call to St. Rita’s was referred to the archdiocese. An archdiocese spokesman did not immedia

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.

MASSACHUSETTS
Daily Mail (UK)

Senior Catholic priest arrested after being caught red-handed paying $40 for oral sex with ‘known prostitute’ in cemetery

A high-ranking priest with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is facing a prostitution charge after being caught red-handed by police.

The Rev. Arthur Coyle was arrested just after 5 p.m. on Sunday after he offered a ‘known prostitute’ money for sex behind a cemetery in Lowell, Massachusetts, said Lowell Police Captain Kelly Richardson.

Police say Monsignor Coyle, 62, was granted $500 bail after pleading not guilty Monday in Lowell District Court to a count of sexual conduct for a fee. He is due to return to court Sept. 16 for a pretrial conference

In a report filed in court, police quoted Coyle as telling them that he had paid a woman working as a prostitute $40 for oral sex. Coyle told police the sex act had not been completed, reported Boston.com.

Police had spotted Coyle driving a black Chevy Equinox and noticed he had a ‘known prostitute’ in the passenger seat, the report said.
After the vehicle parked behind the Polish Cemetery in Lowell, of

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

AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

No, this is not about endorsing any party or candidate!

For this posting, I will once again revert to the first person format. The reality of life in the modern democracy is that the pollies only really listen to us during election campaigns, so we should not miss the chance to put the wind up them.

It would be a very brave politician indeed who would even consider reducing the funding for the Royal Commission. Still, it would be nice to have all parties, formally, reassert their commitment to the funding of $440 million. Given the state of the budget, and obvious cost-cutting after the election, assurances would also be nice.

Further, given that the Royal Commission was set up under an atheist Prime Minister, and both of the current contenders are very religious, the reassurance becomes yet more necessary, whoever wins. Of course, there is probably nothing to worry about concerning the post-election progress of the national enquiry.

I, for one, will be sending an e-mail to my local candidates to seek the reassurance. I will also be asking for their thoughts and intentions on encouraging the internet companies, such as Google, to do more to assist authorities in combating paedophiles on the web. Who knows, I may even get a reply!

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.

MASSACHUSETTS
Telegraph (Australia)

AAP AUGUST 06, 2013

A HIGH-RANKING priest with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has taken a voluntary leave after being accused of soliciting a prostitute.

Authorities say the Reverend Arthur Coyle was granted $US500 ($A565) bail after pleading not guilty on Monday to a count of sexual conduct for a fee.

Coyle is the episcopal vicar for the Merrimack Region, meaning he oversees several parishes in the area. He lives at the rectory of St Rita’s parish in Lowell.

Police say the 62-year-old Coyle was arrested on Sunday after he was allegedly found with a prostitute behind a Lowell cemetery.

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. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

August 5, 2013 11:37 am | Author: Jerry Berger

SNAP members were outside the Cathedral on Lindell yesterday handing fliers to church-goers that pointed out that six alleged wrongdoers worked there. Five are priests who have been sued for child sex crimes: Fr. James Gummersbach; Fr. James Pavik; Fr. Chester Gaiter; Fr. Bryan Kuchar and Fr. Xiu “Joseph” Jiang (who faces current criminal charges). And one is Bishop Robert Finn, now of Kansas City, who was convicted last year of refusing to report a pedophile priest.Kuchar has completed his jail time and now works at Lumiere Place casino, according to the state sex offender registry.

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.

LOWELL (MA)
Boston Globe

By Melissa Hanson and Peter Schworm, Globe Correspondent and Globe Staff

LOWELL — An official of the Archdiocese of Boston pleaded not guilty today after he was allegedly found with a prostitute behind a cemetery.

Coyle was arrested at 5:19 p.m. Sunday after he offered a prostitute money for sex, said Lowell Police Captain Kelly Richardson. In a report filed in court, police quoted Coyle as telling them that he had paid a woman working as a prostitute $40 for oral sex. Coyle told police the sex act had not been completed, the report said. …

Police had spotted Coyle’s black Chevy Equinox and noticed he had a “known prostitute” in the passenger seat, the report said. After the vehicle parked behind the Polish Cemetery in Lowell, officers waited five minutes, then approached the vehicle and separated Coyle from the alleged prostitute, Siriwan Kongkaen, 38, police said in the report.

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.

MASSACHUSETTS
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston

ARCHDIOCESE OF BOSTON
66 Brooks Drive
Braintree, Massachusetts 02184
TEL: (617) 746-5775
FAX: (617) 782-9416
Contact: Harry-Jacques Pierre
hpierre@rasky.com
617-391-9635

(Braintree, Mass.) August 5 2013…The Archdiocese of Boston today announced that Rev. Monsignor Arthur M. Coyle has taken a voluntary administrative leave from his assignment, as a result of his arrest on charges related to sexual misconduct involving an adult. Msgr. Coyle has been serving as Episcopal Vicar of the Merrimack Region for the Archdiocese since 2008.

While on administrative leave, Msgr. Coyle is prohibited from performing any public ministry. These restrictions will remain in place pending the outcome of the case. The steps taken today do not represent a determination of Msgr. Coyle’s guilt or innocence as it pertains to these 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.

LOWELL (MA)
Boston Herald

Monday, August 5, 2013

By:
John Zaremba

A high-ranking Catholic priest was released on $500 bail today on charges he paid a prostitute for sex behind a cemetery in Lowell, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s office.

Rev. Monsignor Arthur M. Coyle was arraigned this morning in Lowell District Court on a charge of paying for sexual conduct, a spokeswoman for Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said. The Rev. Coyle is due back in court on Sept. 16, the DA’s office said.

Coyle was ordained in 1977 and received the title of Prelate of Honor in 2012, according to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. He had been serving as episcopal vicar of the Merrimack region for the Archdiocese since 2008.

Coyle has taken a voluntary administrative leave from his assignment as a result of his arrest, the Archdiocese of Boston said in a statement.

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.

SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Monday 5 August 2013

Further allegations have been made of sexual and physical abuse by monks at a former boarding school.

Pupils of the Catholic Fort Augustus Abbey school recently told a BBC Scotland investigation that they were molested and beaten by monks over a period of three decades from the 1950s.

Abuse was also carried out at Carlekemp, its feeder school in East Lothian, it is claimed.

Both schools are now closed. …

Detective Chief Inspector Pamela Ross said: “Further individuals were identified as part of the investigation and following recent media coverage, a further number of former pupils have come forward to speak to us.

“We understand that it must be very difficult to speak about such matters but if anyone has any information about this case, they are encouraged to come forward and report this to police. Any such reports will be directed to the inquiry team and investigated and dealt with very sensitively by trained officers.”

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

CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on August 5, 2013

or Unfair Command Influence, Part 2: The Bully Pulpit, Exclusive Access and a Conviction

If you had any questions as to why California’s child sex abuse victims desperately need a civil window, today’s news should close the deal.

The Bully Pulpit

California Catholic News published a July 31 email from Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez, urging parishioners to write their representatives and tell them to vote “no” on SB 131. In fact, the Archbishop has even put together a website to make the letter-writing process easier.

Canon Law says that the Archbishop holds the keys to the salvation of his flock. So when he asks Catholics to write letters, he really isn’t asking … if you know what I mean.

It’s the Bully Pulpit at its most powerful.

One would think that Gomez, after all of the apologies he made in January, would be first in line to demand transparency and justice for victims and accountability for wrong-doers.

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.

LOWELL (MA)
Lowell Sun

By Grant Welker, gwelker@lowellsun.com
UPDATED: 08/05/2013 12:40:05 PM EDT

LOWELL — The Rev. Monsignor Arthur M. Coyle, a Merrimack Valley official with the Archdiocese of Boston, was arrested for sexual conduct for pay in Lowell Sunday afternoon.

Coyle was allegedly arrested with a prostitute behind the Polish Cemetery on Boston Road. As his arraignment in Lowell District Court Monday morning, Coyle was given a court-appointed lawyer. He plead non-guilty and was ordered to return to court on Sept. 16. He was released on personal recognizance.

Coyle, the episcopal vicar for the archdiocese, lives at the rectory at St. Rita’s on Mammoth Road. The 62-year-old was arrested at 5:45 p.m. and bailed out, according to an arrest log.

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.

SCOTLAND
Ecumenical News

A senior Scottish Catholic bishop has issued a strong apology to victims of child abuse that received praise from prominent members of the community, but was rejected by former church social worker after a step that was described some as landmark announcement.

The Catholic Church announced for the first Sunday that it will publish audits compiled by its National Office of Child Safety of all allegations made against priests, staff or volunteers and how these were resolved.

Later in 2013, the church will release audits dating back to 2006, when co-ordinated procedures were first implemented in Scotland and it will continue this process each year.

The Catholic Church also announced it is also preparing a more detailed report for publication in 2014 that will refer to all historical cases stretching across all Scottish dioceses.

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.

MASSACHUSETTS
WCVB

LOWELL, Mass. —Monsignor Arthur M. Coyle, a priest with the Archdiocese of Boston, was arrested for sexual conduct for pay in Lowell Sunday afternoon.

According to the Lowell Sun, Coyle was arrested with a prostitute behind a cemetery.

He was arraigned Monday morning and held on $500 cash bail

Coyle, a native of Weymouth, was ordained a Priest in May 1977 at Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston. In July 2008, he was appointed Episcopal Vicar for the Merrimack Region.

Coyle was named a Prelate of Honor in December 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.

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.

MASSACHUSETTS
Patch

Posted by Tony Catinella (Editor) , August 05, 2013

A catholic priest from Weymouth was arrested on Sunday in Lowell for paying for a prostitute.

Monsignor Arthur M. Coyle, a priest with the Archdiocese of Boston, was arrested for sexual conduct for pay, according to WCVB.com

Coyle was arrested with a prostitute behind a cemetery.

He was arraigned Monday morning and held on $500 cash bail.
.

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

BELLEVILLE (IL)
News-Democrat

BELLEVILLE — The St. Louis-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests will hold a rally at 1:30 p.m. today outside the offices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville and Bishop Edward K. Braxton.

The rally will address what SNAP alleges is a concern by victims of sexual abuse by priests about Braxton’s spending, including a trip to Africa last month and another remodeling of the bishop’s house in Belleville.

A message left Monday morning on the voicemail of Braxton’s administrative assistant was not immediately returned.

According to David Clohessy, executive director of SNAP in St. Louis, the victims will publicly call for Braxton to “reveal who paid for the trips, and his alleged new kitchen renovation, and beg him to stay home,” and monitor priests who have been removed from ministry after being suspected of sexually abusing 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.

VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

John L. Allen Jr. | Aug. 5, 2013

ROME
Revolutions are funny things. Some are launched by one group but hijacked by others, as in Egypt, where liberal democrats have become bystanders to the real contest between the army and the Muslim Brotherhood. Some are born amid great idealism that quickly becomes a smokescreen for hypocrisy, as in the various communist uprisings.

Still others fizzle out, while a handful eventually produce new systems that, despite their flaws, really do change the world — the French and American revolutions, for instance.

It’s too early to know which trajectory will apply to the upheaval launched by Pope Francis, in part because at the level of structures and personnel he still hasn’t made many sweeping changes, and in part because the parallels are inexact anyway — Catholicism, after all, is a family of faith, not a political society.

Perhaps the lone certainty is that a revolution is, indeed, underway. In mid-July, the Italian newsmagazine L’Espresso ran a cover story on the new pope under the banner headline “Ce la farà?” The phrase translates roughly as “Will he make it?” or “Will he pull it off?” …

To take the most obvious example, there’s long been an in-group/out-group distinction in the Vatican, between a majority who show up for work and try to do their job, and an elite minority who run “the game” — who monopolize access to the pope, who control the allocation of personnel and resources, and who otherwise pull the strings of power on the basis of patronage and political savvy.

As recently as four months ago, this game was in full swing. Ambitious personnel knew precisely who they should try to befriend, which receptions to attend, which movements they should cozy up to, which devotions to embrace and so on. Many Vatican officials found that repugnant, while others worked it to perfection, but in any event they knew the lay of the land.

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

IRELAND
Irish Central

By NICK BRAMHILL, IrishCentral Staff Writer
Published Monday, August 5, 2013

The son of Bishop Eamon Casey has told of his anger at the way the Catholic Church treated his father following revelations that he had had an affair and fathered a son with American divorcee Annie Murphy.

In an interview in the Irish Times Boston-based Peter Murphy said his father received far more punishment than he deserved from Catholic Church leaders, after he was forced into exile and forbidden from saying in Mass in public ever again.

He said the subsequent paedophile scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church over the past 20 years put into perspective his father’s so-called ‘crime’.

And he also revealed that Casey, 86, who returned home to Ireland in 2006 and is now in a nursing home suffering from Alzheimer’s felt lasting pain at being banned from performing Mass publicly because he never lost his devotion to the Church.

He said: “It was ridiculous. I mean, six years’ penance in a foreign country and then the five years he spent in England made it even more egregious and more painful because of how close he was to his goal and all he wanted to was go home and say Mass. Was that so terrible?

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.

BELLEVILLE (IL)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Victims blast bishop on spending
He remodels home again & goes abroad
And he’s still paying 7 or 8 predator clerics
Only two of 17 abusers have been defrocked
Church is monitoring & housing none of them
Group says “kids still at risk” 20 years after crisis erupted
Despite pledging “openness,” diocese won’t reveal # of victims
SNAP: Once “ahead of the curve,” Belleville diocese is now “far behind”

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will disclose that Belleville’s Catholic bishop (who’s admitted misusing church funds before):

— is renovating his home again, for the second time in seven years, and
— quietly went to Africa last month (and has several times in recent years).

They will urge him to:
— urge him to reveal who paid for the trips, and his alleged new kitchen renovation, and
— beg him to stay home, house predator priests, monitor them, and
— reveal how many boys and girls have been sexually assaulted by Belleville priests.

WHEN
TODAY, Monday, Aug. 5 at 1:30 p.m.

WHERE
Outside the Belleville Catholic Diocese HQ, 222 S. Third St., Belleville IL

WHO
At least one long-time Belleville Catholic and activist along with two-three members of a support group called SNAP (the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), including a St. Louis man who is the group’s long time director

WHY
It’s been exactly 20 years since the first of 17 Belleville clerics was accused of molesting a child and suspended. In what was a then-unprecedented scandal, over the next three years, the diocese saw roughly 10% of its active duty priests ousted because of credible child sex abuse allegations.

Only two of them, however, have been defrocked. Seven are still being paid, SNAP believes. And none are being watched, the group says, needlessly leaving kids at risk.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Patriot-News

By Patriot-News Op-Ed
on August 04, 2013

By Wayne Fontana

Testimony from the trial in Pittsburgh involving alleged child abuse by a former Pittsburgh Public Schools police officer underscores the need for better safeguards for our children and clearer reporting procedures for school officials if they suspect child abuse.

That is the goal of my legislation that would require school district authorities to report possible child abuse to authorities within 24 hours.

My bill would remove the current confusing patchwork of reporting requirements involving school officials when they believe there are instances of child abuse in school. My legislation makes all school officials mandated reporters of suspected child abuse.

Witnesses at the trial testified that they were abused by the former school police officer on school premises as far back as 1998, yet no student came forward with abuse allegations at that time.

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

CALIFORNIA
California Catholic Daily

The following email came to Bob McPhail, Cal Catholic editor, on July 31.
Archdiocese of Los Angeles

Moderator of the Curia/Vicar General

TO: Bob
FROM: Rev. Msgr. Joseph V. Brennan, Moderator of the Curia / Vicar General
SUBJECT: AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ

Archbishop Gomez has asked me to send the following important message to you:
Friends, my brother bishops and I in the California Catholic Conference are asking all Catholics to contact their Assembly members and Senators and urge them to vote “No” on Senate Bill 131.

SB-131 fails to protect all victims of childhood sexual abuse, discriminates against Catholic schools and other private employers, and puts the Church’s social services and educational mission at risk. We have set up a website that will enable you to easily email your elected officials directly: http://bit.ly/18nEUiB.

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.

SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

One of Scotland’s most senior Catholics has apologised amid claims of sexual and physical abuse by monks at a former boarding school in the Highlands.

Alleged victims who attended the Catholic Fort Augustus Abbey school told a BBC Scotland investigation that they were molested and beaten by monks over a period of three decades from the 1950s.

It has also been claimed that abuse was carried out at Carlekemp, its feeder school in East Lothian. Both schools are now closed.

Five men said on the Sins Of Our Fathers documentary, screened last Monday, that they were raped or sexually abused by Father Aidan Duggan, an Australian monk who taught at Carlekemp and Fort Augustus between 1953 and 1974.

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.

SCOTLAND
Scotsman

by STEPHEN MCGINTY
Published on the 05 August 2013

FORT Augustus Abbey school in the Highlands was once Scotland’s most prestigious Catholic boarding school, based on the banks of Loch Ness and run by an order of Benedictine monks.

However, evidence has emerged that over a 30-year period pupils were victims of serious physical and sexual abuse including rape.

An investigation by BBC Scotland alleged that two headmasters, Francis Davidson and Augustine Grene, covered up abuse by monks.

Father Aidan Duggan, an Australian monk who taught at Carlkemp, a preparatory school in East Lothian and Fort Augustus was said by five former pupils to have raped and sexually abused them between 1953 and 1974.

One former pupil told his parents that he had been raped only to be called into the headmaster’s office and told that lying was a mortal sin, it was reported. Duggan returned to Australia in 1974 and became a parish priest in Sydney. However, no warnings were made by the Benedictines and he allegedly continued to abuse. He died in 2004.

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.

SCOTLAND
This Week

Christopher Walls, abused at what was one of Scotland’s top Catholic schools, says Church needs to make amends

LAST UPDATED AT 12:09 ON Mon 5 Aug 2013

A MAN who was sexually abused as a child by Benedictine monks at one of Scotland’s most prestigious Catholic schools has complained that an apology from the Bishop of Aberdeen at the weekend was “a bit thin” and had only been offered because the Church felt cornered.

Christopher Walls, now in his sixties, said: “You don’t get absolution when you go to confession just for saying sorry. You’ve got to have a firm purpose of amendment and that involves taking action. And you’ve got to make good the damage you did. And there’s no hint of that.”

Walls was physically and sexually abused when he was a pupil more than 50 years ago at Carlekemp Priory School in North Berwick, East Lothian, which served as a feeder prep school for Fort Augustus Abbey School in the Highlands. Both schools have since closed.

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.

SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Monday 5 August 2013

THE response of the Bishop of Aberdeen Hugh Gilbert to the allegations of child abuse at the Fort Augustus Catholic boarding school contains none of the language we have become used to from the church over the years on this difficult subject.

No avoidance, no aggression, no denial – only humility, an apology and an apparent willingness to act. As the latest move in a long-running and shameful scandal it is a potentially striking change in direction from the leadership of the Catholic church in Scotland.

The statement, delivered by Bishop Gilbert during mass yesterday, is remarkable for three main reasons: its speed, its tone, and what it says. The latest allegations around Fort Augustus were made in a BBC Scotland programme just a few days ago and yet here we have a quick and heartfelt apology. Should anyone doubt what a change this represents, contrast what Bishop of Aberdeen has said with the reaction of his predecessor Mario Conti in 1998 to the allegations of abuse against nuns at the Poor Sisters of Nazareth homes. Even though one of the nuns was later convicted, the claims were described as fantastical. It was also implied that at least some of the accusers had been tempted by the promise of compensation.

Yesterday’s statement by the Bishop of Aberdeen is entirely different and effectively calls for a police investigation in to the allegations around Fort Augustus. This is another striking break with the past. Historic scandals in the Church appear to show that the standard response to allegations of abuse was to move the accused to another parish, or another country, and hope the problem would go away (in the case of Fort Augustus, one of the priests facing allegations is now living in Australia). Certainly, the Church always appeared reluctant to refer such matters to the police. Whether allegations are true or not, this is no way to deal with such a serious matter.

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.

SCOTLAND
BBC News

[with audio]

5 August 2013

One of Scotland’s most senior Catholics has apologised on behalf of the church for decades of physical and sexual abuse of pupils at a boarding school.

The Bishop of Aberdeen, Hugh Gilbert, addressed parishioners at Fort Augustus in the Highlands.

His statement came after the BBC found evidence of physical and sexual abuse by monks at Fort Augustus Abbey School and its prep school in East Lothian.

The Benedictine order which ran the schools, has already apologised.

Christopher Walls, a victim of abuse at Fort Augustus, told the Today programme’s Justin Webb that he was abused both sexually and physically.

“It was horrendous,” he said, “I was hit with a stick repeatedly… in just about very lesson.”

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.

SCOTLAND
Scotsman

by STEPHEN MCGINTY

Published on the 05 August 2013

THE “secret archives” of the Catholic Church in Scotland could contain allegations of sexual abuse by as many as 100 priests and other staff in cases stretching back 50 years, according to the former head of the Church’s working party on child protection.

Alan Draper, who compiled a report on “problem priests” in the nineties, dismissed the Church’s plans to publish annual audits of sexual abuse allegations against priests as “window dressing”.

The claims came on the day a bishop apologised for sex abuse at two Scottish schools run by the Church.

Retired social work director Mr Draper said an independent commission should be allowed access to the archives of each of the eight dioceses in Scotland.

As chairman of the Catholic Church’s working party on child protection, Mr Draper identifed 22 “problem priests” by analysing a ten-year period between 1985 and 1995. Based on that study, he believes records covering the past half century could identity as many as 100 priests and individuals associated with the Church who were accused of sexual abuse.

Yesterday, the retired deputy director of Stockport social work department said: “This organisation [the Church] now lacks all credibility. This is a step, but it is a very small step, and it is not appropriate for the Church to lead this 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.

SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Monday 5 August 2013

David Leask
Reporter

ONE of Scotland’s most senior ­Catholics has issued a heartfelt apology to victims of child abuse in a move described as a landmark step in the church’s attitude towards the issue.

Leading experts and a child abuse victim praised yesterday’s announcement by Hugh Gilbert, the Bishop of Aberdeen, that the allegations surrounding Fort Augustus Abbey in the Highlands had shamed the church.

His comments marked a new direction for the church, which has previously faced accusations of dismissing such claims.

During mass at a church near the school, which shut in the 1990s, he said: “It is a most bitter, shaming and distressing thing that in this former Abbey School a small number of baptised, consecrated and ordained Christian men physically or sexually abused those in their care.”

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.

SCOTLAND
Huffington Post

One of Scotland’s most senior Catholics has apologised to pupils amid claims of sexual and physical abuse by monks at a former boarding school in the Highlands.

Alleged victims who attended the Catholic Fort Augustus Abbey school told a BBC Scotland investigation that they were molested and beaten by monks over a period of three decades from the 1950s.

It has also been claimed that abuse was carried out at Carlekemp, its feeder school in East Lothian. Both schools are now closed.

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.

SCOTLAND
BBC News

Police have received further reports of alleged abuse by monks at a former Catholic school in the Highlands.

An investigation was launched last week after a BBC programme uncovered evidence of physical and sexual abuse at Fort Augustus Abbey School.

In a statement, Police Scotland said it was liaising with law enforcement agencies in the UK and beyond.

The Church has apologised for what happened at the school, but victims have demanded action rather than words.

The Police Scotland statement said: “Further reports have been received from former pupils in the past week.

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
Courier-Post

Written by
Jim Walsh
Courier-Post Staff

CAMDEN — A Camden man who claims he was molested as a child by a South Jersey priest can argue in court he repressed memories of the abuse for more than 40 years, a federal judge has ruled.

Mark Bryson contends he was repeatedly assaulted in the late 1960s by the Rev. Joseph Shannon at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Camden. But Bryson also says he only remembered the abuse in February 2010 — an assertion key to a lawsuit he filed last year against the Diocese of Camden.

Bryson’s awareness of any alleged abuse could affect the two-year statute of limitations for his lawsuit. Bryson, who now lives in Ohio, contends the 24-month period began when his memory returned.

In contrast, the diocese contends the deadline passed two years after Bryson’s 18th birthday.

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.

SCOTLAND
Herald Sun (Australia)

PAUL WARD AAP AUGUST 05, 2013

A SENIOR Scotland Catholic has apologised to pupils from a former boarding school in the Highlands amid claims of sexual and physical abuse by monks, two of whom are believed to be Australian.

Alleged victims who attended the Catholic Fort Augustus Abbey school told a BBC Scotland investigation that they were molested and beaten by monks over a period of three decades from the 1950s.

It has also been claimed that abuse was carried out at Carlekemp, its feeder school in East Lothian. Both schools are now closed.

Five men said on the Sins Of Our Fathers documentary, screened last Monday, that they were raped or sexually abused by Father Aidan Duggan, an Australian monk who taught at Carlekemp and Fort Augustus between 1953 and 1974.

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.

SCOTLAND
BBC News

[video]

One of Scotland’s most senior Catholics has apologised on behalf of the church for decades of physical and sexual abuse of pupils at a boarding school.

The Bishop of Aberdeen, Hugh Gilbert, addressed parishioners at Fort Augustus in the Highlands.

His statement came after the BBC found evidence of physical and sexual abuse by monks at Fort Augustus Abbey School and its prep school in East Lothian.

The Benedictine order which ran the schools, has already apologised.

Bishop Gilbert’s address is the first time a senior Catholic cleric has spoken publicly about abuse at the abbey schools.

He told parishoners: “It is a most bitter, shaming and distressing thing that in this former abbey school a small number of baptised, consecrated and ordained Christian men physically or sexually abused those in their care.

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.

SCOTLAND
The Guardian

By Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent
04 Aug 2013

The Rt Rev Hugh Gilbert, Bishop of Aberdeen, expressed his “horror and shame” during a mass at Fort Augustus and said abuse by monks at the former Fort Augustus Abbey School was a terrible tale of broken trust and integrity.

His statement followed a television documentary that found evidence of physical and sexual abuse by monks at the Highland school, and its prep school in East Lothian.

The Benedictine order that ran the schools, has already apologised, but Bishop Gilbert’s address was the first time a senior cleric had spoken publicly about abuse at the abbey school, which closed in 1998.

He said he wanted to be with parishioners in Fort Augustus in the wake of 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.

SCOTLAND
The Guardian

Press Association
theguardian.com, Sunday 4 August 2013

One of Scotland’s most senior Catholics has apologised to pupils amid claims of sexual and physical abuse by monks at a former boarding school in the Highlands.

Hugh Gilbert, the bishop of Aberdeen, said the allegations were “bitter, shaming and distressing” and that he supported the police inquiry.

Alleged victims who attended the Catholic Fort Augustus Abbey school told a BBC Scotland investigation that they were molested and beaten by monks over a period of three decades from the 1950s.

It has also been claimed that abuse was carried out at Carlekemp, its feeder school in East Lothian. Both schools are now closed.

Five men said on the Sins Of Our Fathers documentary, screened last Monday, that they were raped or sexually abused by Father Aidan Duggan, an Australian monk who taught at Carlekemp and Fort Augustus between 1953 and 1974.

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

AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

The old Children’s Homes will feature prominently in the Royal Commission. This will be because of two factors. Firstly, due to a myriad of factors, the abuse rate was very high. Secondly, there have already been a few enquiries specifically concerning them. Consequently, there will not be much need to encourage people to put the “Homes” on the agenda.

What will be necessary is increased attention to the Girls’ Homes. It has been a feature of the debate on the Homes issue that most attention has been on the Boys’ Homes. It may well be that there were more victims from the Boys’ Homes than from the Girls’ Homes. However, it is the opinion of this author (whose sister was in the Salvation Army Girls’ Home in Toowoomba for many years) that there are other factors at play.

The most likely one is the difference in where abuses were most likely to occur. With the Boys’ Homes, the abusers usually worked at the Home itself. While there are exceptions, notably “Neerkol” and “Nazareth House” at Wynnum (see previous postings), with regards to the Girls’ Homes, the abusers came from outside the Home itself.

In some cases, for the girls, the abuser was a visiting priest or an outside worker, such as a bus driver. These have tended to be reported because it was still possible to identify the abuser, even if it was somewhat more difficult than identifying direct employees, such as in the Boys’ Homes.

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.

WASHINGTON
Seattle Times

By Lornet Turnbull
Seattle Times staff reporter

An Austrian priest who gained global attention two years ago with his call to disobedience for Roman Catholics everywhere is bringing his message of church reform to Seattle.

Father Helmut Schüller is on a 15-city tour across the U.S., where he’s been advocating for female and married priests, more tolerance for gays and wider participation by laypeople in leadership — positions at odds with church policy.

Stripped last year by the Vatican of his title of monsignor because of his activism, Schüller has been banned on this tour from speaking at some Catholic churches.

His Catholic Tipping Point tour, sponsored by several liberal reform groups in the U.S., coincided with Pope Francis’ recent visit to Brazil, where the Argentine urged young Catholics to “shake up the church … ”

It also comes in advance of the first meeting this October of a group of cardinals charged by the pope with examining ways to revise the Vatican constitution.

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 YORK
Valley News

Steve Nelson
For the Valley News
Sunday, August 4, 2013

Memory of a difficult event in my life was sparked by a recent report of a sexual scandal at Yeshiva University High School for Boys in Manhattan. A lawsuit filed by 19 former students claims that two rabbis abused them in the 1970s and ’80s. New York Times columnist Frank Bruni wrote recently about how the incident revealed the same pattern in Orthodox Judaism as in the Catholic Church. He observed that spiritual leaders with special access to children had been identified in civil and criminal actions as the perpetrators and were protected by the powerful “caretakers” of their faith.

The story was, sadly, familiar. In early 2001, a colleague at my school leaned into my office and warned that a very insistent lawyer wanted to speak with me and would not take “no” for an answer. “Mr. Nelson needs to hear what I have to tell him.” I took the call. He informed me that he had just filed a civil action against my school and one of its teachers, seeking $21 million in damages. He got my attention.

The plaintiff, a former student, claimed that the teacher had a sexual relationship with him beginning in the 10th grade and continuing through his college years. The suit was eventually withdrawn. Fortunately for me, the events took place before my tenure began. The teacher denied the allegations and, while never convicted or found liable in civil court — the plaintiff student succumbed to litigation fatigue — was placed on leave the day of the call and, after I investigated, never invited to return.

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.

SCOTLAND
The Independent

NICK RENAUD-KOMIYA SUNDAY 04 AUGUST 2013

One of Scotland’s most senior Catholic clergymen is to apologise for three decades of abuse at a boarding school.

Hugh Gilbert, Bishop of Aberdeen, will tell his parishioners of his “horror and shame” over the revelations that monks raped and sexually abused children at Fort Augustus Abbey School.

A BBC investigation, aired last Monday, heard accounts from former male pupils of physical violence, rape and sexual assault by monks over 30 years at the school.

The bishop will offer an apology on behalf of the Church, in the hope of repairing its reputation following a series of scandals.

Speaking to the Scotland on Sunday newspaper, Bishop Gilbert said the “sins and failures” of the Catholic Church in Scotland must be acknowledged before the damage can be repaired.

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.

SCOTLAND
Daily Record

HUGH Gilbert will say sorry for the hurt caused to victims at Fort Augustus Abbey over three decades.

BBC Scotland investigation that they were molested and beaten by monks over a period of three decades from the 1950s.

It has also been claimed that abuse was carried out at Carlekemp, its feeder school in East Lothian. Both schools are now closed.

Five men said on the Sins Of Our Fathers documentary, screened last Monday, that they were raped or sexually abused by Father Aidan Duggan, an Australian monk who taught at Carlekemp and Fort Augustus between 1953 and 1974.

Fr Duggan died in 2004 but some abuse claims relate to men who are still alive. Police are investigating 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.

UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By JOANNE HART, FINANCIAL MAIL ON SUNDAY
PUBLISHED: 16:42 EST, 3 August 2013

Diplomats in London have been thrown into chaos after Britain’s biggest bank, HSBC, sacked them as customers and gave them 60 days to move their accounts.

Their situation has been made far worse because other banks have been closing ranks and refusing to take their business.

More than 40 embassies, consulates and High Commissions have been affected. Even the Vatican has been given its marching orders.

The Pope’s representative office in Britain, the Apostolic Nunciature, has banked with HSBC for many years but was told to find another bank.

One diplomatic source said he believed HSBC feared being exposed to embassies after it was fined $2billion (£1.32billion) by US authorities last year.

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

SCOTLAND
Scotsman

by STEPHEN McGINTY
Published on the 04 August 2013

ONE of Scotland’s most senior Catholics will apologise today on behalf of the Church for almost three decades of abuse of pupils at a boarding school.

Hugh Gilbert, the Bishop of Aberdeen, will tell parishioners at Fort Augustus church in the Highlands of his “horror and shame” over the revelations that monks raped and sexually abused children at the school in the village.

In a further attempt to repair a reputation tarnished by a series of scandals, the Church is also planning to publish for the first time annual audits dealing with sex abuse allegations against the clergy in each of Scotland’s eight dioceses.

Publication of the audits – compiled by its National Office of Child Safety – this autumn are intended to show that the Church takes all allegations against priests seriously and details will be provided back to 2006, when co-ordinated procedures were first put in place across the whole country. The exercise will then be repeated annually.

The Church is also preparing a more detailed report for publication next year that deals with all historical cases stretching across all dioceses in Scotland in an attempt to end the stream of damaging revelations, many of them dating back to the 1950s.

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.

MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

[Read the Creditors Committee emergency motion here]

[Read Judge Randa’s Order: Randa_Order_7-29-13]

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

Just days after U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa issued a key ruling in favor of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in its bankruptcy, the church’s creditors are seeking an emergency order to determine whether Randa has a conflict of interest that should have been disclosed.

Randa ruled last week that forcing the archdiocese to tap the $50 million-plus it holds in a trust for the perpetual care of cemeteries would substantially burden its free expression of religion under the First Amendment and a 1993 federal law aimed at protecting religious liberty.

In a highly unusual move late Friday, lawyers representing the archdiocese’s creditors — primarily sex abuse victims — filed a motion asking U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley to compel the release of any records showing whether Randa and his wife Melinda have purchased any plots or crypts in one of the archdiocese’s cemeteries, or whether they have any interest as heirs or beneficiaries of several relatives known to be buried in them.

Depending on what they find, the motion says, the lawyers say they may seek to vacate Randa’s order and ask him to recuse himself from the case.

“Judge Randa’s decision was so indefensible in so many ways that we suspected there was reason to investigate any involvement he might have with the cemeteries,” said Marci Hamilton, a First Amendment scholar who is representing the creditors committee on the issue.

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

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

29 July 2013
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will be conducting private sessions in Perth this week.

Chief Executive Officer, Ms Janette Dines, said private sessions are conducted in an informal setting in the presence of one or two Commissioners.

“People who have come to a private session tell us that it was a positive and worthwhile experience,” said Ms Dines.

“We understand how difficult it can be for people to come forward and talk about what happened to them. There are trained counsellors available to provide immediate support to anyone in distress. We also encourage people to bring a support person with them such as a friend or family member.”

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

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

29 July 2013
Representatives of Aboriginal community organisations met with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Geraldton today.

Commissioner Helen Milroy and Commissioner Andrew Murray hosted a meeting to talk about ways to make it easier for Aboriginal people to engage with the Royal Commission.

The Royal Commission’s Chief Executive Officer, Ms Janette Dines, said the Royal Commission encourages community-based organisations to make submissions to the Royal Commission, and to support their clients who may be wishing to come forward and tell their story.

“Organisations as well as individuals have the opportunity to talk to the Commissioners and share their experiences, expertise and knowledge,” said Ms Dines. “We will return to West Australia as many times as it takes to hear peoples’ stories.”

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

AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

Both the NSW government enquiry and the Victoria Parliamentary enquiry were primarily concerned with the Catholic Church. Cardinal George Pell is of the opinion that child sexual abuse enquiries are part of some sort of plot to discredit his organisation.

Now that these two enquiries have been completed, except for the final reports, attention will return to the Royal Commission itself, which covers all organisations interacting with children. However, it will not hold public hearings for at least another two months.

In the meantime, this blog will continue to cover background and related issues. One important component is the issue of the old-style children’s homes. This has seen several state and federal enquiries in the past, but the approach has been fairly disjointed. The series of articles on individual homes will continue during the next two months, with a view to identifying gaps and common points from previous data on the issue. Hopefully, this will encourage more people to put in submissions to the Royal Commission.

Another aspect deserving of attention, is that of gaining maximum public attention and understanding of the issues involved. Sometimes this may even include public demonstrations of various kinds. Some methods of doing this will be discussed.

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

AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

Cardinal George Pell and Catholic Church in Australia are very sensitive to criticism. They are also very influential in Australian politics, and have not hesitated to use that power. There are two glaring examples of this that have occurred in recent times.

The first was the T-shirt protest against Pope Benedict’s visit to Sydney in 2008 for the Catholic Church’s World Youth gathering. Although Pell specifically denied having an influence on the NSW State Labor government, the arrangement to have the then Premier, Maurice Iemma, pose for a photograph with the Pope, and Iemma’s family, indicated otherwise. Iemma was known as a very committed Catholic.

The upshot was an extraordinary law passed by the NSW Government, which made it an offence to “annoy or inconvenience” participants in the World Youth event. Even wearing a T-shirt with an anti-church message carried a fine of $5,500. Victims of clergy abuse were subjected to this law, along with those opposing the church’s social policies.

Police and volunteers from the State Emergency Service and Rural Fire Service were enabled to direct people to cease engaging in conduct that “causes annoyance or inconvenience to participants in a World Youth Day event”. One on-line site was selling T-shirts with the message “$5500 – a small price to pay for annoying Catholics.”

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.

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Aug. 2, 2013

A year and a half after the Vatican ordered the main representative group of U.S. Catholic sisters to place itself under the control of three U.S. bishops, many sister-leaders still consider complete compliance with the order “unacceptable,” the head of the largest order of sisters in the Western Hemisphere said Thursday.

Many members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) do not think they can give complete control of their group over to the bishops, Mercy Sr. Pat McDermott told NCR Aug. 1.

“The points of direction for the future, I think are unacceptable — that the bishops would be looking at our materials, our publications, giving direction to the assembly,” said McDermott, who as president of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas leads about 4,000 sisters serving in the U.S. and 11 other countries.

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.

MICHIGAN
Patch

Posted by Brooke Tajer (Editor) , August 02, 2013

A 62-year-old Novi resident and Catholic priest has plead guilty to two federal child pornography charges, according to reports.

An article in the Novi News states that Timothy Murray made the pleas July 24.

Murray pleaded guilty to one count of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography, the article 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.

VENEZUELA
Ultimas Noticias

ÚN | Mariana Duque.- Fue detenido un sacerdote de 35 años de edad por denuncias de presunta violación, actos lascivos y amenazas de muerte.

La detención ocurrió el pasado martes 30 de junio en horas de la tarde por una comisión de la Brigada de Violencia a la Mujer y la Familia del Cuerpo de Investigaciones, Científicas, Penales y Criminalisticas (Cicpc).

El sospechoso trabajaba como párroco de una iglesia de la parte alta de la ciudad de San Cristóbal en el estado Táchira.

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.

VENEZUELA
Ultimas Noticias

ÚN .- El Ministerio Público logró privativa de libertad para el sacerdote de la capilla Juan Pablo II de San Cristóbal, Isaías Albarrán Villasmil (35), quien fue aprehendido el pasado 30 de julio, por su presunta responsabilidad en el abuso sexual de tres mujeres y dos adolescentes en el estado Táchira.

Durante la audiencia de presentación, el fiscal 6º de esa jurisdicción, Juan Sánchez, imputó al presbítero por la presunta comisión de los delitos de violencia sexual en grado de tentativa, amenaza gravada y violencia agravada.

Tales delitos están previstos y sancionados en la Ley sobre el Derecho de las Mujeres a una Vida Libre de Violencia, así lo precisa una nota de prensa del MP.

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.

SCOTLAND
East Lothian News

A former East Lothian-based Catholic boarding school has become the focus of abuse claims following a BBC investigation.

Accounts of physical and sexual abuse spanning 30 years have been revealed at Carlekemp Priory School in North Berwick and Fort Augustus Abbey School in the Highlands. Both schools are now closed.

The allegations emerged following an investigation by BBC Scotland which said it had spoken to 50 former pupils about their experiences at the schools which were run by Benedictine monks. Carlekemp was a prep school for Fort Augustus Abbey School.

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.

UNITED STATES
Associated Baptist Press

By Bob Allen

A Southern Baptist ethicist has endorsed an online petition urging greater transparency about sexual abuse occurring in evangelical churches.

Ben Mitchell, Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., added his signature to “A Public Statement Concerning Sexual Abuse in the Church of Jesus Christ” posted July 17 by Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE), an advocacy group led by Billy Graham grandson and Liberty University law professor Basyle “Boz” Tchividjian.

“I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t want to go on the record as opposing sexual abuse in the church,” Mitchell said in an e-mail exchange Aug. 1. “Everyone should know it’s a problem. If they don’t, they need to scan the morning news. It’s simply abhorrent that anyone, children or adult, is abused sexually in a church or by church members.”

Nearly 1,500 people had added their names to those of an original 72 signers as of Aug. 2. A goal of 2,000 signatures is sought for an initiative that has been reported by news outlets including ABPnews and Religion News Service. It was the lead story in the July 28 issue of World Magazine, a conservative Christian publication that carries news, cultural analysis, editorials and commentary based in Asheville, N.C.

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

AUSTRALIA
Maitland Mercury

By ELLE WATSON Aug. 3, 2013

During the past six weeks those living in the aftermath of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church have been confronted with a stream of devastating evidence.

Evidence proving that – for at least 60 years – the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese carried the knowledge that some priests posed a risk to children.

So with these proceedings now drawing to a close, the question remains: do the survivors feel validated?

ELLE WATSON reports.

Four decades after Peter Gogarty was abused by defrocked priest James Fletcher, the Vacy man stood before a highly-publicised inquiry and cross-examined the former head of the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese.

The date was July 15, 2013. And Mr Gogarty made history.

“I was nervous about it but I was absolutely determined to do it,” Mr Gogarty said.

“It was a significant and symbolic thing to do because here was someone, not a barrister, asking a bishop (Michael Malone) the questions.”

Mr Gogarty is not a solicitor or a barrister but held his own in a crowded room of senior counsel and a packed public gallery.

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

CALIFORNIA
Modesto Bee

By Andy Furillo — afurillo@sacbee.com

A priest who crawled into the bed of a 13-year-old girl to molest her when he was an overnight guest in her parent’s home admitted his betrayal to his victim and her family Friday in a case that unnerved Sacramento’s Catholic community for more than 20 months.

“My actions were of a weak and sinful man,” the Rev. Uriel Ojeda said in his first public admission to molesting the girl – first when he worked at Holy Rosary Parish in Woodland and later after he had been transferred to Our Lady of Mercy in Redding.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Eugene L. Balonon then sentenced Ojeda, 33, to eight years in prison for touching the girl in a manner that “constitutes substantial sexual conduct” under the California Penal Code.

Ojeda’s remarks came in front of a courtroom nearly packed with supporters who have maintained his innocence from the day of his Nov. 30, 2011, arrest through the no-contest plea he entered July 5.

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.

KENTUCKY
Harland Daily Enterprise

The former pastor of the Loyall Church of God was sentenced to 20 years in prison Wednesday on his conviction for two counts of second-degree rape and two counts of second-degree sodomy. The victim was 14 at the time the offenses occurred.

Special Judge Robert Costanzo followed the jury’s recommendation on sentencing Jeremy Caraway to five years on each count to run concurrently.

Costanzo agreed to allow time served be credited toward the total sentence.

Caraway will be required to serve 85 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

Caraway, 38, originally was indicted on two counts of second-degree rape, two counts of second-degree sodomy, two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, two counts of first-degree unlawful transaction with a minor and one count of the use of an electronic communications system to procure a minor for a sexual offense.

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.

KENTUCKY
Daily News

Associated Press

A judge has sentenced a former pastor in eastern Kentucky found guilty of sex charges involving a girl younger than 14 to 20 years in prison.

The Harlan Daily Enterprise (http://bit.ly/14N5Tz7) reports the judge followed the jury’s recommendation when he handed down the sentence Wednesday for 38-year-old Jeremy Caraway.

Caraway is the former pastor of Loyall Church of God in Harlan County.
Jurors found him guilty earlier this year on charges of rape, sodomy and sex 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.

UNITED KINGDOM
Bedfordshire on Sunday

Written by STEVE LOWE

MORE claims that Jimmy Savile visited a Catholic boys home accused of sexually and physically abusing its children.

For many years there have been allegations of abuse at the former St Francis Boys Home in Shefford.

The home was run by the St Francis Society,as part of the Catholic Church.

Two former boys have won out of court settlements against the church, which still refuses to admit to former priests abusing the residents of the home. Many of them are now taking out a ‘class action’ against the church, which guarantees them anonymity, as potential victims of 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.

CALIFORNIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON AUGUST 02, 2013

Now that the criminal process against Fr. Uriel Ojeda has ended, we hope we’ll see civil lawsuits soon. Criminal prosecution often deals with one “bad apple.” Civil suits almost always deal with the “bad apple” and the corrupt “barrel.”

Putting a predator behind bars protects kids in the short term. Exposing his complicit colleagues protects kids in the long term, by deterring reckless, callous and deceptive behavior in the future.

Moist of those who commit child sex crimes can’t be deterred. But most of those who conceal, ignore or enable child sex crimes CAN be deterred. But they’re best deterred when they are exposed and held responsible. Civil litigation can do this.

Harsh penalties won’t make many child molesters pause before breaking the law. But harsh penalties will make many employers pause before making irresponsible decisions about hiring and supervising and responding to abuse suspicions or reports.

There’s more to learn about how Fr. Ojeda committed these crimes. We strongly suspect that other current or former Sacramento Catholic church employees and members have information that law enforcement should have. We believe at least a few Catholic officials saw or suspected illegal or inappropriate action by Fr. Ojeda but kept quiet.

We hope that anyone who has any knowledge or suspicions – about clergy sex crimes or cover ups – will find the courage to step forward, call police, expose wrongdoing, protect kids and start healing.

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

CALIFORNIA
New York Daily News

BY DAVID KNOWLES / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2013

Not all Catholic priests who abuse minors escape justice.

A California superior court judge sentenced Father Uriel Ojeda, 33, to eight years in state prison on Friday for molesting a teenage girl multiple times.

“My actions were those of a weak and sinful man,” Ojeda said in court.

Ojeda pleaded no contest to sneaking into the young girl’s bedroom at her parents’ Sacramento home on the night he was ordained and climbing into bed with her as she slept.

“You traumatized me,” the girl told him in a letter that was read in court by Deputy District Attorney Allison Dunham. “And you thought I would never tell anyone, didn’t you? But you thought wrong.”

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

CALIFORNIA
Daily Democrat

The former Woodland priest Father Uriel Ojeda apologized to the girl he molested and her family Friday in Sacramento County Superior Court as he was being sentenced to eight years in state prison.

Ojeda also said he was sorry to officials in the Catholic Church, other priests in general and the supporters who have consistently backed him throughout the years he has been accused of the molestation.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Eugene L. Balonon sentenced Ojeda, 33. He was facing 20 years in prison, but took a no-contest plea to charges that he molested the girl, who was 13 years old at the time, when he was a priest at Holy Rosary Parish in Woodland.

“You traumatized me,” the girl told him in a letter that was read to the court by the prosecutor.

“I have committed a crime and a serious sin,” Ojeda told the judge. “I would like to ask everybody for forgiveness and that they do find mercy for me.”

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.

COLOMBIA
Telegraph (Australia)

A ROMAN Catholic priest has reportedly been sentenced to 19 years’ jail for heading a criminal gang in Colombia.

According to the Medellin daily El Colombiano, a court has revoked an earlier decision to absolve Oscar Ortiz, parish priest in the hamlet of San Antonio de Pradothe.

The High Court in Medellin ruled on Thursday that he was the mastermind in a gang known as the Demobilised Fighters of El Limonar.

Most members of the gang, which engaged for 10 years in kidnappings, drug trafficking and extortion, are former right-wing paramilitaries.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Courier

By FIONA HENDERSON Aug. 2, 2013

THE Ballarat Centre Against Sexual Assault’s referrals have risen 25 per cent in the wake of the state government’s inquiry into institutionalised sexual abuse.

However, the Ballarat CASA, along with the 14 other Victorian CASAs, have been refused federal government funding to help survivors and their families through the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse.

The CASA Forum Peak Body said its 15 members provided the most comprehensive and extensive services to sexual abuse victims, including trauma counselling, advocacy and police liaison.

CASA Forum spokesperson Carolyn Worth said the three agencies allocated $45 million in mid-July to help victims, including Relationships Australia, Berry Street and Drummond Street, were excellent in relationship counselling and family support services but did not have the resources to deal with victims.

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

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Aug. 2, 2013

The U.S. archbishop who was given expansive oversight by the Vatican of American sisters will attend their annual gathering in mid-August and will speak of his role as their church-mandated overseer.

Unclear, however, is whether Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain will take questions from the approximately 900 women, leaders of the various orders of sisters across the country, who are expected to attend the event.

News of Sartain’s presence at the assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) comes amid continuing uncertain times for the group, an umbrella organization of U.S. sisters that the Vatican ordered to revise in April 2012 and gave the archbishop wide authority over its statutes and 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.

CALIFORNIA
Sacramento Bee

Severely admonished by the girl he molested and the parents who turned him in, Rev. Uriel Ojeda apologized to them at his sentencing today.

He also said he was sorry to officials in the Catholic Church, all priests and to the supporters who backed him from the day of his arrest, saying, “My actions were of a weak and sinful man.”

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Eugene L. Balonon then sentenced Ojeda, 33, to eight years in state prison, on the priest’s no-contest plea deal entered last month to charges that he molested the girl who was 13 when he was a priest at Holy Rosary Parish in Woodland.

“You traumatized me,” the girl told him in a letter that was read to the court by the prosecutor.

Dressed in jailhouse orange in front of a courtroom that was packed nearly to capacity with his supporters, Ojeda said, “I am sorry” and “I ask forgiveness.” Soon to be laicized by the Vatican, Ojeda said, “I’d like to, as a final act as priest, to apologize to all priests who serve faithfully before God, for bringing shame to the priesthood.”

“I have committed a crime and a serious sin,” Ojeda told the judge. “I would like to ask everybody for forgiveness and that they do find mercy for me.”

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

CALIFORNIA
Modesto Bee

By Andy Furillo and Cynthia Hubert — afurillo@sacbee.com

A Sacramento Superior Court judge today sentenced a Catholic priest to eight years in state prison for molesting a teenaged girl.

Father Uriel Ojeda, who pleaded no contest to the crime, made his first public statements on the issue prior to the sentencing.

“My actions were those of a weak and sinful man,” he said. The victim and her family submitted written statements, calling Ojeda a coward who betrayed their trust.

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

CALIFORNIA
KRCR

SACRAMENTO, Calif. –

A former Redding priest was sentenced to eight years in prison Friday, after pleading no contest to molesting a minor.

Uriel Ojeda, 33, entered the plea in a Sacramento County Courtroom almost a month ago.

Ojeda admitted to serious sexual misconduct with a 13-year-old girl.

In exchange for the plea, six other counts, all involving the same girl, were dropped.

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

CALIFORNIA
Record Searchlight

By Record Searchlight staff
Posted August 2, 2013

SACRAMENTO – A former Redding priest who pleaded no contest last month to molesting a teenage girl was sentenced today to eight years in prison.

The Rev. Uriel Ojeda, 33, who faced 20 years in prison if he had been convicted at trial, took a plea bargain in July that called for an eight-year sentence.

The Sacramento Bee reported that Ojeda made his first public statements on the issue prior to the sentencing.

“My actions were those of a weak and sinful man,” The Bee reported him as saying.

The victim and her family also submitted written statements, calling Ojeda a coward who betrayed their trust.

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

CALIFORNIA
Daily Democrat

The Sacramento Bee reported Friday morning that former Woodland priest Uriel Ojeda was sentenced to eight years in state prison for molesting a teen-aged girl.

Father Ojeda was sentenced in a Sacramento County Superior Court. Ojeda had previously pleaded no contest to the crime.

According to the Bee, Ojeda said at his sentencing that “”My actions were those of a weak and sinful man.

The victim and her family submitted written statements, calling Ojeda a coward who betrayed their trust, the Bee reported.

“I know I did the right thing,” the victim wrote. “I told.”

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.

SACRAMENTO (CA)
CBS Sacramento

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – A Roman Catholic priest has been sentenced to eight years in prison for molesting a 13-year-old parishioner.

Rev. Uriel Ojeda pleaded no contest to molesting the girl in early July. As part of the plea deal, the district attorney dropped six of the seven molestation charges.

The 32-year-old priest has been a parochial vicar at Our Lady of Mercy parish in Redding since 2009, leading up to his arrest in 2011. Before that, he served at a parish in Woodland, where he met the young girl. She came forward to the church with the allegations in late November 2011.

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.

COLOMBIA
Caracol

Ante la negativa de una juez de concederle la libertad al sacerdote Issac Ramírez, implicado en un supuesto caso de abuso sexual a uno de sus acólitos menor de edad, hoy la defensa del religioso acudirá a la figura jurídica del Habeas Corpus.

De acuerdo con el abogado Elmer Montaña, la juez que decidió negar la libertad lo hizo amparada bajo argumentos que violan el derecho al debido proceso de cualquier sindicado, que goza de la presunción de inocencia.

Explicó que por esta razón interpondrán un Habeas Corpus, que establece que en un término de 36 horas la justicia debe definir si una persona se encuentra detenida de manera injusta.

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

CALIFORNIA
Vertigo Politico

Cientos de páginas de archivos secretos de iglesias publicadas este miércoles pusieron de manifiesto las penosas trayectorias de decenas de sacerdotes de órdenes religiosas, hermanos religiosos y monjas acusados de abuso sexual de menores de edad cuando trabajaban en la arquidiócesis católica romana más grande del país.

Los archivos incluyen el caso de un sacerdote que admitió posteriormente haber tenido contacto sexual con más de 100 muchachos mientras prestó servicios durante años en varias parroquias del sur de California.

Los documentos, divulgados bajo los términos de un arreglo por 660 millones de dólares alcanzado en 2007, son el primer atisbo sobre lo que sabían las órdenes religiosas sobre los comisionados que colocaban en escuelas y parroquias católicas en el área de Los Angeles. La arquidiócesis misma liberó por orden judicial este año miles de páginas sobre sus propios sacerdotes que fueron acusados de abuso sexual, pero el panorama de la pederastíaa en Los Angeles seguía siendo incompleto sin los archivos de las órdenes religiosas.

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

CALIFORNIA
Univision

Uno de los documentos muestra el caso del cura Rubén Martínez, quien admitió contactos sexuales con más de 100 niños

LOS ANGELES – Cientos de páginas de archivos secretos de iglesias difundidos el miércoles pusieron de manifiesto las penosas trayectorias de decenas de sacerdotes de órdenes religiosas, hermanos religiosos y monjas acusados de abuso sexual de menores de edad cuando trabajaban en la arquidiócesis católica romana más grande del país, reportó The Associated Press.

¿Qué castigo crees que merecen los sacerdotes involucrados? Opina en nuestro Foro.

Los archivos, agrega, incluyen el caso del sacerdote Rubén Martínez, quien admitió posteriormente haber tenido contacto sexual con más de 100 niños de entre 9 y 12 años de edad.

Martínez confesó que los abusos incluyen sexo oral y masturbación mientras prestó servicios durante años en varias parroquias del sur de California.

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.

VENEZUELA
El Nacional

EL NACIONAL WEB
1 DE AGOSTO 2013

El pasado martes una comisión de la Brigada de Violencia a la Mujer y la Familia del Cuerpo de Investigaciones, Científicas, Penales y Criminalisticas (Cicpc), detuvo a un sacerdote de 35 años de edad por denuncias de presunta violación, en San Cristóbal, estado Táchira.

El sospechoso que trabajaba como párroco de una fue denunciado por actos lascivos y amenazas de muerte.

El sacerdote fue presentado al Ministerio Público (MP), el cual dictaminó una medida privativa de libertad en su contra, por delitos establecidos en la Ley sobre el Derecho de las Mujeres a una Vida Libre de Violencia. El caso está a cargo las fiscalías 6 y 16 del Ministerio Público, quienes investigarán las cuatro denuncias que supuestamente tendría de mujeres en edades comprendidas entre los 14 y 22 años.

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.

MEXICO
Sexenio

Monterrey, México. ¿Cuál sería la luz que podrían tener los niños que han sido víctimas de abusos sexuales cometidos por sacerdotes? Después de eso, ¿se puede seguir teniendo fe? ¿Cuánto tiempo pasará para que llegue una sanación?

Al menos una docena de víctimas que estudiaron en la escuela Guadalupe Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, en San Pedro Garza García en Nuevo León, saben de esto.

El 27 de noviembre del año pasado, padres de familia obligaron al sacerdote Manuel Ramírez García a que se entregara a las autoridades por besar y hacer tocamientos a los alumnos de quinto de primaria.

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

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The Promoter of Justice at the Vatican Tribunal, Giampiero Milano, has forwarded to the Italian judicial authorities a formal request asking them to interrogate Monsignor Nunzio Scarano as part on the ongoing investigation into the prelate’s activities. Scarano, bishop of Salerno near Naples in southern Italy, has been accused of money laundering. Father Federico Lombardi , the Director of the Vatican Press Office, confirmed this move when questioned by journalists about the case against Scarano

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

VATICAN CITY
Gazzetta del Sud

Vatican City, August 2 – The Vatican spokesman on Friday confirmed the Holy See’s unusual move of issuing a warrant for cooperation from Italy in a probe into Msgr. Nunzio Scarano, who led a key Vatican accounting unit until shortly before his arrest by Italian police on June 28. The prelate, who headed analytic accounts at the Vatican’s asset-management agency APSA, was jailed along with a former Italian spy and a financial broker for allegedly trying to smuggle 20 million euros into Italy. All three were recently denied release from jail to house-arrest for showing ”marked criminal behavior” and ”common ruthlessness” according to a judicial assessment Wednesday.

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.

CHILE
La Tercera

Caso Karadima: Hoy continúa interrogatorio por demanda civil contra el Arzobispado

Esta semana comenzó la ronda de interrogatorios en el marco de la investigación previa a la demanda civil contra el Arzobispado de Santiago, que interpusieron las víctimas de abuso sexual del sacerdote Fernando Karadima.

Ayer prestó declaración como testigo el presbítero Eliseo Escudero Herrero en la Tercera Sala de la Corte de Apelaciones de Santiago, y para hoy está citado el sacerdote Francisco Javier Errázuriz Huneeus.

Tras ser interrogado por el ministro de fuero, Juan Muñoz Pardo, el plesbítero Escudero señaló que “yo entiendo que el caso de Karadima como tal, del punto de vista eclesiástico está terminado hace tiempo, y del punto de vista civil también, entonces ahora realmente no entiendo los objetivos que tiene todo esto”

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.