ABUSE TRACKER

ISRAEL
The Jerusalem Post

By BEN HARTMAN
LAST UPDATED: 06/21/2013

Metzger probed for bribery, money laundering; denies wrongdoing.

Police from the National Fraud Squad raided the home and offices of Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yonah Metzger on Thursday, and questioned him under caution for hours, as part of a bribery, fraud, money-laundering and breach-of-trust case. Metzger was released to five days house arrest on Thursday night following some ten hours of questioning.

Metzger is forbidden to enter his offices, leave the country or make contact with any of the other suspects in the case.

Metzger and three other men are suspected of being involved in the pilfering of hundreds of thousands of shekels from a number of charities.

Following an undercover investigation, officers went public on Thursday, arresting the three suspects and seizing documents, computers and other materials from Metzger’s home and office they believe may be linked to the allegations.

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ISRAEL
Haaretz

Regardless of suspicions surrounding Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, the upcoming election should not revolve around who the next chief rabbis will be, rather what the next Chief Rabbinate will be.

By Yair Ettinger | Jun.21, 2013

Was the timing pure coincidence? Any rabbi worth his salt would surely say that the grave suspicions against Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, coming on the eve of the election for his successor, are God’s way of sending a message − for instance, “Don’t appoint a rabbi out of narrow and extraneous political considerations.” Or “Don’t create a rabbinate whose purpose is to enrich its members.”

Or maybe the message is simpler and sharper than that. Perhaps it’s that the time has come to do one of two things − either dismantle the Chief Rabbinate or revamp it from head to toe.

What’s nice about these messages is that all of them are equally valid even if Metzger comes out of this case as pure as the driven snow. It must be remembered that during the course of his 10 years in office, he has already survived several investigations and inquiries into his conduct, without a single indictment.

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ISRAEL
Haaretz

Four men claim to have been groped by Rabbi Yona Metzger in cases stretching back to the ’80s, according to a report in Israeli newspaper Maariv.

Allegations of sexual abuse against Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger were reported in the Israeli media on Friday, just one day after he was questioned in connection with suspicions of bribery, fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, and…

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

The Special Commission of Inquiry into child sexual abuse in the Hunter region is now examining whether police destroyed crucial evidence relating to abuse by Catholic clergy. A Lateline investigation has found a senior NSW police officer was part of a key Catholic Church body set up to deal with sex abuse cases and attended monthly meetings. And over a five year period the police officer shredded all documents and records of those monthly meetings. There are now questions about how a serving police officer came to be sitting on an internal church committee, that discussed child sexual abuse and under what circumstances that officer shredded the records.

Transcript

ELIZABETH JACKSON: The official inquiry into child sexual abuse in the Hunter region of New South Wales is now examining whether police destroyed crucial evidence.

A Lateline investigation has found a senior serving police officer was part of a key Catholic Church expert panel set up to deal with sex abuse cases.

It’s been revealed that over a five year period that police officer attended monthly meetings and then shredded all documents and records of the meetings.

Emily Bourke reports.

EMILY BOURKE: For several years, a senior policewoman with the NSW Sex Crimes Squad sat on the internal Professional Standards Resource Group of the Catholic Church.

That group met for several hours each month to discuss specific cases of abuse by clergy and others.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DAN BOX From: The Australian June 21, 2013

THE NSW Police Minister has written to the force asking for an urgent briefing after it emerged a senior officer had shredded paper records of her meetings with Catholic church officials to discuss child sex abuse.

As reported last night by the ABC’s Lateline, the minister, Michael Gallacher, has asked for an explanation of the actions of Inspector Beth Cullen, who spent five years working as the police representative on the church’s NSW/ACT Professional Standards Resource Group.

In response to a freedom of information request, NSW Police said it could not provide documents relating to her work with the group, which met monthly to discuss allegations of child sex abuse by priests.

“Inspector Beth Cullen . . . shredded hard copies of meeting material after each meeting. Furthermore, Inspector Cullen did not keep any documentation in relation to her work on the PSRG,” the letter reads.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

AAP

POLICE have rejected claims a senior NSW officer destroyed original documents about sex abuse in the Catholic Church, saying she only shredded copies of the confidential papers.

Reports stated a senior officer assigned to the Professional Standards Resource Group (PSRG) – a key Catholic Church body set up to deal with pedophilia within the institution – shredded all records of her involvement.

Inspector Beth Cullen, who was then a senior sergeant with the Sex Crimes Unit, destroyed all documents pertaining to her role with the PSRG from 1998 to 2003, the ABC’s Lateline program reported.

The documents came from a freedom of information request filed by NSW Greens spokesman David Shoebridge.
n’t see any circumstances where police would need to shred documents from an internal church body.

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: A priest of the Chicago-Detroit Province ordained in 1969, Burke’s career took him from IL to Sacramento and Berkeley CA, Fairbanks and Anchorage AK,as well as Helena and Great Falls MT. Burke was accused in a 2011 lawsuit of perpetrating abuse at St. Ignatius Mission on the Flathead Indian Reservation in the Helena MT diocese. He is last known to be living at a Jesuit retirement center in Michigan.

Ordained:1969

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PENNSYLVANIA
WITF

Written by Mary Wilson, Capitol Bureau Chief | Jun 20, 2013

A state House proposal to make it easier for some to report suspected child abuse is headed to the Senate, though concerns voiced before a final vote suggest some misgivings about legislating a solution to problems of child abuse – that doing so could interfere with parents who discipline their kids with a smack.

One proposal passed by the House Thursday would, in part, allow people who are required by law to report suspected child abuse (like teachers), to do so by e-mail. It would also require people who must report suspected child abuse to go to the state, not just to their superiors.

“You heard from some folks who were very concerned because they are people who – I’ll say practice – but make use of, in their raising of their children, corporal punishment,” said Rep. Kathy Watson (R-Bucks). “What everybody might say, spanking.”

Rep. Tim Krieger (R-Westmoreland) cast one of the few votes against the proposal. “Not for one minute [do I] think that we need to give child abusers a break here, but there’s a line here that we have to be very careful of,” he said.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Fort Mill Times

The Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. —
Three bills that address how child abuse investigations are handled are closer to becoming law following favorable votes in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

The House voted overwhelmingly on Thursday in favor of the three proposals, part of the legislation being considered in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal.

One would establish procedures to report child abuse online or by email and require those who must report suspected abuse to inform their supervisor and call the ChildLine hotline.

Another would require approval of “indicated” child abuse determinations by county child protective services administrators and the agency’s lawyer. The third broadens how school personnel must handle abuse cases.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Patriot-News

By Charles Thompson | cthompson@pennlive.com

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed three bills today in a package designed to improve child protection systems in Pennsylvania, all by overwhelming margins.

The bills, all of which flowed from recommendations from a task force appointed to study the state of Pennsylvania’s laws in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal, now go to the Senate or further consideration.

The bills approved today include:

* House Bill 430, which requires all persons required to report suspicions of child abuse who are part of an organization to make separate reports both to their supervisors and to the state’s Childline system.

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UNITED KINGDOM
ITV

Bishop Bell School has issued this statement: “As a school community we have been saddened by the events which led up to this trial and the impact they have had on all concerned.

“We remain deeply shocked by the actions of Mr Forrest and his betrayal of the trust that was placed in him.

“It is important that the strongest possible message is sent to all who work with children that they hold a position of responsibility and trust for the lives, and well being, of those in their care.

“We take our responsibility extremely seriously and our safeguarding policies and procedures are robust.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Eastbourne Herald

Bishop Bell’s executive head Terry Boatwright has defended safeguarding at the school and explained everything possible was done to investigate Forrest’s relationship with the 15-year-old schoolgirl.

Four teachers from the Priory Road school gave evidence at the trial last week) and told the court they were aware the girl had a ‘crush’ on her 30-year-old teacher.

Rumours about holding hands on a trip to Los Angeles in February 2012, Twitter messages and texts between pair in the lead up to the 2012 summer break were raised as concerns to senior members of staff by pupils on a number of occasions.

The four teachers told the court they had repeatedly warned Forrest to keep his distance from the girl.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

The school which repeatedly failed to prevent a maths teacher from absconding to France with a teenager pupil was accused of multiple failings as he was found guilty of child abduction.

By Victoria Ward10:00PM BST 20 Jun 2013

Campaigners said it was “absolutely phenomenal” that teaching staff at Bishop Bell School in Eastbourne did not heed repeated warnings about Jeremy Forrest’s relationship with the schoolgirl.

Forrest, 30, was cautioned about his behaviour by colleagues seven times in seven months and yet they failed to take any definitive action or report their concerns to the police.

Lucy Duckworth, founder of See Changes child protection charity, said it was astonishing that despite the concerns raised between February and July last year, the subject was abandoned at the start of the summer holidays, leaving the pair free to enjoy a full sexual relationship, spending numerous nights at local hotels and at his marital home.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Mirror

Anti-child abuse campaigners have demanded the headteacher at the centre of the Jeremy Forrest scandal be axed.

They said Terry Boatwright, head of Eastbourne’s Bishop Bell CoE school which employed Forrest, should go for failing to protect his victim.

The trial heard that despite being challenged at least seven times by fellow teachers, Forrest repeatedly continued his illicit affair.

The school banned them from messaging each other on Twitter but they carried on.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

Seven chances to stop teacher-pupil affair: School branded a ‘disgrace’ as campaigners call for head to be sacked

Child protection campaigners slammed Jeremy Forrest’s school as a ‘disgrace’ and called for its head to be sacked for failing to stop his affair with a pupil.

Police also came under fire for not reacting more swiftly after being finally tipped off about the relationship. The delay meant the pair were able to flee to France.

The married 30-year-old’s relationship with a girl half his age was an ‘open secret’ at Bishop Bell C of E school in Eastbourne, friends of the girl claim.

Teachers warned him about his behaviour with the girl seven times over seven months after being repeatedly told by her classmates about what was happening – but never reported it as a suspected crime.

One teacher described the rumours as ‘crazy’ and others were more concerned about the stress they were causing Forrest and the damage they could do to his career than any risk to the schoolgirl.

Even the girl mocked the school’s efforts to stop their affair, telling police after Forrest’s arrest that while teachers warned them about their behaviour, ‘they never really did a full investigation into what was going on’.

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UNITED STATES
Esquire

By Charles P. Pierce

When the scandal in the Roman Catholic Church broke, and it was discovered that Holy Mother Church had been d/b/a an international conspiracy to obstruct justice in thousands of cases of criminal sexual abuse of the children in its charge, the defenders of the institutional church, and not a few members of the Clan Of The Red Beanie, decided that the whole thing started when The Sixties happened. The good holy celibates saw all the unauthorized fking going on around them and, swooning over the Strawberry Alarm Clock, they took to abusing children because that’s what the Sexual Revolution was all about. Also, too — birth control!

Except, of course, no.

The auditors’ report, released on Tuesday, found that sexual abuse by friars in the St. Joseph Province of the Capuchin Order was discussed at meetings as far back as 1932, the first year for which minutes of meetings were available. After more than a dozen students at the province’s St. Lawrence Seminary in Wisconsin accused nine friars of abuse in 1992, it cost the province’s insurer nearly a million dollars – but 89 percent of that went to lawyers to defend the Capuchins and only 11 percent to victims for settlements and therapy, the report said.

Jimi Hendrix wasn’t born until 1942. Just sayin’.

The auditors said that the files often contained “coded language” and euphemisms to refer to sexual abusers. Friars were said to suffer from “immorality” or “evil actions and speech,” and some documents record friars sent for treatment for alcoholism when sexual abuse was clearly the issue. Peter J. Isely, who was abused by a Capuchin friar at St. Lawrence Seminary in 1970s, praised the province for commissioning the report, but said he suspected that the order had either destroyed documents or withheld them from the auditors. Mr. Isely, the Midwest director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said that he had provided court documents to the auditors that were not in the province’s files. Asked about this discrepancy, Father Celichowski acknowledged that “file management was historically a significant problem.”

As it was in the Nixon White House, and in several large mortgage brokerages, and in many a bookie joint down through the years.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with video]

NSW Police admit shredding all the documents relating to five years involvement with a key body of the Catholic Church which was set up to deal with sex abuse cases.

Transcript

TONY JONES, PRESENTER: New South Wales police have admitted shredding all documents of the force’s involvement with a key Catholic Church body set up to deal with sex abuse cases.

The sex crimes squad officer on the church body destroyed all her documents after each meeting.

The top level group established by the church’s bishops met monthly with the senior policewoman for at least three hours, over many years.

After being contacted by LateLine, the New South Wales police minister, mike Gallacher has now demanded an urgent briefing from his police commissioner.

And the former director of public prosecutions in New South Wales has described the police actions as “destroying evidence.” Suzie Smith reports.

SUZIE SMITH, REPORTER: The internal church body was known as the professional standards resource group. Set up by Catholic bishops, the expert panel was created to advise the church on specific cases of child sexual abuse involving clergy and others.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

NOT for the first time, the behaviour of a senior officer of Victoria Police is under a cloud, with Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton accused of giving false evidence to the state’s child sex abuse inquiry.

Peter O’Callaghan, QC, the independent commissioner in charge of the Catholic Church’s Melbourne complaints system, has detailed instances where he contacted police and arranged for victims to be interviewed. Some cases resulted in charges being laid. Mr O’Callaghan said that of the 304 complaints made up to June 30 last year, 97 had been reported to police, 115 related to offenders who were dead at the time of the complaint, nine were about offenders who were overseas and he encouraged 76 complainants to go to police.

Such details must seriously worry Mr Ashton, who claimed police had not “had a single referral of a child sexual abuse allegation by the Catholic Church”, an assertion repeated in the police submission to the inquiry. Yet former Victoria Police deputy commissioner Ken Jones said in correspondence in 2011 that the force was “very content” with the church’s sex abuse complaints system and was “very content that victims are being properly dealt with”. The fact that a split has occurred over such a sensitive issue at the highest levels of the force will do nothing to help restore public confidence in police after scandals such as former commissioner Simon Overland leaking secret intelligence from phone taps during Operation Briars, the ineffectiveness of the now defunct Office of Police Integrity, and Mr Overland deliberately bringing forward incomplete and misleading crime statistics on the eve of the 2010 election.

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HAWAII
West Hawaii Today

By JOHN BURNETT
Tribune-Herald staff writer
jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com

A 69-year-old Ocean View man awaiting trial for allegedly molesting two underage girls was a deacon and youth mentor for a church in the remote Ka‘u community for at least a part of the time the abuse was alleged to have occurred.

Nicholas “Nick” Krivanek was “removed” from those positions at Ocean View Evangelical Community Church after “he confessed” to the church’s elders in 2011, according to Larry Fisher, who was secretary of the elders at that time.

“I’m not sure the church (congregation) was informed until after he was arrested,” Fisher said on Tuesday. “The pastor informed every church member after he was arrested a couple of Sundays ago.” Fisher said the meeting took place after Sunday service.

Fisher said Krivanek is “still a member of the church.”

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HAWAII
The Garden Island

NAALEHU, Hawaii (AP) — A Big Island man indicted on molestation charges knew the alleged victims through a church in a remote Kau community, a prosecutor said.

Nicholas “Nick” Krivanek, 69, of Ocean View, is accused of molesting two girls under 14. An indictment alleges one victim was molested between 2007 and 2011 and the second victim was allegedly molested between 2009 and 2011.

“The victims did know him because of the church,” Deputy Prosecutor Jeff Burleson told Hawaii Tribune-Herald (http://ow.ly/mek5X ). “I don’t know if they are members of the church themselves.”

Krivanek was removed as a deacon and youth leader at Ocean View Evangelical Community Church after he confessed to church elders in 2011, said Larry Fisher, who was secretary of the elders at the time.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – AM

ELIZABETH JACKSON: The official inquiry into child sexual abuse in the Hunter region of New South Wales is now examining whether police destroyed crucial evidence.

A Lateline investigation has found a senior serving police officer was part of a key Catholic Church expert panel set up to deal with sex abuse cases.

It’s been revealed that over a five year period that police officer attended monthly meetings and then shredded all documents and records of the meetings.

Emily Bourke reports.

EMILY BOURKE: For several years, a senior policewoman with the NSW Sex Crimes Squad sat on the internal Professional Standards Resource Group of the Catholic Church.

That group met for several hours each month to discuss specific cases of abuse by clergy and others.

The ABC’s Lateline program has revealed internal police documents which show that the New South Wales policewoman shredded all records of meetings held between 1998 and 2003.

DAVID SHOEBRIDGE: Why would the police be a party to such an arrangement where they are effectively cleansing the record for the Church?

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH JUNE 21, 201

NSW Police have admitted shredding all records of a senior officer’s involvement with a Catholic church body which deals with sexual abuse.

A Freedom of Information request by Greens MP David Shoebridge revealed briefing papers and documents created over a five year period between 1998 and 2003 had been destroyed.

The documents reveal that Inspector Beth Cullen, who was then with the Sex Crimes Unit, destroyed all documents relating to her role with the Catholic church body.

A letter from the NSW Police, which was released with the FOI documents states: “Inspector Beth Cullen, the NSW Police representative on the [catholic church body], shredded hard copies of meeting material after each meeting.”

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INDIANA
The Journal Gazette

Rosa Salter Rodriguez | The Journal Gazette

The Rev. Kevin C. Rhoades will offer Mass on Saturday at St. Joseph Catholic Church-Hessen Cassel in an ongoing effort to help parishioners heal after their priest was removed from ministry because of sexual abuse allegations at a previous assignment.

The Mass by Rhoades, bishop of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, will be at 5 p.m. at the church, 11337 Old U.S. 27 South.

The Rev. Cornelius Ryan was removed as the parish administrator June 10 after an allegation of abuse of a young male 20 years ago in Africa was received by his superior, according to a statement released Thursday by the U.S. Province of the Congregation of the Holy Cross in South Bend, Ryan’s order.

Ryan was appointed administrator of St. Joseph by Rhoades in December 2011 after its previous priest, the Rev. Thomas Lombardi, also was removed because of a sexual abuse allegation.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

PIA AKERMAN From: The Australian June 21, 2013

A FORMER Catholic priest has been charged with 72 child sex abuse charges relating to alleged historical offences.

Gerald Francis Ridsdale, 79, is due to face the Melbourne Magistrates Court this morning for a filing hearing regarding the charges, which include buggery, carnal knowledge and indecent assault.

A police spokeswoman said detectives from Taskforce Sano, established to investigate offences revealed by the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into institutional responses to child sexual abuse, had been investigating the man and laid the charges.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

A 79-year-old man will face the Melbourne Magistrates Court today charged with 72 child sex offences.

The ABC understands it is notorious paedophile Gerald Ridsdale.

The former Catholic priest was jailed in 1994 for offences against 21 victims between the 1960s and 1980s.

The new allegations come just weeks before Ridsdale would have been eligible for parole.

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PENNSYLVANIA
NBC 10

By Lauren DiSanto | Thursday, Jun 20, 2013

Steven Almond is a Deacon for Middletown Presbyterian Church, he teaches Sunday School and coaches basketball, but detectives in Delaware County say he was also keeping dozens of child porn videos on his home computer.

On June 13, police searched Almond’s home on W. Forestview Road in Parkside and pulled out four computers, a hard drive, flash drives, multiple cell phones and nearly two dozen CD/ DVDs.

Detectives say they found more than 50 videos believed to be child pornography, some of which showed children that appeared to be under the age of 5, according to a police affidavit.

According to the affidavit, Almond admitted to police that he had files of teenage pornography on his computer although he said he never had any inappropriate contact with children.

Almond, 54, told detectives that he knew it was illegal to pay for child porn, but he didn’t think it was illegal to download child porn since its free and in the public domain.

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PENNSYLVANIA
My Fox Philly

Posted: Jun 20, 2013

Parkside, Pa. –
A Delaware County Deacon and Sunday school teacher, is charged with possession of child pornography.

Police say Steven Almond admitted to downloading child porn videos, but thought he wasn’t doing anything wrong, since the videos were free and in the public domain.

Investigators raided Almond’s home, taking four computers, a hard drive, 2 USB flash drives, and over 20 DVDs.

Detectives conducted a preliminary examination of these items and located more than 50 videos which depict children under the age of 18 years old engaging in sexual acts and/or poses, and are believed to be child pornography. Some of these videos even depict children that appear to be less than 5 years old.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Thomas Reese | Jun. 20, 2013 NCR Today

Journalists should “be uncompromising against the hypocrisies which result from the closed, the sick heart,” said Pope Francis to a group of Jesuit journalists. “Be uncompromising against this spiritual illness.”

Telling journalists to attack hypocrisy might sound suicidal to most church leaders, especially after more than two decades of investigative journalism on the sexual abuse crisis, but it shows how much Pope Francis hates the vices he believes undermine the Gospel message: clericalism, careerism and hypocrisy.

Beyond exposing hypocrisy, Francis said the main task of journalists “is not to build walls but bridges” and to establish dialogue with all people. At a time when ratings and readership are built by stirring up antagonism and fights, this will not be an easy teaching.

Although he was speaking to the Jesuit staff of the Italian journal La Civilta Cattolica, Pope Francis laid out a dynamic vision relevant to the vocation of anyone in journalism. “The great spiritual questions are more alive today than ever,” he said, “but there is need of someone to interpret them and to understand them.” But the approach to these questions should be through dialogue not screaming heads.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

June 21, 2013

Carolyn Webb

Members of a support group for people who grew up in care say they will boycott a reunion organised by the Good Shepherd nuns as part of celebrations for the order’s 150th anniversary in Australia.

Care Leavers Australia Network chief executive Leonie Sheedy said the nuns’ event was inappropriate ”when they haven’t acknowledged, or publicly apologised for, the damage that’s been done to children in their care”.

With the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse under way and the state inquiry into how the churches handled clergy sexual abuse to report later this year, abused former residents of Good Shepherd institutions said there was nothing to celebrate.

The nuns, on their webpage, say the June 21 and 22 celebrations at the Abbotsford Convent will include tours and an exhibition.

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INDIANA
WANE

Published : Thursday, 20 Jun 2013

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — A Catholic priest removed from a Fort Wayne parish after being accused of sexual abuse in Africa about 20 years ago coached soccer in Uganda about that time.

Ugandan native Vee Batu told The Journal Gazette for a story Thursday that the Rev. Cornelius Ryan was a “renowned high school soccer coach” at St. Henry’s College in Masaka, Uganda, from 1991 until 1994 or 1995. Batu expressed disbelief at the sexual abuse allegation.

A directory of Holy Cross priests says the 76-year-old Ryan was ordained in 1966 and based in Fort Portal, Uganda, from 1967 until 1999. He then spent time in Kenya before returning to the order’s provincial house in South Bend.

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CANADA
CBC News

A new research centre on residential schools, to be based in Winnipeg, will preserve a national memory of what happened to aboriginal children who attended the schools, says the head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The commission and the University of Manitoba will sign an agreement on Friday, which is National Aboriginal Day, to mark the establishment of the new research centre.

Manitoba Justice Murray Sinclair, who chairs the commission, says the research centre is important because it will give all Canadians an opportunity to learn about the residential schools experience.

“That is important for us, and I think it’s also important for the aboriginal community because it’s a way for us to ensure that we have a national memory around residential schools,” he told CBC News on Thursday.

The signing ceremony will take place at 10:30 a.m. on the University of Manitoba campus.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia Inquirer

MARI A. SCHAEFER, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
LAST UPDATED: Thursday, June 20, 2013

A Presbyterian church deacon, Sunday school teacher and basketball coach has been charged with downloading child pornography, the Delaware County district attorney’s office announced today.

Steven Daniel Almond, 54, of Parkside, a deacon at the Middletown Presbyterian Church, surrendered to police Thursday morning and was being held at the Delaware County jail in lieu of $350,000 bail, officials said.

He was charged with “disseminating” photos and films “of child sex acts” and related crimes, according to public records, which gave the following account:

Investigators traced 11 pornographic “files of interest” to an account used by Almond. When he was contacted by police at his home, Almond said he did have files of teenage pornography on his computer. He estimated he downloaded 30 videos of child pornography to his computer with the youngest victim being “13 to 14” years old.

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DEUTSCHLAND
dradio

Leiter des Jesuitenkollegs Sankt Blasien begrüßt Stilwechsel von Papst Franziskus

Pater Klaus Mertes rät Papst Franziskus, den neuen Weg aufrechtzuerhalten, den er seit seinem Amtsantritt vor 100 Tagen eingeschlagen hat. Fragen der Sexualmoral bezeichnet Mertes als “nicht die wichtigsten und zentralsten des christlichen Glaubens.”

Christoph Heinemann: “Brüder und Schwestern, guten Abend!” Das waren die ersten Worte, die die Welt von Papst Franziskus zu hören bekamen. Das war am 13. März. Franziskus stand auf der Loggia des Petersdoms und Tausende Menschen unter ihm auf dem Petersplatz. Zweierlei war ungewöhnlich: Der Papst trug nicht den pelzgefütterten Schulterkragen, die Mozetta, er war in Weiß gekleidet. Und der Name! Franziskus ist der erste Papst, der sich Franz von Assisi, den Heiligen der Armen, zum Vorbild gewählt hat. Seit 100 Tagen ist der Argentinier Jorge Mario Bergoglio nun im Amt. Er ist übrigens Mitglied des Jesuitenordens und das verbindet ihn mit unserem Gesprächspartner.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Allgemeine

20.06.2013 · Was sich nach seiner Wahl bereits andeutete, ist mittlerweile zur Gewissheit geworden: Papst Franziskus ist für den vatikanischen Hofstaat ein einziger Albtraum. Sicher ist auch: Er lebt gefährlich.

Von DANIEL DECKERS

Einst soll der Schriftsteller Arthur Schnitzler seinem älteren Dichterfreund Arthur Rimbaud geschrieben haben: „Du fragst mich, was soll ich tun? Und ich sage, lebe wild und gefährlich!“ Gut möglich, dass die Vorliebe des Argentiniers Jorge Bergoglio für deutsche Lyrik ihn auch auf die Spur dieses mittlerweile geflügelten Wortes geführt hat. Jedenfalls lebt der Jesuit, der es als junger Mann mit Militärdiktatoren zu tun hatte und der sich zuletzt immer wieder mit den lupenreinen Demokraten an der Spitze seines Landes anlegte, seit drei Monaten wilder und gefährlicher denn je.

Denn was sich in den ersten Tagen nach seiner Wahl am 13. März andeutete, ist mittlerweile zur Gewissheit geworden: Papst Franziskus ist für den vatikanischen Hofstaat ein einziger Albtraum und spätestens seit der vergangenen Woche für die vatikanische Sex-and-Crime-Szene ein unberechenbares Risiko.

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UNITED STATES
Slate

By Rebecca Ruiz
Updated Wednesday, June 19, 2013

When Tom Tremblay started working for the police department of Burlington, Vt., 30 years ago, he discovered that many of his fellow cops rarely believed a rape victim. This was true time after time, in dozens of cases. Tremblay could see why they were doubtful once he started interviewing the victims himself. The victims, most of them women, often had trouble recalling an attack or couldn’t give a chronological account of it. Some expressed no emotion. Others smiled or laughed as they described being assaulted. “Unlike any other crime I responded to in my career, there was always this thought that a rape report was a false report,” says Tremblay, who was an investigator in Burlington’s sex crimes unit. “I was always bothered by the fact there was this shroud of doubt.”

Tremblay felt sex assault victims were telling the truth, and data supports his instincts: Only an estimated 2 to 8 percent of rape accusations are false, according to a survey of the literature published by the National Center for the Prosecution of Violence Against Women. Tremblay also knew the victims felt as if they were being treated like suspects, and it affected the choices they made. Surveyed about why they didn’t want to pursue a report, most victims said they worried that no one would believe them.

This is rape culture in action. It puts the burden of proving innocence on the victim, and from Steubenville, Ohio, to Notre Dame and beyond, we’ve seen it poison cases and destroy lives. But science is telling us that our suspicions of victims, the ones that seem like common sense, are flat-out baseless. A number of recent studies on neurobiology and trauma show that the ways in which the brain processes harrowing events accounts for victim behavior that often confounds cops, prosecutors, and juries.

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GALLUP (NM)
Gallup Independent

Published in the Gallup Independent, Gallup, NM, June 19, 2013

Navajo woman from Gallup 1 of the plaintiffs

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Independent correspondent

GALLUP — Ten more people, including a Navajo woman from Gallup, have filed clergy sex abuse lawsuits against the Diocese of Gallup.

Phoenix attorney Robert E. Pastor filed the civil complaints in Flagstaff’s Coconino County Superior Court on behalf of eight men and two women who allege they were sexually abused as children by clergy working in Catholic parishes on the Navajo Nation or in Holbrook, Winslow, Flagstaff, Camp Verde, Mayer or Humboldt, Ariz. Pastor has three other abuse lawsuits active against the Gallup Diocese. The first case, filed in 2010, is scheduled to go to trial in early 2014.

All of the new plaintiffs’ identities are being protected in the court files.

New allegations

Two of the lawsuits name clergy who have never before been publicly accused of abuse. Monsignor James Lindenmeyer, a prominent priest in the Gallup Diocese who died in 2007, is being accused of abuse by a former student at St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Winslow. For a number of years in the 1960s, Lindenmeyer served as the diocese’s vicar general, or second-in-command.

Brother Mark Schornack, O.F.M., aka Mark Schomack, a Franciscan friar who died in 2012, is being accused of abuse by the Gallup plaintiff. As a child, she attended Mass at the Catholic mission at St. Michaels on the Navajo Nation. Also named in the Schornack lawsuit are the Franciscan provinces in Albuquerque and Cincinnati.

The Rev. Raul N. Sanchez, a former chancellor for the Gallup Diocese, is also named as a defendant. This is Pastor’s third lawsuit that has named Sanchez as an alleged abuser. Sanchez left the Gallup Diocese to become an Air Force chaplain, and he is reportedly absent from the diocese and living in Mexico.

Other priests named include Clement A. Hageman, John T. Sullivan and William G. Allison, all of whom are deceased and have been identified as serial — if not notorious — sexual abusers in church documents.

Church responses

Bishop James S. Wall “takes all of these matters very seriously,” the Gallup Diocese said Friday in emailed comments, which were not attributed to one particular diocesan official. “He continues to pray for all victims of abuse, and asks us to keep all who are involved in these cases in our prayers for healing.

“The Diocese of Gallup has not, to our knowledge, ever received any claim of sexual misconduct against Msgr. Lindenmeyer other than the one recently filed by Mr. Pastor,” the diocese said. “With respect to that claim, we have no facts other than what has been alleged in the complaint.”

Toni Cashnelli, communications director for the Franciscan Friars of St. John the Baptist in Cincinnati, said the Franciscan Province had not yet been notified of the Schornack lawsuit or the allegations against him.

“We take all allegations seriously and are committed to responding appropriately,” Cashnelli said. The Franciscan Province posts its sexual abuse policy on its website; however, it does not post its list of credibly accused sexually abusive Franciscan friars.

The Rev. Gino Correa, O.F.M., provincial minister for Albuquerque’s Franciscan Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe, did not respond to requests for comment. The Albuquerque Franciscans do not post either a sexual abuse policy or a list of credibly accused abusers on its website.

Bankruptcy concerns

Both Pastor and the Diocese of Gallup were asked if these latest lawsuits might push the Gallup Diocese into bankruptcy.

“There can be no dispute that the Diocese has extremely limited resources, and may not have the financial wherewithal to continue to investigate and attempt to compensate victims of credible sexual misconduct claims,” the diocese stated. “It is public knowledge that many dioceses with resources far greater than the Diocese of Gallup have been forced to consider and/or file bankruptcy in the face of mounting clergy abuse lawsuits. In light of the foregoing, the Diocese is evaluating all options that are available to it at this time.”

“I am not concerned about the Diocese of Gallup’s finances,” Pastor said in an email Monday. “I am more concerned about the response the Bishop of Gallup has to his victims. … I hope and pray the Bishop of Gallup will reveal once and for all the names of those priests who sexually abused children while serving in the Diocese of Gallup. The victims, their families, and the Catholic church deserve to know the truth.”

The Gallup Diocese declined once again to release updated and accurate information about credibly accused Gallup clergy and the number of abuse victims who have made those allegations.
“The Diocese is not prepared to release that information at this time,” it said.

Lack of reporting

Pastor and the Gallup Diocese also sparred in their responses as to why allegations of sexual abuse by Raul N. Sanchez — or any living Gallup clergy accused of sex abuse — have not been reported to law enforcement officials. The U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People supports such reporting “even when the person is no longer a minor.”

“Each of the persons who has made allegations against Fr. Sanchez is an adult who is represented by counsel,” the Gallup Diocese said. “In light of the foregoing, we have asked counsel for those claimants to report their allegations to the relevant civil authorities.”

“Gallup’s request that these victims report the abuse to civil authorities is disingenuous,” Pastor said when asked to respond to the diocese’s claim. “Gallup made the request after you submitted your questions to diocesan officials. The time to report was when the Diocese knew Sanchez had or attempted to have inappropriate sexual contact with children. The diocese should have reported Sanchez in the 1980s and 1990s. Instead, after he was Chancellor for the diocese, the Diocese of Gallup helped him flee to Mexico. We have asked the Diocese of Gallup to disclose his specific whereabouts, to warn and protect potential victims, but the Diocese refuses to provide accurate information.”

Pastor added, “We hope to report to law enforcement in the U.S. soon; however, because the Diocese of Gallup allowed the perpetrator to leave this jurisdiction, that investigation may not produce the answers and the justice these victims deserve.”

With these latest lawsuits, 22 diocesan priests or Franciscan friars associated with the Gallup Diocese have been publicly accused of sexual abuse of minors. Two others have been publicly accused of the sexual assault of adult victims.

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CALIFORNIA
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on the June 18 vote by the California Assembly Committee on the Judiciary that keeps alive a bill that lifts the statute of limitations for one year on cases of the sexual abuse of minors; it applies only to private institutions:

Prior to the Civil War, we had one law for whites, and one law for blacks. In 1868, that was rectified when the equal protection before the law provision was encoded in the 14th Amendment. Now California Sen. Jim Beall wants to turn the clock back: he wants one law for public schools and another for Catholic schools. Differential legislation can be justified in many instances, but not when it comes to crime and children.

“Public schools and teachers have been held to a higher standard of care when it comes to the protection of children and reporting of child sexual abuse, than have the clergy and private youth-serving institutions,” said Beall. Not true. In 2007, AP did a major investigation of the public schools and found widespread sexual abuse of minors, a breakdown in enforcement, resistance from teachers’ unions to do anything about it, and grossly inadequate legislation. California was specifically cited for its negligence.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Fox 6

[audit report]

June 20, 2013, by Trisha Bee

MILWAUKEE (WITI) — The Archdiocese of Milwaukee released a statement Thursday, June 20th regarding the voluntary release of an audit by the Midwest Province of Capuchin Franciscans. The audit names 23 of 46 friars alleged to have raped or sexually assaulted children.

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee released the following statement:

We commend the Capuchin’s decision to provide more open and candid communication related to clergy sexual abuse of minors. In 2004, when the Archdiocese of Milwaukee was one of the first dioceses in the country to make public the names of diocesan priest offenders with substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor, we encouraged religious orders to do the same. Today, we continue to work toward reconciliation with abuse survivors. In two weeks, the archdiocese will post additional documents to our website as part of our own commitment to transparency.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Nicole Sotelo | Jun. 20, 2013

The story goes that it was a June storm that sparked Ben Franklin to try something new: to toss a kite into the air attached to a key below. If lightning really was electricity, the key would hold a spark. Ben reached out his hand and, indeed, the key held energy — energy that now powers cities and lights up entire populations.

This summer is no different.

Another man is testing the electricity of an idea. His name is Fr. Helmut Schüller. He has a spark in his eyes and the attention of Catholics in Europe, including the Vatican. As a priest of Austria, he has seen the stark realities of the priest shortage and the desire by Catholics for more equal participation. He knows the church needs to change and has decided to do something about it.

Fr. Helmut helped initiate the Austrian Priests’ Initiative, which is organizing priests to resist exclusionary church policies and create churches where power is shared and Catholics participate equally, no matter one’s gender, marital status or sexual orientation.

These Austrian priests are not alone. Priests are coming together in places like Ireland, India and Australia to look at critical issues facing the church and to work with local Catholics on solutions. In the United States, the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests will convene next week and, later this summer, Fr. Helmut is making his first U.S. tour, traveling to 15 cities from New York to Los Angeles.

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CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times

By Patrick McGreevy
June 19, 2013

Survivors of child molestation would have more time to file lawsuits against institutions that employed their abusers under a proposal making its way through the California Legislature.

Currently, most victims can file lawsuits against religious or civic institutions that employed their abusers until they turn age 26. But a court ruling prevented such suits by people who turned 26 before 2003 and discovered between 2005 and 2011 that the molestation caused injury or trauma.

The legislation by state Sen. James Beall Jr. (D-San Jose) would extend the statute of limitations for those victims.

“We are seeing adults who were molested when they were children coming forward but unable to bring their abusers to justice because of the existing statute of limitations,’’ Beall said in a statement.

In some cases, people don’t learn they were child abuse victims until they are older. In other cases, they may know they were abused, but a mental health person may not diagnose psychological injuries linked to the abuse, warranting a lawsuit seeking damages, until they are an adult, officials said.

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RICHMOND (VA)
Richmond Times-Dispatch

BY LOUIS LLOVIO
Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Richmond Outreach Center will hire an interim pastor to handle its Saturday services as it looks for two permanent pastors to replace its founder and former senior pastor Geronimo Aguilar and three others.

The South Richmond mega church’s board of directors said this morning that it will conduct the search for a senior and executive pastor with the assistance of “experienced Christian consultants.”

“This is a lengthy process and will likely take between six months to a year,” the board said.
Aguilar, who is facing life in prison in Texas on charges that he sexually assaulted an 11-year old girl and her sister for more than a year in the late 1990s, left the church he founded earlier this month.

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RICHMOND (VA)
NBC 12

By Ray Daudani

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) –
The Richmond Outreach Center is posting openings for two pastor positions, due to the resignations of several staff members following child sex abuse allegations.

The ROC Board of Directors posted a notice Thursday that it was looking to permanently fill the positions of Senior Pastor and Executive Pastor with two new pastors from outside the organization.

The search is expected to take six months to a year and will include help from several experienced, Christian consultants.

The church is also hiring an interim preacher to preach at Six O’Clock ROC, their Saturday night church service, until the position of Senior Pastor is filled.

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INDIANA
The News-Sentinel

By Kevin Kilbane of The News-Sentinel
Thursday, June 20, 2013

Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades plans to celebrate Mass at 5 p.m. Saturday at St. Joseph Catholic Church-Hessen Cassel as the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend tries to help parishioners heal after allegations of past sexual abuse led to removal of their priest.

It is the second time in less than two years that a priest at the parish has been removed after allegations of sexual abuse at a previous assignment.

“Our bishop’s deepest concern is for them and for their faith, and he knows how painful this is,” said Mary Glowaski, the leader of the diocese’s office of evangelization and special ministries. “He is so sad and concerned for them.”

Rhoades is leading a retreat for diocesan priests Monday-Friday this week at the Potawatomi Inn at Pokagon State Park near Angola, but he relayed a message through diocesan Communications Director Sean McBride that he and the priests there are praying daily for St. Joseph parish.
The congregation of about 1,150 children and adults is at 11337 Old U.S. 27 S., near Interstate 469 on Fort Wayne’s south side.

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AUSTRIA
The Association of Catholic Priests (Ireland)

Pope Francis: 100 Days in Office: Statement by the Austrian Priests’ Initiative on 19 June 2013

Vienna, 19 June 2013
Pope Francis: 100 Days in Office
Statement by the Austrian Priests’ Initiative on 19 June 2013

We state…
…that in his first three months of office, Pope Francis has taken a number of clear stances that instil hope and that have been long awaited by a large majority of the people of the Church. Pope Francis has restituted simplicity, modesty and approachability to the office bestowed upon him, thereby signalling that it is his will to lead the Church in a new fashion. Expectations are high that he will set a personal example and lead the Vatican in serving the Church in new ways.

We gain hope…
…from Pope Francis’ distinct and cooperative manner with his fellow bishops, and we expect him to soon take steps towards a new companionship with them in leading the Church throughout the world: through a revaluation of the Synod of Bishops as an institution of true co-determination and leadership participation, a revaluation of the different worldwide regions of the Church and a reassessment of the Conferences of Bishops, based on subsidiarity as a fundamental principle of Christian social teaching.

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KANSAS
WIBW

(WIBW) – A priest who once served in Marshall County and Topeka is accused of violating his oath of celibacy and prohibited from continuing his duties.

The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas confirmed Wednesday it received an allegation June 8th against Father William Bruning, who currently serves Prince of Peace Parish in Olathe. The archdiocese says it did not involve minors or any individual from a parish where Bruning had preached.

In a statement, the archdiocese said Bruning admitted the allegation was true and “expressed profound regret and sincere sorrow for the pain his actions have now caused the many people who love and respect him.”

The archdiocese says Bruning has left the area to begin a treatment program.

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KANSAS
Olathe News

The pastor of the Prince of Peace Parish in Olathe has resigned, according to a statement on the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas’ website.

The announcement, dated June 15, says the Rev. William Bruning resigned after the archdiocese received an allegation that he had “engaged in behaviors in violation of his promise of celibate chastity.”

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann accepted Bruning’s resignation.

The allegation did not involve contact with minors, anyone from the Prince of Peace Parish or any parishes where Bruning had previously served, according to the statement.

To protect the confidentiality of the other person involved, the archdiocese is not releasing details about the allegation, according to the statement.

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CANADA
Metro News

The sexual assault trial of an Orthodox archbishop in Winnipeg will not resume until September.

The Crown closed its case today against Seraphim Storheim and the defence has said it expects to call witnesses when the trial resumes Sept 12.

There is no word on whether Storheim himself will testify about accusations he sexually abused two altar boys in the summer of 1985.

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AUSTRALIA
The Conversation

Judy Courtin
PhD Student, Faculty of Law at Monash University

As a young girl in the 1960s, I attended a Catholic boarding school. The nuns could be scary. When they walked the wintry and un-illuminated corridors of the convent, their knee-length rosary beads jangled against their ankle-length black habits.

The unfriendly “stomp stomp” of their chunky, black, lace-up shoes contrasted with the angular, white starched coif atop their head. The outer layer of their ensemble, the monastic cloth scapular, also known as the “yoke of Christ”, draped to the floor back and front. Their oft stern faces matched their garb.

These unforgiving medieval garments were in collaboration with, it seems, the Catholic teachings of the time. Among these were a fear of God; an even greater fear of hell; fear of communists; obedience to God and the religious; chaste thoughts (it was obligatory, in bed, to place one’s arms across the chest in the shape of a cross whilst thinking of Our Lady); and unquestioning belief in Catholic doctrine.

Fast forward to 2013 and the ageing and diminishing population of nuns now wears civvies and this once-Catholic girl, along with many thousands of others, no longer believes in God and makes up her own mind about what to think and believe.

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AUSTRALIA
J-Wire

June 20, 2013 by Manny Waks

The Commonwealth Royal Commission Inquiry into child sexual abuse within organisations has now commenced. Tzedek, an Australian-based advocacy group for Jewish victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, is uniquely positioned to provide evidence to the Royal Commission about the nature and extent of past and present child sexual abuse within Jewish organisations.

Tzedek has already gathered significant evidence of sexual abuse against children and young people in organisational settings. Now, as the Royal Commission prepares to hear evidence of the extent of abuse across Australia, an opportunity exists to help piece together our community’s proper understanding of this issue that has historically, and tragically, been enveloped in silence.

How many Jewish children and young people have suffered alone in the agony of sexual abuse? In which organisations has this occurred, and with whose knowledge? Who are the perpetrators, who are the handmaidens, and who are the conspirators? What has happened to the discarded allegations and suspicions that have fallen into labyrinths of obfuscating bureaucracies and worse? Who has shown the courage to raise their hands to investigate allegations, and who has conspired to ensure that a torment burrows ever deeper within our community? What can we do to aid the healing of victims and change the consciousness of some segments of our community? What can now be done to put an end to this scourge?

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Newsworks

June 17, 2013
By Peter Crimmins, @petercrimmins

Not surprisingly, a high percentage of area Catholics have left the church over the sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the organization in the past decade. But that’s not all.

A Catholic parish in Philadelphia surveyed lapsed Catholics to find out why they left. The results show a dissatisfaction at both the local level and with the Vatican.

Of the 189 former Catholics who responded to the survey, the highest percentage — 17 percent — said they did so because of the priest abuse scandal. The director of the survey, Charles Zech of Villanova University’s Center for the Study of Church Management, said a secondary reason follows close behind.

“People who are going to leave the church over the scandal and the church’s handling of it have already left. So people leaving the church today are leaving for other reasons,” said Zech. “A growing reason we found out was the church’s attitude toward homosexuals and gay marriage. A lot of younger people object to the church’s teaching on that.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Lez Get Real

Posted by: Bridgette P. LaVictoire on June 19, 2013.

Catholics in Philadelphia appear to be leaving in droves and it appears that the reason is not just the sexual abuse scandal. In fact, most of those who were going to leave over that left ages ago. No, apparently they are leaving because of a number of reasons, but among those appears to be the Church’s attitudes towards homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

Charles Zech of Villanova University’s Center for the Study of Church Management was part of a study of some 189 former Catholics in one Philadelphia parish. According to Zech “People who are going to leave the church over the scandal and the church’s handling of it have already left. So people leaving the church today are leaving for other reasons. A growing reason we found out was the church’s attitude toward homosexuals and gay marriage. A lot of younger people object to the church’s teaching on that.”

Most are landing in more Progressive Protestant churches.

The results of the survey were not made public when it was completed in 2012, and Zech only spoke to reporters so long as he did not have to name the parish. Studies by the Pew Foundation have found that roughly one third of baptized Catholics leave, and the policies of the Vatican are often the reason why.

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AUSTRALIA
Crikey

MATTHEW KNOTT | JUN 20, 2013

Will the Catholic Church’s controversial protocols for dealing with sexual abuse claims survive a royal commission? The man in charge of the Church’s response says he expects a new, more independent system.

The Catholic Church’s protocols for responding to sexual abuse claims have failed some victims and are likely to be replaced with a more independent system, according to the layman co-ordinating the Church’s response to the royal commission into abuse.

The Catholic Church has two abuse protocols: Towards Healing, a national system, and the Melbourne Response for the Archdiocese of Melbourne. Both have been heavily criticised by victims’ support groups, academics and police.

“I don’t think they’re adequate,” Francis Sullivan, chief executive of the Truth, Justice and Healing Council, told Crikey when asked about the protocols. “Clearly there are aspects of criticism that need to be addressed. There are individuals who have gone through those processes who don’t feel satisfied. There will be a need to hold those processes up against what is seen as best practice and see how they fit.”

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FLORIDA
Miami Herald

BY DAVID NORIEGA
DNORIEGA@MIAMIHERALD.COM

A new lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Miami claims that the head pastor at Coral Springs St. Andrew Catholic School covered up sexual abuse by a music teacher over several years.

The alleged abuser, Miguel Cala, currently is serving a 23-year-term for several cases in which he molested children during music lessons at their homes.

The new suit alleges that Cala repeatedly raped a boy at school between 2006 and 2010, starting when the boy was 6.

According to the lawsuit, Father George Puthusseril saw Cala abusing the boy but did not report the misconduct. Instead, he urged the boy not to tell his parents, allowing Cala to continue the abuse.

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UNITED STATES
Irish Independent

CORMAC MCQUINN – 20 JUNE 2013

A CATHOLIC Church diocese in the United States is being sued by an alleged abuse victim who says an Irish priest sexually assaulted him in the 1980s.

Fr Francis Markey (84), was due to appear in court here over the alleged rape of a 15-year-old boy in 1968, but died in September before the case went to trial.

He had been extradited from the United States.

Fr Markey was suspended from his ministry here on three occasions and put in treatment programmes in the 1960s and ’70s over sex abuse allegations.

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INDIANA
The Journal Gazette

Rosa Salter Rodriguez | The Journal Gazette

A second priest serving at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church-Hessen Cassel in Fort Wayne has been removed from ministry after what diocesan officials Wednesday called “a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor” 20 years ago in Africa.

The Rev. Cornelius Ryan was removed as parish administrator June 10, said Sean McBride, diocese spokesman, the same day the diocese’s bishop, the Rev. Kevin C. Rhoades, learned of the allegation from the head of Ryan’s order, the U.S. Province of the Congregation of the Holy Cross.

The move was announced to parishioners at Masses on Saturday and Sunday, McBride said.

“Bishop Rhoades and really all of us at the diocese are heartbroken at these events,” McBride said, adding the diocese’s “first concern” is for the “the spiritual comfort and safety of parishioners.”

He said no one from St. Joseph’s or elsewhere has come forward with any allegations about Ryan.

Ryan was appointed St. Joseph’s temporary administrator by Rhoades in December 2011, after the parish’s previous priest, the Rev. Thomas Lombardi, was accused of sexual abuse while serving at St. Louis Catholic Church-Besancon, outside New Haven.

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TEXAS
NECN

June 19, 2013

TULIA, Texas (AP) — A West Texas judge has set ground rules in a sex abuse case against a former Roman Catholic priest who served 11 years in Texas — despite a child molestation conviction in California.

The judge Wednesday told attorneys for both sides how proceedings will go in John Anthony Salazar’s case.

He’s pleaded not guilty to indecency with a child in connection with a 2001 Texas incident. He declined to comment.

The trial is scheduled for Aug. 27.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

I know that, by all means, not all readers of Bilgrimage live on the west coast of the U.S. But a number of you do, and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a number of you with whom I’d never have connected without the blog–fine folks and people I’m now privileged and happy to call friends.

For readers in California and Washington (and as a favor to Joelle Casteix, whose wonderful Worthy Adversary blog I’ve linked to Bilgrimage), I’d like to publicize the dates of the forthcoming (and fast-approaching) book tour for Michael D’Antonio and his very important book, Mortal Sins: Sex, Crime, and the Era of Catholic Scandal. I’ve linked to some of Michael’s stellar commentary on the hierarchy’s handling of the abuse crisis, and their gay-bashing, in the past–in this August 2012 piece on Cardinal Dolan and dancing with hacks, this February 2013 item on Vatican gay-baiting as a Catholic shame, and this posting last month on the new group of whistle-blowing priests and nuns.

Here’s how the press materials for the forthcoming book tour describe Mortal Sins:

In his new book, MORTAL SINS: Sex, Crime, and the Era of Catholic Scandal (St. Martins) Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael D’Antonio delves deep into personalities, cases and conflicts of the biggest Catholic crisis since the Reformation. Featuring St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson, who has led the international legal effort for abuse victims, D’Antonio traces the rise of the victims’ movement through landmark court decisions and reveals how the Church failed to respond to abuse complaints and instead practiced systematic denial and cover-up.

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

THAILAND
Telegraph (UK)

Two Buddhist monks who allegedly organised acts of child sexual abuse have been arrested by Thai police, the latest controversy to hit a clergy struggling with challenges to its clean-living image.

By Hannah Strange, agencies5:01PM BST 19 Jun 2013

Police in Chang Mai, in northern Thailand, said they had detained two monks for procuring a 14-year-old boy to perform sexual acts with an abbot. The alleged perpetrator was to be arrested as soon as a warrant was obtained, they said.

The pair, who deny any knowledge of the alleged abuse, could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted, Police Colonel Wirachon Bunthawi told AFP from the northern city of Chiang Mai.

The police said the arrests were made on the basis of accounts from a driver and the victim himself, who claimed the two monks had taken him to see the abbot at the temple in Chiang Dao district several times since February.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. 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
Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Joseph

June 2013
*Friars are listed by the titles (Fr., Br.) and names by which they are/were commonly known. Those listed as deceased are only those whose deaths the Province has been able to confirm. This list will be reviewed and revised by the Province as necessary to ensure its accuracy.

Current Members
(Fr.) Arthur Cooney (Fr.) Joseph Smetana
(Fr.) Dennis Druggan° (Br.) Francis Mary Sparacino
(Fr.) Leopold Gleissner (Fr.) James Wolf
(Fr.) Mel Hermanns
2°The finding regarding D. Druggan was made upon a preliminary investigation by the Province (2013).
He has maintained his innocence and has exercised his right to appeal his case to the Holy See
(Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith). The appeal is pending.

Deceased Members Former Member (Deceased)
(Fr.) Benedict Adams (2002) (Fr.) Jude Hahn (2008)
(Fr.) Baldwin Beyer (1999)
(Fr.) James Buser (1979)
(Fr.) Clarence Grosser (1989)***
(Fr.) James LaReau (1987)
(Fr.) Gale Leifeld (1994)
(Br.) Matthew Migan (1958)***
(Fr.) Austin Schlaefer (1992)
(Fr.) Wendelin Shafer (2005)
(Fr.) Hilary Zach (1997)
***Transferred to Province of St. Mary (NY) in 1952.

Former Members
(Br.) Thomas Gardipee
(Br.) Leonard Gibeault
(Fr.) Donald (John Baptist) Kurcz
(Fr.) Robert Spader
(Fr.) Kenneth Stewart

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. 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
Fond du Lac Reporter

Written by
Sharon Roznik
The Reporter Media

The Capuchin Franciscan Order has made public the names of current, former and deceased friars involved in allegations of sexual abuse.

On Tuesday the Order released the results of an independent, 100-page audit recounting its own history and the sexual abuse of young people and cover-ups that spanned decades. The audit, which was ordered by the St. Joseph Province in June 2012, is said to be the first-of-its kind — a voluntary, comprehensive review regarding the sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults done by a Catholic religious order.

“For those who have been abused by members of the clergy and religious, their suffering is spiritual as well as emotional,” said Provincial Minister John Celichowski. “We can’t fear to bring this abuse into light.”

The list of the 23 “substantiated” offenders has been posted at www.thecapuchins.org (click on the safe environment tab on left). The most recent case that came to light involved Father Dennis Druggan, who served for years as rector and president of St. Lawrence Seminary in Mount Calvary.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. 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
Vatican Insider

A report published by the order of Capuchin Friars Minor reveals that its leaders covered up cases of child abuse committed by members of the community

VATICAN INSIDER STAFF
ROME

The leaders of the Capuchin Order in the U.S. concealed acts of sex abuse committed by members of their order, putting the protection of accused abusers above that of their victims, concludes an audit published by the religious order today. The audit raises questions about the handling of the paedohilia plague in the Catholic Church in the U.S., by communities of monastic orders not directly supervised by bishops.

The report – the first of its kind – claims that the Capuchin Order’s response to the abuse committed by twenty or so of their fellow friars was partly down to a “systemic clericalism” which put friars’ needs above those of the victims. The report also pointed to a certain fear of lawyers working on the case, who presented the accusing parties as victims in an attempt to protect the Church from costly legal action.

The report was published by the Capuchin Province of St. Joseph, which is headquartered in Detroit but oversees approximately 170 friars serving across various parts of the country and in Nicaragua and Panama. It is based on information from documents which date back to the 1930s. The report was put together after the spotlight fell on a number of sex abuse cases which took place in a Capuchin seminary in Milwaukee, Wiskonsin. “They [bishops and religious superiors] outsourced the gospel to their lawyers,” the report reads.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. 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
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas

June 15, 2013

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann has announced that he has accepted the resignation of Reverend William Bruning, Pastor of Prince of Peace Parish in Olathe, Kansas.

On June 8th, the Archdiocese received an allegation that Father Bruning had engaged in behaviors in violation of his promise of celibate chastity. The allegation about Father Bruning did not involve any contact with minors, nor did it involve any individual from Prince of Peace Parish or any of the parishes where Father Bruning has previously served. In order to respect the confidentiality of the person who brought forth the allegation, details concerning the alleged behaviors will not be disclosed at this time.

When informed of the allegation, Father Bruning immediately acknowledged its truth, accepted the gravity of this matter, and asked for help in identifying and addressing the root causes for this serious moral failure. He expressed profound regret and sincere sorrow for the pain his actions have now caused the many people who love and respect him and in particular for the parishioners of Prince of Peace Parish, as well as the people from the other parishes in which he has served. The Archbishop has prohibited Father Bruning from exercising his priestly ministry at this time.

Father Bruning left Kansas City earlier this week to undergo an evaluation and to begin a treatment program to help him address the spiritual and psychological causes for this moral failure. The Lord has used Father Bruning’s priestly ministry to bring God’s grace to many people. Sometimes in their zeal to minister to others, priests can neglect to care properly for their own soul. The Archbishop has asked the Faithful of the Archdiocese to pray for Father Bruning as he enters into a time of prayer, penance, spiritual counseling and therapy.

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

INDIANA
The Journal Gazette

A Roman Catholic priest affiliated with a Fort Wayne parish has been removed from public ministry after his religious congregation received a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against him, the Fort Wayne-South Bend Roman Catholic Diocese says.

In its 2013 diocesan directory, the Rev. Cornelius Ryan is listed as administrator of St. Joseph-Hessen Cassel parish on Old U.S. 27.

In a statement, the diocese said Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades was notified by the Congregation of Holy Cross on June 10 that a credible allegation had been received against Ryan.

The abuse was said to have taken place about 20 years ago in Africa, where Ryan then served, the statement said. It did not provide details, nor did it say how the allegation had been determined credible.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. 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
WAVE

By Cedra Mayfield

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – James Schook did not appear before a judge Wednesday as expected. Instead, an attorney for the former Roman Catholic priest said the stage four skin cancer patient was in his final days of life, and thus incompetent to stand trial.

“If the defendant is physically and mentally incapable of meaningfully participating, I don’t think any of us want to have a trial that is just a mockery,” said David Lambertus, Schook’s defense attorney. “I’m not sure if any memory is there or present ability to converse.”

Schook is set to answer to allegations of sexual abuse dating back more than three decades during a trial set for Monday, June 24. In a pretrial hearing Wednesday, prosecutors contested Schook’s alleged incompetence to stand trial.

“If, in fact, he is so incompetent,” questioned Assistant Commonwealth Attorney John Balliet, “why has there not been a motion filed?”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. 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
Houston Chronicle

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — An attorney for a terminally ill Catholic priest says the Rev. James Schook is so sick and incapacitated his upcoming trial would be a “mockery.”

But prosecutors say Schook is “spry” and can move around with the use of a walker.

Schook, 65, has been diagnosed with terminal skin cancer. Jefferson Circuit Judge Mitch Perry said a letter from Schook’s doctor presented in court Wednesday indicated that Schook’s death is “imminent.”

Schook is accused of abusing two boys in the 1970s and faces seven counts of sodomy. His trial is set for Monday but defense attorney David Lambertus is planning to enter a motion to have Schook’s competency evaluated by state officials.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. 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
Courier-Journal

Just days before a long-scheduled trial on sexual abuse charges, a lawyer for James Schook claimed in court Wednesday morning that the ailing priest is mentally incompetent to aid in his own defense.

Schook — a Roman Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Louisville accused of sexually abusing two boys in the 1970s — has been diagnosed with late-stage cancer and, according to his lawyer, David Lambertus, has lost mental capacity as well.

Judge Mitch Perry said he was planning to go ahead with Monday’s scheduled trial unless Lambertus filed a formal written motion asking for a competency hearing — which Lambertus said he would do this week.

“It’s futile to try (the case) if the defendant is physically or mentally incapable of meaningfully participating,” Lambertus said. “I don’t think any of us want to have a trial that is just a mockery.”

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

INDIANA
WANE

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) A priest has been removed from his position at the St. Joseph Catholic Church-Hessen Cassel after accusations of sexual abuse surfaced.

Reverend Cornelius Ryan worked as an administrator at the St. Joseph Hessen Cassel Province. The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend was notified of alleged sexual abuse that took place about 20 years ago on June 10. Rev. Ryan was removed from ministry that same day.

The diocese reportedly released a statement on Wednesday announcing the removal of Father Ryan. Parishioners were notified by Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades after Masses on Saturday and Sunday.

Wednesday’s announcement came shortly after a report was released outlining how leaders failed for decades to stop sexual abuse in its schools and other ministries throughout the Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Joseph. The province spans 10 Midwestern states, including Indiana.

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

FLORIDA
WPTV

[with video]

Stephen Budd case: Evidence, statements detail allegations against former Rosarian Academy teacher

By: Alex Sanz

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Eyewitness statements and police evidence obtained by WPTV NewsChannel 5 have painted a chilling picture of the allegations against Stephen Budd, the former Rosarian Academy teacher accused of engaging in sexual activity with at least two of his fourth grade students.

Earlier this year, two former students came forward and told the West Palm Beach Police Department that in 2006, when they were in the fourth grade, Budd had engaged in sexual activity with them.

In graphic statements to the West Palm Beach Police Department, one of the students detailed instances of oral sex being performed in the classroom.

One of the students also detailed instances of photographs of her genitals being taken with a Polaroid in a school bathroom.

The students told police that Budd would give them “Budd Bucks” — a fake dollar bill with his face on it — in exchange for the sexual acts.

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

INDIANA
INCnow

By Emma Koch

June 19, 2013

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (www.incnow.tv) — Rev. Cornelius Ryan has been removed from his administrator position with St. Joseph Catholic Church-Hessen Cassel after being accused of sexual abuse.

According to a statement from Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, the diocese was notified June 10 of the credible allegation that Father Ryan sexually abused a minor approximately 20 years ago while he was serving in Africa.

Father Ryan was removed from ministry June 10, based on the laws of the Church. The Superior of the Congregation of Holy Cross is handling this matter according to its policies and the Church’s norms according to the 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.

CANADA
Brandon Sun

By: The Canadian Press
Wednesday, Jun. 19, 2013

WINNIPEG – The sexual assault trial of an Orthodox archbishop in Winnipeg will not resume until September.

The Crown closed its case today against Seraphim Storheim and the defence has said it expects to call witnesses when the trial resumes Sept 12.

There is no word on whether Storheim himself will testify about accusations he sexually abused two altar boys in the summer of 1985.

The complainants, now men in their 30s, testified Storheim walked around naked and asked to be touched sexually.

One man told court he was made to sit naked on a bed while Storheim inspected his groin.

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OSTERREICH
pressetext

Wien (pts017/19.06.2013/12:00) – SNAP ist die Abkürzung für “Survivors Network of those abused by Priests”, auf Deutsch: “Netzwerk der Betroffenen von Missbrauch durch Priester”. SNAP ist die größte und aktivste Unterstützungsgruppe von Menschen, die von religiösen Autoritätsfiguren (Priestern, Bischöfen, Diakonen, Nonnen und anderen) verletzt wurden. SNAP ist unabhängig und ist nicht mit der Kirche oder Kirchenautoritäten verbunden. SNAP ist eine Selbsthilfegruppe für Opfer, um einander zu heilen und zu helfen.

SNAP-Direktor David Clohessy spricht über Fakten und Forderungen

Über die Forderung an die katholische Kirche, weniger an Fragen der Kirchenführung zu arbeiten als am Schutz und der Sicherheit von Kindern in der Kirche; die Forderung an die Politiker, die Kirche zu überzeugen, dass Kinder und Jugendliche in kirchlicher Obhut und Betreuung besser geschützt werden müssen; über die Forderung, dass in jedem Verdachtsfall von sexuellem Missbrauch an Kindern, mit der Staatsanwaltschaft kooperiert werden muss.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY BARBARA DORRIS ON JUNE 19, 2013

Rape is an act of violence, not stupidity. And victims are never to blame for it, no matter how old they are, what they wear, where they are or what they’re doing. What Ms. Williams said was stupid. What those rapists did was criminal.

She should apologize – clearly and publicly – to this wounded Steubenville girl and to rape victims everywhere. And to make amends, she should donate generously – of her time and money – to rape prevention programs. Tragically, it’s not just men who hold antiquated views and make hurtful remarks about rape victims. Teenagers shouldn’t get drunk. But being drunk doesn’t excuse deliberate and heinous sex crimes.

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DOMINICA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, June 19

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

We’re appalled by the recklessness of Dominica Catholic Bishop Malzaire in the case of Fr. Reginald Lafleur, an alleged child sex offender.

The personal popularity of an accused predator priest is irrelevant.

Misguided parishioners should not be able to prod a timid bishop into keeping kids in possible danger just because an alleged child molester happens to have a strong following.

Most child molesters are popular. They work hard to seem kind and be loveable. Otherwise, no child would want to be with them. And no parent would trust them. So the fact that an adult acts like a good person doesn’t mean he or she is a good person.

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KANSAS
The Kansas City Star

The pastor of the Prince of Peace Parish Olathe has resigned, according to a statement on the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas’ website.

The announcement, dated June 15, says the Rev. William Bruning resigned after the archdiocese received an allegation that he had “engaged in behaviors in violation of his promise of celibate chastity.”

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann accepted Bruning’s resignation.

The allegation did not involve contact with minors, anyone from the Prince of Peace Parish or any parishes where Bruning had previously served, according to the statement.

To protect the confidentiality of the other person involved, the archdiocese is not releasing details about the allegation, according 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.

INDIANA
News-Sentinel

News-Sentinel staff reports
Wednesday, June 19, 2013

The Rev. Cornelius Ryan has been removed as administrator of St. Joseph Catholic Church-Hessen Cassel after the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend was notified that a credible allegation of sexual abuse had been received involving him.

In a statement released Wednesday morning, the diocese said local Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades was notified June 10 by the superior of the Congregation of Holy Cross, United States Province, which is in South Bend, that a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor had been received against Ryan, a member of the Holy Cross order.

The alleged abuse is reported to have taken place about 20 years ago while Ryan served in Africa, the statement said.

Based on the laws of the Catholic Church, Ryan was removed from ministry June 10, the statement said. St. Joseph-Hessen Cassel parish is at 11337 Old U.S. 27 S. on the city’s far south side.

Rhoades informed St. Joseph parishioners about the situation through a letter read after Masses last Saturday and Sunday, the statement said. The diocese has continued to minister to and offer counseling to parishioners.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. 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
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, June 19, 2013

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

Fr. John Celichowski of the Capuchins religious order said Tuesday “through much of our history as a province, we have failed victims and survivors.”

He’s wrong.

The Capuchins didn’t “fail.” Failure implies a good faith effort that somehow went awry. That’s not what Catholic officials, dozens of them in this order and thousands of them across the world, have done. For the most part, they deliberately shunned victims, stonewalled prosecutors, deceived parishioners, moved predators and enforced secrecy and endangered kids. These are smart men with smart lawyers who made carefully-crafted and self-serving decisions.

These were not mistakes or failures or inadequacies. It’s a disservice to children, victims, parishioners and the public to add insult to injury by deceiving people now about these intentional, hurtful and sometimes illegal actions.

In fact, the Capuchins succeeded. For decades – until victims gave up and wrongdoers died and statutes of limitations expired – they succeeded in keeping a tight lid on their dirty secrets.

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SWITZERLAND
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Abuse victims applaud UN panel
It sides with oppressed Irish women
SNAP urges governments to help Magdalenes
Church & state should “seek out others who suffer in silence”
And they should provide quck but thorough help to the elderly women, SNAP says

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

— praise United Nations Committee Against Torture for pushing Irish government officials to do more for the Magdalene laundry victims, and
— prod Northern Irish government officials to launch an aggressive investigation and outreach effort to find – and help – all Magdalene laundry victims

They will also

— discuss the “first ever” testimony they gave yesterday before a United Nations panel, and
–urge church victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to step forward and help provide evidence for their on-going International Criminal Court complaint against the Catholic hierarchy

WHEN
Thursday, June 20, at 11:00 a.m.

WHERE
On the sidewalk outside the United Nations Office at Geneva, Palais des Nations, Avenue de la Paix 8-14, CH – 1211 Genève 10, Switzerland

WHO
Two victims of clergy sex crimes who belong to an international support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, including the organization’s long time US director who is traveling through Switzerland, Germany and Austria

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. 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

Tom Roberts | Jun. 19, 2013

FOR CHRIST’S SAKE: END SEXUAL ABUSE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH … FOR GOOD
By Bishop Geoffrey Robinson
Published by Garratt Publishing, AU$17.95

The title might lead one reasonably to expect a kind of pamphleteering campaign against abusers and a tick list of suggestions for new structures and programs to deal with abuse.

Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, however, dares something more fundamentally revolutionary in For Christ’s Sake: End Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church … For Good. He dares to pull on the thread that unravels the cloak that has hidden the institutional disease. We all know the symptoms, of which sex abuse is the most apparent and most alarming. Robinson unwinds the thread slowly, and for the most part ignores all of the horrific particulars and incomprehensible depravities of the abuse scandal. That part of the story by now is well-documented.

Instead, like a good diagnostician who knows that understanding a disease begins with understanding the patient’s story, he performs an exacting examination of the culture out of which the abuse crisis has grown.

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NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY
The Jewish Week

Wed, 06/19/2013
Ben Hirsch

On April 14, 2008, Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, a 62-year-old Brooklyn yeshiva teacher charged with sexually molesting two students, pleaded guilty to lesser charges of child endangerment. Under the plea agreement, Kolko made no admission of sexual wrongdoing and did not have to register as a sex offender or serve any time in prison. Rabbi Kolko was sentenced to three years’ probation.

On May 13, 2013, Yosef Kolko (Yosef is Rabbi Yehuda Kolko’s nephew), a 39-year-old Lakewood, N.J., haredi yeshiva teacher, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of sexual assault of a young yeshiva boy. Yosef Kolko, who has not yet been sentenced, is facing 15 to 40 years in prison.

These two cases are strikingly similar, so what accounts for the vastly different outcomes?

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

The Royal Commission has released its first Issues Paper on the Working with Children Check and is seeking submissions from interested individuals and government and non-government organisations by 12 August 2013.

The Royal Commission will be releasing Issues Papers on a range of topics that are relevant to the work of the Royal Commission. The topics of future Issues Papers will shortly be published to this website.

Submissions will be made public unless the person making the submission expressly requests (or the Royal Commission decides) that the particular submission is not made public. The Royal Commission will usually make its decision for reasons associated with fairness.

Submissions should be made, preferably electronically, to solicitor@childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au, otherwise in writing to GPO Box 5283, Sydney NSW 2001.

Issues papers
Issues Paper 1 – Working With Children Check [DOC 1.5MB]
Issues Paper 1 – Working With Children Check [PDF 97KB]

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

Lewis Blayse

The Australian Royal Commission into child sexual abuse has released its first discussion paper. CEO Janette Dines says it seeks input into the issue of background checks for people working with, or volunteering for, children’s services. Submissions close on August 12th 2013. Submissions, both from inside and outside Australia, can be e-mailed to solicitor@childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au

Alternatively, submissions can be mailed to the Royal Commission at GPO Box 5283, Sydney NSW 2001, Australia. The telephone numbers are: Callers within Australia – 1800 099 340 (free call) and Callers from Outside Australia – 61 2 8815 2319. The Royal Commission phone service operates Monday to Friday (excluding national public holidays) between the hours of 8am and 8pm across all Australian time zones (UTC + 10 hours).

There is one aspect of the discussion paper which needs more attention. It appears to be concerned only with matters within Australia. Given the problem which may exist with Australians’ and Australian-based organisations’ involvement with children in other countries, perhaps there is a need to have processes for sharing details with overseas law enforcement bodies? Further, a clearance from Australian authorities should be required before Australians can volunteer to work with children in other countries.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

Lewis Blayse

The Australian Royal Commission into child sexual abuse web-site has a section labeled “contacts”. Here, there are indeed a few contacts for victim support. It is not so much what is there, as what is not there that is an eyebrow raiser.

Of major concern is the apparent absence in the “contacts” section of some organisations such as Broken Rites and SNAP, and others. Even if they are there somewhere on the site, the fact that they are not able to be found, even with a thorough search, is a problem.

The Commission will be given the benefit of the doubt, for the moment, that it is an oversight rather than a deliberate policy to steer victims away from some organisations and towards others. This author is not associated with any organisation, and is not making a statement about the particular worthiness or otherwise of any organisations not mentioned by the Commission. My point is that there has been some sort of selection, and this needs to be justified.

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MINNESOTA
The Free Press

Dan Nienaber
dnienaber@mankatofreepress.com

An Irish priest sent to the United States in 1981 to be treated for pedophilia by the Roman Catholic Church is being accused of sexually assaulting teenage boys in southern Minnesota during his brief time at a church in Henderson.

The allegations of one of those victims, identified as John Doe 103, are included in a lawsuit filed Tuesday against the Diocese of New Ulm. The lawsuit claims Francis Markey, who died last year while awaiting trial in Ireland for raping a 15-year-old boy in 1968, sexually assaulted the Henderson area victim in 1982 while temporarily serving at a church there.

Markey was 84 when he died, which means he would have been about 54 when he was in Minnesota.

Pat Noaker, the Minnetonka attorney who filed the lawsuit, said the victim reported the sexual assaults to him about three years ago. A lawsuit couldn’t be filed then because the incident was too old for Minnesota’s statute of limitations laws at the time. Those laws were eased when the state Legislature passed the Child Victims Act earlier this year.

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MINNESOTA
KEYC

[with video]

By Brittany Larson, News Reporter

A man who says he was sexually abused by an Irish priest inMinnesota decades ago is suing the New Ulm Diocese.

This morning Attorney Pat Noaker filed a lawsuit inBrown County on behalf of John Doe 103.

His client says in the lawsuit he was about 15 years old WhenFather Francis Markey abused him in 1982 while he served at a perish in Henderson.

Pat Noaker says, “This man came forward a few years agobut at that time Minnesota didn’t allow him to file a case because too muchtime has passed. It was a bad law.”

That law changed this year when Minnesota lawmakers passedthe Child Victims act allowing John Doe to file his case after 31 years.

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VATICAN CITY
Gay News Network

[Venerabilis]

Venerablis, a website run out of the Vatican, has been reported as being a gay dating site for Catholic priests.

The site, whose credo is emblazoned on the homepage as a ‘website for “homosensible Roman Catholic priests’, features chatrooms in five different languages.

Catholic writer Vittorio Messori aka Eponymous Flower, stumbled upon the site recently and discovered sexual encounters in process in the Venerablis’ chatrooms and face-to-face hook-ups being arranged between members.

Examples in the Italian chatroom include:

My name is Luca from Milan and would like to meet a priest with serious intentions to associate with him.

Anonymous wrote: Good day, I am 67 years old, I had friendships with priests who were important for my spiritual, personal and sexual life… I would like to be contacted by priests in Rome again and to experience these feelings, PS: I am a teacher and guarantee discretion for me and for everyone who answers me.

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PHILIPPINES
Rappler

BY ARIES C. RUFO
POSTED ON 06/18/2013

MANILA, Philippines – Conducting their rounds on November 17, 2012, patrolling police and barangay officials in Barangay Pamplona Dos in Las Piñas City observed a Hyundai car moving at a snail’s pace along Libra Street.

It was around 10:30 pm, and the patrolling group, which had grown suspicious, decided to follow the Hyundai, which stopped at a dimly lighted corner of the street.

When they peered into the vehicle, they saw the driver in tight embrace with another occupant – a woman. The driver immediately went out of the vehicle to confront the patrolling officers.

Introducing himself as Fr. Gerald “Gerry” Mascariña, the priest brusquely told the patrolling officers that he was just helping the woman with her studies. Unimpressed with the cleric’s explanation and offended by his rude attitude, the patrolling officers invited Mascariña and his companion to the barangay hall.

At the barangay hall, Mascariña – the parish priest of San Roque de Alabang Parish in the neighboring city of Muntinlupa – was in a hurry to leave the place and his female companion.

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MINNESOTA
Patch

Sex Abuse Case Filed by Deephaven Attorney Against Archdiocese Involves Former Long Lake Priest

Posted by Jay Corn (Editor), June 18, 2013

A Deephaven attorney has filed a civil suit against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on behalf of a Minnesota man who claims a priest who spent seven years at St. George’s Catholic Church in Long Lake molested him in the early 1970s.

In court documents filed earlier this month, Patrick Noaker states the Archdiocese was aware that Father Thomas Stitts was sexually inappropriate with boys throughout his career and was repeatedly

In all, more than a dozen cases—including two stemming from alleged conduct at St. George’s—have been filed against Father Stitts. Noaker has represented almost all of Stitts’ alleged victims.

“The abuse in this latest case occurred while Father Stitts was serving as a priest at St. Leo’s in St. Paul,” Noaker said. “The Archdiocese knew he had acted inappropriately at other parishes. I handled 12 previous cases. That’s how I know that information. I think I’m more knowledgeable about Father Stitts’ activity than anyone—except for the Archdiocese, of course.”

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NEW YORK
Bensonhurst Bean

Borough Park Sexual Abuse Case Becomes Front-Line Battle Between Whistle-Blowers And Orthodox Establishment

by Willie Simpson on Jun 18th, 2013

Sam Kellner, an Orthodox man and Borough Park resident, was seeking justice on behalf of his sexually abused 16-year-old son. The New York Times reported that in the midst of his ordeal, he was shunned by the local community, damaging his business and social life, but also indicted on charges of attempting to extort the accused abuser for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The complicated and tragic story began five years ago when Kellner accused Baruch Lebovits, a prominent Hasidic cantor, of sexually abusing his 16-year-old son. Kellner began working with investigators in helping them uncover other victims of Lebovits, in turn seriously upsetting the Orthodox establishment. A rabbi at Kellner’s synagogue declared him a traitor and forbade community members from talking to him. As a result, Kellner’s son was barred from all local yeshivas and Kellner’s business was driven to closure. Kellner also became worried that he would be unable to find his son a wife.

According to Kellner, his life was ruined.

“I felt murdered and abandoned. I’m ruined,” Kellner told the Times.

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AUSTRALIA
The Chronicle

AN INQUIRY into the handling of child sex abuse allegations against a former chaplain of Slade School is under way and the Anglican Church is calling for potential victims to come forward.

The inquiry was ordered last month, following allegations priest Robert Waddington was banished from England to Slade School in 1956, following claims he was molesting the son of an English politician.

He stayed at Slade School until 1959, before moving to north Queensland.

Waddington is accused of physically and sexually abusing at least three students in Ravenshoe, north Queensland and recruiting several teachers who were later convicted of child abuse.

He died of cancer in 2007.

Former Archbishop of York David Hope is accused of covering up allegations of abuse by Waddington when they were reported to him in 1999 and 2003. He denies the allegations.

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FLORIDA
Sun Sentinel

By Rafael Olmeda, Sun Sentinel
9:14 p.m. EDT, June 18, 2013

A new lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Miami accuses the pastor of a Coral Springs K-12 school of looking the other way while a young boy complained he was being molested by a music teacher.

Miguel Cala, 40, is already serving a 23-year prison term after pleading no contest to lewd and lascivious molestation charges last year. But the lawsuit filed Monday by Miami attorney Jeffrey Herman outlines new allegations against the convicted pedophile.

“We are alleging that this boy was raped and sodomized by Miguel Cala in the school at St. Andrew [Catholic School in Coral Springs], and also that Father George Puthusseril, who was the pastor of St. Andrew, was aware that this boy was being sexually abused by Miguel Cala,” Herman said at a news conference Tuesday.

The archdiocese denied the allegations related to Puthusseril.

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MADISON (WI)
Madison Magazine

Jun 20, 2013
10:00 AM until 08:00 PM

Several Wisconsin organizations have partnered to put together a one-day conference on surviving childhood sex abuse that will be held at the Sheraton Hotel in Madison on Thursday, June 20.

Sponsored by Solidarity with Child Sex Abuse Victims/Survivors, Rape Crisis Center, Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault (WCASA), OutReach Inc., Family Sexual Abuse Treatment, Canopy Center, Proud Theater, and Friends of the State Street Family the day-long conference will focus on healing and survival, particularly among male victims, an often underserved population in the sexual assault advocacy community.

The conference will start with an introduction by Kelly Anderson, Executive Director of the Rape Crisis Center at 10:00 a. m. on June 20 and will culminate at 6:00 p.m. with “Dare to Dream”, a program of MaleSurvivor that includes the film “Boys and Men Healing”, followed by a panel discussion led by MaleSurvivor’s Executive Director Christopher Anderson. MaleSurvivor is a nationwide organization based in New York City that is committed to preventing, healing, and eliminating all forms of sexual victimization of boys and men

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DOMINICA
Associated Press

By CARLISLE JNO BAPTISE
— Jun. 9

ROSEAU, Dominica (AP) — Dozens of parishioners gathered outside a Roman Catholic church Sunday to support a parish priest who has been accused of molesting a girl nearly two decades ago.

Catholics in Dominica’s Grand Bay held cardboard placards saying “Our parish priest has to stay” and chanting their support for Monsignor Reginald Lafleur, who they referred to as “Father Reggie.”

The 59-year-old priest was put on administrative leave after a woman alleged that he touched her inappropriately on her “bottom and breast” and made “sweet eyes” at her 19 years ago when she was a 12-year-old parishioner. The woman made the accusations against Lafleur in a series of letters to Bishop Gabriel Malzaire, the head of Dominica’s diocese.

Malzaire has sent the accuser to the Caribbean country of Trinidad & Tobago for counseling as a local church panel investigates her allegations. He has not stated publicly why he decided to send her for counseling in Trinidad.

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DOMINICA
Dominican News

Sunday, June 9th, 2013

After over two hours of dialogue and negotiation between Bishop Gabriel Malzaire and church leaders at the Grand Bay Presbytery, a brief resolution has been reached in a matter involving accused priest, Fr. Reginald Lafleur.

“It was long and they have come with no evidence but the Bishop has agreed that the investigations needed another month,” Edward Registe and Amour Thomas, two of the persons who met with the bishop, explained.

They said a board appointed appointed by Bishop Malzaire has been investigating the matter since January this year but he has refused to reveal he names of the members of that board.

The church leaders were also concerned that while Fr. Lafleur was officially asked to go on administrative leave from June 8, the letter did not indicate for how long.

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DOMINICA
Dominican News

Saturday, June 8th, 2013

Grand Bay Catholics have threatened to take protest action on Sunday in solidarity with their parish priest, Fr. Reginald Lafleur, who has been sent on “administrative leave” by head of the Roman Catholic church in Roseau, Bishop Gabriel Malzaire.

Bishop Malzaire took the action after a woman, who is referred to as ‘Jane Doe’ in correspondence obtained by DNO, wrote to him alleging that she was the victim of abuse by the priest 19 years ago while he served in Portsmouth.

As a result, Bishop Malzaire has sent her to Trinidad & Tobago for therapy, opening what many say is “a can of worms.”

Catholic faithful in Grand Bay say they view Bishop Malzaire’s action as dictatorial and are asking for further review and consultation to avoid “unpleasantness.”

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KMOX

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – Local clergy abuse survivor will testify before the United Nations Committee Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland.

St. Louisian David Clohessy, with the Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests, claims the Vatican has violated a 1990 treaty pledging to put the rights of children first in all of its decision-making.

“We are presenting evidence to this committee that shows that the Vatican is basically breaking those promises and breaking that treaty,” he says.

While Clohessy says the UN does not really have much power in this case, it does have a bully pulpit to alert the world what SNAP sees as the church’s condoning of cover ups and enabling of more offenses against children.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

June 19, 2013

Steve Butcher

Infamous paedophile and former catholic priest Gerald Ridsdale will be interviewed for a second time over new sex abuse allegations.

A detective from a Victorian police taskforce on Wednesday morning applied in Melbourne magistrates court to interview Ridsdale who was recently interviewed by investigators.

Ridsdale, 79, wearing a black top and seated at a desk in front of a brick wall, appeared from a prison via video link.

Detective senior constable David Rae told the court that since May 30 this year police had identified a number of complainants who had provided sworn statements.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

SHANNON DEERY HERALD SUN JUNE 19, 2013

POLICE will interview one of the country’s most notorious pedophiles over fresh allegations of child sexual abuse.

It is the second time in a month former Victorian Catholic priest Gerald Ridsdale will be quizzed by detectives over new claims.

A police spokesperson confirmed today a magistrate had allowed detectives to conduct the interview.

It comes just three weeks after police were granted access to the 79-year-old behind bars.

It is not known how many alleged victims had made new complaints.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

[with video]

DEARBHAIL MCDONALD LEGAL EDITOR – 19 JUNE 2013

SURVIVORS of Magdalene Laundries should be paid “comprehensive compensation” including unpaid wages, pensions and rehabilitation supports for forced labour, according to the Irish Human Rights Commission.

The IHRC said former Senator Martin McAleese’s investigation into the institutions fell short as he did not draw any conclusions on the human rights obligations of the State.

Professor Siobhan Mullally, IHRC commissioner, said its follow-up report was filling a gap left by the McAleese inquiry.

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IRELAND
The Irish Sun

SURVIVORS of the Magdalene Laundries should get compensation including unpaid wages, pensions and rehab, a watchdog has insisted.

In yesterday’s follow-up report to Martin McAleese’s laundries probe, the Irish Human Rights Commission said the State failed to protect women and girls sent to the institutions.

And IHRC commissioner Professor Siobhan Mullally said the McAleese inquiry fell short of drawing conclusions on the State’s obligations.

She added: “The State acted wrongfully in failing to protect these women by not putting in place adequate mechanisms to prevent such violations, and by failing to respond to their allegations over a protracted period.”

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UNITED STATES
The New York Times

[audit report]

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: June 18, 2013

A regional province of the Capuchin religious order that had fought allegations of sexual abuse for decades decided last year to open its files dating to the 19th century to three independent auditors, in what the order claimed to be a first in the long-running Roman Catholic Church abuse scandal in the United States.

After more than a dozen students at the province’s St. Lawrence Seminary in Wisconsin accused nine friars of abuse in 1992, it cost the province’s insurer nearly a million dollars — but 89 percent of that went to lawyers to defend the Capuchins and only 11 percent to victims for settlements and therapy, the report said.

“One of the very sobering findings,” the Rev. John Celichowski, the Capuchins’ provincial minister, said Tuesday in a conference call with reporters, “is through much of our history as a province, we have failed victims and survivors.”

The audit is unusual because the Capuchin province commissioned it voluntarily, claimed to allow the investigators unfettered access to original files and documents, and included on the panel the Rev. Thomas Doyle, a prominent whistle-blower who has often testified against the church in court cases.

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