ABUSE TRACKER

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

January 29, 2014

Prosecutor won’t charge priest with child porn

MINNESOTA
The Public Opinion

Associated Press

A prosecutor has declined to charge a priest accused of possessing potential child pornography.

Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said Wednesday that investigators found no evidence of a crime when they examined computer files that once belonged to the Rev. Jonathan Shelley. His decision was first reported by Minnesota Public Radio.

St. Paul police had reopened the case after receiving a backup copy of the images from a man who acquired Shelley’s old computer a decade ago.

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

MN- No indictments for MN Catholic officials

MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014

Statement by Frank Meuers of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 952-334-5180, frankameuers@gmail.com )

We’re not lawyers. But we refuse to believe that Twin Cities secular officials are helpless in the face of so much recklessness, callousness and deceit by dozens of complicit Catholic officials year after year after year.

Al Capone was nabbed on income tax evasion. Other criminals are nabbed on various and sometimes lesser charges, whether perjury, witness tampering, endangering children, obstructing justice, destroying evidence, and intimidating victims. We believe that usually, “where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Dozens of predator priests have assaulted hundreds of kids and hundreds of adults have been deceived by dozens of Catholic officials. Yet only a handful of the molesters – and none of the enablers – has ever seen the inside of a courtroom. That’s not just a tragedy. It’s an on-going public safety crisis.

Police and prosecutors must work harder, dig deeper, and be more aggressive and creative.

It’s meaningless for law enforcement officials to say they’re troubled by” or “unhappy about” the corrupt practices of Catholic officials. The verbal displeasure of police and prosecutors, in response to media questions, doesn’t stop or deter crimes. The actions of police and prosecutors stop and deter crimes.

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

ND/NM- Predator priest is suspended

NEW MEXICO/NORTH DAKOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Jan. 29 2014

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

A priest has been suspended from ministry in New Mexico because of credible allegations of child sex crimes.

He is Fr. Timothy Conlon.

We hope every single person who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes by Conlon – or cover ups by his church colleagues or supervisors – will call police, expose wrongdoing, and protect kids.

We hope every single current or former Catholic employee – in New Mexico or North Dakota – will do everything they can to seek out and help anyone who was hurt by Fr. Conlon. We hope every single Catholic parishioner does likewise.

It’s irresponsible to do nothing just because the crimes may have happened elsewhere or long ago. Child molesters rarely stop. And police and prosecutors are getting more creative and aggressive about pursuing even older child sex crimes.

So it’s our job to share what we know and suspect with law enforcement. It’s their job to determine whether charges can be filed.

The bottom line – staying silent helps predators and hurts kids.

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

Report: Defrocked priest from Philadelphia called a ‘brutal abuser’ has been living in Dallas

PENNSYLVANIA/TEXAS
The Dallas Morning News

By Robert Wilonsky
rwilonsky@dallasnews.com
10:27 am on January 29, 2014

James Brzyski, a defrocked priest from Philadelphia who’s almost always described as “one of the Archdiocese’s most brutal abusers,” has been hiding in plain sight in Dallas while pretending to be “a jovial former Xerox employee who’d lost millions after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.” And a support group for men and women abused by priest is calling on the Catholic Diocese of Dallas to do something about it.

The Philadelphia Daily News found the 62-year-old at the Crescent View Apartments near Cedar Springs and the Dallas North Tollway. Residents who once welcomed him warmly quickly discovered there was something wrong with their new neighbor, who played with visiting young boys in the complex’s pool and “bragged about going online to find males who appeared to be underage.” They soon discovered his past as a man accused of sexually assaulting as many as 100 boys, according to a grand jury report, during his years in Philadelphia during the 1970s and ’80s.

Brzyski, who left the church in 1985 but wasn’t kicked out of the priesthood for another two decades, said nothing about his past until he was confronted about it. Because he didn’t have to.

“Brzyski is able to move from one community to another in relative anonymity — at least until his behavior gives him away — because the Archdiocese won’t disclose his whereabouts, or the whereabouts of 23 other Philadelphia priests who have been defrocked for abusing minors,” writes William Bender. A public records search shows Brzyski doesn’t appear to have a Texas driver’s license, and that since leaving Philadelphia he’s lived in Virginia; the West Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles; and Kenosha, Wisconsin. And he doesn’t have to register as a sex offender, Bender notes, because “the Archdiocese kept his case under wraps in the 1980s, when allegations that he was sexually abusing children were first reported to church leaders.”

Bender later adds that “Brzyski’s choice of Dallas is ironic, because the man who blew the whistle on him in the 1980s lives only a half-hour away. The Rev. James Gigliotti, pastor of St. Maria Goretti in Arlington, Texas, said he was unaware that Brzyski was living nearby and was disturbed to hear neighbors’ reports about his behavior around kids.”

Following the story’s publication Wednesday morning, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests issued a lengthy statement calling on the Catholic Diocese of Dallas to “act now to warn parents about him and help police catch him.” The diocese says it has no further information beyond what was published this morning. Bishop Kevin Joseph Farrell is out of town at the installation of the new bishop of San Angelo. Its director of communications, Annette Gonzales Taylor, says the diocese may release a statement later today.

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

Defrocked Pedophile Priest Hid From His Past in Oak Lawn Apartment

PENNSYLVANIA/TEXAS
D Magazine

01/29/2014 | BY JASON HEID

Philadelphia Daily News has a story today about James Brzyski, a priest who was defrocked due to his sexual abuse of 17 boys in Philadelphia in the 1970s and 1980s. Until last month he was living in an apartment complex in Oak Lawn.

At first his neighbors accepted his backstory of being a friendly retired Xerox employee when he moved there in October 2012, but they became suspicious after they saw him playing with young boys in the pool. He also bragged to them about going online to find males who looked underage, and that he liked “fat boys.”

When they looked into his history, they discovered the horrifying truth, and they’re upset that he could move into their community without their being notified of his past or his having to register as a sex offender. When they confronted Brzyski, he didn’t demonstrate remorse, commenting only that he had himself been abused by priests when he was younger, so that he thought it was OK.

David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said Brzyski is among a diaspora of unregistered sex offenders unleashed by the Roman Catholic Church since 2002. Few safeguards prevent the former priests from abusing again.

“The reason these guys are walking free is because church officials shielded them. Were it not for the actions of the church hierarchy, many of these guys would be in jail,” Clohessy said. “I think that increases the moral and civic duty of bishops to say more than, ‘Well, he’s not in the diocese anymore.’ “

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

No charges for ex-priest in Mahtomedi, as no child porn found

MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Mara H. Gottfried
mgottfried@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 01/29/2014

Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said Wednesday that his office has declined to file charges against former priest Jonathan Shelley. Investigators concluded that images found on Shelley’s hard drive were not child pornography, Orput said.

“I concluded there is no criminal evidence,” he said Wednesday.

An investigation began last year into allegations that Shelley, who served in Mahtomedi, possessed child pornography on a computer he owned in 2004.

Shelley denied the allegation, and the case was closed Sept. 29 after discs turned over to police by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis were found to contain only adult porn.

Police reopened the case a few days later when a Hugo parishioner turned over files to police, which he said he had copied from Shelley’s hard drive.

St. Paul police department analysts examined the computer discs and sent the files to the Minnesota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which found no child porn, Orput said. The task force sent the discs to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which came to the same conclusion, Orput said.

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

Washington Co. Prosecutor Won’t Charge Priest with Child Porn Possession

MINNESOTA
KAAL

By: Scott Theisen

A prosecutor has declined to charge a priest accused of possessing potential child pornography.

Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said Wednesday that investigators found no evidence of a crime when they examined computer files that once belonged to the Rev. Jonathan Shelley. His decision was first reported by Minnesota Public Radio.

St. Paul police had reopened the case after receiving a backup copy of the images from a man who acquired Shelley’s old computer a decade ago.

Orput tells The Associated Press investigators from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, St. Paul police and his own child abuse specialist all looked at the files and agreed they’re not child pornography.

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

Ramsey Co. Atty.: Insufficient evidence to charge archdiocese

MINNESOTA
Bring Me The News

January 29, 2014 By Ben Grove

St. Paul police investigators did not find sufficient evidence that the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis failed to report in a timely way the conduct of former St. Paul priest Curtis Wehmeyer, now serving a five-year prison sentence for molesting two boys, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said.

At issue is whether church officials reported abuse within 24 hours of learning about it. Critics have suggested that the archdiocese attempted to cover up the case, but police after a “thorough” investigation could not find enough evidence that the archdiocese violated the mandatory reporting law, Choi said at a Wednesday morning news conference.

That said, Choi went to some length to stress that an investigation of archdiocese officials on a “whole host of issues” is “active and ongoing.”

Choi said he was “troubled” by the church’s reporting practices. He added, “There will be more decisions to come as this investigation unfolds.” He stressed that he could not comment further yet. “Elaboration is for another day.”

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

No charges for St. Paul archdiocese leaders in abuse case

MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

Written by
Associated Press

ST. PAUL — Authorities say they won’t charge officials in the St. Paul and Minneapolis Archdiocese over their handling of a St. Paul priest who sexually abused two boys.

Prosecutors say they can’t prove church leaders failed to properly report abuse by the Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer.

Church leaders removed Wehmeyer from his post in June 2012 after learning of the allegations involving two brothers.

Internal church documents showed archdiocese leaders knew well before then that Wehmeyer had issues with sexual misconduct. Archdiocese leaders have said they didn’t suspect Wehmeyer would abuse children, but they have apologized for not handling the matter more aggressively.

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

No charges against Twin Cities archdiocese in case of convicted priest

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: NICOLE NORFLEET Updated: January 29, 2014

The archdiocese reported the case within 24 hours of receiving information, county attorneys office says.

The Ramsey County attorneys office announced Wednesday that “we cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt” that anyone in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis violated the law in the church’s handling of allegations against a fired St. Paul clergy member who is now in prison for sexually abusing two boys.

Wednesday’s announcement by Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said the archdiocese reported the abuse by the Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer within 24 hours of learning of the abuse. Therefore, the church officials complied with the law requiring them to notify law enforcement.

However, Choi expressed concern about the archdiocese’s handling of clergy sex abuse.

“I continue to be troubled” by the church’s reporting practices, he said. He refused to elaborate because of the continuing police investigation.

Choi said today is “only the beginning” and that authorities will “pursue justice.” He said this review was limited to mandatory reporting law.

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

Salvation Army victim vows to tell all

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By JOANNE McCARTHY Jan. 29, 2014

GRAHAM Rundle was seven when he was first raped at a Salvation Army boys’ home in South Australia and placed in a “lock-up”, 18 when he first tried to commit suicide, 48 when he turned to the Salvos for justice, and 58 when he comprehensively beat them.

He is now 61 and ready to give evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse after angrily rejecting the Salvation Army’s apology this week for horrific abuse at its NSW and Queensland homes.

“They’re bastards,” he said.

“I was repeatedly raped as a child in the 1960s but they abused me again in a different way when I reported it as an adult, and they didn’t have to do that.

“I want to give evidence in public. I want to be named. I want people to know what the bastards were like then, and what they’re like now. They did everything in their power to get rid of me.”

Mr Rundle, of Bucketty, was known by a number at Eden Park boys’ home.

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

Salvation Army major ‘punched boys in the face’, royal commission hears

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

The royal commission into child abuse has heard more horrifying details of abuse suffered by those in the care of the Salvation Army. Several former residents gave evidence of brutal assaults at a Queensland home.

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

PA- Two sets of school officials act “irresponsibly”

PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Jan. 29 2014

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

Shame on officials at Pennridge High School and Faith Christian Academy. Neither acted responsibly in the troubling case of proven predator Eric Romig. We hope both will be prosecuted.

[Philadelphia Inquirer]

We know Pennsylvania’s archaic, predator-friendly statute of limitations makes it tough to pursue those who commit and conceal heinous child sex crimes. Still, we believe an aggressive outreach and investigative effort might well produce successful prosecutions of those who knew of or suspected Romig’s crimes but ignored or hid them.

The alternative is to let complicit school officials to walk free. That will only encourage others employers to act with similar recklessness, callousness and deceit in the future. And that will of course mean that more innocent kids’ lives will be shattered by child molesters.

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

NEW CONVERTS TO THE WAR ON RELIGION?

UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on how so-called victims’ advocates are participating in the war on religion:
Freedom From Religion Foundation is an atheist organization. BishopAccountability.org and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests monitor clergy sexual abuse. On the surface, the former has nothing in common with the latter two, but what joins the three of them at the hip—indeed what really motivates all of their work—is their hatred of Christianity.

Hobby Lobby is a Christian-owned private business that is contesting the constitutionality of the Health and Human Services mandate in a brief before the U.S. Supreme Court. Its lawsuit has absolutely nothing to do with either atheism or priestly sexual abuse, so why are the aforementioned entities challenging Hobby Lobby? It can’t be because the owners of Hobby Lobby don’t want to pay for abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization in their insurance plan. What do these matters have to do with atheism and clergy sexual abuse?

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

Accused Gallup priest removed from ministry

NEW MEXICO
Gallup Independent

Published in the Gallup Independent, Gallup, N.M., Jan. 28, 2014

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Independent correspondent
religion@gallupindependent.com

GALLUP — A priest working in the Diocese of Gallup has been removed from ministry because of a recently reported credible accusation of abuse that allegedly took place decades ago.

The Rev. Timothy Conlon, O.S.C., a member of the Crosier Fathers and Brothers religious order, was removed from his two Diocese of Gallup rural Arizona parishes over the weekend.

“The alleged abuse took place approximately 40 years ago in North Dakota before Fr. Conlon was ordained a priest, but has just been reported to Church authorities and the Crosiers,” media official Lisa Cassidy stated in a news release issued by the Crosier Province of Phoenix Monday. “The Crosiers have not been aware of any other claims of sexual misconduct against a minor by Fr. Conlon previous to this report.”

According to a letter Gallup Bishop James S. Wall sent to his priests Monday, reports of the two credible accusations of sexual abuse came from the Diocese of Fargo, N.D.

Crosier Prior Provincial Thomas Enneking, O.S.C., and Wall removed Conlon from ministry. The Crosier news release stated law enforcement has been informed of the allegation, but it did not name the specific law enforcement agency.

Conlon has been working in the Gallup Diocese since November 2011, according to Wall’s letter. Conlon has served as the parish administrator at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in St. Johns and San Rafael Parish in Concho. The Crosier news release said Conlon was in the process of becoming an official Diocese of Gallup priest through incardination into the diocese.

Conlon was a crime victim himself April 15, 2010, while he served as the pastor of the Sacred Heart Parish in South Phoenix for the Phoenix Diocese. When one of Conlon’s parish employees was stabbed multiple times by an assailant off the street, Conlon came to her assistance and was also stabbed repeatedly. Both Conlon and his parish employee were hospitalized for their injuries. Their assailant, Carlos Miguel Manriquez, was convicted of two counts of aggravated assault.

According to Catholic media reports at the time of the attack, Conlon joined the Crosiers about 40 years ago and was ordained a priest in 1979. He has worked in ministries in Nebraska, New York and Arizona. Conlon was the vicar for Hispanic ministry for the Phoenix Diocese and was the national director of the fundraising Crosier Campaign.

Crosier Province officials have requested anyone aware of sexual misconduct by a Crosier priest or religious brother to contact the province at 602-443-7100.

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

PA/TX- Philly priest acts creepy in Dallas

PENNSYLVANIA/TEXAS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Jan. 29 2014

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 )

A notorious and frightening now-defrocked Philly predator priest has recently moved to – and apparently from – a Dallas apartment complex where he repeatedly expressed sexual interest in kids.

[Philadalphia Daily News]

Philly Catholic officials recruited, educated, ordained, hired, supervised, trained and repeatedly protected Fr. James Brzyski for more than three decades, giving him access to vulnerable kids and unsuspecting parents time and time again.

Then, when the heat got too intense, they cut him loose. Now, this dangerous man moves around the country continuing to act in scary ways around kids.

So what’s Archbishop Charles Chaput – and the hundreds of Philly area church employees – going to do?

They could split hairs, dodge responsibility and feign powerlessness.

Or they could show real courage, compassion and leadership.

That’s the choice: do nothing or step up.

We hope they step up.

Specifically, we hope Philly bishops, priests, and lay employees:

– turn over every shred of information about Brzyski to police in each town where Brzyski has lived or worked (Philadelphia, Dallas, West Hollywood, and Virginia Beach),

–post all this information on the diocesan websites in those three states, and

– beg each bishops in each state where Brzyski has lived to use pulpit announcements, church bulletins and diocesan websites to seek out anyone who saw, suspected or suffered his crimes or misdeeds.

They should not wait for subpoenas. Church officials and members should be proactive and take the initiative now. (Bishops always claim they “cooperate” with police and prosecutors. In reality, that means they respond when subpoenaed. Rarely, if ever, do they take the initiative and promptly and voluntarily give ALL information they have about proven, admitted or credibly accused child molesting clerics to secular authorities.)

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

TX–New Fort Worth bishop installed

TEXAS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014

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

Michael F. Olson formally takes over today as the bishop of the Ft. Worth Catholic diocese.

Since he was selected months ago, several Catholic officials and institutions have posted on their websites the names of child molesting clerics. The first thing tomorrow, Olson should scour the files and disclose the names, photos, whereabouts and work histories of every proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting cleric who lives/lived or works/worked in the diocese (whether living or deceased, religious order or diocesan). And we hope he will update the list regularly and publicly. (The current list hasn’t been updated in more than six months.)

The list should be easily accessible on the diocese’s homepage and include photos of the priests

There are 12 publicly accused Ft. Worth child molesting clerics (according to BishopAccountability.org). We suspect the real number us three or four or five times higher.

Finally, we hope he will aggressively seek out others who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes by Father William Paiz. Last year, Fr. Paiz was accused of assaulting a child at All Saints Catholic Church, St. George Catholic Church and other locations. He worked at Nolan High School.

Tahira Khan Merritt, the attorney for Fr. Paiz’ victim, said she believes that Fr. Paiz may still be working as a priest elsewhere. Bishop Olson should find this out and warn Fr. Paiz’ unsuspecting neighbors of his current whereabouts and his troubled past.

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

Prosecution decision today in Wehmeyer sexual abuse case

MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Joseph Lindberg
jlindberg@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 01/29/2014

The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office and St. Paul Police Department will hold a joint press conference Wednesday morning to announce a prosecution decision in the Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer case.

The press conference will be held at the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office Library in downtown St. Paul at 10 a.m., according to a release from the office of Ramsey County Attorney John J. Choi.

Formerly assigned to Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in St. Paul, Wehmeyer is serving a five-year prison term for possessing child pornography and sexually abusing two children.

A September 2013 report by Minnesota Public Radio said top archdiocese officials knew of Wehmeyer’s sexual compulsions for nearly a decade, but still kept him in the ministry.

Choi said in a statement last year that he was “troubled” by details in the report on how the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis handled allegations against Wehmeyer — but said his office could not open a grand jury investigation as requested by a victims’ support group.

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

Charging decision expected in Minnesota clergy abuse case

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: Associated Press Updated: January 29, 2014

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Ramsey County authorities are set to announce whether charges will be filed over how the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis handled the case of an abusive priest.

The county attorney’s office and St. Paul police will detail their investigation Wednesday.

The Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer was accused in 2012 of sexually abusing children, and is now serving a five-year prison term after being convicted of doing so.

Internal church documents show archdiocese leaders knew before then that Wehmeyer had solicited young men for sex in a bookstore and cruised a park for anonymous sex. A former canon lawyer in the archdiocese says Wehmeyer was promoted even after she urged the archbishop to review his file.

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

Decision on seeking charges in St. Paul clergy abuse probe to be revealed today

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: NICOLE NORFLEET , Star Tribune Updated: January 29, 2014

A decision will be announced Wednesday by authorities on whether to pursue charges in connection with how information was handled within the archdiocese concerning allegations against a fired St. Paul clergy member who is now in prison for sexual abuse.

A decision will be announced Wednesday by authorities in St. Paul on whether to pursue charges in connection with how information was handled within the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis concerning allegations against a fired St. Paul clergy member who is now in prison for sexually abusing two boys.

The Ramsey County attorney’s office and police have scheduled a news conference for 10 a.m. in St. Paul to make the announcement.

As recently as 2012, police were troubled by how Roman Catholic Church leaders handled a child’s explicit sexual abuse allegation against the Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer, who had been promoted by Archbishop John Nienstedt despite earlier reports of sexual misconduct.

Wehmeyer, 49, was fired as pastor of a St. Paul church in a way that allowed him to hide evidence in the sex case, police Cmdr. Mary Nash complained last fall. Wehmeyer now is in St. Cloud prison for sexually abusing two boys while he was pastor of Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul and for possession of child pornography.

Authorities also said in a statement that they will “provide public information about the police investigation involving the circumstances of how and when information came to be known” in connection with Wehmeyer.

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

‘Francis revolution’ rolls on in both symbols and substance

VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

John L. Allen Jr. | Jan. 29, 2014

VATICAN CITY

In ways both substantive and symbolic, the “Francis revolution” rolled on in January with personnel shuffles, policy signals and gestures intended to reinforce the pope’s vision of a more merciful church devoted to the world’s peripheries.

One eyebrow-raising move came Jan. 15, when Francis announced an overhaul of the council of cardinals responsible for supervising the Institute for the Works of Religion, better known as the Vatican bank.

The bank has long been a magnet for scandal. Francis removed all but one of the five cardinals appointed to govern the bank by Pope Benedict XVI shortly after his resignation announcement in February 2013.

Most notably, Francis ousted Italian Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the former secretary of state, whose perceived inability to manage the inner workings of the Vatican helped fuel an anti-establishment mood in last March’s papal election.

French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Commission for Inter-religious Dialogue, is to remain on the panel, while the new members are Italian Cardinal-designate Pietro Parolin, who replaced Bertone as secretary of state; Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna; Cardinal Thomas Collins of Toronto; and Spanish Cardinal Santos Abril y Castilló, archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major. All five are perceived to have Francis’ trust, and both Schönborn and Collins have a record of calling for reform in bank operations.

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

Bishops asks court to stop damages over sex abuse by paedophile priest Brendan Smyth

NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish Independent

29 JANUARY 2014

A Stg £25,000 payment made to a man who sued in the Northern Ireland courts over being sexually abused as a child over years by paedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth was a “full and final settlement” and he cannot bring a fresh case here against a Catholic Bishop, the High Court has been told.

The Bishop of Kilmore, Dr Leo O’Reilly, has asked the court to stop Mario Cafolla suing him, in his representative capacity as Bishop of Kilmore, over alleged failures by the diocese and Catholic Church to stop Smyth’s abusive behaviour.

Mr Cafolla insists he is entitled to sue on grounds including that a previous Bishop of Kilmore, Dr Francis McKiernan, was allegedly made aware in 1975 that Brendan Smyth was abusing children, including Mr Cafolla, but failed to report that to the Gardai or Mr Cafolla’s parents.

It is alleged that a young boy had, at meetings in 1975 with priests of the Catholic Church, told the then Fr Sean Brady – now Cardinal Sean Brady – that Smyth was abusing children.

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

Who Cares (Or: War Crimes)

AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

The Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse began its fifth “case study” today, into four Salvation Army Boys’ Homes – Riverview, Bexley, Gill, and Alkira. The witness list was only released minutes before the hearing was due to begin, contrary to previous practice.

The hearing is subject to several “Not to be Published” orders, and the web-cast is being shut down at times for what are described as “privacy reasons”. The author is not on the witness list (see previous postings).

The focus will be on five Salvation Army officers who abused the boys. These are Lawrence Wilson, Russell Walker, Victor Bennett, John McIver, and Donald Shultz. Wilson, who worked at all four Homes, is regarded, according to the commission, as the worst offender. The abuses were described as “being at the extreme end of the scale”. He died in 2008.

[First person comment: The author was abused by both Wilson and Bennett.]

Of the 13 victim witnesses listed to appear, all but two will be referred to by pseudonyms. One who is named is Wally McLeod which encourages the author (see previous posting: “Why Wally Should Be Heard”). Of these 13 men, only one who was in the author’s old Home, “Alkira”, otherwise known as the Indooroopilly Salvation Army Home for Boys, is listed to appear.

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Ian Hughes: Vicar had ‘8,200 child sex abuse images’

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

An Anglican vicar was caught with more than 8,000 images of child sexual abuse, including 800 of the “worst kind”, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

Ian Hughes, 46, was a successful priest by day but by night was downloading thousands of indecent internet images of children, the court was told.

Hughes admitted 17 offences and was jailed for a year.

The Bishop of Chester said he was “deeply shocked” at Hughes’ “unacceptable” actions.

‘Like an addiction’

Hughes has resigned from the priesthood.

Expressing his “profound regret”, the Rt Rev Dr Peter Forster apologised to Hughes’ former parishioners in Poulton and Seacombe in Wallasey.

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Bid to dismiss Cardinal Brady, Bishop of Kilmore lawsuit

NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

By Shane Harrison
BBC NI Dublin correspondent

A court is hearing an application by a Catholic bishop to dismiss an attempt by Belfast siblings to sue him and Cardinal Sean Brady over sex abuse.

Brother and sister Mario and Maria Cafolla, from west Belfast, were abused by paedophile Fr Brendan Smyth.

Lawyers for Dr Leo O’Reilly, the Bishop of Kilmore, said the case should not go ahead due to a previous full and final settlement for all claims in the case.

They are suing Dr O’Reilly over the alleged failures of his predecessor.

They allege that the previous bishop, Francis McKiernan, was negligent for failing to take any adequate steps to ensure Smyth did not continue to perpetrate sexual assaults on them in the 1970s and 1980s.

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Australian Salvation Army Officers Rape, Lock Boys in Cages

AUSTRALIA
International Business Times

By Reissa Su | January 29, 2014

The victims of child abuse in Salvation Army homes spoke about their experiences in the first public hearing in Sydney before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse for 2014. On Jan 28, the commission began its fifth inquiry into the case.

Abuse victims claimed young boys were kept in a cage for days and raped in Salvation Army homes during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. According to revelations in the public hearing, Salvation Army leaders failed to impose discipline or remove those who committed abuses permanently. Perpetrators were simply transferred to other homes where abuses continue.

Mr Beckett said the focus of the hearing would be the response of the Salvation Army and government agencies to charges of child sex abuse inside the homes for boys located in Indooroopilly, Riverview Training Farm in Queensland, Bexley Boys home in North Bexley and the Gill Memorial Home in Golbourn.

The Royal Commission will focus on the alleged abuse on young boys aged 6 to 17 years old by Salvation Army officers Russell Walker, Laurence Wilson, Victor Bennett, Donald Schultz and John McIver.

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Boys made to fight for the enjoyment of Salvation Army officers: inquiry

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DAN BOX THE AUSTRALIAN JANUARY 29, 2014

ORPHANED and abandoned children were subjected to public “punishment parades” and made to fight each other by Salvation Army officers who appeared to enjoy the spectacle, an inquiry has heard.

Giving evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, one former resident of the Riverview boys’ home near Brisbane described being publicly caned until “I felt blood running down the back of my legs”.

Such beatings were frequent and held in full sight of other boys and Salvation Army staff, the commission heard, with the boys told to strip from the waist down and bend over before being flogged.

The man, who cannot be named, also told the commission he was repeatedly forced to fight other boys bare-fisted “for their enjoyment … these officers they didn’t have much to do, they thought we’ll get the boys out and get them to beat the crap out of each other.”

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Victim tells Royal Commission of abuse at Riverview

AUSTRALIA
Whitsunday Times

Jessica Grewal 29th Jan 2014

A TORMENTED retiree, who was subjected to unimaginable childhood abuse at a Riverview boy’s home, has unloaded decades of grief at a public hearing in Sydney.

Giving evidence before the royal commission into Institutional Responses into to Child Sex Abuse, Raymond Carlile wept as he recalled children being raped and beaten until they bled under the watch of the Salvation Army.

The 67-year-old, who in 2010 received a $100,000 in compensation from the Salvation Army, told the commission he was eight when he was sent to the home which later became known as the Endeavour Training Farm.

For three hours, Mr Carlile struggled through his accounts of the persistent sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of a man known as Lieutenant Lawrence Wilson.

He told the commission Lt Wilson had said “I want you, you dirty little thing”, the night he “grabbed” him from his bed, told him to get undressed and raped him.

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Salvos officers assaulted boys in showers, abuse inquiry hears

AUSTRALIA
Telegraph

NATHAN KLEIN THE DAILY TELEGRAPH JANUARY 29, 2014

* Boys ‘were assaulted in showers and were too afraid to complain’
* Victim recalls how elder boys would rape younger residents
* One ‘violent officer’ would punch boys as young as four years old

SALVATION Army officers fondled boys’ penises while they were in the shower, assaulted them frequently and did nothing when told one of the boys in their care was raped, an inquest heard today.

Speaking at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, one man – identified to the public inquest only as Mr F P – said he was regularly subjected to sexual abuse and sadistic punishment by officers who were supposed to be caring for him.

He told the inquiry one of the officers, Lieutenant Spratt, approached him and other boys staying at the Salvation Army homes while they were naked in the showers.

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Boy raped when he reported abuse

AUSTRALIA
Geelong Advertiser

BY ANNETTE BLACKWELL AAP JANUARY 29, 2014

A BOY who told a Salvation Army officer he had been sexually abused by another boy was later raped by the officer, an inquiry has been told.

A man, identified as ES, said he ran away several times from a Salvation Army Training Farm at Riverview in Queensland when he was a teenager but was always brought back, either by the farm manager, Captain Victor Bennett or police.

Mr Bennett who has since died, is one of five officers against whom the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has heard numerous allegations.

The commission is holding a public hearing in Sydney into what happened at four homes run by the Salvos in NSW and Queensland in the 60s and 70s.

ES said on Wednesday he was locked in a cage on the veranda at Riverview – some times for weeks.

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Sadistic punishments dealt out at Riverview boy’s home

AUSTRALIA
Coolum News

Jessica Grewal 29th Jan 2014

BOYS living at a Riverview farm were locked in a prison-like cell for days at a time as one of many sadistic punishments dealt out by a rapist Salvation Army captain, the royal commission has heard.

During day two of the hearing into the Salvation Army’s treatment of child abuse victims at the home near Ipswich, five former Riverview residents told of the torment they were subjected to while the late Major Victor Bennett was in command in the late 60s and 70s.

One victim, who can only be referred to as ES, told the commission Major Bennett had once performed an enema like procedure on him with a garden hose to teach him a lesson.

He said he had tried to run away and catch a nearby ferry when Major Bennett and some of the older boys caught up with him.

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Boys caged, tethered, raped by Salvation Army officers and older boys at children’s homes

AUSTRALIA
ABC – PM

Emily Bourke reported this story on Wednesday, January 29, 2014

MARK COLVIN: The Child Abuse Royal Commission has heard evidence about how a vicious bullying culture at Salvation Army boys’ homes was passed from adults to children: so younger children were assaulted by older boys as well as those in charge.

Several former residents have told how they were sexually assaulted but were too ashamed or too afraid to speak out because they weren’t believed – or worse, they were physically and sexually abused by Salvation Army officers.

The inquiry also heard that one boy was tethered to a brick, thrown into a pool and was then forced under the water by a Salvation Army captain. Another boy was caged in a cell on a veranda for weeks at a time.

And a warning: some of the detail and language contained in this story may be distressing.

Emily Bourke reports.

EMILY BOURKE: At the Salvation Army boys’ homes in Indooroopilly and Riverview, children were referred to by number, not name.

WALLY MCLEOD: My number was 14 at Indooroopilly, and 36 at Riverview.

EMILY BOURKE: Wally McLeod was among the boys whose clothes, shoes, and personal things were confiscated.

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Boys’ carers at Salvation Army home, ‘they were cruel bastards’

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

January 30, 2014

Paul Bibby
Court Reporter

Some boys knew it as ”the cage”, others ”the lock-up” – a small cell with iron bars built into the door. And for youngsters at the Salvation Army’s Riverview Training Farm in Queensland it was a place of dread.

Some of those who broke the rules at the institution were placed in the dark space by the Salvation Army officers charged with their care and kept there for days and even weeks, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard on Wednesday.

”One day me and two other guys did something wrong – I forget what it was – and we were put in the holding cell,” one former resident, known as ES, told the commission. ”It was a room like – it looked like it had a door and iron bars on the front, just like your normal cell.”

The man, now in his 60s, said boys were forced to sleep on the floor of the tiny room without a pillow or even a blanket. ”We went to the toilet in a bucket.”

It was a chilling tale from a day when painful recollections overflowed. As the commission dug deeper into the abuse of boys who attended homes run by the Salvation Army in NSW and Queensland, four former residents from Riverview gave evidence of extreme sexual and physical abuse, and the alleged failures of police and welfare agencies to intervene.

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Children, 4, punched at Salvos home: inquiry

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By AAP Jan. 29, 2014

BOYS as young as four were punched and others were subjected to public floggings at two Salvation Army homes in Queensland, an inquiry has been told.

Wally McLeod, a resident at Indooroopilly Boys Home and Riverview Training Farm from 1960 to 1966, told the national royal commission into child sexual abuse he saw Captain Victor Bennett grab children as young as four and punch them.

This happened at the Indooroopilly home, later named Alkira, when Mr McLeod was sent there, aged 12, he said yesterday, the second day of a public hearing in Sydney.

The commission is examining the responses of the Eastern Territory of the Salvation Army and relevant government agencies to child abuse at four homes – the two in Queensland and two in NSW.

Mr McLeod said the children ‘‘cried and screamed’’ when he grabbed them by their shirts and struck them on the head and shoulders.

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Fear ‘all the time’ at Qld Salvo farm

AUSTRALIA
Australian Times (UK)

THERE “was fear all the time” around Salvation Army officers, a witness has told a royal commission.

“A lot of you people don’t seem to understand, you did not open your mouth around Salvation Army officers because you did not know what you were going to get.”

That was the response of a witness identified as FP when pressed at an inquiry into child sexual abuse about whether he had complained of ill treatment to state welfare officers who regularly visited the Salvation Army Training Farm at Riverview in Queensland in the 1960s.

FP’s evidence on Wednesday follows that of other witnesses who have told of frequent floggings and sexual abuse both by Salvo officers and older boys at the home.

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Mersey child porn vicar who led depraved double life locked up for 12 months

UNITED KINGDOM
Liverpool Echo

A gay vicar who led a “desperate double life” and collected thousands of child porn pictures after struggling with his homosexuality for years was jailed for 12 months.

The Rev Ian Hughes, parish priest of Poulton and Seacombe, in Wirral was arrested after police traced a file of 291 child porn images he had made available for sharing over the internet.

When they raided the vicarage on Brougham Road, Wallasey, in July last year he told them: “It’s a relief in a way. It’s like an addiction.”

Jailing Liverpool Crown Court judge David Aubrey said the 46-year-old had led a double life but his “dark secret was now out”.

Jayne Morris, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday that 8,227 images and movies were recovered with more than 800 of the top two categories of seriousness along with two images of bestiality.

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Psychotic nuns ran children’s home …

NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Psychotic nuns ran children’s home like Nazi concentration camp, abuse inquiry is told

BY MICHAEL MCHUGH – 29 JANUARY 2014

Nuns who ran a hellhole children’s home in Northern Ireland were virtually psychotic, a former resident said.

The Sisters of Nazareth property in Londonderry was like a Nazi concentration camp, with youngsters’ screams of despair still haunting survivors, the UK’s largest ever inquiry into institutional child abuse was told.

Inmates formed chain gangs to polish floors until they sparkled – with arms linked and rags under both feet – and were beaten with bamboo canes and straps.

One witness reported how the nuns used to wash the children with Jeyes fluid – a strong disinfectant normally used for outdoor cleaning jobs.

Another revealed how he tried to report sexual abuse by older boys to a nun.

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Child abuse inquiry…

NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Child abuse inquiry: Priest told boy he was ‘product of evil and satanic relationship’

29 JANUARY 2014

A priest told a former resident of a church-run children’s home in Northern Ireland that he was the product of an evil and satanic relationship, an inquiry has heard.

The son of an unmarried mother said he became a zombie, introverted and fearing the next beating, lying soaked in urine at night in an attempt to dissuade any sexual abusers from “dropping the hand”.

He was a resident at St Joseph’s in Termonbacca, Londonderry, run by the Sisters of Nazareth order of nuns, in the 1950s and complained about his treatment to a priest after leaving the home.

The response was: “You must never speak about this, you must understand… you and the other orphans are bastards. You are the product of an evil and satanic relationship. You never had a chance.”

The witness said: “That was the day I left the Catholic Church.”

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From Philly to Dallas, ex-priest a ‘brutal abuser’ without remorse

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

WILLIAM BENDER, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER BENDERW@PHILLYNEWS.COM, 215-854-5255

POSTED: Wednesday, January 29, 2014

WHEN BILL Johnson moved into a Dallas apartment complex in October 2012, a neighbor named James rolled out the welcome wagon. Sort of.

“Oh, great, another old queen moving in,” James said as Johnson and his friends unloaded his belongings at Crescent View Apartments in the Texas city’s Oak Lawn section.

Johnson, 54, an unemployed financial adviser, figured that James was just being nice, one gay man to another in the “gayborhood.”

“I think he was trying to be friendly and joking,” Johnson said. “He doesn’t have a muffler on his mouth, as my mama used to say.”

Johnson had no way to know it at the time, but the neighbor was James Brzyski, a defrocked priest described in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office’s 2005 grand-jury report as one of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s “most brutal abusers.”

The 6-foot-5 Brzyski allegedly preyed on at least 17 altar boys in the 1970s and ’80s, subjecting them to “unrelenting abuse, including fondling, oral sex and rape,” according to the report.

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Philly DA appeals overturned conviction of Msgr. Lynn

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Newsworks

Philadelphia prosecutors have asked Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court to restore a Roman Catholic church official’s child endangerment conviction.

Monsignor William Lynn is currently on house arrest after an appeals court threw out his case earlier this month.

Lynn, the former secretary for clergy in Philadelphia, had been convicted of endangering children by transferring an abusive priest in the 1990s, reports the Associated Press.

According to court documents, prosecutors in the District Attorney’s office continue to allege Lynn engaged in a pattern of concealment and facilitation of child sexual molestation by priests.

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Ruling means children ‘must be protected in schools’

IRELAND
Irish Times

Suzanne Lynch, Barry Roche

Irish woman Louise O’Keeffe, who today won a landmark case against the Irish State, said the ruling meant the Department of Education “must protect children in schools”.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled this morning that the State had failed to meet its obligation to protect Ms O’Keeffe from the sexual abuse she suffered while a pupil in an Irish national school.

Ms O’ Keeffe had brought her case to the European Court after the Irish Supreme court ruled in 2009 that the State was not legally liable for the abuse suffered by Ms O’Keeffe by her school principal while a nine-year old girl at Dunderrow National School.

Speaking from Cork after the ruling Ms O’Keeffe said: “The message I have today for the Department of Education on foot of this ruling is that ‘you must protect children in the schools, it’s a right that the children have and it’s now been recognised in Europe and it must be done.”

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European court delivers clear and resounding vindication for O’Keeffe

IRELAND
Irish Times

Ruadhan Mac Cormaic

For Louise O’Keeffe, the veteran of a long, drawn-out campaign that began more than 15 years ago, this was a resounding vindication.

O’Keeffe, then aged nine, was abused by Leo Hickey, the former principal of Dunderrow National School in Co Cork in the early 1970s. At issue here was whether the State was partly to blame for that abuse because of its failure to prevent and detect it. By 11 votes to six, the Grand Chamber concluded that it was. Ireland, it found, was in breach of two articles, 3 and 13, of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibit inhuman and degrading treatment and set down the right to an effective remedy.

“The Court found that it was an inherent obligation of a Government to protect children from ill-treatment, especially in a primary education context. That obligation had not been met when the Irish State, which had to have been aware of the sexual abuse of children by adults prior to the 1970s . . . nevertheless continued to entrust the management of the primary education of the vast majority of young Irish children to National Schools.”

Effective control

Crucially, in the court’s view, the State did this without putting in place any mechanisms of effective State control against the risks of such abuse occurring. On the contrary, potential complainants had been directed away from the State authorities and towards the managers (generally the local priest) of the national schools. Any system of detection and reporting of abuse which allowed over 400 incidents of abuse to occur in O’Keeffe’s school for such a long time, the judges remarked, had to be considered ineffective.

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Kenny: Louise O’Keeffe judgement will require ‘detailed consideration’ by government

IRELAND
Irish Independent

LISE HAND – 28 JANUARY 2014

The Taoiseach said the landmark judgment handed down today by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Irishwoman Louise O’Keeffe “will clearly require detailed consideration by the government.”

Louise O’Keeffe won her 30-year legal battle when the Strasbourg-based Court delivered a majority ruling in her favour that the Irish State had been negligent in failing to protect her from abuse in national school.

The court ruled that her human rights had been breached under Section 3 and 13 of European law – with the Irish State now liable to compensate the mother for what she suffered. The judgement is also expected to open the floodgates to over 200 compensation claims by Irish victims abused by State employees.

Speaking in the Dáil, he said: “Louise O’Keeffe should never have been subjected to this abuse. This is another example of the horrific regime and sort of environment that children and young people lived in, and her case today clearly indicates the scale of that historic abuse and the failure and the inaction to protect children.”

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Kenny declines to say if State will apologise to Louise O’Keeffe

IRELAND
Irish Times

Marie O’Halloran, Michael O’Regan

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has told the Dáil that Louise O’Keeffe should never have been subject to the sexual abuse she suffered.

“This was another example of the horrific regime and sort of environment that children and young people lived in,” he said.

But the Taoiseach declined to respond to a call from Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams to apologise to Ms O’Keeffe.

The European Court of Human Rights overturned a Supreme Court judgment and ruled that the State failed to meet its obligation to protect Ms O’Keeffe from the sexual abuse she suffered while a pupil in an Irish national school. Ms O’ Keeffe took her case to the European Court after the 2009 Supreme Court ruling that the State was not legally liable for the abuse suffered by her when she was a nine-year old girl at Dunderrow National School.

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Landmark victory after 30 years for abuse victim Louise O’Keeffe

IRELAND
Irish Independent

RALPH RIEGEL AND DEARBHAIL MCDONALD – 28 JANUARY 2014

AN IRISH woman’s courageous 30 year battle for justice ended in triumph today when the European Court of Human Rights ruled in her favour.

Louise O’Keeffe (46) wept as the 17 judge Strasbourg-based Court delivered a majority ruling in her favour that the Irish State had been negligent in failing to protect her from abuse in national school.

The court ruled that her human rights had been breached under Section 3 and 13 of European law – with the Irish State now liable to compensate the mother for what she suffered.

The judgement is also expected to open the floodgates to over 200 compensation claims by Irish victims abused by State employees.

Louise’s first reaction today was to cry with joy.

“This is a great day for the children of Ireland,” she said.

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Call for Quinn to make ‘abject’ apology to Louise O’Keeffe

IRELAND
Irish Times

[with video]

Michael O’Regan

Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn should make “an appropriate and abject apology’’ to Louise O’Keeffe, Fianna Fáil Senator Denis O’Donovan told the Seanad.

He believed the State had failed her. “She was frustrated in her attempts to get justice and the High Court and the Supreme Court let her down,” he added. “She eventually found solace elsewhere in Europe. ”

Mr O’Donovan said that as politicians, they should feel a great shame at what happened to Ms O’Keeffe. He added that she had approached him when he was a TD some years ago and he felt frustrated because, first, his representations fell on deaf ears, and second, he was told the matter was sub judice and that it was a matter for the courts. “I admire her tenacity and courage in pursuing this case over nearly four decades.”

Mr O’Donovan said he was troubled about the situation developing in the State where there was “a David and Goliath battle” whenever a citizen took on the power of the State.

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Louise O’Keeffe: ‘The case should never have gone this far’

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

IN a room of about 30sq ft, surrounded by paintings of court scenes and old maps, Louise O’Keeffe held her breath for the result she’d wanted to hear for over 15 years.

The events were unravelling in the office of her solicitor Ernest Cantillon more than 40 years since the sexual abuse she went through in a small Co Cork school many miles west of this city centre office.

Further away still, Ernest’s colleague Mary Scriven was in a Strasbourg courtroom waiting to text the decision of the 17 judges in Louise’s case. As he sat beside her, eyes fixed on the smartphone in front of him, she smiled nervously through the silence as reporters and cameramen waited with them for the outcome.

About four minutes after word that the hearing was starting, Ernest’s phone beeped and, knowing the pre-determined code from his colleague in the Strasbourg courtroom, he said quietly. “We’ve just got one word. Win.”

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O’Keeffe ruling offers hope to victims

IRELAND
Irish Times

Peter Murtagh

Tim O’Rourke was sexually abused by a teacher and is one of several dozen, perhaps several hundred, similar abuse victims for whom yesterday’s victory by Louise O’Keeffe at the European Court of Human Rights brings renewed hope of vindication by the State.

Mr O’Rourke was abused by a teacher, Donal Dunne, while attending Walsh Island National School in Co Offaly. Dunne, identified in the Ryan report into child abuse as John Brander, is now dead but was prosecuted three times, was convicted and sent to jail.

Dunne was a Christian Brother who abused children repeatedly as he was moved from Christian Brothers school to Christian Brothers school, and also while a teacher at national schools in Dublin, Longford, Laois and Offaly.

Mr O’Rourke was abused by Dunne in the mid-1960s. “I reported this, along with many others,” he says, but nothing was done.

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Former Pennridge softball coach admits to sex with girl player

PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call

January 27, 2014|By Laurie Mason Schroeder, Calkins Media

A former Pennridge softball coach who prosecutors say targeted underage girls as early as 2008 pleaded guilty Monday to sex charges stemming from his October arrest, when a girl’s parents became suspicious about his relationship with their child and alerted police.

Eric Romig, 36, of Richland Township admitted guilt in Bucks County Court to numerous felony charges, including sexual contact with a student, corruption of minors and possession of child pornography.

Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said Romig propositioned two 16-year-old female players when he was the girls basketball coach at Faith Christian Academy in Sellersville during the 2008-09 school year. He sent one girl lewd text messages while she sat near him on an away game bus ride, Schorn said.

After a second teen came forward with similar allegations, Romig was “forced to resign,” Schorn added.

But Faith Christian officials never called police, the prosecutor told a judge Monday, and Romig was never charged with any crime involving students at the school. Instead, he got a job as a softball coach at Pennridge High School, where he met and began a sexual relationship with another 16-year-old student.

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Former Pennridge High School, Faith Christian Academy coach Eric Romig pleads guilty to sex with teen

PENNSYLVANIA
Montgomery News

By Bob Keeler and Erin Weaver
bkeeler@montgomerynews.com; erweaver@montgomerynews.com

Former Pennridge High School and Pennridge Belles softball coach and former Faith Christian Academy in Sellersville girls basketball coach Eric Romig pleaded guilty Monday, Jan. 27, to charges of having had a sexual relationship last year with one of the members of the softball teams, the Intelligencer reported.

Romig, 36, was arrested in October and charged with crimes including institutional sexual assault, corruption of minors and unlawful contact with a minor.

A 16-year-old player on the two softball teams told investigators she and Romig began to “date” in May or June of 2013, after which Romig picked her up at her Perkasie home and took her to Earl B. Druckenmiller Park in Sellersville and to his home in Richland Township, according to information in the affidavit of probable cause.

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Prosecutor: Bucks coach who assaulted girl had past accusations

PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Ben Finley, Inquirer Staff Writer
POSTED: January 28, 2014

DOYLESTOWN A former softball coach at a Bucks County high school pleaded guilty Monday to having sex with one of his players last year, five years after he had been allowed to quietly resign from another school where he made sexual advances toward girls.

Eric Romig, 36, is expected to face up to 20 months in prison after pleading guilty to institutional sexual assault and possession of child pornography, for having sex and trading explicit videos and photos with a 16-year-old girl at Pennridge High School.

In a turn that made Romig’s case stand out from the wave of recent cases against sexually predatory coaches in the region, the prosecutor said Monday that another area school may have concealed warning signs about the coach.

Jennifer Schorn, chief of the Bucks County District Attorney Office’s major crimes division, said Romig made advances to two basketball players he coached at Faith Christian Academy in Sellersville in 2008 and 2009. One was a girl who got a text message from the coach, as she sat next to him on a bus, saying he wanted to have sex with her, Schorn said.

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What about perv teachers?

PENNSYLVANIA
Phildadelphia Daily News

RONNIE POLANECZKY, DAILY NEWS COLUMNIST
POSTED: Wednesday, January 29, 2014

THE GOOD FOLKS at Faith Christian Academy in Sellersville didn’t return my call yesterday. So I didn’t get to ask what they made of the allegation by the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office that the academy never reported a staff perv to police.

Instead, the academy allowed him to quietly slither away.

That perv would be one Eric Romig, 36, who was a coach at Faith Christian when he resigned “for health reasons” following accusations that he made sexual advances toward two female students in 2008 and 2009.

Romig got a new coaching gig at Pennridge High School, where he went trawling again. On Monday, he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a female student there. He had sex with her and traded explicit texts, videos and photos.

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LA Archdiocese Hit With Sex Abuse Lawsuit

CALIFORNIA
NBC Los Angeles

[with video]

The Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles faced new legal action Tuesday after a lawsuit was filed alleging sexual abuse by a former volunteer.

Alleged victim Robert Reynolds, 23, claims he suffered repeated acts of childhood sexual abuse, including multiple acts of sodomy at the hands of Timothy Lawrence Kovacs, a licensed family and marriage therapist who volunteered with St. Luke’s Catholic Church in Temple City, said Reynolds’ attorney, Michael Kinslow, at a press conference Tuesday.

Cardinal Roger Mahony and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are among those named in the lawsuit.

“It’s just horrendous. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to endure repeated acts of oral copulation and sodomy,” Kinslow said.

Reynolds spoke for the first time about the alleged abuse, which he said began when he was 13 years old.

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Temple City man alleges sexual abuse by Catholic Church volunteer

CALIFORNIA
The San Gabriel Valley Tribune

By Rebecca Kimitch, The San Gabriel Valley Tribune
POSTED: 01/28/14

TEMPLE CITY >> A young man has filed a lawsuit against the Catholic Church alleging he was a victim of sexual abuse for more than seven years at the hands of a St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church volunteer, who now works in the Baldwin Park Unified School District.

Robert Reynolds, 23, alleges Timothy Kovacs began molesting him in 2003, when he was 13 years old, and continued abusing him three to eight times a month until he was 20.

“The abuse was horrendous. It included multiple acts of sodomy,” Reynolds’ attorney Michael Kinslow said. “And the perpetrator attempted to convince the child it was a love relationship.”

Kovacs did not respond to phone calls requesting comment.

Kovacs was a volunteer confirmation coordinator at St. Luke’s from 2002 until 2005. He was removed from the post after a complaint was made to the parish alleging “inappropriate conduct with two young adults over the age of 18,” according to a statement from the Archdiocese, which said it was not informed of the 2005 complaint.

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Man charged with sexually assaulting girl in church bathroom

ALASKA
Anchorage Daily News

BY DEVIN KELLY
dkelly@adn.com
January 28, 2014

A 29-year-old man has been charged with sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl in a Mountain View church restroom, authorities said.

David Chiklak was arrested Sunday on a felony count of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor. The incident was reported just before noon on Sunday, police spokeswoman Jennifer Castro said.

According to the charges, a woman and the 6-year-old were both in the women’s restroom at the unidentified church when the woman heard a man asking the girl to leave with him.

The woman left the restroom and heard the girl crying. When she entered the men’s restroom and looked through a crack in a stall door, she saw the man standing over the child with his belt unbuckled, the charges said.

Chiklak was detained by churchgoers in the building’s parking lot.

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Man charged with abusing child at Anchorage church

ALASKA
Westport News

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A 29-year-old man has charged with sexually abusing a girl at an Anchorage church.

David Chiklak was arrested Sunday outside a church in the Mountain View neighborhood on the city’s northeast side.

A woman told Anchorage police she was in a bathroom with a girl at the church and heard someone call the child out of the room. The woman a short time later heard the girl crying in the men’s bathroom.

Police say she entered the men’s bathroom and saw a man with his belt unbuckled standing over the girl.

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January 28, 2014

Salvation Army in Australia accused of raping children with a garden hose and other abuses

AUSTRALIA
The Raw Story

By Agence France-Presse
Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Children were sodomised with a garden hose, locked in outdoor cages and savagely beaten by Salvation Army majors in graphic cases of abuse detailed Tuesday to an Australian inquiry.

A Royal Commission into child sexual abuse in Australia began hearing evidence into allegations of abuse at four Salvation Army homes for children between 1966 and 1977, which counsel assisting the inquiry Simeon Beckett warned would be “shocking to many”.

“The abuse that is to be detailed before the Royal Commission in the course of this case study is likely to be disturbing and at the severe end of sexual abuse,” he said in his opening address.

The investigative commission was established by former prime minister Julia Gillard in response to a series of child sex abuse scandals involving paedophile priests, though she insisted the probe would be much broader than the Catholic Church.

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Victim tells Royal Commission of abuse at Riverview

AUSTRALIA
My Daily News

Jessica Grewal 29th Jan 2014

A TORMENTED retiree, who was subjected to unimaginable childhood abuse at a Riverview boy’s home, has unloaded decades of grief at a public hearing in Sydney.

Giving evidence before the royal commission into Institutional Responses into to Child Sex Abuse, Raymond Carlile wept as he recalled children being raped and beaten until they bled under the watch of the Salvation Army.

The 67-year-old, who in 2010 received a $100,000 in compensation from the Salvation Army, told the commission he was eight when he was sent to the home which later became known as the Endeavour Training Farm.

For three hours, Mr Carlile struggled through his accounts of the persistent sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of a man known as Lieutenant Lawrence Wilson.

He told the commission Lt Wilson had said “I want you, you dirty little thing”, the night he “grabbed” him from his bed, told him to get undressed and raped him.

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Salvation Army major ‘punched 4yo boys in the face’ at Alkira boys’ home, royal commission hears

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Thomas Oriti

The royal commission into child sexual abuse has heard a Salvation Army officer working at a children’s home punched boys as young as four in the face.

Wally McLeod has told the commission about his time at the Alkira Salvation Army Home for Boys at Indooroopilly in Queensland.

The facility is one of four operated by the Salvation Army that is being examined by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Over the next two weeks, the commission will also focus on cases at the Riverview Training Farm in Queensland, the Bexley Boys Home in Sydney and the Gill Memorial Home at Goulburn in southern New South Wales.

Mr McLeod was 12 when he was taken to the Indooroopilly home in 1960.

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Maplewood priest faces trial in sex misconduct case, judge rules

MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 01/28/2014

A Ramsey County judge found probable cause Tuesday for the case against Maplewood priest Mark Andrew Huberty to proceed to trial.

Huberty, 43, has been charged with one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a woman in his parish, Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Senior Judge Kathleen Gearin entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf.

She scheduled a pretrial hearing for Feb. 20 and a trial date of March 24, though trials are frequently delayed.

Prosecutors allege that, while providing spiritual guidance, Huberty fondled a female parishioner repeatedly and asked her to touch him sexually.

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Philadelphia prosecutor appeals to restore church official’s conviction in landmark abuse case

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Republic

By MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press
January 28, 2014

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia prosecutors have urged Pennsylvania’s highest court to restore the conviction of a Roman Catholic church official in a high-profile child endangerment case.

Monsignor William Lynn, 63, the former secretary for clergy in Philadelphia, had been convicted of endangering children by transferring an abusive priest in the 1990s to a new parish, where he abused an altar boy.

Lynn was the first U.S. church supervisor charged for his handling of sex abuse complaints against clergy. Prosecutors warned that people across the country are watching to see if the case holds up.

But an appeals court threw out his case last month, saying Lynn should never have been charged because the law only applied to those directly responsible for the child victim. Lynn was freed after 18 months in prison and remains on house arrest at a rectory.

However, prosecutors appealed that Superior Court ruling Monday to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

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Salvation Army abuse: Boys ‘punched and locked in cages’ at homes, royal commission told

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with video]

By Emily Bourke and Thomas Oriti

The royal commission into child sexual abuse has heard harrowing details of small boys being dragged from their beds and raped within children’s homes operated by the Salvation Army.

On Tuesday the commission began its fifth inquiry, this time examining cases of abuse at four boys’ homes operated by the prominent charity.

Some of the evidence presented today shocked even some survivors and their advocates, including the caging of children, punishment parades, and appalling Dickensian conditions.

The hearing is investigating incidents at the Alkira Salvation Army Home for Boys at Indooroopilly in Queensland, the Riverview Training Farm at Riverview in Queensland, the Bexley Boys’ Home in Sydney, and the Gill Memorial Home at Goulburn in southern New South Wales.

The actions of at least five Salvation Army officers are set to be scrutinised by the commission, with 13 former residents of the homes expected to give evidence.

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Courage is a triumph of human spirit

AUSTRALIA
News Mail

Shelley Strachan 29th Jan 2014

THE royal commission into the institutional responses to shocking child sexual abuse at Salvation Army homes in the 1960s and ’70s heard evidence on its first day yesterday from the Gympie court house.

A key witness who now lives in retirement in Kilkivan was one of the young boys who suffered unspeakable, prolonged abuse.

Incredibly – and it’s a testament to the human spirit – his courage and resilience were not utterly destroyed at the hands of, in particular, one depraved monster left in charge of the young boys.

It is not easy to stay calm and rational when you are confronted with the brutal reality of what some humans are capable of.

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Inquiry hears that Termonbacca nuns ‘nearly psychotic’

NORTHERN IRELAND
News Letter

Nuns who ran a hell hole children’s home in Northern Ireland were nearly psychotic, a former resident said.

The Sisters of Nazareth property in Londonderry was like Auschwitz, youngsters’ screams of despair still haunting survivors, the UK’s largest ever inquiry into institutional child abuse was told.

Inmates formed chain gangs to polish floors until they sparkled – with arms linked and rags under both feet – and were beaten with bamboo canes and straps.

One witness reported sexual abuse by older boys to a nun.

The sister allegedly said: “You are a bad boy, you are going to hell, nothing like that ever happened.”

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IRELAND- European court rules for Irish child sex abuse victim

IRELAND
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Jan. 28 2014

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

We applaud the European Court of Human Rights for siding with an Irish woman who was sexually abused as a youngster by her school principal. The Irish state, the court ruled, failed to protect her.

[Breaking News]

Being involved in the struggle for children’s safety for 25 years, we have learned two things. First, every individual and institution that endangered kids and protected predators must be exposed and punished, if ever child sex crimes and cover ups are to be stopped. And second, when one or two or three avenues for justice are closed to victims, we must be more persistent and creative about seeking help elsewhere, even if it means going to international bodies like the European Court of Human Rights.

When secular authorities, like religious figures, ignore or hide crimes against kids, they must be held responsible, no matter where or when the wrongdoing occurred. Long after World War II, law enforcement agencies track down and prosecute war crimes, because as civilized people, we want to send a strong signal that those who would torture others will be pursued forever.

The same persistence must be shown against those who would hurt kids and help others hurt kids.

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PA–Philly DA appeals priest case to PA Supreme Court

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Jan. 28

Statement by Karen Polesir of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 267-992-9463, karenpolesir@yahoo.com )

We are grateful that Philadelphia prosecutors are following through with their work to protect kids by trying to get Msgr. William Lynn back behind bars.

Yesterday, the DA’s office formally asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to hear its appeal of the Superior Court’s reversal of Msgr. Lynn’s conviction. We hope the justices respond favorably and put the physical safety of vulnerable kids and the emotional well-being of wounded adult ahead of one wrongdoer’s freedom.

Deterring those who would protect and enable child molesters – that’s the issue here. Pennsylvania lawmakers aren’t doing this. They repeatedly refuse to open a civil “window” that would expose – and deter – adults who hide child sex crimes (thus ensuring that more such crimes happen).

And Catholic officials aren’t doing this (as evidenced by their refusal to even denounce Msgr. Lynn and by Archbishop Charles Chaput’s willingness to bail Msgr. Lynn out and house him at a Catholic parish).

Because of this refusal – by church officials and Pennsylvania’s lawmakers – it’s especially important that Pennsylvania’s highest court takes action to protect kids, discourage crimes and continue letting police, prosecutors and victims use the justice system to go after those who commit and conceal sexual violence against the most vulnerable.

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Philly District Attorney files appeal of Monsignor William Lynn’s overturned conviction

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philly.com

[court document]

BRIAN X. MCCRONE, PHILLY.COM
LAST UPDATED: Tuesday, January 28, 2014

District Attorney Seth Williams has filed an appeal with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the overturned conviction of Monsignor William Lynn.

In the 35-page appeal, Williams argued “the Superior Court erred in holding that a church official who systemically reassigned pedophile priests in a manner that risked further sexual abuse of children did not endanger the welfare of children.”

“If, as the Superior Court held, it was legally impossible for defendant to endanger the welfare of children in his individual capacity, the evidence was sufficient to prove his guilt as an accomplice,” Williams argued in the appeal.

Late last month, a three-judge panel reversed the priest’s conviction and ordered the Archdiocese official to be freed on bail while a ruling by a higher state court weighed whether an official overseeing someone convicted of sexual abuse could in turn be tried under Pennsylvania’s child-endangerment laws.

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Special tribunal finds priest guilty of offenses against the Sixth Commandment

ARIZONA
The Catholic Sun

A special tribunal has notified the Diocese of Phoenix that it has found Fr. John Spaulding guilty of sins against the Sixth Commandment with a minor, stemming from four accusations of sexual abuse against the priest.

The judgment was reached by an independent panel of three judges from around the country. The panel was convened at the direction of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome and tasked with the responsibility of investigating abuse allegations against Fr. Spaulding. The three-judge panel was made up of priests from around the country with doctorates in canon law.

The special tribunal recommended that Fr. Spaulding be dismissed from the clerical state, a process commonly known as “laicization.” Fr. Spaulding has the right to appeal and has a canon lawyer representing him throughout the court process.

As a result of the judgment, the penalty of laicization would become effective upon finalization of the case by the CDF, following the completion of any appeal made by Fr. Spaulding and confirmation by the Holy See. Fr. Spaulding would no longer be permitted to function in any way as a priest of the Church and could not identify himself as a Catholic priest.

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Appeals Court Upholds 35-Year Sentence For Former Chattanooga Priest

TENNESSEE
Chattanoogan

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

A 35-year sentence for a former Chattanooga priest has been upheld by the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals.

William Casey served at Sts Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Chattanooga from 1969 to 1972.

In 2011, he was found guilty after a trial by jury of one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of aggravated rape. The charges stemmed from conduct that occurred in 1979 and 1980, while the victim attended a school associated with the church.

The ruling says, “On appeal, the defendant claims that the trial court erred by refusing to dismiss his indictment because forcing him to stand trial more than thirty years after the crimes were committed violated his due process rights under the federal and state constitutions. However, reviewing these facts in light of the relevant test governing unconstitutional “preaccusatorial” delay set forth in State v. Gray, 917 S.W.2d 668 (Tenn. 1996), we hold that the thirty-two year delay in the defendant’s prosecution did not violate the constitutional rights of the defendant. The defendant also claims that the trial court committed errors with respect to myriad evidentiary and procedural matters relating to his motion to dismiss.

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DA Appeals Release of Disgraced Priest

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC 10

Philadelphia prosecutors have appealed to the state’s highest court to restore the endangerment conviction of a Roman Catholic church official.

Monsignor William Lynn is on house arrest, restricted to two floors at the rectory at St. William Parish in Northeast Philly after a mid-level appeals court threw out his case. He must report to a probation officer weekly.

Lynn, the former secretary for clergy in Philadelphia, was convicted in 2012 of endangering children by transferring a predator-priest in the 1990s. The Superior Court said last month he should not have been charged because the law did not apply to supervisors.

Lynn was freed after the Roman Catholic Church posted 10-percent of his $250,000 bail. The disgraced priest spent 18 months in prison.

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Survivors of abuse hit out at church support service

IRELAND
Irish Independent

SARAH MAC DONALD – 20 JANUARY 2014

CLERICAL abuse survivors claim that they have been excluded from consultations over the establishment of a Catholic Church support service aimed at catering for their spiritual needs.

According to some high-profile survivors, they have been not been given a proper opportunity to advise on how the service, backed by the bishops, the Irish Missionary Union (IMU) and the Conference of Religious Superiors (CORI), should be structured.

Last December, the bishops announced that the ‘Towards Peace’ support service would be launched this year and would offer spiritual support to victims who suffered abuse at the hands of clerics or religious if their faith in God and the Church had been affected by their experience of sexual abuse.

The soon to be launched service will be free to clients, as the costs will be borne by the Bishops Conference (ICBC), CORI and the IMU.

An awareness campaign will be launched later this year, and the operation of the service will be reviewed in 2016.

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Schottland: Berufungsgericht hebt Urteil gegen Priester auf

SCHOTTLAND
kath.net

[Summary: An appeals court has reversed a judgement against an Edinburgh Catholic priest and chaplain in a sexual harassment case. After eight years, the priest has been acquitted on charges of sexual harassment.]

Das Berufungsgericht Edinburgh hat das Urteil gegen einen katholischen Priester und Hochschulseelsorger wegen sexueller Belästigung aufgehoben. Wichtige Zeugen waren nicht gehört worden.

Edinburgh (kath.net/CWN/jg)
Acht Jahre nach der Verurteilung in erster Instanz ist ein katholischer Priester vom Berufungsgericht in Edinburgh vom Vorwurf der sexuellen Belästigung frei gesprochen worden.

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Education Minister to take legal advice on Louise O’Keefe judgement

IRELAND
Newstalk

Jack Quann

The Education Minister says he needs to take legal advice before commenting further on the Louise O’Keeffe judgement at the European Court of Human Rights.

The Court overturned an Irish Supreme Court ruling that the State was not liable for the actions of the principal of her primary school when he abused her in the 1970s.

Ms. O’Keeffe was abused at Dunderrow National School near Kinsale in 1973 when she was aged 9. The principal, Leo Hickey, was later jailed and also paid Louise damages following a civil action.

Hickey was jailed for three years and was ordered to pay Ms. O’Keeffe over €300,000 in damages in a civil action.

Both the High Court and Supreme Courts dismissed a claim of direct negligence against the State because they said the State did not directly employ her abuser. Louise O’Keeffe took her case to the European Court of Human Rights, arguing in Europe that the structures in place did not properly protect her.

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Irish state held liable for abuse in Catholic school

IRELAND
Scottish Catholic Observer

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has today found the Irish state liable for sexual abuse suffered by a girl at the hands of the principal of a Catholic-run state primary school in the 1970s

In the case of Louise O’Keefe—who was 9 years old when she was abused at Dunderrow National School, Cork—both the High Court and Supreme Court in Ireland had ruled that the state was not responsible for the assaults. However, the ECHR today overruled their judgements.

“The court found that it was an inherent obligation of a government to protect children from ill-treatment, especially in a primary education context,” the Strasbourg-based court said in its ruling. “That obligation had not been met.”

Ms O’Keefe, now 49 years old, said she was ‘delighted’ that the Irish state had been held accountable by the European Court.

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Louise O’Keefe wins case at European Court over childhood abuse

IRELAND
Breaking News

A Corkwoman who was sexually abused by her school principal has won a landmark lawsuit against the Irish state for failing to protect her.

Louise O’Keeffe took Ireland to the European Court of Human Rights claiming inhuman and degrading treatment while aged nine at Dunderrow National School in Co Cork in 1973.

The Strasbourg-based court ruled today that her rights were breached on two grounds in a judgment that could have massive ramifications for other survivors of abuse, including in terms of compensation.

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Irland muss für sexuellen Missbrauch an Schule zahlen

IRLAND
Sueddeutsche (Deutschland)

30 000 Euro Schmerzensgeld bekommt eine Frau, die als Kind an einer katholischen Schule in Irland missbraucht wurde. Der Europäische Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte sieht dabei den Staat in der Verantwortung.

Die irische Regierung muss nach einem Urteil des Europäischen Gerichtshofes für Menschenrechte (EGMR) für einen Fall von sexuellem Missbrauch 30 000 Euro Schmerzensgeld zahlen. Das Gericht sprach dem Staat damit eine Mitverantwortung an den Vergehen an einer katholischen Schule zu.

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Jahrelanger Kindesmissbrauch bei Heilsarmee in Australien

AUSTRALIEN
Tiroler Tageszeitung

[Summary: Shocking details of abuse were revealed at a hearing on child abuse in Salvation Army institutions from 1966 to 1977. Corporal punishment and sexual abuse occurred frequently, according to inquiry counsel.]

Sydney – Eine Anhörung zu Kindesmissbrauch in vier Einrichtungen der Heilsarmee in Australien zwischen 1966 und 1977 hat am Dienstag schockierende Details zutage gebracht. Der Rechtsbeistand der Untersuchungskommission, Simeon Beckett, sagte zu Beginn, körperliche Bestrafung und sexuellen Missbrauch habe es häufig gegeben.

Die Schutzbefohlenen seien mit Faustschlägen traktiert, mit Gewalt auf den Boden oder gegen die Wand geschleudert sowie mit Stöcken oder Riemen blutig geschlagen worden. Wiederholt wurden demnach die Opfer vergewaltigt, in einem Fall mit einem Gartenschlauch.

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Missbrauch im Internat: „Ich glaube beiden und bitte um Vergebung!“

DEUTSCHLAND
Augsburger Allgemeine

[Summary: Abbot Theodor Hausmann has responded to accusations made by composer Wilfired Hillier and Michael Lerchenberg, actor, director and artistic director, about abuse they said they suffered at the boarding school at the St. Stephen monastery in Augsburg. The abbott said he believes the descriptions given by Hiller and Lerchenberg are essentially correct and he apologized. He said he has received three complaints.]

Züchtigungen und sexueller Missbrauch in einem katholischen Augsburger Internat: So reagiert Abt Theodor Hausmann auf die Vorwürfe von Wilfried Hiller und Michael Lerchenberg. Von Rüdiger Heinze

Nach dem Komponisten Wilfried Hiller hat auch der Schauspieler, Regisseur und Intendant Michael Lerchenberg erstmals öffentlich schwere Vorwürfe gegenüber mehreren Patres am 2005 geschlossenen Vollinternat St. Joseph des Augsburger Klosters St. Stephan erhoben: Züchtigungen sowie sexueller Missbrauch habe es dort Mitte der 50er bzw. Mitte der 60er Jahre wiederholt gegeben.

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ROLLING STONE LIKES THE POPE

UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on the Feb. 13th cover story in Rolling Stone:

The lengthy piece by Mark Binelli on Pope Francis is respectful, though hardly without flaws. Like so many of the pope’s new fans, Binelli’s bouquets come at the price of exaggerating the Holy Father’s uniqueness, and unfairly characterizing his predecessors.

Binelli likes it that Francis smiles a lot in public, but anyone who is objective would extend the same compliment to both Pope Benedict XVI and Blessed Pope John Paul II. Francis is praised for saying “go without fear.” Yet “Be Not Afraid” was John Paul’s signature statement. The new pope is applauded for reaching out to liberation theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez, yet a bolder move was made when Benedict invited dissident theologian Hans Küng to meet with him. Francis wins points for kissing the feet of AIDS patients, yet such acts of kindness are hardly unique—the late Cardinal John O’Connor emptied their bed pans.

Binelli says that Francis “still considers abortion an evil.” Still? I bet the pope “still” regards all forms of unjust killing to be evil. Binelli is so excited by the pope’s words, “Who am I to judge?”, that he mentions them twice. But like so many others, he fails to cite what the pope really said: “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” The pope’s qualifiers should tell Binelli something.
asdfgh

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TN- Pedophile priest conviction upheld

TENNESSEE
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Jan. 28 2014

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

We are grateful that a three judge panel has upheld the conviction of a predator priest. Fr. William C. Casey should remain behind bars. And his former Catholic officials should take aggressive steps to find, and help, his other victims.

[Times News]

We are glad this brave man, Warren Tucker, will get his day in court. We are proud that he is protecting others. And we’re grateful that this predator, Fr. William Casey, is being held responsible for his heinous crimes.

Every time a pedophile priest is prosecuted, kids are safer. We applaud Warren for his courage and are confident that Casey will stay locked up.

We hope this positive news will encourage others who have been hurt by child molesting clerics to come forward, get help, call police, protect kids and start healing.

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Lay groups seek to offer input on bishop selection

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporteri

Megan Fincher | Jan. 28, 2014

Two East Coast Catholic groups, emboldened by the vision of Vatican II, are advocating for lay participation in the selection of bishops. The unexpected snag is figuring out how the laity are allowed to participate in this little-known process.

“I believe that people may be disinterested in the bishop search … because they do not believe that [their participation] will make any difference given the hierarchical decision-making structure of the church,” Dave Rowell, a member of the Albany (N.Y.) Bishop Search committee, told NCR.

Tom Severin, member of the Ambrosians of Greensburg, Pa., another lay bishop search committee, concurred. Their group is named after St. Ambrose, one of the early church bishops elected by popular vote.

“It’s something completely new to people. Most people have no idea how bishops are elected,” Severin said to NCR. “In my Bible study group, they were excited about the Ambrosians. But then they asked if it was sanctioned by the diocese. You could see the fear on their faces.”

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Retired Handcross priest charged with historic sex offences

UNITED KINGDOM
West Sussex Gazette

A retired Church of England priest has been charged with historic sex offences against young men.

Vickery House, 68, of Brighton Road, Handcross, was charged today, (Tuesday January 28), on the authority of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), following an investigation by detectives from Sussex Police over the past 18 months.

House faces a total of eight charges of indecent assault between 1970 and 1986.

Two of the charges relate to a boy then aged 15 in Devon, while the other six relate to men in East Sussex aged between 17 and 34.

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Vatican announces early resignation of prominent Melkite archbishop in Israel

VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

In a surprise move, Pope Francis has accepted the early resignation of a prominent Melkite Catholic archbishop in Israel.

The Vatican announced on January 27 that the Pontiff had accepted the resignation of Archbishop Elias Chacour of Akka, in northern Israel. The archbishop, a noted advocate of non-violence and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians, has twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. A native Palestinian himself, he was also the first Israeli citizen to be appointed a Catholic bishop.

The announcement of Archbishop Chacour’s resignation was surprising because it came several months before his 75th birthday. The Vatican offered no explanation for the unusual move.

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Children’s homes like Nazi camps

NORTHERN IRELAND
Derry Journal

A former resident of a children’s home run by nuns in Derry has likened it to a Nazi concentration camp.

The man told the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry that the church-run St Joseph’s Boys’ Home at Termonbacca in Derry was a “hell hole”.

He told this morning’s hearings in Banbridge that he was in a “chain gang” polishing floors, was bathed in detergent as punishment and was sexually assaulted by a woman when he was aged five or six.

The Sisters of Nazareth oversaw both the St Joseph’s Home and the Nazareth House Children’s Home at nearby Bishop Street. The witness claimed: “It was kind of like a Zyklon B gas chamber.”

The alleged abuse happened in the 1950s and 60s.

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Retired priest faces sex charges

UNITED KINGDOM
Littlehampton Gazette

A retired Church of England priest from West Sussex has been charged with a catalogue of sex offences on boys and young men dating back more than 40 years.

Vickery House, 68, faces eight charges of indecent assault on a then-aged 15-year-old boy and five males aged 17 to 34 between 1970 and 1986.

He was charged following an 18-month inquiry by Sussex Police with offences which were allegedly committed in East Sussex and Devon.

House, of Brighton Road, Handcross, has been freed on bail and will appear at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on February 27.

Police said he faces two indecent assault charges on a boy who was then aged 15 in Devon between 1970 and 1971.

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Pope Francis: The Times They Are A-Changin’

UNITED STATES
Rolling Stone

By Mark Binelli
January 28, 2014

Nearly every Wednesday in Rome, the faithful and the curious gather in St. Peter’s Square for a general audience with the pope. Since the election of the former Jorge Mario Bergoglio last March, attendance at papal events has tripled to 6.6 million. On a recent chilly morning in December, the thousands of amassed pilgrims appear to gleam in the sunlight, covering the square like a pixelated carpet. Maybe it’s all the smartphones raised to the heavens.

Up close, Pope Francis, the 266th vicar of Jesus Christ on Earth, a man whose obvious humility, empathy and, above all, devotion to the economically disenfranchised has come to feel perfectly suited to our times, looks stouter than on television. Having famously dispensed with the more flamboyant pontifical accessories, he’s also surprisingly stylish, today wearing a double-breasted white overcoat, white scarf and slightly creamier cassock, all impeccably tailored.

The topic of Francis’ catechesis, or teaching, is Judgment Day, though, true to form, he does not try to conjure images of fire and brimstone. His predecessor, Benedict XVI, speaking on the topic, once said, “Today we are used to thinking: ‘What is sin? God is great, he understands us, so sin does not count; in the end God will be good toward all.’ It’s a nice hope. But there is justice, and there is real blame.”

Francis, 77, by contrast, implores the crowd to think of the prospect of meeting one’s maker as something to look forward to, like a wedding, where Jesus and all of the saints in heaven will be waiting with open arms. He looks up from his script twice to repeat key lines: avanti senza paura (“go without fear”) and che quel giudizio finale è già in atto (“the final judgment is already happening”). Coming from this pope, the latter point sounds more like a friendly reminder. His voice is disarmingly gentle, even when amplified over a vast public square.

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Former Kingsport priest has conviction upheld by appeals court

TENNESSEE
Times News

NICK SHEPHERD
General Assignment
nshepherd@timesnews.net

January 28th, 2014 10:40 am by NICK SHEPHERD

A former Kingsport Catholic priest sentenced to 35 years in prison had his sentence upheld by the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

William Casey, 79, was convicted in 2011 for first-degree sexual misconduct and two counts of aggravated rape. He was alleged to have sexually abused an alter boy shortly after becoming priest of St. Dominic’s Catholic Church in the 1970s.

“I’m pleased the the conviction was affirmed,” said District Attorney Barry Staubus. “It was a very tough case and I’m glad the Court of Appeals affirmed it.”

Casey was sentenced to 15 to 20 years on the first-degree criminal sexual misconduct and two concurrent 20-year terms on the two aggravated rape counts.

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Salvos raped children in care

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DAN BOX THE AUSTRALIAN JANUARY 29, 2014

A SALVATION Army captain raped young children in his care, sent boys to other adults’ homes to be sexually assaulted, and oversaw a children’s home where members of the public entered the dormitories at night to commit further abuse.

The man, Lawrence Wilson, was one of five Salvation Army officers who allegedly abused dozens of boys at four children’s homes in Queensland and NSW, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard yesterday.

The five worked together or succeeded one another at the homes between 1957 and 1975, the commission heard, with Wilson on at least one occasion allegedly helping one of the others move between states to avoid jail.

Many of the children they allegedly abused had been abandoned or taken from their parents for their own protection before being sent to the homes, where they often went hungry and shoeless, and were subjected to routine cruelty, the commission heard.

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Historical Abuse Inquiry hears Sisters of Nazareth nuns ‘were almost psychotic’

NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

Nuns’ treatment of children at a residential care home was “bordering on the psychotic”, Northern Ireland’s Historical Abuse Inquiry has been told.

Sisters of Nazareth nuns thumped and kicked children at Termonbacca, the first witness to give evidence said.

The former resident described the home as a “hell-hole” and likened it to a concentration camp.

He said children were forced to clean floors in a chain, with their arms linked and rags under both feet.

The inquiry is investigating abuse claims against children’s residential institutions from 1922 to 1995.

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Northern Ireland Child Abuse: Children Forced To ‘Eat Their Own Vomit’ In Church-Run ‘Hell Hole’

NORTHERN IRELAND
Huffington Post

Children at residential homes run by Catholic nuns were treated like prisoners at a Nazi concentration camp, a former resident has claimed.

The largest ever public inquiry into child abuse at residential care homes in Northern Ireland has heard harrowing details of victim’s experiences.

Children at the church-run “hell hole” were made to eat their own vomit, the court had already been told.

Young people at Sisters of Nazareth properties in Derry were known by their numbers rather than names and many allegedly subjected to humiliation, threats and physical abuse, counsel to the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry Christine Smith QC said.

One witness told the inquiry on Tuesday he was put in a chain gang polishing floors, bathed in detergent as punishment and sexually assaulted by a woman when he was aged five or six.

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Man describes ‘psychotic’ behaviour of Derry nuns at children’s home

NORTHERN IRELAND
The Guardian (UK)

Henry McDonald, Ireland correspondent
theguardian.com, Tuesday 28 January 2014

Nuns at a care home for children in Northern Ireland behaved like they were psychotic, the largest ever inquiry in UK legal history into child abuse has heard.

A former child resident told the inquiry on Tuesday that the Sisters of Nazareth in the Termonbacca care home thumped and kicked children.

In his evidence to the historical institutional abuse inquiry, the witness described the Derry home as a “hellhole” and akin to a concentration camp.

Some children, dressed in rags, were chained and forced to clean floors, the man told the inquiry at Banbridge courthouse.

The witness said he was once sexually abused by a woman at the home, although he could not recall if it was a nun or a civilian worker. At the time he was aged five or six years and was later transferred from the Derry home to another run by the Christian Brothers in the Irish Republic.

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NY–Accused New York priest passes away

NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, January 28, 2014

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

Accused New York priest passes away
He molested young seminarians & worked in Goshen
After his victims came forward, cleric was sent to Rome
He was subject of newspaper investigation on “runaway priests”
Victims blast Cardinal Dolan & religious order for “continuing secrecy”

A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is disclosing that a New York Catholic priest who was accused of molesting children has passed away. Investigative reporters discovered Mataconis “in hiding” in Rome.

[Dallas Morning News]

He is Fr. Richard Mataconis who worked in Goshen in the Archdiocese of New York, where two boys accused him of abuse. He also went by the name Philip Mataconis.

Mataconis’ death was mentioned in the January 23, 2014, newsletter of the Salesians of Don Bosco, the religious order to which he belonged.

In 2012, Mataconis was sued for allegedly molesting two boys at a Salesian center in Goshen, NY, in the Archdiocese of New York. The suits were dismissed because of a legal technicality. Soon after, Mataconis fled the country.

A 2004 investigation by the Dallas Morning News found that Fr. Mataconis was living in Rome, where he was guiding tours of the Catacombs of St. Callistus and “mingling with adults and children.”

[BishopAccountability.org]

SNAP believes he was intentionally sent there by Salesian officials who feared that there may be more Matagonis victims in the US with rights in civil or criminal courts.

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Federal government sues Catholic entities involved in residential schools

CANADA
Catholic Register

Written by Deborah Gyapong, Canadian Catholic News

Tuesday, 28 January 2014

OTTAWA – The federal government is suing Catholic entities involved in the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement over $1.5 million in contested funds.

“We had requested mediation” and binding arbitration, said Grouard-McLennan Archbishop Gerard Pettipas, who chairs the board of the Corporation of Catholic Entities Party to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement), representing more than 50 Catholic entities, either dioceses or religious orders that ran Indian residential schools.

The archbishop also expressed “frustration” with the results of a fundraising campaign that was part of the $79-million settlement.

“We were to take up a Canada-wide campaign to try to raise $25 million,” Pettipas said. “It is evident to us now we are not going to meet that goal.”

The fundraising portion of the agreement is not a part of the lawsuit, and contrary to news reports, is not owed the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, the archbishop explained.

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Children’s homes ‘like Auschwitz’

NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

28 JANUARY 2014

Church-run “hell hole” children’s homes in Ireland were like Nazi concentration camps, a former resident claimed.

He was in a chain gang polishing floors, bathed in detergent as punishment and sexually assaulted by a woman when he was aged five or six, the witness told the UK’s largest ever inquiry into child abuse.

The Sisters of Nazareth order of nuns oversaw St Joseph’s Home in Termonbacca in Londonderry and used to bath the children in Jeyes fluid.

The witness claimed: “It was kind of like a Zyklon B gas chamber.”

The alleged abuse happened in the 1950s and 60s. He was later transferred to a home in Galway in the Irish Republic owned by the Christian Brothers.

“Essentially a Gulag, a child’s prison,” he claimed.

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Former resident compares children’s homes to Nazi concentration camps

NORTHERN IRELAND
RTE News

A former resident of children’s homes in Northern Ireland and the Republic has compared them to Nazi concentration camps or gulags

The 62-year-old Co Donegal native told Northern Ireland’s Historical Abuse Inquiry that he was sexually assaulted by a woman when he was aged five or six.

The man was a resident at St Joseph’s Home in Termonbacca in Derry, which was run by the Nazareth Order of nuns, at the time.

He told the inquiry he did not know whether the woman was a lay member of staff or a nun.

The man said he and his brother were later transferred to an Industrial School in Galway run by the Christian Brothers.

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Woman abused by priest speaks out: ‘… There was this blackness over my soul’

OREGON
KPTV

[with video]

EUGENE, OR (KPTV) –
She survived years of sex abuse at the hand of her priest, prompting her to file a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Portland.

Carolee Horning has tried to remain out of the spotlight throughout it all over the years, keeping the details of what happened to her private.

But now, she’s deciding to share her personal struggle with FOX 12 as part of an investigative series shedding light on the issue of child sex abuse in Oregon.

“I used to say, when I talked about him, there was this blackness over my soul,” Horning said.

For 20 years she kept his secret, manipulated by her spiritual mentor.

“It started when I was a teen. Nobody knew,” she said. “But you contribute to the problem when you shut it out. It’s happening to someone right now,” said Horning.

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S*x hungry muslim priest arrested for abusing puplis

GHANA
Spy Ghana

RESIDENTS OF VALCO Flats, a suburb of Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region, are on the heels of an Islamic cleric who allegedly sexually abused some pupils of an Islamic school he heads.

The cleric, whose name was only mentioned as Mallam Ibrahim, was said to have lured some female pupils of his school to his room and forced them to suck his manhood before having sexual intercourse with them, so he could spare them sanctions for any wrongdoing.

A resident who captured a spectacle of the Mallam naked on video, confronted him, but the Mallam threatened to deal with him.

Mallam Ibrahim absconded after he was physically confronted by residents who saw the picture of him ‘in action’. He is currently at large.

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Salvation Army officers abuse of children ‘violent and extreme’

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DAN BOX THE AUSTRALIAN JANUARY 28, 2014

DOZENS of children suffered “violent and extreme” abuse at the hands of five Salvation Army officers who worked together at boys’ homes in Queensland and NSW over several decades, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has heard.

The men swapped jobs, shared victims and in at least one case helped each other move to new positions within the organisation in order to avoid jail, the commission has heard.

Some of the children under their care were also sexually abused by other Salvation Army officers and staff, as well as members of the public, including two pensioners allowed to live on the site of one boys’ home and others who were given access to the children’s dormitories at night.

Other deeply traumatic evidence before the commission alleges boys were raped until they bled, were beaten and kept in cages for days when they attempted to report their own abuse, and were on occasion forced to eat their own vomit.

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Commission hears of hungry boys eating grass at Salvation Army home

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian (UK)

Australian Associated Press
theguardian.com, Tuesday 28 January 2014

The royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse heard on Tuesday how boys at one Salvation Army home ate grass and raw potatoes because they were so hungry.

Raymond Carlile, who was seven when he and his younger brother were sent to a Salvos home at Riverview in Queensland in the 1950s, also told the inquiry that children who had wet the bed were made to sleep on a veranda with just a lattice frame between them and the elements.

His brother, who had a kidney removed before he was sent to the home, endured the punishment. They were so hungry his brother ate grass.

“I tried to encourage him to eat the potatoes”, said Carlile, who recalled how he found raw potatoes stored under the veranda and ate them.

Carlile said he witnessed boys being caned until they bled. He said Salvation Army officer Lieutenant Laurence Wilson was the most brutal.

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