ABUSE TRACKER

VATICAN CITY
ABC News

VATICAN CITY May 19, 2014 (AP)

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press

The Vatican’s financial watchdog agency said Monday that “corrective measures” were necessary at the Holy See’s troubled bank to continue the path toward financial transparency and compliance with international norms.

Financial Intelligence Authority Director Rene Bruelhart said a long-awaited investigation of the bank, officially called Institute for Religious Works, included looking into its practice of not disclosing the names of the true account holders in its transactions with Italian banks.

He said the main problems identified in the inspection, which has been called for by European anti-money laundering evaluators, concerned the bank’s procedures for identifying high-risk activities, and that more detail was necessary.

Bruelhart spoke to reporters Monday after his authority’s annual report showed a spike in the number of suspicious financial transactions being reported: 202 in 2013 compared with only six a year earlier and just one in 2011. Five of those 202 were referred to Vatican prosecutors for possible investigation.

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

NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish Times

Mon, May 19, 2014

The UK’s largest ever public inquiry into institutional child abuse is to travel to Australia to interview alleged victims transferred from Northern Ireland.

More than 100 children were removed from church-run residential homes in Northern Ireland, most to Western Australia after the war. An investigation chaired by retired judge Sir Anthony Hart is examining whether they were physically, sexually or emotionally harmed during their journey.

Lawyers and support staff are expected to pay their second visit to the antipodes next month ahead of public hearings in September, Sir Anthony said.

He added: “The inquiry will examine the operation of the child migrant scheme in the context of children from Northern Ireland institutions who were sent to Australia.

“Before that module can start, we have to complete our preparatory work for it and a major part of that involves a second team from the inquiry going from Northern Ireland to Australia to speak to those applicants who were not seen during last year’s trip.”

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

VATICAN CITY
NDTV

Agence France-Presse | Updated: May 19, 2014

The Vatican bank’s stepped-up internal monitoring has led to a sharp rise in suspicious transaction reports — from just six in 2012 to 202 in 2013 and collaboration with foreign financial authorities has increased sharply.

“It means that the reporting system starts working, is working,” Rene Bruelhart, director of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority, a supervisory body, said as he presented its 2013 report on Monday.

The agency said that there had been a “notable” rise in reported shady deals at the bank, the Institute for Religious Works or IOR, and that it had so far passed on five requests for further investigation by Vatican justice.

In 2011, just one suspicious transaction was reported.

The AIF said that the number of requests for information it had received from foreign authorities had also increased to 28 from just one in 2012 and the number of similar requests it received were 53 in 2013 compared to three in 2012.

“This increase is also due to international cooperation fostered by a series of bilateral agreements we have concluded,” Bruelhart said in a statement.

The number of cash withdrawals above 10,000 euros fell to 1,557 in 2013 from 1,782 in 2012 and there were 550 declarations for cash deposits above that amount compared to 598 in 2012.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC – AM

Thomas Oriti reported this story on Monday, May 19, 2014

CHRIS UHLMANN: The royal commission into child sexual abuse is preparing to hear evidence that a teacher at a Perth school molested students in his classroom.

The man abused primary school students for a decade, despite repeated warnings from other teachers. Concerns were raised as recently as 2009. And because the victims are still young, there are strict rules on what can be said in the public hearing.

Thomas Oriti reports.

THOMAS ORITI: The royal commission has already examined child sexual abuse at Christian Brothers homes in Western Australia, dating back to the 1940s. But this next hearing involves some victims who are still in their teenage years.

JANETTE DINES: The case study looks at offending by a male teacher over a period of 10 years.

THOMAS ORITI: Janette Dines is the royal commission’s CEO.

JANETTE DINES: The facts involve concerns being raised by teachers and a parent about the level and type of conduct that the teacher was having with year four students.

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

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 19 May 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has:

– appointed Metropolitan Archbishop Jose Luis Mollaghan of Rosaria, Argentina as member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, with responsibility for the Commission for the examination of appeals by clergy accused of “delicta graviora”, to be established.

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

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 19 May 2014 (VIS) – The Autorità di Informazione Finanziaria (AIF) – Financial Intelligence Authority – of the Holy See and the Vatican City State has presented its Annual Report for 2013. The report reviews the activities and statistics of AIF for the year 2013.

The year 2013 has seen a significant strengthening of the legal and institutional framework of the Holy See and Vatican City State to effectively combat financial crime, an institutionalisation of international collaboration of the competent authority of the Holy See with its foreign counterparts, and a massively improved performance in monitoring potential financial wrongdoing.

“In 2013 we have taken further decisive steps to foster the legal framework, and, at the same time, to make it work in practice,” said Rene Brulhart, Director of the AIF. He continued: “The Evaluation conducted by Moneyval, the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism of the Council of Europe, in December 2013, and our statistics allow us to say that today we have a proper and equivalent system in place to prevent and fight financial crime. A system that is well in line with international standards”.

The AIF has recorded a notable uptake in suspicious transaction reports (STR), from 6 in 2012 to 202 in 2013. This increase reflects both the development of the legal framework and a substantial improvement in the operational performance of the supervised entities with regard to the prevention of financial crime. Five reports have been passed on to the Vatican Promoter of Justice for further investigation by judicial authorities.

The number of requests from AIF submitted to foreign authorities has increased from 1 in 2012 to 28; the number of requests received by the AIF from foreign authorities has risen from 3 in 2012 to 53 in 2013. “This increase is also due to international cooperation fostered by a series of bilateral agreements we have concluded,” said Brulhart. In 2013, AIF became a member of the Egmont Group, the global network of Financial Intelligence Units, and signed various bilateral agreements to institutionalize mutual collaboration in the area of anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism. Memoranda of Understanding have been signed with Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia and the United States.

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

CANADA
VOCM

A local priest who was suspended pending an RNC investigation won’t be charged, but Father Wayne Dohey will remain suspended from St. Patrick’s Parish until a decision comes back from Rome, says Archbishop Martin Currie. Currie says he learned on Friday that the RNC have concluded their investigation. However, he says that doesn’t mean Dohey will be reinstated. He says because of the way the Church has treated police investigations in the past, there is now a protocol that must be followed. He says the Church was criticized in Ray Lahey’s case for not using information properly. And he says, that’s not the only case, so he’s following a strict protocol without any exceptions.

Currie says this is his first time following the Vatican’s new protocol, but if a priest is guilty of wrongdoing in the eyes of the Church, the punishment can vary. The possible outcomes could be anything from sentencing to a monastery, to being relieved of duties as a priest.

The Archdiocese has not revealed the nature of the complaint, but has said it had nothing to do with recent allegations of fraud at the church.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Centre Daily Times

HOLLIDAYSBURG — The Rev. Michael Lewandowski has been suspended from public ministry as a result of an allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor that occurred in the 1980s, according to a news release from the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.

Lewandowski had served in the diocese since 1997 as pastor of St. Anne Parish in Davidsville.

According to the release, the diocese received notice from the Order of Friars Minor Conventual that the action had been taken in accordance with church policies for the protection of minors.

Bishop Mark L. Bartchak, according to the news release, has withdrawn Lewandowski’s “faculties to function as a priest in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown,” and the Franciscan Order is unaware of any other allegations of misconduct against Lewandowski.

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

CALIFORNIA
Mercury News

By Matthias Gafni
Contra Costa Times

POSTED: 05/18/2014

CONCORD — The Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office charged Woodside Elementary teacher Joseph Martin with 150 counts of molestation, but because of difficulties with the law, it was much trickier deciding whether to prosecute his bosses for possibly failing to report the alleged child abuse.

Prosecutors say their hands were tied because the “mandated reporting” law’s language creates a narrow one-year statute of limitations window that had closed.

Tina Jones, a Concord mother of two alleged victims, and others, including the district attorney and Concord police chief, say the law’s restrictive wording stymies prosecutions. They say it should be reviewed and, if necessary, changed.

“For many of the families in this, it’s just another level of victimization … to have no legal ramifications for (district employees) is so frustrating,” Jones said. “I think a one-year statute of limitations is ridiculous.”

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

PHILIPPINES
The Washington Times

By Meredith Somers-The Washington Times Sunday, May 18, 2014

The United Nations and victims advocates recently have amplified demands for an overhaul of the Vatican’s response to its sex abuse scandal, but Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle has been spearheading change for decades.

The archbishop of Manila, capital of the Philippines, said reports of abuse have even reached his island country, but the cases are being handled under instructions he helped to establish.

“There have been cases submitted to Rome for dispensation,” Cardinal Tagle said of the abuse reports in the Philippines, though he did not know the number. “In the interim, we are actively observing the guidelines we formulated. We are doing our best.”

Cardinal Tagle has been away from Manila for several weeks, having left early this month for a wedding in Chicago before flying to Rome and then to Washington, where he gave the homily Friday at Catholic University’s Baccalaureate Mass.

In an interview with The Washington Times at the university, the archbishop recalled the instructions passed down from Pope John Paul II during a conference of bishops and cardinals on what to do about the growing number of abuse cases being reported.

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

AUSTRALIA
9 News

A former teacher convicted of sexually abusing his student four decades ago is suing his victim for the legal costs of a compensation that never made it to court.

Neville Betteridge, 70, was convicted of sexually abusing his 14-year-old student, Mark Wurth, when he was a geography teacher and house master the Blue Mountains Grammar School in the 1970s.

“I didn’t know what was going on I didn’t understand yeah the whole thing particularly with another male,” Mr Wurth told A Current Affair about the man he trusted who would take him back to his room at night.
At the time, the affluent school in Wentworth Falls was run by the Anglican Church and operated as a boarding school.

“He’s actually just a disgusting piece of filth,” said the former student, now in his 50s.

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

UNITED STATES
Religion News Service

Sarah Pulliam Bailey | May 18, 2014

Two pastors are no longer listed on a Reformed evangelical group’s leadership after a different pastor from their church confessed to covering up sex abuse claims. Pastors Joshua Harris and C.J. Mahaney have left the Gospel Coalition council after a trial involving child abuse in the church they have both overseen.

A criminal trial that concluded last week has raised questions about which pastors at Covenant Life Church, a megachurch in Gaithersburg, Md., knew what about the abuse in which years.

Nathaniel Morales, 56, was convicted Thursday (May 15) of sexually abusing three young boys between 1983 and 1991 when he was a youth leader.

Former Covenant Life pastor Grant Layman suggested while testifying about allegations against Morales that he withheld information from the police about the 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.

MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson said Sunday that he is filing a sexual abuse lawsuit against St. John’s Abbey and one of its monks, Richard Eckroth.

Eckroth is accused of sexually abusing two young boys at a cabin in northern Minnesota during the early 1970s when they were parishioners at the Church of St. Joseph in St. Joseph.

Anderson will hold a news conference at noon Monday to announce the filing in Stearns County court. The suit was served Friday and will be filed Monday, he said.

Anderson will also release files on the late Robert Blumeyer, the late Cosmas Dahlheimer, Thomas Gillespie, Francis Hoefgen and Brennan Maiers — other St. John’s monks accused of sexually abusing children and all former employees of the St. Paul and Minneapolis Archdiocese. The files were obtained in a 2013 Ramsey County lawsuit.

Eckroth, Blumeyer, Dahlheimer, Gillespie, Hoefgen and Maiers were all listed as clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors by the Diocese of St. Cloud in a January report. Eckroth was living in Collegeville at the time of that report.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
The Tribune-Democrat

Justin Dennis
jdennis@tribdem.com

JOHNSTOWN — A Conventual Franciscan priest with the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese has been suspended from public ministry due to allegations of sexual abuse that occurred in the 1980s.

According to a release from the diocese, the Rev. Michael Lewandowski, OFM Conv., has been accused of sexual misconduct with a minor. His duties within the diocese were revoked by Bishop Mark Bartchak upon receipt of a notice from the Franciscan Order detailing the allegations.

Lewandowski had served the diocese since 1997 as pastor of St. Anne Parish in Davidsville.

Parishioners were informed of the allegations during weekend Mass services.

Officials from the Franciscan Order at the Our Lady of the Angels Province in Ellicott City, Maryland, have reported the allegations to authorities, the release states. The diocese and Franciscan Order are unaware of any further sexual misconduct allegations against Lewandowski, according to the release.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Daily American

The Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown has received notice from the Order of Friars Minor Conventual that Rev. Michael Lewandowski, OFM Conv., has been suspended from public ministry due to an allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor that occurred in the 1980s.

The Rev. Lewandowski has served in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown since 1997 as pastor of Saint Anne Parish in Davidsville. This action taken by the Franciscan Order was made according to Church policies for the protection of minors. Parishioners were informed at weekend Masses.

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

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Ken Briggs | May. 18, 2014 NCR Today

Scoffers were out in force when Northwestern University’s football team petitioned to form a union. How dare these upstarts kick sand in the faces of their benefactors! And how ridiculous of them to presume they had a claim on the university’s corporate enterprise? But the players convinced the court that they did have a case for considering themselves “employees” of the university who raked in tons of money which they may be entitled to more than the subsistence living they were receiving. To those weighing their plea, it was right of them to seek a formal voice in their own destiny though the immense legal and political force of the university will likely crush it as anti-union forces did recently at Volkswagen in Tennessee.

Catholic sisters may shudder by the comparison, but their plight isn’t so different. They produced good will and bona fides far beyond their numbers and resources for Mother Church yet they have no final authority over their own status in the church. Only ordained males are vested with decisions over Catholic policies and teachings. For ages, sisters have existed by sufferance of male clerics and responsible for their own financial well being. Like the football players, they give everything and get little in return.

The majority of American sisters have gone in a more independent direction since Vatican II because of opportunities they saw authorized by the Council itself. They took more initiative in deciding how they would live and how they would follow their community’s special mission. To much of the clerical order, the reforms the sisters undertook spelled “uppity.” Clerics still held all the ruling power but the sisters were testing the scope of that authority under a “people of God” church that was increasing critical of that strict chain of command.

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

UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: A native of Holland, Linssen began his Jesuit seminary studies in the Netherlands Province. Because he wanted to work in Alaska, he transferred to the Oregon Province where he was ordained in 1950. He began his career in Alaska in 1952 based at Holy Cross Mission, followed by several years in Hamilton and then Nelson Island. Linssen died during a storm while on a boat downriver from Bethel in 1960. In 2010 his name was included in the the Fairbanks diocese’s bankruptcy documents on a list of ‘Individuals against whom one person has brought a complaint of sexual abuse’.

Ordained: June 17, 1950
Died: Sept. 1960

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

MINNESOTA
KAAL

(ABC 6 NEWS) — Files of five St. John’s monks accused of sexually abusing children who worked in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will be publicly released at news conference on Monday, May 19. This is according to Jeff Anderson and Associates. A law firm based in St. Paul that represents sexual abuse survivors.

Files to be released include Robert Blumeyer, Cosmas Dahlheimer, Thomas Gillespie, Francis Hoefgen and Brennan Maiers. The files were obtained in a lawsuit filed in Ramsey County in 2013 involving the Archdiocese, Diocese of Winona and Father Thomas Adamson.

An announcement will also be made at the press conference concerning the filing of a sexual abuse lawsuit filed in Stearns County on behalf of two Minnesota men, Doe 33 and Doe 34, naming the Order of St. Benedict a/k/a and d/b/a St. John’s Abbey, and Richard Eckroth.

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

ITALY
Digital Journal

BY ERIC MORALES

Rome – A renewed light has shone on the issue of celibacy within the Catholic Church as Pope Francis receives a letter urging him to allow priests to have sex and marry.

Over two dozen women who claim they are having affairs with Catholic priests have written to Pope Francis urging him to end the priestly vow of celibacy within the Catholic Church. The group of women who met through a Facebook campaign wrote to the Pope stating that they were just a small sample of women who are secretly in love with Catholic priests, and keeping their relationships a secret.

“We love these men, they love us, and in most cases, despite all efforts to renounce it, one cannot manage to give up such a solid and beautiful bond,” they wrote. “We humbly place our suffering at your feet in the hope that something may change, not just for us, but for the good of the entire Church,” unnamed women continued in the letter that was first reported by the website Vatican Insider.

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

CANADA
CBC News

Charges will not be laid against a Roman Catholic priest who has been suspended from his position at a St. John’s church.

Archbishop Martin Currie removed Father Wayne Dohey as the priest for St. Patrick’s parish in early March, pending an investigation into a complaint.

But Currie confirmed on Sunday that the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary will not be proceeding with charges against Dohey.

The decision to suspend Dohey from all ministerial duties was made public in March in a statement issued by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John’s.

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

MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson & Associates

Media Advisory

May 18, 2014

St. Paul News Conference Monday

Richard Eckroth, St. John’s, Named in Lawsuit on Behalf of Two “Cabin Kids”

What: At a news conference on Monday in St. Paul former priest and monk Patrick Wall, along with attorneys Jeff Anderson and Mike Bryant, will:

· Release the files of five St. John’s monks accused of sexually abusing children who worked in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Files to be released include Robert Blumeyer, Cosmas Dahlheimer, Thomas Gillespie, Francis Hoefgen and Brennan Maiers. The files were obtained in a lawsuit filed in Ramsey County in 2013 involving the Archdiocese, Diocese of Winona and Father Thomas Adamson.

· Announce the filing of a sexual abuse lawsuit filed in Stearns County on behalf of two Minnesota men, Doe 33 and Doe 34, naming the Order of St. Benedict a/k/a and d/b/a St. John’s Abbey, and Richard Eckroth. The young boys, now adults, were parishioners at St. Joseph’s in St. Joseph, MN when Eckroth sexually abused them at a cabin in Northern Minnesota in the early 1970s. They are two of many kids believed to be raped and abused by Eckroth while a monk who is now, “on restriction at the abbey.”

Request that St. John’s release the files of the five monks as well as the files on all 17 clerics from St. John’s who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse involving minor children.

WHEN: Monday, May 19, 2014 at 12:00 PM CDT

WHERE: Jeff Anderson & Associates
366 Jackson Street, Suite 100
St. Paul, MN 55101

WHO: Patrick J. Wall, former priest and monk, works for Jeff Anderson & Associates as a consultant and advocate for sexual abuse survivors. Jeff Anderson has represented thousands of sexual abuse survivors for over 30 years and Mike Bryant of the firm Bradshaw & Bryant in St. Cloud has partnered with Jeff Anderson to help sexual abuse survivors in Minnesota obtain justice and healing.

Notes:

· Copies of the priest files, summaries and timelines will be available at the press conference and on our website tomorrow and the event will be live-streamed online with links available at www.andersonadvocates.com.

Contact Patrick Wall: Office: 651.583.7633 Cell: 949.307.3935
Contact Jeff Anderson: Office: 651.583.7633 Cell: 612.817.8665
Contact Mike Bryant: Office: 320.259.5414 Cell: 800.359.0061

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

PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

Updated: Sunday, May 18 2014

By: Sarah Rebb

DAVIDSVILLE, Pa. — Officials from the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown received notice from the Order of Friars Minor Conventual that Rev. Michael Lewandowski was suspended from the ministry due to sexual allegations that occurred in the 1980s.

Lewandowski served in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown since 1997 as a pastor of Saint Anne Parish in Davidsville, Somerset County. Lewandowski was suspended to protect minors and parishioners were informed about the incident during weekend Masses.

Bishop Mark L. Bartchak withdrew Lewandowski’s faculties as a priest in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
We Are Central PA

ALTOONA – A priest with the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese has been suspended after allegations of sexual misconduct stemming from the 1980s. The Diocese released the following statement today:

“The Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown has received notice from the Order of Friars Minor Conventual that Rev. Michael Lewandowski, OFM Conv., has been suspended from public ministry due to an allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor that occurred in the 1980s.

Father Lewandowski has served in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown since 1997 as pastor of Saint Anne Parish in Davidsville. This action taken by the Franciscan Order was made according to Church policies for the protection of minors. Parishioners were informed at weekend Masses.

Upon receipt of this notice from the Franciscan Order, Bishop Mark L. Bartchak has withdrawn Father Lewandowski’s faculties to function as a priest in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.

Officials of the Franciscan Order (Our Lady of the Angels Province, Ellicott City, MD) have reported the allegation to civil authorities. The Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown and the Franciscan Order are unaware of any other allegations of misconduct against Father Lewandowski.

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

MINNESOTA
KSTP

Created: 05/18/2014

By: Megan Stewart

Another lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by a clergy member is expected to be filed Monday in Stearns County.

In the suit, two victims allege they were abused by a St. Joseph monk at a cabin in Northern Minnesota during the 1970s, according to filing lawyers Jeff Anderson and Associates. The lawsuit will name Richard Eckroth, the Order of St. Benedict and St. John’s Abbey, Anderson said.

Eckroth’s name was released in January in the Diocese of St. Cloud’s list of priests credibly accused of sexually abusing minors. He was said to have worked at St. Benedict High School, St. Joseph; St. Augustine, St. Cloud; Seven Dolors, Albany; St. Raphael’s Convent, St. Cloud; St. Scholastica Convent, St. Cloud.

The diocese said Eckroth currently lives in Collegeville, Minnesota.

Also on on Monday at a news conference, Anderson will release files of five St. John’s monks that worked in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis who have been accused of sexually abusing children.

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

SCHWEIZ
Die Welt

[Summary: The Swiss have voted to tighten laws against sex offenders. Among the new measures: A person convicted of sexually abusing children lose the right to pursue professional or voluntary work with minors or dependents.]

Christine Bussat hat als Einzelkämpferin begonnen. Ihr erstes Volksbegehren lancierte die 43 Jahre alte gelernte Schmuckverkäuferin aus Genf vor zehn Jahren ganz ohne politische Erfahrung und ohne Expertenwissen, “praktisch aus dem Nichts heraus”, wie es die “Basler Zeitung” einmal formulierte. Erfolgreich war die Initiative “Für die Unverjährbarkeit pornografischer Straftaten an Kindern” trotzdem: Knapp 52 Prozent der Schweizer stimmten 2008 für Bussats Vorschlag.

Nun hat die dreifache Mutter und Gründerin der Kinderschutzorganisation Marche Blanche eine weitere Verschärfung der Schweizer Gesetze gegen Sexualstraftäter durchgesetzt. 63,5 Prozent von Christine Bussats Landsleuten stimmten laut Auskunft des Regierungssprechers für die von ihr lancierte “Pädophilen-Initiative”.

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

ITALY
Telegraph (UK)

By Tom Kington in Rome 18 May 2014

A group of 26 Italian women who claim to be having affairs with Catholic priests have written a joint letter to Pope Francis begging him to end the Catholic Church’s ban on priests having sex and getting married.

The women, who met through a Facebook campaign, wrote to the Pope requesting a meeting to put forward their case, claiming they were just “a small sample” of the many partners of priests “living in silence”.

“We love these men, they love us, and in most cases, despite all efforts to renounce it, one cannot manage to give up such a solid and beautiful bond,” they wrote.

“We humbly place our suffering at your feet in the hope that something may change, not just for us, but for the good of the entire Church,” added the unnamed women in the letter that was first reported by the website Vatican Insider.

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

AUSTRALIA
J-Wire

May 15, 2014 by J-Wire Staff

Sydney Yeshiva camp volunteer Daniel “Gug” Hayman has pleaded guilty to indecent assault by a person of authority on two male complainants and a charge of indecency against a female complaint has been dropped.

Rabbi Eli Feldman told J-Wire that he stands by the statement he made last November in which he said it was clear the Hayman was not a Yeshiva employee but a volunteer.

His full statement from last year: “Mr Daniel Hayman was arrested yesterday on charges of child sexual abuse allegations from more than 25 years ago.

Mr Hayman attended Yeshiva Synagogue to pray or for classes but was never an employee or teacher at the Yeshiva Centre. Any volunteer work that he offered Yeshiva did not include responsibility for children.

We would like to assure the community that Mr Hayman currently has no association with Yeshiva and has been disassociated from the Sydney Yeshiva Centre for more than a decade. He was instrumental in establishing the Tzemach Tzedek Synagogue which broke away from Yeshiva over ten years 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.

UNITED STATES
Irish Central

Tom Deignan @irishcentral May 18,2014

It couldn’t last forever.

Sure, things were giddy for awhile. Pope Francis certainly seemed to have the stuff of a rock star pope. No wonder he was on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine!

But for all the cool things he said, there was still a church to run, a church to drag – perhaps kicking and screaming – into the 21st century.

Well, the dragging has begun. And so has the kicking and screaming.

Over in Cincinnati, the lay organization Voice of the Faithful, which rose to prominence in the wake of the horrors of the sex abuse scandals, has taken on a new battle. The group has paid for numerous billboards throughout the Ohio city asking: “Would Pope Francis Sign the New Catholic Teacher Contract?”

The city’s 2,000-plus teachers have been asked to sign an expanded contract which ensures that in and out of the classroom – in their private lives – they maintain rigid adherence to Catholic doctrine.

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

FLORIDA
Tampa Tribune

By Elizabeth Behrman | Tribune Staff , Jose Patino | Tribune Staff Jose Patino
Published: May 17, 2014

TAMPA — A popular priest killed himself Monday, days after the Diocese of St. Petersburg launched an investigation into his church’s finances, authorities said.

A maintenance worker found the Rev. Vladimir Dziadek, 57, at the bottom of a staircase in the living quarters at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Monday, police said. A few days earlier, representatives from the diocese had met with Dziadek after an auditor discovered irregularities in the church’s quarterly financial report.

The representatives were scheduled to meet again with Dziadek, said Frank Murphy, spokesman for the diocese.

“People are concerned, and we want to get out all the facts before we say anything,” he said.

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

CHILE
Oman Tribune

SANTIAGO Chile’s child welfare service is investigating reports that a Catholic priest was involved in giving babies up for adoption in the 1970s and 1980s without their parents’ knowledge, telling the biological mothers that their child had died.

Chilean investigative journalism centre Ciper published a report last month saying that an unknown number of babies who were born to unmarried mothers were illegally given to other families. In some cases, the women were persuaded it was the best choice for them, but in others they were told the baby had died soon after childbirth, the report said.

The cases took place during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. In Argentina, there are hundreds of documented cases of babies being taken away from imprisoned mothers who were considered subversives by the state during the ‘dirty war’ in the 1970s.

However, in Chile’s traditional Catholic society, the babies were removed from women from middle-class families not for overtly political reasons but because of the stigma attached to unmarried mothers at the time.

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

FLORIDA
10 News

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – A Tampa pastor has been found dead amid an investigation he had embezzled money from his church.

Tampa Police say the Rev. Vladimir Dziadek was discovered Monday at the bottom of a staircase at the offices of St. Joseph Catholic Church. He had apparently hanged himself with a belt tied to a banister.

Police say the priest was due to appear at a church hearing Monday regarding allegations he had taken about $200,000 from the church and “gambled it away.” The Diocese of St. Petersburg says it is nearing completion of its investigation.

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

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE ARCHDIOCESAN WEEKLY St. Louis Review quotes and pictures an English priest, Fr. Andrew Pinsent. Parishioners on The Hill may recall his tenure in their midst, especially the scene he caused one Sunday morning in 2007 when he accosted SNAP’s Barbara Dorris on the sidewalk outside St. Ambrose. She was handing out fliers about two predator priests who had worked at the parish. Fr. Pinsent was charged with disturbing the peace but left the U.S. before the case against him could be adjudicated.

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

AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

THE Royal Commission investigating child sex abuse in institutions will hold private sessions in the Kimberley region of Western Australia on Monday.

Officers from the commission will be in Broome and Kununurra to meet with people interested in sharing their story.

Royal Commission CEO Janette Dines says the visit will provide an important opportunity for people who were sexually abused as children in institutions to disclose their mistreatment.

“We strongly encourage all survivors who wish to share their story in private with a commissioner to make contact with the Royal Commission or a local support service,” Ms Dines said.

She said more than 1500 private sessions have been held across Australia to date, including more than 160 in Western Australia.

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

CANADA
Calgary Herald

BY TAMSYN BURGMANN, THE CANADIAN PRESS MAY 18, 2014

VANCOUVER – Carla Robinson’s mother was sexually abused as a child attending two Indian residential schools in British Columbia, but her father dodged that system and encouraged both his daughter and her children to pursue higher education.

The decades-old torment for her mother, however, has resurfaced to produce fresh anger and suspicion after the Robinson family learned a $3,000 education credit offered as part of the residential schools settlement may not be used as tuition for her 12-year-old granddaughter’s private arts school.

Many more survivors also fear they won’t be able to access the money.

Robinson’s case is one among hundreds of wide-ranging complaints expressed by First Nations families across Canada since a January announcement that remaining compensation from the $1.9 billion settlement fund would be dispersed for educational purposes. A dedicated information line, set up to help survivors making their claim, has also received more than 9,300 calls to date.

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

OKLAHOMA
News On 6

TULSA, Oklahoma – A judge denied the bond reduction request for a Tulsa pastor charged with six counts of lewd molestation Friday.

Judge David C. Youll denied the request of Pastor Damien Keith Bonner who will remain in jail on a $300,000 bond.

5/14/2014 Related Story: Pastor Of Tulsa Church In Custody For Lewd Molestation

Bonner is facing six counts of lewd molestation after a 14-year-old girl accused him of abusing her.

The girl told police she met Bonner at the Galilee Baptist Church, where Bonner is the senior pastor, but said the abuse happened at Bonner’s Owasso apartment.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Chronicle

Chris Calcino 16th May 2014

FORMER Catholic school principal Terence Hayes has defended his decision not to notify police of abuse claims against pedophile teacher Gerard Vincent Byrnes.

Legal submissions to the royal commission into child sexual abuse have revealed a great deal of buck-passing as key witnesses argue their innocence.

Byrnes is serving 10 years’ imprisonment for 44 child sex offences involving 13 girls aged between eight and 10 years old at a Toowoomba school.

“Whilst Mr Hayes accepts responsibilities for his own failures to comply with (or indeed consult) the student protection kit, there is a systemic issue here … he did not receive the advice which he ought to have been given – in particular to comply with the student protection kit,” Mr Hayes’ submission stated.

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

SCOTLAND
The Scotsman

by STEPHEN MCGINTY
Published on the 18 May 2014

CHURCH officials have warned that Catholic dioceses and bishops who ignored complaints over alleged sexual abuse by priests will be reported to police for prosecution.

Complaints of clerical sexual abuse stretching back almost 70 years are the subject of a review by the Catholic Church in Scotland, which insists any serious complaint since 1947 must be passed on to the police even if both alleged victim and priest are dead.

Tina Campbell, national safeguarding co-ordinator for the Scottish Catholic Church, said that for the first time the eight dioceses will be made accountable for their handling of clerical sexual abuse and that allegations ignored by previous bishops will be reported by her office to Police Scotland.

She said: “They are having to report if they have actioned or not. If they say, ‘we found something in the file but we haven’t reported it to the police’, they will be questioned about that.

“If there is an allegation and it has not been reported to police it must now be ­reported.”

The Catholic Church in Scotland is undergoing a two-tiered examination of its handling of clerical sex abuse. The McLellan Commission, led by the Very Reverend Dr Andrew McLellan, a former moderator of the Church of Scotland, is examining the Catholic Church’s current safety provisions and is expected to report early next year.

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

NEW YORK
Failed Messiah

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

What happened with the sweetheart plea deal given to Rabbi Baruch Lebovits today in a Brooklyn court?

In part the deal was given because of another sweetheart plea deal handed out earlier this week by a new Brooklyn DA many anti-abuse activists now consider to be corrupt.

In court today, Lebovits admitted to having oral sex with a teenage boy on eight different occasions from 2004 and 2005.

In 2010 Lebovits was convicted of the same charges and sentenced to 10 2/3 to 32 years in prison. But that conviction was overturned in 2012 on a technicality that did not impact the evidence against Lebovits. (The appellate court noted the evidence against Lebovits remained strong.)

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

NEW YORK
The New York Times

By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD
MAY 16, 2014

A sexual abuse case that divided the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn and created rifts in the borough’s district attorney’s office ended on Friday as a once-prominent cantor pleaded guilty to molestation.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, the cantor, Baruch Lebovits, will receive a sentence of two years, but will receive credit for the 13 months he has already served under a previous conviction on the same charges.

The initial conviction in 2010, which was overturned, was seen as a high-profile victory for Charles J. Hynes, then the district attorney, who was trying to combat criticism that he was too lenient in prosecuting sexual abuse cases among ultra-Orthodox Jews. Mr. Lebovits was found guilty of molesting a teenage boy on eight occasions several years earlier, and was sentenced to between 10 ½ and 32 years in prison.

But in 2012, an appeals court overturned the conviction and authorized his release, ruling that he had been deprived of a fair trial because prosecutors took too long to turn over a detective’s notes about a witness.

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

NEW YORK
New York Post

By Josh Saul
May 16, 2014

An Orthodox Jewish man pleaded guilty to sex abuse charges Friday in a deal that lets him serve as little as three months behind bars — ending a case that the Brooklyn district attorney had made a priority.

Baruch Lebovits, 62, answered “Yes” eight times as Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Mark Dwyer asked him whether he had engaged in oral sex with a teenage boy on eight different occasions in 2004 and 2005.

The case against Lebovits became a political hot potato in the 2013 race for Brooklyn district attorney when then-DA candidate Ken Thompson sent then-DA Charles Hynes a letter in November asking that no plea deal be given to Lebovits before Thompson took office.

After Thompson was elected, he assigned top homicide prosecutor Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi to the case.

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

NEW YORK
Gothamist

An ultra-Orthodox cantor has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a teenage boy—and he’s only facing months in jail as a result. Baruch Lebovits, 62, was previously convicted of eight counts of molestation, but that case was overturned in 2012 on a technicality. And this week, Lebovits fully admitted that he engaged in oral sex with a teenage boy on eight different occasions in 2004 and 2005.

Lebovits was sentenced to 10 ½ to 32 years in prison in 2010 for raping children in Borough Park. At the time, Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Patricia DiMango showed no mercy, telling the court, “It is important for the courts to send a clear message that abusing and harming children will not be tolerated.”

But his conviction was reversed on a series of technicalities. According to the Times, an appeal’s court decided Lebovits “had been deprived of a fair trial because prosecutors took too long to turn over a detective’s notes about a witness.” The case became emblematic of problems under former Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes in prosecuting sexual abuse cases among ultra-Orthodox Jews.

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

NEW YORK
The Jewish Daily Forward

Baruch Lebovits, a once prominent cantor in Brooklyn pleaded guilty on Friday to molesting a teenage boy, according to The New York Times.

Lebovits received a sentence of two years, but will likely serve only a few months in city jail. The arrangement will allow him to count 13 months served in jail under a previous conviction for the same charge towards his sentence.

Lebovits was sentenced in 2010 to serve between 10.5 and 32 years in prison for eight counts of molestation. But, according to the Times, “An appeals court overturned the conviction and authorized his release, ruling that he had been deprived of a fair trial because prosecutors took too long before turning over a detective’s notes about a key witness.”

Prosecutors recently offered Lebovits four to 12 years. Last week, Lebovits’s council sent a memorandum to the State Supreme Court arguing for a lighter sentence, citing the sentences in similar cases. The prosecution offered two to six years, and the judge settled on two.

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

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY OREN YANIV
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Published: Friday, May 16, 2014

A Brooklyn cantor pleaded guilty Friday to molesting a teenage boy a decade ago, putting an end to a protracted and politicized case.

Baruch Lebovits, 62, will be sentenced to two years for the 2004 sex abuse, but will likely do about six months in jail after good behavior and time served.

The resolution — coming after a trial, a lengthy prison term, a reversal on appeal and years of bitter litigation — is in line with the average punishment for these type of crimes, a judge said.

“It’s a tremendous relief that justice has finally been done,” said Lebovits’ lawyer Arthur Aidala, who led the Hasidic man’s high-powered defense team.

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

POLAND
The Eagle

Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Wojciech Polak as the new primate, or honorary leader, of Poland’s influential Roman Catholic Church.

The 49-year-old Polak succeeds Archbishop Jozef Kowalczyk, who resigned in August after reaching the retirement age of 75. Kowalczyk was first papal nuncio in democratic Poland in 1989-2010.

Poland’s Episcopate said Saturday that the inauguration ceremony for Polak will be held June 7 in Poland’s historic capital of Gniezno, at the cathedral that dates back to the 10th century.

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

MINNESOTA
The Legal Examiner

Posted by Mike Bryant
May 17, 2014

Before 2013 there was a statute of limitations in Minnesota for survivors of child sexual abuse. For many years, the offenders and the church were able to hide behind this protection. They could fight using the statute of limitations and knew that unless fraud was proven, they probably could get cases dismissed. It was a time period when they didn’t have to worry about being supervised, when they didn’t have to worry about liability, and when they were able to bury old secrets. They must be penalized for this time period where they were allowed to be free of responsibility.

The Child Victims Act has changed things. By extending the statute of limitations on the civil side, we are fixing problems that cannot be fixed criminally. Everybody has to agree that these individuals belong in prison, however timelines do not allow for them to now face those charges. So the civil system must be used to get the community the most protection. The files must be turned over and all abuser names need to be disclosed.

Consequently, the civil lawsuit is the only remedy the client and society has to make sure that they are held responsible for the abhorrent things they did and continue to do.

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

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | May. 15, 2014 NCR Today

An open letter to the pope has asked for an apology to U.S. women religious and an intervention on their behalf in their ongoing reform discussions with the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation.

It was with “respect and gratitude” but also “concern and dismay” that The Nun Justice Project, a coalition of 16 progressive U.S. Catholic organizations, wrote Pope Francis Thursday regarding recent comments from Cardinal Gerhard Müller to the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. The organization, representing more than 90 percent of U.S. congregations of Catholic women religious, is currently under a reform mandate from the Müller-headed Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In opening marks April 30 ahead of a meeting in Rome between LCWR and the doctrinal congregation, Müller criticized the organization’s focus on conscious evolution and the process it used in selecting speakers and presenters.

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

CHILE
GlobalPost

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Chile’s child welfare service is investigating reports that a Catholic priest was involved in giving babies up for adoption in the 1970s and 1980s without their parents’ knowledge, telling the biological mothers that their child had died.

Chilean investigative journalism center Ciper published a report last month saying that an unknown number of babies who were born to unmarried mothers were illegally given to other families. In some cases, the women were persuaded it was the best choice for them, but in others they were told the baby had died soon after childbirth, the report said.

The cases took place during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. In neighboring Argentina, there are hundreds of documented cases of babies being taken away from imprisoned mothers who were considered subversives by the state during the military dictatorship’s ‘dirty war’ in the 1970s.

However, in Chile’s traditional Catholic society, the babies were removed from women from middle-class families not for overtly political reasons but because of the stigma attached to unmarried mothers at the time.

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

CANADA
Edmonton Journal

BY JANA G. PRUDEN, EDMONTON JOURNAL MAY 16, 2014

EDMONTON – A once-beloved Edmonton priest who was the subject of multiple complaints of sexual impropriety with women in his parish has been charged with multiple counts of sexual assault for alleged offences dating back nearly 30 years.

Albert Laisnez, 76, has been charged with three counts of sexual assault and three counts of gross indecency, a provision of the Criminal Code which was in existence until the late 1980s. The charges, which were laid earlier this year, relate to alleged incidents in 1986 and 1987 involving a single adult complainant.

The allegations have not been proven in court. A preliminary hearing is slated to take place in Sherwood Park on Dec. 11.

Lorraine Turchansky, a spokeswoman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton, said Laisnez served at several parishes in Alberta between the 1970s and 1996, when he was sent to a treatment facility for priests after publicly admitting to misconduct with adult women. She said he has not been an active priest since around that time.

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

UNITED STATES
Religion News Service

Boz Tchividjian | May 16, 2014

Churches should be some of the safest and most welcoming communities for those who have suffered from sexual abuse. Sadly, today these are some of the places survivors feel most vulnerable as they are often shamed, silenced, and judged.

This is most tragically illustrated by the case of a young girl who was sexually abused by a missionary doctor on the mission field. When she finally stepped forward and reported the abuse, the missionary leaders made this little 13-year-old girl sign a “confession” letter in which she had to acknowledge having “participated in a physical relationship” with the offender and end the letter with “…I know what I did was very wrong, and I am very sorry for it.” Years later this survivor told me that this damning letter is what shamed her into decades of feeling worthless and being silent. It doesn’t take a demand to sign a confession for a church to become an unsafe and unwelcoming place for survivors. Hurtful comments, the embracing of alleged perpetrators, the failure to offer assistance, and the pretending that this offense doesn’t exist in the Christian community are just a handful of ways that further wound survivors and drive them out of the very places that should be their refuge.

I want to share seven ways that I believe will help transform our churches into some of the safest and most welcoming communities for survivors of abuse.

Be a friend and listen: One of the best ways to serve survivors is to simply be their friend and listen. This does NOT mean we pity them and turn them into our special project. It means that we spend time with them, laugh with them, cry with them, and support them. It means that we validate them as human beings made in the image of God. It means that we don’t have all the answers, and it’s ok. Too many survivors have been traumatized by churches that fail to protect them, and then turn around and ignore them or tell them what to do. Perhaps we can help these amazing survivors shed the shame by being a safe person in a safe place.

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

MISSOURI
The Examiner

By Karl Zinke
karl.zinke@examiner.net
Posted May. 16, 2014

Independence, Mo.

A Blue Springs resident, who was a former church youth director in Independence, will spend 30 years in federal prison for child exploitation of seven minors and pornography.

U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays sentenced Dennis W. Myers, 53, to 30 years without parole, the maximum sentence possible for a serial abuser.

Myers pleaded guilty to transporting a minor across state lines for illegal sexual activity and receiving child pornography over the Internet.

The plea deal he struck with federal prosecutors compelled him to also plead guilty in Jackson County Circuit Court to state charges of first-degree statutory sodomy and attempted enticement of a child.

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

OKLAHOMA
Tulsa World

By AMANDA BLAND World Staff Writer

A Tulsa County judge has denied a request to reduce the bail amount for a minister who was charged with lewd molestation and arrested Wednesday.

Damien Keith Bonner, 32, was charged with six counts of lewd molestation and was arrested by the Northern Oklahoma Violent Crimes Task Force following an investigation by the Owasso Police Department. He remains in the Tulsa Jail with bail set at $300,000.

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

OHIO
NBC 24

by Bryant Maddrick
Posted: 05.16.2014

ERIE COUNTY — A Sandusky pastor has been indicted on rape charges involving two children.

According to court documents from the Erie County Common Pleas Court, Pastor Richard Mick of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Sandusky had sexual contact with the victims between 1999 and 2001.

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

UNITED STATES
PopeCrimes& Vatican Evils.

Paris Arrow

Here are the TOP 13 NEW LAWSUITS, POLICE HUNTS AND REVELATIONS on PEDOPHILE PRIESTS since the UN event last May 5-6 when the Vatican was interrogated for its criminal records of thousands of pedophile priests and their hundreds of thousands of victims – children sexually tortured and abused in catholic churches worldwide – covered-up by complicit bishops and cardinals. These prove that the UNCAT verdict of “guilty of torture” on the Holy See/Vatican is the last recourse of justice for these victims – and all victims – in all countries – who will be encouraged to come out – as soon as the “guilty verdict” is rendered and pronounced. May the UNCAT open the floodgate of justice for hundreds of thousands of victims sexually tortured by the bestial Vatican JP2 Army – John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army.

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

OHIO
Sandusky Register

COURTNEY ASTOLFI

SANDUSKY
MAY 16, 2014

A Sandusky pastor who dodged a child rape conviction last year was indicted yet again this month for allegedly raping a young girl and fondling a young boy at his church a decade ago.

Richard Mick, 52, of the 8000 block Ohio 101, is now facing two counts of rape and two counts of gross sexual imposition for the alleged incidents.

Both of the victims were about 8 years old when Mick allegedly abused them, and both were parishioners of his congregation, Lighthouse Baptist Church.

Both are now teenage adults.

Mick was charged with similar crimes — two counts of rape — in 2012 for allegedly raping another young parishioner on two occasions years ago.

The boy victim came forward with his story this past winter, after Erie County assistant prosecutor Mary Ann Barylski asked Erie County Common Pleas Court Judge Roger Binette to dismiss the original case, citing a lack of evidence.

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

MARYLAND
Associated Baptist Press

By Bob Allen

Thursday’s conviction of a former youth leader at a church in Maryland has renewed calls that evangelical leaders cease promoting a ministry colleague accused in a class-action lawsuit of conspiring to cover up sexual and physical abuse of children.

Nathaniel Morales, 56, who most recently served as a pastor in Las Vegas, was convicted of three counts of sexual abuse of a minor and two counts of sexual offense by a jury in Montgomery County, Md. He will be sentenced Aug. 14 and faces up to 85 years in prison.

Morales was found guilty of abusing three boys from 1983 to 1991 while working with youth ministries and conducting Bible studies for Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Md. Other charges are pending.

During the trial, longtime executive pastor Grant Layman testified that he should have reported alleged abuse to police in 1992 but did not. Morales left shortly thereafter and ended up in Nevada, where he married a woman with five sons from a previous relationship. After his arrest, the woman filed for divorce, and now says she believes her ex-husband may have harmed other children after leaving Maryland.

“I think we’ve come to realize that’s not the right way to deal with these matters,” Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy told ABC affiliate WJLA television in Arlington, Va.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. 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 MEXICO
KOAT

[with video]

By Regina Ruiz

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —After almost 20 years the leadership of the New Mexico Catholic Church is about to leave.

Archbishop Michael Sheehan came in at a difficult time and is now at the age where he must retire.

“I am constantly moving from place to place,” said Sheehan.

For more than two decades, Sheehan has been on the move in the Santa Fe Diocese.

“(I’ve had) God’s help and the help of some real good staff people,” he said.

He inherited a diocese rocked with scandal. The former archbishop resigned amidst a sex scandal with several women. There were also a large number of sexual abuse cases involving priests with 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.

SCOTLAND
Daily Record

May 17, 2014 By James Moncur

DAVID Sharp was subjected to a catalogue of horrific abuse – but was told by a representative of the Christian Brothers order that he was wasting his time by trying to get justice.

A CHURCHMAN callously dismissed Catholic school sex abuse victim David Sharp’s suffering – and told him he could never win justice.

David, 55, claimed yesterday he was “ambushed” by a “fixer” for the notorious Christian Brothers order.

The man had been sent by the order to get David to back down after he contacted then cardinal Keith O’Brien over his abuse.

And he told David, who was raped, beaten and tortured by sadistic priest Brother Frank Ryan at residential St Ninian’s RC School in Falkirk that he was wasting his time pursuing the complaint.

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

FLORIDA
Bay News 9

By Josh Rojas, Reporter
Last Updated: Thursday, May 15, 2014

TAMPA —
A Tampa priest that died earlier this week, committed suicide, according to reports.

A memorial near the altar at St. Joseph’s Parish honors Father Vladimir Dziadek.
According to police, a maintenance man discovered Father Vladimir at the bottom of a staircase along with a broken belt in the church office on Monday morning.

The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner says the cause of death is a suicide by hanging.

Nobody yet knows exactly why Father Vladimir committed suicide, but a Catholic Church spokesman says the 57-year-old priest had historically struggled with depression.

Parishioner Gleyvis Fernandez says her friend attended Father Vladimir’s last mass where he talked about death during his homily.

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

FLORIDA
Tampa Bay Times

Keeley Sheehan, Times Staff Writer

TAMPA — The pastor of a West Tampa Catholic church hanged himself with a leather belt this week amid an investigation the diocese was conducting into parish finances, authorities said.

Around 8 a.m. Monday, a maintenance man found Father Vladimir Dziadek at the bottom of a staircase inside the administrative offices of St. Joseph Catholic Church, 3012 W Cherry St., according to a Tampa Police Department incident log.

A belt was found tied to the banister. No note was found, the incident log said.

According to a report by the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office, a Tampa police officer said the Rev. Dziadek, 56, was depressed after parishioners discovered he had embezzled about $200,000 from the church and “gambled it away.”

The report said the officer noted that Rev. Dziadek had been removed from administrative duties at the church and had a hearing with church members set for Monday.

Liquor bottles and casino vouchers were found in his room, the report said, without providing elaboration.

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

MICHIGAN
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Victims to leaflet statewide church meeting
They worry about predator at Methodist college
As a teacher, he admitted molesting two teenagers
He’s accused of impregnating one & giving her an STD
SNAP to ministers: “Don’t be like the ‘do nothing’ Catholics”
“Pressure college president & warn your flocks,” victims urge

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos, child sex abuse victims will hand fliers to Methodist ministers and congregants from across Michigan at their annual conference. The leaflets urge church officials and members to

–warn others about a professor at a Michigan Methodist college who admitted molesting two teenagers, and
–pressure the college president to disclose the professor’s admissions to students and staff.

They will also beg anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered any crimes or misdeeds by the professor to “speak up, get help, expose wrongdoers, protect others and start healing.”

WHEN
Saturday, May 16 at 11:00 a.m.

WHERE
On the sidewalk leading to the Bell Tower at Adrian College in Adrian, Michigan

WHO
Two-three members of a self help group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org)

WHY
Leaders of SNAP will hand leaflets to passers-by and to Michigan Methodist church officials and members about a professor at a local Methodist college who admitted molesting two girls and is accused of molesting at least one more. He’s also accused, in court records, of getting one of them pregnant and giving her a sexually transmitted disease.

He is Dr. Thomas Hodgman, a music professor at Adrian College since in 1999. Adrian officials hired him despite the fact that Hodgman admitted his crimes against the two girls.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

‘I was abused – now I’m tackling it on TV’: Gabriel Byrne’s had painful personal experience of the murky world at the heart of his new drama

Gabriel Byrne can’t stand being described as brooding and intense.

‘I’m actually quite the opposite,’ insists the quietly spoken Irishman, best known for roles in movies The Usual Suspects and Defence Of The Realm.

‘Maybe it’s because I play those kinds of parts. People are always looking for labels to stick on others, so maybe those descriptions have been extended from the characters I play to me. Whatever the reason, I don’t like it. In Ireland, brooding is a term we use for hens. A brooding hen is supposed to lay eggs. Every time somebody says, “He’s dark and brooding” I think, “He’s about to lay an egg.”‘ …

One suspects it’s Quirke’s zealous determination to uncover the truth that appealed to Gabriel.
This, after all, is a man who went through hell because nobody was prepared to take on the Catholic Church and challenge its absolute power in the 50s Ireland in which he grew up.

Gabriel revealed on an Irish TV chatshow in 2010 how, between the ages of eight and 11, he had been sexually abused by Brothers in the Roman Catholic seminary where he was studying to be a priest.

He’s since described the Church as ‘a tyrannical, evil institution: anti-woman, anti-homosexual, anti-love, anti-condom, totally elitist.’

He went on to say, ‘Because of this culture of secrecy, priests – and nuns – could commit crimes against children and realise they didn’t have to pay for it. The Church would never hand them over to the authorities. To take advantage of a child’s innocence in that way is a crime against the soul of that child. I’m only thankful that now, all the rocks have been lifted and all the maggots have finally crawled out.’

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

UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Five years ago, Fr. Norman Rogge died.

This week, BishopAccountability.org posted his work history. Please read just these two sentences about Rogge and let them sink in:

Rogge was convicted twice for the sexual abuse of boys in Florida – in 1967 and again in 1985. He received probation both times and was allowed to continue in ministry.

[BishopAccountability.org]

I knew and loved one of Rogge’s victims – Bob Swart of St. Louis, as kind, compassionate and cheerful a person as you could ever hope to meet. He was a long time SNAP member who, for a decade, came to almost every event we did, whether a support group meeting or a news conference.

A dedicated advocate for the mentally ill, Bob enhanced many people’s lives. Who knows how many lives Rogge devastated?

NOTE – Rogge worked in these towns: St. Marys KS, Pomfret CA, Dallas TX, Tampa FL, Mobile AL, Berkeley CA, New Orleans and six other Louisiana towns (Grand Coteau, Bellvue, Campti, Trichel, Black Lake, Montgomery).

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

CALIFORNIA
KERO

Anne Stegen
12:19 PM, May 16, 2014

WASCO – An advocacy group is suing the City of Wasco over an ordinance restricting sex offenders.

A sex offender ordinance adopted by the City of Wasco is the subject of the lawsuit filed Friday in federal district court on behalf of Frank Lindsay, a registered sex offender.

This is part of a wider effort by the California Reform Sex Offender Laws group to stop these ordinances.

The Wasco ordinance includes restrictions regarding where more than 105,000 sex offenders can reside or be present. The ordinance prohibits the sex offenders from residing or being present in or within 300 feet of public and private locations including the public library, schools, parks, bus stops, and child care centers.

An individual who violates the ordinance is subject to incarceration for up to six months and/or a fine of up to $1,000 for each day of violation.

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

CALIFORNIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, May 16 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 group of convicted sex offenders are mounting legal attacks on laws regulating where they can live. We urge caution here and hope that courts rebuff these challenges.

[KERO]

These laws aren’t perfect. But let’s keep some perspective. While a relatively small group of grown-ups face some problems because of imperfect laws, a much larger group of children face substantially more horrific damage because of adult criminals.

These laws are relatively new, but for decades we as a society have minimized child sex crimes and made it very hard for victims to expose predators, seek justice, protect others and start healing. The vulnerable and the wounded should be our priority, not those who have caused and may still be causing such horrific pain.

Some estimate that one in three or four girls and one in seven or eight boys are sexually violated. That’s where our focus really belongs – on combating this crisis first, before fixating on where convicted criminal may or may not live.

Adults who want to change these laws to help other adults should move slowly. And they should first address a much more devastating injustice: the harm done to hundreds of thousands of boys and girls who are sexually assaulted 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.

CANADA
MNAFN

Survivors of Indian residential schools are furious that their personal stories of abuse might become public, despite having been guaranteed confidentiality.

They shared excruciating details of their time at the schools in closed-door hearings as part of a claims process. Now, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is asking an Ontario Superior Court whether it can include those stories as part of its National Research Centre.

Phil Gattensby went to a residential school and has worked as a support worker to other survivors in about 50 proceedings.For his part, he is comfortable telling his story to anyone as part of his healing. But he understands that others feel differently.

“One of them said that if he knew ahead of time people would be putting his story out into a public domain, or whatever you want to call it, that he wouldn’t have told his story,” Gattensby told CBC News.

More than 20,000 people have gone before an adjudicator in a quasi-judicial private hearing, encouraged by the commission to meet the problem head-on by telling their stories.

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

UNITED STATES
POPE FRANCIS the CON-Christ.

Updated May 15, 2014

Paris Arrow

There are high majestic volcanoes in the world and the deep hidden famous San Andreas Fault. Likewise in the Vatican Kingdom a.k.a. (Roman) Catholic Church there are high majestic Vatican volcanoes – these are parishes (named after great saints) where pedophile priests thrived for decades covered-up by complicit bishops and cardinals. The Vatican Catholic Church also has the deep secret hidden chain of the JP2 Army – John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army a.k.a. San Juan Pablo Fault that is now actively shifting in Hispanic Santa Fe, New Mexico and elsewhere in the USA, in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Chile, Ireland and as far as Down Under in Australia. This time, in Santa Fe, the Vatican volcanoes that are erupting are called Queen of Heaven and Our Lady of Guadalupe parishes – (these two names cannot get more glorious than that!) There are two new lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Santa Fe that prove the Vatican Catholic Church created a culture of sex abuse that engendered the bestial JP2 Army a.k.a. San Juan Pablo Fault: “According to publicly available documents, the Archdiocese created, fostered, developed and protected a culture that during the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, employed over 40 pedophile priests out of a total of about 150 employed parish priests over those years.

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

PUERTO RICO
National Catholic Reporter

Catholic News Service | May. 16, 2014

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO
A suspended priest of the diocese of Caguas, Puerto Rico, was arrested Tuesday by federal authorities for allegedly transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and sexual trafficking of minors.

Fr. Israel Berrios, 58, was arrested at his home in Naranjito without incident, according to a press release Wednesday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations unit, which conducted the investigation.

The Associated Press reported that Berrios has been accused of sexually abusing an altar boy from the time he was about 8 until he turned 17, according to Puerto Rico Justice Secretary Cesar Miranda.

If found guilty, he could face at least 10 years in prison, and as much as a life sentence if convicted on all charges.

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

MARYLAND
Brent Detwiler

Friday, May 16, 2014

The Jury has returned it’s verdict. Nathaniel Morales was found guilty on all five counts of sex abuse and sex offense.

There are two more trials scheduled for next week against Morales for the sexual abuse of other boys. I don’t know if he will plead guilty, work a plea deal, or make a defense now that he has been found guilty. I hope it goes to trial because more evidence exposing the conspiracy at Covenant Life Church will come out.

Morales showed no emotion when the verdict was read. His first known victim for which he has yet to be tried was in 1979. He has known guilt for 35 years.

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

MARYLAND
Christian Post

By Morgan Lee
May 16, 2014

A megachurch pastor confessed to covering up sexual abuse claims during this week’s trial of a youth leader accused of molesting several boys. Nathaniel Morales, 56, was convicted Thursday of sexually abusing three young boys between 1983 and 1991.

Covenant Life Church former pastor Grant Layman admitted on Tuesday while testifying about allegations against Nathaniel Morales that he withheld incriminating information from the police about the abuse.

Public defender Alan Drew asked Layman if had an “obligation to report the alleged abuse?”

“I believe so,” he replied.

“And you didn’t?” asked Drew, to which Layman responded “no.”

According to Brent Detwiler, who attended the trial and is a former Sovereign Grace pastor who now runs a watchdog blog about the ministry of which Covenant Life Church was part until 2012, Layman acknowledged that over the course of 1992 he learned that Morales had abused two boys, but did not go to authorities with these claims.

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

MINNESOTA
The Legal Examiner

Posted by Mike Bryant
May 16, 2014

The Child Victims Act has given survivors the chance to get justice. To come out into the light and recover for their losses. As the cases have come forward and discovery has uncovered information, the comparison to what has happened to the offending priests is so very troubling. These men belong in prison.

Instead , the evidence continues to mount that they have almost been rewarded. Rev. Gil Gustafson has been disclosed as a credibly accused priest. He was one of the few who were actually charged as he was sentenced to six months in jail and a $40 fine. He was incarcerated for about 41/2 months.

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, after jail he went back to the church and has benefited as:

The church continued his priestly salary and health insurance, covered his living expenses and psychological treatment, and paid for his education and training, according to church records and a former archdiocese accountant. It has given him jobs in the chancery, helped him establish his own consulting business, and steered clients his way.

He lives in a bungalow in West St. Paul. The story goes on to tell the story of what happened to one of the children that he abused:

The years of abuse “mentally and physically destroyed him,” Herrity said. Classmates at Hill-Murray School mocked him after he went public with his abuse, his father said. He began a descent down a “path of destruction” that included drug abuse and promiscuity and ended in his death of complications from AIDS at age 28, in 1995.

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

SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Friday 16 May 2014

David Leask
Chief Reporter

A CAMPAIGNER for the victims of childhood sex abuse has praised the Catholic Church for defrocking a priest accused of the crime.

Helen Holland said the dismissal of Father Thomas Mullen, revealed by The Herald yesterday, marked a new determination to deal with rogue clerics.

However, the veteran campaigner said she now expected to see more priests and clerics thrown out of their jobs, whether they have been convicted or not.

Father Mullen, 75, has been removed from office despite a decision by the Crown Office not to have him prosecuted for two alleged cases of abuse of boys. The decision, by the Vatican, is thought to be unprecedented in Scotland.

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

IRELAND
Herald

BY JOYCE FEGAN – 16 MAY 2014

Irish priest Fr Shay Cullen says the Church and Government have been shamefully silent on child sex abuse for too long.

The three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee also said that “silence about child abuse is a crime”.

Fr Cullen has been working in the Philippines for the past 50 years, and was speaking about online child pornography.

He said there is now a new ploy being used by paedophiles to capture pornography called “sextortion”.

Criminals ask young people to expose themselves and perform sex acts in the privacy of their room before an internet connected camera, “thinking they are in a relationship over the internet”, the priest told the

“Unknown to them, the act is recorded in a distant country by the perpetrators, as in the Philippines, and the criminals then say they recorded it and threaten to make it public to his or her family and friends unless they pay the extortionist.”

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

PITTSBURGH (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Victims to leaflet Catholic cathedral
They draw attention to one more predator
He abused elsewhere but also worked in Pittsburgh
His presence & crimes have not been publicized here, group maintains
SNAP to bishop: “Come clean now about your own child molesting clerics!”
SNAP: “Every Catholic should ask their loved ones ‘Did any priest hurt you?’

WHAT
As parishioners leave mass, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will hand fliers out that;

–-disclose the name of one more child molesting cleric who was in Pittsburgh but has never before been exposed locally, and
–-urge local Catholics to “overcome their fears” and ask all their relatives if they were ever hurt by any of these nine recently “outed” child molesting Pittsburgh clerics (and, if so, to call police immediately).

The leaflets also urge parishioners to insist that Catholic officials;

–send “outreach” letters to graduates of every parochial school in the Pittsburgh diocese, begging those who were abused to step forward and call law enforcement, and
–permanently post on the diocesan website the names of all proven, admitted and credibly accused predatory priests, nuns, brothers and seminarians.

WHEN
TODAY, Friday, May 16 at 12:20 p.m.

WHERE
Outside St. Paul Catholic Cathedral (stpaulpgh.org), 108 N. Dithridge Street (corner of Fifth Ave.) in Pittsburgh

WHO
Two-three members of a self-help group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org)

WHY
While eight child molesting Marianist clerics have recently been exposed in Pittsburgh, SNAP will warn citizens and Catholics about one more credibly accused child molesting cleric who has also worked in Pittsburgh but has never been “outed” or exposed in Pittsburgh before.

He is Fr. William Wehrle from Baltimore who worked in Pittsburgh in 1988, 1990, and 1995. (He was accused of sexual abuse in the mid 1980s, was removed, but went on to work at other parishes in Maryland and Pittsburgh. He died in 1995.)

[BishopAccountability.org]

Wehrle’s abuse and presence in Pittsburgh has never been exposed in the Pittsburgh area before. Details about him can be found at BishopAccountability.org.

He is NOT among the eight Marianist brothers who have been publicly accused for the first time in recent weeks and who worked at North Catholic High School.

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

PUERTO RICO
El Nuevo Dia

[Summary: The legal confrontation between the Arecibo Catholic diocese and the Department of Justice of Puerto Rico takes on a new twist with the first arrest made by federal authorities. Although the priest – Israel Berriors Berrios – belongs to the Caguas diocese, it is obvious that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also has its sights on the Arecibo diocese where six priests have been expelled in recent years. The Arecibo diocese has so far refused to hand over its records to the local justice department. The diocese has sustained two legal setbacks in its effort to provide that the records required by justice prosecutors are confidential but the issue is now before the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico.]

El enfrentamiento judicial entre la diócesis católica de Arecibo y el Departamento de Justicia de Puerto Rico cobra un nuevo giro con el primer arresto efectuado por las autoridades federales en el País de un sacerdote suspendido de sus funciones por un admitido acto de pedofilia.

Aunque el sacerdote arrestado, Israel Berríos Berríos, pertenece a la diócesis de Caguas, resulta obvio que el Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE) tiene en su mira también a la diócesis de Arecibo, la que a pesar de que seis de sus sacerdotes han sido expulsados en años recientes, se resiste a entregar los expedientes al Departamento de Justicia local.

La diócesis arecibeña ha sufrido dos reveses judiciales en su esfuerzo por demostrar que los expedientes requeridos por los fiscales de Justicia son confidenciales, pero ahora el asunto está en manos del Tribunal Supremo de Puerto Rico, que la semana pasada accedió a revisar el caso.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

The Salvation Army says it expects recent negative publicity surrounding the organisation at the Royal Commission into child sex abuse to have an effect on its fundraising efforts.

The Salvos are today officially launching the 2014 Red Shield Appeal in Newcastle, which aims to raise $2 million for Hunter region services.

The Royal Commission recently heard evidence that the organisation promoted a confessed child sex offender, Major Colin Haggar, who went on to work in senior roles in the Newcastle region.

Hunter appeal chairwoman Maree Gleeson says she is hoping it does not overshadow the vital community work carried out by the Salvos.

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

UNITED STATES
Screen Daily

16 May, 2014 | By Melanie Goodfellow

EXCLUSIVE: Film is based on the real-life story of the NYPD detetcive who first uncovered the Vatican Bank’s links to the Mafia.

Michael Winterbottom is to direct The Vatican Connection about the real-life story of the NYPD detective who first uncovered the Vatican Bank’s links to the Mafia in the 1970s.

Detective Joe Coffey was working undercover in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, tailing a vicious local mobster, when he stumbled upon information linking the Vatican Bank and the Mafia.

His global investigation – taking him from New York to Munich, London and Rome – revealed that Vatican Bank president Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, was working with the Mafia to hide losses incurred by the institution as it financed anti-Communist missions in central America.

Through intermediaries Archbishop Marcinkus had the Genovese Crime Family of New York manufacture and supply the Vatican Bank with $6 billion dollars of counterfeit blue chip bonds from major US corporations.

Winterbottom will work with Face of an Angel screenwriter, Paul Viragh to revise an original screenplay by Alessandro Camon based on Richard Hammer’s award-winning book The Vatican Connection. The production is aiming for major “A” list talent to play Coffey.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
ITV

Police investigating historic allegations of child sexual abuse linked to a Leeds church are appealing for information.

Officers from Leeds Child Safeguarding are investigating after a man came forward to report allegations that he was abused as a child at St Stephen’s Church, in Kirkstall, in the mid-1960s.

An 82-year-old man has been interviewed under caution after voluntarily attending at a Leeds police station.

“Our investigation is ongoing and we would appeal for anyone who has any information that could assist the investigation to contact us immediately. ”

– DET. CONSTABLE PHIL KIRBY, LEEDS CHILD SAFEGUARDING

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

CALIFORNIA
The Raw Story

By Travis Gettys
Thursday, May 15, 2014

Three women say they were sexually abused as patients at an addiction rehabilitation facility linked to the Rock Church in San Diego.

The women filed a lawsuit last week against David Powers, who operated ABC Sober Living, while they stayed at his Soledad House rehab facility.

Former heroin addict Taylor Peyton said Powers entered her room at the facility, where he would lie on top of her, kiss her neck, and grab her buttocks.

“I was terrified if I told anyone I wouldn’t be able to complete my treatment,” said Peyton, who stayed at the rehab center for four months.

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

MARYLAND
World

By LEIGH JONES
Posted May 15, 2014

A Maryland jury found Nathaniel Morales guilty of five counts of child molestation today, bringing to a close a case that highlighted the responsibility church leaders have to report suspected abuse to the police.

The five-man, seven-woman jury found the former pastor guilty of molesting three teenage boys in the late 1980s and early ’90s. Morales, 56, faces up to 85 years in prison. His sentencing hearing is set for Aug. 14.

In emotional testimony that began Monday, the victims recounted how Morales used his position as a trusted member of Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Md., to get them alone and force them into unwanted sexual relationships. According to WJLA, the ABC affiliate in Arlington, Va., Morales led Bible studies, directed worship teams, and attended sleepovers with teen boys he was supposed to be mentoring.

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

SCOTLAND
Daily Record

May 16, 2014 By James Moncur

DAVID Sharp says he was trafficked to Ireland where he was raped by up to five men, some of whom he believes were priests.

A TRAUMATISED Scot has told how a paedophile Catholic brother trafficked him to Ireland to be raped by up to five men.

David Sharp believes some of his rapists were priests.

He says Christian Brother Frank Ryan began preying on him at a residential school when he was 10, grooming him and then subjecting him to sexual abuse in his room and sadistic beatings in a basement shower block.

“This man told me when to breathe and when not to breathe,” he told the Record.

“He had control of everything I did. And when he told me to go to his room, I went.”

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

UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on May 15, 2014

A little backwater college in Michigan will give you all the proof you need.

You would think that in the middle of a national scandal surrounding sexual assaults on campus that colleges would take the time to remove faculty members who are convicted or admitted child sex offenders.

But not Michigan’s Adrian College. Little do the parents of Adrian students know that their $40,000 annual tuition includes the salary of an admitted child molester.

In 2003, music professor Thomas Hodgman was sued in California for child sex abuse. At the time of the alleged abuse, Hodgman was a high school teacher in Southern California. When one of his victims alerted Adrian officials of her lawsuit, the school conducted an “investigation.” Hodgman denied the allegations, calling them “bogus.” The victim was never interviewed. Then, the victim went a step further and met with then-College President Stanley Caine, imploring him to at least remove Hodgman until the case was resolved.

He said no.

In 2005, the sex abuse case against Hodgman settled for $1.6 million. Documents released as a part of the settlement showed that Hodgman admitted to sexually molesting a number of his high school students, including the victim who sued him.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Rochdale Online

Reporter: Amy Westlake
Date online: 15 May 2014

Canon Mortimer Stanley, 82, a former priest at St Vincent de Paul RC Church in Norden, Rochdale, has been interviewed for the second time regarding historic sexual abuse.

Canon Stanley, who retired from St Vincent de Paul RC Church in 2002, was first interviewed last year.

Originally three women claimed that they had been indecently assaulted and sexually abused while pupils at St Vincent’s Primary School.

The women were under the age of 11 when it is alleged the offences happened. It is claimed that the incidents took place in a presbytery next to the school.

It is understood that since original reports, another six women have come forward with information.

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

CALIFORNIA
The Record

By The Record
May 15, 2014

STOCKTON – In the midst of bankruptcy, the Diocese of Stockton has announced a deadline to file civil claims for potential victims of child sex abuse at the hands of church leaders.

Diocese finances have been drained by continuing court settlements in child sex abuse cases, which have amounted to $32 million over the past two decades.

Stockton’s became the 10th diocese in the nation to file for bankruptcy in January as a result of sex abuse lawsuits that in many cases have been filed years after the alleged abuse.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court has ordered that anyone planning to file such a claim must do so by 4 p.m. Aug. 15, the diocese said. The court needs to determine the amount of outstanding claims to distribute the diocese’s assets fairly.

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

NEDERLAND
KNR

[Summary: Victims of clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic Church have until July 1 to file a complaint.]

– In het NRC van woensdag 14 mei wordt bericht: ‘Organisatie slachtoffers wil langere meldprocedure’. Voorzitter Guido Klabbers van KLOKK geeft in het bericht aan hierover te zullen spreken in een overleg met kerkleiders. Maandag ontmoeten de voorzitters van de Bisschoppenconferentie, de Konferentie Nederlandse Religieuzen (KNR) en KLOKK elkaar tijdens het reguliere overleg dat zij hebben.

Op 19 november 2013 maakten de Bisschoppenconferentie en de KNR bekend, dat vanaf 1 juli 2014 de mogelijkheid zou vervallen om klachten van seksueel misbruik in te dienen tegen overledenen en klachten van seksueel misbruik dat verjaard is. De Bisschoppenconferentie en de KNR riepen slachtoffers toen op om deze klachten vóór 1 juli 2014 te melden, indien zij dit nog niet hadden gedaan.

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

CHILE
Survivors Network of Those Abused by PriestsI

For immediate release: Thursday, May 15, 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 )

As recently as 2005, Catholic priests may have helped steal babies.

The church in Chile is under investigation after revelations that priests played a role in stealing babies from unwed mothers. Our hearts ache for the mothers and innocent children that were irrepealably hurt by this despicable practice.

[The Guardian]

Unfortunately stealing babies from unwed mothers is not unique to Chile. Officials Spain and Argentina have engaged in this horrible practice, often with the Catholic Church staff involved. The right to a family is an inalienable human rights. The fact that so many women had this right stolen from them, especially at the hands of an institution meant to promote humanity, is appalling.

We hope investigators uncover and expose the full truth about who was complicit in this horror. And we hope those individuals face the harshest punishment possible. We also who those who were wounded by these callous actions will find some glimmer of hope and healing when the truth is revealed.

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

MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, May 15, 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 )

The woman who “outed” a Twin Cities predator priest is getting threatening letters and prosecutors suspect the cleric is behind them.

[Pioneer Press]

Prosecutors are seeking DNA from Fr. Mark Huberty of Maplewood who is charged with fourth- and fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct.

We hope a judge grants their request. And we hope that Archbishop John Nienstedt harshly denounces this intimidation right now – no matter who is responsible for it. It is his duty to help foster a climate that welcomes, not discourages, abuse reports.

We applaud the prosecutors for seeking DNA samples from Fr. Huberty. And we applaud this brave woman who is persisting in her effort for prevention and justice, despite such awful tactics.

Our hearts break for her. She has to be re-victimized by such emotionally violent reactions to stepping forward and bravely speaking up. We know all too well the damage and pain that is caused when an accused priest receives support because they are “innocent until proven guilty” which somehow leaves the victim “a liar until proven abused.”

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

CHILE
Ciper

[Vea además:

Sacerdote Gerardo Joannon y las adopciones irregulares: “Yo les hacía el contacto a las familias con el doctor”

Adopciones irregulares II: Habla Matías Troncoso, otra de las guaguas dadas en adopción por el doctor Monckeberg]

Por : Gustavo Villarrubia en Reportajes de investigación
Publicado: 11.04.2014

En 2004 y 2005 la revelación de algunos secretos de familia conmocionó a ciertos círculos de la capital. Aparecieron niñas que se habían dado por muertas al nacer y que eran hijas de madres solteras. La verdad es que fueron dadas en adopción engañando a sus padres biológicos. En la mayoría de los casos fueron las familias de estas jóvenes las que decidieron arrebatarles a sus hijos, con la ayuda de sacerdotes y ginecólogos. CIPER reconstituyó dos de estas historias en las que le cupo un rol principal al sacerdote Gerardo Joannon, quien reconoció los hechos.

Ese 1º de febrero de 2004, Pilar tuvo desde la mañana presente su compromiso de las 20:00. Si bien ella era de misa diaria, en las que participaba activamente, ya sea en el coro o en las lecturas, las que se oficiaban el 1º de febrero tenían un significado especial para ella y para el sacerdote que las celebraba: Gerardo Joannon. Significado que se llenaba de sentido al momento de rezar la plegaría eucarística en honra de los difuntos: “Recuerda a tu hijo/a a quien llamaste de este mundo a tu presencia; concédele que, así como ha compartido ya la muerte de Jesucristo, comparta también con él la gloria de la resurrección”.

-Se hacía un momento de recogimiento y nosotras sabíamos que ahí se pedía internamente por la guagua que Pilar había perdido ese mismo día de 1983, siendo madre soltera. Pero ése era un drama que, si bien varias de sus amigas sabíamos, no se hablaba por respeto a ella. Uno percibía que siempre a finales de enero y principios de febrero ella andaba más sensible -relató a CIPER una amiga de Pilar.

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

MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 05/15/2014

The woman involved in the criminal sexual conduct case of a Maplewood priest has received threatening letters, and the prosecutor wants a sample of the priest’s DNA to see if he may have sent them.

The state argued for the sample Thursday in the Ramsey County District Court case of the Rev. Mark Huberty. Huberty, former pastor of Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary church in Maplewood, has been charged with fourth- and fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct involving an adult woman of the parish.

The woman “has received at least five cards or other correspondences” from an anonymous sender, said prosecutor Therese Galatowitsch. They contained “very disturbing references to the Bible, what an evil person she is, even her parents, how they spawned an evil child,” she said.

Galatowitsch asked Judge Patrick Diamond to allow the prosecution to test a buccal swab, or swipe from inside Huberty’s cheek.

Huberty’s attorney, Paul Engh, opposed the motion.

“Father Huberty had nothing to do with this,” Engh said. “He’s never been in contact with the alleged victim here (since charges were filed). This is an attempt to smear him once again.”

He said the state has had the letters for six months.

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

CHILE
The Guardian (UK)

Jonathan Franklin in Santiago
The Guardian, Thursday 15 May 2014

The Catholic church in Chile is under investigation over allegations that priests played a central role in a network that stole newborn babies from single mothers.

Police investigators are now probing dozens of cases in which unmarried women who became pregnant were pressured by priests to give up their child for adoption. Those who refused were anaesthetised during delivery and, upon awakening, told that the child had died. The healthy babies were hidden from their biological mothers and given away in order to be raised by married couples in “traditional” Catholic families.

Church leaders now admit they have known about the network for at least 10 years. Unlike in Spain and Argentina, where babies were stolen from leftwing political activists, the motivation in Chile was to shield the reputations of well-off families from the social stigma of unmarried motherhood.

Most of the cases now being investigated date from the 1970s and 1980s, but some were reported in 2005.

Chile’s child protection agency – Sername – has now opened an investigation and is working with detectives to determine how many children are involved.

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

UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: A Jesuit priest of the New Orleans Province ordained in 1956, Rogge was convicted twice for the sexual abuse of boys in Florida – in 1967 and again in 1985. He received probation both times and was allowed to continue in ministry. Rogge worked across the south in parishes, high schools and a juvenile detention center. He was sent to live in a Jesuit retirement community in New Orleans in 2002 after journalists exposed news of his past convictions. Rogge died in 2009.

Ordained: 1956
Died: Feb. 4, 2009

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

MARYLAND
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, May 15, 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 Maryland spiritual figure has been found guilty of all five charges of sexual abuse against children. We are grateful for this verdict and hope he is kept in prison for a long time.

[Spiritual Sounding Board]

We are grateful for the courage of the victims and witnesses who testified in this case.

Nathaniel Morales, a former member of the Covenant Life Church (part of Soveriegn Grace Ministries, a controversial group), was charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse involving boys. The longer he is kept in prison and away from kids, the safer they will be.

We hope this verdict will inspire others who were hurt in Sovereign Grace Ministries churches to step forward protect kids expose wrongdoing and start healing. We hope it will also embolden law enforcement officials to pursue investigations and prosecutions of those who concealed abuse in these churches, not just those who committed abuse in them.

Finally, we make an impassioned plea to former SGM and CLC members and staff to help kids, police and prosecutors by becoming whistleblowers. It’s never too late to share what you know or believe about child sexual abuse with police, prosecutors and the public.

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

SEATTLE (WA)
National Catholic Reporter

Dan Morris-Young | May. 15, 2014

The Seattle archdiocese has been harshly criticized for not publicly releasing the name of a priest removed from ministry a decade ago for the sexual exploitation of a teen. The priest then socialized with parishioners and performed occasional baptisms, weddings and funerals despite his removal until his past recently came to the attention of some parishioners.

The former chair and vice chair of the board that reviewed sexual abuse allegations in 2004 has leveled unvarnished reproof. That case review board urged the archdiocese to make public Fr. Harry Quigg’s identity and offenses.

“The investigation’s documents, dating to 2004 and which the archdiocese has refused to make public, would reveal that a 17-year-old boy involved with … Quigg was passed among the priest and friends, according to multiple sources,” wrote Joel Connelly in a blog post Monday for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, an online newspaper.

A May 2 statement from the archdiocese said that now-retired Archbishop Alexander Brunett had gone against the review board’s recommendation to release Quigg’s name “because of the determination that the sexual contact did not involve a minor” and “Quigg’s request to respect his privacy.”

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

MARYLAND
Associated Baptist Press

By Bob Allen

A Maryland jury has found 56-year-old Nathaniel Morales guilty of five counts of sex crimes he committed in the 1980s and early 1990s at a prominent Washington-area evangelical church. Leaders allegedly knew about abuse allegations but did not report them to police.

Morales, arrested last year while serving as a pastor in Las Vegas, was convicted in a four-day trial in Montgomery County Circuit Court of crimes committed when he was a member of Covenant Life Church, formerly the flagship congregation of Sovereign Grace Ministries, a Louisville, Ky.-based church-starting network with ties to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Morales is also named in a civil lawsuit dismissed on a technicality and currently on appeal alleging systemic covering up of sexual abuse by Sovereign Grace Ministries leaders including co-founder C.J. Mahaney, a close friend to Southern Baptist leaders including Southern Seminary President Albert Mohler.

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

MARYLAND
WUSA

GAITHERSBURG, Md. (WUSA9) — A former Montgomery County megachurch leader was convicted Thursday of sexually abusing a young boy from his congregation during the 1980s.

Nathaniel “Nate” Morales, 56, of Las Vegas, Nev., was found guilty on three counts of sexual abuse of a minor and two more counts of sexual offense in the second degree, officials said. Morales was accused of abusing three boys from 1983-1991, preying on the young members of the Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg at group sleepovers and in their homes.

The youngest victim was 11, and the abuse continued until he turned 18, officials said. The abuse was not reported until 2009, when a detective was informed, despite awareness of the abuse among the church leaders.

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

MARYLAND
WJLA

ROCKVILLE, Md. (WJLA) – Nathaniel “Nate” Morales, a former church leader at the Covenant Life Church in Montgomery County, Md., was convicted Thursday of sexually abusing three young boys between 1983 to 1991.

Nathaniel Morales accused of abusing boys for decades in Montgomery Co.

A jury found Morales, 56, guilty on two counts of sexual offense in the second degree and three counts of sexual abuse of a minor.

Morales is accused of “preying on” three young members of the church at group sleeoovers and in their homes. Representatives from the Maryland state attorney’s office said the youngest victim was 11 years old at the time, and that the abuse continued until he was 18 years old.

Officials said in a statement following the verdict Thursday that “the abuse was not reported until 2009, when Detective Sally Magee was informed, despite awareness of the abuse among the church leaders.”

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

NEW JERSEY
NorthJersey.com

MAY 15, 2014
BY MEGHAN GRANT
MANAGING EDITOR
SOUTH BERGENITE

NORTH ARLINGTON – Worried that their bottom line would suffer once the Archdiocese of Newark entered the monument market, North Arlington tombstone business owners filed a complaint against Holy Cross Cemetery, citing the unfair advantage posed by the church’s tax-free status. Judge Frank Ciuffani this week sided with the church, claiming that since the cemetery only served Catholics, it wasn’t subject to the same state regulations governing public cemeteries.

Six monument sellers surround Holy Cross Cemetery, having provided their services for close to a century to friends and family of the deceased. All six joined the initial suit.

The Archdiocese of Newark began an Inscription Rights Program in April 2013, allowing the Archdiocese to purchase and own the monuments and be responsible for setting and inscribing the stone. The Archdiocese contends it is not selling the monuments, but is offering a service. The Archdiocese does not pay taxes on the service program but reported it has paid taxes for wholesale purchase of monument for its clients.

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

UNITED STATES
City of Angels

Kay Ebeling

If only they’d known this in 1955.

When I found “Effect on Victims” in the Franciscans of Santa Barbara Board of Inquiry Report from 1993, it had a big effect on me. I came across it while I was lost in Appalachia in 2011 reading back over files from years of doing CofA Blog. Rereading it contributed to the total process of me finally calming down.

The quote below regards victims who went in front of the Board to describe the impact rapes by Franciscans had on their lives:

“It is important to keep in mind that children develop a sense and understanding of sexuality from authority figures, and that boys came to the seminary at age 13 or 14 years, when they were uniformly young and impressionable.”

For some the sexual abuse “was immediate profound trauma, indelibly imprinted in their consciousness. For others, it was not until later in life that memories returned, sparked by an upsetting occurrence that triggered traumatic flashbacks. Although these episodes were painful, they often provided relief through a new found understanding of the difficulties and struggles in their lives.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. 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 MEXICO
BishopAccountability.org

SECOND JUDICIAL DISTRICT
COUNTY OF BERNALILLO
STATE OF NEW MEXICO

JOHN DOE “C”,

Plaintiff,
v.
ARCHDIOCESE OF SANTA FE, and
QUEEN OF HEAVEN PARISH,
Albuquerque, NM,

Defendants.

COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES
FOR CAUSING SEXUAL ABUSE BY PRIESTS,
FAILURE TO PREVENT SEXUAL ABUSE BY PRIESTS,
FOR THE SEXUAL ABUSE ITSELF, AND RELATED CLAIMS
…

31. The Archdiocese allowed a culture of abuse to take root in New Mexico in the decades prior to the rape of Plaintiff. The Archdiocese even fostered this culture of abuse by implementing a code of silence regarding allegations of abuse against its priests, and by transferring abusive priests from parish to parish when rumors of abuse began to stir. To this day, the Archdiocese does not want the public to know the extent of the abuse of minors by its priests, the number of those minors who are still silently suffering, the numbers who have come forward as adults decades later, the numbers who committed suicide along the way or otherwise have disappeared into alcohol or substance abuse, or
the extent of the damage to the communities and parishes that occurred in New Mexico.

The Archdiocese resists transparency and disclosure, preferring to coerce victims into signing confidentiality agreements for a bit of money.

32. Archbishop Sheehan claims in the media a legacy of stopping the sexual abuse of minors by priests in the 1990’s and 2000’s, but still has not provided documents and transparency about the extent of the culture of those years, and the relationship between causing the harms to boys of those days that surface years later as delayed, untreated PTSD.

33. For Plaintiff, part of healing requires Archdiocese of Santa Fe full disclosure of the transfers of all priests in that era between parishes and treatment centers, and the reasons for all these transfers. …

48. Plaintiff has located the names of many of the priests who were credibly accused of abusing minors in public documents. According to publicly available information, the Archdiocese allowed a number of credibly accused pedophile priests to serve as clergy
within its jurisdiction.

49. Fr. Andrew Abdon was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
50. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Andrew Abdon to serve within its jurisdiction.
51. Fr. Lionel Abeywickrema was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
52. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Lionel Abeywickrema to serve within its jurisdiction.
53. Fr. Marvin Archuleta was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
54. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Marvin Archuleta to serve within its jurisdiction.
55. Fr. Paul Baca was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
56. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Paul Baca to serve within its jurisdiction.
57. Fr. Rudy Blea was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
58. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Rudy Blea to serve within its jurisdiction.
59. Fr. Louis Brouseau was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
60. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Louis Brousseau to serve within its jurisdiction.
61. Fr. Ronald Bruckner was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
62. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Ronald Bruckner to serve within its jurisdiction.
63. Fr. Marr Burbach was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
64. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Marr Burbach to serve within its jurisdiction.
65. Fr. Leo Courcy was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
66. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Leo Courcy to serve within its jurisdiction.
67. Fr. Edward Francis Donelan was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
68. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Edward Francis Donelan to serve within its jurisdiction.
69. Fr. John L. Esquibel was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
70. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. John L. Esquibel to serve within its jurisdiction.
71. Fr. Dennis Fountain was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
72. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Dennis Fountain to serve within its jurisdiction.
73. Fr. Joseph Anthony Gallegos was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
74. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Joseph Anthony Gallegos to serve within its jurisdiction.
75. Fr. Sabine Griego was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
76. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Sabine Griego to serve within its jurisdiction.
77. Fr. Dennis Huff was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
78. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Dennis Huff to serve within its jurisdiction.
79. Fr. Theodore Isaias was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
80. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Theodore Isaias to serve within its jurisdiction.
81. Fr. Christopher Kerr was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
82. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Christopher Kerr to serve within its jurisdiction.
83. Fr. Robert J. Kirsch was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
84. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Robert J. Kirsch to serve within its jurisdiction.
85. Fr. Vincent A. Lipinski was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
86. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Vincent A. Lipinski to serve within its jurisdiction.
87. Fr. Clive Lynn was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
88. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Clive Lynn to serve within its jurisdiction.
89. Fr. Robert Patrick Malloy was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
90. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Robert Patrick Melloy to serve within its jurisdiction.
91. Fr. Armando Martinez was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
92. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Armando Martinez to serve within its jurisdiction.
93. Fr. Charles Martinez was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
94. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Charles Martinez to serve within its jurisdiction.
95. Fr. Luis Martinez was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
96. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Luis Martinez to serve within its jurisdiction.
97. Fr. Diego Mazon was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
98. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Diego Mazon to serve within its jurisdiction.
99. Fr. Tom McConnell was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
100.The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Tom McConnell to serve within its jurisdiction.
101.Fr. Michael O’Brien was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
102.The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Michael O’Brien to serve within its jurisdiction.
103. Fr. John Peris was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
104. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. John Peris to serve within its jurisdiction.
105. Fr. John C. Rodriguez was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
106. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. John C. Rodriguez to serve within its jurisdiction.
107. Fr. Ronald W. Roth was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
108. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Ronald W. Roth to serve within its jurisdiction.
109. Fr. Lorenzo Ruiz was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
110. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Lorenzo Ruiz to serve within its jurisdiction.
111. Fr. Edward Rutowski was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
112. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Edward Rutowski to serve within its jurisdiction.
113. Fr. Julian Sanchez was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
114. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Julian Sanchez to serve within its jurisdiction.
115. Archbishop Robert F. Sanchez was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
116. The Archdiocese allowed Robert F. Sanchez to serve within its jurisdiction.
117. Fr. Clarence Schoeppner was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
118. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Clarence Schoeppner to serve within its jurisdiction.
119. Fr. George S. Silva was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
120. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. George S. Silva to serve within its jurisdiction.
121. Fr. Jason Sigler was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
122. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Jason Sigler to serve within its jurisdiction.
123. Fr. Robert J. Smith was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
124. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Robert J. Smith to serve within its jurisdiction.
125. Fr. Ignacio Tafoya was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
126. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. Ignacio Tafoya to serve within its jurisdiction.
127. Fr. John George Weisenborn was credibly accused of sexual abuse.
128. The Archdiocese allowed Fr. John George Weisenborn to serve within its jurisdiction.

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