ABUSE TRACKER

TEXAS
Cleburne Times-Review

By Matt Smith/ msmith@trcle.com

Fort Worth police arrested Pastor Dan Haby of the Cowboy Way Church in Alvarado on Friday in Alvarado on two counts of indecency with a child, FWPD Sgt. Raymond Bush confirmed Tuesday morning.

Haby used to live in Fort Worth and the alleged assault occurred between 2000 and 2001 and involved a then 15-year-old male victim, police said. The victim contacted police in June and investigators subsequently obtained two arrest warrants for indecency with a child by sexual contact.

Members of the FWPD Fugitive Unit arrested Haby at his home without incident. He was transported to the Fort Worth Jail and his bonds were set at $30,000. He has since bonded out, police said.

Haby, 51, is listed as Cowboy Way Church of Alvarado’s lead elder and pastor on the church’s website and has been with the church since its inception in 2005.

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TEXAS
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

BY DEANNA BOYD
dboyd@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH — The pastor of the Cowboy Way Church in Alvardo was charged Tuesday with indecency with a child on accusations that he molested a teen boy several years ago while he was pastor at another church.

Dan Haby Jr., 51, was arrested at his Alvarado home by Fort Worth fugitive officers Friday afternoon on two arrest warrants accusing him of indecency with a child by sexual contact. He was later released from jail after posting a $30,000 bond.

Leigh Williams, children’s pastor at Cowboy Way Church, said Tuesday afternoon that Haby would love to comment but was advised to let his attorney, Daniel Hernandez, handle questions about the case. She said she also could not comment on Haby’s current status with the church in light of his arrest.

“At the advice of the attorney, I can’t comment unfortunately,” Wiilliams said. “There’s lots that I would like to say but I’m going under what the attorney has advised us to do.”

Hernandez has not returned a phone message left at his office.

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TEXAS
WFAA

Posted on July 29, 2014

FORT WORTH — The pastor of Cowboy Way Church in Alvarado has been arrested, accused of molesting a teenager nearly 15 years ago.

According to our content partners at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dan Haby, 51, is accused of indecency with a child by sexual contact.

Police believe he molested a teen boy while he was the pastor at Stockyards Community Church in 2000 and 2001. The victim, now an adult, was 15 at the time.

Two arrest warrants were issued and Haby was taken into custody at his home Friday. He was released on bond.

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WASHINGTON
The Seattle Times

1943 – 2014 | Obituary

David Peter Jaeger

July 27, 1943 ~ July 22, 2014

The family of David Jaeger sadly announces his death on July 22, 2014 from the complications of Alzheimer’s disease. David was born July 27, 1943 in Seattle to Peter & Lorrayne Jaeger and was raised in the Green Lake area with his three younger sisters Marilyn Jaeger Veomett, Patti Jaeger Quinn, and Debbie Jaeger Knaub. He attended St. Benedict’s school and Blanchet High School before entering St. Edward’s Seminary in Kenmore as a sophomore in high school. David was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Seattle on May 19, 1969. He served as associate pastor in Vancouver, Wa and Everett and then in several administrative positions. His final assignment was directing Archdiocesan ministries to Gays and Lesbians as well as heading the Catholic AIDS ministry. He resigned from ministry in 2005 and then worked as the manager of the Helpline Call Center at the headquarters of the Society of St. Vincent DePaul until his retirement in 2012. He has resided at Gaffney House on First Hill since September 2013 due to the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

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WASHINGTON
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, July 29, 2014

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

A priest and the former director of seminarians for the Seattle Archdiocese has died. We hope he is not given a burial of a priest in good standing.

As the head of seminarians for the Seattle Archdiocese, Fr. David Jaeger, let a known abuser, Fr. Paul Joseph Conn, perform duties as a priest. Jaeger himself is an admitted child molester, having acknowledged abusing 8-10 boys. He was voluntarily defrocked in 2005.

We hope his victims find peace from his death. We are glad that he can no longer hurt any more children And we hope Catholic officials do not callously rub salt into the wounds of victims by giving Jaeger a large and pomp-filled funeral.

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UNITED STATES
Religion News Service

David Gibson | July 29, 2014

(RNS) When victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests first organized into a small band of volunteer activists in the late 1980s, reports of clergy molesting children were still new and relatively few. Most were minimized as anomalies or dismissed altogether — much the way the victims were.

But today, as the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, marks its 25th anniversary at a conference in Chicago (Aug. 1-3), its members can take satisfaction in seeing that its claims have been validated, and a few (though hardly all) of its recommendations have been implemented by the church hierarchy.

And instead of facing constant verbal attacks and the occasional angry parishioner spitting on them at a protest, SNAP’s members today are far more likely to receive a handshake and a word of thanks, and maybe even a donation.

SNAP’s advocacy on the Catholic scandal also helped push the reality of sexual abuse into the public consciousness to the point that victims can regularly win in courts and get a hearing in the media, and they are much more likely to come forward to tell their stories, whether they were abused by clergy or by athletic coaches or Boy Scout leaders.

Yet that success is also presenting SNAP with a daunting new challenge as it looks to the future: how to respond to a flood of new inquiries from victims from other faiths and institutions, and how to push for changes beyond the familiar precincts of the Catholic Church.

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UNITED STATES
Darkness to Light

Recently I had the pleasure of having breakfast with my friend and colleague, Boz Tchividjian. I’m so thankful for the friendship he and I have developed and while talking he gave me one more reason to be thankful. He brought to my attention something I had not given enough consideration. It’s from his insight this article originated.

We were discussing the reasons behind why I didn’t say something about my abuse and why other survivors don’t tell or speak up while the abuse is occurring. During the conversation I told him something my mom had said to me. He stopped me and said it was important and to say it again.

He asked if there had been any indications to anyone that the abuse that was happening. I told him about one man in my life who had been a positive, male role-model for me. When I was about 13, he was talking with my mom about my abuser (but at this time no one knew) and said, “there’s something that’s not quite right about that guy spending all this time with those boys. I can’t put my finger on it but I know there’s something that’s just not right.” To which my mom said, “If something were going on with David, he would tell me.”

It’s those last four words that bears repeating…“he would tell me”.

My mom and I have a strong and healthy bond. Because my dad was not in the picture for the first 23 years of my life, it resulted in mom and I having lots of time together and the opportunity to forge an incredible relationship that we still have to this day. I would go so far as to say it’s an uncommonly good relationship as parent/child relationships go. I remember while growing up, most of my friends saying at some point, “I just can’t talk to my mom or dad about…”. I never had that issue with my mom. We were always close and always talked about everything. I remember telling her when I had sex for the first time. I told her about the first time I used drugs. When I got arrested for said drugs, it was my mom I called to bail me out. So it’s clear you can see I’ve felt comfortable enough in telling her about the good, the bad and the ugly.

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PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive

By John Luciew | jluciew@pennlive.com
on July 29, 2014

A western Pennsylvania congregation is being rocked by a child sex abuse scandal involving the church’s youth pastor and a 15-year-old girl.

According to the Associated Press, 33-year-old Brian Keith Smith of Westmoreland County is charged with aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, corruption of minors and possession of child pornography, stemming from explicit cellphone pictures he received from the girl.

The youth pastor of the Journey By Grace Church stands accused of performing sex acts with the 15-year-old girl in the church building, AP reports.

According to the criminal complaint in the case, Smith told Rostraver Township police he and the girl “knew it was wrong,” AP wrote.

Journey By Grace Church Pastor Bill Bailey told AP that church officials contacted police when they learned of the relationship earlier this month, firing Smith.

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ZAMBIA
Lusaka Times

Fourty-Seven year-old Bishop Dominic Nyondo who was arrested last week for allegedly sexually abusing nine young girls from his Church has pleaded not guilty to nine counts of sexual abuse in a Kitwe magistrates court.

Bishop Nyondo of Holy Fire Christian Ministry Church in Kitwe has been charged with three counts of defilement, three counts of rape and three counts of indecent assault .

This was after he allegedly sexually abused the girls aged between 14 and 20 years on the pretext that he was cleansing them of evil spirits.

Bishop Nyondo of House number 853 Ipusukilo township in Kitwe is accused of allegedly having sex with three girls below the age of sixteen between April 2010 and November 2011.

He is further accused of allegedly having sex with three women without their consent between December 2013 and June 2014 and further indecently assaulting three women during the same period.

The accused person is said to have undressed his victims while he prayed for them, ‘anointed’ them with milk and later had sex with them.

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CALIFORNIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Statement by Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach, CA, Western Regional Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 949-322-7434 cell, jcasteix@gmail.com )

A leading figure in the Zen Buddhist movement in the US, who had dozens of abuse allegations against him, has died.

Joshu Sasaki Roshi allegedly sexually abused hundreds of students. Some of the allegations were reported to the Rinzai-ji board, but no action was ever taken. A group of independent Buddhist leaders investigated the claims against Roshi and said” “we have reports that those who chose to speak out were silenced, exiled, ridiculed, or otherwise punished.”

We hope his passing will give some comfort to the many individuals he abused. We also hope it will liberate others he hurt so they can disclose their pain, share their burdens and begin to heal.

Roshi’s backers talk of how much good he did. The same could be said about most sex offenders. Many of them work in “helping professions” and volunteer their time at non-profits and perform great service to others. That, however, doesn’t negate the severe harm they cause. Nor should it cause us to ignore or minimize that harm.

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MICHIGAN
WOOD

He called his Christian Radio Program “Family Friendly” He was anything but. Appearing in Grand Rapids Federal Court today John Balyo will be required to describe in details the crimes he committed against children. Most of his testimony will probably be unfit for broadcast. He will be sentenced to 15 to 50 years in prison. At best he would be 50 years old before he is released, if he does his full sentence he’d be 85. Of course he still faces local charges in Calhoun County and a local conviction would probably keep the pervert in prison for the rest of his life.

Homeland security officials said when he was arrested, Balyo was on the verge of even more serious crimes.

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MICHIGAN
WOOD

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Former Grand Rapids Christian radio host John Balyo is headed to prison after entering a guilty plea in federal court on two charges involving child pornography and sexually assaulting a child.

Balyo, 35, was very soft spoken and to the point when he spoke in court Tuesday morning, replying “Yes, your honor,” and “No, your honor” when questioned by the judge.

When explaining his actions that led up to the charges, Balyo, who is also facing state charges in a separate case in Calhoun County, showed no emotion. At one point, he said he knew what he did was wrong.

According to his plea, Baylo met with another man and a 12-year-old boy in a Kalamazoo hotel room in April. The men sexually assaulted the boy, who was paid cash by Baylo.

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MICHIGAN
WZZM

John Hogan, WZZM July 29, 2014

GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) — Former WCSG radio host John Richard Balyo admitted today that he and a second man handcuffed a 12-year-old boy to a motel bed, sexually abused him and took nine photos during the April encounter.

“I did take images of a child and they were sexually explicit involving bondage and nudity,” Balyo admitted today in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. “I performed sex acts as described. I knew it was wrong.”

Balyo and Ronald Lee Moser paid the boy for his involvement in the April 19th assault. His hands and feet were handcuffed and he was tied to the bed, according to courtroom statements today.

While bound, Balyo took nine photos of the boy, first in his underwear and then naked.

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MICHIGAN
WLNS

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) – A former host at a popular Christian radio station in western Michigan is pleading guilty in a child pornography investigation.

John Balyo was in Grand Rapids federal court today, just weeks after his arrest on state charges at a Christian music festival in Gaylord.

Balyo faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and a maximum of fifty years in prison. He must also register as a sex offender.

The 35-year-old Balyo is charged with sexual exploitation and possessing child pornography. His signed plea deal was filed in court Thursday.

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MICHIGAN
MLive

By John Agar | jagar@mlive.com
on July 29, 2014

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Former Christian radio host John Balyo admitted Tuesday, July 29, that he photographed sex acts with a 12-year-old boy at a Kalamazoo County hotel.

The child was held to the bed in restraints.

“I performed a sexual act as described and I knowingly possessed the images on my camera,” Balyo, 34, of Caledonia, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Ellen Carmody.

“I knew it was wrong.”

Balyo pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography, crimes that could put him away for up to 50 years.

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GUAM
KUAM

By Sabrina Salas Matanane

Guam – Following the removal of Monsignor James Benavente as rector for the Cathedral Basilica and director of director of the Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Agana, Archbishop Anthony Apuron today finally issued a statement on the matter.

In a press release he stated that based on the findings of a recent audit he decided that a change in administration in the two entities was necessary and urgent to re-establish proper accounting practices, complete a financial review , financial report and an audit.

According to Apuron an audit conducted by Deloitte & Touche revealed the Cathedral and Catholic Cemeteries have about $7 million in indebtedness. He added the firm determined the accounting practices, especially in the Catholic Cemeteries are “inappropriate” and that an audit is not possible until appropriate accounting has been reestablished in the Catholic Cemeteries of Guam. The archbishop removed Monsignor James from his positions, exactly one week after he celebrated his 20 year anniversary. The monsignor has denied any wrongdoing.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

[with video]

Guam – The controversy continues to boil at the Archdiocese of Agana as dozens of supporters, including island dignitaries, gathered in prayer for the latest crisis to hit the Catholic church, the termination of Monsignor James Benavente as rector of the Cathedral.

Monsignor James’ removal comes just days after Father John Wadeson was removed for a sex scandal dating back to the 1970s. But the Archdiocese denies any claims that the two events are in any way related.

Little is known about why Monsignor James Benavente was fired from the church as rector of the Cathedral de Basilica. Neither the Archdiocese nor Monsignor James have revealed the reasons. The news became public when Monsignor James informed his fellow brothers and sisters of his removal.

Tim Rohr is a close catholic observer who maintains a blog about the Catholic community on Guam. He tells PNC what he’s learned of Monsignor James’ removal.

“He’s accusing not just Monsignor James, but Monsignor James, Richard Untalan, Joe Rivera and Sister Steven Torres, who were the four members of the archdiocesan finance council that the archbishop terminated after they refused to permit the conveyance of the title of the old Accion hotel property to a separate corporation away from the archdiocese. And so the archbishop is accusing Monsignor James and those other three of trying to sell that property without the archbishop’s permission,” explains Rohr.

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GUAM
Jungle Watch

10:59 PM. I made this post at 2:52 PM at which time there were 761 votes. By 8:40 PM the Archbishop’s A grade had risen from 11% to 48% with about 10 “A”‘s added per minute. The activity continued till 9:20 PM when the A grade rose to 56% and is still continuing. All that activity began after I posted this poll. So we obviously know who reads my blog, as if we didn’t know already. (I catch Adrian on here all the time, the Archbishop too.)

It’s very simple, Tim Rohr posted hugely embarrassing numbers and the Neo’s mobilized. But no matter. Everyone knows that you can click as much as you want on these polls so they don’t mean anything. What matters is that we have a lying, lawless bishop and a chancery seething with jealously and hate. It is now on display for all to see. Why else would they release their report to the media damning Msgr. James at the very moment his prayer vigil was beginning?

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Written by
Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno
Pacific Daily News

Two entities under Guam’s Catholic church have about $7 million in debts that have been reduced only “marginally,” and the financial woes led to a change in administration, Archbishop Anthony Apuron stated yesterday.

The archbishop recently announced the removal of Monsignor James Benavente from being rector at the Numbre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica. The Cathedral-Basilica and the Catholic Cemeteries of Guam incurred the debts, the archbishop stated.

The $7 million accounts for about “one quarter” of the total indebtedness of the Archdiocese of Agana, the archbishop stated.

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NEW ZEALAND
Newstalk

By: Emily Murphy, Latest Crime News | Tuesday July 29 2014

A decision over whether a former Catholic brother facing hundreds of sex charges will be extradited to Australia has reached the final stage.

Bernard McGrath is wanted in Australia on 252 charges for alleged offending against boys in New South Wales.

The charges date back over 30 years.

Justice Minister Judith Collins says she’ll consider submissions sent to her from McGrath before making her final decision.

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TEXAS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, July 29, 2014

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

Priest who pled guilty is back on the job
Dallas bishop quietly transferred him to new posts
Just three years ago, he admitted to “inappropriate touching”
But some allegations against the cleric go back almost 40 years

The Catholic bishop of Dallas has quietly put back on the job a priest who pleaded no contest three years ago to misdemeanor assault charges for inappropriately touching of a 14-year-old girl, a support group has learned.

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, say that Fr. Robert Crisp now does prison ministry, according to the Dallas diocese webpage.

They also say that a concerned Catholic informed them that Fr. Crisp also ministers at St. Joseph Village, a retirement home, in Coppell (1201 E. Sandy Lake Road)

(To confirm the latter, SNAP urges reporters to call Fr. Crisp’s private line: 972-879-8474 or the home: 972-304-0300.)

“Bishop Kevin Farrell should be ashamed of himself,” said David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP’s director. “He’s apparently given not one but two job assignments to a convicted sex offender, directly contradicting the so-called ‘zero tolerance’ promise he and his brother bishops have bragged about for years.”

“It’s ironic that in the very city where America’s bishops solemnly and repeatedly pledged ‘one strike and you’re out’, Bishop Farrell secretly puts an admitted child molester back around unsuspecting Catholics,” said Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, SNAP’s outreach director. “How many grandkids visit relatives at this facility? And is Fr. Crisp being allowed to work in parishes too?”

“For decades, bishops have done what Farrell is now doing: moving a proven predator to another job and claiming that somehow a child predator won’t gain access to kids in this position or that position,” Dorris stressed. “But there’s a reason civilized societies jail molesters: because unless we do, they’ll find a way to win parents’ trust and abuse children again, no matter what job title or position they may be given.”

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MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, July 29, 2014

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

A child sex abuse and cover up trial started yesterday against a Kansas City pastor who is the former head of the State Board of Education.

The civil suit was filed in January 2013 in Jackson County Circuit Court “by a Kansas City-area woman identified as Jane Doe” and “alleges that the Rev. Stan Archie began committing repeated acts of sexual misconduct against (her) when she went to him for counseling at 15,” according to the KC Star.

“Archie is co-founder and senior pastor of Christian Fellowship Baptist Church at 4509 Troost Ave. in Kansas City. The lawsuit is the second in a year alleging sexual misconduct against Archie,” the Star reports.

We beg anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered Rev. Archie’s crimes to come forward immediately and help this brave young woman expose a dangerous predator.

We were disturbed by Rev. Archie’s initial public response to allegations that he sexually exploited a church member. He claimed that a church investigation cleared him, but gave no details.

It’s disingenuous to claim that a church investigates its own pastor and that some other anonymous body allegedly did so too. Why refuse to name the organization that supposedly checked out the accusations? Because Rev. Archie’s denial of sexual misconduct is so vague and is issued through his lawyer, it rings hollow.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
National Catholic Reporter

Marie Rohde | Jul. 29, 2014

MILWAUKEE
The Milwaukee archdiocese has filed for bankruptcy, but is it too broke to pay its legal bills?

Currently, the archdiocese has paid or owes just shy of $14 million in legal and professional fees related to the bankruptcy. As the debtor, the archdiocese is required by federal law to pay the legal expenses of those who have filed claims as well as its own lawyers. Lawyers for the archdiocese filed a 63-page statement to back up a $204,451 bill for the month of June alone.

The legal bills are far greater than the $4 million the archdiocese offered survivors of sex abuse before filing for bankruptcy on Jan. 4, 2011. That prompted Peter Isely, the Midwest director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests and one of the Milwaukee claimants, to question whether the archdiocese’s actions are consistent with what Pope Francis has said.

“Although it is unclear what this pope is doing or not doing on the issue, one thing that is perfectly clear is that paying lawyers three to four times what they have offered victims is directly opposite to this pope’s pontificate,” Isely said. “He has said that victims have a right to and must be justly compensated.”

James Stang, a lawyer representing the committee of creditors, most of them survivors of sexual abuse, says professionals on his side of the case were owed more than $2.3 million as of July 1. He asserts the archdiocese has the money to pay its bills but suggested the diocese is holding back payment in an effort to force a settlement. Stang has asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley to reconsider her order that put payments to lawyers on hold nearly 18 months ago.

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OHIO
Daily Journal

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: July 29, 2014

TOLEDO, Ohio — An Internet site devoted to selling memorabilia from notorious killers is selling dirt said to be from the gravesite of a Roman Catholic priest convicted of killing a nun in Ohio.

The lot for sale on a website also includes a photo of the Rev. Gerald Robinson in his coffin.

Robinson was serving a life prison sentence for strangling Sister Margaret Ann Pahl in 1980 at a hospital where they worked. He died July 4 and was buried in his Toledo hometown.

A Toledo man says he took the photo of Robinson at his funeral and then struck a deal to sell it on a website called serialkillersink.net.

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MICHIGAN
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, July 29, 2014

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

A former Michigan Christian radio host is set to plead guilty to making and possessing child pornography. We hope he gets the toughest sentence possible.

John Balyo was charged with taking pornographic images of a 12 year old boy and possession of child porn. We urge the judge in his case to sentence him to the maximum sentencing, which is 50 years in jail. This is a dangerous predator and he should be kept away from children for as long as possible.

We also urge parents and officials in Kalamazoo County who may have had contact with Balyo to share any suspicions they have and talk to their children. Every church or school group where Balyo spoke or spent time with should also do aggressive outreach to find others who may have seen, suspected or suffered his crimes.

Finally, we urge law enforcement officials to keep digging. Very often, in crimes like this, others in leadership positions ignored or concealed the wrongdoing. They should be identified, exposed, prosecuted and punished too, so that future cover ups are deterred.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, July 29, 2014

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

A Pennsylvania youth minister has been arrested on charges of child sexual abuse and has admitted abusing her for several months. We are grateful to the witnesses who came forward with their suspicions and urge anyone else with information to come forward to police.

Brian Keith Smith was the youth minster at Journey by Grace Church and led their youth program, The Joshua Project. The victim is a 15 year old girl who joined the youth group in 2013.

We urge officials at Journey by Grace to reach out to all congregants urging them to speak up if they suspect anything and to talk to their children. They should urge anyone who saw, suspects or suffered abuse to report to police. It is possible that there are more victims suffering in silence and self blame.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Raw Story

By David Edwards
Tuesday, July 29, 2014

A 33-year-old youth pastor in Pennsylvania has been arrested after he was accused of raping a 15-year-old girl at his church.

Court documents filed by Rostraver Police accused Journey By Grace Church’s Brian Keith Smith of felony indecent assault of a minor younger than 16, felony possession of child pornography and several other misdemeanors, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The criminal complaint stated that the Smith recruited the girl to join his youth group, The Joshua Project, in September of 2013.

“At this point in time, the victim reported that the defendant began driving her home from church after youth group meetings,” the complaint said. “The victim stated in late fall of 2013 they began to frequently send text messages to each other. Victim stated that soon after the frequent text messages, the defendant would drive her home. While driving, the defendant would stroke the victim’s face which encouraged intimacy.”

Smith is accused of first kissing the victim in February of 2014. By mid-July, the assault had escalated to penetrating her with his fingers, exchanging oral sex, and other sexual contact, according to police.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Saarbruecker Zeitung

[Summary: A Lebacher priest in July 2012 was accused to attempting to sexually abuse a 15-year-old. The prosecution closed the case in March so the Trier diocese has restored the priest to service. The 68-year-old priest is retired.]

Lebach/Trier. Das Bistum Trier hat die Beurlaubung eines ehemaligen Pfarrers von Lebach aufgehoben, der wegen des Verdachts des sexuellen Missbrauchs eines Minderjährigen seine Ämter hatte niederlegen müssen. Das kirchenrechtliche Verfahren sei zu dem Schluss gekommen, dass dem Priester „kein strafrechtlich relevantes Vergehen im Sinne der Leitlinien der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz für den Umgang mit sexuellem Missbrauch Minderjähriger“ nachgewiesen werden könne, teilte das Bistum mit. Der 68-jährige Pfarrer ist inzwischen im Ruhestand, ist aber dem Bistum zufolge bereit, „nach Kräften“ Aushilfen und Vertretungen zu übernehmen. Es sei jedoch mit Bischof Stephan Ackermann vereinbart worden, dass er sich von der Pfarreiengemeinschaft Lebach fernhalten werde. Nur so sei nach den „für alle Beteiligten belastenden“ Monaten eine „ungestörte pastorale Arbeit“ möglich.

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MISSOURI
KSPR

TANEY COUNTY, Mo. –
The latest civil suit against Kanakuk Ministries is claiming that the organization allowed Peter Newman to violate its rules and regulations at their camp and did not take any disciplinary actions.

According to documents in the 46-page-long suit filed on behalf of “John Doe II”, Newman was naked in front of under-aged boys who were also naked during activities at the camp.

A mother of one of the campers reported the incident to organizers of Kanakuk by the lawsuit claims Newman was never punished. It goes on to claim that Newman was promoted to a higher position after the allegations surfaced several years ago.

The following is from a KSPR report written in July of 2011:

Taney County, Mo — The family of a former camper that is suing Kanakuk Kamp is asking a judge for a restraining order against the camp, it’s CEO Joe White and former director Pete Newman. Since appearing in the case, the family says Joe White and the camp have contacted them by mail, telephone and email despite repeated requests to not contact them. The family is suing the camp because they say camp leaders failed to prevent the molestation of their son even though there were warning signs. They are suing under the names John and Jane Doe.

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CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times

By CHRISTINE MAI-DUC

Buddhist teacher Joshu Sasaki Roshi, a leading figure in Zen Buddhism in America whose legacy was later complicated by allegations of sexual abuse, has died. He was 107.

Roshi died Sunday afternoon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said Gento Steve Krieger, head monk at Rinzai-ji, also known as the Cimarron Zen Center, in Jefferson Park. He died of complications of old age, Krieger said.

Roshi arrived in Los Angeles more than 50 years ago and was among a wave of Japanese teachers to tailor Zen Buddhism teachings to westerners. He once pledged to students that he would not die “until Zen is born in America.”

“He was a Zen master,” Krieger said. “I don’t know anybody else who lives that completely and that fully. When you meet somebody like that, it changes your opinion of what a human being is.”

He opened dozens of Zen centers, including one on Mt. Baldy known for its rigorous training regimen.

Decades later, allegations from dozens of former students that he had sexually abused them surfaced. The allegations included molestation and rape, and some had been reported to the Rinzai-ji board, which never took effective action, according to an investigation by an independent council of Buddhist leaders.

The council’s report suggested he may have abused hundreds. “We see how, knowingly and unknowingly, the community was drawn into an open secret,” the council wrote. “We have reports that those who chose to speak out were silenced, exiled, ridiculed, or otherwise punished.”

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CANADA
Nunatsiaq Online

LISA GREGOIRE

The fate of thousands of pages of testimony about physical, sexual and psychological abuse at Canada’s notorious residential schools now lies with Ontario Superior Court Justice Paul Perell, but at least one residential school survivor hopes they are not destroyed.

Piita Irniq, who attended three residential schools, including Chesterfield Inlet’s Joseph Bernier School and its notorious Turquetil Hall residence, and who publicly, and repeatedly, disclosed the extent of abuse he suffered there, said July 28 that destroying those documents would be a grave injustice.

“If that happens, then you’re destroying the words of healing, you’re destroying the experience,” Irniq said.

“Were the Jews’ statements about the Holocaust destroyed too? If you destroy them, you destroy the history of Aboriginal people. The pain and the healing would go away.”

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OHIO
NBC 24

by Angi Gonzalez

TOLEDO — A Toledo man is behind a new online auction of items with a connection to one of the Glass City’s most notorious murder cases.

Dan Clay teamed up with the owner of Serial Killers Ink, Eric Holler, to sell a small group of items he collected following the recent passing of Father Gerald Robinson.

Earlier this month, Robinson passed away while serving time for a murder conviction in the stabbing death of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl.

“The entire lot is the picture of Father Robinson, the four ounce vile of dirt [from Robinson’s grave], his funeral obit card, and copy of The Blade that details the funeral,” Clay said of collection priced at $350.

The picture of Robinson, which NBC24 has decided not to include in this story, shows the Toledo priest in an open casket and wearing what appears to be clerical garments.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (posted 28 July 2014)

Police allege that a Christian Brother, William Edwin Marchant, sexually abused a seven-year-old child who was visiting a Catholic school in Western Australia in the 1970s. Marchant, who is no longer a member of the Christian Brothers, made a brief appearance in Broome Magistrates Court on 28 July 2014.

Marchant, now aged 77, is accused of indecently dealing with a boy at the Christian Brothers Agricultural School near Tardun in Western Australia’s mid-west.

The offences are alleged to have occurred between 1970 and 1971 when the seven-year-old boy regularly attended social events at the school.

Police allege that, during these events, the boy was indecently assaulted by Marchant, who was a Christian Brother at the time.

Marchant is facing two counts of indecently dealing with a boy under 14 years.

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AUSTRALIA
The Canberra Times

July 29, 2014

David Ellery
Reporter for The Canberra Times.

The Marist Brothers may have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional damages to victims of serial paedophile and former Marist College Canberra teacher Kostka (John) Chute.

Jason Parkinson of Porters Lawyers, who has already recovered millions of dollars in compensation for victims, said some of his past clients may have received less than they were entitled to because Marist Brothers had denied prior knowledge that Chute was an abuser.

Additional victims, who had not previously sought redress, have come forward as a result of recent publicity about Chute’s activities in the ACT and elsewhere.

Last month’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse hearing in Canberra was told the Marists had known that Chute was an abuser as early as 1960.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Claire Moore
theguardian.com, Tuesday 29 July 2014

In November 2012 Julia Gillard, Jenny Macklin and Nicola Roxon announced the establishment of the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

The Labor government believed that heartbreaking allegations of child sexual abuse justified a royal commission. We also believed that the government must do everything it can to make sure what has happened in the past is never allowed to happen again.

Since it was established in January of last year, the royal commission has interviewed over 1,600 survivors of child sexual abuse, and received a similar number of written accounts of abuse. It made clear in its interim report out last month that if its reporting date is not extended by two years, then many survivors will be denied the opportunity to report their experiences, in particular those from vulnerable and hard-to-reach groups.

We are still waiting for the Abbott government to respond to that request.

In its interim report, the royal commission said this extension is essential for it to complete the public hearings to fulfilling its terms of reference. I am not surprised – the inquiry opened a floodgate. Courage begets courage. Initial public and private hearings encouraged others to come out of the silence. Around 3,000 people are on a waiting list to give evidence in closed session.

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OHIO
Toledo Blade

BY TK BARGER
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR

A Toledo man who organizes tours of local crime scenes and gravesites has collected memorabilia of Gerald Robinson — including dirt from the priest’s grave and a photograph of him in his coffin — to sell online for $350.

On Monday, the Web site serialkillersink.net offered items related to Robinson’s burial as a one-time lot. Robinson was the Roman Catholic priest who was convicted in 2006 of the 1980 murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl and died in prison July 4.

Dan Clay of East Toledo had taken a photo of Robinson in his casket, dressed in priestly vestments, at the funeral home and collected dirt from Robinson’s grave, where he was buried next to his parents in Calvary Cemetery.

Along with those items, Mr. Clay is offering a memorial card from Robinson’s funeral and The Blade’s July 12 front page that includes an article on the funeral. He does not have Blade permission to reprint or resell the newspaper.

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OHIO
WSPD

Posted Tuesday, July 29th 2014 @ 6am by Michael Miller

The “true crime collectables” website Serial Killers Ink is offering a set of items related to Toledo priest Gerald Robinson’s funeral. Toledo Free Press reports the one-time lot, priced at $350, includes a photograph of Robinson in his casket, soil from Robinson’s burial plot, a memorial card from Robinson’s funeral and a copy of the July 12 Blade featuring an article about the funeral. The webste is brokering the items on behalf of Toledoan Dan Clay, founder of Grave Fixations, which offers local crime scene and graveyard tours. Robinson died July 4. He was serving a sentence of 15 years to life for the 1980 murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, for which he was convicted in 2006.

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VATICAN CITY
Rorate Caeli

Marco Tosatti
senior religious correspondent for La Stampa

It is difficult to write about something that is vague and has indistinct contours as in an interview with seeming contradictions, but not contradictory in a general sense, such as the latest interview between Eugenio Scalfari and the Pope. But there is an aspect of the conversation that merits attention, because it poses questions of great weight. One of these questions concerns sexual abuse by clerics. At a certain point, in his reconstruction of the conversation, Scalfari writes that he asked how widespread this phenomenon is. The Pope responded, according to Scalfari, in this way:

“Many of my consultants who are in this struggle with me assure me on the basis of reliable data that they estimate that pedophilia in the Church is at the level of two percent. This should have reassured me, but I must say to you that it did not reassure me at all. I consider it on the contrary a most grave matter. The two percent of pedophiles are priests and even bishops and cardinals. And others, even more numerous, know but are silent, they punish but say nothing about the reason for the punishment. I find this state of things unsustainable, and it is my intention to confront it with the severity that it demands.

The sentence ends this way, without the closing quotations marks.

But it is the figure of two percent reported by Scalfari that creates a great deal of perplexity. And one must ask: a) if the Pope really said that; b) who gave him these figures? c) did Scalfari report this correctly? There are 410,000 priests in the world. Two percent of these comes to eight thousand. This is data that contrasts with that which has been accepted heretofore.

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UNITED STATES
dotCommonweal

Grant Gallicho
July 28, 2014

The Italian journalist Vittorio Messori has made a career of interviewing popes. So it’s no surprise that he was recently asked to comment on another one of Eugenio Scalfari’s controversial “interviews” with Pope Francis. Once again, Scalfari has reconstructed a conversation he had with the pope without the benefit of a recording or notes. And once again the Vatican has had to offer a clarification of the pope’s alleged remarks–because, according to Scalfari, Francis told him that 2 percent of the world’s priests, including bishops and cardinals, are pedophiles.

That’s a lot of pedophile priests–about one in fifty. If the pope really said that (and it’s not clear that he did), where did he get that figure? The traditionalist Catholic blog Rorate Caeli recently translated a report claiming that about .08 percent of abuse cases handled by the Vatican involve pedophile priests. The piece cites a couple of Vatican insiders who note that of all the abuse cases that make it to Rome only about 10 percent involve pedophilia.

About a week later the blog translated another Italian news item–this time an interview with Messori. In that conversation, the veteran Italian journalist was asked whether relaxing the celibacy rule would address the abuse crisis. His response makes you wonder whether he’s been paying much attention to the scandal:

Nearly all of the cases of sexual abuse that have been investigated as having been committed by those in consecrated life were not committed on prepubescent children but on adolescents. All of these were male.

Bishop Charles Scicluna used to serve as the Vatican’s chief prosecutor of abuse cases. He has said that 30 percent of the cases forwarded to Rome–and it’s important to note that not all cases of accused clerics have been adjudicated by the Vatican–involved heterosexual abuse. I haven’t seen it reported that every single postpubescent victim was male. In fact, there is no data on the pubescence of victims of clerical sexual abuse.

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UNITED STATES
Waiting for Godot to Leave

Kevin O’Brien

Catholic World News reports that the Vatican has suspended all priestly ordinations in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.

If this is true, it’s an indication that something far more sinister has been brewing down there than just the elevation of an alleged child molesting homosexual cult leader to the position of Vicar General. This, after Bishop Martino of Scranton, PA made it clear that this man (Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity), who had been operating in his diocese, was not fit for ministry. The Diocese of Scranton states (my emphasis) …

Bishop Martino clearly expressed his reservations concerning Father Urrutigoity, who was identified as posing a serious threat to young people. Bishop Martino also carefully and consistently expressed his grave doubts about this cleric’s suitability for priestly ministry and cautioned the Bishop of the Diocese of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay to not allow Father Urrutigoity to incardinate into his diocese. Despite these serious cautions, Bishop Rogelio Livieres informed the Diocese of Scranton that he was allowing Father Urrutigoity to incardinate into his Paraguay diocese.

… and not only to incardinate (to be given the permission and the faculties to function as a priest there), but also to function as Vicar General in the diocese, becoming Bishop Livieres right-hand man.

Urrutigoity was kicked out of an SSPX (schismatic) seminary because of his sexual perversions, but then ran the Society of St. John in Scranton, where he slept with boys as a form of “spiritual direction”. Back in 2002 Scranton’s Independent Review Board suggested that Urrutigoity

should be removed from active ministry; his faculties should be revoked; and he should be asked to live privately.

For some reason Bishop Lvieres (a member of Opus Dei) ignored this.

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TEXAS
KXAN

By Angie Beavin
Published: July 28, 2014

GEORGETOWN, Texas — For the first time, supporters of the victim in the Greg Kelley case in Williamson County are making their voices heard, adding to the growing community outrage.

The 19-year-old was sentenced earlier this month to 25 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 4-year-old child. The sentence came as a punishment agreement between prosecutors and Kelley’s defense. The jury found him guilty of the crime and could have given him anywhere from 25 years to life in prison. The agreement to 25 years also meant he couldn’t appeal.

Monday, supporters of Kelley and his innocence wore orange, and they sat in silence outside of the Williamson County Jail. …

Across the parking lot, people dressed in teal were supporting the victim in the case.

Janet Heimlich is the director of the Child-Friendly Faith Project, a group that advocates for victims of such abuse. She did not go to the demonstration Monday night, but says demonstrations like that of the Kelley’s supporters, especially when members of a church or faith community are involved, are harmful to victims.

“I think that maybe they don’t have a full appreciation of what kind of impact that can have when you have very public rallies in support of someone who has been convicted of sexually abusing a small child,” said Heimlich.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Vincent Twomey

Tue, Jul 29, 2014

According to the Government’s inter-departmental group, the proposed commission of investigation on mother and baby homes, the commission should be different from previous inquiries into child abuse and neglect: “The particular social and historical issues which the commission of investigation will be asked to explore are likely to distinguish the nature of its investigations from those of many other commissions.”

The report illustrates this by giving an impressive sketch of recent historical studies into the various issues raised by the treatment of unmarried mothers and their children in Ireland.

All this appears to stress an important difference between issues of criminality and neglect central to previous inquiries, and questions of social change and cultural change at the heart of our debate about mother and baby homes.

Former minister for health James Reilly seemed to take a similar approach. The goal of the commission, he announced in the Dáil (July 17th, 2014) was “to bring a true and clear picture of this part of our history into full public view.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
CBS Pittsburgh

[with video]

Ross Guidotti

ROSTRAVER (KDKA) – A youth pastor in Westmoreland County has been arrested for allegedly engaging in sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl.

According to the criminal complaint, Brian Keith Smith, 33, of Belle Vernon, was arraigned on July 25.
As a youth pastor, Smith was supposed to show teens the value of faith and prayer, but police say he was a sexual predator.

“He was in a position of trust,” said Rostraver Police Chief Greg Resetar. “He should have discouraged activity like this as we know now he went to a different direction.”

Smith admitted to police that he and the girl engaged in sexual activities on multiple occasions inside the Journey By Grace church in Rostraver.

“Both of us knew it was wrong,” Smith told police.

The two also exchanged sexually explicit photos via text messages. Smith said the inappropriate contact began in February.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

July 28, 2014

By Amy McConnell Schaarsmith / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A youth minister for a Rostraver Township, Westmoreland County, church is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison after his arrest Friday for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl in his youth group.

Brian Keith Smith, 33, has been charged with the felonies of aggravated indecent assault of a minor younger than 16 and possession of child pornography, and with the misdemeanors of indecent assault of a minor younger than 16 and corruption of minors, for sexual acts with the girl at Journey By Grace Church on Route 51, according to a Rostraver police criminal complaint.

Mr. Smith and the victim began meeting at the church after the girl, who has not been identified, joined the church’s youth group, The Joshua Project, in September 2013, the complaint states.

Mr. Smith, of Belle Vernon, told police he first kissed the teen in or around February 2014, and that between February and mid-July he penetrated her sexually with his fingers on several occasions, exchange oral sex with her on several occasions, and had other sexual contact on at least three occasions in a back room of the church, according to the criminal complaint.

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MICHIGAN
WZZM

Gregory Ghering, WZZM July 24, 2014

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WZZM) — US Attorney Patrick Miles has announced that John Balyo, a former host on a Christian radio station, is scheduled to plead guilty to federal charges related to child sexual exploitation.

The US Attorney’s Office on Wednesday filed two counts against Balyo. The first one charged him with sexually-exploiting a 12-year-old boy to create child porn. The second count charged him with possessing child porn.

Under the plea deal reached Thursday, Balyo will plead guilty to both felonies and will forfeit “computers, photographic equipment, and material used to sexually abuse or exploit children,” according to the US Attorney’s statement, which also said the US Attorney will not seek more charges from a federal grand jury.

Balyo is scheduled to be arraigned and enter his guilty plea before US Magistrate Judge Ellen S. Carmody on July 29.

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MICHIGAN
MLive

By Angie Jackson | ajackso3@mlive.com
on July 24, 2014

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — John Balyo, the former Christian radio host accused of creating pornographic images of a 12-year-old boy, is scheduled to plead guilty to federal charges.

Balyo, 35, of Caledonia, on Wednesday was charged with sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. Balyo on Thursday, July 24, agreed to plead guilty to both counts, records show.

As part of the plea, Balyo will forfeit his computers, photographic equipment and material used to sexually abuse or exploit children. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will not seek additional charges.

The former morning show host for WCSG, a Christian station based in Grand Rapids, faces a minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 50 years. He will be arraigned and enter the guilty plea July 29.

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MICHIGAN
SF Gate

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A former host at a popular Christian radio station in western Michigan is expected to plead guilty in a child pornography investigation.

Prosecutors say John Balyo is due in Grand Rapids federal court Tuesday, just weeks after his arrest on state charges at a Christian music festival in Gaylord.

The 35-year-old Balyo is charged with sexual exploitation and possessing child pornography. His signed plea deal was filed in court Thursday.

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AUSTRALIA
Central Telegraph

A FOUR-year investigation by the ABC has uncovered shocking claims of abuse and torment in relation to NSW-based registered charity and religious group Christian Assemblies International (CAI).

Four Corners has revealed that self-styled religious guru Pastor Scott Williams was using his warped brand of evangelical Pentecostalism to run a clandestine homosexual sex ring while allegedly misusing vast amounts of member donations for personal use.

Courageous former members broke their silence and told of their torment living inside the group, which they said is not a Christian church but a horrendous cult run by one man.

The ex-members have remained in the shadows until now out of fear and shame, ABC News reports.

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier

By Fiona Henderson July 29, 2014

HORRIFIC claims of sexual and physical abuse by a former Ballarat teacher who founded religious cult Christian Assemblies International (CAI) have been unveiled by the ABC’s Four Corners program.

Pastor Scott Williams, now 70, is also accused of misusing vast amounts of money donated by CAI members and building up a worldwide multi-million dollar property portfolio.

Mr Williams taught at Ballarat East High School in the 1970s before heading to Germany, where he worked in Feldafing as a pool attendant at a military school for young men.

In the late 70s, he began recruiting German teenagers and young adults to CAI, claiming he was The Anointed One, filled with the Holy Spirit and a gifted healer.

However, Four Corner’s four year investigation showed Williams also carried out bizarre sexual rituals on males, including mass massage sessions and forcing men to perform sex acts on him, while financially, physically, verbally and spiritually abusing his members, particularly women and children.

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AUSTRALIA
International Business Times

By Indrani Bhattacharyya | July 29, 2014

At the end of an investigation which took four long years, ABC News has found out painful details of incidents that used to take place within a NSW-based registered charity and religious group named Christian Assemblies International (CAI).

Four Corners brought out the truth to show that the self-styled religious guru Pastor Scott Williams used his warped brand of evangelical Pentecostalism to run a secret homosexual sex ring while allegedly misusing enormous amount of member donations for personal purpose.

Heart wrenching true stories of abuse saw day light as former members decided to open up about the years of torment they went through at the hands of their ‘cult leader’.

A young woman named Emily Wassmann shared the devastating experience of being born into and growing up in a twisted religious cult.

The women were mostly treated as slaves and suffered both physical and verbal abuse in the hands of men members. They were monitored at every step of life.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Morning Times

Associated Press

ROSTRAVER, Pa. (AP) — A youth pastor has been fired by a western Pennsylvania church and jailed on charges he performed sex acts with a 15-year-old girl in their church building.

According to a criminal complaint, 33-year-old Brian Keith Smith told Rostraver Township police he and the girl “knew it was wrong.” Smith is charged with aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, corruption of minors and possession of child pornography — stemming from explicit cellphone pictures he received from the girl.

Journey By Grace Church Pastor Bill Bailey says church officials contacted police when they learned of the relationship earlier this month and fired Smith.

Smith’s attorney didn’t immediately return a call for comment Monday.

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NIGERIA
allAfrica

Vanguard

A 53-year-old man who claims to be a Pastor, has been arrested by the Police in Nsukka, Enugu State, for allegedly impregnating married women and young girls in his church.

The Pastor, identified as Timothy Ngwu, is the General Overseer of Holy Trinity Ministry popularly called Vineyard Ministry in Umudikwere Community in the University town. Ironically, police sources said the suspect claims he was directed by the Holy Spirit to sexually abuse female members of his church in the name of God.

How he was exposed Crime Guard gathered that the alleged sexual exploits of the self-acclaimed man of God was blown open by his estranged wife, Veronica Ngwu, who hails from Udi Local Government Area in Enugu State.

The wife who has three children for the pastor was reportedly not comfortable with the ugly development and she lodged a complaint at the Anti-Child Trafficking Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department, CID, Enugu.This led to the arrest of the pastor.

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PARAGUAY
UCA News

Catholic World News/CatholicCulture.org Paraguay July 29, 2014 The Vatican has suspended priestly ordinations in the Diocese of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, according to multiple media reports.

Following an investigation of the diocese led by Cardinal Santos Abril y Castello, ordinations have been suspended until Pope Francis resolves difficulties in the diocese, reports indicate.

No public announcement has been made about the reason for the action. The Vatican ordered an investigation of the diocese following the revelation that a priest who was accused of sexual abuse while serving in the US was serving as vicar general in Ciudad del Este.

That report brought to a head tensions between the diocesan leader, Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano, and other bishops in Paraguay, and complaints from lay activists about alleged irregularities in diocesan affairs.

The accused priest, Father Carlos Urrotigoity—who is identified by the Scranton, Pennsylvania diocese as a “serious threat to young people”—was reportedly removed from his post as vicar general earlier this month, at the request of the apostolic nuncio in Paraguay, Archbishop Eliseo Ariotti.

However, Bishop Livieres has defended Father Urrotigoity in the past, saying that thc charges against him are unproven.

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LOUISIANA
The Advocate

BY R. STEPHANIE BRUNO
SPECIAL TO THE ADVOCATE

In Gregory Alexander’s novel, “The Holy Mark: The Tragedy of a Fallen Priest,” Joseph Broussard is a lot like other boys growing up in New Orleans in the mid-20th century. He comes from a large Catholic family, he spends free time exploring with his cousins and he develops both rivalries and alliances with these other children that foreshadow his future.

The only obvious difference between Joe and his cousins is the “holy mark” on his scalp, or “segno sacro” as his Italian grandmother calls the red, chalice-shaped birthmark. To her, it is a sign that Joe is destined to become a priest, an ambition she has long harbored for one of her male descendants. But as the story unfolds, the reader comes to understand that the birthmark represents something chillingly sinister rather than holy and divine.

Alexander writes with pinpoint accuracy about the world that Joe (later Father Tony) inhabits, having experienced much of it himself. The author was born in New Orleans, lived here most of his life, and had an Italian great-grandmother who never learned to speak English. He attended Catholic schools and, after earning degrees in psychology and English, taught for 12 years at Cabrini and Jesuit high schools. Alexander’s life experiences have offered him a vantage point from which to observe first-hand the complex relationships that can sometimes arise in large families, as well as the political inner-workings of the Catholic Church.

More important to the theme of the novel, however, is the psychological portrait he paints of Father Tony, the “Fallen Priest” referenced in the novel’s subtitle.

Father Tony casts himself as mistreated by the Catholic hierarchy and grossly misunderstood, a priest following “in the footsteps of Jesus.” Moved from post to post because of his improprieties with teenaged boys in his care, he blames the politics of the Church, the rivalries in his family, and everyone but himself for his situation.

In his narcissistic world view, the Church and his conniving family are the ones responsible for his fate.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. 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
Huffington Post

Martin Marty

Posted: 07/28/2014

This post originally appeared in Sightings, an online publication of the Martin Marty Center for the Advanced Study of Religion, University of Chicago Divinity School.

GRACE acronates “Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment.” Its story is well told in Kathryn Joyce’s “By Grace Alone,” an article in American Prospect (May/June; see “Sources,” below). Please read it, since it offers background and details vital to the questions of “abuse.”

I get asked, “Why doesn’t Sightings do more with the Catholic priest abuse story?” (It’s often blurted out as “Catholicpriestchildsexualabuse.”) Why doesn’t it? First, we don’t overdo overly-familiar stories. This one dominates elsewhere annually. Also, we are not anti-Catholic, so we don’t need it as an anti-Catholic pitch. In any case, the most persistent critics on this Catholic issue are themselves Catholics, wounded victims of abuse who hope to effect change.

Note, however, that the link “abuse=Catholic” obscures many realities, particularly accounts of abuse by perpetrators within other communions or movements. This week, inspired by the Joyce story, we focus on the non-Catholic world of Evangelicals and Fundamentalists.

We are not dealing with evangelical or fundamentalist outliers. The head of GRACE is Boz Tchividjian, grandson of Billy Graham, There’s no marginal evangelicalism in his family line! And note that Liberty University, founded by Jerry Falwell, is the school at which tireless Tchividjian teaches law. Also central to the Joyce story is Bob Jones University, the “mother ship” to some schools of fundamentalism.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. 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
Catholic News Service

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Just as Jesus commanded pastors to leave their flock to find the lost sheep, the church must set out in search of all those who have been abused by clergy and offer them help, said one abuse survivor.

Victims of abuse should be the focus of a new pastoral ministry since they are isolated, hurting, vulnerable to self-harm and suicide, and in need of Christ’s true healing, said Mark Vincent Healy, one of the six abuse survivors who met Pope Francis at the Vatican July 7.

In his private meeting with the pope, Healy said, “I needed to tell His Holiness just how awful it is when there is no justice, no one listening on a humanitarian level,” and how all that isolation and guilt push people to suicide or self-harm and addictions.

He also told the pope how much spiritual help both survivors and the church need. Healy spoke with Catholic News Service by telephone from Ireland July 25.

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

PARAGUAY
GlobalPost

Alex Leff
July 28, 2014

The Vatican has ordered a church in eastern Paraguay to dismiss a priest accused of sexually abusing young men in the United States, according to Paraguayan press reports.

The Ciudad del Este diocese’s reported firing of Argentine priest Carlos Urrutigoity followed a recent investigative report by GlobalPost into his rise to power in the South American city, despite a string of molestation allegations against him.

The reporting, and local media coverage that followed, unleashed a flood of controversy over the priest’s continued work in the church — which had promoted him to the No. 2 post of vicar general.

According to legal documents reviewed by GlobalPost, seminarians in Minnesota and Pennsylvania made allegations against Urrutigoity that included his touching one young man’s genitals and asking another to insert anal suppositories in front of him. Clergy members from Switzerland to Scranton have issued warnings that the Argentine is “dangerous” and “a serious threat to young people.”

Urrutigoity has denied the allegations and never been criminally charged for them. But US activists have campaigned for him to be punished. That movement has gained fierce voices in Paraguay — and it appears to have gotten an answer from the pope.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. 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
Our Stories Untold

By STEPHANIE KREHBIEL on Jul 24, 2014

This is a strange time to be writing about Mennonites and sexuality. In less than a year, I’m scheduled to defend my dissertation on sexual diversity, LGBTQ Anabaptist activism, and the effects of heterosexism in Mennonite institutions. And just following the news cycle is keeping me so busy that I have to force myself to write.

Anyone who reads this blog is probably aware of all the things that have been happening in the Mennonite Church USA lately that both challenge and reaffirm the dominant heterosexist practices of its institutions and communities. What I’d like to talk about here is how those practices intersect with the enormous and still largely unrecognized problem that Mennonites have with sexualized violence.

You might be nodding now, if you know from experience how bad that problem is. Or you might be wondering, “Is it really as bad as all that?” Or—the question I sometimes get when I tell Mennonites about my research—“Are Mennonites really any worse than anybody else?”

Here’s how I want to respond, sometimes: Are you asking because you don’t believe there’s anything interesting to say about Mennonites on this subject, or because you’d rather that people who write about Mennonites restrict themselves to topics that make Mennonites look good?

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

PARAGUAY
El Nuevo Herald

EFE

ASUNCION — El enviado del Papa en Paraguay, el cardenal Santos Abril y Castelló, anunció el sábado la suspensión de ordenaciones sacerdotales en el seminario de la Diócesis de Ciudad del Este, donde el ejercicio de un cura argentino acusado de abusos sexuales motivó un duro enfrentamiento dentro de la jerarquía local.

Durante una rueda de prensa ofrecida en la Nunciatura Apostólica de Asunción, el cardenal español declaró que la medida fue tomada por el Papa y dijo desconocer hasta cuándo será efectiva.

Abril y Castelló, que llegó hace una semana a Paraguay acompañado de Milton Luis Tróccoli Cebelio, obispo auxiliar de Montevideo, se negó a comentar los resultados de su investigación en la Diócesis, a donde fue enviado por el Papa para desempeñar una “tarea eclesial y pacificadora”.

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

PARAGUAY
Catholic Culture

The Vatican has suspended priestly ordinations in the Diocese of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, according to multiple media reports.

Following an investigation of the diocese led by Cardinal Santos Abril y Castello, ordinations have been suspended until Pope Francis resolves difficulties in the diocese, reports indicate. No public announcement has been made about the reason for the action.

The Vatican ordered an investigation of the diocese following the revelation that a priest who was accused of sexual abuse while serving in the US was serving as vicar general in Ciudad del Este. That report brought to a head tensions between the diocesan leader, Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano, and other bishops in Paraguay, and complaints from lay activists about alleged irregularities in diocesan affairs.

The accused priest, Father Carlos Urrotigoity—who is identified by the Scranton, Pennsylvania diocese as a “serious threat to young people”—was reportedly removed from his post as vicar general earlier this month, at the request of the apostolic nuncio in Paraguay, Archbishop Eliseo Ariotti. However, Bishop Livieres has defended Father Urrotigoity in the past, saying that thc charges against him are unproven.

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

For immediate release: Monday, July 28, 2014

Statement by Claudia Vercellotti of Toledo, SNAP Leader, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 419 345 9291, SNAPtoledo@aol.com )

A Toledo man is trying to profit from the brutal slaying of a nun by selling paraphernalia related to the convicted murderer, a Toledo priest who has also been accused of molesting a child.

Shame on him. Shame on anyone who bids on or buys this material.

Our hearts ache for anyone who was hurt by Fr. Gerald Robinson, especially the family of Sr. Margaret Ann Pahl, who was stabbed repeatedly and killed by Fr. Robinson. There seems to be no end to the suffering that callous individuals are willing to heap on this wounded family.

Most recently, it was Toledo Catholic officials who rubbed salt in their wounds by burying Fr. Robinson as a priest in good standing.

Before that, it was Vatican officials who refused to promptly defrock a convicted murderer.

And now, an entrepreneur seeks to make money off of this grisly crime.

Shame on everyone 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.

ST. LOUIS (MO)
Belleville News-Democrat

BY JIM SALTER
Associated Press
July 28, 2014

ST. LOUIS — A minister is taking his own denomination to task, claiming in a lawsuit that the Presbyterian Church was partly responsible for sexual abuse he suffered as a teenager.

The Rev. Kris Schondelmeyer, a youth minister in Toledo, Ohio, is seeking unspecified damages in a lawsuit he filed against Louisville, Kentucky-based Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); the First Presbyterian Church of Fulton, Missouri; the Missouri Union Presbytery in Jefferson City; and his alleged abuser, Jack Wayne Rogers.

Schondelmeyer, 31, a native of Sedalia, Missouri, said he was sexually abused at a youth conference in Maryland in 2000. At the time, Rogers was a lay pastor in Montgomery County, Missouri. The suit alleges Presbyterian officials allowed Rogers to work as a chaperone despite Rogers’ 1992 conviction for child pornography.

An attorney for the denomination declined comment, citing the pending litigation. A hearing on the case is scheduled for Aug. 18 in Fulton. Rogers, 69, does not have a lawyer in Schondelmeyer’s lawsuit.

Rogers has a long criminal history. In 2004, he pleaded guilty in Missouri for practicing medicine without a license and assault for cutting off a man’s penis as part of a makeshift gender reassignment surgery at a hotel in Columbia, Missouri. That same year, he was convicted of federal child pornography and obscenity 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.

PENNSYLVANIA
The Times-Tribune

BY DAVID FALCHEK
Published: July 28, 2014

A Roman Catholic priest, who landed a powerful position in the diocese in Paraguay after being accused of molesting students at St. Gregory’s Academy in Elmhurst in 2002, has been removed from that post by Vatican envoys.

The news came during a visit by a delegation of Vatican officials to the Diocese of the Ciudad del Este in Paraguay that Rev. Carlos Urrutigoiti was relieved of his duties as vicar general of the diocese by Apostolic Nuncio Antonio Eliseo Ariotti.

According to media reports in South America, Vatican officials declined comment on the nature of the removal.

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

GUAM
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on July 28, 2014 i

I know it’s been a little quiet here at The Worthy Adversary. I have been pounding away at the manuscript for The Well-Armored Child (found a publisher!), and it’s summer, so there’s not a lot of quiet time around the house.

But things have not been quiet in the Archdiocese of Hagatna, Guam. And every time I think that things are winding down, something new happens.

Here’s the low-down:

Fr. John Wadeson is a twice-accused priest who was banned from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. A former member of the Divine Word Missionaries, Wadeson bounced around (New York, Trenton, LA, San Francisco, and Portland) until he found a home on Guam.

Although his past was well-known and posted on the internet, Guam Archbishop Anthony Sablan Apuron allowed the priest to live and work in the diocese. Apuron even made Wadeson a part of his inner circle, taking the priest to Honolulu to celebrate Apuron’s 30th anniversary.

Then word got out. Local Catholic blogger and whistleblower Tim Rohr started posting information about Wadeson’s past. Other Guam Catholics joined him in his outrage. Why was a twice-accused priest allowed to live and work on Guam? What about zero tolerance? Why was Apuron allegedly punishing whistleblowing priests, but protecting known predators.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. 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
Waiting for Godot to Leave

Kevin O’Brien

My readers complain a lot about SNAP – the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests – but here’s their press release on a situation in Pennsylvania and Paraguay that some of my friends and I have been following for a long time.

This press release, if anything, is restrained. The level of indignation could be much higher. I am posting it here because the final paragraph (which I have highlighted in bold) is especially accurate and sums up where things are at with the scandal.

***
For immediate release: Monday, July 28, 2014
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com)

A controversial Catholic priest who has been accused of molesting boys in the US and had been second-in-command of a diocese in Paraguay has now allegedly been removed from ministry. [MY NOTE: Actually, the link here indicates that Fr. Urrutigoity has been removed as Vicar General of the diocese in Paraguay; it does not appear (from what I can tell with the help of Google Translator) that he has been removed from ministry.] If this is true, we are glad that this action has been taken but it should have happened months ago and he should never have been put back on the job, much less won a promotion.

Catholic officials let Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity move from Pennsylvania to the South American country even though a therapist recommended that Fr. Urrutigoity “be removed from active ministry; his faculties should be revoked; he should be asked to live privately,” because of “the credible allegation from (a victim)” and the priest’s “admitted practice of sleeping with boys and young men.” …

In a global institution, the real way to protect kids is to make sweeping reform, not to take individual half-measured steps, in case after case after case, and only when forced to do so by public pressure. That suggests a self-serving pre-occupation with public relations, not a genuine commitment to children’s safety.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. 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
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on yesterday’s editorial in the Minneapolis Star Tribune seeking the ouster of St. Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt:

He has been charged with offenses and found innocent. He has broken no law. He is the subject of unsubstantiated accusations. Most of his accusers remain anonymous. He has triggered several investigations of himself seeking exoneration. Why, then, has he angered so many people? Largely because he believes in marriage between a man and a woman. Make no mistake about it: if Nienstedt were perceived to be a friend of gay marriage, the campaign against him would not be happening.

Now the Star Tribune has jumped on the bandwagon. The editors know they are fishing in foreign waters. “We’ve been hesitant to make this call until now for two reasons. We consider it presumptuous for a secular news organization to advise a church about internal matters. And just two years ago, the Star Tribune Editorial Board and Nienstedt openly quarreled about the ballot question that would have constitutionally banned same-sex marriage in this state.”

The Star Tribune is twice right: it is presumptuous of a secular newspaper to busy itself in the internal affairs of any religious institution. If it were reversed, if Archbishop Nienstedt called for an editorial board member of the Star Tribune to step down, the word “presumptuous” would not be chosen: a word such as “obscene” would roll off their lips. And as indicated, it is simply impossible to understand this attempt to steamroll Nienstedt absent his embrace of marriage, properly understood. So it is hardly suprising that this newspaper would now choose to pile on.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. 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
Isle of Wight County Press

Maxwell Crosby Halahan, 84, committed a series of sex offences against the boy between 1974 and 1977, while he was the parish priest at St Faith’s Church, Cowes.

He was sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court on Thursday to 21 months in prison.

Richard Powell, senior prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Wessex Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit, said after the sentencing: “Maxwell Halahan abused his position of authority as vicar in his parish. He abused the boy, who is now an adult but was only 13 years of age when the abuse started.

“Halahan had already been convicted of similar offences in 2011. There is no doubt he is a sexual predator who did not hesitate to take advantage of his position as a ‘pillar of the society’ at the time to abuse young boys.

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

TEXAS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, July 28, 2014

Statement by Amy Smith of Dallas, SNAP leader (281 748 4050, watchkeepamy@gmail.com)

Supporters of a convicted child sexual predator are holding a rally today to support him. We hope they will change their minds and cancel the event. We also urge officials at a Leander church to cancel a similar event set for Aug. 10.

This month, a jury found Greg Kelley guilty of sexually abusing a four year old boy. Before sentencing, Kelley voluntarily accepted a plea deal in which he admitted guilt. Two young boys testified against him. One mom testified that her son told her Kelley had molested him.

People who want to support a convicted and admitted predator should do so privately, not publicly. To hold rallies for a convicted and admitted predator endangers kids by making it harder for those who see, suspect and suffer child sex crimes from speaking up.

Those who believe Kelley is innocent should visit him, pray for him, write to him and help his family. But they should do so in ways that do not scare other victims of other predators into staying silent.

By mounting public displays of support for a convicted and admitted predator, these misguided individuals are rubbing even more salt into the already – deep and still – fresh wounds of abuse victims and making it harder for police, prosecutors and employers to catch and oust child molesters.

Adults must learn to accept a disturbing truth: child molesters don’t have forked tongues or devil’s tails or horns on their heads. They are usually not “creepy” people who give us “the willies” or seem socially inept. They are usually charming and charismatic and outgoing. That is often how they are able to gain the trust of children and adults.

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

PARAGUAY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, July 28, 2014

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

A controversial Catholic priest who has been accused of molesting boys in the US and had been second-in-command of a diocese in Paraguay has now allegedly been removed from ministry. If this is true, we are glad that this action has been taken but it should have happened months ago and he should never have been put back on the job, much less won a promotion.

Catholic officials let Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity move from Pennsylvania to the South American country even though a therapist recommended that Fr. Urrutigoity “be removed from active ministry; his faculties should be revoked; he should be asked to live privately,” because of “the credible allegation from (a victim)” and the priest’s “admitted practice of sleeping with boys and young men.”

SNAP has been demanding that this dangerous predator be ousted since March.

Instead, Catholic officials let a credibly accused child molesting cleric move abroad, live and work among unsuspecting families and potentially hurt more innocent kids.

Transferring predator priests to different dioceses or countries is dreadfully irresponsible. It is a dangerous and self-serving practice that two United Nations Committees have condemned. An investigation should be done to determine which Catholic officials were involved in this recklessness and they should be publicly and severely punished.

In a global institution, the real way to protect kids is to make sweeping reform, not to take individual half-measured steps, in case after case after case, and only when forced to do so by public pressure. That suggests a self-serving pre-occupation with public relations, not a genuine commitment to children’s safety.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. 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 HAMPSHIRE
Berlin Daily Sun

Frank J LaFerriere: Pope Francis asked priest abuse victims for forgiveness

Frank J LaFerriere
Gorham

Not so long ago, Pope Francis asked priest abuse victims for forgiveness.

Yet how do those of us, whom were raped and had our souls stolen from us, whom committed suicide because of it, can give him forgiveness, or any of us so harmed, when he refuses to clean house of all the Cardinals, Bishops and Archbishops whom covered up these evil crimes and are still sitting in the positions that they are in?

How can Paul Anthony Carson, whom upon seeing the priest whom raped him walking down the street and then going home and hanging himself, being found by his parents, forgive him?

How can Emma Foster, whom was raped by Father Kevin O’Donnell, while at a primary school whom committed suicide because of it, forgive him?

How can Daniel Neill, whom committed suicide because of his rapist priest, Joseph Gallagher, forgive him?

How can the 30 boys raped at the St Alipius primary school, whom committed suicide forgive him for their rapes?

None of them can. Matter of fact, they are supposedly in hell, burning for all eternity, because the pain and suffering brought on by their rapes by Roman Catholic priests, committed suicide, which the RC teaches that if you do commit suicide, then you will burn in hell for eternity.

No Pope Francis, until you do what you have promised us you would do. Clean house, stop fighting us victims when we seek justice for the crimes committed against us, with the church lawyers getting our cases dismissed using the statues of limitations.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
SNAP Wisconsin

(An edited version of this Op Ed appeared in Sunday’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel “Your Views”.)

War over Weakland is over

By Peter Isely

There was a weird phenomenon that persisted for decades after the surrender of imperial Japan to the allies in 1945 that became known in popular Japanese culture as “nipponhei” or “holdouts”.

Naponhei were Japanese soldiers who either adamantly refused to believe that Japan had lost the war and continued to fight, or were so cut off from communications on remote islands in the Pacific that they never received the news. The last confirmed nipponhei was one Hiroo Onodoa who lived in the jungles of the Philippines were he successfully evaded what he thought was capture for almost 30 years. When Onodoa finally marched out of the jungle and formally surrendered he was wearing an immaculately kept dress uniform. He was age 52.

As a survivor of childhood sexual assault by a priest of the Milwaukee archdiocese, it is astonishing to read Todd Robert Murphy’s strange nipponhei like revisionist history of Archbishop Rembert Weakland (“A reappraisal of Archbishop Rembert Weakland”).

No one seems to have told Murphy that for nearly 25 years Weakland planned, directed and implemented a wide spread and systematic cover up of sex crimes against children by dozens of Catholic priests and religious clerics. Weakland’s record is one of the best documented in the entire history of the now global sex abuse crisis in the church, including tens of thousands of pages of recently court ordered released pages of internal church files, hundreds of hours of depositions of top church officials (including Weakland) and serial offenders, and the direct testimony, reports or admissions of what must now be well over 1,000 victims, among them 200 deaf youngsters by the infamous Fr. Lawrence Murphy. That number is likely a fraction of the actual total, since most victims of childhood rape and sexual assault never come forward and report the crime.

A few years ago, I received a call from a survivor of one of these predator priests that Weakland shuffled and sheltered around the archdiocese. He had a brother, let’s call him Michael, who was also molested by the same priest. Michael had just gone to the local Catholic cemetery to visit his mother’s grave. Michael also took his grandfather’s shotgun with him. He took his life, on his mother’s grave. The body, I was told, could only be identified because a business card from the archdiocese was found on his person. Michael, for whatever reason, had seeking some kind of help or relief from the archdiocese. The priest who assaulted Michael was known by Weakland and his second in charge, Bishop Richard Sklba, to have been a child sex offender.

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

GUAM
KUAM

by Sabrina Salas Matanane

Guam – Father James Wadeson paid for an advertisement in the Archdiocese of Agana’s weekly newspaper to respond to what he says are defamatory accusations that appeared in the blog Jungle Watch written by Tim Rohr. Archbishop Anthony Apuron a week ago removed Father Wadeson from active and public ministry after the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests expressed their concerns about the priest being on Guam because he was twice accused of child molestation in California. The day after his removal, Father Wadeson left Guam. In the Sunday Catholic Paper, the priest defended his reputation and also threatened to sue anyone who wishes to reiterate false accusations about 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.

AUSTRALIA
Sky News

Monday, 28 July 2014

A Catholic priest who possessed child pornography bought some material to understand the concept of paedophilia, an Adelaide court has been told.

Sophie David, for Father Stanislaus Hogan, also said two of the five videos seized from her client were taped from SBS educative TV programs, but were classified by authorities as being in the most serious child pornography category.

Hogan, 69, has pleaded guilty to an aggravated count of possessing child pornography and a count of using a carriage service to access child pornography at Athelstone between April 20 and June 10 2012.

The 1555 images were found in his bedroom at St Ignatius’ College, where police also located magazines and videos which Ms David said were bought legally in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The ages of the children ranged between three and 16 years.

More than 70 per cent of the images were in the least serious category involving no sexual activity, but five images and two videos were in category five, the most serious.

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PARAGUAY
The Eponymous Flower

The first step has been reached after the apostolic visit to the Paraguayan diocese. Francis will soon decide the future of Bishop Rogelio Livieres

The following is part of a report by Andres Alvarez at the Neocatholic Vatican Insider at Italy’s anti-Clerical La Stampa. There’s no discussion that the courageous Bishop Livieres’ accusations of aberrosexuality on the part of one of his brother bishops, or his denunciations of Liberation Theology had anything to do with this as reported earlier here. Surely there are worse Diocese in Paraguay who produce no vocations, house Old Liberal Bishops and confuse the faithful endlessly with their heterodoxy? Nope, sorry, too much Catholicism it seems.

[VATICAN CITY, Vatican Insider] An immediate and forceful measure was undertaken in the Paraguayan Diocese of Ciudad del Este. In recent days two envoys of the Pope to the government conducted an audit of Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano and, before leaving the country, dropped a bomb: Francis has [stopped] all sacerdotal and diaconal ordinations in the diocese. So far no one has reported on the reasons for the freeze, but it clearly responds to a serious situation in the local seminary. [Like too much Catholicism, Latin, apostolic charity…]

The news was reported by the apostolic visitors, Spanish Cardinal Santos Abril y Castelló and Milton Luis Troccoli, Auxiliary Bishop of Montevideo (Uruguay). They concluded their investigations “in loco” on Saturday July 26. Investigations conducted during intense week, in which they passed around. It included fainting and subsequent hospitalization of the cardinal.

According to the practice of the Holy See, the apostolic visits are usually reserved audits are often carried out in absolute discretion. But the case of Ciudad del Este was different. First of all because the conflict between its bishop and other members of the Paraguayan Bishops is public domain several years ago.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

Theresa May faced calls last night to appoint a self-described “radical lawyer” as chairman of the public inquiry into high-profile child abuse cases.

A group of abuse survivors, lawyers and care professionals wrote an open letter to the Home Secretary calling for Michael Mansfield, QC, to be selected to lead the inquiry.

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PARAGUAY
Ultima Hora

[Summary: Cardinal Santos Abril y Castello urged the faithful to respect and obey the decisions taken by Pope Francis for the good of the church in his final report to the Ciudad del Este diocese. The apostolic visit culminated yesterday with a short meeting of the cardinal and Auxiliary Bishop Luis Troccoli of Montevideo, Uruguay, with Bishop Rogelio Livieres of Ciudad del Este.

The bishop confirmed that Argentine priest Carlos Urrutigoity, who was accused of child abuse in the United States, was removed from his post as vicar general two weeks ago at request of Apostolic Nuncio Eliseo Ariotti. Urrutigoity spoke with Cardinal Abril y Castello for 15 minutes of Thursday. Issues were clarified but there currently is no accusation against him. The diocese yesterday published a document in which Maria Graciela Vera Colman, a district attorney, requested dismissal of the indictment aagainst Urrutigoity for lack to evidence. There are no charges against him at the Vatican.]

Por Wilson Ferreira

CIUDAD DEL ESTE

El cardenal Santos Abril y Castelló instó a la feligresía a respetar y obedecer las decisiones que adopta el papa Francisco para el bien de la Iglesia, durante su mensaje final a la diócesis de Ciudad del Este. Las palabras del cardenal se dieron al despedirse de los católicos del Este, durante la bendición final de la misa multitudinaria del jueves.

Pero la visita apostólica en la diócesis de Ciudad del Este culminó ayer con una breve reunión del cardenal Santos Abril y Castelló y el monseñor Milton Luis Tróccoli, con el obispo Rogelio Livieres Plano en la sede del Obispado.

La visita de los enviados del papa Francisco se inició el lunes con una recolección de datos y culminó ayer viernes con una última visita realizada por el obispo Tróccoli al Instituto de Formación Sacerdotal San Ireneo, que funciona en la parroquia Espíritu Santo.

Desde muy temprano se instaló allí para luego, a las 10.00, sumarse al cardenal para una última reunión con Livieres en el Obispado y luego partir rumbo a la capital del país.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – Four Corners

[with video]

By Caro Meldrum-Hanna and Janine Cohen

Monday 28th July 2014

He is a self-styled evangelist who told his followers he was The Anointed One, chosen by God to convert the world to his beliefs.

Anyone who didn’t follow his word was told they would burn in hell, that he held the key to their salvation on judgement day.

In reality, Scott Williams was a cult leader who used his own brand of religion to warp biblical scripture in the pursuit of sex, money and power.

Scott Williams left Australia 38 years ago, converting hundreds of young people throughout Europe. On the outside, life appeared happy. But now, former cult members reveal to Four Corners a lifetime of secretive abuse, misplaced worship and horrifying punishments carried out under the guise of obedience to ‘The Overseer’, Scott Williams. Their stories are so shocking, their brainwashing so profound, it is almost unbelievable. As one former member explained:

“It’s not simple to walk out. No. I wish I could. I tried. I tried a few times. It’s a curious web and it was like he’s the spider and he’s got you there and you can’t get out of the bloody spider web.”

This week, reporter Caro Meldrum-Hanna investigates the rise of Scott Williams and his incredible path around the world and back to Australia, exposing how he created a hell on earth for many followers. Controlling almost everything they did, members say they were threatened, beaten, subjected to horrifying and bizarre sexual rituals – and even their children were taken away and given to others to raise for a time.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail (UK)

Manipulated, sexually abused and hidden in plain sight: Victims reveal the unspeakable horror of secret Australian cult ‘The Assembly’

By EMILY CRANE

Shocking claims of abuse within a secret NSW-based religious group have come to light after former members revealed the years of torment they endured at the hands their ‘cult leader’.

Self-styled religious guru Pastor Scott Williams allegedly used his warped brand of evangelical Pentecostalism to run a secret homosexual sex ring while misusing huge amounts of member donations for his own personal use.

The claims of horrific abuse alleged to have occurred within Mr Williams’ NSW-based religious group, Christian Assemblies International (CAI), were uncovered during a four-year investigation by the ABC’s Four Corners.

Dozens of former members said bizarre sexual rituals were carried out in secret by Mr Williams, who had been given authorisation by God to sidestep biblical commands against homosexuality and train his male member to be sexually obedient.

The abuse detailed by the men and women, who until now have remained silent out of fear and shame, ranged from spiritual, financial, verbal and physical abuse to sexual abuse of adult male members.

‘I haven’t come across anything like it,’ Four Corners reporter Caro Meldrum-Hanna told Daily Mail Australia ahead of the episode going to air on Monday night.

‘Former members describe it as a cult.’

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AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

Four Corners reporter uncovers a secret religious society accused of physical and mental abuse

TOTAL control over every aspect of life. Alleged physical and mental abuse. Bizarre and depraved sexual rituals. A man who claims he speaks directly to God.

This was the way of life for hundreds of members of a secret religious group that started in a beach town in northern New South Wales and spread across the world.

Tonight, ABC journalist Caro Meldrum-Hanna’s four-year investigation will expose the Assembly and its founder, Scott Williams.

Her Four Corners report hears from those who’ve escaped the group, plots the journey of Williams over nearly four decades and uncovers the vast fortune he has siphoned from loyal followers.

“I began looking at this story back in 2010 and have been following it since, but it wasn’t until this year that two key former members told me they were ready to go public,” Meldrum-Hanna said.

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IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Fr Brian D’Arcy: My battle with cancer, the Catholic Church and how my faith survived trauma of being abused as a boy of 10

Fr Brian D’Arcy is one of Ireland’s best-known clerics – controversial and frank. He speaks to Adrian Rutherford about the future of the Catholic Church and how his faith survived the trauma of being abused as a boy of 10 in Omagh.

8 JULY 2014

Q. You are one of Ireland’s best-known priests, but was religion always a part of your life?

A. I was born in 1945 and, growing up in the 1950s and 60s, not many families weren’t religious. By modern standards, there were exceptionally religious families back then.

It was a culture. It didn’t matter what religion you were, you went to church on Sunday, you had respect for your parents, the law and your community.

We weren’t a family that was always in church or highly religious. We were a very normal family.

We were highly involved in GAA affairs – my father was a famous footballer – and that was almost as big a religion as Catholicism.

Did we believe in a God, did we pray, did we keep the Commandments? Yes, we did that as simply as you breathed because there was no other way of life. …

Q. You were abused as a child – did that shake your faith?

A. I was abused when I was 10 and at school in Omagh. I didn’t realise what was happening at the time, but I still knew it was wrong. It had a great effect on me. It made me very nervous and insecure, unsure of what religion was or wasn’t because it was a religious brother who abused me for almost a year.

As a teenager, after I entered the priesthood, a priest tried to involve me in abuse as well.

I had more sense at that age and was able to get out of the situation much quicker.

I hadn’t the wit to tell my superiors because he told me that if I ever told anyone I would never be ordained.

It was only 35 years or so afterwards that I was even able to think about it.

Abuse affects you to the day you die. It leaves you very insecure, very hurt. You never actually get over it. You have to live with it.

Q. You could never imagine it had been so widespread in the church?

A. I thought I was the only child in the country that it had happened to. I genuinely thought that, which is why I convinced myself I wouldn’t be believed.

It was such a uniquely awful experience. Being abused by an adult who you trusted, especially by someone in religion, destroys your relationship with people, it destroys your relationship with others and it threatens to absolutely destroy your relationship with God.

Q. Pope Francis recently said he believes one in 50 priests is involved in child abuse – do you think that’s accurate?

A. He is underestimating it. It is more than that. At the very minimum, I would say three to five per cent, and I would say nearer 5%. But that is only the reported cases – I would contend that less than 50% of cases are ever mentioned or reported. So what is the real figure? It’s probably nearer 8% – about one in 12 priests. Certainly one in 15 have either abused, assaulted or had dysfunctional sexual relationships.

Q. It has been very damaging for the Catholic Church.

A. It has, but I would rather have the church now, with its less arrogant, less perfectionist attitude than a church which said there is no room for sinners.

You always have to accept that you have to live with sin, not necessarily in sin, but with sin.

Q. Do you think it will ever recover its old image?

A. I hope not, because when its image was best, its sinfulness was greatest. Its image now is far more healthy because the good will survive and the hypocritical will perish.

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ZAMBIA
Zambia Daily Mail

THE calls by many sections of the Zambian society for the government to apply stricter controls on the proliferation of churches are justified.

It will help curb the sexual abuse of unsuspecting female members by immoral clergymen.

In the last two years the country has seen an increase in the number of pastors and ‘prophets’ involved in criminal and immoral activities.

The men of the cloak are using their influential and privileged positions to prey on desperate women and girls under the guise of the so-called deliverance.

The rate at which churches are emerging, especially in densely populated communities and rural areas, is alarming.

As members of these communities grapple with various personal and social challenges, they are seeking help from the men of God.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with video]

By Caro Meldrum-Hanna

A four-year investigation by the ABC has uncovered shocking claims of abuse and torment in relation to NSW-based registered charity and religious group Christian Assemblies International (CAI).

Tonight’s Four Corners reveals that self-styled religious guru Pastor Scott Williams was using his warped brand of evangelical Pentecostalism to run a clandestine homosexual sex ring while allegedly misusing vast amounts of member donations for personal use.

Courageous former members break their silence and tell of their torment living inside the group, which they say is not a Christian church but a horrendous cult run by one man.

The ex-members have remained in the shadows until now out of fear and shame. They detail shocking acts of abuse ranging from spiritual abuse, financial abuse, verbal and physical abuse, and the sexual abuse of adult men.

They say bizarre sexual rituals were carried out in secret by Williams, who described himself as “The Anointed One” with the Lord’s authorisation to sidestep biblical commands against homosexuality and sexually train his male members into submission and obedience.

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TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Guardian

Monday, July 28, 2014

Anna Lisa Paul

Hours before he met with investigators probing the allegations of sexual and physical abuse at the St Michael’s School for Boys, Diego Martin, the abused teenager who confirmed the wrongdoing by staff members said he was now “in a better place” after having gone public with his story. The teenager, 19, who lives in Port-of-Spain, made the statement as he waited to meet with police last Friday. The teenager was met at the Guardian Media Ltd office by three officers from the Western Division.

He and his boss were later taken to an undisclosed in Port-of-Spain for the interview, which lasted close to three hours. In a phone interview yesterday, the teenager confirmed that he had given police a sworn statement and was ready and willing to meet with police again any time. Asked yesterday if he was having second thoughts about revealing the abuse he suffered during his year at the school, or about meeting with police, the teenager replied, “No, I’m good.”

Investigators were eager to meet with him, as he is the first person thus far to come forward and testify about the kind and level of abuse he suffered while at the school. The investigation was launched after Attorney General Anand Ramlogan revealed the findings of a committee appointed to probe the death of Brandon Hargreaves. Hargreaves, 14, of Cascade, died on April 8, after he suffered a head injury. Initial reports said he was injured while trying to drop-kick another child.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Click here for the story.

Guam – Los Angeles Archdiocese attorney Michael Hennigan says the LA Archdiocese told Guam church officials about the sexual abuse accusations against Father John Wadeson in 2011, according to a report on the ABC News website.

The ABC report also cites a 2004 Los Angeles archdiocese report which says “Wadeson was credibly accused in two cases between 1973 and 1977.” Between 1972 and 1985 Wadeson worked at Verbum Dei High School in Los Angeles. Verbum Dei is an all-male Catholic high school school.

The “Survivors Network Against those Abused by Priests” [SNAP] has previously reported that Father Wadeson was named in Los Angeles Archdiocese records from the early 1990’s, and in LA news reports, as having been accused on 2 occasions of being a predator priest. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has barred Father Wadeson from ministry in LA. The accusations against Father Wadeson were never brought to trial.

Father Wadeson was incardinated on Guam by Archbishop Apuron in 2000. Archbishop Apruon removed Father Wadeson from “active and public ministry” on Guam this past Tuesday, 4 days after SNAP issued a release calling attention to the decades old accusations against Father Wadeson.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Adrian Rutherford
Published 28/07/2014

One of Ireland’s best known priests has revealed he is fighting cancer.

Fr Brian D’Arcy said he was diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this year.

The 69-year-old, who is also a prominent columnist and broadcaster, said he is overcoming the illness and is feeling “fine”.

“I was diagnosed earlier this year, but I don’t really like saying too much about it,” Fr D’Arcy told the Irish Independent.

“It’s prostate cancer, which any man can get at any stage.

“I haven’t said much about it because it’s putting yourself in the limelight, but thankfully I’m overcoming it.”

Some of the issues the Enniskillen-based priest discussed during the wide-ranging interview were:

* He disputes claims by Pope Francis that one in 50 priests are paedophiles, believing the true figure is actually closer to one in 12.
* The Pope would be wasting his time coming to Ireland.
* The priesthood must review its position on male celibacy if it is to survive for future generations.

Fr D’Arcy entered the priesthood when he was 17 and is rector of St Gabriel’s Retreat in the Graan, near Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh.

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MINNESOTA
National Catholic Reporter

Under the banner headline, “To heal church, Nienstedt must go,” the Editorial Board of the Minneapolis StarTribune Sunday called for the resignation of embattled Saint Paul and Minneapolis Archbishop John Nienstedt.

“Signs abound that the leadership crisis sparked by priest abuse of children in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has come to a breaking point, the editorial stated. Consider these developments just this month:

• A judge in St. Paul — a city whose history and culture are inseparable from the Roman Catholic Church — refused to set aside a lawsuit’s claim that the Twin Cities archdiocese and the Diocese of Winona had created a public nuisance with their handling of abusive priests. District Judge John Van de North said he is seeking more information on that charge as he allowed a suit to go forward on claims of negligence.

• An affidavit by former archdiocesan canon law chancellor Jennifer Haselberger reported a “cavalier attitude about the safety of other people’s children” at the archdiocese’s top levels, leading to lax investigations and continued priestly service by suspected abusers. Haselberger resigned from her post in 2013 because, she said, she could no longer work for an organization that was not fully cooperating with an investigation of illegal activity within it.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

July 28, 2014

Chris Johnston
Senior Writer for The Age

Guilt can be a heavy burden – and this seems to be the case with the latest chapter in the disturbing story of a senior Victorian sect leader now in jail on child sex charges.

Ten days ago Chris Chandler, 56, drove to Melbourne from his property on French Island, in Western Port. Then he went to the Melbourne Magistrates Court to hand himself in.

Chandler was a leader of the secretive Bible sect known as Friends and Workers, or the Two by Twos, who have 2000 Victorian members. He had already admitted his guilt in eight charges in a Gippsland court including unlawful indecent assaults, indecent assaults and gross indecency on three young female victims.

But Chandler baulked at his sentence of a year’s jail with a non-parole period of three months, telling his lawyers that while he was guilty, he wasn’t guilty to that extent.

But then something changed. He decided he wanted to go to jail. When he turned up at Melbourne’s central magistrates court to surrender – not the Morwell court his hearings had been held in, and not the one closest to his home – he hadn’t told the policeman who made the charges stick what he was about to do.

Sergeant Darren Eldridge of Moe police was surprised to hear Chandler had given up his fight. He had been working on the case for two years. ”We were assisted in different ways by a number of congregation members,” he said.

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WASHINGTON
Catholic Sentinel

The trial date for a priest accused of luring a 14-year-old girl toward his car in Vancouver, Wash. has been moved to Oct. 6 in Clark County Superior Court.

Proceedings had been set for July in the case of Father Michael Patrick, who was removed from his post as pastor of St. Wenceslaus Parish in Scappoose soon after the March 10 incident came to light.

Father Patrick was released from jail in April and is under the supervision of authorities.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CA0
CBS SF Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP) — The San Francisco Archdiocese has removed a priest from ministering in the city after he was removed from his post in Guam over allegations that he molested two boys four decades ago while serving in the archdiocese of Los Angeles, church officials said Friday.

The Rev. John Howard Wadeson was stripped of his duties in the Archdiocese of Agana on Monday after concerns in the community there about his past and he has since left the U.S. territory, the Guam Pacific Daily News reported. Wadeson, whose current whereabouts are unknown, told the paper he was innocent and was leaving to protect his archbishop.

A 2004 report on clergy abuse issued by the Los Angeles archdiocese lists Wadeson as being credibly accused of molesting two people between 1973 and 1977, while he was working as a priest with the Divine Word Missionaries religious order. Wadeson was in the Los Angeles archdiocese between 1972 and 1985 and spent many of those years at Verbum Dei High School, an all-boys Catholic school.

Wadeson’s religious order would have been responsible for dealing with the allegations at the time, said Monica Valencia, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles archdiocese.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Guam – The Archdiocese of San Francisco has announced that it has withdrawn permission for Father John Wadeson to practice his ministry in San Francisco after learning that Guam Archbishop Anthony Apuron had removed Father Wadeson from ministry in Guam this past week, Monday, July 21st.

The statement was issued Friday, July 25th, by the San Francisco Archdiocese Victim’s Assistance Coordinator, Dr. Renee Duffey. [see the statement below]

Duffey writes that the San Francisco Archdiocese granted permission to Father Wadeson to practice his ministry “based upon assurances of good standing from his home diocese, in this case the Archdiocese of Agana in Guam.”

It is not clear from the statement when the San Francisco Archdiocese first granted Father Wadeson permission to practice his minitry. Nor is it clear when the Guam Archdiocese gave the San Francisco Archdiocese those “assurances of good standing” on behalf of Father Wadeson.

The Archdiocese of Guam announced that it had removed Father Wadeson from ministry on Monday “in response to concerns raised by the community.” Father Wadeseon left Guam for San Francisco the next day, on Tuesday, July 22ed. …

READ the statement from the Archdiocese of San Francisco below:

Statement Regarding Fr. John Wadeson:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(SAN FRANCISCO, JULY 25, 2014) As with all priests who hale from other dioceses, Fr. John Wadeson was granted permission to minister within the Archdiocese of San Francisco based upon assurances of good standing from his home diocese, in this case the Archdiocese of Agana in Guam.

On July 22, 2014, the Archdiocese of San Francisco became aware that the Archbishop of Agana, Archbishop Anthony Sablan Apuron, had removed Fr. Wadeson from ministry on July 21, 2014, “in response to concerns in the community.”

Therefore, on July 22, 2014, Archbishop Cordileone informed Archbishop Apuron that in response to this information, Fr. Wadeson would not be allowed to undertake any ministry in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, unless and until his home Archdiocese confirms that he is suitable for ministry.

The Archdiocese of San Francisco has informed Fr. Wadeson of that restriction as well, and Fr. Wadeson has willingly agreed to observe it.

We welcome and encourage anyone who may have any information concerning any possible wrongdoing by Fr. Wadeson to contact the Victim’s Assistance Office.

For more information contact:
Dr. Renee Duffey
Archdiocese of San Francisco
Victim’s Assistance Coordinator
(415) 614-5506
duffeyr@sfarchdiocese.org

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ZAMBIA
Zambia Daily Mail

By NOMSA NKANA

HOLY Fire Christian Ministries Church has been deregistered following allegations of indecent assault and sexual abuse scandals that rocked the church.

Registrar of Societies Kakoma Kanganja has shut down the church based in Bulangililo, Kitwe, to stop any further abuses and disturbances to the public.

He, however, told the Sunday Mail that the presiding bishop of the church, Dominic Nyundu, last week resurfaced after going into hiding in 2010

Mr Kanganja, who was in Kitwe, said bishop Nyundu was allegedly embroiled in the sex scams between 2010 and 2013 when he was reported to be abusing women by taking them for overnight prayer meetings where he would have sex with them in the name of exorcising demons.

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DELAWARE
The News Journal

Thomas S. Neuberger July 26, 2014

The passage of the Child Victims Act in July of 2007 is proof that even the often maligned “Delaware Way” can sometimes benefit the proverbial “little guys.”

In 2012 about 900 sexually abused pre-adolescent victims of jailed Delaware pediatrician Earl Bradley shared a Beebe Hospital fund of $123 million in Superior Court because of the CVA.

During a 2011 federal court bankruptcy reorganization, over $110 million also was distributed to 152 adult survivors who were sexually abused by Catholic priests of the Diocese of Wilmington, the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, and the Capuchins. For what some call “soul murder,” tens of millions of dollars also were paid in confidential settlements with dozens of other childhood rape survivors which occurred in families, other churches, nonprofit organizations or in public, private or religious schools.

Vital knowledge also was given to parents to enable them to make informed decisions and protect their children. For example, the names of living predator priests from Salesianum and Archmere were revealed, warning parents of the dangers they present to their children. At Salesianum school alone, twelve living or deceased priests were exposed, and at the Diocese more than 20. Even more co-workers and supervisors were revealed to have turned a blind eye.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: EDITORIAL BOARD , Star Tribune Updated: July 26, 2014

Archbishop cannot be a force for reform in Twin Cities archdiocese.

Signs abound that the leadership crisis sparked by priest abuse of children in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has come to a breaking point. Consider these developments just this month:

• A judge in St. Paul — a city whose history and culture are inseparable from the Roman Catholic Church — refused to set aside a lawsuit’s claim that the Twin Cities archdiocese and the Diocese of Winona had created a public nuisance with their handling of abusive priests. District Judge John Van de North said he is seeking more information on that charge as he allowed a suit to go forward on claims of negligence.

• An affidavit by former archdiocesan canon law chancellor Jennifer Haselberger reported a “cavalier attitude about the safety of other people’s children” at the archdiocese’s top levels, leading to lax investigations and continued priestly service by suspected abusers. Haselberger resigned from her post in 2013 because, she said, she could no longer work for an organization that was not fully cooperating with an investigation of illegal activity within it.

• The archdiocese confirmed to the Star Tribune that Archbishop John Nienstedt is the subject of a monthslong investigation of sexual misconduct with seminarians, priests and other men.

• Minnesota Public Radio aired an hourlong documentary, “Betrayed by Silence,” detailing how three St. Paul/Minneapolis archbishops — Nienstedt and his predecessors John R. Roach and Harry Flynn — ignored or downplayed evidence and, until this year, concealed the names of priests credibly accused of molesting children.

• An editorial in the New York Times said that if Pope Francis is serious about holding bishops accountable for the abuse scandal that has rocked the church, a “good place to start” would be St. Paul and Minneapolis, with the removal of Nienstedt.

Today, with sadness, this newspaper joins that call. For the sake of one of this state’s most valued institutions and the Minnesotans whose lives it touches, Nienstedt’s service at the archdiocese should end now.

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AUSTRALIA
Queensland Times

ROBERT Toreaux knows what it’s liked to be tortured; to spend each day in fear of being attacked and humiliated without being able to escape.

He’s also knows how child abuse can lead to long-term, chronic health problems for survivors.

The 66-year-old spent a good portion of his childhood living and working at the Riverview Training Farm for Boys.

The Salvation Army-run facility has proved to have a long and grim history as a place of abuse, where children were routinely physically and sexually assaulted by staff.

Mr Toreaux arrived at the training farm in 1960 when he was 10-years-old and resided there for four years.

“My mother died in 1956,” he said. “She was killed in a car accident when her vehicle collided with a drunk driver.

“After that, my father took off and left my brothers and sisters to fend for ourselves.

“I was separated from my seven siblings and spent a number of years bounced around 27 orphanages.”

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ALABAMA
WAFF

By Marie Waxel

Updated: Jul 26, 2014

COLBERT COUNTY, AL (WAFF) –
The Colbert County District Attorney was asked Thursday if church leaders violated state law by not immediately reporting abuse allegations involving a children’s pastor.

Jeff Eddie will spend the next 30 years behind bars after pleading guilty to sex abuse charges. One of the victims filed a federal lawsuit against Eddie, Highland Park Baptist Church and a non-profit organization connected to the church.

The lawsuit (PDF) claims church leaders knew about the accusations for more than a week before notifying police.

According to state law, clergy members are required to report known or suspected abuse to authorities immediately. The new lawsuit claims church leaders knew about the accusations for 10 days, and even conducted their own investigation before going to police. If proven to be true, that is a direct violation of the law.

The original arrest warrant against Eddie also noted the church’s internal investigation prior to police notification.

District Attorney Bryce Graham said because he is not connected to the civil suit that has been filed, he cannot comment on its details. However, he did release a statement:

“We prosecuted the criminal case and to my knowledge, the church reported it to us when they found out,” Graham said. “Nothing has been brought to me of any discrepancies of any church officials as far as delayed reporting goes.”

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Ruben Rosario
rrosario@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 07/25/2014

Last week I wrote a piece calling for Archbishop John Nienstedt to step down or be removed from his position. I will not repeat here the arguments I made. You can look up the column, which coincidentally was posted online the same day a blogger for the National Catholic Reporter also called for his resignation and a New York Times editorial urged Pope Francis to reconsider Nienstedt’s fitness to serve. But essentially, the mishandling of recent clergy abuse cases in the Twin Cities archdiocese warrants his resignation.

My reasons have nothing to do with previous allegations that he inappropriately touched a minor during a confirmation ceremony.

My gut told me that was bogus, and cops later determined there was insufficient evidence to warrant charges.

There’s an internal church probe now into allegations that Nienstedt had inappropriate relationships with seminarians and others dating from the time he worked in Detroit. That also has little to do with my feelings since the investigation continues. Others within the church wanted him out after his somewhat obsessive and much-politicized crusade two years ago to support a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. …

Not surprisingly, I got quite a few responses to last week’s column. Most sided with me, but there were also strenuous disagreements. The following are but a handful of emails I received:

“You are ignorant and (Jennifer) Haselberger (former chancellor for canonical affairs who revealed the mishandlings after she resigned in 2013) hates the church for some reason,” wrote one reader. “There are a lot of people who want the Archbishop to ‘go’ because of his conservatism, particularly his support for traditional marriage. Don’t be another hater.”

“It is you and people like you who should resign from the Church,” fumed one letter writer from Woodbury. “I feel sick every time you and one of your ilk refer to themselves as ‘Catholics.’ I feel sullied and fouled by associating yourselves with my most basic beliefs.”

A frequent letter writer to me and the Pioneer Press snapped: “I wonder if you would also have been on the top of the list asking Peter to resign as head of the church? I am also sure that your choice to replace our Archbishop would be infinitely better than Christ’s.”

To be fair, I replied and thanked him for being someone I could always count on to make “asinine” remarks. I meant that in a Christian way. Maybe I’ll get a few extra Hail Marys as contrition at the next confession.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Burlington County Times

By Peg Quann Staff writer

Will Pope Francis come to Philadelphia in September 2015?

It looks more and more likely, as Archbishop Charles Chaput reportedly told Native Americans in North Dakota on Thursday that “Pope Francis has told me that he is coming.”

The Catholic News Service reported the archbishop mentioned the pope’s pending visit during his homily at the Tekakwitha Conference in Fargo.

Chaput — whose ancestors included Native Americans — told the Fargo conference, “The pope will be with us the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of that week,” according to the CNS report of the event in the Diocese of Trenton online newspaper, The Monitor, Friday morning.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia cautioned, however, on Friday it has not received an official confirmation from the Vatican that the pope will attend the World Meeting of Families in the city Sept. 22-27, 2015. The CNS updated its report to reflect that concern but the story was removed from the Monitor post on the Trenton diocesan website.

Archdiocesan spokesman Ken Gavin said he had a “very strange and hectic day” Friday as the archbishop’s comments became public.

“I was not in Fargo, so I can’t say he was misquoted. He has said things like that before. He’s said similar things, but every time, said we still were waiting for official confirmation from the Vatican … We’re extremely confident that he will be here.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. 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
Waiting for Godot to Leave

Kevin O’Brien

Refusing to address a single one of the facts whistle blower Jennifer Haselberger has revealed in her deposition, in her interviews, and in the abundant documentary evidence that supports Haseblberger’s claims about the scandal in St. Paul, Catholic Defense League’s Bill Donohue instead goes after Haselberger personally.

And why not? This is a tactic demagogues of all shapes and sizes have used throughout history. Avoid the evidence, don’t engage on the issues, instead use personal attacks to discredit your opponents. It may not be the most Catholic or Christian thing to do – but hey, it’s us vs. them, so anything goes, right?

Now if Donohue wanted to come after me or pretty much any other Catholic I know, and if he did his digging, he could find a ton of embarrassing and incriminating details that would make it hard for any of us to show our faces in public again. I have yet to meet a perfect Catholic, and I am far from one myself. Should my insignificant blog posts pop up on Bill Donohue’s radar, he could find enough dirt to destroy me in spades if he put his mind to it.

But what’s the best he can come up with to smear the character of this woman, a woman who so loved the Church and was so upset at the cavalier disregard for children and other innocent victims in St. Paul that she sacrificed her own career to speak up about it? What’s the best he can come up with?

The best he can come up with is this.

* As a young woman she quit going to church, but then when she got older she started going again.
* One of her instructors at a very liberal feminist Catholic college in St. Paul happened to be, herself, a liberal feminist.
* A fringe church group has used one of Haselberger’s quotes (from a paper she wrote) in their promotional material.

That’s it.

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GUAM
Jungle Watch

We know now, as per the Associated Press story today, that Archbishop Apuron was contacted by the Los Angeles Archdiocese about Fr. Wadeson in 2011:

In 2011, Wadeson asked the Los Angeles archdiocese for authorization to minister once more in Los Angeles because he was traveling in California. The archdiocese refused and contacted archdiocese officials in Guam after learning he was working there, said archdiocese attorney Michael Hennigan.

Unless the Los Angeles attorney is lying or the AP is making it up, we now have solid evidence that Archbishop Apuron was aware of Wadeson’s issues at least by 2011 (even though he should have been made aware of them by Wadeson himself when he requested incardination in 2000 and certainly in 2004 when the Los Angeles report was published.)

Amazingly, while Archbishop Apuron did nothing in 2011 about Fr. Wadeson, even vouching for him so that he could serve in another diocese, in the same year, 2011, Archbishop Apuron ordered Fr. Paul to fire an employee from Santa Barbara who Apuron said was a “danger to children.”

Let’s restate that:

* Archbishop Apuron is contacted in 2011 by the Los Angeles Archdiocese about one of his priests.
* The priest had been accused of molesting children and was listed on an official Los Angeles Archdiocesan report.
* Archbishop Apuron not only does nothing about this priest, he vouches for the alleged child molester to function as a priest in another bishop’s diocese.
* At the same time, he demands that Fr. Paul Gofigan fire an employee from his parish who Archbishop Apuron says is a “danger to children” even though the man’s crime was more than 30 years ago and had nothing to do with children.
* Two years later, the priest accused of molesting children is still functioning in both dioceses unhindered and unreported, and Fr. Paul is fired for showing kindness to the man whose employment he had terminated two years earlier at the Archbishop’s order.

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