ABUSE TRACKER

MARYLAND
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, July 17

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

A Catholic school teacher faces child sex abuse charges. Cardinal Donald Wuerl must step up now and aggressively seek out anyone else who may have seen, suspected or suffered his crimes.

[Washington Post]

That’s the only way to really break the long-standing, deeply-rooted and, sadly, on-going secrecy and timidity within the church about child sex abuse and cover ups. A terse, vague news release won’t do it. A tiny notice on the archdiocesan website won’t do it. Passing the buck to underlings won’t do it. Only action by the highest-ranking and highest profile Catholic official in Washington DC will do it.

That’s Cardinal Donald Wuerl. Imagine the powerful signal it would send if Wuerl would go to Connelly School of the Holy Child and beg anyone with information or suspicions about Justin Andrew Gordon to call law enforcement right away. But virtually no bishop takes this kind of effective prevention step. They prefer distancing themselves from these heinous crimes and hiding behind their public relations staff and defense lawyers while comfortably ensconced in their cozy offices.

According to the Washington Post, “Montgomery County police said they think other students might have also been abused.” We agree. That’s almost always the case with child predators.

That’s why it’s crucial that Wuerl help these two victims, their families, other victims, and the police and prosecutors by making an immediate, clear, personal appeal for other victims witnesses and whistleblowers to step forward.

Almost never does a Catholic bishop actively help police investigate and prosecutors pursue criminal cases against child molesting clerics, teachers or other church staff. Almost always, bishops make brief and self-serving public statements claiming remorse and reform about abuse. But that’s public relations. And decisive action, not public relations, protects kids.

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

MINNESOTA
KARE

AP

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The creditors committee in the bankruptcy of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has asked a judge to give clergy sex abuse victims more time to file claims.

Aug. 3 is the current deadline. The committee wants that pushed back to May 25, 2016, which would align with the deadline the Legislature has set for victims to file abuse lawsuits. In a court filing, the committee notes that the bankruptcy judge has expressed concerns about the church’s efforts to publicize the deadline.

Minnesota Public Radio reports a hearing on the request is scheduled for July 30.

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
KTXS

Author: Joe Fry, Assignment Editor/Photographer, jfry@ktxs.com
Published On: Jul 16 2015

ABILENE, Texas –
A former Abilene daycare teacher arrested for having sex with children has been indicted.

Jeffrey Winston Forrest, 43, is accused of molesting a boy while working with children in the 1990s. The specific case occurred in 1993.

Police say at least one other victim has come forward. They are asking other victims to come forward as well.

At the time of his arrest, Forrest listed an address in Aubrey, which is in Denton County.

A spokesman for Pioneer Drive Baptist Church has said Forrest worked at that church from 1990 to 1998. Forrest was an intern in the church’s Child Development Center, Pre-Teen and Recreational Ministries.

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
BBC News

A priest has been found guilty of sexually abusing two boys after telling one of them he was “preparing” him for a girlfriend.

The Reverend Christopher Howarth, of Rocks Park Road, Uckfield, was found guilty of 26 offences against the boys, now aged 19 and 20.

Hove Crown Court was told the former teacher paid money to the boys in return for sexual gratification.
He admitted one count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

The offences, including seven counts of sexual activity with a child, took place between 2004 and 2012 in the Uckfield area of East Sussex.

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

MARYLAND
Bethesda Magazine

BY AARON KRAUT

Updated at 11:50 a.m. – Montgomery County police say a science teacher at a Potomac private school had inappropriate sexual contact with two students after cultivating close personal friendships with them.

Justin Andrew Gordon, 40, of Poolesville was charged Thursday with two counts of sexual abuse of a minor and two counts of fourth-degree sexual offense. He is being held on $35,000 bond.

The Connelly School of the Holy Child, an all-girls school for grades six through 12, put Gordon on administrative leave when the school learned of the allegations Friday, July 10, said Head of School Shannon Gomez.

Gomez said school officials immediately contacted the police. The school also sent an email to parents that day. Gomez said the school fired Gordon this week after conducting its own investigation in which school officials spoke with the two victims.

“The minute we found out, we contacted the proper authorities,” Gomez said. “We’ll continue to inform our community of the information that we’ve become aware of. We’re just really grateful for everybody who has had the courage to come forward to alert us. The girls’ safety is of foremost importance to us.”

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

MARYLAND
ABC 2

POTOMAC, Md. (AP) – Police say a teacher at a girls’ Catholic school in Potomac has been charged with sexually abusing two teenage students.

Montgomery County police say 40-year-old Justin Gordon was arrested Thursday.

Gordon was a robotics teacher at Connelly School of the Holy Child. He also provided technical support at the school. Police say he was fired after administrators became aware of the allegations.

Police say a teenage girl came forward this week and reported that Gordon had developed a personal relationship with her over many months and then began molesting her. Police say they found that Gordon did the same thing to another girl, befriending her in 2008 before abusing her in 2012.

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

MARYLAND
Montgomery Community Media

by Aline Barros

A private school teacher was charged with two counts of sexual abuse of a minor and two counts of fourth-degree sexual offense, according to Montgomery County Police.

Justin Andrew Gordon, 40, of Poolesville, was arrested on July 16. Detectives were investigating reports from two students of inappropriate sexual contact between Gordon and them that occurred in 2012 and 2015.

Gordon was a robotics teacher at Connelly School of the Holy Child in Potomac, and police said he initiated a relationship with one of the victims in October 2014. According to police, the relationship started with “with informal association at social and sporting events, then increased to daily personal communications, and by May of 2015, had escalated to inappropriate sexual touching.”

Along the investigation, police received reports from a second victim. Police said the girl was a teenager student in Connelly School of the Holy Child in 2008 when Gordon “cultivated” a friendship and by 2012 turned into a relationship with inappropriate sexual contact.

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

MARYLAND
Washington Post

By Julie Zauzmer July 17

A teacher at a girls’ Catholic school in Potomac was arrested Thursday, shortly after a teenage student said that he had touched her inappropriately.

A second person told police that the teacher had also touched her when she was a student at Connelly School of the Holy Child.

Justin Andrew Gordon, 40, of Poolesville faces two charges of sexually abusing a minor and two of fourth-degree sexual offense. Montgomery County police said they think other students might have also been abused. Anyone with information about other possible victims can call police at 240-773-5400.

Shannon Gomez, head of school at the independent Catholic school, said that the teenager’s family told the school July 10 that Gordon had abused the girl. The school contacted police that day and banned Gordon from the campus.

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.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John Salveson
POSTED: FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

I’ve been struggling for months with how to personally deal with this fall’s visit by Pope Francis for the World Meeting of Families.

I would like to share in the excitement — but I am deeply conflicted.

On one hand, I am a proud Philadelphian and active member of the region’s business and civic community who thinks the visit is good for the region. It signals once again that our city is growing in prestige and recognition as a world-class community. I’m confident we will shine brightly in the eyes of the world come September.

On the other hand, I am frustrated and angry. I was sexually abused as a child by a Roman Catholic priest. For 35 years, I have worked to help bring justice to child sex-abuse victims. In doing so, I have encountered the most relentless, heartless resistance to reform from the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church. With every story I read about the World Meeting of Families, all I can think of is the breathtaking hypocrisy of it all.

I believe many of the Catholic faithful are either tired of hearing about the clergy sex-abuse crisis or simply believe it has been corrected. I empathize with them. No one is more tired of talking about it than I am. And no one wishes it was fixed more than I do. But the reality is that the sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic clergy — and the Church’s ongoing protection of its predators — is a global, decades-long, human-rights catastrophe. Consider this statement issued last year by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child about the Roman Catholic Church:

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

UNITED STATES
Religion News Service – Rhymes with Religion

A common struggle amongst Christian child advocates is how to love the church that too often fails to protect children and turns its back on abuse survivors. This has been my struggle. As I take a step back from writing for a few weeks to enjoy some time with my family, I am grateful for these powerful words from a dear friend who has given his life to child protection and who knows this struggle all too well. – Boz
_____________________________________________________________________________

As a Christian who also happens to be a child protection professional, I have a strained relationship with the church. It is a struggle borne by many who share my faith and my profession.

In my personal life, the church is my friend, the center of my world. As a baby, I was baptized in the church. As an adolescent, confirmation classes steadied me through the awkward years of puberty and pimples. When I gave my confirmation vow to die rather than abandon my faith, I uttered the words with grave seriousness. The church pronounced me married, educated my children, and comforted me through the death of loved ones. The rhythm of the church calendar marks the passing of each year and my morning and evening prayers soothe me at the outset and close of the day. Without the church, I would be lost.

In my professional life, though, the church is often my adversary. In the 26 years I have worked in the field of child protection, I have seen the church repeatedly used as an instrument of abuse. We all know of priests and pastors who have sexually abused children. What we fail to realize is that most sex offenders claim to be religious and often use the church to great advantage. When sexual abuse is found within the church, parishioners often rally around the offender and ostracize the victim. I know brave children who testified against the person who hurt them only to look out in the audience and see the courtroom filled with elders and other church members supporting the accused sex offender. Upon witnessing such a spectacle, a girl victim once asked me “does this mean that God is against me too?”

In cases of physical abuse, many Christians spout corporal punishment proverbs as if they were their life verses and pay little heed to the impact of their words. According to research from the Centers for Disease Control and Kaiser Permanente, 28% of all children are hit so hard that they receive injuries and, each year, a large number of substantiated physical abuse cases involve parents who claim they are “disciplining” their children out of Christian love. Some of these children die and those who survive often grow up to associate God with pain. Many of them will one day leave the church.

With respect to medical care, there are at least 20 sects, most of them Christian, who withhold even life-saving treatment from their children. As a result, hundreds of children have died from diabetes, meningitis, measles and numerous other preventable or treatable conditions. Consider, for example, the case of a 4 year old girl who developed a tumor behind her eye. Eventually, the tumor blinded her and grew to the size of her skull. After her death, police officers found streaks of blood on the walls in her room where her head had bumped. Rather than take the child to the doctor, her parents relied on prayer.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Sussex Express

A former Uckfield deputy principal and lay priest has been convicted of sexual offences against two boys.

Christopher Howarth, of Rocks Park Road, Uckfield, was convicted at Hove Crown Court on Friday (July 17) after a ten-day trial.

The retired 68-year-old was found guilty of 26 offences, all committed in the Uckfield area. He was found not guilty of five offences

He had previously pleaded guilty to two other sexual offences against one of the boys.

Howarth, who had been on court bail during the trial, was remanded in custody for sentencing on August 7.

Howarth was convicted of 16 offences against one of the boys, between 2005 and 2011.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Spiegel

[The number of withdrawals from the Catholic Church in Germany has risen to a record: Last year 217,716 people left the church. Thus, the previous record level was significantly exceeded in 2010 – at that time were mainly due to the abuse scandal – when 181,193 people left the church. Catholics in Germany ae now 29.5 percent of the population or nearly 24 million people. The Evangelical Church has approximately 22.5 million members.]

Die Zahl der Austritte aus der katholischen Kirche in Deutschland ist auf einen Rekordwert gestiegen: Im vergangenen Jahr traten 217.716 Menschen aus. Damit wurde das bisherige Rekordniveau von 2010 deutlich übertroffen – damals waren vor allem wegen des Missbrauchsskandals 181.193 Menschen aus der Kirche ausgetreten.

Die Katholiken machen in Deutschland jetzt noch 29,5 Prozent der Bevölkerung aus, das sind knapp 24 Millionen Menschen. Zum Vergleich: Die evangelische Kirche in Deutschland hat rund 22,5 Millionen Mitglieder, auch dort sinken die Zahlen stetig.

Neu eingetreten in die katholische Kirche sind hingegen nur 2809 Menschen über 14 Jahren. Alle Zahlen und Fakten zum Nachlesen finden Sie in dieser offiziellen Statistik.

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
Friendly Atheist

July 16, 2015 by Hemant Mehta

A few months ago, the ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses on Reddit had an idea: They wanted to put up a billboard in Belton, Texas, where a couple of JW conventions were set to take place in late July/early August. They raised the money by early May and signed the contract in June.

The billboard finally went up yesterday and it’s a doozy:

Is there a child molester at your Kingdom Hall?
Would the Elders tell you if there were?
Find the answers
JWawake.com

That URL leads you to this site, describing sexual abuse cases in which the Watchtower Society had to pay out millions of dollars to victims.

These are not isolated instances. They are not just the work of one or two rogue individuals. They are not persecution by Satan or the product of unjustified attacks by opposers. They are the result of specific, documented instructions issued to congregation elders by Watchtower on how child abuse should be handled.

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

NEW YORK
News 12

ROCKLAND – The alleged victim in a sexual abuse case involving a Rockland County rabbi took the stand on Thursday.

Laiby Stern, who wants to be identified, told the judge that respected Rabbi Moshe Taubenfeld sexually molested him when he went for counseling after Sept. 11. Stern, now 22, claims the abuse carried on for five years.

Taubenfeld has been described as one of the “most powerful men” in one of the most religious communities in America.

Stern’s testimony was extremely graphic at times. He told the court that the rabbi gave him $20 as hush money after each alleged assault.

Stern is expected to take the stand again Friday.

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.

OREGON
OregonLive

By Brenda Tracy

I was gang-raped by four men, two of them Oregon State University football players.

I can’t tell you how many times I have used this introduction when speaking publicly. At first I couldn’t say it without getting a lump in my throat and tears welling in my eyes, but today those jarring words roll off my tongue.

I was …

Gang.

Raped.

The secret and shame that I held private for so many years went public last November when Oregonian/OregonLive columnist John Canzano wrote about my ordeal and the long list of betrayals that followed. After the release of the second column, I had a decision to make. Would my legacy be defined and end with two newspaper accounts of my worst moments, or would I take my story and attempt to change my community, my state and my nation?

I chose the latter.

Sexual assault is an epidemic in the United States. One in five college women will be the victim of an attempted or completed rape. Ninety percent of these women know their attacker, and 80 percent will never report the victimization. Ninety-eight percent of all rapes are committed by men, but it’s only 10 percent of the male population committing these acts of violence and two-thirds of them are serial offenders. Campus serial rapists average six to eight victims each.

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.

LATIN AMERICA
The Tablet (UK)

17 July 2015 by Barto Joly de Lotbinière

Two Latin American prelates have had their resignation accepted by Pope Francis, including one accused of ignoring allegations of abuse by a priest.

Archbishop Antonio Carlos Altieri, 63, of Passo Fundo in the south of Brazil, has resigned following a Vatican-ordered investigation by Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes.

According to the Brazilian news website O Nacional, Altieri had alienated many priests for spending £120,000 on a renovation of his residence, the archdiocesan offices and the seminary. He also instituted a 10 per cent diocesan “assessment” on parish income and priests complained about him accepting seminarians who left other dioceses and religious orders.

Meanwhile Bishop Gonzalo Galvan Castillo, 64, of the Diocese of Autlan in western Mexico, stepped down last month following years of criticism that he had failed to investigate claims that one of his priests sexually abused an 11-year-old boy, according to Mexican media reports. Bishop Galvan reportedly transferred him to another parish and now the priest’s current whereabouts are unknown.

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
Sydney Morning Herald

Child sex abuse: Criminally liable institutions could be ordered to pay compensation

July 17, 2015

Jane Lee
Legal affairs, industrial relations and science correspondent

Courts could order institutions held criminally responsible for child sexual abuse to compensate victims, a report says.

The report, published on the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse’s website on Friday, said organisations should be held criminally liable for abuse perpetrated by people linked to them, because targeting only offenders did not offer victims complete justice.
The criminal justice system focused only on individual offenders, with sentences varying in different states and territories, it said. This failed to recognise organisations’ contribution to the problem.

The report also criticised the “swathes of laws to extend the custody of sex offenders and restrict their activities and movements” such as detention orders and extended supervision, saying they were aimed more at quelling public fears than at reducing crime.

“An organisation should be held criminally responsible for the creation, management and response to risk when it has materialised in harm to a child,” the report’s co-authors, criminologists Professor Arie Freiberg, Karen Gelb and Hugh Donnelly, said.

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

ISRAEL
Arutz Sheva

By Tova Dvorin
First Publish: 7/10/2015

The case of the rabbi from northern Israel who has been accused by at least eight women of sexual abuse has captured the attention of the Israeli public, with the rumor mills swirling after the press has declined to publish the rabbi’s identity.

On Friday, Arutz Sheva spoke to a number of experts involved with the rabbi’s yeshiva and the case on the issue to understand the full extent of the investigation and its ramifications.

“A woman called me and asked if it was true that rabbis are allowed to do things that are forbidden according to the Shulchan Aruch,” Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the Chief Rabbi of Tzfat (Safed) said, citing a fundamental Jewish legal text. “The answer is ‘of course not’ – and to the contrary, rabbis must be even more careful in areas of Jewish law.”

“The woman did not say who it was, but in the end we realized it was him,” he continued. “I asked Rabbi Haim Bazaq to be the mediator in a hearing in Tzfat over the issue and together we heard her witness testimony. She said other women may have been affected. We called him [the rabbi – ed.] and he admitted these things to me and to Rabbi Bazaq.”

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

ISRAEL
Aretuz Sheva

By Tova Dvorin
First Publish: 7/17/2015

The Nazareth District Court shortened the detention of Rabbi Ezra Sheinberg, the rabbi from Tzfat (Safed) accused by no fewer than 10 women of sexual abuse, on Friday, moving up his release from July 23 (next Thursday) to July 21 (Tuesday).

The decision follows an appeal filed by Sheinberg’s defense attorney, Ephraim Demari, against the decision Thursday of the Magistrates Court in Kiryat Shmona to extend his detention by eight days.

Earlier Friday, one victim also came forward about her personal experiences, stating to Walla! News that the way the rabbi “took advantage of us was insane.”

“It was 13 years ago,” she recounted. “I was 25 and in a very difficult period, and I was looking for help.”

The woman, S., explained that she was not accustomed to going to rabbis for help; she hadn’t before and she has never returned to one since.

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.

WALES
BBC News

A report on the north Wales child abuse scandal was not published for 17 years because of concerns over libel and compensation claims, an MP has said.

Ann Clwyd told the Commons that council insurers had warned that publication of the Jillings report would encourage court cases and compensation claims.

The report found evidence of “extensive abuse” over a “substantial” number of years in north east Wales care homes.

It said that at least 12 young people died from unnatural causes.

On Thursday Ms Clwyd, the Labour MP for Cynon Valley, said that had the report been published at the time “it would have sounded alarm bells and things would have moved much faster”.

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.

WALES
Wales Online

16 JULY 2015
BY DAVID WILLIAMSON

The Cynon Valley MP told the Government it was ‘high time’ for changes to be made

Veteran Welsh Labour MP Ann Clwyd has called for reform to ensure that insurance companies do not impede investigations into child abuse.

The Cynon Valley MP secured a debate in which she said that reports into abuse in homes run by the former Clwyd County Council had been “prevented from publication by the council’s insurers.”

She said the council was warned by its insurers that the publication of the Cartrefle Report, the findings of an investigation by Detective Inspector Cronin in the early 1990s “could amount to a waiver of public interest immunity or privilege”.

The subsequent Jillings inquiry, commissioned in 1994, also hit roadblocks and was not able to access boxes of material handed to the police by the council.

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 ZEALAND
New Zealand Herald

The Anglican Church is distancing itself from a Napier priest who pleaded guilty to indecent assault charges.

John Hamilton Tovey, 64, entered guilty pleas to two charges of indecent assault in Napier District Court yesterday.

The alleged offending occurred in Napier between April last year and January 2.

The charges relate to the same alleged female victim. A third charge, for sexual violation, was withdrawn yesterday.

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

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

Preface

On Friday, 11 January 2013, the Governor-General appointed a six-member Royal Commission to inquire into how institutions with a responsibility for children have managed and responded to allegations and instances of child sexual abuse.

The Royal Commission is tasked with investigating where systems have failed to protect children, and making recommendations on how to improve laws, policies and practices to prevent and better respond to child sexual abuse in institutions.

The Royal Commission has developed a comprehensive research program to support its work and to inform its findings and recommendations. The program focuses on eight themes:

1. Why does child sexual abuse occur in institutions?
2. How can child sexual abuse in institutions be prevented?
3. How can child sexual abuse be better identified?
4. How should institutions respond when child sexual abuse has occurred?
5. How should government and statutory authorities respond?
6. What are the treatment and support needs of victims/survivors and their
families?
7. What is the history of particular institutions of interest?
8. How do we ensure the Royal Commission has a positive impact?

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

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

17 July, 2015

The Royal Commission has released a report that examines sentencing law and practice in Australia as it relates to institutional child sexual abuse.

The report was prepared by Emeritus Professor Arie Freiberg from Monash University, Hugh Donnelly from the Judicial Commission of New South Wales and Dr Karen Gelb, a consultant criminologist.

Royal Commission CEO Philip Reed said the report served to highlight the sentencing approaches that have been adopted in jurisdictions across Australia and overseas.

Mr Reed said that in addition to sentencing law and practice the report also looked at organisations themselves in the context of institutional child sexual abuse. “The study also considered the nature of organisational responsibility for institutional child sexual abuse and criminal offences that could be introduced to target institutional failures.”

“This report is the first major research report published as part of the Royal Commission’s work on criminal justice. This report provides a valuable contribution to our ongoing policy work in this area,” Mr Reed said.

“The report cautions that its intention is not to endorse a particular sentencing response but rather to highlight the approaches adopted across Australian and overseas jurisdictions,” Mr Reed said.

You can read the report via this link:

About the report

Sentencing for Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Contexts

Authors:

* Professor Arie Freiberg
* Mr Hugh Donnelly
* Dr Karen Gelb

Key findings include:

* Offenders who are convicted of offences relating to the care, supervision or authority of a victim often attract statutory aggravating factors such as breach of trust or abuse of authority and are more likely to receive longer sentences involving full-time custody.

* Long delays between committing an offence and the prosecution, conviction and sentencing of an offender are common in cases of institutional child sexual abuse. The report finds that referring to sentencing principles and practices as they existed when the offence was committed is contentious and there is uncertainty around the practicality of this approach. The report notes that sentencing guidelines in the United Kingdom take a different approach and provide a useful opportunity for comparison.

* The report considers a number of possible new offences relating to organisational criminal liability for institutional child sexual abuse, including offences of being negligently responsible for the commission of an offence, of failure to protect, of concealing crimes and of institutional child sexual abuse itself. The report argues that the individualistic orientation of criminal trials and sentencing fails to recognise organisational and institutional culpability.

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

NEW JERSEY
The Record

BY JEFF GREEN
STAFF WRITER | THE RECORD

ORADELL – Men who say they were victims as children of clergy sexual abuse are protesting Bergen Catholic High School’s response to their claims against two Christian Brothers who they allege molested them in the 1960s and 1970s.

The men say the school has dragged its feet through settlement talks, now going on four months, and that officials never offered them an apology or counseling, a widely adopted practice in Catholic dioceses since the nationwide sexual abuse crisis exploded in 2002.

On Thursday, Road to Recovery, a victim’s advocacy group, raised those issues in a protest outside the high school, and one of the 19 claimants spoke publicly about how he felt newly victimized by school officials.

“I’ve been routinely brushed off by the powers that be at Bergen Catholic,” said Kobutsu Malone, 65, who started a website called bergencatholicabuse.com. “I’ve been ridiculed, my claims have been declared not viable, and all together I think these people are trying to sweep something under the rug.”

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/AUSTRALIA
The JC

By Manny Waks, July 16, 2015

With the onset of the independent inquiry into the historical sexual abuse of children in the UK, it is worth reflecting on the ongoing Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse currently underway in Australia.

Since the Commission’s work commenced in early 2013, it is fair to say that Australia has been shocked by what it has been exposed to.

Through case studies or public hearings, we have witnessed first-hand the very worst of our society: the sexual abuse of children and the subsequent and deliberate cover-ups of these crimes, which are often accompanied by the re-traumatisation of victims through a range of actions, including intimidating them and their families into silence.

I can emphatically say that much of its success may be attributed to the fact that it has been victim/survivor-centric, meaning that all its activities seem to be infused with consideration primarily for the interests and wellbeing of past and future victims/survivors of child sexual abuse.

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

MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Martin Moylan Jul 16, 2015

The creditors committee in the bankruptcy of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis wants clergy sex abuse victims to have until next year to file claims against the church.

At this point, August 3 is the final day for submitting claims. The committee wants that date pushed back to May 25, 2016, which would align with the deadline the state Legislature has set for victims to file abuse claims.

In a court filing, Robert Kugler, the attorney for the creditors’ committee, notes the judge overseeing the case has expressed concerns about the breadth and effectiveness of archdiocese efforts to publicize the claims-filing deadline, especially for abuse victims. Kugler wrote that dozens of parishes have provided sketchy or no notice at all of the deadline in their online church bulletins.

Kugler said a May 2016 deadline could also speed resolution of abuse claims against parishes and marshal insurance resources to fund a global settlement with abuse survivors.

Parish insurers — many of whom also insure the Archdiocese — will not enter into any universal settlement until after May 25, 2016, according to Kugler.

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

Updated: Jul 17, 2015

By Jolene Toves

The chancellor for the Archdiocese of Agana, Father Adrian Cristobal, confirms that Archbishop Anthony Apuron has retained the services of Attorney Michelle Neal with the Employment Law Counsel in California. According to Father Adrian, “The lawyer is acting on behalf of the archbishop because of the constant harassment by [John] Toves.”

Toves, a former Guam resident, has made allegations of sexual harassment against Archbishop Apuron, however no victim came forward and the leader of the island’s Catholic faithful denies any such allegation.

According to the letter obtained by KUAM News, the archbishop is demanding that Toves “Immediately cease and desist from making any further defamatory comments or publications against Archbishop Apuron’s reputation and character.” It further states that the conduct causes grave harm not only to the archbishop, but the church as a whole. The letter goes on to state that if Toves does not comply with the demand, “The archbishop will have to pursue all legal remedies including seeking monetary damages for harm to his reputation and character, punitive damages, injunctive relief and an order that Toves pay court costs and attorney’s fees.”

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

ISRAEL
Arutz Sheva

By Tova Dvorin
First Publish: 7/17/2015

The Supreme Court cleared the publication of the name of a prominent northern rabbi accused of sexual abuse overnight Thursday, revealing his identity to the press as Rabbi Ezra Sheinberg, Rosh Yeshiva (dean) of Yeshivat (Torah academy) Orot Ha’Ari in Tzfat (Safed).

Ten women have accused the rabbi of sexual abuse, up from earlier estimates of eight in Israeli media.

Since the scandal broke, Rabbi Sheinberg has been distanced from his yeshiva and from the Tzfat community for the sake of public safety.

During the hearing late Thursday, Justice Ari Shaham rejected claims that revealing the rabbi’s name would cause undue damage to his reputation and personal safety.

“I have not found that this damage…tips the balance towards preventing publication of the name,” the judge ruled. “The damage which the applicant indicates, does not differ from the risks to any person subject to criminal investigation into suspicion of serious acts.”

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

VATICAN CITY
Financial Times

Rachel Sanderson and James Politi in Vatican City

Cardinal George Pell’s short tenure as the Vatican’s financial tsar has been far from serene.

In an environment known for palace intrigue, he has had to stare down fierce resistance from within the Curia, the mostly Italian Vatican bureaucracy, as he undertakes the daunting task of trying to clean up the Catholic Church’s murky finances.

Seventeen months into the job, Cardinal Pell admits to “small pockets of significant opposition” in a closed world that has long resisted reform.

“[For] people who are used to being totally autonomous, they were not used to telling people anything at all. It can be a little bit sensitive,” he explains.

Still, the 74-year-old Australian believes that the Church has turned the corner in an overhaul begun under Pope Benedict but accelerated under Pope Francis, who has made financial probity a touchpoint of his papacy.

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

MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Elizabeth Mohr
emohr@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 07/16/2015

With the filing deadline weeks away, claims against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are flooding into bankruptcy court.

So far, more than 230 claims have been filed for a total of about $7.5 million in requested compensation — not including claims that list no dollar amount.

Some are from retailers, some from government agencies (like the IRS), a couple from clergymen and others from financing firms. More than 170 of the claims are on behalf of sexual abuse victims. And more than 25 churches had filed claims by Thursday afternoon — 14 filed Thursday alone — seeking indemnification against damages from lawsuits, with more filings by the hour.

The Aug. 3 filing deadline was established by the court in April despite objections and is being challenged once again. The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors on Thursday asked the court to consider extending the deadline by nine months.

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

MARYLAND
WJLA

By Kevin Lewis, ABC 7 News
July 16, 2015

ROCKVILLE, Md. (WJLA) – A Rockville youth group leader is accused of sexually abusing a young girl he was supposed to educate about God and religion.

In February, Paolo Belarmino, 24, met a 13-year-old girl while leading youth group at River of Life Church in Rockville. The predominantly Filipino congregation is small in size, and therefore rents space from Twinbrook Community Church along Halpine Road.

Police say Belarmino used his position of power and trust to flirt with the teenager. It wasn’t long before he began picking her up from Shady Grove Middle School in Derwood following afternoon dismissal. By April, the two were officially dating, and according to court documents, routinely having sexual intercourse.

In attempt to keep their relationship hush-hush, Belarmino would take the middle schooler to secluded places like Rock Creek Regional Park where they’d engage in sexual relations, court documents state. However, in at least three separate cases, Belarmino was bolder, sneaking into the girl’s bedroom where he allegedly had sex with her.

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.

UGANDA
New Vision

By Jolly Tobbias Owiny & Charles Mukiibi

GULU – A pastor of a born again church in Gulu is under police custody after authorities and the Union of Born Again Churches of Gulu accused him of sexually assaulting female members of his church.

Ronny Odur was arrested on Tuesday following testimonies by victims who say he sexually assaulted them from his church and extorted money from them before praying for them.

His business card indicates that he is ‘Prophet and bishop of the Holy Power Centre Church’ located in Cereleno.

New Vision understands that investigations into the claims are under way.

Gulu District Police Commander, Martin Okoyo, said that if evidence implicating the church leader is got, Odur will be charged with rape and sexual assault.

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

UNITED STATES
Charisma News

SUZANNAH GONZALES AND STEVE GORMAN/REUTERS

Cable television channel TLC is canceling its reality show “19 Kids and Counting” after the disclosure of child molestation within the Duggar family at the heart of the series, the network said on Thursday.

Since the molestation revelations surfaced, child protection advocates have charged that the conservative Christian parents who star on TLC’s top-rated show have downplayed their son Josh’s abuse of four of his sisters, including a girl who was under 10 at the time.

TLC, owned by Discovery Communications, pulled all previously aired episodes of the series in May, and at least a dozen advertisers dropped the program. But the future of the show remained in question until Thursday.

“After thoughtful consideration, TLC and the Duggar family have decided to not move forward with ’19 Kids and Counting,'” the network said in a statement. “The show will no longer appear on the air. The recent attention around the Duggars has sparked a critical and important conversation about child protection.”

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.

SOUTH CAROLINA
WMBF

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) –
A Columbia pastor has received additional charges following his arrest on criminal sexual conduct charges on Monday.

Walter C. Ballenger III, is now charged with two counts of second degree criminal sexual conduct on top of his third degree criminal sexual conduct charge, police said.

Columbia police received information about the possible misconduct on June 27.

Police have not said where the incident took place, if it may have happened multiple times or if more children might be involved.

Ballenger has been suspended from all ministerial duties, Grace United Methodist Church said in a statement.

“This suspension is for the protection of all parties,” the statement read.

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
Leader

Chapel off Chapel play delves into the murky world of sexual abuse and its consequences

BELINDA HUMPHRIES STONNINGTON LEADER JULY 17, 2015

RYAN Lewis was a 14-year-old student when he first encountered Doubt: A Parable as part of the syllabus at Perth’s Hale School.

Recent news reports about the Royal Commission into child sex abuse brought the play to mind at just the right time for the young executive producer, as he was given the chance to fill a sudden opening at Prahran’s Chapel Off Chapel.

“I thought what show can I do that doesn’t have a huge cast and is relevant in this day and age?” Mr Lewis said.

“Then as I was listening to the radio one day they had something about Cardinal George Pell and the (Royal Commission) inquiry and I was like, ‘Oh my God — Doubt — obviously that’s the perfect show to put on at this point in time’.

“I feel like this is such a huge topic in the news at the moment that people will be more intrigued.”

RL Productions will present Doubt: A Parable at The Loft Theatre, Chapel Off Chapel, from August 13-22.

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

MILWAUKEE (WI)
Wisconsin Gazette

Written by Peter Isley, Special to WiG
Thursday, 16 July 2015

Making good on their verbal threat in open court to “spend down” the remaining money left in their estate to prevent 575 victims of rape, sexual assault and abuse by clergy of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee from receiving restitution, lawyers for Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki have filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. They seek to overturn a U.S. 7th Circuit decisive ruling that a fraudulent “cemetery trust” created by former Archbishop Timothy Dolan, now cardinal of New York, was not “protected” by federal religious laws or the First Amendment and can be used to compensate survivors.

A few weeks ago, the archdiocese started carrying out its threat by randomly deposing and, of course, re-traumatizing victims, putting survivors through hours of questioning by church lawyers fishing for reasons to file yet more pointless briefs and run up expensive bills. So far, lawyers’ fees and court costs are soaring near $20 million dollars while Listecki has begrudgingly offered $4 million, total, for all rape victims, less than $7,000 per survivor.

In the latest filing, Listecki again legally howls the discredited excuses of “religious freedom” and “First Amendment rights.” Clearly these rights are not enshrined in our Constitution for bishops, or anyone else, to cover up sex crimes, as if child rape is no one’s business but their own.

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.

SOUTH CAROLINA
WYFF

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS-TV) —A Columbia pastor was arrested Monday after police received a report he touched a girl in a sexual manner.

Walter C. Ballenger III, was charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct, police said.

Columbia Police received information about the possible misconduct on June 27.

Police have not said where the incident took place, if it may have happened multiple times or if more children might be involved.

Ballenger was taken to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center and given a $100,000 bond.

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.

SOUTH CAROLINA
WLTX

Tony Santaella, WLTX July 14, 2015

Columbia, SC (WLTX) – Columbia police are accusing a Columbia pastor of inappropriately touching a girl.

Walter C. Ballenger III, 59, is charged with third degree criminal sexual conduct. Officers say Ballenger is a pastor at Grace United Methodist Church on Harbison Boulevard.

According to investigators, Ballenger touched the girl in a “sexual manner.” Officers were notified about the incident on June 27, and began their investigation. Ballenger was arrested on July 13.

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
Lexology

Gadens Lawyers

Australia July 16 2015

Victoria has now abolished limitation periods within which to sue for injury arising out of child abuse.

These amendments resulted from a recommendation from the Betrayal of Trust inquiry in Victoria that the Limitations of Action Act be amended to exclude child abuse from the operation of the limitation periods under that Act. The changes commenced on 1 July 2015.

There will now be no time limit within which to sue if an action is founded on the death or personal injury of a person resulting from:

acts or omissions that is physical abuse or sexual abuse against the person when he or she was a minor; and psychological abuse that arises out of the abuse.

A court will determine what is “physical abuse”, “sexual abuse” and “psychological abuse” by reference to the ordinary meaning of those words. “Psychological abuse” has been included to avoid doubt and allows claims to be made without limitation times in relation to psychological elements of physical or sexual abuse (an example given in the explanatory memorandum is where a child is erroneously made to feel complicit in physical or sexual abuse that has occurred).

These amendments mean that an action may now be brought at any time after the date on which the act or omission alleged to have resulted in the death or personal injury occurred. This is irrespective of the date of the relevant act or omission and irrespective of whether or not the action was subject to a limitation period at any time in the past.

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

MINNESOTA
KSTP

By: Brandi Powell

Many individual parishes in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis are taking action to protect themselves financially.

The claim essentially says that if someone files a lawsuit against an individual parish saying he or she was sexually abused by a priest, the archdiocese would be responsible for paying the victim if money is owed, not the individual parish.

Mary Joe Jensen-Carter, the lawyer who represents about 120 of the 187 parishes in the archdiocese, said she expects all of them to file their claims by an Aug. 3 deadline.

“Parishes have no power to hire or fire a priest,” Charles Reid, a Catholicism expert and professor at the University of St. Thomas, said. “This belongs totally in the hands of the Archbishop.”

Jensen-Carter said these individual parishes are filing these claims because the Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy, and the claims are to protect the parishes. The legal claims are essentially preemptive or precautionary, and because of that, the amount each parish is asking for is unknown.

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.

UNTIED STATES
Frum Follies

Rabbi Shraga Feivel Zimmerman, the community-wide rabbi of Gateshead, UK, an important ultra orthodox Jewish community, recently delivered a stinging rebuke to the community for its past handling of child sex abuse.

Rabbi Zimmerman, broke with past community patterns in testifying for the prosecution in the recent trial in Manchester of Rabbi Todros Grynhaus on child sex abuse charges. Grynhaus, who was once a rabbi in Gateshead, was convicted and sentenced to thirteen years.

Notes of Zimmerman’s weekly (7-11-15) Sabbath sermon were posted on the FaceBook page of Migdal Emunah, a British anti-abuse organization. (See image of full sermon below.) Rabbi Zimmerman’s rebuke included these words (emphasis added):

This week a judge passed sentence over a frum looking individual and sent him to jail for over 13 years for molesting children. … How did our society allow such a person to be in contact with children for so many years? How was such an individual allowed to coast from institution to institution despite his known background? His behaviour wasn’t a secret?!

Was he allowed to continue in his job because he came from a respected family? …

Reb Moshe Sternbuch said …”he’s more sick than wicked”. Yet that doesn’t vindicate the silence of the community and that is why we ask, “How were our children left for hefker” (abandoned)

We have to wonder, how it is that there are those who err so much to provide unlimited support to child molesters and won’t instead help the victims. How is it that there are unlimited funds to aid the perpetrator and yet the victims struggle to get help for expensive therapy?

Not only that, but the victims suffer twice as the offender tries to bully them into silence. How have we stood by and watched this double whammy? These are broken souls which have been hit twice.

You should know that if a Rov is attacked in such a way, it may hurt him and his family, it may harm a community, but a Rov is a healthy individual living with a lot of self-confidence, yet these children are broken people. How has it been okay for us to ignore their plight? Is this the behaviour of people who are supposed to beרחמנים ביישנים וגומלי חסדים (merciful, modest and kind)?

This is a question directed to the public; to the whole community – how is it that we have neglected, how is it that we have kept quiet for something that has been known for so long?

It is most probably because we have no idea what damage is done when children are abused. We have to educate ourselves to understand the pain of these children. The abuse that they have suffered gnaws at them from every direction. Many times these children harm themselves or take their own lives. It can affect their mental state or their married lives even after many years. And of course it affects their spiritual lives too, especially if the molester is in the guise of a frum (ritually observant) person.

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.

MAINE
ABC News

PORTLAND, Maine — Jul 16, 2015

By DAVID SHARP Associated Press

An orphan who grew up on the streets of Haiti, Daniel Madrigal said he was grateful to find food, clean clothes and shelter at St. Joseph’s Home for Boys in Port-au-Prince. But he says the orphanage founder who took in street kids also sexually abused him.

Daniel Madrigal on Thursday described his arrival as a teenager at the orphanage as “the most beautiful day of my life,” but said he was later kicked out after rejecting the founder’s sexual advances.

His testimony, and that of other former orphans, is key in a defamation lawsuit filed by orphanage founder Michael Geilenfeld and a U.S. charity, Hearts with Haiti. They sued a Maine man who advocates for child sexual abuse victims and sought to publicize the molestation allegations against Geilenfeld through a campaign starting late in 2011. Geilenfeld has denied sexually abusing children.

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they were sexually assaulted, but Madrigal has consented to being identified, saying he wanted to tell his story.

The federal jury’s decision could come down to whether they believe Madrigal and six other accusers, five of whom are testifying via videotape.

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

CANADA
CBC News

A former Winnipeg priest has been formally defrocked from the Catholic Church after he plead guilty to sex assault earlier this week.

Ronald Léger, the former head of Holy Family Parish and founder of Teen Stop Jeunesse, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual interference on July 13.

On Thursday, the Archdiocese of St. Boniface stripped Ronald Léger of his rights to represent the ministry.

“You are definitively no longer authorized to exercise a public ministry in our Archdiocese of Saint Boniface,” Albert LeGatt, the Archbishop of St. Boniface, said in a release.

The charges brought against the 77-year-old relate back to a series of incidents that occurred between 1984 and 2004. The interference charge was leveled against Léger because one of the victims was under the age of 16.

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.

MAINE
Bangor Daily News

By Darren Fishell, BDN Staff

Posted July 16, 2015

PORTLAND, Maine — Former Catholic brother Michael Geilenfeld was cleared of sex abuse allegations in a controversial trial in Haiti. But those allegations resurfaced Thursday during Geilenfeld’s defamation lawsuit in federal court against Paul Kendrick, a Freeport resident who continued publicly to accuse Geilenfeld of sexually abusing minors after the trial in Haiti.

As the defamation trial neared the end of its second week in federal court in Portland, Kendrick’s attorney on Thursday introduced testimony from men in Haiti who allege that Geilenfeld abused them.

Geilenfeld, 63, and his nonprofit Hearts with Haiti in 2013 filed a lawsuit against Kendrick, 65, an advocate for victims of clergy sexual abuse, alleging that Kendrick waged a “campaign of vicious, unrelenting and merciless attacks” that damaged his reputation. …

Daniel Madrigal, who now lives in Massachusetts, took the stand first, testifying in person that he eventually arrived at St. Joseph’s after a government crisis in 1994 led to the dissolution of the orphanage where he spent his early years.

“I slept in the street then,” Madrigal said.

He said he went to St. Joseph’s on the recommendation of a government social worker, where he received clean clothes, a place to stay and work in the kitchen. He said he was told he would start school the next year.

Madrigal claimed he was assaulted one day after Geilenfeld had given him a portable cassette player with two cassettes by Phil Collins and Bryan Adams.

“He touched my pants and said, ‘you’re cute,’” Madrigal said. “I didn’t speak English at that time.”

He claimed Geilenfeld later attempted to sexually assault 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.

NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Dozens of safeguarding records from Northern Ireland have been destroyed, the Home Office said.

A total of 64 files on people seeking work with the vulnerable or children were scrapped between 2010 and 2013 because of data protection legislation – breaking an understanding with the departments of health and education in Belfast that the information be preserved, according to minister Karen Bradley.

Some material in a further 18 documents was destroyed and another two lost.

In all cases where files were disposed of, the Stormont authorities had already made decisions whether to bar individuals from jobs where they might pose a risk to the vulnerable. Only two people had been prohibited.

The UK’s Independent Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse and the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry in Northern Ireland have been informed of the breaches, the Home Office said.

Ms Bradley said: “While it is extremely regrettable that these files have been destroyed I can, however, assure the House (of Commons) that the disposal of this information does not present a safeguarding risk to the public.”

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

WEST VIRGINIA
Charleston Daily Mail

by Tyler Bell, Police Reporter

The West Virginia Supreme Court concurred unanimously last Tuesday to support a writ of prohibition submitted by the counsel of children being required to foot half the bill for their rapist’s legal expenses in Berkeley County.

The 13-page decision filed by the state’s highest court suggests Judge Gray Silver III, of the Berkeley County Circuit Court, was entirely erroneous in his decision to force the 12 children and 11 parents to foot the legal bills for convicted rapist Christopher Michael Jensen, 23.

“The majority’s conclusion that the circuit court ‘inequitably’ required the plaintiffs to pay the guardian ad litem fees incurred in defense of their accused molester may be one of the more remarkable understatements offered by this Court,” Justice Allen Loughry II and Chief Justice Margaret Workman wrote in a concurring opinion.

“I cannot fathom how the circuit court justified requiring the plaintiffs to contribute to their alleged, and for some, convicted, molester’s defense,” the justices continued. “There is no question that the apportionment of fees was error. Moreover, this error was heavily exacerbated by the circuit court’s abject failure to define the proper scope of the guardian ad litem’s duties.”

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

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The Vatican’s final Financial Statements for 2014 showed a deficit on the part of the Holy See, but entities falling under the separate Vatican City State budget performed well.

In the Statements released in the Vatican on Wednesday emphasized that 2014 was a year of transition to the new Financial Management policies.

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) — Under new reporting procedures that are more in line with international accounting standards, the Holy See reported $1 billion in net assets that had never been reported before and in a consolidated form.

The Vatican’s final figures for 2014 also showed a continued budget deficit on the part of the Roman Curia and nearly double the profits brought in by entities falling under the separate Vatican City State budget.

In fact, the profits coming from the Vatican Museums, “cultural activities” and investments offset the deficit in the consolidated budgets of the Roman Curia and Vatican communications outlets to help the Vatican end the year 37.9 million euros ($41.3 million) in the black.

The Council for the Economy presented the financial statements July 14, and they were published July 16. The statements were prepared by the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, the Vatican’s budget management office. The statements were “reviewed and verified” by the Secretariat for the Economy, headed by Australian Cardinal George Pell, as well as by a brand new auditing committee of lay experts and an external auditor.

The 2014 budget reports were the first financial statements to follow sweeping new procedures begun under new rules that went into effect March 1, governing the guidance, oversight and control of Vatican financial and administrative activities, and codifying the mission of the council and secretariat for the economy.

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
Wall Street Journal

By FRANCIS X. ROCCA
Updated July 16, 2015

VATICAN CITY—The Vatican released a summary of its 2014 financial statements on Thursday, reporting more than €1 billion in previously off-the-books assets and showing improved returns on investments over 2013.

Cardinal George Pell, who as prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy serves as the pope’s finance chief, said that the statements give the most accurate picture to date of the financial situation in the Vatican’s two main entities: the Holy See, which is the central administration of the world-wide Roman Catholic Church; and the government of Vatican City State, the 108-acre sovereign territory where the pope resides.

The cardinal said that the statements provide a realistic basis for pursuing the continuing financial reforms that Pope Francis has made a major goal of his pontificate.

As part of what the Vatican called a “journey of transition to new policies,” the 2014 statements are supposed to offer a more complete picture of assets and liabilities, verified by external auditors. The Vatican adopted international accounting standards in 2014, and those standards will be used to prepare the statements for 2015.

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
Bloomberg

by Lorenzo Totaro
July 16, 2015

The Holy See, the Vatican’s central administration, posted a deficit of 25.6 million euros ($27.9 million) last year as the cost of staff more than offset the increase in the value of assets.

Last year’s shortfall follows a 24.5 million-euro deficit in 2013, the Holy See said Thursday in a statement. It added that making comparisons with the previous year is “difficult” due to the inclusion of “a number of closing entries” as part of a transition to a new accounting standard.

“The budgets indicate the deficits experienced in recent years are likely to continue in 2015,” the statement also said, adding the Holy See’s budget includes costs for total staffing of 2,880 in 64 “entities.”

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
The Australian

TESS LIVINGSTONE THE AUSTRALIAN JULY 17, 2015

Vatican financial chief George Pell last night put his colleagues in the Holy See on notice — the Holy See’s deficit needs to be ­addressed.

The Vatican released its most comprehensive and transparent balance sheet and the ­financial picture is mixed.

The Vatican deficit fell from €37.2 million ($54.7m) in 2013 to €25.6m last year. The 30 per cent improvement was mainly due to currency fluctuations that boosted returns on investments.

“But we can’t continue like this for too much longer,’’ Cardinal Pell said in Rome last night.

No staff would be made ­redundant, the Australian said, but reorganisation of investments, staff development and economies would be needed.

A working group has been set up to identify changes to ­improve investment returns.

“We’ve also got to make our investments work harder,’’ Dr Pell said.

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

VATICAN CITY
Toronto Sun

PHILIP PULLELLA, REUTERS

FIRST POSTED: THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015

VATICAN CITY – Vatican departments had more than a billion euros that were not declared on an overall balance sheet before new accounting standards kicked in last year, a financial statement showed on Thursday.

The man appointed to clean up Vatican finances said last December that departments had “tucked away” millions of euros and followed “long-established patterns” in jealously managing their affairs without reporting to any central accounting office.

Thursday’s statement showed that such funds totalled about 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion), the first time the Vatican has quantified the unreported funds discovered after Cardinal George Pell took up the newly created post of economy minister.

Pope Francis picked Pell, an outsider from the English-speaking world, to oversee the Vatican’s often muddled finances after decades of control by Italians.

Pell did not suggest any wrongdoing but said the departments had long had “an almost free hand” with their finances. The Vatican said at the time that Pell was not referring to any “illegal, illicit or badly administered funds”.

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
Religion News Service

Rosie Scammell | July 16, 2015

VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican had more than $1.2 billion (1.1 billion euro) in assets before an accounting cleanup last year, the Holy See said Thursday (July 16) in announcing its financial statements for 2014.

Inclusion of the previously unreported funds saw the Vatican’s overall assets increase by just over $1 billion (939 million euro), in what the Holy See described as a “year of transition” in the management of its finances.

Since becoming pontiff in 2013, Pope Francis has brought in large-scale reform of the Vatican’s murky finances and pushed for greater transparency. The publicly released financial statements are “the first important steps” in the financial overhaul, led by Australian Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican said.

Overall, the Vatican had a deficit of $27.9 million (25.6 million euro) in 2014, higher than the $26.6 million (24.4 million euro) deficit reported the previous year.

But Vatican finances are improving to a much greater degree than at first glance, as the latter figure would have been $40.5 million (37.2 million euro) if the new accounting standards had been applied in 2013. The positive change was put down to “favorable movements” in the Holy See’s investment portfolio.

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
The Star

Thursday 16 July 2015

A former South Yorkshire priest kept more than £24,000 that was paid for from weddings and funerals a court heard.

Simon Reynolds, aged 50, of Upper Church Lane, Farnham, Surrey, is accused of pocketing fees handed over to him by bereaved families and engaged couples when he was priest-in-charge of All Saints Church in Darton, near Barnsley.

Reynolds is alleged to have stolen £9,754 meant for Darton All Saints Parochial Parish Council and £14,604 which should have gone to Wakefield Diocesan Board of Finance.

The accused appeared at Sheffield Crown Court yesterday to deny four counts of theft relating to his stint as priest from March 2007 to March 2013.

The jury was told that Reynolds had a responsibility to hand over fees worth £24,000 but didn’t.

The prosecutor explained how suspicions about Reynolds began after he left Darton, in March 2013, to take up a new post at a church in Surrey.

A church warden thought it was ‘irregular’ that a fees cheque from a stonemason relating to a church yard monument was made out personally to the former vicar.

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
Sussex Express

Thursday 16 July 2015

The trial of former Uckfield deputy principal and lay priest Christopher Howarth is still ongoing.

The 67-year-old’s trial, over alleged sexual offences against two boys, began at Hove Crown Court on Monday, July 6.

The jury retired on Wednesday afternoon (July 15) and have been sent home this evening (Thursday, July 16) after a whole day of deliberations. The case will resume again at 10am tomorrow morning (Friday, July 16).

Mr Howarth, of Rocks Park Road, Uckfield, is charged with inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, five counts of sexual activity with a child, three of sexual assault on a child under 13, one of assault on a child under 13 by penetration and one of taking indecent photographs of a child.

There are further charges relating to another boy which include two of sexual activity with a child, two of sexual assault of a child under 13 and two of causing a child to watch a sexual act.

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
skipshea

Posted on July 16, 2015 by skipshea

Scrolling through my various social media sites I see all sorts of positive posts from my lefty friends praising Pope Francis for his harsh words against capitalism. In an article by by Philip Pullella and Daniela Desantis written on July 11th they said Francis called on world leaders “to shun policies that “sacrifice human lives on the altar of money and profit.”

He left out the part about making profits the Vatican way. In a report on the Holy Fiscal Year of 2014 the profits of the Vatican soared to 76 million dollars. More than twenty times to the previous year.

A New York Times article written by Gaia Pianigiani on May 25th states, “Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, the bank’s president, said that its long-term strategic plan prioritized the interests of more than 15,000 clients while trying to provide adequate return during a period of ultralow interest rates in Europe.

“The main focus is on fundamentally improving our overall client service standards and further professionalizing our asset management services,” Mr. de Franssu said in a statement.”

So I guess this isn’t the type of unbridled capitalism Pope Francis is complaining about. That’s a different kind.

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
ABC News

VATICAN CITY — Jul 16, 2015

Associated Press

The Vatican’s cultural activities, in particular its museums, helped boost profits by nearly double at the Vatican city-state last year, while the budget to run the Roman Curia continued to show a deficit, according to final budget figures released Thursday.

The Vatican city-state, which includes the post office, museums and other activities, saw its surplus surge to 63.5 million euros ($69 million) last year from 33 million euros a year earlier. The Vatican said investments also played a role.

Meanwhile, the Holy See, which governs the universal church, reported a 5 percent increase in its deficit to 25.6 million euros ($28 million), up from 24.5 million euros a year earlier, as the Holy See transitioned to international accounting standards.

Had the same standards been used in 2013, the Vatican said the deficit in 2014 would have been reduced by nearly half over the period, from 37 million euros in 2013.

Net assets rose by 939 million euros, as the Vatican brought on to the balance sheets 1.1 billion euros of previously unreported assets and 222 million euros of previously unreported liabilities. That wider accounting is part of Cardinal George Pell’s efforts to get a clear handle on all of the Vatican’s and liabilities since being named to head the new economic secretariat.

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/NEW JERSEY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, July 16

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

A suspended, twice-accused predator priest is now a therapist. Shame on Catholic officials in Camden and Philadelphia for doing almost nothing to protect kids from him and warn parents about him.

[Philadelphia Inquirer]

Despite decades of devastation to families and repeated church pledges to reform, bishops continue, at best, doing the absolute bare minimum in clergy sex abuse and cover up cases.

They protect their careers and reputations by suspending predator priests. But they refuse to protect the public by warning them about predator priests.

We see this all the time. Two quick examples:

—Last week, it was revealed that a credibly accused Oblate priest, Fr. Michael Charland, is now a therapist in the Twin Cities.

(He also worked in Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Texas, Mississippi and Canada.)

[Anderson Advocates]

—A Catholic school teacher, Tom Hodgman, is a professor today at Adrian College in Michigan, despite admitting that he molested two girls and is accused of molesting at least one more. (His former employer, a Catholic high school, had to pay $1.6 million to Joelle Casteix who was repeatedly sexually violated by Hodgman when she was a youngster.)

[BIshopAccountability.org]

Camden church officials did and are doing very little to protect kids from Fr. Igle. And what little they did, they did late and under duress. Notice the timeline:

–In 2000, Catholic officials suspended Fr. Igle from active ministry over an allegation of sex abuse.

–Catholic officials kept this move secret from law enforcement for two years.

–Not until 2011 did they tell New Jersey regulators about two abuse reports against Fr. Igle, both

of which, church officials admit, are credible.

–And allegedly they ever told Fr. Igle about a second allegation or that the first allegation was deemed credible.

The Inquirer story raised a troubling questions: “Where have the accused priests gone? And who bear

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
Daily Journal

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
July 16, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS — Dozens of parishes in the Twin Cities want the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to pay their costs for settling clergy abuse claims.

About 120 parishes want the archdiocese to reimburse them for paying too much into church insurance plans. They also want compensation for costs to resolve sex abuse claims against priests the archdiocese assigned to parishes.

Creditors are required to file their claims against the archdiocese by Aug. 3 in the bankruptcy case. Minnesota Public Radio News (http://bit.ly/1gDlfUR ) reports the parish filings have not place a monetary value on claims. More than 160 people alleging sex abuse by clergy members have filed claims against the archdiocese.

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

IRELAND
The Tablet (UK)

16 July 2015 by Sarah Mac Donald

The Archdiocese of Dublin has announced it is to review a major new fund-raising initiative amid concerns over the targeting of some parishioners and excessive demands for donations.

The “Living the Joy of the Gospel” initiative, which American fundraising firm CCS is helping to operate, has been piloted in four Dublin parishes, with parishioners asked to contribute as much as €1,000 (£700) per year for five years.

The aim of the campaign is to fund the cost of parish pastoral workers and catechists to offset the decline in priest numbers, as well as to form and support serving priests and promote vocations. CCS has worked with the Archdioceses of Armagh and Westminster on similar fundraising campaigns.

According to Fr Andrew O’Sullivan, Episcopal Vicar for Financial Development, the fundraising campaign has been “focused on three pillars; strengthening parishes, building strong pastoral teams and ensuring support for clergy in active ministry”.

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

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, July 2015 (VIS) – At the Council for the Economy meeting on 14 July 2015, Cardinal Pell and the staff from the Secretariat for the Economy presented the Consolidated Statements for the Holy See and the Financial Statements for the Governorate. The Statements had been prepared by the Prefecture for Economic Affairs and reviewed and verified by the Secretariat, the Audit Committee of the Council and the External Auditor.

It was noted that 2014 was a year of transition to new Financial Management policies based on International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). The former accounting principles and consolidation perimeter (comprising 64 Holy See entities) were used in preparation of the 2014 Statements. Managers were however asked to ensure they had included all assets and liabilities and provide appropriate certification as to completeness and accuracy. Working with the external auditor, third party confirmation of balances were requested so that, consistent with sound audit practice, amounts could be independently verified. To include all assets and liabilities in the accounts at year end and to prepare for the new policies, a number of closing entries were included which make direct comparison with 2013 figures difficult. Where appropriate relevant points of comparison were provided to the Council.

The journey of transition to new policies is progressing well and the Secretariat was pleased to report high levels of interest and cooperation in the entities. The 2014 Financial Statements reflect an enormous amount of work by staff in many Holy See entities, particularly in the Prefecture for Economic Affairs and the Secretariat for the Economy and Council members expressed their gratitude for the rigorous and professional work and the strong commitment to implementing the financial reforms approved by the Holy Father.

The Financial Statements for the Holy See for 2014 indicate a deficit of 25,621k Euro which is similar to the deficit of 24.471k Euro reported in the 2013 Statements. Had the same accounting treatment applied in 2014 been applied in 2013, the 2013 deficit would have been reported as 37,209k Euro. The improvement in 2014 was largely due to favourable movements in investments held by the Holy See. The main sources of income in 2014, in addition to investments, include the contributions made pursuant to canon 1271 of the Code of Canon Law (21m Euro) and the contribution from Institute of Works of Religion (50m Euro).

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

IRELAND
Irish Mirror

BY JAMES WARD

Mary Collins’ mother Angela was “snatched from the side of the road” and spent 27 years in a hellhole institution where she tragically died

A woman whose mother was buried in a mass grave after spending 27 years in a hellhole Magdalene Laundry last night begged for her body to be returned.

Mary Collins has told how her family was torn apart when the Traveller was “snatched from the side of the road” and thrown into the hated institution.

The 54-year-old said at St Vincent’s home in Cork her mum Angela was forced to give up her youngest child in an illegal adoption and was denied vital medical treatment, which eventually led to her death.

Mary, who lives in London, believes the grave is filled with Traveller women subjected to the same inhumane treatment.

She told the Irish Mirror: “She was put into a mass grave with 72 other women in Cork and that is where she lays.

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
Daily Mail

Female Jewish principal who fled to Israel after being accused of child sex abuse claims she is ‘psychotic and stressed’ as she fights extradition to Melbourne

By Emily Crane and Sarah Dean for Daily Mail Australia

A former principal of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school in Melbourne who was accused of molesting students has claimed through her lawyer she is psychotic as she fights her extradition from Israel.

Malka Leifer fled to Israel after she was accused of sexually abusing students at Adass Israel School in Melbourne when she was principal in 2008.

Victoria Police are working to force Ms Leifer to be extradited back to Australia where she could face dozens of criminal charges, the ABC reports.

But Ms Leifer, who was placed under house arrest after she was arrested in Israel in August, now claims she is psychotic and unfit to face court.

She was expected to appear at Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday but didn’t attend because of ill health, according to lawyers.

Her lawyer Yehuda Fried successfully argued for her case to be delayed claiming she is suffering from ‘psychosis and stress’.

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

Wayne O’Connor
PUBLISHED
16/07/2015

Survivors of Mother and Baby Homes believe that the government is intentionally slowing an inquiry into the scandal with a policy of “deny until they die”.

A commission of investigation was established to investigate 14 Mother and Baby Homes nationwide and a sample of county homes.

However, chairperson of the Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors Paul Redmond said that too many people are being excluded from the investigation.

“We feel that the government are stalling every inch of the way in the hope that elderly survivors will die off,” said Mr Redmond.

That sounds very cynical, but most of us are cynical,” he added.

A number of groups representing survivors of the Magdalene laundries and several homes protested outside the Dáil yesterday and called on the government to expand its inquiry.

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
Minnesota Public Radio

Martin Moylan Jul 15, 2015

Twin Cities parishes want the bankrupt Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to cover their costs in settling clergy sex abuse claims.

Some 120 parishes are filing creditor claims against the archdiocese.

The parishes want the archdiocese to reimburse the over-payments they made to church insurance plans. They also are seeking compensation for costs related to resolving sex-abuse claims against clergy the archdiocese assigned to parishes.

All creditors are required to file claims by Aug. 3 in the bankruptcy proceedings to protect their interests, said attorney Mary Jo Jensen-Carter, who represents the parishes.

“To the extent that the parishes have been subjected to clergy-abuse, claims … we’re also seeking indemnification and contributions from the archdiocese for the damage the parishes have suffered, or may suffer,” Jensen-Carter said.

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

WATIKAN
wprost

[Jozef Wesolowski left the hospital and returned to Vatican City but the legal process so far is postponed.]

Józef Wesołowski, były nuncjusz na Dominikanie, wrócił do Watykanu. Arcybiskup od ostatniego piątku przebywał na szpitalnym oddziale intensywnej terapii.

Według BBC, Wesołowski czuje się już lepiej i nie było potrzeby, by przebywał na intensywnej terapii. Teraz został przewieziony do szpitala w Watykanie.

Wesołowski trafił do szpitala dzień przed otwarciem jego procesu przed watykańskim trybunałem. Ponieważ duchowny nie pojawił się na miejscu, proces otwarto w sobotę, a następnie bezterminowo odroczono.

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

NEW YORK
Democrat and Chronicle

Tina MacIntyre-Yee, Public safety reporter

July 15, 2015

A former city man accused of sexual abuse of two teens who appeared in Monroe County Court Wednesday was taken into custody after new charges out of Kentucky, similar in nature, came to light.

Roy Battle, 26, of Studio City, California, was charged with 10 counts of first-degree sex abuse, a felony, and was held without bail when Judge Christopher Ciaccio learned of the Kentucky warrant for Battle’s arrest, as well as the indictment against Battle.

Because the indictment is sealed, no one knows yet what the exact charge is, but it could drastically change the complexity of the case, said Brian DeCarolis, Battle’s lawyer.

Battle is accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with two male teens at his former Glendale Park apartment starting in February 2009, said Kyle Rossi, Monroe County Assistant District Attorney. The teens had met Battle through a church where he volunteered, he said.

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

NEW YORK
TWC News

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Roy Battle, a former Rochester church group leader accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with two teenagers, appeared Wednesday morning in a Monroe County courtroom.

Battle, 36, was originally indicted on 10 counts of sex abuse. He was indicted on June 18 in Kentucky on four counts of unlawful transaction with a minor for allegedly having sexual activity with a minor less than 16 years of age between Aug. 2009 and Feb. 2011.

Police say Battle was a church youth group leader in Rochester between 2005 and 2012 before moving to California.

Investigators said they started looking into Battle in 2014 and since then, several people have come forward saying they were subjected to sexual contact with Battle through his work at church.

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

AUSTRALIA
Pro Bono

Thursday, July 16, 2015

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is about to release its recommendations around a national redress scheme but has warned that the solutions are not as simple as just paying out dollars.

The Chair of the Royal Commission Justice McClellan foreshadowed the redress recommendations and outlined the complexity of the issues at the Uniting Church in Australia’s 14th Assembly meeting, held at the University of Western Australia.

“Our terms of reference require us to consider justice for survivors,” Justice McClellan said.

“There are three avenues through which justice can be provided. The first two are the civil and criminal justice systems. However, legal proceedings often present insurmountable challenges, both financial and emotional, to survivors. There can be no doubt that for many people their only opportunity for justice will be through an effective redress scheme.

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
Canonical Consultation

07/15/2015

Jennifer Haselberger

Yesterday, MPR reported that the first hearing in the criminal case against the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis had been postponed. The hearing, which was originally scheduled for this Friday, has now been rescheduled for August 25.

No reason was given for the delay, and so many will likely feel frustrated that the case will apparently drag on. However, the postponement could be a good thing, if in the intervening time the Archdiocese is able to reach some sort of agreement with prosecutors. In my opinion, an ideal solution may be for the Archdiocese to agree to the relief sought in the civil petition in exchange for a lessening of the charges in the criminal case.

I realize that for many, this would not be an acceptable option. I know that many of you would like to see the Archdiocese taken to task for its myriad failures in relation to Curtis Wehmeyer. But, it may prove in the best interests of the public and the victims for some sort of accommodation to be reached without a lengthy and potentially expensive trial.

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

CALIFORNIA
KTLA

A 24-year-old youth leader at a Rowland Heights church was arrested on suspicion of a number of alleged sex crimes against a teenage girl, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department announced Wednesday.

Yanhao Ren, also known as Eric Ren was taken into custody on Monday, one day after California Highway Patrol officers found him in the back of a vehicle parked in a turn-out of Highway 330 with the 13-year-old victim, according to a San Bernardino sheriff’s news release.

Both Ren and the victim allegedly told the detectives that they had engaged in a sexual relationship since this past May, the release stated.

Ren faced a number of charges, including sex crimes with a child under 14, sodomy with a child under 14, oral copulation with a child under 14, penetration with a foreign object with a child, and kidnapping, sheriff’s officials said in the release.

The suspect has been a youth leader for Evangelical Formosan Church of Rowland Heights for the past two years, and investigators said he met the victim through the church’s youth programs, the release stated.

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

CALIFORNIA
Highland Community News

With the cooperative efforts of personnel from California Highway Patrol’s Lake Arrowhead Office, and San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Twin Peaks Station, Sheriff’s detectives from the Crimes Against Children Detail arrested 24-year-old Eric Ren of Fullerton on Monday, July 13, 2015 for engaging in a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl.

On Sunday, July 12, 2015, just before midnight, CHP officers conducted a welfare check on the occupants of a vehicle parked in a turn-out of Highway 330, near Fredalba Road (in San Bernardino County). Ren was found in the back of the vehicle with the victim. The victim and Ren told detectives that they began a sexual relationship in May of 2015. Investigators have determined that during the following months they engaged in several sexual acts in the counties of Orange, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino.

Ren was booked at Central Detention Center and was being held on on $500,000 bail.

Ren is a youth leader for Evangelical Formosan Church of Rowland Heights for the past two years, and has attended the church since 2006. The victim met Ren while attending the youth programs of the church.

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

CALIFORNIA
Press-Enterprise

BY RICHARD BROOKS / STAFF WRITER
Published: July 15, 2015

RUNNING SPRINGS: Church youth leader arrested in underage sex case

A 27-year-old Orange County church youth leader was arrested in an underage sex case involving a 13-year-old girl, say San Bernardino County sheriff’s officials.

Fullerton resident Yanho Ren — who goes by Eric Ren — and the girl were in the back of a vehicle parked along a turnout off Highway 330 near Fredalba Road near Running Springs at 11:55 p.m. Sunday, July 12, when California Highway Patrol officers stopped to check on them, sheriff’s officials said in a written statement.

“The victim and Ren told detectives that they began a sexual relationship in May of 2015,” according to the statement. “Investigators have determined that … they engaged in several sexual acts in the counties of Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino.”

For the past two years, Ren has been a youth leader for Evangelical Formosan Church in Rowland Heights and has attended the church since 2006, sheriff’s officials say.

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

CALIFORNIA
CBS Los Angeles

SAN BERNARDINO (CBSLA.com) — A Rowland Heights church youth leader remained in custody on Wednesday for allegedly engaging in a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl.

Just before midnight on Sunday, California Highway Patrol officers conducted a welfare check on the occupants of a vehicle that was parked in a turn-out of Highway 330 near Fredalba Road in San Bernardino County.

Police located Yanho “Eric” Ren, 24, of Fullerton, in the back of the vehicle with a 13-year-old female who lived in Rowland Heights.

According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, Ren and the girl told detectives they began a sexual relationship in May.

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

CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times

By JOSEPH SERNA

A youth pastor in San Bernardino has been arrested after he was caught in the back of a car with a 13-year-old girl, authorities said Wednesday.

Sheriff’s officials said they found 24-year-old Yanhao Ren, who goes by Eric, in the back seat of the car with the Rowland Heights girl just before midnight Sunday. The car was parked off California 330.

Authorities were doing a welfare check on the vehicle when they made the discovery.

The girl and Ren told authorities that they had begun a sexual relationship in May, and detectives learned Ren and the girl had met in Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties since then.

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
Daily Examiner

Hamish Broome | 16th Jul 2015

THE Anglican Deacon involved in the Diocese of Grafton’s initial response to child abuse allegations at the North Coast Children’s Home has been removed from holy orders.

Patrick Comben was the former registrar of the Diocese of Grafton and also stood on the Clarence Valley Council between 2008-12.

Mr Comben, 65, also served as an education and health minister in the Queensland Goss administration before he was ordained and relocated to NSW.

His removal from holy orders followed a hearing by an independent professional standards board led by Sydney barrister Kevin Rolfe QC.

The board’s recommendation was made to current Grafton bishop, Rev Dr Sarah Macneil, who adopted it and informed Mr Comben of his removal from the church. Under church law there is no avenue of appeal.

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

NEW JERSEY
Philadelphia Inquirer

CAITLIN MCCABE, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
LAST UPDATED: Wednesday, July 15, 2015

After the Diocese of Camden removed Edward Igle from active ministry in 2000 over an allegation of sex abuse, he turned to his second career: Family counseling.

Licensed as a therapist since the 1980s, the former priest still runs a South Jersey practice, counseling families and children, and teaches related classes through a Philadelphia-based center, including how to identify and clinically treat victims of sex abuse.

In 2011, church officials told New Jersey regulators about two men who claimed Igle abused them in the 1970s. The diocese deemed both “credible,” a spokesman said, but they were beyond the statute of limitations to be prosecuted.

Still, the state has repeatedly renewed Igle’s licenses.

In interviews this month, Igle, now 68, vehemently denied any misconduct. He called “inaccurate” any suggestion that the first abuse allegation forced him from ministry, and he denied knowing about the second claim.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Malka Leifer: Former Melbourne Jewish school principal wins further delay in fight against extradition from Israel on abuse allegations

By Middle East correspondent Sophie McNeill

A former principal accused of molesting students at an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school in Melbourne has had her extradition hearing to Australia delayed.

Malka Leifer fled to Israel just hours after allegations of sexual abuse at the Adass Israel School in Elsternwick first surfaced in 2008, and has been there ever since.

It is understood Ms Leifer could face dozens of charges of indecent assault and rape if she ever returns to Melbourne.

Ms Leifer was first placed under house arrest in Israel last September but nearly a year later there still has not been an initial hearing on her extradition petition.

On Wednesday, her lawyers successfully argued in a Jerusalem court for yet another delay to her case, claiming she is suffering from “psychosis and stress”.

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
WGAL

CARLISLE, Pa. —A Cumberland County pastor charged with sexually assaulting two girls is now charged with witness intimidation.

Pennsylvania State Police said 64-year-old Raymond Buhrow tried to get the girls’ father to drop the sexual abuse charges, but the father informed police.

Buhrow was pastor at Calvary Temple Holiness Church in South Middleton Township.

News 8 called the church for a comment, but the man who answered did not have anything to say.

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

UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Paul Madden was ordained a priest of the Natchez-Jackson MS diocese in 1970. He assisted at parishes in Ocean Spring, Jackson, Natchez and Meadville, before pastoring in Crystal Springs, Hazelhurst, Forest, Paulding and Meridian. He also did stints at the V.A., at a junior college and at a state hospital. He spent two years in Mexico in the late 1970s, and worked in Peru as a member of the Society of St. James missionary from at least the early 1990s through 2002. Madden was accused in a 2002 lawsuit of having sexually abused a 13-year-old boy in 1973 during a trip the two took two Ireland. Despite acknowledging the abuse, Madden was allowed to stay in ministry. In 2003 the bishop of Peru’s Chimbote diocese accepted Madden as one of his priests.

Ordained: 1970

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

ISRAEL
Artuz Sheva

By Benny Moshe
First Publish: 7/15/2015

The Kiryat Shmona Magistrates Court has extended the detention of the northern rabbi accused of sexual abuse for an additional eight days Wednesday, until Thursday, July 23.

Judge Ruth Spielberg Cohen explained that since the rabbi was arrested, a great deal of investigative work has been done into the case. Among the findings: that the number of complainants has been confirmed as 2-10 women. Unofficial reports have so far listed the number of women who came forward as eight.

“Investigative actions were and continue to be made in the present, and this morning material evidence was added to the case,” she said. ”Charges against the suspect strengthened significantly at several levels, among other things due to his own version of events.”

The rabbi met with three of the complainants on Tuesday night, Channel 2 reported – the first time since the affair broke. The conflict evolved into a loud dispute between the parties as the complainants spared no words for the accused.

The confrontation follows the publication of an emotional open letter to the rabbi from one of his alleged victims on Monday night.

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

CALIFORNIA
San Bernardino Sun

Rowland Heights youth pastor reportedly caught in Running Springs with 13-year-old in backseat of car

By Beatriz Valenzuela, San Bernardino Sun
POSTED: 07/15/15

RUNNING SPRINGS >> A Rowland Heights church youth leader was reportedly caught in the backseat of a car with a 13-year-old girl over the weekend in Running Springs, and sheriff’s investigators are now searching for additional possible victims.

Yanhao Ren, 24, of Fullerton was arrested early Monday on suspicion of sexual abuse of a child after California Highway Patrol officers found the couple parked on a turnout along Highway 330 near Fredalba Road late Sunday, according to a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s release.

With help from the sheriff’s Twin Peaks station, investigators learned from the girl that the two had met when she attended the Evangelical Formosan Church of Rowland Heights’ youth program. She confirmed that she and Ren had been engaged in a sexual relationship since May of this year, officials said.

Authorities determined that during the following months they engaged in several sexual acts in Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

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

CHILE
Cooperativa

[The frustration of the laity of Osorno who traveled to Bolivia to speak with Pope Francis.]

Juan Carlos Claret, representante del movimiento laico de Osorno, relató este miércoles en Cooperativa el difícil viaje que realizó junto a otras personas a Bolivia en el marco de la visita del papa Francisco a ese país, con la intención de informarle personalmente al pontífice sobre la “insostenible situación” de la diócesis comandada por el obispo Juan Barros, quien es sindicado como encubridor de los abusos sexuales del cura Karadima.

“Se nos había brindado una oportunidad para llegar al papa, que era justo a la llegada de Francisco a la casa del cardenal Julio Terrazas. Estábamos ahí dispuestos, con ayuda inclusive, y ocurrió que la policía e Interpol, sin determinados cargos, nos toman detenidos por 14 horas”, relató Claret a Una Nueva Mañana.

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.

BRAZIL
Catholic Culture

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a Brazilian archbishop following an apostolic visitation conducted by Cardinal Claudio Hummes.

Archbishop Antônio Carlos Altieri, 63, was appointed archbishop of Passo Fundo in 2012. For the previous six years, he had served as bishop of Caraguatatuba.

According to a Brazilian media report, local clergy complained to the apostolic nuncio following a $600,000 renovation of the episcopal residence as well as renovations to the seminary, chancery, and a retreat house.

Priests also opposed the imposition of a 10% diocesan assessment on parish income and complained about prelate’s “rubricism” and “ritualism” in the liturgy, as well as his willingness to accept seminarians who had left other dioceses and religious orders, according to the report.

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

PHILIPPINES/OREGON
Inquirer (Philippines)

SAN FRANCISCO – The Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon has placed a Filipino priest on administrative leave after he waited more than three weeks to tell police about a hidden camera found in a church bathroom, while falsely assuring parishioners that police was investigating the matter.

Father Ysrael Bien, 34, was placed on leave for his failure to follow church protocol and immediately report the camera. Bien, who was born in the Philippines, was ordained into the Portland archdiocese in 2010.

“It is deeply troubling that well-established Church protocols for the protections of parishioners were not followed,” Archbishop Alexander Sample said in a statement last week. “Finding a hidden camera in a church restroom should have been the cause for prompt and decisive action.”

Bien was not named as a suspect, though officials reportedly said in a search warrant affidavit they believe he may have “aided or abetted” whoever planted the camera, according to a report by the newspaper the Oregonian.

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

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 15 July 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has:

– accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Passo Fundo, Brazil, presented by Archbishop Antonio Carlos Altieri, S.D.B., in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

– appointed Fr. Dominicus Meier. O.S.B., as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Paderborn (area 14,750, population 4,900,000, Catholics 1,581,343, priests 1,008, permanent deacons 173, religious 1,647), Germany. The bishop-elect was born in 1959 in Heggen, and was ordained a priest in 1989. He holds a doctorate in theology from the University of Salzburg, as well as a licentiate and professional diploma in canon law from the University of Munster. He has served as ordinary professor of canon law at the Philosophical-Theological High School of the Pallottines in Vallendar, judge at the diocesan tribunal of Salzburg and defender of the bond and promoter of justice at the tribunal of the archdiocese of Paderborn. He was elected abbot of the abbey of Konigsmunster at Meschede in 2001, for a twelve-year mandate. He is currently judicial vicar of the archdiocese of Paderborn. He succeeds Bishop Manfred Grothe, whose resignation from the office of auxiliary of the same archdiocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.

– appointed Fr. Laurent Camiade as bishop of Cahors (area 5,216, population 395,000, Catholics 170,700, priests 66, permanent deacons 8, religious 96), France. The bishop-elect was born in Agen, France in 1966 and was ordained a priest in 1992. He holds a degree in philosophy and a doctorate in theology from the Institut Catholique de Toulouse, and has served as parish vicar, diocesan director of youth pastoral ministry, and parish priest. He is currently vicar general of the diocese of Agen and parish priest of Laverdac, and teaches spiritual theology at the Institut Catholique de Toulouse.

– appointed Fr. Udo Bentz as auxiliary of the diocese of Mainz (area 7,692, population 2,891,000, Catholics 749,583, priests 504, permanent deacons 124, religious 447), Germany. The bishop-elect was born in 1967 in Rulzheim, Germany and was ordained a priest in 1995. He holds a doctorate in theology from the University of Freiburg im Breisgau, and has served as parish vicar in the Cathedral of Worms and special secretary to Cardinal Karl Lehmann. He is currently rector of the major seminary of Mainz and president of the Conference of rectors of German major seminaries.

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

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 25 June 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has:

– accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Autlan, Mexico, presented by Bishop Gonzalo Galvan Castillo, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

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

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

David Gibson Religion News Service | Jul. 15, 2015

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a Mexican bishop who reportedly shielded a priest accused of sexually molesting an 11-year-old boy, and on Wednesday the Vatican announced that a Brazilian archbishop who spent $600,000 on renovations to his home and offices had been dismissed.

The moves are the latest signs that Francis is pursuing a hierarchical housecleaning that aims to address the heart of the clergy sex abuse scandal — accountability for bishops — while also removing prelates who don’t reflect the humble and simple lifestyle he says is key to promoting the Gospel.

Both Bishop Gonzalo Galvan Castillo, 64, of the Autlan diocese in Mexico, and Archbishop Antonio Carlos Altieri, 63, of the Passo Fundo, Brazil, archdiocese were well under the canonical retirement age of 75.

They both also resigned under the canon law that says a bishop “who has become less able to fulfill his office because of ill health or some other grave cause is earnestly requested to present his resignation from office.”

That is the statute that is usually cited when a bishop has been forced to step down by Rome because of a scandal.

Galvan’s resignation was quietly noted in a Vatican bulletin on June 25, but Mexican media reports noted that the bishop had been under fire for years for refusing to report to police or remove from ministry a priest, Fr. Horacio Lopez, suspected of abuse.

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

NEW JERSEY
Road to Recovery

Bergen Catholic High School and the Congregation of Christian Brothers continue to re-victimize five (5) former students of Bergen Catholic High School who are survivors of sexual abuse as minors by either one of two Christian Brothers who taught at Bergen Catholic High School through its foot-dragging in settlement talks

Br. Charles B. Irwin and Br. John B. Chaney have been credibly accused of sexually abusing many Bergen Catholic High School students who were minors at the time of the sexual abuse. Br. Irwin sexually abused 4 of the 5 minor teenagers from approximately 1963-1966, and Br. Chaney sexually abused 1 minor teenager in 1978.

What
A demonstration and leafleting highlighting the foot-dragging by the leadership of Bergen Catholic High School and the Congregation of Christian Brothers in helping 5 minor teenaged sexual abuse victims of either Br. Charles B. Irwin or Br. John B. Chaney heal by acting in a timely, fair and just manner in settling their claims against Bergen Catholic High School

When
Thursday, July 16, 2015 from 9:00 am to Noon

Where
On the public sidewalk outside the main vehicle entrance of Bergen Catholic High School, 1040 Oradell Avenue, Oradell, NJ 07649

Who
Members of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families, including its co-founder and President, Dr. Robert M. Hoatson

Why
Five former students of Bergen Catholic High School, all of whom are in their 50’s and 60’s, are being re-victimized by Bergen Catholic High School and the Congregation of Christian Brothers because of their foot-dragging surrounding negotiations to settle the victims’ claims, help them heal and get on with their lives. The leadership of Bergen Catholic High School and the Congregation of Christian Brothers are aware of the many sexual abuse victims of Br. Charles B. Irwin and Br. John B. Chaney; yet, they refuse to settle their claims. Demonstrators will call on Bergen Catholic High School and the Congregation of Christian Brothers to stop their foot-dragging and help these victims heal by acting in a timely and manner any be being fair and just.

Contacts
Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Road to Recovery, Inc. – Livingston, NJ – 862-368-2800
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Boston, MA – 617-523-6250

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

MICHIGAN
Detroit Free Press

By Katrease Stafford, Detroit Free Press July 14, 2015

A Catholic priest who worked at a Detroit high school was sentenced to 12 years in prison today after he pleaded guilty to transporting child porn to Chicago and admitted to sexually assaulting a former student.

Fr. Richard James Kurtz, 70, was a chemistry teacher years ago at the University of Detroit Jesuit High School in Detroit.

Kurtz, who was brought in the courtroom Tuesday shackled and handcuffed, read a statement before Judge Mark Goldsmith, saying he was “deeply sorry” for his actions.

“Words can’t express how much remorse I feel,” Kurtz said. “… Some of my victims have names that are known to me. I am guilty of capturing images of them for my perverse pleasure. … The damage I’ve done must be borne by them for time to come. I accept full responsibility for betraying them.”

Before handing down a 144-month prison sentence, Goldsmith said Kurtz’s crime victimized children, who are an especially vulnerable population.

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
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on the exoneration of Father Leo Riley:

On March 17, I wrote a news release titled, “Fr. Leo Riley Also Has Rights.” I gave four reasons why I believed that this priest was innocent of accusations made against him. Yesterday, he was cleared of all charges of wrongdoing by an independent investigative unit.

I have never met, nor have I ever corresponded with, this Naples, Florida priest, but I felt from the beginning that he was innocent. Here’s why.

First, I wondered why it would take 30 years to elapse before an accusation of sexual assault would be made; others may want to delude themselves into thinking that “repressed memories” are real, but I am not among them. Second, if Father Riley were truly guilty it is likely that others would have made accusations against him—he is 58—yet the record shows that this was the first and only time anyone charged him with abuse.

Third, I mentioned the fact that “there are many Father Rileys all over the nation who have had their reputations smeared by vindictive men looking to take advantage of the hostile climate that exists against priests.” Fourth, I emphasized that he was entitled to a presumption of innocence.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Courier-Mail

Anglican Church strips former government minister of holy orders over role in sex abuse scandal

GREG STOLZ THE COURIER-MAIL JULY 16, 2015

A FORMER state government cabinet minister has been defrocked by the Anglican Church over his role in the church sex abuse scandal.

Pat Comben, who served as education and environment minister in the Goss government, was ordained as a deacon by controversial Brisbane archbishop and former governor-general Peter Hollingworth after retiring from politics in the mid 1990s.

In 2013, he gave evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse over the abuse of orphans at the North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore.

As registrar of the Anglican Church’s Grafton diocese, Mr Comben was the first to hear of the allegations and was central to the hardline approach taken against 42 people seeking apologies and compensation for beatings and rapes.

The royal commission heard that as the number of claimants increased, the diocese disputed liability, pleaded poverty despite having almost $200 million in assets and cast doubt on some of the claims.

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

AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Ex Melbourne principal facing sex abuse claims, Malka Leifer, suffering psychosis, lawyer says

ANDREW FRIEDMAN, SHANNON DEERY HERALD SUN JULY 15, 2015

A PRINCIPAL accused of molesting students at an ultra-orthodox Jewish school has claimed through her lawyer she is psychotic in her latest attempt to fight her extradition to Melbourne.

Authorities are working to force Malka Leifer’s return from Israel amid accusations she sexually assaulted a string of teen girls while principal at Adass Israel School in Elsternwick.

She is currently under house arrest while extradition proceedings continue at the request of Victoria Police who have indicated she could face criminal charges.

Almost a year after being arrested in Israel, lawyers for Mrs Leifer, who has vowed to never return to Melbourne, now claim she is psychotic and unfit to face court.

Mrs Leifer was expected to appear at the Jerusalem District Court overnight but failed to attend because of ill health.

Lawyer Yehuda Fried said the extradition was “only at the beginning” and said his client pledged to drag the case out.

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

LOS ANGELES (CA)
Jamaica Observer

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

2007: The Los Angeles archdiocese reaches a $660-million settlement with more than 500 alleged victims of clergy sex abuse.

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

ISRAEL
Arutz Sheva

Meeting quickly descends into shouting match after well-known rabbi meets two of the women accusing him of sexual abuse.

By Uzi Baruch
First Publish: 7/14/2015

A well-known rabbi in northern Israel suspected of a series of sex offenses against women in his community has met with three of his alleged victims for the first time since the case hit headlines.

According to Channel Two, the confrontation soon descended into a loud shouting match, as the women leveled serious accusations of abuse at the rabbi – whose identity is still the subject of a court-imposed gag order.

According to the report, at one point one of the women shouted at the accused: “You are impure, I will look you in the eye. It is you who should lower your gaze!”

The rabbi reportedly stuck to his version of events, admitting to having had intimate relations with several women while denying he at any point forced himself on them.

“The rabbi confronted several of the complainants and not one of them claimed he had raped her,” defense lawyer Ephraim Dimri said. “He replied coolly and in a businesslike manner to all the claims.”

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

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

Wednesday 15 July

The Hon Justice Peter McClellan AM
Chair, Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

I speak to you today as the Royal Commission enters the second half of its five year term. As you are probably aware the Commission was originally tasked to finish at the end of this year. However, the many and complex issues that we are required to examine led the Commissioners to ask the government for a further two years to complete our work. The Commission will now conclude at the end of 2017. I have told the government that there will definitely be no request for a further extension.

Our terms of reference provide us with two fundamental objectives: to expose what has happened in the past and to make recommendations aimed at ensuring, so far as possible, that children are not sexually abused in an institutional context in the future.

As with any Royal Commission a significant part of our work is done through public hearings. A public hearing will be preceded by intensive investigation and research. Although it may only occupy a limited number of days of hearing time, the preparatory work which must be completed by Royal Commission staff and by parties with an interest in the public hearing can be very significant.

The Royal Commission is aware that sexual abuse of children has occurred in many institutions, all of which could be investigated in a public hearing. However, if we were to attempt that task, a great many more resources would need to be applied over an indeterminate, but lengthy, period of time. For this reason the Commissioners have accepted criteria by which appropriate matters are brought forward to a public hearing as individual ‘case studies’.

The decision to conduct a case study is informed by whether or not the hearing will advance an understanding of systemic issues and provide an opportunity for institutions to learn from previous mistakes. We must ensure that any findings and recommendations for future change that the Royal Commission makes have a secure foundation. In some cases the relevance of the lessons to be learned will be confined to the institution the subject of the hearing. However, in most cases they will have relevance to many similar institutions in different parts of Australia.

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

NEW ZEALAND
Hawke’s Bay Today

A Napier-based Anglican minister has pleaded guilty to indecent assault charges.

John Hamilton Tovey, 64, pleaded guilty to two charges of indecent assault on females aged over 16, in Napier District Court this morning. The alleged offending occurred in Napier between April last year and January 2.

A third charge was withdrawn. He was remanded on bail to be sentenced on September 17.
Tovey was a vicar in Wainuiomata for more than 10 years before he moved to Hawke’s Bay in 2010 to take up the associate priest role in the Taradale parish. He left the following year.

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

NEW ZEALAND
Dominion Post

MARTY SHARPE

An Anglican priest has pleaded guilty to two charges of indecent assault.

John Tovey entered guilty pleas to the charges in Napier District Court on Wednesday morning. The alleged offending occurred in Napier between April last year and January 2.

A third charge was withdrawn.

Tovey, 64, was previously a vicar in North Canterbury and a priest in charge at Churton Park in Wellington for five years, and then in Wainuiomata for 10 years, before moving to Hawke’s Bay in 2010, where he became associate priest at All Saints parish in Taradale, a position he held until late 2011.

The church suspended Tovey’s permission to officiate indefinitely, meaning he is not licensed or authorised to undertake any priestly duties.

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
Christian Today

Ruth Gledhill CHRISTIAN TODAY CONTRIBUTING EDITOR 14 July 2015

The sufferings inflicted on children by clergy in the child sex abuse scandals that have come to light in recent decades are beyond belief, and that has been one of the problems. For too long, none believed the children who told the tales. The actions of those involved were intrinsically evil.

Justice is still working its way out on those responsible, in the Church and in the wider world. It will take a long time. Justice Goddard’s public inquiry alone in the UK is expected to take at least five years. And of course it is not just the churches. These crimes infected all society. There is a massive public reckoning to come.

In a world where individuals must be made to take responsibility for crimes if they refuse to do so voluntarily, a world that in the West at least believes little in the devil and possession, theologians and psychologists of the future must explore how and why these crimes ever took place.

To differentiate between the sin and the sinner, and thereby somehow seem to excuse the latter, can appear to be unacceptable casuistry, but we still need to ask whether individuals who perform these actions are themselves intrinsically evil.

In the church as well as in the wider world, there have been too few sackings, too few public reckonings against those responsible. So many abusers have simply been allowed to pass into old age and die without ever being called to account for the crimes. Such terrible damage has been done, such awful mistakes made. Defrocking is only now being restored to the penalties available to the Church of England, for example. It is no wonder that victims’ groups say that what is being done is too little, too late, no wonder that there is such great anger.

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.