ABUSE TRACKER

UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By REBECCA CAMBER CRIME CORRESPONDENT FOR THE DAILY MAIL

The future of the child abuse inquiry was plunged into uncertainty again last night as its fourth chairman signalled a scaling back of its remit.

Professor Alexis Jay, who took over from Dame Lowell Goddard in August, said it was unrealistic to hold a public inquiry-style hearing into all of the institutions where abuse is said to have occurred.

She said while the inquiry would endeavour to look at many institutions where youngsters were allegedly abused, it would be ‘impossible to do so for all of them’.

Professor Jay sought to appease victims by saying the inquiry remained ‘very interested in the past’ and promised to complete most of its work by the end of 2020.

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UNITED KINGDOM

Sean O’Neill, Chief Reporter
October 18 2016
The Times

The public inquiry into child abuse will never be completed unless it is restructured, its chairwoman said yesterday.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) will move away from the format of the traditional public hearings to complete its work within a reasonable time and budget.

Alexis Jay said claims that the inquiry’s remit was too big were “founded on an assumption that we must seek to replicate a traditional public inquiry in respect of each of the thousands of institutions that fall within our remit”. She added: “We will do so for some, but we would never finish if we did it for all.”

She did not say which inquiries would receive the full treatment, with witnesses being questioned in open sessions, or the format under which other investigations would be conducted.

The previous structure proposed as many as 25 separate investigations under the umbrella of the inquiry.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

October 17, 2016

An agreement between the Holy See and Italy on fiscal matters went into effect on October 15.

The agreement, signed in April 2015, allows Italian authorities access to financial records of Italian residents who have accounts with the Vatican bank, to ensure that they report taxable income. The arrangement, the Vatican explained at the time, “will enable full compliance, with simplified procedures, with the tax obligations relating to financial assets held by institutions engaging in financial activities in the Holy See by various physical and legal persons resident in Italy.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service – Bollettino

On 15 October, following the entry into force of the Convention between the Holy See and the Government of the Italian Republic on fiscal matters, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin issued the following provision on the implementation of articles 2, 3 and 4 of the Convention. This measure takes immediate effect.

The Secretary of State of His Holiness

With regard to the due ratification and entry into force of the Convention between the Holy See and the Government of the Italian Republic in fiscal matters, signed on 1 April 2015 (hereinafter “Convention”);

With regard to Article 10 of the Convention, which requires the Parties to adopt the regulations and the administrative and enforcement measures necessary for the implementation of the same Convention;

Considering that the Holy Father Francis has delegated to the undersigned the adoption of the necessary measures for implementation;

has issued the following provisions for the implementation of Articles 2, 3 and 4 of the Convention.

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CONNECTICUT
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: John J. Stronkowski was ordained for the Diocese of Bridgeport in 1985. He assisted at parishes in Bridgeport, Fairfield and Danbury before being named pastor of St. Ambrose in Bridgeport in 2004. He was the lead priest at St. Margaret Mary in Shelton from September 2012 until May 2014 when the bishop asked him to resign due to “persistent absenteeism from both the rectory and the parish and its ministries, his growing difficulties with both the staff and lay leaders of the parish, and other personal and administrative shortcomings.” Stronkowski was then on leave of absence. In June 2016 his name was included on the diocese’s list of “Credibly Accused Diocesan Priests” for abuse of a minor more than ten years previously. He was placed on Administrative Leave and his faculties were removed.

Ordained: 1985

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

THE scope of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry will not be expanded, its new chairwoman has insisted as it emerged the investigation has so far cost £2.5 million.

Lady Anne Smith, the judge appointed to head the troubled inquiry after the resignation of its previous chairwoman, said she brought 15 years’ experience as a High Court judge and judge at the Court of Session to the role.

Abuse campaigners have called for the inquiry’s remit to be widened to include victims who were targeted outwith residential care.

But Lady Smith said: “The terms of the remit were set when the inquiry began. Their width enables us to investigate the abuse of children in residential care in Scotland … from within the living memory of anyone who suffered such abuse up to the end of 2014.”

She said the inquiry was already extensive and had gathered “numerous accounts of abuse”.

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SCOTLAND
BBC News

The senior judge appointed to lead the Scottish government’s child abuse inquiry has urged victims and witnesses to come forward.

Lady Smith said she was determined to find out “what happened, where, how and why”.
The inquiry will examine historical allegations of child abuse in Scotland.

It is expected to last four years, and will look at the extent of abuse of children in care and identify any systemic failures.

Lady Smith replaced Susan O’Brien QC as chairwoman of the inquiry after she quit the post in July citing government interference.

A second member of the three-person panel, Prof Michael Lamb, also resigned over similar concerns.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

Martin Evans, crime correspondent
17 OCTOBER 2016

The controversial child sex abuse inquiry will be completed by 2020 after its new chairman signalled a scaling back of its remit.

Professor Alexis Jay, who took over following the shock resignation of Dame Justice Lowell Goddard in August, said it was unrealistic to hold a public inquiry style hearing into every one of the thousands of institutions where abuse is said to have occurred.

Instead she said the inquiry would focus on four main “thematic strands” in order to ensure that lessons were learned from the failings of the past.
Professor Jay said while she and her panel would endeavour to look closely at many institutions where youngsters were allegedly abused, it would be “impossible to do so for all of them”.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

DENIS SLATTERY
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Monday, October 17, 2016

Organizers at a rally calling for the passage of a bill making it easier for child sex abuse victims to seek justice in New York blasted lawmakers for holding up the legislation.

The “Protect Children” rally was held Saturday in Saint James, Long Island, in the heart of Senate Republican Majority Leader John Flanagan’s district.

Flanagan and a handful of other lawmakers have opposed efforts, led by the Daily News, to pass the Child Victims Act.

“John Flanagan should be ashamed of himself,” said Gary Greenberg, a casino investor who created the Fighting For the Children political action committee to help usher in a Democratic Senate majority. “The failure of the Child Victim’s Act by the Senate Republicans has put our kids safety at risk.”

Greenberg, himself a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, blasted Flanagan.

“Predators are prowling our streets looking for your kids because of Senator Flanagan,” he said.

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INDIANA
The Star Press

Douglas Walker , dwalker@muncie.gannett.com October 17, 2016

MUNCIE, Ind. – A legal saga that began nearly eight years ago – on the day Barack Obama was sworn in as president – ended Monday when a count of sexual misconduct with a minor pending against a Muncie pastor was dismissed.

Matthew A. Kidd, now 60, had been scheduled to stand trial Monday in Delaware Circuit Court 3 on the misconduct charge, filed on Jan. 20, 2009.

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Judi Calhoun filed a motion to drop the charge – a Class C felony carrying a standard four-year sentence – and said the alleged victim in the case no longer wished to testify.

Kidd, pastor of Freedom Point Apostolic Church, was at first charged with child molesting, sexual misconduct with a minor and vicarious sexual gratification. He was accused of sexually abusing three brothers who were teenagers – and had attended his church – when the alleged assaults took place between 2002 and 2005.

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MISSOURI
Berger’s Beat

October 17, 2016 12:44 pm | Author: berger

The NY Times editorial page casts aspersions on Cardinal Tim Dolan’s “compensation” program for adults who were raped or molested by pedophile priests. It notes that a “tight deadline” is included, victims must “waive the right to sue,” and asks a troubling question: “How will this program help to prevent future abuses, expose the archdiocesan cover-ups or explain how priests were shielded and survivors silenced?”

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MAINE
WABI

OCT 17, 2016

CATHERINE PEGRAM

An organization that supports people sexually abused by priests wants the supervisor of a convicted Greek Orthodox priest in Bangor to be ousted.

54-year-old Adam Metropoulos is serving 6-and-a-half years in prison for sexual abuse of a minor after he was found guilty last year.

He was the head St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Bangor when he molested an alter boy there.

Members of the group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests are calling for Greek Orthodox Chancellor Theodore Barbas of Boston to be removed.

They say he was complicit or negligent in placing Metropoulos in a position with children.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Sky News

By Becky Johnson, North of England Correspondent

More than 11,000 people have signed a petition calling for the bell ringers at York Minster to be reinstated after they were sacked and ringing suspended until a new team is appointed next year.

The group of 30 volunteers say they were stunned when they were told their services were no longer required and asked to hand in the key fobs that gave them access to the bell tower.

Alice Etherington, the bell ringer who started the petition, told Sky News: “It’s not the way to go about changing things and getting people loyal and dedicated to you when you already have people loyal and dedicated to you and the services.

“We adore the Minster, we adore our community life there and we’re part of it and we feel shunned.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

York Minster dismissed 30 volunteer bellringers because one member of the group was regarded as a safeguarding risk, according to a statement delivered by the archbishop of York, John Sentamu.

Other members of the group “consistently challenged” the minster’s governing body, the Chapter of York, on this and other matters, the statement from York Minster said.

The volunteers were told at a special meeting last Tuesday that bellringing activity at the minster would cease with immediate effect for “health and safety” reasons and that they were dismissed.

The Chapter of York’s statement, delivered by Sentamu on Monday, said: “Earlier this summer it was necessary for the chapter to take action regarding a member of the bellringing community on safeguarding grounds. This came after complex multi-agency activity involving the City of York council, York diocese safeguarding adviser and the Church of England’s national safeguarding officer.”

The decision to dismiss the bellringers was taken in line with advice from safeguarding professionals on minimising risk to children, young people and vulnerable adults, it added.

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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, Oct. 17, 2016

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

Cardinal Tim Dolan’s unilateral, top-down victim pay-off program has barely begun. Yet the man Dolan picked to head it is already insulting and blaming victims.

[New York Times]

Kenneth Feinberg told the New York Times that victims tend to be “procrastinators.” At best, that’s stupid. At worst, it’s hurtful. Both he and Dolan should apologize. And they should drop their insensitive, arbitrary and self-serving deadline which forces still-suffering victims to move quickly to deal with decades of pain or else be left out in the cold again.

If kids are to be safer, adults must make it easier, not harder, for victims to report sexual violence. Dolan’s selfish deadline and Feinberg’s callous comments are making it harder.

If victims are to be healed, adults must welcome their disclosures and respond to their suffering whenever victims are strong enough to step forward. Dolan and Feinberg must put the needs of deeply wounded victims ahead of their own convenience.

No matter what New York lawmakers or church officials do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in Catholic churches or institutions – especially in New York – to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling law enforcement, get justice by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.

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NEW YORK
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on an editorial in today’s New York Times:

The editorial in today’s New York Times, “Victims of Priests’ Abuse Face a Choice,” must be challenged on several counts. Its principal focus is the new initiative by the Archdiocese of New York, the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program. This program is designed to deal fairly with claims of clergy sexual abuse.

The editorial says “the program is confidential.” It is important to emphasize that if someone requests confidentiality, the archdiocese will respect it, but it is also true that under the provisions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, it has no authority to require it. Of course, the archdiocese is not going to publicize information on these matters on its website, but that is not the same as requiring claimants to sign a confidentiality agreement. That will not happen.

The editorial is unhappy with the provision that claimants are given only a few months to file. Naturally, the Times wants no deadline. Should they be given years? Decades? Is this its idea of justice?

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Amnesty International

“We have waited for justice for long enough” – Jon McCourt, abuse survivor

Victims of child abuse will today (Monday) set out detailed proposals and costings for a redress scheme which they want the Northern Ireland Executive to set up following the end of the Historic Institutional Abuse Inquiry.

The scheme, which could provide compensation for thousands of children who suffered abuse in residential institutions between 1922-1995, would cost at least £20 million. However, if the proposed scheme is implemented, it would actually save the public purse at least £10 million compared to the costs of compensation via the courts, argue abuse survivors.

The costs of the proposed redress scheme are detailed in a report (Cost Analysis of Proposed Redress Scheme for Historic Residential Abuses) commissioned from Quarter Chartered Accountants by the Panel of Experts on Redress, an independent initiative made up of survivor groups, individual survivors, academics, lawyers, human rights organisations, practitioners and national and international experts. It is proposed that survivors of abuse should receive a common experience payment of at least £10,000, calculated on the amount of time spent in an institution and an individual assessment for any mental, physical and sexual abuse suffered. The model compensation scheme is based on wide consultation with survivors and analysis of redress schemes in other jurisdictions.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Herald Scotland

The bill for compensating survivors of child abuse in Northern Ireland could run to £30 million, campaigners have warned.

Some 524 victims could be eligible to make claims over their treatment in institutions from 1922-1995, including at the notorious Kincora Boys’ Home in Belfast and by paedophile priest Brendan Smyth.

Campaigners are urging the Stormont Executive to agree to a special redress scheme, with basic payments starting at £10,000, to avoid lengthy, traumatic and expensive civil actions in the courts.

They said it could save £10m off the final bill.

Margaret McGuckin of Survivors and Victims of Institutional Abuse, said: “It is now up to ministers to deliver.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

By Joanne Fleming
PUBLISHED
17/10/2016

Victims of historical child abuse in Northern Ireland are to press for a compensation scheme of up to £30m at Stormont today.

The scheme could provide redress for hundreds of children who suffered abuse in residential institutions between 1922 and 1995, such as the Kincora Boys’ Home in Belfast and victims of the notorious paedophile priest Brendan Smyth.

While the scheme would cost at least £20m, the victims argue it will save the public purse over £10m compared to the costs of compensation via the courts.

The Historic Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry is currently examining allegations of child abuse in homes and other institutions over the 73-year period.

The HIA began its public evidence sessions at the former Banbridge Court House in 2014 and is due to report to the Executive in January 2017. The compensation is based on a figure of 524 eligible victims who have made applications to the HIA.

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CALIFORNIA
City of Angels

By Kay Ebeling
City of Angels

He was tall and thin and wore bow ties, and he was packing up his laptop to leave just as the hearing started.

While counsel for plaintiffs stood before the judge detailing obstruction of justice the Archdiocese carried out against pedophile priest victims, the court beat reporter from the L.A. Times was packing up to leave. And he was the only journalist there besides me.

The judge said something like: “So the monsignor bumped into the priest who then scampered into the woods to hide, then a nine-year-old boy came out of the rectory with blood running down his legs, and now defendant will not produce the monsignor for deposition?” to which plaintiff’s attorney emphasized, “Yes, your honor.”

I grabbed the L.A. Times guy’s arm and asked, “Why are you leaving?”

“Phil Spector!” he stage whispered and scampered out of the courtroom. ***

The Times reporter left with his two thousand dollar laptop and I stayed at the hearing, scribbling notes into a dime store notepad.

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Oct 17, 2016

By Krystal Paco

The Sunday pickets in front of the Hagatna Cathedral continued, this time with messages in support of a moratorium on the Neocatechumenal Way. As we reported, Father Mike Crisostomo proposed the moratorium to the Presbyteral Council in hopes of better assessing the NCS’s influence on the local church.

The moratorium is being reviewed by Guam’s apostolic administrator, Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai. Picketers also demand that Archbishop Anthony Apuron be defrocked and that the Redemptoris Mater Seminary be returned to the Archdiocese of Agana.

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PHILIPPINES
Daily Mail (UK)

By FREYA NOBLE FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was sexually abused as a child by a Catholic priest, a traumatic experience which now drives his bloody war on drugs.

In his first interview since taking office 100 days ago, President Duterte told Al Jazeera that his tumultuous childhood shaped his current beliefs and policies.

‘It’s what you get along the way that shapes your character’.

Known as ‘the Punisher’, Duterte first spoke about being sexually abused as a child during a press conference in December 2015.

He claimed he was ‘fondled’ by a priest in the late 1950s, while attending the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Davao High School.

At the same time he made the suggestion that he was not the only one to have fallen victim to his attacker, but said he did not report the abuse out of fear.

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PHILIPPINES
Al Jazeera

[with video]

It’s been about 100 days into the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte.

Since he took power, the Philippine president has overseen the killing of more than 3,500 people in his war on drugs, offended world leaders and strained relations with the US.

In an exclusive first interview since he was sworn in, we talk to Duterte about his controversial war on drugs and foreign policy – including deteriorating relations with the United States and potentially warming relations with China.

“We have three million drug addicts, and it’s growing. So if we do not interdict this problem, the next generation will be having a serious problem … You destroy my country, I’ll kill you. And it’s a legitimate thing. If you destroy our young children, I will kill you. That is a very correct statement. There is nothing wrong in trying to preserve the interest of the next generation.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Stuff (New Zealand)

Here is the full statement from Dame Lowell Goddard and her lawyers in London:

In response to allegations published in the Times newspaper dated 14 October 2016, Dame Lowell Goddard QC said:

“My absolute commitment to the Inquiry and in particular to the victims and survivors is the reason why I gave up my career and life in New Zealand to take up the position of Chair of the Independent Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and why I endured the logistical difficulties of the role. My report to the Home Affairs Select Committee of 5 September 2016 and my earlier report to the Home Secretary of 10 August 2016 which followed my resignation as Chair of the Inquiry, both made absolutely clear that I regarded the Inquiry as critical and fundamentally important, and I continue to regard it as such.

“I consider it to be paramount that the IICSA successfully and fairly addresses the welfare of victims, making soundly based, achievable and workable recommendations that will be effective in protecting children now and for the future.

“I was not motivated to commit to this difficult Inquiry for money or perks. I was already in receipt of an equivalent salary package in New Zealand, where I had tenure of judicial office until December 2018 and a lifestyle I enjoyed. I had to give up that tenure and formally resign from the New Zealand judiciary to accept the post as chair of the Inquiry. I accepted the post and came to UK out of a desire to help the country solve its awful problems with institutional child sexual abuse.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

Martin Evans
16 OCTOBER 2016

Victims of child sex abuse are threatening to sue the independent inquiry set up to help them after complaining that it has increased their suffering.

One man, who was abused at an approved school in Devon in the 1970s, said he was considering seeking damages for the trauma he has endured as the inquiry lurches from one crisis to another.

It could lead to similar claims or the withdrawal of many of those who were due to give evidence.

Known only as Phil, the man, who is a member of the Forde Park Survivors Group, told BBC Radio 5 Live that every time the inquiry had a false start he was forced to relive the horror of the abuse he suffered as a child.

Last week further damaging revelations emerged about the inquiry’s former chairman, Dame Justice Lowell Goddard. She was accused of making inappropriate remarks, including some of a racist nature, during her time in post. …

Child sex abuse inquiry | In numbers

£17.9m 2015/2016 budget
155 Staff members hired to date
3 Resignations of inquiry heads
33 Alleged victims of Lord Janner
188 Core participants in the inquiry
13 Separate historic abuse investigations carried out by the inquiry
2,000 Alleged child sex abuse victims who have contacted the inquiry

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By REBECCA CAMBER and STEPHEN WRIGHT FOR THE DAILY MAIL

The crisis-hit probe into child abuse was dealt yet another blow last night as victims called for its fourth chairman to be sacked.

Professor Alexis Jay has lost the ‘respect, confidence and trust of survivors’ and her ‘shambolic’ inquiry should be suspended, victims told Home Secretary Amber Rudd.

The dramatic twist came before a review due to be published today by Professor Jay to scale back the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, as it threatens to run on for a decade and cost tens of millions of pounds.

Victims now want Miss Rudd to appoint a High Court judge to carry out a judicial review of the ‘shambolic management of the inquiry’.

Professor Jay, who has no legal experience, also faces claims of a ‘potential conflict of interest’ over her past as a social worker in Scotland, which critics say may taint her views about those abused while in the care of council staff.

The developments raise new questions about Theresa May’s judgement in hastily appointing the inquiry’s fourth chairman in two years, after Dame Justice Lowell Goddard quit in August.

Last night Imran Khan, a solicitor who represents 47 victims, wrote to Miss Rudd saying: ‘Professor Jay is not legally qualified; has no record in cross-examination or questioning of witnesses in a forum such as this; and has no experience of legal decision- making.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

October 17, 2016

PETER HOYSTED
ColumnistCanberra
@JacktheInsider

JOHN FERGUSON
Victorian EditorMelbourne
@fergusonjw

The extent of Victoria Police complicity in covering-up child abuse by clergy in the scandal-plagued diocese of Ballarat has been detailed by former senior members of the force who shunned the influence of the ­so-called Catholic Mafia.

An investigation by The Australian has confirmed extensive evidence of the force actively shielding wrongdoing and ­perverting the course of justice by forcing the transfer of a notorious clergyman rather than prosecuting him.

The details of how the late Monsignor John Day abused hundreds of children in the 1960s and 70s but was protected by the force — and the church — are outlined in a new podcast examining the rarely-discussed fact that police worked with the church hierarchy to protect ­offenders like him.

The podcast’s author, Peter Hoysted, co-wrote the book ­Unholy Trinity with former ­Mildura detective Denis Ryan. The book isthe definitive ­account of police complicity with the church in the northwestern Victorian city of Mildura in the 1960s and early ’70s.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Colm Keena

Louise O’Keeffe’s long and courageous battle to have the State held liable for the abuse she suffered at her primary school in Dunderrow, Co Cork, was deemed at the time to have likely consequences for the finances of the State.

This was because there were other alleged victims waiting to see if the European Court of Human Rights would find against the rulings of the Irish courts in relation to State responsibility for sex abuse in schools run by boards of management and not owned by the State. Reports said some 200 people might be affected.

When O’Keeffe lost in the Supreme Court in 2008, the State Claims Agency wrote to some of these people to say they should drop their cases or the State would pursue them for costs. Quite a few withdrew their claims against that background.

Twelve months after the January 2014 O’Keeffe ruling, the State said it would make out of court settlements with extant claims that fell within the terms of the ruling, and that were not statute barred. Seven months later it said it would make out of court settlements with claimants who had discontinued their cases where the cases came within the terms of the Strasbourg court’s ruling and were not statute barred at the time of discontinuence.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish News

Ed Carty, Press Association
16 October, 2016

THE bill for compensating survivors of child abuse in Northern Ireland could run to £30 million, campaigners have warned.

Some 524 victims could be eligible to make claims over their treatment in institutions from 1922-1995, including at the notorious Kincora Boys’ Home in Belfast and by paedophile priest Brendan Smyth.

Campaigners are urging the Stormont Executive to agree to a special redress scheme, with basic payments starting at £10,000, to avoid lengthy, traumatic and expensive civil actions in the courts.

They said it could save £10m off the final bill.

Margaret McGuckin of Survivors and Victims of Institutional Abuse, said: “It is now up to ministers to deliver.

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PHILIPPINES
9 News (Australia)

[with video]

Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on drugs is heavily influenced by the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of a Catholic priest, the president of the Philippines said in a remarkable interview with Al Jazeera.

More than 3500 people have been slaughtered by police and vigilante squads since Mr Duterte took office four months ago.

In his first interview since taking office, Mr Duterte was asked if the traumatic childhood experience had shaped his forthright policies and personal views.

“Yes, to a large extent actually,” said Mr Duterte. “It is what you get on the way that shapes your character, and even your politics.”

“It sort of blends into something which, it can be said forms your own values in life,” he added.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish Times

Gerry Moriarty

Thousands of people who were in residential institutions in Northern Ireland would be entitled to individual payments of at least £20,000 if a proposed redress scheme published today were adopted by the Northern Executive.

The figure is included in detailed proposals for a compensation scheme, drawn up by accountants at the request of victims’ groups. The groups want the Executive to set up such a scheme now that the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) Inquiry, has concluded its hearings.

The scheme, if accepted by the Executive, would cost at least £20 million. The victims and their representatives argue that if it were adopted, some £10 million would be saved in legal fees.

“The Executive Office should move with urgency to consult with victims and to then set up the redress scheme. We have waited for justice for long enough,” said Jon McCourt of Survivors North West.

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NEW YORK
New York Times

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
OCT. 17, 2016

If you were sexually abused as a child by a priest of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan wants to give you money. He announced a settlement program this month that will be run by an independent mediator, Kenneth Feinberg. It will review claims and decide on an amount, which church officials will not be able to alter or reject. The settlements will not be capped; the archdiocese has promised to pay whatever it takes, by selling assets or borrowing.

There are strings attached. The program is only for those who have previously filed abuse claims with the archdiocese, and there is a tight deadline to sign up: the end of January. (New claims will be covered by a second phase of the program, whose details are not yet announced.) Participants waive the right to sue, and the program is confidential. Its goal is to attack the problem the way church officials prefer: quietly and out of court.

Should survivors take the deal? It depends. Those who want to try to get on with their lives may find it appealing. They may weigh the promise of prompt payment — within two months, the archdiocese says — against the time, expense, hassle, exposure and uncertainty of going to court, which for many isn’t an option, because of New York’s statute of limitations. They can have confidence in the independence of Mr. Feinberg, who has built a solid reputation running settlement programs after 9/11, the BP oil spill and the Boston Marathon bombing.

But survivors should be aware of the limitations, and mindful of the deadline, which gives them only a few months to act. Mr. Feinberg says settlement programs need strict deadlines, because claimants can be procrastinators. That seems unduly harsh, given the guilt, shame and silence that enshroud sexual abuse. It’s one thing to come forward as a victim of a bombing, quite another to do so as a survivor of a pedophile priest.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

Sean O’Neill, Andrew Norfolk
October 17 2016
The Times

Three senior figures at the national child abuse inquiry will be questioned by MPs tomorrow about the collapse of their working relationship with Dame Lowell Goddard, its former chairwoman.

Alexis Jay, Ivor Frank and Drusilla Sharpling were members of the inquiry’s panel of experts when Dame Lowell abruptly resigned from the inquiry in August.

They are understood to have been among a group of officials who reported their concerns about the New Zealand judge’s conduct at a secret meeting with Mark Sedwill, the Home Office’s top civil servant, on July 29.

The following week — on the day The Times detailed Dame Lowell’s long overseas absences from the inquiry — panel members and others are said to have confronted the judge to tell her that her position was untenable. She resigned immediately.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Neil Pang | Post News Staff

As the weekly protests by Catholic activists continued yesterday outside the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica, leadership of the respective lay organizations said they are preparing to take legal action in order to return control of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary property in Yona to the Archdiocese of Agana.

Beyond the recent allegations of child sexual abuse leveled against Archbishop Anthony Apuron in May, the return of the seminary has been a central point of contention for the past couple of years.

David Sablan, president of Concerned Catholics of Guam, said a five-year window in which a complaint can be filed with the Superior Court of Guam to contest the declaration of deed restriction will close on Nov. 21. According to Sablan, there is a five-year statute of limitations on filing such complaints with the Superior Court of Guam.

“The statute of limitations on filing a complaint in Superior Court to have the Yona property returned to the patrimony of the Church will expire on 21 Nov. 2016,” Sablan said. “We have five years from the date the Declaration of Deed Restriction was filed with the Department of Land Management on 22 Nov. 2011 to file a complaint in Superior Court to get the property back, and rightfully keep it as an asset of the Archdiocese of Agana.”

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PHILIPPINES
Telegraph (UK)

James Rothwell
16 OCTOBER 2016

Rodrigo Duterte, the president of the Philippines, has said that being sexually abused as a child had a major impact on his politics, including a war on drugs which has left more than 3,000 people dead.

In his first interview since being sworn in as leader, Mr Duterte said his abuse at the hands of a Catholic priest largely shaped his personality and his political development.

Asked whether the experience affected his world view, Mr Duterte told Al Jazeera English: “Yes, to a large extent actually…it is what you get on the way that shapes your character, and even your politics.

“It sort of blends into something which, it can be said forms your own values in life,” he added.

Mr Duterte, who won the Philippines’ general election by a landslide last May, first revealed the abuse during a speech on the campaign trial in December 2015.

He claimed to have been molested by a priest named Father Paul Falvey at some point during the 1950s.

“That’s how we lost our innocence,” he said at the time. He said he did not report the incident because “I was young then and I was afraid of what will happen.”

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CHILE
La Tercera

[A church court has aquitted priest Francisco Cartes Aburto of abusing minors. This comes after a civil criminal court found him guilty in 2012 and sentenced him to 12 years in prison.]

Fallo a favor del religioso Francisco Cartes ocurre pese a que justicia penal lo condenó en 2013. Vicario Mario Molina dijo que no se hallaron “indicios de prueba que apunten a la culpabilidad”.

En un fallo unánime, el tribunal eclesiástico ad-hoc constituido en la diócesis absolvió de cargos al sacerdote curicano Francisco Cartes Aburto, condenado en 2012 a la pena de cinco años de presidio, con el beneficio de la libertad vigilada, por abuso sexual y exposición a actos de significación sexual contra un menor de edad.

Pese a que la sentencia de la justicia penal fue confirmada por la Corte Suprema en 2013, el tribunal eclesiástico desestimó los cargos y liberó de culpa al religioso, luego de dos años y medio de investigación interna.

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UTAH
The Salt Lake Tribune

By COURTNEY TANNER | The Salt Lake Tribune
First Published Oct 14 2016

A woman is suing a Jehovah’s Witnesses church in Weber County after, she says, one of its instructors repeatedly raped her when she was a minor and the organization’s leadership forced her to listen to an audio recording of one of the assaults.

The woman filed the lawsuit Wednesday in 2nd District Court, accusing the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses church in Roy — as well as naming the alleged perpetrator, several church leaders and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (the religion’s headquarters located in New York) — of knowingly allowing the “unfit” instructor to rise to a position of authority without warning members of his “dangerous propensities” and past sexual transgressions.

No representative of the Roy church, 1950 W. 4400 South, responded to a voicemail from The Salt Lake Tribune requesting comment Thursday.

The Tribune generally does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault. Because the man accused of assaulting the woman in this case has not been charged with a crime, The Tribune is not identifying him. It is not clear whether she reported the alleged incident to police, but members of the faith are encouraged to bring problems to elders in the church, rather than to outside authorities.

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WASHINGTON
Bellingham Herald

BY CALEB HUTTON
chutton@bhamherald.com

If a sex offender makes regular visits to an elementary school, who needs to know?

Some parents at Assumption Catholic School, a preschool and K-8 school in Bellingham, believe staff erred by waiting a year to warn all families of a parent who was a registered level II sex offender. At least three families were so concerned by the way the situation was handled that they withdrew their children from the school.

In August 2015, a man, 53, and his wife enrolled their daughter in preschool at Assumption. The man, who routinely dropped off his child at 2116 Cornwall Ave., had been on probation for sex offenses until late 2011. The school did not learn of his record until three months into the year.

In response, staff wrote a set of policies with guidance from the Seattle Archdiocese: At all times on campus the man would remain under supervision; he would not go on field trips with students; and he would not get out of the car when picking up or dropping off his child, unless staff accompanied him. Preschool parents were notified. Parents of children in kindergarten to eighth grade were not.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

James Tapper
Saturday 15 October 2016

Theresa May is set to be called by MPs to explain whether the Home Office covered up allegations about the conduct of the former child sexual abuse inquiry chair, Dame Lowell Goddard.

The home affairs select committee announced that it is considering calling the prime minister after summoning the permanent secretary to the Home Office, Mark Sedwill. This follows the admission on Saturday by his department that it had been aware of concerns about Lowell’s conduct before she resigned on 4 August.

When home secretary Amber Rudd gave evidence to the select committee on 7 September, she told MPs that “all the information” she had was that Lowell had quit because she was “a long way from home” and “too lonely”.

The New Zealander has been accused of using racist language to colleagues at the child abuse inquiry, allegations she has described as “falsities”, “malicious” and part of a “vicious campaign”.

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CALIFORNIA
San Diego Reader

By Dorian Hargrove, Oct. 15, 2016

The Watchotwer Tract Society, commonly referred to as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, is asking a San Diego Superior Court judge to return the bond money it posted as a result of an August ruling from a California appellate court which found the $13.5 million dollar sexual assault judgement against the church was too harsh.

The church filed the motion to return the bond money on October 7.

Jose Lopez, now aged 38, filed his lawsuit in June 2012 alleging that elder church member, Gonzalo Campos, of the Linda Vista Spanish Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses molested him during bible study sessions when he was seven years old.

Campos had been accused of molesting young boys before. According to Lopez’s complaint, senior church officials were aware of his behavior before the incident with Lopez had occurred. Three years before Campos allegedly assaulted Lopez, a 12-year-old boy who shared a room with Campos accused the then-18-year-old Campos of trying to have sex with him. During the following years, seven other church members lodged similar accusations against Campos, as well as the church for trying to bury the allegations. Now, only two complaints remain; Lopez’s case, which will be sent back to the trial court for a new judgement amount, and a lawsuit from former Linda Vista congregation member Osbaldo Padron.

Padron sued Campos and the church over similar molestation charges in 2013. In that lawsuit Padron claims that Campos molested him on numerous occasions in 1994 and 1995. In June of this year, superior court judge Richard Strauss, as reported by the Reader, imposed $4000 per-day sanctions on the church for failing to turn over documents to Padron’s attorneys during discovery. The church has since filed an appeal over those sanctions. The appellate court has yet to rule on the appeal.

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CALIFORNIA
The Tribune

BY KAYTLYN LESLIE
kleslie@thetribunenews.com

Ben Bradlee Jr. never thought he would inspire a movie — much less an Academy Award-winning one.

But he and his team of journalists at The Boston Globe did just that with their work uncovering sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, which won a 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. Their work was portrayed in the film “Spotlight,” which took home the Oscar for Best Picture at the 2016 ceremony.

“Who knew that it would be: (A) a good movie, and (B) win an Academy Award?” Bradlee told The Tribune. “We never even thought a movie would really be made of this.”

Bradlee is now parlaying his experiences with both the Boston Globe reporting and subsequent filmmaking into a simple message: Investigative journalism is still important — possibly now more than ever.

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WEST VIRGINIA
Logan Banner

By Owen Wells – owells@civitasmedia.com

LOGAN, W.Va. — On October 17, 2015, the Logan Banner published a story detailing the arrest of a Logan County teacher for sexual abuse.

The teacher was John Cain, 49, of Mallory, W.Va., and now his victim has lodged a civil suit against Cain and the Logan County Board of Education.

Cain taught carpentry at Ralph R. Willis Career and Technical School, and was also preacher at the Big Springs Missionary Baptist Church in Mallory.

Cain is currently incarcerated and is due to serve more than 20 years for his actions against the student.

Attorney Steven Wolfe recently filed a civil action in Logan County Circuit Court on behalf of the student who is referred to in the documents as “Jane Doe.”

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

The bill for compensating survivors of child abuse in Northern Ireland could run to £30 million, campaigners have warned.

Some 524 victims could be eligible to make claims over their treatment in institutions from 1922-1995, including at the notorious Kincora Boys’ Home in Belfast and by paedophile priest Brendan Smyth.

Campaigners are urging the Stormont Executive to agree to a special redress scheme, with basic payments starting at £10,000, to avoid lengthy, traumatic and expensive civil actions in the courts.

They said it could save £10m off the final bill.

Margaret McGuckin of Survivors and Victims of Institutional Abuse, said: “It is now up to ministers to deliver.

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OREGON
KVAL

EUGENE, Ore. – Tim Hershiser is the official bell ringer at St. John the Wonderworker Orthodox Church in Eugene where Daneil Mackay serves as a priest.

Police arrested Mackay on Wednesday on accusations involving a juvenile prostitute and cocaine.

“I’m sure everyone is praying for him right now,” Hershiser said.

He is skeptical of the charges.

“This is probably, you know, something that happens,” he said. “You know it happens periodically because we deal with, you, know homeless, and there’s prostitutes. That’s what the church is for: it’s to help the, you know, the down trodden, needy, all of that.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Premier

Sat 15 Oct 2016
By Alex Williams

The national inquiry into how the Church of England, the Church in Wales and other bodies dealt with the sexual abuse of children is going to be scaled back, it has been reported.

The results of a review by chairwoman Professor Alexis Jay into the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) is expected to prompt a cut in the number of public evidence hearings next week.

One inquiry insider told The Times: “We need to make this inquiry manageable and deliverable within a reasonable timescale and without excessive costs.”

Professor Jay, who previously led an inquiry into the sexual exploitation of children in Rotherham, became the IICSA’s fourth chairwoman in August, following the resignation of Dame Lowell Goddard.

The probe attracted more controversy in September when it’s senior lawyer, Ben Emmerson QC, and a junior colleague, Elizabeth Prochaska, both stood down.

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ARGENTINA
La Nacion

José E. BordónPARA LA NACION
SÁBADO 15 DE OCTUBRE DE 2016

SANTA FE.- El arzobispado capitalino y los herederos del ex arzobispo de la arquidiócesis local, Edgardo Gabriel Storni, fallecido en 2012, pero acusado y condenado en 2009 por abuso sexual en contra de un seminarista, deberán abonar $ 756.000, a favor de Rubén Descalzo, quien inició una demanda por daños y perjuicios en 2004.

Ese escándalo obligó a Storni a renunciar a la titularidad de la diócesis de Santa Fe en 2002. Pero luego, en 2011, la Cámara de Apelación Penal de Santa Fe declaró la nulidad de esa sentencia.

Storni fue uno de los primeros altos prelados de la Iglesia Católica argentina en recibir una condena por el delito de abuso sexual. Había renunciado a conducir la grey santafesina inmerso en un escándalo desatado cuando la periodista Olga Wornat le dedicó un capítulo de su libro “Nuestra Santa Madre”, en el que reveló conductas lujuriosas del prelado hacia seminaristas.

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ARGENTINA
Telam

El caso Storni tomó repercusión en el año 2000, a partir de una denuncia publicada en el libro “Nuestra Santa Madre”. La denuncia provocó conmoción en la ciudadanía. En setiembre de 2002, el entonces arzobispo santafesino renunció a su cargo.

Por Corresponsal

El ex seminarista Rubén Descalzo, quien abandonó la carrera religiosa tras sufrir explícitas insinuaciones e intentos de abuso sexual por parte del ex arzobispo santafesino Edgardo Gabriel Storni y que ahora la justicia resolvió resarcirlo económicamente condenando al Arzobispado santafesino, manifestó que “siempre esperé que desde el Arzobispado alguna persona se comunicara para ofrecer una disculpa, pero eso nunca sucedió”.

Descalzo afirmó en declaraciones realizadas a LT10 Radio Universidad Nacional del Litoral que “fueron muchos años de espera; 25 años desde que sucedieron los hechos y 15 desde que empezamos con este proceso judicial. Esperar pacientemente durante tanto tiempo que se termine un tema, cerrar algo que te llevó la mitad de la vida, de alguna manera te genera satisfacción. Alegría no, alegría hubiera sido que nunca pase, pero sí satisfacción y alivio”.

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ARGENTINA
Digital Journal

A court in Buenos Aires on Saturday ordered the Catholic Church to pay $50,000 to a former seminarian who alleged he was sexually abused some 25 years ago by an Argentine archbishop.

The breakthrough ruling is the first civil court judgment against the majority Roman Catholic church in Argentina, legal experts said.

The court issued the judgment of 756,000 pesos against the church in the case of a theology student in the province of Santa Fe, who claimed to have been victimized by late Archbishop Edgardo Storni.

Seminary student Ruben Descalzo filed a lawsuit claiming he was sexually assaulted by Storni in 1992.

A court in 2009 found Storni guilty of the sex assault charges against him and sentenced him to eight years in prison, but the sentence was overturned two years later by an appeals court.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Volksfreund

[(Trier) Bishop Stephan Ackermann has released a Trier diocesan priest from his duties. The Catholic priest had been caught shoplifting. This is not the first time that the 48-year-old has been in conflict with the law.]

(Trier) Bischof Stephan Ackermann hat einen Trierer Bistumspriester von seinen Aufgaben entbunden. Der katholische Geistliche war bei einem Ladendiebstahl ertappt worden. Nicht das erste Mal, dass der 48-Jährige mit dem Gesetz in Konflikt geraten ist.

Als R. vor drei Jahren seine neue Pfarrstelle in der Pfarreiengemeinschaft Linz am Rhein antrat, da bat der strafversetzte Geistliche die Gläubigen darum, ihm eine zweite Chance zu geben und „einen guten Neuanfang zu ermöglichen“. Freimütig räumte er seinerzeit ein, dass er seine bisherige Stelle in der Pfarreiengemeinschaft Hetzerath, Rivenich und Sehlem nicht freiwillig verlassen hatte, sondern „wegen finanzieller Unregelmäßigkeiten, die ich zu verantworten hatte“, gehen musste. „Möge Gott diesen Neuanfang segnen und stärken“, schrieb der Priester damals im Pfarrbrief seiner neuen Wirkungsstätte.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call

Bill White

Rep. Mark Rozzi doesn’t like hearing that it’s too close to the election for legislators to support the strongest possible version of House Bill 1947, the child sexual abuse statute of limitations bill.

“That’s somewhat disconcerting to me,” he said. “Any representative or senator who would make a comment like that should be voted out.”

Anyway, Rozzi isn’t convinced voting in favor would be all that risky.

“The majority of people in Pennsylvania know what’s going on,” he said. “They want this to happen.”

The last time I wrote about Berks County Democrat Rozzi, it still was unclear whether the House leadership would go along with his plan to discard the watered-down Senate version of the bill and restore its most important component to many survivors and advocates, the provision of some kind of retroactive access to the courts for victims of past abuse.

There was some sentiment that it would be wiser to accept the weaker bill and get it signed rather than risk returning it to a very uncertain fate in the Senate. After all, even as amended by the Senate, HB 1947 is a big improvement on the state’s present law. And with more grand jury reports likely as a result of investigations into abuse in several Pennsylvania dioceses, including Allentown, a renewed effort to restore retroactive civil access would gain plenty of momentum in the next legislative session.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

MPs have asked the former head of the child sex abuse inquiry to explain her departure amid concerns the government was aware of misconduct claims.

Dame Lowell Goddard quit in August but denied a report on Friday alleging misconduct and racism against her.

The most senior civil servant in the Home Office has also been asked to explain to MPs what the government knew about her resignation.

Prime Minister Theresa May and the home secretary may also be asked to appear.

Asked if the inquiry was now an embarrassment, Mrs May told the BBC: “No, it’s very important.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

Andrew Norfolk, Chief Investigative Reporter | Sean O’Neill, Chief Reporter
October 15 2016
The Times

MPs were given misleading information by the home secretary, it emerged last night as the government admitted that senior officials were alerted to concerns over the “professionalism and competence” of the judge leading the child abuse inquiry.

Amber Rudd told MPs last month that Dame Lowell Goddard quit her £500,000 post because she was homesick and lonely. Responding last night to revelations in The Times, the Home Office conceded that the judge was forced to stand down after officials close to Theresa May learnt of allegations about the New Zealander’s conduct.

Its statement was the first acknowledgement that the government was aware of concerns about Dame Lowell’s leadership of the £100 million inquiry before she resigned.

The Times reported yesterday that Home Office staff and advisers received warnings over several months about Dame Lowell’s allegedly offensive behaviour at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) but took no action to end her “catastrophic” tenure.

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UNITED STATES
Motifri

Michael is a troubled artist whose fragile psyche begins to crack after a chance run-in with the priest who abused him as a child. What follows is a walking dream state in which Michael attempts to rationalize and cope with his trauma, his emotions and his actions.

Skip Shea’s Trinity is a powerful drama with psychological horror overtones and is filled with a tense anxiety and strong performances. The cast overall holds their own while Sean Carmichael really stands out as Michael; his performance has a believable nervous confusion about it that adds an unexpected energy to the film.

Trinity is a very effective film in the way that it takes the viewer along Michael’s quest for inner peace and closure. The film’s intentionally awkward pacing and repetition of scenes and dialogue within scenes solidifies the surreal feeling that Shea accomplishes so well.

If you were looking for a stand-out independent feature that tackles some tough subjects, then I’d highly recommend Trinity. Trinity can be seen this Sunday, October 16, at 6:15pm at the Pawtucket Film Festival. For more info on screening time check out Pawtucketfilmfest.com.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WGAL

LEBANON, Pa. —A Lebanon County teacher has been charged with sexually assaulting a student over a period of several months.

Police say 27-year-old Jesus Omar Sandoval, a Spanish teacher at Lebanon Catholic High School, engaged in sexual activity with a teen on school property and at his residence in West Lebanon Township.

It happened between Oct. 2013 and April 2014 when the teen was 15 and 16-years-old. At that time, Sandoval was 24-years-old.

According to the criminal complaint filed by police, Sandoval obtained the teen’s cell phone number and began texting about school-related items. Eventually, the conversation turned into flirtations, according to police.

The teen told police about visiting Sandoval’s classroom after school hours and said they would kiss.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

An update for you on a story we have discussed here in the past: as I told you this past May (here, here, and here), news reports surfaced in late April and early May in Dutch and French media of new allegations made against the Vatican’s “expert” on homosexuality, Monsignor Tony Anatrella. Anatrella has a history of characterizing homosexuality as a psychological disorder that can be “cured” through “reparative” or “conversion” therapy. He was invited to the Vatican’s Synod on the Family to advise the synod about the topic of homosexuality, and when a Vatican document instructing new bishops that they need not report allegations of sexual abuse by clergy to criminal authorities came to light and caused consternation, it was revealed that the document was citing Tony Anatrella in giving this advice.

The news reports to which the links above will point you indicate that, though rumors about inappropriate sexual behavior by Anatrella in a therapeutic context have floated around for a long time now, new allegations had begun to be made in the first part of this year — allegations that, in a therapeutic context and with claims that his behavior would “cure” young men sent to him for a “cure” of homosexuality, Anatrella crossed boundary lines and inappropriately touched these clients.

And here’s the update I want to share with you now: several days ago, a group supporting survivors of childhood sexual abuse in Lyons, Parole libérée, published an appeal to anyone who might have been molested by Anatrella to come forward. This appeal notes that the diocese of Paris has established a special commission to investigate complaints about Anatrella, to be chaired by Eric de Moulin Beaufort, auxiliary bishop of Paris et vicar general of the archdiocese of Paris.

As Malo Tresca notes for La Croix, the Paris archdiocesan commission to look into complaints about Anatrella’s activities was set up in September. It has apparently been established because more victims have come forward with allegations similar to those previously made by former clients of Anatrella, of sexual “touching” in a therapeutic context, with claims that such “touching” has a curative effect on homosexuality. And as the Parole libérée announcement states, the hope is that, now that a commission has been set up to look into Anatrella’s activities and as more people alleging inappropriate behavior by him in the context of therapy are coming forward, it may be expected that even more former clients will now feel free to speak out.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

Sean O’Neill, Chief Reporter
October 15 2016
The Times

The national inquiry into child abuse is to be scaled back next week in a desperate attempt to keep it on track.

Alexis Jay, chairwoman of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), is expected to announce the results of a wide-ranging review of how it will work in the future that will see a shift away from public evidence sessions.

An inquiry insider said: “We need to make this inquiry manageable and deliverable within a reasonable timescale and without excessive costs.”

More than two years after it was set up the inquiry has spent more than £20 million, recruited 167 staff, and amassed millions of pages of documents but has yet to hear any evidence.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

Sean O’Neill | Andrew Norfolk
October 15 2016
The Times

Dame Lowell Goddard said yesterday that she was put under pressure by Theresa May and her officials to accept the job as chairwoman of Britain’s largest and most ambitious public inquiry.

The New Zealand High Court judge, who resigned in August and has this week denied accusations of serious misconduct, said that in the weeks before she accepted the post in February last year she was still not sure that the role was right for her. She said that talks on her £500,000-a-year package began after she agreed to become the third chairwoman of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

Dame Lowell was picked because she had conducted an inquiry into police handling of child abuse cases in New Zealand. However, a Privy Council judgment in 2005 criticised her management of a murder trial that some judges said had “gone off the rails”.

In a statement issued through her lawyers Dame Lowell, 67, said that she was approached by the British High Commission in November 2014 and spoke to John O’Brien, a senior Home Office official, by telephone just before Christmas that year.

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UNITED KINGDOM
TVNZ (New Zealand)

Emma Keeling

The chief reporter from The Times in Britain is standing by allegations the newspaper has made about former New Zealand High Court judge Dame Lowell Goddard.

Yesterday Dame Goddard released a statement strongly denying all the allegations of misconduct, including derogatory remarks the newspaper says she made when she was head of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in Britain.

The Times alleges Whitehall officials close to British Prime Minister Theresa May have covered up the allegations against Dame Goddard.

Despite the threat of legal action, The Times chief reporter Sean O’Neill who wrote the articles, is confident they are accurate.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

Andrew Norfolk, Chief Investigative Reporter | Oliver Wright, Policy Editor
October 15 2016
The Times

Dame Lowell Goddard faces official censure by parliament for refusing to answer questions about her tenure as chairwoman of the investigation.

The home affairs select committee is to warn her that she has one last chance to co-operate with its inquiry into the workings of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. If she fails to answer MPs’ questions — either in person or by video link from home in New Zealand — she will be officially and publicly censured by the committee.

“She is still a sitting high court judge in New Zealand and to be censured for wilfully refusing to co-operate with an official House of Commons investigation will present serious reputational issues for her,” one member said.

The committee is expected to point out that Dame Lowell received a £90,000 payoff from public funds. Another source added: “She has not even been prepared to have a Skype call with us.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

What a deplorable fiasco the child sex abuse inquiry has become. Allegations of racism and misconduct against former chairman, Justice Lowell Goddard – coming shortly after the abrupt departure of the inquiry’s lead counsel Ben Emmerson and his junior – are just the latest in a catalogue of disasters.

Before mysteriously resigning, claiming it had been difficult to leave behind her family in New Zealand, Dame Lowell is said to have told colleagues that the growth of paedophilia in Britain was a result of the large number of Asian men living here, and complained of having to travel 50 miles from London to see a white face – all of which she denies.

She is also alleged to have thrown frequent tantrums, treated her staff with contempt and struggled to grasp key points of English law.

Disturbingly, the Home Office is accused of knowing about her shortcomings – but covering them up to avoid embarrassment. Two chairmen had already quit since the then Home Secretary Theresa May set up the inquiry in July 2014.

Certainly Dame Lowell was deeply unimpressive. In her first year in the £500,000-a-year job, she spent three months on holiday or overseas.

But unsuitable as she undoubtedly was, there is a much bigger problem with this inquiry. Its brief is so impossibly wide that in its present form it is doomed to failure.

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MAINE
Bangor Daily News

By Judy Harrison, BDN Staff
Posted Oct. 14, 2016

BANGOR, Maine — An organization that advocates for the victims of clergy abuse has called for the removal of the Greek Orthodox chancellor in Boston who oversaw a former Bangor priest now serving a prison sentence for sexually assaulting a teenage altar server.

Adam Metropoulos, 54, is incarcerated at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham. He was sentenced in March 2015 on four felony counts of sexual abuse of a minor following a jury-waived trial to 12 years in prison with all but 6½ years suspended. The charges stemmed from Metropoulos’ sexual assaults on a 15-year-old altar server at the church rectory in 2006 and 2007.

A press release issued by Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, this week called for the removal of the Rev. Theodore J. Barbas, chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston. Barbas was responsible for oversight of Metropoulos, according to SNAP.

Metropoulos was suspended as pastor of St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Bangor the day after he was arrested.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

October 15, 2016

By Claire O’Sullivan
Irish Examiner Reporter

The unprecedented move by the Catholic Church in this country is a response to a request by Pope Francis to bishops worldwide.

Abuse survivor, Marie Collins, who also sits on the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Vatican, said the day “will make a difference to some victims as a gesture of acknowledgement of their hurt, and less so to others”.

Ms Collins said the day of prayer was the brainchild of a Canadian abuse survivor who asked her local church to include a prayer for survivors in its liturgy. The local priest refused. She then made a similar suggestion to the Commission for the Protection of Minors and Pope Francis liked the idea.

Last month, a new era of accountability began when it was decided by the Pope that the congregation of bishops and congregations of religious leaders in Rome will be able to discipline “deficient” bishops who have failed in safeguarding children. Up to now, such inquiries were carried out by the highly-secretive Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.

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OREGON
The Register-Guard

By Jack Moran
The Register-Guard
OCT. 15, 2016

A Eugene priest charged with paying for sex with an underage girl and also using her to traffic cocaine said Friday that he and his supporters are saying their prayers “for everybody involved” in the case.

Daniel James MacKay, 42, ­declined to discuss the allegations during a brief telephone conversation with a reporter. But he did offer a few general comments about the case, which authorities are continuing to investigate following his arrest on Wednesday.

“What I can say right now is that we’re very concerned, and we’re praying for everybody ­involved,” MacKay said.

He called the situation “deeply unfortunate.”

MacKay serves as priest at the St. John the Wonderworker Orthodox Church in ­Eugene’s Whiteaker neighborhood. He also works as a part-time ­instructor at Lane Community College, where officials ­canceled his classes on Thursday and Friday but haven’t yet taken any formal employment action against him.

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GHANA
Ghana Web

A 25-year-old self-styled herbalist and fetish priest is in the grips of the Awutu Breku Police for allegedly defiling a 14-year old pregnant girl 25 times.

Chris Bonney, also known as Atongo who is a known fetish priest in the area was arrested after the 14-year old girl, who is one his numerous victims reported him to the police.

The pregnant minor found herself in the custody of Atongo after his 16-year old boyfriend Meshach Abbbam who he has dated for the past three years dragged her to the residence of the fetish priest to help abort a pregnancy.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Sarah MacDonald
PUBLISHED
15/10/2016

The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland has warned that ostracising and “cutting off” those guilty of child sexual abuse increases the danger of them reoffending.

Archbishop Eamon Martin told child-safeguarding delegates from dioceses and religious orders: “In a society which demonises and clamours for permanent exclusion of such offenders, one wonders how to strike the balance between mercy and justice.”

He made the remarks in an address to the National Child Safeguarding Conference in Tullamore, Co Offaly. The conference focused on some of the complex areas of child safeguarding and was addressed by abuse survivor ‘Pauline’, who told delegates how she felt the church’s response to survivors could be improved.

Survivors

The Archbishop stressed that those clerics guilty of the sexual abuse of minors “cannot minister again as priests” and he cited Pope John Paul II, who said in 2002: “There is no place in the priesthood for those who would harm the young.”

Conference delegates were told that part of the dilemma for the church was how to seek redemption for the offender while not compounding the “lifelong trauma” of survivors.

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FRANCE
The Local

French churches have announced plans for a day of prayer for victims of sex abuse within the Catholic Church.

France’s Conference of Bishops made the decision to hold the day of prayer in churches across the country, Le Parisien reported on Friday.

At Lourdes – a major Catholic pilgrimage site – bishops will take part in a morning mass asking for the “forgiveness of sins”. In the afternoon there will be talks on the fight against paedophilia, and a prayer for the victims. Some will also observe a 24-hour fast.

As well as the events at Lourdes, priests all over the country have been invited to participate by holding special masses and prayers.

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CONNECTICUT
WNPR

[with audio]

By RAY HARDMAN

The Archdiocese of Hartford has agreed to settle a 16-year-old sexual abuse claim against one of its priests.

According to a press release issued by the plaintiff ‘s lawyers, “John Doe” as he was known in court documents was repeatedly abused, battered, and sexually assaulted over a six month period by Edward Warnakulasuriya, also known as Edward Tissera, a Sri Lankan priest who at the time was the associate pastor at St. John the Evangelist Church in Watertown.

The abuse started in October 2000 when the plaintiff was 13 years old.

The plaintiff’s attorneys did not disclose the dollar amount of the settlement, which was mediated by Hartford Superior Court Judge Antonio Robaina.

“We settled this matter without a single deposition being taken, which saved our client the extreme emotional distress and burden that would have come with being deposed and reliving his painful experiences,” said “John Doe’s” attorney, Ernie Teitell. “In fact, pleadings were not even closed and limited discovery was exchanged when the case was settled.”

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UNITED STATES
The Daily Beast

Before I wrote a book on Trump, I wrote one about the Catholic priest abuse scandals. And I see a heck of a lot of similarities.

MICHAEL D’ANTONIO
10.14.16

Although they have never been recognized as a constituency, millions of American voters—men as well as women—have been sexually abused, and for them, the presidential campaign has become a riveting drama and a source of fresh pain. They recognize themselves in the women who have come forward to report gross encounters with Donald Trump, and they see in the much of the response to their charges a familiar kind of deflection and denial.

Before I published a current biography of Donald Trump called The Truth About Trump, I authored a history of the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. This work required me to research the behaviors of sexual predators, to learn the lifelong effects of the wounds they inflict, and to understand the dynamics that prevent so many victims from coming forward to speak the truth for years, and even decades.

They stay silent out of shame, a false sense that they are responsible for what happened to them, and because they fear being ostracized, scorned, and worse if they speak up. (Catholic institutions have actually counter-sued victims who lose in court, demanding payment to cover legal costs.) Predatory men, and almost all the cases I studied involved men, understand the fears that keep people quiet and play on them to escape accountability.

Because sexual predators are generally compulsive and fixated on certain kinds of victims, they tend to repeat their aggression in the same manner. They may age, but the people they victimize are often roughly the same age. The need they seek to satisfy is so ingrained that they use the same methods every time. And if they are not caught, they continue to offend. One predator priest in Louisiana had hundreds of documented victims. …

So far the Trump scandal is playing out in a way consistent with what was seen in literally thousands of Catholic parishes around the world, where first one, then two, and then a torrent of complaints were lodged against specific priests. In no case did the mere volume, or the consistency of the stories, constitute proof beyond a reasonable doubt. However, in all but a tiny percentage, victims have been found to be telling the truth, and the result has been settlements running into the billions of dollars and prison terms for more than a hundred priests.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

Andrew Norfolk, Sean O’Neill, Oliver Wright
October 14 2016
The Times

It would have been “inconceivable” for Theresa May to be unaware of concerns about the behaviour of the chairman of the child sexual abuse inquiry, a former minister claimed as MPs prepared to launch an investigation into the allegations.

The Times revealed today that Home Office staff and advisers received warnings about Dame Lowell Goddard’s allegedly offensive behaviour in her role as chairwoman of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) but did not end her “catastrophic” leadership.

It is claimed that her aggressive and abusive conduct at times reduced the inquiry’s operation to “near paralysis” while she was also heard to make “racist” remarks.

One former minister, who worked closely with Mrs May when she was home secretary, said the way in which she ran her department meant it was “not plausible” that the concerns had not crossed her desk as she demanded to be kept abreast of all developments.

“It is inconceivable that she did not know,” the former minister said. “The level of detail she demanded and the way in which she micromanaged the department would make that impossible.”

Next week the home affairs select committee is due to hear from Alexis Jay, who replaced Dame Lowell as chairwoman. She was an adviser to the committee while Dame Lowell was in charge.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By SAM GREENHILL FOR THE DAILY MAIL

Dame Lowell Goddard ruled her inquiry like a ‘monstrous tyrant’ and finally quit in a fit of petulance before going out for lunch, it was claimed yesterday.

Her doomed reign was allegedly peppered with expletive-ridden tantrums and racist diatribes that left horrified staff feeling ‘totally paralysed’.

But last night, the New Zealand judge issued a stinging rebuttal of the claims against her, adding that the lunch on the day she resigned was ‘simply sandwiches’ with her husband on his birthday.

She rejected accusations that she flew into rages at junior staff, insisting relations were so warm she even greeted the cleaner by name every day.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Sky News

Tom Parmenter
News Correspondent

During her 18-month stint leading the Child Sexual Abuse Inquiry, Dame Lowell Goddard said many of the things you would expect.

She talked about building trust with survivors, respecting their rights, and her inquiry adopting a rigorous unflinching pursuit of the truth.

She quit in August complaining the inquiry was just too big, but now faces unseemly allegations of being “aggressive”, “abusive,” and even “racist,” behind closed doors.

Now, one person’s “aggressive” is another person’s “forthright.”

Though it is the alleged racist remarks that make the story so staggering.

Is it really possible this highly educated, massively experienced judge uttered to colleagues some ugly and plainly untrue ideas that stigmatised Britain’s Asian community?

New Zealander Lowell Goddard has Maori heritage, has overseen many high profile cases and has sat on a UN committee on the prevention of torture.

People within the inquiry tell me they have struggled to find anyone who identifies with the idea of her as the closet racist.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Sandra Laville
Friday 14 October 2016

The Home Office admitted for the first time on Friday that concerns about the conduct and professionalism of Dame Lowell Goddard had been raised with it six days before she resigned as chair of the national public inquiry into child abuse.

Goddard had earlier branded the claims made in the Times, including the suggestion that she linked Britain’s child abuse problem to its population of Asian men, “totally false”.

In a statement, the Home Office said that concerns were raised about Goddard by people within the inquiry on 29 July. They were advised to take their worries up with the chair. Six days later, Goddard resigned.

The admission that there were issues of concern that led to the resignation raised questions about the evidence given by the home secretary, Amber Rudd, to MPs on the matter. Rudd told the home affairs select committee last month that Goddard had quit in August because she was lonely. She made no mention of her department being made aware of concerns about the conduct of the New Zealand judge.

Making her debut appearance in front of the influential home affairs select committee in Westminster, Rudd, citing a letter from Goddard, said: “I think she went … because she found it too much for her, and although she could contribute to it and there was some good work done in the past year, ultimately she found it too lonely.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Independent

Editorial

The torrent of revelations in recent years about child sexual abuse – by celebrities, by institutions, by grooming gangs – has shocked the British public. As each new outrage presented itself, it became apparent that for decades children in this country were preyed upon by a range of repugnant individuals. Even worse, the discovery of systemic grooming of children by gangs from Rochdale to Oxford and Rotherham to Derby made it plain that young people were still being failed by those whose responsibility it was to keep them safe.

The establishment of a wide-ranging inquiry into the complex and unsettling issues raised by these and other cases was supposed to provide some answers, to be a means by which new evidence of abuse could be assessed and perhaps help victims get some justice – insofar as that can ever be possible. As things stand, however, the inquiry has been nothing short of a shambles.

Even before it was officially opened, two chairwomen had been and gone, with Lady Butler-Sloss and Dame Fiona Woolf both quitting after questions were raised about possible conflicts of interest. Then-Home Secretary Theresa May, who had appointed both women, announced that the inquiry would be placed on a statutory footing and led by the highly respected New Zealander Dame Lowell Goddard, whose long experience as a judge and lack of direct connection to the British establishment raised hopes that it would be third time lucky.

As she opened the inquiry in July last year, Dame Lowell made clear that its broad remit would necessitate a lengthy period for the assessment of evidence. She anticipated that a report might be achievable in five years’ time. But little more than 12 months on and Dame Lowell herself departed the scene, citing her career and family life, amid criticism of the amount of time she had spent on holiday or working outside the UK. She had become Britain’s highest paid civil servant when she was appointed chair of the inquiry, yet left it rudderless once again.

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AUSTRALIA
The Weekend Australian

October 15, 2016

JOHN FERGUSON
Victorian EditorMelbourne
@fergusonjw

Cardinal George Pell has sought the advice of one of Australia’s leading criminal barristers and is considering legal action for defamation as police sift through ­historical sex abuse claims against one of the Vatican’s most senior figures.

The Weekend Australian can reveal that Cardinal Pell engaged Robert Richter QC for advice after contested claims surfaced this year that he had assaulted children in his former home in the city of Ballarat nearly 40 years ago, where his career began.

Mr Richter, who represented gangland figure Mick Gatto when he was charged with murder but later acquitted in 2005, is considered the standout criminal barrister in Victoria and possibly Australia.

The church did not detail the extent to which Cardinal Pell had sought Mr Richter’s ­advice but said the cardinal would continue to defend his position.

Mr Richter is believed to have been one of several legal figures consulted over the allegations.

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MINNESOTA
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: William F. Hough was ordained for the Archdiocese of St. Paul in 1963. He assisted at parishes in the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, then pastored in Minneapolis and Marystown. He retired in 1991 and died in 1994. In September 2016 the archdiocese announced that there was a substantiated claim that Hough sexually abused a minor 1963-1966. He was an assistant at St. Mary’s in St. Paul during that time.

Ordained: 1963
Died: August 15, 1994

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PENNSYLVANIA
York Daily Record

Rep. Mark Rozzi October 14, 2016

The Academy Award-winning movie “Spotlight” showcases what is now recognized as the global tragedy of childhood sexual abuse. The opening scene captures the central conflict as it played out in the Archdiocese of Boston.

The film begins with a late-night scene at a neighborhood police station. A local priest has been brought in for questioning as a distressed single mother and a livid uncle are in the back room complaining that a priest has molested the family’s children. They are there to press criminal charges.

But, with help from the assistant district attorney, the bishop is summoned to the station to quietly assure the family that the priest will be taken out of the parish, and they’re told, “This will never happen again.”

A rookie cop asks a veteran cop what the press will do when the charges are read at the arraignment. He’s told, “What arraignment?” The older cop has seen this before. He knows the priest will walk.

The bishop and priest then quietly slip out of the station, into the back seat of a black sedan and into the dark night.

The priest being portrayed is the notorious Father John Geoghan. With over 150 victims, he is one of the worst serial molesters in the history of the Catholic Church.

Geoghan was murdered in prison by his cellmate in 2003. Most predators, however, having never been even arrested for their crimes, are still out there. And they could be your neighbor.

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AUSTRALIA
The West Australian

Liam Croy and Nick Butterly – The West Australian on October 15, 2016

The Catholic Church in WA has paid a woman $100,000 in compensation and pulled down and destroyed a memorial honouring the once-revered priest who abused her.

The Church has acknowledged former Floreat priest Father Peter McCudden abused Tasmanian woman Wendy Holder when she was visiting relatives in Perth in 1965. She was 13 at the time.

The Church paid Mrs Holder $75,000 in 2003 and offered her another $25,000 this year as a “gesture of goodwill”.

At the time of the 2002 compensation agreement, the Church promised to remove a plaque memorialising McCudden from the wall of his former parish church, St Cecilia’s in Floreat.

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OHIO
Sandusky Register

COURTNEY ASTOLFI • UPDATED OCT 7, 2016

A Sandusky pastor was convicted of child rape and sentenced to life in prison Friday at the conclusion of a tumultuous trial.

A jury found Richard Mick, 55, of Lighthouse Baptist Church, guilty on four felony counts, two of which carried a mandatory life sentence.

Mick raped a young girl on two occasions, and fondled a young boy multiple times. Both were members of his church.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Nick Hopkins

The allegations of racism levelled at Lowell Goddard – which she has denied – represent the latest dispiriting episode in the soap opera known as the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

The investigation has certainly, and in some instances rightly, become a piñata for critics who say it is too big, too unwieldy and too shambolic. As it has lost three chairs, its senior legal team and any dignity it once had, they have a point.

Not easy, then, for the new chair, Prof Alexis Jay, who is expected to address some of these issues when she gives evidence to the home affairs select committee next week; sources suggest she is likely to accept she cannot oversee all 13 elements of the inquiry, instead appointing heads for each one and retaining an overarching role.

That will not be enough to stop the snipers who want the inquiry abandoned, and it may infuriate some survivors’ groups, who risk being stripped of “core participant” status as part of Jay’s rationalisation. So expect more argument – the inquiry will remain a mess for the time being.

But it is important to disentangle the myriad problems of process from the clear higher goal – to investigate the extent and causes of child abuse in Britain, however difficult and uncomfortable that might prove.

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DEUTSCHLAND
katholisch

[According to the Bavarian Rundfunks (BR), the former Regensburg bishop and current Prefect of the Congregation for the Congregation for the Congregation of the Holy Father, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, will not comment on the new developments in the ill-treatment and abuse pf boys at the Regensburg Cathedral. The congregation said the cardinal is no longer concerned with the matter. As a bishop of Regenburg, he had initiated enlightenment on the issue with a pastoral letter in 2010 and left all his documents to his successor when he was summoned to Rome in 2012.]

Am Mittwoch wurde ein Zwischenbericht zur Aufarbeitung der Missbrauchsfälle bei den Domspatzen vorgestellt. Dazu will sich der ehemalige Regensburger Bischof Kardinal Müller offenbar nicht mehr äußern.

Missbrauch | Regensburg/Vatikanstadt – 13.10.2016

Nach Angaben des Bayerischen Rundfunks (BR) will sich der ehemalige Regensburger Bischof und jetzige Präfekt der Glaubenskongregation im Vatikan, Kardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, nicht zu den neuen Entwicklungen bei der Aufklärung von Misshandlungen und Missbrauch bei den Regensburger Domspatzen äußern. Die Angelegenheit betreffe Müller heute nicht mehr, ließ die Kongregation den BR nach dessen Angaben am Donnerstag wissen. Als Bischof von Regensburg habe er 2010 mit einem Hirtenbrief die Aufklärung in die Wege geleitet und bei seiner Berufung nach Rom 2012 sämtliche Unterlagen seinem Nachfolger hinterlassen, berichtete der BR weiter unter Berufung auf die Antwort der Glaubenskongregation.

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NEW MEXICO
Gallup Independent

Published in the Gallup Independent, Gallup, N.M., Oct. 5, 2016

Gallup Diocese bankruptcy costs top $4.1 million

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

ALBUQUERQUE – The Diocese of Gallup’s bankruptcy costs have surpassed $4.1 million as attorneys, accountants and other professionals in the case are submitting their final compensation applications for approval to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma.

According to the court file, the following professionals have submitted payment applications totaling $4,110,970. Under the Gallup Diocese’s plan of reorganization, a trust of approximately $22,975,000 was funded by the diocese, seven other Catholic entities and three insurers, with the bulk of the funds going to compensate clergy abuse claimants.

* Quarles & Brady LLP: The Diocese of Gallup’s general reorganization and restructuring legal counsel submitted a final application totaling $2,343,917. That figure includes $2,234,013 for professional fees and $109,904 for expenses. However, the law firm voluntarily wrote off and reduced its legal fees by $324,376. Quarles & Brady’s application for payment was filed Aug. 26 and was approved by Thuma on Sept. 21.

* Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP: This California law firm served as the legal counsel for the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, which represented the interests of clergy sex abuse claimants in the bankruptcy case. Although the law firm requested fees of $1,168,031 and expenses of $98,203 for a total of $1,266,234, the firm wrote off $240,481 and also agreed to a voluntary reduction of $245,394, bringing the final total down to $1,020,839. The firm’s application for payment, filed Sept. 23, is pending with the court.

* Keegan, Linscott & Kenon P.C: This Tucson accounting firm oversaw the Gallup Diocese’s finance office. The firm submitted an application for $486,081, which includes $475,925 in fees and $10,155 in expenses. However, the application, which was filed Sept. 2, states the firm “will ultimately be paid a lesser amount” based on a professional charges cap outlined in the plan of reorganization. The specific reduction amount is not stated.

* Walker & Associates P.C.: The diocese’s Albuquerque bankruptcy law firm filed a final fee application Aug. 26. The firm requested payment of $145,675, which includes professional fees, expenses and New Mexico gross receipts taxes. The court approved the request Sept. 26.

* Insurance Archaeology Group: On Sept. 1, a final application for professional compensation was formally submitted to the court on behalf of this insurance research firm. However, court records indicate the Gallup Diocese has already paid the total amount of fees and expenses of $48,819.

* Unknown claims representatives: This official’s responsibility is to represent the interests of any clergy sex abuse claimant who might come forward in the future. The first unknown claims representative was Michael P. Murphy, who resigned earlier in the year. Upon his resignation, Murphy waived his professional fee but was paid $7,291 for expenses. The current representative is Michael R. Hogan, a retired judge. On Aug. 31, Hogan submitted an application for payment of $45,363, which includes $40,232 for fees and $5,130 for expenses.

* Stelzner, Winter, Warburton, Flores, Sanchez & Dawes P.A.: Also on Aug. 31, the diocese’s special counsel law firm in Albuquerque submitted a final application for $12,985. That figure includes $12,478 in legal fees and $507 in expenses and New Mexico gross receipts taxes.

These costs comprise most of the professional fees and expenses in the Diocese of Gallup’s bankruptcy case. However, the diocese has also paid $45,000 in fees for property auctions in Phoenix and Albuquerque; $22,100 for property appraisals; and a number of smaller bankruptcy-related fees and expenses to other professionals and diocesan employees. In addition, the diocese has been paying quarterly fees of $5,200 to the U.S. Trustee Program, which oversees the administration of bankruptcy cases.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

BY KATIE O’TOOLE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12TH 2016

NEW PARIS – The former youth pastor of Faith Brethren Bible Church is facing indecent assault charges after he admitted to having a sexual relationship and impregnating a 15-year-old girl.

Jim Espenshade, senior pastor, said that Wesley Blackburn’s wife called him in tears, and told him about the affair, adding that the girl was now pregnant.

“(I feel) disappointed, betrayed, stabbed in the back. I have a 14-year-old granddaughter. When I heard what he did – upset is a good word for it,” Espenshade said.

Espenshade said Blackburn told his wife he did not love her anymore, and wanted a divorce.

“She said ‘I don’t know what to do,’ and I said ‘I do,'” he said.

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PENNSYLVANIA
New York Daily News

BY
TOBIAS SALINGER
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, October 13, 2016

A Pennsylvania pastor faces charges he impregnated a 15-year-old girl from his youth group during a seven-month sexual relationship, according to reports.

The wife of Wesley Blackburn, youth pastor at Faith Brethren Bible Church, told the New Paris church’s head pastor he had confessed to the relationship and asked for a divorce, senior pastor Jim Espenshade told WJAC-TV on Wednesday.

Espenshade and other church leaders immediately fired Blackburn, a 35-year-old father of five, and alerted police last week. He was charged Oct. 6 on hundreds of counts of statutory sexual assault and indecent assault.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Inside Edition

A Pennsylvania pastor faces nearly 170 criminal charges after he allegedly impregnated a 15-year-old girl from his youth group during a seven-month sexual relationship, authorities said.

Wesley Blackburn, 35, was arrested after his wife told Faith Brethren Bible Church’s head pastor last Thursday that her husband had confessed to what was called an “affair,” WJAC-TV reported.

Blackburn allegedly told his wife that he no longer loved her anymore, that he wanted a divorce and that the teen was pregnant.

“She said, ‘I don’t know what to do,’ and I said, ‘I do,’” Senior Pastor Jim Espenshade, told the television station, saying that within minutes he and the rest of the church leaders met, fired Blackburn and called the police.

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CANADA
CBC News

By Antoni Nerestant, CBC News Posted: Oct 14, 2016

At least 15 people have come forward alleging they were sexually abused at a boarding school in Granby in the 1970s, according to the lawyer representing a plaintiff.

A 56-year-old man filed a class-action request Wednesday, alleging he was sexually abused more than 300 hundred times by a priest, Father Claude Lebeau, at Mont-Sacré-Coeur College between 1973 and 1975.

The request was filed against Les Frères Du Sacré-Coeur congregation, which owns the now-secular school.

Robert Kugler, the lawyer for the alleged victim, said over the last 24 hours, he has been getting non-stop calls from other people who say they were sexually assaulted at the same school.

Although many of the people who have come forward claimed they were sexually abused by Lebeau, Kugler says other priests have been accused as well.

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RHODE ISLAND
WPRO

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — An ethics complaint filed against a Rhode Island Supreme Court justice says he failed to disclose his service on the board of a Catholic lawyers’ group.

The complaint says Judge Francis Flaherty headed the St. Thomas More Society of Rhode Island but didn’t disclose it in filings with the state ethics commission.

The commission is scheduled to consider the complaint Tuesday. It was filed by a woman who sued the Diocese of Providence after saying she was abused by Brendan Smyth, a notorious pedophile priest.

The woman’s lawsuit was dismissed due to the statute of limitations. Flaherty wrote a Supreme Court decision in June rejecting her appeal.

The woman says Flaherty should have recused himself because diocesan officials are involved in the group.

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CANADA
Le Devoir

[Lawyers who filed a class action against the Brothers of the Sacred Heart Wednesday were inundated with calls from other potential victims of those who were at Mount Sacred Heart College of Granby.]

13 octobre 2016 |Philippe Orfali

Les avocats ayant intenté une action collective contre les Frères du Sacré-Coeur étaient mercredi submergés d’appels provenant d’autres victimes potentielles de ceux qui géraient autrefois le collège Mont Sacré-Coeur de Granby, éclaboussé par des allégations d’agressions sexuelles envers d’ex-pensionnaires.

Quarante ans après les agressions sexuelles alléguées par une victime identifiée par la seule lettre « A » dans une demande d’autorisation d’action collective, les langues se délient. Mercredi, « plusieurs dizaines » d’hommes affirmant avoir eux aussi été agressés sexuellement par le frère Claude Lebeau pendant leur passage au collège sont entrés en communication avec les avocats chargés du dossier.

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FRANCE
franceinfo

[The day of prayer in France for the victims of sexual abuse will be held on November 7.]

Une des réponses de l’Eglise aux scandales de pédophilie. La Conférence des évêques de France (CEF) organisera une “journée de prière et de pénitence” pour les victimes d’abus sexuels le 7 novembre. Cette annonce intervient après des mois de révélations d’affaires de pédophilie dans plusieurs diocèses français, dont celui de Lyon. Parmi ces affaires, celle du père Bernard Preynat, prêtre lyonnais soupçonné d’avoir abusé plus de 60 jeunes scouts, a terni l’image du cardinal Philippe Barbarin, primat des Gaules.

Le principe de cette journée mondiale avait été annoncé le 12 septembre par le Vatican, à l’initiative du pape François, qui a confié à chaque conférence épiscopale le choix de la date et des modalités.

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FRANCE
Le Devoir

[Paris – The Paris diocese of the Catholic Church, once again struggling with suspicion of sexual assault within it, said Monday it has established a commission to hear from former patients denouncing the practices of Tony Anatrella, a psychoanalyst priest.]

Paris — Le diocèse de Paris de l’Église catholique, une nouvelle fois aux prises avec des soupçons d’agressions sexuelles en son sein, a annoncé lundi avoir créé une commission pour entendre d’anciens patients dénonçant les pratiques d’un prêtre psychanalyste.

Cette commission, dont l’existence a d’abord été rendue publique par une association lyonnaise de victimes à l’origine de la révélation de scandales de pédophilie ces derniers mois, est active depuis septembre, a confirmé à l’AFP le diocèse.

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OSTERREICH
religion@orf

[A documentary has been produced showing the lives of nine Austrians who were abused by priests and nuns.]

Ein Dokumentarfilm zeigt das Leben von neun Österreichern, die von Priestern und Nonnen missbraucht wurden. In dem Film „Die Kinder lassen grüßen“ von Patricia Marchart sprechen die Betroffenen offen über das, was ihnen angetan wurde.

Es ist das erste Mal, dass sich Frauen und Männer, die von österreichischen Kirchenangehörigen sexuell missbraucht wurden, in einem Film zeigen und ihre Erlebnisse schildern. „Begleitet von der Kamera suchen die Betroffenen die Tatorte von damals auf, viele machen ihre Geschichten erstmals öffentlich, ihre Familien erfahren mitunter zum ersten Mal von diesem verschwiegenen Schmerz“, heißt es in einer Aussendung über den Film.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Regensburg Digital

[After eight months, diocese and victims of violence and abuse at the Domspatzen have agreed on a way of working. “A peace is within reach,” says ex-Domspatz student Alexander Probst.]

Von Stefan Aigner in Nachrichten

Nach acht Monaten haben sich Bistum und Betroffene von Gewalt und Missbrauch bei den Domspatzen auf einen Weg der Aufarbeitung geeinigt. „Eine Befriedung ist zum Greifen nah“, sagt Ex-Domspatz Alexander Probst. Der Bischof ruft auch Betroffene aus anderen Einrichtungen auf, sich zu melden.

So viel Medienrummel war selten. Es ist mehr als sechs Jahre her, seit sich das letzte Mal Fernsehsender von ARD und ZDF bis hin zu RTL bei einer Pressekonferenz des Bistums Regensburg eingefunden haben.

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DEUTCHSLAND
Mittelbayerische

[Chronology of an incredible scandal at the Regensburg cathedral school.]

Seit 2010 ist bekannt, dass bei den Domspatzen Buben misshandelt wurden. Die Aufarbeitung kommt nur sehr langsam voran.

30.08.2007: Pfarrer von Riekofen verhaftet

Der Pfarrer von Riekofen gesteht 22 sexuelle Übergriffe auf einen Ministranten und wird 2008 dafür verurteilt. Das Bistum muss sich den Vorwurf der Mitschuld gefallen lassen. Bereits 1999 hatte sich der damalige Kaplan in Viechtach an Jungen vergangen. Als vorbestrafter Sexualstraftäter hätte er nicht mehr mit Kindern arbeiten dürfen.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Neil Pang | Post News Staff

The board of directors of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary, represented by Dr. Ricardo Eusebio, spoke out about perceived biases they said were in a Visitation ad hoc Committee report.

The report was released to the media late last month by Rev. Jeff San Nicolas.

On Sept. 20, San Nicolas, acting in his capacity as delegate to the apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Agana, held a press conference and he revealed, among other things, the apparent disconnect in leadership between the archdiocese and the RMS, and released to the media a report that he was expressly told not to release.

“I was also instructed not to release the seminary visitation report,” San Nicolas said in a Sept. 20 press statement. “I will do just that soon after this press briefing.”

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FRANCE
France Soir

[The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the appeal of priest Bernard Preynat, indicted for sexual abuse of minors between 1986 and 1991.]

Le père Preynat va de voir se justifier des accusations de pédophilie qui pèsent sur lui devant la justice. Selon 20 Minutes, la Cour de cassation a rejeté mardi 11 son pourvoi. Mi-juin, la chambre de l’instruction de la cour d’appel de Lyon avaient décidé de considérer que les faits reprochés n’étaient pas prescrits.

Bernard Preynat a été mis en examen le 27 janvier pour des agressions sexuelles commises sur des scouts de la région lyonnaise entre 1986 et 1991 sur d’ex-scouts de Sainte-Foy-les-Lyon. Quatre plaintes ont été retenues à son encontre, le juge d’instruction ayant déjà estimé, dans une ordonnance rendue fin mars, qu’elles étaient non-prescrites.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

The story of Dame Lowell Goddard’s leadership of the child sex abuse inquiry will be seen as proof that the establishment cannot police itself

Abusive. Racist. Appalling. Intolerable. Catastrophic. The adjectives allegedly used by insiders to describe Dame Lowell Goddard speak volumes of the frustration that she engendered among colleagues. The New Zealand judge hired last year to run the £100 million national child sex abuse inquiry has been branded a bigot who was out of her depth on some questions of English law.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

Andrew Norfolk | Sean O’Neill
October 14 2016
The Times

On a summer afternoon this year Dame Lowell Goddard stood at the doorway of her Westminster office and shouted in anger. Unless she got her own way, she is said to have declared, “I’m going to pack my bags, go back to New Zealand and take this inquiry down with me.”

A visitor to the headquarters of the national child sex abuse inquiry might have been shocked, not least because the threat was made by the judge paid £500,000 a year to lead an investigation forecast to run for a decade at a cost of £100 million.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

Sean O’Neill, Chief Reporter
October 14 2016
The Times

For almost two months the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has been falling apart in public. The Times investigation reveals it has been in a dysfunctional state for more than a year.

It was hoped the departure in August of Dame Lowell Goddard would solve the inquiry’s problems and set it back on course. Instead other problems came to the surface. Chief among them was discord in the legal team which led to the departure last month of the two senior barristers, Elizabeth Prochaska and Ben Emmerson.

Sadly the inquiry is no longer fit for purpose.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

Andrew Norfolk, Chief Investigative Reporter | Sean O’Neill, Chief Reporter
October 14 2016
The Times

Whitehall officials close to Theresa May were accused last night of covering up allegations of misconduct, including racist remarks, made against the judge in charge of Britain’s biggest public inquiry.

Home Office staff and advisers received warnings about Dame Lowell Goddard’s offensive behaviour in her role as chairwoman of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) but did not end her “catastrophic” leadership.

Dame Lowell, 67, finally quit in August after 18 months. It is claimed that her aggressive and abusive conduct at times reduced the inquiry’s operation to “near paralysis”.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Independent

Rob Merrick Deputy Political Editor @Rob_Merrick

Regular warnings about Dame Lowell Goddard’s allegedly offensive behaviour were ignored by Home Office staff and advisers, it is claimed.

The growing concerns were being passed to both Theresa May’s special adviser, Liz Sanderson, and to Mark Sedwill, the most senior civil servant at the Home Office, insiders told The Times.

Under the terms of Dame Lowell’s appointment in February last year to chair the inquiry, on a £500,000 salary package, only the Home Secretary had the power to sack her.

Criticism is also focused on the explanation given by Amber Rudd, Ms May’s successor in the post, when she was asked to explain Dame Lowell’s resignation in August.

Quizzed by the Home Affairs Select Committee last month, Ms Rudd said Dame Lowell had quit because she was “a long way from home” and “found it too lonely”.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Matthew Weaver
Friday 14 October 2016

MPs are to question the head of the troubled inquiry into allegations of institutional child abuse, Prof Alexis Jay, over allegations that her predecessor Dame Lowell Goddard made racist remarks and acted aggressively.

Goddard, a New Zealand judge, has rejected claims in the Times that officials warned her about offensive remarks, including a claim that she had said high rates of child abuse in the UK were “because it has so many Asian men”.

In a statement issued on Friday, Goddard said the accusations were false and malicious.

The home affairs select committee will raise the claims next Tuesday when it questions Jay – who has been involved in the inquiry since it was set up.

Speaking to the Guardian, the Labour MP Chuka Umunna, a member of the committee who is campaigning to be the its new chairman, said: “I will certainly be asking questions about this.

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