ABUSE TRACKER

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

The former head of the child sexual abuse inquiry has strenuously denied a newspaper report of allegations of misconduct and racism made against her.

Dame Lowell Goddard is alleged to have said Britain had so many paedophiles “because it has so many Asian men”, according to a report in the Times.

The senior New Zealand judge has now hit back at the claims, calling them “false” and “malicious”.

Dame Lowell quit as head of the inquiry after 18 months in the role.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Andrew O’Connor

The WA Premier has accused Labor and a former Cabinet colleague of degrading debate on a bill to remove time limits on sexual abuse victims seeking compensation.

The private members bill was introduced by Liberal MP Graham Jacobs last year and was brought on for debate in the Legislative Assembly late yesterday.

But with sexual assault victims in the public gallery, debate was adjourned after acrimonious exchanges between shadow attorney-general John Quigley and Premier Colin Barnett.

The Premier was also targeted by former Cabinet colleague Rob Johnson.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By REBECCA CAMBER, CRIME CORRESPONDENT FOR THE DAILY MAIL

The Home Office was accused of a cover-up last night amid contested claims that the former head of the beleaguered child sexual abuse inquiry made shocking comments about ethnic minorities.

Dame Justice Lowell Goddard, who resigned as head of the national public inquiry into child abuse in August, was facing toxic claims last night that she made racist remarks about multicultural Britain.

The allegations reported by The Times were strenuously denied by the judge, amid suggestions that she was the victim of false slurs.

It raised questions for Prime Minister Theresa May who set up the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse when she was Home Secretary and appointed New Zealander Dame Lowell as chairman.

Home Office officials knew of the judge’s allegedly offensive remarks yet failed to act, it was alleged. Dame Lowell is accused of saying Britain had so many paedophiles ‘because it has so many Asian men’.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Claire Phipps and Matthew Weaver
Friday 14 October 2016

Dame Lowell Goddard, who resigned as chair of the UK’s public inquiry into institutional child abuse in August, has rejected as “a vicious campaign” reports that she made racist remarks and acted aggressively in the role.

The Times reported on Friday that Goddard, a New Zealand judge who was appointed in February 2015 as the third person to head the troubled independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, was allegedly warned by officials 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. She said she had, through lawyers in London, informed the Times of “the falsity of the matters raised, and the malicious background to them”.

She added: “I await the advice of my London lawyers on these articles, which I have only just seen. I confirm my absolute rejection of this attack. I am confident that in New Zealand my known reputation from my work over many years will provide its own refutation of these falsities.

“I will be making no further statement and will not engage with those conducting this vicious campaign.”

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Antoinette Lattouf

Notorious paedophile priest Vincent Gerard Ryan has been given a 15-month suspended sentence after pleading guilty to sex offences in the New South Wales Hunter region from the 1980s.

The former Catholic priest pleaded guilty to acts of gross indecency and attempting sexual intercourse with a boy at a church in Gresford near Dungong, when he was parish priest.

His victim was an altar boy in training, aged between 13 and 15, when the abuse occurred.

The acts include Ryan forcing his penis into the boy’s mouth, masturbating him and attempting to penetrate him.

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

OREGON
KVAL

EUGENE, Ore. – A Eugene man who works as an English instructor and serves as a priest at a local church faces prostitution and drug charges after police conducted a sting operation posing as a juvenile.

The investigation started with the arrest of the juvenile for prostitution, Eugene Police said.

Investigators determined that Daniel James Mackay, 42, had contact with the juvenile on more than one occasion.

“Police conducted a sting operation and exchanged information with Mackay, posing as the minor and arranged to meet him on October 12,” police said.

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

AUSTRALIA
7 News

Margaret Scheikowski – AAP on October 14, 2016

Adelaide’s Catholic Archbishop has failed again to stop criminal proceedings against him over claims he concealed a colleague’s sexual abuse of a young boy.

Archbishop Philip Wilson is charged with concealing information about the 1971 sexual assault of a 10-year-old boy by the now-dead pedophile priest James Fletcher in the NSW town of Maitland.

The prosecution claims Wilson knew or had information that might have helped to secure a prosecution of the priest between 2004-2006.

The archbishop, who has pleaded not guilty to the charge in the Newcastle Local Court, is the most senior Catholic official worldwide to be charged with such an offence.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Age

Bianca Hall Timna Jacks

Xavier College’s administrators have taken the almost-unprecedented step of trying to force the psychologist of a man who claims he was sexually abused while a student at the school more than 40 years ago to give evidence against his patient.

Janusz Skarbek alleges he was raped when he was a student at the exclusive, Jesuit-run school between 1971 and 1974.

According to his lawyer, Mr Skarbek had his first “realisation” he had been abused about six months after he had been seeing Dr Geoff Pearce, a Queensland psychologist, for unrelated matters more than 40 years later.

Mr Skarbek has launched a Supreme Court lawsuit against his former school, claiming it was negligent in its treatment of him and seeking compensation for his pain and suffering.

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

CONNECTICUT
CT Post

By Daniel Tepfer
Thursday, October 13, 2016

HARTFORD – The Archdiocese of Hartford has agreed to settle a 17-year-old sexual abuse claim against one of its priests.

Stamford lawyers Ernest Teitell and Marco Allocca , who represented the alleged victim, said the settlement was reached following mediation before 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 Teitell. “However, we are not celebrating this outcome because when you represent a victim of childhood sexual abuse, there are no true victories, but only important steps in the road to the victim’s recovery,” he continued. “By bringing this case the plaintiff wanted to show other abuse survivors that they do not have to keep their own victimizations secret.”

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

OKLAHOMA
The Duncan Banner

By Andy Morphew The Duncan Banner

Former Duncan assistant pastor Jody Hilliard was supposed to be arraigned in court Thursday, but a continuance has been granted and arraignment for his two alleged charges of lewd or indecent acts to a child under 12 has been moved to 9 a.m. on Nov. 3, according to District Attorney Jason Hicks.

Hilliard was arrested in April 2016 when detectives with the Duncan Police Department received a report from the Department of Social Services in the state where the victim resides advising them about an ongoing sexual abuse while the minor was in Duncan.

The report stated Hilliard allegedly touched the victim in her private parts without clothes on and made the victim touch Hilliard in his genital area.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Advertiser

AAP and staff writers, The Advertiser
October 13, 2016

ADELAIDE’S Catholic Archbishop has failed to stop criminal proceedings against him over claims he concealed a colleague’s sexual abuse of a young boy.

Archbishop Philip Wilson is charged with concealing information about the 1971 sexual assault of a 10-year-old boy by paedophile priest James Fletcher in the NSW town of Maitland.

At the time, Archbishop Wilson was a young priest who lived with Fletcher, but he has denied any wrongdoing.

In the NSW Supreme Court on Friday, Justice Monika Schmidt dismissed his appeal against a decision rejecting his bid to permanently halt the case.

Archbishop Wilson returned to his post in January after he voluntarily stepped down from his role when charges were filed in March 2015.

The prosecution claims Archbishop Wilson knew or had information that might have helped to secure a prosecution of Fletcher — who died in prison in 2006 — between 2004 to 2006.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Giselle Wakatama

Adelaide’s Catholic Archbishop Philip Wilson has lost his appeal against a magistrate’s refusal to quash a charge of concealing child abuse at the hands of a New South Wales priest.

Wilson is the most senior Catholic clergyman to be charged with covering up child sexual abuse.

Earlier this year, the Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson asked the New South Wales Supreme Court to dismiss a criminal prosecution alleging he failed to report child abuse allegations.

The abuse was alleged to have been carried out by Father Jim Fletcher during the 1970s in the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Diocese.

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

AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail

By NELSON GROOM FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Infamous paedophile priest Vincent Gerard Ryan has gotten off with a suspended sentence for the sickening sexual abuse of a boy, 13, in the 1980s.

The disgraced Catholic priest forced his penis into the victim’s mouth, masturbated him and attempted to sexually penetrate him in a church in Gresford, in the Hunter Region of NSW.

Ryan, who has already served 15 years jail for abusing dozens of schoolboys, was on Friday handed a 15-month suspended sentence in the Darlinghurst Courthouse, reports ABC.

The court heard his victim for this case was an altar boy aged between 13 and 15 during the abuse.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Cambs Times

3 October 2016 John Elworthy

Councillors rejected cutting £75,000 per year from staffing the county archives centre once it moves to Ely for fear it could jeopardise ongoing research into allegations of historic child sexual abuse.

Share article from on facebook Tweet article from Share article from on Google Pluspost article from on reddit email article from
The proposal to reduce staffing costs was put to the county council highways and infrastructure committee on Tuesday.

The council’s executive director Graham Hughes said after the meeting: “Councillors decided they didn’t want to make the saving.”

Officers had warned the committee that the ability to provide “timely responses to demands from statutory public inquiries” could no longer be guaranteed.

The report said: “For example, archives staff are currently engaged in major work to identify all the records we hold which are expected to be of interest to the Jay inquiry on historic child sexual abuse.

“This work is possible with the current staffing establishment but not on reduced levels of staffing.”

The independent inquiry led by Professor Alexis Jay into child sexual abuse is investigating whether public bodies and other non-state institutions have taken seriously their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse in England and Wales.

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

AUSTRALIA
Australian Jewish News

THE new Yeshivah Centre has been officially reborn more than 18 months after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) accepted the new structure of the Yeshivah Centre last week, and as a result membership is now open for two new organisations, Yeshivah-Beth Rivkah (YBR) Schools Limited and Chabad Institutions of Victoria Limited (CIVL).

Every YBR parent is entitled to become a member and nominate for the first board.

Members of Yeshivah Shule, Kollel Minyan, Young Yeshivah, Daminyan and all Chabad adherent community members can nominate for the CIVL board.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Express & Star

A Black Country Imam found guilty of indecently assaulting two young girls at his mosque is believed to have gone on the run to Bangladesh.

Police believe father-of-seven Hafiz Rahman, from Netherton, boarded a flight to Bangladesh on Saturday, after claiming to be too ill to attend Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday where he was found guilty of five charges of indecent assault.

Rahman had been the Imam at Queens Cross mosque in Cradley Heath when the assaults took place in the 1980s.

Confirming that the religious leader had fled, a spokesman for West Midlands Police said: “Hifiz Rahman absconded from the UK on Saturday, October 8 when it is believed he boarded a flight to Bangladesh.

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

BELGIUM
Breitbart

by NICK HALLETT
13 Oct 201610

One of Pope’s Francis’s new cardinals has been accused of appointing a known paedophile as a parish priest in Belgium.

Jozef de Kesel, Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, was named as one of 17 new cardinals on Sunday, but has a controversial history and is known for expressing liberal views.

While serving as Bishop of Bruges, he appointed a man who had been convicted of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy as a parish priest.

The mayor of the town of Middelkerke, where the man was to have served, wrote to Bishop de Kesel expressing her shock.

“The municipal cabinet would like to stress that it doesn’t want to put this person on trial, but the character of the new priest does not meet up to our expectations for someone that is meant to set an example,” she said.

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

UNITED STATES
The American Conservative

By ROD DREHER • October 13, 2016

t finally hit me what all these conservatives — especially conservative Christians — defending Trump, despite more and more evidence of his propensity for sexual assault, remind me of: apologists for the Catholic Church during the abuse scandal.

We have to vote for Trump because if Hillary wins, things will be worse! they say. The enemies of the faith will have a field day.

And you know what? If Hillary wins, things will be terrible. The enemies of faith will in fact have a field day.

Yet this is the same argument I heard personally many times from fellow Catholics — including priests — during the abuse scandal. We have to keep it quiet because enemies of the Church would use that information to discredit it. It will give those who would destroy us ammunition.

Yeah, it would, and it did. But that puts us in the position of the bishop of a large diocese (now retired) who was very blunt when he met with an abuse victim, her lawyer, and the psychiatrist who was treating her (a faithful conservative Catholic, by the way). The victim had not been a child when she was abused by her priest. She was an adult who, in a sacramental confession, admitted that she had cheated on her husband. The priest used that information to blackmail her into a sexual affair. She finally had a nervous breakdown, and sought psychiatric help. Once the bishop found out about it, he sent the priest to Ireland, then met with the victim and her team.

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

MINNESOTA
The Catholic Spirit

Tom Mertens | October 12, 2016

Bankruptcy is complicated and expensive. A Sept. 21 article in the Minneapolis StarTribune about the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Reorganization efforts and how much it has cost since we filed in January 2015 painted an incomplete picture, and there are some items that need attention and clarification.

First, it is true that attorneys’ fees have topped $11 million since we filed for Reorganization, but that’s not just for lawyers representing the archdiocese. Under U.S. Bankruptcy Court rules, the organization that files for Chapter 11 is responsible for paying for all of the attorneys involved in representing court-approved committees. That means that the archdiocese also has to pay for lawyers and professionals for the Unsecured Creditors Committee (which represents sexual abuse claimants and others who have filed claims against the archdiocese) and for the Official Parish Committee (which represents all of the parishes in the archdiocese). The figure also includes costs of the court-appointed federal mediator, and court fees and expenses incurred by the official committees.

We are confident that the fees we are paying the attorneys representing the archdiocese are an investment toward a successful outcome of the Reorganization process. Our attorneys continue working with the insurance carriers that have provided coverage over the past 70 years in order to make sure that those who have been harmed receive compensation. Their efforts are bearing fruit.

You may remember that when we filed our plan for Reorganization in May, the proposed trust for victims of clergy sexual abuse was at $65 million. Thanks to ongoing mediation efforts with insurance carriers and the efforts of legal counsel, that number has substantially increased, and by an amount far exceeding any fees that have been paid for their services.

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

NEW JERSEY
Road to Recovery

Two civil lawsuits by childhood sexual abuse victims, one a female and one a male, filed in Essex County, New Jersey Superior Court against Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters, a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey; St. Cassian’s Church and School, Upper Montclair, New Jersey; and the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey

David Ohlmuller (D.O.) and Danielle Polemeni (D.P.) claim that Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters sexually abused them approximately during the years 1982 – 1983 when they were parishioners and students of St. Cassian’s Parish and School in Upper Montclair, New Jersey

David Ohlmuller(D.O.) and Danielle Polemeni (D.P.) seek justice through the civil courts of New Jersey. They are two of six known childhood sexual abuse victims of Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters

What
A press conference announcing the filing of two civil lawsuits in Essex County, New Jersey, Superior Court, on behalf of two childhood sexual abuse victims of Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters, David Ohlmuller (D.O.) and Danielle Polemeni (D.P.)

When
Thursday, October 13, 2016 at 1:00 pm

Where
On the public sidewalk outside St. Cassian’s Roman Catholic Church, 187 Bellevue Avenue, Upper Montclair, New Jersey 07043

Who
Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., President of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity based in New Jersey that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families

Why
Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters’ was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in approximately1981. From approximately 1982 until 1989, he was assigned to St. Cassian’s Parish, Upper Montclair, New Jersey. Six childhood sexual abuse victims of Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters (one woman and five men) have come forward to report that they were sexually abused by Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters while he was assigned to St. Cassian’s Parish, Upper Montclair, New Jersey (5 victims between approximately 1982 and 1985) and St. John Nepomucene Parish in Guttenberg, New Jersey (1 victim in approximately 1994). Recently, two of the alleged victims of Fr. Walters, David Ohlmuller (D.O.) and Danielle Polemeni (D.P.), filed separate civil lawsuits in Essex County, New Jersey, Superior Court, alleging that between approximately 1982 and 1983, Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters sexually abused them while they were parishioners and students at St. Cassian’s Parish in Upper Montclair, New Jersey. Copies of the lawsuits will be available.

Contacts
Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Road to Recovery, Inc., 862-368-2800 – roberthoatson@gmail.com
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Boston, MA, 617-523-6250 – garabedianlaw@msn.com

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

NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

By Jessica Mazzola | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

NEWARK — Two more sex abuse lawsuits were filed this month accusing a New Jersey priest of sexually abusing children when they attended a Catholic school in the 1980s.

That brings the total lawsuits lodged against the Archdiocese of Newark and the Rev. Mitch Walters to three.

And more may be coming, according to Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston-area attorney who was portrayed by Stanley Tucci in the 2015 film “Spotlight.”

Garabedian said he is representing six clients who say they were abused by Walters.

The latest two lawsuits were filed separately in Essex County Superior Court on Oct. 5 by Danielle Polemeni and David Ohlmuller. Both attended St. Cassian’s Parish and the church’s associated school in Upper Montclair when they were children while Walters was a priest and deacon.

Jim Goodness, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Newark, declined to comment on the lawsuits. Goodness said earlier this year that Walters denies the allegations against him. Walters was removed from the ministry in January after the allegations arose.

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

GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Timothy Mchenry

The RMS board is disputing a report put out by an Ad Hoc committee formed at the behest of Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai.

Guam – Divine Providence—that’s what the leaders of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary say they will rely on from now to continue their operations.

Members of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary addressed the media today to respond to a seminary report released by an ad hoc committee put together by temporary archdiocese administrator Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai. The committee report confirmed some of the suspicions many have had about the Yona seminary’s practices such as creating priests who aren’t ready for religious life, that they aren’t US accredited or that they’re taking in more money than the archdiocese can afford. But the RMS is disputing this, saying that they work with a program approved by the Lateran University that includes 2 years of philosophy and four years of theology. They also dispute the amount they receive from the archdiocese in subsidies.

“In the financial year 2016, the Archdiocese of Agana listed… 92450… of these 64800 was remuneration to the clergy which every diocese is obliged to pay, ” says Eusabio. “Therefore the real subsidy for the rms is only 26,100 during fy 2016, the priests related to the RMS donated to this institution 46150 out of their salary, the real amount therefore is only 5 percent of the total budget.”

And with that, RMS board member Dr. Ricardo Eusebio announced that they will discontinue their dependence on the Archdiocese of Agana for their subsidies.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Jacob Kagi

Time restrictions on when victims of child sexual abuse can launch civil action seeking damages in Western Australia look set to be removed, with the Government and Opposition backing a private members bill introduced by a backbench Liberal MP.

The legislation introduced by Eyre MP Graham Jacobs, which would remove the six-year statute of limitations for child sexual abuse civil cases in WA, is set to be debated in State Parliament.

If the legislation passes, it will allow people who suffered physical or mental injuries as a result of abuse to take civil action seeking compensation, regardless of how long ago it occurred.

Mr Jacobs first introduced the bill last year and it has since lagged for the past 12 months, but the Government is set to allocate its parliamentary time to allow debate on the legislation.

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

UNITED STATES
Verdict

13 OCT 2016

MARCI A. HAMILTON

Herculean efforts across the United States have been undertaken to eliminate the threshold legal barrier for most sex abuse victims: the statute of limitations. Some states have been very successful like Delaware and Minnesota while others remain mired in a system that blocks the vast majority of survivors like New York. To their credit, advocates, survivors, and their supporters continue to press even in the most backward states.

While a legislative push can be empowering for many survivors, it can also be traumatic when legislators irrationally reject the survivors’ pleas for justice. For example, Pennsylvania senators have professed allegiance to a non-existent Pennsylvania constitutional doctrine to avoid passing a bill that would revive expired SOLs for those who were shut out of the system. It is a cruel position that was captured beautifully in this political cartoon.

The bad news—or at least the news that is needed to put the SOL reform movement in context—is that once the SOLs are pushed back and a survivor is permitted to cross the moat surrounding the courthouse, there are too many other laws that, like short SOLs, make access to justice difficult. They are in effect predator friendly and child-endangering.

What is needed is a child-centered approach in the legal system, which takes into account the science of child sex abuse that is being built by pediatricians, child psychiatrists, psychologists, and sociologists, and traumatologists. Ignorance fueled by denial has been responsible for crafting a predator-friendly system, but we now have enough science to intelligently craft public policy so that it no longer actively aids and abets the wrong side in this war. The current gauntlet sex abuse victims face needs to be de-constructed, and reforms are needed in numerous contexts. In other words, if our children are to be protected, the SOLs are just the beginning.

SOL Reform for Two Distinct Populations

The SOL reform movement has progressed to the point where it is quite clear that there are two distinct groups of survivors in need of legal reform. First, there are those who were unintentionally, but definitely, deprived of justice: the ones who were abused in the past, failed to meet the short SOLs, and who need a legislative fix now. The legal system has frozen them in their pain. This is a finite set of individuals, and for those who seek justice, the only legal solution is to revive their expired civil SOLs. They typically have no options to press charges (although it is in their interest to report their abuser to the authorities so that serial predators can be identified).

Second, there are the children abused now and those victims not yet beyond the state’s SOL. For this group, the good news is that roughly two-thirds of the states have eliminated the criminal SOL, at least for felonies. (http://sol-reform.com/silos.pdf ) The bad news is that in many states, civil SOLs remain short, and so they cannot sue for damages. They need the elimination or at least extension of the civil SOLs to shift the cost of their abuse onto those who caused it.

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

GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Oct 13, 2016

By Krystal Paco

“Fierce bias and prejudice” is how members of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary’s board of directors would describe a recent report released by the visitation ad hoc committee on the RMS. That report recommended that the Yona seminary be closed for the good of the Archdiocese of Agana – unless they could clarify the seminary’s purpose, seek formal accreditation to ensure the quality of its priest formation program, and ensure financial independence.

A press conference was held today in the seminary’s library. “The report on the seminary prepared by the visitation ad hoc committee shows a lack of knowledge on the seminary’s reality but most of all, what we feel very strongly was there was a fierce bias and prejudice in the report,” he said. “This report recommending the elimination of the RMS and the theological institute is highly damaging for our archdiocese and for the spiritual and economic capability of forming priests not only for Guam, but for all of the Pacific,” he noted.

Point-by-point, members of the RMS board of directors, led by Dr. Ricardo Eusebio, defended the RMS despite the September visitation ad hoc committee report. In a press conference held on Thursday, the board maintains that the RMS is a diocesan seminary backed by the Holy Father and by more than one hundred cardinals, archbishops, and bishops; that the priests being formed are monitored by the Lateran University of Rome, the University of the Pope, and by the Congregation for Catholic Education in the Vatican; and that those priests serve in the local parishes, and often where no other priest wants to go.

While critics, like members of the Laity Forward Movement, demand they be allowed to visit the seminary because its “what they paid for” as demonstrated on Wednesday, Dr. Eusebio clarifies the RMS is only receiving an average of 5-8% from mass collection baskets. Effective immediately, he said, they’ll be relying on divine providence to provide for their needs.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Heart

A Black Country Imam – found guilty last week of sexually abusing two young pupils – is thought to have fled abroad.

The girls were being taught at Queens Cross Mosque in the 1980s when they were assaulted by 57-year-old Hifiz Rahman from Dudley.

Police say he’s flown to Bangladesh before he could face sentence.

As part of his bail condition’s he was supposed to stay at his home in Ballard Road, in Netherton, Dudley. Officers had visited him at the address following his conviction but he disappeared soon afterwards.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Zeit

München (AFP) Der Missbrauchsbeauftragte der Bundesregierung, Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig, hat die Form des Dialogs der Diözese Regensburg mit Opfern sexuellen Missbrauchs und Gewalt als “Meilenstein der Aufarbeitung” und “vorbildlich für die katholische Kirche” bezeichnet. Im Bayerischen Fernsehen sagte Rörig am Mittwochabend, gegenseitiger Respekt und ein Dialog auf Augenhöhe stünden im Mittelpunkt der Aufarbeitung in Regensburg.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Deutche Welle

[Compensation for abuse victims at the Domspatzen]

Allein die Zahlen, die der Zwischenbericht zu den sexuellen und körperlichen Misshandlungen auflistet, sind erschreckend. 422 Opfer haben sich bislang aus den Reihen des Regensburger Knabenchors gemeldet.

Die Vorgänge gehörten zu den “bedrückendsten Erfahrungen und schwersten Lasten meiner Amtszeit”, sagte der Bischof von Regensburg, Rudolf Voderholzer, bei der Vorstellung eines ersten Zwischenberichts des Aufarbeitungsgremiums. Die Vorfälle täten ihm in der Seele weh, aber er könne sie nicht ungeschehen machen. “Ich kann nur um Vergebung bitten.” Das Aufarbeitungsgremium, dem neben dem Bischof auch der Domspatzen-Internatsdirektor Rainer Schinko sowie die Vertreter der Betroffenen angehören, hatte sich laut Voderholzer seit dem Frühjahr acht Mal getroffen. Seitdem hätten sich 129 weitere Opfer gemeldet. Insgesamt seien es nun 422.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Sueddeutche

[A diocese wants to repent.]

Von Andreas Glas, Regensburg

Nach Jahren der Eiszeit kommen sich die katholische Kirche und die Opfer des Missbrauchsskandals bei den Regensburger Domspatzen näher. “Wir haben etwas erreicht, von dem wir jahrelang geträumt haben”, sagte der frühere Domspatz Alexander Probst am Mittwoch bei einer Pressekonferenz des Aufarbeitungsgremiums aus Kirchen- und Opfervertretern.

Seit Februar hatte das Gremium über Konsequenzen der jahrzehntelangen Übergriffe verhandelt, nun kündigte Regensburgs Bischof Rudolf Voderholzer an, die Opfer bis Ende 2017 finanziell zu entschädigen. Je nach Schwere der körperlichen und sexuellen Übergriffe erhält jeder Betroffene zwischen 5000 und 20 000 Euro. “Es ist ein Zeichen, dass wir es ernst meinen”, sagte Voderholzer.

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

GERMANY
Deutche Welle

Compensation will be paid to at least 422 people who were sexually and physically abused over several decades as part of a Catholic choir in Bavaria. A church and victims’ representatives panel is addressing the abuse.

Hundreds of children who were sexually and physically abused over several decades at the Domspatzen, a world-famous Catholic choir in Bavaria, will be financially compensated, Regensburg Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer said on Wednesday.

The 1,000-year-old choir in Bavaria’s Regensburg was first shaken by the massive sexual abuse scandal in 2010, when former pupils alleged abuse by adults in the Catholic Church. To date, 422 former singers have registered complaints of abuse, including at least 65 cases of sexual abuse, from teachers and priests between 1945 and the 1990’s. The actual number of victims is believed to be much higher.

The Catholic Church and victims’ representatives have led a panel to address the tragedy.

Voderholzer announced on Wednesday the results of an interim report and progress on addressing the abuse as part of the panel that includes victims’ representatives. Describing the investigation as the “most depressing experience” of his religious service, the bishop said the panel had agreed on a four-pillar approach to addressing the abuse.

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

ZIMBABWE
AllAfrica

The Herald

Apostolic Faith Mission Ruwa pastor Oliver Makomo, who is accused of raping a congregant, was yesterday remanded to November 3 for a trial date.Makomo (49) yesterday appeared before Harare magistrate Ms Bianca Makwande facing rape charges and is out on $100 bail.The prosecutor Ms Audrey Chogumaira told the court that the docket was sent back to the police station for further management.It is alleged that sometime in 2012, Makomo visited the complainant (22) at her workplace.

The court heard that he asked for her phone number and they started communicating before asking if she was still virgin. Sometime in 2013, the complainant contacted the pastor to get help with her nose bleeding problem.Makomo allegedly invited her to his church office located at No.2 Gallowway Estate in Ruwa and prayed for her.

After the prayer session, Makomo reportedly locked the door and proceeded to hug, kiss and insert his fingers into the complainant’s private parts.

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

UNITED STATES
NJ.com

By The Washington Post
on October 12, 2016

By Joy Beth Smith

When I hear Donald Trump talk about grabbing a woman by the p–y, I can feel his hand on my vagina. I can feel the weight of his body against my breasts. I can see his sickly smile, the “thank you” he throws my way when he’s finished. I can imagine it — quite vividly – because it happened to me at the hands of a co-worker.

Every day it happens to countless women. It’s been happening to me for 20 years.

The first time, I was a naïve 9-year-old girl. It was my first year riding the school bus and my first week in a new public school. With the residue of South Carolina summer still warming the air, I got off my bus and started walking the sticky, humid half-mile home.

Trump’s bragging about sexual assault went too far, the lapdog governor says. But he snuggles back in to say he endorses the Donald anyway.

With my house in sight, I heard a truck barreling up behind me. Then the yelling started. I was already just over 5 feet tall, and I looked to be at least 13 years old. For these men, that was old enough. Their first pass was a blur of crude shouts I could barely hear above the blood pulsing in my ears. I felt my face flame with shame.

I ducked my head and shuffled faster toward my front door, where I’d arrive more world-weary than when I’d left that morning. The truck turned around to head back in my direction. This time, the men were hungry, almost feral in their need to remind me, a prepubescent girl, that I was theirs to harass. The shouts increased in volume as my feet picked up speed. I slammed the door with their laughter still ringing in my ears.

That was the day I learned that I existed for the sport or pleasure of others, that my body was not my own.

In the years to follow, this message has been reinforced time and again — including by my church. Perhaps especially by the church. While the world taught me my body was not my own, it was the church that taught me my body was shameful, inherently inviting aggression, seduction and sin.

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

GERMANY
The Local

Victims of child abuse at the hands of Regensburg cathedral choir priests and teachers are set to receive compensation ranging between €5,000 to €20,000 by the end of next year.

A scandal that first emerged into the public light in 2010 will soon see some good news for hundreds of victims, as the Regensburg diocese announced on Wednesday it would be offering them each between €5,000 and €20,000 in compensation.

“This is a sign that we take this very seriously,” Regensburg bishop Rudolf Voderholzer said at a joint press conference with victims groups, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

“You should believe that this causes me pain, that every single case hurts my soul… I cannot undo what was done, and can only ask those affected for forgiveness.”

As of this month, 422 former singers in the cathedral’s boys’ choir have come forward to report abuse to an investigative team, which began examining the reports last year in cooperation with the diocese.

The church and victims’ groups also plan to set up an independent counseling centre for those affected. This was something the victim advocacy groups had strongly requested, so that those who were abused would not have to turn to someone from the Catholic church, or someone related to it, for help.

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

UNITED STATES
Compliance Week

Bill Coffin | October 12, 2016

When I was a child, my brothers and I served as altar boys at our local Catholic church. We were some of the longest-running altar boys in the church’s history in fact and, at one point, we had become such an institution that our pastor asked my brother and I if we were interested in pursuing theology, seeing as most kids our age quit serving years before.

One of the interesting aspects of serving the church was being behind the scenes of mass. We spent a lot of time, over the years, with various priests in the sacristy—a side room where the priest and we altar servers would prepare for mass—and it occurs to me now that we were very, very vulnerable there. Away from any other adults, the priests with whom we worked could have easily taken vile liberties with myself or my brothers. None ever did. The priests we worked with—like the overwhelming majority of clerical workers, I imagine—were good, decent people who would never think of hurting a child.

And yet, we have seen that it happens within the Church. We have seen it quite a lot, in fact, usually after extensive efforts to cover it up or to pretend that it never happened. In the United States, there have already been various high-profile cases of widespread sexual abuse by priests, and these cases have cost the Church dearly in terms of money and in terms of reputation and, most of all, in terms of trust. Trust, we all know, takes many years to build, and only one wrong moment to destroy.

Sadly, we have seen this happen yet again, this time in Germany, where the Catholic Church has agreed to pay settlements to some 422 individuals who have alleged having been sexually and physically abused while they were pupils at a choir school in Regensburg. The alleged abuses took place between 1953 and the 1990s, and the Church is offering to pay each of these victims between €5,000 and €20,000. All of the perpetrators, save one, are dead. Pope Benedict’s brother, Georg Ratzinger, ran the choir from 1964 to 1994, when most of the abuses were supposed to have occurred, yet Ratzinger says he knew nothing of any abuse.

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

CANADA
Regina Leader-Post

GRAEME HAMILTON 10.12.2016

MONTREAL – After Jean-Paul Néashish, a former First Nations police chief, was convicted of sexual assault, his lawyer argued for a lenient sentence because the man had been sexually abused at a residential school.

But in a decision this week, Quebec Court Judge Jacques Lacoursière rejected the request, jailing Néashish for six years and noting he was not the only one in the case to have suffered because of his aboriginal status.

“We cannot neglect to take into account the particular situation of the victims, who are also aboriginal,” the judge said.

“They also suffered from historical factors and years of upheaval and the economic development of this community. In addition to being victims of the accused’s actions, they are victims of a direct and systemic discrimination.”

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

INDONESIA
The Jakarta Post

Sarah Steffen
The Jakarta Post

Jakarta | Thu, October 13 2016

Brutal punishments: Wolfgang (Louis Hofmann) (left) and his friend Anton (Langston Uibel) try to get away from their own personal hell in Freistatt (Sanctuary). (Courtesy of Zum goldenen Lamm/Boris Laewen)

H ow well do you really know someone, even after decades? Faced with the choice to take the easy route or to follow your conscience, do you do what is expected of you or will you do what is right?

That is what Jakob (Sebastian Blomberg), a German priest, is grappling with in Verfehlung (The Culpable) after his best friend and fellow priest Dominik (Kai Schumann) is arrested for sexually abusing a young boy in his parish. Jakob, at first in utter disbelief, starts to dig deeper and what he discovers leaves him horrified.

The character study of the alleged perpetrator, his friends and how the Catholic Church is dealing with sexual abuse amid its priests is well worth watching.

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

CZECH REPUBLIC
Prague Daily Monitor

Prague, Oct 12 (CTK) – Erik Tvrdon, former priest from Havlickuv Brod, east Bohemia, will spend three years in prison for sexual abuse of four women and an underage girl, Nova TV reported yesterday, referring to the appeals court verdict reducing his original five-year sentence.

The appeals court upheld the lower-lever court’s previous decision to ban Tvrdon from working with children for five years.

The police started to investigate Tvrdon based on a report from one of the abused women, who said he had exerted psychological pressure on her from mid-2012 and repeatedly raped her in late 2013.

The police subsequently found the other victims.

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

GUAM
Guam Daily Post

By Neil Pang | Post News Staff

Members of the Catholic lay organization the Laity Forward Movement (LFM) were turned away from the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona when they made a surprise visit to the property late yesterday morning.

Lou Klitzkie, who heads the group of self-described “old ladies,” told the Post that their intention was to visit the property in order to see the facilities that are funded, in part, by contributions from the Catholic laity. Additionally, Klitzkie reported that a reliable source had told the group of the presence of Archbishop Anthony Apuron and Rev. Pius Sammut, formerly the secretary of the Blessed Deigo Louis de San Vitores Catholic Theological Institute, at the seminary. Klitzkie said they wanted to confront Apuron and ask him why he gave the Yona property away.

Upon arrival at the seminary property, Klitzkie and roughly a dozen LFM protestors walked up to the front doors along with media reporters and photographers. Klitzkie indicated the gate leading to the seminary was unlocked – in contrast to the scene they met last month when they attempted a similar visit.

Earlier attempts

According to Klitzkie, the group had organized a visit to the property in September. They had gone through Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Agana, and had received permission for their planned visit. When they showed up at the front gates yesterday, however, they were met with a sign indicating that no tour or visit had been approved, and that any future visits would need to be authorized by the proper authority. Klitzkie said the sign named RMS acting-rector David Quitugua as that authority.

Yesterday’s denial marks the third time this year that the lay group had been turned back by RMS representatives.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
The Episcopal Church in Central Pennsylvania

Author:
Diocesan staff
Published:
Tuesday, October 11, 2016

HARRISBURG, October 11–Bishop Audrey Scanlan of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania yesterday removed the Rev. Howard White from the priesthood.

White, 75, was among several adults who sexually abused students at St. George’s School in Middleton, Rhode Island in the 1970s and 80s, according to a report released recently by independent investigators on behalf of the school.

In the wake of media reports about sexual abuse at St. George’s, several people from other Episcopal dioceses in which White had worked said that he sexually abused them when they were young.

“We are committed to keeping God’s children safe, and we are heartbroken when we fail,” Scanlan said. “My hope is that the appalling events documented at St. George’s School will lead our church to intensify its efforts to protect young people in every setting, and continue our commitment to preventing abuse with thorough training for clergy, staff and volunteers who work with children.”

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

WISCONSIN
YouTube

Peter Isely is a founding member and longtime Midwest Director of SNAP (as seen in the movie Spotlight) , The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the world’s oldest organization of survivors of childhood rape and sexual assault by clergy, with over 18,000 survivors in hundreds of chapters worldwide.

A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, Peter is a psychotherapist in private practice in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he established the nation’s only inpatient hospital program for victims of clergy sexual trauma.

A frequent spokesperson and media guest, Peter’s story and work has been featured nationally and internationally, including in several award winning documentary films. His current project is the Milwaukee based Survivors and Clergy Leadership Alliance or SCLA, an innovative partnership of survivors and clergy working to end sexual violence in the church.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Bedfordshire on Sunday

ONE of the young boys who suffered terrible abuse at Shefford boys’ home has said he believes the ‘evil’ environment led him into a life of crime.

Trevor Hercules lived at the Catholic St Francis Boys’ Home – dubbed the ‘orphanage from hell’ – for three years between 1966 and 1969.

He went on to spend nine years in jail for armed robbery before turning his life around and establishing his own programme, which he calls Social Deprivation Mindset, to help other youths divert away from life behind bars.

Trevor, who now lives in London, said: “I don’t know how many guys who were in that home have been in trouble, but it’s my belief that as an abusive environment, how we were treated there would make you abusive.

“It changes how you relate to other people. I was very aggressive when I left that place. I didn’t want anyone to put their hands on me.

“I have been in a lot of trouble but I have turned my life around and not been in any trouble since 2000.

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

GERMANY
euronews

The Catholic Church has agreed to pay compensation to victims of physical and sexual abuse which took place while they were pupils at a famous boys’ choir school in Regensburg, Germany.

Rudolf Volderholzer, the Bishop of the Regensburger Cathedral in Bavaria, has formally apologised. He says the Church will pay between 5,000 and 20,000 euros to each of the affected former students for abuses between 1953 and the 1990s.

Pope Benedict’s brother, Georg Ratzinger, ran the choir for 30 years from 1964 to 1994, when the majority of the abuses reportedly occurred. He told Italian daily La Repubblica that he knew nothing about the alleged abuse of boys in the choir.

Some 422 possible victims have come forward, including former chorister Alexander Probst.

“An acknowledgment has been made,” he said. “Now I know: I’m no longer the one who is damaging the reputation of this bishophood, but I am an equal partner who is being respected. So, it doesn’t matter what the outcome is. It’s much more important that this acknowledgment has been made.”

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

MAINE/MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe

By Travis Andersen GLOBE STAFF OCTOBER 12, 2016

Advocates for sexual abuse victims on Tuesday called for the removal of a top official in the Greek Orthodox church in New England, alleging he was “at least grossly negligent” in supervising a priest who was convicted last year of assaulting a boy in Maine.

Verne E. Paradie, a lawyer for the victim in the Maine case, said in a statement that Rev. Father Theodore J. Barbas, chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston, had an “ethical duty to ensure that this [convicted] priest … was not a predator.”

“Barbas failed categorically in this capacity, resulting in lifelong physical, psychological and spiritual damage” to the victim in Maine, Paradie said.

Attempts to reach Barbas, and the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston, which oversees Greek churches throughout most of New England, were unsuccessful on Tuesday evening.

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

UNITED STATES
America

Oct 12 2016

Gerard O’Connell

Has there been a power shift in the Vatican under Pope Francis? Has the Secretariat of State lost its traditional role as the pope’s main adviser, being replaced by the council of cardinals that Francis established soon after his election? Where will power lie once the reform of the Roman Curia has been completed?

These questions are being asked in the Vatican today as the council of cardinal advisers plays a highly significant role in advising, offering suggestions or making proposals to the Argentine pope.

On March 17, 2013, four days after his election, Francis invited Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga to lunch and informed him of his decision to establish this council. He had already decided on its membership and asked Maradiaga to be its coordinator.

He then informed the secretary of state of his decision and asked that it be made public. But that did not happen until April 13, when the Vatican issued a press communique and published the names of the eight cardinals Francis had chosen as advisers.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Mittelbayerische

[Bishop Voderholzer speaks of 422 victims of abuse at the Regensburg choir school. There is also a new independent confidential helpline for victims.]

REGENSBURG.Sechs Jahre hat es gedauert, nun haben das Bistum Regensburg und die Opfer des Missbrauchsskandals bei den Regensburger Domspatzen einen gemeinsamen Weg der Aufarbeitung eingeschlagen. Gestern stellte Bischof Rudolf Voderholzer gemeinsam mit Opfern das auf vier Säulen basierende Konzept vor. Für die Opfer sprachen Peter Schmitt und Alexander Probst von einer „Lösung, die vielen, vielen helfen wird“.

An Ettaler Konzept orientiert

Seit acht Monaten hatte das sogenannte Aufarbeitungsgremium an einem gemeinsamen Konzept gearbeitet. Es beinhaltet das Angebot einer unabhängigen Anlaufstelle mit therapeutischer Hilfeleistung beim Münchner Informationszentrum für Männer, eine soziologische sowie eine historische Studie und eine Anerkennungsleistung für die Opfer, die von 5000 bis 20 000 Euro reicht. Mit dem Konzept hatte sich das Bistum Regensburg am Entschädigungskonzept für Opfer von Missbrauchsfällen im Kloster Ettal orientiert, das bereits 2012 auf den Weg gebracht worden war. „Erlittenes Leid kann nicht mit Geld aufgewogen werden. Es ist eine Anerkennung, aber keinesfalls ein Schmerzensgeld“, betonte Domspatzen-Internatsdirektor Rainer Schinko.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Plattlinger Zeitung

[A 52-year-old former priest, who worked in a parish in the district of Deggendorf, is suspected of sexual abuse of children and he is now in detention.]

Ein 52-jähriger ehemaliger Priester, der in einer Pfarrei im Landkreis Deggendorf tätig war, befindet sich seit Ende September wegen des dringenden Verdachts des sexuellen Missbrauchs von Kindern in Untersuchungshaft. Am 23. September hatte die Mutter eines schulpflichtigen Kindes gegen ihn Anzeige erstattet. Es soll, so teilt die Staatsanwaltschaft Deggendorf mit, nach Angaben des Opfers bereits im Frühjahr dieses Jahres zu sexuellen Handlungen vor und an dem Kind gekommen sein.

Schon 2008 war der ehemalige Priester aus dem Raum Mainz aus dem Klerikerstand entlassen worden. Mehrere Bistümer hatten seitdem Warnmeldungen vor dem als falscher Pater auftretenden ehemaligen Priester veröffentlicht. Am 13. März 2014 warnte die Diözese Regensburg vor dem Mann, der trotz seiner Laisierung immer noch als Priester auftrat. Im Oktober 2015 wurden auch durch die Diözese Regensburg alle Pfarrämter vor dem offenbar im süddeutschen Raum und an der österreichisch-ungarischen Grenze pastoralen Aktivitäten nachgehenden ehemaligen Priester gewarnt.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Deutche Welle

Allein die Zahlen, die der Zwischenbericht zu den sexuellen und körperlichen Misshandlungen auflistet, sind erschreckend. 422 Opfer haben sich bislang aus den Reihen des Regensburger Knabenchors gemeldet.

Die Vorgänge gehörten zu den “bedrückendsten Erfahrungen und schwersten Lasten meiner Amtszeit”, sagte der Bischof von Regensburg, Rudolf Voderholzer, bei der Vorstellung eines ersten Zwischenberichts des Aufarbeitungsgremiums. Die Vorfälle täten ihm in der Seele weh, aber er könne sie nicht ungeschehen machen. “Ich kann nur um Vergebung bitten.” Das Aufarbeitungsgremium, dem neben dem Bischof auch der Domspatzen-Internatsdirektor Rainer Schinko sowie die Vertreter der Betroffenen angehören, hatte sich laut Voderholzer seit dem Frühjahr acht Mal getroffen. Seitdem hätten sich 129 weitere Opfer gemeldet. Insgesamt seien es nun 422.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Deutschlandfunk

[The extent of physical and sexual violence at the Domspatzen in Regensburg is higher than previously thought. A total of 422 alleged victims have been reported as having been abused at the Regensburg choir school.]

Das Ausmaß körperlicher und sexueller Gewalt bei den Domspatzen in Regensburg ist höher als bisher angenommen.

Wie der Bischof von Regensburg, Voderholzer, mitteilte, meldeten sich 422 mögliche Opfer. Der Bischof bat sie um Vergebung und kündigte bis Ende 2017 finanzielle Entschädigung an. Die Opfervertreter würdigten den Einsatz des Bischofs. Bei dem Knabenchor war es zwischen 1953 und 1992 immer wieder zu Fällen von körperlicher und sexueller Gewalt gekommen.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Wochenblatt

[Ex-priest, suspected of child abuse, is in custody.]

Ein aus dem Klerikerstand entlassener ehemaliger Priester sitzt wegen des Verdachts des Kindesmissbrauchs in Untersuchungshaft.

Am Freitag, 23. September 2016, zeigte die Mutter eines schulpflichtigen Kindes dessen sexuellen Missbrauch durch einen ehemaligen Priester an. Nach Angaben des Opfers soll es bereits im Frühjahr dieses Jahres zu sexuellen Handlungen vor und an dem Kind gekommen sein.

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

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

[with video]

Haidee V Eugenio, Pacific Daily News October 12, 2016

A group of women Catholics held a protest at the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona Wednesday, saying they believe Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron and the Rev. Pius Sammut, the highest official in the Neocatechumenal Way hierarchy on Guam, are back on island and staying there.

Sammut on Wednesday said he is back on island, but said Apuron is not here as far as he knows.

Apuron, who has not been seen in public on Guam since late May, faces a canonical trial at the Vatican for allegedly sexually abusing altar boys in the 1970s in Agat.

Pope Francis placed Apuron on leave on June 6 and sent Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai to temporarily administer the local Catholic church.

Lou Klitzkie, president of the Laity Forward Movement, led more than a dozen Catholics, some of them holding “Defrock Apuron” signs.

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

VATICAN CITY
ANSA

(ANSA) – Rome, October 11 – Pope Francis has yet to respond to a request to pardon for Vatileaks culprit Bishop Lucio Vallejo Balda, sources said Tuesday.

The Spanish prelate is serving 18 months in a Vatican prison after being found guilty in July of leaking confidential Holy See documents to reporters in the so-called Vatileaks 2 scandal.

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

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Liam Heylin

A book of evidence was served yesterday on a priest accused of indecently assaulting a boy at a school in Co Cork about 35 years ago.

Tadhg O’Dalaigh, aged 72, of Woodview, Mount Merrion Avenue, Blackrock, Dublin, was served with the book, Inspector Mary King confirmed yesterday.

Inspector Mary King then applied to have the case sent forward from Cork District Court to the county sessions of Cork Circuit Criminal Court starting on October 25.

Judge Con O’Leary acceded to that application.

The accused was represented in court by solicitor Barry Fitzgerald.

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

GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Rebecca Elmore

The Laity Forward Movement reached the doorstep of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary this afternoon, in protest to defrock Archbishop Apuron.

Guam- With demands to speak to Archbishop Anthony Apuron, the Laity Forward Movement marched past the typically closed gates of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary making it all the way up to the doorstep, until they were eventually chased out.

The protests from LFM to defrock Apuron continued, this time, at the entrance to the RMS. The protests have been going on for months, on a weekly basis at the Agana Cathedral.

The group wants Apuron removed in light of the controversial actions Apuron has taken in recent years, including the conveyance of the Yona property to leaders of the neocatechumenal way, as well as the allegations of sexual abuse against him.

Lou Klitzkie, one of the protesters voiced her frustrations during the protest, asking: “Why are they hiding? Come out and tell us the truth! Why did you give up the RMS? We’re very upset, very upset.”

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

GUAM
YouTube

KUAM

Published on Oct 11, 2016

Many of them have never been inside the Redemptoris Mater Seminary, but after hearing that Archbishop Anthony Apuron and former RMS rector Father Pius Sammut were hiding inside the Yona property, more than one dozen members of the Laity Forward Movement walked inside and asked to see Archbishop Apuron.

The gates had signs stating “Private Property”, but the protesters argued they’re paying for the property through church collections, and therefore have every right to be there.

Many had never been to RMS and were amazed at how beautiful it was and the fact that it had a swimming pool. However, when they reached the lobby area, they were told that the property was a private residence and were instructed to leave.

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

GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Oct 12, 2016

By Krystal Paco

For most members of the Laity Forward Movement, they had never been inside the Redemptoris Mater Seminary. And today, they were clearly unwelcome. The gates had a sign stating “No Trespassing” and individuals at the lobby doors mirrored that sentiment.

It wasn’t just the temperature rising today in Yona.

Seminary attendant: All this filming is illegal. (shuts door)

Seminary attendant: Ma’am, calm down.

Laity Forward Movement members like Dee Peredo and Marilu Martinez maintain they have every right to be at the seminary – after all, they maintain, it’s what they paid for. “Why would we contribute to a seminary that wouldn’t serve us or do us any good?” asked Martinez. “They extended it mind you from the middle of the year to the end of the year. Extended the appeal to continue us donating and contributing to this seminary. And we are Catholics, we are not outsiders.”

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

MINNESOTA
The Daily Times

Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The leader of an isolated religious sect in Minnesota pleaded guilty Tuesday to sexually assaulting two teenage girls who were members of his community.
As part of the plea deal, Victor Barnard, 55, agreed to serve 30 years in prison.

Barnard was the longtime leader of the River Road Fellowship near Finlayson, about 90 miles north of Minneapolis.

In 2012, two women came forward and told authorities that Barnard began assaulting them when they were as young as 12 and 13. The women said they were among about 10 girls and young women who were chosen to live in a camp apart from their families as part of Barnard’s “Maidens Group.”

Barnard kept the girls secluded, using religious coercion and intimidation to maintain his control over them, authorities said. He allegedly told one victim she would remain a virgin because he was a “man of God.”

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

RHODE ISLAND
Rhode Island Public Radio

By ELISABETH HARRISON

The Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania has removed Rev. Howard White from the priesthood, citing allegations of sexual abuse documented in a report about St. George’s School in Middletown. Since those allegations became public, accusations have been reported in other states where White also worked.

White served as an associate chaplain, dorm parent and in other roles at St. George’s from 1971 until 1974, when he was fired after admitting to sexual abuse.

Eric MacLeish, the attorney who represented some of the former St. George’s students, says the church’s action to remove White is long overdue.

“Rev. White was someone who preyed on young people in every setting where he went,” said MacLeish. “He preyed upon them at St. Paul’s, he preyed upon them at St. George’s, he preyed upon them in North Carolina, where we also represent two people who were the victims of Rev. White.”

A State Police investigation in Rhode Island failed to bring criminal charges against White and other St. George’s staff accused of abuse, but MacLeish says he continues to pursue criminal charges in other states. A group of former students reached a settlement with St. George’s over the allegations of abuse.

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

RHODE ISLAND
Providence Journal

By Karen Lee Ziner
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Episcopal Church issued “the most severe penalty” possible against Howard W. “Howdy” White Jr. when it removed him from the priesthood Monday, nearly 50 years after he was ordained.

Every diocesan bishop within the Episcopal Church — here and abroad — will be notified Wednesday.

White, 75, former associate chaplain at St. George’s School, is one of six former staff or faculty members accused in the sex-abuse scandal that has rocked the elite Middletown prep school since last December.

White remains under criminal investigation in North Carolina, based on two allegations of sexual abuse in the mid-1980s. White could not be reached for comment Monday or Tuesday in Bedford, Pennsylvania, where he lives.

“Since Howard White has not been convicted of a crime, the Church doesn’t have any further disciplinary authority over him … and cannot police his life,” said Jim Naughton, spokesman for Rhode Island Episcopal Bishop W. Nicholas Knisely Jr. and Bishop Audrey Scanlan, of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania, who removed White from the priesthood.

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

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By Jenna Ross Star Tribune OCTOBER 11, 2016

The Rev. Tim Power didn’t lecture or teach. He didn’t quite preach. Instead, he told stories, expertly weaving them through the thousands of homilies he gave over his 24 years at Pax Christi Catholic Community in Eden Prairie.

Power told them inside and outside the church’s walls, with and often without his clerical collar. His stories were warm, wise and often self-deprecating.

“He was a storyteller,” said Patricia Baumer, a Pax Christi parishioner since 1989. “He helped people — and this is the highest praise I can give — he helped people encounter God in their own story.”

As the church’s founding pastor, Power also encouraged others to preach, bringing lay people to the front of the sanctuary. He was “more like an orchestra conductor,” Baumer said, “who drew out the best gifts of the baptized.”

Father Tim, as his thousands of parishioners knew him, died Sept. 21. He was 76. …

Power led a movement to start a local chapter of Voice of the Faithful, a grass-roots group born in the outrage over the scandal of sexual abuse by priests. He was among more than 100 active and retired priests who signed a letter imploring the Vatican to make celibacy optional for priests.

In 2012, as the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis fought for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, Power was among dozens of retired priests who signed a letter opposing the ban.

“Tim stood within the church,” said the Rev. John Bauer, pastor at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, “but was always willing to challenge issues and people that were of concern for him.”

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

MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

[with video]

WINONA, Minn. (WCCO) — A Minnesota woman calls it the untold story in the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal. Jeanie Hansen says a priest beat and raped her when she went to college in Winona. Other women came forward with similar claims against the same man but the priest was never publicly named as doing anything wrong.

“I grew up looking to the church when you needed help. That’s what the church was about,” Hansen said.

Sunday Mass always marked the start of a new week for Hansen. Hansen grew up in southern Minnesota, went to an all-girls Catholic high school, settling on a similar setting in Winona for college.

She pursued a career in religious administration at St. Teresa’s in the late 70s. She met Father John Surprenant, the chaplain at the college, in her second year.

“You have to understand he was one of the only men on campus. Girls would hang on every word,” Hansen said.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Bedfordshire on Sunday

THE lawyer of 40 victims who suffered vile abuse at the hands of priests, nuns and other staff at a Shefford children’s home dubbed the ‘orphanage from hell’ has warned the fight for compensation will be a long one.

Tracey Emmott, a specialist child abuse lawyer working at Bedford-based Emmott Snell solicitors, said civil action against St Francis Children’s Society is now under ‘immediate consideration’ after criminal proceedings were brought to an end yesterday.

Her clients, now in their 60s, wept in court as they told how their lives were devastated by the abuse they suffered as children at the St Francis Boys Home in Shefford.

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

MISSOURI
Kansas City Star

BY JUDY L. THOMAS
jthomas@kcstar.com

A St. Louis seminary about to honor a Kansas priest for 60 years in the ministry pulled his name from the program after learning he’d been suspended five years ago by the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas for substantiated sexual abuse claims.

Kenrick-Glennon Seminary was alerted to the case of the Rev. George Seuferling not by the archdiocese, but by two of the priest’s victims.

Seuferling, 85, was to be recognized last week as part of the seminary’s annual Alumni Day celebration. He was listed as a “Diamond Jubilarian” from the seminary class of 1956.

“I was horrified that they were going to celebrate 60 years of priesthood, which was actually 60 years of violating the vows he took,” said Laurel Menne-Dibb, one of the victims who contacted the seminary. “It feels like we’re being victimized all over again.”

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

OSTERREICH
APA

Plattform Betroffener kirchlicher Gewalt und Heimkinder kritisieren parlamentarischen „Staatsakt“ zu Missbrauch

Wien (OTS) – Eine sogenannte “Geste der Verantwortung” zur sexuellen Gewalt durch die Kirche haben Kardinal Schönborn und Parlamentspräsidentin Doris Bures nun für den 17.11 angekündigt. Die verstorbene NR-Präsidentin Barbara Prammer hatte hier mehr Feingefühl bewiesen und hat vor drei Jahren eine Veranstaltung der kircheneigenen Klasnic-Kommission unter Ausschluss der betroffenen Kirchenopfer im Hohen Haus unterbunden

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Regersburg Digital

[Initial results of the Regensburg cathedral school investigation will be made public on Wednesday.]

Von Stefan Aigner

Am morgigen Mittwoch stellen Betroffene und Bischof Rudolf Voderholzer erste Ergebnisse aus dem gemeinsamen Aufarbeitungsgremium vor.

Es war ein langer Weg, seit sich Betroffene von Gewalt und Missbrauch bei den Regensburger im Jahr 2010 zum ersten Mal vernehmlich an die Öffentlichkeit wandten. Ein Weg der – vornehmlich unter der Verantwortung des damaligen Bischofs Gerhard Ludwig Müller – teilweise einem Spießrutenlauf gleichkam, der von Verzögerungen, Schweigen und Aussitzen gekennzeichnet war und in dessen Zuge sich Betroffene als Lügner, Nestbeschmutzer und Weicheier beschimpfen lassen mussten.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
BR

[It is probably one of the greatest abuse and cases of abuse in the Catholic Church in Germany: In the Regensburger Domspatzen at least 231 students are victims of physical and about 50 other victims of sexual violence has come forward. An investigation has been going on for several months and early results are expected Wednesday.]

11.10.2016 von Christian Wölfel und Eckhart Querner

Es ist wohl einer der größten Missbrauchs- und Misshandlungsfälle in der katholischen Kirche in Deutschland: Bei den Regensburger Domspatzen sind mindestens 231 Schüler Opfer körperlicher und etwa 50 weitere Opfer sexueller Gewalt geworden, vor allem in den 1970er- und 1980er-Jahren. Seit Februar berät ein Aufarbeitungsgremium, wie ihnen geholfen werden kann. Am Mittwoch soll es erste Ergebnisse geben.

Alexander Probst und Peter Schmitt haben lange gekämpft. Sie stehen nur exemplarisch für viele ehemalige Domspatzen, die seit Jahren auf ihr Schicksal aufmerksam machen. Doch lange hat ihnen das Bistum Regensburg offenbar nicht richtig zugehört, wenn sie berichteten – über Missbrauch und Misshandlung bei den Regensburger Domspatzen.

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

ILLINOIS
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

By Jesse Bogan St. Louis Post-Dispatch

ST. LOUIS • A lawsuit filed Tuesday in St. Clair County, Ill., alleges the Belleville Diocese “created a foreseeable zone of risk of sexual abuse and exploitation” by a Roman Catholic priest.

The Rev. Osang Idagbo, currently the parish administrator at Saints Peter and Paul Church in Waterloo, is accused of manipulating a vulnerable woman between December 2013 and July 2015, while she sought his counsel about becoming Catholic and getting through a rough relationship with her husband.

The lawsuit alleges sexual contact happened between Idagbo and Laura Merleau-McGrady at the rectory at Saints Peter and Paul, at the plaintiff’s home and at various locations.

Idagbo is not named as a defendant in the case, only the diocese, which is accused of negligent supervision of him. The suit seeks more than $50,000 in compensation.

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

ILLINOIS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release, October 11, 2016

Statement by Laura Merleau-McGrady, suing Fr. Osang Idagbo

Once I began learning more of the stories of others who had similar experiences to mine, I realized that my spiritual and emotional suffering were not unique and I needed to do something to help others avoid falling into the same trap into which I fell. So I am filing this lawsuit to add to the growing number of voices trying to bring to light the corrupt system in the Catholic Church that encourages, allows, and does nothing to stop priests from becoming predators.

I implore anyone with information about Father Idagbo’s misconduct with women to come forward and report what they know. To anyone else that Father Idagbo may have hurt, I want you to know that you will not be alone if you come forward. This lawsuit is not about money for me. It is about justice for what has been done to me and so many other women by predator priests.

Statement by David Clohessy of SNAP

Many overlook or minimize the horrific manipulation and abuse of vulnerable parishioners by powerful predatory priests. But it’s widespread and devastating. For the safety of the flock bishops must suspend clerics who violate adults or children.

Catholics are taught that priests are holy, celibate men who represent God on earth and can guarantee them eternal life by forgiving their sins. Given that kind of power, it’s no wonder many clerics abuse it for their selfish sexual gratification.

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

KANSAS
The Kansas City Star

BY TORIANO PORTER
tporter@kcstar.com

In a case scheduled to go to jury trial next year, a judge has ruled that two victims of sexual assault who filed a civil lawsuit against a Lenexa church will remain anonymous in court proceedings.

Johnson County District Court Judge Kevin Moriarty granted the plantiffs’ motion to proceed in the case using pseudonyms for the young victims and their mother. The ruling was issued Sept. 20.

Two girls — identified as Jane Doe 31 and Jane Doe 32 in court papers — and their guardian sued Westside Family Church in June, saying it knowingly let teen sex offender Kessler Lichtenegger be around kids.

Lichtenegger pleaded guilty last year to attempted rape and attempted electronic solicitation involving the two victims, who at the time were under age 14 and attended the church. He is serving a 17-year sentence for those crimes.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article105972327.html#storylink=cpy

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

PENNSYLVANIA
The Eagle

ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) — A teacher at a central Pennsylvania Catholic elementary school has been suspended for “inappropriate” but not sexual behavior toward a student.

Altoona-Johnstown diocese spokesman Tony DeGol announced the suspension Monday.

It involves an unnamed teacher at Holy Trinity Catholic School, a Pre-K through 8th grade school in Altoona.

DeGol says the “alleged behavior is not sexual in nature” but the diocese has suspended the teacher while the school reviews the allegations.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

October 12, 2016

DAN BOX
Crime reporterSydney
@DanBox10

The country’s police commissioners will discuss during a meeting later this month whether to offer a historic apology to the victims of child sex abuse.

It follows rolling protests across the country, including outside the Queensland police headquarters in Brisbane yesterday, where former victims have said officers often refused to ­believe them when they came forward.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton, whose force established the dedicated Taskforce Sano to investigate historic and new allegations of child abuse, will take the proposal to the Australian and New Zealand Police Commissioners Forum on October 19.

Leonie Sheedy, whose Care Leavers Australasia Network has led the recent protests, said police often returned victims to their abusers without asking any questions, and on occasion became abusers themselves. “We want an apology for children not being believed. We want an apology ­because of the inaction,” she said.

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

ILLINOIS
Belleville News-Democrat

BY GEORGE PAWLACZYK
gpawlaczyk@bnd.com

BELLEVILLE

A group that supports victims of sexual abuse by clergy has scheduled a demonstration for 1 p.m. today outside the chancery for the Diocese of Belleville to draw attention to allegations of sexual misconduct by a priest who came here from Africa.

The St. Louis-based Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests is holding the event on behalf of the alleged victim.

David Clohessy, director of SNAP, said the woman plans to file a lawsuit against the priest and the diocese. The suit has not yet been filed.

A draft of the lawsuit alleges a sexual relationship over four years with a female parishioner, who is now out of the country, and the priest. The suit alleges the priest used his position as a religious counselor to sexually take advantage of her.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Alice Ross and agencies
Tuesday 11 October 2016

Dame Lowell Goddard received £80,000 in pay and allowances when she quit as head of the inquiry into child sexual abuse, the Home Office has confirmed.

The New Zealand high court judge received a severance payment of two months’ salary and flights home when she resigned 18 months after being hired by the then home secretary, Theresa May.

Goddard quit in August, saying the inquiry had been beset by a “legacy of failure”. Her resignation came the day after the Times reported that she had spent three months on holiday or abroad in her first year in the job.

The wide-ranging inquiry into historical sex abuse was launched in July 2014 in the wake of allegations of cover-ups of abuse by Jimmy Savile and the Lib Dem MP Cyril Smith.

Goddard’s appointment in February 2015 made her Britain’s highest-paid civil servant, with an annual salary and allowances of almost £500,000. The inquiry also spent £75,000 on travel to and from New Zealand for Goddard and her family, a financial report published by the inquiry shows.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Lancaster Online

Bishop Audrey Scanlan of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania on Monday removed the Rev. Howard White from the priesthood.

White, 75, was among several adults who sexually abused students at St. George’s School in Middleton, Rhode Island in the 1970s and 80s, according to a report released recently by independent investigators on behalf of the school.

In the wake of media reports about sexual abuse at St. George’s, several people from other Episcopal dioceses in which White had worked said that he sexually abused them when they were young.

“We are committed to keeping God’s children safe, and we are heartbroken when we fail,” Scanlan said. “My hope is that the appalling events documented at St. George’s School will lead our church to intensify its efforts to protect young people in every setting, and continue our commitment to preventing abuse with thorough training for clergy, staff and volunteers who work with children.”

According to a press release from the diocese, White accepted the notice that he is no longer a priest, which the church refers to as a “deposition,” but did not admit guilt. Scanlan had placed him on leave in January when the allegations first surfaced, and prohibited him from functioning as a priest or being alone with minors. White retired in 2006, but was serving as a supply priest on weekends at St. James Episcopal Church in Bedford.

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

UNITED STATES
Ponder Anew

October 10, 2016 by Jonathan Aigner

I’m reminded today of how the church often responds to male violence against women. And I’m angry. I’m so pissed off right now.

I’m angry because we’re still having these kinds of conversations.

I’m angry because my wife had to grow up in a culture where catcalls and roaming hands were inevitable.

I’m angry because convicted rapists are given their lives back while their victims continue to cower in shame, self-loathing, and fear.

I’m angry because the evangelical denomination I grew up in still refuses to acknowledge the full humanity of women.

I’m angry because churches continue to blame victims, protect abusers, and silence the story.

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

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY
KENNETH LOVETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF
Monday, October 10, 2016

ALBANY — State Senate Democrats are expected to make passage of a bill making it easier for child sex abuse victims to seek justice as adults one of their first priorities if they win the majority this fall.

Several Democrats say they expect the Child Victims Act will be among the first bills passed if the Democrats take control of the chamber.

Gary Greenberg, an investor who created the Fighting For Children political action committee to help elect a Democratic Senate majority, said he was told the same thing by Senate Deputy Democratic Leader Michael Gianaris.

“We’re expecting it to be one of the first bills brought up right in January,” said Greenberg, himself a sexual abuse survivor. “He said the Democratic caucus is behind it.”

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

GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Oct 11, 2016

By Nestor Licanto

It is the most important day of the year for honoring the faithful departed. Catholics will commemorate All Souls Day in just three weeks, and the newly-appointed head of the Catholic Cemeteries of Guam says he will not let the recent controversy over alleged misspending distract from getting the facilities ready. Joey Duenas was named the interim administrator of Catholic Cemeteries, as part of sweeping changes announced by Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, who replaced all but one of the former board members.

Duenas says he has a job to do, and time is running short. He added, “I’m trying to prepare the three cemeteries which is Pigo, Togcha, and Agat, for All Souls Day and allowing the faith community of Guam to come and pray at the gravesites of their loved ones.”

The Catholic Cemeteries board came under scrutiny after the previous members alleged that former administrator, Monsignor James Benavente, diverted cemetery monies to pay for a personal birthday celebration. But Benavente has since been exonerated by Archbishop Hon, and Duenas considers it a closed case. He adds that under the bylaws, removal of the board is also within the archbishop’s power as the sole member of the corporation.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

Sean O’Neill, Chief Reporter
October 11 2016
The Times

The judge who resigned as head of the national public inquiry into child abuse received a severance package worth about £90,000, the Home Office said last night.

Dame Justice Lowell Goddard was paid two months’ salary plus allowances, amounting to more than £80,000, plus the price of two business-class tickets back to New Zealand for her and her husband after she suddenly quit the inquiry in August.

The severance deal was approved by Amber Rudd, the home secretary.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By TIM SCULTHORPE, MAILONLINE DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR

The New Zealand judge who quit as head of the massive public inquiry into child abuse has received a pay off worth £90,000.

Dame Lowell Goddard, who was in the post for just 18 months, had been on a total salary and benefits package worth almost £500,000.

Dame Lowell became the third chairwoman to walk out on the multi-million pound inquiry in August, throwing the beleaguered probe into a new crisis.

Her £80,000 severance, plus business class flights to New Zealand, was agreed by Home Secretary Amber Rudd and brought her total payments to almost £700,000 for 18 months in charge of an inquiry that has not yet heard any evidence.

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

OREGON
KOBI

Klamath Falls, Ore. – A former pastor of a Klamath Falls church pleads ‘guilty’ to sex charges involving a member of his congregation.

Larry Murrell entered a change of plea Monday morning to two misdemeanor counts of third-degree sexual abuse.

Klamath County District Attorney Rob Patridge says Murrell was arrested in October of 2015 after a woman told police she had been molested at Murrell’s home.

“There was some kind of massage technique that the pastor was using,” said Patridge. “But it was very sexual, and got way out of hand.”

Prior to his arrest, Murrell served as a minster at the House Of Prayer For All Nations.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By DARREN BOYLE FOR MAILONLINE

A former scout leader at a care home linked to Jimmy Savile and dubbed the ‘orphanage from hell’ has been jailed for three and a half years for molesting vulnerable young boys in the 1960s, it can now be reported.

John Cahill, now 74, from Bedford, was sentenced at the Old Bailey in March after pleading guilty to six counts of indecent assault on four boys aged between 10 and 14 at St Francis, Shefford.

His convictions can only be reported following the conclusion of a trial against James McCann, 80, of Swaffam, Norfolk, who was also charged with abusing children at the home run by the Catholic Church.

Savile was a regular visitor to the area and is believed to have attended the chapel at the home.
Cahill’s victims, now in their 60s, wept in court as they told how their lives were devastated by the abuse they suffered as children.

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

RHODE ISLAND
Providence Journal

By Karen Lee Ziner
Journal Staff Writer

The Rev. Howard “Howdy” White Jr., one of a half dozen named perpetrators in the sex-abuse scandal that embroiled St. George’s School in Middletown this year, was removed from the Episcopal priesthood on Monday.

Bishop Audrey Scanlan of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania issued a statement Monday evening. White, who lives in Bedford, Pennsylvania, could not be reached for comment. Now retired, he had been serving there as a fill-in priest at St. James Episcopal Church.

White’s removal — after an ecclesiastical investigation — may be the first formal action taken against any of the named perpetrators (one is deceased) since the scandal broke last December at the elite Episcopal prep school.

An independent investigation found that least 61 students were sexually abused in the 1970s and ’80s at the school: the Sept. 1 report of that investigation named six former staff or faculty (one of whom is deceased), and nine credible reports of student-on-student assaults.

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

CANADA
Ottawa Citizen

ANDREW DUFFY, OTTAWA CITIZEN

A woman scarred by clergy sex abuse is furious that the Archdiocese of Ottawa will not tell her if or when it will seek to defrock the Catholic priest who preyed upon her as a young teenager.

Colleen Passard said she’s being “stonewalled” by the diocese in her attempts to obtain information about the status of the review of Rev. Barry McGrory. That review is the first step in the laicization process described by Canon Law, the governing code of the Catholic Church.

“Failure to strip a sexual predator of the sacred covenant of the priesthood is a collusion with darkness,” Passard charged in a letter of complaint to the diocese, shared with the Citizen.

More than four months ago, the diocese announced that it would consider initiating the process required to have McGrory removed from the priesthood.

As part of that process, Passard met in person with Rev. Christian Riesbeck, Auxilliary Bishop of Ottawa, and prepared a victim impact statement at his request.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Bedfordshire on Sunday

A PAEDOPHILE scout master at a Shefford children’s home linked to Jimmy Savile has been jailed for sexually abusing boys in the 1960s, it can now be revealed.

John Cahill, 73, attacked four boys, aged between 10 and 15 years old, while leading the scout troop at the Catholic St Francis Boys Home, in Shefford, Bedfordshire.

The case can be reported after a jury found former housemaster James McCann, 80, abused 26 children, aged between eight and 12, in the 1960s and 1970s.

The cruelty was said to be orchestrated by Father John Ryan, who died in 2008, and prosecutor Matthew Walsh said there was a culture of ill-treatment in the home run by ‘nuns and priests from hell’.

Savile was a regular visitor to the area and is believed to have attended the chapel at the home.

The Old Bailey heard Ryan and several nuns would have been prosecuted if they were still alive today.

The Catholic Church has paid out compensation to two victims and more are pursuing civil claims in a class action.

But Cahill, of Chandos Court, Bedford, was the only person to be jailed for any criminal offences at St Francis after pleading guilty to six counts of indecent assault at the Old Bailey.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Bedfordshire on Sunday

TODAY James McCann, 80, was found to have responsible for 42 charges of physical and sexual assaults against young boys at St Fancis Boys’ Home in Shefford.

Now he shares his view on the outcome.

It was 1997 and I was asked to meet someone who had a complaint about a former Catholic Boys Home.

The newsroom was not that excited and I was told not to take too long.

That was the first time I met Damian Chittock. He told me about Shefford Boys Home, run by the Catholic Church where the residents were mainly abandoned or orphaned boys between the ages of six and seven.

Damian said he had suffered abuse, both physical and sexual, and that such abuse was rife in the home.

Damian named several priests, who committed this abuse over several years, who were aided and abetted by the nuns and some helpers who came into the home.

The chief perpetrators were Father John Ryan, who ran the home in the 1960s, until 1973 when it was closed down, and his brother Gerry. But they were not the only ones.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Bedfordshire on Sunday

A CHILDREN’S charity has described two men found guilty of physical and sexual abuse at a Catholic children’s home in Shefford as ‘monsters’.

James McCann, 80, of Suffield Court, Swaffham, Norfolk, a former housemaster at the home, was found by a jury today to have been responsible for 42 charges of physical and sexual assaults against residents.

He was given an absolute discharge at The Old Bailey on medical grounds, having suffered a stroke.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
The Comet

10 October 2016 Layth Yousif

A former carer at a Shefford boys’ home physically or sexually abused 25 boys during the 1960s, a hearing at the Old Bailey has found today.

James McCann, 80, from Swaffham, Norfolk, was deemed unfit to stand trial relating to abuse at St Francis Boys’ Home – however a trial of facts regarding 50 charges was heard in his absence. The jury found that 42 charges were proven today.

They included a total of 30 charges of actual bodily harm and 12 counts of indecent assault.

He was cleared of a further eight charges – four indecent assaults and four physical assaults.

The Old Bailey heard McCann had joined the home in 1965 when he was 29 and worked there until it closed in 1974.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A housemaster has been found to have abused children decades ago at a Catholic orphanage, run by the “nuns and priests from Hell”.

James McCann, 80, who worked at the St Francis Boys’ Home, Shefford, Bedfordshire, in the 1960s, was found unfit to plea due to ill health.

But a trial of the facts found 42 of 50 charges of physical and sexual assaults on 25 boys to be proven.

The judge granted McCann an absolute discharge on all of the counts.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
ITV

A scout leader at a Catholic children’s home branded the “orphanage from hell” has been jailed for molesting young boys in the 1960s.

John Cahill pleaded guilty to six counts of indecent assault on four boys aged between 10 and 14 at St Francis Home for Boys in Shefford, Bedfordshire.

His victims, now in their 60s, wept in court as they told how their lives were devastated by the abuse.

Cahill was jailed for three and a half years at the Old Bailey in March but it can only be reported now.

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

IOWA
Daily Nonpareil

Posted: Monday, October 10, 2016

CLARINDA – A charge of soliciting prostitution against a southwest Iowa Catholic priest was dropped after he decided to return to Ghana, his native country in Africa, according to Fremont County court records.

The Rev. Dominic Yamoah, 41, of Clarinda was arrested on Saturday, July 9, accused of trying to get an undercover investigator to perform sex acts for pay. The arrest was made in Hamburg.

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

ILLINOIS
The Messenger

by Liz Quirin on July 28, 2016
Msgr. Joseph R. Schwaegel died July 13 at St. Paul’s Home in Belleville. He was 79.

A graduate of Cathedral High School in Belleville, he received a master’s degree in music from the University of Illinois in Champaign, Ill. He attended Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis and St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Ill.

Ordained in May 1965 by Bishop Albert R. Zuroweste, he was an associate pastor at St. Mary in Trenton and administrator of St. Bernard in Albers for three months, then named a chaplain at the Meredith Home in Belleville for one year. In 1967, he was named a chaplain to the Academy of Notre Dame in Belleville and associate pastor at St. Peter Cathedral.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Courier

Melissa CunninghamMelissa Cunningham
@MeljCunningham

10 Oct 2016

A leading Victorian judge has called for the urgent roll-out of a national redress scheme for victims of childhood sexual abuse.

In her landmark sentencing of disgraced paedophile priest Robert Claffey,73, at the Geelong County Court last week, Judge Felicity Hampel called for the establishment of redress scheme which provided genuine apologies and fully funded adequate compensation to all victims of sexual abuse.

Claffey unleashed a 22-year reign of terror on children across western Victoria.

He is likely to die behind bars after being jailed for 18 years and four months.

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

CHICAGO (IL)
Daily Herald

The Archdiocese of Chicago will hold its annual Mass for Hope and Healing, celebrated for the ongoing healing of child and youth sexual abuse survivors, their families and the Church, at 11 a.m. Saturday, October 29, at Holy Family Parish, 1080 W. Roosevelt Road in Chicago.

The Rev. Lawrence R. Dowling, pastor of St. Agatha Parish in Chicago, will be the main celebrant and the Very Rev. Jeffrey S. Grob, chancellor for the archdiocese, will be the homilist. Music will be led by and performed by the St. Agatha Parish choir.

This year the Mass also will also recognize the fifth anniversary of the Archdiocese of Chicago Healing Garden, located directly adjacent to Holy Family Church.

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

GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Neil Pang | Post News Staff

A release from the Archdiocese of Agana named the members of the newly reconstituted Catholic Cemeteries of Guam Inc. board of directors.

Rev. Jeff San Nicolas, delegate of the apostolic administrator, announced the new members yesterday as a result of the resignation of the previous board. According to the statement, the previous board resigned on Oct. 7 at the behest of Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Agana.

The new board comprises Wayne Santos, Daniel Tydingco, Gregory Perez, John Cruz and Gerald Taitano. Additionally, Joseph Duenas was appointed as interim administrator of Catholic Cemeteries of Guam Inc. and replaced Rev. Jose Alberto Rodriguez-Salamanca, who was relieved of his duties.

The resignation of the previous board and the subsequent reconstitution came as a result of a complaint that was filed with the Guam Police Department regarding allegations of financial mismanagement against Monsignor James Benavente. Benavente had previously been removed from his post as rector of the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica in 2014 by Archbishop Anthony Apuron on grounds of financial mismanagement and was publicly defamed by the archbishop.

On Oct. 1, Benavente was cleared of all wrongdoing by San Nicolas on behalf of Hon, and was assigned as parochial vicar of St. Anthony Church in Tamuning. Following the announcement, a report was filed with GPD and the attorney general’s office by the then-board of directors of Catholic Cemeteries, alleging the misuse of cemeteries funds for Benavente’s 20th anniversary celebrations.

In a subsequent release, the church declared that the allegations made against Benavente in the complaint had already been addressed and had been concluded to be unfounded.

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

CALIFORNIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Statement by Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach, SNAP western regional director (949) 322-7434 cell, jcasteix@gmail.com

A San Diego priest, Fr. Jacob Betrand, has been criminally charged with sexual assault in Minnesota. He’s also been accused of paying his victim to keep her quiet. But what we find even more troubling is the fact that church officials in San Diego may have known about the allegations for at least four years and did nothing to alert Catholics of the risk.

Bertrand only stepped down when he learned that criminal charges were imminent.

[NBC San Diego]

He now faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Bishop Robert McElroy, like his brother bishops, has promised complete transparency when it comes to sexual abuse and assault. Yet, for the second time this year, he has turned a blind eye to the safety of parishioners who encounter his priests and former priests.

[The Worthy Adversary]

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

NEW YORK
Noaker Law Firm

By Attorney Patrick Noaker

(New York, NY – Friday, October 7, 2016) At a press conference in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, Sexual Abuse attorneys along with survivors of sexual abuse warned that Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s recently proposed “Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program” for those who have survived abuse by priests or deacons of the archdiocese, may be a bait-and-switch that could re-victimize survivors of abuse.

Click Here to Watch Video of Press Conference

Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests, national President, David Clohessy, urged survivors to use caution and to work with an experienced attorney before participating in Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s new sexual abuse survivor compensation plan. “We are urging survivors to think long and hard before they march down to the Church headquarters under this plan” said Clohessy. Clohessy also proposed that Cardinal Dolan set up a whistleblower fund for current or former employees of the Archdiocese who report suspected child sexual abuse.

“It appears that Cardinal Dolan’s compensation plan is the same bait-and-switch that he used in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee,” said Minneapolis attorney Patrick Noaker. Noaker outlined then, Archbishop Dolan’s Milwaukee plan that was the subject of dozens of claims of fraud by survivors who participated the Archdiocese of Milwaukee mediation process. Noaker specifically referred to the case of John Doe, Claimant A-49, where a survivor of sexual abuse by Fr. David Hanser sought to have the mediated settlement set aside because the Archdiocese of Milwaukee had fraudulently induced him to settle by giving him misleading information about when the Archdiocese first received reports of abuse by Fr. Hanser. See also Claimant A-282.

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

BALTIMORE
Der Waechter

[Unmasked: Archdiocese of Baltimore publishes the names of 71 priests who sexually abuse children.]

Im Juli 2014 offenbarte Papst Franziskus, das Oberhaupt der römisch-katholischen Kirche, dass ungefähr einer von fünfzig Pfarrern der Kirche pädophil ist.

Papst Franziskus beschrieb diese Situation als eine ‚Lepra-Seuche‘, welche die Kirche auf der ganzen Welt infiziert hat. Der Papst enthüllte außerdem, das sogar Bischöfe und Kardinäle unter den 2% Pädophilen zu finden sind, die Kinder in der Kirche sexuell missbrauchen.

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

NEDERLAND
Abdjvan Berne

[The black pages of the abuse.]

Aan het begin van 2010 kwam een groot aantal voorvallen van seksueel misbruik naar buiten. Wat in enkele omringende landen sterk in de openbaarheid was gekomen, kreeg een nadrukkelijk vervolg in ons land. Het aantal meldingen van misbruik noodzaakte veel religieuze oversten en bisschoppen een diepgaand onderzoek in te stellen. Onder leiding van oud-politicus dr. W.J. Deetman werd op verzoek van de Konferentie Nederlandse Religieuzen en de Nederlandse bisschoppen een onderzoek gedaan naar seksueel misbruik van minderjarigen in de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk in Nederland.

Door: Denis Hendrickx

Op 16 december 2011 publiceerde de commissie Deetman het eindrapport. Daarna heeft de heer Deetman nog onderzoek verricht naar seksueel misbruik van en fysiek en psychisch geweld jegens minderjarige vrouwen in de Rooms-Katholieke kerk. De afhandeling van klachten van seksueel misbruik wordt vanaf 2010 verricht door een onafhankelijke stichting ‘Beheer en Toezicht inzake Seksueel Misbruik Rooms-Katholieke Kerk’, waaronder de klachtencommissie die belast is met de beoordeling van de klachten en de compensatiecommissie die belast is met de beoordeling van de schadeclaims.

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

MEXIKO
Spiegel

[girl raped – penalty: two cases of beer]

In der indigenen Gemeinde in Santiago Quetzalapa im mexikanischen Bundesstaat Oaxaca soll es zu einem schändlichen Verbrechen gekommen sein: Am 12. September soll ein 55-jähriger ehemalige Pastor einer örtlichen evangelischen Gemeinde ein achtjähriges Mädchen sexuell missbraucht haben.

Laut Berichten von Lokalzeitungen wandten sich die Eltern des Kindes zunächst direkt an den mutmaßlichen Täter. Dessen Ehefrau habe sie aber abgewimmelt und behauptet, das Mädchen habe ihren Mann “verführt”.

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

FRANCE
La Croix

[In a letter to the priests of his diocese dated Thursday, October 5, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, archbishop of Paris, talks about the sexual abuse issues. “The long-term treatment of sexual or pedophile assaults should continue quietly but methodically,” he wrote.]

L’archevêque de Paris demande notamment aux prêtres de son diocèse « de ne pas accepter d’être parrain de baptême ou de confirmation ».

Dans une lettre aux prêtres de son diocèse datée du jeudi 5 octobre, le cardinal André Vingt-Trois, archevêque de Paris, revient sur les questions d’abus sexuels. « Le traitement à long terme des agressions sexuelles ou pédophiles doit se poursuivre sereinement mais méthodiquement », écrit-il. Concernant la prévention de ces abus, outre un renvoi aux instruments de travail fournis par la Conférence des évêques de France, il demande à chacun de « faire un sérieux examen de conscience sur l’exercice de la prudence dans ses relations pastorales et personnelles ».

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