ABUSE TRACKER

VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service
9.15.2016

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Though it has no juridical power, Pope Francis’ committee on protecting children has discovered it has consultative punch.

Members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors have now become the go-to team for educating bishops, Vatican diplomats in training and Curia staffers, religious orders and local churches about safeguarding children, adolescents and vulnerable adults and protecting them against sexual abuse.

More than two years after Pope Francis established this advisory body and 16 months after its statutes were approved, “the openness is finally there” to tap into the papal think tank and take advantage of its expertise, said Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, a commission member, psychologist and president of the Center for Child Protection at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University.

“The interest in doing something is growing fast,” he told Catholic News Service. The commission’s experts — including an abuse survivor — have been called on to speak all over the world and, this year, at the Vatican as well. They have addressed staff at the offices overseeing clergy, bishops, religious and future papal diplomats, providing them with a priority list of what to do.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Maureen Fiedler | Sep. 15, 2016

NCR reported that the Council of Cardinals, an advisory group to Pope Francis, has been discussing the process for selecting bishops. And evidently, the role of Apostolic Nuncios (the ones who usually recommend candidates for bishops in various dioceses) was discussed extensively.

What was apparently missing from the discussion was the ancient form of selecting bishops, highly relevant in today’s world. It’s a method used today — with some variations — by the Episcopal, Lutheran and Methodist churches. It was also a method used in the first centuries of the Christian church (before any denominations), and it’s a method that should resonate in the modern world.

It’s called election. In other words, why not devise a system to elect bishops? Let the people of a diocese choose their bishop(s). Now, this would require some process for nominations, probably presentations by the candidates either in a public forum or at least in writing, and formal voting. Eligibility for voting ought to include both women and men in good standing in a given diocese … probably 18 years of age or older, as in our secular election system. Or, if one wanted to dilute the democratic process a bit, election might be done by lay delegates who are elected by parishioners.

In any event, this would revive the system for bishop selection that predominated in the earliest centuries of the church. An early history of this practice by Juicio Brennan says that, “In these early centuries, the nominations and elections of bishops were done solely by a popular vote of all the faithful. St. Cyprian believed elections prevented unworthy persons from becoming bishops.” He also notes that “by the middle of the third century … evidence shows that women were beginning to be excluded from the voting.” Obviously, that would be unacceptable today.

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CANADA/ISRAEL/GUATEMALA
National Post (Canada)

Graeme Hamilton and Peter Kuitenbrouwer | September 14, 2016

Spurred by officials in Israel, child-protection authorities in Guatemala have raided an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect whose members fled Canada in 2014 after they came under investigation.

About 200 police, crown prosecutors and representatives of the attorney general’s office executed a search warrant targeting the Lev Tahor community Tuesday, said Salvador Soto, a lawyer for the Lev Tahor community.

He said the community members responded with shock because “most of the families were asleep” when police arrived at dawn at the apartments where the Lev Tahor families live in Guatemala City’s Ninth Zone.

“They were waving around their guns, and the families were terrified,” Soto said. “They entered by force because the families wanted to keep them out.”

A statement Tuesday from Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it is in close contact with Guatemalan authorities over concerns that the children of Lev Tahor members, many of them Israeli citizens, are suffering abuse.

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RHODE ISLAND
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: B. Samuel Turillo was ordained for the Diocese of Providence in 1946. He assisted in parishes in Warwick, Providence, West Warwick, Cranston, Barrington and Woonsocket, and he served as a hospital chaplain. In 1971 he was named pastor of St. Joseph’s in Hope Valley, followed in 1979 by Sacred in West Warwick. He retired in 1994. In June 2016 the diocese announced that Turillo was “prohibited from exercising the sacred ministry” due to a credible allegation against him of sexual misconduct with a minor which occurred about 60 years previously.

Ordained: 1946
Retired: 1994

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Tawar Razaghi

The Catholic Church took two years to defrock New South Wales paedophile priest John Joseph Farrell after a report found he posed a risk to children, a royal commission has heard.

Former Armidale Bishop Luc Matthys has been giving evidence to the commission as it looks into how the church dealt with decades of abuse allegations made against Farrell.

In 2003, the church received a damning report commissioned by Encompass, a church-based organisation, that identified Farrell’s pattern of behaviour as being long term and that he was “accountable to no-one”.

When questioned why the church did not act immediately on the report, Bishop Matthys said the process at the time was arduous.

“In those days you couldn’t get a laicisation [de-frocking] done without the cooperation and knowledge of the person,” Bishop Matthys said.

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IOWA
Quad-City Times

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Sioux City Diocese says five more people have made allegations of years-ago sexual abuse by a now deceased priest.

The Sioux City Journal reports (http://bit.ly/2cHLGLb ) that the diocese also confirmed Wednesday that it has reached a settlement with the man who first came forward with allegations against the Rev. Peter Murphy, who served in several northwest Iowa parishes from the 1950s through the 1970s.

Spokeswoman Kristie Arlt says Bishop Walker Nickless is reaching out to the people who’ve contacted the diocese since June, when the diocesan newspaper asked readers for information about sexual misconduct by Murphy, who died in 1980.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

September 16, 2016

DAN BOX
Crime reporterSydney
@DanBox10

George Pell was told about child abuse committed by a pedophile Catholic priest a decade before a police strike force was set up to investigate the man’s crimes, a royal commission has heard.

The priest, John Farrell, was the subject of repeated allegations received by the church as early as 1984, but was jailed only after the strike force was set up in 2012 following media reports.

Farrell is also alleged to have confessed during a meeting with three senior clerics to abusing five altar boys in the Armidale diocese in northern NSW in 1992, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard. One of the clerics, John Usher, later worked with Cardinal Pell as chancellor of the Sydney archdiocese.

Farrell, also known as Father F, was convicted in May of 62 ­offences against 12 victims.

Cardinal Pell, now a senior Vatican official, has been named in evidence during several hearings and has given evidence in person relating to his time in ­Ballarat, Melbourne and Sydney.

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

Cindy Wooden
September 14, 2016
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis and members of his Council of Cardinals advising him on church governance once again discussed ways to improve the process of identifying the best priests to become bishops.

“The cardinals reflected broadly on the spiritual and pastoral profile necessary for a bishop today,” said Greg Burke, director of the Vatican press office.

Meeting with Pope Francis Sept. 12-14, they also discussed “the theme of the Holy See’s diplomatic service and the formation and tasks of apostolic nuncios with particular attention to their great responsibility in the choice of candidates for the episcopacy,” Burke said in a statement.

At their April meeting, the pope and cardinals also had spoken about the process of choosing new bishops and they looked specifically at the questionnaire that nuncios send around to bishops, priests and others asking their opinions about certain candidates.

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NEW ZEALAND
TVNZ

[with video]

Emily Cooper
ONE News Reporter

Grant West was a victim of sexual abuse as a boy and for the past month he has spent his time travelling New Zealand to collect signatures.

His petition, presented to MPs today, asks for a Royal Commission into the handling of historic child sexual abuse.

“I’m 54 now and I’m living with this every day – I have nightmares at night, I have flashbacks,” Mr West said.

It’s estimated that one in three girls and one in six young boys experience some sort of unwanted sexual advance before their 16th birthday – and most don’t report it.

In Australia, Mr West helped push for the establishment of a Royal Commission into child sex abuse, and campaigners say a New Zealand inquiry could be similar, as the same sort of abuse occurred here.

The government insists that the situation in New Zealand is under control, with different reporting procedures in place to address historic abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – PM

MARK COLVIN: A warning: the following story on the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse includes details some may find disturbing.

The inquiry has heard how a priest, long suspected of molesting children, was not forced out until two decades after the first complaints emerged.

The priest was John Joseph Farrell, who worked in regional New South Wales and Parramatta.

Brendan Trembath reports.

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GUAM
Radio New Zealand

A deacon on Guam says it is concerning the Vatican does not appear to have begun investigating abuse allegations against the island’s Archbishop.

Five allegations Archbishop Anthony Apuron raped or molested altar boys in the 1960s and 1970s have now been made over the past year.

Deacon Steve Martinez, the former sex abuse response co-ordinator for the Catholic Church on Guam, said it was right that the Vatican investigates allegations against Archbishops so there is no conflict of interest.

But he said he had seen no evidence an investigation had started or that Rome had even communicated with the alleged victims.

“If they have not it’s not a good sign because some of these allegations have been out there for practically a year. It’s not fair to the victims and it’s not fair to the accused as well,” he said.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is hosting a research symposium about children and young people’s issues in October.

Attendance is free and invitations are open to everyone.

‘Listen and give us a say: Children and young people’s views about safety in institutions’ will share findings from research reports commissioned and published by the Royal Commission.

Researchers spoke directly with diverse groups of children and young people, including those with a disability, about the safety issues they experience in institutional contexts and how these are best addressed.

Findings will be presented from a selection of research reports including, Taking us seriously, Feeling safe, being safe and Our safety counts

There will be presentations by the report authors followed by a panel of children and young people.

The findings will be relevant to a range of organisations including service providers, advocacy groups, government and research as well as to young people themselves, and those working with young people in education, justice, religious organisations and sports groups.

VENUE: University Hall, University of Technology Sydney
15 Broadway
Ultimo NSW 2007
TIME: 9:00am – 12:30pm including morning tea. Registration from 8:30am.

If you would like to attend, email symposia@childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au by 23 September 2016.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Morning Star

There is something amiss in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse when its third chairperson resigns amid disturbing revelations about its ever-changing remit. It has certainly lost the confidence of the victims, says STEVEN WALKER

Back in April Justice Lowell Goddard, the chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, admitted that she was going to ignore allegations against prominent politicians as directed by the then home secretary Theresa May.

She also agreed to stop investigating allegations of a cover-up of such criminal activity by the security services, the police and Whitehall.

When she recently resigned from the inquiry Goddard became the third chair to quit in two years.

She was appointed by May, who also changed the terms of the inquiry to focus on institutions covering an enormous swathe of public life such as schools, hospitals, churches, children’s homes, youth clubs — anywhere children were meant to be looked after.

The widening of the inquiry was seen as an obvious attempt to take the spotlight off what was emerging as a potential parliamentary paedophile scandal dating back decades.

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AUSTRALIA
Eastern Riverina Chronicle

Ken Grimson
15 Sep 2016

BISHOP Gerard Hanna has spoken of being forced to work with suspected paedophile priest John Farrell and of the tight restrictions he placed on him.

The retiring Bishop of Wagga diocese was questioned about Farrell on Wednesday at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The bishop said he was parish priest of St Nicholas’ in Tamworth in 1984 when Farrell was foisted on him by Bishop Henry Kennedy amid rumours of inappropriate behaviour following his overnight removal from Moree.

He said Bishop Kennedy gave him no details of the allegations, saying only that Farrell was “high risk, you have to watch him and put him on restricted ministry.”

Bishop Hanna told counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness, he imposed tight restrictions on Farrell’s movements that kept him out of schools and away from altar boys.

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WASHINGTON
Peninsula Daily News

ROB OLLIKAINEN
Thu Sep 15th, 2016

PORT ANGELES — Douglas J. Allison, a former private school teacher who pleaded guilty to raping and molesting two 10-year-old students, was sentenced Wednesday to 26½ years in prison.

The 55-year-old was the head teacher and principal of Mountain View Christian School near Sequim.

He pleaded guilty last month to two counts of first-degree child molestation and two counts of first-degree child rape for crimes that occurred during his classes last fall and winter.

Clallam County Superior Court Judge Christopher Melly sentenced Allison to 318 months — the top end of the standard sentencing range — and a life of community custody.

“I think that justice deserves it, but I think more importantly, the girls do,” Melly said.

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ARIZONA
AZ Family

By David Baker

PHOENIX (KPHO/KTVK) –
A Phoenix pastor is jail and accused of molesting girls, including two that went to his church, and impregnating a girl who may have been as young as 13 years old.

Jose Vicente Morales was arrested on Friday, Sept. 9 near 43rd Avenue and Bethany Home Road.

According to court documents, there are at least five victims that he knew through his church or already knew outside of the church.

Police said Morales impregnated a girl when she was 13 or 14 years old. He reportedly met her when she was 8 years old and got “married” when she was 10 years old, court documents said.

Another victim said she was sexually abused from when she was 7 years old to when she was 12 years old. She recalled being molested by Morales when she was sleeping over at his house and then another time while she was swimming in his pool, court documents said.

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ARIZONA
Arizona Republic

Megan Janetsky, The Republic
September 14, 2016

A Phoenix pastor was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of child molestation and sexual conduct with a minor, according to court documents.

Jose Vicente Morales, 49, was arrested Sept. 9. Court documents include several allegations against Morales, detailing alleged sexual assaults and molestations of four underage girls and one 18-year-old woman.

Morales was held on one count of child molestation and one count of sexual conduct with a minor. Investigators were continuing to look into other allegations, court documents say.

According to court reports, Morales was pastor to some of the females reporting the alleged abuse and knew others outside of church.

According to Univision, Morales was a pastor of Iglesia Cristiana Impacto de Fe, a small church at 4030 N. 27th Ave.

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ARIZONA
12 News

[with video]

Dee Dee Gatton , KPNX September 14, 2016

PHOENIX – A Phoenix pastor is accused of sex crimes against at least five victims, some who were relatives or members of his church.

According to court documents, 49-year-old Jose Vicente Morales has been molesting or engaging in sexual contact with minors for years.

Phoenix police started their investigation after one of the victims told her mother she was cutting herself as a result of sexual abuse when she was 12 years old.

According to the report, Morales came to Arizona in 1986 at which time he got to know another victim, his current wife, at the church they attended.

Reportedly, they got married in Mexico when the victim was only 10 years old and she was impregnated at 13 or 14.

The defendant stated they have three children together; the oldest is 24 years old.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Get Religion

Jim Davis

Child porn charges against a Pennsylvania priest are yielding coverage with a different kind of ghost” – the specter of past crimes illustrated with a literal list in a newspaper. But is such a focus always warranted? Do journalists use this with the Catholic sins, alone?

After a Faithful Reader brought this up, I looked at the examples sent in. Here’s what I saw.

The focus is retired Monsignor John S. Mraz, charged with collecting and viewing child porn on two laptops. Two local newspapers do a fine job on the story – to a point.

Both of them do what newspapers do best: narrating the chilling details. Take the Reading Eagle account:

A senior Allentown Catholic Diocese priest who began his career in Reading was caught with child pornography on his computer, Lehigh County District Attorney James B. Martin said Tuesday.

Officials said Monsignor John S. Mraz admitted that he sought out and viewed the images for his sexual gratification. They said the investigation began after a parishioner of Mraz’s Emmaus church reported uncovering a file with a name along the lines of “naked little boys” while performing maintenance the priest had requested.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

Rebekah Ison – AAP on September 15, 2016

A Sydney Catholic bishop destroyed a letter regarding civil action against a pedophile priest years after police raided his office and left him “traumatised”, a royal commission has heard.

Former Parramatta Bishop Bede Heather testified he developed a stress disorder and became very concerned about confidentiality after police investigating child sex allegations left his office in “disarray” in 1994.

On Thursday he admitted to ripping up a 1996 letter to lawyers about civil action taken against a pedophile priest and the diocese and later conceded he must have destroyed 1994 advice to church insurers.

“Shortly afterwards (the raid) I took the precaution of destroying all papers of mine which could have been to the disadvantage of persons with whom I deal,” said Dr Heather’s letter to lawyers, which was read by Chair Peter McClellan at the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse on Thursday.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

A Catholic bishop has admitted destroying documents relating to child sexual abuse by priests after police raided his office.

Giving evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Bishop Bede Heather said he was “traumatised” when police investigating sexual allegations against three priests searched his office in the western Sydney diocese of Parramatta in 1994.

Before this, “I did not see myself as bound to take these complaints to the police,” Bishop Heather told the commission.

Following the police raid “I took the precaution of destroying all papers of mine which could have been to the disadvantage of persons with whom I dealt,” Bishop Bede wrote in a letter to the diocese’s lawyers.

That letter was provided to the commission by the law firm, Makinson & d’Apice, as Bishop Bede’s copy of the letter was also destroyed, the commission heard.

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AUSTRALIA
Moree Champion

Rachel Browne
15 Sep 2016

The former Catholic Bishop of Parramatta, Bede Heather, told a royal commission he destroyed documents relating to potential legal action against a paedophile priest.

Bishop Heather told the public inquiry he destroyed documents because he was traumatised by a police search of his office as part of an earlier investigation into sexual abuse by clergy.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard Bishop Heather advised his lawyers Makinson & D’Apice of his actions in a 1996 letter.

“Following the police raid on our offices, shortly afterwards I took the precaution of destroying all papers of mine which could have been to the disadvantage of persons with whom I deal,” he wrote in the letter which was partly read out before the commission.

In evidence, Bishop Heather admitted he destroyed material which might contain information about crimes committed by clergy.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Philly.com

SEPTEMBER 15, 2016

by Julia M. Klein, For The Inquirer

In Doubt: A Parable, a fierce, humorless nun and a likable priest seem locked in a battle over repression and freedom in the Catholic Church. Among those caught in the crossfire are an innocent younger nun and a pioneering black student who never appears on stage.

The Way Off Broad Street Theater Company, capitalizing on the site-specific resonance and intimacy of the Arch Street Chapel, is mounting a creditable, involving production of John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play as part of the Fringe Festival.

It’s clear at first where the audience’s sympathies will lie. Jason Cutts’ Father Brendan Flynn is a handsome charmer, even if he has a dash of arrogance and a fixation on well-tended fingernails.

By contrast, Kris Andrews’ Sister Aloysius is an uncompromising task-master, opposed to ballpoint pens, the (overly) passionate teaching of history, and, seemingly, modernity itself. In this production, Andrews’ performance doesn’t do much to right the balance: She’s uncharismatic, awkward, and slow to reveal the fire beneath her ice

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IOWA
Sioux City Journal

SIOUX CITY | Five more people have come forward with allegations of sexual abuse against a now-deceased Sioux City priest, a spokeswoman with the Sioux City Diocese confirmed Wednesday.

The diocese also confirmed it has reached a settlement with the man who first came forward about his violent abuse by the priest 20 years ago.

Sioux City Diocese Spokeswoman Kristie Arlt said in the past two months, five people have contacted the victims assistance coordinator at the Mercy Child Advocacy Center reporting abuse by the Rev. Peter Murphy, who was ordained in 1955 and served at eight parishes throughout northwest Iowa in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.

Arlt said Bishop Walker R. Nickless is in the process of reaching out to the four victims who provided the diocese with their names. One victim is remaining anonymous, she said.

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AUSTRALIA
Canberra Times

Christopher Knaus

A survivor of abuse at St Edmund’s College has urged others to come forward, saying the justice process helped him heal and live a full and happy life.

Anthony Kane, as a boy of 13, was invited back to the room of lay teacher Patrick O’Flaherty in the winter of 1968 after a football match.

Mr O’Flaherty was a new teacher at the school, and lived on the St Edmund’s campus, near the school’s monastery.

It was there that court documents allege Mr O’Flaherty began to abuse the 13-year-old in his room.

Mr Kane was saved by a knock on the door from his father, who had been frantically looking for his boy.

Complaints were made and Mr O’Flaherty was immediately removed from teaching and referred to police.

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Sep 14, 2016

By Krystal Paco

The Vatican is doing its part to train new bishops on sex abuse awareness. The news follows a meeting of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors held earlier this month. For decades the church has been accused of covering up for abusers by moving priests around rather than report them to police.

Now, priests will be taught to listen to survivors with open ears and hearts so healing may begin.

Pope Francis established the Commission in 2013 to serve as an advisory panel to protect children and keep pedophiles out of priesthood. In the last few months, six alleged victims have surfaced here on Guam.

At this time, Guam’s apostolic administrator Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai is in Rome. He’s anticipated to return to Guam on Monday.

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VATICAN CITY
Natonal Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Sep. 14, 2016 NCR Today

ROME
The group of cardinals advising Pope Francis on reforming the Catholic church’s central bureaucracy spent time in their latest meeting discussing how Catholic bishops around the world are selected, the Vatican’s main spokesman said Wednesday.

Gregory Burke, the head of the Holy See press office, said the nine-member Council of Cardinals focused particularly on the role the Vatican’s various global ambassadors, known as apostolic nuncios, play in helping select new bishops.

“The cardinals reflected extensively on the spiritual and pastoral profile necessary for a bishop today,” Burke said in a statement following the cardinals’ meeting.

“They spoke of the diplomatic service of the Holy See and of the formation and duties of apostolic nuncios, with particular attention to their great responsibility in choosing candidates for the episcopacy,” Burke continued.

The Council, created by Francis to help him in reforming what is known as the Roman Curia, has been meeting with the pope in Rome Monday through Wednesday for the 16th of its in-person meetings.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY KENNETH LOVETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Updated: Wednesday, September 14, 2016

ALBANY — Child sex abuse survivors were saddened by the surprising Democratic primary loss of the prime Assembly sponsor of the Child Victims Act, but they say it will not deter their efforts to get the bill passed in 2017.

First elected to the Queens seat in 1998, Assemblywoman Margaret Markey was soundly defeated by Woodside attorney Brian Barnwell in Tuesday’s primary contest, which had flown below the radar of most political insiders.

Markey has aggressively pushed the Child Victims Act, which would make it easier for child sex abuse victims to bring cases as adults, for about a decade.

There are dozens of Assembly co-sponsors, but it’s unclear who will take the lead in Markey’s absence. Democratic Assembly members Amy Paulin, of Westchester, and Linda Rosenthal and Daniel O’Donnell, both of Manhattan, have already been mentioned as possibilities in some circles.

“We’ll miss Markey,” said Gary Greenberg, an upstate investor and child sex abuse victim. “She’s done a hell of a lot of work for this bill. But that’s politics. It’s a passing of the torch.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A campaign group involved in the public inquiry into historic allegations of child sexual abuse says it may withdraw from the process.

Shirley Oaks Survivors Association said the inquiry’s new chair, Prof Alexis Jay, may have a potential conflict of interest as a former social worker.

The group represents 600 people who allege they were abused in south London children’s homes.
The national inquiry is made up of 13 separate investigations.

Investigations into claims of abuse in children’s homes in Lambeth are due to form a key part of the embattled inquiry’s work.

But Labour MP Chuka Umunna, who supports the Shirley Oaks campaign, said the social work profession was “culpable” and that Prof Jay should step aside for this strand of the inquiry’s work.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

By Jake Morris
BBC Newsnight

The inquiry into child abuse should be restructured to regain the confidence of survivors, an MP has said.

The Labour MP Chuka Umunna told BBC Newsnight each of the 13 strands that make up the overall inquiry should have their own dedicated head as a way of heading off concerns that the new overall chair of the inquiry has a background in social work, an industry many survivors say failed them.

Some of those survivors have criticised the recent appointment of Professor Alexis Jay. She was appointed as chair following the departure in August of her predecessor Judge Lowell Goddard.

Abuse of children in care in the London borough of Lambeth, which includes Mr Umunna’s constituency, is one of the inquiry strands.

Mr Umunna, who also serves on the Home Affairs Select Committee and is standing to replace Keith Vaz as chair of the committee, told BBC Newsnight: “I think there is a way of moving forward where you have Professor Jay at the top of a federal like structure, encompassing people heading each of the different 13 investigations. I think that way perhaps we can move forward in a way that the survivors will feel comfortable with.”

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NEBRASKA
Kearney Hub

Hub staff

HAZARD — A Kearney man charged last week in Kearney County Court with two felonies involving a child died this morning (Tuesday) in a head-on crash west of Hazard.

Shawn Dowse, 44, died after the pickup he was driving west on Highway 2 collided with an eastbound straight truck being driven by Alan Nielsen, 52, of Litchfield.

Dowse was pronounced dead at the scene and was ejected from the pickup, according to Sherman County Sheriff Michael Janulewicz.

The crash happened about 8:30 a.m. two miles west of Hazard.

Nielsen was transported to CHI Health Good Samaritan where he was listed in fair condition this afternoon (Tuesday).

An autopsy has been ordered for Dowse. The crash was investigated by accident reconstructionists from the Nebraska State Patrol and remains under investigation.

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NEBRASKA
Lincoln Journal Star

The Associated Press

MINDEN — A former Kearney Catholic High School golf coach died in a Tuesday morning highway collision.

Shawn Dowse of Kearney, died at the scene about two miles west of Hazard on Nebraska 2. Sherman County authorities said he was driving a pickup west when he ran into an eastbound truck. The other driver was taken to a hospital.

Dowse, 44, was arrested last week on charges of felony child abuse and enticement by electronic device, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor. A court date hadn’t been set, and he was free on bond.

He was the boys golf coach at Kearney Catholic High School in the spring 2016 season. A school representative said Dowse did not sign another contract for this year.

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NEBRASKA
Grand Island Independent

HAZARD — A Kearney man charged last week in Kearney County Court with two felonies involving a child died this morning (Tuesday) in a head-on crash west of Hazard.

Shawn Dowse, 44, died after the pickup he was driving west on Highway 2 collided with an eastbound straight truck being driven by Alan Nielsen, 52, of Litchfield. The crash happened about 8:30 a.m. two miles west of Hazard.

Nielsen was transported to CHI Health Good Samaritan where he was listed in fair condition this afternoon (Tuesday).

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NEBRASKA
NTV

BY ANDREA BRASWELL TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13TH 2016

A former Kearney Catholic High School golf coach facing charges of child abuse and enticement is dead following an early morning crash.

According to the Sherman County Sheriff’s Office, Shawn Dowse was driving a pickup west along Highway 2 when he hit a large straight truck going east.

The crash happened just two miles west of Hazard around 8:30 a.m.

A Nebraska State Patrol accident reconstruction team was on the scene, as well as the Litchfield Fire Department.

Last week prosecutors filed three charges against Dowse that included child abuse, enticement by electronic device, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

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ILLINOIS
Legacy

Father F. Lee Ryan, 83, of Watseka, IL, passed away on Friday, September 02, 2016.

He was born on August 14, 1933 in Kinsman, IL, the son of Leo Ryan and Hildegard (Coughlin) Ryan.

Mr. Ryan was in the Army. After completing his time in the Army he attended U of I, transferring over to Conception Seminary Conception Missouri where he received his Masters of Theology. He was ordained a priest on May 25, 1968. He was a priest at St. Edmunds Catholic Church in Watseka for over 20 years. He was also a Chaplin and Chaplin emeritus for the Knights of Columbus. He enjoyed gardening and traveling.

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NEW YORK
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on the upset victory by Democratic primary challenger Brian Barnwell over incumbent New York Assemblywoman Margaret Markey:

The big losers last night are those who have been waging war against the Catholic Church in New York State: Margaret Markey, the Daily News, and attorney Marci Hamilton.

Markey spent 18 years of her life trying to stab the Catholic Church. First elected in 1998, she has been at the forefront of bills that would do absolutely nothing to protect public school students who have been molested by their teachers. Her sole objective was to sponsor bills that exclusively targeted private institutions, her real goal being parochial schools. The one time she strayed from her agenda and included public schools in her bill, she incurred the wrath of the public school establishment.

Markey’s low point came this past spring when she falsely accused Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of trying to bribe her nearly a decade ago. It showed a side to her so dirty that no respectable person could stomach it. I called for her to resign in June. Now she’s toast.

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OREGON/COLORADO
Raw Story

TRAVIS GETTYS
14 SEP 2016

A youth pastor who says he loves “spoiling” boys on camping trips is accused of producing child pornography in national parks throughout the West.

James Parkhurst was arrested Aug. 2 in Portland, Oregon, where he serves as executive director of the Oregon-Idaho Conference Board of Camp and Retreat Ministries, reported the Denver Post.

The 56-year-old Parkhurst is accused of producing 163 pornographic images of five boys taken at national parks in Colorado and other states, which court documents show he then sent by U.S. Mail to collectors in 15 states.

The images show nude or partially nude boys between the ages of 9 and 12, sometimes bathing or urinating, and often “smiling or smirking with an expression that suggests sexual coyness,” court documents show.

Parkhurst, a United Methodist deacon and Kentucky native, regularly took boys on camping trips between 2007 and 2014 and worked at camps throughout his life.

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UNITED STATES
PRNewswire

“Catholics Finally Have a Philip Roth”

LA JOLLA, Calif., Sept. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — You expect confession from a Catholic priest.

What is unexpected about the new tell-all book I Confess, is the raw vulnerability from psychotherapist and author A.W. Richard Sipe. The 83-year-old former Benedictine monk and Catholic priest captures his life experiences in poetry.

“I have spent decades encouraging the hurt and the hurting to face the truth about themselves,” Sipe writes, “and share it fearlessly to aid their own healing and in the service of helping others. My moral obligation – duty – is to practice what I have counseled others: Embrace the truth. It will free you.”

Tom Roberts, editor at large for the National Catholic Reporter, said “I Confess is courageous, funny, provocative, raw, delightful. Catholics finally have a Philip Roth!” Roberts added “Some of it, too, is downright searing, the Catholic reality that I am glad is, in this elegantly subjective way, preserved.”

Sipe’s lifelong work counseling priests led to his research and observations about celibacy, sexual practice and abuse of minors within the Church. His 1995 book Sex, Priests and Power: Anatomy of a Crisis was highlighted in the award-winning film Spotlight and Sipe’s data was pivotal to the expanded scope of the investigation by the Boston Globe’s investigative reporting unit.

His new book I Confess is written in verse. Sipe said the poetic inspiration hit at the age of 80.

“I want to encourage older people not to give up on their spiritual search, no matter how old they are,” Sipe explained.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The Council of Nine Cardinals, who are Pope Francis’ special advisors on the reform of the Roman Curia and on other aspects of governance and administration of the universal Church, held a regularly scheduled meeting this week, which opened on Monday, September 12th, and concluded Wednesday, September 14th.

The Director of the Press Office of the Holy See, Greg Burke, briefed reporters on the three days of sessions on Wednesday morning.

During the course of the briefing it emerged that the meeting, which took place over morning and afternoon sessions in which the Holy Father took part, were devoted in large part to further considerations about the way in which the various departments the Curia can better serve the mission of the Church, and focused in particular on the Congregations for the Clergy, for Bishops, and for Catholic Education, as well as on the work of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

The Cardinals also addressed the issue of the diplomatic service of the Holy See: the training and tasks of Apostolic Nuncios, with particular attention to the weighty responsibility they have in assisting the selection of candidates for the episcopate.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

September 14, 2016

DAN BOX
Crime reporterSydney
@DanBox10

The Catholic bishop of Wagga Wagga allowed a pedophile priest to move into his parish despite knowing allegations of child abuse had been made against him, a royal commission has heard.

Bishop Gerard Hanna told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse today that he was the administrator of a parish in Tamworth, northern NSW, when he was told to accept the priest, John Farrell, in 1984.

Farrell, who was jailed in May this year for dozens of child offences, had been moved from another parish after the church received allegations that he had been sexually abusing children.

“The bishop said ‘Oh, you know Gerry, it’s that usual thing. He was messing around with altar boys’,” Bishop Hanna said.

When asked what was meant by “the usual thing”, Bishop Hanna told the commission “It wasn’t unknown … that there were priests who used altar boys, that they were pedophiles in fact.”

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NEW MEXICO
KGLP Gallup Public Radio & El Morro Theater

SPOTLIGHT: A public discussion in Gallup

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
ehardinburrola@yahoo.com
Cell: 505-870-0745

[See also the event flyer.]

Church sexual abuse, protection of children focus of Gallup panel

GALLUP – “Spotlight: A Public Discussion about Faith, Journalism and Protecting Children from Sex Abuse” will be held Saturday, Sept. 24, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., at Gallup’s El Morro Theatre, 207 W. Coal Ave. The event will be held in conjunction with two free screenings of “Spotlight,” the 2015 Academy Award winner Best Picture of the Year.

The public is invited to attend the panel discussion and public Question and Answer session. Panelists include Terry McKiernan, of Boston, the founder of BishopAccountability.com and a consultant to “Spotlight”; Phoenix attorney Robert E. Pastor, who represented 18 clergy sex abuse claimants in the Diocese of Gallup’s bankruptcy case; Gallup attorney Billy Keeler, who has represented Navajo plaintiffs in Catholic sex abuse lawsuits and currently represents Navajo plaintiffs in abuse complaints against the Mormon Church; and Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola, a freelance journalist who has covered the Gallup Diocese for 14 years. Rachel Kaub, station manager at KGLP Gallup Public Radio, will serve as the event’s moderator.

Bishop James S. Wall of the Diocese of Gallup was invited to participate in the panel discussion and provide the diocese’s perspective. However, he declined to participate or send another diocesan representative.

Community members are invited to participate in the panel discussion and public Q&A and attend a screening of “Spotlight.” Discussion topics will include the protection of children in society, particularly in churches, schools and families; the legacy of sexual abuse in the Four Corners Region; challenges adult abuse survivors face; the Diocese of Gallup’s bankruptcy case; and journalism’s role in covering these issues.

“Spotlight” is a modern day suspense drama that tells the true story of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe investigation that uncovered a decades-long sexual abuse cover-up at the highest levels of Boston’s religious, legal and government establishment. The film was released in November 2015, but because the film was never previously shown in Gallup, this will be the first opportunity for local audiences to see “Spotlight” on the big screen.

“Spotlight” will be shown at 3 p.m. and 8:15 p.m., with free admission. The film is rated R, and parents are asked not to bring any children younger than 15.

***Below are profiles of each panelist, with contact information:

• Terence McKiernan, from Boston, is the founder and president of BishopAccountability.org, an archive and research institute of the worldwide clergy abuse crisis (www.bishop-accountability.org). He compiled the lists of cities shown at the end of the movie Spotlight. McKiernan was born in the Bronx and attended Catholic elementary school and Jesuit high school. He studied Latin and Greek and Ancient Art History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the University of Bristol in England, and Stanford University. McKiernan worked as an academic editor and consulting firm manager before founding BishopAccountability.org in 2003. He is married, with two children now in college. Contact: mckiernan1@comcast.net Cell: 508-479-9304

• Phoenix attorney Robert E. Pastor is a personal injury attorney representing individuals and their families who suffered life-changing injuries including sexual abuse and death due to the wrongful acts of others. Born and raised in the Catholic faith, Pastor graduated from Boston College and then spent a year serving in the Jesuit Volunteer Corp, working for a non-profit legal center. He graduated from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University in 2002. Pastor served as a deputy county attorney for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office from 2002 through 2005 where he prosecuted violent crimes, including crimes against children. In 2010, Pastor filed the first of 14 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Gallup, contributing to Bishop James S. Wall’s decision to file for bankruptcy protection. Pastor and his wife, Tiffani Lucero, have three sons. Contact: pastor@mjlpattorneys.com Office: 602-279-8969

• Gallup attorney Billy Keeler is a founding partner of Keeler & Keeler, LLP, and has established a successful record of securing large settlements and verdicts for his clients in civil litigation throughout the Southwest. Keeler earned his undergraduate degree from the University of New Mexico, where he was a member of the Lobo football team. Later, he received a Masters in Public Administration from Baylor University and a law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Keeler worked with Patrick Noaker on abuse cases on the Navajo Nation involving the Diocese of Gallup and the Franciscans. He is currently pursuing claims on the Navajo Nation against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for alleged abuse in its Indian Student Placement Program with co-counsel Craig Vernon, Lee James and Patrick Noaker. Keeler is admitted to practice law before the State and Federal Courts of New Mexico, the Navajo Nation Tribal Court and the Hopi Tribal Court. He stays busy coaching all three of his kids and being involved in community activities. Contact: billkeeler@keelerandkeeler.com Office: 505-722-5608

• Freelance journalist Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola is coordinating this panel discussion and public Q&A at El Morro Theatre on Sept. 24. A resident of the Four Corners region since 1970, Hardin-Burrola has worked as a correspondent for the Gallup Independent since 2000 and has covered the Diocese of Gallup for the past 14 years. She has reported on the Gallup Diocese’s bankruptcy case for the Independent and the National Catholic Reporter. Hardin-Burrola earned two undergraduate degrees from the University of Arizona, in English and General Studies with an emphasis on American Indian Studies. She and her husband are former parishioners of Gallup’s Sacred Heart Cathedral, where they raised their two daughters in the Catholic faith and she served as a volunteer. Contact: ehardinburrola@yahoo.com Cell: 505-870-0745

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Liam Heylin

A 72-year-old priest was arrested and charged yesterday with 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, made no reply when he was accused of the offence.

Detective Garda Kevin McCarthy formally arrested O’Dalaigh at the courthouse on Washington Street, Cork, yesterday. Detective Garda McCarthy said he cautioned the accused.

Inspector Mary King said the Director of Public Prosecutions had directed trial by indictment in the case. There was no objection to the accused being remanded on bail in the case.

Judge Con O’Leary remanded him on his own bail of €500 and adjourned the case until October 11 to allow time for preparation and service of a book of evidence.

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GUATEMALA
Haaretz

Unconfirmed reports say police took children away from parents, and that Israeli officials were present at the raid on the Lev Tahor community.

Yair Ettinger Sep 13, 2016

After having been forced to abandon Israel, the United States and Canada amid accusations of child abuse, the radical ultra-Orthodox Lev Tahor sect is now under investigation in Guatemala, where it has been based for the past two years.

Guatemalan media reported that police had conducted a raid lasting several hours on the village where over 200 Lev Tahor members live. One unconfirmed report said children were taken away from their parents, and another said that Israeli officials were present during the raid.

The Foreign Ministry said in a press statement last night that Israel was cooperating with Guatemalan authorities.

“The Guatemalan authorities recently decided to investigate members of the community on suspicion that serious criminal offenses, including against minors, are being committed in the compound where they live,” the statement said. “The relevant Israeli authorities are in direct contact with the Guatemalan authorities and are following developments closely in order to ensure the welfare of Israeli citizens, most of them minors, who are in the Lev Tahor community’s compound in Guatemala.”

The community is headed by Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans, an Israeli who fled the country with a group of his disciples in 1990. For the past 15 years, most of the community has been wandering around North and South America, most recently in Guatemala. But the sect also has members in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh.

Relatives of Lev Tahor members have testified in recent years that Helbrans and his senior disciples use extreme, violent methods to retain control over the community, including abuse, corporal punishment of children, use of psychiatric drugs, kidnapping children from their parents and forcing young girls to marry older men. In Canada, these suspicions resulted in criminal proceedings against some community members, and several children were taken from their parents.

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NEW YORK
Times Ledger

BARNWELL DEFEATS MARKEY Lawyer Bryan Barnwell delivered a stunning blow to state Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D-Maspeth), walking away with 66 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s Democratic primary with 92 percent of the precincts counted, the city Board of Election unofficial results revealed soon after the polls closed.

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NEW YORK
QNS

By Robert Pozarycki / rpozarycki@qns.com / Tuesday, September 13, 2016

This might be one of the biggest political upsets Queens has ever seen.

Upstart Brian Barnwell defeated nine-term incumbent Assemblywoman Margaret Markey in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for the 30th Assembly District seat.

WNYC called the race for Barnwell at about 9:25 p.m. Tuesday night. Turnout was extremely low, but Barnwell got 65.6 percent of the vote (1,458) to Markey’s 34.4 percent (763), with more than 91 percent of the precincts reporting.

Incumbents are normally a shoe-in to win re-election in a primary, but the tide turned against Markey last month amid the ongoing debate over a proposed homeless shelter in Maspeth, in the heart of her district. Markey took flack from residents for failing to show up at a public meeting and a protest over the shelter, although she expressed opposition to the plan in statements that her office issued.

Things came to a head at an Aug. 31 Community Board 5 public hearing on the shelter proposal, when Markey was roundly jeered by the attendees and cut her speech short.

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NEW YORK
TWC News

[with video]

By Alexa Green
Updated Tuesday, September 13, 2016

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — They’ve been described as some of the most disturbing crimes many in the justice system have ever seen.

“For over a decade, 16 years, this defendant victimized young children, as young as 6 days old,” explained US District Attorney of the Northern District of NY Richard Hartunian.

Tuesday, 40-year-old Jason Kopp was sentenced to 235 years behind bars. He sexually abused a number of children over the course of 16 years. Investigators found videos and photos of the underage victims on his computer.

“It kind of takes your breath away,” Hartunian said. “When you read some of the material, the judge made reference to some of the text messaging, it was horrific.”

During sentencing, Kopp became too overcome with emotion to read his prepared statement. His attorney instead read it on his behalf.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

14 September, 2016

The Royal Commission’s Report into Case Study 21 – the response of the Satyananda Yoga Ashram at Mangrove Mountain to allegations of child sexual abuse by the ashram’s former spiritual leader in the 1970s and 1980s – was released today.

The report follows a public hearing in December 2014 and oral submissions in April 2015, which explored the experiences of 11 survivors of child sexual abuse at or connected with the ashram, and the response of the ashram to that child sexual abuse.

Satyananda Yoga Ashram was established in the early 1970s, and from about 1974 was overseen by Swami Akhandananda Saraswati. In 1989, Akhandananda was arrested on charges of child sexual abuse and was sentenced in 1989 to two years and four months imprisonment.

Residents, who included between 12 and 22 children at any one time, followed the key philosophies and practices of Satyananda Yoga, which were based on the principles of the guru-disciple relationship and development of mind, body and spirit.

Shortly after his arrival, Akhandananda began a sexual relationship with 17-year-old “Shishy”, who through this relationship became second-in-charge at the ashram. Akhandananda and Shishy remained together in a sexual relationship, albeit an increasingly violent one, until the end of 1985.

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AUSTRALIA
Catholic Leader

THE Catholic Church is not getting much good press of late.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has made the Church an easy target for the media and deservedly so.

Mother Teresa made headlines for a few days with her canonisation, but always paired with negative connotations regarding her legacy.

This is the state of mainstream press, but what does it look like in a Catholic media newsroom?

Working in Catholic media has its moments, but your efforts can be taken for granted.

The Archdiocese of Brisbane has its own media team, a Communications office and this newspaper, the latter of which is funded by people who pay each week to read our paper, and our advertisers.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Nicole Chettle

When allegations of child abuse emerged at Australia’s oldest yoga ashram, the main concern from its spiritual headquarters in India was protecting its reputation, a royal commission has found.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has examined the handling of complaints made against the former spiritual leader of the Satyananda Yoga Ashram, at Mangrove Mountain on the New South Wales Central Coast, Swami Akhandananda Saraswati, and his former partner Shishy.

The allegations were made over a period of 40 years and related to sexual abuse that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s.

During public hearings in October 2014, six survivors each called for a $1 million compensation payment.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Melanie Kembrey

For years they have waited for justice, and it came a step closer as they stood together and watched Neil Albert Futcher empty out his pockets and be taken into custody.

The sounds of their sobbing had filled the court room as the former Trinity Grammar School teacher was found guilty by a jury of 22 child sex charges, including eight counts of buggery, on Wednesday.

Futcher’s trial had heard distressing details of how he sexually abused six boys, aged between 12 and 15, while he was working as a teacher and swimming coach between 1974 and the early 1980s.

Robert Anderson, 53, who was a student at Trinity and abused when was 12, said he had nearly given up hope that he would ever see Futcher brought before a court.

He said he first told police about the abuse in 1990, and again in 1997, but it was after giving evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that Futcher was finally charged.

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GUAM
Radio New Zealand

A campaigner for victims of abuse by priests says civil lawsuits will be far more effective in uncovering abuse on Guam than the Catholic Church’s own investigations.

A bill has been approved by the Guam legislature removing the statute of limitations for filing civil claims for sexual abuse crimes.

It comes as a fifth allegation of historical abuse has been made against Guam’s Archbishop Anthony Apuron.

Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests spokesperson Joelle Casteix said the allegations have been poorly handled by the Church.

She said giving victims access to the courts has been shown to be the best way to get to the bottom of institutional abuse.

“It will allow them access to secret abuse and coverup documents. It will also give victims the opportunity to sit and watch as church officials are deposed under oath to tell what they know about abuse.”

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AUSTRALIA
Business Insider

SARAH KIMMORLEY
SEP 14, 2016

The former headmaster of elite Sydney school Knox Grammar “deliberately covered up” allegations about child sexual abuse to protect the reputation of the school.

This finding comes from a report from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse into how Knox Grammar and the Uniting Church handled multiple allegations about teachers over a 40-year period.

Ian Paterson was found have “deliberately withheld information” from police investigating allegations at the school, the report reads.

It also found that he was aware of more than one incident of sexual abuse at the school.

“A former headmaster of Knox, Dr Ian Paterson, told the Royal Commission that, during his 29 years in the role, he was only aware of one instance of sexual abuse, involving Mr Vance,” the report found.

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OHIO
Vindicator

Published: 9/14/16

By Peter H. Milliken
milliken@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Representatives of 28 people who were sexually abused by Brother Stephen Baker while they were students at Warren JFK High School conducted a sidewalk news conference outside the Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown offices to announce a $900,000 settlement.

They decried, however, what they said was the inadequacy of the settlement.

A diocesan official said Tuesday the church is committed to protecting children and helping abuse victims heal.

Baker, a member of the Third Order Regular Franciscan Friars of Hollidaysburg, Pa., who killed himself Jan. 26, 2013, in a Pennsylvania monastery, was a former teacher and coach, who was at JFK from 1986-91.

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COLORADO
Denver Post

By KIRK MITCHELL | kmitchell@denverpost.com
PUBLISHED: September 13, 2016

A 56-year-old Portland, Ore., pastor and former national youth camp official for the United Methodist Church made his initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Denver on felony charges for allegedly producing child pornography while taking boys to national parks in Colorado and across the West, authorities say.

James Parkhurst, 56, who was arrested in Portland on Aug. 2, was indicted in late August by a federal grand jury in Denver and appeared in federal court on Monday, according to a news release by Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer of the District of Colorado.

Parkhurst produced 163 child pornography images of five boys taken at national parks in Colorado and across the West and then sent them by U.S. mail to 15 states to child pornography collectors, according to court documents. The images include pictures of nude and partially nude boys between the ages of 9 and 12, some while the boys took baths or as they urinated.

“In many of the images, the boys are looking directly at the camera and smiling or smirking with an expression that suggests sexual coyness,” according to a Denver court affidavit.

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CANADA
Global News

By Denis Ram Global News

A former pastor at Calgary’s Western Baptist Church denied sexual abuse allegations laid against him during the second day of trial on Tuesday.

Thomas Larry Jones is charged with indecent assault of a female, three counts of gross indecency, four counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual interference and two counts of sexual exploitation.

The abuse allegations date back to 1979 and 1986, when two young victims were five and nine years old. The abuse continued until they were 15 and 18, allegedly occurring both at the church and his home.

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ARIZONA
ABC 15

[with video]

Joe Enea, Megan Thompson
Sep 13, 2016

PHOENIX – A Phoenix pastor has been arrested and accused of child molestation, and police say some of the victims are members of his church.

Court records show that 49-year-old Jose Vicente Morales had been molesting children for years; he impregnated one of the victims when she was 13 years of age.

In the ongoing investigation, police report Morales may have molested or sexually assaulted at least five victims who were either church members or known to Morales outside of the church setting.

Police began their investigation after a mother of a victim noticed her daughter had been injuring herself as a result of the sexual abuse Morales allegedly did to her five years prior.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

By Dave Sutor
dsutor@tribdem.com

Terms of a new out-of-court settlement involving 28 individuals sexually abused by Brother Stephen Baker, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, and the Third Order Regular, Province of the Immaculate Conception were released on Tuesday.

The victims received a combined $900,000, coming out to about $32,000 each.

In comparison, back in 2013, the diocese settled with a group of other Baker victims for $75,000 apiece.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represented the individuals in the latest case, called the settlement “offensive,” since it paid significantly less per victim than the amount given in the past. “Many of my clients felt re-victimized,” Garabedian said.

Baker, a former member of the Blair County-based Province of the Immaculate Conception, was accused of abusing about 100 children when he served at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown from 1992 to 2000.

The Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, Bishop McCort and Third Order Regular reached settlements with at least 91 victims, totaling more than $8 million.

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OHIO
Altoona Mirror

September 14, 2016
By Guy Vogrin , Tribune Chronicle (Warren, Ohio)

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The co-founder of an advocacy group for sexual abuse victims said Tuesday the latest settlement of $900,000 paid by the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown and an order of Franciscan Friars in Pennsylvania is not enough to compensate “for the agony these men are going through.”

The announcement Monday of the settlement of some 28 sexual abuse claims through mediation led two members of Road to Recovery Inc. to hold a news conference Tuesday morning across the street from St. Columba Cathedral, the diocese flagship church, to air their grievances.

The victims in the settlement claim they were abused by Franciscan Brother Stephen Baker in the 1980s and 1990s while he was a coach, athletic trainer and teacher at John F. Kennedy High School in Warren. Baker, a member of the Third Order Regular, Franciscan Friars Province of the Immaculate Conception based in Hollidaysburg, committed suicide in 2013 at age 62 after the abuse allegations came to light.

Monsignor John Zuraw, chancellor of the diocese, said all the victims signed off on the process and agreed to the amount after three days of mediation in February. As a final point, Zuraw said the victims’ lawyer asked for the diocese to pay for therapeutic counseling.

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KANSAS
The Baker Orange

By Lauren Freking
Tuesday, September 13, 2016

It hurts my heart to sit down and write this. The topic is so heavy that I worry I will be unable to adequately describe my opinions and emotions.

By the time you read this, I’m sure you will have heard through the grapevine that the Catholic priest in Baldwin City was recently suspended from ministry after reports of him “visiting ‘inappropriate’ websites depicting children on the internet.” An FBI investigation is underway.

Cue the moment when my heart sank into my stomach Sunday evening

Wow. That is heavy, right? I am well acquainted with the Rev. Chris Rossman and have been involved with the off-campus Catholic center here over the course of my college career.

As people have been finding out about the incident, the reactions have been “it seems like that happens a lot,” or “wow, another one?”

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Pedophile priest John Farrell was allowed to return to public ministry in NSW just two months after being forced on “sick leave” due to complaints he had abused altar boys.

At a 1984 meeting of church leaders in Armidale the decision was made to send Farrell, then in his 30s, to the east Tamworth parish in northern NSW despite allegations he’d abused a number of boys while an assistant priest at Moree, the child sex abuse royal commission heard.

Bishop of Wagga Wagga Gerard Hanna, then a priest at east Tamworth, said the then-Bishop of Armidale, Henry Kennedy, had assumed two months was long enough to allow for any of Farrell’s victims to come forward.

“He constantly resorted to the phrase, ‘No one has come forward, there are no charges. There’s no reason why he can’t be put back into ministry’,” Bishop Hanna said on Wednesday.

The reasons for Farrell’s removal from Moree were kept quiet, the bishop said, and there was no report to the police or public inquiry.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

AAP

The Catholic leader who invited pedophile priest John Farrell into his diocese didn’t believe Farrell posed a risk to children because sex abuse charges against him had been dismissed, a royal commission heard.

Former Parramatta Bishop Bede Heather told the royal commission into institutional responses to child sex abuse he’d thought Farrell was innocent because the charges, which involved one boy, were dismissed at a committal hearing in 1988.

He invited Farrell to work at the Merrylands parish in November 1989 after Farrell was forced out of the St Nicholas Church in Tamworth due to persistent child sex allegations.

The now-retired Bishop Heather admitted his failure to make careful inquiries into Farrell’s past had led to one of the greatest mistakes of his life.

“I have to say it weighs heavily on my conscience that I’ve known … one child was abused as a result of my giving permission to Father Farrell to work in our diocese,” Bishop Heather said.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

By Dave Sutor
dsutor@tribdem.com

Shaun Dougherty’s father died nearly two years ago.

The funeral took place at St. Clement Church on Lindberg Avenue, where the large Catholic family gathered to grieve the loss of a loved one.

But Dougherty’s mind was also wracked by another emotional trauma. He claims that decades ago, when he was attending St. Clement School, a priest and trusted member of the community sexually abused him.

“My father passed away, October 2014 – first time I was in St. Clement Church since my sister’s May crowning in the late ’80s,” Dougherty said during an interview at The Tribune-Democrat on Tuesday.

“They haven’t changed it much. Thank God it was a funeral, because I cried the entire time, and it wasn’t because my dad had passed away.

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VATICAN CITY
Huffington Post

Antonia Blumberg
Associate Religion Editor, The Huffington Post

A commission established to advise Pope Francis on preventing sex abuse in the church released a report on Monday outlining new measures it hopes will help safeguard vulnerable children.

Following a week of meetings in Rome, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors announced several new initiatives, including a training program for bishops and a day of prayer for victims of sex abuse.

For years, bishops and priests have been accused of covering up sex abuse in the church by moving pedophile priests from parish to parish and not reporting incidents to the police. Even the Vatican failed to take action over the years ― a misstep Pope Francis has tried to remedy in part by setting up the commission at the end of 2013.

Cardinal Sean O’Malley heads the commission of 17 members, which also includes the Vatican’s former sex-crimes prosecutor, Bishop Charles Scicluna, Rev. Hans Zollner, head of the Center for Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and one abuse survivor, Marie Collins.

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UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

September 13, 2016 Joelle Casteix

Sorry it’s been quiet around here. I have been a full-time parent/taxi-driver/cook/cleaner/referee all summer, so the blog has had a short vacation.

But just because I have been slacking, doesn’t mean that the world stood still (if only my laundry would stand still …).

Guam

From the Pacific Daily News:

In a 13-0 vote, lawmakers Monday morning unanimously approved legislation to permanently remove the statute of limitations for all sexual abuse crimes, allowing victims to file civil cases against their alleged assailant.

Unlike a 2011 bill that was actively opposed by the Catholic Church, this bill will also allow victims to name and sue third parties who knew about, facilitated, or covered up the abuse.

This is a tremendous victory for the victims and faithful of Guam. Since earlier this year, they have worked to help numerous victims come forward publicly (including numerous alleged victims of Archbishop Apuron). Then, when Apuron was replaced by an Apostolic Administrator, victims and Guam’s Catholics didn’t sit back and hope for the best. Instead, they have filed defamation lawsuits, demanded real action, and helped more victims and witnesses come forward publicly and safely.

If this legislation becomes law, victims will gain access to a treasure trove of secret sex abuse and cover-up files. Plus, they will be able to depose those who have actively worked to silence victims and enable predators. This is exciting stuff.

For the latest, always check out the JungleWatch blog. They pull no punches.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Reading Eagle

By Liam Migdail-Smith
ALLENTOWN, PA

EMMAUS – A senior Allentown Catholic Diocese priest who began his career in Reading was caught with child pornography on his computer, Lehigh County District Attorney James B. Martin said Tuesday.

Officials said Monsignor John S. Mraz admitted that he sought out and viewed the images for his sexual gratification. They said the investigation began after a parishioner of Mraz’s Emmaus church reported uncovering a file with a name along the lines of “naked little boys” while performing maintenance the priest had requested.

Mraz, 66, is the former pastor of the Church of St. Ann, a neighborhood church with an on-campus elementary and middle school. He taught at the former Reading Central Catholic High School from 1975 to 1980 and was an assistant superintendent of the diocesan school system.

The allegations came as a shock to some parishioners in the neighborhood.

“I was heartbroken,” said Carmela Mannino, a neighborhood resident who splits her time at church between St. Ann and another parish where she used to live. “My stomach hurts from just thinking about it.”

Diocesan officials said Tuesday that Mraz “has been removed from public ministry and cannot present himself as a priest.” He is free on $50,000 unsecured bail following an arraignment before Lehigh County District Judge Donna R. Butler.

Martin said his investigators did not turn up any evidence of Mraz directly sexually abusing children, only that he searched for and viewed child pornography. But he said people should contact his office if they know of any other misconduct by Mraz.

“Obviously if the filing of these charges gives rise to concern on the part of parishioners or other people associated with Monsignor Mraz, I would encourage them to come forward,” Martin said. “But I have no evidence of that occurring at this point.”

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TEXAS
The Dallas Morning News

JOHNSON, Msgr. Richard E. 1928 – 2016 In Memory of (Served in U.S. Army) We pray for you.
Published in Dallas Morning News on Sept. 13, 2016.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Advertiser

Ken Grimson
13 Sep 2016

WAGGA’S retiring Catholic Bishop, Gerard Hanna, has been summonsed to appear as a witness at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The commission, chaired by Justice Peter McClellan, has turned its attention this week to the activities of defrocked Catholic priest John Joseph Farrell.

Farrell, 63, was found guilty in May of 79 child abuse offences against 12 victims, and last week was charged with fresh offences for which he is expected to stand trial in April next year.

In her opening address to the commission in Sydney on Monday, senior counsel assisting, Gail Furness, said Farrell’s offences first came to light in 1984 when he was a priest at Moree in the Armidale Diocese.

The commission is examining how the diocese, and the Diocese of Parramatta where Farrell also served as a priest, responded to claims of inappropriate behaviour against him.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Lehigh Valley Live

By Sarah Cassi | For lehighvalleylive.com

The Diocese of Allentown announced Tuesday that a monsignor accused of possessing child pornography has been removed from public ministry.

In a statement released following the arraignment of John Mraz, the diocese said Mraz cannot present himself as a priest.

The 66-year-old Mraz, who served as pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Emmaus, is accused of having “numerous” images and videos on his laptop depicting the sexual abuse of children.

Lehigh County prosecutors said the images were discovered by a church parishioner and friend of Mraz’s who was updating the priest’s computers in July.

The tipster informed the diocese, District Attorney Jim Martin said. The diocese immediately notified law enforcement officials and “cooperated completely” with the investigation, according to the statement.

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PENNSYLVANIA
PhllyVoice

BY DANIEL CRAIG
PhillyVoice Staff

A Lehigh Valley priest has been accused of searching for and possessing child pornography.

The Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday that Msgr. John Stephen Mraz, 66, formerly of Emmaus, has been charged after an investigation that began earlier this summer.

Mraz had been stationed at St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church. On July 25, Mraz asked a parishioner at St. Ann’s, only identified as D.M., to help upgrade his laptop, prosecutors said.

D.M. told authorities that while doing so he found images of nude males in the recycling bin of the computer.

Mraz asked D.M. to upgrade another laptop as well, and D.M. said he found a file with a name that suggested it contained explicit images of underage boys, prosecutors said.

D.M. told the Diocese of Allentown, which promptly informed the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

A parish priest falsely accused of child abuse has asked why Catholic Church authorities give any credence to anonymous allegations such as were presented against him.

Fr Tim Hazelwood, parish priest at Killeagh in east Cork, explained how “in May of this year I was successful in securing an apology and an admission that what was claimed about me was false, ie – that I was an abuser.

“This followed a High Court action taken on my behalf against my accuser. The action was settled before it went to trial. My accuser never came forward but remained anonymous.” It left Fr Hazelwood “with many questions and very few answers”.

He asked: “Why was my name passed on to the gardaí and the HSE when it was an anonymous allegation?” And “what is the official church policy concerning anonymous allegations?”

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PENNSYLVANIA
WNIP

BY DAN RATCHFORD

BETHLEHEM — A priest in the Diocese of Allentown has been charged with possessing child pornography.

Msgr. John Mraz, 66, currently residing in Bethlehem, was charged Tuesday morning.

Authorities said child pornography files were found by someone doing maintenance on Msgr. Mraz’s computer at his residence in Emmaus in July.

Msgr. Mraz has been charged with sexual abuse of children and criminal use of communication facility, according to the Lehigh County district attorney.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call

[with video]

Laurie Mason Schroeder, Matt Coughlin and Pamela Lehman
Of The Morning Call

St. Ann catholic Church priest arrested for collecting child porn

EMMAUS — In late July, Monsignor John Stephen Mraz, pastor of St. Ann Catholic Church in Emmaus, asked a parishioner to help him update his two laptop computers.

What the parishioner, identified by police only with the initials D.M., found in the priest’s files and online search history made him feel “uncomfortable,” authorities said, and he reported it to the Diocese of Allentown.

Now Mraz, whose 41-year career has included posts as a chaplain at Lehigh University and a theology teacher at Central Catholic High School in Allentown, faces a possible jail term for allegedly viewing and downloading child pornography.

“[Mraz] searched for and downloaded the images of child pornography and did so for his own sexual gratification,” Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said at a news conference Tuesday morning announcing charges against the 66-year-old Mraz.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call

Other priests with ties to the Diocese of Allentown who have been charged with crimes:

•The Rev. Thomas Bender, sentenced to seven years’ probation in 1988 for molesting a teenage Pottsville boy in the 1980s.

•Monsignor Steven T. Forish, charged with soliciting boys for sex in south Bethlehem in 1996, acquitted in 1998. Charged with asking a 26-year-old man for “sexual favors” in Greensburg, Westmoreland County in August 2006. He was killed in a car crash in Carbon County in December 2006.

•The Rev. Edward R. Graff, a priest in the diocese for 31 years, was arrested in Texas in October 2002 on charges of molesting a teenage boy. Graff died at 73 in jail in November 2002.

•The Rev. James J. Mihalak, charged with indecent assault of a 17-year-old boy he picked up hitchhiking in the Tamaqua area in 1997. He was convicted in 1998 and received two years probation.

•Ronald Yarrosh, charged in 2004 with embezzling more than $23,000 from St. Ambrose Church in Schuylkill Haven and keeping child pornography on a church computer. Sentenced to 4-10 years in state prison.

•Bruno M. Tucci, former pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Nesquehoning, removed from active ministry in 2002 amid sexual allegations, then charged in Maryland in 2013 with sexually abusing a boy in 1981.

•Monsignor John Stephen Mraz, pastor at St. Ann in Emmaus, charged Sept. 13 with possession of child pornography.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Barry Roche

A 72-year-old retired priest has been remanded on bail after he was charged with indecently assaulting a 13-year-old boy at a Co Cork boarding school in the early 1980s.

Fr Tadhg Ó’Dálaigh was charged with indecently assaulting the boy while teaching at Coláiste Chroí Naofa in Carrignavar, Co Cork, on an unknown date between September 1980 and June 1981.

On Tuesday at Cork District Court, Det Garda Kevin McCarthy told the court the accused made no reply to the charge when it was put to him after caution.

Bail application

Insp Mary King said the Director of Public Prosecutions had directed that Fr O’Dálaigh, a member of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, be tried on indictment before a judge and jury before the Circuit Criminal Court.

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AUSTRALIA
Canberra Times

Christopher Knaus

A cover-up reaching the highest levels of a Catholic order allowed six known child abusers to teach at Canberra’s St Edmund’s College in its first three decades.

Offending brothers were known to some of the Christian Brothers’ most senior clergy before they arrived in Canberra, including its worldwide head in one case, and Australian provincial leaders in at least three others.

The Christian Brothers was long ago found to have protected and harboured child molesters, moving them between its schools and orphanages, and dealing with abuse internally under its forgiving canon law.

Secretly commissioned internal investigations suggested day schools were used to hide offending brothers, while keeping them away from dormitories in a misguided attempt to break their pattern of predation.

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UNITED STATES
Church Law & Tax

Richard Hammar

After reviewing thousands of published and unpublished rulings by state appellate and federal courts in 2015 that pertain to churches, I am able to identify the top five reasons churches go to court.
This list can be used by church leaders to know what common legal liabilities and risk management concerns should be addressed—or possibly even prevented altogether—by proper planning from pastors, church staff, church boards, and volunteers.

Here are the top five:

1. Sexual abuse of minors (11.7% of cases). Sadly, for several years the sexual molestation of minors has been the number one reason that churches went to court. Victims in these cases generally allege that a church is responsible for their injuries on the basis of negligent selection, retention, or supervision of the perpetrator. Churches have lost many of these cases due to their failure to implement appropriate safeguards in the selection and supervision of employees and volunteers who work with minors.

Incidents of sexual misconduct involving minor victims can be devastating to the victim, the victim’s family, the offender, church leadership, and the church itself.

Because this issue remains the number one reason churches go to court, and because of the significant harm that can be done to children, their families, and church leaders, churches need to take an aggressive position on this matter. Churches must implement policies and procedures that demonstrate proper screening and training of staff and volunteers, proper processes for reporting actual and suspected cases of abuse, and specific attention to to proper supervision and other measures that ensure accountability.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WFMZ

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – A priest who once taught at the former Central Catholic High School in Reading has been charged in a case of child pornography. Lehigh County prosecutors announced Tuesday the arrest of Monsignor John Mraz, a priest in the Diocese of Allentown who most recently served as the pastor of St. Ann’s Church in Emmaus.

Mraz, 66, was charged with sexual abuse of children, criminal use of a communications facility and obscene and sexual material and performances.

Mraz asked a friend and parishioner in July to update his laptop computer. The friend subsequently discovered files in the recycling bin depicting images of nude males of an unknown age, according to court documents.

After completing the update, the friend returned the computer to Mraz, who then asked him to update another laptop. On that laptop, the friend reported finding a file named “naked little boys,” or “something similar to that name,” according to court paperwork.

The friend returned the laptop to Mraz and then notified the Diocese of Allentown of the discovery. The diocese then contacted the Lehigh County district attorney’s office, according to court documents.

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NEW YORK
Syracuse.com

By John O’Brien | jobrien@syracuse.com

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A Liverpool man was sentenced to 235 years in prison today for sexually exploiting two children for the purpose of making child pornography.

U.S. District Judge Glenn Suddaby imposed the sentence on Jason Kopp, who had pleaded guilty.

Suddaby said the essential life sentence was justified because Kopp was a “repeat sex offender who preyed upon the most vulnerable of society.”

The judge ordered Kopp to pay $1,000 in restitution to one of the children who appeared in some of his hundreds of images of child pornography. The child filed a request for restitution. Kopp must make monthly payments toward that amount, the judge said.

In addition to the two victims Kopp admitted exploiting, a federal prosecutor says he sexually abused or exploited six more children. One of them was a 6-day-old baby girl, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Fletcher said in court papers.

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OHIO
WKBN

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – A settlement has been reached between the Youngstown Catholic Diocese and the alleged victims of a child sexual abuse case. But a victim advocate’s group says that the amount isn’t enough.

Organizers from The Road to Recovery non-profit said Monday that the $900,000 settlement is “disrespectful.”

An investigation by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office in March revealed Brother Stephen Baker of the Youngstown Catholic Diocese may have molested 28 more alleged victims.

Before Baker killed himself in 2013, he was accused of molesting 88 students between 1986 and 2001.

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OHIO
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By Peter Smith / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Twenty-eight victims of the late Franciscan friar Stephen Baker, whose superiors face a criminal trial for allegedly failing to halt his years of sexual assaults on minors, reached a $900,000 settlement earlier this year with the Diocese of Youngstown and his religious order — settlements that some advocates now say were insultingly low.

The out-of-court settlements were reached in March after mediation between lawyers for all sides but only recently became public. In addition to the diocese, the settlement was reached with the Hollidaysburg, Pa.-based Immaculate Conception Province of the Franciscan Friars, Third Order Regulars.

News of the settlement comes as three former ministers provincial of the Franciscans are awaiting trial in Blair County on charges they endangered children by assigning Brother Baker to work in contact with them. Brother Baker committed suicide in 2013, soon after news became public of an earlier settlement with students he had molested while teaching at John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, Ohio, which is affiliated with the Diocese of Youngstown. A later settlement involved students at Bishop McCort Catholic High School in Johnstown, affiliated with the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.

The abuse involving the 28 victims in the recent settlement took place while Brother Baker taught at JFK from about 1985 to 1992, said their attorney, Mitchell Garabedian of Boston. Brother Baker taught at Bishop McCort from 1992 to 2000 and had other roles within the Altoona-Johnstown diocese in subsequent years.

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OHIO
Philly.com

by The Associated Press

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, and a Pennsylvania-based religious order have agreed to pay $900,000 to settle 28 lawsuit claims of sexual abuse by a Franciscan friar.

The Tribune-Chronicle of Warren reports (http://bit.ly/2cl01tx ) a diocesan official confirmed the settlement regarding abuse claims made by victims of the late Brother Joseph Baker. Baker killed himself in 2013 after the diocese announced it had settled 11 claims made by people who said he abused them at Warren, Ohio, schools from 1986 to 1990.

Baker belonged to a Franciscan order based in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Fox 29

ALLENTOWN, PA (WTXF) – Authorities in Lehigh County have arrested and charged a priest with sexual abuse of children following a child pornography investigation.

Msgr. John Stephen Mraz, 66, has been charged with sexual abuse of children and criminal use of communication facility, and obscene and other sexual materials and performances.

Mraz is a former Pastor at St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church in Emmaus.

Investigators say during the week of July 25th, Mraz requested a friend and parishioner to help fix his laptop and perform software upgrades. While working on the computer the parishioner discovered files in the computer’s recycle bin depicting images of nude males.

When finished with the computer the parishioner returned it to Mraz, and was given a second laptop to upgrade. On the second computer, the parishioner discovered a file with a name suggesting it contained obscene photos of underage boys.

The parishioner informed the Diocese of Allentown of his findings, who then informed the Lehigh County District Attorney. A search warrant was executed at Mraz’s Emmaus home, where several devices were seized.

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PENNSYLVANIA
ABC 6

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (WPVI) — A priest from Lehigh County has been charged with sexual abuse related to possession of child pornography.

Msgr. John S. Mraz, 66, of Bethlehem, is a former pastor at St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church in Emmaus.

According to the Lehigh County district attorney, Mraz came to the attention of investigators earlier this summer, after he asked a friend and parishioner to update two laptop computers.

That person found sexually explicit images of underage boys on both laptops, prosecutors say, and alerted officials from Diocese of Allentown, who passed on the information to the district attorney.

An investigation revealed that Mraz had searched for and downloaded multiple pornographic images of underage boys on multiple devices, prosecutors said.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Lehigh Valley Live

By Sarah Cassi | For lehighvalleylive.com

A monsignor at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Emmaus is free on unsecured bail after being arraigned Tuesday on child pornography and related offenses.

The Rev. John Stephen Mraz, 66, surrendered himself Tuesday morning and was arraigned on charges of child pornography, criminal use of a communication facility, and selling obscene materials.

Bail was set at $50,000 unsecured. Mraz presently lives at the Holy Family Villa for priests in Bethlehem, and will return there, District Attorney Jim Martin said.

A person who answered the phone at the church at 415 S. Sixth St. in Emmaus said she didn’t know about charges against Mraz.

Mraz has worked at Reading Central Catholic and Allentown Central Catholic over the years and has held posts in the Allentown Diocese.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Philly.com

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) – A Roman Catholic priest in Pennsylvania is facing child pornography charges.

Monsignor John Stephen Mraz, of Bethlehem, was charged Tuesday morning. He was arraigned and released on unsecured bail.

Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin says a friend of the 66-year-old priest’s discovered a file labeled with a reference to nude boys while working on Mraz’s computer. The friend then contacted the Diocese of Allentown, which notified the DA’s office.

Authorities seized Mraz’s computers and found he had downloaded child pornography.

A message left for his attorney wasn’t immediately returned.

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PENNSYLVANIA
CBS Philly

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (CBS) — Authorities say a former pastor at a Roman Catholic Church in Emmaus, Pennsylvania has been charged with numerous crimes related to the possession of child pornography.

Officials say it is alleged that during the week of July 25, 2016, Msgr. John Stephen Mraz, 66, asked a friend and parishioner to perform maintenance updates to his laptop.

In doing so, officials say the parishioner, identified as “D.M.,” discovered files in the computer’s recycling bin depicting images of nude males.

Authorities say D.M. returned the laptop to the monsignor, who then asked him to upgrade another laptop.

Officials say D.M. discovered a file with a name suggesting it contained obscene images of underage males.

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PENNSYLVANIA
NBC 10

By Dan Stamm

A Roman Catholic priest, who used to serve as pastor for a Lehigh Valley church and as an educator at various area Catholic schools, faces child pornography charges after asking a friend and parishioner to upgrade his computer.

Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin announced child sex abuse charges Tuesday morning against Monsignor John Mraz, 66, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Mraz faces the sex abuse charges in connection to downloading child porn, said investigators.

Some of the terms Mraz searched for online included “nude boys wrestling,” “teen boys spanked,” “small boy nudes,” “handcuffed nude boys,” “boy bondage” and other terms involving boys and sexual acts, said police.

The charges stemmed from when Mraz, who formerly served as pastor at St. Ann’s Church along S 6th Street in Emmaus, gave his HP laptop to a parishioner – identified by the DA as D.M. – to perform maintenance and upgrade the computer in late July.

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GUATEMALA
The Yeshiva World

According to reports from Guatemalan news agencies, the building housing members of the “Lev Tahor” cult have been raided by the Public Ministry (MP) which investigates allegations of child abuse.

Authorities were reportedly notified of parents exposing their children to severe punishments that have resulted in injuries.

Personnel involved in the raid include the Attorney General’s Office.

Recently, a court in Guatemala indicted the ex-mayor of a small town for “participating in the expulsion of a religious community.”

In 2014, some 230 members of the Lev Tahor cult were forced out of the village following religiously tainted disputes with its Mayan residents, who are Roman Catholic. The local elders’ council voted against the group.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Editorial

We commend the members of the Guam Legislature for the unanimous passage of Bill 326 and we urge Gov. Calvo to sign it into law. Once enacted, the bill will eliminate the statute of limitations for civil cases involving child sex abuse. Child molestation is a particularly abhorrent crime with traumatic, long-term emotional effects. Children are often not able to understand what happened to them or why it happened, and are unable to report the attack.

In addition to the harm caused by the physical attack itself, the attacker is often someone known and trusted by the victim which makes the abuse even more traumatic and difficult to report.

The bill appears to have been prompted by recent accusations of sexual abuse leveled against Archbishop Anthony Apuron and other clergy. The accusations involve acts that are alleged to have occurred as long ago as 40 years, and so are well outside the current statute of limitations. Apuron has not been convicted of any crime, but the multiple accusations are of reprehensible acts and the victims should be able to make their accusations in a court of law. Similarly, the accused should have the opportunity to face and respond to those accusing him.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call

Laurie Mason Schroeder, Matt Coughlin and Pamela Lehman
Of The Morning Call

DA: Pastor of St. Ann’s in Emmaus downloaded child porn for ‘sexual gratification’

EMMAUS — The pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Emmaus is charged with possession of child pornography which he downloaded “for his own sexual gratification, the Lehigh County district attorney said Tuesday morning at a news conference detailing the investigation of Monsignor John Stephen Mraz.

Mraz, a 66-year-old monsignor, is charged by county detectives with one felony count of possession of child pornography, one felony count of criminal use of a communication facility and a misdemeanor count of selling obscene materials. The charges list July 25 as the date of the offenses.

Parishioners said Mraz has been out about a month from St. Ann’s Church with what officials said were “medical issues” and they had been asked at weekly Masses to say prayers for his recovery.

“[Mraz] searched for and downloaded the images of child pornography and did so for his own sexual gratification,” District Attorney Jim Martin said at a 10:30 a.m. news conference.

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Sep 12, 2016

By Joan Aguon Charfauros

The Archdiocese of Agana is forwarding the latest allegations made by Ramon Afaisen De Plata to Rome as part of the investigation into Archbishop Anthony Apuron. On Monday De Plata went public, stating he not only witnessed, but fell victim to child sex abuse in the Church.

De Plata was 10 years old at Our Lady of Peace Parish in Chalan Pago when he allegedly witnessed Pale Antonio Cruz and then-seminarian Anthony Apuron engaging in sexual acts with another altar boy. De Plata also alleges that on at least two other occasions, Pale Cruz masturbated in his presence.

In a release issued late Monday, Delegate of the Apostolic Administrator Father Jeff San Nicolas says the allegations are taken very seriously and have also prompted the launch of a local investigation into the late Pale Cruz.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Jasmine Stole, jstole@guampdn.com September 13, 2016

Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron and Archbishop Savio Tai Fai Hon this week asked the Superior Court of Guam to dismiss a $2 million libel and slander lawsuit against them, arguing Apruon’s statements about those accusing him of sexual assault are opinions that are not defamatory and have no legal grounds for a lawsuit.

In a 24-page motion to dismiss, apostolic administrator Hon, through his attorney Jeffrey Cook argued that Apuron’s denial of the sexual assault claims is not defamatory, Apuron’s statements are opinions, without legal grounds for a lawsuit, and Apuron’s statements are not about the plaintiffs, the motion states.

Cook also stated the archdiocese has publicly recanted and retracted the statements by Apuron, and will handle the serious allegations of sex abuse.

“As a legal matter, however, the statements complained of do not give rise to any valid cause of action,” Cook stated. “The court should dismiss the complaint.”

Apuron, through his attorney Jacqueline Terlaje, joined Hon’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, uniting with Hon in the matter.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

A resource I’d like to recommend to you: Stephen Edward de Weger’s master’s thesis (pdf) in the School of Justice of Queensland University of Technology’s Faculty of Law. It’s entitled “Clerical Sexual Misconduct Involving Adults within the Roman Catholic Church.” Stephen’s outstanding thesis draws on interviews with adults sexually abused by Roman Catholic authority figures, notably priests.

I’m particularly taken by the chapter in the thesis (chapter 7, pp. 119-150) entitled “Power and Vulnerability.” In this chapter, Stephen shows how the widespread abuse of lay members of the church by clerics depends on an inbuilt “God-factor” within the Catholic system. Because the Catholic governing system proposes that priests stand in the place of Christ within the Catholic community — and that they do so in a unique way, one lay Catholics cannot rival in any way — and because it holds that a priest experiences an “ontological” change on ordination that elevates his humanity to a level above that of lay members of the church, a “positional” vulnerability for all lay members of the church is built right into the Catholic system’s understanding of priesthood.

The sexual abuse of lay members of the church by priests depends on this “God-factor” and on the positional vulnerability of all lay members of the church. To serve their own personal needs, some clerics take advantage of their “higher” standing within the Catholic community to target vulnerable adults who have sought them out for spiritual counsel, and who are vulnerable precisely because they are going through life experiences that make them feel needy.

Stephen shows that a significant proportion of the abuse of adults by Catholic priests occurs in such a ministerial context, and depends on grooming and entrapment techniques that priests adroit at exploiting lay members of the church have learned to develop in the context of their ministry — and especially in the context of the sacrament of reconciliation and spiritual counsel. What makes this abuse difficult to combat in the Catholic context, he also concludes, is precisely that “positional” factor by which the Catholic system defines the priest as “above” and “ontologically superior” to lay members of the church.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WFMZ

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – An Emmaus monsignor was arraigned Tuesday morning on charges related to child pornography. John Mraz was charged with sexual abuse of children, criminal use of a communications facility and obscene and sexual material and performances.

Mraz was the pastor at St. Ann’s Church in Emmaus.

On July 25 he asked a friend and parishioner to update his laptop. According to court documents, the friend discovered files in the recycling bin depicting images of nude males of an unknown age. After completing the update, the friend returned it to Mraz, who asked him to update another laptop.

On this laptop the friend discovered a link file named “naked little boys”, or “something similar to that name,” according to court paperwork.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Lehigh Valley Live

[live stream]

By Nick Falsone | For lehighvalleylive.com

A priest who served an Emmaus parish within the Diocese of Allentown is facing felony child porn charges.

The Rev. John Stephen Mraz, a monsignor at St. Ann Catholic Church in Emmaus, is charged with child pornography and related offenses, according to court records.

At 10:30 a.m., Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin is expected to announce the results of a sexual abuse investigation into the clergy member.

Watch a livestream of the news conference above.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Lehigh Valley Live

By Tony Rhodin | For lehighvalleylive.com

WATCH AT 10:30: Police briefing on priest charged in child porn case

A monsignor at St. Ann Catholic Church in Emmaus is charged with child pornography and related offenses, according to court records.

The Rev. John Stephen Mraz, 66, was in the hospital on Tuesday morning, said a person who answered the phone at the church at 415 S. Sixth St. Mraz was pastor at the church.

At 10:30 a.m., Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin is expected to announce the results of a sexual abuse investigation involving a member of the Roman Catholic clergy and child pornography, his spokesman said.

The woman at the church said she didn’t know about charges against Mraz. She said he has health problems.

Mraz has worked at Reading Central Catholic and Allentown Central Catholic over the years and has held posts in the Allentown Diocese.

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VATICAN CITY
Bollettino

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM) has today issued a press release in which it summarises the activities of the past year as a result of its collaboration with various local churches and religious leaders, and announces the institution of a Universal Day of Prayer for the survivors and victims of sexual abuse, to which various episcopal conferences have already adhered. It also announces the upcoming launch of its website. The following is the full text of the communiqué.

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors works throughout the year and came together in Rome from 5 to 11 September 5 for a week of Working Group meetings (Guidelines, Healing and Care, Education, Formation, Theology and Spirituality, Canonical and Civil Norms) and for its Plenary Assembly.

The Working Group meetings focused on the updates for current projects, and developing draft proposals for the Holy Father, Pope Francis. For example, the Commission has developed a template for guidelines in the safeguarding and protection of children, adolescents and vulnerable adults, which we will shortly present to the Holy Father for his consideration.

Education is key

Highlights of this Plenary Assembly were the members’ reports on the progress of ongoing education programs, both at a local level and in the Vatican.

These initiatives are part of the Commission’s effort to be of service to the Holy Father by placing their expertise at the disposition of local churches and church leaders. Commission members have also been invited to give talks and take part in various conferences and workshops on all five continents.

These include: talks and workshops held in Australia, in the Archdiocese of Melbourne; in South Africa (SACBC), an orientation program for New Missionaries; in the Philippines (CBCP), a workshop for the Archdiocese of Manila; in Colombia, a talk with clergy of the Archdiocese of Bogotá, a workshop with religious communities, workshops with the Major Seminary and a workshop with evangelization leaders; USA, a talk with “United States National Safe Environment and Victims Assistance Coordinators”; a workshop in Fiji; in New Zealand a series of talks and workshops with the bishops and religious leaders; in Ghana a meeting with the secretary generals of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar from the Association of (SECAM); a meeting in Tanzania with child protection practitioners from the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) in Argentina, a discussion with seminarians and clergy of the Diocese of Moron, Buenos Aires; In Santo Domingo, a meeting with fifty formators from thirteen different nations belonging to the Council of Latin American Bishops Conferences (CELAM); a meeting with Bishops and canonists of Slovakia and Czech Republic; and in Italy, a seminar for Abbots of the Benedictine Confederation and participation in the Anglophone Safeguarding Conference.

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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

Subì le violenze del parroco don Marino Genova, la stampa nazionale torna sul caso Giada Vitale

Il Consigliere regionale Nunzia Lattanzio stigmatizza la sentenza di archiviazione del Gip del Tribunale di Larino: “ Mi accingo ad inviare una lettera a Papa Francesco”

Si riaccendono i riflettori sul caso Giada Vitale, la giovane di Portocannone che per anni subì le molestie sessuali di don Marino Genova, all’epoca dei fatti parroco del piccolo comune della provincia di Campobasso.

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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

[Giada Vitale, a victim of clergy abuse, wrote to Pope Francis but never got an answer.]

Di Francesca Lagatta

“Non avrei mai pensato di scrivere o di cercare di avere un contatto epistolare con una personalità grande come la Sua: il capo di tutti i cristiani del mondo, l’ultimo successore di Pietro sulla Terra”. Comincia così, l’accorata lettera inviata a Papa Francesco nel 2013 da Giada Vitale (la storia raccontata qui), la ragazza di Portocannone con cui don Marino Genova, ex parroco della cittadina molisana, ha intrattenuto una relazione per quattro anni. Gli incontri sarebbero cominciati quando la giovane non aveva ancora compiuto 14 anni, vicenda che, tre anni più tardi, all’assunzione quotidiana di psicofarmaci per mettere a tacere la voce stridula della coscienza, che, a volte, non sa riconoscere la linea sottile che divide le vittime dai carnefici (la storia raccontata qui).

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