ABUSE TRACKER

A digest of links to media coverage of clergy abuse. For recent coverage listed in this blog, read the full article in the newspaper or other media source by clicking “Read original article.” For earlier coverage, click the title to read the original article.

August 14, 2017

Commission in Australia says priests should report abuse heard in confession

AUSTRALIA
Crux

Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse says the right to practice one’s religious beliefs “must accommodate civil society’s obligation to provide for the safety of all and, in particular, children’s safety from sexual abuse.” Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne, the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, said in a statement the inviolability of the seal of confession is a “fundamental part of the freedom of religion.”

A government commission in Australia on Monday said Catholic priests must violate the seal of confession if they hear about the sexual abuse of children.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was established in 2013 to investigate how institutions like schools, churches, sports clubs and government organizations have responded to allegations and instances of child sexual abuse.

On Monday, it issued its report on criminal justice, including 85 recommendations for new legal standards.

Recommendation number 35 said laws on reporting sexual abuse of children “should exclude any existing excuse, protection or privilege in relation to religious confessions.”

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

August 13, 2017

Le cardinal Barbarin devait être jugé début 2018

FRANCE
Sud Ouest

[Cardinal Barbarin and six other personalities of the church will appear before the courts in the case of priest Bernard Preynat. The case of Father Bernard Preynat, charged with “sexual assault on minors, will have a new episode in September at the Lyon Criminal Court before which Cardinal Philippe Barbarin and six others were summoned to appear by the victims. But this will be only a first step. As the Le Monde newspaper says, “the trial on the merits could open in early 2018”.]

Le cardinal Barbarin et six autres personnalités de l’église comparaîtront devant la justice dans le cadre de l’affaire Bernard Preynat

L’affaire du père Bernard Preynat, mis en examen pour “agressions sexuelles sur mineurs”, connaîtra un nouvel épisode en septembre au tribunal correctionnel de Lyon devant lequel le cardinal Philippe Barbarin et six autres personnalités de l’église ont été cités à comparaître par les victimes du prélat pour non dénonciation de faits.

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

New law removes statute of limitation for sexual abuse crimes

ILLINOIS
KWQC

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has signed legislation that will remove the statutes of limitation for sexual abuse crimes.

Rauner signed the measure Friday. Sponsor state Sen. Michael Hastings of Frankfort says the legislation puts in place “best practices for dealing with sexual assault cases statewide and puts a system in place that will encourage survivors to come forward and receive justice when they are ready.”

Statutes of limitation restrict the time when authorities can charge someone after a crime occurs. The legislation Rauner signed removes those limitations for felony criminal sexual abuse and sex crimes against children. That will allow for the prosecution of those crimes at any time.

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

Crucial test for Benedictine monks’ new leader as order faces sex abuse inquiry

UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Catherine Pepinster
Saturday 12 August 2017

He has been an abbot, an author, a TV star and a radio breakfast show regular and has been described as the country’s most influential Benedictine monk since Cardinal Basil Hume. Now Christopher Jamison is to attempt his most important role: saviour of the reputation of his monastic order.

At the start of August the monks of the English Benedictine Congregation – an association of 13 Roman Catholic communities of monks and nuns – elected Jamison as their leader. His installation as abbot president came just days after Professor Alexis Jay confirmed that the public inquiry she is chairing into child sexual abuse in England and Wales would focus its hearings during October and November on scandals at Benedictine schools and monasteries. The choice of Jamison was almost certainly no coincidence.

The Benedictines have been mired in controversy for 20 years following a series of revelations about sex abuse scandals at their prestigious private schools, Ampleforth, Downside, Worth and St Benedict’s, Ealing, west London. And with both the independent inquiry into child sex abuse, led by Jay, and a separate crown court trial of a Benedictine abbot on child sex abuse charges taking place this autumn, the order and its educational establishments will be under severe scrutiny.

Listeners to Chris Evans’s Radio 2 breakfast show, used to Jamison’s spiritual musings in its Pause for Thought slot, may be surprised to learn that he is taking on the difficult task of leading the order. Jamison is most at ease in front of a microphone and a camera. He has a knack of making Catholicism clear to a secular audience.

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

Institutional abuse victims ask Brokenshire for help in accessing compensation

NORTHERN IRELAND
Breaking Newe

12/08/2017

Victims of institutional abuse in the North have urged the Secretary of State to intervene immediately to enable them to access stalled compensation payments.

Campaign group Survivors & Victims of Institutional Abuse (Savia) urged James Brokenshire to act after holding a meeting with the head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, David Sterling.

Mr Sterling met with the Panel of Experts on Redress – a body made up of individual survivors, survivor groups, human rights organisations, academics and lawyers – on Friday afternoon.

In January, a Stormont-commissioned inquiry into abuse committed in church and state run homes in the North recommended compensation payments for victims of up to £100,000 each.

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

August 12, 2017

Un prelado cuestionado por desmanejos financieros

SALTA (ARGENTINA)
El Tribuno Salta [Salta, Argentina]

August 12, 2017

Read original article

Apuntaron a Zanchetta por controvertidos usos de fondos en las Diósesis de Quilmes y Orán. 

El pasado 1 de agosto, el corresponsal del periódico La Stampa en Ciudad del Vaticano, Andrés Beltramo Alvarez, señaló que Zanchetta, en su paso por la Diócesis de Quilmes, había cosechado “numerosas denuncias en materia de malos manejos económicos, algo que se habría repetido en la demarcación eclesiástica que guió desde julio de 2013 en el norte de Argentina”.

Sobre los cuatro años de Zanchetta en la sede episcopal de Orán, el portal Caminos Religiosos sostuvo que “sus vínculos con miembros del poder político y económico” le permitieron “recibir asistencia y fondos”, dado que “invocaba ser pastor de una “diócesis necesitada'”, pero “algunos de los pedidos tenían poco que ver con actividades religiosas”.

Valores Religiosos, la publicación que fundó el presbítero Guillermo Marcó con la ayuda de Sergio Rubín, editor de Religión del diario Clarín, sugirió que “Zanchetta fue obligado a renunciar por manejos inadecuados”.

En la misma línea, Infobae tituló: “Se lo apunta por desmanejos financieros”.

¿Qué hay de concreto?

Poco después de la designación de Zachetta como obispo de Orán, en 2013, se colgó en la página de internet Change.org una petición pública urgiendo al Papa a revisar el nombramiento. La firmaron Santiago Spadafora, médico personal y estrecho colaborador del fallecido obispo Jorge Novak, y otro centenar de laicos y docentes de los colegios religiosos que Zanchetta había administrado hasta junio de 2013 como vicario de Asuntos Económicos y apoderado general de la Diócesis de Quilmes.

Hasta 2010, cuando fue despedido bajo circunstancias que aún debe esclarecer la Justicia, Spadafora había ocupado por 27 años la función de representante legal del Instituto Manuel Belgrano de Berazategui, uno de los establecimientos educativos que dependen del Obispado de Quilmes.

“Zanchetta empezó a perseguirme en 2009, promovió mi despido y me hizo una falsa denuncia, solo porque me opuse a una serie de lamentables decisiones tomadas y transmitidas por escrito”, afirmó Spadafora, quien ya había elevado las constancias del caso en 2011 al entonces cardenal Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

La petición llegó dos años después al Vaticano, con la adhesión de un importante número de laicos y docentes en los que el exvicario de Asuntos Económicos de la Diócesis de Quilmes no parece haber dejado las mejores impresiones.

Consultado por El Tribuno, Spadafora afirmó que Zanchetta no le perdonó que se opusiera a “la indicación de derivar coercitivamente fondos de la escuela, subvencionada en un 100% por el Estado provincial (de Buenos Aires), para el sostén de actividades diocesanas y pastorales cotidianas”.

“Su represalia también se debió a mi rechazo a las instrucciones de no pagar el servicio de agua corriente a la Municipalidad de Berazategui, como lo hacían otros establecimientos educativos, y de seguir en las escuelas diocesanas un procedimiento coercitivo para la cobranza de aranceles a los alumnos morosos, y discriminatorio para la inscripción (matriculación) de dichos alumnos, a través de la confección de listas negras”. La causa que le inició Zanchetta a Spadafora en 2010, por supuestos desmanejos administrativos, tiene constancias escritas de esas y otras controvertidas medidas diocesanas.

A pedido del juez de garantías de Berazategui, Damián Véndola, la fiscal María Attarián Mena acaba de disponer en la causa una serie de testimoniales que inquietan al clero.

La larga lista de testigos que solicitó Spadafora y aprobó la fiscal Attarían Mena, el pasado 1 de agosto, incluye al actual obispo de Quilmes, Carlos José Tissera; a su antecesor, Luis Teodorico Stockler; al vicario general, Carlos Alberto Abad; al contador de esa diócesis, Luis Adolfo Albertón, y a varios sacerdotes y laicos que guardaron incómodos secretos.

Sus cuestionamientos se filtraron hasta ahora discretamente en los portales religiosos y otros medios que aludieron a los supuestos “desmanejos económicos” del exobispo de Orán sin entrar en detalles.

Ahora, bajo la obligación de testificar con la verdad y bajo apercibimiento de afrontar causas por falso testimonio, prelados, sacerdotes y laicos deberán comparecer sin velos ante un estrado judicial.

Este diario accedió a copias de la candente causa que, en poco tiempo, será ventilada en un juicio oral y público.

Según sus colaboradores, cayó en una crisis depresiva

En la carta que dirigió a la comunidad diocesana de Orán el pasado 29 de julio, el exobispo Zanchetta comunicó que dejaba la sede episcopal por “un problema de salud” cuya recuperación consideraba “imposible de seguir en la provincia de Salta”. Desde entonces está recluido en Corrientes. ¿Qué tipo de tratamiento podría recibir allí que no tenga las mismas condiciones en Salta? La respuesta abona la hipótesis de una crisis depresiva. 

Se sabe, por fuentes bien informadas, que en los últimos meses el estado de salud de Zanchetta había presentado “algunos síntomas que requirieron estudios, pero nada que hiciera suponer la decisión de viajar a Roma para presentar ante el papa Francisco la renuncia como obispo”.

Una religiosa oranense, que prefirió reservar su identidad, advirtió que el contrabando, la trata de personas, el lavado de activos y el narcotráfico desplazaron a la producción y el comercio lícito del centro de la actividad económica del norte y sumieron a Orán, Tartagal, Rivadavia, Iruya y Santa Victoria -los municipios abarcados por la diócesis fronteriza- en una profunda crisis social.

“Todo eso se puso de manifiesto en la crisis de los bagayeros y en esta tristísima renuncia del padre Gustavo”, aseguró la monja. “Luego del conflicto (con los bagayeros) se lo notaba con desasosiego”, acotó.

En su carta de despedida, Zanchetta no dio detalles del problema de salud, pero voces de su entorno más cercano revelaron episodios que lo habrían obligado a recurrir a ayuda psicológica y psiquiátrica en los últimos meses.

Esas mismas fuentes afirmaron que el obispo “quedó mal parado con la gestión porque no se cumplieron los puntos acordados” para resolver aquel conflicto.

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

Zanchetta, desgastado pastor, dejó en Orán una grieta eclesial

ORáN (ARGENTINA)
El Tribuno Salta [Salta, Argentina]

August 12, 2017

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Desmanejo de fondos, presión narco y crisis depresiva, los otros supuestos de su salida.Fuentes del Vaticano y de dos diócesis aportaron respuestas sobre su alejamiento. 

El pasado viernes 4, el administrador apostólico Andrés Stanovnik reunió a los sacerdotes de la Diócesis de Orán para animarlos en su misión pastoral. El día anterior, en el primer oficio religioso que celebró en el norte, el prelado había instado a todos a “evitar la disgregación con lecturas e interpretaciones del pasado”.

El mensaje caló hondo en una comunidad eclesiástica que en los últimos tiempos vio agrandarse una grieta entre el obispo y muchos de los sacerdotes de la extensa diócesis que abarca 55.000 kilómetros de los departamentos Orán, San Martín, Rivadavia, Iruya y Santa Victoria.

“Zanchetta era muy poco accesible, tenía una cuota de soberbia y disfrutaba del poder que le daba el cargo”, contaron laicos con activo trabajo en las comunidades parroquiales.

“Con su personalidad tan rígida, alejó de sus parroquias a curas jóvenes, de gran carisma, como el padre Darío Billordo, David Pintos y Rubén Gutiérrez, un cura muy querido por el Papa”, aseguraron.

“Quizás por temor a que opacaran su autoridad, a ninguno le permitía hablar con libertad con la prensa, para contar la realidad que vivían las comunidades más olvidadas de Orán, San Martín y Rivadavia”, comentaron las fuentes parroquiales.

Otro alejamiento lamentado fue el del misionero José Auletta, quien dejó huellas imborrables y penas por su sentida ausencia en barrios carenciados y comunidades originarias del norte.

El religioso de la orden Madre de la Consolata se desempeñó desde diciembre de 2015 hasta los primeros meses de 2017 en la parroquia San Ramón Nonato, de Tartagal, donde desplegó un notable trabajo social. Una mañana la feligresía de la ciudad cabecera del departamento San Martín despertó con su sorpresivo traslado a Buenos Aires y desde entonces no encontró respuestas ni consuelo a semejante pérdida.

Auletta junto a otros sacerdotes, como el párroco Luis Manco, habían impulsado proyectos que dotaron a barrios humildes y asentamientos aborígenes de agua potable, cloacas y otros servicios esenciales, con donaciones gestionadas ante fundaciones europeas. También había desplegado una comprometida labor de contención de niños y jóvenes de las barriadas más conflictivas de Tartagal. Por eso, aquella feligresía que acompañaba las iniciativas con fervor, nunca terminó de entender la decisión de sus superiores.

“El padre Auletta era una piedra en el zapato de muchos políticos que seguramente influenciaron su inexplicable traslado a Buenos Aires”, dijo una fuente cercana que pidió reserva de identidad.

Como delegado para la Cuestión Aborigen del Noroeste Argentino y miembro del Equipo Nacional de Pastoral Aborigen (Endepa), Auletta defendía a capa y espada a las comunidades originarias del norte de Salta y Jujuy, su derecho a la tierra, al agua potable y la educación. Su traslado a Buenos Aires no tuvo argumento alguno que lo justifique.

Desde su exilio, en el barrio porteño de Flores, prometió “hacer lo posible para seguir brindando servicios para la causa indígena”.

Su último gran aporte en Tartagal fue un proyecto de agua que encaró en la comunidad wichi de Kilómetro 6 junto al cacique Juan de Dios López.

Félix Calderón, dirigente guaraní de la comunidad 9 de Julio, de 70 años, aún recuerda a Auletta como “una bendición para los barrios más pobres”. Aseguró: “Nunca nadie se ocupó tanto de nosotros”. Y soltó una pregunta atragantada: “¿Por qué se lo llevaron en tan poco tiempo?”.

Ante los cuestionamientos que desataron los traslados de Auletta y otros curas misioneros, Zanchetta respondió que “muchos quieren responsabilizar al obispo, pero eso es injusto”.

La explicación episcopal fue que el padre Mauricio Guevara, provincial de la orden de la Consolata, dispuso los cambios porque se fundó una nueva comunidad en Yuto (Jujuy) hacia donde se necesitaba desplazar a algunos misioneros como Manolo García, Antonio Merigo y propio Auletta. El trasladado de este último sacerdote a Buenos Aires, con el mismo cargo, no dejó dudas de la grieta eclesiástica.

El mismo impacto tuvo en la comunidad de la parroquia Nuestra Señora de Luján, de Salvador Mazza, el traslado del cura Merigo a otro destino fuera de la Diócesis de Orán.

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Le cardinal Barbarin : « Face à la pédophilie, ma réponse n’était pas à la mesure de l’enjeu »

FRANCE
Le Monde

[In an interview with Le Monde, the prelate of Lyon denies having covered-up abuse by a priest.]

Le 24 juillet, il était à Karakoch pour célébrer une messe dans la grande ville chrétienne du nord de l’Irak, après l’éviction de l’Etat islamique de Mossoul. En septembre, il répondra à une citation à comparaître de victimes du père Bernard Preynat, un prêtre de son diocèse accusé d’avoir sexuellement agressé des enfants dont il avait la charge jusqu’en 1991.

Le cardinal Philippe Barbarin, 66 ans, qui fêtera en septembre le quinzième anniversaire de sa nomination à la tête de l’archevêché de Lyon, demeure l’une des principales voix de l’Eglise catholique en France. Prélat atypique, cet électron libre allie un conservatisme doctrinal et sociétal à une ouverture aux problèmes sociaux, un catholicisme d’affirmation et une proximité avec le pape François. Le primat des Gaules revient sur les leçons de l’affaire Preynat, les premiers pas du gouvernement et le pape François.

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Le cardinal Barbarin devrait être jugé début 2018 pour non-dénonciation d’agressions sexuelles

FRANCE
Le Monde

[Cardinal Barbarin should be tried in early 2018 for non-denunciation of sexual assaults.The date is not yet fixed, but Cardinal Barbarin and six personalities of the church, including two bishops and one of the most senior Vatican officials, will have to answer in a few months for non-denunciation of sexual assaults on minors who have accused them of covering-up abuse by Father Bernard Preynat.]

Par Emeline Cazi

La date n’est pas encore fixée mais le cardinal Barbarin et six personnalités de l’Eglise, dont deux évêques et l’un des plus hauts responsables du Vatican, devront dans quelques mois répondre des faits de non-dénonciation d’agressions sexuelles sur mineurs dont les accusent depuis deux ans des victimes du père Bernard Preynat, réunies au sein de l’association La Parole libérée.

Le père Preynat, ancien aumônier scout de l’ouest lyonnais, mis en examen pour « agressions sexuelles sur mineurs », est suspecté d’avoir fait des dizaines de victimes au sein de la troupe Saint-Luc dont il a eu la charge pendant vingt ans. Les sept personnes citées à comparaître en auraient eu connaissance mais n’ont jamais alerté la justice. Une première audience évoquera l’affaire le 19 septembre. Le procès sur le fond pourrait s’ouvrir début 2018.

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French archbishop admits failings in response to pedophile scandal

FRANCE
Reuters

PARIS (Reuters) – The Roman Catholic archbishop of Lyon acknowledged shortcomings in his response to a pedophilia scandal in his archdiocese and said more rigorous checks were in place to prevent past errors in the appointment of priests being repeated.

In an interview with Le Monde, published ahead of the Aug. 15 Feast of the Assumption celebration, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin reiterated that he had never concealed acts of sexual abuse by Father Bernard Preynat, a priest under his authority.

Preynat is accused of sexually abusing Catholic boy scouts during the 1980s and early 1990s. He is due to appear before a court next month. Preynat’s lawyer has said the priest admits the abuse but that the cases have passed the legal statute of limitations when they were reported.

Prosecutors in 2016 extensively questioned Barbarin, one of France’s top Catholic clerics, over why Preynat’s activities had not been reported to civil authorities earlier before dropping their investigation into allegations of a cover-up.

Barbarin told Le Monde he became aware of Preynat’s activities in 2007. When he “knocked on doors” for advice nobody gave him a satisfactory answer, he said.

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Police unhappy with priest abuse sentence, likely to appeal

MALTA
Times of Malta

Saturday, August 12, 2017by Matthew Xuereb

The police and the Attorney General’s Office are likely to appeal the sentence handed down to Fr Charles Fenech, who was found guilty of the violent indecent assault of a vulnerable woman.

Sources have said the police were not happy with the punishment meted out to the former director of the Kerygma Movement, who was given a three-month jail term, suspended for a year.

Times of Malta is informed that the victim, who at the time had mental health problems, is also disappointed with the punishment.

According to the law, the police have eight working days – until Wednesday – to file a note in the acts of the case, through which they can express their intention to appeal.

The Attorney General will then be notified and, in turn, will have another eight days to file his appeal.

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Russian Orthodox Priest Charged with Procuring Belarusian Prostitutes

RUSSIA
Latin American Herald Tribune

MOSCOW – A priest of the Russian Orthodox Church has been formally charged with recruiting women in Belarus and trafficking them to work as prostitutes in Russia, the Belarusian Investigative Committee announced on Friday.

The clergyman, identified as Nikolay Kireev, 39, was arrested on Aug. 3 in the northern Belarusian city of Vitebsk when he was about to board a bus to St. Petersburg accompanied by two women, aged 20 and 30.

According to a statement by the IC, police found that Kireev had allegedly persuaded the women, both of whom were Vitebsk residents, to move to St. Petersburg and work in the sex trade there.

The cleric, who served at the Peter and Pavel Cathedral in Imeni Morozova – a settlement on the banks of Lake Ladoga, near the Finnish border –, was put in pre-trial detention.

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LISTEN: Historic child abuse panel member: “I was silenced by Theresa May’s advisors to ensure she became PM”

UNITED KINGDOM
Evolve Politics

In an extraordinary interview recorded yesterday, a child abuse survivor who served on the Government’s independent inquiry into historic child sexual abuse has claimed she was silenced by Theresa May’s advisors to ensure that Ms May became Prime Minister.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of Ms Evans’ startling claims about her time serving on the inquiry.

Speaking to talkRADIO, Sharon Evans, a former journalist and the founder of Dot Com Children’s Foundation, said that the panel were “promised the child abuse inquiry would be open”, but after a short while she saw that it was ‘so obvious that everything was about the control and suppression of information” and that the supposedly independent inquiry had absolutely “no independence’.

Ms Evans claimed that the contracts panel members were made to sign by the Home Office were used to stop them from speaking openly about “very serious allegations about very public figures” – allegations which she says were taken back to the inquiry leaders, but ‘nothing was being done about” them.

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Canonist warns Church oversight of troubled lay groups has ‘no teeth’

UNITED STATES
Crux

Claire Giangravè
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Through the years the Vatican has developed strong rules and regulations to fight sex abuse in the clergy, but two recent sex abuse scandals in Catholic lay associations show that in these cases the Church is still very slow to respond and that often local bishops fail to exercise the necessary monitoring.

ROME – In an effort to respond to cases and allegations of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church over the years, Pope Francis has affirmed a “zero tolerance” policy and stressed that the Vatican must be committed to enforcing accountability.

Yet two recent scandals suggest that while the Church may have developed strong controls over clergy, in cases that involve lay organizations, it sometimes struggles to impose effective oversight.
“Let’s put it this way: The process in the Church for dealing with lay people has got no teeth,” Father Francis Morrissey, a Canadian expert on canon law, told Crux.

One case is rooted in Peru, where the leader of a lay Catholic movement called the Sodalitium of Christian Life was accused of sexually and physically abusing members.

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Magdalene abuse must not go unpunished, UN tells Ireland

IRELAND
The Times (UK)

Ellen Coyne Senior Ireland Reporter
August 12 2017
The Times

Members of the Catholic Church must be prosecuted and punished for their role in the Magdalene laundries, the United Nations has said.

The UN committee against torture has unequivocally dismissed the state’s investigation into the institutions and claims damning documents showing church and state collusion against women have been ignored.

The international human rights body has said that the government must ensure that religious orders responsible for perpetrating abuse against women and children for decades must be forced to hand over evidence.

In 2011 the committee called for an independent investigation into the laundries, which helped lead to the McAleese commission and Enda Kenny’s apology in 2013 to the women who had been affected. Despite the apology, the state has maintained that it was not liable for how women and girls were treated in the institutions.

Finishing its second examination of Ireland’s compliance with torture laws yesterday, the committee criticised the McAleese commission, saying there had been no independent, thorough and effective investigation into the treatment of women.

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Ireland criticised by UN for response to Magdalene Laundries allegations

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

By Cormac O’Keeffe
Irish Examiner Reporter

The UN has criticised Ireland for failures in investigating allegations of ill-treatment of women at Magdalene laundries and for not prosecuting perpetrators.

The United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) asked the Government to undertake a “thorough, impartial investigation” in this area and ensure that all victims obtain redress.

UNCAT said it was “seriously concerned” at the failure of the State’s delegation to it to provide further information regarding their claim that there have been a sizeable number of investigations into abuse at reformatory and industrial schools, as documented in the Ryan Report.

The committee, which monitors adherence to the UN Convention Against Torture, issued its concluding observations, after taking submissions from Irish NGOs and holding hearings with the Government.

In its observations, UNCAT called on the Government to:

* Bring in a specific offence of domestic violence, and ensure all such allegations are recorded by gardaí and investigated;
* Hold immigration detainees separate from people charged or convicted of criminal offences;
* Ensure solitary confinement is “never applied to juveniles” and to “urgently” undertake an independent review of the prison health-care system;
* Establish a national mechanism, which would have access to all places of deprivation of liberty.

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Former student alleges repeated abuse by Calgary priest, high school teacher

CANADA
Calgary Herald

Meghan Potkins, Calgary Herald

When Brian was a teenager, he attended the funeral of a man he says sexually abused him for months.

He sat in St. Mary’s Cathedral in January of 1983, for the special funeral mass presided over by the bishop: a solemn occasion befitting the untimely death of a much-loved priest.

“It was huge. Everyone in full regalia, and I was just one little person in this whole church,” recalls Brian.

“They saw him as a saint.”

On Wednesday, a lawsuit was filed in Calgary court against a religious order of the Catholic church, alleging decades-old sexual abuse at the hands of a Calgary priest and teacher at Bishop Grandin High School that left a former Calgary resident permanently scarred.

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August 11, 2017

Abuse inquiry set to put orphanages in spotlight

SCOTLAND
Evening Times

Hannah Rodger @hannahwritesHT
Senior Reporter

AN INQUIRY into historic child sex abuse will examine practices at two west of Scotland orphanages during its next stage.

Phase two of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry will hear evidence about two care homes in Lanark and Rutherglen run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul.

The inquiry has called for applications to give evidence about practices at Smyllum Park in Lanark and Rutherglen’s Bellevue House.

It has previously been reported that children who lived at the Smyllum Park orphanage endured years of harrowing treatment and abuse.

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CALL FOR FURTHER REDRESS FOR SURVIVORS OF MAGDALENE LAUNDRIES AND MOTHER AND BABY HOMES

IRELAND
Galway Bay FM

Galway Bay fm newsroom – There’s a call for further redress to survivors of Magdalene laundries and Mother and Baby Homes, such as those in Galway

The UN Committee Against Torture says its previous recommendations on historical abuse have either been only partially implemented, or not at all.

Following a review of Ireland’s compliance with the UN Convention on Torture and Other Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Ireland is complimented for its progress on ending the incarceration of children in adult prisons, and the Citizens Assembly, but it’s sharply critical of other issues.

The UN Committee against Torture or UNCAT says Ireland should undertake a thorough impartial investigation into Magdalene Laundries that has the power to compel witnesses and ensure punishment of those responsible.

The UNCAT also wants redress for survivors of Mother and baby homes, and is concerned that some survivors of institutional abuse have been left outside the now-closed redress scheme.

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UN torture committee voices “serious concern” over State response to historical abuse

IRELAND
Newstalk

[The Ryan Report – BishopAccountability.org]

The UN Committee against Torture has voiced “serious concern” over the lack of information provided by Irish State regarding investigations into historical abuse outlined in the Ryan Report.

The committee has published its final report on the Irish Government’s performance on issues including historic institutional abuse, detention and healthcare.

It has warned that its call for the State to investigate all allegations of ill-treatment of women at the Magdalene Laundries have not been implemented.

It said the state has also failed to prosecute those responsible and ensure that victims get redress for their suffering.

It has urged the Government to collect data on all criminal investigations undertaken by the gardaí into allegations of abuse at religious run institutions.

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Govt criticised by UN over lack of Magdalene investigation

IRELAND
RTE News

A United Nations committee has criticised the Government for failing to implement its recommendations to investigate allegations of ill treatment of women in Magdalene Laundries.

It has also called for urgent measures to improve the staffing of the Republic’s prisons and to convene an independent review of the entire prison health care system.

The report underlines many achievements in the six years since the UN Committee Against Torture’s previous review.

These include the creation of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the provision of community service as an alternative to imprisonment.

It also notes the 2013 McAleese Report on the State’s involvement with the Magdalene Laundries and the ex gratia scheme to help women who worked in the Laundries.

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UN criticises government for failure to prosecute abuse perpetrators in Magdalene Laundries

IRELAND
The Journal

A UNITED NATIONS committee has criticised the government for its failure to undertake an independent investigation into allegations of ill-treatment at Magdalene Laundries.

It said that it “deeply regrets” that the Irish State has failed to prosecute and punish perpetrators, which was a recommendation it had made previously.

Last month, Minister David Stanton told the UN Committee Against Torture that Ireland had a “strong human rights record” and hailed positive developments that have been made since the last report on the matter submitted to the UN in November 2015.

On the issue of investigations, accountability and redress in the context of Magdalene Laundries, the UN committee said that it had noted the creation of an “ex-gratia scheme that has provided over €25.5 million to 677 former Magdalene women to date”.

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UN Committee Concerned At Lack Of Information Provided By State On Abuse

IRELAND
K FM

A UN Committee says its seriously concerned at the lack of information provided by the Irish State into investigations into historical abuse outlined in the Ryan Report.

The UN Committee against Torture has published its final report on the Irish Government’s performance on issues including historic institutional abuse, detention and healthcare.

It’s urged the Government to collect data on all criminal investigations undertaken by the Gardai into allegations of abuse at religious run institutions.

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UN committee against torture urges inquiry on all mother and baby homes

IRELAND
Irish Times

Marie O’Halloran

The UN Committee against Torture has called on the Government to carry out an independent investigation into allegations of ill-treatment at all mother and baby homes, not just some of them.

The committee said the inquiry should include claims of forced adoption and prosecution of perpetrators.

It criticised the Government’s failure to fully investigate allegations of ill-treatment in Magdalene laundries as the committee recommended six years ago.

The UN committee calls for a fundamental review of the prison system’s health care system, highlights the urgent need for increased staffing in prisons and warns the State that it must end solitary confinement in prisons as a punishment.

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UN criticises Government for not investigating Magdalene Laundries

IRELAND
Irish Independent

Catherine Devine

August 11 2017

The United Nations has criticised the Irish Government for failing to implement its recommendations to investigate allegations of ill treatment of women in Magdalene Laundries.

The UN Committee against Torture also criticises the Government for failing to prosecute perpetrators and to ensure that victims have an enforceable right to compensation.

The Committee is the most important international human rights treaty that deals with torture. It obligates countries who are parties to the treaty to prohibit and prevent torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in all circumstances. 

In the report the Committee also highlighted the need to improve staffing at prisons and to review the prison healthcare system.

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Institutional abuse victims ask Brokenshire for help in accessing compensation

NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

August 11 2017

Victims of institutional abuse in Northern Ireland have urged the Secretary of State to intervene immediately to enable them to access stalled compensation payments.

Campaign group Survivors & Victims of Institutional Abuse (Savia) urged James Brokenshire to act after holding a meeting with the head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, David Sterling.

Mr Sterling met with the Panel of Experts on Redress – a body made up of individual survivors, survivor groups, human rights organisations, academics and lawyers – on Friday afternoon.

In January, a Stormont-commissioned inquiry into abuse committed in church and state run homes in Northern Ireland recommended compensation payments for victims of up to £100,000 each.

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Disturbing details revealed in allegations against San Mateo teacher

CALIFORNIA
KTVU

SAN MATEO, Calif. (KTVU) – There are disturbing new details involving a San Mateo preschool teacher who was arrested back in April for taking lewd photos of his young students. For the first time, a parent of one of the victims is speaking out about the alleged crimes that happened at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Day School where the teacher was employed.

The mother said it’s been a traumatic experience. Her daughter has stomach aches every time she hears the teacher’s name. She wanted to come forward saying the school failed to protect her child.

The mother asked KTVU to conceal her identity. She found it odd when her eight-year-old asked her to buy her tights not realizing she said it was because her teacher Anthony Satriano wanted her wear them.

“She was very upset about something. One night, she had told me what had happened and that it made her feel weird and she didn’t know what to do,” said the mother.

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Vatican investigates claims against bishop after dozens of priests resign

INDONESIA
Catholic Herald (UK)

by Catholic News Service
posted Thursday, 10 Aug 2017

Bishop Leteng of Ruteng, Indonesia, is accused of diverting funds to a mistress but denies the charge

The Vatican has appointed an apostolic visitor to investigate claims by Indonesian priests that their bishop had a mistress and misappropriated church funds.

Bishop Antonius Subianto Bunyamin of Bandung, Indonesia, told ucanews.com that the Vatican had asked him to look into the accusations against Bishop Hubertus Leteng of Ruteng, Indonesia.

Bishop Bunyamin, also general secretary of the Indonesian bishops’ conference, was scheduled to visit the diocese on Catholic-majority Flores Island next week, ucanews.com reported.

The appointment followed social media postings that Catholics in the Ruteng diocese living in Jakarta would gather at the apostolic nunciature for a vigil calling for a speedy resolution to the situation.

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Bischof soll Affäre haben: Vatikan prüft Vorwürfe

INDONESIEN
Katholisch

[Serious accusations are raised by Indonesian priests against their bishop Hubertus Leteng: He is supposed to have embezzled church money and have an affair. Now the Vatican sends an investigator.]

Der Vatikan hat einen apostolischen Visitator für das indonesische Bistum Ruteng eingesetzt. Dem dortigen Bischof Hubertus Leteng werfen Priester der Diözese Veruntreuung von Kirchengeldern in Höhe von rund 100.000 US-Dollar und eine Beziehung zu einer Geliebten vor. Der Generalsekretär der indonesischen Bischofskonferenz, Bischof Antonius Subianto Bunyamin, soll nun im Auftrag des Vatikan die Vorwürfe untersuchen. Das sagte er dem Nachrichtenportal “UCAnews.com” am Dienstag (Ortszeit). Er wird nächste Woche in die Diözese auf die Insel Flores reisen.

Priester protestierten mit Kündigungen

Die Ernennung eines Ermittlers durch den Vatikan ist eine Reaktion auf die Protestaktion von Priestern des Bistums Ruteng: Im Juni 2017 hatten 69 Geistliche ihre Kündigungen als Pfarrpriester und Bischofsvikare eingereicht. Sie verlangten, dass Bischof Bunyamin die Vorgänge im Bistum Ruteng überprüfe. Sie reagierten damit auf Vorwürfe, Leteng habe sich heimlich 94.000 Dollar von der indonesischen Bischofskonferenz und 30.000 Dollar von der Diözese geliehen, ohne für dessen Verwendung Rechenschaft zu geben. Kurz vor dieser Protestaktion hatte Leteng die Vorwürfe nicht kommentieren wollen, berichtet das Nachrichtenportal.

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Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry to resume hearing evidence

SCOTLAND
SBS

Dan Vevers

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry will resume hearing evidence as part of the first phase of its investigations in October.

The inquiry is examining historical allegations about the abuse of children in care and has been taking statements from witnesses since last spring.

Fresh hearings to wrap up the inquiry’s first phase will begin in Rosebery House in Edinburgh on October 31 and will include expert testimony.

Investigators also announced they will launch the second phase of the inquiry on November 28, which will start by focusing on two children’s homes in South Lanarkshire run by the Catholic Church.

They are Smyllum Park in Lanark and Bellevue House in Rutherglen, both run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul.

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Paedophile remains a priest

NEW ZEALAND
Otago Daily Times

By Chris Morris

The Catholic Church is defending its decision not to defrock a paedophile priest who abused boys in Dunedin.

It was confirmed this week Magnus (Max) Murray, now aged 90, is in the care of a Catholic-owned rest-home in Auckland. Despite admitting 10 charges of sexual offending against boys in Dunedin, dating back to the 1950s, Fr Murray has retained his status as a priest following his conviction in 2003, the church has confirmed.

It was a discovery that outraged Murray Heasley, the head of a group of former pupils campaigning for Kavanagh College to adequately acknowledge its links to Fr Murray’s dark past.

He was a teacher at St Paul’s High School, which later became Kavanagh College, at the time of his offending.

A picture of him was on the college’s honours wall until earlier this year, when a complaint from Dr Heasley and 12 other former pupils prompted its removal.

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Michigan woman says pastor sexually assaulted her during ‘anointing ritual’

MICHIGAN
WXYZ

[with video]

Kim Russell
Aug 9, 2017

KIMBALL, Mich. (WXYZ) – A young woman went to investigators at the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office and said she went to her pastor asking for help getting forgiveness for her sins.

He offered an anointing ritual but what happened during that ritual has her believing she is a victim of sexual assault.

Justine Morden says she worshipped at Grace Ministries in Kimball for years.

Last year she decided she wanted to repent for her sins, strengthen her relationship with god, and get more involved – so she met with Pastor Mitch Olson for counsel.

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Trudeau to apologize for residential schools in Newfoundland and Labrador

CANADA
CBC News

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will apologize to former students of residential schools in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Prime Minister’s Office confirms that Trudeau will apologize in Labrador.

An exact date and location have not been confirmed, but an update is expected later this summer.

Former prime minister Stephen Harper excluded the province’s former residential schools from a national apology and compensation package in 2008.

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Cardenal Rivera declara a la PGR que sólo supo de una acusación de pederastia

MEXICO
Proceso

[MEXICO CITY (AP) – Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera testified before the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) on 26 July that he had heard of one accusation of pederasty against one of its priests, who is already “being prosecuted criminally,” with information that the “own archdiocese provided to the ministerial authority.”]

CIUDAD DE MÉXICO (apro).- En su comparecencia ante la Procuraduría General de la República (PGR), realizada el pasado 26 de julio, el cardenal Norberto Rivera Carrera, arzobispo primado de México, declaró que tuvo conocimiento de una sola acusación de pederastia contra uno de sus sacerdotes, el cual ya está “siendo enjuiciado penalmente”, con información que la “propia arquidiócesis proporcionó a la autoridad ministerial”.

De esta manera, el cardenal respondió personalmente a la demanda penal que, el pasado 2 de junio, interpusieron en su contra Alberto Athié y José Barba, quienes lo acusaron de haber encubierto a 15 sacerdotes de su arquidiócesis acusados de pederastia.

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Judge rules Dominican priest to be held in altar boy’s death

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
National Post (Canada)

[Revelan escena de crimen de adolescente se extendió por toda la casa cural – Diario Libre]

AP

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — A Dominican judge on Thursday found enough evidence to hold a Catholic priest in jail for one year after police detained him in the killing of a 16-year-old who once served as an altar boy in his church.

Prosecutors said the victim, Fernelis Carrion, was hit twice in the back of the head with a hammer, suffocated with a plastic bag and stabbed nearly a week ago. They also said his hands and feet were tied with shoelaces and that he was gagged.

Police arrested 41-year-old Rev. Elvis Taveras after the teen’s body was found near a road north of the capital Monday.

“A person who does something like this is not human, they never were, they’re the devil!” yelled the victim’s father, Freddy Carrion, after the court hearing ended.

Local law allows Dominican authorities to temporarily hold suspects in jail before a trial as authorities continue to investigate a case.

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Byrnes sends 3 Guam seminarians to California

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, heugenio@guampdn.com Aug. 11, 2017

Three former Guam seminarians, including two from the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona, have been sent to St. Patrick’s Seminary in California.

A committee of Catholic priests said last year the Yona seminary — which is run by the Neocatechumenal Way — may need to be closed for the good of the Archdiocese of Agana unless the seminary can clarify its purpose, seek formal accreditation to ensure the quality of its priest formation program, and ensure its financial independence.

Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes decided to send the three seminarians to St. Patrick’s Seminary, which for decades has had strong ties with the Archdiocese of Agana, the archdiocese said in a statement Thursday afternoon.

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Laurence Soper accused of abusing boys at St. Benedict’s School

UNITED KINGDOM
Ealing Today

The former Abbot of Ealing Abbey, 73-year-old Laurence Soper has denied charges of sexual abuse against ten underage boys in a short hearing at the Old Bailey.

The 18 counts he is accused of date back to the seventies and eighties when he was teaching at St Benedict’s School.

He had failed to return when arrested and bailed in 2011 and a European Arrest Warrant was issued for him in 2012. He was detained in Kosovo last year after reportedly living in the country for several years. The extradition process was started at this point to bring him back to the country.

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Mediation Conference to be held in September

GUAM
Pacific News Center

By Jolene Toves – August 10, 2017

Guam – The Catholic Church has scheduled a conference to finalize the mediation process to be utilized in the sex abuse lawsuits filed against the Archdiocese of Guam.

According to Court documents, 73 of the Church Abuse cases are participating in the mediation. At this time, all parties are working together to determine how each proposed mediation process differs and ultimately decide on which mediation process they will follow.

Attorney Anthony Perez says, “my understanding from the church’s side is they want to meet September 5th to finalize the process. On my end correspondence has been ongoing. We have already submitted our proposal which is based upon Hawaii mediation order.

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Opinion: Isn’t Apuron innocent until proven guilty?

GUAM
Pacific News Center

R.B. Eusebio Published Aug. 11, 2017

The recent media headlines reporting allegations of sexual impropriety involving Rev. Justin Wachs in the diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is recycled news from a news report from June. As reported, Wachs served as a notary for the Vatican tribunal investigating sex abuse charges against Archbishop Anthony Apuron.

However, he is not one of the five judges tasked with examining evidence, evaluating and determining the validity of the evidence and finally rendering judgment. He has no say or influence in the case’s outcome.

Nevertheless, all the media appear to deem this newsworthy enough to publish as the expected conclusion of the trial draws near. Yet it aligns with the schema of those who stand to gain from Apuron’s permanent ouster from the island.

Why? By discrediting the Vatican tribunal — which has conducted the most thorough investigation into the claims against Apuron to date — those accusing the Church have more leeway to negotiate via mediation a growing number of unproven sex abuse claims. They have steered the public, via the media, to question his innocence and deemed him guilty before, during and now, near the conclusion of his trial, by discrediting the legal process.

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Dominican Republic priest arrested on suspicion of killing teen

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Angelus

Catholic News Agency

The National Police of the Dominican Republic have arrested a priest on suspicion of killing a teenager, who was allegedly sexually abused by the cleric while serving as an altar boy.

Fernely Carrión had been missing since Aug. 4, after a taxi driver dropped the 16 year-old boy off with Father Elvin Taveras. The boy’s body was later found along the road of Los Mina, a sector located outside of Santo Domingo Este. Reports indicate the teen was stabbed several times.

The young man had lived in El Torito and Villa Mella, where the priest said Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. Carrión began altar serving for Father Elvin at 10 years-old. Father Elvin has also been accused of molesting Carrión, who was allegedly being paid by the priest to remain silent.

According to a Aug. 8 statement by the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo, the priest will be suspended from his duties and the church will fully cooperate with the police. The victim’s family was distraught over the news but relieved that the priest is in custody and that plans for legal action are underway, reported Hoy Digital.

Freddy Carrión, the father of the victim, said “justice has been done, a person who does something like that is not a priest,” according to the news agency. Prosecutor Olga Diná Llaverías said that both he and the victim’s family will be aiming for “the maximum sentence of 30 years” for the priest.

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Urgent research needed into ‘boyfriend model’ of sex abuse, say experts

UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Frances Perraudin
Thursday 10 August 2017

Calls are being made for urgent research into the “boyfriend model” of sex abuse that was used by the Newcastle sex trafficking network and others in high-profile grooming scandals.

It is characterised by a vulnerable person being encouraged to believe they are in a loving relationship with their abuser. The victims are often then coerced into having sex with the abuser’s friends or associates.

In a series of four trials at Newcastle crown court, juries found 17 men and one woman guilty of nearly 100 offences between 2011 and 2014 – including rape, human trafficking, conspiracy to incite prostitution and drug supply.

The female victims, who were between the ages of 13 and 25, were plied with alcohol and drugs before being sexually assaulted. Northumbria police characterised the abuse as following the boyfriend model.

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Supporters of sex-pest accused pastor to protest in Durban

SOUTH AFRICA
Herald Live

August 11, 2017 Bongani Mthethwa

Supporters of sex-pest accused Nigerian pastor Tim Omotoso will take to the streets of Durban today in solidarity with the controversial televangelist.

He has been charged with human trafficking and sexual violence.

The Jesus Dominion International church and its members are demanding that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) stop delaying Omotoso’s case – and also that he be released on bail.

The church has warned that the charges against their pastor could result in xenophobic violence.

“The allegations against him have never been tested in any court of law,” the church said yesterday.

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Former Maitland Marist student alleges caning so hard it required ambulance treatment

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

Joanne McCarthy
11 Aug 2017

THE Marist Brothers order has paid compensation to a former Hunter student who alleged he was sexually abused by a lay teacher in the 1970s, and physically assaulted so severely that he was treated by an ambulance officer on one occasion.

The former Marist Maitland student alleged he was physically and emotionally abused by four male lay teachers and three Marist Brothers, including former principal and convicted child sex offender Brother Nestor, also known as John Aloysius Littler, and sexually abused by a lay teacher outside the school.

The order denied the allegations and did not admit “any wrongdoing for any of the claims”, but agreed to a financial settlement with the man in December that included recognition of his need for on-going counselling and treatment.

The settlement occurred only weeks after a Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse public hearing in Newcastle heard shocking evidence of sexual and physical abuse of students at Marist Brothers schools at Maitland and Hamilton.

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August 10, 2017

Clergy sexual abuse case filed against Brother Vernon T. Kamiaz of Agana Heights Church

GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Aug 10, 2017

By Krystal Paco

Another case of clergy sexual abuse filed today. This time, against Brother Vernon T. Kamiaz of Agana Heights Church who, according to Simon Sanchez High School’s website, is a science teacher at the Yigo campus.

The alleged incidents occurred in 1989 or 1990 when victim E.M. was about 15 or 16 years old and attending confirmation classes instructed by Brother Vernon.

According to the complaint, Brother Vernon insisted on talking about E.M. and his sexual relations with his girlfriend who wanted to wait until marriage to have sex.

E.M. alleges that during a car ride, Brother Vernon reached over and grabbed his private parts announcing “I’m trying to teach you what to do so you can have sex with her.”

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Capuchin friar on Guam accused of abusing boy taking his confirmation classes

GUAM
USA Today

Haidee V. Eugenio, Pacific (Guam) Daily News Aug. 10, 2017

HAGÅTÑA, Guam — A Capuchin brother is accused of sexually abusing a boy by grabbing his private parts, purportedly to teach the child how to have sex with his girlfriend, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in Guam Superior Court.

The suit represents the 97th person alleging clergy sexual abuse. The lawsuits so far have been filed in both local and federal courts and involve the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agaña or a religious order.

“Brother Vernon (T. Kamiaz) told plaintiff that he could teach plaintiff how to ‘break down her defenses’ so that he could have sex with her,” according to the lawsuit. “Plaintiff objected, saying that he respected his girlfriend’s wishes to abstain until marriage.”

The alleged abuse happened between 1989 and 1990 while the boy, identified as E.M., was taking confirmation classes at Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Church in Agaña Heights, about a mile south of Hagåtña where Kamiaz was the instructor, the lawsuit states. E.M. was 15 or 16 years old.

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Catechism teacher accused of abuse

GUAM
The Guam Daily Post

Mindy Aguon | The Guam Daily Post Aug 10, 2017

An incident in a car with a catechism instructor has haunted a man for the last 27 years, causing him to suffer from severe anxiety attacks, according to a sex abuse civil lawsuit that was filed yesterday in the Superior Court of Guam.

E.M., who used his initials to protect his identity, filed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Agana, the Capuchin Franciscans and Brother Vernon Kamiaz.

Kamiaz is identified as a religious clergyman and/or lay brother of the Capuchin Order, who was the instructor for confirmation classes at the Agana Heights parish in 1989 and 1990. The lawsuit seeks to hold him liable for alleged wrongful conduct.

The complaint alleges that when E.M. was 15, and was attending confirmation classes at the Agana Heights parish, Kamiaz began questioning the teen about engaging in sexual relations with his girlfriend.

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Diocese of Paterson: Priest accused of groping was properly trained

NEW JERSEY
Daily Record

Peggy Wright, @PeggyWrightDR Aug. 10, 2017

MORRISTOWN – The Diocese of Paterson on Thursday refuted a suggestion that a Polish priest who is charged with groping a 13-year-old girl in Boonton may have skipped some training and put on an ordination fast-track.

Before the accused priest, Rev. Marcin A. Nurek, 37, appeared Wednesday in Superior Court, Morristown, a former priest who co-founded a company to assist people sexually abused by clergymen led a protest in front of the courthouse. Besides saying he was there in support of the allegedly-groped teen, Robert Hoatson said he wondered whether Nurek truly completed all his training since he only arrived in the United States from Poland in 2015.

Nurek was ordained a Catholic priest on July 1. On Aug. 3, he allegedly followed a group of young girls down a Boonton street, grabbed the buttocks of one girl under her skirt but over her underwear and said she was “sexy.” He was apprehended shortly after the encounter and is charged with criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a minor.

Nurek spent six nights in the Morris County jail before a Superior Court judge Wednesday ordered his release pretrial under special conditions that include having no contact with children and reporting to the court twice a month. Nurek was released from the jail Wednesday night after supplying the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office with his passport.

Richard Sokerka, director of communications for the Diocese of Paterson, said that Nurek completed all educational and programmatic requirements before being ordained. Sokerka said that any suggestion that Nurek was fast-tracked is false.

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Rewarding sexual predators

MALTA
Times of Malta

Thursday, August 10, 2017 by Ramona Depares

I’m fed up of having to write these posts, seriously. Then again, the alternative is to just accept everything without a whisper, allowing the system to ride roughshod on unfortunate individuals as it pleases.

So, despite, knowing that I will not make the slightest iota of difference, I’m still here, typing away to put my disappointment and disgust with our legal system on record, for posterity.

Maybe in a few centuries’ time, if Earth is still around, future lecturers in legal history will point their fingers at Maltese case-law from the 21st century and do the whole LMFAO thing (if that is also, still around) before turning to students to explain exactly why those Malteasers really had no clue.

We’ve had dozens of sexual assault and rape cases where the perpetrators were pretty much let off scot free. This latest one though, starring none other than former Kerygma golden boy Charles Fenech, takes the biscuit, the cake and the whole flipping confectionery. Charles Fenech has not so much gotten off scot free, as much as he is actually being given a conciliatory pat on the back.

The facts: priest in a position of authority and respect takes advantage of a person undergoing several mental problems and sexually assaults her on multiple occasions. His reward? A three-month suspended sentence and an ‘u ijja, she says he filled an emotional void in her life’. Oh yeah, and because “by her own admission, she saw him as a caring paternal figure”.

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Updated: Fr Charles Fenech gets three-month suspended jail term for sexually abusing woman<

MALTA
Malta Independent

Helena Grech
Thursday, 10 August 2017

Fr Charles Fenech, former leader of the philanthropical Kergyma movement, was found guilty of sexually abusing a vulnerable person, landing him a three-month jail term suspended for one year.

Fenech was also charged with detaining a woman against her will and offending a person’s morals in a public sphere. He was acquitted of the last two charges.

The woman involved had testified in court, about how separation from her husband had left her very depressed, and that Fenech had become a patriarchal figure in her life.

The woman filed her first police report in August 2011. She was working at Dar Tal-Providenza and described how the priest had urged her to perform oral sex on him. Battling depression, she was eventually admitted to Mt Carmel psychiatric hospital to receive treatment.

She testified that at a later stage when she was in a better place, celebrations were being hosted at her home and Fenech was among the guests. At one point, the priest asked to speak with her alone and attempted to give her a French kiss, the victim testified.

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Former Kerygma director Fr Charles Fenech guilty of attempted violent indecent assault

MALTA
Malta Today

Matthew Agius 10 August 2017

Former Kerygma director Fr Charles Fenech has been found guilty of attempted violent indecent assault, but cleared of illegal arrest and committing indecent or immoral acts in public.

It was in December 2014 that Fenech, 57, from Rabat, was charged before Magistrate Tonio Micallef Trigona with sexually abusing a woman in her 40s who was working at the Dar tal-Providenza at the time.

The woman had told police in 2011 that she been going through a period of turmoil, due to her separating from her husband and had been admitted to Mount Carmel Hospital after attempting suicide. She had explained that she had also been part of the Kerygma movement and had found an understanding and caring ear in Fr Fenech.

After her release from hospital, she had held a party at her home and invited her close friends, amongst them the accused. At one stage Fr Fenech had isolated her and attempted to French kiss her, but she had refused.

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MALTESE PRIEST CONVICTED IN SEXUAL ASSAULT ON A WOMAN

MALTA
Associated Press

VALLETTA, Malta (AP) — A Maltese priest has been handed a suspended three-month sentence after he was found guilty of violent indecent assault on a woman who was undergoing psychiatric care.

The woman testified that Charles Fenech, 57, a priest who was popular in the Mediterranean island nation in the 1990s for organizing activities to raise funds for disabled people, forced her to perform oral sex on him on several occasions in 2011.

The woman was under the care of a psychiatrist after trying to commit suicide while her marriage was breaking up.

The verdict Thursday was the first involving a Maltese priest accused of sexually abusing an adult. In 2011, two Maltese priests were sentenced to a total of 11 years in jail for sexually abusing minors.

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Marikina women’s desk chief sacked over Taytay priest case

PHILIPPINES
The Manila Times

MARIKINA City Mayor Marcelino Teodoro has ordered the sacking of the city police women and children protection desk’s chief for mishandling the case of Msgr. Arnel Lagarejos, and sought a reinvestigation of the case by the City Prosecutor’s Office.

Teodoro said he ordered the relief of Chief Insp. Melanie Redon after some pieces of evidence went missing in the case against the priest who was recently caught with a 13-year-old girl on the way to a motel.

The mayor cited, among others, that there was no mention in Redon’s report of Lagarejos’ gun during the arrest and his cellphone, which was allegedly returned to the priest.

Teodoro said these are material pieces of evidence vital to the investigation.

He added they are preparing to file a motion for reconsideration on the prosecutors’ resolution accusing Lagarejos only for violation of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, and released him after posting P120,000 bail last week.

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Cura Elvin Taveras Durán calló durante primera entrevista con el Ministerio Público

REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
Diario Libre

[SANTO DOMINGO. Prosecutor for the province of Santo Domingo, Olga Diná Llaverías, said that suspended priest Elvin Taveras Durán, accused of killing the minor Fernelis Carrión Saviñón, fell silent during the first interview held between the Attorney General and his defense lawyers, so the alleged admission of homicide to investigating police officers is not evidence that can be sustained in the merits trial.]

SANTO DOMINGO. La fiscal de la provincia Santo Domingo, Olga Diná Llaverías, declaró que el sacerdote suspendido Elvin Taveras Durán, acusado de matar al menor Fernelis Carrión Saviñón, calló durante la primera entrevista sostenida entre el Ministerio Público y sus abogados defensores, por lo que la supuesta admisión del homicidio ante los agentes policiales investigadores no es una prueba que se pueda sostener en el juicio de fondo.

“Por el momento la confesión no representa un elemento probatorio, por eso el Ministerio Público tiene que agenciarse sus propias pruebas. Ha habido una entrevista, no ha sido un interrogatorio con su representante”, declaró.

“El Ministerio Público continuará la investigación para arrojar elementos que puedan fortalecer la imputación que se ha hecho de manera provisional porque no sabemos con qué podemos encontrarnos en el camino”, dijo la fiscal y a seguidas agregó: “Por el momento el Ministerio Público ha presentado pruebas que lo vinculan al hecho, pero el Ministerio Público tiene el compromiso de presentar todos los elementos de prueba necesario para una acusación fuerte”.

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Dominican police arrest Catholic priest for teen’s murder

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
La Croix

Police in the Dominican Republic have arrested a Catholic priest for the murder of a 16-year-old who previously served as an altar boy in his church.

Father Elvin Taveras was detained after being questioned by police and prosecutors who searched his residence in the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo.

The priest is also accused of sexually abusing the teenager, and paying for his silence.

Fernely Carrion’s body was found in long grass along a road in the outskirts of the capital.

A taxi driver told the Diario Libre newspaper that he had taken the teen to meet the priest and that Taveras paid the fare.It is not clear how the boy was killed.

Taveras has been suspended from his duties as a precaution, Santo Domingo Archdiocese said in a statement on Aug. 8.

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Ex-priest Laurence Soper denies sexually abusing boys

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

An ex-Roman Catholic priest has denied sexually abusing 10 boys at a west London school in the 1970s and 80s.

Laurence Soper, 73, is charged with 18 counts of sexual assault against boys aged under 16, at St Benedict’s School in Ealing, where he taught.

The former Abbott of Ealing Abbey appeared before the Old Bailey via video link and spoke only to confirm his name and deny the charges.

He is due to go on trial at the same court on 2 October.

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Emmy nominee Ryan White (‘The Keepers’ director) admits he ‘had no idea how deep and dark the story actually ran’ [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO]

UNITED STATES
Gold Derby

[with video]

Zach Laws
Aug 9, 2017

During our recent webcam chat (watch the exclusive video above), director Ryan White describes the Emmy nomination for his multi-part documentary “The Keepers” as “a validation of the people who shared their stories in the series, and how brave that was of them.” This Netflix original examines the unsolved murder of Sister Cathy Cesnik, an English teacher at Baltimore’s Archbishop Keough High School, and the belief held by former students she was murdered to cover-up rampant child sexual abuse by one of the school’s priests, A. Joseph Maskell. “I know it was very rewarding for them to hear we got an Emmy nomination,” reveals White of the films subjects.

The documentarian divulges he first became interested in the story through a personal connection.

“My family is a big Catholic family in Baltimore,” he explains, “and my aunt was Sister Cathy’s student.” From there, he was introduced to Jean Wehner (a.k.a. Jane Doe), a former student who was repeatedly abused by Maskell. White admits he “had no idea how deep and dark the story actually ran.”

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Evangelical Church Investigated in Brazil for Forced Labor

BRAZIL
Folha de Sao Paulo

08/09/2017

ANA ESTELA OF SOUSA PINTO
FROM SÃO PAULO

The Labor Prosecutor’s Office of São Paulo heard pastors Juarez and Solange Oliveira, founders of the Rhema Community Evangelical Ministry (Ministerio Evangelico Comunidade Rhema), regarding a forced labor investigation, on Tuesday (8).

In July, Associated Press news agency published statements from former members of the Rhema Community claiming they were forced to work in the American church Word of Faith Fellowship, in Spindale, North Carolina.

The churches deny the allegations.

CORRECTIONS

Evangelical churches encourage members to pitch in, according to researchers who study the subject. However, lack of material or psychological support and the emphasis on supernatural forces may make it easier to explore followers.

According to Mr. Corrêa (pseudonym), who left Rhema a year ago, the influence of Americans changed the Brazilian church. “It was a normal, pleasant Evangelical church. Then, they began to adopt harsh procedures.”

According to him, it was then that the “corrections” began: scolding and public or private humiliation, including physical aggression.

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Priest accused of groping teenage girl in NJ is released from jail

NEW JERSEY
PIX 11

[with video]

AUGUST 9, 2017, BY MAGEE HICKEY

MORRISTOWN, NJ — A newly ordained Roman Catholic priest accused of groping a 13-year-old girl under her skirt won’t have to remain in jail while the charges are pending in New Jersey.

Rev. Marcin Nurek, newly ordained, wore an orange jumpsuit instead of a priest collar in court Wednesday. His hands looked like they were clasped in prayer, but they were really just holding up handcuffs.

He said little in court, but Judge Paul Armstrong said a lot.

Specifically, the judge detailed the allegations that this 37-year-old priest from Poland, who was set to become parochial vicar of Saint Catherine of Sienna Church in Mountain Lakes next week, instead stands accused of a crime involving a 13-year-old girl on a downtown Boonton street

“Female xx states that he groped her under her skirt and over her underwear,” Judge Paul Armstrong said. “The defendant then self admitted to touching victim on her buttocks.”

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Comunidad católica sorprendidos por crimen cometido por padre Elvin Taveras

REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
CDN

[con video]

Santo Domingo RD.- Miembros de la zona parroquial donde el ex sacerdote Elvis Taveras Durán ofrecía oficios religiosos expresan sentirse sorprendidos por el asesinato competido por el religioso al joven Fernely Carrión.

Este miércoles fue oficiada una misa en la Capilla Nuestra Señora de Fátima del sector El Tamarindo, donde el ex cura presidía los orificios religiosos los domingos.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC PRIEST HELD IN DEATH OF FORMER ALTAR BOY

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Associated Press

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Authorities in the Dominican Republic have detained a Catholic priest as a suspect in the killing of a 16-year-old who previously served as an altar boy in his church.

The Rev. Elvis Taveras was taken into custody after questioning by police and prosecutors who searched his residence in eastern Santo Domingo. He was expected to make his initial appearance before a judge Thursday.

Prosecutor Gilberto Castillo said he would seek to have the priest held while authorities continue the investigation. Taveras did not yet have a lawyer.

Fernelis Carrion’s body was found in brush along a road leading north out of the capital. A taxi driver told newspaper Diario Libre that he had taken the teen to meet the priest and that Taveras paid the fare. Authorities have not disclosed the cause of death.

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Response to sexual abuse

PHILIPPINES
Cebu Daily News

By: Sofia Aliño Logarta
@cebudailynews

Recent cases of sexual abuse, especially of minors, move us to reflect on certain characteristics of our society. The report on incest shows how some parents view their children.

Fathers in the case of incest feel they have a right to do as they please because the children belong to them. This sense of ownership has been seen in the cases of cyberpornography that victimized our children.

Mostly this has resulted in a degree of emotional, psychological confusion on the part of the children who had been victims. With the presence of child and women advocates, these children have undergone debriefing. Those who had not benefited from these experienced lifelong trauma from such violation.

Before, I noticed a great deal of victim-blaming. Why was she roaming around late at night?

She deserves such treatment because of that provocative get-up. Aside from those, complainants became further victimized by macho jokes. Recently I have been relieved to hear that there has been assistance and a variety of support.

The action of church officials towards the priest charged with qualified trafficking (accused of using the services of a pimp to have sexual services of a young girl — both minors) has been speedy and business like, with no defensive statements.

This an improvement from our being asked to stop pursuing a case of a priest accused of sexual harassment.

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PRIEST ACCUSED OF GROPING TEENAGE GIRL IS RELEASED FROM JAIL

NEW JERSEY
Associated Press

MOORISTOWN, N.J. (AP) — A newly ordained Roman Catholic priest accused of groping a 13-year-old girl under her skirt won’t have to remain in jail while the charges are pending in New Jersey.

A judge ruled Wednesday, rejecting requests from Morris County prosecutors that the Rev. Marcin Nurek remain jailed until the matter is resolved or be required to wear a monitoring device.

The 37-year-old priest was charged last week with child endangerment and criminal sexual contact. He’s accused of touching the girl’s buttocks over her underwear and telling her she was “sexy.”

The Diocese of Paterson has put Nurek on administrative leave. But his lawyer said Wednesday that the diocese has offered to provide Nurek with housing while the charges are pending.

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Priest charged with groping teenage girl appears in court in New Jersey

NEW JERSEY
WABC

By Toni Yates
Wednesday, August 09, 2017

MORRISTOWN, New Jersey (WABC) — Authorities say a newly ordained Roman Catholic priest in New Jersey has been charged with groping a teen girl under her skirt.

38-year-old Father Marcin Nurek came into court in handcuffs, and stood next to his attorney, who has a gazillion doubts about this case.

“My sense is that something doesn’t smell right,” William Ware, Nurek’s attorney.

He says Nurek, of Poland, dreamed all his life of becoming a priest.

“The whole allegation is bizarre. He doesn’t know this person, he has no history of this,” Ware said.

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Priest accused of molesting teen must surrender passport

NEW JERSEY
News 12

[with video]

MORRIS COUNTY –
A newly ordained Roman Catholic priest who is accused of molesting a teenage girl was ordered to surrender his passport and cannot have contact with the victim or other children.

The Rev. Marcin Nurek, a polish immigrant, appeared before a Morris County Judge Wednesday. Nurek is accused of putting his hand under a 13-year-old girl’s skirt and rubbing her buttocks over her underwear. He also allegedly told her that she was “sexy.”

Police say that Nurek admitted to doing all of this, but his defense attorney questions if that is true.

“We heard a lot today about the admissions on part of the defendant. Well did he have an interpreter? Because he doesn’t speak English and what little he does is limited,” says attorney William Ware. “I’m curious about the admissions because it’s apparently a big part of the state’s case.”

Ware ways that Nurek also has no history of this type of behavior.

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Mapleton LDS bishop charged with sexual abuse likely to take plea deal

UTAH
Daily Herald

Kurt Hanson
Daily Herald

An LDS bishop charged with sexually abusing two underage males in his ward is expected to enter into a plea deal soon.

The defendant, Erik Hughes, appeared Wednesday in Fourth District Court before Judge Thomas Low with his attorney, John Allan.

Allan told Low he and David Sturgill, Utah County deputy attorney, are prepared to enter into a plea agreement.

“We have a resolution but we’re trying to tie up a few ends,” Allan said.

Allan asked for another hearing in two weeks where it is likely that Hughes, 51, will enter pleas. He was arrested just 49 days ago.

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Request for literature: The scale of online-facilitated Child Sexual Abuse

UNITED KINGDOM
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

The Inquiry has commissioned the Secure Societies Institute at the University of Huddersfield to provide us with a review of the most up to date available information that can be used to quantify the scale of online-facilitated child sexual abuse. The findings will help pinpoint areas where further research is needed and help inform the Inquiry’s investigation into the Internet and CSA’. They may also inform recommendations for policy and practice. The Inquiry and the University of Huddersfield are asking organisations to let us know about any unpublished literature or ongoing research in this area. Full details of the request can be found in the library on our website.

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Second phase of Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry announced

SCOTLAND
BBC News

The second phase of hearings in the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry is to open with a case study centring on care establishments run by a Catholic order.

The independent inquiry is looking in detail at historical abuse of children in residential care in Scotland.

The inquiry has been separated into a series of phases, the first of which continues on 31 October.

Phase two starts on November 28 with a study of homes run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul.

Applications to appear in relation to this case study are now open, with a particular focus on Smyllum Park in Lanark and Bellevue House in Rutherglen. The deadline for applications to appear, for people with a direct or substantial interest in the hearings, close on 4 September.

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Supporters of sex pest accused Pastor Omotoso take to the streets

SOUTH AFRICA
Times Live

10 August 2017

BY BONGANI MTHETHWA

Supporters of sex pest accused Nigerian pastor Tim Omotoso will take to the streets of Durban on Friday in solidarity with the controversial televangelist‚ who has been charged with human trafficking and sexual violence.

The Jesus Dominion International Church and its members are demanding that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) stop delaying Omotoso’s case and that he be released on bail. The church has also warned that charges against their pastor could result in xenophobic violence.

“The allegations against him have never been tested in any court of law. As South African members of the Jesus Dominion International we feel that these allegations are politically motivated and have a potential to create xenophobic sentiments and violence‚” the church said in a statement.

Omotoso was arrested in a bathroom at the Port Elizabeth International Airport in April. The 59-year-old father of three is alleged to have molested and raped at least 30 young women who attend his church.

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Opinion: Don’t assess Guam’s Catholic schools

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

David. J. Sablan Aug. 10, 2017

The sexual abuse of our children by members of our Catholic clergy is the worst violation of trust, when supposedly holy men take advantage of our young for their own pleasure. This is truly sad and our prayers continually go out to the victims and their families.

Archbishop Anthony Apuron’s administration of our archdiocese was a disaster.

As a result, many in the community have lost trust and confidence in the leadership of our Church, and it is still at a very low point. People still are hesitant to contribute to the support of the chancery and anything it does until they are sure their money is being put to good use for the well-being and future of our Church.

Assessments

So now comes this announcement from chancery officials that effective July 1, 2017, and monthly thereafter (no end date stated), all 14 Catholic schools on Guam are directed to pay $12 per student per month to cover the annual debt service and old accounts payable owed by two Catholic schools.

Additionally, there’s another $25 per student per year to fund an office in the chancery of the Archdiocese of Agana, established to support the schools with a “system of administrative, accounting and human resource support for our schools.”

On the surface, this may seem to be a prudent assessment of students in schools still operating, to cover debts of two other Catholic schools: one which closed and whose debt balance of $2.4 million, plus payables of about $60,000, was assumed by the archdiocese; and the other which fell behind in paying its past-due accounts totaling approximately $180,000.

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Child abuse inquiry to probe Lanarkshire childrens homes run by nuns

SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Alan Simpson

THE second phase of the Scottish child abuse inquiry will further investigate controversial children’s homes run by a Catholic Order of nuns.

It is examining historical allegations of the abuse of children in care and has been taking statements from witnesses since last spring.

Officials said the first part of the second phase starting in autumn will focus on homes run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, such as Smyllum Park in Lanark and Bellevue House in Rutherglen.

The head of the religious order which ran the controversial children’s homes has already described allegations of abuse as a “mystery”.

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Child abuse survivors hope to agree interim payments this week

NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish Legal News

A child abuse survivors’ group has spoken of hope that interim payments for historical child abuse victims could be agreed this week with David Sterling, head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service.

Margaret McGuckin of Survivors and Victims of Institutional Abuse (SAVIA) is on the expert panel meeting Mr Sterling on Friday.

The Panel of Experts on Redress was recently told by Jeffrey Donaldson MP that the DUP would support payments, amid mounting pressure on Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire.

Ms McGuckin, who suffered abuse as a child at Nazareth House children’s home, told The Irish News: “We were over the moon after the meeting with Jeffrey Donaldson.

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Convicted Moncton ex-priest will face preliminary inquiry on new sex charge next month

CANADA
CBC News

A preliminary inquiry for a former Moncton priest facing another allegation of indecent assault is going to take place in September.

Yvon Arsenault, who is serving a four-year prison sentence for molesting nine boys while he was a priest in the 1970s in the Shediac and Collette areas, appeared in Moncton court Wednesday morning on the latest charge.

The former Catholic priest, who has been behind bars since February, was in handcuffs as he was escorted into the courtroom by a sheriff’s deputy and sat down in the prisoner’s box.

Arsenault pleaded guilty last year to the sex crimes that put him in prison.

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Mediation Conference to be held in September

GUAM
Pacific News Center

By Jolene Toves – August 10, 2017

Guam – The Catholic Church has scheduled a conference to finalize the mediation process to be utilized in the sex abuse lawsuits filed against the Archdiocese of Guam.

According to Court documents, 73 of the Church Abuse cases are participating in the mediation. At this time, all parties are working together to determine how each proposed mediation process differs and ultimately decide on which mediation process they will follow.

Attorney Anthony Perez says, “my understanding from the church’s side is they want to meet September 5th to finalize the process. On my end correspondence has been ongoing. We have already submitted our proposal which is based upon Hawaii mediation order.

Meanwhile, it has been made clear that Archbishop Anthony Apuron will not be participating in the mediation process. Archbishop Anthony Apuron’s currently has four motions to dismiss in the defamation cases before the District Court of Guam which are set to be heard on August 29.

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Tuam site report due next month

IRELAND
Galway Independent

An expert group considering the future of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home burial site is due to complete its final report next month.

The group was appointed earlier this year by Minister Katherine Zappone at the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

Commenting on the group’s work, a spokesperson for the Department said, “There is no precedence for a situation such as this in Ireland, or indeed further afield, and the cooperation of all relevant government agencies is required in moving forward. This is to ensure that the dignity and integrity of the human remains at this location may be acknowledged and respected with their future to be secured as swiftly as possible.”

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AUSTRALIA’S BALLARAT DIOCESE ACCUSED OF BREAKING CHURCH SEX ABUSE GUIDELINES BY CHALLENGING COMPENSATION CLAIM

AUSTRALIA
The Tablet (UK)

10 August 2017 | by Mark Brolly

The Diocese is alleged to be denying the circumstances of the victim’s abuse, despite fact it was accepted by the Court three years ago

The Diocese of Ballarat, one of the Catholic bodies most scrutinised by Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, has been accused of breaking the Church’s guidelines in resisting a compensation claim by a victim of laicised priest Gerald Ridsdale.

The guidelines state a claimant cannot be required to prove the elements of an abuse case that the Church authority had already accepted to be true.

But lawyer Paula Shelton said the Diocese was challenging parts of her client’s claim that were accepted by a court when Ridsdale was convicted of the abuse. Her client was seven years old when sexually abused by Ridsdale, who is now in jail, in 1980.

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August 9, 2017

Dave Sablan to seminary occupants: pay rent or get out

GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Aug 09, 2017

By Krystal Paco

One longtime advocate for transparency in the Church speaks out about what he’s calling “freeloaders”. The property in question is the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona.

Pay rent or get out – that’s the sentiment from Concerned Catholics of Guam President David Sablan, who told KUAM News, “We have this property now that is back in the church patrimony. That is the Yona property, where the Redemptoris Mater Seminary is situated. We still have people staying there.”

Sablan has written to RMS leadership to find out who’s staying in the former hotel and has yet to receive a response. He alleges the group consists of members of the Neocatechumenal Way, including missionaries, seminarians, and presbyters.

Though their operations are no longer financially supported by the Archdiocese, he reports they use the space free of charge. “A free hotel for a bunch of freeloaders from around the world,” he strongly stated. Sablan takes issue with this considering 14 Catholic schools and all Catholic parishes are being assessed fees to keep Church operations afloat.

“Here they are, staying at the RMS rent-free, exposing actually the archdiocese and the church to liability risks, on the other hand we’re charging our school kids to cough up some money to pay off old debts that is now been assumed by the archdiocese,” he said. Sablan added, “In my opinion, this is another type of abuse of our children. If we are going to charge them now to pay our old debts. They should be kept out of this – there should be other ways and means.”

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Concerned Catholics says Neocatechumenal Way should help pay church debts

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, heugenio@guampdn.com Aug. 9, 2017

Concerned Catholics of Guam President David Sablan said the Neocatechumenal Way should start paying rent for using the Archdiocese of Agana’s Yona property.

Sablan said it is unfair that Guam’s 14 Catholic schools and their students are being assessed to pay for some $2.64 million in church debts, while the Neocatechumenal Way “gets free rent” from the archdiocese.

Catholic schools will be assessed new fees of $25 per student each year to fund the operations of a Catholic education superintendent, and $144 a year per student to help the church weather its financial crisis, church officials said in previous statements.

The new fees are not for costs associated with clergy abuse cases, church officials have said.

“I questioned why this organization is getting a free ride from the Archdiocese, and the kids in our Catholic schools are being assessed to cover part of the cost of operations of the Chancery, including 100 percent of the debt assumed by the Archdiocese from two schools,” Sablan said.

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Temporary stay issued in sex abuse cases

GUAM
The Guam Daily Post

Mindy Aguon | The Guam Daily Post

Judge Michael Bordallo of the Superior Court of Guam issued a temporary stay of 20 childhood sex abuse cases that were filed in Superior Court against the Archdiocese of Agana and the Boy Scouts of America, to see if the parties can agree on the mediation process.

Attorney Anthony Perez, who represents several sex abuse victims, advised the court that his clients agreed to mediation but are still working out concerns they had with the protocol. He anticipates those issues being resolved in the next week or two.

The parties are scheduled to have their first meeting in Hawaii on Sept. 5 to iron out all of the details of the mediation that is expected to begin in Guam on Oct. 30.

A retired federal judge, Michael Hogan, has been selected by the parties to act as mediator and work with the archdiocese, the Boy Scouts of America, other defendants and the victims’ attorneys in an effort to resolve the cases through a settlement.

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No action on sex abuse lawsuits…for now

GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Aug 09, 2017

By Krystal Paco

No action will be taken on 20 clergy sex abuse lawsuits as well as a defamation lawsuit filed in the Superior Court. At least…for now.

On Wednesday, the local court granted a motion to stay on both matters in light of settlement talks.

“We requested the motion to stay for the same reasons we had in the District Court; hopefully we’ll be able to come to a settlement through the mediation process with the victims,” said And as Archdiocese of Agana’s attorney John Terlaje requested on Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Michael Bordallo granted a motion to stay on 20 clergy sex abuse cases.

The stay is only for 30-days – just enough time to give parties who’ve expressed willingness to participate in settlement talks time to discuss the processes with mediator, Oregon-based retired federal judge Michael Hogan.

That meeting is scheduled for September 5th in Hawaii followed by Hogan’s trip to Guam in late October. “We seem pretty confident, as long as everyone comes in good faith. We think that the settlement will happen,” Terjale continued.

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Superior Court grants motion to stay church sex abuse and defamation cases

GUAM
Pacific News Center

By Jolene Toves – August 9, 2017

The stay will be in effect for 30 days.

Guam – Following a stay granted in the District Court of Guam in the church sex abuse lawsuits–with the exception of the cases involving Archbishop Anthony Apuron–a temporary stay was also issued by the Superior Court of Guam this morning.

When the sex abuse cases against the Archdiocese of Guam were originally filed at Superior Court, all judges recused themselves, including Judge Michael Bordallo. Out of necessity and at the request of District Court Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewoo, however, 20 sex abuse and 4 defamation cases are back at Superior Court where they are now talking about how to proceed with litigation.

There are over 90 sex abuse cases filed against the Archdiocese of Agana. With multiple plaintiffs and defendants, the issue of how to proceed with mediation, in particular, what mediation process to follow, has arisen as all parties must be in agreement. In court today, Judge Bordallo issued a 30-day stay to allow all parties to sort out the mediation process.

Attorney Patrick Civille says his client, the Boy Scouts of America, supports the motion to stay.

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Local court judge postpones further action in $2M libel suit, in clergy abuse cases

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, heugenio@guampdn.com Aug. 9, 2017

Further action on clergy sex abuse cases filed in the Superior Court of Guam, as well as a libel suit filed against Archbishop Anthony Apuron in Superior Court, has been delayed until at least Sept. 12 because of pending settlement talks.

Superior Court Judge Michael J. Bordallo Wednesday morning held a status hearing for 20 clergy sex abuse cases and the $2 million libel and and slander lawsuit filed by former altar boys against Apuron and the Archdiocese of Agana.

Bordallo during the hearing ordered a temporary stay on the libel case and abuse cases until an agreement has been reached on the mediation process for the nearly 100 abuse cases pending in local and federal court. The church had requested the stay.

Apuron’s counsel, Jacqueline Terlaje, told Bordallo that Apuron’s motion to dismiss the defamation case had been filed about a year ago.

Terlaje said Apuron is not participating in the mediation process at this time.

“On the defamation suit, what our grounds are, is that every person has the right to assert their innocence; that they cannot be sued in defamation simply by asserting their innocence,” Apuron’s counsel said after the status conference. “The court has ordered a temporary stay. 30 days is not going to be a huge delay in the matter and I am pleased with that, the court has an interest in moving the case forward.”

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Lafayette, diocese has history of sex offenses by priests

LOUISIANA
The Daily Advertiser

Ken Stickney, kstickney@theadvertiser.com Aug. 9, 2017

Accusations of sex crimes involving Roman Catholic priests and Acadiana children might date back some seven decades, court records reveal. They also include two notorious court cases in the past few years.

The case of the Rev. F. David Broussard, whose scheduled Aug. 14 court appearance has been delayed until Nov. 27 in St. Martin Parish, is the most recent occurrence. Broussard is not accused of sexual contact with children, but the former Breaux Bridge pastor, 51, was charged in July 2016 with 500 counts of possession of child pornography. Some 500 images of children were found on his personal computer.

Broussard wrote a public letter of apology after his arrest but pleaded not guilty to the felony charges in May. He remains free on $25,000 bond. Most Rev. Douglas Deshotel, bishop of Lafayette, placed him on administrative leave and he performs no priestly duties.

But the Breaux Bridge case was not the only recent one to land a local priest in trouble. Former priest Mark A. Broussard, convicted in March 2016 of molesting altar boys in the neighboring diocese of Lake Charles in the late 1980s, was arrested in 2012 after a man wrote to Lake Charles Bishop Glen John Provost to reveal accusations against Broussard, who had served as a priest in several Catholic churches.

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Cops hunt pastor accused of getting teen pregnant

JAMAICA
The Star

A Kingston pastor accused of repeatedly having sex with a 12-year-old girl before impregnating her is now being sought by detectives at the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA).

Law-enforcement sources revealed that the girl, who is now 14 years old, has given a detailed statement alleging that the 52-year-old clergyman first forced himself on to her before he began to reward her after their sexual encounters.

“He would give her money and other gifts so that she would not tell anyone,” one source revealed.

Confessed everything

However, according to the source, the alleged sexual relationship came to light in June this year when the 14-year-old discovered that she was pregnant and confessed everything to her mother.

The names of the clergyman and the church he leads are being withheld to protect the identity of the alleged victim.

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Testimony begins in 2000 indecency case with former Lubbock pastor

TEXAS
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

August 9, 2017

By GABRIEL MONTE A-J Media

Testimony began Tuesday for the trial of a 17-year-old indecency with a child case in which a pastor is accused of sexually abusing a 9-year-old parishioner at his church.

Amado Miranda, 68, pleaded not guilty to two counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact, which carry a punishment of two to 20 years in prison.

Miranda is accused of sexually molesting the girl in 2000, however, prosecutors said the abuse began in 1999. Police investigated an outcry the girl made in 2004 and Miranda was arrested and indicted in 2005. Prosecutors presented jurors with a timeline to explain the 12-year delay in trying the case.

Court records showed Amado was released on bond set at $25,000 after his arrest. In April 2006, Miranda’s bond was surrendered after he failed to show up for court to enter a guilty plea on the case. Miranda’s scheduled guilty plea was not revealed to jurors during the trial.

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Pastor under investigation for alleged sex assault

MICHIGAN
The Times-Herald

Nicole Hayden, Times Herald

The St. Clair County Prosecutor’s Office is reviewing allegations that local Pastor Mitch Olson sexually assaulted a former member of his church.

The St. Clair County Sheriff Department submitted the case against the pastor of Grace Ministry Center to the prosecutor Wednesday morning seeking a criminal sexual conduct charge.

The investigation comes nearly 10 months after the alleged abuse occurred. The 20-year-old female victim from Marysville filed a police report in June. She was 19 years old at the time of the alleged criminal sexual conduct. The Times Herald does not publish names of sexual assault victims.

Olson told the Times Herald Tuesday night that he did not wish to comment for this story. Wednesday morning, Olson said he would provide a statement, but has not done so.

St. Clair County Prosecutor Mike Wendling said his office is currently investigating the case to determine if a crime has been committed. Wendling said his office had been communicating with the sheriff department during its investigation as well.

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Sex abuse victim advocates protest as priest accused of groping NJ girl heads to court

NEW JERSEY
Fios 1 News

[with video]

MORRISTOWN — Protestors are out in full force Wednesday, as the priest accused of inappropriately touching a teenage girl heads to court.

Fr. Marcin Nurek is expected in court for a detention hearing. He is accused of groping a teenage girl.

“It is outrageous that a priest who was ordained for 33 days would be already having the arrogance and the chutzpah, you know, to sexually abuse somebody,” said Robert Hoatson, president of Road to Recovery, a nonprofit charity that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families.

The demonstration is a result of the arrest of Fr. Nurek who is accused of groping a teenage girl last week in Boonton.

The priest was ordained just last month. He was set to begin his work at St. Catherine of Siena in Mountain Lakes as an associate pastor, but the Diocese of Paterson has revoked his assignment in light of the arrest.

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Priest accused of groping teen in Boonton released from jail, can’t function as cleric

NEW JERSEY
Daily Record

Peggy Wright, @PeggyWrightDR Aug. 9, 2017

MORRISTOWN – A newly-ordained priest from Poland who is accused of groping a 13-year-old girl’s buttocks under her skirt in Boonton will be released from the Morris County jail to live at the Bethlehem Hermitage for priests in Chester as soon as he surrenders his passport, a Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday.

Over the objection of Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Meg Rodriguez, Judge Paul Armstrong ruled that the Rev. Marcin A. Nurek, 37, shall be released under special conditions while charges of criminal sexual contact and child endangerment are pending.

The conditions include reporting twice monthly to the Superior Court Pretrial Services unit, having no contact with children, and not serving as a priest – a condition that Diocese of Paterson Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli already mandated following Nurek’s arrest on Aug. 3. Nurek also must remain in New Jersey and cannot be transferred elsewhere by the Diocese of Paterson while the charges are pending, Armstrong ruled. …

Nurek, appearing grim-faced, appeared Wednesday in a jail-issued jumpsuit before Armstrong with defense lawyer William Ware and assisted by a Polish language interpreter. A citizen of Poland, he is in the United States on a religious work visa and was ordained a priest on July 1.

Ware told the judge that the Diocese, while ordering that Nurek cannot function as a priest, is still supportive. The Diocese has made arrangements for Nurek to live at the Bethlehem Hermitage for priests in Chester, and he will be monitored by a monsignor and a deacon.

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Youth pastor sues Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church over sexual harassment

CALIFORNIA
San Diego Reader

By Dorian Hargrove, Aug. 8, 2017

A former associate pastor at the Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church is suing the church and it’s new pastor Bryan Stamper for sexual harassment and for terminating her after she complained to church administrators.

Dawn Neldon was hired in 2008 to serve as a youth minister. After a number of years working for the Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church, Neldon was promoted to a “minister of missions and serving” position inside the church.

In March 2017, the church named Bryan Stamper, a pastor from Texas, as its new head pastor. That same month Neldon and Stamper, along with other church staffers, took a bus to a conference in Irvine, California. During the ride, Stamper sat next to Neldon. He told Neldon about a former parishioner, an older lady, who, according to the complaint, liked to grab “his butt every time he saw her.” He said he was happy to give her that little thrill.

The story, in addition to his flirtatious behavior, made Neldon uncomfortable. Later at the conference, Stamper addressed Neldon as “honey, baby, and sweetheart.” During the ride home Stamper approached Neldon and compared his body to a “Lamborghini” that “couldn’t be kept in the garage.”

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Church forced out woman after she complained pastor asked her to take his ‘Lamborghini’ body out of the garage

CALIFORNIA
Raw Story

SARAH K. BURRIS
09 AUG 2017

A church’s youth pastor was forced to resign after she complained about a new pastor who acted inappropriately.

Dawn Neldon is suing Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church in San Diego and its new pastor Bryan Stamper after she said she reported he sexually harassed her and was subsequently fired, The San Diego Reader reported.

She’s worked at the church for nearly 10 years and was even promoted to “minister of missions and serving.” But in March, the church hired the new Texas pastor to lead the congregation. His first month of service, Neldon went with Stamper and other church staff to a conference in Irvine, California. While on the bus, Stamper sat with Neldon and told her a story about an older lady who liked to grab “his butt every time he saw her.” He said that he was always happy to indulge in her desire.

She also said that their conversations has a “flirtatious” manner about them, the complaint claimed. Stamper would call her “honey, baby and sweetheart” and during the ride home compared his body to a “Lamborghini” that “couldn’t be kept in the garage.” There were other incidents in which Stamper asked her to dance with him in his first sermon before the entire congregation. He also commented on her clothing.

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Ultra-Orthodox Rabbis, Activists Take on Pedophilia in Public Rally

ISRAEL
Haaretz

Religious leaders take on the issue at rare public gathering in Haredi town of Bnei Brak, dismiss rumors of ‘cult’ hunting children on street

Aaron Rabinowitz Aug 09, 2017

In a rare gathering that took place Saturday night in Bnei Brak, ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) rabbis and activists spoke publicly for the first time on the issue of pedophilia (http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.710150) in the community, providing a glimpse into how attackers and victims are dealt with.

The assembly was convened following a wave of rumors about a “missionary cult” that was snatching children, sexually assaulting them, inciting them against their parents and even threatening to murder them. These rumors were making local parents hysterical, especially since dozens of children had complained in recent months about strangers who approached them, grabbed them and sexually assaulted them. An in-depth examination, however, showed that the panic was apparently unjustified; although there had been cases of children being assaulted, these attacks had been perpetrated by pedophiles acting alone and not as part of any network or cult.

The story is also rooted in cases that took place earlier in Jerusalem. In 2011 a number of suspects were arrested in a series of attacks on children in the Nahlaot neighborhood. Residents believed there was a wide network of pedophiles in the area who had attacked dozens of children, but an intensive police investigation uncovered no evidence of this, although there had been a few individual instances.
A few years later there were rumors of a similar network operating in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sanhedria. In August 2016 police arrested a number of people suspected of spreading the rumors about a “missionary cult” and using them to extract hundreds of thousands of shekels from people who contributed to help stop the imaginary cult.

After similar rumors started in Bnei Brak a few months ago, activists and rabbis who intervened determined that these were groundless and that a significant number of the children’s reports could not be proven sufficiently or were outright lies.
As the Saturday assembly was called to calm frightened parents, the phenomenon of pedophilia was discussed. At the start of the conference, however, Rabbi Shlomo Levinstein, who is active in this area because of his position in the Mishmeret Hakodesh Vehahinukh (“Guardians of Holiness and Education”) organization, said, “For reasons of modesty, questions to the rabbis will be allowed only after the gathering on a private basis.” Teenagers were ordered out of the hall.
During his address, Levinstein said, “When we know who the attacker is, there is sometimes an option to deal with it in the community. We know how to do this, either through the Mishmeret Hakodesh or through Rabbi Chananya Chollak [chairman of the Ezer Mizion aid organization]. We have ways of sending people for treatment and we do so with a waiver on medical secrecy. When we don’t know who did it, we call the Israel Police.”

He added, “Our community has all sorts of sensitivities that don’t exist in other populations. When police are called, the detectives don’t know our language and can sometimes ask things that a child wouldn’t know what they want of him. Sometimes we arranged to have children questioned in Rabbi Chollak’s office, and that’s acceptable to the police. But the first thing that must be done is to protect the children – that is, to warn them not to speak to strangers and that you are the sole proprietor over your body.”

Nothing new

Chollak also addressed the gathering, saying, “Unfortunately, assaults on children are nothing new. Almost every week there’s an incident, in our community as well, to our great regret. There was a story in Bnei Brak a while back. Twenty-eight children were assaulted within 10 days, three of them girls who were hospitalized. I couldn’t sit in my office and I went out on ambushes with the police.”

Rabbi Yehuda Sillman, a senior rabbinic court judge, told the gathering, “This story started in the Nahlaot neighborhood in Jerusalem, where there were evil people who did terrible things and they’re sitting in jail. There’s no doubt that in various instances you have to go to the authorities, but in the current case [the rumored missionary cult in Bnei Brak] it’s clear the story isn’t credible. Hysteria and imagination work overtime in these cases and cause even worse damage – people who won’t leave their homes, children who aren’t permitted to play in the park, and more.”

Sillman added, “If there have been cases of assaults on children, they should be reported to the police, in coordination with the rabbis and activists to make sure the attackers indeed get punished and that there’s oversight so that the complaints are checked in a manner suited to the Haredi community. But there’s no need for exaggerated panic.”

In conclusion, the rabbis instructed the parents to repeatedly tell children that they shouldn’t approach or talk to strangers, and that they must explain to them that only they have say over their bodies.

“There are a lot of question marks in this case,” said Eli Schlesinger, crime reporter for the website Bechadrei Haredim, who has been continuously covering the issue of sexual assault in the community. “One city resident collected the information and gave the rabbis a document with 30 instances of assault. Rabbi Yehuda Sillman investigated but could not find evidence of a cult operating in the city.”

Yisrael Cohen, a journalist for the Kikar Shabbat website, which divulged the recordings from the Bnei Brak gathering, told Haaretz, “The rabbis and the Haredi activists work in cooperation with the police, who in certain cases look away and allow treatment within the community. The police understand that the advantages of cooperation with Haredi officials outweigh the disadvantages.”

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Pfarrer tötet Messdiener durch Hammerschläge und Messerstiche

DOMINIKANISCHE REPUBLIK
RP

[Santo Domingo. A Catholic priest in the Dominican Republic has confessed to the murder of a 16-year-old boy. He had obviously maintained a sexual relationship with the boy for years. As local media reported on Tuesday, the victim had succumbed to the serious injuries caused by hammering and knife-cutting. The priest had buried his victim in a bush.]

Santo Domingo. Ein katholischer Pfarrer in der Dominikanischen Republik hat den Mord an einem 16-jährigen Messdiener gestanden. Mit dem Jungen hatte er offenbar über Jahre eine sexuelle Beziehung aufrechterhalten.

Wie lokale Medien am Dienstag berichteten, sei das Opfer an den schweren Verletzungen erlegen, die durch Hammerschläge und Messerstiche verursacht wurden. Der Priester hatte sein Opfer nach der Tat unweit der Hauptstadt Santo Domingo in einem Gebüsch verscharrt. In seinem Geständnis erklärte der Geistliche, er habe den Jungen getötet, weil dieser gedroht habe, ihn mit kompromittierenden Fotos und Videos aus der Zeit der Beziehung zu erpressen.

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Pope tells Belgian Brothers of Charity no more euthanasia for patients

BELGIUM
Crux

The Brothers of Charity, which runs 15 centers for psychiatric patients across Belgium, formally implemented its euthanasia policy in June, just weeks after the bishops declared they would not accept euthanasia in Catholic institutions. About 12 psychiatric patients in their care are believed to have asked for euthanasia over the past year, with two transferred elsewhere to receive the injections to end their lives.

Pope Francis has given a Belgian religious order until the end of August to stop offering euthanasia to psychiatric patients.

Brother Rene Stockman, superior general of the order, told Catholic News Service the pope gave his personal approval to a Vatican demand that the Brothers of Charity, which runs 15 centers for psychiatric patients across Belgium, must reverse its policy by the end of August.

Brothers who serve on the board of the Brothers of Charity Group, the organization that runs the centers, also must each sign a joint letter to their superior general declaring that they “fully support the vision of the magisterium of the Catholic Church, which has always confirmed that human life must be respected and protected in absolute terms, from the moment of conception till its natural end.”

Brothers who refuse to sign will face sanctions under canon law, while the group can expect to face legal action and even expulsion from the church if it fails to change its policy.

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Pastor On The Run – Clergyman Flees After Claims Of Sex With Underage Girl

JAMAICA
The Gleaner

August 9, 2017

Livern Barrett

A Kingston pastor accused of repeatedly having sex with a 12-year-old girl before impregnating her is now being sought by detectives at the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA).

Law-enforcement sources revealed that the girl, who is now 14 years old, has given a detailed statement alleging that the 52-year-old clergyman first forced himself on to her before he began to reward her after their sexual encounters.

“He would give her money and other gifts so that she would not tell anyone,” one source revealed.

However, according to the source, the alleged sexual relationship came to light in June this year when the 14-year-old discovered that she was pregnant and confessed everything to her mother.

The names of the clergyman and the church he leads are being withheld to protect the identity of the alleged victim.

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Father Figures

NEW MEXICO
Santa Fe Reporter

The untold financial, emotional and spiritual cost of New Mexico’s Catholic priest sex crimes
August 9, 2017

By Matt Grubs

The two friends had laced up and hit the court together many times before. They’d played on the same team in an Albuquerque recreational basketball league for years. In a Bernalillo County league, too. They were in their mid-20s and their lives stretched out before them, disappearing into a horizon of possibilities.

It was the early 1980s, and Brad Hall was looking to blow off steam. He’d soon start classes at the University of New Mexico law school. The rec-league team, a rotating cast of characters, practiced on Sunday afternoons at the Queen of Heaven Catholic School in Albuquerque’s Quigley Park neighborhood.

Every once in a while a priest would wander through, padding along the court. Hall never had a reason to give him a second thought.

He couldn’t have known, though, what his teammate Clifford Esquibel was thinking at that same moment; the horror and fear he must have felt.

A quarter century after the last time Hall can recall seeing his basketball pal, Esquibel walked into his office. “I was the first person he ever told all about being an altar boy in the archdiocese,” Hall says.

Esquibel revealed that the Rev. John George Weisenborn, a priest at a different parish in Albuquerque who had a history of sexual abuse known to the church, had sexually molested him as a boy over the course of several years.

Then, Hall says, Esquibel walked outside and threw up.

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Youth pastor already sentenced for filming girls in shower sentenced in second county

MICHIGAN
UpNorthLive

EMMET COUNTY, Mich. (WPBN/WGTU) — The former Emmet County youth pastor who was already sentenced to four years in prison was sentenced in a second county.

Benoni Enciso was sentenced Monday in Emmet County to 54 months to seven years on the four convictions of using a computer to commit a crime and two years to five years on the four convictions of capturing an image of an unclothed individual. The sentences for the computer crime will run consecutive to the sentences for capturing an image.

In Charlevoix County, Enciso was sentenced in May to up to four years in prison after admitting to taking videos of underage girls in the shower.

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August 8, 2017

In predominantly Catholic Guam, clergy sex abuse lawsuits near 100-mark

GUAM
Catholic News Agency

Hagatna, Guam, Aug 8, 2017 / 04:55 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Nearly 100 lawsuits have accused Catholic clergy in Guam of sex abuse over a 50 year timespan, alleging assault, manipulation and intimidation of the alleged victims, according to a new report.

The accused include Archbishop Anthony Apuron, 13 Guam priests, a Catholic schoolteacher, a Catholic school janitor and a Boy Scout leader. The Archdiocese of Agana is a defendant in 96 lawsuits, which concern claims from 1955 to 1994, reports the USA Today Network’s Pacific Daily News.

“We care deeply about every person who steps forward and we look forward to a full resolution of all cases,” the archdiocese said July 28, saying it takes all allegations “very seriously.”

The large number of lawsuits is in part due to the actions of lawmakers in September 2016, when they retroactively eliminated the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits involving child sexual abuse. The criminal statute of limitations, which cannot be applied retroactively, was lifted in 2011.

About 85 percent of Guam’s population of 163,000 people is Catholic, served by 26 parishes. The island is only 30 miles long and about one-fifth the size of Rhode Island. All eight of Guam’s trial judges have recused themselves because they have family or business ties with either the plaintiffs or the defendants in the suits.

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Protest planned as newly ordained priest faces sex charges

NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

Posted on August 9, 2017

By Rob Jennings rjennings@njadvancemedia.com,
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

MORRISTOWN — A priest accused of putting his hand under a teen girl’s skirt and touching her buttocks, just a month after being ordained, is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

The Rev. Marcin Nurek, 37, was charged Thursday with endangering the welfare of a child and criminal sexual contact, and remains in the Morris County jail. The unidentified girl is described as older than 13 but younger than 16, and the assault allegedly happened in Boonton, officials said.

Nurek was ordained into the priesthood on July 1 and had been expected to start Aug. 15 as Parochial Vicar of Saint Catherine of Siena Church in Mountain Lakes, according to the Diocese of Paterson.

As a judge decides whether to free Nurek, a former Catholic priest plans to hold a protest outside the courtroom.

Ex-priest Robert Hoatson of West Orange said his group, “Road to Recovery,” advocates for clergy sexual assault victims and will gather outside Superior Court.

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Man Captured on Video Groping Teen Girl on New Jersey Street Is Newly Ordained Priest: Police

NEW JERSEY
NBC New York

[with video]

By Ida Siegal

Authorities say a newly ordained Roman Catholic priest in New Jersey has been charged with groping a teen girl under her skirt after surveillance video captured him allegedly following a group of girls and grabbing one of them.

Surveillance video obtained by News 4 shows a group of four girls walking down Main Street in Boonton, and then a man with a backpack comes from behind. He grabs the buttocks of one of the girls, then takes off down the street.

The 37-year-old man allegedly told the teenage girl she was “sexy,” according to the Morris County prosecutor’s office.

The girl told reported the incident to police, and the man with the backpack — who turned out to be the Rev. Marcin Nurek — was arrested on Essex Avenue about 20 minutes later, police say.

He’s charged with endangering the welfare of a child and criminal sexual contact.

Nick Fernicola, who works across the street, said he saw the aftermath.

“Thursday afternoon I came out from my office and looked out the window and saw four young girls with the police, they looked all very upset,” he said.

The Diocese of Paterson put Nurek on administrative leave. He remains in jail pending a detention hearing on Wednesday. It wasn’t immediately known if he had an attorney to comment on his behalf.

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Newly ordained priest arrested for alleged sexual abuse in New Jersey

NEW JERSEY
PIX 11

AUGUST 8, 2017, BY SAMANTHA TATA

BOONTON, N.J. — A priest in New Jersey is accused of sexually abusing a teenage girl and allegedly telling her, “You’re sexy,” less than five weeks after he was ordained.

Rev. Marcin Nurek was arrested Aug. 3 in Boonton and charged with criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office said.

Nurek allegedly put his hand under a girl’s skirt and touched her buttocks, officials said. The girl is between 13 and 16 years old.

He allegedly told the child, “You’re sexy,” the Daily Record reports.

Nurek came to the U.S. in 2015 from Poland, and was ordained to the priesthood on July 1 of this year, according ot the Diocese of Paterson.

He was set to begin his assignment this month at St. Catherine of Siena in Mountain Lakes, N.J., the diocese said. But that has been “concluded” in the wake of his arrest.

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New priest grabbed teen’s butt, called her ‘sexy’: cops

NEW JERSEY
New York Post

By Tamar Lapin August 8, 2017

A newly ordained Roman Catholic priest is accused of groping a teen girl, calling her “sexy,” as he touched her, authorities say.

New Jersey reverend Marcin Nurek was arrested by Boonton police on August 3 and charged last week with criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child, the Morris County Prosecutor’s office said.

The pervy priest is accused of putting his hand under the skirt and touching the buttocks of a girl who is between 13 and 16.

Boonton police said the girl was walking along Main Street with friends last Thursday when Nurek put his hand under her dress and told her she was pretty, according to ABC7 New York.

Cops said the 37-year-old priest also told the girl she was “sexy.”

Nurek was immediately placed on administrative leave by the Patterson Diocese, according to spokesperson Richard Sokerka.

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