ABUSE TRACKER

ITALIA
Gazzettino

Il rapporto sessuale non come atto fisico, ma come ‘amore pulito, purificatore’. Era il plagio a cui sei minorenni, tre delle quali intanto diventate adulte, sarebbero state sottoposte da Piero Alfio Capuana, bancario di 75 anni in pensione, da 25 anni alla guida di una comunità laica di ispirazione cattolica che, secondo l’accusa, avrebbe violentato ragazzine di età compresa tra i 13 e 15 anni, anche con la complicità delle madri delle vittime.

E’ il quadro che emerge dall’inchiesta ’12 apostoli’ della Procura di Catania che ha portato all’arresto dell’uomo, finito in carcere, e di tre donne poste agli arresti domiciliari: Katia Concetta Scarpignato, di 57 anni, Fabiola Raciti, di 55, e Rosaria Giuffrida, di 57.

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.

ITALY
Crux

Claire Giangravè
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

The leader of a Catholic lay organization in Sicily, who proclaimed himself to be an Archangel, was arrested August 1 for sexually abusing at least six underage girls with the help of three female accomplices. The association was founded by renowned exorcist and ‘spiritual son’ of Padre Pio, Father Stefano Cavalli, who died in 2015.

ROME – Sexual abuse scandals have dogged the Catholic Church this summer from Australia to Germany, with the latest coming in the small Italian town of Aci Bonaccorsi on the island of Sicily, where four members of a lay movement were arrested August 1 for conspiring to sexually abuse minors.

The lay movement in question was founded by a legendary local priest, Father Stefano Cavalli, who was a spiritual heir of Padre Pio, the famed 20th century Capuchin stigmatic and healer. So revered is Cavalli in Aci Bonaccorsi that the town’s central square is named for him.

According to the allegations, at least six young female members of the ‘Culture and Environment Catholic Association’ were coaxed into performing personal and sexual favors to its leader and Cavalli’s successor, layman Pietro Alfio Capuana, who claims to be the physical manifestation of an Archangel.

Investigations began after a concerned mother found compromising text messages sent by her 15-year-old daughter to a friend discussing the instances of abuse and later warned local authorities.

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.

ARIZONA
The New York Times

By MATT STEVENS
AUG. 4, 2017

A Roman Catholic bishop who once led the Diocese of Phoenix has been accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a boy decades ago, according to a lawsuit filed in Arizona Superior Court.

The lawsuit alleges that in the late 1970s and early ’80s, the bishop, Thomas J. O’Brien, placed his hands on the boy’s thighs, kissed him on the lips and performed oral sex on him. A hearing connected to the case was held this week, drawing additional attention to the lawsuit, which was filed last year.

In a telephone interview late Thursday, Tim Hale, the lawyer for the unidentified plaintiff, said the bishop’s acts caused his client to suffer from anxiety, panic attacks and emotional distress.

The abuse, a court document said, also caused the man to repress “all memory” of what had happened.

Mr. Hale said Arizona case law allows victims of childhood sexual abuse to file claims within two years of recovering those memories, regardless of when the crimes may have occurred.

“Recovering these memories has turned his world on its head,” Mr. Hale said of his client. “He’s really concerned about his ability to provide for his family.”

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

GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Aug 03, 2017

By Krystal Paco

A Vatican official recently on Guam and charged with investigating Archbishop Anthony Apuron stands accused of sexual harassment.

Father Justin Wachs previously worked in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. According to Keloland TV, the alleged incidents occurred in 2014 and his accuser is a woman who worked at the parish. The woman alleges the priest would hug her daily, hold her hand, touch her leg, and touch her neck and back down to her waist. The priest also allegedly sent romantic texts during his trips away from the parish.

Wachs, however would be re-assigned to the Vatican. Among his new duties was to investigate the allegations made against Apuron.

In February, Wachs joined Cardinal Raymond L. Burke and Father James Conn on Guam for Apuron’s canonical trial. Though the group attempted to meet with Apuron’s accusers here, they were unsuccessful. They would eventually meet with accusers in the states over the next few months. The canonical trial is near complete, as confirmed by the Archdiocese of Agana who reported a decision should be out any day now.

The matter is unsettling for SNAP’s Joelle Casteix who issued a statement.

“Fr. Justin Wachs, the Notary in Archbishop Anthony Apuron’s Canonical Trial, was presented to these brave survivors and the public as a trustworthy person who, survivors assumed, had never been accused of sexual misconduct. The brave men told Wachs their deeply personal stories of sexual abuse and betrayal. They trusted the Vatican and its representatives so much, that they agreed to speak without their attorneys in the room. The presence of Fr. Wachs—without his disclosing the accusations against him to the survivors, their attorneys, and the Catholic faithful—was a complete violation of that trust.”

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.

ARIZONA
Star Tribune

By JACQUES BILLEAUD Associated Press AUGUST 3, 2017

PHOENIX — A former bishop who led the Roman Catholic church in metro Phoenix during a worldwide child sexual abuse scandal has been accused of molesting a young boy 35 years ago.

Retired Bishop Thomas O’Brien is accused in a lawsuit of sexually abusing the boy on several occasions at parishes in Phoenix and Goodyear from 1977 to 1982. The Diocese of Phoenix says O’Brien denies the allegation.

O’Brien, now 81, led the diocese in Phoenix as it became embroiled in a global scandal that rocked the Catholic Church after allegations surfaced in Boston about pedophile priests going unpunished.

The bishop acknowledged in a 2003 immunity deal that he let church employees accused of sex abuse continue to have contact with children. Weeks after the deal, O’Brien resigned as bishop after he was arrested in the hit-and-run death of a pedestrian.

O’Brien’s accuser says the clergyman sexually abused him when he was a child and he had suppressed his memories of it, said Tim Hale, his lawyer.

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.

ARIZONA
The Arizona Republic

Jerod MacDonald-Evoy and Michael Kiefer, The Republic | azcentral.com
Aug. 3, 2017

The former bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, who stepped aside in 2003 after acknowledging he had protected suspected pedophile priests, faces personal accusations of child sexual abuse in a lawsuit filed in Maricopa County Superior Court.

The lawsuit names Bishop Emeritus Thomas O’Brien, the Diocese of Phoenix and three Catholic churches, alleging the plaintiff was the victim of childhood sexual abuse, sexual battery, negligence and fraud.

Filed in September 2016, it accuses O’Brien, now 81, of sexually abusing the plaintiff from 1977 through 1982, when the plaintiff was a boy.

Attempts to reach O’Brien for comment were unsuccessful. No one answered the door at his residence in Phoenix, and phone calls were not returned.

The diocese released a statement from spokesman Robert DeFrancesco.

“Bishop O’Brien was never assigned to any of the parishes or schools identified in the lawsuit,” it said. “Bishop O’Brien categorically denies the allegations.”

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

PHILIPPINES
Inquirer

By: Jodee A. Agoncillo – Reporter / @jagoncilloINQ
August 04, 2017

The family of a 13-year-old girl who accused a priest of paying her for sex has been moved by the Marikina City government to another house for their own protection.

Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro told the Inquirer on Thursday that they decided to transfer the girl’s family to an undisclosed location after her mother reported receiving threatening phone calls from strangers.

One of the callers identified himself as a Major Rosales from Mandaluyong City who claimed he was the girl’s uncle.

According to the girl’s mother, he angrily demanded to speak to the minor and when she refused, he hinted that it would be better for them to drop the case against Msgr. Arnel Lagarejos.

Another caller also made the same request, asking the mother to not file charges “kung maaari” (if possible) against the 55-year-old parish priest of St. John the Baptist in Taytay, Rizal.

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

GUAM
The Guam Daily Post

Mindy Aguon | The Guam Daily Post Aug 3, 2017

The note-taker for the Vatican tribunal who came to Guam to investigate child sex abuse allegations against Archbishop Anthony Apuron was accused of sexual harassment in his home parish in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Rev. Justin Wachs, the notary and recorder for the tribunal, has faced allegations of sexual harassment filed by a former employee of the Sioux Falls Diocese, according to Keloland Investigation in South Dakota. The woman alleged Wachs inappropriately touched her and interacted with her in 2014.

According to the Keloland report, Wachs and the diocese tried to save the working relationship and establish professional boundaries between the woman and Wachs, but months later, he resigned from the parish and went on medical leave.

The Sioux Falls Diocese has paid nearly $2,000 in co-pays for the victim’s counseling and medical bills as a result of the alleged harassment that Wachs, through a statement from his attorney, disputed.

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

UNITED STATES
Consumer Watchdog

SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog today warned that the tech industry is pressing the Trump Administration to adopt language in a new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) deal that would protect websites like the notorious Backpage.com that facilitate child sex-trafficking.

The tech industry efforts come as Congress is taking bipartisan steps so websites like Backpage.com can be held accountable by victims and their families. Twenty-one Senators introduced a bill Tuesday, endorsed by Consumer Watchdog, amending a key Internet law to combat such abuses. A similar House bill has 101 co-sponsors.

Tech giants like Google, Facebook and Twitter say that law, Sec. 230 of the Communications Decency Act, protects Internet Freedom and are pushing for similar language in a new NAFTA deal.

“Internet freedom must not come at the expense of children who are sex trafficked,” said John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog Privacy Project Director. “Just as the First Amendment does not allow you to shout fire in a crowded movie house, or to assist hit men and drug dealers in their criminal activity, CDA Section 230 must not be allowed to protect an exploitative business that is built on child sex-trafficking. Such language cannot be included in trade agreements.”

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

VATICAN CITY
The New York Times

By JASON HOROWITZ
AUG. 2, 2017

VATICAN CITY — Two close associates of Pope Francis have accused American Catholic ultraconservatives of making an alliance of “hate” with evangelical Christians to back President Trump, further alienating a group already out of the Vatican’s good graces.

The authors, writing in a Vatican-vetted journal, singled out Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s chief strategist, as a “supporter of an apocalyptic geopolitics” that has stymied action against climate change and exploited fears of migrants and Muslims with calls for “walls and purifying deportations.”

The article warns that conservative American Catholics have strayed dangerously into the deepening political polarization in the United States. The writers even declare that the worldview of American evangelical and hard-line Catholics, which is based on a literal interpretation of the Bible, is “not too far apart’’ from jihadists.

It is not clear if the article, appearing in La Civiltà Cattolica, received the pope’s direct blessing, but it was extraordinary coming from a journal that carries the Holy See’s seal of approval. There has apparently been no reprimand from the pope, who is not shy about disciplining dissenters, and La Civiltà Cattolica’s editor has promoted the article nearly every day since it was published in July. …

Not long after Francis’ election, Vatican ambassadors briefed the pontiff about various situations around the world and suggested that he be especially careful when appointing bishops and cardinals in the United States.

“I know that already,” the pope interrupted, according to a high-ranking Vatican official familiar with the details of the conversation, who asked that his name not be used while discussing internal Vatican deliberations. “That’s where the opposition is coming from.” …

Massimo Faggioli, a professor of historical theology at Villanova University and a contributor to liberal Catholic journals, said the Civiltà Cattolica article would “be remembered in church history as one of the most important to understand the Vatican of Francis and the United States and American Catholicism.”

American Catholicism, he argued, echoing the article’s thesis, “has become different than mainstream European Catholicism and mainstream Latin American Catholicism,” and has fallen “into the hands of the religious right.” …

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia, a standard-bearer for conservatism in America, likened the Civiltà Cattolica authors in his weekly newsletter to the “useful idiots” who supported the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. He called the article “an exercise in dumbing down and inadequately presenting the nature of Catholic/evangelical cooperation on religious freedom and other key issues.”

If Archbishop Chaput’s own thwarted ambitions are any indication, Francis might not agree. The pope has vexed conservatives by repeatedly declining to elevate Archbishop Chaput to the rank of cardinal, a requirement for entrance into the conclave that will choose the pontiff’s successor.

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

UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

August 3, 2017 Joelle Casteix

Fr. Justin Wachs was hiding out. After getting caught sexually harassing a parishioner in 2014—touching her without permission and leaving her suggestive notes— he quit his job as pastor in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Where did he end up? Guam and Hawaii. Locked in rooms with the victims of Archbishop Anthony Apuron … rooms where their attorney, David Lujan, was not allowed.

I have been very vocal in my criticism of the Canonical Trial of suspended Guam Archbishop Anthony Apuron.

For those of you just catching up, Apuron has been accused of child sexual abuse by at least four boys. He’s out of the office for now, replaced by Detroit native Coadjutor Archbishop Michael Byrnes.

The trial process, which will take months—if not years—to complete, is not a criminal process like you or I know it. It is not public, there is no jury, there is no prison sentence.

In fact, I believe that in the end, the decision will be to allow Apuron to live a life of “prayer and penance” on the mainland. And I am betting that the decision will be kept secret.

What does that mean? Whatever Apuron wants it to mean.

Remember: this is not a criminal proceeding. No one is going to drag him off in handcuffs. Most likely, he will collect his retirement and frolic around the mainland, untouched.

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

AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

AUGUST 3, 2017

Christopher Talbot
Australian Associated Press

An Anglican priest has been charged with child pornography offences following police searches at a Melbourne church and home.

The 52-year-old was arrested on Thursday when officers visited a church at suburban Sunshine and a nearby residence, following a 12-month police investigation.

A spokesman for the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne confirmed the man was a priest and said he has been “stood down by the archbishop with immediate effect.”

The church will cooperate fully with the investigation, the spokesman added.

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.

ITALIA
Giornale di Sicilia

01 Agosto 2017

L’AQUILA. Per la love story tra un sacerdote e sua moglie, un marito ha ottenuto dal Tribunale di Roma un risarcimento di 15 mila euro per la depressione in cui era piombato dopo la scoperta del tradimento: i giudici, al termine di un processo durato cinque anni, hanno però condannato solo la donna e non il prelato. Ma c’è di più: il Tribunale, nella sentenza di un anno fa passata in giudicato da sei mesi, ha respinto l’istanza risarcitoria contro il bergamasco don Vito Isacchi, che da anni si è trasferito da Roma all’Aquila, condannando il marito tradito a corrispondere all’adultero in paramenti sacri la somma di 3.200 euro.

E mentre i legali dell’uomo chiedevano alla Chiesa di adottare provvedimenti contro il prete, che secondo loro avrebbe violato il diritto canonico, considerando che nella sentenza veniva certificata, con tanto di prove fornite da un investigatore privato, la relazione extraconiugale, si scopre addirittura che per le autorità ecclesiastiche don Vito è un sacerdote “recuperato”, quindi riabilitato a tutti gli effetti.

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.

ITALY
Telegraph (UK)

Josephine McKenna, in Rome
2 AUGUST 2017

An Italian priest has been forced to resign after a Rome court ordered his alleged lover to pay her estranged husband 15,000 euros (£13,400) for depression he suffered over their affair.

The court ruling came at the end of a five-year trial and is the latest in a string of sex scandals to rock the Catholic Church in Italy.

Father Vito Isacchi, the priest named in the court case, tendered his resignation in the archdiocese of L’Aquila on Tuesday after news of the court ruling was made public.

The woman, who has not been named, was ordered to pay thousands of euros, 45-year-old Father Isacchi, known as ‘Don Vito’, was excused from paying any compensation as the court found him “irrelevant” to any violation of the marriage.

In a surprise ruling, the court ordered the cuckolded husband to pay 3,200 euros as a contribution towards the priest’s sacred vestments.

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

PHILIPPINES
Manila Bulletin

By Fr. Bel R. San Luis, SVD

I and some SVD confreres who know Monsignor Arnel Lagarejos, a friend of mine, are shocked by the alleged accusation against him.

We deeply sympathize with him and are in deep pain and solidarity over the harrowing experience he is going through now.

* * *

As the official statement of the Diocese of Antipolo rightly puts it: “Let us refrain from issuing unnecessarily comments that might worsen the situation.”

The statement adds that the diocese assures the public “that we respect the necessary procedures as provided by law in order to further investigate the matter.”

* * *

Let us pray that the truth will come out and pray, too, that Msgr. Lagarejos will overcome this most difficult test and tribulation he is going through.

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

PHILIPPINES
Inquirer

By: Jodee A. Agoncillo – Reporter / @jagoncilloINQPhilippine Daily Inquirer
August 03, 2017

The family of the 13-year-old girl who was allegedly pimped out by her friend to a priest has sought help from police after receiving death threats and phone calls from suspicious people.

Eastern Police District director, Chief Supt. Romulo Sapitula, on Wednesday said he had ordered the Marikina police to provide protection to the girl and her family.

The threats and suspicious phone calls were reported to authorities by the victim’s mother, he added.

On July 28, Msgr. Arnel Lagarejos, parish priest of St. John the Baptist in Taytay, Rizal, was arrested in Marikina as he was bringing the girl to a motel. According to the minor, the priest had “booked” her twice before through her 16-year-old friend.

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

PHILIPPINES
GMA News

A high-ranking church official said the Catholic Church did not pay for the bail of the priest, who allegedly solicited sex with a 13 year-old girl, according to a post on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website.

“Not even one centavo,” Archbishop Oscar Cruz was quoted as saying.

Cruz, the head of the Church’s clergy dispensation office, was referring to 55-year-old Msgr. Arnel Lagarejos, who was arrested on Friday night in an entrapment operation while he was about to enter a motel with the girl.

Lagarejos, who is facing criminal charges for violating RA 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, posted a bail bond of P120,000 on Tuesday.

Cruz said priests accused of any criminal offense are responsible for their own legal expenses.

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

UNITED STATES
These Stone Walls

POSTED BY FR. GORDON J. MACRAE ON AUGUST 2, 2017

The trial of Cardinal George Pell for “historic” sexual abuse claims is underway in Australia, but the state of Australian justice also has the world’s attention.

“Trial by Media.” The ominous term has already been a part of the public record in regard to Australia’s Cardinal George Pell. I used the term myself in a post two years ago entitled, “Peter Saunders and Cardinal Pell: A Trial by Media.”

The concern for the poisoning of justice through leaks to a toxic and predatory news media is nothing new, but “Trial by Media” hangs like the burial shroud of justice itself over the trial of Cardinal Pell on 40-year-old claims of sexual abuse.

Lest anyone doubt the power of the media to both generate such claims and shape justice and due process in a case like this, consider a recent issue of The Week, a popular weekly news magazine. The Week presents itself as “The Best of the U.S. and International Media.” It selects excerpts from online media and newspapers throughout the world and presents them as the best written accounts of the week’s top stories.

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

CALIFORNIA
Pasadena Star-News

By City News Service
POSTED: 08/02/17

LOS ANGELES >> The mother of a teenager who was allegedly seduced and taken to Nevada by the then-athletic director of San Gabriel Mission High School filed a lawsuit on behalf of her daughter against the school, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the coach, court papers obtained today show.

The Pico Rivera teen is identified only as Jane Doe in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit filed Tuesday. Her alleged abuser, Ivan Barajas, was criminally prosecuted in Nevada, according to the suit, which alleges sexual abuse of a minor, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent hiring, supervision and retention, and breach of a required duty to report suspected child abuse.

Before Barajas allegedly began abusing the plaintiff, another coach at the school and a parent both expressed concern that he was having inappropriate relationships with underage female students, the suit states.

Despite having such knowledge, the archdiocese and the school administrators did not investigate the claims and allowed Barajas to continue working, according to the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

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

IRELAND
Irish Times

Colm Keena

The Christian Brothers have expressed their “enormous disappointment” at the decision of the board of management of Clonkeen College in south Dublin to take legal action over the sale of its playing fields.

The board lodged legal proceedings in the High Court last month and has secured a lis pendens, or notice of the existence of a legal dispute, in relation to the disputed property.

The congregation said it was “enormously disappointed that the board of management has sought to take legal action against its most consistent and significant benefactor”.

It said that, as the matter was now before the courts, it would not be appropriate for it to comment further. It is understood the Brothers now want the case to proceed to hearing as soon as possible.

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

AUSTRALIA
SBS

AAP

Laws to provide money, counselling and personal responses to survivors of institutional child sexual abuse will go to federal parliament in the spring sittings.

A national scheme with states, territories and non-government institutions able to join on a “‘responsible entity pays” basis was a key recommendation of the royal commission.

Redress under the scheme will have three parts: a payment of up to $150,000, psychological counselling and a direct personal response and acknowledgement from the responsible institution.

The 2017/18 budget committed $33.4 million to set up the scheme and confirmed funding for support services.

A dedicated telephone helpline and website is expected to be operating in early 2018 to provide information to survivors and their families about the scheme.

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

GEORGIA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

By Alan Judd – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Christopher Gaba thought he was the only one.

He could not imagine that others who attended the Darlington School in Rome, Georgia, also had been sexually abused. He certainly had no idea that others had accused the same teacher who molested him.

So he said nothing. The statute of limitations for a civil case passed years ago. But this summer, other Darlington alumni went public with allegations of decades-old abuse. “After more than 30 years,” Gaba said, “I realized I wasn’t alone.”

Gaba exemplifies the need for new laws governing civil cases by adults who were abused as children, state legislators and attorneys said at a news conference Wednesday in the Georgia Capitol.

Current laws “protect child predators and deny justice to abuse survivors,” said state Rep. Jason Spencer (R-Woodbine). Spencer is sponsoring House Bill 605, which would allow victims to sue not only abusers but also institutions that sheltered them.

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.

GEORGIA
Gainesville Times

By Nick Watson
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
@NickWatsonTimes
POSTED: August 2, 2017

The sponsor of 2015 Georgia General Assembly legislation that extended the statute of limitations on childhood sexual abuse civil lawsuits is now supporting a tougher bill.

State Rep. Jason Spencer, R-Woodbine, held a press conference at the Capitol Wednesday morning surrounded by victims’ advocates and those who have filed litigation under the Hidden Predator Act.

The act allowed for a two-year civil suit window that expired July 1, and a number of cases were filed before the expiration date.

One includes Robert William Lawson III, who filed a suit last year involving former Gainesville scoutmaster Royal Fleming Weaver Jr. and the First Baptist Church of Gainesville. The case is still pending in Cobb County Superior Court.

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

PHILIPPINES
Inquirer

By: Pathricia Ann V. Roxas – @inquirerdotnet

Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz said the Church did not pay for the bail of a Taytay priest who was arrested for “booking” a 13-year-old girl for sex.

“Not even one centavo,” Cruz said in a statement posted on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website Wednesday.

This is following the release of suspended Catholic priest Monsignor Arnel Lagarejos of the Diocese of Antipolo after posting bail worth P120,000 on Tuesday.

Lagarejos, parish priest of St. John the Baptist in Taytay, Rizal, was accused of violating the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act for bringing a minor in a motel in Marikina City on July 28.

“Priests accused of any criminal offence are responsible for their own legal costs,” said Cruz, the Church’s lead investigator in Lagarejos’ case.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

August 3, 2017

JACK THE INSIDER
ColumnistCanberra
@JacktheInsider

From hippy spiritual groups to the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, the Salvation Army, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Uniting Church, Yeshiva schools in Melbourne and Sydney, Scouts Australia, disability service providers, the Australian Defence Force, the YMCA, hospitals, orphanages, sporting and artistic organisations, government and non-government schools have all been in the gun over the last four years.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse established in 2013 has ceased its public hearings. Its final report will be presented to the federal government in December.

We have lost a great deal of focus as events have unfolded. The media reporting has caused many of the problems, rattling the skeletons of an old unloved and unlovable sectarian Australia and obsessed with gotcha moments as if victims’ pain can only find some expression when a big name comes to grief in a public hearing.

In the wake of the Commission’s investigations, offenders certainly should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and those who have covered up, moving the offenders on to new groups of unsuspecting children, should be publicly shamed.

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

GUAM
The Guam Daily Post

Mindy Aguon | mindy@postguam

A former altar boy at Santa Barbara Catholic Church has filed a civil lawsuit alleging he was sexually abused when he was 10. He filed the lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Agana and former priest Raymond Cepeda.

ACJ, who filed using his initials to protect his identity, alleges Cepeda sexually molested and abused him while he served as an altar boy at the Dededo parish in 1980.

Cepeda was the priest at Santa Barbara Church in the early 80s and resided at the rectory.

The plaintiff, who is represented by Attorney David Lujan, alleges that one day after Mass and cleaning the church, Cepeda instructed the boy to follow him to the sacristy.

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

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Steve Limtiaco, Pacific Daily News Aug. 3, 2017

A former Dededo altar boy has sued the Archdiocese of Agana and former priest Raymond Cepeda for $5 million, accusing Cepeda of molesting and raping him in the early 1980s while he was waiting for his parents to pick him up after Mass.

The federal lawsuit, by a plaintiff identified with the initials A.J.C., is the 96th lawsuit filed in federal or local court accusing clergy members or other people associated with the church of sexually abusing children. Dozens of those cases have been put on hold in federal court in anticipation of a mediation process later this year.

It’s the 10th lawsuit accusing Cepeda of abusing children. He was defrocked by the church around 2010 following allegations of sexual abuse.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Calla Wahlquist
Wednesday 2 August 2017

The court process is unfair and often traumatic for child victims of sexual abuse, the chair of the royal commission into institutional child sexual abuse has said.

In a speech delivered at a conference in Sydney on Wednesday, Justice Peter McClellan said that reliance on cross examination in criminal trials, which was intended to help juries determine the truth of any particular witnesses’ claim, was damaging to vulnerable witnesses like children or victims of sexual abuse.

The royal commission is expected to recommend changes to the trial process when it hands down its final report on 15 December. Among the options being considered, McClellan said, are introducing to all states and territories the Queensland crime of persistent sexual offences, which does not require the victim to recall the details of specific incidents.

Other options under consideration are providing a standard document to all complainants and witnesses explaining the process of giving evidence; introducing victim intermediary schemes; and recommending the further use of special hearings that would allow complainants to give evidence and be cross-examined several months before the jury is empanelled.

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

PHILIPPINES
Philippine News Courier

Rev. Msgr. Arnel Lagarejos, the Catholic priest who was arrested in Markina City last Friday night for allegedly trying to sexually abuse a 13-year old girl is now a free man. The suspect priest was released Tuesday afternoon, August 1 after he was allowed to post a P120,000-bail. Apparently, a retired judge was believed to have influenced the decision.

“All along when I go to sleep Monday my gut feeling was that the priest would be denied bail. But when I woke up this morning I was surprised that it was the pimp who was denied bail,” Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro told reporters Tuesday, as he expressed his dismay over the decision to free Fr. Arnel Lagarejos for his human trafficking case.

Mayor Teodoro added that he has received reports that a retired judge was behind the bail recommendation for Fr. Arnel Lagarejos. And although he did not reveal further details, the city mayor said he will be looking into it very closely. Nevertheless, he noted that the prosecutor’s decisions were based on the gravity of the documents provided by the police.

Based on the documents, Fr. Arnel Lagarejos, the parish priest of St. John the Baptist Parish in Taytay, Rizal when he arrested, only “used” a trafficked person while the pimp was the one trafficking the 13-year old girl. Apparently, this is the reason why the suspect priest was only charged for violating Republic Act 9208, of the anti-human trafficking law.

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

AUSTRALIA
9 News – A Current Affair

The sons of a woman brutally stabbed to death in Melbourne’s north in 1980 have called for the exhumation of a Catholic priest’s body for DNA testing as an evidence bungle comes to light.

Victoria Police have admitted an exhibit from the murder scene of Maria James – one that had been used to eliminate suspects – was in fact from another case.

A Current Affair can also reveal the quilt cover police took from Mrs James’ home as an exhibit in the investigation, is now missing.

Nearly 40 years ago, the mother of two was stabbed 68 times while on the phone to her ex-husband, in the Thornbury bookstore that was her home and workplace.

Her ex-husband, John James, grew concerned after claiming to hear screaming over the phone, and went to the store to investigate.

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.

MEXICO
Dossier Politico

El arzobispo de Hermosillo, Ruy Rendón Sánchez, quien dijo estar fuera de la ciudad tomándose unos días de descanso, expresó que en esta semana platicará el padre Tomás para seguir analizando lo sucedido…

César Fraijo Dossier Politico
Dia de publicación: 2017-08-01

Hermosillo, Sonora (DP).- Queda suspendido el “nombramiento verbal” de Administrador de la Parroquia San Pedro Apostal al padre Tomas Herrera Seco, luego de que éste último evidenciara su vida sexual en un medio de comunicación.

El arzobispo de Hermosillo, Ruy Rendón Sánchez, quien dijo estar fuera de la ciudad tomándose unos días de descanso, expresó que en esta semana platicará el padre Tomás para seguir analizando lo sucedido.

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.

MEXICO
Crux

Inés San Martín
VATICAN CORRESPONDENT

After Father Tomás Herrera Seco said in a video interview that he always carries a condom because “he might need it,” and that sexual flings are a good thing because “affection is a gift, a wonder,” he’s been placed under investigation by his bishop and barred from the parish where he had been serving. Herrera also asked his brother priests not to condemn him.

A Mexican priest who said during a recent media interview that he always carries a condom because “he might need it,” is being investigated by his diocese and, pending further notice, has been banned from the parish where he’s been informally serving.

“I always carry my condom ready if necessary, because having a fling is never disagreeable to anyone, and gives one emotional stability,” said Father Tomás Herrera Seco in a video interview with an online news site called Proyecto Puente (Project Bridge).

“The condom is just in case I need to use it. I lead a chaste sexual life, if I carry it is to use it if it’s needed. I haven’t needed it so far, but never say ‘I shall not drink from this water’,” he said on July 20.

In truth, Herrera actually hasn’t worked as a priest for years. He was a state employee during the administration of former governor Guillermo Perez (2009-2015), and served as the main counselor on ethics and morals for public employees in the state of Sonora, which shares the U.S.-Mexico border with the states of Arizona and New Mexico. According to news-site El Universal, he trained 3,300 public employees in his job.

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.

FLORIDA
WTXL

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) – A former Tallahassee youth pastor is facing five additional charges for lewd and lascivious acts with victims ranging from 11 to 15 years in age.

The Leon County Sheriff’s Office says that five additional warrants were issued for Roshad Thomas.

Thomas’ new charges are as follows: Lewd and Lascivious Acts on Child Older than 12 (3), Lewd and Lascivious Acts on Child Younger than 12 (1), Lewd and Lascivious Exhibitionism on Child Older than 12 (1).

On July 17, 41-year-old Thomas was arrested on six counts of sex offense against a child.

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.

FLORIDA
Tallahassee Democrat

Karl Etters, Democrat staff writer Aug. 1, 2017

A youth pastor who in July was charged with six counts of child fondling is facing additional charges.

Warrants for three counts of lewd and lascivious acts or exhibitionism with children were issued against Roshad Thomas Tuesday.

Thomas, 41, is being held in the Leon County Jail on $215,000 bond after his arrest July 17.

According to the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, the victims related to the new charges were between 11 and 15 years old at the time of the incidents.

Investigators did not detail how the new charges came about.

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

PHILIPPINES
The Manila Times

BY NEIL ALCOBER, TMT ON AUGUST 1, 2017

THE Marikina City Prosecutor’s Office allowed Msgr. Arnel Lagarejos, the priest caught with a 13-year-old girl while on the way to a motel over the weekend, to post bail and was released from detention at 2:49 p.m. on Tuesday.

In a resolution, Prosecutors Nikolai Salinas, Ricardo Paet Jr. and Linda Adame-Conos granted Lagarejos’ petition and was allowed to post bail of P120,000.

Lagarejos is facing a complaint for violation of Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

The Prosecutors, however, did not recommend bail for the 16-year-old gay who allegedly pimped the 13-year-old girl to Lagarejos.

The alleged pimp, being a minor, is now under the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

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

PHILIPPINES
International Business Times

By Jordan Bhatt
August 2, 2017

A priest in the Philippines has been stripped of his post after he was caught driving with a 13-year-old girl to a hotel.

Arnel Fuentes Lagarejos, a parish priest at St John the Baptist Parish in Marikina, to the east of Manila, and president of Cainta Catholic College, is now facing allegations of child abuse.

He paid the girl 500 Philippine Pesos (£7.49) to meet her at a shopping centre and take her away.

The former priest was caught as part of an entrapment sting which had been called for by the girl’s mother.

Concerns were raised when the girl informed social workers about the abuse and the mother called the authorities.

He now faces charges for violating the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

Officials used the girl’s social media to find out that the person selling her to the priest was a 16-year-old.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

A senior Church of England vicar who was being investigated by police has died after unconfirmed reports that he set fire to himself.

The Rev Martyn Neale, 60, a member of the General Synod, was found dead at his rectory in the village of Hawley, Hampshire, on Tuesday. Friends described Father Neale, who was not married and lived alone, as a ‘quietly-spoken but caring’ priest who had worked as the vicar for Hawley, in the Diocese of Guildford, for 20 years.

The diocese said he had been suspended ‘as a consequence of an ongoing police investigation’.

Father Neale became a member of the Church’s ‘parliament’, the General Synod, earlier this year and recently attended his first meeting in York. A prominent traditionalist, he was a council member of the pressure group Forward in Faith, which opposes women priests.

Two weeks ago his congregation at Holy Trinity was told that he had been suspended pending the outcome of the police inquiry, but no details were given.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
The Sun

By Guy Birchall
30th July 2017

A SENIOR vicar in the Church of England who was under investigation by police has died after reportedly ‘setting fire to himself’.

The Rev Martyn Neale was found dead at his village rectory in Hawley, Hampshire on Tuesday.

Pals described the 60-year-old General Synod member as a “quietly spoken but caring” clergyman who had worked in the village for 20 years.

The Mail on Sunday reports that the Diocese of Guildford said that Rev Neale had been suspended “as a consequence of an ongoing police investigation”.

Earlier this year he became a part of the C of E’s legislative body, the General Synod, attending his first meeting in York.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Mirror

ANNA SLATER

A senior church vicar set fire to himself at his rectory after he was suspended as part of an “ongoing police investigation.”

The Rev Martyn Neale died in dramatic circumstances on Tuesday – two weeks after the Diocese of Guildford temporarily removed him from his role.

No details about the nature of the investigation have been given.

The 60-year-old had been a member of the General Synod and a Church of England vicar for Hawley for 20 years.ER

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Jean Kennedy

The chair of the royal commission into child sex abuse is calling for legal changes to help victims, saying in a speech to be delivered today that while the number of cases before the courts has almost doubled in recent years, conviction rates are down and the number of acquittals has risen.

Justice Peter McClellan is calling for changes to legal processes and the rules of evidence to ensure victims are given the best chance of receiving justice.

In a speech to be delivered to a conference in Sydney today, Justice McClellan said the work of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse had seen many more victims coming forward to police.

But official data shows conviction rates are down and the chances of an offender being acquitted have risen rather than fallen.

Justice McClellan said some victims who had been through the process of a criminal trial had spoken of the trauma involved in giving evidence, with some characterising it as “as bad as the abuse itself”.

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

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

Wednesday 2 August, 2017

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

In our system of criminal justice the victim of an offence is not given a central role. This was not always the case.

Historically the role of the state in the criminal trial process was very limited. Criminal disputes were considered private matters. Until the start of the 1400s, the laying of charges and the conduct of the prosecution was performed almost exclusively by the victim or their family.[1]

Over the next three centuries the royal courts and officers of royal justice would exercise increasing influence in the criminal justice process, conducting both investigations and prosecutions.[2] However, victims remained, in many cases, responsible for apprehending the offender, filing charges, collecting evidence and running the trial.[3]

With the coming of the Industrial Revolution, and as cities became more densely populated, the criminal justice process began to change and ultimately became the modern adversarial trial.[4] The rise in crime associated with increasingly dense populations led government to offer incentives for the apprehension of criminals.[5] Miscarriages of justice resulted from increases in false evidence.[6] Accused were regularly imprisoned before trial and, accordingly, faced difficulties in preparing a defence. The evidence against an accused was not disclosed before trial. They could not subpoena witnesses.[7]

The disadvantaged position of the accused ultimately led to changes in the criminal trial process. The most significant change was to allow the accused to be legally represented.[8] The presence of defence counsel encouraged the development of rules of evidence and the modern style of cross-examination. The core elements of the modern adversarial trial began to appear: the judge as neutral arbiter, the jury as passive observer, and defence counsel advising their clients to remain silent and put the prosecution to proof.[9]

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

PHILIPPINES
Inquirer

By: Jodee A. Agoncillo, Tina G. Santos – @inquirerdotnet

Msgr. Arnel Lagarejos, a 55-year-old priest who was arrested while taking a 13-year-old girl to a motel, was released late Tuesday afternoon after posting bail worth P120,000, according to Chief Supt. Romulo Sapitula, Eastern Police District director.

Marikina City Prosecutor Ricardo Paet Jr. recommended the bail.

Accompanied by his lawyer, Lagarejos came out of the Marikina City Police Station around 3 p.m.

Lagarejos, parish priest of the Parish of St. John the Baptist in Taytay, Rizal , was accused of violating the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

He underwent inquest proceedings on Saturday afternoon, July 28, following his arrest around 6:30 p.m. near Blue Wave Mall on Sumulong Highway in Barangay Sto. Niño in Marikina.

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

PHILIPPINES
Crux

After the arrest of a priest for hiring a child prostitute, the Diocese of Antipolo in the Philippines issued a statement saying it “condemns in the strongest terms possible the trafficking in persons,” adding that “history will prove the claim that the Church, at various times in its history, has been the liberation of trafficked persons.”

A diocese in the Philippines said it “will not condone trafficking in persons” after a priest was arrested in a child prostitution sting conducted by local police, adding that it will “fully cooperate” with the investigation.

Monsignor Arnel Lagarejos, 55, was arrested on July 28 after arranging a meeting with a 13-year-old prostitute through her pimp in Marikina City, which is in the greater Manila region.

Police said the priest already had two previous encounters with the same girl.

Marikina police official Roger Quesada told The Inquirer, a local newspaper, that the girl did not know he was a priest.

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

TEXAS
JTA

(JTA) — A mother has sued the Aaron Family JCC of Dallas alleging that a fitness center employee molested and raped her then-14-year-old daughter.

The lawsuit, which was filed earlier in July, also names the Jewish community center’s CEO, Artie Allan, and the Jewish Community Center Association of North America, the Dallas Morning News reported.

The mother and daughter are not named in the lawsuit, according to the newspaper.

The suit alleges that when the mother tried to talk to Allen about the fact that the employee was harassing her daughter and rumors they may be dating — before she knew about the molesting and rape. Allen allegedly responded that “it takes two to tango.”

According to the lawsuit, the assaults began in 2014, when the unnamed employee began stalking the girl, who is now an adult, when he trained her at the JCC gym. The lawsuit charged that the employee also molested, sexually assaulted, threatened and raped her at the center and off-site.

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

TEXAS
The Dallas Morning News

Claire Ballor, Breaking news reporter

A woman is suing the Aaron Family Jewish Community Center of Dallas, alleging that her 14-year-old daughter was molested and raped repeatedly by a fitness center employee.

The mother, who is not named in the lawsuit, says she only knew that the man was harassing her daughter when she complained several times to the center’s staff.

She alleges that when she confronted CEO Artie Allen about the employee’s behavior and rumors that her daughter was dating the 24-year-old, Allen told her, “It takes two to tango.”

Allen, who is also being sued, along with the Jewish Community Center Association of North America, declined to comment.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

August 2, 2017

HEDLEY THOMAS
National Chief Correspondent
Brisbane

Peter Hollingworth’s “misleading” evidence to a child sexual abuse inquiry when he was governor-general should cost him his vice-regal pension and other ­public benefits totalling $500,000 a year, according to survivors of abuse in the Diocese of Brisbane.

They say fresh adverse findings in February against Dr Hollingworth, the Anglican Church’s former archbishop of Brisbane, by the current Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse have not been well understood or scrutinised at a time of high interest in the Catholic Church and Cardinal George Pell.

The findings include that he misled a formal child sexual abuse investigation, called the Brisbane Inquiry, in December 2002 when he was governor-­general and under pressure to explain his handling of serious cases of pedophilia in the diocese during his 12 years as archbishop.

He misled the Brisbane inquiry in 2002 about his contact with people, including victims who had brought the molestation to his personal attention early in the piece in the 1990s.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

August 2, 2017

HEDLEY THOMAS
National Chief Correspondent
Brisbane

When Australia’s ongoing $500 million Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse makes a legally binding finding that a governor-general, Peter Hollingworth, misled an earlier child sexual abuse inquiry about his ­direct knowledge and handling of a priest’s pedophilia, should anything happen?

Can taxpayer-funded entitlements of more than $500,000 a year for a vice-regal pension and other perks be withheld from someone found this year to have misled an inquiry at the time he held the country’s highest public office 15 years ago?

These are questions Malcolm Turnbull has been asked to consider for child sexual abuse sur­vivors. They are perplexed that the commission’s adverse findings in February this year went largely under the public radar but say Hollingworth should nevertheless be parted from a public purse that has paid out more than $6m for his pension and expenses since he resigned as Australia’s 23rd governor-general.

The historical context is key. During a term as governor-general that lasted just 23 months until he quit amid public opprobrium in May 2003, Hollingworth, the former Anglican archbishop of Brisbane, faced grave accusations about his role in an alarming series of child sexual abuse cases in the diocese. The perpetrators were clergy and teachers in the Anglican churches and schools while he was in charge for 12 years until 2001.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Courier-Mail

Staff writers, News Corp Australia Network

SEX abuse survivors want former governor-general Peter Hollingworth to lose his $500,000-a-year pension for “misleading” a sex abuse inquiry.

The Australian reports that sex abuse survivors believe findings announced in February by the current Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse have been brushed over.

Those findings include that he misled the Brisbane Inquiry into sexual abuse back in December 2002 when he was governor-general.

Dr Hollingworth, the Anglican Church’s former archbishop of Brisbane, is said to have misled the inquiry about his contact with those who had brought the molestation claims to his attention in the 1990s.

He had knowledge of the chances of further abuse by serial-offending priest, John Elliot, but let him continue in the parish and retire with benefits.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Advertiser

Exclusive — Nigel Hunt, The Advertiser

A SENIOR Adelaide criminal barrister believes there is enough evidence to press charges over the John Mountford St Peter’s College abuse controversy.

In a lengthy legal opinion, barrister Michael Woods’ view is that it was “abundantly clear’’ the three individuals who dealt with Mountford the day he admitted to abusing a Year 10 St Peter’s College student should have immediately reported it to police.

The trio were former archbishop Dr Ian George, former St Peter’s College headmaster Richard Burchnall and his deputy Ray Stanley.

“They were obliged to report it to Family and Community Services and to the police,’’ Mr Woods states in his legal opinion, obtained by The Advertiser.

“In our view, the headmaster and deputy headmaster had a clear duty of care to other students at the school to launch a proper investigation in order to establish whether this was an isolated incident or a wider course of conduct.’’

The legal opinion was commissioned by the mother of one of Mountford’s abuse victims, David, who has fought for justice for her son since learning of his abuse in 1992.

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

AUSTRALIA
9 News

A former Catholic priest has appeared briefly in a Melbourne court via video link facing historical sex charges dating back to the 1970s.

Frank Klep, 74, is facing four charges of indecent assault against a male, with the alleged offences occurring between 1976 and 1982 while he was a priest and teacher at Salesian College Rupertswood at Sunbury.

The matter was adjourned in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday, with Klep due to reappear via video link on August 25.

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

UNITED STATES
TheMediaReport

The 1969 unsolved disappearance and murder of a Baltimore nun, Sister Catherine Cesnik, certainly has all the makings of a compelling whodunnit. “Who killed Sister Cathy?” the trailer asks.

However, The Keepers, a multi-part “documentary” about the case airing on Netflix, is nothing but a bleary-eyed scavenger hunt trafficking in speculation, innuendo, rumor, discredited science, and a healthy heap of anti-Catholic bigotry. Anyone looking for an honest and clear-thinking analysis of this case will not find it here.

How can anyone believe this?

The central thesis of The Keepers is that an alleged abusive priest, the now-deceased Rev. Joseph Maskell, can be tied to the disappearance and murder of Sr. Cathy. However, some of the central accusers in all of this, who claim that Maskell sexually abused them when they were young girls, have quite a bit of explaining to do.

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 HAMPSHIRE
Laconia Daily Sun

LACONIA — “It was a job,” said attorney Philip McLaughlin, reflecting on his career at the bar in anticipation of closing his practice by the end of the year. “You follow the facts, do your job and be loyal to your client. Just do your job and the rest will take care of itself.”

The son of a Nashua police officer, McLaughlin graduated from the College of the Holy Cross, served four years as a deck officer in the United States Navy and earned his law degree at Boston College in 1974. He explained that he learned not to give orders in the Navy, where seamen were more likely to respect officers who asked rather than commanded. At law school he discovered his academic limits in a class on trusts and estates, when instead of preparing the required estate plan he photocopied a model plan, attributed it to its author and confessed to the puzzled instructor he could not improve on it. …

When allegations of sexual abuse of children by members of the priesthood came to light, he negotiated an agreement by which the Catholic Diocese of Manchester acknowledged its failures and agreed to cooperate with the state. The diocese released 10,000 documents which after a ten month investigation supported a 154-page report. “The state was prepared to prove,” the report read, “that the diocese consciously chose to protect itself and its priests from scandal, lawsuits, and criminal charges, instead of protecting minor parishioners under its care from continual sexual abuse by priests.”

Jim Rosenberg, who with Will Delker, the head of the criminal division, undertook the inquiry, said that McLaughlin was the architect of the approach that eschewed criminal proceedings against the church hierarchy in favor of full disclosure and a commitment to cooperate with law enforcement. Rosenberg said that the outcome was preferable to what could have been expected from criminal proceedings. Noting that McLaughlin assembled a coalition of victim advocates and law enforcement officials, he stressed that “creative remedies were achieved by Phil’s leadership.”

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.

OHIO
NBC 4i

[with video]

By Ted Hart
Published: July 31, 2017

COLUMBUS (WCMH) – An east side pastor is jailed, accused of sexually assaulting three young girls in his church office.

Pastor Guillermo Quintanilla, from The El Shadai Church of God on South Hamilton Rd. is charged with rape, sexual battery and two counts of gross sexual imposition.

According to court documents, the first accusation emerged in June when a mother told police Quintanilla had molested her daughter approximately two times a week over a four-year span, beginning when the girl was 8-years-old.

The police complaint also details allegations of Quintanilla pushing one of the victims to the floor of his office, “smacking her in the face numerous times, threatening to rape her, threatening to kill her and her mom” if she told anyone.

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.

OHIO
ABC 6

COLUMBUS, Ohio —
Pastor Guillermo Quintanilla is behind bars, facing charges of sexually assaulting three young girls in the church.

Quintanilla, 47, is a pastor at El Shadai Church of God on South Hamilton Road. He was charged with rape, sexual battery, and two counts of gross sexual imposition.

According to court documents, investigators say a mom reported in June Quintanilla had molested her daughter. She told them it happened a couple of times a week over a four year time span, starting when the girl was just eight years old.

Police say when they began investigating, two other victims came forward accusing Quintanilla. Court documents show the girls said the assaults started when they were as young as six and eight years old. All of the girls attend the church.

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

IRELAND
Irish Times

Jacinta Prunty

Recent research in Dublin, Caen, Angers and Rome, has put into the public domain new information on the Magdalene laundries of St Mary’s High Park and Sean MacDermott Street in Dublin, both run by the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity.

Some of the findings expand on facts already well-known from the McAleese inquiry into the role of the state vis à vis these institutions, such as the presence of former industrial school girls in Magdalene laundries. But others might give the reader pause for thought, and beyond these case studies alone.

Short-stay and emergency accommodation was in fact the principal role played by these particular homes, as revealed by analysis of the registers of entrances and exits. Some homeless women entered multiple times, others returned to spend their final months in the infirmary.

The 1957 figures for St Mary’s, High Park are typical: of the 32 women admitted that year, 15 left within one month, five within three months, seven within one year, and two more within two years (three other women simply “left”, no date of departure).

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

AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

A Catholic girls school in Brisbane is the latest institution to be rocked by allegations of historical child sexual abuse.

Mount St Michael’s College in Ashgrove principal Sharon Volp sent an email to current and former students on Monday confirming it had received a “formal complaint” about a former staff member between 1976-1978.

Ms Volp said she found “the abuse of children distressing and abhorrent” and the matter had been referred to police.

She reassured the school community the “most stringent protocols” were in place to protect students.

Ms Volp urged anyone with concerns or issues about similar “inappropriate behaviour” by someone who currently or previously worked at the school to contact her and police.

Operated by Mary Aikenhead Ministries, the school provides education for girls from grade seven to 12.

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

GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Jul 30, 2017

By Krystal Paco

The Archdiocese of Agana remains committed to bringing restoration and healing to all victims of clergy sex abuse. This according to a recent press release which acknowledged the most recent lawsuits against the Church.

The release states, “The Archdiocese takes sexual abuse very seriously. We care deeply about every person who steps forward and we look forward to full resolution of all cases.” Resolution could come soon for the majority of the cases as parties expressed optimism now that Oregon-based retired federal judge Michael Hogan has agreed to serve as a mediator. Hogan will be on island late October. The Church meanwhile, through Hope and Healing Guam, will continue to provide pastoral care and therapeutic counseling for all victims. The number to call is 1-888-649-5288.

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

PHILIPPINES
Philippine News

MANILA, Philippines – The 13-year-old girl who was rescued from a priest who wanted to bring her to a motel told police he had allegedly abused her twice before, an official said yesterday.

The girl said Msgr. Arnel Lagarejos “used” her twice in June and that she was paid P3,000 on their first encounter, said Senior Superintendent Roger Quezada, Marikina City police chief.

The same 16-year-old pimp, who was arrested along with Lagarejos, had set up the “meetings,” he added.

He left it to the city prosecutor’s office to file additional charges against Lagarejos following the girl’s allegations. The priest was charged with human trafficking on Saturday.

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

ILLINOIS
The Beacon-News

Hannah Leone
Aurora Beacon-News

Though the ordered deportation of a former Aurora priest charged with child sex abuse has lawyers scrambling to keep him in the U.S. through his trial, it turns out the priest waived his right to appeal a federal immigration judge’s decision ordering him removed from the country and sent back to his native Colombia.

Offering little clarity on whether Alfredo Pedraza Arias will be in the country by Sept. 18, when his trial is scheduled to start, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials responded for the first time Monday to Beacon-News inquiries about his case.

Arias has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, which allege he sexually abused two girls at their Catholic church between 2012 and 2014, when both girls were younger than 6 years old. He has also waived his right to appeal a June 14 deportation order signed by a federal immigration judge, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa.

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

AUSTRALIA
Sky News

AAP

South Australian police are investigating how a priest who was accused of child sex offences was able to flee the country in 1992.

Father John Mountford was sacked from St Peter’s College after allegations of sexual abuse and was eventually extradited from Thailand in 2004 but charges were later dropped. He died in Libya in 2009.

‘The obligation of the South Australian police is to look at the referral from the royal commission as to whether anybody has perverted the course of justice or aided a person who has committed a serious crime to flee justice,’ Police Commissioner Grant Stevens told ABC breakfast radio on Tuesday.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

South Australian Police have begun fresh investigations into whether an accused child sex offender was encouraged to leave Australia by senior members of the Anglican Church.

The state’s top policeman, Grant Stevens, confirmed officers were looking at the circumstances surrounding the decision by former St Peter’s College priest John Mountford to flee Australia for Bali after allegations of sexual abuse against him surfaced in 1992.

Commissioner Stevens would not divulge the subjects of the police probe.

There have been allegations former archbishop Ian George encouraged Mountford to flee, which Mr George has repeatedly denied.

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

AUSTRALIA
9 News

[with video]

Former Adelaide archbishop Ian George is reportedly under investigation over whether he played a role in encouraging a disgraced priest to flee the country.

South Australia Police has launched fresh investigation into the events leading to former St Peter’s College priest and accused sex offender John Mountford fleeing Australia in 1992 after he was sacked from the college amid allegations of sexual abuse.

Senior policeman Grant Stevens confirmed to the ABC a police probe had been launched to investigate whether any of those who may have been involved in Mountford’s rapid exit perverted the court of justice or impeded an investigation into his activities.

The disgraced priest fled Adelaide for Bali on June 6, 1992 after admitting to the sexual abuse of a Year 10 student.

He allegedly flew out within hours of being visited by then archbishop George, a chain of events detailed in the 2004 Board of Inquiry report into the Adelaide diocese’s handling of sexual abuse allegations.

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

PHILIPPINES
International Business Times

By Ananya Roy
August 1, 2017

The archbishop-emeritus of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines has initiated an investigation into the arrest of a priest while he was bringing a 13-year-old girl to a motel in Marikina City on July 28. The priest, Arnel Lagarejos, has been accused of sexually abusing the girl more than once.

Lagarejos, the parish priest of St John the Baptist in Taytay city in the Philippines’ Rizal province, was arrested following complaints from the victim and her mother. He was relieved of his duties immediately after his arrest.

The victim said the man had booked her through a pimp and molested her on two previous occasions. The day he was arrested was the third booking.

She also alleged that the priest had threatened her by pointing a gun at her against going out with any other man. She also said that she did not know the man abusing her was a priest.

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

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By Stephen Montemayor Star Tribune JULY 31, 2017

A former Minnesota youth pastor who admitted to collecting troves of child pornography and engaging in online chatter with a Finnish man he knew abused young children overseas was sentenced last week to more than a dozen years in federal prison.

William Leonard Helker, 47, of Pine City, pleaded guilty in March to one count of distributing child pornography. According to documents filed in court, Helker’s collection included images with superimposed photos of some members of his congregation at All Saints Lutheran Church in Cottage Grove, Minn.

U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz sentenced Helker to 12 ½ years in federal prison to be followed by 15 years of supervised release. Helker was arrested last October after state and federal authorities received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children that a Minnesota man had exchanged child pornography with a person in Finland. The NCMEC listed the tip as a “Priority 1” because the children were assessed as being in danger.

Shortly before Helker’s arrest, European law enforcement identified the Finnish man and rescued his victims, who ranged from 2 to 12 years old. Assistant U.S. Attorney Katharine Buzicky, in court filings, wrote that authorities found correspondence between Helker and a Finnish suspect who was actively abusing several young children and using them to produce child pornography. Helker encouraged and “sometimes suggested” forms of abuse, Buzicky said.

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

PHILIPPINES
The Gulf Today

By Manolo B. Jara August 01, 2017

MANILA: The influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Monday ordered the suspension of a 55-year-old parish priest, also the president of a Catholic-run college, who was arrested by the police for allegedly soliciting the services of a 13-year-old girl.

In a statement, the CBCP also announced in its website, it would conduct a separate but parallel investigation with the police on the case of Monsignor Arnel Lagarejos who was arrested on Friday by the police in suburban Marikina City in Metro in Manila in the company of the girl aboard a vehicle on their way to a motel.

The CBCP named Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz, its former president, to conduct a separate inquiry which, if found guilty, would lead to his dismissal from priesthood.

His suspension also meant Lagarejos was stripped of his priestly duties like celebrating mass, according to CBCP.

Earlier, Lagarejos was likewise relieved of his post as the president of the Cainta Catholic College in the town of Cainta, Rizal province in Southern Luzon where he was the concurrent parish priest.

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

PHILIPPINES
The Manila Times

BY NEIL ALCOBER, TMT ON JULY 31, 2017

MARIKINA City Mayor Marcelino Teodoro on Monday gave assurance that the truth will not be concealed in the investigation of Monsignor Arnel Lagarejos, who was caught with a 13-year-old girl while on the way to a motel in Marikina City.

“There will be no whitewash on the case. No pressure [from the Catholic church],” Teodoro told The Manila Times in a phone interview.

He also urged parents to monitor their children’s use of social media, citing the growing incidence of sex crimes in the country associated with the popularity of Facebook and other social sites.

Senior Supt. Roger Quesada, Marikina police chief, said Lagarejos had brought the girl twice to a motel on separate dates and paid her P2,500 each time.

The priest is now detained at the Marikina City jail and facing charges for violation of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

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

PHILIPPINES
Inquirer

By: Tina G. Santos – Reporter / @santostinaINQ

Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz has started investigating the case of Taytay priest Msgr. Arnel Lagarejos who was arrested while bringing a 13-year-old girl to a motel in Marikina City on July 28.

Cruz told reporters that Antipolo Bishop Francisco de Leon had assigned him to look into the “pedophile case.”

“This case is considered the gravest violation of the commandments, abuse of minors… I don’t know [how long the investigation would take], it depends on how fast I could gather evidence … how fast I could get my testimonies,” he said.

Cruz explained that once the Vatican has decided on the priest’s case, it would forward its ruling to De Leon.

Lagarejos, the parish priest of St. John the Baptist in Taytay, Rizal, was arrested in an entrapment operation after the girl and her mother went to the police for help.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Jennifer Huxley

An exclusive Brisbane girls school has revealed it received a formal complaint of historical sexual assault, dating back 40 years.

Mt St Michael’s College, an all-girls Catholic high school in the inner suburb of Ashgrove, has written to former students about the allegations.

The letter, signed by principal Sharon Volp, said the abuse allegedly occurred between a student and a former staff member in the 1970s.

“With great sadness, I need to confirm that we have received a formal complaint regarding an allegation of sexual abuse in respect to one of our students and a former staff member going back to the period 1976-1978,” the letter reads.

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

SOUTH DAKOTA
Keloland

June 29, 2017

Angela Kennecke reports:

Sioux Falls, SD

Our Eye on KELOLAND Investigation has uncovered allegations of sexual harassment in a Sioux Falls parish against its priest.

The alleged incidents happened back in 2014. We’ve brought you the story from the victim’s point-of-view, who told us what happened and that her job was threatened for continuing to push the matter. We agreed to keep her identity hidden and change her name and voice.

“And when Matt (Althoff) said to me, that I will lose my job if I say another report and when Twila said, ‘This is not good for you. Maybe you should look for another job,’ it hurt me very badly because I went in there so they could help me. And it looks like they wanted to get rid of me,” Cindy said.

Months after she reported it and the diocese first tried to save the working relationship and establish professional boundaries between Cindy and Fr. Justin Wachs, Fr. Wachs resigned from the parish and went on medical leave.

But it’s what happened next that caused someone to threaten the diocese with going public with the matter, which they eventually did.

The Sioux Falls diocese told KELOLAND News that anonymous person who alerted KELOLAND Investigates to this incident is trying to hurt the church. The writer didn’t agree with Fr. Wachs’ “reassignment.” Fr. Wachs’ spoke to us only through his attorney who says his new assignment was in the works before he was accused of sexual harassment.

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

SOUTH DAKOTA
Keloland

June 27, 2017

Angela Kennecke reports:

Sioux Falls, SD

A Sioux Falls woman says she was sexually harassed while on the job. Her boss? A priest.

While she reported his behavior to leadership in 2014, she now takes issue with the way the Sioux Falls Catholic Diocese handled it.

As this investigation unfolds, you may be surprised by what happened to this priest as well.

In the Roman Catholic religion, priests are viewed as a direct line of communication to God.

A church employee, whom we are calling “Cindy,” agreed to come forward to talk about her allegations of sexual harassment against Fr. Justin Wachs on the condition we don’t show her face and have someone else say her words.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
WNPV

July 31, 2017

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro continues to remind citizens that child sex abuse is often carried out by predators who know how to get to their victims.

Shapiro recently commented on this fact after another catholic priest was arrested in Western Pa. for allegedly sexually abused a 10 year old boy in the early 1990’s. Shapiro urges victims to get in touch with the Attorney General’s office.

“If anyone has information regarding child sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church here in Pennsylvania, please contact, the Attorney General’s Clergy Abuse Hotline at 1-888-538-8541.

Retired priest John Thomas Sweeney was arrested in the Western, Pa case. The sex abuse allegedly happened during the 1991-92 school year.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Advertiser

Exclusive — Nigel Hunt, The Advertiser
July 31, 2017

FORMER Anglican Archbishop of Adelaide Ian George is at the centre of a major SA Police investigation over the role he played in disgraced St Peter’s College priest John Mountford fleeing Australia in 1992.

In a shock development in the St Peter’s College abuse case, detectives are investigating if any of those involved in Mountford’s rapid exit from Adelaide perverted the course of justice or impeded an investigation into his activities.

They are also investigating if former St Peter’s headmaster Richard Burchnall, his deputy Ray Stanley or Dr George breached the Child Protection Act by not immediately reporting the sexual abuse of a student by the then Reverend Mountford to police.

The revelation comes after former Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, appeared in a Melbourne Court last week on historic child sex charges and as current Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson prepares to fight a charge in Newcastle Local Court of concealing child sexual abuse.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Advertiser

Nigel Hunt, The Advertiser
July 31, 2017

FOR the past 25 years, Helen has been fighting for justice for her son, David.

At first it was against disgraced priest John Mountford, the man who sexually abused her son while he was a student at St Peter’s College. Once that avenue was exhausted, she took on the school that allowed the abuse to occur by employing the paedophile priest and allowing him to prey on the school community.

And once that fight was won, with a compensation settlement for her son, she turned her sights on not just those in charge of the school, but the head of Anglican Diocese of Adelaide at the time — Dr Ian George.

Helen, who does not wish to be identified, wants Dr George and the school to be held accountable over the role they played in Mountford’s rapid departure from Adelaide after he confessed to abusing a student.

While this occurred in June, 1992, she only became aware of the facts surrounding it in May, 2004, when an independent Board of Inquiry into the Adelaide diocese’s handling of sexual abuse allegations report was released.

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

UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Catholic League president Bill Donohue explains why Cardinal George Pell will not be able to secure a fair trial in October:

If it weren’t for Cardinal George Pell, it would not matter a whole lot to the Catholic League if a free nation like Australia decided to emulate the totalitarian regime in North Korea. But he does matter, and that is why we are concerned. He has been the target of character assassins for a very long time, and will appear in a Melbourne court on October 6. Judging from recent events, it seems near impossible for him to get a fair trial.

Queensland, Australia’s second largest state, declared war on Christian children last week: they have been told to stop talking about Jesus in the school yard. Christmas cards that refer to the birth of Jesus have been banned, as have creating Christmas tree decorations. Beaded bracelets that share “the good news about Jesus” have also been prohibited.

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

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Monday, July 31, 2017

A former Catholic priest has launched a High Court action aimed at stopping his trial on a charge he indecently assaulted a young boy more than thirty years ago, writes Ann O’Loughlin.

The man who has been sent forward to face trial before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court claims he is at risk of not getting a fair trial.

It is the man’s case the DPP has allowed an unexplainable delay to occur in the prosecution of the case. The case, he also claims, has not been dealt with in an expeditious manner.

He claims he was charged with the offence more than three years after a complaint was made to the Gardaí.

It is also claimed that the man cannot get a fair trial because certain documents and records which the man had sought were destroyed.

He also claims that he has been denied fair procedures.

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.

ROME
Commonweal – Letter from Rome

By Robert Mickens
July 31, 2017

Some five years ago I was invited to speak at the City Club of Cleveland, Ohio.

“Since 1912, the City Club has served as one of the (United States’) oldest, non-partisan and continuously operating free speech forums,” says the organization’s website.

The topic of my talk was the Vatican implosion and, as a result, the long and gradual collapse of the Catholic Church’s monarchical structure of governance and ministry.

I argued that as the last absolute monarchy in the West (and most anywhere else in the world), the organization of the Roman Church has become an anachronism. It made sense when monarchies were a fundamental feature of human society. But no longer.

This outdated model of the Catholic Church’s structure no longer incarnates the reality of the lived experience of believers, the staggering majority of whom live in societies that are becoming more and more, and to varying degrees, participatory and representative democracies.

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

PHILIPPINES
Philippine News Courier

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) spoke in connection with the priest who was arrested Friday night, July 28 in Marikina City for attempting to sexually abuse a 13-year old girl. The suspect was arrested in an entrapment operation, after the victim’s mother reported to the Marikina City police’s women and child protection department.

“As Christians, we are bound to forgive those who sin against us as we ask God to forgive our sins. So much so if the sin was not really committed.” Outgoing CBCP President Socrates Villegas said during his mass in his hometown Lingayen, Pangasinan, Sunday morning. He will be replaced by Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles this coming December 1.

And although he did not mention the name of Rev. Msgr. Arnel F. Lagarejos, who was arrested while he was on his way to a motel along with a pimp, Archbishop Soc Villegas reminded everyone that even priests are also tempted to commit sin. “No one is excuse for committing sins, even we priests are prone to commit mortal sins.” He added.

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.

ROMA
Corriere della Sera

di Massimo Franco

S i va delineando un Vaticano ad interim nelle sue strutture economiche. L’uscita di scena in rapida successione del supervisore generale Libero Milone e del superministro delle Finanze, il cardinale George Pell, ha portato alla nomina di personaggi di transizione. E entro l’estate potrebbe essere sostituito anche Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, presidente dello Ior, la cosiddetta «banca del Vaticano». Nominato nel luglio del 2014, il francese de Franssu da tempo si sente esautorato. Avverte una freddezza crescente nei suoi confronti dopo la controversa nomina a direttore generale di Gianfranco Mammì, avvenuta alla fine del 2015: una scelta personale di papa Francesco, che si presentò nella sede dello Ior e disse che l’incarico sarebbe toccato a Mammì. Ormai, de Frannsu va a Roma soltanto un paio di giorni a settimana.

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.

ROME
Crux

One of Italy’s most respected political journalists wrote on Saturday in “Corriere della Sera,” considered the country’s paper of record, that the “shock therapy” Francis tried to impose on Vatican finances has yielded “thin results.” Massimo Franco also suggested things are drifting back toward what Vatican insiders call “normality,” meaning the situation prior to the initial reforms three years ago, and that another key figure in the pope’s attempted reform may soon be gone.

Perceptions of setbacks and power struggles, the recent exits of two key financial officials, and a Vatican trial for misappropriation of funds in which a cardinal at the heart of the affair has not been charged or even investigated, all have prompted some observers to start writing obituaries for the pontiff’s plans for a sweeping reform of Vatican finances.

One of Italy’s most respected political journalists didn’t go quite that far on Saturday, but writing in Corriere della Sera, considered the country’s paper of record, Massimo Franco declared that the “shock therapy” Francis imposed on Vatican finances has yielded “thin results,” and that things are drifting back toward what Vatican insiders call “normality,” meaning the situation prior to the initial reforms three years ago.

In particular, Franco said that the Secretary of State, the Vatican’s powerful central coordinating department, is reacquiring its traditional supremacy with regard to financial management. Curbing that domination originally was considered among the pillars of Francis’s reforms.

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

UNITED STATES
ReseachGate

[with download]

Article · July 2017

1st David Katzenstein
New York University

2nd Lisa Aronson Fontes
University of Massachusetts Amherst

Abstract
Child sexual abuse remains an underreported crime throughout the world, despite extensive research and resources dedicated both to improving investigative techniques and helping children disclose their experiences. The discovery of rampant cover-ups within the Catholic Church has exposed some of the ways religious and cultural issues can impede reporting to authorities. This article examines specific factors that contribute to the underreporting of child sexual abuse within Orthodox Jewish communities. It also explores ways in which these communities have handled child sexual abuse reporting in the past and describes recent progress. Implications are offered for CSA prevention, detection, and recovery in Orthodox Jewish communities as well as other minority religious groups.

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

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Monday, July 31, 2017 Conall Ó Fátharta and Noel Baker

The Mother and Baby Homes Commission investigation of Bessborough mother-and-baby home will not be affected by the planned sale of the site.

The Irish Examiner recently revealed that the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary have put the site up for sale. It is likely to fetch a multimillion-euro sum.

The campus now houses the Bessborough Centre, a charity that works with vulnerable families. It offers therapeutic care and education.

The cemetery and remembrance site are not included in the portfolio, and any sale will be on condition that a new building is put in place to house the continuing work of the Bessborough Centre.

The sale is subject to several conditions, including that the buyer provide a new facility for the present service, which involves residential and community-based family assessment and support services.

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

In a chilling letter in the Sunday Independent a man has thanked his mother for not allowing a priest, who was later found to be a serial child abuser, to bring him and his brother for a drive.
The letter is part of the Letter I wish I’d Sent series running in the Sunday Independent.

The man, who has chosen to remain anonymous, penned a letter to his mother and thanked her for the loving environment he and his siblings were raised in.

He went on to say that his mother declined the offer from Fr Brendan Smyth to take he and his brother for a drive.

“I feel that your refusal saved both your sons a lot of grief and abuse and allowed us to continue growing up having a great childhood in a great family in a great little town,” he said.

The letter in full reads:

Dear Mam,

After reading the ‘Letter I Wished I’d Sent’ on page 10 of the Sunday Independent of July 23, I turned to page 14 and there staring at me was a picture of Brendan Smyth, the serial child sex abuser, below. You and Dad created a loving environment for our large family, in our small West of Ireland town.

How fortunate my younger brother and myself were, when aged 10 and 12 as Mass servers during a week’s Retreat by the said Brendan Smyth, you were strong enough as a very religious woman to decline Smyth’s offer on two different evenings when he called to our house to take my brother and myself out for “a drive to the neighbouring town”.

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

PHILIPPINES
Inquirer

By: Aie Balagtas See – Reporter / @ABalagtasSeeINQ

Friday night was not the first time Taytay, Rizal parish priest Msgr. Arnel Lagarejos had booked a 13-year-old girl through her pimp who was also a minor.

“They had met before. According to the girl, [Friday] would have been the third time,” Marikina police chief Senior Supt. Roger Quesada told the Inquirer in a phone interview on Sunday.

The 55-year-old Lagarejos, parish priest of the Parish of St. John the Baptist in Taytay, Rizal, was arrested by authorities on Friday night as he was taking the girl to a motel in Marikina City in his sport utility vehicle.

“The girl went with the priest because there was money involved. She said the priest paid her P2,500 per booking,” Quesada said.

According to him, Lagarejos met the girl through the 16-year-old pimp who was her friend. The police, however, have yet to establish how and when the priest met the pimp.

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

AUSTRALIA/ISRAEL
Australian Jewish News

MEMBER for Caulfield David Southwick has presented Israeli politicians with a petition calling for the extradition of alleged child sexual abuser Malka Leifer.

The Victorian MP met with Likud Member of the Knesset (MK) Sharren Haskel, Labor MK Michal Biran and director general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry Yuval Rotem while in Israel last week.

“I am confident the petition I presented to the Israeli Knesset on behalf of the victims and the Victorian Jewish community will build momentum to have Malka Leifer extradited to face allegations of sexual abuse,” Southwick said.

“I thank all of those 17,000 people who signed this important petition and supported the victims’ fight for justice.”

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

NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand Herald

By Chris Morris

A paedophile priest’s picture has been removed from the wall at Dunedin’s Kavanagh College after a group of old boys complained.

But the group’s call for the Catholic college to consider a name change, to end another association with the priest’s dark past, has been rejected.

The situation emerged after Dr Murray Heasley and 12 other old boys of the college and its predecessor, St Paul’s High School, wrote to college principal Tracey O’Brien to raise concerns.

Heasley said he was horrified to discover a picture of former priest and convicted sex offender Magnus Murray on display at the college when he visited earlier this year.

Murray was jailed for five years in 2003, after admitting 10 charges of sexual offending against four young boys between 1958 and 1972.

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

CANADA
Windsor Star

TREVOR WILHELM

The London diocese has settled lawsuits from three victims of an accused pedophile priest who died before facing justice in a criminal trial.

Lawyer Robert Talach said the three victims of Linus Bastien settled for a total of less then $400,000, but the money wasn’t the point for them.

“Beyond the money they got acknowledgment and they got confirmation that the evidence overwhelmingly leads to the conclusion that Bastien did this,” said Talach, with Beckett Personal Injury Lawyers in London. “Just because the criminal part didn’t get to the end of the road, I think what this process allowed is these guys got acknowledgment that there’s no doubt in either side’s mind here that Bastien did what they say he did.”

The London diocese couldn’t be reached for comment Sunday night.

The three victims were altar boys in their early teens at St. Paul Parish in LaSalle when they were allegedly abused in the 1970s. The lawsuits were settled last week. Beckett Personal Injury Lawyers has another five lawsuits from Bastien victims that are still ongoing.

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

Kathy Armstrong
July 30 2017

A priest who was falsely accused of sexually abusing a child has called the ordeal “years of hell” and said he received no official support from the Catholic church.

Father Tim Hazelwood said that factors such as years of scandals involving the church and an increased workload are putting our clergymen at an increased risk of suicide and he is encouraging them to reach out if they are under strain.

In 2009 he said he was informed that an anonymous complaint about child abuse had been made against him to the diocese.

The individual never came forward and the complaint was forwarded to the HSE and the gardaí.
The man then proceeded to send anonymous letters and threatening phone-calls to the priest directly Fr Hazelwood said.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
WITF

(Harrisburg) — Last Monday, the State Attorney General announced charges against another priest accused of sexually abusing a child.

The alleged abuse happened two-and-a-half decades ago.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced the case against retired priest John Thomas Sweeney outside the Westmoreland County Catholic school where the alleged abuse occurred in the 1991-92 school year.

In outlining the accusations, Shapiro noted that it is often decades before such abuse allegations surface, due to misplaced shame and confusion in the young victims.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Domradio

[“We have a monarchical system in the Church.”]

Mit Entsetzen wurde fast einhellig auf den Bericht über den Missbrauch bei den Domspatzen reagiert. Wolfgang Beck erklärt im domradio.de-Interview, was schief lief und warum die Skandale eine Chance für die Kirche sind.

domradio.de: Das waren deutliche Worte, die Sie da am Samstag gewählt haben. Sie sind selbst Priester. Hat Sie das schockierende Ausmaß des Missbrauchs und der Misshandlungen auch von Amtskollegen überrascht?

Pfarrer Wolfgang Beck (Professor für Pastoraltheologie an der katholischen Hochschule in Sankt Georgen): Nein, man muss auch sagen, dass man als katholischer Christ schon einiges in den letzten Jahren gewohnt ist. Der Aufarbeitungsprozess in Regensburg dauert auch schon einige Jahre an, sodass klar war, dass der Bericht sicherlich vieles enthalten würde, was noch mal für Erschrecken sorgt. Was dann aber auch wichtig ist, sind zwei unterschiedliche Ebenen: Das eine ist die Aufarbeitung, die geleistet werden muss und dass man sich um die Opfer kümmert.

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

GERMANY
La Croix

“The idea that the Church, the Christian faith, and even the Bible message would be harmed if one openly discusses the problems and calls a spade a spade has become too deeply rooted in Catholic circles,” Fr Wolfgang Beck said.

Christa Pongratz-Lippitt

A young Jesuit theologian has called on the wider public to force Germany’s bishops into investigating Church structures that foment clerical power and lack of transparency, elements he said are directly linked to abuse of minors.

“Please help to keep up the pressure,” Fr Wolfgang Beck said on July 23rd while making one of his frequent appearances on the widely viewed “Word for Sunday” program on German state television’s flagship channel.

The 43-year-old pastoral theologian spoke about the shame he felt after the reading the recently published Regensburg Domspatzen report, which revealed that more than 500 choir boys had been physically and sexually abused.

Fr Beck, who teaches at the Sankt Georgen Jesuit University and seminary in Frankfurt, said some commentators had described the report as a “glimpse of hell”.

“When one thinks of what the victims went through and the sluggish reaction of those responsible in the Church, I can only say once again that words fail me. As a citizen I am horrified and as a priest deeply ashamed,” he said.

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

OSTERREICH
News

[Georg P. is a church abuse victim in Austria, recognized by the responsible commission, but not by his own family – for his own brother is a Catholic dignitary. The commission of the Catholic Church had no doubts about the police protocols and psychological expertise: Georg P., an agriculturist from the Innviertel and now 41 years old, was abused by a Benedictine priest named Berthold between his 10th and 15th years. The abuse happened regularly, systematically and brutally. The man of God is now even classified as a “dangerous criminal” and is considered to be mentally ill. Too late for Georg for Father Berthold passed away eight years ago without ever being accountable before an earthly court.]

Georg P. ist ein kirchliches Missbrauchsopfer, anerkannt von der zuständigen Kommission, nicht aber von der eigenen Familie – denn der eigene Bruder ist katholischer Würdenträger

Für die von der katholischen Kirche eingesetzte Opferschutzkommission bestanden nach Einsicht in die polizeilichen Protokolle und psychologischen Gutachten keinerlei Zweifel mehr: Georg P., Landwirtschaftstechniker aus dem Innviertel und heute 41 Jahre alt, war zwischen seinem zehnten und 15. Lebensjahr von einem Benediktinerpater namens Berthold missbraucht worden. Regelmäßig, systematisch und brutal. Kirchenintern wird der Gottesmann mittlerweile sogar als “gefährlicher Krimineller” und “hochgradig psychisch kranker Mensch” eingestuft. Zu spät für Georg, denn Pater Berthold verstarb vor nunmehr acht Jahren – ohne je vor einem irdischen Gericht Rechenschaft abgelegt zu haben. Und ohne etwas von der Strahlkraft eingebüßt zu haben, die er in all den Jahren zuvor auf Georgs Familie ausgeübt hatte.

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

PHILIPPINES
The Manila Times

TAYTAY (Rizal) parish priest Monsignor Arnel Lagarejos will be removed as priest and stripped of all his Church duties if proven guilty of human trafficking allegations involving a 13-year old girl, according to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

“Abuse of minors is very grievous offense. If he is proven grievously immoral for abuse of minors, he will be removed as priest. He will be stripped of all his rights and duties as priest,” former CBCP president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz told The Manila Times.

“Molestation of minors is the most grievous offense that can be committed by a cleric. That is a serious matter that will be dealt with appropriately by Church authorities,” Cruz said.

He has been designated by Antipolo Bishop Francis de Leon to lead the Diocese of Antipolo’s panel of investigators that will determine the veracity of the accusations against Lagarejos.

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

AUSTRALIA
Center for Research on Globalization

By Dr. Binoy Kampmark
Global Research, July 29, 2017

“The world is watching.” – Cathy Kezelman, Blue Knot Foundation president, The Washington Post, Jul 25, 2017

The show on Wednesday was grim, busy, crowded. Cardinal George Pell, the highest Vatican official thus far to be brought within the legal fold of accusation and accountability for historical crimes of sex abuse, fronted for the briefest of shows at a lowly Magistrates Court in Melbourne.

There was much chatter prior to his arrival on Wednesday morning as to what would happen. For one, a taster was provided that the number of police was simply not enough to contain matters. Ringed by the boys and girls in blue, he seemed in a floating daze, though officially committed to the task at hand.

The other point was that the media outlets seemed indifferent to the linguistic differences of “historic” and “historical” in terms of designating the alleged crimes. Would historical sex abuse charges become historic in due course?

A bigger court room, one that would have enabled more spectators to sit, was not in the offing. An ordinary magistrates setting seating up to 80 was going to supply distinct shock treatment, a cold shower of immensity far from the plushness of the Vatican setting. Some journalists grumbled that a more expansive setting should have been provided.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Altoona Mirror

JUL 29, 2017

SEAN SAURO
Staff Writer
ssauro@altoonamirror.com

A retired Catholic priest with ties to Saint Francis University turned himself in to police Wednesday in Fairfax County, Va., where he is accused of having inappropriate contact with a 15-year-old girl.

Gervase Cain, 86, a retired priest living in Loretto, has been charged with taking indecent liberties with a child for an alleged 2003 incident.

In 2003, Cain — then 72 years old — allegedly touched a 15-year-old girl inappropriately during a “consultation” at her Fairfax home, according to a Fairfax County Police news release.

The incident was first reported to police in 2004, but the complaint was later withdrawn, police said.

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

ROME
L’Espresso – Settimo Cielo

Sandra Magister

The classic communist parties had their “organic intellectuals.” But Pope Francis has them, too. Their names are Antonio Spadaro, Marcelo Figueroa, Víctor Manuel Fernández.

The first is an Italian and a Jesuit, director of “La Civiltà Cattolica.” The others are Argentine, and the latter is not even Catholic but a Presbyterian pastor, and in spite of this Francis has put him at the head of the Buenos Aires edition of “L’Osservatore Romano.”

Spadaro has turned “La Civiltà Cattolica” into the organ of Casa Santa Marta, meaning of the pope. And together with Figueroa he put his name to an article in the latest issue of the magazine that slammed into the United States like a hurricane, because it accused both Catholic and Protestant conservative circles of acting in that country “with a logic not different from that which inspires Islamic fundamentalism,” none less than that of Osama bin Laden and the Caliphate.

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.

MASSACHUSETTS
Crime Online

by Lawrence Bonk
July 29, 2017

Paul Shanley, a priest convicted of multiple counts of child rape, has walked free, as reported by FOX8.

Shanley, 86, has spent the last 12 years behind bars after being convicted in 2005 of two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child and two counts of rape and abuse of a child, according to the sex offender registry.

The Massachusetts man now begins 10 years of supervised probation, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a statement.

Shanley was one of a number of Catholic priests convicted of child rape, the fallout from an infamous Boston Globe investigation which was chronicled in the critically acclaimed film Spotlight.

His release, however, has sparked a backlash. Barbara Dorris, managing director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, spoke to reporters and said that pedophiles rarely change their gruesome appetites.

“Age, a change of title or location doesn’t change a pedophile,” she said. “For now, I just hope the officials who housed him, employed him, and protected him have an obligation to make sure this never happens again.”

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

PHILIPPINES
GMA News

Published July 30, 2017

The Diocese of Antipolo in Rizal on Sunday said it is “looking into” the arrest of a priest, who was caught with a 13-year-old girl while while on his way to a motel in Marikina City.

“The Dioecese of Antipolo is looking into the matter involving the arrest of Msgr. Arnel F. Lagarejos as allegedly identified as a suspect in [an] entrapment operation in Marikina City,” the diocese said in a statement.

It asked the public to “refrain from issuing unnecessary comments that might worsen the situation.”

Lagarejos was arrested on Friday night while in the company of the girl, who was allegedly pimped out by a 16-year-old friend.

The alleged pimp was also arrested by the police.

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

PHILIPPINES
Inquirer

The priest arrested last Friday while allegedly on his way to a motel with a 13-year-old girl is being kept with ordinary detainees at the Marikina police headquarters, radio reports said.

Monsignor Arnel Lagarejos, 55, of the Diocese of Antipolo, spent Saturday til Sunday morning at the Marikina City jail after going through inquest proceedings for trafficking in persons.
READ: Priest nabbed ‘en route to motel’ with 13-year-old girl

While no VIP treatment was being accorded to the priest, security was tight with police strictly screening his visitors and preventing media from speaking to him, according to a report of radio dzMM.

Radio reports said colleagues of Lagarejos had been constantly visiting him since his arrest early Friday night near Blue Wave Mall along Sumulong Highway in Marikina City.

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.