ABUSE TRACKER

UNITED KINGDOM
Yellow Advertiser

26 April 2018

by Charles Thomson – Chief Reporter

The YA’s front page last month, when Essex Council refused to release the ‘Kenward Report’.
ESSEX Council has refused to answer basic questions about an inquiry linking some of its former employees to alleged child sex abuse.

For the second time this year, County Hall has refused to release details of the ’Kenward Report’, commissioned in the late 1990s to probe allegations that child protection staff abused kids in care.

The Taxpayers’ Alliance described the council’s refusal to answer basic questions as ’ludicrous’, whilst the founder of a leading child abuse charity said the ongoing secrecy gave the impression that the council ’have something to hide’.

The ’Kenward Report’ was penned by independent child protection expert Helen Kenward, who had conducted high profile abuse inquiries for other local authorities.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Carnegie Mellon University

April 26, 2018

Carnegie Mellon University has long had a clear and unwavering commitment: The university will not tolerate sexual violence, intimate partner violence, stalking or sexual harassment. These acts are against the law and violate our core values.

In order to fulfill that commitment and in light of Bill Cosby’s criminal conviction for aggravated indecent assault, Carnegie Mellon University has decided to revoke an honorary degree it awarded to Mr. Cosby in 2007.

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ISRAEL
Arutz Sheva

Tzvi Lev, 26/04/18

The Israel Police is attempting to prevent prominent hassidic leader and convicted felon Rabbi Eliezer Berland from lighting the traditional Lag Baomer bonfire at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai in Meron next week.

According to Haredim 10, police fear that the rabbi’s appearance will cause scuffles and disturbances between his supporters and detractors and intend to seek a restraining order in the coming days to prevent Rabbi Berland from arriving at Meron on Lag Baomer.

The Israeli Center for Cult Victims has also appealed to the Chief Rabbi of Meron asking him to prevent Berland from lighting a bonfire in order to prevent him from recruiting new members. “Such an event may cause new people to be exposed to the sect, and those who are later liable to be the next victims,” wrote the center.”

CEO Rachel Lichtenstein added that Berland would attempt to use the main Lag Baomer event as a way to regain legitimacy from the haredi community: “Berland tries to hold meetings with rabbis in each city and makes sure that his followers will photograph these meetings in order to publish the pictures and try to regain the status of the righteous rabbi. In general, this will lead to blasphemy and contempt for Judaism and the Torah,” she wrote.

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UNITED STATES
Boston Glob

By Ty Burr GLOBE STAFF

APRIL 27, 2018

It isn’t he said/she said (and she said and she said) anymore. It is legal fact. A jury found Bill Cosby guilty on Thursday of three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Andrea Constand in January 2004, and his crimes against women can no longer be dismissed as “allegations.” Pending his attorneys’ stated intention to appeal, Cosby, 80, is likely going to prison. It’s very possible he’ll end his days there. His career was already over. Now it’s over and out.

So what do we do with his legacy?

Forget about watching episodes of “The Cosby Show,” or listening to the comedy albums, or watching reruns of the old “Fat Albert” cartoons as anything approaching entertainment. Even Jell-O is looking a little sketchy at the moment, and don’t think about Pudding Pops. You cannot be entertained by what has been so profoundly tainted (or if you can, many of us don’t want to know you). But there’s a resume of social and cultural accomplishment that somehow has to be squared with the most profound personal evil.

We’re a species that likes to divide people into heroes and villains and we get extremely uncomfortable when the lines are blurred. Unfortunately, that is where life often happens — somewhere in the middle.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

April 27, 2018

By Elizabeth Byrne

Former Anglican priest John Philip Aitchison, 67, has been found guilty of five charges of rape and eight acts of indecency against a 13-year-old girl in Canberra in the 1980s.

Aitchison sat with his eyes closed in the ACT Supreme Court as the jury delivered their verdicts.

The victim had given graphic evidence of a series of assaults, including the first that occurred in a Canberra church after she had finished violin practice.

The woman said Aitcheson had urged her to look into the corner and pray that she might see her pet dog that had died.

She said during the assault he had repeatedly muttered “please God forgive me”.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
The Hill

BY MELANIE ZANONA AND MIKE LILLIS

04/26/18

House Chaplain Patrick Conroy’s sudden resignation has sparked a furor on Capitol Hill, with sources in both parties saying he was pushed out by Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

Conroy’s own resignation announcement stated that it was done at Ryan’s request.

“As you have requested, I hereby offer my resignation as the 60th Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives,” the April 15 letter to Ryan, obtained by The Hill, states.
Through his office, Conroy, who has served as chaplain since 2011, declined to comment on Thursday. His resignation is effective May 24….

Conroy’s arrival on Capitol Hill was also marked with some controversy. The Jesuit priest was nominated by former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in May 2011, but Pelosi urged additional vetting of the pick after learning that Conroy was then working for a Catholic religious order — the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus — that had agreed just months earlier to pay $166 million to victims of sexual abuse going back decades.

There was no evidence that Conroy was involved in the scandal, nor did Pelosi suggest that was the case. After further questioning, she endorsed his nomination.

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NEW YORK
Altamonte Enterprise

Thursday, April 26, 2018

Richard Tollner told us how, when he was at the tender age of 15 and 16, he was sexually molested by a priest he had trusted at the seminary he attended.

“It affected who I was; it affected my confidence; it affected my opinion of people. It affected my sexuality. I wasn’t sure — was this my problem?” he told us.

When Tollner was 17, his father died in a car crash. He realized then that he had to take care of himself, he said, and soon after reported the abuse three times — to another priest, to a teacher, to the head of the seminary. Nothing happened.

It was the mid-1970s, before The Boston Globe’s exposé on priests abusing children, before such matters were openly discussed.

Tollner says he came to realize, “I’m not the bad guy. I never was the bad guy.”

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Apr 26, 2018

by Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis’ planned meeting with abuse survivors from Chile could mark a turning point in how the Catholic Church deals not just with prevention, but especially with how it responds to accusations.

The pope has said he wants the four days of meetings in April to be his chance to ask for forgiveness and express his “pain and shame” for what they have suffered.

And Pope Francis, who emphasizes the importance of listening and learning, also sees this as a chance to hear survivors’ suggestions for how to avoid repeating “such reprehensible acts,” the Vatican said April 25.

But this meeting is different from his other meetings with survivors. This time he is not only acknowledging and apologizing for abuses perpetrated by others, he himself caused shock and pain when he repeatedly discounted claims there was evidence Chilean Bishop Juan Barros knew of abuse against minors. Pope Francis went so far as to label such claims as “calumny” in remarks to reporters in January.

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PENNSYLVANIA
New York Daily News

BY
RACHEL DESANTIS
NICOLE BITETTE
NANCY DILLON
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

April 26, 2018

Bill Cosby was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault Thursday, sparking a flurry of celebratory reactions from those who felt the longtime alleged predator had finally gotten his due.

The 80-year-old disgraced comedian and “Cosby Show” star was on trial for drugging and assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004.

For many disheartened by last year’s mistrial, the verdict brought a sense of relief.

“It’s just wonderful. I feel like every one of us has been vindicated. I’m in tears,” Cosby accuser Sunni Welles told the Daily News after hearing the verdict.

“I’m just so thrilled he’s likely going to spend some time in jail. I don’t even care if it’s only a short sentence. He just needs to go to jail,” she said.

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PENNSYLVANIA
New York Times

By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS

APRIL 26, 2018

The trial of Bill Cosby provides what social scientists might call a natural experiment. In the spring of 2017, a jury could not agree on whether Mr. Cosby had drugged and sexually assaulted Andrea Constand, setting the stage for a retrial.

But between that trial and this one came the revelations over Harvey Weinstein and a cascade of other powerful men that invigorated the #MeToo movement. The big question: would it make any difference?

It well may have. The jury deliberated not even two days — compared with six days the first time around — before finding Mr. Cosby guilty on all counts.

There were other key differences: Jurors saw a new defense witness, who testified that Ms. Constand had said it would be easy to use fabricated abuse claims to extort a celebrity.

And they saw more evidence of a pattern of predatory behavior that extended beyond Ms. Constand: The judge allowed five of Mr. Cosby’s more than 50 accusers to testify, compared with one at the first trial. But some have suggested that the judge’s decision was also a response to shifting social views after #MeToo.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Associated Press

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The Latest on Bill Cosby’s sexual assault retrial (all times local):

3:55 p.m.

A prosecutor says Bill Cosby showed his true colors when he went on an expletive-laced tirade after his conviction on sexual assault charges.

Cosby called District Attorney Kevin Steele an “a–hole” in court after Steele asked the judge to revoke the 80-year-old comedian’s bail and send him to jail. Cosby remains free.

Steele tells reporters Thursday the outburst showed that Cosby’s good-guy persona was just an act, and “we got to see who he really was.”

Cosby was convicted of drugging and assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004.

Constand’s lawyer, Dolores Troiani, thanked prosecutors and investigators for their diligence and praised Constand for her courage. She says, “Although justice was delayed, it was not denied.”
___

3:35 p.m.

A TV network says it is yanking all reruns of “The Cosby Show” after Bill Cosby’s conviction on sexual assault charges.

Bounce TV said Thursday it is pulling the show from its schedule.

“The Cosby Show” aired on the network as recently as Thursday morning.

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PENNSYLVANIA
New York Daily News

JESSICA SCHLADEBECK
NANCY DILLON
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Thursday, April 26, 2018

America’s Dad” has repeatedly lectured and shamed people for their inappropriate language but had no issue hurling his own off-color remarks in the middle of a courtroom Thursday afternoon.

A Pennsylvania jury found 80-year-old Bill Cosby guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting former Temple University basketball coach Andrea Constand inside his Philadelphia home in 2004. Following the verdict, District Attorney Kevin Steele called for the disgraced funnyman’s bail to be revoked, posing that he is a flight risk given his access to a private plane.

“He doesn’t have a plane you a–hole,” Cosby snapped back.

The quip stands in stark contrast to the fatherly persona he’s cultivated for himself as well as his repeated critiques of harsh language.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Jewish Week

APRIL 26, 2018

BY DAN SCHERE

Victims of convicted voyeur Barry Freundel received an email Wednesday saying he will be released two years early. But that email was wrong, Freundel’s attorney, Jeffrey Harris, said today.

The District of Columbia Department of Corrections incorrectly informed victims that Freundel’s release date had been moved up to Aug. 21, 2018.

Today, the same people received another email saying that Freundel will be released on the same date in 2020, Harris said.

Freundel, former rabbi of Kesher Israel, an Orthodox congregation in Georgetown, pleaded guilty to 52 counts of voyeurism and was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison in 2015. He was arrested in 2014 for videotaping naked women undergoing conversion to Judaism while he was in charge of the National Capital Mikvah.

Harris said he received both emails and believes the incorrect date was a clerical error by the Department of Corrections. The department has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

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NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY
NJ.COM

By Thomas Moriarty tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com,
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

A Mercedes-Benz van, trips to Disneyland and private school tuition were just some of the gifts Jermaine Grant lavished on his family — all ostensibly paid for with income from his entertainment company.

In reality, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has alleged, all were ill-gotten gains of a scheme by Grant, 43, and Lincoln Warrington, 48, to siphon millions from the Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ. The New York-based religious organization is part of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, which believes black people are among the lost tribes of Israel.

Grant, who has led the organization under the name “Chief High Priest Tazadaqyah,” has preached that a black Jesus will return to earth to enslave and kill white people. The Southern Poverty Law Center has previously cited his comments in classifying the church as a black nationalist hate group.

Both men were arrested Wednesday on a grand jury indictment charging them with conspiring to defraud the United States, and Grant with an additional five counts of personal income tax evasion.

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ILLINOIS
Jeff Anderson and Associates

4/26/2018

Former Students Sue Lake Bluff School District for Sexual Abuse

Lawsuits allege school superintendent knew teacher Charles Ritz was sexually inappropriate with children for over 10 years prior to Ritz’s resignation

Courageous survivor John Bollman to speak openly about Ritz abuse and his efforts to get schools to act

Charles Ritz Photo
Charles Ritz Timeline
Doe 593 v. Lake Bluff School District
Doe 594 v. Lake Bluff School District
Edward Higginson v. Lake Bluff School District
John Bollman v. Lake Bluff School District
Joseph Lombardi v. Lake Bluff School District

WHAT: At a news conference today in Chicago, a sexual abuse survivor and his attorneys Jeff Anderson and Marc Pearlman will:

• Speak publicly about sexual abuse by now-convicted former Lake Bluff teacher Charles Ritz while they were students at Lake Bluff Junior High;
• Announce the filing of five lawsuits, including a wrongful death lawsuit, alleging that Lake Bluff District officials knew that Ritz was sexually abusing boys, and then let him quietly resign from his job. Ritz went on to sexually abuse children in Southern California where he worked as a teacher for 30 years.
• Discuss how Ritz’s victims came together using social media and gathered information about their abuse to help law enforcement investigate, arrest, and charge Ritz, resulting in a guilty plea late last year.
• Encourage other survivors of Ritz to come forward confidentially.

WHEN: Thursday, April 26, 2018 at 1:00PM CT

WHERE: 222 North LaSalle Street
Suite 2150
Chicago, IL 60601

NOTES: Watch the event live on our website www.andersonadvocates.com and on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AndersonAdvocates/

Contact Marc Pearlman: Office/312.261.4550 Mobile/773.368.0142
Contact Jeff Anderson: Office/651.964.3473 Mobile/612.817.8665
Contact Trusha Goffe: Office/651.964.3473 Mobile/612.760.4985

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CANADA
CBC News

Jorge Barrera · CBC News

Apr 17, 2018

The organization representing Catholic bishops in Canada is pushing back against a motion expected to be debated in the House of Commons this week calling on Pope Francis to apologize for residential schools.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) sent a mass email to parliamentarians on Monday afternoon outlining what it believes to be “misunderstandings and errors” behind the move to introduce the motion.

The motion, which could be debated as early as Wednesday, calls on the CCCB to invite the Pope to Canada to apologize to residential school survivors.

Pope Francis has said through the CCCB that he does not plan to apologize.

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CANADA
CBC News

Jorge Barrera · CBC News

Apr 25, 2018

When the Ontario Provincial Police raided the Oblates of Mary Immaculate offices in Ottawa in 1995, they seized a number of documents including a file containing a memo written in Latin and addressed to the order’s leadership in Rome.

The memo concerned a member of the order who was associated with St. Anne’s residential school in Fort Albany, Ont.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has claimed in recent weeks, in defence of a statement that Pope Francis could not “personally respond” to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s request for an apology for residential schools, that the Catholic Church itself could not be blamed for the abuses committed at the institutions.

The conference says the schools were run by 16 dioceses and about 36 orders independent of the direction or responsibility of Catholic Church, represented by the Pope in the Vatican.

Yet, the OPP records along with historical files reveal that the Catholic hierarchy in Canada, from the cardinal level down to the bishop, were deeply involved with residential schools and their fingerprints are even found in the Indian Act.

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CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times

By LIBBY HILL
APR 26, 2018

Bill Cosby was found guilty Thursday on charges he drugged and sexually assaulted Andrea Constand, and many in Hollywood immediately celebrated the news on social media.

The verdict came, after the jury’s 13 hours of deliberation, less than a year after a previous panel was unable to reach consensus on the charges.

The accusations against Cosby, from dozens of women who say the comedian drugged and assaulted them, started long before the dawn of the #MeToo revolution. But many in Hollywood credit the movement with opening people’s eyes to the reality of improper behavior and abuse of power.

As reactions to the verdict continue to pour in, here are a few thoughts from celebrities.

Cosby is guilty. I’m sorry if you loved a lie. His victims can now exhale. Thank you judge and jury. Thank you society for waking up.

— rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) April 26, 2018

The state of America is this- Even with dozens of accusers we were all afraid Bill Cosby would walk.

— Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) April 26, 2018

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PENNSYLVANIA
CNN

By Darran Simon, CNN

April 26, 2018

(CNN)After the jury announced the guilty verdict on Thursday against Bill Cosby, the TV icon shouted at the prosecutor in the courtroom.

The 80-year-old comedian’s outburst, which happened after the jury was dismissed, came in response to Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, District Attorney Kevin Steele’s argument that Cosby’s $1 million bail should be revoked, because, Steele said, Cosby might flee anywhere in the world.

Steele said Cosby had a private plane and that no dollar amount would be able to ensure his appearance.

Cosby stood up at one point and yelled at Steele: “He doesn’t have a private plane, you asshole.”
Judge Steven O’Neill did not revoke the bail, and cited Cosby’s age and his appearance at every hearing for the past 2½ years as reasons.

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George Diaz
Orlando Sentinel

April 26, 2918

Bill Cosby lashed out at an attorney after Cosby’s conviction Thursday afternoon.

“I’m sick of him!” Cosby screamed at District Attorney Kevin Steele after Cosby’s conviction of drugging and molesting a woman.

Guess what Mr. Pudding Pops? We are sick of you.

We are sick of your predatory disguise.

We are sick of you using your position of power to grope, fondle and assault women.

We are sick of your fake persona, all mom and apple pie and America’s Dad when you were nothing but a Super Freak.

No sympathy for the devil Billy Boy, even though we can give you credit for becoming the naughty celebrity poster boy of the #MeToo movement.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Washington Post

By Manuel Roig-Franzia

April 26

NORRISTOWN, PA — Iconic entertainer Bill Cosby was convicted on three counts of sexual assault, a decision that punctuates one of the most thundering falls from grace in American cultural history. Cosby faces a maximum of 10 years for each count of assault. No sentencing date has been set. The conviction comes in a retrial of a 2017 case in which a mistrial was declared.

As the foreperson of the jury, a slender woman with long graying hair and glasses, said those three words — guilty, guilty, guilty — the courtroom rocked with emotion. Two women who have accused Cosby of sexual assault but did not testify at the trial, burst out in loud sobs from their seats in one of the back rows of the cramped and tension-filed courtroom.

They were escorted from the courtroom by security officials. But their tears — tears of joy, sadness and exhaustion after a frustrating years-long struggle — still filtered into the courtroom through the heavy closed wooden doors. Their tears became the soundtrack for the next few moments of courtroom drama, an off-stage symphony of relief, release and pain.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

As longtime Bilgrimage readers will know, I’ve been a longtime supporter of the group Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests (SNAP). I’ve persistently defended SNAP when some of its detractors came to this site to attack the organization and its leaders and work. Like Ruth (but not to such a great extent, I suspect, as in Ruth’s case), I’ve contributed financially to SNAP. I’ve also very gladly assisted in SNAP’s work in a variety of ways, when I have been called on to do so.

I’m publishing Ruth’s fine essay about what has happened recently at SNAP because I very much agree with what she says — and because I want to see SNAP remain a viable organization addressing the needs of abuse survivors. A chilling line from Ruth’s essay that stands out to me: [As I tried to obtain information about what had happened to split SNAP’s leadership], “[i]t was like, I felt, encountering the silence of the Catholic bishops in obvious situations of injustice vis-à-vis abuse victims.”

An organzation calling on church leaders to be transparent has to be transparent itself, if it’s to be taken seriously when it issues that call. This is why I’m publishing Ruth’s essay now — the essay follows.

Reflections Vis-à-vis Today’s SNAP

Silence Implies Consent

There is an ancient principle I learned in my early childhood: if you disagree with something, the onus is on you to say so. In my birth family, pouting and passive-aggressive acting out simply were not tolerated. To have integrity, one needed to speak one’s own truth to the best of one’s ability. On one memorable occasion when I was eight or nine years old, my father took me aside and said something like this: The way you are behaving — this rudeness towards your mother, your pouting and your anger — is not acceptable in this family. Say what you have to say but say it politely. Do not treat your family in this mean and rude way. If you disagree, tell us why you disagree. I promise you I will listen to you and hear you out. But right now in your life your mother and I have the final say about what you are allowed to do. The short form of this message was that I was not expected to agree with all of the day-to-day parental decisions and I could argue for another outcome. But mean-spiritedness and rudeness towards others would not be tolerated. In my family, at least, these rude behaviors were counter-productive. Power struggles with my mother about expected behavior did not yield a desirable end. In fact, I both could and did get grounded for intra-family rudeness and general bitchy disagreeableness.

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PENNSYLVANIA
USA Today

Maria Puente,Gene Sloan and Jayme Deerwester, USA TODAY

April 26, 2018

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Comedian and TV icon Bill Cosby has been convicted on three counts of aggravated indecent assault at his sexual-assault retrial here Thursday, on the second day of deliberations.

After the verdict was delivered, Judge Steven O’Neill thanked the jurors for their service, and then warned jurors about interactions with the media.

“You have sacrificed much, but you have sacrificed in the service of justice and in this country and this Commonwealth and this county,” O’Neill said. “That is important.”

After the jury left the room, O’Neill said the $1 million bail Cosby posted was sufficient for him to remain free until sentencing. That set off a heated argument with Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele who wanted Cosby’s bail revoked as an alleged flight risk.

The judge questioned this, citing Cosby’s age, health and the fact that he showed up for every court proceeding over two years. “I am not going to simply lock him up because of this,” O’Neill said. A sentencing date was not set.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Guardian (UK)

Jessica Valenti

After years of rumors, accusations, and finally criminal charges – entertainer Bill Cosby has been found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand 14 years ago. The 80 year old, most famous for playing beloved television dad Cliff Huxtable, could face 15 to 30 years in prison. His first trial ended in a deadlocked jury last summer.

Cosby, who has been accused of multiple sexual assaults and rapes by nearly 60 women spanning decades, has maintained his innocence – with his lawyers smearing his accusers as liars and promiscuous.

While I hope that this verdict brings his many victims some measure of peace – as much as it can after years of their accusations being ignored – I can’t help but be reminded of one important piece of information: of all crowing we have heard over the past year about men’s lives supposedly being ruined by #MeToo, Cosby’s verdict is actually the first time we’re seeing just one of these men being held to criminal account.

For the most part, all of the outed abusers have been living their lives as they normally would, in mansions and with cushy exit deals. In fact, just this week that we found out that a handful of the men who lost their jobs as part of the #MeToo reckoning are planning their career comebacks. (Already, and seemingly all at once.)

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PENNSYLVANIA
Hollywood Reporter

APRIL 26, 2018

by Ashley Cullins, Eriq Gardne

After 14 hours of deliberation, the second jury to hear the comedian’s case has found him guilty.

Bill Cosby has been found guilty of aggravated indecent assault against Andrea Constand in 2004. On Thursday, a Pennsylvania jury returned a verdict after 14 hours of deliberation and held him responsible for rape on all three counts brought by prosecutors.

The development comes in the retrial of Cosby, 80, once the nation’s most popular entertainer with the highest-rated series on television before a downfall when several dozen women came forward to accuse him of being a serial rapist.

After the guilty verdict was read and jurors left the courtroom, Cosby launched an expletive-ridden tirade and called the District Attorney Kevin Steele an “asshole.” As Steele argued to revoke bail, Cosby stood up and shouted, “I’m sick of him!”

Meanwhile, outside the courthouse, attorney Gloria Allred held a press conference with many Cosby accusers. She cried out, “Justice!” All of the women raised their hands in celebration and relief.

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PENNSYLVANIA
NBC News

by Meredith Mandell, Adam Reiss and Daniella Silva

Apr.26.2018

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Bill Cosby, who once embodied the idealized American father on a wildly popular sitcom, was convicted of sexual assault on Thursday in a high-stakes retrial after a half-dozen women testified that the famed comedian drugged and assaulted them.

The jury found Cosby guilty on all three counts of Thursday afternoon, drawing an emotional reaction from his accusers. Cosby remains free on bail until sentencing.

Upon reading of the first guilty verdict several of Cosby’s alleged prior victims sobbed and shook with joy. Cosby’s head was bent slightly, eyes shut.

Cosby lashed out at the prosecution when discussing whether to revoke his bail.

Prosecutor Kevin Steele said Cosby had a plane and noted his wealth in giving concerns over his bail.

“He doesn’t have a plane you asshole! I’m sick of it you asshole!” he exclaimed.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor argued with the judge.

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PENNSYLVANIA
New York Times

By GRAHAM BOWLEY and JON HURDLE

APRIL 26, 2018

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — A jury found Bill Cosby guilty Thursday of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home near here 14 years ago, capping the downfall of one of the world’s best-known entertainers, and offering a measure of satisfaction to the dozens of women who for years have accused him of similar assaults against them.

On the second day of its deliberations at the Montgomery County Courthouse in this town northwest of Philadelphia, the jury returned to convict Mr. Cosby of three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Andrea Constand, at the time a Temple University employee he had mentored.

The three counts — penetration with lack of consent, penetration while unconscious, and penetration after administering an intoxicant — are felonies, each punishable by up to 10 years in state prison, though the sentences could be served concurrently.

It was the second time a jury had considered Mr. Cosby’s fate. His first trial last summer ended with a deadlocked jury after six days of deliberations.

Mr. Cosby sat back in his chair after the verdict was announced and quietly stared down. Several women who have accused Mr. Cosby of abusing them, and attended the trial each day, briefly cheered, then fell silent. Judge Steven T. O’Neill praised the jurors, calling it “an extraordinarily difficult case” and adding, “You have sacrificed much, but you have sacrificed in the service of justice.”

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NEW YORK
WKBW

Charlie Specht

Apr 26, 2018

David Husted first encountered Father James Spielman in the principal’s office of Archbishop Walsh High School in Olean in 1979.

The skinny freshman was in trouble when the young, charismatic priest with the dark mustache walked in.

“He came in the room and he said, ‘Hi, what’s your name? What’s going on?’” Husted recalled. “I told him and he started to befriend me. He asked me to come talk to him after school, and you know, I did. He was a priest, he’s a teacher. I thought he was [there] to help me.”

But Father James Spielman wasn’t there to help Husted. He was there to groom him for years of sexual abuse — and Husted says, a lifetime of pain.

“He was thought of as a God,” Husted said. “He was thought of as do no wrong, such a wonderful person. He was so good at what he did, in grooming.”

The grooming of Husted, now in his 50s and living in Texas, started in his Olean home, where the charismatic priest was a regular dinner guest. It continued, Husted said, at a cabin in Scio he nicknamed “The Hill,” and also on a mission trip to Hawaii — a trip that would prove fateful to all involved.

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PENNSYLVANIA
PennLiive

April 26, 2018

By Ivey DeJesus idejesus@pennlive.com

More than any other state, Pennsylvania is aggressively going after child sex predators.

From multiple grand jury investigations into the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, a similar grand jury probe into the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, the prosecution of Jerry Sandusky and the investigation into systemic sex abuse of students at a New Hope private school, state prosecutors have positioned the state as arguably the most aggressive in the nation against child sex crimes.

A pending grand jury investigation into six Roman Catholic dioceses in the state is poised to further ratchet up the scope of that outlook. The probe ostensibly will provide a complete look into clergy sex abuse in Pennsylvania.

“Pennsylvania is to be commended for pursuing these criminal matters,” said Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney who specializes in sexual abuse cases and represented hundreds for victims in lawsuits against the Catholic Church. “In a way they are showing many states the great need for criminal actions to be pursued with regard to clergy sex abuse and sex abuse of children.”

Garabedian was featured prominently — as portrayed by Stanley Tucci — in the film “Spotlight,” which disseminated to a global audience the story of decades of abuse and cover-up in the Archdiocese of Boston.

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CALIFORNIA
CBS 13

By Shirin Rajaee

April 25, 2018

MODESTO (CBS13) — More women are coming forward with sexual abuse allegations against a former Modesto youth pastor

Pastor Les Hughey’s alleged crimes date back to the 1970s. His accusers span from Modesto to his current church in Arizona that has now placed him on leave as they launch a thorough investigation.

“It would be a tearful episode after each time,” said Tracy Epler.

Epler is one of the now seven women who have come forward in interviews with The Modesto Bee.

“It would start very innocent, from dinner or a youth group meeting. Then one girl would be invited to stay, and as the evening would wind down, his wife would go to bed, and then the back rubs would start, and then the back rubs would go further,” said Epler.

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MICHIGAN
MLive

Apr 25, 2018

By Cole Waterman cwaterma@mlive.com

SAGINAW, MI — A teenager testified in court he reluctantly agreed to go undercover to gather evidence against a Roman Catholic priest as he didn’t want others to be harassed by him.

Two preliminary examinations for the Rev. Robert J. “Father Bob” DeLand, 71, were held Wednesday, April 25, before Saginaw County District Judge David D. Hoffman, each related to a separate victim. The first hearing saw a 22-year-old man testify DeLand, a priest in the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw, had sexually assaulted him on Aug. 7 inside DeLand’s Saginaw Township condo. It ended with Hoffman binding DeLand over to Circuit Court for trial on charges of attempted second-degree criminal sexual conduct and gross indecency between males.

“The next thing I know, he grabbed my face and started making out with me.”

After a break, the second hearing began with Saginaw County Assistant Prosecutor Melissa Hoover calling a 17-year-old male to the witness stand. The teen said in 2017 he had pleaded guilty to a charge of minor in possession of alcohol and was court-ordered to perform 25 hours of community service.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Pennsylvanian

By William Snow

In the wake of the Larry Nassar scandal in USA Gymnastics, Penn hosted a symposium on Wednesday on athletes and abuse. The day-long event featured panels discussing the sexual abuse of athletes from children to Olympians and every level in between.

Penn partnered with CHILD USA and the Ortner Center on Violence and Abuse in Relationships to bring in a number of high-profile speakers to share their perspectives on the subject. Among those speaking at the first symposium of its kind were Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, former NFL player and current Wharton MBA student Justin Tuck, and Olympic gold medalist Dominique Moceanu.

Many of the speakers throughout the day tended to echo similar points — namely, that the issue of the abuse of athletes is a pressing one that must be addressed head-on with open and honest dialogue. Many also added thoughts on their distaste for the stigmatization of speaking about sexual assault.

“This is an issue that thrives in darkness,” Chris Newlin of the National Children’s Advocacy Center said during one session.

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MICHIGAN
New York Post

By Chris Perez

April 26, 2018

The former boss of convicted USA Gymnastics team doctor, Larry Nassar, would often pay medical students up to $100-an-hour for nude modeling sessions and invasive practice exams — which included breast and pelvic inspections, according to prosecutors.

The new allegations were revealed Wednesday in a court motion filed by Attorney General Bill Schuette’s Office.

William Strampel, ex-Dean of Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, has already been accused of molesting and harassing female students. He was arrested in late March and charged with fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Five women have come forward and accused Strampel of acting inappropriately and sexually assaulting them. The motion filed Wednesday outlines new allegations from two more women, who claim to have been hired as exam models, WOOD-TV reports.

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ROME
Crux

Filipe Domingues

Apr 26, 2018

ROME – Probably the most influential institute on the issue of sexual abuse in the Church is the Centre for Child Protection at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University.

The president of the center, Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, is a member of the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, created by Pope Francis in 2014 to advise him on child protection policies.

The center works closely with the Vatican on developing polices to deal with sexual abuse and hosts numerous workshops for Church leaders from around the world.

Which is why Dalla parte dei piccoli [“On the side of the small ones”] is sure to be discussed when it’s released in May.

The book is by Angela Rinaldi, a 28-year-old Italian research assistant at the Center for Child Protection, and she argues the problem of sexual abuse in the Church “is a question of abuse of power.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Washington Post

By Associated Press

April 25. 2918

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — The Latest on Bill Cosby’s sexual assault retrial (all times local):

6:35 p.m.

Jurors at Bill Cosby’s sexual assault retrial appear to be focused on the testimony of a woman who claims his chief accuser spoke of framing a prominent person for the money.

The jury asked to rehear testimony from star defense witness Marguerite Jackson, a former Temple University colleague of Andrea Constand’s.

Jackson testified that Constand told her she could fabricate sexual assault allegations and “get that money” from a lawsuit, bolstering Cosby’s efforts to show Constand made up the allegations against him to extort a big civil settlement.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Rotherham Advertiser

By Michael Upton | 25/04/2018

THE police watchdog says its inquiry into police misconduct over child grooming and abuse in Rotherham has grown by more than half within a year.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct is now conducting 98 investigations into possible wrongdoing compared to 62 a year ago.

Forty-five investigation reports have been completed under Operation Linden and 33 current and former police officers remain under notice that they are being investigated.

Among the investigations is one into whether former South Yorkshire police and crime commissioner Shaun Wright committed perjury when giving evidence to the home affairs select committee in 2014.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

An ongoing investigation into South Yorkshire Police’s response to child sex abuse allegations in Rotherham has identified “potential misconduct”.

In 2014, the Jay Report revealed 1,400 girls had been sexually exploited in the town and local authorities had failed to take the issue seriously.

An inquiry by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has grown to almost 100 separate investigations.

It had aimed to finish by April, but the investigation remains active.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Community Care

by Luke Stevenson on April 26, 2018

Children’s home workers should face the same professional registration requirements as social workers, the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse has said.

The inquiry’s interim report said it was “very concerned by the absence of professional registration for those working in care roles in children’s homes in England”.

It said children in residential settings were “particularly vulnerable to abuse by adults” working in them, yet in England social workers are the only staff working in residential homes who must be registered.

In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland children’s home workers must be professionally registered.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Sky News

April 25, 2018

By Ian Woods, Senior News Correspondent

The long running inquiry into child sexual abuse has recommended that victims be offered more legal support, and the rules be changed on claiming compensation.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in England and Wales is midway through its work, but has issued an interim report based on its findings so far.

Its 18 recommendations include better training for senior police officers in dealing with cases, and that the Ministry of Justice should offer the same protection to victims pursuing civil cases as those who are witnesses in criminal court cases.

The IICSA also says the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority should not dismiss applications just because a victim has a criminal record, or lives under the same roof as their abuser.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Jewish Week

APRIL 25, 2018 BY DAN SCHERE

Rabbi Barry Freundel, who pleaded guilty to 52 counts of voyeurism and was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison in 2015, will be released Aug. 21, according to social media reports.

A tweet one of Freundel’s victims, Lauren Landau, showed a screenshot of a text message that said “This notification is from the District of Columbia Department of Corrections. The offender for whom you registered, BERNARD FREUNDEL, with the DCDC number 346271, is scheduled for release from the Correctional Treatment Facility on 8/21/2018.”

“Barry Freundel was supposed to get out in 2021,” tweeted Landau, an assistant producer of fundraising for NPR.

Freundel was rabbi of Kesher Israel, an Orthodox congregation in Georgetown, when he was arrested in 2014 for videotaping naked women undergoing the conversion process while he was in charge of the National Capital Mikvah. He had appealed the sentence twice according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, but was denied in both cases.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Telegram & Gazette

By Kim Ring
Telegram & Gazette Staff

WORCESTER – Longtime WBZ News Radio reporter Lana Jones is being mourned after she died Wednesday morning at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.

The station announced her death Wednesday morning and said, “She was an outstanding journalist who will be severely missed by her colleagues and friends in the Boston media.”

Ms. Jones, 62, was also well known in Worcester for her coverage of the priest sex abuse scandal and her coverage of the Worcester Cold Storage fire. In the 1980s, she worked at WAAF, where she anchored the news and hosted a weekly talk show covering youth issues.

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SCOTLAND
Edinburgh News

DIANE KING

25 April 2018

A nun told a boy “your family doesn’t want you, your country doesn’t want you” as she informed him he was to be sent from Scotland to Australia.

A witness told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry hearing in Edinburgh he was 11 when he was forced to migrate overseas in the 1950s.

He was then sexually abused by priests at the care home he was moved to in Tasmania, the inquiry was told.

The man accused the British government at the time of robbing him of a family, a country and an education.

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SCOTLAND
BBC News

A nun told a boy he was “garbage” and was being sent to Australia from Scotland because “your family doesn’t want you, your country doesn’t want you”, an inquiry has heard.

A witness told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry he was 11 when he was forced to emigrate in the 1950s.

He was then sexually abused by priests at a care home in Tasmania.

The man accused the British government at the time of robbing him of a family, a country and an education.

The evidence was heard as the inquiry in Edinburgh continues examining children’s homes, no longer operating, which were run by the Catholic order the Sisters of Nazareth in Scotland.

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MICHIGAN
MLive

April 25, 2018

By Cole Waterman cwaterma@mlive.com

SAGINAW, MI — When the Rev. Robert J. “Father Bob” DeLand Jr. first appeared in court on sexual assault charges, he asked a judge when he’d find out who his accusers were. Two months later, the 71-year-old Catholic priest heard testimony from two of the three males who say he molested them.

The witnesses testified during two of DeLand’s preliminary examinations held the morning of April 25 before Saginaw County District Judge David D. Hoffman.

The first witness, a 22-year-old man, spoke in a soft voice as he answered questions posed to him by Saginaw County Assistant Prosecutor Melissa Hoover.

He said he met DeLand, a priest in the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw, in the summer of 2017, when the priest patronized a Saginaw Township restaurant where the witness worked. DeLand had been at a table with several others.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service – Bolletino

At 13.00 today, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Greg Burke, held a briefing on the 24th meeting of the Council of Cardinals with the Holy Father Francis.

The Council of Cardinals met for three days: Monday 23, Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25 April. All the members were present, apart from His Eminence Cardinal George Pell. His Eminence Cardinal Reinhard Marx was absent on Monday. The Holy Father was not present this morning due to the general audience.

The sessions took place in the morning from 9.00 to 12.30 and in the afternoon from 16.30 to 19.00. The majority of the Council’s work was dedicated to the rereading of the draft of the new Apostolic Constitution of the Roman Curia. At the end of the drafting process, which will require a little more time, the Cardinals will approve the text to be submitted to the Holy Father for his further considerations and for his final approval.

Among the various themes that will form the new document, many of which have already been extensively covered in the previous sessions of the Council of Cardinals, some of particular importance were highlighted:

– the Roman Curia in the service of the Holy Father and of the particular Churches;

– the pastoral nature of curial activities;

– the institution and formation of the Third Section of the Secretariat of State;

– the proclamation of the Gospel and the missionary spirit as a perspective that characterizes the activity of all the Curia.

His Eminence Cardinal Sean O’Malley updated the Council participants on the many efforts that have been made throughout the world for the protection of minors and vulnerable adults. During the recent plenary meeting, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors heard the testimonies of the newly-appointed members from Brazil, Ethiopia, Australia and Italy. In addition, a group from the United Kingdom, the “Survivor Advisory Panel”, was heard. The Cardinal highlighted the profuse commitment and great competence of the Members of the Commission who represent very well the variety of cultures of the world. He also reiterated the priority of having to start out from lived experience, continuing the work of listening to the victims and receiving their experiences.

The Cardinals heard Msgr. Lucio A. Ruiz, secretary of the Secretariat for Communication, who updated the Council on the current state of the reforms of the Vatican communication system.

The next meeting of the Council of Cardinals will take place on the days 11, 12 and 13 June 2018.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

April 25, 2018

Welsh translation

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has published its Interim Report, setting out the work of the Inquiry and progress to date.

The Inquiry has so far held five public hearings and seven seminars and published reports setting out the findings from two public hearings and nine research reports. Over 1,000 people have taken part in the Inquiry’s Truth Project.

Using comprehensive research analysis, the report identifies our reluctance as a society to discuss child sexual abuse openly and frankly and calls for this to be addressed. It also identifies the lack of transparency by some leaders on the failure of their institutions to protect children from sexual abuse. This issue was highlighted in the recent Inquiry reports into the child migration programmes and specific institutions in Rochdale and has been raised by many victims and survivors participating in the Truth Project.

Using specific contributions of victims and survivors, the report provides clear accounts of child sexual abuse and the profound and lifelong impact it has on them.

The Chair and Panel have identified steps which they consider will better protect children from sexual abuse and have made 18 new recommendations to government, the police and others.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

Patrick Sawer, senior reporter

25 APRIL 2018

Police officers should be required to have experience of dealing with major child abuse cases before being promoted to the most senior ranks in the force, an official report has concluded.

The interim report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), says officers should not be allowed to rise to chief officer rank unless they have already acquired an operational knowledge of abuse cases and have received proper training in dealing with child exploitation issues.

Professor Alexis Jay, the chairwoman of the inquiry, yesterday urged the Home Office to amend its entry entry requirements for chief police officers and called on the College of Policing to develop the necessary training for senior officers.

Her recommendations follow what the IICSA found were years of institutional failures over the issue of child sex abuse, with political leaders all too frequently willing to place their own reputations ahead of protecting its victims.

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UNITED STATES
BBC News

A “change in culture” is needed within institutions and government if children are to be properly safeguarded, an interim report by the independent child sexual abuse inquiry has said.

It said “all too often” organisations put the reputation of their leaders and staff before the welfare of children and tackling abuse.

It called for society to have an “open and frank” conversation on the issue.

Some 13 investigations, each a part of the inquiry, are still to be completed.

The inquiry was set up in 2014 to investigate historical allegations of child abuse, as well as claims that authorities, including the police, failed to properly investigate these allegations.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Independent

April 25, 2018

Lizzie Dearden Home Affairs Correspondent @lizziedearden

British institutions are prioritising the reputation of political leaders and their staff over the sexual abuse of children, an inquiry has found.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), which was started in 2014 in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal, has heard evidence of horrific crimes linked to children’s homes, schools, the Catholic and Anglican churches and government migration programmes.

“The inquiry considers that all too often institutions are prioritising the reputation of political leaders or the reputation of their staff, or avoiding legal liability, claims or insurance implications, over the welfare of children and tackling child sexual abuse,” an interim report concluded.

“Government must demonstrate the priority and importance of tackling child sexual abuse through its actions.”

One survivor described being abused by an unnamed “pillar of the local establishment”, who had powerful friends and considerable influence.

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MASSACHUSETTS
MLive

By Ray Kelly rkelly@repub.com

“Death of an Altar Boy,” a new book exploring the unsolved 1972 murder of Danny Croteau, 13, of Springfield, paints a damning portrait of then Springfield bishop Christopher J. Weldon as man who obstructed justice and may have sexually abused a young boy in the 1950s.

Drawing on more than 10,000 pages of police and court records and interviews with Croteau’s family, friends, fellow abuse victims and church officials, author E.J. Fleming (“Tread Softly: Bullying and the Death of Phoebe Prince”) looks at the killing and the only publicly named suspect — Richard R. Lavigne, a since defrocked priest who has been the subject of claims from 40 alleged victims of sexual abuse.

Weldon is characterized as a “despotic ruler with connections to politicians, police and newspapermen,” who covered up sexual abuse by priests.

Fleming includes the accusations of Texas inmate William Burnett, who says his uncle, a priest, had molested him as a child and “handed him off to five other priests from 1950 through 1959.” One of the five was Weldon claimed Burnett, who is serving time for killing a man in a Houston motel. Burnett reportedly passed two polygraph tests regarding his accusations against Weldon.

“Death of an Altar Boy” alleges an unholy alliance between Weldon and then Hampden County District Attorney Matthew J. Ryan. It speculates that the DA did not pursue the Croteau murder at the urging of Weldon, who in exchange helped keep Ryan from facing political challengers.

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PENNSYLVANIA
USA Today

Maria Puente,Gene Sloan and Jayme Deerwester, USA TODAY

April 25, 2018

NORRISTOWN, Pa. – Jurors at Bill Cosby’s sexual assault retrial began deliberating Wednesday. Less than 90 minutes later, they sent out a notice they had a question.

After court was reconvened with Judge Steven O’Neill, the lawyers and the jury in the room, the judge said the jurors had asked for the legal definition of consent. But he told the jurors that question could not be answered.

“You have the legal definition of the crime. If that definition does not contain the definition of consent, then the jury will decide what consent means to them,” he said.

The jury’s question might be a sign of a repeat at the retrial of what happened at Cosby’s first trial, which ended in a hung jury last summer after that jury repeatedly asked O’Neill questions about definitions and asked to have portions of testimony read back to them. In the end, despite days of deliberations, that jury was unable to reach a unanimous vote on any count and O’Neill declared a mistrial.

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UNITED STATES
Publishers Weekly

By Emma Wenner | Apr 25, 2018

In light of sexual misconduct allegations against pastor and author Bill Hybels, publishers are halting the printing of his front and backlist titles.

Hybels, the founder and senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, which is outside of Chicago, denied, in March, accusations that he be behaved inappropriately with women in his congregation. After more allegations surfaced, and following Hybels’ resignation from Willow Creek, the church in South Barrington, Ill., is now investigating the situation. The church is looking into accusations from six women who reported being the subject of unwanted sexual comments and advances from the pastor.

As a result of the investigation, Tyndale House Publishers has suspended the publication of Hybels’ Everyone Wins When a Leader Gets Better, which was set to be released in August.

“We will make a final decision regarding potential publication after we absorb the facts and implications related to these allegations,” the publisher told PW. “We take allegations of misconduct seriously, and we are deeply concerned for all involved, both those who have brought forth these allegations, as well as the Hybels family.”

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NEW YORK
New York Times

By VIVIAN WANG

APRIL 25, 2018

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Wednesday sent a strongly worded letter to Senator Simcha Felder, the lone legislator preventing Democrats from regaining control of the State Senate, warning that his unique influence in Albany might not last past the November elections.

“Let me say that the Democratic conference will not need you in November the way they need you now,” the governor wrote. “I believe there will be additional Democrats who win and are seated for the next Legislature. You have said that you act in the best interest of your constituents. For their benefit, now is the time that matters.”

Mr. Felder, a Democrat who represents a large Orthodox Jewish population in Brooklyn, has long embodied some of the perplexing horse-trading and politicking that are hallmarks of Albany. Because he caucuses with the Republicans, Mr. Felder has helped to give the Senate Republicans control of the chamber, even though the Democrats now hold a majority on paper.

Mr. Felder, who crossed party lines just days after he was elected in 2012, was not the only Democrat to stray. The Independent Democratic Conference, a group of renegade Democrats who collaborated with the Republicans, also helped to wrest control from the mainline Democrats.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service

4.25.2018

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A survivor of clergy sexual abuse in Chile said he hopes his meeting with Pope Francis will be an opportunity to make a difference and bring an end to a culture within the Catholic Church that disparages victims and makes them feel guilty for coming forward.

“I hope that it is not just about me. I hope I can convey the pain of thousands of people who are still suffering, and that this is the beginning of the end of this culture of abuse and this culture of cover-up among bishops,” Juan Carlos Cruz said in a telephone interview with Catholic News Service April 25.

In a statement released by the Vatican April 25, Greg Burke, director of the Vatican press office, said Cruz, James Hamilton and Jose Andres Murillo will meet individually with Pope Francis and will stay at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican residence where the pope lives. The pope’s individual meetings with the men will take place April 27-29 and then he will meet them as a group April 30.

“The pope thanks them for accepting his invitation,” Burke said. “During these days of personal and brotherly encounter, the pope wants to ask their forgiveness, share his pain and shame for what they have suffered and, above all, listen to all suggestions that can be made to avoid the repetition of such reprehensible acts.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Detroit News

April 25, 2918

Philadelphia – A 16-member commission will examine responses that USA Gymnastics, Michigan State University and others had to claims of sexual abuse by girls and women treated by disgraced sports medicine doctor Larry Nassar.

University of Pennsylvania-based nonprofit CHILD USA is announcing the “Game Over: Commission to Protect Young Athletes” Wednesday at the university.

The panel of child sex abuse experts will look at facts surrounding the Nassar case, and hold hearings about what went wrong with reporting the sexual abuse. The commission’s report is expected to be released in 2020.

The Foundation for Global Sports Development is helping fund the effort with $300,000.

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MICHIGAN
Michigan Radio

By CHEYNA ROTH

The Larry Nassar scandal will shape Michigan’s laws for decades to come.

Nassar is the former Olympics and Michigan State University sports doctor who was convicted of sexually assaulting young girls under the guise of treatment. He’ll likely spend the rest of his life in prison.

The state Legislature has more than 30 bills on its plate aimed at curbing sexual assault in the state and preventing another case like Nassar’s from happening again.

A committee in the state House of Representatives is working on bills introduced in the House and Senate in response to the Nassar situation. The plan is to spend weeks taking testimony and debating the bills. The committee could make changes before it sends the bills to the state House for a floor vote.

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VATICAN CITY
America

Gerard O’Connell

April 25, 2018

Pope Francis will host three Chilean victims of clerical sex abuse at Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican guesthouse where he lives, this weekend and will meet them “individually” and “let each one of them speak for all the time necessary.”

The Vatican announced this news on Wednesday morning and named the victims who will be his guests: Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and Jose Andrés Murillo.

All three were victims of the infamous Chilean priest predator, the Rev. Ferdinando Karadima, who was found guilty by the Vatican in 2011 of the abuse of minors in the 1970s and 1980s and was sentenced to a life of prayer and penance.

The Vatican statement, issued by Greg Burke, director of the Holy See’s Press Office, said, “The Pope will thank them for having accepted his invitation…[and] during these days of personal and fraternal encounter, he desires to ask their forgiveness, share their sorrow and their shame for what they suffered and, above all, listen to all their suggestions so as to avoid that such reprehensible facts be repeated.”

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ROME
New York Times

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO

APRIL 25, 2018

ROME — Pope Francis will host three victims of Chile’s sexual abuse scandal this weekend at the Vatican hotel where he lives, to ask their forgiveness and listen to their suggestions, the Vatican announced on Wednesday, as he tries to make amends for voicing doubts about their accusations.

The three men, Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and José Andrés Murillo, have been among the most vocal survivors of abuse by priests in Chile. In a statement, the Vatican said that the pope would meet with each man individually, “allowing each one to speak for as long as they wish.”

Though the past three popes have apologized to victims of sexual abuse in many countries, the situation in Chile had become especially venomous, forcing Pope Francis to reverse his public stance on specific accusations.

Until recently, the pope had defended Bishop Juan Barros Madrid, who victims say witnessed and covered up abuse by the Rev. Fernando Karadima, the country’s most notorious pedophile priest. In 2011, a Vatican tribunal convicted Father Karadima and sentenced him to a life of prayer and penitence.

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NEW YORK
Buffalo News

By Qina Liu

April 25, 2018

It’s been two months since The Buffalo News first reported that a retired priest from the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo admitted that he sexually abused “probably dozens” of teenage boys in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Since then, The News also has published more than 30 stories related to the sexual abuse scandal within the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.

Among The News’ findings:

* Catholic parishioners are indirectly funding sexual abuse settlement claims.
At least eight priests accused of sexually abusing children live within walking distance of elementary and middle schools.

* At least 58 Buffalo priests have been linked to sexual allegations in recent decades, according to News archives, public records and recent reporting by The News. The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo in March released a list of 42 priests accused of sexual misconduct with minors.

* Earlier this week, two Buffalo-area priests were suspended and put on administrative leave because of child sexual abuse allegations.

* Bishop Richard J. Malone announced April 17 that his residence at 77 Oakland Place will be sold to help pay victims of clergy abuse. The diocese has created a new program to compensate victims of clergy sex abuse who reported accusations before March 1.

Readers had questions about our ongoing coverage on the sex abuse scandal, so we caught up with reporter Jay Tokasz and editor Mike McAndrew.

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PENNSYLVANIA
CNN

By Eric Levenson and Aaron Cooper, CNN

April 25, 2018

(CNN)Bill Cosby’s trial on three counts of aggravated indecent assault is now in the hands of the 12-person jury.

Jurors received the case Wednesday shortly after 11 a.m.

The case against Cosby centers on testimony from Andrea Constand, a former employee with Temple University women’s basketball team. She testified that Cosby, a powerful trustee at Temple, drugged her and sexually assaulted her when she visited his home to ask for career advice in a Philadelphia suburb in January 2004.

Cosby’s defense team has argued that their interaction was consensual. Constand is a con artist, they argued, who wanted a piece of Cosby’s fortune.

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INDIA
Business Standard

April 25, 2018

IANS

Child rights body National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) will soon recommend to the Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry potent and effective measures to prevent sexual abuse of children, an official said on Wednesday.

The NCPCR will be holding a consultation on “Preventive Strategy on Child Sexual Abuse” on Thursday to arrive at holistic solutions to various issues relating to sexual abuse of children.

The official said that the recommendations suggested by the NCPCR would be then considered by the ministry and then necessary steps would be taken.

Last year, the NCPCR had included changes in law and the issue of compensation to the victims, based on suggestions from various stakeholders.

Meanwhile, Change.org has also come up with a petition filed by filmmaker Insia Dariwala, who had brought up the issue of male survivors of child sexual abuse.

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NEW YORK
Times Union

By Rachel Silberstein on April 25, 2018

Gov. Andrew Cuomo “strongly urged” Sen. Simcha Felder, a Democrat who caucuses with the Senate Republican conference, to rejoin the Democratic fold Wednesday in light of Tuesday’s twin Democratic victories in the Bronx and Westchester.

Noting that the Senate Democrats may not need Felder’s vote in November — provided the Democrats pick up more Senate seats in the general election — Cuomo said, “now is the time” for the Brooklyn Senator to provide the critical 32nd vote Democrats need to pass legislation in the 63-member chamber. After Tuesday’s special election, the Senate Democratic conference has grown to 31 members, just shy of a functional majority.

“I believe there will be additional Democrats who win and are seated for the next legislature. You have said that you act in the best interest of your constituents. For their benefit, now is the time that matters. I know what you said yesterday, but this morning brings a new reality,” said Cuomo.

Outside the Senate chamber on Monday, Felder told reporters Wednesday that “nothing has changed.”

The full letter can be read below:

Dear Senator Felder,

Given Shelley Mayer’s victory in yesterday’s Senate special election, your decision on Senate leadership is now pivotal. There are now 32 registered Democratic Senators forming a majority Democratic Conference. The IDC has unified, and while I understand that you conference as a Republican and run on multiple lines, you are registered as a Democrat. I strongly urge you to join the 31 other registered Democrats so we can enact meaningful legislation that will continue our state’s progress at this most critical political time.

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UNITED STATES
First Things

by Aimee Byrd
4 . 25 . 18

The multiple recent allegations of sexual impropriety lodged against megachurch pastor Bill Hybels are provoking heated discussion about how churches should respond to allegations of sexual abuse and how Christian men and women should relate to one another. Christianity Today quotes words of vague assurance from the elders of Willow Creek Community Church, who promise to “walk alongside Bill in stewarding his season of reflection” and profess their commitment “to working together on appropriate next steps with him.” I’ve never before heard the consequences of sexual misconduct charges described as a “season of reflection.” This language downplays the accusations, as though pastoral abuse of women were just part of Hybels’s spiritual journey.

In his response, Hybels presents himself as a victim of circumstance. “I placed myself in situations that would have been far wiser to avoid,” he said. “I was naïve about the dynamics those situations created. I’m sorry for the lack of wisdom on my part. I commit to never putting myself in similar situations again.” He repents of being too generous, too liberal, too trusting of women in a working friendship. Given that at least seven women have come forward with complaints of misconduct, his self-evaluation needs to go deeper than logistics.

It’s true that Bill Hybels should avoid the women. But what about the sin?

How do we evaluate the condition of the church today, with #ChurchToo stories of sexual abuse shared by victims on social media sounding as sinister as the #MeToo movement that first gave women a voice? What do these accounts reveal about the church’s message about men and women made in the image of God?

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Tablet

25 April 2018 | by Ruth Gledhill

A man who as a youth was sexually abused by the notorious Chilean paedophile priest, Fr Fernando Karadima, is to visit Pope Francis this weekend.

Juan Carolos Cruz, along with two other survivors, Jimmy Hamilton and Jose Andres Murillo, will stay in the Santa Marta residence in Rome, where the Pope has cleared his diary on Sunday so they can share with him the full story of what was done to them.

The Vatican confirmed the meeting today.

In response to journalists’ questions, Greg Burke, head of the Holy See press office, said: declares the following: “The next weekend, the Holy Father will welcome to Casa Santa Marta three victims of abuses committed by the Clergy in Chile: respectively Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and Jose Andrés Murillo. The Pope thanks them for accepting his invitation: during these days of personal and fraternal encounter, he wants to ask them for forgiveness, to share their pain and his shame for what they have suffered and, above all, to listen to all their suggestions in order to avoid that these reprehensible facts are repeated.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service – Bolletino

In response to questions from journalists on the meeting of the Holy Father Francis with some victims of abuse in Chile, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Greg Burke, has issued the following statement:

“Next weekend, the Holy Father will receive at the Casa Santa Marta three victims of abuse committed by the clergy in Chile: respectively Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and Jose Andrés Murillo.

The Pope thanks them for accepting his invitation: during these days of personal and fraternal encounter, he wishes to ask their forgiveness, share their pain and his shame for what they have suffered and, above all, listen to their suggestions so as to avoid a repetition of these reprehensible facts.

The Pope will receive the victims individually, allowing each one of them all the time necessary to speak.

The Holy Father asks for prayers for the Church in Chile in this painful moment, in the hope that these meetings may take place in an atmosphere of serene trust and be a fundamental step to remedy and forever avoid abuses of conscience and power and, in particular, sexual abuse within the Church.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican News

The Holy See press spokesman on Wednesday gave details of the sex abuse victims who will meet with Pope Francis in the Vatican

Responding to journalists’ questions about Pope Francis’ meeting with Chilean abuse victims, the head of the Holy See press office, Greg Burke, said that the three men will be welcomed at the weekend by the Pope to his residence in the Vatican, the Casa Santa Marta.

Burke named the three survivors as Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton e Jose Andrés Murillo, adding that the Pope is grateful they have accepted the invitation.

He said that during the personal encounters, Pope Francis “wishes to ask them for forgiveness, to share their pain and his shame for what they have suffered and, above all, to listen to all their suggestions so that such reprehensible acts do not happen again”.

Burke said that the Holy Father will meet each survivor individually, allowing them as much time as they wish to talk.

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CALIFORNIA
PR Newswire

NEWS PROVIDED BY
Consumer Watchdog

Apr 24, 2018

SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 24, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Doctors on probation for sexually assaulting their patients and for other serious misconduct causing patient harm would be required to disclose this to their patients under SB 1448 (Hill), which passed out of the Senate Business and Professions Committee on Monday with bipartisan support.

“It’s time to lift the veil of secrecy around physician sexual assault and other serious patient harm. Only a small number of the most egregious cases of misconduct result in a doctor being placed on probation every year. Patients have a right to know so they can make informed medical decisions and be able to protect themselves. We applaud the Senators for placing patient safety above protecting doctors,” said Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog.

An average of 124 doctors are placed on probation every year in California, for reasons ranging from sexual assault, to overprescribing narcotics to gross negligence that causes a patient death. Doctors are required to tell their insurance company and the hospital or clinic where they work when their conduct lands them on probation, but their patients are kept in the dark. Although California mandates that doctor disciplinary information be disclosed online, the requirement is meaningless to patients who don’t know they should look, said Consumer Watchdog.

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RHODE ISLAND
Providence Journal

By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer

Apr 24, 2018

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Martha McSally, the Arizona congresswoman who has accused a high school coach of sexual abuse, has never shied away from controversy.

McSally told the Wall Street Journal that her track coach at St. Mary Academy, Bay View, allegedly abused her when she was 17, which she didn’t reveal to family or friends until a decade later.

On Tuesday, Bay View, a Catholic girls’ school in Riverside, issued a statement that said, ”… We have a special obligation to address matters of sexual violence. Yesterday, we learned of allegations made by U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, ’84, who reported to the Wall Street Journal she had been sexually abused by her track and field coach during her senior year at St. Mary’s Academy-Bay View.

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RHODE ISLAND
Turn to 10

April 24, 2018

An Arizona congresswoman claims she was sexually abused by a track coach at a Catholic school in Rhode Island.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Rep. Martha McSally, a native of Warwick, said she was abused by her track coach at St. Mary Academy – Bay View in East Providence in the early 1980s when she was 17.

The WSJ identified the coach as Jack Dwyer and said he denied the allegations.

“We are saddened by these allegations, and we are committed to confronting issues of misconduct and abuse, irrespective of when the incident occurred. Nothing is more important than the safety of our students,” Bay View said in a statement released Tuesday.

“As a Mercy school committed to the empowerment, safety, and well-being of our students, both past, and present, we have a special obligation to address matters of sexual violence,” the school said.

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MICHIGAN
MLive

Apr 23, 2018

By Bob Johnson bob_johnson@mlive.com

SAGINAW, MI — A search warrant served on two residences of a local priest reveals new details into the investigation of the clergyman.

The Rev. Robert DeLand, commonly known as Father Bob, is facing sexual assault and drug charges relating to a teen and at least one other male in Freeland.

A search warrant for the St. Agnes Church Rectory, 335, Johnson, in Freeland, and DeLand’s condominium, 29 Mallard Cove, was made public by law on April 22, which was 56 days after DeLand’s February arrest.

According to the search warrant, on Nov. 2, 2017, the teen boy’s parents came to police with concerns that there was suspicious and inappropriate behavior toward their son by DeLand.

The parents said their son was assigned to do community service under DeLand for a minor-in-possession charge he faced. According to the parents, DeLand seemed to be stalking their son, according to the warrant.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Straits Times (Singapore)

April 25. 2018

NORRISTOWN, Pennsylvania (Washington Post) – On Day 12 of his sex-assault trial, deep into a prosecutor’s heated closing argument, Bill Cosby was laughing.

Some in the jam-packed courtroom might have missed it, but his chuckles and his ear-to-ear smile caught the eye of Assistant District Attorney Kristen Feden on the opposite side of the room.

And she exploded. “He’s laughing like it’s funny!” Feden said Tuesday (April 24) in a booming voice, stalking towards the comic legend and extending a long, slender, accusatory forefinger. “But there’s absolutely nothing funny about stripping a woman of her capacity to consent.”

Cosby stared right back, unblinking, a smile etched on his face. He kept laughing – his demeanour belittling Feden’s argument that he’d engaged in a decades-long pattern of drugging and sexual assault.

The extraordinary confrontation – a stare-down between the 80-year-old pioneering African-American entertainer and a much younger African-American prosecutor – punctuated a volcanic day of closing arguments that sent the jury into deliberations with vastly contrasting portraits.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, heugenio@guampdn.com

April 24, 2018

Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes on Tuesday said it takes time to win back peoples’ trust in the Catholic Church after the clergy sex abuse scandal broke, but he said the Archdiocese of Agana has been making headway in trying to bring a measure of justice to more than 160 victims and in preventing more abuse from happening.

Byrnes, who was appointed coadjutor archbishop in October 2016, was the guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Tumon Bay’s weekly meeting Tuesday at the Pacific Star Resort & Spa.

His predecessor, former Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron, is one of dozens of Guam clergy members who have been accused of sexually abusing minors decades ago, in more than 160 lawsuits filed in local and federal courts. A Vatican tribunal in March found Apuron guilty of some accusations in a case that includes child sex abuse allegations.

Easy to lose, hard to win back trust

Byrnes said the sex abuse scandal shook peoples’ trust in the institution. Some 85 percent of Guam’s population is Catholic.

“It’s easy to lose trust. It’s hard to win it back. We’re doing our best to try to win it back but it just takes a lot of time,” Byrnes said during a question-and-answer with club members

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ROME
Crux

Inés San Martín
VATICAN CORRESPONDENT

Apr 25, 2018

ROME – A Canadian victim of clerical sexual abuse who describes herself as a “prayer warrior and encourager” for reform says a recent meeting with Pope Francis’s main anti-abuse panel “provided a lot of closure” for victims and praised the group for listening to them, many of whom, she said, experience a great deal of “pain and anger.”

Last week, Francis’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and Young Adults met for the first time since half of its members were changed this February, after the term of the original group expired last December. According to a statement from the commission, members encountered the pope, discussed abuse prevention education and policy, and ways the Church might work more closely with abuse survivors.

The commission dedicated the first day of its plenary session to hearing the testimony of people abused by priests.

Among them was Deborah Kloos, a Canadian from Windsor, Ontario, who’s long advocated for the Catholic Church to publicly pray for, and with, survivors, and who describes herself as the commission’s “prayer warrior and encourager.”

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

By Melissa Leon Guerrero

April 25, 2018

Guam – Another sexual abuse lawsuit has been filed against the Archdiocese of Agana.

The plaintiff, known only by the initials “C.A.” names the late Father Daniel Cristobal, who was a capuchin priest, in his lawsuit. This is the first time Father Daniel has been named in a lawsuit.

Court documents state the alleged abuse began in 1979 when C.A. was about 8 years old, immediately after he became an altar boy at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Santa Rita.

At that time, documents say Cristobal told C.A. he was so happy he was an altar boy, then told him to “come here.” At this point, it’s alleged that Cristobal asked CA to stand in front of him and that he was going to “bless” him.

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SCOTLAND
Evening Times

April 25. 2018

Holly Lennon

Police in Scotland have received more than 300 complaints of alleged abuses over a 50 year period at children’s homes run by a Catholic congregation, an inquiry has heard.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry heard that officers have received 308 complaints about 194 people associated with institutions run by the Sisters of Nazareth from the 1930s to 1980s.

The figure emerged as witnesses recounted a number of incidents of abuse they said they suffered at the order’s home in Aberdeen around the 1940s and 1950s.

They included claims of beatings at the hands of nuns, force-feeding to the point of vomiting, being locked in a dark cupboard as punishment and being made to bathe in water containing household disinfectant.

Children were also told that nobody wanted them, the inquiry heard, while one witness said she was told “the devil was inside me” as a nun hit her.

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ROME
Crux

Inés San Martín
VATICAN CORRESPONDENT

Apr 25, 2018

ROME – In the wake of Pope Francis’s remarkable acknowledgement of having made “serious errors of assessment and perception” in handling a sexual abuse crisis in Chile, at this stage we’re left with more questions than answers – what actually happened, and who’s responsible for the pontiff’s initially stout defense of a bishop accused of cover-up.

On April 28-30, Francis will meet with three victims of Chile’s most infamous pedophile priest, Father Fernado Karadima. They are Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and Andres Murillo. He’s asked them to come to Rome and they will be staying in the Santa Marta, the residence on Vatican grounds where he lives.

Two weeks later, May 14-17, Francis will be receiving the 32 Chilean bishops who are still on active duty. Among them, four were heavily influenced by Karadima and have been accused by the survivors of covering up for their former mentor.

Francis summoned the prelates to Rome in a letter he sent to them after reviewing a 2,300 page report by Archbishop Charles Scicluna.

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SCOTLAND
Scotsman

CHRIS MARSHALL

Wednesday 25 April 2018

A senior figure in the Catholic Church has been accused of orchestrating a “hostile rejection” of claims nuns were involved in the abuse of children.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry is currently hearing evidence relating to alleged abuse at four former children’s homes run by the Sisters of Nazareth.

Yesterday a lawyer for the victims said Archbishop Emeritus Mario Conti had dismissed the allegations at Nazareth House in Aberdeen while bishop in the city, even allegedly referring to survivors as “the opposition”.

The inquiry also heard the congregation had previously denied there had been volunteers working in its establishments, despite the conviction earlier this year of a man who sexually abused three children at a home in Glasgow in the 1980s while working as a volunteer.

The Sisters of Nazareth ran children’s homes in Aberdeen, Cardonald in Glasgow, Lasswade near Edinburgh and Kilmarnock in Ayrshire until their closure in the 1980s.

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UNITED KINGDOM
London Economic

April 24, 2018

Ben Gelblum

Paul Sinclair shows me a small scar above his left ear.

As a child in care, there is evidence that brain experiments were conducted on him and others with no consent.

Paul’s history in care was marked by shocking abuse and violence from the staff entrusted with his childhood.

Paul and other survivors in the approved schools and care homes he attended reported psychological drugs being tested on them.

In his case and others, survivors believe an experimental brain operation was carried out too on trouble makers deemed to have violent tendencies.

Paul piles file after file onto the desk, they contain a record of his childhood in care, including a recorded 11 night stay in hospital when he awoke from the procedure, the top of his head bandaged.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Jersey Evening Post

April 25. 2018

ABUSE survivors failed by Jersey’s child care system are being invited to help develop a memorial remembering those that suffered in care

As part of recommendations made by the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry last year, it was suggested that a permanent memorial be installed in Jersey to ‘acknowledge the realities of the past and speak to the future aspirations of the Island’.

The memorial will be designed to serve as a reminder and ‘public acknowledgement’ of the hundreds of young people who suffered in the Island’s care system over a number of decades.

Those chosen to join the group to take part in the project will work with a panel of experts before developing their ideas for an appropriate memorial. This could be anything from a garden, sculpture or fountain to a bursary scheme.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Associated Press

By MICHAEL R. SISAK

April 24, 2018

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The jury in Bill Cosby’s sexual-assault retrial will begin deliberating Wednesday after a searing day of closing arguments in which the comedian was variously portrayed as a calculating predator who is finally being brought to justice, or the victim of a multimillion-dollar frame-up by a “pathological liar.”

The judge sent the seven men and five women back to their hotel Tuesday evening after the jurors indicated they were exhausted from listening to 5½ hours of arguments.

“I want you well rested. I think you have collectively made a wise decision,” Judge Steven O’Neill said.

The first big celebrity trial of the #MeToo era pits Cosby, the 80-year-old former TV star whose career and good-guy reputation were destroyed by a barrage of allegations involving drugs and sex, against Andrea Constand, a former Temple University women’s basketball administrator who testified that he drugged and sexually violated her at his suburban Philadelphia mansion 14 years ago.

Five other women got on the witness stand and testified the same thing had happened to them.

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PENNSYLVANIA
CBS PhIladelphia

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) — There were fireworks in the courtroom on Tuesday as the prosecution and defense delivered closing arguments in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault retrial.

Assistant District Attorney Kristen Feden yelled at Bill Cosby during her closing argument, as she scolded him for apparently laughing.

“There’s nothing funny about it, Mr. Cosby,” said Feden, her voice raised.

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PENNSYLVANIA
New York Daily News

CHRISTIAN RED
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

April 24, 2018

Penn State University avoided having its Division-I football program shut down in 2012 — what is referred to as the “death penalty” — after the NCAA leveled the school with severe sanctions. The punishment followed the release of the results from an independent investigation into the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal.

But Marci Hamilton, the chief executive officer of CHILD USA, a think tank devoted to preventing child abuse and neglect, says that Michigan State University’s athletics department should receive that level of discipline after one of its former employees, disgraced physician Larry Nassar, carried out years-long sexual abuse of gymnasts both at MSU and in USA Gymnastics. Nassar has already received a sentence of 40 to 175 years in prison for sex abuse charges in a Michigan state case, and he was sentenced to 60 years in jail on federal child pornography charges last year.

“I think it should be the appropriate response,” Hamilton said. “And I think the U.S. Olympic Committee should be disbanded and reformulated by Congress. There are so many bad actors here.”

CHILD USA will sponsor an “Athletes & Abuse” all-day symposium Wednesday in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1949 Auditorium starting at 8:30 am. Among the speakers scheduled to appear is 1996 Olympic gold medal gymnast Dominique Moceanu, who has gone public with her claims of abuse by husband and wife USA Gymnastics coaches, Bela and Marta/Martha Karolyi. Nassar is tied to the Karolyis since he was a USA Gymnastics team physician and worked at the Karolyi Texas ranch, a gymnastics training center.

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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Statement by Tim Lennon of Tucson, Volunteer President of SNAP’s Board of Directors, 415-312-5820,tlennon@SNAPnetwork.org

[Buffalo News]

This past weekend two priests in the Diocese of Buffalo were suspended from ministry. Fathers Samuel J. Venne and Arthur S. Smith were put on leave while allegations of childhood sexual

We applaud Bishop Richard J. Malone for announcing these suspensions to parishioners. However, the bishop should also report these allegations to the police, if he has not already done so. Investigations of criminal behavior are best handled by unbiased professionals.

Bishop Malone should also take the next step and implore any victim harmed by a priest or anyone serving on behalf of the Church in the Diocese of Buffalo to contact law enforcement immediately. Despite New York’s predator friendly statute of limitations, crimes should still be reported, no matter how long ago the abuse may have occurred. Speaking up is a chance victims to begin healing, expose the truth, and protect others.

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UNITED STATES
The Exponent

BY APRIL YOUNG BENNETT

APRIL 19, 2018

In this episode of the Religious Feminism interview series, Mary Dispenza and Judy Larson, two leaders of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), the activist organization made famous by the Academy Award-winning movie, Spotlight, discuss best practices to stop sexual abuse by ecclesiastical leaders and support sexual assault survivors. You can find episode notes for the Religious Feminism Podcast here at the Exponent website: http://www.the-exponent.com/tag/religious-feminism-podcast/

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PENNSYLVANIA
Page Six

By Emily Saul

April 24, 2018

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — ​Disgraced comedian Bill Cosby smiled Tuesday during prosecutor’s closings in his sex assault case, invoking the wrath of a plucky prosecutor who noticed the smirk.

“He’s laughing like it’s funny,” Montgomery County prosecutor Kristen Feden ​said, gesturing to Cosby as his grin slipped from his face. “There’s nothing funny about stripping a women of her capacity to consent.

“There’s nothing funny about that, Mr. Cosby,” Feden bellowed at the 80-year-old as he sunk into his chair.

The ​former pudding pitchman’s ill-timed expression came after the assistant DA told jurors Cosby repeatedly manipulated his role as “America’s Dad” to gain the trust of unsuspecting women in order to drug and sexually assault them.

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PENNSYLVANIA
CNN

By Eric Levenson and Aaron Cooper, CNN

April 24, 2018

(CNN)Bill Cosby’s defense attorneys have spent his trial aggressively attacking the woman who says he drugged and assaulted her. They called Andrea Constand a “con artist” and a liar who made up the story to swindle his money.

But in closing arguments, prosecutors flipped that script and said Cosby was the true con man in this story. He used his iconic, transcendent TV persona, prosecutors said, to trick women into taking pills that he knew would make them unable to resist his sexual advances.

“He is nothing like the image that he plays on TV,” prosecutor Kristen Feden said in court on Tuesday. “In fact, he utilized that image and cloaked himself so that he was able to gain the trust, gain the confidence of these young women so he could strip them of their ability to say no, administering an intoxicant the same way he administered an intoxicant to Andrea Constand.”

“She is not the con,” Feden added. “He is.”

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NEW YORK
WSKG

April 24, 2018

By Karen DeWitt

ALBANY, NY (WSKG) – Even before the results of two special elections Tuesday in the State Senate were decided, the lone Democratic Senator who caucuses with the Republicans says he’s sticking with the GOP. That means Democrats will likely not control the Senate any time this year.

Senator Simcha Felder said in a statement that, with only 25 days remaining in this year’s legislative session, he wants to do what’s best for his constituents.

“Political gamesmanship must not be allowed to jeopardize the leadership, committee structure and staff of the New York State Senate and push this institution into turmoil,” Felder said. Felder added that he fears if some of the races are close, it might lead to weeks of court battles, further paralyzing the Senate.

Democrats had hoped that if Felder decided to go back to their party that might mean that a number of progressive measures could be approved in New York this session, including, early voting , the child victims act to allow survivors of childhood sexual abuse their day in court, and campaign finance reform.

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CANADA
The Runner

APRIL 24, 2018

by Alyssa Laube

Many were shocked to hear that Pope Francis—widely celebrated as one of history’s most progressive pontiffs—refused to apologize to victims of Canadian residential schools when asked to do so by Justin Trudeau, on behalf of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Little explanation for this decision was offered to the public despite the debate that now enshrouds it. According to Bishop Lionel Gendron, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Pope carefully considered the request, and discussed it with the Catholic Bishops of Canada, before figuring that “he could not personally respond.”

National Chief Perry Bellegarde of the Assembly of First Nations has personally written to the Pope to invite him to Canada for a meeting with Indigenous people here. So far, the Pope hasn’t responded, and while it can be safely assumed that he won’t be knocking down our door anytime soon, there’s no better time than the present to evaluate the implications of this curious move by the Catholic Church.

It is curious because, in recent years, the church hasn’t shied away from apologizing for similar wrongdoings it was involved in. In 2010, Pope Benedict offered an apology to Irish victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by members of the church, and in 2015, Pope Francis himself apologized to Indigenous Americans for the harm caused by its part in colonialism.

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IRELAND
RTE News

24 Apr 2018

A former priest who indecently assaulted two young girls as they made their first confession was given an 18-month suspended sentence at Cork Circuit Criminal Court today.

John Calnan, 79, now living at the Presbytery, Roman Street, Co Cork, sexually abused each girl as they went into a room alone with him to make their confession.

The girls were aged between six and seven years old at the time of the assaults which took place in the mid to late 1970s.

The former priest was also charged with sexually abusing a third girl during confession when she was 10 years old.

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VATICAN CITY
euronews

24/04/2018

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – A Chilean man who was sexually abused by a priest as a boy will urge Pope Francis to sack “toxic” bishops who covered up the assaults, he said on Tuesday ahead of a face-to-face meeting with the leader of the Catholic Church.

Juan Carlos Cruz, who has become a symbol of the Church’s abuse crisis, will spend several days in the Vatican as a guest of the pope in the residence where he lives. Strong papal action in Chile would send a long-overdue message to the entire Church, he told Reuters in an interview.

“I would say ‘hold these bishops accountable, fire a few of them, if not many of them, but fire them and not give them a cushy job here at the Vatican,’” Cruz said.

“Like in a company (I would say) ‘you need to be preparing your resumé’. That’s what I would say to these bishops.”

Cruz and two other victims, Jimmy Hamilton and Jose Andres Murillo, are each due to spend several hours with the pope on a visit that follows an extraordinary April 11 letter in which Francis acknowledged he had made “grave mistakes” in handling the sexual abuse crisis in Chile.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Page Six

By Emily Saul

April 24, 2018

NORRI​​STOWN, Pa. — ​Defense attorneys for embattled funnyman Bill Cosby implored jurors​ in his sex assault retrial​ to clear their client Tuesday, casting the decision as “one of the most important” the​y will ​ever ​make.

“Acquit, acquit Mr. Cosby,” lawyer Kathleen Bliss pleaded. “You’re about to make one of the most important decisions you will have ever made in your lives. You will decide the fate of Mr. Cosby.”

In a stunning closing, Bliss blended nods to #MeToo with attacks on Cosby’s main accuser and the five additional women ​accusers ​who took the stand against him.

At one point, she shocked the courtroom by turning to Montgomery County DA Kevin Steele and, hand on her hip, accusing ​​him of sex assault.

“I could say Mr. Steele sexually assaulted me last year. It’s my word against his word,” Bliss shrugged as the DA’s mouth fell open.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Associated Press

By MICHAEL R. SISAK

April 24, 2018

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Bill Cosby’s lawyers urged a jury Tuesday to acquit the 80-year-old comedian of sexual assault charges they said were based on “flimsy, silly, ridiculous evidence,” arguing he was falsely accused by a “pathological liar” scheming for a big payday.

The first big celebrity trial of the #MeToo era was nearly in the hands of a jury after the defense declared that Cosby himself was the victim of an elaborate frame-up.

Lawyers Tom Mesereau and Kathleen Bliss said in their closing argument that chief accuser Andrea Constand consented to a sexual encounter at Cosby’s home in suburban Philadelphia, then leveled false accusations against the “Cosby Show” star so she could sue him and extract a big settlement.

“You’re dealing with a pathological liar, members of the jury,” Mesereau said. “You are.”

Prosecutors were to deliver their closing argument next. The jury was expected to get the case later in the day.

The former TV star was accompanied Tuesday for the first time in the trial by his wife of 54 years, who sat in the gallery as his lawyers pleaded with the jury to clear him. Camille Cosby, 74, had been absent from the courtroom as the prosecution built its case that Cosby maintained a sordid double life that involved preying on women sexually.

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ROME
Catholic News Agency

By Elise Harris

Rome, Italy, Apr 24, 2018 / 11:12 am (CNA/EWTN News).- At the age of 16, Deborah Kloos was a distraught young woman who turned to the Church in hopes of finding solace, peace, and a reprieve from a “dysfunctional” and complicated family life.

She attended Mass often and sought comfort in the Eucharist. But she was sexually abused by a parish priest in Ontario.

After years of living with anger, sadness, and guilt, Kloos made her way back to the Church and was able to find healing through the sacraments. Now, she wants the Church to make praying for abuse survivors a priority.

She believes the Church has made progress on the abuse front, and has said that for real healing to happen, learning to forgive is key, as is keeping a positive attitude about the concrete efforts the Church is making.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

By KENNETH LOVETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

APR 24, 2018

ALBANY — A Brooklyn state senator who could have helped flip the Senate to the Democrats has decided to stay with the Republicans, sources with knowledge of his decision said.

Sen. Simcha Felder, a Democrat who has caucused with the GOP, has told both sides he is not going back at least until after the November elections, the sources said.

Democrats were hoping that if the party wins Tuesday’s special election in Westchester County between Dem Shelley Mayer and Republican Julie Killian, Felder would agree to return to the fold, giving them the needed 32 votes to form a majority.

But win or lose, Felder is not going anywhere for the rest of the legislative session that is set to end in June, sources said.

Until last week, Felder was one of nine breakaway Democrats aligned with the GOP. The other eight, who did not caucus with the Republicans but were in a leadership coalition with them, returned to the fold.

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SCOTLAND
Glasgow Live

Officers have received 308 complaints about 194 people associated with institutions run by the Sisters of Nazareth over a 50-year period.

By Hilary Duncanson

24 APR 2018

A Glasgow care home run by a Catholic order is to be investigated as part of an inquiry into alleged abuses.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry was told that officers have received 308 complaints about 194 people associated with institutions run by the Sisters of Nazareth over a 50-year period.

The inquiry has begun hearing evidence about homes run by the order in four locations -Cardonald, Aberdeen, Lasswade near Edinburgh and Kilmarnock in Ayrshire – all of which ceased operating as care homes for children in the 1980s.

In opening remarks at the hearing in Edinburgh, Laura-Anne van der Westhuizen, representing the Scottish force, told chair Lady Smith that officers have been working to identify, retrieve, assess and catalogue all of the public protection investigation files it holds which are relevant to the inquiry’s terms of reference.

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ITALY
Crux

Claire Giangravè
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Apr 24, 2018

CATANIA, Italy – His followers called him the Archangel.

People would come from far and wide to see him, to speak to him, to touch him. The word of Piero Alfio Capuana, the 70-year-old leader of the “Catholic Culture and Environment Association,” or ACCA, a lay movement in the Church, was law.

In 2013, when Capuana called “Maria,” at the time only 11, into his study, she says she followed. When he locked the door behind her, she says she stayed. When he told her to sit on the desk in front of him, she says she sat, and when he ordered her to take off her shirt, she says, eventually, in tears, she obeyed.

“He had my life in his hand. Him. Everything. He had power over everything about me,” Maria, using a false name to protect her identity, told Crux in an April 22 interview.

“For me, he was important. He had that personality, that thing inside, that wasn’t human. When he would tell me, ‘Do this because it’s right,’ I would do it. Or when he said, ‘Don’t do this thing because it’s wrong,’ I’d obey without batting an eyelash,” she said.

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SCOTLAND
Sunday Post

Author: Hilary Duncanson, 24 April 2018

MORE than 300 complaints have been made to police in Scotland about alleged abuses at children’s homes run by a Catholic order, an inquiry has heard.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry was told that officers have received 308 complaints about 194 people associated with institutions run by the Sisters of Nazareth over a 50-year period.

The inquiry has begun hearing evidence about homes run by the order in four locations – Aberdeen, Cardonald (or Glasgow), Lasswade near Edinburgh and Kilmarnock in Ayrshire – all of which ceased operating as care homes for children in the 1980s.

In opening remarks at the hearing in Edinburgh, Laura-Anne van der Westhuizen, representing the Scottish force, told chair Lady Smith that officers have been working to identify, retrieve, assess and catalogue all of the public protection investigation files it holds which are relevant to the inquiry’s terms of reference.

So far, more than 220,000 files have been reviewed, she said.

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SCOTLAND
BBC News

Police have received complaints from more than 300 people against the Sisters of Nazareth Catholic order which ran children’s homes in Scotland until the 1980s.

The Scottish child abuse inquiry has begun hearing evidence in connection with the homes they ran in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Ayrshire.

Police received 308 complaints against the Sisters of Nazareth.

They related to their child care homes between 1934 and 1984.

The complaints are about 194 people associated with institutions run by the Sisters of Nazareth.

‘Never loved’

The first witness to give evidence during the latest phase of the inquiry told how nuns at Nazareth House in Aberdeen would nip her skin, beat the children and make them play in the playground with no shoes on.

“We were never loved, ever, by any of them,” she said.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Mindy Aguon | The Guam Daily Post

April 24, 2018

A former altar boy alleges he endured two years of sexual abuse at the hands of his parish priest when he served as an altar boy in 1979.

C.A., who used initials to protect his identity, filed a civil complaint Tuesday in the District Court of Guam against the Archdiocese of Agana and the Capuchin Franciscans.

The lawsuit names Daniel Cristobal, a now-deceased Capuchin priest, as the perpetrator.

When he was 8 years old, C.A. became an altar server at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Santa Rita, serving Mass almost daily.

Soon after joining as an altar boy, C.A. was praised by Cristobal for his decision and the priest instructed the boy to stand in front of him, so he could bless him. The priest unzipped the boy’s pants, did the sign of the cross and kissed the minor’s genitals and then sexually abused the boy, the lawsuit states.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

On Friday 27 April 2018, at 11.00, in the Holy See Press Office, Via della Conciliazione 54, a press conference will be held to present the Annual Report of the Financial Information Authority (Autorità di Informazione Finanziaria – AIF) of the Holy See and the Vatican City on the activity of supervision and financial intelligence for the prevention and countering of money laundering and financing of terrorism as well as prudential supervision. Year VI, 2017.

The speakers will be:

– René Brülhart, president of the AIF;

– Tommaso Di Ruzza, director of the AI

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