ABUSE TRACKER

LOS ANGELES (CA)
MyNewsLA.com

July 31, 2020

A lawsuit filed against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles by two siblings who allege they wrongfully lost their jobs after more than 10 years of working at a Catholic church office in Lynwood will have to be shored up for it to proceed on all the current allegations, a judge ruled Friday.

Susana Montoya and Patricia Garcia brought the lawsuit last September in Los Angeles Superior Court, saying they were retaliated against after reporting what they believed was an inappropriate relationship between a school principal and a priest.

Also named as defendants are the Rev. Ernesto Jaramillo of St. Philip Neri Church and Alejandra Gonzales, principal of St. Philip Neri Catholic School.

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KENTUCKY
Cincinnati.com

July 31, 2020

By Erin Glynn and Dan Horn, Cincinnati Enquirer

The Diocese of Covington has released a list of priests and others affiliated with the diocese accused of sexually abusing children. A report summarizing the findings of a new report compiled by two former FBI agents, the list naming the accused and a letter of apology from Covington Bishop Roger Foys can be seen on the diocese’s website.

A nearly year-long review of records at the Diocese of Covington found that 59 Catholic priests and 31 others associated with the church have sexually abused children since the 1950s.

A report summarizing the findings of the review was released Friday on the diocese’s website, along with a list naming the accused and a letter of apology from Covington Bishop Roger Foys.

“There are no words to adequately express the sorrow and shame I feel,” Foys wrote. “I can never apologize enough to those who have been harmed by any representative of the Church. I beg your forgiveness in the name of the Church.”

The report is the most exhaustive accounting yet of those credibly accused of sexual abuse in the diocese, covering pastors, chaplains, deacons, teachers, brothers, nuns and about 20 lay people.

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KENTUCKY
WLWT

July 31, 2020

The Diocese of Covington released an extensive list of priests, deacons, consecrated religious and laity who have had substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of minors on Friday.

The list of allegations dates back to 1950.

“I sincerely hope that this report will bring at least some sense of closure to those whose lives have been forever changed by the egregious behavior of those who were pledged to care for God’s little ones,” Most Rev. Roger J. Foys said in a statement.

In his message, Foys acknowledged that releasing the report may cause additional pain and anger for the victims, and he apologized for that.

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ROME
Rome Reports

July 31, 2020

In the vademecum on cases of sexual abuse, there are still improvements to be made. That’s according to Fr. Jordi Bertomeu, from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who in 2018 was sent to Chile alongside Msgr. Charles Scicluna, to investigate the Church’s sexual abuse scandal. Their work prompted the pope to change the Church’s approach to dealing with this challenge.

In a virtual conference organized by Mexico’s Center for the Protection of Minors (CEPROME), he said the document still contains some gaps. For example, it doesn’t say that victims must be notified of any security measures taken against an accused priest, a distressing reality for victims. He also says some of the document’s affirmations are too generic, citing the example that a bishop must report a priest to authorities “if this is considered necessary.”

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QUEENS (NEW YORK)
Patch.com

July 30, 2020

By Maya Kaufman

Glendale priest Rev. Francis J. Hughes was arrested Wednesday on a child pornography charge, federal prosecutors said.

A Queens priest was arrested by the FBI Wednesday after investigators caught him swapping sexually explicit texts and nudes with a 15-year-old boy on the dating app Grindr.

Francis Hughes, the pastor at St. Pancras Church in Glendale, was charged with receiving child pornography for the explicit exchanges, federal prosecutors said.

Hughes, 65, is accused of sending the Westchester teen photos of his genitals and trying to meet up with him for sex, according to Manhattan federal court records.

Prosecutors said Hughes told the boy he was a part-time college professor and a counselor.

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QUEENS (NEW YORK)
CBSLocal.com

July 30, 2020

A priest in Queens is facing child pornography charges, according to police.

Francis Hughes, 65, is accused of exchanging sexually explicit messages with a 15-year-old boy from Westchester County.

Hughes allegedly received pornographic images from the teen. Police said there could be more victims.

The Diocese of Brooklyn said Hughes has been removed from his post.

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