ABUSE TRACKER

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

December 8, 2020

Action plan missing from McCarrick Report can be found Down Under

AUSTRALIA
Catholic Outlook

December 3, 2020

By Massimo Faggioli

The entire Church should take seriously the proposals for ecclesial reform coming from Catholics in Australia

The solution to the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church hangs in the balance between these two questions: What happened? and What needs to happen?

The so-called “McCarrick Report“, which was compiled by the Vatican’s Secretariat of State and published on November 10, is an example of unprecedented transparency under pressure.

It represents a fundamental step towards a better comprehension of what happened in the saga concerning Theodore McCarrick, the former cardinal-archbishop of Washington who was defrocked in 2019 for sexual abuse of minors.

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.

The media is not the church’s enemy

KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

December 3, 2020

By Heidi Schlumpf

As the U.S. bishops gathered last month for their first-ever virtual meeting, there was one thing that wasn’t all that different: Several prelates pulled out the tired trope of blaming the media for all that’s wrong with the church and the world.

During the church leaders’ brief, public discussion about the McCarrick report — concerning the former cardinal’s rise in the hierarchy despite a history of sexual assault — there was plenty of talk about sins (McCarrick’s) and fasting and prayer as reparations (the bishops’).

But Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, got right to what he saw as the crux of the matter with a defense of the person upon whom the report places most of the blame: Pope John Paul II.

“What I think is unfortunate, though, is the media reports that have come out that have tried to paint St. John Paul II as somehow culpable for all this,” Paprocki said.

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

George Pell Set To Publish Memoir Following Acquittal On Sex Abuse Charges

AUSTRALIA
Marie Claire

December 2, 2020

By Grace Back

The personal diary entries reflect on the “nature of suffering and humiliations of solitary confinement”

Cardinal George Pell, who was convicted and then acquitted of sexual abuse, is set to publish a memoir written during his time in prison that, according to reports, “reflects on the nature of suffering, Pope Francis’ papacy and the humiliations of solitary confinement.”

Titled Prison Journal, the reflections recount the first five months of Pell’s over 400 days behind bars, while also providing a first-hand account of his legal case, offering personal insights into one of the formerly most prominent figures in the Catholic hierarchy.

The West Australian newspaper published excerpts from an advance copy of the book, claiming the memoir was “unlikely to change minds.”

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.

Long Island Diocese’s Deadline for Abuse Claims Faces Opposition

NEW YORK
Wall Street Journal

December 2, 2020

By Soma Biswas and Peg Brickley

Window for abuse victims to come forward should coincide with New York law, creditors’ lawyer says

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y., is trying to shut the gates on sexual abuse claims too soon, lawyers for the diocese’s creditors say.

The Long Island diocese, which filed for bankruptcy in October to halt hundreds of lawsuits from victims of alleged sexual abuse by clergy, recently asked to set a Feb. 17, 2021, deadline for victims to assert claims.

Lawyers for Rockville Centre’s unsecured creditors committee argued in court papers filed Monday that the deadline ought to be Aug. 14, 2021, the same date set by New York state law.

Last year, the state passed the Child Victims Act, opening a one-year window during which people who say they were abused as children can sue perpetrators, no matter how long ago the alleged abuse occurred. The one-year window was set to expire this summer, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended the period to Aug. 14, 2021, because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The new deadline grew out of a tough fight in the legislature that pitted Catholic dioceses and organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America against advocates who pointed to studies that indicate victims of child sexual abuse commonly take decades to come forward.

“There is no reason for this court to curtail the will of the legislature and shorten the Child Victims Act,” James Stang, a lawyer representing the official creditors committee in the case, said in court papers filed Monday.

Because of publicity over New York’s decision to open a temporary window for child sex abuse claims, many victims have the August deadline in mind, Mr. Stang said in the court papers. A separate, and earlier, deadline in the bankruptcy case would confuse people, he said.

In May, a state court judge turned down a bid by the Rockville Diocese to squash 44 complaints filed against it under the child victims’ law. The diocese argued unsuccessfully that its due process rights were violated.

At a recent meeting of diocese leaders, lawyers and alleged victims, Mr. Stang quizzed diocesan officials over whether they will continue to appeal their loss on a constitutional challenge that the Child Victims Act violates due process rights.

An appeal of that decision is stayed by the bankruptcy filing, diocesan lawyers said. However, the Rockville Diocese might raise the statute of limitations as a defense to sex abuse claims in the bankruptcy case, a lawyer for the diocese said.

“I’m not sure at this time,” Todd R. Geremia, the diocese lawyer, told Mr. Stang at the Nov. 5 session, according to a transcript.

A spokesperson for the diocese didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The committee also is pressing the diocese for an expanded advertising program to make sure victims know about the bankruptcy deadline. The focus should be on New York, the committee said, and the diocese should give direct notice to people who interacted with known child abusers.

Photographs and names of identified abusers should be included in the notices, the committee said in court filings, to get through the psychological defenses many victims use to suppress their memories.

A bankruptcy court in New York is set to hear arguments on the deadline issue Dec. 9.

Write to Soma Biswas at soma.biswas@wsj.com and Peg Brickley at peg.brickley@wsj.com

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.

Priest Assignment Records and Case Details Released

BOSTON (MA)
The Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian

December 7, 2020

The Law Offices of Mitchell Garabedian added 38 sexually abusive priests to the Results List at www.garabedianlaw.com/results-list in June 2020.

Detailed information on the assignment record and claim history, together with sources, is being provided on this website.

Material on individual priests can be accessed through these links or by scrolling below. You can also download the information as a single pdf file.

Please check back regularly as additional information is planned for release.

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.

Abuse in State Care Inquiry: Catholic school rape victim emotionally recalls principal’s sexual abuse, frustration at Church’s redress process

NEW ZEALAND
Newshub.co.nz

December 4, 2020

By Matt Burrows

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/12/abuse-in-state-care-inquiry-catholic-school-rape-victim-emotionally-recalls-principal-s-sexual-abuse-frustration-at-church-s-redress-process.html

Warning: This article discusses sexual abuse and mental health.

A rape victim has given evidence of the sexual abuse he suffered while at a Catholic school in the 1980s, emotionally telling a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State Care of his experiences and the myriad struggles he faced in the aftermath.

The man, identified only as John, spoke about the abuse, its impacts and the frustrations he’s experienced throughout the Catholic Church’s redress process on day five of the Inquiry’s faith-based redress hearing.

The hearing is focused on the redress processes of the Catholic Church, Anglican Church and the Salvation Army. The Inquiry is investigating the adequacy of these processes and what needs to be done to better support people who have been abused or neglected in faith-based institutions.

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.

Former priest and tutor convicted of historic child sex offences

COVENTRY (ENGLAND)
Coventry Telegraph

December 4, 2020

By Kirstie McCrum

The offences took place in Warwick between 2006 and 2009

A man has been convicted of non-recent child sex offences dating back to when police say he worked as a priest and private tutor.

Joseph Quigley, 56, of Church Lane in Stone, Staffordshire was arrested and charged as part of a Warwickshire Police investigation.

Quigley was found guilty by a majority jury on Thursday (December 3) following his trial at Warwick Crown Court of four counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child, two counts of sexual assault, two counts of false imprisonment and one count of child cruelty.

The offences took place in Warwick, between 2006 and 2009 against one male victim when he was aged between 14 and 16.

At the time the offences occurred, police say that Quigley was working in a position of trust as a priest and private tutor.

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.

Australian Catholic bishops establish new agency to fight abuse

AUSTRALIA
Catholic News Agency via Angelus

December 4, 2020

On Thursday, the Catholic bishops of Australia and two other Catholic entities launched Australian Catholic Safeguarding Limited, a company charged with the safeguarding of children against sexual abuse by clergy.

The launch of the agency comes three years after the release of a 2017 Royal Commission report on child sex abuse in the country’s institutions. The new agency was created by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) and the Association of Ministerial PJPs (Public Juridic Persons).

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.

Ex-Portsmouth Abbey student in lawsuit says she was sexually abused by teacher from 2012-14

RHODE ISLAND
Newport Daily News

December 4, 2020

By Sean Flynn

A woman filed a lawsuit this week in U.S. District Court against Portsmouth Abbey School and a former teacher with a claim the teacher sexually abused her while she was a student at the preparatory school.

The former student is listed as “Jane Doe” because public disclosure would further harm her and her family, according to the lawsuit.

She was sexually abused by her former humanities teacher, Michael Bowen Smith, between 2012 and 2014, her sophomore, junior and senior years at the school, says the 17-page lawsuit, which details how the abuse began and ended.

Jane Doe is represented by attorney Timothy J. Conlon of Providence, who signed the lawsuit.

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.

Former Christ’s College student recounts fearing for life during sexual assault

NEW ZEALAND
Stuff

December 7, 2020

By Charlie Gates

A former Christ’s College student sexually assaulted and abused by other students in the 1970s says it was “systematic deliberate abuse” designed to shame him.

Jim Goodwin attended the Christchurch school as a boarder from 1970 to 1974 and told the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care in Auckland on Monday about the assault by other students that left him fearing for his life.

He said it happened as part of a ritual at the school known as hauling. Senior students would punish more junior pupils if they felt they had been disrespected.

Goodwin said he accidentally bumped into a senior student entering the lunch hall when he was in fifth form (year 11). He was told he was going to be “hauled” and taken to the student study.

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.

Royal Commission told Catholic Church needs to stop honouring paedophiles

NEW ZEALAND
Stuff

November 30, 2020

By Edward Gay

A man who was sexually abused as a boy at St Patrick’s College, Silverstream only ever wanted the photographs of his abusers removed from the school’s hall, the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care has heard.

Tina Cleary’s father, Patrick Cleary, was sexually abused by two priests when he was aged 12 at the Catholic boys school in 1951.

It took decades for the proud man to be able to tell anyone of the abuse. He told his full story to the Royal Commission in a private session in 2019. He died in July.

His statements were read by his daughter Tina Cleary on Monday. She bought her father’s walking stick to the hearing and held it in the witness box as she read his evidence.

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.

How journals kept by priest accused of pedophilia could help abuse survivors break free

CINCINNATI
WCPO-TV, Channel 9

December 7, 2020

By Craig Cheatham

Abuse survivor: ‘It needs to come out’

[PHOTO: In personal journals from the 1980s, a Catholic priest repeatedly accused of molesting boys, asks God to forgive him. The Rev. Herman Kamlage worked at eight northern Kentucky churches. He died in 2018.]

BURLINGTON, Ky. — I’ve failed you again. I haven’t been faithful to my office for 10 days.
I still have these primitive urges.
August 9, 1981

In a series of hand-written “love letters” to God, penned over the course of four years, The Rev. Herman Kamlage, a Catholic priest, begged for forgiveness for undisclosed “carnal” behavior that he claimed he could not control.

In July, the Diocese of Covington publicly identified Kamlage — who held positions at eight northern Kentucky parishes — and 89 other former diocesan employees who had “substantiated” allegations of child sexual abuse made against them.

Kamlage died in 2018.

I do all the things I say I don’t want to do. It bugs me but I don’t do anything about it. It’s as tho I’m doing just what I want/chooze (sic) to do. No discipline. And yet, at times, it’s as tho (sic) I can’t help myself. Why?
April 17, 1983

There are more than 100 letters, dated from 1981-85, in three personal journals.

Nearly all of the entries end with Kamlage’s signature.

“It does give you a true insight view into his soul, which I believe is an evil soul” said Dean McCoy, a former altar boy at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Crescent Springs, Ky., where Kamlage was an assistant priest in 1984.

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.

SC bishop says Vatican has cleared him of sexual abuse allegation

CHARLESTON (SOUTH CAROLINA)
Post and Courier

December 7, 2020

By Avery G. Wilks

South Carolina’s top Roman Catholic priest says the Vatican has cleared him of wrongdoing after he was accused of sexually abusing a boy as the pastor of a New York church in the late 1970s.

In a message to fellow S.C. priests ahead of Sunday’s mass, Charleston Bishop Robert Guglielmone wrote that he received a letter “stating that the Vatican has determined that the sexual abuse allegation against me has no semblance of truth and is thus unfounded.”

“While not surprising to me, it is very welcomed news as it confirms what I have adamantly stated,” Guglielmone continued. “I am innocent of the accusation that was made against me.”

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.

N.J. priest took me to Disney World, gave me alcohol and molested me, lawsuit says

NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

December 7, 2020

By Anthony G. Attrino

A 51-year-old man is suing the Diocese of Metuchen and a long-dead New Jersey priest, claiming he was given alcohol and molested while attending Catholic school decades ago.

The lawsuit claims Father Michael Santillo, who died in 2000 at age 50, plied the victim with beer, groped him and took him on a three-day trip to Disney World, where he wanted to watch the student have sex with a prostitute.

Anthony P. Kearns III, who is the chancellor of the Diocese of Metuchen, said Monday he cannot comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit, filed last week in Superior Court of Middlesex County, claims Santillo met the victim at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Perth Amboy while the victim attended elementary school there.

The priest allegedly groomed the victim for several years, creating “a culture and social dynamic” that weakened the student’s ability to resist Santillo, the lawsuit claims.

Santillo used his position and his residence in the rectory “to ingratiate and integrate himself” to the victim throughout elementary and high school, the victim claims in the suit.

In 1983, when the victim was a teenager, Santillo allegedly took him to the church rectory and gave him alcohol. Once he plied the student with “beer and other liquor,” he allegedly molested him, the lawsuit claims.

The priest also took the student on a trip to Disney World in Florida, where “Santillo again purchased and provided minor plaintiff with beer and liquor,” the suit claims.

After the victim drank alcohol, Santillo asked if he could watch the teenager “engage in sexual intercourse with a prostitute that Father Santillo would provide.” The teen refused, the lawsuit states.

While in Florida, the priest again allegedly groped and sexually abused the victim, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit states Santillo left the ministry in 1992 but returned to work in at least one church as an administrative assistant until his arrest in the late 1990s.

Despite multiple complaints of sexual abuse, Santillo was never removed from his position within the diocese, the lawsuit states.

“Instead, Father Santillo’s reign of terror (was) propped up by religious authority,” which allowed him to abuse victims, the suit states.

Santillo, who was known as “Father Mike,” pleaded guilty in June 1999 to sexually assaulting a 13-year-old altar boy and molesting three of the teen’s friends in his living quarters at the church rectory in Perth Amboy.

A judge sentenced Santillo to serve 10 years in the state’s Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Avenel for sex offenders.

Santillo died of lymphoma on May 10, 2000 at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, where he had been transferred from the sex-offender treatment center, according to published reports.

In addition to Santillo’s estate, the lawsuit names the diocese, St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church and St. Joseph Parish. The suit alleges gross negligence, along with negligent supervision, hiring and retention.

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.

December 7, 2020

Analysis: What is waiting for Bishop Fisher in Buffalo?

WASHINGTON D.C.
Catholic News Agency

December 5, 2020

On Tuesday, the Vatican announced that Bishop Michael Fisher, auxiliary bishop of Washington, D.C., will serve as the next Bishop of Buffalo. He will be installed as bishop on Jan. 15, taking over a diocese rocked by scandals in recent years.

Awaiting Fisher on his first day is a chancery with a tarnished reputation, a diocese named in hundreds of clergy abuse lawsuits, an ongoing bankruptcy process, the possible closure of parishes and schools, and a faithful weary of scandal.

At his introductory press conference on Tuesday, Fisher pledged transparency—and his promise looks to be tested from the beginning.

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.

St. Cloud diocese bankruptcy plan approved to settle abuse claims

MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

December 4, 2020

A bankruptcy court has approved a reorganization plan for the Catholic Diocese of St. Cloud to settle legal claims of clergy abuse survivors.

Two years ago, the St. Cloud diocese announced that it planned to file for bankruptcy after receiving 74 claims of sexual abuse of minors.

Those claims were filed during a three-year window that lifted the statute of limitations on allegations of clergy abuse in Minnesota.

Last May, the diocese announced the two sides had reached an agreement that included a $22.5 million trust to compensate abuse survivors. The diocese also agreed to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

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.

[Opinion] In an age of institutional failure, ‘Star Wars’ is saving my faith

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

December 5, 2020

By Jennifer Vosters

As a Catholic woman and a diehard science-fiction/fantasy fan, I’m used to feeling underrepresented.

I learned early on not to hold my breath for three-dimensional women to take center stage in the stories and Scriptures, homilies and home-worlds I loved. I learned to connect with Frodo and Harry and Luke — and with St. Paul and St. Francis and Thomas Merton. But to see the heroic spiritual journeys of women at the fore? Mission: Improbable.

Enter “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.”

All the great sci-fi/fantasy franchises involve deeply spiritual themes, but “Star Wars” takes it a step further: There is religion. We get a divine Force, an order of peacekeeping monks, even a common blessing (“May the Force be with you”). But while binge-watching “The Clone Wars” animated series after the release of its much-anticipated final season this spring, I was not prepared for Ahsoka Tano.

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.

[Book Review] Walking with Ghosts: A Memoir by Gabriel Byrne

UNITED KINGDOM
Morning Star

December 7, 2020

By Fiona O’Connor

Fiona O’Connor finds that Gabriel Byrne breaks the celebrity mould in his unflinching account of an Irish childhood and subsequent success as a screen actor

“Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.” So wrote Frank McCourt in the opening of Angela’s Ashes, his bestselling spawner of the genre dubbed misery-lit.

In his new memoir, actor Gabriel Byrne has generated his own take on the legacy of an Irish childhood, thus creating perhaps a unique form — that of the celebrity artist opening up to scrutiny many of his most intimate experiences.

In it, the iconic figure, hero and anti-hero of Hollywood classics, offers valuable insight on male vulnerability, particularly so in light of recent church child-abuse scandals and the #metoo movement.

Walking with Ghosts is an account of a working-class upbringing in the harsh economy of 1960s Dublin. Byrne’s father was a cooper in the Guinness brewery, laid off when barrel-makers’ skills were no longer needed and his mother, a nurse, maintained the family.

It was a time when deep faith and submission to rigid Catholic authority was still a social given. Byrne’s excitement in becoming an altar boy and the awe involved in rituals of preparation — boys dressing the priest in his pristine robes, boys learning their Latin — is ended when he was thrown against the wall of a trusted priest and sexually abused when he was 12.

Decades later, Byrne is still unable to confront this man with his crime.

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.

Opinion: Archdiocese must be held accountable for priest abuse

CINCINNATI (OH)
Cincinnati Enquirer

December 7, 2020

By Teresa Dinwiddie-Herrmann, Jan Seidel, Dan Frondorf and Kathy Weyer

After a two-year investigation, the Vatican recently released a 450-plus-page report about now-defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and how the Catholic Church hierarchy failed to stop his predatory sexual behavior. Now, local Catholics are owed a similar in-depth investigation into the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and its complicity in failing to protect children from predatory sexual behaviors of local priests, such as Geoffrey Drew.

Although the Drew story is a microcosm of McCarrick’s, the system that allowed both men to go unpunished for decades, in spite of countless complaints, exists in every Catholic diocese, including our own. Drew, former pastor of St. Ignatius of Loyola Parish, was arraigned on nine counts of rape in July 2019, finally halting his access to children.

Shortly thereafter, Concerned Catholics of Cincinnati was joined by over 1,500 area Catholics in petitioning the Vatican and 80 Catholic leaders to investigate the handling of the Drew case by the Archdiocese. In a well-researched document, our group cited complaints about Drew spanning 30 years, three counties and four parishes. These complaints were both in writing and in personal meetings with then-Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Binzer. Even Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Mike Gmoser warned the Archdiocese to “keep an eye” on Drew, to assign him a monitor and to keep him away from children.

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.

Mastercard to investigate claims of child abuse on Pornhub

SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
Independent

December 6, 2020

By Josh Marcus

A column in the New York Times accused the site of allowing—and monetizing—harmful and illegal content featuring minors

Mastercard said it is investigating whether one of its customers, the popular adult site Pornhub, features videos of child assault and other illegal activity, after a New York Times column alleged the site contained numerous examples of abusive and illegal content featuring minors.

“We are investigating the allegations raised in the New York Times and are working with MindGeek’s bank to understand this situation, in addition to the other steps they have already taken,” Mastercard said in a statement to Bloomberg News, referring to Pornhub’s parent company, which accepts Mastercard payments via an intermediary. “If the claims are substantiated, we will take immediate action.”

Visa is taking similar steps.

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.

Investigator: Pueblo Diocese improved systems to handle reports of priests’ misconduct

DENVER (CO)
La Junta Tribune-Democrat

By Robert Boczkiewicz

https://www.lajuntatribunedemocrat.com/story/news/2020/12/06/investigator-pueblo-diocese-improves-process-reporting-misconduct-child-sex-abuse-catholic-church/3850402001/

An investigator of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests said the Pueblo Diocese has set up systems to significantly improve its handling of reports of misconduct.

Investigator Bob Troyer, a former federal prosecutor, also said the systems, which are new, are yet untested.

Troyer worked last year and this year for the Colorado Attorney General’s Office to delve into hundreds of cases of sexual assaults by priests in the state’s three dioceses: Pueblo, Colorado Springs and Denver.

In a new report last week, Troyer said at least 59 children were sexually abused by 23 priests from 1950 to 1999 in the Pueblo Diocese, which stretches across southern Colorado. It includes Otero, Crowley and Bent counties.

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.

5 takeaways from Bishop-elect William Byrne’s interview with The Republican

SPRINGFIELD (MA)
The Republican

December 6, 2020

By Anne-Gerard Flynn

Bishop-designate William Byrne, who will be ordained Dec. 14 as the 10th bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, is the author of the recently published “5 Things with Father Bill,” that tackles diverse topics and offers brief insights on each.

Cardinal Sean O’Malley of the Archdiocese of Boston will be the principal celebrant and consecrator for the invitation-only Episcopal Ordination and Installation Mass at 2 p.m. at St. Michael’s Cathedral.

Byrne has been a parish pastor for more than two decades in the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., and his ministries there have included outreach to Catholic members of the Congress as well serving as chaplain for the University of Maryland’s Catholic Student Center in College Park, Maryland.

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.

December 6, 2020

Editorial: The awful math of church abuse settlements

PITTSBURGH (PA)
Tribune-Review

December 5, 2020

It can be hard to calculate damages when you can’t see the breakage.

Crash a car, and the body shop can tell you precisely what it will cost to turn bent and twisted metal back into a shiny vehicle with a sleek paint job. Burn down a house, and the insurance company knows to the penny how much it takes to replace it.

But how do you know the cost of a human spirit? If anyone should know, it should be the Catholic Church, an organization built on the saving and tending of the soul.

On Thursday, the Kenneth Feinberg Group announced the end of two years of work as independent mediator for the Diocese of Pittsburgh in the aftermath of the clergy sexual abuse grand jury report unveiled in 2018.

The mediator reported a bottom line of $19 million paid out to 224 claimants. It is the latest set of figures in a terrible math problem.

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.

Catholic Church pays $7 million to victims in Colorado of sexual abuse by priests

DENVER (CO)
Reuters

December 1, 2020

By Keith Coffman

The Roman Catholic Church has paid out $7.3 million to more than 70 people sexually abused during their youth by priests in Colorado parishes, settling claims dating back over two decades, authorities said on Tuesday.

The settlement, capping a 22-month investigation, was announced by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser in a supplement to a report first released last year when a victims compensation fund was set up.

Over the past year, investigators uncovered 46 new cases and identified nine more priests as offenders not named in the initial report, including the late Monsignor Charles Woodrich, who was known nationally for his outreach to Denver’s homeless community.

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.

Catholic Church pays $7 million to victims in Colorado of sexual abuse by priests

DENVER (CO)
Reuters

December 1, 2020

By Keith Coffman

The Roman Catholic Church has paid out $7.3 million to more than 70 people sexually abused during their youth by priests in Colorado parishes, settling claims dating back over two decades, authorities said on Tuesday.

The settlement, capping a 22-month investigation, was announced by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser in a supplement to a report first released last year when a victims compensation fund was set up.

Over the past year, investigators uncovered 46 new cases and identified nine more priests as offenders not named in the initial report, including the late Monsignor Charles Woodrich, who was known nationally for his outreach to Denver’s homeless community.

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.

There is a Need for Priestly Fraternity and Reform

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Register

December 5, 2020

By Robert Klesko

Our clergy cannot neglect the power of regular and prayerful fraternity.

I was pleasantly surprised that my articles from last year “The Diaconate and the Abuse Crisis” and “The Deacon as Moral Watchman” caused a little discussion online. I was pleased to find a wonderful critique by Deacon Matthew Newsome (Diocese of Charlotte) on his blog Test Everything. Deacon Matthew concludes, “Klesko argues for more deacons serving in administrative roles on the diocesan level. But even just increasing social opportunities for priests and deacons to bond with one another as brother clerics, especially with their bishop, would be a much-welcomed move in the right direction.”

I was thinking of this within the context of the recent desecration and scandal in the Archdiocese of New Orleans and the McCarrick report. In both cases, there were failures of fraternal support and correction. In both cases, there was a kind of clerical isolationism that perpetuated sinful behavior. After reflecting on these examples, it is clear that the Church failed in her obligation to correct the erring and to protect the vulnerable. The need for reform becomes more urgent!

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.

There is a Need for Priestly Fraternity and Reform

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Register

December 5, 2020

By Robert Klesko

Our clergy cannot neglect the power of regular and prayerful fraternity.

I was pleasantly surprised that my articles from last year “The Diaconate and the Abuse Crisis” and “The Deacon as Moral Watchman” caused a little discussion online. I was pleased to find a wonderful critique by Deacon Matthew Newsome (Diocese of Charlotte) on his blog Test Everything. Deacon Matthew concludes, “Klesko argues for more deacons serving in administrative roles on the diocesan level. But even just increasing social opportunities for priests and deacons to bond with one another as brother clerics, especially with their bishop, would be a much-welcomed move in the right direction.”

I was thinking of this within the context of the recent desecration and scandal in the Archdiocese of New Orleans and the McCarrick report. In both cases, there were failures of fraternal support and correction. In both cases, there was a kind of clerical isolationism that perpetuated sinful behavior. After reflecting on these examples, it is clear that the Church failed in her obligation to correct the erring and to protect the vulnerable. The need for reform becomes more urgent!

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.

NYC church security guard accuses priest of sexual assault

NEW YORK (NY)
New York Post

December 2, 2020

By Kenneth Garger

A security guard at a Manhattan church has accused a priest of sexually assaulting her after she says she caught him watching gay pornography in his office on Nov. 4, according to reports.

Ashley Gonzalez, 22, was working her second day on the job at the Church of St. Michael in Midtown when Fr. George Rutler allegedly attacked her, News 12 reported.

Gonzalez said the alleged assault came after she filmed a man — who she says is Rutler — watching porn on a church computer.

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.

NYC church security guard accuses priest of sexual assault

NEW YORK (NY)
New York Post

December 2, 2020

By Kenneth Garger

A security guard at a Manhattan church has accused a priest of sexually assaulting her after she says she caught him watching gay pornography in his office on Nov. 4, according to reports.

Ashley Gonzalez, 22, was working her second day on the job at the Church of St. Michael in Midtown when Fr. George Rutler allegedly attacked her, News 12 reported.

Gonzalez said the alleged assault came after she filmed a man — who she says is Rutler — watching porn on a church computer.

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.

Scots abuse survivor handed £100k in damages after horror childhood in care

SCOTLAND
Daily Record

December 6, 2020

By Jenny Morrison

Victim N was locked in cupboards, beaten with a stick and sexually abused when he was being looked after as a child.

An abuse survivor has secured £100,000 in damages after being molested and beaten while in care.

The man – known as Victim N – was locked in cupboards, beaten with a stick and sexually abused when he was being looked after as a child by the Sisters of Nazareth Catholic order.

He was then moved to council-run Auldhouse Care Home in Glasgow, only to be subjected to worse violence.

Victim N, now 58 and living in England, raised a legal action after spending decades coming to terms with what happened.

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.

Scots abuse survivor handed £100k in damages after horror childhood in care

SCOTLAND
Daily Record

December 6, 2020

By Jenny Morrison

Victim N was locked in cupboards, beaten with a stick and sexually abused when he was being looked after as a child.

An abuse survivor has secured £100,000 in damages after being molested and beaten while in care.

The man – known as Victim N – was locked in cupboards, beaten with a stick and sexually abused when he was being looked after as a child by the Sisters of Nazareth Catholic order.

He was then moved to council-run Auldhouse Care Home in Glasgow, only to be subjected to worse violence.

Victim N, now 58 and living in England, raised a legal action after spending decades coming to terms with what happened.

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.

Judge asked to halt abuse victims’ church properties lawsuits

ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
Albuquerque Journal

December 6, 2020

By Colleen Heild

The century-old, shuttered St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in downtown Raton is up for sale. And what a “great value,” a real estate listing touts, with an asking price of $199,500.

Wendy Mileta went to Mass there years ago. Her parents paid for its stunning stained-glass window in honor of her great-grandparents. Now she is the listing agent for the historic former church that Colfax County records show is owned by the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. Also for sale is a vacated Catholic school in the northeastern New Mexico city of about 7,000.

A dispute over St. Patrick’s and hundreds of other church properties is at the crux of three new lawsuits pending as the archdiocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization enters its third year without a settlement.

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Judge asked to halt abuse victims’ church properties lawsuits

ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
Albuquerque Journal

December 6, 2020

By Colleen Heild

The century-old, shuttered St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in downtown Raton is up for sale. And what a “great value,” a real estate listing touts, with an asking price of $199,500.

Wendy Mileta went to Mass there years ago. Her parents paid for its stunning stained-glass window in honor of her great-grandparents. Now she is the listing agent for the historic former church that Colfax County records show is owned by the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. Also for sale is a vacated Catholic school in the northeastern New Mexico city of about 7,000.

A dispute over St. Patrick’s and hundreds of other church properties is at the crux of three new lawsuits pending as the archdiocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization enters its third year without a settlement.

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Abuse in Care Inquiry: ‘I was ashamed and felt totally trapped’

NEW ZEALAND
Radio New Zealand

December 6, 2020

By Andrew McRae

A man has presented a harrowing testimony of being terrified as a boy for every day of school through two years, at the Abuse in Care inquiry.

Known only as John, the 52 year said he was sexually abused 40 years ago at the Marist-run Xavier Intermediate School in Christchurch, between 1980 and 1982, by principal Brother Giles.

John describes Giles as a very loud, big man who used fear and intimidation to get what he wanted.

John was at the school for only a short time before Brother Giles took an interest in him.

He said it started with grooming.

”When he was grooming me it was about two or three times a week, but once the sexual abuse started it would be sometimes a couple of times a day. Other times it would be two or three days break. I never knew whether it was going to be today, tomorrow or the next day.”

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Abuse in Care Inquiry: ‘I was ashamed and felt totally trapped’

NEW ZEALAND
Radio New Zealand

December 6, 2020

By Andrew McRae

A man has presented a harrowing testimony of being terrified as a boy for every day of school through two years, at the Abuse in Care inquiry.

Known only as John, the 52 year said he was sexually abused 40 years ago at the Marist-run Xavier Intermediate School in Christchurch, between 1980 and 1982, by principal Brother Giles.

John describes Giles as a very loud, big man who used fear and intimidation to get what he wanted.

John was at the school for only a short time before Brother Giles took an interest in him.

He said it started with grooming.

”When he was grooming me it was about two or three times a week, but once the sexual abuse started it would be sometimes a couple of times a day. Other times it would be two or three days break. I never knew whether it was going to be today, tomorrow or the next day.”

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CIDH se compromete a trabajar con ONG en abusos clericales

[Inter-American Commission on Human Rights commits to working with NGOs on clerical abuses]

MEXICO CITY (MEXICO)
Associated Press

December 3, 2020

By Maria Verza

La Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH) se comprometió el jueves a trabajar con las organizaciones que defienden a las víctimas de la pederastia clerical para garantizar que los Estados americanos protejan mejor los derechos de la infancia y que los abusos sexuales contra menores no queden impunes.

“Tienen nuestro compromiso más firme y absoluto de que estamos en esta causa”, dijo Flávia Piovesan, vicepresidenta de la Comisión durante una audiencia pública retransmitida en las redes de la CIDH.

La relatora de los derechos de los menores, Esmeralda Arosemena, agregó que la Comisión usaría las herramientas a su disposición “para pedir información en el tema de impunidad de los casos que no están siendo resueltos”.

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION: The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) pledged Thursday to work with organizations that defend victims of clerical pedophilia to ensure that American states better protect the rights of children and that children sexual abuse against minors does not go unpunished.

“They have our most firm and absolute commitment that we are in this cause,” said Flávia Piovesan, vice president of the Commission during a public hearing broadcast on the IACHR networks.

The rapporteur for the rights of minors, Esmeralda Arosemena, added that the Commission would use the tools at its disposal “to request information on the issue of impunity in cases that are not being resolved.”]

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.

CIDH se compromete a trabajar con ONG en abusos clericales

[Inter-American Commission on Human Rights commits to working with NGOs on clerical abuses]

MEXICO CITY (MEXICO)
Associated Press

December 3, 2020

By Maria Verza

La Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH) se comprometió el jueves a trabajar con las organizaciones que defienden a las víctimas de la pederastia clerical para garantizar que los Estados americanos protejan mejor los derechos de la infancia y que los abusos sexuales contra menores no queden impunes.

“Tienen nuestro compromiso más firme y absoluto de que estamos en esta causa”, dijo Flávia Piovesan, vicepresidenta de la Comisión durante una audiencia pública retransmitida en las redes de la CIDH.

La relatora de los derechos de los menores, Esmeralda Arosemena, agregó que la Comisión usaría las herramientas a su disposición “para pedir información en el tema de impunidad de los casos que no están siendo resueltos”.

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION: The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) pledged Thursday to work with organizations that defend victims of clerical pedophilia to ensure that American states better protect the rights of children and that children sexual abuse against minors does not go unpunished.

“They have our most firm and absolute commitment that we are in this cause,” said Flávia Piovesan, vice president of the Commission during a public hearing broadcast on the IACHR networks.

The rapporteur for the rights of minors, Esmeralda Arosemena, added that the Commission would use the tools at its disposal “to request information on the issue of impunity in cases that are not being resolved.”]

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.

CIDH aborda pederastia clerical en América Latina

[Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Tackles Clerical Pedophilia in Latin America]

MEXICO CITY (MEXICO
Associated Press

December 2, 2020

By Maria Verza

La Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos abordará el jueves por primera vez en su historia la pederastia clerical en América Latina, un problema que afecta a 19 países de la región aunque asociaciones de víctimas aseguran que los casos conocidos son sólo la punta del iceberg.

El objetivo es que el sistema interamericano se pronuncie sobre “la responsabilidad de los Estados americanos en el encubrimiento o en la falta de justicia frente a las obligaciones asumidas en materia de derechos humanos de niños, niñas y adolescentes”, afirmó Adalberto Méndez, coordinador legal de la organización para el Fin de los Abusos Clericales (ECA, por sus siglas en inglés).

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION: The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will address on Thursday for the first time in its history clerical pedophilia in Latin America, a problem that affects 19 countries in the region, although victims’ associations assure that the known cases are only the tip of the iceberg.

The objective is for the inter-American system to rule on “the responsibility of the American states in the cover-up or lack of justice in the face of the obligations assumed in the area of ​​human rights of children and adolescents,” said Adalberto Méndez, legal coordinator from the organization for the End of Clerical Abuses (ECA, for its acronym in English).]

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Warnings from teachers, nuns, even a cop, didn’t get Buffalo Diocese to remove priests

BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

December 6, 2020

By Jay Tokasz

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/warnings-from-teachers-nuns-even-a-cop-didnt-get-buffalo-diocese-to-remove-priests/article_1c42fc4a-35b0-11eb-825c-6fdcffc61a8b.html

Top officials in the Buffalo Diocese failed to heed alarms about clergy misbehaving with minors, even when the warnings came from nuns, Catholic school teachers and other priests.

Diocese officials waited years, and sometimes decades, to separate accused priests from children and discipline them, according to diocese files revealed in a lawsuit filed last week by Attorney General Letitia James.

Such delays happened even when a Buffalo police captain approached diocese officials with concerns about a priest.

Take the case of the Rev. Dennis A. Fronczak. Two nuns wrote Bishop Edward D. Head in 1990 about Fronczak’s disturbing propensity for tickling girls. Diocese officials acknowledged the seriousness of what the nuns brought to their attention. They noted in a 1991 memo the priest’s “gravely imprudent and highly immature” behavior and a “pattern of activity that seems to be somewhat compulsive in nature.”

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‘Sexual sadist’ priest abused boy and locked him in church crypt

BIRMINGHAM (ENGLAND)
Birmingham Mail

December 6, 2020

By Paul Beard and Charlotte Paxton, Senior Video Journalist

Father Joseph Quigley – former national education advisor for Roman Catholic schools – also beat the boy while he was a parish priest in Warwickshire.

Joseph Quigley, a former national education advisor for Roman Catholic schools, sexually and physically abused a boy while he was a parish priest at a church near Warwick.

A ‘sexual sadist’ priest who worked as a private tutor sexually and physically abused a boy and locked him in a church crypt.

Father Joseph Quigly – who held various ‘presitigious’ roles including as national education advisor for Roman Catholic schools – sexually and physically abused a boy while he was a parish priest in Warwickshire.

The priest – described as a “sexual sadist” – rubbed the teenager’s inner thigh after making him wear gym kit, take showers with the door open, and inflicted ‘sado-masochistic’ punishments on him such as locking him in the church’s crypt.

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December 5, 2020

Colorado report names nine more priests accused of abusing minors decades ago

WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service via Catholic Philly

December 4, 2020

By Julie Asher

New findings in an investigation into clergy sex abuse in Colorado’s Catholic dioceses show substantiated claims that an additional nine Catholic priests abused minors decades ago.

Released Dec. 1, the findings are in a supplemental report from the lead investigator, former U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer, who continued to look into cases as more survivors came forward after the release of his initial report in October 2019.

“Importantly, the additional substantiated allegations continue to fit the same historical pattern from the first report,” Denver Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila said in a statement. “Over 85% of the incidents occurred more than 40 years ago during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and none of the substantiated incidents occurred in the last 20 years.”

“There are also no substantiated allegations against any current priest in active ministry,” he emphasized.

One of the nine newly identified priests is the late Father Charles “C.B.” Woodrich. Known to most as “Father Woody,” the popular pastor of Holy Ghost Church in downtown Denver was a leader in outreach to the homeless in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

For 15 years, from 1972 to 1987, he also was associate publisher and editor of the Denver Catholic Register, which was the archdiocesan weekly newspaper.

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Denver Archbishop Aquila Appears to Downplay New Catholic Church Abuse Cases

DENVER (CO)
Colorado Times Recorder

December 4, 2020

By Madeleine Schmidt

Following the release of a report this week on the history of child sexual abuse at the hands of Colorado Catholic priests that identified dozens of new survivors and nine new perpetrators, Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila seemed to once again downplay the severity of the abuse.

The supplemental report released Tuesday by the Colorado Attorney General’s office was a follow up to a report on clergy sexual abuse released last year. Tuesday’s report, which concludes a 22-month investigation into how Colorado’s three Catholic dioceses sheltered abusers over seven decades, identified an additional 46 abuse survivors and nine priests that came to light since the release of the first report.

Those cases include the late Rev. Charles B. Woodrich, known as Father Woody, who has long been touted by the church as an icon for altruism toward Denver’s homeless population, and Father Joe Walsh, who sexually abused children living at the Sacred Heart Orphanage in Pueblo.

In a letter published on the Denver Archdiocese’s website, Aquila seemed to diminish the severity of these new findings, underscoring the fact that in Colorado’s 212 documented abuse cases involving 52 priests, “over 85 percent of the incidents occurred more than 40 years ago,” and that “nearly half of the total incidents were committed by one man, Harold White.”

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Priest accused of abuse claim from 1970s cleared, but evidence points to another offender

ST. PAUL (MN)
Catholic Spirit – Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

December 4, 2020

By Maria Wiering

An investigation of an accusation of child sexual abuse against a deceased former pastor of St. John the Baptist in New Brighton has cleared his name, but revealed that the perpetrator may have been a man who later became a priest.

In a Dec. 2 statement to the parish, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said that the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment investigated a claim made earlier this year against Msgr. Paul Koscielniak, who died in 1980. The victim-survivor, then a minor, is deceased. The investigation found evidence that the boy was likely abused on several occasions by an adult at the parish, but the evidence did not support the allegation against Msgr. Koscielniak, the parish’s pastor from 1950-1977.

Instead, the abuser may have been Joseph Wajda, who was a transitional deacon at St. John the Baptist during the time frame the abuse is believed to have occurred, Archbishop Hebda said.

“The abuse was said to have occurred in the early 1970s at St. John the Baptist, where the minor was a student at the school and served as an altar boy for the parish,” he said.

“Records indicate that at the time period in question, Joseph Wajda was assigned to the parish as a transitional deacon as he prepared for his 1973 ordination to the priesthood.”

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Learning from the McCarrick report

ST. PAUL (MN)
Catholic Spirit – Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

December 3, 2020

By Archbishop Bernard Hebda

Dec. 1 marked my 11th anniversary as a bishop. There are some days when my first day as the bishop of Gaylord seems like yesterday, and others when it seems like a lifetime ago. Never having been involved in diocesan administration and never having lived in Michigan, I knew I had a great deal to learn. I only said “yes” because of my confidence in Pope Benedict, and my belief that the Holy Spirit could work through him.

While the diocese of Gaylord has been described as a pine-scented Eden, it presented me with a steep learning curve. The Lord manifested his goodness, however, in giving me a very patient flock. I had initially worried about the weighty responsibility of passing on the teaching of the apostles, and leading the Church liturgically, but I soon learned that a bishop in the United States is challenged in multiple areas: leadership, governance and administration.

I had been out of the country and working in Rome when the Church in the United States was rocked by the abuse crisis of 2002, so the Dallas Charter had not really been an everyday, lived reality for me before I came home to serve as the bishop of Gaylord. I knew, however, that the diocesan protocols prompted by the Charter and the related Essential Norms would have to be meticulously followed in any case where the allegation was that a minor had been hurt. As a young, inexperienced bishop, I prayed fervently that I would never be presented with an allegation involving someone under 18. And God was good to me. Yet, I have learned over these last 11 years that the abuse crisis has been, and will continue to be, a lived reality throughout the United States and across the globe.

The recently released McCarrick report reminds us of a reality that has become increasingly apparent to me in the last 11 years: Abuse is insidious regardless of the age of the victim. My heart aches not only for those abused as children, but also for the seminarians and priests, all adults, who felt powerless to come forward to report the abuse they had sustained, or didn’t trust that a bishop or cardinal would be held accountable.

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Ex-DeSales University priest’s child porn included torture of young children, feds say

EASTON (PA)
Express-Times

December 3, 2020

By Sarah Cassi

A former DeSales University priest and advisor to the royal family of Monaco is accused of possessing thousands of images of child pornography, including some described as the torture of very young children, according to federal authorities.

William McCandless, 56, of Wilmington, Delaware, was charged by indictment Thursday with three counts of child pornography offenses, U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain announced.

McCandless, who was previously assigned to DeSales University, appeared Thursday in federal court before Magistrate Court Judge Henry Perkin and was arraigned in the case.

McCandless was placed on house incarceration with electronic monitoring, and ordered to surrender his passport because he has frequently traveled overseas and has numerous contacts abroad, prosecutors said.

“McCandless’ alleged conduct here is extremely disturbing. It occurred not just overseas but continued while he crossed international borders, purporting to do the work of the Church,” McSwain said in a news release. “The innocent children in these images will have to deal with the impact of this alleged abuse for the rest of their lives. We can never make them fully whole again, but we can bring them some measure of justice by investigating and prosecuting the people who drive the demand for this abuse, no matter their affiliations.”

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Buffalo Diocese has new bishop, but controversial attorneys, aides remain

BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW

December 4, 2020

By Charlie Specht

Connors, LiPuma criticized in AG report

Terrence M. Connors has had so much influence at the Diocese of Buffalo chancery for the past 25 years that some employees privately called him “Bishop Terry.”

But the smooth-talking criminal defense attorney was the subject of criticism in a blistering report by State Attorney General Letitia James that accused the diocese of a “systemic” cover-up of sex abuse allegations. Diocese lawyers were cited 46 times in the highly critical lawsuit filed by New York’s top prosecutor.

And Connors isn’t the only adviser of disgraced Bishop Richard J. Malone who has managed — despite Malone’s resignation a year ago today — to retain his influence inside the Catholic Center as newly appointed Bishop Michael Fisher takes the helm.

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‘Sexual sadist’ priest locked boy in crypt and sexually touched him during six-year campaign of abuse

COVENTRY (ENGLAND)
Coventry Telegraph

December 5, 2020

By Paul Beard and Ben Eccleston

The disgraced former national education advisor for Roman Catholic schools sexually and physically abused a boy while he was a parish priest in Warwickshire.

Father Joseph Quigley – described as a “sexual sadist” – rubbed the teenager’s inner thigh after making him wear gym kit, take showers with the door open, and inflicted ‘sado-masochistic’ punishments on him such as locking him in the church’s crypt.

He also beat the boy with a hurling stick during his time at St Charles Borromeo RC church in Hampton-on-the-Hill near Warwick.

The offences took place while he was the parish priest at the church from 2002 until he was forced to resign in disgrace, a jury at Warwick Crown Court heard.

Quigley, 56, now of Aston Hall, Church Lane, Stone in Staffordshire, denied four charges of sexual activity with a child, two of sexual assault, two of false imprisonment and one of cruelty.

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Prominent Rockaway priest sued for sexually abusing homeless teen

JAMAICA (NY)
Queens Daily Eagle

December 4, 2020

By David Brand

A prominent Queens priest known for his work with drug users and victims of elder abuse has been accused of sexually abusing a homeless teen for two years while working at churches in Belle Harbor and Broad Channel in the early 1970s.

Retired priest Coleman Costello was sued Tuesday in Queens Supreme Court under the state’s Child Victims Act. The lawsuit charges the Brooklyn Diocese, which oversees Queens Catholic institutions, of protecting Costello despite knowing about the abuse.

Plaintiff C. Evan Manderson, 63, says Costello began sexually abusing him when he was a homeless high school freshman in 1971. At the time, Costello was working at St. Francis de Sales church in Belle Harbor. He was running youth programs at a Rockaway Beach rec center when he first encountered Manderson and began showing him affection, a process known as grooming, according to the complaint.

“As a homeless youth, Plaintiff was uniquely vulnerable and incapable of protecting himself,” the lawsuit states.

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Prominent New York Priest Is Investigated Over Sexual Assault Accusation

NEW YORK (NY)
New York Times

December 4, 2020

By Liam Stack

The Manhattan district attorney’s office said it was investigating the Rev. George William Rutler after a security guard said he attacked her at his church.

A nationally prominent Catholic priest is under criminal investigation after a security guard assigned to his church accused him of sexually assaulting her on Election Day, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said on Friday.

The priest, the Rev. George William Rutler, 75, is accused of watching pornography and masturbating in front of the guard, Ashley Gonzalez, 22, without her consent in his office at the Church of St. Michael the Archangel. He then attacked her physically and sexually when she tried to flee from the room, Ms. Gonzalez told the police.

In a letter to his parish after the accusations surfaced, Father Rutler denied Ms. Gonzalez’s claim that he “improperly touched her.” But he did not respond to her allegation that he had watched pornography and masturbated in front of her.

Part of the alleged encounter was recorded by Ms. Gonzalez on her cellphone. She provided the video clip, which shows a man who fits Father Rutler’s physical description, to law enforcement officials and to The New York Times.

Father Rutler, one of the most influential parish priests in the United States, is a well-known figure in the world of Catholic conservatism, and has been outspoken in his criticism of liberalism and the pontificate of Pope Francis.

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December 4, 2020

The Children of Pornhub

NEW YORK (NY)
New York Times

December 4, 2020

By Nicholas Kristof

Why does Canada allow this company to profit off videos of exploitation and assault?

Pornhub prides itself on being the cheery, winking face of naughty, the website that buys a billboard in Times Square and provides snow plows to clear Boston streets. It donates to organizations fighting for racial equality and offers steamy content free to get people through Covid-19 shutdowns.

That supposedly “wholesome Pornhub” attracts 3.5 billion visits a month, more than Netflix, Yahoo or Amazon. Pornhub rakes in money from almost three billion ad impressions a day. One ranking lists Pornhub as the 10th-most-visited website in the world.

Yet there’s another side of the company: Its site is infested with rape videos. It monetizes child rapes, revenge pornography, spy cam videos of women showering, racist and misogynist content, and footage of women being asphyxiated in plastic bags. A search for “girls under18” (no space) or “14yo” leads in each case to more than 100,000 videos. Most aren’t of children being assaulted, but too many are.

After a 15-year-old girl went missing in Florida, her mother found her on Pornhub — in 58 sex videos. Sexual assaults on a 14-year-old California girl were posted on Pornhub and were reported to the authorities not by the company but by a classmate who saw the videos. In each case, offenders were arrested for the assaults, but Pornhub escaped responsibility for sharing the videos and profiting from them.

Pornhub is like YouTube in that it allows members of the public to post their own videos. A great majority of the 6.8 million new videos posted on the site each year probably involve consenting adults, but many depict child abuse and nonconsensual violence. Because it’s impossible to be sure whether a youth in a video is 14 or 18, neither Pornhub nor anyone else has a clear idea of how much content is illegal.

Unlike YouTube, Pornhub allows these videos to be downloaded directly from its website. So even if a rape video is removed at the request of the authorities, it may already be too late: The video lives on as it is shared with others or uploaded again and again.

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

Diocese pays $19 million to abuse survivors through fund

PITTSBURGH (PA)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

December 3, 2020

By Peter Smith

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh is paying more than $19 million to 224 survivors of sexual abuse by its priests through an out-of-court compensation fund launched in the wake of grand jury revelations in 2018.

The independent mediator, the Washington, D.C.-based Kenneth Feinberg Group, awarded $19,237,000 through the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, That averages to $85,879 for each claim that was accepted, according to figures from the diocese’s Thursday announcement.

Bishop David Zubik acknowledged that “nothing can really respond to the kind of trauma that they have experienced” but that the program was to “try to show our support and to try to help in the healing of victims of clergy sexual abuse.”

“The most important reality in all of this are the people that have been hurt,” he said in a video news conference.

The payments ranged from “a few thousand dollars, up to $400,000,” said Christopher Ponticello, general counsel for the diocese. Those who accept payments waive their right to sue.

Fifty-two people who received offers rejected them, and another 70 claims were denied.

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Latest figure in New Orleans clergy abuse scandal worked with Girl Scouts, was Pines Village pastor

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WWL 4 CBS

December 3, 2020

By David Hammer

https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/investigations/david-hammer/latest-figure-in-new-orleans-clergy-abuse-scandal-worked-with-girl-scouts-was-pines-village-pastor/289-2f7fbc83-f571-426e-9e65-d918fcb77b5e

“Here we are, two years later, and we’re still counting new names. And why?”

For much of the 1970s, the Rev. Joseph M. deWater was known as the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ spiritual director of Girl Scouts for Catholic families, their parents and their leaders.

His name ended up on the side of a gymnasium at the New Orleans East where he spent 15 years as pastor beginning in the mid-1980s, before he retired, moved to a small village in the Netherlands and faded into relative obscurity.

But now deWater’s name has resurfaced locally. The archdiocese on Wednesday revealed that he is facing possible punishment from the church following an accusation that he had molested a minor. Archdiocesan officials said they had shared the allegations with law enforcement.

New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond said he has also suspended deWater, 85, from performing any clerical duties pending the conclusion of the penal process, whose potential duration wasn’t immediately clear.

Attempts to contact deWater for comment haven’t been successful.

The archdiocese’s announcement on deWater didn’t contain any information about the nature of the alleged molestation or provide details on where the clergyman had worked in New Orleans before his retirement. The archdiocese typically withholds such details until investigations into abuse claims deem them credible.

However, newspaper archives and church records suggest deWater at one time maintained a relatively high-profile presence in promoting participation with the local Girl Scouts scene. He was also either pastor or assistant pastor of at least four parishes in the metro area, including a lengthy stint at the since-closed Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in the Pines Village section of New Orleans East.

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Catholic priest named as a child abuser in new report was a counselor at church camp in 1958 when 10-year-old deaf boy disappeared before skeletal remains were found a year later

LONDON (ENGLAND)
Daily Mail

December 3, 2020

By Rachel Sharp

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9014259/Catholic-priest-named-child-abuser-church-camp-1958-deaf-boy-10-disappeared.html

A Catholic priest who was named as a child sex abuser in a new report was a counselor at a church camp in 1958 when a 10-year-old deaf boy disappeared before his skeletal remains were discovered a year later.

Jerry Repola worked at the Catholic Camp St. Malo in Colorado in August 1958, when Bobby Bizup vanished in mysterious circumstances after a day of fishing in the mountains.

Bones belonging to the little boy were found in July 1959 in a spot that had been extensively searched by a 500-strong crew, the Colorado Civil Air Patrol and an Indian tracker the year before.

It has now been revealed that Repola, who died in March 1971 from a long illness, sexually abused a teenage boy when he was a parish priest in Grand Junction in 1967 and authorities believe the boy could be one of several victims.

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Chicago archdiocese to pay $1.5 million in sexual abuse suit

CHICAGO (IL)
Associated Press

December 3, 2020

By Don Babwin

The Archdiocese of Chicago has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a man who says he was sexually abused as a child by a defrocked priest who was convicted of sexually abusing several boys, the man’s attorney said Thursday.

The settlement agreement announced in a news release by attorney Lyndsay Markley is the latest dark chapter in the story of Daniel McCormack, one of the most notorious pedophiles in the history of the archdiocese.

It is just the latest archdiocese settlement with men who alleged they were abused as children by McCormack, pushing the total payments in such suits past $11 million. After the Chicago Tribune reported that the church agreed to pay more than $7.5 million in 2017 alone, it agreed to pay another $2.9 million the next year.

The archdiocese declined to discuss the latest settlement.

The allegations against McCormack date back decades and involve more than two dozen boys, according to news reports. In 2007, he was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing five boys. In 2009, just before he was eligible for parole, he was designated by the state as a sexually violent person so that he could be held after his release date at a secure state facility. Then, in 2018, a judge at the urging of prosecutors found McCormack to be sexually violent and ordered that he stay in custody indefinitely in a state facility for sex offenders. It wasn’t immediately clear Thursday if he remains in custody.

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Ex-Cardinal McCarrick, FCRH ’54, Investigated in Vatican Report

BRONX (NY)
Fordham Observer

December 3, 2020

By Jill Rice

[Includes useful timeline by Maddie Sandholm.]

Minors, seminarians and priests accuse longtime archbishop of sexual abuse and abuse of authority

The Vatican released a 450-page report on Nov. 10 about Theodore McCarrick, ex-cardinal of the Catholic Church and Fordham College at Rose Hill ’54, regarding his abuse of power and authority, as well as his abuse of minors, seminarians and priests.

The new report is the result of Pope Francis’ call for a full investigation into McCarrick’s actions in October 2018. Relying primarily on official Vatican documents and correspondences, as well as witness interviews, the report covers McCarrick’s tenure as a priest, bishop, archbishop and cardinal over the past 50 years.

In 2019, McCarrick was defrocked, meaning that he is unable to perform the pastoral and ministerial duties of a priest or to marry, as a layperson — someone not ordained as a priest — would.

Fordham rescinded McCarrick’s honorary degree and has changed the name of its fellowship for a graduate program in International Political Economy and Development to the John Fidelis Hurley, S.J., Fellowship.

Rise to Power and First Allegations

According to the Vatican’s report, McCarrick was appointed as an auxiliary bishop in New York in 1977 under Pope Paul VI. He was then elevated to the seat of bishop of Metuchen, New Jersey, in 1981, and archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, in 1986 under St. John Paul II.

McCarrick was “lauded as a pastoral, intelligent and zealous bishop” and no credible information was present to suggest any misconduct, the report stated. He became the archbishop of Washington, D.C., in 2000 and created cardinal in 2001.

When he was elevated to cardinal, according to the introduction of the report, there were four general allegations against McCarrick.

Anyone who testified against McCarrick remained anonymous, and the report labeled the priests as Priest 1, Priest 2, and so on, for clarity.

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Abused as a boy, man calls for independent investigation

CANTERBURY (NEW ZEALAND)
Star News

December 4, 2020

A man who suffered horrific sexual abuse at two Dunedin schools says an independent body should be established to investigate church abuse cases.
The man, named only as Marc, presented his evidence to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care via video conference from Australia yesterday.

He outlined how, between the ages of 10 and 14, he was raped, sexually assaulted, and physically abused by two Christian Brothers, a priest, and a lay teacher, at St Edmund’s Intermediate School and St Paul’s High School.

The abuse took place in the 1970s and early 1980s.

He named four perpetrators — Br Desmond Fay, Br Vincent Sullivan, Ian Thompson and a local parish priest.

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Investigator says Pueblo Diocese has system in place that could improve handling of child sex abuse cases

PUEBLO (CO)
Pueblo Chieftain

December 3, 2020

By Robert Boczkiewicz

https://www.chieftain.com/story/news/2020/12/03/investigator-says-pueblo-diocese-has-systems-handle-abuse-claims/3810142001/

Denver – An investigator of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests says the Pueblo Diocese has set up systems that would significantly improve its handling of reports of misconduct.

Investigator Bob Troyer, a former federal prosecutor, also says the systems — which are new — are yet untested.

Troyer worked this year and last for the Colorado Attorney General’s Office to delve into hundreds of cases of sexual assaults by priests in the state’s three dioceses: Pueblo, Colorado Springs and Denver.

In Tuesday’s report, Troyer said at least 59 children were sexually abused by 23 priests from 1950 to 1999 in the Pueblo Diocese which stretches across Southern Colorado.

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Catholic Church shielded priest who sexually abused NY man as a kid: suit

NEW YORK (NY)
New York Post

December 3, 2020

By Priscilla DeGregory

A New York man says the Catholic Church shielded a priest who sexually abused him for years beginning when he was 13 and homeless in Queens in the 1970s, new court papers show.

Evan Manderson, 63, says the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn failed to report the Rev. Coleman Costello to law enforcement — and even allowed him to retire with a clean slate despite the church’s knowledge of his alleged sexual abuse of children, a new Queens Supreme Court lawsuit alleges.

Manderson says he was only 13 and was living on the streets when he met Costello through an outreach program for children in Rockaway Beach, the court documents say.

Costello allegedly groomed Manderson and sexually abused him for two years, starting in 1971, until he was 15, the court papers say.

A younger priest asked Manderson about Costello and his “questions reflect a prior knowledge and awareness that Fr. Costello had previously engaged in sexual abuse of children before Fr. Costello abused plaintiff,” the court documents allege.

“The Diocese, whose agents not only knew of but also facilitated Costello’s abuse
of children, never reported Fr. Costello to law enforcement but, instead, concealed the crimes against children,” the suit charges.

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December 3, 2020

First came sex abuse allegations at the abbey. Then secret payments. Then a suicide.

GREEN BAY (WI)
Press Gazette

December 3, 2020

By Haley BeMiller

Nate Lindstrom spent his life battling the memories of his past — and the priests at the center of it.

The cards arrived every month.

They often had a tranquil photo on the front, a snow-covered scene or a depiction of Jesus in a stained-glass window. The letter’s author wrote in messy cursive as he discussed the Green Bay Packers, family events or his “frozen” Toyota Camry that required a new battery.

The writer, a top clergyman in the Green Bay area, often ended his messages with “God Bless.”

Inside each card, Nate Lindstrom would find a check for $3,500 from the Norbertines of St. Norbert Abbey in De Pere.

The money provided Lindstrom with another month of financial stability. But it also took him back to his days as a teenager in Green Bay, when Lindstrom said he endured sexual abuse at the hands of three Norbertine priests.

According to interviews and documents, the Norbertines quietly sent Lindstrom monthly checks totaling more than $400,000 over 10 years after his parents complained to the Catholic order’s leaders about the harm their son suffered from being sexually abused by at least one priest in the late 1980s.

Lindstrom spent years in therapy and taking medication, and he eventually settled in suburban Minneapolis with his wife and three children. But in 2018, his life changed when the order’s abbot told him the monthly payments would end.

After that, Lindstrom pushed back and reported additional allegations, but those efforts came up empty. The last check arrived in May 2019. He became increasingly depressed and defeated.

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Archdiocese of Philadelphia spins off Downingtown psychiatric center where pedophile priests were sent

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

December 3, 2020

By Harold Brubaker

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia has spun off St. John Vianney Center, a behavioral health facility in Downingtown, where for decades priests accused of sexually abusing or raping children were sent for evaluation.

In exchange for its independence as a 50-bed nonprofit psychiatric hospital, the Vianney Center agreed to pay the archdiocese $12 million, according to archdiocesan financial statements published last week.

An archdiocese spokesperson said Vianney Center officials wanted the mental health hospital that has exclusively treated clergy and religious to be financially and administratively independent “while continuing its mission as a Catholic institution,” and it had the means to do so.

“In turn, the Archdiocese was in an environment where there was an immediate need for cash as a result of its plans to fund the IRRP,” the spokesperson said referring to the church’s Independent Reconciliation and Reparation Program, which was started two years ago to financially compensate victims of sexual abuse by priests.

A 2018 Pennsylvania Grand Jury report on sexual abuse by Pennsylvania priests outside of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia sharply criticized the Vianney Center and similar treatment centers in Maryland and New Mexico for doing a shoddy job protecting children from predatory priests.

“When a priest denied allegations of sexual abuse, he usually avoided any diagnosis related to the sexual abuse of children,” the report said. “Moreover, these institutions focused on a clinical diagnosis over actual behavior as reported by the victims. Put plainly, these institutions laundered accused priests, provided plausible deniability to the bishops, and permitted hundreds of known offenders to return to ministry.”

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Deceased priest added to abuse list, 2 more being investigated, according to Archdiocese of New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WDSU 6 NBC

December 2, 2020

https://www.wdsu.com/article/deceased-priest-added-to-abuse-list-2-more-being-investigated-according-to-archdiocese-of-new-orleans/34851919

The Archdiocese of New Orleans announced Wednesday that it concluded an investigation into allegations of abuse of minors against a deceased priest, who has since been added to the clergy abuse list. The organization also announced investigations into two retired priests.

According to a statement issued by the Archdiocese, the late Fr. Robert K. Cooper has been added to the Archdiocese of New Orleans Report Regarding Clergy Abuse found online at nolacatholic.org.

The Archdiocese said the deceased Fr. Cooper should not be confused with the Fr. Cooper, who is an active pastor in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

The complete assignment history for the deceased Robert Cooper is below …

*

Two retired priests placed on leave

The Archdiocese also announced it placed two retired priests on administrative leave pending the outcome of investigations lodged against them.

Those priests are Fr. Joseph M. deWater and Fr. J. Luis Fernandez.

Allegations against these priests, including the time frame and location of the allegations, were not included in the Archdiocese statement.

According to the Archdiocese, neither of the retired priests is living in the New Orleans area and neither has a formal pastoral assignment.

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Priest listed in sex abuse report was working at church camp in 1958 when deaf boy, 10, disappeared

DENVER (CO)
KUSA 9 News

December 2, 2020

By Kevin Vaughan

https://www.9news.com/article/news/investigations/priest-sex-abuse-report-church-camp-1958-when-deaf-boy-disappeared/73-31c23f99-ebb1-422a-b949-2c05e4971ee3

That means three counselors there that summer have now been credibly accused of sexual misconduct with children.

One of the Catholic priests newly named as a child sex abuser was a counselor at a church camp in August 1958 when a 10-year-old deaf boy disappeared under mysterious circumstances, 9Wants to Know has learned.

That makes him one of three seminarians who were counselors at Camp St. Malo that summer who have since had accusations of child sexual abuse sustained after a 22-month examination of church records by investigators working for the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.

Jerry Repola, who died in 1971 after a prolonged illness, sexually abused a teen-ager while he was assigned to a parish in Grand Junction, according to a supplemental report released this week by state Attorney General Phil Weiser.

It followed up on a report released in October 2019. Together, the two reports detail sexual abuse of at least 212 children in Colorado by 52 priests between 1950 and 1999.

The disappearance of Bobby Bizup – and the discovery of his remains nearly a year later high on Mount Meeker west of the camp – were the subject of a long-running 9Wants to Know investigation. It found that two counselors there when Bobby vanished, Harold Robert White and Neil Hewitt, were serial child sex abusers.

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Priest with southwest Iowa ties faces restrictions

COUNCIL BLUFFS (IA)
The Daily Nonpareil

December 3, 2020

By Tim Johnson

An Iowa priest who served in southwest Iowa early in his career has been restricted by Des Moines Bishop William Joensen after an investigation found evidence of sexual misconduct.

The Rev. Robert “Bud” Grant, who has been on administrative leave since March, will return to ministry with restrictions and supervision, with the approval of the school and Davenport Bishop Thomas Zinkula. He is a faculty member at St. Ambrose University in Davenport and a sacramental minister at St. Andrew Parish in Bluegrass.

The investigation followed an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor during the early 1990s, according to a press release from the Catholic Diocese of Des Moines. Since the investigation began in March, Joensen and the diocesan Allegation Review Committee gathered and reviewed evidence, including the initial complaint, examined an investigative report produced by a third party and consulted with experts in church law. The state attorney general’s office and law enforcement in Polk, Pottawattamie and Scott Counties are aware of the allegation of behavior occurring in the early 1990s.

“The investigation clearly established that the allegation did not meet the criteria of sexual abuse of a minor as defined by church law at the time of the incident, because the complainant was above majority age,” the press release stated. “However, it was also established that Father Grant engaged in behavior in select instances in the early 1990s that violated the Sixth Commandment and his priestly promises.”

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December 2, 2020

Roman Catholic Clergy Sexual Abuse of Children in Colorado from 1950 to 2020: Special Master’s Supplemental Report

DENVER (CO)
Office of the Attorney General

December 1, 2020

This Supplemental Report concludes 22 months of work investigating and reporting on a 70-year history of (1) Roman Catholic clergy child sexual abuse in Colorado and (2) the Colorado dioceses’ programs and systems for preventing it. Our investigation has produced a reckoning and accounting of the past and a presentation of lessons from which the Colorado dioceses can continue to improve its child-protection practices into the future.

Our Special Master’s Report on Roman Catholic Clergy Sexual Abuse of Children in Colorado from 1950 to 2019 (“First Report”) was issued on October 22, 2019. It can be found at https://coag.gov/app/uploads/2019/10/Special-Masters-Report_10.22.19_FINAL.pdf. That same month, Colorado’s 3 Roman Catholic dioceses launched the Independent Reconciliation and Reparations Program (“IRRP”). Over the ensuing 4 months, the IRRP solicited and reviewed claims from alleged child sex abuse victims of Roman Catholic clergy in Colorado, and it awarded financial compensation (paid by the relevant Colorado diocese) to those victims whose claims it deemed credible. During that period additional victims also made clergy child sex abuse reports directly to the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.

In July 2020, we were then engaged under a new agreement with the dioceses and the Colorado Attorney General’s Office to determine (1) whether those newly reported child sex abuse incidents are substantiated and (2) what Colorado’s 3 dioceses have and have not done to implement the 5-6 improvements to their child-protection systems that we recommended after we evaluated those systems in 2019.

The results of our review of all the newly reported allegations are as follows. All of these incidents occurred between 1951 and 1999:

– We substantiated 46 additional incidents of sexual abuse of children (37 boys and 9 girls) by 25 diocesan priests in Colorado. The majority of the children were between the ages of 10 and 14 when they were abused.

– 16 of those 25 priests were already identified in the First Report. 9 of those priests are newly identified in this Supplemental Report.

– 5 of the newly identified priests served in the Denver Archdiocese. They are Father Kenneth Funk, Father Daniel Kelleher, Father James Moreno, Father Gregory Smith, and Father Charles Woodrich.

– 4 of the newly identified priests served in the Pueblo Diocese. They are Monsignor Marvin Kapushion, Father Duane Repola, Father Carlos Trujillo, and Father Joseph Walsh.

– 23 of those children were sexually abused by 13 diocesan priests serving in the Denver Archdiocese.

– 23 of those children were sexually abused by 12 diocesan priests serving in the Pueblo Diocese …

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Final Report

DENVER (CO)
Independent Oversight Committee of the Colorado Independent Reconciliation and Reparations Program

December 1, 2020

Because of incidents of historic sexual abuse of minors by priests in the Catholic Church, for many decades the three dioceses in Colorado—the Archdiocese of Denver, the Diocese of Colorado Springs, and the Diocese of Pueblo (the “Colorado Dioceses”)—have had individual programs to help victim-survivors of that abuse. Since 2003, under the national Charter that governs all dioceses in the United States, the Colorado Dioceses have provided care and services to survivors of abuse by diocesan priests under a unified, national approach. Starting in 2008, the Archdiocese of Denver engaged a group of Colorado community leaders (a Colorado judge, the Lakewood Chief of Police, and a vocational rehabilitation specialist) to assist in settling claims of historic abuse. That group of independent professionals asked all survivors to come forward, evaluated their claims, and determined settlement amounts that the Archdiocese would pay to survivors who came forward.

The 2019 Independent Reconciliation and Reparations Program (“IRRP”) is another step in the continuing effort by the Catholic Church in Colorado to responsibly address this historic sexual abuse issue. In January of 2019, the Colorado Dioceses—led by Archbishop Aquila and supported by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser—openly shared their records to allow a full study of the issue of sexual abuse of minors. This work included the Attorney General and the Church hiring an independent investigator to evaluate the current policies and practices in place for protecting minors from abuse.

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Victim of abuse by Denver’s Father Woody speaks out: “They’re no longer going to have this shining light”

DENVER (CO)
Denver Post

December 1, 2020

By Elise Schmelzer

Revelations about Father Charles Woodrich force reckoning among institutions named after priest

For four decades, Denverites invoked Father Woody’s name as they cared for tens of thousands of people without homes or food.

The local legend, formally known as Father Charles Woodrich, died in 1991, but his legacy remained in annual giveaways to the poor, in one of Denver’s largest homeless shelters, in programs administered by Denver’s Catholic university and in a day shelter for those who are hungry.

That legacy of Denver’s so-called “patron of the poor” was obliterated Tuesday when Woodrich was named as a child sex abuser in a report spearheaded by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. Woodrich, according to the report, molested three boys between the ages of 12 and 16 in the 1970s and 1980s while he served as the pastor of Holy Ghost Parish in downtown Denver. The priest plied two of the boys with alcohol and asked another to pose in his underwear and took pictures of him, according to the report.

The revelation has forced a reckoning among the institutions that invoke his name in their work.

“He wasn’t the saint that everybody wants to make him out to be,” one of Woodrich’s victims told The Denver Post on Tuesday.

The man, contacted through his attorney and listed as Woodrich’s “Victim #1″ in the report, spoke on the condition he not be publicly identified, citing the stigma attached to the assault. The Denver Post does not name survivors of sexual assault without permission.

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12 Pueblo priests named in Colorado attorney general’s latest child sexual abuse report

PUEBLO (CO)
Pueblo Chieftain

December 1, 2020

By Robert Boczkiewicz

Denver – Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser released a report Tuesday listing new “substantiated” incidents of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests in the Pueblo Diocese.

All of the newly substantiated incidents occurred between 1951 and 1999, he said. Some of the priests were identified in the attorney general’s first report last year; four are newly identified.

The newly substantiated claims included in Tuesday’s supplemental report concluded 22 months of former U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer’s work investigating and reporting on a 70-year history of Catholic clergy child sexual abuse in Colorado and the Colorado dioceses’ programs and systems for preventing it. Troyer worked for Weiser on the child abuse investigation.

The priests identified in Tuesday’s report include Monsignor Marvin Kapushion, Gary Kennedy, Daniel Maio, John Martin, Duane Repola, Carlos Trujillo, Joseph Walsh, Lawrence Sievers, John Beno, Delbert Blong, Andrew Burke, and William Gleeson.

They served parishes, an orphanage and other Catholic facilities in Pueblo, Rye, La Junta, Walsenburg, Capulin, Grand Junction and Montrose.

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52 Catholic priests in Colorado, including iconic Father Woody, abused 212 victims, further investigation finds

DENVER (CO)
Colorado Sun

December 1, 2020

By Jesse Paul and Jennifer Brown

A supplemental report on abuse in Colorado’s three Catholic dioceses includes allegations against Charles Woodrich, who founded a homeless shelter and was called Denver’s “patron saint of the poor”

Investigators digging into child sex abuse in Colorado’s three Catholic dioceses have identified an additional 46 victims dating back to 1950 and nine more abusive priests, including an iconic Denver advocate for the homeless and poor.

The new revelations were released Tuesday by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office in a 93-page supplemental report that marks the end of a 22-month investigation into the church covering the past seven decades.

The latest report includes allegations that a chaplain sexually abused children living in a Pueblo orphanage in the 1950s, and that a Denver priest whipped a child and fondled him during an estimated 1,000 instances of abuse over five years in the 1970s.

It also names Charles Woodrich, better known as Father Woody, a revered priest who founded a homeless shelter and was called Denver’s “patron saint of the poor.” Father Woody established Haven of Hope, where people who are homeless can go for hot meals and showers, and founded the Samaritan House, a homeless shelter in downtown Denver. He died in 1991.

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Report says Montreal Archdiocese covered for abusive priest for decade

WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service via Catholic Philly

December 1, 2020

By Francois Gloutnay

Montreal – For more than three decades, leaders of the Archdiocese of Montreal failed to properly treat the complaints and the red flags periodically raised about Father Brian Boucher, said a report prepared by retired Quebec Superior Court Judge Pepita G. Capriolo.

Instead, church authorities seemed intent on covering the priest’s behavior to protect his and the church’s reputation, she wrote.

In 2019, Boucher was sentenced to eight years in prison for sexual assault of two boys; he was laicized in 2020. But in her 283-page document on Boucher, Capriolo said numerous incidents were reported and called into question during his career. For nearly 40 years, these warnings were all ignored or deemed irrelevant, especially because they concerned adults and not minors.

Capriolo reported not only on sexual abuse, but also physical assault, threats, loss or destruction of secret documents, and even a burglary in the secret archives of the archdiocese. The former judge called the case a “debacle” for the Archdiocese of Montreal.

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McCarrick Report Leaves us with More Questions Than Answers

PINELLAS PARK (FL)
Legal Examiner – Blog of Saunders and Walker Law Firm

December 1, 2020

By Joseph H. Saunders

I haven’t commented on the much anticipated publication of the McCarrick Report because it fails to offer conclusions. As an advocate for sexual abuse survivors for two decades, I looked forward to reading the Report and gaining insight into the McCarrick saga. However, I came away from the Report disappointed and underwhelmed.

It’s a lengthy piece (449 pages) that offers timelines and the names of key players involved in McCarrick’s rise and eventual downfall, but it offers no conclusions. The first responses to the Report noted that it was highly critical of the previous two popes (John Paul II and Benedict) while leaving Francis virtually unscathed. The later critiques of the McCarrick Report are more balanced and nuanced. They deal with the impact of the Report and its relation to the ongoing problem of sexual abuse of minors in the church.

One analysis in particular is helpful. It comes from a Catholic priest who has had experience dealing with sex abuse as a priest and in his former work as an investigator. Father John Lavers, a Canadian priest of the Diocese of Portsmouth in England, currently serves as the director of chaplaincy with Stella Maris (Apostleship of the Sea) in the United Kingdom. He led a 2012 investigation into allegations of homosexual behavior and activity at Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Connecticut that led to the removal of 13 seminarians, primarily from the Archdiocese of Hartford and Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey. Prior to becoming a priest, Father Lavers served in Canadian law enforcement and national security work.

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Mother raped by Catholic priest says church leaders failed to properly investigate abuse

AUCKLAND (NEW ZEALAND)
New Zealand Herald

December 1, 2020

By Isaac Davison

A mother who was raped by a Catholic priest says the church investigated the abuse initially moved him to a different school rather than punishing him.

She later complained to police, who twice decided against pressing charges before finally securing a conviction after a review.

Ann-Marie Shelley, now aged 64, appeared before a royal commission of inquiry in Auckland this morning, which is holding hearings on abuse in faith-based institutions.

She was left at Hutt Hospital after her birth in 1955 and placed for adoption through Catholic Social Services.

In a harrowing statement, Shelley described how she was neglected or abused at nearly every stage of her life – at the hands of her adoptive parents, at primary school, at a social welfare home, in an unmarried parents’ home, by a priest, and in a Red Cross shelter.

While she was training to be a nurse at Hutt Hospital, she was raped by Peter Hercock, a school counsellor and chaplain at Sacred Heart College in Lower Hutt.

Hercock’s crimes have previously been reported, but Shelley today spoke for the first time in detail about the way the church handled her complaint. She was critical of church leaders who have since been promoted to prestigious roles in New Zealand.

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December 1, 2020

Further investigation into Colorado Catholic Church IDs 46 more victims, 9 more abusive priests — including Denver’s Father Woody

DENVER (CO)
Denver Post

December 1, 2020

By Elise Schmelzer

New report brings total number of known abusive priests in Colorado to 52, number of child victims to 212

For two years, Father James Moreno sexually assaulted a teenage boy dozens of times after they met at a Denver Catholic school — including in the rectory of the city’s most prominent church.

Moreno assaulted the boy more than 60 times between 1978 and 1980. He groomed him, gave him alcohol and marijuana, and raped him, according to a report released Tuesday by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.

The abuse happened all over Denver: in the rooms of St. Andrew’s Preparatory Seminary High School, in Moreno’s car, in the boy’s home, in the rectory of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in the heart of Denver, one block from the state Capitol.

The teen, now grown, reported the abuse to authorities last year after the publication of a state-led investigation into child sex abuse perpetrated by Catholic priests in Colorado. Additional investigation into Colorado’s three Catholic dioceses found nine more priests who sexually abused children, including Moreno and a Denver priest and advocate for the poor known as Father Woody, along with 46 more victims of abusive priests — ending a nearly two-year investigation into the dioceses by state authorities.

The new incidences of abuse included in a supplemental report released Tuesday bring the total number of known abusive priests in Colorado to 52 and the total number of children they abused to 212, according to the independent investigator hired by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office and the diocese. The investigator, former U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer, released his initial findings in October 2019 but continued to investigate as more survivors came forward after the publication of his first report.

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Cardinal Pell on the Vatican and vindication

ROME (ITALY)
Associated Press

November 30, 2020

By Nicole Winfield

The pope’s former treasurer, Cardinal George Pell, said Monday he feels a dismayed sense of vindication as the financial mismanagement he tried to uncover in the Holy See is now being exposed in a spiraling Vatican corruption investigation.

Pell made the comments to The Associated Press in his first interview since returning to Rome after his conviction-turned-acquittal on sexual abuse charges in his native Australia. Pell told the AP that he knew in 2014 when he took the treasury job that the Holy See’s finances were “a bit of a mess.”

“I never, never thought it would be as Technicolor as it proved,” Pell said from his living room armchair in his apartment just outside St. Peter’s Square. “I didn’t know that there was so much criminality involved.”

Pell spoke to the AP before the Dec. 15 release of the first volume of his jailhouse memoir, “Prison Journal,” chronicling the first five months of the 404 days he spent in solitary confinement in a Melbourne lockup.

Pell left his job as prefect of the Vatican’s economy ministry in 2017 to face charges that he sexually molested two 13-year-old choir boys in the sacristy of the Melbourne cathedral in 1996. After a first jury deadlocked, a second unanimously convicted him and he was sentenced to six years in prison. The conviction was upheld on appeal only to be thrown out by Australia’s High Court, which in April found there was reasonable doubt in the testimony of his lone accuser.

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Cardinal’s prison diary explores suffering, solitary lockup

WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Times

November 30, 2020

By Nicole Winfield

Rome – Cardinal George Pell, who was convicted and then acquitted of sexual abuse in his native Australia, reflects on the nature of suffering, Pope Francis’ papacy and the humiliations of solitary confinement in his jailhouse memoir, according to an advance copy obtained by The Associated Press.

“Prison Journal,” which recounts the first five months of Pell’s 404 days in solitary lockup, also provides a play-by-play of Pell’s legal case and gives personal insights into one of the most divisive figures in the Catholic hierarchy today. To his supporters and even some detractors, Pell is a victim of a terrific perversion of justice; to his critics, he is the symbol of everything that has gone wrong with the Catholic Church’s wretched response to clergy sexual abuse.

Due out Dec. 15, the book likely won’t budge anyone from either camp, but it is a fascinating read nonetheless. It is at times a spiritual meditation, a defiant assertion of innocence and a morbidly voyeuristic view into the daily grind of prison life – all of it narrated by a man who for a time was one of the most powerful Catholic cardinals in the world.

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Over a year, more than 230 sex abuse suits have been filed in NJ against the Catholic Church

WOODLAND PARK (NJ)
Bergen Record via NorthJersey.com

December 1, 2020

By Abbott Koloff and Deena Yellin

[Includes a video introduction by Abbott Koloff and a spreadsheet of the accused with information on diocese, parish or school and town, and years of alleged abuse. See also a printable PDF of the spreadsheet.]

The lawsuits filed over the past 12 months in New Jersey alleging sex abuse by Catholic priests have been numerous — there are more than 230 of them — and varied.

One man said that when he was a teenage student and told the vice principal of a Catholic high school in Bergen County that he’d been abused by a religious brother, the administrator struck the student over the head with a 500-page book, warned him never to speak of it again and imposed a five-day suspension.

A woman said she and other members of her Girl Scout troop were repeatedly abused in the basement of a Hackensack church years ago by a priest who was subsequently moved from parish to parish, eventually arrested in Pennsylvania and charged with sexually abusing a young girl in the Harrisburg area. Four of the Pennsylvania girl’s sisters later said they also were abused.

A girl in southern New Jersey confided years ago to her brother that she had been raped by a priest, who had told her God directed him to have sex with her. The brother responded that he, too, had been abused — by the same priest.

The Record and NorthJersey.com has examined more than 230 sex abuse lawsuits filed in New Jersey against the state’s five Roman Catholic dioceses since Dec. 1, 2019, when the state suspended the civil statute of limitations for such cases. The filings name more than 150 clerics, including dozens not on the church’sown list of 188 credibly accused priests released last year, and trace allegations from the 1940s through the present.

The lawsuits represent more than 240 people who allege they were abused. The bulk of the allegations are from the 1970s and 1980s. About two dozen involve abuse of children who were 5 or 6 years old. While most of the accusers are men, at least 20 women are among the plaintiffs. Almost half of the priests named in the suits are deceased.

Hundreds of additional allegations have been filed with the New Jersey Independent Victim Compensation Program, which was established by the state’s five Catholic dioceses last year to compensate victims who agree not to pursue lawsuits.

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