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.

October 5, 2020

Adelaide female Anglican priest barred from practising because of marriage to woman

SYDNEY (NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA)
ABC

October 4, 2020

By Ben Nielsen

An Adelaide-based Anglican priest has accused the church of discrimination after she was refused permission to say mass and celebrate sacraments because of her marriage to another woman.

Sorel Coward sought approval from Archbishop of Adelaide Geoffrey Smith last year, but she said he had since denied her permission to officiate.

“All I wanted was the ability to be able to say mass, to celebrate the sacraments of the church, to bless those in their last hours of their life, in a little church in Adelaide, and nothing more,” she said.

*
Priest committed to marriage

The Anglican Church in Australia does not recognise same-sex relationships.

“My wife and I have been happily married for 28 years,” Sorel Coward said.

“I’m not going to have my marriage or my orders put into question.

“Absolutely nothing has changed and yet I’m being treated like a clergyperson who’s been engaged in child sexual abuse.”

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

Court enables child sexual abuse victims to sue Catholic Church

SYDNEY (NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA)
Mondaq / Sydney Criminal Lawyers

October 5, 2020

By Sonia Hickey

The Supreme Court of Victoria has overturned a deed of release signed by a victim of child sexual abuse, who was paid $32,500 by the Catholic Church in 1996 in exchange for his silence and no further legal action.

The landmark decision will enable two things: For this particular victim to now sue the church for damages, and secondly, pave the way for other victims to do so.

It’s estimated that there are about 500 victims who signed similar deeds of release, often for small financial payouts, under the Catholic Church’s controversial “Melbourne Response.

Overturning ‘paltry’ settlements for victims
It was set up in 1996 by George Pell, who had his conviction for child sexual offences overturned in an appeal to the High Court in April this year. He has since left Australia and returned to the Vatican.

The fund was specifically set up by the church to compensate victims of child sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic Priests has long been criticised for handing out paltry payments which do not in any way reflect the severity of the life-long damage inflicted on survivors, nor the Church’s ability to be financially accountable to victims, given that the value of the Church’s assets in Australia alone are estimated at around $30 billion.

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.

Podcast features survivor of priest sex abuse who is working with Columbus diocese

COLUMBUS (OH)
Columbus Dispatch

October 5, 2020

By Danae King

Neither priests nor the public really understand what survivors of clergy sexual abuse go through, but they’re beginning to, says survivor Teresa Pitt Green.

Co-founder of Spirit Fire, a national “Christ-centered restorative-justice group” that helps Catholic churches reach out to survivors, Pitt Green recounted her personal story of being abused by a priest as a minor on a Sept. 30 episode of the podcast “Crisis: Clergy Abuse in the Catholic Church.”

She has also been working with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus on its response to the sexual abuse of minors by clergy since May 2019.

The podcast, which premiered Sept. 9, is produced by the Catholic Project. It has 17,379 subscribers. Pitt Green is featured, alongside another survivor, on episode four of the podcast, which ran Wednesday.

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.

October 4, 2020

[News Release] Notice of Credible Allegation of Abuse

KANSAS CITY (MO)
Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph

October 2, 2020

Bishop Johnston and diocesan leaders recognize how difficult it can be for a survivor of clergy sexual abuse to come forward and appreciate the great courage it takes in making a report to the Church.

The diocese has received and deemed credible an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor by Thomas Reardon. This allegation was deemed credible following the diocesan Policy for Response to Allegations, by the Ombudsman, Independent Review Board and Bishop Johnston. The abuse occurred in 1972 at Camp Little Flower, a diocesan camp for children ages 7-12, at 83rd and Raytown Rd. where Reardon was Camp Director.

Reardon’s name is included on the diocese’s List of Accused Clerics with Substantiated Allegations, which can be found on the diocesan website here. He has been laicized and is not able to function as a priest or present himself as one publicly.

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] Screwed twice over: victims of abusive NJ Catholic clerics

NEW JERSEY
Patheos (blog)

October 3, 2020

By Barry Duke

WHEN it was announced last Thursday that Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden in New Jersey, headed by Bishop Dennis J Sullivan, above, was filing for bankruptcy, people immediately began asking where this will leave victims of clerical abuse who were in line for compensation.

Well, it looks as if their claims could either go unresolved, or fall well below expectations.

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, more than two-thirds of victims who signed up to participate in a fund set up by the Diocese to compensate victims have been left with “diminished expectations of seeing a payout.”

Last year 141 people who were encouraged by Sullivan to come forward and recount their experiences of abuse for fund administrators must now join a line of other creditors – including banks, independent contractors – to jostle in court over a limited pot of money that will be divided up by the bankruptcy court.

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

Across U.S. Catholic archdioceses, child protection policies vary widely

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Penn Today

October 2, 2020

A report from CHILD USA, led by Professor of Practice Marci Hamilton, found that such policies lack uniformity, aren’t comprehensive, and often don’t take a victim-centered approach.

Although the 32 Catholic archdioceses in the United States have some sort of policy to protect children from clergy sex abuse, the content and quality of these policies varies, with little to no standardization across the board, according to a new report from the nonprofit think tank CHILD USA, founded and led by Penn’s Marci Hamilton.

“We live in a time where everyone is asking, How do we prevent child sex abuse in every institution, whether that’s the Boy Scouts or the Catholic Church or at boarding schools,” says Hamilton, a national expert on child sex abuse and the Fels Institute of Government Professor of Practice. “In the past decade, some of the bishops have claimed to have the ‘gold standard’ for child protection and thus should no longer be subject to scrutiny or criticism for their past problems with child sexual abuse. We decided to examine the 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.

Abuse in the Catholic Church: Meisner’s Truth

GERMANY
The Teller Report

October 2, 2020

Former Cardinal Joachim Meisner claimed to have been surprised by the abuse in the Catholic Church. But this representation is now wavering.

When the abuse scandal of the Catholic Church in Germany reached the public at the beginning of 2010, Joachim Cardinal Meisner was in the Cologne University Clinic.

He had to have an operation on his left knee.

Meisner later said he had thought of a smear campaign at first.

And then it came out that the reports were well-founded: “That horrified me, that horrified 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.

Diocese, priest named in abuse lawsuit

WORCESTER (MA)
Catholic Free Press

October 1, 2020

Bishop McManus announced that the Diocese of Worcester has been named in a lawsuit, along with Father Thomas E. Mahoney, retired priest of the diocese, for abuse of a minor in the 1970s.

The law office of Attorney Carmen Durso is representing “John Doe” as the claimant.

Bishop McManus said, “Because of the serious nature of the allegation, and consistent with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, Father Mahoney was notified that I have relieved him of his faculties as a priest.”

“The news of any claim of sexual misconduct with a minor is always shocking,” continued Bishop McManus. “I ask that you keep all victims of abuse in your prayers. I also ask that you keep Father Mahoney in your prayers as the matter is addressed.”

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.

Camden’s Catholic diocese left two-thirds of claims filed with sex abuse victim fund unpaid as it sought bankruptcy protection

NEW JERSEY
Philadelphia Inquirer via Press of Atlantic City

October 3, 2020

By Jeremy Roebuck

https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/camdens-catholic-diocese-left-two-thirds-of-claims-filed-with-sex-abuse-victim-fund-unpaid/article_78fed3f3-17b4-5436-84e8-1f73e3309554.html

More than two-thirds of the victims who signed up to participate in a fund set up by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden to compensate survivors of clergy sex abuse were left with their claims unresolved and diminished expectations of seeing a payout, according to previously unreleased information included in the diocese’s bankruptcy filings this week.

Now, 141 people who were encouraged by Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan to come forward and recount their trauma for fund administrators last year must join a line of other creditors — including banks, independent contractors and lawsuit plaintiffs — to jostle in court over a limited pot of money that will be divided up by the bankruptcy court.

In announcing the move late Thursday to become the first diocese in New Jersey to seek Chapter 11 protection from creditors, church leaders said their intent was not to dodge their responsibility to abuse victims, but rather to ensure a future for the institution that serves South Jersey’s nearly half-million Catholics.

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

New hope for Ballarat survivors as Catholic Church settlement is set aside

BALLARAT (AUSTRALIA)
Ballarat Courier

October 2, 2020

By Jolyon Attwooll

A new Supreme Court decision could give survivors of historical sexual abuse in Ballarat a second chance to seek fair compensation from the Catholic Church.

The case related to a former altar boy abused by paedophile priest Daniel Hourigan in Gippsland between 1977 and 1980.

On Tuesday, Justice Andrew Keogh overturned the original settlement deed the Diocese of Sale had given to the victim, known as WCB.

Describing the abuse as “horrendous”, Justice Keogh said the agreement was “not a reasonable assessment of the plaintiff’s loss and damage in 1996, or adequate compensation by today’s standards.”

The decision overturns the original deed, which gave $32,500 to the victim, in exchange for his legal rights, as well as obliging him to remain silent about the deal.

Hourigan died in 1995.

It is the believed to be the first time such a settlement with the Catholic Church has been set aside.

One Ballarat survivor, who asked to be referred to by his pseudonym of “Moth” as current legislation prevents survivors from talking publicly, welcomed the Supreme Court judgement.

“It’s very exciting, it’s a great thing the courts have seen the deed was unjust.

“I am doing the same thing myself. It’s very promising for people like me who are already in the legal system trying to get unjust deeds overturned.”

‘Moth’ signed his first agreement in 1997.

He told The Courier he was cautious about giving details of the amount of compensation he received but said it was a very small sum and his options were limited at the time. “You couldn’t do anything about it back in those days,” he said.

“They approached me and offered me money so what do you do? You just take the money because there were no other legal processes.”

“If you tried arguing with them over money, they just said ‘Well, who are you going to sue?'”

In recent years, several legal developments have given more power to survivors seeking fair compensation for their abuse.

The so-called Ellis Defence, which meant the Catholic Church could not be sued, has now been scrapped, as has a time limit on bringing personal injury cases.

This latest Supreme Court decision was the first to relate to new legislation introduced last year, allowing courts to set aside previous judgements if they were deemed unfair.

‘Moth’ said: “Probably most of the victims of clergy sex abuse will be signed up in one way or another. They approached me, I didn’t even approach them – so they were trying to get their bases well and truly covered.”

“It will give [Ballarat survivors] the opportunity to do something about it or encourage them, because they’ve seen a deed of release be overturned.”

A lawyer from the firm who represented the victim in court said the ruling had wide implications for survivors in Ballarat. Rightside Legal partner Grace Wilson said: “Daniel Hourigan was Gippsland’s version of Gerard Ridsdale – a paedophile priest the Church knew about and shuffled from place to place.”

She said many victims in Ballarat and elsewhere had given up their rights for “miserable, insulting sums”.

“But now the power has shifted. The law is with survivors. Unfair and inadequate settlements can be overturned. The Church can be held to account.”

Ms Wilson described the legal proceedings leading up to the overturning of the deed as “very hard fought”.

“I think good Catholics across the country would be appalled if they knew how much time and energy and money the Church spent trying to defend their unfair past deed.”

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.

National Redress Scheme applicant numbers lower than expected, prompting calls for urgent investigation

AUSTRALIA
Australian Broadcasting Corporation

By Erin Parke

David Francis is waiting for a dollar figure to be put on the sexual abuse he suffered as a child growing up in Catholic institutions in Western Australia.

“It’s a bit weird, like the last chapter of your life being sort of sorted,” he said.

“Like your final pay cheque, and you won’t have to talk about it anymore.”

The 58-year-old Nyul Nyul man was taken into state care at the age of six and — like thousands of other Aboriginal Australians — grew up in church-run mission

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.

Vaticano, ricatti e dossier: è guerra tra alti prelati. Una pista porta in Australia

[Vatican, blackmail and dossiers: It is a war between high prelates. A trail leads to Australia]

ROME (ITALY)
Corriere della Sera

October 2, 2020

By Fiorenza Sarzanini

https://www.corriere.it/cronache/20_ottobre_02/bonifici-dossier-ricatti-guerra-alti-prelati-pista-porta-australia-e7c62bb6-0429-11eb-a33e-29a68884b5d0.shtml

La lotta tra i cardinali Becciu e Pell. E il versamento di 700 mila euro

[The fight between Cardinals Becciu and Pell. And the payment of 700 thousand euros]

C’è una vera e propria attività di dossieraggio di alcuni prelati dietro la svolta dell’inchiesta che ha portato alle dimissioni di monsignor Angelo Becciu. Monsignori — ma anche funzionari della Segreteria di Stato vaticana — che avrebbero conservato documenti sugli investimenti immobiliari e sulla movimentazione dei conti correnti. Le verifiche riguardano numerosi bonifici, compreso uno da 700 mila euro che l’ex Sostituto avrebbe effettuato su un conto australiano. E tanto è bastato per far scattare i controlli. Proprio in Australia è stato infatti processato e poi assolto dall’accusa di pedofilia uno dei «nemici» di Becciu, monsignor George Pell. E adesso si sta verificando se sia stato effettivamente lui ad ordinare il versamento e chi ne siano i beneficiari.

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION: There is a real dossier activity of some prelates behind the turning point of the investigation that led to the resignation of Monsignor Angelo Becciu . Monsignors – but also officials of the Vatican Secretariat of State – who would have kept documents on real estate investments and on the movement of current accounts. The checks concern numerous transfers, including one for 700 thousand euros that the former Substitute would have made to an Australian account. And that was enough to trigger the controls. Indeed, it was in Australia that one of Becciu’s “enemies”, Monsignor George Pell, was tried and then acquitted of pedophilia . And now we are checking whether he actually ordered the payment and who the beneficiaries are.]

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.

Dossier To Vatican Alleges Cardinal Becciu Covertly Channeled Money to Australia

VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register

October 3, 2020

By Edward Pentin

An Italian newspaper reported that Vatican prosecutors have received allegations that the funds were transferred after Cardinal George Pell returned there to face sexual abuse charges.

Vatican prosecutors are investigating allegations that Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu funneled 700,000 euro through the apostolic nunciature in Australia — an action that one Italian newspaper suggests could be linked to the strained relationship between Cardinal Becciu and Australian Cardinal George Pell.

According to an article in today’s Corriere della Sera, officials in the Secretariat of State have compiled a dossier showing numerous bank transfers, including one amounting to 700,000 euros that Cardinal Becciu’s department sent to an “Australian account.”

The dossier has been presented to Vatican prosecutors ahead of a possible upcoming trial of Cardinal Becciu. Pope Francis accepted his resignation on Sept. 24 and withdrew his rights as a cardinal but the Vatican has given no reason for his dismissal. The cardinal has denied the allegations against him as “surreal” and “all a misunderstanding.”

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.

Becciu accused of sending Vatican funds to Australia during Pell trial

ROME (ITALY)
Catholic News Agency

October 2, 2020

Italian media have reported allegations that Cardinal Angelo Becciu transferred several hundred thousand euros from Vatican accounts to an account in Australia during the trial of Cardinal George Pell.

The cardinal has not responded to the allegation, which CNA has not independently corroborated.

Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported Friday that the alleged transfer is part of a dossier of evidence being compiled by Vatican investigators and prosecutors against the cardinal, who was forced to resign by Pope Francis on Sept. 24.

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 school ex-chaplain accused of endangering students

NEW JERSEY
WRAL

October 2, 2020

A former chaplain at a Roman Catholic prep school in northern New Jersey faces criminal charges for engaging in “a pattern of behavior” that threatened the welfare of six students, prosecutors said.

Salvatore DiStefano, 61, who had been chaplain at the all-boys Oratory Preparatory School in Summit, allowed students to consume marijuana products in his office and tried to entice them to go off campus with him, according to a statement Thursday from the Union County Prosecutor’s Office. He had been placed on leave in January following allegations of misconduct.

DiStefano is charged with five counts of using a juvenile to commit a crime and six counts of child endangerment.

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.

October 3, 2020

Church sex abuse lawsuit targets diocese in Arizona, Indiana

PHOENIX (AZ)
Associated Press

October 1, 2020

An Arizona man who says he was sexually abused by an Indiana priest more than 40 years ago sued church officials in both states Thursday, saying they allowed the priest into a Navajo Nation school despite his predatory history.

The Diocese of Phoenix, the Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana and the Rev. James Grear are all named as defendants in the lawsuit filed in Arizona’s Maricopa County. The plaintiff, who is Navajo, is seeking unspecified damages for pain, suffering and other costs.

The Navajo man was a 14-year-old student in the late 1970s when he met Grear, then the assistant principal at Chinle High School in northeastern Arizona. He said he initially looked up to Grear as they spent time together on youth and church activities, according to the complaint. But between 1977 and 1982, Grear allegedly made repeated and unwanted sexual contact.

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.

R.I. judge hears arguments over whether Catholic Church leaders can be sued as ‘perpetrators’ of sexual abuse

PROVIDENCE (RI)
Providence Journal

October 3, 2020

By Brian Amaral

https://www.southcoasttoday.com/news/20201003/ri-judge-hears-arguments-over-whether-catholic-church-leaders-can-be-sued-as-perpetrators-of-sexual-abuse

When Rhode Island lawmakers in 2019 extended the deadline to file lawsuits over childhood sexual abuse, they said victims could sue even if the clock had already run out under the old law — so long as the victims were suing a “perpetrator.”

What is a perpetrator? A state Superior Court judge on Wednesday heard more than an hour of arguments on that issue from three victims of clergy abuse who say the leaders of the Catholic Diocese of Providence could be considered “perpetrators” under the new law even if they didn’t physically carry out the abuse — and from the diocese, which said they cannot.

“The General Assembly does not want the court to go down the rabbit hole that’s laid out in page after page of the plaintiffs’ brief,” Howard Merten, an attorney for the diocese’s leaders, told Superior Court Judge Netti C. Vogel in a remote hearing broadcast live on YouTube.

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.

Before priest Pat Wattigny admitted sex abuse, texts to student led to resignation from Slidell school, church says

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
NOLA.com

October 2, 2020

By Ramon Antonio Vargas and David Hammer

About four months before the Rev. Patrick Wattigny disclosed to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans that he sexually abused a minor in 2013, he resigned from his post as chaplain at Pope John Paul II High School because he had sent a student a series of text messages that violated diocesan policies, church officials said Friday.

An attorney representing the student’s family alleged the messages constituted “grooming” for sexual activity, including repeatedly asking the boy the date of his 18th birthday. A statement from the archdiocese denied that any of the messages contained sexual references “or innuendo,” but they nonetheless represented a breach of archdiocesan policy mandating professionally toned communications with students.

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.

October 2, 2020

Long Island Diocese Files For Bankruptcy Over Sex Abuse Lawsuits

ROCKVILLE CENTRE (NY)
Patch.com

October 1, 2020

By Alex Costello

The Diocese of Rockville Centre filed for bankruptcy because of the more than 200 lawsuits it is facing from sexual abuse survivors.

The Diocese of Rockville Centre announced Thursday it will file for bankruptcy because of the vast number of lawsuits it is facing from sexual abuse survivors. The diocese said the filing should not affect parishes or Catholic schools.

According to Bishop John Barres, the diocese is facing more than 200 lawsuits under the Child Victims Act — a law that allowed sexual abuse survivors to file suit against their abusers if the statute of limitations had passed. Disputes with the diocese’s insurers also led to the bankruptcy decision, Barres 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.

Analysis: Two years after McCarrick investigation began, report not yet in sight

UNITED STATES
Catholic News Agency

October 1, 2020

By J. D. Flynn

On October 6, 2018, the Holy See announced a review of its files and archives pertaining to Theodore McCarrick, the former Archbishop of Washington, D.C, who is now laicized and living in disgrace, a known sexual abuser who has offered no public words of repentance.

Since the Vatican’s investigation began:

– The longest government shutdown in U.S. history began and ended.
– Lori Loughlin, tv’s beloved Aunt Becky, was arrested, charged, tried, convicted, and imprisoned for bribing her daughters’ way into college.
– Notre Dame Cathedral caught fire, burned, and is now being rebuilt.
– Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, had a baby, quit the royal family, moved to L.A., and signed a deal with Netflix.
– A global pandemic swept across the globe, locked down nations for months, crippled economies, and killed more than 1 million people.

In the same timeframe, here’s what has not happened: The publication of the Vatican’s report on Theodore McCarrick, his rise to power, those who aided him, those who looked the other way, and those he harmed.

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.

Attorney general’s report on Catholic Diocese to be released soon

BURLINGTON (VT)
WCAX-TV

October 1, 2020

By Christina Guessferd

It has been 13 months since the Burlington Catholic Diocese released its report on sexual abuse allegations, naming 40 priests.

We’re still waiting for the Vermont attorney general’s team to tell us what their investigation found. Now, they say that wait is almost over.

Attorney General T.J. Donovan tells us we can expect the report by the end of October or early November.

Donovan says he met with many of the survivors as recently as last week and plans on seeing them again Friday.

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.

Lawsuit: Catholic priest abused children in Indigenous, rural communities in Arizona

ARIZONA
Arizona Republic

October 1, 2020

By Lauren Castle

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2020/10/01/lawsuit-says-catholic-church-moved-priest-james-grear-to-arizona-schools-knowing-abuse-claims/5874176002/

A lawsuit is claiming an abusive priest was moved to several Arizona school serving indigenous and rural communities.

A Catholic priest with a history of sexually abusing children was placed in several Arizona schools in Indigenous and rural communities, a lawsuit alleges.

The Rev. James Grear worked across Arizona and in other parts of the country and U.S. territories. The lawsuit filed Thursday claims the priest sexually abused a teenager, who is a citizen of the Navajo Nation, when Grear worked at Chinle High School in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Robert Pastor, attorney for the victim, said his client wants the community to know what the Catholic Church did.

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 Oratory Prep chaplain charged with endangering children

NEW JERSEY
MyCentralJersey.com/Bridgewater Courier News

October 1, 2020

By Nick Muscavage

https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/crime/jersey-mayhem/2020/10/01/former-oratory-prep-chaplain-salvatore-distefano-charged-endangering-children/5884482002/

SUMMIT – An Oratory Prep chaplain, who was recently living in New Providence, has been charged with endangering six students at the Catholic private school.

Rev. Salvatore DiStefano, 61, who recently resided at Our Lady of Peace Parish on South Street in New Providence, was charged with five counts of second-degree use of a juvenile to commit a crime and six counts of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child, according to a news release from the Union County Prosecutor’s Office.

DiStefano previously served as the chaplain of Oratory Preparatory School in Summit but was placed on leave in January pending the outcome of a criminal investigation. The investigation revealed that he allegedly engaged in a pattern of behavior that threatened the welfare of six students.

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 Oratory Prep Chaplain Charged With Endangering 6 Students

NEW JERSEY
Patch.com

October 1, 2020

By Caren Lisner

Prosecutors allege that he ran a club, “Knights of Malta,” in which he gave some students edibles and encouraged another to mastrubate.

SUMMIT, NJ — A Catholic priest who previously served as the chaplain of Oratory Preparatory School in Summit has been arrested and charged with threatening the welfare of six students, acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay Ruotolo said Thursday.

Prosecutors allege he ran a student club in which students engaged in illicit activities.

Salvatore DiStefano, 61, is charged with six counts of endangering the welfare of a child and five counts of use of a juvenile to commit a 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.

Former NJ Catholic School Chaplain Charged With Endangering Welfare Of Students

NEW JERSEY
Daily Voice

October 1, 2020

A priest and former chaplain of a North Jersey Catholic school was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of six students, authorities announced Thursday.

Salvatore DiStefano, 61, who most recently resided at Our Lady of Peace Roman Catholic Church New Providence, is charged with engaging in a pattern of behavior that threatened the welfare of six Oratory Preparatory School students, acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo said.

DiStefano — known to students as “Father Sal” — was placed on leave last January pending an investigation.

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.

[News Release] Two Priests Removed from Ministry

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
Archdiocese of New Orleans

October 1, 2020

By Archbishop Gregory Aymond

It is with grave disappointment and sorrow that I inform you of the removal of two priests from active ministry effective immediately.

Reverend Patrick Wattigny disclosed today his sexual abuse of a minor in 2013. His name will be added to the list of the Archdiocese of New Orleans Clergy Abuse Report. Law enforcement has been notified. His full assignment history is below.

PATRICK WATTIGNY
Date of Birth: September 9, 1967
Ordination: June 4, 1994
Time of Abuse: 2013
Abuse Reported: October 1, 2020
Removed from Ministry: October 1, 2020
Pastoral Assignments:
– St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Kenner
– St. Benilde, Metaire
– St. Luke the Evangelist, Slidell
– St. Peter, Covington
– The Visitation of Our Lady, Marrero
– Archbishop Rummel High School, Metairie
– Pope John Paul II, Slidell

If there are any victims, please call me so that we can accompany you in healing.

Reverend Travis Clark has been charged with obscenity with women. This charge does not involve abuse of a minor. Fr. Clark was serving as pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul in Pearl River.

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.

Orleans Catholic Church Rev. Patrick Wattigny removed ministry because of child sex abuse admission

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WVUE-TV

October 1, 2020

By Chris Finch

Two investigations ongoing with local priests

The Archdiocese of New Orleans announced Thursday that two priests have been removed from its ministry active immediately.

Reverend Patrick Wattigny disclosed today his sexual abuse of a minor in 2013. His name will be added to the list of the Archdiocese of New Orleans Clergy Abuse Report. Law enforcement has been notified, according to the Catholic Church.

PATRICK WATTIGNY
Date of Birth: September 9, 1967
Ordination: June 4, 1994
Time of Abuse: 2013
Abuse Reported: October 1, 2020

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.

Slidell pastor removed after admitting to sexual abuse of a minor in 2013

NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WWl-TV / KLFY-TV

October 1, 2020

The archdiocese said law enforcement has been notified of Father Patrick Wattigny’s case, though it did not give specifics

Two local Catholic priests have been removed from active ministry, and one has been criminally charged with obscenity, according to the Archdiocese of New Orleans in a statement released on behalf of Archbishop Gregory Aymond on Thursday.

The two priests are Rev. Patrick Wattigny, pastor of St. Luke the Evangelist in Slidell, and Rev. Travis Clark, pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul in Pearl River, have been removed from ministry, effective immediately.

The archdiocese said Wattigny disclosed to them on Thursday his sexual abuse of a minor in 2013. The archdiocese said law enforcement has been notified of his case, though it did not give specifics. He has been added to the archdiocese’s list of clergy credibly accused of abuse.

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

Camden Diocese Becomes Latest to File for Bankruptcy

NEW JERSEY
Channel 4 TV (NBC – New York)

October 2, 2020

[VIDEO]

The Diocese of Camden has filed for bankruptcy, citing revenue losses because of the millions it paid out to clergy abuse victims and the pandemic. The filing on Thursday comes after New Jersey eased its civil statute of limitations in 2019 to make it easier for victims of alleged sexual abuse at the hands of clergy to sue for damages.

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

Diocese of Camden files to reorganize finances under bankruptcy protection

CAMDEN (NJ)
Cherry Hill Courier-Post

October 1, 2020

By Jim Walsh

The Diocese of Camden has filed for protection from creditors due to the combined impact of clergy sex abuse claims and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I have had to make many decisions in my time as your bishop, but few have been as

considered as this one,” Bishop Dennis Sullivan said in a letter released Thursday night.

Sullivan said the diocese had filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of federal bankruptcy law.

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

Camden’s Roman Catholic diocese declares bankruptcy, citing COVID-19 costs and priest abuse claims

CAMDEN (NJ)
Philadelphia Inquirer

October 2, 2020

by Jeremy Roebuck and Stephanie Farr

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden filed for bankruptcy Thursday, becoming the first in the state to seek protection from financial claims since Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill into law last year allowing victims of decades-old sexual abuse to new opportunities to sue.

Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan cited the more than $8 million the church has paid out so far to victims in settlements and judgments as well as a loss of revenue since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in a letter explaining the decision to South Jersey’s Catholic faithful.

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 diocese files for bankruptcy, cites priest abuse lawsuits, coronavirus pandemic

CAMDEN (NJ)
NJ.com

October 1, 2020

By Chris Sheldon

The Catholic Diocese of Camden announced that it’s filed for bankruptcy due to rising costs of clergy abuse lawsuit payouts and the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The effects of the pandemic, which have curtailed our revenue and deeply impacted our parishioners and neighbors, were further compounded by the over $8 million we have paid out this year through the New Jersey Independent Victims Compensation Program to victims of clergy abuse, money which we have had to borrow,” Bishop Dennis Sullivan said in a message to diocese community.

“If it were just the pandemic, or just the costs of the Victims Compensation Program, we could likely weather the financial impact; however, the combination of these factors has made that impracticable,” he wrote.

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.

NY diocese bankruptcy upsets alleged abuse victims

NEW YORK
Associated Press via YouTube

October 1, 2020

[VIDEO]

New York’s Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection because of financial pressure from lawsuits over past sexual abuse by clergy members.

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.

Church pastor and ex-TV presenter who abused boys in 30-year campaign faces sentencing – recap

NORTH WALES (UK)
NorthWalesLive

October 2, 2020

By David Powell Evans

Benjamin David Thomas admitted 40 sex offence charges last week

A church pastor and former TV presenter who sexually touched sleeping boys and men or filmed them with a secret camera in a washbag will be sentenced today.

Benjamin David Thomas, who last week admitted 40 sex offences, left a string of victims “shocked, angry, violated and disgusted” after a near 30-year campaign of abuse.

The 44-year-old, a former Criccieth Family Church pastor, admitted a widespread pattern of offending.

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.

October 1, 2020

[News Release] Diocese and retired priest named in lawsuit

WORCESTER (MA)
Diocese of Worcester website

October 1, 2020

Most Reverend Robert J. McManus, Bishop of Worcester, announced that the Diocese of Worcester has been named in a suit along with Fr. Thomas Mahoney, retired priest of the diocese, for abuse of a minor in the 1970s. The law office of Attorney Carmen Durso is representing John Doe as the claimant.

Bishop McManus said, “Because of the serious nature of the allegation, and consistent with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, Fr. Mahoney was notified that I have relieved him of his faculties as a priest.”

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

Long Island Catholic Diocese Bankrupted by Abuse Suits

NEW YORK
Bloomberg News

October 1, 2020

By Josh Saul

– Diocese in Rockville Centre is eighth largest in U.S.
– Abuse lawsuits surged after statute of limitations was lifted

One of the largest U.S. dioceses in the Roman Catholic Church filed for bankruptcy after its finances were devastated by sexual abuse lawsuits and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since New York State passed a law that increased the statute of limitations on claims of sexual abuse, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island has been served with 223 sexual abuse lawsuits, according to court papers from the diocese’s late Wednesday filing.

“Chapter 11 was the only way to provide fair settlements to survivors while continuing to be of service to the 1.4 million Catholics in the geographical boundaries of the Diocese of Rockville Centre,” Bishop John O. Barres said in a news release. The filing is also necessary to manage disputes with the diocese’s insurers over abuse coverage and reimbursements, according to the 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.

Diocese of Rockville Centre files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid clergy abuse lawsuits

ROCKVILLE CENTRE (NY)
WCBS 880

October 1, 2020

By Sophia Hall

[AUDIO]

The Diocese of Rockville Centre is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to help manage legal expenses and facilitate settlements with sex abuse survivors who brought lawsuits under the Child Victims Act.

Bishop John Barres said more than 200 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse have been filed against the diocese and Chapter 11 bankruptcy “offers the only way to ensure a fair and equitable outcome for everyone involved.”

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.

I-Team: Sex Abuse Plaintiff Secretly Recorded NYC Teacher Accused of Fondling Kids

NEW YORK (NY)
Channel 4 TV

September 29, 2020

By Chris Glorioso and Kristina Pavlovic

I-Team: Sex Abuse Plaintiff Secretly Recorded NYC Teacher Accused of Fondling Kids

The man says he chose to speak publicly because he believes the culture of silence around sex abuse continues to protect child predators, even today

A former Boy Scout wore a wire to stop his former teacher and scout leader from preying on him and his friends. Chris Glorioso reports.

A former student and Boy Scout is suing the Greek Orthodox Church and the Boy Scouts of America after he used a secret wire to record his alleged molester apologizing for inappropriate conduct.

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.

Facing 200 Abuse Claims, Diocese Becomes U.S.’s Largest to Seek Bankruptcy

NEW YORK
The New York Times

October 1, 2020

By Michael Gold

The move by the Diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island came after numerous lawsuits were filed under the Child Victims Act.

Facing more than 200 lawsuits over sexual abuse allegations, the Diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island said on Thursday that it filed for bankruptcy, the largest Roman Catholic diocese in the United States to do so.

The diocese, which serves about 1.5 million people, said it was seeking financial protection in part because of the passage of New York State’s Child Victims Act, which allows adults who were victims of sexual assault as children to file claims.

The diocese determined that it “was not going to be able to carry out its spiritual, charitable and educational missions” in the face of “the increasing burden of litigation expenses,” Bishop John O. Barres said in a video message.

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.

Information regarding DRVC Reorganization provided by the Diocese of Rockville Centre

ROCKVILLE CENTRE (NY)
Diocese of Rockville Centre

October 1, 2020

– Diocesan Press Release English | Spanish
– Bishop Barres’ Letter English | Spanish
Frequently Asked Questions

Letter from Bishop John O. Barres to the People of God of the Diocese of Rockville Centre

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Today, I have some important but difficult news to share with you. Earlier this morning, the Diocese of Rockville Centre has filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. This decision was not made lightly. However, in the year since the passage of the Child Victims Act, more than 200 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse have been filed against the Diocese of Rockville Centre. What became clear is that the Diocese could not continue to carry out its spiritual, charitable and educational missions while also having to shoulder the increasingly heavy burden of litigation expenses associated with these cases.

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.

Suburban NY diocese files for bankruptcy amid abuse lawsuits

ROCKVILLE CENTRE (NY)
Associated Press

October 1, 2020

By Michael R. Sisak

A Roman Catholic diocese in New York City’s suburbs Thursday became the largest in the U.S. to declare bankruptcy, seeking to protect itself from a torrent of lawsuits filed after the state suspended the statute of limitations for suing over sexual abuse by priests.

The Diocese of Rockville Centre, which encompasses much of Long Island and 1.4 million Catholics, said in filing for Chapter 11 protection that it will ask a bankruptcy court to put all cases on hold so that they they can be settled together — a process it says is more equitable but that victims say limits their ability to get at the truth.

“The financial burden of the litigation has been severe and only compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Bishop John Barres said in a video and letter on the diocese’s website. “Our goal is to make sure that all clergy sexual abuse survivors and not just a few who were first to file lawsuits are afforded just and equitable compensation.”

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.Y. diocese files for bankruptcy due to wave of sex abuse lawsuits

NEW YORK
UPI

October 1, 2020

By Don Jacobson

A Catholic diocese in suburban New York City on Thursday became the largest in the United States ever to file for bankruptcy to shield itself from lawsuits that make accusations of clergy sexual abuse.

The Diocese of Rockville Centre said it filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

“The filing is necessary to manage litigation expenses, address disputes with the diocese’s insurers and facilitate settlements with abuse survivors who brought lawsuits under the Child Victims Act,” church officials said in a statement.

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

New York Catholic diocese files for bankruptcy to cover abuse lawsuit costs

NEW YORK
Reuters

October 1, 2020

A Roman Catholic diocese in New York’s suburbs on Long Island, one of the largest in the United States, on Thursday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing the cost of lawsuits filed by sexual abuse victims, compounded by COVID-19 pandemic economic losses.

The Diocese of Rockville Centre said the move was sparked by the expense of dealing with a wave of more than 200 lawsuits filed by childhood victims of clergy sexual abuse.

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

Diocese of Rockville Centre files for bankruptcy, citing Child Victims Act

LONG ISLAND (NY)
The Island Now

October 1, 2020

By Rose Weldon

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will undergo a reorganization process, the organization’s leader Bishop John O. Barres announced today.

“We know that this will be difficult news for people across the diocese to hear, especially for many people of Long Island, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, who depend on the church in so many ways,” Barres said in a video posted to the diocese’s website.

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.

Rockville Centre is fourth NY diocese to file for bankruptcy

NEW YORK
Catholic News Agency

October 1, 2020

The Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, announced it was filing for bankruptcy early Thursday morning, becoming the fourth of the state’s eight Latin Catholic dioceses to do so.

In an announcement on Oct. 1, Bishop John Barres said the diocese was filing for Chapter 11 reorganization, following more than 200 new clergy sex abuse lawsuits being filed against the diocese.

The passage of the Child Victims Act (CVA) in New York in 2019 allowed for sex abuse lawsuits to be filed in past cases where survivors had not yet taken action, long after the statute of limitations had expired.

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 Files for Bankruptcy After Surge of Sex-Abuse Lawsuits

NEW YORK
Wall Street Journal

October 1, 2020

By Soma Biswas

A New York law lifting the statute of limitations for sex-abuse victims spurred litigation against the Diocese of Rockville Centre

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York’s Long Island filed for bankruptcy under the weight of more than 200 lawsuits from victims of sexual misconduct, becoming the largest diocese to seek chapter 11 protection in the U.S. over allegations of abuse by clergy.

The diocese, which covers nearly all of Long Island’s two counties, Suffolk and Nassau, filed for chapter 11 protection Wednesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, with the aim of working out settlements with victims of clergy sexual abuse after New York lifted the statute of limitations for survivors.

The Diocese of Rockville Centre covers 1.4 million Catholics, according to court papers.

The diocese said lawsuits mounted after a state law temporarily lifted the civil statute of limitations on child sexual abuse. The Child Victims Act, which came into effect last year, allows those alleging they were sexually abused as children to sue, no matter when the misconduct occurred.

Bankruptcy has been a common strategy since the early 2000s for religious groups and other organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America to manage the financial fallout from sexual-abuse lawsuits.

In a videotaped interview, Bishop John Barres said the Diocese of Rockville Centre “would not be able to carry out the mission…if it were to continue to shoulder the heavy burden of litigation expenses associated with these cases.”

Rockville Centre joins a list of more than 20 Catholic dioceses to seek bankruptcy protection since 2004, when a wave of sexual-abuse allegations against the church began. It is the fourth New York diocese—after Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo—to file for protection from creditors since the Child Victims Act went into effect.

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.

Report finds flaws in Catholic Church abuse-prevention plans

PHILADELPHIA
Associated Press

October 1, 2020

By David Crary

Child-protection policies adopted by Roman Catholic leaders to curb clergy sex abuse in the United States are inconsistent and often worryingly incomplete, according to a think tank’s two-year investigation encompassing all 32 of the country’s archdioceses.

The analysis by Philadelphia-based CHILD USA said the inconsistencies and gaps suggest a need for more detailed mandatory standards for addressing sexual abuse of children by priests and other church personnel, a problem that has beset the church for decades and resulted in many criminal investigations, thousands of lawsuits and bankruptcy filings by numerous dioceses.

After a big wave of clergy abuse was reported in the early 2000s, U.S. bishops in 2002 created the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, more commonly known as the Dallas Charter, a baseline for reporting, training and prevention policies on sexual abuse.

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

R.I. judge hears arguments over whether diocese can be sued as ‘perpetrator’ of abuse

PROVIDENCE (RI)
The Providence Journal

September 30, 2020

By Brian Amaral

When Rhode Island lawmakers in 2019 extended the deadline to file lawsuits over childhood sexual abuse, they said victims could sue even if the clock had already run out under the old law — so long as the victims were suing a “perpetrator.”

What is a “perpetrator”? A state Superior Court judge on Wednesday heard more than an hour of arguments on that issue from three priest abuse victims, who say the leaders of the Catholic Diocese of Providence could be considered “perpetrators” under the new law even if they didn’t physically carry out the abuse; and from the diocese, which said they cannot.

“The General Assembly does not want the court to go down the rabbit hole that’s laid out in page after page of the plaintiffs’ brief,” Howard Merten, an attorney for the diocese’s leaders, told Superior Court Judge Netti C. Vogel in a remote hearing broadcast live on YouTube.

The arguments looked back on some of the darkest chapters in the history of the Providence Diocese. The outcome will determine if that history will continue to be litigated in court: The diocese says the suits, filed by three men who said they were abused as boys by different Rhode Island priests, should be dismissed.

The alleged victims, on the other hand, say the case should go to a jury to decide.

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 of Rockville Centre files for Chapter 11 to manage legal expenses and facilitate settlements with abuse survivors

ROCKVILLE CENTRE (NY)
Long Island Catholic

October 1, 2020

http://licatholic.org/diocese-of-rockville-centre-files-for-chapter-11-to-manage-legal-expenses-and-facilitate-settlements-with-abuse-survivors/

he Diocese of Rockville Centre (“DRVC” and “The Diocese”) (www.drvc.org) announced October 1 the filing of a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The filing is necessary to manage litigation expenses, address disputes with the Diocese’s insurers and facilitate settlements with abuse survivors who brought lawsuits under the Child Victims Act.

Click above for a video message announcing this filing from Rockville Centre Bishop John O. Barres.

The Diocese believes its current and future liquidity will be sufficient to fund operations and ministries during the restructuring process and beyond. Vendors will be paid for all goods and services delivered after the filing, and transactions that occur in the ordinary course of business will continue as before. Employees will be paid their normal wages, and their benefit programs will continue uninterrupted.

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.

Michigan AG to announce new abuse charges against Catholic priests

MICHIGAN
Catholic News Agency

September 30, 2020

Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel told local news this week that she plans to announce new charges against “a dozen or more” priests in the state, as part of a now two-year long investigation into abuse by Catholic clergy.

Nessel had most recently announced on Sept. 29 charges against a 78-year-old laicized priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit, Gary Berthiaume, who is accused of abusing a 14-year-old victim.

Nessel announced one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct against Berthiaume, which could lead to a 15-year prison sentence if he’s convicted, the Detroit News reported.

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.

Skubick: AG Nessel poised to bring more charges in Catholic priest abuse investigations

LANSING (MI)
WLNS-TV

September 30, 2020

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is telling 6 News tonight she is getting closer to issuing more charges against Catholic priests and others in her continuing probe into sexual abuse in the church.

Almost two years ago the state attorney general launched an investigation into alleged sexual abuse in the Catholic church and she subpoenaed millions of documents from every diocese in the state.

As a result, the Lansing diocese published a list of 17 priests who allegedly were involved in 73 allegations of abuse of 66 boys and 4 girls.

The attorney general is poised to prosecute even more priests, perhaps a dozen or more.

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.

Systemic impunity for police parallels clerical protection of abusers

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

September 30, 2020

By Daniel P. Horan

Last week’s decision by a Kentucky grand jury to indict only one of three officers involved in a botched police raid that ended in the death of Breonna Taylor was, as so many things are these days, both shocking and yet unsurprising.

The shock hit me, as it did for thousands across the country, as still another plain instance of failed justice. Another person of color, this time, a young Black woman in her 20s sleeping in her own bed, killed by police without anyone found legally culpable for her murder.

The one indictment of a Louisville detective, which contained three charges of wanton endangerment for firing 10 shots through Taylor’s apartment and into a neighboring residence where three other people slept, reflect charges that do not directly relate to the actual killing of Taylor. Authorities say that bullets from the gun of Brett Hankison, the indicted detective, did not strike and kill Taylor.

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 City of Buffalo youth mentor gets 2 years for sexually abusing teen

BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

September 30, 2020

By Aaron Besecker

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/former-city-of-buffalo-youth-mentor-gets-2-years-for-sexually-abusing-teen/article_0864e9b0-033b-11eb-a73b-9f7dbbca5b8f.html

A state judge on Wednesday sentenced a former city employee and youth mentor who admitted sexually abusing a teenage boy to two years in prison and 10 years’ parole, the Erie County District Attorney’s Office said.

Antwan Diggs pleaded guilty to felony sex abuse in February, four months after he was charged with abusing a 17-year-old boy in a downtown hotel. He will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison, prosecutors said.

State Supreme Court Justice Christopher J. Burns also issued an order of protection barring Diggs, 51, from having contact with the victim until Sept. 30, 2040.

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.

Restorative justice film promotes healing, honors role of late ombudsperson

MINNESOTA
The Catholic Spirit

September 30, 2020

By Barb Umberger

Filmmaker Hunter Johnson took on a commission of a lifetime when he agreed to make a documentary about restorative justice for clergy abuse victims while honoring his father’s legacy.

Johnson, 31, is the son of the late Tom Johnson, a former Hennepin County attorney and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ first ombudsperson for clergy sexual abuse survivors, for whom he served as an independent advocate.

Not long after his father passed away June 8 after a six-year battle with prostate cancer, Hunter’s mother, Victoria Johnson, also an attorney, succeeded her husband as the ombudsperson.

Victoria Johnson provided feedback as Hunter completed sections of the film. When she saw the final, edited film, she felt overwhelming love for her husband and for her son, whom she said conveyed the story beautifully.

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.

Child sexual abuse and insurance coverage: Avoiding Common Pitfalls

UNITED STATES
Church Executive

September 30, 2020

By Gregory Love & Kimberlee Norris

Every church — whether it’s multi-campus or a recent plant — deals with insurance coverage.

Ministry leaders tend to gravitate to the least expensive policy options and often lack knowledge about what they should be looking for when securing coverage related to child sexual abuse risk. Unfortunately, this reality is revealed only when an allegation arises.

Clearly, child sexual abuse is a foreseeable risk causing incalculable harm to children, and a ministry’s primary responsibility is to protect children in its care. In addition to implementing an effective safety system (see prior articles in the “Stop Sexual Abuse” Series), simple financial stewardship requires a meaningful evaluation of current insurance relationships, coverages, limits and policy terms.

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 returns to Rome after acquittal on child abuse charges

ROME (ITALY)
The Guardian

September 30, 2020

By Melissa Davey and Angela Giuffrida

Cardinal returned to Vatican on Wednesday despite Australia’s Covid travel ban on ‘official Vatican government business’

Cardinal George Pell returned to Rome from Australia on Wednesday for the first time since being jailed – and then acquitted – on child sexual abuse charges.

The 79-year-old, wearing a face mask, briefly lifted his hand towards a crowd of waiting journalists at Rome’s Fiumicino airport, but said nothing before climbing into a waiting car.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said there was “currently no meeting planned” between the cleric and Pope Francis, who is currently dealing with a financial scandal at the Vatican.

But experts on the workings of the Vatican said a reunion between the head of the Roman Catholic church and the man he once appointed as his trusted anti-corruption tsar was “a given”.

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

Cardinal Pell arrives in Vatican for possible meeting with Pope

ROME (ITALY)
SkyNews

October 1, 2020

[VIDEO]

Cardinal George Pell has returned to Italy’s capital after being exonerated of historic sexual abuse charges but his reasons for returning to Rome, and subsequently the Vatican, are yet to be officially announced.

Australia’s highest-ranking Catholic had been on a leave of absence from his position controlling the Vatican’s finances.

There were reports the Cardinal had arranged a meeting with Pope Francis.

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 survivor’s court win against church

VICTORIA (AUSTRALIA)
Australian Associated Press via Yahoo News

September 30, 2020

By Georgie Moore

A Victorian sexual abuse survivor has become the first Australian to successfully overturn a “terrible” settlement with the Catholic Church.

The man now plans to sue the church for his horrific abuse at the hands of now-dead Warragul priest Daniel Hourigan between 1977 and 1980.

Victoria’s Supreme Court has set aside what it labelled the inadequate $32,500 settlement from the church in 1996.

The survivor, who cannot be identified, wants to use his long-fought victory to encourage others to “step forward and hold the church to account”.

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.

Brother spared jail for hiding child abuse

AUSTRALIA
Australian Associated Press via Yahoo News

September 30, 2020

By Margaret Scheikowski

An 83-year-old former Marist Brothers headmaster has been spared time behind bars for concealing the child sexual abuse crimes of his Catholic colleagues.

William Wade, known as Brother Christopher, admitted failing to provide information to police in 2014.

They were investigating child abuse claims against Darcy O’Sullivan, known as Brother Dominic, and Francis Cable, known as Brother Romuald, when they were at the Hamilton Marist school in Newcastle in the late 1960 and 1970s.

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.

Victorian child sex abuse survivor wins second chance to sue Catholic Church in ‘landmark’ case

VICTORIA (AUSTRALIA)
Australian Broadcasting Corporation

September 30, 2020

By James Hancock

A victim of historical child sexual abuse has won what is believed to be a landmark case in Victoria against the Catholic Church, giving him a second shot at suing for compensation.

Hourigan died in 1995.

The victim, referred to as WCB, lost his childhood and suffered post-traumatic stress disorder for more than 40 years, the court was told.

He sued the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sale for “personal injury suffered” in 1996 and settled for $32,500.

But yesterday, a judge set aside the settlement because of recent legal changes and found the case should be reconsidered.

“The settlement embodied in the deed was not a reasonable assessment of the plaintiff’s loss and damage in 1996, or adequate compensation by today’s standards,” the judge found.

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 headmaster walks free despite concealing abuse allegations

AUSTRALIA
NCA Newswire via The Australian

September 30, 2020

By Steve Zemek

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/breaking-news/catholic-headmaster-william-wade-walks-free-despite-concealing-abuse-allegations/news-story/a5178569f274d814988a8bfc4cb44124

A convicted sex offender and former school principal has been spared prison despite failing to disclose to police details of sexual abuse allegations levelled at Catholic colleagues in what’s believed to be a first in Australia.

William Wade was on Wednesday allowed to walk free from Sydney’s Downing Centre despite the leniency of his sentence angering his former victims.

The 84-year-old pleaded guilty in the District Court to seven counts of concealing a serious indictable offence of another person after he omitted key information during a police interview about two teachers who sexually abused students at Hamilton Marist school in Newcastle in the 1970s.

The court heard how seven students came to him claiming they had been abused by Darcy O’Sullivan and Francis Cable – both of whom are serving prison sentences for indecently assaulting multiple boys.

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 sexually abuses sick woman in private room

BALLARAT (AUSTRALIA)
The Courier

September 30, 2020

By Rochelle Kirkham

A Catholic priest will serve 12 months in prison before he is deported to India after sexually assaulting a parishioner in the Ballarat district.

Alexander Athanas was sentenced at the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to multiple acts of sexual assault earlier in September.

Magistrate Ron Saines said Athanas abused his position of trust and took advantage of a vulnerable woman.

Athanas, an ordained Catholic priest, arranged a private mass for a 28-year-old parishioner who had suffered serious health issues.

The victim arrived at the church with family members before Athanas took her alone upstairs to a private room in the presbytery where there was a mattress on the floor.

Mr Saines said Athanas directed the victim to remove her clothing and underwear.

“Despite her queries and timidity, you exploited her nakedness drawing crosses on her skin,” he said.

The court heard Athanas touched the victim’s breasts, buttocks and vagina for a period of time before she broke free from his embrace.

The victim told her family about the assault and reported it to police.

Athanas had arrived in Australia from India in May 2019 and worked at a number of locations including in the western region.

Mr Saines said Athanas’ abuse of his position of trust was a major aggravating feature of the offence.

“Your role as a priest involved a trust held by her and her family as sacred,” he said.

[“This was a poor disguise of looking at and touching her sexually for your personal gratification.” – Magistrate Ron Saines]

Mr Saines said the offending was also aggravated by Athanas’ exploitation of the victim’s vulnerability as someone who suffered serious health issues.

Mr Saines said Athanas’ conduct was contrary to the ethics and teaching of religion but also involved contact with a parishioner which was prohibited due to the pandemic.

“You told her not to tell others… and to say it was a special full-body healing,” he said.

Mr Saines said there was a degree of premeditation evidenced by the selection of the location, absence of witnesses and family and the mattress on the floor.

He said he took into account Athanas’ early plea of guilty, his expression of remorse, his lack of criminal history, low risk of reoffending and more onerous time in prison due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Mr Saines said he must also take into the account the ‘profound’ impact on the victim and her family.

“The family describe social and spiritual isolation and wider isolation from their church community,” he said.

[“The victim’s spirituality, faith in priests and the religion she has practised all her life has been shattered, her pre-existing health problems are exacerbated and her psychological health is significantly harmed.” – Magistrate Ron Saines]

The court heard Athanas’ visa had been cancelled, meaning he will be deported when he is released from prison and the Catholic Church in Victoria had withdrawn his authority to act as a priest.

Athanas was sentenced to 12-months’ imprisonment. Mr Saines said the sentence would have been 20-months if he had entered a not guilty plea and then been found guilty.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Jack Fletcher said he would investigate whether a sex offender registration act order in Victoria would have any effect when Athanas’ returned to India.

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.

September 30, 2020

Habla la denunciante del cura Sidders: “Abusó de decenas de adolescentes”

LA PLATA (ARGENTINA)
Pulso Noticias [Buenos Aires, Argentina]

September 30, 2020

By Estefanía Velo

Read original article

Rocío denunció penalmente al cura y capellán de Gendarmería por los abusos que sufrió de los 11 a los 14 años en el colegio San Vicente de Paul de La Plata. Este miércoles, antes de declarar en la causa, decidió contar su historia públicamente

Rocío (se preserva su identidad) tiene 27 años, cursó desde el jardín de infantes hasta casi terminar el secundario en el Colegio San Vicente de Paul del barrio Hipódromo de La Plata, donde sufrió los abusos sexuales -entre sus 11 y 14 años- del cura a cargo de esa institución: Raúl Anatolly Sidders

Vale recordar que el sacerdote hoy espera la aprobación del Ministerio de Seguridad de la Nación para ser ungido con el cargo de capellán del Escuadrón de Gendarmería de Puerto Iguazú, puesto para el que lo propuso el exobispo auxiliar de La Plata y actual obispo de la diócesis de esa ciudad misionera, Nicolás Baisi, y que le daría varios miles de pesos extra de ingreso de parte del Estado.

Después de trece años, Rocío pudo superar los miedos impuestos por la cultura e ideología eclesiástica (y patriarcal) y puso en palabras lo sufrido por el cura Sidders en su preadolescencia. Este miércoles, luego de haber radicado su denuncia penal por abuso sexual agravado, da su primera declaración testimonial ante el fiscal Álvaro Garganta, titular de la UFI 11 de La Plata. Horas antes de la audiencia, contó a Pulso NoticiasLa Izquierda Diario lo que ampliará en sede judicial.

Encubrimientos

Una vez más el Arzobispado de La Plata en el centro de las denuncias de abusos sexuales eclesiásticos. Tras el fatal desenlace del cura abusador Eduardo Lorenzo, muerto con impunidad en diciembre de 2019, ahora la curia debe dar explicaciones por Sidders, quien estuvo a cargo del colegio San Vicente de Paul desde el año 2002 hasta principios de 2020, momento en que fue trasladado a Puerto Iguazú.

Sidders estuvo casi dos décadas a cargo de la institución escolar, con las referencias ya conocidas entre gran parte de la feligresía platense: “al cura le decían Frasquito, porque incitaba a los niños y adolescentes a masturbarse y guardar el semen en un frasco para dárselo a él”, contaron a estes cronistas familias religiosas de la ciudad.

En todos estos años ni el arzobispo emérito Héctor Aguer ni el actual Víctor “Tucho” Fernández hicieron algo para alejar al cura del contacto con niños y niñas. Todo lo contrario, celebraban fiestas religiosas juntos. Es más, hace algunos años (2010-2011 y 2014-2015) dejaron que condujera el programa televisivo “Ave María Purísima” en el canal local Somos La Plata, con auspicio y financiamiento del Gobierno de Daniel Scioli y de la Arquidiócesis. Ni siquiera lo apartaron del ciclo cuando fue condenado por el Inadi en 2013 por “violencia simbólica y mediática” y “discriminación contra las mujeres”.

Llamativamente, hace tres meses se conoció la llegada de Raúl Sidders a la diócesis de Puerto Iguazú, donde rápidamente fue rechazado por la comunidad al tomar conocimiento de varias denuncias públicas contra él. Según la curia platense, Sidders fue llamado como secretario del exobispo auxiliar de La Plata, Nicolás Baisi, para acompañarlo en su nuevo puesto en esa ciudad litoraleña. 

Ahora Sidders y las máximas autoridades eclesiásticas de La Plata deberán dar respuestas ante el Poder Judicial. El 20 de agosto se radicó la denuncia por abuso sexual agravado en el Juzgado a cargo de Agustín Crispo. La investigación la conduce el fiscal Garganta. Ambos funcionarios judiciales ya le prohibieron la salida del país a Sidders por peligro de fuga. Y solicitaron al Arzobispado el expediente canónico realizado por el Tribunal Eclesiástico sobre el comportamiento de Sidders. Luego llamaron a declarar a la joven denunciante y, por el momento, a dos testigos más.

En esta conversación Rocío asegura que no se calla más y quiere alentar a que todos los jóvenes que sufrieron abusos por parte de este cura -se calcula una docena de casos pero podrían ser muchos más- puedan hablar sin miedo y romper el silencio instalado por la curia. “No quiero que le pase a nadie más todo lo que sufrí, ya basta”, sentencia.

¿Cómo era el trato de Sidders con las y los estudiantes?

– Él estaba en todas, era como una plaga. A cualquier lugar que ibas en la escuela te lo encontrabas. Siempre irrumpía en las clases para dar explicaciones, para llamarnos a misa o para confesarnos. Muchas veces entraba de manera prepotente, sin pedirle permiso al profesor o profesora que estuviese, y nos daba explicaciones sobre “lo que quiere Dios”, porque se considera un enviado de Cristo.

¿Cómo expresaba su machismo, misoginia y homofobia?

– Sus charlas eran casi todas misóginas y homofóbicas. Una vez nos habló en contra de la homosexualidad haciendo un dibujo de un camino hacia las puertas del cielo y en el medio un abismo. Nos decía que los homosexuales se iban a caer en ese abismo para entrar al infierno, porque no eran personas normales. Y que Dios no los iba a aceptar nunca. Lo escuché hablar despectivamente de compañeras, les decía “yeguas”, “zorras” si estaban maquilladas o tenían pollera corta. Nos decía que las mujeres solo sabíamos “comer, cojer y cagar”. 

¿Usaba esas palabras?

– Sí, palabras textuales. 

Muchas y muchos afirman que él aprovechaba los momentos de la confesión para abusar

– Sí, porque a veces nos hacía confesarnos a solas. En la capilla o en algún aula vacía. Hay que aclarar que en ese momento la capilla era cerrada y con una puerta muy muy pesada de madera. Sé que hace no mucho tiempo la cambiaron por una puerta de vidrio. Pero esa puerta de madera impedía ver qué pasaba adentro de la capilla. Sidders ahí tenía un espacio aparte, con un ropero y una cama. A todos nos parecía raro que hubiera una cama, si nadie vivía ahí. A ese espacio nunca me llevó él. Pero yo lo vi cuando me metía en la capilla, a escondidas, a chusmear en los recreos. Era una nena.

¿Cuándo empezó a abusar de vos? 

– Yo fui al San Vicente desde el jardín de infantes, pero hasta los once años no había tenido problemas con el cura. A esa edad me empezó a llamar a solas, a la capilla. Nos sentábamos en un banco, los dos solos.

Hasta donde quieras relatar, ¿qué alcance tenían esos abusos?

– Primero empezó preguntándome si había visto alguna vez a mis papás tener relaciones sexuales, si había visto a mi papá desnudo, si sabía lo qué era un pene. Al otro año yo ya estaba en sexto y empeoró. Me preguntaba si sabía masturbarme y hasta me explicó con sus dedos, sin tocarme, cómo tenía que hacer. Pero me sugirió que lo hiciera pensando en él y que luego le contara. En la siguiente confesión me preguntó si lo había hecho. Le dije que no y me preguntó por qué. Respondí “no sé”. Se enojó y me dijo “¿por qué no lo hiciste si yo te dije que lo hagas? Vos tenés que estar preparada porque la mujer tiene que complacer al hombre siempre. Y preservativos no hay que usar, porque el fin de las relaciones sexuales es procrear y complacer al hombre”. También me decía que (si llegaba a casarme) no me podía negar a mi marido por más que yo no quisiera. Y que como tenía que complacerlo al menos tenía que saber hacer una felación. Hasta me explicó con su lengua y su mano cómo hacerlo. Eso no me lo pude olvidar nunca más.

Además de todo, un manipulador de conciencias

– Ese mismo año nos dio una charla en la capilla, donde explicó quién es Dios. Y armó un concurso entre los tres cursos de sexto grado. Teníamos que escribir todo lo que él había dicho en esa charla. Quien escribiera mejor ganaba un premio en el buffet. Gané yo. Me llevó al buffet. Yo elegí unas galletitas y una gaseosa, pero me dijo que no, que podía llevar una sola cosa. De ahí me llevó a la capilla y volvió con lo de la masturbación y las felaciones. Lo peor es que me propuso enseñarme a mí y a un compañerito a tener relaciones sexuales, que nos iba a indicar todo mientras lo hacíamos.

¿Cómo reaccionaste?

– Me largué a llorar y le pedí que por favor no lo hiciera, que mis papás no lo iban a permitir y que yo no podía vivir una cosa así. Quiso tranquilizarme, me pidió que no dijera nada y me dijo que cuando fuera el momento lo iba a hacer.

¿Siguió molestándote después de eso?

– Por un tiempo dejó de molestarme. Pero siempre me buscaba. A mí y a mi mejor amiga nos ofrecía llevarnos a McDonald’s. Mi amiga por odio y yo por miedo, nunca aceptamos. Me acosaba mucho en las confesiones. Yo le contaba cosas personales, de situaciones que pasaban en mi casa, y él me terminaba diciendo que todo era culpa mía, porque no estaba cumpliendo lo que Dios quería para mí. Yo ya le tenía miedo, por su idea de hacerme tener relaciones con un alumno. Así que una vez, en otra confesión, cuando me preguntó si tenía novio le dije que había conocido a un chico. Ahí me dijo que tenía que tener relaciones o hacer una felación, pero pensando en él. Si no, Dios me iba a castigar a mí y a mí familia. Ese día sufrí mucho. Hasta que un día, en el recreo, con la excusa de que yo tenía las manos frías me hizo meterlas en su sotana, todo para hacerme sentir su erección.

¿A qué edad fue eso?

– Ahí yo ya tenía 14 años, estaba en octavo. Y mi noveno año escolar arrancó con Sidders haciéndome lo mismo, poniendo mis manos en su sotana. Ahí decidí no ir nunca más a la escuela. Me hice la rata todo el año. Me iba al centro o a estar sola en una plaza.

¿Cuándo decidiste contarle a tus padres?

– Después de ese episodio. Les dije que no quería ir más a ese colegio porque el cura era un hijo de puta. Esas fueron mis palabras. 

¿Qué te dijeron en ese momento?

– Primero me dijeron que era como mi hermano, que buscaba cualquier excusa para no estudiar. Pero jamás me había llevado una materia hasta ese año. Cuando decidí contarle todo a mí mamá le mandé un mensaje de texto (no había WhatsApp), diciéndole que quería hablar con ella porque no había estado yendo a la escuela. Y mí mamá en vez de esperar a hablar conmigo fue al colegio a hablar con la directora, Mabel Ieno, que le dijo que yo iba a calentar la silla y a molestar a mis compañeros. Una mentira, porque yo no entraba más, me rateaba. Y Mabel le dijo “o la saca usted o la sacamos nosotros y no la toman más en ninguna escuela”.

¿Y tu mamá qué hizo?

– Apenas nos vimos ella estaba re enojada conmigo por lo que le había dicho Mabel. Tenía que buscarme una escuela nueva. Así que decidió castigarme sacándome el celular, prohibiéndome hablar con mis amigxs, sin computadora, sin nada. Me dio miedo y decidí callarme. Encima, como había prometido la directora, no me tomaron en ninguna escuela de La Plata y terminé yendo a una de otra ciudad. Me levantaba a las 5 de la mañana y no podía volver después de las 18.

¿Te sirvió para estar lejos de Sidders?

– Sí. En esa escuela traté de empezar una vida nueva, tapar todo lo que había vivido en el San Vicente, buscar nuevas amistades, olvidarme de todo. Y pensé que lo había logrado.

¿Cuándo volvieron esos recuerdos?

– En julio de este año, cuando vi una nota de un medio de Puerto Iguazú en la que se hablaba de la llegada de Sidders y en los comentarios vi que lo llamaban “Frasquito” por hacer masturbar a los varones y eyacular en un frasco para luego el conservarlos.

¿Qué te pasó cuando leíste eso?

– Me hirvió la sangre. Pero lo que no pude soportar fueron los comentarios defendiéndolo. Ahí decidí hablar. Me contacté con un grupo de gente que ayuda en estos casos de abusos eclesiásticos.

Sabemos que te comunicaste con Julieta Añazco (sobreviviente del cura abusador Héctor Gimenez). ¿Te sentiste escuchada?

– Me ayudaron muchísimo, me creyeron de una y me apoyaron en cada paso que di hasta radicar la denuncia.

¿Que te escuchen y te crean es fundamental?

– Yo sé que el silencio te mata por dentro, que el silencio es cómplice, que te lastima como a mí me lastimó tantos años. Y sé que no soy la única que sufrió abuso o acoso por parte de este sacerdote, si se lo puede llamar así. Pero cada quien es diferente, hace el proceso como puede y a las víctimas nos es muy difícil hablar.

¿Cuál sería tu consejo a quienes aún no pueden poner en palabras lo sufrido?

– Simple, que no se callen más. Que no tengan miedo. Primero porque somos un montón que les creemos sin tener que preguntarles detalles escabrosos o nada que no quieran contar. No están solos ni solas. Segundo por ustedes mismos, porque hablar después de tantos años de silencio es sanador. Y tercero por empatía con los demás niños, niñas o adolescentes que pueden sufrir el mismo abuso, acoso o maltrato.

*Una producción de La Izquierda Diario y Pulso Noticias.

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.

Bangladeshi Catholic priest accused of raping minor girl

BANGLADESH
UCA News

September 30, 2020

Bishop Rozario pledges that suspended priest will not be reinstated unless he can prove his innocence

Police in northern Bangladesh have arrested a Catholic priest and produced him before a court on allegations of confining a 14-year-old indigenous girl for three days and raping her.

Father Prodip Gregory, 41, parish priest of St. John Mary Vianney’s Church in Mundumala, covered by Rajshahi Diocese, was arrested on Sept. 29 evening, a police official confirmed.

“The priest was arrested last evening and he has been produced before the court in Rajshahi after the elder brother of the victim filed a case. Police rescued the victim from a nun’s convent. She will be sent to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital for medical tests,” Rakibul Hasan, officer in charge of Tanore Police Station in Rajshahi, told UCA News on Sept. 30.

Swapan Hasdak, an ethnic Santal Catholic and the complainant, said his family demands justice for the abuse of his sister.

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.

A third man sues the Children’s Home, claiming a house parent sexually assaulted him when he was a boy living at the Winston-Salem campus.

WINSTON SALEM (NC)
Winston Salem Journal

September 22,2020

By Michael Hewlett

https://journalnow.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/a-third-man-sues-the-childrens-home-claiming-a-house-parent-sexually-assaulted-him-when/article_2299a9e4-fcf9-11ea-941e-87c1d299a3be.html

ACaldwell County man is claiming that a house parent sexually assaulted him almost every day, sometimes three to four times a day, for five years in the early 1970s, starting when he was 12, according to a lawsuit recently filed in Mecklenburg Superior Court.

This is the third lawsuit filed against the Children’s Home, now known as Crossnore School & Children’s Home, in Winston-Salem and the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church. The Conference operated the Children’s Home in the 1970s. The lawsuit was filed Sept. 18 in Mecklenburg Superior Court.

All three lawsuits focus on Bruce Jackson “Jack” Biggs and his wife, Beatrice Hatcher Biggs, who worked as house parents at the Anna Haines Cottage, one of 12 at the Children’s Home. The lawsuits said that they worked at the Children’s Home from 1966 to 1975. The lawsuits allege that they were fired because of “their demented and perverted sexually abusive assaults upon children.” They were never criminally charged. Jack Biggs died in 2015, and Beatrice Biggs, 82, lives in a nursing home, according to the lawsuits.

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.

Senior Catholic William Wade sentenced for concealing child sex abuse at Marist schools

AUSTRALIA
Australian Broadcasting Corporation

September 30, 2020

By Jamie McKinnell

The first senior Catholic to plead guilty to concealing child sexual abuse in Australia has escaped jail despite a judge acknowledging his “reprehensible” inaction contributed to “terrible consequences”.

William Wade admitted to failing to provide information to police during a 2014 investigation into abuse at Marist schools in the 1970s.

.Wade’s roles at Marist Brothers schools included headmaster in Canberra, at Hamilton, in Newcastle, and Kogarah, in Sydney alongside convicted child sex offenders Darcy O’Sullivan, known as Brother Dominic, and Francis Cable, known as Brother Romuald.

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.

Lawsuit alleges Catholic Diocese of Savannah covered up sex abuse claims

GEORGIA
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

September 29, 2020

By Shelia Poole

A lawsuit filed in state court in Chatham County against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah and its presiding bishop claims that the diocese was aware of and covered up allegations of sexual abuse by one of its priests.

William Fred Baker Jr., the plaintiff in the case, alleges the diocese knew that a priest, Wayland Yoder Brown, who was later defrocked, sexually abused him and others while employed by the diocese. The abuse allegedly began when Baker was 10 years old and a student at St. James Catholic School in Savannah, where his mother still works, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit mistakenly says he was 13.

Attorney Mark Tate, who represents Baker, who is now 42, said his client wanted to be named and lauded his “courage” in coming forward.

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.

‘Perverse’ subpoena costs dispute over Ridsdale abuse

BALLARAT (AUSTRALIA)
The Courier

September 27, 2020

By Alex Ford

A decision from a Supreme Court judicial registrar in a civil case involving a victim of paedophile priest Gerard Ridsdale has revealed a push against costs for extensive subpoenas.

The plaintiff, whom The Standard has declined to name, alleges they was sexually abused by Ridsdale when they were a teenager.

Ridsdale is currently in prison after being convicted for these crimes, as well as dozens of other child sexual offences.

The plaintiff is suing the Ballarat Catholic Diocese, as well as Catholic Church Insurance Limited and the Office of Professional Standards, also known as Towards Healing, alleging that since Ridsdale was an employee, the Diocese was negligent and liable for Ridsdale’s actions.

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 care: Man who suffered as a child gives evidence

NEW ZEALAND
Radio New Zealand

September 28, 2020

By Andrew McRae

Warning: This story discusses graphic details of sexual abuse, physical abuse and suicide.

A man with an intellectual disability who went into care as a young child and was physically and sexually abused has described his childhood as a nightmare.

Prison jail cells bars incarceration genericFile photo. Photo: Unsplash / Matthew Ansley
Kerry Johnson, which is a pseudonym, is now 48-years-old.

He first spent about one year, 1980, in the Catholic-run St John of God, Marylands School in Christchurch before moving into state-run institutions.

On Monday, he gave evidence to the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry sitting in Auckland.

Kerry Johnson was only 7 when he was taken into care because, he says, he was an out of control kid.

He was put into the care of the brothers at St John of God, where three of them sexually abused him and others a number of times.

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-Farmington priest charged with ’77 child sex abuse

DETROIT (MI)
Detroit News

September 29, 2020

By Oralandar Brand-Williams

A former Oakland County priest has been charged with sexually abusing a local child, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Tuesday.

The charges are part of an ongoing investigation into sexual abuse within the state’s seven Catholic dioceses.

Gary Berthiaume, 78, is charged with one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, which could lead to a 15-year prison sentence if he’s convicted, said Nessel.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announces the kick off for the “Be Counted” campaign for the Michigan Census in Pontiac on Monday, February 17, 2020.
The victim, who was 14 at the time of the alleged assault, told authorities the assault took place in August 1977 at the Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church’ s rectory in Farmington, where Berthiaume was a priest with the Archdiocese of Detroit.

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 at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington charged with sexually assaulting young boy

OAKLAND (MI)
Oakland Press

September 29, 2020

By Aileen Wingblad

https://www.theoaklandpress.com/news/copscourts/former-priest-at-our-lady-of-sorrows-in-farmington-charged-with-sexually-assaulting-young-boy/article_af297260-0274-11eb-877a-f77a89b5a4f3.html

A former Catholic priest who served time in the Oakland County Jail for gross indecency between males is now facing a second-degree criminal sexual conduct charge for allegedly sexually assaulting a young boy at a Farmington church in 1977.

Gary Berthiaume, 78, was arrested at his home in Warrendale, Illinois on Sept. 29 and is facing extradition to Michigan.

The charge stems from Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s allegations into sexual abuse within seven Catholic dioceses across the state.

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 Pastor Named In Child Victims Act Suit

JAMESTOWN (NY)
The Post-Journal

September 23, 2020

By Cameron Hurst

A Child Victims Act lawsuit filed in July names a former Jamestown pastor who died in a 2007 plane crash at Chautauqua County Airport.

The lawsuit, filed on July 28 in the state Supreme Court in Erie County, claims that the Rev. Msgr. Antoine Attea abused a male victim while serving at St. James Roman Catholic Church in Jamestown.

The 17-page lawsuit list the plaintiff as “PB-37 Doe” and names “St. James Roman Catholic Parish Outreach,” known currently as St. James Parish, as the defendant.

Doe, who is now an individual residing in Erie County and was born in 1984, according to the lawsuit, claims that Attea “engaged in unpermitted, forcible and harmful sexual contact” with him on the church’s premises in 1997, when he was 12 years old.

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

Cardinal Pell about to leave Aust for Rome

CANBERRA (AUSTRALIA)
Canberra Times

September 29, 2020

Catholic Cardinal George Pell is returning to Rome six months after he was acquitted of child sexual abuse, according to agency reports.

The former Vatican treasurer, 79, is expected to depart Sydney on Tuesday, after living in the city since his release from a Victorian jail, the Catholic News Agency reported.

“He always intended to return to Rome,” Katrina Lee, an adviser to the Archdiocese of Sydney, told Reuters.

Cardinal Pell came back to Australia from Rome in mid-2017 to fight charges related to the sexual assault of two choirboys when he was Archbishop of Melbourne in the late 1990s

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

Many victims fall through the cracks of New York’s Child Victims Act

ALBANY (NY)
Albany Times Union

September 23, 2020

By Edward McKinley

More than 4,400 lawsuits have been filed against alleged child abusers under New York’s Child Victims Act, but there are still many victims remain unable to access the court system in order to seek justice.

A decade-long political fight preceded the passage of the CVA last year. It expanded the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse and rape cases and opened a look-back window for bringing lawsuits against alleged abusers who had previously been immune from civil liability because of the time that passed.

The look-back window was extended this summer for another year due to COVID-19, but activists, politicians and alleged survivors of childhood sexual abuse say the law didn’t go far enough and that many who suffered abuse as children are still unable to seek justice.

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

September 29, 2020

Skubick: AG Nessel poised to bring more charges in Catholic priest abuse investigations

LANSING (MI)
WLNS-TV

September 29, 2020

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is telling 6 News tonight she is getting closer to issuing more charges against Catholic priests and others in her continuing probe into sexual abuse in the church.

Almost two years ago the state attorney general launched an investigation into alleged sexual abuse in the Catholic church and she subpoenaed millions of documents from every diocese in the state.

As a result, the Lansing diocese published a list of 17 priests who allegedly were involved in 73 allegations of abuse of 66 boys and 4 girls.

The attorney general is poised to prosecute even more priests, perhaps a dozen or more.

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 downstate clergyman arrested in Illinois following AG Nessel investigation

LANSING (MI)
WCAX-TV

September 29, 2020

A former priest in the Farmington area has been charged with sexually assaulting a minor as Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel continues to investigate sexual abuse within the seven Catholic dioceses across the state.

78-year-old Gary Berthiaume is charged with one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, a 15-year felony.

He was arrested on the charge Tuesday at his home in Warrendale, Illinois. He will face extradition to Farmington, Michigan where charges were authorized last week.

The victim, who was 14 at the time, reported the assault took place in August 1977 at the rectory of Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington, where Berthiaume was a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit.

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.

Lawsuit: Georgia Diocese covered up sex abuse allegations

SAVANNAH (GA)
Associated Press

September 29, 2020

A lawsuit filed against a diocese in Georgia alleges officials knew about and covered up allegations that a Catholic priest sexually abused young students and failed to prevent the crimes more than 30 years ago.

The lawsuit was filed last week in Chatham County against the Diocese of Savannah and its current bishop, accusing the Catholic jurisdiction of conspiracy and fraud in mishandling alleged abuse by former priest Wayland Brown in the 80s.

The priest, who died in 2019 while serving a 20-year prison sentence, was convicted of child sex abuse charges in the early 2000s. Pope John Paul II eventually dismissed him from the priesthood, and in 2018, he was convicted of additional sex crimes against 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.

A Note from the Editors on the Ravi Zacharias Investigation

UNITED STATES
Christianity Today

September 29, 2020

By Daniel Silliman

Why we report bad news about leaders—even after they have passed away.

Three women have come forward with additional allegations against the late Christian apologist.

Christianity Today is motivated by a deep love for the church. That love is sometimes painful, especially when it means reporting evidence of harmful behavior by ministry leaders. These allegations are hard for us to publish, and they can be hard to read. Over the years, some readers have wondered why we publish evidence of wrongdoing by ministry leaders otherwise doing good in the world. Other readers, who support investigative reporting in general, think it should be aimed outside our particular Christian community. But our commitment to seeking truth transcends our commitment to tribe. And by reporting the truth, we care for our community.

Love compels us to love those hurt by ministry leaders—not just the immediate victims, but countless others who see the fallout from leaders’ sin and abuse and wonder if Christians really care. Deep love for the church also compels us to love erring ministry leaders. They often need disclosure to lead them to repentance.

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.

Cardinal Pell Is Expected at Vatican, 3 Years After Leaving Under a Shadow

ROME (ITALY)
The New York Times

September 29, 2020

By Elisabetta Povoledo

The prelate’s return would come five months after Australia’s highest court overturned his conviction for molesting two children. For now, his plans have not been made public.

Three years after leaving for Australia to face sexual abuse accusations, and five months after that country’s highest court overturned his conviction on those charges, Cardinal George Pell was expected to return to the Vatican on Wednesday.

“We understand that he is due to arrive in Rome tomorrow,” said Chiara Porro, the Australian Ambassador to the Holy See, adding that she had had no contact with the prelate or his office, so could not comment on the reasons for the trip.

On its home page, the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney linked to an article in The Catholic Weekly, the diocesan newspaper, which reported that Cardinal Pell was returning “at the Vatican’s invitation” and that it was “believed that the invitation emanates from Pope Francis.”

A Vatican spokesman said on Tuesday that Cardinal Pell was not scheduled to meet with the pope.

The Australian cardinal’s return follows the unexpected ouster last week of his longtime Vatican rival, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, as the head of the department that creates saints. Cardinal Becciu said at a news conference on Friday that he had been fired by the pope over embezzlement allegations, but maintained that he was innocent.

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.

Appeals Court Judge: Catholic priest Geoff Drew’s $5 million bond is ‘staggering’ but within lower courts’ ‘discretion

CINCINNATI (OH)
WCPO-TV

September 28, 2020

By Craig Cheatham

https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/i-team/appeals-court-judge-catholic-priest-geoff-drews-5-million-bond-is-staggering-but-within-lower-courts-discretion

Geoff Drew, the Cincinnati Catholic priest charged with raping an altar boy 30 years ago, has no income, sold his condo and car, and will live with his 81-year-old mother if released on bond, according to a court document filed with the Ohio Court of Appeals on September 18 by Drew’s defense attorney, Brandon Moermond.

Drew has been held in the Hamilton County Justice Center since his August 2019 arrest.

Moermond, who has argued Drew’s $5 million bond is “excessive,” is asking the appeals court to reconsider its September 9 decision to deny his petition for lowering Drew’s bond.

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: Cardinal to return to Rome for first time since acquittal

ROME (ITALY)
BBC

September 29, 2020

Cardinal George Pell will return to Rome this week for the first time since he was acquitted of child sexual abuse and released from prison in Australia.

The ex-Vatican treasurer, 79, was due to fly out of Sydney on Tuesday, Australian media reported.

He was freed in April after Australia’s top court overturned his conviction. He had served more than a year in jail.

The cleric left the Vatican in 2017 to fight the charges in his home state of Victoria.

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 Construction of a Supreme Court to Thwart a Majority of Americans

UNITED STATES
Verdict (blog)

September 29, 2020

By Marci A. Hamilton

I simply cannot wrap my head around the fact that the United States Supreme Court may soon be composed of six Catholics (Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, Sonia Sotomayor, Amy Barrett (if confirmed), one Justice who was raised Catholic but may now attend an Episcopal Church (Neil Gorsuch), and two Jews (Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer).

First, the newly configured Court will reflect less than a quarter of the country’s religious landscape, according to the Pew Research Center, if we include Gorsuch in the Catholic cohort. Catholics make up 20.8% of the American public, while Jews constitute 1.9%, which means as a group the Justices will reflect a mere 22.7% of the country’s faith experience. There are more Evangelical Protestants, 25.4%, and more religiously unaffiliated believers—22.8%—than Catholics and Jews together.

Alternatively, if Gorsuch is counted as a Mainline Protestant, the Court still reflects only 36.4% of the population of the United States. And 2/3 of the Court is one faith, which reflects only 20.8% of the population. To be sure, there was a time when white Protestant males were the sole religious believers on the Court. Yet, that religious hegemony was also unfortunate in light of the religious diversity of the country.

Second, has anyone in Washington noticed that the Catholic Church has been undergoing a scandal of extreme proportions over the last twenty years? To state it as a fact: the Church’s hierarchy is responsible for shielding and empowering child sex predators around the globe. As I have said many times before, I eagerly await one President or one member of the U.S. House or Senate with the guts to utter the phrase, “clergy sex abuse,” let alone hold a hearing or establish a Commission to study the issue. Leading child protection organizations have joined forces under the name “Keep Kids Safe,” and are asking both presidential candidates to embrace such a mission. (Full disclosure: my organization, CHILD USA, is a part of this movement).

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.

Amy Coney Barrett Condemns Purdue U.’s ‘Fundamentally Unfair’ Adjudication of Sexual Assault Claims

UNITED STATES
Reason (blog)

September 27, 2020

By Jacob Sullum

The opinion, which suggests a strong concern about due process, will nevertheless be cited as evidence of the SCOTUS nominee’s “uniformly conservative” record.

John and Jane, two students in Purdue University’s Navy ROTC program, began dating in the fall of 2015 and had consensual sex 15 to 20 times. According to John, Jane’s behavior became increasingly erratic, culminating in a suicide attempt he witnessed that December. They broke up in January 2016, after John tried to get Jane help by reporting her suicide attempt to two resident assistants and an adviser.

Three months later, in the midst of the university’s s Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Jane alleged that John had sexually assaulted her on two occasions. Those charges ultimately led Purdue, a state university in West Lafayette, Indiana, to suspend John for a year, forcing him to resign from ROTC and ending his plans for a career in the Navy. The process that led to those results, Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett concluded in a 2019 opinion for a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, “fell short of what even a high school must provide to a student facing a days-long suspension.”

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.

Pope Francis accused of covering up sex abuse case

ARGENTINA
Church Militant

September 28, 2020

By Martin Barillas

An Argentine man has accused Pope Francis of covering up allegations of rape and sexual abuse at the hands of a priest.

On Sept. 19, Sergio Decuyper, 42, of Argentina accused a disabled octogenarian priest, who is also his uncle, of raping him at the age of five years. Father José Francisco Decuyper, 85, is facing criminal charges in Argentina for alleged abuse said to have occurred decades ago in the Argentine city of Paraná. Because he currently lives in Spain, accuser Decuyper made his criminal complaint via Skype to Argentine authorities in the province of Entre Ríos, north of Buenos Aires.

According to Decuyper, he was abused by his uncle in 1982 when the latter served at the seminary nearby. Decuyper said that afterward he suffered migraine headaches and later had difficulty with personal relationships. However, he married and became a father. He claimed that his now ex-wife, a physician, diagnosed him as a victim of serious psychological trauma. “I am a homosexual,” he told Argentine newspaper Clarin, “and now I can say it. She is now my friend, who supports and accompanies me throughout the process.”

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.

Historical Institutional Abuse: NI institutions urged to help with compensation

NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC

September 28, 2020

By Jayne McCormack

It is a “moral imperative” that some NI institutions and religious orders contribute to compensation for historical abuse victims, First Minister Arlene Foster has said.

Last year, the then-head of the NI civil service David Sterling said state-led institutions and churches would be “pursued” for payments.

Mrs Foster said she wants to hold a meeting with the groups to discuss making progress.

The first payments were awarded in May.

On Monday, Mrs Foster told the NI Assembly that the estimates of the cost of the scheme range from £149m at the lower end, to an upper limit of £668m.

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.

Orange Shirt Day honouring residential school survivors

SARNIA (ONTARIO, CANADA)
Sarnia Observer

September 28, 2020

By Paul Morden

Elementary and high school students in the Sarnia area are being encouraged to join others from across Canada in wearing orange shirts Wednesday to honour survivors and victims of residential schools.

Orange Shirt Day is a national event held on Sept. 30 to commemorate the experience of approximately 150,000 Métis, Inuit and First Nations children who were forced to attend residential schools between the 1830s and 1990s, where they experienced harsh discipline and conditions, suppression of their language and culture, and other abuse. It’s estimated 6,000 children died while attending the schools.

Orange Shirt Day originated with the story of Phyllis Webstad who, at age six, had a new orange shirt bought by her grandmother taken away on her first day at residential school in British Columbia.

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.

Indigenous artist finds healing with murals at Alberta Catholic schools

TORONTO (CANADA)
Catholic News Service via CatholicPhilly.com

September 28, 2020

By Wendy-Ann Clarke

Through a commission to paint murals at three Catholic schools in Red Deer, Alberta, Indigenous artist Ryan Willert has been able to find his own healing and reconciliation with the Catholic community.

The 36-year-old Blackfoot from the Siksika Nation is well-known in Alberta. Based in Red Deer, he has painted murals at several colleges, universities and for various organizations. However, with several relatives, including his father, directly impacted by residential schools, he says working with Catholic institutions was not something he ever saw coming.

“Going into the Catholic schools for the first time brought up a lot of feelings in me that I wasn’t quite sure that I had actually healed from,” said Willert. “You hear the stories from your relatives about the physical and mental and sexual abuse (that happened at residential schools), and you see the problems that arise on the reserves and the poverty, and it’s hard. You build this idea toward an organization and a group of people without actually being around them.”

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

Lawyer Encouraging Catholics to Withhold Church Donations in Support of Mount Cashel Victims

NEWFOUNDLAND (CANADA)
VOCM-AM

September 28, 2020

A well known local lawyer has come out swinging after the Archdiocese of St. John’s announced it will be seeking to overturn a decision declaring the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation liable for sexual abuse at Mount Cashel Orphanage in the 1950s.

Lynn Moore, a partner with the law firm Morris Martin Moore, says she’s enraged by that response.

She took to Facebook with a message to practicing Catholics, asking them to withhold their donations to the church, saying that survivors of child sexual abuse should be supported.

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.

Pope appoints U.S. Archbishop Charles Brown nuncio to the Philippines

VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

September 28, 2020

Pope Francis has named U.S. Archbishop Charles J. Brown as the new nuncio to the Philippines, the Vatican announced Sept. 28.

The New York native, who will turn 61 Oct. 13, has been the Vatican’s diplomatic representative in Albania since March 2017.

In Manila, he succeeds Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, who Pope Francis appointed permanent observer to the United Nations in November 2019.

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.

September 28, 2020

Church says Cardinal Pell returning to Vatican in crisis

AUSTRALIA
Associated Press

September 28, 2020

By Rod McGuirk

CANBERRA, Australia — Cardinal George Pell, Pope Francis’ former finance minister, will soon return to the Vatican during an extraordinary economic scandal for the first time since he was cleared of child abuse allegations in Australia five months ago, a church agency said Monday.

Pell will fly back to Rome on Tuesday, CathNews, an information agency of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference said, citing “sources close to” Pell.

Pell’s return follows Francis last week firing one of the cardinal’s most powerful opponents, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, over a financial scandal.

Pell was regarded as the third highest-ranking Vatican official and was attempting to wrestle the Holy See’s opaque finances into order when he returned to his native Australia in 2017 to clear himself of decades-old allegations of child sex abuse.

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

How Pa.’s victim advocate found herself in the crosshairs of the GOP-led Senate

PENNSYLVANIA
Spotlight PA

September 28, 2020

By Angela Couloumbis

The signs, at first, were subtle.

In the spring of 2019, legislation that she was championing had come to a screeching halt in the Republican-controlled Senate. Advocates for the bill, known as Marsy’s Law, at the time were baffled by the chamber’s inaction on a measure that otherwise had wide and enthusiastic support among rank-and-file GOP legislators.

By that summer, the legislature had quietly eliminated funding for her office — Pennsylvania’s Office of Victim Advocate — which was later rescued by the Wolf administration when it was absorbed into a different state agency.

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.

Clergy sex abuse settlements ends community garden

ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
KOB-TV

September 27, 2020

By Ryan Laughlin

A nonprofit group that was trying to create a community garden in Albuquerque’s North Valley is back in square one after the land they leased was unexpectedly put up for sale.

“It was very discouraging,” said Cheryl Brasel, who lives nearby. “A community garden would really benefit the whole community.”

Brasel was expecting the first harvest from the new community garden this year, but now the only new thing coming out of the ground is a ‘For Sale’ sign.

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 Care: Survivor of St John of God Marylands school sexual abuse calls on Government to ‘own up’

NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand Herald

September 28, 2020

By Michael Neilson

A man who was sexually abused as a child in faith-based and state care institutions says the Government needs to own up to what happened to him and his peers, some of whom “didn’t make it”.

Kerry Johnson – not his real name – was assessed as having an intellectual disability as a child and, also due to “behavioural problems” at school, was enrolled at Marylands School in Christchurch, run by the Australian Catholic Order of St John of God (SJOG).

He was there from January 1980 to February 1981, during which time he was seriously sexually abused by two of the staff members, and experienced physical and psychological abuse from the staff and other boys.

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 claim resurfaces in ex-Erie teacher’s porn case

ERIE (PA)
GoErie.com

September 27, 2020

By Ed Palattella

U.S. Attorney’s Office raises allegation against David Rinke II as he seeks to get out of prison early due to COVID-19.

In February 2012, David A. Rinke II, a former science teacher at the Erie School District’s Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy, was sentenced to nearly 20 years in federal prison for collecting and trading more than 50,000 images of child pornography, including videos of toddlers getting raped.

Rinke, who pleaded guilty, now wants to get out of prison early. He is citing the COVID-19 pandemic’s potential effect on what he says are his numerous health problems.

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.

Trinity College student bullied on social media after alleged rape on school trip

PERTH (AUSTRALIA)
Australian Broadcasting Corporation

September 26, 2020

By Rebecca Turner

A student at a prestigious Catholic boys’ school was tormented and taunted by his alleged rapists and rugby teammates on social media, including while he was away from home in a foreign country.

The young man had travelled to Japan on a rugby tour with Trinity College in April 2017, when he alleges he was held face-down and sexually assaulted with a carrot in his dorm room.

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.

German bishops set up system for larger sex abuse payments

BERLIN (GERMANY)
Associated Press

September 24, 2020

By Geir Moulson

The Catholic Church in Germany is setting up a new system to compensate survivors of sexual abuse by clergy that will provide for payments of up to about 50,000 euros ($58,400) to each victim.

Victims will be able to apply for payments under the new system starting Jan. 1, the head of the German Bishops’ Conference, Limburg Bishop Georg Baetzing, said Thursday after conference members signed off at a meeting on the details of a proposal approved in March.

The Catholic Church has been shaken in recent years by sex abuse and cover-up scandals in several countries, including Germany, the homeland of Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI.

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.

In Lat Am, ferment over sex abuse, abortion and coronavirus

ARGENTINA
Crux

September 28, 2020

By Inés San Martín

It’s been an eventful time in Pope Francis’s native Latin America, with a new bishop apologizing for clerical sexual abuse in Chile, the bishops of Nicaragua announcing the return of public Masses after the coronavirus and the Church in Ecuador praising the country’s president for vetoing a bill that would have partially legalized abortion.

Here’s a round-up on developments south of the border.

Chile

Two years after a clean-up of the church in Chile began, with Pope Francis replacing a third of the bishops’ conference, a new auxiliary bishop was ordained in Santiago, the country’s capital, and his opening remarks turned on the abuse crisis.

“I assume this episcopal mission in times of great crisis that afflict us all,” Bishop Julio Larrondo said on Saturday.

Referring to abuses of power, conscience and sex, Larrondo noted they’ve “caused so much pain, first for the victims and their families, and also to the entire ecclesial body.

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.

September 27, 2020

Cardinal Pell to return to Rome this week

ROME (ITALY)
Catholic News Agency

September 27, 2020

By Courtney Mares

Cardinal George Pell is set to return to Rome on Tuesday, his first time back in the Vatican since 2017, when he took a leave of absence from his role as prefect of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy to travel to Australia.

The cardinal is set to fly on Sept. 29, sources close to Pell confirmed to CNA on Sunday, following an initial report by Australian journalist Andrew Bolt in the Herald Sun newspaper.

Pell has been living in his former Archdiocese of Sydney since his acquittal by Australia’s High Court in April on charges of sexual abuse.

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

New legal protections for sexual assault victims in N.H. take effect this week

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Concord Monitor

September 26, 2020

By Ethan DeWitt

New Hampshire’s protections for victims of domestic and sexual violence were widely expanded this week, after a broad package of reforms pushed by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Chris Sununu this summer took effect.

House Bill 705, known as the “Crime Victims’ Rights Enhancement Act of 2020,” ushered in significant changes. The statute of limitations for civil actions in sexual assault cases is now eliminated; the rights of victims during court proceedings have been increased; and those who commit sexual assaults against people with disabilities who are unable to consent – or 13- to-16-year-olds – may no longer use marriage as an excuse, among other changes.

The provisions took effect Sept. 18, 60 days after Sununu signed the bill in July

Advocates for domestic and sexual violence survivors applauded the developments – among the first major updates to the state’s statutes on victims’ rights in decades.

“Prior to this legislation, statutes in New Hampshire limited survivors of sexual assault to seek justice within an arbitrary timeframe,” said Pamela Keilig, public policy specialist at the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, in an emailed statement. “With the passage of this bill, that is no longer the case.”

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

Opinion: Britain’s reckoning with past systemic child abuse is long overdue

UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

September 26, 2020

By Caelainn Hogan

Ireland has started trying to rectify the wrongs of its history. The UK is lagging behind

When the pope said mass in Ireland in 2018, a vast field in Dublin’s Phoenix Park was turned into a grid of “pilgrims’ corrals” to control the expected massive crowds, which never materialised. Out of a dozen people in my section, two nuns talked to me about a priest back home who had abused a young woman.

Another pilgrim, down from Belfast for the occasion, said her aunt had been sent to a religious-run institution as a teenager because she was pregnant. Her son was taken away. On her deathbed, her aunt was still asking the priest for forgiveness.

The pope had come for the World Meeting of Families. During the gathering of Catholic hierarchy and faithful, news broke about nuns arrested in Scotland on charges of abuse at the Smyllum Park orphanage they ran, where hundreds died. The charges resulted from the Scottish child abuse inquiry. The same order, the Daughters of Charity, ran the largest mother-and-baby home in Ireland.

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.