ABUSE TRACKER

The recently opened archives of Pope Pius XII have shed new light on claims the World War II-era pope didn’t speak out about the Holocaust. But they’re also providing details about another contentious chapter in Vatican history: the scandal over the founder of the Legionaries of Christ.

Entire books have already been written about the copious documentation that arrived in the Holy See in the 1940s and 1950s proving its officials had evidence of the Rev. Marcial Maciel’s dubious morals, drug use, financial recklessness and sexual abuse of his young seminarians.

Yet it took the Holy See more than a half-century to sanction Maciel, and even more for it to acknowledge he was a religious fraud and con artist who molested his seminarians, fathered three children and built a secretive, cult-like religious order to hide his double life.

The newly opened archives of the Pius papacy, which spanned 1939-1958, are adding…

View Cache

Irish Bishop Michael Duignan said he was committed to “working with anybody affected to help bring truth, healing and peace to such terribly painful situations” after news reports on the legacy of Bishop Eamonn Casey appeared in newspapers and television on Sunday.

Casey, who died in 2017, was accused of sexual impropriety in the 1990s, and in 2019 it was reported the bishop had faced at least three accusations of sexual abuse before his death.

Ian Elliott, he former chief safeguarding officer for the Catholic Church in Ireland, told the RTÉ radio station, in association with the Irish Mail on Sunday newspaper, that Casey was “a sexual predator.”

The RTÉ documentary, called Bishop Casey’s Buried Secrets, said the Diocese of Limerick paid over €100,000 in settlement to one of his accusers after the bishop’s death.

The documentary noted that despite his resignation as Bishop of Galway in 1992, Casey remained an official bishop until…

View Cache

The Knights of Columbus used a paper cover to temporarily cloak artwork created by Father Marko Rupnik at the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., pending the outcome of a Vatican investigation into sexual abuse allegations against the Slovenian artist and priest.

Rupnik’s mosaics line the walls of the Luminous Mysteries Chapel, which contains a first-class relic of St. John Paul II’s blood at the front of the altar, and the larger Redemptor Hominis Chapel, both of which sit inside the shrine near the entrance. The shrine is sponsored and managed by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization.

The paper cover will eventually be replaced with a fabric canvas while the Vatican continues to investigate allegations that Rupnik spiritually, psychologically, and sexually abused between 20 and 40 adult women, including religious sisters.

Rupnik’s artwork was fully covered on Tuesday, July 23, less than…

View Cache

Cardinal Gérald C. Lacroix is resuming his duties as Quebec’s archbishop, six months after stepping aside when he was accused of sexual misconduct for which a Vatican-mandated investigation found no evidence to support.

Cardinal Lacroix announced he would step back into his role as archbishop of Quebec and primate of Canada in a July 22 news release posted to the Archdiocese of Quebec’s website. He is to preside over Mass July 26 at the Sanctuary of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré for the feast of St. Anne.

The cardinal’s voluntary absence began in late January when abuse allegations surfaced as part of a class action lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Quebec surrounding alleged historical abuse cases. Cardinal Lacroix has denied any wrongdoing, but the Vatican hired retired Quebec judge André Denis to investigate the claims made against Cardinal Lacroix.

Denis’ investigation concluded when in May he said he failed to find any evidence to…

View Cache

New Zealand’s wide-ranging independent inquiry into the abuse of children and vulnerable adults in care over the span of five decades released a blistering final report Wednesday that found the country’s state agencies and churches failed to prevent, stop or admit to the abuse of those they were supposed to look after — even when they knew about it.

The scale of the abuse was “unimaginable” with an estimated 200,000 people abused in seven decades, the report said. Scrutiny of state and faith-run institutions was lax and predators rarely faced repercussions.

In response to the findings, New Zealand’s government agreed for the first time that historical treatment of some children in a notorious state-run hospital amounted to torture, and pledged an apology to all those abused in state, foster and religious care since 1950. But Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said it was too soon to divulge how much the government expected to…

View Cache

On Wednesday, a commission in New Zealand singled out religious communities — and in particular, the Catholic Church — for failing to address or prevent abuse children and vulnerable adults in care facilities.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care spent six years holding hearings and investigating events from 1950 until the present day.

The final report said abuse was “unimaginable” in state and faith-run institutions, explaining at least 200,000 people have been abused in these care facilities over the decades.

Starting early in the year 2018 with a consultation process, the Inquiry was required to make various reports and provide a final report with findings and recommendations and presented the report to New Zealand’s Governor General on June 25, and then to Parliament on Wednesday.

“Abuse and neglect in care has had lifelong impacts on survivors. Many survivors died while they were in care or by suicide…

View Cache

Faith-based care institutions had higher rates of sexual abuse than state care, the landmark Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care has found.

The inquiry found that Catholic institutions reported the highest levels of sexual abuse, alongside Dilworth School in Auckland and Marylands School in Christchurch.

Additionally, it highlighted how the moral authority of religious leaders had allowed abusers in faith-based institutions to commit offences with impunity.

The landmark Abuse in Care inquiry released its findings today, revealing more than a third of people in state and faith-based institutions between 1950 and 2019 were abused — described as a “disgrace” and a “stain” on the national character.

The commission’s report said that would remain so if the “gross violations” and injustice are not addressed.

Findings on faith-based care have also shed light on the far-reaching consequences, including the breakdown of families when survivors’ experiences weren’t believed.

…

View Cache

[See also the documentary.]

A niece of Eamonn Casey, who claims she was raped and sexually abused by the former Bishop of Galway, said her fear that another young girl would be his next victim was what prompted her to report her allegations to gardaí.

Patricia Donovan, from Limerick, first reported Bishop Casey for alleged abuse in 2005, which allegedly took place from the late 1960s, starting when she was just five years old and continuing for more than a decade.

Ms Donovan spoke out for the first time in 2019 to the Irish Mail on Sunday, which extensively reported details of her allegations, along with separate abuse claims made by other women.

Now, more than 50 years after the alleged abuse, Ms Donovan’s own voice will be heard for the first time as she reveals her efforts to hold Catholic Church authorities to account in an RTÉ documentary made…

View Cache

[See also the documentary.]

The Vatican banned Bishop Eamonn Casey from public ministry for life after receiving multiple child sexual abuse allegations against him, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The Vatican banned Bishop Eamonn Casey from public ministry for life after receiving multiple child sexual abuse allegations against him, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.

A major RTÉ documentary in association with the MoS, which airs tomorrow, investigates how the Catholic Church handled at least five child sexual abuse allegations against the former Bishop of Galway.

It comes after this newspaper previously revealed how four women complained of alleged child sexual abuse against Bishop Casey, including his niece.

Now it has emerged the Vatican reaffirmed the ban on the disgraced Irish cleric’s ministry after his niece, Patricia Donovan, made a complaint of child sex abuse against him in 2005.

In a rare statement,…

View Cache

[See also the documentary.]

The first known child sex abuse allegation against disgraced Irish Bishop Eamonn Casey went ‘missing’ after it was reported from an Irish diocese to one in England, the Mail can reveal.

The allegation was sent from the Diocese of Limerick in Ireland to the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton in England in June 2001, where he was then working, and also to the Vatican.

The receipt of that complaint and the potential child safeguarding risks that it posed should have seen him suspended from his ministry in England, pending further investigation. The complaint should also have been reported to the police in the UK.

However, neither of those actions were taken and Fr Casey, as he was then known, remained active in ministry in the Diocese of Arundel & Brighton for another four years.

He was only suspended from his position four years later when his own…

View Cache

[See also the documentary.]

Multiple allegations of child sexual abuse have been made against the former Bishop of Galway Eamonn Casey.

Casey, who died in 2017, made headlines in 1992 when it emerged he had fathered a child with an American woman, Annie Murphy, in 1974.

He served as bishop of Galway from 1976 to 1992.

Now, RTÉ and The Mail on Sunday’s joint investigation for their documentary Bishop Casey’s Buried Secrets includes an interview with his niece Patricia Donovan, who has waived her right to anonymity.

Ms Donovan claims that Casey began raping her at the age of five and the sexual abuse continued for years.

‘A sexual predator’

Speaking on camera, Ms Donovan tells the investigation: “Some of the things he did to me, and where he did them… the horror of being raped by him when I was five, the violence. And it just carried on in…

View Cache

[See also the documentary.]

– Church received four separate complaints of childhood sexual abuse against Bishop Casey and one further ‘child safeguarding concern’ 

– Allegations relate to every Irish diocese in which Bishop Casey served   

– Six-figure settlement paid by Catholic Church to one complainant after Bishop Casey’s death in 2017 

– Vatican confirms Bishop Casey secretly banned from public ministry in 2007 

– Investigation conducted by RTÉ in association with the Irish Mail on Sunday into Church’s handling of complaints against Bishop Eamonn Casey  

– Feature length documentary Bishop Casey’s Buried Secrets to be broadcast tonight, Monday on RTÉ One and worldwide on RTÉ Player 

The former CEO of The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland, Ian Elliott, has described Bishop Eamonn Casey as “a sexual predator” in a new documentary to be broadcast tonight on RTÉ One and RTE Player.

In an investigation conducted by RTÉ, in association…

View Cache

The former bishop of Galway Eamonn Casey was a serial paedophile who abused his five-year-old niece, a new RTÉ documentary has claimed.

The feature-length documentary, Bishop Casey’s Buried Secrets, alleges that there were multiple complaints of child abuse against Casey, who died in 2017 aged 89.

In 1992 The Irish Times revealed that Casey had fathered a child, Peter, with an American woman, Annie Murphy, and paid her IR£70,000 out of the Diocese of Galway’s funds.

It was the first major sexual scandal to affect the Catholic Church in Ireland, but the charges of child abuse that have been made against Casey are far more serious than those that led to his resignation.

He was removed from public ministry in 2007 by the Vatican after allegations of child abuse had been made against him.

The documentary, to be broadcast on RTÉ One on Monday night, was made…

View Cache

Speaking on camera for the first time, Casey’s niece, Patricia Donovan, claims that he first raped her at the age of five and that the abuse continued for years.

THE FORMER CEO of The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland has described the former Catholic Bishop of Galway Eamonn Casey as “a sexual predator”.

Ian Elliott makes the comments in a new RTÉ documentary, Bishop Casey’s Buried Secrets, in association with the Irish Mail on Sunday. The documentary will air tonight.

The programme examines the Catholic Church’s handling of allegations against Casey, who died in 2017 aged 89.

It includes an interview with Casey’s niece, Patricia Donovan, who claims that he first raped her at the age of five and that the sexual abuse continued for years. 

It also reveals how a six-figure settlement was paid by the Catholic Church to one complainant after Casey’s death, and…

View Cache

Pope Francis is scheduled to meet with sexual abuse victims of the Catholic Church during his visit to Belgium in September, but no victims interviewed in the explosive Godvergeten documentary received an invite to the official session.

In an agenda published by the Vatican on Friday, the Pope will attend a “pastoral meeting with victims of sexual abuse” during his Belgian trip from 26 to 29 September. However, none of the victims who testified in VRT’s Godvergeten (‘Godforsaken’ in English) were invited, according to De Morgen. The documentary brought deep-rooted abuse at the heart of the Catholic order to light and prompted calls for the upcoming encounter between abuse victims and the Pope.

Nevertheless, “none of our people were invited,” said priest Rik Devillé, founder of the Working Group on Human Rights in the Church (WMK). “We wrote to the bishops and made concrete proposals and there was…

View Cache

The photograph hangs near the main staircase in the entrance hall of the private residence of the archbishop of New Orleans.

Inside the thin gold frame, standing shoulder to shoulder with a smiling Archbishop Gregory Aymond, are his predecessors: archbishops Philip Hannan, Francis Schulte and Alfred Hughes. Revered in the local church, the legacies of the former archbishops are also now defined by the heinous sexual abuse of children committed by clergy under their watch, and their unwillingness to fully account for it.

“I don’t think any of those men on the wall intentionally tried to hurt people,” said Aymond on a recent afternoon, shortly after passing by the picture.

They did, however. They also handed Aymond the profound challenge of trying to move the diocese past its decades-long abuse scandal and atone for its failures.

In 2018, Aymond took what he believed was the crucial step in that reckoning,…

View Cache

Gregory Aymond blames three predecessors as memo says he socialized or lived with 48 allegedly abusive clergymen

The Roman Catholic archbishop of New Orleans has said the allegations at the heart of a child-sex trafficking investigation being conducted by state police against his archdiocese are a “sin”, “evil” and a crime – but he has insisted he was oblivious to them when they unfolded during a bygone era earlier in his career.

Gregory Aymond’s comments, in an interview published on Sunday by New Orleans’ Times-Picayune newspaper, were his first about an investigation which erupted into public view in April as Louisiana state troopers served the archdiocese’s headquarters with a search warrant that accused the institution of potentially having run a child-sex trafficking ring responsible for “widespread sexual abuse of minors dating back decades”.

A sworn statement attached to the warrant added that the institution – which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2020…

View Cache

Archbishop Gregory Aymond said he has agreed to release old files controlled by the Archdiocese of New Orleans detailing decades of child sex abuse by local clergy and make the documents publicly accessible once the church’s long-running bankruptcy case is resolved.

As part of a settlement in the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ ongoing bankruptcy case, Aymond also said he is also willing to meet with small groups of abuse survivors in a neutral “safe space” and allow them to tell their stories, though he said he would keep the meeting closed to the public and the media.

“I am very open to that,” Aymond said.

Aymond’s comments, which represent his first public vows to release the documents, came during three days of interviews on a wide range of issues related to the church’s financial issues, the clergy sex abuse crisis and the spiritual health of the nation’s second-oldest…

View Cache

Archbishop Gregory Aymond says he will release files related to sexual abuse committed by priests in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

According to our partners at NOLA.com, Aymond says the document release is part of the archdiocese’s long-running bankruptcy case, which now is in its fifth year. The documents, Aymond said, will be available once the case is resolved.

Aymond also said he’s willing to meet with small groups of abuse survivors and hear their stories. According to Aymond, those meetings would take place in a neutral “safe space” and be closed to the public and the media..

Aymond told the newspaper that the archdiocese continues to scan thousands of church documents dating back to the 19th Century in order to comply with a Louisiana State Police search warrant served on the archdiocese in April related to criminal investigations of sexual abuse committed by priests.

View Cache

Pope Francis will meet victims of sexual violence during his visit to Belgium at the end of September, according to a statement from the Interdiocesan Press and Information Service (SIPI) released on Friday.

The schedule for the Pope’s visit to Belgium was disclosed by the Vatican on Friday. It will take place from the evening of Thursday 26 September to Sunday 29 September and will commemorate the 600th anniversary of KU Leuven and UCLouvain

Upon landing at Melsbroek on Thursday evening, Pope Francis will be officially welcomed by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, Belgian bishops, and the rectors of both universities, amongst others from the ecclesiastical and civil sectors.

On Friday morning, the King and Queen will receive the Pope at Laeken Castle, where he will address various constitutional representatives and Belgian civil society. The Pope is then expected to visit Louvain, where he will speak to professors and students, focusing…

View Cache

A new documentary focuses on the worst of Casey: child abuse. But it also strips away the last remnants of a once-golden reputation

He was the first — and mercifully the only — populist Irish Bishop. A legend in his own lavish lunchtime, protected against naysayers by his blustering man-of-the people persona. Uniquely loved, he was, for his come-all-ye-singing accessibility. Fans told eye-rolling stories of his dangerous, liquor-infused driving: sure wasn’t he a terrible man, all the same? One of our own. Authentic.

As a teenager in Catholic Ireland, I was aware that my parents viewed Eamonn Casey as an intellectual waste of space, but aware, too, that – in common with the small number of critics at the time — they viewed him as no worse than that.

An exclusive in the Mail on Sunday establishes that he was considerably worse than that. Anne Sheridan’s lead story states: “The…

View Cache

Former Luling priest Rev. Anthony Odiong has been charged with two counts of sexual assault after his arrest in Florida on counts of possessing child pornography, according to authorities.

A total of eight victims have been identified, Waco Police Department announced late Thursday evening, and authorities are continuing to search for additional victims.

In March of 2023, an unidentified victim reported Odiong to Waco, Texas, police for an alleged sexual assault that took place in 2012.

After further investigation, detectives were given permission by a judge to search through Odiong’s iCloud storage data, where they found images depicting sexual abuse of a child, according to The Guardian. The case of possession of child pornography led to the Tuesday arrest on a Texas warrant in Ave Maria, Florida.

Odiong was booked in Collier County Jail while he awaits extradition.

Authorities believe that there could…

View Cache

The Catholic Church already knew by 2021 of claims of sexual abuse against a beloved humanitarian French priest, the late Abbe Pierre, members of an independent commission said Saturday.

Abbe Pierre, or Henri Groues, was a Capuchin monk and an ordained Catholic clergyman who died in 2007 aged 94. He left a legacy as a friend to the poverty-stricken and founder of the charities Emmaus and the Abbe Pierre Foundation.

Revered for his uncompromising position defending the homeless and other people on the margins of life in France, he regularly topped polls as the most popular public figure in the country.

On Wednesday, however, it was revealed that seven women had made allegations of sexual assault or harassment by the elderly cleric dating back to between 1970 and 2005.

And on Saturday, four researchers for an independent commission into sexual abuse in the French Catholic Church said that they had…

View Cache

Pope Francis on Saturday accepted the resignation of a Colombian bishop who was mentioned in a book about members of Colombia’s clergy who have allegedly committed acts of sexual abuse.

The Vatican said in its daily news bulletin that the pope approved the resignation of Bishop Óscar Augusto Múnera from the apostolic vicariate of Tierra Adentro in southwest Colombia. The Vatican’s brief statement didn’t explain why the bishop had resigned from his post.

Múnera was accused of abusing of a young man in a book published last year by investigative journalists Juan Pablo Barrientos and Miguel Estupiñán, which also includes a list of more than 500 members of Colombia’s Roman Catholic clergy who have allegedly committed acts of sexual abuse. However, Colombian authorities haven’t filed any charges against Múnera.

In an article published in May on the news site Religion Digital, Estupiñán says that Múnera abused a young man in…

View Cache

“Mary said she felt she could not revoke consent or say no to [Father] Odiong due to his authority as a Catholic priest,” the lead investigator on the case wrote.

Two women let Roman Catholic priest Anthony Odiong become close to them because they believed he would provide them with spiritual advice they could use to confront difficult times in their lives.

Odiong previously ran into similar issues as a popular priest at a Catholic church in Luling, Louisiana and was dismissed from his pastoral duties here. 

But rather than simply minister to them, Odiong abused his position to have sexual intercourse with one of the women, police now allege. And he allegedly managed to pressure the other woman into letting her husband sodomize her despite her faith-based objections to that kind of encounter – while also successfully urging her to relay her experience to him.

Those graphic details were revealed…

View Cache

A church in South Carolina just fired their pastor after finding out some disturbing information about him regarding an assault on a 14-year-old girl. 

Pastor Donald Logan has been fired from his position at Eternal Church in Fort Mill, SC, in the U.S.A. It was recently revealed that Logan is a registered sex offender convicted of sexual misconduct with a 14-year-old girl, an incident that took place 27 years ago.

“Effective immediately, we have made the decision to release Pastor Don Logan from his call as Pastor of Eternal Church,” reads an email church elders sent to the congregation on July 10, a copy of which was published by The Fort Mill Sun. “Our decision to release Don was made with much prayer and discernment around the biblical qualifications for overseers of the church. Retaining Don as our pastor is not consistent with the truth, wisdom, and practicality in this text.”

In 1997 Logan…

View Cache

A pastor of a Brunswick County church faces multiple counts in a child sexual offense case.

On July 8, Jonathan Ballard, pastor of Straightway Ministries Wilmington and Church of the Living God in Leland and Whiteville, was indicted with 12 counts of taking indecent liberties with children, six counts of statutory sex offense, and one count of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, according to a first appearance in New Hanover County Court Friday morning.

Four victims, including one who has since deceased, have come forward, Jason Smith, assistant district attorney representing the state in the case at Friday’s first appearance, said. The alleged abuse occurred between 1995 and 2019 across multiple counties.

Previous Coverage:Preacher’s sex charges are dropped

Previous Coverage:Pastor charged with multiple misdemeanor counts of assault on a female

One victim had joined Ballard’s church for bible study in 1996,…

View Cache

There was a bond hearing in Lenawee County District Court Thursday morning for the Adrian pastor charged with two counts of 2nd Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct.

Michael Goble, 75, appeared in court before Lenawee County District Court Judge Laura J. Schaedler. Goble’s defense attorney, with the Public Defenders Office, presented a case to have his bond lowered, and that the court could accommodate something other that jail…such as house arrest or a GPS tether. Defense council told the Judge that Goble is 75 years old, a long-term resident of the county, and has no prior criminal history. He said that Goble is retired, a recent widower, and has three adult children in the area. Council also said that Goble has medical issues that he meets with a doctor on a regular basis, and is not a flight risk. The defense wanted Judge Schaedler to consider a $25,000 bond per count…a…

View Cache

Alleged victims of Father Marko Rupnik welcomed the decisions of the Knights of Columbus and Lourdes sanctuary regarding the ex-Jesuit’s mosaics, saying they are “grateful.” “Words are not enough to show solidarity with the victims; actions are needed,” one of the women told OSV News.

The Knights of Columbus announced July 11 the Catholic fraternal organization will cover mosaics by Father Rupnik at the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington and the Holy Family Chapel at the Knights’ headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut.

The Knights said the decision came at “the conclusion of a careful and thorough process.”
The mosaics will be obscured by fabric “which will remain in place at least until the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) issues its decision on the pending sexual abuse cases against artist Father Marko Rupnik.”

In Lourdes, where Father Rupnik’s mosaics cover the facade of the Basilica…

View Cache

When The Chapel, a multi-site non-denominational megachurch with campuses clustered near the Illinois-Wisconsin state line, fired its associate pastor, Steven Ostrander, it didn’t tell church members why. At the time of Ostrander’s firing in October 2022, most congregants didn’t even know that he’d been let go, numerous former congregants and staff told The Roys Report (TRR).

The church certainly didn’t reveal that Ostrander, then 30, had reportedly admitted that he had a sexual interaction with a 19-year-old man who had previously been in Ostrander’s youth ministry. The church also didn’t mention allegations that Ostrander had made unwanted sexual advances toward several 20-something men under his pastoral care.

Not until 18 months had passed did church leaders – via a March 20, 2024, email – let the 4,500-member congregation know what was up. The missive described the allegations against Ostrander as “misuse of power to manipulate personal and professional relationships and/or…

View Cache

Ten years ago, Sharon Clements’ world turned upside down. The pastor she trusted abused that trust and lured her into a sexual relationship. But when everything became public, her abuse was labeled an affair. And instead of receiving help, she received shame and rejection.

In this edition of The Roys Report, Sharon speaks out—not just about the abuse, but about her road to recovery.

The church where her abuse occurred—LexCity Church (formerly Quest Community Church) in Lexington, Kentucky—recently made headlines for another sex abuse scandal. And in the wake of that scandal, LexCity has closed.

It’s not often we see such a dramatic consequence to news like this. But then again, this is the second time LexCity has been rocked by scandal.

The first time was in 2014 when then-Pastor Pete Hise admitted to an “affair” with Sharon Clements. This not only rocked the church but led to years of confusion and…

View Cache

A priest in Ohio has issued an apology to parishioners after a media report revealed that he had destroyed a hard drive reportedly containing inappropriate pictures of children — and potentially child pornography — and then delayed reporting the incident to police. 

In a July 12 letter to parishioners at St. Susanna Catholic Church in Mason, Ohio, Father Barry Stechschulte said he wanted to “address” and “apologize for” his involvement in a controversy surrounding a priest accused of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. 

Local Cincinnati ABC affiliate WCPO reported earlier this month on a yearslong controversy involving a Dayton-area priest, Father Tony Cutcher, who left ministry in 2021 amid a scandal involving “hundreds of text messages he exchanged with a 14-year-old boy.”

Some of the text messages included implied sexual overtones. Cutcher ultimately resigned from active priestly duties after an evaluation recommended a “restriction…

View Cache

Two charges of sexual assault have been filed against Anthony Odiong, with eight survivors identified thus far, according to the Waco Police Department.

The Waco Police Department is actively searching for additional survivors who may have been victimized by Odiong. Additional charges are pending. “Respect for your experience is our highest priority. You will not be required to go to court if you don’t prefer, nor will your name be made public,” stated the department.

In March of this year, credible information was reported to the Waco Police Department regarding a sexual assault that occurred in 2012. The individual who allegedly committed this sexual assault is a Catholic priest by the name of Fr. Anthony Odiong. During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered, which led to the arrest of Anthony Odiong on July 16, 2024, in Ave Maria, Florida, by the Florida Caribbean Regional…

View Cache

• Services at St. Thomas in Delmar on Friday for Rev. Gregory Weider who accused in three sexual abuse cases
• Diocese grants family’s request to hold funeral at parish

DELMAR – A priest removed from public ministry by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany is scheduled to have a wake and funeral at one of the parishes he served before allegations of child sexual abuse were made against him decades later.

According to the St. Thomas the Apostle parish calendar, a wake for Rev. Gregory Weider is scheduled for Friday, July 19, in its chapel from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with a funeral mass to follow in the church.

Spotlight News specifically asked the Albany Diocese if any of the abuse allegations took place at St. Thomas, but the diocese declined to answer, citing the privacy of the victims.

Weider was added to the diocese’s “List of Credibly Accused” after…

View Cache

The French-based Catholic solidarity movement founded by late Abbé Pierre releases the findings of an independent investigation, revealing alleged sexual abuses committed by its charismatic founder.

He is one of the most popular and iconic figures of the Church in France, known for his commitment to the French Resistance, for protecting Jews during World War II, and for his lifelong advocacy for the homeless and the destitute.

A report released on Wednesday by the Emmaus community, the now-international organization he founded 1949 in France to support the poorest and most vulnerable, has tarnished this image, revealing that Abbé Pierre committed acts amounting to sexual assault or sexual harassment.

A year-long investigation

The report is the result of an investigation the Catholic foundation entrusted in 2023 to an expert firm that specializes in abuse prevention, after a woman reported a sexual assault by the late priest and humanitarian…

View Cache

Boyd Householder died in June, before the beginning of his trial on 78 felony charges involving allegations of statutory rape, physical abuse and child neglect. On Wednesday, activists gathered in Jefferson City to ask that his wife, Stephanie Householder, not receive a plea deal.

“Stephanie Householder is perhaps the most notorious and prolific female perpetrator in Missouri,” said David Clohessy, Missouri volunteer director of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

Stephanie Householder faces 22 felony charges related to abuse and neglect that allegedly happened at Circle of Hope Girls Ranch, the Christian reform school in Humansville, Missouri, that was operated by her and her husband.

Young adults involved with the school spoke at Wednesday’s news conference while activists held up signs outside the Attorney General’s Office of Missouri. One sign read “No plea for Stephanie.”

Maggie Drew was a student at the boarding school from 2007-13. At the…

View Cache

BEING SENT TO SHERIFFS & PROSECUTORS IN THESE COUNTIES: JOHNSON, GRUNDY, MORGAN, LAFAYETTE, PETTIS, STONE, JACKSON, SHELBY, TANEY, OREGON, AUDRAIN, DADE, LAFAYETTE, SCOTT, COLE, JASPER, CAPE GIRARDEAU AND GREENE.

July 17, 2024

Dear AG Bailey:

Our message to you is simple: No plea for Stephanie.

We have suffered immeasurably, and many of us continue to suffer severely, because of the heinous crimes at Christian boarding schools committed and concealed by both Boyd and Stephanie Householder.

Over decades, the two of them no doubt sexually, physically and emotionally abused countless other innocent kids.

Now, Boyd will not face justice. But Stephanie MUST face justice.

Boyd has evaded earthly justice. Stephanie, however, has not.

In the strongest possible terms, we beg you to take the criminal case against Stephanie to trial without delay. We beg you to give us the only real opportunity we likely will ever have to face and expose an…

View Cache

OLYMPIA, Wash. – After a Washington Attorney General’s Office investigation alleging that the Dioceses of Seattle, Spokane and Yakima used charitable funds to cover-up sex abuse was halted by a superior court judge on Friday, clergy abuse advocates are still demanding accountability. 

Abuse survivors and reform advocates from the Catholic Accountability Project (CAP) traveled from Seattle to Spokane and Yakima on Tuesday promising that the AG investigation into alleged abuse cover-ups would be appealed to Washington’s Supreme Court. 

“It was a very sad day last week for survivors in court to have that kind of a setback, but we’re very hopeful about what the attorney general has committed to do in appealing this case,” CAP advocate Sarah Pearson said. 

Pearson helped to organize thousands of pages of abuse documentation ahead of the AG’s office filing investigating subpoenas against the three dioceses. She asserted that Bishop Thomas Daly’s office was actively avoiding addressing…

View Cache

WACO, Texas — Two charges of sexual assault have been filed against Anthony Odiong, with eight survivors identified thus far, according to the Waco Police Department.

The Waco Police Department is actively searching for additional survivors who may have been victimized by Odiong. Additional charges are pending. “Respect for your experience is our highest priority. You will not be required to go to court if you don’t prefer, nor will your name be made public,” stated the department.

In March of this year, credible information was reported to the Waco Police Department regarding a sexual assault that occurred in 2012. The individual who allegedly committed this sexual assault is a Catholic priest by the name of Fr. Anthony Odiong. During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered, which led to the arrest of Anthony Odiong on July 16, 2024, in Ave Maria, Florida, by the Florida Caribbean Regional…

View Cache

[Play Video]

SPOKANE, Wash. – Survivors and advocates are calling on the three Washington State Catholic diocese to release alleged documents they have that contain evidence of clergy abuse and cover-up.

This comes after a Washington State judge rejected Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s request to enforce a subpoena against the Seattle Archdiocese over its handling of sexual abuse cases. The Diocese of Spokane was also subpoenaed by Ferguson in May. 

Clergy abuse survivors and advocates met at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes on Tuesday to advocate for victims here in Spokane. 

“I am a survivor of priest and young nun abuse,” said clergy abuse survivor Mary Dispenza.

Dispenza said she was 7-years-old when she suffered abuse by the Catholic church in Los Angeles. Now, she stands strong advocating for others in Washington.

“I’m also here to ask and demand that the files be…

View Cache

New charges filed against Anthony Odiong after eight accusers came forward alleging unwelcome sexual conduct

Days after being jailed in Florida on counts of possessing child abuse imagery, a Roman Catholic priest with ties to south-east Louisiana and Texas has been charged with two counts of sexual assault.

Police in Waco, Texas, announced the new charges against Anthony Odiong late on Thursday in a statement. It said a total of eight victims had come forward alleging Odiong, 55, tried to use his influence as a priest to pursue sexual contact they either did not welcome or to which they could not consent.

Texas is one of about a dozen states with a law that criminalizes sexual activity between clergymen and adults who emotionally depend on their spiritual advice. Furthermore, Texas deems statutes of limitation – or filing deadlines – irrelevant if a “defendant has committed the same or similar sex offense…

View Cache

New Vision Baptist Church in Murfreesboro has used background checks in its ministry for more than 10 years.

“It gives us peace of mind,” said Kellie Clem, financial assistant at New Vision. “Also, there are occasions where it becomes a chance to talk with volunteers about their faith walk due to results that have come back.”

According to the 2023 Annual Church Profile (ACP), most Southern Baptist congregations, like New Vision, use background checks for volunteers. Fewer, however, say they have been trained in reporting sexual abuse or caring for sexual abuse survivors.

Almost 3 in 5 congregations affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (58%) use background checks. More than a third (36%) are trained in reporting sexual abuse, while 16% are trained in caring for survivors.

“Many within the Southern Baptist Convention and other denominations have been expressing a desire to do more to prevent sexual abuse,”…

View Cache

A priest regularly voted France’s most popular personality has been posthumously accused of sexual assault and harassment by at least seven women, including one who was a minor when the first incident allegedly occurre

An investigative report, published July 17, said that at least five other possible victims were identified during a probe into allegations against Abbé Pierre, the founder of Emmaus, a charity serving the poor and homeless.

Abbé Pierre — who was a member of the French World War II Resistance and made a celebrated appeal for an “uprising of kindness” during the harsh winter of 1954 — is the latest prominent figure within French Catholicism to face posthumous accusations of sexual misconduct.

Others include Fr. Georges Finet, co-founder of the Foyers de Charité, Fr. Marie-Dominique Philippe, founder of the Community of St. John, and Jean Vanier, a Canadian who founded the L’Arche community in France.

The French bishops’…

View Cache

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Employees of the largest housing provider for unaccompanied migrant children in the U.S. repeatedly sexually abused and harassed children in their care for at least eight years, the Justice Department said Thursday, alleging a shocking litany of offenses that took place as the company amassed billions of dollars in government contracts.

Southwest Key Programs Inc. employees, including supervisors, raped, touched or solicited sex and nude images of children beginning in 2015 and possibly earlier, the Justice Department said in a lawsuit filed this week. At least two employees have been indicted on criminal charges related to the allegations since 2020.

It was not immediately clear how many children are currently in Southwest Key’s vast network of shelters across three states, which have room for more than 6,300 children. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment beyond the lawsuit announcement when asked whether the department recommended that…

View Cache

St. Susanna’s pastor says he made ‘terrible mistake’ by failing to report priest for alleged child porn for six years, and ordering hard drive destroyed.

MASON, Ohio — Some local Catholics want a Mason pastor to resign, after the WCPO 9 I-Team reported last week that he ordered evidence of alleged child pornography be destroyed, and waited six years to report it to police while pastor of a different church.

“I understand that the information in this report is distressing for many of you and may impact your trust in me as your pastor… I instructed the hard drive be destroyed. I realize that not reporting it was a terrible mistake, which I regret,” Fr. Barry Stechschulte wrote in a July 12 letter to the St. Susanna community, where he is pastor and oversees a large school.

While the I-Team report focused on former priest Tony Cutcher, it also revealed Father…

View Cache

Vatican City – A legendary French priest and a lifelong advocate of the homeless has been accused of committing acts that would amount to “sexual assault or sexual harassment,” his foundation said Wednesday, in the latest instance of a Catholic spiritual leader facing allegations of abusing his power to harm women.

Abbé Pierre, who died in 2007, was one of France’s most beloved public figures. The founder of the international Emmaus Community for the poor, Abbé Pierre had served as part of France’s conscience since the 1950s, when he persuaded Parliament to pass a law — still on the books — forbidding landlords to evict tenants during winter.

Several women have accused the late priest of sexual assault or harassment between the end of the 1970s and 2005, his foundation said in a statement. It explained that it is making public the allegations of seven women, including one who was…

View Cache

Stephanie Householder, who ran Circle of Hope Girls Ranch with her husband Boyd Householder, faces 21 charges of child abuse and neglect alleged by former students. Her husband, who died last month, had nearly 80 charges that include allegations of sexual abuse.

Survivors of abuse are asking Missouri’s attorney general to proceed with the trial of the co-owner of Circle of Hope Girls Ranch, a now-shuttered boarding school for troubled girls in Cedar County.

Stephanie Householder, who ran the school with her husband Boyd Householder, faces 21 charges of child abuse and neglect alleged by former Circle of Hope students. Her husband had nearly 80 charges, including allegations of sexual abuse.

But he died of a “cardiac incident,” according to his attorney’s statement published by KSMU.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey offered Householder a plea deal in 2023 if she would testify against her husband. She rejected…

View Cache

Father Marko Ivan Rupnik is a former Jesuit priest whose artwork decorates Catholic churches, chapels, and shrines around the world, including the Redemptoris Mater chapel in the Vatican and the major seminary of Rome. He is accused of having committed serious sexual, spiritual, and psychological abuse of women for decades and his case is currently being investigated by the Vatican.

Rupnik’s career

Rupnik, 69, was born in 1954 in Zadlog, Slovenia. During his youth he studied at the School of Fine Arts in Rome and at the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he earned a doctorate with a thesis on the theological significance of modern art in the light of Russian theology.

In the 1980s in his native country with the nun Ivanka Hosta he founded the Loyola Community, where he allegedly abused nuns.

He is also the founder of the Centro Aletti spiritual art workshop in Rome, from where many…

View Cache

A former McLennan County priest is accused of serial sexual assault and has been charged for having child pornography.

UPDATE (6 p.m.)

According to a statement from the Diocese of Austin, they are ready to fully cooperate with law enforcement regarding this case.

The Diocese of Austin says it remains committed to its Safe Environment Program, and is encouraging anyone with additional information regarding Odiong, to report it directly to the Waco Police Department.

According to officials, since Odiong’s conclusion of service in the Diocese of Austin in 2012, he has not had authorization to minister as a priest within the twenty-five county area comprising the Diocese of Austin, and his bishop recalled him back to the Diocese of Uyo in writing in March 2024.

“In 2019, the Diocese of Austin sent written communication to Fr. Odiong confirming that he did not have authorization to engage in priestly ministry in…

View Cache

LULING, La. — A former Louisiana priest who has been credibly accused of sex crimes in several states is under investigation in Texas, where police believe he may have more victims.

Anthony Odiong,55, who was a priest in Luling from 2015 to 2023, is accused of sexual assault and most recently possession of child pornography, according to a news release issued by the Waco Police Department.

Waco police say they were made aware of a sexual assault that happened in 2013 involving Odiong.

Odiong was arrested on Tuesday in Ave Maria, Fla. He is awaiting extradition.

According to Waco police, multiple women have come forward to share similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation.

Police say those experiences ranged from sexual assault to groping and indecent assault.

Officers believe there are potentially more victims across the country.

Odiong served as a Catholic priest at St….

View Cache

AVE MARIA, Fla. — The U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force, along with Collier County deputies, arrested a former Texas priest in Ave Maria Tuesday for possession of child pornography.

Father Anthony Odiong, 55, is also the subject of a sexual assault investigation.

In March 2024, police in Waco, Texas, report a woman came forward to tell them about a sexual assault that occurred in 2012. It was during this investigation that detectives found the child pornography leading to Odiong’s arrest warrant.

People living in Ave Maria’s Silverwood community witnessed Odiong’s arrest. Many neighbors reported not knowing the man well.

“Sexual abuse? That’s horrible,” Grygoriy Averchenko said. “And that’s like, I would never expect that to be living in the community.”

“I went outside, stepped outside and saw four police officers around in the side of his house. One police officer with an AR pointed out the window and probably like…

View Cache

Rev. Anthony Odiong, the priest dismissed last year from St. Anthony of Padua Church in Luling, was arrested Tuesday morning in Florida on a Texas warrant accusing him of possession of child pornography, according to authorities. 

The Waco Police Department is also investigating allegations that the Catholic priest sexually assaulted many other victims. 

“Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation in 2012, Waco Detective Bradley DeLange said in a statement released Tuesday.

“Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault, indecent assault — more commonly known as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation,” DeLange said.

Odiong could not be reached for comment Tuesday. An attorney who previously represented him also could not be reached for comment.

Texas investigation

Waco police opened their investigation in March after an unidentified victim reported…

View Cache

Anthony Odiong was investigated for allegations of sexually abusive misconduct with multiple women in Louisiana and was reported to the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office.

NEW ORLEANS — A popular former New Orleans-area Catholic priest who was dismissed as pastor from St. Anthony of Padua in Luling last year has been arrested and charged with illegally possessing child abuse imagery depicting unclothed children.

Anthony Odiong was arrested Tuesday as he was leaving his home in Ave Maria, Florida, on a warrant obtained by police in Waco, Texas. According to sworn statements in support of the arrest warrant that were obtained by the Guardian, police said they discovered the illicit pictures while investigating complaints from at least four women that made officers aware Odiong, 55, could be “a potential serial sexual assault suspect”.

Odiong was being investigated for allegations of sexually abusive misconduct with multiple women in Louisiana. He was reported to the…

View Cache

An affidavit in the arrest Tuesday of a former Waco-area priest indicates Waco police came across child pornography in his online accounts while they were investigating the complaint of one of four women who accused him of sexual assault.

The Rev. Anthony Okoneffiong Odiong, 56, was being held Wednesday in Florida’s Collier County Jail without bail on the child pornography charge, waiting for transfer to McLennan County.

Odiong, who served as pastor at St. Peter Catholic Student Center near Baylor University and St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in West from 2007 to 2012, was dismissed from a church in Luling, Louisiana, in December.

Since then, the Diocese of Fort Worth in February has warned churches not to allow Odiong to engage with parishioners, suggesting that he had disregarded a ban by the Diocese of Austin on ministering in that diocese, which includes McLennan County.

The arrest affidavit for…

View Cache

Serial child sex abuser Peter Newman will be eligible for parole later this year due to the terms of his sentencing, and survivors of his abuse at Kanakuk Kamps are opposing that possibility.

Newman is one among a long list of child sex abuse perpetrators at Kanakuk Kamps, an evangelical Christian camp based in Branson, Mo., facing multiple lawsuits for fraudulent concealment of these sex crimes.

After confessing in 2009 to sexually abusing at least 57 children, Newman was sentenced in 2010 to two life terms plus 30 years in Missouri state prison on multiple counts of statutory sodomy and child enticement. Prior to his sentencing, prosecutors were aware of at least 57 alleged victims of this abuse, on which one prosecutor commented he was “the most prolific child molester I have ever dealt with.” Today it is believed his number of victims and survivors is much higher.

On Sept. 25,…

View Cache

Priest Mariusz W. from Radom was arrested on his 45th birthday. He faces up to 12 years in prison for the sexual exploitation of young women and inciting false testimony.

The District Court in Zamość ordered his temporary detention for three months. He previously served as the director of the National Organizational Office for World Youth Days (WYD) and as a diocesan academic pastor in Radom.

The priest, who also lectured at a local university and served as a youth pastor, faces charges related to seven incidents spanning from 2011 to 2021.

The prosecution encourages any other potential victims of the priest’s sexual exploitation to come forward if they haven’t done so already.

The Radom Diocese informed authorities about the potential criminal activities of the Catholic clergyman as early as 2021. Since then, an investigation has been ongoing, including interviews with victims and witnesses.

“The Radom Diocese deeply regrets the…

View Cache

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has said he will appeal a judge’s decision to reject his request to enforce a subpoena against the Archdiocese of Seattle in a clergy sex abuse investigation, while Archbishop Paul Etienne has renewed his offer for collaboration between the sides.

Alleging that the Archdiocese of Seattle refused to cooperate, Ferguson’s office announced in May that he filed a court petition to get the subpoena enforced. The subpoena sought archdiocesan records for an investigation into whether the archdiocese used charitable funds to cover up clergy sex abuse allegations.

Ferguson’s office first sent the subpoena to the Archdiocese of Seattle in July 2023, and then again this past April seeking additional information, including accounting and financial records. The Dioceses of Spokane and Yakima, also in Washington, were subpoenaed as well.

Rejecting Ferguson’s request on July 12, King County Superior Court Judge Michael Scott ruled that the attorney…

View Cache

Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki has a history of opposing consequences for sexual abuse in the church.

Conservatives seemingly had no problem tapping someone with a history of covering up sexual abuse scandals to deliver the opening remarks at the Republican National Convention.

During the opening prayer Monday night, Archbishop of Milwaukee Jerome Listecki reminded the conference to pray for the “wisdom” to place the nation “above personal interest” and to “respect justice” and “equality before the law.” But that wasn’t always the spiritual leader’s prerogative.

Fourteen years ago, Listecki was caught in the midst of a cover-up within the church, with local outlets underlining how far he had gone to thwart investigations of priests involved in the Catholic Church’s child sex abuse scandal, and how he had even permitted some of the accused—and charged—church leaders to remain in leadership positions.

In 2010, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel View Cache

A teenage girl from New York who was visiting family in Brooksville reported to deputies that her step-grandfather, William Martinez, 55, touched her inappropriately and forced her to touch him.

Martinez is a pastor at Kingdom of Hope Ministries in Weeki Wachee.

After hearing of the incident, the teen’s mother informed the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.

While her grandmother was at a doctor’s appointment, the teen said that Martinez gave her a drink that tasted funny and a THC gummy, which made her tired. He then proceeded to touch her. Blood and urine tests confirmed the presence of alcohol and THC in her system.

Detectives executed a search warrant at Martinez’s home and collected forensic evidence. Martinez denied the allegations made by the victim.

He was arrested on two counts of Lewd and Lascivious Behavior of a Victim over 12, and less than 16 and two counts of Sexual Battery…

View Cache

Waco police asking other possible survivors of sexual assaults to come forward

The Waco Police Department on Tuesday announced it is searching for additional survivors who were sexually assaulted by Father Anthony Odiong, 55, a Catholic priest.

In March of this year, Waco police said they received credible information reporting that the priest – identified as Odiong – had committed a sexual assault in 2012.

During the investigation, police identified up to five victims and learned Odiong was in possession of child pornography, an arrest affidavit states.

The affidavit states Odiong was using his iPhone and iPad to communicate with the victims and police obtained a search warrant to access Odiong’s iCloud, where they found multiple lewd photos of a girl, the warrant further states.

View Cache

It leaves us scratching our collective heads as we just posted about another predator priest, but as best we can tell, not a single US TV station, radio station, newspaper, or even blogger has ever reported on the abuse allegations against Fr. Ramon Salvador Gomez. How can that be? In 2021, he was put on the ‘credibly accused’ list in the Fresno Diocese. He was on a similar list in the San Antonio Archdiocese two years prior.

Fr. Gomez was “dismissed after law enforcement officials in California informed the San Antonio Archdiocese that he was accused of child sex abuse in that state.” He later moved to Jalisco, Mexico, but sometimes returned to the Texas town of Carrizo Springs “without faculties or permission for priestly ministry, despite the objections of the parish pastor and a letter from the Texas archbishop to the Mexican bishop.”

On one…

View Cache

Johnny Hunt finally got to tell his side the story about what happened at a beachside condo in 2010, when he is accused of sexually abusing a pastor’s wife the age of his own daughters.

In a court deposition taken April 18, the former Georgia pastor and denominational leader says the narrative of what happened that day was misrepresented by Guidepost Solutions in its report to the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee in 2022.

The 368-page deposition was made public last week. It covers a wide range of topics, from Hunt’s income stream, to his leadership of men’s conferences, to his tenure as president of the SBC, to his definition of adultery.

Defining adultery

Hunt, the former longtime pastor of Woodstock Baptist Church north of Atlanta, says he sees a difference between “adultery” and being “unfaithful” to one’s wife. It is only adultery, he says, if there is sexual intercourse involved.

That…

View Cache

Anthony Odiong, prohibited from ministering in Texas and Louisiana amid criminal investigation, arrested in Florida

A Catholic priest under criminal investigation for sexual misconduct with multiple women – and consequently prohibited from ministering in two states – has been charged with illegally possessing child abuse imagery depicting girls.

Anthony Odiong was arrested Tuesday as he was leaving his home in Ave Maria, Florida, on a warrant obtained by police in Waco, Texas, charging him with possessing child abuse images showing disrobed children. According to sworn statements in support of the arrest warrant that were obtained by the Guardian, police said they discovered the illicit pictures while investigating complaints from at least four women that made officers aware Odiong, 55, could be “a potential serial sexual assault suspect”.

The Waco police statements say that at least some of the women’s complaints are too old to prosecute due to statutes of limitation….

View Cache

The first person to come forward with sexual abuse allegations against a former Dubuque priest is speaking out after Leo Riley’s charges were dismissed in court on Monday.

The dismissal of charges in Dubuque County due to an archaic Iowa law does not change what is the absolute truth: Leo Patrick Riley is a serial pedophile,” Jeff Buchheit said in a statement on Tuesday.

Evil escaped justice today, but it is only a matter of time before he is held accountable for other lives he destroyed in Iowa and Florida. I extend my sincere gratitude to the Dubuque Police Department investigators and County Attorney’s office. Their relentless and just pursuit of the truth has honored all of us who previously had no voice, especially the many altar boys from Resurrection who have passed on but still stand with us.

My resolve to bring Riley to justice,…

View Cache

The criminal case against an ex-Dubuque priest accused of multiple counts of child sexual abuse was dismissed today. There was no ruling on the accusations, just a decision that the case was beyond the criminal statute of limitations. SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is disappointed that once again an accused clergyman was able to avoid facing his accusers in court.

 Although Fr. Leo P. Riley had denied the charges and pleaded not guilty, we know that false accusations of child sexual abuse are rare, multiple false accusations are even rarer. We believe and stand with the brave survivors who came forward to accuse this cleric. Despite Fr. Riley’s attorney’s claiming that there was “no evidence” that the clergyman committed these crimes, the truth is that the testimony of these courageous victims would have been evidence.

 Many secular reports and individual investigations across the globe…

View Cache

Victims beg AG: No plea deal for ‘horrific abuser’

She’s ‘Missouri’s Ghislane Maxwell,’ they charge

Woman & her husband faced 100 counts of crimes vs. kids

But he just died & victims fear she’ll cut ‘a sweet deal’ from AG

At event, group will write to sheriffs & prosecutors in 20+ counties

A ‘potentially dangerous’ boarding school is in each one, they say

SNAP: ‘Don’t wait! Go after these Christian boarding schools now!’

WHAT

At a sidewalk news conference – chanting and holding signs that read “No plea for Stephanie!!” – victims of abuse at Christian boarding schools will hand-deliver an impassioned letter to Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office urging him to

–take a notorious accused female serial abuser to trial this fall, and

–NOT offer her another plea deal.

Then, sitting on folding chairs, they will address, stamp and stuff envelopes with letters to sheriffs and prosecutors in 20+…

View Cache

Imagine a criminal breaks into your house and steals nearly everything. Years or decades later, you find out he’s carefully and shrewdly hidden it all in a storage facility, and all the while, others knew of his crimes but told no one.

So you finally get to confront the thief.

He refuses to admit his guilt.

He won’t let you in the storage facility.

He won’t even let you glance inside of it for a second.

But he offers to pay you what, on its face, seems to be a good amount of money.

But there’s a catch. You will never get your belongings back. And of course, your pain will never be relieved – all you suffered for all those years, when you couldn’t afford your medicine, cookware or a decent couch to stretch out on doesn’t matter.

This doesn’t even begin to address your psychological and emotional turmoil…

View Cache

A 20-year old tried to assassinate a presidential candidate this weekend. Now I know that, technically, we consider 20-year-olds adults. But I teach 20-year-olds. I know they’re still somewhere between childhood and adulthood, their brains not yet fully formed.

But what in the world would lead a such a young man to try to kill a former president?

The kids simply are not all right.

Teen anxiety, depression and other mental health struggles continue to rise. Nearly a quarter of teens girls have contemplated suicide, as have half of LGBTQ teens.

I recall a conversation with my goddaughter a few years ago when she was around 12 or 13 years old. We were talking about her anxiety about climate change, and she said, “I wish I’d been born sooner. I don’t think I have a future.”

Wow. This is a middle class white kid with everything going for her.

“I wish I’d…

View Cache

On Friday, a judge decided to not force the Seattle Archdiocese to turn over records that the Attorney General’s Office has been asking for since last July.

Ahead of the hearing, survivors of clergy sexual abuse made a point to be at the courthouse.

“For me personally I have been working hard for this day for 31 or 32 years, since I faced my abuse by a priest when I was seven,” said Mary Dispenza.

Wearing a pin with a picture of her at that age, Dispenza is now on a mission to expose what she said the Catholic Church has kept hidden.

The Seattle Archdiocese has released its official record of clergy credibly accused. There are more than 80 names on the list.

“I don’t believe that 80 is the accurate number at all,” said Dispenza, who believes it is much higher.  Continue reading

…

View Cache

Safeguarding processes at two linked charities have been criticised by the Charity Commission in the aftermath of an abuse scandal at a religious school where monks were found to have abused children as young as seven.

Safeguarding failures were found at St Laurence Educational Trust, which runs independent school Ampleforth College on the site of Ampleforth Abbey, North Yorkshire.

Failures were also found at Ambleforth Abbey Trust, which manages the Abbey and whose monks provide chaplaincy and teaching to pupils.

These safeguarding weaknesses “put students at the college at risk of harm”, according to the Commission.

Among failures was “ineffective communication between the charities”, this includes ineffective support from their safeguarding committees at the time.

The slow pace of improvements to safeguarding at St Laurence Educational Trust exposed children to “risks of harm and the college to reputational harm”.

Meanwhile, trustees at Ampleforth Abbey Trust, who were all from the monastic community, were found to lack…

View Cache

The Adrian Police Department said Michael Ronald Goble was arraigned Monday after being arrested over the weekend.

LENAWEE COUNTY, Mich. — A Lenawee County pastor was arraigned Monday on charges of criminal sexual conduct after being arrested over the weekend.

Adrian police said Michael Ronald Goble faces two counts of criminal sexual conduct of the second degree.

APD said that based on the totality of the investigation, more victims are believed to exist that have not yet been identified. According to police, “locations of significance” may include the Maurice Spears Juvenile Campus, Church of the Good Shepherd and Goble’s home.

Adrian police said they are conducting a joint investigation with the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office. They are urging anyone wishing to report a crime to do so based on where the crime occurred using the following:

• City of Adrian: D/Sgt. Kevin Putnam 517-264-4819 kputnam@adrianmi.gov 
• Lenawee County Detective Dale…

View Cache

Pope Francis has written the preface to the book “Women and Ministries in the Synodal Church,” authored by three theologians and two cardinals who participated in the meeting of the Council of Cardinals, C9, this past February at the Vatican.

The theologians, noted Vatican News, are Salesian Sister Linda Pocher, professor of Christology and Mariology at the Auxilium in Rome; who also wrote the book’s introduction; Jo Bailey Wells, a female Anglican bishop and undersecretary general of the Anglican Communion; and Giuliva Di Berardino, consecrated woman of the Ordo Virginum of the Diocese of Verona in Italy, liturgist, teacher and organizer of spirituality courses and spiritual exercises.

The cardinals are Jean-Claude Hollerich, archbishop of Luxembourg and relator general of the Synod on Synodality, who in 2023 stated that “over time” the pope could allow the ordination of women; and Seán Patrick O’Malley,…

View Cache

A bishop has asked a traditionalist order to leave his diocese in New Zealand following a Vatican investigation.

Bishop Michael Gielen announced July 13 that priests of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer — also known as the Transalpine Redemptorists — would no longer be allowed to minister in his Diocese of Christchurch.

He said he had also asked all professed community members to leave the diocese, located on New Zealand’s South Island.

Gielen, who was appointed Bishop of Christchurch in May 2022, explained that he took the step following an apostolic visitation — a Vatican-ordered inquiry — of the community, led by the retired Australian canon law expert Bishop Robert McGuckin.

After McGuckin submitted a report to Rome, the Vatican department responsible for religious orders sent Gielen a list of recommendations, which he accepted.

“I am removing the faculties of the priests of the Sons of the Most Holy…

View Cache

The rate of sexual misconduct in public schools far exceeds the high-profile abuse scandals that rocked the Roman Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America.

Every day millions of parents put their children under the care of public school teachers, administrators, and support staff. Their trust, however, is frequently broken by predators in authority in what appears to be the largest ongoing sexual abuse scandal in our nation’s history.

Given the roughly 50 million students in U.S. K-12 schools each year, the number of students who have been victims of sexual misconduct by school employees is probably in the millions each decade, according to multiple studies. Such numbers would far exceed the high-profile abuse scandals that rocked the Roman Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America.

For a variety of reasons, ranging from embarrassment to eagerness to avoid liability, elected or appointed officials, along with unions or lobbying…

View Cache

A priest who was Poland’s main national organiser for World Youth Day (WYD) – a major global event for young people held by the Catholic church – has been charged with sexual abuse and placed in detention.

Prosecutors in the city of Zamość announced on Monday that they had charged the 45-year-old man, who can be named only as Mariusz W. under Polish privacy law, with seven offences that took place between 2011 and 2021.

Mariusz W. served as a local coordinator of WYD in the Radom diocese from 2014 to 2016. In the latter year, Poland hosted the event (pictured above), which was attended by Pope Francis.

In 2021, he was appointed as director of the Polish church’s national organising office for WYD, overseeing preparations in Poland for the 2023 event, which was held in Portugal.

In December 2021, the Catholic diocese of Radom notified prosecutors of potential crimes…

View Cache

[VIDEO]

A Christchurch-based Catholic order has had its authority removed and its priests have been stripped of their religious faculties, after an investigation by the Vatican into allegations of unauthorised exorcisms and spiritual and psychological abuse.

Priests for the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, also known as the Transalpine Redemptorists or simply The Sons, previously had permission from the Catholic church to preach the Traditional Latin Mass from a chapel in St Albans in Christchurch.

They have now been banned from practicing and told to leave the Christchurch diocese.

The leaders, Father Michael Mary and Father Anthony Mary, have faced claims of manipulating and controlling their followers and interfering in the lives of families.

Priests were accused of tying people up during exorcisms and screaming at them for hours.

Leader father Michael Mary described the bonds as a “safety harness” which he said was sometimes required when the…

View Cache

DUBUQUE, Iowa — A judge in Iowa dismissed five sexual abuse charges against former Port Charlotte priest Leo P. Riley.

The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said investigators worked with the Dubuque Police Department after allegations of Riley’s abuse came to light in May 2023. At the time, Riley was a priest at the San Antonio Catholic Church in Port Charlotte.

The Dubuque Police Department published a press release stating four victims had come forward claiming Riley had sexually abused them from 1984-1986, when they were school-aged boys, all serving as altar boys of Resurrection Parish.

According to the Archdiocese of Dubuque, a previous sexual abuse allegation was made against Riley in 2014.

Riley had been extradited to Iowa to face a judge in early April. On July 15, court records show the charges were dismissed. However, it’s not clear why.

Fox 4 has reached out for more information about the dismissal.

View Cache

DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) – The priest accused of sexually abusing boys at a Dubuque school in the 1980s has had the charges against him dismissed.

Attorneys for Father Leo Riley had filed a motion to dismiss the charges, arguing the statute of limitations had expired before the charges were filed against him.

Riley was charged with five counts of sexual abuse. Prosecutors said he molested multiple altar boys while he served at Resurrection School in Dubuque from 1984-86.

Riley was arrested in April in Florida, where he is serving at a Catholic Church. Riley is also facing a lawsuit in Florida from a former student, who also claims Riley sexually abused him at a school there.

Court documents filed on Monday confirmed the state acknowledged that the statute of limitations had run out on the charges against him from his time in Dubuque.

The case is now dismissed.

Riley’s attorneys released…

View Cache

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. (WWSB) – The criminal case against Father Leo Riley, the Charlotte County priest accused of sexual abuse, has been dismissed and will not go to trial.

Riley was facing five counts of sexual abuse, allegedly committed during his time as a priest in Iowa in the 1980s.

The judge’s decision came down to the statute of limitations – a law that limits the amount of time after an incident occurs that someone can be prosecuted.

In this case, Iowa law required charges to be brought by 1989 but because that didn’t happen until this year, Riley cannot legally be tried on these allegations.

The judge dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning Riley cannot be tried again on these charges.

Copyright 2024 WWSB. All rights reserved.

View Cache

The case has been dismissed against a former Southwest Florida priest who allegedly sexually abused multiple young boys 40 years ago.

Leo Riley’s attorney, Guy Cook, reached out to WINK News and said, “Please know the Court has dismissed the defective and wrongful charges brought against Father Leo Riley.”

Cook said that he had previously filed a motion to dismiss the charges on Riley’s behalf since the statute of limitations had run out and a motion to suppress evidence due to the state’s unethical and unconstitutional conduct.

The motion to suppress was to be heard by the court on Monday, but the court canceled the hearing and entered an order dismissing the case instead.

Cook said that Riley vigorously denied the allegations.

According to Cook, Riley successfully passed two separate polygraph examinations conducted by two different former FBI special agents who are experts in polygraphs.

View Cache

In the United States, the Knights of Columbus have announced in a statement that they will cover two mosaics by Slovenian Father Marko Rupnik, who is accused of sexual assault and psychological violence.

Two works by Slovenian artist Father Marko Rupnik will be covered in Washington and Connecticut in the United States. In a statement published July 11, the Knights of Columbus announced this decision. This is the first time such a decision has been made regarding the artistic works of the priest, who is currently accused of multiple sexual assaults.

“Our first concern must be for victims of sexual abuse, who have already suffered immensely, and who may be further injured by the ongoing display of the mosaics at the Shrine,” said Patrick Kelly, the supreme knight of the Catholic charitable organization, adding that this decision was the result of an “extensive process.”

“Every situation is different. In the United…

View Cache

New substantiated sexual abuse allegations have surfaced against a former priest in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas who served prison time after being convicted in 2002 of indecent liberties with a child, church officials say.

“With deep sorrow for the suffering of victims and survivors of abuse, the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas announces that former priest Dennis Schmitz, who was laicized from the priesthood in 2005, has been the subject of additional substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of minors and adults over whom he held a position of authority,” the archdiocese said in a July 12 notice in The Leaven, its official newspaper.

The time frame of the alleged abuse was in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the archdiocese said.

During that time, Schmitz served in numerous locations, including St. Joseph Catholic Church in Shawnee; Bishop Miege High School in Roeland Park;…

View Cache

SÃO PAULO, Brazil – An association of survivors abuse in Portugal has complained to the bishops’ conference earlier this week about the way how the Portuguese Church has been handling reporting and compensation of victims, and asked the prelates to stop “revictimization.”

The meeting between the Portuguese Episcopal Conference (known by the acronym CEP) and the Associação Coração Silenciado (“Silenced Heart Association”), which brings together dozens of victims, occurred in Coimbra on July 10.

António Grosso, one of the association’s founders, told Crux that the group expressed to CEP its concerns about the church’s management of the ecclesial abuse crisis.

“We talked to them, and we hope they will change their stance. We don’t need more words for the covers of the newspapers. We need them to be proactive,” he said.

After years of perceived inaction concerning reports of sex abuse in the church, the Portuguese episcopate faced pressure from a movement organized by…

View Cache

An official document for the Synod in October of this year explicitly accepts a loss of credibility due to the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

Although credibility has been at stake since the sexual abuse crisis exploded, this is the first time a Vatican document officially admits its pervasive effects.

In Spain, the Catholic bishops announced a plan to offer reparations to victims of clergy sexual abuse, but it is not clear how they will do so.

This week the issue of clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic Church became a priority at the global scale and even more in Spain.

At the global scale, the most recent document of the ongoing Synod, a meeting of bishops and other church officials that has happened with certain regularity in the Roman Catholic Church since the early seventies, gave prominence to the issue when it acknowledged the risk of not…

View Cache

The leader of a Long Island church was arrested and charged with multiple sex crimes after police said he had a years-long sexual relationship with a girl starting when she was 12 years old.

While working at Iglesia Cristiana Unida in Hempstead from Aug. 2011 until April 2016, Jose Wilfredo Vazquez Cardoza was involved in an inappropriate relationship with a girl from when she was 12 years old until she was 16 years old, according to Nassau County police.

During that time, the 49-year-old Cardoza was acting as a church leader while doing security for the church. He has been serving as an active member and an elder for Iglesia Misionera El Redentor on Merrick Road in Amityville since March 2023, police said.

Cardoza was arrested on Wednesday. He faces charges including rape, sexual abuse, endangering the welfare of a child and more. Attorney information for Cardoza was not immediately…

View Cache

A Kentucky megachurch has announced it’s closing in the wake of a sex scandal involving the church’s executive pastor.

As The Roys Report (TRR) previously reported, Zachary King, the former executive pastor at LexCity Church in Lexington, was arrested last week on allegations he raped and sexually abused a minor.  He is facing six charges, including first and third-degree rape, first and third-degree sodomy, first-degree sexual abuse, and the unlawful use of electronics to engage in sexual acts with a minor.

King remains jailed on $250,000 bail.

This past Wednesday, LexCity posted a statement on its website announcing it will cease operations.

“Through thoughtful prayer and heartfelt tears, the leadership team of Lexington City Church has voted to permanently cease our ministry,” the statement says. “Due to the continued effects of the financial situation our church inherited several years ago and the impact of the ongoing investigation…

View Cache

A former Catholic priest charged with more than a dozen historical child sexual offences has been granted bail after appearing in a Perth court.

It’s alleged Raymond Hevern, 82, sexually and physically abused a young girl who attended a mission in regional Western Australia between 1986 and 1987.

Police said it would be alleged the girl was nine years-old at the time of the first offence.

Detectives from the Sex Assault Squad arrested Mr Hevern following an investigation into a report made to the National Redress Scheme about abuse against children in state care.

The Rossmoyne man on Monday appeared in the Perth Magistrates Court charged with 14 counts of indecent treatment of a child under the age of 14.

He has also been charged with two counts of threatening to injure or cause detriment to a person, two counts of unlawful assault and two counts of assault occasioning bodily…

View Cache

A Catholic priest has been charged with a slew of historical sexual abuse offences over alleged assaults of a young girl in the 1980s.

The 82-year-old man is accused of sexually and physically assaulting the nine-year-old at a regional mission in Western Australia 1986 and 1987.

He has been charged with 20 offences including 14 counts of indecent treatment of a child under 14 and two counts each of threatened to injure, unlawful assault and assault occasioning bodily harm.

He is scheduled to appear in Perth Magistrates Court on Monday.

View Cache

1. Leader of the Spanish Episcopal Conference Luis Arguello and Head of Spanish Clergy Jesús Díaz Sariego entering news conference

2. Arguello at the beginning of news conference

3. News conference

4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Luis Arguello, leader of the Spanish Episcopal Conference: “When we refer to the recognition, to attention to victims, to prevention, to training and raising awareness, to informing and researching, although we still have a long way to go, we have already come a long way and shared a lot of work.”

5. News conference

6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jesús Díaz Sariego, Head of Spanish Clergy: “To the extent that we have been listening to the victims, we have also been sensitized to the harm that some of our members, some members of the Church over the years, over time, have done to children, to girls, to minors. And this attentive listening to…

View Cache

A South Carolina pastor is taking time to “rest” after his status as a convicted sex offender became known.

Pastor Don Logan’s presence on sex offender lists in Indiana and South Carolina was reported in May in the Wartburg Watch. His church announced Sunday that he will not be leading services at Fort Mill’s Eternal Church until at least September, the Fort Mill Sun reported.

Pastor Jacob Collins and Elder Lorne James announced Logan would enter a “time of rest,” saying it was needed after the revelations of his criminal past and because he is fighting cancer, the paper reported.

Logan will not be “preaching, shepherding staff, or having administrative responsibilities,” Collins reportedly said.

In a statement Collins read to the congregation on Logan’s behalf, Logan reportedly said his family is “taking time to heal and seek emotional restoration and peace while we discern if we…

View Cache

Matt Chandler’s Dallas-area megachurch employed his father for five years as a custodian, despite his father’s admission he had committed a child sex crime, a former elder at The Village Church Denton said.

Matt Chandler’s father, Steve Chandler, worked at the Denton, Texas, campus of The Village Church from 2007 to 2012. In 2015, the Denton campus became an autonomous church, The Village Church Denton.

In a statement read during a members meeting July 14, 2019, The Village Church Denton stated that Steve Chandler had committed a child sex crime 40 years prior. The statement said that staff at both the Denton campus and all locations of The Village Church became aware of Steve Chandler’s criminal past in 2009, yet he remained on staff for another three years.

Until this week, news about Steve Chandler’s criminal past and church employment was not…

View Cache

50-year old Kevin Mifsud was sentenced to imprisonment for 2 years, 6 months and inscribed in the sex offenders register, after admitting to sexually abusing a child entrusted to his care

The 11-year old victim suffered PTSD as a result of the abuse.

A former member of Christian Doctrine Society, MUSEUM, has been jailed for two and a half years for sexually abusing an 11-year old boy during organised trips to the seaside.

50-year old Kevin Mifsud had admitted to defiling a minor entrusted to his care and participating in sexual acts with the child in 2021, but sentencing had been delayed by several factors, amongst them the reassignment of the case to a different magistrate.

Prosecuting police inspector Joseph Busuttil had told magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit that the abuse itself had occurred in 2017 and 2018, the victim still bore the psychological scars.

The boy had been referred to the school psychologist at…

View Cache

Woman faces charges in relationship with student

Police say an educational assistant at St. Mary’s Catholic School in the City of Welland has been charged with sexual assault and interference over an alleged intimate relationship with a 14-year-old male.

Niagara Regional Police say a 48-year-old female was in a relationship with the victim, who is a former student.

Detectives have been investigating the allegations of sexual assault and interference since June of this year.

Police say the relationship is alleged to have lasted for three months.

Tracy Coleman of Port Colborne was arrested and charged with the two offences.

Police say they have reason to believe there may be more victims, and are asking anyone with information to reach out.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 13, 2024.

View Cache