ABUSE TRACKER

Pope Francis’ motu proprio Vos estis lux undi turns five years old this month. 

First promulgated for an experimental period of three years and now in permanent force, the letter delegates the Holy See’s power to investigate Church leaders who have no superior other than the Pope himself – chief among them diocesan bishops – to a metropolitan archbishop, in cases where that Church leader has been accused either of sexual abuse or of mismanaging abuse cases.

The provisions of Vos estis concerning to metropolitans bear a strong resemblance to a plan presented to the USCCB by Chicago’s Cardinal Blase Cupich, himself a metropolitan archbishop, in 2018. 

Known as the “Metropolitan Model,” Cupich’s plan proposed that metropolitan archbishops, together with their review boards, should normally handle allegations of misconduct made against bishops within their province.

The plan was presented at the USCCB’s 2018 Fall General Assembly as an alternative to the conference’s proposal, vetoed…

View Cache

[See also the text of the search warrant.]

The Archdiocese of New Orleans has made headlines in recent days, as Louisiana police officers executed a sweeping search warrant related to a child sex trafficking investigation.

The criminal investigation involves the archdiocese’s handling of sexual abuse allegations, reaching back years.

What’s going on in the archdiocese? And what happens next? Here’s what we know:

What is included in the search warrant?

The search warrant, signed last week, instructs the archdiocese to provide all sexual abuse allegations it has received, along with relevant archdiocesan correspondence, documentation, and priest assignment records.

This includes correspondence between archdiocesan leaders and the Vatican, as well as lists of credibly accused clergy, personnel files, and financial records.

What is the reason for the warrant?

An affidavit in support of the warrant cites a years-long FBI investigation into sexual abuse allegations in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

During…

View Cache

In just the past few weeks, there has been a lot of action and news about clergy sex crimes and cover-ups in Louisiana, especially in the New Orleans Archdiocese. 

Here’s what’s happening in the Pelican State:

• The state’s largest Catholic jurisdiction – the New Orleans Archdiocese – is in bankruptcy.
• That process has become the second-costliest and third-oldest of all the 40-odd Catholic bankruptcy cases.
• New Orleans archdiocese is target of child sex-trafficking inquiry
•  The New Orleans archdiocesan headquarters was raided by state law enforcement seeking abuse records. (Two years ago, in 2022, the FBI launched its own reportedly ‘sweeping‘ investigation.)
• The archdiocese has been issued a surprisingly broad subpoena. 
• One of the archdiocese’s most notorious predator priests – an admitted molester – won’t go on trial for his crimes.

All of this, keep in mind, has happened over just the past few weeks. But all of this news may be…

View Cache

[See also the text of the search warrant.]

The Louisiana State Police and the FBI are investigating whether Archdiocese of New Orleans officials — including archbishops — covered up child sex trafficking by clergy over several decades, with some alleged victims reportedly taken out of state to be abused and marked for further exploitation among clergy.

On April 25, the state police executed a comprehensive search warrant on the archdiocese for documents related to a widening investigation into how the archdiocese has handled allegations of abuse.

The warrant — a copy of which OSV News obtained following the document’s April 30 release — cites potential violation of the felony of “trafficking of children for sexual purposes” as the reason for its sweeping access to archdiocesan records.

Probable cause for the warrant was based on the testimony of law enforcement official Scott Rodrigue, a state police investigator also assigned to the…

View Cache

Whenever Catholics are faced with the very human failures of the institutional church, we must answer a difficult question: Why do we stay? The church is our home, the community in which we encounter Christ. At the same time, we can’t ignore the many skeletons in the ecclesial closet: clerical sex abuse, financial scandals, the dark history of residential schools, the church’s complicity with colonialism, the slave trade, and fascist regimes in Europe and Latin America. Choosing to stay in the church means existing in the tension between its grace and its fallibility, and making peace with it.

“Philomena” (2013) is a film that wrestles with one of the church’s historical failures: the Magdalene Laundries of Ireland. (The film, which is directed by Stephen Frears and written by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, is based on Martin Sixsmith’s non-fiction book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee.) Operated largely by Catholic convents from…

View Cache

A new report on the abuse crisis in the Catholic Church in England and Wales says the Church’s response to the victims and survivors of abuse “is not yet adequate or complete.”

The report issued on April 30 by Durham University is titled The Cross of the Moment, and opens by saying it explores “the impact and implications of clerical child sexual abuse (CSA) in the Catholic Church in England and Wales.”

The Day of Prayer for Victims and Survivors of Abuse was observed on April 30 in England and Wales.

A government-established inquiry into sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in England and Wales said in 2020 that “real and lasting changes to attitudes have some way to go if the Roman Catholic Church is to shake off the failures of the past.”

The report from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in England and Wales found that between…

View Cache

“They have done it again. It is a kind of obsessive mantra every time they need a smokescreen to distract from the real problems we have and to which they so clumsily and insidiously apply their tortuous governance.”

That is how the archbishop of Oviedo, Jesús Sanz Montes, began a letter released this week titled “The Accusing Rattle” in which he responds to the socialist government’s announcement of an exclusive plan to address sexual and power abuses committed within the Catholic Church.

In the opinion of the prelate, the country’s executive “has tried to focus in a biased and manipulative way on the problem of pedophilia as something attributable only to the Catholic Church, which represents an exclusive and improper singling out and leaves unprotected the majority of those who have suffered this terrible scourge.”

The Franciscan archbishop encouraged people to denounce “the deceitful,…

View Cache

Father Leo P. Riley, a priest working with the Diocese of Venice is facing capital sexual battery charges.

The charges stem from alleged incidents in Iowa, where he previously worked in the 1980s.

According to the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Riley was ordained a priest in 1982 in Iowa. In 2002, he requested to transfer to Florida to be closer to his parents. He moved to Venice in 2005.

Riley was a priest at Saint Charles Borromeo in Port Charlotte in the early 2000s. He is currently assigned to San Antonio Catholic Church, which is also in Port Charlotte.

Archbishop Thomas Zinkula of the Archdiocese of Dubuque in a statement said the first allegation of abuse committed by Father Riley was made in December 2014. The claim dated back to 1985.

In 2014, Riley was in Florida and the Archdiocese reported it to the Dubuque County Attorney’s Office.

“It is the…

View Cache

[See also the text of the search warrant.]

An investigation into the Archdiocese of New Orleans entered a new phase last week, when Louisiana State Police raised allegations whether former archbishops might have acted criminally by keeping the sexual abuse of children secret for decades.

The allegations, contained in documents connected to a search warrant, for the first time raised the possibility of a criminal case against former local church leaders or the archdiocese itself. Bringing such a case, however, could present a formidable challenge for prosecutors, according to legal experts and authorities on the Catholic church.

Nearly two dozen other states have empaneled grand juries and issued sweeping reports since 2018 detailing thousands of complaints against priests and deacons in local Catholic dioceses, and implicating church leaders in the coverup, according to Terry McKiernan, executive director of Bishopaccountability.org, which tracks clergy sex abuse worldwide. 

A…

View Cache

The all-male priesthood is no small matter

Otto Preminger’s film The Cardinal was released in 1963, when I was ten years old, so I guess it was some years later that it appeared on TV. I recall watching it with my mother. I watched many movies with my mother.

Early on, there’s a scene where a young priest tells his pregnant sister’s doctors that they must let her die in order to save her unborn child. I turned to my mother in disbelief. Would that really happen?

“Oh yes,” my mother assured me, placidly enough. “That’s the rule in the Catholic Church. The baby’s life comes before the life of the mother.”

Until then, I’d always pestered my mother about having another baby. I was the youngest of three and the only girl. I wanted a sister. But after seeing The Cardinal, I prayed she would never again take that risk. I knew…

View Cache

A FORMER priest from Ireland has been jailed following an investigation into the non-recent sexual abuse of young boys in London in the 1970s and 1980s.

In February, 77-year-old James Murphy, of The Alders, Mallow, Co. Cork pleaded guilty to seven offences of indecent assault relating to four victims.

At Inner London Crown Court on Monday, he was sentenced to 31 months behind bars.

The court also heard Murphy had previous convictions for 11 counts of indecent assault against five boys in 1977.

“Murphy used his position of power as a priest to prey on and take advantage of young boys — and some of their lives have been swathed with despair and anger, ridden with frustration and pain,” said PC Helen French from the Met Police.

TRUSTED FIGUREHEAD

Murphy’s offending against the four victims — aged between five and 11 years old at the time — took place between…

View Cache

A former priest who is a key witness in a sexual assault lawsuit against the Diocese of Knoxville has filed a complaint against one of the diocese’s attorneys, Knox News has learned.

The Rev. Brent Shelton, who suddenly left St. Mary’s Parish in Oak Ridge last year after he was told he was being transferred by former Bishop Richard Stika, filed a complaint April 3 with the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility. The board oversees attorney conduct.

Shelton, 53, sees the reassignment as retaliation from Stika, who resigned in June 2023 under a cloud of mismanagement accusations and questions about his mentorship of a former seminarian who is accused of raping a former church employee. Shelton was a whistleblower in that case after serving in Oak Ridge since 2015.

Shelton says diocesan attorney Gino Marchetti erred in 2022 by not filing documents Shelton had provided in a timely manner. Marchetti missed a deadline…

View Cache

[See also the text of the search warrant.]

A criminal investigation into the Archdiocese of New Orleans is based on a suspicion that it may be linked to child sex trafficking, according to allegations presented in a search warrant granted to Louisiana State Police.

The affidavit requesting the search warrant, first obtained by the New Orleans-based WWL Radio, alleges that multiple sex abuse victims provided statements that claim they were transported to other parishes and outside of Louisiana, where they were sexually abused. It further alleges a scheme within the archdiocese in which abused children were instructed to provide “gifts” to certain priests, which were meant to signal that the children were targets for sexual abuse.

According to the allegations in the affidavit, multiple victims reported that they were brought to the New Orleans Seminary, where they were instructed to “swim naked in the pool and would be sexually assaulted or abused.” It also alleges that investigators found that…

View Cache

Authorities have expanded an investigation of clergy sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in New Orleans to include senior church officials suspected of shielding predatory priests for decades and failing to report their crimes to law enforcement.

Louisiana State Police carried out a sweeping search warrant last week at the Archdiocese of New Orleans, seeking a long-secreted cache of church records and communications between local church leaders and the Vatican about the church’s handling of clergy sexual abuse.

The search signaled a new phase of the investigation that will seek to determine what particular church leaders, including Archbishop Gregory Aymond and his predecessors, knew about claims that the warrant describes as “ignored and in many cases covered up.”

“The Archdiocese of New Orleans has been openly discussing the topic of sex abuse for over 20 years,” Bill Kearney, an archdiocese spokesman, said in a statement. “In keeping with this,…

View Cache

The Catholic bishop of Monterey, whose district includes San Luis Obispo County, said his diocese could go bankrupt amid of flood of lawsuits alleging childhood sexual abuse.

In a letter to parishioners April 18, the Most Rev. Daniel E. Garcia said after the state reopened the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse in 2020, the Diocese of Monterey “received approximately 100 lawsuits alleging childhood sexual abuse” between the 1950s and 2002.

“The issue of sexual abuse of minors has been one that deeply saddens and disturbs all of us,” Garcia wrote in the letter. “It is an on-going human problem that has touched many families and all kinds of public and private organizations including, most sadly, the Catholic Church. These actions are never acceptable.”

Garcia added the diocese is committed to “helping those touched by childhood sexual abuse by those working for the Church of Monterey.”

In 2019, the…

View Cache

[See also the text of the search warrant and affidavit.]

For the first time, Louisiana law enforcement officials are digging deeply into allegations that former New Orleans archbishops, the highest-ranking officials in the state’s Catholic hierarchy, knew about child sex abuse by priests and deacons and tried to cover it up.

The claims are contained in an extraordinary 11-page affidavit supporting a search warrant that was served by State Police on the Archdiocese of New Orleans last week. In it, investigators say that, while looking into clergy sex abuse in a joint probe with the FBI, they uncovered documents that “back the claim that previous Archbishops, not only knew of the sexual abuse and failed to report all the claims to law enforcement but spent Archdiocese funding to support the accused.”

The affidavit, released Tuesday, details allegations of sex abuse dating back decades. Among the claims: That clergy transported victims…

View Cache

Louisiana state police recently served sweeping and unprecedented search warrant

The Roman Catholic archdiocese of New Orleans is the target of an active child sex-trafficking investigation, according to a sweeping and unprecedented search warrant Louisiana state police recently served on an organization that for decades has been submerged in the global church’s clergy molestation scandal.

The clerk at the state criminal courthouse where the warrant was signed released the 11-page document on Tuesday. It makes clear that troopers involved in a pending rape prosecution against one priest came to suspect that that case was part of a broader pattern of “widespread sexual abuse of minors dating back decades” that was “covered up and not reported to law enforcement”.

In a stunning assertion made under oath, troopers said they had already recovered documents that “back” the notion that “previous archbishops, the highest-ranking official in the archdiocese, not only knew of the sexual abuse…

View Cache

LSP obtained new search warrant for documents from Archdiocese of New Orleans

WDSU Investigates has obtained a copy of a search warrant from the Louisiana State Police in connection with the Archdiocese of New Orleans sex abuse scandal.

The warrant was signed last week when WDSU was there when State Police met with the Archdiocese over the warrant.

The search warrant is requesting all documents, letters, emails, transfers, and assignment records linked to the New Orleans Archdiocese sexual abuse investigation.

The warrant specifically asked for any and all complaints of sexual abuse received by the Archdiocese.

WARNING: Details from the search warrant may be considered graphic and upsetting to some. Viewer discretion is advised.

The warrant also seeks to obtain all personnel files for clergy members, which would include reassignments or transfers from those listed on the Credibly Accused list.

The warrant includes documents related to the financial records associated…

View Cache

I’m not going to copy the full article but suggest you read the whole thing. I will highlight some of the takeaways from the report.

Guardian’s New Orleans Archdiocese Story.

Louisiana state troopers are investigating child sex trafficking at the New Orleans Catholic Archdiocese. Yep, not just child sexual abuse but actual trafficking. Here’s a few quotes from the article. But like I said it’s worth reading the whole thing.

The clerk at the state criminal courthouse where the warrant was signed released the 11-page document on Tuesday. It makes clear that troopers involved in a pending rape prosecution against one priest came to suspect that that case was part of a broader pattern of “widespread sexual abuse of minors dating back decades” that was “covered up and not reported to law enforcement”.

The warrant requires the Archdiocese to turn over all communications about child sexual abuse….

View Cache

A New York state appeals court has given an insurer for the Archdiocese of New York the go-ahead to pursue a lawsuit contending it should not have to indemnify the archdiocese in hundreds of lawsuits over sex abuse the insurer claims was “expected or intended” — a ruling the archdiocese has called “extremely disappointing” and “wrongly decided.”

On April 23, five justices of the First Judicial Department of the New York Supreme Court’s Appellate Division unanimously overturned a December 2023 order from a lower court that had dismissed the lawsuit brought forward by a group of Chubb insurance entities, who had issued more than 30 liability policies to the archdiocese and several of its parishes, schools and entities between 1956 and 2003; the group anticipates having to pay out money for more than 1,500 abuse cases.

“The case is now sort of back alive, but it isn’t a determination of…

View Cache

Students were told to use confession to report abuse “to cloak the abuse in sacramental secrecy,” a notice of civil claim alleges.

A B.C. man is suing a seminary, abbey and the Vancouver Roman Catholic archdiocese for priest sexual abuse he alleges took place.

The man, now 56, and known as SCK#4 in court documents, said in a B.C. Supreme Court notice of civil claim filed April 19 he attended Grade 8 at the Seminary of Christ the King in Mission between September 1981 and June 1982.

Named as defendants are the Seminary of Christ the King; Westminster Abbey Ltd.; the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver, a corporation Sole; Harold Sander, also known as Father Rev. Placidus; Rev. Father Dunstan Massey; Francis Chan Leprozo; and B.C.’s Ministry of Education and Child Care.

Sander and Massey are deceased, according to the court documents.

SCK#4 is represented by lawyer Sandra Kovacs.

The claim said Sander was…

View Cache

The report paints a picture of a damaged community which has yet to come to terms with the scandals that have beset the Church in the past 30 years.

The culture, habits and practices of the Catholic Church have played their part in the sexual abuse crisis and so need to change, according to a new study from the University of Durham.

A fear of scandal, a tradition of silence and secrecy, together with a culture of clericalism and a lack of accountability are all highlighted in the report as helping to cause abuse remaining hidden for generations and exacerbating the trauma felt by victims. It urges not only Church leaders but the entire Catholic community to counter the habits that allowed abuse to linger for so long.

The report, The Cross of the Moment, has been produced by Durham’s Centre for Catholic Studies after four years of research which included…

View Cache

Florida’s bishops are welcoming a new law that allows public schools in the state to have volunteer chaplains.

The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, which represents bishops in the state’s seven dioceses on public policy matters, did not take a position on the bill while legislators debated it earlier this year.

“However, we recognize the good that chaplains can do in schools by helping students to address their spiritual and emotional needs. We are pleased that parents will determine the services their children will receive in districts that choose to establish chaplaincy programs,” said Michelle Taylor, associate director of communications for the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, in an email message to CNA on Tuesday.

The measure, which takes effect July 1, requires public schools and charter schools that establish such a program to publish on their websites a list of volunteer school chaplains and their religious…

View Cache

Allegations that a Charlotte County priest sexually abused children during his time in Dubuque, Iowa have dominated conversation in the Suncoast.

Leo P. Riley is facing charges in Iowa and last week a former St. Charles Borromeo student came forward. “John Doe” accused Father Riley of abuse when he was attending the Port Charlotte Catholic school in the early 2000s.

Baylor professor Dr. David K. Pooler, sat down with ABC7 to talk about the effects of sexual abuse in the church and how to prevent it and recognize it. Dr. Pooler is the Director, Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse: Advocacy & Research Collaborative at Baylor’s college of Social Work.

View Cache

The priest, of Cork, Ireland, admitted offences against boys as young as five

James Murphy, 77, carried out the assaults while based at churches across south London, including Sydenham, New Addington and South Croydon.

The cleric, of The Alders Mallow in Cork, Ireland, was jailed for 30 months in 2000 after he admitted to abusing seven boys in south London between 1975 and 1988 who were as young as five.

James Murphy, 77, carried out the assaults while based at churches across south London, including Sydenham, New Addington and South Croydon.

The cleric, of The Alders Mallow in Cork, Ireland, was jailed for 30 months in 2000 after he admitted to abusing seven boys in south London between 1975 and 1988 who were as young as five.

Murphy accepted guilt when confronted with the evidence but denied further allegations relating to one of the victims.

Officers found much of the…

View Cache

Hollywood, the USA Gymnastics team, Penn State, the Boy Scouts: Sexual abuse has proved pervasive across institutions. And when it comes to faith groups, no creed, structure, value system or size has seemed immune.

“We’ve got to stop saying that could never happen in my church, or my pastor would never do that,” said David Pooler, a professor of social work at Baylor University who researches clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse of adults.

With more victims coming forward and more research done on abuse within religious contexts, the evidence has shown that when sexual abuse happens in a place designated not only safe, but holy, it’s a unique form of betrayal — and when the perpetrator is a clergy member or spiritual leader, the abuse can be seen as God-endorsed.

As the scope of this crisis has been revealed, houses of worship and religious institutions…

View Cache

House Bill 125, which targets adult church leadership, staff members, or volunteers who make sexual contact with minors, passed both sections of the Alabama Legislature this past week and now awaits a signature into law by Gov. Kay Ivey.

HB125’s text makes it “unlawful for a member of the clergy to commit certain sex acts with an individual under 19 years of age, or a protected person under the age of 22 … under certain circumstances.” The bill also allows for penalties under the law.

This would include ordained, licensed, or commissioned minsters, pastors, priests, or rabbinical leaders. Sexual intercourse or sodomy of a minor would be a Class B felony. Solicitation, harassment, or enticement of a minor under the guidelines of the law would be a Class C felony, as would the transmission of obscene or sexual matter to that minor.

Violations could be punishable with…

View Cache

From the documents KTVE/KARD gathered, we know that on Thursday night, right before midnight, Reverend Kenneth Sapp of Arcadia was arrested after allegedly exposing himself to an undercover officer in the public restroom at the Stoner Boat Launch in Shreveport, Louisiana. The 63-year-old is the pastor of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Ruston, Louisiana.

According to police in a probable cause statement, Sapp was also found to be in possession of 30 grams of suspected marijuana, 21 grams of suspected meth, multiple glass pipes, and an unlabeled bottle of pills. Officers also found a handgun in Sapp’s possession. Sapp was booked into the Shreveport City Jail Friday morning and transferred to The Caddo Correctional Center early Saturday morning. His bond was set at $21,000 and he was booked on obscenity, open container, and 5 different drug charges.

On Monday, KTVE/KARD did reach out to Pleasant Grove Baptist Church for a…

View Cache

A Catholic priest allegedly spent $40,000 of church money on Candy Crush and slot machine apps.

A Pennsylvania Catholic priest was accused of stealing $40,000 from a parish and using the money to play games on his phone. According to CBS News, citing a criminal complaint and affidavit of probable cause, Lawrence Kozak allegedly spent over $214,000 on his Apple ID, with just under $44,000 of that amount charged to a credit card associated with the parish.

Authorities claim he racked-up the charges over a three year span, using the some of the cash to play games like Candy Crush Saga, Pokémon Go and virtual slot machines, according to the network.

Per CBS, the slot machine apps named in the complaint were the following:

• Cash Frenzy
• Willy Wonka Vegas Casino Slots
• Wizard of Oz Slot Machine Game

The network noted that these apps do not award real money for…

View Cache

 In a phone conversation between ABC7′s Jordan Litwiller and Charlotte County priest Leo Riley, he made it clear that the allegations against him are not true.

“Whenever you see a loved-one suffering, it’s painful,” said his brother Michael Riley.

Michael says these allegations don’t match up with the man he has known his whole life.

“He has a heart of gold, and he is probably one of the kindest people you can imagine,” Michael said.

Despite the five people who have claimed to be abused by Leo, Michael’s support for his brother is unwavering, saying, “People can say things, that doesn’t mean it’s true.”  

But sexual abuse victims advocate David Pooler from Baylor University says, in cases like this, it often times is.

“Generally, people don’t make up abuse stories because they themselves then have to go to court and have to testify, they have to be scrutinized by the public in various…

View Cache

For the rector of the world’s second largest church after St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil, May 11 will be a day of celebrating the inauguration of the southern facade’s mosaics, all created by Fr. Marko Rupik.

But alleged victims of the disgraced former Jesuit and many faithful are not in celebratory mood. In the midst of a heated debate on what should be done with Fr. Rupnik’s mosaics across the globe, OSV News asked whether the art can be separated from the alleged acts of abuse by the Slovenian priest-artist and what should be done with his mosaics decorating iconic churches across the globe.

In December 2022, Rome’s Jesuit headquarters, following media reports concerning alleged abuse by Fr. Rupnik, admitted the preliminary investigation found allegations credible as early as in 2019, and in 2020 he was excommunicated for “absolution of an accomplice,” referring to when…

View Cache

Several peasant farmers claiming legal and physical harassment by a Catholic group in Peru currently under investigation by the Vatican were received by the archbishop of Lima over the weekend, shortly after receiving further complaints from the group.

On Sunday, Archbishop Carlos Castillo of Lima met with members of the peasant farming community of Catacaos in Piura, who travelled to Lima after receiving what they said were new threats from an organization associated with the scandal plagued Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV).

In a video message shared on social media, Fiorella Martinez, whose husband Guadalupe Zapata Sosa was apparently killed defending their land from outsiders seeking to drive them out, voiced gratitude for the meeting with Castillo, which took place after Mass in the city’s cathedral.

Martinez thanked God and the Peru Coordinator for Human Rights “for having given us the opportunity to present ourselves here,” saying she is still “looking for justice…

View Cache

Although a letter from Bishop Daniel Garcia of the Diocese of Monterey dated April 18 states that he’s writing “on an important topic: the sexual abuse of minors,” it’s notably about how the diocese is contemplating filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a move that church critics say would delay sexual abuse cases filed against the diocese and would likely limit what those who were abused could collect in financial compensation should they prevail in court.

The diocese was named as defendants in approximately 100 lawsuits filed between January 2020 and December 2022, Garcia reported, alleging child sexual abuse occurring between the 1950s and 2002. The lawsuits were filed during a three-year window created by California Assembly Bill 218, the Child Victims Act, which allowed people claiming to have been sexually assaulted as minors to file civil lawsuits even though the statute of limitations had previously expired.

A large volume of…

View Cache

The bishop of the Diocese of Monterey said that they are contemplating filing for bankruptcy after being named as defendants in around 100 new lawsuits alleging childhood sexual assault.

The major announcement came via a letter from Bishop Daniel Garcia to parishioners dated April 18. The letter says these incidents occurred from the 1950s to 2002.

The lawsuits were made during a three-year window from 2019 to 2022 created by the Child Victims Act, which reopened the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse victims.

Garcia now says that the diocese is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The reasoning was that “this would allow all victims to be compensated from the limited funds the Diocese has and will be allocated in an equitable manner.”

They, along with other Catholic dioceses in California, have had to consider filing for bankruptcy due to the Child Victims Act.

Speaking in person, Deacon…

View Cache

HB125 targets adult church leaders, staff, and volunteers who make sexual contact with minors, similar to legislation directed at teachers.

House Bill 125, which targets adult church leadership, staff members, or volunteers who make sexual contact with minors, passed both sections of the Alabama Legislature this past week and now awaits a signature into law by Gov. Kay Ivey.

HB125’s text makes it “unlawful for a member of the clergy to commit certain sex acts with an individual under 19 years of age, or a protected person under the age of 22 … under certain circumstances.” The bill also allows for penalties under the law.

This would include ordained, licensed, or commissioned minsters, pastors, priests, or rabbinical leaders. Sexual intercourse or sodomy of a minor would be a Class B felony. Solicitation, harassment, or enticement of a minor under the guidelines of the law would be a…

View Cache

When someone opens up and shares that they have been sexually abused, how you respond is extremely important both for the healing of that child and for the process of investigating and uncovering the truth. There are certainly some excellent online resources that give guidance in this sensitive area. We at Horowitz Law, however, want to approach this from the opposite angle: What should you NEVER say to an abuse victim? For starters, here are the three words we believe you should avoid saying, probably ever but at least early on, to a survivor: “Why didn’t you. . .”

This question often ends with words or phrases like:

• run
• scream
• kick him
• fight back
• ask for help
• tell me sooner
• call the police

To be perfectly blunt, those are wrong words, phrases, and questions. Despite your good intentions, nearly anything you might say after opening with “Why didn’t you,“ would almost certainly be detrimental, and here’s why:

1. When someone tells you…

View Cache

New research by our Centre for Catholic Studies finds aspects of Catholic culture were implicated in how clerical child sexual abuse happened.

The four-year study listened to the voices of victims and survivors of abuse and others affected across the Catholic community.

The study suggests that aspects of the church’s culture partly explain how the response has often failed, causing further pain and harm, described by victims and survivors as ‘secondary abuse’.

Listening to victims and survivors

The report invites groups across the Catholic community to listen more deeply to the voices of those directly and indirectly affected and consider what may need to change in Catholic culture and theological understanding.

Although the report recognises that progress has been made in safeguarding practice and compassionate support for survivors, it concludes that more work is needed. It suggests learning from restorative justice and healing circle practices to find ways to heal…

View Cache

A spokesperson for the diocese said it’s been a “long, difficult mediation with the goal of compensating survivors.”

The Diocese of Rockville Centre remains locked in negotiations as it attempts to have the bankruptcy case dismissed in the wake of the clergy sex abuse scandal, Newsday reports.

The standoff comes after 3 1/2 years and $100 million in legal fees connected to hundreds of survivors of childhood sexual abuse by priests, Newsday said.

In a statement provided by the diocese, they said it’s been a “long, difficult mediation with the goal of compensating survivors while allowing the Church to carry on its charitable and religious mission.”

The Diocese of Rockville Centre could become the first diocese in the nation to have its bankruptcy dismissed amid the sex abuse scandal.

“Currently, the Creditors are demanding an unrealistic amount of money that would cripple the Church and its ministries…

View Cache

[See also a PDF of the Zinkula statement.]

On Wednesday afternoon of this week, we learned together that a former priest of the Archdiocese of
Dubuque, Father Leo Riley, has been charged with five (5) counts of 2nd Degree Sexual Abuse. The
charges arise out of allegations of abuse committed by Father Riley while he was in Dubuque during
the time-period of 1985 to 1986. These allegations were first brought forward in May of 2023. Under
our laws, Father Riley is given a presumption of innocence while the judicial process is completed. We
pray for all those involved in that process, with the intention that justice be well served.

Many people are understandably disheartened and hurt in reaction to this news. I want to address
these emotions and express my own, while also providing clarity about our efforts to seek justice
concerning the allegations against Father Riley.

Father Riley was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese…

View Cache

Durham University’s Centre for Catholic Studies has released what is being described as the first study into how the clerical child sexual abuse crisis has impacted “the whole Catholic community” in England and Wales. 

The Cross of the Moment report is based on four years of research and explores the ecclesial and cultural implications of the child abuse crisis in the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It illustrates how the abuse crisis has been experienced by different groups within the Church, most painfully by victims of abuse and their families, but also by others effected more indirectly, such as lay people, priests, deacons, bishops, religious communities and others.

The report suggests that “aspects of the culture and practices of the Catholic Church are implicated in how clerical child sexual abuse has happened”. These aspects of Catholic culture explored in the report include clericalism and the lack of practical structures of accountability….

View Cache

Michael Riley is defending his brother Leo Riley, a former Dubuque priest charged in sexual abuse cases dating back to the 1980s.

Last week, Father Leo Riley, who served in the Dubuque Diocese from 1984 to 1986, was charged with five counts of second-degree sexual abuse for incidents that the victims allege happened during that time.

Leo Riley is accused by four Iowa men, who say the abuse happened back in the 1980s when they were altar boys, as well as one man in Florida. This fifth man alleges abuse happened after Riley transferred to the state in the early 2000s.

The first allegation of abuse didn’t surface until 2014. The Catholic Church’s investigation at the time found the allegation was likely not true. The Dubuque County Attorney’s Office didn’t charge Riley then because the statute of limitations had expired by then.

In 2021,…

View Cache

Two new major studies on clergy sexual abuse reveal the Catholic Church’s efforts toward safeguarding and child protection are being met with mixed results, with attitudes and awareness varying depending on location and roles within the church.

A newly published study by Australian Catholic University’s Institute of Child Protection Studies found that Catholic clergy scored higher than lay people in their knowledge, awareness and attitudes in responding to abuse.

The research included over 180 participants across six countries and suggests that in responding to the decades long crisis of clerical abuse, reform efforts and strategies “have been largely targeted at clergy, who are seen as leaders in the Church, and thus have benefitted from the Church’s safeguarding reforms.”

In addition, researchers found that participants in Australia and the United Kingdom — countries that have had national inquiries into sexual abuse — responded with more positive attitudes…

View Cache

Port Charlotte priest was recently arrested in Florida after being placed on administrative leave one year ago with the Diocese of Venice. Father Leo Patrick Riley, 68, worked in at least 16 parishes in his home Diocese in Dubuque, Iowa, and in 2002, when predator priests began to be under great scrutiny, he moved to Florida and later began working in the Venice diocese. Floridians might have learned this much sooner, but Venice Bishop Frank Dewane is one of several US bishops who refuse to disclose the names of the child molesting clerics in his jurisdiction.

According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, Fr. Riley was arrested on April 24 and faces five capital sexual battery charges that allegedly took place in the 1980s when Riley was a priest in Dubuque, Iowa.

→In 2014, Fr. Leo Riley of the Dubuque Archdiocese was accused of sexually abusing a boy about a decade earlier.

→In 2015, a church…

View Cache

For Deanna Hampton, last week was all about confronting the past and the legacy of rampant sexual abuse within the Catholic Church and trying to ensure that families don’t suffer in the future.

It’s a deeply personal issue for Hampton. Last fall, The Sacramento Bee told the story of her son, Trevor Martin,
who was serially abused by priest Michael Kelly in Calaveras County.

Rather than face a criminal trial, Kelly fled to Ireland. Despite having a warrant issued by Sacramento’s U.S. Attorney for unlawful flight, Kelly traveled to Morocco and Mexico – known sex trafficking destinations. Kelly also led at least one tour of Ireland for members of a group of followers from California called “Friends of Father Kelly,” according to depositions.

On Wednesday, Hampton sent a letter to State Attorney General Rob Bonta accusing California’s highest law enforcement official of failing to review adequately a decision by Calaveras County…

View Cache

[Includes a 3-minute video interview with whistleblower priest Fr. Kenneth Lasch.]

Twenty years ago this month, what’s thought to be the nation’s first memorial to victims of clergy sexual abuse was unveiled at a church in a quiet corner of Morris County.

Today, two of the men who achieved that milestone at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Mendham are still challenging church leaders to acknowledge that “a lot of work still needs to be done.”

“They still don’t get it,” said Monsignor Kenneth Lasch of his fellow clergy.

Lasch, now retired, was pastor at St. Joseph’s in 1994 when victims of long-rumored sexual abuse at the church finally went public.

After the first of those survivors, Mark Serrano, came forward, “my life changed forever at that point,” Lasch said in an interview, as the U.S. marked National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

A local tragedy gained national…

View Cache

A former Dubuque priest who was arrested on sexual abuse charges on Wednesday has now bonded out of the Charlotte County, Florida jail.

Father Leo Patrick Riley, now of Port Charlotte, Florida, is charged with five counts of sexual abuse of Iowa school-aged boys in the 1980’s…

A former Dubuque priest who was arrested on sexual abuse charges on Wednesday has now bonded out of the Charlotte County, Florida jail.

Father Leo Patrick Riley, now of Port Charlotte, Florida, is charged with five counts of sexual abuse of Iowa school-aged boys in the 1980’s.

The investigation started in May of 2023, after the Archdiocese of Dubuque’s Office for the Protection of Children alerted the police about reports of “cold case” sexual abuse from 40 years ago.

The Archdiocese of Dubuque issued a statement in response to the charges on Friday, highlighting the church’s role in the investigation.

“No…

View Cache

Louisiana State Police executed a search warrant on the Archdiocese of New Orleans April 25 for documents related to a widening investigation into how the archdiocese has handled allegations of clerical sex abuse.

Louisiana State Police Trooper Jacob Pucheu, public information officer, told OSV News by email that the search took place “during a meeting with representatives and counsel for the Archdiocese of New Orleans” and the state police’s special victims unit investigators.

“The Archdiocese is actively cooperating with investigators and the terms of the search warrant,” said Pucheu in his statement. “This investigation remains ongoing, and there is no additional information available at this time.”

The Archdiocese of New Orleans had been ordered by a New Orleans criminal court to turn over the records, as part of a long-running criminal investigation involving multiple accused priests.

According to The Guardian, New Orleans Magistrate Juana M. Lombard signed off on the…

View Cache

Notre-Dame de Bétharram: 76 complaints filed by former residents of the Catholic institution

From now on, 76 complaints are accumulating in the file of the Catholic institution Notre-Dame de Bétharram, located in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Former residents speak of physical or sexual abuse. 21 people are targeted, including 11 still alive.

Former students carry the memory of the Catholic institution Notre-Dame de Bétharram (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) like a burden, yet renowned prestigious. “Our childhood was stolen from us”, testifies a former resident, anonymously. Alleged violence, rape and sexual assault that occurred between the 1970s and 1990s are discussed. The school gradually reveals its darkest secrets.

The words of entire generations are freed

A man testifies almost 40 years later. He first describes an atmosphere of terror. This brutality is, according to him, part of a well-established mechanism which led to the unspeakable. “They hurt you, but afterwards they comforted you”, he confides. Like him, others have chosen…

View Cache

The Catholic church has joined the list of stakeholders supporting the plan to phase out Charitable Children’s Institutions (CCIs) and transition children to a family-based and community care.

The outgoing chairperson of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) Archbishop Martin Kivuva said the Catholic church embraced the new law under the National Care Reform Strategy in Kenya after overwhelming scientific evidence showed that institutions are not good for children’s growth.

“Research shows that children who grow up in such homes are disadvantaged because they don’t get the kind of family love and care they need at their young age. For one reason or another, they find themselves in a place that is not exactly family,” said the archbishop.

The government-led National Care Reform Strategy for Children in Kenya seeks to phase out all children homes in a 10-year plan that runs from 2022-2032.

The idea is remove more than…

View Cache

The Regnum Christi Federation will hold its first general convention in Rome from April 29 to May 4, the first such assembly since its statutes were approved in 2019 after a long process of listening, purification, and a hopeful look toward its future.

The ecclesial movement was shaken to the core by the revelation of numerous cases of sexual abuse and abuses of power primarily involving Father Marcial Maciel, the deceased founder of the Legionaries of Christ and the Regnum Christi movement.

The Regnum Christi Federation is comprised of four vocations: the Legionaries of Christ (priests), Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi, Lay Consecrated Men of Regnum Christi, and lay members.

Regnum Christi is now defined as an apostolic body and spiritual family led by a general board of directors, consisting of the directors general of the Legionaries of Christ and the Consecrated Men and Women of Regnum Christi,…

View Cache

When the always well-written and often wrongheaded New Yorker dislikes something, chances are good that I’ll like it—a principle that holds, with certain reservations, in the case of Dignitas Infinita, the 8 April “Declaration of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on Human Dignity.”

The declaration underscores the Catholic Church’s commitment to the defense of every human life from conception until natural death, calls Catholics to compassionate care for the most vulnerable among us, defends the biblical idea of the human person as defined in Genesis 1:27-28, and offers a welcome critique of gender theory and the legion of demons it spawns (this last being, predictably, was what upset the New Yorker).

What’s not to like, then? Perhaps that’s putting it too sharply. The question is whether the declaration could have been even better. I think that’s the case, and in several ways. 

The Dog That Didn’t Bark. Dignitas Infinita has 116…

View Cache

Michael Riley spoke with NBC2 Saturday evening regarding his older brother, Father Leo Riley – a Port Charlotte man who was arrested this week on multiple counts of capital sexual battery, with allegations connected to his previous tenure in the 1980s as a priest in Iowa.

Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office detectives and Dubuque, Iowa police worked together to arrest Leo P. Riley, 68, at his Port Charlotte home.Advertisement

Five days after his arrest, a 32-year-old, only identified as John Doe, stepped out to publicly share that Leo Riley sexually abused him as a child. Dubuque police also report that four individuals came forward saying they were sexually abused by Riley as alter boys in the mid-80s.

However, Michael Riley told NBC2 that “some important facts have been missed.”

He said the sole reason for his brother relocating to Southwest Florida was because their parents retired there.

He referred to…

View Cache

A New York state appeals court has found that an insurer for the Archdiocese of New York is not required to cover costs for settling hundreds of sex abuse claims — a ruling the archdiocese has called “extremely disappointing” and “wrongly decided.”

On April 23, five justices of the First Judicial Department of the New York Supreme Court’s Appellate Division unanimously overturned a December 2023 order from a lower court that would have compelled a group of Chubb insurance entities — who had issued more than 30 liability policies to the archdiocese and several of its parishes, schools and entities between 1956 and 2003 — to pay out money for more than 1,500 abuse cases.

Those claims against the archdiocese were brought under the state’s Child Victims Act of 2019 and Adult Survivors Act of 2022, both of which opened the door to hundreds of previously time-barred suits.

According to…

View Cache

The Archdiocese of New York may be forced into bankruptcy if its main insurer is allowed to go without financial responsibility in thousands of child sexual abuse lawsuits, victims’ attorneys said.

On Tuesday, the state Appellate court’s First Department reversed a ruling dismissing Chubb insurance’s assertion that its policies did not cover child sexual abuse claims that church leaders enabled and covered up for decades.

If Chubb and other insurance companies are off the hook, the Archdiocese, which covers 10 New York counties including Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island, will have no option but to file for bankruptcy, said attorney Jason Amala, whose firm filed about 75 sexual abuse cases against the Archdiocese.

Chubb insured the Archdiocese of New York, which serves 2.5 million Catholics, and its affiliated parishes and schools between 1956 and 2003.

If the cases filed under the state’s Child Victims Act proceed to trial, the financial damage…

View Cache

The Swiss Evangelical Reformed Church intends to conduct a study on sexual abuse, and it submitted an application to the church parliament this week, said President Rita Famos in an interview on Sunday. 

“The investigation should reveal the locations and frequency of abuse,” said Famos, president of the Swiss Evangelical Reformed Church, in an interview with the Sunday newspaper, the NZZ am Sonntag, which was first published online. 

The study is not only intended to uncover issues within the church. The Reformed Church hopes “the findings will also spur action against sexual abuse in other institutions,” Famos explained. It is also about addressing abuse in families, sports organisations and schools. “It is not acceptable to sit back and point the finger at scapegoats such as the Catholic Church,” continued Famos. 

Abuse is a societal issue. The Swiss Evangelical Reformed Church aims to contribute to identifying perpetrator profiles and contexts of offenses. “So that perpetrators…

View Cache

A Florida man stepped out in faith Friday, publicly sharing his history of sexual abuse.

A 32-year-old, only being identified as John Doe, spoke with his attorney, Damian Mallard, in Sarasota.Advertisement

Doe said that as a child, he attended St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School in Port Charlotte. There, he claims he was physically and sexually abused by a teacher. In a civil lawsuit filed in 2020, Doe claims he went to the Rev. Leo Patrick Riley begging for help.

Rather than reporting the crimes to the proper authorities, Doe said Riley began participating in the abuse as well. Doe said he was threatened in order to stay silent.

“I never told anybody back then. He said that if I told, he would do to my sister what he was doing to me,” Doe said. “I buried these memories very deep, but I couldn’t keep them buried forever. When…

View Cache

Father Leo Riley, age 68, continued to serve as a priest for years after a 2020 sexual abuse lawsuit was filed against him and the Diocese of Venice in Florida.

A Florida priest who was recently arrested on sex abuse charges was permitted to continue in active ministry for nearly three years after a civil sex abuse lawsuit was filed against him and the diocese in which he serves.

Father Leo Riley, age 68, continued to serve as a priest for years after a 2020 sexual abuse lawsuit was filed against him and the Diocese of Venice in Florida. 

The matter came to the forefront this week after Riley was arrested on several sex abuse charges dating back to his time serving as a priest in Iowa decades ago. 

The Charlotte County, Florida Sheriff’s Office said in a press release that deputies arrested Riley in Port…

View Cache

Louisiana State Police executed a search warrant on the Archdiocese of New Orleans April 25 for documents related to a widening investigation into how the archdiocese has handled allegations of clerical sex abuse.

Louisiana State Police Trooper Jacob Pucheu, public information officer, told OSV News by email that the search took place “during a meeting with representatives and counsel for the Archdiocese of New Orleans” and the state police’s special victims unit investigators.

“The Archdiocese is actively cooperating with investigators and the terms of the search warrant,” said Pucheu in his statement. “This investigation remains ongoing, and there is no additional information available at this time.”

The Archdiocese of New Orleans had been ordered by a New Orleans criminal court to turn over the records, as part of a long-running criminal investigation involving multiple accused priests.

According to The Guardian, New Orleans Magistrate Juana M. Lombard signed off on the…

View Cache

A former Dubuque priest who was arrested on sexual abuse charges on Wednesday has now bonded out of the Charlotte County, Florida jail.

Father Leo Patrick Riley, now of Port Charlotte, Florida, is charged with five counts of sexual abuse of Iowa school-aged boys in the 1980’s.

The investigation started in May of 2023, after the Archdiocese of Dubuque’s Office for the Protection of Children alerted the police about reports of “cold case” sexual abuse from 40 years ago.

The Archdiocese of Dubuque issued a statement in response to the charges on Friday, highlighting the church’s role in the investigation.

“No allegation of sexual abuse was known while he was actively serving our parishes. The first notice of any allegation of abuse by Father Riley was made in December of 2014. The claim related to the time-period of 1985, when Father Riley would have been in Dubuque. Particulars…

View Cache

The Alabama Senate unanimously passed a bill by State Rep. Leigh Hulsey (R-Helena) on Thursday that would make it a felony for church clergy to have sexual interactions with someone under 19 years old.

The House passed the measure on February 20. It now goes to Gov. Kay Ivey for her consideration.

The bill defines clergy as a duly ordained, licensed or commissioned minister, pastor, priest, rabbi, or practitioner of any bona fide established church or religious organization or any person who regularly, as a vocation, devotes a substantial portion of his or her time and abilities to the service of his or her church or religious organization.

The bill makes it a felony for a clergy member to engage in sexual intercourse or sodomy with a child. Under the bill,  a child is defined as a person under 19 or someone with a developmental disability under 22 

…

View Cache

The Alabama Legislature passed a new law today (April 25) making it illegal for clergy to engage in sexual behavior with anyone under 19 years old. Violations will be considered a Class B felony, which could result in two to 20 years of imprisonment.

Representative Leigh Hulsey sponsored House Bill 125, which mirrors the protections of another Alabama bill that prohibits the same for public and private school teachers. Senator Roger Smitherman sponsored the Senate version of the bill, which now goes to Gov. Kay Ivey to sign.

‘Thankful … for the courage’

“We are very thankful to Rep. Leigh Hulsey and Sen. Roger Smitherman as well as Senate and House leadership for having the courage to hold even clergy members accountable for taking advantage of minors,” Greg Davis, president and CEO of Alabama Citizens Action Program, shared with The Alabama Baptist.

“It’s a shame that it has come to…

View Cache

A residential school survivor is leading a class-action lawsuit against the Catholic Church and one of its priests.

It stems from comments allegedly made by the priest during a sermon describing evidence of unmarked graves as “lies” and “manipulation.”

Monday, a judge ruled the proposed class-action lawsuit can go forward despite efforts from lawyers representing the archdiocese of Edmonton and a religious order to have it struck down.

That decision was met with lots of tears, smiles and hugs from elder Sphenia Jones, who is leading the case.

RELATED STORIES

• Police called to incident at Edmonton church whose priest denied reports of unmarked graves

About a dozen of Jones’ family and supporters rallied Monday in support of residential school survivors and the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges priest Marcin Mironiuk said Indigenous children died of natural causes and questioned the validity of unmarked graves during a mass in 2021.

…

View Cache

Calgary court to decide whether proposed class action lawsuit by Elder Sphenia Jones will go ahead

WARNING: This story contains distressing details.

A Haida elder and residential school survivor is leading a proposed class action lawsuit against the Catholic Church and one of its priests over what she alleges are “false and deeply hurtful” denialist comments.

Sphenia Jones is scheduled to appear in a Calgary courtroom on Monday after filing a statement of claim against Edmonton priest Marcin Mironiuk, the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton, and the Oblate Fathers of Assumption Province.

Jones is alleging that remarks Mironiuk made during a mass service in 2021 — in which he reportedly described the evidence of potential unmarked graves at residential schools as “lies” and “manipulation” — are defamatory against herself and other survivors who have spoken out about deaths at the institutions. 

She is proposing a class-action lawsuit, but the defendants from the church are asking…

View Cache

• In short: A 34-year-old man has been charged with child sex offences following a police investigation.
• The man, who worked at a Catholic school in the state’s north, was arrested on Friday and charged with two counts of penetrative sexual abuse of a child or young person.
• What’s next? The man will appear in the Launceston’s Magistrates Court in June. 

A 34-year-old man who worked at a Tasmanian Catholic school has been charged with child sex offences following a police investigation.

The man, who was a staff member at a Catholic school in the state’s north, was arrested on Friday and charged with two counts of penetrative sexual abuse of a child or young person.

Police said the alleged offences took place in 2019.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Catholic Education Tasmania said a staff member from one of its schools had been charged by Tasmania Police. 

“We understand the…

View Cache

A scathing legal loss for Cardinal Timothy Dolan has finally forced into the light what the New York prelate did not want Catholics to know: Dolan has been fighting for the “right” to sexually abuse and re-victimize minors and vulnerable adults and then have others pick up the tab.  A New York Appeals Court ruling revealed as much when it unanimously rebuffed Dolan’s bid to force Chubb Insurers to finance mounting clergy sex abuse claims, even when the abuse was enabled and covered up by Church leaders.  Likening Dolan’s scheme to an arsonist setting fire to his house and then demanding an insurance payout, Chubb argued in Court that the New York Archdiocese “alone must bear the full financial consequences of its criminal behavior.”  With Dolan and his fellow New York bishops battling more than 3,300 recently filed sex abuse cases, Dolan’s legal defeat points to a deeper crisis sweeping the Church hierarchy:…

View Cache

A Florida man referred to as John Doe is one of 5 men who have come forward accusing Riley of sexual abuse.

A Florida man going by the name ‘John Doe’ says a priest from Dubuque sexually abused him as a child. Earlier this week, prosecutors charged Father Leo Riley with five counts of sex abuse in Dubuque.

Investigators say Riley sexually assaulted four altar boys while working as an associate pastor at Resurrection Parish in Dubuque in the 1980s. Doe said he was another victim of Riley’s in the early 2000s in a press conference in Sarasota on Friday. He claims Riley abused him while he was a child at St. Charles school in Port Charlotte, Florida.

“I never told anybody back then. He said that if I told he would do to my sister what he was doing to me. I buried these memories very…

View Cache

The chaplain of the Coast Guard was fired after an investigation found he did not act appropriately when he learned of another chaplain’s sexual misconduct that predated military service, the Coast Guard said Thursday.

Navy Capt. Daniel Mode, a Catholic priest who became the Coast Guard’s top chaplain in April 2022, was reassigned Wednesday to the Navy. The Navy provides chaplains to the Coast Guard and Mode’s career spans both military service branches.

“A Coast Guard administrative investigation found that Capt. Mode did not take appropriate action when made aware of pre-service sexual misconduct by another chaplain,” according to the Coast Guard. “That member has already been removed from the Coast Guard and Navy. The investigation revealed that Captain Mode’s decisions and actions did not demonstrate the judgment required of a senior leader and chaplain of the Coast Guard.”

However, the Coast Guard said Mode’s actions did…

View Cache

Two of the three independent abuse commissioners of the Catholic Diocese of Augsburg are resigning on April 30, according to the Augsburger Allgemeine.

Psychologists Angelika Hauser and Rupert Membarth told the German newspaper that they no longer see a basis for further cooperation in the interests of those affected by abuse.

Hauser and Membarth were made abuse commissioners in September 2022.

“Unfortunately, to this day I have not been able to recognize that the process of coming to terms with sexual abuse in the Diocese of Augsburg, which Bishop Bertram once described as his ‘matter of the heart,’ is being pursued with the necessary seriousness and genuine desire to educate,” Hauser said in a letter to the diocese.

A letter from Membarth says he “cannot see any committed effort on the part of the diocese leadership to proactively deal with past and present cases of sexual violence.”

Hauser made the same…

View Cache

The suit accuses SBC and its affiliated Champion Forest Baptist of negligence while a youth pastor committed crimes of sexual abuse against minors in the church.

Three Jane Does who claim they were sexually abused as minors by a youth pastor at Champion Forest Baptist sued the Houston megachurch and the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) last week, alleging negligence and seeking more than $1 million in damages.

The case against Champion Forest—which is a three-site church based on the northwest side of the city—comes after 34-year-old ex-minister Timothy Jason Jeltema was sentenced in 2022 to five years in prison after pleading guilty to sexual abuse crimes.

The suit alleges the church and the SBC failed to protect the girls from the abuse. “In what has sadly become an all too familiar story, this…

View Cache

A plea agreement has been filed for a former preschool teacher who was arrested twice on child molesting charges.

Court records show Joshua Leduc was scheduled to go to trial on Monday, but the trial was canceled.

Court officials tell 44News that a plea agreement was reached Tuesday.

Leduc was arrested in August of 2022 after a child came forward and reported abuse, and again in 2023 after police said another child reported abuse.

Leduc was a preschool teacher at Bethel United Church of Christ. Officials at the church said Leduc was fired after the first incident in 2022.

After Tuesday’s plea deal was reached, Leduc is now set to be sentenced on June 28.

View Cache

I turned on the TV / And flipped it over to the news / And what I saw I almost couldn’t comprehend. I saw a preacher man in cuffs / He’d taken money from the church / He’d stuffed his bank account with righteous dollar bills … You know there ain’t no rest for the wicked.

The American rock band Cage the Elephant clocked preachers with this line in their 2008 song, Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked.

While the band does not make Christian music, these lyrics imagine the not-so-outlandish possibility of a preacher stealing church funds, effectively calling out the ease with which Christian leaders abuse their power to steal from, lie to and take advantage of those who trust them most.

And during Sexual Violence Awareness Month, let’s remember it is often not just our money church leaders take advantage of. It’s our bodies too.

The state of our…

View Cache

AN INTERVIEW WITH BAPTISTLAND AUTHOR CHRISTA BROWN: ON TELLING HER STORY OF SURVIVAL, THE BETRAYAL OF CHURCH LEADERS, AND THE JOURNEY TOWARD HEALING

An interview with Baptistland Author Christa Brown. You can preorder Baptistland here, or at your preferred bookstore. Available on May 7.

In her bestselling 2023 book Disobedient Women, journalist Sarah Stankorb wrote of Christa Brown, “For so many years, she was one of the few people Southern Baptist sex abuse survivors knew they could call, someone they knew would listen.” I sat down with Brown earlier this month to talk about her new book, Baptistland: A Memoir of Abuse, Betrayal, and Transformation, a book that I hope everyone in the Into Account orbit will read.

I’ve trusted Brown for years as a consistent source of reliable, clear-headed analysis whenever the Southern Baptist Convention gets up to some shenanigans. As a survivor of child…

View Cache

Attorneys with Mallard Perez are challenging the accuracy of a statement provided by the Diocese of Venice, stating that another allegation was known prior to other recent reports.

Damian Mallard, a partner of the Mallard Perez law offices, urged other potential victims of Reverend Leo Riley to come forward. Father Riley is currently facing accusations out of the state of Iowa.

Detectives from the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office Major Case Unit worked with the Dubuque, Iowa Police Department to arrest Leo P. Riley at his Port Charlotte home on Wednesday.

Dubuque Police Department had developed probable cause for five counts of capital sexual battery within their jurisdiction.

Riley was a past priest at the Resurrection Church in Dubuque, Iowa. In Charlotte County, he was a Priest at Saint Charles Borromeo in Port Charlotte in the early 2000′s, and is currently assigned to San Antonio Catholic Church, also in Port Charlotte.

…

View Cache

Spain’s Socialist government announced this week that they will establish a state-run compensation program for sexual abuse victims, and will make the Catholic Church pay for it.

In 2022, the Spanish government launched its own investigation into sexual abuse claims that concluded with an Ombudsman report published in 2023. The report only focused on sexual abuse victims of the Catholic church. On April 23, Spain’s Minister of the Presidency and Justice Félix Bolaños referred to that report in justifying the decision to have the Church pay for the compensations that will be set by the state.

“From that report, [Bolaños] said it was concluded that some 440,000 adults may have suffered sex abuse in Spain by people linked to the church and that roughly half of those cases were committed by clergy,” the Associated Press News reported. 

But in the same report, AP News noted…

View Cache

The Spanish government April 23 approved an economic compensation plan for victims of sexual abuse committed by priests and other people linked to the Catholic Church.

Félix Bolaños, who is minister of the presidency and justice, said the plan followed recommendations made in a 2023 report by Spain’s ombudsman to “prevent, repair and settle the debt with the victims” of sexual abuse within the church.

“It is essential that the church assumes its responsibility,” Bolaños told journalists at a morning press conference April 23.

Ángel Gabilondo, the Spanish ombudsman, concluded in his report that some 440,000 adults may have suffered sex abuse in Spain by people linked to the church and that roughly half of those cases were committed by clergy.

Bolaños said the compensation would be financed by the church.

But in an April 23 statement, the Spanish bishops’ conference rejected the plan, saying it discriminated against victims outside…

View Cache

[To see a PDF of this report, click here.]

Apr 25 2024

MADISON, Wis. – As Wisconsin approaches the three-year anniversary of the launch of the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Clergy and Faith Leader Abuse Initiative, Attorney General Josh Kaul is releasing additional information, including statements from survivors who have reached out to DOJ, and highlights of other progress being made through the initiative.

“Through this initiative, Wisconsin DOJ continues to work to support survivors and independently review clergy and faith leader abuse in Wisconsin,” said Attorney General Kaul. “If you have information about clergy and faith leader abuse, I encourage you to submit a report through the initiative’s online reporting tool or to call the toll-free tip line.”

One survivor stated: “I am deeply grateful for the work of the Wisconsin DOJ in the Clergy and Faith Leader Abuse Initiative.  When I first decided to come forward and tell the truth…

View Cache

A priest accused of getting away with sexually touching multiple boys for 40 years may have more victims.

Father Leo Riley was in Charlotte County court on Thursday. He has been accused of sexual abuse on four boys in Dubuque, Iowa, from 1984 to 1986 but wasn’t arrested until Wednesday.

WINK News spoke to John Celeste, a parishioner at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, one of the churches Riley used to work at. He said it’s deeply saddening because you never want someone who promised to be a man of God to break that promise.

Prayer is not unusual for John Celeste, but on Thursday, his purpose for praying was truth.

“I want the truth to come out. Hiding the truth is never any good,” said Celeste.

He woke up to the news that Father Riley was accused of sexual assault.

“People here used to talk well about…

View Cache

An attorney representing a Florida man who filed a lawsuit says their investigation uncovered multiple victims against the former Dubuque priest.

Father Leo Riley is accused of sexual abuse while he was serving with the Archdiocese of Dubuque in the 1980′s.

Leo Riley appeared in court today in Florida on five counts of sexual abuse. He’s accused of assaulting the boys while he was an associate pastor at Resurrection Parish in Dubuque from 1984 to 1986. He’s in jail on a $100,000 bond and awaiting extradition back to Iowa.

In a lawsuit filed in 2020, a man claims Riley abused him as a boy at a Catholic School in Florida in the early 2000s.

Today, the attorney for that victim says Riley’s arrest is a relief but he expects more victims and more charges are coming. “My client is elated and also…

View Cache

Leo P. Riley faces five capital sexual battery charges.

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — A Port Charlotte priest arrested for capital sexual battery charges has been accused of similar crimes in the past, documents show.

According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, Leo Patrick Riley was arrested on April 24, and faces five capital sexual battery charges that allegedly took place in the 1980’s when Riley was a priest in Dubuque, Iowa.

CCSO said investigators worked with the Dubuque Police Department after allegations of Riley’s abuse came to light in May 2022. At the time, Riley was a priest at the San Antonio Catholic Church in Port Charlotte.

The Diocese of Venice Florida told Fox 4 it was made aware of the allegations in May and immediately placed Riley on administrative leave. A spokesperson…

View Cache

A day after a former Dubuque priest was arrested for an alleged 40-year-old sexual abuse case, we’re learning about more abuse allegations.

This time, the allegations come from Father Leo Riley’s time as a priest in Florida.

Father Riley was arrested in Florida on Wednesday after four men accused him of sexually abusing them in the 1980′s when they were altar boys at Resurrection Parish in Dubuque.

Riley moved to the Diocese of Venice, Florida in 2002 to be closer to his parents.

A lawsuit filed in July 2020 alleges Riley and Alan Klispie, a music teacher, verbally, physically and sexually abused a student at the St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School, a school owned and operated by the Diocese of Venice in Florida.

The lawsuit alleges Klispie started abusing the victim when he was a pre-kindergarten or kindergarten student at St. Charles in the mid 1990′s.

According…

View Cache

In part, it was his position — as a priest and doctoral student — that convinced so many children and parents at Seattle’s St. Paul School and Catholic parish to trust Patrick O’Donnell.

He told them he was working on his graduate research when he recruited 60 seventh- and eighth-graders for a 1978 dissertation experiment “on the subject of trust.” And he told them he was working on “research” when he asked parents and teachers to pull students out of class.

In fact, the reason he was in Seattle in the first place was because the Spokane Diocese had sent him to get treatment for what one priest euphemistically called his “pediatrician complex.”

In the 1970s and early ’80s, as he was moved from parish to parish — in Spokane, Seattle, and the small eastern Washington town of Rosalia — he allegedly molested more than 65 children, court records show….

View Cache

On telling her story of survival, the betrayal of church leaders, and the journey toward healing

An interview with Baptistland Author Christa Brown. You can preorder Baptistland here, or at your preferred bookstore. Available on May 7.

In her bestselling 2023 book Disobedient Women, journalist Sarah Stankorb wrote of Christa Brown, “For so many years, she was one of the few people Southern Baptist sex abuse survivors knew they could call, someone they knew would listen.” I sat down with Brown earlier this month to talk about her new book, Baptistland: A Memoir of Abuse, Betrayal, and Transformation, a book that I hope everyone in the Into Account orbit will read.

I’ve trusted Brown for years as a consistent source of reliable, clear-headed analysis whenever the Southern Baptist Convention gets up to some shenanigans. As a survivor of child sexual abuse perpetrated by her SBC youth…

View Cache

As Wisconsin approaches the third anniversary of the launch of Wisconsin DOJ’s Clergy and Faith Leader Abuse Initiative, Attorney General Josh Kaul is releasing additional information and highlights of other progress being made through the initiative.

“Through this initiative, Wisconsin DOJ continues to work to support survivors and independently review clergy and faith leader abuse in Wisconsin,” said AG Kaul. “If you have information about clergy and faith leader abuse, I encourage you to submit a report through the initiative’s online reporting tool or to call the toll-free tip line.”

One survivor shared, “I am deeply grateful for the work of the Wisconsin DOJ in the Clergy and Faith Leader Abuse Initiative. When I first decided to come forward and tell the truth of my decades-old abuse, I was terrified … The victim services specialist was my first contact with the DOJ and the process was one of great support and compassion. … My hope…

View Cache

A Monumental Milestone: Progress is Unfolding for Victims of Abuse

In a landmark decision signaling a potent wave of change, the Justice Department, alongside over a hundred brave souls who endured the unspeakable at the hands of former USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar, has culminated in a civil settlement. This remarkable agreement addresses the grievous oversights of FBI agents in probing the gymnasts’ harrowing allegations against Nassar, now a convicted criminal. This settlement not only sheds light on the “botched” investigation by the FBI and the “fundamental errors made,” as numerous reports have critiqued, but also marks a pivotal stride toward accountability and justice for the victims of these heinous acts. One US senator reported that abuse victims “were betrayed by the institutions they should have been able to trust.”

Because of the FBI’s callous inaction, more innocent girls suffered needlessly. As a result, it was announced yesterday that more than…

View Cache

An Orleans Parish criminal court judge has ordered the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans to turn over all records related to clergy sex abuse to the Louisiana State Police, a sign that investigators may be expanding their probe into the local church.

Magistrate Judge Juana Lombard signed a search warrant Monday at the request of state police investigators, who have been looking into the local Roman Catholic Church’s clergy sex abuse scandal since 2022, state police spokesman Jacob Pucheu said Wednesday.

The agency’s investigation stems from the ongoing probe into former archdiocesan priest Lawrence Hecker, 91, who is accused of raping multiple children from 1966 through 1979 and was indicted by an Orleans Parish grand jury on rape, kidnapping and theft charges. His trial, scheduled for March, was delayed after his attorneys raised questions about his mental competency.

Pucheu said his agency initiated the probe after receiving “numerous complaints of child sex…

View Cache

Ohio lawmakers voted Wednesday to criminalize marital rape in all situations, ending a years-long fight over a law that critics cast as archaic and harmful to survivors.

The Ohio Senate unanimously passed legislation which eliminates a measure that protects spouses from prosecution against rape, unless the perpetrator used force or the couple lives in separate homes. It also removes the spousal exception for sexual battery and other sex crimes and allows spouses to testify against their partner in these cases.HomeBuddy21 Gutter Guards Put to the Test: See What Roofers FoundAd

The bill now heads to Gov. Mike DeWine, who is expected to sign it, according to his spokesman.

“Every little girl dreams about her wedding day and being fully loved and honored by someone so intensely,” one woman told a Senate committee as she recounted abuse by…

View Cache

Two of the three independent abuse commissioners of the Catholic Diocese of Augsburg are resigning on April 30, according to the Augsburger Allgemeine.

Psychologists Angelika Hauser and Rupert Membarth told the German newspaper that they no longer see a basis for further cooperation in the interests of those affected by abuse.

Hauser and Membarth were made abuse commissioners in September 2022.

“Unfortunately, to this day I have not been able to recognize that the process of coming to terms with sexual abuse in the Diocese of Augsburg, which Bishop Bertram once described as his ‘matter of the heart,’ is being pursued with the necessary seriousness and genuine desire to educate,” Hauser said in a letter to the diocese.

A letter from Membarth says he “cannot see any committed effort on the part of the diocese leadership to proactively deal with past and present cases of sexual violence.”

Hauser made the same…

View Cache

Editor: This is the first installment of a three-part feature.

A Japanese Buddhist nun has stepped forward to allege that she was brainwashed and sexually violated by the chief priest of a major sect’s temple for over a decade, shocking the country’s religious establishment.

The news made big headlines and was all the more shocking as the alleged abuser had been mentored by a top-ranking priest of the traditional Tendai sect, which has roots in China with a history dating back 1,200 years in Japan and a significant following with close to 3 million believers nationwide.

Details of the allegations by Eicho (the woman’s Buddhist name) emerged in an exclusive interview with Kyodo News. She spoke of her feeling of betrayal and the way her faith had been abused to sexually exploit her and the complex post-traumatic stress disorder she is now dealing with.

What happened in this cloistered world…

View Cache

The Archdiocese of Chicago is facing a lawsuit in connection with a former priest accused of sexually abusing and exploiting an altar boy at a now-closed elementary school and parish on the city’s Lower West Side.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Cook County Circuit Court, alleges that the Rev. John Keehan repeatedly sexually abused an unnamed boy from 1994 to 1997 while he attended St. Ann Elementary School and Parish. It also accuses the archdiocese of failing to properly supervise Keehan and of putting children in danger due to Keehan’s known history of abuse.

A spokesperson for the archdiocese said they don’t comment on lawsuits, claims or settlements.

Keehan was named as a Catholic cleric who has committed “substantiated child sex abuse” in the Illinois attorney general’s 2023 report on Catholic clergy child sex abuse in Illinois. According to the report, at least two survivors have…

View Cache

In criminal investigation, New Orleans judge demands paper trail from archbishop Gregory Aymond all the way to the Vatican

The criminal investigation into child sexual abuse in New Orleans’ Roman Catholic archdiocese has entered a major new phase, after a judge ordered the church to turn over records to Louisiana state police showing how it responded to abuse allegations over the last several decades.

The order signed Monday seeks files that would identify every priest and deacon accused of abusing children while working in the US’s second-oldest archdiocese; when those complaints were first made; and whether the church turned those cases over to police, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

Significantly, police are also demanding copies of all communications among New Orleans’ current archbishop, Gregory Aymond, his aides and their superiors at the Vatican, those sources said.

Asked for comment Wednesday, an archdiocese spokesperson said: “As always, the…

View Cache

Here’s an idea for the Roman Catholic Church, from a secular whose grandparents came from Italy and Poland, yet who still prays to the Saints, the Virgin, and the Holy Trinity.

Worldwide, the church has paid over $4 billion in settlement fees. With billions more to come. Instead of selling its buildings to find funds to pay the victims of sexual abuse by clergy, start selling treasures from The Vatican. I am serious. Does the Vatican really need to hold on to Nero’s bathtub? It’s valued at $2 billion. Or maybe sell a few of the thirty-five volumes of catalogs from the 53 miles of shelving in the Vatican’s secret archives. Or a couple of paintings from the over 20,000 masterpieces valued at over $15 billion.

Better yet, sell the Pieta. I am sure some Saudi prince…

View Cache

A former teacher at a Catholic school in Michigan is accused of sexually abusing a student over a period of months after being fired, officials told news outlets.

Nicholas Coe Young, 26, is facing three counts of criminal sexual conduct with a student, WOOD reported. Young allegedly had sexual contact with the boy multiple times over a 15-month span, the station reported.

The Grand Rapids man allegedly met the teenage victim while teaching at Catholic Central High School — though the sex abuse didn’t begin until August 2022, several months after he was fired, according to court documents obtained by the outlet.

Court records show Young was charged with providing alcohol to minors in March 2022.

In an interview with Grand Rapids police, the boy’s mother said her son was “taken advantage of,” Mlive.com reported.

Documents say the teen, who is now 17, felt “manipulated by Nicholas…

View Cache

A former helper with a Greeley church faces up to 66 years in prison after he was convicted of six felony sex crimes against minors from 2015 to 2018.

Ryan Walters, 30, was found guilty April 10 of five counts of sexual assault on a child, pattern of abuse; and one count of sexual assault of a child in a position of trust, following a nine-day trial, according to Colorado Court records.

Each of the five pattern-of-abuse counts carries a sentence of four to 12 years. The position of trust charge carries a sentence of two to six years. He has a sentencing hearing on June 6 in front of Judge Timothy Kerns in Weld District Court..

Police first learned of Walters’ abuse in February 2022, when someone called to report him on behalf of one of the victims. On March 3 of the same year, police met with the first…

View Cache

Thousands of sexual abuse claims hang in the balance of a battle between the archdiocese and an insurer that says the church is responsible for what happened.

A state appellate court delivered a devastating blow to the Archdiocese of New York in a unanimous decision Tuesday that found the Catholic organization’s longtime insurer can move forward with its case challenging whether its policies covered claims for systemic child sexual abuse that may have been enabled and covered up by church leaders for decades.’

Chubb Insurers argued that it has no duty to indemnify or represent the archdiocese in hundreds of lawsuits filed by individuals who were sexually abused by church employees, and that the archdiocese was not providing information that would allow the insurer to properly assess those claims. 

The ruling rocked advocates and attorneys who have supported New York’s Child Victims Act and Adult Survivors Act, which had temporarily…

View Cache

Network of abuse survivors cites recent string of church school scandals

A group of abuse survivors staged a rally in front of the Missouri Attorney General’s office in Jefferson City Monday, calling for the state’s top law enforcement authority to investigate a trend of abuse at private Christian schools.

The group is called the Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests, or “SNAP,” and said the reports of abuse are coming from largely unregulated “faith-based” boarding schools in Missouri.

“These kinds of places are ripe for abuse and cover-up,” said abuse survivor and former director of SNAP David Clohessy. “They tend to attract, unfortunately, predatory individuals who know they have a captive audience of victims.”

Among recent examples, the group lists Lighthouse Christian Academy in Piedmont, Mo., where three owners were arrested and charged with kidnapping, the now-closed Agape School in Stockton, Mo., where a mother is suing over the death of…

View Cache

SNAP, alongside supporters, gathered at the Basilica of San Juan to offer help and resources to victims of clergy sexual abuse, following allegations against two local priests.

Advocates Rally for Victims of Clergy Abuse at San Juan Basilica

In a powerful display of solidarity, members of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and other advocates convened outside the Basilica of San Juan today, offering resources and support to victims of clergy sexual abuse. This gathering comes in the wake of recent allegations involving two priests from the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville.

Mobilization Following Allegations

The drive to San Juan was spurred by distressing reports of child sexual abuse linked to valley priests, prompting SNAP to act swiftly to support potential survivors. One of the accused priests has been out on bond since February, intensifying community concerns and the call for accountability.

The Importance of Community Education and…

View Cache

Half a dozen advocates gathered in front of the San Juan Basilica on Monday to call for change.

As Channel 5 News has reported, in the last two months, two Catholic priests were accused of sexual misconduct.

“We wanted to give voice to the survivors that are here and make sure people understand why it’s so hard for them to come forward,” Patricia Koo said.

Koo is the SNAP San Antonio Chapter Leader. SNAP stands for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

Priest Fernando Gonzalez Ortega was arrested in February. He is facing five sex crime charges and is currently out on bond.

RELATED STORY: Valley bishop addresses criminal charges against local priest

Monsignor Gustavo Barrera is facing two sexual misconduct allegations. One of those allegations allegedly took place over 35 years ago.

Koo says it’s hard for a victim to come forward.

“We have…

View Cache