ABUSE TRACKER

Roman Polanski is a famous movie director and actor, known for directing the films Rosemary’s Baby and Chinatown. He left the United States for France in 1978, after he pled guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl, Samantha Geimer. He worried that the judge in that case would give him a 50-year sentence instead of a shorter-term plea bargain.[1]

California opened a three-year window, from 2020-2022, that allowed survivors to file lawsuits starting January 1, 2020.[2] The change in the statute of limitations meant Polanski was sued in 2023 by another victim of child sexual assault in Los Angeles. The victim, Jane Doe, says Polanski gave her tequila and raped her in 1973, when she was 16 years old.[3] At his California home, he gave her tequila shots, and when she woke up he said he was going to have sex with her. She said “no”, but he took off her clothes…

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[See also the full text of the report in German and Italian.]

An inquiry into sexual abuse by priests in one northern Italian diocese Monday reported 60 cases since 1964, in what it called the Catholic-majority country’s first independent study into the problem.

The diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone, covering the northeastern region of South Tyrol, had commissioned a Munich-based law firm to carry out the investigation for the period 1964-2023, whose findings were published Monday.

Westpfahl Spilker Wastl said it was the first study carried out within the Italian Episcopal Conference “to reconstruct and examine in a completely independent manner the episodes of sexual abuse”.

“Every case is one too many,” said the dioese’s Bishop Ivo Muser, adding that the suffering of victims “should fill us with shame and challenge us to look deeply”.

The still-unfolding international scandal of paedophile priests within the Catholic Church has spurred independent inquiries across the United…

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Do you remember Roman Polanski? Polanski, now 91 years old, is a famous movie director and actor, known, especially, for directing the films Rosemary’s Baby and Chinatown. He left the United States for France in 1978, after he pled guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl, Samantha Geimer. He was worried that the judge in that case would give him a 50-year sentence instead of following the briefer plea bargain.[1]

Polanski was sued in 2023 for child sexual assault in Los Angeles. The victim, Jane Doe, says Polanski gave her tequila and raped her in 1973, when she was 16 years old.[2] At his California home, he gave her tequila shots, and when she woke up he said he was going to have sex with her. She said no, but he took off her clothes and raped her. [3]

The plaintiff, sometimes known in public as Robin, appeared with her lawyer, Gloria…

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[See also the full text of the report in German and Italian.]

Dozens of sex abuse cases committed by members of the clergy over six decades emerged on Monday from an independent report into a northern Italian diocese that dug deeper into the past than others produced by the Italian Catholic Church.

While Italian bishops have been criticised for issuing reports on abuse limited to the 2020-2022 period, the diocese of Bolzano-Brixen investigated cases from 1964, the year in which it was established, through 2023.

Bolzano-Brixen belongs to the German-speaking province of South Tyrol, on the Austrian border, and has been more active on the issue than other Italian dioceses. In 2010, it was the first to open an office to handle reports of clerical sex abuse.

It commissioned Monday’s report from a German law firm, which produced a 631-page document based on church archives and interviews that found 67 possible…

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[See also the full text of the report in German and Italian.]

Investigators warn of ‘dark field’ beyond cases examined

Italy’s first-ever report on Catholic clerical sexual abuse, from the diocese of Bozen-Brixen in South Tyrol, has revealed at least 67 cases of sexual abuse in the period 1964-2023.

The report, presented on Monday, found at least 59 people were abused in the period of study by 41 abusing clerics, with 16 additional cases of ambiguous or unclear detail.

In one case a priest ordained in the 1960s abused young girls for more than half a century despite a series of complaints.

“He was transferred, transferred, transferred, transferred, transferred until, almost 50 years later, someone in 2010 had the courage to remove him from pastoral work,” said Dr Ulrich Wastl, a Munich-based lawyer and chief investigator in the Bozen-Brixen study.

Despite…

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“The Church opened its archives and Emmäus set up a historical commission, but only the justice system has the necessary means of investigation to allow the full truth to be revealed.”

The president of the French bishops’ conference appealed to the Paris prosecutor to open an official inquiry into the sexual abuse allegations against the late Abbé Pierre, long considered the merciful face of the Church in France.

A third report by his foundations published on 13 January mentioned nine further accusations against Abbé Pierre, who died in 2007, bringing the total against him to 33.

In its initial response, the bishops’ conference said: “The accumulation of facts now known that were perpetrated by this priest, who was so admired, is horrific.”

Four days later, conference president Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort of Reims called for a public inquiry into Abbé Pierre “for non-denunciation of rapes and sexual assaults on vulnerable…

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[See also the full text of the CARA data summary report.]

The United States arm of the Catholic Church paid more than $5 billion over 20 years for costs related to allegations of sexual abuse of minors by priests and deacons, according to a study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Published this month, the 106-page report tracked and calculated the costs related to allegations of sexual abuse of minors by priests and deacons reported by “dioceses, eparchies and religious communities of men” annually from 2004 to 2023. 

Researchers found that the Catholic Church paid out just over $5,025,346,893. 

Some 87% of the payments — or more than $4.3 billion — were made by dioceses and eparchies, while other religious communities of men connected to the Catholic Church paid the remaining 13%, which amounted to $641,324,609.

“A…

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Sexual abuse is NOT charitable. Tort law pays victims damages for the harms defendants inflicted on them. Charitable immunity restricts the tort damages that nonprofit institutions like churches have to pay, allegedly because the charities are performing good works. Churches should not be immune from tort liability for their sexual abuse just because they also supposedly do good things.

Churches keep claiming this charitable limitation on their liability to abuse victims. Courts keep debating if they should let the churches go free or hold them liable for their harms to survivors.

The courts need to be clearer that church defendants should not be free from any tort liability for sexual abuse.

Intentional Torts: South Carolina

The South Carolina Supreme Court just ruled unanimously, in Doe v. Bishop of Charleston, that charitable immunity does not free churches from their liability for intentional torts. The state’s lower, circuit, and appeals courts, dismissed John Doe’s lawsuit against…

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Bishops sell churches to pay settlements as insurance companies meet less than one-fifth of the expenses

The U.S. Catholic Church spent over $5 billion on victim compensation and attorneys’ fees in cases of clerical sex abuse of minors between 2004 and 2023, according to a new report by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.

Released on January 15, the 106-page study records a total of 16,276 “credible allegations” of abuse of minors by priests, deacons, and religious brothers, which were reported by dioceses, eparchies, and men’s religious communities in the U.S. over the last two decades.

Victims of a ‘Lavender Mafia’

Four in five victims were male and one-fifth of the victims were female, the survey recorded, confirming reports by The Stream and other experts of a “lavender mafia” dominating the Latin-rite Roman Catholic priesthood.

More than half the victims were between ages…

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The Archdiocese of Chicago has removed two priests from active ministry as it investigates sex abuse allegations leveled against both of them.

The archdiocese announced the development on Saturday, writing to 14 different parishes at which the two priests, Father Matthew Foley and Father Henry Kricek, served over a series of years.

The allegation against Foley involved claims of abuse when he was assigned to St. Agatha Parish (now renamed St. Simon of Cyrene Parish) “approximately 30 years ago,” the archdiocese said, while those against Kricek concerned alleged abuse at St. John Bosco Parish “approximately 40 years ago.”

Both allegations involved abuse of a minor, the archdiocese said. Both priests have been removed from ministry while the archdiocese investigates the claims.

The archdiocese has reported the allegations to civil authorities and has offered the accusers access to the diocesan victim assistance ministry.

“After the civil authorities have…

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Pope Francis has taken the remarkable step of dissolving a Peruvian-based Catholic movement, the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, after years of attempts at reform and a Vatican investigation. The probe uncovered sexual abuses by its founder, financial mismanagement by its leaders and spiritual abuses by its top members.

The Sodalitium on Monday confirmed the dissolution, which was conveyed to an assembly of its members in Aparecida, Brazil this weekend by Francis’ top legal adviser Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda. In revealing the dissolution in a statement, the group lamented that news of Francis’ decision had been leaked by two members attending the assembly, who were “definitively expelled.”

It provided no details, saying only that the “central information” about the dissolution that was reported by Spanish-language site Infovaticana “was true but it contained several inaccuracies.” It didn’t say what the inaccuracies were.

The Vatican has not responded to several requests for comment. Dissolution, or suppression,…

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Sources attending an ongoing general assembly have said that after undergoing over a year of investigation by the Vatican, it was announced that the Peru-based, scandal-ridden Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV) will be dissolved.

No formal announcement has yet been made by the Vatican or the Peruvian Bishops’ Conference (CEP), however, participants attending the SCV’s Jan. 6-31 general assembly, being held in Aparecida, Brazil, have said an announcement of its dissolution has been made.

Several participants confirmed to Crux that a decree of dissolution, citing the immoral behavior of the founder and the lack of a founding charism, was read by Italian Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda and Mexican Father Guillermo Rodríguez. Neither of them responded to a request for comments.

Ghirlanda, a revered canonist and close papal aide who has historic ties to the SCV, was tapped by the pope in 2019 to overhaul its formation process, while Rodríguez oversaw the group’s governance amid ongoing efforts…

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The trial is scheduled to take two weeks

The trial for a former Catholic priest accused of sexual abuse begins at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit on Monday. 

Eric Dejaeger faces eight counts of historical sexual assault. 

The charges stem from what is alleged to have happened while Dejaeger was working as a priest in Igloolik between 1978 and 1982, according to court documents. The investigations happened between 2011 and 2015.

Dejaeger was arrested on the charges in Kingston, Ont., in June 2023 and taken into custody in Iqaluit. He was 76 at the time. He was then granted bail on the condition that he live at the Henry Traill Community Correctional Centre in Kingston, which has 24-hour supervision. 

The judge-only trial is scheduled to take two weeks. 

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[See also the full text of the CARA data summary report.]

Annual surveys from the past 20 years show a significant decline in credible allegations of child abuse by Catholic clergy members, according to data released this week.

But while experts say that might be a positive sign, they also acknowledge the report does not detail abuse of adults, and that allegations of abuse can sometimes take decades before they are reported.

The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University released Jan. 15 a report summarizing its findings from 20 years of surveys about child abuse allegations involving clergy in the United States.

The report found that the vast majority of credible allegations reported in the last two decades occurred in the 1980s or earlier.

Some 97% of credible allegations occurred before the year 2000.

In 2002, the Catholic Church in the U.S. adopted the Dallas Charter, a…

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France’s Catholic Church called on prosecutors on Friday to open a probe into sexual assault accusations against the late French priest Abbe Pierre, who was a lifelong campaigner for the poor and homeless, and potential cover-ups of such abuse.

Henri-Antoine Groues, better known as Abbe Pierre, was a Roman Catholic priest who renounced wealth to campaign for the homeless and was once one of France’s most revered figures. He died in 2007, aged 94.

The church’s request comes after two charities founded by Abbe Pierre released a report last July bearing the testimonies of seven women accusing the late priest of sexual assault or harassment.

The charities, Emmaus International and the Abbe Pierre Foundation, said they believed the accusations and stood by the alleged victims.

In a statement published on Friday, France’s top bishop, Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, said he was asking the Paris prosecutor’s office to open a probe for…

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The first ever memoir by a living pope reveals a warm, emotionally intelligent man who loves football and ‘cutting-edge’ cinema – but skates over the more controversial parts of his career

Popes seldom lack a platform or a pulpit, so they have had little need to resort to autobiography to explain themselves. What books do appear under their names in recent decades have been either dull transcriptions of interviews with tame journalists that have been heavily vetted by the Vatican, or compilations of old sermons packaged as something more than they are.

I therefore approached this new volume with a certain weary caution and was pleasantly surprised. It fully justifies its bold claim to be the first ever memoir by a living pope. Indeed, Francis’s Italian ghostwriter, the publisher Carlo Musso, reveals in a brief afterword that the original plan when the book was commissioned in 2019 was that it…

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When Justin’s appointment was announced, I might have been surprised had I known as much then as I know now about how appointments processes work, but I was certainly encouraged. A friend published this comment on Facebook, and I think it was representative of how many people felt at the time:

In March 2013, while training for ordination in Nottingham, I went along to a local church, to listen to an invited speaker. This clergyman spoke about his faith in Jesus Christ. I was struck by how he did not gloss over the death of his child, and his own struggles with depression. A few days later, the speaker, Justin Welby, was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury. I am thankful that his words made space for leaders to speak about mental health challenges…

I remember two events early on in his time in office where…

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The trial of a former Catholic priest who worked in Nunavut begins on Monday. This isn’t the first time Eric Dejaeger Is facing charges or abusing people while he was a member of the clergy.

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If you asked Catholics in Maryland (and around the District of Columbia) about the Maryland attorney general’s investigation into clergy sex crimes and cover-ups in their area, most would say, “That’s over.” And they’d be right, but only to a degree. In 2023, the state’s AG released a 463-page report on his probe. It named roughly 150 accused abusers. That report covered the bulk of the predator priests in Maryland, which is mostly covered by the Baltimore Archdiocese. However, the AG’s office is now investigating that portion of the state that technically belongs to the Archdiocese of Washington. It includes five Maryland counties: Montgomery, Prince George’s, St. Mary’s, Calvert, and Charles.

A year ago, Maryland AG Anthony Brown began “actively seeking testimony from victims of child sex abuse“ in those counties. One news source called the move  “a sign that the state is expanding and intensifying its probe.” Prince George’s County is the second largest of…

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Catholic bishops from across the Philippines will convene next week for their biannual plenary assembly to pray and discuss key issues facing the Church today.

The assembly, set for Jan. 25 to 27, will be preceded with a three-day seminar on “transparency and accountability” within the Church.

The event, hosted by the Archdiocese of Lipa, will be held at Seda Hotel in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Msgr. Bernardo Pantin, secretary general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said the seminar will involve not only bishops but also financial administrators.

The seminar will feature speakers from the Philippines, as well as from Rome, London, and the United States.

It is a follow-up to a similar workshop held at the Vatican in June 2024, which some Filipino bishops and priests attended.

The Vatican seminar aimed to equip Church leaders with practical tools to promote transparency within their organizations.

Msgr. Pantin…

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The Brief

• Two Chicago priests, Fathers Henry Kricek and Matthew Foley, are under investigation for alleged sexual abuse of minors, with both stepping away from ministry pending the outcome.
• The Archdiocese of Chicago has offered support services to those making the allegations through its Victim Assistance Ministry.
• Results of the investigations will be reported to the Independent Review Board, determining whether Kricek and Foley will be reinstated.

Two Chicago priests are under investigation for alleged sexual abuse of minors, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced Saturday.

Both priests, who have served at several parishes, have stepped down while the investigations are underway.

Chicago Priests Face Allegations

What we know:

Archdiocese Cardinal Blase J. Cupich sent letters to the parishes of St. Edward, St. Gall, St. James, St. John Bosco, St. John of the Cross, Saints Joseph and Francis Xavier, and several others regarding the allegations against Fathers Henry Kricek and…

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Two priests, Father Matthew Foley and Father Henry Kricek, have been accused of sex abuse of a minor at Chicago churches, the Archdiocese said.Two priests, Father Matthew Foley and Father Henry Kricek, have been accused of sex abuse of a minor at Chicago churches, the Archdiocese said.

Two priests who served at multiple Chicago-area churches are facing allegations of sexual abuse of a minor, the Archdiocese of Chicago said Saturday.

Father Matthew Foley and Father Henry Kricek will be stepping away from ministry during investigations into the accusations, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich announced in letters to families of multiple parishes.

Foley is accused of sexual abuse against a minor while he was assigned to St. Agatha Parish in Lawndale approximately 30 years ago, the Archdiocese said.

Kricek is accused of sexual abuse against a minor while he was assigned to St. John Bosco Parish in Belmont Cragin approximately 40 years…

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This week nine more charges of sexual abuse were levelled against Abbé Pierre, the late French Roman Catholic priest who for decades was regarded as a modern-day saint.

This brings to 33 the number of charges, ranging from sexual assault to the rape of a boy, all alleged to have been committed between the 1960s and shortly before the priest’s death in 2007 at the age of 94. Among the latest complainants are a woman now 58, who detailed how she was assaulted by Abbé Pierre exactly fifty years ago. ‘Several times I’ve wanted to shout to the world that this man isn’t who he says he is,’ the woman said in an interview this week. ‘But who would have believed me? People weren’t ready to hear that about Abbé Pierre.’

The priest – whose real name was Henri Grouès – is reported to have been a voracious sexual predator, who indulged his perversion around…

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The debate around “grooming gangs” and sexual exploitation often centres around culture and misogyny. A sexualised culture seeped with misogynistic attitudes is indeed a major cause for the prevailing issue of child sexual exploitation.

Nowadays though, Islam is being blamed for a string of child sexual abuse scandals that shocked Britain in the last few decades. But far from being a cause or a motivation, Islam is actually the antithesis to sexual impropriety, and, in fact, carries the antidote to such crimes.

Around 1 in 20 children in the United Kingdom has been sexually assaulted, according to the child protection charity, the NSPCC. Most of the abuse takes place by family members with girls as the primary victims. In the United States, 93% of victims know the perpetrator, while that figure is 90% in the UK. Abuse happens in a vast range of settings…

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A woman who says she was sexually abused as a child by a priest says it is “absolutely outrageous” her alleged abuser was later praised by the man now leading the Church of England.

Kate – not her real name – was reacting to evidence suggesting Stephen Cottrell, now Archbishop of York, “frequently” held up David Tudor as “an exemplar of parish ministry”.

The BBC also understands that at a service in 2018, Mr Cottrell referred to Tudor as a “Rolls Royce priest” even though he knew the priest had paid a large sum to an alleged abuse victim and was banned by the Church from being alone with children.

In response, Mr Cottrell says he “regrets any upset or distress caused by previous comments.”

Following a recent BBC investigation, Mr Cottrell acknowledged he knew of serious concerns about Tudor in 2010 when he became Bishop of Chelmsford but said…

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The Vatican is expected to formally suppress next week the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a Peruvian-based religious community, after a 2023 papally-ordered investigation into the community and several years of Vatican-ordered reform efforts.

According to sources close to the process, the community’s suppression will be announced early next week, while members of the community are gathered at a general assembly in Aparecida, Brazil, where they had been expected to approve new governing and formation documents and elect new leadership for the group.

Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, a Spanish priest involved in investigating the group, will be appointed to coordinate its wind-down, along with the disposition of the community’s assets, sources close to the process told The Pillar.

While it is expected that at least some financial assets of the community will be used to compensate victims of abusive members, it is not clear what status will be assigned to clerical members of the…

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While the late Abbé Pierre can no longer be prosecuted, the Paris prosecutor’s office could still investigate potential accomplices or failures to report abuse and assault at the time.

The bishops of France on Friday formally requested prosecutors launch a criminal investigation into sexual abuse allegations against Abbé Pierre, a prominent priest who founded the poverty ministry Emmaus.  

The move follows nine new accusations in a new report released on Jan. 13 against the French priest, who died in 2007 at age 94.

Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the French Bishops’ Conference (CEF), announced the formal request on Jan. 17 during a radio interview, emphasizing the need to uncover any additional victims.

While the late Abbé Pierre can no longer be prosecuted, the Paris prosecutor’s office could still investigate potential accomplices or failures to report abuse and assault at the time.

Latest Developments

Earlier this week, Emmaus International, Emmaus…

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Perhaps the worst scandal across the globe over the last 20 years is the epidemic of child rape inthe Catholic Church – a sin compounded by its repeated efforts to hide it and protect the perpetrators. It is in that context that we now look at the depressing story at Seton Hall.

A priest accused of failing repeatedly to report sexual abuse hasjust been elevated to president of the university, with the apparent approval of the Archdiocese of Newark, led by Cardinal Joseph Tobin. That’s deeply troubling

The backstory: After an explosive Vatican report in 2020 found the predatory behavior of a powerful church leader, Theodore McCarrick, had been ignored by church leaders for years – all the way up to Pope John Paul II – Seton Hall hired two law firms to do an internal investigation about McCarrick’s “influence and actions” at…

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Two Catholic priests who have served at multiple churches in the Chicago area are stepping away from the ministry, amid separate allegations of sexual abuse of a child decades ago, the Chicago Archdiocese announced Saturday.

Fr. Matthew Foley has been accused of sexually abusing a minor approximately 30 years ago while assigned to St. Agatha Parish in the North Lawndale neighborhood, while Fr. Henry Kricek has been accused of sexual abuse of a minor approximately 40 years ago while assigned to St. John Bosco Parish in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood, according to letters Cardinal Blasé Cupich sent to parishioners at multiple churches.

Both priests have denied the allegations against them, but have agreed to step away from the ministry while the Archdiocese investigates.

“I want to stress that the welfare of the children entrusted to our care is our paramount concern. The Archdiocese of Chicago takes all allegations of sexual…

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South Carolina’s high court has ruled an alleged victim of sexual abuse within the Catholic Diocese of Charleston in the 1970s can pursue their case against the church after it tried to claim immunity under a long-defunct state law protecting charitable organizations from legal action. 

The years-old case, filed in August 2018, alleged a John Doe was sexually abused as a junior high school student by two now-deceased employees of the diocese’s Sacred Heart Catholic School in 1969 and 1971.

In addition to relief for the sexual abuse and emotional distress that resulted from the incident, the plaintiff also accused the diocese of gross negligence in relation to the incident along with a bevy of other charges ranging from fraudulent concealment and civil conspiracy to a breach of contract. 

The church claimed it was exempt from legal liability under South Carolina’s now-defunct doctrine of charitable immunity, a controversial legal precedent…

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The president of the French bishops’ conference announced Friday that he has asked prosecutors to investigate whether alleged abuse by the late Abbé Pierre was covered up.

Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort said Jan. 17 that he had asked the Paris prosecutor’s office to examine suspicions that people were aware of sexual abuse allegations against Abbé Pierre, but failed to report them to the authorities. Failure to report a serious offense can be a crime in France.

Archbishop Moulins-Beaufort’s announcement came days after a report presented nine new testimonies of alleged abuse by Abbé Pierre, who founded the Emmaus charity in 1949 and was regularly voted France’s most popular personality before his death in 2007, at the age of 94.

The nine testimonies, which included an allegation of “a penetrative sexual act on an underage boy,” follow seven made public in July 2024, and 17 published in September 2024. The 33 testimonies, which concern…

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France’s Catholic Church on Friday said that it had asked prosecutors to investigate a raft of sexual abuse accusations against a charity icon who was showered with accolades during his lifetime.

Born Henri Groues, French clergyman Abbe Pierre was widely admired as a friend to the poverty-stricken and homeless when he died aged 94 in 2007.

But in recent months, multiple allegations that he committed sexual abuse have shattered his saintly image and left the two charities he founded desperately trying to dissociate themselves from him.

The church has been under huge pressure to explain its silence surrounding Abbe Pierre’s behaviour.

Following fresh allegations of sexual abuse this week, the head of the Bishops’ Conference of France (CEF) Archbishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, speaking to broadcaster RMC, said that he had “referred the matter to courts” this week.

He said he had requested that the Paris public prosecutor “consider opening an…

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The bishops of France on Friday formally requested prosecutors launch a criminal investigation into sexual abuse allegations against Abbé Pierre, a prominent priest who founded the poverty ministry Emmaus.  

The move follows nine new accusations in a new report released on Jan. 13 against the French priest, who died in 2007 at age 94.

Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the French Bishops’ Conference (CEF), announced the formal request on Jan. 17 during a radio interview, emphasizing the need to uncover any additional victims.

While the late Abbé Pierre can no longer be prosecuted, the Paris prosecutor’s office could still investigate potential accomplices or failures to report abuse and assault at the time.

Latest Developments

Earlier this week, Emmaus International, Emmaus France, and the Abbé Pierre Foundation released their third and final collection of testimonies documenting nine new accounts of alleged sexual abuse. According to the organization, this brings the…

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A former Bradford County youth pastor took a plea deal Thursday afternoon for sexual abuse offenses that occurred around 27 years ago.

Robert David Fenton pleaded guilty to aggravated indecent assault of a person less than 16 years old and statutory sexual assault, both second-degree felonies, during a plea hearing inside the Bradford County Courthouse.

Fenton and his defense attorney attended via video conference. He is currently remanded at the Bradford County Correctional Facility.

A plea agreement was reached between prosecutors from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office and Fenton’s defense whereby he will serve three to six years incarceration for each charge followed by eight years of probation. Charges dropped against Fenton as part of the plea deal included involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors and indecent assault.

The two charges he pled guilty to typically carry a maximum sentence of 10 years each with a fine of $25,000…

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A church volunteer in the Sacramento area has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a minor. Edwin Valdez, 28, served at Holy Family Catholic Church in Citrus Heights prior to his arrest on Tuesday, January 14, 2025. Diocesan officials confirmed his involvement with the parish amid these serious allegations.

Sacramento Church Volunteer Arrested for Alleged Sexual Assault of Minor

Valdez is currently being held at Sacramento County Main Jail on $500,000 bail, facing multiple felony charges related to the alleged assaults. The victim has accused him of repeatedly assaulting her during her childhood. His arraignment is scheduled for Thursday in Sacramento Superior Court.

Ongoing Investigation and Concerns for Other Victims

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office has labeled this case as an “active and ongoing criminal investigation.” Detectives are concerned that there may be additional unreported victims, given Valdez’s access to minors through his church role and various positions outside…

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The Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) has initiated a review of its Child and Vulnerable Adults Safeguarding Policy to strengthen measures aimed at protecting minors and vulnerable adults from abuse in the Southern African nation.

In a report following the review exercise that took place from January 14 to 16 at the Catholic Secretariat of Lilongwe Archdiocese, the ECM Chairman for Safeguarding emphasized the Church’s responsibility to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults.

“The Church in Malawi carries this responsibility with great care and dedication. Let us all work together to build a culture of safeguarding that permeates every corner of our society,” Bishop Peter Adrian Chifukwa said in the report published Friday, January 17.

The Local Ordinary of Malawi’s Catholic Diocese of Dedza added, “With God’s guidance, may we create safe and nurturing environments for all, especially for the most vulnerable among us.”

Bishop Chifukwa encouraged safeguarding officers and stakeholders to…

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A new report confirms OSV News’ previous finding that U.S. Catholic dioceses and eparchies have paid more than $5 billion to settle abuse claims filed over the past two decades — but credible allegations have declined significantly over the same period, with the majority of cases preceding a landmark set of anti-abuse protocols established by the U.S. bishops in 2002.

Catholic dioceses, eparchies and parishes in the U.S. have “changed how they do things” in terms of addressing and preventing abuse, said Jonathan L. Wiggins, sociologist and director of parish surveys at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.

On Jan. 15, CARA — which conducts social scientific studies on the Catholic Church — released a 20-year summary of annual data for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ yearly report on the implementation of the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.”

The document —…

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The French Catholic Church has formally requested that prosecutors initiate an investigation into Abbé Pierre, a once-revered priest and humanitarian icon who died in 2007, following new revelations of sexual violence.

Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the French Bishops Conference (CEF), announced the move during an interview on RMC radio on Friday. “We must get to the bottom of the truth — uncover any additional victims, accomplices, and failures to report these crimes,” he said.

Who was Abbé Pierre?

Born Henri Grouès in 1912, Abbé Pierre was a French Catholic priest renowned for his dedication to aiding the poor and homeless.

In 1949, he founded the Emmaüs movement, an international organization focused on combating poverty and homelessness.

His humanitarian efforts, especially during the harsh winter of 1954, garnered him widespread admiration, and he was often regarded as the conscience of France.

Emergence of allegations

The allegations against Abbé Pierre…

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A mother’s wrongful death lawsuit filed against a now-closed Christian boarding school alleging her son died after suffering sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of employees can move forward, according to a federal judge.

U.S. District Court Judge Doug Harpool issued the ruling earlier this month.

Kathleen Britt of Idaho filed the lawsuit in October 2023 in the Western District of Missouri federal courts on behalf of her son, Jason Britt. The abuse is said to have occurred in 2010 while Jason attended Agape Boarding School in Stockton, Missouri. Stockton is located in Cedar County, approximately 50 miles northwest of Springfield.

Kathleen said her son suffered ongoing mental anguish in the years after leaving the school. She said he became a weightlifter and took steroids with the goal of becoming strong enough to never be a victim again.

Jason wrote a suicide note, his mother said, but he ultimately…

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A judge ruled that a wrongful death lawsuit against a now-closed Christian boarding school can move forward. The lawsuit claims that sexual abuse at the hands of Agape boarding school staff resulted in the death of a former student.

U.S. District Judge Douglas Harpool issued a 23-page ruling that addressed counts of wrongful death as well as violations of federal law, brought forth by Kathleen Britt. Agape Boarding School staff and the Cedar County Sheriff’s Office both moved to dismiss all counts, which Harpool granted in part and denied in part.

Here’s what to know about both parties, the claims and what may happen next.

Who is the plaintiff, Kathleen Britt?

Britt, of Idaho, is the mother of Jason Britt, who attended Agape School in Stockton when he was 16 years old, according to court records. Jason Britt, she said, was an honor student who began to experiment…

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Judge rules against Christian board school

Lawsuit is “unprecedented” says attorney

Sheriff’s department staffers are also named as defendants

A judge has ruled that a wrongful death lawsuit against a Christian boarding school in Missouri can move forward, rebuffing officials at the now-shuttered facility and local law enforcement who sought to have the case tossed out.

The 23 page decision was issued by U. S. District Judge Doug Harpool earlier this month.

In October 2023, Kathleen Britt sued staffers at Agape School in Stockton and the Cedar County Sheriff’s Office, charging that her son Jason died after having been brutally gang-raped and emotionally abused at Agape.

Several employees of the facility and the sheriff’s department either committed, suspected or knew about Jason’s abuse but ignored or concealed it, according to the suit.

“This brave mother, whose precious son was severely abused, will…

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A church leader in the Florida Panhandle has been arrested and charged with possession of child sex abuse material, after investigators found videos of a girl on the man’s computer, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s office.

Frank Gough II, 64, of Shalimar, who serves as priest of the Anglican Church of the Resurrection in Shalimar was taken into custody on January 9. He was charged with 30 counts of possession of child sex abuse material, the sheriff’s department said.

Gough has served as priest of the church, which is affiliated with the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA), since 2010, reported WTVY News 4.

Gough’s name does not appear on the church’s website, which shows 2008 as the most updated information. However, a  2017 social media post shows Gough affiliated with the church, and a 2019 video depicts Gough preaching…

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Editor’s note: The Catholic Church has spent billions of dollars settling claims from sexual abuse cases. National Catholic Reporter is investigating the costs to Catholics, parishes and the church in its new series “The Reckoning.” NCR’s investigative reports, including this series, are made possible in part through the generosity of Annette Lomont.

Years ago, during the height of scandals involving television evangelists, CNN’s Larry King interviewed famed evangelist Billy Graham. 

When King brought up the scandals, questioning how Christianity reconciles itself to what is seen in the news, Graham responded with a metaphor, saying that scandals are like airplanes that crash. Every day, airplanes take off and land safely about 100,000 times worldwide, with little media attention. However, if an airplane crashes, the story will lead the evening news and be on the front page of newspapers everywhere. Yet a plane that crashes does not nullify the…

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More and more frequently, reports surfaced about church leaders who have a history of sexually predatory behavior. Last week, headlines revealed that yet another church had placed a lifetime-registered child sex offender in a pastoral role, this time in Texas. News like this once seemed shocking. In today’s social climate, however, it feels almost routine.

Communities of faith are left to sort out the answers to pressing questions, starting with: Should churches allow individuals with such histories to assume leadership roles, even as volunteers?

Some argue that denying ministry roles due to past behavior equals a denial of the power of the Gospel to change sinners. Others insist that any deviation should result in a permanent ban from ministry of any kind. Where do we draw the line? How do we untangle the confusion?

One thing is certain — we cannot continue leaving this question unaddressed.

As you (and…

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The South Carolina supreme court has unanimously reversed a controversial decision by a scandal-scarred former circuit court judge – and upheld by the state’s court of appeals – which shielded the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston, S.C. from liability in a decades-old sexual abuse case.

The ruling – which could open the floodgates for sexual abuse lawsuits against the church – focuses on the Palmetto State’s interpretation of “charitable immunity,” a provision of British law which arose in the mid-nineteenth century and holds that non-profits are exempt from certain claims against them.

“The question in this case requires us to embark upon some legal time travel in search of the answer,” noted justice Garrison Hill in the unanimous opinion of the court. “We conclude South Carolina has never extended charitable immunity to cover intentional torts. We therefore reverse the decision of the court of appeals and…

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It was probably inevitable that American Catholics would eventually move on from the clergy sexual abuse crisis. But I’m still surprised that when they did, it wasn’t a matter of “scandal fatigue” as much as a conscious decision that sex abuse really wasn’t that big of a deal after all. That’s effectively what happened when a clear majority of Catholic voters—and nearly six in 10 white Catholic voters—went for serial sex pest Donald Trump over Kamala Harris in the presidential election last November. Catholic enthusiasm for Trump makes the Catholic cohort Trump’s most reliable religious voting bloc after white evangelicals and, given the strategic importance of the Catholic vote in swing states, Catholic votes made Trump the next president. The outcome of the presidential balloting also made sexual predation a feature of the nation’s preferred leadership model rather than a disqualification.

How is it that Catholics who professed to being…

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Editor’s note: The Catholic Church has spent billions of dollars settling claims from sexual abuse cases. National Catholic Reporter is investigating the costs to Catholics, parishes and the church in its new series “The Reckoning.” NCR’s investigative reports, including this series, are made possible in part through the generosity of Annette Lomont.

This is Part 2 of a two-part story on the sexual abuse settlement in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York. You can read Part 1 here.

PJ D’Amico said his “45-year ordeal” began the first time he was sexually abused by his priest. 

D’Amico was a sixth grader who worshiped with his family at St. Hugh of Lincoln Church in Huntington Station, New York. He said the pastor at St. Hugh of Lincoln, Fr. Alfred B. Soave, abused him repeatedly through the eighth grade, including on the day of his confirmation.

D’Amico, 57,…

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[See also the full text of the CARA data summary report.]

Over the past 20 years, the number of abuse allegations against Catholic clergy has dropped, according to a new report from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA).

It also notes that over $5 billion has been paid in costs due to the abuse crisis in the U.S. Catholic Church.

In November 2004, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) commissioned CARA conduct an annual survey of all of the dioceses and eparchies whose bishops are members of the USCCB.

In a report issued on Wednesday, CARA said over the past 20 years, dioceses and religious communities have deemed a total of 16,276 allegations of abuse of minors by priests, deacons, and religious brothers as “credible.”

The report says about four in five of these allegations were deemed credible by dioceses and eparchies (13,331 or 82…

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A former altar boy of a Roman Catholic church in Passaic is seeking $50 million in a blistering lawsuit against a former friar and the church he served, claiming he was sexually abused and molested more than three decades ago.

The man, who is not named in the complaint, alleges abuse over 100 times between 1989 and 2003 by Friar Paul Daleo, who served as priest at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Passaic. The abuse purportedly started when the boy was 14 and a freshman at Lodi High School, and concluded when he was 17, when Daleo left the ministry, according to the suit, filed Tuesday in state Superior Court in Passaic County.

“Fr. Paul Daleo engaged in a calculated series of manipulation and grooming” of the teen for several years while the boy served as parishioner, altar boy and member of the youth ministry, the suit…

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[See also the full text of the CARA data summary report.]

Over two decades, Catholic dioceses, eparchies and men’s religious communities spent more than $5 billion on allegations of sexual abuse of minors, according to a new report released Wednesday (Jan. 15) by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.

Between 2004 and 2023, three-fourths of the $5.025 billion reported was paid to abuse victims. Seventeen percent went to pay attorneys’ fees, 6% was in support for alleged abusers and 2% went toward other costs. On average, only 16% of the costs related to the allegations was borne by insurance companies.

The CARA report combined 20 annual surveys sent to dioceses and eparchies within the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (which excludes some parts of the U.S., such as Puerto Rico, Guam and American Samoa), as well as U.S. religious communities belonging to the Conference…

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Missouri state Rep. Brian Seitz already has filed three bills this year pertaining to legislation in child sexual abuse cases. The proposed legislation aims to make it easier for survivors of child sexual abuse to seek justice for the crimes committed against them in the state.

Missouri has been at the center of a campaign for legal reforms in light of well-publicized cases at Kanakuk Kamps and other faith-based organizations.

HB-709, filed Jan. 2, proposes: “A nondisclosure agreement by any party to any child sexual abuse claim shall not be judicially enforceable in a dispute involving any CSA claims.”

If voted into law, the bill would prevent the misuse of nondisclosure agreements against abuse survivors who later wish to seek civil claims regarding the crimes committed against them. NDAs have posed issues for Missouri abuse survivors before. Notably, this has been an ongoing issue for survivors who experienced abuse at Kanakuk…

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Pope Francis says in his autobiography he received a ‘large white box’ relating to ‘difficult and painful situations’

Pope Francis has said he inherited a “large white box” full of documents related to various scandals faced by the Catholic church when he took over from his predecessor.

The pontiff makes the revelation in his much-anticipated autobiography, Spera (Hope), which is published on Tuesday.

Francis became pope in 2013 after the shock resignation of Benedict XVI, a decision that meant the Argentinian was in the almost unprecedented position of being able to have an in-person handover when he started.

Shortly after his election as pope, he recalls in his book, he visited Benedict at Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence south of Rome.

“He gave me a large white box,” Francis writes. “‘Everything is in here’, he told me. ‘Documents relating to the most difficult and painful situations. Cases of abuse,…

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Survivors and advocates of Nate’s Mission gathered outside a prayer service for incoming Archbishop Grob Monday night to hold a press conference and deliver a letter from Milwaukee clergy abuse victims to the newly promoted prelate.

After the press conference and before the prayer service began, Archdiocese of Milwaukee communication director Sandra Peterson threatened to have victims arrested, telling survivors they were not welcome at the prayer service and were forbidden from touching the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.

As Milwaukee-area Catholics entered the cathedral, two Milwaukee police officers were dispatched to form a barrier between victims and the prayer service.

Thankfully, survivors were able to safely deliver their letter to Bishop Grob, who cordially accepted the letter and promised to meet with Nate’s Mission soon.

In the letter, shown below, clergy abuse victims have prepared a list of priorities pertaining to clergy sexual abuse for Grob’s first 100 days in office.

…

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Clergy abuse survivors had a brief but friendly sidewalk discussion Monday night with the new archbishop of the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese. The survivors group Nate’s Mission is next hoping for much more conversation with Archbishop Jeffrey Grob — and a lot of documents from church files about past sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults in the Milwaukee Archdiocese.

The leaders of Nate’s Mission held a news conference outside the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist in downtown Milwaukee, where Grob was due for a prayer service before Tuesday afternoon’s installation — an elaborate ceremony marking the change in leadership, in this case from Archbishop Jerome Listecki, who has retired.

Nate’s Mission Program Director Peter Isely says Listecki may have reached a $21 million settlement with hundreds of abuse victims a decade ago, at the end of a five-year bankruptcy case. But Isely says most survivors received only a few…

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A former priest has pleaded guilty to using an online chat service which discussed having sex with children.

Timothy Gardner, of Medhurst Way in Littlemore, Oxford, appeared at Newcastle Crown Court.

He admitted five charges including encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence, three counts of failing to comply with notification requirements and one count of breaching a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

The 52-year-old, previously of Walker Road, Newcastle, was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on 14 March.

Gardner was a close associate of Bishop Robert Byrne, who resigned from the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, amid serious concerns over his handling of reports, in December 2022.

A report, from the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (CSSA), previously found because of the “inappropriate” association, Gardner had “unrestricted access” to a number of diocesan premises which had “presented a serious safeguarding risk”.

Earlier, the court…

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One weekend in early 1991, Jeff Taylor, the youth minister at a centuries-old church catering to Washington’s elite, invited a boy in his congregation to a religious retreat in Illinois. The 13-year-old from the Falls Church Episcopal in Northern Virginia felt flattered, he later recalled. He said he had admired Taylor, a married man with children, even if Taylor bothered him with questions about how often or whether he masturbated.

On their last night, the man said, he and Taylor stayed at someone’s home in suburban Chicago. Somehow, he said, the pair wound up sharing a bed. Then, Taylor — who years later would lead a Red Cross chapter in Georgia and a fundraising arm at the University of Cincinnati Foundation — fondled the middle-schoolerwith lotion in the middle of the night, the church youth group alumnus recalled.

“He kept saying, ‘You seem stressed out, you seem anxious,’” said…

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With just weeks until a third-party investigation of International House of Prayer-Kansas City (IHOPKC) is completed, the organization that commissioned it has come under fire for removing a trusted voice from  the Senior Advisory Team for the investigation. But after facing intense backlash from the abuse survivor community, the organization—Tikkun Global, a Messianic Jewish network—reversed course and today reinstated the removed advisory team member, Ron Cantor.

Cantor has publicly stood with survivors of alleged abuse by International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC) Founder Mike Bickle. And last September, when months of negotiations for a mutually-acceptable investigation broke down between an Advocate Group for Bickle victims and current IHOPKC leaders, the Advocate Group asked Cantor and Tikkun for help.

Cantor was instrumental in finding a third-party to investigate the allegations that survivors found acceptable—Jim Holler of Firefly Investigations. Tikkun commissioned that investigation and has previously stated that Holler’s investigation…

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• Key Points
• Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Credentials Committee receives and evaluates reports against churches for abuse, a key accountability mechanism in denomination’s larger abuse reform efforts.
• Former East Tennessee worship pastor Preston Garner is suing for defamation over a SBC Credentials Committee inquiry into alleged abuse, causing job loss. Garner says allegations are baseless.
• TN Court of Appeals rejects SBC’s request to throw out the case, raising stakes of first-of-its-kind legal challenge to the credentials committee.

The Southern Baptist Convention cannot use a religious doctrine aimed at exempting churches from outside court review in a case that could have major consequences on a key abuse response measure, the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled. 

The court made the ruling in the case of an East Tennessee minister who has quietly faced an abuse allegation and is now suing the SBC for defamation. 

Preston Garner argues Southern Baptist Convention officials recklessly handled a report of…

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A new trial date has been set for Johnny Hunt’s lawsuit against the Southern Baptist Convention in which he seeks more than $100 million for damages to his income, reputation and livelihood. That new date falls one week after the SBC annual meeting in June.

Hunt, who was 71 years old when his claim was filed, contends he would have continued to work for another 11 years for the SBC North American Mission Board where he claims to have been paid $610,000 annually. That’s $6.7 million in future income he claims he lost when he was forced to resign over a sex scandal.

He also claims he lost $3.96 million in future book sales and $3.85 million in future speaking fees. And he seeks $880,000 in other lost income, along with $45 million for reputational harm and $45 million for emotional distress.

Last fall, the SBC Executive Committee was authorized to make…

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Jury found him guilty of attempted sexual exploitation by a therapist and child enticement

A former Racine pastor convicted of child enticement was sentenced Monday to 11 years in prison.

Prosecutors argued Bernabe Leon-Alvarez used his position of power to inappropriately touch two teenage girls while he worked at a Racine church that is now closed.

A jury found him guilty of attempted sexual exploitation by a therapist and child enticement.

One of the victims spoke in court Monday.

“All I know is that what happened that day in the basement will forever be engrained in my mind and he will never know how he affected my life afterwards,” she said.

“The only thing I can say is that I’m sorry, and I feel a lot for you,” said Leon-Alvarez, through a Spanish translator.

Leon-Alvarez is in the United States illegally.

His attorney said Leon-Alvarez was to be placed in…

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A Living Word International Church pastor in Midland, who is accused of sex crimes with a child, will head to trial after declining a plea deal on Thursday, Jan. 9.

Previous coverage: 2 Midland church leaders arrested, charged with child sex crimes

“Is it your decision to accept or reject the plea offer from the prosecuting attorney’s office?” the judge asked.

“I’m rejecting it, sir,” James Randolph said.

Randolph was given the chance to plead guilty to lesser charges, which were three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. According to the judge, the deal carried a maximum punishment of up to 15 years in prison and required Randolph to register as a sex offender. Because Randolph rejected the offer, he could face up to life in prison.

As of Thursday, he will go to trial on six charges: two…

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The former pastor of a now-shuttered Calvary Chapel congregation in south-central Texas has been sentenced to two years in prison for possessing child sex abuse material.

On Tuesday, Judge Phil Grant of the 9th District Court of Texas sentenced Bruce Hollen, 63, to two years in state prison, according to court records. Hollen, who will be credited 24 days for time served, began serving his sentence the same day.

For several years, Hollen had been lead pastor of Calvary Chapel of The Woodlands in the north suburbs of Houston. As The Roys Report (TRR) previously reported, he had been arrested last May as part of a statewide sting operation focused on internet crimes against children.

Court records summarized in the report describe the images that Hollen possessed as “of girls between the ages of 9 and 12 years old, naked from the waist down . . . In some…

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How important is anonymity in a case involving sexual abuse? That question stands at the center of a debate roiling the legal world.

Celebrity legal proceedings may sometimes seem lopsided − with a well-known, A-lister on one end and a lesser-recognized name on the other.

Sometimes, the other side has no name at all. Opting instead for the common pseudonyms Jane or John Doe, anonymous accusers can further intensify that dynamic and are at the center of some of the largest legal stories of the past year. Unnamed plaintiffs have come forward to accuse several stars including Sean “Diddy” Combs, Garth Brooks, Jay-Z and Diplo of sexual abuse and harassment.

Entrenched in these cases is a sinister narrative about the alleged misuse of power to propagate sexual violence. But on the…

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The Vatican has appointed pontifical delegates to take charge of both the male and female branches of the Religious Family of the Incarnate Word, amid concerns that members continue to revere its founder, Fr. Carlos Buela, who was found guilty of sexually abusing seminarians.

The Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life announced Jan. 10 that Sr. Clara Echarte, F.I., and Bishop José Antonio Satué of Teruel y Albarracín, Spain, would serve as pontifical delegates of the female and male branches, with full powers of governance.

The decrees of appointment also impose a three-year moratorium on accepting new members for the religious institutes.

The announcement, issued Saturday, was signed by the new prefect of DICLSAL, Sr. Simona Brambilla, M.C., whom Francis named as the first female head of a Vatican department earlier this month.

The Religious Family of the Incarnate Word, founded in Argentina in 1984, consists of…

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Arkansas Senator David Wallace (R-District 19) and House sponsor, State Representative Jimmy Gazaway (R-District 31) filed a new bill Monday to protect the rights of more than 500 Arkansas survivors of child sexual abuse in Scouting.

Many of the former scouts have pending claims in the Boy Scouts Bankruptcy Settlement Trust.

The bill, SB13, is the third bill sponsored by Wallace and Gazaway in recent memory and it is designed to protect Arkansas children from sexual abuse and to protect the rights of survivors of sexual abuse.

The Justice for Vulnerable Victims of Sexual Abuse Act was signed into law, in 2021. Since then, there is no longer a statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse in Arkansas.

The Act also provided a two-year “lookback window” in recognition of the fact that many victims struggle to come forward with their abuse until far into adulthood.

During the “lookback window,” which ends on…

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Key Points

• Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Credentials Committee receives and evaluates reports against churches for abuse, a key accountability mechanism in denomination’s larger abuse reform efforts.
• Former East Tennessee worship pastor Preston Garner is suing for defamation over a SBC Credentials Committee inquiry into alleged abuse, causing job loss. Garner says allegations are baseless.
• TN Court of Appeals rejects SBC’s request to throw out the case, raising stakes of first-of-its-kind legal challenge to the credentials committee.

The Southern Baptist Convention cannot use a religious doctrine aimed at exempting churches from outside court review in a case that could have major consequences on a key abuse response measure, the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled. 

The court made the ruling in the case of an East Tennessee minister who has quietly faced an abuse allegation and is now suing the SBC for defamation. 

Preston Garner argues Southern Baptist Convention officials recklessly handled a report…

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The judge in the Buffalo Diocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case has appointed an additional mediator to speed up settlement negotiations among the diocese and its parishes, insurance companies and nearly 900 creditors who allege they were sexually abused by priests and other employees.

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Emmaus International, Emmaus France and the Abbé Pierre Foundation are releasing the third and final collection of testimonies from Groupe Egaé, which was tasked with collecting the statements of people who suffered sexual violence at the hands of Abbé Pierre.

The Movement wishes to thank each and every person who agreed to testify, some for the first time, about what they endured. Their courage is tremendous.

The conclusion of this task does not mean the end of the listening system, which will remain open but operate in another form as of February. Testimonies will continue to be strictly anonymous and confidential.

This final report is also an opportunity to take stock of the work carried out these past several months and all the testimonies received.

With the same transparency that the Movement has sought to demonstrate regarding these revelations, this report is freely available on the websites of our organisations….

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[See also the 19-page report.]

A third report published by the French independent firm Egaé, which Emmaus International commissioned to shed light on the actions of the once-renowned Capuchin priest, Abbé Pierre, revealed nine new accounts of sexual abuse by the priest who died in 2007.

A third independent report on Abbe Pierre, founder of Emmaus International, revealed new accusations of abuse against the late Capuchin priest, including the rape of a minor and incestuous sexual assault.

The investigation, which was commissioned by Emmaus International, established in 1949 to combat poverty and homelessness, was conducted by the Egaé firm, led by Caroline De Haas, a leading figure in France in the fight against sexist and sexual violence.

The report’s findings were transmitted via videoconference on January 13 to Emmaus representatives in 40 countries. The 19-page publication, which continues the first two Egaé reports on Abbé Pierre’s actions published in July…

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Dean’s sexuality and his close friendship with his ‘Giant’ costar is explored in the biography ‘Jimmy: The Secret Life of James Dean’

When James Dean became a massive movie star in 1955 with the back-to-back classics East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause, he set a new standard for iconic masculinity. And while that brooding, dangerous-but-squishy-on-the-inside schtick made women swoon and cleared the way for the emergence of rock & roll teen idols like Elvis Presley, Dean, according to age-old Hollywood lore, was secretly gay.

His sexuality is explored in depth in Jason Colavito’s book Jimmy: The Secret Life of James Dean. The new biography covers the women and men who came in and out of Dean’s short life — including lovers like Liz Sheridan (best known as Jerry’s mother on the sitcom Seinfeld) and publicist Rogers Brackett and Hollywood rivals like Marlon Brando and Rock Hudson.

One of the…

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One of Pope Francis’ lasting reforms will be his reshaping of the papacy to embrace simplicity and humility, as seen in his decisions to live in a Vatican guesthouse and carry his own briefcase onto the papal plane.

With the release of a new autobiography Tuesday, titled “Hope,” Francis underlines this shift with a remarkable openness about his past mistakes and wrongdoings. They include as a young man getting into a fight with a fellow student who “even lost his senses” after hitting his head when thrown to the ground, and insisting that he still commits “errors and sins” today.

For a pope, who Catholic theology holds is “infallible” when teaching on faith and morals, it is even more striking.

“I feel I have a reputation I do not deserve, a public esteem of which I am not worthy,” writes Francis, who was recently awarded the highest civilian honor in the…

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It is the wound that never heals, the cloud that never lifts, the scandal that never quits.

More than 20 years after the Archdiocese of Boston achieved notoriety as the epicenter of the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, aftershocks are still coming. Last week, it was reported that a former Catholic chaplain at Brandeis University, who was celebrated for calling out Cardinal Bernard Law for his role in covering up abuse, now stands accused of the alleged sexual assault of a Brandeis student in a New York hotel room. The Rev. Walter H. Cuenin, a retired priest living in Virginia, was named in a civil lawsuit for allegedly sexually assaulting a student after the two traveled to Manhattan to attend a performance of the New York Philharmonic in December 2014. Cuenin, 79, denies the charges. Citing pending litigation, the archdiocese had no comment.

To…

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A former Catholic chaplain at Brandeis University who gained prominencewhen he called for Cardinal Bernard Law’s resignation two decades ago during the clergy abuse scandal in the Boston Archdiocese is being sued for the alleged sexual assault of a Brandeis student in a New York hotel room in December 2014, records show.

The Rev. Walter H. Cuenin, a retired priest living in Virginia, allegedly assaulted the 20-year-old student after the pair had traveled to Manhattan to attend a performance of the New York Philharmonic, according to a civil lawsuit the man’s lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian, filed last week in New York Supreme Court.

Cuenin, 79, said in a brief phone interview last week that he “did not abuse” the student, nor did he have any sort of sexual contact with him.

“No contact at all,” said Cuenin, who said he lives…

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A church leader in Okaloosa County, Florida has been arrested and is facing several counts of possession of child pornography after a months-long investigation.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a tip back in May 2024 from Microsoft about sexual images believed to contain children being uploaded online by a Bing Image Search user. The NCMEC passed this tip along to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, who shortly thereafter began their investigation.

Information obtained from the tip and other findings ultimately led law enforcement to a home on 8th Street in Shalimar, owned by 64-year-old Frank Gough II. Gough has served since 2010 as Friar of Resurrection Anglican Church, also in Shalimar.

A multi-agency search warrant was conducted on Thursday, January 9, at Gough’s home by units from Internet Crimes Against Children, the OCSO Drug Task Force, and Homeland Security Investigation. During the search, law enforcement…

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Home secretary announces plans to implement key demand from Jay inquiry in England

Professionals who work with children will face criminal sanctions if they fail to report claims of child sexual abuse under a law to be introduced this year, Yvette Cooper has told MPs.

The home secretary has promised to implement a key demand from Prof Alexis Jay’s child sexual abuse inquiry after Keir Starmer turned down demands from Elon Musk and Kemi Badenoch for a new investigation into paedophile gangs.

The introduction of mandatory reporting in England would be included in the crime and policing bill expected to be introduced to parliament in the spring, Cooper told parliament.

“We will make it mandatory to report abuse, and we will put the measures in the crime and policing bill that will be put before parliament this spring, making it an offence, with professional and criminal sanctions, to fail to report or cover…

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Earlier this week Bishop Dominique Rey of the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon announced his resignation three years early at the request of Pope Francis following an apostolic visitation of his diocese.

The 72-year-old bishop, who has served in Fréjus-Toulon since 2000, has been at odds with Rome in recent years, largely over the restriction of the Traditional Latin Mass and discernment to the priesthood and religious life of individuals who adhere to the so-called “Old Rite.”

An initial visitation of the Fréjus-Toulon diocese was conducted in 2022, resulting in the postponement of the diocese’s priestly ordinations, originally scheduled for the June 29 feast of Saints Peter and Paul.

Subsequently, a full apostolic visitation of the diocese began in 2023, and Bishop François Touvet was named coadjutor of Fréjus-Toulon, a position typically assigned to someone set to take over the post of bishop once the sitting prelate dies or resigns, and assumed…

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A former teacher at a Catholic high school in western Ohio has pleaded guilty to sex-related charges involving a former student.

Michael McKenna, 62, of Enon, Ohio, pleaded guilty in Clark County Common Pleas Court to two counts of sexual battery, both third-degree felonies. He originally was charged with six counts, court records show.

An indictment shows McKenna is accused of committing the offenses between January 2017 and May 2018, when the victim was a student at Catholic Central High School in Springfield. McKenna, who was a social studies teacher and football coach, was fired in March after he was indicted.

McKenna could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison and fined up to $20,000. As part of his plea deal, he will be classified as a Tier III sex offender.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 3.

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A former Oxnard priest was sentenced Thursday to a year in jail in connection with sex offenses against two youths in Los Angeles County but avoided state prison, officials said.

Rodolfo Martinez-Guevara pleaded no contest to sodomy with a person under age 16 and a lewd act with a child age 14 or 15, according to court records. The first offense applies when the perpetrator is over age 21 and the second if the perpetrator is at least 10 years older than the child.

Besides jail, he received a suspended term of three years in state prison and five years of formal probation and is required to undergo counseling for sexual compulsions for a year.

The 39-year-old man will serve the jail term concurrently with a one-year sentence in Ventura County for possession of child pornography, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Legal officials in Los Angeles County…

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The only solution for the Southern Baptist Convention to solve its sexual abuse problem is to dismantle the denomination entirely, according to Boz Tchividjian, one of the nation’s best-known attorneys representing abuse survivors.

“They tried to put some Band-Aids on it, and they were more concerned about public perception than anything else. When a denomination cares more about public perception than a person, they’ve lost focus of who Jesus is and they’re not going to care about the abused people.”

This is true partially because of the way the SBC is organized — with autonomous churches — “but in addition to that there hasn’t been the focus of litigation on the SBC itself,” he said. “It’s mostly been litigation on SBC churches.

“I can tell you the day a court holds that the SBC itself can be held liable for the abuse that occurs within a church or within one of…

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The lead pastor of the multi-campus Hope Fellowship in Texas, John McKinzie, has announced the firing of one of the megachurch’s student pastors, Jerry Nickerson, after he voluntarily confessed to engaging in “inappropriate contact with a minor” 10 years ago.

Nickerson served as the student pastor of Hope Fellowship’s Frisco West Campus.

McKinzie made the announcement to church members in an email to members on Wednesday, and published by abuse survivor advocate Amy Smith on her website Watchkeep.

“On Monday, the Frisco West Student Pastor, Jerry Nickerson, voluntarily disclosed inappropriate contact with a minor from when he was an adult volunteer youth leader at a previous church 10 years ago,” McKinzie wrote.

“This incident occurred before his time at Hope Fellowship, and we had no prior knowledge of this situation or any allegations against him. It became known to us on Monday…

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A new biography reveals James Dean confided in Elizabeth Taylor about his childhood abuse by a priest

Los Angeles: So, there’s this new biography out about James Dean, and it’s got some pretty shocking stuff. Apparently, he opened up to Elizabeth Taylor about being abused by a priest when he was a kid.

They were filming “Giant” together, and during those late-night chats, Dean shared some heavy stuff. He told Taylor that his childhood minister, likely Reverend James DeWeerd, had molested him. It really hit him hard, and you can tell it affected him deeply.

But here’s the twist: as he talked more about his life, Taylor got the feeling he was also hinting at his sexuality. It’s like he was trying to share more than just the abuse; he was opening up about who he really was.

This isn’t the first time people have speculated about Dean’s sexuality or…

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A lawyer for abuse survivors has accused San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of “endangering kids” by allegedly refusing to release the names of credibly accused priests — charges the archdiocese strongly denies, citing its compliance with the church’s norms for handling clerical abuse.

Attorney Jeff Anderson held a Jan. 6 press conference outside the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco, claiming that Archbishop Cordileone had promised to issue such a list three years earlier, but had not done so.

Anderson — who represents several survivors associated with the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, according to the archdiocese — said Archbishop Cordileone and his predecessors had “kept secret for decades” about “credibly accused offenders” and “predators.”

In a Jan. 6 statement provided to OSV News, the Archdiocese of San Francisco said, without naming Anderson directly, that the press conference had included “several unfounded personal…

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Abuse in care survivors are calling on the government to announce its long-awaited plans for redress.

Lead response Minister Erica Stanford last month announced a $150,000 payment for a small number of survivors tortured at the Lake Alice child and adolescent unit.

But survivors of abuse in other settings says the time has come for the government to announce meaningful redress for all survivors and victims.

Joan Bellingham suffered burns, memory loss and bouts of blindness as a result of more than 200 electric shocks given in the misguided hopes of curing her homosexuality.

She believed her abuse amounted to torture.

The time had come for the government to outline its plans for redress for abuse survivors, Bellingham said.

“It’s dragged on for long enough and I know there’s a lot of people out there who feel they can’t take much more,” she said.

“It really has come to the point…

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There are so many things to be said about the appointment of Cardinal McElroy to be the next Archbishop of Washington, DC that you could break those things down into different categories.

There is, first, the politics category. That is, politics seems to be the sole motivation for the appointment. According to the Pillar, Pope Francis initially resisted appointing McElroy but was persuaded to do so by Cardinal Cupich’s entirely political reasons for wanting McElroy in Washington.

Predictable consequences of the McElroy appointment to Washington: 1) He will be a prominent critic of the Trump administration. 2) He will be criticized himself in turn, because of his ties to “Uncle Ted” McCarrick. His criticism of the White House may or may not damage Trump. But the criticism of McElroy will undoubtedly damage the credibility of the Catholic hierarchy.

Exactly right. My impression is that the incoming Trump Administration is, if anything, greatly…

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Megyn Kelly is impressive when you consider that she’s been able to create an entire career just from being mad at stuff. She is like the Rumplestiltskin of irritation — turning cranky thoughts into gold — or a blond Andy Rooney with consequences. From the idea of Santa Claus being Black to fighting with Jane Fonda for the right to ask a woman about her plastic surgery, the archives are stuffed with the things that Kelly does not enjoy. (She did, however, like Real Housewife Luann de Lesseps’s Diana Ross blackface costume enough to defend it on air.)

Conclave, the Golden Globe-winning drama about the election of a new pope, just happens to be the latest thing Kelly hates.

“Just made the huge mistake of watching the much-celebrated Conclave & it is the most disgusting anti-Catholic film I have seen in a long time. Shame on Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci & John Lithgow for…

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Since Cardinal Robert W. McElroy’s Jan. 6 appointment to the Archdiocese of Washington, church watchers have interpreted the move as a papal endorsement of the prelate’s outspoken support for the poor and those on the margins, including those who identify as LGBTQ+, as well for the church’s teaching on immigration at the start of a presidential administration that has called for mass deportations.

While many celebrate his more progressive vision, Cardinal McElroy also has attracted vocal critics of the theological underpinnings of some of his arguments, including on reception of the Eucharist, leading a fellow bishop in 2023 to publicly question whether a cardinal defending such arguments might be guilty of heresy. He has also been accused of mishandling information related to clergy sexual abuse allegations.

Cardinal McElroy, however, does not shy away from controversy. Twenty years ago, then-Msgr. McElroy entered into the stormy national debate on what would become…

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A study by the University of Zurich in 2023 into sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church in Switzerland provided clear estimates of the scale of crimes committed within the institution, prompting church leaders to act. This week, SRF reported on measures the church plans to introduce to combat these crimes. One is psychological testing aimed at identifying potential perpetrators of abuse before they are recruited.

The tests aim to identify problematic personalities at an early stage of the recruitment process. Preparations began in June, and the psychologist who helped develop the system shared his insights with SRF.

In addition to verifiying whether an individual has the necessary personal and intellectual aptitude, the tests aim to identify behavioural risk factors. People who are very bossy or dominant, easily offended and who don’t tolerate differences or opinion can be problematic. An individual’s sexual development and the way they establish intimate relationships…

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A former Shelby Township priest was resentenced to seven to 15 years after the appeals court determined there was a technical error in the initial sentencing, according to the Michigan Attorney General’s Office.

Neil Kalina, who was a priest at St. Kiernan Catholic Church, was convicted of second-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2022. He was accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old in 1984. Kalina was arrested in 2019 in Littlerock, California.

He was one of 11 clergymen who were charged by Attorney General Dana Nessel’s clergy abuse investigation team.

In April 2024, the Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed Kalina’s conviction but ordered resentencing because “improper consideration of acquitted conduct had impacted the calculation of Kalina’s incarceration term,” according to a news release. The court remanded the case to the trial court for resentencing.

“While this case has been prolonged, I hope that after 40 years, the victim…

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A Kentucky worship leader associated with Ken Ham’s Creation Museum in northern Kentucky is in jail after confessing to sexually abusing a teenager for several years, the Boone County Sheriff’s Office said.

Michael Howard, 36, is charged with 40 counts first-degree sexual abuse and 40 counts of third-degree sodomy, according to the sheriff’s office. He remains held in the Boone County jail on $250,000 bail.

Howard “made admissions regarding his ‘three-to-four year’ relationship,” the sheriff’s office said. He is accused of abusing the male for four years, beginning in 2019 when the alleged victim was 15 years old and worked for Howard. The sheriff’s office said that’s when Howard began sending the then-teenager sexual messages.

Howard is listed on social media as part of TrueSong, the resident artist of the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter, founded by Answers in…

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A federal judge on Wednesday ended a lawsuit from a woman who alleged that priests of a religious order sexually abused her as a child during retreats in Maine in the 1950s.

The plaintiff, named as Jane Doe in court documents, brought the suit against the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate Eastern Province in 2022 claiming she suffers from severe mental and emotional injuries from the abuse.

Doe was 4 years old in 1955 when she was placed in the custody of St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Fall River, Massachusetts, where she remained until she was 8, according to court documents.

During that time, Doe said, the “Grey Nuns” of the orphanage and Oblates priests would bring Doe and other orphans to retreat homes in Augusta, Bucksport, and Bar Harbor, under the pretense of singing and dancing for the priests in religious performances. There priests performed sexual acts on the children….

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A lawyer for abuse survivors has accused San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of “endangering kids” by allegedly refusing to release the names of credibly accused priests — charges the archdiocese strongly denies, citing its compliance with the church’s norms for handling clerical abuse.

Attorney Jeff Anderson held a Jan. 6 press conference outside the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco, claiming that Archbishop Cordileone had promised to issue such a list three years earlier, but had not done so.

Anderson — who represents several survivors associated with the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, according to the archdiocese — said Archbishop Cordileone and his predecessors had “kept secret for decades” about “credibly accused offenders” and “predators.”

In a Jan. 6 statement provided to OSV News, the Archdiocese of San Francisco said, without naming Anderson directly, that the press conference had included “several unfounded…

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Rep. Mikie Sherrill called POLITICO’s reporting “deeply disturbing” — and state lawmakers planned to discuss taking action.

Lawmakers and victim advocates are calling for Seton Hall University’s president to resign after POLITICO revealed he was named in an internal report on sexual abuse allegations more than five years ago. They also want the Catholic university to release the findings as a measure of transparency and accountability.

A 2019 memo detailing the internal investigation, viewed by POLITICO, did not accuse the new president, Monsignor Joseph Reilly, of abuse. But it said he knew of sexual abuse allegations that he did not report. Investigators recommended, pursuant to a responsive action plan the school’s governing body adopted, Reilly be removed as a seminary leader and member of university boards.

Instead, he took a yearlong sabbatical, returned as a vice provost and, in November, formally became…

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A former teacher at a Catholic high school in western Ohio has pleaded guilty to sex-related charges involving a former student.

Michael McKenna, 62, of Enon, Ohio, pleaded guilty in Clark County Common Pleas Court to two counts of sexual battery, both third-degree felonies. He originally was charged with six counts, court records show.

An indictment shows McKenna is accused of committing the offenses between January 2017 and May 2018, when the victim was a student at Catholic Central High School in Springfield. McKenna, who was a social studies teacher and football coach, was fired in March after he was indicted.

McKenna could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison and fined up to $20,000. As part of his plea deal, he will be classified as a Tier III sex offender.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb….

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Mount Clemens, Mich. – A former Shelby Township priest has been resentenced for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old in 1984.

Neil Kalina was convicted of second-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2022 and was sentenced to 7-15 years behind bars. The Court of Appeals ordered a resentencing in 2024 due to a technical error, claiming the consideration of acquitted conduct had impacted the calculation of his sentencing.

On Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, Kalina was resentenced to 7-15 years in prison.

Kalina was a priest at St. Kiernan Catholic Church in Shelby Township from 1982-85. He was arrested in California in 2019.

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Project stems from arguments made by survivor groups that many victims not covered by other inquiries

Victims of abuse within faith-based organisations and settings are being asked to tell their stories for a government-backed oral history project.

The study stems from broader discussions with survivor groups that argued there were many victims not covered by the major inquiry into institutional abuse or potential ones into mother and baby homes and the Magdalene Laundries.

While the focus beyond the institutions has tended towards the Catholic Church, its schools and parishes, the project organisers are reaching out across all faiths and settings, said Professor Tim Chapman, who will lead the study.

This includes any groups under the direction of a religious leader or organisation, Mr Chapman added. This may include the Loyal Orders, he said.

He cited the examples of two people he met recently, one a Catholic woman victimised in her…

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[See also the text of the complaint.]

A Boston-area Catholic priest who pushed for the ouster of the powerful Bernard Cardinal Law in a church abuse scandal now faces his own allegations of sexual misconduct, a new lawsuit claims.

Father Walter Cuenin is accused of forcing a 20-year-old male Brandeis University student to have oral sex with him in a Manhattan hotel room a decade ago on a trip to the Big Apple, the Manhattan legal filing said.

The priest rose to prominence more than two decades ago when he helped lead a group of nearly 60 Catholic pastors calling for Law’s resignation after a bombshell investigation exposed systemic coverup of widespread sexual abuse within the church.

“Father Cuenin apparently forgot to look in the mirror when he called upon disgraced Cardinal Bernard Law to resign amid the clergy sexual abuse crisis in Boston,” said Mitchell Garabedian, the lawyer for…

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[See also the text of the court decision.]

The Archdiocese of St. John’s has lost its legal effort to compel its insurance company to help cover some of its mammoth $105-million settlement with nearly 300 clergy sexual abuse survivors.

Justice Peter Brown of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador ruled late last month that the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s (RCEC) did not divulge instances of sexual abuse when it applied for and renewed its policy with Guardian Insurance from 1980 to 1985. A failure to disclose invalidated the contract. 

Archbishop Peter Hundt informed The Catholic Register via email on Jan. 6 that the archdiocese is “presently reviewing the decision with our advisors.”

Time will tell what actions this court loss will engender. It has now been over three years since the archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in December 2021. This action was taken in response to the Newfoundland…

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With one notable exception, news stories on the death of Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul and Mary fame, did not fail to mention that he was a convicted sex offender. Only Reuters, the British news wire, failed to mention it. Initially, the American news wire, the Associated Press, failed to mention it as well, but it corrected itself in later editions. Reuters did not.

The media outlets that did the best job on reporting Yarrow’s abuse of a minor were Rolling Stone, the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.

Now some might say that it could be that Reuters has little interest in reporting on sexual abuse. But that is not the case. From May 2021 to December 2024, the British news agency ran nearly 300 stories on the Catholic Church and abuse, even though it was given very little to report on: most offending priests are either dead or have…

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