ABUSE TRACKER

“Unreconciled” — Jay Sefton performs his extraordinary play at the Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit MA

September 25 – October 12, 2025

Cotuit Center for the Arts 
4404 Falmouth Road
Cotuit, MA 0263

• Theater

Buy tickets

Unreconciled is based on the true story of an adolescent actor cast as Jesus in a school play directed by a parish priest. Set in a working class suburb of Philadelphia, this solo-show chronicles a survivor’s journey as he confronts his past, navigates a victims’ reparations program set up by the Catholic Church, and discovers the courage to use his voice. This 80-minute piece is a poignant and at times humorous exploration of family, place, and the meaning of reconciliation.

A brief talkback with the audience will follow each performance of Unreconciled.

Panel Guests joining post-show discussions are as follows:

• Friday, September 26—Krystin St. Onge, LICSW
• Sunday, September 28—Dr. Gretchen Schmelzer
• Rick…

Effective protection of minors and adults in the care of the global church is a mandate for all Christians. However, what an effective safeguarding strategy means in different contexts can be rather different. Instead of pursuing universally valid safeguarding strategies, church organizations need to pursue diverse, context-specific approaches in plural form. Only with this approach can we expect and rely upon effective safeguarding to keep children and vulnerable adults safe. 

Why the need for diverse, context-specific approaches? On the one hand, those who want to protect human life cannot indiscriminately place cultures on an equal footing when human life is endangered in one culture for structural and systemic reasons and not in another. Female genital mutilation, the forced marriage of children, the sexual abuse of vulnerable groups and the neglect of entire population groups caused in part by a caste system are not only outrageous but intolerable. 

On the other…

SEATTLE — Two families are suing the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints (LDS), claiming that the church knowingly allowed a high priest with convictions for child sexual abuse to have continued access to children in Seattle.

These two families say that their 4-year-old and 5-year-old were sexually abused by that high priest in the 80s.

“Despite Defendants’ knowledge, the Defendants failed to take reasonable steps to protect Plaintiffs from the danger of being sexually abused by [high priest]. As a result, High Priest [name] was able to use his positions with Defendants to sexually abuse Plaintiffs,” the suit read.

KIRO 7 is not naming the high priest because some of his victims were family members. Naming him could identify them.

The suit alleges that the LDS Church knew of the danger and risk the high priest posed to children as early as 1984, but still allowed him…

NEW YORK — For the Boy Scouts of America — recently renamed Scouting America — the past 12 years have been arduous. Opening its programs to gay people, and later to girls, sparked dismay in some quarters. Its 2020 bankruptcy declaration led to prolonged wrangling over compensation for thousands of men claiming they were sexually abused as scouts.

Yet the 115-year-old organization — though serving far fewer youths than at its peak decades ago — seems to be stabilizing, with a slight uptick in membership last year. A key factor is the abiding loyalty of major religious denominations that still view scouting’s mission as uniquely in tune with their own.

“I tell parents this is the best time to be involved with Scouting America, and the best time to be involved through a Catholic unit,” said Bill Guglielmi, who chairs the National Catholic Committee on Scouting. “There is a hunger…

The level of trust in the Catholic Church in Poland hit a record low with only one third of traditionally Catholic Poles trusting the church.

The level of distrust has almost doubled over the same period, skyrocketing from 24.2% to 47.1%. Commentators blame the fall on the bishops — too engaged in “politics, money” and not taking care of the abuse crisis.

The Polish Institute for Market and Social Research Foundation, or IBRiS, released the poll — conducted for the Polish Press Agency Sept. 18, noting that the total percentage of people who declare trust (“strongly” or “rather strongly”) in the Catholic Church plummeted by over 22% — and has fallen from 58% in September 2016 to 35.1% in the same month in 2025.

The “most alarming change” occurred within one year. Between October 2024 and September 2025, the trust index fell by 4%, while the percentage of those who…

The Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo posted a statement regarding the recently aired ABC57 special report, Unholy Acts, which discussed sexual abuse accusations against local Catholic priests.

The statement reads in part:

“Childhood sexual abuse is a grave evil and we are committed to doing all that we can to work toward eradicating all forms of child abuse and to provide support and healing to survivors.

The sexual abuse of minors by priests is tragic, appalling, and inexcusable. What was shared in recent public media is something no child should endure. The suffering inflicted on these individuals lasts a lifetime, and that suffering affects us all as the Body of Christ.”

You can read the full statement below:

THE DIOCESE OF KALAMAZOO

DIOCESAN STATEMENT

Childhood sexual abuse is a grave evil and we are committed to doing all that we can to work toward
eradicating all forms of child abuse…

Father Ed Burns is on leave of absence from Tri-County parish, while a criminal investigation is ongoing

The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a local priest after the Archdiocese of Cincinnati said a computer in his possession may have accessed “concerning websites.”

We were the first to report Fr. Ed Burns Jr. recently left his parish without explanation. He is the pastor of the St. Carlo Acutis Parish, which includes St. Gabriel Church and school in Glendale, St. Michael Church and School in Sharonville, and St. John Church in West Chester.

On Tuesday, a sheriff’s spokesperson confirmed an active investigation into Burns. On Wednesday, a spokesperson said they received a computer related to the investigation on September 4. They declined to release any further information.

A spokesperson for Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich stated that the Archdiocese of Cincinnati contacted her office on Aug. 28 regarding Burns. She forwarded…

Two decades have passed since the initial spotlight cases of clerical abuse broke in Boston, Massachusetts and revealed the extent of sexual abuse within the global, Catholic Church.

Multiple changes have been made since then to the Church’s legal structure regarding the reporting procedure for abuse, ramifications for cover-ups, and the cooperation between the Church and State regarding allegations. However, many people around the world still wonder if the Church’s leadership has done enough.

Pope Francis, throughout his papacy, fought to reform the Church’s systems in order to combat the horrific deeds of the past. In Chile, he personally commissioned an investigation and visited the bishop’s conference, who would eventually all resign.

POPE FRANCIS

The shame I feel at the irreparable harm caused to children

Over the past five years, there have been several conferences, new institutions and task-forces created to prevent abuse and encourage safeguarding within the Church.

FR….

A child is sexually assaulted every 9 minutes in the United States, according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. Over the past two decades, there have been more than 60,000 documented cases of child sexual abuse. Three out of 10 victims have been younger than 12 years of age.

But perhaps the most chilling statistic of all is that 98% of sexual assault perpetrators walk free. Most abusers are never held fully accountable for their actions by the criminal justice system, while victims and their communities are left to contend with a lifetime of psychological trauma.

Despite overwhelming evidence of such a blatant and pervasive injustice, many seem to have been lured into a false sense of security concerning issues of systemic sexual abuse and national progress in combatting this issue. Legal constraints, waning public awareness and a cultural ethos of jaded dismissal have made it increasingly difficult for survivors to…

Two Romanian men have filed lawsuits accusing a former pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California, of sexually abusing and trafficking children at a shelter he operated in Bucharest for nearly a decade. The lawsuits also name Harvest and its prominent pastor Greg Laurie for alleged negligence in failing to prevent the abuse.

The complaints filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in California by Marian Barbu, 33, and Mihai-Constantin Petcu, 40, allege that Paul Havsgaard, a former Harvest missionary and pastor, subjected them and dozens of other children to severe abuse at the shelter.

First reported by The Associated Press, the lawsuits claim Havsgaard lured vulnerable street children with promises of fast food, shelter, and education, only to subject them to “a torture chamber.”  

Havsgaard, Christianity Today first disclosed, was listed on an archived Harvest staff web page in…

The Brief

• A former Houston youth pastor has been arrested on two child pornography charges.
• Nathan Wayne Walker, 50, was released after posting a $50,000 bond.
• His son allegedly found similar content on his computer years ago and reported it to police.

A former youth pastor for a Houston church has been arrested after officials say he was found with sexual images of young children.

The former pastor was found to have a possible history with illegal child content, according to court documents obtained by FOX 26.

Former Houston youth pastor arrested

Nathan Wayne Walker, 50, was a youth pastor at Crossbridge Christian Church, the Harris County sheriff said when announcing Walker’s arrest.

Walker was arrested on Wednesday on two charges of possession of child pornography. 

The court documents for Walker say he was discovered to possess the illicit material on June 27, 2025. Further investigation allegedly…

The legal battle continues in a sexual abuse lawsuit involving Chi Alpha Campus Ministries of the Assemblies of God. Motions asking the court stop certain discovery requests and enforce others are being traded by both parties.

Discovery is the process that allows parties to obtain evidence from each other in a civil lawsuit.

The General Council of the Assemblies of God is being sued by two plaintiffs who claim they were abused by Daniel Savala while he was involved in Chi Alpha’s Chapter at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. The General Council has asked the court to quash, or not allow, the deposition of Doug Clay.

Clay serves as the General Superintendent of the General Council of the denomination. As such, the defendant claims that he is not involved in the day-to-day operations of the Chi Alpha college Ministry, specifically the one in Huntsville where the…

A documentary on Father Marko Rupnik’s alleged abuse of consecrated women, the personal fallout for two of his alleged victims, and what happened when the claims became public decades later premiered at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this month.

“Nuns vs. The Vatican” includes the detailed stories of Gloria Branciani, Mirjam Kovac, and Klara (identified only by her first name), three former members of the Loyola Community in Slovenia in the 1980s and early 1990s, when Rupnik, a co-founder of the community, is accused of having committed sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse against dozens of women religious.

Through the stories of Branciani and Klara, the film, which premiered Sept. 6, argues that Rupnik’s alleged abuse was inextricably linked to his religious art. It also claims he was protected in the Catholic Church, in which he shot to stardom in the 1990s, and interviews experts who say the Vatican’s response has been…

A priest at a Catholic church in Johnson County, Kansas, is stepping down amid a criminal investigation.

The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas says Father Richard Storey resigned Wednesday as pastor of Curé of Ars Parish in Leawood.

The Prairie Village Police Department recently informed the archdiocese of a criminal investigation into Storey. The investigation involves Storey and another adult.

As of this week, there have been no charges filed against Storey, according to court records.

The archdiocese said it is cooperating with investigators and that they have opened a preliminary canonical investigation.

Storey has also been suspended from the public exercise of ministry and may not celebrate Mass or perform pastoral duties during the investigation.

Father John Riley, the archdiocese’s vicar general, has been named the interim administrator of the parish.

“We are devastated by this situation,” part of the statement reads. “While we cooperate…

The Rev. Richard Storey didn’t take a direct route on his path to the priesthood.

He made a long stop at a Louisburg funeral home along the way, working his way up from performing odd jobs to taking over as director before deciding to enter the priesthood.

Ordained in 2004 at 33, Storey has served since 2015 as pastor at Cure of Ars Catholic Church, 9401 Mission Road in Leawood. He was assigned to Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Overland Park from 2009 to 2015, and in his early years as a priest was at three churches in Osage County.

On Wednesday, parishioners were stunned when the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas announced that Storey had resigned amid a criminal investigation by Prairie Village police.

Storey informed the archdiocese that day of his decision to resign, the archdiocese said in a statement posted on its website,…

The alleged victim took the witness stand Thursday in Morristown and, in stark detail, described being sexually abused nearly 50 years ago by a monk in a barn at the Delbarton School.

“My brain was seared from what happened,” the man, identified only as T.M., testified calmly, almost clinically. Until his lawyer pressed him about his trauma from that New Year’s morning in 1976.

Recounting a shattered faith, a broken marriage, and dark memories triggered when he unzips his fly in a public restroom, T.M. grew emotional about two hours into his testimony, in a landmark hearing that has drawn intense interest from the media and religious community.

It is the first of hundreds of sexual abuse cases against the Catholic Church in New Jersey to reach trial, and the first of 39 such lawsuits filed against Delbarton.

“I never wanted to admit what I’ve had to admit here. So…

CINCINNATI (WXIX) – A priest is on administrative leave amid a criminal investigation, according to the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.

A church employee “uncovered the possibility that concerning websites were accessed, including pornography sites,” on a laptop that Father Edward “Ed” Burns Jr. had used, according to a letter Tuesday from the archdiocese to parishioners.

The archdiocese shared the letter with FOX19 NOW when we reached out to them for comment.

Burns has been the pastor since 2018 of St. Carlo Acutis Parish, which includes two churches with schools in Hamilton County and a church in Butler County:

• St. Gabriel Church and school in Glendale
• St. Michael the Archangel Church and school in Sharonville
• St. John the Evangelist Church in West Chester Township

Burns recently abruptly left, raising questions among parishioners.

His last message to them in the weekly bulletin was on Sunday, Aug. 31, according to…

Father Ed Burns on administrative leave amid computer investigation

Father Ed Burns, a priest at St. Michael Catholic Church in Sharonville since 2018, has been placed on administrative leave after a church computer investigation raised concerns among parishioners.

Angie Stofko, a parishioner, expressed her frustration, saying, “We’re at a dead end. We don’t know how to get answers.”

A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati explained that two weeks ago, while a computer at St. Michael’s was being repurposed, a worker discovered that pornographic websites may have been accessed. The following weekend, parishioners were informed that Burns had been placed on administrative leave, but Stofko noted that little information was provided.

“All the moms that, we talk to and text to each other, we all started talking. And then the rumors started,” she said.

Last Tuesday, after hearing these rumors, WLWT’s attempts to reach the archdiocese for comment were met…

• Update from Bishop Michael C. Barber, SJ Sept. 12, 2025

  The Holy Name of Mary
   
  Dear Catholic Faithful of the Diocese of Oakland,

  May the peace of Jesus Christ continue to be with you all!

  As many of you have seen, in our bankruptcy we recently offered the 345 survivors of sexual abuse a compensation package of $165 million.  Of the $165 million, $160 million would be used to compensate known claims, which results in a per-capita average recovery in excess of $463,000 for each survivor — an offer which constitutes a new record high in church-side settlement contributions for all diocesan bankruptcies with over 200 survivor claims.  This amount does not include monetary contributions from our insurers, but we have also offered to give our insurance rights to the survivors so they can choose to pursue their own insurance recoveries.  If accepted, this proposal would stretch our limited resources to the absolute…

Suspect was a religion teacher in Trento

ANSA English Desk

Prosecutors in Trento have requested the indictment of a 40-year-old priest and religion teacher at a Catholic school in the northern province for the alleged aggravated sexual assault of an 11-year-old pupil, local newspapers Corriere del Trentino, l’Adige, and the T reported on Thursday.

    The alleged abuse date backs to the autumn of 2023 and the priest was transferred from the school after having taught there for about a decade, according to the reports.

    The alleged victim was reportedly questioned in the presence of a judge and the account convinced investigators to seek the indictment of the man, who denies all charges

The priest at the center of a half-century old sexual abuse accusation against the Delbarton School took the stand in Morristown on Wednesday and insisted he was not even on campus on the day of the alleged assault.

Instead, Richard Lott testified, he was at a Jersey Shore church on New Year’s Eve in 1975, when he is accused of molesting a 15-year-old student at the elite Morris County prep school.

“I was assigned to St. Mary’s Parish on weekends to celebrate Mass and hear confessions,” said Lott, a now-89-year-old cleric who was an instructor and head of maintenance at Delbarton in the 1970s.

The lawsuit, brought by a former student identified only as “T.M.,” is the first to go to court among 39 abuse cases pending against the Morris Township school. It’s also believed to be the first clergy abuse suit against the Catholic Church to reach a…

The Rev. Richard Storey didn’t take a direct route on his path to the priesthood.

He made a long stop at a Louisburg funeral home along the way, working his way up from performing odd jobs to taking over as director before deciding to enter the priesthood.

Ordained in 2004 at 33, Storey has served since 2015 as pastor at Cure of Ars Catholic Church, 9401 Mission Road in Leawood. He was assigned to Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Overland Park from 2009 to 2015, and in his early years as a priest was at three churches in Osage County.

On Wednesday, parishioners were stunned when the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas announced that Storey had resigned amid a criminal investigation by Prairie Village police.

 Storey informed the archdiocese that day of his decision to resign, the archdiocese said in a statement posted on its website, adding that it…

The allegation involves Father Richard Storey, who formerly led Curé of Ars, a Catholic Church on Mission Road. Archbishop Shawn McKnight has initiated his own canonical investigation.

The Prairie Village Police Department is conducting a criminal investigation into a priest at a Leawood church, according to a statement released Wednesday.

The allegation involves Father Richard Storey, who formerly led Curé of Ars, a Catholic Church at 9401 Mission Road, and an adult victim.

The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas announced in a statement Wednesday that Storey has resigned, calling it a “serious allegations” against Storey.

The archdiocese said they are cooperating with the police investigation and that Archbishop Shawn McKnight has initiated his own canonical investigation.

“[Storey] is not allowed to function publicly as a priest during this time, which includes celebrating Mass and performing pastoral duties,” the archdiocese stated.

The vicar general for…

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Riverside megachurch pastor has been accused of sexually abusing and trafficking children for years at a shelter he ran in Bucharest, according to lawsuits filed by two Romanian men in U.S. District Court in California.

The complaints, filed Tuesday by 33-year-old Marian Barbu and 40-year-old Mihai-Constantin Petcu, said former Harvest Christian Fellowship pastor and missionary Paul Havsgaard severely abused them and dozens of other children at the shelter over eight years. The lawsuits also name the church’s founder and senior pastor, Greg Laurie, a well-known evangelist and author, as well as other senior church leaders, saying they failed to prevent abuse.

The lawsuits accuse Havsgaard of luring struggling street kids with fast food and the promise of shelter and education. The men are “hurt, angry and still suffering from PTSD and social difficulties,” said Jef McAllister, a London-based lawyer with the law firm representing…

“Senso di misericordia e vera giustizia, verso le vittime e verso gli accusati”. Ma è da chiarire se la paternità di questa affermazione, che si legge nella sintesi di un’udienza del Papa con i vescovi, sia da attribuire alla Segreteria di Stato

“Il Papa ha esortato tutti ad affrontare con prontezza le questioni che riguardano comportamenti inappropriati da parte del clero: ‘Non possono essere messi in un cassetto, vanno affrontati, con senso di misericordia e vera giustizia, verso le vittime e verso gli accusati’”. Così si legge in un passaggio della ricostruzione, decisamente molto sintetica, dell’udienza che Leone XIV ha avuto con i vescovi ordinati nell’ultimo anno, fornita, ventiquattrore dopo l’evento, ai giornalisti accreditati dalla Sala Stampa della Santa Sede. Derubricare, per usare un eufemismo, come “comportamenti inappropriati da parte del clero” dei veri e propri reati, penali e canonici, come gli abusi sessuali dei sacerdoti sui minori, è assolutamente grave. Inoltre, è da chiarire se la paternità di questa affermazione sia da attribuire alla Segreteria di Stato. Un passaggio, tra l’altro, inserito…

La acusación, presentada ante la Fiscalía de Ciudad de México, señala al entonces superior general de los Escolapios, Pedro Aguado Cuesta, de “encubrimiento institucional de pederastia” por la actuación frente a un sacerdote ya fallecido. La Orden de los Escolapios sostiene que el religioso acusado fue expulsado del estado clerical en 2020 y defiende la actuación del actual obispo de Huesca y Jaca por seguir el protocolo y acompañamiento a la víctima desde el primer minuto.

Una presunta víctima de abusos sexuales ha presentado una denuncia ante la Fiscalía de Ciudad de México en la que solicita la inhabilitación del obispo de Huesca y Jaca, Pedro Aguado Cuesta, a quien atribuye un “encubrimiento institucional de pederastia” en el caso del sacerdote escolapio José Miguel Flores, fallecido en 2022.

El escrito, al que ha tenido acceso este medio a partir de la información adelantada por El Diario de Huesca, pide además que se verifique la defunción del clérigo mexicano, un punto…

A petition by priests spoke of ‘moral gangrene’ in the archdiocese when the vicar general returned to post after a abuse allegation was deemed beyond the statute of limitations.

Fr Hubert Schmitt, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Strasbourg, stepped down after a public controversy over a sexual abuse claim, a month after another such incident in the Archdiocese of Toulouse.

Schmitt, 71, was suspended from the same post in 2023 after allegations of misconduct with an altar boy in 1993 emerged. The Mulhouse prosecutor ruled last year that the allegations were beyond the statute of limitations and ended the inquiry.

His official reappearance as vicar general in August prompted an outcry on social media. An anonymous petition by priests spoke of “moral gangrene” and urged the Vatican to make an apostolic visitation.

“Faced with the outcry, and in order to preserve the peace of mind of the diocesan government,…

Pope Leo XIV called on U.S. bishops to take the lead in actively engaging President Donald Trump, and said his nationality gives him more sway among an American episcopate that was often at odds with his predecessor.

“To continue to raise some of the issues, especially about questions of human dignity, of promoting peace in the world, which [Trump] at times has made clear he wants to do, in those efforts I would want to support him,” Leo said according to transcripts of an interview with the Catholic news outlet Crux released Sept. 18. But, he said earlier, “it would be much more appropriate for the leadership in the church within the United States to engage him, quite seriously.”

“The United States is a power player on the world level, we have to recognize that, and sometimes decisions are made more based on economics than on human dignity and human…

September 18, 2025

Pope Leo’s emphasis on “false accusations” and “priests’ rights” in his first public interview, comes in the face of damning evidence of his own failure to follow canon law and the Peruvian bishops’ abuse policy. His record shows not just ignorance or insensitivity, but a rejection of zero tolerance for sexual violence and cover-up at the very moment he claims to uphold it.

The message to abuse survivors is to expect the status quo: a church that continues to shield known offenders, refuses to discipline bishops who facilitate abuse by keeping rapists and abusers in power, and a church that will use every tool at their disposal to preserve this system. 

SNAP Board President Shaun Dougherty responds:

“We wouldn’t have to keep focusing on this crisis if Pope Leo would just do the right thing. Enact a global zero tolerance law, release the criminal evidence in the Vatican…

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV said in his first interview as history’s first American pope that he has no intention of getting involved in U.S. politics but will raise his voice on issues of concern to the Catholic Church, including on immigration.

Leo spoke on a range of topics — from the Trump administration to the clergy sexual abuse crisis, welcoming LGBTQ+ Catholics and Vatican-China relations — in the interview, published Thursday. It was conducted by Vatican correspondent Elise Ann Allen of the news site Crux for a biography of Leo that was published Thursday in Peru, where Leo was bishop for many years.

Here are some highlights:

Welcoming the LGBTQ+ community

Leo embraced Pope Francis’ message for LGBTQ+ Catholics that “todos, todos, todos” are welcome in the Catholic Church but said that he found “it highly unlikely” the church’s core doctrine about sexuality would change anytime soon.

The Catholic Church…

ROME – Facing what he called the “real crisis” of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV stressed the importance of “an authentic and deep sensitivity and compassion” for victims, voicing frustration over delays in victim’s cases, but also warned of the risk of false allegations which, he said, can destroy a priest’s life.

“Victims must be treated with great respect and with an understanding that those who have suffered very deep wounds because of abuse, sometimes carry those wounds for their entire life,” the pontiff said in comments to Crux’s Elise Ann Allen.

“First and foremost,” the pope said of his approach, the church must foster “an authentic and deep sensitivity and compassion to the pain, the suffering that people have endured at the hands of church ministers, whether that be priests, or bishops, laity, religious, men or women, catechists, et cetera.”

At the same time, Leo said there’s…

In extensive interviews, Pope Leo XIV, who turned 70 on Sunday, contours the future of his papacy, potentially one of the longest in decades.

VATICAN CITY — In a new biography containing his most extensive public reflections since he ascended to the throne of St. Peter in May, Pope Leo XIV says he has no intention to ordain women — but is willing to hear other views. He wants to avoid “partisan politics,” and will welcome “everyone, everyone, everyone” including LGBTQ+ Catholics in to the church, but he does not anticipate changing official teaching against homosexuality.Get concise answers to your questions. Try Ask The Post AI.

“Marriage” is for “a man and a woman,” Leo says, and he defines a “family” as a “father, mother and children.”

The book, “Leo XIV: Citizen of the World, Missionary of the XXI Century” — released Thursday…

Two sisters abused by a former priest in Co Donegal have encouraged other victims “suffering in silence” to come forward following an apology from the Raphoe Diocese.

Margaret and Paula Martin, who were abused by Con Cunningham, said they look forward to closing this chapter of their lives and thanked those who supported them.

Cunningham, then aged 86, was sentenced to 15 months in prison at Letterkenny Circuit Court in 2021 after pleading guilty to eight counts of indecent assaults in the 1970s.

During that trial, the court heard that Cunningham came to live in their community and that he became like a great uncle to the sisters before the abuse began.

The trial heard that he ate meals in their home and would meet parishioners there. The abuse took place at a number of locations in Donegal.

Margaret and Paula Martin, who were aged between 11 and 13 years…

A west suburban megachurch pastor is facing federal charges connected to an alleged child sex trafficking operation.

Neighbors told ABC7 that Cicero’s Light of the World Church at 1400 South 58th Court is popular. It is part an international church known by its Spanish name, La Luz Del Mundo.

But the church was closed on Tuesday after federal agents arrested Pastor Joram Núñez Joaquin last Wednesday during a 5 a.m. service, his attorney told ABC7.

Núñez Joaquin’s attorney provided photos in a court motion to try and get the pastor released from federal detention. He is named in a federal case involving California church leaders.

Federal prosecutors claim Núñez Joaquin, from the church’s Cicero branch, posed as an attorney and tried to coerced victims in California to not report alleged incidents. Nuñez Joaquin has pleaded not guilty.

Also last week, Naasón Joaquín García, an alleged relative of Núñez Joaquin, was…

Since the beginning of September, employees with Ursuline High School have been removed from their coaching jobs, and the football team’s season has been canceled.

Read next: OHSAA rules on potential Ursuline football transfers

It comes after two federal lawsuits were filed against the school — one alleging hazing and sexual abuse on a summer football team trip and the other alleging assault by a football team player in 2023 and continued menacing behavior for two years after.

On Monday, Catholic Diocese of Youngstown Bishop David Bonnar made his first public comments since the lawsuits were filed. He said he prays for all those who have been impacted.

“On behalf of the diocese, we are deeply saddened by the allegations that have emerged regarding Ursuine High School,” Bonnar said. “We really feel the pain that parents and students…

The former head of the Methodist church in Cornwall has appeared at Truro Magistrates’ Court to face charges of sexual assault.

Steven Wild, aged 70, from St Ives, pleaded not guilty to eight charges of indecent and sexual assault when he appeared in court today (September 15).

The charges read:

• Indecent assault on a woman on in 2004 at Newquay.
• Sexual assault on a woman in 2004 at St Mary’s in the Isle of Scilly.
• Sexual assault on a woman in 2004 at St Mary’s in the Isle of Scilly.
• Sexual assault on a female in 2005 in Derbyshire.
• The sexual assault of a female in 2014 at Sidmouth.
• Sexual assault on a female in 2018 at Exeter in the county of Devon.
• Sexual assault on a female in 2019 at Bristol where he intentionally touched a woman aged 16 or over.
• Sexual assault on a female in 2015 at Southport.

Wild pleaded not guilty…

A former youth group pastor has been sentenced to seven years in prison for sexually abusing boys in his youth group.

Kevin Guy, the youth group pastor with Metro Maryland Youth for Christ, was hit with multiple sex offense charges.

He was employed with the church for about five to six years.

Court documents say all five victims were part of his youth group and Guy would “normalize inappropriate contact, sexualized language as well as send them pics.”

This occurred at multiple locations within Baltimore County.

Victims said the abuse would primarily happen at the youth group but it also happened at the Taco Bell close to the church.

Sentencing is set for Dec.17.

Guy will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

According to an email sent to church members by leadership, Worship Pastor Jeff Zabel admitted to a ‘long-term moral failure in his life spanning more than a decade.’

A Long Beach pastor is being investigated for possession of child pornography, the Long Beach Police Department has confirmed.

On Sept. 9, child abuse detectives were made aware that Jeff Zabel, 50, had admitted to viewing child pornography, according to the Long Beach Police Department. Detectives arranged a meeting with Zabel, who was taken into custody after the interview, the department said.

Zabel was booked on one count of possession of child pornography and later “released on his own recognizance,” according to the department, which added the investigation is ongoing.

Arbor Road Church leadership declined to answer questions from the Watchdog. But in an email to members, Lead Pastors Brent Eldridge and Alan Kim said the situation has caused them a “profound…

A former pastor was arrested and charged with multiple sex offenses, Baltimore County police said Friday.

The Baltimore County Department’s Crimes Against Children Unit arrested Walter Sevillano, 37, alleging abuse from 2023 to 2025, according to a news release.

Police said Sevillano was a pastor at Iglesia Cristiana Sanidad Divina in Dundalk.

Police believe the abuse happened at the church and Sevillano’s home in Baltimore County.

Sevillano is being held at the Harford County Detention Center, police said.

Detectives believe there may be more victims who have not come forward. Anyone with information is asked to contact Baltimore County police at 410-887-7720.

Former Pastor in Baltimore County Arrested on Sex Offense Charges

A 37-year-old former pastor has been charged with multiple sex offenses, according to WBAL. Walter Sevillano was arrested following an investigation by the department’s Crimes Against Children Unit.

Sexual Abuse Allegations Span Two Years

Police allege that the abuse occurred between 2023 and 2025. Sevillano served as a pastor at Iglesia Cristiana Sanidad Divina, a church located at 3000 Baybriar Rd, Dundalk, MD 21222. Authorities believe the incidents took place both at the church and at Sevillano’s home in Baltimore County.

Detention and Ongoing Investigation Into Accused Pastor

Sevillano is currently being held at the Harford County Detention Center. Detectives have stated that more victims may be involved and are urging anyone with information to contact Baltimore County police at 410-887-7720.

Legal Paths for Families of Children Abused by Church Pastors

When allegations of abuse arise involving trusted figures, such…

FOX Carolina Investigates: A call for help that went without justice for decades.

We uncovered an incident report showing investigators in Greenville County were made aware of alleged abuse at the hands of two adoptive parents, Myron and Kathleen Chorbajian, nearly 30 years before they were charged.

The pastor and his wife are facing a combined 90-plus charges related to the physical and sexual abuse of their adopted children.

FOX Carolina Investigates received copies of detectives’ files on the Chorbajians, which included an incident report from 1997.

In the handwritten report, the deputy notes that a woman came forward about sexual abuse. She was adopted by the couple when she was 4 years old land said the abuse started when she turned 12.

The sexual abuse continued until she was 20, when she was finally able to move out and get married, the report states. She contacted law enforcement about…

How does the 2025 Templeton Prize for Bartholomew I impact the Foundation’s credibility amid concerns over his silence on clergy sexual abuse?

The Templeton Foundation awarded its 2025 Prize to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople (Dimitrios Archontonis) in spite of the Patriarch’s silence on clergy sexual abuse in Orthodoxy, a group of survivors and advocates say.

In individual letters sent to the foundation over the past six months, members of the group acknowledged that the Patriarch earned recognition for his work on environmental issues, a long-term focus of the “first among equals” leader in Eastern Orthodox Christianity. However, they explained, the Patriarch’s silence on abuse makes his prestigious John Templeton Prize win painful for survivors — especially those who have approached him directly about their experiences.

“I have repeatedly written to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew — as the highest spiritual authority in the Orthodox Church — imploring him to acknowledge…

HBO’s Maciel, wolf of God makes for good television, but its focus on the main character’s perversions blurs the Catholic Church’s institutional responsibility.

In evoking a wolf, the series portrays Maciel as the lone predator, a myth with which the Catholic Church and other entities gaslight victims of abuse.

The series brings the debate on clergy sexual abuse back to 2010, when Benedict XVI whitewashed the Vatican’s role, with the Gothic tale of Maciel as a lone wolf.

Over the last weeks, Spanish-speaking social media has been abuzz over the TV series devoted to the Legion of Christ’s founder, Marcial Maciel Degollado.

HBO’s Maciel, The Wolf of God offers an accessible look at the main character’s life, a good summary of what he did and some aspects of how he did it.

However, its focus on psychological and individual explanations and its neglect of the broader institutional and cultural context has…

He has been charged with seven counts of sexual assault across five different counties

A former reverend and leader of a Methodist church has appeared in court over sexual assault charges. The Reverend Steven Wild appeared at Truro Magistrates’ Court in Cornwall on Monday (September 15), where he faced seven counts of sexual assault on females in Derbyshire, Cornwall, Devon, Merseyside and Bristol.

He was also charged with one count of indecent assault on a female in Cornwall in 2004. The alleged offences spanned between 2004 and 2019. Wild pleaded not guilty to the offences.

He was released on court bail and is next due to appear at Truro Crown Court on October 17. The 70-year-old, from St Ives, was suspended from his role as district chairman for the Methodist Church in the Duchy and the Isles of Scilly in September 2021, Cornwall Live reports.

It was later announced that Mr…

A federal judge in Chicago on Monday ordered the pastor of a local chapter of the La Luz del Mundo megachurch held in custody to face federal charges alleging he helped cover up a widespread child sex trafficking operation that authorities say victimized young members of the church for decades.

Joram Núñez Joaquín, 37, was charged in a racketeering indictment unsealed last week in U.S. District Court in New York that also named church leader Naasón Joaquín García, 56, who is his uncle, and three others, including Joaquin’s 79-year-old grandmother.

García, who is currently serving a 16-year sentence on state sex abuse charges in California, is the head of La Luz del Mundo (The Light of the World), which claims to have 5 million followers in more than 50 countries. Believers consider him to be the “apostle” of Jesus Christ.

Joaquín, meanwhile, led a congregation of the church headquartered in…

The government has appointed an eight-person group to provide advice in the light of recommendations from the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry.

The team will be led by Alana Ruakere, who currently heads Tui Ora, a Māori health and social service agency in Taranaki.

Other members of the group include:

• David Crichton, who suffered abuse and cultural disconnection in the care system and has worked previously on redress, survivor engagement and care reform, who contributes to the SAGE group on faith-based redress and Oranga Tamariki’s CPIU Steering Group.
• Valerie Tan, a clinical psychologist, academic and governance leader who founded the Asian Psychology Collective Aotearoa.
• Gary Williams, a tangata whaikaha survivor of abuse in care who has been a member of the Survivor Advisory Group of Experts to the Royal Commission, was on the Redress Design Group selection panel and is a member of the Survivor Experiences Board.
• Paul Gibson, who was a…

THE Diocese of Raphoe has issued an apology to two Donegal sisters who were the victims of abuse by a former priest in the diocese.

Former Donegal priest Con Cunningham was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment in July 2021 for sexually abusing two minors in the Fanad area while serving in the Diocese of Raphoe in the early to mid 1970s.

He pleaded guilty to eight separate counts of indecent assaults in the early 1970s, involving two victims, Margaret and Paula Martin, who were aged between 11 and 13, and 9 and 12 at the time of the respective incidents.

Today, in a statement issued by Monsignor Kevin Gillespie, Diocesan Administrator in the Diocese of Raphoe,  the diocese has issued an apology to Margaret and Paula Martin.

The statement reads: 

Apology issued to Margaret and Paula Martin, Victims of Con Cunningham, former priest of the Diocese of Raphoe 

Following a…

Tri-county parishioners wonder why Fr. Ed Burns Jr. left and if he’s facing an allegation of misconduct with a child

WEST CHESTER, Ohio — A West Chester priest has left his parish without explanation from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and worried parents are demanding answers.

“We’ve been told by our parish office to stop calling the parish office. To stop asking for information. They have nothing to give us. So where do we turn? We don’t know what to do,” said Angie Stofko, a parishioner at St. Michael Church who has a son at the school. “Yes, he’s gone. But for what? We have no clue.”

Father Ed Burns Jr. is pastor of the St. Carlo Acutis Parish, which includes St. Gabriel Church and school in Glendale, St. Michael Church and School in Sharonville and St. John Church in West Chester.

WATCH: We asked the archdiocese about Burns’…

These charges include already convicted LLDM leader Naasón Joaquin Garcia, also named with five others.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have charged Naasón Joaquin Garcia and other leaders of La Luz del Mundo (LLDM) — a Mexico-based evangelical megachurch — with federal sex trafficking charges. The charges allege that self-proclaimed apostle Garcia managed a criminal network within the church that sexually abused church members for generations, then destroyed evidence.

The indictment also alleges financial crimes, sex trafficking, and the production and dispersal of child pornography. Founded in 1926, the church began with Naasón’s grandfather before being transferred to his father, then to Naasón himself. Each leader has called himself an “Apostle,” leading their followers to believe the leaders could bring about their salvation.

While founded in Guadalajara, Mexico, LLDM boasts several U.S. locations in California, Washington, D.C., Nevada, Texas, and New Jersey. The church has 2.8 million…

Victims of clergy sex abuse got their chance to testify against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany on Wednesday.

Hearings are being held in bankruptcy court after the diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after facing more than 400 lawsuits regarding clergy sex abuse. They allege decades of abuse and cover-ups from church officials.

The first person to testify, Jason Whitney, told NewsChannel 13 that the abuse started when he was 9 years old and continued for more than three years.

“I never actually thought I’d be here, but it feels good because there’s a stigma. Most men don’t want to come forward for things like this. There’s that worry that people are going to think down on them, but I’m good,” he said.

His attorney, Audrey Raphael, said she hopes that the court and church will listen and understand the impact of what happened to children like Jason when…

Sandy Domalewicz said her brother-in-law abused her for years. Decades later, she was able to tell her story in an Albany courtroom.

An Albany County woman who alleges she was sexually abused as a child by her brother-in-law, who is a businessman from Guilderland, was awarded $270,000 in damages by a jury recently. It’s one of many such cases that are beginning to reach resolution through New York’s landmark Child Victims Act. 

The woman, Sandy Domalewicz, accused her older sister’s husband, Paul J. Madelone, of having inappropriate sexual contact with her for years beginning when she was 11 years old. 

Madelone, 78, who denies the allegations and is appealing the verdict, is a longtime Albany resident who has held executive positions in several large companies in the region. He previously served as a co-chairman of a committee for the region’s Center for Economic Growth, was vice chairman of the Capital…

A federal bankruptcy judge on Friday signed off on a $246 million fund to pay abuse claims as part of the Catholic Diocese of Rochester’s Chapter 11 reorganization plan to emerge from bankruptcy.

Having witnessed six years of bankruptcy proceedings, sexual abuse survivors in the courtroom applauded and cheered when Judge Paul Warren signed the deal. According to a local NBC report, the judge told the survivors, “The money isn’t going to fix you. I hope it gives you a sense of validation and that what happened to you wasn’t your fault.”

Rochester Diocese Bishop Salvatore Matano said it was not anticipated that the bankruptcy proceedings would last six-years. He said he expects the final steps will be completed within weeks.

“Despite this lengthy process, bankruptcy was the only means possible to assure that all survivors would be justly compensated, and the best and fairest course of action for the…

“Thank you, Lord!” a gentleman in the gallery blurted out as U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paul R. Warren announced he was putting pen to paper Sept. 5 to sign an order confirming the Eighth Amended Joint Plan for Chapter 11 Reorganization of the Diocese of Rochester.

After five years and 50 weeks, the judge’s action closes the bankruptcy case and establishes a $256.35 million settlement fund for abuse survivors.

In a written statement issued just after the plan was confirmed, Bishop Salvatore R. Matano expressed his concern for abuse survivors, noting that “years of waiting (for resolution of the case) have added to the suffering and pain of those sexually abused and whose trust was betrayed.”

“With profound sadness, I apologize to the survivors, the victims of such sinful and tragic acts for which they were not responsible. The Diocese has accepted responsibility for the damage caused by abuse,” the bishop…

Catholic church’s $165 million payout offer sees no takers

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland will seek to end its own bankruptcy proceedings, potentially sending hundreds of lawsuits by survivors of sexual abuse back to the courts.

In a motion filed this week, the diocese said its latest proposal to pay $165 million over five years — to settle roughly 350 claims of alleged abuse — drew hardly a response from the victims’ attorneys, and neither did several previous offers.

A local division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court may decide next month whether to allow the church to pull the plug on its Chapter 11 proceedings, which Diocese attorneys said have become expensive because their creditors have effectively “bled (the church) dry.”

“The cost is too high, and the survivors in this Chapter 11 Case — and the 500,000+ faithful Catholics in the Diocese of…

Cinema, television and media have been exposing more and more the shady business inside the Catholic Church, whether it was through the Paramount+ series Murder of God’s Banker, Netflix’s miniseries Vatican Girl: The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi or the Academy Award-winning filmSpotlight. Through the years several dark sides of the Vatican have been exposed. For instance, the pedophile priest scandal broke about twenty years ago. But the question that rises is where were the nuns in all of this? The first reports of rapes by clergy and of secret abortions within the Catholic Church emerged in the early 1990s, but they were always kept hidden. Their story remained untold for decades.

Emmy-Award Winning filmmaker Lorena Luciano sets the record straight with her documentary Nuns vs. The Vatican, presented at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival. With her husband Filippo Piscopo — who has produced the film — she has dedicated her craft to investigative documentaries, tackling impactful…

The Vatican continues to receive criticism for its handling of sexual abuse cases. Decades of ignoring complaints and accusations, or of transferring abusers to other parishes compounded the injury to victims. Its refusal to excommunicate the perpetrators, in spite of evidence and multiple complainants, is bewildering. As the allegations gained increased public attention, the Church finally agreed to address the issue. However, in many cases, victims and their supporters are still waiting for action. While most people are familiar with the claims of altar boys and other young men, Nuns vs. the Vatican shines a light on the plight of women abused by priests.

The Vatican’s demand for obedience and silence makes it expectedly difficult to find victims willing to speak on camera. However, a small group of former nuns publicly petition for action against Jesuit Father Marko Rupnik. The prominent Slovenian priest is revered for his artistic talents, which are featured…

A Roman Catholic diocese has reached a settlement with sexual abuse survivors after several years of proceedings in bankruptcy court, marking the latest example of Catholic dioceses in the United States shelling out large sums as fallout from sex abuse scandals continues. 

In a letter to parishioners published last week, Bishop Salvatore Matano of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester in New York announced that the diocese had reached a $246 million settlement with survivors of clerical sexual abuse. Matano clarified that $55 million of the settlement will be covered by contributions from the Diocese of Rochester and its affiliated entities, while the remaining amount will be covered by insurers. 

“With profound sadness, I apologize to the survivors, the victims of such sinful and tragic acts for which they were not responsible,” Matano wrote. “The Diocese has accepted responsibility for the damage caused by abuse. I ardently pray…

Pope Leo XIV affirmed that priests must be celibate and insisted that bishops take “firm and decisive” action to deal with sex abusers, as he gave marching orders on June 26 to the world’s Catholic hierarchs.

Leo met in St. Peter’s Basilica with about 400 bishops and cardinals from 38 countries attending a special Holy Year celebration for clergy in June. A day after he gave an uplifting message of encouragement to young seminarians, Leo offered a more comprehensive outline of what bishops must do to lead their flocks.

It is an issue the former Cardinal Robert Prevost would have long pondered, given his role as the prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Bishops. In that job from 2023 until his election in May, the Chicago-born Prevost vetted bishop nominations for Pope Francis, identifying the type of leader who would further Francis’ view of a church where all are welcome…

When Richard Salamone was 14 years old, a new pastor was assigned to his church in Little Falls in Herkimer County, and his parents “were hooked” on the priest’s charismatic demeanor. Attending Sunday church became a regular occurrence, and the priest would often join Salamone’s family for dinners featuring spaghetti and meatballs.

Little did Salomone and his parents know that was a facade, and that the teenage boy would soon become a target for the predatory priest. Salomone said the priest, Fr. John Patrick Bertolucci, went on to sexually abuse him, starting on a day when the priest had asked Salomone to spend a night at the rectory. Decades later, in 2002, Bertolucci would finally be removed from ministry by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany for sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy in the 1970s.

Over a three-day period that began Wednesday, Salamone was among dozens of victims who were sexually abused as children…

Day three of testimony in the bankruptcy hearing of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany sexual abuse cases took place Friday in U.S. District Court Northern District of New York in downtown Albany. 

“I feel a lot of weight from hearing other people’s stories,” said Colleen Garbarini, one of dozens of peopl,e who took the stand since Wednesday to share their experiences. “I have shared my story publicly before, but doing it in front of court and in front of the people who have been accused of covering up this abuse has been helpful.”

Garbarini and other victims filed civil suits against the diocese under the Child Victims Act, which extended the statue of limitations allowing alleged victims to pursue legal action against their alleged abusers.

That law passed in 2019. Four years later, the diocese filed for bankruptcy.

The impact statements given will not impact that filing, but allowed…

Hearing in federal bankruptcy court marked by accounts of crimes that left mental scars decades later

Around 50 people filled a federal courtroom on Wednesday afternoon as victims who were sexually abused as children by priests and other employees of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany began to tell the stories of what they endured and how it has affected their lives.

The proceeding comes as some are nearing death and many survivors have “waited decades to tell their stories,” according to a motion filed in June by the Official Committee of Tort Claimants, which represents the interests of hundreds of sexual abuse survivors. 

The hearing in federal bankruptcy court, which is scheduled to last two more days, is taking place as the diocese — which is affiliated with or operates dozens of churches, schools and other entities — faces hundreds of claims under both the Child Victims…

Spread between iconic churches of the City of Lights, such as Notre Dame Cathedral, St. Eustache and St. Sulpice, over 800 religious men and women, and members of institutes of consecrated lay people, gathered in Paris Sept. 6-7, for a National Jubilee of Consecrated Life.

The Conference of Religious of France, known for its French acronym CORREF, which represents 350 congregations, communities and institutes of consecrated life, coordinated the organization of these two days.

Since 2016, it has been presided over by Sister Véronique Margron, provincial prioress for Europe of the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation. “This project was part of the Jubilee of Hope celebrated in Rome this year,” she told OSV News. “The majority of religious will not be able to travel to Rome for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life in October. That is why we invited them to come to Paris.”

“These days of prayer and celebration…

Even before the jury was picked, there were apparent concerns that it was not going to end well.

A day before the start of a landmark trial that began this week alleging the sexual abuse of a former student by a priest, Delbarton — the private Catholic all-boys prep school — filed a complaint in federal court against its insurance carrier over its refusal to settle the matter…

 Pope Leo has instructed the Catholic Church’s newest bishops to confront sexual abuse by priests and not to hide allegations of misconduct, in a text released by the Vatican on Friday.

Sexual abuse scandals have afflicted the Church in various places around the world in recent decades, damaging its standing as a moral voice, sparking costly lawsuits, and resulting in the resignations of several prominent bishops.

“(Allegations) cannot be put in a drawer,” the pope said in a closed-door meeting the day before with some 200 bishops appointed to lead Catholic dioceses across the world in the past year, according to a Vatican summary of the event.

“They must be faced, with a sense of mercy and true justice, toward the victims and toward the accused,” Leo said in the text.

Leo, elected in May after the death of Pope Francis, has previously told priests to be “firm and decisive” in confronting…

Multiple schools have canceled scheduled football games against an Ohio Catholic school after a 200-page federal civil rights lawsuit was filed against several parties on behalf of a student who was allegedly hazed, physically assaulted, sexually assaulted and subjected to the creation and dissemination of child pornography.

According to reports from Youngstown-based news station WFMJ, multiple schools have made the decision to cancel games against Ursuline High School after two separate lawsuits were filed alleging abuse by some of its football players and a lack of concern by its coaches.

Ursuline confirmed Monday that the team’s head coach, Dan Reardon, had agreed to an indefinite suspension, and that assistant coaches, Tim McGlynn and Christian Syrianoudis, had been placed on administrative leave.

In light of the allegations, the following schools have made the decision to cancel games against Ursuline’s football team:

• Austintown Fitch High School (Austintown, Ohio)

View Cache

A federal grand jury in southern Georgia has indicted a pastor for various sexual offenses involving a minor.

On September 10, 2025, 35-year-old Bernadel Semexant, of Hinesville, Ga, was indicted on five charges of enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, sexual abuse of a minor, transfer of obscene material to a minor, receipt of child pornography, and possession of child pornography.

Semexant was believed to have worked as a pastor at multiple House of Prayer Christian Churches (HOPCC) around the United States.

“The allegations in this indictment reflect a profound betrayal of trust by an individual in a position of spiritual authority. The FBI is committed to pursuing those who exploit children and ensuring they are held accountable”, said Paul Brown, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta.  “We urge anyone with information about Pastor Semexant or others in positions of trust within HOPCC to come forward—your…

Prosecutor says “60 plus possible victims” had been identified

There could be as many as 60 possible new victims in a case involving a Catholic priest Derry magistrates Court has been told.

Edward Gallagher (58) of Orchard Park in Lifford Co Donegal had been charged with one count of attempted sexual communication with a child on dates between April 2 and April 17 2025.

He faced seven further offences including inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and causing a child to watch sexual activity on April 17.

At Thursday’s hearing a prosecutor told the court that the triage of the devices in the case had been completed.

She added that “60 plus possible victims” had been identified and this would need to be further investigated before any more progress could be made in the case.

The prosecution applied for the case to be adjourned for another four weeks.

…

Authorities on Thursday announced another indictment related to the House of Prayer Christian Church, a day after the church leader and seven others were rounded up.

This latest indictment – of Bernadel Semexant, 35, of Hinesville and Savannah – focuses on child sex crimes, while the ones Wednesday were more financial.

Semexant is charged with enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, sexual abuse of a minor, transfer of obscene material to a minor, receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

Semexant, a pastor with the church that some have called a cult and others have called a financial scam, may have worked at various church locations across the U.S., the Department of Justice said.

The church has locations in Augusta, Hinesville and Savannah in Georgia, as well as in North Carolina, Washington state, Texas and Tennessee.

Although the church has an Augusta…

An alleged cult leader had his first federal court appearance Thursday, a day after being arrested during a raid of his lavish Columbia County mansion.

The man known as Rony Denis is accused of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and aiding and assisting in filing a false tax return.

The church he founded is known as the House of Prayer Christian Church, but critics claim it’s a cult meant to lure service members and veterans.

Authorities say the aim was to drain veterans’ federal financial benefits to enrich the church and its leaders with such luxuries as an 11,000-square-foot West Lake mansion Denis lived in – one of his three homes – and his use of a Rolls-Royce.

And the money isn’t the only thing Denis is accused of stealing. Authorities say he stole someone’s identity in 1983 – so his name…

A prominent Florida Assemblies of God (AG) pastor, who allegedly has left a stream of unreported child sex abuse cases in his wake, has finally been charged by police.

Mark Vega, the senior pastor at Ignite Life Center church in Gainesville, “intentionally endeavored” to hide multiple reports of child abuse, according to a sworn complaint filed with the Gainesville police department. 

Under Florida law, anyone who suspects child abuse is required to report this to authorities. And certain professionals, including those who rely “on spiritual means for healing,” must provide their names when reporting.

Police charged Vega, 55, with the third-degree felony on Aug. 20, according to Alachua County Circuit Court records.

Vega, who has yet to be taken into custody, is an influential AG leader who has been praised within the denomination as a pastor to emulate.

Vega previously…

The defendants are accused of manipulating church members, misusing funds, and enriching themselves at the expense of others.

A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Georgia has indicted a pastor associated with the House of Prayer Christian Church of America on multiple sex offenses involving a minor.

On Wednesday, a federal court unsealed a five-count indictment against Bernadel Semexant, 35, of Hinesville and Savannah. The charges include enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, sexual abuse of a minor, transfer of obscene material to a minor, receipt of child pornography, and possession of child pornography.

The charges carry significant penalties:

• Enticement of a Minor to Engage in Sexual Activity: 10 years to life imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, and at least five years of supervised release.
• Sexual Abuse of a Minor: Up to 15 years of imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, and at least five…

Naasón Joaquín García and his associates used La Luz del Mundo Church to traffic women and children and produce and distribute child pornography, New York prosecutors said.

Manhattan federal prosecutors charged on Wednesday that the leader of a Mexico-based church that claims more than one million followers led a criminal enterprise that for decades sexually abused generations of church members and then destroyed the evidence.

A federal racketeering conspiracy indictment unsealed in Manhattan charged that the church leader, Naasón Joaquín García, 56, and five associates used the La Luz del Mundo Church to sex-traffic women and children and produce and distribute child pornography, among other crimes. His 79-year-old mother was among those charged Wednesday.

Mr. García is already serving a 16-year, eight-month state sentence after pleading guilty in California in 2022 to three felony counts of sexual assault involving three different minors.

The federal charges allege that the wrongdoing went far…

Damian Murray tells Westminster Confidential about his long battle with the Roman Catholic charity which covered up child sex abuse for 11 years

This is a story of the concealment and denial of child sex abuse by a charismatic principal of a college and religious charity who escaped justice in his lifetime and the failure of many organisations, including the Charity Commission and the charity to do anything about it.

Father Kevin O’Neill, a Marist priest, was principal of the Roman Catholic St Mary’s College in Blackburn. It was closed down in 2022 with £8.2 million debts reportedly caused by falling student numbers. It had been propped up by the last Tory government with emergency funding since 2020.

He was principal of the college from 1978 to 1993 and worked in Blackburn since 1964. He was born in Barking, east London and attended the Roman Catholic St Mary’s College in…

Rochester and Syracuse settlements included conditions for child-protection rules, prohibiting church staff from being alone with minors.

The Diocese of Buffalo has until October 1 to submit a new plan to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, following a tentative $272 million settlement agreement reached with survivors of sexual abuse.

While the size of the payout has drawn headlines, survivors say the most meaningful reforms could come through “non-monetary commitments” or rules aimed at protecting children and releasing decades of church records.

RELATED: Buffalo Catholic Diocese to have armed security guards at all elementary schools

Abuse survivor Kevin Koscielniak said the public deserves to know how the Catholic Church allowed abuse to persist for decades.

“These are crimes that were committed against children from an institution that was supposed to be so trusting and so worthy and so good,” Koscielniak said. “The public needs…

Victims of clergy sex abuse got their chance to testify against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany on Wednesday.

Hearings are being held in bankruptcy court after the diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after facing more than 400 lawsuits regarding clergy sex abuse. They allege decades of abuse and cover-ups from church officials.

The first person to testify, Jason Whitney, told NewsChannel 13 that the abuse started when he was 9 years old and continued for more than three years.

“I never actually thought I’d be here, but it feels good because there’s a stigma. Most men don’t want to come forward for things like this. There’s that worry that people are going to think down on them, but I’m good,” he said.

His attorney, Audrey Raphael, said she hopes that the court and church will listen and understand the impact of what happened to children like Jason when…

A dozen victim impact statements were shared Wednesday in the Albany federal courthouse regarding alleged sexual abuse at the hands of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany.

“Today was the first time in this case, in this sterile bankruptcy process that survivors, who the case is about, will have a voice,” said Taylor Stippel Sloan, an attorney with Jeff Anderson and Associates.

Alleged sexual abuse victims shared incredibly emotional and vulnerable stories of sexual abuse for the first time in court on Wednesday. Attorney Cynthia LaFave and Sloan represent a total of 190 people who filed lawsuits against the Albany Diocese for alleged sexual abuse. Most of this came about in 2019 when the New York State Child Victim Act made it possible for people to file lawsuits years after abuse occurred, temporarily lifting the statute of limitations.

Since then, over 400 child abuse lawsuits have been filed against the Albany Diocese,…

“I handed my son over to the devil,” Joe Alarcon told me during an interview for BNG’s upcoming podcast, “Non-Disclosure,” which features interviews from survivors and their families about the serial sexual abuse that occurred at Kamp Kanakuk. Alarcon’s son, Ashton, is one of the survivors featured in the podcast.

The “devil” he was referring to was Peter “Pete” Newman, a serial child sexual predator who worked at Kamp Kanakuk and was convicted on felony charges in 2010 for sexually abusing 57 boys during his tenure there. Today, the victim advocacy organization Facts About Kanakuk says the number of survivors is at least in the hundreds, although some crime experts believe it’s possible there are thousands of Kanakuk abuse survivors.

For years, many families believed Newman’s abuse was just a one-off thing. He was just one bad apple, and when Kanakuk leaders learned of the abuse they reacted immediately to prevent…

Michael King, 65, was arrested after a three-month-long investigation.

A man was arrested after a months-long investigation into inappropriate acts with children in Rowan County.

Michael King, 65, was arrested on Tuesday by the Salisbury Police Department. King faces charges of indecent liberties with a minor, second-degree rape, and rape by a custodian.

The incidents happened at multiple locations, including the Damascus Emmanuel Pentecostal Church, according to police.

King was arrested after a three-month investigation. He is being held in Rowan County jail with no bond.

 “The hard work of our investigators in bringing this case forward deserves recognition,” Salisbury Police Chief P.J. Smith said. “At the same time, it is profoundly concerning when a person in a position of trust is accused of violating that trust.”

Salisbury police are encouraging further victims to come forward. Anyone with information is asked to contact the department at 704-638-5211 or…

A pastor entered a plea Monday on charges stemming from a human trafficking investigation at a central Pennsylvania massage parlor.

Online court records show Stephen Melton, 66, of Mechanicsburg, pleaded “nolo contendere” to trafficking in individuals – Recruit/entice/etc. Labor Servitude and guilty of patronizing prostitutes charges.

A “nolo contendere” plea means that the defendant does not admit guilt, but he waives his right to a trial and accepts whatever penalty he is given.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 21, court records show.

Melton visited GL Massage Spa close to 70 times over a five-month period, court documents filed by the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office show.

Melton claimed he was concerned about the employees being trafficked, and he would bring them flowers, food, and clothing, according to the charging documents. He also told investigators that it was convenient for him to go there before he went to work.

Investigators said…

The longtime head of a Mexican megachurch who is serving more than 16 years in a California prison for sexually abusing young followers has been charged with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking for allegedly victimizing members of the church for decades, federal authorities said Wednesday.

A New York grand jury returned the indictment alleging that Naasón Joaquín García, 56, and five others, including his 79-year-old mother, exploited the church for decades, enabling the systemic sexual abuse of children and women for the sexual gratification of García and his father, who died in 2014.

García is the head of La Luz del Mundo (The Light of the World), which claims to have 5 million followers in more than 50 countries. Believers consider him to be the “apostle” of Jesus Christ.

The newly unsealed indictment said the criminal activity included the creation of photos and videos of child sexual abuse and had begun after…

There’s been another delay in the case of a Roman Catholic priest charged with sexual assault.

But the Crown has promised it will be a brief one.

Now-51-year-old Thomas Offong was charged in December 2023 with one count of sexual assault against an adult woman — alleged to have occurred a month earlier in Avondale.

Offong pleaded not guilty and a one-day trial was scheduled for this past March, but it was postponed when the prosecutor took ill.

It was set over again in August but in provincial court today the Crown asked for one more “brief enlargement” to finalize its position, with the defence confirming they’re close to a resolution in the case.

Meanwhile, 21 months have now passed since Offong was charged, putting the case three months over the legal Jordan limit.

Offong has served in Avondale, Colliers, Conception Harbour and Burin, but also the Grand Falls-Windsor area,…

A DFW-area pastor and Christian social media influencer is under fire after being arrested and charged earlier this week.  

Alonzo Diego Fuller, 39, and his wife, Asia, have led Journey Fort Worth Church since 2022. Fuller has promoted his music and shared sermons to his expanding social media following while leading the church, which meets in a local elementary school. 

The Dallas Morning News reported that Fuller was held in the Tarrant County jail Monday on a second-degree felony charge of sexual assault stemming from an alleged incident in June 2025. He was released on a $40,000 bond that same day.

Elders from Journey Fort Worth Church released a statement in a Facebook post about Fuller’s arrest on Monday. They shared that they’d been made “aware of serious allegations” made against the pastor by a former church member but that Fuller…

A local pastor charged with public indecency for engaging in a sex act with a woman in a public park has pleaded not guilty.

Defense Attorney Allen Werstiuk entered the plea through writing ahead of Tuesday’s scheduled arraignment of Aaron Williams Jr., 56, of Ontario.

Williams is scheduled for trial on Nov. 20 before Mansfield Municipal Court Judge David Badnell. He is the pastor at Maddox Memorial Church of God in Christ.

In Ohio, a third-degree misdemeanor carries a maximum penalty of a $500 fine and 60 days in jail.

More: Mansfield pastor charged with public indecency, ‘engaging in sex act’ in public park

Clearfork Reservoir Police Chief Scott Kotterman reported seeing two people in the rear seat of a vehicle in a picnic area while on patrol the afternoon of Aug. 30.

A 46-year-old woman also was charged with public indecency. The News…

In short:

Former Catholic Priest John Sidney Denham has died in a NSW prison hospital.

Denham was found guilty of abusing 40 children, mostly at St Pius X College in Newcastle in the 1970s and 80s.

NSW prison officials confirmed he died on Friday.

______

One of Australia’s most prolific paedophile priests has died in prison.

In 2008, John Sidney Denham was charged by the nation’s first police strike dedicated to targeting abuse by members of the clergy.

In 2010, the defrocked Catholic priest was sentenced to 13 years and 10 months’ jail for the abuse of 39 boys and was given extra jail time in 2015 after more instances of abuse came to light.

Many of Denham’s victims have taken their own lives and one of the deaths sparked the child abuse royal commission.

Denham’s crimes occurred mostly at Newcastle’s St Pius X College, now known as Trinity College, in…

A former chaplain for the New York Yankees has been charged with failing to report allegations of child sex abuse to authorities.

Mark Vega, 55, who now works as the senior pastor of Ignite Life Center church in Gainesville, Fla., did not share multiple reports of sex abuse at the church with law enforcement, according to a complaint filed in Alachua County Circuit Court on Aug. 20. Any person with knowledge of sex abuse of minors is required by Florida law to report to authorities, and failure to report is a felony.

Vega, who has not been arrested, did not immediately respond to messages from The Athletic.

The Gainesville Police Department confirmed that it submitted a sworn complaint to the State Attorney regarding the charge of failing to report suspected child abuse, abandonment or neglect. Ignite Life Center is affiliated with the Assemblies of God, a global Pentecostal denomination.

According…

In 2012, after years of research, amateur historian Catherine Corless published an astonishing story in a local history journal detailing that 798 children had died at St. Mary’s Mother and Baby Home in this small town in Galway County. 

Even more shocking was Corless’ determination that all but two of the infants and young children were likely buried in a mass unmarked grave, part of which may have functioned as a sewage system.

Now, 13 years after the publication of her article, “The Home,” an excavation on behalf of Galway County Council is underway to try to recover the remains of the children buried at the home, which was run by the Bons Secours Sisters from 1925 to 1961. Six weeks into the excavation began in mid-July, the realization that the dig is actually happening “is still sinking in,” Corless said in an interview. 

The first tranche of…

Documents from the Paradise and Pandora Papers leaks showed the “full extent” of the hidden financial schemes set up by Marcial Maciel, a priest found to have molested at least 60 children.

A new documentary series about the powerful Catholic priest behind the Legion of Christ religious order draws on the work of ICIJ and its partners to explore the sect’s scandalous history, including allegations of child sexual abuse and financial malfeasance.

Released on HBO’s streaming service last month, Marcial Maciel: the Wolf of God (Marcial Maciel: el lobo de Dios) is a four-episode series that shows how the late Marcial Maciel Degollado went from being a small-town priest in Mexico to creating an organization so large and influential within the Catholic Church that, at its peak, it amassed a $650 million yearly budget financed by wealthy patrons. The Legion of Christ built schools and universities in North…

A Texas youth pastor accused of sexually abusing two girls and silencing them with threats of eternal damnation is facing more legal trouble. 

On Aug. 26, a Lubbock County Grand Jury returned an indictment against youth pastor Luke Cunningham, charging him with 16 counts of sexual assault of a child. That’s on top of charges for aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault of a child that Cunningham was slapped with last year. 

Cunningham’s charges stem from a litany of sexual assaults that prosecutors say occurred as far back as 2016. Last summer, news station KCBD revealed allegations that Cunningham had touched a girl’s genitals while serving as a youth pastor at Lubbock’s Turning Point Community Church in January of 2016. Prosecutors also say Cunningham later raped that same child in Oct. 2018, an instance during which he used his hands as deadly weapons….

After the Archdiocese of New Orleans increased its settlement offer to clergy sexual abuse claimants from $180 million to $230 million on Sept. 8, attorneys of the victims urged their clients to accept the deal.

The archdiocese was able to increase its initial offer, announced in May, after securing a buyer for the $50 million sale of Christopher Homes, a property that has provided affordable housing and assisted living to low-income and senior citizens in the Gulf Coast area for the last 50 years.

“We knew we could do better, and we have,” said attorneys Richard Trahant, Soren Gisleson, John Denenea, and several other attorneys who represent about 200 of the 660 claimants.

The attorneys, who said the initial settlement was “dead on arrival,” urged their clients to hold out for a better offer, saying that they deserved closer to $300 million, a figure similar to the $323 million paid…

The Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, denied accusations of a cover-up following the recent arrest of a Madison priest for alleged sex crimes.

Father Andrew Showers, 37, was arrested last month after an undercover operation by local police found that he allegedly attempted to meet with a 14-year-old girl for sex.

Showers has since been charged with attempted child enticement, attempted use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, and attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child under 16 years of age. 

In a separate case only recently made public, 23-year-old Patricia Moriarty had filed a police report alleging that Showers sexually assaulted her in January 2024. Moriarty’s father, John Moriarty, reported the incident to the diocese shortly after but did not provide the name of the priest or a copy of the police report, according to the diocese.

The victims advocacy group Nate’s Mission…

The First Presbyterian Church of Charlotte, North Carolina has dismissed its senior pastor after an investigation showed a five-year history of committing adultery, then trying to cover it up.

The Christian Post reported that Pendleton Barnes Peery, a sixth-generation Presbyterian minister, was recently dismissed as senior pastor for breaking his marriage and ordination vows.  

According to WCCB-TV, an independent Charlotte station, Peery admitted to breaking his marriage vows in a letter to the congregation.

A church investigative committee reported Peery faces two charges of adultery and two charges of wrongful concealment of inappropriate conduct, WCCB reported.

The  Christian Post said that the Charlotte Presbytery was tipped off to Peery’s behavior by an informant. It then conducted an investigation without the knowledge of First Presbyterian leaders.

First Presbyterian has sent an email to its congregants saying the investigation found Peery had  View Cache

More charges have been filed against a former Lubbock youth pastor accused of sexually abusing two girls then telling them that if they told anyone about the crime the people they told would face eternal damnation.

A Lubbock County Grand Jury on Aug. 26 returned an indictment against Luke Cunningham charging him with 16 counts of sexual assault of a child.

Cunningham has been held at the Lubbock County Detention Center since June 20, 2024 after a warrant for his arrest was issued the day before.

Two weeks later, a grand jury returned indictments against him charging him with one count of aggravated sexual assault and three counts of sexual assault of a child.

He is accused of sexually assaulting a teenager about Jan. 8, 2017. The second charge accuses him of raping a different teenager on Oct. 17, 2018 during which he used his hands as deadly weapons. The…

 A Santa Ana pastor was convicted Monday of sexually assaulting three girls he met through churches in Riverside, Garden Grove and Santa Ana.

Carlos Ramirez Valdez, 61, was arrested in 2021. He was convicted of seven counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor younger than 14 and three counts of oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child 10 or younger, all felonies. Jurors also found true a sentencing enhancement for multiple victims.

Valdez was pastor of International Mission Church USA at 505 S. Main St., police said. From 2014-2017, he was a member of Iglesia De Dios Ebenezer Church at 2020 W. Chestnut Ave. in Santa Ana, police said.

At that church he lured an 8-year-old girl into a van during a service and sexually assaulted her, police said. Valdez repeatedly assaulted the girl in the van over a period of three years, police said.

The girl…

Mark Vega, a former chaplain for the New York Yankees, is accused of covering up abuse allegations at his church, Ignite Life Center.

This article is part of “Pastors and Prey,” a series investigating sex abuse allegations in the Assemblies of God.

Police in Florida have charged a prominent Assemblies of God pastor with “knowingly and willfully” failing to report allegations of child sex abuse to authorities.

Mark Vega, 55, senior pastor of Ignite Life Center church in Gainesville and a former chaplain for the New York Yankees, “intentionally endeavored” to prevent reports of sex abuse at his church from reaching police, according to an Aug. 20 complaint filed in Alachua County Circuit Court. Under Florida law, any person with knowledge of child abuse is required to report to authorities; failure to do so is a felony.

Vega, who has not been…

Canadian religious order says assault case should be considered by canonical tribunal

The Congregation of St. Basil has appealed a Canadian judge’s August 7 decision to allow a lawsuit to proceed against the congregation and its prominent member Fr. Thomas Rosica.

The lawsuit, filed in Ontario in March 2024, alleges that Rosica sexually assaulted a young priest who was helping him with preparation for the 2002 World Youth Day celebrations.

The lawsuit also charges that Rosica’s religious order, the Congregation of St. Basil, failed to properly supervise Rosica, and ignored complaints about his inappropriate interactions with young men.

Rosica, who denies the allegations, had asked the Canadian court to toss the lawsuit, because the case should be addressed exclusively in a canonical court.

Attorneys for Rosica and the Basilian Fathers argued that “the Court has no jurisdiction over the subject matter of this dispute as the Plaintiff and Fr. Rosica…

An 88-year-old Virginia pastor was sentenced Monday to eight years in prison for child sex crimes, after a judge greatly reduced it from 55 years. According to Richmond County Circuit Court records, a plea deal allowed the pastor, who had previously faced 31 charges, to receive the shorter sentence.

Albert “Ben” Wharton, pastor of Victory Baptist Church in Warsaw, Virginia, from 1976-2002, pleaded guilty to eight of the counts against him, court records showed.

Wharton had previously been charged with 23 counts of aggravated sexual battery with a victim under 13 and eight counts of committing indecent acts with a child, according to court records. His crimes occurred at a school operated by Victory Baptist.

A circuit court judge originally handed down a 55-year sentence to Wharton, then suspended his sentence to just eight years behind bars. After his release at the age…

The allegations of abuse date back decades.

A 15-year-old, then a student at the famed, all-boys Delbarton Catholic prep school in Morristown, claimed he was sexually assaulted by one of the Benedictine monks of St. Mary’s Abbey who oversee the school.

According to court papers, the student — identified only by his initials — reported the abuse the following year to the abbot who headed the school. He told the abbot the Rev. Richard Lott had sexually assaulted him and plied him and other students with alcohol, pornography and drugs.

Yet nothing was immediately done in response. Nor, as it would turn out, would any action be taken in response to similar complaints of sexual abuse lodged by other students over time, attorneys say.

More than 40 years later, the former student finally brought his allegations to court in a civil lawsuit against the…