ABUSE TRACKER

A digest of links to media coverage of clergy abuse. For recent coverage listed in this blog, read the full article in the newspaper or other media source by clicking “Read original article.” For earlier coverage, click the title to read the original article.

February 14, 2018

Victims critical of Paul de Jersey’s intervention in church debate on limiting abuse cases

QUEENSLAND (AUSTRALIA)
Australian Broadcasting Corporation

February 13, 2018

By Josh Robertson

Queensland Governor and former chief justice Paul de Jersey and a fellow judge played a key role in thwarting an internal push by Anglican clergy for the church to abandon a contentious legal defence against child sex abuse claims, victims and their supporters say.

Abuse survivors and supporters have criticised the judges’ intervention in the 2009 general meeting of the Anglican Brisbane Diocese, which voted down a motion to stop using legal time limits.

The limits forced victims to sue by the age of 21, effectively limiting any institution’s potential legal exposure.

The motion, which called on the church to “set an ethical lead in the community by … not invoking the statute of limitations defence”, would have set a nationwide precedent.

But the Queensland Governor, who in 2009 was chief justice and chancellor, or legal advisor, to the diocese, warned the church would lose its insurance.

According to notes of the meeting by an abuse survivor, the chief justice also referred to victims suing because of the church’s “deep pockets”.

It comes after legal experts raised doubts about the appropriateness of judges’ roles as legal advisors to the church.

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

Church of England’s reputation damaged by sexual abuse claims

UNITED KINGDOM
La Croix International

February 13, 2018

Calls for a “culture change” are growing as the Church of England now faces 3,300 sexual abuse claims, with one-fifth directed against clergy and other church officials.

Denial is no longer an option as recent inquiries highlight “the continuing need for a culture change within the church,” Roger Singleton, a member of the Anglican Church’s national safeguarding panel, told The Guardian.

He said a minority of parish clergy are either “unwilling to accept the need for sensible, proportionate measures” or seek to downplay the damage caused by physical, sexual, emotional or spiritual abuse.

But while the church has been accused for decades of trying to bury its head in the sand mounting litigation is forcing a head-on collision with an avalanche of sexual abuse cases.

The Church of England has seen its spending in this area quintuple over the last four years. Next month it will go under the microscope again amid a stepped-up independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.

“This will not be an easy couple of years — we will hear deeply painful accounts of abuse, of poor response, of ‘cover-up’,” the daily quoted Bishop Peter Hancock of Bath and Wells, the Church of England’s lead bishop on safeguarding, as saying.

While 80 percent of the sexual abuse claims are reportedly aimed at volunteers and other congregation members, clergy are increasingly being urged to admit any wrongdoing by their peers.

Reflecting the turning tide, each diocese has now appointed a professional adviser to safeguard against abuse.

Moreover, the archbishops of Canterbury and York recently showed their support for survivors of church sexual abuse by holding a two-minute vigil outside Church House in Westminster.

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

Chile sex abuse victim’s credibility praised, challenged

VATICAN CITY
The Associated Press

February 14, 2018

By Nicole Winfield and Eva Vergara

When a Vatican court convicted a Chilean predator priest of sex crimes, it went out of its way to affirm the credibility of his victims. Their testimony had been consistent and corroborated, while their motives in coming forward had been only to “free themselves of a weight that had tormented their consciences,” the tribunal said.

One key witness in the Rev. Fernando Karadima’s 2010 trial is preparing to testify again, this time in a spinoff case with potentially more significant consequences. Juan Carlos Cruz’s allegations of a cover-up raise questions about Pope Francis’ already shaky track record on preventing clergy sex abuse and concealment.

Cruz has accused Chilean Bishop Juan Barros of having been present when Karadima kissed and fondled him as a 17-year-old, and of then ignoring the abuse. One of Francis’ top advisers has privately called Cruz a liar who is out to destroy the Chilean church. Francis, who has called allegations against Barros slander, may have accepted the adviser’s take.

After his defense of Barros sparked an outcry during his recent trip to Chile, Francis did an about-face and asked Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna, a former Vatican sex crimes investigator, to gather testimony about Barros and then report back. Cruz, who now works in communications in the U.S., is his first witness Saturday.

“We’ve been giving this testimony for years and years, but finally it’s being heard,” Cruz told The Associated Press. “So when the pope says he needs evidence, he’s had it for a long time.”

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

Diocese of Syracuse starting compensation program for past sexual abuse victims

SYRACUSE (NY)
CNY Central

February 14, 2018

The Diocese of Syracuse is starting an independent compensation program for victims of past clergy sexual abuse.

Bishop Cunningham announced the establishment of the voluntary Independent Reconciliation Compensation Program (IRCP) during a news conference Wednesday. According to the Diocese, the purpose of the program is to promote reconciliation and further the healing of those harmed by members of the clergy.

“Child sexual abuse is a grave sin and a crime. And no child is responsible for his or her abuse ever,” Cunningham said. “We will not return to the mistakes of the past.”

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

Catholics urging for publication of Apuron’s verdict

GUAM
KUAM News

February 13, 2018

By Krystal Paco

Guam Catholics want answers. The recent sighting of Guam’s suspended Archbishop Anthony Apuron in Rome is concerning for the Faithful who continue to wait for a verdict on Apuron’s canonical trial.

Concerned Catholics of Guam President David Sablan tells KUAM “Since he is in Rome, he more than likely was informed.”

Sablan urges the Tribunal to publicly release the verdict.

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

Olympian admitted to indecent assault of girl in letter to ex-wife, court hears

NEW ZEALAND
Stuff

February 14, 2018

By Catrin Owen

An Olympic athlete admitted to indecently assaulting a girl in a letter to his ex-wife, a court has heard.

New Zealand gold medallist Arthur Parkin is on trial in the Auckland District Court for allegedly indecently assaulting three young girls.

The fourth witness in the trial is Parkin’s ex-wife. Their marriage ended in 2007.

In court on Wednesday, she said Parkin sent her a letter during their divorce proceedings stating that he had exposed himself and asked one of the complainants to touch his penis.

She later burned the letter, she said.

Parkin had told her sometime in the early 1990s he had indecently assaulted the complainant, she said.

Parkin used a “brutal word” she had never heard before, she told the court.

“I went into turmoil and into a state of shock . . . it was devastating.”

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

NY Diocese Begins Program for Survivors of Clergy Abuse

SYRACUSE (NY)
The Associated Press

February 14, 2018

Syracuse diocese of the Roman Catholic Church setting up reconciliation program for survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

The Syracuse diocese of the Roman Catholic Church is establishing a reconciliation program for survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

Bishop Robert Cunningham announced the voluntary program Wednesday. It’s aimed at promoting reconciliation and healing, and possibly compensation, for those who have been harmed by members of the diocese’s clergy.

The program will be administered by Kenneth Feinberg and Camille Biros, who were involved in programs for survivors of 9/11, the British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and programs in three downstate New York dioceses.

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

ST. CLOUD PRIEST ACCUSED OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT WITH ADULT WOMAN

ST. CLOUD (MN)
WJON AM 1240

February 14, 2018

By Lee Voss

A St. Cloud Priest is charged with 3rd-degree criminal sexual conduct while acting as clergy and providing ongoing spiritual advice. Fifty-one-year-old Father Anthony Oelrich is a pastor at Christ Church Newman Center and has been put on administrative leave and suspended of his priestly duties by the Diocese of St. Cloud.

The St. Cloud Police Department began investigating after an adult woman came forward in December alleging a number of sexual encounters in late 2013 and early 2014.

The woman told investigators she began seeing Father Oelrich for spiritual guidance following a sexually abusive relationship. The abuse came to light during confession in December 2013.

According to the criminal complaint, the woman said she was suicidal and Father Oelrich offered to console her whenever she needed to talk about it.

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

Porter was up for promotion despite abuse allegations

WASHINGTON (DC)
CNN

February 13, 2018

By Kaitlan Collins and Kevin Liptak

Rob Porter was involved in serious discussions to be promoted when he abruptly resigned from the White House last week amid allegations that he abused his two ex-wives, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.

His anticipated elevation further highlights how top White House officials were willing to overlook indications from the FBI that there were potential abuse allegations in his background in exchange for professional competence in a tumultuous West Wing.

Porter had been actively lobbying to take on new policy portfolios outside the traditional scope of the staff secretary, one person familiar with the matter said, which included speechwriting duties and a role in planning policy rollouts. Neither of those tasks is traditionally carried out by the staff secretary.

One of the areas Porter was set to delve further into was trade policy, according to the person. Porter was a regular attendee at a weekly trade meeting among top-level administration officials.

He was also being considered for the deputy chief of staff position, another source familiar with the situation said. CNN reported Friday that Jim Carroll, who served as the deputy chief of staff for less than three months, was stepping down to helm the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

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

Australian cardinal blames abuse inquiry for sex allegations

MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA)
The Associated Press

February 14, 2018

Lawyers for Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Catholic cleric to face sex charges, told an Australian court on Wednesday that the allegations stemmed from publicity surrounding a national inquiry into child abuse three years ago.

Pope Francis’s finance minister was charged last year with offenses involving multiple complainants in his native Australia. The exact details and nature of the charges have not been disclosed to the public, though police have described them as “historical” sexual assaults, meaning they are alleged to have occurred decades ago.

Pell’s lawyers failed in his application in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday to gain access to his alleged victims’ medical records.

The court will hold a preliminary hearing next month to determine whether prosecutors have sufficient evidence to warrant a jury trial. The charges and potential penalties have not been made public.

Pell has vowed through his layers to fight the charges. He returned to Sydney to face the allegations but was not required to attend court on Wednesday.

His lawyer, Ruth Shann, told Magistrate Belinda Wallington that the first complainant approached police in 2015, 40 years after the alleged crimes, in response to media reports about Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

“We will be saying that that complaint and the basis for it lacks reliability and credibility,” Shann told the court.

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

Update: St. Cloud priest arrested on suspicion of sexual misconduct with adult

ST. CLOUD (MN)
St. Cloud Times

February 13, 2018

By Stephanie Dickrell

St. Cloud police arrested a priest who serves in the Diocese of St. Cloud Tuesday morning.

The Rev. Anthony Oelrich, 51, of St. Cloud was arrested at about 10 a.m.

Stearns County Jail records say he was jailed on suspicion of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. A St. Cloud Police Department spokesman said Tuesday night that no further information would be released until Wednesday.

In a statement released Tuesday night, Bishop Donald Kettler said he was notified by St. Cloud police of Oelrich’s arrest following “an investigation of alleged sexual misconduct involving an adult woman.”

Kettler placed Oelrich on administrative leave from his current assignment. Oelrich is listed as a pastor at Christ Church Newman Center Catholic Student Community on its website.

Kettler also suspended Oelrich from his priestly faculties, which means Oelrich cannot function or present himself as a priest pending the outcome of the judicial process.

“The diocese is cooperating with civil authorities and encourages all victims of abuse to come forward,” the statement from the Diocese of St. Cloud said.

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

The ugly story of Shaun White’s sexual-harassment lawsuit and trying to reconcile it with his Olympic gold

PYEONGCHANG (SOUTH KOREA)
Yahoo Sports

February 14, 2018

By Jeff Passan

They grabbed, pawed, frothed, hopeful he might deign to make eye contact or maybe even snap a selfie. For nearly two hours following his Olympic gold medal-winning run in snowboard halfpipe, Shaun White, in the midst of television appearances and radio hits, never ignored the cadre of fans who stayed to pay homage for too long. Every few minutes, he acknowledged them, and they roared back. Eventually he veered toward those who braved the frigid air. The reaching arms almost swallowed him. Personal space does not exist in cults of personality.

Halfway across the world, those who don’t deify White struggled to reconcile what he’d done Wednesday morning – throw arguably the greatest run in halfpipe snowboarding history – with what he’d allegedly done in previous years. The 100th Winter Olympics gold medalist in American history – according to a lawsuit by Lena Zawaideh, the former drummer in his band, that White later settled – texted her pictures of penises. He showed her video of a couple having sex on top of a bear that the man had shot dead and another “hardcore porn” video involving a priest, a nun and feces when she was 17 or 18 years old. He allegedly forced her to drink vodka. He insisted she change her look and wardrobe, once threatening to send her home because he didn’t like a fleece sweater she had worn. He stuck his hands down his pants, then shoved them in her face to smell them, the lawsuit alleged.

“After losing at the Olympics [in 2014],” the lawsuit said, “White became increasingly hostile and threatening, especially toward Zawaideh.”

White, who admitted to sending the texts but denied other allegations, has acknowledged being in a dark place following his fourth-place finish in the Sochi Games and cast his gold medal in PyeongChang, the third of his Olympic career, as the denouement of a redemptive arc. White refused to address questions about the lawsuit, calling it “gossip.” “I am who I am,” he said. “And I’m proud of who I am. And my friends love me and vouch for me, and I think that stands on its own.”

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

Why Isn’t Anyone Talking About Shaun White’s Sexual Harassment Lawsuit?

UNITED STATES
Glamour

February 14, 2018

By Stacey Leasca

UPDATE 2/14: After immense coverage—and criticism— online, NBC addressed Shaun White’s sexual harassment lawsuit on the air Wednesday. “I’ve grown as a person over the years,” White said during an interview on the “Today” show, hours after winning his third gold medal in the men’s snowboarding halfpipe. White also apologized for calling the allegations as “gossip” during a post-competition press conference. “I’m truly sorry that I chose the word ‘gossip.’ It was a poor choice of words to describe such a sensitive subject in the world today,” he said.”I was so overwhelmed with just wanting to talk about how amazing today was and share my experience.” White also told “Today” he feels like he’s “a much more changed person than I was when I was younger. I’m proud of who I am today.”

Original story 2/13: On Tuesday, snowboarder Shaun White competed in the halfpipe finals at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. The 31-year-old—arguably the biggest celebrity in Olympic village beloved by fans, the media, and advertisers—took the gold medal. Deserved, as far as the competition goes, but according to a 2016 lawsuit, White has a history that’s being overlooked.

According to USA Today, In May 2017, White settled a lawsuit leveled against him a year earlier by Lena Zawaideh, the former drummer of his band Bad Things. In the suit, Zawaideh alleged that White repeatedly sexually harassed her and forced her to watch “sexually disturbing videos, including videos sexualizing human fecal matter.” Moreover, TMZ reported that Zawaideh said she was also forced to watch a video showing a couple killing a bear and fornicating on top of it.

Zawaideh, according to USA Today, first put forth a suit against White and his company for breach of contract for failing to pay her $3,750 monthly retainer from September 2013 through August 2014. She later amended the complaint to include sexual harassment allegations and pointed to screenshots of vulgar messages allegedly sent by White as evidence.

“Shaun took some kind of joy in seeing how much he could break me down and mess with me,” Zawaideh told Page Six in 2016. “I don’t know why, but every time he saw that I was uncomfortable with something, he would just keep going just to be like, ‘Can I break her?’ That’s not acceptable for an employee, which I was. Contractually.”

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Aly Raisman poses unclothed for Sports Illustrated: ‘Women do not have to be modest to be respected’

UNITED STATES
Yahoo Lifestyle

February 13, 2018

By Raechal Leone Shewfelt

Olympic great Aly Raisman has returned to the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, and this time, she brought along a message.

The 23-year-old, who led the U.S. gymnastics team to gold medals in 2012 and 2016, posed with inspiring words scrawled on her body, such as “survivor” across her chest, “live 4 you” and “every voice matters” down one arm, and “fierce” on the other. “Women do not have to be modest to be respected” ran down one side of her body. There was no swimsuit, no clothing at all, just those words, which Raisman — not the photographer or stylists — chose, as did all the women featured in the what the magazine called its “In Her Own Words” project.

Raisman has been showing her strength beyond the physical, which audiences saw on display in London and Rio de Janeiro. In November, she revealed on 60 Minutes that she was one of the more than 265 people who had been sexually abused by Larry Nassar, the disgraced former doctor for the USA gymnastics team who’s been convicted of molesting athletes. Then, Raisman was one of around 100 victims who addressed Nassar in the courtroom as he was sentenced in January.

When it was her turn to speak — she was the 73rd victim to address Nassar — Raisman did not mince words. She was, well, fierce.

“Larry, you do realize that this group of women you heartlessly abused over a long period of time are now a force. And you are nothing,” Raisman said, as she faced her abuser. “The tables have turned Larry. We are here. We have our voices. And we are not going anywhere.”

In the wake of the Nassar scandal, Raisman also has called out the USA Gymnastics culture that enabled Nassar to continue abusing for decades.

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

USA Gymnastics: There are no other non-disclosure agreements

LANSING (MI)
The Associated Press

February 13, 2018

By David Eggert

USA Gymnastics told Congress it has not used non-disclosure agreements in investigations except in the case of Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney, one of more than 200 women and girls who have said now-imprisoned sports doctor Larry Nassar sexually abused them under the guise of treatment.

The Indianapolis-based organization’s statement was part of its response to an initial congressional inquiry that was made public Tuesday. The leaders of a Senate subcommittee with jurisdiction over the health and safety of athletes also released answers provided by Michigan State University — Nassar’s longtime employer until 2016 — and the U.S. Olympic Committee.

The Senate probe, one of at least three investigations in Congress, is partly focused on the non-disclosure agreement for Maroney, who in December sued to invalidate the deal that had been reached with USA Gymnastics more than a year before. She said she was forced to sign the confidential settlement and argued it violated California law.

USA Gymnastics President and CEO Kerry Perry in a letter to Sens. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, denied that the organization coerced Maroney and said it had worked with its insurer to resolve the claim “expeditiously without the need for litigation.” USA Gymnastics took “absolutely no action” against Maroney with respect to the confidentiality provision when she disclosed the abuse publicly in October and has publicly praised her for coming forward, Perry said. Maroney also had a victim impact statement read on her behalf when Nassar was recently sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison in Michigan.

“At this time, USA Gymnastics deems the parties mutually released from the mutual confidentiality agreement (and certain other settlement provisions challenged in her lawsuit) and has communicated that to Ms. Maroney’s counsel,” Perry wrote.

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

U.S. restaurant workers target low wages in campaign against sexual harassment

UNITED STATES
Reuters

February 13, 2018

By Lisa Baertlein

Restaurant workers in seven U.S. cities on Tuesday lobbied state and local lawmakers to combat sexual harassment in the industry by shifting from the $2.13 federal minimum wage for tipped employees to a higher “fair” wage.

Some 70 percent of workers who receive tips in addition to their hourly pay in the United States are women.

The combination of low hourly pay and dependence on customer gratuities makes them particularly vulnerable to harassment from customers and colleagues, said Saru Jayaraman, president of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC) which advocates for better working conditions.

Women workers earning their state’s full minimum wage before tips reported half the rate of sexual harassment as women in the states that pay $2.13 per hour, according to a study from ROC, which has called on lawmakers to follow the lead of California, Washington, Nevada and four other states that pay the more generous “fair” wage.

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

Queens man who claimed clergy sex abuse gets $500,000 award

ROCKVILLE CENTRE (NY)
Newsday

February 13, 2018

By Bart Jones

The money comes from a program set up in October by the Diocese of Rockville Centre to give victims compensation if they agree not to sue the diocese.

A Queens man who said he was sexually abused by a priest in the Diocese of Rockville Centre decades ago said Tuesday he was awarded $500,000 through a compensation fund set up by the diocese.

Thomas McGarvey, 52, said he received notification of the payment last month from the administrators of the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program. The settlement, announced at a news conference Wednesday, is the first to be publicly disclosed.

The program, established in October, provides victims with financial compensation if they agree not to take legal action against the diocese. It was modeled after programs launched in the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn.

McGarvey said the settlement was bittersweet for him. “Whatever settlement they gave me is not going to wipe out the pain that I went through,” he said.

But he added that he hopes it will at least give him some closure to the events that have haunted him for decades, and help him move on with his life.

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

February 13, 2018

I’ve Been a Mormon for 75 Years. Here’s What I Know About the Church and Assault.

NEW YORK (NY)
The Cut

February 13, 2018

By Judy Dushku

The most shocking thing about the outing of Rob Porter this week is not that there is another accused wife-batterer in the White House — it’s who did the outing: his Mormon ex-wives. Mormon women pretty reliably show up in comedy and drama as naïve, passive, and sweet mothers; gentle women who do not take the reins in blowing up an abuser and a criminal. In bringing down Porter, Jennie Willoughby and Colbie Holderness defied their church bishops, who had dismissed their allegations about how he punched and choked them, and instead went public. They shared photographs, and details of the alleged abuse, and refused to back down — even in the face of a president who doubts them. To see Mormon women take on a Mormon man of such stature is quite a new image.

I’m a 75-year-old woman, and I’ve been a Mormon my whole life. I am so proud of these breakers of the mold, these bold and honest survivors who have taken a well-protected bull by his horns and refused to give up.

Mormon women often ask ourselves if we are “too nice” and “too timid.” In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are urged to speak up and take a stand on important issues of the day, but we acknowledge that we are culturally socialized to be polite and gentle to the point of being submissive. In talks by our leaders, women held as role models are typically described as modest, humble, and kind, people who accomplish great things through quiet persistence or meekness. We tease each other about how often we begin a sentence with “I’m sorry, but …” Or if we decide to criticize something, we say, “I don’t mean to be mean, but … ” Often, we back down from our firmest declarations of disagreement and anger.

And if a woman acts in ways out of sync with this style, she is usually shunned. Administrative and teaching roles in Church congregations are filled by members who are “called to serve” by a local male leader. Women who are “called” are likely to be charismatic and energetic — but still able to appear docile and dutiful. Women who seem to have mastered the art of leading with an air of the eager harmonizer are the ones who rise to the “top” spots in a congregational or ward hierarchy.

Women habituated to this style of interacting with others are perhaps not the best prepared to fight back if they are mistreated. In our church, the abuse of women by men is not new. And in the last decade it has been widely discussed, and acknowledged as a problem. Yes, there are manuals for ward bishops that are intended to help them deal with the complaints of women who describe abuse — but everyone knows about incidents of spousal abuse in every ward, which still often go minimized or ignored. When Colbie Holderness confided in her bishop about Porter’s alleged abuse, he cautioned that filing a protective order could harm her husband’s career. Jennie Willoughby says her bishop did not respond to her complaints about her husband being “physical” with any great concern.

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FBI Chief Disputes White House Claims On When It Heard Of Rob Porter Allegations

WASHINGTON (DC)
The Huffington Post

February 13, 2018

By S.V. Date

Christopher Wray said the FBI turned in a partial report about the domestic abuse accusations nearly a year ago.

WASHINGTON ― The White House’s attempts to explain why it allowed a top aide accused of domestic violence by both of his ex-wives to keep his job took another hit on Tuesday, this time from FBI Director Christopher Wray.

President Donald Trump’s other top aides have been claiming that they did not know about the domestic violence allegations against former staff secretary Rob Porter until recently and that they did not appreciate the full extent of the accusations until photographs of one woman’s injuries were published by news outlets.

But Wray, who was named to that job by Trump, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that the FBI had given the White House a preliminary report on Porter nearly a year ago.

“I can’t get into the content of what was briefed,” he said in response to a question from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). “What I can tell you is that the FBI submitted a partial report on the investigation in question in March and then a completed background investigation in late July.”

Wray added that the FBI “soon thereafter” received a request for a follow-up from the White House, which it completed and returned in November.

The FBI closed out its investigation in January, but then received “additional information” in early February, which it passed along as well, Wray said.

White House officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment about Wray’s testimony, which contradicts timelines offered by the White House press office over the past week.

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

Lee students blast sexual assault scandals through podcast

CLEVELAND (TN)
Lee Clarion

February 13, 2018

By Kiersten Powers

If there’s something to be said about the students featured on the Thoughts of the Roundtable podcast, it’s that they aren’t shying away from the tough subjects.

The students, Juan and Rebeca Molina, Chris Seders and Gabby Oechsle, have a mission of addressing important topics to further educate and discuss solutions with each other.

And recently? Sexual abuse in the church.

In a recent episode of Thoughts of the Roundtable entitled “Chris Hansen, Where Are You?,” the group discussed the multitude of recent sexual harassment scandals, from those in Hollywood to the accused in politics and religion.

Pope Francis is currently receiving backlash for his support of a bishop who has been accused of covering up one of the largest sexual assault cases.

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Judge: Lawsuit Claiming Montana Priest Sex Abuse Can Proceed

GREAT FALLS (MT)
The Associated Press

February 13, 2018

A federal judge is allowing lawsuits to proceed in state court by two people who claim they were sexually abused in a small southern Montana town by a Roman Catholic priest in the 1970s and 1980s.

A U.S. judge has granted a request for lawsuits to proceed in Montana state court that were filed by two people who claim they were sexually abused as children by a Roman Catholic priest in the small southern town of Absarokee in the 1970s and 1980s.

Monday’s order by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jim Papas said the parties were not making progress in settlement negotiations, the Great Falls Tribune reported .

“Time to do something else,” he wrote.

The Diocese of Great Falls-Billings, which covers the eastern half of Montana, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection while working to settle 86 claims of abuse from the 1940s to the 1980s.

Attorneys for the two victims whose cases are moving forward argued deciding their claims in state court could help determine damage amounts due to the other 84 plaintiffs.

The claims involve a woman who said the Rev. Joseph Heretick abused her from 1983 to 1986 and a man who said he was abused by Heretick and another priest from 1974 to 1980. Heretick died in 1999.

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‘Bill & Ted’ Star Alex Winter Says ‘Silly’ Films Helped Him Heal Sexual Abuse Trauma

LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Wrap

February 2, 2018

By Rosemary Rossi

Actor says “hellish” experience left him with PTSD

Alex Winter best known as Bill to Keanu Reeves’ Ted in the cult classic “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” has come forward as a victim of sexual abuse.

In an interview with BBC Radio 5, the former teen star said he was sexually abused when he was a child actor in the 1970s, and making the “Bill & Ted” films and short-lived series was “therapeutic.”

“It was an opportunity to be child-like… innocent and sweet,” the actor said in an interview Friday. “I absolutely feel like a survivor.”

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More than 60 women have filed sexual harassment complaints against IHOP, Applebee’s restaurants

UNITED STATES
Vox

February 7, 2018

By Alexia Fernández Campbell

They describe a work environment where groping and sexual requests from co-workers were rampant.

In late 2011, a 16-year-old girl from suburban St. Louis landed her first job as a waitress at a local IHOP restaurant. She needed to work there for at least a year to complete her high school co-op program. At first, it made her uncomfortable when her boss repeatedly complimented her appearance. Within a few months, his behavior made her terrified to go to work.

The Illinois teen’s fear of getting fired — and not graduating on time — led her to put up with escalating sexual harassment from the restaurant’s general manager, according to allegations described in federal court documents filed in September. At one point, the manager allegedly threatened to “get violent” if she didn’t have sex with him.

Ten of the waitress’s female co-workers described similar experiences with two male cooks at the restaurant in a sexual harassment lawsuit they filed together in September 2017 against the IHOP franchise owner. They all accused the general manager and other supervisors of ignoring their complaints — and even condoning the behavior in some cases.

Those complaints were just a few of the nearly 7,000 sexual harassment reports against employers that were reviewed in 2017 by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which enforces federal civil rights laws. Sexual harassment at work is a form of illegal gender discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The women each filed a separate EEOC complaint, and the EEOC decided to file a class-action lawsuit on their behalf.

Sexual harassment is a particularly serious problem in restaurant and hotel jobs. From 2005 to 2015, hotel and restaurant workers filed at least 5,000 sexual harassment complaints with the EEOC — more than any other industry, according to an analysis from the Center for American Progress. This number represents only a fraction of all complaints filed by restaurant workers, as only about half of the 85,000 sexual harassment complaints filed with the EEOC in that time frame designated a specific industry.

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One in five women have been sexually assaulted, analysis finds

ENGLAND and WALES
The Guardian

February 8, 2018

By Alan Travis

Official analysis from latest Crime Survey of England and Wales lays bare extent of problem

One in five women in England and Wales have experienced some type of sexual assault since the age of 16, according to official analysis of violent crime figures.

The latest release of findings from the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows more than 510,000 women – an estimated 3.1% of all women aged 16 to 59 – experienced some type of sexual assault in the past year.

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Judges Hear Arguments in Spanier Appeal

STATE COLLEGE (PA)
State College

February 7, 2018

By Geoff Rushton

A panel of Superior Court judges heard oral arguments on Wednesday as former Penn State President Graham Spanier seeks to have his conviction on a charge of endangering the welfare of children overturned.

Spanier was found guilty in March on the misdemeanor charge related to his handling of a 2001 report about Jerry Sandusky, but the jury found him not guilty on a felony child endangerment charge and a felony count of conspiracy.

The two-year statute of limitations had long run out when he was charged in 2012, he argues. Spanier’s attorney, Bruce Merenstein, said trial judge John Boccabella made a post-trial ruling granting an exception for an extension that applies to a child endangerment charge when a minor under the age of 18 was the victim of a sexual offense, until the victim is 50, according to the Associated Press.

That issue was never raised before Boccabella made the post-trial ruling and Spanier’s attorneys had no opportunity to address it, Merenstein argued.

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RTAB #82: JOHN BARR

UNITED STATES
PodcastOne

February 11, 2018

By Andrew Brandt

ESPN Investigative reporter John Barr is this week’s guest on the Business Of Sports. He talks with Andrew about covering the Larry Nassar case.

Length: 0:43:28

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Judge grants clergy abuse plaintiffs 2 more months to serve papers

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

February 13, 2018

By Haidee V. Eugenio

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood granted seven clergy sex-abuse accusers up to early April to serve legal documents to three defendants in their lawsuits.

This includes the Capuchin Franciscans and the Congregation of Holy Cross, which are both in Italy, and former Saint Anthony Catholic School teacher Ray Caluag in the Philippines.

“The court finds good cause for and finds defendants will not be prejudiced by the requested extensions,” the judge wrote, granting a two-month extension that takes effect from the date of her Feb. 12 order.

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Commentary: Mormon church needs to train bishops better — and teach them that most domestic violence reports turn out to be true

SALT LAKE CITY (UT)
Religion News Service via the Salt Lake Tribune

February 13, 2018

By Jana Riess

I’m angry, but I’m trying to understand.

White House aide Rob Porter resigned last week from his job as staff secretary because a story broke that his two ex-wives had accused him of abuse. Despite that, this administration had kept him in power.

Apparently, after the FBI’s investigation early in 2017, it did not grant Porter a full security clearance, and he’s been operating all this time on an interim clearance.

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Evidence shows Pope Francis is a ‘principal in a cover-up’ of clergy sex-abuse in Chile: Expert

WASHINGTON (DC)
LifeSiteNews

February 12, 2018

By Lisa Bourne

Those familiar with Jorge Bergoglio in Argentina before he became Pope Francis say it is a “classic” move of his to provide “mercy” to clergy who are sexual predators while asking everybody else to simply “move on,” said attorney and child advocate Elizabeth Yore on an EWTN show last week.

“I think this is a misplaced mercy. It is mercy for the predator priests,” she told EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo on the February 8 episode of World Over.

“There are many people who know the Pope from Argentina who have said this is classic Bergoglio to provide mercy to the predators and ask everybody else to move on,” she added.

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Australian Bishops: Pray and fast in reparation for child sexual abuse

AUSTRALIA
Vatican News

February 13, 2018

By Richard Marsden

Catholics in Australia will observe a four day period of fasting and reparation in sorrow for child sex abuse and for the healing of victims.

The Catholic Bishops of Australia are calling on the Catholic community to make the first four days of Lent a period of fasting and reparation in sorrow for the “tragedy” of child sex abuse within the Church.

In a letter published by the Australian Bishops Conference, Catholics are encouraged to pray at home and in their parishes – that is, both privately and publicly – for the healing of victims and survivors ahead of the Church giving its response to recommendations made by the Royal Commission into child sex abuse.

The bishops conference has also published texts of special liturgies and prayers for the period of reparation (February 14-17) on its website – including a Holy Hour and Benediction, a Penitential Celebration, and Evening Prayer of the Church.

In the Lenten statement, the bishops write: “Through fasting, we stand in solidarity with the victims and survivors of abuse whose much deeper hunger is for healing and peace in their lives. Through reparation, we make amends for the sin of those in the Church who abused children or failed to listen and act when they should have.” The message adds that these spiritual exercises “express our desire for God’s reconciling and healing grace.”

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Investigator | Church suspends controversial Bishop following alleged sex abuse

CLEVELAND (OH)
WKYC3

February 12, 2018

By Tom Meyer

Joseph White has been suspended.

Dr. Joseph White, presiding Bishop of the Church of the Living God International (CLGI), has been suspended following allegations of sexual misconduct.

The church’s board of directors placed White on leave from any official duties or capacity with the church until the matter is resolved.

In a letter to CLGI members, the board said, “…these are serious allegations…we must allow the legal process to work…so that justice may be served.”

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Porter ex-wife: Strength doesn’t ‘inoculate a person against abuse’

WASHINGTON (DC)
CNN

February 13, 2018

By Eli Watkins

WH staff secretary Rob Porter reresigned last week

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Colbie Holderness, one of the women who have gone public with allegations of spousal abuse by a former top White House aide, wrote in a piece published Monday evening that abuse affects many different types of people.

“Being strong — with excellent instincts and loyalty and smarts — does not inoculate a person against abuse. It doesn’t prevent her from entering into a relationship with an abuser. Abuse often doesn’t manifest itself early on — only later, when you’re in deep and behind closed doors. The really ugly side of Rob’s abuse only came out after we married, following three years of dating,” Holderness wrote in a Washington Post op-ed.

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Rob Porter’s first ex-wife responds to Kellyanne Conway

WASHINGTON (DC)
Politico

February 13, 2018

By Louis Nelson

Colbie Holderness, an ex-wife of a former Trump administration official Rob Porter, took umbrage in a Washington Post op-ed at the seeming suggestion from counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway that victims of domestic violence lack strength.

Conway, in an appearance last weekend on CNN’s “State of the Union,” was asked about Porter, the former White House staff secretary who resigned last week amid allegations of abuse from Holderness and another ex-wife, Jennifer Willoughby. The counselor to the president told CNN she had no reason not to believe the allegations from Willoughby and Holderness, but when asked if she feared for White House communications director Hope Hicks, reported to be dating Porter, Conway said, “I’ve rarely met somebody so strong with such excellent instincts and loyalty and smarts.”

“Her statement implies that those who have been in abusive relationships are not strong,” Holderness wrote in her op-ed, published online Monday night. “I beg to differ.”

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WHITE HOUSE THINKS HOPE HICKS IS ‘IMMUNE’ TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE FROM ROB PORTER, MSNBC HOST SAYS

WASHINGTON (DC)
Newsweek

February 13, 2018

By Harriet Sinclair

The Trump White House has taken an unusual position on Hope Hicks’s romantic relationship with alleged domestic abuser Rob Porter, MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell has claimed.

On Monday, O’Donnell slammed counselor Kellyanne Conway for her assertion that the White House Communications Director Hicks is a “strong woman.”

On his show, The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, the host singled out White House counselor Kellyanne Conway for claiming she is not worried about communications director Hicks’s relationship with Porter because Hicks is a “strong woman.”

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Judge allows two claims in diocese sex abuse case to proceed in district court

GREAT FALLS (MT)
Great Falls Tribune

February 12, 2018

By Seaborn Larson

A federal judge on Monday granted a motion allowing two claims of sexual abuse by an Absarokee priest in the 1970s and ’80s to proceed to conclusion through the state courts.

The order by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jim Papas allows two claims to move forward in district court, which was not previously an option after the Great Falls-Billings Diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year to move toward a settlement for the 86 people who have filed claims of sexual, physical and emotional abuse. Most claim the abuse took place in their youths at the hands of eastern Montana clergy from 1940s to the 1990s.

“The parties have negotiated, and are not making any progress in the Chapter 11 case,” Papas said during the hearing. “Time to do something else.”

Attorneys for the victims argued in January that while settlement negotiations are not moving forward, processing two claims at the state court level would provide more insight when working toward a settlement for the remaining 84 victims.

The district court case will likely decide whether or not the diocese was negligent in these instances of abuse, as alleged by attorneys for the victims.

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Surprised John Kelly would overlook abuse? The military that bred him is rife with it.

UNITED STATES
USA Today

February 13, 2018

By Joanne Lipman

Military leaders believe the brothers in arms they know, not the female victims they don’t. It’s not surprising that Kelly would defend Porter.

For days, pundits have been puzzling over how John Kelly, the straight-arrow retired general brought in to restore order to the Trump White House as chief of staff, could have tolerated an accused wife-beater as staff secretary.

After all, Kelly was told about Rob Porter’s alleged abuse weeks ago by the FBI, which also informed him that Porter was unlikely to receive security clearance because of it, according to Politico. On Friday, a second White House staffer stepped down after he too was accused of abusing his wife.

The question is, why would Kelly have put up with it?

Here’s one answer that few have dared raise: the ingrained, extensive culture of sexual harassment in the military. Not just tolerating abuse, but allowing it to fester, particularly at the highest levels. The military culture that turned a blind eye to domestic abuse and sex scandals by top brass over a period of many years is the same one that bred John Kelly.

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The conversation we need to have about abuse

ST. GEORGE (UT)
Deseret News Hive via The Spectrum

February 12, 2018

By Lois M. Collins

Domestic violence has stepped to the forefront of national discussion with the resignations last week of two well-placed White House staffers amid allegations they abused their former spouses.

Both Rob Porter, who was serving as staff secretary, and speechwriter David Sorenson have denied the accusations.

The national conversation on domestic violence overlaps increased awareness of sexual harassment and assault, courtesy of the #MeToo and Time’s Up campaigns. Those rose from myriad allegations of sexual wrongdoing against prominent men in media, entertainment, politics and elsewhere. The #MeToo social media campaign has focused on how women are treated and some experts believe the openness engendered there is spilling over to benefit victims of domestic violence, most of whom are women.

“I can’t believe that it wouldn’t to some degree,” although no one’s studied if #MeToo has impacted victims of domestic abuse, said David Derezotes, University of Utah social work professor and director of the Peace and Conflict Studies Program.

To Kathleen Lopez, the shattered silence sounds beautiful.

“Calling it ‘time’s up’ is perfect. It’s time to have these conversations and make things better,” said Lopez, owner and CEO of Sentinel Sales & Management in American Fork. Three decades ago, she packed only a diaper bag and took her 8-month-old son to a battered-women’s shelter to escape domestic abuse.

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Resignation of White House staffer shines light on LDS Church’s abuse training

SALT LAKE CITY (UT)
FOX13

February 12, 2018

By Matt McDonald

The resignation of White House staffer Rob Porter is shining a light on domestic abuse and the role LDS bishops have in aiding victims.

“I hold no ill will towards that bishop. I think he was making a decision the best that he could,” said Jennie Willoughby, one of Porter’s ex-wives. She says she told her LDS bishop about the abuse and was counseled to consider the impact a protective order would have on Porter’s career.

Her story has sparked many to post their own experiences in online forums.

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Jury told accused priest threw out pills

SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA)
9News

February 13, 2018

A Russian Orthodox priest accused of molesting a 14-year-old boy threw out a rubbish bag containing tablets after he was questioned by police, a Sydney jury has been told.

Stanislav Vakhabov, known as Father Christopher, has pleaded not guilty to detaining the boy for his own sexual gratification, giving him intoxicating substances to make it easier to have unlawful sexual activity and four counts of indecent assault in 2014

The Crown has alleged the now 35-year-old invited the overseas boy to stay with him at his single-bedroom flat on the Croydon church grounds, not informing church authorities.

Giving evidence in the District Court on Tuesday, Deacon Ivan Bots said Vakhabov phoned him about midnight around the middle of 2014 saying he had just got back from the police station after being interrogated.

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Native American Boarding School Abuse Victims Seek New Law

PIERRE (SD)
The Associated Press

February 12, 2018

By James Nord

South Dakota lawmakers may establish a new window for victims of childhood sexual abuse at Native American boarding schools to file lawsuits against organizations like schools and churches.

South Dakota lawmakers are considering establishing a three-year window for victims of childhood sexual abuse at Native American boarding schools to file lawsuits against organizations like schools and churches, a move that supporters say would allow survivors to have their stories heard.

The Senate Judiciary Committee plans to debate a measure Tuesday that would create the new time frame for victims to file civil claims and repeal a provision in state law banning victims 40 and older from recovering damages from people or entities other than the actual abuser.

Louise Charbonneau Aamot is one of nine sisters who unsuccessfully sued over alleged sexual abuse committed before 1975 at St. Paul’s Indian Mission, a boarding school in Marty, South Dakota. The 67-year-old member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa said officials need to ensure it never happens again at any school or church.

“We know that God’s with us on this journey. We’ve been through so much, and there’s so much pain,” she said. “But we’re hoping, you know, they listen to us this time.”

The Associated Press typically doesn’t identify sexual assault victims unless they come forward publicly.

Attorney Michelle Dauphinais Echols, the bill’s author, said it’s for “healing and justice.” Victims haven’t had an opportunity to have their cases heard on the merits of their claims, she said.

“I think this would be a great first step to just try to help them along their journey to healing and closure,” Dauphinais Echols said.

The South Dakota Supreme Court in 2012 dismissed the sister’s and others’ claims against religious groups including the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls. The court found that the lawsuits were filed years after the applicable statute of limitations had expired and that the diocese wasn’t liable because it wasn’t responsible for the children.

The new legislation would clarify that any person or organization engaged in the Native American boarding school system may be held liable for childhood sexual abuse. The bill’s original language would eliminate the statute of limitations, but an amendment aims to create a three-year window for filing claims, Dauphinais Echols said. It also would revive claims barred because the applicable statute of limitations has expired.

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UK Catholic aid agency suspends staff member implicated in Oxfam sex scandal

LEICESTER (UK)
Crux

February 13, 2018

By Charles Collins

A scandal involving a British anti-poverty charity in Haiti has impacted CAFOD, the Catholic international aid agency for England and Wales.

An investigative series by The Times, an English newspaper, revealed Oxfam staff used prostitutes in “Caligula”-like sex parties while providing aid in Haiti in 2011. The newspaper alleges some of those prostitutes may have been underaged.

Oxfam is a global international aid agency founded in Oxford in 1942. It now consists of 19 separate international committees, and is one of the largest aid federations in the world.

It was revealed that one of the persons accused of sexual misconduct later began working for CAFOD in the Philippines, after leaving Oxfam.

“CAFOD has a zero-tolerance approach to misconduct breaching our Code of Behavior, including fraud, abuse, intimidation and other acts,” said Chris Bain, the director of the Catholic agency.

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Survivors respond to Ballarat Diocese meeting abuse compensation

BALLARAT (AUSTRALIA)
The Courier

February 13, 2018

By Rochelle Kirkham and Siobhan Calafiore

Clergy abuse survivors are pushing for a more comprehensive redress model as the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat reveals it is confident in being in a financial position to meet all compensation claims.

The Ballarat Diocese has paid more than $4.9 million in compensation to survivors of child sexual abuse and more than $1 million in pastoral support to abuse survivors so far.

But Ballarat clergy abuse survivor Tony Wardley has said while the figure may seem big, broken down it was simply not enough when it came to redress for survivors.

He estimated using the money as compensation for the victims of disgraced paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale alone would equate to about $30-40,000 each.

“If you divide that up by the amount of survivors you’ll see how pathetic the actual compensation has been for (the Catholic Church’s) Towards Healing,” he said.

“We want just compensation, not more money because more money doesn’t fix anything. It’s ongoing care like medical, that’s where the redress scheme has let everyone down. We need specialist help from the medical side and just can’t afford it.”

Diocesan business manager Andrew Jirik has said the diocese would continue to meet compensation claims from its assets and insurance.

“The Diocese of Ballarat has drawn these funds from its own resources, including its insurer where its policies apply, without recourse to the assets of its 51 parishes which belong to local parish communities across the diocese,” Mr Jirik said.

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Australian bishops dedicate start of Lent to abuse victims

SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA)
CNA/EWTN News

February 13, 2018

The bishops of Australia have called on the faithful of the country to begin the season of Lent with four days of fasting and reparation for victims of sexual abuse within the Church.

One suggested prayer for the penitential period asks God: “May all those who have been abused physically, emotionally and sexually by your ministers be respected and accompanied by tangible gestures of justice and reparation so that they may feel healed with the balm of your compassion.”

It adds: “We pray that your Church may be a secure home where all children and vulnerable adults are brought closer to your Beloved Son.”

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference in a Feb. 5 message asked Catholics to dedicate Feb. 14-17 as days of fasting and reparation for cases of sexual abuse within the Church.

They said that they and other Church leaders have often expressed sorrow and apologies for “the harm suffered by victims and survivors, the instances of cover-up, the failure to believe survivors’ stories and to respond with compassion and justice, and the distress that many still experience.”

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This is how Boise’s Catholic Diocese investigates sexual abuse accusations

BOISE (ID)
Idaho Statesman

February 12, 2018

By Ruth Brown

Until his recent arrest, Catholic Church officials say they didn’t investigate any complaints about the Rev. W. Thomas Faucher because they had none.

If the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise had been aware of allegations of sexual misconduct against 72-year-old Faucher before his arrest, it would have followed existing policy, officials said.

Faucher, a longtime Catholic priest in Boise, was arrested last week on accusations of possessing and sharing child pornography, and possessing drugs such as marijuana and ecstasy. Prosecutors have no reason to believe any of the images were of local children, though they had not verified all of the victims’ identities last week.

The diocese’s 63-page policy is readily available and easily accessible. But it’s unclear how often the diocese investigates complaints of sexual misconduct, because investigations are not public record.

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Larry Nassar case, #MeToo spur new Michigan legislation to combat sexual assault

DETROIT (MI)
Detroit Free Press

February 13, 2018

By Kristen Jordan Shamus

A group of Michigan lawmakers came together Monday to call for a three-pronged approach to combating sexual assault and harassment, especially on college campuses, aiming to pass new laws that will bolster prevention and education, better protect assault survivors and offer more accountability.

The Michigan Progressive Women’s Caucus hopes to lift the statute of limitations on sexual assault cases involving those under the age of 16, create a new position of Title IX ombudsman within the state Department of Civil Rights, and increase funding for sexual assault prevention and education programs, among other measures.

The action comes in the midst of the #MeToo movement, and after the sentencing hearings of former Michigan State University sports medicine doctor Larry Nassar, who will serve the rest of his life in prison after assaulting hundreds of women and girls in the guise of medical care.

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ALLEGED SEX-OFFENDER ARRESTED FOR FAKING MENTAL ILLNESS TO AVOID EXTRADITION

ISRAEL
The Jerusalem Post

February 12, 2018

By Jeremy Sharon

– Israel to extradite suspected haredi sex abuser to Australia
– Washing away the trauma of abuse

Malka Leifer is accused of having sexually abused several former pupils of hers while she served as the principal of the Adass Israel School in Melbourne, Australia.

Suspected sex offender Malka Leifer was arrested on Monday morning by police after an undercover investigation indicated that she has been feigning mental illness to avoid extradition to Australia.

Leifer is accused of 74 charges of sexual abuse against former pupils, who were minors at the time, at the Adass Israel School in Melbourne Australia where she served as a teacher and principal from 2003 to 2008.

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She fled to Israel in 2008 to avoid criminal proceedings, but extradition proceedings only began in 2014.

Leifer has managed to avoid extradition, however, by claiming mental illness ever since – claims that until now have been upheld by a medical review panel dealing with her case.

The Australian authorities have been anxious for Leifer’s extradition to be expedited given the gravity of the charges against her, and officials from the Australian government have met with Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked regarding the case on several occasions.

The police said in a statement on Monday that they had been requested to investigate the truth of Leifer’s mental status by Interpol and subsequently initiated their investigation.

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Accused sex abuser Malka Leifer in Israel arrest

ISRAEL
The Australian

February 13, 2018

By Cameron Stewart

Accused sex offender and former school principal Malka Leifer has been re-arrested in Israel, a move welcomed by her victims who have fought a high-profile campaign to extradite her to Australia.

Police in Israel confirmed overnight that they had arrested Ms Leifer after a covert investigation into her claims that she was too mentally ill to face extradition to Australia. Israeli authorities said they would now renew extradition proceedings to bring her back to Melbourne where she is wanted for 74 counts of child sex abuse.

Dassi Erlich, one of Ms Leifer’s victims along with her two sisters Elly and Nicole, has welcomed the news.

“It is with a mixture of elation and relief coupled with anticipation towards the future, that we welcome the news of Malka Leifer’s arrest,” the sisters said in a statement. “We see this as a very important breakthrough in our long journey to achieve justice. It is shocking that charges of fraud and the feigning of mental illness have been used to evade justice for such a long time, but we are relieved that Malka Leifer’s arrest removes her from posing a potential threat to other vulnerable children.”

“It has been a very long ten years since Malka Leifer fled Australia. We are hopeful that this is a turning point in the extradition process.”

The covert police investigation into Ms Leifer came after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull raised the issue with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during Mr Turnbull’s visit to Israel in October.

Both sides of Australian politics as well as influential members of Australia’s Jewish community have lobbied Israel over the Liefer case.

Ms Leifer, who allegedly sexually abused girls in her care while principal of the ultra-orthodox Jewish Adass Israel school, fled Australia in 2008 before charges could be laid.

Ms Leifer was initially arrested in August 2014 but extradition proceedings against her all but collapsed in May last year when Ms Leifer’s lawyers successfully argued that she was psychologically unwell and too ill to attend extradition hearings. She was allowed to walk free but was ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment — a development that could have dragged on for years.

Concerns that Ms Leifer was faking her illness to avoid justice were raised when she was spotted at a festival in northern Israel last year.
Israeli police initiated a covert investigation into Ms Leifer to see whether her claims to be too ill to attend court were valid.

Child sex abuse activist and former abuse victim Manny Waks also welcomed the news. “I’m delighted to hear of Malka Leifer’s arrest and hope that it is the re-commencement of a process that leads to her extradition to Australia to face her accusers,” he said. “Her arrest is a credit to the many people who have worked tirelessly to ensure that she will be held to account and can no longer be a potential threat to children in Israel. I’m especially happy for her courageous alleged victims.”

Ms Leifer was helped by senior members of Melbourne’s ultra-orthodox Adass community in 2008 after they became aware of allegations of sexual abuse involving Ms Leifer, who was principal of the Adass Israel School. Victoria Police would eventually charge her with 74 counts of sexual assault and rape.

In 2015, former Victorian Supreme Court judge Jack Rush ordered the school to pay $1,024,428 in damages after Ms Erlich sued the school.

Ms Leifer’s alleged abuse of Ms Erlich began when Ms Erlich was 15 and allegedly continued for years. The leaders of the Adass community were widely criticised for helping Ms Leifer to fly to Israel on the night when allegations against her were first raised with them.
In his judgment Justice Rush stated: “The failure of the board to report the allegations to police prior to arranging Leifer’s urgent departure is deplorable.”

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La Iglesia Católica encubre curas pederastas y «les corta la cabeza» a los que incumplen con el celibato

OAXACA (MEXICO)
Página 3 [Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico]

February 13, 2016

By Pedro Matias

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OAXACA, Oax. (#página3.mx).- La Iglesia Católica podría ser calificada como una institución “retrógrada, anti evangélica y anti humanista” porque es más sancionado el que los sacerdotes incumplan con el celibato que violar niños, como lo demuestra la abierta protección de la pederastia clerical.

Aunque el Papa Francisco ha manifestado que el celibato no es parte del dogma sino una medida disciplinaria, lo que significa que puede revisarse, la realidad es que en México la Iglesia tolera que tengas una relación con una mujer y tengas tus hijos siempre y cuando no se haga público, pero si trasciende “te cortan la cabeza”.

En vísperas de la visita Papal, un grupo de sacerdotes de la Arquidiócesis de Antequera-Oaxaca accedió a hablar del tema con la condición de guardar el anonimato porque “si estás dentro del Presbiterio, una de las cosa más riesgosas, aunque no es dogma ni herejía, es hablar contra el celibato, te cortan la cabeza”, sintetizaron.

Incluso se atrevieron a mencionar que cuatro gobernadores de Oaxaca -no quisieron revelar nombres-, únicamente se limitaron a decir que uno de ellos mandó a poner cuatro ángeles en el campanario de San Juan de Dios para dejar testimonio de esa realidad.

Para reforzar su dicho mencionaron que un presbítero es pariente cercano del general Marcos Pérez porque su hermano el cura Mateo Pérez es padre de Nicolás Pérez y a la vez es abuelo de un sacerdote en funciones.

Y el caso más reciente de protección a pederastia es el que presuntamente cometió el padre Gerardo Silvestre Hernández, quien fue detenido el 29 de noviembre de 2013 por el presunto abuso sexual de casi un centenar de niños indígenas y por el cual a la fecha no ha sido sentenciado.

Mientras que por ese presunto delito los párrocos de Cristo Rey, Apolonio Merino Hernández, y de Santiago CamotlánÁngel Noguera Nieto, fueron suspendidos de sus funciones sacerdotales en agosto pasado por el arzobispo de Antequera-Oaxaca, José Luis Chávez Botello, por no ocultar el caso de pederastia cometido por su compañero el padre Gerardo Silvestre Hernández.

El padre Apolonio Merino Hernández denunció que a partir del pasado 7 de agosto fue notificado que quedó suspendido de sus funciones sacerdotales, al tiempo que se quejó de que fue amenazado de que si hacía algún escándalo público ventilarían que violó el celibato al formar su propia familia y de prefabricarle un delito por el supuesto abuso sexual a una mujer.Antes de que le notificaron su “destierro” de la Arquidiócesis le ofrecieron darle una mesada de ocho mil pesos para que tenga un apoyo y tenga una “vida digna”; sin embargo, el sacerdote decidió no callar este atropello de la Iglesia Católica porque por encima de su seguridad está la justicia para los niños indígenas que fueron abusado sexualmente.

Gerardo Silvestre Hernández, ex párroco de Santa María Ozolotepec, fue aprehendido el 29 de noviembre de 2013 en Tlaxiaco en cumplimiento a una orden de aprehensión librada por el Juzgado VII de lo Penal, según consta en el expediente penal 140/2013 por el delito de corrupción de personas menores de 18 años.

Posteriormente, el Juzgado Séptimo de lo Penal dictó el auto de formal prisión a Silvestre Hernández, también ex párroco en San Pablo Huitzo, Santiago Camotlán y Villa Alta; sin embargo, es la fecha que el Poder Judicial no le ha dictado sentencia.

Ni tampoco el Arzobispo ha dado una disculpa pública ni existe la reparación del daño cometido a unas 100 personas que en el 2009 tenían entre 11 y 13 años.

En enero de 2014, sacerdotes de la Arquidiócesis de Antequera-Oaxaca exigieron a las autoridades eclesiásticas “extirpar de raíz el infame crimen de la pederastia que se dejó incubar en la Iglesia con su silencio cómplice”.

Para ello, es necesario que las autoridades eclesiásticas encabezadas por el arzobispo José Luis Chávez Botello, pidan perdón por los casos de pederastia cometidos por el sacerdote Gerardo Silvestre Hernández, quien solo fue removido de sus parroquias.

El Foro Oaxaqueño de la Niñez (Foni) integrado por 25 organizaciones y ocho sacerdotes católicos exigieron al presidente del Tribunal Superior de Justicia, Alfredo Lagunas Rivera, imponer la pena máxima al presbítero detenido por corrupción de menores contra dos niños de Villa Alta, hechos que ocurrieron durante los años 2009 y 2010.

Y mientras el arzobispo José Luis Chávez Botello se quejó que desde hace seis años la Arquidiócesis ha sido calumniada y difamada por el presunto caso de pederastia del sacerdote Gerardo Silvestre Hernández -quien perteneció al presbiterio y ahora enfrenta un proceso penal que aún no concluye-, resaltó que han sido categóricos al afirmar que nadie tiene derecho a dañar la integridad y la vida de las niñas, niños y adolescentes, razón por la cual “condenamos enérgicamente la pederastia”.

En clara alusión al cura Apolonio Merino Hernández que denunció que fue suspendido de sus funciones sacerdotales por denunciar el caso de pederastia, el purpurado también consideró que nadie tiene el derecho a dañar la honorabilidad y la buena fama de las personas y de las instituciones, desinformando y falseando la verdad, por lo que con la misma energía condenó la “mentira”.

ANACRÓNICO EL CELIBATO

“Ya lo dijo un cura, mis nietos ya no lo verán”, “No hay cosa más segura que la mujer del cura”, y “Si no eres casto, sé cauto”, con estas frases el propio presbiterio se burla del celibato.

Al respecto, el obispo emérito de Tehuantepec, Arturo Lona Reyes, se pronunció porque la Iglesia modifique esa disciplina porque si llegara esto a resolverse -que los sacerdotes casados puedan regresar al ejercicio de su ministerio sacerdotal- estaría de acuerdo, lástima que yo haya llegado tarde porque “ya lo dijo un cura, mis nietos ya no lo verán”.

Consideró que “es de humanos equivocarse y son miles de sacerdotes que no pueden ejercer por esa razón y su vocación es el servicio dentro de la Iglesia, pero si yo fuera escuchado, porque soy Emérito y ya no nos hacen caso, estaría de acuerdo (en que eliminara el celibato)”.

Sin embargo, reconoció que “sí hay granos negros en el arroz, sí hay fallas, pero desde mi punto de vista el Papa debería tomar esa acción y regresarán mucho al redil porque hay sacerdotes ejemplares que acercan a sus hijos y añoran que quieren regresar al servicio sacerdotal”.

Por su parte, el ex sacerdote y defensor de derechos humanos Alberto Athié, afirmó que “el celibato como tal no es el problema porque la Iglesia tolera esto mientras no se sepa, mientras no se haga público, pero si se hace público y te portas mal, te la cobran. Ahí esta el caso de Apolonio”.

Entonces, “si tienes tu pareja y trabajas bien, ni quien te toque, pero te la cobran si te portas mal con los jerarcas. Si se la aplicaran a todos los que tienen parejas, ¿cuántas quedarían en el equipo?”.

Lo preocupante, dijo, es que “es más sancionable y punible que tú tengas una relación con una mujer y tengas tus hijos con ella siendo sacerdote, a que abuses de niños”.

Por consiguiente la Iglesia “no solo es retrógrada, es anti-evangélica y anti-humanista porque tener relaciones heterosexuales dentro de la antropología eclesiástica y de la revelación es normal, está en la creación”.

Entonces, agregó, “el haber dicho que para ser sacerdote tienes que ser célibe, de alguna manera contradice la creación. Hay que dejarlos libres, el que quiera ser célibe que lo haga, quien no, no. Jesús tenía apóstoles casados y célibes y no les impuso a unos ni una ni otra, los dejó en plena libertad”.

Considera que el celibato es por razones económicas, para controlar las herencias y los patrimonios.

Por su parte, los sacerdotes afirmaron que el celibato en Oaxaca ha sido un punto que siempre ha imperado porque desde los tiempo de los arzobispos Eulogio Guillow, Othón Núñez y Zárate, Fortino Gómez León, Ernesto Corripio Ahumada, Bartolomé Carrasco, Héctor González y ahora Chávez Botello, hay curas que tienen una pareja.

Aclararon que en Oaxaca, particularmente en comunidades indígenas, no es mal visto que el sacerdote tenga su familia, lo que no aguanta la gente es que los trates mal o cometan atrocidades con menores y jóvenes.

El problema es con el mundo gay porque nadie los entiende, no son aceptados en las comunidades, pero al sacerdote nunca lo tocan, lo ven muy natural.

“A través de la historia, desde tiempo inmemorial, esto está escrito, pero en Oaxaca en la vida clerical, habla de muchos compañeros que tienen su familia y son ejemplares, con una entrega al 100 por ciento a su pueblo”, mencionaron.

“El Derecho Canónico te marca casi pena de excomunión a quien deliberadamente divide a la Iglesia y la otra, aunque no es de ese tamaño, están los sacerdotes que violan el celibato públicamente, como los casos del cura Alberto Cutié de Miami, Florida, EU, (2009) que fue fotografiado con una mujer, y en 2012 el obispo argentino Fernando Bargalló, quien tuvo que renunciar al ser exhibido en una playa mexicana desplegando muestras efusivas de afecto hacia una mujer”.

Sin embargo, conoce de casos de pederastas y lo único que hacen es reubicarlos para protegerlos.

Ya desde la administración del arzobispo de los pobres, Bartolomé Carrasco Briseño, reconoció que “el 70% del presbiterio tenían problema del celibato”, lo que no significa que necesariamente fuera con una mujer cuando en la Iglesia Católica no se permite la ordenación de homosexuales.

Aclararon que “el celibato no hace al sacerdote. Las Iglesias Ortodoxa y la Anglicana no tienen el celibato. El que yo no sea célibe no mengua mi sexualidad ni mi relación con Dios, yo me puedo equivocar humanamente, calenturientamente, pero el que da los hijos no se equivoca”.

“El celibato no fue puesto institucional por Jesús, no es mandato divino, es un mandato humano que se dio en el Concilio de Elvira”.

Además, “Dios nos creó y nos crió para procrear e imponer el celibato es contra natura”, finalizaron.

Si se permitiera al sacerdote tener su propia familia, no habría déficit de curas, muestra de ello es que 14 parroquias de Oaxaca se encuentran sin presbítero y en el seminario solo hay cuatro aspirantes a ser ordenados.

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MEDIA RELEASE – FEBRUARY 12, 2018

NEW YORK
Road to Recovery

Road to Recovery, Inc. – P.O. Box 279, Livingston, New Jersey 07039 – 862-368-2800

A childhood victim of clergy sexual abuse in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, Thomas McGarvey, received $500,000 through the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program of the Diocese of Rockville Centre

Thomas McGarvey was sexually abused by Rev. Robert Brown (deceased) over the course of many years at St. Catherine of Sienna Parish, Franklin Square, Long Island, at other “Church” locations in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, and in secular locations on Long Island

What

A press conference announcing that childhood clergy sexual abuse victim, Thomas McGarvey of Queens, New York, has received a settlement of $500,000 from the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, through its Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program

When

Tuesday, February 13, 2018 at 11:45 am

Where

On the public sidewalk across from St. Agnes Cathedral, 29 Quealy Place, Rockville Centre, New York 11570

Who

Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., President of Road to Recovery, Inc., the non-profit charity based in New Jersey that has worked with Thomas McGarvey for years to help him recover and heal from childhood clergy sexual abuse. Thomas McGarvey and his attorney, Mitchell Garabedian of Boston, will be available by telephone

Why

Thomas McGarvey was a child when he was sexually abused many times over the course of many years by Fr. Robert Brown at St. Catherine of Sienna Parish in Franklin Square, Long Island and at other parishes and locations throughout Long Island. Thomas McGarvey courageously came forward to report that he had been sexually abused by Fr. Robert Brown and submitted his case to the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program (IRCP) of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, Long Island. The IRCP found Thomas McGarvey’s allegations credible and settled with him for $500,000.

Contacts

Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Road to Recovery, Inc., 862-368-2800 – roberthoatson@gmail.com

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Boston, MA – 617-523-6250 – mgarabedian@garabedianlaw.com
(portrayed in the 2016 Academy Award-winning Best Picture, “Spotlight”)

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February 12, 2018

Clergy still believe some complainants are ‘simply out for the money’, abuse expert tells church leaders

ENGLAND
The Telegraph

February 10, 2018

By Olivia Rudgard

Clergy believe some abuse complainants are “simply out for the money”, an expert has told General Synod.

Roger Singleton, a former chair of the Independent Safeguarding Authority, said that while attitudes among church members had improved, some priests still treated abuse allegations with “ambivalence, even hostility,” and were “unable or unwilling to accept the need for sensible, proportionate measures” to prevent abuse.

As part of an update by church leaders on the Church of England’s preparation for a series of abuse inquiries later this year, the former chief adviser to the government on the safety of children said some clergy “minimise the impacts which physical, sexual, emotional or spiritual abuse can have on people’s lives”. In some cases, he said, they “believe that complainants are simply out for the money”.

He added that the Church needed to “grasp the nettle of dealing with clergy, readers, priests with PTO [permission to officiate] and lay leaders who persistently fail to attend training opportunities or speak disparagingly about reasonable safeguarding measures”.

The bishop of Leeds also said that relations with the police needed to be improved, and said bishops were “frustrated by having to take the rap for things which are not our responsibility”.

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Catholic Church’s massive wealth revealed

AUSTRALIA
The Sydney Morning Herald

February 12, 2018

By Royce Millar, Ben Schneiders, and Chris Vedelago

The Catholic Church in Australia is worth tens of billions of dollars, making it one of the country’s biggest non-government property owners, and massively wealthier than it has claimed in evidence to major inquiries into child sexual abuse.

A six-month investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald has found that the church misled the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse by grossly undervaluing its property treasures in both NSW and Victoria while claiming that increased payments to abuse victims would require cuts to its social programs.

The investigation was based on intricate data from local councils that allowed more than 1860 valuations of church-owned property in Victoria. That showed that across 36 municipalities – including nearly all of metropolitan Melbourne – the church had land and buildings worth almost $7 billion in 2016.

Extrapolated nationally, using conservative assumptions, the church owns property worth more than $30 billion Australia-wide.

This put the Catholic church among the largest non-government property owners, by value, in NSW and Australia, rivalling Westfield’s network of shopping centres and other assets. It dwarfs all other large property owners.

“These figures confirm what we have known; there is huge inequity between the Catholic Church’s wealth and their responses to survivors,” said Helen Last, chief executive of the In Good Faith Foundation.

“The 600 survivors registered for our Foundation’s services continue to experience minimal compensation and lack of comprehensive care in relation to their Church abuses. They say their needs are the lowest of church priorities.’’

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At the #metoo Olympics, organizers confront sexual abuse

PYEONGCHANG (SOUTH KOREA)
The Associated Press

February 12, 2018

By Claire Galofaro

A Catholic nun waits eight hours each day at a folding table, ready for a call but praying nothing has happened to cause the phone to ring.

Her office, the “Gender Equality Support Centre,” a tiny trailer tucked between a bathroom and a police post under the ski lift at the Phoenix Snow Park, is a nondescript acknowledgment of the revolution in women’s rights that, outside the Olympic gates, is thundering through the world.

Sungsook Kim — who goes by her religious name, Sister Droste — speaks little English. But to describe her mission, she says the name of the American movement: “me too.”

The Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang arrives amid the reckoning that has brought down celebrities, politicians and the entire board of U.S.A Gymnastics. NBC star Matt Lauer was fired for sexual misconduct, and his accuser said the harassment began at the last Winter Olympics, in Sochi.

During the Summer Games in Rio, two athletes were accused of assaulting housekeepers. A horrified world recently watched dozens of women and girls, some of them Olympians, describe in detail how Larry Nassar, the gymnastics doctor, had sexually abused them for decades as layers of elite athletic organizations failed to stop it.

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With $30b in wealth, why is the Catholic Church struggling to pay for justice?

WOLLONGONG (AUSTRALIA)
Illawarra Mercury

February 12, 2018

By Ben Schneiders, Royce Millar, and Chris Vedelago

After a lifetime contributing to the Catholic Church, Neil Ormerod could give no more.

Following a Sunday mass in 2014, the Australian Catholic University theology professor told his parish priest he no longer trusted the church to use its resources in a way Jesus Christ would approve.

The trigger for his rebellion was the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in 2014 – in particular, Cardinal George Pell’s testimony about the church’s brutal legal assault on John Ellis, a former altar boy abused by a priest in the 1970s.

When Ellis finally confronted the Sydney archdiocese in 2002, then led by Pell, it offered him $25,000 in compensation, which he rejected.

The church then dismissed Ellis’s proposal for a $100,000 settlement, instead spending $800,000 fighting him in court, successfully arguing it could not be sued because it did not exist as an entity.

The church threatened to pursue Ellis for its legal costs.

“That money was the accumulated wealth of generations of good faithful Catholics who gave with the best will in the world,” says Ormerod. “It was used in an immoral attack on an abuse survivor and church member.”

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Church facing years of shame as extent of abuse emerges, bishop warns

ENGLAND
Christian Today

February 10, 2018

By Harry Farley

The Church of England has upped its spending on safeguarding five-fold since 2014 as it attempts to address hundreds of abuse allegations against clergy and officials.

Despite this rapid increase in spending, Peter Hancock, the Bishop of Bath and Wells and the CofE’s lead on safeguarding, warned the Church faces a painful couple of years as it goes before the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (ICCSA)’s public hearings.

‘This will not be an easy couple of years – we will hear deeply painful accounts of abuse, of poor response, of “cover up”,’ he told the ruling general synod on Saturday. The Church, he added, will ‘feel a deep sense of shame’.

In a presentation on safeguarding to the synod, he said: ‘For too long, the Church has not responded well to those who allege abuse within our church communities. This is now changing and further change is needed.’

He added that while progress was made on safeguarding as a result of the spike in spending, the pace of that change must accelerate even more.

Figures revealed to synod revealed the Church dealt with 3,300 safeguarding cases in 2016 alone, around 594 of which were claims against clergy and officials. These include a mixture of new and historic accusations.

‘I want to pay tribute to victims and survivors of abuse, regardless of their age or the circumstance in which the abuse took place or how long ago it took place. I have been humbled by their courage,’ he said.

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Children’s Publishing Reckons with Sexual Harassment in Its Ranks

NEW YORK (NY)
School Library Journal

January 3, 2018

By Drew Himmelstein

A writer was making small talk during the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ (SCBWI) annual conference when she says the man she was chatting with, a successful children’s book illustrator, reached over and touched her hair.

“He fondled a lock of my hair and leaned in to my ear and said, ‘You’re kinky, aren’t you?’” says the writer, who asked not to be identified. (See updated story: “Ishta Mercurio Goes Public as David Díaz Accuser.”)

The exchange, which happened in 2012 at SCBWI’s winter conference in New York and was witnessed by one of the writer’s friends, left the woman feeling “horrified” and “disgusted.” The illustrator, David Díaz, was a member of SCBWI’s board and a faculty member at the conference. Still, the writer, who at that point in her career was an unpublished aspiring children’s book author, did not complain about the incident at the time. However, in December 2017, Díaz resigned from his position on the SCBWI’s board, after sexual harassment complaints emerged about his past.

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Cardinal Cupich defends Pope’s record on doctrine and abuse

ENGLAND
Catholic Herald

February 10, 2018

By Dan Hitchens

Cardinal Cupich called for a ‘paradigm shift’ in pastoral practice and said that the Pope recognised the need to ‘listen’ to abuse survivors

Cardinal Blase Cupich has defended Pope Francis’s record and called for a “paradigm shift” in Catholic practice.

Addressing the Von Hügel Institute at St Edmund’s College, Cambridge, under the title “Pope Francis’ Revolution of Mercy: Amoris Laetitia as a New Paradigm of Catholicity”, Cardinal Cupich called for “a major shift in our ministerial approach that is nothing short of revolutionary”.

The hoped-for “paradigm shift”, the cardinal said, would be from an approach focused on “the automatic application of universal principles” to one which is “continually immersed” in “concrete situations”.

Vigorous debate has followed the publication of Amoris Laetitia in April 2016, with different cardinals, bishops and theologians advancing varying interpretations.

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Catholic Church national wealth estimated to be $30 billion, investigation finds

AUSTRALIA
Australian Broadcasting Corporation

February 12, 2018

By Emily Bourke

There are calls for the Catholic Church’s tax-free status to be reviewed after a Fairfax investigation revealing the extent of property, assets and investments owned by the church in Australia.

Fairfax’s six-month investigation found the Catholic Church was worth more than $9 billion in Victoria alone.

The investigation extrapolated that figure to estimate the church’s national wealth at $30 billion.

The Age’s journalists obtained property valuations from dozens of Victorian councils.

They found 1,800 church-owned properties, including churches, presbyteries, schools, nursing homes, hospitals, offices, tennis courts and even mobile phone towers.

But beyond real estate, there was superannuation, telecommunications, Catholic Church Insurance and Catholic Development Funds, which serve as an internal treasury.

Catholics for Renewal’s Peter Johnstone, a corporate governance consultant, said most Catholics would have no idea about the extent of the church’s assets.

“Certainly there’s been no public record available to Catholics,” he said.

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Tribune Editorial: Sen. Hatch, and the LDS Church, minimize domestic violence

SALT LAKE CITY (UT)
The Salt Lake Tribune

February 11, 2018

Now that Sen. Orrin Hatch has announced his retirement, it appears that his handlers have taken the muzzle off.

Hatch made headlines this past week after he cavalierly dismissed reports of spousal abuse by his former chief of staff, Rob Porter.

Porter resigned as staff secretary to President Trump after information about his alleged physical and mental abuse of two ex-wives became public.

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How the Ballarat Diocese is paying for abuse survivors compensation

BALLARAT (AUSTRALIA)
The Courier

February 12, 2018

By Rochelle Kirkham

The Catholic Diocese of Ballarat has revealed it is confident it will be in a financial position to meet all compensation claims for survivors of abuse.

The Ballarat Diocese has paid over $4.9 million in compensation to survivors of child sexual abuse and over $1 million in pastoral support to abuse survivors so far.

Diocecan business manager Andrew Jirik said the diocese would continue to meet compensation claims from its assets and insurance.

“The Diocese of Ballarat has drawn these funds from its own resources, including its insurer where its policies apply, without recourse to the assets of its 51 parishes which belong to local parish communities across the diocese,” Mr Jirik said.

“The diocese has been able to meet all claims to date and is confident that it will be in a position to continue to do so.”

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Catholic Church asked to acknowledge priest’s daughter

AUCKLAND (NEW ZEALAND)
Radio NZ

February 12, 2018

By Phil Pennington

Kathleen* holds the rosary that was her mother’s.

On the living room wall behind her is the wooden cross that was her father’s.

Her father was a Catholic priest.

He took Holy Orders. He had a high profile in the Auckland diocese, said Kathleen. He was meant to be celibate.

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Top U.S. diplomat highlights mandatory sexual harassment training

CAIRO
Reuters

February 12, 2018

CAIRO (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Monday urged department employees to intervene if they witness sexual harassment, two days after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed sympathy for those accused of harassment and not given due process.

“There is no form of disrespect for the individual that I can identify, anything more demeaning than for someone to suffer this kind of treatment,” he said.

“It’s not OK if you’re seeing it happening and just look away. You must do something. You must notify someone. You must step in and intervene,” Tillerson added, speaking in Cairo to about 150 U.S. embassy staff outside the ambassador’s residence.

Tillerson’s comments came amid a chorus of sexual misconduct accusations against powerful men in media, business and politics in the United States that in recent days has reached top aides in the White House.

His remarks also stand in stark contrast to those expressed by Trump, who last week defended a top aide who resigned after domestic violence allegations against him came to light and over the weekend also took to Twitter to raise doubts about such allegations.

A second White House aide left late last week after domestic violence allegations against him also surfaced. Both men have denied the accusations. Reuters has not independently verified either case.

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Chile Sex-Abuse Victim: ‘Vatican Investigation Must Be Fair’

CHILE
TeleSurTV

February 9, 2018

Juan Carlos Cruz said Pope Francis had “set the clock back years and years” with his recent comments casting doubt on the credibility of victims of abuse.

A Chilean victim of clerical sexual abuse who is the key witness in the case of a bishop accused of covering it up says a Vatican investigation must be rigorous and fair if the church is to salvage its reputation on the issue.

In a telephone interview with Reuters from his home in the United States on Thursday, Juan Carlos Cruz said Pope Francis had “set the clock back years and years” with his recent comments casting doubt on the credibility of victims of abuse.

On Jan. 30, the Vatican said the pope had appointed the church’s most experienced sexual abuse investigator to look into accusations that Bishop Juan Barros of the diocese of Osorno in Chile had covered up crimes against minors.

It was a dramatic U-turn for the pope, who eight days earlier told reporters aboard his plane returning from Latin America he was sure Barros was innocent and that the Vatican had received no concrete evidence against him.

Cruz said he had been “very touched and grateful” when the investigator, Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, telephoned him to arrange a meeting in New York next week on his way to Chile.

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Call for church to acknowledge priest was woman’s father

AUCKLAND (NEW ZEALAND)
Radio New Zealand

February 12, 2018

An Auckland woman is breaking a half century of secrecy around her father. It’s believed to be the first time in New Zealand that the child of a supposedly celibate Catholic priest has gone public. This comes after an international support website told RNZ a week ago, that half a dozen New Zealanders have contacted it saying they are the children of priests. The priest, who has since died, had a high profile in the Auckland Diocese. RNZ has seen the evidence he is the father – as has Bishop of Auckland Patrick Dunn.

An Auckland woman is asking the Catholic church to acknowledge her father was a priest.

The unnamed woman says her father was forced to keep the secret for decades as Catholic priests are meant to be celibate, RNZ reported.

The woman had received scientific evidence the priest was her father, and had taken that to Auckland Bishop Pat Dunn.

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Former Priest Charged With Sexual Abuse Pleads to Battery

AURORA (IL)
NBC Chicago

February 11, 2018

His attorney says he expects Pedraza-Arias to leave the country soon

A former Catholic priest in suburban Chicago who was charged with sexually abusing two girls is likely returning to his native Colombia soon after pleading guilty to misdemeanor battery.

The Kane County State’s Attorney’s office says it agreed to the plea deal Friday after prosecutors analyzed evidence, communicated with the victims’ families and received assurances that Alfredo Pedraza-Arias will be “removed from the United States.”

A jail official says Pedraza-Arias was released Saturday “to the custody of another agency” but wouldn’t elaborate. His attorney says he expects Pedraza-Arias to leave the country soon.

Pedraza-Arias was charged in 2016 with aggravated criminal sexual abuse of two girls younger than 13 after he allegedly abused one of them at Sacred Heart Church in Aurora and the other at her Aurora home.

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Revealing #MeToo as #WeToo in Jewish Communal Life

NEW YORK (NY)
JGirls Magazine

February 2018

By Ayelet Kalfus

The night started with song. The words of Shehecheyanu, the Jewish blessing for gratitude at experiencing something new, washed over the crowd as Naomi Less sang: “Blessed are You who has enabled us to reach this moment.” We weren’t singing in gratitude for what had brought us here; rather, we were grateful to be, for the first time, confronting an issue that had been wrongfully denied and neglected for years within our community.

We, nearly 300 communal professionals, lay leaders, and members of the public, were at the “Revealing #MeToo as #WeToo in Jewish Communal Life” event at the Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York (JWFNY). Using two events in the theater industry as a model, JWFNY organized the night to reveal the prevalence of gender-based harassment in Jewish organizations and strategize for the future.

The first half of the night was storytelling. When I was first invited to the event as a teen reporter, I imagined that these stories would be long, court-like testimonies. I was wrong. Performers from the Jewish community, varying in race and gender stood from their seats, slowly walking to carefully-placed microphones spread throughout the audience. JWFNY had collected the stories of anonymous Jewish-community professionals. The performers read parts of these stories—moments taken from long accounts of gender-based harassment.

For 40 minutes, the crowd was silent, except for sharp intakes of breath, sounds of surprise and disgust. The air was crackling with anger, sadness, pain. I had chills the entire time. The fact that the performers were standing within the audience amplified the night’s message: these stories were our own. This pain was the pain of our fellow community members.

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How the Catholic Church vastly understated its true wealth

AUSTRALIA
AAP

February 12, 2018

The Catholic Church has vastly understated the value of its multi-billion-dollar property portfolio, amid claims it cannot afford to pay compensation to abuse victims, according to an investigation of its assets.

An investigation by Fairfax Media published on Monday found that the church owns more than $30 billion in property and other assets across Australia.

Fairfax estimated the church’s total wealth in Victoria alone to be about $9 billion, almost 82 times larger than the the $109 million it revealed to the royal commission in 2014 as the estimated value of its Victorian property portfolio.

The investigation makes the church Victoria’s largest non-government property owner, casting serious doubt over its claims that it would be forced to cut back on social work if forced to compensate victims of clergy sexual abuse.

The reported wealth of the church also contrasts with findings by the royal commission, which found the average payout by the church’s compensation scheme established by former archbishop George Pell 20 years ago was $35,000 or less for those who had been abused by clergy.

“These figures confirm what we have known; there is huge inequity between the Catholic Church’s wealth and their responses to survivors,” Helen Last, chief executive of the In Good Faith Foundation, which supports abuse survivors told Fairfax.

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Church ‘facing two years of abuse revelations’

ENGLAND
The Week

February 12, 2018

The Church of England is facing two years of revelations about sexual abuse and attempts to cover it up, its ruling general synod has been told.

Responding to reports the Church is dealing with more than 3,000 reports of sexual abuse within its parishes, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, Rev Peter Hancock, said: “We will hear deeply painful accounts of abuse, of poor response, and over cover-up.”

Hancock, the lead bishop for safeguarding, told the synod that “this will not be an easy couple of years”.

The most recent figures for 2016 showed that dioceses are dealing with 3,300 “concerns or allegations”, the vast majority related to “children, young people and vulnerable adults within Church communities”.

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Las Cruces Diocese sued in alleged Hobbs sexual abuse case

HOBBS (NM)
Associated Press

February 11, 2018

A man who alleges a former New Mexico priest sexually abused him is suing the Diocese of Las Cruces.

The lawsuit, filed last week against the diocese and St. Helena Parish in Hobbs, says the diocese facilitated sexual battery and assisted Father Ricardo Bauza in evading authorities, the Hobbs News-Sun reports.

It comes three months after Hobbs police issued a warrant for Bauza’s arrest following a complaint he sexually assaulted an adult male.

According to a criminal complaint filed in the fall, Bauza got into a shower with an adult male and washed the victim’s body with a loofah in the church rectory in April 2016.

The complaint says two male church members also told police Bauza showed them cellphone photos of his genitals.

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In abuse scandal, Pope stakes his case on evidence, not authority

ROME
Crux

February 9, 2018

By John L. Allen Jr.

ROME – In many ways, it’s surprising that Pope Francis’s spontaneous, shoot from the hip style of public speech hasn’t gotten him into serious trouble long before now.

There have been mini-fracases along the way – for instance, what exactly did he mean that Catholics “don’t have to breed like rabbits,” as he put it in a memorable press conference in January 2015 on the way back from the Philippines? – but never enough to put much of a dent in the broad media love affair with Francis.

If anything, the pontiff’s maverick style and penchant for plain speech has been part of that romance, contrasting favorably with the bland corporate boilerplate one often gets from officialdom.

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Catholic Church asking wealthy followers to help pay for Pope’s visit to Ireland

IRELAND
The Irish Mirror

February 11, 2018

By Gavin O’Callaghan and Edel Hughes

The visit is expected to cost €20m

The Catholic Church in Ireland is trying to persuade wealthy followers to donate millions of euro to pay for the Pope’s visit here.

The World Meeting of Families, which will take place from August 21 to 26, is estimated to cost around €20million.

And the collection bowl is being passed to rich followers and businesses who will be asked to dig deep and contribute thousands of euro.

A spokesman for the organisers said the Church is following methods used by charities and a “limited number of tickets” were put aside for donations.

He added: “ WMOF2018 is in the process of approaching a number of individuals and corporates, both in Ireland and internationally, to assist in defraying the cost of hosting the event.

“In our conversations with potential donors, we are discussing the nature of the event and asking them if they would like to contribute.

“From our conversations with potential donors, we understand this practice of seeking donations from individuals and corporates is very common in the charity sector.

“The level of an individual’s or corporate donation is their own decision.”

The source told the Sunday Business Post the event will include a concluding mass in Dublin’s Croke Park with a “limited supply” being set aside for contributors.

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Harvey Weinstein, His Brother And Their Company Hit With Civil Rights Lawsuit

NEW YORK (NY)
NPR

February 11, 2018

By Colin Dwyer

Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood megaproducer accused of sexual harassment and assault dating back decades, has been slapped with a civil rights lawsuit by New York’s attorney general. Eric Schneiderman announced the suit Sunday, saying his office has sued not only Weinstein, but also his brother, Robert, and The Weinstein Company.

“As alleged in our complaint, The Weinstein Company repeatedly broke New York law by failing to protect its employees from pervasive sexual harassment, intimidation, and discrimination,” Schneiderman said in a statement.

“Any sale of The Weinstein Company must ensure that victims will be compensated, employees will be protected going forward, and that neither perpetrators nor enablers will be unjustly enriched. Every New Yorker has a right to a workplace free of sexual harassment, intimidation, and fear.”

The lawsuit also threatens to disrupt a reported $500 million sale of the company the Weinstein brothers co-founded in 2005. As The Los Angeles Times reports, former Obama administration official Maria Contreras-Sweet had been in weeks-long negotiations to buy the troubled organization and set up a proposed fund for Weinstein’s alleged victims.

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Weinstein Attorney Responds to NY Suit: ‘He Will ‘Vigorously Defend Himself’

NEW YORK (NY)
The Wrap

February 11, 2018

By Rosemary Rossi

“Harvey Weinstein promoted more women to key executive positions than any other industry leader,” attorney Ben Brafman says

Harvey Weinstein’s attorney says that his client deserves credit for promoting “more women to key executive positions than any other industry leader.”

That statement from Ben Brafman was a response to a civil rights lawsuit filed by New York’s attorney general, Eric Schneiderman.

“If the purpose of the inquiry is to encourage reform throughout the film industry, Mr. Weinstein will embrace the investigation,” Brafman writes. “If the purpose, however, is to scapegoat Mr. Weinstein, he will vigorously defend himself.”

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Weinstein Company Sale Halted by Lawsuit Accusing the Studio of Enabling Harassment

NEW YORK (NY)
Slate

February 12, 2018

By Molly Olmstead

New York’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit against the Weinstein Company accusing the studio of creating a “toxic environment” that allowed movie producer Harvey Weinstein to sexually abuse and harass women at his company.

The suit, filed Sunday in the State Supreme Court in Manhattan, halted the company’s sale, which was expected to be finalized that day, according to the New York Times. If the sale doesn’t go through, the company, which has struggled since accusations against Weinstein began piling up in October, will be headed toward bankruptcy, according to the Times.

The lawsuit alleges that the Weinstein Company and the two Weinstein brothers who founded it violated state and city laws related to discrimination, harassment, abuse, and coercion, according to the Times.

The investor group that planned to buy the company said it would set aside $20 million to $30 million for a settlement fund for Weinstein’s victims, according to Variety. Weinstein’s brother, Bob Weinstein, would leave the studio, and the group had said it planned to put more women in leadership positions. But the new owners would make David Glasser, Harvey Weinstein’s right-hand man, the new CEO.

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Larry Nassar sent to maximum security prison in Arizona

TUCSON (AZ)
CBS/AP

February 11, 2018

Prison records show that disgraced former gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar has been transferred to a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona. The Federal Bureau of Prisons online inmate registry on Saturday showed that the 54-year-old was housed at the high security prison that also has an adjacent minimum security satellite camp.

Nassar faces two long prison sentences in Michigan for molestation. But first he must serve 60 years in federal prison for child pornography crimes.

The Nassar scandal upended the gymnastics world and raised alarms about the sport’s ask-no-questions culture. His serial sexual abuse of girls and young women has shaken Michigan State University and elite sports associations.

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Disgraced former USA Gymnastics doctor sent to Arizona federal prison

TUCSON (AZ)
Reuters

February 10, 2018

By Suzannah Gonzales

Former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar has been transferred to a high security federal prison in Tucson, Arizona, after being convicted of molesting scores of young women who went to him for treatment, authorities said on Saturday.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons said the 54-year-old Nassar was at the United States Penitentiary, Tucson, which holds about 1,390 male inmates. The bureau’s website listed his release date as March 23, 2069.

After weeks of horrifying testimony from nearly 200 victims about his decades of abuse, Nassar was sentenced on Monday in Michigan to 40 to 125 years in prison.

He had already received a 40-to-175-year sentence in a neighboring Michigan county, and was sentenced to a 60-year federal term for child pornography convictions.

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Weinstein sued by NY attorney-general over sexual harassment

NEW YORK (NY)
Financial Times

February 11, 2018

By Shannon Bond

Potential sale of troubled film studio thrown into doubt

New York’s attorney-general has sued Harvey Weinstein and The Weinstein Company, throwing into doubt the potential sale of the troubled film studio following allegations of serial sexual misconduct by the once powerful producer.

“The Weinstein Company repeatedly broke New York law by failing to protect its employees from pervasive sexual harassment, intimidation, and discrimination,” said Eric Schneiderman, the state’s top prosecutor, on Sunday.

Following a four-month investigation into TWC, the complaint alleges “a years-long gender-based hostile work environment, a pattern of quid pro quo sexual harassment, and routine misuse of corporate resources for unlawful ends” dating back to 2005, the year Mr Weinstein founded the company with his brother Bob, who is also named in the suit.

The complaint alleges that Mr Weinstein engaged in a long-running pattern of harassment and abuse and that the company failed to investigate or stop it. It accuses the brothers and TWC of “repeated, persistent, and egregious violations of law”.

Since the first allegations against him emerged publicly in October, Mr Weinstein has been accused by more than 80 women of harassment or assault. He denies all allegations of non-consensual sex. He was fired from TWC in October and is under criminal investigation by police in New York, Los Angeles and London.

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Enabling Harvey Weinstein’s sex life was ‘condition of employment,’ New York attorney general says in lawsuit

NEW YORK (NY)
The Washington Post

February 12, 2018

By Samantha Schmidt

New York’s attorney general on Sunday filed a civil rights lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein and his film company, accusing the disgraced Hollywood mogul of repeatedly sexually harassing, intimidating and demeaning female employees and perpetrating a hostile work environment.

Weinstein’s “vicious and exploitative” treatment of employees, coupled with the company’s failure to protect them, presented “egregious violations of New York’s civil rights, human rights, and business laws,” according to the lawsuit, which also names Weinstein’s brother and the studio’s co-founder, Bob.

The lawsuit, announced by state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, appeared to throw a wrench into a deal to sell the Weinstein Co. to Maria Contreras-Sweet, who led the Small Business Administration under President Barack Obama. Negotiations for the $500 million deal halted Sunday, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, making it likely that the debt-ridden studio will be forced to file bankruptcy.

Sunday’s lawsuit, filed in New York County Supreme Court, relied on interviews with numerous Weinstein employees, executives and accusers, as well as a trove of company records and emails. The investigation into the Weinstein Co. detailed “a years-long gender-based hostile work environment, a pattern of quid pro quo sexual harassment, and routine misuse of corporate resources for unlawful ends” that extended from about 2005 through October 2017.

Weinstein’s “assistants were exposed to and required to facilitate” his “sex life as a condition of employment,” it alleged.

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State AG lawsuit accuses Harvey Weinstein of hiring ‘wing women’ to set up his ‘sexual conquests’

NEW YORK (NY)
New York Daily News

February 12, 2018

By Stephen Rex Brown and Leonard Greene

Accused sexual predator Harvey Weinstein hired “wing women” to facilitate his abusive conquests and bragged about having Secret Service contacts who could run interference, according to a lawsuit by the state’s attorney general.

Weinstein, his brother Robert, and their film company were all complicit in the “vicious and exploitative mistreatment of company employees,” said Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who filed a civil rights lawsuit Sunday against the Weinstein Co. that derailed a $500 million deal to sell the agency, according to a report. Schneiderman had been concerned that the sale would go through without Weinstein’s victims having a chance to be properly compensated.

The suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, included an array of new allegations regarding Weinstein’s depraved behavior.

The disgraced movie mogul has been accused by nearly 100 women of sexual harassment, bullying or rape.

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Allegation is in New York attorney general’s lawsuit against Bob and Harvey Weinstein

NEW YORK (NY)
The Irish Times

February 11, 2018

New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman has filed a lawsuit against disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein, his brother Bob Weinstein and their film production company alleging serious violations of civil rights, human rights and state business laws.

The lawsuit, which was filed on Sunday with the New York County supreme court, alleges that the Weinsteins created “a years-long gender-based hostile work environment, a pattern of quid pro quo sexual harassment and routine misuse of corporate resources for unlawful ends that extended from in or about 2005 through at least in or about October 2017.”

The complaint comes after four months of investigation and as the company seemed to be nearing a $500m sale to a group led by Maria Contreras-Sweet, who led the Small Business Administration for Barack Obama.

Harvey Weinstein faces sexual misconduct investigations in four separate jurisdictions in the wake of the avalanche of sexual misconduct accusations against him in the last few months, which he denies.

The 39-page suit alleges that unlawful conduct took two primary forms.

First, that as co-chief executive of the Weinstein Company, Harvey Weinstein “repeatedly and persistently sexually harassed female employees at TWC by personally creating a hostile work environment that pervaded the workplace and by demanding that women engage in sexual or demeaning conduct as a quid pro quo for continued employment or career advancement”.

Second, Harvey Weinstein repeatedly and persistently used his position, female employees and the resources at his disposal as a co-chief executive, to serve his interests in seeking sexual contact with women seeking employment at the company.

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New York sues Harvey Weinstein over sexual misconduct

NEW YORK (NY)
Al Jazeera

February 12, 2018

New York’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit against scandal-hit Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, his brother and his former company, alleging that their film studio failed to protect its employees against its cofounder.

Weinstein, 65, was fired from The Weinstein Company last October, after more than 70 women accused him of sexual misconduct, including rape. He has denied all allegations of “non-consensual sex”.

The case was brought forward by Eric Schneiderman on Sunday, following an investigation into accusations against the prominent film producer of sexual harassment by dozens of women in the film industry.

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Edmundites to pay up in priest sex-abuse lawsuit

COLCHESTER (CT)
Burlington Free Press

January 18, 2018

By Adam Silverman

A Colchester-based religious order is among several Roman Catholic institutions that recently settled a priest sex abuse lawsuit in Connecticut for nearly $1 million.

The court case centered on misconduct claims involving defrocked priest Charles Many, a Vermont native and St. Michael’s College graduate who helped lead parishes in Essex Junction and in Groton, Connecticut, and was a member of the Society of St. Edmund.

The society and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich in Connecticut agreed to split the $900,000 settlement paid to Andrew Aspinwall, 50, of New London, said his lawyer, Kelly Reardon. The agreement, which Aspinwall and the defendants reached on the eve of a trial that was set to begin early this month, contained no admission of wrongdoing.

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Vatican expert to meet delegation in Chile bishop dispute

VATICAN CITY
The Associated Press

February 12, 2018

By Eva Vergara and Nicole Winfield

The Vatican’s sex abuse investigator has agreed to meet with a delegation of lay Catholics and priests from the Chilean diocese of Osorno who have opposed the appointment of a bishop strongly backed by Pope Francis, according to an email seen Monday by The Associated Press.

The Vatican’s embassy in Santiago set the meeting for Feb. 21 in Santiago and asked the Osorno group to select no more than five people to meet with the investigator, Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna.

In the email, the Vatican’s ambassador also asked delegation members to send a “detailed” document to him by Friday, five days before the meeting, outlining what they intend to tell Scicluna. The ambassador, or nuncio, said the document would help Scicluna in his fact-finding mission about Bishop Juan Barros.

But Juan Carlos Claret, spokesman for the Osorno laity, expressed concern and said he would only provide general points to the embassy ahead of time. He accused the embassy of long refusing to acknowledge or respond to their complaints about Barros, who is accused by Osorno laity of being unfit and by victims of a prominent Chilean predator priest of having witnessed their abuse and done nothing.

“During these last three years, it has been the nuncio who has blocked all attempts at dialogue, not just with the clergy but with the laity,” Claret told AP.

He said he would, however, provide detailed information directly to Scicluna, who was tasked with taking testimony about Barros after Francis sparked outrage in Chile by strongly defending him and saying accusations against him were slander.

Barros was a protege of the Rev. Fernando Karadima, who was sanctioned by the Vatican in 2011 for sexually and psychologically abusing minors in his Santiago parish community. Victims testified to both Vatican and Chilean prosecutors about how Karadima would kiss and fondle them, and masturbate them behind closed doors.

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Head of child protection centre says Church must be more transparent in response to abuse

LONDON (ENGLAND)
Catholic News Service

February 12, 2018

By Megan Cornwell

Jesuit Father Zollner said some priests are even unsure of the civil laws surrounding the reporting of abuse

The Head of the Pontifical Gregorian University’s Centre for Child Protection has said the Church’s legal process for handling accusations of abuse must be more transparent and that it will take a long time for the culture of the Church to change.

Jesuit Father Hans Zollner was speaking to reporters on Friday at a ceremony awarding 18 people – religious and lay – diplomas for completing a specialisation course in safeguarding minors.

Even though the Catholic Church has all the necessary norms and laws in place to safeguard minors from abuse by clergy, the problem continues to be a lack of understanding or care about those rules and guidelines and applying them effectively, he said.

The legal process must be “more transparent for everyone”, including the victims, the accused and his or her superiors, Father Zollner said at the ceremony.

Victims receive no information during the process and the accused are left “in limbo” for what may be five years or more not knowing if they will be sentenced or even found guilty, he said. Not even the bishop or religious superior of the accused receives information about what’s happening, he added.

So while the Church’s definitions of what constitutes a crime and suggested sentences are clear, he said, what needs addressing is how to beef up the Church’s legal system so that it can “actually bring justice to everyone” and truly protect minors.

Reporters also asked Father Zollner about his thoughts concerning Pope Francis’ decision to believe Bishop Juan Barros of Osorno, Chile, and not victims who claimed the bishop may have been aware of and even present during their abuse by the bishop’s former mentor, Father Fernando Karadima. The priest was sentenced to a life of prayer and penance by the Vatican after he was found guilty of sexually abusing boys.

But when pressed about doubts over whether the Pope listened to a Chilean survivor who had written a letter to the Pope that was to be hand delivered by Cardinal Sean O’Malley, head of the papal commission, Father Zollner said he would have no way of knowing whether the Pope read the letter.

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Church braced for shame over child abuse revelations

ENGLAND
The Times

February 12, 2018

By Kaya Burgess

The Church of England faces a painful two years of revelations about sexual abuse and cover-ups as independent inquiries get under way, a bishop has said.

The Bishop of Bath and Wells warned members of the church’s General Synod that they would feel a “deep sense of shame” as accounts emerge of sexual abusers within the church and a lack of support and credence given to their victims.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse will start three weeks of hearings next month to examine the church’s failure to protect vulnerable people from sexual abusers, focusing on the diocese of Chichester, where there have been several allegations.

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Rob Porter, and Mormonism’s #MeToo Moment

WASHINGTON (DC)
CNN

February 11, 2018

By Daniel Burke and MJ Lee

Colbie Holderness says she met Rob Porter at a Mormon student congregation in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Lifelong Mormons, they married in the church in 2003. When Porter turned abusive and their marriage went bad, Holderness said, they turned to the church for guidance.

Porter, who had been a rising star in President Donald Trump’s White House before abruptly resigning on Wednesday, has forcefully denied the abuse accusations from two ex-wives, calling them part of a “smear campaign.” He did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Both of the women Porter has been married to — Holderness and Jennie Willoughby — shared with CNN this week the unique role the Mormon church played in their troubled relationships.

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“Doubt” raises issues of abuse by clergy, race, and justice

BRENTWOOD (TN)
Brentwood Homepage

February 10, 2018

Posted by Mark Cook

STUDIO TENN

Studio Tenn’s production of Doubt: A Parable, opens Feb. 15 at the Jamison Theater in the Factory at Franklin.

The challenging play by Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Patrick Shanley asks the question, “What do you do when you’re unsure?”

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best play, Doubt is set in the Bronx in 1964 where an unthinkable allegation is leveled against Father Flynn. The watchful, reserved, unsentimental Sister Aloysius, who accuses the beloved priest of misconduct with the school’s first and only African American student, realizes that the only way to get justice is to create it herself.

First performed off Broadway in 2004, Doubt: A Parable featured Tennessee native Cherry Jones in the Tony Award-winning performance as Sister Aloysius. Shanley directed a 2008 film adaptation that starred Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis, all of which were nominated for Academy Awards for their performance.

Studio Tenn’s rendition of the powerful parable stars Marguerite Lowell as Sister Aloysius, Brent Maddox as Father Flynn, Emily Landham as Sister James and Aleta Myles as Mrs. Muller. Nathaniel McIntyre directs, with set and costume designs from Studio Tenn’s Artistic Director, Matt Logan.

“I have always been so stricken by this play, not for what it tells us, but for what it asks us to examine,” Logan said. “The answer of the play is tied up in the audience’s interpretation, and oftentimes, tied to their own personal experience. It’s a wonderful production to ask our audiences to play along and consider.”

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Church of England facing more than 3,000 sexual abuse complaints

ENGLAND
The Christian Times

February 10, 2018

By Jardine Malado

The Church of England is dealing with more than 3,000 cases of sexual abuse in the forms of concerns and allegations, prompting concerns that it would have to pay millions in compensation even if only a fraction of the complaints were upheld.

Peter Hancock, bishop of Bath and Wells, has shared the latest figures showing that the total of concerns or allegations of sexual abuse had reached 3,300 by 2016.

The report, which was unveiled during a three-day meeting of the General Synod in London, has sorted out new complaints from longstanding ones, but nearly all cases involve children, young people or vulnerable adults.

The figures have shown that 18 percent of the cases involve church officers, most likely members of the clergy, while others facing sexual abuse allegations in the church setting include lay individuals and other churchgoers.

Hancock stated in documents prepared for the Synod that dioceses made 338 “risk assessments” in 2016 after complaints against individuals, with 19 of the assessed being members of the clergy. The Church has reportedly created 867 “safeguarding agreement” with individuals in order to ensure that someone who has been assessed as a risk is supervised and kept away from possible victims.

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Need for culture change over church abuse complaints, General Synod told

BELFAST (Northern Ireland)
Belfast Telegraph

February 10, 2018

Reverend Peter Hancock, Bishop of Bath and Wells, lead bishop for safeguarding, told the Synod “this will not be an easy couple of years”.

There is a need for a culture change within the Church of England, with some clergy believing that abuse complainants are “simply out for the money”, the General Synod has heard.

Sir Roger Singleton, member of the national safeguarding team, said the church has done “some useful work” in recent years, but added that “an enormous amount” still needs to be done.

He told the Synod there is a “common theme” running through recent reviews and inquiries, and said: “That is a continuing need for culture change within the church.”

Sir Roger was speaking at a session about safeguarding, where there was a presentation on national developments and on the Church’s preparation for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

He said: “I am heartened by the positive affirmation which our archbishops, diocesan bishops and deans continue to give to the importance of creating and sustaining a safe church.

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February 11, 2018

IGLESIA CATÓLICA, FRACTURADA POR ESCÁNDALOS DE PEDERASTIA

SAN JUAN BAUTISTA TUXTEPEC (MEXICO)
Diario Rotativo Tribuna de Oaxaca [Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico]

February 11, 2018

By Óscar Rodríguez

Read original article

*Así encontrará el nuevo arzobispo Pedro Vásquez Villalobos a la institución en Oaxaca, supliendo a José Luis Chávez Botello, acusado de permitir la impunidad

Óscar RODRÍGUEZ

La Santa Sede designó al sacerdote Pedro Vásquez Villalobos como nuevo arzobispo de la arquidiócesis de Oaxaca.

El nuevo representante clerical suple en su cargo al actual arzobispo José Luis Chávez Botello, que a sus 75 años buscará su jubilación.

Sin embargo, Chávez Botello fue acusado de permitir la impunidad a favor de un grupo de sacerdotes que fueron señalados de cometer actos de pederastia, uno de ellos Gerardo Silvestre Hernández, quien fue el único que logró ser condenado por la justicia por abusar sexualmente de varios menores de edad.

El nuevo arzobispo de Oaxaca, Pedro Vásquez Villalobos, se había desempeñado como obispo de Puerto Escondido y, tras su designación, se convertirá en el arzobispo octavo de la diócesis de Oaxaca.

El nombramiento de Vázquez Villalobos fue difundido en el boletín de prensa del Vaticano y se convierte en el primer cambio de un puesto de alto rango en la estructura de la iglesia Católica en el país, luego de los cambios realizados en otras curias, entre ella la de Estados Unidos, dónde asumió Carlos Aguilar Retes.

El nuevo arzobispo de Oaxaca substituirá a José Luis Chávez Botello, quien había presentado su renuncia en 2016 después de haber cumplido 75 años, conforme exigen las reglas de la iglesia.

Cuando llegue a Oaxaca, el arzobispo electo se va a encontrar con una institución fracturada por escándalos de pederastia.

Chávez Botello fue acusado por movimientos ciudadanos oaxaqueños de proteger al ex sacerdote Gerardo Silvestre Hernández, condenado a 16 años de prisión por corrupción de menores.

Este caso se hizo público en 2009, cuando un grupo de religiosos llevó a la arquidiócesis de Oaxaca las denuncias de abusos sexuales presuntamente cometidos por el cura Hernández contra diversos niños de comunidades indígenas, donde en aquel entonces trabajaba.

De acuerdo con los religiosos que destaparon lo ocurrido, Chávez Botello fue omiso ante las quejas y denuncias e inició un juicio canónico para castigar los denunciantes.

El caso ganó repercusión nacional y asociaciones ciudadanas oaxaqueñas, junto a familiares de las víctimas, exigieron la salida inmediata del arzobispo. Estas asociaciones afirman que Silvestre Hernández abusó de decenas de niños.

LA VERSIÓN DEL ARZOBISPO SALIENTE

Mientras tanto, el arzobispo saliente José Luis Chávez Botello, calificó como una buena determinación, aunque asegura que la designación de Vásquez Villalobos es sólo un cambio de camisetas “porque es Dios quien designa a sus pastores”.

Adema, definió de providencial el relevo, porque la toma de protesta del nuevo arzobispo se desarrollará durante la pascua.

De su salida de la diócesis, dijo, “uno tienen que aprender a que no todo en la vida, termina perfecto, tenemos que aceptar que somos parte de algo, hacemos lo que nos corresponde, porque cada quien llega a cubrir vacíos, lo importante es colaborar y actuar con buena fe”.

Afirmó que deja una iglesia en Oaxaca con grandes pendientes y desafíos, para empezar que hay una falta de fe y tenemos carencia de sacerdotes, además de nuestros contenidos de fe son bajos”.

Respecto a los señalamientos de pederastia, el arzobispo saliente Chávez Botello, las rechazó y dijo que las investigaciones civiles no comprobaron “ninguna violación de Silvestre Hernández y en un solo caso, el delito fue encuadrado por la autoridad ministerial bajo el tipo penal de corrupción de menores”.

Además, negó que haya una persecución contra los curas que denunciaron por primera vez el caso.

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Editorial: The Guardian view on the Catholic church and child abuse: Pope Francis gets it wrong

LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Guardian

February 11, 2018

His defence of an accused bishop appears to put him on the side of the hierarchy against the people in the pews

It is five years since Pope Benedict XVI stunned the Roman Catholic world by announcing he would resign. His time in office had been blighted by the emergence of terrible stories of sex abuse and institutional cover-up. Even though most of these dated from the time of his predecessors, Benedict’s efforts to make things right were clumsy and inadequate to the scale of the problem. His successor, Pope Francis, seemed as if he were going to change all that as part of the openness, energy and realism that has characterised his approach. But developments in recent weeks have cast Francis’s sincerity and seriousness into question and threaten to overshadow many of the other accomplishments of his papacy.

Earlier in his pontificate, Francis had to deal with the enforced departure of one of his closer collaborators, Cardinal George Pell, who left the Vatican to face charges of historic child abuse, which he vigorously denies, in his native Australia. Several members of the church’s commission for the protection of minors, which the pope had set up, resigned in protest at the obstructionism of some parts of the Vatican bureaucracy; but these are the parts that are thought hostile to Francis, too, so he was not widely blamed for what happened.

All that changed with the pope’s visit to Chile. The church there had been convulsed by the discovery that children had been abused by an influential priest for years. It is claimed that many other priests knew or even witnessed what was going on. Among them was Juan Barros, whom Francis made a bishop in 2015 and installed in a southern diocese in the teeth of furious protests from both clergy and congregation. Bishop Barros, who denies the claims, was prominent among the bishops who received Francis on his visit: the two men were photographed embracing; and when Francis was asked on the flight back what he thought of the allegations against the bishop, he replied that they were merely slander, and that he had not seen any proof to back them up.

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Pope Francis, a brewing crisis and ‘feminine genius’

VATICAN CITY
La Croix International

February 9, 2018

By Robert Mickens

The biggest error Catholic leaders have made regarding the church’s response to priests abusing children has been the exclusion of women leading the policy-making process

The last couple of weeks have not been what anyone in his or her right mind would call the most brightly shining moment in the current pontificate.

First, the cardinal in charge of the Roman Curia’s office on the laity blocked Ireland’s former president, Mary MacAleese, from speaking at an International Woman’s Day event originally scheduled to take place inside the Vatican. In response, the organizers simply moved the venue to the nearby Jesuit headquarters.

Then, a retired Chinese-born cardinal from Hong Kong blasted the Cardinal Secretary of State — and, by implication, Pope Francis — for being “a man of little faith” and selling out “suffering” Catholics on the Communist-ruled Chinese mainland by adopting a “naïve” strategy of appeasement in dealing with state authorities.

Next, a maverick and irascible bishop who oversees two Vatican think-tanks (the pontifical academies for science and the social sciences) overstepped his institutional boundaries and waded into the controversy over the pope’s China policy. He spouted the unbelievable and embarrassing claim that the Communist nation is the world leader in implementing Catholic social teaching.

The bishop, an Argentine who would have the world believe he’s best friends with Francis (he is not), based his assessment on his first and only visit to China six months ago. If it’s ever proven that Chinese government officials spiked his egg rolls with brainwashing chemicals, perhaps all will be forgive.

However, great damage has already been done.

But that’s not the worst of what has been a very bad period for Pope Francis. The most serious blow to him and his pontificate came from an Associated Press (AP) report that produced some hard and rather convincing evidence that the pope has not been completely forthcoming about what he really knows (and when he first found out) about allegations that Bishop Juan Barros of Chile tried to cover-up abuse of a convicted sex abusing priest.

The AP article included an eight-page letter that one of the Chilean priest’s victims sent to Francis in April 2015, which meticulously outlined Bishop Barros’ alleged actions in unflattering detail. The letter was hand-delivered by Cardinal Sean O’Malley, a member of the pope’s Council of Cardinals (C9) and chairman of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM). If true, this contradicts Francis’ claim that he had never received evidence of such a cover-up from any of the victims.

This is not good news. And dispatching the Vatican’s former chief prosecutor of clergy sex abuse crimes to Chile to collect more evidence on the Barros case — as laudable and important that this 11th hour operation is — does not address, in any way, the real problems the AP report reveals.

Only one of three of things can be true — either Francis never bothered to read the letter, or he read and dismissed it as unconvincing, or he just forgot that he ever read it.

There is a fourth, even if less plausible, possibility. Perhaps O’Malley, in reality, never gave the pope the letter, even though one of the then-members of the PCPM (who gave it to O’Malley — there is a photo to prove it) and the victim (who wrote it) said the cardinal told them he had delivered it.

None of these possible scenarios is encouraging. Because it means someone is not being completely transparent. Up to now, only one side has spoken publicly about the AP report — the former PCPM member (Marie Collins) and the Chilean abuse victim (Juan Carlos Cruz).

Pope Francis and Cardinal O’Malley have so far kept their silence. In order to shed light on what really happened and reveal who is giving an accurate account of this story they need to speak up.

If O’Malley were to all of a sudden declare that, no, he never gave Cruz’s letter to the pope — whether because he forgot to do so and then lied about it, or because he is trying to protect Francis from the current embarrassment and brewing crisis this is turning into — he would have to step down as PCPM chairman. His credibility among the commission’s members (still to be named in the coming weeks) would be greatly compromised.

And what about the pope?

If Francis received the letter and never read it, or simply forgot about reading it, this becomes yet another piece of evidence that dealing with the sex abuse crisis — particularly by holding negligent bishops accountable — is still not a major priority for the pope, despite whatever his apologists say to the contrary.

However, it would be even more damaging for the pope if he were to admit that, yes, he read the letter, but did not believe that Cruz’s accusations against Bishop Barros were credible. This would mean he was not entirely telling the truth during his visit last month to Chile and Peru when he told reporters he’s never received “proof” — than he corrected that to “evidence” — to support the accusations against the bishop.

This is quickly becoming one, big unholy mess. And it would be devastating to many Catholics and other people of good will if it were to severely cripple a pontificate that has launched a deeply-rooted and long-term project to reform and restore credibility to the Catholic Church and its witness to the Gospel.
So what can be done at this point?

First of all, the pope and his communications department (which is in disastrous disarray and is not serving him well) have to address the contents of the AP report and the fallout that has ensued. One would hope that Cardinal O’Malley could be of assistance in this first, necessary step.

Secondly, assuming that the essentials in the report are correct (the letter exists and it was delivered to the pope), it is difficult to see how Francis can respond without confessing that he was negligent (by failing to read the letter for whatever reason) or was not completely transparent (i.e. by concealing from journalists that he read it but did not believe its contents).

As I’ve written many times before, this pope has not been afraid to be vulnerable and show what some might consider weakness in order to engage others for what he perceives to be the greater good of the church and humanity. His meeting with the Orthodox Patriarch of All Russia, his efforts to constructively engage Donald Trump and other world leaders, and his policy on China are just a few examples.

The pope needs to quickly make the sexual abuse crisis in the church — which, by the way, is nowhere near to being resolved — a bigger priority. Quite frankly, he has not done so up to now.

He can start by coming clean with the members of his church and speaking truthfully to them about his own thinking — his doubts, concerns, apprehension, omissions and even missteps — on the way church authorities (he included) have addressed the abuse crisis to this point.

He still enjoys rock solid credibility and trust among millions and millions of people who would see his candid confession and testimony as a truly human and positive step forward, rather than cry of surrender. But that trust and credibility will erode if he does not say something soon. And the upcoming penitential season of Lent offers the perfect opportunity for such a truly Christian and even dramatic gesture.

One final thought:

Pope Francis also needs to totally revamp the mandate and mission of Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and set up other mechanisms to deal with the sex abuse crisis. Most of the new PCPM members and his other advisors on this issue should be women. And he should demand that dioceses and national episcopal conferences give women, and especially mothers, the lead role on this issue, too.

This would be an important way for him to make a prophetic and necessary corrective to the, up-to-now, inadequate response the Catholic Church has offered.

Many men in the hierarchy hide and justify their misogyny, fear of women or desire to keep the church’s decision-making structures in the hands of clerics — all men, of course — by repeating Saint John Paul II’s paternalistic paean to something he called “the feminine genius.”

This phrase, which the late pope first wrote about in 1995 — and which Benedict XVI, Francis and countless churchmen have gone on repeating — embodies a catalogue of traits that are somehow especially peculiar to women by virtue of God’s design of nature.

People can debate whether all these characteristics are really exclusive to women. But one thing for certain is that only women can be mothers. And because of the intricate connection between mother and child through pregnancy, birthing and infancy, it can be argued that women — mothers — have unique protective and nurturing instincts that are developed differently from the same instincts in fathers.
The biggest error Catholic leaders in every part of the world have made regarding the church’s response to the phenomenon of priests abusing children and youngsters has been the exclusion of women from actually leading the policy-making process. Where women have been included, they have been mere consultants or experts, often just flowerpots to salve uneasy male consciences and to satisfy the demands of public opinion.

Pope Francis can put this right and show that the church really does believe women have a special “feminine genius” — at least in the area of the relationship between mother and child — by putting women in charge of the church’s response to sex abuse. So far, the “clerical genius” has not produced good fruits.

A leading Catholic layman who has done a tremendous job in helping his country’s bishops deal with the sex abuse crisis loves to repeat this line: “Until the pope has a lay man being the last one to give advice on these matters the clerical instincts will always be a problem!”

That is exactly right. But the layman should be a woman.

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El Osorno del obispo Juan Barros

SANTIAGO (CHILE)
La Tercera

>>>The Osorno of Bishop Juan Barros

February 11, 2018

By Pablo Barría

Luego de la visita del Papa Francisco a Chile y la posterior designación del obispo de Malta para indagar el presunto encubrimiento por parte del religioso, La Tercera recorrió la ciudad y constató la visión de religiosos y feligreses ante un caso que divide a la comunidad.

Las últimas semanas han sido intensas para el obispo de Osorno, Juan Barros. La visita del Papa Francisco a Chile, en enero pasado, hizo que su nombre volviera a la palestra pública, de la cual se mantuvo alejado luego de las manifestaciones en su contra tras ser designado como autoridad eclesiástica en la zona.

“No hay una sola prueba contra el obispo Barros, todo es calumnia”, dijo el Papa Francisco cuando estuvo de paso por Iquique. Sus declaraciones levantaron fuertes críticas e, incluso, lo obligaron a pedir disculpas y anunciar la visita del arzobispo de Malta, Charles Scicluna, para recoger los testimonios de quienes acusan a Barros de encubrir los abusos cometidos por el ex párroco Fernando Karadima.

[Google Translation:

The Osorno of Bishop Juan Barros

After the visit of Pope Francis to Chile and the subsequent appointment of the Bishop of Malta to investigate the alleged cover up by the religious, La Tercera toured the city and verified the vision of religious and parishioners before a case that divides the community.
The last weeks have been intense for the Bishop of Osorno, Juan Barros. The visit of Pope Francis to Chile, last January, brought his name back to the public arena, from which he stayed away after the demonstrations against him after being appointed as ecclesiastical authority in the area.

“There is not a single test against Bishop Barros, everything is slander,” said Pope Francis when he was passing through Iquique. His statements raised strong criticism and even forced him to apologize and announce the visit of the archbishop of Malta, Charles Scicluna, to collect the testimonies of those who accuse Barros of covering up the abuses committed by the former parish priest Fernando Karadima.

After the announcement, the decision of the Vatican is taken with moderation in the Catholic Church of the Los Lagos Region. They are close to 7:00 pm on Thursday and a small group of faithful arrive at the Osorno Cathedral, where the parish priest Bernardo Werth will hold a ceremony.

Before beginning, the religious pauses and clarifies his vision about the appointment of Bishop Scicluna: “If the Pope took that step it is to make it clear in the eyes of people all over the world, how is the real situation, for So under my gaze is positive, “he said, then go up to the altar and start the mass.

Outside the Cathedral some young people skate, without paying attention to what happens around them. In the case of Bishop Barros, says Carlos Sandoval, “I have no idea. I know nothing”.

A few meters from them, María Elena Yáñez, a native of the O’Higgins Region, leaves the religious site with a poster of Pope Francisco in her hands. A member of the “Mujeres Iglesia” group, formed by 15 lay women, Yáñez is critical of what is happening with the Bishop of Osorno. Even, he said, his group tried to deliver a letter to the pontiff where they alerted what was happening in the church of Los Lagos.

“In that letter we mentioned to His Holiness our concern for what is happening here in Osorno, but the letter did not reach his hands because it was not easy to reach him,” he said.

Different opinion expressed Nina, an elderly woman who frequently attends the masses of the Cathedral of Osorno. And it was in that same instance where Bishop Juan Barros claimed innocence.

“He told us at Mass a few days ago, when he returned from Santiago, that he was innocent, he said it at Mass and why he is going to be lying to us. Well, if you lie to us, I also forgive you, because I’m not the one to not forgive, “said the woman.

Inside a small kiosk of newspapers, magazines and various products is a lonely man, who prefers not to give his name. According to him, the “tension” that existed in the city when the designation of Barros was known has been appeased with the passage of time. “There were many protests here, all were peaceful, but now nothing is seen, everything is quiet, it seems that everything was fixed,” he said.

Groupings

The group of Laity and Laity of Osorno is the entity that has tried to keep the case of Bishop Juan Barros in force. They have a critical vision on the management of the religious in charge of the bishopric of Osorno and assure that their presence has impacted the level of parishioners who attend the masses.

“For December 8, for example, which is the closing mass of the Month of Mary, before 10,000 people gathered. And now, with luck, 1,000 people gathered last December. Who answers for those who did not attend these Masses? Now you do not see so much fervor, so much enthusiasm, “said Juan Carlos Claret, spokesman for the group.

Claret said that there have even been episodes in which young parishioners have shown their rejection of Juan Barros. “Last Saturday there were confirmations at the Reina de los Mártires church. Bishop Barros went to the trials of these confirmations where he informed the young people that he would preside over the ceremony. Three of these young men told him they did not want him to confirm them and they subtracted from the ceremony. In the end, Barros did not arrive at the ceremony, “he explained.

Jose Manuel Rozas, professor of philosophy and personal secretary of the priest Peter Kliegel, who has made public his rejection of Barros through letters, says that those who have made noise in the city correspond to “an isolated group of lay people who meet on Fridays, the rest of the pastoral agents of the diocese are doing their work in their respective parishes. ”

Rozas says that he, as a faithful person, will respect the decisions that are adopted once the visit of the archbishop of Malta is over. “If at the end of this process, the Church says that Bishop Barros has to leave the diocese, blessed be God, but if he says he must continue, blessed be God also,” he concluded.

They are close to 8:00 pm and the mass of the Cathedral of Osorno came to an end. Slowly the parishioners begin to leave the place to their homes. An image that depicts how Osorno de Juan Barros is, who lately has diminished his public appearances and waits in silence for the decision that his Maltese pair Charles Scicluna and the Vatican will take regarding his case. For now the city of Bishop Barros awaits quietly.]

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Conferencia episcopal defiende silencio de obispo Barros tras acusaciones en su contra

SANTIAGO (CHILE)

>>>Episcopal Conference defends Bishop Barros silence after accusations against him

February 10, 2018

By Nicole Briones and Eric Paredes

[Note from BishopAccountability.org: Includes audio clips of statements.]

Desde la nunciatura apostólica se confirmó que la visita del arzobispo de malta Charles Scicluna a Chile, será entre el 20 y 23 de febrero.

Jaime Coiro, portavoz de la Conferencia Episcopal de Chile, afirmó el arribo del enviado del papa Francisco, el cual tendrá como propósito tomar el testimonio de las personas que han acusado al obispo de Osorno, Juan Barros, de encubrir los delitos sexuales de Fernando Karadima.

A partir de esta investigación, Barros se ha referido poco y nada sobre esta situación. Posición que Coiro defiende, explicando que el obispo tiene todo el derecho de no dar declaraciones.

Scicluna se reunirá con Barros en Santiago, y además con James Hamilton y Juan Andrés Murillo, quienes -junto a Juan Carlos Cruz- denuncian al obispo de Osorno haber ocultado los abusos cometidos por Karadima en la parroquia de El Bosque.

[Google Translation:

Episcopal Conference defends Bishop Barros silence after accusations against him

From the apostolic nunciature it was confirmed that the visit of the archbishop of Malta Charles Scicluna to Chile, will be between February 20 and 23 .

Jaime Coiro, spokesman for the Episcopal Conference of Chile, affirmed the arrival of the Pope’s envoy, whose purpose will be to take the testimony of the people who have accused the bishop of Osorno, Juan Barros, of covering up the sexual crimes of Fernando Karadima. .

From this investigation, Barros has referred little and nothing about this situation. Position that Coiro defends, explaining that the bishop has every right not to give statements .

Scicluna will meet with Barros in Santiago, and also with James Hamilton and Juan Andrés Murillo, who – together with Juan Carlos Cruz – denounce the bishop of Osorno to have hidden the abuses committed by Karadima in the parish of El Bosque.]

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Peter Kliegel: “La situación de la iglesia es desgarradora”

BONN (GERMANY)
Deutsche Welle

>>>Peter Kliegel: “The situation of the church is heartbreaking”

February 10, 2018

By Victoria Dannemann

Un sacerdote alemán ha levantado la voz en la Iglesia católica chilena exigiendo la salida del obispo Juan Barros, acusado de encubrir abusos sexuales. Peter Kliegel busca reunificar a una institución dividida.

El sacerdote Peter Kliegel no oculta su molestia y dolor por la crisis que vive la iglesia en Chile. El religioso alemán, nacido en Dillenburg, lleva casi 50 años trabajando en la diócesis de Osorno, en el sur de Chile, la misma en que el 2015 asumió el cuestionado obispo Juan Barros.

Anteriormente obispo castrense, Barros se formó al alero de Fernado Karadima, un sacerdote que durante décadas gozó de gran poder en un parroquia de un barrio acomodado de Santiago. Allí se rodeó de jóvenes y formó a futuros sacerdotes y obispos. El escándalo estalló cuando antiguos seguidores denunciaron abusos de poder y sexuales de parte de Karadima. Asimismo, aseguran que varios sacerdotes y obispos fueron testigos o incurrieron en conductas impropias.

Uno de ellos sería Barros, acusado de encubrir a su antiguo mentor. A pesar de la fuerte oposición que se ha levantado en Osorno, Barros no sólo se ha negado a dejar su cargo, sino que figuró junto al papa Francisco en su visita a Chile.

Con franqueza y valentía, Kliegel ha manifestado su opinión al nuncio y a la Iglesia. En entrevista con DW, el sacerdote galardonado en Alemania con la Cruz al Mérito en 2017 habla del duro momento que vive la iglesia en Chile y de la necesidad de buscar la verdad.

Deutsche Welle: Usted fue una de las primeras personas que manifestó la inconveniencia de que Juan Barros asumiera como obispo de Osorno. ¿Por qué asumió este rol activo?

Peter Kiegel: Yo vine a Chile hace 52 años y soy parte de esta iglesia, interesado en que tenga un mensaje muy claro en cuanto al encargo que nos hizo nuestro Señor. La situación se originó cuando supimos que el obispo Barros iba a tomar la diócesis de Osorno y que venía desde el ambiente de Fernando Karadima, lo que para nosotros era inaceptable. Por eso empecé a levantar mi voz.

[Google Translation:

Peter Kliegel: “The situation of the church is heartbreaking”

A German priest has raised his voice in the Chilean Catholic Church demanding the departure of Bishop Juan Barros, accused of covering up sexual abuse. Peter Kliegel seeks to reunite a divided institution.

The priest Peter Kliegel does not hide his annoyance and pain because of the crisis that the church in Chile is going through. The German priest, born in Dillenburg, has been working for almost 50 years in the diocese of Osorno, in the south of Chile, the same one in which the questioned bishop Juan Barros assumed office in 2015.

Formerly military bishop, Barros was formed at the eaves of Fernado Karadima, a priest who for decades enjoyed great power in a parish in a well-off neighborhood of Santiago. There he surrounded himself with young people and trained future priests and bishops. The scandal erupted when former followers denounced sexual and power abuses by Karadima. Also, they assure that several priests and bishops were witnesses or incurred improper conduct.

One of them would be Barros, accused of covering up his former mentor. Despite the strong opposition that has arisen in Osorno, Barros not only refused to leave his post, but also appeared with Pope Francisco on his visit to Chile.

Frankly and courageously, Kliegel has expressed his opinion to the nuncio and to the Church. In an interview with DW, the priest awarded in Germany with the Cross of Merit in 2017 speaks of the hard time the church is living in Chile and the need to seek the truth.

Deutsche Welle: You were one of the first people to express the inconvenience that Juan Barros assumed as bishop of Osorno. Why did you assume this active role?

Peter Kiegel: I came to Chile 52 years ago and I am part of this church, interested in having a very clear message regarding the order that our Lord made us. The situation originated when we learned that Bishop Barros was going to take the diocese of Osorno and that he came from the environment of Fernando Karadima, which for us was unacceptable. That’s why I started raising my voice.

What response has he had?

A few days after it was learned that Juan Barros would be our bishop, I manifested myself before the nunciature, first asking, but since we never received an answer, our voice became a little more insistent.

Has the nuncio never answered the requirements that you have asked him?

Never, which is very discourteous.

Why do you think that you or other priests and lay people have not been taken into account?

I think it has to do with administrative power in the Church, which is not fair, because as baptized and part of the church we have the right to be heard, which is what we demand.

What has the presence of Barros in Osorno meant?

The situation has been heartbreaking. The union of the diocese was destroyed. We do not know more than what the victims say, but we suffer the collateral damage of this Karadima environment. The damage he did to the Chilean church is so great that it is not acceptable for someone not to react. And since Rome did not react and our bishop does not understand us, we keep raising our voices to listen to us. We have never been heard, only once in the Episcopal Conference when they told us they could not do anything. And now, for the first time, after so many cries, Rome reacts by sending us to the archbishop of Malta, Bishop (Charles) Scicluna.

What do you expect from the management that he can do in Chile?

We have a lot of hope. We are going to make contact so that they give us the opportunity to make known what we live. It is not about being an opponent, but about seeking peace, which can only be built from the truth. We need an intervener to listen to the bishop and to us, to clarify situations that we can not understand or accept.

Why do you think that Bishop Barros, despite facing so much opposition, has not left office?

This is what we do not understand. He says he has been named, which is a valid argument, but we can not be satisfied because our parishioners do not accept it either. In many parishes they do not accept that the bishop administers the sacrament of confirmation. When he makes a mass, many people get up and leave. It can not be that a shepherd who must take care of his sheep lives in that situation and puts us in this mess.

Messages of Pope Francis’ visit to Chile

Franciso’s pastoral message in Chile, where he advocated for the dignity of women held in prison, for understanding with the Mapuche people or immigrants, for solidarity and also expressed their pain and forgiveness for the abuses committed by members of the Church, went into the background before the scandal of Bishop Barros. Even more when he appeared with the pope at Masses. “He was present as taking refuge behind the pope, which was quite unworthy for us and it hurt us greatly, but the bishop has not been able to confront the victims of Karadima.” When we invited one of them, the bishop was ripped off. In my last letter I wanted to demonstrate with examples of the same words of the Pope in Chile, that we live in an unacceptable situation, “says Liegel.

Do you think that Francisco’s visit deepened the crisis that the church is experiencing in Chile?

Personally I do not think so. You have to read the messages that the Pope gave in Chile, which are very good. I think he made a mistake in his spontaneity, but the messages were very clear. First of all he spoke to us about dignity and that is why we get up, because we demand human and spiritual dignity.

The Pope said in Chile that there was no evidence against Barros, although he later apologized for the pain caused to the victims. Is it possible that Barros knew nothing about abuses?

Only witnesses know that. But the atmosphere of Karadima is so incredibly damaging, that for prudence Bishop Barros should not continue. That is a spiritual, pastoral and human error

Did you expect Pope Francis to take a stand on this in his visit to Chile?

Hope was there, but I thought it would not be possible, for many reasons. There are other dioceses that also have bishops who were born in the environment of Karadima and who have not spoken, but they know that everyone is sitting in the same boat.

Have you had contact with Bishop Barros?

A lot, and he knows that I am very frank with him. I have never acted behind his back. I meet him and I always tell him what we think in the community. I’m telling you face to face.

How would you catalog Barros’ management as a bishop?

We hardly have a pastoral plan and that is what saddens us. We are like swimming in warm waters, which is not good for our work. Besides, he can not show himself in public, he’s afraid, he hides. It is unpleasant when in a ceremony there are people who stand up with signs that say “resign.” He is our head and this hurts us a lot, the best thing would be for him to step aside.

Despite being German, you live this situation as your own …

Of course, Chile is now my homeland, it is my church. This is my faith and also he is administratively my bishop, that is why I fight for a good cause.

Are you free to express your opinion?

Of course, that we will always have and demand, because we are not a dictatorship. We live in the church, although with obedience, but we have a voice and a vote.

What reception has your intervention in this case?

A good number of bishops wrote me very happy with my words. With pain, but satisfied. I have also received responses from laity and priests from Chile and the world. Of course not everyone was satisfied with my words, but I think they were sober and clear. This is why the echo is important, not to expose me but to demand truth and above all truthfulness. We have to be heard. That is the first step to seek the peace we need. The Catholic Church in Chile is unfortunately very discredited because of all this, which is very sad, if one thinks that at the time of the dictatorship the Church was the most valued institution and today is the least appreciated.]

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Suit alleges Las Cruces diocese aided priest charged with sexual battery

LAS CRUCES (NM)
Las Cruces Sun-News

February 6, 2017

By Carlos Andres López

A former Hobbs resident allegedly sexually abused by a former Las Cruces priest is suing the priest and the Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces over allegations that church officials facilitated the priest’s abuses and helped him flee the state.

The man’s allegations were detailed in a lawsuit filed Monday in 3rd Judicial District Court in Las Cruces.

In addition to the Las Cruces diocese, Father Ricardo Bauza, the former pastor of St. Genevieve Catholic Church in Las Cruces, was named as a defendant in the lawsuit, as well as St. Helena Catholic Church, where Bauza mostly recently served as a pastor.

The allegations in the lawsuit are related to an alleged criminal incident involving Bauza that allegedly occurred in April 2016 in Hobbs.

The lawsuit accuses of Bauza of sexual battery, alleging he sexually abused the plaintiff — listed as John Doe 81 — in the rectory of the Hobbs parish.

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Lawsuit alleges Las Cruces Diocese knew of alleged sexual assault involving priest

EL PASO (TX)
KFOX14

February 7, 2018

By Samantha Lewis & Jamel Valencia

Las Cruces NM – A priest who served at a parish in Las Cruces for nine years and the Las Cruces Diocese are facing a lawsuit.

The lawsuit accuses the Rev. Ricardo Bauza of sexual battery, alleging he sexually abused a victim in the rectory at St. Helena Catholic Church in Hobbs, New Mexico, in 2016, according to court records.

Before becoming a priest in Hobbs, Bauza was a priest at St. Genevieve Catholic Church in Las Cruces from 2005 to 2014.

The lawsuit was filed in Las Cruces on Monday, according to court records.

It alleges Bauza abused his power as a priest to sexually harass and sexually abuse the alleged victim and that the Las Cruces Catholic Dioceses and St. Helena facilitated the priest’s abuses and helped him flee New Mexico

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Oxfam among charities reeling as 120 workers accused of sexual abuse in last year alone

LONDON (ENGLAND)
The Sunday Times

February 11, 2018

By James Gillespie, Caroline Wheeler, Iram Ramzan and Richard Kerbaj

Minister threatens to withdraw aid funding

More than 120 workers for Britain’s leading charities were accused of sexual abuse in the past year alone, fuelling fears that paedophiles are targeting overseas aid organisations.

As new figures emerged revealing the extent of the crisis, Priti Patel, the former international development secretary, warned “predatory paedophiles” had been allowed to exploit the aid sector.

Last night her successor, Penny Mordaunt, threatened to withdraw funding from Oxfam and “any other organisation that has safeguarding issues”. She condemned the “horrific behaviour” of some Oxfam staff and said it was “utterly despicable” that allegations of abuse persisted in the aid sector.

Mordaunt expected charities to “co-operate fully with . . . authorities, and we will cease to fund any organisation that does not”.

Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show this morning, Mordaunt said Oxfam had demonstrated an “absolute absence in leadership”.

“I think it’s shocking and it doesn’t matter how good the safeguarding practices are in an organisation, if that organisation does not have moral leadership to do the right thing, and where in particular they have evidence of criminal activity to pass that information to the relevant authorities including prosecuting authorities, that’s an absolute absence of leadership,” she said.

When pressed as to whether she felt the charity had failed in its moral leadership, Mordaunt said “yes, I do”.

Mordaunt plans to meet Oxfam tomorrow to discuss the scandal and afford the charity “the opportunity to tell me in person what they did after these events”.

Figures collated by charities cover sexual harassment in Britain and abroad. They raise troubling questions about regulation within the charity sector.

Oxfam recorded 87 incidents last year, Save the Children 31 — 10 of which were referred to the police and civil authorities — and Christian Aid two. The British Red Cross admitted there had been a “small number of cases of harassment reported in the UK”, believed to be up to five. All four receive money from the Department for International Development.

Of the Oxfam cases, 53 were referred to the police or other statutory authorities. A total of 20 staff or volunteers were dismissed. The charity employs 5,000 staff and has a further 23,000 volunteers.

Caroline Thomson, Oxfam’s chairwoman of trustees in the UK, said it was working to “address the underlying cultural issues that allowed this behaviour to happen”.

“We also want to satisfy ourselves that we do now have a culture of openness and transparency and that we fully learn the lessons of events in 2011,” she said.

She said Oxfam staff had come forward with concerns about the recruitment and vetting of workers involved in the scandal.

She added: “We will examine these in more detail to ensure we further strengthen the improved safeguarding, recruitment, vetting and staff management procedures that were put in place after 2011.”

Incidents involving charity workers that have come to light since The Times revealed Oxfam workers in Haiti in 2011 were dismissed after using local prostitutes for sex parties include:

● The Charities Commission criticised the Grail Trust, which raises funds for a disadvantaged children’s charity in India, last March for failing to report an allegation of child abuse in India and for initially publicly rejecting the claim.

● Teacher Simon Harris, who was head of a charity in Kenya, abused children at a school there. He was jailed for more than 17 years at Birmingham crown court in 2015.

Andrew MacLeod, a former aid worker for the Red Cross and the UN, told The Sunday Times there was a lack of response to “institutionalised paedophilia” among aid workers. He said he was shocked by what he saw in the Philippines.

“Walk near the Greenbelt Mall [in Manila] and you would see businessmen, tourists and aid workers meeting local girls for the night. You would say: ‘How old do you think these women are?’ They’d look at you with a twinkle in their eye and say: ‘She says she is 18.’

“Many aid workers will have to ask themselves: ‘What did I do to try and stop it?’”

It is not clear from last year’s figures how many allegations were made by other staff or whether the alleged victims were beneficiaries of the charities’ work.

Save the Children said all 31 cases of alleged abuse had taken place abroad and 16 people had been dismissed as a result.

Christian Aid said: “In the past 12 months, Christian Aid has investigated two incidents of sexual misconduct, both of which occurred overseas. One investigation led to the dismissal of a staff member, while the other case resulted in disciplinary action [not dismissal].”

It emerged last night that Oxfam did not give the Charity Commission full details about the use of prostitutes by some aid workers in Haiti seven years ago.

Haiti’s ambassador in London, Bocchit Edmond, criticised Oxfam for failing to inform the country’s authorities about the scandal and said it should publicly apologise.

The commission said: “We have written to the charity as a matter of urgency to request further information regarding the events in Haiti in 2011. This information will be considered as part of an ongoing case regarding the charity’s approach to safeguarding.”

Mordaunt said the Department for International Development was not told about the events at the time.

She said “They [Oxfam] initially said that they were investigating misconduct and when they concluded that report they did not tell us the nature of these events.

“They did tell the Charity Commission that there was sexual inappropriate behaviour, bullying and harassment of employees but they did not report that to us.”

She added that Oxfam also reassured the department that no harm was done and there was no involvement of any beneficiaries.

Andrew Marr said: “That was a lie, wasn’t it?”

Mordaunt replied: “Well, quite.”

She said she did not know what Oxfam’s motivation was for handling the investigation as it did, and warned that its relationship with the government was at risk.

“If the moral leadership at the top of the organisation is not there then we cannot have you as a partner,” she said.

Mordaunt said the charity had done “absolutely the wrong thing” by failing to tell the Charity Commission and prosecuting authorities the full details of the allegations.

She added: “If they do not hand over all the information that they have from their investigation and subsequently to the relevant authorities including the Charity Commission and prosecuting authorities then I cannot work with them any more as an aid delivery partner.”

Former international development secretary Priti Patel told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Pienaar’s Politics she was aware of abuse involving aid workers in disaster zones and had done her own research on the issue

She told the programme: “People knew in DfID, I raised this directly with my department at the time.

“I had quotes from the United Nations reports on the number of people.

“I think even the secretary-general last year said there were 120 cases involving something like over 300 people, and that was just the tip of the iceberg.”

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Olympic Swimmer Ariana Kukors Accuses Former Coach of Sexual Abuse

NEW YORK (NY)
New York Times

February 8, 2018

By Jacey Fortin

An American swimmer who competed in the 2012 Olympics has accused her former coach of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager.

The swimmer, Ariana Kukors, 28, said in a statement on Wednesday that the coach, Sean Hutchison, began sexually abusing her when she was 16 and had been “grooming” her for three years before that.

“I never thought I would share my story because, in so many ways, just surviving was enough,” Ms. Kukors said in the statement. “I was able to leave a horrible monster and build a life I could have never imagined for myself. But in time, I’ve realized that stories like my own are too important to go unwritten.”

In a statement emailed by his lawyer, Mr. Hutchison, 46, said Thursday that the accusations were not true. He said that the two had had a “committed relationship” that began after she was of age and that they had lived together for more than a year after the 2012 Olympic Games.

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My Story

UNITED STATES
ArianaJKukors.com

February 9, 2018

By Ariana Kukors

Any swimmer will tell you about the black line on the bottom of every pool . . . the line that we follow day after day. We develop a relationship with that line; it holds our hopes and our dreams, but it also holds our fears. If only that black line could talk, it would tell you of my nightmare.

To those in the swimming community, if you’ve heard the rumors about me, you may have been wondering if and when I’d find the courage to speak my truth.

This is the truth.

I recently came across a quote by Thich Naht Hahn that said, “People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.” This quote is ironic, because I can still picture Hahn’s books lying on his bedside table.

I grew up in a family of 5 just outside of Seattle. I was the middle sister of 3 girls, the Kukors Sisters, as we were often referred to. When I was little we used to take our family boat out in the Puget Sound and many of my first memories are of water. The water has always felt natural to me. My older sister, Emily, joined a swim team when she was nine. I was five and eager to follow in her footsteps. That was when my swimming career began, and all three of us girls, my Mom’s mermaids, fell in love with the sport. In 2008, the three of us competed at the US Olympic Swim Trials, a moment in time I will never forget. I trained with my sisters, dreamed with them, won and lost with them. Before each race, we would always tell each other the same message: “I’m sending you my strength”.

I poured everything into my training. I had talent at a young age and progressed quickly with the help of extraordinary age group coaches; coaches who supported, developed, and challenged me in all the right ways. When I was 13, just on the cusp of making the USA National Team, I was handed off to a new coach, Sean Hutchison.

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Former Priest Charged with Sexual Abuse Pleads to Battery

AURORA (IL)
Associated Press via U.S. News and World Report

February 10, 2018

A former Catholic priest in suburban Chicago who was charged with sexually abusing two girls is likely returning to his native Colombia soon after pleading guilty to misdemeanor battery.

The Kane County State’s Attorney’s office says it agreed to the plea deal Friday after prosecutors analyzed evidence, communicated with the victims’ families and received assurances that Alfredo Pedraza-Arias will be “removed from the United States.”

A jail official says Pedraza-Arias was released Saturday “to the custody of another agency” but wouldn’t elaborate. His attorney says he expects Pedraza-Arias to leave the country soon.

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