ABUSE TRACKER

UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

‘White witches’ guilty of ritualistic sex abuse on children as young as three in Cornish witches’ coven

By Hugo Gye

Two pagans were today convicted of abusing children in bizarre sex rituals as part of a witches’ coven.

Peter Petrauske and Jack Kemp were said to have worn ceremonial robes and pagan paraphernalia while they abused young girls in Cornwall during the 1970s.

Police believe one of their victims may have been as young as three when the abuse started.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
WSAU

MILWAUKEE (WTAQ) – A bankruptcy judge has thrown out two damage claims from those saying they were molested by priests in the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese.

Judge Susan Kelley said one claim failed to prove that the church defrauded the victim – and the other victim had a reason to suspect fraud a number of years earlier, but did not act on it.

The 10 county Milwaukee Archdiocese filed bankruptcy almost two years ago because of the settlements it’s still facing in the priest sex abuse scandal. Over 570 people have claimed they were molested by Milwaukee area priests – and they’re the largest group of creditors, as they seek compensation for their ordeals.

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CHILE
Terra

La presidencia de la Corte de Apelaciones de Santiago informó que el ministro Juan Manuel Muñoz Pardo será el instructor de la medida prejudicial precautoria que interpusieron contra el Arzobispado de Santiago los tres querellantes contra el sacerdote Fernando Karadima.

El ministro Muñoz fue elegido por el Presidente Sebastian Piñera para integrar la Corte Suprema, luego de una quina propuesta por el mismo Pleno del máximo tribunal del país.

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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Christopher Brauchlie

Get thee to a nunnery. — Shakespeare’s Hamlet

The Lord works in mysterious ways. So does the Catholic Church and it is probably as confusing for the nuns as it is for the casual observer. On the one hand, nuns are in bad odor in the Vatican and are being investigated by a bunch of men. On the other hand, the Vatican seems to view them as correctional institutions when such institutions are needed. Although the events described occurred some time ago, the conviction of Bishop Robert W. Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph on one misdemeanor count and the resulting schism in the diocese brings it to mind again.

In April the Vatican began cracking down on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), an organization representing about 80 percent of the nuns in the United States. The Vatican’s “Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, an organization comprising only men, said that LCWR has focused its efforts on serving the poor and disenfranchised, while remaining virtually silent on issues the church considers great societal evils: abortion and same-sex marriage.” One of the leaders of the move to investigate the LCWR was Cardinal Bernard Law who had actually spent some time with one group of nuns known as the Sisters of Mercy of Alma following his resignation in disgrace as Archbishop of Boston.

Cardinal Law was Archbishop of Boston from 1984 to 2002 during which time many priests engaged in inappropriate conduct with children. The archbishop was aware of many instances of the conduct and said that when a priest was accused of a sexual offense it was his practice to consult with psychiatrists, clinicians and therapists in residential treatment centers to determine whether the priests accused of sexually abusing children should return to the pulpit. Reporting the criminal conduct of priests to the civil authorities was not something that occurred to Archbishop Law. In reporting on the sex abuse scandal the Massachusetts attorney general said that “the Archdiocese has shown an institutional reluctance to adequately address the problem and, in fact, made choices that allowed the abuse to continue.” The Attorney General observed that since priests were not required to report sexual abuse until 2002 (when the law that required reporting was enacted), Cardinal Law had broken no laws.

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ITALY
iafrica

Fri, 14 Dec 2012

A Sicilian priest stunned his congregation by announcing during a mass that he would soon be a father and was quitting to marry his partner, Italian media reported Friday.

“It’s my last mass. I am in love with a woman and in a few months I will be a father,” Vito Lombardo (33) told his flock in the city of Trapani in northwestern Sicily, local newspapers said.

The relationship had been going on for a while, but the priest waited until his partner was five months pregnant before announcing his departure, the reports said.

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CANADA
Times Colonist

Louise Dickson , Times Colonist December 14, 2012

A third complainant testified Thursday at Father Phil Jacobs’ sexual offence trial, describing how the priest touched him during tutoring sessions on the couch in his living room.

Jacobs, 63, who was parish priest at St. Joseph the Worker in Saanich from 1997 to 2002, is charged with sexual assault, two counts of sexual interference with a person under 14 and sexual touching. The incidents are alleged to have occurred between September 1996 and June 30, 2001.

The young man, whose identity is protected by a court order, was involved in the parish and became good friends with the priest. He recalled going to movie nights at the rectory, where Jacobs horsed around and tickled him and other boys.

The witness also testified that he had no concerns when Jacobs became his science tutor in Grade 8 or 9. At first, they sat at the dining room table for the lessons. Then Jacobs suggested it would be more comfortable if they sat on the couch.

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NEW YORK
Albany Times Union

By Brendan J. Lyons

Published 7:59 pm, Thursday, December 13, 2012

TROY — Federal and state investigators are examining the circumstances under which a former state assemblyman from Brooklyn, William F. Boyland Sr., was put on the payroll of a sprawling nonprofit organization founded by Albany’s Father Peter Young after Boyland, succeeded by his son, arranged a series of state grants for the organization.

The grants, called member items, totaled at least $1.2 million over four years beginning in 2006.

Details began to emerge Thursday about that and other allegations behind Wednesday’s raid of the offices of the Altamont Program, the parent organization for Father Young’s network of services. The wide-ranging investigation became public when the state attorney general’s office and FBI used search warrants to seize records from three Capital Region offices used the Albany-based organization, which runs more than 100 facilities for homeless, former convicts and people with addiction problems.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on December 13, 2012

Catholic officials admit that more than 6,000 US priests are proven, admitted or credibly accused child molesters. Yet no US bishop has ever been punished by the church hierarchy because of the abuse crisis – no matter how extensive, egregious or recent his wrongdoing may have been. None.

And only one US bishop has ever stepped down because of his role in covering up heinous child sex crimes.

Ten years ago, Cardinal Bernard Law resigned as the highest ranking Catholic official in the Boston archdiocese. More than 20 current and former US bishops have been accused of molesting kids. And nearly every bishop in recent years has been accused of – or proven to have – ignored, concealed, minimized or enabled clergy child sex crimes or cover ups.

Only Law, however, has resigned.

Still, for almost a decade, he remained an extraordinarily powerful figure, living and working in the literal and figurative power center of Catholicism. He was on six or eight important Vatican committees, including the one that recommended candidates for bishops across the globe. And he helped pick Pope Benedict.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

The former administrator of Newry Cathedral has been convicted of indecently assaulting a teenage girl.

Father Terrence Rafferty, who was the parish priest of Donaghmore, pleaded guilty to four counts of indecent assault on Monday.

The details of the case were only released on Thursday after a court ban protecting the priest’s identity was lifted.

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NEW YORK
New York Magazine

By Joe Coscarelli

A new investigation by the Jewish Daily Forward unearths upsetting sexual abuse allegations by former students at the Yeshiva University High School for Boys in Manhattan at the hands of two faculty members decades ago, as well as a disturbing lack of action on the part of the school. According to men who attended the 116-year-old institution in the late seventies and early eighties, former teacher Rabbi Macy Gordon and and former principal Rabbi George Finkelstein repeatedly engaged in inappropriate conduct with young boys, including wrestling with sexual undertones and, in one case, alleged sodomy with a toothbrush.

Current president Richard Joel told the Forward in a statement that the school is “looking with concern into the questions” raised by the article, but the school’s leadership at the time of the alleged abuses had a far more accepting attitude of the charges. Norman Lamm, president of the school from 1976 to 2003 and now its chancellor, said although he knew about the allegations, police were never notified. “My question was not whether to report to police but to ask the person to leave the job,” he said. “This was before things of this sort had attained a certain notoriety. There was a great deal of confusion.”

The charges, and their bungled handling in the days before Penn State and abuse by the Catholic Church, mirror those that surfaced earlier this year at New York City’s hallowed Horace Mann school.

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NEW YORK
The Jewish Daily Forward

By Paul Berger

Published December 13, 2012.

Yeshiva University President Richard Joel has issued a statement of apology in response to a Forward story describing how Y.U. failed to report claims of child abuse made against staff members during the 1970s and ‘80s. Joel’s statement, released this morning, offered victims who were allegedly abused by members of YU’s faculty and administration “my deepest, most profound apology.”

The Forward investigation into allegations that two staff members at a Manhattan boys high school run by Y.U. sexually abused students led to a startling admission by the university’s chancellor Rabbi Norman Lamm: The school dealt with allegations of “improper sexual activity” against staff members by quietly allowing them to leave and find jobs elsewhere.

For years, former students have asked Y.U. to investigate their claims that a former principal at Yeshiva University High School for Boys, in Manhattan, Rabbi George Finkelstein had repeatedly abused students in the all-male high school. Another former high school student said Y.U. covered up for a staff member, Rabbi Macy Gordon, who sodomized him.

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NEW YORK
The Jewish Daily Forward

[ Student Claims of Abuse Not Reported by Yeshiva U. ]

By Forward Staff

Published December 13, 2012.

The Rabbinical Council of America said it is “deeply troubled” over the allegations of sexual abuse at the Manhattan campus of the Yeshiva University’s High School for Boys that was revealed by the Forward.

The Modern Orthodox group said it was particularly disturbed by the allegations that occured at the flagship educational organization of the denomination, which it said “cannot be condoned or excused.”

“It is especially hard to confront improprieties which may have occurred in our own house, yet that is where the responsibility lies,” said Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, president of the RCA. ” We are confident that Yeshiva is equal to the task.”

The statement said the group “commends” Yeshiva President Richard M. Joel for his response to the allegations. It made no mention of Norman Lamm, the Yeshiva chancellor.

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NEW YORK
WNYC

[with audio]

Thursday, December 13, 2012

By WNYC Newsroom

In recent months, allegations of sexual abuse by faculty or staff have emerged from Penn State to Horace Mann. And another local institution is dealing with these charges: Yeshiva University.

An investigation by the Jewish Daily Forward has uncovered allegations that two staff members at the Yeshiva University High School for Boys in Northern Manhattan, sexually abused students during the late 1970s and early ‘80s.

The report says several boys during this time period went to leaders of the school and reported the abuse, and the university kept the staff members on.

“And when they finally did get rid of [the staff members], they didn’t report them to the police. They just allowed them to quietly leave,” Berger told WNYC’s Amy Eddings.

The school’s chancellor, Dr. Norman Lamm, who was President from 1976-2003, told Berger that he knew about some of the allegations and chose to deal with them privately.

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NEW YORK
Yeshiva University

Dear Yeshiva University Community,

The safety and well-being of our students is Yeshiva University’s highest priority. The inappropriate behavior and abuse alleged by The Forward to have taken place in the past, and described in statements attributed by The Forward to Dr. Lamm, are reprehensible. The actions described represent heinous and inexcusable acts that are antithetical both to Torah values and to everything that Yeshiva University stands for. They have no place here, in our community, or anywhere at all. The thought that such behavior could have occurred at our boys’ high school, or anywhere at this institution, at any time in its past, is more than sufficient reason to express on behalf of the University, my deepest, most profound apology.

At this institution we continually review and strengthen policies and practices addressing the safety of all members of the Yeshiva family. We are vigilant and responsible, and always will be. While we cannot change the past, I can say with absolute certainty that Yeshiva University has implemented, and will continue to maintain and enforce the policies and procedures necessary to assure a safe environment. Such policies and procedures, established in consultation with outside experts, include:

•At each and every one of YU’s schools, including Yeshiva University High School for Boys, there is zero tolerance for abuse or sexual harassment of any sort, of students, faculty or staff. If, despite our best efforts, they should occur, procedures exist both to swiftly deal with the perpetrators and aid the victims. These policies are posted on our website and are communicated directly to all employees annually.

•Members of our own faculty and staff, at every level, undergo training designed to increase sensitivity to these issues, including mandatory training for new hires concerning sexual harassment.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

By Reuven Blau AND Rachel Monahan / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Thursday, December 13, 2012

THE PRESIDENT of Yeshiva University apologized Thursday over allegations two rabbis at the college’s high school campus abused boys in the late 1970s and early ’80s.

Yeshiva was repeatedly notified that a Talmud teacher, Rabbi Macy Gordon, and a former principal, Rabbi George Finkelstein, abused students, alums of the High School for Boys told the Jewish newspaper the Forward.

University President Richard Joel stopped short of confirming the allegations but called the abuse described in published reports “heinous and inexcusable.”

“The thought that such behavior could have occurred at our boys’ high school, or anywhere at this institution, at any time in its past, is more than sufficient reason to express on behalf of the University, my deepest, most profound apology,” he wrote in a letter posted on the Yeshiva website.

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NEW YORK
The Jewish Daily Forward

By Paul Berger
Edited By Jane Eisner and Larry Cohler-Esses

Published December 13, 2012, issue of December 21, 2012.

A Forward investigation into allegations that two staff members at Yeshiva University High School for Boys’ Manhattan campus sexually abused students during the late 1970s and early ’80s has led to a startling admission by the university’s chancellor: The school dealt with allegations of “improper sexual activity” against staff members by quietly allowing them to leave and find jobs elsewhere.

For years, former students have asked Y.U., the premier educational institution of Modern Orthodox Judaism, to investigate their claims that a former principal had repeatedly abused students in the all-male high school that is part of the university. Another former high school student said Y.U. covered up for a staff member who sodomized him.

Y.U. President Richard Joel said in a statement issued on December 3 that the school was “looking with concern into the questions” the Forward had raised.

But Norman Lamm, who was president of Y.U. from 1976 to 2003 and is now chancellor, indicated in an interview December 7 that he knew about some of the allegations and chose to deal with them privately. In one case, a suspected abuser of high school students was allowed to leave for a position as dean of a Florida school.

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NEW YORK
The New York Times

By VIVIAN YEE

Published: December 13, 2012

A tall, imposing rabbi with a black goatee who served as assistant principal and principal during his 27 years at Yeshiva University High School for Boys, George B. Finkelstein was the face of authority to Mordechai Twersky, who graduated in 1981.

So when Rabbi Finkelstein asked Mr. Twersky to “hit him hard” during a meeting in his office in 1980, Mr. Twersky said in an interview on Thursday, he was mortified. When Mr. Twersky refused, the rabbi knocked him to the ground and sat on him, goading him to wrestle. He could feel the rabbi’s erection, Mr. Twersky, now 48, said.

Mr. Twersky’s account was published Thursday on the Web site of The Jewish Daily Forward, which also reported that another former student said that in the same year, when he was 16, the Talmud teacher, Rabbi Macy Gordon, visited him in his dormitory room. Rabbi Gordon inspected his genitalia, the student told The Forward. Then he sodomized him with a toothbrush.

Both rabbis have denied engaging in any inappropriate sexual behavior.

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WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

WORCESTER — A Church of the End Times founder charged with resisting arrest and violating a restraining order opted not take a sentence a judge was set to impose as part of a plea agreement in Central District Court yesterday.

Dennis H. Stanley, 36, who last known address is listed as 41 Murphy’s Way, Uxbridge, did not want to accept Judge Paul F. LoConto’s sentence of 90 days in jail for the resisting arrest charge. The sentence would have included one year of probation for violation of a restraining order charges.

Mr. Stanley, a founder of the Church of the End Times in Uxbridge, has been held without bail for more than 40 days since allegedly violating a restraining order filed by his wife, Beth Ellen Stanley, in October. Mr. Stanley was looking for some type of suspended sentence with probation.

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LOUISVILLE (KY)
News and Tribune

By GARY POPP gary.popp@newsandtribune.com

LOUISVILLE — The pastor of at a New Albany church is in jail after being charged with multiple counts of sodomy on a child.

The Rev. Isrom Johnson, 32, pastor at Prince of Peace Missionary Baptist Church, 725 Linden Ave., was arrested by Louisville Metro Police about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 500 block of South Third St. He has been charged in a Jefferson County Circuit Court with three counts sodomy in the second degree. The offenses took place between March 2009 and March 2011, according to court documents.

Johnson, a Louisville resident, is the primary contact on the church’s website, which includes contact information to schedule him for speaking engagements. Johnson’s arrest follows a Jefferson County Grand Jury indictment.

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LOUISVILLE (KY)
WHAS

by Adam Walser
WHAS11.com

NEW ALBANY, Ind. (WHAS11) — The pastor of a New Albany Church is in trouble in Louisville.

“There are questions all over the place, all over the body of the church,” Pastor Isrom Johnson said in videotaped sermon posted on his church’s website.

There are now plenty of questions surrounding the 33-year-old charismatic preacher, who regularly fills the pews of the Prince of Peace Missionary Baptist Church in New Albany.

“They come by wanting to know if they can help you cook dinner or wash your dishes, rake the yard. I mean, they are just excellent people,” Steve Fore said of the members of the church, which is located two doors from his home.

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LOUISVILLE (KY)
The Courier-Journal

Written by
Mark Vanderhoff
The Courier-Journal

A New Albany, Ind., pastor was arrested at his Louisville home Wednesday night on child molestation charges.

Isrom Perry-Johnson, 33, of the 500 block of South Third Street, is charged with three counts of second-degree sodomy.

Officer Carey Klain, a spokeswoman for Louisville Metro Police, said the second-degree charge means the incident involved a victim 14 or younger. Perry-Johnson was indicted after the victim came forward recently with information about an incident in 2010, she said.

Louisville Metro Police spokeswoman Alicia Smiley said the department would not disclose the victim’s gender.

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TENNESSEE
The Tennessean

Written by
Bob Smietana
The Tennessean

A judge has dismissed most of the claims in a lawsuit filed against Bishop Joseph Walker III of Mt. Zion Baptist Church.

Former church member Valencia Batson had sued Walker, Mt. Zion and several other ministers earlier this year for alleged sexual abuse.

Church leaders have called the allegations ridiculous in the past.

Walker’s attorneys argued that the statute of limitations had passed for most of Batson’s claims and that some of the other claims in the suit were improperly filed.

Court documents show that the last time Walker and Batson had physical or verbal contact was in January 2005. Any claim of sexual abuse had a one-year statute of limitations.

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AUSTRALIA
Canberra Times

December 15, 2012

Barney Zwartz

FOR the first time, a Catholic spokesman has acknowledged that the church in Australia covered up sex abuse, according to a reform group of Catholics.

The group praised Francis Sullivan, CEO of the yet-to-be-formed Catholic Truth, Justice and Healing Commission, for admitting to the media this week that he was personally scandalised and disillusioned by the church’s history of cover-ups.

Peter Johnstone, chairman of Catholics for Renewal, said on Friday the church had previously acknowledged that it had mishandled abuse cases, but not cover-ups. He welcomed this week’s announcement of the lay-led Catholic council to advise the bishops about sex abuse and co-ordinate the church’s response to the forthcoming royal commission.

Mr Sullivan, who called himself a committed Catholic, said on Friday he shared the perception cover-ups were widespread in the church. ”Like ordinary Catholics, I feel very disillusioned at how this whole thing has been portrayed, and the scandal involves cover-ups.”

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LOUISVILLE (KY)
WAVE

[with video]

By Scott Adkins

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – A New Albany pastor is charged with sex crimes against a boy in Jefferson County. Court records revealed the Louisville man is accused of abusing the child between 2009 and 2011.

Isrom Johnson, 33, is faced with three counts of second degree sodomy, Class C felonies.

Johnson is the pastor at Prince of Peace Missionary Baptist Church in New Albany. Detectives claim the abuse happened in Jefferson County with a boy younger than 14. LMPD’s Special Victims Unit arrested him during a warrant round-up.

“Apparently they were in the 500 block of South 3rd and they were able to make the arrest,” Officer Carey Klain.

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CANADA
Vancouver Sun

By Gordon Hoekstra, Vancouver Sun December 13, 2012

A B.C. woman filed a civil suit Thursday in Vancouver seeking damages for alleged sexual abuse by a priest when she was a teenager in the 1980s.

Both the priest, Lawrence Dean Cooper, also known as Father Damian, and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver are named in the notice of claim.

The Vancouver archdiocese does not dispute the woman’s general claims, and said Thursday the church “regrets how she was drawn into a sexual relationship with the priest.”

Vancouver archdiocese spokesman Paul Schratz said Cooper was “removed from the ministry” after the woman disclosed the abuse in 1994. Schratz said this meant he was not able to work as a priest anywhere in the world. However, Schratz said, Cooper went on to work for years as an associate pastor at the New York Diocese of Rockville Centre.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Nonee Walsh

The Catholic Church says an independent report about its handling of sexual abuse allegations against a priest who worked in two dioceses, including Armidale, will be made public as soon as possible.

The report, by former Federal Court judge Antony Whitlam, addresses the Church’s management of a former priest, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The document has just been received by the Bishops of Armidale and Parramatta, and has been handed to police investigators.

The inquiry was announced after a Four Corners story alleging the priest abused altar boys in the 1980s.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
SNAP Wisconsin

Statement by Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director

CONTACT: 414.429.7259

Today, Archbishop Jerome Listecki delivered in Federal Court a tragic “Christmas gift” to victims of childhood rape and sexual assault by clergy. The archdiocese attempted to have thrown out of bankruptcy court, in principle, nearly all of the 600 cases filed by victims/survivors. So far, fortunately, they have failed.

Once again lawyers representing the archdiocese went before Judge Susan Kelley arguing that legal technicalities around the fraud statute should prevent victims/survivors from seeking restitution. It was unclear what was new in these arguments, Kelley having ruled in favor of victim’s use of the Wisconsin fraud statute earlier this year She declined to issue a ruling today on the major cases under review, instead ruling on two minor cases. She is expected to issue a further ruling at a later date.

Two years ago, the archbishop made a public and solemn promise to “all” victims that he would personally guarantee restitution through the bankruptcy process. He did not say “some” victims or “a few” victims. He said “all” victims and that “all victims will be treated equitably.”

Today, the archbishop sadly broke his promise to victims, and by moral extension, to every Catholic.

What is truly disturbing is that the archbishop did not come down to Federal Court himself and personally today and stand in front of victims and their families and tell them why the archdiocese wants every one of their cases tossed. In fact, the archbishop has never once been to court.

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VATICAN CITY
The Tablet

Robert Mickens – 15 December 2012

The Pope has promoted his personal secretary to archbishop and put him in charge of the Papal Household. Here, our Rome correspondent profiles Mgr Georg Gänswein and traces his route from Germany to Benedict’s right hand

He’s been called Gorgeous George, il Bel Giorgio and even the Black Forest Adonis. And ever since making his world debut in the spring of 2005 as the 48-year-old personal secretary of the newly elected Pope Benedict XVI, Mgr Georg Gänswein has been one of the most talked about personalities at the Vatican.

Never in recent memory has a papal aide been such an obsession for tabloid writers, and adoring women. His fans have even erected several websites on the internet, mythologising the Pope’s strikingly handsome secretary as a former ski instructor, tennis player and helicopter pilot.

Currently aged 56 and with grey creeping through his sandy-coloured hair, he is still a youthful and attractive figure compared to the old men with fleshy jowls and balding heads who are more commonly associated with the Roman Curia. And now his admirers have something much more substantial to celebrate in the dashing German monsignor than merely his enduring good looks and proximity to the papal throne. Last week, Pope Benedict announced that he was making his personal assistant the prefect of the Papal Household and was elevating him to the senior rank of archbishop.

It was a surprising move that undoubtedly delighted Don Georg’s friends and fans, but one that also left many others – especially some inside the Vatican – perplexed and ­troubled. “The naming of Gänswein as prefect and archbishop is a scandal,” complained one church official. “The Renaissance papacy lives,” he said, clearly accusing the Pope of promoting favourites.

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CHILE
Cooperativa

El sacerdote John O’Reilly afirmó que su inocencia es la verdad en el caso que lo acusa de abuso sexual contra una alumna del Colegio Cumbres, tras finalizar su declaración ante tribunales.

Este jueves el ex capellán del establecimiento que pertenece a la congregación de los Legionarios de Cristo fue recibido en el Cuarto Juzgado de Garantía de Santiago para hacer sus descargos ante la imputación de delitos de connotación sexual contra una niña de seis años.

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CHILE
Cooperativa

El abogado querellante en el caso contra el sacerdote John O’Reilly, José Ignacio Escobar, fustigó que aun no exista una investigación canónica ante las denuncias de actos de connotación sexual de parte de dos estudiantes del colegio Cumbres, luego que el religioso prestara declaración este jueves en el Cuarto Juzgado de Garantía de Santiago.

El jurista además hizo alusión a la relación del ex capellán del establecimiento escolar con el líder de los Legionarios de Cristo, Marcial Maciel, a quien se le retiró su ministerio sacerdotal acusado de múltiples abusos sexuales, señalando que los 10 años que compartió y trabajó con el religioso mexicano son relevantes en el caso.

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CHILE
La Nacion

El estado laico chileno se impuso en la audiencia en que el cura John O’Reilly prestó declaración voluntaria en la investigación que se le sigue por el supuesto abuso sexual en perjuicio de una menor de 6 años del Colegio Cumbres Femenino de Las Condes.

En la audiencia que se realizó este jueves en el 4° Juzgado de Garantía de Santiago, el religioso imputado se hizo la víctima porque no ha sido citado a declarar por la Fiscalía Oriente y trató de aplicar conceptos religiosos al delito que se le imputa en esta investigación desformalizada.

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AUSTRALIA
Armidale Express

By STEPHEN JEFFERY
Dec. 14, 2012

A FORMER federal court judge has completed a report into the Catholic Church’s handling of child sexual abuse allegations leveled at a former priest in the Armidale and Parramatta dioceses.

Antony Whitlam QC was appointed to an independent inquiry by Bishop of Armidale Michael Kennedy and Bishop of Parramatta Anthony Fisher in July after several people publicly claimed they had been sexually abused as children by the former priest in the 1980s.

It was also alleged the priest confessed to sexually abusing children during a meeting with senior members of the clergy in 1992. The information was not passed on to police.

The report, commissioned by former federal court judge Antony Whitlam QC, has been received by the bishops and handed in confidence to NSW Police.

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INDIANA
Courier & Press

By The Associated Press
Posted December 13, 2012

INDIANAPOLIS — A top state attorney defended Indiana’s punitive damages law Thursday against claims that it renders trials meaningless by forcing judges to reduce awards in lawsuits without telling jurors.

Solicitor General Thomas Fisher asked the Indiana Supreme Court to overturn a Marion County judge’s decision that found the law treads on judicial independence and violates the right to trial by jury guaranteed in the state constitution.

The judge refused to reduce a $150,000 punitive damages award to a man who claimed his uncle, a Roman Catholic priest, sexually abused him when he was 17. The judge had told jurors they could consider the priest’s “reprehensible conduct” when they decided on damages.

Under Indiana law, juries in civil cases can award punitive damages of up to three times the amount of compensatory damages they decide on, but there is a $50,000 cap. The state gets a three-quarter share, which goes to a fund that helps victims of violent crime.

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UNITED STATES
The Beacon-News

Lawyers and clergy sex abuse victims are expected to hold multiple press conferences Thursday afternoon — including one in Aurora — announcing a civil child sex abuse lawsuit against the CEO of Moose International, the fraternal organization that funds Mooseheart Child City and Schools.

Members of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a support and advocacy group, also are expected to hand-deliver a letter to the organization’s headquarters at Mooseheart urging that the accused, CEO William B. Airey, be suspended.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Reading Eagle

Jason A. Kahl
Reading Eagle

A pastor at Spring Valley Church of God in Muhlenberg Township was charged Tuesday with sexually harassing and stalking a 21-year-old female parishioner, authorities said.

Aron Andonie, 47, who has been the pastor of Spring Valley’s Romanian congregation since 2004, was charged by Cumru Township police with harassment, lewd communication and stalking. Police said the offenses occurred between April and November while the victim worked at a business in Cumru.

According to court documents:

Andonie of the 1800 block of Hancock Boulevard, Kenhorst, called the woman at her office shortly after she was hired and told her she was “a hot girl.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
NBC 10

By David Chang

Wednesday, Dec 12, 2012

Cumru Township Police arrested a pastor who they say stalked and harassed members of the congregation by sending them harassing and sexually explicit text messages.

Last November, a member of the Spring Valley Church of God in Muhlenberg Township told police she received several text messages between April and November from a person who refused to identity himself. The woman described the messages as forms of harassment and believed she was being stalked at her workplace and home. Investigators say some of the messages were sexually explicit.

Police began to investigate and say they discovered that other members of the Spring Valley Church received similar text messages. Cumru Township Police say they later learned Reading City Police were also conducting their own investigation after receiving a report from another alleged victim at Spring Valley Church. The combined efforts of both police departments led them to identify the suspect as Aron Andonie, a member of the Pastoral Staff at Spring Valley Church.

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NEW YORK
New York Times

Editorial

Published: December 11, 2012

The sexual abuse conviction in a State Supreme Court in Brooklyn of a prominent member of the Satmar Hasidic community sends a strong and overdue message to Williamsburg’s tightly knit ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, which has shielded such abusers from legal scrutiny.

In a case brought by Charles Hynes, the Brooklyn district attorney, the court convicted Nechemya Weberman, a 54-year-old unlicensed therapist, of repeatedly sexually abusing a young girl who had been sent to him for help. Mr. Hynes said the verdict had lifted the “veil of secrecy” and had served notice that henceforth the prospects for justice are “only going to get better for people who are victimized in these various communities.”

Prosecutors have long had trouble finding witnesses in the community because speaking out, especially to non-Jewish legal authorities, could bring retaliation. In this particular case, Mr. Hynes charged four men with allegedly trying to interfere with bribery and threats. Four others face criminal contempt of court charges for taking pictures in the courtroom in an apparent attempt to intimidate the victim. On Tuesday, Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg, an advocate for child sex abuse victims, was taken to a hospital after what appeared to be bleach was thrown in his face as he walked down the street in Williamsburg.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

Weberman’s sexual assault victim’s mother speaks out: ‘She brought justice. Now other people can come forward’

A Hasidic counselor was convicted this week of sexually abusing a girl since age 12. On Tuesday, the mother told the Daily News’ Simone Weichselbaum how she learn ed of the abuse and what she thinks of her daughter’s stand. The News is withholding her name to protect the identity of the victim. Here’s the mom’s story:
—

She never told me face to face until this got out. She never told me, she never told us.

We got a call from the police station. They said come over right away. I was so shocked. I called my husband right away.

The therapist [at the new school] had called the police. That school made every girl get therapy once a week. My children told me, ‘You have to believe her.’ She is my youngest.

Her childhood was robbed. She was such a bubbly child.

I lost a couple of years with her. After what she went through hopefully she will pick up.

She wasn’t a rebel at all. She was a shy, very smart child. She likes to know. Very bright child. She is a very good child.

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ALABAMA
AL.com

Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com

Posted: 12/12/2012

DECATUR, Alabama – A counselor at the Baptist Children’s Home in Decatur has been charged with sexual abuse following claims that he inappropriately touched an adult patient.

Jonathan Eric Minnon, 21, of 2308 Len Circle, Hartselle, was arrested for second-degree sexual abuse and released from Decatur City Jail on $500 bond.

Decatur Police began an investigation into the woman’s claims on Nov. 8 after she reported Minnon made sexual advances toward her and touched her, according to a Decatur Police report. Minnon was her counselor.

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INDIANA
Houston Chronicle

December 13, 2012

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — State attorneys are defending Indiana’s punitive damages limit against a man who won a $150,000 jury award against a Roman Catholic priest he alleged sexually abused him when he was 17.

Lawyers for the attorney general’s office asked the Indiana Supreme Court Thursday to set aside a Marion County judge’s decision that ruled the law violated the state constitution.

Indiana’s law limits punitive damages to $50,000 and allows the state to take a three-quarter share.

Attorneys for the man referred to as John Doe say the law intrudes on judicial power and violates the right to trial by jury.

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NEW YORK
WKBW

[with video]

By WKBW News

December 13, 2012

Albany, N.Y. (WKBW) – A program called Altamont that was started by an Albany area priest with locations all over the state including Buffalo is now under investigation.

The Altamont headquarters and other offices in Albany are the focus of the intense investigation and were raided by the feds, Wednesday. Altamont helps homeless drug addicts recover. Father Peter Young started the program many years ago. Officials have not said if Young himself is being targeted. Sources tell the Albany Time Union it centers around the organizations use of grant funding.

The Albany Time Union also reports the investigation involves Dennis Bassat who was a director of an Albany area facility. He was arrested last week after agents said he misused the organization’s funds.

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CANADA
Times Colonist

Louise Dickson , Times Colonist December 13, 2012

A former student at St. Joseph’s Catholic School testified he emailed Father Phil Jacobs in 2002 asking for an explanation after Victoria media reported allegations that Jacobs had sexually abused teenage boys in the U.S.

Jacobs, 63, who was parish priest at St. Joseph the Worker in Saanich from 1997 to 2002, is charged with sexual assault, two counts of sexual interference with a person under 14 and sexual touching. The incidents are alleged to have occurred between September 1996 and June 30, 2001.

The former student, whose identity is protected by a court order, testified Wednesday that Jacobs never touched him sexually. But he felt at risk during a conversation with Jacobs while the two were sitting on the couch in the rectory.

He was about 13 at the time, he testified.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By JOANNE McCARTHY
Dec. 13, 2012

NEWCASTLE Anglican Bishop Brian Farran could seek an apprehended violence order after a defrocked priest alleged that some disgruntled parishioners wished to ‘‘damage you permanently with their own hands’’.

The bishop sought legal advice, and police were consulted after former Terrigal priest John Gumbley wrote to the bishop on December 6 alleging that ‘‘some have declared they wished to hurt you physically’’.

Mr Gumbley alleged some people felt ‘‘fury’’ at decisions taken by the bishop, including defrocking Mr Gumbley in 2010 due to his relationship with a woman parishioner who worked for the diocese.

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AUSTRALIA
Canberra Times

December 13, 2012

Megan Doherty

It may be in the churches of south Canberra or on a bike cycling the backblocks of the ACT that Francis Sullivan draws strength for what he knows will be a torrid time ahead.

The seasoned Canberra lobbyist has been appointed chief executive officer of the Truth, Justice and Healing Council, a role within the Catholic Church ”managing the issues and ramifications” of the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse. Former NSW Supreme Court judge Barry O’Keefe, QC, has been appointed chairman of the council.

Mr Sullivan says it will be the most difficult position of his career but one he takes on willingly to ensure the Catholic Church listens and responds to stories of abuse – and tries to prove that things have changed.

”I’ve said quite openly as a Catholic I’m very disillusioned with the whole thing and I think it’s been a scandal,” he said, of child abuse within the church. ”People don’t expect church people to be engaged in this type of behaviour and there has been a history where there has been a cover-up, and that has also been scandalous.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier

By TOM MCILROY
Dec. 12, 2012

THE Catholic Church in Australia has appointed the leaders of a new council established to co-ordinate its engagement with the upcoming royal commission on child sexual abuse.

Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart yesterday announced former New South Wales Supreme Court chief judge Barry O’Keefe and former Australian Medical Association secretary-general Francis Sullivan to lead the 10-person Truth, Justice and Healing Council.

The council is expected to include a representative group of Catholics and will co-ordinate the church’s “embrace” of the royal commission and provide feedback to Catholic leaders.

Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge and Maitland Bishop William Wright have already been appointed to the council.

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AUSTRALIA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn

13 December 2012

Canberra man Mr Francis Sullivan has been appointed chief executive officer of the Truth, Justice and Healing Council, which will oversee the Church’s engagement with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Australia.

Former NSW Supreme Court judge and former Commissioner of NSW’s Independent Commission Against Corruption Mr Barry O’Keefe QC has been appointed chairman of the council.

The council will include representatives from the community to provide expertise, wisdom and guidance over the course of the royal commission. It will comprise men and women with professional and other expertise and will seek to have an effective on-going relationship with people who have been damaged by the sexual abuse scandal.

Mr Sullivan has held positions as secretary-general of the Australian Medical Association, chief executive of Catholic Health Australia, and consultant to the Pontifical Counsel for the Pastoral Care of Health Care workers at the Vatican. He is an adjunct professor at Australian Catholic University and was chairman of the university’s Canberra campus review panel.

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TEXAS
Politico

By JUANA SUMMERS | 12/12/12

Rep. Loretta Sanchez offered a scathing indictment of the Pentagon’s response to the sex abuse scandal at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, comparing it to the abuse cases in the Roman Catholic Church.

“People need to realize that whether it’s rape or sexual assault actually, that that is a crime,” the California Democrat said Wednesday when asked to outline the changes she’d make to prevent what she has previously described as an epidemic of sexual assault in the military. “You do not move the guy to some other unit such as the Catholic Church did. That is incorrect.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call

By Peter Hall, Of The Morning Call
8:48 p.m. EST, December 12, 2012

A man who claims he was sexually abused by a Chester County scoutmaster — sometimes at a Scout camp in the Poconos — has sued the Boy Scouts of America and the Mormon church.

The suit, filed Wednesday in Philadelphia County Court, alleges that the Scouts knew pedophiles were attracted to the organization but didn’t do enough to track those suspected of abuse or warn parents of their presence in Scouting.

It is the first lawsuit against the Scouts in Pennsylvania since the release in October of thousands of pages of the Scouts’ secret “perversion files.” The files detail the cases of leaders kicked out of the Boy Scouts from the 1960s into the 1980s because they were accused of molesting Scouts.

In many cases, including two from the Lehigh Valley, the Boy Scouts dealt with accusations of abuse privately rather than calling on authorities to investigate, the files show.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Centre Daily Times

By MARYCLAIRE DALE — Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — A Delaware store manager is suing the Boy Scouts of America and the Mormon church over childhood sexual abuse committed by the scoutmaster at his church-run troop.

Melvin Novak’s lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Philadelphia. It charges that newly released Boy Scout “perversion files” show the organization hid abuse claims for years.

Novak’s abuser, Vance Hein, is in prison for a parole violation related to his 1999 conviction in Novak’s case.

The 28-year-old Novak says the abuse made him “a quitter” when it came to school and jobs and plunged him into years of substance abuse. The Newark, Del., man has also quit the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph

AAP
December 13, 2012

A REPORT by a former Federal Court judge on whether the Catholic Church appropriately managed sexual abuse allegations against a former NSW priest has been received by the church.

The Bishop of Armidale, Michael Kennedy, and the Bishop of Parramatta, Anthony Fisher, said in a joint statement that the report had been received on Thursday.

Antony Whitlam QC examined the history of appointments, ministry and activities and the way in which complaints by the alleged victims of the priest, known as Father F, were handled.

His report deals with the events leading to Father F’s sacking from the ministry in 2005 and what happened during a meeting between Father F and senior Catholic figures in 1992.

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OKLAHOMA
The Independent

Associated Press

A former janitor at a Tulsa megachurch who admitted to sex crimes against three girls told his victims Wednesday that “no one’s perfect” in an statement in which he pointed to Scripture just before a judge sentenced him to 55 years in prison.

A 13-year-old girl who was raped by Chris Denman sobbed in the first row of the courtroom as the judge handed down the sentence. The scandal at Victory Christian Center also ensnared five other church employees who are accused of waiting to report the August rape in a church stairwell.

Denman faced up to life in prison after pleading guilty to raping the 13-year-old, molesting a 15-year-old girl and propositioning a 12-year-old. It wasn’t clear if all three girls were in the courtroom Wednesday, but when the judge gave Denman an opportunity to speak, Denman directed his statement to them.

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DELAWARE
The News Journal

Written by
Mike Chalmers
The News Journal

The grooming of young Melvin Novak as a sexual abuse victim began with role-playing games.

What would the teenager do, his scoutmaster would ask, to save a friend in trouble?

“Would you get undressed if that was necessary to save your friend?” he’d say, according to a lawsuit Novak filed Wednesday in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

The progressively sexual games were part of Novak’s initiation into a bogus “special brotherhood,” complete with achievement levels and gifts for reaching them, he said. “Everything had a reward at the end,” said Novak, now 28, of Newark. “From the time I was 8 years old, this guy was Santa Claus.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

Aubrey Whelan, Inquirer Staff Writer

Posted: Thursday, December 13, 2012,

Saying he was sexually abused for almost a year by a scoutmaster, a Wilmington man has filed suit against the Boy Scouts of America and the West Chester Latter-day Saints church that sponsored his troop.

Melvin Novak, 28, said at a news conference Wednesday that his childhood “just fell apart” after he was abused by Vance Hein, a family friend, a prominent member of his Mormon congregation, and the scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 84.

As a matter of policy, The Inquirer does not identify victims of sexual abuse. However, Novak and his attorneys said they wanted to spread awareness about his case and sexual abuse in general.

The suit contends that the Boy Scouts concealed information and downplayed the prevalence of sexual abuse in scouting, and that scout officials should have kept Hein away from contact with young boys.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Daily Herald

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — A Delaware man sued the Boy Scouts of America and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Wednesday over childhood sexual abuse committed by the scoutmaster at his church-sponsored troop.

Melvin Novak filed the lawsuit in state court in Philadelphia, charging that newly released Boy Scout “perversion files” support his claim that the organization hid abuse complaints for years.

“They knew about this conduct, they knew what was going on, and they covered it up in the most despicable way,” lawyer Stewart J. Eisenberg said at a news conference attended by Novak and his father.

The lawsuit names the larger Mormon church and the Downingtown-area chapel that Novak attended. The Boy Scouts said it regrets the past abuse of scouts, while church spokesman Eric Hawkins said abusers should face both legal prosecution and church discipline. Neither group had seen Novak’s lawsuit.

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CANADA
Sooke News Mirror

By Edward Hill – Saanich News

Warning: The following story contains graphic testimony of a sexual nature that could be upsetting to some readers.

An alleged victim of a former Saanich priest testified Tuesday that Phillip Jacobs molested him a number of times more than a decade ago, while attending St. Joseph the Worker Catholic School on Burnside Road West.

The young man, who can’t be identified, described to the court and Justice J. Miriam Gropper a number of incidents of sexual touching during his time as an altar server under direction of Jacobs, at the time the parish priest.

Led by the questioning of Crown prosecutor Clare Jennings on the second day of the trial, the witness said the pattern of touching by Jacobs escalated from a hand on the back, then to his buttocks and then to more direct molestation.

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UNITED STATES
The Observer

December 13, 2012

By DAN O’ROURKE , The OBSERVER

In some ironic ways, the priest pedophilia scandal in the Roman Catholic Church, which the Boston Globe revealed (and for which it won a Pulitzer Prize) did something positive for all our institutions by disclosing the sexual abuse in them.

All society’s institutions wield two-edged swords. That’s a belligerent and bloody metaphor. A better one would be that our institutions have their shadow side. They do lots of good, but they also can give rise to darkness and evil.

It’s not only our churches. The United States Military, the British Broadcasting Corp., the Boy Scouts of America, and, of course, our schools and universities come to mind.

The abuse of children is not just a Catholic problem. Many mainline Protestant churches have recognized and addressed the issue. And in Brooklyn’s ultra-orthodox Satmar Hasidic community, Nechemya Weberman, an unlicensed counselor has been convicted of abusing many young girls. This extremely strict community ostracizes and severely disciplines its adolescent girls for normal teenaged behavior. It reminds me of the agonizing and heartrending story of the Madelines in repressive Catholic Ireland in which rebellious girls were kept isolated in virtual slavery. This was as recent as 1960. That tragedy is documented in the film, “The Madeline Sisters.”

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ALABAMA
Hartselle Inquirer

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

A counselor at Baptist Children’s Home in Decatur has been accused of making sexual advances toward one of his patients.

Jonathan Eric Minnon, 21, of 2308 Len Circle in Hartselle turned himself into police Wednesday and was charged with sexual abuse in the second degree, a Class A misdemeanor. He has been released on a $500 bond.

On Nov. 8, Decatur Police received a report of sexual abuse that occurred at the Baptist Children’s Home. The victim, an adult female, had been attending therapy sessions with her counselor, Minnon.

During one of the sessions, the victim alleged that Minnon made sexual advances toward her and touched her inappropriately. During the investigation, police obtained additional evidence that they believe corroborates the victim’s claim.

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INDIANA
Chicago Magazine

A string of assaults and sexual crimes committed by pastors across the country have one thing in common: The perpetrators have ties to the megachurch in Hammond, Indiana.

By Bryan Smith

Genesis

In the beginning—1959, in this case—Jack Hyles arrived at the First Baptist Church of Hammond as a skinny, charismatic Bible thumper with a Southern-fried drawl and a couple of cheap suits. No one could have imagined he would grow into the larger-than-life figure whom critics would dub the Godfather and others would consider the Chosen One.

Born in the tiny Dallas suburb of Italy, Hyles often preached about his alcoholic father, his devoted and deeply conservative Christian mother, and the curse of growing up poor. After serving in the army in World War II, he married his sweetheart, Beverly Slaughter. The fire-and-brimstone words of his mother burning in his head, Hyles then enrolled at East Texas Baptist College in Marshall, Texas, where he became a student pastor. After graduation, he set out to spread his particular brand of harsh theology.

In a show of modesty that would be almost unthinkable in later years, Hyles acknowledged that he didn’t immediately set bushes to burning. After his first sermon in 1947, “Elijah blushed and Heaven’s flag flew at half mast for three days,” he lamented in a 1975 Time magazine article.

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INDIANA
Chicagoist

If you want to know about the culture that allowed former First Baptist Church of Hammond pastor Jack Schaap to transport a 16-year-old girl across state lines in order to have sexual relations, then head to Chicago magazine’s website immediately. Chicago’s Bryan Smith wrote a detailed investigative piece that reveals a culture of misogyny, sexual and physical abuse and literal interpretations of the Bible at First Baptist that precede Schaap’s crimes by decades, were tolerated by the church’s deacons and may have been carried forward by graduates of the church’s Pastor Schools and graduates of its university, Hyles-Anderson College.

Jeri Massi, who documents sexual abuse of children among Christian fundamentalists, told Smith the sheer volume of allegations connected to First Baptist is “astonishing.”

Examples from First Baptist “take in everything: pedophilia, violence, defamation of the innocent to protect the guilty, heresies against Christian doctrine, defiance against lawful authority. . . .” And all this barely half an hour’s drive from downtown Chicago.

Websites dedicated to tracking the suspected crimes of Christian fundamentalists have documented a dozen cases across the country of preachers whose actions have led to a litany of arrests and civil lawsuits. Few are as high profile as Schaap, who agreed to a plea deal in September and said at his hearing he was not aware of the federal laws against transporting minors across state lines to have sex. But Schaap was merely following in the footsteps of his father-in-law, Jack Hyles, who transformed First Baptist from a sleepy Indiana church into the 14th largest church in the country.

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UTAH
Fox 13

December 12, 2012, by Brittany Green-Miner

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah – A former West Valley City pastor lost his job and is now facing charges.

Havili Mone faces one count of failure to report child abuse, a class B misdemeanor.

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UTAH
The Salt Lake Tribune

By Janelle Stecklein
The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Dec 12 2012

West Valley City • The former pastor of the Tongan United Methodist Church was charged Wednesday with failing to report child abuse.

Meanwhile, his former congregation, now fractured into two distinct groups — the Methodists and the Weslyan Tongans — is headed to civil court to duke it out over who should have access to the property and money that belonged to his former flock.

Filimone Havili Mone, 59, faces one count of failure to report abuse of a child, a class B misdemeanor, in West Valley City Justice Court.

The sexual abuse charge stems from the long-time pastor’s failure to promptly report a crime when he allegedly learned that young boys in the congregation had been sexually abused by an older boy several years ago. It ultimately led to his removal by national leaders of the United Methodist Church (UMC) for violating church’s mandatory abuse reporting policy. But local church members say Mone’s departure was the catalyst for a deep schism within the congregation that serves an estimated 600 members.

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NEW YORK
The New York Times

By SHARON OTTERMAN

Published: December 12, 2012

A Brooklyn fishmonger was charged by the police on Wednesday with throwing bleach in the face of a rabbi who is an outspoken advocate for victims of sexual abuse in the borough’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.

The fishmonger, Meilech Schnitzler, 36, of Williamsburg, turned himself in to the 90th Precinct station house around 1 p.m., the police said.

Mr. Schnitzler, identified in state corporate filings as the chairman of the company that owns Schnitzler’s Famous Fish, is accused of tossing a cup of bleach at Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg while he was walking near Mr. Schnitzler’s store Tuesday. The bleach caused burns to Rabbi Rosenberg’s eyes and face and discoloration to his clothing, the police said.

Mr. Schnitzler was charged with felony assault, misdemeanor assault, menacing, criminal mischief and criminal possession of a weapon, Officer James Duffy said.

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NEW YORK
CNN

By Rande Iaboni and Marina Carver, CNN

NEW YORK (CNN) – New York police have arrested a man for throwing a chemical, believed to be bleach, on a rabbi who advocates for sexual abuse victims.

Meilech Schnitzler, 36, turned himself in to police Wednesday and was charged with assault, menacing, criminal mischief, and criminal possession of a weapon.

He is accused of attacking Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg in Brooklyn’s tightknit Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Williamsburg on Tuesday.

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NEW YORK
CBS New York

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) – A man has been arrested for allegedly throwing bleach at a rabbi who advocates for sexual abuse victims.

Meilech Schnitzler is expected to be charged with attacking Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg on a street in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn on Tuesday afternoon, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.

The bleach hit Rosenberg in the eye, police said.

The 62-year-old victim runs a web site that publicizes child sexual abuse victims in the Satmar Hasidic community.

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NEW YORK
WABC

[with video]

NEW YORK (WABC) — An Orthodox Jewish rabbi says he was hit in the face with a cup of bleach while walking down a Brooklyn street.

Police say 36-year-old Meilech Schnitzler was arrested shortly after he turned himself in Wednesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after he allegedly threw bleach into the eyes of his neighbor, Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg.

Rosenberg, who has spoken out against child sex abuse in the Satmar Hasidic sect, says the thrower is connected to another person in the community that he has accused of abusing children.

Police say they have a report of the alleged incident, and that the 62-year-old victim was treated and released from a hospital.

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NEW YORK
Albay Times Union

By Brendan J. Lyons

Published 3:28 pm, Wednesday, December 12, 2012

SCHENECTADY — A task force of FBI agents and state Attorney General’s investigators raided three offices tied to the Altamont Program early Wednesday, carting away records and computers from the statewide non-profit organization that was founded decades ago by Father Peter Young.

Agents from both agencies used search warrants to seize records at the Altamont Program’s headquarters on Duane Avenue in Schenectady and also from an office at the Schuyler Inn in Menands, a converted training and housing facility for Vesta Community Housing Development Board, Inc., which rehabilitates buildings that are rented to community service programs or low-income tenants.

Another raid took place at an office on Eagle Street in Albany that’s used by the organization.

Young, 82, is an iconic Capital Region priest whose work with drug addicts and convicts began in the 1950s. He lived with Bishop Howard Hubbard in the 1960s at the former St. John’s Church in Albany’s South End, where the two priests laid groundwork for drug rehabilitation programs that served as the template for community service organization.

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ALBANY (NY)
YNN

ALBANY, N.Y. — The FBI raided three Peter Young nonprofit facilities, according to a source close to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

Young, an Albany priest, is notable in the Capital Region for his work with drug rehabilitation programs and the needy.

The FBI and Attorney General’s office conducted a raid on three offices in Albany, Menands and Schenectady.

An attorney for Peter Young Industries says that two years ago, it was discovered that an employee stole a significant amount of money from the nonprofit organization. That employee was fired and Young contacted the state about the theft.

Young’s attorney says financial documents were seized in the raid.

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VATICAN CITY
The Irish Sun

By OWEN CONLON

POPE Benedict was mercilessly mocked by twits yesterday on his first day on the internet site.

The Pontiff made his debut after being introduced to Twitter by his adviser, Irish priest Monsignor Paul Tighe.

And he ran the gauntlet from pranksters as he made his first online remarks.

User @TwopTwips sent him a message reading: “Hi mate. I’m thinking of getting one of them popemobiles — do you know what insurance band it would fall under? Cheers fella.”

Another, @GOD87620876, added: “I hear you’re still spreading rumours about me and the Virgin Mary. Stop it!”

Other accounts also berated the Holy Father over ongoing paedophile priest scandals.

However, Mgr Tighe, who is originally from Co Meath, said the German-born Holy Father is “intrigued and pleased” with his debut online.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
SNAP Wisconsin

Archdiocese arguing Thursday that, in principle, all 570 victim cases should be tossed

Archdiocese arguing Thursday that, in principle, all 570 victim cases should be tossed from court

Two years of false hopes and 8 million dollars in lawyers’ fees later, apparent now that Listecki’s using bankruptcy to maintain cover up

WHO
After a court hearing in Milwaukee Federal Bankruptcy Court where Archbishop Jerome Listecki will petition Judge Susan V. Kelley to dismiss, in principle, nearly 600 cases by victim/survivors of childhood sex crimes by clergy of the Milwaukee archdiocese, leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org/SNAPwisconsin.com) will be joined by claimants in the hearing to discuss Kelley’s rulings and the future of the bankruptcy proceedings.

One of the cases being targeted for dismissal by the Archdiocese is community leader Leonard Sobczak. Sobczak, who was sexually assaulted by Fr. Richard Nichols at St. Peter and Paul parish on Milwaukee’s east side, has served as Chair of the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission.

Sobczak will join SNAP leaders after court to discuss his case and the outcome of the hearing.

WHEN
Thursday, December 13th. Court hearing is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m.

WHERE
On the front steps of the Federal Courthouse, 517 E. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee.

WHAT
In Federal Bankruptcy Court on Thursday December 13th Judge Susan V. Kelley will hear arguments from church lawyers who, at the instruction of Archbishop Jerome Listecki, will ask the court to again dismiss, in principle, nearly 600 cases filed by victims sexually assaulted by clergy of the Milwaukee Archdiocese, including Leonard Sobczak, who at the age of 13 was assaulted by Fr. Richard Nichols at St. Peter and Paul parish.

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NEW YORK
Wall Street Journal

By Pervaiz Shallwani

A man accused of throwing bleach at a Brooklyn rabbi who advocates for sexual-abuse victims in the Satmar Hasidic community was arrested Wednesday afternoon.

Melech Schnitzler, 36 years old, turned himself in to police at the 90th Precinct stationhouse in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a day after Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg was doused with a cup of Clorox, according to NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

Schnitzler, who was accompanied by a lawyer, has been charged with assault, menacing, criminal mischief and criminal possession of a weapon. He was awaiting arraignment on Wednesday afternoon.

Rosenberg, 62, runs a website and hotline that encourages victims of sex abuse in the Hasidic community to come forward and report the crimes to the police and has been ostracized by the Jewish community as a result.

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FLORIDA
The Turner Report

A Florida sex offender with ties to the Branson-based Kanakuk Kamps, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of seven felony sex charges involving underage boys.

Edward Ringheim, 41, Windermere, Florida, allegedly treated his victims to free trips to Universal Studios by using his employee pass, one of the victims told authorities.

Parents also allowed Ringheim to accompany their children to Kanakuk’s Branson facility, according to published reports. Investigators say he brought about 30 children to Kanakuk for summer camp over a four-year period. One of the boys he took to Kanakuk was one of Ringheim’s victims, authorities said.

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VATICAN CITY
3 News

By Nicole Winfield

Pope Benedict XVI hit the 1 million Twitter follower mark yesterday as he sent his first tweet from his new account, blessing his online fans and urging them to listen to Christ.

In perhaps the most drawn out Twitter launch ever, the 85-year-old Benedict tapped the screen of a tablet brought to him at the end of his general audience after the equivalent of a papal drum roll by an announcer who intoned: “And now the pope will tweet!” …

The first papal tweet has been the subject of intense curiosity – as well as merciless jokes, criticism and commentary. “The pope has an iPad?” comedian Jon Stewart asked earlier this year. The Onion satirical newspaper ran a piece “Pope tweets picture of self with God.” And in perhaps a more long-term and problematic issue for the Vatican, the (at)Pontifex handle was flooded with negative messages from users remarking on the clerical sex abuse scandal.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on December 12, 2012

Ten years ago tomorrow, Cardinal Bernard Law resigned as head of the Boston Archdiocese after mountains of evidence proved that he repeatedly protected predators, deceived parishes and endangered kids.

Law has been called “the first US bishop to experience personal consequences for concealing abuse.”

Sadly, he’s also the only one.

Recently, two high ranking church officials – Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn and Philadelphia Msgr. William Lynn – have been found criminally guilty of refusing to report known or suspected child sex crimes to law enforcement.

But that’s the secular justice system, not the church hierarchy, imposing a penalty on wrongdoers. Despite their convictions, both men have retained their positions within the church. In the case of Bishop Finn, he has steadfastly refused to step down from his post, despite the calls from parishioners and priests within his own diocese to do so.

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OHIO
The Times Leader

December 8, 2012

By MARK LAW – For The Times Leader , Times Leader

STEUBENVILLE – A Mount Pleasant man arrested Thursday by federal authorities for possession of child pornography admitted to investigators he has been downloading “child erotica” since 2004.

Ryan Kasler, 31, of 24 Union St., Mount Pleasant, had an initial appearance Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Preston Deavers in Columbus, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Kasler is being held without bond and is in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. A detention hearing for Kasler is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday before Deavers, the U.S. attorney’s office reported.

According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and an unnamed foreign law enforcement agency began an investigation into a movie production company that operated a website offering DVDs and streaming videos featuring naked boys.

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OHIO
The Herald-Star

December 12, 2012

By MARK LAW – Staff writer (mlaw@heraldstaronline.com.) , The Herald-Star

COLUMBUS – A Mount Pleasant man was ordered held without bond on a charge of receipt of child pornography following a hearing Tuesday in U.S. District Court.

Ryan Kasler, 31, of 24 Union St., Mount Pleasant, was arrested at his home Thursday after a raid by federal authorities.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Preston Deavers ordered Kasler be held without bond following a detention hearing on Tuesday. …

The postal inspector said the investigation revealed Kasler is employed by the Martins Ferry Romanian Mission.

The First Christian Church of Martins Ferry operates the Romanian Mission, according to the church’s website.

Kasler is listed at the director of the Romanian Mission, according to the church’s website, and he directs the mission’s day-to-day affairs and is serving as onsite missionary in Arad and Ghioroc, Romania.

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NEW YORK
Daily Mail (United Kingdom)

New York rabbi who has helped expose child sex abuse in Orthodox community doused with BLEACH after accusing fish store owner of molesting boys

By Snejana Farberov

Victim: Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg was hospitalized after being splashed in the face with what is believed to be bleach on a Brooklyn street

A New York City rabbi who has been advocating for victims of child sexual abuse in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community was hospitalized after someone threw what is believed to be bleach in his face.

Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg said an assailant he recognized as the son of a man he has accused of molesting boys tossed a glass filled with the chemical at him as he walked in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg section Tuesday.

Police say the two were involved in an ‘ongoing dispute.’ No arrest has been made so far, but the suspected attacker is expected to turn himself in shortly.
Rosenberg runs a hotline and blog that publicizes child sexual abuse victims in the Satmar Hasidic community.

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GALLUP (NM)
San Francisco Chronicle

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

GALLUP, N.M. (AP) — The Diocese of Gallup has been named in another clergy sex abuse lawsuit.

The Gallup Independent reports (http://bit.ly/z0cIwR) that the lawsuit was recently filed in Arizona’s Coconino County Superior Court on behalf of an Arizona man who says he was sexually abused as a minor by two Gallup Diocese priests in the 1970s. The lawsuit says the man claims he was abused as an altar boy in Winslow, Ariz.

Diocese of Gallup spokesman Rev. Tim Farrell told The Associated Press that Bishop James S. Wall has not seen the lawsuit and does not know anything about the episodes alleged in the lawsuit that are described in the Gallup Independent.

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UNITED STATES
Spiritual Politics

Mark Silk
Dec 12, 2012

From one religious body to another, there’s a horrible sameness about the sexual abuse of children by those charged with their moral and spiritual development. The differences come in the institutions and communities, and how they deal with the abusers and their victims.

The trial and conviction of a leader of the Satmar Hasidim in Brooklyn for the sexual abuse of a young girl has laid bare how the sect has protected abusers by ostracizing and threatening those who would call them to account. As the Daily News reported, “Many in the Satmar world were angered to see such a highly-regarded man in the community forced to defend himself in the ‘unreliable’ secular court system, instead of secret rabbinical court proceedings.” That a rabbi active in the effort to bring abusers to justice had bleach thrown in his face on a Brooklyn street yesterday is testimony that the struggle for child protection is just beginning.

Then you’ve got the situation of a Southern Baptist pastor in Missouri indicted for abuse of a girl but still presiding over his congregation without so much as a proposal to remove him from his position. In a fine piece of reporting, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Tim Townsend uses the case to explore the challenges of addressing abuse when it comes to self-governing congregations that belong to umbrella denominations like the Southern Baptist Convention.

Meanwhile, out in Los Angeles, the files on abusive priest in the Catholic archdiocese are finally being released to public view, but it’s unclear whether the clerical superiors responsible for covering up the abuse will have their names uncovered. Last year, the judge in the case permitted those names to be blacked out. “You know that the Church recycles priests,” he said. “Now you want to know who in the clergy recycled. For what useful purpose? The case is settled.”

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WYOMING
National Catholic Register

[click here to read the story]

by TIM DRAKE
12/11/2012

LANDER, Wyo. — Two months after beginning as chaplain for Wyoming Catholic College, Father Stuart MacDonald has been dismissed, following allegations of improper behavior — drinking and using inappropriate language — with students surfaced.

Father MacDonald, a priest of the Diocese of St. Catharines in Ontario, Canada, was fired from his position on Nov. 19.

“His dismissal is subsequent to an internal investigation by the college, which revealed Rev. MacDonald’s improper conduct and language with the college’s students and a pattern of behavior unacceptable as a Catholic college chaplain,” said the college’s press statement about the dismissal.

Father Robert Cook, president of the college, said he first met Father MacDonald in the spring.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Messenger

Police widen investigation into historic sex abuse at top Catholic school, St Ambrose College in Hale Barns

By Kate Banks, Reporter
9:45am Wednesday 12th December 2012

POLICE are now investigating at least five former teachers in relation to historic sexual and physical abuse at top Hale Barns Catholic school, St Ambrose College.

The investigation has widened further, with more than 20 alleged victims and witnesses coming forward since allegations, which are said to have taken place between the early 1960s and the early 1980s, emerged last week.

As part of the investigation a 63-year-old Trafford man was arrested on suspicion of indecent assault and possession of indecent images.

The former teacher has been bailed until March 12, pending further enquiries into an incident which allegedly took place in the early 80s.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Click Manchester

by Mark Langshaw. Published Wed 12 Dec 2012

Greater Manchester Police have received further calls from the public in relation to a historic abuse investigation at a school in Altrincham.

Officers from Trafford’s Public Protection Investigation Unit, with assistance from officers in the Force’s Public Protection Division, are investigating incidents of sexual and physical abuse at St Ambrose RC College in Altrincham between the early 1960s and late 1980s.

As part of the investigation a 63-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of indecent assault and possession of indecent images. He has been bailed until 12th March next year, pending further enquiries.

Following an appeal made to the media on 6th December, a number of further phone calls were made to a dedicated line.

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UNITED KINGDOM
ITV

Detectives investigating alleged sexual abuse at a Catholic boys’ school in Cheshire are looking into new allegations after receiving more calls from former pupils.

Last month, a 63-year-old former teacher was held on suspicion of indecent assault and possession of indecent images dating back to the early 1980s.

He was later bailed until March 12, pending further inquiries.

His alleged victim was a pupil at St Ambrose College in Hale Barns, Altrincham, where the man taught.

Detectives from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) are investigating incidents of sexual and physical abuse at the fee-paying school between the early 1960s and late 1980s.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Mancunian Matters

Posted Wednesday, December 12, 2012

By Mancunian Matters staff

Further allegations of sexual abuse at a Catholic boys’ school in Altrincham are being investigated after more former pupils have come forward.

Greater Manchester Police are investigating alleged incidents at St Ambrose College in Hale Barns from across three decades.

A 63-year-old former teacher was bailed pending further inquiries last week after being held on suspicion of indecent assault and possession of indecent images.

Detective Inspector Jed Pidd, from Trafford’s Public Protection Investigation Unit, said: “While it is not appropriate to detail the number of calls we have received, it is fair to say the size of this investigation has grown, given the response from members of the public.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

More officers are being drafted in to investigate allegations of historical sex abuse at a Catholic college in Greater Manchester.

The alleged offences involved staff at boys-only St Ambrose RC College in Altrincham from the 1960s to 1980s.

A 63-year-old man from Trafford was arrested on suspicion of indecent assault and possessing indecent images last month and bailed until March.

The investigation has been extended due to the response to an appeal.

The man was arrested over allegations of an incident in the early 1980s when the victim was a 17-year-old pupil.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Huffington Post

Detectives investigating alleged sexual abuse at a Catholic boys’ school are looking into new allegations after receiving more calls from former pupils.

Last month, a 63-year-old former teacher was held on suspicion of indecent assault and possession of indecent images dating back to the early 1980s.

He was later bailed until March 12, pending further inquiries.

His alleged victim was a pupil at St Ambrose College in Hale Barns, Altrincham, Cheshire, where the man taught.

Detectives from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) are investigating incidents of sexual and physical abuse at the fee-paying school between the early 1960s and late 1980s.

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AUSTRALIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Nicky Davis on December 11, 2012

The Vatican has promoted Archbishop Paul Gallagher to become the new papal nuncio for Australia.

We hope that Archbishop Gallagher will be a better friend to victims and ambassador for the church than his predecessor, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazarotto. Lazarotto has repeatedly refused to assist governmental inquiries into abuse, such as the Murphy Commission in Ireland and the current Royal Commission in Australia, and by doing so has helped to perpetuate cover-ups of clergy sex abuse.

We urge Archbishop Gallagher to reverse the hurtful course of Lazarotto and to actively engage with the Australian government in order to get to the bottom of the clergy sex abuse crisis. We also call on Archbishop Gallagher to do everything in his power to force Lazarotto to come clean about what he knew and when. Sadly, given the history of other papal nuncios, we are not optimistic about this.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

By Bob Hohler
| Globe Staff
December 12, 2012

A Boston College football player Tuesday admitted to facts sufficient for a finding of guilty on a wiretap charge that he illegally audiotaped a female student having consensual sex with his teammate in a campus suite the players shared.

In a plea agreement, the case against Jaryd Rudolph, a 6-foot-4-inch, 295-pound junior defensive lineman from Plympton, was continued without a finding until March 12 on the condition he perform 20 hours of community service and have no contact with the victim.

Rudolph was advised in Brighton District Court that if he fails to abide by those conditions or offends again in any way, his case could be put back on track for a trial.

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CANADA
Times Colonist

By Louise Dickson, Times Colonist December 12, 2012

Warning: This story contains graphic details.

A former student at St. Joseph’s Catholic School said he was scared and confused when Father Phil Jacobs touched his genitals in a back room of the parish church.

The young man, whose identity is protected by a court order, appeared ill at ease as he testified Tuesday at Jacobs’s trial by judge in B.C. Supreme Court.

Jacobs, 63, was parish priest at St. Joseph the Worker in Saanich from 1997 to 2002. He is charged with sexual assault, two counts of sexual interference with a person under 14 and sexual touching. The incidents are alleged to have occurred between September 1996 and June 30, 2001.

“It was all very confusing,” the young man said. “When you went to school, you’re taught that priests are someone you can trust, that you can confide in. They were good people. It’s tough to understand that.”

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INDIANA
Indianapolis Star

Written by
Bill McCleery

Police continue to look for an Indianapolis pastor suspected of forcing a boy to have sex with him in the mid-1990s, starting when he was 12 and continuing past the boy’s 13th birthday

Otis B. Jetter, 70, is charged with three felony counts of child molestation in an affidavit signed Nov. 30 by court officials .

Jetter is a pastor at Pilgrim Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, 2301 Dr. Andrew J. Brown Ave., Indianapolis.

The alleged victim, who is now 29, reported the incidents last month to Indianapolis police after noticing that another young boy had accompanied Jetter to church one day this year but then stopped coming to church, according to the affidavit.

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UNITED STATES
Examiner

December 11, 2012
By: Vicki Polin

Betsy Salkind is a gifted and talented entertainer, comedian ad writer. In the past she was a staff writer for the “Roseanne” and also “Saturday Night Special”. Betsy has also appeared on Girls’ Night Out, The Tonight Show and SHOWTIME’s Fierce Funny Women. Betsy has also been a long time activist for survivors of sexual abuse with her work with the National Association to Protect Children, and was also instrumental in changing the laws in California to offer equal protection to children sexually abused by family members.

Recently, Betsy Salkind’s published her newest book “More Than Once Upon a Time”, which I personally believe should be on everyone’s must read list. As usual, Betsy has a very unique way of educating the public about childhood sexual abuse and the struggles many adult survivors cope with on a daily basis.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

Two lay people will lead a council established by the Catholic Church to co-ordinate its engagement with the royal commission on child sex abuse.

Former NSW Supreme Court chief judge Barry O’Keefe and former secretary-general of the Australian Medical Association Francis Sullivan were announced as the chair and chief executive, respectively, of the 10-person council on Wednesday.

Mr Sullivan said their brief was twofold; the first duty being to nationally co-ordinate the church’s ’embrace’ of the royal commission, and the second being to provide feedback to the church.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

By Genevieve Gannon
From: AAP
December 12, 2012

A CATHOLIC advocacy group hopes the church’s decision to appoint lay people to lead its council to the child abuse royal commission indicates a willingness to achieve genuine reform.

Two bishops and a nun have already been nominated to the 10-person council but it will be led by members of the laity.

Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart on Wednesday announced former NSW supreme court chief judge Barry O’Keefe and former Australian Medical Association secretary-general Francis Sullivan would respectively be chair and chief executive of the council.

Catholics for Renewal president Peter Johnstone said the church had so far failed to identify systematic institutional failures, but the appointment of people outside the church hierarchy was a good sign.

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

December 13, 2012

Barney Zwartz

ONCE bitten, twice shy, the adage says, and Catholic bishops in Australia over the decades have made all sorts of promises about learning the lessons of abuse, putting victims first and the like that have crumbled under the pressure of expediency.

So the wider community might be doubly sceptical about what changes the church’s new lay-led Truth, Justice and Healing Commission might actually produce, especially as the two men appointed yesterday to run it could not give any examples.

New chief executive Francis Sullivan gave fine promises about truth, justice and listening.

”We are really genuine in saying this process is about healing, which will never happen unless we first listen,” he said. ”And to listen, we need to be in the other person’s shoes, and to step into these shoes won’t be easy – it will take an open heart and compassion. But that’s our brief.”

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NEW YORK
Gothamist

A controversial Ultra-Orthodox Jewish leader known for advocating on behalf of victims of sexual abuse was sprayed in the face with bleach this afternoon on Roebling Street in Williamsburg. Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg was allegedly assaulted by a relative of convicted sex offender Baruch Lebovits, whose conviction was overturned back in April, the Examiner reports. And Failed Messiah, a news blog that reports on New York’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities, reports that Rosenberg has now been released from the hospital and is not blind in one eye, despite rumors on Twitter.

The assault occurred on day after the conviction of Nechemya Weberman, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish leader from Williamsburg who was convicted of sexually abusing a young girl for three years between 2007 and 2010. According to the Examiner, “Several high ranking chasidic leaders are blaming Rabbi Rosenberg for numerous arrests and convictions of sexual predators living within the Satmar community, including the conviction of Nechemya Weberman earlier this week.”

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NEW YORK
NBC New York

A rabbi known for anti-child abuse activism in Brooklyn’s ultra-orthodox Jewish community had bleach thrown in his face on a Williamsburg street Tuesday, police said.

Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg was attacked on Roebling Street at about noon, police said. The bleach attack comes a day after a religious counselor in Brooklyn was convicted of the sustained sexual abuse of a girl in a controversial case that divided the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

By LORENA MONGELLI and AMY STRETTON

An anti-sex abuse activist — who was a daily fixture at the trial of convicted child molester Nechemya Weberman — had bleach splashed in his face yesterday on a Brooklyn street.

Crusading Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg, 62, was ambushed as he walked down Roebling Street across from Schnitzler’s Famous Fish market around noon, he and witnesses told The Post.

“He comes up to me and he taps me on the shoulder,” the still-shaken Rosenberg recounted after being treated for ocular burns at Woodhull Medical Center.

“He walked up hard to me. He looks me in the face. I saw him holding a glass. I thought it was coffee or something and he throws it in my face.”

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NEW YORK
WPIX

[with video]

FIRST ON PIX: Bleach thrown in face of rabbi who writes about sex abuse in Williamsburg’s Orthodox Jewish community

(Brooklyn, New York) – A Brooklyn rabbi who writes a blog about sex abuse within the insular, Orthodox Jewish community of Williamsburg told PIX 11 he had bleach thrown in his face by another Hasidic man Tuesday.

Rabbi Nachum Rosenberg told PIX11 he was walking down Roebling Street, when a man with a beard and black coat ran across from a fish store and confronted him.

“He takes a full cup of bleach and he spilled it onto me. Half of my face is burned, and my left eye, I can’t see right out of it. I see everything very faded.”

The attack happened one day after a jury convicted a prominent Satmar Hasidic man, Nechemya Weberman, of repeatedly molesting a student in the community, starting when she was just 12 years old. Weberman, an unlicensed counselor, faces up to 117 years in prison, when he’s sentenced next month. Many Hasidic men in the community raised money for his defense.

The trial exposed secrets about the alleged Satmar Hasidic “modesty squads” that allegedly raid the homes of girls and families that don’t follow the strict rules of the Hasidic community.

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NEW YORK
JTA

December 12, 2012

(JTA) — A Hasidic rabbi who advocates for victims of sexual abuse in the ultra-Orthodox community was injured when a chemical was thrown in his face.

Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg on Tuesday was walking down the street in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, where he lives, when a man approached him from behind, tapped him on his shoulder and then threw a chemical believed to be bleach in his face, according to reports.

Rosenberg, 62, was treated for burns on his face, around his eyes and in his left eye. He is expected to make a full recovery.

The rabbi runs a website and blog for sex-abuse victims, as well as a telephone hot line.

He told New York media that he believes the attack was in retaliation for his support and assistance of the now 18-year-old female victim of Satmar Hasidic leader and convicted child molester Nechemya Weberman, who was convicted on Monday of 59 counts of sexual abuse of the woman when she was between the ages of 12 and 15 and went to him for counseling.

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NEW YORK
New York Magazine

By Adam Martin

Someone threw a glass of what was apparently bleach in the face of a rabbi who has made it his mission to expose sexual assault in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, the day after a prominent member of the community was found guilty of sexual assault. Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg, who runs a call-in line and website for people to report abuse, told the New York Post and the Times that he knew his assailant, but he didn’t identify the alleged bleach thrower. “He walked up hard to me. He looks me in the face. I saw him holding a glass. I thought it was coffee or something and he throws it in my face,” Rosenberg told the Post.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Tribune-Democrat

SOMERSET — Three women have sued a Virginia church and two summer camp nonprofits – including one in Somerset County – for alleged sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of a camp worker.

They contend the worker was not properly screened despite past complaints of similar misconduct.

The camp worker is not named as a defendant by the women, who were 13 to 17 years old when they allegedly were abused from 2003 to 2005 at events they say were coordinated by nonprofits Summer’s Best Two Weeks and Christian Camps of Pittsburgh Inc., and the Vienna Presbyterian Church of Vienna, Va.

A church official did not immediately return a call for comment on the lawsuit reported Tuesday by the Daily American of Somerset, which is where the lawsuit was filed.

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