ABUSE TRACKER

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – About five years ago, only a handful of people close to Shaun Dougherty knew he had been sexually abused as a child.

It was a private matter.

Over time, though, the Westmont resident started to share his story – locally, statewide, nationally and ultimately internationally – leading to him becoming one of the most well-known victims advocates in the United States.

His public role recently grew even more when he was elected as the new board president for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, a worldwide nonprofit that provides support group meetings, legal advice and lobbying efforts for victims.

The official transition between former President Tim Lennon and Dougherty occurred last week.

Dougherty, who joined the SNAP board in 2019, said becoming president is “quite a big honor” and “a humbling experience.”

“Luckily, I’ve kind of been stair-stepping to it,” Dougherty said during…

View Cache

The Iowa native who’s been president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests — known as “SNAP” — is stepping down from the post. Tim Lennon has been SNAP’s president for the past three years and a part of the group’s board of directors for a decade.

“During that time I’ve seen a dramatic increase in acceptance, acknowledgement of how widespread sexual abuse is within society,” Lennon says. “We have found that even with sacred institutions, like the Catholic Church, that sexual abuse is going on by clergy and that the hierarchy was covering it up.”

Lennon was abused by a parish priest in Sioux City when he was 12 years old. Lennon says after he publicly disclosed the abuse five decades later, 15 of his classmates came forward with similar accounts, “so getting public awareness and knowledge is very, very important to reaching those who are suffering…

View Cache

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WJW) – Former Cleveland Catholic Diocese priest Robert McWilliams pleaded guilty Friday to child sex charges.

The 41-year-old pleaded guilty in federal court to the following: two counts of sex trafficking of a minor, three counts of sexual exploitation of a child, and one count each of transportation of child pornography, receipt and distribution of visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct and possession of child pornography.

He initially entered a not guilty plea, then filed an intent to enter a guilty plea earlier this month.

The Strongsville priest was indicted on 8 counts following his arrest in December of 2019.

The charges include:

• (Count 1) Sex trafficking of a minor
• (Count 2) Sex trafficking of a minor
• (Count 3) Sexual exploitation of children
• (Count 4) Sexual exploitation of children
• (Count 5) Sexual exploitation of children
• (Count 6) Transportation of child pornography
• (Count 7) Receipt and distribution of minors engaged in sexually…

View Cache

GALVESTON, Texas – A $10 million lawsuit has been filed against Holy See and the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and its Cardinal, Daniel N. DiNardo, on behalf of the parents of a child they say was sexually abused by Rev. Phi Thanh Nguyen in November 2018, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit states that Nguyen sexually abused the child when she was 10 years old while attending the Nazareth Academy in Victoria, Texas.

The lawsuit names Holy See because “Nguyen would not have been able to ingratiate himself at Nazareth Academy,” according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit also accuses the Vatican of having a history of burying the criminal behavior of Nguyen and others like him. Houston attorney Felecia Y. Peavy, who is representing the family, stated that the Vatican’s policies protected Nguyen and kept him employed.

“Not only has The Vatican repeatedly placed the reputation of the Church and protection of…

View Cache

SISSETON, S.D. (KELO) – It’s a sordid history that’s coming to light in the United States — government and Catholic-run boarding schools for Native American children. Many of those schools are linked to reports of indoctrination and abuse at the hands of those running the schools.

Decades after the Catholic-run Tekakwitha Boarding School and Orphanage closed, members of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate still feel the impact on the tribe.

“You don’t realize how embedded the fear and the pain and the trauma is with some of our tribal members,” Dionne Crawford, Lake Traverse Council Representative said. “And even being able to have a good relationship with the school, sometimes is hindered because school was used to oppress our people. School was used as a reason and excuse to take children from their families.”

Crawford says many people who grew up in the orphanage were taught their Native American culture was…

View Cache

SISSETON, S.D. (KELO) – As the U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland launches the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative; and the remains of nine Native American children return home to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe from the Carlisle Boarding School — a dark piece of our country’s history comes to light, as reports of indoctrination and abuse at these schools have come to surface.

For more than half a century, the Tekakwitha boarding school and orphanage operated in Sisseton, South Dakota. Native American children attended the school from the 1940s to the 70s.

It wasn’t until about ten years ago that the buildings were demolished and the land was turned into a park.

“Here is where the papoose house was, which is where they kept the babies,” Allison Renville, SWO PIO said. “And connected to the papoose house was a tunnel system that led to this property here, which was…

View Cache

A CORONER who investigated the death of a priest who took his own life over unfounded allegations of child sex abuse raised by the diocese of London has warned the Archbishop of Canterbury that more clergy deaths will follow unless action is taken to improve C of E safeguarding procedures.

She also reports that she received submissions from the C of E urging her not to include “concerns that may be taken as a criticism of clerics or staff for not filtering or verifying allegations”, and writes of “the breadth of the systemic and individual failings that have come to light during the course of this inquest”.

The Revd Alan Griffin, of Wapping, London, who was a C of E priest before he converted to Rome in 2012, hanged himself in November 2020 while he was being investigated over false allegations of child abuse. The coroner, Mary Hassell, reports that the allegations were…

View Cache

RICHMOND, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) — Four names have been added to a list of members of the clergy against whom credible and substantiated claims of sexual abuse have been made.

The Catholic Dioceses of Richmond says three of the accused priests are deceased and the fourth is suspended.

According to a release, the allegations brought forward by the victim-survivors date back decades, when the victims were minors.

The allegations were reviewed by the diocesan Office of Safe Environment and the Diocesan Review Board.

The release says civil authorities have also been notified of the allegations.

The four priests are Robert D. Beattie (deceased), Leo Creamer (deceased), Patrick F. Quinn (deceased), and Joseph Slowik.

All four are priests in the Diocese of Richmond. Creamer was later incarnated in the Diocese of Arlington.

The release says Slowik has not served in active ministry since 2006.

For more information or to view the full…

View Cache

RICHMOND, Va. — The Catholic Diocese of Richmond said they have added the names of four more priests to the long list of those with a “credible and substantiated claim of sexual abuse against a minor.”

Three of those newly-named are deceased, and the priest that is still alive — Joseph Slowik — has not served in active ministry since 2006, the Diocese said.

The priests that have been added are:

• Robert D. Beattie, Priest of the Diocese of Richmond
• Leo Creamer, Priest Ordained in Diocese of Richmond later Incardinated in the Diocese of Arlington
• Patrick F. Quinn, Priest of the Diocese of Richmond
• Joseph Slowik, Priest of the Diocese of Richmond

You can read the full list of priests on the list here.

Authorities were notified, the Diocese said.

Individuals who have been sexually abused by a priest, deacon, religious, lay employee or volunteer of the diocese are encouraged to…

View Cache

“We stand with our allies at The Army of Survivors and join them in calling for an investigation by the Department of Justice into the mishandling of abuse allegations by former USA gymnastics physician Larry Nassar,” says Zach Hiner, Executive Director for SNAP. 

(Full Statement from The Army of Survivors below)

Content warning: Mention of abusers’ names and sexual violence.

Okemos, Michigan (July 14, 2021) — Following initial review of Wednesday’s report from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) on its investigation into the FBI’s handling of allegations of sexual abuse by former USA Gymnastics phycisian Larry Nassar, The Army of Survivors has issued the following statement:

The Army of Survivors shares our support, care and concern for the many survivors who were today once again reminded of the trauma they experienced by former USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar. Our organization was founded by a…

View Cache

Three of the priests have died; the fourth is suspended

RICHMOND, Va. (WAVY) – The Catholic Diocese of Richmond has named four additional clergy members accused of sexual abuse involving a minor. Three have ties to Hampton Roads.

Robert Dixon Beattie served at St. Joseph in Norfolk. He died in 1971, and the allegation of abuse was made after his death.

Patrick Francis Quinn served at Christ the King and Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Norfolk and Saint Charles in Cape Charles. Quinn died in 1995.

Joseph Slowik served at St. Mary Star of the Sea in Fort Monroe, Saint Paul in Portsmouth and Church of Saint Therese in Gloucester. Slowik has been suspended. The allegations of abuse made against Slowik came from his time at Saint Paul in the early 1990’s. He has not served in active priestly ministry since 2006.

The fourth newly named priest is…

View Cache

Anger describes how Richard Hardy felt when he heard the news of unmarked graves discovered at former residential school sites over the past two months.

“But it wasn’t a surprise. I think everyone has known for a few decades now. My mother went to residential school in Fort Providence in the 1920s. She talked about students dying,” Hardy said over the phone from his home in Nanoose Bay, B.C.

Born and raised in Tulita, Hardy, who is Metis, worked as a lawyer in the NWT from the 1980s until the 2000s. Now retired, he moved to B.C. in 2006 and is working on a book about his traumatic experiences.

He’s also a residential school survivor, having attended Grollier Hall in Inuvik from 1959 until 1963. The school was operated by the Catholic Church.

Though Hardy’s experiences at Grollier Hall were traumatic, they fit into a larger and ominous pattern…

View Cache

The Catholic Church still has a trust problem, as shown by the results of a comprehensive survey of U.S. Catholics commissioned by America Media and featured in this issue. (Look for more results in our September issue.) Seventy-six percent of respondents to the survey, conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate in May and June, said that the sexual abuse of minors by clergy has hurt the reputation of the church at least somewhat, and about one-third said they were “embarrassed” to tell others that they were Catholic because of the crisis.

The cloud lingers in part because of misconceptions. Only 33 percent of the respondents in our survey correctly said that instances of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests were more common before 1985 than after. This does not mean we should be talking less about the crisis—it is not surprising that only 21 percent…

View Cache

Nearly three years after a searing report issued by a Pennsylvania grand jury detailed the sexual abuse by clergy of thousands of children and the extensive cover-up by church leaders that followed, America asked the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University to survey Catholics nationwide about their understanding of the crisis, its emotional impact and how it has affected their faith.

CARA asked respondents other questions about their faith, including about the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on Mass attendance. It also asked about financial contributions to the church, as well as the controversy over whether Catholic politicians who support legal abortion should be denied Communion. In September America will explore these and some of the other issues reviewed in the survey, including the blessing of same-sex relationships, women’s ordination and more.

Fifty-seven percent of the Catholics surveyed by CARA said they pay “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of…

View Cache

Last week, the UK government revealed controversial proposals for preventing any further criminal prosecutions and inquests, as well as civil cases and Police Ombudsman investigations, arising from the Troubles in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1998.

An announcement about this in Parliament by the Minister, Brandon Lewis, last Wednesday was accompanied by the publication of a 32-page command paper, citing the “difficulty of securing criminal justice outcomes” and costs to the public purse of legal aid.

The document points out that “over 3,500 people were killed during the Troubles, almost one third of whom were members of the security forces.”

Following the collapse in May of the trial of two former paratroopers for murder on ‘Bloody Sunday’ in January 1972, criminal cases against two other soldiers for killings that year were discontinued earlier this month.

According to Irish Foreign Minister Simon…

View Cache

The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services declined to investigate a child abuse complaint against an employee at the Chattanooga shelter housing unaccompanied minors in May, weeks before the state acknowledged alleged abuse at the facility and a month before Chattanooga police charged that employee with sexual battery.

The state, which has the “right, and more importantly the statutory responsibility, to ensure the safety of children,” also did not interview other children who could have been victims of abuse despite a request from the shelter director to do so before children were moved from the facility and placed across the country, according to court documents released Thursday.

The revelation of the state’s knowledge of possible abuse at the facility in May contradicts previous statements from the department, which said the first case of potential abuse was reported during an unannounced site inspection on June 3.

On July 1, the state  View Cache

Sex with a 12-year-old remains legal with ‘consent’ in a country where many pedophiles have gone unpunished

The greatest shame of the Philippines is the fact that it is legal under the 1930 Penal Code for a 50-year-old man to have sex with a pre-pubescent 12-year-old child and get away with it if the man can convince a court that the child “gave consent.”

Soon that will change and justice will be done for thousands of child victims. At present many children, under pressure from parents and abusers, are forced to stay silent when sexually abused or to say to government officials or in court that “He is my boyfriend,” or that “I loved him.” The judge, with grave misgivings, will have no option but to dismiss the charge of rape, the child apparently having given consent.

Some parents force their children to live with an older man who pays…

View Cache

Brian Dijkema is vice-president of external affairs at the think tank Cardus.

The horrific discoveries of unmarked graves at a number of former residential schools across Canada has caused legitimate pain and understandable anger. Any abuse of the children was wrong and awful. It was also deeply hypocritical for the Catholic denominations that largely operated the schools – contrary to the teachings of Christ, and opposed to the dignity of the children, their families and their tribes.

But in response, some have resurrected the idea of “taxing churches.” Put more accurately, some want to channel public disgust about the indignities suffered by Indigenous children at residential schools to revive their long-standing grievance with the property-tax exemptions for houses of worship, and with the federal government’s recognition of the “advancement of religion” as a legitimate charitable purpose.

But this push ignores the fact that religion remains overall a public good.

The…

View Cache

This post includes discussion of grooming in fiction as well as news reports of sexual abuse. It also contains spoilers for The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough and The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

Romances are often ambiguous and unfairly maligned. According to The Romance Writers of America, a happy ending defines the romance genre. More broadly, though, readers may consider any story a romance as long as it contains a romantic relationship — regardless of genre or ending. Many beloved romances are technically tragedies. Some even make an adult grooming a child for a future sexual relationship central to the “love story.” Although interpretations of books vary, I’ve always viewed The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough and The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger as depicting grooming.

When I first read The Thorn Birds, I thought Father Ralph de Bricassart was grooming Meggie Cleary, although…

View Cache

One of the more uncomfortable homilies I can remember included a paean to the “heroic silence” of St Maria Goretti in the face of prolonged sexual harassment by her eventual murderer, Alessandro Serenelli. Maria’s silence, for the homilist, evoked that of Christ during his trials and passion — a connection he meant to be inspiring. It made my skin crawl.

The Gorettis and the Serenellis were poor peasant families sharing a duplex in rural south-central Italy provided by a nobleman for whom both families worked as sharecroppers. Alessandro was a dissolute young man, and Maria was the nearest vulnerable target. For months he harassed her in private with lewd comments and eventually sexual advances, which she rejected but kept secret.

Maria — whose feast day the Church celebrated yesterday — was not quite twelve-years-old when Alessandro, then twenty, finally tried to rape her at knifepoint. Thwarted by her determined resistance,…

View Cache

ROME – Some 165 bishops from across Latin America are taking part this week in an on-line seminar on abuse prevention that includes top-level experts from both the region and Rome, based on the premise that although fighting abuse requires various forms of commitment and expertise, as far as the Catholic Church goes, the buck still stops on the bishop’s desk.

“Following the crisis that became public in the Church with regard to abuse, in recent years much emphasis has been placed on the role and responsibility of bishops, not only for the correct treatment of cases that come to their attention, but also with regard to the prevention of these situations,” said Argentine laywoman Maria Ines Franck, a bioethics and canon law expert who helped organize the seminar.

“Although this is an issue that requires the collaboration and work of specialists from various disciplines, the bishop is ultimately responsible…

View Cache

Tenía 85 años; se encontraba con prisión domiciliaria en un hogar de ancianos

MENDOZA.- A los 85 años murió Nicola Corradi, el cura condenado por los abusos sexuales de niños sordos en el Instituto Antonio Próvolo. El hombre, de edad avanzada y con varias enfermedades, se encontraba con prisión domiciliaria en un hogar de ancianos y su muerte fue confirmado en las últimas horas por el Ministerio Público Fiscal de la provincia.

Nicola Bruno Corradi Soliman, quien llegó al país desde Italia y luego a Mendoza, desde La Plata, fue el director del establecimiento durante décadas y en el primer juicio, realizado en noviembre de 2019, fue sentenciando a 42 años de cárcel por una veintena de casos de vejámenes y corrupción de menores en tierra cuyana, ocurridos entre 2007 y 2016. En ese proceso, el cura Horacio Corbacho, de 60, recibió la pena de 45 años de cárcel y el jardinero Armando Gómez,…

View Cache

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Three adults, including a priest, sexually abused him over the course of six years when he lived at the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin at Mount Loretto three decades ago, a former resident alleges in an explosive lawsuit.

His assailants also threatened the plaintiff, who was in his early teens, with physical violence if he revealed what they did to him, alleges a civil complaint against the New York Archdiocese.

Despondent, the boy attempted suicide “numerous” times while at Mount Loretto, yet was never provided mental health care, the complaint alleges.

The suit was recently filed in state Supreme Court, St. George, under the Child Victims Act. The plaintiff seeks unspecified monetary damages.

Enacted in August 2019, the Child Victims Act created a one-year window for plaintiffs of any age to sue alleged abusers regardless of when the abuse occurred.

That window was extended to August…

View Cache

A bankruptcy filing by the Norwich Diocese to shield its finances as it faces lawsuits over scores of sexual abuse claims may deny full compensation to the victims, one of their lawyers said Friday.

New London attorney Kelly E. Reardon, who represents six men who accused the church of sexual abuse decades ago, said insurance coverage is “fairly limited” and may not result in full compensation.

However, oversight by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Hartford will require the diocese to fully lay out its finances, providing needed transparency as victims seek justice, she said. In its bankruptcy filing, the diocese claimed liabilities of as much as $100 million and assets of between $10 million and $50 million.

The diocese, facing nearly 60 lawsuits, filed for bankruptcy Thursday. More than two dozen dioceses in the U.S., all outside New England, have filed for bankruptcy, according to the Meneo…

View Cache

BANGALORE – Sister Lucy Kalapura of Wayanad district in India’s Kerala state is rarely nervous, but her pulse raced last week as she prepared to give a statement in court.

“I am a nun fighting for justice. Please do not throw me out on the streets,” she told the Kerala High Court last Wednesday (July 14), representing herself after several lawyers declined to take her case.

She was challenging her eviction from a convent, and seeking police protection from alleged harassment by the congregation.

Sister Lucy, 56, has been a nun since she was 17 years old.

She belongs to the Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC), an order of the Roman Catholic Church, in Wayanad’s Mananthavady municipality.

In 2019, she was dismissed for wrongdoing that included learning to drive and getting a driving licence, writing a book of poems, giving TV interviews and publishing articles in non-Christian dailies.

“If the reasons…

View Cache

Munich (dpa) – During a visit to the Bavarian parish of Garching an der Alz on Saturday, Germany’s Cardinal Reinhard Marx apologized for cases of abuse there and admitted mistakes.

It is now known “that abuse also happened, that the priest who worked here was an abuser,” Marx, who is also archbishop of Munich and Freising, said after talks and a joint prayer session with parish representatives.

“This is a betrayal of the message of Jesus and it is a failure of the institution for which I apologize,” the Catholic prelate said.

A priest convicted of sexual abuse had worked in Garching for around 20 years, although he had previously abused children in another parish and had also been convicted of that.

According to the diocese, he relapsed after his transfer to Garching, which was before Marx was bishop in charge. Three victims had come forward accusing the man of having abused them.

…

View Cache

The Richmond Catholic Diocese has added four names to its list of clergy who have credible, substantiated claims of sexual abuse involving a minor against them.

Three of the priests — Robert Beattie, Leo Creamer and Patrick Quinn — are dead. The fourth, Joseph Slowik, hasn’t actively served in the ministry since 2006.

They join the list, which was first made public in 2019, of 23 other priests with sexual abuse allegations in the diocese, which includes the Charlottesville area.

Their allegations, which date back decades, were brought forth and reviewed in accordance with the diocesan Office of Safe Environment and the Diocesan Review Board, and authorities were notified.

Additional names, assignment histories and status of other clergy with abuse allegations are available on the diocese’s website.

The diocese will not release specific details of the abuse for privacy reasons, in accordance with “its pledge to help…

View Cache

The Archdiocese of Agaña on Saturday said Catholic parishes and schools are held in trust by the archdiocese.

It issued a statement in response to District Court Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood’s Friday ruling that local parishes and schools are part of, and are unincorporated divisions of, the archdiocese.

“The Archdiocese of Agaña maintains, through Archbishop Michael Byrnes, that the parishes and schools are held only in trust by the archdiocese, and in particular by the archbishop in office at any particular time,” the archdiocese stated.

The archdiocese sought bankruptcy protection in January 2019 after a deluge of clergy sex abuse claims and hired Elsaesser Anderson Chtd. as its bankruptcy counsel.

The District Court’s ruling prevents Guam’s 33 Catholic parishes and schools from protecting assets likely to be sold to cover clergy sex abuse claims against the Archdiocese.

“While this decision has been argued and is pending, the archdiocese has continued to engage in…

View Cache

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich, Connecticut, is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy to help pay for more than 60 pending lawsuits over alleged sexual abuse.

The lawsuits stem from former students at the Academy of Mount St. John in Deep River.

Gale Howard is a leader of the Connecticut chapter of Survivors Network of those Abused By Priests, or SNAP. Howard said the bankruptcy limits fair compensation, especially for those who have yet to come forward.

“The Catholic Church owns more real estate than any other entity on the planet. They have enormous resources. They should not claim that they can’t afford to pay restitution to victims. Yes, they can take care of all their responsibilities and pay victims,” Howard said.

Michael Cote, Bishop of Norwich, made the restructuring announcement in a video posted to the diocese website on Thursday. He said no church, schools or cemeteries will…

View Cache

Clergy List First Publicized in 2019

The Catholic Diocese of Richmond has added four names to its list of clergy against whom a credible and substantiated claim of sexual abuse involving a minor has been made. Of the four priests’ names added, three are deceased and the fourth, Father Joseph Slowik, has not served in active priestly ministry since 2006. The allegations brought forward by the victim survivors date back decades.

The names were added after allegations were received and a review was completed in consultation with the diocesan Office of Safe Environment and the Diocesan Review Board. The additional names, along with assignment histories and status, can be found on the Richmond Diocese website: https://richmonddiocese.org/list/.

The new names added are listed below:

NameStatusAffiliationRobert D. BeattieDeceasedPriest of the Diocese of RichmondLeo CreamerDeceasedPriest Ordained in Diocese of Richmond later Incardinated in the Diocese of ArlingtonPatrick F. QuinnDeceasedPriest of the Diocese of…

View Cache

The Church of England is under fire over the suicide of a priest who took his own life after being wrongly accused of child sexual abuse.

Father Alan Griffin, 76, hanged himself at home in November last year, after spending a year under investigation while denied knowledge of the source of the accusations.

In a damning report following the inquest into his death, Coroner Mary Hassell exonerated Father Griffin and heavily criticised the Church of England for its handling of the investigation.

“He killed himself because he could not cope with an investigation into his conduct, the detail of and the source for which he had never been told,” she said.

“Father Griffin did not abuse children. He did not have sex with young people under the age of 18. He did not visit prostitutes. He did not endanger the lives of others by having sex with people whilst an HIV risk….

View Cache

CLEVELAND — A priest from Strongsville who was indicted in 2020 on a slew of sex charges involving minors has pleaded guilty in federal court.

Robert D. McWilliams pleaded guilty to two counts of sex trafficking of a minor, three counts of sexual exploitation of a child, one count each of transportation of child pornography, receipt and distribution of visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct and possession of child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Between 2017 and 2019, McWilliams “solicited sexually explicit images of minors online and engaged in sexual acts with minor victims in exchange for alcohol and other things of value,” the attorney’s office said.

According to the authorities, McWilliams posed as a female on social media in order to entice minor males into sending sexually explicit photographs and videos, sometimes threatening to expose embarrassing information he already knew about the victims if…

View Cache

We at Horowitz Law are experienced in getting justice for people who are sexually abused. That’s done in the civil realm, in which those who commit and conceal child sex crimes are EXPOSED, largely through civil lawsuits.

We’re civil attorneys. This is what we do.

We are not – however, experts in the criminal realm. That’s the realm in which those who commit and conceal child sex crimes are CONVICTED AND IMPRISONED, largely through criminal prosecution and involves police, prosecutors and attorneys general.

We’re NOT criminal attorneys.

So we’re generally reluctant to tell criminal law experts what they should be doing.

But not when it comes to abuse and cover ups in Catholic institutions. Given the long, scandalous, devastating and still-on-going horrendous child sex crimes – and the enabling of those crimes by a church hierarchy that refuses to enact real reform – the duty of U.S. law enforcement is…

View Cache

Kathleen Chastain never expected the journey of her career would lead her to where she is now.

But when she began working with survivors of sexual abuse harmed within the Catholic Church, Chastain was moved and inspired.

“I feel I was called on a mission to use my gifts in a way that would benefit both survivors and the church,” she said.

“It’s extremely rewarding,” she added.

Chastain, a parishioner at Our Lady of the Presentation Church in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, started as consultant to the archdiocesan office for protection and care on March 1.

Jennifer Valenti, director of the office, said Chastain was hired to strengthen abuse prevention and response ministries within the archdiocese.

“Kathleen brings a wealth of leadership and management skills from her background in the private business sector,” she said.

“Her professional expertise will enhance our relationships with the dedicated staff and volunteers on the front…

View Cache

Corrissa A. McCalister has been sentenced to two years of probation and community service, and must register as a sex offender within 90 days

An Ohio high school teacher and who coached track must register as a sex offender after she pleaded guilty to sexual battery for having sex with a 15-year-old student.

Corissa A. McCalister, 22, has been sentenced to two years of probation and community service, PEOPLE confirms. She must register as a sex offender within 90 days.

McCalister was a Spanish teacher at Central Catholic High School in Steubenville, Ohio. She also coached both cross country and track. It was her first year of teaching.

Authorities say the abuse occurred on March 30 of this year, when McCalister drove the student home from a track meet at a rival school. Sheriff Joe Myers told WTRF at the time that McCalister parked her car at the…

View Cache

Plaque was removed last Tuesday at request of elders from Cote First Nation

WARNING: This story contains details some readers may find distressing.

Elders from the Cote First Nation in Saskatchewan have succeeded in getting a plaque removed from the property of St. Philip’s Roman Catholic Church in Kamsack, Sask.

According to elders, the plaque was donated by Ralph Gray, a longtime music teacher at the St. Philip’s Indian Residential School, which operated from 1928 to 1969. Gray has since died.

Elders, who spoke with CBC News via a group phone call, said Gray sexually abused several Indigenous boys who were forced to attend the residential school, and that the plaque was triggering for residential school survivors.

Gray was never charged, but elders say they believe he abused as many as 70 boys. 

According to the elders, Gray donated the plaque to honour Rev. Jules Decorby, who founded the Mission of…

View Cache

Genesee man alleges abuse by bishop

‘UNPERMITTED CONTACT’: Plaintiff says Diocese knew or should have known dangers

BATAVIA — A Genesee County man has become the first person to publicly accuse a former bishop with the Diocese of Buffalo of sexually assaulting a child.

The civil lawsuit filed in Genesee County Monday accuses former Bishop Edward Grosz of molesting him during a confirmation reception in 1990 at a church in Bergen. The man claims the assault was witnessed by his grandmother, who “got into it” with the bishop.

The suit also accuses Father Richard Keppeler of assault, the seventh such suit against Keppeler, who served for many years in Genesee County.

Jeffrey Anderson & Associates law firm filed the suit under the New York Child Victims Act. The deadline for filing civil actions is Aug. 13 and the law firm has been making a last-minute push for sexual abuse victims…

View Cache

The District Court of Guam ruled local parishes and schools are part of and are unincorporated divisions of the Archdiocese of Agana.

According to court documents, the ruling was due to the limited nature of the official committee of unsecured creditor’s motion for partial summary judgment and not due to the parishes and schools being one in the same with the Archdiocese of Agana.

This committee represents clergy sex abuse claimants and other creditors of the archdiocese, including banks.

Creditors asked the federal court for a partial summary judgment that, if granted, could pave the way for the use of Catholic parishes and schools’ assets to pay some 280 clergy sex abuse claims. The assets include everything from cars and vans to buildings, parishes, schools and cemetery property.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood’s ruling prevents Guam’s 33 Catholic parishes and schools from protecting assets that are likely to be sold…

View Cache

The Church of England has been heavily criticised after a priest took his own life due to a mishandled inquiry into false child abuse allegations.

Father Alan Griffin, 78, died in November 2020 having spent a year under investigation without ever having the allegations set out to him.

Coroner Mary Hassell said the claims were “supported by no complainant, no witness and no accuser”.

She told the Archbishop of Canterbury of “failings which had come to light”.

The Bishop of London, Dame Sarah Mullally, said in a statement: “Alan Griffin’s death was a tragedy and my heart goes out to his family for all they have endured. I am deeply sorry for their loss.

“Following the inquest, we have commissioned a ‘Lessons Learned’ review so that we can fully reflect upon the diocese’s actions, and the coroner’s comments, in the period leading up to Alan Griffin’s death.”

‘He could not…

View Cache

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich on Thursday filed for bankruptcy reorganization as part of its efforts to resolve several pending abuse lawsuits initiated by individuals who allege they were sexually assaulted by at least two overseers of a former Deep River boarding school during the 1990s.

In a letter posted on the diocese’s website, the Most Rev. Michael Cote, bishop of Norwich, said the Chapter 11 filing, though the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Hartford, was the “most equitable way” to deal with the dozens of lawsuits filed alleging abuse at The Academy at Mount Saint John.

“It is with a heavy heart, and out of deep concern for the Diocese and you the faithful, that I regrettably share with you the following information, which is probably the most important news that I have had to deliver in my 18 years as…

View Cache

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

It is with a heavy heart, and out of deep concern for the Diocese and you the faithful, that I regrettably share with you the following information, which is probably the most important news that I have had to deliver in my 18 years as the shepherd of the Diocese of Norwich.

On July 15th, the Diocese of Norwich filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy and reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The decision to file for bankruptcy relief was difficult and only taken after two years of careful deliberation and prayer.  

With nearly 60 lawsuits filed against the Diocese relating to abuse alleged to have occurred at the Mount Saint John School – a former ministry of the Diocese and residential school in Deep River to which students were sent, tuitions paid, and annual audits performed by the State…

View Cache

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich today filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the federal Bankruptcy Code. Bankruptcy proceedings will be before Judge James J. Tancredi in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut in Hartford.

In a letter from the Most Reverend Michael R. Cote, D.D., Bishop of Norwich which was posted to the Diocese’s website, Chapter 11 is described as the most equitable way to resolve numerous pending lawsuits alleging the abuse of students at Mount Saint John School filed against the Diocese and a former bishop and certain other creditors’ claims. Nearly 60 former residents have filed suit for damages that exceed the Diocese’s current financial ability to pay.

For More Information Click Here

View Cache

NORWICH, Conn. (AP) — A Roman Catholic diocese in Connecticut filed for federal bankruptcy protection on Thursday to resolve dozens of lawsuits alleging the abuse of teenage students decades ago at the former Academy at Mount Saint John School, a residential treatment center for troubled youth in Deep River.

Documents filed by the Diocese of Norwich, which oversaw the facility, indicate it has $50 million to $100 million in estimated liabilities owed to 50 to 99 creditors. To date, nearly 60 former residents of the school have sued the diocese and a former bishop for damages, exceeding the diocese’s current financial ability to pay, according a statement issued by the diocese.

“A Chapter 11 bankruptcy will allow the court to centralize these lawsuits, as well as help the Diocese manage its litigation expenses and preserve adequate financial resources for all essential ministries,” Bishop Michael R Cote said in a statement….

View Cache

A one-time Edmonton music teacher has been convicted of sexually abusing a former student.

After a multi-week trial, Justice Susan Bercov on Thursday convicted a suspended Edmonton Catholic Schools teacher of sexual assault and sexual interference for having sexual contact with a teenage boy who was previously her student.

Bercov imposed a publication ban on the name of the accused Thursday without explanation or notice to the media.

The teacher, who is in her 30s, worked as a music instructor at a junior high school. In May 2019, she was charged with three sex offences involving a former pupil, including sexual assault, invitation to sexual touching and sexual interference. The alleged offences took place between June and November 2016, when the student was 15.

The student, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, claimed the teacher initiated the sexual relationship. He said he was a willing participant, though as a minor…

View Cache

Survivors call for apology from Pope and release of church documents

WARNING: This story contains details some readers may find distressing.

Saskatchewan residential school survivors shared their painful and graphic stories Thursday — and the region’s Roman Catholic archbishop was there to hear them.

Survivors at the Cote First Nation told Regina Archbishop Donald Bolen he was brave for making the effort, but told him talk is useless without action.

Some said the church has betrayed them and broken too many promises.

“The church is going to crumble,” one survivor said. “We don’t need the church. We need our culture.”

It’s rare for such a high-level church official to spend a full day hearing the stories of survivors, and even more rare that Bolen drove to the Cote First Nation — a nearly 300-kilometre trip from Regina — to attend.

Survivors issued a series of demands for Bolen to pass on to Canadian bishops and the Vatican….

View Cache

“The green tide” for women’s reproductive rights gave them a boost

In January 2021, after abortion was legalized in Argentina, the orange handkerchief movement, the symbol of the campaign for State-Church separation, emerged with a renewed force. 

Within a few weeks, the group behind the orange campaign received numerous inquiries and new supporters through its profiles on social media. It also initiated information campaigns, provided information on the process of formally leaving the church, and shared complaints of abuse of power, genocides, religious interference in education and law, and child abuse or its cover-up. They also gave interviews with figures from different social and political sectors.

We are aiming for the final separation of the state and the church! Join our movement from your province! #secularstate #LegalAbortion2020 #ItWillBecomeLaw #orange #priests #differentmatters #secularism #equality pic.twitter.com/Zj2rr7b5bR — Fed. Campaign for Seperation of State/Church (@CampEstadoLaico) January 2, 2021

With the slogan “Church and State: Different Matters,” this campaign fights for the establishment of a secular…

View Cache

Every year, every diocese in the United States is audited by StoneBridge Business Partners to determine compliance with child and youth protection. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has contracted with this firm, which uses the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People as the guide.

Every three years, StoneBridge visits each diocese in an onsite audit. In May, a representative from StoneBridge met virtually with several diocesan officials, including Bishop Dennis Sullivan; Dr. Bill Watson, superintendent of Catholic schools; Father Adam Cichoski, director of vocations; members of the Diocesan Review Board; Sylvia Loumeau, victim assistance coordinator, and Rod J. Herrera, director of the Office of Child and Youth Protection.

The auditor examines several items including:

— That all allegations of sexual abuse of a minor by a priest or deacon are reported to civil authorities and recorded in the audit documentation. During the three years of the…

View Cache

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A Vatican prosecutor requested that Father Gabriele Martinelli, who is accused of sexually abusing a younger student at the St. Pius X Pre-Seminary, be sentenced to six years in prison if convicted.

At the 11th session of the Vatican criminal trial July 15, Roberto Zanotti, the prosecutor, explained that the recommended sentence for the crimes of aggravated rape and aggravated lewd acts was reduced to exclude acts allegedly committed before Father Martinelli, then a student, turned 16 in August 2008. The abuse was said to have occurred between 2007 and 2012.

Zanotti also recommended that Msgr. Enrico Radice, the former rector of the minor seminary and Father Martinelli’s mentor, be sentenced to four years in prison for “aiding and abetting sexual violence.”

Msgr. Radice is accused of hindering the investigation into the abuse allegations. The seminary, which is operated by the Diocese of Como, and the…

View Cache

El sacerdote cumplía arresto domiciliario en Mendoza

[GOOGLE TRANSLATION: Nicola Corradi died, sentenced for sexual abuse to 42 years in prison
The priest was serving house arrest in Mendoza]

El sacerdote italiano Nicola Corradi falleció este miércoles en Mendoza, donde cumplía con arresto domiciliario la condena a 42 años por abusos sexuales perpetrados en el instituto para niños sordos Antonio Próvolo.

El religioso nacido en Verona, Italia, fue condenado por la Justicia mendocina en 2019, aunque ya había recibido denuncias por cometer abusos en la sede del Insituto Próvolo de aquella ciudad italiana. ADVERTISING

Durante el juicio oral, Corradi fue acusado por cinco casos de “abuso sexual y corrupción de menores”, agravados por el “carácter de ministro de culto y por ser los encargados de la guarda de los menores de 18 años”.

El sacerdote italiano, de 85 años, había sido denunciado también por cometer abusos en la sede del Instituto Próvolo en Verona, Italia, mientras que…

View Cache

The Church is facing renewed scrutiny for its role in Canada’s residential school system, prompting some Catholics to want to formally sever ties.

While the church has been culpable in many atrocities, including running homes in Ireland for unmarried mothers where thousands of women and babies died and covering up for pedophile priests, its role in systemically abusing Indigenous children in Canada via the residential school system is facing renewed scrutiny. 

As VICE World News previously reported, the discoveries—which Indigenous peoples have long known about—have been enough to make some Catholics stop attending church. Others are considering leaving the faith altogether.

There are also growing calls to tax the church and criminally prosecute the churches responsible for operating the schools. 

But the question of how to leave the church, formally, a process called “apostasy,” is more complicated than one might think. Because the church doesn’t operate as an organization per se, there’s not…

View Cache

A former Steubenville Catholic Central High School teacher was sentenced after accepting a plea agreement to one count of sexual battery.

Corissa A. McCalister, 22, of Steubenville was sentenced to two years of probation, community service and must register as a sex offender. McCalister originally pled not guilty.

McCalister was the head cross country coach and assistant track coach at Steubenville Catholic Central High School, where she reportedly was driving a 15-year-old student home from a track meet at Edison High School when she made a stop at the Harrison County Fairgrounds in Cadiz and engaged in sex with the teen.

The juvenile’s mother notified the school of the allegations and law enforcement officials were contacted.

In April, McCalister was charged with two counts of sexual battery for having sex with a 15-year-old student in Harrison County.

During a hearing, Judge T. Shawn Hervey said the victim’s family was aware…

View Cache

While New Mexico’s attorney general has taken credit for securing Catholic Church documents on sex abuse by clergy, saying they will be released to the public soon, a spokesperson for the Las Cruces diocese said it provided the documents voluntarily out of a desire to address the “abhorrent crime” of sex abuse, not because of a search warrant or legal obligation.

“In September of 2018, the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office requested documents related to the potential abuse of children by priests,” a Las Cruces diocese spokesperson told CNA June 7. “The Diocese of Las Cruces immediately began the voluntary process of providing the requested documents. Any statement claiming that a search warrant was presented to the diocese for the requested documents is incorrect, as is the assertion that the Diocese of Las Cruces only responded due to a legal obligation.”

“In fact, the Diocese of Las Cruces fully and…

View Cache

A long-dead Catholic clergyman from the Diocese of Burlington has been accused of sexually abusing a young boy in the 1960s. We commend the victim, who is now in his 60’s and wishes to remain anonymous, for having the courage and strength to come forward after carrying this heavy burden for so long. 

Fr. Roger Carlin died in 1980. The accusations stem from between 1966 and 1967 when the survivor was 9 years of age.  The cleric was assigned to St. John Vianney Church in South Burlington at the time.

The Burlington Diocese claimed that this was the first allegation it has received concerning Fr. Carlin. The Diocese further said, “On receipt of the allegation, Fr. Carlin’s diocesan file was reviewed by a member of the independent review committee which confirms there is no prior allegation as to Fr. Carlin.”

However, Fr. Carlin was apparently transferred eight times during his…

View Cache

The FBI failed to properly investigate serious sex-abuse allegations against former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, according to the Justice Department’s inspector general, who also determined that FBI officials gave misleading or false answers when confronted about those failures.

The scathing report released Wednesday paints a disturbing portrait of the nation’s premier law enforcement agency being told details of what would become one of the most shocking cases of serial sex abuse in recent American history, yet failing to follow up with key witnesses or even notify other law enforcement agencies of potential crimes happening in their jurisdictions.

The report noted that according to civil court filings, about 70 women and girls were victimized by Nassar between the time when the FBI was first told of the allegations, and when Michigan officials arrested him on the basis of separate information.

Despite “the extraordinarily serious nature of the allegations and…

View Cache

In a report released just before the start of the Tokyo Olympics, the inspector general found that the F.B.I. was delayed by more than a year in ramping up its investigation, allowing Mr. Nassar to abuse more victims.

The Justice Department’s inspector general released a long-awaited report on Wednesday that sharply criticized the F.B.I.’s handling of the sexual abuse case involving Lawrence G. Nassar, the former doctor for the U.S.A. Gymnastics national team and Michigan State sports, which led to Mr. Nassar’s continued abuse of girls and women.

Mr. Nassar, who is serving what amounts to life in prison, has been accused of abusing hundreds of female patients — including the Olympic champion Simone Biles and a majority of the last two United States women’s Olympic gymnastics teams — under the guise of medical treatment.

The report, citing civil court documents, said that 70 or more young athletes had been…

View Cache

 [VIDEO]

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – A former South Burlington priest has been accused of sexually abusing a child in the 1960s.

The victim, who is remaining anonymous, is now in his 60s. He says Father Roger W. Carlin molested him when he was nine in 1966 and 1967 at St. John Vianney church in South Burlington.

“He wants to try to heal, he wants to try to help other victims, and he wants to make the world a safer place for children,” said Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney representing the alleged victim. Garabedian has represented thousands of other sex abuse cases and says coming forward can be cathartic for victims. “The guilt stays with them and they are trying to heal, they are trying to gain closure. They can never heal fully, they can never gain closure fully.”

Robert Hoatson, a former priest who works to help sex abuse victims,…

View Cache

A lawyer called on Vermont’s Catholic church Wednesday to release all the records about a priest he alleged abused a 9-year-old boy in South Burlington in the 1960s.

But the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington said Tuesday it checked its records and found no abuse allegations against the Rev. Roger W. Carlin, who died in 1980.

Boston Attorney Mitchell Garabedian said Wednesday he was planning to file a lawsuit on behalf of the man who said he was abused by Carlin in 1966 or 1967 when he was a 9-year-old altar boy at St. John Vianney Church, South Burlington. The man is now in his mid-60s and did not want to be publicly identified.

“If the diocese does not want to release the secret files voluntarily, we will try to gain access to the secret files through civil litigation,” Garabedian said during a Wednesday news conference.

Carlin’s name was not in…

View Cache

[VIDEO]

New allegations of sexual abuse have been raised against a former South Burlington priest. The alleged abuse took place in the 1960s, and the priest in question has since died.

The claims are against Father Roger Carlin who practiced at St John Vianney Church. The victim was a nine-year-old altar boy at the time, who lawyers say was repeatedly molested at church.

“I was fired for helping sexual abuse survivors,” said Bob Hoatson. “Especially of clergy”

Bob Hoatson spent decades as a religious brother and priest, before starting the nonprofit Roads to Recovery in New Jersey. Wednesday, Hoatson was in Burlington to publicly name Father Carlin as a sexual abuser and demand the diocese release all related files. The victim is now in his sixties and is remaining anonymous.

“He could not stand the pressure any longer of carrying around this weight of clergy sexual abuse,” said attorney Mitchell…

View Cache

IRON MOUNTAIN — A former Upper Peninsula priest convicted of sexually abusing teenagers in the 1980s will serve at least eight years in prison.

Gary Jacobs, 75, was sentenced Tuesday in Dickinson County Circuit Court for second-degree criminal sexual conduct and could spend as many as 15 years in prison, the maximum for the felony offense.

Jacobs pleaded guilty to the charge in May in addition to four counts of criminal sexual conduct in Ontonagon County in April. The pleas were part of an agreement spanning both counties.

Jacobs previously had been sentenced to eight to 15 years in prison Ontonagon County in May and will serve his sentences concurrently.

Additionally, Jacobs will be subject to lifetime sex offender registration and be electronically monitored the remainder of his life.

Jacobs was arrested January 2020 in Albuquerque, N.M., after an investigation by the Michigan Attorney General’s Clergy Abuse Investigation team. The…

View Cache

A plaintiff in a Child Victims Act lawsuit says he attended his 1990 confirmation ceremony in a Genesee County church planning to tell Buffalo Auxiliary Bishop Edward Grosz he was being abused by another priest.

Instead, the plaintiff says, Grosz made comments about his good looks and repeatedly groped him.

Attorneys for the alleged victim stood outside the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo headquarters Tuesday and revealed new details of the abuse allegation against Grosz, the former second-in-command of the Buffalo Diocese who was responsible for handling sexual abuse allegations against priests.

“[The victim] was raised Catholic, he was well aware of the impact of naming a bishop, but this is his truth,” said attorney Steve Boyd.

Boyd and other attorneys filed a lawsuit Monday in New York State Supreme Court, alleging their client, who is unnamed in court papers, was abused as a teenager by Grosz and another…

View Cache

Grosz is alleged to have abused a boy at his confirmation in 1990

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Former Auxiliary Bishop Edward M. Grosz became the highest-ranking cleric in the Diocese of Buffalo to be accused of child sexual abuse Monday.

The alleged victim, who is identified in the lawsuit with a “John Doe” pseudonym, filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court alleging abuse by Bishop Grosz and Fr. Richard Keppeler.

In allegations first reported by The Buffalo News, Grosz is accused of abusing the 15-year-old boy in 1990 at his confirmation at St. Brigid Church in Genesee County.

AB 393 DOE v. ST. BRIGID, e… [LINK TO COMPLAINT THAT NAMES GROSZ]

At a Tuesday news conference, attorney Steve Boyd said as the boy approached the altar for his confirmation, Grosz was heard making a remark to Keppeler.

“Bishop Grosz was heard to say to Keppeler, ‘Oh Dick, you…

View Cache

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Former auxiliary Bishop Edward M. Grosz is stepping away from active ministry amid an investigation into an abuse allegation against him.

An individual has alleged that he was abused by Grosz in 1990. In a lawsuit that was discussed by attorneys Jeff Anderson and Steve Boyd on Tuesday morning, both Grosz and Fr. Richard Keppeler were identified as alleged sexual abusers.

Bishop Grosz, 76, retired in March 2020, but was still performing limited sacramental ministires.

According to a statement from the Buffalo Diocese, Grosz has “voluntarily agreed to step aside from active ministry and not to exercise any priestly or episcopal functions pending a thorough investigation”.

“Bishop Grosz has denied ever having abused an individual, either an adult or a minor,” the statement adds.

Buffalo Bishop Michael W. Fisher has notified the Metropolitan Archbishop, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, and is in the process…

View Cache

Retired Auxiliary Bishop Edward M. Grosz, who for many years played a key role in the handling of sex abuse complaints against priests in the Buffalo Diocese, is accused in a lawsuit of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy after a confirmation service in 1990.

A Genesee County man told The News on Monday that Grosz repeatedly groped him at a gathering in a church hall following the confirmation ceremony inside St. Brigid Church in Bergen.

Grosz is the highest-ranking clergyman in the Buffalo Diocese to be accused of child sex abuse.

Grosz did not respond Monday to a voicemail left on his cellphone. Buffalo Diocese spokesman Greg Tucker put out a statement moments after the voicemail saying that Grosz has “voluntarily agreed to step aside from active ministry and not to exercise any priestly or episcopal functions pending a thorough investigation.”

“Bishop Grosz has denied ever having abused an individual,…

View Cache

The Diocese of Buffalo has been notified of a pending action brought pursuant to the Child Victims Act by an individual who alleges that he was abused as a child in 1990 by then- Auxiliary Bishop Edward M. Grosz. Bishop Grosz (76), who is retired and performs limited sacramental ministries, has voluntarily agreed to step aside from active ministry and not to exercise any priestly or episcopal functions pending a thorough investigation. Bishop Grosz has denied ever having abused an individual, either an adult or a minor.

Bishop Michael W. Fisher has notified the Metropolitan Archbishop, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, and is in the process of notifying appropriate Congregations of the Holy See, as required under Vos Estis Lux Mundi, the Apostolic Letter promulgated by Pope Francis in May of 2019 governing investigations into abuse complaints against bishops. Bishop Fisher has also notified the Papal Nuncio in Washington,…

View Cache

The Diocese of Lansing has deemed as credible two allegations of sexual abuse leveled against the late Bishop James Sullivan (1929 – 2006). Bishop Sullivan was Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Lansing from 1972 to 1985 before becoming Bishop of Fargo in North Dakota from 1985 to 2002. Both accusations stem from the mid-1960’s when then-Father Sullivan was living in residence at a parish in Lansing. Both victims were boys who were subject to sexual grooming and inappropriate contact by Sullivan.

“Following investigation and review, the Diocese of Lansing has found two allegations against the late Bishop James Sullivan to be credible,” said David Kerr, spokesman for the Diocese of Lansing, July 2, 2021. 

“Bishop Sullivan’s actions were gravely immoral, deeply scandalous and betrayed both the trust of the Catholic community within the Diocese of Lansing and, more significantly, the faith placed in him by the victims and their…

View Cache

Eight to 15 years in prison, that’s the sentence given to Gary Jacobs a former Upper Peninsula Priest, facing criminal sexual conduct charges. Jacobs appeared in Dickinson County court Tuesday afternoon for sentencing.

His attorney stated Jacobs wrestled with his sexuality as a gay man and alcohol abuse when he committed the criminal sexual conduct. In May, the 75-year-old Jacobs pleaded guilty to one count of second degree CSC in Dickinson County.

The Judge in the case, Christopher S. Ninomiya, said there were letters supporting Jacobs and letters from Jacob’s victims however, Ninomiya said Jacobs took advantage of his position as a Catholic Priest.

“You have completely and utterly breached the faith and trust that was placed in you, you have groomed and preyed upon innocent victims in our community and used your status to accomplish your evil deeds, in my view, for what you have done, the court cannont…

View Cache

[Includes video]

Website provides confidential place to submit reports, find victim support

Wisconsin’s attorney general is encouraging survivors of clergy or faith leader abuse to report it to the state’s Department of Justice.

Attorney General Josh Kaul says the state’s victim services specialists can help survivors in a safe and confidential way.

“We want to get to the bottom of this, both so we can connect survivors to services, but also so we can help get some measure of accountability,” Kaul says. “Hopefully by working with the dioceses to update their lists of credibly accused priests as the facts dictate …  we can work to prevent this from ever happening again.”

Survivors can either make a phone call or submit an online report.

Those who make a report can choose how much information they want to share.

To report abuse, you can contact the DOJ at (877) 222-2620.

You can…

View Cache

Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) President Ed Litton has appointed a seven-member task force to oversee a third-party review into the handling of sexual abuse claims by the SBC Executive Committee (EC).

Calling formation of the task force his “first priority,” Litton said the seven members of the task force “represent pastors, as well as professionals in law, counseling and abuse advocacy.” According to a July 9 news release, the task force will be chaired by Bruce Frank, lead pastor of Biltmore Baptist Church of Arden, N.C. The vice chairman is Marshall Blalock, pastor of First Baptist Church of Charleston, S.C.

“I believe the members of this team are men and women who genuinely pursue God and seek the truth and desire for survivor voices to be heard,” Litton said in a statement. “I am grateful for their willingness to serve our Convention in this important role.”

Additionally, Litton announced two advisors to the…

View Cache

A wave of activists across countries and denominations is calling for the end to non-disclosure and confidentiality clauses.

A growing number of ministers, missionaries, Christian workers, abuse victims, and victims’ advocates are publicly objecting to the non-disclosure agreements and confidentiality clauses used by major religious organizations. They say the legal tools that were designed to protect tech industry “trade secrets” are widely misused to conceal abuse, preserve secrets, and protect powerful reputations without regard for the human cost.

On Wednesday, an international group of them launched a campaign to end “the misuse of non-disclosure agreements,” called NDAs, with a website and the hashtag #NDAfree.

“It’s time to set people free,” said Lee Furney, one of the organizers of #NDAfree and a British expat who lives in Malawi and works to support churches there. Furney played a key role in exposing…

View Cache

Though it has attracted very little public attention, a Catholic religious order has posted a list of its ‘credibly accused’ child molesting clerics. At least eight of them were in New Jersey and three of them are still alive.

Why is this relevant now? Because most people who were abused in New Jersey at any time only have until December 2021 to sue those responsible for the crimes and cover ups.

The Chicago-based Divine Word Missionaries put their ‘credibly accused’ list on their website in late May.

[See Chicago Sun-Times article.]

Those who spent time in New Jersey include:

–Fr. Jefferson Pool who worked in Bordentown between 1998-2020 and now lives in East Troy WI.

–Br. Gary Craanen who worked in Bordentown between 1973-1977 and now lives in Wisconsin.

–Br. Rogers (Charles) Hannan who worked in Asbury Park in 1987 and whose current whereabouts are unknown.

–Br. Deogratias Aguilar…

View Cache

A defrocked Catholic priest accused of systematic child abuse in East Timor has been reported to police for allegedly threatening to kill the human rights lawyer representing the victims.

The claim against American-born Richard Daschbach was made in a statement released on Tuesday night by law firm JUS Juridico Social Consultoria.

“At around 11.15am [on Tuesday] inside the Oecusse District Court, the accused of the case of 14 counts of sexual abuse against children, one count of child pornography and domestic violence, ex-priest Mr Richard Daschbach threatened to kill Ms Barbara Oliveira, partner of JU,S Juridico Social,” the firm said in the statement.

“This threat was made inside the court building, directly witnessed by one member of the national police. While Ms Oliveira was sitting and working in the waiting area of the court waiting for the conclusion of the hearing, Mr Daschbach left the defendant waiting room to go…

View Cache

[With video]

A Virginia priest could be removed from priesthood. He continued to blog about the Catholic Church sex abuse scandals even after the Catholic Diocese of Richmond Bishop ordered him to keep quiet.

8News first began digging into this story back in early 2020. Father Mark White at first obeyed an order to stop blogging. However, he restarted the online conversation once COVID hit and in-person church services halted. That has now prompted Bishop Barry Knestout to take their battle to Pope Francis.

The dispute heated up when in a surprise move, Bishop Knestout suddenly showed up at St. Francis of Assisi in Rocky Mount and took over mass. Father Mark White was the pastor at the Church. He also served as Pastor at St. Joseph’s in Rocky Mount.

During the televised service Bishop Knestout told viewers, “Father White and I are at odds.” In the video shared with 8News, you see Pastor…

View Cache

A Catholic priest has been found guilty of numerous historical abuse charges including three counts of having homosexual sex with young boys.

Anthony William Peter Caruana, 79, was convicted of 25 charges relating to 12 victims after jurors in his Sydney trial were deliberating for nearly 10 days.

They will return to the NSW District Court on Wednesday to continue deciding on a majority verdict for the remaining two counts.

The former boarding housemaster is accused of abusing male students while he was a school teacher, rugby coach, and conductor at Chevalier College, south of Sydney in the 1980s.

Over a six-week trial, the jury heard evidence that one of his 14-year-old victims was attacked while in the band storage room cleaning instruments.

The teacher grabbed his hand and forced it down his pants, another time saying words to the effect of “God will love you if you do what…

View Cache

Allegations of homophobic priest Tony Anatrella sexually abusing men have been around for decades. 

A French Catholic priest, Tony Anatrella, who once served as a Vatican adviser regarding sexuality, is facing a church trial over alleged sexual relationships with his male clients.

The priest, 80, has a history of supporting anti-LGBTQ+ rights initiatives including authoring an article that supported a ban on queer people serving in the priesthood, according to Queerty. The website also reported that he claimed gay men raised violent children.

Anatrella has had a history of sexual assault allegations as well, according to The National Catholic Reporter. The outlet reported that allegations have been circulating for almost 20 years. French dioceses sent seminarians thought to be gay to Anatrella who said he could suppress their sexual orientation. He has denied the allegations against him.

He was banned from ministering in 2018.

There have been three complaints made…

View Cache

An alleged victim, in a complaint under the Child Victims Act, claimed she was abused as a child in the 1980s at what the complaint names as St. Matthew parish.

After diocesan officials discovered an unreported allegation of abuse, Bishop Michael Fisher of Buffalo has placed on leave an 88-year-old retired priest, Monsignor Leo McCarthy, who denies the accusation.

“Bishop Fisher wishes to emphasize that the decision to restrict Msgr. McCarthy’s priestly faculties at this time is in no way intended to indicate his guilt or is it a determination about the truth or falsity of the complaints,” the Diocese of Buffalo said.

An alleged victim, in a complaint under the Child Victims Act, claimed she was abused as a child in the 1980s at what the complaint names as St. Matthew parish. The diocese was not served the complaint but officials found the claim in a search of publicly…

View Cache

[Includes videos]

Now for a Western Mass News exclusive.

New details Monday night surrounding a defrocked priest who authorities said was responsible for the murder of altar boy Danny Croteau nearly 50 years ago.

Western Mass News learned of new allegations against former priest Richard Lavigne, who died days before the Hampden DA could bring murder charges against him.

Danny Croteau is one of those names that never left the heart of the western Mass. community.

The 13-year-old’s murder went unsolved by the law for nearly 50 years.

In the eyes of some in the community, however, Priest Richard Lavigne was always seen as guilty.

“They all would think that he did it. That was always the rumor.”

The priest was convicted of child sex abuse involving different children in 1992, defrocked in the early 2000s, and died in May of 2021, just as the Hampden District Attorney planned to…

View Cache

Providence High School, a private Catholic school in Burbank, was sued by a former student who alleges her track and field coach sexually molested her as a minor in 2019, and then warned her not to tell anyone what he’d done.

The lawsuit, brought Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, identifies 27-year-old Mohamed Haddada as the former coach. The now 18-year-old plaintiff is listed only as Jane Doe.

According to court documents, Doe was 16-years-old and in 10th grade when Haddada was assigned as her track and field coach. The suit alleges that the then coach began manipulating Doe’s emotions to take advantage of her age in order to ultimately sexually abuse her.

Haddada is said to have had adult-oriented conversations with the teenage girl, shared personal information about his private life and paid special attention to her.

In 2019, the Providence High track-and-field program continued into the summer, with…

View Cache

The Diocese of Buffalo announced Friday that a retired priest who continues to assist in the ministry of St. Matthew’s parish in Buffalo has been placed on administrative leave in the wake of a child abuse complaint against him.

A statement released by the diocese said it recently became aware of an action brought pursuant to the Child Victims Act by a woman who alleges she was abused as a child in the early 1980s by Monsignor Leo McCarthy, 88.

The complaint was not served on the diocese but was discovered during a search of publicly filed complaints, diocesan officials said.

The diocese notified the Erie County District Attorney’s Office, reached out to the attorney for the plaintiff and approached McCarthy, who denied committing any acts of abuse.

The diocese reported the matter to the Independent Review Board, which, it said, will be responsible for appointing an independent investigator.

Since the woman…

View Cache

Child sexual abuse sometimes takes place under the blankets while a child sits with their abuser on the sofa, watching TV in a room full of people.

“It’s a wicked problem that happens in the shadows,” said Ginger Kadlec, executive director of the Traverse Bay Children’s Advocacy Center, which recently added 2,200 square feet of space to deal with the rise in reports of sexual and physical abuse.

The added space nearly doubles the CAC’s size, allowing the center to now conduct two simultaneous forensic interviews, Kadlec said.

The number of child forensic interviews done at the CAC has increased by about 10 percent each year for the past several years, said Kadlec, who took over as director of the center in August. In May, 52 interviews were conducted, up from 38 in 2019.

“We’re anticipating that trend to continue upward,” Kadlec said. “We kind of hope that it does,…

View Cache

The story is all too familiar. A child is sexually assaulted and the perpetrator either goes unpunished or gets a short prison sentence, even community service.

Activists describe a vicious cycle in which victims and their families have such low expectations of the Israeli justice system’s response that victims do not even report incidents — creating a public sense that child sexual abuse is not much of a problem.

But the Office of the State Attorney and groups dedicated to addressing the problem estimate that there are in fact tens of thousands of child sexual abuse cases in the country annually, many of them difficult to prosecute because there are no eyewitnesses and because the victims are young and traumatized.

After a series of particularly egregious cases resulting in limited consequences, advocates intensified public campaigns this spring and notched several small victories that they hope are harbingers for a broader…

View Cache

The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s office hopes to give kids a place to just be kids.

Children and parents alike are always nervous at the drop off to summer sleepaway camp.

One grandmother was no exception when she dropped off her grandson June 28 to stay at a camp in the Uinta mountains, where just an hour from the city, children could see streams run through rocky waterways and lambs guided by sheepdogs alongside winding ridge roads.

“This first time he’s going to camp — he’s so excited he’s just bouncing,” she said. “He’s already got his stories ready for the campfire.”

But for her grandson, it was more than just a trip to camp, it was a chance for healing. For five days, in a picturesque corner of the Uintas overlooking a mountain meadow, 62 children who were all victims of crime got to bond, make friends and…

View Cache

This spring, Eve Tushnet wrote an article about the conversion therapy in Catholic spaces. The article, included in the June 2021 issue of America Magazine, cited anecdotal evidence from interviews Tushnet conducted during her research. CNA responded to the article with a different perspective on welcoming LGBT members of the Church, supported by our own research and interviews. 

Over the last several weeks, Tushnet and our staff engaged in a charitable discourse about our respective points of view. We invited Tushnet to share her thoughts in an interview with CNA:

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your approach to ministry. How did you acquire your position with America? What prompted you to write your book?

I was born in 1978 and raised in Washington, D.C., more or less secular or Reform Jewish. When I was 12 or 13, I began to realize that the way other girls were talking…

View Cache

[Includes video with additional content, including statements by Senator Brad Hoylman and survivor Tom Andriola, further comments by survivor Marissa Hoechstetter, and the text of the proposed law.]

The Adult Survivors Act unanimously passed the New York State Senate during this year’s legislative session, but its future in the Assembly remains unclear.

New York’s legislative session ended nearly one month ago, but not without criticism from advocacy groups.

The Adult Survivors Act would create a one-year look back window for cases of adult sexual abuse. That’s similar to the Child Victims Act, legislation passed in 2019 targeted at victims of child sex abuse.

While the Senate passed the Adult Survivors Act unanimously, the Assembly didn’t bring it to the floor for a vote.

Assembly member Linda Rosenthal, a Democrat from Manhattan who sponsors the bill, said that even she doesn’t completely understand why it wasn’t voted on.

“Some of it…

View Cache

Running away didn’t help.

Neither did telling a social worker about the abuse he contends he suffered in his Staten Island foster home.

A young boy could have been spared the pain and agony of being sexually abused by an older foster child had the city and a child-care agency acted on his complaints of molestation, a lawsuit alleges.

“If minimal foster care services had been provided to plaintiff with reasonable care, the sexual assaults of plaintiff could have been thus prevented,” alleges a civil complaint against the city and Seamen’s Society for Children and Families.

As a result of the defendants’ negligence, the plaintiff has suffered “severe and permanent psychological, emotional and physical injuries, shame, humiliation and the inability to lead a normal life,” contends the complaint.

A New Jersey resident, the man is now in his late 30s, his court filings indicate.

…

View Cache

Senate Bill 88 is the first opportunity for victims who were abused by employees of public institutions to pursue restitution.

On Tuesday, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed into law Senate Bill 88, which allows victims of sexual abuse to file for restitution from public and private entities in civil court.

The law adopted July 6 permits victims of abuse from 1960 to January 2022 retroactively to collect restitution from employers who knew about or who should have known about the abuse taking place, as long as claims are filed by January 2025. 

“For decades, the Catholic Church in Colorado has recognized a need for restorative justice for victims of sexual abuse, no matter how long ago the abuse occurred,” said the Colorado Catholic Conference in a statement. “It is important to acknowledge that this new law could provide opportunities for victims of childhood sexual abuse from other institutions who have…

View Cache

A private Catholic high school in Burbank is being sued by a former student who alleges she was sexually molested as a minor in 2019 by a track-and-field coach who warned her not to tell anyone what he had done to her.

The plaintiff is identified only as Jane Doe in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit brought against Providence High School and the now-18-year-old plaintiff’s former coach, Mohamed Haddada, who is 27 and awaiting trial on charges of sexual abuse, according to her court papers.

The suit’s allegations include sexual abuse of a minor, sexual harassment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent hiring, supervision and retention. Doe seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

A Providence High School representative could not be immediately reached.

At the outset of the 2018-19 school year, Doe was 16 years old and in the 10th grade, the suit states. He was assigned as…

View Cache

A notoriously anti-gay priest in Paris will face trial within the Catholic Church over his self-professed attempts to “cure” homosexuality. His method: have sex with men.

Msgr. Tony Anatrella has a long history of campaigning against LGBTQ rights initiatives inside and outside the church. In 2005, he authored an article supporting a ban on LGBTQ people from serving in the priesthood. The following year, he claimed gay men raise “violent” children, and further supported a ban on same-sex marriage equality. He further described homosexuality as a “confusion of sex and feelings leads to a confusion of the realities and an impasse.”

Anatrella’s stance on homosexuality boggles the mind considering his decades-long history of sexual assault of other men. The National Catholic Reporter reports that allegations against Anatrella have circulated for more than 20 years. In 2006, a former seminarian named Daniel Lamarca claimed Anatrella sexually assaulted him during therapy…

View Cache

A former Catholic ministry leader at Western Carolina University in the North Carolina mountains sexually abused a student for years in the 1980s, according to a lawsuit the former student filed on Tuesday against his alleged abuser and the Charlotte Catholic Diocese.

On Friday, the diocese issued a statement that it “has zero tolerance for child sexual abuse, and we continue to encourage anyone who has been the victim of abuse to seek help and report to authorities.”

Al Behm is named in the lawsuit as the man who allegedly sexually abused the student at WCU in Cullowhee. The student said he had known Behm since he was a boy in Connecticut.

Behm was an ordained Catholic brother of the Ohio-based Glenmary Home Missioners religious order, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Mecklenburg County Civil Superior Court.

From about 1980 to 1984, the diocese and…

View Cache

THERE ARE growing calls for Pope Francis to officially apologise on behalf of the Catholic Church for the church’s role in Canada’s residential schools, set up to forcibly assimilate First Nations children.

Over the past several months, the bodies of over 1,000 children have been discovered at three former residential schools run by the Catholic Church; neither the Pope or the Church have issued a formal apology, leading to huge anger in Canada.

Now elected officials and authorities have called on the Church to formally apologise, with Ontario MPs and Mayor Walter Sendzik writing an open letter to the bishop of St Catharines, their local town, asking that he demands Pope Francis apologise.

In the letter, the officials acknowledge that “The residential school sustem was an attempt by the Government of Canada and Canadian churches to erase Indigenous culture from Canada.”

While some other Canadian Christian churches have apologised for…

View Cache

Antonette Acupinpin was 7 when the sexual abuse started.

She had already endured years of beating and physical violence from her mother and stepfather, she said — but then he took it a step further.

He would put a long knife near her face during the abuse, and threaten to kill her mother and brother if she reported him, she said. Terrified and ashamed, she didn’t tell anyone for a year and a half — until a school teacher saw her with a black eye and notified the police.

“I felt hopeless,” said Acupinpin, now 23. “It felt like I had nowhere to go because it’s my family who was hurting me. I didn’t know anyone who could really help me.”

She’s not alone. Child sexual abuse is rampant in the Philippines, which activists say is partly driven by the country’s ​law regarding the age at which ​girls can legally…

View Cache

CBC compiled Catholic projects announced since promising ‘best efforts’ to survivors, paying them under $4M

Catholic officials said in 2015 they could only fundraise a total of $3.9 million for residential school survivors, but efforts for Catholic cathedrals and other buildings across Canada reached nearly $300 million since November 2005, according to data gathered by CBC News.

The actual number may be higher. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops declined a CBC News request this week to ask its member bishops for the information. The figure of $292 million resulted from searches of individual dioceses’ websites and other public sources.

These include a $128-million renovation of St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica in Toronto. The 2016 gala opening — complete with a brass band — was held one year after Canadian church groups went to court to say there was no more fundraising money for survivors.

Critics say these figures throw into question the church’s legal claim it gave “best efforts” to…

View Cache

88-year-old Reverend Monsignor Leo McCarthy, a retired Buffalo Catholic priest, has been placed on administrative leave after a complaint of alleged abuse was discovered by the diocese.

The alleged abuse came to light through a Child Victims Act complaint, claiming this individual was abused as a child in the early 1980s at St. Matthew parish. The Buffalo Catholic Diocese came across the complaint during a search of publicly filed complaints. The diocese was not directly served the claim.

The diocese notified the Erie County District Attorney’s office and contacted the plaintiff’s attorney after learning of the complaint. The matter has also been reported to their Independent Review Board — responsible for appointing an independent investigator. 

The plaintiff is unwilling to cooperate in the investigation.

McCarthy was placed on leave by Bishop Michael Fisher. The 88-year-old, who assists in parish ministry, denies committing any abuse.

“As a result, Bishop Fisher has decided…

View Cache

An East Timorese NGO has called for more respect and support for victims of sexual abuse in the country, calling for a speedy trial of a defrocked priest accused of sexually abusing several children over a period of years.

“Sexual violations against women and girls are serious crimes, and everyone must unite to oppose these acts. Activists, journalists, the state, human rights institutions and our entire population need to act more purposefully to fight for the physical safety, privacy and freedom of women and girls,” said La’o Hamutuk, a Timorese non-governmental organisation (NGO).

In a statement sent to Lusa La’o Hamutuk welcomes the fact that Daschbach’s trial is finally taking place, expressing concern over repeated postponements in the process and by “political pressure from important people and comments on social media that could increase the psychological suffering of the victims”.

“These trends can set a bad example for other victims in the future, or make victims afraid to…

View Cache