ABUSE TRACKER

NEW MEXICO
Gallup Independent

Published in the Gallup Independent, Gallup, N.M., April 20, 2018

The Diocese of Gallup’s series of healing services for survivors of clergy sex abuse is coming to an end this month. The series, which began 18 months ago, has been held at nearly 40 Catholic parishes across the diocese in Arizona and New Mexico – wherever a church sex abuser molested an innocent child or wherever he had a “ministry”assignment.

This month also marks the 9th anniversary of Bishop James S. Wall’s tenure in the Gallup Diocese. In many ways, the healing services are a reflection of ongoing problems created by Bishop Wall’s slipshod leadership skills and lack of transparency and accountability.

The healing services were a result of the Diocese of Gallup filing for bankruptcy protection. As part of the Chapter 11 reorganization, the diocese had to agree to 17 non-monetary provisions in an effort to make amends to the untold numbers of victims of clergy sexual abuse. Provision No. 8 required Bishop Wall to visit each operating Catholic parish or school and “provide a forum/discussion during his visit to address questions and comments.” That did not happen. Instead, the bishop offered religious services, followed by private meetings with interested abuse survivors.

Before we offer further criticism,let us be clear: The healing services were helpful for some survivors of clergy sex abuse. Those individuals have said they found the scriptural readings and the bishop’s words to be healing. They have appreciated speaking with the bishop after the service, and they found him to act responsive and caring.

However, the services have only provided healing for a small number of abuse survivors. The bishop and his staff have failed many other abuse survivors, the Catholic laity and the general public through their lack of courage, shortage of empathy and pervasive incompetence. Many abuse survivors never attended a healing service because they can’t emotionally bring themselves to step through the doors of a Catholic Church. Others refused to attend because they are still angry over the many years the diocese fought abuse survivors with hardball legal tactics. Most of the Catholic laity and the general public never attended because they realized no real answers about clergy sex abuse would be forthcoming.

First, it is a sad state of affairs when a U.S. bankruptcy court has to order a Catholic bishop to visit his own parishes and offer an apology for the sexual abuse of children.

Secondly, Bishop Wall should have had the moral courage to offer a “forum/discussion” at each parish and school as described in the non-monetary provisions. Would church members and the general public ask difficult questions? Yes, of course. Would there have been anger, tears and emotional outbursts from abuse survivors and their families?Yes, but that is a necessary step to healing trauma. Santa Fe Archbishop John C. Wester had the courage to offer five such public panel discussions and they did include difficult questions, anger, tears and emotional outbursts.Unfortunately, Bishop Wall doesn’t have that kind of moral courage.

Thirdly, the manner in which many of the healing services were postponed – some of them were postponed twice – is an example of the lack of competence and empathy of the bishop and his staff. They postponed one service because they had scheduled it the same day as the bishop’s all important Mardi Gras fundraiser celebration. Doesn’t the chancery keep a calendar of the bishop’s schedule? And what should be more important to a supposed representative of Jesus Christ – ministering to abuse survivors or raising money for church coffers? Bishop Wall gave us his predictable answer:Money.

Other healing services were postponed so the bishop could travel. Still, others were postponed on such short notice that abuse survivors were left uninformed. One survivor drove to the isolated church in Lumberton, New Mexico, only to learn the diocese had postponed the service without adequate public notice. Abuse survivors and their family members deserve better treatment.

And what about truthful information and honest answers? That has been in short supply since Wall became bishop. For example, in 2009, the Gallup Independent reported the Rev. Diego Mazon, O.F.M.had been removed from ministry because of a clergy sex abuse lawsuit and a credible allegation of abuse. Yet, it took the Diocese of Gallup eight more years of foot dragging to admit to this fact. Through the years, the Independent has reported on other accused Gallup clergy, yet the Gallup Diocese continues to drag its feet and fail to provide answers.

The Catholic laity and the general public also deserve better than this. Unfortunately, with Bishop Wall at the helm, foot dragging and stonewalling of information and answers is all we’ll probably get.

In this space only does the opinion of the Gallup Independent Editorial Board appear.

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UNITED STATES
The Lily

Samira Sadeque

December 19, 2017

Editor’s note: This story contains sensitive stories about childhood sexual abuse. Some of the women who came forward in this story could face negative repercussions within their communities for sharing their experiences. The Lily has chosen to protect their identities by not using their real or full names.

Bina really believed Samiha was going to come home that night.

It was a cold Wednesday evening in November 2016. Bina* had just gotten off the phone with her 23-year-old cousin, Samiha Khan, who assured her that she was on her way home.

“I told her what I always tell her when she’s upset,” Bina said. “You live in a house full of people who love you, and we’re waiting for you. So, come home.”

She was still suspicious. She had offered to call Samiha an Uber, but Samiha insisted she would take the subway.

Instead, she threw herself in front of one.

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NEW MEXICO
Gallup Independent

Published in the Gallup Independent, Gallup, N.M., April 9, 2018

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Independent correspondent
religion@gallupindependent.com

ALBUQUERQUE – A new clergy sex abuse lawsuit, filed against the Archdiocese of Santa Fe Thursday, alleges the archdiocese failed to include more than 40 credibly accused sex abusers on its list of abusers, including four Catholic clerics who worked in the Diocese of Gallup.

Levi A. Monagle, an attorney with the Law Offices of Brad D. Hall in Albuquerque, filed the lawsuit Thursday in New Mexico’s Second Judicial District Court on behalf of “John Doe 80,” a man who alleges he was sexually abused as a child by the Rev. Robert Galli at St. Anne’s Parish in southwest Albuquerque.

The law firm released the names of 43 clerics in both the lawsuit and a news release issued Friday. The firm alleges the 43 names were omitted from the list of 74 credibly accused sex abusers that Archbishop John C. Wester publicly released in September 2017, “despite being credibly accused of abuse and spending significant time in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe – often at Servants of the Paraclete treatment facilities in Jemez Springs and Albuquerque.” The law firm also claims a number of the men had ministry assignments in the archdiocese.

“The Archdiocese continues to present the people of New Mexico with half-truths masquerading as transparency, particularly with respect to the vast number of abusive priests brought into the state by the Servants of the Paraclete,” Monagle said in the news release. Although the law firm stated it did not include the names of accused clerics primarily affiliated with the Diocese of Las Cruces or the Diocese of Gallup, its list does include the names of the following four men who had ministry assignments in the Gallup Diocese, including one Franciscan friar not on Gallup’s list of credibly accused abusers.

-William G. Allison: Originally from the Diocese of Alexandria, Louisiana, Allison was accused of abuse while working in Flagstaff, Arizona, which was once part of the Diocese of Gallup. Allison received treatment at the Servants of the Paraclete facility in Jemez Springs. The Gallup Diocese includes Allison on its list of credibly accused abusers.

-Crispin Butz: This Franciscan friar was named as an accused abuser by a claimant in the Diocese of Gallup’s bankruptcy case. However, Butz and four other clerics named as alleged abusers in the bankruptcy case have yet to be added to the Diocese of Gallup’s abuser list. According to the new lawsuit, Butz received treatment at the Servants of the Paraclete facility.

-Mark Schornack: According to records released in a recent clergy sex abuse lawsuit in Flagstaff, Arizona, this Franciscan brother was admitted to the Franciscan order while he was a patient of the Servants of the Paraclete. Although he spent much of his life working at Catholic missions on the Navajo Nation, Schornack had at least one ministry assignment in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, at Jemez Pueblo. The Gallup Diocese includes Schornack on its list of credibly accused abusers.

-John Thomas Sullivan: Originally from the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire, this notorious serial abuser worked in several Arizona parishes in the Diocese of Gallup. Sullivan received treatment at the Servants of the Paraclete facility in Jemez Springs.

An internet search of the 43 names indicates that all have been accused of sex abuse and many have been named as credibly accused abusers by other Catholic dioceses or religious orders. Some were even arrested and imprisoned. Added to Wester’s earlier list of 74 credibly accused abusers, the new names would total 117 abusers associated with the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

Names of 43 accused clerics

Andrew Christian Anderson
William G. Allison
Thomas Behnke
Gustavo Benson
Robert Brouillette, aka Robert Sullivan
Crispin Butz
Joseph L. Clauss
Daniel Calabrese
John H. Dawson
Louis E. Douglas
John F. Fitzpatrick
Ronald L. Fontenot, aka Jean Paul Fontenot
James A. Forsythe
John J. Fallon
Peter E. Garcia
Charles J. Gormley
Richard Galdon
John F. Harrold
Mel W. Hermanns
Stanley D. Idziak
Rudy Kos
David J. Kelley
James Walter Lent
Gale Leifeld
Joseph P. Lessard
Lawrence Joseph Lovell
Gordon MacRae
Francis Xavier Markey
Tom McConnell
John B. Modica
Peter B. Murphy
Robert Daniel Nikliborc
John G. Pisarcik
Franz Robier
David Roll
John R. Russell
Mark Schornack, aka Mark Schomack
Carmen Sita, aka Gerald Howard
John Slown
Michael John Stevens
John Thomas Sullivan
Joseph Theisen
Michael Trainor

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ILLINOIS
Associated Press

April 22, 2918

SOUTH BARRINGTON, Ill. (AP) — Leaders of a Chicago-area evangelical church that became one of the largest in the nation say they will renew their examination of the church’s former pastor.

The Rev. Bill Hybels retired from Willow Creek Community Church earlier this month after allegations he touched and made lewd comments to female congregants. The elders say they are acting after new accusations against Hybels surfaced.

The new allegations were published Saturday in Christianity Today. Hybels couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

The elders and an outside investigator cleared Hybels of any wrongdoing in a previous inquiry.

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INDIA
Times of India

Apr 23, 2018

CHENNAI: The city police on Saturday arrested a priest at a temple in Choolaimedu, for sexually abusing a three-year-old girl on temple premises.

According to the police, the victim had accompanied her grandmother to the temple. Udayakumar, 40, an assistant to a priest, took the child to an isolated place after convincing her grandmother that he would take care of the child until she is done with her prayers.

On returning home, the child told her relatives and friends about the incident. An angry mob immediately gathered at the temple, dragged Udayakumar out and filed a complaint against him at the Choolaimedu police station, said the police.

The case was later transferred to the Thousand Lights all-women police station.

An investigating officer said that preliminary interrogation had been completed and they had booked Udayakumar under Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican News

17 February 2018

By Christopher Wells

Pope Francis has renewed the membership of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM), confirming Cardinal Seán O’Malley as President of the Commission, and adding nine new members to the advisory body. Seven more nominees are returning to the Commission after their terms had expired in December.

During his recent trip to South America, Pope Francis addressed concerns about the expiry of the Commission’s mandate, saying the time taken to nominate members to the body was normal. “Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has given much prayerful consideration in nominating these members,” Cardinal O’Malley said in a press release. “The newly appointed members will add to the Commission’s global perspective in the protection of minors and vulnerable adults. The Holy Father has ensured continuity in the work of our Commission, which is to assist local churches throughout the world in their efforts to safeguard all children, young people, and vulnerable adults from harm.”

Among the new members are several experts from English-speaking countries: the Hon. Neville Owen from Australia; Sr Jane Bertelsen, FMDM, from the UK; and Ms. Teresa Kettelkamp from the United States.

The Commission’s press release noted that the eight men and eight women who form the membership of the Commission were chosen “from a multi-disciplinary field of international experts in safeguarding children and vulnerable adults from the crime of sexual abuse.” The members come from several different countries, “reflecting the global reach of the Church and the challenge of creating safeguarding structures in diverse cultural contexts.”

According to the press release, several of the members of the Commission are themselves victims of clerical sexual abuse. However, it is the practice of the PCPM to respect the privacy of abuse victims, and those named today have chosen not speak publicly about their experiences.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican News

22 April 2018

By Christopher Wells

Pope Francis received members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM) in a private audience on Saturday. A press release from the Commission said that at the meeting, the Holy Father “stated his intention to definitively confirm the Commission’s statutes.”

The Commission was meeting in Rome for its Plenary Assembly, the first since Pope Francis appointed new members to the body in February.

At the Audience with the Pope, the members of the Commission explained their priorities, which they said, “are reflected in the following Working Groups: working with survivors; education and formation; and safeguarding guidelines and norms.”

Earlier in the week, at the beginning of their Plenary Assembly, the Commission heard from members of the Survivor Advisory Panel of the National Safeguarding Commission from England and Wales. “The gathering was part of the PCPM’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that the thoughts and contributions of people who have been abused inform all aspects of the Commission’s work,” according to the press release.

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INDIANA
WTHR

APR 23RD, 2018

INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) — In an exclusive interview that aired Sunday night on NBC’s Dateline, famed gymnastics coaches Bela and Martha Karolyi deny knowing disgraced national team doctor, Larry Nassar was sexually abusing the girls were training at their camps.

“No way,” said Martha. “Everybody said Larry Nassar is a good doctor, Larry Nassar is a good guy.”

The Karolyis also denied verbally abusing the girls and creating a culture of fear, as well as denying accounts of creating a culture where Nassar was able to prey on young girls, saying is just not true.

“I feel extremely bad,” said Martha. “I don’t feel responsible, but I feel extremely hurt that this can happen, and it happened everywhere, but it happened here also.”

The Karolyis instead pointed the finger at Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics.

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AUSTRALIA
Eternity

JOHN SANDEMAN | APRIL 23RD, 2018

Redress for survivors of sexual abuse by church leaders, not the sale of nearly half their church property is the story Tasmanian Anglican leaders want Australians to hear.

“An estimated liability of around $8 million in new and additional payments to survivors, it will require decisive action and significant sacrifice for everyone across our Diocese (region),” Richard Condie, the Bishop of Tasmania announced on the weekend.

The Tasmanian statement was headlined “Anglican Church in Tasmania sacrifices to fund redress.” The ABC report was headed “Tasmanian Anglican churches could be sold to fund abuse survivors redress”, a subtle shift of emphasis.

Eternity understands that some 55 Tasmanian survivors have already received payments from an existing local redress fund and these may need to be increased. In addition the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has identified more claimants. A national average payment of $78,000 with a cap of $150,000 is expected.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – On Mornings

April 23, 2018

On Mornings with Leon Compton

Tasmania’s Anglican Bishop Richard Condie says he hopes local communities will pitch in to buy the more than 120 properties, including churches, halls and houses, up for sale to pay redress for survivors of child sexual abuse. The Bishop tells Leon Compton the Church needs to sell just under half of its Tasmanian properties to cover an estimated $8 million of liability in additional payments to survivors.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By MILES DILWORTH FOR THE DAILY MAIL

22 April 2018

Police have dropped a controversial inquiry into an ex-bishop allegedly smeared by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Sussex Police said it is no longer investigating an allegation of child sex abuse against the late George Bell, former bishop of Chichester, referred to them earlier this year.

A spokesman said the investigation had been completed last month.

Claims against Dr Bell – who was widely respected for speaking out against Nazi atrocities and saving Jews from persecution – surfaced in 2012, but were dismissed over a lack of evidence.

Justin Welby was heavily criticised for trashing the reputation of Dr Bell – who died in 1958 – after he ‘rushed’ to accept claims the bishop was a paedophile. An independent review by Lord Carlile last year said the Church of England had ‘hung him out to dry’ on the say-so of a woman who alleged more than 50 years after he died that Dr Bell abused her as a child.

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MICHIGAN
WLNS

[Nassar coverage]

Apr 22, 2018

6 News won nine awards from the Associated Press on Sunday, including awards for the station’s coverage of the Larry Nassar scandal and for weather.

The station was also recognized with an “Outstanding News Operation” award.

WLNS-TV won four first place awards, including:

* Best Investigative Coverage, Alexandra Ilitch, “The Larry Nassar Saga”

* Best Continuing Coverage, Alexandra Ilitch, “The Larry Nassar Scandal”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By Martin Beckford for The Mail on Sunday

22 April 2018

Police are to drop their controversial policy of automatically believing anyone who reports a crime, it can be revealed.

A top-level report obtained by The Mail on Sunday says official guidance should be changed to tell detectives they must listen to victims and take them seriously – but not automatically assume they are telling the truth.

The dramatic move follows a series of flawed inquiries based on false allegations that left dozens of innocent people’s lives and reputations destroyed, including high-profile figures such as pop legend Sir Cliff Richard and DJ Paul Gambaccini.

In the most notorious case, Scotland Yard wrongly described as ‘credible and true’ a fantasist’s lurid claims of a VIP sex abuse ring in Westminster involving former Home Secretary Lord Brittan, war hero Lord Bramall and ex-Tory MP Harvey Proctor.

The U-turn has been drawn up by the College of Policing, which sets national standards, and after being considered by chief constables last week it will be sent to Home Office Ministers to become official policy.

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AUSTRALIA
The Conversation

April 22, 2018

Kelly Richards
Senior lecturer, Queensland University of Technology

The public often feels intense loathing and anger towards paedophiles and those who sexually abuse children. A raft of sex offender policies such as Western Australia’s publicly accessible register of “dangerous and high risk offenders” has been introduced globally to appease an increasingly hostile, punitive and vocal community.

What the public thinks about the causes of child sexual abuse is important, because what people think causes a problem informs what they believe should be done.

My recent research examined what the public think causes paedophilia and child sexual abuse. I found there were four common causal explanations, and while each had some truth to them, they ultimately missed the complexity of the actual causes.

‘Born that way’ or cycle of abuse?

I analysed nearly 800 comments posted by members of the public to four online forums created following the announcement of a new program for reintegrating sex offenders in South Australia.

The forums are a rich source of data on public views about causality, particularly since people’s comments are “off the cuff” rather than telling the researcher what they want to hear.

People posting on the forum put forward four causal explanations for paedophilia and child sexual abuse.

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UNITED STATES
NBC News

by Sarah Fitzpatrick and Tracy Connor

Apr.22.2018

Larry Nassar had done “the treatment” on gymnast McKayla Maroney before, but nothing prepared her for what happened in a Tokyo hotel room in October 2011.

“That was the scariest night,” Maroney told NBC News in her first-ever interview about the abuse she suffered at the hands of Nassar, the former Olympic doctor now at the center of an ever-widening scandal.

“He went, like, overboard that night.”

Maroney is one of more than 265 girls and women — including a half-dozen Olympians — who say Nassar molested them under the guise of medical procedures.

She told her story as part of a months-long Dateline investigation, airing Sunday night at 7 p.m. ET, into allegations that USA Gymnastics could have stopped Nassar earlier and tried to silence his victims when they finally spoke up — accusations the organization denies.

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ILLINOIS
Willow Creek Community Church

April 21, 2018

Dear Willow Family,

We have been diligently praying and processing how to best respond to recent events. Last night, we had another productive and encouraging Elder Meeting. We are unified and seeking God’s direction on next steps, and we felt it was important to communicate with you.

This has been such a difficult time. Our church has been facing one of the most challenging seasons in our history. In the midst of this time, you have been responding with love, grace, and an openness to engage in dialogue. We are so proud of you. You are living the Gospel. We are also especially proud of the staff. Not only have you gracefully demonstrated strength, you have also joyfully assumed additional responsibilities due to an accelerated transition of leadership.

Over the last several weeks, we have been in a process of deep learning, seeking clarity, and building a path toward reconciliation. Even though Bill is no longer in his role, our work to resolve any shadow of doubt in the trustworthiness of Willow Creek Community Church and its Elders is not done.

With the benefit of hindsight, we see several aspects of our past work that we would have handled differently, and we have identified several areas of learning. Moving forward, we have a renewed commitment to engaging well, listening deeply, and further developing a culture of transparency and accountability.

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ILLINOIS
Associated Press

SOUTH BARRINGTON, Ill. (AP) — Leaders of a Chicago-area evangelical church that became one of the largest in the nation say they will renew their examination of the church’s former pastor.

The Rev. Bill Hybels retired from Willow Creek Community Church earlier this month after allegations he touched and made lewd comments to female congregants. The elders say they are acting after new accusations against Hybels surfaced.

The new allegations were published Saturday in Christianity Today. Hybels couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

The elders and an outside investigator cleared Hybels of any wrongdoing in a previous inquiry.

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CANADA
Toronto Star

By MARY ORMSBY Feature Writer
SANDRO CONTENTA Feature Writer

Tues., April 17, 2018

On a winter afternoon in 2016, Michelle Raftis’s long search brought her to the steps of St. Michael’s Cathedral, the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto. She was nervous, and had carefully prepared what she would say to Cardinal Tom Collins.

She was done with secrets and lies.

Raftis is the daughter of a Catholic priest, a truth the 55-year-old had to hide most of her life. She wanted to know why the church she was raised in allowed a priest to abandon his child.

“I wanted a written apology from the church,” Raftis says.

In Canada and around the world, children of priests have emerged from the shadows to press the Vatican — and their local dioceses — to recognize they exist.

The Vatican appears to have no data on the number of clergy who break their vows of celibacy and father children. But with more than 400,000 Roman Catholic priests ministering to 1.1 billion Catholics, offspring are likely to be found across the globe, says Bill Kilgallon, who recently finished a three-year term as a leading member of Pope Francis’s Commission for the Protection of Minors.

In Canada alone, about 20 sons and daughters of priests have personally contacted Coping International, a recently formed online support group out of Ireland that is pushing the Roman Catholic Church and its priests to acknowledge parental responsibilities.

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WEST VIRGINIA
Weirton Daily Times

WHEELING — The Roman Catholic dioceses of Wheeling-Charleston and Steubenville don’t plan to issue any lists of alleged sexual offenders as dioceses in neighboring states have done in recent weeks.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie, Pennsylvania, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, New York, released lists of clergy and laity identified as being sexual abusers. The lists contained the names of living and deceased subjects.

But that won’t happen here, church officials have said.

“The diocese does not currently have any plan to do what the Diocese of Erie is doing,” said Tim Bishop, a spokesman for the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.

Dino Orsatti, director of communications for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Steubenville, also said that diocese isn’t planning to issue a list of alleged sexual offenders. Still, it won’t hide any allegations.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

Olivia Rudgard, religious affairs correspondent

22 APRIL 2018

A police investigation into former bishop of Chichester George Bell has been dropped amid criticism of the Archbishop of Canterbury for smearing his name.

Sussex Police told the Daily Telegraph that they were no longer investigating a new allegation which was referred to them earlier this year.

A spokesman said the the investigation “was completed in March 2018” and added “of course further police investigation or action is not possible as Bishop Bell died 60 years ago”.

An independent review released last year by Lord Carlile found that Bishop Bell had been besmirched by the church in 2015 when officials released a statement formally apologising over allegations of abuse made by a woman who is now in her seventies.

It also paid out £16,800 to the woman, known as Carol, for the alleged sexual abuse over a period of four years, beginning when she was five years old.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Mirror

ByGeraldine McKelvie
Nick Sommerlad

22 APR 2018

Three politicians are today exposed as convicted child sex offenders in “mind-blowing and disgraceful” revelations that will further rock Telford.

Relatives of murdered abuse victim Lucy Lowe, 16, were left reeling after learning one of the politicians had been jailed and two others had admitted their guilt.

Anglican vicar the Rev Michael Keen, 78, who sat on a Police Authority board, got 15 months for two assaults on a boy aged 15.

The same lad was assaulted by former councillor Graham Bould, 60, chair of Shropshire County Council’s social services from 1993 -1998 – when Telford’s child grooming epidemic began to spiral.

The Sunday Mirror revealed last month how up to 1,000 girls are feared to have been groomed and abused by mainly Asian paedophile gangs.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By Phoebe Southworth For Mailonline

22 April 2018

A social services chief is among three politicians exposed as paedophiles as the Telford grooming scandal continues to spiral.

The shocking revelation comes just a week after authorities in the Shropshire town voted to commission an independent inquiry into child abuse after years of inaction.

Up to 1,000 children are feared to have been groomed and abused by predominantly Asian paedophile gangs.

Victim Lucy Lowe, 16, was murdered by her abuser who set fire to her house in 2000. The blaze also killed her sister and mother.

She had been made pregnant by the same man when she was 14.

Now it has emerged that former county councillor Graham Bould groomed a 15-year-old boy in the early 1980s after meeting him at a church group.

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SCOTLAND
Evening Express

19/04/2018

A national child abuse investigation will turn its focus on events at a former Aberdeen children’s home from next week.

Former residents and other witnesses connected to Nazareth House on the city’s Claremont Street, are expected to give evidence to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.

The facility was founded by six women from the Sisters of Nazareth in London in 1862 and it was once home to more than 300 children, but the home was dogged by allegations of historical abuse by the nuns for over two decades, with more than 40 complaints being made by former residents during a police investigation in 1997.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry was launched in October 2015 and is one of the most wide-ranging public inquiries ever held in Scotland.

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SCOTLAND
Press and Journal

by Jon Hebditch

April 19, 2018

A lawyer representing a group of nuns under investigation by a national child abuse probe has been rapped by one of Scotland’s top judges for attempting to prevent the sisters from giving evidence.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry will next week look at establishments run by the Sisters of Nazareth order in Aberdeen, Cardonald, Kilmarnock and Lasswade following hearings regarding facilities run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul in January.

The Aberdeen facility Nazareth House, on Aberdeen’s Claremont Street, was founded by six women from the order in 1862 and was once home to more than 300 children.

However, the nuns from the children’s home have been dogged by allegations of historical abuse.

During a police investigation in 1997, more than 40 complaints were made by former residents – one woman claimed she had been beaten so hard she lost her hearing, and another said he had been submerged in near-boiling water by the sisters.

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SCOTLAND
Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry

24 April 2018

During Phase 2 the Inquiry will continue to examine evidence it has ingathered, researched and analysed relating to residential child care establishments run by Catholic Orders. This phase will resume with a case study about residential child care establishments run by the Sisters of Nazareth. Hearings are expected to begin on 24 April 2018 and continue into early Summer.

Witnesses:

Representatives of the Sisters of Nazareth.

Individuals who were resident in Nazareth House in Aberdeen, Cardonald, Kilmarnock and Lasswade.

Please note that the names in brackets is a pseudonym of the witness who has chosen to give evidence anonymously.

Tuesday 24 April

Opening submissions

Witness LCO – (Rose)

Jim Buckley

*Witness LBO – (Elizabeth) – the statement of this witness will be read in, in whole or part.

*Witness LCK – (Lucy) – the statement of this witness will be read in, in whole or part.

Wednesday 25 April

Witness LBK – (Christopher)

Witness LBL – (John)

*Witness LCI – (Michael) – the statement of this witness will be read in, in whole or part.

*Witness LCM – (Terence) – the statement of this witness will be read in, in whole or part.

Thursday 26 April

Witness LCN – (John)

Joseph Currie

*Witness LBZ – (Jack) – the statement of this witness will be read in, in whole or part.

Friday 27 April

Witness LBA – (Alan)

Witness LBR – (Jill)

*Witness LCP – (Margaret) – the statement of this witness will be read in, in whole or part.

Context:

The case study into residential child care establishments run by Catholic Orders will resume with a case study on establishments run by the Sisters of Nazareth, with a particular focus on:

Nazareth House in Aberdeen
Nazareth House in Cardonald
Nazareth House in Kilmarnock
Nazareth House in Lasswade

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SCOTLAND
Express

By BEN BORLAND

Apr 22, 2018

A CATHOLIC order has been accused of lacking compassion after complaining of a “difficult year” as they are finally held to account for decades of child abuse.

The second phase of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry will begin examining the shameful history of the Sisters of Nazareth on Tuesday, with hearings expected to continue until the early summer.

Hundreds of survivors have come forward to give evidence about beatings, cruelty and sexual assaults at the order’s four Scottish orphanages in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Kilmarnock.

The scandal was first exposed more than 20 years ago but legal red tape and a lack of political will led to an extraordinary delay in bringing the abuse to a public hearing. While the Sisters of Nazareth have consistently refused to apologise or pay compensation, many of the victims have died or suffered ongoing hardships over this period.

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NEW YORK
Altamont Enterprise

Thursday, April 19, 2018

by Elizabeth Floyd Mair

ALBANY COUNTY — The state budget left out the Child Victims Act — a bill supported by the governor and the State Assembly — that would have extended the statute of limitations for child victims of sexual assault, but adult survivors are not giving up.

The bill never made it to the State Senate floor, so the GOP majority leader is the focus of upcoming efforts.

Meanwhile, a group called Lawyers Helping Survivors of Child Sex Abuse released a document entitled “Hidden Disgrace III” on March 29, listing all of the priests who have worked for the Albany Diocese and have been accused of sexual abuse, what they are alleged to have done, and all the places they have worked.

Attorney Jerry Kristal of Lawyers Helping Survivors of Child Sex Abuse told The Enterprise that the statute of limitations in these cases should be extended by passing the Child Victims Act, and that the Albany Diocese should create an independent reconciliation compensation program that would allow people alleging sexual abuse to get some “recognition that this really happened and some measure of the church taking responsibility.”

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AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

April 22, 2018

Kaitlyn Offer

Tasmania’s Anglican Diocese will sell off scores of churches and other properties to find $8 million to redress survivors of child sexual abuse.

Bishop Richard Condie announced the sale of churches, halls, houses and land on Sunday, saying the diocese hopes to be a part of a national scheme.

“With an estimated liability of around $8 million in new and additional payments to survivors, it will require decisive action and significant sacrifice for everyone across our diocese,” he said in a statement.

“We intend to raise these funds from a proportion of Parish and Diocesan investments, through selling Parish properties, and by direct Parish contributions.”

Every parish in the state will be affected and at the June meeting of all parish representatives, it will be suggested more than 120 properties be sold – nearly half of all of the church’s real estate.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

April 22, 2018

By Emily Street

Tasmania’s Anglican Diocese is proposing to sell more than 120 properties, including churches, halls, houses and vacant land, to fund redress for survivors of child sexual abuse.

The church said it would need to sell just under half of its Tasmanian properties to cover an estimated $8 million of liability in additional payments to survivors.

It has been lobbying for the State Government to sign up to the National Redress Scheme for survivors, due to start on July 1 as a result of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The Tasmanian Diocese also agreed to increase the payment cap for its own Pastoral Support and Assistance Scheme from $75,000 to $150,000 per claim.

Previous claimants will be entitled to have their claims reassessed, which may result in extra payments.

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UNITED STATES
Journal-Gazette

April 22, 2018

DAVID CRARY | Associated Press

For some male victims of sexual assault and abuse, #MeToo can feel more like #WhatAboutMe?

They admire the women speaking out about traumatic experiences as assault and harassment victims, while wondering whether men with similar scars will ever receive a comparable level of public empathy and understanding.

Chris Brown, a University of Minnesota music professor, was among several men who in December accused renowned conductor James Levine of abusing them as teens several decades ago, leading to Levine’s recent firing by the Metropolitan Opera Company.

“Men are historically considered the bad guys,” suggested Brown . “If some men abuse women, then we all are abusers ourselves … so therefore when it comes to our being abused, we deserve it.”

Brown’s sense of distance from the #MeToo movement is shared by other abused men – some of whom have been using a #MenToo hashtag on Twitter.

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ILLINOIS
Christianity Today

BOB SMIETANA

APRIL 21, 2018

Last night, Willow Creek Community Church made a promise to its members following the early departure of its founder and senior pastor, Bill Hybels.

“Even though Bill is no longer in his role, our work to resolve any shadow of doubt in the trustworthiness of [Willow] is not done,” the church’s board of elders told members in a Friday evening letter. “With the benefit of hindsight, we see several aspects of our past work that we would have handled differently, and we have identified several areas of learning.”

Last week, Hybels retired six months early after 40 years as leader of Willow Creek, calling recent allegations against him a distraction for the megachurch and its ministries. Hybels denied any wrongdoing. He did admit regretting that he first responded to the allegations with anger.

Yesterday, the elders similarly expressed regret in the way the church handled the allegations.

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CALIFORNIA
Modesto Bee

BY GARTH STAPLEY
gstapley@modbee.com

April 21, 2018

The founder of a popular megachurch in Arizona admits having sex with girls in his charge when he was a married youth pastor at a prominent Modesto church four decades ago.

“I sinned and harmed the most important relationships in my life,” Les Hughey said in a statement issued after being contacted by The Modesto Bee. “Unfortunately, it’s impossible to undo what happened, so I instead accept and live with the consequences.”

His victims came forward soon after The Bee’s February report on Brad Tebbutt, who like Hughey was a youth pastor at Modesto’s First Baptist Church.

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CALIFORNIA
Fox 40

APRIL 21, 2018

BY SONSEEAHRAY TONSALL

SACRAMENTO — Three convictions for first degree murder, one for manslaughter — that’s the curious reduction in an eventual conviction of one Sacramento murder defendant that may change the outcome of a hotly-contested District Attorney’s race in the county.

Sentencing was supposed to happen in connection with the death of Ashok Kumar Friday, instead there are pleads for a new trial.

It’s been scandalous from the beginning with Kumar robbed, beaten and strangled in the doorway of his own Sacramento home.

Then, a Hindu priest who assisted at Kumar’s funeral – convicted of killing him along with Kumar’s wife, the woman that priest Raghua Sharma had been having an affair with.

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ISRAEL
Jewish Currents

April 18, 2018

Sarah Seltzer

Jewish Currents spoke with more than 50 Birthright Israel participants and staffers about their experiences with the often-fraught sexual and gender dynamics on the famous free trip to Israel. Here is what we found.

This article was reported in partnership with The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute, with support from the Puffin Foundation.

If you have information that you would like to share, on this topic or any other, please email tips@jewishcurrents.org

1.

The day after Julia Peck says she was sexually assaulted by an Israeli soldier on her trip with Birthright Israel, she had thoughts of jumping in front of a bus. Wracked by pain and guilt as she arrived at the Western Wall, she says she slipped a note between the stones. The note read, “I’m Sorry.”

Peck, then a sophomore, arrived back at Columbia University during a heated campus discussion of consent, alcohol and coercion. She steeled herself and filed a report about her incident. Her fresh trauma and distress didn’t stop her from being scrupulous; she gathered two comprehensive witness accounts from her Birthright roommates, and even included the screenshot of an apology text from the alleged perpetrator. Encouraged by campus Hillel staff, the central location for Jewish life on many campuses that also ran and organized her Birthright trip, she filed a report.

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WAYNESVILLE (NC)
The Mountaineer

By Kyle Perrotti

April 18, 2018

White hid behind his charm

Howard White is now seen by some as a wolf in sheep’s clothing, the devil in a white robe.

But between 1984 and 2006, many in Haywood County only saw the former Episcopal priest as the beloved rector of Waynesville’s Grace Church in the Mountains.

Since then, much has changed for White, 76, who has been convicted of child sexual abuse in New England, and now faces abuse charges in Haywood County dating back to 1985.

White, who preferred the affectionate, disarming nickname “Howdy,” has been indicted by a Haywood County Grand Jury on charges that he abused one boy and one girl during his time in Haywood.

He is facing one count of first-degree forcible rape, one count of second-degree forcible rape, one count of first-degree forcible sex offense, four counts of second-degree forcible sex offense, and two counts of indecent liberties with a child.

Before White can be arraigned in North Carolina, he must be moved from Boston, where he is serving an 18-month sentence in a county correctional facility after pleading guilty to five counts of assault and battery.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Sharon Herald

By JOHN FINNERTY CNHI State Reporter

Apr 20, 2018

HARRISBURG — Advocates and county officials await a promised action plan from Auditor General Eugene DePasquale for fixing the state’s struggling child protection system.

Susan Woods, a spokesperson for the auditor general, said those recommendations are expected in mid-May.

The system is challenged by the state’s push to make sure abuse doesn’t get ignored in the wake of the molestation scandal that put former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky in prison.

That push has left county caseworkers swamped with tips, said Brian Bornman, executive director of the Pennsylvania Children and Youth Administrators.

While the number of cases of suspected child abuse has spiked in the wake of law changes intended to help better protect kids, the number of cases of actual abuse verified by investigators hasn’t increased nearly as much, Bornman said.

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INDIANA
WNDU

By Travis Robinson

Apr 20, 2018

Children at Elkhart’s Beardsley Elementary left an assembly today with an important message…That people care about them.

“The percentage of children entering the system in Elkhart County is lower than it is throughout the rest of the state and throughout much of the country,” Elkhart County Juvenile court Magistrate Deborah Domine told a crowded gym of students.

Impressive statements were met with blank stares from the audience. To be fair, that information was probably a little more suited for adults.

“Do you think they really got the point?” Our reporter asked.

“Probably not.” Domine answered.

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ARIZONA
12 News

Author: Takira Jackson

April 19, 2018

Children are suffering from a hidden epidemic of child abuse, and we are responsible for protecting them. You may be a child’s only advocate at the time you report. Many Arizona residents are not aware of just how prevalent child abuse and neglect are within our state.

According to Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Arizona and the Arizona Child Fatality Review (CFR) Program:

* More than 24,000 calls received by the Arizona Child Abuse Hotline between April and September 2016 met the statutory criteria to prompt a DCS report.

* Approximately 18,000 children were being cared for by the foster care system between April to September 2016 due to some child abuse and neglect.

* In 2015, 87 children died as a result of abuse or neglect, accounting for more than 10 percent of all child fatalities in the state of Arizona.

* In cases of child death due to maltreatment, the perpetrator was the child’s mother or father 79 percent of the time.

* Alcohol, drug, or substance use contributed to more than 60 percent of child maltreatment fatalities in 2015.

Arizona child abuse laws criminalize physical, emotional, or sexual abuse of minors and also require certain third parties with knowledge of the abuse to report it to the authorities.

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ALASKA
NPR

April 21, 20187:

Heard on Weekend Edition Saturday

Alaska has a sexual assault rate 3 times the national average and a child sex assault rate 6 times. NPR’s Scott Simon discusses that with Alexander Hirsch of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.

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NEW YORK
Buffalo News

By Phil Fairbanks

April 21, 2018

In the Oscar-winning movie “Spotlight,” Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian talks openly about the priest who abused his clients and the power of the Catholic Church to keep the scandal a secret.

“I’m not crazy. I’m not paranoid. I’m experienced,” Garabedian, played by actor Stanley Tucci, says of the church. “You’ll see. They control everything. Everything.”

That scene was from 17 years ago, but Garabedian’s anger with the Catholic Church is still front and center, an important part of his message as he brings his high profile to Buffalo in search of sexual abuse clients here.

Garabedian is one part, a big part, of the out-of-town legal presence that arrived here when the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo announced a compensation fund for victims of clergy sexual abuse.

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CYPRUS
Cyprus Mail

APRIL 21ST, 2018

EVIE ANDREOU

The minutes of a 2015 meeting of the Holy Synod on whether a priest who had served a prison sentence for the sexual assault of a girl he had fostered should be defrocked were leaked because of power games within the church over who the next archbishop will be, said one of the bishops at the centre of the row.

Elena Frantzi, 34, was found dead in her home last month after her foster father – Father Stylianos, a priest in Ergates village in the Nicosia district – had been reinstated as a priest after serving 18 months for sexually harassing her.

Bishop Nikiforos of Kykkos and Tylliria, Nikiforos said that the way the leaked minutes had been reported by the media made him look like he was defending Sylianos when that was not the case.

At the meeting of the Holy Synod on Wednesday where the decision to defrock Stylianos was taken in the wake of the uproar surrounding Frantzi’s death, Nikiforos gave the rest of the bishops a letter complaining about the leakage and calling for a probe into who was behind it.

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

Inés San Martín
VATICAN CORRESPONDENT

Apr 21, 2018

ROME – As the date for their upcoming meeting with Pope Francis approaches, several of the 32 Chilean bishops who will be in Rome to meet the pontiff May 14-17 are speaking up, some ready to resign, and others ready to demand the resignation of a bishop accused of covering up clerical sexual abuse.

Bishop Juan Barros, accused by three victims of a Chilean pedophile priest of having covered up for his mentor, Father Fernando Karadima, should “without a doubt,” take “a step to the side,” according to Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati of Santiago.

“I’m not a judge” to say if Barros in fact covered up or not, Ezzati said during a press conference on Thursday, but “the good of the people of God asks for his availability,” just as he himself “should be available to it” if the people of God were to ask the cardinal for his resignation.

Ezzati is 76 years old, so he technically presented his resignation to Francis last year, as is mandatory for bishops to do when they turn 75. However, it’s up to the pope to decide if he accepts the resignation, and so far, no announcement has been made.

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CALIFORNIA
Press-Enterprise

By DEEPA BHARATH | dbharath@scng.com | Orange County Register

April 20, 2018

For Jennifer Wortham, the process of reconciliation with the Roman Catholic Church began with a six-page letter to Pope Francis.

Wortham’s two younger brothers were molested by their parish priest more than three decades ago.

In December 2016, the Rancho Mirage resident and healthcare executive faxed the letter to Francis talking about how his acknowledgement of the church’s transgressions touched her deeply.

“I recently came to terms with what happened to my family so many years ago, and I have forgiven those in the Church who were involved in perpetuating and covering up these devastating events,” Wortham wrote.

“If we do not open our hearts and forgive all of those who have transgressed against us, we will never experience the joy of grace.”

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UNITED STATES
New York Times

By CHRISTINE HAUSER

APRIL 20, 2018

Bela and Martha Karolyi, the former coordinators and coaches of the United States women’s gymnastics team, said that they were not aware of the widespread sexual abuse of gymnasts by Lawrence G. Nassar, the former team doctor.

In their first interview since the allegations surfaced about Dr. Nassar, who is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison, Ms. Karolyi said that even parents who were in the same room with their children did not notice the abuse, which her husband said affected the sport “like an explosion.”

Excerpts from the interview were released on Friday ahead of its full broadcast on NBC’s “Dateline” on Sunday. It will also feature the program’s full interview with McKayla Maroney, the Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast, who spoke about the “hundreds” of times she was molested, according to excerpts.

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CHILE
La Nacion

[SANTIAGO, Chile.- The letter that Francisco sent to the Chilean bishops in which he admits “having made serious errors of appraisal” in a case of sexual abuse generated enormous agitation in the local Church, which increased even more yesterday after that the archbishop of Santiago asked for the resignation of a controversial bishop.]

Victor García SEGUIR

20 de abril de 2018

SANTIAGO, Chile.- La carta que Francisco les envió a los obispos chilenos en la que reconoce “haber incurrido en graves errores de valoración” en un caso de abusos sexuales generó una enorme agitación en la Iglesia local, que aumentó aún más ayer luego de que el arzobispo de Santiago pidiera la renuncia de un polémico obispo.

Aquel lastre se provocó luego de que el Papa desoyera las acusaciones de las víctimas de abuso sexual del sacerdote Fernando Karadima, que culparon al obispo de Osorno, Juan Barros, de encubrir los vejámenes que sufrieron. Francisco se quejó de “falta de información veraz y equilibrada” que lo llevaron a manifestar en enero, durante su visita a Chile, “que no hay una sola prueba contra Barros”.

El informe de Charles Scicluna, arzobispo de Malta que encabezó la investigación al respecto, cambió su postura.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Thursday, April 19, 2018

By Conall Ó Fátharta
Irish Examiner Reporter

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that women wrongly excluded from the Magdalene Laundries redress scheme will be receive redress payments “without delay”.

Last November, the Ombudsman, Peter Tyndall, published a scathing a report into the scheme, which found that the Department of Justice had wrongly refused some Magdalene laundry survivors access to redress payments.

He made four recommendations, principle among these that the department fully reconsider, with a view to accepting, the applications of women who worked in one of the listed Magdalene Laundries but who were registered on the books of a training centre or industrial school in the same building attached to, or located on, the grounds of the laundry.

Speaking in the Dáil yesterday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar confirmed that this review would take place but made a commitment that all of these women would be included in the scheme and receive redress.

This will happen within three months.

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PENNSYLVANIA
USA Today

Maria Puente and Jayme Deerwester, USA TODAY

April 20, 2018

As Bill Cosby’s sexual assault retrial went on for a 10th day Friday, testimony is nearing completion and Judge Steven O’Neill says jurors should get the case next week.

O’Neill said in court Thursday there are only a few more days of testimony left in the case. Cosby is charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault on Andrea Constand, at his home in suburban Philadelphia in 2004.

Here are the latest developments from the courtroom:

Defense: Cosby’s travel schedule puts him out of town at time of 2004 assault

Jurors were Bill Cosby’s travel records as his lawyers made the case that he never visited his suburban Philadelphia mansion in January 2004, the month he’s accused of drugging and molesting a woman there.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Page Six

By Emily Saul

April 19, 2018

NORRISTOWN, Pa.– Two experts were expected to face off in Bill Cosby‘s sex assault retrial Thursday — but instead the defense produced a wannabe author better versed in Viagra and cancer than drug-facilitated molestation.

Dr. Harry A. Milman was allowed to testify as an expert in toxicology and pharmacology by judge Steven O’Neill following a painful voir dire by prosecutor Stewart Ryan, during which Milman was forced to repeatedly admit his lack of credentialing.

When asked if he held any licenses, the doctor croaked: “I hold a driver’s license.”

Cosby, 80, faces three charges of aggravated indecent assault for allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting former Temple University administrator Andrea Constand in his suburban Philadelphia home in January 2004. Cosby maintains he offered Constand Benadryl to help her “relax.”

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CHILE
El Mostrador

[In the coming weeks, the Court of Appeals will review the case in which the victims of Karadima accused protection of the Archbishopric of Santiago and requested compensation of $ 450 million pesos.]

por ALEJANDRA CARMONA LÓPEZ

20 abril, 2018

En las próximas semanas, la Corte de Apelaciones revisará la causa en la que las víctimas de Karadima acusaron protección del Arzobispado de Santiago y pidieron por ello una compensación de $450 millones de pesos. Los afectados por los maristas tampoco descartan echar mano a esa figura cuando resuelvan el aspecto penal. Como en otros países de Latinoamérica y Europa, el escenario más probable para la Iglesia chilena es comenzar a pagar indemnizaciones. Pero la institución no está sola, pues detrás de ella se encuentra Claro y Cía., uno de los bufetes más importantes de la plaza, que ha tenido entre sus clientes al propio Pinochet.

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CHILE
La Tercera

[With a brief statement, the Bishopric of Osorno reported this afternoon that the ecclesiastical authority of that city, Juan Barros, is “with some difficulty in his health”.]

Abril 19, 2918

“Se agradece la comprensión y oraciones”, dice un comunicado de la agrupación de esa ciudad. Hoy Ezzati sostuvo que el prelado “debiera dar un paso al costado”.

Con un breve comunicado, el Obispado de Osorno informó esta tarde que la autoridad eclesiástica de esa ciudad, Juan Barros, se encuentra “con alguna dificultad en su salud”.

“Se agradece la comprensión y oraciones”, dice el texto, y añade: “Reitera su permanente disponibilidad a las orientaciones del Santo Padre”.

Durante esta jornada, el arzobispo de Santiago, Ricardo Ezzati, señaló que Barros, cuestionado por su presunto encubrimiento en los abusos que cometió Fernando Karadima, debería renunciar “sin duda alguna”. “Yo no soy juez para decir si encubrió o no, pero por el bien del pueblo de Dios y de la Iglesia, el obispo Barros debiera dar un paso al costado”, dijo el cardenal.

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CHILE
La Tercera

[Ezzati criticizes the permanence of Barros as bishop: “For the good of the Church, should take a step to the side”]

Abril 19, 2018

Autor: Claudia Soto

La máxima autoridad de la Iglesia chilena aseguró que el Pontífice fue “engañado” sobre la información que recibió por el supuesto encubrimiento de Barros a Fernando Karadima.

Una dura conferencia de prensa ofreció hoy el arzobispo de Santiago, Ricardo Ezzati, en la que cuestionó la permanencia del obispo de Osorno, Juan Barros, como líder de la Iglesia de esa ciudad, luego de ser acusado por víctimas de abuso sexual y de la comunidad laica de haber encubierto los crímenes cometidos por Fernando Karadima.

Tras una asamblea extraordinaria con el clero chileno, la máxima autoridad eclesiástica rompió el silencio a días de haber recibido la carta que el Papa Francisco envió a los obispos en la que pide perdón a las víctimas y señala que recibió información poco clara sobre Barros. Consultado sobre la materia, Ezzati sostuvo que “yo no soy juez para decir si encubrió o no, pero por el bien del pueblo de Dios y de la Iglesia, el obispo Barros debiera dar un paso al costado”.

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CONNECTICUT
Associated Press

April 19, 2018

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut priest convicted of selling methamphetamine won’t be sent back to prison despite failing drug tests while on parole.

WVIT-TV reports that federal Judge Alfred Covello decided Thursday that Kevin Wallin, a former pastor at St. Augustine Parish in Bridgeport, will remain on supervised release rather than return to prison.

Wallin, dubbed “Monsignor Meth” in some media reports, had been convicted of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and sentenced to 65 months in prison.

He was released in 2016 but failed a number of required drug tests, prompting his parole officer and prosecutors to recommend revoking his parole.

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MISSOURI
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

April 20, 2018

Aisha Sultan

Chris O’Leary started to sweat in church as he moved up the line of parents and kids waiting for a turn at the confessional. When they got to the head of the line, O’Leary was crying and trying not to pass out.

O’Leary’s panic attack hit as his son made his first confession.

He wasn’t sure why, but he wondered if it had something to do with hazy memories from his childhood confessions. Three years later, in 2005, his daughter made her first confession. He had another panic attack.

O’Leary had talked to church officials in 2002 when the New York Times broke a story involving sexual abuse allegations against Father Leroy Valentine, who had been a priest in O’Leary’s childhood parish. The story revealed that in the late 1990s the St. Louis Archdiocese had settled with three brothers who had accused Valentine of sexual abuse, paying them $20,000 each.

O’Leary wasn’t sure if his vague, uncomfortable memories with Valentine meant something inappropriate had also happened to him. He says then-Bishop Timothy Dolan reassured him back in 2002 that he was misreading the situations from decades ago.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By court reporter Emma Younger

An Anglican priest who was caught having online chats about raping boys as young as two, and who once said he wanted to watch a man sexually abuse his own son while in a “pedo mood”, has avoided jail.

Melbourne priest Philip Murphy, 54, pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to transmit child pornography over a series of explicit discussions he engaged in over Skype between December 2016 and February 2017.

Murphy, who worked in Sunshine in Melbourne’s west, told police he used his position as a priest to gain the trust of the men he was chatting to online, sending them photos of his clerical collar.

Under the name ‘pervert’, he used the gay dating app Grindr to find other men who wanted to chat about sexually abusing children.

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CHILE
Reuters

APRIL 19, 2018

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – The head of Chile’s Catholic Church said on Thursday that a Chilean bishop accused of covering up sexual abuse should resign, little more than a week after Pope Frances said he had made mistakes in handling Chile’s sexual abuse crisis.

Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati told reporters that Juan Barros, a Chilean bishop who allegedly concealed abuse of minors by his mentor Father Fernando Karadima, should resign “without a doubt,” while adding he would not judge “whether or not [Barros] had covered up” the incidents.

Barros did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The Chilean Church’s call for his resignation follows a letter from Pope Francis earlier this month in which the Argentine pontiff said he had made “grave mistakes” in handling a sexual abuse crisis that has long racked the South American country.

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ALABAMA
LGBT Nation

By Alex Bollinger

April 18, 2018

Acton Bowen, a well-known youth pastor from Hoover, Alabama, was arrested last week on charges related to his sexual molestation of a teen boy. Now more victims have come forward.

Bowen was arrested after a six-month investigation into accusations from a teen boy whose family considered Bowen a “friend.”

Now four more individuals have come come forward to say that Bowen sexually abused them when they were between the ages of 12 and 17. Several of the victims are adults now.

“When we met with the first victim, our worst fear was that there could be more young boys who had been molested and preyed upon by Acton Bowen,” said Hoover police Captain Gregg Rector. “It appears our worst fears are now becoming reality. Sadly, this case continues to mushroom with each passing day.”

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ALABAMA
Gadsden Times

By Donna Thornton / Times Staff Writer

Posted Apr 18, 2018

Attorneys for Acton Bowen are seeking a change in bond set for the youth evangelist charged with multiple sex offenses against children in two counties — including Etowah.

Bowen was arrested Tuesday on four felony sex charges — two counts of second-degree sodomy and two counts of second-degree enticing a child to enter a vehicle or room with the intent of sexual contact — and three misdemeanor charges of second-degree sexual abuse. The alleged offenses, involving four victims, occurred as long ago as 2006 and as recently as the first four months of this year.

His bond on the charges totaled $500,000 cash; attorneys Richard Jaffe, Michael Whisonant Jr. and John D. Floyd filed a petition for habeas corpus Wednesday asking, basically, that it be changed to a surety bond.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

20 April 2018

A Catholic brother who was moved by his order to other schools interstate after he sexually abused students at De La Salle College in Malvern has been jailed for at least three years.

Former De La Salle brother Frank Terrence Keating, 75, was on Friday sentenced to five years and three months in jail for indecently assaulting eight students between 1969 and 1977.

Those crimes mean he has now been jailed for sexually abusing 26 children in total in Victoria and Queensland from the late 1960s to early 1980s.

County Court Judge Gregory Lyon said Keating’s “audacious” offending included sexually assaulting one boy in the child’s bed, after Keating had been invited to the family home for a dancing night; and molesting another boy during a drive, after which the Catholic brother had a cup of tea with his victim’s parents.

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MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

Alison Knezevich
The Baltimore Sun

April 19, 2018

Three women featured in the documentary “The Keepers” renewed calls Thursday for the Archdiocese of Baltimore to release its files on the priest at the center of the Netflix series.

“Open your books, release your records,” Abbie Schaub said at a conference at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Schaub, along with Lil Hughes Knipp and Teresa Lancaster, was featured in a panel at the annual symposium of the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse, which is part of the public health school.

They questioned why the archdiocese won’t release its files on the late priest A. Joseph Maskell, who was accused of sexual abuse by multiple people, including Knipp and Lancaster.

“The Keepers” documentary focused on sexual abuse allegations at Archbishop Keough High School in the 1960s and 1970s and the unsolved 1969 killing of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik, who taught there. It examined the theory that Cesnik was murdered because she knew about abuse committed by Maskell, who was the school chaplain and psychologist.

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CONNECTICUT
Associated Press

April 19, 2018

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut priest convicted of selling methamphetamine is facing the possibility of being sent back to prison after failing his drug tests.

The Hartford Courant reports a federal judge will decide the fate of Kevin Wallin, a former pastor at St. Augustine Parish in Bridgeport, on Thursday.

Wallin, dubbed “Monsignor Meth” in some media reports, had been convicted of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and sentenced to 65 months in prison.

He was released in 2016 but failed a number of required drug tests, prompting his parole officer to seek to revoke his parole. Thursday’s hearing will determine if Wallin should be sent back to prison.

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PENNSYLVANIA
US News

April 19, 2018

BY DAVID DEKOK

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (Reuters) – Bill Cosby’s sex assault trial on Thursday focused on the drugs he is accused of giving a then-friend before raping her, with a toxicologist saying the pills could have left the comedian’s alleged victim feeling incapacitated or even paralyzed.

Andrea Constand, 45, contends the former star of “The Cosby Show” gave her three little blue pills he said would help her relax and then sexually assaulted her at his home outside Philadelphia in 2004.

Timothy Rohrig, a forensic toxicologist from Wichita, Kansas called as a prosecution witness, testified about the effects of Benadryl and Quaaludes, which Cosby, now 80, in a 2005 deposition said he used to seduce women.

Constand testified last week that after swallowing the pills she experienced double vision, slurred her words, had dry mouth, and her legs felt “rubbery,” even paralyzed.

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PENNSYLVANIA
New York Times

By GRAHAM BOWLEY and JON HURDLE

APRIL 18, 2018

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Bill Cosby’s star defense witness, a veteran academic adviser who works at his alma mater, Temple University, testified here Wednesday that the woman who has accused Mr. Cosby of sexual assault had once remarked to her how it would be easy to fabricate such a charge to frame a celebrity and get money.

The adviser, Marguerite Jackson, said Andrea Constand, who was once the director of operations for Temple’s women’s basketball team, made the comment while they were watching television in a hotel room they shared on a trip by the team for a game in Rhode Island.

“She said it did not happen,” Ms. Jackson told the jury at the Montgomery County Courthouse.

Ms. Constand testified this week that while Ms. Jackson’s name sounded familiar, she had always roomed alone on trips.

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MICHIGAN
Lansing State Journal

RJ Wolcott, Lansing State Journal

April 18, 2018

EAST LANSING – Seven more women have filed a civil lawsuit alleging sexual abuse at the hands of former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.

The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, alleges the plaintiffs are among the hundreds of women and girls who were sexually assaulted by Nassar under the guise of medical treatment. Their lawsuit adds to the more than 260 people suing MSU, USAG and others for failing to prevent Nassar’s abuses.

The lawsuit names as defendants MSU, its Board of Trustees, Nassar, USAG, and several current and former MSU employees, including former College of Osteopathic Medicine Dean William Strampel and former MSU gymnastics coach Kathie Klages.The majority of the woman in the latest lawsuit were abused as minors, according to the complaint.

“Defendant Nassar used his position of trust and confidence in an abusive manner causing Plaintiffs to suffer a variety of injuries including shock, humiliation, emotional distress and related physical manifestations thereof, embarrassment, loss of self-esteem, disgrace, and loss of enjoyment of life,” according to the complaint.

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CANADA
CBC News

Jorge Barrera · CBC News

Apr 18, 2018

A lone Conservative MP’s voice of dissent scuttled the quick adoption of a motion in the House of Commons Wednesday calling on Pope Francis to apologize for residential schools.

The NDP motion was opposed by Conservative MP Garnett Genuis whose voice broke the unanimous consent needed to adopt the motion. It will now go to debate and a standing vote.

Genuis, who represents the Alberta riding of Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan, had telegraphed his position in a tweet posted about two hours before the motion was read out in the House of Commons.

“I believe very much in religious freedom and in the importance of separation of church and state,” Genuis told reporters after voicing his dissent.

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RHODE ISLAND/NORTH CAROLINA
Providence Journal

By Tom Mooney
Journal Staff Writer

Apr 18, 2018

Howard W. White Jr., the former associate chaplain at St. George’s School, in Middletown, now behind bars in Massachusetts for raping a prep school student in the 1970s, is facing numerous similar charges in North Carolina.

White, 76, who was stripped of his Episcopal priesthood last fall, faces nine counts alleging various sexual abuse of a juvenile boy and a girl back in the 1980s while he worked at Grace Church in the Mountains, in Waynesville, North Carolina.

The charges, filed after his formal indictment this month by the Haywood County Grand jury, are: one count of rape; four counts of second-degree sexual offense (described as other forms of penetration); one count of second-degree rape; one count of first-degree forcible sex offense; and two counts of indecent liberties with a child.

The charges come weeks before White is scheduled to be released from the Suffolk County House of Corrections. North Carolina law enforcement officials are working to extradite him when his sentence expires.

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NEW YORK
WIVB

By: Marissa Perlman

Apr 18, 2018

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – – James Faluszczak says every time he learns something new about the sexual abuse scandal with the Catholic Diocese, he feels shocked and angry.

In a candid conversation, Faluszczak tells News 4 how he’s coping, and how these past few months have shaped his faith.

“Think the catholic church is the biggest organized crime syndicate in the world,” he said.

It’s been a month since James Faluszczak decided to tell go public and tell his story of abuse.

For him, it’s painful to to see how many people have since come out with a similar story, just like his.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Detroit News

Melissa Nann Burke, Detroit News Washington Bureau

April 18, 2018

Washington — Olympic gymnastic stars Jordyn Wieber and Jamie Dantzcher told a U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday that their abuse at the hands of Larry Nassar would not have occurred had the “adults” at USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University “done their job.”

“They are still refusing to admit what the problem really is and that they’re accountable for it,” Wieber, a DeWitt native, said about MSU, which employed Nassar through the London 2012 Olympics.

Asked by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, how Interim MSU President John Engler is doing in his new role, Wieber replied: “He’s almost trying to fight the survivors, rather than trying to work with us,” adding that he hasn’t reached out to her.

“Why still is reputation of the university and money more important than the lives of hundreds of girls and women who were abused under their responsibility?” she said.

Wieber and Dantzcher, a 2000 Olympic bronze medalist, and other athletes asked the senators to hold the organizations accountable.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
USA Today

Christine Brennan, USA TODAY

April 18, 2018

WASHINGTON – It has now been more than 20 months since the USA Gymnastics sex abuse story broke right before the Rio Olympic Games in the summer of 2016. In that time, tangible results to combat the abuse of young American athletes have been few and far between.

To be sure, there has been progress. More than 150 gymnasts spoke out in January to ensure that former gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar will spend the rest of his life in jail. Other athletes in other sports, some inspired by the courage of the gymnasts, have turned the spotlight to athlete abuse in taekwondo, swimming and figure skating. Who knows what’s next, although logic tells us there will definitely be a next.

In February, President Trump signed the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act, which requires adults who interact with amateur athletes to report suspected abuse to law enforcement within 24 hours. And yet, ask those athletes who have suffered abuse if they think their sports are still rife with it, and you’ll often get an affirmative answer.

So, where do we stand in the midst of the most horrifying scandal in U.S. Olympic history?

In a second-floor conference room of the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, with four elite athletes telling their difficult stories to members of the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security.

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KANSAS
Wichita Eagle

BY TIM POTTER
tpotter@wichitaeagle.com

Updated April 17, 2018

A Wichita youth pastor began having sex with a church member right after she turned 15 and asked her to say she was older when it started and “that she had come on to him,” says an affidavit filed by a sheriff’s detective.

The criminal case against 48-year-old Chauncey Walker began this past August with a tip to the Wichita Police Department’s Facebook page. Detective Daniel Ribble, with the Exploited and Missing Child Unit, learned that the tipster obtained a taped admission from Walker, says the affidavit, received by The Eagle late Tuesday through a court record request.

The Eagle has previously reported on the taped admission after receiving a copy from an attorney for the alleged victim. Now 20, she is suing Word of Life Ministries and Schools Inc., senior minister Robert Rotola Sr. and his son, church school administrator Robert Rotola Jr. The lawsuit alleges that the church and the Rotolas neglected to supervise Walker, failed to fully investigate concerns about him and tried to cover up the allegations. In a court document, the church and the Rotolas have denied the allegations.

Walker has been charged with aggravated indecent liberties and two counts of criminal sodomy against the woman when she was 15. He remains in jail on a $100,000 bond and faces a June 4 trial. Walker’s defense attorney has declined to comment other than to say that they are working with authorities.

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ALABAMA
ABC 3340

April 19, 2018

GADSDEN, Ala. (WBMA) —
Acton Bowen’s alleged victims claim the pastor sexually abused them for months or years in complaints which date back from 2006 to as recently as last week according to court records revealed Wednesday morning.

For three years beginning in 2006, Bowen engaged in a deviate sexual relationship with a teenager, an arrest warrant states. A separate warrant claims Bowen had a three-year sexual relationship with a teenager from 2014-2017. The most recent complaint alleges Bowen propositioned a teenager during a period beginning in January 2018 until just last week.

Bowen was arrested Tuesday and booked into the Etowah County Jail with two counts of second degree sodomy, two counts of enticing a child for immoral purposes – all felonies – and three counts of second degree sexual abuse, which is a misdemeanor.

The Etowah County Sheriff’s Office says the charges are based off the alleged sexual abuse of four juveniles between the ages of 12-17. Some of the alleged abuse occurred a decade ago. Those alleged victims are now adults.

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CALIFORNIA
NBC Los Angeles

April 19, 2018

By City News Service

A pastor from a Glendale church pleaded not guilty Wednesday to committing a lewd act on an 11-year-old girl, who was visiting from China, in a Covina hotel room.

Douglas Rivera, 40, of Baldwin Park, is charged with one felony count each of a lewd act on a child and first-degree burglary with a person present, along with a misdemeanor count of indecent exposure.

He could face up to 15 years to life in state prison and lifetime sex offender registration if convicted as charged, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors say Rivera drove to the Vanllee Hotel and Suites, at 1211 E. Garvey St., and parked his truck in front of a room where two young girls were staying on Feb. 7. Prosecutors allege he exposed himself to the girls before entering the hotel room and inappropriately touching one of them.

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CALIFORNIA
KTLA

APRIL 18, 2018

BY KRISTINA BRAVO

A pastor accused of sexually assaulting a girl in a Covina hotel pleaded not guilty, officials announced on Wednesday.

Douglas Rivera, 40, was charged with lewd act upon a child, first-degree burglary and indecent exposure, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Rivera allegedly drove to the Vanllee Hotel and Suites on Feb. 7 and parked his vehicle in front of a room where a 10- and 12-year-old were staying. The children were part of a Chinese tourist group, officials said.

Authorities said Rivera masturbated in his truck before going to the room, where he inappropriately touched one of the girls.

The Covina Police Department released surveillance images from the hotel on Feb. 9 and later named Rivera—apparently a pastor at God’s Gypsy Christian Church in Glendale—as a suspect.

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CALIFORNIA
ABC 7

By Melissa MacBride and ABC7.com staff

April 18, 2018

COVINA, Calif. (KABC) — A Glendale pastor charged with committing a lewd act on a child at a Covina hotel is back behind bars, the Los Angeles County district attorney said Wednesday.

Douglas Rivera, 40, was charged with three counts: lewd act upon a child, first-degree burglary and indecent exposure. He was arraigned in a Pomona courthouse, where the district attorney added a special enhancement, alleging the burglary was committed in order to commit lewd conduct or a sexual crime.

According to police, Rivera was caught on surveillance video lurking outside of a hotel room in Covina, touching himself and watching two young girls alone inside a room. Investigators described the girls as being between the ages of 10 and 12.

Rivera is then said to have forced his way into the room, assaulted one of the minors and fled in his truck, authorities said.

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NORTH DAKOTA
KVRR

April 18, 2018

Danielle Church

FARGO, N.D. — Fernando Sayasaya, the former Fargo Catholic priest accused of molesting two underage boys, made his second appearance in court this morning.

During a hearing in Cass County court in Fargo, Sayasaya’s attorney asked for more time. The judge agreed and set his next court date for May 17. Sayasaya pleaded not guilty in February to charges of molesting two brothers between 1995 and 1998.

He fled to the Philippines around Christmas of 1998 and was returned to Fargo last year. If convicted, Sayasaya could serve up to 20 years in prison.

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CYPRUS
Premier (UK)

Thu 19 Apr 2018
By Press Association

Cyprus’s Orthodox Christian Church has defrocked a priest for sexually abusing his stepdaughter when she was a child.

Kykkos Bishop Nikiforos said on Wednesday the Holy Synod’s decision, a first for the Cyprus church, was unanimous.

The case shocked the conservative east-Mediterranean island nation after the 29-year-old victim was found dead in her home last month.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Stephanie Dalzell

April 19, 2018

An Anglican priest prayed to God for forgiveness while he allegedly raped a 13-year-old girl in a church, the ACT Supreme Court has heard.

The 67-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is on trial for 18 charges of rape and acts of indecency allegedly committed against the girl in the 1980s, which started when she was 13.

The former priest has pleaded not guilty.

The alleged victim, who is now 44, broke down in tears as she gave a graphic account of the alleged sexual assault.

She alleged he first raped her in a Canberra church after she had finished violin practice.

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NEPAL
Himalayan News Service

Published: April 09, 2018

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE
Kathmandu, April 8

The Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police arrested a 60-year-old Canadian national on the charge of paedophilia and rescued two minors from his clutches yesterday.

A special team deployed from the CIB raided a private house in Mandan Deupur Municipality of Kavre and apprehended Peter John Dalglish of Ontario, Canada, while he was molesting under-age Nepali boys.

Deputy Inspector General Pushkar Karki, who is CIB director, said Dalglish lured children with money, better education and foreign visit. He even took their guardians into confidence, telling them that he did social and community work through his Kathmandu-based organisation, Himalayan Community Foundation.

Kavre District Court today remanded Dalglish to five-day judicial custody for further investigation.

According to a CIB report, Dalglish was appointed the chief technical adviser for the UN’s child labour programme in Nepal in 2002. Between 2006 and 2010, he served as the executive director of the South Asia Children’s Fund, which promotes quality education for profoundly disadvantaged children in the region. Dalglish served as a senior adviser and deputy chief of party for UN-Habitat in Afghanistan from 2010 to 2014 and its chief of party until the end of July 2015.

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CONNECTICUT
WFWB

Apr 18, 2018

BRISTOL, CT (WFSB) –
The Archdiocese of Hartford is facing a lawsuit from a man who says a priest in Bristol sexually abused him for years.

Matthew Cornell filed the suit in New Haven Superior Court on Wednesday.

In the lawsuit, he accuses Father Gregory Altermatt, who was a priest at St. Matthew Church in Bristol, of sexually abusing him between 1976 and 1985.

Cornell says in the lawsuit that the abuse began when he was in grade school, and continued into the 1980s after his mother died and he spent more time with the priest.

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CONNECTICUT
NBC Connecticut

April 18. 2018

By Justin Schecker

A man who says he was sexually abused by a priest while growing up in Bristol is taking his case to court.

A civil lawsuit filed in New Haven Superior Court names the priest, Reverend Gregory Altermatt, and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford. It claims sexual abuse dating back to the 1970s and 1980s when the plaintiff, now in his 40s, was 7 to 15 years old.

Altermatt has not been charged with any crimes.

The lawsuit states the church should have known that Altermatt posed a danger to minors with whom he had contact.

Wieber, Other Athletes Testify on Systemic Abuse in Sports
“It’s not unusual that at this time of life an abuse victim finally says I can’t take this anymore,” Attorney Thomas McNamara said of his client, Matthew Cornell.

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CONNECTICUT
WTNH

By: Mario Boone
Apr 18, 2018

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) – The Archdiocese of Hartford and retired priest Fr. Gregory Altermatt are both facing damning allegations of sexual abuse in a new lawsuit.

Attorney Tom McNamara has successfully sued this Archdiocese before.

He made the latest claims during a Wednesday morning news conference in downtown New Haven announcing the legal action.

“The sexual abuse actually started in the home in Bristol,” McNamara said, referring to the alleged victim, Matthew Cornell. Then, he went on to lay out the shocking claims.

“The two counts against the Hartford Archdiocese are negligence and wanton conduct; and there are four counts against Gregory Altermatt, including intentional sexual assault, reckless and wanton sexual assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy,”

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IDAHO
Idaho Statesman

BY KATY MOELLER
kmoeller@idahostatesman.com

April 18, 2018

In mid-February, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise gave Rev. W. Thomas Faucher 60 days to get out of the house he’s been leasing from the diocese.

The 72-year-old retired priest, charged with 24 crimes including sharing child pornography and drug possession, was served with an eviction notice on Feb. 13, according to court documents.

The deadline for Faucher to leave the home has passed — but he has not had all of his belongings moved out of the house at Hill Road and Holly Hill Drive in northwest Boise, a complaint filed by the diocese Monday shows.

Faucher has been at the Ada County Jail for more than a month, after a hearing at which his bail was raised to $1 million. A magistrate judge found cause to raise bail from $250,000 to $1 million when additional charges were filed.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
USA Today

Rachel Axon, USA TODAY

April 18, 2018

For years, survivors of sexual abuse in Olympic sport have called for accountability for those who harmed them and officials who let it happen.

On Wednesday, four former athletes echoed those calls in a hearing before the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security.

Testifying before the subcommittee, former gymnasts Jordyn Wieber and Jamie Dantzscher, former speedskater Bridie Farrell and former figure skater Craig Maurizi criticized the national governing bodies for their sport as well as the U.S. Olympic Committee and others for failing to prevent and stop sexual abuse.

The hearing was the latest since the Olympic movement came under scrutiny for its handling of sexual abuse cases following revelations that longtime USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar abused hundreds of women, including Olympic champions Aly Raisman, Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Gabby Douglas and Wieber.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

One request is to extend zero tolerance coverage, including bishops

Apr 18, 2018

by Brian Roewe

A Catholic watchdog group is challenging the U.S. bishops to make “substantial revisions” to their nearly two-decade-old policies regarding sexual abuse of minors, and to include abuse survivors and the laity in the process.

Among seven reforms to the guiding documents — the 2002 Charter for the Protection of Young People, or the Dallas Charter, and the Essential Norms for Diocesan/Eparchial Policies Dealing with Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests or Deacons — proposed by the Catholic Whistleblowers are:

* extending its zero tolerance policy regarding sexual abuse to any cleric, religious or church employee, including bishops complicit with abuse;

* posting to diocesan websites the names of any person affiliated with a diocese with substantial abuse allegations against them;

* and working with state legislators in every state to reform statutes of limitations laws.

The Catholic Whistleblowers, a group of priests, religious and laypeople who support abuse survivors and in several cases reported instances of abuse, outlined their requests in a letter dated April 1, Easter Sunday, and addressed to Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Copies of the letter were also sent to Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the U.S., and all American bishops, both active and retired.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Detroit Free Press

Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press

April 18, 2018

WASHINGTON — Olympic gold medal gymnast Jordyn Wieber, a Lansing-area native, on Wednesday described for a U.S. Senate panel the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of sports doctor Larry Nassar beginning at age 14, saying she believed if she raised concerns at the time it might have hurt her future goals.

“I knew that if I questioned his treatment I risked my chance at making the Olympic team or being chosen to compete internationally,” said Wieber, who has testified in court against the imprisoned former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor and who this week filed a lawsuit against him in a California court.

Wieber’s comments were part of a prepared statement she delivered to a U.S. Senate subcommittee investigating abuse against Olympic athletes and whether there need to be additional safeguards to prevent it from happening again. At least two other congressional committees are said to be investigating as well.

The abuses suffered by athletes by Nassar were revealed in a series of stories first reported by the Indianapolis Star.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW

April 17, 2018

By Charlie Specht

But victims say he needs to release priest docs

Buffalo Bishop Richard Malone is selling his house.

The palatial mansion on Oakland Place — home to Buffalo’s bishops since 1952 — will soon be sold, possibly for upwards of $1 million, to help pay victims of sexually abusive Catholic priests in Buffalo.

“So it’s an important day, kind of a historic day, but I feel good about it,” Malone said in an afternoon news conference. “We do have some resources for that already, but we know we’ll need more, so we decided to put the house on the market.”

Abuse victims say the symbolism — the bishop will live in a vacant convent at St. Stanislaus Church on Buffalo’s East Side — is striking.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Associated Press

April 18, 2018

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The Latest on Bill Cosby’s sexual assault retrial (all times local):

3:35 p.m.

A key defense witness says the chief accuser at Bill Cosby’s sexual assault retrial talked about framing a celebrity before going to police with her allegations in 2005.

Marguerite Jackson is testifying Wednesday at Cosby’s retrial in suburban Philadelphia. She says Andrea Constand spoke of the plot while they were rooming together on a road trip to Rhode Island with the Temple University women’s basketball team. Both women worked at Temple.

Jackson says Constand told her she’d been assaulted, then switched gears and said she could fabricate an account to “sue and get that money.”

Constand has accused Cosby of drugging and molesting her in 2004. His lawyers say she made up the story to extort a big civil settlement.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Variety

April 18, 2018

By Emilie Lounsberry

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — The defense in the sexual assault retrial of Bill Cosby began its case on Wednesday morning and is poised to call a witness it hopes will cast a giant hole in the credibility of the woman who has testified that the comedian drugged and molested her back in 2004.

Just before the lunch break at Cosby’s retrial outside of Philadelphia, defense lawyer Kathleen Bliss announced that Margo Jackson, a key defense witness, will take the stand.

The defense has said in court papers that Jackson has told the defense team that Andrea Constand, the woman at the center of the criminal case against the entertainer, once remarked that she could say she had been sexually assaulted by someone famous in order to get a big financial settlement.

The prosecution, meanwhile, essentially wrapped up its case on Wednesday morning, although the jury is expected to hear from both a prosecution toxicology expert and a defense toxicology expert on Thursday.

The prosecution ended its case with more testimony about what Cosby said in a deposition in the civil lawsuit brought by Constand, including the entertainer’s admission that he used to give quaaludes to women before sex. Constand ultimately received a financial settlement of nearly $3.4 million from Cosby.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Daily Beast

NICOLE WEISENSEE EGAN
04.18.18

NORRISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA—Famed book publisher Judith Regan took the stand at Bill Cosby’s criminal trial Wednesday morning to confirm that she told model Janice Dickinson she couldn’t include her account of being drugged and raped by Cosby in her memoir due to potential legal issues.

“I remember at one point she told me she’d been raped by Mr. Cosby, drugged and raped, and she wanted to include that in the book,” Regan told the jury. “And at that time I told her…after conversations with the legal department, without corroboration those sorts of stories would be impossible to publish because of potential legal problems.”

And by corroboration, Reagan said she meant “a witness.” She also said she believed Dickinson, calling her account “credible because of the way she told it, with great emotion.”

Dickinson was not happy with the decision and was “insistent and angry” about including it, Regan said.

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PENNSYLVANIA
New York Times

By GRAHAM BOWLEY and JON HURDLE

APRIL 18, 2018

The editor and publisher Judith Regan at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pa., where she testified on Wednesday at the Bill Cosby sexual assault retrial. Credit Pool photo by Corey Perrine

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Judith Regan, the publisher of a 2002 memoir by one of Bill Cosby’s accusers, testified on Wednesday that the author had told her about being drugged and raped by Mr. Cosby, but her company’s legal department would not allow publication of the accusation because it was not corroborated.

The author, Janice Dickinson, had told the jury last week that her efforts to publish the accusation had been blocked by the publisher of her book, “No Lifeguard on Duty: The Accidental Life of the World’s First Supermodel.”

Ms. Regan confirmed that account on the eighth day of Mr. Cosby’s retrial on sexual assault charges.

“She wanted the rape story in the book, and she was insistent and angry that we wouldn’t include it,” she said.

Pressed by Mr. Cosby’s lead attorney, Thomas A. Mesereau, on why she had not included the story in the book, Ms. Regan said, referring to the company’s legal department: “They objected to our including a story like this without a witness.”

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NETHERLANDS
Dutch News

April 18, 2018

A former teacher at an orthodox Jewish school in Amsterdam should be jailed for five years for sexually abusing six boys, the public prosecution department said on Wednesday.

Ephraim S, who denies the charges, is said to have carried out the assaults between 2011 and 2012 at the Cheider school in Buitenveldert on boys aged between 12 and 16.

The school authorities initially declined to press charges after holding an internal investigation and only reported the matter to police several months later after the education minister intervened.

S fled to Israel when the allegations first came to light, but was extradited to the Netherlands in 2016. He has since been held in custody.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Associated Press

April 18, 2018[

By MICHAEL R. SISAK

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — As prosecutors wound down their case, jurors at Bill Cosby’s sexual assault retrial Wednesday heard the comedian’s explosive testimony about giving quaaludes to women before sex — an old admission that’s taken on new significance after a half-dozen women testified that he drugged and violated them.

A police detective read a transcript of the 2005 testimony as prosecutors saved for the very end of their case Cosby’s own words about using the 1970s party drug “the same as a person would say, ‘Have a drink.’”

Cosby, now 80, is being retried on charges he drugged and molested chief accuser Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. He says their encounter was consensual.

The defense was expected to begin its case Wednesday afternoon. Cosby’s lawyer told the jury in his opening statement last week that Constand was a “con artist” who leveled false allegations of sexual assault in hopes of getting a financial windfall from the comedian.

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WASHINTON (DC)
Detroit Free Press

Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press

April 18, 2018

WASHINGTON — Michigan-born gymnast and Olympic gold medal winner Jordyn Wieber will testify before a U.S. Senate panel Wednesday afternoon a day after filing a lawsuit over sexual abuse involving former Michigan State sports doctor Larry Nassar.

Wieber on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in a California state court against Michigan State University, USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic Committee and others involving abuse at the hands of Nassar, who had been a renowned sports doctor for gymnasts.

A native of DeWitt, Wieber is set to talk Wednesday afternoon to a Senate subcommittee at a hearing entitled “Olympic Abuse: The Role of National Governing Bodies in Protecting Our Athletes.” The hearing in Washington will also be streamed live at www.commerce.senate.gov.

Another Olympic gymnast who says she was abused by Nassar, Jamie Dantzscher, is set to testify as well.

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IRAQ
USA Today

Hannah Wiley, USA TODAY

April 17, 2018

Women and children in Iraq connected to Islamic State militants are being placed in refugee camps, where they are subjected to sexual abuse and denied basic needs like food and water, said an Amnesty International report released Tuesday.

Researchers believe the sustained mistreatment could lead to a new generation of supporters of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.

“These women and children have such a deep sense of injustice, and the women kept telling us this will lead to a next cycle of violence and the next generation of ISIS,” said Nicolette Waldman, co-author of the report and Iraq researcher at Amnesty International. “These violations could very well lead to ISIS 2.0 and then it will be back to square one fighting another war in Iraq.”

ISIS began seizing Iraqi territories in February 2014 and swiftly extended its control throughout Iraq and into Syria and Libya. After four years of United States’ intervention in the region, Iraq claimed victory over ISIS in late 2017. But the cleanup efforts have only just begun, starting with arresting and putting to death suspected ISIS militants, and placing women and children connected to fighters in camps.

Journalists and humanitarian workers at the camp are worried about long-term implications from the sexual abuse, including pregnancies, unsafe abortions and sexually transmitted diseases.

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CYPRESS
Associated Press

April 18, 2019

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A senior cleric says Cyprus’ Orthodox Christian Church has for the first time defrocked a priest for sexually abusing his step-daughter when she was a child.

Kykkos Bishop Nikiforos said Wednesday the Holy Synod’s decision was unanimous.

The case shocked the conservative east-Mediterranean island nation after the 29-year-old victim was found dead in her home last month.

Many were outraged when local media revealed that the priest kept his job after a criminal court jailed him in 2013 for the same crime, which took place in the ’90s. His conviction was upheld on appeal.

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CONNECTICUT
Hartford Courant

Dave Altimari

April 18, 2018

A lawsuit has been filed against the Hartford Archdiocese alleging that in the 1970s a priest assigned to churches in Bristol and Waterbury sexually abused a boy whose mother had died.

The lawsuit filed in New Haven Superior Court on behalf of Matthew Cornell names the Rev. Gregory M. Altermatt as the alleged abuser.

Cornell’s attorney, Thomas McNamara, held a press conference Wednesday to discuss the lawsuit. He said that Cornell didn’t want to file the lawsuit under a pseudonym because “he wanted (the church) to know who he was.”

McNamara said that the abuse started while Altermatt was a priest at St. Matthew Church in Bristol, which was his first assignment after being ordained as a priest in 1976.

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HONG KONG
South China Morning Post

18 April, 2018

Danny Mok
Clifford Lo

Hong Kong police were on Tuesday night looking into claims that a retired Anglican minister indecently assaulted at least two male church-goers more than a decade ago.

This came after the Hong Kong Anglican Church told police of one alleged assault, and a story by online news outlet HK01 disclosed two separate alleged crimes in 2004 and 2007.

The Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui (HKSKH), as the church is known locally, is one of the largest and most influential denominations in the city, with 40,000 followers. It expressed its “deep concern” over the report in a statement on Tuesday.

“To safeguard all parties involved, the HKSKH has made a report to police,” the church said.

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COLORADO
Western Slope Now

Camila Barco

Apr 17, 2018

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Health care professionals around the Grand Valley are taking an extra step to help in the fight against child abuse and neglect.

In a single day Mesa County Department of Human Services answers an average of 30 phone calls.

“Locally we have four dedicated call takers that are on the phone,” said Nicci Surad, part of the Child Welfare Receiving & Outreach Team, picking up calls placed to the organizations Child Abuse Hotline –to help out children who are or have been victims of child abuse and neglect.

“Children are our smallest, most precious community members and they deserve to be protected. They don’t have voices of their own.”

The hotline is for someone to report when a child is being abused and is used as a guide to gather information about the parents or caretakers –whether it be positive or negative.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Wired

April 17, 2018

By JAMES TEMPERTON

Paedophiles have a powerful and worrying new tool to help them find images and videos of child sexual abuse: the humble website redirect. And it’s causing a major headache for those leading the global fight against abuse.

“It works in same way as advertising referrers work,” says Fred Langford, deputy CEO of the Internet Watch Foundation, a UK-based charity that last year found and removed 78,589 images or videos of child sexual abuse. For Langford and his small team, the so-called “disguised website” technique is the latest salvo in the evade and detection arms race.

Here’s how it works: when a paedophile visits a bulletin board or online forum to find images and videos of sexual abuse, they click on a link. When they do, they enter a convoluted redirection system. As they pass from redirect to redirect, they are handed session cookies that confirm the route they’ve taken. Without going down this elaborate path, the site at the end of the redirect displays legal content. But with the right session cookie, that exact same URL displays child sexual abuse content.

For paedophiles, it means images and videos stay online for longer. For law enforcement, it makes finding and removing such content significantly more difficult. “If you did a Google search and clicked on it you’d just get the legal content,” says Langford. “If you came from a bulletin board that is used by paedophiles then this system just seamlessly passes people through. It’s exactly the same page.” The IWF was the to first detect the disguised website technique and saw an 86 per cent year-on-year increase in its use in 2017. In total, the IWF found 2,909 disguised websites last year. And many more likely still evade detection. “It’s getting worse and worse,” says Langford.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

David Batty
Tue 17 Apr 2018 1

There has been a sharp rise in paedophiles and organised criminals hiding child abuse images on apparently legal commercial adult pornography websites, the Internet Watch Foundation has warned.

In the past year the number of such disguised websites, which provide a secret route to child sexual abuse content, had risen by 86%, said Fred Langford, the chief executive of the UK charity. The IWF uncovered 2,909 such websites in 2017, compared with 1,572 in 2016.

Langford said the technique of hiding illegal content, which involves using a shortened URL that directs the user through a back door to child abuse images and videos, has become increasingly popular with criminals because some international police forces and internet watchdogs still did not know how to identify such sites or take them down.

“The content is remaining live for longer, which is driving their popularity,” he said.

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UNITED STATES
Sojourners

By Mathew Schmalz, The Conversation 4-17-2018

In a letter on April 11 to the bishops of Chile, Pope Francis asked forgiveness for his “serious errors of assessment and perception.” His apologies were directed to the victims of Fr. Fernando Karadima, whose abuse of at least three men when they were children was witnessed and covered up by Chilean Bishop Juan Barros. Until recently, Pope Francis had maintained that Bishop Barros was actually the victim of “slander.” In 2011, the then 80-year-old Fr. Karadina was found guilty by a Vatican tribunal, and sentenced to a life of “prayer and penance.”

In times past, a personal apology from the pope would have been close to unthinkable.

Popes can make mistakes

Catholics believe the pope is the successor to the Apostle Peter, one of the first followers of Jesus. But Peter was a flawed human being: When confronted by a crowd, he denied his association with Jesus three times. Afterwards, according to the Gospel of Matthew, Peter “wept bitterly.”

For Catholics, Peter’s experience shows that even those specially chosen by God have deep-seated weaknesses for which they must show sorrow.

Popes are not always right in what they do, but their errors have been admitted only years – sometimes centuries – later. In 1992, for example, John Paul II apologized for the Catholic Church’s condemnation of Galileo that happened over 350 years earlier.

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