ABUSE TRACKER

BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

March 4, 2018

By Anne Neville

Last week, Michael F. Whalen of South Buffalo stood outside the offices of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo on Main Street to tell his story of sexual abuse at the hands of the Rev. Norbert F. Orsolits.

Sunday, he and his advocate, Robert Hoatson of Road to Recovery Inc., stood outside St. Louis Church, across from the diocesan offices, this time to speak up for other victims.

They criticized a deadline announced by Bishop Richard J. Malone for victims to have their complaints heard by two former judges as part of a new Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program. The program will handle only the cases of those who reported clerical abuse before March 1, the day of the announcement.

George Richert, spokesman for the diocese, responded Sunday that people who come forward now with stories of sexual abuse would not be shut out from compensation, only from participation in this specific program. As proof, he pointed to the $1.2 million paid out in the last 20 years to people who reported clergy sexual abuse.

But Hoatson rejected that explanation.

“It’s all a smokescreen,” said Hoatson, whose New Jersey-based charity assists victims of sexual abuse. “Why not open the program to every single person who was abused by a clergyman in the Diocese of Buffalo, period? Why are they afraid to do that? Why can’t they just say, ‘Come forward’?

“Victims don’t know the day that they may have a flash that says, ‘I have to talk about this before I die,’ ” he said.

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

BOSTON (MA)
Boston Magazine

March 5, 2018

By Spencer Buell

More than a dozen women accused Jorge Domínguez of misconduct.

After years of allegations against a prominent government professor emerged in news reports, Harvard announced Sunday that Jorge Domínguez has been placed on administrative leave while an investigation is underway.

More than a dozen women have now accused Domínguez— who is chairman of the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies and a senior advisor of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs—of behavior that includes groping, unwanted touching and kissing, sending flirtatious emails, and using his position of power and influence at the university to solicit sexual favors.

“I write to announce that the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) has placed Jorge Domínguez on administrative leave, pending a full and fair review of the facts and circumstances regarding allegations that have come to light,” FAS Dean Michael D. Smith wrote in a letter to staff and students Sunday night, according to the Harvard Crimson. “I want to state unequivocally that the FAS will not tolerate sexual harassment. I encourage anyone who has witnessed sexual harassment in the FAS, recently or in the past, to come forward and share their experiences with our Title IX coordinators.”

So far, 18 women have come forward with reports of harassment since the Chronicle of Higher Education published a bombshell report on an alleged pattern of predatory behavior from Domínguez that spanned decades. The allegations span from 1979 to 2015. Many women told the Chronicle they were worried what impact going public with the allegations would have on their careers.

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

CAMBRIDGE (MA)
The Associated Press

March 4, 2018

Harvard University has placed a professor on administrative leave following a series of sexual misconduct allegations.

In an email sent to students Sunday, the university’s Faculty of the Arts and Sciences dean Michael Smith says Professor Jorge Dominguez is on leave effective immediately pending a “full and fair review of the facts.”

Smith says the FAS will not tolerate sexual harassment, and he encourages anyone who has witnessed sexual harassment to come forward.

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

BOSTON (MA)
The Chronicle of Higher Education

March 4, 2018

By Tom Bartlett and Nell Gluckman

Women in Harvard University’s development office learned to stay away from Jorge Domínguez. It wasn’t just the kisses on the cheeks and the hugs. It was also the requests to get drinks after work, the flirtatious emails, his asking one of them to sit next to him during a meeting. He could be “handsy in a creepy-old-man kind of way,” said one woman. His behavior was troubling enough that three women spoke to human resources about Domínguez, who was at the time vice provost for international affairs.

The allegations of sexual harassment against Domínguez, a government professor, span decades. In 1983 he was found guilty of “serious misconduct” by Harvard after Terry Karl, a junior professor in the department, reported that he had repeatedly groped, kissed, and propositioned her. Other women at Harvard say that Domínguez also touched them inappropriately, and that they had dropped classes and abandoned projects in order to avoid him.

In the wake of a Chronicle investigation that found 10 women who say Domínguez made them uncomfortable, more have come forward. The number is now 18, including women from all areas of university life: graduate students, undergraduates, fellow professors, and staff members.

The first allegation is from 1979. The latest is from 2015.

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

MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA)
The Gulf Today

March 5, 2018

The most senior Catholic Church leader to be charged with sexual abuse came close to confronting his accusers on Monday in a video-linked Australian court hearing to test the strength of the prosecution’s case.

Cardinal George Pell’s alleged victims began testifying in the Melbourne Magistrates Court against Pope Francis’ former finance minister in testimony that cannot be made public.

But the complainants, who cannot be identified, are avoiding the intense media scrutiny focused on the cramped courtroom and the company of their alleged abuser by giving their evidence via a video connection from an undisclosed location. The number of alleged victims has not been made public, and their testimony is scheduled to continue for up to two weeks.

The 76-year-old Australian cardinal has denied any wrongdoing and has foreshadowed pleas of not guilty if the committal hearing that is scheduled to run as long as a month finds there is sufficient evidence to warrant a jury trial.

Pell was charged last June with sexually abusing multiple people in his Australian home state of Victoria. The details of the allegations have yet to be released to the public, though police have described the charges as “historical” sexual assault offenses — meaning the alleged crimes occurred decades ago.

One of the charges was withdrawn last week because the accuser had recently died.

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

MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA)
The Associated Press

March 4, 2018

By Rod McGuirk

The alleged victims of the most senior Vatican official ever charged in the Catholic Church sex abuse crisis began giving testimony to an Australian court on Monday.

Australian Cardinal George Pell wore his clerical collar for the first day of the hearing in the Melbourne Magistrate Court to determine whether prosecutors have sufficient evidence to put him on trial. The committal hearing is scheduled to take up to a month.

Pope Francis’ former finance minister was charged in June of last year with sexually abusing multiple people in his Australian home state of Victoria. The details of the allegations against the cardinal have yet to be released to the public, though police have described the charges as “historical” sexual assault offenses — meaning the crimes that are alleged to have occurred decades ago.

Monday’s testimony of alleged victims was suppressed from publication and the courtroom was closed to the public and media.

Their testimony, which is expected to take up to two weeks, proceeded for two hours before the court was adjourned until Tuesday morning.

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

LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Huffington Post

March 4, 2018

By Lydia O’Connor

“We shouldn’t have to make those choices of, ‘Do we or don’t we’” agree to be interviewed by him, she said.

Me Too movement founder Tarana Burke is speaking out against E! News’ decision to continue having Ryan Seacrest spearhead its Academy Awards red carpet coverage despite recent sexual misconduct allegations against him.

The decision, she told Variety in a story published Sunday, is unfair to actresses who will have to decide whether to cooperate with his interview efforts at tonight’s telecast.

“We shouldn’t have to make those choices of, ‘Do we or don’t we?’” said Burke, whose campaign exploded last fall as dozens of women in Hollywood came forward with stories of sexual harassment and abuse they’ve faced working in the entertainment industry.

“This is not about his guilt or innocence,” Burke said. “It’s about there being an accusation that’s alive, and until they sort [it] out, it’s really on E! News and shouldn’t be on us. … It will let us know where they stand in terms of how respectful E! News is of this issue ― and of women.”

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

NEW YORK (NY)
New York Post

March 3, 2018

By Sara Dorn

The woman who accused Muslim activist and Women’s March founder Linda Sarsour of covering up sexual harassment at the Arab American Society of New York made up the allegations, according to a lawsuit.

Majed Seif is suing Asmi Fathelbab for defamation, alleging Fathelbab lied when she told the Daily Caller in December that Seif rubbed his crotch on her and stalked her while the two worked together at the association in 2009.

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

LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Telegraph

March 5, 2018

By Chris Graham

Ryan Seacrest was apparently shunned by a host of A list stars on the Oscars red carpet on Sunday night after the television presenter was forced to deny claims of sexual misconduct.

On a night when the Me Too movement and the issue of sexual harassment took centre stage, some of Hollywood’s biggest female stars chose not to stop to talk to the Oscars pre-show host, including Margot Robbie, Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone and Gal Gadot.

Seacrest is a regular feature on the red carpet at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, interviewing the biggest names in the film industry as they arrive for the awards show.

But this year his appearance was overshadowed by sexual harassment allegations against him made public less than a week before the big day.

Suzie Hardy, a former wardrobe stylist for E!, claimed he was responsible for years of sexual abuse and harassment towards her, including unwanted physical attention, sexual remarks and repeated groping.

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

LOS ANGELES (CA)
Broadly.

March 4, 2018

By Leila Ettachfini

“We’re going forward until we have an equitable and safe world for women.”

After arriving at the Academy Awards as each other’s dates earlier tonight, actresses Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino spoke about the Time’s Up movement to ABC’s On the Red Carpet.

“Those of us who have come forward, we’ve often been disbelieved, shamed,” said Judd. “The movement is about externalizing that shame and putting it where it belongs, which is with the perpetrator.”

In many ways, Judd was a pioneer of the #MeToo movement that preceded Time’s Up. Last fall, she was the first actress to publicly come forward with accusations against since-defamed movie mogul Harvey Weinstein in the New York Times expose that rattled the film-industry.

Sorvino also came forward with sexual harassment allegations against Weinstein, in a New Yorker piece last fall. Less than three months later, she penned an open-letter to Dylan Farrow, apologizing for working with her father Woody Allen, who Farrow first publicly accused of sexual assault in 1992. Since then, Sorvino has been focusing on anti-sexual harassment activism.

“I want people to know that this movement isn’t stopping. We’re going forward until we have an equitable and safe world for women,” Sorvino told ABC on the red carpet. “We want to take our activism and our power into action and change things for every woman everywhere working in every workplace.”

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

MINNEAPOLIS (MN)
Broadly.

February 1, 2018

By Sheila Regan

[Note: All My Relations Arts and the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center present a group exhibition highlighting the ongoing epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous Women. On View: Feb 2nd – Apr 10th]

Indigenous women are murdered, kidnapped, and trafficked at alarmingly high rates. In a new exhibit, 18 Native artists address the crisis and celebrate resilience.

In 1991, a Dakota woman named Delvina Bernard was kidnapped and murdered by her neighbor for no apparent reason.

“She was my grandma’s sister, but in our Indian ways, she was my grandma,” says Minneapolis artist Angela Two Stars, who was nine years old at the time.

For a long time, Two Stars’ family searched for Bernard, but could never find her. Two Stars’ uncle even visited the murderer in prison to beg for the location of the body. “He told the guy: ‘You are going to be in jail for the rest of your life, so it doesn’t matter. Would you tell us where she is?’” Two Stars recalls. All the family wanted was to bring her home.

Two Stars’ grandmother is just one of so many missing and murdered Indigenous women (referred to as MMIW) making up an epidemic that has been facing the United States and Canada for decades. According to advocates, crimes against Native women aren’t taken seriously by law enforcement and don’t get the media attention they would if the victims were white. In addition, there’s insufficient data on the crisis, in part because most law enforcement agencies keep track of race and ethnicity for murder victims but not missing people. In 2016, Canada launched a long-awaited national inquiry into the issue, which is ongoing.

The scant statistics that are available indicate a dire problem. According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 16 percent of all female homicide victims in Canada between 1980 and 2012 were aboriginal, though aboriginal women make up only 4.3 percent of the population. More than 1200 Indigenous women and girls have been murdered or gone missing across the country since 1980—although advocates have pointed out that number could be as high as 4000. Meanwhile, Native women in the US are murdered at 10 times the national average and raped at 2.5 times the average.

In response to the epidemic, Two Stars—who is Dakota herself—is curating an exhibition entitled Bring Her Home. The show opens on February 2nd at All My Relations Gallery in Minneapolis and will feature art by 18 Native women, including several with personal connections to the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women, as well as sexual exploitation. Two Stars’ intention is both to call attention to the problem and honor the painful story of her grandmother.

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

ISRAEL
Times of Israel

March 4, 2018

By Manny Waks

In the wake of a recent child sexual abuse scandal to hit the Jewish community, this time in Baltimore, it is an opportune time to examine similar cases around the Jewish world and reflect on how we have responded to them. Learning from these will help us respond more adequately to such scandals in the future.

For this purpose, I will focus on what has recently transpired in Australia and the United Kingdom.
In 2011, during my tenure as Vice President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), I publicly disclosed for the first time that I had been sexually abused as a child by two perpetrators while a student at Melbourne Chabad’s Yeshivah Centre.

While initially applauded by some, this revelation and my subsequent public advocacy on the broader issue of child sexual abuse unleashed a torrent of additional abuse from many quarters, most notably from many within the global Chabad community, including its leaders and their supporters.

The week after the disclosure, Yeshivah’s senior rabbi, Tzvi Hirsch Telsner, asked a question directed at me and my family in his Shabbat sermon: “Who gave you permission to speak?” An Australian Judicial Inquiry, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, later confirmed that Rabbi Telsner effectively intimidated me and my family (and others) in an attempt to silence us.

The intimidation and cover-up attempts came not just from the Chabad community, the centre of the scandal and investigation. Much of it came from the mainstream Jewish community, including those at the highest levels of leadership. Dr Danny Lamm, then president of the ECAJ, publicly supported Yeshivah’s reactions during the scandal, despite clear evidence that they were behaving unconscionably. The ECAJ recently apologised for its part in the scandal, but Lamm has stubbornly refused to do so.

For many Australian Jews, it was easier to simply ignore the issues, to turn a blind eye, or worse, to actively cover it up. The vast majority remained silent – community members, lay leaders and leading rabbis, some of whom were directly involved in the intimidation of victims and their families. One of these was Australia’s most senior Orthodox rabbi, Meir Shlomo Kluwgant.

Astonishingly, it seemed irrelevant to many of them that after my public disclosure, more and more victims/survivors were reporting their own abuse to police. This directly ensured that my second abuser, David Cyprys, was finally convicted and sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment. It also resulted in numerous other convictions, not only within Chabad. And it created much greater community awareness and action regarding the issue of child sexual abuse.

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

MINNEAPOLIS (MN)
Star Tribune

March 3, 2018

By Jean Hopfensperger

Victims and parishes in Twin Cities archdiocese dwell in uncertainty as bankruptcy drags on

“First there was the sex abuse. Then years of coverup. Then the archdiocese fought against us in the Legislature. Now it’s three years with no settlement. What kind of message does that send?” said David

David Lind has waited three years for justice.

But the bankruptcy of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis still drags on — entering its fourth year with no settlement in sight and no relief for Lind and more than 400 other men and women who claim they were abused by local priests when they were children and teenagers.

The case is now on track to be one of the longest archdiocese bankruptcies in the nation, and the protracted dispute is placing mounting strains on all parties involved.

“First there was the sex abuse,” said Lind, an altar boy in St. Paul Park in the 1960s. “Then years of coverup. Then the archdiocese fought against us in the Legislature. Now it’s three years with no settlement. What kind of message does that send?”

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

DUBLIN (IRELAND)
The Independent

By Jerome Reilly

March 4, 2018

John McAreavey, the widower of Michaela Harte, has defended his uncle, Bishop John McAreavey, who resigned as Catholic Bishop of Dromore last Thursday.

The bishop resigned from the diocese, which includes parishes in Antrim, Armagh and Down, following controversy over his decision to officiate more than 15 years ago at the funeral of a priest who was a known child abuser.

It followed a BBC Spotlight programme broadcast last month on Fr Malachy Finnegan, who spent most of his ministry at St Colman’s College in Newry and who was the subject of 12 allegations of serious sexual abuse.

The programme also investigated the Church’s response to those allegations.

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

NEWRY (NORTHERN IRELAND)
Diocese of Dromore

March 2, 2018

By Bishop John McAreavey

Letter to People, Religious and Clergy of the Diocese.

Today I am writing my letter of resignation as Bishop of Dromore to Pope Francis. I do so with a heavy heart. I wrestled with this decision over recent weeks; it was not an easy decision to take. Following recent media coverage which has disturbed and upset many people, I decided on Thursday to resign.

I would ask you first and foremost to continue to hold in your prayers those who have been abused and all who are suffering at this time.

Until new arrangements for the leadership of the Diocese are in place, Canon Liam Stevenson, the Vicar General will take responsibility for the day to day administration of the Diocese. As regards the celebration of Confirmation, the priests of each parish have been delegated to minister this Sacrament.

To serve as Bishop of Dromore, my home Diocese, has been the greatest privilege of my life, though not without its challenges.

Finally, I want to say thank you for your kindness and co-operation over my time as Bishop. Please keep me in your prayers, as I will keep you in mine.

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

BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

March 4, 2018

By Jay Tokasz

[Note from BishopAccountability.org: See also Advocate: Many stories of sexual abuse by priests yet to be told, by Dan Herbeck, March 3, 2018. These articles were side-by-side on the front page of the Sunday Buffalo News.]

James A. McCarthy hasn’t seen the Rev. Norbert F. Orsolits in years.

But the face of the priest still creeps into his mind anytime he enters a Catholic church, he said.

McCarthy, 69, says a short prayer to make the image go away: “Lord, help me to do the right thing and let this pass.”

It gets him past the awful memory of the sexual abuse that McCarthy said he endured from Orsolits in his childhood bedroom some 50 years ago.

Orsolits, now 78, made the startling admission on Tuesday that he had molested “probably dozens” of boys prior to entering a Canadian facility for treatment in the early 1980s.

On Friday, McCarthy and his younger brother became the second and third men to publicly accuse Orsolits of sexually abusing them as adolescents while he worked as a Catholic Diocese of Buffalo priest.

Orsolits’ abuses span more than decade and date back to the earliest years of his priesthood, according to the accounts of the McCarthy brothers and a third victim, Michael F. Whalen.

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

BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

March 3, 2018

By Dan Herbeck

For the past 22 years, Judith Burns-Quinn has listened to the shocking and heartbreaking stories of people who were sexually abused by priests.

Most of them, she said, are adult men who were molested as young boys and teenagers.

“Every victim I’ve talked to has their own story, but for every one, the experience of being molested by a priest has had a profound impact on their life,” said Burns-Quinn, 74.

Burns-Quinn said she has spoken to about 40 such victims since 2002, when she became Buffalo coordinator for a national organization called Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.

“Every one I’ve talked to has had trouble with either drugs, alcohol, anger issues, parental issues, divorces, or all those things,” she said. “They have problems with trusting people, especially people in authority. Their lives have been devastated…because a priest was someone they thought they could be trust.”

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

BELFAST (NORTHERN IRELAND)
Irish Legal News

March 2, 2018

Lawyers and human rights groups have called for a public inquiry into allegations of clerical child sex abuse in Northern Ireland.

Amnesty International said recent revelations of abuse by Father Malachy Finnegan, former president of St Colman’s College in Newry, strengthened the case for an inquiry.

It pointed out the Catholic Church had itself identified child abuse allegations against 100 priests in Northern Ireland since the 1970s.

Solicitor Claire McKeegan of Belfast-based KRW Law, who represents a number of Fr Finnegan’s victims, echoed the call.

She said: “We have received calls from numerous further victims and witnesses of Malachy Finnegan’s vile abuses since the significant settlement by our client known as ‘Patrick’ was made public recently.

“The message is clear: victims demand a public inquiry into clerical abuse in Northern Ireland without any further delay.

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

BELFAST (NORTHERN IRELAND)
Belfast Telegraph

March 1, 2018

[Note from BishopAccountability.org: This article summarizes some of the revelations from the Nolan Show, February 28, 2018.]

More victims of paedophile priest Fr Malachy Finnegan have come forward after a BBC investigation into about his abuses.

Last month a BBC Spotlight programme revealed Father Finnegan, a former teacher at St Coleman’s College in Newry, had been accused of sexual abuse by 12 people.

The programme reported the allegations were reported to police in 1996, but he was not interviewed before his death in 2002.

He was employed in the college from 1967 until 1987, serving as a teacher from 1973 until 1976, and as president of the college from 1976 until 1987.

The Diocese of Dromore said it had been aware of the 12 allegations against its former teacher, with the first coming to light in 1994, and a second allegation being made in 1998.

No further allegations were made until after his death.

Appearing on Nolan Live on Wednesday, the BBC’s Mandy McAuley, who was responsible for the the Spotlight programme, said she had been contacted by a number of people since the programme aired.

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

OLEAN (NY)
Olean Times Herald

March 2, 2018

By Tom Dinki

Diocese says clergyman was assigned to treatment after allegation

A retired priest, who admitted this week to sexually abusing dozens of teenage boys decades ago, served in Olean and Portville during the 1980s.

The Rev. Norbert Orsolits admitted to The Buffalo News Tuesday he sexually abused “probably dozens” of teenage boys during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Orsolits, now 78 and living in Ashford, was assigned to St. Mary of the Angels Church in Olean from 1982 to 1983 and Sacred Heart Church in Portville from 1984 to 1988, during which time he also taught at Archbishop Walsh High School in Olean.

According to Orsolits, he was assigned to Sacred Heart after the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo received a complaint he sexually abused a child and ordered him to receive psychological treatment at a Canadian facility.

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

GLASGOW (SCOTLAND)
The Herald

March 2, 2018

By Jody Harrison

A Catholic Church report suggests levels of sexual assault and rape of children in their care peaked in the 1950s.

The academic review of historical allegations of abuse at orphanages and churches uncovered hundreds of accusations made against priests and other figures, stretching back dozens of years, with the high-water mark occurring in 1953.

However, campaigners have raised doubts over the figures, saying that the majority of the abuse would have been swept under the carpet and not entered into official records.

Dr Ben Torsney, of the University of Glasgow, found almost 400 cases or reports of abuse in Scotland between 1943 and 2005 during a probe launched at the behest of the Scottish Bishops.

Recorded allegations reached a peak in 1953 with 124 reports, and then began to fall with no more than five a year between 1990 and 2005, according to the study.

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

LANSING (MI)
WILX 10

February 27, 2018

Lobbyists for the Catholic Church in Michigan say they’re concerned about a bill that would retroactively lengthen the time limit for victims of childhood sexual abuse to file lawsuits.

The legislation is included in a package supported by survivors of former USA Gymnastics and Michigan state doctor Larry Nassar. It would allow accusers to sue up until they turn 48.

No specifics were given about the concerns.

The catholic church has paid out more than three billion to settle clergy abuse in the US.

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

ST. CLOUD (MN)
St. Cloud Times

March 2, 2018

By Stephanie Dickrell

Lawsuit hopes to determine which companies are responsible for paying damages to victims of child sexual abuse

Two lawsuits are hoping to make insurance companies cooperate in compensating victims of child sexual abuse in the Diocese of St. Cloud.

The diocese and a victim of child sexual abuse are asking insurance companies to uphold policies they’ve issued in past decades, said Josh Peck, an attorney with Jeff Anderson and Associates and a representative of victims making child sexual abuse claims against the diocese.

Catholic Mutual Insurance Company has also filed a lawsuit in federal court.

Both lawsuits are against other insurance companies ask a judge to determine which companies are responsible for compensating victims of child sexual abuse.

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

ALTOONA (PA)
Altoona Mirror

March 3, 2018

By Phil Ray

Merritts seeks to draw attention to abuse victims

Rosalind Merritts, a retired nurse from Hollidaysburg, stood Thursday on the front lawn of the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese, displaying photos of children allegedly abused by priests and hoping to catch the attention of motorists along busy Logan Boulevard.

Despite a driving rain and a bleak sky, motorists were able to spot Merritts, clad in a long, bright yellow rain coat and carrying a large sign bearing the inscription, “PROTEST.”

Many drivers beeped their horns in support.

Merritts is part of the National Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, and for her, Thursday was a special day.

It was the second anniversary of a grand jury report released by former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane that uncovered hundreds of cases of child sexual abuse by area priests and religious leaders over a 50-year period.

The 2016 report led to changes.

Altoona-Johnstown Diocesan Bishop Mark Bartchak worked with the former Acting U.S. Attorney Soo C. Song of the Western District of Pennsylvania to develop programs to ensure local children are protected from further abuse by employees of the diocese.

Last August, the bishop named seven members to the Diocesan Review Board, which examines reports of abuse to determine their credibility.

That board also is to determine clergymen’s suitability for the ministry.

In January, the diocese created an Office of Children and Youth Protection, another step in protecting the children.

Yet cases of past alleged abuse continue to linger.

Two officials of the Franciscan Friars Third Order Regular face trial in Blair County Court for failing to protect children from the late Brother Stephen Baker, who was accused of sexually abusing teens at a Johnstown Catholic high school.

In December, now retired Judge Jolene G. Kopriva dismissed charges against a former priest at St. Leo’s Catholic Church in Altoona, the Rev. Charles Bodziak, accused of molesting two young girls years ago. The case was dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired.

In her protest Thursday, Merritts turned her attention toward Pope Francis, who, in Chile last month, accused a sexual abuse victim of slander and who presided over the funeral of Cardinal Bernard Law, accused of covering up child sexual abuse when serving as the archbishop of Boston.

She is fighting to extend the statute of limitations so those who were abused years ago may receive justice.

She also questions the sincerity of the top officials of the Catholic hierarchy.

Merritts spends a day each month on the bishop’s lawn along Logan Boulevard, she said, so these victims won’t be forgotten.

“I don’t want this (memory of the victims) to go away,” she said.

Recently, the sexual harassment of women has come to the forefront because of the “#MeToo” movement.

“Hopefully,” she said in a letter to the Mirror, “#TimesUp in this country for accepting that the abuser at church, at home, in school or on the teams is to be protected.”

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

MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA)
Associated Press via New York Times

March 1, 2018

An Australian prosecutor on Friday withdrew a single charge against Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Catholic cleric to face a sex prosecution.

The 76-year-old Australian cardinal will appear on Monday in a court in Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city where Pell was once archbishop, for the start of a monthlong preliminary hearing to determine whether prosecutors have sufficient evidence to warrant a jury trial.

Prosecutor Mark Gibson told the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday that one charge had been withdrawn.

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

MELBOURNE (AUSTRALIA)
Catholic News Agency

March 2, 2018

By Hannah Brockhaus

On Friday, an Australian prosecutor withdrew a charge of abuse against Cardinal George Pell, who is currently undergoing a trial in Australia for accusations of past sexual abuse.

The charge was dropped by Prosecutor Mark Gibson March 2 after its key complainant died in January. It is only one of the charges brought against Pell, though the total number of charges and details are not yet public.

The next stage of the case begins March 5, with a four-week long preliminary hearing in Melbourne. The hearing, at which Pell will be present, will determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to hold a jury trial for the charges of abuse brought against the cardinal.

The director of prosecutions for the Melbourne Magistrates Court had indicated in a hearing Feb. 14 that the charge of key witness Damian Dignan, who died in January, would likely be withdrawn.

Dignan, who died of leukemia in early January, along with a fellow classmate at St. Alipius school in Ballarat, accused Pell in 2016 of inappropriate sexual behavior when they were minors. The cardinal had previously been accused of acts of child sexual abuse dating as far back as 1961.

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

BELFAST (NORTHERN IRELAND)
BBC

March 1, 2018

By Stephen Nolan

[Stream of 90-minute radio report and call-in show during which (at 48:40) it was revealed that Bishop McAreavey had concelebrated a Mass with Fr Malachy Finnegan in 2000. This revelation and the reaction to it prompted McAreavey’s resignation.]

Two weeks ago, BBC Spotlight exposed Father Malachy Finegan as a paedophile priest. Since then, victims have been contacting the BBC’s Mandy McAuley and the Nolan Show. Last night on Nolan Live, the story moved on. The Bishop of Dromore, Bishop John McAreavey, is now facing calls to resign immediately from his post. Last night, on Nolan Live, victims of the paedophile priest Malachy Finnegan were horrified to hear that despite knowing Finnegan was a paedophile, Bishop McAreavey made the decision to concelebrate mass, with the paedophile fully vested on the altar with him. Victims have now called for his resignation.

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

DUBLIN (IRELAND)
Irish Times

March 1, 2018

By Patsy McGarry

[Note from BishopAccountability.org: See also the McAreavey statement quoted in this article.]

People in Dromore diocese concerned that cleric said funeral Mass for alleged abuser

John McAreavey has resigned as Catholic Bishop of Dromore with immediate effect following controversy over his decision to officiate more than 15 years ago at the funeral Mass of a priest known to the diocese as a child abuser.

Dromore diocese includes parishes in counties Antrim, Armagh and Down.

Fr Malachy Finnegan served at St Colman’s College in Newry from 1967 to 1971 and was a teacher there from 1973 to 1976. He was president of the college from 1976 to 1987. Between 1994 and 2016, 12 allegations of abuse were made against him.

A BBC Spotlight programme on Finnegan was broadcast last month and included interviews with three of his alleged victims. It had been investigating allegations against the priest over recent months and how these had been handled by Catholic authorities.

Prior to the broadcast, Dr McAreavey issued a statement saying the first allegation against Finnegan came to light in 1994, some seven years after he left St Colman’s College.

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

BELFAST (NORTHERN IRELAND)
Belfast Telegraph

March 2, 2018

By Malachi O’Doherty

Like all members of the Roman Catholic clergy they have pledged themselves to obeying those above them in the hierarchy. Therefore, if they want to remain in good standing with Church authorities they seek permission from the Vatican to go.

And sometimes they get it. And sometimes they get the assurance that their departure is neither appropriate nor desirable.

There have been huge embarrassments for the Church around the disclosure that bishops and cardinals have failed to report abuse to the police.

The outstanding case was that of the former primate, Cardinal Sean Brady, who had debriefed two boys abused by Brendan Smyth, a priest in the Norbertine Order.

Cardinal Brady had sworn the boys to secrecy and had seen it as the fulfilment of his duty to report his findings to his bishop, even as the odious Smyth continued to abuse.

So Bishop John McAreavey’s decision to resign in the face of intense heat from the media is unusual both because it was prompt and because it appears not to have involved consultation with the Vatican.

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

BELFAST (NORTHERN IRELAND)
Belfast Telegraph

March 2, 2018

Police have set up a dedicated task force to investigate complaints about the paedophile priest Father Malachy Finnegan.

The priest who died in 2002 was accused of the sexual abuse of 12 children while at St Coleman’s College in Newry. He was a teacher at the school from 1967 to 1976 and was later its president for 11 years.

* * *

Detective Superintendent Deirdre Bones, PSNI Public Protection Branch said: “The PSNI has set up a dedicated team to investigate complaints of clerical and institutional abuse involving Father Malachy Finnegan.

“I would appeal to anyone who has been the victim of physical or sexual abuse to report it to the Public Protection Branch in PSNI, who will deal with their reports sensitively and confidentially.”

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

LONDON (ENGLAND)
BBC

March 1, 2018

There have been calls for the Bishop of Dromore to resign amid claims he celebrated Mass alongside a priest he knew was a paedophile.

Malachy Finnegan, who died in 2002, has been accused of sex abuse by 12 people.

Fr Finnegan, a teacher at St Colman’s College in Newry from 1967 to 1976, is also accused of a catalogue of physical and emotional abuse against pupils.

Bishop of Dromore, Dr John McAreavey, has previously apologised for conducting Fr Finnegan’s funeral Mass.

Last month, Bishop McAreavey, who was chair of the board of governors at the school, told parishioners in the Dromore diocese that he first became aware of allegations against Fr Finnegan in 1994.

* * *

On Wednesday, Spotlight NI reporter Mandy McAuley told the BBC’s Nolan Live programme that six years later, Fr Finnegan was allowed to help Bishop McAreavey celebrate a Mass to mark the 150th anniversary of the Clonduff parish.

She said the paedophile priest was vested – robed in garments – at the Mass in 2000, although he was not the main celebrant.

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

BELFAST (NORTHERN IRELAND)
Irish News

March 2, 2018

By Bimpe Archer

One of the north’s most high-profile bishops has resigned amid controversy that he celebrated Mass alongside a paedophile priest.

In a brief statement released through his personal solicitor last night, Bishop of Dromore Dr John McAreavey (69) announced he was leaving his post.

“Following media reports which have disturbed and upset many people in the diocese and further afield I have decided to resign with immediate effect,” he said.

“I shall make further comment in due course.”

The resignation came amid growing calls for a public inquiry into clerical abuse in Northern Ireland.

Just weeks ago Dr McAreavey apologised for celebrating Requiem Mass for Fr Malachy Finegan a paedophile and former president at St Colman’s College in Newry.

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

BELFAST (NORTHERN IRELAND)
Irish News

March 3, 2018

By Allison Morris

The resignation of Bishop of Dromore John McAreavey was swift and unexpected.

In the closed ranks of the Catholic Church it is rare for one man to take responsibility for what was an historical culture of silence when it came to the abuse of children by members of the clergy.

That the horrendous abuse, sexual, physical and emotional, experienced by young boys at the hands of Fr Malachy Finegan went unreported and unchecked for so long should shame all of those involved.

The testimony of victims, who have finally felt able to speak out, has painted a grim picture of what life was like for boys who came in contact with the savage, sadistic thug of a man who used his power as a Catholic priest to brutalise young children.

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

LONDON (ENGLAND)
Catholic News Service via Catholic Herald

March 2, 2018

An Irish bishop resigned March 1 after increased criticism over how he dealt with revelations of an abusive priest.

Bishop John McAreavey of Dromore was criticised in a program on BBC Northern Ireland on February 28, after it emerged that he concelebrated an anniversary Mass with a priest he knew had stepped down after being sent for treatment following complaints of abuse.

In a statement from his lawyer released to journalists on March 1, Bishop McAreavey, 69, said: “Following media reports which have disturbed and upset many people in the diocese and further afield, I have decided to resign with immediate effect.”

Twelve people accused the late Fr Malachy Finnegan of sexual abuse. The priest, who taught at St Colman’s College in Newry, Northern Ireland, from 1967 to 1976, is also accused of physical and emotional abuse against students.

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

BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

March 2, 2018

By Tom Precious

Albany – If Rev. Norbert F. Orsolits had sexually abused what he’s described as “several dozen” teenage boys in Connecticut or Utah or even Guam instead of New York, the victims he molested four decades ago would today have a path in civil court to seek financial damages and perhaps some sense of justice.

But New York is one of the most restrictive in the nation when it comes to allowing victims from long-ago abuse to file lawsuits against their alleged perpetrators, and so neither the former priest or the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo is liable for the acts he told The Buffalo News he committed long ago.

Now, people who say they were abused as children are pointing to the Orsolits case as the latest evidence for the need of a long-stalled bill called the Child Victims Act. It is a measure that would expand the criminal and civil statute of limitations in abuse cases. But it’s most controversial provision – and one that has stopped it from becoming law so far – would and create a one year “look back” period to allow victims over the age of 23 to file lawsuits against alleged perpetrators or the institutions where they worked or volunteered for incidents of sexual abuse dating back potentially decades.

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

FREELAND (MI)
Michigan Live

March 2, 2018

By Michael Kransz

The criminal probe into a Freeland priest accused of sexually assaulting two men could expand to encompass nearly a half dozen other area clergy, if sexual abuse allegations police are hearing prove credible, investigators say.

“We are getting tips on other priests,” said Tittabawassee Township Detective Brian Berg. “I would imagine when we verify some of the information we’re getting, that other priests will be under investigation.”

Berg stressed the allegations of sexual abuse involving five to six other area priests haven’t been verified. If they are, an official investigation will launch, the detective said.

Erin Looby Carlson, a spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw, reiterated the diocese will cooperate with law enforcement investigations.

Tips and allegations of sexual abuse have flooded Berg’s department following the arrest of 71-year-old Rev. Robert DeLand Jr.

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

STATEN ISLAND (NY)
Staten Island Advance

February 27, 2018

By Paul Liotta

[Includes informative portfolio of photographs.]

A New Jersey priest, who worked in Staten Island schools for more than 20 years as a layman, was put on a leave of absence Sunday after sexual abuse allegations connected to his time in the borough surfaced.

Rev. Patrick Kuffner “has been accused by three individuals of sexual abuse while they were minors,” according to a letter from Bishop James F. Checchio of the Diocese of Metuchen.

The allegations stem from Kuffner’s time as a layman and teacher on Staten Island more than 30 years ago, according to the letter.

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

NEW YORK (NY)
New York Times

March 1, 2018

By Elisabetta Povoledo

Rome – Sister Marie told of nuns who worked long hours to cook and clean for cardinals and bishops, without being asked to break bread at the same table.

Sister Paule pointed out that many nuns did not have registered contracts with the bishops, schools, parishes or congregations they worked for, “so they are paid little or not at all.”

Sister Cécile said that “nuns are seen as volunteers to have available at one’s calling, which gives rise to abuse of power.”

These stories — told by sisters using pseudonyms — were revealed Thursday in an exposé about how nuns are exploited by the leaders and institutions of the Roman Catholic Church. The article, by the French journalist Marie-Lucile Kubacki, was published in the March edition of Women Church World, the monthly magazine on women distributed alongside the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano.

The stories amount to a distress signal about the unfair economic and social conditions many nuns experience, as well as the psychological and spiritual challenges that many face.

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

DENVER (CO)
Crux

March 2, 2018

By Christopher White

New York – As Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta returns from his on-the-ground investigation of alleged sex abuse cover-up by Bishop Juan Barros of the Chilean diocese of Osorno, some American Catholics have likened this latest chapter of the Church’s clerical sex abuse scandals to post-traumatic stress disorder.

Following the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team’s devastating coverage in 2002 of years of sexual abuse and cover-up, the U.S. Catholic bishops adopted their Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People in June of that year to standardize guidelines for reporting and responding to sexual abuse allegations within the U.S. Church.

Since that time, the American Church’s “zero tolerance” policy for sexual abusers has been considered by many as the standard for other countries to model their own programs. Given the recent controversies of the Barros affair, however, more than a few Catholics have wondered how a similar situation would play out in the United States today-both within the Church and outside of it.

In essence, the answer would seem to be that speaking strictly in terms of internal ecclesiastical procedures, it’s not clear there would be a major contrast between America and anywhere else in a case in which the accusation against a bishop is not abuse itself, but cover-up.

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

METUCHEN (NJ)
Diocese of Metuchen

February 25, 2018

By Bishop James F. Checchio

The following is a letter from Bishop Checchio to parishioners of Our Lady of Mount Virgin regarding the leave of absence of their pastor, Fr. Patrick J. Kuffner.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

It is with great sadness that I must inform you that your pastor, Fr. Patrick J. Kuffner, has been accused by three individuals of sexual abuse while they were minors. These charges date back more than three decades, to when he was a layman and teaching on Staten Island.

Three law enforcement agencies were initially involved in investigating these claims; two have determined that the statute of limitation has lapsed, the investigation by one agency is ongoing. Since it would not be right or possible for Fr. Kuffner to exercise his pastoral responsibilities toward you with these charges pending, he will be on a leave of absence and cannot function as a priest. I have appointed Fr. David Skoblow to serve as temporary administrator of the parish.

As I am sure you will be, I am deeply shocked and saddened at this development, and I have a heavy heart for the individuals who came forward after many years of having carried such a tremendous burden. With that said, I have rechecked our records and there was nothing whatsoever in the background checks required of all seminarians and priests, or in Fr. Kuffner’s behavior in his two priestly assignments, to suggest he could be capable of such horrendous actions. There has never been any indication of these types of actions during his time as a priest either. I, of course, take these charges extremely seriously.

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

MIDDLESEX (NJ)
NJ.com

February 27, 2018

By Amanda Hoover

Three people have accused a priest of sexually abusing them as minors in cases that date back decades, to before the man was a priest, the Metuchen Diocese has announced.

In a letter released online Sunday to parishioners of Our Lady of Mount Virgin in Middlesex, Metuchen Bishop James Checchio announced the suspension of Father Patrick Kuffner while an investigation into the alleged abuse ensues.

“I am deeply shocked and saddened at this development, and I have a heavy heart for the individuals who came forward after many years of having carried such a tremendous burden,” he wrote.

The allegations stem from Kuffner’s first career as a teacher in Staten Island and are three decades old, the letter said.

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

ALBANY (NY)
Times Union

February 27, 2018

By Steve Hughes

Ballston Spa – A former Long Island Catholic priest and convicted sex offender was found dead in his Saratoga County jail cell after an apparent suicide on Tuesday, just days before he was to be sentenced to state prison for molesting a child.

Michael L. Hands, 51, admitted in September to twice molesting a child younger than 17 in July in Charlton.

He was set to be sentenced this week for two counts of third-degree criminal sex act. He faced up to eight years in prison.

Hands met the victim online and cultivated a relationship that ultimately led to the two meeting, where Hands victimized the child, according to Times Union archives.

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

MELVILLE (NY)
Newsday

February 27, 2018

By Zachary R. Dowdy

[Note from BishopAccountability.org: See the Suffolk County Grand Jury Report and the section on Fr. Michael Hands (Priest W in the report).]

Hands’ death comes just days before he was to be sentenced on a new child sex abuse charge.

Michael Hands, a former priest who served prison time for sexually abusing a 14-year-old Long Island boy in August 2000, was found dead of an apparent suicide in his jail cell upstate Tuesday while awaiting sentencing on new sex-abuse charges, authorities said.

A spokesman for Saratoga County said that Hands, 51, formerly of Greenwich, Connecticut was found dead in his cell at the county jail in Ballston Spa at 1:45 a.m. during a routine check of inmates and was believed to have killed himself. Saratoga County officials said an autopsy would be performed to determine the cause of death.

Hands was a key witness in a 2002 grand jury investigation, conducted by Suffolk County prosecutors, that led to a 182-page report alleging that priests in the Diocese of Rockville Centre abused children over decades. No indictments resulted from the probe, however, and the statutes of limitations for some of the offenses alleged had expired.

The state Commission of Correction, which looks into all in-custody deaths in the state, confirmed it is investigating Hands’ death at the Saratoga jail.

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

BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

March 1, 2018

By Lou Michel and Jay Tokasz

PORTVILLE – The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo made Rev. Norbert F. Orsolits get psychological treatment after receiving a complaint that he had sexually abused a child.

It was after that, Orsolits said, that the diocese assigned him to work for years in the mid-1980s in a rural parish in tiny Portville.

There, he led the church youth group and gave booze to underage boys while chaperoning the nearby Catholic high school’s ski club on a trip to Vermont, according to a former student and some parishioners. During his time in Portville, parishioners say, Orsolits was even charged with driving while intoxicated.

Worshipers at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Portville, where about 1,000 people live, are angry that the bishop in Buffalo never warned them in the mid-1980s that Orsolits had been treated at Southdown Institute, a mental health facility near Toronto, for abusing a child.

That didn’t come to light until this week, when Orsolits admitted to The Buffalo News that he had sexual contact with “probably dozens” of teenage boys.

“Obviously there’s something not connected in his head. There’s a separation from normal thinking,” said Bernard “Buz” Wenke, who worshiped at Sacred Heart while Orsolits preached there. “Somebody that does something like that should not be around children.”

At a news conference Thursday, diocesan officials said Orsolits was sent to Southdown after the diocese had received a complaint of child sex abuse, but they did not specify the dates they received the complaint or when he was treated.

“He was sent away and went to a facility for counseling and some form of rehabilitation to find out whether or not he was suitable for ministry. When he came back with a clean bill of health, advised that he was able to come back and serve, he did serve,” said Terrence M. Connors, a lawyer who represents the diocese.

Orsolits told The News that following his treatment, the diocese assigned him to the Portville church and to teach at Archbishop Walsh High School.

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

BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

Published February 27, 2018; Updated March 1, 2018

By Jay Tokasz and Aaron Besecker

A retired priest from the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo admitted Tuesday he had sexually abused “probably dozens” of teenage boys in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The Rev. Norbert F. Orsolits made the admission after a South Buffalo man publicly accused Orsolits of abusing him when he was a teenager during a ski outing more than 35 years ago.

Michael F. Whalen, 52, said Orsolits was his parish priest at St. John Vianney in Orchard Park when the abuse occurred.

Orsolits, 78, said he did not recall Whalen. But he described other incidents of sexual contact with teenage boys to a Buffalo News reporter who visited the priest Tuesday afternoon at his cottage home in the Town of Ashford.

He told The News that he was later sent for treatment at a psychological facility in Canada, before the diocese assigned him to work at a small rural church and school. He was removed by the diocese from ministry in 2003.

During a 10-minute interview, Orsolits talked casually of having had sexual contact with teenage boys, saying it had been fueled by alcohol. He admitted to having touched teenage boys sexually and having had them touch him.

He suggested that the contact was consensual and that he was “led on” by some. He also said that he never persisted with any sexual touching if a teenage boy resisted.

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

BALTIMORE (MD)
The Baltimore Sun

March 2, 2018

By Alison Knezevich

Many in Baltimore’s Orthodox Jewish community thought the case against Rabbi Steven Krawatsky was closed.

A 7-year-old boy at a summer camp in Adamstown had accused the popular teacher of sexual abuse, and he was suspended from his job at the private Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School in Pikesville. Two other boys later came forward with similar allegations. Frederick County prosecutors said they did not have enough evidence to charge Krawatsky, and by early 2016, “Rabbi K” was back in the classroom, teaching Judaic studies to middle school students.

So it came as a shock in January when Beth Tfiloh fired Krawatsky and banned the 40-year-old father of four from the campus where he worked for nearly 15 years.

There had been no new allegations. Instead, school officials cited explosive details from the three cases published in January by a Jewish newspaper in New York.

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

SAGINAW (MI)
Catholic Diocese of Saginaw

March 1, 2018

Community Gathers at St. Agnes Parish, Freeland
PRESS RELEASE MARCH 1, 2018

SAGINAW — In response to the needs and concerns of the community after criminal charges were issued against Father Robert (Bob) DeLand, a listening session was held at St. Agnes Parish Tuesday evening (Feb. 27) for members of the church and the greater Freeland community. Those gathered participated in a scheduled Stations of the Cross prayer event, and the listening session followed. It allowed those present to share and express deep feelings following the arrest of Father DeLand and the circumstances surrounding his arrest.

Youth were in the parish hall to share their own feelings and concerns. Their listening session was facilitated by the St. Agnes Faith Formation Director, Nicole Bakos, with support from the diocesan Director of Christian Service, Terri Grierson, and the Coordinator of Youth Ministry for the diocese, Mark Graveline, as well as a licensed counselor from Child & Family Services of Saginaw, Windi Sterling, LLMSW.

The listening session for adults was held in the church and facilitated by the coordinator of the Office of Child and Youth Protection for the Diocese of Saginaw, Sister Janet Fulgenzi, OP, PhD.

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

UNITED STATES
The Cut

March 2, 2018

By Madeleine Aggeler

Jacob Moore, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Michigan and former member of the U.S. men’s junior national gymnastics team, has joined a lawsuit against ex–USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. Moore is the first male athlete to come forward with allegations of sexual abuse against Nassar.

Moore has accused Nassar of sexually abusing him in 2016, when he was only 16 years old. According to the complaint filed this week, Moore says he went to Nassar’s house seeking treatment for a shoulder injury. Once there, Nassar allegedly brought Moore down to his basement, where he proceeded to expose the boy’s genitals to a young female gymnast who was there, and then told him he would treat his shoulder injury “through acupuncture in his pubic area and in and around his genitalia.”

“There is no known medical connection between shoulder pain which can be treated through acupuncture in the area of a male’s genitalia,” the complaint reads.

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

OGDENSBURG (NY)
Watertown Daily Times

March 2, 2018

By Larry Robinson

The Diocese of Ogdensburg is allowing an independent, two-person panel to determine whether financial compensation will be given to those alleging sexual abuse as children at the hands of Catholic clergy across the north country.

The allegations of sex abuse of children date back decades, according to a spokesman for the church.

Catholic officials in Ogdensburg said Thursday that the Diocese of Northern New York has established an “Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program” to assist victims of clergy sex abuse.

In a statement, Bishop Terry R. LaValley said creating the independent reconciliation panel reflects the church’s “contrition to the victims who have reported clergy sexual abuse to the Diocese.”

James Crowley, chancellor and spokesman for the diocese, said the church has reached out to 38 victims. He said those alleging abuse at the hands of clergy received a letter from the bishop last week. He said the abuse allegations go back generations.

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

INDIANAPOLIS (IN)
WTHR

February 27, 2018

By Sandra Chapman

A man who made history as the first married priest in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis faces six criminal charges tied to an assault last September involving his wife. Court documents state that part of the attack happened in the sanctuary of Holy Rosary Catholic Church where he worked.

According to court documents obtained by 13 Investigates, Father Luke Reese is accused of kidnapping, criminal confinement, battery and intimidation.

Reese is a Parochial Vicar at Holy Rosary Catholic church in Indianapolis, and according to the Archdiocese, has been placed on leave.

The court documents detail an encounter between Reese and his wife on a Sunday afternoon, September 24, when Reese said he found her in the back seat of a car with another man with whom she was having an affair.

The probable cause affidavit states that Reese hit and kicked the man and ordered his wife to leave with him. They left in separate cars and eventually met up together and got into Reese’s car. She told investigators he locked the doors and began hitting her while they were driving.

Investigators say Reese eventually drove to Holy Rosary Catholic Church on the near east side of Indianapolis and forced his wife inside to kneel at the altar. She told officers he demanded her cell phone password. She says Reese physically hit her in the church too.

The affidavit then states the two left the church and she gave up her password.

Investigators say they drove to Auburn, Indiana, where his wife was to “confess” about her adultery to her family members including her 90-year-old grandmother.

Reese’s wife details in the documents that her husband hit her several more times in the car. The grandmother told investigators that she noticed bruising and swelling around her granddaughter’s mouth and eye.

Reese then drove his wife back to Indianapolis, where, according to his wife, he forced her to go to bed while he cut up her clothing. She told officers he viewed her text messages and then sexually assaulted her.

It is WTHR’s policy to not name some assault victims.

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

NEW ZEALAND
Radio NZ

March 2, 2018

By Phil Pennington

A survivor of sexual abuse is calling for Sir Anand Satyanand to be removed as head of the new Royal Commission, after a survivor’s privacy was apparently breached.

He laid a complaint against Sir Anand with the Privacy Commission, only to find that it is legally unable to investigate a Royal Commission.

The man spoke out for the first time on Morning Report this week about the abuse suffered at the hands of a Catholic brother.

RNZ contacted Sir Anand about the survivors’ concerns and expressly asked for their names to be kept confidential.

“Please note we are NOT identifying these men and ask for their names to be held in confidence in this – thus I approach you directly and not through DIA or your office,” the email read.

But that email from RNZ, with the names still included, was then forwarded to staff helping Sir Anand at the Department of Internal Affairs.

The victim and his elderly father, who was also abused at a Catholic college, are campaigning for the Royal Commission to be expanded to cover non-state institutions such as churches.

“The Royal Commission is not a place for anything but absolute truth and openness,” he said.

He told RNZ Sir Anand not only breached the trust and confidentiality required by a Royal Commission but also their privacy by emailing personal details to the department when specifically asked not to do so.

He is calling for Sir Anand to be replaced and has written separately to the Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy asking her to remove the former Governor-General from the Commission.

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

INDIANAPOLIS (IN)
The Associated Press/WISH

March 1, 2018

An Indianapolis Catholic priest faces charges after being accused of attacking his wife and holding her against her will.

The Rev. Luke Reese is charged with criminal confinement, kidnapping, domestic battery, battery resulting in injury and intimidation.

Reese locked his wife inside his car at Central Avenue and East 34th Street on Sept. 24 after finding her with another man, prosecutors say. While driving through the city, the 49-year-old slapped and yelled at her while blaring heavy metal music.

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

INDIANAPOLIS (IN)
Dubois County Herald

The Associated Press

March 1, 2018

An Indianapolis Catholic priest faces charges for allegedly attacking his wife and holding her against her will.

The Rev. Luke Reese is charged with criminal confinement, kidnapping, domestic battery and other counts.

Reese allegedly locked his wife inside his car last September after finding her with another man. Prosecutors say the 49-year-old slapped her and later slammed her against a wall at Holy Rosary Church, where he’s an associate pastor.

Reese then allegedly drove her to northeastern Indiana. She told officers he wanted her to tell relatives “what she had done by talking to another man.”

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

INDIANAPOLIS (IN)
The Indy Channel (rtv6 ABC)

February 27, 2018

By Rafael Sanchez, Katie Cox

A local priest is accused of terrorizing his wife after he claims he discovered she was having an affair.

Reverend Luke Reese, 49, worked out of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church on Indianapolis’ south side. He was forced to step away from the pulpit on Sept. 27 after he disclosed that he was facing multiple domestic violence accusations against his wife.

Reese is an ordained Anglican priest which means that unlike Catholic priests, he is allowed to be married.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Reese said he discovered that his wife of 25 years was having an affair on Sept. 24.

Reese found his wife and another man in a car together. He demanded the man get out of the car, and when he did not, Reese opened the door and kicked the man in the face, according to the court documents. She got out of the car and into her own, then drove to a park as instructed by Reese, so they could talk.

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

ENGLAND
BBC News

March 1, 2018

By Colin Campbell

A relative of a clergyman accused of abusing an 11-year-old boy has called for his headstone to be destroyed.

Canon Dermod Fogarty, who died in 2012, is accused of subjecting Stephen Bernard to a four-year abuse ordeal in a book written by the Oxford academic.

Deirdre McCormack, Canon Fogarty’s next of kin, says the epitaph to a much-loved, wise priest – which she wrote – has been shown to be a “blatant lie”.

Ms McCormack has not yet had a response to her request.

Canon Fogarty worked in the Arundel and Brighton diocese for 67 years.

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

BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

March 1, 2018

By Aaron Besecker

Days after a retired priest admitted sexually abusing “probably dozens” of teenage boys, the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo on Thursday said it was taking steps to compensate other victims while attempting to address the pain its inaction has caused.

During an afternoon news conference at the Catholic Center downtown, officials announced the creation of a fund to settle claims of alleged sex abuse against clergy in the diocese, a move officials said promotes healing and would offer closure to victims.

“We are so very, very sorry for the pain of the abuse that has happened to you,” Bishop Richard J. Malone said during the news conference, addressing victims. “We’re sorry. I’m sorry. And we want to do everything we can going forward, reaching out to you who have come to us in the past.”

The announcement about the new program came two days after retired priest Norbert F. Orsolits admitted to The Buffalo News he sexually abused “probably dozens” of teenage boys in the late 1970s and early 1980s. But officials said the program had been in the works for months.

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

BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

February 28, 2018; Updated March 1, 2018

By Mike McAndrew

The Rev. Norbert F. Orsolits, who admitted Tuesday he had sexual contact with “probably dozens” of teenage boys, was assigned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo to work in numerous parishes between 1965 and 2003, when Orsolits was removed from active priestly duties.

Orsolits was accused Tuesday by Michael F. Whalen, a South Buffalo man, of sexually abusing Whalen when he was about 14 years old in 1979 or 1980. Whalen said he was a student at St. John Vianney parish school in Orchard Park at the time, and Orsolits was a priest there.

Orsolits said Tuesday he does not remember Whalen’s name, but did not deny having sexual contact with him.

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

LAS VEGAS (NV)
ABC News

February 28, 2018

By Sabina Ghebremedhin and Bill Hutchinson

Two women have told Las Vegas Police they were victims of sexual misconduct by casino mogul Steve Wynn, including one who alleges she had the billionaire’s baby in a gas station restroom in the 1970s after he repeatedly sexually assaulted her, according to reports obtained by ABC News.

The new allegations against the 76-year-old Wynn — the former finance chairman of the Republican National Committee, who President Donald Trump has called a “great friend” — surfaced in the past month, according to Las Vegas Police reports.

Wynn was forced to step down from his gambling and resort empire on Feb. 6 after The Wall Street Journal reported that a number of women claimed he had assaulted or harassed them, including one who received a $7.5 million settlement from Wynn.

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

UNITED STATES
The Associated Press

March 1, 2018

By Brady McCombs

Two massage therapists have claimed in new lawsuits that casino mogul Steve Wynn used his power to coerce them into sexual acts, making them the latest women to accuse the billionaire of sexual misconduct.

The unnamed 49-year-old woman and an unnamed 36-year-old woman made strikingly similar allegations in their separate lawsuits about what happened during their time as therapists working for Wynn Resorts.

Wynn forced the younger woman into sexual acts about 50 times over the course of about three years starting in 2006, she said in a lawsuit filed Thursday. She says Wynn gave her $400 “tip” after each massage and told her to never to talk about it.

The older woman said Wynn forced her sexual acts about a dozen times in 2011-2012, giving her a $1,000 “tip” after each massage and telling her to never to talk about it, according to her lawsuit filed Wednesday.

Both said the sessions took place in Wynn’s office with the door locked and security officers and dogs outside guarding the room. The women said they declined some of his sexual requests, but said they thought they would be fired if they did not agree to do certain things.

Wynn’s spokesman, Ralph Frammolino, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

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

UNITED STATES
BBC

March 2, 2018

An 18-year-old university athlete has become the first male gymnast to say in a lawsuit that he was abused by convicted pedophile Larry Nassar.

Jacob Moore alleged as part of a joint civil lawsuit that Nassar touched his genitals under the guise of treating his shoulder injury with acupuncture.

The court filing came on the same day an Olympic gold medalist sued the US Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics.

Aly Raisman said her abuse “could have been prevented” by team officials.

Her lawsuit, filed in California, claims that both organisations “put their quest for money and medals above” her safety.

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

UNITED STATES
CBS NEWS

March 2, 2018

By Anna Werner

Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman is suing the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics for their alleged role in the Larry Nassar sexual abuse case. In the lawsuit, she claims both organizations could have done more to stop the former doctor’s abuse.

More than 260 women and girls have accused Nassar of sexual abuse.

The suit came on the same day a male victim alleged Nassar abused him in a different lawsuit. Jacob Moore claims he went to the former doctor for a shoulder injury in 2016, and was sexually abused and harassed.

Moore’s sister, Kamerin — who is a former U.S. National Team gymnast — told a court room in January she and her brother were sexually abused by Nassar under the guise of medical treatment.

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

CHICAGO (IL)
Newsweek

March 2, 2018

By Christina Zhao

A prominent Chicago youth volleyball coach has been accused of raping at least six girls on hundreds of different occasions in the 1980s.

According to a 72-page suit filed to the U.S. District Court of Chicago on Tuesday, Rick Butler used his influence and power to rape young players. The class-action suit, filed by Laura Mullen, one of the alleged victims’ mothers, is seeking $5 million in damages from Butler; his wife, Cheryl; and Sports Performance Volleyball Club in Aurora, the club they own together.

The plaintiff said the rapes occurred in his car, his apartment, his gym, on a train and in many other locations. One young woman claimed Butler impregnated her and forced her to have an abortion after many years of repeated sexual abuse and rape.

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

CHICAGO (IL)
New York Daily News

March 1, 2018

By Christian Red

It’s not enough for Laura Mullen that influential volleyball coach Rick Butler has been banned for life by USA Volleyball, permanently disqualified by the Amateur Athletic Union and indefinitely suspended from participating in any Junior Volleyball Association-hosted or insured events due to multiple women accusing Butler of years-long sexual abuse.

According to Mullen’s attorney, Jay Edelson (who is representing Mullen pro bono), the main objective behind Mullen’s explosive class-action civil lawsuit filed against Butler, his wife Cheryl, and the Sports Performance Volleyball Club and Great Lakes Center Butler started more than three decades ago, is to prevent the Butlers from ever interacting with minors.

“If we can prove our allegations — and we feel good about that — the objective is, we think, that Butler and his wife should not be around kids,” Edelson told the Daily News. “This is not about money.”

Mullen, the lead plaintiff and whose daughter played for Butler at Sports Performance, filed the complaint in Illinois federal court Tuesday. Mullen accuses Butler and his wife of “deceiving parents and youth volleyball players to become members of the Sports Performance Volleyball Club based upon false information and material omissions of fact regarding Defendant Butler’s sexual abuse of underage girls.”

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

UNITED STATES
PopSugar

March 1, 2018

By Angela Anagnost Repke

[Note: First Published: January 25, 2018]

A few weeks ago, my husband and I were at a weekend gathering with food, friends, and a handful of kids running around. My 5-year-old son — the biggest one at the party — was chasing the other kids while playing Monster. The children ran around the kitchen yelling, “Don’t get me, monster!” and their happy and imagination-filled squeals nourished our souls. But then the cute squeals turned into a worry-filled, “Stop! No!” My son had jokingly tackled a 4-year-old girl. While he didn’t do any damage and genuinely thought they were all just playing, I knew I needed to act immediately.

Any other time, I would have taken my son aside and given him a quick but stern chat about being more gentle when playing with other kids. But this time, in this moment, I felt the heavy responsibility as a parent to do more. The Time’s Up and #MeToo movements have made me much more aware of the importance of teaching both my son and daughter about sexual assault. The courageous women who are using their voices to tell their stories have made me realize that teaching good, decent, and kind behavior starts the second kids are born, not when they’re already in high school. It’s never too early to build that foundation.

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

CHICAGO (IL)
The Huffington Post

March 1, 2018

By Dominique Mosbergen

Rick Butler, a youth coach for decades, has been banned by several sports organizations.

An influential youth volleyball coach is accused in a new federal class-action lawsuit of raping at least six girls in the 1980s on hundreds of occasions.

The Chicago-area coach, Rick Butler, used his position to manipulate young players and sexually abuse them, according to the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago and first reported Wednesday by the Chicago Sun-Times. One victim claimed she was raped repeatedly over several years and was impregnated by Butler, who she said forced her to undergo an abortion.

The 72-page lawsuit seeks more than $5 million in damages from Butler; his wife, Cheryl; and their training facility, the Sports Performance Volleyball Club in Aurora, Illinois. It was filed by Laura Mullen, the mother of a former player who trained under Butler.

The suit accuses Butler and his wife of concealing a history of alleged sexual abuse, as well as attempting to intimidate and discredit Butler’s accusers, several of whom are named in the document. The suit argues that had Mullen and other parents been aware of Butler’s history as an alleged “child sexual predator,” they never would’ve sent their daughters to train with the coach.

Christine Tuzi says in the lawsuit she was 16 when Butler raped her for the first time. He forced her into “hundreds of unprotected sexual encounters” over the next few years, the suit says, until she became pregnant with his child at the age of 19.

Tuzi told the New York Daily News in 2016 that Butler told her to “get rid of it” after learning she was pregnant. According to the suit, Butler took Tuzi to an abortion clinic, and immediately after the procedure, forced her to masturbate him in a hotel room.

Another young woman, Sarah Powers-Barnhard, says in the lawsuit that Butler began raping her when she was 16. She says the coach forced her to watch pornographic films so she could “learn” from them, and would secretly fondle her in public ― sometimes within “just feet” of her teammates.

Many of Butler’s victims were “rising stars” in youth volleyball who saw the coach as an influential someone who could help advance their sporting careers, the lawsuit says.

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

ALBANY (NY)
Democrat & Chronicle

February 27, 2018

By Natasha Vaughn

Advocates and survivors of childhood sexual abuse renewed their push Tuesday for the state Legislature to pass a bill that would increase the statute of limitations on child-sex-crimes in New York.

The bill, called the Child Victims Act, has received bipartisan support in the Assembly but has been rejected in the Republican-led Senate — where it has never been brought to the floor for a vote.

Supporters, though, were hopeful 2018 would be the year for the controversial measure, in part because Gov. Andrew Cuomo included it in his budget plan for the fiscal year that starts April 1.

“The impacts of sexual abuse are severe and long-lasting, and public policy should reflect a primary interest in promoting healing and facilitating justice,” said Deb Rosen, a child-abuse survivor and executive director of Bivona Child Advocacy Center in Rochester.

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

UNITED STATES
ABC News

March 2, 2018

By Darren Reynolds

Olympic gold medal gymnast Aly Raisman has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics in the wake of the Larry Nassar sex abuse case.

In the suit filed Wednesday, but announced Friday morning, in Santa Clara County, California, attorneys representing Raisman say the USOC was “aware, at the highest levels of its organization, that Defendant Nassar had molested Olympic and National Team level gymnasts.”

The complaint says Nassar sexually abused Raisman at the Karolyi Ranch National Training Center in Walker County, Texas, at national and international competitions and during the London Olympics in 2012.

ABC News reached out to the USOC and USA Gymnastics for comment, but have not yet heard back.

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

CHILE
The Associated Press

February 28, 2018

Archbishop Charles Scicluna held the meetings after recovering from emergency gallbladder surgery

The Vatican’s sex crimes investigator interviewed several victims of sexually abusive members of the Marist Brothers religious order Tuesday, suggesting that his mandate has expanded beyond investigating alleged abuse cover-up by a lone Chilean bishop.

Archbishop Charles Scicluna, tasked by Pope Francis with investigating Bishop Juan Barros, was forced to extend his trip in Chile by several days after having undergone emergency gall bladder surgery.

He and his colleague from the Vatican, Fr Jordi Bertomeu, have taken advantage of the extra time to add more interviews, including with victims of the Marist Brothers.

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

LONDON (ONTARIO, CANADA)
CTV London

February 28, 2018

A former Anglican priest pleaded guilty to sexual touching involving a boy under the age of 14 in a London court on Wednesday from incidents in the 1990s.

David Norton still faces further charges from alleged incidents from the 1970s when he was a priest at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church on the Chippewa of the Thames First Nation reserve near London. He was also lecturing at King’s University College.

Police said an investigation has found allegations of abuse involving First Nation boys, starting in 1977.

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

HOUSTON (TX)
KTRK

February 28, 2018

By Jessica Willey

A married Catholic priest who was ordained in Houston is facing felony charges, accused of attacking his wife for more than 18 hours.

Reverend Luke Reese, 49, was ordained at The Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham near Spring Valley in 2016. He then moved to Indiana where police say last September, he kidnapped, beat and terrorized his wife of 25 years.

Reese is a former Anglican priest who is now of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, a Houston-based Catholic religious order for former Anglicans in the United States. As such, they are allowed to be married. Reese and his wife had seven children.

According to court records, after he learned his wife was having an affair, he kidnapped her, “driving her all over the city,” “hitting her, yelling at her and blaring heavy metal music.”

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

LANSING (MI)
The Associated Press

February 27, 2018

By David Eggert

A Michigan bill inspired by the Larry Nassar scandal that would retroactively extend the amount of time child victims of sexual abuse have to sue their abusers is drawing concerns from the Catholic Church, which has paid out billions of dollars to settle U.S. clergy abuse cases.

Michigan Catholic Conference spokesman David Maluchnik confirmed Tuesday that extending the statute of limitations is “of concern” to the church’s lobbying arm, but he withheld further comment until the bill’s impact could be fully reviewed. He said the group supports other parts of a 10-bill package introduced Monday, including a measure that would add more people to the list of those who must report suspected abuse to child protective services.

A state Senate panel quickly passed the bills later Tuesday, a day after Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Jordyn Wieber and other Nassar accusers and victims helped unveil the legislation.

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

NORTHERN IRELAND
The Belfast Telegraph

March 1, 2018

More victims of paedophile priest Fr Malachy Finnegan have come forward after a BBC investigation into about his abuses.

Last month a BBC Spotlight programme revealed Father Finnegan, a former teacher at St Coleman’s College in Newry, had been accused of sexual abuse by 12 people.

The programme reported the allegations were reported to police in 1996, but he was not interviewed before his death in 2002.

He was employed in the college from 1967 until 1987, serving as a teacher from 1973 until 1976, and as president of the college from 1976 until 1987.

The Diocese of Dromore said it had been aware of the 12 allegations against its former teacher, with the first coming to light in 1994, and a second allegation being made in 1998.

No further allegations were made until after his death.

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

SANTIAGO (CHILE)
The Associated Press

March 1, 2018

The Vatican’s sex crimes investigator has ended his mission in Chile, and Roman Catholic officials say he plans to deliver a report to the pope on a Chilean bishop who has been accused of ignoring sex abuse by a priest.

Archbishop Charles Scicluna closed his visit Wednesday with a message expressing gratitude for “the welcome of the Chilean people” and also thanking abuse victims for meeting with him.

The statement came a day after Scicluna interviewed several victims of sex abuse by members of the Marist Brothers religious order, a development that suggested his mandate had expanded beyond looking into allegations of a cover-up by Osorno Bishop Juan Barros.

Victims of pedophile priest Fernando Karadima have said that as a priest Barros witnessed and ignored the abuse. Barros denies that.

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

VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

February 28, 2018

By Joshua J. McElwee

The group of cardinals advising Pope Francis on reforming the Vatican bureaucracy has considered how the Catholic Church can speed up its investigations of clergy sexual abuse cases, discussing as one possibility creation of regional tribunals to deal with a backlog of pending inquiries.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said at a Feb. 28 briefing such tribunals were “one of the options” considered by the Council of Cardinals at its latest Feb. 26-28 meeting, but that the matter had not yet been decided.

Burke emphasized that final authority for abuse cases would still rest with the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is known to have a backlog of some 1,800 cases to investigate.

“It is not the simplest thing in the world,” the spokesman said about how to handle the backlog. “There are various options being studied.”

Beyond abuse cases, Burke said the Council of Cardinals also continued discussions on how there could be a “healthy decentralization” of authority across the wider Catholic Church. The spokesman said the prelates focused for some time in their latest meeting on the “theological nature” of the world’s episcopal conferences.

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

JERUSALEM (ISRAEL)
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

February 28, 2018

A lawsuit filed against a venerated haredi Orthodox elementary school in Jerusalem alleges physical and sexual abuse within the institution.

The lawsuit was filed last week in Jerusalem Magistrates Court against Talmud Torah Kaminetz by a former student who is now an adult. He was assisted in preparing and filing the lawsuit by Din Ve’Cheshbon, a haredi organization that is fighting against sexual abuse cases and institutional coverups within the haredi sector.

Talmud Torah Kaminetz is held up as a standard-bearer in the Lithuanian stream of the haredi education system.

The lawsuit names a teacher, the principal and the institution as defendants. The incidents began about 18 years ago when the alleged victim was 9 years old and in the third grade.

A teacher who tested the students privately in Torah and other religious subjects allegedly repeatedly pinched the student’s private areas during the testing sessions. When the student started to skip the sessions, the principal allegedly called him to his office, where he would hit the boy, sometimes with a stick. On one occasion, according to the documents, it was with such force that the stick snapped in two.

In sixth grade, the student told a rabbi at the school about the incidents. The following day his mother received a call from the school accusing the child of spreading lies about the rabbis in the school. The mother said she was also told that she should be grateful that her son was accepted to the prestigious institution, even though the family is of Sephardic descent, and that if they continued to complain the boy and his brothers would be expelled from the school.

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

AUSTRALIA and ISRAEL
The Age

February 28, 2018

By Alex Lavelle

Natural justice demands that everyone deserves the presumption of innocence, and that it must be tested in a court. Natural justice also dictates that alleged victims of crime have the opportunity to be heard in court. In the extraordinary case of a former Melbourne school principal facing 74 charges of rape and other sexual abuse of young girls, natural justice has been unacceptably perverted for a decade.

Dual Australian-Israeli citizen Malka Leifer, who had been in charge of the Adass Israel School, fled to Israel with her husband and their eight children, and with the financial and logistic help of leaders of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community exclusively served by the school, within hours of the first allegations emerging. She lived with relative impunity until finally being arrested in 2014. She was released on bail after arguing she suffered anxiety and extreme panic attacks.

Thus began a legal strategy that many, including The Age, view with scepticism; every time she was scheduled to face extradition proceedings, her lawyers claimed she was too mentally ill to stand trial. Her case was frozen in 2016, after a judge said she was unfit to stand trial. But she was again arrested last month, with police arguing she was faking her mental illness, after undercover surveillance footage showed her living what appeared a normal daily life in an ultra-Orthodox West Bank settlement.

However, hopes she will finally face justice have been frustrated yet again. Despite a comprehensive psychiatric report stating she is well enough to face trial, her lawyer has delayed extradition, for the moment, on a technicality – that Jerusalem’s chief psychiatrist did not sign the report, and that the defence team has had insufficient time to study it. The report was prepared by two psychiatrists who have been observing Ms Leifer since her latest arrest two weeks ago at the urging of Australian officials.

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

CHILE
The Associated Press

March 1, 2018,

The Vatican’s sex crimes investigator has ended his mission in Chile, and Roman Catholic officials say he plans to deliver a report to the pope on a Chilean bishop who has been accused of ignoring sex abuse by a priest.

Archbishop Charles Scicluna closed his visit Wednesday with a message expressing gratitude for “the welcome of the Chilean people” and also thanking abuse victims for meeting with him.

The statement came a day after Scicluna interviewed several victims of sex abuse by members of the Marist Brothers religious order, a development that suggested his mandate had expanded beyond looking into allegations of a cover-up by Osorno Bishop Juan Barros.

Victims of pedophile priest Fernando Karadima have said that as a priest Barros witnessed and ignored the abuse. Barros denies that.

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

LANSING (MI)
MLive

February 27, 2018

By Emily Lawler

Note: This story has been changed to reflect that the proposed changes to the criminal statute of limitations are not retroactive.

An employee and mandated reporter who fails to report suspected child abuse would be guilty of a felony punishable by up to two years in prison under a package of bills approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

The bills, announced on Monday, are a reaction to the case involving ex-MSU Dr. Larry Nassar, who pleaded guilty to 10 counts of first-degree criminal sexual assault. More than 250 women accused him of molesting them, and some told authority figures who failed to report their allegations.

As proposed, the package would have taken the punishment for an employee and mandatory reporter who failed to report child abuse or neglect from a 93-day misdemeanor to a 1-year misdemeanor.

But an amendment from Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, took the punishment up to a felony punishable by up to two years in prison and/or a fine of $1,000 to $5,000. For volunteers who are mandatory reporters and don’t report, it would be a one-year felony and/or fine of up to $1,000.

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

ST. CLOUD (MN)
The Associated Press

February 28, 2018

The Diocese of St. Cloud plans to file for bankruptcy to help resolve lawsuits involving sexual abuse of minors.

A three-year window that lifted the statute of limitations on past allegations of clergy abuse in Minnesota ended in May 2016. The diocese received 74 civil claims during that time.

Bishop Donald Kettler says Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization is the best way to ensure that money will be distributed equitably to all victims and allow the diocese to continue normal operations. The St. Cloud Times reports he didn’t give a date for the filing.

St. Cloud is the fourth diocese in Minnesota to seek bankruptcy protection. The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the dioceses of Duluth and New Ulm have also filed for bankruptcy amid abuse claims.

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

JERUSALEM (ISRAEL)
The Guardian

March 1, 2018

By Oliver Holmes

Private investigator who collected more than 200 hours of footage following Malka Leifer says videos build case for extradition

An Israeli private investigator has shared videos with the Guardian he says show alleged child sex abuser Malka Leifer living a “normal, healthy” life despite being declared unfit to be extradited to Australia.

Tsafrir Tsahi collected more than 200 hours of footage of the former school principal who is living in Israel but wanted in Australia on 74 counts of suspected sexual assault and rape at a Jewish ultra-Orthodox girls school in Melbourne.

Tsahi’s material has now been handed over the police, who subsequently conducted their own investigation and have since rearrested Leifer on suspicion of “obstruction of justice”.

“I put a crew there who would watch her from morning to evening,” said Tsahi. Deploying a surveillance team in the occupied West Bank settlement where Leifer lives, Tsahi says he has built a case that proves she is “a normal, healthy person”.

“We learnt she was speaking on the phone all day long,” said Tsahi, whose investigators disguised themselves as construction workers to track the woman in December.

One day, they saw her take the bus for a one-hour journey to a suburb in Tel Aviv where her children live.

“We followed her there because it was very important to see that she can go to the post office, she can go to the butcher, she can go to buy clothes, she can meet her kids there. She buys them things. They come to visit her on the weekend.

“She has a problem now because the videos show she is a normal person. She can’t go back again to being someone who cannot function,” Tsahi said.

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

CORPUS CHRISTI (TX)
Corpus Christi Caller-Times

March 1, 2018

By Eleanor Dearman

A former South Texas Catholic priest, convicted Wednesday of raping a 13-year-old girl less than a decade ago, will likely spend the rest of his days behind bars.

A Bee County jury sentenced Stephen Tarleton Dougherty to 60 years in prison for aggravated sexual assault Thursday, prosecutor Terry Breen confirmed. The trial began Feb. 20, he said.

He’s eligible for parole after half that sentence is served and must pay a $10,000 fine. The maximum punishment in the case was 99 years or life.

Dougherty, 61, was indicted in Bee County in June 2016.

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

SANTIAGO (Chile)
The Associated Press

March 1, 2018

By Nicole Winfield and Eva Vergara

[Note: For the Spanish language version of this article, see El experto del Vaticano en abusos sexuales parte de Chile]

The Vatican’s leading expert on clerical sex abuse wrapped up his fact-finding mission to Chile on Thursday and headed to Rome to brief the pope, concluding one of the most extraordinary months in the Catholic Church’s long-running saga of coming to terms with priests who rape children and the church hierarchy that protects them.

Archbishop Charles Scicluna plans to present not only a report about Bishop Juan Barros, who is accused by victims of witnessing their abuse and ignoring it. Scicluna is also bringing back testimony from Chilean victims of other abusers in the Marist Brothers, Salesian and Franciscan religious orders and how their accusations were mishandled, confirmation that the Chilean Catholic Church has a very big problem on its hands, and to date hasn’t handled it very well.

“In those situations that seem pertinent, Monsignor Scicluna will provide the respective background to the Holy See,” said the spokesman for the Chilean bishops’ conference, Jaime Coiro.

Expectations in Chile are high that something has to change, and that the problem isn’t just about Barros and Francis’ 2015 decision to appoint him as bishop of Osorno, Chile over the objections of many Chilean bishops. Barros had been a top lieutenant to Chile’s most prominent predator priest, the Rev. Fernando Karadima, but he denies victims’ accusations that he witnessed and ignored their abuse.

Victims say the Barros affair is merely emblematic of a culture in the Chilean church to cover-up for abusers, give them minimal sanctions or move them around rather than adopt the “one-strike-and-you’re-out” policy adopted by U.S. bishops after the sex abuse scandal erupted in Boston in 2002.

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

NORTHERN IRELAND
Daily Mail

March 1, 2018

Amnesty International has called for a public inquiry into clerical sex abuse in Northern Ireland.

It follows revelations of abuse by Fr Malachy Finnegan, former president of St Colman’s College in Newry.

Fr Finnegan, who died in 2002, was accused of sex abuse by 12 people.

Amnesty’s Northern Ireland director Patrick Corrigan said: “To date, clerical abuse victims here have been let down, not just by the church, but also by the authorities.”

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

NORTHERN IRELAND
Amnesty International UK

March 1, 2018

Northern Ireland: Amnesty calls for clerical child abuse inquiry following latest revelations
Amnesty International has called for Secretary of State Karen Bradley to set up a public inquiry into clerical child sex abuse in Northern Ireland following revelations of abuse by Father Malachy Finnegan, former president of St Colman’s College in Newry.

Fr Finnegan, who died in 2002, was accused of sex abuse by 12 people. Victims claim that police in Newry were alerted to the allegations in 1996 but failed to interview the priest. The police say that a formal complaint was never made, but they did receive a report of historical abuse.

Amnesty maintains that the Fr Finnegan abuse scandal is the latest in a litany of such cases, and have again called for a full public inquiry which the human rights organisation first made in November 2012.

Reviews by the Catholic Church’s own safeguarding body have revealed that more than 100 priests in Northern Ireland are alleged to have been responsible for child abuse since the mid-1970s.

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

PARKER (CO)
KDVR

February 27, 2018

By Michael Konopasek

A former youth pastor at Crossroads Community Church in Parker was arrested Tuesday on complaints in Denver and Parker that he sexually assaulted three girls.

Crossroads leadership said the suspect, 35-year-old Joshua Clemons, was placed under arrest at Restoration Community Church in Denver where he was employed.

During a meeting with congregants on Tuesday night, Crossroads officials said the alleged abuse happened while Clemons was working as a youth pastor at the Parker campus.

Clemons was employed with Crossroads from 2006 to 2015. The alleged victims are high school-aged, according to Crossroads.

Church leaders admit they were told in December 2016 that Clemons had been in a relationship with an 18-year-old former youth group member after he left the church in 2015.

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

OKLAHOMA CITY (OK)
The Christian Chronicle

March 1, 2018

By Bobby Ross Jr.

‘Survivors care for and support one another because they feel abandoned and betrayed by the church,’ Hinton says.

For Jimmy Hinton, there was no question: He had to do the right thing, even though it meant turning in his own father.

In 2011, a woman confided to Hinton that his father, John Hinton — who spent 27 years as the preacher at the Somerset Church of Christ in Pennsylvania — had sexually abused her when she was a young girl.

That report prompted an investigation that resulted in the pedophile preacher, now 69, pleading guilty to sexually assaulting and taking nude photographs of four young girls, ages 4 to 7.

While his father serves a 30- to 60-year sentence at a state prison, Jimmy Hinton works to create awareness far beyond Somerset.

In an interview with the The Christian Chronicle, Hinton discussed social media advocacy, the sexual abuse problem and steps churches can take to prevent abuse:

Question: How has social media changed the overall landscape for survivor recovery, advocacy and activism?

Hinton: Social media can make survivors visible and feel validated where they are otherwise emotionally invisible and silenced. In the past two years, I’ve seen more survivor support groups cropping up, which encourages me that they are finding alternative avenues for help.

Survivors care for and support one another because they feel abandoned and betrayed by the church. They understand each other because they all know the depth of wickedness that was perpetrated on other survivors.

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

SEATTLE (WA)
The Huffington Post

February 28, 2018

By Carol Kuruvilla

Jennifer Roach wants to spark a conversation about how Protestant churches handle clergy sex abuse allegations.

A Washington woman is claiming she was molested by an evangelical youth pastor decades ago ― and that even though she told church leaders about the abuse, the man has enjoyed a long career in ministry ever since.

Jennifer Roach is a 47-year-old Anglican deacon and mental health therapist from Seattle. She said that in the mid-1980s, she was sexually abused by a pastor at the former First Baptist Church in Modesto, California. Roach said that when she brought up the accusations to the church community, she was first met with doubt and then pressured into forgiving her abuser.

Years later, Roach said she’s been inspired by the viral #MeToo movement and the related #ChurchToo movement, hashtags that people have used to demonstrate the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment.

“Seeing that anybody even understood or cared about this issue is incredible,” Roach told HuffPost about the #MeToo movement. “Those people were so few and far between for my entire adulthood, and it’s probably been that way forever.”

Roach hopes that speaking up about her experience now will contribute to the ongoing conversation about how allegations of sexual abuse are handled in American Protestant churches.

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

ST. CLOUD (MN)
St. Cloud Times

March 1, 2018

By Stephanie Dickrell

The outcome for victims of clergy sexual abuse as minors is uncertain after an announcement Wednesday the Diocese of St. Cloud plans to file for bankruptcy.

The diocese received more than 70 new claims of abuse after a state law temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for civil claims of sexual abuse against minors.

Other dioceses across the country have filed for bankruptcy facing similar sexual abuse claims, and outcomes for victims have varied, said Jeff Anderson. His firm, Jeff Anderson and Associates, specializes in civil litigation for victims of child sexual abuse.

His firm and Michael Bryant, a Waite Park lawyer of Bradshaw & Bryant, represent the vast majority of people with claims against the diocese.

The diocese reported 74 additional claims in 2016. Previously, the diocese had seen less than a dozen cases. The claims named 31 clergy members who served in the diocese and 30 parishes.

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

CHICAGO (IL)
Daily Beast

February 28, 2018

By Olivia Messer

“Because I can.”

When one of Rick Butler’s young victims first asked why he was assaulting her, that was his answer, according to a new bombshell class-action lawsuit filed against the coach.

Butler was for years considered “most powerful coach in youth volleyball,” according to the 72-page complaint, which alleges that he used his position to rape at least six underage girls “hundreds” of times.

Butler, who had “the ability to place the teenage girls he coaches at top college volleyball programs,” even impregnated one of his alleged victims, the complaint claims.

“The victims were each at the top of their game; rising stars in need of a coach to propel them to the next level and help get them a scholarship to an elite college,” claims the lawsuit, which was first reported Tuesday by The Chicago Sun-Times. The complaint additionally notes that Butler used that “leverage” over the girls and their parents to manipulate them.

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

TUSCALOOSA (AL)
ABC3340

February 28, 2018

By James Franklin, Emma Simmons, and Jennifer Gonsoulin

A 36-year-old youth pastor is charged with sex abuse of a child under the age of 12 and second degree sodomy, according to Tuscaloosa authorities.

Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit says a 14-year-old told deputies that Christopher Cody Stutts sexually assaulted her over the past 3 years. Investigators found probable cause on Monday and Stutts is now being held on $40,000 bond.

Stutts was a part-time youth minister at Westwood Baptist Church in Birmingham. Church leaders tell ABC 33/40 he was terminated from that position after they learned of his arrest.

Pastor Steve Potts says they are blindsided and are addressing the situation.

“The people you think would never do something like that — may be responsible for things that may be shocking…He was just a very pleasant person, Very friendly. Not over the top. Seemed to have a heart to care for the kids…We saw no hint of this,” said Potts.

Christopher Stutts also passed a criminal background check. He was hired August 2017 as a part-time youth minister. His part-time status came with limited duties. Pastor Steve says Stutts taught youth on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. He and his wife also provided activities for the children.

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

VATICAN CITY
The Tablet

February 28, 2018

By Christopher Lamb

Pope Francis and his group of cardinal advisers are examining proposals over how to speed up the Church’s handling of priest sex abuse cases.

One option being considered by Francis’ cabinet – known as the C9 – is the creation of courts around the world to help deal with a huge backlog that has overwhelmed the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the body that deals with them.

The proposal for the new tribunals would see them work under the direct supervision of the Vatican and would help tackle the 1,800 cases still waiting to be processed.

C9 member Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the Archbishop of Boston and the president of the Pope’s child protection commission, has now been tasked to work on the proposal.

During a lunchtime briefing with reporters on Wednesday, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke explained the creation of courts was one of the proposals being considered and that the prime objective is reducing the time that cases take.

Since 2001, the Vatican’s doctrine congregation has had responsibility for canonically assessing all cases of priests accused of abuse, examining claims for their credibility and then recommending courses of action against a priest including laicisation or removal from public ministry.

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

MASCOUTAH (IL)
Belleville News-Democrat

March 1, 2018

By Kaley Johnson

Almost two months after a Mascoutah priest was accused of possessing child pornography and drugs, parents and church members say they’re frustrated they haven’t received answers from the Belleville Catholic Diocese.

Specifically, they want to know whether any local children were abused — and to what extent the diocese knew about the Rev. Gerald Hechenberger’s troubled past when they assigned him to Mascoutah.

The community also asks why the diocese won’t provide answers.

“I’m going to raise some difficult points which I’m certain I’ll be chastised for within this small community,” former Holy Childhood member Kevin Kraljev said. “Hechenberger is a meth addict busted with 16 counts regarding child pornography — and he worked about 200 feet away from Holy Childhood School where my sons attended years ago.”

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

BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

February 28, 2018

By Aaron Besecker

The Rev. Norbert F. Orsolits isn’t the only priest in the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo who’s been publicly accused of inappropriate sexual conduct.

At least 19 priests who worked in the Buffalo area have been publicly accused in recent decades, according to a search of The News archives.

Some were arrested. Some were named in lawsuits. Some were accused of wrongdoing outside of Western New York.

They represent a fraction of the priests who have been the targets of complaints privately filed with the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.

In 2004, the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo said 93 complaints alleging sexual abuse had been lodged against 53 clerics in the diocese since 1950. The diocese has refused to identify most of those men. At the time, those about whom complaints had been filed represented 2.6 percent of all clerics who served between 1950 and 2002.

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

VATICAN CITY
Reuters

February 28, 2018

By Philip Pullella

Pope Francis is studying how to speed up the handling of allegations of sexual abuse by clergy, the Vatican said on Wednesday, after a high-profile case in Chile put a new spotlight on the scandal.

The topic was a main point of discussion in three days of meetings between the pope and a group of nine cardinals from the around the world who gather four times a year at the Vatican to discuss reform, Church finances and other issues.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said they had discussed “various options” to shorten procedures in cases of abuse.

They are currently handled by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), the Vatican’s doctrinal department.

Burke said that among the options discussed was to decentralize procedures by setting up regional tribunals that would hear cases under the auspices and guidance of the CDF.

The CDF hears canonical cases, applying Church laws that could lead to the defrocking of accused priests if found guilty. The Church procedures are distinct from criminal procedures in civilian courts in places where the crime is committed.

Cardinal Sean O‘Malley of Boston, the city where the worldwide crisis of sexual abuse first exploded, and a key adviser of the pope, is studying the decentralization proposal.

The proposal followed intense criticism of the pope for defending a bishop in Chile accused of covering up sexual abuse.

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

SEOUL (SOUTH KOREA)
Reuters

February 28, 2018

By Heekyong Yang

One of South Korea’s top Roman Catholic clerics made a public apology on Wednesday after a woman parishioner complained that a senior priest had attempted to rape her, as criticism over the incident grows.

The global anti-harassment movement, #MeToo, has only slowly taken off in South Korea, where discussion of sexual misconduct has long been taboo, and gender equality was ranked 118th among 144 nations by the World Economic Forum last year.

Archbishop Kim Hee-joong is the most senior church official to comment after Suwon diocese, 40 km (25 miles) south of Seoul, the capital, suspended the priest last week over the alleged rape attempt during a religious mission to South Sudan in 2011.

“The Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Korea somberly offers apologies to the victim and her family as well as those whom we have disappointed over the clerical sex abuse,” Kim, the head of the body, told a news conference.

The priest could not immediately be reached for comment. Reuters could not ascertain contact details for the woman.

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

FREELAND (MI)
MLive

February 28, 2018

By Michael Kransz

Investigators say nearly half a dozen people have come forward with stories of alleged sexual abuse, attempted or otherwise, at the hands of a Mid-Michigan priest charged this week with sexual assault.

Some of the new allegations against the Rev. Robert DeLand Jr., 71, date back nearly three decades, and all of them involve people who were minors at the time and accessed through DeLand’s role as a priest, said Tittabawassee Township Detective Brian Berg.

Apart from one female, most of the alleged victims are male, Berg said.

“We want to encourage these victims to know that we’re going to hear them, we’re going to listen and we’re going to leave no stone unturned,” Berg said. “No one is going to stand alone in this anymore.”

In addition to victim statements, Berg said police are receiving “dozens and dozens” of tips about the Freeland pastor since his arrest Sunday night, Feb. 25, at his Saginaw Township condominium on Mallard Cove.

“We’re trying to get our hands around the enormity of it and put it into some kind of logical order,” the detective said.

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

FREELAND (MI)
MLive

February 28, 2018

By Michael Kransz

A counselor will be present for each Mass this weekend at the Freeland church whose priest was recently accused of sexually assaulting a man and a teen.

“She’s just there to listen, and if she can offer any help she will,” said Chris Pham, a spokesperson with the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw.

The counselor, Sister Janet Fulgenzi, is a clinical psychologist and the diocese’s victim assistance and safe environment coordinator. Masses this weekend are at 4:30 p.m. Saturday and 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

Fulgenzi and other counselors heard concerns and offered support to parishioners Tuesday evening, Feb. 27, at St. Agnes Church.

The meeting Tuesday came a day after the church’s priest, 71-year-old Rev. Robert DeLand Jr., was charged with three felonies related his alleged sexual assault of a 21-year-old man and a 17-year-old male in his Saginaw Township condominium.

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

WASHINGTON (DC)
The Washington Examiner

February 27, 2018

By Emily Jashinsky

Roughly one month after the start of the #MeToo movement last fall, an unspecified allegation of sexual harassment surfaced against Ryan Seacrest, leveled by a former personal stylist. In publicly announcing the allegations, Seacrest denied any misconduct, referring to her complaint as “reckless,” but pledged to cooperate with an investigation.

On February 1, E! News announced the end of its outside counsel’s investigation into Seacrest. The Associated Press reported the network’s inquiry found “insufficient evidence” to support the accuser’s claims. Four days later, Seacrest published an op-ed in The Hollywood Reporter headlined, “What Happened After I Was Wrongly Accused of Harassment,” calling the ordeal “gut-wrenching.”

But then on Monday, Variety published a detailed report about the allegations based on interviews with Seacrest’s accuser, Suzie Hardy, who claims the popular television host harassed her from 2007 to 2013. Hardy’s allegations are specific, often tied to dates and events, and corroborated in some cases by others with knowledge of their working relationship.

Hardy, who was interviewed thrice by E!’s investigators, believes the probe was rigged, saying, “I felt like by the third interview, it was obvious the investigator was whitewashing it for Seacrest’s side.” She also claims four witnesses who would corroborate the claims were not interviewed and disputes asking for any money.

This story is strange, but instructive.

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

SEOUL
AFP via The Straits Times

February 28, 2018

South Korea’s Catholic hierarchy on Tuesday (Feb 27) said it was “devastated” by allegations that a priest had tried to rape a woman, after she came forward to join the country’s burgeoning #MeToo movement.

The Catholic Church has been rocked around the globe by years of damaging clerical sex abuse cases as well as cover-ups by senior church officials who often ignored victims and protected predators.

Until now the church in South Korea had largely avoided such scandals.

But earlier this month, a female congregant took the rare step of appearing on television to accuse a priest of sexually abusing her in 2011, sparking widespread fury.

Announcing she was inspired by the global #MeToo movement to go public, Ms Kim Min Kyung said the unnamed priest sexually abused and tried to rape her during a volunteer mission in South Sudan.

On Tuesday, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea (CBCK) issued an apology – the second from church leaders in the last three days – while a top archbishop said the priest had been removed from his parish pending an investigation.

“All bishops leading the South’s Catholic church, myself included, have been left shocked, baffled and devastated by this incident,” Archbishop Hyginus Kim Hee Joong, the president of the CBCK, told reporters, bowing deeply and apologising to the victim, her family and those left angry by the case.

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

LANSING (MI)
Dearborn Patch

February 27, 2018

By Beth Dalbey

Education Department launches new Title IX probe on university’s handling of Nassar scandal as gymnasts say Michigan goes easy on predators.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is launching a Title IX investigation into Michigan State University’s handling of sexual abuse complaints against former sports medicine doctor Larry Nassar. DeVos announced the investigation Monday, the same day some Nassar abuse survivors — including 2012 Olympic gymnast and gold medalist Jordyn Wieber and Rachael Denhollander, the first gymnast to publicly accuse him — asked lawmakers in Michigan to pass sweeping reform of laws they say do little to stop child sex predators.

During Nassar’s recent sentencing hearings, many of the more than 265 girls and women who have accused him said Michigan State officials ignored repeated complaints that he was molesting them under the guise of medically necessary treatments. Repercussions have reverberated not only across Michigan State, but also USA Gymnastics, where Nassar was a team doctor for elite gymnasts, and the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Public outcry also led to the resignation of Michigan State’s longtime president, Lou Anna K. Simon, in January. The NCAA, Michigan attorney general’s office and Congress also are investigating.

DeVos said the new investigation led by the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights will look at systemic issues in the university’s handling of the Nassar complaints and whether it was in compliance with Title IX federal requirements on the reporting of sexual crimes committed on college campuses. The Education Department already had open inquiries into MSU’s compliance with Title IX rules.

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