ABUSE TRACKER

ILLINOIS
Daily Herald

Barbara Vitello

Two women who claim a prominent imam sexually molested them during the early 1980s will be allowed to testify if the current case against him goes to trial, Cook County Judge James Karahalios ruled Wednesday.

Saleem, 77, was charged in February 2015 with criminal sexual abuse and aggravated battery of another woman, a then-22-year old female office manager at the Institute of Islamic Education, an Elgin school for children in sixth through 12th grades which Saleem founded and led.

That woman claimed Saleem repeatedly hugged her, touched her and massaged her against her will between October 2013 and April 2014.

In December 2015, Cook County prosecutors filed additional charges against Saleem, who they say sexually abused a 14-year-old student at the Elgin school between 2001 and 2003. That accuser came forward in December 2014 after learning Saleem had been charged with abusing the office manager.

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MINNESOTA
Catholic News Agency

St. Paul, Minn., May 25, 2016 / 04:38 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis says his archdiocese has followed the law in its bankruptcy process, responding to claims by abuse victims that some assets were not made public.

“The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis has been fully cooperating with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court since filing in January of 2015,” Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis stated on Tuesday.

“Let me be clear: The Archdiocese has disclosed all of its assets and has followed all the rules set forth by the Court and all directives from the judge,” he continued.

An “unsecured creditors committee” and attorney Jeff Anderson, who represents hundreds of alleged Minnesota abuse victims, filed a motion on Monday claiming the archdiocese actually should have reported $1.7 billion in assets rather than the $49 million it reported in bankruptcy filings, according to the Associated Press.

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MINNESOTA
Mankato Free Press

By Leah Buletti lbuletti@mankatofreepress.com

NEW ULM — The Diocese of New Ulm has received 98 claims from victims of sexual abuse in the three years since the passage of a state law that temporarily lifted the civil statute of limitations for such claims.

Of the diocese’s 75 parishes, 28 are named in lawsuits brought under the Minnesota Child Victims Act. The suits involve 15 priests.

In March, the Diocese of New Ulm became the last in the state to release the list of names of 16 priests credibly accused of sexually abusing children.

The law has highlighted what Msgr. Douglas L. Grams described Wednesday as a “tragedy in this period of history for the church.”

“We’ve had time to reflect and see it as a family experiencing a tragedy,” Grams said.

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MINNESOTA
KEYC

By Shawn Loging, Reporter

NEW ULM, Minn. –
May 25 is the end of Minnesota’s temporary statute of limitation extension for filing civil claims of sexual abuse.?

The Diocese of New Ulm has received 98 claims alleging abuse by priests filed under the Minnesota Child Victims Act.

The claims name 28 of the Diocese’s 75 parishes.

The Diocese is marking May 25 with a day of prayer for healing and reconciliation as they work to resolve the claims.

Diocese of New Ulm Vicar General Monsignor Douglas Gram said, “Closely working collaboratively with Jeff Anderson and Associates that we would make sure that we do have policies and procedures in place and that these claims could fairly resolved.”

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NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

By Mark Mueller | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

A former Union County priest who admitted to NJ Advance Media last year he sexually assaulted a 15-year-old boy was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday in connection with the attack.

Manuel Gallo Espinoza, 52, fled to his native Ecuador in 2003 after his victim told another priest and a nun that the clergyman raped him in the rectory of a Plainfield church that year.

A criminal investigation at the time quickly went dormant. The investigation was reopened after NJ Advance Media highlighted the victim’s case in a lengthy report in July 2015.

Weeks later, Gallo Espinoza admitted in a telephone interview and in email exchanges with a reporter that he carried out the attack, calling it a “mistake” and blaming his victim for enticing him.

“One thing that I am conscious (of) is he was at that time a teenager, and it is a big mistake for me. But I didn’t force him to do anything he didn’t want,” Gallo Espinoza wrote. “He was older (sic) enough to walk away, but I think that I was attracted to him, that is the only explanation that I can think right now.”

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ALABAMA
AL.com

By Greg Garrison | ggarrison@al.com

The child therapist who initiated an investigation of child abuse against a Birmingham Catholic priest testified today in Jefferson County Court that the priest’s son told her that his father made him play what he called “The Butt Game.”

A trial began Monday for David Lawrence Stone, a Catholic priest and former EWTN TV host who was arrested in 2013 and charged with sexual abuse of a minor under 12. The minor he is charged with sexually abusing is his own son, now eight years old. Stone has been embroiled in a custody battle.

Stone, 55, formerly known as Father Francis Mary Stone, was host of the TV program “Life on the Rock” on Eternal Word Television Network.

Leah Waller, a therapist at Wellspring Christian Clinic, said the child was brought to her for counseling because he had anxiety about going to visitation with his father in 2012.

“The anxiety was very high about going to visit Dad,” Waller said. “He said, ‘Dad hurts me.'”

Through game-play using toy dinosaurs representing the boy and his parents and Legos representing the child’s father’s home and his mother’s home, Waller asked the boy to explain what happened when he went to visit his father.

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ILLINOIS
Illinois Homepage

By Kelsey Gibbs | kgibbs@wcia.com
Published 05/25 2016

ILLINOIS — Currently, if a child is sexually assaulted, he or she has until the age of 38 to come forward and seek justice. Victims say, sometimes it takes longer than that to speak out. One survivor want to change the law.

“To let my family in the schools know that a gentleman has sexually assaulted me.”

Doug Goff told a story to a roomful of lawmakers he has never openly shared before.

“17- or 18-years old, this happened at Danville High School. This happened during school hours and it happened on the school grounds.”

The year 1988 forever changed the life of a teenaged Doug Goff.

“I was embarrassed. When a male has done that to me, I was just not in the position to come forward. I don’t want to be bullied anymore in high school.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive

By Ivey DeJesus | idejesus@pennlive.com

Lobbying to raise awareness for or against efforts to reform Pennsylvania’s child sex crime laws is turning decidedly public: The side against reform is looking for extras for a commercial. The side calling for reform is looking for participants for a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Both sides are keeping their eyes on the Pennsylvania Senate, which is poised to next month take up legislation that would reform the state’s statute of limitations.

On Friday, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, along with other supporting groups, will hold an informational event at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood on the “potential risks associated” with House Bill 1947, which garnered the overwhelming majority of the House last month.

The events features a pubic briefing on the issue, a prayer session and the production of a commercial intended, according to a press release out of the archdiocese’s Office for the New Evangelization, to “educate the public on the severity of this issue and the need to act.”

The press release calls out for anyone interested in being an extra in the commercial to participate. “We need your help to film a short group scene representing the Catholic Church alive in the Archdioceses of Philadelphia,” it reads.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

GLENN BLAIN
DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU
Wednesday, May 25, 2016

ALBANY — State Senate Republicans now have more than 27,000 new reasons to stop blocking legislation that would help child sex abuse victims obtain justice.

Advocates on Wednesday presented Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan’s office with a petition containing 27,276 names of people calling for the elimination of the statute of limitations for cases of child sex abuse.

“New York State needs to do a better job protecting children and not their rapists,” said Andrew Willis, chief executive officer of the The Stop Abuse Campaign, which organized the electronic petition drive.

“We’d like you to have this so that you know the people of New York and wider don’t believe that you should be standing in the way of this bill because children are continuing to be molested and raped,” Willis said as he handed over a large looseleaf binder containing the names to a member of Flanagan’s staff.

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ILLINOIS
SaukValley

BY ANGEL SIERRA asierra@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5695 @_angelsierra

DIXON – A former Catholic school custodian pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a single count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child younger than 13, in one of two such cases in which he is charged.

A grand jury indicted Christopher J. Huisheere, 43, of Dixon, on Friday, bringing to five the total number of sex-related charges in the two cases, both of which involve children younger than 13, investigators said.

One of the children was a girl, court records show. Officials would not reveal the sex of the other child.

Huisheere is in Lee County Jail on $50,000 and $75,000 bond, which means he must post $12,500 to be released.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Lancaster Online

EARLE CORNELIUS | Staff Writer

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is taking direct aim at statute of limitations legislation now before the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

In April the state House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved House Bill 1947 which would extend the age at which victims of sexual abuse could sue from 30 to 50.

The reform measures would also retroactively raise the age at which victims of past child sexual abuse can bring civil action against their abusers. Under current law, a victim who was sexually abused under the age of 18 has until age 30 to file a lawsuit. The House-approved legislation would raise that age to 50 .

The Philadelphia archdiocese, the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, insurers and other organizations oppose the legislation.

This Friday, the archdiocese is holding an information session at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood to discuss what it calls the “potential risks” associated with House Bill 1947.

The archdiocese also is filming a commercial intended to educate the public about those risks.

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OREGON
KOIN

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A woman is suing a northwestern Oregon church over claims that its leaders kept quiet about reports from her daughter that she was being sexually abused by her father.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that the $5 million suit filed Monday says the girl confided in several leaders at Church on the Hill, also known as McMinnville Church of the Nazarene, but they failed to report the alleged abuse to authorities as required under state law.

The girl, now 12, allegedly reported the abuse between 2010 and 2012.

The suit claims the girl ended up contracting herpes from her father and seeks $200,000 for medical expenses and counseling costs. The $5 million is being requested for the girl’s pain and suffering.

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VATICAN CITY
Wall Street Journal

Associated Press
May 25, 2016

VATICAN CITY—Two board members of the scandal-marred Vatican bank have resigned over disagreements about the management and mission of the institution.

Under Pope Francis, the Institute for the Works of Religion has sought to be less a profit-at-all-cost investment vehicle for the church and more a service-oriented foundation that helps religious orders, in particular, and Vatican officials manage their money.

The Vatican said Wednesday that the resignation of Clemens Börsig and Carlo Salvatori “can be seen in light of legitimate reflections and opinions” about the management of such an unusual institution.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service – Bollettino

Vatican City, 25 May 2016 – With regard to reports that have appeared in the Italian press in recent days on the bankruptcy of the company “Edil Ars” and the proceedings against the entrepreneur Mr. Angelo Proietti, it is to be noted that:

1) The competent Authorities of the Holy See and the Vatican City State initiated the investigation established by the Vatican legislation in 2013, taking action on the basis of Suspicious Transaction Reports relating to Mr. Proietti, seizing all the relevant financial resources.

2) Since the start of the investigation the competent Authorities of the Holy See and the Vatican City State requested the cooperation and exchanged information with the competent Italian Authorities, as required by the respective legislations and the Memoranda of Understanding in force.

3) A criminal investigation is currently going on in the Vatican City State and the competent Authorities are assessing the existence of potential offences against entities of the Holy See and the Vatican City State.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service – Bollettino

Vatican City, 25 May 2016 – The Holy See Press Office today issued a communiqué to announce that with the recent approval and publication of the Annual Report of the Istituto per le Opere di Religione (IOR) having been completed in a positive manner, two members of the Board of Superintendence, Clemens Börsig and Carlo Salvatori, in accordance with current rules, recently presented their resignations to the President of the Cardinals’ Commission of the IOR. The communiqué states that “the decision can be seen in the light of legitimate reflections and opinions concerning the management of an Institute whose nature and purpose are as particular as those of the IOR.”

The two board members made a competent and qualified contribution in this important phase for the stability and integrity of the Institute, and its conformity not only to internal Vatican regulations, but also obligations taken by the Holy See at European level.

The President of the Cardinals’ Commission thanked the two members of the board, and accepted the resignations. A phase now begins, fully respecting the procedures in place, to find and evaluate new candidates suitable to fill the positions on the Board of Superintendence.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

Two board members of the Vatican bank have quit following a disagreement over how the institute should be run, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said on Wednesday.

Italian Carlo Salvatori and German Clemens Boersig resigned from the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) in “recent days”, the Vatican said.

“This reflects a divergence of opinion over the management of the institute, but that is normal. It is a particular place,” said Lombardi, without giving further details.

Salvatori and Boersig were not immediately available for comment.

They were two of six lay board members who were appointed in 2014, the year after Pope Francis was elected with a mandate to make the scandal-plagued Vatican administration transparent.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

MICHAEL O’KEEFFE
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Updated: Tuesday, May 24, 2016

The time may not be right for Timothy Cardinal Dolan to talk about child sex abuse, but advocates say it’s long overdue.

Victim-turned-advocate Kathryn Robb says Dolan is putting a new generation of kids in danger by opposing legislation that would allow adult victims of child sex abuse to seek justice in claims that would likely affect predator priests.

Robb ripped Dolan after the leader of New York’s 2.6 million Catholics told the Daily News on Saturday at rally for farm worker rights that he was ready to discuss efforts to reform the law — but not just yet.

Time, however, is running out to eliminate the statute of limitations on child sex abuse since the state Legislature’s session ends June 16.

“It may not be time for you Cardinal Dolan, but it is time for survivors of sexual abuse and the children of the state of New York,” said Robb, who said she was molested by her eldest brother George Robb while growing up on Long Island. “We as responsible citizens who care about the safety of children and justice are not waiting for his call.”

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MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Wednesday is the last day for older adults who were sexually abused when they were children to file suit against their abusers.

The Minnesota Child Victims Act was passed in 2013, temporarily lifting the civil statute of limitations for these old cases

Before this act was passed three years ago, child sex abuse survivors had until age 24 to file suit. This law then allowed them to file civil lawsuits no matter how long ago the abuse happened.

Earlier this month, Jared Scheirel filed suit against Danny Heinrich. Heinrich is a person of interest in the Jacob Wetterling case.

Scheirel said when he was 12-years-old Heinrich kidnapped and sexually assaulted him in Cold Spring, just months before Wetterling disappeared from St. Joseph.

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AUSTRALIA
Geelong Advertiser

May 24, 2016

BETHANY TYLER
Geelong Advertiser

A CONVICTED pedophile sacked from a prominent Geelong school after failing to stop massaging male students is the subject of a new local police ­investigation.

Reports have emerged alleg­ing former Geelong College staff member David Whitcroft sexually assaulted a number of boarders in the early 1990s.

Earlier this month, Whitcroft plead guilty to child sex offences at a previous workplace in 1982.

They claimed Whitcroft was accused of groping a male student in a dormitory bed in 1993 and invited boys to his apartment for massages.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

Sydney, New South Wales
Wednesday 25 May, 2016

The Hon. Justice Peter McClellan AM
Chair of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land upon which we meet today, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation and pay my respects to their Elders both past and present.

Early in our work we identified Criminal Justice as a key issue for consideration by the Royal Commission. To assist in the Criminal Justice Project we convened a Criminal Justice Working Group, which has members drawn from academics and practitioners. We have particularly sought their advice with respect to the research we should undertake of relevant criminal justice issues.

Our Criminal Justice Project will draw together our research, relevant material from public hearings, and the views of survivors expressed in private sessions. It includes extensive consultation and policy development. We will publish our report on criminal justice issues, including any recommendations for reform, next year.
Child sexual abuse offences are generally committed in private, with no eyewitnesses. In many cases there will be no medical or scientific evidence capable of confirming the abuse. Unless the perpetrator has retained recorded images of the abuse (and some do), or admits the abuse, it is likely that the only direct evidence will come from the complainant.

Where the only evidence of the abuse is the complainant’s evidence, it can be difficult for the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the alleged offence occurred. There may be evidence that confirms some of the surrounding circumstances, or evidence of first complaint, but the jury is effectively considering the account of one person against the account of another.

We have heard of many cases where a single offender has offended against multiple victims. This is not surprising. Particularly in institutional contexts, a perpetrator may have access to a number of vulnerable children. In these cases there may be evidence available from other complainants or witnesses who allege that the accused also sexually abused them. The question is whether that “other evidence” can be admitted in the trial.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

Download: Jury reasoning in joint trials of institutional child sexual abuse: An empirical study

Professor Jane Goodman-Delahunty, Professor Annie Cossins and Natalie Martschuk

May 2016

ISBN 978-1-925289-62-6
Summary

This report forms part of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse’s research program in relation to the criminal justice system’s response to child sexual abuse in institutional contexts.

Child sex offenders are not a homogenous group and their offending behaviours vary widely. Offenders may offend against one victim or many victims, and they may engage in one incident of sexual abuse or multiple repeated incidents. The diversity and complexity of offending behaviours has a number of implications for the prosecution of child sex offenders.

The scope of this report

This study investigated the extent to which joint trials with cross-admissible tendency evidence infringed defendants’ rights, and the extent to which joint trials posed a risk of unfair prejudice to the defendant. In particular, we investigated the reasoning processes of juries in a simulated joint trial of sex offences involving three complainants versus a separate trial involving a single complainant.

Our jury deliberation and reasoning study investigated these issues by presenting 10 different versions of a videotaped trial involving the same core evidence to a total of 1,029 jury-eligible mock jurors. The study tested the impact of evidence strength, the number of charges and the presence of specific judicial directions on jury decision-making in joint versus separate trials.

The five key aims of the project were to:

Document juries’ interpretation of cross-admissible evidence in a joint child sexual abuse trial, to determine the extent to which juries engage in impermissible reasoning regarding such evidence

Compare the above decision-making processes with those of juries in a separate trial involving the same defendant

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

Source: AAP
25 MAY 2016

Judges in child sex abuse trials could be making wrong assumptions about how prejudiced juries are, a new report has found.

Results from the largest ever study of how juries behave in abuse trials were launched on Wednesday in Sydney.

The findings reveal jurors don’t always engage in prejudicial reasoning in child sex abuse trials where there are multiple complainants, or where there’s evidence of a defendant’s “bad character”.

Current laws are based on judges’ assumptions that special care needs to be taken in child sex abuse cases to ensure a defendant gets a fair trial.

This means joint trials – where an alleged pedophile has to defend against a number of complainants – or evidence of a defendant’s bad character are sometimes not allowed.

At the launch of the study – Jury Reasoning in Joint and Separate Trials of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse: An Empirical Study – abuse royal commission chair Peter McClellan said such judicial assumptions have been largely untested.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

JOANNE MCCARTHY
May 25, 2016

AN Australian study of people in 90 mock child sex trials has raised questions about rules allowing serial child sex offenders to successfully argue for separated trials against individual victims.

The world’s largest study of jury behaviour in child sex trials, involving more than 1000 people, has directly challenged untested assumptions about juries, including that they can be prejudiced against an accused by multiple charges and witnesses, or can reach emotional or illogical verdicts in some circumstances.

The study, commissioned and launched on Wednesday by Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse chairman Justice Peter McClellan, “will undoubtedly assist all of us to reflect on whether the current rules are appropriate”, he said.

Because child sexual abuse occurs in private, juries can be left weighing an alleged victim’s account against an alleged offender. Under those circumstances “it can be difficult for the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the alleged offence occurred”, Justice McClellan said.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

25 May, 2016

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will today launch the report of a major empirical study into how juries reason when deliberating on multiple counts of child sexual abuse.

Using mock juries and a trial involving charges of child sexual abuse in an institutional context, Jury Reasoning in Joint and Separate Trials of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse: An Empirical Study investigates whether conducting joint trials and admitting tendency evidence infringe on a defendant’s right to a fair trial.

Chair of the Royal Commission, Justice Peter McClellan AM, said that child sexual abuse offences are generally committed in private, with no eyewitnesses, and in some cases there will be no medical or scientific evidence capable of confirming the abuse.

“Where the only evidence of the abuse is the complainant’s evidence, it can be difficult for the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the alleged offence occurred,” Justice McClellan said.

“There may be evidence that confirms some of the surrounding circumstances, or evidence of first complaint, but the jury is effectively considering the account of one person against the account of another.

“The assumptions underlying the common law and legislative rules governing the admissibility of tendency and coincidence evidence and the availability of joint trials have been largely untested.

“The research that we are releasing today provides evidence about how people who are likely to comprise juries reason on these issues.

“The results are interesting. For some they will be counterintuitive and possibly surprising. They will undoubtedly assist all of us to reflect on whether the current rules are appropriate,” he said.

This is the largest study of jury behaviour in regards to child sexual abuse charges, and involves 90 mock jury deliberations with more than 1,000 people who were eligible to be jurors.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Rachel Browne
Social Affairs Reporter

The world’s largest study into jury behaviour has raised the possibility of major reform in the way sexual abuse cases are presented before the courts.

The Australian research challenges the long-held assumption that juries hold unfair prejudice towards defendants in sexual abuse cases that may influence their decision-making.

Released by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Wednesday, the study found juries were not unfairly swayed by hearing evidence from multiple complainants against the same defendant.

It also revealed that evidence of the accused’s “bad character” did not unduly influence a jury’s verdict.

Conducted by Charles Sturt University and the University of NSW, the study involved more than 1000 people who took part in 90 mock trials involving child sexual abuse.

The research revealed that when presented with a joint trial involving multiple victims and one defendant, juries were not overwhelmed by the number of witnesses or complainants, were able to distinguish charges against an accused and could base their verdicts on evidence related to each count.

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TEXAS
Fox News

Baylor University responded Tuesday to reports that the school’s board of regents voted to fire school President Ken Starr amid mounting pressure over how the school has handled reports of rape and assault by football players, saying no decision has yet been made.

The Texas university said its governing board was still considering the results of an internal investigation into the matter.

When asked about reports that the board of regents had voted to fire Starr, university spokeswoman Lori Fogleman told the Associated Press in an email, “Ken Starr is president and chancellor of Baylor University.”

In a separate statement issued by the university obtained by Fox Sports, Baylor said its board has not finished reviewing the report by Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton.

“The Baylor Board of Regents continues its work to review the findings of the Pepper Hamilton investigation and we anticipate further communication will come after the Board completes its deliberations,” spokeswoman Tonya Lewis said in a statement obtained by Fox Sports. “We will not respond to rumors, speculation or reports based on unnamed sources, but when official news is available, the University will provide it. We expect an announcement by June 3.”

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TEXAS
WacoTrib

[with video]

September 2003: Ian McCaw was hired as Baylor University’s new athletic director — replacing Tom Stanton, who resigned a month before — to help Baylor recover from an unprecedented scandal that included the charge of murder against a former player for shooting a teammate, but also the tape-recorded plot of Baylor’s ex-head basketball coach, Dave Bliss, trying to cover-up major NCAA infractions with a story that the murdered player had been a drug dealer.
Nov. 28, 2007: Art Briles was named new Baylor football coach.

2009: Tevin Elliott came to Baylor from Mount Pleasant. The former Baylor football player was sentenced to the maximum 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine in January 2014 for sexually assaulting a former Baylor student in 2012.

Feb. 15, 2010: Ken Starr was formally named Baylor’s 14th president.

June 1, 2010: Ken Starr took the reins as Baylor’s president, taking over for interim president David Garland.

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TEXAS
Washington Post

By Michelle Boorstein May 25

Reports that Baylor University’s board of regents had voted to fire former Bill Clinton prosecutor Ken Starr due to his handling of a sex assault scandal rocketed around political circles Tuesday, but the allegations were equally big for a different reason: Baylor is the world’s largest Baptist university.

The reports about Starr were explosive among many evangelicals — Baptists in particular — because they tap into a couple of the most basic contemporary debates at religious schools. What is the impact in 2016 of the honor codes many religious schools have around sexual behavior? Secondly, is there a conflict between being a religious school and trying to be a major athletic powerhouse?

Baylor University spokeswoman Lori Fogleman said in an email, “Ken Starr is president and chancellor of Baylor University,” the Associated Press reported, which also noted a separate statement by the university that said Baylor’s governing board is reviewing a report on how the school handled reports of rape and assault by football players.

The school maintains a status as one of the nation’s most visible, ambitious Christian universities. Some say Baylor is for evangelicals what the University of Notre Dame is for Catholics and Brigham Young is for Mormons; that is, their flagship.

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TEXAS
Raw Story

Baylor University declined to comment on reports on Tuesday that Kenneth Starr, the former independent counsel charged with investigating Bill Clinton during his presidency who is now the president of the world’s largest Baptist college, has been fired over sexual abuse scandals at the school.

In the past several months, Baylor has been under fire on charges of doing too little to investigate reports of rapes by its male athletes of female students at the university in central Texas.

Local TV broadcaster KCEN reported on Tuesday that Starr had been fired, citing sources close the Board of Regents.

“We will not respond to rumors, speculation or reports based on unnamed sources, but when official news is available, the University will provide it. We expect an announcement by June 3,” the school said in a statement.

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UNITED STATES
The Open Tabernacle: Here Comes Everybody

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Betty Clermont

The three witnesses called by the defense who are all top officials appointed by, and close to, Pope Francis will not be testifying. In what is known as the “Vatileaks 2” trial, the judges stated last week that Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Cardinal Santos Abril y Castelló, head of the commission which supervises the Vatican Bank, and Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, head of papal charity, were excused. Each is connected to an aspect of Vatican finance which, if given more publicity by their appearance and/or testimony, would be damaging to the pontiff.

The trial of five persons based on a law enacted by Pope Francis criminalizing leaks of Vatican information began on Nov. 24, 2015. Msgr. Lucio Vallejo Balda, Francesca Chaouqui, a PR specialist, and Nicola Maio, Balda’s assistant, were charged with disclosing confidential financial information while they were members of COSEA (Commission for Reference on the Organization of the Economic-Administrative Structure of the Holy See), established by the pope in 2013 and subsequently dissolved in 2014 with the completion of its mandate to recommend changes in the administration of Vatican finances.

Journalists Emiliano Fittipaldi and Gianluigi Nuzzi were indicted for “soliciting and exercising pressure” to obtain this information from the COSEA members and using the material in their books. “Fraud worth millions, the machinations of the Vatican Bank, the true extent of the pope’s treasury,” “offerings of the faithful withheld from charity, theft and trade scams” in this pontificate were disclosed in Fittipaldi’s Avarice: Papers that Reveal Wealth, Scandals and Secrets in the Church of Francis.and Nuzzi’s Merchants in the Temple, both released last Nov. 5.
Parolin

Under Cardinal Parolin, “the Secretariat of State has step by step regained importance.”

The international auditing firm Pricewaterhouse Cooper (PwC) was hired Dec. 5 by the Secretariat for the Economy to audit the Vatican’s 120 financial departments’ books and check if they had been filed according to international accountability standards. The auditing was suspended April 12 [2016] by the Secretariat of State, with two letters by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, secretary of state, and by his deputy, Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu. The letters reportedly claimed that proper procedures had not been correctly applied.

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CONNECTICUT
New Haven Register

By Anna Bisaro, New Haven Register
POSTED: 05/24/16

BRIDGEPORT >> The lawsuit against Rabbi Daniel Greer and the school at which he served as principal now names three additional defendants that reportedly owned property at which the alleged sexual abuse of a minor took place.

Earlier this month, Eliyahu Mirlis, 28, filed a federal lawsuit against Greer, his former principal at Yeshiva of New Haven and the Gan School in New Haven, alleging the rabbi had sexually abused him for three years while he was a student.

The alleged abuse included partaking in sexual acts, watching pornography, and being forced to drink alcohol, according to the federal civil complaint filed in Bridgeport on May 3.

The updated complaint filed Tuesday adds F.O.H. Inc., Edgewood Village Inc. and Edgewood Elm Village Inc. as defendants in the lawsuit. Greer has served as president or director of all three organizations. According to Mirlis, some of the alleged abuse occurred on properties that these three corporate defendants owned.

Because Greer was serving as president or director of these organizations, if he had been sexually abusing Mirlis more than 10 years ago, the companies are liable for the abuse, according to Antonio Ponvert III, the attorney representing Mirlis in the case.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Junno Arocho Esteves
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A former consultant to a pontifical commission who denied to a Vatican court that she leaked documents about the Vatican’s financial reform to an Italian journalist had admitted to sending the documents when she was first interrogated, a Vatican policeman said.

Stefano DeSantis, an officer investigating the leaking of the documents, testified May 24 that Francesca Chaouqui told Vatican police officials that she sent documents regarding the Vatican Asset Management (VAM) to Gianluigi Nuzzi, author of “Merchants in the Temple.”

“We never assumed that she gave the documents, she admitted to it,” DeSantis told the court.

Chaouqui is on trial, along with Msgr. Vallejo Balda, secretary of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, and Nicola Maio, the monsignor’s former assistant, for “committing several illegal acts of divulging news and documents concerning fundamental interests of the Holy See and (Vatican City) State.”

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By Jean Hopfensperger Star Tribune MAY 24, 2016

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is shielding $1.7 billion in assets from bankruptcy court in order to keep them out of reach of clergy abuse victim claims, according to a motion filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court by the abuse survivors committee.

The motion, filed Monday, argues that the archdiocese has not acknowledged its financial stake in its parishes, cemeteries, the Catholic Community Foundation, the Catholic Finance Corporation and more. It asks the court to consolidate the archdiocese assets as it moves toward a victims’ settlement.

“It’s a serious and sinister scheme to hide and conceal their true net worth,” St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson said at a news conference Tuesday.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda said that “the archdiocese has disclosed all of its assets” and that it has cooperated fully with the bankruptcy court.

Hebda said that the archdiocese has been working “to marshal and maximize our assets” and that it has followed all of the rules set forth by the court. This week it will file its reorganization plan, which will include proposed compensation for victims.

The archdiocese filed bankruptcy in January 2015 as it faced a barrage of abuse claims following the passage of a new law that gave older abuse claims their day in court. The archdiocese reported a net worth of $45 million, which the motion claims is a fraction of its true worth.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

KENNETH LOVETT
GLENN BLAIN

ALBANY — A top Republican leader in the state Senate said Tuesday that it was unlikely lawmakers would take action this year to help victims of child sex abuse obtain justice.

“I don’t believe it’s going to come to the floor, I really don’t,” said Deputy Majority Leader John DeFrancisco (R-Syracuse) about legislation that would eliminate the statute of limitations for child sex abuse cases.

DeFrancisco, during an appearance on public radio’s “The Capitol Pressroom,” cautioned, however, that he might be wrong, noting that he felt the same way about proposals earlier this year to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour that were approved.

DeFrancisco has been among the most vocal opponents of the Child Victims Act and other bills that would eliminate the statute of limitations for sexual abuse of a child and give victims a one-year window to revive old civil cases.

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MINNESOTA
Gazette Review

On Tuesday, lawyers accused the Minnesota Archdiocese of hiding about $1.7 billion dollars in assets, money that is owed to survivors of abuse from Catholic priests after several lawsuits revealed such abuse. This realization comes after recent publicity from the film Spotlight, a documentary drama film about the Boston Globe reporting team that revealed much of the sexual abuse scandal involving male priests and young boys in the church.

This lawsuit says that the Minnesota Archdiocese is only reporting $49 million dollars in assets, nowhere close to the $1.7 billion dollars they actually have, which comes from physical assets such as the St. Paul Cathedral, and from other methods such as hiding money away in other companies so as to avoid reporting it to creditors. This is an especially ignominious claim since the release of the Panama Papers, which revealed a number of companies and wealthy individuals around the world who were using a Panamanian law firm to filter money into shell companies so it was not in their own name and was instead tucked away in tax havens.

One of the attorneys for several hundred of the victims of sexual abuse by the Catholic priests has said that the Minnesota Archdiocese deliberately conspired to hide the money they actually possessed so as to avoid paying out the money in claims owed to the victims. This recent discovery is actually part of the bankruptcy claim the Minnesota Archdiocese filed in January of 2015 after being inundated by new abuse claims which all required payouts. Minnesota state government had previously forbidden claims based on the statute of limitations but had just opened a three-year window for such claims, which closes Wednesday.

In addition to the $1.4 billion the Minnesota Archdiocese has alone, other Catholic groups associated with the Archdiocese such as three Catholic secondary schools in the Twin Cities area, the Catholic Cemeteries, and the Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota, hold at least $300 million dollars in their own assets.

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OREGON
Oregonian

By Aimee Green | The Oregonian/OregonLive

A woman who says her daughter told leaders of a McMinnville church that her father was sexually abusing her has filed a $5.2 million lawsuit, faulting church leaders for keeping quiet.

The girl, starting at age 6 or 7, confided in various church leaders over the course of nearly two years, but they didn’t report the alleged abuse to police or child protection workers as required under Oregon’s mandatory reporting law, according to the suit.

The leaders — including teachers and clergy — also didn’t say anything to the girl’s mother for nearly two years — and the girl ultimately ended up contracting herpes from her biological father, the lawsuit claims.

Leaders of the Church on the Hill — also known as McMinnville Church of the Nazarene — mistakenly thought at first that the girl was accusing her stepfather and didn’t believe her, Portland attorney Randall Vogt said in a statement of facts he wrote about the case. The stepfather worked for the church and was well-liked, said Vogt, who represents the girl’s mother.

“They essentially said, ‘He’s a good guy. He wouldn’t do something like that,'” Vogt said.

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NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

By Mark Mueller and Brian Donohue

Additional reporting by Enrique Lavin and Vinessa Erminio

Estelí, Nicaragua — More than 200 guests sang “Feliz Cumpleaños” — Happy Birthday — to the man they’d come to celebrate in this city’s most elegant banquet hall in November. Mariachis strolled the room, serenading the Dominican-born preacher and his friends.

Gregorio Martinez, a self-proclaimed prophet and missionary with ties to the Assemblies of God, the world’s largest Pentecostal denomination, had but one request of those gathered for his 48th birthday, according to three people who attended.

No pictures.

None.

Martinez had reason for caution. He needed to remain a ghost.

For more than a year now, Martinez has been a fugitive from New Jersey, where a jury took just 30 minutes to convict him of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy he knew from his Hudson County church.

Permitted to remain free on $250,000 bail despite additional sexual assault counts pending against him, Martinez disappeared within weeks of the verdict.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY KENNETH LOVETT

ALBANY — Maybe that’s why state Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan is more concerned about the rights of the predators than justice for victims.

Flanagan, a key roadblock to a bill that would make it easier for child sex abuse victims to seek justice, has ties to a law firm that represents a Long Island Catholic diocese that vehemently opposes statute of limitations reform, the Daily News has learned.

Flanagan (R-Suffolk County) until last year served as “of counsel” at Forchelli, Curto, Deegan, Schwartz, Mineo & Terrana in Uniondale.

The firm on its website lists as one of its clients the Diocese of Rockville Centre. A grand jury in 2003 accused the diocese, which has parishes in Nassau and Suffolk counties, of protecting pedophile priests.

The law firm also represents several of the diocese’s affiliates, including Catholic Health Services, St. Francis Hospital and Mercy Medical Center.

And firm partner Anthony Curto has served on the board of directors for Telecare, the diocese’s Long Island-based television and production facility.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

Editorial

While aggressively urging reforms to New York’s statute of limitations on sexual abuse of minors, the Daily News recognizes that the issue raises concerns worthy of vigorous debate.

There is tension, for example, between the goal of enabling prosecutors and victims to file criminal or civil charges and the need to ensure that the passage of time does not prevent the accused from mounting defenses.

One legislator could believe that justice would be best served by permitting alleged childhood victims to file suits until they reach 35 years of age, while another’s gut instinct could say that extending the statute from its present age of 23 should go no further than 28.

Those are judgments that members of the Legislature are elected to make honestly — without the taint or appearance of self-interest.

Daily News Albany Bureau Chief Ken Lovett reports today that Republican Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan’s former law firm is deeply enmeshed with representing various interests of the Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, which covers Long Island.

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PHILIPPINES
Inquirer

—MANUEL J. LASERNA JR., former professor of law, Far Eastern University, partner, Laserna Cueva-Mercader Law Offices, Las Piñas City

These are presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s false charges and unfair tactics against the bishops of the Catholic Church whenever they humbly assert their moral duty and their magisterium, as apostles of God, like when they opposed his plan to reimpose the death penalty (this time, by hanging, at that):

Ad hominem. Attack the honor, character and integrity of the Catholic Church and its bishops.

He alleges he was a victim of sexual abuse by a priest 50 years ago when he was 10. (His father, former governor of Davao, apparently ignored it or did not believe it because until recently, Duterte did not talk about the actions taken by his prominent family in response—if what he claims is true).

Some bishops received vehicles and financial support from former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. (They returned the vehicles to the government during a Senate inquiry, as an act of spiritual detachment to material things, despite their great need for mobility and accessibility, considering their multifarious field pastoral work to serve millions of Catholics in far-flung areas).

By virtue of the constitutional doctrine of “separation of Church and state,” the Church is “absolutely” prohibited from collaborating with and receiving assistance from government for its social action programs that benefit the poor and the oppressed. (According to many Supreme Court decisions, the Constitution allows “collaboration” between Church and state to promote the general welfare, and the matter of the Church receiving reasonable support from the state does not violate the separation doctrine.

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MINNESOTA
Winona Daily News

Jerome Christenson
Daily News

The Diocese of Winona and the cathedral of the Sacred Heart face yet another allegation of sexual abuse of a young boy by former priest Thomas Adamson.

The latest allegation, filed in Winona County District Court late Monday, alleges that Adamson abused the boy, identified in the suit as John Doe 129, at the cathedral beginning in 1969 when the boy was in fourth grade. The abuse continued until 1972, according to court documents.

Adamson was not assigned to the cathedral as rector or associate, but was present at the cathedral for diocesan liturgies and other functions, the suit alleges. Doe 129 was an altar boy at the cathedral and, as such, was put in contact with Adamson, whose pedophilic predilections were know to the bishop and other church officials.

The suit accuses the diocese of negligence, negligent supervision, and negligent retention in the case, and accuses the cathedral of negligence. Doe 129 is claiming $50,000 in damages plus court costs and attorney’s fees.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Todd Melby
May 25, 2016

As a kid, Jon Landstrom spent hours in the pool churning out lap after lap. His dedication paid off when he won a spot on the Roseville Stingrays, an elite regional swim team.

But an encounter with an assistant swim coach would change how he felt about going to the pool.

“He wanted to have his hands on me,” Landstrom recalled. “Even if it was in front of people, he wanted to pet me or have his hands on me.”

The inappropriate behavior escalated until one day the coach sexually molested him, he said. “He called me tiger, which to this day gives me the creeps. It was sick.”

This was the 1970s and Landstrom was only 12 years old. He said he was scared and didn’t know who to tell about what was going on. So he kept quiet. Eventually, he went to therapy and began talking about it with his family. In 2012, he called a lawyer, but the attorney said he couldn’t help — the statute of limitations had expired and there was no legal remedy.

It was true. For years, victims of childhood sexual abuse from long ago had little standing in Minnesota courts. In 1989, Minnesota passed a “delayed discovery” law that gave victims six years from the time of adult awareness of past abuse to file suit. In 1996, the Minnesota Supreme Court interpreted that to mean six years after becoming an adult, that is age 24.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

Parishioners in south county Dublin have expressed anger at how the Salvatorian congregation handled a church report which severely criticised how it dealt with an abuser priest.

The religious congregation’s response has been described as an insult to Sallynoggin parishioners.

A report by the Catholic Church’s child protection watchdog, the National Board for Safeguarding Children, earlier this month looked at the case of former Sallynoggin parish priest Fr Paddy McDonagh. It found he was allowed contact with children for at least two years after allegations of child abuse were first made against him in 2002. His superiors moved him to Rome and no one was told.

Fr McDonagh had been in Sallynoggin parish since 1989 where the Salvatorians had ministered from 1982. The Salvatorians, who are based in Harrow in England, have since left Sallynoggin, their only parish in Ireland.

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Date: Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Source: Tom Halden, Director of Communications

From Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda

The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis has been fully cooperating with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court since filing in January of 2015. Let me be clear: The Archdiocese has disclosed all of its assets and has followed all the rules set forth by the Court and all directives from the judge. I know that for at least the last 11 months we have been working extremely hard to marshal and maximize our assets with the hope of providing the most for the most.

Today, a motion was filed by the Unsecured Creditors Committee that questions our calculation to include the assets of parishes, schools and charities in the bankruptcy proceedings. We are carefully reviewing that motion and will count on the Court to properly evaluate it. It sadly tells us that there is still much that needs to be done to restore trust in our affirmations that we are serious about redressing wrongs.

The bankruptcy process is complex and difficult; it can be – at times — adversarial. I would suspect that the lawyers representing the parishes and the other institutions mentioned in the filing today will have a very different perspective than what is presented in the motion.

Despite the motion filed today, we will file our Plan for Reorganization with the Court this week and we welcome the scrutiny of the Court and all others involved. We believe it will show our commitment to a fair, just and timely resolution of all the claims made against us – especially for those who have been hurt by people in the Church.

Please continue to pray for all of those who have been sexually abused and for their families and for a quick resolution to these proceedings.

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MINNESOTA
Clay Center Dispatch

Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Latest on attorneys accusing the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis of hiding assets (all times local):

6: 20 p.m.

The archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis says his archdiocese has cooperated fully in bankruptcy proceedings and has disclosed all its assets.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda responded Tuesday to accusations from attorneys who say the church is sheltering more than $1 billion in assets to avoid big payouts to abuse survivors as part of the church’s bankruptcy case. The attorneys say the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has some $1.7 billion in assets — far more than the $49 million it lists in a filing this week.

Hebda said in a statement that the archdiocese will be filing its reorganization plan this week.

And he says it will show the church’s commitment to a just and timely resolution of all claims.
___
12:40 p.m.

Creditors and an attorney for victims of clergy abuse are accusing a Minnesota archdiocese of vastly understating its assets in bankruptcy.

They say the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has some $1.7 billion in assets — far more than the $49 million it lists in a filing this week. In court papers, they accuse the archdiocese of undervaluing assets and tucking money away in corporations to shield it from creditors.

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CALIFORNIA
Merced Sun-Star

BY ROB PARSONS
rparsons@mercedsunstar.com

A former Los Banos parish priest who was caught with child pornography was given four years of probation and the chance to avoid jail time during his sentencing hearing Tuesday.

The Rev. Robert E. Gamel, former lead priest of St. Joseph Church, also will be required to register as a sex offender for life, Merced County Judge Harry L. Jacobs ruled.

Gamel, 66, is expected to ask the Merced County Sheriff’s Office to convert an 11-month jail sentence to an alternative program, which would allow him to serve his sentence without spending any time behind bars. He was ordered to report to the Merced County jail on June 27.

Gamel, widely known in the community as “Father Bob,” led the St. Joseph parish for about five years before his removal in December 2014.

He pleaded guilty in March to a single felony count of possession of child pornography.
According to a search warrant affidavit obtained by the Sun-Star, Gamel searched the Internet and found a nude photograph of a teenage boy from his parish.

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NEW YORK
DNAinfo

By Nicholas Rizzi | May 24, 2016

STATEN ISLAND — A priest accused of aiming vulgar, racist, sexist and homophobic rants at his staff is the target of a petition demanding his ouster that’s been signed by 1,800 people in just a week.

St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School alum Anthony Galli started the online petition demanding the Archdiocese of New York fire Father Michael Reilly as the school’s head.

“Indeed, it has been common knowledge for at least a decade among students, parents, teachers and alumni of Sea that Fr. Reilly has used vulgar, discriminatory and unchristian language in scandalizing members of the faculty, staff and community on school property, during school hours and in front of students,” Galli, who was valedictorian in 2009, wrote on the petition’s page.

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CANADA
Ottawa Citizen

Editorial

On the weekend, Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast addressed the Citizen’s multi-part exposé on local Catholic priests connected to the abuse of young people starting in the 1960s. His words were vague, bromidic and, frankly, unsatisfying.

The scope of the scandal – 41 known victims (there likely are more), 11 priests connected to sexual abuse through criminal or civil actions – had not been clear until the Citizen’s Andrew Duffy, poring over court documents, began tallying the human damage. In the process, he also uncovered three previously unreported cases.

After reviewing these records, Duffy contacted the Archdiocese of Ottawa for comment, and also sent it 11 specific questions in writing. That was on May 13.

Four days later, the archdiocese issued a general press release decrying the fact that people were abused, and pointing to its 2015 Code of Pastoral Conduct, which priests are supposed to sign. Nine days after receiving the Citizen’s questions, Archbishop Prendergast finally wrote about the matter in the Ottawa Sun.

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MINNESOTA
Mankato Free Press

NEW PRAGUE — A New Prague parish is being sued by a victim who alleges he was sexually abused by a priest in the 1960s.

Minneapolis attorney Patrick Noaker filed a civil complaint on behalf of the victim on Monday in Le Sueur County District Court. It alleges the victim was sexually abused when he was 12 by the Rev. Louis Heitzer in 1965 at St. Scholastica Parish in Heidelberg.

When the victim was 12, he lost his father in a car wreck and Heitzer accompanied police to his home with the news, Noaker said.

“Heitzer used that connection with the family to isolate this kid and ultimately sexually abuse him,” Noaker said. “It shows at what level the trust in their parish priest was violated.”

Heitzer, who is now deceased, was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1942 and was employed by the parish from 1958 to 1965.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Martin Moylan
Minneapolis · May 24, 2016

Updated: 5:30 p.m. | Posted: 12:41 p.m.

Attorneys for victims of clergy sex abuse say the bankrupt Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis could have $1.7 billion in net assets to compensate abuse survivors — over $1 billion more than what it has claimed.

The attorneys argue in a recently filed motion that the archdiocese is trying to conceal and understate its assets, but the church says that isn’t so.

Abuse victims’ attorney Jeff Anderson said the church has indicated it would have less than $50 million to make payments to some 430 abuse victims.

“What has been happening in this bankruptcy is a serious and sinister scheme to hide, to conceal their true net worth. And not have to account to the survivors,” he said.

The archdiocese has used a variety of tactics to under-report its true worth, Anderson said. He and the committee for unsecured creditors in the bankruptcy contend the archdiocese controls parishes, schools, charities, foundations and other entities with hundreds of millions of dollars in assets, which they say should be available to abuse victims.

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AUSTRALIA
The West Australian

Annette Blackwell – AAP on May 25, 2016

The findings of a major study into how juries reason in child sexual abuse cases will be launched in Sydney on Wednesday.

The research involved 90 mock trials with more than 1000 potential jurors and was carried out at the behest of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse as part of a major criminal justice project.

The commission is exploring why child sexual offences have a significantly lower rate of conviction than criminal offences generally.

As well as reasons such as delayed reporting and the unlikelihood of corroborating witnesses, there is the possibility that an assumption by courts about juries is a factor.

The assumption is that juries will be so disgusted by child sex abuse they will wrongfully convict based on prejudice rather than evidence if joint trials – where there is more than one complainant against a defendant – or the admission of tendency evidence is allowed.

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CALIFORNIA
Your Central Valley

A Catholic priest with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno has been sentenced, following a “No Contest” plea for child pornography possession charges.

The Diocese released a statement Tuesday afternoon, announcing the news involving Robert E. Gamel. Gamel, according to the statement released by the Diocese, Gamel pled “No Contest” to felony charges of possessing child pornography, on March 11.

According to officials with the Merced County District Attorney’s Office, Gamel was sentenced to four years probation, and 11 months in jail, to be served at the discretion of the Sheriff’s Department.

In addition, Gamel will be required to register as a sex offender, for the rest of his life, according to officials.

According to the statement, the Diocese is preparing to start a canonical investigation that will review all aspects of the case, as it relates to Church Law. The Diocese, according to the statement, will be required to maintain confidentiality until a final determination is made, in regards to Game;’s clerical status.

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CALIFORNIA
Bakersfield Now

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — The Diocese of Fresno released a comment Tuesday following the sentencing of a priest who pleaded no contest to a count of possession of obscene matter.

Father Robert Gamel was arrested in 2014 while serving at St. Joseph’s parish in Los Banos. Gamel previously served in six parishes in Kern County.

Merced County Superior Court records show Gamel was sentenced Tuesday to 11 months in jail and four years of probation.

The Diocese of Fresno said it will begin a canonical investigation, which will examine the case as it relates to church law.

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MINNESOTA
Daily Mail (UK)

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Attorneys on Tuesday accused a Minnesota archdiocese of sheltering more than $1 billion in assets to avoid big payouts to abuse survivors as part of the church’s bankruptcy case.

They say the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has some $1.7 billion in assets — far more than the $49 million it lists in a filing this week. In court papers, they accuse the archdiocese of vastly undervaluing assets such as the St. Paul Cathedral and tucking money away in other corporations to shield it from creditors.

Jeff Anderson, an attorney for hundreds of people claiming sexual abuse by priests, said the church had schemed to defraud creditors and deny fair resolution of claims.

“They are underrepresenting their ability to pay by about 99 percent,” Anderson said. “It has been a scheme and a scam that has served them in the past.”

The archdiocese said it was preparing a statement.

The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in January 2015 as it faced an onslaught of new abuse claims after Minnesota lawmakers opened a three-year window for claims that had previously been barred by the statute of limitations. That opening closes Wednesday. The archdiocese is scheduled to file its reorganization plan with the court by the end of the month.

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MINNESOTA
ABC News

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MINNEAPOLIS — May 24, 2016

Creditors and an attorney for victims of clergy abuse are accusing a Minnesota archdiocese of vastly understating its assets in bankruptcy.

They say the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has some $1.7 billion in assets — far more than the $49 million it lists in a filing this week. In court papers, they accuse the archdiocese of undervaluing assets and tucking money away in corporations to shield it from creditors.

Jeff Anderson, an attorney for hundreds of people claiming sexual abuse by priests, calls it a “massive scheme” to defraud creditors and deny fair resolution of claims.

An archdiocese spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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NEW YORK
Road to Recovery

MEDIA RELEASE – MAY 24, 2016

Neal E. Gumpel is a childhood clergy sexual abuse victim of Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, a deceased Jesuit priest who taught at Fordham Prep in the Bronx, New York, and Maine Maritime Academy, Castine, Maine

At Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine, Fr. Roy Alan Drake presented himself as a Jesuit priest while teaching science courses there. He sexually abused Neal E. Gumpel, a Port Chester, New York, a minor child, who was visiting his brother, a student at Maine Maritime Academy at that time

The Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) which supervises Jesuit priests at Fordham Prep School and Maine Maritime Academy where Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, was teaching at the time that he sexually abused Neal E. Gumpel, has acknowledged that Neal E. Gumpel was sexually abused by Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, in Maine but, refuse to bear responsibility for Fr. Roy Alan Drake’s actions, will not settle and validate Neal Gumpel’s claim, and help Neal Gumpel heal

What
A demonstration and leafleting alerting the Fordham Prep community, the general public, and the media that the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and Fordham Prep School refuse to assist a clergy sexual abuse victim of one its priests, Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, a deceased Fordham Prep School teacher

When
Wednesday afternoon, May 25, 2016 from 2:30 PM until 4:30 PM, at the commencement exercises of Fordham Prep School at the Rose Hill Gymnasium on the Fordham University campus

Where
On the public median outside the main gates of Fordham University, Rose Hill Campus, Bronx, NY, near 400 Southern Boulevard (across from the New York Botanical Garden entrance)

Who
Advocates and supporters of Neal E. Gumpel, including Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., co-founder and President of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity based in New Jersey that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families

Why
Neal E. Gumpel is a childhood sexual abuse victim of deceased Jesuit priest, Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine, where Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, was teaching and presenting himself as a priest at all times. Fordham Prep School and the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), who have found Neal E. Gumpel’s story of childhood sexual abuse credible, refuse to validate and settle his claim and help him heal. Demonstrators will distribute copies of a Portland Press Herald article about the sexual abuse allegations of Neal E. Gumpel and demand that Fordham Prep School and the Society of Jesus help Neal E. Gumpel heal by settling his claim responsibly, fairly, and justly.

Contacts
Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Road to Recovery, Inc. – 862-368-2800 – roberthoatson@gmail.com
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Boston, MA – 617-523-6250

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MINNESOTA
KFGO

St. Cloud, MN (Learfield) – The Diocese of St. Cloud is facing 75 lawsuits claiming sexual abuse against children by former monks and priests.

The complaints were submitted Monday, just days before Wednesday’s deadline to file under the Child Victim’s Act. Attorney Michael Bryant says the suits cover sexually abusive conduct that took place back 30 years or more.

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ILLINOIS
RiverBender

ALTON – State Rep. Dan Beiser, D-Alton, is co-sponsoring a package of legislative proposals backed by the Illinois Attorney General to eliminate various statues of limitation on sex crimes.

“Sex crimes, especially those against minors, are some of the most heinous offenses imaginable,” said Beiser. “These bills will help to support victims of sex crimes by removing the current statute of limitations so that offenders can be punished, even if they are convicted years after their offense occurred.”

Beiser is co-sponsoring House Bill 1127 which eradicates the current three year statute of limitations on various sex crimes such as criminal sexual assault and criminal sexual abuse. He is also co-sponsoring House Bills 1128 and 1129, which will lead to more protection for victims under the age of 18 and harsher penalties for child pornography and human trafficking crimes.

“Under current law, sexual predators that have not been convicted within three years of committing certain sex crimes cannot be prosecuted,” said Beiser. “I believe that is unacceptable, and I encourage other legislators to join me in support of these bills. Due to many factors, convicting an offender of a sex crime can take longer than the current statute of limitations, and I feel that it is our duty as legislators to protect the public and help ensure that justice will be served.”

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MINNESOTA
Fox 9

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) – Attorneys representing hundreds of clergy sexual abuse victims are claiming the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis has a net worth of about $1.7 billion – far more than the $45 million divulged in court documents last year. The legal team of attorney Jeff Anderson says the archdiocese has taken “multiple, deceptive actions” to “divert and shelter funds from sexual abuse survivors” since the Minnesota Child Victims Act was passed in May 2013.

Anderson has called a 1 p.m. news conference at his St. Paul, Minn. office to outline a legal motion filed late Monday in the archdiocese’s federal bankruptcy case. More than 400 people have filed lawsuits against the archdiocese ahead of the May 25 deadline for claims covered by the Minnesota Child Victim’s Act, which lifts the statute of limitations for people who say they were sexually abused. A judge ordered the parties into mediation in February 2015, but no settlement has been reached.

Attorneys expect the archdiocese to propose a Chapter 11 repayment plan that would significantly short-change the victims. According to a court document:

“Within the next few days, the Debtor will file a plan of reorganization that (i) seeks to prohibit more than four hundred survivors of clergy sexual abuse from reaching any of the assets that the Debtor alienated as a matter of civil law, but (ii) simultaneously provides more than 200 entities holding such assets with a complete and final release of liability for sexual abuse claims.”

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PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

THE Archdiocese of Davao said Tuesday that it respects the statements of incoming president Rodrigo Duterte in which he criticized the Catholic Church over its alleged “hypocrisy”.

“The Archdiocese of Davao respects and listens with humility to the views and statements of our incoming President Rodrigo Roa Duterte about the Church, including those that may be difficult to accept and things that may be contrary to our teachings,” said Monsignor Paul Cuison, spokesperson of the archdiocese.

He noted that the archdiocese has a peaceful relationship with the elected leader of the country.
“Even during the pre-election period, we have always maintained a peaceful relationship with him and our doors are always open to him,” the Catholic priest said.

Cuison added that they also acknowledged the good things the Davao City mayor has done to the people and for taking good care of the city.

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WASHINGTON
KOMO

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) A Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to trying to lure a 14-year-old girl into his car while she was walking home in Vancouver has avoided additional jail time in the case.

Michael Patrick was sentenced Monday to one year in jail but was given credit for 23 days already served and 244 days were suspended. Patrick is allowed to serve the remaining time in a work release program.

The former pastor of an Oregon church pleaded guilty to attempted luring in connection with the March 2014 incident. However, he told the judge Monday he didn’t do the crime.

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PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive

By Ivey DeJesus | idejesus@pennlive.com

A New York filmmaker hopes his short film on the lifelong emotional ravages inflicted on victims of clergy sex abuse will persuade lawmakers to support legislation to reform Pennsylvania’s child sex crime laws.

Joe Capozzi, writer and producer of “Confession,” last week sent all the members of the state Senate a link to his 15-minute film, which depicts the story of his own abuse at the hands of a priest.

“It’s a tough film to watch but there’s a purpose for it,” said Capozzi, who worked on the film with wife Angelique Letizia. “Obviously it’s not about entertainment. We wanted to give the perspective from a survivor and what goes on in their head…especially for people who don’t understand. If someone can watch this film and still wonder whether statutues of limitations on child sex abuse should be reformed…if they still can say that, I would question their state of humanity.”

The state House in April approved and sent to the Senate House Bill 1947, which would amend the child sex crime laws by giving victims of abuse a longer time window during which they could bring charges on their predators.

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TEXAS
The Dallas Morning News

By Sue Ambrose and David Tarrant | Staff Writers

Published May 5, 2016

Praying, singing and carrying candles, hundreds of students gathered in front of the president’s house at Baylor University on a chilly night in February. Their goals: to vent anger over the Baptist school’s handling of a string of sexual assaults and to demand the attention of its leader, Ken Starr.

But Starr wasn’t there to hear them.

He did not attend the vigil. He has said little in public about the problem.

And as the sex-assault scandal has grown to encompass at least eight alleged attacks involving football players, two of whom have been convicted in criminal court here, his oddly timed written statements have grown more legalistic.

Even at this conservative and sports-mad college, students say they are frustrated by the muted response of the Baylor administration, which the 69-year-old Starr has led for the past six years.

“They should be stepping up more,” said Audrey Hamlin, 20, a sophomore from outside Austin who recently joined a student group on campus sexual violence. “They should completely back up the victims, and that should be evident in their actions.”

If Starr wanted to set an example of the Christian values the school professes to follow, she said, “he’d be saying a lot more than he is.”

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

By Suzanne Breen
PUBLISHED
24/05/2016

Victims of historical child abuse plan to hold a dramatic picket at Stormont if the new Executive doesn’t move imminently to pay them compensation.

They are making an emotional appeal directly to First Minister Arlene Foster “as a woman and a mother” to take action to end their trauma.

The DUP is refusing to address the compensation issue until the inquiry into Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) sends its report to the Executive next year.

The victims have bought baby and young children’s clothes and plan to stand outside Parliament Buildings holding up the items.

Margaret McGuckin of Survivors and Victims of Institutional Abuse (SAVIA) said they were “sick of hearing empty, well-meaning words” from politicians and wanted compensation for what they had suffered.

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ALABAMA
AL.com

By Greg Garrison | ggarrison@al.com

A trial began Monday for David Lawrence Stone, a Catholic priest and former EWTN TV host who was arrested in 2013 and charged with sexual abuse of a minor under 12.

“I’m innocent,” Stone told AL.com after jury selection began for his trial in Jefferson County Circuit Court. “I’m going to fight this thing all the way.”

The minor he is charged with sexually abusing is his own son, now seven years old. Stone has been embroiled in a custody battle. “I’m going for my son,” he said.

Stone, 55, formerly known as Father Frances Mary Stone, was host of the TV program “Life on the Rock” on Eternal Word Television Network.

In court filings, Stone’s attorneys have argued that the allegation of child abuse is false. Stone has been in a lengthy custody battle with Christina Presnell, the mother of his child, according to Jefferson County Court records.

Scott Morro, an attorney for Presnell, said the relationship between Stone and Presnell started when she was working for EWTN. Presnell worked as a human resource coordinator for EWTN, according to court documents. She met Stone in 1998, went to confession with him as her priest and considered him her spiritual adviser, then began a sexual relationship with him in 2001. They kept the relationship secret, but were discovered when she became pregnant. EWTN fired Presnell in 2008 and Stone was put on a long-term leave of absence, court records show.

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MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation

Jennifer Haselberger

05/23/2016

Yesterday, I signed an affidavit in support of substantive consolidation in the bankruptcy case involving the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Substantive consolidation is an equitable remedy available to bankruptcy courts whereby the assets of entities closely related to the debtor, in this case the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, are combined into the bankruptcy estate.

At the heart of a motion for substantive consolidation is the question of equity and fairness. American law does not allow a corporation like the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis to misuse the benefits of the separate corporate forms of, say, parishes or foundations, to unfairly deprive creditors like the victims of sexual abuse by clergy. In other words, the test for whether substantive consolidation is appropriate in a given case is determined by the degree of interrelatedness between the entities to be consolidated and the parent organization.

I was hired as an expert witness in this case, to offer my opinion as to whether the legal standards and factual predicates for substantive consolidation exist. The payment I have received is a $2000 retainer, which is the standard retainer I require for my services.

I support the motion for substantive consolidation in this case for four primary reasons.

1) The request to consolidate does not include Catholic Charities or Commonbond Communities. This means that those organizations are not impacted by this motion, and they will continue to provide the charitable and compassionate care upon which their much-deserved reputations are based.

2) The request seeks to make more assets available to compensate the victims of sexual abuse of minors by clergy. Two years ago I proposed a means of promoting reconciliation and reparation for victims, and at that time I noted that organizations like the Catholic Community Foundation were established as a way to insulate funds belonging or donated to the Archdiocese from potential legal judgments and settlements. At that time the website of the Catholic Community Foundation stated that it was founded to support the ‘spiritual, educational and social needs of our Catholic community.’ I asked then, as I ask now, if making reparation towards those who have been harmed in such unspeakable ways by our clergy is not also a spiritual and social need of this Catholic community. I believe we cannot turn a blind eye to the harm and suffering experienced by those individuals, most of whom are or were members of our Catholic community, to preserve advantages for others.

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CALIFORNIA
Free Malaysia Today

LOS ANGELES: A Peruvian pastor pleaded guilty in a US court on Monday to groping a sleeping woman’s buttocks while on a flight from Denver to Los Angeles.

Juan Carlos Del Carmen Leyva, 41, admitted before a Los Angeles federal court judge that he fondled a clothed fellow passenger for about three minutes on board a Southwest Airlines flight on April 18.

He said he touched the woman “with the intent to arouse and gratify his sexual desire.”

As part of his plea deal, he faces no more than a year in prison at his sentencing on June 6.

According to an affidavit by the FBI, which investigated the incident, Leyva tried to engage the woman in conversation during the flight but she rebuffed him because “he had horrible breath.”

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MASSACHUSETTS
The Media Report

David Pierre

The Boston Globe simply will not give up.

The newly released annual audit report by United States bishops about abuse in the Catholic Church amplifies the rampancy of false accusations, unprovable allegations against dead priests, dubious decades-old claims, and the determination of Church-suing tort lawyers and their allies to drain the Church’s coffers.

Yet in an article by staffer Matt Rocheleau, the Boston Globe continues to try to convince the public that abuse is somehow still a current problem in the Catholic Church.

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MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson & Associates

5/23/2016

Documents Demonstrate Complicated Legal Maneuvers by the Archdiocese to Hide and Shield Assets

Creditor’s Committee and Survivors File Motion to Consolidate in Archdiocese Bankruptcy Case

Motion for Substantive Consolidation 5 23 16
Memo
Affidavit of Jennifer Haselberger
Affidavit of Thomas P Doyle
Affidavit of James Fitzpatrick
Affidavit of Edwin Caldie
Affidavit of Aong Moua

WHAT: At a press conference Tuesday in St. Paul, Jeff Anderson and Mike Finnegan will:

• Discuss a legal motion filed today by the creditor’s committee and survivors in the Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis bankruptcy case, to consolidate several entities into the bankruptcy estate;
• Outline the multiple, deceptive actions taken by the Archdiocese after the Minnesota Child Victims Act was passed in May 2013 to divert and shelter funds from sexual abuse survivors;
• Demand transparency and accountability from the Archdiocese as it continues its familiar pattern and behavior of deceit and cover-up to avoid accountability.

WHEN: Tuesday, May 24, at 1:00PM CDT

WHERE: Jeff Anderson & Associates
366 Jackson St., Suite 100
St. Paul, MN 55101

NOTES: The press conference will be live streamed from our website www.andersonadvocates.com. Please note there is limited parking on Jackson St. due to construction.

Contact Jeff Anderson: Office/651.927.7872 Cell/612.817.8665
Contact Mike Finnegan: Office/651.927.7872 Cell/612.205.5531
Jeff Anderson & Associates
366 Jackson Street, Suite 100 • St. Paul, MN 55101 • CONTACT: 651.927.7872

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NEW YORK
Times Union

By Paul Nelson Published Monday, May 23, 2016

COLONIE — An Episcopal priest from Bethlehem will be sentenced to probation for three years after pleading guilty Monday to attempted unlawful surveillance for trying to film a woman getting dressed in a Salvation Army Thrift store last year.

The plea deal on the misdemeanor that the Rev. Adam Egan agreed to in Colonie Town Court with his attorney, Steve Coffey, by his side also includes a stay away-order of protection for the victim. After his arrest, Egan was placed on administrative leave as pastor at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Delmar.

Outside court, Coffey said he doesn’t believe Egan is still affiliated with the church in Delmar and is receiving professional help.

“It’s terrible and was a thoughtless and impulsive act,” said Coffey, adding his client never planned to physically harm or attack the woman.

Still, Coffey, stressed that he understands why she might have been scared.

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NEW YORK
TWC News

A local priest is now identified as a sex offender, after he pled guilty to unlawful surveillance after recording video in a changing room of a Salvation Army store.

Albany County District Attorney David Soares says 35-year-old Adam Egan of Bethlehem tried to record a video of a person in a changing room in the Colonie store this past December. Police say Egan left and tried to delete the video after the person he was recording saw the camera.

Colonie police arrested him after that 911 call.

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NEW YORK
WNYT

We had a lot of questions for Adam Egan but got no answers from the shamed Episcopal Priest as he walked out of Colonie Town Court Monday night.

Fellow priests like Nixon McMillan were willing to speak on behalf of the man they call a friend.
“I’m here to be supportive,” McMillan said. When I asked whether he’s disappointed in him, he answered, “It’s not my job to judge.”

The now suspended priest from Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Delmar was accused of videotaping a woman in a Salvation Army dressing room at Christmastime. The 35 year old pastor was originally charged with a felony. But under the plea deal, it’s attempted unlawful surveillance – a misdemeanor.

Attorney Steve Coffey says Egan is horrified by what he did and calls the priest’s illegal peering completely out of character.

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NEW YORK
News 10

By Rachel Yonkunas
Published: May 23, 2016

COLONIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) – An inactive Episcopalian priest pleaded guilty to charges that accused him of attempting to video record a woman in a store changing room.

Around 3:40 p.m. on December 23, 2015, Adam Egan attempted to take a video recording of a woman in the changing room of a Salvation Army in Latham. On Monday, he pleaded guilty to one count of Attempted Unlawful Surveillance in the Second Degree.

Fellow priests were in court to show their support.

“They stood by him,” Egan’s attorney Steve Coffey said. “They understood e was wrong; understood he needed help. They are working with him.”

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AUSTRALIA
Illawarra Mercury

SHANNON TONKIN
May 24, 2016

Peter Lewis Comensoli had kept his hideous secret for more than 50 years.

On Tuesday, it finally came out.

The former Catholic priest got to his feet in Wollongong District Court and, in a loud, clear voice that belied his frail body, admitted molesting three teenage boys in the 1960s.

His victims, each of them practising Catholics, had looked to Comensoli for spiritual and personal guidance, only for their faith in him to be exploited in the worst possible way.

He molested one boy, aged just 11, while visiting the child’s family at their Ingleburn home sometime between 1966 and 1968.

The boy, now a man approaching 60, recalled Comensoli squeezing his genitals while they were playing a wrestling game together.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Nick McLaren

A former Wollongong Catholic priest has pleaded guilty to three historic child sex offences.

Peter Lewis Comensoli, aged 77, wore a hearing aid and appeared hunched as he stood in Wollongong District Court today.

The court heard the charges stem from sexual assaults that occurred on teenage boys between 1966 and 1968 at Shellharbour in the Illawarra, and Ingleburn in Sydney.

The crimes involved three separate boys, who can’t be named.

It’s not the first time the paedophile priest has pleaded guilty to such crimes.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph

May 24, 2016
Anna Hitchings
Liverpool Leader

A RETIRED primary school teacher charged with historical sex offences is accused of forcing a male student into an empty classroom after school and sexually assaulting him.

Peter Higgins, 77, was charged in January for the assault, which is alleged to have occurred in 1975 at Patrician Brothers Catholic School, now All Saints, in Liverpool.

According to documents tendered in court last week, the Patrician brother allegedly forced the boy, then aged 11, to hide in the closet of an adjoining classroom while securing the room before assaulting him.

The alleged victim, now in his 50s, claims he was indecently assaulted on three separate occasions before he was raped by Mr Higgins against the teacher’s desk.

The documents allege that during the rape, school principal Basil Downey walked in and began yelling at Mr Higgins.

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MINNESOTA
Wall Street Journal

By TOM CORRIGAN
May 23, 2016

Hundreds of clergy sexual abuse victims raised the stakes in their clash with the Catholic Church on Monday, with victims’ lawyers claiming that the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has worked for decades to keep some $1.7 billion in assets beyond their reach.

The Twin Cities archdiocese, home to more than 180 parishes and 825,000 parishioners, has been in bankruptcy for more than a year, facing liabilities stemming from about 450 people who say they were sexually abused by clergy members, often decades ago. A judge ordered victims, the archdiocese and its insurance carriers to mediation more than a year ago, but talks failed to produce a settlement.

Now victims are looking to force the archdiocese to dip into assets—like parishes and charitable foundations stocked with cash—they say the archdiocese has shielded using a legal playbook more often associated with large, for-profit corporations.

In court papers filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Minneapolis late Monday, the victims, who are seeking compensation from the archdiocese, said its overall net worth, including property that is legally distinct but alleged to be controlled by the archdiocese, is about $1.7 billion. In bankruptcy court papers filed last year, the archdiocese pegged its total assets at about $45 million.

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AUSTRALIA
Catholic Leader

May 24, 2016

POLICE have appealed to any victims of child abuse to come forward following a court appearance of a former Capuchin friar named at the child abuse royal commission.

Former priest Anthony Francis “Damian” Colbourne, an ex-member of the Capuchin Friars, faced Wynnum Magistrates Court on May 23 — across the road from the Guardian Angels Primary School – over the alleged abuse of an eight-year-old girl multiple times in the mid-1970s.
Colbourne is facing 13 child sex charges.

Arresting officer, Detective Sergeant Michael Froggatt, urged anyone with relevant information to contact their nearest police station or call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

“These might be 40-year-old (alleged) offences but these charges demonstrate that police will be tenacious in our pursuit of alleged child sex offenders,’’ he said.

The commission has so far referred 1050 people, including clergy, to police.

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MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

By Tom Olsen

Claims are pouring in ahead of a Wednesday deadline for child sexual abuse victims to seek damages from the Diocese of Duluth.

As of Monday, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court was reporting that 112 confidential claims had been turned over to attorneys representing the diocese and the group of trustees advocating for its creditors in the bankruptcy proceedings.

As expected, that number was a significant jump from the 46 claims reported just a month ago, with many people apparently making the last-minute decision to file or lose their legal rights to seek damages in decades-old abuse cases.

“It’ll be right up until the end,” said Mike Finnegan, an attorney representing dozens of the claimants through St. Paul-based Jeff Anderson and Associates. “I think there’s a lot of people out there that are trying to decide right now what to do and are struggling with it.”

The Wednesday deadline was set by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Kressel and matches the date imposed by the state Legislature in the Minnesota Child Victims Act. The legislation opened a three-year window for victims of child sexual abuse to file lawsuits that would otherwise be barred by statutes of limitation.

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MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

David Unze, dunze@stcloudtimes.com May 23, 2016

The Diocese of St. Cloud on Monday was served with several dozen civil lawsuits alleging sexual abuse against children by former monks and priests who were assigned positions within the diocese.

The filings came just ahead of Wednesday’s deadline to file lawsuits under the Child Victims Act, which provided a three-year window in which victims could sue for decades-old sexual abuse. Those claims previously would have been dismissed because of statute of limitations violations.

The lawsuits served Monday on the diocese involve priests and monks from multiple religious orders and cover conduct that happened 30 years or more ago, said Michael Bryant, the St. Cloud attorney who prepared the lawsuits. Bryant said he served 75 complaints on the diocese Monday.

The diocese said it has received 73 such complaints in the three years that the Child Victims Act window has been in effect.

Those filings mean almost 900 lawsuits have been initiated in Minnesota by Bryant and Jeff Andersonsince the Child Victims Act has been law. Many have been filed against clergy, but other defendants statewide have included ​schools, Lutheran churches, a children’s theater company and the Boy Scouts.

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NEW YORK
Syracuse.com

By Mike McAndrew | mmcandrew@syracuse.com

ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York State Senate rejected Monday an attempt to force a vote on legislation that would give people sexually abused as children a one-year window to sue over decades-old incidents.

The Senate voted 30-29 against allowing Sen. Brad Hoylman, D-Manhattan, to add controversial provisions eliminating the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse to an unrelated bill that requires hospital emergency rooms and other sites to hang posters about a human trafficking resource center hotline.

The Senate then unanimously passed the human trafficking hotline bill without the amendment that Hoylman was trying to add.

In New York, people who were sexually abused as children must initiate criminal charges or a civil suit by the time they reach 23 or they are barred from doing either.

Victims of sexual abuse have been pressuring state lawmakers to pass bills sponsored by Hoylman and Assemblywoman Margaret Markey that would give victims a one-year window to file lawsuits over past sexual abuse no matter how long ago the incident allegedly occurred. Going forward, the bills would eliminate the time restrictions for bringing a civil suit or criminal charges for sexually abusing a child. The bill would allow lawsuits to be filed against individuals, their employers and institutions, both public and private.

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NEW YORK
Newsday

ALBANY, N.Y. – (AP) — An effort to force a vote in the New York Senate on a bill extending the statute of limitations on suing child sex abusers has failed.

During consideration of another bill Monday, Democrats in the Senate tried to use a procedural maneuver to put the sex abuse legislation to a vote. But Senate Republicans blocked the move, saying the measure wasn’t relevant to the underlying bill, which concerned human trafficking.

The proposal would eliminate the criminal statute of limitations for several child sexual abuse crimes and create a one-year window for past victims to file civil suits.

Victims now have until they turn 23 to file lawsuits, but supporters say it can take years before victims step forward.

The proposal has faced opposition from the Catholic Church and other institutions.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY GLENN BLAIN KENNETH LOVETT

ALBANY — Senate Republicans on Monday chose to block a push to help victims of child sex abuse.

Frustrated at the lack of action by the Republican majority, Senate Democrats sought to attach a bill making it easier for adults who were sexually abused as children to bring lawsuits to another bill in hopes of forcing a vote on the issue.

Instead of accepting the amendment and allowing for a vote, the Senate Republicans blocked it.

“It’s a shame today that the Senate chose not to side with the survivors of childhood sexual abuse, and instead continued to aid and abet predators by refusing to fix New York’s broken statute of limitations for these abominable crimes,” said Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan), who sponsored the Child Victims Act.

Dems will try to force N.Y. Senate to vote on Child Victims Act
Because the Republicans control the agenda and what bills come to the floor for a vote, the Senate Democrats have precious few options to try and move legislation.

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NEW YORK
The Jewish Week

Mon, 05/23/2016

Rabbi Ari Hart

Our Torah, our history, and our God demand us to pursue justice. As Jews, we are called to stand with the oppressed and the mistreated. We are endowed with a sacred responsibility to seek and pursue justice where it has been denied.

This year, the Jewish community in the State of New York has an opportunity to act on this responsibility on behalf of one of the most violated groups in all society: victims of child sexual abuse.

To pursue justice, a victim must turn to the legal system for criminal or civil proceedings. Currently, New York offers legal adults a mere five-year window to report abuse they suffered as children. Once a victim turns 23, the statute of limitations takes effect and victims are no longer able to bring charges against their abusers. This policy prevents many victims from getting the justice they deserve. As mental health experts can attest, it often takes decades for a victim of child sexual abuse to overcome the fear, shame and trauma involved in coming forward to report these reprehensible crimes.

New York’s criminal justice system ranks among the very worst offenders, alongside Mississippi, Alabama and Michigan, when it comes to the treatment of survivors of child sex abuse.

Now is the time to change that — our community can and should play an integral role in this fight. It is no secret that faith leaders have long been on the wrong side of history when it comes to exposing and prosecuting perpetrators of child sex abuse. In New York, members of the faith community have stalled and blocked passage of crucial reform efforts.

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UNITED STATES
News & Observer

BY TERESA WELSH
twelsh@mcclatchy.com

Complaints of sexual abuse by Catholic Church clergy were up 35 percent in 2015, according to an audit of claims and related settlements released Friday.

Between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015, 838 people filed complaints saying they had been abused by church personnel while they were children. This is up from 620 complaints filed the year before.

Twenty-six reports were from minors alleging recent abuse, but the majority were claims dating back to the 1960s, 70s and 80s. The rise in claims dating back decades is partially attributed to bankruptcy proceedings in dioceses around the country that can lead people to file complaints when they otherwise may have kept silent, due to the possibility the diocese would no longer have money to pay out a settlement if the claims were found to be substantiated.

The report was produced by an independent auditor, StoneBridge Business Partners, commissioned to evaluate church compliance with the U.S. bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. This is the 13th year the church has produced the report, which was mandated in 2002 following major revelations of the widespread nature of sexual abuse throughout the church.

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KENTUCKY
Courier-Journal

Andrew Wolfson, @adwolfson May 23, 2016

More than 30 years after he was repeatedly abused by a Catholic priest in Louisville, a man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for using two boys to manufacture child pornography.

Michael Mudd’s lawyer pleaded for leniency, noting that “abuse begets abuse begets abuse.”

The attorney, Chief Federal Public Defender Scott Wendelsdorf, said in a pre-sentencing memo that while there is never an excuse for criminal sexual conduct, “occasionally there is an explanation and that explanation justifies a degree of mercy not otherwise warranted.”

“This is such a case,” Wendelsdorf said, asking that Mudd get 15 years, the mandatory minimum.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Jo Lawless noted that plenty of children who are sexually abused don’t go on to abuse others. And Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas B. Russell said that while Mudd’s own abuse was unfortunate, the public still has to be protected and he still needed to be punished.

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ARGENTINA/PARAGUAY
Dia a Dia

[Another Argentine priest accused of abuse worked in Paraguay. He is Raul Mendoza del Castillo, who allegedly abused a child. This is another case like Carlos Ibañez.]

Por Ary Garbovetzky

Cómo se hizo la investigación del cura que abusó en Córdoba y huyó a Paraguay
Como el acusado en Córdoba Carlos Richard Ibañez, otro cura argentino denunciado por abusos sexuales terminó refugiado y trabajando para la Iglesia de Paraguay, según reveló la investigación del diario La Nación de ese país.

En su última publicación, el equipo de La Nación Investiga reveló que un cura mendocino, acusado de abuso sexual en Argentina cuando dirigía un colegio católicoa, llego a ser el líder de un programa de la Iglesia.

Se trata de Raúl del Castillo, cuya protección generó ya una causa judicial contra la Congregación Salesiana por haber ocultado información a la supuesta víctima del cura del Castillo, un hombre que denunció que cuando tenía 14 años, en el año 1998, el cura en calidad de director del colegio salesiano Don Bosco, lo sedujo y tuvo con él relaciones sexuales.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

Joanne McCarthy
May 23, 2016

I WAS in the foyer of Sydney’s Downing Centre Court after a day of evidence in one of the child sex trials against Catholic priest David O’Hearn.

There have been so many trials, re-trials and hearings since he was first stood down in May 2008 that I can’t remember exactly which one it was.

I didn’t pay much attention to a group across the foyer until their conversation became animated.

Suddenly a woman walked quickly towards me. She was upset. I asked if she was okay. She asked if I would walk with her out of the court because the people she had been talking to would still be outside. She didn’t want to face them again on her own.

They were supporters of O’Hearn. She had been friendly with the priest, but was shocked after hearing evidence of his crimes. There were heated words after she said she believed the victims.

I walked her out. There was a group outside the court but no one said a word. They just glared.

The case of David O’Hearn has highlighted why we needed a Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. He is in jail awaiting sentence after separate juries found him guilty of 44 child sex offences against six victims, but the cost to the community including victims, their families, O’Hearn’s supporters and the justice system has been extraordinary.

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SOUTH AFRICA
IOL

By: Saafia February

Cape Town – The reverend who is at loggerheads with ministers of the Anglican Church says she has become a victim of cyber-bullying.

A woman has posted photos of Reverend June Dolley-Major on Facebook, accusing her of dressing like a “cheapy” and lying about being a sex attack victim.

June hit the spotlight two weeks ago when she went on a hunger strike outside the offices of the Anglican Church in Woodstock to protest against alleged unfair practices against her.

The cleric accused her former employer, Bishop Garth Counsell, of badmouthing her to a potential new employer in Australia.

She also claimed that she was nearly raped by a reverend, whose name she publicly revealed at a press conference last week.

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PARAGUAY/ARGENTINA
La Nacion

Clérigos denunciados siguen impunes

[Argentine priests with abuse and crimes hidden in Paraguay. At least five Argentine priests accused of sexual abuse and crimes against humanity were hidden in Paraguayan territory covered by the local Church and with a striking attitude of the judiciary, while some of them were wanted by Argentina Justice. Until recently, one of the priests continued to exercise and another continues normally in charge of a formation community of the Salesians as in the case of Carlos and Raul Ibanez del Castillo. Priests Carlos Urrutigoity and Luis Eduardo Sierra are no longer in our country. The first was taken from the Diocese of Ciudad del Este in June 2015, returning to his hometown of Mendoza, Argentina. His bishop in Ciudad del Estee, Rogelio Livieres Plano was dismissed by Prope Francis. The second was convicted of abuse in Claypole, Argentina but never set foot in jail because he was granted house arrest with an electronic ankle bracelet.]

Al menos cinco sacerdotes argentinos denunciados por abuso sexual y crímenes de lesa humanidad estuvieron escondidos en territorio paraguayo, amparados por la Iglesia local y con una llamativa actitud del Poder Judicial, mientras algunos de ellos eran buscados por la Justicia argentina.

Hasta hace poco, uno de los curas seguía ejerciendo y otro continúa normalmente a cargo de una comunidad formadora de los salesianos, como son los casos de Carlos Ibáñez y Raúl del Castillo, respectivamente.

Los sacerdotes Carlos Urrutigoity y Luis Eduardo Sierra ya no están en nuestro país. El primero fue sacado de la diócesis de Ciudad del Este en junio del 2015, retornando a su ciudad natal Mendoza, Argentina. Su caso le habría costado el cargo al entonces obispo Rogelio Livieres Plano, quien fue destituido por el papa Francisco; el segundo, si bien fue condenado por abusos cometidos en Claypole, Argentina, no pisó la cárcel, ya que fue beneficiado con arresto domiciliario con tobillera electrónica en su casa.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Catholics 4 Change

Written by OWLFAN

This past week has been a whirlwind for survivors such as myself with the news that House Bill 1947, which passed in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in April, would be going to the Senate for hearings in June. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has begun circling the wagons in anticipation of this bill passing. Last Tuesday, Archbishop Chaput and other archdiocesan officials and “consultants” (aka attorneys), gathered for two meetings at St. Helena parish in Blue Bell – ironically, my registered parish!

According to an article by Matthew Gambino on CatholicPhilly.com, “speakers at the meetings described the dire financial impact upon Catholic parishes, schools and institutions that would likely result from an expected flood of civil lawsuits should the bill be approved by the Senate and signed by the governor.”

In coming weeks, parishioners will receive “information about how the legislation might affect them, as well as the parishes, schools, and charitable works they love and support based on what has happened in other states” according to Ken Gavin, spokesman for the archdiocese.

As a survivor, I wanted to give my take on these meetings, the archdiocese response, and the feelings that it has stirred up in me.

First, it is true that the archdiocese and Victims’ Assistance has helped me obtain therapy, doctors and medications. They pay for all of these visits. A rough calculation, if I should continue this course of action, until the age of 75, they will spend over $250,000 on my case alone. Not one person is disputing the facts that the Archdiocese is helping victims in this way.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on the 2015 Annual Report on clergy sexual abuse that was released last week by the National Review Board of the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015, there were seven substantiated allegations against clergy for the sexual abuse of minors that were made by current minors. Given that the data covered priests (35,987) and deacons (16,251), this means that .01 percent of the 52,238 members of the clergy had a substantiated allegation made against him; conversely, 99.99 percent did not.

Why is this not being widely reported by the media—including the Catholic media?

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ROME
National Catholic Register

BY EDWARD PENTIN 05/23/2016

In a speech reflecting on Pope Benedict XVI’s pontificate, Archbishop Georg Gänswein has confirmed the existence of a group who fought against Benedict’s election in 2005, but stressed that “Vatileaks” or other issues had “little or nothing” to do with his resignation in 2013.

Speaking at the presentation of a new book on Benedict’s pontificate at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome May 20, Archbishop Gänswein also said that Pope Francis and Benedict are not two popes “in competition” with one another, but represent one “expanded” Petrine Office with “an active member” and a “contemplative.”

Archbishop Gänswein, who doubles as the personal secretary of the Pope Emeritus and prefect of the Pontifical Household, said Benedict did not abandon the papacy like Pope Celestine V in the 13th century but rather sought to continue his Petrine Office in a more appropriate way given his frailty.

“Therefore, from 11 February 2013, the papal ministry is not the same as before,” he said. “It is and remains the foundation of the Catholic Church; and yet it is a foundation that Benedict XVI has profoundly and lastingly transformed by his exceptional pontificate.”

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WISCONSIN
WBAY

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) – A retired priest with the Green Bay Catholic Diocese has pleaded not guilty to four felony charges of Exposing Genitals to a Child.

Richard Thomas, 78, appeared in a Brown County court room Monday for an arraignment hearing.

Thomas was arrested in April. According to a criminal complaint, Thomas exposed himself to a 16-year-old boy on March 14, 15, 16 and 17.

The teen told investigators it happened while he walked to school past Grellinger Hall in Allouez. The boy said he saw a naked man standing in one of the windows. Grellinger Hall is an independent living facility for retired priests.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By Jean Hopfensperger Star Tribune MAY 23, 2016

More than 850 child sex abuse claims, including about 500 against Minnesota Catholic clergy, have been made in the past three years under a landmark Minnesota law sunsetting this week that allowed victims of older abuse cases to have their day in court.

The Minnesota Child Victims Act, which rocked the Catholic Church to its core, set a May 25, 2016 deadline for filing older claims. Victims’ lawyers are rushing to the finish line, expecting a last-minute surge in claims.

And the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is on alert, as its victim compensation plan heads to bankruptcy court soon after the count is in.

In the three years since the law’s passage, the local church has witnessed an archbishop’s resignation, two bankruptcies and the public naming of more than 100 priests credibly accused of child sex abuse.

But its most profound impact was felt by the abuse victims themselves.

“It’s been a sea change,” said Bob Schwiderski, a decades-long victims’ advocate who was sexually abused by a priest as a boy. “We’re no longer considered ignorant money-grabbers … I’ve gone from being spit on to being applauded.”

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PHILIPPINEN
Zeit

Der künftige philippinische Präsident Rodrigo Duterte hat die katholische Kirche als “scheinheiligste Institution des Landes” bezeichnet und die Bischöfe seines Landes als “Hurensöhne” beschimpft. Bei einer Pressekonferenz am Sonntag sagte Duterte, die Bischöfe hätten ihn und andere Politiker um unlautere Gefälligkeiten gebeten. Zudem hielten sich mehrere Kirchenmänner nicht an das Zölibat. Duterte hatte die Präsidentschaftswahlen auf den Philippinen am 9. Mai mit großem Vorsprung gewonnen, obwohl sich einflussreiche Bischöfe in dem überwiegend katholischen Land gegen ihn ausgesprochen hatten.

Duterte, bislang amtierender Bürgermeister der Großstadt Davao im Süden der Philippinen, hatte bereits im Dezember für Aufsehen gesorgt, nachdem er den Papst als “Hurensohn” beschimpft hatte. Duterte inszeniert sich als Politiker der harten Hand und ist berüchtigt für seine ausschweifenden Reden, obszöne Sprache und sexistischen Witze. Als Präsident werde er die Todesstrafe wieder einführen und Zehntausende Kriminelle gezielt töten lassen, hatte Duterte schon im Wahlkampf angekündigt.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Neue OZ

[Rinteln. A former Protestant Superintendent is suspected of having abused. Although the alleged crimes date back decades, the church in Weserbergland is investigating and has sent letters to potential victims.]

Rinteln. Ein früherer evangelischer Superintendent steht im Verdacht, Konfirmanden missbraucht zu haben. Obwohl die mutmaßlichen Verbrechen Jahrzehnte zurückliegen, sucht die Kirche im Weserbergland jetzt per Post nach möglichen Opfern.

Der evangelische Geistliche inszenierte ein Treffen im Pfarramt St. Nikolai in Rinteln. Er verschloss die Tür von innen. Dann verging er sich an dem Konfirmanden. So schildert es das Opfer. Der Junge wagte es nicht, seinen Eltern von dem Verbrechen zu erzählen. Er traute sich nicht zu, im Rinteln der 1960er Jahre den zu erwartenden Skandal durchzustehen.

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DEUTSCHLAND
SWR

[Diocese of Trier is investigating priest who is accused of sexual abuse.]

Das Bistum Trier hat gegen einen Pfarrer einer saarländischen Pfarrei ein kircheninternes Ermittlungsverfahren eingeleitet. Es geht um den Vorwurf eines sexuellen Missbrauchs.

Die Vorwürfe richten sich gegen einen 63-jährigen Pfarrer im Ruhestand, der rund 30 Jahre lang in einer Pfarrei im Saarland tätig war. Es geht um einen Vorfall Ende der 1990er Jahre. Dreimal hatte die Staatsanwaltschaft Saarbrücken in den vergangenen zehn Jahren gegen den Mann wegen des Verdachts des sexuellen Missbrauchs ermittelt. Ein Verfahren aus dem Jahr 2006 wurde wegen Verjährung eingestellt, in den beiden anderen Fällen aus den Jahren 2013 und 2016 ließen sich die Taten nicht nachweisen. Das teilte ein Sprecher der Saarbrücker Staatsanwaltschaft dem SWR mit.

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UNITED STATES
NPR

April 9, 2016

Heard on Weekend Edition Saturday

As the church works through its sex-abuse crisis, the Vatican is struggling to figure out how to hold cardinals and bishops accountable, investigative journalist Jason Berry tells NPR’s Scott Simon.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Yesterday, Pope Francis released his Amoris Laetitia proclamation on family life. He calls on priests to support their parishioners, including those who are divorced, gay or pregnant out of wedlock, and to love rather than judge them. But the pope stopped short of actually endorsing same-sex marriage. The document lands on a Catholic church that is still working through its abuse crisis.

Earlier this month, another cover-up in western Pennsylvania’s Altoona Johnstown Diocese received attention. Jason Berry is an investigative journalist who has covered the church crisis. He joins us now. Mr. Berry, thanks so much for being with us.

JASON BERRY, BYLINE: My pleasure.

SIMON: And help us understand, please, what happened in Altoona.

BERRY: Well, it was a grand jury report. And what it found was the long reach of a cover-up going back many decades. You know, the rooted problem of this crisis is structural mendacity, institutionalized deception and lying. And bishops, in depositions over the years, have often said that they were doing this to protect the church, for the good of the church. But in fact, it leaves the victims, the children, on the short end of a moral calibration. And to this day, the Vatican is still struggling to figure out a way to hold bishops accountable.

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DENMARK
CPH Post

A free church in Jutland has been closed after several children and young people said at a meeting that they had been abused by a priest.

The attacks are alleged to have taken place from 2006 to 2011.

“We are in shock,” the church leader told Metroxpress. “It is difficult to understand that so much has been going on that we were not aware of.”

Investigation continuing

After the allegations were revealed, the leader of the church said that he decided to close the church on April 27.

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