ABUSE TRACKER

VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register

BY EDWARD PENTIN 04/21/2016

Cardinal George Pell, the prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy, has said he was “a bit surprised” by the decision of the Secretariat of State to suspend an independent audit of the Vatican’s finances.

In a short statement released this morning, he said he anticipates the audit will “resume shortly” after “discussions and clarification” of some issues, and added that the work of the “internal auditor which covers all areas has not been interrupted.”

Yesterday the Register reported that the Secretariat of State had sent a letter this week to all Vatican entities saying the first external audit aimed at raising the Vatican’s finances to international anti-money laundering standards had been suspended.

The Vatican had hired accountancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers in December to conduct the audit on the instructions of the Council for the Economy, the 15-member monitoring body set up to oversee the work of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy.

The move to suspend the initiative has been seen as a move not only to undermine the work of Cardinal Pell and the department he runs, but moreover the Council for the Economy which was responsible for appointing the auditors.

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

VATICAN CITY
Crux

By John L. Allen Jr.
Editor April 20, 2016

When Pope Francis’ landmark project of financial reform was announced two years ago, one lynch-pin was the idea that the world would no longer just to have to take the Vatican’s word for it in terms of how much money it has and where it’s going.

Instead there would be a credible audit carried out according to generally accepted business standards in the 21st century. That step, officials said, would represent a revolution in the direction of transparency and accountability.

As it turns out, it’s now a revolution delayed.

Crux has learned that on April 12, Italian Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu sent a letter to all Vatican entities informing them that an audit being performed by the global firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) has been “suspended immediately,” and that any letters of authorization those entities have already issued to permit the transmission of financial data to PwC are to be revoked.

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

PERU
El Comercio

[With grief and indignation, Catholics in Peru are now down to our own chapter of the global abuse and pedophilia scandal that has plagued the Church in many countries over the past thirty years. It was not just a matter of the United States, Ireland or Canada. The same epidemic was also among us.]

Con pena e indignación, los católicos en el Perú estamos conociendo ahora nuestro propio capítulo del escándalo mundial de abuso y pederastia que ha asolado a la Iglesia en muchos países en los últimos treinta años. No era solo un asunto de Estados Unidos, Irlanda o Canadá. La misma epidemia estaba también entre nosotros.

Y con los mismos síntomas: personajes nefastos vinculados al clero o, en términos más amplios, a la conducción de grupos o entidades religiosas, aprovechando su condición de líderes, pastores o superiores, para obtener favores sexuales de menores de edad. Con idéntica dinámica de encubrimiento y distracción, en una mezcla escurridiza entre las sanciones eclesiales y la justicia penal. Hechos terribles que nunca se dan a conocer a menos que una investigación externa los consiga desentrañar.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Southwark News

OWEN SHEPPARD (21 April, 2016) CRIME

A church youth-leader from Peckham has been locked up for fifteen years for raping and sexually assaulting two “vulnerable” teenagers from his congregation.

Timothy Storey, 35, of Peckham Grove, was sentenced in Woolwich Crown Court on Friday for three counts of rape and one of assault by penetration.

The court heard how the Oxford-educated and ordained trainee vicar manipulated his victims into meeting up with him via sexting and social media messages.

The two young women Storey was found guilty of raping had given evidence following an appeal by Scotland Yard in May 2014. At that time, the paedophile had just been handed a three-year sentence for grooming girls aged ten to sixteen, and encouraging them to perform sexual acts via social media.

Storey made both of his “insidious” attacks on the two women, who were over the age of consent, in 2008 and 2009.

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

FLORIDA
Raw Story

Tom Boggioni

A Florida school district is under fire for allowing a pastor who leads prayers with sports teams at the schools, to roam freely in and out of locker rooms, proselytizing students and then stalking them on Facebook where he gives them tips on sex and their lifestyles.

According to The Friendly Atheist, David Gaskill of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes is being allowed access to students by the School District of Hillsborough County where he not only leads teams in prayer but also accosts them in school parking lots and takes selfies with shirtless athletes which he posts on his personal Facebook page.

In testimony that Gaskill gives to congregations, he explained that he found Jesus while in jail on seven felony counts, admitting that his drug addiction was so bad he was buying cocaine by “the kilo.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has compiled extensive documentation of Gaskill’s contacts with students –most of which he has since deleted from Facebook — saying he is “behaving like a religious predator seeking out vulnerable prey.”

In a letter to the school district, the FFRF wrote, “It is clear that Gaskill has unlimited access to preach, pray, and proselytize to student-athletes whenever he desires. He is involved with every sport at multiple schools within HCPS. He shows up, sometimes invited by coaches but often on his own, at team events, including practices and games, and he is allowed to be in the dugout or on the field with the players at these events. He has the same level of access as a coach even though he has no affiliation with the school.”

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

INDIANA
CBS4Indy

[with video]

BY CHARLIE DE MAR

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind (April 20, 2016)–An Indianapolis church is under fire for allegedly failing to report accusations of sexual abuse.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests or SNAP, claims leaders of the Southport Presbyterian Church knew about an incident involving two of its members and did not take appropriate action.

A church member is partly responsible for blowing the whistle and bringing the allegations to light.

Last August, “Jane” heard that a 15-year-old was allegedly sexually abused at the hands of a 19-year-old. Both were members of the Southport Presbyterian Church.

“I went to the board of elders and tried to talk with them and I felt that their response minimized what happened to the young child,” said Jane.

Jane took the information to leaders at her church and assumed they would take the appropriate steps and call police. However, Jane says that never happened.

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

WISCONSIN
The Capital Times

ROB THOMAS | The Capital Times | rthomas@madison.com

In the Oscar-winning “Spotlight,” there’s a scene in which one of the reporters is horrified to discover that a halfway house for pedophile priests is located just around the corner from his house.

Pablo Larrain’s “The Club” goes inside a house like that. Just as the Chilean director didn’t flinch from looking at the dark heart of political corruption in films like “Tony Manero,” he peers into the darkness of religious corruption in this new film. The film played Monday at Sundance Cinemas as part of the Wisconsin Film Festival.

The “retreat,” as the Catholic Church euphemistically calls it, is in a seaside house painted the yellow of caution tape. The four priests who live there are supposed to be doing penance, but they mostly drink, watch television and run their greyhound in the local dog races. And they don’t think or talk about what they’ve done. Larrain films the workings of the house in soft lights and blurred colors, a haze that’s physical as well as moral.

That peace is shattered when a new priest arrives at the house. One of the priest’s victims, full of vengeance and alcohol, has followed him, and stands outside the gates screaming in graphic detail all the things the priest made him do when he was an altar boy. The new priest kills himself.

This brings the attention of the Catholic Church; in particular, a hard-charging reformist from the Vatican named Father Garcia (Marcelo Alonso) who starts grilling the priests about their crimes. He threatens to close the house and expose the priests, but his motives, like so many in the film, are murky. We’re not even sure what the priests’ crimes even are — one claims that he was a political prisoner of the Pinochet era, not a sex criminal. But the truth has remained buried for so long that we may never dig it out.

The priests all seem like wounded, desperate men, more pathetic than truly evil. The most chilling member of the house is actually Sister Monica (Antonia Zegers), the nun who runs the house and keeps the men in line. She has a beatific smile, but beneath that smile is a heart of utter ruthlessness that goes to great lengths to preserve the house. That smile haunted me long after the film was over; it encapsulates the blandly superior façade of the Church that concealed such moral rot.

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

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Nashua Telegraph

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

By KATHRYN MARCHOCKI
Staff Writer

CONCORD – The state adult parole board on Tuesday granted a formerly high-ranking Catholic priest’s request for parole after he served his minimum two-year sentence on two of his 2014 theft convictions.

The Rev. Edward J. Arsenault III, 54, was paroled to his third state prison sentence, which he will begin serving on April 21, the adult parole board’s executive assistant Andrea Goldberg said. He will be eligible for release in two years.

Arsenault, who remains a Catholic priest, was not present at the parole board hearing at the New Hampshire State Prison in Concord. He was represented by his attorney, Cathy Green, of Manchester, and communicated with the board on a conference telephone call by speaker phone, Goldberg said.

“He said that he was doing well and had no disciplinary” issues, Goldberg said after the brief parole hearing. Arsenault has been serving his sentence at the Cheshire County House of Corrections in Westmoreland since May 22, 2014, a state corrections official has said.

Arsenault was president and CEO of the St. Luke Institute in Maryland – one of the premier treatment centers for clergy and religious leaders in the country – when allegations surfaced in 2013 that he misused funds and had an inappropriate relationship with an adult man. He resigned the St. Luke post and Manchester Bishop Peter Libasci placed him on administrative leave while the criminal investigation into the allegations ensued.

Arsenault pleaded guilty on April 23, 2014, to three felony theft charges for stealing nearly $300,000 from Catholic Medical Center, the diocese, and the estate of the late Monsignor John Molan, who had been his mentor.

He was sentenced to concurrent four- to 10-year sentences with two years suspended from the minimum of each on two of the convictions. He will complete these terms on April 21 and immediately begin serving a third four- to 10-year sentence with two years suspended from the minimum that day, Goldberg said.

The diocese initiated the process of laicizing – or defrocking – Arsenault after his conviction. The Vatican has not yet made a determination, a diocesan spokesman has said.

Kathryn Marchocki can be reached at 594-6589, kmarchocki@nashuatelegraph.com or @Telegraph_KMar.

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

FLORIDA
ABC Action News

[withv video]

Michael Paluska, Camille Spencer

POLK COUNTY, Fla. – A Polk County church is in crisis mode, after their priest was arrested Tuesday and charged with soliciting oral sex from a male undercover detective.

Stephen Glenn Charest, 66, of Lake Wales is the pastor of Holy Spirit Catholic Church .

Members of the church said Father Glenn had a great personality and was a positive addition to the church.

According to the church’s Facebook page Fr. Glenn had just been appointed as their head priest on March 8.

The post said, “The community of Holy Spirit would like to say a heartfelt thank you that God has placed Fr. Glenn Charest in the midst of our lives. Through the past three years we’ve seen the dedication, care, pastoral support and love you have for people…so we say thank you Fr. Glenn for becoming our pastor.”

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

INDIA
UCA nEWS

Christopher Joseph, Kochi
India April 21, 2016

A diocese in southern India has started consulting legal experts after a 26-year-old woman in the United States filed a lawsuit against its bishop for “reinstating” a priest she said sexually abused her.

Megan Peterson filed a federal lawsuit in St. Paul, Minnesota on April 18 against Bishop Arulappan Amalraj of Ootacamund for allegedly reinstating Father Joseph Palanivel Jayapaul, who was convicted of abuse.

“It was like a slap in the face,” Peterson said in a video published on the website of her lawyer Jeff Anderson after learning Father Jayapaul was reinstated to active ministry.

Anderson said the suit is against the bishop and the diocese for creating a “dangerous” situation because of their decision to “reinstate” a “convicted predator priest” to the ministry.

Father Jeyapau, who served in the Crookston Diocese between 2004 and 2005, was arrested in India in 2012 and extradited to the U.S. on charges of sexually abusing two girls, including Peterson. He pleaded guilty to one count of sexually abusing a minor while working in Crookston. He was deported to India immediately after having already served the year and a day prison term handed down.

The case involving Peterson was dropped after a plea deal.

The 61-year-old priest’s suspension, imposed in 2010 after the sex abuse accusations came to light, was revoked on Jan. 16 after consultations with the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, diocesan officials said.

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

AUSTRALIA
9 News

AAP

Retired Rockhampton Bishop Brian Heenan placed children at risk of abuse by a pedophile priest because of his inadequate response to complaints, a royal commission has found.

The sex abuse royal commission examined St Joseph’s Orphanage Neerkol, near Rockhampton, which was operated by the Sisters of Mercy between 1940 and 1975.

The commission has found the sadistic punishments dished out by some nuns were “cruel and excessive” and against regulations.

In April last year, 13 men and women – now aged from their 50s to 80s – recalled to a Rockhampton court the abuse they endured, including public floggings and having their genitals beaten.

Allegations of sexual abuse first emerged in the 1990s.

In a report released on Thursday, commissioners Justice Jennifer Coate, Professor Helen Milroy and Andrew Murray found Bishop Heenan failed to provide an adequate response to a complaint of sexual abuse at the hands of the disgraced former member of his clergy, Reginald Durham, in 1996.

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

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY MICHAEL O’KEEFFE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Wednesday, April 20, 2016

The sands of time should not protect sexual predators, Sen. Chuck Schumer said Wednesday.

The New York Democrat has added a provision to his Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act of 2016 that would extend the statute of limitations in federal civil cases for victims of sexual abuse, sex trafficking and other crimes related to child pornography.

“Justice should not come with an expiration date,” Schumer told the Daily News.

Current law prohibits victims of child sex crimes from filing civil litigation after their 21st birthday in federal court.

Victims of child sex crimes are currently barred from filing civil litigation after their 21st birthday in federal court against people who exploited them after. Schumer’s bill would extend the statute of limitations to their 28th birthday.

Victim advocates say it takes many years and sometimes decades for many survivors of sexual exploitation to publicly acknowledge the abuse they suffered. Victims of child pornography may not know that they were exploited until long after their 21st birthday. The Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act, named after the murdered son of “America’s Most Wanted” host John Walsh, will provide $56.8 million over the next two years for U.S. marshals to track down and apprehend fugitive sex offenders. The bill also calls for rape kits to be preserved and calls for a bill of rights for sex-assault survivors.

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

VATICAN CITY
The Tablet

21 April 2016 | by Christopher Lamb in Rome

Letter from Secretariat of State announced the decision to halt cooperation with auditors PwC

The first external audit of Vatican finances by an internationally respected accountants has been halted.

In what will be seen as a blow to Pope Francis’ reforms, a letter on 12 April was sent to Holy See departments informing them the work of PricewaterhouseCoopers has been “suspended immediately”.

The letter, reported by Crux, was written by Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu, one of the top officials at the Vatican’s Secretariat of State and explains that any permission to hand financial data to PwC has now been revoked.

Australian Cardinal George Pell, Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, had commissioned PwC to review the Vatican accounts, work which had previously been done by an Italian firm. The audit by PwC was the first of its kind and was going to provide a complete picture of Holy See finances including a valuation of all its assets.

But in his letter Archbishop Becciu said that Cardinal Pell’s instruction for Vatican bodies to co-operate with the firm had been overruled by “superior provision”. A spokesman for Pell said he was “surprised” by the suspension of the Vatican audit but expects it to resume shortly.

It leaves open the question as to whether this came from the Pope, his advisory body of cardinals or the 15-body council for the economy, led by German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, which oversees the work of Cardinal Pell’s department.

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

WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic Standard – Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Earlier this week, the Washington Post criticized our Holy Father, Pope Francis – and by extension the Catholic Church – for having “fallen short of his own promise: to come fully to terms with decades of child sex abuse by clergymen and the institutional cover granted to them by bishops and cardinals.”

It is clear that the scourge of child sex abuse has touched every segment of society. It has occurred within the Church – for which we continually express our sorrow and contrition – it has also occurred in public schools, juvenile detention facilities and youth groups, and it affects people of all backgrounds, occupations, and faiths. In fact, the Post itself highlights the breadth of this society-wide problem in its own reporting on this issue, which you can read here. Without minimizing or deflecting from the responsibility of Church authorities for what happened in the Church, it is likewise essential that we realize the full scope of this plague in our communities and of the failures in addressing this evil throughout society.

In the face of the destructive crime of sexual abuse, which robs children of their innocence and can leave behind substantial emotional and spiritual scars, the priority of us all must be to do everything we can to prevent it and help survivors to heal. The Church – and specifically the Archdiocese of Washington – has for many years been resolute and worked hard to institute safeguards, to deal openly and decisively in rooting out perpetrators, to help survivors to heal, and also to foster reassurance that our churches and schools offer a safe and secure environment. Just as important, the pro-active steps the archdiocese has taken can guide the rest of society as it considers how to address this darkness.

Since 1986, fifteen years before the extent of the child abuse scandal came to light, the archdiocese has had a comprehensive child protection policy. Under this policy overseen by the Office of Child and Youth Protection, seminarians, clergy, teachers, other employees and volunteers who work with children undergo comprehensive criminal background checks and are required to be trained in child protection. The children in our schools and programs receive safe-environment lessons to learn to recognize inappropriate behavior and teach them what to do if someone acts inappropriately toward them.

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

OHIO
WHIO

CINCINNATI — A registered sex offender is now charged with abusing two young boys he met while volunteering as a Dayton church bus driver.

Jory Leedy, 46, of Franklin, was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Cincinnati for two counts of aggravated sexual abuse involving a minor, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Each charge against Leedy is punishable by up to life in prison.

Leedy is accused of sexually abusing the boys, who were 7 and 8, he met through volunteer work as a fill-in volunteer bus driver for Target Ministries of Dayton that served low-income people in the Dayton area. He allegedly gave a fake name to the family and began visiting the boys’ home, taking them to church and on trips to Cincinnati Reds games, Kings Island and the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. He is accused of abusing the boys over a two-year span. He said if they told anyone, he wouldn’t take them places or buy games and clothes for them, according to the federal indictment.

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

TEXAS
Radar Online

Posted on Apr 20, 2016

Joel Osteen and his Lakewood, Texas, megachurch continue to dominate the pop religion realm in America, with several bestselling books, a Sirius radio station, and arena events across the country. But do his legions of fans know what goes on behind closed church doors?

RadarOnline.com has learned that in 2010, Lakewood was at the center of a Child Protective Services investigation after a church volunteer was accused of “inappropriate” sexual conduct with a special needs child at the facility!

According to court documents obtained by Radar, Alvaro Daniel Guzman “was a volunteer in the special needs children’s ministry at Lakewood,” known as the Champions Club, in 2010.

On February 13, 2010, a fellow volunteer “allegedly witnessed [him] touching the child assigned to [him] in an inappropriate fashion.” The woman relayed her claims to her superiors, the documents state, and they “advised her that she should contact Child Protective Services and report to them what she had witnessed.”

READ The Explosive Complaint

Before long, “CPS began an investigation into the allegation,” and on February 17, “Lakewood staff met with [Guzman] and advised [him] he would no longer be allowed to serve as a volunteer because an allegation of inappropriate touching had been made against him.” On February 25, the documents state, Houston Police detectives “interviewed Lakewood staff regarding the alleged incident.”

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

AUSTRALIA
Stuff (New Zealand)

JAMIE MCKINNELL
April 21 2016

Sadistic nuns at a notorious Australian orphanage in Queensland dished out abuse in a toxic environment that festered due in part to inadequate government scrutiny, supervision and training, a royal commission has found.

The child sex abuse royal commission last year examined cruel treatment of 13 former residents of St Joseph’s Orphanage, which was operated by the Sisters of Mercy between 1940 and 1975.

The men and women – now aged from their 50s to 80s – recalled abuse at Neerkol, ranging from public floggings and being walked on in high heels to being made to drape urine-soaked sheets over their heads.

Commissioners Justice Jennifer Coate, Professor Helen Milroy and Andrew Murray explored the responses of the Sisters of Mercy, the Catholic Diocese of Rockhampton and the Queensland government to complaints, which had often fell on deaf ears.

The commission found punishment administered by some nuns was “cruel and excessive” and was against regulations in place at the time.

But some victims did not report sexual abuse because they had “little or no opportunity” to speak with department inspectors.

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

INDIA
The Times of India

TNN | Apr 21, 2016

Udhagamandalam: Fr Jeyapaul Joseph Palanivel, the priest with a history of child sexual abuse charges and now accused of sexually abusing an American woman, has been given a residence by the Ootacamund diocese which refuses to divulge where he is.

“We cannot disclose the whereabouts of Fr Jeyapaul Joseph Palanivel,” said diocese spokesman Fr Sebastian Selvanathan on Wednesday.

He also refused to divulge the whereabouts of Ooty bishop A Amalraj.

Jeyapaul, who served as a priest in Crookston township of Minnesota in 2004 and 2005, was arrested in India in 2012 on charges of sexually abusing two girls in a congregation. He was extradited to the US. After serving his sentence for a year and one day, he was deported to India last year. Recently, advocacy group SNAP (Survivors Net work of those Abused by Priests) announced that one of the sexual abuse survivors in the US has sued the priest and the diocese.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) said the bishop of Ooty has not had any communication with them over the reinstatement of Jeyapaul. “Any priest facing allegations will be dismissed immediately and if allegations are found to be true legally, the church will defrock the priest,” said CBCI public relations officer Gyan Prakash Topno.

The Ooty diocese spokesman, meanwhile, said he was unaware of the sexual abuse charge by the American woman. Vidya Reddy of Tulir, Centre for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse, said if an institution was assisting in a cover up, it should also be considered guilty.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Morning Bulletin

UPDATE 4.40PM: ROCKHAMPTON Bishop Michael McCarthy and Sister Berneice Loch from the Sisters of Mercy, have released a joint statement following the release of the Neerkol report.

“In response to the publication of the Royal Commission’s final report into St Joseph’s Orphanage, Neerkol, we commend the courageous survivors who shared their heartbreaking stories that have enabled the Royal Commission to prepare this important report,” they wrote.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with them and we hope the Royal Commission process may assist in their healing.

“Since last year’s hearing, the Diocese of Rockhampton has implemented a number of changes including the formation of a Child Safeguarding Committee to oversee all aspects of Child Protection within the Diocese, as well as the appointment of a Diocesan Child Protection Officer.

“The Sisters of Mercy have built on the measures that we have made available to survivors since 1997 through the offering of a wide range of assistance and support to meet their identified needs.

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

AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

April 21 2016
Jamie McKinnell

Sadistic nuns at a notorious Queensland orphanage dished out abuse in a toxic environment that festered due in part to inadequate government scrutiny, supervision and training, a royal commission has found.

The child sex abuse royal commission last year examined cruel treatment of 13 former residents of St Joseph’s Orphanage at Neerkol, near Rockhampton, which was operated by the Sisters of Mercy between 1940 and 1975.

The men and women – now aged from their 50s to 80s – recalled abuse at Neerkol, ranging from public floggings and being walked on by high heels to being made to drape urine-soaked sheets over their heads.

Commissioners Justice Jennifer Coate, Professor Helen Milroy and Andrew Murray explored the responses of the Sisters of Mercy, the Catholic Diocese of Rockhampton and the Queensland government to complaints, which had often fallen on deaf ears.

The commission found punishment administered by some nuns was “cruel and excessive” and was against regulations in place at the time.

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

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

21 April, 2016

The Royal Commission will hold a further day of hearings in relation to Case Study 35 (Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne) in Sydney on Wednesday 27 April 2016 at 11:15am.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive the evidence of four former officers of the Catholic Education Office, who have provided statements to the Royal Commission following the evidence of Cardinal George Pell from Rome in March.

All witnesses will be appearing in Sydney with some legal representatives appearing from Melbourne via video link.

Venue: Hearing Room 1, Level 17, Governor Macquarie Tower, 1 Farrer Place, Sydney.
Time: 11:15am – 4pm AEST
Date: Wednesday 27 April 2016. If necessary, the hearing may continue on Thursday 28 April 2016.

The directions hearing will be streamed live via webcast on the Royal Commission’s website here.

Join us on Twitter and Facebook for regular updates.

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

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

21 April, 2016

The Royal Commission’s report into Case Study 26 – the response of the Sisters of Mercy, the Catholic Diocese of Rockhampton and the Queensland Government to allegations of child sexual abuse at St Joseph’s Orphanage, Neerkol, was released today.

The report follows a public hearing held in April 2015 which inquired into the experiences of a number of people who were resident at St Joseph’s Orphanage, Neerkol operated by the Sisters of Mercy, between 1940 and 1975.

The Royal Commission heard evidence from 12 former residents of the orphanage who detailed the serious emotional, physical and sexual abuse by priests, nuns and grounds workers. Another survivor, who was not a former resident at the orphanage, also gave evidence of sexual abuse that she suffered by the parish priest, in Rockhampton.

Former residents gave evidence to the Royal Commission that they did not tell anyone about the abuse at the time it was occurring. Some did not tell anyone because they had no-one to tell and did not think they would be believed.

The Royal Commission heard evidence about the degrading treatment of the children at the orphanage by some of the Sisters and employees and the appalling conditions in which the children lived. The Commissioners found that the punishment administered by some nuns and employees was cruel and excessive and did not accord with the regulations in place under the relevant legislative framework.

The Commissioners also heard about a lack of Queensland departmental policies or procedures for reporting abuse by officers of the department.

The Commissioners were satisfied that the Queensland government had failed to adequately supervise and protect the children in the orphanage by not ensuring adequately trained staff were employed as department inspectors and by not ensuring adequate scrutiny over the circumstances in which the children were living.

Between 1993 and 1996, four former residents of the orphanage brought their experiences of sexual abuse directly to the attention of the Bishop Heenan and Sister Loch. Additionally, in 1993, another survivor who had not resided at the orphanage but who had been abused by the parish priest Father Durham, complained to Bishop Heenan.

The Commissioners are satisfied that Bishop Heenan and Sister Loch’s lack of training in detecting and responding to child sexual abuse undermined their capacity to deal effectively with complaints of child sexual abuse by former residents between 1993 to 1996.

By late 1996, the Queensland Police Service was investigating allegations of child sexual abuse against a number of former priests and lay workers who had worked or provided services at the orphanage.

By early 1997, criminal proceedings started against both parish priest Father Durham and former orphanage employee, Mr Baker. In early 1997, the Sisters formed the Professional Standards Steering Committee (PSSC) which formulated processes and guides for the response to, and prevention of, child sexual abuse. This is now known as the Professional Standards Office (PSO) and continues to operate today, providing assistance to former residents who experienced physical and sexual abuse at the orphanage.

The Commissioners are satisfied the Diocese and the Sisters settled compensation claims with former residents despite legal advice they were in a strong position to defeat the claims because of the age of the claims.

Read the full report here.

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

AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

AAP

SADISTIC nuns at a notorious Queensland orphanage dished out abuse in a toxic environment that festered due in part to inadequate government scrutiny, supervision and training, a royal commission has found.

The child sex abuse royal commission last year examined cruel treatment of 13 former residents of St Joseph’s Orphanage at Neerkol, near Rockhampton, which was operated by the Sisters of Mercy between 1940 and 1975.

The men and women – now aged from their 50s to 80s – recalled abuse at Neerkol, ranging from public floggings and being walked on by high heels to being made to drape urine-soaked sheets over their heads.

Commissioners Justice Jennifer Coate, Professor Helen Milroy and Andrew Murray explored the responses of the Sisters of Mercy, the Catholic Diocese of Rockhampton and the Queensland government to complaints, which had often fell on deaf ears.

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

UNITED STATES
WBUR – CommonHealth

One day when we were in first grade and sitting on a rickety wooden bench under a large oak tree in her backyard, my best friend’s mother called her to come inside.

A few minutes later, I heard wailing like an animal being gutted. Squinting my eyes and looking perplexed, I turned to my friend’s younger sister who was sitting beside me. She whispered, “She’s just getting beat.” Beat? What’s that, I wondered. She explained. Depending on the severity of their perceived wrongdoings, they were administered one of three levels of physical punishment: a stick, a belt or a big slab of wood. Their parents had moved from Ireland to our small suburb in New Jersey.

The Catholic schools the parents had attended as children in Ireland were very strict and the nuns reportedly beat them until their knuckles bled. Here, as parents in New Jersey, they told their daughters to strip naked and mercilessly receive corporal punishment. (I learned this from her sister, and over the years, from my friend.)

This was not a onetime event. These were repeated, deliberate acts.

The occurrences did not seem to have predictable patterns, so my friend, I’ll call her Heather, couldn’t prepare herself for them. And the negative psychological effects for her were deep. Over time, Heather became highly anxious, constantly got in trouble at school, and started a pattern of severe substance misuse that led to even further problems, particularly violations at the hands of men and boys.

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

AUSTRALIA
Daily Life

April 21, 2016

Ruby Hamad

This week, a Melbourne Catholic priest compared priests who sexually abuse children to women who have extra-marital affairs. Apparently trying to make a point about mercy in the face of public outrage, Father Bill Edebohls, head of schools in his parish in East Malvern, referenced the tale of the adulterous woman spared from stoning by Jesus with the words, “He who is without sin. Let him cast the first stone at her.”

“For our generation, where adultery is not regarded as a crime – and many have lost the moral sense of the destructive harm adultery does to family and community… we probably don’t get the power of the gospel story,” he wrote.

“Remember this was a sin, a crime that carried the death penalty… Maybe to get the real drama and effect of the story we ought to replace the adulterous woman with a paedophile priest. Then we might begin to understand the mob eager to stone and the outrageous and profligate mercy and compassion of God ever ready to forgive,” he concluded.

It’s not the first time a clergyman’s words have minimised clerical child abuse by reminding everyone that women are the real enemy; Cardinal George Pell once called abortion a “worse moral scandal than priests sexually abusing young people.”

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

MISSOURI
St. Louis Review

By Joseph Kenny | jkenny@archstl.org | twitter:@josephkenny2

Parishes where suspended archdiocesan priest Father Thomas Graham served are being notified of a decades-old but recently reported allegation of sexual abuse against him.

The sexual abuse, deemed credible by the archdiocese’s Review Board, occurred in the 1980s at St. Alban Roe Parish in Wildwood, where Father Graham was serving as pastor. The Review Board advises the archbishop on matters related to sexual abuse by clergy and other archdiocesan personnel in order to provide assistance to those who have been abused and to ensure that those who have done harm are not allowed to do so again.

Due to a separate allegation from the 1970s, Father Graham, 82, is already on permanent administrative leave and is canonically suspended, which prohibits him from engaging in priestly ministry, including presenting himself publicly as a priest, wearing clerical attire, offering Mass publicly or administering the sacraments.

In 2006, the Missouri Supreme Court reversed a conviction of Father Graham, who had been found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison a year earlier for sexually abusing a minor in the 1970s.

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

PERU
El Comercio

[Alessandro Moroni, current superior general of the Sodality of Christian Life, traveled to Rome to bring the final report of the Ethics Commission for Justice and Reconciliation which investigated suspected sexual, physical and psychological abuse allegedly committed by founder Louis Fernando Figari and other sodality members.]

El actual superior general del Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana, Alessandro Moroni, viajó a Roma y llevó consigo el informe final de la Comisión de Ética para la Justicia y la Reconciliación convocada por el Sodalicio y que acumuló toda la información en torno a la denuncia sobre los abusos sexuales, físicos y sicológicos perpetrados presuntamente por miembros de esta institución, entre ellos su fundador Luis Fernando Figari.

A través de un video grabado en Roma, Moroni señaló que llegó a esta ciudad para ponerse a disposición de la Iglesia. “He traído el informe de la comisión ética, que a pesar del primer dolor que me causó describe con mucha claridad el sufrimiento de las personas que hemos herido”, señaló el superior general del Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana.

Agregó que también presentará el reporte preliminar de los investigadores extranjeros y que el informe del visitador apostólico está en poder de la Santa Sede. “En estos momentos tan complicados pedimos oraciones. Estamos en manos de la Iglesia, que son las mejores manos”.

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

MINNESOTA
Wanseca County News

By NANCY MADSEN nmadsen@stpeterherald.com

Waseca’s Church of the Sacred Heart parish and school were named in two lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by two church leaders.

“The claims being brought forward do not involve anyone currently at our parish or anyone active in ministry in the Diocese of Winona,” an April 15 letter to parishioners from the church’s current priest, Father Gregory Leif said.

In one lawsuit, Sister Benen Kent was accused of abusing possibly two minors from 1958-61, when she was at Sacred Heart parish. Kent died in 2003. Abuse by her involving at least two girls was publicized and the subject of a lawsuit against the Sisters of St. Francis in Rochester. That order was responsible for the administration of Sacred Heart School beginning in 1905.

In the other, Father Joseph Mountain was accused of abuse from 1988-95. He was priest at the church then. Mountain is now retired.

The diocese has not yet included the two on a list of those credibly accused of child sexual abuse.

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

MISSOURI
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

ST. LOUIS • A retired Roman Catholic priest who has previously been accused of sexual abuse is facing new allegations.

The Archdiocese of St. Louis is informing the region’s Catholic community that a new allegation was recently reported against the Rev. Thomas J. Graham. The alleged abuse occurred in the 1980s St. Alban Roe Catholic Church in Wildwood.

According to a statement from the archdiocese, Graham is already on permanent administrative leave which prohibits him from engaging in ministry.

In 2005 Graham was convicted for allegedly engaging in oral sex with a teenager at the Old Cathedral downtown in the 1970s. He was sentenced to 20 years.

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

NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

Only one New York City prosecutor is brave, wise and caring enough to advocate repealing the state’s archaic child sex abuse deadline that endangers kids and helps predators.

[New York Daily News]

This is yet another reason why fixing the predator-friendly civil statute of limitations is crucial – because often, prosecutors are timid about taking on tough child sex cases against powerful institutions. When this happens, victims of horrific childhood sexual violence need and deserve the chance to expose wrongdoers in civil courts.

And often, prosecutors charge only those who commit abuse, not those who conceal it. So the perpetrator is exposed but the enablers – those who conceal the crimes – get off scot-free.

Often, supervisors and colleagues who protect child molesters are exposed only through civil lawsuits. And when they are exposed, others who are tempted to keep quiet about or cover up child sex crimes are deterred.

We applaud Queens District Attorney Richard Brown for his courage and compassion in backing this sorely-needed, long-overdue reform that will better safeguard New York children. We hope other New York prosecutors start moving more aggressively to stop child rapists.

It’s true that, over time, memories fade, witnesses die and evidence gets stale. (That’s true of all kinds of crime, not just child sexual abuse, so should we stop all prosecution of all crimes, because prosecuting criminals is tough?)

It’s also true that over time, scientific and forensic advances make some prosecution easier. And over time, more and more victims of one child molester gain the strength and courage to step forward, so sometimes dozens of devastated young adults are willing to pursue charges against a serial predator but can’t in New York because of an arbitrary, rigid and tight deadline.

And it’s true that some types of criminal cases are harder to win. That doesn’t mean, however, that those crime victims should all be barred from any kind of justice.

Over time, we’ve changed laws and practices to better address more complex crimes like terrorism, drug cartels and financial fraud. We can and must do the same with child sex abuse and cover ups.

Now the burden is on Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark and the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York (headed by Robyn Pangi). One in four girls in their jurisdictions will be molested. So will one in eight boys.

So if these prosecutors aren’t backing the one reform most sought by crime victims, what ARE these prosecutors pushing in Albany to stop his horror?

Imagine if one in four NYC cars owned by women were stolen, or if one in eight NYC apartments rented by men were burglarized. Prosecutors would jump into action.

But one in four girls and one in four boys in New York City are raped, sodomized or fondled.

No matter what prosecutors, lawmakers or church officials do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in churches or institutions to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling law enforcement, get justice by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.

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

ARKANSAS
Associated Press

JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) — A former Arkansas children’s pastor has been given two life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole in the rape of two young girls.

The Jonesboro Sun (http://bit.ly/1SmgsEB ) reports 39-year-old Anthony Waller pleaded guilty and was sentenced Tuesday.

Waller is a former employee of what used to be First Assembly of God Church in Jonesboro. Police say the girls were repeatedly raped in several locations, including the church.

Waller still faces 50 counts of video voyeurism and one count of child pornography.

A police detective testified he found 400,000 images of child pornography and videos of young females inside the church bathroom on an external hard drive of Waller’s. The detective says he found holes in the ceiling of the church bathroom and a place for a hidden camera nearby.

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

ARKANSAS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 503 0003 cell, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org)

A Jonesboro church employee was sentenced yesterday for repeatedly raping the two girls but still faces charges of video voyeurism and child pornography.

[Associated Press]

Now, we challenge First Assembly of God Church staff and members to aggressively reach out to find others who saw, suspected or suffered crimes by Anthony Waller.

Why?

Because church officials gave Waller access to kids
Because Waller faces more charges
Because police and prosecutors need help pursuing predators
Because the more law enforcement knows about a criminal the more appropriately he can be sentenced.

Current and former First Assembly of God members and employees have both a civic and moral duty to “beat the bushes” to find and help other with information or suspicions about Waller and prod them to call police.

It’s immoral of them to sit back, do nothing, and leave the burden of keeping Waller away from kids to his victims and our court system.

Want more reasons they must act?

Because the girls were raped at the church
Because police found 400,000 images of child pornography and video of girls on Waller’s computer
Because some of the videos of the young girls were taken inside the church bathroom
Because holes were found in the church bathroom’s ceiling and a place for hiding a camera nearby
Because often child predators exploit technicalities and escape conviction
Because once convicted, often child predators get light sentences and later abuse again

It’s especially crucial that church staff and members seek out those who’ve left the church. Those families, who suddenly stopped coming to services, are most likely the ones whose kids were hurt or who suspected abuse, took action and were punished or ostracized or criticized.

All too often, in these cases,

–church officials and members do little or nothing to help police and prosecutors nail predator
–there are others in the church who ignored or hid these crimes
–those supervisors, colleagues and congregants can sometimes be prosecuted, and
–when they ARE charged and convicted, it deters other adults in other institutions who are tempted to disregard or conceal knowledge or suspicions of child sex crimes.

So First Assembly staff and congregants, summon some strength and do what the Bible taught us – go out into the cold and the dark and the rain and find the lost and wounded sheep. It’s what Jesus would do.

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

INDIANA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, April 20, 2016

For more information: David Clohessy 314-566-9790, davidgclohessy@gmail.com, Barbara Dorris 314 503 0003, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org

Abuse case sparks controversy
Victims write to Indy congregants
Group says child was abused by older teen
It wants open public meeting and more training
SNAP: “We suspect police weren’t promptly called”

A support group for abuse victims believes a child was recently molested by a member of an Indianapolis church and urging congregants to prod church staff to be more forthcoming about the incident.

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are writing to hundreds of members of Southport Presbyterian Church church says the organization “strongly suspects that law enforcement wasn’t promptly or properly notified” about the alleged abuse of a youngster in the church by an older teenager.

SNAP is “begging” church members to share any information or suspicions about possible child sex crimes or cover ups with police or prosecutors immediately,” saying it’s their “civic and moral duty.”

“All of us must share what we know, believe or have heard about possible child sex crimes with the experienced, impartial professionals in law enforcement,” the letter says. “When church members or staff take it on themselves to try and handle sensitive matters like sexual misconduct quietly and internally – even if they’re well-intentioned – it’s almost always a recipe for disaster.

“Several concerned individuals have asked for our help, so we thought this letter would be a positive first step,” said Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, the organization’s outreach director. “We work to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded and deter the cover ups, and we hope some congregants will help us do this here.”

Church officials, SNAP says, should

—pay for “on-going counseling for the victim(s) from independent sources chosen by his/her family,”
—provide mandatory training for all staff and volunteers on how to prevent abuse and respond appropriately abuse reports, and
—hire an independent outsider or outside agency to “launch a thorough inquiry into which church staff and/or members knew what and when” and “include clear recommendations for making the church a safer place for all, now and in the future.”

Church members, SNAP says, should ask their youngsters “if anyone in the church – congregant, volunteer or staff member – ever touched them in a way that made them feel uncomfortable” and should “reach out to former church members and staff” and ask the same question.

“Often, when a youngster is hurt by a predator in a church, his or her family stop coming to services,” the letter contends. “Rarely do they explain why. So think about families who once came to church regularly and suddenly stopped coming. And contact them in a sensitive, loving way.”

“In every case of suspected child sex crimes, it’s safest and easiest to do nothing. But that’s irresponsible and endangers kids and helps predators,” said David Clohessy, SNAP’s director. “That temptation – to passively sit back and trust others to take action – is what we hope our letter will help overcome.”

Instead, SNAP advocates calling “independent, experienced and unbiased secular officials with any information or suspicions at all,” Clohessy said.

“It’s our job to share what we know or suspect about abuse with law enforcement,” the letter says. “It’s THEIR job to investigate and, if appropriate, to act. So do not assume that what you have seen, heard or suspected about wrongdoing is too vague, too old or too insignificant to be helpful.”

Church members should “ignore church staff or elders who caution against ‘gossip,’ because while “gossip is sometimes hurtful” silence about child sex abuse reports is “much worse” because “those who commit or conceal child sex crimes count on silence.”

And congregants should “resist talk of forgiveness,” SNAP advises. “Forgiveness is healthy but only AFTER the innocent are protected, predators are exposed and wrongdoers are held responsible. Premature forgiveness endangers kids and protects predators.”

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

INDIA
Scroll.in

Officials of the Catholic Church in the Tamil Nadu region of Udhagamandalam have denied that they have reinstated a priest who recently served a prison sentence for sexually abusing a minor in the United States.

A lawsuit filed on Tuesday in a federal court in Minnesota, US, claims that the Diocese of Ootacamund (or Ooty, as it is known colloquially) has put Indian children at risk by reinstating Joseph Jeyapaul, a priest who spent one year in a US jail for sexually abusing a girl during his posting at a church in Crookston, Minnesota, between 2004 and 2005.

Jeyapaul returned to India in late 2015 after serving his sentence. In January, the Diocese of Ootacamund, as the church refers to its administrative district in Udhagamandalam, lifted his suspension from the ministry after getting approval from the Vatican. News of his reinstatement prompted a 26-year-old American woman, who was allegedly raped by Jeyapaul in 2004, to file a lawsuit against the Diocese. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a US-based advocacy group, also condemned the Vatican’s decision to lift the suspension of the “predator priest” as an “irresponsible” move that would endanger more children.

An official at the Ootacamund Diocese, however, told Scroll.in that Jeyapaul has not been reinstated in a manner that would endanger children. “He is not reinstated, he has just been granted a residence for his stay,” said Father Selvanathan, the media spokesperson for the Ootacamund Diocese. “He will not hold any post or have any responsibilities.”

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

INDIA/MINNESOTA
New Zealand Herald

Thursday Apr 21, 2016

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) A Catholic diocese in southern India is consulting attorneys about a lawsuit filed against it in the U.S. after it re-assigned a priest who was convicted of child sex abuse in Minnesota.

The federal lawsuit was filed in Minnesota this week on behalf of Megan Peterson, who says the Rev. Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul abused her in 2004 when he served at her church in Greenbush, Minnesota. Peterson was 14 or 15 years old at the time.

Peterson said at a news conference Tuesday in Minnesota that she felt “abused, degraded and re-victimized all over again” when she learned that Bishop Arulappan Amalraj lifted Jeyapaul’s suspension in February after consulting with the Vatican.

“Children deserve to be protected in India and nobody is doing this at this point,” Peterson said.

Her lawsuit seeks unspecified damages in excess of $75,000 from the Ootacamund Diocese in India’s Tamil Nadu state.

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

CANADA
The Telegram

Barb Sweet
Published on April 20, 2016

Mount Cashel civil trial recessed until June

The confidential seal of the confessional cannot be broken by a priest, but there are other options for a priest who hears of a sexual abuse allegation there, a witness suggested in Newfoundland Supreme Court today.

The priest risks ex-communication if he divulges what was said to him in confession, Fr. Thomas Doyle, a canon lawyer from the Washington D.C. area, told claimants’ lawyer Geoff Budden in the Mount Cashel civil trial.

The seal means nothing the confessor says in confession can be revealed in any way.

The John Doe lawsuit against the RC Episcopal Corp. of St. John’s seeks compensation and involves four test cases that claim the church should be held liable for the physical and sexual abuse of boys at the orphanage by certain Christian Brothers during the period late 1940s to early 1960s. The test cases represent about 60 claimants in the case being pursued by Budden and Associates.

The church contends it did not run the orphanage, therefore is not responsible for actions of the lay order Christian Brothers there.

Doyle said the most ordinary option taken by priests being told of abuse has been to tell the confessor to avoid the situation and to take penance.

Another option – in the case of a boy telling a priest in confession about being abused at an institution — would be for a priest to advise the boy to go to an authority at the institution and reveal what happened.

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

VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register

by EDWARD PENTIN
04/20/2016

VATICAN CITY — Just over four months since the Vatican announced that the Vatican would be subjected to an external audit by one of the world’s leading accounting firms, the Secretariat of State has said that it is pulling the plug on the initiative.

The Vatican announced the decision to suspend the audit, carried out by accountancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers, in a letter sent to all Vatican entities this week.

On Dec. 5, the Vatican revealed that Pope Francis’ had brought in the auditing firm on the advice of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy in a bid to reform Holy See finances and make them more transparent after a number of scandals. The audit began immediately after the announcement.

News of the audit’s suspension comes as an article appeared in today’s Italia Oggi newspaper alleging that a possible replacement for Jean Baptiste De Franssu, the current president of the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), colloquially known as the Vatican Bank, had turned down an offer.

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

AUSTRALIA
Manny Waks

I am writing this post having just completed one of the four weekly therapy sessions which I am currently undergoing in Israel.

Earlier this morning I read an article in The Guardian entitled “What does depression feel like? Trust me – you really don’t want to know”. Much of it resonated with me, perhaps more than any other article I’ve read about depression. I set off for my therapy session feeling empowered, positive and happy.

Just before entering my session, a friend forwarded me an email from the Board of Trustees of Yeshivah, which included the updated recommendations of their Governance Review Panel (GRP) and the proposed governance restructure at Yeshivah. I couldn’t get myself to read it at that stage; I preferred to push it off a little. I’ve become accustomed to the negative impact these emails have on me so I try to read them when I’m in a safe space.
​
As I lay on the treatment bed and commenced my session, I spoke to my therapist about how uplifted I had felt this morning, mainly as a result of reading The Guardian article. I then mentioned the Yeshivah email. What happened next was quite unexpected. My heart started beating uncontrollably, my legs were shaking and I was overcome with emotion. All indications had been that the GRP were going to recommend the ongoing involvement of the Trustees in the new governance structure and I knew when I got this email that my worst fears were being confirmed. My body reacted involuntarily to the realisation that after everything that had happened over the last few years, and despite the pleas of so many victims, the seven remaining Trustees of Yeshivah are still refusing to simply go. Rather, they are proposing to formally embed themselves in the running of the Yeshivah Centre for the next few years, and in the case of Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Groner, for life (as per the previous GRP recommendations, which I didn’t expect would change).

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

UNITED STATES
New York Times

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
APRIL 20, 2016

I have interviewed many survivors of child sexual abuse over many years, but this was the first time I had ever interviewed a survivor who was also a politician. State Representative Mark Rozzi sat behind his office desk at the State Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa. As he spoke he fidgeted with a small figurine he kept on his desk — a little dog with four heads, all snarling — a gift from a fellow survivor. We were discussing his long fight trying to pass legislation to make it easier for survivors to press charges and file lawsuits against their abusers.

Well into the interview I asked him to tell me what had happened to him as a child. “The abridged version,” I said. I had read his story elsewhere, but needed to hear it directly from him, even though I knew it would not play a big part in the article I planned to write. I figured that as a politician, he would have a well-practiced, pithy rendition.

Twenty-five minutes of unrelenting trauma later, we had still gotten only as far as high school. Then, just as Mr. Rozzi was saying, “I’m going to tell you something I have never talked about to a reporter” — at that very moment — there was a knock at the door and his executive assistant came in to tell us that another legislator was waiting in the vestibule. Interview over.

As I rushed to gather up my notebook, laptop and recorder, I realized I had no idea what he was about to reveal, but I had just gotten the answer to another question I am often asked: Why does the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church never seem to go away? Why is it still a story? It has been 31 years since National Catholic Reporter, an independent Catholic publication, broke the first story, about a serial abuser in Louisiana. It has been 22 years since I reported my first article about abusive priests (out on an Indian pueblo in New Mexico, for The Washington Post). Why is the news media still covering this?

The answer lies with the victims. Many, like Mr. Rozzi, are resilient and accomplished. (He is a businessman, a husband and a father, as well as a legislator.) Some are basket cases, unable to hold down a job or romantic relationship. But no matter where they are on this spectrum, the abuse they suffered is often so searing that it is the formative experience of their lives. Even if they have supportive family and friends, a financial cushion and plenty of time in therapy — all big “ifs” — they never entirely leave it behind.

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

CANADA
The Globe and Mail

GLORIA GALLOWAY
OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail
Published Monday, Apr. 18, 2016

The federal government must pick up the tab for more than $20-million in compensation to survivors of Indian residential schools after its lawyer allowed the Catholic Church to renege on its obligations, according to the former national chief whose advocacy resulted in the largest class-action settlement in Canadian history.

Phil Fontaine, who has spoken publicly about the abuses he suffered as a child at one of the schools, helped to negotiate the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement and says the government must ensure that its terms are met.

“The government is ultimately responsible for meeting all of the financial obligations,” Mr. Fontaine told The Globe and Mail on Monday in response to the news that miscommunication by a federal lawyer allowed the Catholic Church to walk away from its promise to try to raise $25-million to pay for healing and reconciliation programs for the survivors.

“I don’t know about legally, but there’s a moral obligation here,” Mr. Fontaine said. “We’re dealing with close to 80,000 survivors and it’s important for them that they be treated fairly and justly.”

The 50 Catholic organizations – known legally as the Catholic entities – that ran many of the schools collected a combined $3.7-million as part of a seven-year campaign in which their lawyer says they made their “best efforts” to raise $25-million as spelled out in the settlement agreement. The entities also had to pay an additional $29-million in cash and to provide $25-million in “in-kind” services – obligations that have been met.

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

CANADA
CBC News

By Hilary Bird, CBC News Posted: Apr 19, 2016

Northern aboriginal leaders say they are furious that a court ruling let Catholic groups off the hook from fundraising tens of millions of dollars for healing programs for former students of residential schools.

The 2006 Indian Residential School Settlement required Catholic groups to pay compensation for its role in the abuse and trauma inflicted on thousands of aboriginal children.

The agreement required the Catholic entities to pay $29 million in cash to the now defunct Aboriginal Healing Foundation, $25 million in “in-kind” services, and to try and fundraise $25 million for healing programs for former students.

Pierre Baribeau, a lawyer for the Catholic groups told CBC that raising $25 million was simply a goal and that the settlements agreement states the Catholic groups were only obligated to put in their “best efforts.”

The Catholic entities were able to raise about $4 million of that $25 million goal.

“We had a very difficult time convincing public corporations to consider giving money to a Catholic-related foundation,” Baribeau said.

“Unfortunately, we did not get as much as one would have expected. The efforts were there and a lot of money was put into the campaign also.”

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

CANADA
The Globe and Mail

JULIEN GIGNACERIC ANDREW-GEE
The Globe and Mail
Published Tuesday, Apr. 19, 2016

Vivian Ketchum, 51

Attended Cecilia Jeffrey residential school in Kenora, Ont., in the early 1970s.

News of the Catholic entities’ unfulfilled financial obligations made Vivian Ketchum “extremely angry,” she said. The money, she believes, could be used for a 24-hour youth crisis centre in Kenora, where indigenous youth suicide is epidemic.

“Why walk away from the table? Our youth are dying,” she said. “That’s basically what I’ve got to say.”

Ms. Ketchum was 5 or 6 when she was taken – under circumstances she doesn’t remember – from her home in Northern Ontario to the nearby residential school in Kenora.

She said she was abused by a “house mother,” who hit her with a shoe when Ms. Ketchum hid from a dentist appointment she feared. The blow broke one of the girl’s pinkie fingers.

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

CANADA
The Globe and Mail

GLORIA GALLOWAY
OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail
Published Sunday, Apr. 17, 2016

A miscommunication by a federal lawyer allowed the Catholic Church to renege on its obligation to try to raise $25-million to pay for healing programs for the survivors of Indian residential schools.

Of that amount, the Church raised only $3.7-million, and a financial statement suggests less than $2.2-million of that was actually donated to help former students cope with the trauma inflicted by the residential schools.

The legal misstep occurred when Ottawa was pressing the Church to pay the entirety of a related cash settlement stemming from the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, the largest class-action deal in Canadian history.

The failing fundraising effort by the Church, which represented almost a third of its obligation under the settlement, was playing out as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was travelling the country hearing gut-wrenching stories about what occurred behind the walls of the institutions that operated in Canada for more than 100 years.

The landmark settlement agreement required 50 Catholic groups that ran the schools, known in court documents as the Catholic entities, to pay a combined $79-million for their role in the abuse.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A clergyman abused by a former bishop has said he will not cooperate with a review into the Church of England’s investigations.

Peter Ball, 84, was jailed in October for offences against 18 teenagers and young men in the 1970s, 80s and 90s.

One of his victims, Rev Graham Sawyer, said he had taken the decision because “bullying and silencing” were not in the terms of reference of the review.

The Church said the Ball case “was a matter of deep shame and regret”.

In February, it was announced Dame Moira Gibb was chairing an independent review of the Ball case to consider what information was available to the Church, who had it and when.
‘Worrying signal’

Mr Sawyer waived his right to anonymity before Ball, former Bishop of Lewes and Gloucester, was sentenced to 32 months in prison.

He said he objected to the fact the treatment he received from current senior officials in the church would not be covered by the terms of reference of the inquiry.

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

MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson and Associates

Bishop Amalraj, with permission from Pope Francis, returned Jeyapaul to ministry after his sexual abuse conviction in Minnesota

Joseph Jeyapaul Timeline
Peterson Complaint 4-18-16
5-8-2010 Jeyapaul Support Letter – 500 signatures
Jeyapaul – Petition to Enter Guilty Plea
Jeyapaul Photos

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

UNITED STATES
Crux

By John L. Allen Jr.
Editor April 19, 2016

Some Catholics cheered last week, while others were either depressed or outraged, when news broke that Tony Spence, editor of the Catholic News Service (CNS) since 2004, had resigned unexpectedly. The move followed a controversy over three Tweets he posted about religious freedom bills, which critics saw as promoting a pro-LGBT agenda.

CNS is the official news agency of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Spence told media outlets he was informed on Wednesday, April 13, by general secretary Monsignor J. Brian Bransfield that he had “lost the confidence” of the conference.

The ouster came after several Catholic blogs and news outlets seen as sharply conservative took Spence to task. Spence, 63, had served in the bishops’ conference for twenty-five years in a variety of roles, and now says he’s returning to his native Tennessee to ponder other options.

Those inclined to a political reading of things may see Spence’s situtation in tandem with other notable departures at the bishops’ conference, including the resignation of the late Sister Mary Ann Walsh as the bishops’ spokesperson in summer 2014, and the more recent exit of Helen Osman as the conference’s Secretary for Communications.

All three had reputations as moderates, perhaps leaning a bit to the left. Some will style these transitions as a long-overdue opportunity for clarity at the conference, while critics will see them as an ideological putsch, but in any event a change in direction seems fairly evident.

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

ESPANA
La Verdad

ALICIA NEGRE | MURCIA
19 abril 2016

Roberto P. S. admitió este martes ante la Audiencia Provincial de Murcia que abusó de nueve niños de siete años durante 2011. Lo hizo durante su etapa como profesor de Religión en el colegio católico San Vicente de Paul de la pedanía murciana de El Palmar.

El acusado llegó a un acuerdo de conformidad con las partes y, tras asumir los cargos, será condenado a un año de prisión por cada niño. La Fiscalía le reconoció las atenuantes de reparación del daño y dilaciones indebidas.

Una condena de nueve años de cárcel que, sin embargo, tras la última reforma del Código Penal, no le obligará a entrar en prisión. La norma, tras la reforma, establece que las condenas que individualmente no superen los dos años, podrán ser suspendidas siempre que el reo no cuente con antecedentes penales -Roberto P.S. no los tiene- y que las circunstancias lo aconsejen. El tribunal deberá fijar un plazo y, en el caso de que el procesado vuelva a delinquir, tendrá que cumplir estos nueve años de cárcel.

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

SPAIN
The Local

A Spanish Catholic teacher who admitted to molesting nine young children won’t set foot in jail because of a legal loophole.

Catholic school teacher Roberto P. S. admitted before a Murcia judge on Tuesday that he did indeed molest eight girls and one boy, all seven years old at the time, a spokeswoman from the court confirmed to The Local.

But the religion teacher won’t have to go to jail unless he re-offends because of a reform to the criminal code.

Under an agreement reached between the prosecution and defense, because Roberto P. S. testified, he received a jail sentence of one year per child, or nine years total, according to broadcaster Cadena Ser.

But because he received individual sentences of one year, rather than one nine-year sentence, he qualified for a suspended sentence for each one, under a reform to the criminal code.

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

ARGENTINA
La Nacion

[They apprehended a priest accused of sexual abuse of minors.He was denounced by the mother of a three-year-old girl who presented injuries. They also they arrested a school principal.]

José E. Bordón

SANTA FE.- Conmoción en el norte santafecino. Un sacerdote de Reconquista y el director de una escuela de Avellaneda, ambas ciudades del departamento de General Obligado, fueron detenidos en las últimas horas acusados de delitos contra la integridad sexual: en todos los casos, las víctimas son menores.

El sacerdote, identificado por las autoridades como Néstor Monzón, de la Parroquia María Madre de Dios, en el barrio Hospital de Reconquista, quien fue formador de adolescentes en el Preseminario Diocesano, fue detenido cuando regresaba a su parroquia.

El fiscal que investiga el caso, Rubén Martínez, confirmó: “La denuncia fue realizada por la madre de una menor de 3 años, en el Centro de Orientación de Víctimas de Violencia Familiar y Sexual de la Unidad Regional 19a de la policía provincial. Según consta en la denuncia, la niña y su primo, también de 3, fueron manoseados por el sacerdote en su zona anal y genital, en la misma residencia católica en la que vive”, relató.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Yorkshire Post

KNOWING that the man who subjected him to the most appalling abuse during his childhood is at last behind bars might just offer some comfort to Roy Blanchard. The fact that he has waited four decades to see such justice delivered, however, suggests it will be a crumb at best.

For in the intervening years, Mr Blanchard has been condemned to serve his own life sentence. His experience derailed his education and as an adult he grappled with alcoholism, doubtless in an attempt to drown his demons and the memories of the terror that clouded his formative years.

The man responsible for all this, Kenneth Endersby, was a monster. Even worse, he was a monster whose position as a choirmaster afforded him protection from the Church of England. When told of the abuse, local vicar Raymond Ward condemned Roy as a liar and a “filthy, disgusting and degenerate boy”.

The Church has since taken great strides toward ensuring that any inappropriate conduct is exposed, rather than concealed. It is also important to acknowledge that abuse arises in a variety of settings and that the Church is full of kind people who perform sterling work on a daily basis.

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

ARGENTINA
La Gaceta

[The Church has revived research on priest Justo Jose Ilarraz and the interdiocesan Court of Santa Fee will be responsible for taking statements from victims who denounced the priest for sexual abuse.]

PARANÁ.- La Iglesia Católica argentina reactivó su investigación sobre el sacerdote Justo José Ilarraz, quien está siendo procesado por la Justicia entrerriana, acusado de haber abusado sexualmente de varios menores de edad hace 30 años. Además, citó a testigos para que se presenten a declarar en mayo ante el Tribunal Interdiocesano de Santa Fe.

Ilarraz fue acusado por ex seminaristas de haberlos sometido a abusos sexuales mientras estudiaban en el seminario de Paraná que dirigía el sacerdote, entre 1985 y 1993, cuando los pupilos eran menores de edad.

La decisión de la Iglesia de avanzar con la investigación interna se produjo dos semanas después de que el Tribunal de Apelaciones de la Justicia de Paraná confirmara el procesamiento de Ilarraz.

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

AUSTRALIA
Goulburn Post

LOUISE THROWER
April 20, 2016

ARCHBISHOP Christopher Prowse on Friday apologised for what had happened to “innocent men, their families and communities” at Brother William Standen’s hands.

The Christian Brother has pleaded guilty to 17 charges of indecent assault and one act of indecency against boys aged 12-14 while he was a dormitory master at a Catholic School from 1978-81. He is awaiting sentence.

The Archbishop’s apology followed Standen’s sentencing hearing on Sydney on Friday.

While the Christian Brothers operate autonomously to the Archdiocese, the man appointed to head up a newly created protection body said the Archbishop felt impelled to act.

“His position is that the abuse occurred and there are people in the Archdiocese who were were either victims or were impacted by it,” Matt Casey said.

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

TEXAS
KURV

Prosecutors and defense attorneys gathered in court Tuesday for a pretrial hearing in the 1960 Irene Garza murder case. Attorneys for the man charged with killing her, former McAllen priest John Feit, filed several routine motions, but also asked the judge to grant them access to Sacred Heart Catholic Church, where Feit heard the 25-year-old Garza’s confession the night she was raped and killed. 92nd District Court Judge Luis Singleterry granted the request. However, no decision was made on a bond reduction requested by the defense.

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

VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Apr. 19, 2016

VATICAN CITY
A group of prominent global Catholic theologians, priests and bishops who have been criticized by the Vatican’s chief doctrinal office have come together to call for a new process for theological investigations in the church that would be marked by openness and transparency instead of deep secrecy.

In a letter sent to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith last month, the theologians argue that current procedures for investigations — characterized often by a lack of adequate defense or possibility of appeal — are “contrary to natural justice and in need of reform.”

The writers sharply criticize current practice. They say that current norms are outdated and follow a model based on “the absolutism of sixteenth and seventeenth century Europe.” They identify that:

*The person under investigation is not allowed to meet or speak to their accusers;
* The doctrinal office often acts as “investigator, accuser, judge and jury” and also imposes any penalties and hears any appeals;
* The accused is often not in direct contact with the Vatican — the doctrinal office rather works through the person’s religious superior or bishop, and;
* Procedures can “drag on for years, with sometimes negative consequences for the mental and physical health of the accused.”

The last point carries special significance, as many who have been investigated by the Vatican describe the process as particularly debilitating.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Yorkshire Evening Post

TONY GARDNER
Wednesday 20 April 2016

AN ‘arrogant’ choirmaster and former magistrate has been jailed more than half a century after he began the relentless sexual abuse of a choirboy at a church in Leeds.

Kenneth Endersby was allowed to evade justice for decades after the vicar at St Stephen’s church in Kirkstall helped him cover up the abuse when it first came to light.

How Leeds church helped cover up abuse scandal

ABUSE VICTIM: “I can still remember the churning in my stomach the very first time he attacked me.”

Victim Roy Blanchard was called a liar and a “filthy, disgusting and degenerate boy” by Rev Raymond Ward after his family reported Endersby to the church when he was aged 15 back in 1970.

Rev Ward also made veiled threats to Mr Ward’s mother, telling her that life would be made very difficult for her family if she went to the police.

Mr Blanchard, now 64, bravely waived his right to anonymity to talk to the YEP about the devastating impact the abuse has had on his adult life and the torment he has suffered at not being believed for so many years.

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

ILLINOIS
Daily Northwestern

Mariana Alfaro, Web Editor
April 20, 2016 •

Journalists Walter Robinson and Sacha Pfeiffer, winners of the Pulitzer Prize for their Boston Globe series that uncovered Roman Catholic Church sexual abuse cases, said they never expected to discover such deep networks of corruption when they first started working on the story. Last year, their work was adapted into the Academy Award-winning film “Spotlight.”

Robinson and Pfeiffer spoke Tuesday night to about 250 students after a screening of the film hosted by A&O Productions and Studio 22. During the Q&A session, moderated by Medill Prof. Mei-Ling Hopgood, Robinson and Pfeiffer spoke about their experiences writing the story and collaborating with the film’s actors and creators more than a decade after.

“This may be … perhaps the first major investigative story of the Internet age,” Robinson said. “It went viral. Within a day or two we were getting phone calls and emails literally from all over the world … the story just exploded.”

In the film, Michael Keaton plays Robinson, who led the Boston Globe’s 2002 coverage of the scandal, which resulted in international outrage against the Catholic Church and the resignation of Boston’s Archbishop. Rachel McAdams plays Pfeiffer, a portrayal the journalist said was “uncanny.”

Pfeiffer said the film reminded her of the power of Hollywood because she continues to receive emails from viewers worldwide who might have been unaware of the scandal before, even though the story was published more than a decade ago. Even the Catholic Church, she said, had a more positive reaction to the film than to the original story.

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

JAPAN
South China Morning Post

Associated Press

Former students at a prestigious all-boys parochial school allege they were molested or raped by religious brothers who taught there decades ago. One former student says he was raped in the chapel by two brothers when he was 11

The Roman Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal has stretched into one of the least Catholic countries: Japan, where former students at a prestigious all-boys parochial school allege they were molested or raped by religious brothers who taught there decades ago.

Three former students at St Mary’s International School in Tokyo said they were sexually abused by brothers there. One described “health checkups” in which a brother touched boys’ testicles. Another says he was raped in the chapel by two brothers at age 11.

That former student received an in-person apology from one of the men, Brother Lawrence Lambert, in 2014. The former student’s account of the meeting suggests Lambert might have initially confused him with yet another victim whose assault went unreported.

The former student said the school sent Lambert away after the 1965 attack, only to have him return to serve as elementary-school principal for nearly two decades.

Allegations from former students have been published in an English-language Tokyo newspaper but otherwise have received little attention in Japan. There are only about 500,000 Catholics in the country of 127 million, and the school is aimed at foreigners like the three former students rather than Japanese.

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

WISCONSIN
Kenosha News

BY DENEEN SMITH
dsmith@kenoshanews.com

A Twin Lakes pastor charged with child enticement sent extremely sexually explicit text messages to a person he believed was a 13-year-old girl he met online before attempting to meet her in person, according to court documents.

Joshua C. Scheil, 28, pastor of Hope Lutheran Church in Twin Lakes, was charged with use of a computer to facilitate a sex crime, attempted child enticement and causing a child under 13 to view or listen to sexual activity.

A representative of Hope Lutheran Church said the church could not comment on the charges, referring calls to the South Wisconsin District synod offices. A call to the president of that office was not returned.

Scheil has been pastor of the Twin Lakes church since July 2013. Twin Lakes police said no local complaints have been brought to the department’s attention.

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

CANADA
The Telegram

Barb Sweet
Published on April 19, 2016

If the archbishop of St. John’s knew of a serious problem or something criminally wrong going on at an orphanage or such institutions, he had the right to visit the facility and intervene, an expert in canon law testified at the Mount Cashel civil trial Tuesday at Newfoundland Supreme Court.

Father Thomas Doyle was accepted as a witness for the plaintiffs in the civil case — four former residents of the orphanage who have testified previously at the trial.

The John Doe lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corp. of St. John’s seeks compensation and involves four test cases that claim the church should be held liable for the physical and sexual abuse of boys at the orphanage by certain Christian Brothers during the period of the late 1940s to early 1960s. The test cases represent about 60 claimants in the case being pursued by Budden and Associates.

The church contends it did not run the orphanage, and therefore is not responsible for actions there of the lay order Irish Christian Brothers.

The church is expected to call its own canon law expert, but Doyle, a Washington, D.C.-area canon lawyer, interpreted the Catholic laws as giving archbishops power and responsibility over clergy and lay people in his archdiocese, to safeguard their spiritual and moral welfare.

“The archbishop’s responsibility reaches to anyone in his territory. In this case it would certainly include the boys at Mount Cashel as well as the Christian Brothers,” Doyle told the court during questioning by Geoff Budden.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Courier Times

By SUE A. FUGATE

The thought of child sexual abuse, past or present, stirs fear and anger. The recent grand jury report about crimes that date back as far as the 1950s in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown is the latest revelation.

I won’t pretend to know the pain a survivor of abuse experiences or the helplessness their families feel, but as a mother of two, I do empathize with their suffering and support their need for healing.

In the name of healing, some legislators have proposed to change Pennsylvania law and, in effect, open a window that would waive the civil statute of limitations for some — but not all — abuse survivors. To that, I respond as an attorney. I can’t ignore the law, nor should any elected official pledged to serving the public good.

Unless we face some uncomfortable truths, the Legislature will end up creating two classes of child victims in the name of emotional expedience. It will financially penalize innocent families — members of churches and parish communities — who had nothing to do with past evil actions by a criminal few.

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

AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail

By EMILY CRANE FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Hundreds of church child sex abuse cases dating back decades are being reported to police again because the victim’s names were never given to authorities to properly investigate.

The Catholic church in NSW has stopped a controversial procedure known as ‘blind reporting’, which meant police were never given the victim’s name when the church passed on a child sex abuse allegation.

The practice of blind reporting meant many abuse allegations could not be investigated.

Documents obtained under freedom of information by NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge show NSW Police has received 1,476 blind reports of child sex abuse in NSW since 2009 – many of which relate to the Catholic church.

The church is now going back over their blind reports and giving the names of victims to police.
‘By accepting the Catholic church’s practice of blind reporting, police allowed victims to be denied justice and abusers to escape conviction,’ Mr Shoebridge told Daily Mail Australia.

‘One of the key problems with blind reports is that the police’s own protocol says when they get a blind report they don’t investigate it. They just file it as criminal intelligence and that means perpetrators are not being brought to justice.’

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

INDIA
The Indian Express

A 26-year-old American woman on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against an Indian Bishop for reinstating a Catholic compatriot priest accused of sexually abusing her during his posting in the US between 2004 and 2005.

Attorney Jeff Anderson filed the federal lawsuit in Minnesota against Bishop Amalraj for reinstating Joseph Jeyapaul to ministry after consulting with the Vatican.

The victim said she felt “abused, degraded and re-victimised all over again” when she learned that Amalraj had lifted Jeyapaul’s suspension in February. She told reporters at a news conference in Minnesota that reinstating the Indian priest would endanger kids in India.

Jeyapaul who served as a priest in the Crookston city of Minnesota in 2004 and 2005 was arrested in India in 2012 and extradited to the US on charges of sexually abusing two girls in a congregation.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Northern Echo

Joe Willis, Regional Chief Reporter

AN alleged sex abuse victim has spoken of his anger after the Catholic priest he claims abused him apparently committed suicide hours before he was due to answer bail over historic child sex allegations.

Father Ernest Sands, 67, was found dead at his remote cottage in North Wales last Monday (April 11).

The Northern Echo has learnt prosecutors were looking to charge Mr Sands with the indecent assault of five boys aged between 11 and 15 and the priest was due to answer bail later that day.

The offences are alleged to have taken place at St Joseph’s College, in Upholland, near Wigan in the late 1970s and 1980s where Mr Sands was a music teacher.

Father Sands was a renowned musician who wrote several well-known hymns including one, Sing of the Lord’s Goodness, chosen for the enthronement of the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, in 1991.

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

ILLINOIS
North by Northwestern

By Danielle Cohen April 19 2016

They may be the subjects of Spotlight, the 2016 Best Picture Academy Award winner, but journalists Sacha Pfeiffer and Walter Robinson consider themselves anything but Hollywood royalty.

When asked about their Oscars experience, Pfeiffer and Robinson both stifled a laugh onstage Tuesday night in Ryan Auditorium. They recounted their trek up five balconies in Los Angeles’ Dolby Theater to get to what they called “the worst seats in the house.”

Though the two were quick to crack jokes at their complete outsider-ness to the Hollywood world, they also took the opportunity to discuss the importance of their work in a Q&A moderated by Medill Professor Mei-Ling Hopgood. Their conversation, which included questions submitted by students, followed a screening of the award-winning film. Both portions were sponsored by A&O Productions and Studio 22.

For the uninitiated, Spotlight recounts the Boston Globe’s coverage of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church and the investigative team, called – wait for it – Spotlight, that broke the news. Pfeiffer and Robinson were two journalists on that team.

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

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY STEPHEN REX BROWN NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Wednesday, April 20, 2016

One of the city’s district attorneys is in favor of extending the criminal statute of limitations on charges of sexual abuse of children — but the others refused to take a stand.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown’s support of overhauling the oft-maligned law barring criminal charges after the victim turns 23 years old comes as the state Senate considers a bill to do just that.

“We have long been supportive of extending the criminal statute of limitations for young victims of sexual abuse,” Kevin Ryan, a Brown spokesman, told the Daily News.

But other district attorneys were more reluctant to tackle the issue.

The offices of Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark all referred The News to the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York.

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

MINNESOTA
Washington Post

By Associated Press April 19

MINNEAPOLIS — A Catholic priest who was deported to his native India after completing his jail sentence in Minnesota for sexually abusing a child is the subject of a new lawsuit against a diocese in India that allegedly returned him to ministry with Vatican approval.

Attorney Jeff Anderson filed the lawsuit in federal court in Minnesota on Monday on behalf of Megan Peterson, who says the Rev. Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul abused her starting in 2004 when she was 14 or 15 and he was a priest at her church in the northern Minnesota town of Greenbush. Her lawsuit seeks unspecified damages in excess of $75,000 from the Ootacamund Diocese in India’s Tamil Nadu state.

“This is not only shocking, it’s a total break of the pledge Pope Francis has made that he will not return to the practices of the past,” Anderson said.

Peterson said at a news conference Tuesday that she felt “abused, degraded and re-victimized all over again” when she learned that Bishop Arulappan Amalraj lifted Jeyapaul’s suspension in February after consulting with the Vatican.

“Children deserve to be protected in India and nobody is doing this at this point,” Peterson said.

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

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By Jean Hopfensperger Star Tribune APRIL 19, 2016

Megan Peterson was astounded to learn that the Vatican had reinstated a priest from India who was convicted last year of sexually abusing a teenage girl in northern Minnesota.

She took her fight to remove that priest, the Rev. Paul Jeyapaul, to federal court Tuesday, filing a lawsuit to prevent him from “harming the children of India.”

Jeyapaul is among a handful of foreign Catholic priests to be successfully extradited to the United States to face charges of sexually abusing a minor. He pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct against a teenager at his Minnesota parish in 2015.

Peterson accused Jeyapaul of rape and sexual abuse in a civil suit that was settled out of court in 2011.

“This Pope has said that bishops who cover up [sexual abuse] and the offending clerics have no place in the church,” Peterson said at a news conference in St. Paul Tuesday. “I feel like this is a slap in the face.”

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

MINNESOTA
Valley News Live

ST. PAUL (Valley News Live) – A federal lawsuit was filed Tuesday against an Indian Bishop for reinstating a priest convicted of sexual abuse in Minnesota. The federal lawsuit names the Diocese of Ootacamund, India, as defendants.

A press conference was held at the law office of Jeff Anderson & Associates. They say Bishop Amalraj, with permission from Pope Francis, returned Father Joseph Jeyapaul to ministry after his sexual abuse conviction.

Survivor Megan Peterson will spoke publicly about the lawsuit, saying Jeyapaul’s return to ministry endangers kids in India.

In 2015, after his extradition from India, Jeyapaul pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct involving the sexual abuse of a minor girl while he worked in the Diocese of Crookston in 2005.

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

MINNESOTA
New York Daily News

BY MICHAEL O’KEEFFE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Updated: Tuesday, April 19, 2016

A Catholic diocese in India has put children at risk by reinstating the priest who allegedly assaulted a sexual abuse survivor, according to an explosive lawsuit filed Tuesday in Minnesota federal court.

The suit filed by veteran sex abuse attorney Jeff Anderson on behalf of former New Yorker Megan Peterson, who recently moved to Wisconsin, names the Diocese of Ootacamund in southern India as the sole defendant.

“This is about protecting children in India from the callous antics of the bishop of Ootacamund,” said Peterson, a member of the advocacy group SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests).

Peterson, who grew up in Greenbush, Minn., says she was a devout 14-year-old altar server and church choir member when the Rev. Joseph Jeyapaul first raped her in his parish office.

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

UNITED STATES
Washington Post

By Editorial Board
April 19

IN THREE years at the helm of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has been a source of inspiration for millions of faithful around the world. In one critical respect, however, he has fallen short of his own promise: to come fully to terms with decades of child sex abuse by clergymen and the institutional cover granted to them by bishops and cardinals.

Francis has pledged “the zealous vigilance of the Church to protect children and the promise of accountability for all.” Yet there has been scant accountability, particularly for bishops. Too often, the church’s stance has been defiance and obstruction.

In his trip to the United States in the fall, Francis told victims that “words cannot fully express my sorrow for the abuse you suffered.” Yet his initiative to establish a Vatican tribunal to judge bishops who enabled or ignored pedophile priests has come to naught. Not a single bishop has been called to account by the tribunal, which itself remains more notional than real.

Meanwhile, church officials have fought bills in state legislatures across the United States that would allow thousands of abuse victims to seek justice in court. The legislation would loosen deadlines limiting when survivors can bring lawsuits against abusers or their superiors who turned a blind eye. Many victims, emotionally damaged by the abuse they have suffered, do not speak until years after they were victimized; by then, in many states, it is too late for them to force priests and other abusers to account in court.

Eight states have lifted such deadlines, known as statutes of limitations, for victims who are sexually abused as minors. Seven states have gone further, enacting measures allowing past victims — not just current and future ones — to file lawsuits in a finite period of time, generally a two- or three-year window.

In many more states, however, the bishops and their staffs have successfully killed such bills, arguing that it would be unfair to subject the church to lawsuits in which memories and evidence are degraded by the passage of time. Quietly, they also say the church, which has suffered an estimated $3 billion hit in settlements and other costs related to clergy sex abuse scandals nationwide, can ill afford further financial exposure.

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

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Michael Sean Winters | Apr. 19, 2016

The forced resignation of Tony Spence as editor-in-chief of the Catholic News Service is regrettable in the extreme. Spence has been a bulwark for maintaining the editorial independence of CNS, which is its value, even when that independence has rankled some of the bishops. If CNS were to lose its well-earned reputation for independent reporting, it would be worthless.

I normally would not write about a personnel matter. I was not at the meeting at which Spence says his resignation was demanded. Employers often have unspoken rationales for the decisions they make in these situations. But, it seems to me that this incident warrants attention for some reasons that transcend the particulars of the case.

The forced resignation came on the heels of stories in several right-wing blogs that called attention to the fact that Spence had sent out tweets offering a negative judgment on some legislative efforts to restrict LGBT rights. As the editor of a news agency, the tweets were ill-advised and confirmed me in my decision to use my Twitter account solely to send out links to my articles. But, a tweet can be taken down and an employee told not to tweet anymore. I do not see this as an offense worthy of firing. And, let’s not kid ourselves: If Spence had tweeted support for the anti-LGBT laws, I am confident he would still be at his desk this morning.

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

MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — An Indian priest who was convicted of sexual abuse against a minor in Minnesota is now back in ministry.

Father Joseph Jeyapaul was convicted last summer for sexually abusing a girl when he was working at the Blessed Sacrament in Greenbush and St. Joseph’s in Middle River in 2004 and 2005.

Jayapaul was ordained in India and was assigned to the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota.

Now, county attorneys say with permission from the Vatican, Jeyapaul is back to work in India.

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

CANADA
CBC News

A Barrhaven high school teacher has been charged with sexual assault and sexual interference after several incidents involving one of his students earlier this year, Ottawa police say.

A police investigation into Naoum Abi-Samra was launched when the force received allegations the 57-year-old had “made sexual comments and inappropriately touched one of his students,” a media release issued Monday states.

He had been working at Pierre-Savard high school in Barrhaven since September 2012, but was suspended when the central east French Catholic school board, Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est (CECCE), became aware of the allegations on March 11, according to Celine Bourbonnais, the board’s spokesperson.

Prior to working at Pierre-Savard Abi-Samra taught at another CECCE school, but the board would not say which.

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

NEW HAMPSHIRE
ABC News

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CONCORD, N.H. — Apr 19, 2016

A Roman Catholic priest who served as the face of the church in New Hampshire during the sex abuse scandal was granted parole Tuesday on two of his convictions for stealing $300,000 from a hospital, a bishop and a dead priest’s estate. But he’ll still serve at least two more years in jail to complete his full sentence.

Monsignor Edward Arsenault pleaded guilty to three theft charges in 2014. He was granted parole on the first two charges but will not be eligible for parole on the third for two more years.

Prosecutors said Arsenault, who has also been ordered to repay the money, billed the church for lavish meals and travel for himself and often a male partner. He was convicted of writing checks from the dead priest’s estate to himself and his brother and billing Catholic Medical Center $250 an hour for consulting work he never did.

Arsenault held senior positions in the New Hampshire diocese from 1999 to 2009. He had been the top lieutenant for then-Bishop John McCormack, handling both a clergy sexual abuse crisis in New Hampshire and orchestrating the church’s new child protection policies.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By the National Reporting Team’s Natasha Robinson and Alison Branley

Hundreds of cases of child sex abuse going back decades may be reopened after the Catholic Church publicly abandoned a controversial practice known as blind reporting.

Blind reporting occurs when an organisation passes on an allegation of child sex abuse, but strips the report of the name of the victim, meaning police are unable to investigate the report.

NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge has obtained documents under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws that, for the first time, reveal the extraordinary extent of blind reporting, which has potentially allowed hundreds of perpetrators to continue to abuse children.

The ABC has spoken to child sex abuse victims who are angry the allegations they reported to the Catholic Church some years ago were never fully reported to police.

The figures obtained by Mr Shoebridge reveal during the past eight years, NSW Police have received 1,476 blind reports from NSW organisations.

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

TEXAS
KRGV

MCALLEN – A former priest facing charges in a 1960 murder case appeared in court today for a pretrial hearing.

John Feit is accused of killing McAllen school teacher Irene Garza. Garza disappeared after going to confession at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Her body was found in a canal a week later.

In March, a judge set the 83-year-old’s bond at $1 million. Defense attorneys for Feit had filed for a bond reduction. However, the bond reduction wasn’t mentioned in this morning’s hearing.

Instead, defense attorney went over several other motions, which were all approved without any objections from prosecutors. They requested permission to examine all the physical evidence and get a copy of the witness list.

Feit’s attorneys asked the judge for a signed order granting them access to the church and the San Juan pastoral center. The defense lawyer said they were declined access earlier.

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

NEW HAMPSHIRE
NECN

A New Hampshire priest has been granted parole on two charges dealing with the theft of $300,000 from a hospital, a dead priest’s estate and the state’s Roman Catholic bishop.

Monsignor Edward Arsenault pleaded guilty to three theft charges in 2014. He was sentenced to serve concurrent four-to-10 year sentences on two of them; two years were suspended from the minimum of each. He was paroled on those charges Tuesday.

He now starts his third sentence. He would be eligible for parole in two years.

Arsenault held several senior positions in the New Hampshire diocese from 1999 to 2009, when he became president and CEO of Saint Luke Institute in Maryland, resigning in 2013.

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

CANADA
The Telegram

Barb Sweet
Published on April 19, 2016

Newfoundland Supreme Court Justice Alphonsus Faour will make a decision this afternoon on whether Father Thomas Doyle is acceptable as an expert in canon law.

Lawyers argued back and forth late Monday and this morning in a voir dire about whether Virginia, U.S., canon lawyer Doyle should be qualified to testify as an expert in the civil trial.

The trial is to determine whether or not the RC Episcopal Corp. should be held liable for physical and sexual abuse of boys by certain members of the lay order Christian Brothers at the former Mount Cashel orphanage during the era, late 1940s to early 1950s.

The church contends it did not run the orphanage.

Budden and Associates, lawyers for claimants in the case, are seeking to have Doyle testify.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Main Post

[“Church should stand behind the victims”]

Plötzlich ist alles wieder da. Wie ein Blitz aus heiterem Himmel tauchen die Bilder in ihrem Kopf aus dem Jahr 1977 auf. Sie ist wieder das Mädchen von sieben Jahren. Sie sitzt wieder auf dem Schoß des Pfarrers. Sie hört sein Lachen, riecht ihn, spürt seine Finger, die sich in ihre Unterhose, zwischen ihre Beine schieben.

Sie sieht ihren Vater auf der gegenüberliegenden Seite des Tisches. Er unterhält sich mit dem Pfarrer. Auch er lacht. Er bemerkt nichts. Das kleine Mädchen wehrt sich nicht. Es lässt alles geschehen, fühlt sich hilflos. Es weiß aber, dass das, was der Pfarrer tut, keinesfalls richtig ist.

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

MINNESOTA
KSTP

Jennie Lissarrague
Updated: 04/19/2016

The Diocese of Ootacamund, India, is being named in a federal lawsuit after a priest convicted of sexual abuse was reinstated to active ministry.

Prosecutors say the Rev. Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul assaulted a Minnesota girl multiple times in 2004 and 2005, starting when she was 14. Jeyapaul was a priest at the Blessed Sacrament Church in Greenbush, near the Canadian border, at the time.

The attorney’s office says Jeyapaul fled to his native India in August 2005 and continued to serve as a priest. He was arrested in India by Interpol in 2012 and extradited to the U.S. in November 2014.

At that time, an additional fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct charge was filed against him for an Aug. 15, 2005, incident at the Diocese of Crookston.

Jeyapaul pleaded guilty to the fourth-degree charge on May 22, 2015, and was sentenced to one year in prison. The first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge was dismissed.

A church spokesman in India said the suspension of Jeyapaul was lifted in January of this year after the bishop of the Ootacamund Diocese in southern India’s Tamil Nadu state consulted with church authorities at the Vatican.

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

MINNESOTA
KFGO

Tuesday, April 19, 2016 by Jim Monk

MINNEAPOLIS (KFGO-AM) – A federal lawsuit has been filed on behalf of a woman who says she was sexually abused by a Catholic priest in the Crookston Diocese.

Megan Peterson claims that Father Joseph Jeyapaul had sexual contact with her on “multiple occasions.” The complaint says Jeyapaul abused Peterson beginning in 2004 when she was a teenager.

“He had sexually abused Megan and at least one other child in Crookston”according to Peterson’s attorney, Jeff Anderson of Minneapolis. “And now the Vatican and the bishop in India are prepared to return him to ministry. So this complaint was filed to stop that return and protect those children in India, who we know are at risk.”

The lawsuit seeks damages from Jeyapaul’s home diocese in India. Anderson earlier filed a similar lawsuit against the Crookston Diocese. In 2011, that case was settled for $750,000.

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

MINNESOTA
KVRR

Jason Cerjak, Weekend Meteorologist, jcerjak@kvrr.com

CROOKSTON, Minn. –
A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of a woman who says she was sexually abused by a priest in the Crookston Diocese.

Megan Peterson claims Father Joseph Jeyapaul had sexual contact with her multiple times as a teenager in 2004.

Last year, Jeyapaul was deported after he pleaded guilty to a criminal sexual conduct charge in Roseau County.

The lawsuit seeks damages from Jeyapaul’s home diocese in India.

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

VIRGINIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

PRESS STATEMENT

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Statement by Barbra Graber (540-214-8874), mennonite@snapnetwork.org) Anabaptist Mennonite Chapter of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

A statement released on Friday by Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) officials to its students and staff is misleading and depressing.

Their statement comes after a courageous survivor, Lauren Shifflett, wrote a moving account last week of the suffering she endured when EMU vice-president Luke Hartman stalked and abused her during the time she was an EMU student and while he worked at Skyline Middle School in Harrisonburg. He also stalked her while he was VP.

EMU keeps misleading the public by claiming things are in the past. Hartman was a university VP until a few months ago when he was arrested for solicitation of prostitution. A stalking event occurred in 2014 and drove Shifflett, out of fear, to report to congregational leaders at Lindale Mennonite congregation in Harrisonburg, VA, yet Hartman remained in his high position for another year and a half until his arrest in January 2016.

School officials claim they took “disciplinary actions” against Hartman but apparently kept them secret and even now refuse to say what they were. School officials also claim they “learned about [Hartman’s] past behavior” but again, are keeping it secret.

We urge anyone who has seen, suspected or suffered sexual crimes, misconduct or cover ups at EMU or Lindale church (where Hartman has attended) to get help from independent sources.

Institutions have many interests in managing sexual assault internally. Reporting to school or church officials gives them the chance to manipulate victims, threaten whistleblowers, discredit witnesses, destroy evidence, and use lawyers and public relations staff to fixate on “damage control” instead of pastoral outreach to any victims who may still be in hiding.

Such wrongdoing should be reported to the independent professionals in law enforcement and to other independent sources of help like family, friends, specially trained therapists, local crisis centers, and survivor support groups like SNAP. Independent experts are much better able to identify a range of options and paths towards justice and healing.

Lauren’s account posted on the website OurStoriesUntold.com on April 12 and has received nearly 20,000 hits in less than a week. She has received over 150 personal and public messages of gratitude applauding her courage and strength.

We call on EMU’s president and Mennonite Church leaders to be more honest about the Hartman case and to clearly admit that at least one young woman was severely hurt because of the predatory actions of a top school official and the secrecy of other top school and church officials.

You may contact Lauren through her SNAP advocate Barbra Graber at barbra.graber@yahoo.com.

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

UNITED STATES
Christian Today

Ruth Gledhill CHRISTIAN TODAY CONTRIBUTING EDITOR 19 April 2016

A survivor of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest who has been reinstated by the Vatican is to sue the priest’s diocese.

The New York Daily News reported that Megan Peterson’s attorney Jeff Anderson is to file a federal lawsuit against the diocese in India.

Anderson will claim in the suit that the Ootacamund diocese has endangered children by reinstating Father Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul.

Peterson, who says she was a choir member and altar server aged just 14 when she was first raped by the priest in his parish office, told the Daily News in February that she believed the decision to reinstate Jeyapaul gave the paedophile priest a green light to molest children in his native India.

Jeyapaul, who fled to India in 2010 after he was charged with assaulting Peterson and another girl, was arrested in 2012 by Interpol and extradited. He pleaded guilty to sexual assault of the second girl in a plea deal.

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

UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

April 19, 2016 Joelle Casteix

The answer is simple: they thought no one would notice.

When Indian priest Rev. Joseph Jeyapaul pleaded guilty in 2012 to child molestation in the Diocese of Crookston, MN, Jeyapaul’s victims and their supporters (including SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) believed—at first—that they had won a huge victory.

Not only had Jeyapaul fled the US in 2010 when criminal charges were filed, but it took Interpol to bring the Catholic cleric back to the United States from India in 2012.

After pleading guilty, Jeyapaul served a year in prison and was deported back to India … where a year after his return, he has been reinstated as a priest with the approval of the Vatican.

Victim files federal lawsuit

As a result of the reinstatement, one of Jeyapaul’s victims, Megan Peterson, 26, is filing a federal lawsuit—a last-ditch effort to demand transparency about Jeyapaul and an explanation as to why the Vatican and US and Indian bishops are breaking their promises of reform and child safety.

From the NY Daily News:

A former New Yorker who says she was sexually abused by a priest reinstated by the Vatican earlier this year – even though he had pleaded guilty to criminal charges – is expected to file a federal lawsuit against the cleric’s diocese in India.

Minnesota attorney Jeff Anderson will file suit on behalf of Megan Peterson in federal court that claims the Diocese of Ootacamund endangered children by reinstating the Rev. Joseph Jeyapaul to ministry.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
The Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse – FACSA

It was a good day last Wednesday when the full PA House passed overwhelmingly HB 1947.

While the bill did not include all we had wanted and had worked for, it does :

Open a window with no end date for many survivors (those under 50 whenever the law is enacted)

Help expose more predators who have been hiding behind the short time limitations that have been part of PA laws for way too long

Put predators on notice that there will be NO time limits when they will feel safe from being identified and prosecuted if they sexually abuse a child.

But for HB 1947 to become law it has two more steps to go through:

to be passed by the Senate
to be signed by Gov. Wolf.

The House has sent the bill to the Senate, where, once they reconvene after the primary elections on 5/9, it will likely be sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee where its fate is uncertain.

FACSA had a meeting with the committee chair, Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, over a year ago. At that time he was not in support of any legislation that opened a civil window that would allow victims, no matter how long ago the abuse happened, to file a civil suit against the perpetrator, or those who may have covered up the crime. Without support of the chair, this bill could languish in his committee much like it lanquished for almost a decade in the House Judiciary Committee.

Once again, we are asking you and all those you can marshal into action, to do what you can to help move this bill through the state Senate.

Please contact Sen. Greenleaf and the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and ask them to consider and vote out to the full Senate HB 1947 with no changes that would not fully eliminate the criminal statues of limitations nor would add further restrictive limits on when a victim can file a civil suit. Names, phone numbers and email addresses of the committee members are listed below. A new added feature this time is that when you click on the email link, it will open an email window that has the subject and message pre-filled in. You can edit at will. Add your name and address and phone number and anything you want to say. Keep it clear, keep it short, keep it simple.

Please contact your local Senator and ask them to actively lobby in support of HB 1947 as written to be considered by the full Senate and to support it once it reaches the Senate. Find you local state Senator HERE.

If you have the time and inclination, please send an email to each Senator requesting the same. There contact information is listed on our website HERE.
Thanks so much for whatever you can do to help achieve #SOLReform.
~~~~~~~~~~

Stewart Greenleaf Majority Chair sgreenleaf@pasen.gov (717) 787-6599
Daylin Leach Minority Chair senatorleach@pasenate.com (717) 787-5544
John Rafferty Jr. Majority – Vice Chair jrafferty@pasen.gov (717) 787-1398
Joseph Scarnati III Majority – Ex Officio jscarnati@pasen.gov (717) 787-7084
Richard Alloway II Majority alloway@pasen.gov (717)-787-4651
John Eichelberger Jr. Majority jeichelberger@pasen.gov (717) 787-5490
John Gordner Majority jgordner@pasen.gov (717) 787-8928
Guy Reschenthaler Majority greschenthaler@pasen.gov (717) 787-5839
Randy Vulakovich Majority rvulakovich@pasen.gov (717) 787-6538
Gene Yaw Majority gyaw@pasen.gov (717) 787-3280
Lisa Boscola Minority boscola@pasenate.com (717) 787-4236
Lawrence Farnese Jr. Minority farnese@pasenate.com (717) 787-5662
Art Haywood Minority senatorhaywood@pasenate.com (717) 787-1427
John Sabatina Jr. Minority sabatina@pasenate.com (717) 787-9608

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

MISSOURI
Lake Expo

by Al Griffin

LACLEDE COUNTY, Mo. — A local pastor accused of statutory rape and statutory sodomy saw the first day of his second trial, on Monday.

Travis R. Smith came to court on April 18, 2016, as proceedings got underway in front of Judge Kenneth Hayden, presiding in Courtroom D on the second floor of the Laclede County courthouse. Special Prosecutors Michael Gilley and Douglas Kinde, both of Camden County, represented the State of Missouri.

The case is being heard in Laclede County on a change of venue, after an earlier attempt ended abruptly when the defense counsel requested a mistrial because a potential member of the jury made comments about the defendant within earshot of other potential jurors.

Defendant Smith, represented by Shane L. Farrow of Jefferson City, faces multiple felony charges of Statutory Rape and Statutory Sodomy arising out of incidents that allegedly occurred while Smith acted as youth pastor at a church in Pilot Grove, Mo. Attorneys Gilley and Farrow conducted the Voir Dire examination of the potential jury panel, agreeing upon twelve jurors and one alternate before noon.

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

UNITED STATES
Christian Today

Florence Taylor JUNIOR STAFF WRITER 19 April 2016

Days after his presence at the Together for the Gospel conference was heavily criticised, CJ Mahaney preached about the biblical mandate for churches to defend their pastors.

T4G was heavily criticised for allowing Mahaney, one of its founders and now pastor of Louisville’s Sovereign Grace Church, to preach because of previous accusations that he and other leaders of Covenant Life Church (CLC) in Gaithersburgh, Maryland, were complicit in covering up crimes committed by its youth leader Nathaniel Morales.

On Sunday, days after the controversy, Mahaney preached from Hebrews 13:17: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account.”

He said that church members should have “a joyful disposition to trust and protect the pastoral team.

“Any slanderous comment about the pastoral team should be challenged, and if necessary resolved,” Mahaney said. “Why? Because the pastors are just sensitive souls, because pastors are so sensitive? No. That protection is needed in order to preserve the trust, in order to protect the unity of this church. That’s why that’s needed ultimately, for the advance of the gospel from this church.”

Mahaney’s appearance at the T4G conference was challenged by variuos groups, including SNAP, an advocacy and support group for survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

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

NEW YORK
United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York

Neighborhood Safety Patrol Member Bragged In Recorded Conversation of 150 Gun Licenses

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Diego Rodriguez, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and William J. Bratton, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced today that ALEX LICHTENSTEIN, a/k/a “Shaya,” was arrested and charged in Manhattan federal court with bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery in connection with his efforts to pay bribes to obtain gun licenses through the NYPD’s License Division. LICHTENSTEIN was arrested by FBI agents and officers from the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau (“IAB”) on April 17, 2016, in Pomona, New York, and will be presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry B. Pitman in Manhattan this afternoon.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As alleged, Alex Lichtenstein sought to bribe police officers with thousands of dollars to obtain gun licenses. Just a few days ago, claiming that his prior connections in the License Department were no longer able to help, Lichtenstein allegedly attempted to bribe another officer. As alleged, Lichtenstein offered the officer $6,000 per license, bragging that he had already used his NYPD connections to obtain 150 gun licenses. Corruption in any part of government cuts at the very fabric of our society. But it is particularly damaging when it undermines public safety. I thank the FBI and the New York City Police Department, particularly its Internal Affairs Bureau, for their dedication and commitment to this ongoing and important investigation.”

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Diego Rodriquez said, “The requirements for obtaining a legal gun license are there for very specific reasons, and the details of this case illustrate why those regulations are needed. This bribery scheme allowed a man to obtain a gun who made a threat against someone’s life. It’s further alarming that Lichtenstein bragged about beating the system and potentially put the general public in danger.”

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

UNTIED KINGDOM
ITV

A Catholic priest who faced historic allegations of indecently assaulting boys has been found dead on the day he was due to answer bail.

Father Ernest Sands, who was 67, was found dead in Wales on April 11th.

Lancashire Police had earlier arrested him in connection with allegations involving five boys in the 1970s. The boys were aged between 11 and 15 at the time.

In a statement, Lancashire Police said:

A 67-year-old man was arrested last year in relation to historical offences of indecent assault.

As a consequence of the investigation, charges were being sought in relation to five male victims aged between 11 and 15 at the time.

The allegations related to him serving as a Catholic priest in the late 1970s and 1980s.

– LANCASHIRE POLICE STATEMENT

There are no suspicious circumstances and a file has been passed to the coroner.

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

INDIA
The Hindu

VARGHESE K GEORGE

Joseph Jeyapaul had served a year in jail in the U.S after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a16-year old girl while working in the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota.

The decision of the Catholic Church to reinstate a priest in Udhagamandalam who was suspended after his conviction in a case of sexual abuse in the U.S is prompting one of his alleged victims to file a federal lawsuit charging the Church with “creating public nuisance.” The Ootacamund Diocese also is a defendant in the case, which was scheduled to be filed on Tuesday.

Joseph Jeyapaul had served a year in jail in the U.S after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a16-year old girl while working in the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota. He returned to India late last year after serving the jail term. The Vatican has recently decided to lift his suspension from priestly duties and the Ootacamund Diocese has said he would be assigned to church duties soon.

Megan Peterson, a 26-year old woman who had accused Jeyapaul of raping her when she was 14, is moving the lawsuit against the Church and the Diocese. Her charges were dropped in the plea bargain, and Jeyapaul served the jail term in another case. Ms. Peterson also won a $750,000 settlement from Diocese of Crookston in 2011.

“This is a pretty unusual lawsuit and it may take years. But Megan is a courageous and determined person and no matter how long it will take, she will pursue it,” David Clohessy, director of SNAP or Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, told The Hindu. Ms. Peterson is a member of the network. She was scheduled to address a press conference after the case was filed.

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

ROME
Crux

By John L. Allen Jr.
Editor April 18, 2016

By consensus, while emeritus Pope Benedict XVI was a great teaching pontiff, ecclesiastical governance on his watch often left something to be desired. Space does not permit a full listing of meltdowns and crises, but here are a few highlights:

* The appointment in 2007, followed by the swift fall from grace, of a new Archbishop of Warsaw who had an ambiguous relationship with the Soviet-era secret police.

* The eerily similar appointment in 2009 of an Austrian bishop who had suggested Hurricane Katrina was a punishment for the wickedness of New Orleans, and who was likewise gone within days.

* Lifting the excommunications of four traditionalist Catholic bishops in 2009, including one who denied that the Nazis used gas chambers, with little apparent regard for how that move would be perceived.

* The surreal “Boffo case” from 2010, pivoting on the former editor of the official newspaper of the Italian bishops. (If you don’t know the story, it would take too long to explain, but trust me … Hollywood screenwriters couldn’t make this stuff up.)

* The Vatileaks scandal of 2011-12, which featured revelations of financial corruption and cronyism, and which ended with the conviction and pardon of the pope’s own former butler for stealing confidential documents.

Less spectacularly, there was a chronic sense during the Benedict years that the pope’s administrative team, led by Italian Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, was occasionally out of its depth. Decisions were delayed, and when they came, the logic for how things shook out was sometimes opaque. …

Anti-Abuse Efforts

When the abuse scandals in the United States broke in 2002, reaction in the Vatican was divided between what one might loosely call the “reformers” and the “deniers.” The fault lines broke down in terms of these debates:

* Is the crisis largely a media- and lawyer-driven frenzy, or is it a real cancer?

* Should the church cooperate with civil authorities, or is that surrendering the autonomy the church has fought titanic battles over the centuries to defend?

* Should the church embrace the use of psychology in screening candidates for the priesthood, or is that smuggling in a secular mentality in place of traditional spiritual principles of formation?

* Should the church support aggressive programs of abuse prevention and detection, or does that risk “sexualizing” children along the lines of secular sex education?

* Is the crisis truly a global phenomenon, or is it the fruit of a “moral panic” largely restricted to the West?

* Should the Vatican sign off on “zero-tolerance” policies, or does that rupture the paternal relationship that’s supposed to exist between a bishop and his priests?

When the American scandals erupted under St. John Paul II, the deniers had control in the Vatican and the reformers were an embattled minority. By the end of Benedict’s papacy, the situation was the exact reverse: The deniers hadn’t gone away, but they’d been driven underground.

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

AUSTRALIEN
Focus

[An Australian priest compared pedophile priests to adulterous women.]

Das Elternrundschreiben der St. Mary’s Grundschule in Melbourne erschien wie gewohnt Anfang des Monats. Die März-Ausgabe jedoch sorgte für einen gewaltigen Aufschrei: Denn der Priester äußerte sich zum Thema Pädophilie – und zog einen unerhörten Vergleich.

Der katholische Priester Bill Edebohls bat in dem Schreiben um Gnade für pädophile Kollegen. Dabei kritisierte er die “Royal Commission”, die in Australien untersucht, wie Kirchen, Schulen und Sportvereine mit Vorfällen von sexuellem Missbrauch umgehen. Die “Royal Commission” konzentriere sich im Falle von pädophilen Priestern nur darauf, dass die Opfer Gerechtigkeit erfahren, nicht aber auf den Heilungsprozess der Täter. Diesen werde zu oft Gnade für ihr Verhalten verwehrt. Medien und Anwälte würden “die Notwendigkeit für eine Gerechtigkeit, die in Gnade getränkt ist” in diesem Fall nicht verstehen, schrieb Edebohls.

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

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Ken Briggs | Apr. 18, 2016

The Pulitzer Prizes were announced today, just weeks after the movie version of the Boston Globe’s prize-winning religion coverage won an Oscar and its highly touted experiment in full-blown Catholic reporting folded. That trial balloon, called Crux, was an enterprise edited by John L. Allen Jr., who left NCR to take it on. Four days after the Globe ended it, citing failure to attract enough ad revenue, Crux found a new home at the Knights of Columbus.

That outcome guarantees Crux’s financial survival. The Knights run a huge insurance company that generates revenue for a host of Catholic causes and is a principal funder of Vatican projects. Its embrace of a highly regarded Catholic news site adds to the agency’s stature and reach.

The question is what this does to Crux’s identity. It was begun by a national secular newspaper that had admitted kowtowing too much to the Boston archdiocese before exposing the shocking priest sex scandal in a series that won a Pulitzer. Allen, chosen to be its editor, arrived as a high-profile Vatican reporter and author with great energy and competence though often from a perspective that clearly advocated Catholicism and its central hierarchy.

So it was a somewhat uneasy alliance to begin with, the Globe hoping to run with its Pulitzer and movie successes to spur readership and an editor understandably eager to broaden Catholic coverage with the resources of a major newspaper. The partnership lasted 18 months, praised by the Globe’s higher-ups for its content, judged unviable by its revenues.

However unusual the journalistic arrangement, Crux at least could be held to its prevailing standards of objectivity and independence. Its very existence could be and was argued, but it was in place.

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

UNITED STATES
Headlines from the Catholic World

Denver, Colo., Apr 19, 2016 / 03:36 am (CNA).- Clay Olsen speaks to thousands of youth about a subject most people would rather not touch: pornography.

As the founder and CEO of Fight the New Drug, an organization that educates people about pornography addiction, Olsen travels the country giving presentations to young people about how pornography is affecting their brains, their relationships and ultimately the world.

Olsen told CNA that after one particular presentation, a young man asked a question that perfectly illustrates how drastically pornography has changed.

“He asked me very sincerely whether Playboy was pornography or not,” Olsen recalled.

“His definition of pornography had shifted so dramatically…that Playboy doesn’t even make the cut.”

Importantly, this young man is the rule of his generation, not the exception, Olsen said. The effects of constant access to the Internet, made possible by the availability of personal laptops, tablets, and smartphones, has drastically changed how young people consume pornography in a way that many adults dangerously underestimate.

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

KANSAS CITY (MO)
Tony’s Kansas City

Check this portion of a statement just released which continues to hold former Bishop Finn accountable for a Kansas City Catholic crisis . . .

SNAP: Victims blast Catholic officials for honoring criminal

Under the headline “Hometown Team,” the latest issue of Catholic St. Louis portrays Bishop Robert Finn as one of several local priest who have climbed the clerical ladder to become prelates. But it makes no mention of Finn’s status as the only US bishop to be convicted for concealing evidence of child sex crimes from police and prosecutors.

In a nutshell, this is one key reason why the clergy sex abuse and cover up scandal keeps roiling the church: because those who endanger kids, hide predators, stonewall prosecutors, deceive parishioners are almost never defrocked, demoted, disciplined or even denounced by their Catholic colleagues or supervisors.

Ignoring wrongdoing essentially encourages more wrongdoing.

Archbishop Robert Carlson should apologize for the deceptive and hurtful portrayal of Bishop Finn as some kind of “local boy who makes good.” And he should discipline the editor of Catholic St. Louis.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Emma Younger

A Catholic priest drugged a student with a sedative-laced soft drink before raping him in his office at a boarding school in Melbourne’s outer north-west almost 30 years ago, a court has been told.

Michael Aulsebrook, 60, is on trial in the Victorian County Court for raping a Year 7 student at Salesian College in Rupertswood in Sunbury in the late 1980s.

He was working as a teacher and boarding co-ordinator at the college at the time.

Aulsebrook has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutor Andrew Grant told the jury Aulsebrook invited the boy into his office to play computer games one night after the other boarders had gone to bed.

After about half an hour, the boy was given a glass of soft drink and he passed out, he said.

The jury was told the boy woke up to find Aulsebrook raping him on the floor of the office.

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

CALIFORNIA
Courthouse News Service

By JULIE BAKER-DENNIS

SAN DIEGO (CN) — The national Jehovah’s Witnesses organization must produce any documents in its possession relating to perpetrators of child sexual abuse, a California appeals court ruled.

Jose Lopez sued Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York and the Linda Vista Spanish Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in June of 2012 for the sexual abuse he allegedly suffered when he was seven years old at the hands of his Bible instructor Gonzales Campos.

In 1986, Lopez’s mother allowed Campos to give her son bible study lessons after an elder from her congregation recommended him because he was “good very good with children.”

According to the complaint, after Campos had given Lopez several lessons, he sexually molested him.

The abuse was reported to an elder of the church after Lopez told his mother, but nothing was done after the elders spoke to Lopez about where he was touched.

This was not the first time there had been allegations Campos had sexually abused young boys.

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

UNITED STATES
The Slate Online

By Missy Langdon – Opinion Editor

Last week here at Shippensburg University, we had the “Take Back the Night” event, at which victims of sexual assault spoke out about their awful experiences. I am sure anyone who attended that event had a heart full of grief for anyone who had to go through that in his or her life, as well as a mind full of ideas on how to stop it.

There is an entire legal matter in regard to sexual assault that also needs to be addressed, and that is the statute of limitations. The statue of limitation states how long you have to file a crime. For rape it is 12 years and for assault it is two years, according to lawyer.com. After these time limits, the victim is unable to come forward and receive justice. Is this really fair?

The statute of limitations is basically putting a time limit on grief and fear. I would imagine that a huge factor in a victim’s decision to not come forward and get justice would be fear. Fear of their attacker finding them again. Fear of having to face the situation. Maybe even fear of having to speak about and relive the event, whatever it may be. I just do not think it is fair to put a time limit on someone’s grieving and healing time.

On a positive note, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on April 13 to abolish the statute of limitations in regard to child sex-abuse crimes and it got an astonishing 180-15 vote, moving the vote to the Senate next, according to Philly.com.

It would be a huge step forward in our society if we were able to get an extension, or even completely get rid of these time limitations on how long a victim has to come forward about a horrific crime. Some people would argue that after such a long amount of time it is unfair to the person being accused, but is it really? If he or she is found guilty, even if it is 30 years later, it means that they are guilty. Time does not make someone “un-guilty” of a crime; time only gives them more time to hope that they will not get caught.

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

MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 503 0003 cell, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org)

It may be the most irresponsible Vatican move we’ve ever seen: Catholic officials in Rome have lifted the suspension of a recently convicted predator priest. We are stunned and saddened by such blatant recklessness and callousness

But we’re grateful that one of the priest’s victims is filing a new lawsuit, using a new approach, to try and protect kids from this admitted child molesting cleric.

[New York Daily News]

Tomorrow, in Minnesota, an unusual lawsuit will be filed against Fr. Joseph Jeyapaul and his Catholic supervisors. Weeks ago, Fr. Jeyapaul’s bishop in India announced that the CDF had lifted Fr. Jeyapaul’s suspension and that next month, he’ll be reassigned.

[BishopAccountability.org]

This is a novel legal approach – charging Catholic officials with creating “public nuisances” by hiding and helping predator priests. In several states (especially Minnesota), it’s working. We hope more victims start to use it. Something new and more must be done to prod Catholic bishops to better safeguard the vulnerable and to stop enabling heinous child sex crimes.

Many other horrific clergy sex abuse and cover up cases involve

–local bishops, not Vatican officials, putting kids in harm’s way,

–credibly accused pedophile priests, not convicted ones, being put back on the job around kids, and

–irresponsible actions years before, not years after, repeated policies and pledges by church officials to keep child molesting kids out of ministry and away from kids.

So for these reasons, we consider the Vatican’s incredible recklessness and callousness in this case perhaps the worst we’ve ever seen.

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