ABUSE TRACKER

AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

Peter Fox
From: News Limited Network
April 03, 2013

FORMER NSW Detective Inspector Peter Fox’s decision to blow the whistle on a Catholic Church cover-up of child sexual abuse was the catalyst for Julia Gillard’s announcement of the Royal Commission, which starts today.

I am absolutely delighted that this day has finally come. A lot of people have been waiting for so long for something like this to happen.

I realise that the hard evidence will be a long slow process, but just to see it begin is fantastic.

Through various means about six or eight of childhood sexual abuse victims have contacted me since I spoke out in November and I have steered them in the right direction to get help.

But the start of this Royal Commission means that a lot more people will now be prepared to come forward.

This has been a very difficult subject for a very long time and a lot of people have kept it as a deep dark secret.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

PIA AKERMAN
From:The Australian
April 03, 2013

THE royal commission into child sexual abuse has leapt into action by serving notices on the Catholic Church to produce documents, while warning the timelines laid out for the massive inquiry are “unlikely” to be met.

Commission chairman Justice Peter McClellan said he expected evidence would not be taken until at least the last quarter of this year.

He said expects the commission will hear serious and shocking allegations and that he had been advised the commissioners themselves and their staff could be harmed by constantly hearing the allegations.

Justice McClellan said for that reason it would not be possible for the commission to continuously listen to victims’ stories.

The commission’s opening hearing in Melbourne today heard the 2016 deadline for its final report was unrealistic because of the number of people expected to give personal accounts and the number of institutions affected by allegations.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC Gippsland

By Celine Foenander

A group which represents children who grew up in orphanages, children’s homes and foster care is calling on its members to be brave enough to tell their story to a Royal Commission.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse got underway in Melbourne this morning.

The Care Leavers Australia Network or CLAN says it will support its members through the process, many of whom are in Gippsland.

“The public needs to know what happened to us, we’re the invisible children and when we did try to speak out, we weren’t believed,” CLAN executive officer and co-founder Leonie Sheedy told ABC Gippsland.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

[with video]

The royal commission into sexual abuse in institutions will give a voice to victims and gain vital information to deal with cases in the future, its chairman says.

The commission will examine all institutions in a far-ranging inquiry that will last at least three years.

More than 5000 people are expected to tell their stories meaning the commission will struggle to meet its deadlines, chair Justice Peter McClellan said.

The commission will look at a number of issues associated with the abuse and lessons that can be learned.

People who have suffered abuse in institutions such as churches, schools, scouting groups, orphanages, athletic clubs, childcare centres and detention centres will be invited to give evidence.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – The World Today

ELEANOR HALL: Let’s go now to Melbourne, where the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse has opened this morning. The hearing began with a warning about the size of the Commission’s workload and a prediction that it won’t meet its reporting deadline.

The chairman, Justice Peter McClellan, said he expects many thousands of witnesses to give evidence about suffering sexual abuse in institutions.

Simon Lauder was at the County Court in Melbourne as the inquiry began and he joins us now.

Simon, the Commissioner is clearly indicating that he has a very large task. Just how wide-ranging is this inquiry?

SIMON LAUDER: It’s possibly Australia’s most wide-ranging Royal Commission ever. The name says it all really, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. So that’s anyone under the age of 18 whose been, who was abused in any institution, be it private or government run and that can be a sporting institution, an educational one.

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

Genevieve Gannon
AAP
April 03, 2013

ABUSE victims who have waited decades to tell their story have been asked to be patient as the royal commission into responses to child sex abuse begins the lengthy process of collecting information.

More than 5000 people are expected to approach the royal commission to share their experiences, commission chair Justice Peter McClellan said.

Counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness SC, said the volume of submissions meant it could take some time for staff to respond.

“While I understand that people may have been waiting years if not decades to tell their story, I ask each of you to be patient,” Ms Furness said on Wednesday.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Janet Fife-Yeomans
From:The Daily Telegraph
April 03, 2013

VICTIMS of child sex abuse wept openly in the street as the Royal Commission commenced its long-awaited hearing this morning.

More than 20 advocates wielding placards rallied outside the County Court in Melbourne as The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse commenced its long-awaited inquiry.

Victims gathered descended outside the court eagerly awaiting the outcome of the first hour-long hearing, some armed with signs which read: “You have the records of our abuse” and “Government OK’s abuse in state-run orphanages”.

11.04am: The Royal Commission into Child Sex Abuse will look at the sentences handed down in the courts for child predators.

Counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness SC, said the Scouts, Girl Guides, orphanages, swimming, child care centres, kindergartens and little athletics are among the institutions to be investigated by the royal commission into child sex abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
Otago Daily Times (New Zealand)

The Catholic Church wants the truth exposed at the royal commission into responses to child sex abuse, and will pay compensation to victims, its representative says.

Truth Justice and Healing Council chief executive Francis Sullivan says the commission will be embarrassing for the church but it is imperative the truth emerges.

“We are going to encourage, wherever possible, individuals to come forward with their experiences so that the truth can come out,” he said.

“The church leadership in Australia have made it clear that they are going to be open and honest and co-operate fully.”

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

The first sitting of the royal commission into sexual abuse has heard past wrongs must be acknowledged.

Justice Peter McClellan was outlining the process under which the commission will operate.

He said the commission had to examine some difficult truths.

‘The community has come to acknowledge that fundamental wrongs have been committed in the past which have caused great trauma and lasting damage to many people,’ Justice McClellan said at the first sitting in Melbourne on Wednesday.

The commission will not begin hearing evidence until later this year.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC Sydney

[with audio]

Victims of institutional child sexual abuse in Australia continue to question the value of speaking out, even though a Royal Commission into the crimes has begun its work. A total of six commissioners, led by Justice Peter McClelland, held an initial meeting in Melbourne to outline how the Royal Commission will now tackle the process of seeking justice for an epidemic of abuse that has scarred thousands of Australians for decades.

As the Federal government also announced free legal assistance to victims, Tony called 702 Mornings, emotionally shaken as he recounted abuse at the hands of a Catholic brother at a school in Burwood in the early 1960s.

“I thought I’d dealt with it, I thought I’d got over it,” Tony said, his voice shaking as he described the unwelcome memories flooding back.

And to compound the original abuse, Tony said he had found the school unwilling and secretive when he had made an approach hoping to speak to the brother, to seek an apology and offer forgiveness as the “Christian thing to do.”

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AUSTRALIA
Catholic Leader

Published: 7 April 2013

AS the Church announced members of the council that will oversee its engagement with the Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse, Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane has reaffirmed his commitment to working with the commission.

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Archbishop Denis Hart and Catholic Religious Australia president Sister of Charity Annette Cunliffe announced the members of the Truth, Justice and Healing Council (TJHC) on Tuesday (April 2).

The TJHC will oversee the Church’s engagement with the Royal Commission.

Council chief executive officer Francis Sullivan welcomed the announcement saying the 13-member council was made up of men and women with professional and other expertise, especially across child sexual abuse, paedophilia, trauma, mental illness, suicide and public policy.

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

Answering your questions on The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

Tory Shepherd
adelaidenow
April 03, 2013

LATE last year, a NSW police officer made shocking allegations about child-sex abuse and cover-ups within the Catholic Church and the police force.

That started a snowball effect, a rallying cry for a federal Royal Commission to investigate institutional sex abuse once and for all.

Within days, Prime Minister Julia Gillard ordered that such a commission be established to investigate child-sex offenders and those who protected them, and those who “averted their eyes” to what was going on.

Now The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has held its first hearing in Melbourne.

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AUSTRALIA
The Times (UK)

More than 5,000 people are expected to appear before a royal commission into child sex abuse that opens in Australia today.

Julia Gillard, the Prime Minister, warned Australians on the first day of the inquiry, which will examine decades of child abuse in church and state institutions, that they faced “some very uncomfortable truths”.

“This is an important moral moment for our nation,” Ms Gillard told ABC Radio as the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse got under way at the Victorian County Court in Melbourne.

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NETHERLANDS
Expatica

The Catholic church must speed up the processing of sexual abuse damages claims and complete the hundreds of payments by the end of the year, parliament has told the church authorities.

Last week, Wim Deetman who chaired the commission investigating the abuse called on the church to increase the tempo of settlements, a position now echoed by a majority of MPs.

Last month it emerged the church has so far paid out €3.1 million to abuse victims. Compensation is made on a sliding scale of one to five.

‘If you consider how long the church has hidden the abuse, then they shold want to solve this as quickly as possible,’ VVD parliamentarian Ard van de Steur told Nos television.

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AUSTRALIA
WA Today

April 3, 2013

Patrick Caruana and Genevieve Gannon
AAP

Finally, the powerful people are here to help.

It is only the beginning of a long and traumatic process but victims and their families have tearfully embraced after waiting decades for the royal commission into responses to child sex abuse.

Chrissie Foster, whose daughter died of a medication overdose after being abused by a priest, said it was a day she thought would never come.

“It’s an amazing thing to sit in there with those powerful people and hear what they’re going to do for future children and right the wrongs of the past,” she said after the commission’s first hearing.

“I’m just so overwhelmed and happy that this is happening in our country.”

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

MELBOURNE (AFP) – Australia opened a national probe into child sex abuse on Wednesday, with premier Julia Gillard warning of “uncomfortable truths” as institutions including schools and churches come under scrutiny.

Gillard ordered the inquiry in November after a decade of growing pressure to investigate widespread allegations of paedophilia, two months after the Catholic Church in Victoria revealed hundreds of children had been abused.

“This is an important moral moment for our nation,” Gillard told ABC radio as the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse began at the Victorian County Court in Melbourne.

“When I established this royal commission I understood that it was going to require our whole country to stare some very uncomfortable truths in the face,” the prime minister said.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

The first sitting of the royal commission into institutional child sexual abuse began today in Melbourne.

WHY IS IT HAPPENING?

The main aim of the royal commission is to investigate systemic failures within church and state-run institutions relating to child sexual abuse and related matters.

Earlier this year Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the terms of a Royal Commission into institutional child sexual abuse.

A joint statement from Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Mr Dreyfus and Families and Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin said the commission hearings would “mark the start of a healing process for survivors and their families”.

“The royal commission will enable thousands of Australians who suffered as children to recount their experiences and express feelings that many carry to this day as a result of the harm caused to them,” the statement said.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

April 3, 2013

Barney Zwartz
Religion editor, The Age.

The royal commission into child sex abuse is now open for business. It expects more than 5000 submissions, has already spent more than $22 million, and is unlikely to complete its task by the end of 2015 as requested.

From today, victims can contact the royal commission to register to tell their stories because trained staff are now ready, chairman Justice Peter McClellan announced at the commission’s first public hearing, in Melbourne.

He said the commission had already serviced notice to produce documents on the Catholic Church, its insurer, the Salvation Army and the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Peter Fox
From:Herald Sun
April 04, 2013

OVER decades I have investigated and witnessed the terrible lifelong effect of child sexual abuse on victims and their families.

After seeing systems fail those victims, I finally joined the call for a federal royal commission by writing to the NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell last November. Now we have a chance to get this right.

The Australian Royal Commission examining Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has an enormous assignment before it: listening to hundreds, if not thousands, of witnesses, and investigating and examining evidence, before making nation-changing recommendations.

It’s not going to be easy, and no one is imagining that it will be. Public expectations are high, as they should be. Just because this is going to be difficult and painful doesn’t mean we shouldn’t go there. Australians are noted for tackling difficult situations.

Similar commissions and inquiries have been conducted overseas, exposing child sexual abuse of horrific proportions. The scale of these crimes shocked the US, Canada, the Netherlands, Austria and elsewhere in Europe.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Andrew Bolt
From:Herald Sun
April 04, 2013

THERE’S a smell of burning Christian.

And the royal commission into child sexual abuse in institutions is stoking a hot fire. The commission opened yesterday with ominous warnings that suggest the Catholic Church will be under serious ideological attack.

Royal commissioner Peter McClellan declared there had been “changes in power” in society, thanks in part to the “women’s movement” , and we should expect “changes in the culture and management practices of institutions”.

Was he referring to the church? Must it fit in more with these secular, feminist and even anti-clerical times? Incidentally, all three barristers assisting the commission are women.

True, McClellan will also investigate abuse in state-run institutions and even sporting clubs, but his commission will inevitably be influenced by a media-class culture that has a patricidal hatred of the Catholic Church to the exclusion of worse sinners.

Take comedian Josh Thomas on the ABC’s Q&A on Monday. Faced with a Catholic archbishop who opposed gay marriage, Thomas blustered for two minutes: “You play a constant game of stop hitting yourself . . . Sodom and Gomorrah. It’s pretty odd I reject that.”

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AUSTRALIA
Deutsche Welle

An investigation into widespread child sex abuse in state and religious institutions in Australia has begun. The inquiry is expected to hear from more than 5,000 people.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the royal commission last November in response to growing allegations of child sex abuse against the Catholic Church. In September, the Church in the southern state of Victoria admitted to more than 600 cases of children being abused by pedophile priests since the 1930s. However, the inquiry is not specific to the Catholic Church and will cast a wide net over all institutions.

It is being conducted to investigate how widespread alleged abuse has been, but also gain an understanding of how institutions respond to such allegations. It will look into all institutions that work with children, including those run by the government, other religious groups and non-profit organizations.

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ALABAMA
WHNT

[with video]

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) – A former Franklin County pastor faces serious sexual abuse allegations.

Sheriff’s investigators say 72-year-old Freddy Hovater is accused of sexual torture, sexual abuse, and enticing a child.

Detectives say Hovater was arrested at his home in October 2011. A Franklin County grand jury handed down an indictment for the alleged crimes during its most recent session.

According to Franklin County Sheriff, Shannon Oliver, Freddy Hovater knew his eight-year-old victim very well.

According to investigators, the sexual abuse happened inside Hovater’s Spruce Pine home for nearly a year.

“It’s very disturbing,” said Oliver. “I`m really kinda lost for words why anyone would do that.”

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AUSTRALIA
Washington Post

Australian child sex abuse inquiry chief says more than 5,000 victims likely to testify

By Associated Press

Updated: Wednesday, April 3

MELBOURNE, Australia — The head of an Australia-wide commission looking into allegations of child sex abuse in state and religious institutions as well as community groups said more than 5,000 victims are likely to give evidence of their harrowing experiences.

Justice Pete McClellan chairs a bench of six commissioners who on Wednesday started a powerful government-appointed inquiry known in Australia as a Royal Commission. Witnesses can be compelled to testify and risk imprisonment for lying.

The inquiry was unlikely to achieve its deadline set by the government of late 2015 because so many people wanted to give evidence, he said.

McClellan said he expected at least 5,000 people will want to give evidence, but the actual number could be much higher.

“The task we have is large; the issues are complex,” McClellan said.

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CANADA/UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on April 02, 2013

Yesterday, a day after being acquitted of charges in Canada, police in Toronto arrested Mohammad Masroor for extradition to the US in the case of a Muslim cleric who is also accused of molesting in Michigan and Florida.

We are grateful to Toronto police for arresting this Imam before he could flee to a country where he could avoid extradition to the US. It is important that he face trial for the alleged abuse that allegedly occurred in Michigan and Florida. We hope that this arrest will bring hope to the children who have been victimized by him.

Given the history of allegations against Masroor and the multitude of countries to which he has ties, we believe that there are likely other victims out there suffering in silence. We urge anyone who may have seen or suspected crimes by Masroor or any other Imam will come forward and make a report to police.

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UNITED STATES
Hollywood Reporter

Tom McCarthy has signed on to direct and co-write the script with Josh Singer.

In a move certain to spark controversy, DreamWorks Studios and Participant Media have acquired film rights to the story of the Catholic Church’s decades-long cover-up of its pedophile priests in Massachusetts as uncovered during a yearlong investigation by the Boston Globe.

Tom McCarthy (The Visitor) has signed on to direct and co-write the script with Josh Singer (the upcoming WikiLeaks movie The Fifth Estate).

Anonymous Content’s Michael Sugar and Steve Golin and Rocklin/Faust’s Nicole Rocklin and Blye Faust will produce. David Mizner, who brought the project to the producers, will serve as a consultant and associate producer. Participant’s Jonathan King and Jeff Skoll will serve as executive producers.

Life rights have been acquired to the Boston Globe’s “Spotlight Team” of reporters and editors, including then-Globe editor Marty Baron, special projects editor Ben Bradlee Jr., Spotlight Team editor Walter “Robby” Robinson and reporters Michael Rezendes, Sacha Pfeiffer and Matt Carroll.

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NEW MEXICO
The New Mexican

By Tom Sharpe
The New Mexican

An anonymous Taos County man alleges in a lawsuit that he was molested as a child by a priest in Questa some 25 years ago.

He claims the Rev. Michael O’Brien raped him, beginning when he was 10 or 11 years old and continuing until he was 12 or 13.

O’Brien was known for starting the Pilgrimage for Vocations while he was a pastor in Estancia in 1973. The 100-mile walk from Estancia to Chimayó was meant to recruit young men to the priesthood.

He went on to serve at the San Francisco de Asis Catholic Church in Ranchos de Taos from from 1980 to 1981, at St. Gertrude the Great in Mora, 1982-84, Our Lady of Sorrows in Las Vegas, N.M., 1985-86, and St. Anthony in Questa, 1987-89.

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OREGON
Statesman Journal

Here is a draft of our Wednesday editorial:

On Monday, the first day of National Child Abuse Prevention Month, a Woodburn priest pleaded guilty and was sent to prison for six-plus years for molesting a boy.

What Angel Armando Perez did was awful. His is the type of story that often makes the news, sometimes with a worse ending. In this case, the 12-year-old boy ran for help when he awoke to find Perez touching him inappropriately.

Many abusers are people like Perez — people in authority, people who would never be suspected, people who choose victims whom they think would stay silent about the abuse.

However, Angel Armando Perez is not the typical or most common child abuser in the Mid-Valley. That is the parent who neglects his or her children, often because the parent is hooked on drugs or alcohol.

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NEW MEXICO
KOB

[with video]

A 37 year old man from Questa says he was sexually abused by his parish priest when he was a boy back in the 1980s. Now he’s suing the Archdiocese of Santa Fe for damages.

He’s known as “John Doe” in the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Albuquerque. The idea is that the archdiocese failed to screen, train or supervise Father Michael O’Brien, a priest the lawyers believe is now dead.

John Doe says he was an altar boy at St. Anthony church in Questa. He says he was about ten or eleven years old when Father O’Brien escalated from back rubs to criminal sexual contact and penetration.

Doe’s lawyer, Brad Hall of Albuquerque, says the lawsuit is part of the healing process for his client.

“I believe this is one of those cases,” Hall said. “I don’t think he’s motivated by verdicts or dollars. He truly has been in dire straits psychologically as he has come to grips with this.”

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NEW MEXICO
KRQE

Updated: Tuesday, 02 Apr 2013

Kim Vallez

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – A New Mexico man has filed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Santa Fe alleging he was sexually abused by a priest when he was an altar boy at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Questa.

In the lawsuit the man identified only as John Doe names Father Michael O’Brien as the man alleged to have abused him.

He claims Father Mike started with hugs, soon was massaging the boy and then moved on to rape.

The man claims the incidents happened over a two-year period when he was about 10 or 11 years old, but he didn’t reveal the alleged incidents until 2012.

Attorney Brad Hall, who is representing the man, says he went to the archdiocese first for help. They offered him counseling with the condition that he could not contact any attorneys or file a lawsuit.

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NEW MEXICO
ABQ Journal

By Mark Oswald / Journal Staff Writer
on Tue, Apr 2, 2013

A new lawsuit has been filed in state District Court alleging that a Roman Catholic parish priest in Questa sexually abused a 10-year-old or 11-year-old boy repeatedly over a period of a year and half in the 1980s.

The suit alleges that the Rev. Michael O’Brien abused the boy while assigned to St. Anthony Parish in Questa, north of Taos, where the victim’s parents wanted him to be an altar boy and the priest was known as “Father Mike.” The Archdiocese of Santa Fe and St. Anthony Parish are named as defendants.

Efforts by a Journal reporter to reach an archdiocese spokeswoman for comment today were not immediately successful.

The lawsuit says the victim of O’Brien’s “many counts of criminal sexual contact and penetration” went to the archdiocese in 2012, “seeking help.” The suit alleges he was told the archdiocese would pay for counseling for him “as long as he did not talk to a lawyer or bring a claim.”

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: JOY POWELL , Star Tribune
Updated: April 2, 2013

A 52-year-old Russian Orthodox priest rejected a plea deal on charges that he pointed an assault rifle at his wife and teen daughter over the girl’s failure to get straight A’s.

A Russian Orthodox priest rejected a plea deal on Tuesday in St. Paul and is headed to trial for allegedly pointing an AK-47 assault rifle at his wife and teen daughter because the girl got two B’s in school.

Kiril Bartashevitch, 52, pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of terroristic threats after allegedly point the rifle at the mother and daughter during a dispute on Jan. 13, according to a criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court.

Bartashevitch fired no shots, but he threw his wife to the floor when she tried to protect her daughter, the complaint says.

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NEW YORK/MASSACHUSETTS
Albany Times Union

By Brendan J. Lyons

Published 5:38 pm, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

A Massachusetts appellate court on Tuesday rejected the appeal of a former Albany Roman Catholic Diocese priest who was convicted of raping altar boys during trips to Berkshire County in the 1980s.

Gary Mercure, 65, was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for his 2011 conviction on charges he raped two boys that he drove to Massachusetts on hiking and skiing trips. The victims were altar boys for Mercure at Our Lady of Annunciation parish in Warren County.

In his appeal, Mercure’s attorney argued that the trial judge should not have allowed the jury to hear testimony about uncharged sex crimes from the two victims raped in Massachusetts, as well as from four other alleged victims who testified about incidents of sexual abuse by Mercure between 1981 and 1993. The uncharged crimes took place in New York, where the statute of limitations time-barred any prosecution.

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CONNECTICUT
News 12

Updated: April 2, 2013
By The Associated Press DAVE COLLINS

HARTFORD, Conn. – (AP) — A suspended Roman Catholic priest accused of making more than $300,000 in methamphetamine sales out of his Connecticut apartment while running an adult video and sex toy shop pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal drug charge.

Kevin Wallin, 61, of Waterbury, admitted to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and was scheduled to be sentenced June 25. The prosecution and defense agreed on a sentence of 11 to 14 years in prison.

Prosecutors said the 61-year-old Wallin had meth mailed to him from co-conspirators in California and sold the drugs out of his Waterbury apartment last year. He also bought an adult video and sex toy shop in North Haven named Land of Oz & Dorothy’s Place, apparently to launder the drug money, authorities said.

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ALABAMA
WZDX

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ala. (WZDX) – A Franklin County grand jury indicted a Spruce Pine man for sexually assaulting a child.

Freddy Hovater was indicted during a March grand jury session on charges of first degree sexual abuse and sexual torture of a child under 12.

Hovater was arrested in October. Investigators said he sexually assaulted a child with a vibrator and the wooden handle of a bell. He also is accused of watching the child take a bath.

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ALABAMA
WHNT

April 2, 2013, by Carter Watkins and Melissa Payne

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) – A former pastor in Franklin County is charged with sexual torture and abuse.

Freddy Hovater, 72, was arrested on October 1, 2012 and a grand jury just indicted him on the charges.

Sheriff Shannon Oliver says the abuse happened for nearly a year inside Hovater’s home in Spruce Pine. The victim was an 8-year-old girl. Her family attended Hovater’s church.

Sheriff Oliver did not say which church Hovater used to lead.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Schwabische

Bamberg / lby In Bayern zeichnet sich ein Rückgang der Verdachtsfälle von sexuellem Missbrauch in der katholischen Kirche ab. Im vergangenen Jahr gingen bei der Missbrauchsbeauftragen des Erzbistums Bamberg, der Anwältin Eva Hastenteufel-Knörr, sieben neue Vorwürfe ein. Im Jahr zuvor seien noch zwölf Fälle aktenkundig geworden, sagte ein Sprecher der Erzdiözese.

Auch im Bistum Augsburg nahmen die Meldungen von sexuellem Missbrauch durch Geistliche oder Mitarbeiter der Diözese im vergangenen Jahr deutlich ab: Es gingen 14 Hinweise ein, im Jahr 2011 waren es nach Angaben des Missbrauchsbeauftragten mit 30 Fällen mehr als doppelt so viele. Zugenommen haben aber 2012 die Meldungen von körperlicher Gewalt von 4 auf 16. Seit 2010 wurden in dem Bistum insgesamt 148 sexuelle oder gewalttätige Übergriffe registriert. Zu zwei Dritteln handelte es sich dabei um sexuellen Missbrauch, zum größten Teil fanden diese Taten vor 1980 statt.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Kreiszeitung

Oldenburg/Hannover/Osnabrück – Immer neue Missbrauchsfälle in der Kirche schockierten die Bürger in den vergangenen Jahren. Jetzt steht ein ehemaliger Kirchenmusiker deswegen vor Gericht. Die Kirchen haben das heikle Thema nach eigenen Angaben inzwischen im Griff.

Im Prozess wegen 23-fachen Kindesmissbrauchs hat ein ehemaliger Kirchenmusiker am Dienstag vor dem Landgericht Oldenburg zum Auftakt ein Geständnis abgelegt. Auf Antrag der Verteidigung schloss das Gericht dazu aber die Öffentlichkeit aus und begründete die Entscheidung mit dem Schutz der Intimsphäre von Opfern und Angeklagtem.

Die Staatsanwaltschaft wirft dem Verwaltungsangestellten vor, in 23 Fällen von Anfang 2011 bis März 2012 mehrere Kinder sexuell missbraucht zu haben. In den vier schwersten Fällen gehe es um beischlafähnliche Taten. Der Strafrahmen dafür liegt nach Angaben von Gerichtssprecher Michael Herrmann bei 2 bis 15 Jahren Haft.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

Dave Sutor dsutor@tribdem.com

JOHNSTOWN — A Bishop McCort Catholic High School spokesman on Monday dispelled widely circulating rumors about multiple teachers being fired from the academic institution.

Matt Beynon called the speculation “unfounded.”

He elaborated by saying, “That is not an accurate description of any events that have occurred.”

Rumors began circulating in the afternoon that anywhere between five and nine teachers had been fired from a staff of slightly more than three dozen instructors.

“No one was let go,” Beynon emphasized.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.comtwincities.com
Posted: 04/02/2013

Kirill Bartashevitch, the St. Paul man who allegedly pointed an AK-47 at his 15-year-old daughter in a dispute over her getting B’s instead of A’s in school, is a highly respected Russian Orthodox priest who should be treated with leniency.

That’s the message from at least 20 supporters throughout the world, including people in Russia, Canada, New York and Ohio, who wrote to Judge Lezlie Ott Marek on his behalf.

The writers describe Bartashevitch as a deeply religious man who expresses great care and compassion for others, helping them grow in the faith. Some said they did not believe reports of the charges.

Bartashevitch appeared in Ramsey County District Court Tuesday, April 2, initially asking for another continuance in his case so that he could deal with potential “immigration consequences that are quite significant,” said his attorney, Cullin Smith. Smith did not elaborate. Bartashevitch then changed his mind. Judge Joy Bartscher set a pretrial date of May 1.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with video]

The Royal Commission into the abuse of children which is due to start in Melbourne tomorrow , is having trouble dealing with the number of people who want to give evidence.

Transcript

STEVE CANNANE, PRESENTER: THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED ROYAL COMMISSION INTO THE ABUSE OF CHILDREN GETS UNDERWAY IN MELBOURNE TOMORROW.

MANY HOPE THE SCALE OF ABUSE WILL BE REVEALED.

THERE ARE ALREADY CLAIMS THOUGH THAT THE COMMISSION ISN’T COPING WITH PEOPLE CONTACTING OT TO GIVE EVIDENCE

HAMISH FITZSIMMONS REPORTS

HAMISH FITZSIMMONS, REPORTER: With the opening statements now only hours away, the royal commission carries the hopes of many.

STEPHEN WOODS, ABUSE SURVIVOR: I really want to see this royal commission being used for what it should be and that’s to heal so much of Australia.

HAMISH FITZSIMMONS: Stephen Woods and two of his siblings were sexually assaulted over years at schools in Ballarat. He says the royal commission has encouraged many victims to speak for the first time.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

April 3, 2013

Barney Zwartz

The stakes, and the expectations, are high for the royal commission into child sexual abuse, which begins today.

After decades of desperate struggle to have the world take them seriously, survivors of child sexual abuse by clergy are beginning to live, in the words of survivor and advocate Peter Blenkiron, in a fragile ”bubble of hope”.

Blenkiron is the spokesman for a group of about 40 survivors in Ballarat, a city where another 40 or so victims have already taken their own lives. What has given them this cautious sliver of optimism is being heard by people who can change things.

Since November the Victorian government has been running an inquiry that has given many victims a voice. In NSW, one inquiry has recently examined church behaviour about abuse complaints and another will start in May. The most important – the long-sought royal commission – begins in Melbourne on Wednesday.

Although many survivors recover to lead fulfilling lives, many others are walking a tightrope just to get through each day, their potential paralysed and hopes stolen because of events decades earlier, events that were beyond their control. ”The abusers are soul destroyers,” one victim said recently.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

The royal commission into institutional sexual abuse begins today.

It’ll hold its first sitting in Melbourne, but the flood of victims’ stories will have to wait because no evidence will be tendered.

Instead, chair Justice Peter McClellan will outline how the commission will conduct its hearings and counsel assisting the commission Gail Furness SC will make an opening statement.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with video and audio]

The historic Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will begin in the Victorian County Court in Melbourne today.

The commission will look at religious organisations, state care providers, not-for-profit bodies, as well as child service agencies and police forces and what can be done so that the victims have justice.

The commission’s chairman, Justice Peter McClellan, will today provide information on how future private and public hearings will be conducted.

The senior counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness, will also deliver an opening statement.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – AM

TONY EASTLEY: The full cost of the Royal Commission is yet to be revealed and it will be determined in part by the length of the inquiry.

The Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has announced that child abuse victims giving evidence will have access to a free legal advice service.

It will help people put together submissions to the Royal Commission and provide advice on the options they may have to pursue civil or criminal action.

Mark Dreyfus spoke to Anna Henderson after last night’s Cabinet meeting in Canberra.

MARK DREYFUS: This is a very, very large royal commission and its exact scale is going to start to become clear when the commission holds its first hearing in Melbourne.

ANNA HENDERSON: What is the significance of providing free legal advisory services for people who are engaging with the Royal Commission?

MARK DREYFUS: It’s going to be there to provide people with legal and procedural advice on important issues such as how they go about preparing a submission to the Royal Commission, how they give evidence, what ways they can participate in the hearings.

As well, this free legal advisory service is going to make sure that people have advice on their legal options – not just how they can engage with the Royal Commission but civil law options, criminal law options and of course giving them face-to-face advice, a bit like a duty lawyer, if they are appearing in the Royal Commission.

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

Taylor Auerbach
Herald Sun
April 03, 2013

AUSTRALIA’S historic royal commission into child abuse begins in Melbourne today, supported by a formidable female legal duo.

The Federal Government has announced that NSW barrister Gail Furness SC and Victorian Melinda Richards will be counsel assisting the royal commission.

The pair has been recruited to investigate how institutions with a responsibility for children, including the Catholic Church, have reacted to and managed allegations of child sex abuse within their walls.

The royal commission will investigate where systems have failed child victims and make recommendations about how to prevent further abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

Victims of clergy sex abuse will be given free legal advice to help them participate in the royal commission, which starts in Melbourne on Wednesday.

During the commission’s first sitting, chairman Justice Peter McClellan will outline how the national body will operate and counsel assisting the commission Gail Furness, SC, will make an opening statement.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says the free legal service will provide victims with advice ‘a bit like a duty lawyer’.

‘It’s going to be there to provide people with legal and procedural advice on important issues,’ he told ABC Radio on Wednesday, citing examples such as how they go about preparing a submission, how they give evidence and what ways they can participate in the hearings.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

by:Stuart Rintoul
From:The Australian
April 03, 2013

THE federal government has appointed two lawyers, Gail Furness and Melinda Richards, to steer the direction of the child sexual abuse royal commission.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will hold its first hearing in Melbourne’s County Court today.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Sr. Rose Pacatte | Apr. 2, 2013

The Hollywood Reporter announced Tuesday that Dreamworks and Participant Media have obtained the rights to the Boston Globe’s yearlong investigation of clergy sex abuse in Massachusetts.

The investigation by the Globe’s “Spotlight Team” of reporters and editors led to the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law, the former archbishop of Boston. The 2002 revelations have had worldwide repercussions for the Catholic church that continue today in terms of allegations, settlements and pastoral policy.

The Globe won a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its coverage of the scandal in 2003.

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AUSTRALIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Nicky Davis on April 02, 2013

SNAP Australia welcomes the announcement of the provision of basic legal advice to those wishing to provide evidence to the Royal Commission.

We hope this service will be made available to whistleblowers and witnesses as well as to victims themselves, and that anyone providing this service will first be required to undergo training for dealing with those affected by complex trauma.

In addition to legal advice, victims desperately need access to free counselling to help with preparing their submissions. The Royal Commission will expose vulnerable victims to the emotional roller coaster of being heard, believed and supported for the first time in their lives, while also reliving horribly traumatic experiences. To ask these innocent victims, whose needs have been ignored and neglected for their entire lives, to find the courage to do this without vital support would be heartless indeed and detrimental to efforts to discover the truth.

It is also extremely important that the Commission not expose victims to service providers, Commission staff or even Commissioners with strong, high level ties to the institution which enabled and covered up their abuse. Those with ties to the Catholic Church should not hear evidence from or provide support to Catholic victims, those with strong ties to the Scout movement, state institutions, the Salvation Army, the Jewish Community etc should be kept away from dealing with victims of those institutions. Neither should Bob Atkinson, a former Queensland Police Commissioner, hear any matters involving Queensland Police investigations.

While a legal and technical process, it is important to remember this Royal Commission is about Australian children who were targeted, preyed upon, and exploited by those in positions of absolute power over them, then betrayed and abandoned by church officials and other institutions, to suffer in lonely silence for decades, cruelly denied the help that would have relieved our suffering.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By Bob O’Toole and Lindsay Gardiner
April 2, 2013

Why didn’t the victims say something years ago?

In most situations, children are groomed for sexual abuse by the perpetrating priest, brother, teacher etc over a period of years.

Their family is also groomed by the perpetrator, who becomes a close and trusted family friend and, sometimes, a spiritual adviser and confidant. The family feel great pride at the special attention they are being paid.

The perpetrator has spent years building a trusted and respected community profile. He makes the child believe the child has invited the abuse and enjoyed the relationship.

At first, the child enjoyed being special to someone so important.

The perpetrator tells the child no one will believe the story of abuse or he tells them something bad will happen to those he or she loves if the child speaks up.

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UNITED STATES
Moviefone

It’s been more than 10 years since the Boston Globe first reported the decades-long sexual abuse — and subsequent cover-up — plaguing the Massachusetts Catholic Church, setting in motion revelations of similar abuse in the Catholic Church worldwide. Now, the story behind how that abuse was uncovered is set to be told on the big screen, with DreamWorks Studio and Participant Media announcing that they’ve acquired the film rights to the Globe’s reporting.

The paper spent a year investigating abuse allegations, interviewing victims, and reviewing thousands of pages of documents, ultimately revealing that church leadership had made a concerted effort to ignore and in many cases cover-up reported abuse. One accused priest was shuttled from parish to parish, despite the church’s awareness of his record.

The scandal rocked the church on both a national and worldwide level, leading to the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law, who had a hand in hiding priests’ serial abuse. Abuse allegations are still rampant today, and DreamWorks executive vice president Jonathan King said the film would capture “a powerful and still-evolving story.”

Members of the Globe’s Spotlight Team — reporters and editors who worked together to investigate and break the story — who will be featured in the film include then-Globe editor Marty Baron, special projects editor Ben Bradlee Jr., Spotlight Team editor Walter “Robby” Robinson, and reporters Michael Rezendes, Sacha Pfeiffer, and Matt Carroll. The team won a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2003 for their reporting.

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UNITED STATES
Variety

Dave McNary
Film Reporter@Variety_DMcNary

DreamWorks Studios and Participant Media have joined the untitled feature about the Catholic Church’s cover-up of its pedophile priests in Massachusetts, uncovered by the Boston Globe.

Variety reported in October that “Win Win” helmer Tom McCarthy and scribe Josh Singer (“The West Wing”) had been tapped by Anonymous Content and Rocklin/Faust to work on the project, which follows the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists who exposed the scandal. At that point, McCarthy had been working in secret for more than a year on the movie.

Steve Golin and Michael Sugar of Anonymous Content are producing with Nicole Rocklin and Blye Faust. David Mizner, who brought the project to Rocklin/Faust, will consult and serve as an associate producer.

Participant’s Jonathan King and Jeff Skoll will exec produce.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

April 02, 2013

DreamWorks Studios and Participant Media have acquired the film rights to the story of the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal in Massachusetts, DreamWorks president of production Holly Bario announced Tuesday. The movie based on the Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning series of stories will be directed by Tom McCarthy, a BC grad whose credits include “The Station Agent,” with a screenplay by Josh Singer. “The Boston Globe’s coverage of the Catholic priest scandal opened the door to a bigger story that had worldwide ramifications,” Bario said in a statement Tuesday. “The story of how this team of editors and reporters came to uncover the truth will make a dramatic and compelling film, especially with the talents of our director Tom McCarthy and his co-screenwriter Josh Singer on board.”

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UNITED STATES
Los Angeles Times

By Nicole Sperling
April 2, 2013

Looks like the Boston Globe’s yearlong investigation into the Catholic Church’s coverup of its pedophile priests in Massachusetts will be turned into a feature film.

Dreamworks Studios and Participant Media announced Tuesday that they have acquired the life rights to the Boston Globe’s “Spotlight Team” of reporters and editors who spent a year interviewing victims and reviewing thousands of pages of documents, discovering years of coverup by Catholic Church leadership.

Their reporting lead to the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law and led to other unveilings of church coverups around the world. It also earned the team a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2003.

Tom McCarthy (“Win Win”) has signed on to direct and co-write the script with Josh Singer, who most recently wrote the Wikileaks drama “The Fifth Estate” for Dreamworks and director Bill Condon.

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UNITED STATES
Inside Movies

by Hillary Busis

In 2001, reporters at the Boston Globe began investigating and reporting on the Catholic Church’s history of covering up sexual abuse perpetrated by priests in Massachusetts. Their tireless work earned the paper a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2003 — and ten years later, the rights to their story have been acquired by DreamWorks Studios and Participant Media.

Win Win director (and Boston University graduate) Tom McCarthy has signed on to direct the movie; he’ll also co-write the script with Josh Singer, a veteran TV writer who also penned DreamWorks’s upcoming Wikileaks drama The Fifth Estate. This will be the sixth collaboration for Participant and DreamWorks; the companies have previously partnered on The Fifth Estate, Lincoln, The Help, The Kite Runner, and The Soloist.

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TEXAS
Your Houston News

Posted: Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Staff Report

A Cypress youth pastor has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to sexual assault of a child and online solicitation of a minor.

The 16-year-old girl met Chad Foster, 34, in the summer of 2011 while he was serving as a youth pastor at the Community of Faith Church on Becker Road in Cypress. Court documents show that the two communicated frequently through texts, but the relationship turned sexual in July when the girl visited Foster at his home. From July to mid-October, the two had sex at least half a dozen times, records state.

Foster reportedly told the girl several times not to tell anyone about their relationship because he would get in trouble for their age difference, according to court documents.

When the girl started to feel bad about the relationship, she told her Spanish teacher at Cy-Woods High School and an associate pastor at the Community of Faith Church about the relationship on Oct. 27, who then reported the relationship to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

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TEXAS
KHOU

by KHOU.com staff
khou.com

Posted on April 1, 2013

CYPRESS, Texas – A former youth pastor, who pleaded guilty to raping a 16-year-old girl in 2011 and soliciting another teen online, was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday.

Chad Foster’s sentencing came after hearing testimony from his victims in front of family members, many of whom were in tears.

“It’s hard to think of any child being victimized that way, but to have it done by a youth pastor at church where they’re supposed to be safe, I think, is just extra repugnant,” Lacy Johnson, assistant district attorney, said.

The girl who Foster seduced and had sex with testified that she felt “used and cheated.” She added that she had lost her faith in God.

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CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant

By EDMUND H. MAHONY, emahony@courant.com
The Hartford Courant
11:24 a.m. EDT, April 2, 2013

HARTFORD -—

A suspended Catholic priest from Bridgeport pleaded guilty Tuesday to participating in a bi-coastal methamphetamine distribution ring.

Monsignor Kevin Wallin, 61, faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison when he is sentenced in June. The sentencing guideline is 135-168 months. He entered his plea in front of Senior Judge Alfred V. Covello in U.S. District Court.

Wallin faced a single charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute the powerful stimulate methamphetamine.

The indictment of Wallin on narcotics charges in January stunned the Diocese of Bridgeport, where he formerly served in positions that included personal secretary to successive bishops, including Edward Egan, later appointed a cardinal.

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IRELAND
Limerick Leader

Published on 02/04/2013

A WELL known Limerick priest has stepped aside from his ministry while an alleged incident of a sexual nature, officially described as a ‘historical child protection matter’, is dealt with by the Diocese of Limerick.

The priest is currently based in county Limerick but was in a parish in the city when the alleged incident occurred in the mid-1990s.

Gardai are aware of the allegation but it is unclear at the moment whether they are investigating a formal complaint.

“The Diocese of Limerick can confirm that a priest of the diocese, in accordance with the recommendations of Church policy on safeguarding children, has asked to step aside from ministry while an alleged historical child protection matter is being dealt with,” said a spokesperson in the statement.

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

Carly Crawford
Herald Sun
April 01, 2013

CARDINAL George Pell will appear at the Victorian inquiry into child abuse within weeks, as the Catholic Church proposes a new system for handling abuse complaints.

Cardinal Pell introduced Melbourne’s controversial complaints handling system when he was Archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s. The church confirmed Cardinal Pell would appear before the panel in coming weeks.

“The committee has indicated some interest in Cardinal Pell attending and he’s certainly willing to co-operate with that,” church spokesman Shane Mackinlay said.

Church figures will propose changes to its complaints process, which has attracted criticism for keeping abuse allegations in-house and making victims feel that they could not report their abuse to police.

In Victoria, the Catholic Church will propose having the Ombudsman review its abuse investigations. And it will suggest changing the Crimes Act so that the church can routinely report abuse complaints to police without identifying victims.

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AUSTRALIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Nicky Davis on April 02, 2013

As the royal commission begins we stand full of gratitude and hope, gratitude to the Prime Minister and those in the government who have made this possible and hope that children of Australia will be safe as a result.

We seek the full truth and want complete transparency. The response should be compassionate toward the wounded and stinging for the predators and their enablers.

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INDIA
Daily Bhaskar

Chhatarpur: A priest, his partner and three brothers were booked for allegedly raping a woman, the Madhya Pradesh police said on Tuesday.

According to reports, the woman (33) was kidnapped by the temple priest on January 17. After allegedly raping her, the accused priest sold her for Rs 40,000 to three brothers who also raped her repeatedly.

The incident came to light when the victim’s brother traced her along with a child in Pipra village of Tikamgarh district in Madhya Pradesh.

Later, the victim and her brother filed a complaint against all the accused. No arrests have been made so far. The police is investigating the matter.

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VATICAN CITY
Trust Law

Tue, 2 Apr 2013

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY, April 2 (Reuters) – Pope Francis, who has said he wants the Catholic Church to be a model of austerity and honesty, could restructure or even close the Vatican’s scandal-ridden bank as part of a broad review of its troubled bureaucracy, Vatican sources say.

Francis, who inherited a Church mired in scandals over priests’ sexual abuse of children and the leak of confidential documents alleging corruption and infighting in the Vatican’s central administration, is mulling his options as he sets the tone for a reformed and humbler Holy See.

One of the tests of his papacy will be what he does about the bank which has regularly damaged the Vatican’s image over three decades and faces growing calls for reform.

Last year a European anti-money laundering body found that the bank – formally called the Institute for Works of Religion and known by the Italian acronym IOR – had failed to meet some of its standards on fighting financial crimes.

“Certainly if the pope wants to, he can close the IOR,” said a senior Vatican official, a prelate who had years of experience of directly dealing with the bank. The future of the IOR was one of main issues Francis would have to confront now that the whirlwind of his surprise election was slowing, he said.

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IRELAND
Galway Bay FM

More than 400 women who worked in Magdalene laundries, including the one based at Forster Street in the city, have applied for state compensation.

Since a Department of Justice helpline was set up last month more than 1,100 calls have been received, according to today’s Irish Independent.

424 women have registered their interest in being included in receiving benefits from the state compensation fund.

The women were asked to give details of which laundry they were resident in, the dates they were there, and whether they have any records to support their application.

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CONNECTICUT
CT Post

Michael P. Mayko

Updated 8:40 am, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

HARTFORD — Charges of widespread sexual abuse by the director of a program funded by wealthy area Catholics and created to help abandoned Haitian boys appears headed to trial.

U.S. District Judge Robert Chatigny, who is presiding over the 22 cases each seeking more than $20 million, began clearing the way for trial by dismissing several of the charges while allowing others including the negligent supervision of Douglas Perlitz to stand. No date has been set for the trial as of Tuesday.

Perlitz, a Fairfield University graduate whose work in Haiti garnered him national attention, is serving a 19-year, seven-month federal prison term after he pleaded guilty to traveling overseas to engage in sex with a minor. During his sentencing he admitted there were several victims.

Shortly after Perlitz’s sentencing, 23 of those victims permitted Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston lawyer who has won millions suing Catholic priests and their Dioceses on sexual abuse charges, to pick up their cause. In the suits, Garabedian named the Rev. Paul Carrier, a former chaplain at Fairfield University and Perlitz’s mentor; Fairfield University and the Society of Jesus New England, Carrier’s order as defendants for being negligent in their supervision of the program. He also sued Hope Carter, a New Canaan philanthropist; the Order of Malta, American Association, which provided the 1997 start-up grant to Perlitz and the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes along with 15 others on similar negligence charges. Carter and Carrier also were directors of the Haiti Fund, a nonprofit organization that raised money for Perlitz’s programs. Each suit seeks $20 million in damages from each defendant.

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AUSTRALIA
Canberra Times

April 3, 2013

Barney Zwartz
Religion editor, The Age.

Victims of clergy child-sex abuse and others will be given free legal advice so they can engage with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which holds its first hearing on Wednesday in Melbourne.

Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the free service would give legal, advice including help with submissions and advice on confidentiality agreements.

The announcement came as Francis Sullivan, CEO of the Catholic Church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council, named the council’s 12 members and told Fairfax Media that the council was already providing documents and files to the commission.

Mr Dreyfus said legal advice would be offered through the National Association of Community Legal Centres on a free nationwide telephone service, with some face-to-face help available in some locations yet to be identified.

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UGANDA
Daily Monitor

By Ladislaus K. Rwakafuuzi

Posted Monday, April 1 2013

When a bird perches off its nest without a word, it must only be too young. I will not fail to say something about Fr Anthony Musaala’s saga because I am neither too young to speak nor am I too daft to fathom the preponderance and momentousness of his dossier.

Fr Musaala has said that the Catholic Church should re-examine celibacy for its priests. Musaala has reasoned that many otherwise good priests fail in their vows of celibacy. What Musaala is raising here is not new. That debate is as old as the date the church decided on celibacy.

Celibacy was not a precept for priests in the beginnings of the church. The church later mooted celibacy as a means of serving God better without family distractions. The same church has the power to reverse itself on this precept if it sees that priests are no longer serving better when celibate. So Musaala has proposed that celibacy may be made optional. This is one arm of Musaala’s arguments.

The second arm is that the church should not merely watch when some of its priests who have failed to be celibate cause harm. Musaala is proposing that the church should strictly discipline the priests whose failure in celibacy causes harm to third parties, especially the children.

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IRELAND
Justice for Magdalenes

Justice for Magdalenes (JFM), the survivor advocacy group, has published a guide, entitled Survivor Guide to Magdalen Commission,for women who were incarcerated in the Magdalene Laundries as they prepare to engage with the Magdalen Fund.

Following the official State apology issued by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny on 19th February 2013, the government asked Justice John Quirke to undertake a three-month review and make recommendations to the Government about the criteria for applying to the Magdalen Fund for payments and other supports.

Survivors who have not already registered with the Magdalen Commissionare encouraged to do so. Registration forms are available from [click here]

The Survivor Guide to Magdalen Commission is intended solely as an aid to survivors; its purpose is to help them and their families to create a checklist of present-day needs. The Guide is not intended to supplant or replace any official documents created by the Magdalen Commission or the Irish State; it is offered simply as a guide to help women to prepare to engage with the process.

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CALIFORNIA
Patch

By Sheila Sanchez

April 1, 2013

A former lay employee of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary Catholic Convent in Los Gatos’ sentencing has been scheduled for 10 a.m. April 11 at the federal court building on South First Street in downtown San Jose.

The official pronouncement of the punishment against Linda Gomez, 67, originally scheduled for March 28, got postponed two weeks by U.S. District Judge D. Lowell Jensen.

Gomez, also known as Linda Surrett, pleaded guilty in October of 2012 to 17 counts of fraud after admitting having embezzled $100,000 from the religious order. A 2011 grand jury indictment included 14 counts of wire fraud and three counts of mail fraud against her.

The maximum statutory penalty for wire and mail fraud is 20 years in prison and a fine of $1 million, plus restitution, said U.S. Attorney Joseph Fazioli.

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UGANDA
New Vision

Publish Date: Apr 02, 2013

By Taddeo Bwambale

The Catholic Church has set up a commission to investigate allegations by Fr Anthony Musaala that some priests had deviated from the oath of celibacy.

“We have set up a commission to look into the allegations by Fr Musaala. As to whether the allegations are correct or not, the commission will determine,” he said.

Addressing journalists at his residence in Rubaga on Saturday, the Archbishop of Kampala, Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga said the commission would establish the truth.

The probe stems from a document purportedly authored by Musaala recently, claiming that many Catholic priests and bishops are sexually abusing minors, have mistresses and children who they are concealing or have abandoned

The letter also calls for a review of celibate chastity in the Catholic Church. Musaala has since acknowledged writing the document, but claims it leaked on the internet after he gave it to a fellow priest to edit it.

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CANADA
Toronto Sun

By Maryam Shah,Toronto Sun

First posted: Thursday, March 28, 2013

TORONTO – A day after being acquitted of sex-related charges, a former Toronto imam was arrested Wednesday for extradition to the United States.

Mohammad Masroor, 50, is wanted in Michigan and Florida on charges of criminal sexual contact with a person under 13, Toronto Police said.

“The offences are alleged to have occurred between 2000 and 2005,” police said Thursday.

Masroor was charged two years ago with sexually assaulting six people between November 2008 and July 2011. He was also charged with threatening death.

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AUSTRALIA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn

02 April 2013

The former Canberra and Goulburn archbishop Mark Coleridge has been appointed to the Truth Justice and Healing Council, which will manage the Catholic Church’s work with the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

Archbishop Coleridge, now the Archbishop of Brisbane, is one of 13 members announced by president of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference Archbishop Denis Hart and chair of Catholic Religious Australia Sr Annette Cunliffe, RSC.

Prof Greg Craven, vice-chancellor of Australian Catholic University, is also on the council, which will be chaired by Justice Barry O’Keefe, a former chief judge of the NSW Supreme Court and once a commissioner on the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Katherine Donnelly Education Editor– 02 April 2013

THE Catholic Church is being told to hand over another 23 primary schools in an historic shake-up of the eduction system designed to offer parents more choice.

Department of Education surveys in 43 towns and suburbs over the past six months found that two-thirds of parents wanted a more diverse range of schools — meaning a reduction of the church’s overwhelming dominance of school patronage.

The results of the consultation with 10,000 parents on future control of local schools can be revealed today, with Education Minister Ruairi Quinn pointing out that a majority of areas surveyed had shown sufficient parental demand for wider choice of schools.

He insisted: “We cannot ignore this call for change.”

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DEUTSCHLAND
Die Welt

“Hofstaat-Gehabe”: Katholiken im ganzen Land legen ihre Zurückhaltung ab und diskutieren über einen radikalen Richtungswechsel im Vatikan. Die Hoffnungen sind groß. Das gefällt jedoch nicht allen. Von Gernot Facius

Kardinal Karl Lehmann (76) hat als rom-erfahrener Theologe ein sicheres Gespür für Veränderungen. Wo immer er in diesen Tagen hinkommt, sagt Lehmann: “Ich erwarte spannende Wochen.”

Die Veröffentlichung der Brandrede von Papst Franziskus (76) im Vorkonklave, in der der neue Mann auf dem Stuhl Petri alle Formen klerikaler Eitelkeit, die “Selbstbezogenheit” und den “theologischen Narzissmus” seiner Kirche geißelte, befeuert im deutschen Katholizismus die Diskussionen über einen möglichen radikalen Richtungswechsel im Vatikan.

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DEUTSCHLAND
YouTube

Published on Feb 14, 2013

..eine Nachrichtensendung je Jahr von Oktober 2009 bis Januar 2013 als MediaMix

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DEUTSCHLAND
Passauer Neue Presse

In Bayern zeichnet sich ein Rückgang der Verdachtsfälle von sexuellem Missbrauch in der katholischen Kirche ab. Im vergangenen Jahr gingen bei der Missbrauchsbeauftragen des Erzbistums Bamberg, der Anwältin Eva Hastenteufel-Knörr, sieben neue Vorwürfe ein. Im Jahr zuvor seien noch zwölf Fälle aktenkundig geworden, sagte ein Sprecher der Erzdiözese.

Seit Oktober 2011 registrierte das Bistum Passau einen Fall des Verdachts auf Missbrauch. Es seien Vorwürfe gegen einen Lehrer an einer kirchlichen Schule erhoben worden, teilte die Diözese mit. Seitens der Staatsanwaltschaft wurde dieses Verfahren eingestellt. In zwei weiteren Fällen wurde gegen zwei Priester der Diözese der Vorwurf übermäßiger Gewaltanwendung gegenüber Schülern erhoben. Beide Fälle lagen bereits so weit in der Vergangenheit, dass eine Weiterleitung an die Polizei bereits aus diesem Grund unterblieb, wie ein Sprecher mitteilte. “In beiden Fällen wurde mit den Opfern Kontakt aufgenommen und angemessene Hilfen angeboten.”

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

Tue, Apr 2, 2013

The Justice for Magdalenes advocacy group has published a guide for women who were incarcerated in the Magdalene laundries as they prepare to engage with the Government Magdalene Fund. Titled Survivor Guide to Magdalen Commission , it is available at magdalenelaundries.com.

Following the official State apology by Taoiseach Enda Kenny on February 19th, the Government asked Mr Justice John Quirke to undertake a three-month review following which he is to make recommendations on criteria for applications to the Magdalene Fund.

Women who had been in the laundries and who have not already registered with the Magdalene Commission are encouraged to do so.

The group’s guide is intended solely as an aid to the women. Its purpose is to help them and their families create a checklist of their current needs.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Breda Heffernan– 02 April 2013

MORE than 420 former residents of the Magdalene Laundries have applied to be included in a state compensation fund.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice’s special helpline has received almost 1,100 calls about the fund since it was established last month.

The department invited former residents to register a preliminary expression of interest in receiving benefits from the fund and so far 424 women have registered their interest.

They were asked to give details of which laundry they were resident in, the dates when they were there and whether they have any records to support their application.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian Times (UK)

By Paul Bleakley on 2 April, 2013

CATHOLIC Cardinal George Pell will appear before a Victorian inquiry into child sexual abuse within weeks, at a time when the church has proposed sweeping changes to its handling of complaints of abuse against members of the clergy.

Pell was a driving force behind the introduction of a controversial process for dealing with complaints of abuse in Victoria while serving as Archbishop of Melbourne during the 1990s. This practice involved the Catholic Church investigating alleged abuse in-house and encouraging victims to avoid going to the police with their claims.

It is expected that current Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart and a range of other church officials will give evidence to the inquiry. Spokesman for the Catholic Church Shane Mackinlay said that the Victorian inquiry had been given “unfettered” access to files detailing over 600 allegations of abuse that had been investigated by the Victorian wing of the church since Pell’s complaints process was introduced.

Mackinlay said: “The committee has indicated some interest in Cardinal Pell attending and he’s certainly willing to co-operate with that.”

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Mercury

APN Newsdesk
2nd Apr 2013

THE much-anticipated Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will hold its first hearing on Wednesday.

Justice Peter McClellan, who is chairing the inquiry, will outline the work of the Royal Commission, while senior counsel assisting will deliver an opening address.

No evidence will be taken during the hearing, which is being held in Melbourne.

All six commissioners will be present for the hearing.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard bowed to growing pressure and established the royal commission late last year.

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AUSTRALIA
Christian Today

By: Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

Tuesday, 2 April 2013

Archbishop Denis Hart, President of The Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, and Sr Annette Cunliffe RSC, Chair of Catholic Religious Australia, have today announced the members of the Truth Justice and Healing Council (TJHC).

The TJHC will oversee the Catholic Church’s engagement with the Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

Francis Sullivan, CEO of the Council, welcomed the announcement saying the 13 member Council is made up of men and women with professional and other expertise, especially across child sexual abuse, paedophilia, trauma, mental illness, suicide and public policy.

“The Church and members of the TJHC are determined that the truth be told and that the Church assists victims and those damaged by abuse as children receive justice and to embark on a sustainable process of healing,” Francis Sullivan said.

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AUSTRALIA
The West Australian

Patrick Caruana, AAP
April 2, 2013

The royal commission into institutional sexual abuse will begin on Wednesday, but the flood of victims’ stories will have to wait.

No evidence will be tendered at the first sitting in Melbourne of the commission to examine institutional responses to abuse.

Instead, its chair, Justice Peter McClellan, will outline how the commission will conduct its hearings and counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness SC, will make an opening statement.

Chris Wilding, who founded victims’ group Broken Rites in 1992, said it would be a significant day for survivors of abuse.

“It’s certainly very exciting for me to see this happen after 20 years of exposing these sorts of crimes,” she told AAP on Tuesday.

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OREGON
WNYT

(AP) SALEM, Ore. – A Catholic priest pleaded guilty Monday to sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy he invited for a sleepover when he was pastor of a church in a small city south of Portland.

The Rev. Angel Armando Perez was sentenced to more than six years in prison after pleading guilty in Marion County Circuit Court to first-degree sexual abuse, DUI and furnishing liquor to a minor.

Perez, a former pastor at St. Luke Catholic Church in Woodburn, was arrested in August. The Salem child told police he woke up during a sleepover in Perez’s home to find the priest touching his genitals and apparently taking photographs with a cellphone.

Police said the boy ran from the home with Perez chasing him. Neighbors took the boy to his sister’s house.

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WISCONSIN
Fox 6

WAUWATOSA (WITI) — Wauwatosa police are investigating a priest who serves at Tosa’s St. Pius X parish and Mother of Good Counsel parish — for alleged inappropriate behavior.

The Milwaukee Archdiocese says on March 27th, it received information that a teacher at Wauwatosa Catholic School had observed some behavior she believed to be questionable or inappropriate with a student by Father Robert Marsicek — a Salvatorian priest.

Following this report, Wauwatosa police launched an investigation.

Additionally, the Provincial of the Salvatorians, Father Joe Rodrigues was notified, and made the decision to remove Father Marsicek from his parish/pastoral duties effective immediately. Rodrigues has also restricted Father Marsicek’s exercise of any public ministry.

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OREGON
The Oregonian

By Everton Bailey Jr., The Oregonian

A Woodburn priest accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy has been sentenced to a little more than six years in prison Monday.

The Rev. Angel Armando Perez, 47, pleaded guilty in Marion County Circuit Court to first-degree sexual abuse, DUII and furnishing alcohol to a minor charges. He will serve six years and three months in prison.

Previous charges of using a child in display of sexually explicit conduct and evidence tampering were dropped.

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OREGON
KATU

WOODBURN, Ore. – A Woodburn priest took a deal from prosecutors and pleaded guilty to a sex abuse charge on Monday.

Angel Armando Perez was accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy last August. Court documents said Perez invited the boy to spend the night at his house after a party. The boy told police Perez touched his genitals and took pictures using a cell phone.

Perez pleaded guilty to sexual abuse in the first degree, which is a Measure 11 crime. He was sentenced to more than 6 years in prison.

He also pleaded guilty to DUII and a charge of giving alcohol to a person under 21. He will service those sentences concurrently.

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OREGON
Statesman-Journal

News Release from: Marion Co. District Attorney’s Office

On April 1, 2013, Angel Armando Perez entered guilty pleas before the Honorable Courtland Geyer to charges stemming from an August 12, 2012 investigation conducted by the Woodburn Police Department.

Mr. Perez was a priest at St. Luke’s Catholic Church when a complaint of sexual abuse was made to the Woodburn Police Department. Mr. Perez was arrested on August 13, 2012 and a grand jury subsequently indicted him on charges of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, Using a Child in Display of Sexually Explicit Conduct, Tampering with Physical Evidence, Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants, and Furnishing Alcohol to a Person Under 21 Years of Age.

Mr. Perez pled guilty to Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants, and 2 counts of Furnishing Alcohol to a Person Under 21 Years of Age. The remaining charges were dismissed. Mr. Perez was sentenced to 75 months in prison on the charge of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, a Ballot Measure 11 offense. He was sentenced to concurrent jail sentences on the remaining counts.

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UGANDA
Daily Monitor

By Tabu Butagira

Posted Tuesday, April 2 2013

Kampala

A Catholic priest, who last month exposed prevalence of sexual adventure by his colleagues in violation of celibacy oath, has disengaged from the debate citing an “agreement” he reached with Kampala Archbishop Cyprian Lwanga.

Fr. Anthony Musaala, whom the prelate suspended about a fortnight ago for raising the allegations in public, yesterday said he was constrained to further discuss a subject he thrust into the public domain. “I made an agreement with the Archbishop [not to talk to the media] because there was so much happening; so much at stake, he said, “So, I will not comment and I hope you appreciate that.”

Fr. Musaala’s premature withdrawal came a day after Archbishop Lwanga, who suspended him mid-last month, made a U-turn on Easter eve to acknowledge and apologise for alleged sexual abuses, including of minors, by some priests. “It’s sad that there has been some misbehaving by some (priests) as alleged,” he said, before announcing an ad hoc commission had been constituted to inquire into the matter.

Findings of the investigations, according to Archbishop Lwanga, would not be made public because the Church has a cocooned mechanism of resolving such slip-ups.

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CALIFORNIA/CONNECTICUT
Orange County Weekly

By Matt Coker
Mon., Apr. 1 2013

A suspended, cross-dressing Roman Catholic priest nicknamed “Monsignor Meth” because of his role in a drug operation whose suppliers were alleged to be two South County residents is expected to plead guilty to charges against him Tuesday. Federal court papers in Waterbury, Conn., indicate Kevin Wallin, who was accused in January of laundering drug sales proceeds through his post-priestly Land of Oz adult entertainment shop, will cop to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Chad McCluskey, 43, of San Clemente; his longtime girlfriend Kristen Laschober, 47, of Laguna Niguel, and two Connecticut men previously entered not guilty pleas at their arraignment hearing on the same federal counts, which carry with them fines of up to $10 million and 10 years to life in prison with convictions.

Wallin had also originally pleaded not guilty, but he filed court papers last week to change his plea, the Associated Press reported.

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CONNECTICUT
CT Post

Monday, April 1, 2013

By Michael P. Mayko

HARTFORD — On Jan. 3, Monsignor Kevin Wallin was prepared to leave on a two-week vacation in London, before authorities arrested him for dealing crystal methamphetamine.

On Tuesday, the 61-year-old Wallin made preparations for a much longer trip — this one to federal prison for at least 10 years as a result of a guilty plea to participating in a conspiracy to deal the drug.

Wallin, once a charismatic priest with a knack for fund raising, is expected to enter a guilty plea before Senior U.S. District Judge Alfred V. Covello. He is the first of five defendants in the case to plead. The others, including his next door neighbor and close confident, Kenneth Devries and his two meth-addicted California suppliers, Chad McCluskey and Kristen Laschober and Michael Nelson, pleaded not guilty to the conspiracy charge and are awaiting trial.

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WISCONSIN
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

April 1, 2013

A Catholic priest has been temporarily suspended from ministry at two parishes and elementary schools, pending a Wauwatosa police investigation into allegations involving inappropriate contact with a student, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and his religious order confirmed Monday.

Father Robert Marsicek was relieved of his duties at Pius X parish in Wauwatosa, Wauwatosa Catholic School and at Mother of Good Counsel parish and school in Milwaukee last week, standard procedure for both the archdiocese and his Milwaukee-based religious order, the Society of the Divine Savior, or Salvatorians.

Archdiocese spokesman Jerry Topczewski said police were called after a teacher observed behavior she believed to be “questionable or inappropriate.” Teachers are required by law to report any suspicions.

Marsicek has not been charged with a crime, and Wauwatosa police have not returned repeated telephone calls for information.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

[Click here for the story.]

Nick Bramhill

Sun, Mar 31, 2013

Actor Gabriel Byrne has launched a stinging attack on the Catholic Church and described it as a “force for evil”.

The veteran Hollywood star had a strict Catholic upbringing in Dublin and spent five years in a seminary training to be a priest.

But he said it was his own unhappy memories of the seminary, where he says he was sexually abused by a priest, that made him decide not to raise his two children as Catholics.

And in an interview, the 62-year-old says he remains unrepetentant on his views of organised religion and even claimed the Catholic Church once drew inspiration from Hitler’s Nazis.

Recalling the the time he was sent away to an English seminary at just 11 to study for the priesthood, he said: “It was part of the culture. It was a very religious, oppressive society, though we didn’t see it as oppression at the time.

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MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on April 01, 2013

Lawmakers in Missouri are considering making significant changes to the state’s sex offender registry. We hope that any changes they make will aim to further protect children, and not convicted adults.

Among the changes, lawmakers are considering adding “levels” to the registry. While this is a good idea in theory, in reality prosecutors will often allow plea deals for lesser sentences in order to spare victims the pain of a trial. We fear this will lead to less protection for kids.

Another provision is the ability for offenders to petition to have their name removed from the list, dependent on a “risk assessment” done by mental health professionals. Again, this is a good idea in theory, but institutions like the Catholic Church have shown us that a psychiatrist who is friendly to a predator can give him a favorable review, allowing that person to potentially victimize more children.

The state also complains of the burden of maintaining the registry. Yet the burden of keeping an online database up to date is far less than the burden of knowing that another child was able to be abused because of policy changes.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Stuart Rintoul
From:The Australian
April 02, 2013

VICTIM advocates have urged the child sexual abuse royal commission to use its powers aggressively to go to the heart of institutional cover up, while also expressing the hope the inquiry does not become adversarial.

With the royal commission to begin in Melbourne tomorrow , Broken Rites researcher Wayne Chamley said he had urged the commission to follow paper trails within the Catholic Church and use its subpoena powers to go “right up the line” to bring the church hierarchy into the dock.

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INDIA
Virtue Online

Fifteen out of 21 Anglican bishops said to be corrupt according to Central Intelligence Authorities
Nearly two million dollars given for Tsunami victims by The Episcopal Church that were siphoned off reveal tip of financial corruption

Special Report

By David W. Virtue in Chennai
www.virtueonline.org
March 27, 2013

Nearly two million dollars given by Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), the social service arm of The Episcopal Church, for victims of the 2004 Tsunami never got to those for whom it was intended. A Church of South India General Secretary diverted a third of the money to a private clinic run by her medical daughter, a Dr. Beneta.

The money was supposed to have gone to fishermen who lost their boats following giant earthquake driven Tsunami waves that killed 155,000 people and decimated the fishing industry. Money was given to rebuild their homes and to buy new fishing boats destroyed by the 50 foot waves. They received minimal sums of money for boats but nothing for reconstructing their lives and homes.

This is just one of numerous stories of a decades-long history of corruption in the Church of South India that has left Christians cynical that change is possible and good order can ever be restored to the biggest Protestant Church in India. One Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) detective (the equivalent of the FBI) says that the problem remains so widespread in the Church of South India that as many as 15 of the church’s 21 bishops have been tainted by corruption over the years.

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CALIFORNIA
California Anti-SLAPP Project

Posted by Evan Mascagni on Mar 26, 2013

CASP has blogged and questioned whether Gerbosi v. Gaims, (2011) 193 Cal.App.4th 435, was the worst decision ever decided under the California anti-SLAPP law, as it held that the mere allegation that defendant’s conduct was criminal means that the anti-SLAPP law does not apply. Yesterday, five amici briefs were filed in Malin v. Singer, a case at the California Court of Appeal, which among other things, could help repudiate Gerbosi. The California Anti-SLAPP Project represents two of the appellants in this case – a woman who has been sued because her lawyer sent a pre-litigation demand letter, and her husband.

The five amici briefs that challenge the trial court’s decision that the demand letter was criminally extortionate and support the broad construction of California’s anti-SLAPP law were filed yesterday by the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel (ASCDC), the Beverly Hills Bar Association, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California (ACLU/SC), and Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP. Professor George (Rock) Pring and the Center for Public Interest Law, among others, signed on to the BHBA brief. Survivors, activists, survivors’ rights organizations, and law firms that represent survivors all signed on to the SNAP brief. …

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
Written by attorney David Cook of Cook Collection Attorneys.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is a self-help group that supports people who have been victimized by clergy, and helps them try to pick up the pieces of their lives, heal and move forward. SNAP believes that survivors of sexual assault need and deserve compensation for life long therapy and medical expenses, which should be paid without the risk of adverse litigation for bogus claims. This is why SNAP supports survivors’ right to send a demand letter to a predator free of the risk that they will be sued for “extortion.” Many sexual predators are highly aggressive individuals, and would lack any motivation to settle, absent a threat that their misconduct would become public. The thrust of the amicus brief by SNAP is that the threat in a pre-litigation demand letter to reveal misconduct is not extortive if the misconduct itself is the act upon which the claim and ensuing lawsuit are based.

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TEXAS
From the Heights

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. Romans 12:3

The movie Mississippi Burning chronicles the details of racial unrest in the southern part of the state during the 1960s. As the FBI begins to close in on the KKK, one of them says, “Looks like the rattlesnakes are starting to commit suicide.” And rattlesnakes turning on one another has to be an absolutely hideous sight.

Sometimes I feel that way as a Baptist. It seems that I (and many other people I know) can be pretty quick to criticize and call out those with whom we disagree. Since none of us are Saints, it’s pretty arrogant to jump the gun in our critique of other churches who may have nothing in common other than sharing the name Baptist and the classification as Christian.

Then again, issues seem to keep coming up that demand a response, from all of us. One of those has occurred at Prestonwood Baptist, one of the “crown jewels” of the Southern Baptist Convention. It boasts over 20,000 members and the pastor, Jack Graham, has been there for over twenty years. Graham has also been president of the Southern Baptist convention, and he is one of the keynote speakers at the 2013 gathering.

Graham is also in the middle of what could be–and perhaps should be–a massive scandal.

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UNITED STATES
IND

THU, MAR 28
by Walter Pierce

Dr. David Primeaux was beloved in Petersburg, Va. The computer science professor at Virginia Commonwealth University was an active member and past chairman of the Historic Petersburg Foundation, a country-club nonprofit that restores old buildings in this historic city of about 35,000, 23 miles south of the state capital, Richmond, where for nearly two decades he taught at VCU.

In addition to his Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Tennessee, Primeaux held a doctorate in philosophy from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. His academic interests included non-traditional artificial intelligence — heady topics that, buttressed by his philosophy degree, threw smart, dreamy VCU undergrads into a swoon.

David Primeaux was a popular professor and civic leader. Until Dec. 27, 2012.

That’s the day Petersburg police got a call from Primeaux’s wife telling them he had left the house distraught. Cops made brief contact with the professor via cell phone, but he said his phone battery was about to die and ended the call. The next day in a rural neighboring county, a local resident found Primeaux dead inside his 1986 Mazda pickup parked beside a gravel pit. Cause of death, carbon monoxide poisoning; manner of death, suicide, according to the medical examiner’s office, which only recently released the results. …

But until 1985, David Primeaux was a priest in South Louisiana, mainly in Lafayette Parish. A priest who molested children. A priest who benefitted from the church’s willingness — eagerness, it can easily be argued — to play shell games with its most toxic clergy, moving them around after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced. A priest who got away with it.

And the Rev. David Primeaux was, in many ways, forgettable. The infamous Gilbert Gauthe saga began spilling its messy entrails all over everything in 1983. Gauthe probably molested hundreds of kids in Vermilion Parish, although he was prosecuted on only a fraction.

About the time Gauthe was convicted and sent off to prison in the mid 1980s, Primeaux, an Abbeville native, slipped quietly out of his collar. The story is sketchy for almost the next decade. He got a Ph.D. — we know that. He taught a few years in the mid ’90s at Troy University in Alabama, landing an assistant professorship at VCU in ’96.

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UNITED STATES
Juneau Empire

By Dr. MAUREEN LONGWORTH

Editor’s note: This column was inspired by the One Billion Rising rally and flash mob at the state office building atrium on Feb. 14, and was submitted by the author.

It was me.

“It could be anyone,” she said today. “One out of three women is raped or beaten in her lifetime in our world today.”

I was one.

My soul still screams.

I remain forever one who was raped by one of the hims who do the raping.

“It could be anyone,” she said.

But it was me.

It was my heart crushed by the weight of him pushing against my chest.

It was my voice unheard pleading, “No, please no.”

It was my beliefs shattered by this priest, my teacher, who violated me and my Church, robbing me of all spiritual connection to my rich religious past.

It was my vocation to be a nun, and serve God, stolen by him, replaced with emptiness.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Socialist Party of Great Britain

Sins of the Fathers

First there were the black and white smoke signals from the Vatican; then a bloke in a posh frock on the balcony announced in Latin (because these things have to be communicated in ways otherwise unused in the modern world) ‘Habemus papam’ which, roughly translated, means ‘We’ve got a new one.’ And out stepped the new Pope and asked the crowd of nuns and tourists, all weeping with joy because they’d got a new one, to pray for him.

He’ll need more than prayers to deal with all the stories of abuse, blackmail, bullying, gay rent boys and other dirty deeds in the Vatican, and in the Catholic Church generally, that beset the previous Pope’s last days in the job.

After deflecting the world’s attention from the widespread abuse of children in the Church, his job will be to deliberate on God’s latest thoughts on such things as abortion, celibacy, sin, sex, sodomy and contraception (or, when involving the priesthood, any combination of these).

But while the cardinals were still weighing each other up for the job, an organisation named SNAP (Survivors Network of Abuse by Priests) had come up with a list of a ‘Dirty Dozen’ candidates who, they say, because of their failure to deal with the problem, should not become Pope, or even be involved in the selection process. Their website (www.snapnetwork.org) makes interesting reading.

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