ABUSE TRACKER

KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

By JUDY L. THOMAS
The Kansas City Star

Two civil lawsuits filed against the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph — one claiming sexual harassment and another alleging wrongful dismissal — have been settled.

The lawsuits are among about 30 that have been filed against the diocese in the last two years and are the first to be settled. Most of the lawsuits allege sexual abuse by priests.

The diocese and the plaintiffs were tight-lipped about the cases.

“Both cases have been resolved to the parties’ mutual satisfaction,” said Rebecca Randles, the Kansas City lawyer whose firm represents the plaintiffs.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

October 22, 2012

Barney Zwartz

AT LEAST one in 20 Catholic priests in Melbourne is a child sex abuser, although the real figure is probably one in 15, the state inquiry into the churches’ handling of sex abuse was told this afternoon.

RMIT professor Des Cahill said his figures, based on analysing conviction rates of priests ordained from Melbourne’s Corpus Christi College, closely matched a much larger American analysis of 105,000 priests which found that 4362 were child sex offenders.

The intercultural studies professor also told the inquiry that the Catholic Church was incapable of reforming itself because of its internal culture. He said the Church’s Melbourne Response abuse protocol had to go, and the state would have to intervene to achieve it.

In other key testimony, Professor Cahill:
•Called for married priests, as are being allowed now in the Anglican ordinariate within the Catholic Church, as a “circuit-breaker” that would reduce child sex abuse. The state should remove the Equal Opportunity Act exemption letting the church discriminate on grounds of marital status, he said.
•Described the Church as “a holy and unholy mess, except where religious sisters or laypeople are in charge, for example schools and welfare agencies”.
•Called for an “eminent Catholic task force” of lay people to work with the Church on reform and transparency.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

ABC
Updated October 22, 2012

A former Catholic priest has told Victoria’s Parliamentary Inquiry into child sexual abuse, the Church might reduce the incidence of paedophilia by allowing clergy to marry.

Des Cahill is now a professor at RMIT University.

He was among those to give evidence on the second day of public hearings.

He said the Catholic Church had failed to deal properly with paedophilia and reassessing celibacy might be one way of limiting abuse.

“A celibate does not have the emotional support of a close community as a majority of people do in a marriage family context, then there’s a greater likelihood of offending,” he said.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

By Paul Mulvey
From: AAP
October 22, 2012

A FORMER priest has called for the Catholic Church to accept married clergy to help change a culture which has contributed to sexual abuse of children.

Des Cahill says the Victorian government should amend the Equal Opportunity Act to remove the exemption allowing religious organisations to bar people from serving in the church because of their marital status.

Professor Cahill told a Victorian parliamentary inquiry the reform would require “major changes” in the church and admitted it would be a long shot.

But allowing married clergy in the Catholic Church could be the “circuit breaker” needed to change the whole culture of what he called “celibate caste clericalism”, he said.

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CANADA
Northern Life

By: Darren MacDonald – Sudbury Northern Life

The law firm representing victims who suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests says maintaining the abusers’ status as priests is an insult to victims and good priests alike.

At a press conference Oct. 19 at the Radisson Hotel, Rob Talach called on the church to defrock clergy who have been convicted of sex crimes. Talach, a lawyer with the firm Ledriot Beckett Litigation Lawyers, also wants the local diocese to help pay for counselling of victims of abuse, and to create a sexual abuse policy with input from victims.

“You would be shocked to learn that many of those local offending priests still hold the honourable designation of ‘father,’ ” Talach said. “Retired from active ministry is their official disposition, but regardless, they are still priests of the Roman Catholic Church … It is an affront to good priests and an insult to victims.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

This is not the first time the Secretary of the dicastery which oversees men and women religious has been sent away from the Roman Curia

Andrea Tornielli
Vatican City

The nomination of the Secretary for the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the American Redemptorist, John William Tobin, as the new archbishop of Indianapolis is just the latest of a series of similar moves. Tobin was appointed as the dicastery’s number two man in charge of men and women religious in August 2010, thus he only spent two years in the Roman Curia. The reasons for his transferral to the U.S. are apparently linked to his excessive openness to the LCWR’s (Leadership Conference of Women Religious) requests.

Although he was nominated two days ago, hints were already given about his departure from Rome at the beginning of 2012. This means that there were signs of his promotion-removal (the classical Vatican adagio “promoveatur ut amoveatur” is also true for Tobin) just18 months after his appointment to the Congregation for men and women religious.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

There is ongoing unrest in parts of Newcastle’s Anglican Diocese in the wake of the defrocking of three priests.

A group is planning a service to pray for what they call a damaged diocese.

Newcastle Anglican Bishop Brian Farran recently defrocked three priests including the former Dean of Newcastle, Graeme Lawrence.

Another priest was sanctioned.

No criminal charges have been laid and the priests deny all sexual abuse allegations.

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UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

Updated October 21, 2012

The Vatican and Rome are not one and the same. The Vatican and Rome are no longer synonymous. The Vatican is the smallest theocratic, autocracy, ‘it is not a democracy’ country while Rome is the secular city of the democratic state of Italy. Vatican Pied Pipers must stop writing that the “Pope summons bishops, nuncios to Rome”. The correct way is “Pope summons bishops, nuncios to the Vatican”. The last time that “All roads lead to Rome” was during the longest papacy (27 years) of John Paul II when he was obsessed with building his legacy as “JP2 the Great” (to match King Herod the Great) and when he glorified in Rome his favorite criminals Cardinal Bernard Law and Fr. Marcial Maciel (his two evil Achilles Heels) and when he with Cardinal Josef Ratzinger together covered-up thousands of perpetual pedophile priests of his JP2 Army – John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army through his Latin addiction Crimen Sollicitationis

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NEDERLAND
Next Checkt

Diverse media vorige week naar aanleiding van het rapport van de commissie-Samson over misbruik in de jeugdzorg

Vorige week presenteerde de commissie-Samson het rapport Omringd door zorg, toch niet veilig, over seksueel misbruik in de jeugdzorg, met daarin schokkende conclusies. Een van die conclusies was dat de professionals die met uit huis geplaatste kinderen werken slechts een fractie van wat er aan misbruik voorvalt, waarnemen. Om precies te zijn: slechts 2 procent. Verschillende media berichtten hierover. De NOS meldde: „Begeleiders van instellingen signaleerden slechts 2 procent van het misbruik.” De Volkskrant schreef: „Volgens de commissie-Samson constateren werkers in de jeugdzorg slechts 2 procent van de gevallen.” En RTL Nieuws had het zelfs over „nog geen 2 procent van de gevallen”. next.checkt-lezer Ko Ruyter vraagt zich af of het klopt, die 2 procent. Immers, hoe kun je de onderrapportage van misbruik zo precies meten?

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BELGIE
Knack

vrijdag 19 oktober 2012 om 10u09

Tielt – Norbert Bethune doet een ultieme oproep naar slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik binnen de Kerk. Eind deze maand verstrijkt de deadline bij de arbitrage van de parlementaire commissie rond seksueel misbruik en daarna kunnen de feiten enkel nog bij het bisdom gemeld worden. “Ik doe nog één laatste inspanning”, zegt hij.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

October 21, 2012 by Susan Matthews

One of the more promising developments over the past year has been parish-based forums on clergy child sex abuse. We need more to do so. Some have held healing services, but I prefer “information forum” for several reasons. While healing is most certainly needed on all fronts, it seems that would come more easily after all other appropriate steps. There is little trust that the entire hierarchy is taking all those steps. In the meantime, information is critical. Bringing the issue into the light will enable the faithful to enforce efforts.

At a recent parish council meeting on whether or not to hold a forum, someone said this issue is best dealt with in private. What? Child sex abuse happens in private. Cover ups happen in private. The solution will be found out in the open. We must shine a light on this issue. Hasn’t Penn State, the Boy Scouts, the Catholic Church and many other organizations proven that fact? The staggering statistics compel us to deal with this issue. This is not another person’s problem. This is our responsibility as human beings. We owe it to our children, our community and our God.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
WISN

[national database – Attorney Kelly Clark]

MILWAUKEE —
A southeastern Wisconsin advocacy group for sex abuse victims is asking the Boy Scouts of America to release more information about Wisconsin cases.

Earlier this week a judge ordered the Boy Scouts of America to release thousands of documents related to abuse allegations against scouting volunteers.

The Associated Press reported the files identify 29 Wisconsin men as alleged abusers.

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, has asked the BSA to release all the information they have regarding the Wisconsin allegations. They are also encouraging any other abuse victims to come forward.

“No matter when you’ve been harmed, it does not matter, ” said Peter Isely of SNAP. “Make a report and see if they can find out where this individual is.”

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VERENIGDE STATEN
Trouw

[national database – Attorney Kelly Clark]

Een Amerikaans advocatenkantoor publiceert vandaag 20.000 vertrouwelijke documenten van de Amerikaanse padvindersorganisatie Boy Scouts. Hierin staan de namen van 1247 scoutingsleiders en vrijwilligers die weggestuurd zijn wegens beschuldigingen van seksueel of ongepast gedrag met jongens, meldt CNN. .

In de documenten, waarin informatie uit 1965 tot 1985 staat, zijn de namen van slachtoffers en getuigen weggehaald. De documenten worden vrijgegeven na toestemming van het Hooggerechtshof van Oregon. Het advocatenkantoor dat over de documenten beschikt heeft de zaak van een jongen die eind 2009 door een vrijwilliger is misbruikt behandeld. De vrijwilliger is veroordeeld, de Boy Scouts of America moesten 18,5 miljoen dollar schadevergoeding betalen.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.comtwincities.com
Posted: 10/20/2012

A priest who resigned from his church post after his arrest for indecent exposure in a St. Paul park has asked a court to seal his record.

Michael John Krenik’s misdemeanor conviction was dismissed in November 2011 upon the successful completion of his probation.

Krenik, 54, of St. Paul, petitioned Ramsey County District Judge Teresa Warner on Oct. 5 for an expungement of his criminal file. If the judge grants his request at the Jan. 23 hearing, the record will be sealed from public view.

Krenik was the pastor at St. Hubert Catholic Community in Chanhassen at the time of his Nov. 4, 2010, arrest. At 1:20 p.m. that day, he exposed himself to a police officer at the river flats near Eustis Street and Mississippi River Boulevard, just north of the Marshall Avenue-Lake Street bridge.

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IRELAND
Irish Central

By
PATRICK COUNIHAN,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Sunday, October 21, 2012

The Catholic Church is to make a full apology to a priest wrongly accused of child protection issues.

Fr Oliver Brennan was reinstated as a parish priest in Louth on Saturday night after two years under investigation.

The 67-year-old had voluntarily stepped down immediately as parish priest of Blackrock and Haggardstown in August 2010 when the allegation was made.

The Sunday Independent reports that a police investigation could find no evidence against Fr Brennan.

The paper says the “allegations were totally lacking in credibility.”

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Saturday October 20 2012

This evening, in Dublin’s Convention Centre, former pupils of Christian Brothers schools will come together to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Edmund Rice.

Advertised as “an evening with former President Mary McAleese and guests”, its theme is “to reunite, reconcile, give thanks and look to the future”.

For many, though, it’s impossible to forget the past.

Few names evoke such opposing reactions in Ireland as that of Edmund Rice.

Mention his name to grown men who attended a CBS, founded by the Kilkenny-born educator, and often a shadow will cloud their ageing faces.

Many recall the discipline, the fear, the corporal punishment and the physical and sexual abuse dished out to them and/or others.

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AUSTRALIA
Care Leavers Australia Network

[CLAN’S submission to the Victorian Inquiry]

Care Leavers Australia Network (CLAN) has recently completed a submission to the Victorian Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations.

Although the Victorian Government has shown great initiative in instigating a parliamentary inquiry, CLAN is concerned that the current inquiry deliberately excludes the Victorian Government to avoid accountability through transparency.

Many Victorian Care Leavers who had government experiences in the ‘care’ system are now excluded. The inquiry is consequently discriminatory to former state wards.

The Victorian Government, through its predecessor agencies to the current Department of Human Services:

 Established 17 Orphanages, Children’s Homes and other Institutions.
 Funded and inspected against standards religious and non-government organisations which ‘cared’ for state wards.1

It is clear in some cases that the Victorian Government’s failure of duty of care enabled the criminal treatment of children by churches and charities.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By TERRY CONLON

Sunday October 21 2012

A 67-YEAR-OLD Co Louth Catholic priest, who was the subject of a child-protection allegation, has been cleared after over two years to return to active ministry.

Father Oliver Brennan voluntarily stepped down immediately as parish priest of Blackrock and Haggardstown in August 2010 when the allegation was made.

The finding of the garda investigation was that the “allegations were totally lacking in credibility”. Similarly, the church inquiry concluded last Friday that the allegations were “fabricated and have not been substantiated”.

At a special Mass last night in Blackrock, near Dundalk, Co Louth, Fr Brennan. was reinstated. He is expected to be given a full apology by the church.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

By Claire O’Sullivan

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Survivors of abuse at Christian Brother schools have accused organisers of a Christian Brothers commemoration event this weekend of attempting to muzzle them by not allowing them to speak.

Former President Mary McAleese and Sen Martin McAleese are set to join past pupils of Christian Brothers schools at an event at Dublin’s Convention Centre today to commemorate the anniversary of the birth of Edmund Rice, founder of the Christian Brothers and Presentation Brothers.

Survivors of child abuse at Christian Brother schools were invited.

Tonight’s event is part of a year-long initiative to raise funds for international work being carried out in the spirit of Edmund Rice.

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MARYLAND
Herald-Mail

October 19, 2012|By C.J. LOVELACE | cj.lovelace@herald-mail.com

In the wake of the release of decades of confidential sexual-abuse allegations within the Boy Scouts of America, a local Scouting official said Friday that the organization remains committed to protecting youth and providing a safe environment above all else.

“Safe-guarding the Scouts is the number one priority for the Scouting organization,” said Mark Barbernitz, Scout executive for the Mason-Dixon Council of the BSA, which oversees approximately 2,300 kids and about 100 troops of Scouts in Washington County as well as parts of Franklin and Fulton counties in Pennsylvania. …

The Rev. Tim Leighton, pastor of Church of the Holy Trinity UCC in Halfway since 2006, said their congregation will continue to support Boy Scout Troop 136 and the Cub Scout pack that meet at the church.

“The congregation as a whole has been very supportive of Scouting, both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, for a number of years,” Leighton said. “The Scout troop has done several service projects.”

Leighton, who also took part in the Scouts as a kid, said the church has not considered re-evaluating its relationship with the organization despite the abuse allegations, adding that Troop 136 leaders are very conscientious of the parents and adults that work with the kids.

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MASSACHUSETTS
The Eagle-Tribune

[national database – Attorney Kelly Clark]

By Mark E. Vogler mvogler@eagletribune.com The Eagle-Tribune

In early 1977, allegations about an assistant scoutmaster having sex with boys rocked the old St. Joseph’s Church in Haverhill, then home for Boy Scout Troop 27.

Stories grew rampant about the 27-year-old scout leader inviting boys to stay overnight at his home, where indecent exposure and fondling were common. One boy accused the troop leader of performing “an unnatural act” on him.

A father who was on the troop committee consulted with a lawyer and the police for assistance after reporting that his son was a victim of sexual abuse by an adult leader “who should not be allowed to stay in scouting.”

But despite the controversy, police never prosecuted the assistant scoutmaster for the alleged sexual crimes. Neither he nor the Boy Scouts were named as defendants in any lawsuits.

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INDIA
Times of India

MADURAI: Police are on the lookout for a pastor, who is absconding following a complaint of sexual harassment of a 12-year-old Sri Lankan refugee girl, by her parents. The complaint has been registered with the Dindigul taluk police.

Kumarasamy (47) is a Sri Lankan refugee staying in the Adiyanoorthu refugee camp. He works as a loadman with the railways. His 12-year-old daughter was a student at a Roman Catholic school in the neighbouring area. A few days ago, she had come home weeping, saying that the priest, Amaladas, of the church next to the school misbehaved with her. Enquiries by her mother and relatives allegedly revealed that the priest had abused the girl sexually.

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KENTUCKY
The Courier-Journal

[national database – Attorney Kelly Clark]

[with video]

Written by
Andrew Wolfson
The Courier-Journal

When a 47-year-old Louisville Boy Scout leader attempted in 1967 to molest a boy in a tent during an outing, scouting officials promised that they would keep the matter strictly confidential and say only that the leader resigned.

“The Scout office will make no general announcement,” Scouting Executive Hal Cory wrote on Nov. 6, 1967, to Boy Scouts of America headquarters, which promised to put the report in its “confidential file.” ..

Cal Pfeiffer, a founding member of the local chapter of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the disclosures show how pervasive sexual abuse of children is in society “in one group after another after another.”

He said the Boy Scouts at least forced accused leaders to resign rather than moving them from parish to parish, as the church often did. But like the church, the Scouts didn’t refer leaders for prosecution, he said, potentially allowing them to continue to prey on children in other capacities.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Fresno Bee

The Associated Press

Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012 | 10:58 AM

LOS ANGELES — Five years after settling with sex abuse victims, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles says it will release the confidential personnel files of about 200 accused priests.

Spokesman Tod Tamberg told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune ( http://bit.ly/XBblV3) on Friday that the Archdiocese will hand over the records to a judge on Dec. 10.

The newspaper says the files – with the names of innocent individuals redacted – will ultimately be made public under a record $660 million settlement the Archdiocese agreed to in 2007.

The personnel files of 13 priests were released Friday to an attorney who represents a victim allegedly abused by the Rev. Nicolas Aguilar Rivera. That case is pending and the records remain under a protective order from the court and cannot be made public.

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BIRMINGHAM (AL)
San Francisco Chronicle

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A guard at the Birmingham Museum of Art has been accused of receiving child pornography at work.

Federal authorities charged Loyd Jeffrey Hitt with a child pornography offense this week. He was denied bond during a hearing Thursday. His defense lawyers did not immediately return a call seeking comment. …

Investigators said in court documents that they focused on Hitt after learning he was on the customer database of an entity in another country that was distributing child pornography. Police said Hitt told investigators that he was involved with a church youth group. The name of the church was not released.

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BULGARIA
Focus

Vidin. At a sitting the Eparchial Court in the Northern town of Vidin, under the presidency of Right Reverend Bishop Sioniy, examined the case of manciple Slaveycho Borisov, who was subpoenaed by the court over of abuse and misappropriation of large amount of church property, occupation of civil positions without the knowledge of the Vidin Bishopric, non-observation of the regulations of the Vidin Bishopric Council and reluctance to appear and defend himself, as well as other misdeeds in the execution of the church services.

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CROAZIA
Globalist

Fra’ Sime Simac, il francescano che l’altra sera si è fatto arrestare dopo una fuga avventurosa con una donna, facilitata dal milione e 300mila euro sottratti al convento, in Croazia si sta trasformando in una “star” del web. Un gruppo di sostegno su Facebook in un solo giorno ha ottenuto 4.500 “mi piace”. Un fotomontaggio mostra in francescano in groppa a un cavallo bianco, un altro vuole che sia pronto ad usare quel danaro per salvare l’ “Hajduk”, la squadra di Spalato che sta rischiando il fallimento.

Compaiono anche una lunga serie di immaginari fra’ Sime che lanciano battute e informano il pubblico su loro fantasiosi spostamenti. In una vignetta il frate, che era fuggito su un’auto sportiva in compagnia di una donna, manda a dire: “Non temete, il danaro è al sicuro”. In un’altra gli si fa dire: “E’ giunto il momento di dissipare le ombre e dire la verità, questo non è un furto ma un equo sistema di divisione poiché chi ruba ai ladri non è ladro ma servo di Dio”.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KMOV

[with video]

by Russell Kinsaul / News 4 and KMOV.com staff

ST. LOUIS (KMOV) — Confidential files kept for years by Boy Scouts of America detailing allegations of sexual abuse against boys include 47 cases from Missouri.

A majority of the Missouri cases included in files released Thursday come from troops in St. Louis and Kansas City or their suburbs, but cases also were reported in such places as Neosho, Fort Leonard Wood and Chillicothe.

The Boy Scouts released about 14,500 pages of what are being called “perversion files” on cases across the country dating from 1959 to 1985. …

But it’s unclear from the records of those four cases whether scouting leaders ever notified police.

“Unless those who conceal sexual abuse are revealed and punished then they’ll continue to do it,” said SNAP’s David Clohessy, who works with survivors of abuse.

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UNITED STATES
Waiting for Godot to Leave

James Preece of Catholic and Loving It comments on my recent post, The Pattern, and affirms what I suggest, which is (to quote James), “The problem is that we haven’t tried to fix the culture that enabled sex abuse, we’ve just made sex abuse a special case.”

I encourage you to follow the link and read his very well-written article. In it, he strikes upon an apt metaphor.

I don’t think it would be fair to talk about a “culture of abuse”, because I’m quite sure the majority of Catholics are not in favour of abuse and do not encourage or perpetrate abuse. What we are talking about is a culture which is favourable to abuse. It’s like storing raw meat in a warm place. Warmth itself is not food poisoning, but it is better to keep food in the fridge.

Indeed, this bad spiritual food-hygiene leads to abuse of many varieties. As in spoiled meat, the culture that springs up is a bacterial and a poisonous culture.

Preece describes this culture and hits upon the heart of the problem …

Looking at the definition of “abuse” we find that the word essentially means “misuse”. That’s why there are so many kinds of abuse such as verbal abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, substance abuse and so on. We call it abuse when somebody misuses a person sexually but we also use the word in other ways, like “I let my daughter have access to the biscuit jar but she abused the privilege”.

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CANADA
Northern Life

By: Sudbury Northern Life Staff
Fifteen people who say they were abused by members of the Roman Catholic clergy are calling on the church to do more to help current victims and protect any future ones.

Lawyer Robert Talach of the law firm of Ledroit Beckett is holding a press conference this afternoon at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Sudbury. He will be joined by 15 people who say they are victims of abuse by priests.

“It is both disturbing and disappointing that in this day and age a religious organization, whose mandate is supposed to be compassion and care, has failed to support victims,” Talach said in a news release. “It is time that they get with the program.”

The press conference, the release stated, represents “a demand from victims of local Catholic priests for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie to do more to support victims.”

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CANADA
Sudbury Star

By Carol Mulligan, Sudbury Star

Saturday, October 20, 2012

A Sudbury woman ordained a bishop with Roman Catholic Women Priests of Canada has her own take on how the church in which she is fighting for reform should handle cases of sexual abuse by priests.

Marie Evans Bouclin, who once worked for the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie and Bishop Jean-Louise Plouffe, agrees with Rev. Bob Bourgon that allowing offending priests to remain on the church’s radar helps track them and ensure they don’t offend again. Bouclin suggests priests convicted of sexual assault should undergo assessment and, if they are determined to be so psychologically damaged they never should have been ordained in the first place, they be defrocked.

If it’s deemed they are “unfit for ministry, then there should be some kind of an action to annul their ordination just like you annul a marriage,” said Bouclin.

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CALIFORNIA
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

By Christina Villacorte, Staff Writer
dailynews.com
Posted: 10/19/2012

Five years after promising to do so, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles will hand over the confidential personnel files of about 200 priests accused of sexual abuse and child molestation to a judge in December.

Those documents – with the names of innocent individuals redacted – will ultimately be made public under the Archdiocese’s record $660 million settlement in 2007 to 508 people who said they were victims.

“I’m cautiously optimistic,” said Joelle Casteix, Western regional director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

“I’m very encouraged that the judge has laid down a concrete schedule but, at the same time, I and other survivors will remain vigilant about holding the archdiocese to account.”

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MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe

This story was reported by Travis Andersen and Martin Finucane of the Globe staff and Globe correspondents Colin A. Young, Melanie Dostis, and Liam O’Kennedy. It was written by ­Andersen.

Forty-five people from Massachusetts are listed in the secret “perversion files” maintained by the Boy Scouts of America that were released Thursday by an Oregon legal team ­under an order from the Oregon Supreme Court.

The hometowns of Massachusetts residents listed in the Scouts’ ­ineligible volunteer files were spread across the state, from South Boston to Pittsfield. The files contained 44 names and one person listed as ­unknown. …

In addition, a former Catholic seminary student from Dorchester who admitted to sexually assaulting an 11-year-old Scout at Thompson’s Island in 1969 was listed with the names released, according to his file.

He also admitted to committing lewd acts in front of scouts at various time during troop meetings, the filing states. The man received a suspended prison sentence for his actions and was later treated by a therapist, he wrote in a letter to scout officials asking to be admitted to a South Boston troop. That request was denied.

“I admit I did something terribly wrong, and never have denied that fact,” the man wrote in his letter. “But through therapy, I was able to see the underlying causes. … I can assure you there is no further problem and can document this. How many other Scoutmasters can?”

The Globe did not name the man because it could not determine on Thursday night if the man was ever charged.

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UNITED STATES
Kelly Clark, Attorney

Disclaimer:

The information contained in the ineligible volunteer (“IV”) files is being made public pursuant to a court order from The Honorable John Wittmayer, Multnomah County Circuit Judge for the State of Oregon, in the case of Lewis vs. Boy Scouts of America, Case No. 0710-11294. The Oregon Supreme Court upheld the ruling on June 14th, 2012.

By the terms of Judge Wittmayer’s order, the names and contact information of persons identified as victims of sexual abuse and those that reported the abuse were redacted. If the person identified as an abuse reporter was a professional Scouter, i.e., an individual employed by the Boy Scouts of America or an affiliate, then the name was not redacted.

The information in the IV files concerns allegations of child sexual abuse. In a number of the cases, the allegations were later substantiated by court proceedings. However, in a great many cases no such substantiation ever occurred. Consequently, the law firms of O’Donnell Clark and Crew LLP and Paul Mones, and any agent or representative thereof, make no representations or suggestions that any of the allegations in these files are in every case true. In fact, we are in no position to verify or attest to the truth of these allegations as they were compiled by the Boy Scouts of America. The incidents reported in these documents attest to notice of potential child abuse given to the Boy Scouts of America and its affiliates and their response to that notice.

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UNITED STATES
KSDK

[with video]

By Alex Fees

St. Louis (KSDK) – Officials with SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are weighing-in on the Boy Scouts child sex abuse scandal.

They say the documents made public Thursday by civil suits show the same kind of callous, reckless maneuvers by scouting officials that SNAP called attention to in other contexts, such as the Catholic Church and Penn State.

“The sad truth is many institutions value their own reputations over the safety of the kids they serve,” said David Clohessy, with SNAP in St. Louis.

Regarding the release of confidential, so-called “perversion” files kept by Boy Scout officials, Clohessy said, “We in SNAP are calling upon law enforcement officials to look through these files and use their bully pulpits and beg victims, witnesses, and whistle-blowers of scout abuse to come forward. Obviously most of these cases are from years and years ago. And the statute of limitations has probably run and nothing can be done, legally, but we believe it’s reckless to make that assumption.”

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MASSACHUSETTS
Lowell Sun

By Lisa Redmond, lredmond@lowellsun.comlowellsun.com
Posted: 10/20/2012

BOSTON — One of the 45 Massachusetts residents listed in the Boy Scouts’ newly released “perversion files” is a former Pepperell resident and Level 3 sex offender who is in prison serving time for his fourth child sex-assault conviction.

Due to an Oregon Supreme Court ruling, the Boy Scouts of America on Thursday released a list of 1,250 “ineligible volunteers” from across the country who were accused of child molestation as far back as 1965. …

On the published list is Donn Kruger, of Pepperell, who was listed as an “ineligible volunteer” in 1983. Also listed as ineligible volunteers are Normand R. Harnois, of Lowell (1989); Steven A. Conti, of Burlington (1988); Alden R. Farrar, of Ayer, (1978); and the Rev. Walter N. Stone, of Fitchburg (1989). …

According to published reports from 1989, Stone was a Congregational minister in Fitchburg when he was charged with rape and sexual abuse involving children in his parish and in

In a July 28, 1978 letter from George Fraquair, Scout executive of the Nashua Valley BSA Council, to the BSA Registration Service, Fraquair asked that Alden R. Farrar, of Ayer, be “placed on the confidential list. He has admitted to a morals offense against one of our scouts. The family, including the scout, fortunately have decided not to prosecute.”

Stone, of the Rollstone Congregational Church in Fitchburg, was sentenced to seven to 15 years in state prison after being convicted of eight counts of indecent assault and battery on a child. Two victims testified that Stone befriended them during church counseling and activities.

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ILLINOIS
Herald-Whig

By DON O’BRIEN
Herald-Whig Staff Writer

Information about three cases concerning local Boy Scout leaders were among the 14,500 pages of secret “perversion files” released Thursday by order of the Oregon Supreme Court.

The Associated Press reported an array of local authorities — police chiefs, prosecutors, pastors and town Boy Scout leaders among them — quietly shielded scoutmasters and others who allegedly molested children. The files document sex abuse allegations across the country, from a small town in the Adirondacks to downtown Los Angeles, from 1959 to 1985.

The local cases involved a Memphis, Mo., minister in 1960, and incidents in the 1980s in both Quincy and Fort Madison, Iowa. …

º The Rev. Dean Jones, a pastor at Christian Church in Memphis, Mo., was accused of oral sodomy in June 1960, according to papers filed by The Great Rivers Council of the Boy Scouts of America. The Boys Scouts’ memo said Jones “failed to deny or admit (the charge) but immediately resigned his position in the church.”

Jones, 28 at the time, was the cubmaster for Pack 97 in Memphis. His file does not indicate if he was ever charged. The memo stated that “sufficient evidence has been collected to verify the major complaint.”

Click here to view documents related to the Jones case.

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IOWA
KWWL

[with video]

Written by Jackie Manternach, Producer

MARION COUNTY (KWWL) –
Former Pella Pastor Patrick Edouard, 42, will serve prison time after sexually abusing four members of his congregation.

One victim described it in court saying, “Edouard violated me emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually.”

Edouard’s accusers say he took advantage of their time in counseling on personal issues. But the former pastor says that he wasn’t counseling any of the woman, rather he says all of the relationships were consensual.

A jury disagreed with him on several accounts in August.

Edouard was found guilty of four counts of sexual exploitation by a therapist or counselor and one count of a pattern of sexual exploitation. He was also found not guilty of three other counts of sexual abuse.

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RHODE ISLAND
Westerly Sun

Associated Press

PROVIDENCE — The newly released Boy Scouts “perversion files” name several former Scout officials in Rhode Island, including one expelled from the organization in the 1970s after being accused of forcing a boy to perform a sex act on him.

The 14,500 pages of files, released Thursday, show that William Lazzareschi was expelled from his Providence troop in 1971 after a Scout leader said he saw a 12-year-old performing oral sex on him behind a tent at Yawgoog Scout Reservation. The boy later said “Mr. Lazzareschi made me do it to him,” according to a letter from the assistant reservation director to the head of the Narragansett Council.

It appears that authorities were not notified. The letter indicates that a Scout chaplain, the Rev. Edmond Micarelli, recommended the boy’s parents not be told. It said the boy was “counseled” by Micarelli with “positive results.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Yorkshire Post

Published on Saturday 20 October 2012

A ROMAN Catholic diocese which ordained a priest despite his dismissal for abusing boys at a children’s home received more abuse allegations after his ordination but did not report them to the police, the Yorkshire Post can reveal.

The Diocese of Middlesbrough, which appointed Joseph O’Brien to a series of clerical posts in Middlesbrough and North Yorkshire after he had been sacked from the St William’s children’s home in East Yorkshire, kept fresh allegations of abuse ‘in-house’ from 2000 onwards.

The latest revelations surrounding Father O’Brien, who served for 15 years in the parish of Thirsk until retirement in 1998, are contained in an executive summary of a report compiled by a Catholic child protection agency.

The Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service (CSAS) carried out an inquiry following a Yorkshire Post investigation into the priest, who died in 2010. The summary reveals that the diocese kept two separate files, one of which – termed the ‘Bishop’s file’ – was only discovered last year.

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FLORIDA
Huffington Post

The Archdiocese of Miami continues to defend embattled priest Father Rolando Garcia, who is facing a fresh accusation he used hush money to conceal another priest’s abuse of an underaged boy.

That victim, now an adult, appeared before the media Thursday with attorney Jeff Herman to allege that Garcia, currently pastor at St. Agatha Catholic Church in West Miami-Dade, bought the victim’s complicit silence regarding his knowledge of the repeated assaults.

“He was paying me to keep it quiet while [Fr.] Cristobal de Jesus Puertas was raping me,” said the man, whose identity is being concealed. “This man is preaching to hundreds of people over there and he’s wearing a mask.”

Fr. Garcia has himself been accused of molesting young boys in the church. The church leader was named in previous lawsuits against the archdiocese alleging he engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with alter boys, with the most recent suit filed in September.

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CANADA
The Sudbury Star

Carol Mulligan
The Sudbury Star

Friday, October 19, 2012

The lawyer representing 15 men who allege they were sexually abused by Roman Catholic priests is demanding the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie take a “trinity” of actions to help his clients get over their pain.
Rob Talach is calling upon the diocese and its spiritual leader, Bishop Jean-Louis Plouffe, to begin the process of defrocking priests who are convicted sexual offenders, to create a diocesan sexual abuse policy with input from victims and to pay for counselling for men who were abused.

Talach, from London-based Ledroit Beckett Litigation lawyers, was joined at a news conference Friday by four Sudbury men who were victims of two of six priests convicted criminally of sexual abuse dating back 50 years in Sudbury.

Talach lambasted the diocese and Plouffe for not taking a proactive approach to helping these men by funding counselling before the civil cases he has launched for the men are dealt with in court.

“Up here, this diocese, it’s the middle ages,” Talach said Friday at the Radisson Hotel on St. Anne’s Road, a stone’s throw from the diocese’s office across the street.

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CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on October 19, 2012

Today, LA judge Emilie Elias gave the Archdiocese of Los Angeles a concrete schedule for the public release of thousands of pages of sex abuse and cover-up documents. If all goes according to plan, the redacted files on perpetrator priests will be made public by the end of the year.

The documents were a part of the 2007, $660 million settlement with more than 500 victims of child sexual abuse. More than 200 predator clerics were named as abusers. Lawyers for the Archdiocese and accused priests have spent the past five years (and who knows how much money at $600/hr) to keep the files secret.

In other dioceses (like Orange and Wilmington, DE, to name a few), similar files have shown the severe damage caused by many current and former clerics, and also show how complicit church officials ignored public safety and recklessly put children in harm’s way.

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BELGIE
De Morgen

Socioloog Jan Hertogen, een van de slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik in de kerk, heeft in een e-mail aan de pers het proces-verbaal publiek gemaakt dat onderzoeksrechter Colette Calewaert opgesteld heeft over de verdwijning van dossierstukken in Operatie Kelk. Dat is het gerechtelijk onderzoek naar seksueel misbruik en schuldig verzuim dat de onderzoeksrechter erfde van haar voorganger, Wim De Troy.

Het proces-verbaal maakt deel uit van het gerechtelijk onderzoek en is als zodanig een geheim stuk. Het federaal parket heeft het daarom over een verwonderlijke démarche die mogelijks strafbaar is.

Gisteren schreven de Coreliokranten al dat er tientallen processen-verbaal uit het onderzoeksdossier waren verdwenen. Vandaag meldde minister van Justitie Turtelboom in de Kamer dat het ging om 445 stukken. Die verdwenen in de periode net voordat onderzoeksrechter Wim De Troy, die het onderzoek eerst leidde maar zich niet liet herbenoemen tot onderzoeksrechter, vervangen werd door onderzoeksrechter Calewaert.

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BELGIE
De Morgen

dm Operatie Kelk Socioloog Jan Hertogen meent dat hij in Operatie Kelk het geheim van het onderzoek niet heeft geschonden. De man maakte donderdagavond via e-mail minstens een deel van het proces-verbaal publiek waarin onderzoeksrechter Colette Calewaert vaststelt dat een groot aantal dossierstukken uit het onderzoek naar seksueel misbruik en schuldig verzuim binnen de katholieke kerk verdwenen zijn. Volgens Jan Hertogen deed hij dat om de belangen van de slachtoffers te beschermen.

“Als minister van Justitie Turtelboom laconiek vaststelt dat er 445 processen-verbaal verdwenen zijn, vraagt het niet veel verbeelding om zich in te leven in de gevoelens van de slachtoffers”, schrijft Jan Hertogen in een nieuwe e-mail. “Die vragen zich af of hun proces-verbaal of verhaal daarbij zit, in wiens handen dat terechtgekomen is en wat die persoon daarmee gaat doen. Maar dat zulk een onzorgvuldigheid in een uiterst gevoelig dossier kan voorkomen, lijkt geen probleem. Er is niemand in de media of politiek die zijn bekommernis voor de slachtoffers uit.”

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BELGIE
De Morgen

Er zijn niet enkele tientallen, maar wel honderden pv’s verdwenen uit het onderzoek naar seksueel misbruik in de Kerk. Welgeteld 445 om precies te zijn. Dat heeft minister van Justitie Annemie Turtelboom (Open Vld) bekendgemaakt in de Kamer. Intussen is een kopie van alle ontbrekende processen-verbaal wel weer aan het strafdossier toegevoegd. “Dat is dus opnieuw volledig”, klonk het. .

Gisteren raakte bekend dat tientallen pv’s zijn verdwenen. Ze zouden per vergissing door de poetsvrouw zijn weggegooid bij de verhuis van de griffier van toenmalig onderzoeksrechter Wim De Troy. Maar een deel ging vermoedelijk ook mee naar huis om er daar verder aan te werken, zonder dat ze ooit terug tot op kantoor geraakten, klonk het.

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BELGIE
De Morgen

Tientallen pv’s in het onderzoek naar seksueel misbruik in de kerk zijn verdwenen. Dat schrijven de Coreliokranten. Ze werden per vergissing door de poetsvrouw weggegooid. Het federaal parket bevestigt de verdwijning, maar over de oorzaak spreken ze zich niet uit. “Het verhaal van de poetsvrouw is slechts een veronderstelling.” .

Colette Callewaert, de onderzoeksrechter die Wim De Troy afloste in het onderzoek naar seksueel misbruik in de kerk, stelde in april dit jaar vast dat tientallen processen-verbaal van de federale politie niet meer in het onderzoeksdossier zaten. Het zou onder meer gaan over verhoren van slachtoffers, maar ook over pv’s die gemaakt werden van verschillende huiszoekingen.

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COLORADO
Colorado Springs Gazette

October 19, 2012

R. SCOTT RAPPOLD
scott.rappold@gazette.com

A retired priest pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he lured a 15-year-old Colorado Springs boy into a sexual relationship.

The Rev. Charles Robert Manning, 77, is accused of molesting the boy while serving as pastor at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church, where he began work in 2007. The alleged abuse took place in June 2011.

An arrest affidavit alleges the boy came to Manning for advice on becoming a Catholic and the priest began giving him private lessons, during which he gave the boy alcohol and marijuana. Colorado Springs Police also say Manning took the boy to get his nipples pierced, kissed the boy on the lips and engaged in other sexual acts, after which he thanked the boy.

Manning was suspended from the church in January and arrested in May.

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COLORADO
San Francisco Chronicle

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A retired Roman Catholic priest has pleaded not guilty to charges alleging he engaged in sexual acts with a 15-year-old boy in Colorado Springs.

Charles Robert Manning pleaded not guilty Friday to three counts of sex assault on a child by one in a position of trust and two counts each of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and sexual exploitation of children.

The Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/R8Muqe ) Manning is accused of molesting the boy while serving at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church in 2007. He also is accused of giving the boy alcohol and marijuana.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Joshua J. McElwee | Oct. 19, 2012

The Knights of Columbus, the U.S. Catholic fraternal organization known for its wide-ranging charitable work and parish fish fries, has been a significant contributor to political efforts opposing same-sex marriage across the country, according to a study commissioned by a coalition of Catholic groups that support same-sex marriage.

“Since 2005, the Knights of Columbus has provided more than $15.8 million dollars toward [opposing same-sex marriage], providing $6.25 million directly to anti-marriage equality efforts,” says the report, released Thursday.

Earlier this year, a coalition called Equally Blessed commissioned a study of the Knights’ tax filings, annual statements and other public documents between 2005 and 2012. The result is a 37-page report, “The Strong Right Arm of the Bishops: The Knights of Columbus and Anti-Marriage Equality Funding.” …

The Equally Blessed group criticizes the Knights’ donations to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as “essentially untraceable.”

“Since the USCCB is part of the Catholic Church and does not have to report its charitable contributions, money given to the USCCB’s anti-marriage equality efforts is essentially untraceable unless it shows up in specific state-level reporting requirements,” the report states.

“This is especially important because it makes it difficult to ascertain how much the church has invested in influencing voters in Washington, Maryland, Maine and Minnesota, where marriage equality-related initiatives are on the ballot in November 2012,” the report says.

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BIRMINGHAM (AL)
AL.com

By Kent Faulk | kfaulk@al.com

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — A Birmingham Museum of Art security guard has been charged with receiving child pornography, which included movies and photographs shipped from a foreign country to his workplace at the museum.

Investigators also found pornographic images of young boys on the home computer of the guard, who was also involved with his church’s youth group, according to federal court documents.

Loyd Jeffrey Hitt, 53, of Center Point, was charged with receipt of child pornography in a court document filed in U.S. District Court on Thursday afternoon.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert R. Armstrong denied bond for Hitt during a hearing Thursday at the Hugo L. Black U.S. Courthouse, court records show. The judge also appointed defense lawyers to represent Hitt from the Federal Public Defender’s Office.

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HOUSTON (TX)
KTRK

Pooja Lodhia

HOUSTON (KTRK) — Investigators say they found hundreds of pictures and videos stored on Gordon Oehmig’s home computer. Oehmig was head wrestling coach at St. Thomas High School on Memorial Drive.

Houston police are warning parents that their kids could be victims. They are calling this an elevated threat because the suspect worked with kids, both as an employee and volunteer.

Oehmig, 29, bonded out of jail early Friday morning on a $20,000 bail. He has now been charged with five felony counts of possessing child pornography.

Investigators raided his home Thursday morning after Oehmig allegedly joined a file sharing network. They say they found 1,600 images and 550 videos of child pornography on his home computer. Most of the pictures allegedly involved young boys. We’re told there were 21 images of toddlers.

Police are now concerned the suspect may have even more victims. He was employed as the head wrestling coach at St. Thomas High School and the assistant wrestling coach at Episcopal High. Police say Oehmig also worked and volunteered at several other local wrestling organizations.

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HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Chronicle

By Robert Stanton | Friday, October 19, 2012

The wrestling coach at St. Thomas High School has been arrested on child porn charges, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

Gordon Daniel Oehmig, 29, faces five counts of possession of child pornography, court records show. He was released from custody after posting a $20,000 bond on each count, for a total $100,000.

Oehmig was arrested at his Houston home Thursday following a monthlong investigation into the trafficking of child porn in the Harris County area.

Using specialized software, officers with the Houston Metro Internet Crime Against Children Taskforce located a computer online that was using a peer-to-peer program to share hundreds of images of child porn, according to an arrest warrant filed on Thursday.

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HOUSTON (TX)
Fox 26

By Alexander Supgul, Web Producer

HOUSTON (FOX 26) –
A former St. Thomas High School coach has been charged with possession of child pornography.

Gordon Daniel Oehmig is out of jail after he posted a $20,000 bond early on Friday morning and is scheduled to appear in court on Monday, Oct. 22 to face the felony charges.

Oehmig has been charged with five counts of possessing child pornography and is no longer a coach at St. Thomas.

Houston police found Oehmig, 29, in possession almost 1,500 digital images and 500 digital videos of child pornography, according to court documents.

The videos and photos found in Oehmig’s possession include images of young boys and girls, ranging in age from toddlers to 9 years old, involved in explicit sexual acts, based on the probable cause statement filed against him.

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HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Press

By Richard Connelly
Fri., Oct. 19 2012

A former Prep Coach of the Year from St. Thomas High has been arrested after authorities found 1,500 digital images and 500 videos of child porn on his computers, court documents show.

Gordon Daniel Oehmig, 29, is no longer at the school, but coached there from from 2009-12, when he won the coach of the year award.

Court documents say child-porn activity was traced to the IP address on his computer, and a search found the images and video. (The court document somehow lists the day of the search as October25, 2012, but that’s for the lawyers to hash out, we guess.)

Oehmig is a grad of The Kinkaid School and the University of North Carolina, according to a news profile in which he says ” “My job is not to just win or lose, but to help grow the kids personally, spiritually, and athletically. Part of that is making sure where they’re going to be after they leave St. Thomas.”

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HOUSTON (TX)
KHOU

Posted on October 19, 2012

HOUSTON – An assistant wrestling coach at St. Thomas Episcopal High School has been arrested on child porn charges.

Gordon Daniel Oehmig, 29, was taken into custody at his home Thursday　following a month-long investigation. He is charged with five counts of possession of child pornography.

Investigators with the Houston-Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force searched Oehmig’s Montrose home and seized several computers, a server and digital storing devices.

They say they found more than 1,000 images and video files of young children engaged in sex acts. The cases in which he is charged involved photos of girls and boys ranging from 1 to 9 years old who are being sexually abused by adults.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Catholic Herald

By Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith on Friday, 19 October 2012

Readers with long memories may recall the case of Salvatore Riina, the Sicilian mafia boss of all bosses. Mr Riina was on the run from the police for twenty-three years but was finally arrested in January 1993. I was living in Italy at the time, and the capture of Riina was hailed as a great success in the fight against crime. The fact that he had evaded capture for so long had been emblematic of the Italian state’s helplessness in the face of the Mafia.

Riina’s arrest probably did mark a turning point in the battle against the mafia in Sicily. But questions remain to this day. Riina was not on the run or in hiding in the usual sense of the word. There were no recent photos of him, so no one knew what he looked like, but he was living normally at home in Palermo, not in some mountain hideout, nor moving from place to place. He was, as they say, hiding in plain view. And it has often been assumed that he was able to do this with the connivance of the authorities: in other words, Riina had significant backing from politicians in Rome. …

There are one or two facts about the Soper case that make you wonder. He was interviewed by police in England, but the police did not photograph him, and they did not confiscate his passport There are no recent photographs of him ( a bit like Salvatore Riina) and there is also confusion about his age: it seems that he is 68, but other sources mention him being in his eighties. If he is living quietly in Italy, this raises important questions. Has he a bank account in his own name? Is he living under an alias, and if so, how did he acquire it? Who is helping him? Or has he been able to disappear relying purely on his own cunning? This seems doubtful: you cannot do anything in Italy without an identity card or passport. You cannot have someone to stay in your house for more than three nights without advising the police of it. There are numerous rules and regulations, all of which were flouted by Riina, but which Soper might find harder to avoid.

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IOWA
KCCI

KNOXVILLE, Iowa —

Former Pella pastor Patrick Edouard was sentenced Friday morning.

Sentencing:

Edouard received four years for the sexual exploitation charges, one for each of the four counts, and five years for the charge of a scheme, pattern or practice.

The sentences are expected to run concurrent, meaning Edouard will spend five years in prison.

Judge Paul Huscher also applied a special sentence. At the conclusion of his prison term, Edouard will serve an additional 10 years on parole or work-release.

Edouard will part of the sex offender registry for the rest of his life. There are also no contact orders in place with the victims or their families for the next five years.

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CHICAGO (IL)
What They Knew

In what would seemingly be an uncomfortable situation for all involved, The Jesuit Club of Chicago in having a luncheon speaker who successfully prosecuted one of their own in 2008, former US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. Why, is another question for both parties to answer. Fitzgerald stopped his office’s successful prosecution of a child abusing priest when the Jesuit hierarchy who covered-up child sex abuse for decades came under scrutiny. No one has yet figured out why the case was shut down when the grand jury, who wanted charges brought against the leadership of the Chicago Province, started asking uncomfortable questions about what the Jesuit leadership knew was going on for decades.

The Jesuits have a long history with former US Attorneys, the chief Federal prosecutor in a State, and have routinely hired them, both for their legal skills at defending the Order from criminal prosecution and for their political connections that ensure any criminal action brought against the Jesuits would have dire consequences politically. More on this later.

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UNITED STATES
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

The Boy Scouts of America, on order of the Oregon Supreme Court, yesterday released over 15,000 pages of files detailing child sexual abuse by scoutmasters and other volunteers from 1959 through 1985.

The pattern that is revealed is the same as that within the Roman Catholic Church and at PennState.

Our question is: will the response be the same or will there finally be an uprising of men and women of goodwill that will protect children and provide access to justice for survivors?

Don’t children matter?

If members of a religious organization that was proclaimed a moral pillar of the planet can’t lead in this fight to protect the innocent, guard the vulnerable and say and mean enough is enough can society in general?

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IOWA
Journal-Express

Steve Woodhouse
Journal-Express

Knoxville — The main courtroom in the Marion County Courthouse was filled with hugs and praise moments after former Pella Pastor Patrick Edouard was sentenced to up to five years in prison.

Edouard was convicted of four counts of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist and one count of entering into a pattern/scheme of exploitation by a therapist. He was sentenced to one year in prison on each of the exploitation counts and five years on the ongoing charge. The individual sentences per exploitation count will be served consecutively, and the sentence on the pattern charge will run concurrently with those.

Members of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and Pella Police Department were stationed around the courtroom filled with members of the community Edouard’s crimes had affected. Edouard’s attorney, Angela Campbell, filed a motion in arrest of judgment and sought a new trial before the sentencing proceedings began. Judge Paul Huscher felt the jury’s findings were supported by adequate evidence and ruled against Campbell’s motions.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Blaine on October 18, 2012

Where is the list of scout officials who’ve been fired, demoted, disciplined and denounced by Scout executives for hiding child sex crimes of their colleagues? When Scout executives post that list on their websites, voluntarily, that’s when we’ll believe progress is happening.

Virtually every single fact about abuse that is publicly known about abuse and cover-ups in scouting has been made known despite, not because of, the Scout hierarchy. When scout officials claim that 60% of the cases in the newly released files had “some degree of public knowledge,” that’s irrelevant. What’s relevant is what percentage of those cases was made public voluntarily by Scout leaders. Scout executives should answer that today.

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BALTIMORE (MD)
Leon J. Podles: Dialogue

Archbishop Lori has written a column, “Remembering the painful past,” in Baltimore’s Catholic Review. He summaries the case of John Merzbacher, who abused dozens of children at a Catholic elementary school in south Baltimore, a school where Sister Eileen Weisman was principal. His version does not jibe with what the victims said or what was said to parents:

From my book, Sacrilege:

One alleged victim said that he saw Merzbacher having intercourse on a table with Sister Eileen Weismann, the principal of the Catholic Community Middle School at which he taught from 1972 to 1979. Several plaintiffs said that Merzbacher bragged about it: “Privately he would say he would have to fuck her so that he could do what he wanted in the school.”

His former students said that Merzbacher had a gun in his desk; he once held it to a victim’s head when he molested her. He had sex, according to the plaintiffs, with many boys and girls during and after school. Sister Eileen, the plaintiffs said, saw the molestation and did nothing. The students were terrified into silence after Merzbacher convinced them that he had Mafia connections. Gary Homberg, who taught at the school with Merzbacher, gave an affidavit in which he said, “I personally observed John Merzbacher sexually touching, molesting, and fondling both male and female students.” After one student came to Homberg to tell him that Merzbacher “was raping him and threatening to kill him if he ever told anyone,” Homberg called a meeting at his house with Sister Eileen, the Rev. Herbert Derwart, another priest, and told them what had happened. The three archdiocesan employees met privately, and then told Homberg “that they would like me to continue as a teacher in the school, but only under the condition that I made no mention to anyone of my observations on John Merzbacher’s sexual misconduct.: Homberg resigned his teaching position, but he did not tell anyone of Merzbacher’s conduct because he was afraid of him.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

By Doug Most
Globe Staff
October 18, 2012

The story about how the Catholic Church’s long cover-up of child molestation unfolded and came to light is one step closer to becoming a movie. The production company Anonymous Content, which plans to make the movie based on the stories of the Boston Globe journalists who uncovered the scandal, has hired a director and screenwriter to keep the project moving.

Tom McCarthy, an actor and director, and also a Boston College grad, who co-starred in “The Wire” as an ethically-challenged journalist, and has directed “The Station Agent,” “Win, Win” and “The Visitor” among other projects, is on board for the untitled project, along with screenwriter Josh Singer.

“This is a story that feels like it has to be told,” McCarthy, who grew up in a large Irish Catholic family in New Jersey, told us Thursday.

He said he was especially drawn to the story because of his connection to BC, where he came to see the influence of the Catholic Church.

“It’s such a great reminder of how essential investigative journalism is today,” said McCarthy.

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BOSTON (MA)
Variety

By Jeff Sneider

“Win Win” helmer Tom McCarthy and scribe Josh Singer (“The West Wing”) have boarded Anonymous Content and Rocklin/Faust’s untitled Boston Globe project, which follows the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists who exposed the Catholic Church’s decades-long cover-up of child molestation in Massachusetts.

Due to the sensitivity of the subject matter, McCarthy has been working in secret for more than a year on the project that chronicles the worldwide scandal.

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.

Producers have secured life rights of the Globe reporters responsible, including Spotlight Team members Michael Rezendes, Sacha Pfeiffer and Matt Carroll, Spotlight Team editor Walter “Robby” Robinson, special projects editor Ben Bradlee Jr. and Globe editor Marty Baron.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on October 19, 2012

Two attorneys who represent child sex abuse victims are calling on Congress to audit the Boy Scouts after more than 20,000 documents have been released focusing on the more than 1,200 of the Scout “ineligible volunteers.”

We at SNAP echo this call. According to US Code Chapter 309 (http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/36C309.txt), the BSA is a congressionally chartered organization, which means their activities can fall under the purview of the government. We agree with attorneys Kelly Clark and Paul Mones that Congress has ample reason to investigate the Scouts.

Child sex abuse and cover-ups thrive in largely private and male-dominate, institutions with few or no external checks and balances, like churches and the Scouts. Because of this, outside oversight is critical. That’s why Congressional audits and hearings are so important here.

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BALTIMORE (MD)
Catholic Review

By Archbishop William E. Lori

Next week, a federal appeals court will hear arguments regarding John Merzbacher’s request to be released from prison. John Merzbacher was a teacher at Catholic Community School in South Baltimore who sexually abused and terrorized multiple children during the 1970s. Without getting into the legal technicalities, Merzbacher and his attorneys claim he was never made aware of a plea agreement that would have enabled him to be released by now had he pled guilty at his trial in the mid-1990s.

The archdiocese first learned of the abuse in 1988, when one of Merzbacher’s victims reported it to the archdiocese. In accordance with its policies at the time, the archdiocese met with the victim, offered her counseling assistance and encouraged her to report the matter to the Department of Social Services (DSS), which she did. The archdiocese confirmed Merzbacher was no longer working in the archdiocesan school system or any other church-related entity and noted his file so he could never volunteer or work again for the church.

A few years later, that same victim spoke with a priest (who also was a former classmate) following a funeral. He instructed the woman to report the matter to authorities and he contacted the archdiocese, which again met with the victim and encouraged her again to report to the authorities. The archdiocese itself reported the matter to DSS and the victim also reported it to the police who initiated an investigation which would result in a criminal indictment of Merzbacher. Incidentally, DSS responded to the archdiocese’s report by stating it would not conduct an investigation because the alleged victim was by then an adult.

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NEW JERSEY
The Record

Friday, October 19, 2012

BY JEFF PILLETS, COLLEEN DISKIN AND MARY JO LAYTON
STAFF WRITERS
The Record

Albert T. Bischoff of Bergenfield was a married father of two who worked as a custodian in Englewood schools and spent his free time as a merit badge counselor and assistant troop leader for the Boy Scouts.

Scout officials described him as “shy and retiring.” But internal Boy Scout documents released Thursday show that some of the boys saw another side of Bischoff — a man who took photos of Scouts urinating in the latrine, who talked openly about oral sex, orgies, sensual massage and the merits of bisexuality.

Local Boy Scout executives removed Bischoff, now deceased, from the organization in 1982 after parents demanded action. But the Scouts also promised Bischoff they would keep the matter quiet. …

But child-abuse advocates said the newly released files show the organization cannot be trusted.

“We see this time and time again — an iconic organization putting its own reputation over the welfare of children,” said Mark Crawford, New Jersey director of S.N.A.P., the non-profit Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “How can we expect the Scouts to reform themselves?”

Crawford and others said an independent review, similar to former FBI chief Louis Freeh’s investigation of sex abuse at Penn State, is now needed. New state laws that lengthen New Jersey’s two-year statute of limitations on civil cases stemming from sex abuse are also needed, the advocates said.

A bill pending in the New Jersey Legislature would give victims of sexual abuse 10 years to pursue civil litigation. The legislation was prompted by complaints from victims of clergy sexual abuse who only came to grips with the damaging episodes of their childhood as adults — when it was too late to pursue lawsuits.

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AUSTRALIA
California Salesians

In what molestation victims and advocates have described as “more than a coincidence”, the Salesians of Australia-Pacific have been accused by many of “robbing the acronym ‘SNAP’ from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. The letters S-N-A-P, used by the Salesians of Australia, stand for Salesian News Australia Pacific, according to the Salesian site. Critics claim the use of the letters “is a desperate stretch.”

“SNAP”, which is said to be the largest and oldest supportive group of clergy sex abuse survivors and victims in the world, was founded in 1988 by Barbara Blaine. The group has also been quoted to be the most active advocates organization for clergy abuse victims as well. It is estimated that SNAP has over ten thousand members around the globe.

Amidst a flurry of negative press concerning the concealment and transfer of clergy sex abusers, the Salesian Order of Don Bosco has been accused of resorting to bold measures to divert attention – while conveniently swiping the famed SNAP letters. A California SNAP leader and victim that was interviewed said that “At the very least the use of the word “SNAP” by the Salesians of Australia is deceitful – it may mislead victims into thinking the Salesians are affiliated with the survivor group. The Salesians of Australia have a sordid history”.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
WTAQ

MILWAUKEE (WSAU) For the first time, local parishes are being targeted in the bankruptcy petition filed by the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese. At a court hearing yesterday, attorneys for almost 600 people sexually abused by priests said they would try to tap parish assets in order to compensate the victims. A committee for abuse victims and other creditors in the bankruptcy case said the assets and liabilities of parishes throughout the 10-county archdiocese should be consolidated. It would end the separate incorporations by the archdiocese and its churches – which were established over a century ago.

Greendale pastor Alan Jurkus said the creditors’ strategy could backfire. He said Catholics have a fair amount of sympathy for the sex abuse victims – but that could change if the creditors start dragging the parishes into the case. The victims’ committee also said there’s still a chance that the church can use insurance to compensate victims. They said the courts struck down the use of one policy, but two others could be available.

Bankruptcy Judge Susan Kelley said she was disappointed in the creditors’ new legal challenges. She said a negotiated settlement is still the best way to keep the church in business, while fairly compensating the sex abuse victims.

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FLORIDA
NBC Miami

By Sharon Lawson

Friday, Oct 19, 2012

A Miami Catholic priest accused of sexual abuse is facing new allegations he tried to cover up the abuse of a boy by another priest, the alleged victim and his attorney said.

The alleged victim, who wants to remain anonymous, says Father Rolando Garcia of St. Agatha Catholic Church knew that a fellow priest, identified as Father Cristobal De Jesus Puertas, was abusing him as a child and he did nothing to stop it.

“He was paying me to keep it quiet when Father Puertas was raping me,” the man said Thursday. “I’m furious…I don’t know how they allow it, I don’t understand.”

The man reached out to attorney Jeff Herman after learning that one of Herman’s clients, who was reportedly abused by Garcia about 30 years ago, filed suit against the Archdiocese of Miami. Garcia, who remains at St. Agatha, has adamantly denied the abuse charges.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Echo

A RETIRED Church of England priest is to stand trial after pleading not guilty to a string of sex attacks on 18 girls and boys dating back 50 years.

Canon Gordon Rideout, 73, is accused of committing 38 offences over an 11-year period between 1962 and 1973.

Today he attended Lewes Crown Court and denied 36 counts of indecent assault and two counts of attempted rape which are alleged to have taken place in Crawley, West Sussex, Middle Wallop, Hampshire, and Barkingside, Essex.

Rideout, of Filching Close, Wannock, Polegate, East Sussex, will face a trial lasting up to eight weeks either at Lewes Crown Court or the Old Bailey.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A retired Church of England priest from East Sussex has denied committing 38 sexual offences against 18 children and young teenagers.

Canon Gordon Rideout, 73, of Filching Close, Wannock, is accused of committing offences between 1962 and 1973 in Crawley, London and Hampshire.

He pleaded not guilty at Lewes Crown Court to 36 counts of indecent assault and two counts of attempted rape.

Mr Rideout was remanded in custody to face trial at a later date.

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NORTHBRIDGE (MA)
NECN

[with video]

(NECN: Kristen Carosa) – James Knott looks over the Oakhurst Conference and Retreat Center in Whitinsville, Mass.

The Northbridge, Mass. man says he bought the property from the Diocese of Worcester for $800,000.

“I brought the building when it became available because, in my opinion, it’s an important piece of history,” Knott says.

But along with history comes controversy.

James Fairbanks and Allain Beret of Sutton say they were discriminated against by the Diocese when they tried to purchase the property.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Church Times

by Ed Thornton

Posted: 19 Oct 2012

THE Bishop of Lewes, the Rt Revd Wallace Benn, announced yesterday that he will retire at the end of the month. Charges against him under the Clergy Discipline Measure (CDM) remain unresolved ( News, 18 November 2011).

The interim report of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s commissaries, published last month, said that “dysfunctionality” in Chichester diocese was preventing adequate child safeguarding ( …

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

The Archbishop of Canterbury has said a Sussex diocese is clear about the need to “change attitude and practices” to guarantee the safety of children.

Lambeth Palace issued a statement after the announcement that the Bishop of Lewes, the Right Reverend Wallace Benn, will retire at the end of October.

Calls had been made for Bishop Benn’s suspension after a child protection controversy in Chichester diocese.

Bishop Benn said he had hoped to resolve issues before he retired.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Eastbourne Herald

Published on Friday 19 October 2012

The Archbishop of Canterbury has admitted the church has made mistakes in the past and that it needs to change on the day that the Bishop of Lewes has announced he is to retire.

The Right Reverend Wallace Benn revealed yesterday that he will retire at the end of October.

His announcement comes at a time when the church in Sussex, and Bishop Benn in particular, have come under enormous pressure over its child protection policies and the conduct of its priests.

Three Sussex priests have been charged with child sex offences this year, and today (Friday) retired Eastbourne priest, Canon Gordon Rideout, was due to appear at Lewes Crown Court charged with 38 offences of sexual abuse, including sexual assault and attempted rape against 18 children between 1962 and 1973. As a result, there had been calls for Bishop Benn’s resignaton earlier this year.

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

POLICE say the Catholic Church has not reported a single case of child sex abuse in more than half a century, despite hundreds of victims coming forward or being identified by investigations.

As a parliamentary inquiry into churches’ handling of child abuse began hearings yesterday, Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton slammed the church for hindering investigations.

The panel of MPs was told a national royal commission could help stamp out church child abuse.

Police called for mandatory reporting of offences and accused the Catholic Church of keeping vital information from authorities.

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WISCONSIN
SNAP Wisconsin

Statement by John Pilmaier, SNAP Wisconsin Director
CONTACT: 414.336.8575

The Boy Scout’s so-called “perversion files,” court ordered released yesterday by the Oregon Supreme Court, reveals that in Wisconsin alone, some 51 cities had troops where scouting officials quietly removed adult leaders or volunteers that were determined to have committed various sex crimes against children.

Of the over 1,200 case files spanning from 1947-2005, according to a database created by the Los Angeles Times, sex offending scout leaders litter the landscape of Wisconsin touching nearly every area of the state.

These cities include: Sheboygan, Black River Falls, Marinette, Milwaukee, Mosinee, Schofield, Madison, Janesville, Delavan, Cedarburg, Long Lake, La Crosse, Oxford, Appleton, Racine, Greendale, West Allis, Mondovi, Oneida, North Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, Sun Prairie, Pewaukee, Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, Shorewood, Phelps, West Bend, Waupaca, Avery, Green Bay, Monroe, Colgate, River Falls, Beloit, Wausau, Tomah, Mukwonago, Lake, Jackson, Wisconsin Dells, Stoughton, Reedsburg, Rio, Rice Lake, Two Rivers, Wauwatosa, Marshfield, Rhinelander, Cuba City, and Gratiot.

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NORTHBRIDGE (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

By Susan Spencer TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

NORTHBRIDGE — The new owner of Oakhurst retreat and conference center, formerly the Diocesan House of Affirmation, said he will forgo his plans to host weddings there if it meant he would have to allow gay weddings.

Asked about the center’s compliance with state anti-discrimination law, which forbids discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, James M. Knott Sr. said his center would be private property.

“But I will study it,” he said. “If necessary, I’ll have nothing there.”

He said he plans to preserve the property, in the Whitinsville section of town, as he has done with other historical sites in Northbridge.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

Oct. 18, 2012

The Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee, which faces more than a dozen civil fraud lawsuits over its handling of clergy sex abuse cases, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January. As the case proceeds, we’ll have updates, analysis, documents and more.

Lawyers for sexual abuse victims and other creditors in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy case telegraphed Thursday they intend to go after individual parish assets and proceeds from the archdiocese’s $105 million Faith in Our Future campaign.

The strategy is sure to reverberate in pews across the 10-county archdiocese.

Archbishop Jerome Listecki has maintained that parishes, schools and the Faith in Our Future fund would not be affected by the bankruptcy. The archdiocese appeared to stand by that Thursday, calling any claims to pursue those assets frivolous.

However, lawyers for the creditors committee at a status hearing in the case said they plan to sue to:

Consolidate the assets and liabilities of parishes in the archdiocese for the purpose of determining its estate – the money that would be available to fund settlements and allow the archdiocese to remain in business. Parishes have been incorporated separately from the archdiocese for more than a century, according to the archdiocese.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Pia Akerman
From:The Australian
October 19, 2012

VICTORIA’S deputy police commissioner has accused the Catholic Church of impeding criminal investigation of child sex offences through its lack of cooperation with police.

In the first day of a parliamentary inquiry into how religious organisations have handled child sexual abuse allegations, Victoria Police deputy commission Graham Ashton resumed his scathing assessment of the church’s internal processes which he said were hampering prosecutions.

“Victoria Police has concerns that existing protocols within religious organisations are focused on church issues such as legal liability and public relations rather than the long term interests of victims,” he told the inquiry before a packed public gallery this morning.

Mr Ashton said the church had repeatedly dismissed allegations of abuse by already dead offenders, which was “an absolute nonsense” and stopped police from knowing the full picture.

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AUSTRALIA
Big Pond News

Friday, October 19, 2012

Victoria Police has attacked the Catholic Church for allegedly destroying evidence of sexual abuse by clergy and being more concerned with its reputation than the welfare of abuse victims.

Deputy police commissioner Graham Ashton has told Victoria’s parliamentary inquiry into abuse by religious organisations that the church places its image first and victims second.

Mr Ashton said of the 620 cases of abuse the church says it has internally upheld since 1956, none have been reported to police.

In giving evidence to the inquiry, he accused the church of ‘wrapping a special process’ around a member of the clergy accused of sexual abuse.

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UNITED STATES
The Daily Beast

As the Catholic Church, college football, and now the Boy Scouts reel from sex-abuse scandals, new studies suggest the urge to prey on children may come from how a brain is wired.

New research suggests that pedophiles can be identified before the mental illness turns into a crime, potentially keeping many children out of harm’s way. The analysis comes at a crucial moment, amid a wave of pedophilia cases dominating headlines, from Jerry Sandusky’s sentencing to allegations of sexual abuse within the Boy Scouts and the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Identifying pedophilia through MRIs and IQ studies may seem like quack science, but many experts say it is a mental illness and, just like clinical depression or bipolar disorder, can be treated—and maybe one day cured.

At least five studies conducted in the past two years have dealt with various abnormalities detected in pedophiles’ brains. Research has varied, from discerning irregularities in the frontal lobe to observing brain activity as pedophiles viewed images of naked children.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Post

By Jeff Schapiro, Christian Post Reporter

October 19, 2012

A class action lawsuit was filed against Sovereign Grace Ministries on Wednesday accusing the church of habitually covering up child sexual assault and abuse over an extended period of time.

The complaint, filed in Montgomery County, Md., claims the ministry led by C.J. Mahaney “cared more about protecting its financial and institutional standing than about protecting children, its most vulnerable members.”

Founded in 1982 in Gaithersburg, Md., Sovereign Grace Ministries is a family of about 90 churches that are located primarily in the United States, but also in Australia, eastern Asia, Africa, Western Europe, Bolivia, Mexico and Canada. Mahaney is named as just one of the defendants in the lawsuit, along with other church leaders including Gary Ricucci, David Hinders, Louis Gallo, Frank Ecelbarger, John Loftness, Grant Layman and Lawrence Tomczak.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

October 19, 2012

Barney Zwartz and Jane Lee

CATHOLIC clergy commit six times as much abuse as those in the rest of the churches combined, ”and that’s a conservative figure”, a child protection expert says.

Patrick Parkinson, a Sydney University law professor, told the state inquiry into how the churches handle sex abuse yesterday that the figures for the Catholic Church were strikingly out of proportion.

He proposed a 12-month amnesty from charges of perverting the course of justice if the church opened all its files on offenders alive and dead, but said those involved in cover-ups would have to resign.

Earlier, Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton set the inquiry’s opening day alight with more broadsides against the Catholic Church’s systemic obstruction of police inquiries over five decades.

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UNITED STATES
Wichita Eagle

[Search the Boy Scout ‘perversion files’ database]

WASHINGTON — The publication Thursday of 20 years worth of secret records kept by the Boy Scouts of America reveal a widespread effort by the organization to cover up a scandal involving allegations of sexual abuse against 1,200 scout leaders.

The records, known within the Boy Scouts itself as the “perversion files,” cover the years 1965-1985 and detail the names of the alleged perpetrators, their hometowns and other information.

The list contains the names of 14 men in Kansas, with dates when the files on them were started, from 1961 to 1985. Six of the men were living in Wichita, one in Newton and one in Arkansas City. Also: two in Leavenworth, and one each in Hoisington, Manhattan, Olathe and Kansas City, Kan.

Three of the names listed from Wichita and Arkansas City matched names of men who years later were convicted of sex crimes, including crimes against children, according to an initial check of state corrections records.

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UNITED STATES
Associated Baptist Press

By Bob Allen

A controversial church-planting network with ties to a Southern Baptist Convention seminary has been sued in Maryland for allegedly covering up allegations of sexual abuse of children in the 1980s and 1990s.

According to the Associated Press, the lawsuit filed by three unnamed female plaintiffs claims that Sovereign Grace Ministries did not report abuse allegedly committed by church members to police. The lawsuit says church leaders counseled suspected pedophiles about how to avoid prosecution and forced victims to meet with and “forgive” their abuser.

Sovereign Grace Ministries, which moved its headquarters recently from Gaithersburg, Md., to Louisville, Ky., released a statement saying officials had not yet received a copy of the lawsuit and were in no position to comment on the allegations.

“Child abuse in any context is reprehensible and criminal,” said Tommy Hill, the organization’s director of finance and administration. “Sovereign Grace Ministries takes seriously the biblical commands to pursue the protection and well being of all people, especially the most vulnerable in its midst, little children.”

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UNITED STATES
JD Journal

On Wednesday, a lawsuit was filed against Sovereign Grace Ministries by three female plaintiffs. The church is 30-years-old and has 100 congregations. The majority of the churches are located in the United States. The plaintiffs accuse the lawsuit of covering up claims of sexual abuse against children, discouraging its congregants from cooperating with law enforcement and for failing to report claims of misconduct to police. The lawsuit was filed in Maryland state court.

The lawsuit claims that there is a conspiracy that covers two decades and hides sexual abuse that was committed by members of the church. The abuse reportedly occurred in Maryland and northern Virginia in the decades of the 1980s and 1990s. Representatives of the church have been accused of allowing suspected pedophiles to interact with children, giving them free legal advice to prevent prosecution and forcing victims to forgive those who molested them.

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UNITED STATES
WJLA

[with video]

By Greta Kreuz

Sovereign Grace Ministries, a group that runs about 100 churches, including some in Maryland and Northern Virginia, is alleged to have covered up sexual abuse against children and failed to report accusations to police.

“I remember just him, like, taking me to the bathroom,” says a 17-year-old victim. She remembers how she was molested repeatedly when she was three years old by a 15-year-old babysitter. Both were members at the time of Sovereign Grace in Fairfax, but when her parents confronted the church pastors, they were told not to speak about it.

“We were told that we should not talk to any church member about it. Do not tell anyone,” she says.

Charges that churches within Sovereign Grace Ministries turned a deaf ear to child sex abuse committed by church members are laid out in a class action lawsuit. Three female plaintiffs detail repeated abuse in the 1980’s and 90’s ,but say the church covered up child molestation, worked with sexual predators to mislead enforcement and even blamed the victims.

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LOUISVILLE (KY)
The Courier-Journal

Written by
Peter Smith
The Courier-Journal

An international church group now based in Louisville allegedly fostered a climate of fear and unquestioning obedience that allowed sexual abuse to persist among members, according to a new lawsuit.

Three plaintiffs filed suit Wednesday in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Maryland alleging that Sovereign Grace Ministries “created a culture in which sexual predators were protected from accountability and victims were silenced.”

The denomination moved its headquarters to Louisville from Montgomery County earlier this year. Less than a month ago, it launched Sunday services at its new congregation, Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville, led by longtime President C.J. Mahaney.

The plaintiffs, using pseudonyms, allege that church elders mishandled the sexual abuse of children at congregations in Maryland and Virginia between the late 1980s and 1990s.

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AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

By Paul Mulvey
From: AAP
October 19, 2012

THE Catholic Church has put its own reputation ahead of the welfare of victims by destroying evidence of sexual abuse and failing to report accusations against the clergy, Victoria Police says.

Victoria’s deputy police commissioner Graham Ashton says the church has hindered justice and not reported any case of abuse in more than 50 years, while a legal expert claims cover-ups went to the “highest level”.

In damning evidence to a parliamentary inquiry on Friday, Mr Ashton said that of the 620 cases of abuse the church has internally upheld in Victoria since 1956, none had been reported to police.

He said in those 56 years, police had investigated 2110 offences committed by clergy and church workers against 519 victims, of which 370 were committed by Catholic priests or brothers. He said 87 per cent of the victims were boys aged 11 or 12.

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RHODE ISLAND
Providence Journal

By Richard C. Dujardin

A newly-released trove of confidential papers collected by the Boy Scouts of America to help weed out men and women suspected of sexual abuse shows that over decades Scout leaders in Rhode Island expelled at least 47 individuals who were placed on their “ineligible volunteer list.”

The 14,500 pages of secret files were ordered released Thursday by the Oregon Supreme Court.

Although nearly all names of suspected individuals were redacted before being released, the records show that those listed in Rhode Island had been dropped from the rolls or denied participation in at least 52 Scout packs or troops statewide over several decades until early 2005.

Two names left unredacted belong to men who would later face accusations of sexual abuse: the Rev. Edmond C. Micarelli, a chaplain at the Camp Yawgoog Boy Scout reservation in Hopkinton during the 1970s, and William Lazzareschi, who was an assistant scoutmaster for Troop 22 in Providence.

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IOWA
Quad-City Times

Kay Luna

Born into a devout Catholic family, in a Davenport neighborhood full of Catholic households, Mike Uhde was raised to respect priests.

But as an adult, he bravely spoke out publicly in court — using his real name — about the sexual abuse he endured at the hands of a priest. His testimony came against the Catholic Diocese of Davenport, hoping to prevent that kind of abuse from happening to anyone else, his Davenport attorney, Craig Levien, said Thursday.

Uhde, 62, died of cancer Wednesday, more than seven years after becoming the second person to file a lawsuit against the diocese after it made 37 settlements with sex-abuse victims for $9 million in October 2004.

He later represented other sex-abuse victims during the church’s subsequent bankruptcy proceedings, Levien said.

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NEW JERSEY
New Jersey Herald

By BRUCE A. SCRUTON and ASSOCIATED PRESS
bscruton@njherald.com

An array of local authorities — police chiefs, prosecutors, pastors and town Boy Scout leaders among them — quietly shielded scoutmasters and others nationwide who allegedly molested children, according to a newly opened trove of confidential files compiled from 1959 to 1985.

At the time, those authorities justified their actions as necessary to protect the good name and good works of Scouting. But as detailed in 14,500 pages of secret “perversion files” released Thursday by order of the Oregon Supreme Court, their maneuvers protected suspected sexual predators while victims suffered in silence.

The files document sex abuse allegations across the country, from a small town in the Adirondacks to downtown Los Angeles.

The only Sussex County individual on the list is the Rev. William N. Cramer, who, according to the entry, was “Catholic priest who admits to fondling two boys in the bedroom of their home (ages 11 and 14).”

At the time, Cramer was an associate pastor with Our Lady of the Lake Church in Sparta, where he was first assigned in 1977.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – PM

[with audio]

One of Victoria’s top police officers says the Catholic Church is more interested in protecting its reputation than helping victims of sexual abuse. Deputy Police Commissioner Graham Ashton has told a Victorian parliamentary inquiry he won’t believe that the church’s priorities have changed until it starts reporting sex abuse cases to authorities.

Simon Lauder

Transcript

BRENDAN TREMBATH: One of Victoria’s top police officers has accused the Catholic Church of being more concerned about its reputation than the interests of sexual abuse victims.

The Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton told a State Parliament inquiry the church’s lack of cooperation and its internal system for dealing with abuse claims is hindering police investigations and helping to hide the problem.

He says until the church starts reporting abuse allegations to police he doesn’t have any faith that it’s serious about tackling the problem.

Simon Lauder reports from Melbourne.

SIMON LAUDER: Opening the inquiry into abuse within religious organisations, committee chair Georgie Crozier promised the inquiry is not intent on singling out any institution.

One of the first witnesses to give evidence, Deputy Police Commissioner Graham Ashton, made it clear that his focus is firmly on the Catholic Church, which, from his description, is in a type of exclusion zone.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Blaine on October 18, 2012

In light of the Jimmy Savile scandal, every mom and dad must stress to themselves and their families this simple fact: child molesters come in every shape and size and occupation. Neither prominence and power, nor charm and charisma, means an adult is “safe.”

When we see a masked man with a gun and a sack fleeing a bank, we assume he’s a robber. When we see a furtive-looking man trying repeatedly to open cars in a dark parking lot, we assume he’s a thief.

But when we see a glib, charismatic man violating kids’ boundaries and excessively hugging them and making sexual jokes, we assume he’s “odd” or “affectionate” or “harmless.” We just can’t seem to bring ourselves to believe he may be a molester. And thus, we continue to fail our children.

We fail our children by our ignorance and our inability to use our common sense and good judgment. We fail our children when we refuse to act prudently and honor our gut feelings. We fail our children when we put our own comfort level above our children’s’ safety.

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CANADA
SooToday

NEWS RELEASE

LEDROIT BECKETT
LITIGATION LAWYERS

Victims of sexual abuse by clergy call on the Roman Catholic Church to do more

The law firm of Ledroit Beckett Litigation Lawyers will hold a press conference on:

Date/Time: Friday, October 19, 2012, 1 p.m.

Location: Radisson Hotel – Downtown Sudbury, Conference room, 85 Ste. Anne Road

This press conference represents a demand from victims of local Catholic priests for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie to do more to support victims.

Fifteen victims who were abused by Catholic priests in the local area demand a simple trinity of actions by the Diocese, as follows:
• Defrocking/ laicization of convicted sex offenders – “Terminate them”;
• The creation of a sexual abuse policy with victim input – “Confront it”; and
• The commitment to fund victims’ psychological therapy – “Help them heal”.

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UNITED STATES
Waiting for Godot to Leave

A friend of mine has just relayed to me in depth the story of how he and his family were abused by the Church. It’s not a tale of sexual abuse, but it is a horror story nonetheless – an unimaginable assault by power hungry clergy and laity, complete with cover up by bishops and filled with a kind of spiritual darkness that makes you feel sick. It has taken this family several years to begin to heal. He has asked me not to spread his story around – at least not in the written form in which he has expressed it, but I can say this much – it rings quite true. It is both rather funny and also the kind of thing that would make the pit of your stomach drop and your faith dry up.

And the villains in the piece are not the liberals. The villains are the meticulous OCD sado-masochistic “conservatives”, the Latin Mass crowd, who, God bless them, will probably end up in a lower pit of hell than the Stanford Nutting-type libs, who at least have the humanity left to enjoy their sins.

And it’s all about sin.

I knew a young woman who was psychologically knocked about by a similar “Super-Catholic”, who practically left her at the altar without a pang of compunction. I know a certain blogger who dared to question the sanctity of a Catholic TV host and who soon learned that the Faith is far less important to most “Devout Catholics” than their politics and their own self-interest.

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UNITED STATES
Waiting for Godot to Leave

You know, the sex scandal was typical. I don’t mean that priests typically molest kids and bishops typically let them get away with it. What I mean is, the way the Church handled the sex scandal is the way they handle everything.

For example: below are all things I can vouch for in my twelve short years as a Catholic, though the names have been changed to protect the guilty – if any names are used. Some of these events I was involved in; others happened to friends.

A teacher at a Catholic grade school handles a situation very poorly in class. Mom and Dad complain to the principal. The principal responds by circling the wagons, threatening the parents, and bullying them behind closed doors. The parents complain to the pastor. The pastor responds, “I have full confidence in Principal Raw-Knuckle. This matter is entirely hers to handle as she sees fit.” The problem recurs and is not fixed. The parents move their kids to another Catholic grade school,which is run by a principal who is even worse, and by a pastor who is even more hands off. Eventually, the parents remove their children from the Catholic grade school system entirely (to save their faith, for one thing. The best indicator of adult apostasy – twelve years of Catholic education). A problem arises with a teacher at the public grade school (she was telling the kids in class to tell their parents to vote yes in the next election to allow embryonic stem cell research in our state). The parents complain to the public school principal, who sincerely apologizes and promises that he will handle the situation with the teacher, and that the issue will not arise again. “She should not be campaigning in class,” he simply and plainly admits. The parents are treated professionally and courteously. No threats, no circling the wagons, no bullying. The problem does not recur.

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