ABUSE TRACKER

HAMMOND (IN)
Atheist Media Blog

[with video]

Jack Schaap, mega-church pastor at First Baptist Church (Indiana) has been fired and is under investigation by the FBI for taking a minor across state lines to have sex. He is married and is infamous for his misogynistic and anti-gay sermons. He is also the chancellor of the Hyles–Anderson Bible College.

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DEUTSCHLAND
MissBiT

Samstag, 4. August 2012

Kronenburg: “Aber wir hielten es wirklich für notwendig, aufgrund dieser staatsanwaltschaftlichen Ermittlungen, jetzt schon diese Maßnahmen zu ergreifen.”

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NEDERLAND
NOS

De commissie-Samson ontvangt veel meldingen van seksueel misbruik of geweld die niet onder de onderzoeksopdracht vallen. De commissie kijkt alleen naar misbruik van kinderen die door de overheid in instellingen zijn geplaatst.

Ongeveer een op de drie meldingen gaat over misbruik in andere sectoren. De commissie vindt dat veel en daarom wordt ook naar die meldingen gekeken. In het eindrapport zal daar meer informatie over gegeven worden.

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DEUTSCHLAND
netzwerkeB

netzwerkB 03.08.2012

Offener Brief an:

Bundesministerin für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend
Dr. Kristina Schröder
Platz der Republik 1
11011 Berlin
Fax: 030 18555 4400

Sehr geehrte Frau Dr. Schröder,

Wir nehmen Bezug auf Ihr Schreiben vom 01.08.2012 in dem Sie uns mitteilen, dass es Ihnen nicht möglich ist, unseren Antrag auf Kostenübernahme im Rahmen der Unterstützung von Betroffenen-Initiativen zu unterstützen.

Zur Koordination der über 500 Opfervereine gründete sich am 20. August 2011 die Bundesinitiative der Betroffenen von sexualisierter Gewalt und Missbrauch im Kindesalter e.V. (BI) und wurde am 2. Dezember 2011 im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichtes Charlottenburg eingetragen unter: 95 VR 31053 B. Anspruch war es, den aufwändigen Dialog zwischen den Betroffenen zu koordinieren und eine einheitliche Position der verschiedenen Betroffenenverbände für den Runden Tisch zu erfassen. Es dürfte klar sein, dass sich allein aus diesem Anspruch noch kein Alleinvertretungsanspruch der BI für die Betroffenen ergab. Ein halbes Jahr nach Gründung der BI steht die Einlösung des Anspruchs dieser Initiative mehr als in Frage. Gerade fünf Vereine sind noch Mitglied. Dennoch gilt die Initiative der Regierung als repräsentative Stimme der Betroffenen und wird nun mit mehr als 27.000 Euro finanziert.

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UNITED STATES
OpEd News

By
Rev. Dan Vojir

The Country’s Most Misogynist Minister Proves That Hypocrisy From The Pulpit Has No Bounds.

“At this time, we deeply regret the need to announce that First Baptist Church has dismissed our pastor, Dr. Jack Schaap, due to a sin that has caused him to forfeit his right to be our pastor. First Baptist Church is in full cooperation with our local authorities in their investigation of this matter. Our church grieves over the need to take this action and the impact it will have on our people.” – First Baptist Church of Hammond

The “sin” was extreme hypocrisy in the mode of Bishop Eddie Long and Creflo Dollar.

And the set up to that “sin” could not have been a more “perfect storm” of religious hypocrisy:

– The First Baptist Church of Hammond boasts a huge congregation as far back as 1978: 30,000, with the claim that it ran the “world’s largest Sunday School.” In 2006, it was listed as the 24th most influential chuech in the United States.

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SANTA MONICA (CA)
Santa Monica Mirror

Posted Aug. 3, 2012

Brenton Garen / Editor-in-Chief

The arraignment of St. Anne’s Church priest Rafael Venegas on a sexual battery charge was continued to August 21.

Venegas was originally scheduled to be arraigned at the LAX Courthouse earlier today on two charges – sexual battery and providing a minor under the age of 21 with alcohol. The courthouse’s public information office did not give the reason why the arraignment was moved.

Venegas turned himself into the Santa Monica Police Department on Monday – accompanied by his lawyer – and was released after posting $20,000 bail.

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SANTA MONICA (CA)
Patch

By Kate Parkinson-Morgan

The arraignment of a St. Anne’s Catholic Church and Shrine priest accused of sexual battery is delayed until later this month.

Rafael Raygoza Venegas, 38, was booked and charged Monday with two misdemeanors, sexual battery and supplying alcohol to someone younger than 21.

The date of the arraignment, during which Venegas will plead either guilty, not guilty or no contest to the charges brought against him, is set for August 21.

Accompanied by his attorney, Venegas came to the Santa Monica Police station Monday afternoon and surrendered after the Santa Monica City Attorney’s office filed charges.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

Editorial

August 04, 2012

The sentence given to Rabbi Stanley Z. Levitt, the former religious instructor who pleaded guilty to four counts of indecent assault and battery on children, harks back to the long-discredited view that shame alone is enough to punish a prominent person who violates his position of authority. The 66-year-old Levitt was given 10 years of probation and ordered to stay away from children, register as a sex offender, and wear a GPS bracelet. It’s not enough. He should have been put behind bars.

Not all sex-abuse cases are alike, but Levitt’s followed a now-familiar pattern of a teacher or religious leader who shattered the trust that parents placed in him. Levitt’s crimes took place 37 years ago, when he was a teacher at the Orthodox Jewish Maimonides School in Brookline. He touched three boys in a sexual manner, and all were prepared to testify against him.

Though Judge Geraldine Hines could only consider these offenses, Levitt also was charged with molesting three boys in Philadelphia after he left the Boston area in 1980. As Mitchell Garabedian, the lawyer who took on the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston in sex-abuse cases, pointed out, “This could be just the tip of the iceberg.”

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HAMMOND (IN)
Christian Post

By Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter

August 3, 2012

Jack Schaap, the former pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond in Indiana who was fired earlier this week for an alleged adulterous affair, has confessed to cheating on his wife with a teen girl belonging to the megachurch.

The Board of Deacons addressed the scandal at a church meeting Wednesday night, WGN-TV revealed, and said that Schaap, 54, has admitted to the inappropriate relationship with a church member who was not named. The girl, currently 17, was 16 years old when her relationship with Schaap began.

The former pastor, who had led the 15,000-member congregation for the past 11 years, has not yet made any public remarks on his firing nor the affair. The FBI reportedly has launched an investigation into Schaap’s involvement with the young girl – although the age of consent in Indiana is 16, so it is unclear if the married father of two will face any criminal charges.

According to Trisha Kae, a former church member who maintains a Facebook page for ex-congregants, Schaap had forgotten his phone one night at the pulpit, and a deacon who saw it picked it up to return it to the pastor.

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INDIANA
Chicago Tribune

By Dennis Sullivan and Lisa Black, Chicago Tribune

August 5, 2012

The FBI confirmed Friday that it is investigating whether the former pastor of an Indiana megachurch broke any laws during a relationship with a now-17-year-old girl that led to his ouster from First Baptist Church in Hammond.

Former Pastor Jack Schaap, 54, admitted to adultery and “improper behavior” with the teenager, leading a board of deacons to fire him Monday, church spokesman Eddie Wilson has said.

Church officials contacted the Lake County, Ind., sheriff’s office Tuesday and have been cooperating with investigators from the county and federal agency since, Wilson said.

“There is an allegation we’re trying to prove or disprove that the pastor crossed state lines and engaged in an improper sexual relationship with an underage female,” said Robert Ramsey, spokesman for the FBI’s office in Merrillville, Ind.

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DOVER (DE)
Newark Post

Delaware State Police detectives arrested a Dover man Thursday after two victims, now both in their 30s, disclosed he sexually abused them when they were children.

Detectives from Troop 3 Major Crimes Unit arrested Odell L. Wright, 57, of Dover and charged him with 46 sex-related crimes stemming from incidents that allegedly occurred in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, according to a press release from Delaware State Police. The two female victims were 8 and 10 years old at the time of the alleged offenses.

The 8-year-old victim, now 30, told detectives she was sexually abused by Wright between December 1989 and December 1991, when he lived with her family in a house in Cheswold.

The 10-year-old victim, now 32, alleges she was sexually assaulted between July 1992 and July 1995, while attending church functions at the Rescue House of Prayer in Felton, where Wright at the time was a deacon.

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DOVER (DE)
Dover Post

By Staff reports
GateHouse News Service

Dover, Del. —

A Dover man is charged with sexually abusing two children in the late 80s and early 90s.

Odell L. Wright, 57, is accused of 46 sex-related crimes ranging from unlawful sexual intercourse to continuous sexual abuse of a child.

Police say a then-8-year-old victim, who is now 30, told detectives she was sexually abused when Wright lived with her family on Seven Hickories Road in Cheswold.

Another woman, 32, told investigators she was 10 years old when Wright sexually abused her at church functions in Felton where he was a deacon at the time.

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ALABAMA
Fox 54

[with video]

A special prayer service will be held Friday night after a music minister accused of child sex abuse was fired from First United Methodist Church in Sheffield.

“Words can not describe the pain and sorrow that comes with something like this. It’s impossible,” said church spokesman Billy Don Anderson.

Last Friday, Anderson along with other church leaders confronted 78 year old Oliver Brazelle about rumors of sexual misconduct between Brazelle and youth in the church over the years. Shortly after, church leaders said that he confessed.

“After hearing of the admission, he was told immediately under the circumstances he couldn’t continue to be an employee of the church,” said Anderson.

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COLORADO
The Colorado Catholic Herald

8/3/2012

COLORADO SPRINGS. Father C. Robert Manning, in a brief appearance in El Paso County District Court on July 19, waived his right to a preliminary hearing on charges of sexual assault on a minor by a person in a position of trust and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

An arraignment is scheduled for Aug. 23.

Father Manning, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis who resigned as St. Gabriel pastor in January, turned himself in to Colorado Springs police on May 22 after an arrest warrant was issued.

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CANADA
Times Colonist

The Canadian Press
August 3, 2012

Lawyers representing sexual abuse victims of former New Brunswick priest Levi Noel have filed 11 lawsuits alleging that members of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bathurst covered up his crimes.

A statement of claim filed Friday in the province’s Court of Queen’s Bench alleges clergy failed to properly respond to Noel’s conduct and promoted “a culture of secrecy with respect to the sexual misconduct of clergy which was intended to benefit the diocese rather than stop the misconduct or assist the victims.”

In January 2010, Noel was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to 22 charges of sexual assault against 18 boys between 1958 and 1980.

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IOWA
WCF Courier

WAVERLY — Sentencing for Dennis Brown, a pastor accused of committing sexual acts with a teenage boy, will be pushed back a month, according to court records.

Brown, 67, of Eldora, pleaded guilty to third-degree sexual abuse and was scheduled to learn his fate Aug. 10. His sentencing hearing is now set to begin at 10 a.m. Sept. 4 in Bremer County District Court.

According to court documents, Brown met his alleged victim online and then in person in Waverly. The boy’s family members alerted authorities to the encounter.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Catholic News Agency

By Hillary Senour

Kansas City, Mo., Aug 3, 2012 / 11:37 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph voiced deep sympathy for victims harmed by a diocesan priest who plead guilty in federal court Aug. 2 to child pornography charges.

“The diocese expresses its profound concern for anyone who may have been harmed by Shawn Ratigan and urges prayer for all affected by his actions,” the diocese said in a statement Monday.

Fr. Ratigan, who served as pastor of parishes throughout the diocese, plead guilty to the charge of producing or attempting to produce child pornography in federal court, over a year after his initial arrest.

“The diocese is fundamentally committed to ensure that every report of sexual abuse, boundary violation or misconduct is addressed thoroughly and immediately,” the statement said.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

JOANNE MCCARTHY

04 Aug, 2012

The state government must hold a royal commission into child sex abuse within the Catholic Church. Comment by Joanne McCarthy.

LAST Saturday I sent an email to a fair number of Australia’s bishops after Maitland-Newcastle Bishop Bill Wright acknowledged growing calls for a royal commission into the Catholic Church’s handling of child sex abuse cases, and said he was ‘‘broadly supportive’’ of a public inquiry.

I asked one question: ‘‘Do you support a royal commission into the church’s handling of child sex abuse cases?’’

A Victorian bishop responded fairly quickly, saying he was willing to assist that state’s parliamentary inquiry into church abuse matters. He didn’t respond to my follow-up question: ‘‘But not a royal commission?’’

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CANADA
Montreal Gazette

By The Canadian Press
August 3, 2012

BATHURST, N.B. – A law firm representing sexual abuse victims of former New Brunswick priest Levi Noel has launched 11 lawsuits alleging members of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bathurst covered up the crimes.

In January 2010, Noel was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to 22 charges of sexual assault against 18 boys between 1958 and 1980.

A statement of claim filed today in the province’s Court of Queens Bench alleges clergy failed to properly react to Noel’s conduct and promoted “a culture of secrecy” that didn’t help the victims.

The Ontario-based Ledroit Beckett law firm has filed 20 lawsuits in total against Noel and the diocese, but no statements of defence have been filed.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

BY JOANNE MCCARTHY

04 Aug, 2012

IN a car on the side of the road a man wept yesterday for the mates he has lost from St Pius X, Adamstown.

Phil Crosbie, 48, of Jewells, was also angry – at the church that protected a paedophile priest, and at governments that have a responsibility to bring the Catholic church to account.

‘‘I’d like to see every one of these bastards brought to account. Even if they’re dead, I’d like to see it acknowledged what they did, or who they protected,’’ Mr Crosbie said.

‘‘I’d like governments to act. They have a responsibility, but they don’t have the courage because it’s the Catholic church. They don’t have the ticker.’’

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KANAS CITY (MO)
The Columbia Tribune

Friday, August 3, 2012

KANSAS CITY (AP) — A Roman Catholic priest in Kansas City pleaded guilty yesterday to producing child pornography in a federal case that also led to charges against the diocese bishop for failing to report suspected child abuse, and prosecutors said they would recommend that he be sentenced to life in prison.

The Rev. Shawn Ratigan, 46, had been scheduled for trial later this month. He was charged with producing child pornography in May 2011 after police received a flash drive from the priest’s computer that contained hundreds of images of children, most of them clothed, with the focus on their crotch areas. Prosecutors alleged he photographed girls, sometimes under their skirts, in and around churches where he had worked in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

Under terms of the plea deal, Ratigan pleaded guilty to four counts of producing child pornography and one count of attempting to produce child porn. Eight other counts against him were dismissed.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

CAROLINE OVERINGTON
From:The Australian
August 04, 2012

IT is tempting to start this story with: A truck driver, a police officer and a Catholic priest walk into a bar … because that is what happened.

It was 11pm on a sweaty night in Manila. The bar was called Shinju No Mori – “Forest of the Pearls”. The truck driver was Steve Christie of Cranebrook in Sydney’s west; the police officer was the barrel-chested Ray King of the Liverpool Local Area Command; the priest was the trendily dressed and shaved-of-head Father Kevin Lee of the Padre Pio Catholic Church in Sydney’s Glenmore Park.

The three men had been on a pilgrimage in the Philippines with seven others from their church. They’d visited an orphanage, snorkelled around the islands, and were generally having a good time. The bar was directly below the hotel where they were staying. There were women out the front known as “guest relations officers” – poor girls from the villages who lend a bit of glamour to the joint and encourage Westerners to drink and use the karaoke machine.

So the three men sat down and a couple of bar girls approached, including a 25-year-old mother of two who told the group that her name was Dimple; in fact, it was Josefina. Like the others, this slightly built woman was from a poor village – her own mother had died when she was just 16 and her job before moving to Manila was selling plastic buckets in the streets.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Caroline Overington
From:The Australian
August 04, 2012

A CATHOLIC priest has provided NSW Police with information about at least one Catholic school teacher that he believes to be guilty of sex crimes against Catholic schoolboys in Sydney’s west in the 1990s.

Father Kevin Lee, who caused a storm in May when he revealed that despite having been a Catholic priest for 20 years he was secretly married, told The Weekend Australian that a victim of the teacher’s crimes had come to him with information and he had “taken it to police this time because I’m tired of keeping secrets for the Catholic Church”.

“In the past, I’ve taken information about priests to the church and they’ve ignored it, so this time, with the teacher, I’ve gone to police and I’m co-operating with police.”

The church vehemently denies the allegation that it has engaged in a cover-up of any sex crimes by priests. The Bishop of Parramatta, Anthony Fisher, said in a statement: “When in the past Kevin raised with me concerns about particular priests these were thoroughly investigated.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

by John L Allen Jr on Aug. 02, 2012 All Things Catholic …

On the very day Müller got a new job, Archbishop Róbert Bezák of Trnava, Slovakia, lost his old one. He was removed from office by the Vatican on July 2, and since that’s a fairly rare occurrence, curiosity continues to swirl around what happened in the case of the 52-year-old Redemptorist, appointed to lead the Slovakian church in April 2009.

Prior to his downfall, Bezák had been seen as a figure to watch in the European hierarchy — one of the continent’s youngest major prelates, someone who appealed to the center-left camp in both the church and in European politics. As is customary, the Vatican has declined to provide any official explanation for dumping him, and, as is equally customary, that information vacuum has generated speculation and conspiracy theories.

Three developments have occurred since I last updated this story in mid-July.

First, the Slovakian bishops met July 17 and didn’t line up in defense of their fallen colleague. A statement said: “The Holy Father made this decision after being personally and thoroughly acquainted with the results of a visitation and communication between Bezák and the relevant [Vatican] congregations. The bishops … accept the Holy See’s decision.” …

•Bezák’s choice of aides, charging they included priests who are known homosexuals or who have illegitimate children.
•Bezák’s willingness to accept candidates for the priesthood who had been rejected in other dioceses, either for their doctrinal views or for suspect personal morality.
•Questions about financial management, including Bezák’s reliance on Slovakian laity linked to political and financial scandals.
•Questions about Bezák’s views on issues such as priestly celibacy, Marian devotion, the ordination of women, abortion, euthanasia and extramarital sex.
•Bezák’s allegedly irreverent manner of referring to the pope simply as “Mr. Pope” in public (in Slovakia, it’s apparently common parlance to add “Mr.” before formal titles), and of allegedly referring to other Slovakian bishops as “old men and fools” while styling himself as “modern” and “enlightened.”

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BELGIE
NOS

In de Belgische plaats Malonne hebben honderden mensen gedemonstreerd tegen de komst van Michelle Martin, de ex-vrouw van Marc Dutroux.

Dinsdag oordeelde een rechtbank dat Martin vervroegd vrijkomt en naar een klooster in het Waalse dorp gaat. Inwoners van Malonne zijn daar fel op tegen.

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BELGIE
hbvl

“Duizend maal neen.” “Ik maak haar af.” “Ons dorp is geen vuilbak.” Aan straffe quotes geen gebrek, dinsdag in Malonne, het Naamse dorpje met z’n 4.000 zielen, 10 clarissen en binnenkort ook Michelle Martin. De aangekondigde komst van de ex van Dutroux stoot er op een muur van pure haat. “We begrijpen het niet. De clarissen zouden volgend jaar verhuizen. Is dat klooster dan voor Martin alleen? Of nemen ze haar mee?”

“Dégueulasse, monsieur. Het is walgelijk”, zegt Freddy, bezoeker van de plaatselijke kroeg. “Dat ons dorp op deze manier in de belangstelling moet komen. Malonne is toch niet de vuilbak van het land, hein. Als ze haar toch al naar hier sturen, dat het dan meteen naar het kerkhof is, naast het klooster.”

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Mike Hunter on August 03, 2012

Now that Fr. Ratigan has pled guilty to child porn, Bishop Finn should drop his legal maneuver claiming the photos are not child porn.

In late April, without fanfare or public notice, Finn and his lawyers filed a motion saying that the pictures Fr. Ratigan had stored on his computer were not child porn, despite the fact that they included close-up shots of the genitalia of young girls. According to Finn, these pictures did not meet the criteria for “obscenity,” and therefore were not porn.

It defies common sense and common decency for one of Finn’s priests to admit in court that he took child porn photos while Finn is in another court saying they’re not child porn.

Here’s why this is so awful.

First, this desperate and disingenuous move by the bishop rubs even more salt into the already-deep and still-fresh wounds of the families of Fr. Ratigan’s victims.

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HAMMOND (IN)
The Raw Story

By Eric W. Dolan
Thursday, August 2, 2012

The former pastor of an Indiana megachurch is under investigation for having sex with a member of the church when she was only 16, according to USA Today.

Jack Schaap, 54, was dismissed as the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Hammond after he admitted having a relationship with the teenage girl, who is now 17. He had been employed by the fundamentalist church for nearly 30 years.

“At this time, we deeply regret the need to announce that First Baptist Church has dismissed our pastor, Dr. Jack Schaap, due to a sin that has caused him to forfeit his right to be our pastor,” the church said in a statement.

“First Baptist Church is in full cooperation with our local authorities in their investigation of this matter. Our church grieves over the need to take this action and the impact it will have on our people.”

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

Yael T. Abouhalkah

The Rev. Shawn Ratigan has pleaded guilty to charges related to child pornography, staining the reputation of the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

Ratigan – a sick older man taking pictures of young children – should be put away for life as punishment for those sins.

But the real test for local Catholics comes in the next month.

After all, Ratigan was just one person going astray, admittedly one of the few that have been identified by name among Catholic priests involved in the abuse of children.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Evangelische Kirke in Mitteldeutschland

[mit video]

In der EKM, der evangelischen Kirche in Mitteldeutschland, gibt es einen Verdacht auf sexuellen Missbrauch an Kindern.

Ein Pfarrer soll die Taten vor über 30 Jahren in Bad Lauchstädt im Saalekreis begangen haben, erklärt EKM-Pressesprecherin Susanne Sobko.

Susanne Sobko: Es gab zwei Zeugen, die sich bei uns gemeldet haben. Und es gab genug Anlass dafür, dass Anzeige bei der Staatsanwaltschaft erstattet wurde, und gleichzeitig hat die EKM ein Disziplinarverfahren eingeleitet, was dann weitreichende Folgen für den Pfarrer haben könnte.

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DEUTSCHLAND
SR

Das Bistum Trier hat einen Pfarrer aus dem Saarland wegen des Verdachtes auf sexuellen Missbrauch beurlaubt. Die Staatsanwaltschaft ermittelt gegen ihn. Der Beschuldigte weist die Vorwürfe zurück.

(03.08.2012) Die katholische Kirche kommt nicht zur Ruhe. Das Bistum Trier hat einen Pfarrer der Pfarreiengemeinschaft Lebach wegen des Verdachtes auf sexuellen Missbrauch beurlaubt. Wie das Bistum am Freitag mitteilte, ermittelt die Staatsanwaltschaft Saarbrücken gegen den Priester.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Merkur

Trier – Ein Priester im Saarland soll einem Jugendlichen Geld für Sex geboten haben. Die Staatsanwaltschaft ermittelt. Das Bistum Trier hat den Priester beurlaubt und untersucht den Fall.

Das Bistum Trier hat einen 65 Jahre alten Priester im Saarland beurlaubt, der einem Jugendlichen Geld für Sex angeboten haben soll. Nach bisheriger Kenntnis habe es aber keine sexuellen Handlungen gegeben, teilte Bistumssprecher Stephan Kronenburg am Freitag mit. Die Staatsanwaltschaft Saarbrücken ermittelt gegen den Priester der Pfarreiengemeinschaft Lebach. Das Bistum hat inzwischen kirchenrechtliche Voruntersuchungen gegen 17 Priester eingeleitet, eine davon ist bereits abgeschlossen.

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IRELAND
The Association of Catholic Priests

The Redemptorist Order seems to be in the firing line of the Vatican and should be proud of such a distinction. After the silencing of two Redemptorist priests, Gerry Moloney and Tony Flannery here now Archbishop Bezak, a 52 year old Redemptorist Archbishop of Trnnava, in Slovakia has been personally dismissed by Pope Benedict after refusing to go quietly . He had been only in the job for three years and appears to have upset his very conservative predecessor Archbishop Sokol by investigating alleged financial irregularities in the running of the Archdiocese over the past twenty years of Sokol’s reign. The dismissed Bezak spoke at his last mass saying only that the Vatican had ordered him ‘not to speak to the media about the circumstances surrounding his dismissal ‘.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Mike Hunter on August 02, 2012

We hope Fr Shawn Ratigan’s guilty plea today will help deeply wounded families recover more quickly. While trials can be cathartic, they can sometimes cause more trauma for survivors and families.

We applaud these families for bravely cooperating with law enforcement to help get a dangerous Catholic cleric away from kids. Too often, victims’ parents stay trapped in fear, shame and self-blame. Wanting desperately to protect their loved ones from any more pain, they shun the legal process. Sadly, when this happens, predators go on to assault others. So again, we are grateful that these struggling families are acting responsibly by helping police and prosecutors pursue Fr. Ratigan and keep him away from kids, like Bishop Finn refused to do.

Nothing Fr. Ratigan or Bishop Finn can do will erase the terrible harm and betrayal they have inflicted on victims, families, and parishioners. Action can be taken to ensure other children are not hurt and other victims get healing. It is still important for other victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to keep coming forward.

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BOSTON (MA)
SE (Polska)

Franciszkanin, ojciec Andrzej Urbaniak (41 l.), proboszcz parafii Matki Boskiej Częstochowskiej z Bostonu aresztowany! Policja znalazła na jego komputerze pedofilskie zdjęcia kilkuletnich dziewczynek. Podczas przesłuchania na policji przyznaje się do ściągania dziecięcej pornografii, ale przed sądem mówi zdecydowanie: „Not guilty!”.

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BOSTON (MA)
The News (Poland)

Priest Andrzej Urbaniak, who serves the Polish community in Boston, Massachusetts, has been charged with downloading and distributing pornographic images of children.

The priest, who moved from Poland to the US 14 years ago, was allegedly in the process of downloading the images of children aged between 8 and 10 years old from file-sharing web sites when police entered the rectory in South Boston, reports the Boston Globe.

Urbaniak, who belongs to an order of Franciscans based in Poland, has been a popular priest working at the Our Lady of Czestochowa Church in South Boston for four years and who served the congregation of Polish ex-pats in the city.

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HAMMOND (IN)
WGN

[with video]

Julie Unruh
WGN News

HAMMOND, Ind.—
Stripped of his duties, the pastor of a northwest Indiana mega-church has confessed to having sex with an underage girl when she was 16.

The Board of Deacons shared that with its congregation in Hammond Wednesday night. The girl was a member of the First Baptist Church of Hammond, the same church where Brother Jack Schaap was the pastor for the past 11 years.

Schaap married the daughter of the church’s founder and is said to be attempting to reconcile with her now.

No charges have been filed, but the FBI is said to be investigating allegations that multiple sexual encounters took place with the same girl across state lines.

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HAMMOND (IN)
NWTimes

July 31, 2012 5:45 pm • Bill Dolan bill.dolan@nwi.com, (219) 662-5328

HAMMOND | The First Baptist Church of Hammond has dismissed Jack Schaap as its pastor in the wake of a Lake County police investigation.

A press release the church issued Tuesday afternoon states Schaap committed “a sin that has caused him to forfeit his right to be our pastor.” A source close to the investigation said Schaap began an affair in April with a 16-year-old girl who was affiliated with the church’s Hyles-Anderson College in Crown Point, though she was not a student.

Eddie Wilson, a spokesman for the church, said its deacon board, a group of more than 100 men who represent the congregation, made the dismissal decision and are cooperating with police in the matter for a behavior that he termed “physically improper.”

Wilson declined to elaborate further because of the police investigation.

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MAINE
WABI

[with video]

by Lauren Morrison – August 2nd 2012

The details released in the State Police report on the investigation into Robert Carlson may come as a shock to some, but for others, as difficult as the details maybe, it wasn’t a surprise.

Rev.Carl Schreiber leads the East Orrington Congregational Church where Carlson was once a pastor.

Rev. Schreiber says “We’re saddened, I don’t know if shock is the right word because Bob was a human and we’re all capable of different things that we didn’t realize.”

The allegations of sexual abuse were made reality with the release of the report.

Rev. Schreiber believes the report may provide the answers that some were looking for.

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MAINE
Bangor Daily News

[State Police report – WABI]

Editorial

Posted Aug. 02, 2012

All that enables wickedness is silence and inaction by those with the power to stop it. The people who worked and were friends with the Rev. Robert Carlson and knew about his potential sex-abuse victims should be held accountable by police if they fail to admit their own complacency. There is no excuse for potentially letting children be traumatized for years. There is no excuse for knowing or suspecting and doing nothing.

Enough of remaining silent. If you received information about or witnessed criminal or inappropriate sexual behavior by Carlson and did not tell police, you displayed the same hypocrisy as the man who claimed to be a reverend. Instead of comfort, he brought torment to multiple children, as evidenced by a Maine State Police report released Wednesday.

The report details interviews police conducted with victims, the former president of Husson University, Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office employees, a Bangor police officer and a therapist who treated some of Carlson’s victims. It shows that Carlson — who was the chaplain of the Penobscot County Jail for 32 years and the chaplain of Husson for 11 years — likely sexually abused several children over four decades, until he jumped off the Penobscot Narrows Bridge on Nov. 13, 2011.

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MAINE
WABI

[State Police report]

[with video]

by Catherine Pegram – August 2nd 2012

State police say no one will face any charges over what they may or may have know about Robert Carlson’s abusive behavior before he killed himself.

Eight months after his death, State police released a final report on the case Wednesday.

Spokesperson Steve McCausland says the report will not be turned over to prosecutors because no one interviewed for it, law enforcement or otherwise, committed any crimes.

Penobscot County District Attorney Chris Almy, someone who could review the case and pursue charges, says he has not read the Carlson report, so he can’t speak specifically about it.

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MAINE
MPBN

08/02/2012 Reported By: Jay Field

A former religious and civic leader in Bangor sexually abused several multiple children over the last forty years, according to people interviewed in an investigation by the Maine State Police.

The Reverend Robert Carlson jumped to his death from the Penobscot Narrows Bridge last November, shortly after learning that he was the target of a probe. A final police report on the now-closed case, obtained by MPBN, suggests people were concerned about Carlson’s behavior as far back as the 1970s. It also raises questions, and provides few answers, about why people didn’t do more to investigate their suspicions or report them to law enforcement.

Last month’s scathing report on Penn State’s handling of allegations against Jerry Sandusky highlights what appears to a pattern of looking the other way that’s all too common in sexual abuse cases.

Nothing in the Maine state police report suggests anyone who was suspicious of Carlson did anything wrong.

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MAINE
WABI

by Caroline Connolly – August 2nd 2012

Bangor – State Conservation Commissioner, William Beardsley, is speaking out in defense of his decision to not report concerns raised about Rev. Robert Carlson during his time at the former Husson College.

Carlson committed suicide last November when he learned state police were investigating him based on allegations of sexual abuse. In a 104 page police report, released Wednesday, an interview with Beardsley reveals the former Husson College president may have had warning signs about Carlson, who was serving as the school’s chaplain at the time.

In 2005 and 2006, Beardsley received two phone calls from people alluding to misconduct by Carlson.

“A friend of mine in Vermont said that he had third hand information about, from somebody, that wanted me to know that Bob Carlson was not who I thought he would be,” said Beardsley.

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MAINE
WABI

[with video]

by Rob Poindexter – August 2nd 2012

The state police investigation into Reverend Robert Carlson has left a lot of unanswered questions about how we fight child sexual abuse in Maine.

The 104 page State Police report in the case of Carlson and his alleged sexual abuse of numerous boys sites numerous red flags and warning signs that were either missed or ignored.

Penobscot County Sheriff Glen Ross was a close friend of Carlson. “I never saw a sign. There’s nobody anymore stunned than myself in this matter,” Ross said Thursday. “He was involved in everything. He was a well respected leader. He apparently did things that were out of the view of a lot.”

According to the state police report, Ross tipped Carlson off about the child sexual abuse investigation being conducted. Shortly after Ross spoke to Carlson about the investigation, police say Carlson committed suicide by jumping off the Penobscot Narrows Bridge. Ross doesn’t think he crossed any ethical lines by alerting Carlson, who also volunteered at the jail, about the investigation. “The bottom line is I did the right things for the right reasons. I did it not to warn him, but to prevent his access into the jail,” Ross said. “You cannot fault somebody for trying to make sure they’ve protected their inmates and their agencies. That’s my job as a sheriff.” According to the report, Carlson never denied the allegations in his conversations with Ross.

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MAINE
WCSH

[with video]

BANGOR, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — One of the men named in the Maine State Police report about the Bob Carlson sex abuse investigation says the police got it wrong.

An anonymous source in the report said Former Husson University President Bill Beardsley knew about two potential victims of sexual abuse at Husson University.

The person told police one student came forward to Beardsley, and a third-party reported abuse for another student to the President.

Beardsley told NEWS CENTER that never happened.

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VATICAN CITY
Chiesa

A new president for the IOR. The future of Cardinal Nicora. More tremors are on the way. But in the meantime, the operation of transparency set in motion by Benedict XVI has knocked down all the alibis. It is an example binding for all Catholic institutions

by Sandro Magister

ROME, August 3, 2012 – Very few have read it, and it isn’t even in bookstores yet, with its five hundred pages of text and annexes. But the report that Moneyval published in the middle of July about the Vatican and finance has marked an historic watershed.

For the first time, the Holy See has submitted its institutions and laws to the judgment of an international external auditor. For the first time, it has allowed itself to be graded and given its homework by a secular authority. In a matter, like God and Mammon, in which it has greatly sinned.

It is an event, that marked by the report from Moneyval, that once again requires a rewriting of the conventional profile of Pope Benedict XVI.

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HAMMOND (IN)
Chicago Tribune

By Lisa Black and Dennis Sullivan, Chicago Tribune

An evangelical megachurch pastor has lost his job and is being investigated by the Lake County, Ind., Sheriff’s Department after admitting that he had an “improper relationship” with a young woman, a spokesman for First Baptist Church of Hammond said.

A board of deacons decided to fire Jack Schaap on Monday night and then reported allegations to the Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday because it was unclear whether the woman was a minor, spokesman Eddie Wilson said.

The sheriff’s office confirmed in a statement released Wednesday that the inquiry involves “alleged misconduct with a juvenile” and said the FBI is also investigating.

The church, which claims 15,000 regular attendees, posted a news release on its website stating that Schaap was dismissed “due to a sin that has caused him to forfeit his right to be our pastor. … Our church grieves over the need to take this action and the impact it will have on our people.”

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ALABAMA
WHNT

[with video]

August 2, 2012, by Melissa Payne

SHEFFIELD, Ala. (WHNT) – Sexual abuse accusations surfaced at Sheffield First United Methodist Church and a police investigation started immediately.

In a statement, the district acknowledges another possible case of inappropriate contact between Oliver Brazelle and another young person.

However, area church officials claim they never knew about those allegations until Thursday.

According to a release by the Sheffield First United Methodist Church, nine years ago a counselor from the Shoals area contacted then bishop, Robert Fannin about a client claiming inappropriate behavior with Brazelle dating back to the 70′s.

Sheffield First United Methodist Church spokesman Billy Don Anderson says in 2003, Bishop Fannin and Brazelle had a private meeting where an agreement was made for Brazelle not to have contact with children.

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MAINE
Bangor Daily News

By Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN Staff

Posted Aug. 02, 2012

BANGOR, Maine — Revelations in a Maine State Police report that the Rev. Robert Carlson sexually abused multiple children have raised questions about how he got away with it for decades, especially since the report revealed police officers, detectives, a former university president and others expressed concerns about Carlson’s disturbing behavior with young people.

Carlson was a serial child sex abuser, Lt. Christopher Coleman, commander of the Maine State Police’s Major Crimes Unit for the northern part of the state, said after the 104-page report was made public Wednesday. Carlson abused children for decades and “it caused a lot of trauma to many people,” the lieutenant said.

“Clearly the report indicates there are several victims and there may be more out there,” Coleman said. “There may be other victims out there who did not participate in this process.”

Robert Gossart of Salisbury Cove, the Maine representative for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, also known as SNAP, said there is one major reason criminals such as Carlson and Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach who recently was convicted of 45 counts of child sexual abuse, got away with their deviant crimes for so long.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC Ballarat

By Dominic Brine

The Catholic Bishop of the Ballarat diocese for the past 15 years Bishop Peter Connors has retired a year early due in part to the ongoing controversy over abuse by some members of the Catholic clergy.

“I had some health problems and I had dealt with a lot issues concerning sexual assault cases.”

Bishop Connors has met with 30 to 40 victims over the last 15 years.

“You notice what a horrible affect the abuse has had on the victim and then you come to realise that the victim has a partner who is confused or upset and also the victim’s parents who must have wondered for years what’s been happening to their son or daughter.”

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
WBIR

By Michael Winter, USA TODAY

Averting trial later this month, a Roman Catholic priest in Kansas City pleaded guilty today to child pornography charges for photographing five young girls in and around churches, according to news reports from Missouri.

The girls ranged in age from 2 to 9 years old. The photography occurred between 2006 and last year.

Misdemeanor charges and civil lawsuits are also pending against Bishop Robert Finn and the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph for failing to report child abuse.

The Rev. Shawn Ratigan, 46, pleaded guilty to four counts of producing child pornography and one count of attempting to produce child pornography. Eight other counts involving the girls were dropped.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Examiner

By Bill Draper
The Associated Press

Posted Aug 03, 2012

Kansas City, MO —

A Roman Catholic priest in Kansas City arrested in Independence pleaded guilty Thursday to producing child pornography in a federal case that also led to charges against the diocese bishop for failing to report suspected child abuse, and prosecutors said they would recommend that he be sentenced to life in prison.

The Rev. Shawn Ratigan, 46, had been scheduled for trial later this month. He was charged with child pornography in May 2011 in Clay County after police received a flash drive from the priest’s computer that contained hundreds of images of children, most of them clothed, with the focus on their crotch areas. Prosecutors alleged he photographed girls, sometimes under their skirts, in and around churches where he had worked in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

Under terms of the plea deal, Ratigan pleaded guilty to four counts of producing child pornography and one count of attempting to produce child porn. Eight other counts against Ratigan were dismissed.

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MAINE
San Francisco Chronicle

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A Maine judge has ruled that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland did not conceal prior sex abuse allegations against a priest accused of molesting a young boy in the late 1980s.

The now 38-year-old Augusta man who made the abuse claim said in a lawsuit that the diocese covered up previous sex abuse complaints against the Rev. Raymond Melville. The alleged victim says he was abused as a boy between September 1986 and June 1988.

Judge Donald Marden wrote in a decision released this week that “it is undisputed” that the diocese received no sexual abuse complaints against Melville prior to 1990.

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MAINE
Kennebec Journal

By Betty Adams
badams@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

AUGUSTA — A Superior Court judge has cleared the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland in the final count of a civil lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by a former city priest against a young boy.

The ruling says the diocese did not fraudulently conceal information about prior acts committed by Raymond P. Melville that would have alerted the alleged victim or his family to any danger.

William J. Picher, of Augusta, had accused Melville of sexually abusing him while he was a student at St. Mary’s School between September 1986 and June 1988. Melville was ordained in Presque Isle in 1985 and his initial assignment was assistant pastor at St. Mary’s Parish in Augusta.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Fox 4

[with video]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Catholic priest Shawn F. Ratigan changed his plea to guilty in a child pornography case on Thursday, and prosecutors say that they want to make sure he stays behind bars for the rest of his life.

Ratigan, 46, who formerly worked at a church in the Northland, pleaded guilty to four counts of producing child pornography and one count of attempted production of child pornography in a Kansas City federal courtroom on Thursday afternoon.

He had previously pleaded non-guilty to the charges. In exchange for changing his plea, prosecutors agreed to drop seven other charges.

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TEXAS
Daily Tribune

Thursday, 02 August 2012 15:38 Daniel Clifton • Tribune Staff

AUSTIN — A former Horseshoe Bay priest arrested in 2005 and accused of groping a teenager at a Marble Falls movie theater has died.

Paul Maurice Clogan, 81, faced indecency with a child by contact charges after Marble Falls police said he touched a teenage boy Dec. 16, 2005, during a showing of “King Kong” at the former Driftwood Movie Theater, now called Showbiz Cinemas 8.

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org – Assignment Record

Summary of Case: Ordained a priest of the Winona diocese in 1958, Adamson has been accused of sexually abusing at least 28 children during his 25 years in the priesthood, and is said by experts to have possibly abused as many as 100 boys. He was transfered to the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese in 1975 after multiple complaints by families that he was sexually abusing boys in Winona. Adamson’s sexual abuse of boys continued in the Twin Cities archdiocese. He underwent psychiatric evaluation and treatment numerous times over the decades. Adamson was placed on leave in December 1984, after victims began surfacing and filing lawsuits. He has admitted to sexual misconduct with boys beginning in 1961 and throughout his career. After his dismissal from active ministry, Adamson went on to live in Eau Claire, WI, where he took classes at the University of Wisconsin, and worked as a clerk and nursing home activities assistant. The Winona diocese announced in March 2012 that Adamson had returned to his home town of Rochester, and that he was not permitted on diocesan church or school property.

Born: July 12, 1933
Ordained: May 31, 1958

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UNITED STATES
Joyful Heart Foundation

[with video]

I was telling a friend recently about my emotional reaction the first time I heard the Joyful Heart Foundation’s PSA that talks about about engaging men to “end violence against all people, men women and children.”

I explained that the words “…men, women and children,” brought tears to my eyes, because in my nearly 25 years working in the field of child protection, sexual and domestic violence intervention, I’d never heard anyone else talk so directly about ending violence against men.

As one of the 19 million adult men in the United States who experienced childhood sexual abuse myself, I’m well-acquainted with the impact that that trauma had on my growth and development. I find the choice to include men, as being worthy of protection from violence, profoundly validating.

My friend, a man I deeply respect for his years working tirelessly as an activist in the movement to engage men in ending violence against women and children, seemed shocked by the phrase. “Did they actually say it like that…’men, women and children,” he asked. “I could never say that.”

How unfortunate!

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BOSTON (MA)
U.S. Catholic

Thursday, August 2, 2012

By Catholic News Service

BOSTON (CNS) — The Boston Archdiocese placed a Franciscan priest on administrative leave from his pastoral duties following his arrest on child pornography charges that involved the use of a computer located in the parish rectory.

Father Andrzej Urbaniak, a Conventual Franciscan who serves at Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish, was arrested July 31 and charged with possessing and distributing child pornography. At his arraignment the next day, he pleaded not guilty.

“The provincial superior of his religious order in Poland has been informed of the matter. Father Urbaniak’s faculties have been suspended and he is not allowed to function as a priest in the archdiocese,” said a statement released Aug. 1 by Boston church officials.

The archdiocese said it is “fully cooperating with law enforcement.”

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Aug. 02, 2012
By Monica Clark

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — When the U.S. bishops adopted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People in 2002 to put an end to the sexual abuse of children by priests and others in the church, they committed to using “adequate screening and evaluative techniques in deciding the fitness of candidates for ordination.”

Such screening most often includes psychological testing and analysis, something that psychologist Thomas Plante has been doing for dioceses and religious communities for 25 years.

Psychological screening can’t provide a 100 percent guarantee that once ordained, a man won’t subsequently abuse children, said Plante, who has screened nearly 700 seminarians. But it goes a long way toward ensuring that only men who are emotionally healthy and least likely to engage in aberrant sexual behavior are admitted to the priesthood.

“Through screening we can make sure that anyone with a predilection to harm kids is prevented from entering ministry,” said Plante, a professor of psychology and director of the Spirituality and Health Institute at Santa Clara University here.

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ALABAMA
WHNT

August 2, 2012, by Melissa Payne and Carter Watkins

SHEFFIELD, Ala. (WHNT) – A new day brings new developments in the investigation into a former church music director facing allegations of sexual misconduct with church youth.

In a letter from Sheffield First United Methodist Church to its congregation, Pastor/Parish Relations Chairman Billy Don Anderson outlined the events that led to Music Director Oliver Brazelle’s firing.

In the letter, Anderson says a decision was made to confront Brazelle about rumors of sexual misconduct that were circulating.

The letter states “Oliver admitted to us [Anderson and Pastor Zeke Haselden], that he had an inappropriate relationship with a younger member of our church sometime in the 1990s.”

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Pitch

Posted by Ben Palosaari on Thu, Aug 2, 2012

Shawn Ratigan, a former priest at Sisters of St. Francis of the Holy Eucharist in Independence, has pleaded guilty to five federal felony counts of making or attempting to make child pornography, The Star reports. He faces up to 30 years in prison for each count. Ratigan’s shocking story became public last year. He took his laptop to a repair shop and up-skirt photographs of children were discovered on the hard drive. A technician told church officials, who in turn told the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

Officials within the diocese allegedly sat on the information from December 2010 to May 2011 before they told police. They copied the pornography to discs and gave the computer to Ratigan’s family members. They destroyed the computer, and diocese officials gave the images to detectives.

Bishop Robert W. Finn released a statement when the charges were announced in which he said he regretted the way the diocese has handled the situation. Court documents said at the time that Ratigan attempted suicide on December 17, 2010 by running his motorcycle in his closed garage. Documents also said he had left a suicide note apologizing to the girls he allegedly had pictures of.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Washington Post

Kansas City priest pleads guilty to 5 federal child pornography charges; 8 others dismissed

By Associated Press, Updated: Thursday, August 2

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Roman Catholic priest in Kansas City pleaded guilty Thursday to producing child pornography in a federal case that also led to charges against the diocese bishop for failing to report suspected child abuse, and prosecutors said they would recommend that he be sentenced to life in prison.

The Rev. Shawn Ratigan, 46, had been scheduled for trial later this month. He was charged with child pornography in May 2011 in Clay County after police received a flash drive from the priest’s computer that contained hundreds of images of children, most of them clothed, with the focus on their crotch areas. Prosecutors alleged he photographed girls, sometimes under their skirts, in and around churches where he had worked in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

Under terms of the plea deal, Ratigan pleaded guilty to four counts of producing child pornography and one count of attempting to produce child porn. Eight other counts against Ratigan were dismissed.

Acting U.S. Attorney David Ketchmark said the guilty pleas represent one charge for each of five victims whose abuse started in June 2005 — one year after Ratigan was ordained as a priest. …

In a statement released Wednesday, the diocese expressed its “profound concern” for anyone harmed by Ratigan and said it is committed to making sure “every report of sexual abuse, boundary violation or misconduct is addressed thoroughly and immediately.”

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

Aug. 02, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Fr. Shawn Ratigan, a Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., diocesan priest, faces up to life in prison after pleading guilty to five of 13 charges of child pornography leveled against him.

Ratigan originally pleaded not guilty to the federal charges of possession and production of child pornography.

The change in plea was made in federal court Thursday afternoon in Kansas City. The prosecution agreed to drop Ratigan’s other eight charges if he pleaded guilty to the five. Each count carries between 15 and 30 years in prison, which could be served consecutively or cumulatively.

Ratigan’s sentencing date has not yet been set.

The case made headlines in the fall when prosecutors in Jackson County, Mo., separately charged Bishop Robert Finn and the Kansas City diocese with individual counts of failure to report suspected child abuse, which are criminal misdemeanors, regarding their oversight of the priest.

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HAMMOND (IN)
First Baptist Church

First Baptist Church Pastor Dismissed

July 31, 2012

Hammond, IN–At this time, we deeply regret the need to announce that First Baptist Church has dismissed our pastor, Dr. Jack Schaap, due to a sin that has caused him to forfeit his right to be our pastor. First Baptist Church is in full cooperation with our local authorities in their investigation of this matter. Our church grieves over the need to take this action and the impact it will have on our people.

We ask that everyone pray for the families involved and pray that the situation will be handled in a Christ honoring manner. We look forward to the days ahead as we continue to service the needs of our surrounding community and the Chicago area.

For any media-related questions, please contact First Baptist Church spokesman, Eddie Wilson at (219) 945-6475.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald

By Matt Stout
Thursday, August 2, 2012

The pedophile rabbi who admitted to molesting three young boys in the 1970s was sentenced to 10 years probation today in Suffolk Superior Court, a possibility one of his victims said he was told to expect.

Prosecutors say they asked that Stanley Levitt, 66, be sentenced to 2 ½ years behind bars after he pleaded guilty to four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child.

The rabbi, who lives in Philadelphia, yesterday admitted to sexually assaulting three sixth-grade boys while he working as a Brookline religious teacher more than three decades ago.

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BOSTON (MA)
San Francisco Chronicle

BOSTON (AP) — A rabbi who admitted sexually abusing three boys while working in the Boston area as a religious teacher in the 1970s was sentenced Thursday to 10 years of probation but spared jail time.

Stanley Levitt pleaded guilty Wednesday to four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child as his trial was set to begin.

On Thursday, prosecutors asked for a 2½-year sentence, plus 10 years of probation. But Superior Court Judge Geraldine Hines said she would stick to the terms of a plea agreement reached last year between prosecutors and Levitt’s attorney.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

By TONY RIZZO And JUDY L. THOMAS
The Kansas City Star

As a priest, he absolved others of their sins in the anonymity of the confessional.

This afternoon, the Rev. Shawn Ratigan stood in the very public forum of a federal courtroom and confessed to some of his own.

Ratigan, 46, pleaded guilty to using five girls to produce or attempt to produce child pornography over several years while serving as pastor to congregations in the Northland and St. Joseph.

Each count carries a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in federal prison. Prosecutors are expected to argue later for a sentence that ensures that Ratigan spends a significant portion of the rest of his life behind bars.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Associated Press

By BILL DRAPER

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City priest has pleaded guilty to federal child pornography counts in a case that led to misdemeanor criminal charges against his bishop and diocese.

The Rev. Shawn Ratigan on Thursday pleaded guilty to five counts of producing and attempting to produce child pornography. Eight other counts were dismissed.

No sentencing date has been set, but guidelines indicate he’ll spend at least 15 years in prison.

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HAMMOND (IN)
CBS Chicago

CHICAGO (CBS) – Officials First Baptist Church of Hammond., Ind., said Wednesday night fired Pastor Jack Schaap admitted to having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl who is a member of the church, prompting their decision to fire him this week.

CBS 2′s Brad Edwards reports, at a meeting with members of the congregation Wednesday night, church officials acknowledged Schaap is being investigated for misconduct with a 17-year-old girl. The age of consent in Indiana is 16.

Published reports say the church does not expect charges to be filed in the case.

Cameras were not allowed in the meeting, but the congregation was told Schaap admitted to an inappropriate relationship with a minor.

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INDIANA
New York Daily News

By Anthony Bartkewicz / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Thursday, August 2, 2012

The pastor of an Indiana megachurch lost his job after being careless with cell phone pictures showing him making out with a young woman.

The girl may be as young as 16, and police are now investigating Jack Schaap.

Schaap, 54, was fired from First Baptist Church in Hammond on Tuesday after 11 years in the pulpit, a church spokesman told WBBM-TV.

Former First Baptist member Trisha Kee said Schaap left his cell phone behind and a deacon picked it up to bring it to him.

“The deacon then saw a text come through from a teenage girl in the church, and it was a picture of Jack Schaap and this girl making out,” she said.

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INDIANA
Shreveport Times

Written by
Douglas Stanglin
Gannett

An Indiana sheriff’s office is investigating alleged misconduct by the pastor of an evangelical megachurch who was fired after admitting to an “improper relationship” with a teenage girl, the Hammond Post-Tribune reports.

Jack Schaap, 54, was pastor at 15,000-congregation First Baptist Church of Hammond, Ind., for 11 years and broadcast his sermons worldwide.

The church said in a news release that Schaap committed “a sin that has caused him to forfeit his right to be our pastor,” the Associated Press reports.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Department says it is investigating the alleged misconduct but does not expect to file charges, the Post-Tribune reports.

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HAMMOND (IN)
Post-Tribune

HAMMOND — No charges are expected to be filed against Pastor Jack Schaap for his involvement with an underage girl, according to a First Baptist Church of Hammond official, although the church remains resolute in being cooperative with authorities.

A release put out by Lake County Sheriff John Buncich’s office on Wednesday said his office, along with the FBI’s Merrillville office, are continuing the investigation into Schaap for his alleged misconduct with the church member. Church spokesman Eddie Wilson said the girl is 17. The age of consent in Indiana is 16.

“There has been a lot of conjecture regarding the girl in the press,” Wilson said, adding that the girl and her family are church members. He said she isn’t a student at the Schererville-based Hyles-Anderson College, where Schaap was the chancellor until he was relieved of his duties. “We don’t expect charges to be filed against him (with regard to statutory rape).”

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HAMMOND (IN)
Associated Baptist Press

Thursday, August 2, 2012

A prominent Independent Fundamental Baptist church is in the spotlight for sexual scandal, and it isn’t the first time.

By Bob Allen

An Indiana sheriff’s office is investigating a prominent independent Baptist pastor fired from his 15,000-member mega church for alleged sexual misconduct with an underage girl.

First Baptist Church in Hammond, Ind., posted a news release on the church website announcing dismissal of Pastor Jack Schaap “due to a sin that has caused him to forfeit his right to be our pastor.”

The Lake County Sheriff’s Department in Crown Point, Ind., released a statement confirming an inquiry that involves “alleged misconduct with a juvenile.”

The Hammond Post-Tribune quoted a church leader saying they are cooperating with police, but don’t expect any charges to be filed because the girl is 17. Sixteen is the age of consent in Indiana.

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INDIANA
Huffington Post

[with video]

The former pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond has confessed to having sex with a member of the church when she was 16, board members told the congregation Wednesday night.

The Board of Deacons addressed the church Wednesday to explain their sudden decision to fire pastor Jack Schaap, who had led the church for the past 11 years. The church plans to fully cooperate with an FBI investigation into allegations that multiple sexual encounters involving the same girl took place across state lines.

“Stick with us,” the board asked of the 15,000 member congregation, according to the WGN.

Schaap’s affair was outed accidentally, a former church member told CBS Chicago.

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INDIANA
The Blaze

Churches are far from immune when it comes to scandal. This is the sad reality that has hit First Baptist Church of Hammond in Indiana, where Dr. Jack Schaap, 54, the pastor there for the past 11 years, is under fire. The allegation being waged against him? That the married pastor and father of two had sex with a 16-year-old female church member.

Now, here’s the irony — Schaap is married to the daughter of the Rev. Jack Hyles. Hyles, who ran the church until his death in 2001, was also accused of being involved in sexual and financial scandals. While he denied the charges waged against him, the church is clearly no stranger to controversy.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

By Wesley Lowery, Globe Correspondent

A one-time religious instructor for a prominent Brookline school today was sentenced to 10 years probation for sexually abusing three of his students in Boston during the 1975-1976 school year.

The probation sentence was imposed on Rabbi Stanley V. Levitt by Suffolk Superior Court Judge Geraldine Hines one day after Levitt pleaded guilty in the Boston courthouse to four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child.

He faced up to 40 years imprisonment if given the maximum, and Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office today asked Hines to imprison Levitt for 2½ years. But Hines refused the request from prosecutors, saying from the bench that she was going to adhere to a plea agreement that was reached last fall between prosecutors and Levitt’s defense attorney, Scott Curtis.

According to Suffolk prosecutors, two of the assaults took place at Levitt’s home on Chiswick Road in Brighton; the third occurred while the child was recuperating at Boston Children’s Hospital. All three victims were boys, two were 11 years old at the time.

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CHILE
Apocalisse Laica

Father John O’Reilly ist die bekannteste Gesicht in der Gemeinde der Chile Degollado. Er missbraucht ein Kind. Der Priester: “Ich bin unschuldig.”

Andres Beltramo Alvarez – Vatikanstadt

Dies ist das bekannteste Gesicht der Legionäre Christi in Chile Die gebürtige Irin durch 1986 lebt in dem südamerikanischen Land, wo er Bürgerschaft “aus Gnade” vom Parlament in 2008. Sein Name ist John O’Reilly und ist jetzt in der Mitte des Sturms. Steht vor einer Klage des angeblichen sexuellen Missbrauchs gegen ein neues Baby. Er besteht auf seiner Unschuld und sagt, er sei “bereit, vor den staatlichen und kirchlichen Gerichten erscheinen.

Die Bombe explodierte Mittwoch 25 Juli, wenn das Kollegium Cumbres de Santiago de Chile, die ein Kaplan ist, hat eine Erklärung, in der sie bekannt gemacht die Entscheidung der Exekutive, einen Bericht an das Justizministerium einreichen, die Vorwürfe zu klären freigegeben.

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CILE
Vatican Insider

Padre John O’Reilly è il volto più noto in Cile della congregazione di Degollado. Avrebbe abusato di una bambina. Il religioso: “Sono innocente”

Andrés Beltramo Álvarez
Città del Vaticano

Si tratta del volto più noto dei Legionari di Cristo nel Cile. Irlandese di nascita, dal 1986 abita nel paese sudamericano, dove ha ricevuto la cittadinanza “per grazia” dal Parlamento nel 2008. Si chiama John O’Reilly e oggi è nel bel mezzo della tempesta. Sta affrontando una denuncia per presunti abusi sessuali neo confronti di una bambina. Lui insiste sulla sua innocenza, e si dice “disponibile a comparire davanti ai tribunali civili ed ecclesiastici.

La bomba è esplosa mercoledì 25 luglio, quando il Collegio Cumbres de Santiago de Chile, del quale è cappellano, ha divulgato un comunicato nel quale si rendeva nota la decisione dei direttivi di presentare alla giustizia una segnalazione per chiarire le accuse.

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NIEDERLANDE
KIPA-APIC

Amsterdam, 2.8.12 (Kipa) Der niederländische Bischof Gerard de Korte sieht in repressiver Sexualerziehung einen Grund für sexuellen Missbrauch. Früher sei Sexualität nicht nur für die Kirche, sondern für die ganze Gesellschaft ein Tabu gewesen, einschliesslich der Nichtchristen, sagte der Bischof von Groningen-Leeuwarden dem Onlinemagazin “NieuwWij” (Donnerstag).

Jahrhundertelang habe die Kirche unter dem Einfluss der Theologie von Augustinus negativ über Sexualität gesprochen. Diese Angst-Atmosphäre könnte sexuelle Fehlentwicklungen und somit sexuellen Missbrauch begünstigt haben.

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APPLETON (WI)
Fox 11

APPLETON – A judge has denied another request by the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay to dismiss the lawsuit brought by Todd and Troy Merryfield.

Todd and Troy Merryfield were molested by former priest John Feeney in 1978. In May, a jury made the award saying the diocese committed fraud by not telling the Merryfields about Feeney’s past history of sexual abuse. But, a judge overturned the verdict, saying a juror was not truthful during the selection process, and a new trial was ordered. No new trial date has been set.

The Diocese asked Outagamie County Judge Nancy Krueger to throw out the case, using the legal argument known as “laches” – that the Merryfields waited too long to file the suit and the resulting loss in testimony and evidence has damaged the case such that it isn’t fair to try.

In a ruling filed late Wednesday afternoon, however, Krueger denies the Diocese’s request for dismissal.

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WISCONSIN
WTAQ

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) – An Outagamie County judge has denied another request by the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay to dismiss the lawsuit by two brothers molested by a former priest.

The Diocese asked Judge Nancy Krueger to toss the case, using the legal argument known as “laches” – that Todd and Troy Merryfield waited too long to file the suit and the resulting loss in testimony and evidence has damaged the case such that it isn’t fair to try.

The Merryfields were molested by former priest John Feeney in 1978. In May, a jury made the award saying the diocese committed fraud by not telling the Merryfields about Feeney’s past history of sexual abuse. But, a judge overturned the verdict, saying a juror was not truthful during the selection process, and a new trial was ordered. No new trial date has been set.

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ALABAMA
The Wetumpka Herald

Posted: Thursday, August 2, 2012

Kevin Taylor

Former Bethel Assembly of God youth pastor John A. Astorga, 37, was sentenced to 36 months in prison for two counts of first-degree sexual abuse.

While he was youth pastor at Bethel, he sexually abused two female parishioners of the church. One was less than 12 years old at the time of the other was more than 12 years old.

Both appeared before Circuit Court Judge Ben Fuller to speak before Astorga was sentenced.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The New York Times

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Published: August 1, 2012

The Rev. Shawn Ratigan, a priest in Kansas City who is accused of producing pornographic photographs of young girls he knew, has filed notice that he will plead guilty in federal court on Thursday. He had previously pleaded not guilty and was to be tried this month. Diocesan employees discovered hundreds of images of girls’ genitals on a laptop computer the priest had taken in for repair in December 2010. Father Ratigan then survived a suicide attempt, and was reassigned to live in a church facility where he continued to have contact with children.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

August 2, 2012

By Ann Rodgers / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A Catholic priest who was cleared of suspicion of child sex abuse has resigned from his parish but will return for a final Mass.

In April a family expressed concern to diocesan officials about a Facebook post to their minor child from the Rev. Daniel Valentine, 63, of St. James parish in Sewickley. The diocese turned to the Allegheny County district attorney’s office, which sent forensic investigators to examine computers Father Valentine had access to. Meanwhile, he took a voluntary leave of absence.

The investigators “determined that Father Valentine had not engaged in any criminal conduct,” said District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. “There were things on the computer that we felt were inappropriate but not criminal, and I so advised the diocese.”

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Examiner

By Bill Draper
The Associated Press

Kansas City, MO —

A Kansas City priest accused of producing and possessing child pornography will plead guilty today to at least some of the federal charges he faces, his attorney confirmed.

The Rev. Shawn Ratigan, 46, was charged last August with six counts of production of child pornography, two counts of possession of child pornography and five counts of attempted production of child pornography.

He also faces three child pornography counts in Clay County, where he was charged in May 2011 after officials with the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph turned over images taken from Ratigan’s computer to police.

Ratigan’s federal public defender, Bob Kuchar, on Wednesday told The Associated Press details of the priest’s plea were still being worked out and he could not comment until after today’s hearing.

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MAINE
WLBZ

Written by
Krister Rollins

(NEWS CENTER) – A retired priest who had been tried — but never convicted — on a charge of indecency with a minor has died.

Paul Clogan was born in Massachusetts, lived in Texas with a family for years and then became an ordained priest in Maine in 1999.

He spent a year and a half in the Portland Diocese before returning to Texas.

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INDIANA
WBIW

Last updated on Thursday, August 02, 2012

(IRELAND) – Father Ron Kreilein, priest at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Ireland, Indiana was the target of a criminal investigation involving alleged sexting with a former adult male parishioner who Kreilein at one time was counseling.

Sexting is the exchange of sexually explicit telephone text messages.

No charges were filed by Dubois County prosecutor Kevin Crouse against the 57-year old Kreilein.

But the Evansville diocese has confirmed Kreilein was granted an indefinite leave of absence, during which time he is not ministering to parishioners or performing any other duties of a parish priest. Other members of the diocesan clergy are filling these roles at St. Mary’s.

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NEDERLAND
IJMuider Courant

HAARLEM – De klachten wegens seksueel misbruik en sadisme in het bisdom Haarlem-Amsterdam stapelen zich op. Ze zullen straks allemaal door de klachtencommissie inzake seksueel misbruik binnen de rooms-katholieke kerk worden behandeld

Allereerst de zaak tegen de wijd en zijd bekende Haarlemse priester, die onder meer in de Haarlemse Josephkerk in de Jansstraat heeft gewerkt. Drie nichtjes van de priester hebben een zaak tegen hem wegens seksueel misbruik gewonnen. Drie andere door hem bepotelde nichtjes namen in 1996 ieder 15.000 gulden van hem aan en daarmee dacht de Haarlemse priester de zaak min of meer te hebben afgekocht.

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NEDERLAND
Bisdom Roermond

Het is algemeen bekend dat de katholieke Kerk een onderzoek heeft laten verrichten naar het seksueel misbruik binnen de instellingen van de Kerk over de periode van 1945-2010, nadat daarover steeds meer klachten en berichten naar buiten kwamen. Het onderzoeksrapport van de Commissie Deetman werd in december 2011 bekendgemaakt. Als vervolg daarop is een aantal maatregelen genomen door de bisschoppenconferentie, de religieuzen en de afzonderlijke bisdommen. Zo is er in het bisdom Roermond in het kader van de zorg voor slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik, reeds enige tijd een begeleidingcommissie ingesteld door de bisschop.

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VERENIGD KONINKRIJK
Kerknet

BRUSSEL (KerkNet/KNA) – Het katholieke bisdom van Portsmouth (Verenigd Koninkrijk) is in beroep teruggefloten in een zaak van seksueel misbruik. De bevoegde rechter heeft donderdag een uitspraak van november vorig jaar bevestigd. Hij argumenteerde dat de katholieke Kerk met haar priesters eenzelfde professionele relatie heeft als die van om het even welke werkgever tegenover zijn werknemers. Om die reden kan de instelling dan ook aansprakelijk worden gesteld voor het eventuele wangedrag van een van haar werknemers.

De rechtbank verklaarde dat haar beslissing “een bredere, algemene betekenis met betrekking tot (schade)claims tegen de katholieke Kerk” heeft.

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BELGIE
Vandaag

[Dit klooster wordt nieuwe thuis van Michelle Martin – video – Het Nieuwsblad]

“Kloosters zijn geen ballingsoorden. Dat zowel Roger Vangheluwe als Michelle Martin zich nu (willen) terugtrekken in een klooster, is toeval.” Dat zegt Bert Claerhout, hoofdredacteur van Kerk & Leven.

“Wie tot een klooster wil toetreden, moet dat uit vrije keuze doen”, stelt Claerhout. “Anders hou je dat niet vol en is het voor niemand goed. Wie buiten het geloof staat, kan in een klooster misschien wel stilte vinden, maar komt ook in een vreemde omgeving terecht. Dat biedt doorgaans weinig soelaas.”

Dat Vangheluwe en nu Martin zich kort na elkaar terugtrekken in het kloosterleven is uitzonderlijk volgens Claerhout. “Voor Vangheluwe was – gezien de omstandigheden – een ander leven moeilijk en hij komt natuurlijk in een bekende omgeving terecht.”

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BOSTON (MA)
Failed Messiah

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

Rabbi Stanley Levitt has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing three children in the 1970s, the Boston Globe reports.

Levitt’s trial was about to begin when entered his guilty plea today. Levitt will be sentenced tomorrow.

The abuse took place in the 1970s while Levitt was teaching at Maimonides day school in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Levitt is now 66-years-old. He resides in the Philadelphia area.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald

By Matt Stout
Thursday, August 2, 2012

A man once targeted by the pedophile rabbi who pleaded guilty yesterday to preying on boys in the 1970s said he’s relishing the chance to face the “sick man” who used his power as a Brookline religion teacher.

“I don’t have any hope of retribution, I don’t want any revenge … but I have no problem facing him whatsoever,” Michael Brecher, now 48, told the Herald, saying he will address the court when Rabbi Stanley Levitt, 66, is sentenced today in Suffolk Superior court on four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child.

Levitt’s guilty plea comes roughly eight months after he initially was expected to admit to the decades-old abuse, but balked at the last minute.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

August 2, 2012

BOSTON—A rabbi is being sentenced after admitting he sexually abused three students while working in the Boston area as a religious teacher in the 1970s.

Stanley Levitt pleaded guilty Wednesday to four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child as his trial was set to begin. He is to be sentenced Thursday.

Prosecutors say the 66-year-old Philadelphia man lived in Boston and worked in Brookline when he abused three boys in his care.

A grand jury indicted him in 2009 after two victims said Levitt assaulted them in 1975 while they were his students. A third victim later came forward.

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BROOKLINE (MA)
Wicked Local Brookline

Brookline —

A former Maimonides School teacher pleaded guilty Wednesday, Aug. 1, to charges of sexual contact with children more than 30 years ago, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

Rabbi Stanley Levitt, 66, most recently of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty to four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child as the trial was set to begin, according to a release from the Suffolk DA’s office. He will be sentenced Aug. 2.

Had the case made it to trial, Assistant District Attorney David Deakin would have shown that Levitt had sexually assaulted three sixth-grade boys during the mid-1970s.

“This is a victory, not just for the victims in this case, but for every person who suffered abuse at the hands of a trusted adult,” Conley said. “The defendant’s full admission of guilt is proof that the men he abused as children were telling the truth when they finally shared their terrible secret.”

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FLORIDA
Tampa Bay Times

TAMPA — A Largo puppeteer accused last month of possessing child pornography and harboring fantasies about kidnapping, cooking and eating a young member of his church has waived a bail hearing, a judge said Wednesday.

That means Ronald William Brown, 57, will remain jailed without bail as he awaits trial in U.S. District Court in Tampa on federal charges of possessing child porn and conspiring to kidnap a child.

Prosecutors argue Brown would be a danger to the community and might flee if released.

In a two-page order, Magistrate Judge Thomas Wilson said Brown is free to request a bail hearing at a later date. No trial date is scheduled.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe

By Stephanie Ebbert
| Globe Staff
August 02, 2012

A bill that would extend the period of time during which child victims of sexual abuse could file claims against their abusers stalled Tuesday night, when the formal legislative session ended with unresolved differences between House and Senate versions and concerns about the bill’s constitutionality.

But advocates say they remain optimistic that a compromise can be forged in a conference committee in the coming weeks. Legislation can still be approved after formal sessions end, as long as no member raises an objection to the measure.

“They’ll have the time to do it and do it right, so we don’t have any unintended consequences,” said Carmen Durso, an attorney who represents victims of sexual abuse. “I believe they’re going to make a sincere effort to get this done. This is the most progress we’ve ever made in 10 years. So I’m encouraged.”

The measure would end the strict statute of limitations that now requires child victims of sexual abuse to file claims before they turn 21. The House version would extend that deadline to 27 years after a victim turns 16, or until the age of 43. That would be consistent with the statute of limitation for filing criminal charges, which was extended in 2006 after complaints by prosecutors who were unable to bring old cases against Catholic priests.

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MAINE
WLBZ

Written by
Danielle Waugh

AUGUSTA, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — Maine State Police have been investigating Rev. Bob Carlson for sexual abuse allegations since November 2011, and kept the investigation open after his suicide off the Penobscot Narrows Bridge.

Police have released a 100-page document detailing at least 18 interviews and several accounts of abuse.

Police began investigating Carlson after an anonymous letter sent to the District Attorney, Maine State Police, and other agencies alleged he had abused a boy in the 1970s, and suggested Carlson had abused more people.

Carlson, who was a minister, chaplain, and founder of the Penobscot Community Health Care, committed suicide by jumping off of the Penobscot Narrows Bridge the day after he learned of the investigation in mid-November.

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MAINE
Bangor Daily News

[the State Police report]

By Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN Staff

BANGOR, Maine — The Rev. Robert Carlson sexually abused several children over the last four decades and groomed them to be his victims, according to people interviewed by the Maine State Police during a now concluded investigation into allegations leveled against the late community leader.

“There clearly were victims of sexual abuse that indicated that Bob Carlson was their abuser,” Lt. Christopher Coleman, commander of the Maine State Police’s Major Crimes Unit for the northern part of the state, said Wednesday. “It appears that it occurred over many years and it caused a lot of trauma to many people.”

Exactly how many children fell victim to Carlson is not known, and it is likely that other child sex abuse victims chose not to come forward, Coleman said.

Carlson was a longtime religious and civic leader who committed suicide by jumping from the Penobscot Narrows Bridge on Nov. 13, 2011, shortly after learning detectives were looking into allegations of sex abuse involving him and a boy.

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