ABUSE TRACKER

ITALY
Web Pro News

First Time This Has Happened in Thousands of Years

By Mike Fossum

Hackers from an Italian cell of the group ‘Anonymous’ took the Vatican’s website offline. At writing, vatican.va is still offline, though Vatican officials are working to fix this. Anonymous claims to seek to punish “the corrupt Roman Catholic Church and all of its emanations.”

Anonymous’ Italian website states that “today to besiege your site in response to the doctrine, to the liturgies, to the absurd and anachronistic concepts that your for-profit organisation spreads around the world.” Anonymous also denounced Catholic stances on abortion and contraception and called attention to its sex-abuse scandal, and accused the Vatican of being “retrograde” in “daily” interference in Italian domestic affairs. The wealth of the Catholic church was also mentioned, as well as the pointing out that it is a “for-profit” organization. Anonymous also made it clear that it was just attacking the Catholic Church as a business, and “is not against the Christian religion or the faithful around the world but against the corrupt Roman Apostolic Church.”

Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, was not sure how long the site would be down.

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ITALY
The Official Blog of Anonymous Italy

Vatican.va day to you.
Oggi Anonymous ha deciso di porre sotto assedio il vostro sito in risposta alle dottrine, alle liturgie ed ai precetti assurdi ed anacronistici che la vostra organizzazione a scopo di lucro (chiesa apostolica romana) propaga e diffonde nel mondo intero. Anonymous has now decided to lay siege to your site in response to the doctrines, liturgies and the precepts absurd and anachronistic that your organization is for profit (Roman Apostolic Church) propagates and spreads worldwide.

Avete bruciato testi di immenso pregio storico e letterario, avete barbaramente giustiziato i vostri più accaniti detrattori e critici nel corso dei secoli, avete negato teorie universalmente ritenute valide o plausibili; avete indotto sprovveduti a pagare per ottenere l’accesso al paradiso con la vendita di indulgenze. You have burned books of immense historical and literary value, you barbarously executed your fiercest detractors and critics over the centuries, have denied universally deemed valid or plausible theories, have led the unwary to pay to get access to paradise with the sale of indulgences.

Vi siete resi responsabili della riduazione in schiavitù di intere popolazioni, usando come pretesto la vostra missione di evangelizzazione e la diffusione della fede cristiana nel mondo. Have you been guilty of riduazione enslavement of entire populations, using as a pretext your mission of evangelization and the spread of Christianity in the world.

In tempi più recenti avete avuto un ruolo significativo nell’aiutare criminali di guerra nazisti a trovare rifugio in paesi esteri ed a sottrarsi alla giustizia internazionale. In more recent times have played a significant role in helping Nazi war criminals find refuge in foreign countries and to evade international justice.

Permettete che quotidianamente molti degli appartenenti al clero si rendano responsabili di molestie verso bambini, coprendoli se i fatti divengono di dominio pubblico. Let every day many of the members of the clergy may be responsible of molesting children, covering them when the facts become public domain.

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VATICAN CITY
MSNBC

ROME — The Italian branch of the hackers group Anonymous took down the Vatican’s website on Wednesday, saying it was an attack on the Roman Catholic Church’s scandals and conservative doctrine.

The Vatican website www.vatican.va was inaccessible. A spokesman said he could not confirm that the crash was the work of the hackers group but said technicians were working to bring it back up.

A statement on the Italian website of the loosely-knit cyber-activists group accused the Church of being responsible for a long list of misdeeds throughout history, including the selling of indulgences in the 16th century and burning heretics during the Inquisition.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
WRAL

By JAY LINDSAY, Associated Press; THOMAS J. SHEERAN, Associated Press

CLEVELAND — The Vatican has taken the extraordinary step of overruling the closing of 13 parishes by the Cleveland Diocese, a lawyer who fought the cutbacks said Wednesday.

The move represents a rare instance in which Rome has reversed a U.S. bishop on the shutdown of churches.

The Congregation of the Clergy ruled last week that Bishop Richard Lennon had failed to follow procedure in the closings three years ago, attorney Peter Borre said.

The 13 Roman Catholic churches were among 50 shut down or merged by Lennon, who said the eight-county diocese could no longer afford to keep them open because of declining numbers of parishioners and a shortage of priests.

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

PATSY MCGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent

Reports from the seven visitation teams sent to Ireland by the Vatican last year following publication of the Murphy report, are on course to be published this Spring, the CatholicArchbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said today.

He was referrring to the reports of teams that visited Ireland’s four Catholic archdioceses, its seminaries and both male and female religious congregations, all completed and sent to Rome by the end of last year.

A factor which would influence their publication is the occurence of HolyWeek and Easter early next month, he said. Publication would not overshadow Easter.

The Archbishop was speaking at a press conference in Maynooth as the Irish Bishops’Conference ended its Spring meeting.

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IRELAND
Catholic Culture

March 07, 2012

The Vatican will soon release the reports prepared during an apostolic visitation of the Church in Ireland, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has disclosed.

In the wake of the sex-abuse scandal in Ireland, Pope Benedict XVI ordered apostolic visitations for each of the country’s four archdioceses, for the seminaries, and for religious orders. The visitation teams completed their reports and submitted them to the Vatican last year, but the results have not been made public.

Late last year, unconfirmed rumors suggested that the visitations would call for a sharp reduction in the number of dioceses in Ireland. There are now 26 dioceses: an extraordinarily high number for a country of only 4.6 million people. Four Irish sees are currently vacant, and the Vatican has been slow to appoint new bishops, fueling suspicions that a restructuring may soon take place.

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ITALIA
La Provincia di Lecco

ABBADIA – L’ex parroco di San Giuliano a Como, don Marco Mangiacasale, economo della Diocesi di Como dal 2009, è stato arrestato nel pomeriggio con l’accusa di violenza sessuale aggravata ai danni di una ragazzina minorenne.

Don Marco è stato raggiunto ad Abbadia Lariana, in provincia di Lecco, dove si trovava casualmente da ufficiali della polizia giudiziaria della Procura di Como.

Ad accusare il prete le confidenze che la ragazzina avrebbe fatto a un altro sacerdote, che ha informato i genitori di una giovane. Sono stati questi ultimi a presentarsi in Procura e a consentire l’avvio dell’inchiesta.

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ITALIA
Corriere di Como

Ecco il comunicato della diocesi di Como sulla vicenda

Apprendiamo con costernazione la vicenda che vede coinvolto il sacerdote don Marco Mangiacasale della diocesi di Como. In attesa che venga avviato il procedimento giudiziario il Vescovo di Como ritiene di dover esprimere le seguenti considerazioni.

1) Il sacerdote don Marco Mangiacasale viene sollevato da ogni incarico diocesano. 2) Seguendo la prassi canonica richiesta dal Codice di Diritto Canonico (can. 1717-1731) e dai recenti interventi della Santa Sede in materia verrà avviato il procedimento giudiziario ecclesiastico nei confronti del sacerdote don Marco Mangiacasale. 3) È desiderio del Vescovo di Como seguire con paterna sollecitudine tutti i fattori rilevanti della complessa vicenda, nel rispetto dovuto al lavoro svolto dalla Magistratura inquirente e giudicante, e con la doverosa attenzione per tutte le persone implicate nei fatti incriminati, a cominciare da coloro che hanno promosso la causa sporgendo accusa.

La Curia di Como

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ITALY
AGI

20:52 07 MAR 2012

(AGI) Como – “We are dismayed to learn the news about the facts involving don Marco Mangiacasale, a priest of the Diocese of Como”, as made known in a note by the Bishop of Como, Mons.

Diego Coletti, following the arrest of the diocesan treasurer accused of sexually abusing an underage girl over the last four years, from 2008 to a few days ago. In the note, the head of the Como Curia explained that “Don Marco Mangiacasale has been relieved of all assignments in the diocese and that, according to the standard procedure, as requested by the canon law and by the latest interventions of the Holy See on the subject, an ecclesiastical trial against him will soon start.” . .

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CITTA DEL VATICANO
Vatican Insider

Redazione
Roma

Il gruppo di hacker ha dichiarato “guerra” al mondo religioso e dopo aver minacciato oggi è partito l’attacco, che ha affossato Vatican.va. Perfettamente funzionante invece il superportale News.va.

L’atteggiamento non certamente amichevole. Infatti con una serie di pesantissime e volgari accuse, che affondano le radici in un atteggiamento di radicalismo anticlericale, gli hacker fanno riferimento nell’avviso di attacco ai roghi di libri, all’inquisizione e alla vendita delle indulgenze, la schiavitù, la presunta protezione dei criminali nazisti, i preti pedofili, l’ici sugli immobili, il no all’uso del preservativo, fino alle ingerenze nella vita politica italiana.

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CITTA DEL VATICANO
il Sussidiario

ANONYMOUS. Ieri è toccato a Vatican.va, il sito ufficiale della Santa Sede, rimasto vittima di un oscuramento a opera di Anonymous. L’organizzazione che ha già fatto saltare siti web importanti, come quelli del nostro ministero degli interni o del governo, ha puntato adesso l’obbiettivo sulla Chiesa. Un attacco che ha fatto tanto più scalpore in quanto il sito della Santa Sede era ritenuto uno dei più inviolabili al mondo. Oscuramento e messaggio farneticante, in cui gli hacker hanno chiarito che l’attacco non era rivolto alla religione cristiana o ai suoi fedeli, ma “alla corrotta Chiesa Romana Apostolica e a tutte le sue emanazioni”.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Francis X. Rocca
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican’s official website suffered an attack by computer hackers March 7, cutting off access by users for several hours.

Italian media outlets reported that the website, vatican.va, became unresponsive around mid-afternoon local time, just as several other websites carried messages taking credit for the disruption in the name of the hacking group Anonymous. Email to and from the vatican.va domain was reportedly also blocked for at least part of the time.

A posting on one Italian site claimed that the attack was an act of revenge for an array of outrages, including the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests and the historic practice of selling indulgences for sins.

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MOLDOVA
Huffington Post

By CORNELIU RUSNAC 03/ 6/12

CHISINAU, Moldova — Foreigners convicted of sexually abusing children in Moldova will be mandatorily castrated, according to new legislation introduced Tuesday.

Parliament approved the law by a majority after lawmakers said the impoverished nation was attracting pedophiles from the West. It will become effective July 1.

The new law states foreign and Moldovan nationals found guilty of pedophilia will be chemically castrated, while courts will rule separately on those found guilty of rape.

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NEW YORK
Queens Ledger

by Heather Senison

Mar 07, 2012

For the sixth year in a row, Maspeth Assemblywoman Margaret Markey is pushing the state Legislature to pass a bill that would extend the statute of limitations for victims of sex abuse to file claims against their attackers.

Markey’s Child Victims Act adds an additional five years to the current statute, meaning people could come forward until they turn 28. Under the current state law, individuals can come forward for five years after they turn 18.

The bill would also suspend all statutes of limitations for a period of one year, starting the day it passes.

Markey’s bill passed the Assembly four times since 2006, but never the State Senate. She introduced it again this year, but as of press time it wasn’t co-sponsored by anyone on either side of the Legislature.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Two retired Church of England priests arrested in the Eastbourne area on suspicion of sexually abusing children and young men have been bailed.

Canon Gordon Rideout, 73 was held on suspicion of sexually assaulting nine young people between 1965 and 1972.

Former parish priest Robert Coles, 70, was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting three young men in West Sussex in the late 1970s and mid-1980s.

Both men have been freed on bail until next month, Sussex Police said.

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VATICAN CITY
Rome Reports

March 7, 2012. (Romereports.com) On Wednesday afternoon, the Vatican’s website stopped working at around 3:00 o clock, after reportedly being hacked. Apparently, a group known as “Anonymous” claimed responsibility for this. On the Vatican’s website, vatican.va, the issue is described as a “technical problem that’s being solved.”

The group, Anonymous Italy, posted a message on its blog, which says that the so called attack on the website, is in response to the Church’s stance on birth control and abortion. It also lists the sexual abuse scandal and the Vatican’s alleged cooperation with nazi criminals.

The message adds that it’s not a personal attack against Christians, but against the “corrupt Church of Rome.”

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VATICAN CITY
LifeSite News

ROME, Italy, March 7, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Hackers claiming ties to the high profile group Anonymous are taking credit after the Vatican website went down Wednesday, claiming they are going after the “corrupt” Catholic Church over the clergy sex abuse scandal as well as its stances against abortion and contraception.

“Anonymous decided today to besiege your site in response to the doctrine, to the liturgies, to the absurd and anachronistic concepts that your for-profit organization spreads around the world,” the hackers wrote in Italian.

“This attack is not against the Christian religion or the faithful around the world but against the corrupt Roman Apostolic Church,” it added.

The statement also includes a laundry list of other complaints going back centuries, including Catholics’ involvement in burning books and executing heretics during the Inquisition.

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VATICAN CITY
Buenos Aires Herald

The Italian branch of the hackers group Anonymous took down the Vatican’s website, saying it was an attack on the Roman Catholic Church’s scandals and conservative doctrine.

The Vatican website www.vatican.va was inaccessible. A spokesman said he could not confirm that the crash was the work of the hackers group but said technicians were working to bring it back up.

A statement on the Italian website of the loosely-knit cyber-activists group accused the Church of being responsible for a long list of misdeeds throughout history, including the selling of indulgences in the 16th century and burning heretics during the Inquisition.

“Today, Anonymous has decided to put your site under siege in response to your doctrine, liturgy and the absurd and anachronistic rules that your profit-making organisation spreads around the world,” the website said.

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VATICAN CITY
Telegraph (United Kingdom)

Hacking group Anonymous took down the Vatican website on Wednesday, saying it was targeting the “corrupt” Catholic Church, a day after a high-profile bust of the group’s alleged leaders.

In a statement, the collective said on its Italian-language website: “Anonymous decided today to besiege your site in response to the doctrine, to the liturgies, to the absurd and anachronistic concepts that your for-profit organisation spreads around the world.

“This attack is not against the Christian religion or the faithful around the world but against the corrupt Roman Apostolic Church.”

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VATICAN CITY
The Irish Times

The Italian branch of the hackers’ group Anonymous took down the Vatican’s website today, saying it was an attack on the Catholic Church’s scandals and conservative doctrine.

The Vatican website vatican.va was inaccessible this afternoon.

A spokesman said he could not confirm that the crash was the work of the hackers’ group but said technicians were working to bring it back up.

A statement on the Italian website of the loosely-knit cyber-activists group accused the Catholic Church of being responsible for a long list of misdeeds throughout history, including the selling of indulgences in the 16th century and burning heretics during the Inquisition.

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VATICAN CITY
Global Post

David Trifunov
March 7, 2012

Anonymous claimed credit for shutting down the Vatican’s website today, saying it was an attack on the “corrupt Roman Apostolic Church,” AFP reported.

The Italian arm of the informal association of “hacktivists” posted a statement on its website saying it takes umbrage with the church’s transgressions.

“Anonymous decided today to besiege your site in response to the doctrine, to the liturgies, to the absurd and anachronistic concepts that your for-profit organization spreads around the world,” the statement read.

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VATICAN CITY
Religion Dispatches

Post by The Editors

Reuters reported this morning that the Italian branch of Anonymous, those hackers best known for attacks on Scientology, decided to send a message to the Catholic Church by shutting down the official Vatican website (still not responding as of this posting).

What are the Church’s misdeeds, according to these code crusaders? They go back to the selling of indulgences in the 16th century. And more recently, of course, there’s the Church’s interference in Italy’s domestic politics. (Not just Italy, we’d have to say.)

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AUSTRALIA
Western Advocate

BY MURRAY NICHOLLS

08 Mar, 2012

FOUR men who claim they were sexually abused as teenagers by a Catholic priest have written to the Governor General seeking to have him stripped of an Order of Australia Medal.
Father Hugh Edward Murray was one of 11 men charged with child sex offences dating back to the 1960s as part of investigations by Strike Force Belle.

Many of the men were priests who previously worked at Bathurst’s St Stanislaus’ College, where many of the offences were alleged to have taken place.

Murray had faced five counts of sexual assault involving three boys between 1966 and 1978, but did not stand trial after he was found to be mentally unfit.

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VATICAN CITY
Global Winnipeg

Nicole Winfield, Wednesday, March 07, 2012

VATICAN CITY – Members of the amorphous hacking group Anonymous claimed Wednesday to have taken down the Vatican website to protest everything from Catholic doctrine to the sexual abuse of children.

The site, www.vatican.va, was inaccessible for much of Wednesday afternoon and evening.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, confirmed the attack but declined to comment on its possible source. He said he didn’t know how long it would take the Vatican’s technicians to bring the site back up.

In what claims to be the “official” site of Anonymous in Italy, a statement posted Wednesday said the group was attacking the Vatican to protest the execution of heretics and the burning of books during the Inquisition and more recently the sexual abuse of children by priests.

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

Marissa Calligeros
March 8, 2012

A Catholic priest has said there is still goodness in him, despite pleading guilty to making and possessing child exploitation material.

Neil Joseph Byrne, whose church was affiliated with a Brisbane primary school, admitted to having sexual fantasies about “young, blond boys”, after being charged with eight counts of making child exploitation material and one count of possessing 10 images of child exploitation material.

Father Byrne, 61, requested that he address the court during his sentencing yesterday and sobbed as he pleaded for compassion from Judge Hugh Botting.

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NEW YORK
Observer-Dispatch

By AMANDA FRIES
Observer-Dispatch

Posted Mar 07, 2012 @ 11:01 AM

UTICA —

The sentencing of a New York Mills priest was adjourned Wednesday in order to secure more funds for restitution.

Valentine Krul, 61, of Forestport, arrived in Oneida County Court Judge Barry Donalty’s courtroom in an orange jumpsuit, only to be quickly ushered out minutes later after Krul’s attorney Bill Borrill asked for the adjournment.

Krul is due back in court April 26 for sentencing.

“Hopefully we’ll have a check for a portion of (the restitution),” Borrill said after court was adjourned.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A retired Church of England priest arrested in the Eastbourne area on suspicion of sexually abusing children has been bailed.

Former parish priest Robert Coles, 70, is suspected of sexually assaulting three young men in West Sussex in the late 1970s and mid-1980s.

Sussex Police said Canon Gordon Rideout remains in custody.

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IRELAND
The Irish Catholic

I sometimes worry a little about Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. Is he taking his worries too much to heart?

(In the Church of the Middle Ages, older women used to go around giving advice to ecclesiastics, including the Pope, so if I may, I will exercise that traditional prerogative.)

He said last Sunday that the Catholic Church in Ireland is ”at breaking point”. He emphasised that this was, in great part, due to the clerical scandals, and he went on to stress that they are not over, and indeed, he opined that the story will never be over in our lifetimes.

I know how seriously he took the evidence of these clerical scandals.

I know how ”sickened” he was to read some of the reports that were put before him. Meeting the victims was an extremely upsetting experience for him.

And we all perfectly understand why he seems sometimes on the brink of despair.

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IRELAND
Irish Catholic

When the leader of the biggest diocese in Ireland says, when speaking of the state of the Church in Ireland, ”it has reached a breaking point — it is at a very difficult stage”, the reaction should surely be widespread consternation and concern.

This is not just the same old critics trumpeting the same old arguments. Rather it is a man who has given his life to the Church, who has reached the elevated role of archbishop, and who has worked for years to try and restore the Church, at least in his own diocese.

He has also taken a leadership role of articulating the ongoing problems and has not been reticent in criticising those whom he thought were failing to do what should be done, even his fellow bishops.

He has not laboured alone. There are many across the island of Ireland who have worked to try to make amends for the grievous suffering of the victims of abuse in all its forms, who have sought to bring the Church back to that humbler, more genuine place which was the Church established by Jesus, in which there was no place for cover-up or hypocrisy and in which Jesus allowed himself to be terribly done to death to show that there was no price which he would not pay, in love, for the people of God.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher

Article updated 17 February 2012

This is a classic case-study in how the Catholic Church authorities in Australia harboured a priest, despite complaints about him being a danger to children.

In one parish of the Armidale diocese in northern New South Wales in the 1980s, altar boys complained that they were being sexually abused by a certain priest (let us call him Father XYZ). But the two leaders of this diocese — Bishop Henry Kennedy and Monsignor Frank Ryan — protected this priest, helping him to avoid a criminal conviction.

Privately, Father XYZ admitted that he had indeed been committing sexual acts upon children. Later the church was forced to begin paying compensation to some of these former altar boys.

The former altar boys said that their lives were damaged not only by the abuse but also by the church’s cover-up and the code of silence.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher

Posted 17 February 2012

A former religious Brother, Edward Mamo (born 26 September 1944), appeared in court on 6 February 2012, charged with offences allegedly committed against boys at Monivae College, a Catholic secondary school, at Hamilton, 290 kilometres west of Melbourne.

Mamo, residing in Sydney, first appeared in Campbelltown Local Court in western Sydney. The charges were laid by detectives from the Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Unit in Warrnambool, Victoria, who had gone to Sydney to interview Mamo.

The charges comprised 12 incidents of indecent assault on males, allegedly committed against seven boys at Monivae College in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Mamo was allegedly working there as a religious Brother.

The Campbelltown Court granted bail to Mamo pending further court proceedings, to be held in Victoria.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher

Article updated 7 March 2012

Broken Rites Australia has researched a prominent Catholic priest, the Very Rev Doctor Neil Joseph Byrne, who pleaded guilty in court on 7 March 2012 on charges relating to child-exploitation.

Byrne was sentenced to a nine-month jail term, which was to be wholly suspended for two years.

As a lecturer in a seminary, the Very Rev Dr Byrne has been involved in the training of Australia’s Catholic priests.

Background
Father Byrne belongs to the Brisbane diocese, which covers the heavily-populated south-eastern corner of the Australian state of Queensland. For several years, Father Byrne was the Dean in charge of a number of priests and parishes in Brisbane’s west. This role gave him the title of “Very Reverend”. This, together with his Doctor of Philosophy degree, made him “the Very Rev. Dr. Neil Byrne”.

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IERLAND
RKnieuws

DUBLIN (RKnieuws.net) – Mgr.Diarmuid Martin, aartsbisschop van Dublin, heeft er op de Amerikaanse televisie voor gewaarschuwd dat de crisis als gevolg van het seksueel misbruik van minderjarigen door geestelijken niet voorbij is. ’We moeten waakzaam blijven’, aldus de aartsbisschop.

“Er bestaat een gevaar dat de mensen vandaag zeggen dat het kindermisbruik is afgesloten en dat het tijd is om terug te keren naar de gewone orde van de dag. De bescherming van kinderen moet de rest van ons leven een bekommernis blijven.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Argus

By Ben Parsons, Crime Reporter

A 70-year-old priest from Eastbourne arrested in an inquiry into decades-old abuse of children has been released on bail.

Father Robert Coles was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of sexually assaulting three young men in West Sussex during the late 1970s and mid-1980s.

He has been released on bail until Tuesday, April 17.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Eastbourne Herald

Published on Wednesday 7 March 2012

WELL known former priest Gordon Rideout was one of two men arrested in Eastbourne yesterday morning in connection with a sex abuse inquiry.

Seventy-three-year-old Mr Rideout, a former priest at All Saints Church and former school governor, is still being quizzed by detectives on suspicion of sexually assaulting young people in Sussex and London in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Former priest Robert Coles, 70, was also arrested at his home in Upperton Road on Tuesday morning on suspicion of sexual assaults against three young men in Sussex during the late 1970s and mid-1980s.

The arrests follow a six month long investigation into allegations of sex abuse by a team of specialist child protection detectives in Sussex.

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ITALY
Bureau of Investigative Journalism

March 7th, 2012 | by Alice Ross

One Sunday morning in 1993, Elisa Claps vanished in her home town of Potenza. She was 16 years old. Despite suspicion immediately falling on local oddball Danilo Restivo, his family connections and an apparent cover-up by Catholic priests ensured it would be another 17 years before her body was found. In that time, Restivo killed again: his victim was Heather Barnett, a British mother of two.

British journalist Tobias Jones, who was living in Italy in the years following Elisa Claps’ disappearance, became fascinated with the case. His new book, Blood on the Altar, charts how the Claps family battled for almost two decades to bring any kind of closure to the case.

From the start, the investigation was hopelessly bungled and probably corrupt. Danilo Restivo, an awkward teenager with a habit of cutting chunks out of girls’ hair, had been due to meet Elisa that morning. He arrived home late, with a cut in his hand and an improbable explanation. But his father, a well-connected local figure, helped block the investigation, preventing investigators from taking away his clothes and enlisting his high-up friends to slow the investigation.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

By Christine Flatley

A former Catholic priest has asked a court for forgiveness after being sentenced for child pornography charges, a court has been told.

Neil Joseph Byrne, 61, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane District Court on Wednesday to eight counts of making and one of possessing child exploitation material.

He was sentenced to a nine-month wholly suspended sentence.

The offences occurred between 2005 and 2011 while he was a priest at The Gap Parish at St John’s Wood, in Brisbane’s inner west.

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

Marissa Calligeros
March 7, 2012

A Catholic priest described himself as a ‘‘tormented’’ man as he pleaded for forgiveness in a Brisbane court today for his offences involving child exploitation material.

Neil Joseph Byrne, 61, whose church was affiliated with a Brisbane primary school, admitted to having sexual fantasies about ‘‘young, blond boys’’, after pleading guilty to eight counts of making child exploitation material and one count of possessing 10 images of child exploitation material.

He was sentenced to nine months in prison, to be wholly suspended, for the offences which occurred over a six year period from August 2005, while he was a priest at The Gap Parish at St John’s Wood, in Brisbane’s inner-west.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Northern Echo

8:00am Wednesday 7th March 2012 in Darlington By Neil Hunter

A SELF-PROCLAIMED priest who flashed at two women and blames his worrying behaviour on “too much pornography” was yesterday jailed for four months.

A judge told Royston Thompson that his sentencing powers were limited – but warned that he will be dealt with more harshly if he repeats his offending.

Thompson, 25, of Melland Street, Darlington, told Judge Howard Crowson from the back of the dock at Teesside Crown Court: “I won’t be coming back again.”

At an earlier court hearing, Thompson compared his behaviour with models on the adult television channel Babestation, and described it as “extreme flirting”.

His barrister, Martin Towers, said yesterday the trainee priest with the Mormon church had become confused about the boundaries of decency by pornography.

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ESPANA
El Pais

Natalia Junquera
Madrid 6 MAR 2012

El ministro de Justicia, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, ha prometido hoy en el Senado “soluciones realistas” teniendo en cuenta las “limitaciones presupuestarias” para los casos de niños robados. Ha descartado por su elevado coste realizar pruebas de ADN a todos los afectados, pero se ha comprometido a “mejorar el protocolo” para que pueda beneficiarse de él más gente. Actualmente, solo son gratuitas aquellas muestras que solicita una autoridad judicial.

En respuesta a una interpelación del senador del PNV José María Cazalis sobre las medidas que pensaba tomar el Gobierno para ayudar a los afectados, el ministro ha asegurado que dará “prioridad absoluta” al asunto. Gallardón ha informado de que había encargado a la Agencia de Protección de Datos un “informe técnico” para analizar las posibilidades de acceso a los archivos, una de las principales reivindicaciones de los afectados, a los que la ley de protección de datos impide muchas veces el acceso a información que podría ser vital en sus búsquedas.

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VATICAN CITY/ITALY
Chiesa

He is Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco. Benedict XVI wants him to lead the bishops for five more years. And it is the only case in the world in which this appointment is made by the pope, in spite of the contrary opinion approved in a vote years ago by the episcopal conference

VATICAN CITY, March 7, 2012 – The announcement could be made as soon as today, exactly five years after the first appointment. Benedict XVI has decided to confirm for another five-year term Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, the archbishop of Genoa, who turned 69 on January 14, as president of the Italian episcopal conference.

This means that when the Ligurian cardinal comes to the end of this new mandate, he will become the second-longest-serving president of the CEI. Surpassing Cardinal Antonio, who left office after 9 years and 7 months, and putting himself on the trail of the statistically unreachable Cardinal Camillo Ruini, who led the Italian episcopate for 16 years, from March 4, 1991 to March 7, 2007, when, having passed the age of 76, Benedict XVI accepted his resignation, appointing Bagnasco in his place.

Unlike what happens in almost all the episcopal conferences of the world, in Italy the presidency is not elective, but of pontifical appointment. And this because the pope is the bishop of Rome and the primate of Italy.

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

A nun who is to face 87 sex-abuse charges was told at a preliminary sitting at Sligo Circuit Court yesterday that a special two-week hearing would have to be set aside for her trial. A number of people who claim they were victims of the nun were in court for yesterday’s brief hearing.

After complaints from Geraldine Biggs, defending, about provision of documents, Dara Foynes, prosecuting, said the “voluminous” files had been given to the Sligo State Solicitor Hugh Sheridan last week after the case was transferred from another county.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Wednesday March 07 2012

A judge has ordered a special sitting of the Circuit Court to hear a case against a nun facing 87 charges relating to the alleged sex abuse of primary school girls, writes Greg Harkin.

The woman appeared at Sligo Circuit Court yesterday in what is thought to be the first case of its kind in the State. Publication of her name has been banned.

Judge Rory McCabe listed the case for mention again on May 22.

Several of the nun’s alleged victims were in court for yesterday’s brief hearing.

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NEW YORK
Greenpoint Star

Since 2006, Assemblywoman Marge Markey has been pushing legislation that would extend the time that victims of childhood sexual abuse can come forward and sue their abusers.

Markey’s bill would extend the limit to the victim’s 28th birthday, five years longer than is currently allowed. Given the recent sex scandals at Penn State and Syracuse universities, where it took the abused well into their adulthood to come to terms with the torment they suffered, extending the deadline seems like a no-brainer.

One need look no further than our own backyard to see common sense evidence of this. Former Christ the King basketball coach Bob Oliva last year pled guilty to sexually abusing a boy connected to Oliva’s well-respected basketball program.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Guardian

Steven Morris and agencies
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 March 2012

A former church organist sexually abused two young girls over a 10-year period, a court has heard. Nigel Parkin, 56, allegedly befriended both girls and warned them they would not be believed if they told anyone what he had done.

Married Parkin, from Somerset, is accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting and raping one girl, from the age of nine until she was 16. He allegedly indecently assaulted a second girl on two occasions when she was aged between 11 and 13.

Taunton crown court heard that neither of the girls had told anyone about the alleged abuse at the time. Police were only alerted when the younger girl, now aged 19, confided in her headteacher in August 2010.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A former organist at a church in Wiveliscombe, Somerset, repeatedly sexually abused two young girls over a 10-year period, a court has been told.

Nigel Parkin, 56, of North Street, Wiveliscombe, is accused of eight charges of rape, five of indecent assault and four of sexual assault.

The offences are alleged to have been committed against the girls on dates between August 1998 and October 2009.

Mr Parkin, who was an organist at St Andrews’ Church, denies the charges.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By Emma Reynolds

Last updated at 9:16 AM on 7th March 2012

A church organist repeatedly sexually abused two young girls over a 10-year period, a court heard today.

Married Nigel Parkin, 56, befriended the girls and warned them they would not be believed if they told anyone what had happened, Taunton Crown Court heard.

Parkin, who played the organ at St Andrews’ Church in Wiveliscombe, Somerset, is accused of assaulting one girl over two years from when she was 11 and of assaulting and raping another from the age of nine to 16.

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UNITED STATES
World News Report

From Penn State to the Citadel to the Catholic Church, sexual abuse allegations in both public and private institutions are rampant–not just in the US but worldwide.

PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA, March 06, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ — The Courthouse News Service even reported recently on the In the Father’s Hands Children’s Home, an orphanage in Haiti where the staff sexually molested and assaulted the young children in their care–and the ministry that ran the home attempted to keep this tragedy from coming to light.

According to Orphan Hope International, more than eight million boys and girls live in institutional care worldwide, and studies have shown they are four times more likely to be sexually abused than children who live with families.

“The inexcusable problem with almost all institutions is that there is no standard system in place to report child sexual abuse, sexual predators, and perpetrators of sexual criminal attacks,” says [url=http:// www.letgoletpeacecomein.org]Peter S. Pelullo[/url], the founder of Let Go…Let Peace Come In, a foundation dedicated to helping adult survivors of sexual abuse. “Without clearly defined rules and a culture of zero tolerance, there is a proclivity to deny, cover up, and protect and defend the institution rather than the population it has been built to serve.”

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Eilish O’Regan Health Correspondent

Wednesday March 07 2012

THE level of sexual abuse by doctors and medical professionals could be far higher than the level exposed in the Catholic Church, a patients’ group warned yesterday.

The warning came after a survey found that one in five people who responded has claimed they were subjected to an inappropriate action or comment by a health professional.

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DUCHESNE (UT)
KSL

By Geoff Liesik

DUCHESNE — If there’s anything worse than a driver’s license photo, it’s a mugshot.

The Internet is filled with the jailhouse images of the famous, the infamous and even the average Joe.

But the defense attorney for an LDS Church bishop accused of failing to report a teenage girl’s disclosure of sexual abuse is trying to keep his client from suffering a similar fate.

Bishop Gordon Moon, 43, of Duchesne, is charged in 8th District Court with witness tampering, a third-degree felony, and failure to report abuse, a class B misdemeanor.

Prosecutors allege that Moon told a teenage girl not to seek a protective order after she told him she’d been sexually abused by a teenage relative. He’s also accused of failing to notify police of the girl’s disclosure, as required by state law.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Western Daily Press

A church organist carried out a sickening catalogue of sex abuse on two young girls – brushing up against one as he gave her piano lessons, a jury heard yesterday.

Married Nigel Parkin, 56, allegedly befriended the youngsters before sexually assaulting them – warning them they would not be believed if they revealed his actions.

The musician is accused of brushing up against one 11-year-old during piano lessons, then groping her chest.

He then moved his attentions on to a younger girl, aged nine, sexually touching her and raping her on more than ten occasions until she was 16, prosecutors claim.

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ALABASTER (AL)
The Republic

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ALABASTER, Ala. — Authorities say a retired Alabama schoolteacher accused of molesting students is facing additional charges involving new alleged victims.

Police in the Shelby County city of Alabaster said Tuesday 49-year-old Danny M. Acker is now facing indictment on a total of eight charges involving six victims. Police say two more alleged victims have come forward, and investigators are still trying to locate additional ones.

Acker’s attorney isn’t commenting publicly, and he hasn’t filed documents indicating whether the former teacher will fight the charges.

Acker retired in 2009 after 25 years of teaching fourth grade in Shelby County, near Birmingham. Police say the former youth pastor has admitted molesting about 20 girls throughout his career as a public school teacher and school bus driver.

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STOCKTON (CA)
Lodi News-Sentinel

By Ross Farrow/News-Sentinel Staff Writer

The father of a 37-year-old man suing Father Michael Kelly testified on Tuesday that his son told him that Kelly had sexually assaulted him.

The father, whose name is being withheld because his son was an alleged sexual assault victim, said that he was visiting his son in 2007. They were saying their goodbyes when the son blurted out, “I was (sexually assaulted) by Father Kelly,” the man said.

However, the son drove away without elaborating, the father said, and calls to his son were not successful, he told a jury at San Joaquin County Superior Court. Due to statute of limitations laws, Kelly was never criminally charged.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Guardian

Wednesday 7th March 2012 in Redbridge News By Joe Curtis

A PENSIONER has been arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing young people in areas including Barkingside.

The 73-year-old, widely reported to be a former Church of England priest, was arrested this morning (March 6) near his home in Eastbourne.

The alleged sexual assaults on nine people are meant to have taken place between 1965 and 1972.

Sussex Police emphasises that they believe no children are currently at risk.

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CHATTANOOGA (TN)
News Channel 9

[with video]

John Madewell

A deacon at St. Jude Catholic church has been charged with sexual abuse of a five-year-old girl.

65-year-old Thomas McConnell is also over the Hamilton County school system’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program. Chattanooga police have charged McConnell with aggravated sexual battery.

The allegation is that McConnell repeatedly fondled the girl while dining at a north Chattanooga restaurant.

Ed Cagle and his wife Tammye were eating one table away. Tammye became so upset she started video-taping with her iPhone.

Ed Cagle was also very upset and had seen enough. He said, “By that time, I saw him put his hand in her pants and I just got up and just went over to his table and told him he needs to cut that out, that he was molesting that little girl.”

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MISSOURI
Catholic News Agency

By Michelle Bauman

Clayton, Missouri, Mar 6, 2012 / 05:07 pm (CNA).- The leader of a group that works with clergy sex abuse victims admitted during a recent deposition that the organization has published false information and that he is unsure about whether the group employs licensed counselors.

David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, was deposed on Jan. 2 in Clayton, Mo. amid accusations that the group had printed restricted information in a press release.

The accusations centered around concerns that an attorney violated a court gag order by revealing information about an abuse lawsuit to the organization.

Clohessy was ordered by a judge to answer questions in an out-of-court testimony that may later be used for legal purposes in an ongoing attempt to determine whether the gag order had been violated.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Metro

Two retired Church of England priests, understood to be Canon Gordon Rideout, 73, and former parish priest Robert Coles, 70, have been arrested in Eastbourne in connection with a series of sexual assaults against children dating back almost half a century.

Sussex police said although the men were arrested on the same day it is not thought the two cases are linked.

Detectives have emphasised that no children are currently thought to be at risk.

The 73-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of sexual assaults committed against nine young people at locations in Crawley in West Sussex, Barkingside in north-east London and Middle Wallop in Hampshire on various dates between 1965 and 1972.

The 70-year-old man meanwhile was arrested on suspicion of sexual assaults against three young men in West Sussex during late 1970s and mid-1980s.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Pannone

A leading solicitor has voiced fears that the Church of England will put obstacles in the way of discovering the truth about allegations of abuse against two of its priests in Eastbourne.

Alan Collins, a specialist in abuse cases at the London office of law firm Pannone, says he has noted a change in the way the Church deals with abuse cases. “In the past the Anglican Church has been willing to face any problems and allegations of abuse honestly and openly. I’m sure it would say that its policy is still one of tackling problems in this way and compensating victims properly. However recent evidence is that the Church of England is, perhaps, taking a similar line to the Catholic Church in such matters by hiding behind legal technicalities and even denying any abuse took place. This may be to avoid paying compensation to victims and if that is the case, it is regrettable and reprehensible. I would urge the Anglican Church to cooperate fully on investigations.”

He added, “The challenge facing the Church of England is one that it is having to meet not just here in the UK but Australia too. The wider Anglican Communion has faced allegations of cover-ups in Australia with senior clergy becoming embroiled in controversy, leading to fears that it would row back on reporting allegations of child abuse to the police”

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MARYLAND
Patch

By Tyler Waldman

An Immaculate Conception priest’s trial for indecent exposure charges, scheduled today, has been postponed.

No further information on the postponement, including a date, was immediately available, Explore Baltimore County reports.

Rev. Mark Stewart Bullock was arrested on Jan. 16 in Abingdon after two sheriff’s deputies reportedly saw Bullock expose himself in an adult bookstore.

Bullock was released on his own recognizance, but was quickly suspended from his duties at Immaculate Conception and ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. The church distributed a letter to parishioners explaining what had happened and the Archdiocese of Baltimore launched an investigation into the incident.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Littlehampton Gazette

Published on Monday 5 March 2012

Two retired Church of England priests from the South East have been arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing young men and children.

A 73-year-old man was arrested at his home near Eastbourne, East Sussex, on suspicion of sexual assaults committed against nine young people in Crawley, West Sussex, Barkingside, north east London, and Middle Wallop, Hampshire, between 1965 and 1972.

A 70-year-old man was also arrested at his home in Eastbourne on suspicion of sexual assaults against three young men in West Sussex during the late 1970s and mid 1980s.

The men, named by sources as Canon Gordon Rideout and former parish priest Robert Coles, were arrested following a six-month investigation by a team of specialist Sussex Police child protection detectives.

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MARYLAND
Baltimore Sun

Staff Reports

March 6, 2012

The trial of a Towson-area priest who was arrested in January on charges of indecent exposure was postponed on Tuesday, March 6, with no information on a new trial date immediately available.

The Rev. Mark Stewart Bullock, known as “Father Stew” to parishioners at Church of the Immaculate Conception in Towson, had been scheduled to appear Tuesday in District Court in Harford County.

Asked which side requested the postponement and why, Harford County State’s Attorney Joseph Cassilly responded in an email that it was, “a joint request for more time.”

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MISSOURI
Riverfront Times

[the deposition]

By Nicholas Phillips Tue., Mar. 6 2012

​On January 2, David Clohessy — director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) — sat down with lawyers representing Catholic priests.

It was not to chat over tea.

The attorneys deposed Clohessy for over six hours as part of a lawsuit that a anonymous victim has brought against Fr. Michael Tierney, a priest in Kansas City.

But many of the questions had rather little to do with Tierney or other priests accused of sexual abuse in Kansas City. Instead, they had a lot to do with how SNAP operates, and appeared to be an attempt to establish that SNAP is not a rape crisis center under state law.

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ARKANSAS
Associated Baptist Press

By Bob Allen

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

TEXARKANA, Ark. (ABP) – A Southern Baptist pastor was sentenced to five years in prison Feb. 28 after a jury in Texarkana, Ark., found him guilty of sexual assaulting a 3-year-old girl inside his church last April.

South Texarkana Baptist Church pastor Travis Payne, 67, was arrested in June and charged with second-degree sexual assault after a woman visiting the church told police that she caught him in the act of inappropriately touching the child a few minutes before the start of a church revival service on April 25.

“I was in shock. How could he do that in God’s house?” star witness Miriam Spiros said, according to trial coverage by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Spiros was visiting the church because her husband, Philip, music minister at Macedonia First Baptist Church in Fouke, Ark., was invited as a guest to sing at South Texarkana’s revival. She said she left the sanctuary a few minutes before the service for a quick trip to the restroom and happened to witness the crime.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
York Dispatch

The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA—A year after the Philadelphia archdiocese suspended 23 priests amid a scathing grand jury report on child-sexual abuse, the priests remain in limbo.

In Swedesburg, parishioners at Sacred Heart have no word on the fate of their idled pastor, the Rev. Andrew McCormick.

Parishioner Bernard Gutkowski tells The Philadelphia Inquirer that no one knows what’s going on with the church’s internal investigation.

A former sex-crimes prosecutor is reviewing complaints lodged against the now-suspended priests.

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UNITED STATES
The Atlantic

Alex Hannaford

A parishioner, wracked with guilt, goes to his minister to confess the unthinkable: that he has been sexually abusing a child. But that minister, instead of going to police, decides to pray w­ith the abuser instead.

On the face of it, this seems a legitimate ethical dilemma for any minister — keep the confession confidential or turn that person in. But is it? This scenario actually happened in 2003 at Homestead Heritage, a religious community in Waco, Texas. The confessor ultimately gave himself up to police a year later, but the specter of his confession reappeared in 2009 when another man from the same community was also prosecuted for child sex abuse and was sentenced to 35 years earlier this month.

Secular society would say there is no choice: pedophiles should be stopped and children protected at all costs. But it’s a dilemma that has dogged some religious denominations for a while. Where penitent-clergy privilege is not protected by law, is a minister’s loyalty still to his confessor? The question is complicated by the fact that there is no legal uniformity across the U.S.; in some states, the law is gray at best. In Virginia, for example, the confession box is sacrosanct and a priest is not compelled to report a child abuser. In Texas, meanwhile, the clergy is offered no such privilege .

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CANADA
Lifesite

by John-Henry Westen

Tue Mar 06, 2012

March 6, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The internationally-reported child porn possession case of Bishop Raymond Lahey of Antigonish, Nova Scotia is indeed a sad one for the Catholic Church. Yet from it, many valuable lessons can and indeed should be learned, not only for the benefit of the Church, but also for the building of a culture of life.

Bishop Lahey was caught with child porn on his computer at the airport in 2009. Of the 155,000 pornographic images on the computer, 588 photos and 63 videos depicted young boys in sexual acts. Lahey was sentenced this past January 4th to eighteen months in prison, but was released right after the trial since he was given two-for-one credit for the 8 months in jail he had already served.

Lahey told the court that he was a homosexual and had been in a steady homosexual relationship for 10 years. He hoped, he said, to return to this relationship after prison.

One of the first lessons to glean from this sad story is the need for effective action by fellow clergy when they have knowledge of grave scandalous actions by their brother priests or even their bishops. How many of his fellow clergy, his brother bishops, his close friends and colleagues knew of Bishop Lahey’s dark secret – not only the porn addiction, but also his homosexual relationships and his repeated trips to Thailand, widely known as a major destination for those wanting to engage in pedophile adult/child sex?

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UNITED STATES
Patrick J. Wall

Recently, German and Moldovan lawmakers have openly discussed using chemical castration as a viable treatment option for sex offenders. Because the offender will no longer be able to act on his desires (and in many cases will lose sexual desire altogether), castration is offered as one option to prevent recidivism, or repeat offenses.

This topic deserves further discussion.

Roman Catholic Church has centuries of experience and could aid the discussion. Unlike any other institution, the church has trained psychiatrists and psychologists who specialize in child predators; has operated predator treatment facilities; and has sponsored internal studies where child predators were carefully evaluated, recidivism was discussed and chemical castration was practiced.

The Roman Catholic Church has grappled for years with the question of what to do with bishops, priests, religious and employees after they have sexually abused minors. Thousands of pages of internal church documents outline topics like: “Post Treatment Options”, “What to do with the unassignable” and, “Where to place those given a sentence by a church court of a life of prayer and penance”.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Eastbourne Herald

TWO EASTBOURNE men, believed to be retired priests, have been arrested at their homes this morning in connection with historic sex abuse.

A 73-year old man was arrested at his home in Eastbourne on suspicion of sexual assaults committed against nine young people between1965 and 1972.

A second man, who is 70-years-old, was also arrested on the same morning at his address in connection with alleged sexual assaults against three young men in late 1970s and mid-1980s.

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UNITED KINGDOM
AFP

Two men in their 70s were arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of sexual abuse of young men and children as police investigate claims of abuses by Church of England vicars decades ago.

Sussex police said that child protection detectives had been investigating the allegations for six months after a confidential review by former top judge Elizabeth Butler-Sloss of abuse claims in the Diocese of Chichester.

The arrests come two days after the Church of England said it was “deeply sorry” for allowing a convicted paedophile to be ordained as a priest in the same diocese in 1966.

A 73-year-old man was arrested near Eastbourne on Tuesday on suspicion of nine sexual assaults on young people in West Sussex, Barkingside and Hampshire between 1965 and 1972.

The second man, aged 70, was arrested in Eastbourne over the sexual assaults of three young men in West Sussex in the 1970s and 1980s.

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BELGIE
Vandaag

Tot nu toe kreeg de Arbitragecommissie die schadevergoedingen moet toekennen aan slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik in de Kerk, gemiddeld zo’n 5 aanvragen per dag binnen. Er zijn al 63 Vlaamse en 45 Franstalige verzoeken binnen. Dat bleek zopas in de Kamercommissie Seksueel Misbruik in de Kerk.

Ook hebben al 36 Vlamingen en 41 Franstaligen zich kandidaat gesteld om arbiter te zijn in de commissie die moet beslissen over de schadevergoedingen. Het is echter nog niet beslist wie arbiter wordt.

Slachtoffers van verjaard seksueel misbruik in de Kerk hebben tot 31 oktober de tijd om een schadevergoeding te vragen bij een arbitragecommissie bij de Koning Boudewijnstichting. Ze kunnen van de Kerk tot 25.000 euro schadevergoeding krijgen. De hele procedure is gratis, ze kan ook als de dader overleden is en de feiten moeten niet helemaal bewezen zijn.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Press Association
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 March 2012

Two retired Church of England priests have been arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing young men and children.

A 73-year-old man was arrested at his home near Eastbourne, East Sussex, on suspicion of sexual assaults committed against nine young people in Crawley, West Sussex, Barkingside, north-east London, and Middle Wallop, Hampshire, between 1965 and 1972.

A 70-year-old man was also arrested at his home in Eastbourne on suspicion of sexual assaults against three young men in West Sussex during the late 1970s and mid-1980s.

The men, named by sources as Canon Gordon Rideout and former parish priest Robert Coles, were arrested following a six-month investigation by a team of specialist Sussex police child protection detectives.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Crawley and Horley Observer

A RETIRED priest has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting children in Crawley in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The 73-year-old was arrested on the morning of Tuesday March 6 at his home near Eastbourne, following a six-month investigation by a team of specialist Sussex Police child protection detectives.

The arrest was made in connection with assaults on nine youngsters in Crawley, London and Hampshire on dates between 1965 and 1972.

Several allegations against the man were made to police in 1972 but no criminal proceedings resulted. Another related allegation was made in 2001 and an arrest followed but there was insufficient evidence to justify criminal proceedings.

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CANADA
The Journal Pioneer

CORNER BROOK, NL — A Roman Catholic priest facing 62 sex-related charges will next appear in court on April 9.

George Ansel Smith, 74, was not present in Supreme Court of Newfoundland in Corner Brook when his matter was called before Justice Alan Seaborn on Monday. Smith’s lawyer, Thomas Williams, told the court his client is in lockup in St. John’s.

Smith has been in custody since Feb 23. At that time 24 more charges were laid against him when he appeared in provincial court in Corner Brook to answer to the 38 charges that had been laid in December.

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FLORIDA
The Palm Beach Post

ByMichael LaForgia
Updated: 12:52 p.m. Monday, March 5, 2012

The detective flips on a tape recorder and eyes the skinny man sitting across from her. She reads him his rights and starts in on the questions.

“What I’d like to find out is if anything happened between you and Michael. Did you molest Michael?” the detective asks.

“Uh, yes. If that’s the word you want to use,” the man says. He’s tall, better than 6 feet, and rail-thin. He has a long, strange neck and sharp features, like a bird’s. He seems comfortable making the admission.

“Tell me exactly what occurred.”

He does, explaining in graphic detail his encounters with the 14-year-old boy, whose mother had trusted the man and brought him into her St. Lucie County home. “If he wanted to do it, I, I always knew. Because of the hints that he would throw me,” the man begins.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Athiest Media Blog

Trier – Er ist 1,4 Tonnen schwer und 1,40 Meter hoch: Die Rede ist von einem Mühlstein, der am 5. März in Trier auf dem Hauptmarkt aufgestellt wurde und dort bis zum 12. April stehen wird. Es ist ein besonderer Mühlstein, ein Mühlstein, der mahnen soll. Die Aktion „Mahnender Mühlstein” der „Initiative gegen Gewalt und sexuellen Missbrauch an Kindern und Jugendlichen” will nach eigenen Angaben „ein Zeichen setzen und Erwachsene an ihre große Verantwortung gegenüber Heranwachsenden erinnern.” An der Eröffnung nahmen neben dem Vorsitzenden der Initiative, Johannes Heibel, auch die Trierer Bürgermeisterin Angelika Birk und der Trierer Bischof Dr. Stephan Ackermann teil.

[..] Auch Bischof Ackermann unterstrich, dass es wichtig sei, dem Thema der sexuellen Gewalt an Kindern und Jugendlichen mit Hartnäckigkeit immer wieder neu Gehör zu verschaffen. Nur so werde es gelingen, eine „Kultur der Achtsamkeit” zu etablieren. Vor allem gelte es, die Anstrengungen bei der Prävention zu verstärken, um sexuelle Gewalt, soweit das überhaupt möglich sei, zu verhindern.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Readers Edition

1 Einleitung

1.1 Das DJI-Projekt „Sexuelle Gewalt gegen Mädchen und Jungen in Institutionen“ im gesellschaftlichen Kontext

Nach einer langen Phase des Schweigens, der Sprachlosigkeit, des Wegschauens und des Nicht-für-möglich-Haltens ist sexuelle Gewalt zu einem Thema der Öffentlichkeit, der Medien, der Fachwelt und nicht zuletzt der Politik geworden. Das Canisius-Kolleg in Berlin, das badische Kolleg St. Blasien, die Klosterschule Ettal bei Garmisch-Partenkirchen, die Odenwaldschule in Heppenheim: Sie alle stehen stellvertretend und besonders prominent für eine Welle der Aufdeckung sexueller Gewalt gegen Mädchen und Jungen in Institutionen. Die unzulänglichen Versuche, die Folgen und Traumatisierungen des erfolgten Missbrauchs in den Einrichtungen diskret und intern zu regeln, haben durch die anhaltende öffentliche Berichterstattung ein Ende gefunden. Die Zeit der Ausflüchte und der Verharmlosungen ist vorbei. Viele Opfer haben oft erst nach vielen Jahren oder gar Jahrzehnten den Mut und die Sprache gefunden, ihre Erfahrungen mitzuteilen, die Mauer des Schweigens zu durchbrechen. Davon zeugt insbesondere die Auswertung der Anrufe bei der Anlaufstelle der Unabhängigen Beauftragten (UBSKM 2011, S. 40f.). Aus Gerüchten und Mutmaßungen, aus Verdächtigungen und Zweifeln sind damit Gewissheiten geworden, aus Einzelfällen wurde ein ganzes Geflecht des anhaltenden Missbrauchs in Institutionen sichtbar. Diese Initialzündung hat zu einem Dammbruch geführt. Nach einer ersten Phase der Schockstarre und des ungläubigen Befremdens über das in diesem Ausmaß nicht für möglich Gehaltene ist eine neue Kultur der Versprachlichung, des Hinsehens und der öffentlichen Konfrontation entstanden.

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SCHWEIZ
Der Bund

Sexueller Missbrauch von Kindern darf nicht mehr verjähren, so entschied das Stimmvolk vor drei Jahren. Der Nationalrat beriet die Umsetzung der Initiative. Die SVP scheiterte gleich mit mehreren Anträgen.

Schwere sexuelle Straftaten an bis zu 12-jährigen Kindern sollen nicht mehr verjähren. Mit diesem Grundsatz will der Nationalrat die Unverjährbarkeitsinitiative umsetzen. Anträge für höhere Alterslimiten hatten in der Debatte keine Chance.

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OSTERREICH
Salzburger Fenster

Opfer, die gehört werden wollen, fühlen sich auch von der Klasnic-Kommission nicht ernst genommen

Heucheln, abwiegeln, verschleppen: Eine zum System der katholischen Kirche gehörende Strategie scheint auch die „unabhängige“ Klasnic-Kommission zu beherrschen. Ein Psychotherapeut, der einige Missbrauchsopfer betreut, berichtet.

Als Psychotherapeut betreue ich einige der missbrauchten Menschen und weiß, wie sie sich fühlen, wenn sie – vergebens – gehört werden wollen. Konnte man die Opfer früher hinrichten, verbrennen, verbannen oder exkommunizieren – letzteres geht noch immer! – so bewährt sich heute die Strategie des Vertuschens, Totschweigens, Vertröstens, des nicht Hinsehens und nicht Hinhörens.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Argus

1:55pm Tuesday 6th March 2012 in News By Ben Parsons, Crime Reporter

Two men in their 70s have been arrested after an investigation into alleged sex abuse by Church of England priests between the 1960s and 1980s.

A 73-year old man was arrested near Eastbourne today (March 6) on suspicion of sexually assaulting nine young people, in Crawley, Barkingside in London, and Middle Wallop in Hampshire between 1965 and 1972.

A 70-year old man was also arrested at his home address in Eastbourne on suspicion of sexual assaults against three young men in West Sussex during the late 1970s and mid-1980s.

Sussex Police issued the following statement: “The arrests result from an investigation over the past six months by a team of specialist Sussex Police child protection detectives.

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UNITED KINGDOM
International Business Times

By Shane Croucher

March 6, 2012

Two retired Church of England priests in East Sussex have been arrested over allegations of child sex abuse going back to the 1960s.

Canon Gordon Rideout, 73, was arrested in Eastbourne on suspicion of sexual assaults committed against nine young people in Crawley in West Sussex, Barkingside in North East London, and Middle Wallop in Hampshire, between 1965 and 1972.

Parish priest Robert Coles, 70, was also arrested in Eastbourne on suspicion of sexual assaults against three young men in West Sussex during the late 1970’s and mid-1980’s.

Police treating the two arrests as separate enquiries.

They come after a six month investigation by Sussex Police’s child protection detectives.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Two retired Church of England priests have been arrested in the Eastbourne area on suspicion of sexually abusing children and young men.

Canon Gordon Rideout, 73, is suspected of sexually assaulting nine young people between 1965 and 1972.

Former parish priest Robert Coles, 70, is suspected of sexually assaulting three young men in West Sussex in the late 1970s and mid-1980s.

Detectives in East Sussex say they are not linking the cases at this stage.

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The Overwhelming journey in the paedophilia scandal that has swept over many communities

Giacomo Galeazzi
Vatican City

This book presents on one side the emblematic testimony of the abuse suffered by Fabio and on the other Fr. Sergio, a priest who dreams of love and writes raving messages to people he does not know, his anxiety, his life trapped in the Church, his own personal Calvary of loneliness. The story digs deep into the hearts and souls of both men, without judging, but bearing witness. It is is an example of two human tragedies, but it is important not to forget who the victim was and who the monster was. This tale is but one tile of the mosaic. In the United States, the number of reported cases of paedophilia in the Church has reached 4500 and so far 2.6 billion dollars have been paid out in compensation; in Brazil, 1700 priests have been accused of abuse; in Ireland 1000 priests have been called to answer allegations of 30,000 cases of abuse; in Australia 110 priests have been condemned and in Italy, 80 cases and 300 victims have been officially reported, but there are certainly many more cases that have not been brought to light. The Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) has never released any official figures.

The list of Churches overwhelmed by the scandal of paedophilia stretches across all five continents. Recently, William Joseph Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly called the Holy Office, declared: “In the last decade over four thousand cases of sexual abuses perpetrated by clerics against minors have been brought to the attention of the Congregation.” This is a “dramatic increase”. The number of cases that actually went to trial is much smaller. And when finally one begins to acknowledge the scale of the problem, one still struggles to understand and recognize its nature and causes.

“Golgota, viaggio segreto tra Chiesa e pedofilia” (“Golgotha, secret journey into the Church and paedophilia”, Piemme publications) by Carmelo Abbate is far from being just a catalogue of numbers. It is a tapestry made of meetings stretching from Rome to New York, from Paris to Africa, a tapestry of disturbing confessions, testimonies and extraordinary revelations. In a thorough investigation as an undercover reporter the author revealed important documents. The book represents an extraordinary exploration of a reality that no one, starting from Church leaders, can now pretend to be ignorant about. This manuscript overturns many clichés, from the attitude of the ecclesiastical hierarchies towards paedophilia to the different approach to the problem adopted by Ratzinger compared to his predecessor, Pope John Paul II.

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TENNESSEE
News Channel 9

March 05, 2012

A 65-year-old church deacon is behind bars tonight charged with the sexual assault of a child.

Thomas C. McConnell was arrested yesterday and charged with the aggravated sexual battery of a 5-year-old child.

We’re told the incident happened at 200 Manufacturers Road, which is near Renaissance Park in Chattanooga.

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TENNESSEE
WRCB

CHATTANOOGA, TN (WRCB) — A deacon at St. Jude Catholic Church is in custody, accused of committing aggravated sexual battery against a five-year-old.

Sunday, investigators with the Chattanooga Police Department’s Family Investigations Unit arrested 65 year-old Thomas C McConnell for one count of Aggravated Sexual Battery.

The incident occurred Sunday at 200 Manufacturer’s Road.

Channel 3 Eyewitness News has confirmed McConnell is a Deacon at St. Jude Catholic Church, where he was involved in ministering to prison and jail inmates.

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TENNESSEE
The Chattanoogan

The director of the county schools JROTC program is facing child sex charges.

Investigators with the Chattanooga Police Department’s Family Investigations Unit arrested Col. Thomas C. McConnell, 65, for one count of aggravated sexual battery to a five-year-old child.

The incident occurred Sunday at a restaurant at 200 Manufacturers Road.

Col. McConnell, of 941 Brynwood Dr., is a deacon at St. Jude Catholic church. The Diocese of Knoxville issued this statement, “The Diocese of Knoxville became aware of the arrest of Deacon Thomas McConnell from Chattanooga, TN, who has been accused of committing aggravated sexual battery against a minor. Following diocesan policy, Bishop Richard F. Stika has temporarily suspended him from ministry pending the outcome of a police investigation.”

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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on March 05, 2012

Twice in the last decade, 14 prosecutors have pressured Albany’s Catholic bishop to act more responsibly in child sex abuse cases. It’s disturbing that even now, a veteran church official who has repeatedly pledged to “reform” must be prodded to do what’s right for children’s safety. This should be very alarming to Albany area citizens and Catholics.

It’s inexcusable that Hubbard apparently insists on having his lawyers investigate child sex abuse reports BEFORE alerting police. It’s also inexcusable that Hubbard’s staff grills those who report child sex crimes, insist that they turn over their own medical records, and sign waivers. There’s only one explanation for this: Hubbard’s concern is not for the safety of kids. It’s for the protection of Hubbard and his colleagues.

It’s important to realize that Hubbard

–kept the agreement secret,

— delayed signing it,

–approved it only after reporters started asking questions about it, and

–deceptively pretended it was a “cooperative effort” when it wasn’t.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

Guest blog by Gerald T. Slevin, retired lawyer.

After 16 years of Catholic schools, followed by Harvard Law School, where he worked as a law student for Archibald Cox, the Watergate prosecutor, Gerald Slevin practiced law for over three decades at the Wall Street law firms of Sullivan & Cromwell and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.

Barely twelve months ago, the Philadelphia Archdiocese’s Cardinal Rigali emphatically, but artfully, denied he had any active priest with “admitted or established ” allegations of child sexual abuse. This misleading statement was in the face of (1) the second devastating Philadelphia grand jury report on his watch describing a widespread priest pedophile conspiracy, and (2) the multiple criminal indictment of the former top priest personnel chief for the Archdiocese.

By Spring, Cardinal Rigali, under intense public scrutiny, reversed himself by suspending 21 priests on suspicion of abuse. Their fates still remain mainly unknown.

By Summer, the Cardinal’s Child Abuse Review Board lay chairwoman was accusing him of materially misleading her about priests suspected of child abuse.

By Fall, the pope apparently declined to give Rigali more time in Philadelphia by accepting his resignation and replacing him with Archbishop Chaput. Archbishop Chaput promptly threw a private party for Philadelphia priests, where he led the cheers for the indicted priest personnel chief and several of the suspended priests present at the party.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Republican & Herald

BY AMY MARCHIANO (STAFF WRITER amarchiano@republicanherald.com)

Published: March 6, 2012

SINKING SPRING – A priest who previously served at a Schuylkill County parish has been removed as an assistant pastor in Berks County on allegations that he had an inappropriate relationship with a woman who was 18 years old.

The Rev. Cletus Onyegbule, who previously served at St. Ambrose Roman Catholic Church, Schuylkill Haven, was removed from his position at St. Ignatius Loyola Church. He has been sent to a treatment facility, according to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown.

The move took place Friday, according to Matt Kerr, diocesan spokesman.

The Most Rev. John O. Barres, bishop of Allentown, announced the removal of the 44-year-old priest at the 5:30 p.m. Mass on Saturday at St. Ignatius Church.

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FLORIDA
WPTV

[with video]

•Michael LaForgia, Palm Beach Post

By bedtime it already was too late for the boy. The lights blinked out and the camp counselor, a predator, lay down at his feet . Curled up in the dark, he was ready to attack.

Getting here was all too easy for James Roy Melton Jr. When the convicted child molester volunteered at this Palm City church summer camp, nobody stood in his way.

Not the church. It welcomed the tall, rangy 34-year-old as its newest youth chaperone without screening his background .

And not the state of Florida. For 30 years, lawmakers have passed measures to protect kids in child-care centers while ignoring harm at the hands of summer camp workers.

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AUSTRALIA
Eureka Street

[with video]

David Cappo March 05, 2012

The report of the Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children Inquiry is being read by many people, not only in Victoria but throughout Australia. It is a report par excellence that raises the benchmark on the work of government and community service organisations in the protection of vulnerable children.

The three authors, Philip Cummins, Dorothy Scott and Bill Scales have made a contribution to the needs of vulnerable children in Australia that demands firstly our deep gratitude to them, secondly implementation of their report by the Victorian Government, and thirdly the attention of the Commonwealth Government as well as other state governments.

A new and high benchmark has been set with a clear plan presented to achieve it. Our positive response to the report is our civic duty.

My interest was drawn to this report particularly because of my work in social inclusion and as a social worker in the 1970s in the City of Elizabeth, working in the child protection system of the South Australian government, as well as my role in the mid 1990s coordinating the developing of the Towards Healing document and the Integrity in Ministry document for the Catholic Church in Australia.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Western Daily Press

The trial of a former Somerset church organist who is accused of a string of sexual offences against children has started.

Nigel Parkin, 56, denies eight charges of rape, five of indecent assault and four of sexual assault alleged to have been committed against two girls on dates between August 1998 and October 2009.

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TENNESSEE
The Christian Post

By Luiza Oleszczuk , Christian Post Reporter

More women could come forward amid allegations that Joseph Walker III, head pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn., and five other church members subjected women to sexual exploitation for at least a decade, the attorney representing a woman who has sued Walker told The Christian Post.

Mount Zion Baptist Church made headlines last week when a sexual exploitation lawsuit filed against Bishop Walker and five current and former members was made public. The lawsuit, brought by accuser Valencia Batson, also features supporting testimonies from three unidentified female former church members; all four women allege they were sexually exploited and abused during counseling sessions sponsored by Mt. Zion Baptist Church, and that church leaders regularly recruited women for exploitation and sex for nearly 10 years.

Connie Allison, Batson’s attorney, suggested Monday to The Christian Post that “more and more [women] are emerging” with similar accusations.

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TEXAS/NEW MEXICO
Santa Fee New Mexican

Tom Sharpe | The New Mexican
Posted: Monday, March 05, 2012

An unidentified Texan alleges in a lawsuit filed last week in Santa Fe that retired Christian Brother Samuel F. Martinez sexually abused him 32 years ago when Martinez was principal of a parochial school in El Paso.

The Texas resident, identified only as “B.C.,” and two other former students at Cathedral High School in El Paso filed a similar lawsuit in 2009 against Martinez and the Christian Brothers’ regional organization known as NOSF Inc. (for New Orleans/Santa Fe).

The two classmates, identified as J.A. and A.M., recently settled their cases with NOSF for $1.6 million, but B.C.’s case was dropped by state District Judge Sarah Singleton.

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TENNESSEE
Times Free Press

by Beth Burger

The head of Hamilton County schools’ Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program faces charges of aggravated sexual battery after he was accused of groping a 5-year-old girl in a restaurant Sunday.

Thomas C. McConnell, 65, of Hixson, a retired Army colonel, runs the school district’s junior ROTC program, which has about 25 instructors at about 10 local high schools.

Hamilton County school district officials said McConnell has been placed on suspension pending the outcome of the case.

McConnell also is a deacon at St. Jude Catholic Church in Chattanooga. Since his arrest, the Diocese of Knoxville issued a statement that McConnell will be suspended from the ministry pending the outcome of the investigation.

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NEW YORK
Albany Times Union

March 6, 2012 at 5:00 am by TU Editorial Board

Our opinion: An agreement between the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese and local district attorneys on sexual abuse reporting is fine, but the real solution is a state law to make clergy mandated reporters.

An agreement between the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany and 14 district attorneys is certainly a step forward in how the church deals with allegations of sexual abuse. As state law now stands, it may be about the best we can hope for.

What’s really needed, though, is a law that would designate clergy as mandated reporters — requiring them to report instances of suspected abuse or maltreatment of children.

Year after year, however, the Legislature, specifically the Senate, has failed to support the idea.

So we’re left with ad hoc solutions like the latest one worked out between DAs and the diocese.

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CALIFORNIA
Patch

By Ken Stone and Annie Lane

Sandusky at Penn State. Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles. A 60 Minutes episode on the pedophile priest scandal in Ireland.

Recent cases of child sex abuse at the hands of trusted adults are tragically sad, but seem far removed from the Jewel of the Hills. But in the 1980s, a priest at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church may have been the Jerry Sandusky of La Mesa.

The Rev. John Keith, who later served as a chaplain at Grossmont Hospital, went to his grave denying he had molested an altar boy named Jeremy Norton.

A year before his death in May 2003, Keith told the Union-Tribune: “I swear to God none of this happened. But I have an idea [Jeremy] was convinced it happened, by his mother.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin
Inquirer Staff Writer

Sacred Heart is a tightly knit Catholic parish in Swedesburg, a working-class town across the Schuylkill from Norristown.

Ethnic roots run deep at the century-old church. It’s the kind of place that still offers a monthly Mass in Polish, where parishioners linger on Sunday mornings to chat after the final hymn.

That’s when Bernard Gutkowski, president of the parish men’s group, typically gets the question: What do you hear about Father Andy? His reply rarely changes. Not much.

Father Andy is the Rev. Andrew McCormick, Sacred Heart’s pastor since 2004 and a priest Gutkowski credits with reinvigorating the church.

Then, in a blink last March, McCormick was gone.

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PENNSYLVANIA
NBC 10

By David Chang

Monday, Mar 5, 2012

The Diocese of Allentown removed a Berks County priest after they say he admitted to having an inappropriate relationship with a young woman.

The Diocese claims Reverend Cletus Onyegbule, 44, began a relationship with the woman when she was 18 years old. Onyegbule has served as the assistant pastor at St. Ignatius Loyola Church in Sinking Spring since March of 2009. The Allentown Diocese is handling the case which is not being considered criminal since the woman was of legal age.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Ending a two-week screening process, lawyers on Monday chose a retired nurse and an airport security guard as the final alternate jurors for the conspiracy and child-sex abuse trial of three current and former Archdiocese of Philadelphia priests.

The 10 alternates will join six male and six female jurors in the courtroom during the trial but participate in deliberations only if any of the original 12 are removed or withdraw from serving.

Opening statements are scheduled to begin March 26, and the trial is projected to last as long as four months.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
San Antonio Express-News

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ten alternates have been chosen to join a dozen jurors for a landmark priest-abuse trial in Philadelphia.

Monsignor William Lynn is set to go on trial March 26 on child-endangerment and conspiracy charges.

Lynn was the long-time secretary for clergy in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Prosecutors say he endangered children by transferring priests accused of child sex-abuse from parish to parish.

The 61-year-old Lynn has pleaded not guilty and says he took orders from the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua (beh-vih-LAH’-kwah).

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