ABUSE TRACKER

CHILE
La Discusion

Abrió ayer el diario La Segunda, y sus ojos se llenaron de lágrimas. Lo mismo que durante años guardó y después, ya adulta, compartió y la justicia no quiso escuchar, esta vez era un hecho que la Iglesia Católica certificaba: el ex sacerdote diocesano Jorge Baeza Ramírez ocupaba el segundo lugar en el listado oficial de los presbíteros sentenciados por la justicia canónica por abusos a menores, documento inédito que contempla los dieciocho casos sancionados por la justicia penal o canónica, el cual había sido anunciado en abril pasado, en el marco del recién creado Consejo nacional para la prevención de abusos contra menores.

“Cuando vimos la lista publicada, nos alegramos mucho. Por primera vez la Iglesia reconoce que Jorge Baeza cometió abusos mientras fue sacerdote en Chillán, a pesar que la justicia no fue capaz de condenarlo. Este paso es muy importante, pues deja muy en claro que nosotros en ningún momento mentimos. Siempre dijimos la verdad, y eso le debe doler a mucha gente”, dijo ayer a LA DISCUSIÓN una de las víctimas del ex presbítero, de quien poco se ha sabido el último tiempo.

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

CHILE
Revista NOS

Escrito por Sonnia Mendoza en febrero de 2010

En Argentina se hallaría el ex cura Jorge Baeza Ramírez, quien hizo de las suyas entre familias acomodadas de Chillán. Se libró del delito de estupro en 2009, pero no de la paliza de un padre ofendido. Sus víctimas, una madre y sus hijas, no dan tregua. Lo rastrean a diario para poner sobre aviso a quienes se les acerque.

Hay rabia, dolor y desencanto en Carolina, Claudia, Consuelo y Andrea, pero siguen bregando por justicia. Sus testimonios por desenmascarar al abusador sexual que se escondía tras las sotanas del cura top en Chillán, Jorge Baeza Ramírez, ha ido quedando en nada. Y aunque lograron llevarlo a un tribunal de Los Ángeles por estupro en 2009, la prescripción del delito terminó por imponerse.

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

CANADA
CBC News

The son of a former Baptist church volunteer accused of sexually abusing young boys says his family is standing behind the man.

Police allege Russell Rodman, 58, assaulted three boys while he was volunteering at churches in Calgary in the ’80s and ’90s. (CBC)Police allege Russell Louis Rodman, 58, assaulted three boys while he was volunteering at churches in Calgary in the ’80s and ’90s.

His son, Greg, a pastor, told CBC News his father recently confided in him and another man that he was struggling with a desire for young boys.

Greg Rodman said he and the other man, family friend Joel Gordon, convinced his father to go to police.

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

CANADA
Calgary Herald

By Sherri Zickefoose, Calgary Herald
February 1, 2012

A former Calgary church volunteer who came forward to police has been charged with sexually assaulting boys in the 1980s and 1990s.

Russell Louis Rodman, 58, who now lives in High River, has been charged with two counts of sexual assault and one count each of gross indecency, indecent exposure to a person under 14 and sexual contact with youth by a person in authority.

A publication ban protects the names of churches and victims, however the Herald has learned that Rodman resigned as deacon and treasurer at Bridgeland Baptist Fellowship Church late last summer.

There are no charges stemming from that church, which he joined in the mid-1990s.

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

CANADA
CTV

Updated: Wed Feb. 01 2012

A former Calgary church volunteer has been arrested and charged with molesting teenage boys in incidents dating back as far as 1981.

Police laid charges against 58 year old Russell Rodman on Tuesday and his son said the charges are only the latest step in a difficult process.

“He came to me actually and told me this was what was going on and he needed help,” said Greg Rodman.

Rodman’s family and church then urged him to turn himself in to police.

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

CALIFORNIA
PRWeb

Newport Beach, CA (PRWEB) January 31, 2012

Pursuant to a conciliation agreement reached between victim Anthony Almeida, the Los Angeles City Fire Department and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Los Angeles City Fire Department will pay Mr. Almeida $494,150.00 and implement widespread anti-harassment training and updated policies and procedures to settle his sexual and religious harassment claim, which was determined by the EEOC to be founded. Anthony Almeida, a firefighter/engineer employed since 1986, was represented by John C. Manly, Esq., and Vince W. Finaldi, Esq., of the Manly & Stewart Law Firm, in Newport Beach, California in Anthony Almeida v. Los Angeles Fire Department (Case Numbers 480 2007 03679 and 480 2008 04019).

The victim, Mr. Almeida, alleged that he was continually harassed by fellow firefighters at his station who employed deeply offensive comments of a sexual and religious nature. An EEOC investigation uncovered that the harassment, which began in late 2006, appeared linked to a lawsuit filed against the Catholic Church by Almeida (Case Number JCCP 5224) regarding sexual abuse he suffered by a priest. One coworker learned that Almeida had filed a lawsuit against the Catholic Church over the abuse, and several coworkers mocked him for that, using explicit and offensive religious and sexual epithets.

Although Almeida complained about the harassment to management officials, the EEOC investigation found that the Fire Department failed to adequately halt or address it. Further, the investigation found that Almeida had suffered retaliatory discipline for his participation in another equal employment opportunity investigation.

Harassment of a sexual or religious nature, along with retaliation, violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Following a determination by the EEOC that there was reasonable cause to believe a violation of law occurred, Mr. Almeida’s counsel represented him in a conciliation process with the Los Angeles City Fire Department and EEOC. The result was a three-year conciliation agreement with the EEOC and Almeida. The agreement effectively settles the case administratively, thereby avoiding litigation.

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

MISSOURI
Kansas City Business Journal

Rebecca Randles

Date added: February 1, 2012

Submission Type: Professional Recognition
Current employer: Randles Mata Brown LLC
Current title/position: Partner
Industry: Legal Services
Position department: Legal

Reason for being recognized:
Randles was honored last week by Missouri Lawyers Weekly as one of the state’s most influential lawyers. She represents dozens of clergy sex abuse victims in western Missouri (including 20+ who sued just last year). In 1999 she tried “Bachmann v. Gummersbach,” the only civil lawsuit against a pedophile priest that’s ever gone to trial in Missouri.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Daily Times

By MARITA GREEN
Times Guest Columnist

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has announced that it is going to close 45 grade schools and four high schools. Delaware County has already lost grade schools and will lose two more high schools next September. It has already started the “planning” to close a number of parishes, the total number of which it has not revealed. In the northwest section of Philadelphia five of the nine parishes are on the contemplated closure list.

We are told that the goal is to save “up to $10 million.” To do this, the archdiocese is apparently willing to shut down high schools cold turkey, without letting classes stay together until they graduate – a bad way to treat young people in their vital formative years. Also, they have apparently lost interest in the mission to underprivileged kids who thrive in the Catholic schools.

The elephant in the living room here is the magnitude of the assets of the archdiocese. What fraction of the total net worth is this $10 million? If the people of the archdiocese who put up the money in the first place could see the true balance sheet that would list all assets, including those listed in names other than the archdiocese, they would have a basis on which to judge this issue.

The problem is that this balance sheet is a closely guarded secret. The people are expected to take on blind faith the word of the archdiocese that it cannot afford to keep the schools and parishes open. After the repeated deceptions over the past decade about priests who molested children, how much blind faith is left?

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

NEDERLAND
Metro

De Tweede Kamer ondersteunt het pleidooi van de commissie-Samsom voor het instellen van één meldpunt waar slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik terecht kunnen. Voor een aanvullend parlementair onderzoek ontbreekt vooralsnog een meerderheid, bleek dinsdag tijdens het debat over het seksuele misbruik in de kerk.

Een meerderheid van PvdA, SP, PVV, VVD, CDA en GL steunt het voorstel van Rieke Samson voor een onafhankelijk meldpunt. Zij onderzoekt het misbruik van kinderen in overheidsinstellingen en pleitte zondag voor een meldpunt met een lage drempel en deskundige bezetting.

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

NEDERLAND
Dagblad Noorden

DEN HAAG – De Amsterdamse burgemeester Eberhard van der Laan wordt voorzitter van de werkgroep tegen kindermishandeling en seksueel misbruik.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Irish Independent

Wednesday February 01 2012

A PRIEST has told a court he never sexually abused or inappropriately touched young boys while he was working at Roman Catholic establishments.

Alexander Bede Walsh is accused of abusing eight youngsters in Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Coventry between 1975 and 1994.

Jurors at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard that Walsh, denies a total of 27 offences of indecency, buggery and indecent assault.

Giving evidence to the court today, the 58-year-old said he enjoyed being around children but not because of any sexual motives.

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

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

VATICAN CITY, 1 FEB 2012 (VIS) – The Holy Father has sent a telegram to Archbishop Charles Chaput O.F.M. Cap. of Philadelphia, U.S.A., for the death of Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, former archbishop of that archdiocese who died yesterday at the age of 88. The Holy Father writes:

“Having learned with sadness of the death of Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, archbishop emeritus of Philadelphia, I offer my heartfelt condolences to you and to all the faithful of the archdiocese. I join you in commending the late cardinal’s soul to God, the Father of mercies, with gratitude for his years of episcopal ministry among Christ’s flock in Philadelphia, his longstanding commitment to social justice and the pastoral care of immigrants, and his expert contribution to the revision of the Church’s law in the years following Vatican Council II. To you, and to all the clergy, religious and laity of the Church in Philadelphia, and to the members of his family, I cordially impart my apostolic blessing as a pledge of consolation and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ”.

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

MILWAUKEE (WI)
TMJ4

By Jay Sorgi

MILWAUKEE – Wednesday has been set as the final day people can file sex abuse claims against the Milwaukee Archdiocese in its bankruptcy case.

People had until 4:00 p.m. Wednesday to file an abuse claim against a Milwaukee Archdiocese clergy member, teacher, deacon, employee volunteer, or someone connected to the Archidocese of Milwaukee.

The claim would become part of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing the Archidocese made last year.

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

MILWAUKEE (WI)
WISN

[with video]

MILWAUKEE — Alleged victims of clergy abuse have until today to file a claim against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2011, and the courts set today as the deadline for any new claims to be filed.

The archdiocese will be in court in Feb. 9 as bankruptcy proceedings move forward.

Archbishop Jerome Listecki said at the time of the bankruptcy filing that nearly $29 million had been spend to address more than 200 claims over the past 20 years.

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

NEDERLAND
Reformatorisch Dagblad

DEN HAAG – Minister Opstelten (Veiligheid en Justitie) gaat de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk en de commissie-Deetman verzoeken het inmiddels afgeronde onderzoek naar seksueel misbruik van minderjarigen alsnog uit te breiden.

Met de Tweede Kamer is hij van mening dat het gepast is om afzonderlijk in kaart te brengen hoe vrouwen en meisjes in rooms-katholieke instellingen, zoals jeugdinternaten, destijds door geestelijken bejegend zijn.

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

NEDERLAND
HartvanNederland

Volgens slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik werken bisschoppen misbruikzaken tegen. Slachtoffers zeggen dat de kerk alleen spijt betuigd met de mond en voelen zich nog steeds aan hun lot overgelaten.

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

NEDERLAND
Trouw

Karen Zandbergen − 01/02/12

Zelden krijgt een Kamerlid zo direct antwoord. “Heeft iemand die hier op de tribune zit iets aan een parlementair onderzoek?” vroeg CDA’er Madeleine van Toorenburg tijdens het eerste Kamerdebat over seksueel misbruik in instellingen van de katholieke kerk aan de afgereisde slachtoffers.

Het heldere ‘ja’ vanaf de publieke tribune ten spijt, zo’n onderzoek dat het werk van de commissie-Deetman moet aanvullen, lijkt er niet te komen. VVD, PVV, CDA en minister Opstelten van justitie voelen meer voor een verder onderzoek door Deetmans commissie zelf.

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

NEDERLAND
Oisterwijk

Op 31 januari 2012 debatteerde de Tweede Kamer over het eindrapport van de commissie-Deetman die onderzoek deed naar seksueel misbruik binnen de rooms-katholieke kerk. Nieuwsuur (NOS-NTR) besteedde aandacht aan het debat en toont een interview met een slachtoffer van misbruik in de Catharinenberg in Oisterwijk.

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

IRELAND
Garda Inspectorate

Foreword

Nothing is more important than protecting our children, yet nations throughout the world continue to struggle to do so effectively. Ireland is no different.

Inquiries in Ireland have resulted in shocking reports of child abuse – in particular, heinous
crimes of child sexual abuse. These reports have primarily focused on the response to incidents of abuse by State agencies and the Catholic Church in Ireland during the past several decades.

One such report, the Commission of Investigation – Report into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin July 2009, issued on 26 November, 2009, clearly indicates failings on the part of the Garda Síochána in certain historical child sexual abuse cases, including undue deference to the Catholic Church and its hierarchy.

As the result, the Minister for Justice and Law Reform, Mr Dermot Ahern, directed the Garda
Síochána Inspectorate to conduct a comprehensive review of police practices for handling these very sensitive and important cases to ensure that such impropriety on the part of the police could not occur today or in the future

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

IRELAND
RTE News

The Garda Inspectorate has published its report into the force’s handling of allegations of child sexual abuse.

The report makes 19 recommendations including that a group of gardaí should be specially trained in how to take reports from those alleging child sexual abuse and only those gardaí should take statements from victims.

It stresses that there is no place for deferential treatment in modern Irish policing.

The report also says that every reported case of child abuse should be the subject of a formal risk assessment.

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

OHIO
WHIO

LEBANON, Ohio —

Authorities said a Sunday school teacher from a church in Lebanon is accused and has been charged with having sex with a teenage student.

Daniel Webster, of Loveland, 41, was charged with one count of sexual battery.

Police said Webster served as a teacher at Life Adventure Church. They also said he was a friend of the victim’s family.

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

CANADA
The Expositor

By Michael Peeling, QMI Agency

Provincial police have laid a new set of historical sexual assault charges against a retired Anglican minister who formerly preached in Paris.

The Brant County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Criminal Investigation Unit charged Anglican Minister George Ferris, 64, of Cambridge, Ontario.

The sexual offences Ferris is charged with date back to the period from 1981 to 1988.

During the time of the alleged incidents, Ferris was a minister at an Anglican church in Paris.

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

LOS ANGELES (CA)
Mercury News

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES—A federal agency says the Los Angeles Fire Department will pay nearly $500,000 to settle a firefighter’s federal discrimination case.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Tuesday that the department also will implement anti-harassment training as part of the settlement.

The EEOC says Anthony Almeida filed a discrimination charge in 2007 alleging he was continually harassed by fellow firefighters who used offensive comments of a sexual and religious nature.

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

UNITED STATES
The Post-Standard

By The Post-Standard Editorial Board

The child sex-abuse scandals at Penn State, Syracuse University, in the Catholic Church and elsewhere suggest the sexual exploitation of children is a sign of these troubled times. But the appalling violation of childhood innocence has a long history — though finally it is being discussed openly.

The allegations against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky go back 15 years. The accusers of Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine allege incidents dating back a quarter-century. Some cases against Catholic priests extend to the 1940s and ’50s.

Statistics suggest one in four girls and one in six boys face abuse by the time they reach 18. Onondaga County saw more than 5,000 hotline calls in 2010, representing more than 9,000 potential child abuse cases. (To report possible abuse, call 800-342-3720. You cannot get in trouble for making the call, authorities say; but if you don’t call, abuse could continue.)

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

NETHERLANDS
Radio Netherlands

The Dutch parliament may start an official inquiry into sexual and violent abuse committed by members of the Roman Catholic Church.

Such an inquiry is the most far-reaching medium parliament has at its disposal. Only ten have been held since World War II.

Dutch opposition MPs are considering convening an inquiry because they feel the government is not doing enough. Granted, abuse in the church is being looked into by a number of groups. A commission set up by the church itself recently reported its findings, and another commission set up by the Health Ministry is still conducting investigations into abuse conducted at institutions overseen by the government. Yet another group is advising the church about paying compensation to victims.

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

CANADA
Calgary Sun

JENNA McMURRAY and DAMIEN WOOD, Calgary Sun

Sex charges have been filed against a former Calgarian and church volunteer following allegations involving three boys in the 1980s and ’90s.

Police launched an investigation in 2011 after word of the alleged incidents surfaced and the man turned himself in to Mounties, said Det. Stephen Johnston of the Calgary police child abuse unit, which took over the case.

“The allegations came to light within the (accused’s) church and from that point, that sparked the accused to make himself available to the RCMP,” he said.

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

MICHIGAN
WZZM

Written by
Chris Fleszar

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WZZM)- A former West Michigan pastor accused of inappropriately touching a young boy will spend more time in jail.

Tedd Butler was initially charged with 1st Degree CSC but reached a plea deal. Under the lesser charge he will serve 365 days in jail with 51 days already served. Butler admitted to touching a young boy more than 20 years ago when he was youth pastor at the now disbanded Landmark Baptist Church in Algoma Township.

Last week Butler was sentenced to 12 months in jail in Ottawa County on charges of second degree criminal sexual conduct. The victim in that case was five years old when the abuse occurred.

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

SWAZILAND
Swazi Observer

By Starsky Mkhonta

WORSHIP services could not take place on Sunday at the church which has been divided by allegations of sexual abuse against its pastor.

The pastor has since been kicked out of the church, but for the second Sunday running, the service could not be held.

Police officers were in attendance to maintain order. The division in the church started when the alleged sex pest pastor was removed. At one time, a visiting pastor was prevented from taking to the pulpit to preach by a factor supporting the disgraced pastor.

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

LOS ANGELES (CA)
LA Daily News

Daily News Wire Services

The Los Angeles Fire Department will pay $494,150 and institute anti-harassment training to settle federal discrimination charges filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency announced Tuesday.

Anthony Almeida, a firefighter/engineer since 1986, filed an EEOC discrimination allegation in 2007, alleging that he was continually harassed by fellow firefighters who used offensive comments of a sexual and religious nature, according to the EEOC.

An investigation found the harassment, which began in late 2006, appeared linked to a lawsuit filed against the Roman Catholic Church by Almeida, regarding sexual abuse he suffered by a priest.

After a co-worker learned that Almeida sued the church, several firefighters mocked him, using explicit and offensive religious and sexual epithets, the EEOC said.

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

FORT WORTH (TX)
WFAA

[with video]

by MARCUS MOORE
WFAA

FORT WORTH — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth is facing another lawsuit over sexual abuse involving a priest.

The priest’s accuser was once a student at Nolan Catholic High School.

The Diocese has already settled 22 lawsuits involving five different priests — paying out more than $8.4 million.

The latest case involves Father William Paiz, who had been a teacher at Nolan High in the 1980s.

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

FORT WORTH (TX)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

By Mitch Mitchell
mitchmitchell@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH — A former student at Nolan Catholic High School who says he was abused by a priest who taught there filed suit Tuesday against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth and Bishop Kevin Vann.

The suit also names the Claretian Missionaries of the U.S. Western Province.

The suit states that the diocese, the order and Vann had prior knowledge of the sexual proclivities of Father William Paiz yet continued to assign him to positions of trust, such as religion instructor at Nolan.

The suit states that between 1983 and 1987, Paiz sexually assaulted the plaintiff at All Saints Catholic Church, St. George Catholic Church and other locations.

Tahira Khan Merritt, the attorney for the former student, who is now an adult, said she believes that Paiz is still affiliated with the Claretian Order and may continue to serve as a priest in another state. Paiz’s status could not be confirmed Tuesday.

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Michael Brennan

Wednesday February 01 2012

ARCHBISHOP Charles J Brown is the youngest Papal Nuncio to have been appointed here.

The 52-year-old is also the first whose first language is English — most of his predecessors having been Italian speakers.

His appointment is being viewed with optimism by the Irish Catholic Church, which has been severely weakened by abuse scandals, falling Mass attendance and declining vocations.

But he has already made it clear that he wants to “help” the church here rather than impose a Vatican-inspired view upon it. He has stated clearly that it is the bishops of Ireland who are in control of the church in Ireland.

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

Open Democracy

Shareen Gokal, 1 February 2012

In a landmark effort to bring Vatican officials, including Pope Benedict XVI, to account for crimes against humanity – the widespread and systematic sexual violence perpetrated by the Catholic Church, a case has been filed with the International Criminal Court. Shareen Gokal reports

When Megan Peterson was 14, she was convinced her calling in life was to be a nun. Then, in 2004, she met Father Jeyapaul, a visiting priest from India, at her home parish in the Diocese of Crookston in Minnesota. Having seen him first at a youth retreat, she only hesitated a little when he asked about the book she was reading and offered to lend her one of his own.

According to Megan, Father Jeyapaul offered her a seat in his office, turned around to get the book and unzipped his pants instead. And that he then proceeded to rape her – and raped her repeatedly for almost a year, threatening to hurt her and her family if she did not cooperate. Megan’s experience is emblematic of so many cases of clergy abuse from around the world-marked by violence, betrayal, and long-lasting harm.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia issued a short statement early Wednesday on the death of former Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua:

“Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia, died on January 31, 2012 at the age of 88. Cardinal Bevilacqua died tonight at 9:15 p.m. at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, where he resided, in his sleep. Cardinal Bevilacqua served as Archbishop of Philadelphia from February 11, 1988 to October 7, 2003. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals on June 28, 1991. Funeral arrangements are pending.”

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Jeremy Roebuck
Inquirer Staff Writer

The judge in the trial of two Catholic priests and a former priest declared her belief Tuesday that sexual abuse was “widespread” in the Catholic Church.

Reviewing a list of questions to be asked of potential jurors, Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina arrived at one that read “Do you believe child sex abuse is a widespread problem in the Catholic Church?” and hesitated.

“Anybody that doesn’t think there is widespread sexual abuse within the Catholic Church is living on another planet,” she said, recommending the question be stricken from the list.

Jeffrey Lindy, part of a team of lawyers hired by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to represent one of the defendants, Msgr. William J. Lynn, responded: “I’m taken aback by that conclusion, frankly.”

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Jim Remsen
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

This story was originally published by The Philadelphia Inquirer on Oct. 5, 2003.

As Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua nears the end of his 15-year tenure as Philadelphia archbishop and moves into new quarters at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, he also has moved into a reflective state of mind.

This was clear in an interview Monday that delved into the cardinal’s faith life. The 80-year-old prelate spoke candidly about issues that he normally holds close: his religious devotions, his prayer strivings and struggles, his own mortality.

Sitting at archdiocesan headquarters, in the 12th-floor executive office nearly cleared of his belongings, Bevilacqua began by discussing his “theology of presence,” by which he delegated many administrative tasks to free himself for pastoral visits to churches, schools, hospitals, prisons and the like – 2,330 visits over his tenure, according to an archdiocese tally.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

BY MORGAN ZALOT & PHILLIP LUCAS
Philadelphia Daily News
zalotm@phillynews.com 215-854-5928

CARDINAL ANTHONY Joseph Bevilacqua, 88, who led the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia for 15 turbulent years, died in his sleep last night in his residence at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, the Archdiocese confirmed early today.

Bevilacqua, who retired in 2003, had suffered from cancer and dementia in recent years. He died at 9:15 p.m., according to Donna Farrell, Archdiocese spokeswoman.

Bevilacqua, a native of Brooklyn, was appointed archbishop of Philadelphia by Pope John Paul II on Dec. 8, 1987.

As archbishop, Bevilacqua was noted for his strict devotion to the Catholic faith and his visits to the more than 300 parishes in the Archdiocese’s five counties. Under his tenure, Philadelphia native Mother Katherine Drexel became a saint in 2000.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
GlobalPost

The retired Catholic archbishop of Philadelphia, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, has died ahead of a church sex abuse trial.

The church said that Bevilacqua, 88, died in his sleep Tuesday night in his apartment at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

He had been battling dementia and an undisclosed form of cancer.

Bevilacqua’s 15 years “as shepherd of the 1.5 million-member Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia was marked by both celebration and crisis,” the Inquirer wrote.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Whispers in the Loggia

He was the ultimate man of the law. How bitter the irony, then, that his days would end under a cloud of court scrutiny.

At 9.15 tonight, Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua — Seventh Archbishop of Philadelphia, founder of the Catholic world’s first diocesan ministry dedicated to the pastoral care of migrants, arguably the father of modern canon law in the United States — died in his sleep at his apartment at the city’s St Charles Borromeo Seminary. He was 88, and had been suffering from cancer and dementia over recent years.

Born in Brooklyn to Italian immigrants who would raise ten children, the future cardinal’s grit, smarts and relentless work-ethic singled him out from an early age. Known as “Tough Tony” to his seminary students and “Bevy” among friends, his sense of discipline and prominent hatred of cheese often concealed a softer side, one that led him to night school in his 50s to study for a civil law degree in order to serve the needs of a new generation of migrants.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Reuters

By Dave Warner

PHILADELPHIA | Wed Feb 1, 2012

(Reuters) – Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, the retired Catholic archbishop of Philadelphia whose competence to testify in an upcoming church sex abuse trial was hotly debated in court, died in his sleep on Tuesday, the church said.

The cardinal, 88, led the Philadelphia archdiocese, the nation’s sixth largest, from 1988 to 2003. Church spokeswoman Donna Farrell said Bevilacqua died at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, the traditional home for the leaders of the Philadelphia archdiocese, where he had lived since retirement.

Whether Bevilacqua was well enough to testify had become a pivotal issue in the sex abuse trial of three priests, one now defrocked, and a former archdiocese school teacher. Another church official, Monsignor William Lynn, faces charges of child endangerment but is not accused of abuse.

A jury is set to begin hearing charges in March against the five defendants in a crisis that has put the archdiocese on a national stage.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Patch

By Bob Byrne

A spokeswoman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia confirms that Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua has died at age 88. in a press release late Tuesday night Spokewoman Donna Farrell says

“Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia, died on January 31, 2012 at the age of 88. Cardinal Bevilacqua died tonight at 9:15 p.m. at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, where he resided, in his sleep. Cardinal Bevilacqua served as Archbishop of Philadelphia from February 11, 1988 to October 7, 2003. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals on June 28, 1991. Funeral arrangements are pending.”

Bevilacqua has been a major figure in the Catholic priest sex scandal that has rocked parishes from the Upper Main Line and throughout the five county Greater Philadelphia area.

NBCPhiladelphia reports that just one day before his death Bevilacqua, who suffered with cancer and Alzheimer’s, had been ruled competent by a judge to testify in an upcoming trial.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

By Mike DeNardo and Ian Bush

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Cardinal Anthony Belivacqua died Tuesday night at the age of 88 at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, leaving a conflicted legacy.

Bevilacqua served as Archbishop of Philadelphia for 15 years, from 1988 to 2003, succeeding Cardinal John Krol. He was elevated by Pope John Paul II to Cardinal in 1991.

Rocco Palmo, editor of Philadelphia-based website, “Whispers in the Loggia,” that follows the Catholic Church, knew Bevilacqua personally.

“I’m sure half the Catholics in the Archdiocese probably have pictures in their homes of one of their kids with Cardinal Bevilacqua and the mitre — you know, the pointy bishop’s hat — on the kid’s head,” Palmo said. “I’m sure that even for the revelations and accusations the last 10 years, I’m sure there are still a lot of people out there who remember him very well and very fondly.”

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Courier Post

Written by
The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — Retired Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who led the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia for more than 15 years, championing the Vatican line on homosexuality and abortion but later coming under fire by two grand juries investigating child sex abuse allegations, has died. He was 88.

Bevilacqua died in his sleep Tuesday night at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, a Philadelphia suburb, after battling dementia and an undisclosed form of cancer, an archdiocese spokeswoman said. He had been the spiritual leader of the 1.5 million-member Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1988 until his retirement in 2003.

Bevilacqua, trained in both civil and canon lawyer, was sharply criticized but never charged by two Philadelphia grand juries investigating child sex abuse complaints lodged against dozens of priests in the archdiocese. His death comes just days after lawyers battled in court over his competency as a potential witness in the upcoming trial of a longtime aide.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By David O’Reilly
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Cardinal Anthony Joseph Bevilacqua, 88, whose 15 years as shepherd of the 1.5 million-member Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia was marked by both celebration and crisis, died in his sleep Tuesday night in his apartment at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood.

Donna Farrell, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said he died about 9:15 p.m.

After retiring in 2003, he left the cardinal’s residence on City Avenue for the apartment at the seminary and rarely appeared in public.

Cardinal Bevilacqua was emblematic of the church to which he had devoted himself since age 14: progressive on some social-justice issues, staunchly orthodox on matters of doctrine and sexuality, and unfailingly deferential to the will of Rome.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

Staff Report

Just the day before his death, Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua was declared legally competent to testify at the upcoming trial of two Catholic priests and a former priest on sex abuse charges.

Now, it’s unclear what impact his passing will have on the case.

The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office sought to have testimony by Bevilacqua presented to jurors at the trial of Rev. James J. Brennan and Edward Avery, a former priest, for allegedly abuse boys in separate incident the 1990s.

Msgr. William J. Lynn, a secretary for clergy under Bevilacqua, is accused putting the duo in positions that allowed them to continue abusing children.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Local 10

Author: By Sarah Hoye and Dan Gilgoff CNN

Published On: Feb 01 2012

PHILADELPHIA (CNN) –
Philadelphia’s Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua has died at the age of 88, the city’s Catholic archdiocese announced.

The announcement Tuesday comes as the archdiocese faces one of the most sweeping sex abuse scandals in America.

The allegations date from the time when Bevilacqua was archbishop. He was not himself accused of abuse, but one of his top officials has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child in a ground-breaking prosecution.

The Philadelphia scandal could open a historic chapter in the abuse crisis, church watchers say, changing the way the American criminal justice system deals with church abuse.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Times

As Roman Catholic educators hoping to save their schools from closure or merger race to meet today’s deadline to appeal recommendations from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, archdiocesan officials are dealing with their own rejected appeal.

On Monday Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina upheld her November decision to allow testimony from former Philadelphia archbishop, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, to be included in next month’s clerical sex abuse trial.

That will not happen now. Cardinal Bevilacqua died late last night after a long battle with cancer and dementia.

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

MAINE
Leagle

ANGELL v. HALLEE
2012 ME 10

CHRISTINE S. ANGELL
v.
RENALD C. HALLEE
Docket: Cum-10-587.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Argued: September 13, 2011.
Decided: January 31, 2012.

Sumner H. Lipman, Esq., and Keith R. Varner, Esq., Lipman, Katz & McKee, P.A., Augusta, for appellant Christine S. Angell.

Peter J. DeTroy, Esq., Russell B. Pierce, Jr., Esq., and Darya I. Haag, Esq., Norman, Hanson & Detroy, LLC, Portland, for appellee Renald C. Hallee.

Panel: SAUFLEY, C.J., and ALEXANDER, LEVY, SILVER, MEAD, GORMAN, and JABAR, JJ.

SILVER, J.

[¶ 1] Christine S. Angell appeals the entry in the Superior Court (Cumberland County, Cole, J.) of a judgment on the pleadings in favor of Renald C. Hallee. Angell alleges that Hallee sexually abused her during her childhood, while he was a priest at St. John’s Parish in Bangor in the 1970s. Angell argues that the court erred in imposing a burden on her to allege and prove that the statute of limitations was tolled. We agree and vacate the judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

[¶ 2] On a motion for judgment on the pleadings, we review the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, in this case Angell. See Tornesello v. Tisdale, 2008 ME 84, ¶ 2, 948 A.2d 1244. Angell was born in 1961. She alleges that Hallee’s abuse occurred from approximately 1970 to 1973, when she was between about eight and twelve years old. Angell filed her complaint on March 25, 2010, including claims against Hallee for negligence, sexual assault and battery, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, clergy malpractice, and breach of fiduciary duty. She brought a claim against both Hallee and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland for fraudulent concealment and sought punitive damages from both defendants.

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

LOS ANGELES (CA)
LA Weekly

By Dennis Romero
Tue., Jan. 31 2012

​Looks like the boys in the station had quite a laugh over firefighter Anthony Almeida’s legal claims that he was abused by a Catholic priest.

And now the Los Angeles Fire Department must pay nearly $500,000 because officials failed to stop the razzing.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission today announced:

The Los Angeles City Fire Department will pay $494,150 and implement widespread anti-harassment training to settle federal charges of discrimination …

The EEOC in L.A. says “fellow firefighters at his station” … “employed deeply offensive comments of a sexual and religious nature” after learning that he had filed suit against the church alleging abuse by a priest:

… Several coworkers mocked him for that, using explicit and offensive religious and sexual epithets.

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

BUFFALO (NY)
WGRZ

[with video]

Written by
Melissa Holmes

BUFFALO, NY — Father Secundo Casarotto, the priest from St. Anthony of Padua Church in Buffalo accused of sexually assaulting two women, is reportedly in Italy.

This comes a day after a second accuser came forward in the case of Father Secundo Casarotto, saying she made the allegations to the Buffalo Diocese in 2008, and nothing was done about it.

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

CHILE
La Segunda

El filósofo José Andrés Murillo -quien fuera una de las víctimas de abusos por parte del condenado ex párroco de El Bosque, Fernando Karadima- aseguró a “La Segunda” que, tras la reunión que sostuvo con el obispo uruguayo, Carlos María Collazzi , está esperanzado de que la Unión Sacerdotal del Sagrado Corazón sea disuelta.

Monseñor Collazi, en su calidad de visitador canónico nombrado por el Vaticano, finalizó el lunes sus labores, que se desarrollaron en dos etapas: Del 4 al 8 de diciembre de 2011, y posteriormente del 25 al 27 de enero de 2012. Su misión era verificar la eclesialidad de los procesos formativos y la transparencia de la administración económica de esa Pía Unión, fundada por Karadima. Según informaron en el Arzobispado, a través de un comunicado, hará llegar “en los próximos días” al arzobispo Ricardo Ezzati “las conclusiones y recomendaciones que él estime oportunas respecto de su visita”. A su vez, Ezzati remitirá los antecedentes a la Santa Sede.

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

WEST VIRGINIA
WPXI

By AMANDA IACONE
The Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. —

All adult West Virginians would be required to report suspected sexual abuse to the police under a bill working its way through the Legislature.

The Senate unanimously passed the measure Monday, sending it for consideration by the House. The bill also would add coaches and camp staff to the list of professions required to report physical abuse and neglect.

A bill introduced in the House also would expand reporting requirements but stops short of placing the responsibility on all adults. The House bill would provide funding for prevention programs.

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

MISSISSIPPI
Cottonmouth

File this one under “H” for hypocrite.

Speaker Philip Gunn (R-Clinton) has introduced “The Mississippi Child Protection Act of 2012” today, which is almost identical to bills he has filed in the past. In that bill, Gunn seeks to make it illegal to not report suspected child sex abuse to authorities within 48 hours of gaining knowledge of it.

Why is that hypocritical? Well, Gunn became aware sometime in the last 18 months of allegations that the children’s music minister at his church, Morrison Heights Baptist in Clinton, had molested young boys. According to some, Gunn then went on to try to quiet those reporting the alleged crimes. He then went even further, instructing the members of his deacon committee (of which he is chairman) to not cooperate with law enforcement investigating the now-indicted abuse cases against the minister.

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

TEXAS
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

A Tarrant County man claims in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was sexually abused as a minor by a priest who taught religion at Nolan High School and served as an assistant pastor at All Saints Catholic Church in Fort Worth. In the lawsuit, a John Doe says that from about 1982 to 1987, when he was a minor, he was sexually abused by Father William Paiz of the Claretian Order in the rectories of All Saints Catholic Church, St. George Church and other places.

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

ARKANSAS
Arkansas Times

Posted by Max Brantley on Tue, Jan 31, 2012

Fox 16 reports that David Pierce, the former Baptist music minister in Benton who pleaded guilty to sexual indecency with a child in 2009, will be released on parole.

David Koon wrote a cover story for us about this case. He victimized scores of boys over a couple of decades at the First Baptist Church of Benton. There was an outpouring of support for him when he was arrested and many asked for leniency on account of his age, health, dangers to child molesters in prison and his good works.

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

ARKANSAS
KTHV

Written by
Lindsey Tugman

BENTON, Ark. (KTHV) – A Benton music minister convicted of sexually abusing children is granted parole, but with stipulations.

David Pierce has to seek residency outside the state and if he ever returns to Arkansas he cannot live within 50 miles of Saline County.

At this time it is unknown when he’ll be released. Again, he must first find housing outside the state and then that state must accept him under their parole program.

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

ARKANSAS
Arkansas Online

A former Benton music minister who plead guilty in 2009 to sexual indecency with children is to be released on parole, according to multiple news reports.

The date when David Pierce is to be released has not been disclosed. According to reports, he must first find a state willing to accept his residence under its parole program.The reports also say that if Pierce chooses to return to Arkansas, he may not live within 50 miles of Saline County or have contact with the victims or their families.

Pierce, who was 56 at the time of his conviction, was formerly a music minister at Benton’s First Baptist Church for 29 years until he was fired following the investigation. Pierce plead guilty in 2009 to 54 counts of sexual indecency with children. He was convicted in August 2009 by the Saline County Circuit Court and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

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

BENTON (AR)
Associated Baptist Press

By Bob Allen

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

BENTON, Ark. (ABP) – A former music minister at an Arkansas Baptist church convicted of sexually abusing children has been granted parole, according to media sources.

David Pierce, 59, won release from prison after serving two years and four months of a 10-year sentence for four counts of sexual indecency with a child. The cases involved three now-adult boys who claimed abuse by Pierce, whom they regarded a spiritual mentor at First Baptist Church in Benton, Ark.

Pierce was originally charged with 54 counts of sexual indecency with multiple boys active in youth choirs during his 29 years as music minister at the 2,500-member congregation affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, but he accepted a plea bargain rather than stand trial. The Saline County prosecutor said he accepted the deal to spare victims the trauma of testifying in court.

One of those victims, who blogs anonymously at Descent from Darkness, wrote Jan. 31 that he expected the news and thought he was prepared to handle it, but he was wrong.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Newsworks

Should allegations against priests not charged in Archdiocese sex abuse case be allowed as evidence?

January 31, 2012
By Eric Walter

The upcoming trial of three Philadelphia priests accused of sexually abusing young boys is gaining a response from NewsWorks readers.

On Monday, Judge Teresa Sarmina upheld her previous ruling that retired Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua is competent to be a witness. There had been some question that the 88-year-old mans’s significant memory loss would render his testimony unreliable.

Sarmina also announced she would decide within the week whether prosecutors may introduce abuse allegations against priests who are not charged in the case.

A reader identified as Dr. McHugh said, “As a Catholic physician who has met many who have been sexually abused by priests, I hope that all possible evidence is allowed to be used in the upcoming trial, to let it be known how dysfunctional the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church have been.”

NewsWorks reader GBullough said further, “Whatever side the ruling comes down on, the prosecutor has already done a great service by bringing the evidence into the light.”

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

CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant

By EDMUND H. MAHONY, emahony@courant.com
The Hartford Courant

2:21 p.m. EST, January 31, 2012
WATERBURY—
A priest who was a former top aide in the Catholic Diocese of Hartford testified Tuesday that he arranged treatment in 1979 for a sexually abusive priest but said he has no knowledge of the church ever doing anything for the priest’s victims.

Father Gene Gianelli also testified that he decided to keep the name of the church institute where the priest was being treated from the mother of two abused brothers because he was afraid she could become “a pest.”

“I will not let this woman know where Father is receiving treatment,” Gianelli wrote in a March 21, 1979, memo to Archbishop John F. Whealon. “She could become a pest.”

Gianelli, who was Whealon’s secretary from 1972 to 1982, was called as a witness in Superior Court Tuesday by a now-adult, former altar boy who claims in a lawsuit that the Diocese of Hartford was negligent throught the late 1970s and early 1980s by failing to stop his abuse.

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

WISCONSIN
National Catholic Reporter

Jan. 31, 2012
By Jason Berry

Steeped in the writings of Camus, Kierkegaard, Simone Weil and Emerson, Peter Isely put his career as a therapist on the line in 1993 when he identified himself as a victim of clerical sex abuse and criticized Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland, who at the time was lionized by NCR, Commonweal and The New Yorker as a progressive leader of a post-Vatican II church. Weakland had a victim assistance program, Project Benjamin, of which Isely was deeply suspicious.

Born in Fond du Lac, Wis., Isley and a twin brother — the youngest of eight siblings — were 9 months old when their father, a realtor and contractor, died in a 1961 automobile accident. The family moved into a smaller house and struggled financially. Daily Mass at St. Joseph Parish School shaped his boyhood. “The community at St. Joe’s raised me,” he told writer Marie Rohde for a recent Milwaukee Magazine profile. On scholarship at the Capuchin-run St. Lawrence Seminary High School, he was popular with peers, an academic star and a sexual target of the principal: Fr. Gale Leifeld sexually assaulted Isely and 38 other boys Isely has spoken with. All thought they were alone. Two committed suicide.

After earning his bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Isely won a scholarship to Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass. As he wrestled with meanings of the Holocaust, a course on the psychology of secrecy spurred him to confront Leifeld’s weight upon his past. Back in Milwaukee, after another degree and establishing a therapy practice, he bristled as Weakland responded to early news coverage of clergy abuse cover-ups by promoting Project Benjamin, a therapy program to reconcile victims and church.

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

MILWAUKEE (WI)
National Catholic Reporter

Jan. 31, 2012
By Jason Berry

Dead Catholics have a vested interest in reducing settlements to clergy abuse survivors in Milwaukee, thanks to a shift of $55.6 million on the church balance sheets by then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan in 2008.

Dolan’s move in the twilight of his seven-year tenure in Milwaukee has emerged as a major issue in the archdiocese’s bankruptcy, which his successor, Archbishop Jerome Listecki, filed last February. One expert who has done extensive research on diocesan financial statements has described the move as “a shell game.”

Listecki approved Chapter 11 protection from creditors in order to reduce the settlement claims of sexual victims of priests from incidents that occurred long before the tenure of either Listecki or Dolan, who currently is the archbishop of New York as well as a newly named cardinal.

In contrast to the clamor of victims, the 500,000 souls spread across 1,000 acres of sacred soil in Milwaukee are silent. “The Cemetery Care Claimants include deceased persons with no direct voice in these bankruptcy proceedings … [but] a straightforward expectation — that the graves, crypts and mausoleums will be maintained forever,” the church asserted in a motion filed Nov. 26.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

Commentary by Susan Matthews

In the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, parishes are separate and distinct entities . The pastor is the ultimate decision-maker for the parish and parish school. However, those pastors take a vow of obedience to their Bishop. It’s confusing and very convenient for Archdiocesan finances, their legal team and the Office for Catholic Education.

Parishes and their schools are completely separate from one another and the archdiocese if you’re an elementary school teacher and you want to seek unionization. They are also separate if you’d like to hold the archdiocese accountable for negligence of its elementary school students in regard to child sex abuse.

But if you’re a pastor or a teacher whose school is closing, you must follow the rules of the Archdiocesan Office for Catholic education. Not so separate now. Hmm. See if you can figure it out based on the communications below:

1) “In all of the newly formed elementary schools the pastors will still be the employers, not the Archdiocese. That arrangement does not change even if we’re talking about a regional school that involves a number of parishes. The ultimate decision-making regarding employment would be done by the pastors. The governance model for each regional school is to be decided upon by all of the pastors involved. It would ultimately be their decision in each unique school as to how hiring takes place. The pastors would also identify who is responsible for making hiring decisions at the local level.” – statement from the Archdiocesan Office for Communication.

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

CHILE
Bio Bio

Publicado por Erasmo Tauran

En su testimonio otorgado a La Radio, el ex seminarista y ahora obispo protestante el obispo protestante Mauricio Pulgar denunció que fue víctima de abusos sexuales y psicológicos por parte de miembros de la Iglesia Católica en la Región de Valparaíso.

El vocero de la Conferencia Episcopal, Jaime Coiro, insistió en que apenas las autoridades eclesiásticas reciban los antecedentes oficiales, se iniciará una investigación al respecto, atribuyendo el desconocimiento, a que las personas que deben tomar los procedimientos correspondientes, se encuentran de vacaciones.

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

ITALIA
YouTube

Quando bisogna denunciare un prete pedofilo?

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

ROMA
Blitz

di Alessandro Camilli

ROMA – Il prete, la nobildonna e l’intellettuale di sinistra. Sono tre delle vittime del Madoff dei Parioli ascoltate ieri (30 gennaio) dai magistrati che indagano sulla gigantesca truffa. Francesco Maria Ricci, monsignore appartenente alla congregazione per le Cause dei Santi, ha investito 1,6 milioni di euro nel vortice delle operazioni offshore di Gianfranco Lande. Claudia Ruspoli, principessa, ci ha rimesso “appena” 230 mila euro e David Riondino, “canto, suono, faccio produzioni”, circa 450mila. Dopo di loro, oggi 31 gennaio, è stato il turno di Sabina Guzzanti. Ascoltata dai magistrati ha detto: “Ho perso almeno 150mila dei 537mila euro, frutto del mio lavoro, che nell’arco di dieci anni avevo affidato alla Eim di Roberto Torregiani ma, al di là dell’aspetto economico, l’intera vicenda mi ha provocato un senso di insicurezza e di angoscia anche nei confronti dei miei familiari che hanno in buona parte perso i loro risparmi. Mi sono sentita un’imbecille, sensazione che non fa mai bene”. Anche se, a sentire i diversi racconti, non dovrebbe essere lei quella con la palma dell’imbecille.

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

CITTA DEL VATICANO
TM News

Città del Vaticano, 31 gen. (TMNews) – Rispondendo a domande di giornalisti a proposito dell’articolo pubblicato sul ‘Corriere della Sera’ di questa mattina con il titolo: “Dalla congregazione dei Santi 1.6 milioni al ‘Madoff dei Parioli'”, il portavoce vaticano, Federico Lombardi, ha precisato quanto che “il rev. Francesco Maria Ricci, di cui si parla nell’articolo, è un religioso domenicano, che opera per conto del suo Ordine. Egli non appartiene in alcun modo alla Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi. Occorre infatti notare che Postulazioni e Postulatori sono ‘clienti’ della Congregazione, a cui si rivolgono per promuovere le cause di cui si occupano, ma non fanno assolutamente parte della Congregazione. Bisogna quindi ribadire la totale estraneità della Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi, del suo Prefetto, Card. Amato, e di tutti i suoi Officiali, alla vicenda di cui ci parla nell’articolo in questione”.

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

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

VATICAN CITY, 31 JAN 2012 (VIS) – Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. today released a communique in response to questions from journalists about an article published in today’s edition of the Italian newspaper “Corriere dell Sera” entitled “Dalla Congregazione dei Santi 1.6 milioni al ‘Madoff dei Parioli'” (1.6 Million from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to the ‘Madoff of the Parioli'”). The text of the communique is given below.

“Fr. Francesco Maria Ricci, who is mentioned in the article, is a Dominican religious who works on behalf of his order. He does not in any way belong to the Congregation for the Causes of Saint. It must be made clear that Postulators are ‘clients’ of the Congregation, with which they interact in order to promote the causes they are handling, but they are by no means part of the Congregation. It is important, then, to highlight the fact that the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, its prefect Cardinal Amato and its officials are not involved in any way with the events about which the article speaks”.

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

VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

by John L Allen Jr on Jan. 31, 2012 NCR Today

Distancing itself from yet another financial scandal, the Vatican this morning insisted that an Italian cleric who allegedly invested some $2 million in a ponzi scheme run by an Italian financier known as the “Madoff of Parioli” is not, in fact, a Vatican official, and thus the Vatican has nothing to do with the story.

Italy’s leading daily newspaper, Corriere della Sera, carried a story in its Jan. 31 edition, under the headline “From the Congregation for the Causes of Saints: 1.6 million for the Madoff of Parioli.” In essence, the story implied that the Vatican’s department for saints was involved because an Italian cleric who got caught up in the swindle, Dominican Fr. Francesco Maria Ricci, is responsible for various sainthood causes for the Dominicans and therefore interacts with the Vatican.

The story reports that the Dominican, Ricci, had invested slightly over $2 million in a financial services operation run by financier Gainfranco Lande, who was arrested last April and charged with several counts of fraud. At this stage, Lande’s ponzi scheme is estimated to have wiped out the savings of a roster of elite Roman investors to the tune of roughly $300 million.

The details on Ricci’s investment emerged from an on-going civil investigation of Lande by Italian prosecutors. The story did not clarify where Ricci got the $2 million he invested with Lande.

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

BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

By Jay Tokasz
News Religion Reporter

A second woman has stepped forward to allege inappropriate and unwanted sexual advances by a Buffalo priest.

A spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo acknowledged this week that it has received a second independent complaint regarding the Rev. Secondo Casarotto, the former pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Church on Court Street.

Casarotto was removed from his pastorate Jan. 14 after Bishop Edward U. Kmiec learned that the priest was accused in a Buffalo police report of groping a former parishioner inside the rectory.

Casarotto told Buffalo police the sexual contact was consensual, and the priest was not charged with a crime.

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

BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW

[with video]

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW ) – There is a second allegation of sexual misconduct against Father Secundo Casarotto of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church. This woman said she made a call, and sent a letter about the complaint in 2008 – but nothing was done.

Diocese officials said they had no record of this 2008 complaint until Monday. An employee came forward admitting that they took the call, but never passed along the information.

According to Diocese procedure, when employees take a complaint of this nature they are supposed to pass it on to the Safe Environment office or the Victim Assistance Coordinator. Neither of those actions were taken in this case.

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

NEDERLAND
L1

Een meerderheid in de Tweede Kamer wil dat er meer onderzoek wordt gedaan naar seksueel misbruik binnen de katholieke kerk. Het gaat om de partijen PvdA, PVV, SP en GroenLinks.

De Kamer praat dinsdag over het onderzoek dat de commissie-Deetman deed naar het misbruik binnen de kerk. Volgens een aantal partijen zijn zaken zoals misbruik van meisjes en mishandeling onderbelicht gebleven. Ook slachtoffer-organisatie KLOKK is voor verder onderzoek. Regeringspartijen

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

NEDERLAND
Samenwerken

Minister Opstelten (VenJ) en staatssecretaris Veldhuijzen van Zanten (VWS) gaan een Taskforce kindermishandeling en seksueel misbruik instellen. De Taskforce zal mede toezien op de uitvoering van het actieplan aanpak kindermishandeling ‘Kinderen veilig’ [2012-2016].

Opstelten en Veldhuijzen van Zanten kondigen in een reactie aan de Tweede Kamer op het rapport van de Commissie seksueel misbruik van minderjarigen in de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk (de Commissie Deetman) onder andere de oprichting aan van een Taskforce kindermishandeling en seksueel misbruik. Veldhuijzen van Zanten heeft het actieplan ‘Kinderen veilig’ [2012-2016] in december 2011 al met de Tweede Kamer besproken. Het plan bevat maatregelen voor verbetering van de preventie, signalering, het stoppen en beperken van de schadelijke gevolgen van kindermishandeling.

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

NEDERLAND
DePers

De rooms-katholieke kerk frustreert onderzoeken naar seksueel misbruik. Bisdommen en congregaties schuiven hun verantwoordelijkheid af, stelt de Koepel Landelijk Overleg Kerkelijk Kindermisbruik (Klokk) dinsdag in het AD.

Al 75 slachtoffers hebben volgens de koepel een klacht ingediend over frustratie van onderzoeken. Juridisch medewerker Maud Kips zegt in de krant dat bisschoppen en oversten ‘vrijwel standaard’ zeggen dat zij in hun archieven geen enkele aanwijzing vinden dat de klacht op waarheid berust. “En als het bewijs overduidelijk is, zeggen zij niet aansprakelijk te zijn.”

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

NEDERLAND
Trouw

Vandaag debatteert de Tweede Kamer over het eind vorig jaar gepresenteerde eindrapport van de commissie-Deetman, die seksueel misbruik binnen de rooms-katholieke kerk onderzocht. Van ‘parlementaire enquête’ tot ‘klein aanvullend onderzoek’. Over de vraag hoe de politiek een gevolg moet geven aan het werk van de commissie-Deetman lopen de meningen in Den Haag uiteen.

“Het is een onderwerp met een enorme maatschappelijke impact, maar tot nu toe hebben we het vooral gehad over wat er allemaal mis is gegaan bij de rooms-katholieke kerk. Er is voor vandaag nog geen debat geweest over de rol van de overheid, of over hoe het kabinet nu eigenlijk tegen de zaak aan kijkt.

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

NEW MEXICO
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Mike Knellinger on January 30, 2012

Whenever a lawmaker stiffens penalties against child predators, our children are safer from abuse. We applaud Senate Majority Whip Mary Jane Garcia’s tough new criminal bills and hope that other lawmakers in the state follow her lead.

We also support SB118, introduced by Senator Lisa Curtis, a bill that lengthens the civil statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse until the victim is age 50. We always hope and work towards the complete elimination of both civil and criminal statutes of limitations, but any law that makes it safer for crime victims to come forward, expose perpetrators, and seek justice in the court system is a positive step towards child safety and victim healing.

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

IRELAND
The Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — An Irish court has sentenced a defrocked Roman Catholic priest who served time for molesting children in California to three years in prison for possessing child pornography.

Oliver O’Grady was arrested in Dublin in December 2010 after leaving a computer containing pornographic images of children on a flight from Amsterdam.

O’Grady worked in northern California from 1971 until 1993, when he was arrested for abusing two brothers. He served seven years in prison and was deported to his native Ireland in 2000.

He was the subject of the Academy Award-nominated 2006 documentary “Deliver Us From Evil.”

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

BUFFALO (NY)
WGRZ

[with audio]

Written by
Melissa Holmes

BUFFALO, NY — A second accuser has come forward in the case of Father Secundo Casarotto, but in a shocking twist, the Buffalo Diocese admits she made the allegations in 2008, and nothing was done about it.

Father Secundo was removed from St. Anthony of Padua church in early January after an investigation into inappropriate contact with a female parishioner back in 2009. The 70-year-old was a priest there for more than 25 years. Monday night a spokesman for the diocese said when that story came to light another parishioner stepped forward, saying in 2008 she called the diocese and sent a registered letter to file a report about Father Secundo. The diocese says it has no idea if it ever got that letter, and the employee she spoke with admitted Monday, he didn’t do anything about her phone call.

“There’s a human element in all of this and people make mistakes. People make improper judgments. The only thing that we can do at this point is learn from that obviously but also but at the same time make sure it doesn’t happen again,” says Kevin Keenan, spokesman for the Buffalo Diocese.

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

IRELAND/CALIFORNIA
The Record

By Zachary K. Johnson
Record Staff Writer

January 31, 2012

STOCKTON – A notorious pedophile who preyed on children while a priest in the Diocese of Stockton before serving seven years in California prison is headed for three more years behind bars, this time in his native Ireland.

Defrocked and deported when released from an Ione prison in 2000, Oliver O’Grady found himself in trouble with the law again in 2010, when authorities reported he possessed thousands of pornographic images and videos of children on computers and other electronic devices.

Some of the confiscated pornography depicted victims as young as 2 years old, according to the Irish Times newspaper.

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

WISCONSIN
SNAP Wisconsin

January 30, 2012

SNAPwisconsin.com

Statement by John Pilmaier, SNAP Wisconsin Director

CONTACT 414.336.8575

The Tomah Journal reports that Michael L. Delaney, a former Wisconsin pastor, was arrested on January 27th for repeated acts of sexual assault against a child and child enticement. The Tomah police department has confirmed that Delaney was still a pastor at the time he committed the reported sexual assaults.

As a pastor Delaney was provided access to families and children throughout his community. It is possible that there are additional victims who have not yet come forward to authorities. The Tomah police have indicated that this investigation is ongoing; therefore it is imperative that anyone who has information concerning the sexual assault of children by Delaney contact law enforcement officials immediately.

Michael Delaney is also reported to have had a prior charge of child sexual abuse in the state of Arizona. In addition to being a pastor he was employed as an over-the-road truck driver who would have come into contact with children throughout the country.

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

IRELAND
The Journal

IRELAND MAY RE-OPEN an embassy in the Vatican whenever the public finances recover, the Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has said.

Gilmore has acknowledged that the closure of the Holy See embassy – which the government estimates will save it €845,000 a year – could be reversed whenever the State can afford to reopen such an embassy.

“The government will continue to review our diplomatic network and it may be that, as public finances recover, we will at some time in the future be able to reopen a modest resident embassy to the Holy See,” Gilmore told FG backbencher Pat Deering.

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

Tuesday January 31 2012

The Doctrine of Infallibility is not something a Labour leader can invoke to dismiss an argument.

In the row over the closure of Ireland’s Vatican embassy, Eamon Gilmore, must envy Pope Benedict when it comes to fending off the protests by Fine Gael backbenchers pressing him to reverse the decision.

One wonders why they are not turning the screws on the Taoiseach, Mr Kenny, who has been the most severe critic of the church in recent history.

Do they regard Mr Gilmore as a softer touch?

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

IRELAND
The Irish Times

DEAGLÁN de BRÉADÚN, Political Correspondent

THE NEW papal nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Charles John Brown, is expected to arrive in the country today and will present his credentials to President Michael D Higgins in mid-February.

The Manhattan-born former monsignor has worked at the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 1994 and was ordained as titular Archbishop of Aquileia by Pope Benedict XVI on January 6th.

The Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference has issued an invitation to Pope Benedict to visit Ireland on the occasion of the International Eucharistic Congress later this year, and it is understood this is under consideration.

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Michael Brennan Deputy Political Editor

Tuesday January 31 2012

FINE Gael backbenchers are increasing the pressure on Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore to reverse his decision to shut Ireland’s Vatican embassy.

It comes as the Pope’s new representative to Ireland, Papal Nuncio Archbishop Charles J Brown, is due to arrive in Dublin today.

Archbishop Brown is filling the position left vacant after the previous Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, was recalled to Rome last summer in response to Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s criticism of the Vatican’s approach in dealing with clerical sexual abuse.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
The Sentinel

THE father of a man who claimed he was abused by a priest as a boy has told a court he saw no reason to worry about his son’s well-being.

Alexander Bede Walsh, who served as a Catholic priest in Cheadle for 14 years, is currently on trial accused of abusing eight boys over a 20-year period.

One alleged victim, giving evidence at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court, claimed Walsh befriended him and indecently assaulted him in a number of ways on several occasions.

He told the jury that Walsh, of Church Lane, Abbots Bromley, near Rugeley, plied him with alcohol.

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

NEW JERSEY
The Record

BY MARY JO LAYTON AND COLLEEN DISKIN
STAFF WRITERS
The Record

[roster of defendants]

In the past three years, 23 teachers, coaches and school officials in North Jersey have been charged with or convicted of sex crimes against children. Three have been arrested this month alone.

Statewide, nearly a dozen teachers or coaches have made headlines since the beginning of December, accused of everything from videotaping boys showering in a school locker room to having sex with teens they were chaperoning on a field trip.

“The details of some of these cases are really disturbing,” said Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli.

The roster of cases includes a math teacher from Hasbrouck Heights who was sentenced to probation after exchanging 11,000 sexually explicit emails with a teenage girl at his high school and a Hackensack soccer trainer who went to prison after sexually assaulting an 11-year-old student. In Teaneck, a basketball coach admitted to authorities he collected naked photos of his players.

The cases come amid the sex scandals at Penn State, Syracuse University’s basketball program and the Amateur Athletic Union. It is happening years after similar scandals rocked the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America, setting off a national public discussion about trusted leaders accused of disturbing acts against children.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
UPI

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 30 (UPI) — The judge in a trial involving priests accused of sexual abuse Monday reaffirmed her ruling a former Archdiocese of Philadelphia leader is competent to testify.

Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina told defense attorney Thomas A. Bergstrom, “I’ll adhere to my original ruling” in the trial of Msgr. William J. Lynn, a former church official accused of enabling pedophile priests, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

The defense has claimed 88-year-old Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, formerly the head of the Archdiocese, is senile and unable to remember anything about the past two decades.

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

ALABAMA
CBS 42

[with video]

HOMEWOOD, Ala. (WIAT) – Jason Lee now lives out of state, but he will be at the parole hearing for Donald Corley tomorrow morning in Montgomery. For Lee, every day is a reminder of what happened decades ago involving the former scout leader, church leader, and mentor who was convicted of sexually abusing him and two other children.

“I wake up every day and I have to say okay- I’m not who I was then. I’m not going to believe anything he told me. I’m going to be my own person. I am an adult now,” said Lee.

It is that impact on Jason Lee’s life, and those of other victims, that spawned a movement to keep Corley locked up: the 30-is-30 campaign.

“Three boys pressed charges. He received a total of 30 years in jail. That’s 10 years per child. That’s 10 years for me that he’s in jail for. I’m worth more than 10 years, I can’t change the law, I can’t change the sentence he was given, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to willingly let him get out before he has served his full ten years for me,” said Lee.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Centre Daily News

Calvary Baptist Church in State College and the newly formed Beyond the Silence will host a presentation “Beyond the Betrayal: Healing from Sexual Abuse,” from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 11 at the church at 1250 University Drive, State College.

The presentation will feature Victoria Kepler Didato, director/founder of the Child Sexual Abuse Institute of Ohio. A State College native, Didato is recipient of Penn State’s Alumni Recognition Award for her book “One in Four” and for her work in the field of child sexual abuse.

The session is open to the public. It will include topics such as how sexual abuse affects the brain, body and spirit, reading the signs of sexual abuse, and the impact on victims, families, community and the culture at large.

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

TOMAH (WI)
LaCrosse Tribune

Brittany Linenberg | Tomah Journal | Posted: Tuesday, January 31, 2012

TOMAH – Police have accused a former pastor of repeatedly sexually assaulting a child.

Michael L. Delaney, 64, of Tomah, was arrested Friday.

Authorities say he targeted the same victim over an extended period while he was employed as an over-the-road trucker, according to a statement released by the Tomah Police Department.

It wasn’t immediately clear where Delaney was a pastor, but police confirmed the alleged assaults occurred while he was a practicing minister. They said he is no longer a pastor.

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

MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

[with audio]

by Conrad Wilson, Minnesota Public Radio
January 31, 2012

St. Cloud, Minn. — For at least the last 10 years, Catholic dioceses across the country have created lists of priests credibly accused of sexual misconduct.

The lists have long been kept private by church officials. But over the last decade, dioceses in San Diego, Chicago, Boston and other cities have released such lists, largely under pressure.

None of the six dioceses in Minnesota have yet published the names of the priests credibly accused. But some want that to change.

Among them is St. Paul Attorney Jeff Anderson, who is well-known for representing victims and alleged victims of sexual abuse. As part of a settlement he reached last year with St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, the abbey released the names of 18 monks credibly accused of sexual abuse or misconduct.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua was so bewildered when prosecutors questioned him last month that he couldn’t recognize a longtime aide and struggled “to the point of tears” to recall how the Archdiocese of Philadelphia handled child sex-abuse allegations, a new court filing says.

In the motion filed Thursday, lawyers for the aide, Msgr. William Lynn, argue that Bevilacqua’s replies and demeanor prove he was unfit to testify and that his testimony should not be introduced at Lynn’s trial on endangerment and conspiracy charges.

The motion from lawyers Thomas Bergstrom and Jeffrey Lindy offered the first public glimpse of the historic but private hearing, when attorneys grilled the 88-year-old prelate over two days.

Their motion doesn’t quote the cardinal; the filing says the lawyers were not given transcripts. Still they cast Bevilacqua, who led the Archdiocese for 15 years, with an indelible image: as a sad, forgetful old man.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Joseph A. Slobodzian
Inquirer Staff Writer

He is 88, ailing, “moderately senile,” and remembers nothing about the last two decades.

Retired Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, however, remains legally competent to testify at the forthcoming trial of three priests accused of sexually abusing young boys, a Philadelphia judge ruled Monday.

“I’ll adhere to my original ruling,” Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina told Thomas A. Bergstrom, attorney for Msgr. William J. Lynn, a former church official accused of enabling a pedophile priest to continue preying on children by transferring him to another parish.

Sarmina first ruled Bevilacqua legally competent in late November after a two-day private hearing at which the cardinal, who retired in 2003, was questioned by the judge, Bergstrom, and a prosecutor. Bergstrom subsequently renewed his motion to disqualify Bevilacqua from testifying.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

BY MENSAH M. DEAN
Philadelphia Daily News
deanm@phillynews.com 215-854-5949

ATTORNEYS preparing for the trial of Catholic priests accused of sexually abusing altar boys – or allowing the abuse – made their final arguments yesterday regarding what evidence will be admissible at trial.

Prosecutors want to be able to tell jurors about the sexual misdeeds of 27 former Archdiocese of Philadelphia priests never charged criminally.

They contend that defendant Monsignor William Lynn allowed some of those men to remain in the priesthood and around vulnerable children when he served as secretary for clergy, from 1992 to 2004.

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

IOWA
Peoria Journal Star

By RYAN J. FOLEY
The Associated Press

Posted Jan 30, 2012

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa —

Federal bankruptcy officials in Iowa were bailed out of the llama business Monday, two weeks after they unwittingly got into it.

In a highly unusual proceeding, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paul Kilburg approved the “fire sale” of 18 llamas seized Jan. 16 from Ryan Patrick Scott, a self-proclaimed priest who accumulated a litany of financial problems and aliases as he bounced from Wisconsin to North Dakota to Illinois to Iowa in the last two decades.

The herd was immediately auctioned off for $7,500, and will go to the Iowa llama farmers who have been caring for them under federal supervision.

Authorities took control of the animals after Scott filed for bankruptcy in Iowa, where he led a religious community housed in a former county mental health institution in Independence. His group, which consists of a handful of followers and is disavowed by the Catholic Church, raised llamas and sold wool on the side before abandonin g the property. Scott left behind a similar operation last year in Galesburg, Ill., where a judge ordered his business to pay a former follower $161,000 for failing to pay back loans.

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

BUFFALO (NY)
WIVB

Posted by: Eli George

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Though it previously appeared only one woman had made a complaint against a Buffalo priest, the Buffalo Catholic Diocese confirmed to News 4 on Monday another woman made a complaint against Father Secondo Casarotto back in 2008.

Father Casarotto worked at St. Anthony of Padua in downtown Buffalo until he was recently put on paid administrative leave after a woman made public her claim of sexual abuse dating from 2009. Diocese spokesman Kevin Keenan had told News 4’s Luke Moretti that there was only one allegation of abuse, but that changed on Monday.

In a statement, Keenan told News 4 that around two weeks ago, after the woman had come forward, a second woman called the Catholic Center to say she had reported inappropriate behavior by Father Casarotto in 2008. An exhaustive search turned up no report of the certified letter or receipt the woman said she had sent. The Diocese went one step further, and interviewed all employees who may have handled the report, and found none were familiar with the incident.

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

IRELAND
The Irish Times

A FORMER priest and convicted child abuser has been jailed for three years for possession of large amounts of child pornography.

Oliver O’Grady (66) had thousands of explicit images of children stored on computers and USB drives, some depicting victims as young as two. Gardaí also found more than six hours of child pornography videos and more than 500 pages of online discussions on the subject of child pornography.

O’Grady, Charlemont House, Dublin, was sentenced to 14 years in California for abusing children while a priest. He was deported to Ireland in 2001 after serving seven years of his sentence.

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

ROME
Towards Healing and Renewal

Church leaders from across the world come to Rome to relaunch their commitment to the safeguarding of the vulnerable with a new global initiative: “Towards Healing and Renewal”

Bishops and Religious Superiors from across the world will come to Rome in February for the launch of the Catholic Church’s global initiative on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.

Towards Healing and Renewal is being offered by the Gregorian University in Rome and consists of a major symposium followed by the launch of a multi-institution e-learning centre which will run for the next three years – the Center for the Protection of Children based in Munich, Germany. Delegates for the symposium will come from 110 Bishops’ Conferences and also be superiors of 30 Religious Orders, making this a truly international gathering focusing on safeguarding by the Catholic Church.

This initiative has the support of several Vatican Congregations as well as the Secretary of State and the symposium, which will run from February 6-9, will have speakers from all continents in recognition of the global nature of safeguarding the vulnerable. The speakers include the testimony of a victim of abuse, who will address the delegates about the need for victims to be heard and how to effect positive change. Full details of the symposium and the speakers are available on the website www.thr.unigre.it.

Following the 2011 circular letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to Bishops’ Conferences requiring all Dioceses in the world to develop guidelines within the next year on the handling of all abuse allegations, the symposium will play a significant role in enabling Bishops and major religious superiors to move towards creating a consistent global response. Cardinal Levada, Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith, will give the opening address at the Symposium conference, and representatives from the CDF have had a very active role in giving shape to Towards Healing and Renewal.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

January 30, 2012 by Susan Matthews

In light of all that has happened – clergy child sex abuse, priests with pornograhy, the hearings, the school closings, the embezzlement and so much more – let’s get out to support victims, protect children, demand transparency and renew our Church! Pray and protest for the future of the Philadelphia Catholic Church.

Please join Sister Maureen Turlish and many others during the First Friday Vigil on February 3 from noon to 1 p.m. in front of the Philadelphia Archdiocesan offices at 222 North 17th Street in center city.

All are welcome to participate in prayer, picketing and protest.

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

WISCONSIN
News 8000

TOMAH, Wis. — A former truck driver and pastor from Tomah faces charges for allegedly sexually assaulting a child for an extended period of time.

64-year-old Michael Delaney was appeared in court Monday on possible charges of sexual assault of a child, repeated acts of sexual assault of the same child, and child enticement.

Tomah Police say the the abuse is alleged to have happened in Monroe County and other parts of the United States.

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