ABUSE TRACKER

A judge has approved a plan for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse to exit bankruptcy and send millions of dollars to sexual abuse survivors.

The diocese originally filed for bankruptcy in June 2020 as it faced a growing number of sexual abuse lawsuits. In all, hundreds of claims have been filed.

The abuse by clergy and others dates back decades.

The diocese and other catholic organizations have agreed to contribute $100 million to the survivors fund. Half will be paid for by parishes, schools, missions and catholic charities.

Bishop Douglas Lucia said after court, “I cannot apologize enough for the abuse which happened or for any neglect in dealing with it.”

The full statement from the diocese of Syracuse is below:

Dear Diocesan Family,

For over five years, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse has been pursuing means of making reparation for the pain and mistreatment experienced by the…

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Proposed settlement must be approved by court

A proposed $272 million bankruptcy settlement between the Diocese of Buffalo and clergy sexual abuse survivors could increase if additional insurance carriers agree to contribute, according to attorneys involved in the case. Survivors say the proposed agreement — while imperfect — would provide meaningful help to the more than 900 people who filed claims.

Michael Whalen, whose 2018 news conference helped trigger a wave of disclosures in Western New York, said the settlement represents progress for those still waiting for accountability.

“It’s a step in the right direction for closure,” Whalen said. “People are dying off now and they’ll never see any kind of justice. Helping other survivors, especially from my point of view, stepping forward was to let them know that they weren’t alone.”

Whalen alleged abuse as a child in the 1980s by the Rev. Norbert F. Orsolits, who…

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The Buffalo Diocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy saga finally appears to be showing some light at the end of the tunnel.

Now more than 5½ years old, the case will likely still end up being the lengthiest bankruptcy proceeding ever for a U.S. Catholic diocese. But a pair of insurance carriers agreeing to pay $122.5 million into a growing settlement trust for child sex abuse victims was a significant step toward the Buffalo Diocese’s goal of exiting bankruptcy with a global settlement that would protect parishes and other related Catholic entities from abuse lawsuits.

In addition, a federal judge last week confirmed the Syracuse Diocese’s $177 million settlement deal with 411 abuse victims, and the Rochester Diocese’s $246 million plan is expected to be confirmed on Friday.

The Buffalo Diocese’s settlement trust now stands at $272.5 million, and the diocese and a committee representing abuse survivors have at least…

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A last-ditch attempt by attorneys representing the Delbarton School in its clergy sexual abuse case has failed.

On the eve of a landmark trial against the elite Morris County private school, its lawyer wrote to a state Superior Court judge on Aug. 27 requesting a delay and warning media coverage of the case has “irreversibly tainted the jury pool.”

As an alternative, Morristown attorney James Barletti wrote, potential jurors should be selected from outside of the region, since local residents would be more likely to have read recent reports about the case.

“Anything less would deny Delbarton and OSBNJ of their right to a fair trial,” Barletti said, referring to the Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey, the Catholic order that runs the school and nearby St. Mary’s Abbey.

Nonetheless, on Aug. 28, state Superior Court Judge Frank DeAngelis issued a decision denying both requests.

It is…

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A St. Tammany Parish judge has ordered the return of electronics belonging to an ex-Roman Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to obscenity for being caught having sex with two dominatrices atop a Pearl River church altar while still belonging to the clergy in 2020.

However, the judge also told authorities to erase all data from the devices and storage media as a precaution against videos taken of the tryst from becoming public.

The ruling from 22nd Judicial District court Judge Ellen Creel came in the case centering on Travis Clark as well as dominatrices whose professional names are Lady Vi (also known as Satanatrix) and Empress Ming. The videos in question have been under indefinite court seal ever since the trio’s encounter made international news headlines in 2020.

WWL Louisiana and a reporter now at The Guardian broke the story of the arrest of Clark and the two women.

Clark’s attorneys,…

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A victim of the now dead disgraced Christian Brother Paul Dunleavy has said an apology by the religious order for the pain and hurt he has caused is ‘’too little too late’’

Eddie Hutchinson spoke for the first time exclusively to UTV about the abuse he suffered at the hands of the former teacher and principal after his death while serving time for a litany of sex crimes.

The 89-year-old died in hospital on Tuesday 26 August.

“That man was still abusing me. Up until that man died, that man was still abusing me.”

He was abusing me in my sleep. That man was abusing me. Every single day that I opened my eyes, that man was abusing me.“

That man was abusing me when I went out. I felt dirty, I felt unwanted, I just felt unloved, ” Eddie said.

In 2024, Dunleavy was handed a 10-year-old sentence on…

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Two women say they were groomed and sexually abused by Fr. Lawrence Gadek, a former priest and Lacey teacher, in the 1970s.

Two lawsuits filed against the Lacey Township Board of Education and the Archdiocese of Newark claim that a former Roman Catholic priest turned teacher sexually abused two young girls while employed at Forked River Elementary School and Lanoka Harbor Elementary School.

The two girls, identified as F.H. and W.S. Doe to protect their anonymity, were abused by Fr. Lawrence Gadek from about 1977 to 1981, according to the lawsuits. Both women are represented by attorney Gabriel McGee.

Gadek, ordained in 1955, was identified by the archdiocese on their List of Credibly Accused Abusers. He has multiple alleged victims, according to the archdiocese, including a 2019 six-figure settlement for a woman who said Gadek sexually abused her multiple times in the early 1960s when he was a priest in…

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A fund to pay Catholic Diocese of Buffalo sexual abuse victims has now risen to $272.5 million.

Two of the diocese insurers agreed to pay $122.5 million to help settle more than 800 claims of sexual abuse, according to court papers.

The settlement was detailed in court papers provided Wednesday by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Carl Bucki, according to Channel 2 News.

The settlement is in addition to $150 million the diocese is already contributing toward the fund.

“These settlements are another step toward the resolution of this case,” Jeff Anderson and Associates attorney Stacey Benson said in a news release. “These settlements are a testament to survivors who refuse to stay silent until the diocese is held accountable.”

The Buffalo Catholic Diocese reached the $150 million settlement in April with hundreds of child sex abuse claimants as part of a larger plan aimed at emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Of that amount, $80 million was expected to come from diocese…

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A Christian Brother and former school principal who was convicted of historical child sex abuse has died.

Paul Dunleavy was sentenced to 10 years in prison in November 2024 after being convicted of 36 charges against former pupils.

The offences were committed on dates between 1964 and 1991 while the 89-year-old worked at four schools in Belfast, Newry and Armagh.

The Northern Ireland Prison Service said an “89-year-old male prisoner from Maghaberry” died “at an outside hospital” on 26 August.

Dunleavy was already serving a prison sentence having been previously convicted on two separate occasions of sexual offences against children in his care.

He was due to begin his latest sentence in May 2026 when his previous sentence was to end.

In total, he was convicted of 72 counts involving 18 victims across three trials.

At the time of his sentencing, he was still a Christian Brother despite his convictions.

The…

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Proposed legislation would set Jan. 1 as the deadline for lawsuits against now-shuttered juvenile halls and an infamous former children’s shelter in Los Angeles County.

California lawmakers will vote on a bill this week making it harder to file child sexual abuse lawsuits against schools, juvenile facilities and foster care agencies that are already buckling under the weight of current and threatened legal action.

Among other new restrictions, Senate Bill 577 raises the burden of proof for older plaintiffs, requires costly pre-filing consultation with legal experts, and scales back higher damages awarded in particularly egregious cases. 

The bill being heard in the Assembly appropriations committee Friday also sets a Jan. 1 deadline to file claims against Los Angeles County facilities: the MacLaren Children’s Center — a notorious former foster care shelter — and all county-run juvenile detention halls and camps that closed prior to 2020. 

“Unfortunately,…

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The case against former Downey priest Jaime Arriaga Pedroza, accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl while serving at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, is expected to have his preliminary hearing on Monday, Sept. 15, at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center.

Pedroza, 41, was arrested on April 3 after surrendering to detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) Special Victims Bureau. He has been held without bail since his arraignment on April 7, when he pleaded not guilty.

In the case The People of the State of California vs. Jaime Arriaga Pedroza, he faces six felony charges of sexual abuse from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, according to court documents.

The charges detail that Pedroza allegedly committed one count of lewd acts upon a child aged 14 or 15 by a person at least 10 years older with the intent of arousing,…

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The FBI today arrested the leaders of Joshua Media Ministries International (JMMI) in a series of raids across several states for allegedly using psychological and physical abuse to coerce victims into soliciting millions.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, JMMI leaders, David Taylor and Michelle Brannon, ran a forced labor organization and a multi-million-dollar money laundering conspiracy. The department called the arrests a “nationwide takedown” of a human trafficking scheme that operated in Michigan, Florida, Texas, and Missouri.

Taylor, 53, and Brannon, 56, were taken into custody this morning in North Carolina and Florida, after a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Michigan returned a ten-count indictment.

Additionally, the FBI raided JMMI properties in Tampa, Houston, North Carolina, and Michigan this morning, according to reports from multiple news sites.

“Money laundering is tax evasion in progress,” said Karen Wingerd, an agent…

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It’s ChurchToo porn: A middle-aged man in front of a mirror taking a selfie of his naked butt while wearing a black sweatshirt emblazoned with the name of a major Canadian Christian ministry.

“Jane Doe,” 60, a former volunteer for Battle for Canada, a revival ministry founded by Kelowna pastor Art Lucier, says the man with his pants down is Lucier himself.

The selfie photo, which the volunteer says Lucier sent her in 2022, appears set in a mocha polyvinyl-paneled bathroom of a private residence. A white enamel vessel sink is in the background. The man’s genitals are not visible, but the entire left side of his face is.

The selfie is the most current of the many abuse allegations made against the popular pastor since earlier this year.

In a brief phone call with The Roys Report (TRR), Lucier acknowledged a photo that he sent as a “prank I did on…

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One of two suspects who claim to be religious leaders, and are allegedly tied to a human trafficking ring, was arrested Wednesday in Durham by the FBI in a raid early Wednesday morning.

A spokesperson for the agency told CBS 17 that David Taylor, 53 of Durham, is being charged in a forced labor and money laundering conspiracy investigation that agents said victimized individuals in Michigan, Florida, Texas and Missouri.

In the indictment, Taylor is described as one of the leaders of Kingdom of God Global Church, formerly Joshua Media Ministries International, along with 56-year-old Michelle Brannon of Tampa, Florida.

Exclusive surveillance video obtained by CBS 17 shows the moment just after 6 a.m. Wednesday when the FBI rolled onto the property with warrants in hand and guns drawn.

“David Taylor, this is the FBI with a warrant for this location,” authorities are heard saying in the video. “Everybody in…

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During Robert Mendez Esquivel’s arraignment in Canyon County Court Thrusday, the judge charged him with rape and two counts of sexual battery of a minor.

A Catholic priest at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Nampa, who was arrested on a charge of sexual battery of a minor, was arraigned in Canyon County Court Thursday.

Robert Mendez Esquivel was arrested and booked into the Canyon County Jail Wednesday night. A judge read Mendez his charges during his virtual arraignment Thursday afternoon. He’s now charged with rape and two counts of sexual battery of a minor child 16 or 17 years of age. 

A prosecutor told the court Esquivel met the alleged victim on the dating app Grindr before meeting up at a park. There, the prosecutor said Mendez sexually assaulted and raped the alleged victim. 

The judge in the case set Esquivel’s bail…

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A criminal complaint filed Wednesday against a Madison priest details an undercover operation where authorities posed as a teen girl, and an agreement for him to meet up with her for sex.

Andrew Showers, 37, is accused of attempted use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, attempted child enticement and attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child under 16 years old.

The criminal complaint states a Clintonville Police Department sergeant was posing as a 14-year-old girl, named Abby, on Aug. 10. Images of the fake child were made using images of another officer, then edited to make the person look like a teen.

The complaint said the sergeant used Reddit to create a post, saying Abby was looking for a man in Wisconsin. The sergeant made clear that the teen was 14 years old, and a man said he was interested in meeting up for sex. He…

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The Diocese of Madison is acknowledging there was a complaint filed in 2021 against Fr. Andrew Showers, the priest who is now charged with child sex crimes in Waupaca County.

Showers was arrested in Clintonville and faces charges of attempted use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, attempted child enticement-exposing intimate parts and attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child.

He is out of jail after posting bond and will appear in Waupaca County Court on September 30.

In a note to parishioners Wednesday night, Bishop Donald Hying said a review of diocesan files, email messages and phone records revealed that a complaint about Showers was made to the diocese by a parent in December 2021.

Hying said the parent expressed concern about “pastoral questions which were asked of a male middle-school child during the Sacrament of Confession.” The pastor at the time told the…

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A Clintonville police officer went undercover, posing as a 14-year-old girl online, to catch a Madison-area priest charged with child sex crimes, a complaint alleges.

Fr. Andrew Showers, 37, of Madison is charged with attempted use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, attempted child enticement and attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child under 16 years of age.

According to a complaint, a police officer posing as a 14-year-old girl named Abby created a post on an adult-targeted forum on the social media and messaging site Reddit. The officer used pictures of another officer, with consent, which were then digitally edited to make the officer appear to be 14.

In the posts, the officer indicated that Abby was looking to meet up with a man from Wisconsin.

The complaint alleges that a user known as DFALK7 then sent a private message to Abby saying he was a…

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An HBO series on Marcial Maciel this month has once again placed the spotlight on the founder of the Legionaries of Christ and the complaints of sexual abuse against him.

The congregation in Rome confirmed to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that it had known about the production for years and agreed to be interviewed to address their past and show the changes the order has undertaken since the scandal.

“Yes, we are aware of the production,” the congregation told ACI Prensa. “At the end of 2022, we received an interview request from the documentary’s producers. The project, according to what they said, would address events that were mostly already publicly known thanks to complaints from victims, former members, and specialists, as well as investigations conducted by the congregation and the Holy See,” the congregation noted.

They specified that Father Andreas Schöggl, LC, former secretary-general and…

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A federal bankruptcy court has accepted the Diocese of Syracuse, New York’s massive $176 million abuse settlement plan, Bishop Douglas Lucia said this week.

The decision comes after a yearslong negotiation process between the diocese and victims of clergy abuse as well as between the diocese and insurers that will pay into the settlement fund.

Lucia said in an Aug. 27 letter that the diocese will contribute $100 million to the fund, as diocesan leaders first announced in 2023.

Fifty million dollars will come from the diocese itself, with $45 million from parishes and $5 million from “other Catholic entities” associated with the Syracuse Diocese.

The remaining $76 million will be contributed by diocesan insurance companies, the bishop said.

Further “nonmonetary items” in the agreement include provisions such as strengthening diocesan safe environment policies.

The diocese initiated the bankruptcy process in 2020. In his letter,…

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A plan is set to be approved for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse to exit bankruptcy and allocate $176 million for survivors of sexual abuse.

Most Rev. Douglas J. Lucia, bishop of Syracuse, announced in an Aug. 27 letter on the diocese’s website that Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of New York Wendy Kinsella will accept the diocese’s plan to exit a petition for Chapter 11 reorganization.

“As I have stated over the course of the five years and repeat again today, I cannot apologize enough for the abuse which happened or for any neglect in dealing with it,” Lucia said.

The diocese filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2020 as more than 100 lawsuits under New York’s Child Victims Act for past sex abuse by priests and clergy members began mounting in the courts. The diocese covers seven counties, including Broome, Chenango, Cortland and Oneida.

The lawsuits named…

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Clergy abuse survivors cannot believe the New Zealand Catholic bishops’ public statement on Social Justice as the bishops persist in breaching their own social justice principles.

Making statements on social justice in their message for Social Justice Week 2025, September 7-13, while ignoring social justice in practice is nothing more than hypocrisy, say advocates for victims and survivors of clergy and religious abuse in New Zealand’s Catholic Church.

Core social justice principles must be at the heart of the bishops’ own work to build peace. But survivors and survivor advocates across New Zealand note that despite the bishops’ public statements, there has been no practice by the bishops of the social justice principles of participation, solidarity, and subsidiarity with victims and survivors of Catholic clergy abuse.

Instead, New Zealand’s Catholic bishops continue to isolate, ignore, and disempower survivors who have sought justice.

According to Mary Speller, co-leader of the New…

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A Catholic priest in the Diocese of Madison who was once a leader at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Catholic student center has been charged with child sex crimes in Waupaca County and restricted from ministry.

In a criminal complaint, prosecutors said Andrew J. Showers, 37, sent sexually explicit online messages and traveled to Waupaca County to meet someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl to have sex with her, unaware he was actually corresponding with a Clintonville police officer.

Prosecutors charged him Aug. 27 with attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child, attempted child enticement and attempted use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime. If convicted of all counts, he faces up to 50 years in prison.

Showers connected with the officer, posing as a 14-year-old, on a Reddit page. The two exchanged messages on Reddit as well as on the Telegram app, and Showers was…

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[See also:  Sr. Maura O’Donohue MMM, Urgent Concerns for the Church in the Context of HIV/AIDS (February 1994); Sr. Maura O’Donohue MMM, Meeting at SRC, Rome, 18 February 1995 (February 21, 1995); and Sr. Marie McDonald MSOLA, The Problem of the Sexual Abuse of African Religious in Africa and Rome (November 20, 1998).]

In the history of National Catholic Reporter, there are several journalists who have left an indelible mark. One is John L. Allen Jr. 

For 17 years, Allen covered the Vatican and served as a senior correspondent. As NCR journalist, he appeared on CNN and delivered clear, descriptive commentary that led to a job on the news network, and then to the Boston Globe, where he created Crux at a time news organizations were seeking to innovate on the Internet. Crux later spun off as his operation that he publishes. 

In 2001, in the midst of his run…

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A former Texas youth pastor who was arrested last year for alleged child sex abuse has been reindicted with additional charges. The new charges against Luke Cunningham do not stem from new victims.

Cunningham was working as a youth pastor at Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury, Texas, at the time of his arrest, but the alleged abuse is said to have occurred during Cunningham’s tenure at Turning Point Community Church in Lubbock, Texas, with other accusations coming from when he worked at North Fort Worth Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. 

In June 2024, Cunningham was arrested and charged with two counts of sexual assault of a child and one count of aggravated sexual assault.

Following further investigation, Cunningham now faces 16 counts of sexual assault of a child.

At a hearing following Cunningham’s arrest, Lubbock County Assistant District Attorney Cassie Graham argued that Cunningham had a long history of…

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Attorneys for clergy abuse survivors say they’ve reached settlements with two insurance companies in connection with the ongoing Diocese of Buffalo bankruptcy proceedings.

Wausau Insurance and Continental Insurance Company will pay over $122 million combined.

“These settlements are another step toward the resolution of this case,” attorney Stacey Benson said in a statement. “These settlements are a testament to survivors who refuse to stay silent until the diocese is held accountable.”

The insurance companies were not included in the $150 million settlement reached with the Diocese of Buffalo earlier this year.

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On Palm Sunday in 2002 as I prepared to begin Mass, I took a brown paper bag with the eyes, nose and mouth cut out and placed it over my head. As I processed up the aisle, I could hear giggles and saw people poking others to look at me. Once in the sanctuary, I turned around to face the people and removed the bag. I said to them, “I apologize for the priests who sexually abused children and youth. And for the bishops who covered this up.”

Since the early 1980s, first in Louisiana and then popping up all over the country like water dripping on a rock, accusations against priests were revealed. But nothing shook the Catholic Church — and, indeed, the entire country — like The Boston Globe’s exposé of the Archdiocese of Boston in 2002. It even led to the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law.

The enormity of the abuse finally mobilized…

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Two insurers will pay $122 million; judge extends deadline

Two insurance companies who represented the Diocese of Buffalo have agreed to pay $122.5 million to help settle 900 sexual abuse claims in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The settlement, which was detailed in court papers provided Wednesday by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Carl Bucki, comes in addition to the previously announced $150 million the diocese will be contributing toward the deal. The insurance companies’ amount brings the total settlement to $272.5 million.

Continental Insurance Company will contribute $85 million toward the settlement and Wausau Insurance will pay $37.5 million, attorneys for the Diocese said in court papers.

Attorneys for abuse survivors applauded the additions to the settlement.

“These settlements are another step toward the resolution of this case,” said attorney Stacey Benson of Jeff Anderson & Associates. “These settlements are a testament to survivors who refuse to stay silent until the…

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Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of New York, Wendy Kinsella, plans to approve a settlement, after a hearing on Aug. 27, between the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse and sexual abuse survivors.

The plan will mean millions of dollars for the survivors.

It is the first step in a long journey towards finding closure, after years of legal proceedings between the Syracuse Diocese and the survivors. Kinsella approved a plan for the church to exit bankruptcy and begin the process of distributing over $170 million.

“It has always been my intention…the best way that we could give reparations to all involved, rather than, as Kinsella called it, a race to the courtroom,” Bishop Douglas Lucia, pastor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse, said.

Five years ago, the church filed for bankruptcy protections as sex abuse lawsuits came flooding in, 411 to be exact. Over the years, survivors have shared their stories…

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Police in Indiana accused Julian Wachner, the former music director at Trinity Church in New York, of possessing sex abuse imagery purchased with cryptocurrency.

Julian Wachner, a conductor and composer who was fired three years ago from Trinity Church in New York, was charged with possessing child sexual abuse material, prosecutors in Indianapolis said Tuesday.

Once a high-profile director of music and the arts at Trinity, one of the city’s wealthiest and most influential churches, Mr. Wachner was fired from the post in 2022 amid an investigation into a sexual misconduct allegation.

Mr. Wachner, who disputed the allegation, saw his music career unravel and had moved to Indianapolis, most recently working as a fourth-grade math teacher at a charter school. Last week, he was arrested after a tip to law enforcement that he had used cryptocurrency to purchase child sexual abuse material, according to court papers filed by the Marion County…

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The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is calling for transparency about the actions of Auxiliary Bishop Elias R. Lorenzo, a potential successor to Archbishop of Newark Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, while he was a leader at Delbarton School.

Delbarton School and St. Mary’s Abbey, the Benedictine order that is associated with the school, have faced several sexual assault allegations since 2002, stretching back to a former Delbarton lacrosse player accusing a monk of sexually abusing him in 1978.

The school and the abbey came under fire in 2018 when numerous lawsuits were filed, prompting the school to acknowledge that 30 individuals had come forward with to say they had been abused.

Lorenzo served in a variety of roles at Delbarton and St. Mary’s Abbey such as Director of Liturgy, Director of Monastic Formation, Prior of St. Mary’s Abbey from 1995 to 2002, and Rector of the Abbey…

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Carriers argue lifting the pause could unfairly prioritize select cases

A group of insurers is urging a California federal court to keep a stay in place on five lawsuits connected to sexual abuse claims and the bankruptcy of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco.

The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2023, citing the need to address more than 500 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse. According to a statement from the religious organization, the bankruptcy filing automatically paused all legal actions related to the abuse claims while a reorganization plan is developed.

This plan would be based on the archdiocese’s assets and insurance coverage and is intended to resolve the abuse claims.

The insurers, including affiliates of Chubb Ltd., argue in an objection filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, that the five cases selected from hundreds of pending…

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Police in Clintonville, Wis., arrested a priest of the Diocese of Madison on Sunday on charges of attempted child sexual abuse.

According to a statement from the police, Fr. Andrew Showers, 37, was arrested in the evening of Aug. 24 after officers “received information” that the priest had “made arrangements to travel to the City of Clintonville and meet with a 14-year-old female to engage in sexual activity.”

Fr. Showers was arrested on charges of child enticement, use of a computer to facilitate a child sexual offense, and attempted second degree sexual assault of a child.

According to a diocesan statement, after the diocese was informed of Showers’s arrest on Monday he was suspended from all ministry while the criminal investigation continues, with which the diocese said it is fully cooperating.

No details have been confirmed regarding how the priest came to make the alleged “arrangements,” or how law enforcement…

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In 2018, a nun accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal of rape, rattling the Indian Catholic Church. After his acquittal, she was condemned to a life of isolation. The systemic efforts to silence her and the cost of defying patriarchal power are detailed in this ten-chapter story, as she finally breaks her silence.

“You have to understand. I’m a nun. I took a vow of chastity. To stand in court and say I was raped felt like I was the sinner,” said Sister Ruth*, almost in a whisper. “I felt unworthy of God.”

We spent most of the hour in silence. The group of nuns sat in a row, scepticism heavy in the air. At first, they didn’t reveal who among them had accused a bishop of rape. 

Outside, the light drizzle and the afternoon humidity lulled the two policemen into a slumber. This was in October 2024 — our first meeting.

…

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The Brief:

• Clintonville police arrested the Rev. Andrew J. Showers, 37, on Sunday on tentative charges including child enticement, police said.
• The Diocese of Madison says it is cooperating with law enforcement and has fully restricted Showers from public ministry during the investigation.
• Showers has served at several parishes and ministries across the diocese, including in Madison, Waunakee, Wisconsin Dells, Berlin, Green Lake and Clinton.

The Diocese of Madison said it has fully restricted the Rev. Andrew J. Showers from public ministry after his arrest Sunday in Clintonville on tentative child sex-crime charges.

The Clintonville Police Department said that at about 7:32 p.m. Sunday, Showers, 37, was taken into custody in the city. He was booked into the Waupaca County Jail on tentative charges of child enticement, use of a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, and attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child.

Police said the arrest followed allegations…

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Pope Leo XIV is expected to bring Augustinian friars with him when he moves into the papal apartment of the Apostolic Palace in the autumn, the Italian daily La Repubblica reported. The decision reflects his determination to preserve the communal life of his religious order even after his election to the papacy.

“The idea is not yet official but should become a reality in the fall,” La Repubblica said Aug. 19. 

Leo had been expected to move into the papal apartment, a tradition that had been broken by Pope Francis, but word of friars joining him had not previously been reported.

The Italian daily said that workers are renovating the third floor of the Apostolic Palace to accommodate the housemates. The work has delayed the pope taking up residence, the newspaper said. Ten rooms have so far been refurbished, including the study used for the Sunday Angelus, the…

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[This article is now available in a full-text version, so we are including it again on Abuse Tracker.]

Dozens of people crowded into a courtroom this spring to reveal the lasting scars from childhood sex abuse by clergy and church employees in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse.

The diocese has organized a $176 million fund to compensate the abuse survivors. If it were divided evenly over 411 people with claims, after some lawyers get paid, each would receive as much as $400,000.

But it won’t work that way. Instead, a court-managed process will try to calculate a way to give the most money to the people hurt the worst.

This will turn the years of pain for each of the hundreds of abuse survivors into a specific cold, hard number.

How were you abused? For how long? Where did it happen? How…

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A lawsuit involving a North Jersey Catholic school is set to be the first civil trial against the Catholic Church in the state.

A case involving Delbarton, a Catholic School in Morristown, regarding allegations of child sex abuse, will take place on Sept. 2 in the Morris County Courthouse.

The case, T.M. v. Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey (OSBNJ), will be the first clergy sexual abuse lawsuit to go to trial in New Jersey against the Catholic Church. It is the first of nearly 40 pending abuse cases involving the all-boys school and its church affiliates.

The case’s plaintiff, named only as “T.M.” for privacy purposes, claims that he was sexually abused by Father Richard Lott as a 15-year-old Delbarton student in the 1970s. Lott served as a Benedictine monk, teacher, and supervisor of student workers in Delbarton’s maintenance department.

T.M. added that he was abused by the…

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A high-ranking priest in the Diocese of Birmingham, Alabama, has been removed from ministry and is under investigation following allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a woman said to date back to 2009, when she was still a minor. However, these steps taken by the diocese were only revealed to the faithful in response to a U.K.-based newspaper making public the allegations.

On Aug. 2, Father Robert Sullivan, the diocese’s vicar general and pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Homewood, Alabama, announced to his congregation that he had been granted a personal leave of absence beginning Aug. 4.

The Guardian released a report

Details of the reasons behind the request only emerged Aug. 13, when The Guardian released a report in which 33-year-old Heather Jones claimed that Father Sullivan had engaged in a sexual and financial relationship with her that began when she was 17.

According to the newspaper,…

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A former P.E.I. Roman Catholic priest has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting an altar boy in the late 1980s.

Brendon Earl Gallant, 80, pleaded guilty to indictable sexual assault on Aug. 21 in provincial court in Georgetown. Gallant appeared in court with his lawyer, Peter Ghiz. A publication ban is in place, preventing the release of information that could identify the male victim.

With the guilty plea in place, Crown attorney John Diamond stayed an additional charge of sexual interference involving touching a person under the age of 16 for a sexual purpose.

The facts

Diamond then read in court an agreed statement of facts. He said that the victim reported historic sexual abuse by Gallant to the RCMP on March 3, 2023. The police investigation revealed that Gallant was assigned to St. Margaret’s parish in Kings County and met the victim in the summer of 1988. Gallant knew the…

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Key Takeaways:

• Survivors’ committee seeks recovery of $1M in payments before bankruptcy.
• Motion for derivative standing filed against Baltimore Archdiocese.
• Nearly 1,000 child sex abuse claims linked to bankruptcy case.
• Charitable immunity trial set for December to determine liability.

The committee representing abuse victims in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore’s bankruptcy case has moved to recover more than $1 million in “avoidable” payments made by the archdiocese in the three months before it declared bankruptcy in 2023.

The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors on Aug. 18 filed a motion for derivative standing to force the return of allegedly unnecessary payments the archdiocese made while it was “at acute risk of insolvency” and knew it would file for bankruptcy before the Maryland Child Victims Act took effect.

The survivors’ committee says the money, which it estimates at “more than $1,014,539.70,” should be part of an eventual global settlement through which victims would be compensated….

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A Catholic priest who worked in Orlando churches for more than a decade faces sexual abuse accusations from sheriff’s investigators and a lawsuit that accuses him of grooming and then abusing a child for years.

Father George Zina, who now works as a pastor at a church in Roanoke, VA, denies any wrongdoing, according to the Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn, which oversees his church.

But the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said this week that it investigated the accusations against Zina and heard “very compelling testimony” from an alleged victim. In February, the sheriff’s office decided Zina should be charged with two counts of sexual battery and sent that recommendation to the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office.

The state attorney’s office said Thursday the case is under review. Zina worked at Holy Family Catholic Church and St. Jude Maronite Catholic Church, both in Orange County, from around 1997 through 2009.

…

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Dozens of people crowded into a courtroom this spring to reveal the lasting scars from childhood sex abuse by clergy and church employees in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse.

The diocese has organized a $176 million fund to compensate the abuse survivors. If it were divided evenly over 411 people with claims, after some lawyers get paid, each would receive as much as $400,000…

jmoss@syracuse.com

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SAINT PAUL (MN)
Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis [Minnesota]

Date: Monday, Aug. 25
Start Time: 6:30 p.m.
End Time: 8 p.m.
Location: Virtual [Click here to register for webinar]

Abuse Before, During and After the Sacrament

In this webinar, we will explore the history of confession and the role of the sacrament in clergy abuse. We will look at examples of “solicitation” in confession and also at a whole range of situations to which that term refers: abuse before, during, and after the sacrament.

This webinar will emphasize the power of the sacrament, for good and for ill, and related practices such as spiritual direction and counseling. Ample time will be set aside for questions and conversation.

Terence McKiernan founded BishopAccountability.org in 2003 and is the organization’s president. He was a project leader of Gender, Sex, and Power at Notre Dame’s Cushwa Center 2020-2022. Terry and BishopAccountability.org received the 2023 Distinguished Service Award from…

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An Irvine man described by authorities as a “prominent staff member” of an Orange County church was arrested last week following allegations that he sexually assaulted a teenage girl multiple times over the span of a decade.

Michael Robert Maxwell, 42, was arrested after the Irvine Police Department launched an investigation into allegations of child sex abuse that occurred at a home on Whitecloud, a residential street located near South Lake.

According to Irvine police, the investigation is a partnership with Child Protective Services.

Maxwell has been booked into the Orange County Jail where he awaits several child sex abuse charges, including oral copulation, unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor and continuous sexual abuse of a child.

Authorities say Maxwell was staff member at Redeemer Church of Orange County in Newport Beach. On Wednesday, his photo was released to local media out of concern there may be additional victims.

Anyone with information relevant…

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A former Life.Church intern is arrested after authorities say he had dozens of child pornography pictures and videos.

Documents show investigators got seven different tips about Austin Sewell viewing and sending child porn on his devices while connected to the Internet at his house.

Sewell has now been charged in federal court for having child sex abuse material.

Life.Church provided the following statement to News On 6:

“We are shocked and deeply concerned. While he is a former intern and was no longer serving when this came to light, we maintained our high standards for safety prior to and during his operations internship, including conducting a background check and ensuring that he served alongside other adults. He is restricted from serving in any capacity in the future. We take the safety of our church community extremely seriously and will continue to prioritize the security and well-being of everyone in our care.”

Life.Church…

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• Chris Brain convicted of indecent assault on nine women
• Brain led Nine O’Clock Service, backed by Church of England
• Church of England apologizes for institutional failures

LONDON, Aug 21 (Reuters) – (This Aug 21 story has been republished to remove an image with no changes to text)

The leader of a “cult-like” Christian group once backed by the Church of England has been convicted of sexually abusing nine women in his congregation, after a jury returned their final verdicts on Thursday.

The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.

Chris Brain, 68, led the Nine O’Clock Service, an evangelical church movement based in Sheffield, northern England, in the 1980s and 1990s.

The group’s nightclub-style services, which were held at 9 p.m. on Sundays, were aimed at young people, featured a live band and attracted hundreds of people at its peak.

But, prosecutors…

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• Guest Bios
• Show Transcript

Does Jesus’ command to love our enemies mean Christian women must remain in abusive marriages? That’s the troubling claim Pastor Paul LeBoutillier made in a recent sermon at Calvary Chapel in Boise, Idaho. While acknowledging that abuse is “terrible,” he implied Jesus’ words about loving abusers apply to abusive husbands.

Is that a faithful reading of Scripture or a distortion rooted in patriarchy? To unpack this, host Julie Roys is joined by author and abuse survivor Naghmeh Panahi and relationship coach Leslie Vernick, a leading voice on marriage and emotional health.

Naghmeh, known globally for advocating for persecuted Christians when her ex-husband Saeed Abedini was imprisoned in Iran, later revealed she had long endured abuse in her marriage. Her memoir, I Didn’t Survive, traces her painful awakening—and how the Christian community often turned on her for speaking out.

Leslie Vernick, author of The Emotionally Destructive Marriage,  View Cache

Date: Monday, Aug. 25
Start Time: 6:30 p.m.
End Time: 8 p.m.
Location: Virtual [Click here to register for webinar]

Abuse Before, During and After the Sacrament

In this webinar, we will explore the history of confession and the role of the sacrament in clergy abuse. We will look at examples of “solicitation” in confession and also at a whole range of situations to which that term refers: abuse before, during, and after the sacrament.

This webinar will emphasize the power of the sacrament, for good and for ill, and related practices such as spiritual direction and counseling. Ample time will be set aside for questions and conversation.

Terence McKiernan founded BishopAccountability.org in 2003 and is the organization’s president. He was a project leader of Gender, Sex, and Power at Notre Dame’s Cushwa Center 2020-2022. Terry and BishopAccountability.org received the 2023 Distinguished Service Award from the American Catholic Historical Association.

For more information,…

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The case involves a former student who alleges he was abused by an abbot priest in the mid-1970s.

Delbarton, an elite all-boys Catholic prep school in northern New Jersey where several former students have come forward to allege abuse at the hands of the Benedictine order’s monks, could soon find itself under a harsh spotlight.

A trial resulting from a lawsuit by a former Delbarton student who says he was 15 when he was sexually abused by a monk is scheduled to begin Sept. 2 in Morris County Superior Court in what would be the first civil trial involving the Catholic church in the Garden State.

Identified by the initials T.M., the ex-student alleges he was assaulted by a former Delbarton teacher, the Rev. Richard Lott, and he’s accused the Benedictine order of “enabling that abuse,” according to court records.

The lawsuit names Delbarton School and its connected monastery, St….

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Brendon Earl Gallant served in more than a dozen parishes before retiring in 2018

Warning: This story contains details of sexual assault.

A retired Catholic priest who served communities across Prince Edward Island for decades pleaded guilty Thursday to a sexual assault charge dating back to the late 1980s.

Brendon Earl Gallant, 80, entered his guilty plea to a charge of historical sexual assault in Georgetown court.

He could face up to 10 years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for Oct. 9.

The charge stems from incidents that occurred between 1988 and 1989 when Gallant was serving as a priest in St. Margaret’s Parish in northeastern P.E.I. The victim was 12 years old at the time, while Gallant was in his 40s.

[PHOTO: Brendon Earl Gallant has pleaded guilty to a sexual assault charge that stems from events in the 1980s. As CBC’s Cody MacKay reports, the alleged victim came…

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Robert Sullivan, 61, on ‘personal leave’ after Heather Jones, now 33, brought allegations, sexual in nature, to diocese

A Roman Catholic priest in Alabama is under investigation, church officials say – and he abruptly announced he is taking “personal leave” – after a woman alleged to his superiors that he traded financial support for “private companionship” including sex, beginning when she was 17.

The accuser, Heather Jones, has also alleged that the clergyman, Robert Sullivan, recently paid her hundreds of thousands of dollars to remain silent about it, a claim she supported with bank records, an email and a copy of a legal agreement.

Jones, 33, provided the Guardian with a formal written statement that contained her allegations against Sullivan, 61, and which she provided to the diocese of Birmingham.

She said she came forward because Sullivan had continued working closely with families and their children as the pastor of Our…

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Jesuit Fr. Pedro Arrupe, who died in 1991, is a revered figure among many Catholics for leading the Society of Jesus during a transformative time in church history and for steering the Jesuit order toward missionary work among the world’s peripheries.

The Spanish-born Arrupe’s dramatic life includes ministering to survivors of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, shepherding the Jesuits through the post-Vatican II period and rebranding the order’s mission to train men and women “who will live not for themselves but for God and his Christ.”  

Now a candidate for sainthood, Arrupe was superior general of the same Jesuit order that trained and formed Pope Franics. But Arrupe’s role in a heated dispute in 1977 between two leaders of a U.S. province of the Jesuit order 5,500 miles from the Jesuit headquarters in Rome has led some involved in the lawsuit to argue Arrupe’s cause for sainthood should end. 

…

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The Archbishop of Toulouse, Archbishop Guy de Kerimel, has backtracked from the controversial appointment of a convicted rapist as diocesan chancellor.

On 16 August, Archbishop de Kerimel announced the appointment of a new diocesan chancellor after weeks of criticism over his initial appointment of Fr Dominique Spina.

Fr Dominique Spina was convicted in 2005 of the rape of a high-school student in Pau, southwest France, in the Diocese of Bayonne, for offences committed in 1993. The victim came from a troubled family background and believed he had a vocation to the priesthood. Spina became his spiritual director and carried out the abuse between 1992 and 1994.

Spina initially prevented the young man from entering the diocesan seminary. However, he was eventually admitted and later reported the abuse to the seminary director. Shortly after the report, the victim was expelled from the seminary for “lack of maturity”. A complaint was filed…

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The Archbishop of Toulouse has reversed his decision to appoint a convicted rapist as diocesan chancellor following outrage from abuse survivors, church leaders, and the wider Catholic community.

Archbishop Guy de Kerimel had initially promoted Fr. Dominique Spina—who was jailed in 2005 for raping a teenage seminary candidate—to the senior post in June.

The announcement sparked fury, with victims’ groups calling the move “simply scandalous,” and the French bishops’ conference warning that “such an appointment … can only reopen wounds, reawaken suspicions, and disconcert the people of God,” according to The Catholic Herald.

Amid mounting criticism, Archbishop de Kerimel confirmed on August 16 that Fr. Spina had resigned “with genuine openness of heart,” and that Fr. Léopold Biyoki would assume the role in September.

The archbishop apologized to victims, admitting: “My decision was interpreted by many people as a snub to the victims of sexual abuse; I ask the victims’…

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A former priest convicted of sexual offences against nine women “instilled a culture of fear” within church members which enabled him to abuse his victims, the Crown Prosecution Service has said.

Christopher Brain, 68, from Wilmslow, Cheshire, was the leader of the Nine O’Clock Service (NOS), part of the Church of England, in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, between 1986 and 1995.

On Wednesday, he was found guilty of 17 counts of indecent assault during the years he led the movement by a jury at Inner London Crown Court.

The former priest was cleared of a further 15 counts of indecent assault.

The following day, the 11-strong jury was discharged after failing to reach a verdict on four counts of indecent assault and one of rape, having started deliberations on August 12.

In total, Brain was charged with one count of rape and 36 counts of indecent assault between 1981 and 1995 against…

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The Bishop of Sheffield has offered an “unreserved apology” to the victims of former priest Chris Brain after he was convicted of 17 counts of indecent assault.

Brain was found guilty of sexually abusing nine female members of the “cult-like” Nine O’Clock Service during his time as leader of the evangelical movement in Sheffield in the 1980s and 90s.

In a statement, the Rt Rev Dr Pete Wilcox said what happened was “an appalling abuse of power and leadership that should never have occurred” and that he had commissioned an independent review of the church’s handling of the matter.

Brain, 68, from Wilmslow in Cheshire, was cleared of a further 15 charges of indecent assault and jurors were unable to reach verdicts on five further charges. He is due to be sentenced later this year.

During the course of his trial, jurors heard how Brain launched the Nine O’Clock Service…

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Monsignor Daniel Mayall was cleared of the allegations by the Archdiocese’s independent review board, which found there was “not a reasonable cause to believe Monsignor Mayall sexually abused the person making the accusation,” Cardinal Blase J. Cupich wrote in a letter Wednesday.

A retired Chicago priest has been reinstated after the Archdiocese of Chicago cleared him of decades-old sexual abuse allegations that emerged half a year ago.

Monsignor Daniel Mayall was cleared of the allegations by the Archdiocese’s independent review board, which found there was “not a reasonable cause to believe Monsignor Mayall sexually abused the person making the accusation,” Cardinal Blase J. Cupich wrote in a letter Wednesday.

The former Holy Name Cathedral rector was accused of assaulting a child nearly 30 years ago while he was assigned at St. Francis Borgia Parish in the Dunning neighborhood, which he served from July 1993 to January 2002. Mayall “strenuously denied…

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Aug. 20, 2025

The Archdiocese of Chicago distributed the following letters regarding the reinstatement of Monsignor Daniel Mayall to ministry. 

St. Francis Borgia Parish  [see cache]

Saints Joseph and Francis Xavier Parish [see cache]

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[See video.]

Retired priest Monsignor Daniel Mayall is being reinstated to the church after being accused of sexually abusing a minor.

CHICAGO (WLS) — A retired priest of the Chicago-area is being reinstated to the church after being accused of sexually abusing a minor.

The allegations against Monsignor Daniel Mayall came in February 2025. At the time, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich announced he would remain out of ministry and school activities during an investigation.

Six months after the letter, Cupich announced that Mayall would be reinstated.

“While he strenuously denied the allegation, he fully complied with my request and cooperated with the investigation,” Cupich said in the letter. “After receiving the results of the thorough investigation, the IRB determined that there is not a reasonable cause to believe Monsignor Mayall sexually abused the person making the accusation. In addition, the IRB recommended that Monsignor Mayall be reinstated to ministry. I…

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New allegation against Ryan Bennett Segura came during detention hearing in which federal judge ordered him to remain jailed

UPDATED: August 20, 2025 at 5:40 AM PDT

A St. Augustine High School teacher arrested last week on suspicion of distributing images of child sexual abuse also admitted to investigators that he took “non-sexual” photographs of his students and later “aroused himself” to those photos and shared them with another man with whom he was engaged in a sexually explicit online relationship, a prosecutor argued to a judge Tuesday in San Diego federal court.

After hearing that allegation and other allegations of troubling online sexual conduct, U.S. Magistrate Judge Valerie Torres ordered 27-year-old Ryan Bennett Segura to remain in custody without bail. Segura has been in custody since his Aug. 12 arrest.

Segura’s attorney had argued that his client could safely be released on bail with a GPS tracker to live with…

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“Nothing is more important to us than the safety of the young people entrusted to our care,” said Delbarton Headmaster Michael Tidd.

MORRISTOWN, NJ — Delbarton School representatives have responded to concerning allegations of sex abuse within its institution.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) recently demanded transparency from the all-boys school and its affiliates. Specifically, the network called for accountability from school leader Elias R. Lorenzo, who they claim was in charge when several instances of child sexual abuse occurred at Delbarton.

Delbarton School representatives specifically responded to an exclusive report from the New York Post, which states that details of these reported abuses may be made available to the public soon.

Below is a statement from Delbarton School Headmaster Fr. Michael Tidd:

“The New York Post article includes unchallenged statements about Delbarton from past claimants of decades ago…

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A court arraignment concerning the senior pastor of a Mountain Home church, who is accused of human sex trafficking and sexual assault, has been rescheduled to September following a hearing that took place on Monday, August 18.

Gregory W. Jones, who has led the Liberty Christian Fellowship Church in Mountain Home for over 33 years, is set to return to court on September 15 to respond to these allegations.

According to information provided to the Mountain Home News, Jones intends to plead guilty to lesser charges; however, specific details were not disclosed by the time of publication.

During his opening statements at the hearing on Monday at the Elmore County Courthouse, Judge Theodore Fleming remarked that the court would not accept a binding agreement related to this case. It remains unclear whether the judge had declined the terms of the plea agreement during discussions with the prosecuting attorney and Jones’s…

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No prima facie evidence that Bishop Emeritus Thomas Dabre of Poona did not inform police, says judge

A court in the western Indian state of Maharashtra has acquitted a retired bishop, saying it could not find “prima facie evidence” of the bishop’s failure to report the priest’s alleged child abuse in his former diocese.

Retired Bishop Thomas Dabre of Poona (now Pune) was named as a co-accused in the case of violating the provisions of a stringent law — the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The case charged Father Vincent Pereira, the then principal of the diocesan St. Patrick’s High School and Junior College, of abusing a 15-year-old schoolboy.

The Aug. 8 acquittal order of a district court in Pune, made public on Aug. 16, said: “There is no prima facie evidence” to show the bishop violated the provision of the law,…

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One of eight suspects arrested in a sting operation that targeted alleged child sex predators in the Las Vegas Valley earlier this month is a local pastor, according to a church that rented the suspect’s congregation space.

Neal Harrison Creecy, 46, is facing one felony count of luring or attempting to lure a child or mentally ill person with the use of a computer to engage in sexual contact, according to court records.

Creecy, of Redemption Church, was arrested on Aug. 7 and posted after a $10,000 bond the next day before appearing in front of a judge, records show.

The operation also nabbed Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, a 38-year-old senior Israeli government cybersecurity official, who is accused of attempting sexual contact with a decoy who acted like a 15-year-old girl.

The Good Samaritan Lutheran Church and Christian Academy announced Creecy’s arrest in a letter to…

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Michael Voris has alleged that a priest from Indiana’s University of Notre Dame made serious sexual advances towards him in the summer of 1981. He has also further alleged that the university covered up the incident to protect the cleric.

Voris made the comments on a relatively recently established YouTube account called “SoulsAndLiberty” and under the name “Gary Michael Voris”, which describes itself as “devoted Catholics working together to protect our American Constitutional, Democratic Republic”. The account features various videos covering religious and cultural themes.

Speaking on the channel in a video published on 14 August 2025, Voris alleged that during his second year at Notre Dame, “Father John”, then a hall rector, sent him a series of anonymous campus-mail notes. The first, a St Patrick’s Day card signed “Your secret pal”, appeared harmless. Subsequent letters became darker, culminating, he alleges, in explicit sexual comments.

Voris then alleges that after…

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“I decided to reverse my decision”

The Archbishop of Toulouse appointed a new chancellor Saturday, after widespread opposition to his recent appointment of a priest convicted of sexually assaulting a minor.

But while Archbishop Guy de Kerimel said August 16 that he apologized to victims of sexual abuse for causing them harm, he also defended his initial appointment, insisting it was a “sign of hope for abusers.”

“In order not to provoke division among bishops, and not to remain at a standoff between those ‘for’ and ‘against,’ I decided to reverse my decision; this has now been done, with the appointment of a new chancellor,” Archbishop de Kerimel wrote in an Aug 16 statement.

“My decision was interpreted by many people as a snub to the victims of sexual abuse; I ask the victims’ forgiveness. This was obviously not my intention.”

“Others saw it as a sign of hope for…

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Archbishop Guy de Kirimel of Toulouse, France, has reversed his decision to appoint a priest convicted of rape as chancellor of the archdiocese and asked forgiveness of the victims of abuse, whom he had no intention of offending, according to a statement released Aug. 16.

“In order not to cause division among bishops, and not to remain at a standoff between those for and against, I decided to reverse my decision; this has now been done, with the appointment of a new chancellor,” the archbishop said.

The reversal of the appointment of Father Dominique Spina, a priest sentenced in 2006 to five years in prison for raping a 16-year-old boy in 1993, came after the French Bishops’ Conference asked the archbishop on Aug. 11 to “reconsider the decision.”

The French prelates stated at the time that “an appointment of such importance, both canonically and…

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Pour ne pas provoquer de division entre évêques, et pour ne pas en rester à un face à face entre les « pour » et les « contre », j’ai décidé de revenir sur ma décision ; c’est maintenant fait, avec la nomination d’un nouveau chancelier.

Ma décision avait été interprétée par de nombreuses personnes comme un camouflet envers les victimes d’abus sexuel ; j’en demande pardon aux victimes. Ce n’était évidemment pas mon intention. D’autres y voyaient enfin un signe d’espérance pour les auteurs d’abus qui avaient fait leur peine et qui vivent une mort sociale très éprouvante. Là, je dois demander pardon à celui que j’avais nommé et à qui je fais confiance, pour ne pas avoir su trouver la juste place à laquelle il a droit.

Comment trouver l’attitude juste qui n’oblige pas à prendre un parti au détriment de l’autre ? Comment tenir l’attention première aux victimes sans rejeter à…

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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. gymnastics world was only just recovering from a devastating sexual abuse scandal when a promising young coach moved from Mississippi to Iowa to take a job in 2018 at an elite academy known for training Olympic champions.

Liang “Chow” Qiao, the owner of Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines, thought highly enough of his new hire, Sean Gardner, to put him in charge of the club’s premier junior event and to coach some of its most promising girls.

But four years later, Gardner was gone from Chow’s with little notice.

USA Gymnastics, the organization rocked by the Larry Nassar sex-abuse crisis that led to the creation of the U.S. Center for SafeSport, had been informed by the watchdog group that Gardner was suspended from all contact with gymnasts.

The reason for Gardner’s removal wasn’t disclosed. But court records obtained exclusively by The…

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Pope Leo Remains Silent Regarding Growing Evidence Linking Him to Peru Cover-Up 

This weekend marked Pope Leo XIV’s first 100 days as head of the Catholic Church, and despite promises of full enforcement of zero tolerance for clerical abuse and cover-up, he has failed remove known offenders from ministry or enact any of the urgent proposals presented to him by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) in an exhortation issued on the day of his election.

“On the day of his election, we warned the world that the next pope would almost certainly be implicated in covering up sexual crimes against children,” said Peter Isely, chair of SNAP’s Global Advocacy. “We offered Pope Leo a roadmap for accountability. One hundred days later, known abusers are permitted to remain in ministry, while cover-up and complicity are rewarded with promotion.”

Although Pope Leo voiced support for “a culture of…

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MANILA — Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian says the entire Baptist Church should not be blamed for abuses done in a child care facility in Mexico, Pampanga.

“Ano man ang maging finding ng korte, gusto ko sana tandaan ng tao na ito ay kagagawan ng isang indibidwal o ng dalawang indibidwal,” he said.

(Whatever the court may find is just the act of only one or two individuals.)

“Hindi natin dapat ibaling ito sa buong simbahan, kasi marami ako naririnig na nadadamay na ang Baptist. Hindi po ito buong simbahan ng Baptist,” Gatchalian added.

(We should not blame the entire church as I’ve been hearing a lot of things said about the Baptist church. The Baptist church should not be liable.)

The DSWD rescued 160 children from New Life Baptist Church in Mexico, Pampanga last week over supposed abuses committed inside its facilities.

DSWD spokesperson Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said…

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MANILA: Deputy Minority Leader Senator Risa Hontiveros (pic) has filed a resolution pushing for a Senate investigation of the alleged abuse and maltreatment of 156 rescued children under the custody of a certain Pastor Jeremy Ferguson of the New Life Baptist Church of Mexico Pampanga, Inc. (NLBCMPI).

Hontiveros, the head of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality, said in Senate Resolution No. 77 that “the reported incident underscores the necessity [for] a comprehensive review of accreditation, monitoring, and regulation mechanisms for public and private institutions that assume custody of minors to prevent similar cases.”

She cited reports that the children lived under abusive conditions, with some of them allegedly subjected to physical, verbal and psychological abuse while under the custody of the NLBCMPI.

“A complaint filed by two 12-year-old boys, as represented by their guardians and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), alleged…

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NASHVILLE (BP) – The Southern Baptist Convention’s Office for Abuse Prevention and Response has launched a revamped helpline for those needing assistance with matters related to sexual abuse.

The initiative, a partnership with the Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention (ECAP), is designed to deliver “Gospel-focused” support for survivors, ministry leaders and others needing advice on preventing sexual abuse or responding to abuse allegations.

The helpline can be accessed at 833-611-HELP or by visiting https://sbcabuseprevention.com/helpline. The website also features email and chat options.

The SBC Office for Abuse Prevention and Response, a department of the SBC Executive Committee created last September, distributed a press release announcing the new helpline Monday (August 18).  

“Our new helpline suite of services enhances our efforts at providing Southern Baptist churches and ministries the resources they need to prevent sexual abuse or respond to sexual abuse allegations,” said SBC EC President Jeff Iorg in…

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Daniel Floyd took the reins Sunday at scandal-scarred Gateway Church, the multicampus congregation whose founder, Robert Morris, faces a criminal child sexual abuse trial next month.

Floyd pledged a “new chapter” for Gateway, which reportedly lost members and tithe dollars after details of Morris’s alleged crimes became public.

Morris is accused of the rape and sexual abuse of a then-12-year-old girl, Cindy Clemishire, in 1982. In March, Morris was indicted on five counts of lewd or indecent attacks on a child by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond. The church founder resigned from Gateway shortly after Clemishire’s allegations became public.

In June, Clemishire and her father Jerry Lee Clemishire, sued Morris, his wife Deborah, Gateway Church, and more than a dozen current former Gateway elders and communications staff as defendants. They allege Gateway covered up Morris’s attack on Cindy Clemishire, even though leaders knew the victim was a child.

The Clemishires are…

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Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, officially installed Daniel Floyd as its new senior pastor around three months after elders selected him to replace the church’s embattled founder, Robert Morris, who resigned last year after child sex abuse allegations emerged.

“It’s a significant day. It’s a day where we turn the page and we begin to write a new story. But it’s also not the day that we erase previous chapters,” Floyd told about 4,000 people gathered for the event at the megachurch’s main campus on Saturday, according to the Fort Worth Report.

“I just want you to know that your prayers aren’t wasted.”

Floyd and his wife, Tammie, founded Lifepoint Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 2005. 

Morris, who founded Gateway in 2000, is currently facing multiple counts of child sex abuse in Osage County, Oklahoma. The charges stem from allegations made by…

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Gateway Church ushered in a new lead pastor on Saturday, marking a new chapter for one of the nation’s largest churches and a hoped-for end to the controversy that has swirled around the congregation since its founding pastor was forced to step down over child sex abuse allegations.

Before a packed auditorium of some 4,000 people at its Southlake campus, Pastor Daniel Floyd and his wife, Tammie, also a pastor, were prayed over by Gateway’s elders and invited guests.

“Today, with full joy and confidence, we appoint Pastor Daniel as a new lead pastor of Gateway Church, and we commission Pastor Tammie and their family into this new chapter of leadership,” lead elder Tra Wilbanks said.

Floyd promises integrity and renewal

The church announced the decision to bring the Floyds to Gateway in May. The two founded Lifepoint Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia, about 20 years ago.

In…

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The Embarrass man allegedly confessed to deputies, saying there was probably “some grooming” and admitting he had prior concerns that he may sexually harm girls.

VIRGINIA — An Embarrass man who has served as a teacher and church leader is accused of sexually assaulting a child.

Ryan Ross Denzer-Johnson, 43, was charged Monday with three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct against a child under the age of 14.

Denzer-Johnson has worked as a math teacher at Mesabi East Schools in Aurora and Northeast Range School in Babbitt in recent years, according to public records, but is no longer employed at either.

Prosecutors said he has also recently served in youth ministry and on the advisory board at an unspecified church.

The alleged victim is known to Denzer-Johnson, and the incidents are unrelated to either his work or volunteer roles.

A criminal complaint says the girl participated in a forensic…

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The letter arrived in late July with the tone of the two before it, the ones that announced the Rev. David Ryan, a longtime Chicago-area priest, had been placed on leave amid allegations of child sexual abuse.

This one, like those previous, came with a sense of the somber, an acknowledgment of the severity of the accusations and a reminder of the presumption of innocence.

The letter was dated July 29, with Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, addressing the St. Francis de Sales parish community in Lake Zurich. It marked at least the third time since 2020 that Cupich had sent such a note acknowledging the accusations that have embroiled Ryan.

The cardinal opened this latest letter with a line that now felt familiar amid controversy that refuses to fade:

“It is with great difficulty that I write to share news about your pastor …”

The archdiocese…

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Iconic Australian singer Jimmy Barnes has performed a special at-home rendition of Working Class Man during a heartfelt memorial to a popular priest.

Youth Off The Streets founder Father Chris Riley was remembered at a public memorial at The William Inglis Hotel in Warwick Farm on Monday.

Fr Riley died on Thursday aged 70 after a period of ill health.

He is best known for establishing the homeless youth charity in NSW and Queensland in 1991 and served as its chief executive for nearly three decades.

Long-time friend and TV presenter Mike Munro told mourners that Fr Riley had made two requests for the service: for there not to be a state funeral and for Jimmy Barnes to perform his blue-collar classic.

Barnes appeared before the service in a prerecorded video in which he performed the 1985 classic with his wife, Jane Mahoney, and two others.

Earlier in the service,…

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Pope Leo XIV returned to the Vatican three weeks ago, after a stay at the papal summer retreat of Castel Gandolfo, but Rome is pretty much a ghost town between August 13 and whatever Tuesday happens to follow.

Romans head for the seaside, the hills outside the city, or pretty much anywhere else for the ancient Roman feragosto (ferragosto in Italian, but the Romans say it with one rolled r).

The holiday is celebrated all throughout Italy, and coincides with the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but it has its origins in pagan antiquity.

Octavian Caesar, better known as the Emperor Augustus, first instituted the holiday as the feriae Augusti in 18 BC. He placed it on the first day of August, and it helped string together a series of older Roman holidays. The Church moved the holiday in Rome to coincide with the solemnity of the Assumption, sometime in late antiquity…

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Representatives of the Catholic Diocese of Fresno recently spent hours answering questions under oath during one of the first public hearings in federal bankruptcy court.

The conversation illuminated some of the reasons for why the diocese’s bankruptcy declaration was delayed for months. And while the diocese’s leaders maintain their commitment to justice for victims of sexual abuse, a few moments of tension foreshadow the challenging process ahead to sort out the scores of abuse claims filed in recent years against the diocese.

Known as a “meeting of creditors,” the virtual hearing held Aug. 11 was an opportunity for Diocese of Fresno Bishop Joseph Brennan and other representatives to speak about the diocese’s finances under oath.

They answered questions from a lawyer for the U.S. Trustees Program, a representative of the creditors committee and attorneys representing those who allege sexual abuse. Creditors are people or entities that claim the diocese owes…

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Ryan Bennett Segura was arrested earlier this week on allegations that he exchanged sexually explicit videos featuring minors with another person last year.

A St. Augustine High School teacher charged by federal prosecutors with distributing child sexual abuse material made his initial court appearance Friday.

Ryan Bennett Segura was arrested earlier this week on allegations that he exchanged sexually explicit videos featuring minors with another person last year.

Segura, who is charged with distribution of images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, remains in custody.

During Friday afternoon’s brief court appearance, another hearing was set for next Tuesday to revisit his custodial status. A prosecutor said in court that the government would move to keep Segura in custody based on him presenting a danger to the community, but did not elaborate further.

According to a probable cause statement filed in federal court, the investigation into Segura began with the…

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Morristown NJ – The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is demanding transparency from Delbarton School in Morristown and its affiliates, following troubling allegations of clergy sexual abuse.

SNAP specifically is demanding that Auxiliary Bishop Elias R. Lorenzo, school leader and a potential successor for Cardinal Joseph Tobin in the Archdiocese of Newark, be removed from consideration.

According to advocates, Lorenzo served in several leadership positions at Delbarton School, including Director of Liturgy, Director of Monastic Formation, Prior of St. Mary’s Abbey, and Rector of the Abbey Church. SNAP claims that under his leadership, several instances of child sexual abuse occurred within the all-boys Catholic high school.

SNAP specifically cites that in 2018, school officials disclosed that 13 monks and one lay teacher had been “credibly accused of abusing 30 known victims that courageously came forward.”

SNAP claims these cases of abuse were “quietly settled,” with accused clergymen…

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The voting period for clergy abuse survivors in the New Orleans Catholic archdiocese’s bankruptcy saga is officially underway.

According to The Guardian, survivors have two months to accept or reject the church’s plan to settle following a federal bankruptcy judge’s approval of the plan. The church has been in bankruptcy dating back to 2020.

“This bankruptcy plan is a good outcome for abuse survivors, providing just and prompt compensation,” said Pat Moody, chair of a committee of survivors.

“If survivors vote to approve the Plan, they can expect to start getting payments within 3-4 months after approval. If survivors vote to reject the plan, I fear survivors won’t see any money for another 3-5 years, if ever.”

Up to 200 represented survivors who favor the bankruptcy being dismissed have acknowledged in court that the deal is “dead on arrival”. However, the approval of the plan will depend…

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Police in Brentwood, Tenn., have begun a preliminary investigation into former DC Talk and Newsboys singer Michael Tait, following multiple allegations of sexual assault.

They confirmed the news on Monday after alleged victim Shawn Davis told People magazine he was working with them to build a case against the singer and press charges. Like many of the other victims who have come forward with public allegations, Davis says he was abused by Tait when he was still a minor and believes there could be many more who have yet to come forward.

In June, he told The Guardian he was a “lifelong fan and troubled youth who had immersed himself in Christian music.” He claims Tait introduced him to cocaine and encouraged him to consume alcohol. In 2003, when he was just 17 years old, he says Tait drugged and molested him.

He explained, “I woke up in the closet, and he had my pants…

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A warrant issued for 30-year-old Shelton Burkart alleged that on June 24, 2024, he “knowingly” possessed visual material of children, ages 8 to 12, naked in dressing rooms and engaging in sexual activity.

A Warren County pastor was arrested on felony charges of sexual exploitation of a minor, according to the SBI Computer Crimes Unit. 

A warrant issued for 30-year-old Shelton Burkart alleged that on June 24, 2024, he “knowingly” possessed visual material of children, ages 8 to 12, naked in dressing rooms and engaging in sexual activity. 

While Burkart is living in and charged in Warren County, the warrant was issued from the State Bureau of Investigation Computer Crimes Unit in Raleigh. It is not clear from the warrant how SBI knew to find and charge Burkart.

He’s been charged with five felony counts each of second degree- and third degree sexual exploitation of a minor. 

According to the…

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A Glasgow church pastor is facing a lengthy jail sentence after being convicted of rape and child abuse.

Rev James Haram, who had been with the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), was found guilty of 19 charges of physical and sexual abuse, including raping a woman and beating children.

His crimes took place between 1997 and 2020 at addresses in Glasgow, Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire and in South Ayrshire.

The 51-year-old was remanded in custody at the High Court in Glasgow and will be sentenced next month.

The jury heard Haram raped, attacked and verbally abused the woman.

This included suggesting she should kill herself.

He also tracked her movements and forced her to take part in religious activities.

The victim recalled her “whole body going limp” while being choked by Haram.

Jurors heard the pastor would pressure her into sex while making biblical references.

The victim said she was told…

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A priest accused of various sexual offenses against minors was tried at the cantonal criminal court in Ticino. The man was sentenced to a conditional prison sentence.

No time? blue News summarizes for you

• In Lugano, a priest from Ticino had to stand trial for alleged sexual abuse.
• The 56-year-old was accused of sexually assaulting nine people, four of whom were minors.
• He had suffered from “cognitive distortions”, the accused priest defended himself before the Ticino Cantonal Criminal Court.
• He was sentenced to a conditional prison sentence of 18 months and is banned from working with minors for the rest of his life.

The Ticino Cantonal Criminal Court in Lugano has found a priest guilty of multiple sexual assault and sexual acts with minors. The man was sentenced to a conditional 18-month prison sentence.

The court also imposed a lifelong ban on carrying out professional or non-professional activities involving contact with minors….

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[See also the lawsuits:

• Jane Doe 208 v El Paso Diocese
• Jane Doe 214 v El Paso Diocese
• John Doe 207 v Las Cruces Diocese
• John Doe 209 v El Paso and Las Cruces Dioceses
• John Doe 210 v El Paso Diocese
• John Doe 211 v El Paso Diocese
• John Doe 212 v El Paso Diocese
• John Doe 213 v Las Cruces Diocese]

Two law firms have filed eight civil lawsuits against dioceses in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, alleging that priests sexually abused children between 1956 and 1990.

Levi Monagle, a partner at the law firm Huffman, Wallace & Monagle in Albuquerque, is representing some of the plaintiffs, who were between the ages of 3 and 15 when the alleged abuse occurred. He claims the priests named in the suit had abused children elsewhere and, when they moved to southern New Mexico and western…

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What happens after an Alabama priest is accused of sexual misconduct?

The Diocese of Birmingham, Alabama announced this week that one of its vicar generals has been removed from ministry after being accused of maintaining a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.

The Pillar breaks down the allegations against the priest, the current status of the investigation into those allegations, and the response from the diocese.

Who is Fr. Robert Sullivan?

Fr. Sullivan is a priest of the Diocese of Birmingham, Alabama. Until early August, he was vicar general for the diocese and pastor at Our Lady of Sorrows parish.

Sullivan, 61, has been a priest for 32 years. In recent years, he has also served as president of a local Catholic high school and director of its educational foundation.

On Aug. 2, Sullivan announced at Mass that he would be taking a personal leave of absence.

What has Sullivan been…

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Leadership guru John Maxwell publicly praised Bill Hybels at the Global Leadership Summit (GLS) last week, despite credible allegations the disgraced pastor sexually harassed and abused multiple women over several decades.

Hybels founded the GLS in 1995—a leadership conference which once attracted more than 400,000 people worldwide and featured major speakers like Bono and Bill Clinton. But in 2018, Hybels resigned from the GLS and the Chicago-area megachurch he co-founded, Willow Creek Community Church, after several women came forward with stories of his alleged sexual misconduct.

Those allegations were later deemed credible by an independent group of pastors commissioned to investigate the claims.

Yet, last Friday, Maxwell told thousands of GLS attendees at Willow Creek, “I would be incredibly remiss if I would not say that every one of us in this room today are a part of the calling and the heart that (Hybels) had…

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Long-buried secrets of clergy abuse at Delbarton, one of New Jersey’s most prestigious all-boys Catholic schools, may finally spill into public view, the New York Post reports — and a Newark bishop now being considered for cardinal is at the center of it.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is demanding that Church leaders block Auxiliary Bishop Elias R. Lorenzo, O.S.B., from becoming the next Archbishop of Newark, citing his decades of leadership at Delbarton School and St. Mary’s Abbey in Morristown during alleged abuse at the hands of more than a dozen monks and a lay teacher, according to a press release issued earlier this month.

The advocacy group said Delbarton officials previously disclosed that 13 monks and one lay teacher were credibly accused of sexually abusing 30 victims in the 1970s and 1980s. SNAP maintains…

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[See also the letter by Bishop Steven Raica.]

A high-ranking priest in the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama is on leave amid allegations that years ago, he began a relationship with a young woman who was a minor at the time.

Vicar General Father Robert Sullivan, 61, went on a personal leave of absence on Aug. 4, according to an Aug. 13 letter from Bishop Steven Raica obtained by CNA.

In his letter, Raica said that per internal policy, the diocese did not initially provide a public reason for Sullivan’s leave. But the bishop said an Aug. 13 report in the Guardian made it “necessary and appropriate” to clarify why the priest had left his post.

The Guardian report alleged that Sullivan reportedly “traded financial support for ‘private companionship’” with a woman, Heather Jones, now 33, “including sex, beginning when she was 17.”

Raica confirmed that the…

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[See also the lawsuit.]

Nine parishes in Western New York are taking legal action to stop payments toward the Diocese of Buffalo’s proposed $150 million settlement with more than 800 survivors of sexual abuse.

The settlement was announced in April, and the diocese said it would be paid through unrestricted funds of the diocese and individual parishes, as well as contributions from members of Catholic affiliates.

In June, parishes learned how much they’re being asked to pay towards the settlement. The contribution percentages range from 10 to 80 percent of each parish’s unrestricted cash and investments, with the highest percentage applied to parishes scheduled to be closed or merged.

The parishes that are taking legal action are slated to close and merge with other parishes under the Road to Renewal, but received suspensions from the Vatican as their appeals are reviewed.

The lawsuit filed against the diocese is in protest…

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In September 2024, the Diocese of Buffalo announced that churches would be closed or merged as part of its “Road to Renewal” and its Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring process.

The diocese declared bankruptcy in 2020 as it faced hundreds of sex abuse lawsuits, and in April, the diocese announced it reached a $150 million settlement with more than 800 survivors of sexual abuse. The diocese said the settlement would be paid through unrestricted funds of the diocese and individual parishes, as well as contributions from members of Catholic affiliates.

In June, parishes learned how much they’re being asked to pay towards the settlement. The contribution percentages range from 10 to 80 percent of each parish’s unrestricted cash and investments, with the highest percentage applied to parishes scheduled to be closed or merged.

Now, in addition to fighting for their churches to stay open, some parishioners are calling on the diocese to…

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The Ticino cantonal criminal court in Lugano has found a priest guilty of multiple sexual assault and sexual offences with minors. The man was sentenced to a conditional 18-month prison term.

On Thursday the court also imposed a lifelong ban on professional or non-professional activities involving contact with minors. The 56-year-old must also undergo outpatient therapy.

The prison sentence is conditional with a probationary period of two years. The priest will be released from prison immediately, the presiding judge explained. He had been in early release since last November and had previously been in custody for three months.

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A plan to resolve the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ years-long bankruptcy case will now go to a vote by sex abuse survivors.

On Tuesday, the disclosure statement submitted by the Archdiocese of New Orleans was approved by the bankruptcy court, officially allowing the voting period to open for the plan.

The proposed plan, which outlines how the archdiocese plans to potentially pay a settlement to an estimated 660 sex abuse survivors who have filed claims in the case, will head to a vote by abuse survivors.

Sex abuse survivors who filed claims should receive a ballot in the mail this month and must return it before Oct. 29 with their vote, according to the proposed plan.

Votes will be tabulated over the course of a week.

If it is approved, the plan could go into effect by the end of the year. If it is rejected, the judge could toss…

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[See also the letter by Bishop Steven Raica.]

A Catholic priest is under investigation for allegedly starting a years-long relationship with a 17-year-old stripper — and paying her hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep quiet about it.

Robert Sullivan, 61, is on leave as pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Homewood, Alabama, after he was publicly accused of initiating a relationship with Heather Jones, now 33, when she was a vulnerable teenager in 2009.

Jones said in a letter to the Diocese of Birmingham — and shared with the Guardian — that she first met Sullivan while she was dancing at a strip club he frequented.

While tipping her, he offered her $273,000 to sign a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for “an ongoing relationship that would include financial support in exchange for private companionship,” Jones alleged, telling the Guardian that the agreement included sex.

Jones, who was…

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