ABUSE TRACKER

The jail sentence for a former pastor convicted of child sex abuse has been increased from 80 years to 130 years. Terry Reed, who in May was convicted of four charges, had previously been convicted for similar offenses. 

Editor’s note: This article refers to reports of child sex abuse that some readers might find triggering and/or disturbing.

Reed, 66, reportedly operated his church, Vessels of Christ Ministry, out of his home in Terrytown, Louisiana, which is in the New Orleans metropolitan area.

At the time of the abuse, Reed was already a registered sex offender with a history of targeting teen boys. He pleaded guilty to indecent behavior with a juvenile in 1997. He pleaded guilty to indecent behavior with a juvenile and molestation of a juvenile in 2017.

In 2023, Reed was arrested after a victim came forward to allege that Reed sexually abused him…

View Cache

[PHOTO: John Thomas Lawrence (left) and his lawyer Mark Magazanic speak to the media in 2020, after Mr Lawrence, a child migrant from the UK, was awarded more than $1.3 million in damages after suffering abuse in the care of the Christian Brothers in Western Australia in the 1950s]

THE Christian Brothers Oceania Province, which includes Australia, has won a court moratorium on all current and future civil sexual-abuse claims, while it seeks court permission to create a creditors’ scheme to pay out sexual abuse survivors.

If the scheme is not approved — the hearing is set down for September — the Order will have to go into liquidation. In either case, the Order will then cease to exist in Australia.

The decision, by the NSW Supreme Court, has thrown ongoing sexual-abuse cases into chaos, and caused dismay among sexual-abuse survivors; there are more than 240 claimants and prospective claimants.

The…

View Cache

‘Good practice is the exception when it comes to caring for survivors,’ the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency found.

The quality of engagement with abuse survivors varies significantly across the Catholic Church in England and Wales, a major new report said Monday.

A 116-page report by the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency, issued July 6, concluded that a robust, survivor-centered approach to safeguarding was “exceptional rather than assured” among dioceses and religious life groups in England and Wales.

The report from the CSSA — which describes itself as an independent inspectorate — suggested that while initial complaints were generally handled well, dioceses and religious orders sometimes failed to sustain engagement with survivors, leaving them with a sense of abandonment.

The document also said that, despite considerable progress, the unified “One Church” approach to abuse advocated in the 2001 Nolan Report on safeguarding in the Church in England and Wales remained unrealized 25 years…

View Cache

The Survivor Thematic report by the CSSA paints a picture of the Catholic Church in England and Wales lamentably failing to adequately care for people abused within it. 

We see a postcode lottery, where the inspection has found good practice to be the exception when it comes to caring for survivors. That is a stark message to absorb. The heartbreaking reality it points to is of a Church seemingly without the will, wisdom, or heart to care consistently for those it has harmed.

One of the realities Church leadership must confront is that people are still being harmed, and too often harmed again if they seek engagement with the Church.

The findings of the report show too little evidence that, as a group, they take seriously enough their responsibility – the responsibility to engage in coherent, meaningful, consistent, and appropriate ways with victims and survivors of abuse within the Church.

Six years…

View Cache

Carlos Zamora faces multiple felony counts in the 341st District Court

LAREDO, Tex. (KGNS) – A former employee at Blessed Sacrament Catholic School accused of sexually assaulting a child is headed to trial, with jury selection set to begin Monday, July 6.

Court records show Carlos Zamora faces multiple felony charges, including two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, indecency with a child by sexual contact, and an improper relationship between educator and student.

The case is proceeding in the 341st District Court.

By Kobe Arriaga

View Cache

Exclusive: Victorian supreme court case halted just weeks out after Catholic order obtains moratorium on all claims against it

When Curtis Hogan* was about nine, he was called to the front of his classroom at St Patrick’s primary school, Ballarat.

Brother Ryan, a member of the Christian Brothers Catholic order, told him to sit on his lap, court documents allege.

The brother was breathing heavily.

“You are my favourite boy,” he allegedly told Hogan.

Hogan alleges Brother Ryan abused him while he sat on his lap.

He was abused by two other Christian Brothers at the same school, according to allegations in court documents.

Hogan has waited 60 years for justice.

The civil trial against the Christian Brothers and a Catholic bishop was due to begin in three weeks in the Victorian supreme court.

Instead, his lawyers at Ken Cush and Associates say the trial will likely be abandoned. It is…

View Cache

Exclusive: Documents also show the Catholic order sought financial support from the Holy See months before it declared it lacked money to pay survivors

The Christian Brothers has deliberately kept nine convicted child abusers, one who is currently behind bars, as members of its religious order because it says it has a “Gospel imperative” to “care for all Brothers” and “the needy”.

Court documents also reveal the head of Christian Brothers Oceania met with representatives of the Holy See in an attempt to obtain support six months before it declared it was going broke and could not afford to meet abuse claims from survivors, but received no financial assistance.

The Christian Brothers on Thursday obtained a moratorium on all current and future civil claims by abuse survivors, throwing dozens of pending trials into chaos and halting hundreds more cases in their tracks.

The order says it is about to go broke and cannot…

View Cache

The Michigan Attorney General’s office released its report June 25 detailing the findings of its investigation related to clerical sexual abuse in the Diocese of Saginaw, the sixth of seven such investigations into the handling of abuse in each of Michigan’s Catholic dioceses.

Over a 75-year period, the report said, allegations were made against 37 Saginaw priests and 1 deacon, with the vast majority before 2002. No criminal charges were filed.

So far, reports have covered the dioceses of Marquette, Gaylord, Kalamazoo, Lansing and Grand Rapids. The final report is expected to cover the Archdiocese of Detroit.

“All seven dioceses have cooperated with the AG’s investigation,” which began in 2018, including the Diocese of Saginaw, the latest report said. Representatives of the diocese have met regularly with members of the attorney general’s team throughout the course of the investigation.

The Saginaw report covers a period dating to 1950…

View Cache

A defrocked Belgian bishop whose admission of child sexual abuse triggered a national reckoning on the scale of paedophile crimes in the Catholic Church, has died, authorities said Friday.

The Belgian Bishops’ Conference announced Roger Vangheluwe’s death at the age of 89, saying it was “aware this news may trigger a new wave of emotion among victims.”

The former bishop of Bruges resigned in 2010 after acknowledging he had sexually abused two nephews — one of them over a 13-year period from the 1980s onward.

He was not prosecuted due to Belgium’s statute of limitations but his case prompted thousands to come forward with accounts of sexual violence in the Church spanning decades.

The scandal resurfaced in Belgium in 2023 following the broadcast of a hard-hitting documentary denouncing decades of Church inaction over clerical sexual abuse.

That led Belgian bishops to renew their call for Pope Francis to defrock Vangheluwe,…

View Cache

[To see video, click here.]

1. Church abuse survivor Brigid Crotty walks through botanical garden

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Brigid Crotty, Church abuse survivor: “Approximately 55 years ago, O’Shea, a then Monsignor in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, abused me multiple times to say the least. What I think is worth reiterating is what he told me during those times, which is this: ‘You are a bad girl, and if you tell anyone, everyone will know you are a bad girl.’ Hence, the 55 years of silence and darkness.”

3. Crotty sits on bench in garden

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Brigid Crotty, Church abuse survivor: “There are 14 high-level points that are outlined in this quote-unquote settlement. One of them being that each of the victims will be receiving a note of apology from Archbishop Cordileone. That is one of them. The others mainly have to do with…

View Cache

The week in review, from the perspective of a veteran Catholic journalist

Happy 4th of July!

The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence hasn’t prompted nearly the sort of celebration that attended the 200th: yet another sign (as if you needed it) that things are not right in our nation.

But for the Lawler family, the 4th has become the occasion for a Gathering of the Clan. Children and grandchildren began more arriving than a week ago, and the party will reach its peak just in time for the fireworks— after our annual re-reading of the Declaration.

With many grandchildren to chase around (and be chased by), I haven’t been working my usual schedule this week, as you’ll see. Look for more next week.Subscribe

Article

The illicit ordination of new bishops by the SSPX marked a sad day in Church history, made sadder still by the fact that some…

View Cache

What would the Pope make of recent reporting that reveals the Christian Brothers in Australia is set to declare itself bankrupt after shifting at least $500 million in assets into a separate legal entity, making it inaccessible to church child abuse victims seeking compensation?

Pope Leo XIV last month denounced the “scourge” of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy before he met privately with abuse victims in Spain. The Pope said some of his most painful encounters had been with those who have been wounded by those who were supposed to care for them, including members of the clergy.

“The Church community must respond with listening, truth, justice, reparation and an even more determined commitment to prevention and a culture of care,” the US-born Pope told Spanish bishops.

As a Catholic priest of nearly 60 years, I’m ashamed that those poor kids were damaged and burdened for life by…

View Cache

Roger Vangheluwe, Bishop Emeritus of Bruges and expelled from the clerical state in 2024 by decision of Pope Francis after admitting to sexual abuse committed against several minors, passed away this Friday at the age of 89. The news was confirmed by the Belgian Episcopal Conference, which acknowledged that his death may reawaken the pain of the victims of sexual abuse committed within the Church.

The Vangheluwe case marked a turning point for the Catholic Church in Belgium. His confession in 2010 triggered a wide-ranging judicial investigation into sexual abuse committed by members of the clergy and opened one of the greatest institutional crises experienced by the Church in the country in recent decades.

The admission of abuse led to an unprecedented investigation

In April 2010, Vangheluwe admitted to having sexually abused his nephew, who was a minor when the acts began. The abuse occurred both before and after his appointment…

View Cache

The Christian Brothers Oceania province has retained nine convicted child sex offenders as members of its religious order, citing a Gospel imperative as justification, according to court documents reported by The Guardian on Thursday.

Brother Gerard John Brady, head of the Oceania province, stated in an affidavit that 176 brothers remain in the order, most based in Australia.

One convicted offender is currently imprisoned, while others face allegations.

“While dismissal of an offender from the Christian Brothers is an option open to us, I believe that it is not always the appropriate response,” Brady said.

The provincial leader argued that discharging offenders could create a financial burden for taxpayers, as many lack independent means of support.

“Accommodating known sex-offenders in the wider community following their discharge remains a difficult issue for society.

The [Oceania leadership team] believes that the Christian Brothers have obligations both to the wider community and to…

View Cache

The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas has substantiated a sexual abuse allegation against former teacher James Zimmer.

The Archdiocese announced on Thursday, July 2, that Archbishop Shawn McKnight found the allegation against former Bishop Miege High School teacher James Zimmer to be credible following a review.

Zimmer worked at Bishop Miege from 1969 to 1984, according to church leaders. The allegation of sexual abuse of a minor is reported to have occurred during that time.

The Archdiocese said Zimmer later worked at Rockhurst High School from 1987 to 1993. No allegations of misconduct or abuse have been received for that time period.

Church leaders noted that the school collaborated with the investigation conducted by the Office of Prevention and Care for the Archdiocese of KCK.

Zimmer died on June 1, 2000, officials said.

ALSO READ: Olathe man found guilty of more…

View Cache

News 15 Investigates has uncovered that the Diocese of Lafayette has hired a well-known bankruptcy attorney for at least one of its mounting clergy sex abuse lawsuits. Some in the legal community suggest this could indicate the diocese itself is preparing to file for bankruptcy.

The attorney, Francis LoCoco, is based in Wisconsin and previously represented the Diocese of Milwaukee in its bankruptcy case. LoCoco is also working with the Diocese of Alexandria, which declared bankruptcy in 2025. LoCoco’s bio for the Husch Blackwell firm describes him as a lifelong Catholic and cites his work on the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

“Frank approaches these cases with deep humanity, prioritizing both healing for survivors and resolution for client organizations so that they can return their full attention to their charitable missions,” his bio states.

This week, the Diocese of Lafayette filed a motion to enroll LoCoco as…

View Cache

A Lexington County man was charged with sex crimes with a minor, according to court records.

Daniel Keith Rabon was arrested June 30 and charged with sexual exploitation of a minor in the third degree. He was a pastor at Taylor Street Baptist Church in Cayce, WIS reported. While his name was removed from the Lexington Baptist Association’s website by Thursday afternoon, internet archives identify him as the church’s pastor. The church’s Facebook page was unavailable.

According to an arrest warrant, Rabon was found at 5436 Platt Springs Road in possession of a cell phone with more than 26 image and video files of “morphed images of identifiable minors engaged in sexual activity” or in a state of “sexually explicit nudity.”

Rabon’s bond was set at $125,000 on Wednesday, according to court records. As of Thursday afternoon, Rabon was not being held at the Lexington County Detention Center, the…

View Cache

Statement from the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas

The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas is announcing that an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against former teacher James Zimmer has been substantiated following an independent review process.

Mr. Zimmer was an employee at Bishop Miege High School from 1969 to 1984, during which time an allegation was reported to have occurred. The allegation was determined to be credible and substantiated by Archbishop Shawn McKnight following a review by the Independent Review Board. Mr. Zimmer was also an employee at Rockhurst High School from 1987 to 1993. Mr. Zimmer died on June 1, 2000. While no allegations of misconduct or abuse have been received originating from his time of employment at Rockhurst, Rockhurst collaborated with the investigation conducted by the Office of Prevention and Care for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

We are grateful for the…

View Cache

A Christian priest was arrested on Friday for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman multiple times in Chavara here, police said.

The arrested person has been identified as Fr Dennis Praveen.

According to police, the alleged incidents took place between 2022 and 2024 after the priest befriended the woman while she was attending retreats at a Christian worship centre in Chavara, where he was serving.

Police alleged that the priest sexually assaulted the woman at various places in Kollam during this period.

Even after he was transferred to a retreat centre in Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram district, he allegedly continued to sexually assault the complainant, police said.

Following a complaint lodged by the woman at the Chavara police station recently, the accused allegedly went into hiding.

He was arrested from a hideout in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.

The accused was produced before a court and remanded in judicial custody, police added. PTI TBA…

View Cache

The two-year “revival window” newly opened for Rhode Islanders to file civil claims against alleged sexual abusers and institutions can be triggering, not only for those bringing lawsuits but for survivors overall, including those who’ve remained silent.

With that in mind, Ann Hagan Webb, a psychologist, advocate and survivor, compiled a list of resources for individuals who are affected. Webb was molested by her parish priest from ages 5 to 12.

“Many of us will feel elated at the sudden sense of power in taking this step. I applaud everyone who files suit this week and in the months and years to come. It takes courage,” Webb said in a statement.

She emphasized that even contemplating such a step can stir up latent emotions; so, too, will the arduous journey through the legal system with its inevitable delays.

“I urge everyone to seek help in some…

View Cache

Oldest case so far dates back to 1958

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence and churches across Rhode Island are so far facing 33 state lawsuits and at least one federal complaint alleging decades of sexual abuse committed by clergy and other officials.

That’s just the number of cases filed on Wednesday, the first day victims could file complaints under a two-year revival window allowing previously expired claims against institutions such as the diocese to begin again. The General Assembly passed landmark legislation in June amending the state’s statute of limitations. Gov. Dan McKee signed the legislation into law on June 11.

The window closes June 30, 2028, under the new law. Previously, those victims had 35 years after turning 18 to sue individual priests, teachers, coaches and others who molested them, or up until they turned 53.

Complaints reviewed by Rhode Island Current contain abuse allegations dating…

View Cache

The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas on Thursday announced it has substantiated an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against a former teacher who worked at two area high schools.

Archbishop Shawn McKnight determined the allegation against James Zimmer to be credible following an investigation by the Independent Review Board, the archdiocese said in a statement posted on its website.

Zimmer taught at Bishop Miege Catholic High School in Roeland Park from 1969 to 1984, the archdiocese said. The allegation was reported to have occurred during that time.

Zimmer also taught at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City from 1987 to 1993, according to the announcement. He died on June 1, 2000.

“While no allegations of misconduct or abuse have been received originating from his time of employment at Rockhurst, Rockhurst collaborated with the investigation conducted by the Office of Prevention and Care for…

View Cache

SNAP commends every survivor and witness who came forward to share their testimony with Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s investigation into clergy sexual abuse in the Diocese of Saginaw. The recent report is number six of seven investigations in the office’s ongoing pursuit of accountability in the state. 

“Survivors’ courage and tenacity made this report possible,” said Judy Larson, a Michigan survivor and SNAP’s Board Secretary. “SNAP stands in solidarity with all Michigan survivors, including those who were unable or chose not to participate. This report has been years in the making and proves the resilience and bravery of Michigan’s survivors who came forward and demanded their day of reckoning.”

The Attorney General’s report offers acknowledgement to the victims of these alleged crimes and a public accounting of what lengths the office will go to to protect survivors and provide an environment that’s safe from preventable sexual violence.  

SNAP exhorts…

View Cache

A Liberty County pastor was arrested Monday, June 29, after being charged with three felony offenses, including continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14.

George Finney, 52, pastor of New Life Church in Kenefick, was arrested at his home in Dayton by deputies with the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office.

According to Liberty County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Billy Knox, Finney was taken into custody without incident following an investigation that began after what Knox described as a public outcry.

Finney has been charged with Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child Under 14 Years of Age, Indecency With a Child by Exposure and Assault Causing Bodily Injury/Family Violence.

Court records show bond was set at $50,000 on each charge, for a total of $150,000.

As of publication, details surrounding the allegations, including the circumstances of the investigation and the ages of the alleged victim or victims, had…

View Cache

Elizabeth Greenop was placed on leave from the University on Monday

Editor’s Note: This is a developing story which references allegations of sexual misconduct whose authorship has not been identified by The Observer or administrator(s) of shareyourstory.notredame, an Instagram account where the allegations originated. References to allegations are not intended to be construed as evidence of their accuracy or credibility. An account administrator has been granted anonymity by The Observer for their role in disclosing information relevant to the University’s investigation.

Elizabeth Greenop, rector of McGlinn Hall since August 2024, is under investigation by the Office of Institutional Equity at Notre Dame for alleged sexual misconduct, arising from anonymous posts on the Instagram account shareyourstory.notredame. She has been on leave since June 29.

“We have been made aware of the online allegations. The University takes allegations of sexual misconduct seriously, particularly when persons in positions of authority may be involved,…

View Cache

A former teacher at the soon-to-be defunct Holy Cross Catholic School in Santa Cruz pleaded guilty to reduced charges Thursday, admitting he sexually assaulted one of his students in 2021.

Calvin Robinson, 44, of Española, was initially charged with seven counts, including criminal sexual penetration, four counts of criminal sexual contact and enticement of a child. Together, those charges exposed him to decades in prison.

As part of a plea deal with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty in state District Court in Santa Fe to one count of second-degree criminal sexual contact and one of third-degree criminal sexual contact as part of plea deal with prosecutors.

If sentenced concurrently, the counts could have exposed Robinson to up to 15 years in prison. However, state District Judge Jason Lidyard suspended all but 31⁄2 years Thursday, per Robinson’s plea deal. After receiving credit for approximately three years spent on house arrest while the…

View Cache

The federal government says it would be very concerned if the Christian Brothers were trying to shield their assets from claims made by abuse victims in a dramatic intervention into the winding up of the 183-year-old Catholic order.

The warning came at a NSW Supreme Court hearing that halted all legal cases currently in process against the Christian Brothers, and after media attention on the property transfers made by the Christian Brothers to their education arm that have left the order unable to meet its liabilities to victims.

The transferred properties – mostly signed over before the abolition of the liability-limiting Ellis defence and which The Australian Financial Review reported on Friday would now be worth $2 billion – have left the order unable to meet $774 million in known liabilities to abuse victims. Last week, the court heard the Christian Brothers had just $23 million in cash and a property portfolio worth…

View Cache

Three more former residents of a shuttered Wolverine Human Services facility in Saginaw County have filed a lawsuit, alleging staff subjected them to prolonged sexual abuse.

They join more than a dozen others who have filed similar suits against the operators of the juvenile detention facility.

Chicago attorney Nicholas P. Wainwright on Monday, June 22, filed the lawsuit against Wolverine Human Services (WHS) in Saginaw County Circuit Court on behalf of two men and one woman, identified by their initials to retain their anonymity. The plaintiffs are all younger than 28 and reside in Detroit, Royal Oak, and Ann Arbor.

Read more here.

No charges following Saginaw diocese abuse probe, AG’s office says

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel released a report this week identifying 37 priests and one deacon accused of misconduct in the Diocese of Saginaw spanning 75 years,…

View Cache

A Lexington County pastor was recently behind bars on a sexual exploitation charge.

Court and jail records show Daniel Rabon was arrested on June 30 and charged with third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.

According to an arrest warrant from the Attorney General’s office, Rabon had 26 or more image and video files of morphed images of identifiable minors engaged in sexual activity or in a state of sexually explicit nudity. The files were located on his cell phone.

The Lexington Baptist Association website and multiple public social media posts identify Rabon as the pastor of Taylor Street Baptist Church in Cayce. The church has also appeared to have removed its Facebook page.

Records show Rabon was released on a $125,000 bond on July 1. He was also ordered to be under GPS monitoring.

Taylor Street Baptist Church provided the following statement to…

View Cache

A 65-year-old Jacksonville pastor was arrested June 22 on charges of sexual battery and lewd molestation involving two juvenile victims, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

Anthony Doyle is listed as a pastor at Friendship Primitive Baptist Church, according to the arrest report. News4JAX also learned he is employed by Duval County Schools.

The charges

Doyle faces two separate charges. The first is one count of sexual battery — victim over 12 but under 18 by a custodian without consent — a first-degree felony. The second is one count of lewd/lascivious molestation — offender 18 or older, victim 12 or older but under 16 — a second-degree felony.

Molestation charge

On May 28, a JSO detective was assigned to investigate a lewd molestation allegation involving Doyle and a juvenile victim at Friendship Primitive Baptist Church. According to the arrest report, the victim disclosed that Doyle grabbed his butt under his…

View Cache

Last year, the Archdiocese of Newark retained an outside law firm to review a years-old investigation at Seton Hall University that had become the focus of stunning allegations:

What did the school’s newly appointed president know about past sexual abuse allegations involving former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, and who did he tell?

That report by the law firm of Ropes & Gray, commissioned by Cardinal Joseph Tobin, released on Wednesday, concluded that Monsignor Joseph Reilly, who was named Seton Hall’s president in 2024, had never been implicated in the earlier investigation.

The controversy over Reilly first surfaced in connection with a never-released 2019 report by another outside law firm, Latham & Watkins, into McCarrick’s alleged sexual misconduct on campus.

McCarrick, who died last year at the age of 94, had been accused of sexually harassing seminarians while he was Archbishop of Newark between 1986…

View Cache

Australia’s Christian Brothers have paused abuse compensation cases, warning mounting claims threaten financial collapse

A Catholic order in Australia has halted a wave of abuse compensation cases because it is running out of money, leaving some victims feeling like their “suffering is being extended”.

The Christian Brothers order, which ran more than 100 schools across Australia at the height of its influence, said it had paid out more than AU$480 million (US$330 million) to abuse victims since 1980.

It successfully applied in the Supreme Court of New South Wales to temporarily pause a spate of upcoming cases on July 2, arguing that further payouts would lead to financial ruin.

Instead, the order has proposed to sell off property and assets to pay for settlements negotiated out-of-court.

“We accept that we have now reached a pivotal moment facing a very difficult financial position, and consequently the proposed scheme is the most…

View Cache

Cardinal Joseph Tobin said Monsignor Joseph Reilly “responded promptly” to sexual harassment allegations, though he failed to follow Title IX requirements due to a lack of training.

Seton Hall University President Monsignor Joseph Reilly was “not implicated” in an internal report examining the school’s response to sex abuse allegations, the Archdiocese of Newark said this week.

The archdiocese on July 1 announced the release of its own report into whether an internal investigation commissioned by Seton Hall — the latter known as the “Latham report” — revealed that Reilly knew about abuse allegations at the university and yet failed to report them. Reilly was appointed president of the school in 2024.

Archbishop Cardinal Joseph Tobin said in the July 1 announcement that the archdiocese’s report, which was launched in February 2025 and performed by the law firm Ropes & Gray LLP, revealed that Reilly “was not implicated…

View Cache

• A new Rhode Island law creates a two-year window for victims to file civil lawsuits for past clergy sex abuse.
• Lawsuits are expected against the Diocese of Providence, other institutions, and several named priests.
• The new law allows suits against institutions that failed to protect children, not just the direct abusers.

On Wednesday, July 1, the first wave of what may be a tsunami of clergy sex abuse lawsuits against the Catholic Church will hit Rhode Island Superior Court.

And July 1 is just the first day in a two-year “revival window” the General Assembly created for long ago victims to file civil claims against their abusers and the institutions that failed to protect them, which until recently were barred by statutes of limitations and other legal restrictions.

Before the day is out, the filings may come in from law firms…

View Cache

Under a new state law giving childhood sexual abuse survivors their first chance in decades to obtain justice against their perpetrators, attorneys from Grant & Eisenhofer and their partner counsel today filed the first Federal complaint by a survivor of Rhode Island clergy abuse and issued a public plea for The Church to embrace truth and reconciliation, and flatly reject bankruptcy to resolve all claims against their assailants and enablers. Besides the lawsuit filing, the legal team is lodging an emergency motion to prevent The Church from destroying any evidence – including Church records of internal investigations – that might be relevant in litigating the cases. That request is largely based on concerns voiced in the recent report by Attorney General Peter Neronha

The plaintiff, a Rhode Island native and longtime Georgia resident, (identified as J. Doe to protect his privacy) in the Federal lawsuit (J. Doe vs….

View Cache

On Wednesday, July 1, the first wave of what may be a tsunami of clergy sex abuse lawsuits against the Catholic Church will hit Rhode Island Superior Court.

And July 1 is just the first day in a two-year “revival window” the General Assembly created for long ago victims to file civil claims against their abusers and the institutions that failed to protect them, which until recently were barred by statutes of limitations and other legal restrictions.

Before the day is out, the filings may come in from law firms in a number of states, and the targets may extend well beyond the Diocese of Providence’s realm to public and private schools, camps, athletic coaches, hospitals doctor’s offices and beyond, if the ubiquitous client-seeking on social media are any indication.

Close to home, law firm Decof, Mega & Quinn was heading to court Wednesday with an initial batch of around 30 of…

View Cache

Stollar, a child liberation theologian who fought for homeschooled kids, died by suicide this week. A fellow survivor on grief, legacy and what advocates owe themselves.

On June 28, 2026, Ryan Stollar — age 42, writer, child liberation theologian and advocate for children’s rights — died by suicide. The impact of his death has been rippling through my community of survivors and advocates the past few days. I feel intense grief over his loss, as well as mixed feelings about his public legacy and his final words to us. What I know for certain is Ryan helped change my life.

The first time I crossed paths with Ryan was around 2013, when I discovered Homeschoolers Anonymous, which I later learned Ryan had co-founded. I was in my mid-twenties and finding my way out of the Christian patriarchy movement. I was a stay-at-home daughter, which meant I was not allowed to…

View Cache

The 46-year-old was charged in connection with seven incidents that began in March of last year.

A man pleaded guilty Monday to 16 misdemeanor charges related to taking videos of men inside public restrooms last year at several places in Virginia Beach.

Aloysius Marcus Albritton, 46, was charged in connection with seven incidents that began in March 2025. Several men told authorities that Albritton filmed them as they used the bathroom, according to court records.

He pleaded guilty to eight counts of use of a peephole to view a non-consenting person, seven counts of unlawful creation and one count of attempted unlawful creation. All charges are Class I misdemeanors.Shortly after 3 a.m. May 20 of last year, a man who was identified by his initials in court records noticed Albritton in the parking lot of the Chimney Hill Crunch Fitness. Surveillance footage of the gym entrance shows Albritton followed the…

View Cache

Date: Monday, July 27
Start Time: 6:30 p.m.
End Time: 8 p.m.
Location: Virtual
Register here

“And” is one of the most important words in the English language. It allows us to hold more space for the complexity of human experience. Every human being has both beauty and brokenness. Every family has both goodness and dysfunction. One of the most common symptoms for trauma survivors is black-and-white thinking, which helps us feel in control and tells a distorted story about ourselves or others. Sometimes this all-or-nothing thinking gets embedded in our collective narrative – the stories we tell ourselves in our family, community, church, or nation. “And” allows us to tell a more truthful story, embrace more fully the paradox of human existence, and live more abundant lives.

Presenting this webinar is Derek Sakowski, who was ordained a priest for the Diocese of La Crosse in 2003. He holds a Licentiate in Philosophy from…

View Cache

The archbishop of Newark ordered the probe after POLITICO reporting that Monsignor Joseph Reilly did not properly report allegations.

Investigators hired by one of the country’s highest-ranking cardinals found that the new president of Seton Hall University did nothing wrong in responding to a sexual abuse allegation more than a decade ago.

A report released Wednesday by the law firm Ropes & Gray also concluded that findings from a previous investigation into clergy abuse inaccurately said Monsignor Joseph Reilly should have been removed from leadership and governing boards at the North Jersey-based university.

The newest findings effectively clear Reilly, who was elevated to the presidency of Seton Hall in 2024 following the resignation of Joseph Nyre, who later filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the university. Shortly after Reilly became president, POLITICO reported that he had been implicated in a 2019 investigation connected to allegations of sexual misconduct by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the longtime archbishop…

View Cache

An Australian court has granted the religious order Catholic Brothers a pause on payouts to child sex abuse victims after it claimed that it was running out of money to settle millions of dollars in civil claims.

The group had told the court it was going broke and that it planned to sell its remaining properties to fund a partial settlement. It sought the payment moratorium to give victims time to consider this scheme, local media reported.

The order estimates the group owes victims A$774m ($534m; £400m), which exceeds its $23m cash and $216m property holdings.

Founded in Ireland, the Christian Brothers has run schools and orphanages in Australia and New Zealand since the 1850s.

According to its website, the Oceania chapter’s work involves “adult education, social justice activities with refugees, asylum seekers, indigenous people and disadvantaged youth”.

But investigations have found that the Christian Brother’s schools and orphanages have…

View Cache

Overview:

– San Francisco Archdiocese settles 500+ clergy abuse lawsuits for $395m via Chapter 11 bankruptcy, joining California’s growing Catholic Church financial settlements.

– Bankruptcy transforms moral failures into capped liabilities, offering victims guaranteed compensation while shielding institutions from unlimited jury awards.

– Survivors trade potential larger verdicts for certain smaller payments, as bankruptcy prioritizes institutional finality over justice through criminal convictions.

– Critics warn this legal framework normalizes moral catastrophes as balance-sheet items, urging reforms to prevent abuse of bankruptcy protections by religious entities.

THE ARCHDIOCESE of San Francisco has agreed to pay $395m to settle more than 500 lawsuits alleging clergy sexual abuse. The figure is enormous and, for the victims, long overdue. But it is also the product of a legal mechanism that has quietly become one of the Catholic Church’s most effective institutional shields. Chapter 11 bankruptcy, designed to help distressed businesses reorganise, now…

View Cache

SNAP lauds the $395 million settlement by the San Francisco Catholic archdiocese to settle more than 500 lawsuits for clerical sexual abuse, an important first step in achieving justice for survivors. 

“This is an important step for closure but much more is still needed,” said Dan McNevin, SNAP’s Treasurer and himself a California survivor. “San Francisco must publish an accurate list and assure that all living priests, who are accused of sexual abuse, are kept away from children.”

Attorneys for survivors released a statement Monday saying that a series of reforms addressing child protection and transparency will be implemented as part of the settlement. In addition, San Francisco archbishop, Salvatore Cordileone, will be required to write an apology letter to each survivor. 

The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy three years ago. The settlement will cover roughly 530 survivors of child sexual abuse.  

SNAP tracks and documents the number of dioceses in the United…

View Cache

Archbishop Moth will take caretaker charge of the Diocese of Northampton after Bishop Oakley was charged with rape of a minor.

Pope Leo XIV named an administrator Tuesday to oversee an English diocese after its bishop was charged with the rape of a minor.

The pope named Archbishop Richard Moth as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Northampton June 30, days after police confirmed that Bishop David Oakley faced two counts of rape of a female under the age of 16, following an investigation into historical allegations.

The Northampton diocese, which serves around 180,000 Catholics in central England, is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Westminster, which Moth has led since February 2026.

Leo XIV specified that Moth will be apostolic administrator sede plena et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis (while the see is occupied and at the discretion of the Holy See). This means that Oakley retains the title of Bishop of Northampton as he…

View Cache

On June 23, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office (DAO) and the DAO’s Family Violence & Sexual Assault Unit announced charges against Philadelphia pastors Bryan Jackson, 42, and Isaiah Banks, 30. Each are charged with a number of felonies, including Criminal Conspiracy, Sexual Abuse of Children, Sexual Exploitation of Children, Corruption of Minors, Unlawful Contact with a Minor, Criminal Use of a Communication Facility, and other related charges.

In early April, Philadelphia police began investigating Banks after receiving a report from the Department of Human Services that Banks allegedly solicited—via text message and social media—child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from a 15-year-old victim in exchange for food or money. According to the individual who made the report, they found the messages while conducting a random check on the victim’s phone and notified a therapist who was a mandated reporter.

Further investigation revealed that Banks allegedly shared the CSAM depicting…

View Cache

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Archbishop Richard Moth of Westminster as apostolic administrator of the diocese of Northampton after Northampton’s bishop, David Oakley, was charged by police on two counts of child rape.

The management of the case by the Catholic Church in the UK has raised serious questions regarding Church leaders’ adherence to safeguarding procedure and their commitment to transparent governance.

Bishop David Oakley stepped down from public ministry for unspecified “personal reasons” last October, though it recently emerged that police had arrested the prelate for rape of an underage girl in September of last year.

Last week, Staffordshire Police released a statement saying Oakley has been charged “with two counts of rape [against] a female under 16.”

“Oakley is due to appear at Cannock Magistrates’ Court on 14 August,” the police statement also said.

In addition to Church officials failure to disclose Oakley’s arrest, Crux Now has also…

View Cache

The secretive religious group is the subject of the new Paramount+ documentary, ‘Devotion: Obedience or Betrayal’

• The Gloriavale Christian Community is a secretive group located in New Zealand
• Members of the cult have been accused of sexual abuse
• Gloriavale is the subject of the new Paramount+ documentary, Devotion: Obedience or Betrayal

Located in a remote part of New Zealand, the Gloriavale Christian Community has been compared to Gilead from The Handmaid’s Tale.

The secretive religious cult was founded in 1969 by Neville Cooper, who later changed his name to Hopeful Christian. The group — which currently has around 600 members and lives communally on a property in New Zealand — follows strict patriarchal rules and has had a history of sexual abuse allegations.

Gloriavale has been the subject of multiple documentaries, including a new three-part docuseries, Devotion: Obedience or Betrayal, which premiered June…

View Cache

The June 2026 grand jury term in Randolph County has been released.

These include an Elkins pastor accused of soliciting a minor, two men accused of attempted first-degree murder and another man who is accused of sexual abuse.

The full list of indictments, which was obtained from the Randolph County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, can be viewed at the bottom of this article.

An Elkins man was indicted on one count of soliciting a minor via computer, one count of distribution of material depicting minors in sexually explicit conduct, one count of delivery of a controlled substance, and one count of distribution of a hemp-derived product to a person under 21.

Kevin Jones, 34, was a pastor at Summit Church and was arrested in October 2025.

Jones was investigated by the Mountain Region Drug and Violent Crime Task Force.

Due to legislation preventing the media from obtaining criminal narratives about sex-related…

View Cache

A Houston-area pastor convicted in an online child sex sting is scheduled to be released from prison Tuesday after serving less than half of his 25-year sentence, according to records.

Records show Jeremiah Busby has been granted parole and is expected to be released. Supporters had planned a welcome-home celebration on July 4 at Set Free Church on Uvalde Road, promoting the event with flyers on social media.

But after ABC13 contacted church leaders about the event, the church canceled the rental and refunded the organizer’s payment.

Church leaders said they were not aware of Busby’s criminal history when the event was booked. Busby is required to register as a sex offender following his conviction, and the church said the presence of children in its congregation raised safety concerns.

ABC13 first reported on Busby’s arrest in 2015. At the time, Busby was involved in prison ministry, according to his Facebook…

View Cache

A 138-year-old Catholic school in California has suddenly shut down after running out of money — just days after the Archdiocese of San Francisco agreed to pay nearly $400 million to hundreds of alleged clergy sex abuse survivors in one of the largest settlements of its kind.

Families at St. Brigid Academy in San Francisco were blindsided Thursday when told the school would permanently close and that deposits for the $20,950 annual tuition would be refunded later this summer.

The closure came as the Archdiocese announced a roughly $395 million settlement that will compensate about 530 survivors who say they were sexually abused by clergy members as children, reported the San Francisco Chronicle.

St. Brigid, which opened in 1888, had recently transformed into a K-8 microschool with multi-age classrooms.

The school specialized in educating neurodivergent and gifted students through individualized instruction, maintaining a 4-to-1 student-teacher ratio.

“After…

View Cache

The San Francisco Catholic Archdiocese has agreed to pay $395 million to settle more than 500 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by church officials, plaintiffs’ attorneys said Monday.

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone will have to write an apology letter to each survivor as part of the settlement.

The settlement also requires the archdiocese to implement a series of child protection and transparency reforms, including creating a list of clergy accused of abuse, said Jeff Anderson, an attorney representing dozens of child sexual abuse victims.

The settlement comes three years after the archdiocese filed for bankruptcy and will cover approximately 530 survivors of child sexual abuse, Anderson said. It is the latest agreement over clergy sexual abuse claims. In 2024, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to a record $880 million settlement.

Several archdioceses in California filed for bankruptcy after facing hundreds of lawsuits brought under a California law approved in 2019…

View Cache

The proposed settlement will “resolve all lawsuits” regarding child sex abuse involving archdiocesan officials, the prelate said in a press release.

The Archdiocese of San Francisco will offer abuse victims nearly $400 million as part of a broad settlement of the substantial number of sex abuse lawsuits brought against it.

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said on June 29 that the proposed $395 million settlement would “resolve all lawsuits related to child sexual abuse” brought against the archdiocese under California’s expanded statute of limitations.

Cordileone said the archdiocese in the past has helped parishes, schools, and other archdiocesan entities absorb the cost of sex-abuse lawsuits, but he said the “current environment” of abuse lawsuits is “much more challenging.”

Schools and parishes “will need to contribute funds” to the settlement both in order to ensure their own legal safeguards and to “share in the work of making amends for the harm…

View Cache

A historic $395 million settlement has been reached between the Archdiocese of San Francisco and hundreds of survivors who accused the church of childhood sexual abuse.

The settlement will compensate more than 500 survivors, many of whom came forward after decades of silence. Survivors say they hope the outcome will help protect other children from abuse.

This is one of the largest settlements between the Catholic Church and survivors of sexual abuse. Survivors described the agreement as a turning point after years of advocacy.

“Today’s shame is going to change sides. This acknowledges the systemic denials and cover-ups by the Archdiocese of San Francisco,” said Margie O’Driscoll, a survivor and co-chair of the survivors committee.

For three years, a committee of nine survivors represented more than 500 people in negotiations with the archdiocese.

“What was broken in me is not able to be broken by human means it was so…

View Cache

A change in California law opened the window to litigating decades-old abuse claims. The payout is among the largest against clergy to date.

Survivors of clergy sexual abuse reached a nearly $400 million settlement with the Archdiocese of San Francisco, advocates announced Monday.

The agreement impacts approximately 530 people who have brought abuse claims against former or current members of the city’s Catholic clergy, and is among the largest per survivor settlement in a clerical bankruptcy to date, according to attorneys.

“This is a momentous shift in power. This is a true reckoning of accountability and required transparency,” Jeff Anderson, who represents about 200 of the victims, said during a press conference Monday.

“To all 500+ survivors that came forward, that stood up, that took action anonymously and or publicly, you have now brought them to bear and to do what needs to be done for kids in the future…

View Cache

The Archdiocese of San Francisco and lawyers for the survivors said the settlement, which needs final approval, would resolve about 530 claims from people who said they were sexually abused by clergy members.

The Archdiocese of San Francisco has agreed to a $395 million settlement with survivors of clergy sexual abuse, the archdiocese and lawyers for the victims said on Monday.

The settlement addresses about 530 claims brought by survivors who were abused as children, according to Jeff Anderson, a lawyer for the claimants. The settlement, which also includes several provisions to prevent further abuse in the church, was negotiated as part of the archdiocese’s bankruptcy proceedings.

“This is a true reckoning,” Mr. Anderson said at a news conference on Monday afternoon.

The Archdiocese of San Francisco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in 2023 after hundreds of sexual abuse lawsuits were filed against it. The settlement must be formally…

View Cache

Bernard Knoth resigned from New Orleans’ Jesuit university in 2003 amid sexual abuse allegations at an Indianapolis high school, which he maintained were ‘untrue’.

Bernard Knoth, who was forced to resign as president of Loyola University New Orleans in 2003 after allegations of child sexual abuse and eventually left the Roman Catholic priesthood, has died.

Knoth died June 18 at his home in Sarasota, Fla., after a short, unspecified illness, according to a newspaper obituary published on Friday. He was 77.

Knoth was ordained a priest in 1977 and belonged to the Jesuit religious order. He became president of the Jesuits’ Loyola University New Orleans in 1995. But eight years later, amid the fallout of Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting on the Catholic clergy abuse scandal by the Boston Globe’s investigative team Spotlight, Knoth resigned the Loyola presidency. 

He was accused at the time of having molested a student at Brebeuf…

View Cache

Child liberation theologian and abuse survivor advocate Ryan L. Stollar died June 28 at age 42.

The author, speaker and counselor left a detailed note titled “The End” on his website. According to that note, his death was not an impulsive decision but one he had been contemplating for years. The note indicates a pending divorce from his wife may have been a factor in his timing but was not the reason for his death.

Multiple close friends have confirmed in online posts that Stollar has passed, although there has been no official announcement.

In his final blog post, he wrote of his struggles with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, PTSD and suicidal ideation. He also cited the “fascist hellscape” he saw in America today and his despair over that.

“I have spent my whole life making excuses for a god who never raised a finger to spare me from being molested…

View Cache

Bishop of Northampton David Oakley, aged 70, was this week charged with two counts of rape of a female aged under 16.

The offences are alleged to have taken place in Staffordshire between February 2000 and February 2001.

In a statement last night, the President and Vice President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Archbishop of Westminster Richard Moth and Archbishop of Birmingham Bernard Longley, said, “Yesterday’s news of the charges brought against Bishop David Oakley is deeply distressing for all, both within the Catholic community and beyond.

“We are profoundly aware that the report of this allegation may reawaken painful memories for many people and again offer an unreserved apology to those who have been hurt by abuse in the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

“In this moment we would like to provide pastoral reassurance on the commitment of the Church to safeguarding.

“The Catholic…

View Cache

A man has been charged following an investigation by our Rape and Serious Sexual Offences team.

Bishop David James Oakley, 70, who is White British, of Desborough, Kettering, has been charged with two counts of rape a female under 16.

It follows his arrest in September 2025 following an allegation made to police.

Oakley is due to appear at Cannock Magistrates’ Court on 14 August.

View Cache

The following statement was released as a response to a statement from Staffordshire Police 

The Diocese of Northampton can confirm that Bishop David Oakley has been charged after an investigation into non-recent safeguarding allegations.

We understand that this will be very distressing for all concerned but cannot comment further on an active legal process.

If you have any safeguarding concerns please contact either our diocesan safeguarding team or the police directly. Our Safeguarding Team can be contacted on 01604 723514 /safeguarding@northamptondiocese.org.

For further resources and support visit our dedicated webpage for victims and survivors and anyone hurt by abuse here.

Please direct all media enquiries to our Diocesan Director of Communications, Neil Roseman on 07725234700 or neil.roseman@northamptondiocese.org

A statement from the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales has been issued 

View Cache

A statement from the President and Vice President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales

Yesterday’s news of the charges brought against Bishop David Oakley is deeply distressing for all, both within the Catholic community and beyond.

We are profoundly aware that the report of this allegation may reawaken painful memories for many people and again offer an unreserved apology to those who have been hurt by abuse in the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

In this moment we would like to provide pastoral reassurance on the commitment of the Church to safeguarding.

The Catholic Church in England and Wales maintains a zero-tolerance policy for abuse in the Church and in wider society, and we are cooperating fully with the statutory authorities.

Our immediate focus is on providing pastoral support and ensuring that we, as the Church, can continue our mission safely and transparently.

Anybody who comes…

View Cache

The Greek Community of Toronto (GCT) has taken legal action against senior Greek Orthodox Church figures in Toronto, alleging corruption, donation misuse, and abuse within the church leadership.

The GCT has filed claims against the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto, its metropolitan Sotirios Athanassoulas, four priests and several individuals connected to the church network, accusing them of financial misconduct and systemic governance failures.

The lawsuit claims that church leaders benefited from donations without declaring income to the Canada Revenue Agency, and alleges that funds raised for charitable causes were misused.

According to the statement of claim, donations from a 2012 fundraiser for a seriously ill infant known as “Baby Alexander” may not have fully reached the intended charity. The GCT alleges that while more than $50,000 was raised, only a fraction was transferred to aid organisations.

However, Global Angel founder Gail Courneyea disputed the allegation, stating the charity’s records show it…

View Cache

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Thursday announced the release of a report detailing allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct — including grooming and misuse of authority involving both minors and adults — within the Diocese of Saginaw in Central Michigan.

38 clergy members — 37 priests and one deacon — were identified in the report as having been accused of sexual misconduct involving children or adults since Jan. 1, 1950. Of those individuals, 30 were ordained or incardinated by the Diocese of Saginaw.

The most recent report is the sixth of seven expected from the Department of Attorney General (DAG), with one report covering each of Michigan’s six Catholic dioceses. A report on the Archdiocese of Detroit is expected to be published later this year.

According to the DAG, the complete accounting regarding allegations within the Diocese of Saginaw compiles information gathered through the DAG’s clergy abuse…

View Cache

The Michigan government this week released its sixth report of diocesan abuse allegations in the state, revealing abuse claims against more than three dozen priests and one deacon in the Diocese of Saginaw.

The state attorney general’s report is the second-to-last of a total of seven investigations into clergy and Church abuse in Michigan. Prior to the Saginaw investigation, Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office released a report in December 2025 regarding the Diocese of Grand Rapids.

On June 25, the state published its investigation into the Saginaw Diocese, revealing what it said were allegations against “37 priests and one deacon.” The allegations date as far back as the 1950s.

Thirty of the alleged abusers are “known or presumed to be dead,” while of the eight living priests, “none is in active ministry,” according to the report.

The majority of incidents involve alleged abuse of underage minors, though four…

View Cache

Key takeaways:

• Maryland Supreme Court rules on public school immunity
• Child Victims Act immunity applies to claims before July 1, 1971
• Chief Justice Matthew Fader authors unanimous opinion
• Wicomico County case dismissed without prejudice

Victims of child sexual abuse cannot sue public schools for abuse that occurred before mid-1971, the Maryland Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

The state’s high court unanimously ruled that public school boards are immune from claims before July 1, 1971, when they were first exposed to tort claims and required to buy $100,000 liability insurance policies.

Chief Justice Matthew Fader wrote that school boards are immune from suit up to that point because the Maryland General Assembly gave them no way to pay for the claims.

The decision is another blow for Rhonda Sturm, who alleges abuse at a Wicomico County school in the 1970-1971 academic year. She waited decades…

View Cache

[See also the criminal complaints 1 2]

The former priest faces charges stemming from a 2025 undercover sting operation and a subsequent discovery of child sexual abuse material on his devices

The Diocese of Madison announced that Andrew Showers has been removed from the clerical state by Pope Leo XIV, effective June 24, 2026.

The decision follows a series of felony charges against Showers, including attempted child enticement and possession of child pornography.

According to a media statement from the diocese, Showers was the one who petitioned the Vatican for a dispensation from his priestly obligations.

The granting of this petition, known as laicization, means Showers is prohibited from exercising priestly ministry, wearing clerical attire, and being addressed as “Father” or “Reverend.”

The loss of the clerical state comes as Showers faces two separate criminal cases in Waupaca County Circuit Court.

Criminal charges

In August 2025, Showers was…

View Cache

Public schools are immune from lawsuits alleging sexual abuse that happened before mid-1971, the Maryland Supreme Court ruled this week.

In recent years, the legislature moved to make it easier for survivors of child sexual abuse to seek redress.The Child Victims Act of 2023 removed time limits for them to file lawsuits and hold institutions accountable.

But in a 42-page opinion on Tuesday, Chief Justice Matthew Fader wrote that the Maryland General Assembly only required school systems to obtain comprehensive liability insurance beginning July 1, 1971. Lawmakers, he wrote, neither appropriated funds nor authorized school systems to raise money to pay claims arising from events that occurred before that date.

It was not immediately clear how many lawsuits could be thrown out, as the ruling affects claims that are at least 55 years old.

The Maryland Association of Boards of…

View Cache

Disturbing new claims of how a New York City public school teacher silenced and abused a third-grade student decades ago have emerged — a week after a jury awarded the victim a staggering $18 million verdict.

The victim’s lawyer detailed the sickening way the now-dead teacher held the poor child’s mouth closed while he molested him for 30 minutes inside an auditorium full of his classmates.

“He’s never come out of the auditorium,” the victim’s attorney Jeff Herman told The Post in an exclusive interview. “It took away a future for him — he always wanted to be ordinary and he struggled.” 

The delayed justice come nearly five decades after parents boycotted the school for covering up the teacher’s sickening acts, court records show, and years after the sicko teacher passed away.

The courthouse win for the victim, who was then a third-grader and is only known as A.P. in…

View Cache

A recent report says two Catholic priests long associated with the University of Notre Dame preyed on male students and other young adults over a number of years — but victims and other critics say church and school officials haven’t come clean about all of the sexual misconduct they know about.

[See also the text of the Notre Dame report.]

Two priests long affiliated with the University of Notre Dame groomed and sexually abused young men at the storied Catholic college and elsewhere over many years dating to the 1980s.

And the clerics — both with ties to the Chicago area — were allowed to stay in ministry long after church and school officials were said to have been aware of some of the potential misconduct.

Those are the central takeaways from interviews with the Chicago Sun-Times and a recently released report commissioned by Notre Dame detailing accusations of…

View Cache

Lawyers for clergy abuse claimants and the state’s largest religious denomination are set for a court fight over whether local properties should be on the table to fund settlements.

Clergy abuse claimants have asked a court to allow them to pursue an estimated half-billion dollars in local parish assets as part of the Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese’s current bankruptcy case.

The state’s largest religious denomination filed for Chapter 11 protection in the fall of 2024, arguing that a past series of priest misconduct settlements had reduced its highest-level holdings by half, to about $35 million.

But a committee representing more than 100 clergy abuse claimants has filed papers in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Burlington seeking access to the worth of the property and possessions of nearly 70 local parishes — assessed at a collective value of around $500 million — that the diocese placed in trusts in 2006. 

“The diocese…

View Cache

A man who says he was raped as a child by a Catholic priest in Poland is claiming more than 20 million zloty ($5.3m) from the Archdiocese of Krakow.

Janusz Szymik says the abuse began when he was a 12 year old altar boy and took place hundreds of times between 1984 and 1989.

In 1992 and again in 2007, he told the then Bishop of Bielsko-Żywiec, Tadeusz Rakoczy, of the abuse he had suffered and said he feared the priest may have targeted other children. However in 2021, the bishop was disciplined by the Vatican after it was found he had taken no action.

The priest, known as Jan W admitted sexual contact with the victim and in 2024 he was removed from the priesthood.

In January 2025 a court ordered Bielsko-Żywiec diocese to pay Szymik around 400,000 zloty (£106,000) in compensation, the most ever awarded to a victim…

View Cache

[See also the full report on the Diocese of Saginaw.]

Former Bad Axe priest Jack Leipert was among the clergy members named in a Michigan attorney general’s report released Thursday, June 25, detailing allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct in the Diocese of Saginaw. The report was released for informational purposes only and is not a criminal finding or conviction.

The 258-page report identifies allegations involving 37 priests and one deacon who served in the Diocese of Saginaw across more than 75 years.

Leipert, who served as pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Bad Axe from 1990 until June 10, 2001, was one of seven diocesan priests listed by the Diocese of Saginaw as having a “credible allegation” of sexual abuse of a minor. The diocese also listed one deacon. All were permanently removed from ministry.

The report details allegations, police investigations,…

View Cache

[See also the full report on the Diocese of Saginaw.]

The Michigan Attorney General’s investigation into clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw identified allegations of sexual abuse or other sexual misconduct involving 38 clergy members over more than seven decades.

At the same time, the AG’s office concluded there is no evidence the diocese violated Michigan’s mandatory reporting law after the state added clergy as mandated reporters in 2003.

The 258-page report, released by Attorney General Dana Nessel, is the sixth of seven statewide reports examining Michigan’s Catholic dioceses following an investigation launched in 2018. It documents allegations involving 37 priests and one deacon who served in the Diocese of Saginaw between 1950 and the present.

The Diocese of Saginaw includes 56 parishes in 11 counties: Arenac, Bay, Clare, Gladwin, Gratiot, Huron, Isabella, Midland, Saginaw, Sanilac and Tuscola.

Investigators reviewed approximately 137,500 paper documents and nearly 483,000 electronic…

View Cache

Key Takeaways

• According to the Rhode Island Attorney General’s 2026 Report, Father Richard Holden was accused of sexually abusing five boys during his ministry in the Diocese of Providence.
• Holden is included on the Diocese of Providence’s List of Credibly Accused Clergy and the Rhode Island Attorney General’s 2026 Report on Child Sexual Abuse in the Diocese of Providence.
• Rhode Island’s childhood sexual abuse revival window may allow survivors to pursue civil claims against institutions that employed, supervised, or retained clergy members accused of abuse. 

Who Was Father Richard Holden?

Father Richard Holden was a priest of the Diocese of Providence who served in Rhode Island parishes for 21 years.

Born on September 23, 1939, Holden was ordained on May 23, 1964. According to the Rhode Island Attorney General’s 2026 Report, his assignments included:

• 1964: St. Mary Star of the Sea Church, Narragansett

…

View Cache

A polygamous sect leader already serving a 50-year federal prison sentence for orchestrating sex involving children was convicted Friday on state child abuse charges after girls were found in an unventilated trailer he was hauling through Arizona.

Someone alerted authorities about the trailer in August 2022 after seeing small fingers reaching through gaps in the doors. Police stopped Samuel Bateman’s vehicle as he was driving through Flagstaff and found three girls inside, who were ages 11 to 14 at the time. The trailer was enclosed with a makeshift toilet, a sofa and camping chairs.

In the federal case, Bateman was convicted of coercing girls as young as 9 to submit to sex acts with him and other young adults, and for scheming to kidnap girls from protective custody, the story of which is the focus of a Netflix series, “Trust Me: The False Prophet.”

Bateman previously claimed to have more than…

View Cache

Bateman previously pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit kidnapping and transport a minor for criminal sexual activity

NEED TO KNOW

• Sam Bateman gave his opening statements in an Arizona courtroom on June 24, telling jurors he is a “kind and loving father” who doesn’t “even spank my children”
• He is the leader of a polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints sect and was recently featured in the Netflix docuseries Trust Me: The False Prophet
• Bateman, who is representing himself at trial after being charged with three counts of child abuse, was convicted in 2024 on federal charges involving the transportation of a minor for sexual activity

Sam Bateman, the leader of a polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints sect, is back in court in Arizona facing state child abuse charges — and he is legally representing himself.

View Cache

A polygamous sect leader, already serving a lengthy federal prison sentence for orchestrating child sex acts, has been convicted on state child abuse charges after three girls were found confined in an unventilated trailer he was hauling through Arizona.

Authorities were alerted in August 2022 by someone who spotted small fingers reaching through gaps in the trailer doors. Police subsequently stopped Samuel Bateman’s vehicle in Flagstaff, discovering three girls, aged 11 to 14, inside. The enclosed trailer was equipped with a makeshift toilet, a sofa, and camping chairs.

This latest conviction adds to Bateman’s existing 50-year federal sentence. In that case, he was found guilty of coercing girls as young as nine into sex acts with himself and other young adults, and for plotting to kidnap girls from protective custody.

His federal crimes are the subject of the Netflix series Trust Me: The False Prophet.

Bateman previously claimed to have more…

View Cache

The Michigan Attorney General’s Office released a long-awaited report on sexual abuse in the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw, resulting in no additional criminal charges.

The investigation began in 2018 when search warrants were executed at Catholic dioceses across the state, including Saginaw. The 258-page report is part of a statewide review of all seven Catholic dioceses in Michigan.

Local

Report: Alleged abuse at Diocese of Saginaw dating back decades

• Kevin Craft

Attorney General Dana Nessel said her office received 1,276 tips over about eight years, with 180 related to the Diocese of Saginaw. Of those, 115 came from the diocese itself.

“I especially want to thank the survivors of abuse who have willingly shared their stories, sometimes after decades of silent suffering,” Nessel said.

The report states there were 104 victims abused by 37 priests and one deacon since 1950. Thirty of the accused are…

View Cache

The Palatka Police Department said the case required an independent criminal investigation

The Palatka Police Department issued a statement Thursday surrounding the recent arrest of 26-year-old Caleb Roberts, who served at Victory Church in Palatka.

In April, Operation 17:2 posted a video on YouTube of the group confronting Roberts at a drug store and accusing him of traveling to meet a minor.

Operation 17:2 describes itself as a nonprofit that identifies and pursues accused child predators, named after Bible verse Luke 17:2.

Police say Roberts was arrested June 24 in Hillsborough County on a warrant issued by the Palatka Police Department.

Police Investigation

The department emphasized that Operation 17:2 was not acting under the direction, supervision or in partnership with the agency. Because of that, investigators said they could not accept the information provided at face value and required an independent criminal investigation.

The department…

View Cache

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales renewed its commitment to safeguarding after police in Staffordshire announced that a bishop in central England was charged with the rape of a minor.

In a statement published June 25, the bishops said the news of the accusations against Bishop David James Oakley of Northampton was “deeply distressing for all, both within the Catholic community and beyond.”

“We are profoundly aware that the report of this allegation may reawaken painful memories for many people and again offer an unreserved apology to those who have been hurt by abuse in the Catholic Church in England and Wales,” the bishops’ conference said. 

The statement was signed by Archbishop Richard Moth of Westminster and Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham,  the president and vice president of the bishops’ conference, respectively. 

Staffordshire Police confirmed June 24 that Bishop Oakley, 70, was charged with two counts…

View Cache

The committee representing abuse claimants in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington’s bankruptcy case is asking a federal judge to bring Vermont parishes, Catholic schools and hundreds of millions of dollars in parish related assets into mediation.

Lawyers for survivors filed a 66 page motion on Thursday. News outlet VTDigger first reported the filing.

In a court filing on Wednesday, a committee which represents dozens of abuse claimants, asked the bankruptcy court to add diocesan parishes, Rice Memorial High School and Mount St. Joseph High School as mediation parties.

The attorneys argued that the Diocese’s parishes and the two high schools are not legally separate from its operations.

The filing also alleges that the Diocese created individual trusts in 2006 and transferred approximately $500 million in assets into them to shield property from creditors, including survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

The committee said excluding the parishes and schools…

View Cache

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has released the sixth of seven extensive reports detailing allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct in the state’s Catholic diocese.

The 258-page report focuses on allegations involving the Diocese of Saginaw since 1950. It identifies 37 priests and one deacon accused of misconduct and includes detailed description of the allegations against them, Nessel said.

“This report is only possible because of the bravery of so many, from young children to the elderly, coming forward over decades to share their suffering,” Nessel said in a press release. “As always, I commend their strength and thank them for it. Accountability comes in many forms, and by publishing these accounts we hope to foster acknowledgment for these survivors and safer communities today.”

In a video posted on Facebook, Bishop Robert D. Gruss of the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw acknowledged the allegations “with deep shame and sorrow.”

“We continue to pray…

View Cache

The Michigan Attorney General’s Office has issued the sixth of what will eventually be seven detailed reports on the topic of Catholic church clergy abuse in the state, this time focusing on the Diocese of Saginaw. 

The research in the Diocese of Saginaw reviewed allegations against 37 priests and one deacon, 30 of whom are known or presumed to be dead. The eight others who are living or presumed to be living are not in active ministry. The report said most of the incidents listed that “may have violated Michigan criminal law” all occurred before 2002. 

“This report is only possible because of the bravery of so many, from young children to the elderly, coming forward over decades to share their suffering,” said Attorney General Dana Nessel. “As always, I commend their strength and thank them for it. Accountability comes in many forms, and by publishing these accounts, we hope…

View Cache

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel today announced the release of a report (PDF) by the Department of Attorney General concerning allegations of sexual abuse and other sexual misconduct that took place in the Diocese of Saginaw.

The report was released to acknowledge the reports of abuse from victims and to report the Department’s findings. The document is a compilation of excerpts from the information obtained from the tip line, victim interviews, police investigations, open-source media, paper documents seized from the Diocese of Saginaw, and the electronic documents found on the diocesan computers, as well as reports of allegations disclosed by the Diocese.

The list of priests for which there were allegations of sexual misconduct against either children or adults since January 1, 1950, for the Diocese of Saginaw that was established in 1938, is derived from information gleaned from a search warrant that was executed against the Diocese of Saginaw on…

View Cache

A Madison priest accused of child sex crimes will no longer serve or be recognized as a religious leader in the Catholic church, the Diocese of Madison announced Thursday morning.

Andrew Showers is accused of attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child, attempted child enticement and attempting to use a computer to facilitate a child sex crime. He is also accused of two counts of child pornography possession.

In a letter from Bishop Donald Hying Thursday, he explained that Showers petitioned for a dispensation from his priestly obligations. Pope Leo XIV granted that petition.

With the petition being granted, Hying said Showers has been released from all rights, duties and obligations of the clerical state.

“As Canon 292 states, ‘by the loss of the clerical state, he is deprived of all offices, functions, and any delegated power,’” Hying said.

Showers cannot be referred to as “Father” or “Reverend,” he cannot wear…

View Cache

The Michigan Court of Appeals has affirmed the sentence of a former Macomb County priest convicted of sexually abusing a teen boy, officials said.

A three-judge panel issued its decision Monday on the sentencing of Neil Kalina, 70.

“Defendant contends the trial court gave invalid reasons for its upward departure from the sentencing guidelines range,” the judges wrote in their opinion. “We disagree.”

The panel also said it disagreed with Kalina’s argument that the trial court relied on inaccurate information by stating he abused the victim for several years and he is entitled to resentencing as a result.

It also disagreed with his argument that the trial court made a “demonstrably false” claim that he never expressed any remorse when the court acknowledged his allocution at the beginning of its sentencing decision.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel praised the panel’s judgment.

“I am relieved that justice will continue to be…

View Cache

Previously a co-lead pastor at Res Life Church in Holland, Joshua VanderKlok is now facing the possibility of nearly two decades in prison if convicted.

A former Holland pastor is facing six felony charges after investigators accused him of secretly recording a family member with a hidden camera.

Joshua Peter VanderKlok, who previously served as co-pastor at Res Life Church Holland, is charged with three counts of surveilling an unclothed person and three counts of using a computer to commit a crime.

According to court records, the investigation began on May 2 after a family member discovered a small black camera hidden beneath a bed and contacted the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators later obtained a search warrant and conducted a forensic examination of the camera’s SD card. 

Court documents allege the camera was positioned toward the doorway of a private bathroom and contained images of the victim unclothed on…

View Cache

An estimated 500,000 Filipino kids are abused and exploited in a single year, says an International Justice Mission (IJM) report

At 18, Jessie* enrolled in a criminology program at a university in Iligan City, Philippines, this June, driven by a long-held ambition to become a police officer.

That’s an achievement for Jessie, who two years ago survived online sexual exploitation at his home and experienced depression and suicidal tendencies during rehabilitation.

“I will become a police officer to help children who have experienced trauma like me,” he told UCA News.

His journey from victim to aspiring protector began on an ordinary morning when police officers arrived at his family’s modest home in the southern Philippines.

Jessie assumed they were conducting a drugs raid. Instead of tearing the house apart, however, the officers carefully surveyed the cramped room and fixed their attention on him.

Only later did investigators tell Jessie that…

View Cache

David Vander Meer had claimed his wife’s death in Zion National Park had been an accident. The case was reopened in 2022, and on Monday, he was arrested in Las Vegas after being charged with murder.

A former youth pastor killed himself in custody in Las Vegas on Thursday, days after he was charged with murdering his wife 20 years ago during a hike in Zion National Park in Utah and reporting her death as an accidental fall, the authorities said.

The former pastor, David Vander Meer, was arrested on Monday in Las Vegas by a task force led by the U.S. Marshals Service and was awaiting extradition to Utah, a spokesman for the Washington County Attorney’s Office said on Wednesday.

His death was confirmed by a spokeswoman for the government of Clark County, Nev., where he was being held, and a judge announced it on Thursday morning during an…

View Cache

Yesterday in Miami the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) voted to accept the revisions to the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People proposed by Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond, Virginia. The document, commonly known as the “Dallas Charter,” was a set of procedures originally established in 2002 to address accusations of the sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy.

The Abuse Survivors Coalition (ASC) is deeply disappointed by the changes made, and not made, to the Dallas Charter. The group believes that the revisions are not in the best interests of survivors abused in the Church, whether as children or adults, abused by priests or others. In the words of ASC Virginia/DC Contact, Becky Ianni, “The Bishops voted to protect themselves, not to protect victims.”

The Key revisions to the Charter included:

• ·  The explicit integration of the “right…

View Cache

Four years ago, the Southern Baptist Convention received a landmark report asserting that top leaders in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination had long minimized reports of sexual abuse by clergy, intimidated survivors and stonewalled reforms.

The convention’s 2022 annual meeting passed a resolution apologizing to abuse survivors, several of them by name. It authorized reforms that included the creation of a database of credibly accused church workers.

It appeared to mark a reckoning within the SBC in tandem with the wider #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements — and a recognition that clergy sex abuse extended far beyond the much-publicized scandal in the Catholic Church.

But prominent survivors and advocates have largely given up trying to bring about change in the SBC after witnessing what they view as increasingly faltering efforts toward reform.

And now a counternarrative has reached the highest levels of convention leadership. Prominent Southern Baptists are promoting the view that although…

View Cache

A former member of Germany’s renowned Regensburger Domspatzen (Cathedral Sparrows) boys’ choir has lost a lawsuit seeking damages from the Catholic diocese of Regensburg over alleged abuse he says he suffered as a child.

The Regensburg Regional Court dismissed the claim on the grounds that it was time-barred under Germany’s statute of limitations, a court spokesman said on Friday.

The plaintiff had sought a total of around €400,000 ($458,000) in compensation for pain and suffering and lost earnings, alleging that he had been mistreated and sexually abused at a pre-school affiliated with the choir in the early 1990s. He also sought additional damages.

In its ruling, handed down on Thursday but not disclosed until the following day, the court stressed that its decision was based solely on the question of limitation periods and did not constitute a judgement on whether the alleged abuse had occurred.

The court “does not fail…

View Cache

Rhode Island has joined more than two dozen other states that have enacted laws expanding access to civil courts for child victims of sexual abuse.

Governor Dan McKee signed legislation amending the statute of limitations for child victim claims of sexual abuse and creating a two-year window for victims to bring otherwise time-barred claims against institutions and supervisors accused of enabling or covering up sexual abuse.

The new law takes effect on July 1, 2026.

Its enactment comes after the release of a report in March by Attorney General Peter F. Neronha accusing the Catholic Diocese of Providence of a “well-worn pattern” of failing to remove dozens of priests accused of child sexual abuse and keeping the abuse secret over decades. The report identified 75 clergy members who sexually abused more than 300 children since 1950. The investigation found that accused priests were repeatedly returned to ministry.

The Diocese of Providence…

View Cache

Southern Baptists have long believed that only men can be pastors. But for decades, the denomination took no action to expel churches where women pastors served. Then, in the middle of an abuse controversy, it became a denominational crisis.

In the first summer of this century, more than 11,000 Southern Baptists gathered in Florida to update their convention’s statement of faith by limiting the office of pastor to men only.

But that 2000 limit was not binding on local churches. Instead, it applied only to the denomination’s seminaries and mission boards.

“We don’t have the right, the authority or the power to limit anybody,” the Rev. Adrian Rogers, a famed Baptist preacher who chaired the committee that revamped the Baptist Faith and Message, told reporters at the time.

“We would resist that.”

Al Mohler, head of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, agreed.

“We would never presume to tell another church whom they may call…

View Cache

The Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld the 7-15-year sentence of Neil Kalina (PDF), 70, for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old in 1984, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. The Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court did not abuse its discretion during Kalina’s resentencing. Kalina was a priest at St. Kieran Catholic Church in Shelby Township from 1982-1985 and is currently incarcerated at the Cooper Street Correctional Facility in Jackson.

“I am relieved that justice will continue to be served for the victim of this heinous assault,” said Attorney General Nessel. “My office remains committed to holding abusers accountable and ensuring survivors are supported.”

Kalina was convicted of two counts of Second-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct by a Macomb County jury in 2022 and sentenced to 7-15 years’ incarceration. The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction in April 2024 but ordered resentencing due to a technical error during the initial sentencing.  View Cache

At its core, gender-based violence is not only a law-and-order issue but also a structural one

The month of June was marked by incidents of violence against women in Pakistan.

It began with the reported murder of a 58-year-old woman on June 3 after she was allegedly killed by her husband for refusing to have sex with him.

The 64-year-old retired serviceman, who surrendered to police, confessed he was driven to anger when his wife refused and struck her fatally with an iron rod.

In another case on June 5, Dr. Mahnoor Nasir, a female surgeon in Quetta, was allegedly attacked while on duty by the hospital lift operator, who reportedly hurled acid at her.

Preliminary investigations revealed the attacker was harassing her for several months, and she repeatedly rejected his advances, which angered him.

This case became a topic for discussion on social media, with some netizens trying to…

View Cache

In short:

A victim of clergy abuse says he is disappointed by the Christian Brothers plans to liquidate its remaining assets as part of a proposal that will mean it is unable to cover its abuse restitution debts. 

He said that after years of fighting for compensation and being dragged through the legal system, victim-survivors would feel exhausted but “unsurprised” by the announcement. 

What’s next?

Lawyers representing victim-survivors say they will “keep fighting” to ensure everyone gets what they are owed.

A Victorian survivor of clergy abuse says he is disappointed but unsurprised by allegations the Christian Brothers appear to be attempting to “squib” on compensation payments.

The Congregation of Christian Brothers Oceania Province yesterday revealed it would seek to sell off its remaining assets to pay abuse victims.

It said its assets were valued at about $216 million and comprised about 36 properties around Australia, which it admitted would…

View Cache

Former leader of Clute church charged with sex crimes against kids

A former pastor at Destiny Church in Clute has been indicted on charges he sexually abused three children over a five-year period beginning in 2015, court documents show.

Adrian Gerard Johnson is charged with 18 felonies after a Brazoria County grand jury handed up an indictment against him June 18. The offenses occurred between July 2015 and November 2020, the indictment states.

An indictment is not a determination of guilt, only that enough evidence exists to proceed to trial.

Johnson is charged with four counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, four counts of sexual assault of a child, four counts of sexual performance by a child, two counts of human trafficking, one count of compelling prostitution, one count of indecency with a child by exposure and one count of sexual assault prohibited under Texas’ bigamy statute.

Lake…

View Cache

A former youth pastor charged with murder and insurance fraud nearly 20 years after his wife’s death at Zion National Park was involved in a yearslong sexual relationship with an underage girl in his church youth group, according to court documents.

Bernadette Vander Meer fell to her death on August 22, 2006, while hiking on Angels Landings, according to the Washington County Attorney’s Office.

Investigators determined her death to be “under suspicious circumstances,” but no arrests were immediately made.

MORE | Former youth pastor charged with murder for wife’s death at Zion National Park in 2006

The affidavit said investigators reopened the case after receiving information in 2022 from a former youth group member.

Investigators alleged Vander Meer began developing a close relationship with a girl identified in court records as “SH” when she was about 14 years old and he was serving as her youth pastor.

…

View Cache