ABUSE TRACKER

[abuse: Norbert Denef calls for one million euros]

GERMANY
Leipziger Volkszeitung

November 29, 2018

By Mathias Schönknecht

Norbert Denef wurde als Kind von einem Pfarrer in Delitzsch über Jahre missbraucht. Der 69-Jährige sagt: „Das Bistum Magdeburg trägt Schuld an meiner Krebserkrankung“ und fordert eine Million Euro.

Der in Delitzsch geborene Norbert Denef wurde als Kind jahrelang von einem katholischen Pfarrer missbraucht. Als erstes deutsches Opfer bekam er eine finanzielle Entschädigung – 25 000 Euro. Jetzt geht sein Kampf gegen die Kirche weiter.

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[Church allowed priest convicted of distributing child pornography to stay active]

MADRID (SPAIN)
El País

November 25, 2018

La diócesis de Cáceres permitió a un sacerdote sentenciado a prisión por corrupción de menores coordinar catequesis dirigidas a personas con discapacidad

La diócesis de Coria-Cáceres permitió a un cura condenado por corrupción de menores coordinar catequesis dirigidas a personas con discapacidad. El sacerdote Ignacio Lajas Obregón fue sentenciado en 2004 a 16 meses de prisión por distribuir pornografía infantil por la red. No ingresó en la cárcel por tratarse de una pena inferior a dos años y carecer de antecedentes. Y continuó en activo tras el fallo judicial, según tres boletines de la diócesis de Coria-Cáceres.

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[Now officially: Bishop hushed up abuse before his term in office]

GERMANY
lnw

November 29, 2018

SKANDAL SCHOCKIERT NRW-KATHOLIKEN

Rhede. Für manche war er der gute Seelsorger, andere machte er zu sexuellen Opfern – und wurde dabei gedeckt von Münsters späterem Bischof. Ein Jahre zurückliegender Missbrauchsskandal schockiert die Katholiken in NRW und wirft wieder die Frage nach mehr Macht für Frauen auf.

Die beiden Hauptpersonen sind nicht da. Beide längst tot. Es geht um Münsters 2013 verstorbenen Bischof Reinhard Lettmann und einen pädophilen Priester, der 1971 nach früheren Verfehlungen in die Kirchengemeinde nach Rhede versetzt wurde. Dort missbrauchte er erneut Kinder und Jugendliche. Auch im Ferienlager, wie Zeugen jetzt dem Bistum berichtet haben. Und das, obwohl die Bistumsleitung von der Vorgeschichte des Mannes wissen musste. Zur Leitung gehörte der damalige Generalvikar und spätere Bischof Lettmann. Als der jetzige stellvertretende Generalvikar des Bistums, Jochen Reidegeld, am Dienstagabend bei einer Informationsveranstaltung bei den Opfern im Namen des Bischofs um Vergebung bittet, ist ihm die Scham und Betroffenheit anzusehen. Reidegeld kämpft mit den Tränen. Von Versagen ist die Rede. Seine katholische Kirche müsse jetzt endlich die Strukturen zerschlagen, die das jahrzehntelange Vertuschen erst möglich gemacht haben. Reidegeld redet von Männerbünden und fordert, dass jetzt möglichst schnell Frauen Ämter übernehmen müssten. “Und da will ich nicht mehr hören, dass die Kirche dafür noch Generationen braucht”, sagte der Vertreter des Bistums. Es müsse jetzt geschehen.

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[Why the bishop of Regensburg accuses the media of defamation of the Catholic Church]

GERMANY
regensburg-digital.de

November 29, 2018

A commentary by Alfred Gassner, Regensburg

Zu Bischof Voderholzers Rede vom „Missbrauch des Missbrauchs“

Ende Oktober hat sich der Regensburger Bischof Voderholzer mit einer Predigt an sein Kirchenvolk gewandt. Anlass war die MHG-Studie, „die uns als Kirche von Regensburg in den letzten Wochen arg zugesetzt und viele Gläubige stark verunsichert“ habe. Wie schon sein Vorgänger unterstellt der Regensburger Bischof Medien und Kritikern ein politisches Kalkül und greift dabei sogar auf die reaktionäre und täterschützende Floskel vom Missbrauch mit dem Missbrauch zurück.
Unser Gastautor Alfred Gassner antwortet Voderholzer. Er ist Jahrgang 1939, wurde 1950 Seminarschüler im Studienseminar St. Augustin in Weiden und musste dort sexuelle Übergriffe durch einen Kleriker erleiden. Mit der Begründung, er sei eine moralische Gefahr für die Mitschüler und das Ansehen des Hauses, wurde Gassner des Seminars verwiesen. In die MHG-Studie ist der „Fall Gassner“ nicht eingeflossen, weil der übergriffige Kleriker nicht im Auftrag des Bistums sondern nur für seinen Orden arbeitete.

Voderholzer: Medien und Strafanzeige erstattende Professoren wollen Kirche verleumden

In seiner Predigt zur Wolfgangs-Woche 2018 verteidigt Bischof Voderholzer den katholischen Pflichtzölibat für Priester und damit das katholischen Herrschaftssystem und dessen Eigengesetzlichkeit: er spricht das sexuelle Enthaltsamkeitsgebot für Priester von jeder Ursächlichkeit für das kirchliche Missbrauchsdilemma frei. Die Medien und die Strafanzeige erstattenden Professoren würden das Missbrauchsthema instrumentalisieren, um die Kirche zu verleumden und ihr zu schaden.

Missbrauch an Schutzbefohlenen ist ein kriminelles Dreiecksgeschehen: den Opfern treten nicht nur die pervers handelnden Täter als Einzelpersonen zu nahe, sondern auch die institutionelle Kirche als Mittäterin, deren tatenloses Zuschauen die strafbaren Aktionen der Täter ja erst ermöglicht hatte.

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[Nicolás Castellanos: “Cases of pedophilia can not be silenced”]

PALENCIA (SPAIN)
El País

December 1, 2018

By Julio Nuñez

El obispo emérito de Palencia, misionero en Bolivia y Premio Príncipe de Asturias a la Concordia, subraya que la Iglesia tiene que ser transparente y reconocer los casos con todas las consecuencias

El agustino Nicolás Castellanos (Mansilla del Páramo, León, 1935) saltó a los medios en 1991 después de presentar su renuncia como obispo de Palencia a Juan Pablo II para irse de misionero a Bolivia con la Fundación Hombres Nuevos, trabajo que le fue reconocido con el premio Príncipe de Asturias a la Concordia en 1998. Su espíritu incansable y amistoso también incluye un discurso crítico contra los sectores ricos de la Iglesia que “viven en los palacios”, los que no miran hacia el “pueblo de Dios” y hacia los que no reconocen “los pecados” cometidos por la Iglesia, como la pederastia. Durante el desempeño de su trabajo episcopal (1978-1991) asegura que jamás recibió una denuncia por abusos y que tampoco se habló de ese tema durante las reuniones de obispos en la Conferencia Episcopal Española. Al llevar 27 años fuera de España, prefiere no opinar la línea de respuesta sobre los casos de pederastia que está llevando a cabo la cúpula eclesiástica española, pero subraya que el camino a seguir es el mismo que se ha hecho en países como Alemania y Chile.

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[Abuse in the Church: “The debate is strongly masculine”]

GERMANY
Vatican News

November 2018

Die Missbrauchsdebatte in der Kirche ist stark männlich geprägt. Das hält die langjährige Präventionsbeauftragte im Erzbistum Hamburg, Mary Hallay-Witte, fest. Die Religionspädagogin und systemische Therapeutin nahm am Dienstag in Rom an einer Konferenz über weibliche Stimmen in der Missbrauchskrise teil.

„Wir haben viele männliche Betroffene, die das Thema voranbringen, die das auch gut machen“, sagte Hallay-Witte im Gespräch mit uns. „Aber ich sehe in Deutschland im Moment wenig Frauen, die öffentlich auch in den Medien so präsent sind und ihre Forderungen stellen, wie wir das in Deutschland (bei Männern) erleben.“

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[Pope Francis prepares new letter to Chilean bishops]

CHILE
La Tercera

November 30, 2018

By JP Iglesias and MJ Navarrete

Respecto del posible contenido de esta futura carta, fuentes consultadas creen que podría ser una misiva “muy dura”.

En un mes considerado clave para la Iglesia Católica en Chile, trascendió desde fuentes vaticanas que el Papa Francisco se encontraría preparando una nueva carta dirigida a los obispos de Chile.

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[The sponsors run away from the Vatican]

GERMANY
Die-tagespost.de

November 28, 2018

Die amerikanische Legatus Group verlangt Antworten auf ihre Fragen. Von Konstantin Stein

ür Schlagzeilen sorgt derzeit die Ankündigung der Legatus Group, der bedeutendsten Mitgliederorganisation für katholische Unternehmensführer in den USA, die Zahlung ihrer jährlichen Spende an den Vatikan in Höhe von 850 000 US-Dollar vorläufig auszusetzen. Der Gruppe gehören etwa 5 000 amerikanische Geschäftsleute mit einem Mindestjahresumsatz von 6,5 Millionen Dollar an. Hintergrund für die Entscheidung sind die Missbrauchs- und Finanzkrisen, in die Geistliche der katholischen Kirche, ja sogar hochrangige Stellen im Vatikan, verwickelt sind. Die Spenden will Legatus so lange zurückhalten, bis die Missstände aufgeklärt sind. Thomas Monaghan, der Vorsitzende der Organisation, forderte in seinem letzten Rundbrief die Mitglieder auf, auch weiterhin „für die Kirche und ihre Führungspersönlichkeiten“ zu beten, da es unübersehbar sei, dass die Aufarbeitung der aktuellen Krise in der Kirche noch Zeit brauche.

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[Ezzati’s successor will arrive before Christmas and come from abroad]

CHILE
La Tercera

December 1, 2018

By MJ Navarrete and S. Rodríguez

Biógrafo del Papa Francisco dijo que tenía información de “muy buenas fuentes en Chile”. Miembros de la Iglesia creen que será un administrador apostólico.

Fue el pasado 21 de septiembre cuando desde el Vaticano informaron que el Papa Francisco aceptaba las renuncias del exobispo de San Felipe, Cristián Contreras Molina, y su par de Chillán, Carlos Pellegrín. En su reemplazo designó a los administradores apostólicos Jaime Ortiz de Lazcano, vicario del Tribunal Eclesiástico de Santiago, y Sergio Pérez de Arce, sacerdote de la Congregación de los Sagrados Corazones.

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[Suspicious material on the computer: priest suspended]

GERMANY
Merkur.de

November 28, 2018

By Christian Masengarb

DER NÄCHSTE KIRCHEN-SKANDAL?

Die Polizei ermittelt gegen einen katholischen Priester aus dem Allgäu. Er hatte verdächtiges Material auf dem Computer. Der Priester wurde suspendiert.

Kempten/Augsburg – Gegen einen katholischen Priester aus Schwaben wird wegen des Besitzes verdächtiger Pornos ermittelt. Wie die Staatsanwaltschaft Kempten bekanntgab, sei gegen den Geistlichen eine Anzeige eingegangen, in deren Folge die Pornos auf seinem Computer gefunden wurden. Inwiefern es sich dabei um strafrechtlich relevantes Material handle, müsse aber noch geprüft werden. „Die Ermittlungen stehen noch ganz am Anfang“, sagte eine Sprecherin der Staatsanwaltschaft am Mittwoch.

Nach Angaben des Bischöflichen Ordinariats in Augsburg wurde der Priester inzwischen freigestellt. Die Staatsanwaltschaft hatte die Diözese über die Ermittlungen informiert. So sehe es die entsprechende Leitlinie der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz vor, teilte das Ordinariat mit. Dennoch gelte die Unschuldsvermutung.

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WHEELING (WV)
The Intelligencer

November 30, 2018

By Alex Meyer

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston released Thursday the names of 31 clergy members accused of sexual abuse through lists that include dozens of incidents dating back as far as 1950.

The diocese released two lists — one of 18 priests accused while serving in the diocese and one of 13 priests who served in the diocese but were credibly accused elsewhere — with the hope that others who may have been victims will come forward. Of those 31 clergy members, 18 served in the Northern Panhandle.

“Every single one was a surprise,” Bryan Minor, delegate for administrative affairs for the diocese, said of the names during a press conference Thursday.

The diocese reviewed more than 2,000 files and tens of thousands of documents to produce the lists with the intent of being transparent and helping people heal, Minor said.

“The diocese sincerely apologizes to all victims of clergy sexual abuse and all the families or individuals who have been affected by sexual abuse within the church,” he said.

The lists include credible accusations of sex abuse against minors, meaning that there is a “reasonable cause” to believe an offense has occurred, Minor said. The incidents involve violations of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, rules set by the church in 2002 to address abuse allegations. The lists also do not specify whether the misconduct conducted by clergy was criminal or not.

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[Felipe Berríos and new archbishop: “We are tired and overstretched”]

CHILE
La Tercera

December 1, 2018

By Leyla Zapata

Frente a la posibilidad de que el Papa designe este mes al sucesor del cardenal Ezzati, expertos dan su perfil ideal.

Si bien la crisis de la Iglesia Católica es nacional, la Arquidiócesis de Santiago es uno de los principales blancos de las críticas respecto de cómo las autoridades eclesiásticas han manejado los casos de abusos contra menores que involucran a miembros del clero. Mientras, el Ministerio Público indaga en todo Chile no solo eventuales abusos, sino también el presunto encubrimiento por parte de algunos religiosos.

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OMAHA (NE)
Archdiocese of Omaha

November 30, 2018

The Archdiocese of Omaha has submitted to the Nebraska attorney general documents pertaining to church personnel accused of criminal sexual misconduct since 1978.

The documents included information on 24 archdiocesan priests with substantiated allegations of the abuse of minors or misconduct with minors. In all, documentation on 38 clergy were given to the attorney general for alleged abuse or misconduct with minors as far back as 1956 but reported to the archdiocese between 1978-2018.

“We acknowledge this report with sorrow, and know that it will cause a great deal of pain,” said Archbishop George Lucas. “We’re deeply saddened so many innocent minors and young adults were harmed by the church’s ministers. To victims and their families, I am sorry for the pain, betrayal and suffering you have experienced in the church.”

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NORTH ANDOVER (MA)
The Eagle Tribune

November 30, 2018

By Mike LaBella

The conviction of former Catholic priest Ronald Paquin on Thursday on charges he sexually abused a boy from his Haverhill parish during trips to Maine in the 1980s is being lauded as a victory for all victims of clergy sexual abuse.

Paquin, 76, was convicted of 11 of 24 counts of gross sexual misconduct. He was found not guilty of similar charges related to a second boy.

Paquin was convicted by a jury in York County, Maine, after a three-day trial that featured sometimes graphic testimony from his two accusers, now grown men. The charges covered the period between 1985 and 1988.

Paquin served at St. John the Baptist Church in Haverhill from 1981 to 1990, and St. Monica Church in Methuen from 1974 to 1980.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian has represented thousands of clergy abuse victims both here and in other countries, including 25 victims of Paquin.

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[Survivors’ Network spokesman would welcome a foreigner as the new archbishop of Santiago]

CHILE
BioBioChile

December 2, 2018

By Claudia Miño and Beatriz Vallejos

Los voceros de la Red de Sobrevivientes de Abuso Sexual Eclesiástico de Chile y de los Laicos de Santiago manifestaron su conformidad ante el anuncio de uno de los biógrafos del papa Francisco, quien confirmó la inminente llegada del nuevo arzobispo de Santiago antes de Navidad.

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[Bishop of Aysén provokes anger by attributing abuse cases to “the denunciation of a crazy person”]

CHILE
El Mostrador

November 18, 2018

La Agrupación en Defensa de los niños y niñas de Aysén salió a paso de los dichos del obispo, quien es indagado por presunto encubrimiento de los abusos sexuales cometidos por el sacerdote Porfirio Díaz.

“Hay mucho imputado, yo entre ellos, y eso es fruto de la denuncia de una persona loca”. Esta fue la frase del Obispo vicario de Aysén, Luis Infanti de La Mora, respecto a los casos de abusos que le pesan a la Iglesia Católica, y que motivaron la indignación de la Agrupación en defensa de los niños y niñas de Aysén.

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[Juan Carlos Cruz’s mysterious journey to Rome]

CHILE
La Tercera

December 1, 2018

El pasado miércoles 21, Cruz publicó en Facebook una nueva travesía. Desde el terminal 8 del aeropuerto John F. Kennedy despegó en un avión hacia Italia. Específicamente a Roma. Allá se reunió con Francisco, en calidad de “informante”, para explicar el estado de la Iglesia en Chile.

El Papa Francisco tiene varios “ojos y oídos” en territorio chileno. Fuentes conocedoras del tema explican que no solo se comunica con sacerdotes. También habla con otras personas. Una de ellas es Juan Carlos Cruz.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

December 3, 2018

By Jay Tokasz

Administrators of a program to compensate childhood victims of clergy sex abuse have made at least one settlement offer – to a man who accused a Buffalo Diocese priest of molesting him in a church rectory.

The man was offered $35,000 to settle his abuse claim and agree to not sue the Buffalo Diocese, said the man’s attorney, Kevin Stocker.

Stocker described the offer as insulting.

“It’s tough to put a value on wrecking peoples’ lives and wrecking their families’ lives, but I know it’s not $35,000,” Stocker said.

It appears to be one of the first offers made. The News spoke last week with more than a dozen victims and attorneys who represent victims – all of whom said they had not yet received offers. Some victims and attorneys said they had yet to meet with the administrators of the program, and they expressed frustration over how long the process is taking.

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SYRACUSE (NY)
Observer-Dispatch

December 3, 2018

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse today released the names of those priests against whom it has found credible allegations of child sexual abuse.

The list, going back 70 years, contains 57 names. Each listing includes a date of ordination and the current status of the priest (e.g. removed from ministry, deceased, etc.) but not information on which parishes the priests were assigned to or when. There also is no information on when the alleged abuse took place, or how many accusations were made against them.

At least five of the priests previously served in the Utica area, however, according to O-D staff familiar with the local churches.

They are: Felix R. Colosimo, deceased; Robert J. Kloster, removed from ministry; James F. Quinn, deceased; H. Charles Sewall, deceased; William A. Lorenz, removed from ministry. All were ordained in the late 1950s or the 1960s.

The list is broken into sections based on how the claims against the priests were handled.

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MORRISTOWN (NJ)
Associated Press

December 3, 2018

Jury selection is scheduled to begin in a Catholic order’s lawsuit claiming an attorney violated a confidentiality clause in a clergy sex abuse case.

The Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey sued Gregory Gianforcaro for telling reporters in 2012 that a more than 20-year-old settlement with a former Delbarton School student was “approximately seven figures.”

The lawsuit claims that statement was part of a “malicious and unethical attack” by Gianforcaro. Gianforcaro has denied the claims.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW TV

December 3, 2018

By Charlie Specht

Victims of sexual abuse by clergy in the Diocese of Buffalo have been coming forward since March, when the diocese announced it would pay voluntary settlements to those who were abused.

While the bishop plans to sell his Oakland Place mansion to help pay those victims, internal church documents obtained by the 7 Eyewitness News I-Team show he will need much more money than the sale of the mansion — assessed at nearly $2 million — is likely to bring in. But the church appears to have plenty of money in the bank.

An internal balance sheet from August shows the diocese has $71 million in assets and $23 million in liabilities — which leaves the church with a surplus of $48 million.

More than half of that surplus — $31 million — is undesignated for any specific use.

“They’re in strong shape,” said Michael Hoeflich, wealth manager at The Financial Guys in Amherst. “It could be cash that they have in bank accounts, savings accounts. It could be assets like property. It could be buildings, the furniture, it’s everything. And it also includes investments.”

7 Eyewitness News asked Hoelfich to look at the documents we obtained and evaluate the diocese’s finances.

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SALT LAKE CITY (UT)
KUER Radio

December 3, 2018

By Lee Hale

On a typical Wednesday night at South Mountain Community Church in Draper, about 60 teenagers are gathered for youth group. There’s loud music playing over the speakers, lots of chatter and a very competitive foosball game in the corner of the room.

The youth night vibe is typical for a non-denominational Christian church: laid back, casual. But at SMCC they are anything but laid back when it comes to keeping the youth in this room safe.

In the past year, a rekindled national dialogue has focused on child and youth safety in religious settings, driven in part by revelations of abuses by Catholic priests, sexually explicit questions in a Mormon bishops office or #metoo accounts with pastors of megachurches. But SMCC is one church that hasn’t taken any chances when it comes to protecting children.

In fact every adult volunteer in the room — and there are a lot of them — has undergone a background check through Utah’s Department of Public Safety. Youth pastor Shane Lingo sees vetting the volunteers as one of the most critically important parts of his job.

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MANILLA (PHILIPPINES)
UCAnews.com

December 3, 2018

It seems as though children are at risk of sexual abuse everywhere — in public institutions, at schools, gyms, and in the Church.

When children are abused, the people of God are abused, too, for we are one family. Hardly a day passes without us reading of yet another case of a child sex abuser being caught, sentenced, and jailed.

One revelation follows another. It is good news to know that pedophiles and child rapists are being exposed, caught, and brought to justice at an ever-increasing rate. It is one of the most potent means to prevent child abuse.

There is more awareness and reporting of child abuse now than ever before, yet much has still to be done. Few clergy are caught nowadays.

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RUSSIA
RT TV

November 29, 2018

A Russian Orthodox priest, who sexually abused boys under the age of 14, has been sentenced to 17 years behind bars. While the priest was convicted of 46 rape counts, he was accused of molesting children nearly 90 times.

The rogue hieromonk Meletiy, Andrey Tkachenko, has served as the director of an Orthodox gymnasium in the Yakutia region since 2010. He was exposed and detained last March, initially facing two counts of sexually assaulting children.

As the investigation unfolded, the case grew to a truly terrifying scale. The priest ultimately faced 87 counts of sexual offences against boys aged below 14. ‘Only’ 46 counts were proven in court, however, which resulted in the sentence of 17 years at a maximum-security prison.

Apart from the jail time, the priest was slapped with a 400 thousand rubles ($6,000) fine and was ordered to get mandatory treatment from a psychiatrist.

Orthodox hierarchs of the Yakutia region are considering to strip Meletiy off his priesthood. The decision on the matter will be made following his appeals with higher Russian courts.

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

December 3, 2018

By Elise Harris

In the effort to tackle clerical sexual abuse, one step slotted for adoption by the U.S. bishops in their fall meeting was a new code of conduct for bishops, which would specifically address the issue of accountability not just for the crime but the cover-up.

Yet some experts dispute the need for a new code, saying the guidelines written out for all clergy in the 2002 Dallas Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People are valid for bishops too, if they are applied.

As the Baltimore meeting opened, the bishops were told by the Vatican to hold off on taking any action until after Pope Francis’s Feb. 21-24 summit on the abuse crisis with the heads of all bishops’ conferences, giving them time to take a new look on whether they actually need such a code.

Part of the reason the Vatican put on the brakes is reportedly due to several issues with canon law, with some critics feeling that the proposed new code was overly generic, leaving the specifics of what bishops would be accountable for unclear.

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NEW DELHI (INDIA)
UCANnews.com

December 3, 2018

India’s National Commission for Women has accused Catholic Church officials of failing to support and protect a nun who has accused a bishop of raping her.

Chairwoman Rekha Sharma told media in Kochi city on Dec. 1 that the official church was “glorifying” Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar while failing to protect the alleged victim.

“They [church officials] are glorifying the accused bishop,” Sharma said after meeting a delegation of Catholics who sought the commission’s intervention to provide security for the nun and her supporters in a convent.

Sharma alleged that church officials were not listening or acting to protect the nuns. The church has also failed by not having an internal system to report sex abuse, she said.

“There was nobody she [the nun] could go to and complain. We have also written to the church urging them to constitute internal complaint committees where women can complain,” she said.
The 48-year-old nun, former superior of the Missionaries of Jesus congregation, complained to Kerala police in July that Bishop Mulakkal raped her 13 times between 2014 and 2016.

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MIAMI (FL)
USA TODAY

November 30, 2018

By Christal Hayes and Jorge L. Ortiz

A Democratic group of lawmakers is calling for a Justice Department investigation into Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta after a scathing report revealed decade-old allegations that he granted an alleged serial pedophile the “deal of a lifetime’’ while serving as a U.S. attorney in South Florida.

The still-growing group, led by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., called on Inspector General Michael Horowitz to investigate Acosta’s role in a plea deal for Jeffrey Epstein, a multimillionaire financier. Epstein was convicted in 2008 of soliciting an underage girl for prostitution, but a Miami Herald investigation this week said the allegations against him were originally much broader, accusing him of coercing dozens of underage girls into sex acts.

As of Friday, six lawmakers had signed the letter calling for an investigation and seven others were scheduled to before it’s sent to the Justice Department on Monday, according to a signed draft exclusively obtained by USA TODAY.

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HARRISBURG (PA)
The Herald

December 2, 2018

By John Finnerty

A compensation fund for victims of priest abuse is up-and-running in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and similar funds are in various stages of development in other dioceses across the state.

The Philadelphia fund launched Nov. 13. Victims of priest abuse have until Sept. 30, 2019, to file claims seeking compensation.

The fund is being overseen by Kenneth Feinberg, who had the same responsibility with funds for victims of priest abuse in New York.

The compensation fund came in the wake of a series of grand jury investigations into the church’s decades-long policy of covering up priest abuse. The final report, covering six dioceses, concluded that there had been 300 predator priests who’d molested at least 1,000 victims.

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OMAHA (NE)
World Herald

December 3, 2018

By Kevin Cole

Some churches in the Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha used time before and during Mass on Sunday to react to the revelation of 38 clergy members being accused of sexual misdeeds with minors.

The archdiocese announced Friday that “substantiated claims of sexual abuse of, or sexual misconduct with, a minor” had been made against 34 priests and four deacons on a list it provided to Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, who had asked for the information. The files go back to 1978, as requested by the attorney general. Only a few of the accused have faced criminal charges or civil lawsuits.

At St. Columbkille in Papillion, the Rev. Dave Reeson told church members that the Steinhausen Center will be renamed because the Rev. Robert O. Steinhausen was named in the report. Steinhausen died in 1993 at age 70 after 21½ years at the helm of St. Columbkille.

The archdiocese received a substantiated allegation against Steinhausen in 2008, after his death, said Deacon Tim McNeil, chancellor of the archdiocese.

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IRONDALE (AL)
National Catholic Register

December 2, 2018

EDITORIAL: Time is short for concrete actions and authentic reforms. We cannot afford another missed opportunity.

The Holy See announced in September that Pope Francis would focus all of the energies and proposals in dealing with the growing global clergy sex-abuse crisis on one event: the gathering in Rome of the presidents of the world’s episcopal conferences Feb. 21-24, 2019.

The importance of the February summit gained heightened urgency for Catholics in the U.S. after the disastrous meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops last month in Baltimore, as well as the Pope’s Nov. 23 appointment of the February meeting’s four-member organizing committee. Comprising the committee to oversee the logistics and planning are Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, India, Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta and Jesuit Father Hans Zollner.

What does the choice of the organizing committee mean for the gathering, and, above all, does it reveal a willingness to get to the root causes of the crisis?

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

December 3, 2018

By Haidee V Eugenio

A Catholic religious order, Discalced Carmelite Nuns, is now named as a defendant in dozens of clergy sex abuse cases involving the recently deceased Father Louis Brouillard.

Brouillard was assigned in the late ’60s to early ’70s to the San Isidro Parish in Malojloj where the Carmelites had a monastery or convent at the time.

Lawsuits filed by former altar boys, former members of the Boy Scouts of America, and former parishioners, state Brouillard sexually abused and molested them at the convent, where the priest was residing.

The original lawsuits were filed in 2017, and were amended this year to include the Carmelites. A summons recently was served at the Carmelite Monastery in Carmel, California.

The Carmelites, also known as the Order of Discalced Carmelites and Carmel of the Immaculate Conception, arrived on Guam in 1966 and built a monastery and convent in Malojloj in 1968, the amended complaints said. The Carmelites later relocated to Tamuning.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Tribune Review

December 2, 2018

By Deb Erdley

Pennsylvania Catholic dioceses began to ante up legal fees in the wake of a statewide grand jury long before last summer, when the panel released its scathing report detailing allegations of rampant clergy sexual abuse and cover-ups.

Recent financial reports in two dioceses — Greensburg and Erie — show those fees total about $5 million and counting. Church officials across the state concede legal costs are poised to grow as the U.S. Justice Department probes church records and Pennsylvania dioceses prepare to launch settlement funds for victims of past abuse.

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SYRACUSE (NY)
Syracuse.com

December 2, 2018

By Julie McMahon

The Syracuse diocese’s list of abusive priests contains the names of “dozens” of people who can no longer be prosecuted for sex crimes against children, according to Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick.

Some of those priests are deceased, the diocese said in a statement Saturday. The list, which will be released Monday morning, includes allegations dating back to the 1950s. New York state’s statute of limitations prevents Fitzpatrick from pursuing charges against the others.

“The list, if it had one name on it, would be distressing,” Fitzpatrick said. “And the fact that it has dozens of names on it, I personally think, is a crisis that is affecting the Catholic Church greater than the Reformation. It is so distressing.”

Fitzpatrick, who is Roman Catholic, was comparing the clergy sex abuse scandal that has continued to plague the church since it was first exposed in the early 2000s to a time in the 16th Century when Protestants broke from the Catholic Church.

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DULUTH (MN)
News Tribune

December 1, 2018

By Fr. William Fider

There continues to be much anger and outrage and shame and sadness in the Catholic Church over the abuse scandals and especially over the coverups by the bishops. Most agree now that the root cause of our troubles is the failure of the bishops’ leadership.

Bishops and chancery officials who should have stopped the pain and suffering of children decided to protect themselves instead. Some chancery officials even advanced up the ecclesial ladder, even though they were involved in the coverups. When confronted with the crisis, the bishops acted as if they were the victims and not the abused children.

So far, we’ve seen mostly pious words and not much action from our bishops. It looks like the bishops simply want to take a mulligan.

Our confidence in our bishops has been shattered, and now our church is running out of time.

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ATHENS (OH)
Athens Post

November 27, 2018

By Ellen Wagner and Logan Moore

Henry Christopher Foxhoven was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in the State Penal System for three counts of sexual battery and will be registered as a sex offender for life.

Foxhoven, 45, of Glouster, was a priest at the Holy Cross Catholic Church in Glouster, a part of the Diocese of Steubenville. He pleaded guilty to three charges for engaging in sexual conduct with a minor, a parishioner of the church, in the church rectory where he lived.

Each count was four years in prison, totaling a sentence of 12 years. That was a part of an agreement that other charges, such as child pornography or criminal tools, would not be brought against him. If another victim, however, comes forward, he could be charged again.

As a part of his agreement, he is not allowed to apply or accept any early release. After his release, he has five years of mandatory post-release control and has to register as a sex offender, requiring him to report to a sheriff’s office every 90 days for life.

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INDIA
The Hans India

December 2, 2018

This refers to the report ‘NCW slams church for not protecting nun’s interests’ (THI, Dec 1). The Church authorities have backstabbed the victim in the Jalandhar bishop rape case.

The victim is still praying hard as she has not got any justice in her case as the alleged bishop is on bail and enjoying a normal life. The Church authorities should have shown some decency in protecting the nun’s interest.

Instead, what they did was to organise a grand roaring welcome for the rape accused bishop. This type of act by church authorities will definitely send a bad message to the society.

Sharadchandran S, New Delhi

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ROME (ITALY)
Daily Beast

December 2, 2018

By Barbie Latza Nadeau

Remember back in 2013, shortly after Pope Francis was elected when he shocked the world with his words: “If a person seeks God and has goodwill, then who am I to judge,” when asked about a gay priest?

What was then seen to be a change in decades of dogma sent shockwaves around the world, landing the pontiff on the cover of Advocate and winning him praise among LGBTQ groups and lapsed Catholics. In some ways, Francis has been eating his words ever since, constantly called to explain by conservatives in the church what he meant.

Now it seems Francis isn’t mincing his words on the topic. He told Spanish Claretian missionary Fernando Prado that in reality he’s actually “very worried” about homosexuality in the church. Prado, whose book La Forza della Vocazione (The Strength of Vocation) comes out in multiple languages on Monday, spent four hours interviewing the pontiff in Vatican City this fall about problems in the priesthood. Italy’s Corriere Della Sera newspaper excerpted parts of the book on Saturday.

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NORWICH (CT)
The Day

December 1, 2018

By Joe Wojtas

A former deacon at Sacred Heart Church in Groton has alleged that the current pastor of St. Agnes Church in Niantic, the Rev. Gregory Mullaney, repeatedly propositioned him for sex while on a 2006 trip to Rome and tried to sexually assault him in the street after he fled from a restaurant where the two had been dining.

In addition, Deacon Mark King alleges in a sworn statement he made in 2006 that during the trip Mullaney drank heavily and made numerous crude sexual remarks about other priests, nuns and church employees, some of whom he said he’d had sex with in violation of Catholic law.

“Marco, what do you say? Let’s go back to the room and get it on. Come on, what are you afraid of?” Mullaney allegedly said to King during one of his wine-fueled lunches. Later Mullaney added, “You know you want it and I’m going to give it you,” and told King that “what happens in Rome stays in Rome.” Many of the other alleged comments in the statement are too graphic for publication.

King reported Mullaney’s actions to Diocese of Norwich. Mullaney was removed from Sacred Heart and since has been assigned to at least three other parishes, including St. Agnes.

The diocese refused to release a list of Mullaney’s parish assignments or say if there have been other complaints. Bishop Michael Cote declined a request for an interview about King’s allegations. Diocesan spokesman Wayne Gignac said that “publicly addressing specific allegations on individual matters is improper and unfair to the involved parties.”

Mullaney, who didn’t respond to phone and email messages, declined to comment on King’s allegations when asked about them outside St. Agnes two weeks ago.

During a four-hour interview Oct. 31 in the kitchen of their current home in Charlotte, N.C., King and his wife, Susan, a licensed marriage and family therapist, questioned why Cote would risk protecting Mullaney and in 2009 transfer him to St. Thomas Aquinas Church, which serves students at the University of Connecticut. From 2007 to 2009, he served at St. Colman Church in Middlefield, according to that church’s website.

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RAPID CITY (SD)
Washington Post

November 30, 2018

By Terrence McCoy

Brian Christensen is on his way to jail again. Clerical collar around his thin neck, rosary dangling from the rearview mirror, the priest sets out on the same trip he has taken almost every day that week. First was Monday afternoon, when he followed the detectives down this road, then up to the third floor of the police department, where he waited outside the interrogation room. On Wednesday, he went to the preliminary hearing, where the felony charges were announced: two counts of sexual contact with a 13-year-old. On Thursday, and on Friday, he returned to arrange a visitation with the Rev. John Praveen, 38, whom he last saw being cuffed and led into a police car, and who is now being held on a $100,000 cash bond and facing 30 years in prison.

Now, Monday again, Christensen pulls out of the parking lot at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, where as lead pastor he oversaw Praveen’s clerical duties. He makes the five-minute drive to the Pennington County jail, where he plans to speak with the incarcerated priest for the first time since his arrest.

“Aren’t you tired of all this?” his mother asked him on the phone that morning, and he could only sigh and say, yes, “I am tired of this.”

This: a string of child sex abuse scandals that — spanning decades, continents and thousands of victims — has fundamentally altered how the world views the Catholic Church and priests like him, in particular. With every crisis, Christensen had allowed himself to hope that now, perhaps, it would be over, only to see another year like this one, when every day seems to bring news of sex crimes and cover-ups in the church. A grand jury report in Pennsylvania accused more than 300 priests of abusing about 1,000 children, spurring federal authorities to investigate. Two U.S. cardinals have been disgraced. And approval ratings for Pope Francis, who once was the world’s most popular leader, have plummeted among Americans.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

November 30, 2018

By Peter Isely

A Waukesha County judge this morning has determined that there is sufficient evidence for Fr. Charles Hanel to stand trial for felony sexual assault of a child. Hanel was arrested in September for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl in the confessional. The alleged assault took place at Queen of Apostles Church in Pewaukee where Hanel is pastor.

Hanel, through his defense team, has been unusually aggressive in out of court statements concerning the case, challenging both the alleged victim and her account of the assault, along with suggesting that the case was being brought as a “referendum” on the sex abuse scandal in the church. She is a child, however, and unable to defend herself in public, as he can. Hanel’s superior, Archbishop Jerome Listecki, needs to make it very clear that while Hanel can hire an expensive legal team, the church will not tolerate public messages that can only result in dissuading or intimidating potential victims of priest abuse, especially children, from coming forward. Hanel is, presumably, still salaried by the archdiocese and is taking care of his housing and living expenses.

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SACRAMENTO (CA)
Not 1 Dime

December 2018

By Ray Riehle

Not 1 Dime Until These Minimum Standards are met

Our Proposal:

If you are upset about child abuse and the allegations of sexual harassment in the Catholic Church, Join Us If you have put your faith aside out of disgust with the lack of proper Church reaction, Join us. If you are angry with the lies, coverup, rotational policies and denials, Join Us with this simple message: Not 1 Dime more in the collection plate- Join us in this call for action!

What Must Be Done

1. We Want the Roman Catholic Church to be respected around the world. Our goal is to restore the Church to relevance. Our demand is the implementation of practice and policy consistent with moral standards and decency expected by the Church faithful – we know what is right.

2. We want the First Person Called when there is an accusation carries a gun and a badge.

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ROME (ITALY)
Crux

December 1, 2018

By Elise Harris

A leading expert in cyberpsychology describes a digital culture today in which children and pre-teens have virtually unfiltered access to online pornography, and she predicts that one day parents who fail to monitor their children’s online activity may be found guilty of criminal child abuse.

“I can see later down the line that parents or caregivers who allow their very young children to be exposed to hardcore pornography on their phone and on their devices …that may be considered, in terms of social welfare and social services, as the active abuse of a child,” said Mary Aiken, Adjunct Associate Professor at University College in Dublin and an Academic Advisor to the European Cyber Crime Centre at Europol for Ireland.

Aiken told Crux the widespread diffusion of sexual content online has been described in some circles as “the ‘pornification’ of society.”

This is a problem for youngsters, because “children are vulnerable to being damaged by what we call legal but age-inappropriate content,” she said, explaining that in the UK, there is currently talk of developing an “A” and “B” internet, where households who actually want porn will have to put their name on a list and sign up for it.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
National Review

December 2, 2018

By Katheryn Jean Lopez

On Thursday night at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., Mary Rice Hasson hosted the inaugural Kate O’Beirne Event, in honor of our late National Review and National Review Institute colleague. The event was entitled “The Future of the Church: Synod, Scandal, and Solace,” sponsored by the Catholic Women’s Forum, a program of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. I was honored to say a few words at the start of the program about my beloved friend. The following piece has been adapted from my remarks.

There’s so much I can and want to say about Kate O’Beirne, but I hope these brief remarks help us all a little.

I first met Kate O’Beirne when I was an undergraduate at the Catholic University of America. I was an intern at the Heritage Foundation, and she was vice president of government relations there. I looked up to her, even before I knew her. When I got to know her, my gratitude to her, and to God for her, only ever grew. It only ever has.

She was wise and fun. She was smart and bold.

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UNITED STATES
Patheos blog

December 2, 2018

By Rebecca Bratten Weiss

Going to mass, this past year, has not been easy. First, there is always the danger, no matter which local parish I attend, of running into one of the people who harassed and libeled me at my former academic post. When not in church I can amuse myself by giving them sly, knowing looks – as though they have a booger hanging out of their nostril, or toilet paper on their shoe, and I’m not going to say – but this seems not quite a fitting attitude for worship.

Then there was my family’s mounting frustration with our former parish priest, an authoritarian individual who seemed utterly unaware of the basics of theology, but instead pulled deranged scripture exegesis out of thin air, while also treating his congregation as though we were village idiots desperately in need of his enlightenment. We finally had enough, left the parish, and have been the proverbial “roaming catholics” ever since.

Then, of course, the sex abuse scandal broke, and it wasn’t just the horror of the details: it was that they clearly hadn’t learned from the last go-around. And, to judge from the behavior of many bishops, are still refusing to learn. In the months since we first heard of the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report, so many of my friends have left the church, and I can’t blame them. And many of us who remain, meanwhile, are asking ourselves: how can we stay, without being complicit?

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NEW YORK (NY)
America Magazine

November 30, 2018

By Ashley McKinless

“The church has to change that paradigm, that way of thinking that survivors are enemies of the church and want to destroy the church,” said Juan Carlos Cruz. “It’s quite the opposite. There’s a lot of people that have been destroyed by the church and others that have been wronged in the worst way by the church and yet they still want to move forward and call themselves Catholics.”

Juan Carlos has been advocating for survivors for years, since he publicly disclosed that as a child he was abused by the notorious predator Fernando Karadima, a Chilean Catholic priest. For a long time, the Catholic Church in Chile disregarded the abuse allegations against the powerful cleric. One cardinal even told Juan Carlos it was hard to believe he was a victim because he is gay and “might have liked it.” When Pope Francis visited Chile earlier this year, he initially dismissed as “slander” allegations from Juan Carlos and other victims that a bishop had covered up Karadima’s abuse. Yet Juan Carlos persisted and, by sharing his story, has changed the church in Chile and given hope to many other survivors.

The church has to change that paradigm that that way of thinking that survivors are enemies of the church and want to destroy the church.

We ask Juan Carlos: What it’s like to feel betrayed by the pope—and to have the pope ask for your forgiveness? What concrete steps do Pope Francis and the church need to take to protect and bring healing to survivors of sexual abuse?

In Signs of the Times, the International Union of Superiors General is urging sisters who have been abused to report the crimes to police and their superiors, more details emerge about February’s global summit on sex abuse at the Vatican and Catholics respond to the migrant crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. Plus, we discuss the U.S. bishops’ new pastoral letter on racism. It’s been 40 years since the bishops have spoken together on racial justice. Does this statement go far enough?

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WHEELING (WV)
The Intelligencer

December 2, 2018

Church-goers within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston are still reeling from the revelation that 18 of their priests have had credible accusations of sexual abuse against them in the Northern Panhandle.

It also was revealed that 13 additional diocesan priests had been accused in other states.

Since the Diocese released the list of abusers last week, current clergy have struggled with the news and how to bring a new sense of faith to their congregations.

Some pastors have chosen not to address the sex scandal from the pulpit during Mass on Saturday evening and today.

Others have weaved today’s Gospel readings into their comments about the abuse.

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JEFFERSON CITY (MO)
Jefferson City Diocese

December 2018

Approximately 500 attended one of six listening sessions in the Diocese between Oct. 28 and Nov. 6, 2018, to provide an opportunity for Catholics to respond to the proposed agenda for the fall November 2018 US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ General Assembly. In addition, people were encouraged to submit answers in writing or via email.

The text below has names and other personal information removed, and has been edited for clarity, while still honoring the authors’ primary points. Four reflection questions were offered, and speakers were advised to explain which question they were addressing. Readers will quickly recognize this advice was not always followed. The responses are not organized in any other way.

How can the bishops rebuild trust in their leadership, both among Catholics and others?
We need for all bishops to be 100 percent transparent in what’s being done. We need to be well informed and very open about what rules are being changed, what is happening. Would say I don’t believe bishops should be put out on their own. I think they should be sent to where they spend their whole days praying about why they did what they did if they’re guilty of these things. I think they should definitely be found guilty before they’re chastised. And I know that’s not always easy. It’s easy to accuse someone 35 years later. I’ve seen that happen to innocent people. I’ve seen it happen to guilty people. So I would like to make sure that those who are chastised are truly guilty of having committed these heinous things. Thank you.

We have not been catechized properly in terms of sexuality. I would respectfully ask the bishop to always promote the teachings of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. There is a wealth of knowledge in it that we just don’t know.

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SYRACUSE (NY)
Syracuse.com

December 1, 2018

By Jacob Pucci

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse will publish a list Monday of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor in the diocese since 1950.

The list will be available online Monday morning (Dec. 3) on thecatholicsun.com and syrdio.org.

The list will include the names of priests both living and deceased, the diocese said in a statement announcing the list’s release.

The release of the list was publicly announced in a letter from Bishop Robert J. Cunningham to diocese parishioners today and made available in all parishes over the weekend. Priests were informed in meetings with the bishop on Thursday. Diocesan staff were informed Friday.

The decision to release the names of abusive priests is an apparent reversal of Cunningham’s previous policy, which was to confirm the names once a victim makes it public, but not to release a list.

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COLUMBIA (MO)
Columbia Daily Tribune

December 1, 2018

By Pat Pratt

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests says the Jefferson City Diocese and Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley are not doing enough to investigate and raise awareness of sex abuse by clergy.

Bishop W. Shawn McKnight released in November a list of 33 names of Jefferson City Diocese clergy that had been “credibly accused” of illicit sexual acts involving minors. The list came during a listening tour regarding the abuse crisis in the Catholic Church and on the heels of an announced investigation by Hawley.

David Clohessy, St. Louis director and longtime member of SNAP, says the list is incomplete. He claims that three names, one being a priest who lived in a Columbia rectory and was later deemed a sexually violent predator, were not included.

“It just takes seconds, literally seconds for a predator to shove his hands in a child’s pants,” Clohessy said. “If they know that predator, especially a serial predator, was in the diocese, then McKnight owes it to the parents and parishioners to let them know.”

Father Fred Lenczycki worked at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Columbia and another parish in St. James in the mid-1980s, according to a SNAP information release. He was arrested and convicted in 2004 of abusing three boys in the Joliet, Illinois, area, where he was ordained, and is believed to have molested many more children in multiple states. His current whereabouts are unknown.

The other omitted names are those of Father John C. Baskett and Father Kenneth J. Roberts. Baskett, the release states, worked in Boonville and Tipton and was accused in 2007 of abusing a 15-year-old girl for two years and using

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SPRINGFIELD (IL)
Journal Register

November 29, 2018

By Steven Spearie

The Diocese of Springfield on Thursday afternoon, in response to a review by the Illinois Attorney General’s office, released the names of 19 priests — including a former bishop — that it confirmed were the subjects of substantiated charges of sexually abusing children.

Though individual priests may have been identified over the years, the Springfield Diocese confirmed that this is the first comprehensive list of abuse cases it has ever released.

A diocesan review board had determined that the priests named on the lists had substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of minors. The Review Board, which has been in place since 2002, has been comprised of predominantly lay people with professional backgrounds in areas such as state and local law enforcement, criminal and civil law, education, and psychology, the diocese said.

“Any single case of abuse is one too many,” Bishop Thomas John Paprocki said in a statement. “But this review has shown the positive impact of a zero-tolerance approach, and we are committed to sustain these efforts with heightened vigilance.”

Twelve priests on the list are dead. They were Alvin Campbell, Robert Dodd, Michael Driscoll, Robert Eagear, George Faller, Ray Franzen, George Kromenaker, Joseph C. O’Brien, Frank O’Hara, Daniel Ryan, Aloysius Schwellenbach and Frank Westhoff.

Ryan, who abruptly resigned as bishop in 1999, died in 2015. An independent investigative report in 2006 stated that Ryan fostered “a culture of secrecy” in the diocese that discouraged priests from coming forward with information about sexual misconduct by other priests in the diocese, which covers 28 counties in central Illinois.

The 2006 report, authored by Springfield attorney and former state’s attorney and federal attorney Bill Roberts, said Ryan “engaged in sexual misconduct with adults and used his authority to conceal this misconduct.” Ryan was never charged or prosecuted.

Four other priests named on Thursday — Joseph Cernich, Eugene Costa, Joseph Havey and Walter Weerts — were listed as laicized, or having been removed from the priesthood. As such, the diocese does not keep records on their whereabouts, said spokeswoman Marlene Mulford.

Three names were denoted as no longer in ministry, a designation for priests without the faculties of priesthood: Garrett Neal Dee, Robert DeGrand and Francis Tebangura.

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WHEELING (WV)
The Intelligencer

December 1, 2018

Why do some predator priests escape imprisonment? Here in West Virginia, the age of consent — that at which voluntary sexual contact is legal — is 16 years in most cases.

At the same time, state code recognizes that “intimidation, expressed or implied, by another person who is at least four years older than the victim” can be a factor in sexual assault and abuse.

People in many walks of life — police officers, teachers, employers and yes, members of the clergy — are capable of intimidating victims. Being convinced one’s immortal soul is in danger if one does not comply with a predator’s demands certainly ought to qualify as intimidation.

Perhaps state legislators should take another look at the age of consent when such intimidation is a factor. We insist on protecting those under 18 from purchasing cigarettes, after all. Why not protect them against coerced sexual contact, too?

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NEW YORK (NY)
Media Project

November 30, 2018

By Richard Ostling

A #ChurchToo parallel first burst into the news 33 years ago with pioneering National Catholic Reporter coverage of child molestation by priests. Now, Pope Francis’ Feb. 21-24 emergency meeting about this unending problem is a must-cover item on newsroom calendars.

But North American journalism should be giving more attention to Protestants’ degradation on this and related issues. There’s no good data about such variegated churches, but by every indication misconduct is far more widespread than parishioners would like to admit.

A handy way to assess matters in Protestantism’s large evangelical sector occurs Dec. 13, a “summit” meeting on sexual violence and harassment at Wheaton College, outside of Chicago. The event will be live-streamed in case reporters cannot attend in person. Speakers include luminaries Eugene Cho, Max Lucado, Beth Moore and the host, Ed Stetzer, a trend-watcher who directs Wheaton’s Billy Graham Center (bgc@wheaton.edu, 630–752-5918).

Stetzer’s urgent summit summons stated that “trust has been broken, power has been abused” and, most important, there are the “deeply wounded” victims – “more than we’d ever want to count.” So “it is past time all church leaders deal with it.” The scandals “are many, and the damage is real. … Turning a blind eye is simply not an option. … Something’s got to change, and soon.”

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Jesuits Central & Southern

November 16, 2018

The Jesuits U.S. Central and Southern Province has retained an outside organization, Kinsale Management Consulting, Inc., to review all personnel files of Jesuits going back to 1955 in preparation of publicly releasing the names of all Jesuits and former Jesuits of the province who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors.

Kinsale Management Consulting is a respected organization comprised of retired FBI agents and law enforcement personnel.

This review will include all Jesuits for whom the province has records who have entered, worked in, or died in the current province, the former New Orleans Province, the former Missouri Province, or the Region of Puerto Rico of the Society of Jesus since 1955. The audit will result in a list of Jesuits and former Jesuits of this province against whom there are credible allegations of abuse of a minor consistent with the standards of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People

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SCOTTSDALE (AZ)
Paradise Valley Independent

November 30, 2018

Ivy Council alumni and their guests are invited to a speaker presentation, which the Harvard Business School Club of Arizona is hosting Thursday, Jan. 24 with Boston Globe Editor Robby Robinson.

Mr. Robinson was the investigative reporting lead on the Catholic church scandal, according to a release. A light dinner will be served at the event.

The event will be from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the Community Room of Paradise Valley Town Hall, 6401 E. Lincoln Drive.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

November 30, 2018

By Jay Tokasz

Two upcoming separate events — a former priest’s talk Sunday and a parish-sponsored forum Monday — will address the clergy sex abuse crisis in the Catholic church and the Buffalo Diocese.

Roy Bourgeois, removed from the Catholic priesthood over his outspoken support for women’s ordination, will discuss “Crisis in the Catholic Church: Clericalism or the Gospel,” at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Center for Tomorrow on the North Campus of the University at Buffalo in Amherst.

Bourgeois, a Maryknoll order priest for more than 40 years, was dismissed from the priesthood in 2012 after he refused a Vatican order to recant his participation in a 2008 ordination Mass for a Lexington, Ky. woman. The Vatican determined his support for women’s ordination was a cause of “grave scandal.”

Bourgeois responded by saying, “when Catholics hear the word ‘scandal,’ they think about the thousands of children who have been raped and abused by Catholic priests — not the ordination of women.”

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BENNINGTON (VT)
Bennington Banner

November 30, 2018

By David M. O’Brien

It is a common human experience that bad news upstages good news, that conflict and tragedy overshadow stories of cooperation and initiation. Well, this certainly has been the case for the Catholic Church lately. With the reports and re-reports of the sexual abuse scandal and its unbelievable cover-up on the part of some bishops, the unintended consequence has been that all the good news happening in the Church has been push into the background or not mentioned at all.

One of those under-reported happenings, here in the Diocese of Burlington, has been the statewide Diocesan Synod that was called to order by Bishop Christopher Coyne. The process, started over a year ago, has as its purpose: “to establish a pastoral plan for the immediate future in the Catholic Church in Vermont and to establish laws and policies to do so.” Now, I understand from my friends on the Interfaith Council that synods are not that uncommon in some of the Protestant faith communities. But, it is uncommon in our Catholic tradition, with the last diocesan-wide synod happening way back in 1962.

After Bishop Coyne selected a steering committee to shepherd the process, delegates were solicited from each parish in Vermont as well as representatives from the priests, deacons and religious communities. Though the synod started officially this fall, there were three preparatory meetings throughout this past year, plus summer work committees, that helped winnow down the concerns and direction. From the beginning, Bishop Coyne asked to hear from his flock. He queried each parish with three questions: what was our Church doing well, what we were not and what we could do to improve. And he got what he asked for.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Post Gazette

November 30, 2018

I deeply appreciate the Post-Gazette’s ongoing coverage and revelations about the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. The Nov. 25 front page article, “Hiding Behind God,” left me reeling. I hope to see the issue shoved in the face of church hierarchy until atonement and justice prevail.

Every bishop should step down. Every church altar and statue should be draped in black. No one, priest or parishioner, should be permitted for a minute to forget, rationalize or dismiss the abhorrent crime that has been committed.

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NEW YORK (NY)
America Magazine

November 30, 2018

By Kevin Clarke

Investigators for the district attorney of Montgomery County in Texas executed a search warrant seeking records pertaining to the handling of instances of alleged clerical abuse at the offices of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston on Nov. 28. The spectacle of dozens of Texas Rangers and other local law enforcement swarming the Houston chancery offered the latest unprecedented moment as the church in the United States grapples with the ongoing crisis of the clerical abuse of children and vulnerable adults. The archdiocese is headed by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the person leading the U.S. bishops’ response to the crisis.

In a statement released on Nov. 28 representatives for the archdiocese said it had no comment on the investigation at this time.

The D.A.’s investigation raises questions about how Cardinal DiNardo and his staff dealt with complaints against Father Manuel La Rosa-Lopez, accused by two people of assault two decades ago when they were teenagers. Both victims told The Associated Press that they met with Cardinal DiNardo but felt he did not take their complaints about Father La Rosa-Lopez seriously.

The leader of the Houston chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests has already called for Cardinal DiNardo to step down to accept responsibility for alleged failures in Galveston-Houston and during a previous position as bishop of the Diocese of Sioux City. Presuming the bad press in Texas will continue, can Cardinal DiNardo continue to credibly lead the U.S. bishops as the conference seeks a way out of the abuse crisis?

“The answer is we don’t know,” said Tom Reese, S.J., a columnist for Religion News Service, a former editor in chief at America and a long-time observer of the U.S. church. “We have to wait until the prosecutor comes forward and says what he found and says what the situation is there.

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HOUSTON (TX)
KHOU 11 TV

November 30, 2018

By Jeremy Rogalski, Jessica Borg & Tina Macias

Two boxes of “sex allegation files” and Cardinal Daniel DiNardo’s computer are among the items seized by authorities at the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston on Wednesday, according to an evidence log obtained by KHOU 11 Investigates on Friday.

Along with DiNardo’s computer, an iPad and two other computers in his office were also taken and were among about a dozen electronics gathered by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

In the search warrant filed Wednesday, the DA’s office sought files into the investigation of Rev. Manuel La Rosa-Lopez, a former priest charged with four counts of indecency with a child in Montgomery County, and confidential documents held in the Archdiocese’s Chancery and secret archives.

Investigators seized several files about La Rosa-Lopez, but that was just part of the long list of items they took into evidence. Files, a folder, binder and boxes of sex allegations, letters from parishioners about sex abuse, a spreadsheet of claims, insurance reports and multiple personnel files were also seized.

The personnel files included two for current priests. Those priests are Rev. Alberto Maullon, who pleaded guilty to exposing himself at an adult bookstore in 2010, and Rev. Terrance Brinkman, who was sued in 2010 for a sexual abuse claim dating back to the 1970s. That case was dismissed because the statute of limitations had passed.

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NEW ORLEANS (LA)
WVUE TV

November 30, 2018

By Kimberly Curth

New information in FOX 8′s investigation of church sex abuse. We’ve learned a priest credibly accused of sex abuse at Jesuit High School in the 1970s was housed at a New York university after the abuse here allegedly happened.

According to Fordham University the now deceased Corneilus Carr lived at a Jesuit nursing home near the school’s campus after he allegedly sexually abused a minor in New Orleans.

In a statement to Fox 8, Bob Howe, Fordham’s Assistant Vice President for Communications, said “the University was not aware of the allegations against Father Carr until The Ram, the student newspaper based at our Rose Hill campus, raised them. That was a lapse on our part, and one that will not be repeated. It is the University’s duty to ensure the safety of its students, faculty, and staff, and while we don’t believe any members of the Fordham community have been placed at risk by Father Carr’s presence, it was inappropriate to house him in proximity to a college campus and high school.”

We spoke with Carr’s alleged victim in a TV exclusive. Richard Windmann, told us Jesuit High School janitor Peter Modica repeatedly raped him at the school in the late 70′s. Windmann says Carr, who was a priest and teacher at Jesuit, not only knew about the abuse but also participated.

“When he walked over to me while Pete Modica was sodomizing me and put his hand on my back and started masturbating, telling me to relax, I was just destroyed. I was destroyed,” said Windmann.

Windmann says he was eventually paid $450,000 in a confidential settlement with Jesuit High School.

“I didn’t go for money, I went for counseling and spiritual guidance and they were like nah here’s a whole bunch of money, shut up go away,” said Windmann.

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LINCOLN (NE)
Lincoln Journal Star

November 30, 2018

By Peter Salter

The Catholic Diocese of Lincoln isn’t ready to identify priests or personnel accused of sexual abuse and misconduct with minors, it said Friday — the same day the Omaha Archdiocese named nearly 40 clergy members with substantiated claims leveled against them.

But in a statement, Lincoln Bishop James Conley said his diocese has fully cooperated with the attorney general’s office, which in late August asked the state’s three bishops to provide internal investigative records of abuse allegations since 1978.

Conley also said he was waiting for an independent task force — announced by the diocese in early November — to finish its own review of past sexual abuse and misconduct allegations, and how the diocese handled them.

“It would be premature to publish any information regarding clergy and diocesan personnel while the independent task force is in the midst of its review,” he said.

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CANADA
Global News

December 1, 2018

By Amanda Jelowicki

Father Brian Boucher’s trial lasted one week, with shocking testimony from two alleged victims, detailing horrific sexual abuse.

Also coming out of the trial are questions about when the church first learned of the allegations against Boucher, and why it took so long to arrest him.

A verdict is not expected until January. Meanwhile, those questions remain.

“The Roman Catholic Church has for a long time tried to put a lid on the cover of sex abuse by its priests,” said Carlo Tarini, a spokesman for the Quebec Association of Victims of Priests.

Boucher started working at the Our Lady of the Annunciation Church in TMR in 2005. That’s the year one alleged victim testified the abuse started. The victim was 12 at the time.

In his testimony, Boucher admitted he left the parish in 2014, before the end of his mandate. He left to undertake ecclesiastical studies in Washington.

Some parishioners told Global News they were surprised, saying the departure felt “abrupt.”

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
WISN Radio

November 30, 2018

By Nick Bohr

A 13-year-old girl claims Pastor Charles Hanel indecently touched her a year ago at Queen of Apostles Catholic Church in the city of Pewaukee.

She told her parents six months later, and Hanel was arrested.

A court commissioner Friday decided there was enough evidence for the case to proceed.

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PARKERSBURG (WV)
The Intelligencer

December 1, 2018

By Jess Mancini

A support group for victims abused by priests says the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston omitted the bishop who resigned earlier this year when it released a list of names this week.

However, the case on Bishop Michael Bransfield is a separate investigation, Tim Bishop, director of marketing and communications for the diocese, said.

“That investigation is still underway and we cannot comment further on it as it is still open,” he said.

Bransfield resigned in September, which was accepted by Pope Francis, amid allegations of the sexual harassment of adults. Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore was appointed apostolic administrator with the instruction to conduct an investigation of Bransfield.

On Thursday, the diocese released a list of priests with credible accusations against them.

“We appreciate this move by church officials in West Virginia, especially for including the names of priests who served in West Virginia, but were accused of abuse in dioceses outside Wheeling-Charleston,” said Judy Jones, Midwest regional leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “However, we cannot help but note the omission of Bishop Michael J. Bransfield, who has been accused of abusing at least one minor and resigned in September over allegations that he had sexually harassed a number of adults.”

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PARKERSBURG (WV)
The Intelligencer

December 1, 2018

The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston said Friday it didn’t include its former bishop among lists it released the day before because allegations that he had sexually abused children were not credible.

“Allegations made against Michael Bransfield involving alleged charter issues took place while he was a priest in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia,” said Tim Bishop, director of marketing and communications at the diocese, about the former bishop. “The archdiocese concluded those allegations to be non-credible, they therefore were not added to the (Wheeling-Charleston) list. Any questions about that investigation should be forwarded to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.”

During the 2012 criminal trial of two other priests in Philadelphia, two witnesses and a prosecutor alleged that Bransfield sexually abused children. Bransfield has denied those allegations.

“As is pertains to the current investigation of allegations against Bishop Michael Bransfield for the sexual harassment of adults: The allegation does not involve a charter issue and would not be listed for that reason,” the spokesman said.

The lists the diocese released Thursday afternoon included 31 priests who it said had been credibly accused of sexual abuse against minors or who had other credible allegations regarding the Charter for Protection of Young People. One list included priests who had been accused while serving in the diocese. A second list included clergy members who had a credible accusation and had worked in the diocese. However, those accusations had occurred elsewhere.

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BANGOR (ME)
Bangor Daily News

December 1, 2018

By Judy Harrison

Prosecutors from the state want a Hampden homicide victim’s spiritual journal to become evidence in their case against her alleged killer. But the priest who directed her to keep the journal says it should be treated as if he heard its contents in a confessional.

A superior court justice is set to decide whether the journal is evidence in the case against Renee Henneberry Clark’s alleged killer, her brother-in-law Philip Clark, after a Wednesday hearing on the prosecutors’ request.

Prosecutors want to read the diary to see if its contents can be used as evidence in their murder case against Clark.

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WHEELING (WV)
The Intelligencer

December 1, 2018

Thursday’s release of a list of predator priests who served in West Virginia is only a beginning for the Roman Catholic Church, in many ways.

One of them is that the shocking, disturbing revelations in the list may — and should — make the list longer. Church officials say that was one of their goals in making the information public.

There are reasons to believe they are right in expecting their action Thursday will result in more accusations against priests. One entry on the list itself reinforces that feeling.

Officials of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston said earlier this fall that they were compiling a list of priests against whom credible accusations of abusing minors had been lodged. The diocese includes all of West Virginia.

One of the credible allegations of abuse was reported to the diocese on Oct. 26 — two days after the church made public its intention to compile and release a list. It is entirely possible — likely, in fact — that the accuser’s report was prompted by the church’s announcement.

Now that the list has been released, more victims may decide it is time to come forward.

Let us hope so, even though the initial list is appalling enough.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Catholic

November 30, 2018

By Michelle Martin

Cardinal Cupich added the names of 10 current and former priests and deacons to its public list of clergy with substantiated allegations of child sexual abuse on Nov. 28.

Four were priests of the Archdiocese of Chicago, two were deacons of the Archdiocese of Chicago, two were extern priests from dioceses outside of the United States and two were religious order priests. All six of the archdiocesan priests or deacons have died; none of the men has been in public ministry since 2004.

William Kunkel, general counsel for the Archdiocese of Chicago, said the additions mean the list now includes every priest or deacon investigated by the archdiocesan Independent Review Board or similar archdiocesan processes and found to have credible allegations against them.

“The cardinal made the decision to expand the list to whoever had substantiated allegations against them that were investigated by the review board,” Kunkel said.

The list previously contained only priests of the Archdiocese of Chicago who were alive when the first allegation against them was received and whose allegations were substantiated by the review board or similar archdiocesan processes.

The four archdiocesan priests who were added – Edmund F. Burke, who died in 1989; Thomas Carroll Crosby, who died in 1987; Dominic Aloysius Diedrich, who died in 1977; and Thomas Francis Kelly, who died in 1990 – were all deceased when the archdiocese first received allegations against them.

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BALTIMORE (MD)
Baltimore Sun

November 30, 2018

By Tina Alexis Allen

I grew up in the tony suburbs of Washington, D.C. — the moneyed, preppy, elite, entitled bedroom communities of Chevy Chase, Bethesda and Potomac — wreaking havoc in the ‘80s just down the street from Columbia Country Club, where, allegedly, the young Christine Blasey Ford swam that fateful summer day, pre-gathering, pre-groping, pre-assault.

I attended the all-girls school there, Immaculata Prep. Though I never hung out with Brett Kavanaugh and his buddy Mark Judge, I partied with the boys from Gonzaga and Georgetown Prep. Like Brett, I was the captain and star of the basketball team, maybe surpassed him on the court — being a Washington Post First team All-Metropolitan selection, and receiving full basketball scholarships to Stanford, Notre Dame and Maryland. I, too, worked my ass off to get what I got and had a full summer calendar.

And, I was an instigator of trouble, a master of secrets. I probably engaged in as much sexual acting out as Brett and Mark, if you give credence to their misogynistic Georgetown Prep yearbook boasting.

Catholic officials knew of teacher’s abuse, court files indicate
As the youngest of 13 children, I suffered sexual abuse by several of my older brothers, starting at age nine. My parents — a submissive mother and a domineering father with a “boys will be boys” attitude — were complicit in fostering a culture of abuse, denial and secrets.

When one is sexually traumatized as a child, one generally becomes either extremely passive or highly predatory. I hated being dominated, resented my brothers’ entitlement to use me and loathed my inability to stop them. By high school, I began modeling my brothers’ predatory behavior — preferring power to passivity. I seduced classmates who barely knew about sex. I used my power and status to “score,” dumped girlfriend after girlfriend when someone else caught my eye. I sexualized them, cheated on them.

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OMAHA (NE)
WOWT TV

November 30, 2018

The Archdiocese of Omaha has submitted documents to the Nebraska Attorney General pertaining to 24 priests, among a total of 38 clergy , with substantiated allegations of abuse or misconduct with minors.

The cases date back to 1978.

According to a news release from the Archdiocese issued Friday morning…

The documents included information on 24 archdiocesan priests with substantiated allegations of the abuse of minors or misconduct with minors. In all, documentation on 38 clergy were given to the attorney general for alleged abuse or misconduct with minors as far back as 1956 but reported to the archdiocese between 1978-2018.

“We acknowledge this report with sorrow, and know that it will cause a great deal of pain,” said Archbishop George Lucas. “We’re deeply saddened so many innocent minors and young adults were harmed by the church’s ministers. To victims and their families, I am sorry for the pain, betrayal and suffering you have experienced in the church.”

Last summer, Attorney General Doug Peterson requested from Nebraska’s three Catholic dioceses the files of church personnel accused of criminal sexual misconduct. The attorney general’s request followed the Pennsylvania grand jury report on decades of clergy sexual abuse of minors in six of that state’s eight dioceses. The archdiocese immediately pledged its full cooperation and began a review of its files.

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[Whistleblowers send letter to Scicluna asking him to seek justice, keep promises]

CHILE
La Tercera

November 29, 2018

“La Congregación de los Hermanos Maristas se ríe de nuestro dolor, buscan desgastarnos y no avanzan en la búsqueda sincera de justicia y reparación”, señalan en la misiva.

Durante esta jornada, los denunciantes del caso Maristas enviaron una carta pública al arzobispo Charles Scicluna, secretario adjunto de la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe, para pedirle que “cumpla su palabra” empeñada en la cita que sostuvieron en febrero, e intervenga en el proceso, pues consideran que “las redes de impunidad siguen activas”.

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LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Bilgrimage

November 30, 2018

By William Lindsey

Two days ago, I wrote,
One bishop after another is claiming that there have not been cases of abuse in his diocese for years now, and the lists being released are almost entirely names of priests who have been dead for some time. Many survivors are pointing out that they can testify that the lists being released are not complete, since they personally known of priests whose names are not on the lists being released.

Then I told you I have had phone calls from people telling me that this is true of the list released by the bishop in the Catholic diocese in which I live, the Little Rock diocese: people are telling me they know of priests whose names are not on the list of abusive priests in Arkansas released recently by Bishop Anthony Taylor.

Now there’s the following:
Mercedes Mackay, “Advocates for priest abuse survivors says three priest names are missing”:

Thursday an advocate group for priest abuse survivors called out priests who were left off a recent Jefferson City Diocese “credibly accused list.”

SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, met outside of the Cathedral of St. Joseph to voice their concerns about the list.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Worthy Adversary

November 23, 2018

By Joelle Casteix

The enemy of sex abuse and cover-up is the light of truth: Statute of Limitation Reform.

Why? Because civil justice—properly executed—demands that such behavior be uncovered and made public. Predators AND the institutional cover-up that enables predators to flourish are EXPOSED. Law enforcement can put bad guys behind bars.

If we only expose the predators, but don’t expose the institutional cover-up that enables such predators in institutions such as the Catholic Church—the predatory system continues to flourish. The Catholic Church/Boy Scouts/Michigan State, etc., continue unabated.

New predators will “fill the gap” left by predators put in jail or exposed individually if systems of cover-up are allowed to remain in place. (Just ‘plug in the new guy’ and it’s business as usual)

The enemies of Statute of Limitation Reform are Class Action Lawsuits and IRCPs. These are what I call “One-way information superhighways.”

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BUFFALO (NY)
Buffalo News

November 29, 2018

No one denies that there have been issues of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. However, the diocese does Catholics a disservice when they lump inappropriate behavior by priests together with criminal behavior, such as pedophilia.

A homosexual priest making a pass at a 22 years old male, while inappropriate, is not criminal. Neither is a priest having a heterosexual affair with an adult female. Yet, for the most part, we are left guessing what the allegations against many of the priests are. We cannot separate true pedophiles from those who simply failed to live up to their vow of celibacy. That is wrong.

The diocese terms the allegations against the various priests, “credible,” but does not define what that means or how the determination was made. Who made that determination? Was it a priest with a degree in theology, or a trained criminal investigator? And if it was deemed credible and also criminal, why wasn’t it referred to the police? Moreover, how do you make a determination that something is credible when the person against whom the accusation is made is long dead and never had an opportunity to answer the allegation in the first place?

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
KDKA TV

November 29, 2018

Survivors and parishioners came out to St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland on Thursday night for the first of four listening sessions since the release of the Pennsylvania grand jury report on clergy sexual abuse.

Similar sessions are already being held in in the Greensburg Catholic Diocese.

But organizers in the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese are hoping to create a safe space so everyone can work through the healing process together.

Bishop David Zubik sat at the altar listening as one-by-one the faithful stood before him to share their pain and anger over the scandal.

“I was overcome with emotion. I spoke all across the state and didn’t have this problem until tonight, but I felt a sense of community that I haven’t felt for a long time,” said Jim VanSickle, a survivor of clergy abuse.

Nancy Pieffer, another survivor who became a social worker and advocate for rape victims, spoke for the first time publicly at the session. There was not a dry eye as she recounted the horror of her abuse as a child at the hands of a priest.

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LONDON (UK)
The Week

November 30, 2018

By Damon Linker

Three months ago, I announced I was leaving the Catholic Church. My reason was that the latest revelations in the church’s interminable sex abuse scandal had revealed “a repulsive institution — or at least one permeated by repulsive human beings who reward one another for repulsive acts, all the while deigning to lecture the world about its sin.”

Let’s just say subsequent events haven’t led me to regret the decision.

That would include Wednesday’s news that the offices of the cardinal-archbishop of Galveston-Houston, who also happens to serve as president of the United States Catholic bishops’ conference, were raided by “dozens of local and federal law enforcement officers … looking for evidence in a clergy sexual abuse case.” A couple of weeks ago, the story was the Vatican’s decision to nix plans by the American bishops to devise some kind of response to the scandal — on the grounds that it’s mostly just a conspiracy drummed up by troublemaking right-wing clerics and laypeople. A week or a month from now, the story is bound to be something arising from the dozen or so investigations underway by the Justice Department and attorneys general around the country.

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NORTH CHARLESTON (SC)
WCSC TV

November 29, 2018

By Harve Jacobs

A volunteer at a church in North Charleston is facing charges after performing oral sex on a child, according to an affidavit.

That suspect also once attended and volunteered at a church in Mooresville, according to a spokesperson.

A judge denied bond Wednesday for Jacop Robert Lee Hazlett, 28, who is charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

Investigators say Hazlett escorted a 3-year-old boy into a bathroom at the Newspring Church, located in the 5100 block of Ashley Phosphate Road on Nov. 25. The affidavit states the boy used the restroom and when he was finished, Hazlett performed oral sex on him before pulling the boy’s pants back up.

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IOWA CITY (IA)
Associated Press

November 28, 2018

By Ryan J. Foley

A Catholic diocese on Wednesday defended its decision to continue employing a priest who told police he was trying to rape a woman when he was arrested naked in an Iowa mall in 2013.

The Diocese of Sioux City issued a statement for the first time acknowledging the 5-year-old incident involving Father Jeremy Wind, calling it a “mental health episode” from which he recovered with the help of medication and treatment. The diocese gave no details about what occurred and told parishioners the scrutiny was unfortunate and unnecessary because “there is nothing newsworthy to report.”

The statement came in response to inquiries from The Associated Press, which used the state’s open records law to shed light on a criminal case that was recently erased from public court files. It marks the latest diocese personnel matter that has come under scrutiny since its acknowledgment in October to having kept quiet a priest’s 1986 admission to sexually abusing roughly 50 boys.

Police reports show Wind, 39, was meeting with a female parishioner at a bakery in December 2013 when he began behaving erratically. He had just celebrated Mass at Christ the King church in Sioux Center, a town of 7,000 people in northwest Iowa.

Wind told the woman he was going to masturbate and took off his pants, prompting her to run away, she later told police. Wind chased her to her car, where she locked the door as he yelled about raping her and pounded on the vehicle’s window.

“I was so horrified, I thought what am I going to do?” the woman told police, in a statement obtained by AP. “I sat for awhile because I didn’t want to hurt him. When he started banging so hard that I thought he was going to break the window, I drove away.”

A Sioux Center police officer found Wind at the nearby Centre Mall, where he said he had no pants on because he “wanted to rape her” and instructed the officer to write that statement down, a report shows. He later said that he also wanted to rape the officer.

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CONROE (TX)
ABC 13 News

November 29, 2018

Investigators who executed a search warrant at the Galveston-Houston Archdiocese offices Wednesday are hoping to find a daily journal written by Father Manuel La Rosa-Lopez while he was residing at the Shalom Treatment Center.

A search warrant attained by ABC13 reveals Montgomery County officials are also looking for records stemming from a meeting between Cardinal Daniel DiNardo and one of Father La Rosa-Lopez’s alleged victims, who said the priest repeatedly touched him while he was still a minor.

In all, six alleged victims have come forward with claims against La Rosa-Lopez, but the charging document only lists one male and one female victim. The search warrant names another.

Prosecutors said Thursday the church investigation into allegations against La Rosa-Lopez extend all the way up to the Holy See in Rome.

According to the search warrant, the victims were told that reports were filed with the Conroe Police Department and Child Protective Services, but CPS closed the investigations since La Rosa-Lopez did not have current contact with the victims, and the victims were no longer children.

Prosecutors first learned of Father La Rosa-Lopez’s journal during an interview at the Shalom Center in September.

The warrant reveals the archdiocese was believed to have possession of the journal, and that it might shed light on multiple accusations of abuse against the priest.

Father La Rosa-Lopez was placed in a mental institution between April 16, 2001 and January 3, 2002, after an additional victim came forward, claiming he touched him while the priest was working at St. Thomas More Catholic Church.

Only two documents were found on the investigation into improper contact between La Rosa-Lopez and the sixth grade boy.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Tribune Review

November 29, 2018

By Jamie Martines

Seated in front of the altar at Saint Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood, Bishop David A. Zubik of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh listened as members of the city’s Catholic community — some of them survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of clergy — shared criticism, reflections and questions following the Pennsylvania grand jury report on sexual abuse released in August.

Thursday’s session is the first of four to be held by the Diocese of Pittsburgh; the others are next week.

“All that I have heard tonight has been your sharing reflections with me,” Zubik said as he addressed attendees at the close of the session. “And so I need to thank you for your courage.”

He extended is apologies to victims and members of the Catholic community.

“I really am very sorry,” Zubik said. “Not empty words. I’m sorry that you suffered because of the church.”

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MORGANTOWN (WV)
The Herald-Dispatch

November 30, 2018

By Megan Osborne

The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston has released the names of 31 clergy who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors from the 1950s to the present, including five who at some point in their careers served at churches in Huntington.

None of the incidents appear to have occurred in Huntington parishes.

Among those included in the list from the diocese:

The Rev. Franklyn W. Becker acted as the Marshall University Catholic Community Chaplain and served at St. Joseph Catholic Church from January 1975 to August 1976. Multiple incidents referencing Becker were reported to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee between 1970 and 2002, but none were reported to the DWC. He departed the DWC in 1976 and was dismissed from the clerical state in November 2004.

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HOUSTON (TX)
Houston Chronicle

November 29, 2018

By Nicole Hensley and Jay R. Jordan

A sweeping search warrant used to enter the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston was aimed at learning everything about the accused pedophile priest, Manuel La Rosa-Lopez, from his time as a seminarian to his final parish assignment in Richmond.

The search warrant affidavit released Thursday was what allowed local law enforcement officials to walk out of the church headquarters Wednesday on San Jacinto Street with several boxes of evidence. As their 12-hour hunt for records ended that night, Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon called the search “fruitful.”

“We found several things specifically on point,” said Ligon, as investigators packed up.

Among the records being sought were the names of therapists who may have treated La Rosa-Lopez and what their opinion was after he underwent counseling in the early 2000s. A diary that La Rosa-Lopez was required to keep while working as a priest was on their list, but it eluded investigators at three prior raids at the Shalom Center in Splendora, Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe and St. John Fisher Church in Richmond.

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SPRINGFIELD (IL)
Herald & Review

November 30, 2018

By Jim Bowling

A list released Thursday by the Diocese of Springfield with the names of 19 priests accused of sexually abusing children includes at least six clergy who worked in Decatur at times.

The disclosure was in response to a review by the state Attorney General’s office, which since August has been investigating the Roman Catholic Church after a Pennsylvania grand jury report identified at least seven priests with a connection to Illinois.

Springfield Diocese spokeswoman Marlene Mulford on Thursday declined a Herald & Review request to disclose where each of the 19 worked, but a review of public documents and newspaper clips show those with Decatur ties are:

Garrett Neal Dee, who worked at Holy Family Catholic Church in Decatur in 1971, according to a Springfield State Journal-Register article in 2002. He left his parish in Texas after acknowledging that he had sexually abused children while in the Catholic Diocese of Springfield years ago.

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PARIS (FRANCE)
La Croix International

November 30, 2018

By Mélinée Le Priol with Pierre Sautreuil

In a decision illustrating the French Church’s genuine concern to address the sex abuse issue, the nation’s bishops have announced a program for accompanying “priests displaying signs of frailty that may become risk factors.

”A grave-faced Bishop Jacques Blaquart met the press on Oct. 22, three days after the suicide of a young priest from his Diocese of Orleans.“How can we simultaneously continue to protect minors and vulnerable persons in the first instance while showing respect and concern for accompanying those who have engaged in inappropriate behavior?” he asked aloud.The whole French Church continues to face this tension as revelations of sexual abuse by clergy continue to mount.

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ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
Santa Fe New Mexican

November 29, 2018

By Daniel J. Chacón and Andrew Oxford

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe is filing for bankruptcy, Archbishop John Wester said Thursday in the face of dozens of ongoing lawsuits stemming from a sexual abuse scandal that stretches back decades and a new investigation by the state’s attorney general into the Roman Catholic Church’s handling of misconduct by its clergy.

Wester said parishes and schools will continue normal operations. But the move will give the archdiocese time to get its finances in order as it faces what Wester said is the real prospect of running out of money. It also could mark the beginning of an effort to finally put a number on how many survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of New Mexico priests are still out there — and how much the church might owe them.

At this point, a lawyer for the archdiocese said, church officials just don’t know.

But describing the archdiocese as facing a tipping point, Wester said bankruptcy is the most equitable way of addressing its responsibilities to survivors of sexual abuse.

“I believe it’s the best for the victims and the best for everybody involved, and I believe that it’s going to have the most promising outcome for everybody,” Wester said. “So, I have to confess, I feel a certain relief. I think it’s kind of turning the page and moving forward in a responsible way.”

Eight dioceses and three archdioceses across the country filed for bankruptcy between 2004 and September 2018, according to Penn State law professor Marie Reilly.

If the process plays out here as it has elsewhere, a judge will set up a procedure for survivors of abuse to bring forward their claims.

Ford Elsaesser, one of the archdiocese’s bankruptcy attorneys, said he expects survivors would have a deadline in April or May to come forward. The archdiocese would then go into mediation with everyone who has brought a claim and try to reach a settlement, he said.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

November 30, 2018

We received dozens upon dozens of responses from you, our dear readers, to our editorial published Nov. 9: “Open letter to the US Catholic bishops: It’s over.” Below is a sampling of those letters. They have been edited for length and clarity.

Thank you for speaking for me in so many ways in your letter telling the U.S. bishops’ conference: “it’s over.” As a spiritual director and Catholic psychotherapist, I received my first referral of a clergy abuse victim/survivor in 1988 from a large midwestern diocese.

After treating dozens more survivors, serving on review and advisory boards, giving talks and trainings, arguing, begging and praying with bishops, collaborating with beautiful and faithful survivors, parents, caring priests and Catholic and non-Catholic professionals, I have seen weariness, disappointment and, finally, full belief in the reports of victim/survivors over decades.

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JEFFERSON CITY (MO)
KOMU Channel 8

November 29, 2018 6

By: Mercedes Mackay

Thursday an advocate group for priest abuse survivors called out priests who were left off a recent Jefferson City Diocese “credibly accused list”.

SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, met outside of the Cathedral of St. Joseph to voice their concerns about the list.

“We are here today because we are concerned, in particular, about three credibly accused child molesting priests who spent time in Mid-Missouri,” David Clohessy, SNAP St. Louis volunteer, said.

He said according to court records that include church documents Father Kenneth J. Roberts, Father John C. Baskett and Father A. Lenczycki were all clerics accused of child molestation.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WGRZ TV

November 29, 2018

By Steve Brown and Dave Harrington

That is the question for Buffalo’s Catholic Diocese these days. How much will it cost to resolve dozens upon dozens of claims of sexual abuse at the hands of priests?

“People ask me that all the time and we’re not sure,” said Buffalo Bishop Richard Malone in his interview with Maryalice Demler earlier this month.

The Bishop has said repeatedly it is the compassionate thing to do to address claims even if they date back decades and the legal statute of limitations has expired. But 2 On Your Side is told money was also a factor.

A source tells us there was an interested within the Diocese hierarchy in clearing as many of these cases as quickly possible “at Buffalo prices”, meaning, cheaper than potential civil lawsuits against the Diocese.

There are few clues about the financial picture of the Diocese in its annual financial statement. We asked the chairman of the Canisius College Accounting Department, Ian Redpath, to have a look.

Redpath notes the Diocese is unique among non-profits. Because of its status as a religious organization, it is not required to file with the IRS, the New York State Department of Taxation or the state Attorney General’s office.

The Diocese discloses what it chooses to disclose.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Tribune Review

November 29, 2018

By Deb Erdley

As the top federal prosecutor in Western Pennsylvania, David Hickton tried a Somerset County priest for molesting children at a Central American orphanage and later invoked federal organized crime statutes in an inquiry into the Altoona Johnstown diocese.

He said he had reason to be suspicious of the Catholic church.

In a lengthy interview with USAToday published Thursday, Hickton, 63, revealed that he personally witnessed teammates on his 6th-grade basketball team at St. Anne’s School in Castle Shannon singled out by a coach who was fondling children. Though the former altar boy said he was never abused, he said he saw the team’s coach select a child to shower with him after every game.

“It was like Russian roulette,” Hickton, the former U.S. attorney in Pittsburgh, told USAToday. “Everybody was looking at each other, worried that they might be next.”

Like many children, Hickton remained quiet, wondering why the priest who oversaw the coach’s ritual did nothing to protect the boys. Later, he learned priest — the Rev. Charles J. Chat — was among 99 priests in the Pittsburgh diocese identified by a statewide grand jury as a “predator priest” who repeatedly abused children himself.

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PORTLAND (ME)
Associated Press

November 29, 2018

A defrocked Roman Catholic priest who was a central figure in the clergy abuse scandal that rocked the Archdiocese of Boston was convicted Thursday of sexually abusing another boy.

Ronald Paquin, who was released from prison in 2015, was convicted of assaulting a boy in the 1980s in Kennebunkport, Maine.

The victim, now an adult, told reporters after the verdict that Paquin was “pure evil,” thanking jurors for doing “the right thing.”

Two men testified Paquin befriended them as boys at a parish in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and invited them on trips that included visits to Kennebunkport, Maine. They said he gave them alcohol, and let them drive his car without a license. One of them testified he was drugged.

Both said Paquin repeatedly assaulted them, but the jury reached a guilty verdict on counts involving only one of the victims. In the end, Paquin was convicted of 11 of the 24 counts against him.

David Clohessy, former national director of the Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests, said the conviction was “long overdue.”

“I feel sad that one of the victims was disbelieved, and that must hurt. But overall, kids will be safer, and hopefully, victims of other predators will feel inspired to come forward and report their abuse,” he said.

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PORTLAND (ME)
Portland Press Herald

November 29, 2018

By Megan Gray

A former Boston priest was found guilty Thursday of sexually abusing a boy during trips to Maine in the 1980s.

Ronald Paquin, 76, was found guilty on 11 of 24 counts of sexual misconduct.

The counts that led to the guilty verdict were based on the testimony of one of two men who accused Paquin in sometimes graphic detail during the three-day trial. He was not found guilty of abusing the other man.

The York County jury deliberated for nearly five fours Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. The former clergyman did not react as the forewoman announced the split verdict in a quiet but firm voice.

Paquin was one of the priests exposed in the early 2000s by a sweeping Boston Globe investigation into clergy sex abuse. He served more than a decade in prison in Massachusetts for repeatedly raping an altar boy between 1989 and 1992, beginning when the victim was 12.
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His trial is believed to be the first in Maine for a priest embroiled in the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal, and he now faces prison time again as an elderly man for his conviction.

Roger Champagne, one of Paquin’s two attorneys, said he wants the former priest to undergo a medical evaluation before sentencing. Court documents have suggested Paquin is in poor health. The judge did not set a date for the next hearing.

The jury of five women and seven men had listened to the pained testimony of the two accusers on Monday and Tuesday.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Agency

November 29, 2018

By Ed Condon

Before it began, many U.S. bishops expected their November general assembly in Baltimore to produce something tangible – a new policy, structure, or system – that would help them reassure Catholics that they were responding to months of sexual abuse scandals breaking across the Church.

But after a last-minute Vatican’s decision to suspend a vote on draft measures until after a Rome meeting of the heads of the world’s bishops’ conferences in February, it seems likely that no universal response to the crisis will emerge until at least the second half of 2019.

Some U.S. bishops have told CNA they now realize that if they want to initiate new reforms, they’ll have to do so in their own dioceses, using the ordinary prerogatives of a diocesan bishop.

As they wait for Rome to form its response to the crisis, there are several options available to bishops who are looking to improve diocesan mechanisms for handling clerical misconduct.

And as bishops begin to implement new policies at the diocesan level, their local action might provide useful examples for study and consideration ahead of the February meeting Rome.

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ALLENTOWN (PA)
The Morning Call

November 29, 2018

By Tim Darragh

Karen Votta is a “born and bred” Catholic who felt herself drifting from the church as the “Spotlight” sex abuse scandal exploded out of Boston in 2002.

Despite her disappointment, the Bethlehem woman says she continued to attend Mass occasionally and send contributions to the church.

But the lurid Pennsylvania grand jury report released in August, exposing 301 allegedly abusive priests and more than 1,000 victims in six dioceses across the state, made Votta question the church — but not her belief in Jesus — even more deeply.

“I am Catholic, although I don’t know why I keep sticking around,” Votta said. “The church just keeps making it harder and harder to be a good Catholic… My whole Catholic family has drifted away.”

Revelations of sexual misconduct by priests and cover-ups by their superiors have not only damaged the relationship of laity like Votta to the church, but also appear to be cutting into weekly collections as well — impacts that one study suggests may be permanent. And while it is too early to know how deep the harm will be, the scandal will remain front and center in Pennsylvania and across the country well into 2019, leaving a wound that may take a long time to heal.

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ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
Catholic News Service

November 29, 2018

Agents from the office of New Mexico’s attorney general executed a search warrant to obtain records from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe regarding at least two former priests credibly accused of child sexual abuse.

The agents were at the archdiocese’s administrative offices in Albuquerque Nov. 28.

Attorney General Hector Balderas was seeking information on Marvin Archuleta and Sabine Griego, according to the archdiocese.

Both men, the archdiocese said in a statement afterward, were among clergy included on a list of priests, deacons, religious and seminarians accused of child sex abuse that first was released in September 2017.

The archdiocese said its staff “worked cooperatively” with the agents.

Meanwhile, Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester called all archdiocesan priests to a mandatory meeting the afternoon of Nov. 29, after which he planned to address a news conference.

There was no mention of the meeting’s purpose in a memo sent to the priests, the Albuquerque Journal daily newspaper reported.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

November 28, 2018

A respected and credible Catholic news source reports that “one of the organizers appointed by Pope Francis to plan a February summit at the Vatican on sexual abuse has been accused of covering up abuse in his own archdiocese in India.”

Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai reportedly told a whistle blower that he “was too busy” to do an investigation into an alleged predator priest. The whistle blower also says the Cardinal delayed removing that cleric from ministry, and then refused to tell his flock why the priest was removed. The whistle blower was ostracized for her activism. This kind of response from any church official to an allegation of sexual abuse would be troubling, but is far, far worse when that church official is one of those handpicked to plan a summit on abuse prevention.

Unfortunately, many top Catholic officials have concealed or are concealing known or suspected child sex crimes. Some such prelates have been promoted by Pope Francis. And, like Cardinal Gracias, some such prelates are planning this summit, including Chicago Cardinal Blaise Cupich and Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley.

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Get Religion

November 29, 2018

by Terry Mattingly

In terms of global, national, regional and local importance, the massive police raid of Catholic headquarters in Houston is clearly the big religion-news story of the day.

The question for me: How important is this story in terms of TEXAS news?

Hold that thought. First, here is the headline in The New York Times: “Investigators Raid Offices of President of U.S. Catholic Bishops.”

This is a solid and disturbing report, with some factual language in places where journalists often offer vague details. Here is the Times overture by veteran religion-beat scribe Laurie Goldstein:

Dozens of local and federal law enforcement officers conducted a surprise search of the offices of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston on Wednesday, looking for evidence in a clergy sexual abuse case that has ensnared the local archbishop, Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, who also serves as president of the United States Catholic bishops’ conference.

The raid in Houston is the latest sign of crisis in the church, with prosecutors growing more aggressive in their search for cover-ups of abuse, and the bishops — led by Cardinal DiNardo — hamstrung by the Vatican in their efforts to carry out reforms.

The church is under a barrage of investigations around the country. Attorneys general in at least a dozen states have opened inquiries, and the Justice Department has told bishops not to destroy any documents that could relate to sex abuse cases. Last month, the attorney general in Michigan executed search warrants on all seven Catholic dioceses in that state.

The scene outside the archdiocesan offices in Houston on Wednesday morning was extraordinary, with police cars lined up on the street and about 50 uniformed officers headed inside, some carrying boxes to hold evidence.

So what is the issue here? Let’s talk about Texas.

To be blunt: When I started writing this post, I did a simple search of The Houston Chronicle website for this word “DiNardo.” The results were a bit surprising, since I couldn’t find anything about this raid at the top of the initial search list.

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HOUSTON (TX)
Star Telegram

November 29, 2018

By Cynthia Allen

This week in Houston, state prosecutors investigating a case of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest searched the offices of the local archdiocese. They were seeking employment and disciplinary records for Manuel La Rosa-Lopez, who stands accused by two people of fondling them two decades ago when they were teenagers.

“This is not a search warrant against the Catholic Church,” said Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon, who is leading the investigation. The archdiocese says it has been cooperating, and was quick to contend that this was not a raid.

But watching footage of gun-toting law enforcement officers walk in and out of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston headquarters, it sure felt like one. And even I — someone who has previously called on secular authorities in Texas to investigate the Catholic Church, as several states are already doing — felt uneasy and heartbroken watching it.

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WILSON (TN)
Wilson Post

November 29, 2018

By Ken Little

William Casey will have to wait until 2019 to find out if his most recent bid for a new trial will be granted by a Sullivan County Criminal Court judge.

Another trial remains a possibility for the former Catholic priest and Greene County resident, based on an opinion filed in May by the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals at Knoxville.

Casey had a post-conviction hearing scheduled Wednesday in Sullivan County Criminal Court. Judge James F. Goodwin granted a continuation until March 15, 2019, so 2nd Judicial District Attorney General Barry Staubus Jr. and Casey’s 2011 trial defense lawyers could review a brief filed Monday in support of a new trial submitted by his current defense lawyer, Francis “Frank” Santore Jr.

Casey, who turns 85 on Jan. 4, was found guilty of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of aggravated rape in 2011 by a Sullivan County Criminal Court jury.

The sex abuse charges stemmed from conduct that occurred in 1979 and 1980, while victim Warren Tucker attended a school associated with St. Dominic Catholic Church in Kingsport. Casey was a priest at the church and Tucker was an altar boy.

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SANTA FE (NM)
U.S. News & World Report

November 29, 2018

The Latest: Warrants Detail Clergy Sex Abuse in New Mexico

The Latest on the New Mexico attorney general’s investigation in clergy sex abuse (all times local):.

Search warrants obtained by The Associated Press reveal graphic allegations of sexual abuse of children by members of the Catholic clergy in New Mexico.

The warrants were served Wednesday by agents with the state attorney general’s office at the home of a former priest in northern New Mexico and at the offices of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, which is located in Albuquerque.

The warrants were based on the statements of two unidentified victims and a confidential informant who provided information about the church not following through on settlements and giving ultimatums to victims. That included threats of stopping paid treatment if victims went to authorities with their claims.

The archdiocese did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

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CONCORD (NH)
NBC News

November 26, 2018

By Kalhan Rosenblatt

Earlier this month, in the first of Labrie’s two appeals, the court ruled in a unanimous decision to uphold his felony conviction.

A former student at the prestigious St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire, convicted of a felony charge stemming from rape allegations, will argue on Wednesday he had an ineffective legal team and deserves a new trial.

Owen Labrie, 23, was found guilty in 2015 of one count of “certain uses of computer services prohibited,” three counts of sexual assault and one count of endangering the welfare of a child.

The sexual assault charges and the endangering the welfare of a child charge are misdemeanors. The computer-use charge is a felony, and carries a mandatory lifetime registration as a sex offender, according to the Concord Monitor.

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