ABUSE TRACKER

New charges filed against Anthony Odiong after eight accusers came forward alleging unwelcome sexual conduct

Days after being jailed in Florida on counts of possessing child abuse imagery, a Roman Catholic priest with ties to south-east Louisiana and Texas has been charged with two counts of sexual assault.

Police in Waco, Texas, announced the new charges against Anthony Odiong late on Thursday in a statement. It said a total of eight victims had come forward alleging Odiong, 55, tried to use his influence as a priest to pursue sexual contact they either did not welcome or to which they could not consent.

Texas is one of about a dozen states with a law that criminalizes sexual activity between clergymen and adults who emotionally depend on their spiritual advice. Furthermore, Texas deems statutes of limitation – or filing deadlines – irrelevant if a “defendant has committed the same or similar sex offense…

View Cache

New Vision Baptist Church in Murfreesboro has used background checks in its ministry for more than 10 years.

“It gives us peace of mind,” said Kellie Clem, financial assistant at New Vision. “Also, there are occasions where it becomes a chance to talk with volunteers about their faith walk due to results that have come back.”

According to the 2023 Annual Church Profile (ACP), most Southern Baptist congregations, like New Vision, use background checks for volunteers. Fewer, however, say they have been trained in reporting sexual abuse or caring for sexual abuse survivors.

Almost 3 in 5 congregations affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (58%) use background checks. More than a third (36%) are trained in reporting sexual abuse, while 16% are trained in caring for survivors.

“Many within the Southern Baptist Convention and other denominations have been expressing a desire to do more to prevent sexual abuse,”…

View Cache

A priest regularly voted France’s most popular personality has been posthumously accused of sexual assault and harassment by at least seven women, including one who was a minor when the first incident allegedly occurre

An investigative report, published July 17, said that at least five other possible victims were identified during a probe into allegations against Abbé Pierre, the founder of Emmaus, a charity serving the poor and homeless.

Abbé Pierre — who was a member of the French World War II Resistance and made a celebrated appeal for an “uprising of kindness” during the harsh winter of 1954 — is the latest prominent figure within French Catholicism to face posthumous accusations of sexual misconduct.

Others include Fr. Georges Finet, co-founder of the Foyers de Charité, Fr. Marie-Dominique Philippe, founder of the Community of St. John, and Jean Vanier, a Canadian who founded the L’Arche community in France.

The French bishops’…

View Cache

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Employees of the largest housing provider for unaccompanied migrant children in the U.S. repeatedly sexually abused and harassed children in their care for at least eight years, the Justice Department said Thursday, alleging a shocking litany of offenses that took place as the company amassed billions of dollars in government contracts.

Southwest Key Programs Inc. employees, including supervisors, raped, touched or solicited sex and nude images of children beginning in 2015 and possibly earlier, the Justice Department said in a lawsuit filed this week. At least two employees have been indicted on criminal charges related to the allegations since 2020.

It was not immediately clear how many children are currently in Southwest Key’s vast network of shelters across three states, which have room for more than 6,300 children. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment beyond the lawsuit announcement when asked whether the department recommended that…

View Cache

St. Susanna’s pastor says he made ‘terrible mistake’ by failing to report priest for alleged child porn for six years, and ordering hard drive destroyed.

MASON, Ohio — Some local Catholics want a Mason pastor to resign, after the WCPO 9 I-Team reported last week that he ordered evidence of alleged child pornography be destroyed, and waited six years to report it to police while pastor of a different church.

“I understand that the information in this report is distressing for many of you and may impact your trust in me as your pastor… I instructed the hard drive be destroyed. I realize that not reporting it was a terrible mistake, which I regret,” Fr. Barry Stechschulte wrote in a July 12 letter to the St. Susanna community, where he is pastor and oversees a large school.

While the I-Team report focused on former priest Tony Cutcher, it also revealed Father…

View Cache

Vatican City – A legendary French priest and a lifelong advocate of the homeless has been accused of committing acts that would amount to “sexual assault or sexual harassment,” his foundation said Wednesday, in the latest instance of a Catholic spiritual leader facing allegations of abusing his power to harm women.

Abbé Pierre, who died in 2007, was one of France’s most beloved public figures. The founder of the international Emmaus Community for the poor, Abbé Pierre had served as part of France’s conscience since the 1950s, when he persuaded Parliament to pass a law — still on the books — forbidding landlords to evict tenants during winter.

Several women have accused the late priest of sexual assault or harassment between the end of the 1970s and 2005, his foundation said in a statement. It explained that it is making public the allegations of seven women, including one who was…

View Cache

Stephanie Householder, who ran Circle of Hope Girls Ranch with her husband Boyd Householder, faces 21 charges of child abuse and neglect alleged by former students. Her husband, who died last month, had nearly 80 charges that include allegations of sexual abuse.

Survivors of abuse are asking Missouri’s attorney general to proceed with the trial of the co-owner of Circle of Hope Girls Ranch, a now-shuttered boarding school for troubled girls in Cedar County.

Stephanie Householder, who ran the school with her husband Boyd Householder, faces 21 charges of child abuse and neglect alleged by former Circle of Hope students. Her husband had nearly 80 charges, including allegations of sexual abuse.

But he died of a “cardiac incident,” according to his attorney’s statement published by KSMU.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey offered Householder a plea deal in 2023 if she would testify against her husband. She rejected…

View Cache

Father Marko Ivan Rupnik is a former Jesuit priest whose artwork decorates Catholic churches, chapels, and shrines around the world, including the Redemptoris Mater chapel in the Vatican and the major seminary of Rome. He is accused of having committed serious sexual, spiritual, and psychological abuse of women for decades and his case is currently being investigated by the Vatican.

Rupnik’s career

Rupnik, 69, was born in 1954 in Zadlog, Slovenia. During his youth he studied at the School of Fine Arts in Rome and at the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he earned a doctorate with a thesis on the theological significance of modern art in the light of Russian theology.

In the 1980s in his native country with the nun Ivanka Hosta he founded the Loyola Community, where he allegedly abused nuns.

He is also the founder of the Centro Aletti spiritual art workshop in Rome, from where many…

View Cache

A former McLennan County priest is accused of serial sexual assault and has been charged for having child pornography.

UPDATE (6 p.m.)

According to a statement from the Diocese of Austin, they are ready to fully cooperate with law enforcement regarding this case.

The Diocese of Austin says it remains committed to its Safe Environment Program, and is encouraging anyone with additional information regarding Odiong, to report it directly to the Waco Police Department.

According to officials, since Odiong’s conclusion of service in the Diocese of Austin in 2012, he has not had authorization to minister as a priest within the twenty-five county area comprising the Diocese of Austin, and his bishop recalled him back to the Diocese of Uyo in writing in March 2024.

“In 2019, the Diocese of Austin sent written communication to Fr. Odiong confirming that he did not have authorization to engage in priestly ministry in…

View Cache

LULING, La. — A former Louisiana priest who has been credibly accused of sex crimes in several states is under investigation in Texas, where police believe he may have more victims.

Anthony Odiong,55, who was a priest in Luling from 2015 to 2023, is accused of sexual assault and most recently possession of child pornography, according to a news release issued by the Waco Police Department.

Waco police say they were made aware of a sexual assault that happened in 2013 involving Odiong.

Odiong was arrested on Tuesday in Ave Maria, Fla. He is awaiting extradition.

According to Waco police, multiple women have come forward to share similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation.

Police say those experiences ranged from sexual assault to groping and indecent assault.

Officers believe there are potentially more victims across the country.

Odiong served as a Catholic priest at St….

View Cache

AVE MARIA, Fla. — The U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force, along with Collier County deputies, arrested a former Texas priest in Ave Maria Tuesday for possession of child pornography.

Father Anthony Odiong, 55, is also the subject of a sexual assault investigation.

In March 2024, police in Waco, Texas, report a woman came forward to tell them about a sexual assault that occurred in 2012. It was during this investigation that detectives found the child pornography leading to Odiong’s arrest warrant.

People living in Ave Maria’s Silverwood community witnessed Odiong’s arrest. Many neighbors reported not knowing the man well.

“Sexual abuse? That’s horrible,” Grygoriy Averchenko said. “And that’s like, I would never expect that to be living in the community.”

“I went outside, stepped outside and saw four police officers around in the side of his house. One police officer with an AR pointed out the window and probably like…

View Cache

Rev. Anthony Odiong, the priest dismissed last year from St. Anthony of Padua Church in Luling, was arrested Tuesday morning in Florida on a Texas warrant accusing him of possession of child pornography, according to authorities. 

The Waco Police Department is also investigating allegations that the Catholic priest sexually assaulted many other victims. 

“Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation in 2012, Waco Detective Bradley DeLange said in a statement released Tuesday.

“Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault, indecent assault — more commonly known as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation,” DeLange said.

Odiong could not be reached for comment Tuesday. An attorney who previously represented him also could not be reached for comment.

Texas investigation

Waco police opened their investigation in March after an unidentified victim reported…

View Cache

Anthony Odiong was investigated for allegations of sexually abusive misconduct with multiple women in Louisiana and was reported to the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office.

NEW ORLEANS — A popular former New Orleans-area Catholic priest who was dismissed as pastor from St. Anthony of Padua in Luling last year has been arrested and charged with illegally possessing child abuse imagery depicting unclothed children.

Anthony Odiong was arrested Tuesday as he was leaving his home in Ave Maria, Florida, on a warrant obtained by police in Waco, Texas. According to sworn statements in support of the arrest warrant that were obtained by the Guardian, police said they discovered the illicit pictures while investigating complaints from at least four women that made officers aware Odiong, 55, could be “a potential serial sexual assault suspect”.

Odiong was being investigated for allegations of sexually abusive misconduct with multiple women in Louisiana. He was reported to the…

View Cache

An affidavit in the arrest Tuesday of a former Waco-area priest indicates Waco police came across child pornography in his online accounts while they were investigating the complaint of one of four women who accused him of sexual assault.

The Rev. Anthony Okoneffiong Odiong, 56, was being held Wednesday in Florida’s Collier County Jail without bail on the child pornography charge, waiting for transfer to McLennan County.

Odiong, who served as pastor at St. Peter Catholic Student Center near Baylor University and St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in West from 2007 to 2012, was dismissed from a church in Luling, Louisiana, in December.

Since then, the Diocese of Fort Worth in February has warned churches not to allow Odiong to engage with parishioners, suggesting that he had disregarded a ban by the Diocese of Austin on ministering in that diocese, which includes McLennan County.

The arrest affidavit for…

View Cache

Serial child sex abuser Peter Newman will be eligible for parole later this year due to the terms of his sentencing, and survivors of his abuse at Kanakuk Kamps are opposing that possibility.

Newman is one among a long list of child sex abuse perpetrators at Kanakuk Kamps, an evangelical Christian camp based in Branson, Mo., facing multiple lawsuits for fraudulent concealment of these sex crimes.

After confessing in 2009 to sexually abusing at least 57 children, Newman was sentenced in 2010 to two life terms plus 30 years in Missouri state prison on multiple counts of statutory sodomy and child enticement. Prior to his sentencing, prosecutors were aware of at least 57 alleged victims of this abuse, on which one prosecutor commented he was “the most prolific child molester I have ever dealt with.” Today it is believed his number of victims and survivors is much higher.

On Sept. 25,…

View Cache

Priest Mariusz W. from Radom was arrested on his 45th birthday. He faces up to 12 years in prison for the sexual exploitation of young women and inciting false testimony.

The District Court in Zamość ordered his temporary detention for three months. He previously served as the director of the National Organizational Office for World Youth Days (WYD) and as a diocesan academic pastor in Radom.

The priest, who also lectured at a local university and served as a youth pastor, faces charges related to seven incidents spanning from 2011 to 2021.

The prosecution encourages any other potential victims of the priest’s sexual exploitation to come forward if they haven’t done so already.

The Radom Diocese informed authorities about the potential criminal activities of the Catholic clergyman as early as 2021. Since then, an investigation has been ongoing, including interviews with victims and witnesses.

“The Radom Diocese deeply regrets the…

View Cache

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has said he will appeal a judge’s decision to reject his request to enforce a subpoena against the Archdiocese of Seattle in a clergy sex abuse investigation, while Archbishop Paul Etienne has renewed his offer for collaboration between the sides.

Alleging that the Archdiocese of Seattle refused to cooperate, Ferguson’s office announced in May that he filed a court petition to get the subpoena enforced. The subpoena sought archdiocesan records for an investigation into whether the archdiocese used charitable funds to cover up clergy sex abuse allegations.

Ferguson’s office first sent the subpoena to the Archdiocese of Seattle in July 2023, and then again this past April seeking additional information, including accounting and financial records. The Dioceses of Spokane and Yakima, also in Washington, were subpoenaed as well.

Rejecting Ferguson’s request on July 12, King County Superior Court Judge Michael Scott ruled that the attorney…

View Cache

Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki has a history of opposing consequences for sexual abuse in the church.

Conservatives seemingly had no problem tapping someone with a history of covering up sexual abuse scandals to deliver the opening remarks at the Republican National Convention.

During the opening prayer Monday night, Archbishop of Milwaukee Jerome Listecki reminded the conference to pray for the “wisdom” to place the nation “above personal interest” and to “respect justice” and “equality before the law.” But that wasn’t always the spiritual leader’s prerogative.

Fourteen years ago, Listecki was caught in the midst of a cover-up within the church, with local outlets underlining how far he had gone to thwart investigations of priests involved in the Catholic Church’s child sex abuse scandal, and how he had even permitted some of the accused—and charged—church leaders to remain in leadership positions.

In 2010, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel View Cache

A teenage girl from New York who was visiting family in Brooksville reported to deputies that her step-grandfather, William Martinez, 55, touched her inappropriately and forced her to touch him.

Martinez is a pastor at Kingdom of Hope Ministries in Weeki Wachee.

After hearing of the incident, the teen’s mother informed the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.

While her grandmother was at a doctor’s appointment, the teen said that Martinez gave her a drink that tasted funny and a THC gummy, which made her tired. He then proceeded to touch her. Blood and urine tests confirmed the presence of alcohol and THC in her system.

Detectives executed a search warrant at Martinez’s home and collected forensic evidence. Martinez denied the allegations made by the victim.

He was arrested on two counts of Lewd and Lascivious Behavior of a Victim over 12, and less than 16 and two counts of Sexual Battery…

View Cache

Waco police asking other possible survivors of sexual assaults to come forward

The Waco Police Department on Tuesday announced it is searching for additional survivors who were sexually assaulted by Father Anthony Odiong, 55, a Catholic priest.

In March of this year, Waco police said they received credible information reporting that the priest – identified as Odiong – had committed a sexual assault in 2012.

During the investigation, police identified up to five victims and learned Odiong was in possession of child pornography, an arrest affidavit states.

The affidavit states Odiong was using his iPhone and iPad to communicate with the victims and police obtained a search warrant to access Odiong’s iCloud, where they found multiple lewd photos of a girl, the warrant further states.

View Cache

It leaves us scratching our collective heads as we just posted about another predator priest, but as best we can tell, not a single US TV station, radio station, newspaper, or even blogger has ever reported on the abuse allegations against Fr. Ramon Salvador Gomez. How can that be? In 2021, he was put on the ‘credibly accused’ list in the Fresno Diocese. He was on a similar list in the San Antonio Archdiocese two years prior.

Fr. Gomez was “dismissed after law enforcement officials in California informed the San Antonio Archdiocese that he was accused of child sex abuse in that state.” He later moved to Jalisco, Mexico, but sometimes returned to the Texas town of Carrizo Springs “without faculties or permission for priestly ministry, despite the objections of the parish pastor and a letter from the Texas archbishop to the Mexican bishop.”

On one…

View Cache

Johnny Hunt finally got to tell his side the story about what happened at a beachside condo in 2010, when he is accused of sexually abusing a pastor’s wife the age of his own daughters.

In a court deposition taken April 18, the former Georgia pastor and denominational leader says the narrative of what happened that day was misrepresented by Guidepost Solutions in its report to the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee in 2022.

The 368-page deposition was made public last week. It covers a wide range of topics, from Hunt’s income stream, to his leadership of men’s conferences, to his tenure as president of the SBC, to his definition of adultery.

Defining adultery

Hunt, the former longtime pastor of Woodstock Baptist Church north of Atlanta, says he sees a difference between “adultery” and being “unfaithful” to one’s wife. It is only adultery, he says, if there is sexual intercourse involved.

That…

View Cache

Anthony Odiong, prohibited from ministering in Texas and Louisiana amid criminal investigation, arrested in Florida

A Catholic priest under criminal investigation for sexual misconduct with multiple women – and consequently prohibited from ministering in two states – has been charged with illegally possessing child abuse imagery depicting girls.

Anthony Odiong was arrested Tuesday as he was leaving his home in Ave Maria, Florida, on a warrant obtained by police in Waco, Texas, charging him with possessing child abuse images showing disrobed children. According to sworn statements in support of the arrest warrant that were obtained by the Guardian, police said they discovered the illicit pictures while investigating complaints from at least four women that made officers aware Odiong, 55, could be “a potential serial sexual assault suspect”.

The Waco police statements say that at least some of the women’s complaints are too old to prosecute due to statutes of limitation….

View Cache

The first person to come forward with sexual abuse allegations against a former Dubuque priest is speaking out after Leo Riley’s charges were dismissed in court on Monday.

The dismissal of charges in Dubuque County due to an archaic Iowa law does not change what is the absolute truth: Leo Patrick Riley is a serial pedophile,” Jeff Buchheit said in a statement on Tuesday.

Evil escaped justice today, but it is only a matter of time before he is held accountable for other lives he destroyed in Iowa and Florida. I extend my sincere gratitude to the Dubuque Police Department investigators and County Attorney’s office. Their relentless and just pursuit of the truth has honored all of us who previously had no voice, especially the many altar boys from Resurrection who have passed on but still stand with us.

My resolve to bring Riley to justice,…

View Cache

The criminal case against an ex-Dubuque priest accused of multiple counts of child sexual abuse was dismissed today. There was no ruling on the accusations, just a decision that the case was beyond the criminal statute of limitations. SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is disappointed that once again an accused clergyman was able to avoid facing his accusers in court.

 Although Fr. Leo P. Riley had denied the charges and pleaded not guilty, we know that false accusations of child sexual abuse are rare, multiple false accusations are even rarer. We believe and stand with the brave survivors who came forward to accuse this cleric. Despite Fr. Riley’s attorney’s claiming that there was “no evidence” that the clergyman committed these crimes, the truth is that the testimony of these courageous victims would have been evidence.

 Many secular reports and individual investigations across the globe…

View Cache

Victims beg AG: No plea deal for ‘horrific abuser’

She’s ‘Missouri’s Ghislane Maxwell,’ they charge

Woman & her husband faced 100 counts of crimes vs. kids

But he just died & victims fear she’ll cut ‘a sweet deal’ from AG

At event, group will write to sheriffs & prosecutors in 20+ counties

A ‘potentially dangerous’ boarding school is in each one, they say

SNAP: ‘Don’t wait! Go after these Christian boarding schools now!’

WHAT

At a sidewalk news conference – chanting and holding signs that read “No plea for Stephanie!!” – victims of abuse at Christian boarding schools will hand-deliver an impassioned letter to Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office urging him to

–take a notorious accused female serial abuser to trial this fall, and

–NOT offer her another plea deal.

Then, sitting on folding chairs, they will address, stamp and stuff envelopes with letters to sheriffs and prosecutors in 20+…

View Cache

Imagine a criminal breaks into your house and steals nearly everything. Years or decades later, you find out he’s carefully and shrewdly hidden it all in a storage facility, and all the while, others knew of his crimes but told no one.

So you finally get to confront the thief.

He refuses to admit his guilt.

He won’t let you in the storage facility.

He won’t even let you glance inside of it for a second.

But he offers to pay you what, on its face, seems to be a good amount of money.

But there’s a catch. You will never get your belongings back. And of course, your pain will never be relieved – all you suffered for all those years, when you couldn’t afford your medicine, cookware or a decent couch to stretch out on doesn’t matter.

This doesn’t even begin to address your psychological and emotional turmoil…

View Cache

A 20-year old tried to assassinate a presidential candidate this weekend. Now I know that, technically, we consider 20-year-olds adults. But I teach 20-year-olds. I know they’re still somewhere between childhood and adulthood, their brains not yet fully formed.

But what in the world would lead a such a young man to try to kill a former president?

The kids simply are not all right.

Teen anxiety, depression and other mental health struggles continue to rise. Nearly a quarter of teens girls have contemplated suicide, as have half of LGBTQ teens.

I recall a conversation with my goddaughter a few years ago when she was around 12 or 13 years old. We were talking about her anxiety about climate change, and she said, “I wish I’d been born sooner. I don’t think I have a future.”

Wow. This is a middle class white kid with everything going for her.

“I wish I’d…

View Cache

On Friday, a judge decided to not force the Seattle Archdiocese to turn over records that the Attorney General’s Office has been asking for since last July.

Ahead of the hearing, survivors of clergy sexual abuse made a point to be at the courthouse.

“For me personally I have been working hard for this day for 31 or 32 years, since I faced my abuse by a priest when I was seven,” said Mary Dispenza.

Wearing a pin with a picture of her at that age, Dispenza is now on a mission to expose what she said the Catholic Church has kept hidden.

The Seattle Archdiocese has released its official record of clergy credibly accused. There are more than 80 names on the list.

“I don’t believe that 80 is the accurate number at all,” said Dispenza, who believes it is much higher.  Continue reading

…

View Cache

Safeguarding processes at two linked charities have been criticised by the Charity Commission in the aftermath of an abuse scandal at a religious school where monks were found to have abused children as young as seven.

Safeguarding failures were found at St Laurence Educational Trust, which runs independent school Ampleforth College on the site of Ampleforth Abbey, North Yorkshire.

Failures were also found at Ambleforth Abbey Trust, which manages the Abbey and whose monks provide chaplaincy and teaching to pupils.

These safeguarding weaknesses “put students at the college at risk of harm”, according to the Commission.

Among failures was “ineffective communication between the charities”, this includes ineffective support from their safeguarding committees at the time.

The slow pace of improvements to safeguarding at St Laurence Educational Trust exposed children to “risks of harm and the college to reputational harm”.

Meanwhile, trustees at Ampleforth Abbey Trust, who were all from the monastic community, were found to lack…

View Cache

The Adrian Police Department said Michael Ronald Goble was arraigned Monday after being arrested over the weekend.

LENAWEE COUNTY, Mich. — A Lenawee County pastor was arraigned Monday on charges of criminal sexual conduct after being arrested over the weekend.

Adrian police said Michael Ronald Goble faces two counts of criminal sexual conduct of the second degree.

APD said that based on the totality of the investigation, more victims are believed to exist that have not yet been identified. According to police, “locations of significance” may include the Maurice Spears Juvenile Campus, Church of the Good Shepherd and Goble’s home.

Adrian police said they are conducting a joint investigation with the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office. They are urging anyone wishing to report a crime to do so based on where the crime occurred using the following:

• City of Adrian: D/Sgt. Kevin Putnam 517-264-4819 kputnam@adrianmi.gov 
• Lenawee County Detective Dale…

View Cache

Pope Francis has written the preface to the book “Women and Ministries in the Synodal Church,” authored by three theologians and two cardinals who participated in the meeting of the Council of Cardinals, C9, this past February at the Vatican.

The theologians, noted Vatican News, are Salesian Sister Linda Pocher, professor of Christology and Mariology at the Auxilium in Rome; who also wrote the book’s introduction; Jo Bailey Wells, a female Anglican bishop and undersecretary general of the Anglican Communion; and Giuliva Di Berardino, consecrated woman of the Ordo Virginum of the Diocese of Verona in Italy, liturgist, teacher and organizer of spirituality courses and spiritual exercises.

The cardinals are Jean-Claude Hollerich, archbishop of Luxembourg and relator general of the Synod on Synodality, who in 2023 stated that “over time” the pope could allow the ordination of women; and Seán Patrick O’Malley,…

View Cache

A bishop has asked a traditionalist order to leave his diocese in New Zealand following a Vatican investigation.

Bishop Michael Gielen announced July 13 that priests of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer — also known as the Transalpine Redemptorists — would no longer be allowed to minister in his Diocese of Christchurch.

He said he had also asked all professed community members to leave the diocese, located on New Zealand’s South Island.

Gielen, who was appointed Bishop of Christchurch in May 2022, explained that he took the step following an apostolic visitation — a Vatican-ordered inquiry — of the community, led by the retired Australian canon law expert Bishop Robert McGuckin.

After McGuckin submitted a report to Rome, the Vatican department responsible for religious orders sent Gielen a list of recommendations, which he accepted.

“I am removing the faculties of the priests of the Sons of the Most Holy…

View Cache

The rate of sexual misconduct in public schools far exceeds the high-profile abuse scandals that rocked the Roman Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America.

Every day millions of parents put their children under the care of public school teachers, administrators, and support staff. Their trust, however, is frequently broken by predators in authority in what appears to be the largest ongoing sexual abuse scandal in our nation’s history.

Given the roughly 50 million students in U.S. K-12 schools each year, the number of students who have been victims of sexual misconduct by school employees is probably in the millions each decade, according to multiple studies. Such numbers would far exceed the high-profile abuse scandals that rocked the Roman Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America.

For a variety of reasons, ranging from embarrassment to eagerness to avoid liability, elected or appointed officials, along with unions or lobbying…

View Cache

A priest who was Poland’s main national organiser for World Youth Day (WYD) – a major global event for young people held by the Catholic church – has been charged with sexual abuse and placed in detention.

Prosecutors in the city of Zamość announced on Monday that they had charged the 45-year-old man, who can be named only as Mariusz W. under Polish privacy law, with seven offences that took place between 2011 and 2021.

Mariusz W. served as a local coordinator of WYD in the Radom diocese from 2014 to 2016. In the latter year, Poland hosted the event (pictured above), which was attended by Pope Francis.

In 2021, he was appointed as director of the Polish church’s national organising office for WYD, overseeing preparations in Poland for the 2023 event, which was held in Portugal.

In December 2021, the Catholic diocese of Radom notified prosecutors of potential crimes…

View Cache

[VIDEO]

A Christchurch-based Catholic order has had its authority removed and its priests have been stripped of their religious faculties, after an investigation by the Vatican into allegations of unauthorised exorcisms and spiritual and psychological abuse.

Priests for the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, also known as the Transalpine Redemptorists or simply The Sons, previously had permission from the Catholic church to preach the Traditional Latin Mass from a chapel in St Albans in Christchurch.

They have now been banned from practicing and told to leave the Christchurch diocese.

The leaders, Father Michael Mary and Father Anthony Mary, have faced claims of manipulating and controlling their followers and interfering in the lives of families.

Priests were accused of tying people up during exorcisms and screaming at them for hours.

Leader father Michael Mary described the bonds as a “safety harness” which he said was sometimes required when the…

View Cache

DUBUQUE, Iowa — A judge in Iowa dismissed five sexual abuse charges against former Port Charlotte priest Leo P. Riley.

The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said investigators worked with the Dubuque Police Department after allegations of Riley’s abuse came to light in May 2023. At the time, Riley was a priest at the San Antonio Catholic Church in Port Charlotte.

The Dubuque Police Department published a press release stating four victims had come forward claiming Riley had sexually abused them from 1984-1986, when they were school-aged boys, all serving as altar boys of Resurrection Parish.

According to the Archdiocese of Dubuque, a previous sexual abuse allegation was made against Riley in 2014.

Riley had been extradited to Iowa to face a judge in early April. On July 15, court records show the charges were dismissed. However, it’s not clear why.

Fox 4 has reached out for more information about the dismissal.

View Cache

DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) – The priest accused of sexually abusing boys at a Dubuque school in the 1980s has had the charges against him dismissed.

Attorneys for Father Leo Riley had filed a motion to dismiss the charges, arguing the statute of limitations had expired before the charges were filed against him.

Riley was charged with five counts of sexual abuse. Prosecutors said he molested multiple altar boys while he served at Resurrection School in Dubuque from 1984-86.

Riley was arrested in April in Florida, where he is serving at a Catholic Church. Riley is also facing a lawsuit in Florida from a former student, who also claims Riley sexually abused him at a school there.

Court documents filed on Monday confirmed the state acknowledged that the statute of limitations had run out on the charges against him from his time in Dubuque.

The case is now dismissed.

Riley’s attorneys released…

View Cache

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. (WWSB) – The criminal case against Father Leo Riley, the Charlotte County priest accused of sexual abuse, has been dismissed and will not go to trial.

Riley was facing five counts of sexual abuse, allegedly committed during his time as a priest in Iowa in the 1980s.

The judge’s decision came down to the statute of limitations – a law that limits the amount of time after an incident occurs that someone can be prosecuted.

In this case, Iowa law required charges to be brought by 1989 but because that didn’t happen until this year, Riley cannot legally be tried on these allegations.

The judge dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning Riley cannot be tried again on these charges.

Copyright 2024 WWSB. All rights reserved.

View Cache

The case has been dismissed against a former Southwest Florida priest who allegedly sexually abused multiple young boys 40 years ago.

Leo Riley’s attorney, Guy Cook, reached out to WINK News and said, “Please know the Court has dismissed the defective and wrongful charges brought against Father Leo Riley.”

Cook said that he had previously filed a motion to dismiss the charges on Riley’s behalf since the statute of limitations had run out and a motion to suppress evidence due to the state’s unethical and unconstitutional conduct.

The motion to suppress was to be heard by the court on Monday, but the court canceled the hearing and entered an order dismissing the case instead.

Cook said that Riley vigorously denied the allegations.

According to Cook, Riley successfully passed two separate polygraph examinations conducted by two different former FBI special agents who are experts in polygraphs.

View Cache

In the United States, the Knights of Columbus have announced in a statement that they will cover two mosaics by Slovenian Father Marko Rupnik, who is accused of sexual assault and psychological violence.

Two works by Slovenian artist Father Marko Rupnik will be covered in Washington and Connecticut in the United States. In a statement published July 11, the Knights of Columbus announced this decision. This is the first time such a decision has been made regarding the artistic works of the priest, who is currently accused of multiple sexual assaults.

“Our first concern must be for victims of sexual abuse, who have already suffered immensely, and who may be further injured by the ongoing display of the mosaics at the Shrine,” said Patrick Kelly, the supreme knight of the Catholic charitable organization, adding that this decision was the result of an “extensive process.”

“Every situation is different. In the United…

View Cache

New substantiated sexual abuse allegations have surfaced against a former priest in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas who served prison time after being convicted in 2002 of indecent liberties with a child, church officials say.

“With deep sorrow for the suffering of victims and survivors of abuse, the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas announces that former priest Dennis Schmitz, who was laicized from the priesthood in 2005, has been the subject of additional substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of minors and adults over whom he held a position of authority,” the archdiocese said in a July 12 notice in The Leaven, its official newspaper.

The time frame of the alleged abuse was in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the archdiocese said.

During that time, Schmitz served in numerous locations, including St. Joseph Catholic Church in Shawnee; Bishop Miege High School in Roeland Park;…

View Cache

SÃO PAULO, Brazil – An association of survivors abuse in Portugal has complained to the bishops’ conference earlier this week about the way how the Portuguese Church has been handling reporting and compensation of victims, and asked the prelates to stop “revictimization.”

The meeting between the Portuguese Episcopal Conference (known by the acronym CEP) and the Associação Coração Silenciado (“Silenced Heart Association”), which brings together dozens of victims, occurred in Coimbra on July 10.

António Grosso, one of the association’s founders, told Crux that the group expressed to CEP its concerns about the church’s management of the ecclesial abuse crisis.

“We talked to them, and we hope they will change their stance. We don’t need more words for the covers of the newspapers. We need them to be proactive,” he said.

After years of perceived inaction concerning reports of sex abuse in the church, the Portuguese episcopate faced pressure from a movement organized by…

View Cache

An official document for the Synod in October of this year explicitly accepts a loss of credibility due to the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

Although credibility has been at stake since the sexual abuse crisis exploded, this is the first time a Vatican document officially admits its pervasive effects.

In Spain, the Catholic bishops announced a plan to offer reparations to victims of clergy sexual abuse, but it is not clear how they will do so.

This week the issue of clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic Church became a priority at the global scale and even more in Spain.

At the global scale, the most recent document of the ongoing Synod, a meeting of bishops and other church officials that has happened with certain regularity in the Roman Catholic Church since the early seventies, gave prominence to the issue when it acknowledged the risk of not…

View Cache

The leader of a Long Island church was arrested and charged with multiple sex crimes after police said he had a years-long sexual relationship with a girl starting when she was 12 years old.

While working at Iglesia Cristiana Unida in Hempstead from Aug. 2011 until April 2016, Jose Wilfredo Vazquez Cardoza was involved in an inappropriate relationship with a girl from when she was 12 years old until she was 16 years old, according to Nassau County police.

During that time, the 49-year-old Cardoza was acting as a church leader while doing security for the church. He has been serving as an active member and an elder for Iglesia Misionera El Redentor on Merrick Road in Amityville since March 2023, police said.

Cardoza was arrested on Wednesday. He faces charges including rape, sexual abuse, endangering the welfare of a child and more. Attorney information for Cardoza was not immediately…

View Cache

A Kentucky megachurch has announced it’s closing in the wake of a sex scandal involving the church’s executive pastor.

As The Roys Report (TRR) previously reported, Zachary King, the former executive pastor at LexCity Church in Lexington, was arrested last week on allegations he raped and sexually abused a minor.  He is facing six charges, including first and third-degree rape, first and third-degree sodomy, first-degree sexual abuse, and the unlawful use of electronics to engage in sexual acts with a minor.

King remains jailed on $250,000 bail.

This past Wednesday, LexCity posted a statement on its website announcing it will cease operations.

“Through thoughtful prayer and heartfelt tears, the leadership team of Lexington City Church has voted to permanently cease our ministry,” the statement says. “Due to the continued effects of the financial situation our church inherited several years ago and the impact of the ongoing investigation…

View Cache

A former Catholic priest charged with more than a dozen historical child sexual offences has been granted bail after appearing in a Perth court.

It’s alleged Raymond Hevern, 82, sexually and physically abused a young girl who attended a mission in regional Western Australia between 1986 and 1987.

Police said it would be alleged the girl was nine years-old at the time of the first offence.

Detectives from the Sex Assault Squad arrested Mr Hevern following an investigation into a report made to the National Redress Scheme about abuse against children in state care.

The Rossmoyne man on Monday appeared in the Perth Magistrates Court charged with 14 counts of indecent treatment of a child under the age of 14.

He has also been charged with two counts of threatening to injure or cause detriment to a person, two counts of unlawful assault and two counts of assault occasioning bodily…

View Cache

A Catholic priest has been charged with a slew of historical sexual abuse offences over alleged assaults of a young girl in the 1980s.

The 82-year-old man is accused of sexually and physically assaulting the nine-year-old at a regional mission in Western Australia 1986 and 1987.

He has been charged with 20 offences including 14 counts of indecent treatment of a child under 14 and two counts each of threatened to injure, unlawful assault and assault occasioning bodily harm.

He is scheduled to appear in Perth Magistrates Court on Monday.

View Cache

1. Leader of the Spanish Episcopal Conference Luis Arguello and Head of Spanish Clergy Jesús Díaz Sariego entering news conference

2. Arguello at the beginning of news conference

3. News conference

4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Luis Arguello, leader of the Spanish Episcopal Conference: “When we refer to the recognition, to attention to victims, to prevention, to training and raising awareness, to informing and researching, although we still have a long way to go, we have already come a long way and shared a lot of work.”

5. News conference

6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jesús Díaz Sariego, Head of Spanish Clergy: “To the extent that we have been listening to the victims, we have also been sensitized to the harm that some of our members, some members of the Church over the years, over time, have done to children, to girls, to minors. And this attentive listening to…

View Cache

A South Carolina pastor is taking time to “rest” after his status as a convicted sex offender became known.

Pastor Don Logan’s presence on sex offender lists in Indiana and South Carolina was reported in May in the Wartburg Watch. His church announced Sunday that he will not be leading services at Fort Mill’s Eternal Church until at least September, the Fort Mill Sun reported.

Pastor Jacob Collins and Elder Lorne James announced Logan would enter a “time of rest,” saying it was needed after the revelations of his criminal past and because he is fighting cancer, the paper reported.

Logan will not be “preaching, shepherding staff, or having administrative responsibilities,” Collins reportedly said.

In a statement Collins read to the congregation on Logan’s behalf, Logan reportedly said his family is “taking time to heal and seek emotional restoration and peace while we discern if we…

View Cache

Matt Chandler’s Dallas-area megachurch employed his father for five years as a custodian, despite his father’s admission he had committed a child sex crime, a former elder at The Village Church Denton said.

Matt Chandler’s father, Steve Chandler, worked at the Denton, Texas, campus of The Village Church from 2007 to 2012. In 2015, the Denton campus became an autonomous church, The Village Church Denton.

In a statement read during a members meeting July 14, 2019, The Village Church Denton stated that Steve Chandler had committed a child sex crime 40 years prior. The statement said that staff at both the Denton campus and all locations of The Village Church became aware of Steve Chandler’s criminal past in 2009, yet he remained on staff for another three years.

Until this week, news about Steve Chandler’s criminal past and church employment was not…

View Cache

50-year old Kevin Mifsud was sentenced to imprisonment for 2 years, 6 months and inscribed in the sex offenders register, after admitting to sexually abusing a child entrusted to his care

The 11-year old victim suffered PTSD as a result of the abuse.

A former member of Christian Doctrine Society, MUSEUM, has been jailed for two and a half years for sexually abusing an 11-year old boy during organised trips to the seaside.

50-year old Kevin Mifsud had admitted to defiling a minor entrusted to his care and participating in sexual acts with the child in 2021, but sentencing had been delayed by several factors, amongst them the reassignment of the case to a different magistrate.

Prosecuting police inspector Joseph Busuttil had told magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit that the abuse itself had occurred in 2017 and 2018, the victim still bore the psychological scars.

The boy had been referred to the school psychologist at…

View Cache

Woman faces charges in relationship with student

Police say an educational assistant at St. Mary’s Catholic School in the City of Welland has been charged with sexual assault and interference over an alleged intimate relationship with a 14-year-old male.

Niagara Regional Police say a 48-year-old female was in a relationship with the victim, who is a former student.

Detectives have been investigating the allegations of sexual assault and interference since June of this year.

Police say the relationship is alleged to have lasted for three months.

Tracy Coleman of Port Colborne was arrested and charged with the two offences.

Police say they have reason to believe there may be more victims, and are asking anyone with information to reach out.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 13, 2024.

View Cache

A judge in Washington state on Friday rejected the state attorney general’s request to enforce a subpoena against the Archdiocese of Seattle as part of an ongoing investigation into sex abuse. 

Attorney General Bob Ferguson had said in May that his office had sent subpoenas to the Seattle Archdiocese, the Diocese of Spokane, and the Diocese of Yakima as part of an investigation into whether the bishoprics “used charitable funds to cover up allegations of child sex abuse by clergy.”

The attorney general’s office claimed in May that the Seattle Archdiocese “refused to cooperate” with the subpoena, leading the prosecutor to request that the King County Superior Court enforce the demand under the state’s Charitable Trusts Act, which imposes transparency requirements on large charitable trusts. 

In a press release shared with CNA, the archdiocese said that King County Superior Court Judge Michael Scott on Friday…

View Cache

A Washington state judge said Friday that Attorney General Bob Ferguson is not entitled to enforce a subpoena seeking decades of records from the Seattle Archdiocese, despite his assertion that the records are needed to learn whether the Catholic church used charitable trust funds to cover up sexual abuse by priests.

Judge Michael Scott sided with the archdiocese, which argued that under the state’s law governing charitable trusts, Ferguson did not have authority to enforce the subpoena. The law contains an exemption designed to ensure the state does not meddle in religious practices.

Nevertheless, Seattle Archbishop Paul D. Etienne said in a written statement after Friday’s decision that the church is willing to provide the state with relevant records and collaborate with Ferguson on the investigation “in a lawful manner.”

“Sexual abuse in the Church is a heart-wrenching part of our history, and I am deeply sorry for the pain caused…

View Cache

The man convicted and sentenced to life in prison for molesting children over a series of years at Kanakuk will have a parole
hearing in September.

Pete Newman was convicted of seven felony counts related to sexually abusing boys while he was a counselor at Kanakuk. He
was sentenced in 2010 to two life terms plus 30 years, served concurrently, and is currently in the Jefferson City Correctional
Center. Under Missouri Law, the way Newman’s sentences were structured allows him to seek parole after serving 1⁄3 of his total
sentence.

Elizabeth Carlock Phillips, the sister of one of Newman’s victims who committed suicide as a result of the abuse suffered at
Newman’s hands, gave Branson Tri-Lakes News a copy of a letter from the Missouri Department of Corrections informing
victims and their families of Newman’s upcoming parole hearing on September 25, 2024.

She also released the statement she’s sending to the parole board to the newspaper.

…

View Cache

A longtime pastor of a Dallas-area megachurch founded by radio preacher Chuck Swindoll has been fired for an unspecified “moral failure,” according to an email sent to church members.

On Tuesday, leaders of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, told members via email that Associate Pastor Tony Cammarota had been fired after “confess(ing) to church leadership of a moral failure” on Sunday, July 7. 

“After much prayer seeking God’s direction, discussions as leaders, and then talking to Tony, we have terminated his employment effective immediately,” stated the email from Stonebriar Senior Pastor Jonathan Murphy and Pastor Les Fleetwood. “He is deeply remorseful, but his sin disqualifies him from serving on our staff as a pastor.”

The email was first reported by blogger Amy Smith of Watchkeep, and later confirmed by local ABC affiliate WFAA. The nature of the “moral failure” by Cammarota, a View Cache

Attorney General Bob Ferguson offers the following statement in response to the King County Superior Court denying a request to enforce his office’s subpoena against the Seattle Archdiocese in his Catholic Church investigation:

“Our fight for survivors of clergy abuse is not over,” Ferguson said. “We plan to immediately appeal this decision because Washingtonians deserve a full public accounting of the Church’s involvement in and responsibility for the child sexual abuse crisis. As a Catholic, I believe in justice for survivors and I am disappointed by the Church’s lack of transparency. We will do everything we can to uncover the truth and bring a voice to survivors.” 

In May, Ferguson announced his office is investigating whether three Washington dioceses of the Catholic Church used charitable funds to cover up alleged child sex abuse by clergy.

The Attorney General’s Office sent subpoenas to the Seattle Archdiocese, the Dioceses of Spokane…

View Cache

A Washington state judge said Friday that Attorney General Bob Ferguson is not entitled to enforce a subpoena seeking decades of records from the Seattle Archdiocese, despite his assertion that the records are needed to learn whether the Catholic church used charitable trust funds to cover up sexual abuse by priests.

Judge Michael Scott sided with the archdiocese, which argued that under the state’s law governing charitable trusts, Ferguson did not have authority to enforce the subpoena. The law contains an exemption designed to ensure the state does not meddle in religious practices.

Nevertheless, Seattle Archbishop Paul D. Etienne said in a written statement after Friday’s decision that the church is willing to provide the state with relevant records and collaborate with Ferguson on the investigation “in a lawful manner.”

“Sexual abuse in the Church is a heart-wrenching part of our history, and I am deeply sorry for the pain caused…

View Cache

A King County judge has rejected a request by state investigators to compel the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle to release decades of records on priests who may have abused children.

Judge Michael Scott ruled that Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson lacks the authority to demand the documents and that the Catholic Church has a religious exemption.

“I have a lot of respect for Judge Scott,” Ferguson said. “Excellent judge, but we think he’s mistaken on this.”

Ferguson said the records are needed to see whether the church used charitable trust funds to cover up sexual abuse by priests. He has asked the Seattle Archdiocese to voluntarily hand over these documents but said he has been stonewalled for the past year, so he filed subpoenas to force their release.

During a hearing on Friday, the lead state investigator presented the state’s arguments to have Judge Scott enforce…

View Cache

The Weekly Dispatch takes a deep dive into breaking events and issues of significance around our world and our nation today, providing the background readers need to make better sense of the headlines speeding past us each week. For more news and analysis from around the world, visit Dispatches.

For many Catholics around the world, reports in 1989 of physical and sexual assaults at an orphanage for boys in Newfoundland may have been the first time they ever heard of the abuse of children by Catholic clergy and male religious. As awful as those first reports out of the Mount Cashel Orphanage were, they would prove to be not the end of something—a horror story from an isolated place—but the beginning of a scandal that would eventually rock the global church.

Last week, what may be the final act of the Mount Cashel scandal concluded. The Catholic Register of Toronto…

View Cache

Less than a week after an Oklahoma woman accused Gateway Church founder Robert Morris of abusing her when she was a child, the church settled a sexual harassment claim against a former Gateway pastor.

Rachel Childress filed a civil lawsuit in 2023 alleging sexual harassment and a hostile work environment while employed at Gateway. The case was settled for an undisclosed amount on June 21, according to court records.

Telephone calls to Childress’ attorney, Debra Edmondson, were not returned.

Childress’ lawsuit comes on the heels of another lawsuit reported by The Roys Report (TRR). In that lawsuit, Gateway Church was accused of concealing the sexual assault of a girl who attended the church.

Childress took aim at former pastor Aldean “Al” Pearson, accusing him of sexual harassment and alleging Gateway pastors failed to listen and act on her accusations. She also accused the megachurch of failing to promote her, saying they wanted a man…

View Cache

A Dallas-area megachurch, whose pastor recently resigned amid allegations of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl, employs a pastor who was convicted in 2004 of a child sex crime, according to Texas Department of Public Safety records.

Stephen Wilson, a convicted sex offender, is prison ministries campus pastor at embattled Gateway Church.

Last month, Gateway Pastor Robert Morris resigned, after a woman came forward with allegations Morris had sexually molested her from 1982—1986, when she was 12 to 16 years old.

In 2004, Wilson, a former middle school teacher, pleaded guilty to attempted indecency with a child, a third-degree felony. He was sentenced to two years in prison and required to register as a sex offender for 10 years. He also forfeited his teachers’ license.

According to Gateway’s website, Wilson founded G3 Prison Ministries in 2008, a nonprofit “determined to spread the Word of God inside…

View Cache

Matt Chandler’s Dallas-area megachurch employed his father for five years as a custodian, despite his father’s admission he had committed a child sex crime, a former elder at The Village Church Denton said.

Matt Chandler’s father, Steve Chandler, worked at the Denton, Texas, campus of The Village Church from 2007 to 2012. In 2015, the Denton campus became an autonomous church, The Village Church Denton.

In a statement read during a members meeting July 14, 2019, The Village Church Denton stated that Steve Chandler had committed a child sex crime 40 years prior. The statement said that staff at both the Denton campus and all locations of The Village Church became aware of Steve Chandler’s criminal past in 2009, yet he remained on staff for another three years.

Until this week, news about Steve Chandler’s criminal past and church employment was not…

View Cache

Guam’s Archdiocese of Agana’s new leader, Bishop Ryan Jimenez, prepares to take on the role of archbishop as the institution has been dealing with sexual abuse allegations involving clergy members.

Bishop Jimenez, 52, who spent nearly 20 years in Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, was appointed by the Vatican to become the Archbishop of Agana.

He will officially begin his new role on 15 August, filling the vacancy left by former Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes, who resigned in March 2023 due to a serious illness. The announcement was made on 6 July.

“When you’re new in your role, whatever leadership role, take the time to get to know people, the staff, the priests, the deacons, that community,” Jimenez said during a Tuesday news briefing with local media.

“I imagine myself visiting parishes, engaging in a conversation, and not make drastic changes.”

Jimenez expects mid-April of 2025 to implement any…

View Cache

The allegations, which were shared in the ‘Bodies Behind the Bus’ podcast earlier this week, have sparked controversy online.

On an episode of the “Bodies Behind the Bus” podcast Wednesday (July 11), two former members of the Village Church Denton in Denton, Texas, alleged that church leaders employed a custodian for five years, despite knowing he had previously admitted to sexually abusing a child. The custodian, they said, was Steve Chandler, the father of Matt Chandler, lead pastor of its umbrella church at the time.

The allegations have sparked controversy online, with some calling the church’s decision not to inform the congregation until 2019 “unacceptable” and others calling for the resignation of Matt Chandler, a popular author and Acts 29 executive chairman. A few have drawn comparisons to Hillsong Church co-founder Brian Houston, who was charged in Australia with concealing his late father, Frank Houston’s, sexual abuse of a young man….

View Cache

This year has seen a number of North Texas pastors become subjects of controversy, with some going as far as to step down from their positions. 

Multiple pastors have received allegations of sexual misconduct — with one even being charged — while other pastors face less clear allegations. 

Here is a look at all of the pastors facing controversy so far this year. 

Tony Cammarota of Stonebriar Community Church

The most recent incident became known this week when Stonebriar Community Church notified its members in an email that Tony Cammarota, who had been an associate pastor for 17 years, had been removed from his position due to a “moral failure.”

“He is deeply remorseful but his sin disqualifies him from serving on our staff as a pastor,” the email states.

While not addressing what that moral failure was, the church asked its membership not to speculate.

“And please…

View Cache

A 74-year-old church pastor in Bergen County was charged Thursday with 21 crimes – 18 of them sex offenses involving a teen over several years, authorities said.

The Rev. Stephen E. Sweet, of Paramus, assaulted the teen, who was between the ages of 13 and 18, according to Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella.

The assaults allegedly occurred in River Edge, Paramus and Ridgewood, Musella said.

Sweet is pastor of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in River Edge. He was ordained and installed in 1997, according to the church website.

A woman who answered the phone at the church Friday said there was currently no one available to comment on the arrest or charges.

Musella said the prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit was contacted Thursday regarding the alleged sexual assault of a juvenile that had occurred in the past.

An investigation revealed Sweet sexually…

View Cache

A pastor at a Weeki Wachee church was accused of sexually battering a teenage family member, the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office said in a release Thursday.

The girl told deputies that 55-year-old William Martinez gave her a THC gummy and a drink that tasted “funny” before touching her inappropriately and forcing her to touch him, the report states.

An out-of-state family member reportedly contacted the sheriff’s office in reference to the alleged sexual battery that occurred a day prior at a home in Brooksville.

Martinez, a pastor at Kingdom of Hope Ministries in Weeki Wachee, denied all of the allegations.

During the investigation, detectives executed a search warrant at the suspect’s residence in Brooksville where forensic evidence was collected. Blood and urine tests, submitted by the victim, showed the presence of alcohol and THC.

Following questioning, Martinez was arrested on two counts of Lewd and Lascivious Behavior of a Victim…

View Cache

The man at the center of one of England’s most prominent church abuse scandals is now facing criminal charges.

Jonathan Fletcher, the former vicar of Emmanuel Church Wimbledon, has been charged with indecent assault and grievous bodily harm for incidents that occurred 25 to 50 years ago, during his decades of leadership in the Church of England.

The 81-year-old appeared Wednesday in Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court, just a mile from his longtime church in southwest London.

The charges follow several years of allegations against Fletcher and an independent investigation backing the claims. Starting in 2017, dozens of men recounted past instances of bullying, coercion, and inappropriate behavior by Fletcher. Their accounts include naked massages, ice baths, and sauna visits.

Fletcher was a high-profile evangelical voice in the United Kingdom, and the news came as “a kick in the guts,” one Christian wrote in 2021, describing the “disconnect…

View Cache

The priest accused of sexually abusing boys at a Dubuque school in the 1980s has filed a motion asking for the judge to dismiss the charges against him.

In the motion, Father Leo Riley’s attorneys argue that the statute of limitations had expired before the charges against Riley were filed.

Riley is charged with five counts of sexual abuse. Prosecutors say he molested multiple altar boys while he served at Resurrection School in Dubuque from 1984-86. Riley’s attorneys argue in this latest motion, that the state would have needed to file charges against Riley before December 31st, 1989.

Riley was arrested last month in Florida, where he is serving at a Catholic Church. Riley is facing a lawsuit in Florida from a former student, who also claims Riley sexually abused him at a school there.

He initially faced public accusations of sexual abuse in 2015 when a former altar boy went…

View Cache

With deep sorrow for the suffering of victims and survivors of abuse, the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas announces that former priest Dennis Schmitz, who was laicized from the priesthood in 2005, has been the subject of additional substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of minors and adults over whom he held a position of authority. Schmitz served in a number of locations and capacities in the time frame of the abuse in the late 1990s and early 2000s, including St. Joseph, Shawnee; Bishop Miege, Roeland Park; St. Mary – St. Anthony, Kansas City, Kansas; St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center, Lawrence; and as vocation director for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

In October of 2002, Schmitz was convicted of indecent liberties with a child that occurred in 1998. He was removed from parish ministry, and the church began the process of laicization. Schmitz was sentenced to 32 months…

View Cache

Although efforts to pass a two-year window for child sex abuse survivors to file lawsuits against their abusers on otherwise outdated claims have seemingly stalled once again in Pennsylvania’s legislature, advocates for the measure are urging lawmakers to finish their roles to enact the measure before the effort must restart from square one.

The statutory window to allow lawsuits on time-barred claims of child sex abuse has long been sought by survivors as a means of naming abusers and holding both them and institutions accountable for the abuse.

But it faces an uncertain future in 2024 as lawmakers near a budget agreement, wrapping up their main work for the year and potentially embarking on a break for the summer ahead of elections.

Over the years, the statutory window has either stalled in the legislature or suffered from bureaucratic incompetence in 2021, which prompted the entire process to be restarted when…

View Cache

He was a religion teacher and served as School President at the all-boys grammar school from 1994 to 2000.

More complainants have come forward accusing a priest from Monaghan Town of historical sexual abuse during his time as a teacher and president of a County Fermanagh school.

Canon Patrick McEntee, is on a leave of absence from his Co. Tyrone parish duties since 2022 to allow a safeguarding investigation to be carried out. Earlier in his career, the Monaghan priest was a Religion teacher at St Michael’s College in Enniskillen. He also served as School President at the all-boys grammar school from 1994 to 2000.

Last year, he was charged with sexual offences against two males in the Fermanagh area but denies indecently assaulting one complainant between 1988 and 1989 and also a single count of indecently assaulting another male between 1980 and 1981.Advertisement

Following his not guilty pleas, the priest’s…

View Cache

The Fresno Diocese would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization “to address the substantial number of claims brought forth by victims collectively.”

What’s at stake?

Once the Diocese of Fresno reaches a settlement, survivors and other “creditors” will receive a share of the financial compensation, but abuse survivors and organizations say it falls short of addressing their life-long injuries.

Karen Lowart and her family have been devout Catholics their entire lives—her parents frequently hosted priests and bishops at their home, attended Mass every Sunday, and were educated in religious schools from kindergarten through college.

Lowart, 63, continued these traditions after having three children of her own, until her youngest son, Jason, revealed to his parents that he had been molested by a priest at the age of four at his grandparents’ northwest Fresno home. 

“When Jason walked in the room, everybody was excited that he was there, he was that…

View Cache

Judge to decide if Catholic Church must release documents in priest abuse case

Efforts to uncover the extent of sexual abuse by Catholic priests will hinge on the decision by a judge on whether the church will have to turn over documents sought by Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

A court hearing is set for Friday afternoon as Ferguson seeks to compel the release of evidence pertaining to the sexual abuse of children by potentially dozens of priests.

Last summer, the attorney general began his investigation when he sent subpoenas to the archbishops of the dioceses in Seattle, Yakima and Spokane. Ferguson said they refused to share any documents that were not already publicly available, and in May he filed a petition in King County Superior Court to compel the Archdiocese of Seattle to comply with his subpoenas.

Church leaders have expressed surprise at the…

View Cache

On Friday, officials at the Vatican Embassy in Washington, D.C., and in Rome received a letter from Seattle area survivors of child sexual abuse and their advocates. They’re asking top officials to investigate leadership at the Archdiocese of Seattle for allegedly failing to comply with the Washington State Attorney General’s investigation into the sexual abuse allegations against its clergy members.

The letter follows a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Bob Ferguson in May, an effort to compel the Seattle Archdiocese to turn over documents related to those sexual abuse allegations.

“The Church has more information than is shared with the public,” Ferguson said at a press conference about the lawsuit. “It has released names, but has not released its files on these abusive priests. No one has read files. The purpose of our investigation is to uncover whether the Church has misused charitable trust funds to cover up systemic sexual…

View Cache

The laicized priest was sentenced to life in prison in November.

The Diocese of Toledo will pay out a seven-figure sum to three victims of priest sexual abuse after agreeing to a settlement.

The payout will go to victims of disgraced priest Michael Zacharias, who was convicted on five counts of sex trafficking by a federal jury in Ohio last May. His crimes, committed between 1999 and 2020, involved three victims, two of whom were minors when Father Zacharias began abusing them.

Konrad Kircher, a Cincinnati-area attorney who represented the victims, told CNA on Thursday that he was pleased with the results, which he called “a success” for his clients. 

“My clients were the three victims who testified in Zacharias’ case,” he said via phone. “When the criminal trial was over, I contacted the Diocese of Toledo and asked them to consider compensating my clients for what they had been through,…

View Cache

Groups urge Pope Francis to investigate Archbishop Etienne for breaking new church law by refusing to comply with AGO subpoena

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JULY 10, 2024

When: Thursday, July 11th, 11:00am

Where: St. James Cathedral, 804 9th Ave, Seattle, WA; AG Ferguson’s Office, 800 5th Ave #2000, Seattle, WA

Who: Survivors of clergy sexual abuse, members of the Catholic Accountability Project (CAP), Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA), and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP)

What: A press conference where survivors of clergy abuse and members of CAP will announce a complaint against Archbishop Etienne sent to the Vatican outside St. James Cathedral and march from the cathedral to AG Ferguson’s office to deliver thousands of pages of sexual abuse documents and evidence provided by church whistleblowers

Why: On July 26th, 2023, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson sent subpoenas to Archbishop Paul D. Etienne of Seattle, Bishop Joseph J. Tyson of Yakima,…

View Cache

[ Click here to see an image of the letter as it appears on the Seattle archdiocese’s website.]

July 11, 2024

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

With the upcoming attorney general hearing, I feel an urgent need to address the accusations that the Archdiocese of Seattle is “not cooperating” with Attorney General Bob Ferguson regarding his subpoena, despite our efforts to be transparent and collaborative.

But first, I want to share a few facts about clergy sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Seattle:

• Yes, we had clergy sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Seattle. We have been proactively addressing it in a number of ways for more than 40 years. We take sexual abuse by Church personnel very seriously and we remain committed to preventing it, reporting it, supporting victim survivors and their families, improving transparency and finding paths towards healing.

• Yes, even priests who were acknowledged abusers…

View Cache

Allegations about monks and staff at North Yorkshire private school were shared with Charity Commission

An inquiry into the running of a prestigious private school said it uncovered a string of “serious abuse allegations” committed against pupils by monks and staff within the last decade.

The Charity Commission’s report found “significant weaknesses” in the safeguarding, governance and management of the two trusts responsible for running Ampleforth College, a Catholic private school in North Yorkshire founded more than 200 years ago by Benedictine monks and Ampleforth Abbey.

The report said that the St Laurence Educational Trust and the Ampleforth Abbey trust “experienced difficulties” in reforming their safeguarding procedures, and warned: “They must continue to maintain high standards and ensure that going forwards there is a robust safeguarding environment that protects vulnerable people that come into contact with the charities.”

Ampleforth and its former prep school have been at the centre of multiple…

View Cache

Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) –– 92-year-old former Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker was in Orleans Parish Criminal Court again on Thursday morning for a mental competency hearing. 

Hecker is facing aggravated rape and kidnapping charges for crimes that allegedly happened in the 70s. 

Defense attorneys and prosecutors have met in Judge Benedict Willard’s courtroom several times to debate Hecker’s competency. An attorney representing one of the alleged victims said, “This is what happens, people, when the hierarchy of the Catholic Church knows that children are being raped and covers it up.”

On Thursday, Dr. DeLand, a psychiatrist on the Sanity Commission, said that based on a more than 7,000-page report on Hecker’s health, she believes he should be tested for dementia, a process she initially said could take up to 60 days. 

The prosecution objected to further testing, arguing…

View Cache

DUBUQUE COUNTY, Iowa (KGAN) — The former Dubuque priest accused of abusing altar boys in the 1980s is asking the court to drop his charges.

Court filings show lawyers for Leo Riley filed a motion to dismiss last week, arguing that the statute of limitations has passed.

However, according to court documents filed earlier this year, authorities said the statute of limitations was put on hold under Iowa law, based on a legal tenant called “tolling,” since Riley moved to Florida before the statute of limitations was up.

Riley is charged with five counts of second degree sexual abuse for the alleged abuse during his days at Resurrection Church.

At the time of the alleged abuse, Iowa’s statute of limitations was to be 10 years after the victim turns 18. Four former altar boys who say…

View Cache

The Knights of Columbus has announced the Catholic fraternal organization will cover mosaics by ex-Jesuit Father Marko Rupnik at the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington and the Holy Family Chapel at the Knights’ headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut.

In a July 11 statement, the Knights said the decision came at “the conclusion of a careful and thorough process.”

The mosaics will be obscured by fabric “which will remain in place at least until the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) issues its decision on the pending sexual abuse cases against artist Father Marko Rupnik.”

After that, the Knights said, “a permanent plaster covering may be in order.”

A Catholic fraternal organization founded by Blessed Michael McGivney in 1882, the Knights of Columbus has 2.1 million members in over 16,800 local councils, and its charitable fund has given out $100 million in grants to Catholic…

View Cache

ROME (AP) – The Knights of Columbus, an influential Catholic charitable organization, announced Thursday that it will cover up its mosaics made by a famous ex-Jesuit artist accused of abusing women in a sign of solidarity with victims of abuse.

The world’s largest Roman Catholic fraternal group said the organization would for now place fabric over the mosaics at its shrine in Washington, and at a chapel at its headquarters in New Haven, Conn. A permanent plaster covering “may be in order,” depending on the outcome of the Vatican’s investigation into the Rev. Marko Rupnik, the group said in a statement.

Rupnik, whose mosaics grace some of the most important and visited Catholic shrines around the world, has been accused by over 20 women of psychological, spiritual and sexual abuses over decades.

The scandal about his alleged abuse has grown steadily, and implicated Pope Francis, since the Vatican and his Jesuit order long…

View Cache

In his interview with EWTN News, Kelly said the Lourdes bishop’s intent to make a decision of some kind this spring galvanized the Knights to act at this time.

The Knights of Columbus announced Thursday they will cover mosaics by the accused abuser Father Marko Rupnik in Washington, D.C., and Connecticut, a dramatic move that represents the strongest public stand yet by a major Catholic organization regarding the former Jesuit’s embattled art.

The 2.1-million-member lay Catholic fraternal order said July 11 it would use fabric to cover the floor-to-ceiling mosaics in the two chapels of the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington and in the chapel at the Knights’ headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut — at least until the completion of a formal Vatican investigation into the Slovenian priest’s alleged abuse.

Patrick Kelly, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, told EWTN News Thursday the opaque material would…

View Cache

NEW YORK – After a review process, the Knights of Columbus announced on July 11 that they will cover in fabric mosaic artwork by Father Marko Rupnik in worship spaces at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., and in the Holy Family Chapel at the Knights’ headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut.

The artwork was installed at each location in 2015. The artwork will remain covered at least until the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) issues its decision on the pending sexual abuse cases against Rupnik, at which time a permanent plaster covering may be in order.

“The Knights of Columbus has decided to cover these mosaics because our first concern must be for victims of sexual abuse, who have already suffered immensely, and who may be further injured by the ongoing display of the mosaics at the Shrine,” Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly…

View Cache

ST. MARYS — A growing Catholic sect has divided the small Kansas town of St. Marys between those who view the church’s influence as idyllic or disturbing.

Shops selling Bibles, crosses and modest garb line the main street, where parents stroll by with their children. American flags dangle to showcase patriotism. There are homes with manicured lawns and shade trees, and parks to play. And on the northern edge of St. Marys stands a 66,400-square-foot church, towering over the town.

The conservative Catholic sect that built the church has transformed life here since its arrival more than four decades ago. The Society of St. Pius X, also known as SSPX, rejects many modern ways of living, requiring modest dress for women, enforcing strict divisions between genders and encouraging large families. As members of the group have gotten into political leadership, they’ve imposed those beliefs, jettisoning books that mention LGBTQ+ people…

View Cache

In an era of deep divisions in the church, newly ordained priests overwhelmingly lean right in their theology, practices and politics.

On a sunny afternoon in May, Zachary Galante was sitting in a conference room in St. Francis de Sales Seminary with several other young men, talking about what it meant for them to choose the Catholic priesthood in the year 2024. The next morning, they would make lifelong promises of celibacy and obedience, and they were palpably elated by the prospect.

“It’s a beautiful life,” Deacon Galante, soon to become Father Galante, said.

There was a time where the church “maybe apologized for being Catholic,” he said later in the conversation. He and the other new priests agreed they were called to something different: advancing the Catholic faith, even the parts that could seem out of place in an increasingly hostile world. “The church is Catholic, and so we should announce…

View Cache

[See also the Episcopal Church’s Title IV Structure and Procedures.]

As it elected Bishop Sean Rowe its new presiding bishop at last week’s General Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, the Episcopal Church adopted more than 20 resolutions related to Title IV, a section of the church bylaws that governs its response to allegations against clergy of abuse or misconduct.

Over the past year, a spate of public Title IV cases prompted concerns about the complexity and effectiveness of the denomination’s approach to clergy discipline, particularly in cases involving bishops’ decisions or misconduct of their own. Less than two weeks before General Convention, the denomination disclosed that three of the five presiding bishop nominees had faced current or prior Title IV complaints. (Rowe was one of the two nominees not listed in the disclosure.)

“There’s been a lot of activity and action of distrust by the wider…

View Cache

A former counselor at Kanakuk Kamp in Branson is serving multiple life sentences for sexually abusing campers, but he will soon have a chance at parole. 

After serving 14 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections, Peter Newman will appear for a hearing in front of a parole board in September. 

Thomas Carver, Newman’s defense attorney, says he expects the parole board to side with the many victims calling for Newman to stay in prison. 

“I’m sure because of the notoriety of this case, that there will be about a billion people show up at the parole hearings telling them not to let him go,” Carver said. Ex-camper sues Branson-based summer camp for allegedly concealing sexual abuse

While some victims of Newman’s abuse will address the parole board, others will not be able to. 

“I used to call him a survivor, but he didn’t survive. So now I refer to…

View Cache

A youth minister from Oneonta has been arrested and accused of multiple sex crimes involving a child, including rape, sodomy and human trafficking.

According to court records from Blount County, 39-year-old Terry Lewayne Murphree of Oneonta is facing one charge of rape, nine charges of clergy having sex with a child, one count of electronic solicitation of a child, one count human trafficking 1st degree, one count traveling to meet a child for sex, three counts of sexual abuse 1st degree, and one count sodomy 1st degree.

The details in the complaint accuse Murphree of having sexual relations with a 13-year-old girl.

Murphree was arrested and booked into the Blount County Correctional Facility late Tuesday night.

We’ll update this story with more details as they become available.

View Cache

A nun jailed for abusing vulnerable youngsters at an orphanage has had her prison term cut following an appeal.

Sister Sarah McDermott was given a three-year sentence for mistreating children at Smyllum Park between 1969 and 1981 following a six-week trial at Airdrie Sheriff Court in January.

Her co-accused, Sister Eileen Igoe, 79, and carer Margaret Hughes, 77, succeeded in their bid to have their sentences cut in May due to “insufficient” weight being given to their age.

Judges at the Court of Appeal agreed to cut McDermott’s sentence to seven months for the same reasons.

Lady Dorrian, Lord Mattews and Lord Docherty argued that the trio “present no future risk to the public,” describing the conviction as “punitive”.

Smyllum Park, in Lanark, has been at the centre of allegations of historical abuse.

During sentencing at Airdrie Sheriff Court, Sheriff Scott Pattison said there was no alternative to prison for…

View Cache

An elderly nun who was jailed for abusing vulnerable youngsters at an orphanage has succeeded in a legal bid to cut her prison sentence.

Sister Sarah McDermott, 79, was given a three year term for mistreating children at Smyllum Park in Lanark from 1969 until 1981 when it closed.

She was sentenced following a trial at Airdrie Sheriff Court earlier this year. Her co-accused Sister Eileen Igoe, 79, and carer Margaret Hughes were also given three years behind bars.

The orphanage where the trio worked has been at the centre of allegations of historic abuse.

A number of former residents told Airdrie Sheriff Court they had been mistreated at Smyllum during a six-week long trial earlier this year.

One woman said she was beaten by McDermott, of London, after she reported witnessing her brother being sexually abused in a toilet in the orphanage.

She…

View Cache

In short:

The Christian Brothers have bailed on a scheduled appearance before a committee into child sex abuse.

Child sex abuse survivors have slammed their decision, as well as WA’s Premier who implored them to answer questions about historical child abuse in the state.

What’s next?

One survivor has called for the Catholic Archbishop of Perth to intervene 

The Christian Brothers have been accused of hiding from public scrutiny and giving “bogus” reasons for a last-minute decision to not appear before a parliamentary committee inquiry into child sex abuse.

The religious order baulked at proposed questions about one of their now-deceased brothers allegedly abusing schoolboys in Western Australia, claiming it could compromise current civil child sex abuse proceedings.

The Christian Brothers Oceania provincial leader Brother Gerard Brady was slated to face questions in Perth on Thursday morning, but late yesterday afternoon confirmed he would not attend.

It’s a move that…

View Cache

The lawyers for a man whose sexual abuse claims were blocked by a Michigan Supreme Court decision Wednesday called on the Legislature to change state law to allow for his claim and others like his to move forward in state courts.

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the Legislature’s recent allowances for late disclosures of sexual abuse do not apply to victims who were abused prior to the passage of the law in 2018, including Brian McLain, who alleged he’d been abused a Catholic priest in 1999.

“A very easy way to fix this would be to go back to amend that statute to simply add in one sentence saying that it applies retroactively. That would clean up all of this,” said Christopher Desmond, a chief appellate attorney at Ven Johnson Law who represented McLain.

The 2018 law, which the Legislature adopted after the sentencing of serial sexual molester…

View Cache

Revelations by the author Alice Munro’s youngest daughter that she had been sexually abused by her stepfather as a child, and that Munro stayed with the abuser even after he was convicted of the assault, reverberated in Canada and across the literary world on Monday.

The story, told by Munro’s daughter Andrea Skinner in an essay in The Toronto Star and reported by the same newspaper, left many of Munro’s admirers reeling, wondering how a writer of her stature was able to keep such a secret for decades and how the revelations might impact her towering legacy.

“Alice was always kind of Saint Alice,” said Martin Levin, the former editor of the books section at The Globe and Mail. He heard “not even the faintest whisper or hint” of the news in his 20 years at the paper, he said.

For decades, Munro has been revered for…

View Cache

Following the conviction of a former northwest Ohio priest in November 2023, the Toledo Catholic Diocese has agreed to pay out over $1 million to three sexual abuse victims. 

Michael Zacharias was convicted on Nov. 17, 2023 in federal court on five charges of sex trafficking: one count of sex trafficking of a minor; two counts of sex trafficking of a minor by force, fraud and coercion; and two counts of sex trafficking of an adult by force, fraud or coercion.

“It takes seconds to abuse a child and it takes a lifetime to overcome it,” said Claudia Vercellotti, who leads the Ohio chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

Following the criminal court proceedings, the victims’ attorney, Konrad Kircher with Kircher Law, LLC, urged the Diocese to compensate with the victims. 

They did so, in a…

View Cache

The Toledo Catholic Diocese has agreed to pay just over $1 million to three victims in a case where a Roman Catholic priest was sentenced to life in prison on charges related to child molestation.

Michael Zacharias, 57, was found guilty in May, 2023, of sex trafficking of a minor; two counts of sex trafficking of a minor by force, fraud, or coercion; and two counts of sex trafficking of an adult by force, fraud, or coercion.

During the trial, three male victims said Zacharias coerced them into allowing him to perform oral sex on them. The priest offered the victims payments for each sexual act, which allowed the victims to fund their respective opiate addictions. Zacharias was well aware of these addictions and exploited them to keep his victims coming back, said Claudia Vercellotti, who leads the Ohio chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

“The…

View Cache