ABUSE TRACKER

A Catholic priest allegedly spent $40,000 of church money on Candy Crush and slot machine apps.

A Pennsylvania Catholic priest was accused of stealing $40,000 from a parish and using the money to play games on his phone. According to CBS News, citing a criminal complaint and affidavit of probable cause, Lawrence Kozak allegedly spent over $214,000 on his Apple ID, with just under $44,000 of that amount charged to a credit card associated with the parish.

Authorities claim he racked-up the charges over a three year span, using the some of the cash to play games like Candy Crush Saga, Pokémon Go and virtual slot machines, according to the network.

Per CBS, the slot machine apps named in the complaint were the following:

• Cash Frenzy
• Willy Wonka Vegas Casino Slots
• Wizard of Oz Slot Machine Game

The network noted that these apps do not award real money for…

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 In a phone conversation between ABC7′s Jordan Litwiller and Charlotte County priest Leo Riley, he made it clear that the allegations against him are not true.

“Whenever you see a loved-one suffering, it’s painful,” said his brother Michael Riley.

Michael says these allegations don’t match up with the man he has known his whole life.

“He has a heart of gold, and he is probably one of the kindest people you can imagine,” Michael said.

Despite the five people who have claimed to be abused by Leo, Michael’s support for his brother is unwavering, saying, “People can say things, that doesn’t mean it’s true.”  

But sexual abuse victims advocate David Pooler from Baylor University says, in cases like this, it often times is.

“Generally, people don’t make up abuse stories because they themselves then have to go to court and have to testify, they have to be scrutinized by the public in various…

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For the rector of the world’s second largest church after St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil, May 11 will be a day of celebrating the inauguration of the southern facade’s mosaics, all created by Fr. Marko Rupik.

But alleged victims of the disgraced former Jesuit and many faithful are not in celebratory mood. In the midst of a heated debate on what should be done with Fr. Rupnik’s mosaics across the globe, OSV News asked whether the art can be separated from the alleged acts of abuse by the Slovenian priest-artist and what should be done with his mosaics decorating iconic churches across the globe.

In December 2022, Rome’s Jesuit headquarters, following media reports concerning alleged abuse by Fr. Rupnik, admitted the preliminary investigation found allegations credible as early as in 2019, and in 2020 he was excommunicated for “absolution of an accomplice,” referring to when…

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Several peasant farmers claiming legal and physical harassment by a Catholic group in Peru currently under investigation by the Vatican were received by the archbishop of Lima over the weekend, shortly after receiving further complaints from the group.

On Sunday, Archbishop Carlos Castillo of Lima met with members of the peasant farming community of Catacaos in Piura, who travelled to Lima after receiving what they said were new threats from an organization associated with the scandal plagued Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV).

In a video message shared on social media, Fiorella Martinez, whose husband Guadalupe Zapata Sosa was apparently killed defending their land from outsiders seeking to drive them out, voiced gratitude for the meeting with Castillo, which took place after Mass in the city’s cathedral.

Martinez thanked God and the Peru Coordinator for Human Rights “for having given us the opportunity to present ourselves here,” saying she is still “looking for justice…

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Although a letter from Bishop Daniel Garcia of the Diocese of Monterey dated April 18 states that he’s writing “on an important topic: the sexual abuse of minors,” it’s notably about how the diocese is contemplating filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a move that church critics say would delay sexual abuse cases filed against the diocese and would likely limit what those who were abused could collect in financial compensation should they prevail in court.

The diocese was named as defendants in approximately 100 lawsuits filed between January 2020 and December 2022, Garcia reported, alleging child sexual abuse occurring between the 1950s and 2002. The lawsuits were filed during a three-year window created by California Assembly Bill 218, the Child Victims Act, which allowed people claiming to have been sexually assaulted as minors to file civil lawsuits even though the statute of limitations had previously expired.

A large volume of…

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The bishop of the Diocese of Monterey said that they are contemplating filing for bankruptcy after being named as defendants in around 100 new lawsuits alleging childhood sexual assault.

The major announcement came via a letter from Bishop Daniel Garcia to parishioners dated April 18. The letter says these incidents occurred from the 1950s to 2002.

The lawsuits were made during a three-year window from 2019 to 2022 created by the Child Victims Act, which reopened the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse victims.

Garcia now says that the diocese is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The reasoning was that “this would allow all victims to be compensated from the limited funds the Diocese has and will be allocated in an equitable manner.”

They, along with other Catholic dioceses in California, have had to consider filing for bankruptcy due to the Child Victims Act.

Speaking in person, Deacon…

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HB125 targets adult church leaders, staff, and volunteers who make sexual contact with minors, similar to legislation directed at teachers.

House Bill 125, which targets adult church leadership, staff members, or volunteers who make sexual contact with minors, passed both sections of the Alabama Legislature this past week and now awaits a signature into law by Gov. Kay Ivey.

HB125’s text makes it “unlawful for a member of the clergy to commit certain sex acts with an individual under 19 years of age, or a protected person under the age of 22 … under certain circumstances.” The bill also allows for penalties under the law.

This would include ordained, licensed, or commissioned minsters, pastors, priests, or rabbinical leaders. Sexual intercourse or sodomy of a minor would be a Class B felony. Solicitation, harassment, or enticement of a minor under the guidelines of the law would be a…

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When someone opens up and shares that they have been sexually abused, how you respond is extremely important both for the healing of that child and for the process of investigating and uncovering the truth. There are certainly some excellent online resources that give guidance in this sensitive area. We at Horowitz Law, however, want to approach this from the opposite angle: What should you NEVER say to an abuse victim? For starters, here are the three words we believe you should avoid saying, probably ever but at least early on, to a survivor: “Why didn’t you. . .”

This question often ends with words or phrases like:

• run
• scream
• kick him
• fight back
• ask for help
• tell me sooner
• call the police

To be perfectly blunt, those are wrong words, phrases, and questions. Despite your good intentions, nearly anything you might say after opening with “Why didn’t you,“ would almost certainly be detrimental, and here’s why:

1. When someone tells you…

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New research by our Centre for Catholic Studies finds aspects of Catholic culture were implicated in how clerical child sexual abuse happened.

The four-year study listened to the voices of victims and survivors of abuse and others affected across the Catholic community.

The study suggests that aspects of the church’s culture partly explain how the response has often failed, causing further pain and harm, described by victims and survivors as ‘secondary abuse’.

Listening to victims and survivors

The report invites groups across the Catholic community to listen more deeply to the voices of those directly and indirectly affected and consider what may need to change in Catholic culture and theological understanding.

Although the report recognises that progress has been made in safeguarding practice and compassionate support for survivors, it concludes that more work is needed. It suggests learning from restorative justice and healing circle practices to find ways to heal…

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A spokesperson for the diocese said it’s been a “long, difficult mediation with the goal of compensating survivors.”

The Diocese of Rockville Centre remains locked in negotiations as it attempts to have the bankruptcy case dismissed in the wake of the clergy sex abuse scandal, Newsday reports.

The standoff comes after 3 1/2 years and $100 million in legal fees connected to hundreds of survivors of childhood sexual abuse by priests, Newsday said.

In a statement provided by the diocese, they said it’s been a “long, difficult mediation with the goal of compensating survivors while allowing the Church to carry on its charitable and religious mission.”

The Diocese of Rockville Centre could become the first diocese in the nation to have its bankruptcy dismissed amid the sex abuse scandal.

“Currently, the Creditors are demanding an unrealistic amount of money that would cripple the Church and its ministries…

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[See also a PDF of the Zinkula statement.]

On Wednesday afternoon of this week, we learned together that a former priest of the Archdiocese of
Dubuque, Father Leo Riley, has been charged with five (5) counts of 2nd Degree Sexual Abuse. The
charges arise out of allegations of abuse committed by Father Riley while he was in Dubuque during
the time-period of 1985 to 1986. These allegations were first brought forward in May of 2023. Under
our laws, Father Riley is given a presumption of innocence while the judicial process is completed. We
pray for all those involved in that process, with the intention that justice be well served.

Many people are understandably disheartened and hurt in reaction to this news. I want to address
these emotions and express my own, while also providing clarity about our efforts to seek justice
concerning the allegations against Father Riley.

Father Riley was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese…

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Durham University’s Centre for Catholic Studies has released what is being described as the first study into how the clerical child sexual abuse crisis has impacted “the whole Catholic community” in England and Wales. 

The Cross of the Moment report is based on four years of research and explores the ecclesial and cultural implications of the child abuse crisis in the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It illustrates how the abuse crisis has been experienced by different groups within the Church, most painfully by victims of abuse and their families, but also by others effected more indirectly, such as lay people, priests, deacons, bishops, religious communities and others.

The report suggests that “aspects of the culture and practices of the Catholic Church are implicated in how clerical child sexual abuse has happened”. These aspects of Catholic culture explored in the report include clericalism and the lack of practical structures of accountability….

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Michael Riley is defending his brother Leo Riley, a former Dubuque priest charged in sexual abuse cases dating back to the 1980s.

Last week, Father Leo Riley, who served in the Dubuque Diocese from 1984 to 1986, was charged with five counts of second-degree sexual abuse for incidents that the victims allege happened during that time.

Leo Riley is accused by four Iowa men, who say the abuse happened back in the 1980s when they were altar boys, as well as one man in Florida. This fifth man alleges abuse happened after Riley transferred to the state in the early 2000s.

The first allegation of abuse didn’t surface until 2014. The Catholic Church’s investigation at the time found the allegation was likely not true. The Dubuque County Attorney’s Office didn’t charge Riley then because the statute of limitations had expired by then.

In 2021,…

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Two new major studies on clergy sexual abuse reveal the Catholic Church’s efforts toward safeguarding and child protection are being met with mixed results, with attitudes and awareness varying depending on location and roles within the church.

A newly published study by Australian Catholic University’s Institute of Child Protection Studies found that Catholic clergy scored higher than lay people in their knowledge, awareness and attitudes in responding to abuse.

The research included over 180 participants across six countries and suggests that in responding to the decades long crisis of clerical abuse, reform efforts and strategies “have been largely targeted at clergy, who are seen as leaders in the Church, and thus have benefitted from the Church’s safeguarding reforms.”

In addition, researchers found that participants in Australia and the United Kingdom — countries that have had national inquiries into sexual abuse — responded with more positive attitudes…

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Port Charlotte priest was recently arrested in Florida after being placed on administrative leave one year ago with the Diocese of Venice. Father Leo Patrick Riley, 68, worked in at least 16 parishes in his home Diocese in Dubuque, Iowa, and in 2002, when predator priests began to be under great scrutiny, he moved to Florida and later began working in the Venice diocese. Floridians might have learned this much sooner, but Venice Bishop Frank Dewane is one of several US bishops who refuse to disclose the names of the child molesting clerics in his jurisdiction.

According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, Fr. Riley was arrested on April 24 and faces five capital sexual battery charges that allegedly took place in the 1980s when Riley was a priest in Dubuque, Iowa.

→In 2014, Fr. Leo Riley of the Dubuque Archdiocese was accused of sexually abusing a boy about a decade earlier.

→In 2015, a church…

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For Deanna Hampton, last week was all about confronting the past and the legacy of rampant sexual abuse within the Catholic Church and trying to ensure that families don’t suffer in the future.

It’s a deeply personal issue for Hampton. Last fall, The Sacramento Bee told the story of her son, Trevor Martin,
who was serially abused by priest Michael Kelly in Calaveras County.

Rather than face a criminal trial, Kelly fled to Ireland. Despite having a warrant issued by Sacramento’s U.S. Attorney for unlawful flight, Kelly traveled to Morocco and Mexico – known sex trafficking destinations. Kelly also led at least one tour of Ireland for members of a group of followers from California called “Friends of Father Kelly,” according to depositions.

On Wednesday, Hampton sent a letter to State Attorney General Rob Bonta accusing California’s highest law enforcement official of failing to review adequately a decision by Calaveras County…

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[Includes a 3-minute video interview with whistleblower priest Fr. Kenneth Lasch.]

Twenty years ago this month, what’s thought to be the nation’s first memorial to victims of clergy sexual abuse was unveiled at a church in a quiet corner of Morris County.

Today, two of the men who achieved that milestone at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Mendham are still challenging church leaders to acknowledge that “a lot of work still needs to be done.”

“They still don’t get it,” said Monsignor Kenneth Lasch of his fellow clergy.

Lasch, now retired, was pastor at St. Joseph’s in 1994 when victims of long-rumored sexual abuse at the church finally went public.

After the first of those survivors, Mark Serrano, came forward, “my life changed forever at that point,” Lasch said in an interview, as the U.S. marked National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

A local tragedy gained national…

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A former Dubuque priest who was arrested on sexual abuse charges on Wednesday has now bonded out of the Charlotte County, Florida jail.

Father Leo Patrick Riley, now of Port Charlotte, Florida, is charged with five counts of sexual abuse of Iowa school-aged boys in the 1980’s…

A former Dubuque priest who was arrested on sexual abuse charges on Wednesday has now bonded out of the Charlotte County, Florida jail.

Father Leo Patrick Riley, now of Port Charlotte, Florida, is charged with five counts of sexual abuse of Iowa school-aged boys in the 1980’s.

The investigation started in May of 2023, after the Archdiocese of Dubuque’s Office for the Protection of Children alerted the police about reports of “cold case” sexual abuse from 40 years ago.

The Archdiocese of Dubuque issued a statement in response to the charges on Friday, highlighting the church’s role in the investigation.

“No…

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Louisiana State Police executed a search warrant on the Archdiocese of New Orleans April 25 for documents related to a widening investigation into how the archdiocese has handled allegations of clerical sex abuse.

Louisiana State Police Trooper Jacob Pucheu, public information officer, told OSV News by email that the search took place “during a meeting with representatives and counsel for the Archdiocese of New Orleans” and the state police’s special victims unit investigators.

“The Archdiocese is actively cooperating with investigators and the terms of the search warrant,” said Pucheu in his statement. “This investigation remains ongoing, and there is no additional information available at this time.”

The Archdiocese of New Orleans had been ordered by a New Orleans criminal court to turn over the records, as part of a long-running criminal investigation involving multiple accused priests.

According to The Guardian, New Orleans Magistrate Juana M. Lombard signed off on the…

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Notre-Dame de Bétharram: 76 complaints filed by former residents of the Catholic institution

From now on, 76 complaints are accumulating in the file of the Catholic institution Notre-Dame de Bétharram, located in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Former residents speak of physical or sexual abuse. 21 people are targeted, including 11 still alive.

Former students carry the memory of the Catholic institution Notre-Dame de Bétharram (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) like a burden, yet renowned prestigious. “Our childhood was stolen from us”, testifies a former resident, anonymously. Alleged violence, rape and sexual assault that occurred between the 1970s and 1990s are discussed. The school gradually reveals its darkest secrets.

The words of entire generations are freed

A man testifies almost 40 years later. He first describes an atmosphere of terror. This brutality is, according to him, part of a well-established mechanism which led to the unspeakable. “They hurt you, but afterwards they comforted you”, he confides. Like him, others have chosen…

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The Catholic church has joined the list of stakeholders supporting the plan to phase out Charitable Children’s Institutions (CCIs) and transition children to a family-based and community care.

The outgoing chairperson of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) Archbishop Martin Kivuva said the Catholic church embraced the new law under the National Care Reform Strategy in Kenya after overwhelming scientific evidence showed that institutions are not good for children’s growth.

“Research shows that children who grow up in such homes are disadvantaged because they don’t get the kind of family love and care they need at their young age. For one reason or another, they find themselves in a place that is not exactly family,” said the archbishop.

The government-led National Care Reform Strategy for Children in Kenya seeks to phase out all children homes in a 10-year plan that runs from 2022-2032.

The idea is remove more than…

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The Regnum Christi Federation will hold its first general convention in Rome from April 29 to May 4, the first such assembly since its statutes were approved in 2019 after a long process of listening, purification, and a hopeful look toward its future.

The ecclesial movement was shaken to the core by the revelation of numerous cases of sexual abuse and abuses of power primarily involving Father Marcial Maciel, the deceased founder of the Legionaries of Christ and the Regnum Christi movement.

The Regnum Christi Federation is comprised of four vocations: the Legionaries of Christ (priests), Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi, Lay Consecrated Men of Regnum Christi, and lay members.

Regnum Christi is now defined as an apostolic body and spiritual family led by a general board of directors, consisting of the directors general of the Legionaries of Christ and the Consecrated Men and Women of Regnum Christi,…

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When the always well-written and often wrongheaded New Yorker dislikes something, chances are good that I’ll like it—a principle that holds, with certain reservations, in the case of Dignitas Infinita, the 8 April “Declaration of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on Human Dignity.”

The declaration underscores the Catholic Church’s commitment to the defense of every human life from conception until natural death, calls Catholics to compassionate care for the most vulnerable among us, defends the biblical idea of the human person as defined in Genesis 1:27-28, and offers a welcome critique of gender theory and the legion of demons it spawns (this last being, predictably, was what upset the New Yorker).

What’s not to like, then? Perhaps that’s putting it too sharply. The question is whether the declaration could have been even better. I think that’s the case, and in several ways. 

The Dog That Didn’t Bark. Dignitas Infinita has 116…

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Michael Riley spoke with NBC2 Saturday evening regarding his older brother, Father Leo Riley – a Port Charlotte man who was arrested this week on multiple counts of capital sexual battery, with allegations connected to his previous tenure in the 1980s as a priest in Iowa.

Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office detectives and Dubuque, Iowa police worked together to arrest Leo P. Riley, 68, at his Port Charlotte home.Advertisement

Five days after his arrest, a 32-year-old, only identified as John Doe, stepped out to publicly share that Leo Riley sexually abused him as a child. Dubuque police also report that four individuals came forward saying they were sexually abused by Riley as alter boys in the mid-80s.

However, Michael Riley told NBC2 that “some important facts have been missed.”

He said the sole reason for his brother relocating to Southwest Florida was because their parents retired there.

He referred to…

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A New York state appeals court has found that an insurer for the Archdiocese of New York is not required to cover costs for settling hundreds of sex abuse claims — a ruling the archdiocese has called “extremely disappointing” and “wrongly decided.”

On April 23, five justices of the First Judicial Department of the New York Supreme Court’s Appellate Division unanimously overturned a December 2023 order from a lower court that would have compelled a group of Chubb insurance entities — who had issued more than 30 liability policies to the archdiocese and several of its parishes, schools and entities between 1956 and 2003 — to pay out money for more than 1,500 abuse cases.

Those claims against the archdiocese were brought under the state’s Child Victims Act of 2019 and Adult Survivors Act of 2022, both of which opened the door to hundreds of previously time-barred suits.

According to…

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The Archdiocese of New York may be forced into bankruptcy if its main insurer is allowed to go without financial responsibility in thousands of child sexual abuse lawsuits, victims’ attorneys said.

On Tuesday, the state Appellate court’s First Department reversed a ruling dismissing Chubb insurance’s assertion that its policies did not cover child sexual abuse claims that church leaders enabled and covered up for decades.

If Chubb and other insurance companies are off the hook, the Archdiocese, which covers 10 New York counties including Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island, will have no option but to file for bankruptcy, said attorney Jason Amala, whose firm filed about 75 sexual abuse cases against the Archdiocese.

Chubb insured the Archdiocese of New York, which serves 2.5 million Catholics, and its affiliated parishes and schools between 1956 and 2003.

If the cases filed under the state’s Child Victims Act proceed to trial, the financial damage…

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The Swiss Evangelical Reformed Church intends to conduct a study on sexual abuse, and it submitted an application to the church parliament this week, said President Rita Famos in an interview on Sunday. 

“The investigation should reveal the locations and frequency of abuse,” said Famos, president of the Swiss Evangelical Reformed Church, in an interview with the Sunday newspaper, the NZZ am Sonntag, which was first published online. 

The study is not only intended to uncover issues within the church. The Reformed Church hopes “the findings will also spur action against sexual abuse in other institutions,” Famos explained. It is also about addressing abuse in families, sports organisations and schools. “It is not acceptable to sit back and point the finger at scapegoats such as the Catholic Church,” continued Famos. 

Abuse is a societal issue. The Swiss Evangelical Reformed Church aims to contribute to identifying perpetrator profiles and contexts of offenses. “So that perpetrators…

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A Florida man stepped out in faith Friday, publicly sharing his history of sexual abuse.

A 32-year-old, only being identified as John Doe, spoke with his attorney, Damian Mallard, in Sarasota.Advertisement

Doe said that as a child, he attended St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School in Port Charlotte. There, he claims he was physically and sexually abused by a teacher. In a civil lawsuit filed in 2020, Doe claims he went to the Rev. Leo Patrick Riley begging for help.

Rather than reporting the crimes to the proper authorities, Doe said Riley began participating in the abuse as well. Doe said he was threatened in order to stay silent.

“I never told anybody back then. He said that if I told, he would do to my sister what he was doing to me,” Doe said. “I buried these memories very deep, but I couldn’t keep them buried forever. When…

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Father Leo Riley, age 68, continued to serve as a priest for years after a 2020 sexual abuse lawsuit was filed against him and the Diocese of Venice in Florida.

A Florida priest who was recently arrested on sex abuse charges was permitted to continue in active ministry for nearly three years after a civil sex abuse lawsuit was filed against him and the diocese in which he serves.

Father Leo Riley, age 68, continued to serve as a priest for years after a 2020 sexual abuse lawsuit was filed against him and the Diocese of Venice in Florida. 

The matter came to the forefront this week after Riley was arrested on several sex abuse charges dating back to his time serving as a priest in Iowa decades ago. 

The Charlotte County, Florida Sheriff’s Office said in a press release that deputies arrested Riley in Port…

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Louisiana State Police executed a search warrant on the Archdiocese of New Orleans April 25 for documents related to a widening investigation into how the archdiocese has handled allegations of clerical sex abuse.

Louisiana State Police Trooper Jacob Pucheu, public information officer, told OSV News by email that the search took place “during a meeting with representatives and counsel for the Archdiocese of New Orleans” and the state police’s special victims unit investigators.

“The Archdiocese is actively cooperating with investigators and the terms of the search warrant,” said Pucheu in his statement. “This investigation remains ongoing, and there is no additional information available at this time.”

The Archdiocese of New Orleans had been ordered by a New Orleans criminal court to turn over the records, as part of a long-running criminal investigation involving multiple accused priests.

According to The Guardian, New Orleans Magistrate Juana M. Lombard signed off on the…

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A former Dubuque priest who was arrested on sexual abuse charges on Wednesday has now bonded out of the Charlotte County, Florida jail.

Father Leo Patrick Riley, now of Port Charlotte, Florida, is charged with five counts of sexual abuse of Iowa school-aged boys in the 1980’s.

The investigation started in May of 2023, after the Archdiocese of Dubuque’s Office for the Protection of Children alerted the police about reports of “cold case” sexual abuse from 40 years ago.

The Archdiocese of Dubuque issued a statement in response to the charges on Friday, highlighting the church’s role in the investigation.

“No allegation of sexual abuse was known while he was actively serving our parishes. The first notice of any allegation of abuse by Father Riley was made in December of 2014. The claim related to the time-period of 1985, when Father Riley would have been in Dubuque. Particulars…

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The Alabama Senate unanimously passed a bill by State Rep. Leigh Hulsey (R-Helena) on Thursday that would make it a felony for church clergy to have sexual interactions with someone under 19 years old.

The House passed the measure on February 20. It now goes to Gov. Kay Ivey for her consideration.

The bill defines clergy as a duly ordained, licensed or commissioned minister, pastor, priest, rabbi, or practitioner of any bona fide established church or religious organization or any person who regularly, as a vocation, devotes a substantial portion of his or her time and abilities to the service of his or her church or religious organization.

The bill makes it a felony for a clergy member to engage in sexual intercourse or sodomy with a child. Under the bill,  a child is defined as a person under 19 or someone with a developmental disability under 22 

…

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The Alabama Legislature passed a new law today (April 25) making it illegal for clergy to engage in sexual behavior with anyone under 19 years old. Violations will be considered a Class B felony, which could result in two to 20 years of imprisonment.

Representative Leigh Hulsey sponsored House Bill 125, which mirrors the protections of another Alabama bill that prohibits the same for public and private school teachers. Senator Roger Smitherman sponsored the Senate version of the bill, which now goes to Gov. Kay Ivey to sign.

‘Thankful … for the courage’

“We are very thankful to Rep. Leigh Hulsey and Sen. Roger Smitherman as well as Senate and House leadership for having the courage to hold even clergy members accountable for taking advantage of minors,” Greg Davis, president and CEO of Alabama Citizens Action Program, shared with The Alabama Baptist.

“It’s a shame that it has come to…

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A residential school survivor is leading a class-action lawsuit against the Catholic Church and one of its priests.

It stems from comments allegedly made by the priest during a sermon describing evidence of unmarked graves as “lies” and “manipulation.”

Monday, a judge ruled the proposed class-action lawsuit can go forward despite efforts from lawyers representing the archdiocese of Edmonton and a religious order to have it struck down.

That decision was met with lots of tears, smiles and hugs from elder Sphenia Jones, who is leading the case.

RELATED STORIES

• Police called to incident at Edmonton church whose priest denied reports of unmarked graves

About a dozen of Jones’ family and supporters rallied Monday in support of residential school survivors and the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges priest Marcin Mironiuk said Indigenous children died of natural causes and questioned the validity of unmarked graves during a mass in 2021.

…

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Calgary court to decide whether proposed class action lawsuit by Elder Sphenia Jones will go ahead

WARNING: This story contains distressing details.

A Haida elder and residential school survivor is leading a proposed class action lawsuit against the Catholic Church and one of its priests over what she alleges are “false and deeply hurtful” denialist comments.

Sphenia Jones is scheduled to appear in a Calgary courtroom on Monday after filing a statement of claim against Edmonton priest Marcin Mironiuk, the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton, and the Oblate Fathers of Assumption Province.

Jones is alleging that remarks Mironiuk made during a mass service in 2021 — in which he reportedly described the evidence of potential unmarked graves at residential schools as “lies” and “manipulation” — are defamatory against herself and other survivors who have spoken out about deaths at the institutions. 

She is proposing a class-action lawsuit, but the defendants from the church are asking…

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• In short: A 34-year-old man has been charged with child sex offences following a police investigation.
• The man, who worked at a Catholic school in the state’s north, was arrested on Friday and charged with two counts of penetrative sexual abuse of a child or young person.
• What’s next? The man will appear in the Launceston’s Magistrates Court in June. 

A 34-year-old man who worked at a Tasmanian Catholic school has been charged with child sex offences following a police investigation.

The man, who was a staff member at a Catholic school in the state’s north, was arrested on Friday and charged with two counts of penetrative sexual abuse of a child or young person.

Police said the alleged offences took place in 2019.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Catholic Education Tasmania said a staff member from one of its schools had been charged by Tasmania Police. 

“We understand the…

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A scathing legal loss for Cardinal Timothy Dolan has finally forced into the light what the New York prelate did not want Catholics to know: Dolan has been fighting for the “right” to sexually abuse and re-victimize minors and vulnerable adults and then have others pick up the tab.  A New York Appeals Court ruling revealed as much when it unanimously rebuffed Dolan’s bid to force Chubb Insurers to finance mounting clergy sex abuse claims, even when the abuse was enabled and covered up by Church leaders.  Likening Dolan’s scheme to an arsonist setting fire to his house and then demanding an insurance payout, Chubb argued in Court that the New York Archdiocese “alone must bear the full financial consequences of its criminal behavior.”  With Dolan and his fellow New York bishops battling more than 3,300 recently filed sex abuse cases, Dolan’s legal defeat points to a deeper crisis sweeping the Church hierarchy:…

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A Florida man referred to as John Doe is one of 5 men who have come forward accusing Riley of sexual abuse.

A Florida man going by the name ‘John Doe’ says a priest from Dubuque sexually abused him as a child. Earlier this week, prosecutors charged Father Leo Riley with five counts of sex abuse in Dubuque.

Investigators say Riley sexually assaulted four altar boys while working as an associate pastor at Resurrection Parish in Dubuque in the 1980s. Doe said he was another victim of Riley’s in the early 2000s in a press conference in Sarasota on Friday. He claims Riley abused him while he was a child at St. Charles school in Port Charlotte, Florida.

“I never told anybody back then. He said that if I told he would do to my sister what he was doing to me. I buried these memories very…

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The chaplain of the Coast Guard was fired after an investigation found he did not act appropriately when he learned of another chaplain’s sexual misconduct that predated military service, the Coast Guard said Thursday.

Navy Capt. Daniel Mode, a Catholic priest who became the Coast Guard’s top chaplain in April 2022, was reassigned Wednesday to the Navy. The Navy provides chaplains to the Coast Guard and Mode’s career spans both military service branches.

“A Coast Guard administrative investigation found that Capt. Mode did not take appropriate action when made aware of pre-service sexual misconduct by another chaplain,” according to the Coast Guard. “That member has already been removed from the Coast Guard and Navy. The investigation revealed that Captain Mode’s decisions and actions did not demonstrate the judgment required of a senior leader and chaplain of the Coast Guard.”

However, the Coast Guard said Mode’s actions did…

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Two of the three independent abuse commissioners of the Catholic Diocese of Augsburg are resigning on April 30, according to the Augsburger Allgemeine.

Psychologists Angelika Hauser and Rupert Membarth told the German newspaper that they no longer see a basis for further cooperation in the interests of those affected by abuse.

Hauser and Membarth were made abuse commissioners in September 2022.

“Unfortunately, to this day I have not been able to recognize that the process of coming to terms with sexual abuse in the Diocese of Augsburg, which Bishop Bertram once described as his ‘matter of the heart,’ is being pursued with the necessary seriousness and genuine desire to educate,” Hauser said in a letter to the diocese.

A letter from Membarth says he “cannot see any committed effort on the part of the diocese leadership to proactively deal with past and present cases of sexual violence.”

Hauser made the same…

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The suit accuses SBC and its affiliated Champion Forest Baptist of negligence while a youth pastor committed crimes of sexual abuse against minors in the church.

Three Jane Does who claim they were sexually abused as minors by a youth pastor at Champion Forest Baptist sued the Houston megachurch and the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) last week, alleging negligence and seeking more than $1 million in damages.

The case against Champion Forest—which is a three-site church based on the northwest side of the city—comes after 34-year-old ex-minister Timothy Jason Jeltema was sentenced in 2022 to five years in prison after pleading guilty to sexual abuse crimes.

The suit alleges the church and the SBC failed to protect the girls from the abuse. “In what has sadly become an all too familiar story, this…

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A plea agreement has been filed for a former preschool teacher who was arrested twice on child molesting charges.

Court records show Joshua Leduc was scheduled to go to trial on Monday, but the trial was canceled.

Court officials tell 44News that a plea agreement was reached Tuesday.

Leduc was arrested in August of 2022 after a child came forward and reported abuse, and again in 2023 after police said another child reported abuse.

Leduc was a preschool teacher at Bethel United Church of Christ. Officials at the church said Leduc was fired after the first incident in 2022.

After Tuesday’s plea deal was reached, Leduc is now set to be sentenced on June 28.

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I turned on the TV / And flipped it over to the news / And what I saw I almost couldn’t comprehend. I saw a preacher man in cuffs / He’d taken money from the church / He’d stuffed his bank account with righteous dollar bills … You know there ain’t no rest for the wicked.

The American rock band Cage the Elephant clocked preachers with this line in their 2008 song, Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked.

While the band does not make Christian music, these lyrics imagine the not-so-outlandish possibility of a preacher stealing church funds, effectively calling out the ease with which Christian leaders abuse their power to steal from, lie to and take advantage of those who trust them most.

And during Sexual Violence Awareness Month, let’s remember it is often not just our money church leaders take advantage of. It’s our bodies too.

The state of our…

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AN INTERVIEW WITH BAPTISTLAND AUTHOR CHRISTA BROWN: ON TELLING HER STORY OF SURVIVAL, THE BETRAYAL OF CHURCH LEADERS, AND THE JOURNEY TOWARD HEALING

An interview with Baptistland Author Christa Brown. You can preorder Baptistland here, or at your preferred bookstore. Available on May 7.

In her bestselling 2023 book Disobedient Women, journalist Sarah Stankorb wrote of Christa Brown, “For so many years, she was one of the few people Southern Baptist sex abuse survivors knew they could call, someone they knew would listen.” I sat down with Brown earlier this month to talk about her new book, Baptistland: A Memoir of Abuse, Betrayal, and Transformation, a book that I hope everyone in the Into Account orbit will read.

I’ve trusted Brown for years as a consistent source of reliable, clear-headed analysis whenever the Southern Baptist Convention gets up to some shenanigans. As a survivor of child…

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Attorneys with Mallard Perez are challenging the accuracy of a statement provided by the Diocese of Venice, stating that another allegation was known prior to other recent reports.

Damian Mallard, a partner of the Mallard Perez law offices, urged other potential victims of Reverend Leo Riley to come forward. Father Riley is currently facing accusations out of the state of Iowa.

Detectives from the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office Major Case Unit worked with the Dubuque, Iowa Police Department to arrest Leo P. Riley at his Port Charlotte home on Wednesday.

Dubuque Police Department had developed probable cause for five counts of capital sexual battery within their jurisdiction.

Riley was a past priest at the Resurrection Church in Dubuque, Iowa. In Charlotte County, he was a Priest at Saint Charles Borromeo in Port Charlotte in the early 2000′s, and is currently assigned to San Antonio Catholic Church, also in Port Charlotte.

…

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Spain’s Socialist government announced this week that they will establish a state-run compensation program for sexual abuse victims, and will make the Catholic Church pay for it.

In 2022, the Spanish government launched its own investigation into sexual abuse claims that concluded with an Ombudsman report published in 2023. The report only focused on sexual abuse victims of the Catholic church. On April 23, Spain’s Minister of the Presidency and Justice Félix Bolaños referred to that report in justifying the decision to have the Church pay for the compensations that will be set by the state.

“From that report, [Bolaños] said it was concluded that some 440,000 adults may have suffered sex abuse in Spain by people linked to the church and that roughly half of those cases were committed by clergy,” the Associated Press News reported. 

But in the same report, AP News noted…

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The Spanish government April 23 approved an economic compensation plan for victims of sexual abuse committed by priests and other people linked to the Catholic Church.

Félix Bolaños, who is minister of the presidency and justice, said the plan followed recommendations made in a 2023 report by Spain’s ombudsman to “prevent, repair and settle the debt with the victims” of sexual abuse within the church.

“It is essential that the church assumes its responsibility,” Bolaños told journalists at a morning press conference April 23.

Ángel Gabilondo, the Spanish ombudsman, concluded in his report that some 440,000 adults may have suffered sex abuse in Spain by people linked to the church and that roughly half of those cases were committed by clergy.

Bolaños said the compensation would be financed by the church.

But in an April 23 statement, the Spanish bishops’ conference rejected the plan, saying it discriminated against victims outside…

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[To see a PDF of this report, click here.]

Apr 25 2024

MADISON, Wis. – As Wisconsin approaches the three-year anniversary of the launch of the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Clergy and Faith Leader Abuse Initiative, Attorney General Josh Kaul is releasing additional information, including statements from survivors who have reached out to DOJ, and highlights of other progress being made through the initiative.

“Through this initiative, Wisconsin DOJ continues to work to support survivors and independently review clergy and faith leader abuse in Wisconsin,” said Attorney General Kaul. “If you have information about clergy and faith leader abuse, I encourage you to submit a report through the initiative’s online reporting tool or to call the toll-free tip line.”

One survivor stated: “I am deeply grateful for the work of the Wisconsin DOJ in the Clergy and Faith Leader Abuse Initiative.  When I first decided to come forward and tell the truth…

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A priest accused of getting away with sexually touching multiple boys for 40 years may have more victims.

Father Leo Riley was in Charlotte County court on Thursday. He has been accused of sexual abuse on four boys in Dubuque, Iowa, from 1984 to 1986 but wasn’t arrested until Wednesday.

WINK News spoke to John Celeste, a parishioner at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, one of the churches Riley used to work at. He said it’s deeply saddening because you never want someone who promised to be a man of God to break that promise.

Prayer is not unusual for John Celeste, but on Thursday, his purpose for praying was truth.

“I want the truth to come out. Hiding the truth is never any good,” said Celeste.

He woke up to the news that Father Riley was accused of sexual assault.

“People here used to talk well about…

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An attorney representing a Florida man who filed a lawsuit says their investigation uncovered multiple victims against the former Dubuque priest.

Father Leo Riley is accused of sexual abuse while he was serving with the Archdiocese of Dubuque in the 1980′s.

Leo Riley appeared in court today in Florida on five counts of sexual abuse. He’s accused of assaulting the boys while he was an associate pastor at Resurrection Parish in Dubuque from 1984 to 1986. He’s in jail on a $100,000 bond and awaiting extradition back to Iowa.

In a lawsuit filed in 2020, a man claims Riley abused him as a boy at a Catholic School in Florida in the early 2000s.

Today, the attorney for that victim says Riley’s arrest is a relief but he expects more victims and more charges are coming. “My client is elated and also…

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Leo P. Riley faces five capital sexual battery charges.

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — A Port Charlotte priest arrested for capital sexual battery charges has been accused of similar crimes in the past, documents show.

According to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, Leo Patrick Riley was arrested on April 24, and faces five capital sexual battery charges that allegedly took place in the 1980’s when Riley was a priest in Dubuque, Iowa.

CCSO said investigators worked with the Dubuque Police Department after allegations of Riley’s abuse came to light in May 2022. At the time, Riley was a priest at the San Antonio Catholic Church in Port Charlotte.

The Diocese of Venice Florida told Fox 4 it was made aware of the allegations in May and immediately placed Riley on administrative leave. A spokesperson…

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A day after a former Dubuque priest was arrested for an alleged 40-year-old sexual abuse case, we’re learning about more abuse allegations.

This time, the allegations come from Father Leo Riley’s time as a priest in Florida.

Father Riley was arrested in Florida on Wednesday after four men accused him of sexually abusing them in the 1980′s when they were altar boys at Resurrection Parish in Dubuque.

Riley moved to the Diocese of Venice, Florida in 2002 to be closer to his parents.

A lawsuit filed in July 2020 alleges Riley and Alan Klispie, a music teacher, verbally, physically and sexually abused a student at the St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School, a school owned and operated by the Diocese of Venice in Florida.

The lawsuit alleges Klispie started abusing the victim when he was a pre-kindergarten or kindergarten student at St. Charles in the mid 1990′s.

According…

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In part, it was his position — as a priest and doctoral student — that convinced so many children and parents at Seattle’s St. Paul School and Catholic parish to trust Patrick O’Donnell.

He told them he was working on his graduate research when he recruited 60 seventh- and eighth-graders for a 1978 dissertation experiment “on the subject of trust.” And he told them he was working on “research” when he asked parents and teachers to pull students out of class.

In fact, the reason he was in Seattle in the first place was because the Spokane Diocese had sent him to get treatment for what one priest euphemistically called his “pediatrician complex.”

In the 1970s and early ’80s, as he was moved from parish to parish — in Spokane, Seattle, and the small eastern Washington town of Rosalia — he allegedly molested more than 65 children, court records show….

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On telling her story of survival, the betrayal of church leaders, and the journey toward healing

An interview with Baptistland Author Christa Brown. You can preorder Baptistland here, or at your preferred bookstore. Available on May 7.

In her bestselling 2023 book Disobedient Women, journalist Sarah Stankorb wrote of Christa Brown, “For so many years, she was one of the few people Southern Baptist sex abuse survivors knew they could call, someone they knew would listen.” I sat down with Brown earlier this month to talk about her new book, Baptistland: A Memoir of Abuse, Betrayal, and Transformation, a book that I hope everyone in the Into Account orbit will read.

I’ve trusted Brown for years as a consistent source of reliable, clear-headed analysis whenever the Southern Baptist Convention gets up to some shenanigans. As a survivor of child sexual abuse perpetrated by her SBC youth…

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As Wisconsin approaches the third anniversary of the launch of Wisconsin DOJ’s Clergy and Faith Leader Abuse Initiative, Attorney General Josh Kaul is releasing additional information and highlights of other progress being made through the initiative.

“Through this initiative, Wisconsin DOJ continues to work to support survivors and independently review clergy and faith leader abuse in Wisconsin,” said AG Kaul. “If you have information about clergy and faith leader abuse, I encourage you to submit a report through the initiative’s online reporting tool or to call the toll-free tip line.”

One survivor shared, “I am deeply grateful for the work of the Wisconsin DOJ in the Clergy and Faith Leader Abuse Initiative. When I first decided to come forward and tell the truth of my decades-old abuse, I was terrified … The victim services specialist was my first contact with the DOJ and the process was one of great support and compassion. … My hope…

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A Monumental Milestone: Progress is Unfolding for Victims of Abuse

In a landmark decision signaling a potent wave of change, the Justice Department, alongside over a hundred brave souls who endured the unspeakable at the hands of former USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar, has culminated in a civil settlement. This remarkable agreement addresses the grievous oversights of FBI agents in probing the gymnasts’ harrowing allegations against Nassar, now a convicted criminal. This settlement not only sheds light on the “botched” investigation by the FBI and the “fundamental errors made,” as numerous reports have critiqued, but also marks a pivotal stride toward accountability and justice for the victims of these heinous acts. One US senator reported that abuse victims “were betrayed by the institutions they should have been able to trust.”

Because of the FBI’s callous inaction, more innocent girls suffered needlessly. As a result, it was announced yesterday that more than…

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An Orleans Parish criminal court judge has ordered the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans to turn over all records related to clergy sex abuse to the Louisiana State Police, a sign that investigators may be expanding their probe into the local church.

Magistrate Judge Juana Lombard signed a search warrant Monday at the request of state police investigators, who have been looking into the local Roman Catholic Church’s clergy sex abuse scandal since 2022, state police spokesman Jacob Pucheu said Wednesday.

The agency’s investigation stems from the ongoing probe into former archdiocesan priest Lawrence Hecker, 91, who is accused of raping multiple children from 1966 through 1979 and was indicted by an Orleans Parish grand jury on rape, kidnapping and theft charges. His trial, scheduled for March, was delayed after his attorneys raised questions about his mental competency.

Pucheu said his agency initiated the probe after receiving “numerous complaints of child sex…

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Ohio lawmakers voted Wednesday to criminalize marital rape in all situations, ending a years-long fight over a law that critics cast as archaic and harmful to survivors.

The Ohio Senate unanimously passed legislation which eliminates a measure that protects spouses from prosecution against rape, unless the perpetrator used force or the couple lives in separate homes. It also removes the spousal exception for sexual battery and other sex crimes and allows spouses to testify against their partner in these cases.HomeBuddy21 Gutter Guards Put to the Test: See What Roofers FoundAd

The bill now heads to Gov. Mike DeWine, who is expected to sign it, according to his spokesman.

“Every little girl dreams about her wedding day and being fully loved and honored by someone so intensely,” one woman told a Senate committee as she recounted abuse by…

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Two of the three independent abuse commissioners of the Catholic Diocese of Augsburg are resigning on April 30, according to the Augsburger Allgemeine.

Psychologists Angelika Hauser and Rupert Membarth told the German newspaper that they no longer see a basis for further cooperation in the interests of those affected by abuse.

Hauser and Membarth were made abuse commissioners in September 2022.

“Unfortunately, to this day I have not been able to recognize that the process of coming to terms with sexual abuse in the Diocese of Augsburg, which Bishop Bertram once described as his ‘matter of the heart,’ is being pursued with the necessary seriousness and genuine desire to educate,” Hauser said in a letter to the diocese.

A letter from Membarth says he “cannot see any committed effort on the part of the diocese leadership to proactively deal with past and present cases of sexual violence.”

Hauser made the same…

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Editor: This is the first installment of a three-part feature.

A Japanese Buddhist nun has stepped forward to allege that she was brainwashed and sexually violated by the chief priest of a major sect’s temple for over a decade, shocking the country’s religious establishment.

The news made big headlines and was all the more shocking as the alleged abuser had been mentored by a top-ranking priest of the traditional Tendai sect, which has roots in China with a history dating back 1,200 years in Japan and a significant following with close to 3 million believers nationwide.

Details of the allegations by Eicho (the woman’s Buddhist name) emerged in an exclusive interview with Kyodo News. She spoke of her feeling of betrayal and the way her faith had been abused to sexually exploit her and the complex post-traumatic stress disorder she is now dealing with.

What happened in this cloistered world…

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The Archdiocese of Chicago is facing a lawsuit in connection with a former priest accused of sexually abusing and exploiting an altar boy at a now-closed elementary school and parish on the city’s Lower West Side.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Cook County Circuit Court, alleges that the Rev. John Keehan repeatedly sexually abused an unnamed boy from 1994 to 1997 while he attended St. Ann Elementary School and Parish. It also accuses the archdiocese of failing to properly supervise Keehan and of putting children in danger due to Keehan’s known history of abuse.

A spokesperson for the archdiocese said they don’t comment on lawsuits, claims or settlements.

Keehan was named as a Catholic cleric who has committed “substantiated child sex abuse” in the Illinois attorney general’s 2023 report on Catholic clergy child sex abuse in Illinois. According to the report, at least two survivors have…

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In criminal investigation, New Orleans judge demands paper trail from archbishop Gregory Aymond all the way to the Vatican

The criminal investigation into child sexual abuse in New Orleans’ Roman Catholic archdiocese has entered a major new phase, after a judge ordered the church to turn over records to Louisiana state police showing how it responded to abuse allegations over the last several decades.

The order signed Monday seeks files that would identify every priest and deacon accused of abusing children while working in the US’s second-oldest archdiocese; when those complaints were first made; and whether the church turned those cases over to police, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

Significantly, police are also demanding copies of all communications among New Orleans’ current archbishop, Gregory Aymond, his aides and their superiors at the Vatican, those sources said.

Asked for comment Wednesday, an archdiocese spokesperson said: “As always, the…

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Here’s an idea for the Roman Catholic Church, from a secular whose grandparents came from Italy and Poland, yet who still prays to the Saints, the Virgin, and the Holy Trinity.

Worldwide, the church has paid over $4 billion in settlement fees. With billions more to come. Instead of selling its buildings to find funds to pay the victims of sexual abuse by clergy, start selling treasures from The Vatican. I am serious. Does the Vatican really need to hold on to Nero’s bathtub? It’s valued at $2 billion. Or maybe sell a few of the thirty-five volumes of catalogs from the 53 miles of shelving in the Vatican’s secret archives. Or a couple of paintings from the over 20,000 masterpieces valued at over $15 billion.

Better yet, sell the Pieta. I am sure some Saudi prince…

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A former teacher at a Catholic school in Michigan is accused of sexually abusing a student over a period of months after being fired, officials told news outlets.

Nicholas Coe Young, 26, is facing three counts of criminal sexual conduct with a student, WOOD reported. Young allegedly had sexual contact with the boy multiple times over a 15-month span, the station reported.

The Grand Rapids man allegedly met the teenage victim while teaching at Catholic Central High School — though the sex abuse didn’t begin until August 2022, several months after he was fired, according to court documents obtained by the outlet.

Court records show Young was charged with providing alcohol to minors in March 2022.

In an interview with Grand Rapids police, the boy’s mother said her son was “taken advantage of,” Mlive.com reported.

Documents say the teen, who is now 17, felt “manipulated by Nicholas…

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A former helper with a Greeley church faces up to 66 years in prison after he was convicted of six felony sex crimes against minors from 2015 to 2018.

Ryan Walters, 30, was found guilty April 10 of five counts of sexual assault on a child, pattern of abuse; and one count of sexual assault of a child in a position of trust, following a nine-day trial, according to Colorado Court records.

Each of the five pattern-of-abuse counts carries a sentence of four to 12 years. The position of trust charge carries a sentence of two to six years. He has a sentencing hearing on June 6 in front of Judge Timothy Kerns in Weld District Court..

Police first learned of Walters’ abuse in February 2022, when someone called to report him on behalf of one of the victims. On March 3 of the same year, police met with the first…

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Thousands of sexual abuse claims hang in the balance of a battle between the archdiocese and an insurer that says the church is responsible for what happened.

A state appellate court delivered a devastating blow to the Archdiocese of New York in a unanimous decision Tuesday that found the Catholic organization’s longtime insurer can move forward with its case challenging whether its policies covered claims for systemic child sexual abuse that may have been enabled and covered up by church leaders for decades.’

Chubb Insurers argued that it has no duty to indemnify or represent the archdiocese in hundreds of lawsuits filed by individuals who were sexually abused by church employees, and that the archdiocese was not providing information that would allow the insurer to properly assess those claims. 

The ruling rocked advocates and attorneys who have supported New York’s Child Victims Act and Adult Survivors Act, which had temporarily…

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Network of abuse survivors cites recent string of church school scandals

A group of abuse survivors staged a rally in front of the Missouri Attorney General’s office in Jefferson City Monday, calling for the state’s top law enforcement authority to investigate a trend of abuse at private Christian schools.

The group is called the Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests, or “SNAP,” and said the reports of abuse are coming from largely unregulated “faith-based” boarding schools in Missouri.

“These kinds of places are ripe for abuse and cover-up,” said abuse survivor and former director of SNAP David Clohessy. “They tend to attract, unfortunately, predatory individuals who know they have a captive audience of victims.”

Among recent examples, the group lists Lighthouse Christian Academy in Piedmont, Mo., where three owners were arrested and charged with kidnapping, the now-closed Agape School in Stockton, Mo., where a mother is suing over the death of…

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SNAP, alongside supporters, gathered at the Basilica of San Juan to offer help and resources to victims of clergy sexual abuse, following allegations against two local priests.

Advocates Rally for Victims of Clergy Abuse at San Juan Basilica

In a powerful display of solidarity, members of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and other advocates convened outside the Basilica of San Juan today, offering resources and support to victims of clergy sexual abuse. This gathering comes in the wake of recent allegations involving two priests from the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville.

Mobilization Following Allegations

The drive to San Juan was spurred by distressing reports of child sexual abuse linked to valley priests, prompting SNAP to act swiftly to support potential survivors. One of the accused priests has been out on bond since February, intensifying community concerns and the call for accountability.

The Importance of Community Education and…

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Half a dozen advocates gathered in front of the San Juan Basilica on Monday to call for change.

As Channel 5 News has reported, in the last two months, two Catholic priests were accused of sexual misconduct.

“We wanted to give voice to the survivors that are here and make sure people understand why it’s so hard for them to come forward,” Patricia Koo said.

Koo is the SNAP San Antonio Chapter Leader. SNAP stands for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

Priest Fernando Gonzalez Ortega was arrested in February. He is facing five sex crime charges and is currently out on bond.

RELATED STORY: Valley bishop addresses criminal charges against local priest

Monsignor Gustavo Barrera is facing two sexual misconduct allegations. One of those allegations allegedly took place over 35 years ago.

Koo says it’s hard for a victim to come forward.

“We have…

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The Archdiocese of Mobile has approved a Catholic priest’s request for a leave of absence after he was accused of sexual misconduct and harassment, News 5 has learned.

The archdiocese announced this approval on Monday, April 22 on their Facebook page.

73-year-old Rev. David J. Tokarz, the pastor of Our Savior Parish, was arrested April 13 on a charge of sexual misconduct and harassment, according to previous reporting.

News 5 received a copy of the official complaint, which alleged Tokarz approached a woman and “initiated unwanted touching.”

According to the complaints filed in Mobile Municipal Court, two incidents allegedly occurred: one on March 2 and the other on March 6.

On March 2, the complaint alleges, “David Joseph Tokarz engaged in sexual conduct with the victim (name redacted) by hugging her but when he released her from the…

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The Spanish government approved today in the Council of Ministers a plan to implement recommendations made in a report on sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. 

While recognizing some good points in the plan, the Spanish Bishops’ Conference (known by its Spanish acronym CEE) issued a statement strongly objecting to what it called unfair treatment and discrimination against the Church by the government.

Before giving details of the government’s plan, the minister of the Presidency, Justice, and Relations with the Legislature, Félix Bolaños, extrapolating data from a survey commissioned by the People’s Ombudsman, estimated that in Spain there are about 440,000 adults who were victims of sexual abuse as minors, representing 1.13% of the adult population in Spain.

“Around half of these abuses would have been committed by [male] religious of the Catholic Church,” Bolaños claimed.

The bishops, however, noted that “reparation measures cannot be proposed…

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Retired Lawrence Hecker, 92, charged in New Orleans, has memory loss and should be re-evaluated at later date, report finds

A 92-year-old retired Catholic priest charged with strangling a teenager and raping him in a New Orleans church in 1975 has short-term memory loss that prevents him from assisting in his defense, according to a team of forensic psychiatrists whose findings could influence whether one of Louisiana’s most prominent cases of clergy abuse is ever tried.

In a report which has not been publicly released but was reviewed Tuesday by WWL Louisiana and the Guardian, the psychiatrists said the priest – Lawrence Hecker – should not be tried for now on rape, kidnapping, crimes against nature and theft charges until he is re-evaluated later.

However, the report found Hecker’s mental health is good enough that he could recover his competence to stand trial after a relatively short time. It called for him…

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A pastor and elementary school teacher in a small city on the shore of Puget Sound in Washington has been arrested and charged with nine counts of child molestation, according to Pierce County Superior Court records.

Jordan Henderson, a worship pastor at Wellspring Fellowship in Lakebay and teacher at public elementary school, was charged with nine counts of sexual molestation, involving children under 12 years old, court records reported. The 34-year-old pastor was arrested by Pierce County Sheriff’s office, following a two-month investigation, according to Fox 13.

Henderson’s father, lead pastor of Wellspring Fellowship, defended his son in a recent Facebook post on the church’s account.

“While some would have you focus on alarm bells and your greatest fears about what you do not know, I want to encourage you with confidence based on what I do know,” Lead Pastor Chris Henderson…

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Eric Dejaeger was granted bail Tuesday to a supervised facility in Kingston

A former Catholic priest who worked in Nunavut and has previously been convicted of dozens of charges of sexual abuse has been granted bail to a supervised facility in Ontario while awaiting trial on new charges. 

Eric Dejaeger, 76, faces eight counts of historical sexual assault. 

He was previously convicted of 32 offences for sexually abusing people in Igloolik, many of them children. 

The new charges are alleged to have happened while Dejaeger was working as a priest in Igloolik between 1978 and 1982, according to court documents. 

He was arrested in Kingston, Ont., and taken into custody in Iqaluit in June last year. 

Justice of the Peace Amanda Soper granted Dejaeger bail on the condition that he reside at Henry Traill Community Correctional Centre in Kingston, which is a community-based facility with 24-hour supervision. 

Dejaeger can leave the facility during…

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It’s finally spring, the time of year when most state legislatures are in session, debating new laws, adopting some, and rejecting others. And just as regularly as the grass turns green and the flowers bloom, lobbyists for well-heeled wrongdoers work to block bills that would let crime victims expose wrongdoers. This is especially true when the wrongdoers are institutions, and the wrongdoing is child sexual abuse.

Desperate to cover up their cover-ups, these wrongdoers and their highly paid lobbyists use sophisticated tricks. These tricks are designed to persuade elected officials, “Hey, the status quo is just fine. Things aren’t that bad. There’s no need to reform old laws or pass any new laws about child sexual abuse.” One of the most pernicious tricks they use, however, is not so sophisticated. It’s the old ‘don’t blame us’ notion.

In hopes of stopping civil lawsuits that expose well-hidden secrets and often still-dangerous predators, institutional wrongdoers hire lobbyists and insurers…

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A former youth pastor is facing multiple charges including indecent assault after he allegedly sexually molested a child at a Cumberland County restaurant. 

According to the Upper Allen Township Police Department, on April 7, officers responded to a local restaurant after several witnesses reported watching an older man sexually molest a young child in public. 

The suspect was identified as Roy Andrews, 76, from Mechanicsburg, who knew the victim from his previous involvement as a youth leader for a Hispanic church in Harrisburg called “Iglesia La Fuenta.” Andrews was a youth leader for the church from 2014 through 2022.

According to an interviewee, Andrews began picking up children in Harrisburg and taking them to a church in Mechanicsburg after attendance at Iglesia La Fuenta fell. This is allegedly why he was with the children on April 7.

Police viewed surveillance footage from the restaurant to corroborate the…

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A group of clergy sex abuse survivors in the Archdiocese of New Orleans bankruptcy case is asking U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Meredith Grabill to limit the legal fees that the church’s law firm, Jones Walker, is billing to the case.

Citing skyrocketing legal and professional fees on both sides, the abuse survivors claim in a new court filing that Jones Walker is dragging out the long-running case by padding its time sheets, making money off the church while abuse survivors wait for a settlement.

“Jones Walker has bloated its time, engaged in redundant work, and enjoyed maximum payment by ensuring that 54 of its lawyers (30 partners and 24 associates) billed the Archdiocese during this bankruptcy,” a lawyer for the survivors says in court documents filed April 19. “Every dollar paid to Jones Walker is one less dollar paid to the abuse survivors.”

According to court records, more than $36.3…

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Spain is to set up a fund, to be financed largely by the Catholic Church, to compensate an estimated 440,000 victims of decades of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, staff or teachers, the justice minister announced on Tuesday.

A report in October by Spain’s human rights ombudsman produced the estimate from a survey of 8,000 people. It recommended the creation of a state fund, accusing the Church of a lack of cooperation and seeking to “minimise the phenomenon”.

Justice Minister Felix Bolanos told reporters the Church, hugely influential in Spanish society and politics up to and beyond the end of a right-wing dictatorship in the 1970s, had failed over decades to address calls for reparations, and that its responses to the report had varied by diocese.

“We want to respond in order to prevent, to repair and to try to settle the debt that our society owes the victims,” Bolanos said.

…

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There are few jobs, Susie Lopez will tell you, more rewarding than teaching kids how to stand up to potential predators.

Lopez, who trains catechists for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ Empowering God’s Children and Young People program, told the story of one girl in her community who was inappropriately touched by a schoolmate. When she had the courage to disclose that to an adult, she stopped the abuse not only for herself, but for others.

“She knew what to do,” said Lopez. “She told her catechist and the catechist reported it. From that, five other little victims came forward. They never said anything about it and it had been going on for half of the year.”

Unlike the first girl, Lopez explained, those victims hadn’t gone through something like Empowering God’s Children, which teaches youth about thwarting and reporting sexual abuse.

Lopez, along with Dea Boehme, Anita Robinson,…

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Catholic clergy sex abuse claims claims set to go before juries could wipe out available funds for the Diocese of Sacramento, leading it to seek protection through bankruptcy

The Diocese of Sacramento is the latest branch of the Catholic Church to declare bankruptcy under the weight of child sex abuse lawsuits, many of which involve claims that have gone unaddressed for decades.

The Bishop of Sacramento, Jaime Soto, issued a press release earlier this month, announcing that the diocese was filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection. The filing indicates the diocese faces more than 250 child sexual assault claims by victims dating back to the 1950s, which claim the assaults were at the hands of clergy and other Catholic Church employees.

Soto indicates that the cost of resolving the lawsuits “far outstrips” the diocese’ available funds, and that the bankruptcy filing is the best way to compensate victims…

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MADRID (AP) — Spain on Tuesday approved a plan aimed at making reparation and economic compensation for victims of sex abuses committed by people connected to the Catholic Church.

It also announced the future celebration of a public act of recognition for those affected and their families.

The Minister of the Presidency and Justice, Félix Bolaños, said the plan was based on recommendations in a report by Spain’s Ombudsman last year. From that report he said it was concluded that some 440,000 adults may have suffered sex abuse in Spain by people linked to the church and that roughly half of those cases were committed by clergy.

Bolaños said the compensation would be financed by the church.

But in a statement Tuesday, Spain’s Bishops Conference rejected the plan, saying it discriminated against victims outside of church circles.

No details of how much or when financial compensation would be paid were released….

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There are days I’d like to go back to before the abuse-and-coverup crisis exploded into worldwide scandal, and that desire is perhaps the most pernicious of them all.

“I just want to go back to before,” says FBI Agent Olivia Dunham to Special Agent-in-Charge Phillip Broyles in the pilot episode of the science fiction series, Fringe (2008-13). Dunham is a good agent who found herself in the middle of something very big and very scary.

“I don’t think you can,” says Broyles, and then they’re away on a romp through five seasons of top-notch sci-fi that—like all real and really good sci fi—is a dramatization of fundamental theological questions.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that, of late.

I mean to say about the desire to go back to before, and about how we just can’t, and about how much of…

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Pope Francis initiated a “Synod on Synodality” in October 2021 “to enhance the communion, participation, and mission of the Church,” as reported by the Catholic News Agency. “It culminates in two more global assemblies at the Vatican. The first concluded on Oct. 28, 2023, with the finalization of a 42-page synthesis report. The October 2024 session is expected to produce a final report which will be presented to Pope Francis for his consideration in issuing any related teaching,” the Catholic News Agency further explained in an article dated Dec. 12, 2023.

In addition, 300 priests selected by their bishops will attend a meeting at the Vatican from April 28 to May 2, 2024, as part of the ongoing Synod on Synodality. “After parish priests were excluded from the first session of the Synod last October, they all highlighted the importance that they have a voice in the process, as well as the value…

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SÃO PAULO, Brazil – A German-born bishop emeritus in Bolivia had his house raided on Apr. 19 by prosecutors and police officers.

He is accused of a scheme to legitimatize illicit earnings in the department of Santa Cruz.

Agents of the anti-corruption unit of the prosecutor’s office raided Bishop Karl Stetter’s house and the office of lawyer Juan Miguel Zarzar, one of the attorneys of the Diocese of San Ignacio de Velasco. During the operation, the agents took several documents, a sum of money, and a vehicle.

A couple of months ago, Stetter’s finances came to the attention of prosecutor Gustavo Ríos, who said that one of the suspects in the alleged scheme owns 15 properties and 10 cars.

Ríos told the Bolivian newspaper El Deber that he identified financial fluxes that are not compatible with a bishop’s earnings, and that he and lawyer Zarzar will have to explain the origin of…

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Ksiądz Józef G., którego sprawę miał tuszować przed laty abp. Andrzej Dzięga, decyzją Watykanu, został wydalony ze stanu duchownego. Do września ubiegłego roku kapłan przebywał w więzieniu.

Sandomierski duchowy ks. Józef G., przed kilkoma dniami, został wydalony z kapłaństwa decyzją Stolicy Apostolskiej. Jak informuje portal “Więź”, który jako pierwszy napisał o sprawie, na przełomie 2005 i 2006 roku kapłan molestował seksualnie 12-letniego ministranta w jednej z parafii w Tarnobrzegu. Duchowny został za to skazany prawomocnym wyrokiem sądu państwowego na trzy lata więzienia. Na wolność wyszedł we wrześniu 2023 roku.

Józef G. może jeszcze odwołać się od wyroku karnego kanonicznego. Jeżeli by to uczynił, wyrok zostałby zawieszony, a mężczyzna formalnie pozostałby w kapłaństwie aż do rozpatrzenia odwołania przez Stolicę Apostolską.

“W  praktyce jednak – w sytuacji krzywdy wyrządzonej dziecku – nie ma szans na uwzględnienie odwołania” – podkreśla portal.

Abp. Dzięga przeniósł go do innej parafii

O dokonanym przez Józefa G. przestępstwie…

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The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests praised the Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo for releasing a list of people disqualified from working with kids but is hoping for even more information to be added to the list.

“It is always helpful for survivors when these lists are posted, especially for those who may be suffering alone and in silence,” the organization wrote in a Friday release.

The list includes people who have been “credibly accused” — though not necessarily convicted in a court of law, — violated a child-protection policy after warnings, failed as a mandated reporter to report allegations of abuse of minors, failed to act to prevent abuse they knew was happening, gave pornography to minors, possessed or used child pornography, physically abused minors or directed sexual abuse or sexual assault of minors.

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A Franciscan friar formerly connected to Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Durham and Duke University has been removed from public ministry after allegations of sexual misconduct.

The Rev. Patrick Tuttle served as associate pastor in Durham from 1996 until at least 2009, and he also taught seventh and eighth-graders while there.

Tuttle is now “living under the strict supervision of an independent monitor,” according to an April 4 statement from the friars of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Most recently in Georgia

The misconduct allegations arose four months ago, and Tuttle was soon removed as pastor at Holy Spirit Church in Macon, Georgia. After an investigation, the Province Review Board unanimously recommended he be barred from all public ministry and placed under supervision.

“During the independent investigation process and beyond,” the statement read, “the province has offered outside pastoral care and counseling services to the abuse…

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In the shadowed corridors of religious institutions, a disquieting truth lurks a truth that has fractured the very bedrock of communal trust on a global scale. This piece endeavors to illuminate this enigmatic darkness, delving into its labyrinthine depths to unravel the intricate tapestry of clergy sexual abuse: its prevalence, genesis, ramifications, and the crucial strides towards preemptive measures and restitution.

The Enigma Unveiled

An Epoch of Ecclesiastical Turbulence

Clergy sexual abuse is not a nascent quandary; its historical tendrils reach back through the annals of religious chronicles. However, it burgeoned into prominence during the latter echelons of the 20th century, as a cascade of revelations unveiled a systemic scourge ensnaring diverse denominations and faiths.

The Elusive Statistics

Quantifying the extent of clergy sexual abuse is an elusive pursuit, ensnared within the veils of underreported incidents and institutional subterfuge. Nonetheless, empirical studies allude to its pervasive grip within religious enclaves…

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

A divided Louisiana Supreme Court ruled recently that legislation opening the courthouse doors to the victims of clergy sex abuse deprives alleged child predators and their enablers of due process of law.

It is not often that the Legislature speaks with one voice. But it did so in this case, based upon compelling evidence that the trauma of childhood sexual abuse lasts a lifetime. The court’s majority decision ignores this evidence and flouts the will of the legislature.

As explained in the dissenting opinion of Chief Justice John Weimer, the legislation clearly does not violate due process, any more than countless health and safety regulations that serve a rational public purpose.

In a footnote, the majority opinion states that the passage of time makes it impossible to mount a viable defense since witnesses have died and critical documents have been lost. In point of fact, the…

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The Michigan Supreme Court will rule in the coming months on whether decades-old sexual abuse and assault allegations can be resurrected in civil lawsuits.

The high court heard arguments last week over whether a 2018 law with a specific carveout for old claims brought by victims of serial sexual molester Larry Nassar also applies to individuals abused decades ago by clergy, school staff or other authority figures.

The case stems from a lawsuit filed by Brian McLain, who alleged he was abused by a priest, the Rev. Richard Lobert, when he was 16 and attended W.J. Maxey Boys Training School in Whitmore Lake.

McLain claimed the 2018 law allowed him to file suit within three years of discovering mental health conditions related to the alleged assault, regardless of when the actual assault occurred. The Diocese of Lansing, a plaintiff in the case, said that provision was meant to apply to…

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Arlington nuns at the center of a vicious dispute with the Fort Worth bishop have rejected a Vatican decree to place them under new authority, saying it amounts to a hostile takeover.

In a statement published Saturday, the nuns said the Vatican issued the decree without their knowledge or consent and that it could threaten individual nuns, the integrity of the monastery and its assets.

“We are not ‘things’ to be traded or given away in back-room deals, but women vowed to the exclusive love and service of Almighty God,” the nuns wrote.

The statement is the latest development in a bitter and extraordinarily public battle between the nuns and Fort Worth Bishop Michael Olson that has played out in dueling statements and in civil court. It began last year when the bishop accused the head nun of violating her vow of chastity…

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By Christopher Landau -April 21, 2024111

Mike Pilavachi

These are testing times for anyone even loosely connected with charismatic life within, or adjacent to, the Church of England. To discover that a figure whose ministry was widely celebrated ‘used his spiritual authority to control people and that his coercive and controlling behaviour led to inappropriate relationships, the physical wrestling of youths and massaging of young male interns’ is proving seismic. The severe impact of Mike Pilavachi’s actions and behaviour has been underlined in the last few days, through the release of Matt and Beth Redman’s Let There Be Light documentary, and a poignant statement from Tim and Pete Hughes. 

There are many important areas for reflection in this tragic situation: the support offered to victims; the silence of certain leaders, churches or movements; the Church of England’s safeguarding and disciplinary processes;…

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It has been two weeks since the Vatican released Dignitas Infinita, its declaration on human dignity that included negative sections on gender identity and transitions. In that time, commentaries about what the document means for the LGBTQ+ community, especially transgender and nonbinary people, have abounded. Posts today and tomorrow feature some of these commentaries. For all of Bondings 2.0’s coverage of the declaration and its reception, click here.

Archbishop Christopher Coyne, coadjutor of Hartford, emphasized in an interview both the church’s broad welcome, but also its teachings on gender. Connecticut Public Radio:

“[Coyne said,] Biology is biology. You’re either XX or XY. That’s a scientific fact. You can’t un-prove that fact.’ . . .

“‘You don’t have to pass a test to belong,’ Coyne said. ‘We walk with each other. We accompany each other. We don’t leave each other; we try to grow together.’ . . .

“Coyne said it’s important for the…

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Despite the many predator clergymen all over Latin America, prevention is not a priority for the Roman Catholic bishops in the region. Information about the crisis, how to file a report or how to seek assistance is, for the most part, hard to find if not absent in the websites of the Latin American Catholic Church.

Two weeks ago, Los Ángeles Press published a report on how many of the Roman Catholic dioceses in Mexico have met the goal of setting up a local commission to prevent clergy sexual abuse.

This week I present a basic comparison of how the 18 national conferences of Roman Catholic bishops deal with clergy sexual abuse in the Websites each of them sustain in their countries. The Catholic Church in Latin America is organized in the so-called Council of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopate, CELAM for short. It must be noticed, however,…

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Catholic places of worship across France are wondering what they should do with frescoes and stained-glass windows created by priests accused of sexual abuse.

On May 11, the shrineof Our Lady of Aparecida, in the eponymous city in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo, will inaugurate its basilica’s newly decorated southern façade. For Father Eduardo Catalfo, the rector of the world’s largest Catholic complex after the Vatican in Rome, this will be a day of celebration, a chance to rally the masses and raise funds to continue his major construction project.

Not everyone shares his enthusiasm. A petition with over 5,000 signatures was recently launched to demand the removal of the mosaics created by priest and artist Marko Rupnik. His name won’t be familiar to those who regularly attend the big arty events in Basel (Switzerland), Venice (Italy) or Miami (US). Yet in the world of sacred art, he is…

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JEFFERSON CITY — A group of five individuals gathered outside of the Missouri attorney general’s office Monday morning to speak about recent reports of child sexual abuse at boarding schools across the state.

The press conference was led by David Clohessy, an abuse survivor and director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

Clohessy said that the news conference aimed to “discuss recent revelations and reports of abuse at largely unregulated ‘faith-based’ boarding schools in Missouri.”  

“We firmly believe that where there’s a will, there’s a way,” Clohessy said. “And we believe Attorney General Andrew Bailey should act now, proactively, to prevent more abuse and more cover up in these institutions.”

SNAP said there’s been at least four abuse and cover-up scandals at boarding schools in Missouri. 

“Dozens of such ‘under the radar’ facilities have quietly moved to or opened across the state, in part to avoid regulatory…

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An independent monitor will oversee the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn’s handling of sexual abuse allegations under a settlement between the diocese and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

The agreement announced Tuesday will address “years of mismanaging clergy sexual abuse cases,” James said.

Investigators with the attorney general’s office found that officials with the diocese failed to comply with their own sex abuse policies put in place after the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People in 2002.

In one case, the attorney general said, a priest who admitted that he had repeatedly sexually abused minors was defrocked in 2007 but requested confidentiality. The diocese kept the abuse secret until 2017 when it announced for the first time that this priest had been credibly accused of and admitted to abusing children. The priest worked as a professor at…

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Though he hasn’t been employed by the Catholic Diocese of Knoxville for nearly a year, former Bishop Richard Stika continues to make his presence felt, contacting whistleblowers directly with threats of a lawsuit, including one who is a key witness in the sexual assault lawsuit against the church.

That lawsuit was filed by a former diocesan employee who alleges a former diocesan seminarian raped him and details how the diocese, led by Stika, interfered with the investigation and worked to discredit him. Knox News independently verified the interference, which led to the firing of an independent investigator.

As complaints about Stika’s leadership and handling of allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct piled up in the diocese, the bishop offered his resignation and it was accepted by Pope Francis in June 2023.

But Stika has continued to try to assert control over some of the priests in the Knoxville diocese. He sent a…

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