ABUSE TRACKER

ST. PAUL (MN)
Minnesota Public Radio

by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio,
Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio
October 17, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minn. — St. Paul police are putting out a general call to the public asking for any victims of clergy sexual abuse to contact investigators.

The call was prompted by an ongoing criminal investigation, said Police Commander Mary Nash of the department’s family and sexual violence unit. She declined to provide any details.

The announcement comes as St. Paul police investigate Father Jon Shelley and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Nash said victims can come forward and have their identities kept confidential. She also offered a message directly to victims: “You rise each day with courage to survive knowing your faith has been tested beyond all belief.”

She declined to say whether any new victims have come forward so far but said she believes there are victims who have not reported the abuse.

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ST. PAUL (MN)
KAAL

By: Leslie Dyste

St. Paul Police are appealing to the public as their investigation into the conduct of a local priest continues.

Police announced Thursday that based on their current and previous investigations, they’re asking anyone who may have been a victim of sexual abuse perpetrated by members of the Catholic Church to come forward and report what happened.

Investigators would not comment on what sparked their plea to the public. But earlier this month the department reopened an investigation into allegations that a priest once had child porn on his computer.

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ST. PAUL (MN)
KARE

ST. PAUL, Minn. – St. Paul police are asking any victims of sexual abuse by priests to come forward and share their stories with law enforcement.

Police Cmdr. Mary Nash made an open plea to victims Thursday. “We want to hear from you. We want to hear your story,” said Nash.

She asked any victims to call St. Paul Police at 651-291-1111 and promised their identities would be kept confidential.

Nash said investigators are continuing to look into allegations of sexual misconduct by a priest in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

[the emails – Jeff Anderson & Associates]
[video transcript]
[Jane Doe 20 statement]

For immediate release: Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com )

It’s sickening to read multiple seductive and manipulative emails from a then 44-year-old priest to a then 15-year-old girl.

[Star Tribune]

Here’s the real question raised by these disturbing emails: What’s wrong with the six or seven Catholics on Archbishop John Nienstedt’s anonymous abuse board? They claimed the abuse allegations against Fr. Keating were “unsubstantiated” even after reading these emails and peppering this brave girl with repeated questions?

These adults, presumably some of them parents, apparently find little wrong with an allegedly celibate “man of God” repeatedly writing sexually suggestive comments to a teenager.

These adults, presumably some of them parents, apparently are somehow unmoved by the very credible abuse report – in person and via video – of a brave, wounded girl and her family.

Nienstedt has obviously done a great job of packing his panel with die-hard church loyalists who will ignore a victim’s compelling evidence and testimony and side with an accused priest no matter what.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: NICOLE NORFLEET , Star Tribune Updated: October 17, 2013

St. Paul police are asking for possible victims of clergy abuse to come forward and share their stories.

St. Paul police on Thursday asked any victims of clergy abuse to come forward while it continues to pursue its investigation into whether a Catholic priest downloaded child pornography.

Last week, the department announced that it had reopened the 2004 case in light of new information including an additional copy of the images that the Hugo parishioner who originally discovered the porn on the priest’s computer turned in as well as leaked internal church documents that described the images as “borderline illegal’’ and indicated that church officials were concerned about possible prosecution.

The renewed investigation follows allegations by former canonical chancellor, Jennifer Haselberger, who resigned in April, that the church hierarchy failed to report child endangerment and child pornography to law enforcement.

As of Wednesday, police hadn’t arrested anyone or forwarded the case to the county attorney’s office for possible charges.

The case had been idle since police reviewed three discs containing images from the priest’s hard drive and found no child porn. But the investigating officer noted in a report that the priest’s computer had been destroyed long before so that it couldn’t be certain that the discs reviewed by police contained the same content that was originally reviewed by a forensics expert hired by the archdiocese.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: DAVID CHANEN , Star Tribune Updated: October 17, 2013

Lawyer for priest accused of sexual contact with a young teen calls allegations false and “thoroughly discredited.”

A lawyer for the Rev. Michael Keating spoke publicly for the first time Thursday about allegations that he had sexual contact with a young teenage girl when he was studying for the priesthood.

In a statement released to the Star Tribune, Keating’s attorney Fred Bruno said, “The allegations in this lawsuit are false and highly defamatory. The plaintiff’s attorney is merely recycling claims that were thoroughly discredited over six years ago after being originally lofted. The plaintiff’s accusations at that time were independently investigated by multiple government agencies, professionals, and organizations, including the Chisago County Sheriff, the Chisago County Attorney, the Archdiocese, and two independent forensic psychologists.

“These comprehensive efforts concluded that the allegations were unsubstantiated. Additionally, Father Keating passed a polygraph administered by Minnesota’s most experienced and highly regarded law enforcement polygrapher.

“Father Keating has been deeply pained by these untrue accusations. The unfortunate grandstanding and publicity generated by the recent announcement of this lawsuit add nothing to the credibility of the claims. Such self-serving tactics do not promote genuine justice, and are needlessly hurtful to an esteemed member of the Catholic community and to the Church as a whole. It is hoped that the remainder of the legal process in this case will proceed in the orderly and civil manner observed by the Minnesota courts.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Beaumont Enterprise

By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press
Updated 3:12 pm, Thursday, October 17, 2013

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A 26-year-old accuser in the latest Philadelphia priest-abuse case has died of what his lawyer calls a suspected drug overdose.

The man’s death Sunday came days before Thursday’s scheduled preliminary hearing for the Rev. Robert Brennan of Perryville, Md.

Prosecutors must now decide whether the rape case can go forward. Brennan is free on bail.

The 75-year-old Brennan had been named in numerous complaints described in a 2005 grand jury report, but they were too old to bring to court.

The new accuser, a college graduate, came forward this year under new time limits.

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MINNESOTA
San Antonio Express-News

OCTOBER 17, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — St. Paul police are asking any victims of sexual abuse by priests to come forward and share their stories with law enforcement.

Police Cmdr. Mary Nash made an open plea to victims Thursday, saying, “We want to hear from you. We want to hear your story.”

Nash says investigators are continuing to look into allegations of sexual misconduct by a priest in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

She declined to elaborate on the investigation, saying it is ongoing.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

By John R. Ellement and Lisa Wangsness | GLOBE STAFF OCTOBER 17, 2013

Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley hosted some 60 state lawmakers at a breakfast meeting this morning that was meant to help rebuild his church’s rapport with the Legislature.

The meeting, which was held at the private Union Club on Beacon Hill and closed to the press, was the first in which the cardinal has met with a large group of legislators since he became the Roman Catholic archbishop of Boston in 2003.

O’Malley and his staff offered a broad overview of the archdiocese and its work, according to those who attended, highlighting the church’s youth programs, assistance to immigrants, parochial schools, and care for the poor in 144 cities and towns in Eastern Massachusetts.

Hotbutton social issues such as contraception, abortion, and gay marriage did not come up, according to several legislators who attended, nor did pending legislation on extending the statute of

“There was no ask in this” meeting, said Rep. Byron Rushing, a Democrat who represents the South End. “My takeaway is they are going to try to get back to being as active as they used to be.”

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UNITED STATES
TheMediaReport

Convicted bank robber Shamont Sapp has admitted in U.S. federal court that he falsely accused four different priests of sexually abusing him back in the 1970s.

Even though his crimes carry up to 25 years in prison, Sapp has negotiated a plea deal with prosecutors, and he will likely serve only 41 months, according to The Oregonian, one of only three media outlets to report this story.

Quite a character

We originally reported on the case of Sapp back in early February. While serving time in prison for ten bank robberies, Sapp not only drummed up four bogus abuse claims against Catholic priests, but he also filed a bizarre lawsuit alleging that Hollywood stars Jamie Foxx and Tyler Perry had stolen his idea for the lowbrow comedy film project Skank Robbers. (Thankfully, the movie never actually made it into production.)

Yet with regards to his attempted scam against the Catholic Church, Sapp found three of his targets by scouring old newspapers in search of priests who had already been publicly accused of abuse. He then filed lawsuits claiming that he too had been abused by those same priests.

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OHIO
The Columbus Dispatch

By Mary Beth Lane
The Columbus Dispatch Tuesday October 15, 2013

LANCASTER, Ohio — A Fisher Catholic High School choir teacher has been placed on paid leave while Lancaster police investigate a report that she sent nude photos of herself to a student’s cellphone, an act commonly known as “sexting.”

Principal Sean Kenney, who reported the allegation to police on Sunday, confirmed yesterday that he had placed a teacher on leave.

According to a police report, the 17-year-old student identified the teacher as Kathleen Thomas, 26. Kenney declined to confirm the teacher’s identity but said she had been at the high school for five years.

The student said he sent a couple of photos of his genitals to Thomas at her request, after she sent nude photos of herself to his cellphone. She sent more nude photos of herself after he sent his photos to her, the report said.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release Thursday, October 17, 2013

Statement by Karen Polesir of Philadelphia SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 267-992-9463, karenpolesir@yahoo.com )

Our hearts ache for this family.

This brave man courageously exposed a child molesting cleric and protected others. He fought hard to get his day in court. Now that day will never come. We are deeply grateful for his bravery and deeply saddened for his friends and family

Now more than ever, it’s crucial that every victim, witness and whistleblower come forward and work with law enforcement. Children are safe when predators are behind bars.

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IRELAND
Build

Three former teachers of a missionary order boarding school have been charged with the indecent assault of a number of pupils over a 20 year period.

The charges come at the end of a two year investigation carried out by gardaí, following allegations of abuse at Coláiste Chroí Naofa in Carrignavar, Co Cork from the late 1960s on.

80-year-old Donnacha MacCarthaigh, 69-year-old Tadhg Ó Dalaigh and 66-year-old Liam O’Brien were member of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and teachers at the school when it run as a boarding school.

Former principal Donnacha MacCarthaigh,with an address c/o Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Western Road, Cork, was charged with a total of 42 counts of indecent assault on 14 boys at Coláiste Chroí Naofa in Carrignavar on various dates between 1969 and 1989.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Three former teachers at a Cork boarding school have appeared in court charged with indecently assaulting a number of pupils at the school over a 20-year period.

The three men were all members of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart at the time of the alleged abuse.

These charges come after a two year long investigation by gardaí into allegations of abuse at Colaiste Chroi Naofa in Carrignavar, Co. Cork

80-year-old Donnacha MacCarthaigh with an address care of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Western Road, Cork was charged with a total of 42 counts of indecent assault on 14 boys at Colaiste Chroi Naofa in Carrignavar on various dates between 1969 and 1989.

69-year-old Tadhg O’Dalaigh, with an address at Woodview, Mount Merrion Avenue, Blackrock, Dublin was charged with two counts of indecent assault on two boys at the school on various dates between 1979 and 1985.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Barry Roche

Thu, Oct 17, 2013

Three former teachers at a boarding school run by a missionary order in Co Cork have appeared in court charged with indecently assaulting a number of pupils at the school over a 20-year period from the late 1960s.

The three men, who were all members of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart at the time of the alleged abuse, were charged yesterday following a two-year investigation by gardaí into allegations of abuse at Coláiste Chroí Naofa in Carrignavar, Co Cork, when it operated as a boarding school.

The three, Donnacha MacCarthaigh (80), Tadhg Ó Dalaigh (69) and Liam O’Brien (66), were each charged separately when they appeared yesterday morning at Cork District Court before Judge Conal Gibbons.

Mr MacCarthaigh, a former principal at the school, now with an address c/o Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Western Road, Cork, was charged with a total of 42 counts of indecent assault on 14 boys at Coláiste Chroí Naofa in Carrignavar on various dates between 1969 and 1989.

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IRELAND
RTE News

Three priests have been before Cork District Court charged with indecently assaulting boys at a school where they were teaching.

All three were arrested following a two-year garda investigation into allegations of abuse spanning three decades.

The Sacred Heart College in Carrignavar became the focus of a major investigation by gardaí in 2011 following allegations of abuse by former pupils.

The Catholic secondary school, which is 12km north of Cork city, was a boarding school for boys from the 1960s to 1990s.

Donnacha Mac Cárthaigh, 80, of The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Western Road, Cork, is facing 42 charges of indecently assaulting 14 boys on dates over 20 years between 1969 and 1989.
When charged he said: “I am totally innocent of those charges.”

Tadhg Ó Dalaigh, of Woodview House, Mount Merrion Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin, was charged with ten counts of indecently assaulting two boys on dates between 1979 and 1985.

He made no reply to the charges.

Liam O’Brien, 66, also of Mount Merrion Avenue in Dublin, was charged with a single count of indecent assault.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

Updated: Thursday, October 17 2013
By: WJAC Web Staff

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Another person has come forward claiming he was sexually abused by the late Franciscan friar Brother Stephen Baker. Thursday’s Tribune-Democrat reports that a Johnstown attorney has filed a notice of intent to sue on behalf a person he calls John Doe No. 1.

The Altoona-Johnstown Diocese and Bishop McCort High School – where Baker was once an athletic trainer — are named in the filing, but Baker is not mentioned.

The filing comes as the diocese has been working to negotiate settlements with other alleged victims of Baker. Baker committed suicide in January at St. Bernadine Monastery in Blair County. He is the subject of child abuse investigations in Ohio, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
6 ABC

PHILADELPHIA – October 17, 2013 (WPVI) — The Philadelphia District Attorney has announced that the alleged victim of Rev. Robert Brennan, whose allegations of abuse led to criminal charges, was found dead over the weekend.

The victim was not identified in the statement from District Attorney Seth Williams on Thursday afternoon.

Williams said the victim died ‘unexpectedly.”

The statement read:

“It is with great sadness that I have to announce that the victim in the rape and assault case against Robert Brennan passed away unexpectedly,” Williams said.

“The decades long demons and scars the victim in this case endured ended this weekend when he was found dead by Philadelphia Police Detectives,” Williams continued.

“I cannot say enough about the bravery this young man displayed in coming forward to bring these crimes to light. This young man’s courage should serve as an inspiration to us all.”

Williams went on to say that his office is reviewing this case and will have a decision on ‘the status of this prosecution’ next week.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
My Fox Philly

Posted: Oct 17, 2013

The victim of an alleged priest sex abuse case has died, according to a new statement released by the District Attorney’s Office.

“It is with great sadness that I have to announce that the victim in the rape and assault case against Robert Brennan passed away unexpectedly,” stated District Attorney Seth Williams.

“The decades long demons and scars the victim in this case endured ended this weekend when he was found dead by Philadelphia Police Detectives. I can not say enough about the bravery this young man displayed in coming forward to bring these crimes to light. This young man’s courage should serve as an inspiration to us all.”

The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office is currently reviewing the case, and will likely have a decision on the status of this prosecution sometime next week.

Brennan is accused of abusing more than twenty children.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – District Attorney Seth Williams announced that the victim in the rape and assault case against Robert Brennan has died. (See Related Story)

“It is with great sadness that I have to announce that the victim in the rape and assault case against Robert Brennan passed away unexpectedly.”

Williams said, “The decades long demons and scars the victim in this case endured ended this weekend when he was found dead by Philadelphia Police Detectives. I cannot say enough about the bravery this young man displayed in coming forward to bring these crimes to light. This young man’s courage should serve as an inspiration to us all.”

Robert Brennan is accused of sexually assaulting an altar boy over a period of four years.

Robert Brennan, 75, is currently facing charges of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and aggravated indecent assault.

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PHILADLEPHIA (PA)
NBC 10

By Kelly Bayliss, Dan Stamm and David Chang | Thursday, Oct 17, 2013

The victim in the sexual assault case against a Philadelphia Catholic priest is dead, according to District Attorney Seth Williams.

“It is with great sadness that I have to announce that the victim in the rape and assault case against Father Robert Brennan passed away unexpectedly,” Williams announced in a press release Thursday.

The victim, who was allegedly raped by Robert Brennan while serving as an altar boy from 1998 to 2001, was found dead by Philadelphia Police Detectives over the weekend.

Brennan, now 75, was arrested on Sept. 25 in Perryville, Md. and was returned to Philadelphia on Sept. 26 after waiving extradition. He is charged with rape, involuntary deviant sexual intercourse and aggravated sexual assault. Previous allegations of abuse by Brennan, detailed in a grand jury report, did not result in charges because the alleged assaults fell outside the state’s statute of limitations.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadlephia Inquirer

JOSEPH A. SLOBODZIAN, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
LAST UPDATED: Thursday, October 17, 2013

The future of the sex abuse case against the Rev. Robert L. Brennan – the former Philadelphia priest arrested Sept. 26 and charged with raping a Northeast Philadelphia altar boy from 1998 to 2001 – is now uncertain after the death of the 26-year-old complaining witness.

Marci A. Hamilton, a lawyer who has sued the Catholic church on behalf of several alleged victims of priests, confirmed that the 26-year-old man died Sunday of an apparent accidental drug overdose.

Hamilton, who said she is representing the man’s family, said the family is requesting privacy and anonymity.

The Inquirer has a policy of not identifying victims in sex crimes.

“He was a wonderful young man doing everything he possibly could to pull himself out of this darkness,” Hamilton said. “It’s a tremendous tragedy that he is gone.”

Word of the alleged victim’s death began to spread late Wednesday after the District Attorney’s Office announced the cancellation of Brennan’s preliminary hearing.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY BARBARA DORRIS ON OCTOBER 17, 2013

Both are smart female Catholic lawyers who became part of Archbishop John Nienstedt’s inner circle and enjoyed his ear and his trust.

One of them, Jennifer Haselberger, became part of the solution.

The other, Greta Sawyer, remains part of the problem.

Haselberger’s story is widely known. She’s a courageous whistleblower. Here’s a recent profile of her:

[Star Tribune]

Sawyer is the archdiocesan victims’ assistance director.

Last month, we said that Sawyer may have broken the law, because she “recorded an interview with the (alleged victim of Fr. Wehmeyer) before anyone who worked for the police had talked to him.”

[Minnesota Public Radio]

Now, however, Sawyer’s accused again of questionable actions in another clergy sex case, this one involving Fr. Michael Keating.

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BOSTON (MA)
WCVB

NEWSCENTER 5. NEW THIS MIDDAY, IT’S CALLED AN UNPRECEDENTED EVENT. THE BOSTON CARDINAL O’MALLY MEETING FOR LAWMAKERS FOR AN INFORMAL BREAKFAST. LET’S GO TO TODD KAZAKIEWICH IN BOSTON TO SEE WHAT THEY WERE DISCUSSING. IT WAS HELD AT UNION PARK STREET, ACROSS THE STREET AND DOWN THE HILL FROM THE STATE HOUSE. THERE WERE A NUMBER OF LAWMAKERS IN ATTENDANCE, ACCORDING TO THEM AS WELL AS THE ARCHDIOCESE,

THIS WAS A PRESENTATION ABOUT SOME POSITIVE THINGS BEING DONE LOCALLY, BUT THERE WERE DEMONSTRATORS OUTSIDE AND THEY FEAR THERE WAS A HIDDEN AGENDA. CARDINAL SEAN O’MALLY DECLINED TO SPEAK WOULD PROTESTERS OR REPORTERS. THE PROTESTERS ARE FOR SEXUAL ABUSE VICTIMS CONCERNED, THEY’LL KILL THE BILLS TO EXTEND STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS. T

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NEW JERSEY
USA Today

TRENTON, N.J. — A rabbi who is charged in a kidnap-torture scheme that used cattle prods to force Orthodox Jewish husbands to grant their wives divorces has been responsible for 20 or so kidnappings, a prosecutor alleged Wednesday.

The remarks of Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Joseph Gribko were made in federal court in Trenton, N.J., during a bail hearing for six of the 10 defendants who were charged in the plot.

“He’s conducted ongoing criminal activity for 20 years,” Gribko said of Rabbi Mendel Epstein. “Kidnappings, beatings.”

Epstein — who will remain under home confinement at his house in Lakewood, N.J., once released — denies any wrongdoing, his Manhattan-based attorney, Susan Necheles, said in court.

“It’s a matter for trial,” she said.

But the case is growing, Gribko said during his appeal to U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Douglas E. Arpert to keep Epstein locked up.

“My phone has not stopped ringing with calls from potential victims,” he said, mentioning the hotline for those calls, 800-CALL-FBI. “The threat to the public is ongoing as we speak.”

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

In an effort to build rapport with the state Legislature, Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley joined some some 60 state lawmakers today for a meeting in which speakers highlighted the Boston archdiocese’s involvement in youth programs, assistance to immigrants, parochial schools, and assistance to the needy in 144 cities and towns in Eastern Massachusetts.

Though O’Malley has met with legislative leaders previously, today’s meeting was his first with rank and file lawmakers since he was named to his post in 2003.

The Cardinal said it was good first step to improve communication with lawmakers on Beacon Hill.

“This morning I had the opportunity to visit with members of the Massachusetts Legislature, to share information about how the work of the Church can be helpful for the legislators and their constituents,” Cardinal O’Malley said in a statement. “Leaders of our Catholic schools and Catholic Charities discussed their programs and services in these areas which are essential ministries of the Church…It is my hope that today’s dialogue will strengthen the Church’s collaborative relationship with the citizens of the Commonwealth.”

The closed-door meeting at the Union Club, a private social club on Beacon Hill, lasted for more than an hour, said archdiocese spokesman Terry Donilon. He said the cardinal did not discuss, or talk about, legislation in any form.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

[the emails – Jeff Anderson & Associates]
[video transcript]
[Jane Doe 20 statement]

Article by: TONY KENNEDY , Star Tribune Updated: October 17, 2013

The University of St. Thomas priest accused of sexual contact with a young girl expressed love and affection for her in deeply personal e-mails he sent her from Rome when she was 14 and 15 years old.

“Be really sure that I love you lots and lots and never think of you without a smile coming to my mind,” the Rev. Michael J. Keating wrote in one of at least 19 e-mails he sent in 1999 and 2000.

He addressed her in three separate e-mails as “Dear Sweetheart” and teased her about boys her age.

“I’m afraid you are going to have to get used to being hounded by boys,” wrote Keating, who was then 44 and studying to be a priest. “You’re too pretty and too charming not to be and you’ll only get prettier and charmier as the years go by.”

The e-mails, which the girl’s mother has described as “quite seductive,” were made public Thursday on the website of her attorney, Jeff Anderson of St. Paul. He said the writings were presented as evidence seven years ago in a church review of his client’s sexual abuse claims, but high-ranking officials in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis disregarded them. The church sided with Keating, and the woman maintained a public silence about her case until she sued Keating last week, alleging three years of harmful sexual contact that caused her deep psychological trauma.

Asked for comment, the archdiocese did not respond immediately.

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AUSTRIA
National Catholic Reporter

Christine Schenk | Oct. 17, 2013

VIEWPOINT
BREGENZ, AUSTRIA I spent Oct. 10-12 here for the first international meeting of leaders of reformist priest organizations from six countries. The event provided rich opportunities for international networking, exploration of common problems and sharing of creative strategies for addressing an array of critical renewal issues facing the church. That included the international priest shortage, defending the integrity of parishes, the need for genuine dialogue, lay empowerment, strategies to address abuses of authority, and women’s leadership in the church.

Convened by the charismatic Fr. Helmut Schüller of the Austrian Priests’ Initiative and Deacon Markus Heil, spokesman for Parish Initiative: Switzerland, the high-energy, professionally facilitated gathering drew about 30 people. Among them were leaders of lay movements and priest associations from the United States, Germany, Ireland, Australia, Switzerland and Austria.

I attended as a representative of the 10 U.S. reform organizations that sponsored Schüller’s highly successful 15-city “Catholic Tipping Point” tour over the summer. This coalition has committed itself to developing an international network of priests and people working for fundamental rights in the church. Martha Heizer of the International Movement We Are Church; Deborah Rose-Milavec, executive director of FutureChurch; and Hans Peter Hurka of the We Are Church movement in Austria brought important perspectives from lay reform movements at the international, national and local levels.

An important underlying commonality for participants was the shared struggle of ministering in the midst of a steadily worsening priest shortage.

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UNITED KINGDOM
National Catholic Reporter

Catholic News Service | Oct. 16, 2013

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. The president of the California Catholic Conference hailed Gov. Jerry Brown’s veto of a bill that would have reopened the statute of limitations against private employers for child sex abuse cases for a one-year period — but also would have banned lawsuits against public schools and other government agencies, as well as against those found guilty of perpetrating the abuse.

“It was unfair to the vast majority of victims and unfair to all private and nonprofit organizations,” said an Oct. 11 statement by Auxiliary Bishop Gerald Wilkerson of Los Angeles.

California lawmakers in 2002 — when the U.S. clergy sex abuse scandal reached its peak –passed a similar law removing the statute of limitations for one year and added as a new subcategory of defendant employers who either knew, or should have known, of the abuse yet failed to take action. But in 2007, the California Supreme Court ruled that public employers were not subject to its provisions.

A 2008 law enacted in California subjected public employers to some, but not all, of the provisions of the 2002 law.

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NEW JERSEY
Failed Messiah

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

Admitted haredi child molester Rabbi Yosef Kolko reportedly says Lakewood haredi rabbis and haredi community leaders forced him to plead guilty to a crime he did not commit in order to save the Lakewood haredi community – and prominent haredi rabbis – from scrutiny of the haredi community’s actions continuing his trial would have brought.

The 39-year-old Kolko, the nephew of notorious haredi child molester Rabbi Yehuda Kolko, made that claim in a motion filed with the court to withdraw his guilty plea, the Asbury Park Press reported.

He says one man called him to several meetings – some of which were held in the presence of haredi leader Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, the rosh yeshiva (dean) of Yeshiva Torah Vodaas in Brooklyn – to convince him to accept a plea bargain. That same haredi man also ordered Kolko to the home of a Lakewood rabbi, where he showed him YouTube videos of “how inmates kill people in jail for being molesters in order to pressure me into taking a plea and avoid trial,” Kolko’s court filing claims.

That filing also says that another haredi rabbi spoke to one of Kolko’s defense witnesses and told him that Kolko should take a plea bargain, and that another similar call was made.

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NEW JERSEY
USA Today

Wayne Parry, Associated Press 11:34 a.m. EDT October 17, 2013

TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) — A former New Jersey yeshiva teacher who admitted sexually assaulting a young boy wants to withdraw his guilty plea, saying he was pressured by members of his Orthodox Jewish community to take responsibility for something he didn’t do.

Yosef Kolko said in court papers that members of the Lakewood community carried out an unrelenting campaign to get him to plead guilty and to spare the community negative publicity. He claims they showed him YouTube videos “of how inmates kill people in jail for being molesters in order to pressure me into taking a plea and avoiding trial.”

“If not for the extreme pressure by members of my community, I would not have pled guilty as charged,” he said. “I reject plea bargains offered by the state because I am innocent of the crimes alleged.”

Prosecutors said the boy’s family was ostracized by the community for pursuing the case in state court instead of letting religious leaders deal with it. The boy’s father, a prominent rabbi, lost his job and the family moved to Michigan.

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NEW JERSEY
Asbury Park Press

Written by
Kathleen Hopkins
@Khopkinsapp

TOMS RIVER — Middle-of-the-night visits and YouTube videos of child molesters in prison were among methods employed by Lakewood’s Orthodox Jewish community to pressure a former Orthodox Jewish camp counselor to admit to sexually abusing a child, the former camp counselor’s attorneys said in court papers.

The members of Lakewood’s Orthodox community made the concerted effort to persuade Yosef Kolko to plead guilty to child molestation against his will to spare the community the unwanted publicity of a trial, defense attorneys Stephanie Forbes and Alan L. Zegas said in a brief filed in state Superior Court.

The pressure included a meeting at the home of a rabbi during which Kolko was shown YouTube videos of how child molesters are treated in prison, according to the court papers.

It also included a 2 a.m. visit by five people to Kolko’s home on the day his trial was to resume, in an effort to convince him to stop the proceeding by pleading guilty, the papers said.

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PERU
RPP

[Summary: The Peruvian Episcopal Conference has called on former Bishops Guillermo Abanto Guzman and Gabino Miranda to take responsibility for the scandal they have caused to the faithful and to be subject to any civil laws that apply. In a statement, the bishops expressed solidarity with the aggrieved persons in both cases. Abanto Guzman allegedly fathered a child with a young woman and Miranda was censured by the Vatican for allegedly abusing a minor.]

La Conferencia Episcopal Peruana (CEP) pidió a los obispos Guillermo Abanto y Gabino Miranda asumir sus responsabilidades por el escándalo ocasionado a los fieles “y se sometan a la ley civil en lo que corresponda”.

A través de un comunicado, la institución se solidarizó con las personas agraviadas en ambos casos, “a quienes expresamos nuestra cercanía y oración”.

“Nos duele y reprobamos la conducta de quien fuera obispo auxiliar de Ayacucho, Gabino Miranda Melgarejo, que ha motivado la sanción de la Santa Sede con la pena máxima, que es la pérdida del estado clerical”, reza el documento.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A woman who claimed she was abused by a Jersey churchwarden has made a formal complaint about an ongoing inquiry into how the Deanery dealt with the matter.

Jersey’s Dean, The Very Reverend Bob Key, was suspended for two months earlier this year over his alleged mishandling of the claims.

The woman, who can not be named, said the judge reviewing the allegations was biased and conflicted.

Dame Heather Steele, conducting the inquiry, declined to comment.

She told BBC News: “I have no comment to make in respect of any formal complaint against me. My report will be published in due course.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Yorkshire Post

by Simon Bristow
Updated on the 17 October 2013

A FORMER Leeds policeman who anonymously told journalists that he caught Jimmy Savile trying to seduce an underage girl in 1965 has been urged to come forward and speak to investigators.

The ex-Leeds Pc spoke to the Daily Mirror and the BBC under the pseudonym Paul Leonard, claiming that Savile was found parked in a lay-by with a young girl in his Rolls Royce.

He told the newspaper that the disgraced DJ said he was waiting for midnight when the girl turned 16, and threatened: “If you want to keep your job I suggest you get on your bike and f-off.”

Today West Yorkshire Police appealed for the man to speak to them about the incident.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Dominic Casciani

Prosecutors have published detailed guidance on how to handle sex abuse allegations in the same week as Surrey police released transcripts of an interview with Jimmy Savile.

The new guidance comes down to a simple shift in thinking that can make a profound difference: trust, rather than doubt, what the victim is saying.

But would it have made a difference in the Savile scandal? Between 2007 and 2009 Surrey Police investigated allegations of sexual abuse by Savile at the Duncroft Approved School in Surrey.

Police eventually interviewed him at his office at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in which they put the allegations to him.

His first reaction was to deny anything and to blame the victims.

Savile: “That makes me 83 and proud that in 83 years I’ve never ever done anything wrong.”

Police: “OK.”

Savile: “That doesn’t mean to say that in my business you don’t get accused of just about everything because people are looking for a bit of blackmail or the papers are looking for a story…”

The evidence against Savile had come to the police slowly and, despite the misgivings of prosecutors, the detectives had pursued early leads and found other possible victims or witnesses.

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MINNESOTA
Post-Bulletin

Editorial

Some wounds, if closed too quickly, can appear to heal on the surface while festering deep below the skin. When that happens, it can be necessary to reopen the wound, to expose and remove the infection.

Minnesota’s Catholic church is at such a point. The infection, in this case, is a list of alleged sex offenders among the clergy in each diocese in Minnesota.

Such lists were compiled across the nation in 2004 in response to a 2002 Boston Globe investigation of sexual abuse and coverup within the Catholic church. Five Boston-area priests were convicted and sentenced to prison, but this was merely the tip of an ugly iceberg. Since 2002, the church nationwide has paid more than $2.5 billion in settlements with more than 5,000 victims of sexual abuse.

But many victims have not yet had their day in court.

There are 178 dioceses in the United States, and about 150 of them have yet to reveal their list of accused clergy. That’s the case for every diocese in Minnesota, including the Diocese of Winona, where in 2004, 13 names appeared on the list. …

Your Turn

Every diocese of the Catholic Church in Minnesota is facing a lawsuit seeking the disclosure of lists of alleged sex abusers with the clergy, lists that the church has kept secret since 2004. Under a new law passed by the Minnesota Legislature in May, adults victims of long-ago sex abuse now have a three-year window in which to file civil claims against their alleged abusers and/or the abusers’ employer.

Should the church be required to release the names of the accused clergy, or should the church — which nationally has paid billions to settle lawsuits filed by abuse victims — be allowed to move past this ugly chapter in its history?

Send your comments to letters@postbulletin.com. Limit your remarks to 200 words or less, and please provide your name and city of residence. Anonymous comments will not be published. We’ll publish these comments on Saturday. Questions? Call Opinions Page Editor Eric Atherton at 507-285-7709.

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AUSTRALIA
3AW

Posted by: Lauren Hilbert | 17 October, 2013

A former Catholic priest who preyed upon and sexually abused young boys in his care has been jailed for 13 years.

Judge Elizabeth Gaynor described the crimes committed by David Edwin Rapson as sadistic, violent and “utterly cruel”.

A jury found Rapson, 60, guilty of indecent assault and rape against eight victims.

The offences occurred between 1973 and 1990. All but one on the victims were students at the Catholic boys’ school where he taught.

The court was told shocking details of the offences, hearing one attack left the student unable to walk and requiring surgery.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

A woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted by a Sydney priest says there was no point telling anyone because they wouldn’t have believed her.

The woman, who says she was indecently assaulted by Finian Egan in the late 1980s, gave evidence in his trial on Thursday.

She told the court that Egan would usually touch or rub her breasts when he hugged her.
On one occasion when he saw her hug her boyfriend he became angry.

She said he told her into a room, sat her on his lap and rubbed and touched her legs and thighs and told her the boy wasn’t good enough for her.

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CANADA
Canoe

CHRIS DOUCETTE, QMI AGENCY
Oct 17, 2013

TORONTO – A Toronto priest, already accused of inappropriate behaviour with numerous parishioners, now faces more charges after another five women came forward with complaints.

And the latest accusations involve incidents that allegedly occurred in a funeral home.

Toronto Police say Rev. Ioan Pop, of the All Saints Romanian Orthodox Church, was slapped with an additional five counts of sexual assault on Tuesday.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The Holy Father has implemented the following changes in the organisation of the Roman Curia.

– He has accepted the resignation from the role of Major Penitentiary of Cardinal Manuel Monteiro de Castro, who has reached the age of retirement. He has confirmed as successor in the same role Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, who until now was Prefect for the Congregation of the Clergy.

– In the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he has confirmed as Prefect Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, and as Secretary Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer. He has appointed as Adjunct Secretary Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, who until now was Vice President of the Pontifical Council “Ecclesia Dei”. He has furthermore confirmed the Members and Consultants, and has appointed as Consultant Bishop Giuseppe Sciacca, Adjunct Secretary of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.

– In the Congregation for the Evangelisation of the People, he has confirmed as Prefect Cardinal Fernando Filoni, as Secretary Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-Fai, and as Adjunct Secretary Archbishop Protase Rugambwa. He has furthermore confirmed the Members and Consultants.

– In the Congregation for the Clergy, he has appointed as Prefect Archbishop Beniamino Stella, who until now was President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. He has confirmed as Secretary Archbishop Celso Morga Iruzubieta. He has appointed as Secretary for the Seminaries Jorge Carlos Patrón Wong, who until now was Bishop of Paplanta, elevating him at the same time to the dignity of Archbishop.

– In the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, he has appointed as Delegate of the Ordinary Section Msgr. Mauro Rivella, of the Clergy of the Archdiocese of Turin.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Dennis Coday | Sep. 21, 2013

A report on the Vatican Radio website this morning announces changes in the Roman Curia:
(Vatican Radio) The Holy Father has implemented the following changes in the organisation of the Roman Curia.

– He has accepted the resignation from the role of Major Penitentiary of Cardinal Manuel Monteiro de Castro, who has reached the age of retirement. He has confirmed as successor in the same role Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, who until now was Prefect for the Congregation of the Clergy.

– In the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he has confirmed as Prefect Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, and as Secretary Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer. He has appointed as Adjunct Secretary Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, who until now was Vice President of the Pontifical Council “Ecclesia Dei”. He has furthermore confirmed the Members and Consultants, and has appointed as Consultant Bishop Giuseppe Sciacca, Adjunct Secretary of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.

– In the Congregation for the Evangelisation of the People, he has confirmed as Prefect Cardinal Fernando Filoni, as Secretary Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-Fai, and as Adjunct Secretary Archbishop Protase Rugambwa. He has furthermore confirmed the Members and Consultants.

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LITTLE ROCK (AR)
KATV

[with video]

By Matt Mershon, Reporter
LITTLE ROCK (KATV) – A weekend benefit is set to honor a former Mount St. Mary’s Academy employee who was fired last year for failing to report sexual assault. The “going-away” party for Kathy Griffin, the all-girls school former athletic director is now coming under fire by two national sex abuse advocacy groups – one of which is asking the Arkansas Catholic Diocese to step in.

Griffin was convicted in September of failure to report a child sex crime in the case of an inappropriate relationship between a Mount St. Mary student and high school coach. The victim had been in a relationship with Coach Kelly O’Rourke since 2010, according to a Little Rock Police report.

It’s Griffin’s conviction that has both the Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and the National Survivors Action Coalition (NSAC) upset that the supposed fundraiser is taking place claiming the event is, “in complete disregard for the feelings of at least one child who was hurt because of Griffin’s crimes.

The former athletic director clearly has a great deal of supporters. A group entitled, “Support Coach Kathy Griffin” is a public group on Facebook. The group has been raising money for Griffin via a PayPal account and US Bank account, citing her lack of income from firing and court fees as reason for raising the funds.

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UNITED STATES
Verdict

Gov. Jerry Brown’s Recent Veto of Child Abuse Legislation and What It Tells Us About the Civil Rights Movement for Children

Marci A. Hamilton

No civil rights movement worth pursuing happens overnight or easily, because it is always a fight against the entrenched powers that resist and detest change. The ups and downs are sometimes steep, with the oppressed facing devastating losses and heady triumphs along the way. In the civil rights movement for children, which is transforming children from property into persons in the United States, a critical element is giving child sex abuse (CSA) victims meaningful access to justice.

Until relatively recently, most child sex abuse victims in the vast majority of states did not have access to justice, because the statutes of limitations (“SOLs”) cut off their claims before they could make it to the courthouse. A confluence of ignorance meant that these victims were cut off from simple justice: Americans (1) had underestimated the amount of child sex abuse that actually occurs; (2) were unaware that child sex abusers typically tend to be the “nice guy” or gal that adults trust with their children and, therefore, had no idea that so many are hidden amongst us; and (3) did not know that most CSA victims need decades before they are capable of coming forward. The result has been that the legal system has unintentionally favored perpetrators, rather than victims. The perpetrator’s best friends have been short SOLs and public and private institutions that act to protect their image, wallets, and adults’ reputations rather than the welfare of children.

We now know, based on hundreds of scientific studies and experience in many states, that a CSA victim needs a great deal of time to enter the judicial system. In addition, the delay in filing charges or filing a lawsuit does not mean that the perpetrator has stopped harming children. Perpetrators will molest children into their elderly years. Letting a survivor have access to justice at any time dramatically increases the odds of identifying hidden perpetrators among us. Thus, survivors’ access to justice dovetails with the rights of children right now.

Opening the SOLs does not guarantee victims that their perpetrators will be convicted, or that they will win civil lawsuits for damages and other remedies. The SOLs only create access to justice, but access is what marks a rights-holder.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

SHANNON DEERY HERALD SUN OCTOBER 17, 2013

THE former vice-principal of a Catholic school who sexually preyed on young boys over two decades has been jailed.

David Edwin Rapson, 60, was today sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment for seriously sexually assaulting eight young boys during the 1970s and 1980s.

Seven of the boys were boarders at an outer-suburban college that cannot be named for legal reasons.

The County Court heard today as early as 1977 Rapson was undertaking wholesale drugging of a group of boys in order to subdue them.

He would ply them with cigarettes and alcohol before either indecently assaulting or raping them.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

By David Barrett, Home Affairs Correspondent
17 Oct 2013

Victims came forward to report more than 4,500 extra sex crimes in England and Wales in the year to June – a total of 55,800 – compared with the previous 12 months, the Office for National Statistics said.
Experts have described the sudden leap as the “Yewtree effect”, named after the police investigation into Savile’s five decades as the country’s most prolific abuser.

There was a 100 per cent rise in “historic” sex abuse allegations that took place more than 20 years ago, the figures show, as victims are thought to be more confident their allegations will be taken seriously by police.

But the high-profile Savile investigation is also thought to have led to a rise in the number of recent attacks reported to police, which rose 5 per cent year-on-year.

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WORCESTER (MA)
NBC Sports

Raphielle Johnson Oct 16, 2013

With the number of days between now and the start of games in college basketball, coaches and players across the country are working in order to make sure they’re well-prepared for the 2013-14 campaign. Practices, film study, weights and other essential activities occupy much of their time, with many wanting to simply focus on the task at hand.

Dealing with a lawsuit is an entirely different matter for a head coach and his/her program.

That’s what current Holy Cross women’s basketball head coach Bill Gibbons has on his plate, as a former player has filed a lawsuit alleging that the coach verbally, physically and emotionally abused members of the program during her two seasons at the Patriot League school. 20-year old Ashley Cooper, who now attends New York University, filed the suit in Manhattan alleging not only the abuse, but that the school ignored the allegations according to ABC News.

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WORCESTER (MA)
NECN

[with video]

(NECN: Mike Cronin) – A lawsuit filed by a former student athlete alleges Holy Cross women’s basketball coach, Bill Gibbons, was verbally, emotionally and physically abusive to players. Twenty-year-old Ashley Cooper attended Holy Cross for two years on a full athletic scholarship.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday says “Gibbons repeatedly and violently yanked and pulled… Cooper by her shirt collar and strongly squeezed the back of her neck causing pain while barking instructions in her face at close range.”

“I’ve never seen anything to that effect,” said Lauren Maney George, who played for Gibbons.

Former players are shocked by the allegations. A support group was set up for Gibbons on Facebook, and some alumni gathered at Holy Cross Wednesday.

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WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

[the lawsuit]

By Dianne Williamson
dwilliamson@telegram.com

Three years ago, Ashley Cooper told The Asbury Park Press that she was excited about her decision to play basketball at the College of the Holy Cross.

“After all the work, you end up where you’re supposed to be,” she said. “I believe I ended up where I belonged.”

As it turns out, Cooper didn’t belong at Holy Cross. After two seasons of unremarkable play, she abandoned an athletic scholarship and transferred to New York University, where she no longer competes in the sport she’s loved since childhood.

Then, Wednesday morning, she made headlines across the country by filing a lawsuit against veteran HC basketball coach Bill Gibbons, claiming he verbally and physically abused his players. The 20-year-old former high school star says Gibbons shook them by the shoulders, struck and berated them repeatedly during games and once slapped her so hard on the back that he left a hand print.

“Defendant Gibbons … would act in an outrageous manner in his yelling, ranting, screaming and hysterics directed towards the Holy Cross players as well as game referees, which prompted players on opposing teams to remark, ‘Your coach is crazy,’ among other comments,” claims the lawsuit, filed in Manhattan.

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WORCESTER (MA)
New York Daily News

BY DAREH GREGORIAN / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
PUBLISHED: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2013

The longtime head coach for women’s basketball at College of the Holy Cross was placed on administrative leave on Wednesday, one day after a New York woman filed suit against him for being “verbally, emotionally and physically” abusive.

In a statement, Holy Cross said veteran coach Bill Gibbons told his Division-1 team that “he has voluntarily offered to step back from his coaching duties” while the Worcester, Mass. school reviews former player Ashley Cooper’s allegations.

Cooper, 20, said she walked away from basketball and a full scholarship to escape Gibbons’ “bullying.”
Cooper, a standout high school player in New Jersey, played for Gibbons between 2011 and 2013, and said he would “act in an outrageous manner in his yelling, ranting, screaming and hysterics directed towards the Holy Cross players as well as game referees.”

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WORCESTER (MA)
Worcester Magazine

Written by Walter Bird Jr. · 10/16/2013

Longtime Holy Cross women’s basketball coach Bill Gibbons has been placed on paid administrative leave after a former player who quit after two years with the team filed a lawsuit accusing him of being verbally and physically abusive during practices and games. The school announced late Wednesday, Oct. 16 that Gibbons “voluntarily” offered to relinquish his coaching duties while the the claims are reviewed. His assistant coaches will assume control of the Lady Crusaders.

“Holy Cross women’s basketball head coach Bill Gibbons announced to his team this afternoon that he has voluntarily offered to step back from his coaching duties while the College reviews claims in the lawsuit filed by a former student and member of the basketball team,” the school stated in a press release. “His assistant coaches will now assume all coaching duties … Coach Gibbons will be on administrative leave with pay.”

The announcement followed a day that saw the media descend upon College Hill after learning Ashley Cooper filed a lawsuit earlier this week in New York. The suit names Gibbons, athletic director Richard Regan Jr. and associate athletic director Ann Zelesky as defendants. There was no word from the college on whether Regan and Zelesky will retain their positions.

According to the lawsuit, in which Cooper is seeking an unspecified amount in damages and attorney’s fees, Gibbons shook players and struck them during practices and games. In one instance, he allegedly slapped Cooper on the back hard enough to leave a red hand print. The suit alleges college officials knew of the abuse and did nothing to stop it. It also accuses Gibbons of “yelling, ranting, screaming and hysterics” to the point that opponents would tell the players their coach was “crazy.”

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WORCESTER (MA)
Daily Mail (UK)

Male Holy Cross women’s basketball coach accused of emotional, physical and verbal abuse by former player who gave up scholarship to flee school

By RYAN GORMAN

A women’s basketball player who left the College of the Holy Cross is suing the school over allegations of emotional, physical and verbal abuse from the team’s head coach.

Ashley Cooper, 20, played two seasons under long time head coach Bill Gibbons, 66, before giving up a full scholarship and leaving after complaints of him striking and shouting at players went unanswered by school administrators.

Filed in Manhattan because Ms Cooper now attends New York University, the lawsuit against the Worcester, MA., based school seeks compensation for tuition and expenses at NYU, as well as other unspecified damages, according to ABC News.

Ms Cooper told ABC News she no longer plays collegiate basketball after fleeing the 28-year, 533-win coach’s abuse.

‘I don’t want this to happen to anyone else ever again,’ Ms Cooper told ABC News. ‘I want to stop it. I’m doing this for other people. I’m taking a stand for others, for every freshman that walks through the door.’

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WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

By Scott J. Croteau and Jennifer Toland TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
scroteau@telegram.com
jtoland@telegram.com

WORCESTER — Holy Cross women’s basketball coach Bill Gibbons voluntarily stepped aside from his coaching duties, one day after he was accused in a lawsuit of verbally and physically abusing his players at games and practices.

The college said in a statement Wednesday he will be on administrative leave with pay and his assistant coaches will assume all coaching duties.

Gibbons declined to comment.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, a former student-athlete alleged that Mr. Gibbons physically and verbally abused his players and the college perpetuated a culture of denial and feigned ignorance over his actions.

In the 21-page lawsuit filed in New York, Ashley Cooper, who played two years on Mr. Gibbons’ team, claims the coach struck her on the back on more than one occasion, including during a January 2012 game against Brown University. That incident caused Ms. Cooper to experience pain and left a red handprint on her skin, according to the complaint.

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WORCESTER (MA)
MassLive

By John F. Hill, MassLive.com
on October 16, 2013

The suit, brought by former player Ashley Cooper, claims Gibbons bullied players, at times striking them. The coach often violently shook players by the shoulders while admonishing them, the suit says.

“Defendant Gibbons repeatedly and violently yanked and pulled plaintiff Cooper by her shirt collar and strongly squeezed the back of her neck causing pain while barking instructions in her face at close range,” the suit says.

Read a copy of the lawsuit

The suit claims that Gibbons hit Cooper during a January 2012 game against Brown University, leaving a red handprint on her back. The suit also claims Gibbons hit another, unnamed player during a game at Lehigh University in 2013.

Holy Cross has not turned over video from either game to Cooper’s attorney, Elizabeth Eilender, the suit claims.

(Read an interview with Eilender.)

A lawsuit filed Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court claims Holy Cross women’s basketball coach Bill Gibbons routinely abused his players verbally, emotionally and physically.

The suit names Holy Cross, Gibbons, athletic director Richard Regan Jr., and associate athletic director Ann Zelesky as defendants.

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WORCESTER (MA)
Daily Reporter

By JAY LINDSAY Associated Press
First Posted: October 16, 2013

BOSTON — Longtime Holy Cross women’s basketball coach Bill Gibbons stepped aside Wednesday while the college reviews claims by a former player that he was physically and emotionally abusive.

Gibbons made the announcement to the team Wednesday afternoon, the school said in a statement. His assistant coaches will now assume all coaching duties while Gibbons is on voluntary, paid administrative leave.

The announcement comes a day after former player Ashley Cooper, 20, sued Gibbons and the school. Cooper says that Gibbons grabbed her, shook her and hit her at different times and that the school covered up the behavior.

Cooper’s attorney, Elizabeth Eilender, said she’s pleased Gibbons isn’t running the team anymore because Cooper sued, in part, to force changes at Holy Cross. But she added the school deserves no credit for the move.

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NORTH CAROLINA
WCNC

by AMY COWMAN / NBC Charlotte
Bio | Email | Follow: @amywcnc
Posted on October 16, 2013

CONCORD, N.C. — “I’m pleased, very pleased; it’s all we’ve wanted,” said attorney Seth Langson.

Langson represents one of the alleged victims who claims Bobby Price, a former Kings Way Baptist church youth minister, molested him.

“He met Bobby Price as a pastor, youth minister and a friendship evolved into sexual abuse,” said Langson.

The complaint claims it started when the plaintiff was 12-years-old, and continued until he was 16. The victim came forth when he was 23, and a civil lawsuit was resolved, but before criminal charges were filed in 2011, Price left for Nicaragua.

“I’m very happy he’s back, I’d like him to have a trial by a jury of his peers, and let them decide guilty or not guilty,” said Langson.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

MINNESOTA
KAAL

[with video]

By: Beth McDonough

Students and faculty at the University of St. Thomas are working to overcome a scandal brought to light this week.

That scandal involves a priest who’s a high-profile professor at the University of St. Thomas.

At 3:30 p.m. Tuesday students made their way to the Anderson Center on Campus anxious to hear uplifting words in upsetting times. “It’s been really enlightening to see the church go on even with these problems,” says Jacob Goodwin, a sophomore at St. Thomas.

Goodwin wears his pride on his chest and in his heart. He’s a Catholic Studies student under Father Michael Keating, the professor and priest named in a sexual misconduct lawsuit. “This failure of his doesn’t change the love and respect we have for him,” he said.

The special closed-door meeting for students and staff follows a mass email from the new president. In it, Julie Sullivan says she learned about the suit from media reports, calling it “shocking and sad.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

PIA AKERMAN THE AUSTRALIAN OCTOBER 17, 2013

A FORMER Catholic priest who inflicted brutal and “heartless” sexual abuse upon students at a Melbourne school has been sentenced to at least 10 years in prison.

David Edwin Rapson, 60, showed no emotion as Victorian County Court judge Liz Gaynor today described the rape and assault he had inflicted on eight students at the Catholic school, which cannot be identified.

Judge Gaynor said Rapson had abused the power of his position as he rose to become a senior staff member while attacking the students between 1973 to 1990.

“It was brazen, it was manipulative and it was heartless,” she said. “These were dreadful crimes.

“You have shown not one shred of remorse.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

AUSTRALIA
7 News

BY COURT REPORTER SARAH FARNSWORTH –
October 17, 2013

ABC News

A former priest has been sentenced to 13 years’ jail for the sexual abuse of eight boys at a Catholic college in Melbourne.

David Rapson, 60, will serve at least 10 years in jail after being convicted of nine counts of indecent assault and five counts of rape dating back to the 1970s.

Victorian County Court Judge Liz Gaynor described Rapson as a callous predator whose offending was brazen, manipulative and heartless.

The court heard Rapson would ply students with whisky and cigarettes, entice them with computer games and drug them with lemonade and Milo before he abused them.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

AUSTRALIA
The Age

October 17, 2013

Adam Cooper
Reporter for The Age

Former priest David Rapson will spend at least a decade in prison for the predatory sexual abuse of eight boys at a Victorian Catholic boarding school between the mid 1970s and 1990.

Rapson, 60, was found guilty in August of five charges of rape and eight counts of indecent assault and on Thursday was sentenced to 13 years in jail by County Court judge Liz Gaynor, who said he had preyed on and sadistically abused boys as young as 12.

“These were dreadful crimes against powerless and vulnerable victims who were entirely in your power as residents of the school, and by virtue of the enormous authority and stature granted to Catholic priests by Catholic congregations and by the parents who had unwittingly placed their sons in your entirely predatory hands,” she said.

Judge Gaynor said Rapson’s abuse had ruined lives, and while a jail sentence might bring some victims comfort, it would not end some of their “torturous” suffering.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

AUSTRALIA
7 News

BY PATRICK CARUANA –
October 17, 2013

Former Catholic priest David Edwin Rapson preyed on vulnerable Melbourne schoolchildren to inflict cruel, sadistic and violent sexual abuse.

He drugged some of his victims with spiked Milo, and on other occasions gave them alcohol and cigarettes, or lured them to him by letting them play computer games.

Rapson, 60, was on Thursday jailed for 13 years for the abuse of eight boys at two Catholic colleges between the 1970s and 1990.

Victorian County Court Judge Liz Gaynor said Rapson’s crimes of unrelenting sexual exploitation were an incalculable breach of trust.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Jimmy Savile police interview in 2009 – full transcript

Joan Smith
The Guardian, Wednesday 16 October 2013

When Jimmy Savile was questioned by Surrey police four years ago, he was 83 and had been sexually abusing children and teenagers for more than 50 years. The transcript of the interview, which has just been released, is the nearest we will ever get to hearing his version of events, almost as if Savile is speaking from beyond the grave.

Reading the transcript cannot be easy for the DJ’s many victims, who will no doubt recognise the bluff, domineering persona he used to deflect any suggestion of wrongdoing. What is supposed to be an interrogation quickly turns into a performance, in which Savile uses familiar devices – threats, bluster and name-dropping – to dominate the proceedings.

But the interview has a significance that goes way beyond the question of how the authorities failed to detect and apprehend one prolific sex offender. It exposes the ease with which a confident abuser was able to run rings around his interrogators, even as recently as 2009, when the failure of so many investigations into rape and other sexual offences was a matter of public concern. While popular culture is obsessed with serial killers, they are relatively rare outside crime fiction; serial sex offenders are much more common but poorly understood. So is the fact that some of them prepare in advance for the possibility of one or more victims going to the police – what Savile refers to quite blatantly in the interview as his “policy”.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A former West Yorkshire policeman is being investigated by the police watchdog over claims he intervened on behalf of Jimmy Savile.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is looking into whether the ex-inspector inappropriately contacted Surrey Police before the force interviewed Savile in 2009.

Savile has been accused of abusing hundreds of victims during his career.

Victims’ groups have reacted with fury to the transcript of the interview.

It was conducted by officers probing claims Savile abused girls at Duncroft Children’s home in Staines in the 1970s.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED KINGDOM
Yorkshire Post

THE police watchdog today launched an investigation into claims that a senior West Yorkshire officer acted on behalf of disgraced DJ Jimmy Savile before he was questioned over alleged sex crimes.

The allegations refer to the former inspector officer having inappropriately contacted Surrey Police ahead of a police interview with Savile in 2009 – the details of which were published for the first time last night.

Claims were referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission earlier this year that the officer, known as Inspector 5, had contacted Surrey Police before its detectives interviewed Savile in 2009, and today the watchdog announced its own investigation.

The announcement came after a transcript of the interview was published by Surrey, revealing how Savile bragged that he had “a collection” of police contacts in Leeds.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

NORTH CAROLINA
Times-News

By McClatchy News Service
Published: Wednesday, October 16, 2013

A former youth pastor accused of sexually assaulting a child at a Concord church is free on bond Wednesday after being charged with five counts of indecent liberties with a child.

Robert “Bobby” Price, 46, was released about 10 p.m. Tuesday from a Mecklenburg County jail after posting $50,000 bond.

The charges date back to Price’s work as a youth minister at his father’s church, King’s Way Baptist, in Concord.

Price’s brother, Rusty, is now the lead pastor at the church.

According to several reports, Robert Price was arrested Monday evening at Charlotte Douglas International Airport after returning from Nicaragua.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

ILLINOIS
Berger’s Beat

October 16, 2013 8:23 am | Author: berger

ALERT!
Touting “great overnight accommodations” and a “pet friendly” atmosphere, San Damiano Shrine in southern Illinois is now running ads in the St. Louis Review, the archdiocesan newspaper. The shrine is run by Robert Vonnahmen, a priest defrocked by the Vatican for sexually abusing several Belleville area children.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

NORTH CAROLINA
WBTV

[with video]

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) –
A former pastor at a Concord Church facing several charges of sex crimes against children in Cabarrus and Mecklenburg Counties turned himself into investigators on Monday.

Robert “Bobby” Bradley Price, 46, is charged with five counts of indecent liberties with a child in Mecklenburg County and several other charges in Cabarrus County, according to records.

Price was reportedly living outside of the country in Central America and had to return to the United States. Price bonded out of jail Tuesday evening.

Price spent 12 years leading youth at Kings Way Baptist Church in Concord. His brother is now the lead pastor.

“I was glad to hear that he’s come back to face these allegations,” said his brother, Pastor Rusty Price.

Price can be heard on a YouTube video thanking the church for the opportunity to be with them every Sunday. The caption says it was a sermon from February 13, 2011.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

NORTH CAROLINA
Charlotte Observer

By Cleve R. Wootson Jr.
cwootson@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013

A former youth pastor accused of sexually assaulting a child at Kings Way Baptist Church in Concord has been arrested.

Robert “Bobby” Price was arrested Monday and released Tuesday after being charged with five counts of taking indecent liberties with a child. He was released on $50,000 bond.

Price was a youth minister at his father’s church, Kings Way Baptist, in Concord. In 2011 a 23-year-old man told Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police that Price molested him as a 12-year-old.

In a civil suit filed in 2011, the accuser claims the abuse happened multiple times at the King’s Way Baptist Church’s “Youth Shack,” on a mission trip, and even at the youth minister’s own house, according to NBC Charlotte, the Observer’s news partner.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

NORTH CAROLINA
WSOC

[with video]

By Trish Williford

CONCORD, N.C. — Robert Price was released from the Mecklenburg County jail Tuesday evening on $120,000 bond. This followed his arrest on five counts of child sex abuse charges.

Some of those charges date back to 2011 when a 23-year-old man told Charlotte Mecklenburg police that Price molested him when he was 12 years old. That was when Price was a youth minister at his father’s church, Kings Way Baptist Church in Concord.

Authorities said Price left the country and traveled to Nicaragua just before warrants were issued against him. He’s been gone ever since, until Monday.

Price traveled back to Charlotte Monday night and CMPD airport police were notified about the warrants against him. He was taken into custody immediately.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

MINNESOTA
MinnPost

Judy Jones, Marthasville, Mo.

A Minnesota Catholic university professor’s quote in a MinnPost article left me shaking my head in disbelief (“Could Archbishop Nienstedt face charges or lose his job?”).

Professor Charles Reid compared the plight of Boston’s disgraced Cardinal Bernard Law with that of embattled Twin Cities Archbishop John Nienstedt, and tried to excuse Law’s horrific, longstanding complicity in clergy sex crimes by claiming he was “not operating in a time when we had clear standards.”

Really? Professor Reid should do his homework.

Since the 1980s, most U.S. Catholic dioceses have had abuse policies. In 1985, three experts sent a 200-page report on clergy sexual abuse to every prelate in America. In the early 1990s, the U.S. bishops set up a national panel on abuse that wrote up guidelines.

So while Law was protecting predators and endangering kids, he had plenty of “standards” to follow, carefully crafted by his own colleagues and predecessors.

And secular law provided Law with some “standards,” too, like not hiding or destroying evidence of crimes.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

CANADA
Sun News

CHRIS DOUCETTE | QMI AGENCY

TORONTO — An east-end priest, already accused of sexual assaults involving several female parishioners, now faces more charges after another five women came forward with complaints, police said Wednesday.

Some of the latest assaults allegedly occurred in a funeral home.

Rev. Ioan Pop, 54, of the All Saints Romanian Orthodox Church was slapped with an additional five counts of sexual assault on Tuesday, police said.

Pop now faces a total of 13 sexual assault charges and one count of forcible confinement.

“It is alleged that he sexually assaulted women either in church or in a funeral home,” police said of the new charges.

Pop, who is considered an influential man within Scarborough’s Romanian Orthodox community, was initially arrested Sept. 11 and charged with one count of sexual assault after a woman alleged she had been sexually assaulted at All Saints a week earlier.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

WORCESTER (MA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013

Statement by Barbara Blaine of Chicago, president of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 312-399-4747, SNAPblaine@gmail.com )

A coach should never hit a player. Period. So we’re outraged by allegations that Holy Cross coach Bill Gibbons physically abused players.

[ABC News]

There may be some ambiguity over what exactly constitutes verbal abuse. But no one should doubt that an adult college employee hitting teenagers or young adults is wrong.

And it’s of course also upsetting that reportedly these concerns were raised to at least one higher-level university staff that evidently did nothing. Why do high-ranking school officials seem to cower before successful coaches and rebuff students who report misconduct by these coaches?

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

CANADA
Sun News

NEIL BOWEN | QMI AGENCY

SARNIA, Ont. – Sex with a priest she “idolized” as a young teen was “rough and weird,” the first witness into Gabriele DelBianco’s sex trail told the court Wednesday.

Now in her 40s, the woman who cannot be identified told the Sarnia, Ont., courtroom that she was 15 years old when her sexual relationship started with DelBianco, now 57.

He’s been charged with 16 sexual offences involving four women during the 1980s.

The woman said DelBianco was like a rock star when she met him at her church when she was 12.

DelBianco drove a sports car, wore flashy clothes and gave entertaining sermons.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
National Catholic Reporter

Tom Roberts | Oct. 16, 2013

Roy Bourgeois, a former Maryknoll priest, has been disinvited from a Philadelphia-area fundraising event for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) because some members of the organization feared he would use the event to advance the cause of women’s ordination.

“It was a Blaine screw-up,” said Barbara Blaine, SNAP’s Chicago-based president, in a phone interview with NCR. “I invited someone without checking with the local membership.”

Bourgeois, who received a letter in 2008 stating he had incurred his own excommunication for his advocacy of women’s ordination, including participation in a women’s ordination ceremony, was supposed to be part of a panel discussion with Blaine and Dominican Fr. Thomas Doyle, a longtime advocate for victims of clergy sexual abuse.

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, a retired auxiliary of Detroit who openly supports SNAP and attends its annual gatherings, was also to take part in the panel.

The fundraiser, hosted by the Philadelphia-area Voice of the Faithful group and scheduled for the evening of Oct. 25 in Plymouth Meeting, Penn., is being held to celebrate the 25th anniversary of SNAP’s founding.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

CANADA
Chatham Daily News

By Neil Bowen, Sarnia Observer
Wednesday, October 16, 2013

A woman in her forties testified about a “rough and weird” sexual involvement with a former Catholic priest when she was 15 during a Superior Court trial today in Sarnia.

Gabriele DelBianco, 57, has been charged with 16 sexual offences involving four women during the 1980s.

The first witness in the trial that began today said DelBianco had been like a rock star when she met him at her church when she was 12.

DelBianco drove a sports car wore flashy clothes and gave entertaining sermons.

“I kind of idolized him'” said the woman.

During an overnight visit to a Lambton Shores cottage DelBianco gave her alcohol and they showered together. On the bathroom floor she performed oral sex on him and he digitally penetrated her vagina in what she called “rough and weird” sex.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

WORCESTER (MA)
San Francisco Chronicle

Erin Fuchs, provided by Business Insider

Published 7:49 am, Wednesday, October 16, 2013

A former student at the College of Holy Cross has filed a lawsuit claiming the school’s longtime basketball coach is so abusive his behavior “exceeds the misconduct” of Mike Rice, the New York Post reports.

New York City native Ashley Cooper filed a suit in Manhattan court against the Massachusetts college claiming it ignored women’s basketball coach Bill Gibbons’ loud and abusive antics.

The veteran coach’s “yelling, ranting, screaming and hysterics directed toward the Holy Cross players as well as game referees … prompted players on opposing teams to remark: ‘your coach is crazy,’” according to the suit obtained by the Post.

At one point, the suit says, Gibbons “violently yanked and pulled Cooper by her shirt collar and strongly squeezed the back of her neck causing pain while barking instructions in her face at close range.”

Cooper also claims that Gibbons hit another player on the back during a March 2013 game against Lehigh, ABC News reported. Her suit says the school’s athletic director was negligent by not taking any action against Gibbons, who has a 533-win record during his 28 years with Holy Cross, according to the Post. …

Here’s what the school said in a statement to ABC:

The physical, mental and emotional well-being of our students is our highest priority at Holy Cross. We just received the lawsuit and are in the process of reviewing it. Ms. Cooper had brought her concern to the college and we investigated at that time. The lawsuit we received today includes a series of new allegations and we will now bring in outside counsel to review them.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

BOSTON (MA)
Road to Recovery

Road to Recovery, Inc.
(serving many sexual abuse victims in Massachusetts)
P.O. Box 279
Livingston, NJ 07039
roberthoatson@gmail.com

MEDIA RELEASE – OCTOBER 16, 2013

Lawmakers seem ready to extend statute of limitations on civil sexual abuse cases
Sexual abuse survivors and advocates call on the Cardinal to support House and Senate Bills

What: A demonstration and vigil (with photos of childhood victims of sexual abuse)
encouraging Massachusetts legislators attending Cardinal O’Malley’s “informal breakfast” to urge O’Malley and the Catholic Conference of Massachusetts to support House Bill 1455 and Senate Bill 633 during their meeting.

When: Thursday, October 17, 2013 from 8:00 A.M. until the conclusion of the meeting.

Where: On the sidewalk outside the Union Club, 8 Park Street, Boston, MA., 02108

Who: Sexual abuse survivors and their advocates, including many survivors who are assisted by Road to Recovery; STTOP (Speak Truth to Power); and NSAC (National Survivor Advocates Coalition); other supporters, and the general public.

Why: Legislators from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts once again have the
opportunity to give childhood victims of sexual abuse their day in court. House Bill 1455 and Senate Bill 633 level the “playing field” for those whose lives were shattered by adults taking advantage of children. Those “children” will be able to hold their abusers civilly accountable through courageous and bold legislation that has been debated for far too many years. It is now time to act.

Many state legislators will be attending the informal breakfast hosted by Cardinal
Sean O’Malley. Victims and advocates will call on Massachusetts legislators to appeal to Cardinal O’Malley to support House Bill 1455 and Senate Bill 633 so that childhood victims of sexual abuse throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will finally be able to bring their claims to court for fair and impartial hearings.

Contacts: Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D. – Road to Recovery, Inc. – 862-368-2800
Ruth Moore, STTOP (Speak Truth to Power) – Hull, MA– 781-264-6519
Paul Kellen, NSAC (National Survivor Advocates Coalition), Medford, MA – 781-526-5878
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Boston, MA – 617-523-6250

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

CANADA
680 News

TORONTO – A Toronto priest, already accused of sexual assault, now faces additional charges, Toronto police say.

Ioan Pop, 54, now faces a total of 13 sexual assault charges.

Pop was accused of sexually assaulting a female parishioner inside the All Saints Romanian Orthodox church at Birchmount Avenue and Danforth Road on Sept. 3.

A couple walked in during the alleged assault, according to police.

He was arrested Sept. 11.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

WORCESTER (MA)
New York Daily News

BY DAREH GREGORIAN / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
PUBLISHED: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2013

A Manhattan student says she was “verbally, emotionally and physically” abused while playing for the women’s college basketball team in Massachusetts.

In papers filed Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court, Ashley Cooper says the abuse by revered College of the Holy Cross head coach Bill Gibbons was so severe that she walked away from a full scholarship to the school earlier this year just to get away from him.

“Cooper and other players suffered a loss of self-esteem and a loss of their love of the game of basketball” as a result of Gibbons’ tirades, her court filings say.

Cooper says she was recruited to play for Holy Cross after a standout career playing for the Rumson-Fairhaven team in high school in New Jersey.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

WORCESTER — A former player for the Holy Cross women’s basketball team says in a lawsuit against the school that her coach was ”verbally, emotionally and physically abusive.”

The suit filed Tuesday in New York by former student Ashley Cooper seeks damages and attorney’s fees.

Cooper’s suit names as defendants the Jesuit school in Worcester, head coach Bill Gibbons, athletic director Richard Regan Jr., and associate athletic director Ann Zelesky. Gibbons has coached at Holy Cross for nearly three decades.

Messages were left Wednesday for the defendants.

Cooper, who is no longer at Holy Cross, alleges her coach shook players by the shoulders and struck them during practices and games. Cooper alleges a slap on the back during a game left a red hand print.

The suit alleges college officials knew of the abuse but did not stop it.

Holy Cross said Wednesday morning that it had investigated earlier allegations, but the lawsuit contains new information, which it intends to review with lawyers.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

WORCESTER (MA)
New York Post

By Julia Marsh
October 15, 2013

A female athlete from Manhattan is suing the College of Holy Cross saying the Massachusetts school is harboring an abusive basketball coach whose court-side behavior makes the ousted Rutgers coach Mike Rice look like a softy by comparison.

Junior Ashley Cooper, of the Upper East Side, was recruited to play as a guard for the school on a full scholarship in 2011.

But she recently abandoned the full ride and transferred to another school after college brass allegedly ignored women’s basketball coach Bill Gibbons’ harsh treatment of his team, the Manhattan Supreme Court suit alleges.

The veteran coach, who brags about his 533-win record over a 28-year tenure, allegedly “violently yanked and pulled Cooper by her shirt collar and strongly squeezed the back of her neck causing pain while barking instructions in her face at close range,” the Manhattan civil suit claims.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

WORCESTER (MA)
MassLive

By John F. Hill, MassLive.com

The longtime coach of the College of Holy Cross women’s basketball team was well known for years as being verbally, emotionally and physically abusive with players, the lawyer for a former player said.

Coach Bill Gibbons routinely screamed at players, horse-collared them, and on several occasions struck so hard he left marks, attorney Elizabeth Eilender said in an interview with MassLive.com.

“This was done not in an encouraging way, but out of anger and frustration,” said Eilender “The man is clearly in need of some anger management therapy.”

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court in New York City, former player Ashley Cooper claims Holy Cross was informed but did nothing to stop the alleged abuse. The suit names Holy Cross, Gibbons, athletic director Richard Regan Jr., and associate athletic director Ann Zelesky as defendants.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

WORCESTER (MA)
NJ.com

By The Associated Press
on October 16, 2013

WORCESTER, Mass. — A former Holy Cross basketball player from Monmouth County has sued the college and veteran coach Bill Gibbons, accusing the coach of emotionally and physically abusing her and the school of covering it up.

The lawsuit by 20-year-old Ashley Cooper says that at various times, Gibbons yanked and pulled her by the shirt collar, shook her by the shoulder and struck her on the back, leaving a red handprint. It paints Gibbons as so volatile that opposing players would remark, “Your coach is crazy,” and the players as so demoralized that alumni basketball games are impossible because players won’t return to the Jesuit school in Worcester to participate.

Cooper is a 2011 graduate of Rumson-Fair Haven High School.

The suit accuses Holy Cross of failing to turn over game tape that would show Gibbons striking Cooper and another player. It says the school has also refused to release results of an investigation into Gibbons’ behavior.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

WORCESTER (MA)
ABC News

By GERRY WAGSCHAL and JOSH MARGOLIN (@JoshMargolin) Oct 15, 2013

There’s an ugly secret lurking behind the legendary women’s basketball program at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, according to a stunning lawsuit filed today that accuses the veteran head coach of physical, verbal and emotional abuse.

Ashley Cooper, a 20-year-old who spent two seasons as a scholarship player for the Crusaders, charges that longtime head coach Bill Gibbons struck and berated members of the team repeatedly and sometimes “in front of hundreds of witnesses” during games. She said complaints about the abuse were covered up and ignored.

In court papers filed in Manhattan, Cooper said that the college — based in Worcester, Mass. — turned a blind eye to abuse that was well known among team members. She accused the school’s athletic director of being negligent in refusing to take any action. The abuse Cooper suffered forced her to transfer out of Holy Cross after two years, she said, and left her unable to play the game she loved since childhood at the collegiate level.

“I don’t want this to happen to anyone else ever again,” Cooper said in an exclusive interview with ABC News. “I want to stop it. I’m doing this for other people. I’m taking a stand for others, for every freshman that walks through the door.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

UNITED KINGDOM
Express

The DJ, who was unmasked as a serial paedophile following his death in 2011, was quizzed by police in 2009 over claims he molested children in the 1970s, but he flatly denied any wrongdoing.

During the interview with cops, which has been made public this week (beg14Oct13) following a Freedom of Information request, he also bragged about his determination to take his accusers to court and made reference to a payout he received from newspaper bosses when they attempted to unmask him years earlier.

Savile, who was a national treasure in his lifetime for his TV shows and charity work, received a payment from The Sun after editors tried to expose his sordid past.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

MINNESOTA
The Citizen

By Deb Barnes & Debra Neutkens
HUGO — Area Catholics are waiting to hear whether child pornography charges will be filed against a priest who led parishioners at St. John the Baptist in Hugo and St. Jude of the Lake in Mahtomedi.

Earlier this month Rev. Jonathan Shelley denied any illegal activity and released a statement this weekend thanking former parishioners for their concern and asking for continued prayers on his behalf.

St. Paul Police were investigating a report that pornography possibly including child pornography, was found on a computer that once belonged to Shelley.

Washington County Attorney Pete Orput told The Citizen Monday the statute of limitations on possession of child pornography is three years. Because the computer hard drive hasn’t been in Washington County for the better part of a decade, he said, at this point his office only would be involved if other information led to “other avenues we could investigate.”

The computer was the property of Rev. Shelley at the time he was pastor at St. Jude of the Lake Church. It was turned over to the archdiocese by Hugo resident and St. Jude parishioner Joe Ternus in 2004. His father, a Mahtomedi resident, had acquired the computer after it was left in St. Jude’s empty rectory, scheduled for demolition. The house had formerly belonged to the Ternus family. After Shelley said he didn’t want it, Ternus accepted it.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.

CANADA
Global News

By David Shum Global News

TORONTO – A Scarborough priest faces five additional sexual assault charges, bringing the total to 13, Toronto police announced Wednesday.

Ioan Pop, 54, was charged with seven additional counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement on Sept. 30.

It is alleged that the suspect sexually assaulted women either in a church or in a funeral home.

Police say the first reported incident happened on Sept. 3 when a woman entered All Saints, a Romanian Orthodox Church, in the Birchmount Road and Danforth Road area.

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AUSTRALIA
New Matilda

By Adam Brereton

The excommunication of Greg Reynolds, a dissident Australian cleric, shows the Vatican is prepared and able to swiftly remove priests. Adam Brereton’s report begins our Royal Commission coverage

In late September Greg Reynolds, a “rebel” Catholic priest operating outside the Church hierarchy in Melbourne, was laicised (defrocked, dismissed from the priesthood) and excommunicated.

Reynolds is not the only Australian priest to attract the ire of the Vatican in recent years — among others, the former Bishop of Toowoomba William Morris was forced into retirement in 2001 on doctrinal grounds, over his use of an alternative type of confession — but he is the first to be excommunicated by Pope Francis and the first to be defrocked during the operation of the Royal Commission.

He also appears to be the first Australian to be removed under special administrative powers to remove priests, set up by Rome in 2009. Reynolds’ case is a litmus test that demonstrates the priorities and applications of Roman power.

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CANADA
Newstalk 1010

Posted By: Newstalk 1010 · 10/16/2013

A Scarborough priest is facing new charges of sexual assault.

54 year old Ioan Pop is the priest at All Saints, a Romanian Orthodox church in the Birchmount and Danforth area.

He’d already been charged with one count of sexual assault after Toronto Police allege that an assault in progress was broken up by a couple who walked into the church.

On Wednesday, Police charged Pop with a further 5 counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013

Statement by Bob Schwiderski of Wayzata, Minnesota SNAP director ( 952 471 3422, skibrs@q.com )

A police report reveals that yet another Twin Cities priest who suspected child sex abuse refused to call the police and tried to handle it quietly and “in-house.”

[Pioneer Press]

He’s at St. Thomas University. He’s the uncle of accused predator Fr. Michael Keating. And when he suspected that his nephew, Fr. Keating, might be molesting a girl, he arranged a meeting between the suspected predator and his prey.

Shame on this priest.

This happened, according to the police report, in 2005, three years after America’s bishops adopted an allegedly binding national policy requiring clerics to promptly call police when child sex crimes were suspected.

This St. Thomas priest can’t “un-do” his unbelievably callous and hurtful deed. But he can – and should – speak up now.

Obviously, Fr. Keating is a popular, charming and charismatic cleric. And at this point, he formally faces only one accuser (thought the police report mentions an Italian girl who reportedly was also abused by Keating.)

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ARKANSAS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

October 16, 2013

Dear Bishop Taylor:

Last month, Kathy Griffin was convicted and sentenced for refusing to promptly call authorities when she knew of or suspected child sex crimes at a Catholic school in your diocese.

And this Saturday, her backers – many of them Catholic – will hold a fundraising event for her.

We are worried about the child who was hurt longer because Griffin broke the law and stayed silence. We are also worried about other child sex abuse victims who will be discouraged and depressed – when they see adults publicly rallying around and raising money for a convicted criminal. And we are worried that ignoring this callous injustice will encourage others in the future to publicly back those who commit and conceal child sex crimes.

Imagine, Bishop, that you’re a 13 year old boy who’s being molested by his soccer coach or a 12 year old girl who’s being molested by her uncle. In each case, the predator tells the child “If you speak up, no one will listen or believe you. I’m a popular person around here. Everyone will think you’re lying or crazy.”

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ARKANSAS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, October 16, 2013

For more information: Barbara Dorris ( 314-862-7688 home, 314-503-0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com ), David Clohessy ( 314-566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com )

Two groups seek bishop’s help
A fundraiser is set for convicted teacher
She refused to report suspected child sex crimes
Organizations want prelate to denounce the event
Advocates: “Public displays of support for proven molesters is wrong”
It deters other victims of other child sex crimes from speaking up, groups say

Two groups for sex abuse victims are blasting organizers of a fundraiser for a teacher convicted of refusing to report suspected child sex crimes. And the groups are writing to Little Rock’s Catholic bishop urging him to “rein in” his flock and discourage attendance and future such events.

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and NSAC, National Survivors Action Coalition, believe the event “hurts at least one child sex abuse victim and deters other child sex abuse victims from speaking up.”

The fundraiser, set for this Saturday, is a benefit for Kathy Gene Griffin, a former Mount St. Mary (MSM) teacher who was found guilty last month of failing to report known or suspected child sex crimes by a fellow teacher, Kelly O’Rourke, to authorities.

[Evite]

Called “We Believe in Kathy Griffin,” the gathering is hosted by Katie Smith Escovedo and Tammy Bass Quick (501-247-6831). Both are parents of current MSM students. ( http://www.arkansas-catholic.org/news/article/2935 ) Quick is the president of the MSM athletic booster club and Escovedo is the past president of the club.

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GERMANY
Vatican Insider

Never before has the German Church seen a media campaign on the same scale as the one launched against the Bishop of Limburg

GUIDO HORST
BERLIN

The list of bishops who should be packing their bags in light of the fierce media campaign launched against them in German-speaking lands, is by no means short: the Vatican moved Bishop Wolfgang Haas of Chur away from Switzerland and out of the press and ecclesiastical leadership’s firing line, to the safe haven of the Archdiocese of Valduz in Lichtenstein, established for him in 1997. In 1995 the press sullied Viennese cardinal Hans Hermann Groer’s name, accusing him of sexual molestation, but these accusations came to nothing thanks to the zealous intervention of former suffragan bishop, Christoph Schönborn. Similarly, in Austrian in 2004, Kurt Krenn of Sankt Pölten was forced to step back after years of attacks and accusations of sexual abuse scandals in his Seminary. Another scandal broke out in Germany, in 2010, involving the Bishop of Augusta Walter Mixa. He was not convincing enough in his defence against charges that he beat school children in his years as a religious studies teacher. He ended up handing in his resignation.

Now, it is the fate of the Bishop of Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, that is hanging by a thread. The bishop apparently spent gigantic sums of money on a lavish new bishop’s residence and diocesan centre and gave false statements to the press regarding a first-class flight he took to India. All these cases, from Groer to Tebartz-van Elst, have something in common: all of these bishops had or have fully embraced the “Roman line” (this is not necessarily a given for prelates in the German-speaking world) and enjoyed the strong support of the Pope in office. There is a growing fear among Germany’s “conservative” bishops, that the media could from one moment to the next target another one of their unpopular confreres. They may do so if one of these bishops seems to them to be too faithful to Rome and too traditionalist.

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MINNESOTA
Press TV (Iran)

A Minnesota woman sued a priest, accusing the popular University of St. Thomas professor of sexually abusing her as a teen while he was studying to be a priest.

The complaint, filed Monday in Ramsey County, alleges the Rev. Michael Keating “engaged in multiple instances of unpermitted, harmful, and offensive sexual contact” from 1997 to 2000 while he was a seminary student, Minnesota Public Radio reported. Keating was in his 40s at the time of the alleged abuse.

The woman, who was in her teens when the alleged abuse occurred, told MPR her family reported the matter to the archbishop in 2006 but an internal review said there was insufficient evidence to remove Keating from the ministry. She said church officials repeatedly pressed her for details and determined it wasn’t abuse.

“It felt like a betrayal times two,” she said. “First time, I’m betrayed by Keating, and then I’m betrayed by the archdiocese.”

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CALIFORNIA
Orange County Weekly

By Gustavo Arellano Wed., Oct. 16 2013

Has Orange County Register owner Aaron Kushner’s push to be journalism’s Jesus gone to his head to the point where he now actually thinks he’s every newspaper’s Nazarene, the media Messiah, the copy Christ (okay: no more alliterations)? Apparently so: earlier this month, it was announced that the throwaway magazine arm of Freedom Communications, Churm Media, will publish the official newspaper of the Diocese of Orange, Orange County Catholic, starting next month.
Cool! So Kushner has no problem printing the paper of an organization that protected pedophile priests for decades, who’s still trying to screw over sex-abuse victims, and who still employs John Urell, a pedophile protector that should’ve been cast into Gehenna long ago. REAL positive journalism there!

The official blurbage claims Churm will only “oversee the newspaper’s design, printing, ad sales and distribution while the diocese and the Orange County Catholic editorial team will oversee development of the content,” which we all know is a crock since the report also sneaked in the nebulous line that “the Churm group also will oversee expansion of the newspaper from its current once-a-month publication to a weekly publication”–code for “We’re putting on kid gloves with the Diocese since they’re going to pay us mucho dinero to print their rag.”

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ARGENTINA
16 Noticias

[con video]

El periodista de Canal 26, Andrés Klipphan en una nueva entrega de “Cámara Klipphan” se metió en la siniestra historia de Justo José Ilarraz.

Aseguran que Justo José Ilarraz tomaba baños con los alumnos, es decir, baños desnudos con alumnos pupilos tocándose los genitales, no solo eso, había caricias, besos, apocamientos, franela y, en la última fase, porque Ilarraz iba por fase, desde el primer año hasta el quinto y, en la última fase tomaba el espíritu del joven que había venido corrompiendo y abusando desde el primer año y decía que tenia que estar adentro de esa persona y que se quedara tranquilo que no iba a haber derrame de liquido adentro porque, si había derrame adentro, era pecado y el mismo lo iba a confesar después”.

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NORTH CAROLINA
Indy Week

Pink Smoke Over the Vatican
Saturday, Oct. 19, 1:30–3:30 p.m.
Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, 1801 Hillsborough St., Raleigh
Free; donations accepted
Discussion with the Rev. Roy Bourgeois follows
Sponsored by SWIM of Raleigh

by Lisa Sorg

From my vantage point in the second pew during 10 o’clock Mass at St. Ambrose Church, altar boys had mission-critical duties to ensure the service unfolded properly: swing incense, carry candlesticks, open the prayer book, hand the priest vessels of water and wine and a towel to wipe his hands, and most important, hold the Communion plate to catch any falling Hosts.

My father and uncles had been altar boys, so at age 8, I asked my mother how I could become one. (My interest was not entirely pious; altar boys wore black cassocks and black slip-on Keds, which I thought would absolve me from wearing a dress and cramped patent-leather Mary Janes.)

“Girls can’t become altar boys,” my mother replied.

Thus began my disenchantment with, and eventual severance from, the Catholic Church.

While the Vatican now allows girls to be altar servers—although bishops can decide whether to allow it in their own diocese—women cannot become priests. In fact, in 2010, under the regime of Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican classified the ordination of women as a “grave crime,” the same category that governs sexual abuse by priests.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 10/15/2013

University of St. Thomas professor Michael J. Keating told a fellow priest in 2006 that a teenage Italian girl had “seduced” him and he was worried that his colleague might get the wrong impression.

The statement by the fellow priest emerged during a 2006 Chisago County sheriff’s office investigation of Keating, following an allegation by a local woman that he had abused her beginning when she was 13.

The woman, now in her late 20s, filed a lawsuit against Keating on Monday in Ramsey County District Court, alleging sexual battery. The sheriff’s office released its investigative file Tuesday at the request of the Pioneer Press.

Keating, 57, was not criminally charged in the case.

The priest and tenured associate professor of Catholic studies at St. Thomas announced over the weekend that he was taking a leave of absence. A university spokesman said that another instructor has taken over his classes and that Keating is no longer living on campus.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.- Justice minister Francisco Domínguez on Tuesday revealed that the Vatican will prosecute its former envoy Jozef Wesolowski on charges of the sexual abuse of boys, according to the provisions of the Vienna Convention.

The country was also denied prosecution of the priest Wojciech Gil (padre Alberto), who will face trial in courts in his native Poland, on pedophilia charges.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Paddy Agnew

Former attorney general Peter Sutherland will play a role in the ongoing process of curia reform instigated by Pope Francis.

As a “consultor” to the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (Apsa), often known as the Vatican’s treasury ministry, Mr Sutherland will be involved in the revision and overhaul of Holy See finances and economic organisation.

The Holy See announced yesterday that, in the interests of transparency, a process of “due diligence” had begun at Apsa.

The news came on the same day as the retirement of the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, underscoring the wind of change blowing through the Vatican.

Mr Sutherland, who has served on the “extraordinary section” of Apsa since 2006, will be involved in implementing any proposed reforms that emerge from the“due diligence” being carried out by US firm Promontory Financial Group.

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