ABUSE TRACKER

A digest of links to media coverage of clergy abuse. For recent coverage listed in this blog, read the full article in the newspaper or other media source by clicking “Read original article.” For earlier coverage, click the title to read the original article.

May 4, 2018

No more failures of nerve with the Child Victims Act

NEW YORK
Hudson Valley 360

May 3, 2018

For Gary Greenberg and other backers of the Child Victims Act, passage in the state Assembly on Tuesday must have felt frustratingly like deja vu.

Here were the legislation’s supporters for the second straight year, watching the proposed bill survive the Assembly and then hoping the state Senate would finally get the message and seal the deal.

If the state Senate takes up the legislation before the end of session and it is signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the Child Victims Act would eliminate the statute of limitations in criminal and civil cases of sexual crimes against children, allowing the adult survivors to sue for compensation from their attackers and the institutions that covered up the abuses.

Greenberg, an attorney who lives in New Baltimore, is the survivor of brutal sexual assaults he suffered at the age of 7. He has led the fight for passage of the bill for several years. He is also a survivor of the state Legislature’s failures of nerve. Each year, Greenberg watched as the Child Victims Act came tantalizingly close to full passage, only to see it fall short in the state Senate.

He hopes the outcome will be different this year.

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.

Sex abuse victims ‘appalled’ that archdiocese ‘fixer’ Matt Flynn is running for govern

WISCONSIN
Wisconsin Gazette

By Louis Weisberg, staff writer

May 3, 2018

Upon the news that Matt Flynn was running for the Democratic nomination for governor, a state GOP spokesperson said, “Matt Flynn has sought to cover-up the crimes committed against those who are most vulnerable.”

Even as some progressive donors line up behind the 71-year-old former Wisconsin Democratic Party chair, the GOP accusation is, if anything, an understatement.

If Flynn were to win the nomination, GOP attacks on this front would be a daily occurrence.

While an attorney for Quarles and Brady — the tony law firm that counts the Archdiocese of Milwaukee among its most important clients — Flynn became lead defender in the sex-abuse case with the nation’s fourth-largest number of alleged victims.

For years, people with direct knowledge of the case have claimed Flynn threatened and tormented victims of known pedophile priests in order to silence them. He’s also been accused of protecting priests who abused hundreds of 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.

Nazareth House nun called child ‘stupid’ because he wet the bed

SCOTLAND
Evening Express

03/05/2018,

A former volunteer at an Aberdeen children’s home has told how she tried to cover up a child’s bed wetting to save him from being “ridiculed” by a nun.

Margaret White was studying at Aberdeen University between 1974 and 1977 when she helped out at Nazareth House in the city.

The 63-year-old told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry how she had never seen children being hit, but she felt the way one boy was treated for bed wetting was “wrong”.

She said: “There was a young lad who did wet the bed and he was, probably, very harshly done by by the sister. He was never physically hurt.

“From what I know now, it was very wrong – a nine-year-old boy wetting the bed and being punished verbally.

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.

Saginaw Catholic Diocese meets with prosecutors to discuss sexual misconduct

MICHIGAN
WNEM

May 02, 2018

Meg McLeod, Anchor/Reporter

SAGINAW COUNTY, MI (WNEM) –

Could there be more people within the Saginaw Catholic Diocese to be charged with sexual misconduct?

The man chosen to verify accounts of abuse, retired Judge Michael Talbot, sat down with prosecutors to tell them what he’s learned.

Talbot revealed what was discussed during what he called “a very productive” meeting.

“If there’s somebody actively out there now. I want to know about it,” Talbot said.

That’s what he said he told Saginaw County’s prosecutor and assistant prosecutor Wednesday morning.

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.

Saginaw Catholic Diocese delegate, county prosecutor have common goal: protecting minors

MICHIGAN
Fox 66

by Sarah Jaeger

May 2nd 2018

SAGIANW, Mich. –The Diocese of Saginaw’s independent delegate meeting for the first time with the Saginaw county prosecutor and the assistant prosecutor Wednesday morning.

Michael Talbot, a former appeals court judge, was appointed to the role in mid-April after the arrest of Fr. Robert DeLand for allegedly sexually assaulting minors.

Talbot told NBC25/FOX66 the meeting this morning started off bit tense but gradually relaxed when both realized they have a common interest, namely protecting minors.

Talbot tasked with leading the church’s internal investigation into the alleged abuse and says he spoke with everyone in the diocese to see if there’s anything he should know about. He claims nobody spoke up with any new information and shared that with prosecutor office which he hopes will do the same.

“I’m concerned if there’s anybody else and I asked if there is please let me know,” say Talbot. “We want to take them out of ministry but conversely if there isn’t anything I think the people of this county have a right to also know that that there is nothing else beyond the case that’s out there already.”

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.

Shaken by toddler’s rape death, Chile seeks to alter law on sex crimes

CHILE
New Straits Times (Singapore)

SANTIAGO (AFP) – With the country in an uproar over the brutal rape and death of a 20-month-old toddler, Chile’s President Sebastian Pinera on Thursday backed plans to lift the statute of limitations on sex crimes against minors.

The move came just days after 20-month-old Ambar was taken to a hospital in the central Los Andes region by her aunt and legal guardian, who claimed she had fallen off a bed.

But medics who examined her quickly realised the toddler had been raped, with the paediatrician telling Chile’s La Tercera daily he had “never” seen such levels of abuse in his 18 years of experience.

Despite undergoing immediate surgery, she did not survive, in a case of brutality which has badly shaken conservative Chile, sparking calls for a return of the death penalty.

The alleged perpetrator is believed to be the aunt’s partner, who has been arrested on suspicion of “rape and murder.”

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.

Sexual abuse victims testify for elimination of statute of limitations

RHODE ISLAND
WPRI

By: Steph Machado

May 04, 2018

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Describing abuse that took place decades ago, victims of sexual abuse implored lawmakers Thursday night to eliminate the statute of limitations that prevents victims from suing their abusers after years have passed.

The legislation, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Donna Nesselbush of Pawtucket and Democratic Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee of South Kingstown, would allow victims an unlimited amount of time to bring civil claims against their alleged abusers.

Jim Scanlan, who identified himself in 2015 as one of the anonymous victims featured in the “Spotlight” movie, testified to the committee that it took decades for him to tell anyone that he was raped by Jesuit priest James Talbot when he was a student at Boston College High School in 1977.

“This is a testimony about someone who used threats and intimidation and his power to prevent me or intimidate me from coming forward,” Scanlan said.

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.

Bid to extend time limits for sex abuse suits divisive

MICHIGAN
Detroit News

Jonathan Oosting, Detroit News Lansing Bureau

May 3, 2018

Birmingham — Victim No. 368, as he was called in a national settlement case, keeps his hair long to hide any sign of the faint scar. He got it roughly 40 years ago, when he says Brother Rice High School’s principal bit him on the ear and told him it would leave a mark for the rest of his life.

He keeps the belt buckles his alleged abuser gave him during a prolonged “grooming” period that continued long after he claims leaders of the Roman Catholic school in Birmingham transferred Brother Frank Luke Dalton to California following an admission he’d had a “wet dream” about the teen. He keeps the pocket knife, turntable, records and other gifts.

“I really just want to get rid of this stuff,” he said decades after Dalton allegedly spit in his mouth one night during a private “wrestling” session in the school cafeteria. Decades after he said Dalton, also the wrestling coach at the all-boys school, grabbed his testicles during another session in the adult’s car.

Now 55, Victim 368 — who does not want to disclose his name for fear it could further damage his life — is asking Michigan legislators to think about cases like his as they consider changing laws that place time limits on how long a sexual assault victim can sue or pursue criminal charges against their abuser.

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.

Chile to Scrap Statute of Limitations for Child Sex Abuse

CHILE
Latin American Herald Tribune

May 4,2018

SANTIAGO – Chilean President Sebastian Piñera on Thursday presented a bill aimed at eliminating the statute of limitations on prosecution of sexual offenses against minors.

Speaking at the presidential palace, he pointed out that under current law, the statute of limitations for such crimes is 10 years.

Piñera invoked the recent high-profile cases of Ambar, a 2-year-old girl who died of injuries received while being raped by a family member; and Sophie, a child of 23 months who passed away due to abuse by her father.

“There is no crime more deplorable, more cowardly – against the life, the innocence of our children – than sex abuse,” the president said. “It not only harms their body, it also leaves deep wounds in their soul, as well as painful marks.”

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.

Who Misinformed Pope Francis About Bishop Barros? – Analysis

ROME
Eurasia Review

May 4, 2018

By JD Flynn

On Wednesday, three Chilean survivors of clerical sexual abuse held a press conference to discuss recent conversations with Pope Francis about the circumstances of their abuse.

Juan Carlos Cruz, along with James Hamilton and Jose Andres Murillo, were sexually abused by Fr. Fernando Karadima, who in 2011 was found guilty by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of sexually abusing minors during the 1980s and 1990s. Karadima was sentenced to a life of prayer and solitude.

Karadima’s abuse has drawn recent attention because of long-rumored reports that his one-time friend, now-Bishop Juan Barros, helped to cover up the abuse or was a participant in it. Barros was appointed to lead the Diocese of Osorno in January 2015, despite considerable protest in Chile, and despite objections from some of Chile’s bishops. Barros’ appointment has been a matter of serious controversy ever since.

In January of this year, Pope Francis visited Chile and publicly defended Barros, saying that accusations against him were “calumny,” and that he had seen no proof of the bishop’s involvement in Karadima’s abuse. Those remarks drew serious rebukes, including one from Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, chair of the pope’s commission on sexual abuse, and the pope apologized for the tone of his remarks, while insisting on the innocence of Barros.

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.

Letter about 2000 Bad Axe priest sex case leads some to question prosecutor’s motives

MICHIGAN
ABC 12

[with video]

May 03, 2018

SAGINAW (WJRT) (5/3/2018) – It’s an investigation that has rocked the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw.

After the arrest of Robert DeLand, the diocese released the names of five priests who were removed from the ministry years ago because of suspected sex abuse.

There was actually a police investigation on one of the priests.

A letter sent in 2004 by the lead investigator into claims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw has some church officials questioning his motives.

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.

Prosecutor: ‘No axe to grind’ against Catholic Diocese of Saginaw despite 2004 letter

MICHIGAN
ABC 12

May 03, 2018

SAGINAW (WJRT) – (5/3/2018) – Sex abuse in the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw.

It was story that broke in February with the arrest of well-known priest Robert Deland. He awaits trial on a variety of charges.

A letter written by then-Huron County prosecutor Mark Gaertner has the diocese questioning the motive of the current probe into abuse.

ABC12’s Terry Camp investigates.

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.

Sex-abuse survivors press for repeal of R.I.’s 7-year limit on suits

RHODE ISLAND
Providence Journal

By Katherine Gregg
Journal Political Writer
kathyprojo

May 3, 2018

“Nowhere in the teachings of Jesus Christ did he ever say that it’s okay for men in collars to rape kids,″ said Dr. Herbert “Hub” Brennan, 60, the internal medical doctor who once chaired the state’s Judicial Nominating Commission who, on Thursday night, appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee as a victim-survivor.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Victims of sexual abuse by priests and other trusted elders returned to the State House — for the second time this year — to plead with lawmakers to repeal Rhode Island’s seven-year statute of limitations on the pursuit of legal claims against perpetrators of sex crimes against minors.

“Nowhere in the teachings of Jesus Christ did he ever say that it’s okay for men in collars to rape kids,″ said Dr. Herbert “Hub” Brennan, 60, the internal medical doctor who once chaired the state’s Judicial Nominating Commission who, on Thursday night, appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee as a victim-survivor.

“The only way to stop these people is to have them have the fear that sooner or later they are going to get named,″ echoed another victim-survivor, Dr. Ann Hagan Webb, the sister of the lead legislative sponsor of the bill, Rep. Carol McEntee, D-South Kingstown.

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.

Victims push changes to RI statute of limitations on sex assault

RHODE ISLAND
ABC 6

May 04, 2018

By John Krinjak
Email: jkrinjak@abc6.com
Twitter: @johnkrinjakABC6

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — At the State House Thursday night, local victims of sexual violence shared deeply personal stories.

“Today I can do it. But today is 53 years since the abuse stopped,” said sex abuse survivor Ann Hagan Webb.

Their hope? To eliminate Rhode Island’s civil statute of limitations for sexual assault–which is currently three years for adults, seven for children.

“It can take a long time, longer than 3 or 7 years, to come to terms with what has happened to you,” said Sen. Donna Nesselbush.

Many say the current laws favor the predators.

Jim Scanlan was raped by his teacher at Boston College High School back in the 70s. The former North Kingstown resident was portrayed in the movie “Spotlight.”

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.

How many were complicit?’ Sask. abuse victims say priest shouldn’t have been transferred to Ontario

CANADA
CBC News

Jason Warick · CBC News

May 04, 2018

An Ontario man abused by a priest in the 1960s has won a record $2.5-million settlement against the Catholic Church, but some of Rev. Hodgson Marshall’s other victims said he could have been stopped years earlier in Saskatchewan

Fellow priests and teachers at Saskatoon’s St. Paul’s High School were well aware of Marshall’s abuse, the survivors said. He was known to students by the nickname “Happy Hands” and had a two-way mirror from his office into the boy’s change room, they said. One said he told a fellow teacher of the abuse in the confession booth and was told to say 10 Hail Marys and go back to class.

In 1961, Marshall was transferred out of Saskatoon to Ontario where the abuse continued.

‘Just kept moving him’

“He went to a lot of other places after us. They just kept moving him around and I don’t know what they were thinking. They just put him in touch with more kids. They were giving him gifts rather than kicking him out of the church and taking legal action,” former St. Paul’s student Gary Mulligan said in an interview with CBC News Thursday.

Fellow St. Paul’s student Tim Ryan agreed.

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.

Editorial: Sorrow’s not enough

CANADA
The Western Star

May 4, 2018

The refusal by Pope Francis to apologize to victims of abuse a native residential schools in Canada is striking hard at survivors and their families in the Atlantic region.

Abuses at these schools have been well documented by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Equally well known is the role of the Catholic Church in operating those schools.

A papal apology is one of 94 recommendations made by the TRC. During a visit to the Vatican last year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau personally asked the Pope to consider the gesture. So far, the answer is no. That refusal is hard to understand — and is unacceptable.

Canadian bishops said in a recent letter that Pope Francis has not shied away from recognizing injustices faced by Indigenous peoples, but he can’t personally apologize for residential schools.

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.

May 3, 2018

Two Alumni Sue St. Paul’s School, Allege Sex Abuse By Faculty

NEW HAMPSHIRE
New Hampshire Public Radio

By LAUREN CHOOLJIAN

May 3, 2018

Two alumni are suing St. Paul’s School for not protecting them from sexual abuse by faculty members in the 1960s and 70s, and their lawsuit calls the Concord prep school a “haven for sexual predators” that has failed to protect children for decades.

The complaint comes from alumni Keith Mithoefer, who was a St. Paul’s student from 1966 to 1970, and George Chester Irons, who attended from 1973 to 1976. Irons went on to become president of the school’s alumni association, chairman of its Alumni Fund and a member of the school Board of Trustees.

The lawsuit appears to be only the second case filed against St. Paul’s School by students claiming negligence regarding sexual abuse and assault. In January, St. Paul’s settled a civil lawsuit brought by the family of a former student, Chessy Prout. Prout was a 15-year-old freshman at the elite boarding school when she accused then senior Owen Labrie of sexually assaulting her.

In July, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office launched a criminal investigation into St. Paul’s over allegations of sexual abuse and assault. Officials said the investigation is focused on “whether the school engaged in conduct constituting endangering the welfare of a child.”

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.

St. Paul’s School alumni file civil lawsuit alleging sexual abuse

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Concord Monitor

By ALYSSA DANDREA
Monitor staff

May 03, 2018

Two alumni have filed a civil lawsuit against St. Paul’s School alleging the school was “a haven for sexual predators” and did nothing to prevent their abuse by faculty and staff in the 1970s.

George Chester Irons and Keith “Biff” Mithoefer filed the 22-page lawsuit Tuesday in Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord. Irons, a former president of the Alumni Association and member of the Board of Trustees who graduated in 1976, and Mithoefer, of the class of 1970, are seeking compensatory damages for the emotional and physical abuse they suffered decades ago at the Concord prep school, which they say has long failed to protect children in its care.

Irons and Mithoefer have brought 10 civil claims against St. Paul’s including negligent hiring, retention and supervision of faculty/staff, negligent infliction of emotional distress and vicarious liability. Additionally, Irons’s wife, Barbara Irons, alleges in the lawsuit that as a result of the harm caused to her husband, she suffered loss of his “aid, assistance, comfort, society, companionship, affection, and conjugal relation.”

St. Paul’s had long known of the sexual abuse of students in the care of their teachers and advisors and yet chose to remain silent for decades, further augmenting the psychological harm that alumni like Irons and Mithoefer suffered, the lawsuit says.

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.

Bob Brehl: Cringeworthy court decision over clerical sex abuse

CANADA
Catholic Spirit

BY ROBERT BREHL

May 3, 2018

Last week’s record financial award to a man abused by a monstrous priest 50 years ago is cringeworthy on many levels.

A Toronto jury of four women and two men in the Ontario Superior Court awarded Rod MacLeod, now 68, $2.6 million in damages, including $500,000 in punitive damages. While in high school in Sudbury, beginning at age 13 and lasting four years, MacLeod was repeatedly sexually molested by William Hodgson (Hod) Marshall, then a priest and teacher.

The award of punitive damages is significant. Punitive damages are a way of punishing the defendant — in this case the Catholic Church and the Congregation of St. Basil — in a civil lawsuit and are based on the theory that the interesontariots of society and the individual harmed can be met by imposing additional damages.

In the decision, the jurors wrote that the Basilians time and again concealed the priest’s behaviour to avoid “scandal” and knowingly “put children in harm’s way.”

That in itself is cringeworthy, but moving Marshall around and covering up for him, the Basilian leaders have also exposed the Church to even more punitive damages in future court proceedings. Marshall had many other victims, some of whom have already received out-of-court settlements and other victims will likely — and deservedly — follow the path of MacLeod.

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.

Federal appeals court affirms parish assets separate from archdiocese

MINNESOTA
National Catholic Reporter

May 1, 2018

by Maria Wiering, Catholic News Service

MINNEAPOLIS — A federal appeals court upheld two lower court rulings that the assets of Catholic institutions, including parishes, are separate from those of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and that they cannot be consolidated with archdiocesan assets in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The April 26 ruling came from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Thomas Abood, chairman of the archdiocese’s Reorganization Task Force, welcomed the ruling April 30.

“We are pleased that the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a meritless legal argument by claimants’ counsel that has been directly responsible for delaying the resolution of the archdiocesan bankruptcy and has given rise to the erroneous claim — now rejected for the third time in this litigation — that the archdiocese has undisclosed assets which it has not made available to its creditors in its bankruptcy,” Abood said in a statement.

“I hope all abuse survivors, reassured by the court’s decision, will soon be able to choose the path of settlement and closure on this aspect of their quest for justice and healing,” he said.

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.

Catholic priest among 11 charged for killing man with albinism in Malawi

MALAWI
ENCA

2 May 2018

BLANTYRE, Malawi – A Catholic priest, police officer, and a medical officer are among 11 people facing charges for the murder of a man living with albinism in Malawi, police spokesman James Kadadzera said.

The latest murder of a man with albinism in Malawi – the 22nd in four years – has sparked calls for their killers to be executed to deter a wave of attacks in the poor southern African nation.

Police said the dismembered corpse of 22-year-old McDonald Masambuka was found buried in southern Malawi several weeks after he went missing in March.

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.

Priest ejected from parish for sex

ITALY
ANSA

(ANSA) – Trento, May 2 – An Italian priest was sent away from his northern Italian parish Wednesday for “morally unacceptable” conduct, his archbishop said.

The charges against Father Daniele Morandini concern the sexual sphere but not minors, Trento Archbishop Lauro Tisi said after ejecting the priest from the parish of Borgo Valsugana, Castelnuovo and Olle.

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.

Audit: Okemos priest embezzlement grows to $5.4M

MICHIGAN
The Detroit News

Francis X. Donnelly, The Detroit News

April 30, 2018

Okemos — An investigation of a Catholic priest had focused on a $3 million mansion he built in 2007, but new records show the alleged pilfering began long before then.

The purported embezzlement started shortly after the Rev. Jon Wehrle founded St. Martha Church in 1988 and continued for 26 years, according to an audit by Plante Moran. In all, the priest is accused of taking $5.4 million from the church from 1991 to 2017, the audit shows.

Wehrle was charged with six counts of embezzlement last year and forced to resign as pastor of St. Martha. He is scheduled to be tried June 11 in Ingham County Circuit Court.

Church members, already shocked by earlier accounts of the alleged chicanery, are beginning to wonder whether they knew the priest at all.

“It’s shocking. I had no idea,” said former member Kathy Flynn.

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.

Rev. Monahan’s invasion of privacy conviction reversed; Bishop says priest may be ‘fully’ reinstated to duties

IOWA
Daily Nonpereil

By Mike Bell
mbell@nonpareilonline.com

May 3, 2018

The Rev. Paul Monahan’s conviction on five counts of invasion of privacy was reversed Wednesday, as the Iowa Court of Appeals said the prosecution failed to show the complaining witnesses had a reasonable expectation of privacy in a public bathroom, among other findings.

Monahan declined to comment Thursday morning.

After the reversal was made public Wednesday, Monahan’s attorney, Dan McGinn, said in a statement they were pleased — but not surprised — by the unanimous decision by the court of appeals.

“The Court found the evidence did not support the conviction. Unfortunately, there is nowhere for Father Monahan to go to have his reputation restored,” McGinn said.

Diocese of Des Moines Bishop Richard Pates said he was pleased with the reversal.

“Along with Father Monahan, we are relieved that this decision has been reached and anticipate that Father will be fully reinstated to priestly ministry once the appeal process has been completed.”

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.

Retired priest’s invasion of privacy conviction reversed

IOWA
Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Appeals Court has overturned the conviction of a retired Catholic priest who’d been accused of invading the privacy of several students in a high school restroom.

The students had complained that the Rev. Paul Monahan repeatedly entered the public restroom during a high school track meet in 2016 and looked at their genitals. Monahan’s doctor testified that Monahan’s restroom visits were necessitated by a medical condition.

The Daily Nonpareil reports that the court said in its decision released Wednesday that the students had no reasonable expectation of privacy in a public bathroom. Prosecutors are mulling an appeal.

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.

Erlich walks away from Adass board

AUSTRALIA
Australian Jewish News

May 3, 2018

ALLEGED victim of child sexual abuse Dassi Erlich said this week she will no longer speak to the Adass Israel School board because she feels they aren’t serious about apologising to victims.

At her first meeting with the board last July, Erlich – who claims she was abused by former Adass principal Malka Leifer – asked for a public statement of support, an apology and a statement that would encourage victims to speak to the police and seek support.

“They said they could do that, they just have to check with their insurers first.”

However, in November, a draft apology was rejected by Erlich as she felt it didn’t address the key issues, and then this March she was asked by the board to write the apology she wanted herself, which she felt was ridiculous. “I walked out of that meeting so angry,” she said.

The AJN can reveal that the board then outsourced the apology to Norman Rosenbaum, who was present at one of the Adass meetings in 2008 before Leifer was spirited out of the country to Israel, where she’s currently facing extradition proceedings.

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.

STATEMENT REGARDING NIK AND NIG’S INVESTIGATION OF RABBI MENDEL LEVINE

UNITED STATES
Jewish Community Watch

May 2, 2018

We are shocked and dismayed to see the conclusions reached by the investigative committee commissioned by the NIK and NIG into Mendel Levine. The investigation examined allegations of historic child molestation allegedly perpetrated by Levine, that have been public since 2011.

The discounting of both victim’s words, as well as other critical information presented, amounts to disappointing, dismal whitewashing and rewriting of history. We question how “independent” this investigation actually was. Most important, we stand with the alleged victims in this case; our founder, director, and friend Meyer Seewald, and the second young man who wishes to remain anonymous.

In the coming days our committee will be reviewing the evidence we have, and publicising whatever is appropriate.

Meyer Seewald, the founder and director of JCW, posted the following to his Facebook page:
Running JCW for the better part of the last 7 years, I have seen and heard a lot of terrible things that have kept me up and night and triggered me and made me physically sick. Usually I think I can handle it and can push through it, over it and past it. But tonight I got an email that makes me feel like I’m not even sure what to do next.

The things I share publicly are often very personal, but this is another level, because it’s about my abuse. My first abuser who destroyed my innocence, who left me with traumas I tried to run away from and yet am l dealing with constantly to this day.

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.

Former Gresham pastor sentenced for child sexual abuse

OREGON
Oregonian

May 2, 2018

By Therese Bottomly tbottomly@oregonian.com
The Oregonian/OregonLive

BEND — A former Gresham pastor has been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for sexually abusing a former family member.

The Bulletin newspaper reports Jamie Worley was sentenced Monday, several weeks after his conviction in a case that involved a child in Bend between 2002 and 2004.

The victim addressed the court, saying the childhood abuse has made it difficult for her to maintain romantic relationships and interact with customers at her job. She said the smell of Worley’s brand of cologne “makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.”

Defense attorney Richard Cohen says the defense is appealing the verdict.

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.

HOME HORROR Staff at Aberdeen’s Nazareth House forced girl to ‘kiss a dead nun’ before beating her for refusing

SCOTLAND
Scottish Sun

By Conor Riordan

3rd May 2018

STAFF at an Aberdeen orphanage forced a girl to “kiss a dead nun” during her five-year stay, an abuse inquiry has heard.

The witness, who cannot be named, had her statement read at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry in Edinburgh on Wednesday.

The woman, who stayed at Nazareth House between 1969 and 1974, wrote that she was made to kiss a dead nun and was then beaten for refusing to do so.

Her statement went on to detail how she was force fed her food with a fork by one of the nuns, after complaining about it.

Chair Lady Smith also heard from a former orphanage volunteer who told how she tried to cover up a child’s bed wetting after nuns branded him a “dirty boy”.

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Priest jailed for abusing young boys appeals conviction

SCOTLAND
STV

Francis Moore, 82, was locked up for nine years after trial earlier this year.

A priest jailed for the historic sexual abuse of three young boys and a trainee priest is appealing against his conviction and sentence.

Francis Moore, 82, who was also known as Father Paul, was found guilty after a trial at the High Court in Glasgow earlier this year and jailed for nine years.

Court officials have now confirmed that Moore’s legal team has lodged an appeal against conviction and sentence.

Moore’s youngest victim was just five when the priest abused him at primary school.

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Senate Republicans urged to hold hearing for Child Victims Act

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

By KENNETH LOVETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

MAY 03, 2018

ALBANY – With the Assembly having again passed a bill to make it easier for victims of child abuse to seek justice as adults, the Senate Democratic sponsor is pushing for Senate Republicans to hold hearings for the first time.

Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) and Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter Wednesday to committee Chairman John Bonacic (R-Orange County) calling for the hearings.

The Dems cited Senate rules that require the committee to honor such a petition for a public hearing if one-third of the panel’s members request it — “unless a majority of the members of the committee reject such a petition.”

The idea is to try and pressure the Republicans into taking the matter up for the first time. Hoylman said. “Part of the strategy by the opponents of the Child Victims Act is that it’s all done behind closed doors,” Hoylman said.

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Víctimas chilenas al papa: Ponga fin a abusos, encubrimiento

ROMA
Chron

[Chilean victims of the Pope: End abuses, cover-up.]

By NICOLE WINFIELD

May 2, 2018

ROMA (AP) — Los tres denunciantes del abuso sexual por curas chilenos pidieron el miércoles al papa Francisco que convierta sus disculpas a ellos por haberlos desacreditado en medidas concretas para poner fin a lo que llamaron una “epidemia” de abusos sexuales y encubrimiento en la Iglesia católica.

Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton y José Andrés Murillo hablaron con la prensa después de pasar cinco días con el papa en su hotel en el Vaticano. La conferencia de prensa que dieron fue televisada en vivo en Chile, señal de la naturaleza sin precedentes de la reunión que tuvieron el pontífice.

El papa reconoció durante la reunión: “Yo fui parte del problema. Yo causé esto, y les pido perdón”, dijo Cruz.

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Abuse Victims Meet With Pope Francis: ‘We Need Concrete Actions’

ROME
New York Times

Leer en español

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO

MAY 2, 2018

ROME — The first thing Pope Francis said, when he met privately on Sunday with Juan Carlos Cruz, a victim of sexual abuse, was: “Juan Carlos, I want to say sorry for what happened to you, as the pope and also for the universal church.”

The second thing he said, Mr. Cruz recounted on Wednesday, was, “I was part of the problem, and that’s why I am saying sorry.”

“To me, that was very telling,” Mr. Cruz said. The pope, he said, “had called me a liar, and he apologized for that.”

Mr. Cruz joined James Hamilton and José Andrés Murillo, also victims in their youth of a notorious Chilean pedophile priest, at a new conference in Rome on Wednesday to discuss their intense and emotional sojourn this past week as guests of the pope in the Vatican.

But even as the three men expressed gratitude for the meeting — “I have never seen anyone so contrite,” Mr. Cruz said of Francis — they urged the pope to transform “his loving words” of apology into “exemplary actions” to end sexual abuse and its cover-up in the Roman Catholic Church.

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Saginaw diocese’s point man on sex abuse cases meets with prosecutors

MICHIGAN
ABC 12

By Terry Camp

SAGINAW (WJRT) (5/2/2018) – The man appointed to help the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw deal with abuse claims met with prosecutors on Wednesday.

Michael Talbot said his phone calls and emails to the Saginaw County Prosecutor’s Office have gone unanswered, so he paid a personal visit. Talbot said they vowed to work together.

“It was, I think, productive,” he said.

Bishop Joseph Cistone appointed the now-retired Michigan Court of Appeals judge three weeks ago to help the diocese deal with the alleged sex abuse claims.

Wednesday marked the first time Talbot spoke with Prosecutor John McColgan and Assistant Prosecutor Mark Gaertner, who is leading a task force formed to investigate current and past claims of possible abuse by priests in the diocese.

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Abuse Investigator For Saginaw Catholic Diocese Meets With Saginaw County Prosecutor

MICHIGAN
WSGW

By John Hall

May 3, 2018

Retired Judge Michael Talbot who’s been delegated by the Saginaw Catholic Diocese to investigate whether Diocesan employees have committed acts of abuse or sexual misconduct met Wednesday with the Saginaw County Prosecutor’s Office.

Talbot says he’s talked to employees and gone over messages at the Victim’s Assistance Office, but turned up no new allegations other than what’s already been made public, including those against former priest Robert DeLand.

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Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu warns Rabbi Berland

ISRAEL
Arutz Sheva

Arutz Sheva Staff,

02/05/18

Tzfat Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu warned Rabbi Eliezer Berland not to hold a celebratory bonfire at the tomb of the Taanaic sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai on Mount Meron Wednesday evening.

Thousands of people gathered at Meron, which is near the Galilee city of Tzfat, to celebrate Lag B’Omer Wednesday night.

According to Rabbi Eliyahu, the lighting of the bonfire by the grave of the “Rashbi” would constitute an “abomination” and an “insult” to the revered sage.

Berland, 81, is the founder of the Shuvu Banim yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem and was a prominent figure within the Breslov community. After the allegations of sexual misconduct came to light in 2012, Rabbi Berland fled the country, traveling Europe and Africa while evading arrest and extradition.

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May 2, 2018

Former Bad Axe priest investigated locally for alleged sex abuse

MICHIGAN
Huron Daily Tribune

By Brenda Battel Tribune Staff Writer

May 2, 2018

BAD AXE — A police report reveals local authorities investigated a former Huron County priest that the Saginaw Diocese recently announced was laicized following sexual abuse allegations.

Jack E. Leipert, known as “Father Jack,” was a pastor at Sacred Heart in Bad Axe, when he was investigated for allegedly molesting a 21-year-old man in 2000.

No charges were ever filed by the Huron County Prosecutor’s Office.

The Bad Axe Police Department investigated the complaint, wherein it was alleged Leipert molested the victim on Nov. 7, 2000, according to a police report.

Leipert reportedly approached the alleged victim at a gas station in Caseville about paying him to do some maintenance work.

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Alleged abuser nearing return to Haywood

NORTH CAROLINA
The Mountaineer

May 2, 2018

Kyle Perrotti

Howard White is one step closer to facing child sex abuse allegations in Haywood County.

White, who is charged with several felonies related to the alleged 1985 sexual abuse of two children while he was rector of Waynesville’s Grace Church in the Mountains, is scheduled to be released from Boston’s South Bay Correctional Facility Thursday.

As of now, the 76-year-old has served 12 months of an 18-month sentence for five counts of assault and battery — to which he pleaded guilty — relating to the sexual abuse of a boy while he was employed by St. George’s School in Middletown, Rhode Island in 1973.

Although White will be released from the custody of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, District Attorney Ashley Welch said that along with a governor’s warrant that has been signed and delivered to Massachusetts, he will be held in that state on a fugitive warrant until he can be transported to North Carolina.

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Legislation Gives Childhood Sexual Abuse Victims Chance to Seek Justice

NEW YORK
Hudson Valley News Network

By Kathy Welsh

May 2, 2018

CHESTER – Assemblyman James Skoufis announced he co-sponsored and helped pass the Child Victims Act, which allows more victims of childhood sexual abuse to face their abusers in civil or criminal court (A.5885-A).

The measure extends the statutes of limitations for civil and criminal cases and provides a year-long window for past victims who previously missed their statute of limitations to bring their predators to court.

“There’s absolutely nothing more despicable than willfully harming a child,” Skoufis said. “To make a tragic situation even worse, our justice system works all-too-often in favor of these sick individuals, rather than their innocent victims. Childhood victims are often too afraid or traumatized to come forward until they’re adults, and by then the statute of limitations has run out. We must change the law so that more survivors can seek justice and move forward with their lives.”

Each year, over 63,000 children are sexually abused – and that’s just the number of cases that are actually reported, said Skoufis. In reality, countless cases go unreported and many survivors live in silence, Skoufis noted. With such wide support among the public, Skoufis was disappointed the Child Victims Act died in the Senate last year and was not included as part of the state budget this year. 2018

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Pope said to admit being ‘part of the problem’ of covering up child sexual abuse in Chile

ROME
Los Angeles Times

By TOM KINGTON

MAY 02, 2018

During hours of emotional meetings at the Vatican, Pope Francis begged for forgiveness from Chileans who have alleged priestly sexual abuse — according to those in attendance — who described their meeting with the pope as a “defining moment” in his papacy and demanded he follow through by ousting Chilean bishops they accuse of cover-ups.

“I have never seen someone so contrite. He was truly sorry, and I felt he was hurting,” said Juan Carlos Cruz, one of three people invited to sit down with the pope over the weekend for individual meetings. “He said, ‘I was part of the problem. I caused this,’ ” said Cruz, who called his three-hour meeting with Francis “very raw.”

The three men allege they endured sexual abuse as youths in Chile at the hands of prelate Fernando Karadima, who was sentenced by the Vatican in 2011 to a lifetime of penance, which means he’s been forced to retire from public life and public ministry to a life of prayer for atonement.

The Vatican did not, however, believe the men’s claim that the abuse was witnessed and covered up by Chilean Bishop Juan Barros. Francis appointed Barros bishop of the town of Osorno in 2015, hugged him publicly during his visit to Chile in January and dismissed the men’s accounts as “slander.”

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$20 Million Settlement Reached In Clergy Abuse Cases

MONTANA
Montana Public Radio

[with audio]

By CORIN CATES-CARNEY

APR 27, 2018

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Great Falls and Billings reached a $20 million settlement agreement Friday with more than 80 people who say they were sexually abused by clergy as children, according to attorneys in the case.

The claims of sexual abuse date from the 1950s to the 1990s, according to attorney Dan Fasy who represented some victims.

He says the settlement process has helped some of his clients recover from feeling like victims, but for others, this is just another step in their healing.

“I think the resounding response I’ve heard from the clients I’ve been working with is,” says Fasy, is “if this can prevent one child in the future from suffering the same fate of child sexual abuse, this will be a major victory.”

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Weinstein inappropriate with me: Blanchett

AUSTRALIA
Deniliouin Pastoral Times

by AAP NEWS

MAY 03, 2018

Cate Blanchett has accused disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of behaving inappropriately towards her.

The Australian is the latest Hollywood star to make allegations of sexual misconduct against the producer, following claims by others including Rose McGowan, Gwyneth Paltrow, Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie.

Blanchett has appeared in a number of films produced by Weinstein, including The Talented Mr Ripley, Carol and The Aviator.

In an interview with trade publication Variety, the Australian star was asked if Weinstein sexually harassed or behaved inappropriately towards her.

“With me, yes,” Blanchett replied.

“I think he really primarily preyed, like most predators, on the vulnerable. I mean I got a bad feeling from him. He would often say to me, ‘We’re not friends’.”

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Survivors hope pope will act against ‘epidemic’ of abuse in the church

ROME
Catholic News Service

By Junno Arocho Esteves
Catholic News Service

5.2.2018

ROME (CNS) — Three Chilean abuse survivors who met with Pope Francis said his apology to them must be accompanied by concrete actions, not only against those who commit sexual abuse, but against those who cover it up.

“I have never seen someone be so contrite about what he was telling me,” Juan Carlos Cruz told journalists May 2. “I also felt that he was hurting, which for me was very solemn. I don’t know what word to use because it’s not often the pope really says sorry to you and apologizes to you. He said, ‘I was part of the problem, I caused this and I’m sorry.'”

Jose Andres Murillo, another of the Chilean survivors, said, “All of us had different experiences with the pope, and even if we saw the forgiveness the pope asked, we’re waiting for actions.”

“We always said that we’re not here to do public relations but for actions,” Murillo said. “That’s what I’m waiting for.”

Pope Francis had invited Cruz, Murillo and James Hamilton to stay at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican residence where he lives, and to meet with him individually April 27-29. They met him again as a group April 30.

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Update – End Doesn’t Justify Means

PENNSYLVANIA
Catholics4Change

MAY 2, 2018

by Susan Matthews

A lawyer who privately came forward was not able to help a survivor, whose story you read about in the previous post. The survivor now wants his name made public.

David Eyes was a child when he was abused by Father Robert L. Brennan. He spent too much of his adult life embroiled in a grand jury investigation. The grueling emotional process cut fresh wounds into his already scarred psyche. Suicide attempts and subsequent hospitalization made it clear that self preservation meant stepping away from it all. It was the right decision for him and his family. David is working, married and surviving.

But now, his hard-won and tenuous stability is threatened. Lawyers prosecuting a civil case against the Philadelphia archdiocese on behalf of another victim asked him to testify. David explained why he couldn’t – how it might cost him his life. They responded with a subpoena.

Cornered and forced to ensure something horrific as child, David is once again cornered and being forced to do something terrifying as an adult. The subpoena compels him to appear in court on Monday, May 7 or he’ll be held in contempt – which carries the possibility of arrest and fines. Yet, the price he’ll pay for testifying is far worse. So he and his family have decided he won’t comply with the subpoena.

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Advocates Rally Urging NY Assembly To Pass End Child Trafficking Act

NEW YORK
WAMC

May 2, 2018

By ELIZABETH HILL

With the legislative session in its final weeks, advocates and New York state lawmakers gathered at the capitol Tuesday to urge the state Assembly to pass the End Child Trafficking Act.

The legislation is sponsored by Democratic Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, of the lower Hudson Valley, who says the bill would eliminate the requirement to prove force, fraud or coercion in prosecutions for sex trafficking. She says the measure creates an affirmative defense for victims 19 and younger. Sanctuary for Families — a New York City-based nonprofit that advocates for victims of domestic violence and sex trafficking — led the event at the Legislative Office Building. Executive Director Judy Harris Kluger, a former judge, said the time for action is now.

“Between 2010 and 2015 there has been an 800 percent increase in online sex trafficking of children. The time has come to be in line with federal law and 48 other states,” says Kluger.

Sanctuary for Families says state prosecutors cannot build successful cases against traffickers of children unless the victim is willing and able to testify. According to Reverend Que English, CEO and founder of Not on My Watch – a nonprofit working against sex trafficking – trauma suffered as a result of being trafficked and the terror of retaliation often prevent victims from testifying.

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Meeting abuse survivors, Pope apologizes for being ‘part of the problem’

VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Agency

By Elise Harris

Vatican City, May 2, 2018 / 11:13 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After meeting with Pope Francis over the weekend, Chilean survivors of clerical sexual abuse said the pontiff was open, sympathetic and deeply impacted by the situation, at one point voicing sorrow for having been “part of the problem.”

Juan Carlos Cruz, a victim of Chilean abuser Fr. Fernando Karadima who met with Pope Francis privately Saturday, said he spoke to the pontiff for at least three hours, and found him “sincere, attentive and deeply apologetic for the situation.”

“For me, the pope was contrite, he was truly sorry,” Cruz said. “I felt also that he was hurting, which for me was very solemn…because it’s not often that the pope says sorry to you…he said, ‘I was part of the problem, I caused this and I am apologize.’”

Cruz was joined by fellow abuse survivors James Hamilton and Jose Andres Murillo, each of whom suffered abuse at the hands Chilean priest Fernando Karadima, who in 2011 was found guilty by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of sexually abusing several minors during the 1980s and 1990s, and subsequently sentenced to a life of prayer and solitude.

Chilean civil authorities investigated Karadima but ultimately dropped charges since his crimes were beyond the statute of limitations.

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Pope Francis tells sex abuse survivors, ‘I was part of the problem’

ROME
Crux

Inés San Martín
VATICAN CORRESPONDENT

May 2, 2018

ROME – After facing heated criticism over his actions and words regarding clerical sexual abuse in Chile, this weekend Pope Francis tried to address the scandal head-on, meeting three abuse survivors from the Latin American nation ahead of a summit later this month with Chile’s bishops.

“Pope Francis formally asked us for forgiveness, in his own name and on behalf of the universal Church,” the three said in a statement released on Wednesday in Rome after their meetings with the pope.

This weekend, abuse survivors Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and Andres Murillo were hosted by Francis at the Vatican’s Santa Marta residence, the hotel built under St. Pope John Paul II where he’s lived since the beginning of his pontificate.

Overall, the survivors described their meetings positively, with Francis being “attentive, receptive and very empathetic during the intense and long hours of conversations.”

One of the survivors went so far as to say that he believed the pope hadn’t lied, but had been badly informed when it came to the situation in Chile. The survivor said Francis had told him, “I was part of the problem, I caused this, and I apologize to you.”

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Key dates in the Chilean sex abuse scandal

VATICAN CITY
Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The three main whistleblowers in Chile’s long-running sex abuse scandal have wrapped up their meetings with Pope Francis, after the pope discredited them and staunchly defended a bishop they had accused of witnessing and ignoring their abuse. Their visit to the Vatican marked the culmination of an extraordinary papal about-face, after Francis ordered a thorough investigation into their claims and then, after receiving the report, admitted to “serious errors in judgment.”

Some key dates in the Barros affair:
___

Jan. 10, 2015

Pope names Bishop Juan Barros, then Chile’s military chaplain, as bishop of Osorno, over the objections of some members of the Chilean bishops’ conference. They were concerned about the fallout from the scandal over the Rev. Fernando Karadima, Chile’s most notorious predator priest.
___

Jan. 31, 2015

Francis acknowledged the bishops’ concerns in a letter, obtained by The Associated Press, which revealed a plan to have Barros and two other Karadima-trained bishops resign and take yearlong sabbaticals. In the letter, Francis said the plan fell apart because the nuncio revealed it. The pope subsequently told reporters that he himself had blocked the plan because there was no “evidence” Barros was guilty of any cover-up.
___

February 2015

Fifty Chilean lawmakers and priests, deacons and more than 1,000 laity in the Osorno diocese sign petitions protesting Barros’ appointment and urging Francis revoke it.
___

Feb. 3, 2015

Juan Carlos Cruz writes a letter to the Vatican’s ambassador in Santiago, Monsignor Ivo Scapolo, accusing Barros of watching the sex abuse he experienced and doing nothing to stop it. The letter would form the basis of a subsequent letter to the pope. It is unknown what Scapolo did with his letter.

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‘I was part of the problem,’ pope quoted telling Chile abuse victims

ROME
Reuters

May 2, 2018

Philip Pullella

ROME (Reuters) – Pope Francis told Chilean victims of clerical sexual abuse “I was part of the problem” and apologized for dismissing accusations of a cover-up by Catholic bishops, one of the victims said on Wednesday.

At an emotional news conference after four days of private meetings with the pope, three men who were victims of Chile’s most notorious paedophile urged Francis to take action against several Chilean bishops.

“For almost 10 years we have been treated as enemies because we fight against sexual abuse and cover-up in the Church,” Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and Jose Andres Murillo, said in a joint statement read out to reporters.

The three men, who were guests of the pope at his residence, said that during their long conversations, Francis had been attentive, receptive and very empathetic.

“I have never, never seen someone be so contrite … I felt that he was hurting, which for me was very solemn. It’s not often that the pope says sorry to you and apologizes to you for something,” Cruz said in response to a question.

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Pope to Chile abuse victims: I was part of the problem

ROME
Associated Press

May 2, 2018

By NICOLE WINFIELD

ROME (AP) — The three whistleblowers in Chile’s sex abuse scandal urged Pope Francis on Wednesday to transform his apology for having discredited them into concrete action to end what they called the “epidemic” of sex abuse and cover-up in the Catholic Church.

Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and Jose Andres Murillo spoke to reporters Wednesday after spending five days with the pope at his Vatican hotel. Their press conference was broadcast live in Chile, a sign of the unprecedented nature of their hours of meetings with the pope.

Cruz said that during his private encounter with Francis, the pope acknowledged: “I was part of the problem. I caused this, and I apologize to you.”

“I believe that he was sincere,” Cruz said.

Cruz said he believed that Francis was simply misinformed about the case of Bishop Juan Barros, whom the three men have long accused of having witnessed and ignored their abuse.

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Diócesis de Mexicali protege a sacerdote pederasta denunciado desde 2013

TIJUANA (MEXICO)
Los Ángeles Press [Ciudad de México, Mexico]

May 2, 2018

By Guadalupe Lizárraga

Read original article

Autoridades de la Diócesis de Mexicali encubren a sacerdote pederasta Jesús Antonio Canseco cambiándolo de una parroquia a otra, uso de tráfico de influencias, y amenazas a la víctima desde 2013 

MEXICALI, México.- Osvaldo Agundiz Quevedo tenía 14 años de edad cuando fue víctima de abuso sexual por el sacerdote diocesano Jesús Antonio Canseco, de la parroquia Divino Niño en la colonia Villas del Rey, en Mexicali, Baja California. Hoy, Osvaldo tiene 21 años, y lleva siete años, junto a sus padres, pidiendo justicia, mientras las autoridades de la Diócesis de Mexicali protegen al sacerdote acusado de pederastia desde 2013, cambiándolo de una parroquia a otra dentro de la zona conurbada en la misma ciudad, retardando la justicia penal y evitando que trascienda la información sobre el caso.

Estudiante de quinto semestre de Ingeniería de la Universidad Autónoma de Baja California y empleado del Ayuntamiento de Mexicali, Osvaldo Agundiz, pese a amenazas y acoso cibernético, ha emprendido esta lucha contra la pederastia de los sacerdotes católicos en Mexicali, porque asegura que no ha sido la única víctima de este tipo de abuso en manos de Canseco y de otros sacerdotes de la ciudad. “He sabido y conocido a otros jóvenes, pero no se animan a hablarlo”, dijo a Los Ángeles Press en entrevista a la salida de la segunda audiencia ante el Poder Judicial del Estado, donde se le imputó al sacerdote acusado de pederastia el cargo de abuso sexual y corrupción de menores de acuerdo con la abogada de oficio que lleva el caso bajo el número 0202-2016-49200. 

En la primera resolución judicial, con fecha del 30 de diciembre de 2016, la agente del Ministerio Público de la Coordinación de Delitos contra la Libertad sexual y la familia, Hermelinda Sánchez Pacheco, resolvió el “no ejercicio de la acción penal a favor del imputado Jesús Antonio Canseco por la comisión del delito de abuso sexual”, por considerar “en exceso el plazo que prevé la prescripción punitiva”. En una segunda resolución, con fecha del 22 de noviembre de 2017, la titular de la misma institución resolvió también el “no ejercicio de la acción penal” bajo el mismo argumento de la prescripción punitiva. Adicionalmente, en ambos documentos se hizo alusión a que el imputado “nunca ejerció violencia física sobre la víctima, no lo amagó, nunca lo golpeó, amenazó, ni utilizó sustancia alguna para obtener su consentimiento”, pese a que la víctima declaró “que se sentía sin fuerza para moverse, por la fuerza que el imputado ejercía al tocarlo”, y más aún como si el abuso sexual y psicológico no fueran violencia.

En conversación telefónica con el vicario general de la Diócesis de Mexicali, Arnoldo Rascón Pérez, Los Ángeles Press preguntó su opinión sobre este caso de pederastia. La respuesta inmediata del vicario fue de decir que no tenía ninguna referencia. A insistencia de la periodista sobre los tres años que había tardado en hacer una cita a la familia con el obispo para dar seguimiento a la denuncia, el vicario en un tono cortante dijo que si quería hablar con él fuera al obispado y cortó la llamada. No obstante, en una carta firmada por el obispo de Chihuahua, Jesús José Herrera, y dirigida al obispo de Mexicali, José Isidro Guerrero Macías, con fecha del 21 de octubre de 2016, se hizo referencia que desde 2013, las autoridades de la Diócesis de Mexicali, incluyendo al vicario y seis sacerdotes más, sabían ya del caso de abuso.

En otro documento dirigido al juez del Tribunal eclesiástico, Marco Antonio Encinas, en noviembre de 2016, el decano Marcos Zavala Nava dio su testimonio sobre los hechos en relación con el abuso sexual perpetrado por el sacerdote Jesús Antonio Canseco y de cómo este sacerdote abusaba de la confianza de la familia por ser padrino de confirmación de la víctima. En ese mismo documento, Zavala Nava declaró haberle hecho una cita a la familia con el vicario general de la Diócesis, Arnoldo Rascón Pérez, y de que éste le había llamado por teléfono para informarle que ya había atendido a la familia. Concluyó el documento con una nota después de su firma: “Anexo la carta que dirigimos al obispo el día 2 de octubre de 2013”.

Antecedentes

En 2013, la primera autoridad eclesiástica con la que habló Osvaldo sobre el abuso fue con el decano de la Diócesis de Mexicali, Marco Zavala Nava, para denunciar al sacerdote Jesús Antonio Canseco por abuso sexual. El decano les dijo a él y a sus padres que los iba ayudar con la denuncia ante las autoridades de la iglesia y así lo hizo. Sin embargo, pasaron ocho meses y no hubo ningún indicio de justicia sobre el caso. Después de varias entrevistas con seis sacerdotes, la familia fue dirigida al vicario general de la Diócesis de Mexicali, Arnoldo Rascón Pérez, por medio de Zavala Nava. El vicario también prometió ayudarlos y, de la misma manera, dejó pasar el tiempo, en esta ocasión fueron hasta tres años, mientras trataba de disuadir a la familia para que no pusiera la denuncia penal porque, según sus palabras, la persona más perjudicada sería la víctima.

La madre de Osvaldo, Diana Quevedo, pese a ser una colaboradora voluntaria de la Iglesia Católica, aseguró al vicario que no iba a dejar de exigir justicia para su hijo y que denunciaría ante el Ministerio Público al abusador. El vicario alertó al obispo José Isidro Guerrero Macías de las intenciones de la madre y fue éste quien se adelantó a poner la denuncia ante el Ministerio Público contra el sacerdote Jesús Antonio Canseco por abuso sexual. Antes, ya el mismo obispo había intentado también de persuadir a la familia a que renunciara a poner la denuncia contra el depredador, y enfatizaba cuestionamientos sobre los altos costos de abogados y los daños colaterales por exhibir la situación de la víctima.

La Procuraduría de Justicia del Estado abrió una carpeta de investigación contra Jesús Antonio Canseco en 2016, pero el Ministerio Público dio largas al asunto y nunca llegó a investigar cabalmente los hechos. Cuando la familia llegaba a preguntar por el caso, los agentes les decían “que estaban armando la carpeta”. Y al tiempo, les dijeron que el caso se había cerrado: “no había delito que perseguir porque el tiempo había expirado para la denuncia”, como lo evidencian las resoluciones judiciales de diciembre de 2016 y noviembre de 2017. 

Las represalias

De acuerdo con la denuncia de Osvaldo Agundiz Quevedo, él y su familia han sido amenazados vía telefónica y hostigados por las redes sociales a partir de que hicieron pública la denuncia contra Jesús Antonio Canseco por pederastia. Incluso en su perfil de Facebook, le dejan comentarios soeces para intimidarlo. Sin embargo, no solamente la familia ha sido acosada, señaló Agundiz, también el sacerdote Álvaro Salvador Gutiérrez Félix, el padre Álvaro, porque los ha acompañado al juzgado y ha estado con la familia para darles fuerza moral. 

“Antes de ver al obispo, fuimos a pedir ayuda con muchos padres, y no nos quisieron ayudar. Todos decían que, si sabíamos lo que nos iba a costar hacer la denuncia, y que la gente se iba a burlar de mí, y muchas cosas más. El que nos ayudó y nos ha acompañado es el padre Álvaro”, afirmó Agundiz.

Como represalia al padre Álvaro, el obispo José Isidro Guerrero llamó al seminario para que lo retiraran de la docencia. También le pidió al sacerdote de la pastoral social que lo retirara de cualquier actividad de causa social, ya que el padre Álvaro trabajaba ayudando a migrantes que llegaban a la frontera. Incluso, pidió que lo quitara de su comunidad y lo enviaran a una comunidad apartada como Puerto Peñasco, el lugar más lejano de la Diócesis de Mexicali para ejercer el ministerio.

Hacer viva la palabra del Papa Francisco

Diana Quevedo, en entrevista con el periodista argentino Gustavo Daniel Pescetta, de SOS Señal de Radio, con sede en Buenos Aires, pidió al Papa Francisco “que hiciera viva su palabra de no más tolerancia a estas situaciones”. Como madre de la víctima, denunció a la radio argentina no sólo el dolor que están viviendo como familia después de haber servido a la Iglesia, sino “que es muy triste ver a la Iglesia que en vez de ayudar a las personas actúen como una mafia porque se están encubriendo entre ellos”, sostuvo.

El periodista Daniel Pescetta hizo alusión a la visita del Papa Francisco a su tierra natal y a Chile a principios de enero de 2018, donde pidió perdón a las víctimas de abuso sexual por parte de sacerdotes pederastas. «No puedo dejar de manifestar el dolor y la vergüenza que siento ante el daño irreparable causado a niños por parte de ministros de la Iglesia», sostuvo Francisco por las investigaciones de la fiscalía chilena contra religiosos maristas.  

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RABBI CONVICTED OF SEX OFFENSES TO LIGHT LAG BA’OMER BONFIRE, DRAWING IRE

ISRAEL
The Jerusalem Post

BY AVRAHAM GOLD

MAY 2, 2018

Hassidic leader Rabbi Eliezer Berland, who was convicted for sexual assault, will light a central bonfire for Lag Ba’Omer on Wednesday night outside of Meron. The decision drew the ire of MK Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin (Zionist Union), who sent a letter to Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit requesting he intervene.

Berland, the head of the Shuvu Banim community of the Breslov Hassidic sect, was convicted in a November 2016 plea bargain of two counts of indecent assault for sexual attacks on two women, as well as instructing one of his followers to assault the husband of one of the women he sexually assaulted. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail but was released under house arrest following an urgent operation in February.

Nahmias-Verbin posted the letter on Twitter, adding in a post that haredi (ultra-Orthodox) members of Knesset have told her privately they oppose the decision to allow Berland to light a bonfire. “It is difficult to understand how it is possible that a convicted person, who holds the title of rabbi and holds responsibility towards the public, will take part in a significant and widely-attended event funded by the state,” she wrote in the letter. “I call on you to intervene and act immediately against this, and prevent further severe harm to women who have been harmed, and to protect the public against an authorized offender.”

The Shuvu Banim bonfire will take place at midnight, according to haredi news site B’Hadrei Haredim.

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Former Episcopal priest Howard White to be extradited to North Carolina on sex abuse charges

MASSACHUSETTS
MassLive

May 2, 2018

By Jacqueline Tempera JTempera@masslive.com

When Howard White, a former Episcopal priest behind bars in Massachusetts after he raped a prep school student in the 1970s, is released from jail Thursday he will be extradited to face more charges in North Carolina, prosecutors said.

White, 76, is one of six named offenders in the sex abuse scandal at St. George’s School in Middletown, R.I.

Last May he pleaded guilty to five counts of assault and battery in Suffolk Superior Court for his abuse of an unnamed former student in the 1970s. He served 12 months of an 18-month sentence and was due to be released on Thursday.

But a new indictment from North Carolina accusing White of raping two more teenagers there will change things, prosecutors said.

The charges are: one count of rape; four counts of second-degree sexual offense; one count of second-degree rape; one count of first-degree forcible sex offense; and two counts of indecent liberties with a child.

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Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry: Orphanage volunteer ‘tried to protect boy from nun’s ridicule’

SCOTLAND
Sunday Post

Conor Riordan, 02 May 2018

A FORMER volunteer at an orphanage has told how she tried to cover up a child’s bed wetting to save him from being “ridiculed” by a nun.

Margaret White was studying at the University of Aberdeen between 1974 and 1977 when she helped out at Nazareth House in the city.

The 63-year-old told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry on Wednesday how she had never seen children being hit but she felt the way one boy was treated for bed wetting was “wrong”.

She said: “There was a young lad who did wet the bed and he was, probably, very harshly done by by the sister. He was never physically hurt.

“From what I know now, it was very wrong – a nine-year-old boy wetting the bed and being punished verbally.

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DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING

UNITED STATES
Church Militant

It’s not working.

May 2, 2018

TRANSCRIPT

The Church in America is doing splendidly — never been better, excelling everywhere, burgeoning at the seams, reason for great hope. Or as New York’s Cdl. Timothy Cardinal Dolan so perfectly laid it out at the press conference back in 2010 when he was elected president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, “It’s not like we’re in a crisis.”

Yes, see, no crisis here, His Eminence even has said so, which begs the question, precisely what does Dolan think actually constitutes a crisis? And further, if there’s no crisis, then why is Cdl. Dolan shaking down the flock in New York for $200 million or the archbishop of Detroit, after having soaked the sheep for $130 million in a recently wrapped up finance campaign, now preparing another campaign for an additional $200 million? Sources close to the archdiocese of Detroit tell Church Militant that some of Abp. Allen Vigneron’s closest allies actually wanted to unveil it this year but top brass thought it might appear too greedy after just wrapping up the previous campaign, uh, you think?

Then there is the still-secret plan in Abp. Jose Gomez’s Los Angeles archdiocese to unleash a half a billion dollar campaign on the unknowing faithful in Southern California — that’s right, a $500 million shakedown of the faithful. In truth, there are many of these massive war chest gathering initiatives going on all over the country — money and power grabs before old Catholics die off and leave their bucks to their children who could give a hoot about the Church and will not share their inheritances with what they see as irrelevant bishops. The Los Angeles half-billion shakedown was revealed to us by sources in the archdiocese who are disgusted with the plans, again, not yet made public. But, wait for it … and when these planned money grabs are eventually made public, they will come adorned with scriptural and mystical sounding names, upbeat sounding themes designed to make you think, well … there’s no crisis. For example, Detroit has a zippy sounding plan called “Unleash the Gospel,” as though it has ever been leashed up to begin within, and if it was leashed in Detroit have those who were responsible for tying it up been kicked out, otherwise, why throw good money after bad?

Practically every diocese in the country is doing two things right now — grabbing money and closing parishes. Often the plans are related to each other and get great marketing names, which stands to reason because local bishops are calling in Madison Avenue-style marketing firms and giving them 10 percent of everything collected to assess the decline, draw up a list of parishes to annihilate and squeeze every dime out of you possible. And, yes, you heard that correctly — 10 percent! When you are collectively dealing with billions of dollars, 10 percent is quite the haul.

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Sex offender rabbi to be honored at Lag B’Omer festival

ISRAEL
Times of Israel

By MARISSA NEWMAN and TOI STAFF

A rabbi convicted of sex offenses, including against a minor, is set to be honored at the annual Lag B’Omer festival at a pilgrimage site in northern Israel on Wednesday night, sparking an outcry.

Eliezer Berland, 80, who served five months of an 18-month prison sentence after eluding arrest for three years, will be among the 20 rabbis who will light a bonfire at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai in Meron, where hundreds of thousands of worshipers were expected to gather Wednesday evening and Thursday.

The Religious Affairs Ministry, which contributes some NIS 15 million ($4 million) in funding to the Meron ceremonies, condemned Berland’s participation, but insisted it was powerless to stop him as the annual festival fell under police purview.

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Police, in a statement, disputed the ministry’s account, saying they were responsible only for securing the event. The Israel Police “doesn’t determine the identities of the participants and lighters, since [Berland’s inclusion] does not constitute a violation of the laws of the State of Israel, and therefore the claim regarding the police is out of place and wholly unclear,” it said.

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Chilean clerical abuse victims denounce ‘pathological’ use of power in Church

ROME
Reuters

ROME (Reuters) – Chilean victims of clerical sexual abuse said on Wednesday that they had complained to Pope Francis about a “pathological and unlimited exercise of power” within the Church that had facilitated the cover-up of a sex scandal.

In a joint statement, the three victims, Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and Jose Andres Murillo, said that during four days of private meetings with the pope, he had asked them for forgiveness for not having taken their plight seriously before.

“For almost 10 years we have been treated as enemies because we fight against sexual abuse and cover-up in the Church. These days we met the friendly face of the Church, completely different from the one we had met before,” the statement said.

“We spoke with the pope about the pathological and unlimited exercise of power, which is the cornerstone of sexual abuse and cover-up. We expressed to him how the Church has the duty to become an ally and a guide in the global fight against abuse and a refuge for the victims, something that does not happen today.”

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Meet The Couple Helping The Survivors Of Britain’s ‘Worst’ Child Sexual Abuse Scandal

UNITED KINGDOM
HuffPost

By Natasha Hinde

A couple in Telford have gone above and beyond to help survivors of child sexual abuse in the wake of recent allegations that rocked the Shropshire town.

Civil servant Anji Gowans, 45, and security specialist Craig Badley, 45, run Telford Time 4 Change (TT4C) while juggling full-time jobs. They launched the group in mid-March this year with the aim of supporting victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, while raising awareness of exploitation in the community.

Anji and Craig run a Facebook page, which has 8,000 supporters, and say that since its inception TT4C has helped 10 survivors – either by signposting them to police, counselling or other services. Of those they’ve helped, some were recently abused, while for others the ordeal happened 15 or even 30 years ago.

Telford was thrown into the national spotlight in March when The Mirror reported up to 1,000 children were estimated to have fallen victim to child sexual abuse since the 1980s. For some, it came as no surprise – particularly after Operation Chalice, a 2009 police inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Telford in which seven men were jailed for multiple crimes including sexually abusing teenagers as young as 13.

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Alleged Australian child abuser to face extradition in Israel this month

AUSTRALIA/ISRAEL
The Guardian

Oliver Holmes in Jerusalem

2 May 2018

A former Melbourne head teacher wanted by Australian police on 74 charges of child sex abuse will face extradition proceedings this month, a judge in Israel has ruled.

At the Jerusalem district court on Wednesday, the judge delayed the hearing until 16 May and ordered the prosecution to hand over evidence it claims shows Malka Leifer is mentally fit to be extradited.

Guards escorted Leifer, 54, into court on Wednesday with her hands cuffed.

Manny Waks, an Australian activist who works to combat child sex abuse in the Jewish community and lives in Israel, was present and walked up to Leifer after she was brought into the courtroom. “Can I ask you for a message to send to the girls that you abused?” Waks asked. Leifer gave no response.

Leifer, 54, stood only when the judge entered the room, but spent the majority of the trial hunkered over with her head buried in her arms, even bending down entirely at times behind the court dock. At one point, she appeared in distress and the judge permitted a request from a guard for her to leave the room.

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Former principal and alleged child abuser Malka Leifer to remain in jail ahead of court hearing

ISRAEL/AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

By Gabrielle Weiniger

2 May 2018

Former Melbourne principal and alleged child sexual abuser Malka Leifer will remain behind bars in Israel after an extradition hearing at a Jerusalem court postponed her next trial date for a further two weeks.

Victorian police want Leifer to return to Australia to face 74 charges of child sex abuse. She is being held in Israel’s sole women’s prison, Neve Tzira, in the central Israeli city of Ramle.

Leifer fled Australia for Israel in 2008 after allegations were first raised over her time as head of the ultra-orthodox Adass Israel girls school in Melbourne. The school was ordered to pay over $1.1m in damages to her alleged victims in 2015.

In 2016, Leifer was declared unfit to stand trial by a Jerusalem district judge because of her mental health, but in February this year she was arrested and accused by local authorities of obstructing justice by feigning illness to avoid trial.

In the latest hearing, Judge Hannah Lomp ordered the prosecution to present the defence with all the evidence collected against Leifer, evidence the prosecution claims shows she is mentally fit to be extradited. The next extradition hearing will be held on May 16th.

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Malka Leifer’s lawyer secures two-week delay in extradition case

AUSTRALIA/ISRAEL
ABC News

May 2, 2018

By Norman Hermant

Malka Leifer’s extradition case in Jerusalem’s District Court has been put over until May 16.

Ms Leifer’s lawyer, Yahuda Fried, argued the defence had not received all of the evidence into her obstruction of justice case, successfully earning the two-week delay.

The prosecution says it will now hand over all of the evidence in relation to the investigation of whether Ms Leifer lied about being too unwell mentally to go through an extradition trial.

Near the end of today’s proceedings, Ms Leifer’s guards said she was unwell, and she was escorted from the courtroom before proceedings finished.

Israeli-Australian victims rights advocate Manny Waks said he was encouraged despite the delay.

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Equity v. Statute: In Bankruptcy, the Code Prevails (The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors v. The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis et al.)

MINNESOTA
Lexology

Bryan Cave LLP

May 1 2018

Garrison Keillor once said, “Sometimes I look reality straight in the eye and deny it.”[1] Being that the case arose in Minnesota, perhaps Circuit Judge Michael Melloy channeled Keillor, one of that state’s great humorists, when he authored the opinion in The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors v. The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis et al. (In re: The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis) Case No. 17-1079 2018 WL 1954482 (8th Cir. April 26, 2018) [a link to the opinion is here].[2] Regardless, the quote must sum up the Appellant’s view of the outcome. The unsecured creditors that make up the Committee, most of whom were victims of clergy sexual abuse, will not obtain access to the value of over 200 non-profit entities affiliated with the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis to pay their claims.

In a concise opinion, the 8th Circuit held that a bankruptcy court’s authority to issue “necessary or appropriate” orders did not give it the power to substantively consolidate a Chapter 11 estate of a bankrupt nonprofit entity, the Archdiocese, with the estates of non-debtor parishes and parish schools that also qualified as nonprofit entities under Minnesota law. Despite the breadth 11 U.S.C. § 105(a), the Court looked past weighty equitable interests and instead relied on to state law, and on the plain language of the Section 303(a) of the Bankruptcy Code (which prohibits an involuntary filing against “a corporation that is not a moneyed, business, or commercial corporation”).

Background

The case arose from the 2013 passage of Minnesota’s Child Victims Act, which allowed previously time-barred sexual abuse claims to be brought. Hundreds of claims of clergy sexual abuse were filed against the Archdiocese. In 2015 the Archdiocese filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In May 2016, the Committee, representing more than 400 clergy sexual abuse claimants, filed a motion in the bankruptcy case to substantively consolidate Debtor with over 200 affiliated non-profit entities. The bankruptcy court applied Rule 7012 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure to the Committee’s motion, converting the motion to an adversary proceeding and allowing the responding parties to file motions to dismiss, which many did. The Bankruptcy Court dismissed the Committee’s Complaint and the District Court upheld that decision.

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Abuse inquiry hears of child ‘repeatedly locked in cupboard’

SCOTLAND
Scotsman

CHRIS MARSHALL

02 May 2018

A former children’s home resident who has spent his life in and out of prison said he was “taught fear, paranoia and violence” by an abusive nun.

“Ned”, who is now in his 50s, told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry he had been in 24 institutions throughout his life after being admitted to Nazareth House, Aberdeen in the late 1960s.

He told the inquiry he had been separated from his sisters, repeatedly locked in a cupboard and beaten by a nun using a wooden stick.

The inquiry, led by Lady Smith, is hearing evidence relating to four children’s homes run by the Sisters of Nazareth until their closure in the 1980s.

Ned also remembered having his genitals fondled by an unknown male during his time at the home. He said the violence inflicted on him was to have a “profound” effect on the rest of his life.

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Child abuse at Aberdeen’s Nazareth House ‘a well known secret’ says councillor

SCOTLAND
Press and Journal

Jon Hebditch

May 2, 2018

Abuse of children at Aberdeen’s Nazareth House was once an “open secret”, a local councillor has claimed.

Martin Greig said the city’s people knew of the brutality faced by children at the home but failed to act because such actions were “considered normal”.

Mr Greig said that while it was “horrific to acknowledge” it was nonetheless true and called upon current and future generations to learn lessons from what took place.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry is investigating allegations against the Catholic Sisters of Nazareth order who are accused of a litany of historical child abuse allegations.

Police revealed that officers had received 308 complaints about 194 people associated with institutions run by the order between 1934 and 1984.

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NYS Exposed: Who’s opposed to giving child sex abuse victims more time to file lawsuits?

NEW YORK
WHEC

May 02, 2018

Should victims of child sex abuse be able to sue their abusers decades later?

The New York State Legislature is considering extending the statute of limitations on child sex crimes but there are some big organizations spending thousands of dollars to fight it.

Currently, someone who is sexually abused as a child has until the age of 23 to press criminal charges against his or her abuser. Under the proposed legislation, a victim would have until his 28th birthday to file criminal charges and his 50th birthday to file civil charges.

At the age of 13, a family member shattered Melanie Blow’s trust, “one day he pulled me aside, he sexually assaulted me and I mean… inside my world changed, outside, I didn’t dare tell anybody,” she recalled.

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Assembly passes Child Victims Act again, setting up another tough fight in the Senate

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

GLENN BLAIN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

May 1, 2018

ALBANY — The state Assembly approved a bill Tuesday to make it easier for child sex abuse survivors to seek justice as adults — and put pressure on the Senate to do the same.

Voting 124-9, the Assembly approved the Child Victims Act, marking the second consecutive year the Democrat-controlled chamber approved the bill. The measure, however, remains stalled in the GOP-controlled Senate.

“The CVA will ensure that adults who were sexually abused as children have a path to justice, and it will help make every New Yorker safer,” said Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan), who sponsored the bill.

Senate Republicans have said they will discuss the bill, but have not committed to passing it. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-Suffolk County) did not respond to a request for comment.

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Editorial: The evil of silence

NEW YORK
Buffalo News

By News Editorial Board

May 1, 2018

It’s not just priests.

It’s also teachers, Scout leaders, Little League coaches and more. Pedophiles know their prey: who the most vulnerable are; where to find them; how to approach them and, critically, how to silence them.

Too often, they move from place to place, finding new targets while the public is left in an ignorance that, in some instances, has been deliberately imposed by institutional leaders. It needs to change.

The point, already well enough known, was made plain in stories appearing in the weekend’s editions of The Buffalo News. On Saturday, leaders of the Park School announced that four former educators may have engaged inappropriately and sexually with students there in the 1970s and 80s.

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Death penalty for child rape: ‘Many special provisions in POCSO not implemented’

INDIA
Indian Express

by Sadaf Modak | Mumbai |

May 2, 2018

AS THE Union Cabinet approved an Ordinance to allow courts to award death penalty to those convicted of raping children up to 12 years, stakeholders said the focus should have been on strengthening the existing Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The Act was introduced in 2012 to address sexual assault against children to ensure that provisions are made specifically to address the needs of child victims, including introduction of child-friendly courtrooms, changes in the way victims’ statements are recorded by the police, courts, as well as rehabilitation of victims. Stakeholders say many of the special provisions formulated for children remain unimplemented with the Act becoming part of the mainstream criminal justice system.

“Rights of the victims in the criminal justice system are often neglected. Even in the POCSO Act, the focus was to have child-friendly courts where child victims could come to depose but the victims continue to depose before the usual courts, part of the adult criminal justice system. While there are provisions for stringent punishment, aspects of victim rehabiliation, like compensation, psychological and other assistance to victims, is not usually provided for,” said Pravin Khandpasole, director of Disha, an organisation based in Amravati district that works on creating a legal, social and policy framework for victims.

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Child Victims Act passes NY Assembly; Senate prospects dim

NEW YORK
Bristol Herald Courier

May 2, 2018

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Legislation to make it easier for molestation victims to seek criminal charges or file lawsuits against their abusers has once again passed the New York state Assembly.

The measure known as the Child Victims Act was endorsed by the Democrat-led Assembly on Tuesday. Prospects in the Republican-controlled state Senate, however, remain dim.

Current law gives victims until age 23 to file civil cases or seek criminal charges. Under the act, victims could file civil suits until age 50 and seek criminal charges until age 28. The bill would also create a one-year window allowing victims to file civil lawsuits for alleged abuse now barred by the existing statute of limitations.

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Parishes explore healing circles’ potential for restorative justice

UNITED STATES
The Catholic Spirit

Maria Wiering | May 1, 2018

The woman in the film said she was 12 when a priest began to abuse her, which was complicated by feelings of being in love with him.

Confused about the situation, she eventually reached out to a religious sister at her school and then met with her parish pastor. That pastor, who was not the perpetrator, told her that, although she was young, she was “old enough to seduce a priest.” Then her parents found love-letters the priest had written. Her father accused her of sexual immorality and her mother asked, “How could you do this to us?”

Identified only as Mary, the now middle-aged woman said she lived for decades feeling the abuse was her fault, even when a therapist she visited in her 40s insisted it wasn’t. She shared her story as part of a 2016 healing circle in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, documented by its leader, Janine Geske, a law professor at Marquette University in Milwaukee, and founder and former director of Marquette’s Restorative Justice Initiative.

Geske, who also sat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1993-1998, showed the documentary April 29 at St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove and Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis. Both two-hour events included brief remarks from Geske, “The Healing Circle” video and then the opportunity for attendees to participate with small groups in the healing circle process.

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Pell’s committal to trial will give hope to victims, says legal academic

AUSTRALIA
Lawyer’s Weekly

02 MAY 2018

By: Jerome Doraisamy

The Australian cardinal is set to become the highest-ranking figure in the history of the Catholic Church to ever stand trial on criminal charges for historical child sexual abuse.

Earlier Tuesday morning, Victorian magistrate Belinda Wallington committed Cardinal George Pell to stand trial for at least two alleged offences, one of which supposedly occurred in a swimming pool in Ballarat in the 1970s, having determined there was sufficient evidence for a jury to consider.

Ms Wallington also found there was insufficient evidence to charge the Cardinal on multiple separate charges, one of which pertained to allegations of abuse in a cinema, also in Ballarat, and had those charges struck out.

Cardinal Pell was in court for the ruling, as he has been for the committal hearing in preceding months, having returned home to Australia from his post as treasurer for the Vatican.

Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart declined to make any substantive comment in relation to the court’s decision, but “expressed his confidence in the judicial system in Australia and said that justice must now take its course”, in an online statement published by Melbourne Catholic Magazine.

Dr Judy Courtin, who represents victims of institutional sexual abuse and completed a PhD at Monash University examining the appellate journey for child sexual assault convictions in Victoria, said the committal to trial would be hugely encouraging for victims and their families.

“Survivors, victims and families have been fighting to be heard for so long, and with the recent Royal Commission and Victorian inquiry, slowly but surely victims are beginning to be heard and believed,” she said.

“What this means — not just for people in Australia, but around the world — is that it’s worth stopping the silence. It’s worth speaking up and coming forward, because claims are now being taken seriously and believed by authorities.”

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Vatican confirms Pell can retain senior role in church hierarchy

AUSTRALIA
ABC – AM

May 2, 2018

By Steve Cannane

The Vatican has stated that Cardinal George Pell will not be forced to quit his role in the church hierarchy, following the decision he would stand trial on multiple historical sexual offences.

Pope Francis has said he would not comment on the case until it was over.

The 76-year old is pleading not guilty to the charges and strenuously denies all allegations.

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Pell faces demotion in Rome, Vatican expert says

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

By Nick Miller

2 May 2018

London: Cardinal George Pell is likely to be replaced as head of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy now that he has been committed to stand trial on sexual assault charges, an experienced Vatican observer says.

“The great likelihood is that he’s never going back to Rome, at least as head of the Secretariat,” said John Allen jnr, editor at Crux and a long-time reporter and author on Catholicism and the Vatican.

Before charges were laid and Pell left for Australia last year, he was one of the most powerful men in the Vatican.

He led the Secretariat, tasked with cleaning up the Vatican’s finances, rooting out corruption and embezzlement, and auditing the corners of the Holy See where money has been secreted with minimal accountability or transparency.

But that body is now on “autopilot”, Allen said.

Since Pell’s absence, it has been run by his second in command, who is not a cardinal. And it could be another 18 months before Pell is free to return, whether or not he is found guilty at trial.

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Pell continues to fight sex charges

AUSTRALIA
9 News

May 2, 2018

Cardinal George Pell has taken the next step in fighting historical sexual offence charges after being committed to stand trial.

The 76-year-old on Wednesday faced Victoria’s County Court where he will stand trial on multiple charges, the details of which cannot be revealed for legal reasons.

During a brief hearing, Judge Sue Pullen adjourned the matter to May 16 for a further mention.

Pell flew back into Sydney on Wednesday afternoon and was quizzed about whether he’d give evidence.

“Of course,” he told the Seven Network at Sydney Airport.

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Vatican treasurer’s trial on historical sex offences to last 10 weeks, court hears

AUSTRALIA
Yahoo!

May 1, 2018

MELBOURNE, May 2 (Reuters) – The trial of Vatican treasurer George Pell, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of historical sexual offences, is expected to last 10 weeks, an Australian court heard on Wednesday.

The County Court of Victoria state will hold a second hearing on May 16 to plan the trial, where a judge will consider the prosecution and defence’s request to go ahead with two separate trials that will last about 10 weeks in total.

Pell, 76, was ordered to face trial on historical sexual offences involving multiple accusers following a month-long pre-trial hearing. He reiterated his not guilty plea after a magistrate ordered the trial on Tuesday. No date been set yet.

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George Pell set to face two trials over historical assault allegations

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

By Adam Cooper

2 May 2018

George Pell is likely to face two trials and two juries, with his sexual assault charges set to be heard separately, but a date for his first trial is yet to be set.

Less than 24 hours after being committed to stand trial on half the historic sexual assault charges he faced, Cardinal Pell on Wednesday returned to court, but this time to appear before a County Court judge instead of a magistrate.

The 76-year-old moved slowly both as he arrived and left, despite the buzz of media around him, surrounded by police officers during his walks to and from a waiting car.

In court, he sat still and quietly during the short administrative hearing.

At one point after the hearing, outside the building, he turned his head towards a reporter who asked a question, but didn’t say a word.

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Australia’s Cardinal Pell in court on Wednesday on sex-abuse charges

AUSTRALIA
Crux

May 2, 2018

AP

MELBOURNE, Australia – The first details of Cardinal George Pell’s upcoming trials on sexual abuse charges emerged Wednesday when he made an administrative appearance in court.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers agreed the charges would likely be split into two separate trials which would take a total of between eight and 10 weeks to be heard.

Pell’s lawyer Robert Richter asked the judge to start the trials as soon as possible, due in part to the cardinal’s advanced age of 76. Prosecutor Mark Gibson asked for up to three months to prepare the case.

Judge Sue Pullen said she thought three months was a “little excessive.”

Pell left the court on bail ahead of his next hearing on May 16. Pullen rejected Richter’s application for Pell to be excused from attending court that day.

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2 Trials Set For Cardinal Pell On Sex Abuse Charges

AUSTRALIA
NPR

May 2, 2018

Attorneys for Cardinal George Pell, the former archbishop of Sydney, were granted a request that the allegations of child sex abuse against him that date back decades be handled in two separate trials.

Pell, the highest-ranking Vatican official to stand trial on such charges, appeared in court on Wednesday for the second day after pleading not guilty to multiple charges involving alleged sexual offenses dating from the 1970s and 1990s when he was a priest in the Melbourne area and later archbishop of the southern Australian city.

The 76-year-old Pell’s lawyer, Robert Richter, argued before Judge Sue Pullen that the charges from the 70s and those from the 90s were “of a completely different nature” and “separated by 20 years” and therefore should be handled discretely.

Last year, Pell publicly proclaimed his innocence, saying the allegations were all “false” and that “The whole idea of sexual abuse is abhorrent to me.”

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Senior Pope aide Cardinal George Pell could face two trials over abuse charges

AUSTRALIA
Telegraph (UK)

2 MAY 2018

Top Pope aide Cardinal George Pell could face two separate trials as he fights to clear his name over historic sexual offence allegations, an Australian court heard Wednesday.

A Melbourne judge on Tuesday ordered the Vatican finance chief, 76, to stand trial on multiple charges, making him the highest-ranked Catholic to face such allegations.

Pell pleaded not guilty, and half of the charges initially filed against him were thrown out.

The exact details and nature of the alleged offenses remain confidential, other than they involve “multiple charges and multiple complainants”, dating from the 1970s and 1990s.

Some of the alleged offences were at a swimming pool in the town of Ballarat in Victoria state where Pell was a priest in the 1970s, and a second set of alleged actions were at Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral in the 1990s.

At Wednesday’s brief directions hearing in the Victoria County Court, Pell’s barrister Robert Richter argued that because the charges related to different locations and were 20 years apart, they should be split and heard in two trials.

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May 1, 2018

Scotland ‘should be ashamed’ of childcare system abuse says former orphan who reveals history of beatings and trauma

SCOTLAND
Daily Record

By Conor Riordan

1 MAY 2018

Scotland “should be ashamed” for failing to face up to a history of abuse and neglect in the childcare system, a former orphanage resident has said.

The witness, who cannot be named, revealed life at Nazareth House in Aberdeen between 1968 and 1972 consisted of routine beatings, sexual assaults and emotional trauma.

Speaking at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry yesterday, he said his experiences contributed to him serving time in “many prisons” and having a history of “serious” violence.

The man, now in his 50s, said: “Scotland as a country should be ashamed that it’s taken this long for this (inquiry) to happen.

“The 21 years since I reported this, it’s hurt me a lot more than what the care system has.”

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Protecting Against Abuse At Summer Camps

UNITED STATES
Times of Israel

OPINION

BY MICHAEL J. SALAMON

May 1, 2018

With summer on the horizon and talk about camp plans at a feverish pitch, this time of year is one of excitement for many. But it can be stressful for those of us who work with sexual abuse survivors. Just a few years ago I wrote about a man that I was treating who had been sexually abused by a counselor in a sleepaway camp when he was in his early teens. I never mentioned his name nor the name of the camp. But after the piece was published, I was inundated with letters, e-mails and calls from other men — older and younger than he — telling me about their similar experiences.

In all, more than 100 people contacted me. About 30 of them had been to the same camp and were abused by the same counselor who had been promoted over the years to head counselor. It was an open secret that he would select campers to go skinny dipping with him late at night and would abuse them. Still, he was revered by many at the camp.

That abusive man has since passed on. But stories like that do not. There are many similar cases, and while there is a significant effort to prevent abuse through stricter policies and more robust vetting, it is a given that abuse will likely continue to occur.

Last summer I was informed of two situations at sleepaway camps where abuse occurred. Both of those took place at camps that have anti-harassment and abuse policies – an absolute must. What is most often missing, though, is the necessary supervision of camp employees, the need to believe a person who finally feels strong and comfortable enough to report that he or she was abused, and the proper education of children who go off to camp. While it would be a fool’s errand to believe that all abuse can be eradicated, it is these three areas — staff supervision, believing victims and educating children that can provide the most effective buffer against abusers.

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Lawsuit against Father Bob, Saginaw Diocese moved to state court

MICHIGAN
MLive

May 1, 2018

By Cole Waterman cwaterma@mlive.com

SAGINAW, MI — A lawsuit alleging the Rev. Robert J. “Father Bob” DeLand Jr. had groomed and molested a teenage boy has moved from the federal courts to the state level.

The lawsuit against DeLand, Bishop Joseph R. Cistone, and the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw was originally filed in the federal courthouse in downtown Bay City on March 12. The suit was filed by attorney Todd J. Weglarz, of Southfield firm Fieger, Fieger, Kenney & Harington, on behalf of a minor identified as John Doe and an adult representative.

The lawsuit sought a judgment against the three defendants, jointly and severally, in excess of $75,000.

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2018 Catholic Charities Appeal looks to pick up steam

NEW YORK
Buffalo News

By Harold McNeil

May 1, 201With two months remaining, the 94th annual Catholic Charities of Buffalo Appeal has reached nearly $8.9 million in cash and pledges, but needs to pick up steam, according to diocese officials.

That’s just shy of 81 percent of its 2018 goal. An additional $2.1 million has to be raised between now and June 30 in order to reach this year’s $11 million goal. Sister Mary McCarrick, diocesan director of Catholic Charities, said the organization has seen strong support, particularly after being featured in a recent segment on the Today Show, but the appeal should be closer to 90 percent of its goal or greater at this point. She said the last time the appeal failed to reach its goal was in 2009, when it was at 88 percent of its final goal at this stage of the campaign.

Funds raised during the appeal help support the 70 programs and services provided by Catholic Charities at 61 sites throughout Western New York, along with a number of ministries that are part of the Bishop’s Fund for the Faith.

“If we don’t reach our goal, we will need to take a serious look at these services to people in need,” McCarrick said in a statement announcing the progress of the campaign. “For example, it costs about $50,000 to fund one food pantry and we currently operate eight pantries; six in Erie County, and one each in Cattaraugus and Allegany County.”

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House of Commons passes ‘historic’ motion to ask Pope Francis for apology over residential schools

CANADA
Global News

May 1, 2018

By Amanda Connolly National Online Journalist

The Canadian House of Commons will formally ask Pope Francis to apologize for the role of the Catholic Church in the residential school system.

In a vote that garnered support across party lines on Tuesday, MPs supported a motion presented by NDP MP Charlie Angus for the House of Commons to ask for a formal apology from the Pope to the Indigenous peoples of Canada for the physical, sexual and emotional abuse suffered by the thousands of children forced to attend the schools.

A total of 269 Liberal, Conservative, NDP, Green and other MPs voted in favour of the motion.

Ten Conservative MPs opposed it but the motion has passed.

“I am very, very proud today,” said Angus to reporters ahead of the vote.

“This is a historic day for our country.”

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Latin American Millennials Question Pope Francis’s Handling of Sexual Abuse Cases

LATIN AMERICA
The Global Catholic Review

MAY 1, 2018

Co-authored by Dr. Kate Kingsbury* and Dr. Andrew Chesnut

Recent figures reveal that the Catholic Church is losing followers in Latin America at an accelerated rate. Contrary to pundits’ predictions, Pope Francis rather than proving popular and precipitating a proliferation in numbers of the faithful is losing support. What explains the shrinking Latin American flock? And what can the Catholic Church do to conciliate and captivate their congregants in Latin America anew?

Bad Publicity

Many assumed that a Latin American pope would entail more support within his home region and ensure the future of the Catholic Church there, but this presumption has proved erroneous. Phineas T. Barnum, a 19th century showman, enounced there is no such thing as bad publicity’. Unfortunately this adage has not proved a truism when it comes to the Catholic Church. In an era of mass media, technology has been both a friend and a foe for the Church. What in the past were once rumours or could be controverted as calumnies, have with the advent of the internet and hypercommunications come to comprise front page news stories. The inept and often corrupt handling of sex abuse scandals have tarnished the Church’s reputation, especially among Latin American Millennials who are becoming Religious Nones at unprecedented rates.

Many Latin Americans, especially Millennials, have lost faith in the Church, even if their parents and grandparents have not. As Carla, a 29 year old Ecuadorian described, ‘everybody knows that the Catholic Church cannot be trusted and that some of the clergy are guilty of paedophilia. You see it in the news all the time. I still believe in God but I do not go to church anymore as I just cannot respect the priests and pope after everything I have heard and seen. I pray in my house as does my sister and our children.’ Juan, a 23 year old from Venezuela agreed: ‘I will always believe in God as does my family, but the Catholic Church is just an institution to me now, nothing more and nothing less. Even if I don’t dislike the Pope I think he has done too little to address the many problems that plague the Church. Take Bishop Barros in Chile, for example. But my grandmother still goes to Church.’

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Canadian MPs really want the Pope to apologize for residential schools

CANADA
National Post

May 1, 2018

/the Canadian Press

OTTAWA — MPs have voted overwhelmingly to extend to Pope Francis a formal invitation to apologize in person to Indigenous Peoples for decades of abuse meted out in residential schools across Canada.

New Democrat MPs Charlie Angus and residential school survivor Romeo Saganash introduced the motion, which passed today by a margin of 269-10.

Cheers erupted for both MPs as they voted; Angus held aloft a feather as his vote was acknowledged.

Among the 94 calls to action by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was to ask for an apology, to be delivered in Canada by the pontiff, for the church’s role in the residential school abuse of First Nations, Inuit and Metis children.

But in March, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops said that while the Pope acknowledged the commission’s findings and expressed regret for past wrongs, he “felt he could not personally respond.”

The motion also calls on the Catholic Church to pay money owed to residential school survivors and to turn over relevant documentation regarding the government-sponsored schools.

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Child sexual abuse inquiry to hold hearings in Nottingham

UNITED KINGDOM
West Bridgford Wire

May 1, 2018

The Inquiry will come to Trent Bridge Cricket Ground from 1 to 5 October 2018, where the Chair, Professor Alexis Jay OBE, and panel will hear opening statements and evidence from some witnesses.

The Inquiry will spend three weeks looking into the extent of any institutional failures to protect children in the care of Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire Councils from abuse and exploitation.

It will also look at how institutions including those councils and the police responded to any abuse claims.

The remaining two weeks of the hearing will take place at the Inquiry’s hearing centre in London.

Further details will be provided on the Inquiry’s website www.iicsa.org.uk and Twitter feed @InquiryCSA

Children living in care in residential homes and foster families are amongst the most vulnerable children in society. Allegations of widespread sexual abuse and exploitation of children who were in the care of Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire Council require detailed public scrutiny.

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In a Town of 2,000, Three Consecutive Priests Abused Children for 30 Years

NEW YORK
Friendly Atheist

APRIL 30, 2018

BY TERRY FIRMA

When the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, New York recently released a list of priests credibly accused of child sex abuse, parishioners in Angola, 20 miles to the south, were in disbelief. Because on that list were four priests who had served their town of just over 2,000 people.

What … set Most Precious Blood [the parish church] apart from other parishes was the span in which one accused priest after another worked in the parish for nearly 30 consecutive years.

The Rev. Fred G. Fingerle was assigned as an associate pastor there from 1967 to 1977, except for one year at another parish in 1970. Fingerle was succeeded by the Rev. John P. Hajduk from 1977 to 1982. And Hajduk was followed by Monsignor J. Grant Higgins, who served as pastor from 1983 until 1997.

I wonder if they traded tips about their victims as they passed the baton.

The fourth accused priest was the Rev. James H. Cotter, assigned to Most Precious Blood from 1955 to 1958.

A true pioneer, that one.

“The sticker shock was the number, not that it had happened,” said longtime member Karen A. Erickson. “The sticker shock of so many in your community was what had people talking.”

Her fellow believers in certain other towns in upper New York state surely feel the same way.

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Press Office: Statement on Cardinal George Pell

VATICAN CITY
Vatican News

The Holy See releases a press statement after the Australian court orders Cardinal George Pell to stand trial.

The Holy See on Tuesday released the following statement regarding Cardinal George Pell.

Holy See’s Statement

“The Holy See has taken note of the decision issued by judicial authorities in Australia regarding His Eminence Cardinal George Pell. Last year, the Holy Father granted Cardinal Pell a leave of absence so he could defend himself from the accusations. The leave of absence is still in place.”

Today’s ruling

Cardinal George Pell appeared in an Australian court on Tuesday and entered a not guilty plea to the criminal charges against him. At the conclusion of preliminary hearings, a Melbourne magistrate dismissed some of the charges against Cardinal Pell, but decided that others warrant a jury trial. Trial proceedings will begin on Wednesday in Victoria State County Court.

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Why Won’t Pope Francis Quit Cardinal Pell, His Sketchy No. 3?

ROME
The Daily Beast

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU

05.01.18

ROME—Cardinal George Pell, the 76-year-old head of the Vatican’s Secretariat of the Economy, will stand trial in Melbourne, Australia, for criminal sexual abuse he is alleged to have inflicted on young boys in his home country during the 1970s and ’90s.

Exact details of the charges have not been made public due to victim privacy laws, but one of the alleged incidents apparently took place over a 12-month period with a child from St. Joseph’s Boys Home, according to reporters in Australia. Another is purported to have occurred at various times with the same victim in a local swimming pool frequented by a Catholic youth group under Pell’s supervision.

Pell’s alleged behavior has been the focus of a committal hearing in Australia meant to determine if there is enough criminal evidence to support a jury trial. Pell left Vatican City last June to face his accusers, despite initially pleading ill health that would have kept him safe inside the protected Vatican city-state, where he enjoys diplomatic status.

After a month of hearings in which the court heard disturbing details of the alleged abuse from a number of victims, including one event that is said to have occurred during the screening of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Magistrate Belinda Wallington ruled that several of the accusations were to be dismissed due to either lack of or incoherent evidence. Only two of the many allegations against him have enough solid evidence to warrant a trial, she said, though it cannot yet be reported which two those are.

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Masses of security, media and protesters at Cardinal George Pell trial

AUSTRALIA
Newstalk ZB

1 May 2018

A mass of security, media and protestors honed in today for a court appearance of Australia’s Cardinal George Pell.

The 76-year-old pleaded not guilty to historic sex offences dating back to the 1970’s and 1990’s at a Melbourne magistrate’s court.

Pell has maintained his innocence since allegations came to light, and taken leave from his position at the Vatican to fight the complaints.

Australian correspondent Murray Olds told Larry Williams several more charges were on the table but ultimately thrown out.

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The Latest: Cardinal Pell has court appearance Wednesday

AUSTRALIA
Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Latest on Cardinal George Pell (all times local):

3:30 p.m.

Cardinal George Pell has been ordered to appear Wednesday in the Victoria state County Court where he will eventually stand trial.

Under his bail conditions, Pell cannot leave Australia, contact prosecution witnesses and he must give police notice of any change of address.

An Australian magistrate earlier Tuesday ordered the most senior Vatican official to be charged in the Catholic Church sex abuse crisis to stand trial.

He entered a plea of not guilty. Melbourne Magistrate Belinda Wallington dismissed some charges but decided the prosecution’s case on others was strong enough to warrant a trial by jury.

Details have not been disclosed about the crimes alleged to have occurred decades ago.

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Mikvah-peeping Rabbi Barry Freundel’s jail sentence reduced by over a year due to good behavior

WASHINGTON (DC)
JTA

By Josefin Dolsten

April 26, 2018

(JTA) — The jail sentence of Rabbi Barry Freundel, a once-prominent Modern Orthodox rabbi in Washington, D.C. who secretly filmed women in his synagogue’s mikvah, has been shortened by over a year due to good behavior, his lawyer said.

Freundel’s 6 1/2-year sentence also was reduced because he participated as an instructor in a program to educate other inmates, the attorney, Jeffrey Harris, told JTA on Thursday.

A day earlier, the D.C. Department of Corrections had sent an email to Freundel’s victims saying the rabbi would be released on Aug. 21. On Thursday, however, the department sent another email saying that Freundel will be released on Aug. 21, 2020. Director Quincy Booth told JTA in a statement that the original email was sent in error.

“In the case of Mr. Freundal [sic], the email incorrectly calculated his scheduled release date and sent the email to Mr. Freundal’s victims who signed up for the VINE service,” Booth said, referring to the department’s automated notification system. “DOC has corrected the error that caused the incorrect release calculation and email notification.”

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Malka Leifer – Alleged Sexual Predator

ISRAEL/AUSTRALIA
Times of Israel

May 1, 2918

Shoshana Mael

In my lifetime, I’ve met hundreds of people who’ve been sexually abused. It’s not something I’ll ever get used to, although it doesn’t shock me in the same way that it once did. Still, hearing stories about children being victimized in the Orthodox community is something that will forever shake me to my core. Maybe it’s because I still feel a familial connection to that community, and personal tragedy isn’t something you can inoculate yourself against. Whatever the reason, today I feel compelled to write about Malka Leifer, a former high school principal from Australia, and the three sisters who went public with allegations of sexually abusive behavior and are in the process of fighting for justice.

I want to focus on three elements of this situation that are unique to Orthodox communities, and make this story all the more painful.

1. The sisters were raised by a mercurial and abusive mother. This made them particularly susceptible to the manipulative tactics of Ms. Leifer, as they were desperate for maternal affection and attention. Ms. Leifer preyed on them, knowing that they were keeping their volatile home situation a secret. To them, this secrecy was necessary because should word get out that they came from a dysfunctional family, their shidduch prospects would be negatively affected. While there are many reasons why children don’t disclose parental abuse, fear of not finding a ‘suitable’ husband should never be one of them.

2. Within the Orthodox community, there exists a lack of boundaries that allows abuse and molestation to fester. The sisters relate how Ms. Leifer would invite girls to her house and and spend time alone with them in her office, with the blinds drawn and the door closed. In the closeness of the Orthodox community, questionable boundaries are allowed to exist because the small size of the community is rife with dual relationships. It’s common for your pediatrician to also be your neighbor and also be the person you sit next to in shul. There’s a dangerous and naive sense of trust that all such behavior is innocent. Ms. Leifer was able to exploit this fact and crossed boundaries with the three sisters — in public — and later progressed to significantly worse violations. It is a shame that her behavior was chalked up to ‘taking girls under her wing’ and wasn’t recognized for the grooming behavior that it was.

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‘We are deeply sorry’ – boarding schools apologise for child abuse

UNITED KINGDOM
tes

By Charlotte Santry

01 May 2018

Boarding schools must correct “the wrongs of the past” and create “obstructive obstacles” to deter potential abusers, headteachers have been told today.

Martin Reader, the chair of the Boarding Schools’ Association (BSA), is today set to apologise for the abuse suffered by former pupils, on behalf of his organisation’s members.

Addressing the BSA’s annual conference in Brighton today, he will say: “It is to our great shame that there have been those adults at our schools who have used their positions of power to abuse those they were supposed to be looking after, or have failed to use their positions of power to stand up against those abusers, putting school reputations before children.

“We are deeply sorry to the victims and survivors of the abuse that happened in our schools and are thoroughly committed to making our schools as safe as possible.”

His comments follow recent media reports about the scale of abuse at UK boarding schools, including in recent years.

Ampleforth College, in North Yorkshire, is currently subject to three ongoing police investigations into historic allegations of sexual offences.

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Australian cardinal to face trial on sexual abuse charges

AUSTRALIA
Associated Press

By ROD McGUIRK

May 1, 2018

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Vatican official to be charged in the Catholic Church sex abuse crisis, must stand trial on charges alleging he sexually abused multiple victims decades ago, a magistrate ruled Tuesday.

Magistrate Belinda Wallington dismissed around half the charges that had been heard in the four-week preliminary hearing in Melbourne but decided the prosecution’s case was strong enough for the remainder to warrant a trial by jury. The number of charges has not been made public

When she asked Pell how he pleaded, the cardinal said in a firm voice, “Not guilty.” Wallington gave the 76-year-old permission not to stand, which is customary. …

Anne Barrett Doyle, of BishopAccountability.org, a Massachusetts-based online abuse resource, described the magistrate’s decision to make Pell stand trial as “a turning point in the global abuse crisis in the Catholic Church.”

“Whatever its outcome, the judge’s decision marks the victory of accountability over impunity, and of the rule of secular law over the Vatican’s failed strategy of cover-up,” she said.

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Cardinal George Pell trial ruling welcomed by survivors’ rights group

ROME
The Guardian (UK)

Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome

1 May 2018

A survivors’ rights group has hailed as a “turning point” an Australian magistrate’s ruling that Cardinal George Pell, one of the most senior officials in the Vatican, will stand trial on historical sexual offence charges.

The decision by Belinda Wallington comes as the church in Rome continues to be dogged by accusations that it has failed to do enough to come to grips with a sexual abuse crisis.

For some advocates, the development in Melbourne was a rare victory for secular law, after decades in which the church has handled priests and senior clergy accused of sexual abuse within the Vatican’s own judicial system.

“[The] decision today … marks a turning point in the global abuse crisis in the Catholic church,” said a statement by BishopsAccountability.org, which tracks cases of alleged abuse. “The Australian government has put the Catholic church on equal footing with other institutions, and treated its leaders as fellow citizens.”

In Rome, the question now is whether Pope Francis is prepared to take tougher action against accused priests, as well as the bishops who have been accused of protecting them.

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Lancaster Co. man sexually abused by priest says testimony to grand jury afforded emotional release

PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive

May 1, 2018

By Ivey DeJesus idejesus@pennlive.com

In the fall of 2016, after a lifetime of torment from painful memories, Todd Frey got an emotional release.

After nearly four decades of living with the pain and confusion of having been sexually molested by his priest, Frey got the chance to talk about it before a panel of men and women who he hopes can help give him the opportunity to seek legal recourse.

Frey in October of that year testified before the 40th Statewide Grand Jury, which is investigating the sexual abuse of children across six dioceses in Pennsylvania.

“Ever since grand jury listened to me that day that I spoke, I felt like I was truly counted,” said Frey, who is nearing his 50th birthday. “It made a difference. It made a big difference.”

Frey, of Lancaster County, is among an untold number of victims who in the past 18 months have testified before the grand jury as the state attorney general’s office wraps up its investigation into the dioceses of Harrisburg, Allentown, Pittsburgh, Erie, Scranton and Greensburg.

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Cardinal Pell to remain on leave after indictment: Vatican says

VATICAN CITY
Yahoo!

May 1, 2018

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Cardinal George Pell will remain on a leave of absence from the Vatican after an Australian court ordered him to stand trial on charges of historical sexual offences, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

A statement said the Holy See had “taken note” of the ruling. [L8N1S814C].

It said the leave of absence that Pope Francis had granted Pell, head of the Vatican’s economy ministry, last year so he could defend himself “is still in place”. Pell pleaded not guilty.

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Vatican treasurer to face trial in Australia on historical sexual offense charges

AUSTRALIA
Reuters

May 1, 2018

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Vatican Treasurer George Pell must face trial on charges of historical sexual offences, an Australian court ruled on Tuesday, making him the most senior Catholic official to be tried on such allegations. He pleaded not guilty.

Magistrate Belinda Wallington handed down her decision that Pell’s case will proceed to trial in a Melbourne court, following a month-long pre-trial hearing.

Pell did not comment when he left the court, surrounded by police and flanked by his legal team.

Pope Francis has said he would not comment on the case involving his economy minister until it was over.

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