ABUSE TRACKER

LANSING (MI)
The Associated Press

March 11, 2018

Michigan is looking to shore up its law that requires certain people to report suspected child sexual abuse to authorities to address gaps that were exposed after disgraced former sports doctor Larry Nassar admitted to sexually assaulting female athletes.

Nassar’s victims are spearheading the initiative, saying he could have been stopped decades ago if coaches, athletic trainers or others at Michigan State University had listened to them. More than 250 women and girls have said the now-imprisoned Nassar molested them with his ungloved hands under the guise of medical treatment.

No one has faced charges yet for not reporting the abuse, but multiple investigations are underway into Michigan State’s handling of complaints.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

March 9, 2018

By James Dearie

More details about the handling of predatory priests in the Diocese of Buffalo, New York, are coming to light after a 52-year-old man came forward last week with allegations that he was abused by Fr. Norbert Orsolits, a now-retired priest of the diocese.

The Olean Times Herald reported March 2 that Orsolits, now 78, claims he was assigned to serve at multiple parishes and to teach at Archbishop Walsh High School in Olean, New York, after receiving treatment for his predatory behavior in the 1980s. Earlier that week, Orsolits had admitted to The Buffalo News that he had abused “probably dozens” of young boys during his career as a priest.

Some who knew Orsolits during his time as a pastor of a parish in Portville, New York, his next assignment after Olean, told The Buffalo News March 1 that Orsolits had worked extensively with children there, too, leading youth groups and ski trips, often as the only adult present.

When asked about Orsolits’ claims regarding his post-treatment service, an attorney for the diocese said at a press conference March 1 that he was “not aware of that,” but the diocese would “take a look and see if” the claims were true.

Orsolits also says that he did not molest any more victims after his release from treatment.

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SAGINAW (MI)
WSGW

March 8, 2018

By John Hall

Saginaw County Prosecutor John McColgan says a special investigative team is being formed to coordinate and address allegations of abuse involving officials within the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw. The announcement Thursday follows criminal sexual conduct charges filed recently against 71-year- old Rev.Robert DeLand, which came from two male accusers, ages 17 and 21. Saginaw County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Mark Gaertner estimates 20 to 30 accusations of abuse have been delivered to authorities, with some dating as far back as the 1970s. Gaertner predicts more tips will be provided that will have to be followed up on, possibly leading to other charges. He said those may not only involve Deland, but possibly other priests, as well.

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CAPE TOWN (SOUTH AFRICA)
IOL

March 11, 2018

By Bulelwa Payi

The Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa has apologised for its past wrongs and failure to address sexual abuse claims.
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba was responding to damning allegations of sexual assault of a former Anglican and award-winning South African author Ishtiyaq Shukri by priests at St Cyprian’s School in Kimberley, Northern Cape.

Shukri’s best known work, The Silent Minaret, is about a South African Muslim boy facing prejudice in London in the wake of 9/11, which won the EU Literary Award in 2004.

“As the Archbishop of southern Africa, I take responsibility for what has happened during the time of my predecessors and where we have wronged or failed anyone, we beg their forgiveness,” Makgoba said.

He said the church’s Synod of Bishops in southern Africa was “shocked and distressed” to hear of Shukri’s abuse. He expressed his commitment to focus on claims of abuse levelled against the church’s leaders who were entrusted to give pastoral care, especially when nothing had been done about such allegations.

Makgoba said Shukri had been in touch with one of the bishops but was “unwilling to go into detail or name the person or persons who had abused him”.

“While respecting his wishes, we usually urge victims of abuse to lay charges with the police and with church authorities. The police are often better equipped to investigate cases than we are, especially in cases which go back many decades and may have occurred in dioceses whose former leaders have died,” Makgoba added.

Shukri broke his more than 40-year silence in an open letter to the press on sexual assaults he allegedly endured from various priests at St Cyprian’s Grammar School.

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ENGLAND
BBC News

March 12, 2018

A Church of England vicar who “spiritually abused” a boy has been banned from ministry for two years.

The Reverend Timothy Davis is understood to be the first priest to have been convicted of such abuse by the Bishop’s Disciplinary Tribunal.

Mr Davis, of Christ Church, Abingdon, held two-hour private prayer sessions in the teenager’s bedroom after moving in with his family in 2013.

He also told his victim his girlfriend was “evil” and a “bad seed”.

Mr Davis lived with the family, who were members of his congregation, for six months after meeting the boy during a mentoring programme.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

March 12, 2018

A former Irish president has told how her brother suffered abuse by paedophile priest Fr Malachy Finnegan.

Mary McAleese described his experience as a student at St Colman’s College in Newry as “serious, physical and sadistic”.

She has called for an independent inquiry into the Catholic Church’s response to the allegations.

Fr Finnegan taught at the school from 1967 to 1976 and was later school president. He died in 2002.

He is accused of a catalogue of physical and emotional abuse on pupils.

Speaking to Irish broadcaster RTÉ on Monday, Mrs McAleese said the abuse against her youngest brother, Clement Leneghan, continued “all the years” he was at St Colman’s.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Kansas City Star

March 11, 2018

By Eric Adler

District Court Judge Gregory W. Moeller peered down from the bench, aghast.

“I was horrified by the case,” the Idaho judge recalled recently.

In front of him, ready for sentencing, Keith Strawn — a father, 6-foot-3 with black-framed glasses the color of his boyish haircut — stood sad and penitent.

Strawn thought he had been doing right by his 15-year-old daughter, Heather, only to realize too late what a massive mistake he had made bringing her to Missouri — the easiest place in America for a 15-year-old to wed.

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VERNON HILLS (IL)
The Associated Press

March 11, 2018

Police in the Chicago suburb of Vernon Hills say a high school soccer coach who allegedly engaged in “unlawful sexual acts” with three boys has been arrested on felony sexual assault charges.

On Saturday they said they launched their investigation that led to the arrest of 28-year-old Cori Beard began last week after a parent of one of the alleged victims contacted a staff member at Vernon Hills High School where Beard is a part-time coach.

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ENGLAND
The Telegraph

March 11, 2018

By Callum Adams

Up to 1,000 children could have been abused in Britain’s biggest ever child abuse scandal, an investigation has revealed.

Hundreds of children, some as young as 11, are estimated to have been drugged, beaten and raped over a 40-year period in the town of Telford.

Lucy Allan, the Conservative MP for Telford, has called for an inquiry into child sexual exploitation, saying the latest reports were “extremely serious and shocking”. She has previously called for a “Rotherham-style inquiry” into the allegations.

“There must now be an independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Telford so that our community can have absolute confidence in the authorities,” she told the Sunday Mirror.

The investigation claims that allegations dating back to the 1980s were mishandled by authorities in Telford, who repeatedly failed to punish a network of abusers.

Victims claimed that similar abuse, which has been linked to three murders and two other deaths, has continued in the area.

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ATLANTA (GA)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

March 10, 2018

On Friday the Roman Catholic Church came out strongly against legislation that would extend the time child abuse victims would have to sue the perpetrators and the institutions that harbored them.

Rep. Jason Spencer, R-Woodbine, introduced House Bill 605 and pushed it through his chamber, saying many victims don’t find the courage to acknowledge abuse until they’re older than 40. His bill would extend the statute of limitations from age 23 to 38 and possibly longer.

The bill is now in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Catholic Church and others lobbied quietly behind the scenes to gut the bill.

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BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

March 12, 2018

Great majority of priests have never harmed a soul

All are shocked at news of even one priest abusing a child. That shock is compounded by The News’ careful research and listing of 19 priests accused of abuse. I am equally shocked by the lack of compassion for the hundreds of priests who have served my church with sacrifice, love and devotion without any hint of wrongdoing.

Next month marks my 83rd year as a Catholic in this diocese. I have been active in my church and have volunteered most of my life and I have never met or even heard of a priest abusing anyone.

Judith Burns-Quinn’s unsubstantiated claim that the number of priests guilty of abuse is double or triple the number reported is simply her speculation based upon her unscientific sample.

Reporting that speculation places every priest in the Buffalo Catholic Diocese under suspicion of participating in abuse. How unfair that is to so many good men who have given their lives to be our spiritual solace in our good times and in our bad times.

Thomas R. Beecher Jr.

Buffalo

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

March 12, 2018

By Vivienne Clarke, Patsy McGarry

Ex-president says sibling only recently revealed abuse by Fr Malachy Finnegan

Former president Mary McAleese is calling for an independent inquiry into physical and sexual abuse at St Colman’s College in Newry, Co Down.

She told RTÉ’s Today with Sean O’Rourke show that her youngest brother had only recently revealed to her, at the age of 49, that he was abused by Fr Malachy Finnegan for all the years he attended the school.

She said her brother, Clem Leneghan, had been “seriously, physically, sadistically” abused, and her 90-year old mother had only learned of the abuse by reading a letter which he had published in the Belfast Telegraph some weeks ago.

Ms McAleese, who became upset as she spoke at the topic, said she had always thought that her brothers could speak to her about anything. She had been very distressed to think that her brother had suffered for so long and did not feel he could tell anyone.

The abuse went on for all the years he was at St Colman’s, she said. There were many people who knew what was going on and could have done something but did not do so.

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NEW YORK (NY)
New York Post

March 10, 2018

By Raquel Laneri

One day in February 2016, Chessy Prout, then 17, picked up an issue of Vanity Fair. The magazine had published a story about her rape case, in which she claimed an 18-year-old senior at her former high school, the elite New England academy St. Paul’s, had sexually assaulted her two years prior. But as she read, Prout grew furious.

Her assailant, Owen Labrie — who the previous year was acquitted of felony sexual assault but convicted on three misdemeanor counts of statutory rape and using a computer to lure a minor for sex — was described as a golden boy: handsome, suntanned, captain of the varsity soccer team and “a winner of the headmaster’s award for selfless devotion to school activities” whose Ivy League admission was rescinded after his arrest.

Prout, unnamed in the story, felt she was portrayed as a “blank nothing . . . privileged, preppy, naive, impressionable, flummoxed.”

“I’m tired of being an anonymous victim while my attacker is this superstar scholar-athlete,” she told her mother. “I want . . . the people who write about me to . . . see I’m a person.”

So she decided to come forward and not be an anonymous victim anymore. Now, Prout, 19, has co-written a memoir, “I Have the Right To: A High School Survivor’s Story of Sexual Assault, Justice, and Hope” (Margaret K. McElderry Books, out now).

The case was a lightning rod, attracting attention for its sensational details and setting off controversy about the prep-school world of privilege and elitism — especially as some members of the St. Paul’s community felt that their traditions were being threatened. (Alumni of the school include John Kerry and former New York City mayor John Lindsay.)

Right now, it’s particularly potent in the #MeToo era, when women — and men — are going public with their tales of harassment and assault.

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COLOMBIA
ACI Prensa

>>>Captured priest sentenced to 12 years in prison for child sexual abuse

March 10, 2018

El Cuerpo Técnico de Investigación de la Fiscalía General de Colombia capturó al sacerdote P. Carlos Mario Cadavid, quien deberá cumplir una sentencia de 12 años de prisión por cometer abuso sexual a una menor de 9 años.

Según indica la fiscalía, el presbítero de 40 años fue capturado el 8 de marzo “en una finca de la vereda Alto de la Virgen, en Copacabana (Antioquia) y será enviado al centro de reclusión que determine el Instituto Nacional Penitenciario y Carcelario”.

De acuerdo al fallo de agosto de 2014 de la Sala Penal del Tribunal Superior de Antioquia, el sacerdote tuvo actos sexuales con una niña que participaba en una reunión de acólitos en un templo de Abejorral, en Antioquia.

[Google Translation: Captured priest sentenced to 12 years in prison for child sexual abuse

The Technical Investigation Body of the General Prosecutor of Colombia captured the priest P. Carlos Mario Cadavid, who must serve a sentence of 12 years in prison for committing sexual abuse to a child under 9 years of age.

According to the prosecutor’s office , the 40-year-old priest was captured on March 8 “on a farm in the Alto de la Virgen district, in Copacabana (Antioquia) and will be sent to the detention center determined by the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute”.

According to the August 2014 ruling of the Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Antioquia, the priest had sexual acts with a girl who participated in a meeting of acolytes in a temple of Abejorral, in Antioquia.]

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SPRINGFIELD (MISSOURI)
Springfield (MO) News-Leader

March 11, 2018

By Harrison Keegan

After settling a lawsuit last year for an undisclosed sum, the Springfield-based national office of the Assemblies of God is again being sued in Oregon over child sex abuse allegations.

Six men sued the General Council and other church entities in February, claiming they were sexually abused in the 1980s by two volunteers in the Assemblies of God’s Boy Scouts-like Royal Rangers program in Oregon.

A similar lawsuit was filed in 2016, and a financial settlement was reached in that case in October, according to the plaintiffs’ Portland-based attorney Gilion Dumas.

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WORLD
The Pulse (Nigeria)

March 11, 2018

By Inemesit Udodiong

A new study shows Pontiff’s popularity in the US may be dwindling, ahead of his five year anniversary.

Catholics are unhappy with Pontiff for being “too liberal and naïve.”

This is based on a newly released Pew Research survey, conducted between January 10 and 15, among 316 Catholics and 1,503 American adults.

According to this poll, 55% of Republican-leaning Catholics say the Pope is “too liberal.” In 2015, only 23% felt this way.

Pew reports: “The share of American Catholics who say Pope Francis is “too liberal” has jumped 15 percentage points between 2015 and today, from 19% to 34%. And about a quarter of U.S. Catholics (24%) now say he is naïve, up from 15% in 2015.”

It is not all bad for Pope Francis

Overall, Pope Francis is still loved by most American Catholics. 84 find him great while nine in 10 U.S. Catholics describe him as “compassionate” and “humble.”

“The share of American Catholics who give Pope Francis “excellent” or “good” marks for his handling of the sex abuse scandal dropped from 55% to 45%,” the report adds.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

March 12, 2018

By Jane Norman

The Catholic Church has hit back at claims it is “making excuses” and dragging its feet on a compensation scheme for victims of child sexual abuse.

The Prime Minister and the Attorney-General have been pressuring the church to join the national redress scheme, with Malcolm Turnbull saying institutions that don’t sign up should be publicly “shamed”.

In a major development, New South Wales and Victoria last week became the first states to sign up to the scheme, which would provide up to $150,000 in compensation to victims of child sex abuse.

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CAPE TOWN (SOUTH AFRICA)
IOL (Independent Online)

March 11, 2018

The Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa has apologised for its past wrongs and failure to address sexual abuse claims.

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba was responding to damning allegations of sexual assault of a former Anglican and award-winning South African author Ishtiyaq Shukri by priests at St Cyprian’s School in Kimberley, Northern Cape.

Shukri’s best known work, The Silent Minaret, is about a South African Muslim boy facing prejudice in London in the wake of 9/11, which won the EU Literary Award in 2004.

“As the Archbishop of southern Africa, I take responsibility for what has happened during the time of my predecessors and where we have wronged or failed anyone, we beg their forgiveness,” Makgoba said.

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MAITLAND (FL)
Orlando Sentinel

March 11, 2018

By Bianca Padró Ocasio

The whispers Kevin Busby overheard from classmates when students learned a basketball coach was leaving the Orangewood Christian School still ring out in his mind, more than 20 years later.

The news, delivered over the school’s speakers in 1996, was that Tim Manes, who coached basketball and cross-country at the Maitland school, would not be coming back to the school and no students were to contact him.

“I thought, ‘This is how we’re going to deal with this?’ ” Busby, now 38, said of Manes, the man he said abused him in a locker room shower when he was 15.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Christian Post

March 11, 2018

By Stoyan Zaimov

Over 60 percent of Christian women in the U.K. have said in a survey that they have experienced sexism in the Church, while 75 percent insisted that God finds both men and women equal and able to preach His word.

A booklet on the poll results, titled “Minding the Gap,” released March 8 by the Sophia Network, a group which seeks to empower women in Church leadership, said that while most respondents, at 86 percent, feel like valued members of the Church family, there are still big problems to tackle.

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TRENTON (NJ)
The Trentonian

March 10, 2018

By Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman

An Ocean County man who possessed over 36,000 videos and images of child pornography pleaded guilty Tuesday to distributing child pornography online.

Anthony White, 31, of Lakewood, is facing a six-year recommended prison sentence and will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law, but two New Jersey experts warn that sex offender registration and notification laws do not prevent sexual violence.

Psychology professors Elizabeth Jeglic of Cranbury and Cynthia Calkins Mercado of Union City dispute the conventional wisdom of Megan’s Law in a new book. …

… Their book, published Feb. 13, also talks about the child abuse sex scandals that have rocked the Roman Catholic Church in recent years, mentions convicted pedophile Jerry Sandusky of Penn State University football shame and highlights President Donald Trump’s controversial “locker room talk” from 2005 that emerged during the 2016 presidential campaign in which the billionaire real estate mogul talked about grabbing women by the genitals.

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COAHUILA (MEXICO)
Mexico News Daily

March 10, 2018

Sexual abuse ‘survivor’ alleges they are part of a network of pedophiles

A man who describes himself as a survivor of sexual abuse in the Catholic church has given church authorities a list of 17 priests whom he alleges are part of a “network of pedophiles.”

The first indication of sexual abuse in the diocese of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, was revealed when two men came forward and formally accused parish priest Juan Manuel Riojas of sexual assault.

Close to 20 men of the cloth are now facing similar accusations.

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TALLAHASSEE (FL)
Associated Press

March 10, 2018

A woman who was 11 when she was forced to marry her rapist has worked for six years to ban child marriages in Florida. On Friday, she was hailed as a hero after the Legislature passed a bill prohibiting marriage for anyone under 17.

State lawmakers have repeatedly cited Sherry Johnson as an inspiration to change the law. She watched in the House gallery as the bill passed the House on a 109-1 vote, then stood as representatives turned to face her and applauded.

“My heart is happy,” she said afterward. “My goal was to protect our children and I feel like my mission has been accomplished. This is not about me. I survived.”

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SPRINGFIELD (IL)
The State Journal-Register

March 10, 2018

By Steven Spearie

Teresa Morris Kettelkamp never envisioned such a quick return to Rome.

“Stunned. That pretty much captures it,” said Kettelkamp, a Springfield resident and Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception parishioner, about her appointment Feb. 17 by Pope Francis to a three-year term to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, finding out after an early birthday lunch at Bella Milano.

The Vatican had taken note of her work as a staff member working in Rome with the same commission, which drafts guidelines for the protection of minors and vulnerable adults as well as healing and care for sexual abuse victims and survivors, before she left in November to be closer to her family in Illinois. Kettelkamp was the only American among the nine new members named to the commission.

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ATLANTA (GA)
Archdiocese of Atlanta

March 9, 2018

Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory has released the following letter in response to HB 605, a bill that is under consideration in the current session of the Georgia General Assembly.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

When I am called to stand before our Heavenly Father to make a full and final accounting of my priestly life and ministry, I will first humbly ask His Mercy for all the times I’ve fallen short in my service to Him and to His people. If I’m asked what I did to bring people to Him, I’ll recall the countless Sacraments I’ve celebrated with so many of you, the faith-filled social interactions we have shared, the remarkable opportunities to teach and to lead and to be present during moments of incredible joy and incalculable sorrow.

And when He asks me that for which I am most thankful in my service to His Church, it will have been my work in restoring trust to His people, assuring safe environments in Catholic settings that serve as examples to the wider community, and helping to bring about healing and hope to those in our faith family who have been sexually abused by members of our Catholic clergy – work I still wish more than anything on earth had never been necessary, work that we can never call complete.

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GEORGIA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

March 9, 2018

By Ty Tagami

A Georgia legislative proposal to give adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse more time to sue pedophiles and organizations has encountered opposition from the Catholic Church.

A lobbyist for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta proposes gutting a bill that would extend the statute of limitations for lawsuits and make it easier to sue entities that harbored pedophiles.

The Archdiocese is led by a clergyman who was in charge of the U.S. Catholic church’s response in the early 2000s to the priest pedophilia scandal and who has publicly spoken out for justice for the victims.

Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory issued a statement Friday after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution sought comment about the church’s lobbying effort, saying the bill was “extraordinarily unfair” to the church and would hinder its mission by allowing lawsuits for actions that occurred years ago.

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VATICAN CITY
Agence France-Press via Yahoo News

By Catherine Marciano

March 10, 2018

As Pope Francis marks the fifth year of his papacy next week, the pontiff once hailed as a fearless reformer is under fire for his handling of the sex abuse scandals that have rocked the Roman Catholic Church.

Since taking over in March 2013, the 81-year-old Argentinian has championed the cause of the marginalised, saying he wanted a “poor church for the poor” and shunning papal palaces and ostentatious displays of wealth.

His reform agenda has introduced the possibility in certain cases to allow divorced and remarried believers to take communion, although he still agrees with the Church’s traditional positions on other issues, such as abortion, artificial contraception and gay marriage.

But the sex abuse scandals have haunted his papacy and last month the Vatican announced it was reviving its anti-paedophile panel.

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BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

March 11, 2018

By Jay Tokasz

Bishop Richard J. Malone is reconsidering a longstanding Catholic Diocese of Buffalo policy that withholds the names of priests who have been accused of sexual abuse.

Publicizing the names of clergy alleged to have molested children would reverse a tradition that’s been in place for more than 15 years.

“We’re looking at it anew,” Malone said following his recent announcement that the diocese has established a new fund to compensate victims of clergy sex abuse.

A retired priest’s admission in February that he molested “probably dozens” of boys in the 1970s and 1980s re-ignited concerns that clergy sexual abuse in Western New York was more devastating and widespread than accounts provided so far by diocesan leaders. The Rev. Norbert F. Orsolits admitted the abuse to The News after a South Buffalo resident accused the priest of molesting him on a ski trip in the early 1980s. The admissions prompted additional allegations against Orsolits, as well as new public accusations against other priests.

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PORTLAND (ME)
Associated Press

March 9, 2018

A federal jury apparently didn’t believe seven men when they testified under oath that they were sexually abused by the founder of an orphanage in Haiti.

But things have changed since summer 2015. The number of men willing to testify about alleged abuse they endured as boys in Haiti has grown to at least 15, activist Paul Kendrick says, and the #MeToo movement has raised awareness of sexual misconduct.

Kendrick predicts a different outcome in a new defamation lawsuit targeting his claim that the orphanage was led by a serial pedophile.

“We have overwhelming amounts of evidence and testimony that this guy is a child abuser,” Kendrick said, “and we’re not done yet.”

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NEW YORK
Syracuse Post-Standard

March 9, 2019

By Editorial Board

New York should join 37 other states and the District of Columbia that have instituted early voting. The Legislature should do it this year, so that it can be tested in the 2019 off-year election and fully operational by the 2020 presidential election. …

… Here are two more proposals we support that have been kicking around Albany for years. Cuomo included them in his budget, which may raise their chances of passing:

Child Victims Act: Justice for sex abuse survivors

The current statute of limitations gives survivors of child sexual abuse five years from the time they turn 18 to bring a criminal complaint; civil lawsuits must be brought within three years of age 18. Abuse survivors often do not come to terms with the trauma until much later than that. Cuomo’s version of the Child Victims Act – tougher than the bill he supported last year – would allow criminal prosecution anytime of a sexually related felony that was committed against a child under age 18. It would extend the statute of limitations for civil claims to 50 years from the date of the offense. The legislation also would open a one-year window to allow past victims who were shut out by the statute of limitations to sue. They would still have to prove their claims to a judge.

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ROME
The Irish Times

March 10, 2018

By Patsy McGarry

He has appalled the Catholic right, disappointed liberals and delivered little real change

Last Wednesday evening in Rome was much like that of March 13th, 2013: damp and drizzly with an air of no great expectation. Sightseers and pilgrims wandered around St Peter’s Square as the business of the day wound down and queues for St Peter’s Basilica trailed to an end.

It was only day two of a conclave (the meeting of Catholic cardinals to elect a new pope) that was expected to be long. It had been brought about by the sudden resignation of Pope Benedict the previous month, the first pope to have done so voluntarily since Celestine V stepped down in 1294.

But, at about 7pm that Wednesday, white smoke rose from a chimney at the Sistine Chapel, disturbing a hitherto nonchalant seagull. For the next hour the world waited to see who the 266th pope would be, as Romans crowded into St Peter’s Square, many now stressed out after a dash through the rush-hour city.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

March 11, 2018

By Finbar O’Mallon

The Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn has refused to throw his support behind legislation allowing child sex abuse victims to more easily sue the church.

Catholic archbishop Christopher Prowse said it was up to the ACT government to create loopholes in the ACT around the “Ellis defence” after they signalled last week it would be considered.

The Ellis defence is named after John Ellis, who was abused as an altar boy in the 1970s. Mr Ellis tried to sue the Catholic church in 2007, only for the church to argue it didn’t legally exist, so couldn’t be sued to compensate victims of child sex abuse by Catholic clergy.

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EAST FLATBUSH (NY)
News 12 Brooklyn NY

March 9, 2018

An anonymous woman has accused an East Flatbush priest of sexual harassment while she worked for him, and her lawyer says one of his alleged advances was caught on tape.

Until now, the Rev. Charles Oduro of the St. Catherine of Genoa parish, had been one of his community’s most trusted figures.

The purported victim has asked to remain anonymous, but her lawyer says Oduro forced her to kiss him.

In a recording the lawyer played for News 12, a man can be heard saying “Lip, lip. Just the lip. Oh come on. Just the lip.”

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SAGINAW (MI)
Diocese of Saginaw

March 8, 2018

The Diocese of Saginaw, in responding very quickly last week to questions raised by members of the media and members of the community, following criminal charges filed against Father Robert (Bob) DeLand, provided the following information:

“To the best of our knowledge, Father DeLand has not been subject to disciplinary action or accusations of priestly misconduct.”

While this information was believed to be accurate based on a preliminary review, the Most Rev. Joseph R. Cistone, Bishop of Saginaw, considered it imperative to conduct a further, in-depth study of Father DeLand’s files.

Upon thorough examination of these files, the Diocese can find no evidence of a previous accusation against Father DeLand by a victim nor someone with direct knowledge of sexual abuse of a minor. The Diocese provides this additional information from Father DeLand’s files:

A letter written by Father DeLand in 1992 to Bishop Kenneth Untener, who was Bishop of Saginaw at the time, referred to rumors damaging to Father DeLand’s reputation. In the letter, Father DeLand stated he took issue with the rumors and denied wrongdoing.

Also, in 2005, the Diocese was called about a family member’s suspicion [the family member had no personal knowledge nor did she have knowledge of an allegation against Father DeLand]. She wondered whether her brother, who committed suicide in 1993, might have been molested by Father DeLand in the 1970’s. In 2005, after an independent professional investigator completed a thorough assessment, the independent Diocesan Review Board, Bishop Robert Carlson, who was Bishop of Saginaw at the time, as well as the family agreed that the suspicion against Father DeLand was unfounded.

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SAGINAW (MI)
CBS News

March 9, 2018

The Catholic Diocese of Saginaw says a Michigan priest who recently was charged with sex crimes was cleared following a 2005 investigation into suspicion of possible molestation.

The diocese released the update Thursday about 71-year-old Rev. Robert DeLand of St. Agnes Church in Freeland. CBS affiliate WNEM reported last month that Deland was accused of sexual assault in August of 2017 at his home on Mallard Cove in Saginaw Township, according to Det. Brian Berg with the Tittabawassee Township Police Department. A police investigation began that November.

The station reports that five complaints have been filed against Deland since then, including claims of giving alcohol to a minor, sexual assault, illegally purchasing and possessing Ecstasy, and gross indecency.

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ROME
National Catholic Reporter

March 9, 2018

By Joshua J. McElwee

A Chilean cardinal and member of Pope Francis’ advisory Council of Cardinals has sent a letter to the presidents of various Latin American bishops’ conferences to rebut media reports that the pope’s visit to Chile in January was a failure.

Cardinal Francisco Errázuriz Ossa, the retired archbishop of the Chilean capital of Santiago, blamed some of the poor press coverage of the visit on the actions of Bishop Juan Barros Madrid, who has been accused of covering-up sexual abuse perpetrated by a fellow priest in the 1980s and ’90s.

In a five-page recounting of Francis’ Jan. 15-18 trip, obtained by NCR, Errázuriz said Barros made himself available for interviews with journalists after concelebrating at Masses with Francis along with other Chilean bishops.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
The Irish News

March 10, 2018

By Brendan Hughes

Police have “apologised” for refusing to accept a report of an alleged crime concerning the Fr Malachy Finegan child abuse scandal, a rights campaigner has said.

Amnesty International’s Patrick Corrigan said police phoned him to apologise and offer assurances that the issue he raised would form part of their investigations.

Last week Mr Corrigan asked the PSNI to examine concerns that some senior Catholic Church figures had failed to tell police about child sex abuse allegations against Finegan.

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AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

March 10, 2018

By Joe Hildebrand

At the very end of a church service I attended with my son on Sunday, the priest said something that left me thinking, “Holy sh*t.”

Last Sunday, for the first time in a long time, I darkened the door of a house of God.

Years earlier, when I was doing my confirmation, I had promised the priest that I wouldn’t be one of those Catholics who just showed up for Christmas and christenings. And yet here I was at the christening of my second child and I couldn’t be entirely sure that I had been to church since the christening of the first.

Priests are of course a forgiving bunch — it is, after all, a fairly central part of their job description — but nonetheless I felt deeply guilty, which is a fairly central part of a Catholic’s job description.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

March 10, 2018

By Ben Schneiders, Royce Millar and Chris Vedelago

The Catholic Church has failed to fully accept the horrific impact of child sexual abuse and its own role in a tragedy of “epic proportions”, a member of the royal commission has said.
In a surprisingly frank speech, Robert Fitzgerald – one of the six commissioners that oversaw the recently completed, five year inquiry – has slammed the church’s approach to abuse survivors, and its failure to tackle practices that contributed to the scourge of abuse and the secrecy around it.

Speaking at a Catholic Social Services Conference in Melbourne late last month, Mr Fitzgerald highlighted the ‘’disease’’ of ‘clericalism’ – the belief that the church’s male-only clergy are mystical beings, accountable to the Pope and to God, not to civil society or church laity.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

March 10, 2018

By Joan Chittister

There was a time in life when I wanted things done and wanted them done now. I still want things done now but over the course of the years, I discovered that, at least where the church is concerned, I was looking for action in the wrong places. As Sean Freyne, the Irish theologian and Scripture scholar, put it, “It’s a mistake to think that a pope has the power to do anything.” Translation: The right to reign as an autocrat, to take unilateral action about almost anything, does not come with the miter and crossed keys. Nor, for that matter, does it come with the capes and crosses of bishops. …

And yet, the manner in which popes and bishops move, the open ear they bring to the world, the heart they show, and the love and leadership they model can make all the difference in the tone and effectiveness of the church.

Five years ago, for instance, we moved from one style of church to another. It happened quietly but it landed in the middle of the faithful like the Book of Revelation. Gone were the images of finger-waving popes, stories of theological investigations, and the public scoldings and excommunications of people who dared to question the ongoing value of old ways.

When Jorge Bergoglio, the newly elected Pope Francis, appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, he bowed to the people and asked for a blessing; the faithful roared their approval of a man who knew his own need for our help and direction. …

***

And yet, at the same time, some things that must change clearly have not changed in these last five years. Instead, there is smoke without fire, commissions promised but not created, questions acceptable to ask, yes, but answers still scarce. …

***
… The leviathan of child abuse, the most glaring problem facing the church, continues to raise its hoary head. It reaches across the world and even up to the pope’s own household. Unless or until even bishops and cardinals are suspended until charges are resolved, the taint on the integrity of the Vatican itself will continue to undermine the sincerity of the church’s effort to dispel the venom. Meanwhile, an abuse commission itself was formed, allowed to lapse, is now formed again we’re told, but all of that with little or no evidence of palpable response to the problem itself.

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AUSTRALIA
AAP NEWS

March 9, 2018

Thousands of child sex abuse survivors are set to get access to compensation after Victoria and NSW signed on to the federal government’s national redress scheme.

The deal caps payments at $150,000 a person, although the average payment is about $10,000 higher than what the royal commission recommended.

“It’s a matter of getting the balance right and ensuring that as many institutions, both state and territory, and non-government institutions, like the churches, opt in to the scheme,” Mr Tehan told ABC TV on Friday.

Social Services Minister Dan Tehan said Victoria and NSW signing up was a “giant” step for the scheme.

“The fact that we’ve got the two largest states now on board, New South Wales and Victoria, is a significant breakthrough for survivors and a national redress scheme,” he said.

South Australian premier Jay Weatherill has softened his initial opposition in the lead up to the March 17 state election with an in-principle decision to opt in.

“I’m hopeful once we get the election out of the way, that they will see fit to come and join the scheme,” Mr Tehan said.

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MESA (AZ)
The Republic/azcentral.com

March 9, 2018

By Uriel J. Garcia

In April 1995, two sisters in their late teens reported to police that a family member had molested them as young children during sleepovers at his house in the 1980s.

The man they accused was a Mesa police officer, Gerald “Jerry” Salcido.

Later that year, Mesa police closed the molestation investigation against Salcido, with no charges brought.

But more than 20 years later, the case was reopened and police arrested him. Among the information included in the police report was that at least three Mormon bishops, one in Phoenix and two others in Utah, had learned of the allegations against Salcido years before.

Salcido, who refused to answer a Mesa detective’s questions during an October interview, denied he confessed to his bishop, police and court records show.

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ISRAEL
Haaretz

March 9, 2018

By Josh Breiner

Security camera footage of women changing into bathing suits allegedly leaked by settler rabbi who teaches at seminary for girls

A rabbi who lives in a settlement in the West Bank was arrested on suspicion of distributing nude video clips of an Israeli singer and model.

Over the past week, videos of singer Eden Ben Zaken and model Neta Alchimister trying on bathing suits in Alchimister’s swimwear store in Tel Aviv were leaked online.

The man is suspected of violating the privacy of the two women by distributing the video clips, but the police are not sure whether he is the person who hacked into the security cameras in the store and downloaded the videos. The punishment for the crime that he is now suspected of is up to five years in prison.

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ENGLAND
Press Association

March 9, 2018

An independent reviewer of child sex abuse by Church of England clergy was not shown documents that may have shed light on previous offending, an inquiry heard.

Roger Meekings, who carried out a 2009 past case review for the Diocese of Chichester, told the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse that information about clergy who were later jailed had not been in their personnel files.

They included former Bishop of Lewes Peter Ball and Canon Gordon Rideout, both of whom were later imprisoned.

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SCOTLAND
BBC

March 7, 2018

A priest claims he was indecently assaulted by a fellow cleric as he slept.

The 61-year-old was giving evidence at the trial of Father Francis Moore, 82, who denies sexually abusing three boys and a student priest.

The man, who has been a priest for more than 20 years, told a jury he woke on two separate occasions to find Fr Moore beside his bed.

Retired Fr Moore denies the alleged offences which span from 1977 and 1996.

The priest, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was giving evidence during the trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

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SCOTLAND
BBC

March 8, 2018

A retired priest offered to take a lie detector test when he was accused of sexually abusing a five-year-old boy.

Father Francis Moore, 82, from Largs, was being interviewed by police about the allegations which referred to events more than 40 years ago.

Fr Moore, who was known as Father Paul, is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

He denies all the charges against him, including that he sexually abused three boys and a student priest.

He also denies committing a breach of the peace at Prestwick swimming baths on various occasions between 1 August 1995 and 31 July 1996, by repeatedly staring at the bodies and private parts of young boys and others in the pool.

The comments about undergoing a lie detector test came as Fr Moore was interviewed at Saltcoats police station on 8 December 2015.

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SCOTLAND
The Scottish Sun

March 8, 2018

By Wilma Riley

Father Francis Moore denies the accusations of assault that allegedly took place 40 years ago

A PRIEST accused of sexually abusing a boy of five offered to take a lie detector test, a court heard today.

Fr Francis Moore, 82, denied assaulting the child at a primary school when he was quizzed by police about the claims.

The High Court in Glasgow heard he told cops probing two alleged incidents 40 years ago at St Mark’s primary in Irvine, Ayrshire: “It is absolutely untrue. I would take a lie detector test.

“It disgusts me that would happen to a child.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Week

March 9, 2018

Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse says there have been ‘a considerable number’ of complaints against the group

Jehovah’s Witnesses are facing the possibility of an independent investigation into allegations of child sex abuse in the church.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), which is investigating the extent to which institutions in England and Wales failed to protect children from abuse, said it is considering whether to open a separate inquiry after receiving a “considerable number” of reports about the religious group.

It is believed both MPs and members of the public have come forward to raise concerns about the sect and, while the inquiry team has so far refused to give an exact number, one solicitor representing abuse victims told The Guardian she believed it ran to thousands.

“The Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse to recognise the issue of child abuse in their organisation or to create robust safeguarding procedures to protect children,” said Kathleen Hallisey, senior solicitor in the abuse team at Bolt Burdon Kemp. “An investigation by IICSA into the Jehovah’s Witnesses is an opportunity for the inquiry to effect real change in an organisation that refuses to shine a light on child abuse and protect children.”

Numerous sources have told The Guardian that “alleged child abuse victims within the faith have been told not to report it to the police” and those who have face the threat of exclusion, or ‘disfellowship’, and being cut off from family and friends.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Newsweek

March 8, 2018

By Ryan Sit

Independent investigators in the United Kingdom are weighing whether to launch a new investigation into the Jehovah’s Witnesses in the U.K. after receiving a “considerable number” of abuse allegations.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, or IICSA, a government-sanctioned investigative panel in England and Wales, told Newsweek that it had gotten a “considerable number” of reports from both the public and elected officials about the Jehovah’s Witnesses in the U.K. A spokesperson told the newspaper the panel would “consider calls for a Jehovah’s Witnesses–specific investigation carefully.”

It was unclear how many reports the watchdog group had received. When contacted by Newsweek, Jehovah’s Witnesses’ public information office did not immediately comment.

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SEOUL (SOUTH KOREA)
The Associated Press

March 9, 2018

A veteran South Korean actor who was under investigation for alleged sexual abuse of his students was found dead Friday.

Police and fire officials confirmed that Jo Min-ki, 53, was found dead in Seoul Friday afternoon.

Yonhap News agency said the death is being treated as a suicide, but police would not confirm that.

Police were investigating multiple claims that Jo sexually abused his students when he was a professor at Cheongju University in central South Korea.

Jo initially insisted on his innocence but reportedly later apologized. He resigned from teaching following the allegations.

Police were to question him next week but the case will be dropped because of his death.

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ENGLAND
Christian Today

March 9, 2018

By Harry Farley

A bishop had a habit of ‘filleting’ key information about potential abusing priests from their files, making it harder to trace previous offending, an inquiry heard.

Roger Meekings, who carried out an independent review into past cases of abuse in Chichester in 2009, said he was not shown documents that may have shed light on abusive clergy. He added that information about priests who were later jailed, including former bishop of Gloucester, Peter Ball, had not been in their personel files.

‘I remember being told that a previous bishop may have had a habit of “filleting” the blue files’ which contain background information on all clergy, he told the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse which is holding three weeks of hearings into the Church of England.

He added that Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check data was often missing from clergy’s files.

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AUSTRALIA
The Newcastle Herald

March 9, 2018

By Monique Patterson

THE stages of grief have been many and varied for sexual abuse victim Paul Levey.

Now, nearly four decades later, he hopes a law change will allow him to finally get the apology he has been fighting for.

At age 14, Mr Levey was sent to live with Gerard Ridsdale at the Mortlake presbytery.

His Catholic parents put their faith in the priest to care for their son after the breakdown of their marriage.

What ensued for Mr Levey was a living hell in which he was subjected to daily sexual abuse by Ridsdale.

His abuser ensured his victim kept quiet for the eight months he resided with the priest.

“He scared me into not telling,” Mr Levey said.

“He’s an evil man – I’m glad he’s in jail and I’m glad he won’t get out of jail.”

Mr Levey, 50, didn’t tell anyone about his abuse until age 22.

His father heard a report about Ridsdale sexually abusing another young boy.

“My father straight away rang me and asked ‘what happened at Mortlake?’”

“He virtually marched me down to the Sunbury police station.”

But his day in court to face the man stole his innocence and “broke him” didn’t provide the closure he needed.

Mr Levey decided to sue the Catholic church in the early 90s, but at that time taking on a religious organisation was a legal minefield.

He hopes a second attempt to secure a settlement and an acknowledgement of guilt from the Catholic church will be successful.

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SANTIAGO (CHILE)
The Santiago Times

March 9, 2018

A week after assuming the leadership of the Chilean Government, President-elect Sebastián Piñera addressed different issues, including allegations of sexual abuse of religious. In that line, the next president criticized the Chilean Catholic Church and the Vatican.

Piñera was responding to the events that have triggered a strong controversy since the case of the pastor Fernando Karadima, who was again at the center of debate for the visit of Pope Francis to Chile and the initial support he gave to the Bishop of Osorno , Juan Barros.

When asked in an interview with Univisión about the way in which the Vatican has dealt with the accusations against Barros, accused of witnessing and covering up the abuses of Karadima, Piñera said: “I am a Catholic. I know the case of that priest (Karadima) who was effectively condemned by justice and the church itself as a priest who abused many children and young people.”

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NEW YORK (NY)
The Associated Press

March 8, 2018

The Latest on International Women’s Day:

Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon says the Time’s Up campaign launched by women in Hollywood to combat sexual harassment raised $20 million in 10 days and has helped 1,500 women with harassment suits against their employers.

Witherspoon spoke at an event marking International Women’s Day on Thursday at U.N. headquarters.

She says the response to the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund is “incredible” and shows “how many more people are going to need these services.”

The “Big Little Lies” star, who told the audience that she was assaulted by a director when she was 16-years-old, says that women deserve 50 percent of the representation and 50 percent of the salaries. She says women “will no longer continue to do work without being paid properly for it.”

___

Tens of thousands of people marched in Argentina’s capital on International Women’s Day to condemn violence against women and to demand equal rights and legalized abortion.

The demonstrators Thursday banged on drums, chanted slogans and carried flags and banners along the streets of Buenos Aires, marching in front of the Congress building. Many women wore green handkerchiefs symbolizing the abortion rights movement.

Argentina allows abortion only in cases of rape or risk to a woman’s health. But dozens of Argentine lawmakers from several political parties presented a bill Tuesday that would legalize elective abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.

Some demonstrators lay on the streets motionless while wearing white shirts stained with red paint to look like blood. The banners next to them read: “While you debate, we die.”

___

Hundreds of Brazilian women are marching to demand equal rights and protest gender-based violence to mark International Women’s Day.

Marchers in Sao Paulo on Thursday were drawing attention to issues as varied as the wage gap, abortion rights, sexual harassment in the workplace and sexual assault on the streets. Groups are also marching in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil has one of the world’s highest homicide rates for women, and stories of sexual assault against women on public transport frequently made news in the past year.

Christiane Correia de Souza derided the fact that many stores were handing out flowers to their female customers on Thursday. The 31-year-old factory worker said the practice glossed over the serious issues facing women, like unequal salaries and sexual assault on buses.

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SEOUL (SOUTH KOREA)
Yonhap News Agency

March 9, 2018

South Korea’s Catholic Church said Friday it will form a special committee to fight sexual assault within the church amid a controversy over a priest’s alleged attempt to rape a female volunteer worker in the past.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea (CBCK) announced that it reached a decision to form a committee addressing sexual violence within the church at the conference’s five-day spring general meeting, which started on Monday.

The committee will be comprised of around 10 members ranging from clergy to rank-and-file Catholic devotees and will include women. The body will try to study the context behind assault cases within the church and propose measures to prevent sexual violence.

The decision was made in light of a priest at the Catholic Diocese of Suwon, only identified by his surname Han, who was accused of attempting to rape a female worker multiple times during his stay in South Sudan in 2011. He admitted to most of the charges and was suspended from his duties, according to the Suwon diocese.

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AUSTRALIA
Financial Review (AFR)

March 9, 2018

By Tom McIlroy

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has put churches, charities and state governments on notice over the national compensation scheme for victims of child sexual abuse in Australia, saying justice and love demand full participation.

Victoria and NSW became the first jurisdictions to join the $4.3 billion scheme on Friday, set to provide maximum compensation payouts of $150,000 as well as offering survivors access to counselling and the opportunity for a direct personal apology from the offending institution or church.

The Catholic Church has already committed to joining the scheme, where institutions and churches will foot the bill for compensation.

“If a church or a charity or an institution doesn’t sign up, I hope they will be shamed,” Mr Turnbull said after meeting with survivors and advocates on Friday.

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ROME
LifeSiteNews

March 7, 2018

By Diane Montagna

A high spending auxiliary bishop in Honduras accused of “abusing seminarians, having a string of male lovers, and terrorizing those who cross him,” has been left in charge of the archdiocese of Tegucigalpa, while its cardinal archbishop, Oscar Andrés Rodriguez Maradiaga, undergoes prostate cancer treatment in Houston, Texas.

According to an investigation carried out by the National Catholic Register, the decision to leave auxiliary bishop Juan José Pineda Fasquelle in charge of the archdiocese since January was made despite a papal investigation that obtained “extremely grave testimonies” regarding Pineda’s alleged financial and sexual misconduct.

The decision is therefore raising questions about why Pope Francis and the Holy See have taken no action in response to the papal investigator’s report, which was reportedly hand-delivered to the Holy Father last May.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

March 9, 2018

By Haidee V. Eugenio

Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron has asked the court to dismiss the remaining claims in a $2 million defamation lawsuit filed against him by former altar boys.

Superior Court of Guam Judge Michael J. Bordallo had dismissed the slander claims against Apuron in the case, but not the libel claims.

Slander is spoken defamation, while libel is written defamation.

Apuron, through attorney Jacqueline Terlaje, said the plaintiffs have failed to show there was defamation and have failed to establish malice.

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MIAMI (FL)
Miami Herald

March 9, 2018

By Kyra Gurney

A seventh-grade student at Miami Arts Charter School had a funny feeling about her math teacher, so she went home and Googled him.

It didn’t take her long to find a 2007 newspaper article from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune detailing troubling allegations against Scott Manas.

While he was teaching at a middle school in Hillsborough County in the mid-1990s, the article said, Manas had allegedly taped a photo of a female student inside a cabinet and collected mementos from her — including a lock of her hair and a tissue she had used to blot lipstick — in a desk drawer.

Investigators later discovered that Manas had also written “inappropriate” notes to other girls and that he’d told one student he loved her, according to the article. As a result, Manas had been sanctioned by Florida’s Education Practices Commission, the body that evaluates allegations of teacher misconduct, but had kept his teaching license. No criminal charges were filed.

Manas could not be reached for comment. He told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in 2007 that he was “unfairly singled out and made an example of for other teachers.”

“The School Board took what she said and just ran with it, despite her reputation at school and the way she dressed and presented herself to others,” he told the newspaper.

The Miami Arts Charter School student posted the results of her sleuthing on Snapchat on Feb. 7. By the time she got to school the next morning, everyone was talking about the allegations. And by Monday morning, Feb. 12, the teacher had been fired.

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SALEM (OR)
Statesman Journal

March 8, 2018

By Lauren Hernandez and Capi Lynn

Warning: Some of the testimonies found in this story contain graphic details that some may find triggering or disturbing.

“Sexual immorality” was the reason cited when longtime Pastor Ken Engelking resigned in January from Morning Star Community Church in Salem.

Four women had come forward the previous spring with allegations against Engelking, two other former church staff members and a member of an affiliated church.

In a 23-page annotated letter to the Morning Star board of directors, the women chronicled accusations of an abusive, adulterous relationship involving Engelking, and sexual assault and rape by three other men over more than 20 years, including as recently as 2010.

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SALEM (OR)
Statesman Journal

March 8, 2018

From the former pastor
Morning Star Community Church Senior Pastor Scott Nelson read the following statement during services Jan. 14, 2018, attributing it to former pastor Ken Engelking:

Morning Star Family. As difficult as this is for myself, Lori and our family, we believe God’s promises for us and hope going forward. I love and support Pastor Scott and the leadership at Morning Star. I am deeply grateful for the chance to have served Jesus and minister the family at Morning Star for the past 31 years, and we’re very sad to have this chapter of our lives to end. I’m so sorry for the pain of my past sins have caused anyone and as I have in the past, take full responsibility for those sins. I ask forgiveness if I have caused you or someone pain because of my past actions. We are so thankful for God’s continued grace and mercy in mine and my family’s lives, and we will continue to trust and serve him. While there is much more I can say, there is hope for you that you will all continue to trust the lord no matter what. And I will do the same.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

March 9, 2018

By Haidee V. Eugenio

A now deceased priest has been accused of sexually abusing a boy who had been ordered to stand in prayer with his eyes closed, according to a lawsuit filed against the Archdiocese of Agana Friday in federal court.

The plaintiff, identified in court documents only as J.M.R. to protect his privacy, said in his lawsuit that Father Ray Techaira sexually abused him in about 1984 at the Asan parish office after the boy asked a question that upset the priest.

J.M.R., now 49, was around 15 years old at the time and was attending confirmation classes at the Nino Perdido y Sagrada Familia Catholic Church in Asan, the lawsuit says. Techaira was a priest at the parish and was in charge of the confirmation classes.

The lawsuit says the boy asked the priest, “If you (Techaira) have been preaching to us that there is only one God the father, can you please explain to me why is it that we address you (Techaira) as father?”

The priest told the boy he would talk to him at the office after confirmation class.

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SAGINAW (MI)
The Associated Press

March 8, 2018

The Catholic Diocese of Saginaw’s bishop is encouraging sexual abuse victims to come forward after a priest who served for decades in Michigan was charged with sex crimes.

Bishop Joseph Cistone recently spoke to parishioners at St. Agnes Church in Freeland, where 71-year-old Rev. Robert DeLand served as pastor. Cistone told parishioners the allegations against DeLand were “the first indication we had of this issue.”

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SAGINAW (MI)
Michigan Radio Newsroom

March 8, 2018

By Catherine Shaffer

Saginaw County Prosecutor John McColgan Jr. assigned the investigation of sexual abuse involving officials in the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw to a special team that will work with Saginaw and Tittabawassee police and the Michigan State Police, as well as state and federal agencies. The move follows sexual assault charges against Rev. Robert DeLand, Jr. filed last month.

DeLand has been charged with assaulting a 21-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy at his home in Saginaw Township. Since then, the prosecutor’s office has received numerous tips related to alleged abuse going back to the 1970s. DeLand is pastor of St. Agnes Church in Freeland, Michigan. He has since been placed on administrative leave.

In remarks to the congregation of St. Agnes, Bishop Joseph Cistone said that the recent allegations against DeLand were “the first indication we had of this issue.” The Catholic Diocese of Saginaw is encouraging victims to come forward.

The prosecutor’s office has established several channels for victims and others with information about abuse to contact authorities.

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GUAM
KUAM News

March 9, 2018

By Krystal Paco

Just when we thought the clergy sexual abuse lawsuits had come to an end, another filing was made in the District Court of Guam today. Only identified by his initials to protect his identity, 49-year-old J.M.R. alleges he was molested and abused by now deceased Father Ray Techaira who, at the time, was assigned to the Asan Parish and in charge of confirmation classes.

J.M.R. alleges the priest was upset by one of his questions and told him to wait after class.

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AUSTRALIA
The Sydney Morning Herald

March 8, 2018

By David Crowe

Victims of child sexual abuse are a step closer to a national scheme that could help them gain justice for past wrongs, as the NSW and Victorian governments sign up to new laws that offer practical services as well as compensation up to a $150,000 cap.

The new pact intensifies pressure on churches and other groups to submit to the scheme and help victims recover from abuse that dates back decades, putting the primary responsibility on the institutions to fund the payments and support services.

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AUSTRALIA
AAP/The Sydney Morning Herald

March 9, 2018

Malcolm Turnbull wants institutions and charities to be shamed if they refuse to join the national redress scheme for child sex abuse survivors.

Thousands of survivors are set to gain access to compensation after Victoria and NSW signed on to the federal government’s $3.8 billion scheme.

The Prime Minister on Friday hailed the two states for opting in and urged others to follow their lead.

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BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

March 9, 2018

By Lou Michel

When Janet and Frank Larango moved from North Tonawanda to an Atlanta suburb, they were happy the Catholic priest they considered part of their family also made the move.

The Rev. Stanley Idziak, who had celebrated Masses at Our Lady of Czestochowa parish in the 1960s and 1970s, arranged to have himself transferred in 1978 to the Larangos’ new parish 900 miles away.

The Larangos did not suspect anything beyond friendship was motivating Idziak’s move.

But they discovered later Idziak had begun secretly molesting her two sons when they were children in North Tonawanda and he resumed the abuse after relocating, according Janet Larango.

The Larangos did not discover the betrayal until a decade later, in 1988, after another couple in the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta accused Idziak of sexually abusing their sons, said Janet Larango.

It was a dark secret that had filled their sons with shame, said Janet Larango, 79.

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FREELAND (MI)
MLive

March 9, 2018

By Michael Kransz

The Diocese of Saginaw now says the Freeland priest accused of sexually assaulting a teen and a man was once concerned about “rumors” and had been investigated on suspicions of sexual abuse.

The announcement March 8 comes a week after diocese officials previously stated that, “to the best of their knowledge,” 71-year-old Rev. Robert DeLand Jr. was not investigated nor accused before of “priestly misconduct.”

In the statement, diocese officials say DeLand was investigated in 2005 after a woman asked whether her brother, who committed suicide in 1993, was sexually abused by DeLand in the 1970s.

The sexual abuse probe was handled by an “independent professional investigator,” and the suspicions were later deemed unfounded by the Rev. Robert Carlson, who was bishop of Saginaw at the time, the Diocesan Review Board and the family of the man, according to the statement.

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SAGINAW (MI)
MLive

March 8, 2018

By Bob Johnson

A taskforce has been formed to investigate allegations of abuse involving the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw.

Saginaw County Prosecutor John McColgan Jr. announced on Thursday, March 8, the formation of a taskforce after officials charged the Rev. Robert DeLand Jr. with one count of attempted second-degree criminal sexual conduct/personal injury, one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and a count of gross indecency between male persons — all felonies.

The investigation of DeLand, 71, known as Father Bob, stems from an investigation by the Saginaw Township and Tittabawassee Township police departments.

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SOUTH KOREA
Global Post

March 9, 2018

By Ann Babe

On International Women’s Day in South Korea, where gender inequality is deeply entrenched, the government announced new measures to combat sexual assault in the workplace — increasing maximum prison terms and extending statutes of limitations.

The initiative, a joint effort of five ministries, comes as the country continues to reel from Tuesday’s news of a prominent politician’s resignation after his secretary accused him of rape.

The politician, the former governor of South Chungcheong Province, Ahn Hee-jung, issued an apology in a Facebook post, saying, “It’s all my fault,” and retracting an earlier statement of denial.

Ahn is the latest in a string of high-profile men to be toppled by South Korea’s #MeToo movement that in the past several weeks has quickly spread through the country’s political, religious, educational, business and arts and entertainment sectors. This reckoning is considered by many to be not just a movement — which had previously been confined to “radical” feminist outliers — but a broad people’s revolution.

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YORK (PA)
York Daily Record

March 8, 2018

By Joel Shannon

Pennsylvania leads the nation in investigating child sexual abuse. It started when one woman wouldn’t take “no” for an answer while looking into priest abuse.

The document she was about to present to the press was historic: More than 400 pages that described sex crimes against children in horrendous, relentless detail.

More than a decade later, activists credit the report for setting a precedent in Pennsylvania: This state — more than anywhere else in the nation — exposes the truth of child sexual abuse, even if convictions aren’t possible.

The 2005 report received national attention in a recent Newsweek article. It is the subject of a forthcoming documentary entitled Dark Secret. And it is credited as a major influence in an ongoing statewide investigation into sexual abuse of children in the Catholic church.

But as she unveiled the report, Lynne Abraham also likely disappointed many victims.

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BUFFALO (NY)
Spectrum Local News

March 1, 2018

By Rochelle Alleyne

The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo is hoping to right a major wrong for victims of sexual abuse.

“We are so very, very sorry for the pain of the abuse that has happened to you. We’re sorry. I’m sorry and want to do everything we can going forward, reaching out to you who have to come to us in the past,” said Most Rev. Bishop J. Malone of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.

The church announced Thursday they’ve created the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program (IRCP) to pay those who have previously made claims of abuse.

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ISRAEL and AUSTRALIA
Australian Broadcast Corporation

March 8, 2018

By James Oaten

The alleged sexual abuse victims of Malka Leifer have slammed a senior Israeli rabbi for “betraying” them, after he helped the former Melbourne school principal secure release from custody.

Ms Leifer has been in an Israeli prison since February and is fighting extradition back to Victoria where she is wanted on 74 charges of child sexual abuse, including rape.

But she is set to be released into home detention on Friday after senior Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman, who is a recipient of the prestigious 2004 Israel Prize, told court that prison was “humiliating”.

In Melbourne, alleged victim Dassi Erlich said she felt “absolute outrage” that Ms Leifer’s “humiliation” trumped the feelings of the alleged victims.

“As a religious person myself, I find it quite a betrayal,” Ms Erlich said.

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UNITED STATES
CNN

March 8, 2018

By Julia Carpenter

In the opening pages of her new book, reporter Bernice Yeung quotes feminist writer Audre Lorde.

The woman’s place of power within each of us is neither white or surface; it is dark, it is ancient, and it is deep.

Yeung’s “In a Day’s Work: The Fight to End Sexual Violence Among America’s Most Vulnerable Workers” comes out on March 20, and in it, she writes about spending time in some of these “dark” places where women have found strength despite grappling with sexual assault amid grinding poverty. As a reporter for the Center for Investigative Reporting’s online platform, Reveal, Yeung has covered stories in immigrant communities and vulnerable populations — those people often omitted from the recent nationwide reckoning on sexual harassment.

Yeung is among the many journalists who have covered sexual harassment in the workplace long before the #MeToo movement swept the country. For “In a Day’s Work,” Yeung followed the lives of “invisible workers” — the women who pick our food, mop our floors and clean our bathrooms.

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COVINGTON (TN)
The Associated Press

March 7, 2018

A Tennessee pastor has been indicted on 47 charges related to sexual abuse of minors.

Tipton County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Billy Daugherty told WREG-TV in Memphis that 39-year-old Ronnie Gorton has been accused by three people, including one under the age of 13.

Gorton was indicted Monday and jailed Tuesday. He declined to answer questions from reporters as he entered jail.

He is the former pastor of Awakening Church in Atoka.

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SAGINAW COUNTY (MI)
WNEM

March 8, 2018

By Carrie Laine

The Catholic Diocese of Saginaw has clarified previous statements regarding Father Robert (Bob) DeLand. This as the Saginaw County Prosecutor’s office announced the formation of a special investigative team that will look into allegations of abuse involving officials in the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw.

The 71-year-old pastor was arrested in February and charged with two counts of attempt to commit second-degree criminal sexual conduct and gross indecency between males; following an undercover investigation.

Immediately following his arrest, the Diocese issued the following information regarding DeLand.

“To the best of our knowledge, Father DeLand has not been subject to disciplinary action or accusations of priestly misconduct.”

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UNITED STATES
Psychology Today

February 27, 2018

By JoAnn Stevelos, MS, MPH

Safety First When Reporting Child Sexual Abuse

I was thinking about the issue of child sexual abuse (CSA) as a whole, and in the context of keeping children safe during disclosure. It caused me to evaluate my intentions in writing this post. My intentions turned into a keen interest, as well as felt paralyzing. I froze. What was I doing? Why I am trying to write this blog? Will anyone care? Does it matter what happened to me over forty years ago? Who am I to tell this story—another story—there are so many now with #metoo and #timesup? The capacity to feel apathetic, cut off from one’s own feelings about significant trauma, betrayal, collusion, and abandonment is the defense of ego, of self. It is the coping mechanism I have learned to use when feeling vulnerable and at risk for exploitation.

There are moral and ethical concerns I have had when writing about my experience of sexual abuse. Deep moral questions bothered me when I set words to paper. What is my moral obligation to share my story? What is our obligation, and what is the obligation of others to protect future children? It is easier to say nothing, or do so quietly, involving as few people as possible. This is what the organizational cultures of many patriarchal institutions have constructed as an acceptable practice in handling claims of crimes against children. Where are the witnesses to these crimes? Who is bearing witness? And why don’t they speak up? It has been my experience that their silence is imposed from above, and or internalized. And what lies underneath the silence are complex relationships—typically family relationships— because children are most often sexually abused by someone they know.

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JERUSALEM (ISRAEL)
Australian Broadcasting Corporation

March 9, 2018

By Sophie McNeill

Former Melbourne school principal Malka Leifer will remain in custody until an Israeli Supreme Court judge considers an appeal to stop her being released to home detention.

On Wednesday, the Jerusalem district court ruled that Ms Leifer could be released from police custody on Friday March 9 at 10:00am, after influential Israeli Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman argued it was “humiliating” and bad for her mental health to stay in jail.

The former principal of the ultra-orthodox Addas girls school in Melbourne has been in custody since February 12 when Israeli police rearrested the 54-year-old, accusing her of faking mental illness for the past three years in order to avoid extradition to Australia.

Ms Leifer is wanted by Victorian police on 74 charges of child sexual abuse, including rape.

On Thursday afternoon in the Israel Supreme Court, Israeli state attorney Matan Akiva argued Ms Leifer’s release to home arrest could harm the chance of her appearing at future extradition proceedings.

“We have to take into consideration that Israel gave Australia full guarantees to cooperate on an international level,” Mr Akiva told the court.

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JERUSALEM (ISRAEL)
The Sydney Morning Herald

March 9, 2018

By Gabrielle Weiniger

Alleged child abuser Malka Leifer will remain in custody in a psychiatric ward after prosecutors appealed to stop her release to house arrest.

At the hearing in Israel’s Supreme Court on Thursday, Leifer’s defence lawyer Yehuda Fried argued that the former Melbourne school principal was not a flight risk, and that while recent evidence may show her living a normal life, Leifer was unfit to stand trial and was still having psychotic episodes – a claim that saw her extradition trial abandoned three years ago.

Despite Fried’s efforts, Leifer will remain in custody in the medical facility for the next few days, until the Supreme Court judge evaluates the evidence and makes a final ruling next week.

The decision to keep her in remand comes a day after the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court ordered Leifer to be released from custody. She had been held in prison-like conditions at the Eitanim psychiatric hospital since her re-arrest on February 12.

New evidence showing Leifer living a seemingly normal life prompted authorities to re-arrest her last month, three years after charges were dropped due to mental illness.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
The Irish News

March 8, 2018

By Brendan Hughes

THE priest temporarily in charge of the Dromore diocese following the resignation of its bishop over the Fr Malachy Finegan scandal was involved in a parish service with the paedophile cleric – years after the Church learned of allegations against him.

Canon Liam Stevenson, parish priest of St Peter’s and St Paul’s in Lurgan, has taken responsibility for administration of the diocese following Dr John McAreavey’s resignation last week.

Dr McAreavey stood down after it emerged he celebrated Mass alongside Finegan in 2000 despite knowing he was a paedophile.

Finegan, who died in 2002, has been accused of sexual and physical abuse against boys on church premises and at St Colman’s College in Newry, where he was a teacher and later president. He was never questioned by police or prosecuted.

Canon Stevenson, Vicar General of the diocese, is also a former head of St Colman’s.

He and the diocese have not addressed questions about his former role, including when he first became aware of allegations against Finegan.

It has now emerged that Finegan took part in a service to mark Canon Stevenson moving to Seapatrick parish.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
USA TODAY

March 8, 2018

By Tom Vanden Brook

A Marine colonel who investigated a sexual harassment claim at a troubled program inside the Corps’ Quantico headquarters was later counseled for allegedly harassing the wife of the unit’s chaplain, referring to her as “eye candy.”

A Marine inspector general’s report in 2015 called out a toxic work environment at the Marine and Family Programs Division at Quantico. The report says the program struggled with complaints of sexual harassment, racial bias and bad management, including a secret settlement reached with one official to get her to leave quietly from the base known as the “Crossroads of the Marine Corps.” The Marines have not released the report, but USA TODAY obtained a copy.

Two civilian employees renewed complaints dating to 2013 about an officer they said made overt sexual overtures to them at the base. The women maintained in interviews and documents that the Marine Corps did not take their complaints seriously.

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LONDON (ONTARIO, CANADA)
The London Free Press

March 8, 2018

By Jane Sims

All she wanted was a positive male role model for her nine-year-old son.

Instead, the single mother got parish priest David Norton, a sexual predator.

The facts supporting the sexual interference conviction of Norton, 72, a retired Anglican priest and former instructor at King’s University College, describe mentoring, grooming and then assaults.

Norton pleaded guilty a week ago to sexual interference involving the boy, now 34, who kept the abuse a secret until other charges involving children were laid against Norton in 2015.

While those charges are heading to trial in April, Norton has admitted to the abuse of his young charge from St. Mark’s church in London, where Norton had served as priest.

Assistant Crown attorney Chris Heron told Superior Court Justice Lynne Leitch the relationship between priest and boy, whose identity is protected by court order, began in 1991. The boy’s mother saw Norton as “a role model.”

For the next four years, Norton and the boy were often alone at the priest’s house, the boy’s house, in Norton’s camping trailer or his 1986 grey Mazda truck.

Norton took the boy on countless camping trips across Ontario, including Collingwood, Manitoulin Island, Sudbury, Gravenhurst, Aylmer conservation area, Hawk’s Cliff, Port Stanley and Port Bruce.

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DEVON (ENGLAND)
Teignmouth Post

March 6, 2018

By Paul James

HISTORIC sex abuse allegations at a South Devon hospital dating back more than 40 years are being probed by police.

Investigating officers want to hear from anyone who was a patient or worked at Ivybridge’s former Moorhaven Hospital in 1976.

The inquiries have been launched after a woman came forward with claims she was raped in the grounds of the hospital which has since closed and been redeveloped.

Det Con Josie Haines from the Sexual Offence and Domestic Abuse Investigation Team, said on Tuesday: ‘We have been supporting a woman who has suffered in silence for many years – and we are turning to the public for their help in this matter.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Evening Standard

March 5, 2018

By Nicholas Cecil

The scale of the sex abuse scandal engulfing Britain’s aid charities emerged today after they admitted to 80 cases where victims were harmed or put at risk.

Twenty-six out of 179 organisations told the Government that since mid-February they had identified “safeguarding” cases.

Seven said these had been reported in the current financial year, with the rest more “historic”. The cases include the sexual abuse of people receiving aid as well as volunteers and staff, with children among the alleged victims.

The incidents were across a “wide spectrum”, including where measures to ensure individuals were not put at risk were lacking. Charity chiefs had been kept in the dark by junior staff about some claims.

The International Development Secretary, Penny Mordaunt announced that her department would enforce new standards by refusing to fund charities which failed to meet them.

At a safeguarding summit in Westminster, she said: “Unless we do all we can to prevent wrongdoing, and unless we can hold all those who do wrong to account, we will have failed in our duty to protect the most vulnerable.”

She warned predators exploiting the aid sector that there was “no hiding place”, adding: “We will find you, we will bring you to justice. Your time is up.”

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SOUTH AFRICA
Times LIVE

March 7, 2018

By Mathew Savides

South African author Ishtiyaq Shukri has lashed out at Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu over his decision last month to step down as an ambassador for international aid organisation Oxfam in the wake of a sex scandal.

Shukri lambasted Tutu for not speaking out against sex abuses in the church – abuses that he says he was a victim of. Tutu‚ as chancellor of the University of the Western Cape‚ capped Shukri in 1990 when he graduated.

“The day Archbishop Tutu conferred my degree was not the first time I was touched by a clergyman from the Church of England in South Africa. In the years leading up to my graduation ceremony‚ I was being sexually abused by priests from the Church of England in South Africa. So far as I am aware‚ the Archbishop has never fully addressed such systematic and institutionalised sexual abuse happening in his own organization‚” he said.

In early February it was reported that Oxfam staff paid for sex with prostitutes in Haiti while in the country after a devastating 2010 earthquake. It is alleged that the organisation’s money was used for this purpose.

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FREELAND (MI)
MLive

March 8, 2018

By Michael Kransz

In the wake of a Freeland priest charged with sexual assault, the bishop for the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw has encouraged victims to come forward, and he expressed his solidarity with the parish where the priest ministered.

“I have publicly expressed my commitment, on behalf of the Diocese of Saginaw, to cooperate fully with law enforcement in this most serious matter,” Bishop Joseph Cistone said. “In the meantime, we encourage any victims to come forward to the civil authorities in charge of this investigation.”

Cistone gave those remarks over the weekend at St. Agnes church, where 71-year-old Rev. Robert DeLand Jr. preached until he was charged last week with sexually assaulting a man and a teen.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
The Associated Press

March 6, 2018

Two men who say they were sexually abused by a leader at Jehovah’s Witnesses congregations in San Diego in the 1990s have settled their lawsuits against the church’s governing body.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports Tuesday that the settlements were finalized last week. Both sides say they aren’t authorized to discuss the terms.

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ROME
The Irish Times

March 7, 2018

By Patsy McGarry

Ex-president says ban on women priests is ‘codology dressed up as theology’

Former president Mary McAleese has said she fears the Catholic Church’s hierarchy has “reduced Christ to this rather unattractive politician who is just misogynistic and homophobic and anti-abortion”.

She described Vatican opposition to women priests as “misogynist codology dressed up as theology” and criticised “the patronising platitudes that women have heard from a succession of popes and cardinals”.

Speaking at a press conference in Rome on Wednesday, Ms McAleese also said Pope Francis should visit Newry, Co Down, if he comes to Ireland next August, in the wake of clerical child sex abuse revelations there which led to the recent resignation of the Bishop of Dromore.

Bishop of Dromore John McAreavey resigned last week amid controversy over his decision to concelebrate a Mass with abuser Fr Malachy Finnegan in 2000 and to say the priest’s funeral Mass in 2002. Bishop McAreavey first became aware that Fr Finnegan, the former president of St Colman’s College Newry, was an abuser in 1994.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

March 5 2018

By Greg Hurst

Overseas development charities have reported 80 new incidents of sexual misconduct or abuse involving their staff.

The Charity Commission said that since The Times reported that seven Oxfam staff had paid for prostitutes or bullied colleagues in Haiti after its earthquake in 2011 a further 26 aid organisations had come forward to report cases of sexual misbehaviour or malpractice.

Of these, seven charities reported serious incidents that arose during the last financial year and 19 notified the regulator of historic cases of abuse that they had not reported at the time. It total 80 new incidents were reported.

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SAGINAW TOWNSHIP (MI)
Church Militant

March 7, 2018

By Christine Niles, M.St. (Oxon.), J.D.

In Philadelphia, Bp. Joseph Cistone was intimately involved in protecting abusive priests

The head of a Michigan diocese wracked with scandal has himself been implicated in sex abuse cover-up.

After Fr. Robert DeLand, judicial vicar and a judge on the marriage tribunal, was arrested for gay sex assault in February, Bp. Joseph Cistone told parishioners he was “heartbroken” over the allegations.

“[M]y thoughts, prayers and empathy go out to anyone who may have been victimized,” Cistone told a weekend gathering at St. Agnes parish in Freeland, where DeLand was pastor. “We know that the trauma runs deep and long not only for the victims but for their family and loved ones as well. We stand ready to assist them.”

Reliable inside sources have told Church Militant, however, that the diocese has been aware of DeLand’s behavior for years and did nothing to rein him in.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Independent

March 7, 2018

By Lizzie Dearden

Charity Commission to pass any evidence on to National Crime Agency

New allegations of aid workers sexually abusing children and other beneficiaries in countries hit by conflict and disaster are being assessed by a watchdog as the number of serious reports double.

The Charity Commission said it had received reports of 80 incidents involving safeguarding in the wake of the scandal over Oxfam staff using prostitutes in Haiti.

It said the unconfirmed allegations cover a wide spectrum, from risks or a lack of due process through to “actual incidents of abuse, including sexual abuse of staff, volunteers and beneficiaries, including children”.

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DEVON (ENGLAND)
Devon Live

March 6, 2018

By Rom Preston-Ellis

Officers want to speak people who were either employees or patients at Moorhaven Hospital in 1976

An investigation is taking place into allegations of historic sexual abuse at a former psychiatric hospital in Devon.

Police have asked people who were either employees or patients at Moorhaven Hospital near Ivybridge in 1976 to come forward.

It is alleged that a woman was raped in the grounds of the hospital during that year.

Detective Constable Josie Haines from Devon and Cornwall Police’s sexual offence and domestic abuse investigation team, said: “We have been supporting a woman who has suffered in silence for many years, and we are turning to the public for their help in this matter.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Today

March 7, 2018

By Kate Shellnutt

Following Rachael Denhollander’s Sovereign Grace claims, the former SGM president once again says he wants to avoid distracting from the biennial conference.

C. J. Mahaney announced today that he will back out of next month’s Together for the Gospel (T4G) conference to keep the controversy over Sovereign Grace Churches (SGC) away from the event.

“Given the recent, renewed controversy surrounding Sovereign Grace Churches and me individually, I have decided to withdraw from the 2018 T4G conference,” Mahaney wrote.

Over the past several weeks, Rachael Denhollander, the former gymnast whose Larry Nassar testimony went viral, has used her platform to address abuse in the church, particularly years-old allegations of abuse at Covenant Life Church, where Mahaney—the former president of Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM)—had served as senior pastor.

Though the 2012 case against SGM was dismissed in court, Denhollander has repeatedly challenged the church network’s claims, most recently in a 7,800-word statement posted on Facebook last Thursday.

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IRELAND
Newsweek

March 8, 2018

By David Brennan

The Catholic Church is “an empire of misogyny” and must reform its traditionalist outlook if it wants to stay relevant, former Irish President Mary McAleese has claimed.

McAleese, who led Ireland from 1997 to 2011, was speaking in Rome, Italy, ahead of the Voices of Faith conference, the BBC reported.

The meeting—taking place on International Women’s Day—invites prominent Catholic women from around the world to speak at the conference, and campaigns for greater inclusion of the church’s female members within its leadership.

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SAN DIEGO (CA)
The Associated Press/Daily Mail

March 7, 2018

By Iain Burns

– Both sides say that the two settlements, finalized last week, cannot be discussed
– The church was fined $4,000-a-day for failing to provide documents to a court
– Both plaintiffs say church elders knew of abuse as early as 1982 but covered it up

Two men who say they were sexually abused by a leader at Jehovah’s Witnesses congregations in San Diego in the 1980s and 1990s have settled lawsuits against the church’s governing body.

Both sides say the settlements, which were finalized last week, cannot be discussed.

A New York state appeals court in November upheld a $4,000-a-day penalty against Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York for failing to comply with a court order to hand over internal documents about knowledge of church leaders who had been accused of sexually abusing children.

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PORTLAND (OR)
Yahoo Sports

March 7, 2018

By Dan Devine

Police in Portland, Oregon, investigated an allegation of sexual assault against Mark Cuban in April of 2011, according to a report published Tuesday by the Portland alternative weekly Willamette Week. A woman claimed that, while taking a picture at a nightclub, the Dallas Mavericks owner “thrust his hand down the back of her jeans and penetrated her vagina with his finger.”

After an investigation into the claim, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office “determined there was insufficient evidence to press criminal charges,” according to reporter Nigel Jacquiss, who obtained the police report through a public records request. Cuban was never charged, the case was never previously reported, and Cuban’s lawyer told Willamette Week that “her accusations are false.”

“It didn’t happen,” Cuban told the Dallas Morning News via email on Tuesday night. Cuban also forwarded along the memo written by the prosecutors announcing their decision not to move forward with the case “because the complainant does not want to proceed and I have concluded no crime can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The woman who went to police back in 2011, however — whom Willamette Week did not name because she’s the alleged victim of sexual assault — maintains that Cuban crossed a line on that night at the Barrel Room in Portland’s Old Town neighborhood.

“I filed the report because what he did was wrong,” the woman, now married and in her mid-30s, told Willamette Week in a brief interview. “I stand behind that report 1,000 percent.”

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LANSING (MI)
The Huffington Post

March 6, 2018

By Alanna Vagianos

Gymnast Jacob Moore is the first male to publicly accuse Nassar of sexual abuse.

Jacob Moore, the first male to publicly accuse former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar of sexual abuse, said he hopes his story encourages other male survivors to come forward.

“I hope he rots in hell,” Moore, 18, said of Nassar on NBC News’ “Today” show on Tuesday.

Nassar has been accused of abusing over 260 young girls and women during decades as team doctor for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University. He’s now serving three concurrent sentences of up to 175 years on child sexual abuse and child pornography charges. Moore became the first male to accuse Nassar in a federal lawsuit filed last week alleging the former doctor molested him in 2016.

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LONDON (ENGLAND)
Daily Mail

February 16, 2018

By James Fielding

– Peter Newell was a leading children’s rights campaigner who worked for UNICEF
– The 77-year-old, from London, led the UK’s anti smacking campaign in a long and distinguished career
– Newell also helped prepare UNICEF’s Implementation Handbook for the Convention on the Rights of the Child
– But now he is facing six years and eight months in jail for the abuse of a young boy
– The ‘horrific’ sexual assaults took place over a three-year period in the 1960s
– A UNICEF spokesman said today: ‘We are deeply shocked to hear of the arrest of Peter Newell.’
– He was convicted at Blackfriars Crown Court and has been put on the sex offenders register

A leading children’s rights campaigner, who helped governments around the world tackle the issue of abuse, has been jailed for raping a 13-year-old boy.

Former UNICEF consultant Peter Newell admitted three counts of indecent assault and two counts of buggery and was sentenced to six years, eight months in prison.

He has also been placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

The ‘horrific’ sexual assaults took place over a three-year period in the 1960s but have only come to light following a police investigation last year.

Newell, 77, of Wood Green, North London, who has led the campaign to ban the smacking of children in Britain, was sentenced at Blackfriars Crown Court on January 3.

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JERUSALEM (ISRAEL)
The Jerusalem Post

March 7, 2018

By Tamara Zieve

Rabbi Grossman testified in favor of Malka Leifer´s release from custody.

Australian suspected child sex abuser Malka Leifer will be released to house arrest, the Jerusalem District Court decided on Wednesday, after Migdal Ha’emek Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Dovid Grossman testified on her behalf.

The judge set bail at NIS 100,000 and ruled that Leifer may be released on Friday morning to her home where she will be under round-theclock supervision by two supervisors, as well as “spiritual supervision” by Grossman.

Leifer is accused of 74 charges of sexual abuse against at least eight pupils, who were minors at the time, at the Adass Israel School in Melbourne where she served as a teacher and principal from 2003 to 2008.

Grossman argued that Leifer was not in a condition to be held in jail and vowed that if she left the house for even a minute, he would inform the police immediately.

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