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May 5, 2017

El cura, el obispo, el Gobernador: víctimas de abuso sexual hablan de red de protección en Coahuila

PIEDRAS NEGRAS (MEXICO)
Sinembargo.mx [Mexico City, Mexico]

May 5, 2017

By Sanjuana Martínez

Read original article

El ex seminarista Ignacio Martínez Pacheco y el aún seminarista Roberto Javier Calzada Tamez ofrecieron a SinEmbargo su testimonio de acoso y abuso sexual por parte del sacerdote Juan Manuel Riojas, alias el padre Meño, y el calvario judicial que ha significado denunciar penalmente al cura pederasta y a su Obispo encubridor en Coahuila: Alonso Gerardo Garza Treviño.

Los jóvenes afirman que sus demandas ante el Ministerio Público y la Procuraduría local no han tenido eco, debido también a la protección directa que el sacerdote pederasta goza del priista Rubén Moreira Valdez, Gobernador de esa entidad.

Ciudad de México, 5 de mayo (SinEmbargo).– Afrontando el escarnio social propagado por su propia Iglesia en Piedras Negras, Coahuila, víctimas del sacerdote Juan Manuel Riojas, alias el padre Meño, prófugo de la justicia, denuncian la protección que el depredador sexual recibe, dicen, del Gobernador Rubén Moreira Valdez y del Obispo regiomontano Alonso Gerardo Garza Treviño.

El ex seminarista Ignacio Martínez Pacheco y el aún seminarista Roberto Javier Calzada Tamez, entrevistados por SinEmbargo, ofrecen su testimonio de acoso y abuso sexual y el calvario judicial que ha significado denunciar penalmente al cura pederasta y a su obispo encubridor, ambas acciones sin ninguna consecuencia, debido a la protección directa que goza el sacerdote, dicen, del Gobernador Rubén Moreira.

Este diario digital tuvo acceso al expediente judicial de este primer caso en México, que incluye una denuncia contra el Obispo y otras autoridades eclesiásticas como el Nuncio Apostólico, Franco Coppola, por conspiración a la pederastia clerical.

Con una orden de aprehensión y un amparo, el sacerdote pederasta recibe el apoyo de la Arquidiócesis y cuenta con tres abogados, uno de ellos, Santos Vázquez Estrada, ex delegado de la Procuraduría General de Justicia en las regiones Centro y Norte Uno de Coahuila, quien ya interpuso en el Juzgado Tercero de Distrito una solicitud de protección bajo el expediente 256/2017 contra el juez de primera instancia en materia penal del Sistema Acusatorio y Oral del Distrito Judicial de Río Grande.

“El padre Meño está siendo protegido por el Gobernador Rubén Moreira”, dice Ignacio Martínez Pacheco quien tuvo la oportunidad de entrevistarse con el Ejecutivo estatal. “Me prometió que lo detendrían y todo fue una mentira. Al contrario, él y las autoridades judiciales, junto al Obispo Garza Treviño se han dedicado a esconderlo”, asegura.

Peor aún, Roberto Javier Calzada Tamez, de 18 años, tiene la certeza de que la protección viene de la propia institución vaticana, ya que el nuncio apostólico Franco Coppola, le mintió en una carta que le envío y cuya copia esta en poder de SinEmbargo.

La historia depredador del padre Meño inicia por lo menos hace 15 años. Su método consistía en elegir a sus víctimas por las noches. Hacía rondines en los dormitorios de los seminaristas entre 14 y 16 años. Luego buscaba encuentros en su dormitorio aparentemente casuales para atacar a los menores de edad.

Empezó trabajando en el Seminario Auxiliar del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, conocido también como Seminario Menor Diocesano de Piedras Negras, donde ocupó varios puestos y fue ascendido a Rector.

Ignacio Martínez Pacheco tenía 15 años cuando ingresó al Seminario Menor Diocesano de Piedras Negras. Quería ser sacerdote, pero nunca imaginó que en un seminario se pudiera vivir la experiencia más terrible.

“El primer encuentro en el que me sentí abusado sexual fue en el año 2002, en el mes de mayo. El padre llegó de noche hasta el dormitorio donde me encontraba… era verano, él traía short y nosotros dormíamos en un cuarto largo con literas a ambos lados. Eran como las doce de la noche y me despertó invitándome a salir a caminar”.

A Ignacio le produce mucha inquietud recordar los hechos: “Fue entonces que el padre Meño me empezó a preguntar cosas sexuales. Íbamos hablando de sexo, de la masturbación, me preguntaba como me satisfacía yo en ese lugar. Me llevaba del hombro y me lo acariciaba creo que el padre se excitaba con eso, dimos como tres vueltas en el camino y luego nos sentamos en la barda que divide la acequia. Él jugueteó como con golpes hasta que me jaló del cuello con su mano formándome para que bajara a su pene. Cuando me acerqué me di cuenta que tenía el pene erecto. Me presionaba a su área genital, luego el padre se sacó el pene por el short, me bajo la cabeza con su mano y me introdujo el pene en la boca. Duró unos dos o tres minutos”.

Ignacio cuenta que no sabía que hacer, estaba totalmente desconcertado. El sacerdote sin mirarlo a los ojos le dijo: “Vete a dormir. Esto queda entre tú y yo”.

El acoso sexual del padre Meño se incrementó a pesar de que el menor intentaba no estar cerca de él. Ignacio recuerda que en octubre de 2002 el sacerdote lo agredió nuevamente.

“Toqué a la puerta de su oficina, ubicada a un lado del cuarto de recreación. El padre Meño salió en una bata verde de baño diciéndome que se iba a bañar. Y me invitó a pasar y a sentarme en su cama. Y allí el padre se descubre la bata. No traía ropa interior y se sentó en la cama fue entonces que me jaló del brazo y me aceró a su área genital para introducirme su pene en mi boca. Luego eyaculó dentro de mi boca. Luego se cubrió con su bata y me dijo que me fuera”.

Ignacio dice que él pensó que ese tipo de actos sexuales eran “normales” porque así se lo hizo creer el padre Meño y además porque fue testigo de las relaciones sexuales que sostenía el coadjutor Gerardo García Cabrera “Gerry” [actualmente sacerdote] y el seminarista Néstor. Cuando los descubrió haciendo el acto sexual se lo notificó al padre Meño, pero este le dijo simplemente que anotara en una libreta todo lo que veía: “Al ver eso, me hice a la idea de que esos actos, eran normales”.

Fue entonces cuando Ignacio denunció todo ante el Obispo de Piedras Negras, Alonso Gerardo Garza Treviño. “No digas nada a tus padres”, le dijo Garza Treviño, y añadió: “Tampoco hables con la prensa. Nosotros vamos a solucionar esto”.

En lugar de actuar contra el sacerdote denunciado, el Obispo decidió expulsar del seminario a Ignacio: “Me inventaron cosas para sacarme. Me deprimí e ingresé a la Congregación Orden del Carmelo Descalzo en Salvatierra, Guanajuato”.

Regresó a Piedras Negras en 2004 y entonces supo que al cura pederasta lo habían ascendido de puesto. A partir de entonces, decidió buscar la forma de conocer más sobre los abusos sexuales del clero de Coahuila, una parte bajo las órdenes del Obispo Raúl Vera López y el resto bajo el mando del obispo Garza Treviño.

“A partir de ese año he tenido contacto sexual con aproximadamente siete sacerdotes de Saltillo y de Piedras Negras: con los curas Alejandro Hernández, vicario de la parroquia Cristo del Buen Pastos en Acuña; con el padre Eduardo Javier Hernández Velez, quien ahora se encuentra en “rehabilitación” en Saltillo, en la casa de la comunidad del Tunaje; con ellos y otros he tenido relaciones con el propósito de desenmascararlos respecto al Obispo encubridor y cómplice de curas pederasta, Alonso Gerardo Garza Treviño”.

Ignacio iba recabando información para consumo personal, pero cuando salió a la luz pública la denuncia del seminarista Roberto Javier Calzada Tamez, quien fue violado por el padre Meño, y el Obispo Garza Treviño declaró que no sabía nada sobre el carácter delictivo del sacerdote, decidió salir a dar la cara apoyar a las otras víctimas.

“El Rector del seminario menor representa los ojos y oídos del Obispo y el hecho de que el padre Meño fuera nombrado Rector por el Obispo me pareció una burla para todos los que sufrimos de sus abusos”.

Ahora, Ignacio y Roberto Javier luchan juntos para exigir justicia. Ambos decidieron denunciar al sacerdote pederasta Juan Manuel Riojas y por primera vez en la historia judicial de México, al Obispo encubridor, protector y cómplice.

ESTRATEGIA PROTECTORA

A los 15 años, Roberto Javier Calzada Tamez sintió la llamada de la vocación sacerdotal e ingresó al seminario. Estaba ilusionado por convertirse en sacerdote. Pero el acoso y abuso sexual, le cambiaron la vida.

“Esto queda entre tú y yo”, le dijo el Rector del seminario, Juan Manuel Riojas, padre Meño, luego de violarlo, aprovechando que estaba dormido. Tenía 15 años y todas las ilusiones centradas en ofrecerle su vida y obra a Dios, pero el mundo se le vino abajo.

Siguiendo con el curso introductorio, los seminaristas de Piedras Negras son enviados al Seminario de Monterrey. Fue allí, donde fue cuestionado sobre su vocación sacerdotal y los principales problemas que había enfrentado y el 12 de diciembre de 2016, decidió contarle todo a sus directores espirituales que finalmente le animaron a interponer una denuncia.

“Tenía mucho miedo y vergüenza, pero empecé a escribir todo”, dice al señalar que decidió enviarle una carta contándole todo al Obispo Garza Treviño, animado por el sacerdote Anuar Tofic Canavati González, coordinador del curso introductor, por el padre Juan Carlos Arq Guzmán, Rector del Seminario de Monterrey y el canciller Pedro Pablo González Sias.

Con fecha 17 de diciembre del año pasado le escribió una carta al Obispo Garza Treviño donde le narraba los abusos que había sufrido, solicitándole que diera aviso a las autoridades religiosas correspondientes en la Santa Sede y a la autoridad civil, ya que era su obligación como Obispo de la Diócesis de Piedras Negras.

Los integrantes del Seminario de Monterrey le solicitaban que actuara de manera apropiada cumpliendo con el artículo 12 Bis de la Ley de Asociaciones Religiosas de México y a la legislación canónica sobre las normas de los delitos reservados a la Congregación de la Doctrina de la Fe del Vaticano.

El 20 de diciembre del año pasado, el Obispo Garza Treviño citó al seminarista en la parroquia de San Pedro Apóstol ubicada en el centro de Allende, Nuevo León. Lo primero que le pidió fue que jurara ante Dios que todo lo que contaba del padre Meño era verdad.

“Mira, no todo gira en torno a esto que te ocurrió, el padre Meño tiene un 99 por ciento que es bueno y un uno por ciento que es malo, y ese uno por ciento es esto”, le dijo con una leve sonrisa.

Luego le ordenó: “Olvida esto, si sigues pensando en lo que te sucedió te va a hacer más daño. Déjalo todo en mis manos”. Posteriormente le hizo una advertencia: “No le cuentes todo a tus papás. Diles lo que te pasó de una manera parcial y atenuada”.

El Obispo le prometió al seminarista que el sacerdote pederasta no se acercaría más a él ni a su familia, y le dijo que el padre Meño recibiría ayuda psicológica para salir de “esta situación”.

El seminarista solicitó que fuera denunciado y el Obispo prometió que sería denunciado ante las autoridades eclesiásticas y civiles y que finalmente sería removido no sólo del seminario, sino de Piedras Negras. Las promesas no fueron cumplidas.

“El Obispo se reunió con el padre Meño y me dijo que se sentía arrepentido, que se portó como un hombrecito porque aceptó todo y que buscaba mi perdón”.

Posteriormente, el Obispo se reunió con los papás de Roberto Javier.

“Mi mamá le dijo que iba a ir a los medios de comunicación porque él no estaba cumpliendo su palabra. Luego me dijeron que el Obispo les había ofrecido dinero. Ellos se negaron y el Obispo prometió cambiar al padre Meño el 19 de febrero”, algo que tampoco cumplió.

Roberto Javier esperó tres meses el cumplimiento de las promesas del Obispo. El 3 de marzo, volvió a Piedras Negras y fue llamado por Garza Treviño para solicitarle que firmara una carta en primera persona donde lo exculpaba de todo:

“Expreso que no es mi voluntad que el señor obispo Alonso Gerardo Garza Treviño sea acusado de no actuar en el orden civil en lo referente al caso de mi persona. Lo exculpo totalmente de que no proceda él ante la autoridad civil, pues sé que él nunca aceptaría complicidad en una situación así”, decía el texto que se negó a firmar.

El seminarista descubrió entonces que en lugar de denunciar al padre Meño, el Obispo Garza Trevió sólo lo cambió de lugar y lo transfirió al Santuario de Guadalupe, donde lo convirtió en vicario y en director de las casas del Migrante a cargo de la diócesis de Piedras Negras: “El Obispo había enviado su propio testimonio al nuncio donde refería que el Padre Meño podía salir de la situación con ayuda psicológica; es decir, que la intención del Obispo era brindarle un acompañamiento psicológico y después dejarlo uno o dos años en el Santuario de Guadalupe como vicario y luego le volvería a dar un cargo importante en la diócesis”.

Consternado por la traición del Obispo, Roberto Javier descubrió que también su director espiritual del seminario, el sacerdote Jesús Gerardo Martínez Compeán, que supo desde el principio los abusos sexuales a los que fue sometido por el rector del seminario, jugó el papel de informante para el Obispo encubridor y cómplice.

Al seminarista no le quedó más que dar la cara, salir a la luz pública a denunciar los hechos, para exigir justicia y reparación. Fue entonces cuando decidió escribirle al Nuncio Apostólico en México, Franco Coppola, para relatarle lo sucedido.

El Nuncio le contestó con evasivas. El representante del Papa Francisco, le aseguró que el Obispo Garza Treviño, supuestamente redujo al estado laical al sacerdote denunciado desde hace 14 años por abusar de seminaristas, algo que es totalmente falso:

“Hay una contradicción, el padre Meño siguió siendo sacerdote; de hecho, el Obispo sólo lo cambió del seminario donde era Rector y lo dejó en funciones de vicario en el santuario de Guadalupe y de encargado de la pastoral social de los peregrinos. Meño seguía y seguramente sigue oficiando misas y sacramentos”, dice el seminarista.

El Nuncio Coppola le explica al seminarista que el Obispo encubridor Garza Treviño ha remitido la denuncia contra el sacerdote pederasta a la Santa Sede, la cual, según informa, está siendo considerada por la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe, institución encargada de tratar “dolorosos casos”.

“Pido de corazón al Señor te ayude a seguir confiando plenamente en él, te conceda paz y serenidad, y nos permita a todos hacer vida, en todo momento, aquella caridad que tiene como fundamento y presupuesto una verdadera justicia”, le escribe.

Roberto Javier se sintió doblemente traicionado. Por lo tanto, el pasado 24 de abril acudió ante María Luisa Guerra Rosales, agente del Ministerio Público de la Unidad de Investigación de Piedras Negras, para denunciar al Obispo Alonso Gerardo Garza Treviño por encubrimiento y complicidad en los delitos sexuales cometidos por el sacerdote Juan Manuel Riojas, alias el padre Meño.

Sin embargo, el seminarista vive horas de angustia por la manipulación que está sufriendo por parte de algunos de sus preparadores espirituales, sacerdotes del seminario de Monterrey que antes lo apoyaban, y que ahora le recomiendan dejar a un lado la denuncia por encubrimiento contra el obispo regiomontano Garza Treviño.

HERIDA EN EL ALMA

Roberto Javier vive actualmente momentos intensos de depresión. A pesar de haber recibido una incipiente ayuda psicológica, a sus 18 años padece la angustia y el sufrimiento provocado por el abuso sexual.

Recuerda que en mayo del 2015, luego de jugar a la guerra de almohadas con sus compañeros, el seminarista Diego Ríos le ordenó llevar el celular al Rector Riojas. Lo buscó en su oficina y al no encontrarlo fue a su habitación.

“Acércate”, le dijo indicándole que se sentara en su cama donde estaba acostado: “El padre Meño me tomó con fuerza con sus manos, se bajo el short y ya tenía el pene erecto. Luego me introdujo su pene en mi boca. Duró como 15 segundos y eyaculó en mi boca”.

“Vete, esto queda entre tú y yo”, le dijo al terminar, y le pidió que saliera de su habitación. El menor salió llorando e intentando escupir y limpiándose la boca. A partir de ese momento, Roberto Javier empezó a sufrir una especie de acoso sexual por parte del padre Meño.

Luego en el verano de 2015 llegó el momento de las misiones y él y otro seminarista fueron hospedados en el mismo seminario. Sólo a su compañero le dieron una llave de su cuarto: “A mí no me dio la llave de mi cuarto, por lo que siempre estaba abierto. Siempre volvíamos como a las 11 de la noche. Todos las noches llegaba para preguntarme como me había ido. Una de las noches cerré con picaporte y el padre Meño tocó a la puerta, pero no le abrí. Para mi sorpresa, fue el propio sacerdote quien abrió mi puerta con la llave que nunca me dio. Me dijo que me acostara con él en la cama. Yo no obedecí, sólo me senté. Luego me empezó a picar las costillas para hacerme cosquillas y me agarró de las mano. Pero yo de manera cortante le dije que estaba cansado y que se retirara. Luego con muecas de enojo se fue”.

El Rector Riojas insistía. Una noche de julio de 2015 el sacerdote le llamó por teléfono y le solicitó una jarra de agua: “Era de noche, le llevo la jarra. Y el padre me invitó a ver una película. Me quedé dormido en la silla de su escritorio porque estaba cansado por las actividades que había tenido durante el día. Cuando me despierto ya estaba sin ropa recostado boca abajo. Sentí el peso del padre y su pene introducido en mi ano. Cuando sentí ese dolor, gire viéndolo para intentar que parara y lo vi totalmente desnudo, pero me agarraba de la cabeza y luego levantó su cuerpo hacia mi cara”.

Roberto Javier forcejeó y pudo entonces zafarse. Salió corriendo llorando. Al día siguiente lo mandó llamar y le dijo: “Acuérdate de que esto queda entre tú y yo. Sabes que hay mucha confianza. Ya sabes que yo te aprecio mucho”.

Roberto Javier no sabía qué hacer y en septiembre le comentó lo sucedido a su director espiritual del seminario, el sacerdote Jesús Compeán, quien empezaba a notar su alejamiento del padre Meño: “Yo intentaba no tener contacto con él, pero era imposible porque era el Rector”.

El director espiritual del seminario le recomendó callar: “Es mejor que todo quede aquí”, le dijo, a lo cual accedió. “Yo no quería terminar corrido del seminario, quería continuar con mi vocación”, dice.

Luego de la denuncia penal interpuesta por Roberto Javier el pasado mes de marzo, el Obispo de Piedras Negras ha emitido varios comunicados y  ha contratado un importante despacho de abogados dirigido por Heriberto Guevara.

Las manifestaciones de algunos fieles de Piedras Negras afuera de la catedral no se han hecho esperar. Acusan a Garza Treviño de encubridor particularmente porque se ha referido públicamente a los abusos sexuales cometidos por el padre Meño, como una “conducta inadecuada”, sin considerarlos delitos.

Las víctimas han recibido el rechazo de los católicos más fundamentalistas y seguidores del Obispo. Una buena parte de estudiantes han abandonado el seminario, entre ellos, el sobrino del sacerdote Juan Manuel Riojas y solo quedan 14 seminaristas.

Tanto Roberto Javier como Ignacio están seguros que hay más víctimas del padre Meño que por miedo no han dado la cara: “Yo siempre notaba que el padre se portaba bien extraño con algunos compañeros, sobre todo cuando notaba el acercamiento a un seminarista mayor que yo. Él se salió del seminario al año siguiente”, dice Roberto Javier.“Lo peor de todo es que el Obispo sabía desde hace 15 o 17 años que el padre Meño abusaba de los seminaristas y lo dejó allí, e incluso lo ascendió haciéndolo Rector”, añade.

Confiesa que ha tenido momentos difíciles, pero su fe sigue firme: “Yo nunca pensé que me fuera a pasar esto en un seminario. Batallé mucho para entrar porque mi familia no es mucho de ir a la iglesia y para mí fue muy difícil convencerlos que me dejaran ir. Luego de lo que me hizo el padre Meño no sabía qué hacer, simplemente pensaba que necesitaba pasar un tiempo y luego lo confrontaría”.

IIMPUNIDAD, PROTECCIÓN Y COMPLICIDAD

A pesar de las cuatro denuncias interpuestas –dos contra el sacerdote pederasta y las otras dos contra el Obispo por encubrimiento y complicidad a la pederastia clerical– ambos seminaristas están seguros que el padre Meño esta siendo escondido por la propia Iglesia e incluso por las autoridades civiles.

Mientras a Roberto Javier los ministeriales lo despiertan en la madrugada para llevarlo a ratificar sus denuncias, el Obispo sólo ha ido en una ocasión y estuvo en la tarde durante hora y media: “Me tienen horas en la Procuraduría y me hacen preguntas extrañas, como el color de pantalón que usaba o que tenía de cosas personales cuando sucedieron los hechos. Uno de esos días nos llamaron a las nueve de la noche y salimos a las dos de la mañana. Al día siguiente vinieron por mi a las dos de la mañana y salí a las cinco y media de la mañana”.

Ambos jóvenes denunciantes han batallado para encontrar un abogado que los represente. La mayoría se ha negado y el que tenía Roberto Javier finalmente fue convencido por las autoridades eclesiásticas para que desistiera en la representación del seminarista.

“Es obvio que el padre Meño está protegido por todos. Si no fuera sacerdote ya lo hubieran encontrado y ya estaría detenido. El Obispo tiene dinero para comprar a todos y silenciar esto”.

Hace unos días, Ignacio decidió protestar afuera de la catedral de Monterrey y solicitó entrevistarse con el Arzobispo Rogelio Cabrera López o al vicario Francisco Gómez Hinojosa, pero fue recibido por el canciller Pedro García.

“Le dije que el Obispo Garza Treviño tenía conocimiento de la pederastia del padre Meño y querías minimizar las denuncias y entonces el canciller me dice que ellos no tenían jurisdicción. Ni el Nuncio Apostólico tiene autoridad sobre los obispos para decidir que van a hacer su ministerio. En definitiva, se lavó las manos”.

Ignacio, atribuye la protección y complicidad del Obispo Garza Treviño al padre Meño por lo que dice saber: “El Obispo lo protege porque tiene que ver con sus propios gustos, porque el Obispo también es gay y tiene una pareja en Eagle Paz e incluso los sacerdotes le dicen “mamá” al Obispo. Otros sacerdotes me han dicho que el Obispo también acosa y abusa sexualmente”.

El ex seminarista se entrevistó con el Gobernador Rubén Moreira Valdez, quien acudió a Piedras Negras.

“Me dijo que ya estaba enterado del caso y que iban a hacer justicia, cosa que no ha cumplido. El Gobernador también está protegiendo al padre Meño porque tiene una amistad con el Obispo Garza Treviño por eso lo tienen escondido”, afirma.

Sin rencor ni sentimiento de venganza, Ignacio dice que seguirá luchando hasta ver al sacerdote encarcelado: “Cuando lo tenga enfrente le diré que es un gay de closet, un abusador, un depredador y una persona que se esconde en una sotana. Espero que pronto esté tras las rejas porque nosotros hemos sido prisioneros de sus abusos”.

Y piensa también en ese niño de 15 años que fue abusado: “A ese niño lee daría ese abrazo que nadie le dio, ni su mamá ni su papá. Y le diría que sea feliz, que estamos intentando hacer justicia”.

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Cork City Councillor speaks about her experiences in a mother and baby home

IRELAND
Evening Echo

THE revelation that the Sisters of Charity will be given ownership of the new National Maternity Hospital has sparked outrage across the country.

City councillor and Ballyphehane native Marion O’Sullivan, who attended St Patrick’s Mother and Baby Home in Dublin back in the ’70s, fought to be able to keep her baby after a taking a stand against those in authority.

Now she is encouraging others to do the same, albeit on a mass scale. She recalled her reaction after hearing about proposals for the new facility.

“I was filled with rage,” she said. “I kept asking myself ‘how can they do this happen again?’ The sisters say they can’t have input into the running of this hospital. Nonetheless, after their failure to pay redress money we can’t believe what we’re being told.

“We are seeing this happening in America – a far more liberal country – so there’s no telling what could happen if we don’t make our voices heard. With this in mind, we can’t be sure the hospital won’t have to adhere to a Catholic ethos.”

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Police exhume body of priest as they investigate 1969 slaying of Baltimore nun

MARYLAND
Washington Post

By Tom Jackman May 5

The body of a Catholic priest from Baltimore, whose sexual assaults on teenaged girls in the 1960s and 1970s caused the Archdiocese of Baltimore to pay out a dozen settlements last year, has been exhumed by Baltimore County police still trying to solve the 1969 slaying of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik, police said Thursday.

Cesnik’s death has long been one of Baltimore’s most puzzling homicides, and is the focus of a new documentary series, “The Keepers,” to be released on Netflix on May 19. The longtime suspect in her death is the Rev. A. Joseph Maskell, who was the chaplain at Archbishop Keough High School in Baltimore and also a chaplain for the police in both Baltimore city and county. He was removed from priestly duties in 1992 when allegations of sexual abuse against him were first made to the church, he fled the country in 1994, and was never charged with a crime before his death in 2001.

Baltimore County police spokeswoman Elise Armacost said Thursday that detectives had been working actively on the case for the last four years, in part because of continuing tips about sexual abuse at Keough, and that the timing of the exhumation of the body on Feb. 28 was not related to the Netflix documentary. “As part of the effort to leave no stone unturned,” Armacost said, “our homicide detectives asked the state’s attorney to approve an order to exhume the body of A. Joseph Maskell so we could take a DNA sample and work up a DNA profile to see if it would match remaining evidence” in the Cesnik case. “If it does, it’s a huge step in this investigation.”

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Fired Central Catholic employee under investigation

MASSACHUSETTS
The Pilot

ON: 5/5/2017, BY MARK LABBE PILOT STAFF

LAWRENCE — An administrator at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence fired for violating the “school’s policies pertaining to appropriate social boundaries between students and faculty,” is now under investigation for allegedly raping a boy when he was a student at the school.

The firing of Andrew Nikonchuk, director of curriculum and instruction at Central Catholic, was originally announced April 25 in a newsletter to school alumni.

In the newsletter, which doesn’t note any particular incident, Central Catholic’s president Christopher F. Sullivan said that the school “has adhered to the state’s mandated reporting laws and is cooperating fully with the Office of the District Attorney and local law enforcement.”

The Associated Press reported last week that Lowell Police and the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office are now investigating allegations by a 2008 graduate of the school that Nikonchuk drugged and raped him in 2006.

Allegations involving two other staff members, dean of students and basketball coach Richard Nault and social-studies teacher John Housiantis, have also surfaced following the firing of Nikonchuk, resulting in both staff members being placed on leave, according to reports by the Eagle Tribune.

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Paedophile Irish priest to be deported after sexually assaulting a young girl

CHILE
Irish Independent

Kathy Armstrong
May 5 2017

A paedophile Irish priest has been ordered to leave Chile after sexually assaulting a young girl.
The Chilean Supreme Court has ruled that Fr John O’Reilly (71) must be deported from the country after 25 years and his citizenship will be taken off him.

O’Reilly was convicted in 2014 of of molesting a young girl between 2007 and 2011, while he worked as a spiritual guide at the Cumbres school in Santiago. His name was added to a national paedophile registry which intended to keep him from working with children.

The Supreme Court rejected an appeal against his deportation on Wednesday.

A statement from the court’s authorities said: “The Third Supreme Court overturns the ruling of the Santiago Court of Appeals and authorises the expulsion of Fr John O’Reilly, once he completes the four year supervised release term to which he has been sentenced.”

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PRIEST EXILED Irish paedo priest to be kicked out of Chile as citizenship is stripped and parole set to end

CHILE
The Irish Sun

By Owen Conlon
5th May 2017

A PERVERT Irish priest who abused a young girl will have 72 hours to leave Chile once his supervised parole there ends in 2018.

The South American country’s Supreme Court endorsed the expulsion of sicko John O’Reilly, 71.

It follows a decision by authorities to strip him of his Chilean citizenship, which he obtained after living there for 25 years.

O’Reilly was placed under a supervision order in 2014 for repeatedly abusing the five-year-old at an exclusive school in the capital Santiago. He had been working as the school’s spiritual adviser.

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Texas deacon charged with sexually assaulting 2 young boys, police suspect more victims

TEXAS
News4SanAntonio

HOUSTON —
Court documents provide sickening details of sexual assaults allegedly carried out by 55-year-old Barry Durrell, a volunteer and an ordained deacon at a Houston church.

Police say the victims in the complaint — two boys, ages two and seven — are likely not the only child victims.

Durrell is behind bars on charges of continuous sexual abuse of a child and aggravated sexual assault of a child under six years of age.

“The evil person here is this suspect,” Officer Lee Donovan of the Houston Police Department’s Special Victims Division said. “His main point of everything he did was to gain the trust of people in that community, to gain the trust of the people who worked at that church before anything happened.”

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Australian bishops gather in the light of the royal commission

AUSTRALIA
Eureka Street

Andrew Hamilton | 04 May 2017

The government and the Catholic Church both face difficulties when commending values. The difficulties will dog events during the next week in which both institutions are on public display — the bringing down of the budget and the meeting of the Australian Catholics Bishops Conference.

LighthouseIn each case the difficulty has its roots in defects of governance: a lack of leadership, authority, transparency and inclusiveness. When the government appeals to values with respect to the Australian community or education, its appeal is commonly assumed to mask electoral self-interest and internal party conflict. That underlying its rhetoric is a lack of transparency, inclusiveness and authority is taken for granted.

When representatives of the Catholic Church appeal to values in public life, in sexuality and in education, their appeal is often thought to mask hypocrisy — the assertion of high values that it does not practice — and amnesia about its record of betrayal of the principles of good governance in its exercise of authority. The revelations of the royal commission into child abuse hangs over the bishops’ meeting.

Both the government and the Catholic Church will be tempted to carry on business as usual, postponing any concerted attempt to deal with the issues of governance they face until the election and the handing down of the findings of the royal commission respectively.

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Ex-priest David Joseph Perrett charged by Armidale detectives with historical sex abuse offences

AUSTRALIA
Northern Daily Leader

Breanna Chillingworth
@breannachill

5 May 2017

AN EX-PRIEST has been extradited from Queensland to face historical sex offences upon young boys in the New England.

David Joseph Perrett was charged on Friday afternoon by Armidale detectives in Tenterfield with nine counts of indecent assault upon a male.

Detectives allege the 79-year-old former Catholic priest assaulted four young boys between 1970 and 1982 in Armidale and Guyra.

New England Inspector Roger Best said the lengthy investigation by detectives culminated in an arrest on Thursday.

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May 4, 2017

Former La Crosse Catholic school administrator charged with child sex assault

WISCONSIN
LaCrosse Tribune

ANNE JUNGEN ajungen@lacrossetribune.com May 3, 2017

A former Catholic school administrator from La Crosse has been charged with sexually assaulting a teenage boy in Marathon County.

Steven Smolek, 59, of La Crosse admitted that he had sexually assaulted the 16-year-old in January 2015 while living in Mosinee, Wis., according to the complaint filed April 6 in Marathon County Circuit Court.

Smolek served as assistant superintendent of schools for the Diocese of La Crosse from Aug. 26, 2015, until his resignation on Nov. 23, two days after he told La Crosse police investigators that he molested the teen.

Police did not find any victims in La Crosse.

“We have been informed by law enforcement that there is no connection between Mr. Smolek’s charges and his employment and conduct with the Diocese of La Crosse or its schools,” according to a statement from the Diocese. “During the time he was employed by the Diocese and after, no complaints were ever made to the Diocese about any of his actions as a Diocesan employee.”

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Ex-School Official Charged in Sex Abuse Case in Wisconsin

WISCONSIN
U.S. News

LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — A former Catholic school administrator from western Wisconsin has been charged with enticing a teenager for sex.

Court documents allege 59-year-old Steven Smolek told police he chatted online with a 16-year-old boy and met him while living in Mosinee in January 2015. Charges against Smolek include child enticement and sexual intercourse with a child.

Smolek served as the Diocese of La Crosse’s assistant superintendent of schools for over a year until he resigned on Nov. 23, two days after he spoke with police, The La Crosse Tribune (http://bit.ly/2qGmIz0 ) reported. Diocese officials said police determined there was no connection between the criminal allegations and Smolek’s work with the diocese and its schools.

No working phone numbers could be found for Smolek by The Associated Press on Thursday to seek comment. The local court clerk said the case file didn’t list a defense attorney for him.

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DISGRACED PREACHER, CHILD SEX ABUSER TONY ALAMO DIES

ARKANSAS
Associated Press

BY KELLY P. KISSEL
ASSOCIATED PRESS

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Tony Alamo, a one-time street preacher whose apocalyptic ministry grew into a multimillion-dollar network of businesses and property before he was convicted in Arkansas of sexually abusing girls he considered his wives, has died in prison. He was 82.

Once known for designing elaborately decorated jackets for celebrities including Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley, Alamo died on Tuesday at a federal prison hospital in Butner, North Carolina, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

The disgraced preacher was convicted in 2009 on charges that accused him of taking girls across state lines for sex, including a 9-year-old girl. The judge who sentenced him to the maximum 175 years in prison told him: “One day you will face a higher and a greater judge than me. May he have mercy on your soul.”

Alamo started preaching along the California streets in the 1960s, advocating a mixture of virulent anti-Catholicism and apocalyptic rhetoric. He claimed God authorized polygamy, professed that gays were the tools of Satan, and believed girls were fit for marriage.

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Rabbi who formerly taught at Marlboro school faces child sex charges

NEW JERSEY
Asbury Park Press

Alex N. Gecan , @GeeksterTweets May 3, 2017

TRENTON – An East Windsor rabbi who formerly taught at a Marlboro religious school is facing charges of sexually assaulting and endangering two minors.

Menachem A. Chinn, 40, of East Windsor is facing two counts each of sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and East Windsor Township Police Department announced Wednesday. All charges are based out of East Windsor.

Chinn formerly taught at Shalom Torah Academy in Marlboro, which maintains a tuition and donation office in Lakewood. Chinn also taught at the academy’s East Windsor location before it closed, according to Mercer County officials.

East Windsor police first charged Chinn on April 20 for one count each of assault and endangerment after a joint investigation with the county prosecutor’s Special Victim’s Unit, according to an April 21 announcement.

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More charges for East Windsor man accused of sex assault

NEW JERSEY
CentralJersey.com

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer May 4, 2017

A 36-year-old East Windsor Township man who allegedly molested a young boy is facing additional charges after a second victim stepped forward with similar claims, according to Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri and East Windsor Township Police Chief James A. Geary.

Menachem A. Chinn, 40, of East Windsor Township and who teaches at the Shalom Torah Academy in Monmouth County, was charged last month with one count each of endangering the welfare of a child and sexual assault in an incident involving a 12-year-old boy. The alleged assault occurred at Chinn’s home in 2012.

A second victim, who is now an adult, has stepped forward and alleged that Chinn had inappropriate sexual contact with him on several occasions at Chinn’s home between July 2010 and May 2011, said Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman Casey DeBlasio.

As a result, Chinn has been charged with an additional count of endangering the welfare of a child and an additional count of sexual assault, DeBlasio said. Chinn had been the second victim’s teacher and youth group religious mentor.

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New victim says NJ teacher at Jewish school touched him sexually

NEW JERSEY
New Jersey 101.5

By Dan Alexander May 3, 2017

EAST WINDSOR — A second person has claimed to have been sexually assaulted by a teacher of a Marlboro Jewish school inside his home.

Menachem Chinn, 40, was arrested in April at his East Windsor home after he was charged with the first incident, which the victim said occurred at Chinn’s home in 2012.

A second male came forward after the media reports about the first allegation and claimed he had also been inappropriately touched at Chinn’s home “numerous times” between July 2010 and May 2011, according to Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri.

Chin is now charged with two counts of both endangering the welfare of a child and of sexual assault. He was being held Wednesday at the Mercer County Corrections Center.

Onofri said both males were under 18 at the time and are now adults.

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Priest’s body exhumed amid investigation into nun’s murder

MARYLAND
Fox Baltimore

by Christine Boynton

BALTIMORE (WBFF) – The body of Joseph Maskell, a Baltimore-area priest who died in 2001, has been exhumed as part of a murder investigation, police confirm.

The death of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik, now the subject of a Netflix series, remains under investigation.

Cesnik was reported missing on November 7, 1969 and her decomposing body was found in Lansdowne on January 3, 1970.

A former student at Archbishop Keough High School came forward in the 1990s claiming that she had confided in Cesnik about being sexually abused by the priest, shortly before her disappearance.

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Baltimore police EXHUME body of priest as part of investigation into unsolved 1969 murder of nun featured in new Netflix series, threatening to spoil the documentary before it airs

MARYLAND
Daily Mail (UK)

By Jennifer Smith For Dailymail.com

Baltimore detectives have exhumed the body of a priest as part of the investigation into the unsolved murder of a nun whose 1969 killing is the subject of Netflix’s latest true-crime series, threatening to spoil the entire documentary before it even airs.

Father Joseph Maskell was exhumed from a Baltimore cemetery on February 28.

Baltimore County homicide detectives took a sample of his DNA immediately to test it against evidence found near the body of Sister Cathy Cessnik.

Sister Cathy was found dead at a garbage dump in November 1969, two months after she vanished. Her murder has haunted the community for years and is the subject of the The Keepers: Who Killed Sister Cathy? which will launch on the streaming site on May 19.

Police expect a result on the DNA test by the end of next week and say it will be a ‘huge breakthrough’ if Maskell’s sample matches the evidence found at the scene.

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Inquiry to hold preliminary hearings for four investigations

UNITED KINGDOM
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

Preliminary hearings in relation to four investigations will be held between Tuesday 9 May and Tuesday 6 June at the International Dispute Resolution Centre (IDRC).

The hearings will commence at 10.30am in relation to the following investigations:

Tuesday 9 May – Child Migration Programme case study (part of the Children Outside the UK Investigation)

* Wednesday 10 May – Cambridge House, Knowl View and Rochdale

* Thursday 11 May – Children in the care of Nottinghamshire Councils

* Tuesday 6 June – Benedictine case study (part of the Roman Catholic Church Investigation)

The Preliminary Hearings will be held in the International Dispute Resolution Centre (IDRC), 70 Fleet Street, London, EC4Y 1EU. The IDRC is a 10 minute walk from Blackfriars underground station (Circle and District Line) and five minutes from City Thameslink. Directions and location are here: https://www.idrc.co.uk/location.aspx

Preliminary hearings will not be broadcast, but they are open to the press and public. Seats are allocated on a first come, first served basis.

For information on attending a preliminary hearing, please read this document or for more information on preliminary hearings, please read the information note on each of the Investigation pages on our website.

You can see the agenda for the Child Migration Programmes preliminary hearing here.

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First steps in investigation into historic child sex abuse claims

UNITED KINGDOM
Nottingham Post

The chair of an investigation into historic child sex abuse claims at care homes in Nottinghamshire will announce key parties in the inquiry next week.

Professor Alexis Jay, chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), will announce the investigation’s ‘core participants’ at a preliminary hearing at the International Dispute Resolution Centre in London on Thursday, May 11.

IICSA defines a ‘core participant’ as “an individual, organisation or institution that “played, or may have played a direct or significant role” in relation to the inquiry. It comes after an open process was launched in March, asking people to come forward.

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PRETI PEDOFILI, CHI IN ITALIA NON VUOL VEDERE

ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

[Pedophile priests: Who in Italy does not see them?]

Riflessioni ad ampio raggio di Francesco Troccoli a partire dai due libri di Federico Tulli

La pedofilia è annullamento della realtà umana del bambino. L’affermazione dello psichiatra Massimo Fagioli è stata il leitmotif della nuova presentazione romana (lo scorso 28 aprile alla libreria Feltrinelli di viale Libia) dei due volumi di Federico Tulli, editi dall’Asino d’Oro («Chiesa e pedofilia, non lasciate che i pargoli vadano a loro» del 2010 e «Chiesa e pedofilia, il caso italiano» del 2014) organizzata sulla scia della pandemia di episodi di pedofilia e relativa copertura di preti pedofili da parte della Chiesa cattolica, non ultimo il caso di Carlos Buela, accusato di pedofilia nel suo Paese, l’Argentina, e oggi comodamente ospitato in totale impunità presso la parrocchia di San Teodoro, a Genova, nella diocesi del cardinal Bagnasco. Il tutto in un clima che vede il nuovo pontefice oggetto di reiterati proclami di marketing all’insegna del (questo sì, abusato) motto per azioni di “tolleranza zero” che – stando alla testimonianza dei diretti interessati (le vittime) – restano puntualmente privi di riscontro.

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Monsignor admits to embezzling $500K to cover gambling debts, dinners, concert tickets

PENNSYLVANIA
Philly.com

by Jeremy Roebuck, STAFF WRITER @jeremyrroebuck | jroebuck@phillynews.com

The rector of a Delaware County retirement home for Philadelphia Archdiocese priests admitted in federal court Thursday that he embezzled more than a half-million dollars from the residence over nearly nine years.

Wearing his priest collar, Msgr. William A. Dombrow told U.S District Judge Gerald J. Pappert that he siphoned funds from a private account set up to support Villa St. Joseph, the facility in Darby Borough that also houses priests who have been accused of sexual abuse. He pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud.

Much of the money that flowed into that account came from life insurance payouts of priests who had died while residing there or bequests from the estates of parishioners.

Dombrow’s theft was discovered last year after the bank that administered the account flagged several suspicious transactions at Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino & Racetrack, in Chester, and notified the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

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POLICE: PRIEST’S BODY EXHUMED IN NUN SLAYING INVESTIGATION

MARYLAND
Associated Press

TOWSON, Md. (AP) — Authorities in Maryland say they have exhumed a priest’s body as part of an investigation into the decades-old slaying of a Baltimore nun.

Media outlets report that Baltimore County police dug up A. Joseph Maskell’s grave in February to extract material for a DNA profile. The development was first reported by WJZ-TV.

Police said in February that they were again conducting interviews in the slaying of 26-year-old Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik, whose decomposing body was found in a Lansdowne field in 1970. The case is the subject of the upcoming Netflix documentary, “The Keepers.”

Investigators want to compare the DNA of Maskell, who died in 2001, to evidence from the crime scene. Police spokeswoman Elisa Armacost says results will take up to six more weeks.

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PRIEST PLEADS GUILTY TO STEALING $500K FOR CASINOS, CONCERTS

PENNSYLVANIA
Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The rector of a church-owned retirement home for Roman Catholic priests has admitted embezzling a half-million dollars to pay for casino visits, high-end dinners and Philadelphia Pops concerts.

Monsignor William A. Dombrow pleaded guilty Thursday to four federal wire fraud counts for skimming money over nine years from a Villa St. Joseph account he controlled.

The Philadelphia Archdiocese runs the facility in Darby to house aging priests and treat those accused of sexual abuse.

Federal prosecutors say much of the stolen money came from insurance payments for priests who died and parishioners’ estates.

Lawyer Coley Reynolds says the 77-year-old priest agreed to cooperate as soon as he was confronted.

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Houston church deacon charged with sex abuse of a child

TEXAS
KHOU

May 03, 2017

HOUSTON – Houston Police say an ordained church deacon has been arrested in a child sex assault investigation, and investigators are now looking for other possible victims.

Charges are filed against Barry Todd Durrell, 55, for at least two sexual assault incidents in Houston since May 2016, according to HPD. He is charged with super aggravated sexual assault and continuous sexual abuse of a child.

According to HPD, Durrell is a deacon where the two incidents occurred at the West Houston Seventh Day Adventist Church on West Sam Houston Parkway North.

Durrell is accused of taking a 2-year-old boy into a closet at the church where he sexually assaulted him in May 2016. The mom found the child and the deacon alone in the closet.

A second male victim, 7, came forward in Feb. 2017 and told family members about ongoing assaults, and that’s when the HPD investigation got underway. Durrell was arrested in March and confessed to the crimes, according to HPD.

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Former Bialik College and current Mount Scopus College teacher charged with child sexual abuse offences

AUSTRALIA
Manny Waks

​4 May 2017

The Australian Jewish News today broke the news that a former Bialik College and current Mount Scopus College teacher was arrested and charged with a range of non-contact child sexual abuse offences (producing and possessing child pornography).

I would like to applaud the schools for responding effectively and expeditiously to these serious allegations. In particular, after speaking with both principals, Bialik’s Mr Jeremy Stowe-Lindner and Mt. Scopus’ Rabbi James Kennard, it was heartening to hear of their respective school’s immediate and ongoing response. It seems clear to me that both of these schools are handling this difficult matter appropriately. In particular, police and other stakeholders were immediately notified, support offered to their respective communities and more. I know that these schools will take this opportunity to review their policies and other matters to ensure best practice is maintained at all times. As we have repeatedly seen, there is always room for improvement, and I am sure that this will be treated as an opportunity for all schools to learn and to share for our mutual benefit.

It is also clear to me that we seemed to have learned from the mistakes of the past. Police and other stakeholders were immediately notified, support offered their respective community, and more. I know that these schools will take this opportunity to review their policies and other matters to ensure best practice is maintained at all times. As we have repeatedly seen, there is always room for improvement, and this is a perfect opportunity to learn, and hopefully share so we can all learn.

This is also an opportune time to remember that no segment of the community is immune from the scourge of child sexual abuse. We must all maintain vigilance in protecting our children, and supporting all those who have been impacted by it. We must ensure that all organisations who interact with children have appropriate policies and procedures in place, and that these are implemented. But we must also not leave all the work to our institutions; it is the responsibility of each and every one of us. If we are aware or suspect child sexual abuse of any nature has occurred or is occurring, whether in an institution or in a home, we must immediately report this information to the police.

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Mount Scopus teacher charged over child porn

AUSTRALIA
Australian Jewish News

A current Mount Scopus teacher has been charged by Victoria Police after inappropriate pornographic material was allegedly uncovered by his former employer, Bialik College.

Police have confirmed to The AJN that a 52-year-old man from Noble Park has been charged with Make/Produce Child Porn and Posses Child Pornography.

“Box Hill Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team (SOCIT) detectives have charged a man following an investigation into child pornography and upskirting incidents at an Eastern suburbs school.

“It is alleged the incidents took place between 2014 and 2017,” Police told The AJN.

Mount Scopus said in a letter to parents that the staff member “has already been suspended”.

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Sein Pfarrer soll ihn missbraucht haben

DEUTSCHLAND
Zeit

Von Katja Bernardy und Hannes Leitlein
3. Mai 2017

[His pastor should abused him but he cannot prove it. How is the church to deal with a suspected perpetrator who has abused but has never been condemned. It is a delicate case in the Trier diocese.]

Im Frühjahr 2006 kauft Michael W. eine Prepaidkarte, um den Priester Otmar M. telefonisch anzuzeigen. W. will unerkannt bleiben, er hat Angst. Was, wenn am Ende Aussage gegen Aussage steht? Wenn sich das Blatt wendet und der Pfarrer ihn wegen Rufmords anzeigt und er, das Opfer, als Täter dasteht? Michael W. wählt die Nummer der Pressestelle des Landeskriminalamtes in Saarbrücken. Am Telefon beschuldigt er Priester Otmar M., ihn seit 1998 mehrfach sexuell belästigt zu haben. Er erzählt seine ganze Geschichte, nennt Orte, Namen, kommt ins Reden – und verplappert sich. Sein Plan, anonym zu bleiben, geht schief. Die Frau am Telefon versichert ihm, die Zuständigen zu informieren. Die Staatsanwaltschaft leitet ein Ermittlungsverfahren gegen Pfarrer M. ein. Wenige Monate später wird das Verfahren wegen Verjährung eingestellt.

Sieben weitere Male ist Pfarrer M. seitdem bei der Staatsanwaltschaft angezeigt worden, zweimal vom Bistum Trier selbst. Die Vorwürfe reichen von illegalem Waffenbesitz bis zum schweren sexuellen Missbrauch einer Grundschülerin. Zu einer Anklage ist es nie gekommen. Alle Verfahren wurden inzwischen von der Staatsanwaltschaft Saarbrücken eingestellt – das letzte Anfang April 2017 –, weil entweder die mutmaßliche Tat zu lange zurück lag oder der Anfangsverdacht keine Anklage rechtfertigte oder die Staatsanwaltschaft eine Verurteilung für unwahrscheinlich hielt. Kirchenintern dauern die Ermittlungen noch an.

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Kardinal Marx sieht Versäumnis in Missbrauchsskandal „leider erst im Nachhinein“

DEUTSCHLAND
Epoch Times

[Cardinal Marx sees failure in abuse scandal “unfortunately only in retrospect.”]

Der Vorsitzende der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz, Münchens Erzbischof Kardinal Reinhard Marx, sieht den Umgang der katholischen Kirche mit Missbrauchsvorwürfen selbstkritisch.

„Für die Kirche und auch für mich selbst war es ein schmerzhafter Lernprozess, vor allem und in allem von der Perspektive der Opfer her zu denken und zu handeln“, sagte Marx der Wochenzeitung „Die Zeit“ laut einer Vorabmeldung vom Mittwoch.

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Cannon Scientology facilities CLOSED

TENNESSEE
Cannon Courier

May 3, 2017

MIKE WEST
Courier Editor

A series of Scientology Church operated facilities have been permanently closed in Cannon County and three suspects charged in the case.

“The Cannon County Sheriff’s Department would like to make the general public of this county aware that the Scientology facilities are closed and not operating in Cannon County,” a statement from the Sheriff’s office said.

The 16th Judicial District of the state of Tennessee, Cannon County, has charged three suspects in the case. Two of the three, Dennis Flamond and Hans Snyder Lytle, entered guilty pleas in General Sessions Court on two counts of false imprisonment.

The third suspect, Marc Vallieres, was charged with two felony charges of facilitation to kidnapping in Circuit Court. Vallieres pleaded “by information” in Circuit Court.

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Priest’s body exhumed in investigation of nun’s decades-old killing

MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

Alison Knezevich
The Baltimore Sun

The grave of a priest who died in 2001 has been dug up as part of the investigation into the slaying of a Baltimore nun more than 40 years ago, Baltimore County police say.

A. Joseph Maskell’s body was exhumed, county police spokeswoman Elise Armacost said. County police are handling the cold case of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik, whose body was found in Lansdowne in 1970.

The case is the subject of the upcoming Netflix documentary “The Keepers,” which premieres May 19.

In the 1990s, a woman who came forward with allegations of abuse by the priest — who worked at Archbishop Keough High School — implicated him in the nun’s death.

Last year, The Baltimore Sun reported that the Archdiocese of Baltimore reached settlements with about a dozen people who said they were sexually abused by Maskell.

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Victims of historic child abuse in Scotland have lost faith in government probe and want their own inquiry

SCOTLAND
Daily Record

BY JAMES MONCUR
4 MAY 2017

Survivors are planning to hold their own independent inquiry into historic child abuse in Scotland.

Some victims’ groups have lost faith in the Scottish Government ’s under-fire probe and held a summit in Perth yesterday to discuss staging their own inquiry.

Andy Peacher of the Fresh Start Foundation, set up to help child sex abuse victims achieve justice, said: “Many survivors want to give evidence but are scared – there is a lack of confidence in the system. How can the inquiry claim to be independent when it’s government funded?

“We want to get all survivors together and launch our own, fully independent inquiry.”

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has already cost over £3million and is due to begin hearing testimony this month. But it has been beset with problems, with three of the original four-person committee resigning.

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What’s the story behind Netflix’s true crime series The Keepers? Everything you need to know about the case of Sister Cathy

MARYLAND
Radio Times

By James Gill
Thursday 4 May 2017

On 7 November 1969, Sister Cathy Cesnik, a Catholic nun and popular schoolteacher at a Baltimore high school, went missing. Two months later, her body was found in a dump five miles from her home, with a blow to the back of her skull.

The murderer was never found.

Now new Netflix documentary series The Keepers picks up the case, speaking to dozens of Sister Cathy’s friends, former students and people who for nearly 50 years have tried to uncover what happened, who is responsible, and why the truth has never been revealed.

Find out more about the series and the story behind it below.

What happened to Sister Cathy?

Sister Cathy taught English and drama at Archbishop Keough High School, a traditional high school in Baltimore.

On the night of her disappearance, Cathy left her apartment telling her flatmate she was going out to buy a present for her cousin, who had just got engaged.

At 11pm, when Cathy had still not returned, her flatmate called two of their priest friends who came over and notified the police. Later that night, Cathy’s car was found unlocked and parked illegally a short distance from her flat. However, Cathy herself was nowhere to be found.

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A Major Break in the Murder Case of a Baltimore Nun

MARYLAND
CBS Baltimore

May 3, 2017 By Denise Koch

BALTIMORE (WJZ)– Nearly 50 years ago, the body of sister Cathy Cesnik was found in a ditch.

For months WJZ has been investigating the case that’s haunted the community.

Baltimore County police revealed only to WJZ that they’ve dug up the body of a powerful priest who has long been suspected in Cesnik’s death, to get his DNA.

In January of 1970, the decomposed body of 26-year-old Cathy Cesnik was discovered in a field in Lansdowne.

It’s a murder that’s gone unsolved for decades. A recent WJZ investigation revealed that many women who were sexually abused by Father Joseph Maskell, believed that sister Cathy was killed because she was about to blow the whistle on his dirty secret.

“She confronted him and she lost her life for it,” Teresa Lancaster said.

In the 60’s and 70’s, Father Maskell, a counselor at Archbishop Keough High School, was accused of molesting dozens of students, mostly women.

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Ex-Los Banos priest charged in child porn case in Merced County — again

CALIFORNIA
Fresno Bee

ROB PARSONS
rparsons@mercedsunstar.com

Less than six months after he was released from jail on a child pornography conviction, the former lead priest of a Los Banos Catholic parish faces new charges.

Robert E. Gamel, 67, the former lead priest at St. Joseph Church, will be arraigned Friday on a single felony count of possession of child pornography with a prior conviction, according to Merced County Superior Court records.

Gamel was arrested April 12 following a probation search at his Merced home, the Merced County District Attorney’s Office confirmed.

Deputy District Attorney Travis Colby confirmed the child pornography charge filed late Tuesday is a new allegation related to the April 12 search of Gamel’s home. Colby would not say what probation officers found at Gamel’s home.

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‘There is a long history of intermingling of church and State funds with respect to St Vincent’s’

IRELAND
The Journal

DELVING INTO THE history of St Vincent’s Hospital provides an interesting viewpoint from which to analyse current agreements relating to the transfer of the National Maternity Hospital to the Elm Park site.

Of particular interest are the terms of the original agreement to fund the construction of St Vincent’s Hospital and its amendment in the period 1965-1972. In 1954, the State agreed to provide £1.35 million to fund the construction of a new St. Vincent’s hospital.

According to its terms, if the hospital was not built or if, when built, its use as a hospital was discontinued, the Sisters of Charity were to repay the amount of the grant. If the hospital continued for more than 30 years after the payment of the final installment of the grant for its construction, the obligation to repay the State ceased.

A similar arrangement

This arrangement has parallels to the proposed lien over the new National Maternity Hospital at the Elm Park site.

According to Dáil records from 1972, Dr Noel Browne (then of Labour) referred to a further important condition in the 1954 agreement. The old St Vincent’s Hospital at St Stephen’s Green was to continue to be used as a public hospital. If the Sisters of Charity sold the St Stephen’s Green hospital, the proceeds of sale were to be transferred to the Hospital Trust Fund.

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Reveal event aims to pry loose documents in Jehovah’s Witnesses cover-up

UNITED STATES
Reveal: The Center for Investigative Reporting

By Trey Bundy / May 3, 2017

There’s no question whether Jehovah’s Witnesses policies direct elders to keep child abuse secret from police. They do.

And there’s no question whether the religion’s headquarters maintains a database of alleged child sexual abusers going back decades. Or that Jehovah’s Witnesses leaders have violated court orders to hand it over.

It’s been three years since we began investigating the global child sexual abuse cover-up inside the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization, and even though we’ve learned many key details, questions still remain.

How many child abusers are still active around the world because the Jehovah’s Witnesses did not report them? Which congregations do they attend? And why, even in the face of lawsuits and multimillion-dollar court judgments, do leaders refuse to change their policies in any significant way?

We’ve demonstrated our findings in text, television, radio and virtual reality stories. But we felt there was more to do because of the strong public interest that would be served by answering those questions.

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George H. Niederauer, San Francisco archbishop who pushed for same-sex marriage ban, dies at 80

CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times

Steve Marble

A San Francisco archbishop who pushed a divisive yet successful 2008 California ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage has died.

George H. Niederauer died Tuesday of lung cancer at a San Rafael care facility, the Archdiocese of San Francisco announced. He was 80.

Niederauer was regarded as a compassionate and tolerant leader when he was named archbishop after serving more than a decade as bishop of Salt Lake City, shifting from what then was one of the most conservative dioceses to the very epicenter of the gay rights movement. …

In 2005 he apologized for writing a letter to an Orange County judge, urging that a priest be spared prison time after being convicted on 26 counts of felony child sexual abuse. Indeed, Father Andrew Christian Anderson avoided time behind bars, until he was arrested four years later on suspicion of sodomizing a 14-year-old boy.

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May 3, 2017

Our Lady of Belen associate pastor relieved of duties

NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque Journal

By Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Editor
Wednesday, May 3rd, 2017

BELEN — The Rev. Jonas Romea has been terminated from his position as associate pastor at Our Lady of Belen Catholic Church apparently in connection with inappropriate conduct with an 18-year-old, female high school student, according to diocese officials and local police.

“Effective Tuesday, April 25, 2017, Reverend Jonas Romea no longer has priestly faculties with the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and thus cannot administer the sacraments within the archdiocese, including the celebration of Mass,” wrote Celine Baca Radigan, director of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe Office of Communications/Media when contacted by the News-Bulletin. “Reverend Jonas Romea is (a) … priest of the Diocese of Tagbilaran (in the Philippines) and serves under the jurisdiction of the bishop thereof.”

The diocese confirmed an investigation to police but declined to disclose why he had been relieved of his duties in Belen except to say, “His residence is no longer the Our Lady of Belen rectory. We pray for Rev. Romea and wish him well.”

Belen police, acting on a tip about the Romea’s behavior and termination, began an investigation and contacted the diocese. The department released an informational report on the probe Wednesday.

A Belen detective spoke with the Rev. John Daniel of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe on Monday who said that “in an investigation conducted by the church … Father Romea had stated that after services he had talked to a juvenile female and had kissed her forehead and then he told her that he liked her pictures on Facebook. The juvenile, not yet listed, was reported as saying that Father Romea had kissed her on the cheek and then told her that he had seen her pictures on Facebook and that he wanted to see more pictures of her in shorts,” according to the report.

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Rev. Christopher Pliauplis – Assignment History

NEW YORK/OHIO
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Prior to his priesthood Christopher Pliaplis was a religious order brother in Steubenville, Ohio; he left that ministry for three years to become a registered nurse. In 1987 Pliaplis was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Steubenville, going on to assist at parishes in Mingo Junction, Cambridge and Baldwin, Ohio. He transferred in 1991 to the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, reportedly to be near his ill mother. He assisted for several years at a Baldwin parish, followed by four years in Ronkonkoma; he is noted in the Official Catholic Directory during that parish assignment to have been ‘Absent on Leave.’ He then moved to a church in the Brooklyn diocese, followed by a transfer to the Archdiocese of New York, where was an assistant parish priest in Nanuet, Carmel and then Staten Island.

In 2006 a male high school student accused Pliauplis of grabbing his genitals at St. Patrick’s on Staten Island. The student was teaching religious education at the parish and Pliauplis was the program’s director. The incident allegedly occurred January 18, when the priest and youth passed each other in the school hallway. The boy and his family complained to the archdiocese and filed a report with the district attorney; there were no criminal charges. Pliauplis denied the allegations. He was suspended from active ministry in March 2006 and, per the Archdiocesan Review Board’s recommendation, Pliauplis was permanently removed from ministry in June 2006.

Pliauplis filed an appeal to the Vatican; he was successful. In July 2008 he was allowed to return to ministry, and was assigned to New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He remained at the cathedral as an assistant until 2011, followed by an unexplained gap of one year. His status since 2012 has been ‘On Leave of Absence.’

Ordained: 1987

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Kansas City Archdiocese Cuts Ties With Girl Scouts

MISSOURI
Courthouse News Service

TRACI RORK May 3, 2017

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (CN) – The Archdiocese of Kansas City severed its relationship with Girl Scouts USA in more than 20 Kansas counties, opting to align itself with a faith-based group that it says better represents the Catholic lifestyle.

The archdiocese announced this week that after 100 years of partnering with the Girl Scouts, it will instead align itself with American Heritage Girls, whose mission is “building women of integrity through service to God, family, community and country.”

Kansas City Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann said in a statement that Girl Scouts USA promotes “programs and materials reflective of many of the troubling trends in our secular culture” and is “no longer a compatible partner in helping us form young women with the virtues and values of the Gospel.”

The Archdiocese of Kansas City’s main issues with Girl Scouts has to do with the group’s alleged ties to Planned Parenthood and their promotion of role models such as feminists Margaret Sanger, Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem, who “not only do not reflect our Catholic worldview but stand in stark opposition to what we believe,” Naumann said. …

Those not excited about the Kansas City Archdiocese’s announcement include Barb Dorris, managing director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.

“They’ve taken action with the Girl Scouts but let a criminal run the whole diocese, it’s out of balance,” she said in reference to former Kansas City Diocese Bishop Robert Finn, who was found guilty in 2012 of failing to report suspected child abuse.

Dorris, a former Catholic school teacher, says she became involved with SNAP after she caught a priest molesting a child in 1991.

“We have 25,000 members worldwide and we’re growing. The good news is they found us, the bad news is there are always more victims,” Dorris said.

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John O’Reilly fuera de Chile: Suprema rechaza recurso de sacerdote condenado por abuso de menores

CHILE
El Dinamo

[Priest John O’Reilly: Supreme Court Rejects appeal of his child abuse conviction.]

El 2008 al sacerdote John O’Reilly, irlandés, por entonces representante de los Legionarios de Cristo en Chile y jefe máximo del Colegio Cumbres, se le otorgaba la nacionalidad por gracia “por su aporte a la educación, labor social y fundacional en la creación de colegios”.

Años después, en el 2014 fue condenado por abuso sexual reiterado contra una niña del citado establecimiento educacional. Es en ese contexto en el que se tramitó el fin del reconocimiento del sacerdote como chileno, a lo que el Congreso accedió unánimemente.

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Paedophile priest escapes jail after posting fantasy stories about child sex through neighbours’ letterboxes

UNITED KINGDOM
Christian Today

Harry Farley JOURNALIST 03 May 2017

A paedophile vicar who posted explicit handwritten fantasy stories about child sex through neighbours letterboxes has been spared a jail sentence.

Rev Peter Low, 65, was found in possession of 124 indecent images of children, including nine in the most serious category A, a court heard on Tuesday.

The priest was caught after he called police himself to report a burglary at his home in Heybridge, Essex. Police found nothing stolen but his handwriting matched graphic notes about ‘scantily clad’ children that had been posted through neighbours’ doors, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.

But Low avoided prison and instead has been sentenced to a three-year community order after pleading guilty to three counts of possession of indecent images of children and one count of possession of a prohibited image of a child on March 29.

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New abuse complaint against church, Boy Scouts

GUAM
The Guam Daily Post

Neil Pang | The Guam Daily Post

A new complaint of child sexual abuse has been filed in federal court against former Guam priest Rev. Louis Brouillard, the Archdiocese of Agana and the Guam chapter of the Boy Scouts of America.

In the latest case of abuse wrought by clergy against young boys held under their care, a plaintiff with the initials J.Q. is alleging that Brouillard sexually molested and abused him in the 1970s when he was between the ages of 13 and 15 and an altar boy at the Santa Teresita Catholic Church in Mangilao as well as a member of the Mangilao Boy Scout Troop 14, where Brouillard served as priest and scoutmaster.

Like many of the cases filed before this one, J.Q.’s complaint centers around outings with the boys scouts where Brouillard allegedly groped and fondled him and other boys who were instructed by Brouillard to swim naked in order to earn their merit badges.

According to the case filed yesterday afternoon, this practice of sexual abuse of young children was widespread and infected the highest rungs of the archdiocese’s hierarchy. Court documents allege that other priests and church officials, including Bishop Apollinaris Baumgartner, Archbishop Anthony Apuron, Monsignor Zoilo Camacho, now-deceased Rev. Antonio Cruz and others, either took part in similar abuse or knew about the abuse being perpetrated by others.

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Pastor at Boston church charged with drug trafficking

MASSACHUSETTS
WCVB

BOSTON —
A pastor at a Boston church was arrested Tuesday and charged with drug trafficking.

Willie Wilkerson, a pastor Mission Church on Quincy Street, was taken into custody after search warrants were executed at Wilkerson’s home and the church.

Police said they seized crack cocaine, Fentanyl, Percocet, Klonopin, Suboxone and more than $10,000. Officers said they also found stolen items.

Wilkerson, 58, of Dorchester, was charged with trafficking Class B drugs, possession with intent to distribute Class B drugs, and possession with intent to distribute Class C drugs.

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Fernando Karadima es trasladado a hogar de ancianos de Lo Barnechea

CHILE
24 Horas

[Fernando Karadima is transferred to a nursing home in Lo Barnechea.]

El Arzobispado de Santiago comunicó el traslado de Fernando Karadima hacia un hogar de ancianos en Lo Barnechea, luego del desgaste que habría presentado el religioso.

A través de un comunicado, la institución indicó que Karadima “ha sido trasladado de residencia al Hogar de Ancianos San José, de las Religiosas de la Congregación de Santa Teresa Jornet”.

La publicación agrega que la medida se debe a “razones internas”, y autorizada por la Congregación de la Doctrina de la Fe de la Santa Sede.

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‘Get your rosaries off our ovaries’: Protesters gather at the Dail to oppose National Maternity Hospital<

IRELAND
Hot Press

A small group gathered outside the Dail this afternoon to oppose the decision to allow ownership of the €300m taxpayer-funded National Maternity Hospital to be given to The Religious Sisters of Charity.

People Before Profit TD Brid Smith curated the protest, which saw speeches given by a spokesperson from AIMS Ireland (Association for the Improvement of Maternity Services in Ireland), a former resident in the Magdelene Laundries, a spokesperson from the Coalition of the Repeal the 8th Amendment, and People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd-Barrett.

Impassioned speeches and chants at the gates of Leinster House set the tone for a larger National Maternity Hospital protest, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday 2.30pm.

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Domspatzen: Abschlussbericht verzögert sich weiter

DEUTSCHLAND
Katholisch

[The final report on the alleged abuse at the Regensburger Domspatzen is still delayed. Originally, Regensburg lawyer Ulrich Weber wanted to publish it in the first quarter of 2017, then the date had been postponed to May. As the Sonderermittler reported on the Bavarian radio on Tuesday, it will probably be June.]

Der Abschlussbericht zur Aufklärung der Übergriffe bei den Regensburger Domspatzen verzögert sich weiter. Ursprünglich wollte ihn der Regensburger Rechtsanwalt Ulrich Weber im ersten Quartal 2017 veröffentlichen, dann war der Termin auf Mai verschoben worden. Wie der Sonderermittler am Dienstag dem Bayerischen Rundfunk mitteilte, wird es nun wohl Juni werden. Grund dafür seien neue Informationen, die noch immer eintreffen würden.

Auf seiner Homepage gab Weber auch bekannt, dass die Mitglieder des Anerkennungsgremiums seit Januar bereits ihre Tätigkeit aufgenommen hätten. Neben seiner Person gehörten dem Gremium die Professoren Barbara Seidenstücker und Knud Hein an. Das Bistum Regensburg teilte dazu auf seiner Seite im Internet mit, dass es zuletzt immer wieder Anfragen von Betroffenen gegeben habe, wann die ersten Anerkennungsleistungen ausbezahlt würden. Das Gremium und auch das Bistum versicherten, dass die ersten Auszahlungen für die zweite Jahreshälfte 2017 geplant seien.

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Archbishop Byrnes confirms the Archdiocese is liquidating assets

GUAM
KUAM

May 03, 2017

By Krystal Paco

We can expect to see the Chancery and the Redemptoris Mater Seminary among the Archdiocese of Agana’s assets up for sale. Coadjutor Archbishop Michael Byrnes confirmed on Tuesday that the Archdiocese is liquidating assets in light of the dozens of clergy sex abuse lawsuits against the Church.

“We’re looking at assets that right now do not touch parish buildings or school buildings. We’re looking at those assets that are most easily liquidated, so that’s about all I can say about it right now,” Byrnes commented. “We’re still in the process of evaluating specific assets that can be sold.”

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Breaux Bridge priest pleads not guilty to 20 child porn charges

LOUISIANA
KATC

May 02, 2017

ST. MARTINVILLE –
Nearly 10 months after his arrest in a child pornography investigation, a Roman Catholic priest made his first court appearance on Tuesday to plead not guilty to the alleged crimes.

Felix David Broussard, 51, has been formally charged with 20 counts of possessing pornography involving juveniles. He appeared in 16th Judicial Court in St. Martin Parish on Tuesday for an arraignment.

State Police arrested Broussard in July 2016 on accusations he possessed at least 500 images of child pornography on his computer. He reportedly confessed to the crimes, according to a copy of his arrest warrant.

The warrant stated the images depicted children appearing in age from infancy to about 12 years old and included images of their genitals, of children engaging in intercourse with other children and of adults sexually abusing children.

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Supporters cheer as Ottawa priest acquitted of sexually assaulting boy

CANADA
Ottawa Sun

BY AEDAN HELMER, OTTAWA SUN
FIRST POSTED: TUESDAY, MAY 02, 2017

Loud applause erupted in court room No. 33 on Tuesday as Father Stephen Amesse was acquitted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy.

The judge scolded the public gallery, which was packed to standing room-only with supporters of the Stittsville priest known as Father Steve.

“This isn’t a cheering section,” said Justice Martin James to the crowd of supporters, including one man dressed in an Ottawa Senators jersey, calling the applause “offensive to me and this court.”

The cheering was also seen as offensive by the family of the complainant, several of them in tears as they streamed out of court.

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Central Catholic coach placed on leave after Snapchat allegations

MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe

By Karl Capen GLOBE CORRESPONDENT MAY 02, 2017

Richard Nault, the boys’ varsity basketball coach and dean of students at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, has been placed on administrative leave for allegedly sending inappropriate messages on Snapchat to a former student.

Nault has been at the helm of the perennial Division 1 basketball power for 11 seasons, directing the Raiders to state titles in 2008 and 2010, and reaching this year’s North Section final against Cambridge, the eventual state champion.

Nault, a 1990 Central Catholic graduate, returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach for seven years before he was hired as head coach for the 2006-07 season.

An e-mail sent to families last Thursday by Central Catholic president Christopher Sullivan stated that an administrator was on leave for sending inappropriate messages through social media to a former student last month.

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Government may ask Sisters of Charity to gift land to State

IRELAND
Irish Times

Sarah Bardon, Harry McGee

The Government may ask the Sisters of Charity to gift their land to the State in a bid to defuse the row over the location of the National Maternity Hospital.

Minister for Health Simon Harris briefed the Cabinet on the issue and the controversy surrounding the ownership of the hospital, which is to be built on the grounds of St Vincent’s Hospital.

Mr Harris told his colleagues the focus of the discussion had been on property and ownership rather than on the mothers and babies that the hospital would care for.

The Minister said he would report back to Cabinet within three weeks on the progress made but was seeking creative solutions.

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Apuron attorney objects to jurisdictional fix

GUAM
The Guam Daily Post

Neil Pang | The Guam Daily Post May 3, 2017

Suspended Archbishop Anthony Apuron’s attorney, Jacqueline Terlaje stated her objection to the court’s decision to allow prosecutor David Lujan to attempt to fix the jurisdictional problems of his cases by a single filing, rather than amend each and every one of his 45 cases filed in Guam’s federal court.

Magistrate Judge Joaquin Manibusan began yesterday’s scheduling conference by discussing the issues shared in all the child sexual abuse cases pending before the court.

According to Manibusan, the problem lies in language in the complaints, which allege that plaintiffs and defendants are “residents” of different places. The residency of the parties is not enough to establish what he termed “diversity jurisdiction” – the jurisdiction of Guam’s federal court to hear the cases on the grounds that the parties are citizens of different locations.

According to Post files, Manibusan brought up this same issue during a previous hearing held last week on the first six cases to come before him for a scheduling conference. During that hearing, Manibusan ordered a pause on all motions and further proceedings in all the other cases until the issue of jurisdiction can be resolved.

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Central Catholic: We’ll be transparent on new abuse allegations

MASSACHUSETTS
The Lowell Sun

By Aaron Curtis, acurtis@lowellsun.com
UPDATED: 05/02/2017

LAWRENCE — When allegations of abuse at Central Catholic High School came out several years ago, a school official says they were transparent, accepted responsibility and addressed each case “frankly and honestly.”

The plan is to deal with the latest allegations of sexual abuse the same way, according to Central Catholic High School Director of Communications David DeFillippo.

On Monday, a man claimed he was sexually abused by four Marist Brothers in the 1960s. The alleged victim, now in his 60’s, claims he was abused by the Marist Brothers in the school when he was 14 and 15 years old.

“The school had not received prior information concerning these specific allegations and urges this individual or his attorney to contact the school too provide additional information so it can investigate this matter and attempt to assist this individual,” DeFillippo stated in a release put out Tuesday that addressed the accusations.

Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who played a major role in exposing the Catholic Church sex scandal, and is representing the alleged victim, declined to share the name and hometown of the man.

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Special Report: Abilene man on the run for child sex charges plans to kidnap son

TEXAS
KTXS

By: Veronica Soto
Posted: May 02, 2017

ABILENE, Texas – A former Abilene church and daycare worker accused of having sex with boys has been on the run for nearly a year, and an investigator who has kept contact with him says he may be plotting another crime.

Former employee at Pioneer Drive Baptist Church Jeffrey Forrest was charged with two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child in 2015. He was scheduled for a trial on Aug. 29, but he jumped bail before facing his alleged victims in court.

His ex-wife, Jennifer Moore, was on the list of witnesses to testify. Moore had already moved away from Abilene to Denton because of the shame she felt. After Forrest didn’t show, she immediately knew her life was about to yet another turn.

For the past year, Moore claims her ex-husband has harassed and threatened to kidnap her eldest son.

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Boy Scouts Files Show Why Child Molesters Weren’t Stopped

IDAHO
The Daily Beast

GABY DEL VALLE
KELLY WEILL
05.03.17

In June 1979, Rex Black, an Idaho supervisor for the Boy Scouts of America, sent a letter to his supervisor. A child had accused Scout leader James Schmidt of multiple instances of sexual abuse, and Black reported he had confronted Schmidt about the allegations. Schmidt claimed innocence and was allowed to continue working with children.

In 1983, Schmidt was convicted of lewd conduct with a minor.

Schmidt was one of a group of Boy Scouts leaders in Idaho troops sponsored by the Mormon church who were accused of sexually abusing children in the 1970s and ’80s. Recently unsealed files from the Boy Scouts of America reveal that the organization was aware of allegations against these leaders for years, but allowed them to continue working with children. In one documented instance, an abuser was promoted but the Scout leader who reported him was dismissed.

The files form the basis for a new federal lawsuit brought by five former Boy Scouts who accuse the organization and the Church of Latter-day Saints of fraud for promoting scouting as a wholesome, safe activity while covering up pedophiles in their ranks.
Riley Gilroy is one of two named plaintiffs.

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Grassroots Fights Back Against Orthodox Child Sexual Abuse

UNITED STATES
Forward

Barbara Finkelstein
May 2, 2017

This article originally appeared in the Forverts.

When a notable anti-domestic violence activist asked her father, the founder of a Baltimore yeshiva, how rabbis had dealt with child sexual abuse in prewar Europe, he told her, “We closed the shutters.”

Up until a few years ago, this selective blindness was the de facto rabbinic therapy for addressing child sexual abuse in the Jewish community. If you couldn’t see the problem, you couldn’t name it, and if you couldn’t name it, it didn’t exist.

But the same forces that rent the veil of secrecy over child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, Penn State University’s football team and Great Britain’s youth soccer system exposed the alarming reality of abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community. “Social media brought major awareness to the existence of child sexual abuse,” says Meyer Seewald, co-founder of Jewish Community Watch, a victim advocacy organization that takes a guerrilla approach to supporting victims, shaming offenders and rebuking rabbis who minimize the trauma associated with sexual crimes against children.

Indeed, grassroots organizations such as JCW have thrown open the shutters on a communitywide tendency to downplay victim suffering and perpetrator guilt for two arguably valid reasons: Rattling skeletons in the family closet compromises the marriageability of the perpetrator’s children; and committing mesirah — turning over a fellow Jew to non-Jewish civil officials — is halachically taboo. Historically speaking, “squealing” on a fellow Jew to Diaspora authorities frequently did result in the punishment by death of the Jewish offender. Maimonides himself urged rabbinic authorities to kill Jewish informants.

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Assault puts focus on newsfolk abuse

SOUTH AFRICA
Herald Live

May 3, 2017 Devon Koen

The growing number of assaults and harassment of journalists was highlighted when a follower of controversial pastor Tim Omotoso appeared in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court yesterday for allegedly assaulting a television reporter and cameraman, as well as a freelance journalist.

eNCA editor-in-chief Anton Harber, who was at court to support his staff who were allegedly attacked outside Omotoso’s North End ministry last month, said it was concerning to note the rising number of such incidents against journalists.

“We all have to send a message that it is not acceptable, we’re doing our jobs – it is important to this country and to our democracy,” he said. “There is a worrying pattern. “We’re getting increased reports of journalists being assaulted while covering [stories].”

Harber’s comments came on the eve of World Press Freedom Day today.

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Controversial pastor Omotoso to appear in court

SOUTH AFRICA
Herald Live

May 3, 2017 Devon Koen and Deneesha Pillay

Tensions were high at the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court ahead of the appearance of controversial pastor Tim Omotoso for his formal bail application on Wednesday morning.

While groups sang struggle songs outside the building, inside a large contingent of people filled the corridor outside the courtroom where Omotoso is to appear on charges of sexual assault and human trafficking.

Those inside the courtroom, including the media, were instructed to switch off their cellphones with one Tactical Response Team (TRT) official saying he would “sort out” anyone who did not adhere to the instruction.

Shortly after the magistrate arrived in court the court was informed that the prosecution was still busy with the charge sheet.

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Former vicar with Diocese of Chelmsford avoids jail after admitting child sex image offences

AUSTRALIA
Yellow Advertiser

A FORMER vicar from the Chelmsford Diocese has avoided jail after he admitted a series of child sex image offences.

Peter Low, 64, of Crescent Road, Heybridge, pleaded guilty in March to three counts of possessing indecent images of children and one count of possessing a prohibited image of a child.

He was sentenced on Tuesday, May 2, to a three-year community order.

The images were discovered when police responded to a report of a burglary at Low’s address.

Chelmsford Crown Court ordered him on Tuesday to complete 150 hours of community service, a sex offender treatment programme and rehabilitation activities.

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Furore over proposal to charge Catholic schools rent

AUSTRALIA
Bega District News

Deborah Snow
28 Apr 2017

Senior Catholic educators are warning in a confidential paper that any move by NSW bishops to start collecting rent from Catholic schools could be seen as a way of “paying for the ‘sins’ of the clergy”.

And the serious “reputational, political and canonical risks” involved could trigger a perception that government money meant for the education of children was being diverted to other church activities, the paper says.

The internal briefing paper, obtained by Fairfax Media and dated early April, was prepared for the heads of the 11 different Catholic education offices in NSW, who each report to their local bishop.

At least one diocese, Newcastle-Maitland, has confirmed to Fairfax Media it is considering a proposal to charge its schools rent.

Two others, Armidale and Bathurst, did not rule it out when asked if they had it under consideration.

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Child Safe training strengthened in the Diocese of Parramatta

AUSTRALIA
Catholic Outlook

The work of safeguarding and protecting minors and other vulnerable people is ongoing and of the highest priority. To strengthen this work, the Diocese of Parramatta has recently lent its support to an important eLearning Initiative organised by the NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian. This new online training can be used across parishes, schools, agencies and ministries in the Diocese of Parramatta.

The new training delivery method will help with the ongoing training and development of staff and church personnel around child-protection issues that is already in place in the Diocese. It will also help ensure robust systems are in place to keep children and other vulnerable people safe when they are involved in the activities of the Diocese.

eLearning Initiative

Child Safe training has been highlighted by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse as having a highly important role to play in keeping kids in institutions safe from abuse and neglect.

To complement our face-to-face training, the NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian has launched a suite of Child Safe eLeanring packages.

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York gathers to form child sexual assault awareness campaign

MAINE
Seacoast Online

By Deborah McDermott
dmcdermott@seacoastonline.com

YORK — Dennis O’Connor was abused by his parish priest when he was a kid, and his disclosure ultimately led to the priest’s prosecution. “We need to figure out how keep these people away from kids,” he said.

A York mother said she was 11 years old when she was sexually abused. Now the parent of an 11-year-old girl, “I want to know what I can do to keep her safe.”

These York residents were among a group of about 30 people who came to the York Library Friday afternoon to become involved in a local campaign to raise awareness of child sexual abuse.

The event was organized by Dr. Jeanine Ward, an emergency room physician at York Hospital; resident Kara DioGuardi, a music producer, songwriter and former “American Idol” judge; and York Police Officer Jamie Rooney — all of whom are comfortable now sharing their own child sexual abuse stories. But they recognize that many people are not, and many more do not want to hear about it.

“People don’t want to talk about it,” said DioGuardi. “It’s ugly. The public doesn’t get angry enough to say, ‘We have to stop this.’ They see it on TV, and they turn it off. But we’re not going to deal with this issue if we run from it. Don’t we want to protect our children?”

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Suspended Ottawa priest acquitted of sexual assault charges

CANADA
CTV

Joanne Schnurr, CTV Ottawa
Published Tuesday, May 2, 2017

An Ottawa courtroom erupted in applause today after a Catholic priest was found not guilty of sexually assaulting a young boy. Reverend Stephen Amesse said he had forgiven the victim.

The victim’s family, however, left the court house in tears. It’s has been nearly three years since police began their investigation after an allegation that a 14-year-old boy had been sexually assaulted in a west end Ottawa church. Three long years for both the priest and the victim but only one of them left the courthouse feeling justice had been done.

Surrounded by his supporters, Stephen Amesse walked out of court a free man.

“I feel very good, of course,” Amesse told CTV News outside of court, “but I do want people to know I have forgiven my accuser and his family and I’ve asked my folks to pray for them, that they find peace. And I’m looking forward to going back to ministry.”

Amesse was suspended from the ministry and his work at St. Patrick Church in Fallowfield after he was charged in 2014 with two counts of sexual assault and two counts of sexual interference. The charges dated back to 2008 and involved a 14-year-old boy.

But today, Justice Martin James said there were too many inconsistencies to convict Amesse.

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Central Catholic responds to 1960s sex abuse allegation

MASSACHUSETTS
Eagle-Tribune

By Jill Harmacinski jharmacinski@eagletribune.com 11 hrs ago

LAWRENCE — A spokesman for Central Catholic High School said a former student who recently made allegations of sexual abuse in the 1960s will be treated in the same “totally transparent” manner as others before him.

The statement released by the school on Tuesday was in response to a demonstration on the sidewalk across the street from the 300 Hampshire St. school late Monday.

Dr. Robert Hoatson, from the international sex abuse survivors group Road to Recovery, told reporters about new information and allegations regarding the sexual abuse of a boy by a priest at St. Patrick’s Church in Lawrence and four members of a Catholic order of brothers who worked at Central Catholic High School in the 1960s.

The man named the Rev. Paul Rynne, who died in 2001 after facing other sexual abuse allegations, and Marist Brothers who taught and worked at the school.

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Former SF Archbishop George Niederauer dies at 80

CALIFORNIA
SFGate

By Steve Rubenstein Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Archbishop George Niederauer, the eighth archbishop of San Francisco and a leader in the contentious 2008 battle to pass Proposition 8 that banned same-sex marriage in California, has died.

Archbishop Niederauer died Tuesday of lung disease at Nazareth House, a Catholic senior care facility in San Rafael, at the age of 80.

“Religious leaders have the constitutional right to speak out on issues of public policy,” Archbishop Niederauer wrote a month after the closely fought measure passed on a 52-to-48 percent vote. “Catholic bishops have a responsibility to teach the faith, and our beliefs about marriage and family are part of this faith.” …

The archbishop, praised by colleagues for his devotion, service and spirituality, spoke boldly at the time of his 2005 appointment in support of gay priests and disputed allegations that gay priests were a cause of sexual abuse of minors by priests.

“Some who are seriously mistaken have named sexual orientation as the cause of the recent scandal regarding the sexual abuse of minors by priests,” Archbishop Niederauer said in an interview with a Catholic newspaper in Utah.

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Former altar boy accuses Brouillard of molestation, demands jury trial and $10M

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio , heugenio@guampdn.com May 3, 2017

Former island priest Louis Brouillard is named anew in a clergy sex abuse complaint filed Wednesday by a former altar boy and former Boy Scouts of America scout.

The plaintiff, identified in court documents only as J.Q., was about 13 to 15 when Brouillard allegedly sexually abused and molested him, from about 1973 to 1975.

The complaint says Brouillard’s sexual abuses occurred when J.Q. was an altar boy at a Mangilao parish and as a member of the Boy Scouts’ Mangilao Troop 14, for which Brouillard was a scout master.

“On numerous occasions, while swimming, Brouillard would instruct the boys to remove their clothes and swim naked,” the complaint says. “During these occasions, Brouillard would be groping at J.Q.’s private parts at the same time.”

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May 2, 2017

UPDATED Ottawa priest found not guilty of sexually assaulting teen boy

CANADA
CBC News

Kristy Nease, CBC News Posted: May 02, 2017

An Ottawa courtroom erupted in cheering and applause Tuesday when a judge found an Ottawa priest not guilty of sexually assaulting a then 14-year-old boy in 2008.

“This is not a cheering section,” Justice Martin James cautioned the dozens of people gathered to support Stephen Amesse, who in 2014 was charged with several counts of sexual assault and sexual interference involving a child under 16.

Amesse had so many supporters there that, just before the verdict was read, Crown attorney Farah Rupert had to clear some space for the complainant’s family to sit.

James told court Amesse met the boy — who cannot be identified — at Guardian Angels School, which is part of the Holy Spirit Parish in Stittsville, when the boy was in Grade 5.

Court heard the boy was big for his age, had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and had problems with the other children. Their family was active in the church and attended mass regularly.

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Jewish Center camp counselor gets 10 years for child porn

MICHIGAN
Detroit Free Press

Tresa Baldas , Detroit Free Press April 11, 2017

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify that out of the dozens of photos of nude boys found on the camp counselor’s iPhone and iPad, 16 of them were actually taken at the camp.

A child pornography case that fueled parental outrage and fears in West Bloomfield ended today with a federal judge sentencing a camp counselor to 10 years in prison for filming young boys in a locker room and posting their nude photos on a Russian website.

But the judge handed down the punishment grudgingly.

U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn expressed frustration, saying he was locked into handing down the sentence because of a plea deal prosecutors worked out, and that the sentence was too long. He also set the defendant free after the hearing — his tether was ordered removed and home confinement was ended — and gave him two months to get his affairs in order before reporting to prison.

“It is clear to me in the 37 years (that) I have been a judge — this case does not represent one of the government’s finest hours,” said Cohn, who also criticized the media, calling its coverage of the case “highly inflammatory.”

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L’équipe di Trento che cura i sacerdoti pedofili e alcolisti

ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

[The team at Trento that treats priests who are pedophiles and alcoholics. Who are they?]

Chi c’è dietro il portone del centro di Trento. Oltre agli psichiatri, il recupero passa attraverso studio e lavoro

Trento -L’impressione è quella di un altro mondo in questo mondo. Una strada stretta dal nome gentile, via dei Giardini, che curva dopo curva sale verso un quartiere residenziale di Trento, case non lussuose ma tranquille e a pochi passi dal centro storico. Il cancello è sempre aperto. Non si esce dalla città, il castello del Buonconsiglio è proprio ai piedi della collina a qualche centinaio di metri, ma si entra in uno spazio diverso, silenzioso, appartato, dove i guai del mondo vero vengono visti da un punto di vista differente.

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Breaux Bridge priest pleads ‘not guilty’ in child porn case

LOUISIANA
KLFY

Ken Stickney, The Daily Advertiser
Published: May 2, 2017

ST. MARTINVILLE, La. (The Daily Advertiser) — The Rev. Felix David Broussard, accused 10 months ago in a child pornography case in Breaux Bridge, entered a plea of not guilty Tuesday morning in 16th Judicial District Court.

Broussard arrived before the courthouse opened, without an attorney present, however he identified Thomas Guilbeau as his attorney.

District Judge Pual deMahy set Broussard’s next court appearance for August.

A Diocese of Lafayette priest for more than two decades, Broussard last served as pastor at St. Bernard Roman Catholic Church in Breaux Bridge at the time of his arrest in July 2016. In that capacity, he was also chancellor of the parish school.

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Harris compared to ‘rabbit caught in headlights’ over maternity hospital furore

IRELAND
Newstalk

2 May 2017
Stephen McNeice

Health Minister Simon Harris has been compared to a ‘rabbit caught in the headlights’ over his handling of the National Maternity Hospital.

Fianna Fáil claims the Government should have acted more quickly to deal with concerns about its ownership.

The controversy erupted last month after it emerged the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group – which is controlled by the Sisters of Charity – will own the new National Maternity Hospital, which is to be located on a site on the St Vincent’s Hospital campus in South Dublin.

Enda Kenny is insisting that the hospital will have clinical independence, and that its religious owners could not control the board.

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Taoiseach promises ‘complete clinical independence’ for new National Maternity Hospital

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Tuesday, May 02, 2017

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny has promised “complete clinical independence” in the running of the new National Maternity Hospital, writes Elaine Loughlin of the Irish Examiner.

It comes as Government continues to come under pressure over the decision to grant the Sisters of Charity ownership of the hospital.

The religious order will own the €300m taxpayer-funded hospital, because the order owns the St Vincent’s Hospital campus on which it is to be built.

Under questioning in the Dáil, Mr Kenny said: “I can confirm that there will be complete clinical independence and that the Sisters of Charity will not have a majority on the board.”

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Big legal name takes up Central Catholic abuse case (VIDEO)

MASSACHUSETTS
The Lowell Sun

By Robert Mills, rmills@lowellsun.com

LAWRENCE — Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who played a major role in exposing the Catholic Church sex scandal, is now working with a client who alleges he was sexually abused by four Marist Brothers at Central Catholic High School in the 1960s.

The allegations were announced Monday, less than a week after allegations of inappropriate behavior by two administrators and a teacher rocked the school.

Garabedian said he was contacted over a week ago by a man in his 60’s who alleges he was sexually abused by four Marist Brothers in the school when he was 14 and 15 years old.

That client, whose name and hometown Garabedian declined to share, also says he was sexually abused by the late Father Paul Rynne at St. Patrick’s parish in Lawrence. Rynne, who died in 2004, previously faced accusations he sexually abused boys at parishes in Plymouth and Brockton.

“We’re preparing my client’s case so we can notify the Archdiocese of Boston and the Marist Brothers of the sexual abuse and take appropriate action from there,” Garabedian said.

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Jewish academy teacher from East Windsor charged with sexually assaulting 12-year-old boy

NEW JERSEY
The Trentonian

By David Foster, The Trentonian

TRENTON >> Menachem Chinn’s wife, Ruth, recalls the day well.

She said Friday in a phone interview with The Trentonian that the boy had a leg cramp on the day in question in 2012.

“He was screaming, withering in pain,” Ruth Chinn said of the incident that occurred at the couple’s East Windsor home. “What do you do if the kid is withering in pain with knots in his muscle on his leg? You don’t help him?”

The wife said the boy was in the basement with a bunch of kids for her husband’s youth programming when the incident occurred. She’s unsure if her husband massaged the boy’s leg, but implied he worked the cramp out.

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Protests to be held today over National Maternity Hospital ownership

IRELAND
Hot Press

The row over whether a new €300m taxpayer-funded National Maternity Hospital should be granted to the Religious Sisters of Charity has gained momentum over the weekend, with protests scheduled at The Dail this afternoon at 1pm.

The move to hand over ownership of the National Maternity Hospital to the Sisters of Charity has proved highly controversial, with many people questioning the logic of there being any over-arching religious influence on such a key medical institution.

Despite attempts by Rhona Mahony, the Master of the National Maternity Hospital, to downplay the influence of the Religious Sisters of Charity, saying that it is a mere “technical detail”, there is a growing consensus that the issue of ownership is far more than a this, with the former Master of the Coombe Hospital, Chris Fitzpatrick, also coming out strongly against any involvement for the Sisters of Charity in the National Maternity Hospital project.

“This is a defining moment in terms of Irish maternity services,” he said in a letter to the HSE, “the first of four co-located maternity hospitals to be built arising out of the new Government strategy – so it’s essential to get it right.”

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Lujan determined to prove District Court has jurisdiction

GUAM
KUAM

[with video]

Updated: May 02, 2017

By Krystal Paco

Another round of clergy sex abuse cases was on the calendar in federal court today, but like the previous batch, the question of whether they actually belong there was raised. On the docket today were the plaintiffs accusing Archbishop Anthony Apuron and Father David Anderson of child sex abuse.

But the hearing didn’t get very far because of questions raised as to jurisdiction or whether it even belongs in the District Court.

KUAM News asked Attorney David Lujan if he was concerned that he wouldn’t be able to prove jurisdiction for a majority of your clients, to which he replied, “I think we’ll be able to prove for a majority of our clients. But then, you know, even the ones we don’t prove jurisdiction of course we’re back in superior court. So all it means is that it transfers courts, you know.”

Attorney Jacque Terlaje represents Apuron, who maintains his innocence. During the hearing she moved the cases be thrown out. She said, “Generally speaking, when you’re dealing with civil pleadings the plaintiff has the absolute burden to set forth certain things in order for the court to attain jurisdiction of the matter. And so essentially what was occurring in the hearing was that there was a proffer of certain evidence outside of that document so essentially I told the court the best way to deal with this issue is to dismiss it if the plaintiff has not met that burden and to start all over again essentially.”

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RMS property among assets Archdiocese may sell to compensate abuse victims

GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Janela Carrera

The archdiocese says parishes and school buildings will not be liquidated at this time.

Guam – The once-controversial Redemptoris Mater Seminary is among the properties the Archdiocese of Agana may be looking to sell as part of a larger effort to liquidate assets that will be used as compensation for clergy sexual abuse victims.

During a press conference today, Coadjutor Archbishop Michael Byrnes fielded questions about a reported list of assets the archdiocese put together of that could be potentially sold. The archdiocese has already contributed $1 million in seed money for the Hope and Healing fund that will provide counseling services and compensation to clergy sex abuse victims.

However, based on the sheer number of abuse victims who have already filed suit–58–as well as the dozens and dozens of callers into the Hope and Healing hotline, $1 million will clearly not cut it. Byrnes says the list of assets that may be liquidated include the RMS property in Yona which was mired in controversy as the archdiocese and leaders of the Neocatechumenal Way wrestled over ownership of the multimillion dollar property.

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Former Simcoe Muskoka Catholic teacher facing abuse charges

CANADA
Muskoka Region

May 01, 2017 by Paige Phillips Huntsville Forester

MUSKOKA — A former employee with Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board is facing six charges of professional misconduct.

Genevieve Charlton-Rogers faced a disciplinary hearing in Toronto on Tuesday, April 25, with the Ontario College of Teachers to answer to her actions during the 2012-2013 school year.

Charlton-Rogers is charged with professional misconduct under the Ontario College of Teachers Act. The college states that she failed to maintain the standards of the profession, abused a student or students psychologically or emotionally, abused a student or students sexually, failed to comply with the Education Act, committed acts that are regarded as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional and engaged in conduct unbecoming.

An investigation committee of the Ontario College of Teachers is looking into allegations that during the 2012-2013 school year, while employed by the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board, Charlton-Rogers had an inappropriate personal relationship with a student and a sexual relationship.

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Belen priest removed from Archdiocese of Santa Fe

NEW MEXICO
KRQE

By David Romero
Published: May 1, 2017

BELEN, N.M. (KRQE) – Fr. Jonas Romea, the priest at Our Lady of Belen Catholic Church who made controversial comments about Muslims wanting to behead everyone, has now been removed from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. Many people are asking why, but neither the church or the Archdiocese is talking.

Back in March, the church said the situation with Fr. Romea’s remarks had been handled. However, it appears a new situation with Fr. Romea was brought to the attention of the church within the last week.

It was also brought to the attention of Belen Police. They confirm with KRQE News 13 that they got an anonymous call involving Fr. Romea and a claim of possible sexual harassment. Chief Conner said detectives are looking into the matter to see if a full investigation is warranted.

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe would only send a statement regarding Romea’s dismissal, saying he is an active priest from the Diocese of Tagbilaran in the Philippines. The statement went on to say he served as Parochial Vicar at Our Lady of Belen, then thanked him for his ministry and wished him well.

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Child molester priest rejects plea deal in second sex crime case

NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

By Michaelangelo Conte | The Jersey Journal

A North Hudson preacher and self-proclaimed exorcist who was convicted of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy rejected a plea deal yesterday on another sex crime charge.

But first Gregorio Martinez, who was on the lam for 18 months after his February 2015 conviction, had some grievances to air with Hudson County Superior Court Judge Mitzy Galis-Menendez.

“I’m not guilty of anything,” Martinez, 49, the former North Bergen pastor, told the judge.

Martinez also complained at the hearing that when he is brought to court for a hearing, prisoners in other holding cells spit at him while he waits in his cell.

“When they are leaving they spit at my face and they spit at my chest,” Martinez said through a Spanish translator. Galis-Menendez called the spitting inappropriate and said she would alert the sheriff’s officers who handle the prisoners.

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US court jurisdiction in Apuron, Anderson cases raised

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, heugenio@guampdn.com May 2, 2017

U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Joaquin V.E. Manibusan Jr. on Tuesday raised concerns anew on whether the federal court has jurisdiction over another batch of clergy sex abuse cases.

The cases include those filed against former Rev. David Anderson and Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron, both accused of raping and sexually abusing former altar boys.

Attorney David Lujan, counsel for former altar boys accusing Apuron and Anderson, asked for, and was granted, unt9l to June 2 to file a position paper proving court jurisdiction.

During Tuesday’s scheduling conference, Manibusan cited the case filed by the estate of the now-deceased former altar boy Joseph “Sonny” Quinata, who died in Hawaii, in 2005. The judge also sought stipulation as to where the other plaintiffs live.

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Judges recuse themselves in clergy sex abuse suits

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio , heugenio@guampdn.com May 2, 2017

While Guam clergy sex abuse lawsuits filed in federal court still need to resolve jurisdiction matters before moving forward, the lawsuits filed in local court continue to deal with judge recusals.

Judges have recused themselves from 12 of 13clergy sex abuse lawsuits filed in local court from March through April. Seven of eight Superior Court of Guam judges filed disqualification notices related to 12 lawsuits as of April 26, documents from the Judiciary of Guam show.

The recusals stem from conflict or potential conflict of interest, mainly because of the judges’ relationships with either the plaintiffs or the defendants.

The plaintiffs include former altar boys and former Boy Scouts who allege they were sexually abused by priests. The defendants include the Archdiocese of Agana and its clergy, the Boy Scouts of America and the Capuchin Franciscans.

In some cases, the judges cited ties to several members of the Neocatechumenal Way, such as Judge Anita A. Sukola, or the Concerned Catholics of Guam, in the case of Judge Vernon Perez.

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Central Catholic teacher from Salisbury under investigation

MASSACHUSETTS
Newburyport Daily News

LAWRENCE — A Salisbury resident is one of two members of Central Catholic High School’s staff identified as recently being placed on leave pending the outcome of misconduct investigations.

Parents, students and law enforcement officials identified social studies teacher and Salisbury resident John Housianitis, as well as basketball coach and Dean of Students Richard Nault, as the two staff members suspended last week during investigations of their behavior.

Information on the action taken was included in a letter sent Thursday evening to students, parents and alumni by Central Catholic’s president, Christopher Sullivan. The two were not identified in Sullivan’s letter.

Allegations involving the staff members came to the school’s attention in the wake of the firing of Andrew Nikonchuk, the former director of curriculum and instruction at the school. Nikonchuk, 36, of Lowell is under investigation for the drugging and rape of a student in 2006.

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Succession rules safeguard Catholic ethos of church’s health service assets

IRELAND
Irish Times

Colm Keena

In light of public controversy over the proposed movement of the National Maternity Hospital from Holles Street to the St Vincent’s campus, Minister for Health Simon Harris has said he would like to see a debate about the possible divestment of health service assets held by religious congregations.

Hospital and disability services used by hundreds of thousands of Irish people every year, paid for by the State and by private health insurance, are owned by religious congregations motivated by their Catholic faith.

An examination by The Irish Times of the four largest providers of such services shows that they all have rules that require that their assets are transferred to other charitable bodies with a Catholic ethos in the event that the congregations decide to wind up the companies that run these services.

With many of the congregations now seriously reduced in numbers, and their remaining members elderly, the hospitals and other services controlled by these orders are likely to be transferred to trusts and other such charitable entities, with a stated Catholic ethos, over the coming years.

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Thou Shalt Do Hard Jail Time: Judge increases prison sentence for pastor who ‘groomed,’ impregnated teen

PENNSYLVANIA
Crime Online

by Leigh Egan
May 1, 2017

After a Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a teenager and getting her pregnant, a judge shut down a two-year sentence jail term agreement and said that the punishment was “too low.”

People reports that Jacob Malone, 35, a married pastor of Exton, Pennsylvania, began sexually assaulting a 14-year-old teen in the fall of 2014 while he was acting as her guardian. According to Chester County Assistant District Attorney Emily Provencher, the sexual abuse lasted about a year. During the one-year time span, the suspect gave the victim alcohol and ended up getting her pregnant.

Malone was convicted of corruption of minors, institutional sex assault, and endangerment the welfare of children. Judge Jacqueline Cody sentenced Malone to three to six years in prison, followed by five months probation. After release, he’ll have to register as a sex offender for 15 years.

“This is one of the times when the court system fails. You are serving a sentence much lighter than the crime deserves,” Judge Cody said.

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Shalom Torah teacher charged with sex assault

NEW JERSEY
CentralJersey.com

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer Apr 28, 2017

A 36-year-old East Windsor Township man who teaches at the Shalom Torah Academy in Monmouth County has been charged with one count each of endangering the welfare of a child and sexual assault, said Acting Mercer County Prosecutor Doris Galuchie and East Windsor Township Police Chief James A. Geary.

Menachem A. Chinn, 36, of East Windsor Township, was arrested April 20 at the East Windsor Township Police Department, according to Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman Casey DeBlasio. A detention hearing is pending.

The incident, which involved a 12-year-old boy, occurred at Chinn’s home in 2012. He is alleged to have touched the boy inappropriately.

The East Windsor Township Police Department recently learned of the allegations involving the boy, and contacted the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Victims Unit. The two agencies conducted an investigation into the allegations.

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Teacher charged with sexually assaulting boy at home

NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

By Kevin Shea | For NJ.com

EAST WINDSOR — Authorities have charged a teacher at a Monmouth County school with sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy at his township home in 2012.

Detectives arrested Menachem A. Chinn, 36, Thursday night at East Windsor police headquarters, township police and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office announced Friday.

Chinn is a teacher at the Shalom Torah Academy in the Morganville section of Marlboro, the prosecutor’s office said.

The school’s website lists him as a rabbi who instructs 6th and 7th grade boys. Another website, for a Jewish youth organization, also lists him as an instructor.

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Marlboro rabbi arrested for alleged sexual assault of boy in 2012

NEW JERSEY
New Jersey Jewish News

by Debra Rubin
NJJN Bureau Chief
May 1, 2017

A teacher at Shalom Torah Academy in Morganville and director of the Twin Rivers chapter of the National Council of Synagogue Youth (NCSY) is being held in the Mercer County Correctional Center for the alleged sexual assault of a 12-year-old boy.

According to a press release from acting Mercer County Prosecutor Doris M. Galuchie and East Windsor Township Police Chief James A. Geary, police were recently made aware that Chinn allegedly touched the victim inappropriately on one occasion. A report on NJ.com noted that the prosecutor’s office did not elaborate on why the victim was at the rabbi’s home; another on NJ1015.com wrote that it was unclear if the boy was a student at Shalom Torah. The police contacted the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit and the agencies conducted a joint investigation. Prosecutor’s office spokesperson Casey DeBlasio told NJJN that a detention hearing was held April 26 in Mercer County Superior Court where a judge ordered Chinn held.

NCSY, the youth movement affiliated with the Orthodox Union, immediately placed Chinn on leave pending the results of the investigation. An NCSY New Jersey website that had listed him as “Twin Rivers Director” was taken down some days later. In a statement released shortly thereafter, NCSY wrote that it was “shocked” to learn of the arrest.

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Msgr. John J. O’Keefe – Assignment History

NEW YORK
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: John “Jack” J. O’Keefe was ordained for the Archdiocese of New York in 1972. He went on to assist in three Bronx parishes and, in 1977, he joined the faculty of Cardinal Hayes High School. In the early 1990s, after over 25 years years as a teacher and guidance counselor, O’Keefe left Hayes to assume the role of president of Archbishop Stepinac High in White Plains. In 1995 he was elevated to Monsignor status. O’Keefe moved on from Stepinac High in 2004 to pastor St. Margaret’s parish in Pearl River.

In December 2015 O’Keefe was removed from St. Margaret’s and suspended from active ministry after he was accused in a lawsuit of having sexually abused a Hayes High School student in the early 1980s. The abuse was said to have occurred on two occasions – in a Virginia hotel during a school trip to Washington D.C., and during a weekend leadership training program at the Irish Christian Brothers’ retreat house in Esopus, New York. District Attorneys in Virginia and New York deemed the allegations ‘credible.’ O’Keefe denied them. He was reportedly living in a supervised setting for evaluation and risk assessment after his suspension. In September 2016 O’Keefe was permanently removed from ministry; two other male accusers had come forward by then with credible allegations.

Ordained: 1972

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Lawsuit claims BSA, LDS Church concealed information on abuse by Idaho Scout leaders

IDAHO
Deseret News

By Scott Taylor
Published: May 1, 2017

SALT LAKE CITY — Five men who claimed to have been abused as youth by Scouting leaders in two separate Idaho cities, are suing the Boys Scouts of America and the LDS Church, with the lawsuit saying both organizations deceptively presented the youth program as a safe and wholesome activity for boys.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in Boise’s U.S. District Court by attorneys from Boise and Portland, Oregon, who have represented other men bringing similar sexual-abuse lawsuits against the BSA and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The lawsuit says both organizations knew of problems with child molesters in Idaho Scout troops and intentionally concealed this problem from families, participants, volunteers and law enforcement.

Monday’s case involved two plantiffs by name and three “John Does,” citing abuse that was committed by Scouting leaders to youth participants in the 1960s and ’70s in Boise and Lewiston, the latter 266 miles to the north of Idaho’s capital city. Three former Scout leaders were specifically named in the lawsuit.

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Five men sue Boy Scouts, the Mormon church

IDAHO
The Columbian

By REBECCA BOONE, Associated Press
Published: May 1, 2017

BOISE, Idaho — Five men who say they were sexually abused as kids while in the Boy Scouts of America are suing the organization and the Mormon church because they say both groups fraudulently presented the Boy Scouts as a safe, wholesome activity for boys.

The men filed the lawsuit Monday in Boise’s U.S. District Court. They contend that the Boy Scouts of America and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints knew that there were child molesters in the Boy Scouts, but they covered up the danger instead of letting parents and children know about the risk.

LDS church spokesman Eric Hawkins said in a prepared statement, “We have only recently learned about this legal action, and will take time to understand it fully and to respond as appropriate.”

The Boy Scouts of America said in a prepared statement that the behavior included in the allegations is abhorrent, and that the organization has strengthened its efforts to protect youth in the years since the abuse occurred.

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The Mistake Christians Made in Defending Bill O’Reilly

UNITED STATES
New York Times

By KATELYN BEATY
MAY 2, 2017

Institutions plagued by sexual assault scandals tend to look alike: They are usually insular organizations that resist external checks and revolve around authoritative men.

This characterization fits Fox News, which recently fired its host Bill O’Reilly after sexual harassment allegations against him (and pressure from advertisers) mounted.

But it is also applies to the white evangelical Christian community. This group is not a monolith, but its social hierarchy often functions like the military, a university or private business. It’s not a coincidence that conservative evangelical leaders tend to resist taking harassment and assault claims seriously.

Eric Metaxas, a best-selling Christian author, tweeted after the firing that Mr. O’Reilly’s ouster was “tremendously sad” and that his show had been a “blessing to millions.” When people responding to his tweet noted that he was silent on the harassment itself, he wrote “Jesus loves Bill O’Reilly” and told his followers to pray for their enemies.

Many Christian leaders responded to Donald Trump’s bragging about sexual assault with a similar line of defense. Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, the country’s largest Christian college, said that “we’re all sinners” and that Mr. Trump had apologized. (In fact, Mr. Trump has said that he doesn’t ask God for forgiveness and didn’t need to ask his wife for it either.) Mr. Falwell later claimed to have proof that the women accusing Mr. Trump of sexual harassment were lying.

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Sisters of Charity must be allowed exercise their conscience too

IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

In a weekend interview the Master at Holles Street Hospital in Dublin, Rhona Mahony, was clear. The need for the new National Maternity Hospital at St Vincent’s in Elm Park, owing to conditions at Holles Street, was “unarguable”, “unassailable”, “a simple, clinical imperative”, she said.

“It would be terrible if it was stopped because of a sideshow. When the next woman dies, how will the conversation go then?” Indeed. And “there’s the rub”, as Hamlet might say, the nub of this “sideshow.”

Speaking of “the next woman” in this context Dr Mahony may have been referring to Savita Halappanavar, the 31-year-old Indian woman who died in October 2012 at University Hospital Galway a week after she was found to be miscarrying.Her husband, Praveen, said she asked several times over three days for a termination and this was refused because the foetal heartbeat was still present and, as one midwife said, “this is a Catholic country”.

One of Dr Mahony’s predecessors as Master at Holles St, Dr Peter Boylan, was an expert witness at an inquiry and at the inquest into Halappanavar’s death.

Clearly he too is anxious that there will be no “next woman” to die in circumstances similar to those in which Halappanavar lost her life.

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Defining An Occurrence For Sexual Abuse Cases

MINNESOTA
Law 360

By Katharine Thompson, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP
April 27, 2017

In Diocese of Duluth v. Liberty Mutual Group et al., case no. 16-05012 (Mar. 30, 2017), the Bankruptcy Court for the District Court for Minnesota was asked to determine the trigger of coverage and the number of “occurrences” related to negligence claims asserted against the Diocese of Duluth by victims of priest sexual abuse. Such claims drove the Diocese to file for bankruptcy. As part of that bankruptcy proceeding, the Diocese filed an adversary proceeding seeking coverage from several of its insurers which had issued multiple “occurrence”-based policies spanning several decades. Ruling in favor of the Diocese, the court found that multiple years of coverage could be triggered and that multiple “occurrences” could be found in each policy year because each victim was a separate “occurrence.”

The Diocese successfully argued that each alleged act of abuse constituted a separate “occurrence” under all insurer’s policies, although it conceded that under the policies’ “occurrence” definition (“arising out of continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same general conditions shall be considered as arising out of one occurrence”) multiple instances of abuse of the same victim by the same priest in the same year constituted a single “occurrence” for that year.

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Father Kevin Dillon leaves Geelong after 17 years of service

AUSTRALIA
Geelong Advertiser

Bodey Dittloff, Geelong Advertiser
May 2, 2017

MUCH-LOVED and admired Geelong priest, Father Kevin Dillon, has confirmed he is leaving his post following a remarkable 17-year service to the local church and wider community.

The St Mary of the Angels Parish priest is set to take up a new position in July at St Simon the Apostle Parish in Rowville, which is located in Melbourne’s far-eastern suburbs.

Speaking to 3AW radio today, Fr Dillon said the change of scenery was his decision alone as he edged towards the retirement marker of 75 years of age, but that leaving would “just about kill me”. …

Having also been a long-time critic of the church’s handling of sexual abuse claims, Father Dillon said he remained in contact with “a lot” of those affected and hoped to continue his advocacy.

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Jurisdiction for sex abuse lawsuits stalls cases

GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Janela Carrera

Attorney Lujan will have until June 2 to submit a position paper regarding diversity jurisdiction.

Guam – Jurisdiction for some of the dozens of cases of church sex abuse lawsuits in federal court continues to be an issue and if no judge will take on the case, Attorney David Lujan says he will press on until they can find one.

Attorney Lujan represents 45 plaintiffs suing the Archdiocese of Agana and various clergy members in federal court for millions of dollars in civil claims of sexual abuse. Today he was summoned for a hearing by US Magistrate Judge Joaquin Manibusan who expressed the same concerns he had last week regarding diversity jurisdiction.

At this point, it’s unclear for some of Lujan’s clients where they are registered as residents and Judge Manibusan wants to ensure that he will have jurisdiction to preside over the cases. Lujan notes that even if he cannot prove diversity jurisdiction for some of his clients, they will find a way around it.

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May 1, 2017

Past sex abuse allegations revealed at Central protest

MASSACHUSETTS
Eagle-Tribune

By Jill Harmacinski jharmacinski@eagletribune.com

LAWRENCE — The leader of a recovery group for sexual abuse survivors said he was saddened, but not surprised, to hear a former Central Catholic High School student say he was drugged and raped by a teacher.

“Now, we wait. We are going to get more calls,” predicted Dr. Robert Hoatson, founder and leader of Road to Recovery.

An international, nonprofit group, Road to Recovery helps sexual abuse survivors, many of whom are men who report being abused as boys by clergy members.

Late Monday morning, Hoatson demonstrated on a public sidewalk across from Central Catholic High School where last week an administrator, Andrew Nikonchuk, 36, of Lowell, was fired for failing to maintain “appropriate social boundaries” between teachers and students. The Middlesex district attorney’s office launched an investigation of Nikonchuk after a former student said Nikonchuk drugged and assaulted him in 2006 when the student was age 15.

The alleged victim graduated from Central in 2008. The matter remains under investigation by authorities and no charges have been filed.

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Involving children in decisions ‘will help protect them from sexual abuse’

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian (UK)

Melissa Davey
Monday 1 May 2017

Involving children in the research and decisions that will impact their lives is essential to protect them from being abused within institutions such as sporting clubs, churches and schools, a symposium held by the child sexual abuse royal commission has heard.

On Monday researchers released the findings from three research reports ordered by the commission on the topic of child-safe institutions. The reports examined: key elements of child-safe organisations; the safety of young people in residential care; and disability and institutional child sexual abuse.

One of the six royal commissioners, Justice Jennifer Coate, told the symposium that survivors of child sexual abuse often shared their stories in the hope they could help stop the scourge of child sexual abuse into the future. As children, they were often unheard, or heard but ignored and punished.

“A key challenge for the commission has been the lack of research on institutional child sexual abuse to date,” Coate said. “There has been no large-scale, cross-jurisdiction focus on the topic.”

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Man alleging he was raped by Central Catholic teacher hired renowned sex-abuse lawyer

MASSACHUSETTS
The Lowell Sun

[with video]

By Robert Mills, rmills@lowellsun.com

LAWRENCE — Well-known Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who played a major role in exposing the Catholic Church sex scandal, is now working with a client who alleges he was sexually abused by four Marist Brothers at Central Catholic High School in the 1960s.

The allegations were announced Monday, less than a week after allegations of inappropriate behavior by two administrators and a teacher rocked the school.

Garabedian said he was contacted over a week ago by a man in his 60s who alleges he was sexually abused by four Marist Brothers in the school when he was 14 and 15 years old.

That client, whose name and hometown Garabedian declined to share, also says he was sexually abused by the late Rev. Paul Rynne at St. Patrick’s parish in Lawrence. Rynne, who died in 2004, previously faced accusations that he sexually abused boys at parishes in Plymouth and Brockton.

“We’re preparing my client’s case so we can notify the Archdiocese of Boston and the Marist Brothers of the sexual abuse and take appropriate action from there,” Garabedian said.

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