ABUSE TRACKER

Last month, a prominent Buddhist abbot in Thailand was defrocked after a video of two women physically fighting over him outside his temple went viral.

Soon after, investigators divulged that the abbot of the ancient Wat Bua Kwan temple near Bangkok had maintained long-term relationships with at least six women, regularly sending them explicit messages and spending lavishly on them – for example, paying for their expensive plastic surgeries. Officials are now investigating whether those funds were stolen from his temple.

That incident followed one in late January, when Thai police raided the Phrom Sunthon Monastery in Chonburi province on Thailand’s Gulf coast following complaints that the monks were in possession of drugs and guns. Police found at least one firearm, but also a stash of porn, sex toys and a list of contact details for prostitutes. They arrested four monks, removing them from the temple and banning them from practicing Buddhism….

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In a unanimous and bipartisan vote on Thursday, March 19, the Georgia House Judiciary Committee advanced SB-542, the Clergy Sexual Abuse Accountability Bill, following testimony from survivors, advocates and experts who described the realities of clergy sexual abuse and gaps in Georgia law that allow it to persist.

The proposed legislation aims to criminalize sexual abuse committed by clergy who exploit their position of spiritual authority, particularly in cases involving adult victims.

“This bill addresses an issue we’re all aware of — but that a big part of our community is very uncomfortable discussing.”

Survivors, whistleblowers, expert witnesses and lawmakers offered a consistent and sobering account: Abuse within religious contexts is often not marked by force, but by trust, authority and coercion, and current law does not adequately address these dynamics.

This often leaves victims without a clear path to justice.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Randy Robertson, opened by acknowledging both the…

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A bill aimed at criminalizing clergy sexual abuse in Georgia is headed to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk after passing the state House unanimously Thursday, capping a swift and emotional legislative push driven in part by a Northeast Georgia survivor.

The Georgia House voted 168-0 to approve Senate Bill 542. The measure previously passed the Senate on March 6 by a unanimous 55-0 vote.

Swinson spoke with Now Georgia moments after the vote, still processing the outcome before walking through the Capitol with her team as lawmakers stopped to applaud and thank her — a visible sign of the bipartisan support behind the bill she helped bring to the finish line.

The legislation creates a criminal offense for clergy members who engage in sexual contact with individuals under their pastoral or spiritual authority, removing consent as a defense in cases involving coercion or abuse of power.

‘We see you, we hear…

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• Former Knoxville Bishop Richard Stika’s career was heavily influenced by his mentor, Cardinal Justin Rigali.
• Rigali resigned as cardinal in Philadelphia after a grand jury found he allowed priests accused of sexual abuse to remain in ministry.
• Stika was accused of adopting Rigali’s leadership patterns, including protecting the church over victims and conducting superficial investigations.

Years of deep discord in the Diocese of Knoxville began in St. Louis, the deeply Catholic city where the polarizing former Bishop Richard Stika was born, spent his formative years, returned to after he resigned and died in at the age of 68 in February.

In order to better understand Stika’s rise and spectacular fall as Knoxville’s longest-tenured bishop, Knox News traced his career back to St. Louis, the “Rome of the West,” where Stika’s connections helped put him in position to learn at the feet of one of the most prominent American…

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Decades after the killing of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, the Ohio SNAP founder believes the Catholic Church continues to fail one of its most devoted servants.

Claudia Vercellotti pops out of an elevator inside Toledo’s Oliver House, lugging an oversized bag of poster boards.

She founded the Ohio chapter of SNAP – Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests – in 2002, giving her plenty of time to add to her collection of boards, which contain images of Catholic Church-related documents.

But she did not initially come to the Father Gerald Robinson case through documents. She came to it as a child riding through Toledo in the 1980s, looking out a car window at Mercy Hospital and knowing that something terrible had happened there.

“When I was a kid in the 80s, I attended the Community of the Risen Christ Church,” she says. “We were the hippie church on wheels.”

…

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11 Investigates began re-examining the murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl last year after obtaining the first batch of public records tied to the case. The initial goal was straightforward: May marks 20 years since Father Gerald Robinson was convicted of killing the nun who spent more than 50 years serving the church.

But as often happens in long-buried investigations, the focus shifted.

One piece of communication seemed to open the floodgates for investigating this story from a different angle. We found out the identity of the woman who approached the Toledo Diocese’s review board in June 2003. This was a review board set up after the Dallas Charter was established in 2002. It was the Catholic Church’s attempt to handle abuse claims that were snowballing after the release of the Boston Globe’s investigation into sexual abuse by priests in the Boston Diocese. The series…

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46 years after a nun was killed inside Mercy Hospital’s chapel, the case still shapes Toledo’s reckoning with its past.

On a cool, sunny February morning, Claudia Vercellotti and Lee Pahl walk side by side down North St. Clair Street, past the brick walls of Fifth Third Field, home of the Toledo Mud Hens. They stop at a street sign.

It reads: Msgr Jerome Schmit Way.

For Vercellotti, the founder of Ohio’s Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the sign is a provocation. For Lee Pahl, whose aunt was murdered more than four decades ago, it is something closer to a wound that never closes. Monsignor Jerome Schmit, revered by many for his decades of service to the Toledo Diocese and his prominent role with the Catholic Youth Organization, is remembered very differently by those who know what happened in a hospital sacristy in 1980.

“Toledo has…

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Judge orders all creditors must vote in favor of removing some entities from liability

The judge in the Buffalo Catholic Diocese bankruptcy case recently ordered creditors to opt-in to allow some of the diocese’s entities to be released from liability. One lawyer says that could prove to be a challenge.

Attorney Steve Boyd represents some of the abuse victims in the case. He says he advocated for an opt-out, like in Rochester and Syracuse. “The US Trustee in all of those cases advocated for an opt-in plan, where everyone must vote or the plan could fail and judge Bucki in Buffalo ruled that this must be an op- in plan, so it makes it more difficult to settle the case,” says Boyd. he says it puts a big challenge in front of him, but he believes most of the attorneys involved in both the church side and the survivor side…

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Key Points

• Father Laurence LaPointe has been placed on leave from his Connecticut parish following an abuse allegation from the 1970s.
• LaPointe was also recently indicted in Maryland for alleged misconduct dating back to the same decade.
• The Diocese of Norwich removed LaPointe as a precautionary measure while investigations continue.
• LaPointe has denied the allegations and is presumed innocent until legal proceedings conclude.

Father Laurence LaPointe, pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in Willimantic, has been placed on leave following an allegation of abuse of a minor in Connecticut in the early 1970s. 

The Diocese of Norwich said the decision to place LaPointe on leave was made after a referral and investigation by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. LaPointe has been placed on leave from all ministry pending further review. 

After LaPointe was placed on leave on March 6, the Diocese learned on March 11 that LaPointe was recently…

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Labor rights leader Dolores Huerta says she was sexually abused by César Chavez amid reported allegations of abuse by others during his tenure as president of The United Farm Workers union.

In a statement released Wednesday, Huerta said she stayed silent for 60 years out of concern that her words would hurt the farmworker movement.

Huerta described two sexual encounters with Chavez, one where she was “manipulated and pressured” and another where she was “forced against my will.”

“I carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was life’s work. The formation of a union was the only vehicle to accomplish and secure those rights and I wasn’t going to let Cesar or anyone else get in the way.”

Earlier Wednesday, an investigation by the New York Times found that Chavez, who died in 1993 at the age of 66 in…

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As a child in Arizona, I grew up hearing Cesar Chavez’s name. Schools, streets, plazas and parks are named after him in this state, and we learned about his movement in school. Chavez was born in Yuma, Ariz., and died not far from it in San Luis.

Years later, I visited the old United Farm Workers headquarters while reporting on the first Trump administration’s immigration crackdowns. In some ways, it felt like I was visiting a pilgrimage site. Chavez was Catholic, and beginning in the 1960s, Catholic leaders walked shoulder to shoulder with him in advocating for workers’ rights. In 1988 he fasted for 36 days to call attention to deadly toxins used in the fields of California.

“Do you think the church will ever recognize Cesar as a saint?” I asked a friend who had worked with the civil rights leader for a decade.

He grimaced. No, he said,…

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Disputes over amount, insurance liability amount could add $90 million or more to final payouts

The dueling settlement offers from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland and the hundreds of East Bay parishioners who say they were raped and abused by its priests are still separated by at least $90 million — and possibly tens of millions more, court records show.

The chasm shows the work that remains to resolve nearly 350 lawsuits from people who say they were molested as children by church leaders and ordered by their alleged abusers to keep quiet. It comes just weeks ahead of a trial that is among a handful being moved forward as tests, which could provide new clarity on the diocese’s potential liability.

A committee representing those abuse victims recently filed court papers demanding $314.1 million over the course of three and a half years from the diocese and a related corporation…

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El Paso Catholic Diocese officials confirmed more than 30 years ago that a priest sexually abused Isaac Melendrez Jr. and others boys, but never shared findings with him, or offered him help. Now, he’s speaking out.

In 1981, 14-year-old Isaac Melendrez Jr. was sexually abused by a man he now refers to as “a monster” – his parish priest in Doña Ana, New Mexico.

The boy told his mother, who didn’t take any action and later sent him on out-of-town trips with the priest. He said he told a Catholic Church official in Las Cruces in 1982, then never heard back. In 1985, El Paso’s bishop sent the priest to a California facility that diagnosed and treated clergy for sexual misconduct and other mental health disorders. In 1994, officials in the El Paso diocese interviewed Melendrez and other abuse victims and found that the priest’s actions were “consistent with the…

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A youth minister with Mark Barclay Ministries and son-in-law of the organization’s founder is returning to prison for sexually assaulting a child. It’s a place he has called home on two prior occasions, once for the gang-rape of another minor he preyed upon.

He is the third member of a trinity within the organization to be imprisoned in the last two years for sex crimes, following a father and son duo.

James P. Randolph appeared before Midland County Circuit Judge Michael J. Beale for sentencing on Thursday, March 19, coincidentally his 60th birthday. A seven-day trial in August ended with jurors convicting Randolph of two counts of first- and four counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Randolph’s father-in-law, televangelist Mark T. Barclay, was not present in the packed courtroom. His namesake ministries and Living Word Church, 2010 N. Stark Road in Midland County’s Lincoln Township,  View Cache

Rhode Island’s Catholic bishop recently expressed sadness and shame for decades of  priests who raped hundreds of children. He also said the Church has improved. His diocesan office, however, portrayed Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha’s report—a report that exposed all this—as “needless.” I disagree. Neronha’s report wasn’t “needless.” It was very much needed—and long overdue.

Attorney General Neronha recently released an important exposé of how at least 72 Rhode Island priests or deacons molested more than 300 children over the past several decades. How Church officials shuffled known child-raping priests to new churches, without warning their congregations. How the Church protected such priests from the law. And how the Church ignored or downplayed this for years—until facing litigation. How—when facing major litigation—former Bishop Tobin agreed to produce files and assist investigations. But how his diocese then obstructed interviews, destroyed some records, and tried to undercut the credibility of some…

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Missing records, limited cooperation and repeated declined interviews leave questions about the Diocese’s role in Father Robinson’s case.

Editor’s note: This article is just part of a much larger story. Beginning March 23, you can stream the full documentary on WTOL 11+. The app is free and available on your phone or smart TV, giving you access to exclusive reporting, extended interviews, and the complete investigation.

11 Investigates began re-examining the murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl last year after obtaining the first batch of public records tied to the case. The initial goal was straightforward: May marks 20 years since Father Gerald Robinson was convicted of killing the nun who spent more than 50 years serving the church.

But as often happens in long-buried investigations, the focus shifted.

One piece of communication seemed to open the floodgates for investigating this story from a different…

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The longtime religion reporter recalls the moment the story broke, the national attention that followed and why he ultimately believes the jury got it right.

Editor’s note: This article is just part of a much larger story. Beginning March 23, you can stream the full documentary on WTOL 11+. The app is free and available on your phone or smart TV, giving you access to exclusive reporting, extended interviews, and the complete investigation.

David Yonke spent decades covering religion for The Blade, but none of that experience prepared him for the moment a colleague walked up to him in the newsroom in 2004 with a career-defining tip.

“I was sitting in my cubicle,” Yonke says. “Chris Hall came up, and she was the police reporter. And she asked me if I knew anything about a Father Gerald Robinson.”

Yonke barely did.

“I knew he served the Polish…

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Newly revealed sexual abuse and assault allegations against the late civil rights leader César Chávez reignite a call for the Church to “honor our stories,” a Latino clergy sex abuse survivor, who as a teenager met Chávez several times, told OSV News.

Chávez, who died in 1993 at age 66, left an imprint on Catholic social justice efforts in the U.S. — speaking openly about his faith, partnering with the nation’s Catholic bishops to support farmworkers, and even being floated by some Catholics as a possible saint. 

But with recent disclosures that Chávez sexually abused several women and girls amid that work, several survivors and advocates have said the Church must hold accountable prominent Catholic leaders — even if they are not directly employed or overseen by Church officials.

Abuse survivors find recent reports “profoundly triggering and painful”

The recent reports about Chávez have been “profoundly triggering and painful for me,”…

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A sexual assault survivor faced a former pastor in court Thursday before the judge handed down his sentence for first degree criminal sexual conduct.

James Randolph, the former leader of the Living Word Church in Midland, was convicted last August of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and other criminal charges.

The survivor of Randolph told the court in her victim impact statement that she will not allow Randolph’s actions, or lack of accountability, to re-traumatize her or hold power over her life any longer.

“When I was in the 6th grade, James Randolph begins sexually assaulting me in the middle of the night,” said the survivor.

The survivor said she lived with Randolph when she was a child.

“What started as abuse quickly escalated, becoming more severe over time,” said the survivor. “This continued for years. Each night, each incident, took something from me, my innocence, my sense of safety, and…

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This release was originally published on 4 February 2026.

Former Pastor Walter Chahwanda was today (20 March 2026) at Liverpool Crown Court given a 14-year sentence after being found guilty of seventeen offences, including sexual offences, against young girls.

He will serve nine years in prison and five years on extended licence.

Aaron Smith, a specialist prosecutor with CPS Mersey Cheshire Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) unit, said: “The Crown Prosecution Service welcomes the sentence handed out to Walter Chahwanda today.

“Chahwanda abused the trust placed in him as a pastor to target and harm young women and children.

“Their courage in coming forward has ensured he is now a convicted sex offender who will spend many years in prison.

“We hope it offers some reassurance as they continue to rebuild their lives.

“The CPS successfully applied to the court for restraining orders to prevent him ever contacting any…

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Selvin Bonilla Navarrete, of Westbury, was a church choir director at Iglesia Pentecostal Jesus Es at the time of the incident on Jan. 4.

A 43-year-old man accused of inappropriately touching a teen girl in East Meadow was arrested on Friday.

Selvin Bonilla Navarrete, of Westbury, was a church choir director at Iglesia Pentecostal Jesus Es at the time of the incident on Jan. 4.

Police say he drove the 14-year-old victim to parking lot at 1847 Front St. that afternoon and proceeded to touch her.

Navarrete has since been charged with sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.

He is set to be arraigned Saturday at First District Court in Hempstead.

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A Catholic priest with ties to Southwest Louisiana has been arraigned for child sex abuse charges in Acadia Parish.

Previous coverage:

• Catholic priest with SWLA ties formally charged with child sex crimes in Acadia Parish
• Acadia Parish priest with SWLA ties arrested on child sex charges

Korey Lavergne was set to be arraigned today for the charges, but his attorney Stephen Stockstill filed a written plea of not guilty on his behalf, according to the Acadia Parish Clerk of Court.

Lavergne served at St. Edward Catholic Church and St. Thomas Mission Chapel in Acadia Parish. In early March, he was named in a Bill of Information, accused of three felony counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile.

The bill states he’s accused of committing “lewd or lascivious acts upon a juvenile” who was 15 years old on Jan. 1,…

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A Roman Catholic priest has been warned he faces jail after being convicted of sexually assaulting a man in the house at his church.

Father Stephen Baillie, who was the parish priest at St Joseph’s Church in Clarkston, East Renfrewshire, abused his victim after they had been on a night out together.

Baillie, who has been a priest for 36 years, denied the single charge against him.

But he was convicted by a jury at Paisley Sheriff Court and warned he faces jail when sentenced next month. The Diocese of Paisley said Baillie has now been removed as a parish priest.

Baillie was released on bail until sentencing.

The sheriff said he was “duty bound” to obtain background reports because Baillie was a first offender and warned that the normal term for such an offence was a “pretty lengthy” term of imprisonment.

Sheriff McGinty said he would allow Baillie to…

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A Roman Catholic priest in the south-west Louisiana diocese, where the US church’s clergy abuse scandal effectively started decades ago, has been formally charged with three counts of felony indecent behavior with a juvenile.

A bill of information from the district attorney for Acadia Parish charges 37-year-old Korey LaVergne with three counts of felony indecent behavior with a juvenile who was 15 at the time of the alleged offenses.

Court documents charge LaVergne with “willfully, unlawfully, knowingly and intentionally [committing] lewd or lascivious acts upon [the] juvenile” – or in the presence of the minor – on or about 1 January 2024. The charges contend that LaVergne had the “intention of arousing or gratifying the sexual desires of either person”.

A document dated 11 March filed by LaVergne’s attorneys state that the clergyman opted to waive his formal arraignment and in writing, pleaded not guilty to the charges outlined in the bill…

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A representative of Lithuania’s government has demanded that Vilnius district municipality, which is located around the country’s capital, change the names of streets that continue to honour Polish Cardinal Henryk Gulbinowicz despite him being sanctioned by the Vatican following sexual abuse allegations.

However, the local council, which is controlled by representatives of Lithuania’s ethnic Polish community and which has already refused twice to strip Gulbinowicz of his honours, has argued there is no clear evidence of wrongdoing and that the cardinal died before he had an opportunity to defend himself.

Gulbinowicz, who served as Catholic bishop of the Polish city of Wrocław between 1976 and 2004, was in 2019 accused of both covering up cases of child sexual abuse by a priest under his authority and of carrying out abuse himself.

In 2020, the Vatican announced that, following an investigation into the accusations against Gulbinowicz, it was imposing sanctions on…

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“We’re catching the law up to the times,” Chief Deputy Attorney General Larry Frieman said.

Two bills moving through the Louisiana Legislature aim to crack down on the growing problem of artificial intelligence being used to create explicit images of children.

The proposals come after an incident WWL Louisiana extensively covered year in Lafourche Parish that drew statewide attention and exposed gaps in current laws surrounding AI-generated content.

School incident sparked legislative push

The issue gained attention after an incident at Sixth Ward Middle School in Thibodaux. A girl was expelled after allegedly hitting a boy on a school bus. According to reports, the boy and other students allegedly been showing classmates AI-generated nude images depicting several girls from the school and even some adults.

Two boys were eventually charged with unlawful dissemination of images created by artificial intelligence.

The case shocked many lawmakers and highlighted how quickly technology is advancing…

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The long-celebrated champion of farm workers, who died in 1993, has been accused of “abusing girls for years,” according to the New York Times

An annual Mass in the nation’s largest Catholic diocese honoring legendary labor leader Cesar Chavez will not take place this year after a bombshell report alleged that the activist sexually abused multiple girls at the height of his popularity decades ago.

The explosive allegations came on March 18 in an investigation by the New York Times, one that alleged that Chavez abused multiple young girls in a “pattern” of sexual misconduct for years.

The revelations sent numerous organizations scrambling to distance themselves from Chavez, who has loomed large in U.S. politics for decades, including being honored by President Joe Biden with a bust in the Oval Office during his administration.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles said it would not be holding its regular…

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The enormity of the serious allegations of sexual abuse against United Farm Workers co-founder César Chavez is not lost on American Catholics committed to social justice. Along with members of the Kennedy family and Dorothy Day, Chavez was among an elite pantheon of U.S. Catholics who loom largest in our public life and memory. Now, with allegations that Chavez sexually abused at least two teenage girls, as well as UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta, another larger-than-life Catholic folk hero comes crashing down, leaving some Catholics to wonder, was Chavez’s prophetic work all a lie?

I was inspired by how visibly Chavez used his Catholic faith and practice in his organizing — invoking the patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe, hosting Masses, and breaking one of his rigorous hunger strikes alongside Robert Kennedy in 1968. I was particularly drawn to Day’s recounting of her time in Fresno County jail alongside UFW strikers….

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Charles Sulivant abused girls at a Shawnee, Oklahoma church where he was a board member.

A former board member of a Church of the Nazarene in Shawnee, Oklahoma has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for sexually abusing girls at the church. Charles Sulivant entered a blind guilty plea to the charges and will serve over two decades behind bars.

Why it matters

This case highlights the ongoing issue of sexual abuse within religious institutions and the importance of accountability for those in positions of power who betray the trust of vulnerable members of their community.

The details

Sulivant, who was a board member at the Shawnee church, admitted to sexually abusing multiple young girls who attended the church. He entered a blind guilty plea, meaning he did not negotiate a deal with prosecutors, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

• Sulivant was sentenced on March 17,…

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Michael Martin, 74, faces felony count of lewd molestation in Sequoyah County District Court

A Vian pastor charged in 2025 with a felony count of lewd molestation in Sequoyah County District Court is now scheduled to appear before Special Judge Matt Orendorff, according to court records. Michael Martin, 74, pastor of Vian Baptist Church, was formally charged on Nov. 13, 2025, and a felony warrant was issued for his arrest the same day.

Why it matters

The case raises serious concerns about the alleged abuse of a minor by a trusted community religious leader, and the potential impact on the congregation and broader community. It also highlights the importance of thorough investigations and due process in sensitive cases involving vulnerable individuals.

The details

According to the probable cause affidavit, Vian Police received a report on Sept. 22 that Martin allegedly touched a minor under the age of 16 in an…

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Turning the page on Lepore: High Court opens door to liability for non-delegable duties to encompass intentional criminal acts

On 11 February 2026, the High Court of Australia delivered its judgment in AA v The Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle [2026] HCA 2 which considered whether a Catholic Diocese owed a non-delegable duty of care to a child parishioner who was sexually abused by a priest in 1969, and, if so, whether that duty extended to intentional criminal acts. The High Court allowed the appeal, restored the trial judgment in favour of the appellant on liability and reduced damages to reflect the statutory caps under the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW).

Background to the AA decision

The Appellant (AA) was sexually abused in 1969 by Father Ronald Pickin, a priest of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle. The abuse occurred in the Presbytery of St Patrick’s…

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March 16, 2026

The Honorable Tom Cole
United States House of Representatives 
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Sharice Davids
United States House of Representatives 
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Mr. Cole and Ms. Davids: 

As chairmen of several U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) committees, we write in support of the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act (H.R. 7325). We urge the House to advance this important legislation. 

In July 2024, our predecessors wrote to Congress stating “unequivocally that the tragic history of the boarding school period should be brought to light in order to pave the way for healing of impacted Indigenous communities” and that “[w]e are committed to concrete actions to restore trust and cultivate healing and the reconciliation that the Church desires.”

In that letter, two points were raised for consideration regarding the structure of the previous version of the legislation. We appreciate your efforts to incorporate that feedback,…

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Ann Rodriquez was looking for a boarding school for her daughter — and in August 2018, she asked Jeffrey Epstein for help.

In an email dated Aug. 7, 2018, Rodriquez — described in the Epstein files as his “island manager” — sent her boss a list of five schools and asked him to weigh in on placing her teenage daughter.

Wedged between options in Orlando and San Diego was one name far from either coast: Wings of Faith Academy, a private Christian boarding school for “troubled girls” in southwest Missouri.

Epstein replied with a quick directive: “check them out, with comments etc. lakeland. orlando missour . first ?”

Rodriquez ultimately chose Piney Woods School for Girls in Mississippi, but Wings of Faith’s appearance in Epstein’s correspondence draws new attention to a Missouri network of faith-based residential boarding schools which have faced years of abuse allegations and prompted lawmakers to adopt…

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The multi-agency law enforcement operation that shut down a stretch of U.S. Highway 31 in Hoover on Monday was tied to the search for a man accused of first-degree rape in Tuscaloosa County, authorities said.

The Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit confirmed the suspect as Thomas Raburn Farris of Leeds, who was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Apprehension Task Force.

Farris is charged with first-degree rape in a case involving a juvenile victim, according to court records. Investigators allege the assault occurred in 2020 in an outdoor playhouse/shed. The victim later gave birth to a child in Feb. 2021, and DNA testing determined Farris was the father, the documents state.

Court records show Farris was arrested in 2022 and released on a $35,000 bond. A judge revoked his bond on Jan. 14, 2026, after failure to appear. The U.S. Marshals Service began searching…

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The Vatican’s top diplomat to the United Nations called for a “holistic approach” in securing access to justice for women and girls.

“Ensuring access to justice for women and girls requires more than just formal legal protections. It also involves addressing the root causes that put them at risk, prevent them from seeking justice and ultimately undermine their God-given human dignity,” said Archbishop Gabriele G. Caccia, the Holy See’s permanent observer to the U.N.

The archbishop, recently named papal nuncio to the U.S., spoke March 17 during the U.N.’s 70th Commission on the Status of Women.

Archbishop Caccia cites poverty as a roadblock to justice for women

He cited “poverty and its consequences” as posing “significant barriers to accessing justice.”

Impoverished women and girls “often lack the resources to secure legal representation,” he said, noting that “many legal aid organizations are inadequately resourced and overwhelmed.”

In rural areas, the lack of…

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Labor rights activist Dolores Huerta revealed she was among women and girls who say they were sexually abused by César Chavez, the widely admired Latino icon who brought to light the struggles of farmhands while leading the United Farm Workers union.

The stunning allegations against Chavez, who died more than three decades ago, drew immediate calls to alter memorials honoring the man who in the 1960s helped secure better wages and working conditions for farmworkers and has been long revered by many Democratic leaders in the U.S.

In a statement released Wednesday, Huerta said she stayed silent for 60 years out of concern that her words would hurt the farmworker movement.

Huerta described two sexual encounters with Chavez, one where she was “manipulated and pressured” and another where she was “forced against my will.”

“I carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker…

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Filmmaker reveals how he crafted a film that’s still ranked among the top Best Picture winners in Oscar history

Ten years ago, Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight emerged from a crowded Best Picture field to score Oscar Night’s biggest prize. A dramatization of how a team of Boston Globe journalists broke the story of the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal, the film was nominated for six statuettes at the 88th Academy Awards. It ultimately won two: Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture, surpassing fellow luminaries including The Revenant, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Bridge of Spies. 

Starring Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, and Brian d’Arcy James, and cowritten by Josh Singer, Spotlight is a well-told tale that tackles important and powerful subject matter. It’s also a far from typical Best Picture winner — a dialogue-heavy exhibition of journalistic grunt work without any of the expansive (and expensive) trappings of prestige cinema. To this day, it’s often listed as one of the…

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Abuse of boy happened from age 10 to 12, lawsuit claims

A now-dead Catholic priest is accused of repeated sexual abuse of a boy in a rural Manitoba community in a lawsuit filed in the Court of King’s Bench in Winnipeg.

A statement of claim was filed March 6 against the estate of Father Eugene Verhulst and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Winnipeg.

The 47-year-old plaintiff alleges in the statement of claim that he endured inappropriate touching by Verhulst and was made to perform oral and anal sex from approximately age 10 to 12.

The alleged abuse happened in various places, including the back room of Ste-Claire’s Church in San Clara, a community about 30 kilometres north of Roblin, near the Saskatchewan border.

While getting ready for mass, Verhulst would make the boy sit on his knee so he could fix his hair, then rub his leg and crotch, the lawsuit claims.

In his study,…

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Leaders of The Ramp, a church based in Hamilton, issued a public statement addressing allegations of past misconduct involving a former staff member, saying the matter has been reported to authorities and is under investigation.

The Ramp describes itself on its website as, “The Ramp is a global ministry with a passion and mission to awaken a generation, equip them for their purpose, and send them out to change their world.”

According to the statement, an individual recently came forward alleging they experienced inappropriate sexual contact by a staff member approximately four years ago, when they were a minor. The church identified the staff member as Samuel Bentley.

Church leadership said the allegation was discussed with Bentley, who admitted to the claim. He was subsequently terminated from his position, and the organization’s board of directors was notified. The matter was also reported to appropriate authorities.

A few days later, Bentley…

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You probably remember the awful Ohio priest who repeatedly stabbed an elderly nun. Back in 2006, the case got a lot of attention.

But it’s about SO much more than just a heinous murder.

In this new investigation, learn about the heinous cover up too. One Catholic official who helped the killer escape justice is STILL being honored today!

This new short documentary can be streamed March 23. Please spread the word!

Here’s how to watch it:

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZThKE1tnV/

And here’s more about the whole horrific saga:

Fr. Gerald J. Robinson

(Thanks to two key courageous individuals – Claudia Vercellotti and Lee Pahl – who have done and are doing so much to honor Sr. Margaret Ann and protect the vulnerable. If not for their persistence, this remarkably brutal crime and remarkably effective cover up might not have ever been exposed.)

Again, I’d be very grateful if you…

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A Catholic pastor in Willimantic has been put on leave amid accusations of child sex abuse.

The allegations date back decades in Maryland, as well as an abuse investigation by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) in Connecticut.

Corpus Christi Parish is part of the Diocese of Norwich, which itself declared bankruptcy following about 150 survivors of alleged abuse filing a lawsuit.

On Monday, parishioners arrived at Saint Mary Church in Willimantic after the Diocese of Norwich placed Father Laurence LaPointe on leave.

The diocese says he was put on leave earlier this month after DCF presented its findings concerning an allegation of abuse of a child in the state in the 1970s.

Last week, the diocese said it learned LaPointe was indicted in Maryland in connection with alleged misconduct also in the 70s.

According to Maryland court records, he faces a third-degree sex offense charge with someone under…

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When a child sexual abuse scandal breaks, the public response is predictable: shock, outrage, promises of reform. But in the months and years that follow, institutions often evade accountability. They lawyer up. Records stay hidden. Survivors who finally come forward are silenced by the legal system itself. 

Powerful institutions — from churches and youth organizations to schools and hospitals — are using bankruptcy laws to escape punishment for ignoring or covering up child sexual abuse. The authors of these statutes never anticipated this kind of abuse of the system. Congress must update our bankruptcy laws to close this loophole.

Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code was designed to help honest businesses that are unable to pay back their debts. It allows companies and other institutions to keep operating while they restructure their obligations and negotiate with creditors. 

But to provide that stability, Chapter 11 gives organizations…

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Protestant bishop orders CCTV monitoring of all pastoral counselling in a Church of South India diocese

A Protestant bishop in the southern Indian Kerala state has directed all his priests to conduct their pastoral counseling sessions under camera surveillance following the arrest of a pastor accused of assaulting a 19-year-old girl who had approached him for counseling.

Bishop Malayil Sabu Koshy Cherian of the Church of South India’s Madhya (Central) Kerala diocese issued the direction after police arrested Father Santosh Mathew, vicar of the Church in Idukki district, on March 15.

The 53-year-old pastor had been absconding ever since the victim’s family complained to police of sexual assault against him last month.

A police team tracked Mathew to the Catholic Marian pilgrimage center in Velankanni in neighboring Tamil Nadu. A court in Kerala remanded him to 14-day judicial custody.

According to the police complaint, the crime took place on Feb. 7 when…

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The Vatican appeals tribunal declared a mistrial Tuesday in the Holy See’s big “trial of the century,” a stunning blow to both Pope Francis’ legacy and Vatican prosecutors who had put a cardinal and several other people on trial over alleged financial crimes.

In a 16-page ruling, the appeals court ruled that Francis and Vatican prosecutors both made procedural errors that nullified the original indictment against Cardinal Angelo Becciu and the others and required a new trial. The court set a June 22 as the date for the new trial to begin.

Defense lawyers said such a ruling was significant if not historic, since it amounted to a Vatican court declaring that an act of the pope had no effect.

The ruling was a win for the defense and a huge setback to Vatican prosecutors, who have been scrambling to salvage their case. The prosecution and 2023 convictions against Becciu and…

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The Seattle Times headline “Seattle Archdiocese must hand over sex abuse records, WA court rules” (March 3, Local News) was music to my ears. As a clergy abuse survivor from age 7 and a lifelong activist, I know how important releasing the files can be.

Our stories are our lives and our truth. They are the light that shines in the darkness of secret, locked Church files. I have worked with many advocates and volunteers for this day when our stories are freed to provide needed information for hundreds of survivors to receive long-awaited justice and recompense for horrendous crimes committed against them.

Gov. Bob Ferguson said this ruling is a win for transparency. I add it’s a win for all of us. Our children are safer. Survivors’ stories are honored. Denied justice is possible. Survivors can see the light of day. And maybe, just maybe, the Catholic Church…

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Supporters say the bill would expand placement options for children in state custody, while critics worry it could shelter bad actors after years of abuse allegations at unlicensed boarding schools

When Ashlea Belcher looks back on her conversations with young people about Agape Boarding School and Circle of Hope Girls’ Ranch, “what set those cases apart was not chaos,” she said. “It was the structure.”

Belcher, a former forensic interviewer and now director of the Children’s Center of Southwest Missouri, said young people who attended the two unlicensed Christian boarding schools described being pinned down using pressure points by their peers as staff members watched, food being withheld as punishment and meals rationed according to the color of their shirts. Brown shirts, she said, meant cold canned beans.

She told lawmakers last month that this abuse was possible because the young people were isolated.

“These were consistent, detailed disclosures given…

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A Missouri United Methodist pastor with previous ties to two metro churches has been suspended from clergy duties after church leaders learned she previously worked for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Missouri Conference of The United Methodist Church announced March 12 that the Rev. Stephanie Remington has been placed on a 90-day suspension while an internal review is conducted.

Church leaders said they recently became aware that Remington had a working relationship with Epstein between 2018 and 2019.

According to United Methodist News, Remington worked as an administrative assistant from August to December 2018 and later as a temporary property manager on Epstein’s private island from January to May 2019.

The conference said it had no prior knowledge of that employment.

“The Missouri Conference had no knowledge of the individual’s association with Mr. Epstein,” the conference said in a statement. “No information indicating…

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The Diocese of Norwich has placed a Willimantic priest on leave following claims in Connecticut and an indictment in Maryland regarding decades-old abuse, church officials said. 

The Rev. Laurence LaPointe, pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in Willimantic, has been placed on leave from all ministry regarding the church and cannot live at the residence on church property pending a review of the allegations, according to a news release issued by the diocese. 

According to the Maryland indictment, which was issued on Feb. 24, the 81-year-old LaPointe is accused of sexual contact with a child who was under the age of 14 between July 1976 and May 1977. LaPointe is also accused of abusing the same victim while the child was under his supervision from July 1975 to July 1977, the indictment said. He is charged by Maryland authorities with third-degree sexual assault and causing abuse to a child under the…

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A Kansas bill that would make clergy or pastors mandatory reporters of child abuse is expected to fail in Senate committee.

Supporters of the bill in both parties said they’re disappointed. The bill passed out of the House several weeks ago with only five ‘no’ votes.This is farther than the bill has gone before, but it stalled after being assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Lawmakers say there is opposition to the bill in the Senate on religious grounds, even after an exemption was written in for private confession. They also say it’s common for bills to stall like this, and they hope to get the bill assigned to a different committee next year.

“It’s too bad that’s happening, but it happens all the time in the state house. One chamber supports something then the other doesn’t, so it doesn’t surprise me in that sense. It’s disappointing, I think this is a…

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After Hermina Nedelescu settled in San Diego in 2016, the neuroscientist found comfort and familiarity in Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church.

The gold-domed church with its colorful sanctuary and polished, stone columns reminded her of her native Romania, which she left in 1990 when she was 9 years old. She also respected the church’s leader, Father Michael Sitaras, who turned to her for advice during the pandemic.

A PhD staff scientist with the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, Nedelescu studies abnormal behaviors and brain functions, but was happy to help when COVID-19 had parishioners panicked.

Nedelescu advised Sitaras on things like wearing masks and the COVID vaccines. Over time they became close and when the pandemic ended, she continued working with him on advancing the role of women within the patriarchal culture of the Greek Orthodox church.

That’s when she says her life and research interests changed,…

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Father Laurence LaPointe, pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in Willimantic, was placed on administrative leave March 6 by the Diocese of Norwich following an investigation by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families into an allegation of abuse of a minor in Connecticut in the early 1970s.

The Diocese learned last week that LaPointe had also been indicted in Maryland on charges of committing a sex offense with someone under the age of 14 and causing abuse to a child under 18. Both alleged offenses date to the mid-1970s.

Corpus Christi Parish is made up of three churches: Saint Mary, Saint Joseph and Sagrado Corazon de Jesus, all in Willimantic.

Diocese of Norwich Bishop Richard Reidy said in a statement: “The seriousness of the allegations necessitated his removal from ministry as a precautionary measure while the investigations and legal proceedings continue.”

The Diocese said it has a zero-tolerance policy for…

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Pope Leo XIV held a private audience with investigative journalist Gareth Gore at the Vatican on Monday, according to a Substack post from Gore. Gore said the two spoke for more than 40 minutes, during which Gore highlighted allegations that the Opus Dei global Catholic organization was involved in widespread sexual grooming and trafficking. Gore authored a book, Opus, published in 2025, accusing the organization of those crimes and others, including financial misconduct. Opus Dei denied those claims.

The pope described Gore’s book as rigorous and they ended the meeting on good terms, Gore said. The Vatican had not issued a statement on the meeting as of Monday afternoon. The late Pope Francis in 2022 ordered Opus Dei to make some changes to its organizational structure and submit annual reports on its work, but he did not address sexual abuse allegations…

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Leo addressed the topic in a March 16 audience with members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

Pope Leo XIV on Monday urged the Church to listen to victims of sexual abuse, and called for the recognition of the pain caused and for the creation of “a culture of care.”

“It is about helping to form, throughout the Church, a culture of care, in which the protection of minors and persons in vulnerable situations is not seen as an obligation imposed from outside but as a natural expression of faith,” the pope said in an audience with the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM) on March 16.

He added that it calls “for a process of conversion where the sufferings of others are heard and move us to take action.”

Leo noted that the experiences of victims and survivors are “essential reference points,” adding that…

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Two witnesses in the case raised new allegations of sexual misconduct by the cardinal.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet took the witness stand in a Montreal court this month to reject claims of sexual assault.

While the case involves allegations from one woman, two witnesses in the case raised new allegations of sexual misconduct by the cardinal, including the claim that he once shoved his hand down a woman’s shirt without her consent.

Ouellet emphatically denied any sexual misconduct.

The case, currently being heard before the Superior Court of Quebec, is a defamation suit filed by Ouellet against the woman who initially alleged that he had assaulted her. Her allegations were first made public in a class-action lawsuit against the Quebec archdiocese.

What were the initial allegations?

In 2022, a class-action lawsuit was filed against the Archdiocese of Quebec, including 101 individuals saying they had been sexually abused by priests or employees…

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A former associate pastor and youth pastor was sentenced last month after pleading guilty to one count of indecent behavior with a juvenile.

Michael Ross McGrath, 45, was arrested in February 2024 on seven counts of the same charge.

The crime occurred in May 2013, when McGrath served as youth minister at Open Door Fellowship in Coushatta, La. In 2015, he joined the staff of First Baptist Natchitoches, La., where he served until the incident came to light in 2023. McGrath also served as a children’s and youth minister at First Baptist Coushatta, La., in the early 2000s.

“After learning of the investigation being conducted on him, [McGrath] submitted his resignation,” FBC Natchitoches said in a statement. “The resignation was received and immediately shared with church leadership. He is no longer employed by First Baptist Church of Natchitoches.

Open Door Fellowship Pastor Thumper Miller told Baptist Press no one at…

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 Pope Leo XIV indicated growing concern Monday with the next frontier in combatting abuses in the Catholic Church, highlighting the plight of “vulnerable” adults and meeting with an investigative journalist who uncovered alleged abuses in the powerful Opus Dei movement.

Leo held two high-profile, back-to-back audiences Monday focused on abuse: One with the Vatican’s child protection board, which advises the church on sexual abuse prevention strategies, and one with Gareth Gore, author of the book “Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking and Right-Wing Conspiracy Inside the Catholic Church.”

The American pope clearly wanted the Gore audience publicized. It was listed on his formal agenda and the Vatican released photos of the encounter.

Speaking to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, Leo seemed keenly aware that the #MeToo movement had unleashed revelations around the world of abuses committed against adults in vulnerable situations within the church.

They…

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A man previously charged with sexual assault while serving as a principal in Zion, Illinois, in 2019 is wanted in another sexual assault in Kenosha, Wisconsin. 

Kenosha said they were first notified of the alleged sex assault on Feb. 21. Police said they have probable cause to arrest Curtiss W. Tolefree Jr. for second-degree assault and are asking for the public’s help locating him. 

He is accused of having sexual contact with a “person who suffers from a mental illness or deficiency.”

Tolefree is described as a Black male, approximately 6 ft. tall, about 245 lbs., who is bald with brown eyes. Police said he is a resident of Kenosha and has ties to the community there.

Anyone with information about Tolefree is asked to contact the Kenosha Police Department at 262-605-5269 or 911. 

Elementary school teacher charged with sexual assault

In 2019, Tolefree was…

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A former Kenosha Unified principal who beat sexual assault charges that were filed against him in 2019 is being sought in connection with new allegations. 

Kenosha Police said Friday that investigators have established “probable cause” to arrest Curtiss Tolefree Jr. for Second Degree Sexual Assault, “specifically sexual contact or sexual intercourse with a person who suffers from a mental illness or deficiency.”

Police declined to comment on whether the purported victim has connections to the Greater Mt. Hebron Kingdom Cathedral, the Kenosha church at 7445 20th Ave. that Tolefree leads.

In 2019, Tolefree was accused of having an ongoing sexual relationship with a student in the 2008-2009 school year while serving as a dean at Bradford High School. He later became principal at Washington Middle School before resigning from the district.

The case dragged on for years before it was eventually dismissed last fall. Court notes indicate that the purported…

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Leaders of the Catholic Church in Washington have made many statements of contrition for the decades when priests’ sexual abuse of children went unexamined and largely unpunished. But if the church truly wanted to atone for those criminal acts — and the lifelong damage they’ve caused parishioners — it would embrace full transparency.

That’s the best way to show that this is a new era.

Instead, for more than 20 years, the Archdiocese of Seattle has zealously fought against an independent review of its files, hiding behind claims that opening the records to scrutiny might “re-traumatize” victims.

What likely worries the church more are potential legal costs that could arise. The Archdiocese has already paid over $100 million in settlements, according to attorneys who’ve represented abuse victims in Western Washington, and new revelations could increase that tally.

Yet earlier this month, in a brave and welcome ruling, the Washington State…

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I recently spoke to attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who told me about a disturbing allegation that was made against a well-known priest at St. William’s parish in Dorchester.

[See reel.]

[See Garabedian Law’s post about Fr. Francis J. Crowley.]

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A letter from 14 lay leaders at Paraguayan parish uncovers what lies behind clergy abuse in Latin America and elsewhere.

The same day the letter was signed, Cardinal Adalberto Martínez called to reject abuse while concelebrating a Mass with a priest credibly accused of abuse in Paraguay.

The letter, an oddity in Latin American Catholic contexts bypasses the Paraguayan Catholic hierarchy seeking help in Rome.

For most Latin American Catholics, the very name of Paraguay, the country and the river nursing the capital of Asunción, brings to the memory the episode, brilliantly captured in the 1980s movie The Mission, of the brave resistance of the Guarani communities opposing the Portuguese take over of what were their ancestral boundless lands.

Paraguay remains a bastion of Catholicism in Latin America. When one goes over its numbers is the “most Catholic” country in the region, as the story linked after this paragraph told back…

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A new investigation into sexual abuses in the German Archdiocese of Paderborn has brought to light a much higher number of victims than previously known and has reignited suspicions about the actions of former ecclesiastical leaders. The study, prepared by researchers from the University of Paderborn after nearly six years of work, documents 210 accused clerics and at least 489 victims between 1941 and 2002, double the cases identified in previous studies.

According to the German portal Katholisch.de, the publication of the report has also coincided with the emergence of direct abuse allegations against the late Cardinal Johannes Joachim Degenhardt, who was Archbishop of Paderborn from 1961 to 2002.

A report that doubles the known figures

The academic investigation reveals a much greater dimension of the problem in this German diocese. The historians found 210 indications of accused priests and at least 489 minor victims of sexual assaults during the period…

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For their five-year study, Professor Nicole Priesching and Dr. des. Christine Hartig from the Institute for Catholic Theology at Paderborn University reviewed extensive material and conducted interviews with contemporary witnesses and victims. As an investigation into the history of the church, the study examines the conditions under which priests were able to commit sexual violence, which premises guided the actions of those responsible in the archdiocese, what experiences those affected by sexual violence had in their immediate environment and which factors ultimately led to changes.

The study examines the terms of office of the two archbishops Lorenz Cardinal Jaeger (1941–1973) and Johannes Joachim Cardinal Degenhardt (1974–2002). It thus also includes the period of the sede vacante after Jaeger’s resignation (1973/1974), during which Degenhardt served as capitular vicar (today: diocesan administrator) before he was appointed Archbishop of Paderborn in April 1974.

Funding for the research project was secured through…

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A woman whose partner told her she should forgive his physical, emotional and sexual abuse because “God has forgiven me” has described how spiritual abuse “creeps up on you”.

Grace, not her real name, was subjected to manipulation and abuse by a man she was dating, who used her Catholic faith against her and went on to rape her.

The 51-year-old’s then partner declared his love for her “in front of god” and later suggested forgiveness was “the Christian thing to do”.

It comes as campaigners raise awareness of spiritual abuse – a type of coercive control focused on faith.

The Catholic church said the abuse Grace experienced was “horrific” and it was working to offer more support.

It added the “weaponisation of forgiveness” was something it saw “very often”.

Warning: This story contains distressing content including details of domestic abuse, sexual assault and suicidal thoughts

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Justice minister says inappropriate for her to comment with asked if provincial government is involved

Lawyers who have spent years fighting the Catholic church for compensation for abuse victims in Newfoundland and Labrador are describing an agreement with an unnamed third party as “substantial,” though it could be weeks before details of the settlement are revealed to the public.

“It’s a substantial amount and it’s a significant move,” St. John’s lawyer Bob Buckingham told CBC News on Friday.

So far it’s being described as an “understanding” related to a third party’s liability to the abuse survivors, and it came up during proceedings before Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court Justice Garrett Handrigan on Thursday.

There’s no official gag order from the court on identifying the third party, but all sides have informally agreed to disclose very few details, including how much money is on offer.

Justice minister declines comment

In the…

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The El Paso Catholic Church lawsuit involves accusations of priests sexually abusing minors and the Diocese of El Paso failing to protect children. The lawsuits claim the Catholic Diocese of El Paso was aware of the abuse at the time and failed to protect young parishioners from abusive members of the clergy.

The diocese could face a new wave of cases if New Mexico opens up a three-year revival window in 2026 that would allow cases from victims whose statute of limitations have expired to file a claim. Though the diocese is based in Texas, its territory had extended into New Mexico prior to 1982.

This page will cover the current state of the lawsuits against the El Paso Catholic church, the new laws that may expose them to even more lawsuits, and how survivors of sexual abuse can go about filing a claim.

About the El Paso Catholic Church…

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Paderborn ‐ Der frühere Paderborner Erzbischof Johannes Joachim Degenhardt hat nach Erkenntnissen von Wissenschaftlern Missbrauch vertuscht. Nun gibt es einen noch schwerwiegenderen Vorwurf: Er soll selbst Täter gewesen sein.

Gegen den früheren Paderborner Erzbischof und Kardinal Johannes Joachim Degenhardt werden Missbrauchsvorwürfe laut. Die Betroffenenvertretung im Erzbistum Paderborn schätzt die entsprechende Anschuldigung eines Betroffenen als glaubwürdig ein, wie deren Sprecher Reinhold Harnisch der Katholischen Nachrichten-Agentur (KNA) am Donnerstag sagte. Er äußerte sich vor der Vorstellung einer Aufarbeitungsuntersuchung durch die Universität Paderborn am frühen Nachmittag. Zwei Kirchenhistorikerinnen hatten dafür über sechs Jahre Kirchenakten ausgewertet und mit Zeitzeugen gesprochen.

Die Vorwürfe des Betroffenen liegen der Betroffenenvertretung laut Harnisch seit Ende 2025 vor. Zum Zeitpunkt der mutmaßlichen Tat soll er minderjährig gewesen sein. Für die Betroffenenvertretung gelte der 2002 verstorbene Degenhardt als Beschuldigter. Die Gruppe gehe Hinweisen nach, ob und inwieweit es weitere Opfer und Täter gegeben habe.

Degenhardt soll auch vertuscht haben

Das Erzbistum Paderborn konnte…

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Im Paderborner Erzbistum sind mehr Minderjährige missbraucht worden als bislang angenommen: Eine Studie offenbart fast 500 Betroffene zwischen 1941 und 2002. Ein Opfervertreter lobt die Untersuchung – und fordert Konsequenzen.

Nach Bekanntwerden eines deutlich größeren Ausmaßes des Missbrauchsskandals im Erzbistum Paderborn hat der Paderborner Bischof Udo Markus Bentz die Betroffenen um Verzeihung gebeten. “Für das Leid, das Menschen im Raum unserer Kirche erfahren haben, für das Versagen von Verantwortlichen und für das zusätzliche Leid durch Schweigen, Wegsehen und Nichtglauben bitte ich um Verzeihung”, sagte Bentz in Paderborn.

Bentz persönlich werden keine Vorwürfe gemacht, der untersuchte Zeitraum lag vor Beginn seiner Tätigkeit in Paderborn. Die am Donnerstag vorgestellte Studie geht von 489 Betroffenen sexuellen Missbrauchs in den Jahren 1941 bis 2002 in Paderborn aus, für die Missbrauchstaten verantwortlich sollen 210 Beschuldigte sein. Dies sind deutlich mehr Fälle, als bisher bekannt waren. Bentz sprach von einem institutionellen Versagen der Kirche.

Zu Vorwürfen…

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An Acadia Parish priest has been formally charged with alleged indecent behavior with a minor.

Korey LaVergne, 37, was named on March 5 in a Bill of Information by the 15th Judicial District Attorney’s Office charging him with three counts of felony indecent behavior with a juvenile, court records show.

A Bill of Information is a charge directly from the district attorney’s office, while an indictment is a charge determined by a grand jury.

LaVergne previously was arrested on Jan. 16 on the same charges.

The Bill of Information alleges on or about Jan. 1, 2024, LaVergne “did willfully, unlawfully, knowingly, and intentionally commit lewd and lascivious acts upon a juvenile,” age 15, or in the presence of a juvenile where there is at least a two-year age difference.

LaVergne, through his attorney, Kevin Stockstill of Lafayette, entered a not guilty plea on Wednesday, court records show.

He…

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In a new pastoral message released March 11, Detroit Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger expressed “heartfelt sorrow for the evil of abuse and the profound suffering it has caused.”

He also outlined several new measures designed to strengthen safe environment protections and accompany victims of clergy sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Detroit.

The message, titled “Rebuilding Trust: A Pastoral Message on Abuse, Reform, and Hope,” was released ahead of his first anniversary as Detroit’s chief shepherd.

Sins of clergy sexual abuse

Archbishop Weisenburger acknowledged the pain caused by the sins of clergy sexual abuse, and said while the Church has made important strides, “we must commit ourselves to ongoing accountability, transparency, and the unwavering protection of those entrusted to our care — especially God’s beloved little ones.”

The message and new policies, he said, are part of recommitting the Church to the “central and enduring priority”…

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A former pastor in Crystal Springs plans to plead guilty to multiple charges, including statutory rape and sexual battery.

Court documents showed that Christopher Willett, the former pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Crystal Springs, intends to plead guilty to statutory rape, sexual battery and incest.Man pleads guilty to mass shooting on Mississippi Coast

Willett was initially arrested in March 2025 and booked into the Copiah County Jail.

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to recommend that Willett be sentenced to:

• Statutory rape – 30 years, with five years suspended
• Sexual battery – 30 years, with five years suspended
• Incest – 10 years

Willett will also be ordered to pay an investigative fee, court costs and a payment to the Crime Victims’ Compensative Fund.

If the plea deal is approved by a judge, the sentences would run concurrently, and Willett would serve 25 years.

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A Catholic priest serving at St. Edward Catholic Church in the small community of Richard is now formally facing three felony counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile, according to court filings in Acadia Parish. Father Korey Lavergne, 37, is slated for arraignment on March 20 at the Acadia Parish Courthouse. He was arrested in mid-January, posted bond, and the charges stem from alleged contact with a minor at the parish. The Diocese of Lafayette has said it is assisting law enforcement as the case moves forward, as reported by KPLC.

Bill of Information details alleged conduct with 15-year-old

A recently filed Bill of Information accuses Lavergne of committing “lewd or lascivious acts” involving a 15-year-old on Jan. 1, 2024, according to KPLC. The document lists three separate felony counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile.

Complaint to deputies and meeting with bishop preceded arrest

Public records…

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More than 40 years after it happened, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester finally settled a sexual abuse lawsuit brought by one of the victims of former priest Mark Fleming.

The victim was 7 years old when Fleming assaulted him at St. John the Evangelist parish in Hudson, and he wasn’t the only victim, according to court records. The Church paid the victim, now 51, a low six-figure settlement to end the lawsuit.

But Fleming somehow continues to evade justice thanks to decades of silence from the diocese and New Hampshire prosecutors.

“The Catholic Church had a moral responsibility to notify the public that Fr. Fleming was a serial pedophile and a danger to children, but they washed their hands,” said Mitchell Garabedian, attorney for the victim.

The victim’s abuse took place in 1983, and was reported to authorities in 1984. That’s when Fleming disappeared, Garabedian said. From 1984 through…

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A settlement has been reached between the Diocese of Manchester, a priest and an alleged victim of sex abuse.

The victim in the case is a 51-year-old man who said he was abused in the early 1980s by a priest in New Hampshire.

That victim was 7 years old when the abuse began and has since moved to another state, but his attorney said that what happened to him in New Hampshire has left him with lifelong scars.

“It took so much courage and strength to come forward,” said attorney Mitchell Garabedian. “I admire him so much.”

Garabedian, who has represented victims of clergy sexual abuse for decades, said that last year, he was contacted by the man, who detailed two occasions when he said he was sexually assaulted by the Rev. Mark Fleming in the rectory of the St. John the Evangelist Church in Hudson.

The man said the…

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When Leona Huggins was just twelve years, she was sexually abused by a priest. The priest who harmed her served a 10-month sentence and was later reassigned to ministry. Leona now supports survivors through her work at a Vancouver law firm and was the sole Canadian survivor invited to advise the planning committee for the late Pope Francis’ summit on the protection of minors in the Church. Huggins is still helping others who have been abused, founding a peer support group for clergy abuse survivors and continues to speak out to create an environment that will encourage not only those who have been harmed but also witnesses and whistleblowers to come forward.

For years, Huggins has volunteered with the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. She has been motivated to help others, after being sexually abused herself, and says that the plaintiffs who have filed civil claims…

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On Thursday night, Rhode Island’s Catholic Diocese of Providence will once again face off against the victims of clergy sexual abuse fighting for the legal right to sue the church for what was done to them as children.

The question: Will the Diocese of Providence prevail again this year, in the state Senate, in the wake of Attorney General Peter Neronha’s scathing report on the “culture” of secrecy and concealment within the church that hid decades of child sexual abuse by clergy members?

In the seven pages of written testimony that he submitted to the House Judiciary Committee in advance of a March 12 hearing on proposed legal remedies for long-ago victims, the Rev. Bernard Healey warned lawmakers about the financial and legal havoc they could create in Rhode Island’s Catholic world – and beyond.

More: RI’s first full report on clergy sex abuse of…

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The American Dara Academy in Senegal marketed itself to families in the United States as an affordable boarding school where their children could study the Quran alongside an American curriculum. Parents and families — many with West African roots — sent their children to the school believing it would be a rigorous and affordable religious education.

But the school is being investigated for alleged physical abuses, with hundreds of students withdrawing from the academy and one of two campuses — where most of the alleged abuses took place — now closed, according to an official close to the case.

In accounts shared with The Associated Press, students alleged that supervisors beat disobedient pupils repeatedly in a so-called “magic room.” The schoolchildren said they were sometimes ordered to strip to their underwear or be naked and told to squat with their arms extended, gripping heavy rocks. If the rocks fell, the beatings…

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Herts police has reopened a case into historic sexual abuse at a school in Letchworth.

After a lengthy investigation, a Telegraph report featured testimony from former students who claimed to have suffered neglect, sexual, emotional and physical abuse at St Christopher School between the 1960s and 1990s.

Allegations include rape and sexual assault from both teachers and pupils at the boarding school, with staff even impregnating students before taking them to have abortions.

There were also claims of some staff making homemade films featuring children as well as prolific on-site drinking and drug use – sometimes with teachers – bullying, assaults and neglect.

Having originally confirmed that “no active investigation” was taking place, Herts police has now said it is once again looking into the claims of abuse.

“Following recent contact with the constabulary, we can confirm that we have re‑opened a case into historic abuse at St…

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Vatican officials will investigate allegations of psychological and spiritual abuse in the Sisters Adorers of the Royal Heart of Jesus, women formerly in formation with the religious community say they’ve been told.

Vatican officials will investigate allegations of psychological and spiritual abuse in the Sisters Adorers of the Royal Heart of Jesus, women formerly in formation with the religious community say they’ve been told.

The community is connected to the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, a society of priests known for its use and promotion of preconciliar liturgical texts.

While a number of former postulants of the women’s group allege a culture of intimidation and fear, manipulative spiritual practices, and disordered governance in their community, the community’s superior says that women who have raised complaints about the community “were unable to adapt” to religious life, and that their concerns were “exaggerations or misunderstandings of our rules and of…

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2 staff members have been charged so far

A federal complaint filed Wednesday alleges Oconto Falls School District officials overlooked sexual abuse of students for 20 years. 

The 60-page complaint, filed in the U.S. Eastern District, alleges a pattern of abuse that includes grooming and sexual conduct by multiple staff members involving more than a dozen minor students at Oconto Falls High School between 2005 and 2025. 

The complaint was filed by three women, now adults, who graduated from Oconto Falls High School and said they were sexually abused by school staff when they were teenagers.

But Cass Casper, an attorney with Disparti Law Group, said there are at least 14 known victims who are willing to share their stories. 

“These three brave young women have come forward with these claims because they want to solve an institutional problem,” Casper said. “They want to stop the…

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The decision by the German bishops to appoint a priest previously linked to a major seminary scandal to an advisory body representing abuse victims has sparked controversy in Germany and drawn criticism from victims’ groups as well as from some senior Church figures.

In December 2024 the German Bishops’ Conference appointed Fr Wolfgang Rothe, a priest of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, to its advisory board for victims of sexual abuse. The board was established to give survivors a voice in shaping the Church’s response to abuse and to advise the bishops on safeguarding and pastoral support.

Yet the appointment quickly proved contentious because of Fr Rothe’s own history, which has been the subject of court proceedings and intense media scrutiny for more than two decades.

The controversy resurfaced after a detailed report published by the German magazine Cicero examined Fr Rothe’s background and the internal reaction to his nomination….

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No new information was made available during a March 10 court appearance by Clarence “Barry” Hungerford. Hungerford is facing charges of tampering with physical evidence and unlawful use of electronic means within the commonwealth to induce a minor to engage in sexual or other prohibited activities.

During the March 10 court appearance, Hungerford’s public defender stated that they were still working to obtain records needed for the case. The case was continued to 8:30 a.m. on May 12.

The case began when the family of an 11-year-old girl contacted the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office on June 25, 2025, and reported that the girl had been solicited for photos of her body by the pastor of her church. Following a brief investigation, Hungerford was arrested the same day and admitted to contacting her, as well as to destroying his cell phone in an attempt to to prevent the contents from being…

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A Roman Catholic priest with ties to Southwest Louisiana has been formally charged with child sex crimes in Acadia Parish.

Korey Lavergne, who served at St. Edward Catholic Church and St. Thomas Mission Chapel in Acadia Parish, was named in a Bill of Information last week, accused of three felony counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile.

The bill states Lavergne is accused of committing “lewd or lascivious acts upon a juvenile” who was 15-years-old at the time of the offense, which happened on Jan. 1, 2024.

Lavergne is a native of DeQuincy who studied music at McNeese for two years before attending St. Benedict Seminary College in Covington and Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. He then pursued full-time work as a deacon intern in Eunice and parochial vicar in New Iberia and Lafayette.

Lavergne served as the Diocese of Lafayette’s official courier, bringing documents…

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Parish life, religious education in schools, and the Commission of independent experts to investigate the phenomenon of sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Church in Poland were among the topics addressed by the Polish bishops during the press conference following the conclusion of the 404th Plenary Assembly of the Polish Bishops’ Conference in Warsaw.

So that the parish may be a living community

“The main theme of the 404th Plenary Assembly of the Episcopate was the revitalization of parish life. It is a very current and important issue today,” said Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda, SAC, Metropolitan of Gdańsk and President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference.

“We also invited representatives from other European episcopates to share their experiences in this regard. We received an interesting overview of the pastoral situation in different countries,” he noted. “They are facing the same challenges as we are – how and what to do so…

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Six bipartisan U.S. senators came together to announce the federal filing of “Trey’s Law,” introduced to the Senate as the “Terminating Restrictive Enforcement of Youth Settlements Law.”

The bill — similar to versions passed or filed in a number of states — would void nondisclosure agreements entered by child sexual abuse survivors that otherwise silence them. The bill is named in honor of Trey Carlock, a citizen of Dallas who was silenced by an NDA after enduring a retraumatizing civil litigation process against Kanakuk Ministries. He died by suicide at age 28.

The federal filing is led by Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. They are joined by Katie Britt, R-Ala., Peter Welch, D-Vt., Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

As has been the case with state-level proposals of Trey’s Law, the senators expect bipartisan support for the bill, which Cruz and Britt say is a “common sense” piece…

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Poland’s Catholic bishops on Wednesday established an independent commission to examine the sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Church in Poland and granted it public legal personality, the Polish Bishops’ Conference said.

The decision was taken on the second day of the bishops’ 404th plenary meeting, after they adopted the commission’s operating principles and statute, spokesperson Leszek Gesiak said.

“After adopting these documents, the Polish Bishops’ Conference established the commission of independent experts to examine the phenomenon of sexual abuse of minors in the Catholic Church in Poland and granted it public legal personality,” Gesiak said.

He added that the bishops also approved an agreement on the commission’s creation between the bishops’ conference and the conferences of male and female religious superiors in Poland.

Gesiak said the texts of the documents would be made public and discussed at a news conference on Thursday.

The bishops first decided in March…

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Archbishop Weisenburger expresses ‘heartfelt sorrow for the evil of abuse,’ details new policies for fingerprinting, victim assistance, education and monitoring

Read Archbishop Weisenburger’s pastoral message, “Rebuilding Trust: A Pastoral Message on Abuse, Reform, and Hope,” at www.aod.org/rebuildingtrust.

In a new pastoral message released March 11, Detroit Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger expressed “heartfelt sorrow for the evil of abuse and the profound suffering it has caused,” and outlined several new measures designed to strengthen safe environment protections and accompany victims of clergy sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Detroit.

In the message, “Rebuilding Trust: A Pastoral Message on Abuse, Reform, and Hope,” released a week before his first anniversary as Detroit’s chief shepherd, Archbishop Weisenburger acknowledged the pain caused by the sins of clergy sexual abuse, and said while the Church has made important strides, “we must commit ourselves to ongoing accountability, transparency, and the unwavering…

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Brady Boyd was associate senior pastor and an elder at Morris’ Gateway Church when New Life was considering hiring him in 2007. According to court documents that Morris filed in his lawsuit against Gateway, when the New Life search committee was considering hiring Boyd, Clemishire’s sister alerted the committee about what had happened to her sister. 

New Life reached out to Gateway about the allegations and was told that the elders knew about them but that Morris had been restored. After New Life hired Boyd, Morris was made an overseer of New Life Church. 

On June 8, 2025, Boyd told attendees of New Life Church that Morris had deceived him and that he had no knowledge of the allegations that Morris had committed abuse. “I was lied to,” Boyd said.

“I worked alongside him. I had no reason to believe he had any kind of character issues,” said Boyd….

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Abuse would be stopped if “perpetrators are made to be terrified to commit the offence,” a survivor has said.

Nikella Holmes and other survivors were giving evidence to a Stormont committee, which heard that an independent public inquiry into child abuse in churches is a “key recommendation” of unpublished research on the matter.

Nikella was abused by a youth leader at her former church, Gary Thompson, who was jailed in 2024.

She spoke to the Executive Office Committee, which examines the work of the department headed by the first and deputy first ministers.

They have called for three research reports, which were sent to the ministers last July, to be published.

Nikella, from the Interfaith Clerical Abuse Survivors Group, said: “We have the evidence sitting there, ready to go, about how we can make changes to make our churches safe.”

The Ballymena woman told the committee: “We have all the…

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A former Indiana youth minister has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to nine counts of possessing child sex abuse material (CSAM), the United States attorney for the Southern District of Indiana announced on Friday (March 5). Aaron Paul Lockman, 24, will also be required to pay $9,000 in restitution. 

Editor’s note: This article refers to reports of child sex abuse, which some readers might find triggering and/or disturbing.

The press statement did not disclose the name of the church where Lockman served as a youth minister. The district attorney did specify that the church is in Jasper, Indiana, and that in his role at the church, Lockman “was entrusted with supervising young boys and frequently took them on one‑on‑one outings, including trips to local restaurants.”

RELATED: Trial Date Set for Former SBC Pastor Charged With Producing…

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This month, R.I. Attorney General Peter Neronha P’19 P’22 released a report detailing the results of the state’s investigation into child abuse by the Diocese of Providence. Since 1950, over 300 children were abused by 75 priests. Criminal charges have been filed against four of the named clergy. The report found that the diocese systematically covered up abuse by failing to report complaints to authorities and transferring accused priests to different parishes instead of firing or reporting them. This resulted in more children being abused. It seems the prevailing mantra, at the time, was that “we must by all means avoid scandal,” as one bishop put it in 1971. In covering up child sex abuse, the entire church was complicit. 

With all this public scrutiny, one might expect the diocese to emerge penitent. But their statement responding to the report was one long deflection…

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One moment in the two-hour press conference hit Skip Shea the hardest.

From his home in Worcester County last week, he watched the live stream of the Rhode Island attorney general presenting his investigation into decades of child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. And then Ann Hagan Webb, 73, stepped up to the bank of microphones.

“This report finally declared me credible,” Webb said, her voice breaking. She was sexually abused by her pastor starting when she was 5 years old. She said the church’s denial of what happened “has haunted me in ways I cannot begin to describe.”

The release of this investigation reminded victims like Shea of the reckoning they’ve been demanding for years in Massachusetts.

While the Massachusetts attorney general’s investigation into the Boston Archdiocese was made public in 2003, the investigation into the dioceses of Worcester, Springfield and Fall River has never been released.

Shea, 66, was abused in…

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Editor’s note: This story is part of Global Sisters Report’s yearlong series, “Out of the Shadows: Confronting Violence Against Women,” focused on the ways Catholic sisters are responding to this global phenomenon.

Fatima Katandina was beaten up and chased away from home by her husband in rural and impoverished central Malawi last year. 

This left her and the couple’s four young children homeless and destitute. Scrambling for a way out of her dire situation, Katandina approached the Mary Consoler of the Afflicted Sisters for assistance. 

The Mary Consoler of the Afflicted Sisters of Malawi work with women who have been abused or forced out of their homes by their husbands. The sisters provide counseling, shelter and, whenever they can, assistance with income-generating projects.

The sisters offered Katandina help to make a fresh start and to have a positive mindset about her future life.

Katandina and her husband “were always having disputes….

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A long-time pastor of a Pontiac church recently pleaded no contest to a sex crime charge — neither admitting nor denying the allegation as “the easiest way to resolve the controversy” and not cause more “injury to all people involved,” his attorney said.

At a March 3 hearing in Oakland County Circuit Court, 83-year-old Reverend Douglas Jones of West Bloomfield pleaded no contest to an added count of attempted fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. The crime he was initially charged with, fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, was dismissed.

Due to court error, Jones’ court record had incorrectly stated that he pleaded guilty to the charge. Assistant Prosecutor Dillon Salge confirmed on March 10 that the error had occurred and the record would be corrected to indicate the no contest plea.

Jones, senior pastor of Welcome Missionary Baptist Church in Pontiac since 1989, was arrested last year. Investigators said the crime occurred on…

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A former substitute teacher fired from the Chicago Archdiocese in January was ordered detained Friday on felony aggravated sexual abuse of a minor and wire fraud charges.

Brett Smith, 43, is accused of engaging in sexual contact with a 9-year-old boy he was hired to tutor at the home of the child’s parents in Orland Park.

Cook County Associate Judge Steven Jay Rosenblum said Smith should be detained while the case is pending as he poses a threat to the community as a whole.

“I won’t be responsible for what happens to other children,” Rosenblum said.

Smith was initially ordered detained after his January arrest by Judge William N. Fahy, but Smith was granted a fresh detention hearing after Fahy recused himself, having realized he may have represented Smith in the past.

Rosenblum said he based his decision on prior cases across two states where Smith was accused of having inappropriate conduct with…

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Suffolk County police arrested a North Bay Shore man accused of sexually abusing a pair of kids multiple times spanning nearly two decades.

Officers took Bernardo Amaya, 75, into custody at his home around 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Investigators accused him of inappropriately touching an 8-year-old girl in August.

As part of the investigation, Suffolk County police Special Victims Section detectives also said Amaya inappropriately touched a child in May and June of 2007 when the child was only four-years-old.

Police said Amaya came in contact with the victims at his North Bay Shore home at 1753 Pine Grove Blvd., where a family member was a childcare worker.

Amaya worked as a bus driver for Educational Bus Inc. in West Babylon.

Educational Bus Transportation spokesperson Lloyd Singer told News 12 in a statement: “Educational Bus Transportation takes this matter very seriously. We are currently reviewing the situation…

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Power is often misunderstood. Many think it means control or dominance. But true power is the ability to protect. It is the strength to stand against injustice, defend the vulnerable, and choose responsibility over silence. Today, we face a moral crisis. Crimes such as child abuse, trafficking, and exploitation are not distant problems.

They exist within our own country, India, and even in states like Nagaland. Recent reports from 2024 and 2025 reveal disturbing cases in Nagaland involving minor domestic helpers. In Kohima, a government employee was arrested after a nine-year-old boy was found severely injured; a case pursued by the Konyak Students’ Union Kohima. In Mokokchung, the Chang Women Organization condemned the abuse of a minor girl who had lived as a domestic helper for years. In another instance, police arrested a foster mother for severely mistreating an 11-year-old child. Beyond Nagaland, in February 2026, a court in Uttar…

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