ABUSE TRACKER

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

December 22, 2016

Catholic children’s home lawsuit ‘will go on’ after judge dismisses cases

UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Harriet Sherwood Religion correspondent
@harrietsherwood
Wednesday 21 December 2016

A lawyer for 249 men seeking compensation for alleged sexual abuse at a Catholic children’s home has vowed to continue with one of the largest compensation claims against the church despite a judge dismissing three of the first test cases.

The high court in Leeds awarded one of the claimants £14,000 in compensation and ruled against three other men. Judgment in a fifth case will be given next month.

The men’s lawyer, David Greenwood of Switalskis, said outside court: “This is a skirmish; we will win the ultimate war.”

The claims were made against the diocese of Middlesbrough and the De La Salle Institute, which ran the St William’s children’s home in Market Weighton, east Yorkshire.

The civil case followed the imprisonment earlier this year of the home’s former principal and chaplain for sexual offences against 11 boys between 1970 and 1991.

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

FORMER ROMERO AIDE REMOVED FROM PRIESTHOOD

EL SALVADOR
The Tablet (UK)

21 December 2016 | by James Roberts

Mgr Jesus Delgado relieved totally and definitively of all priestly functions, along with two other priests

A former private secretary and biographer of assassinated archbishop Oscar Romero has been removed from the priesthood following allegations that he sexually abused a girl in the 1980s.

Mgr Jesus Delgado, 77, a former top official in the San Salvador diocese where Romero was murdered in 1980, was relieved “totally and definitively” of all priestly functions, along with two other priests, Fr Francisco Galvez and Fr Antonio Molina, La Prensa reported from El Salvador.

Announcing the laicisations yesterday, the Archbishop of San Salvador, José Luis Escobar said: “From now on, [the three] cannot exercise any office or priestly function according to canon 292 of the Code of Canon Law. These resolutions of the Holy See have already been communicated respectively to each of the aforementioned priests.

“We have also communicated it to the victims, to each one of the cases respectively, and today we make it known to all.”

Delgado was the country’s first priest to be suspended for child sex abuse when he was removed last year from his position as San Salvador vicar general.

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

December 21, 2016

Charges: Pastor, son beat 12-year-old in church basement

MINNESOTA
Fox 9

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) – A Minneapolis pastor and his son are facing charges for allegedly beating a 12-year-old boy in the basement of their church.

Last Saturday, witnesses found the boy outside with only shorts and a t-shirt on in subzero temperatures and called 911. He had extensive bruising and was limping.

The victim told police he had been assaulted by his pastor, identified as Dong Wook Kim, 51, and the pastor’s son, Joo Seong Kim, 19, in the basement of the Good News Church on Broadway Avenue in Minneapolis and that he had run away when the two were distracted. He showed officers the large lash marks on his back, which reportedly came from being struck by the pastor with an electrical cord.

The victim said he had sustained multiple beatings over the last several days. He said his parents were aware the abuse was taking place.

The abuse reportedly started on Dec. 14 and continued until Dec. 17. During this time, the victim said he was forced to get into a push-up position and repeatedly kicked in the head and face, punched or whipped with a wooden stick.

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Pastor Charged With Beating Child With Rod, Electrical Cord

MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The pastor of a north Minneapolis church and his son have been arrested for beating a 12-year-old boy with a wooden rod and an electrical cord.

Dong Wook Kim, 51, was charged with two counts of assault and a count of malicious punishment of a child.

A neighbor called police Saturday after finding the boy walking in the extreme cold, wearing only shorts and a T-shirt.

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Hadleigh rector Martin Thrower appears in court over alleged voyeurism at the Buttermarket Centre, Ipswich

UNITED KINGDOM
East Anglian Daily Times

19 December 2016 Colin Adwent

A crown court date has been set for a senior Suffolk clergyman accused of filming males in public toilets.

The Very Rev Martin Thrower, 55, of Church Street, Hadleigh, appeared at South East Suffolk Magistrates’ Court today accused of eight voyeurism offences.

He did not enter a plea and the case was sent up to crown court.

Thrower was arrested at the Buttermarket shopping centre in Ipswich on August 4 on suspicion of voyeurism. He was interviewed and bailed to return to police while officers continued their investigation.

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Suffolk priest faces voyeurism charges

UNITED KINGDOM
Church Times

by Tim Wyatt

Posted: 22 Dec 2016

THE Rector of St Mary’s, Hadleigh, and Dean of Bocking, the Very Revd Martin Thrower, has ap­­peared in court charged with filming young men in public lavatories.

Dean Thrower did not enter a plea to eight charges of voyeurism when he appeared at Ipswich Magis­trates’ Court on Monday.

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

Detuvieron al cura Agustín Rosa, acusado de abuso sexual

MEXICO CITY (MEXICO)
TN Todo Noticias [Buenos Aires, Argentina]

December 21, 2016

Read original article

Una investigación exclusiva de TN.com.ar reveló dos denuncias penales y otras 25 canónicas contra el fundador del Instituto Religioso Discípulos de Jesús de San Juan Bautista. Quedó arrestado en una clínica privada por problemas de salud.

Detuvieron al fundador del Instituto Religioso Discípulos de Jesús de San Juan Bautista tras la investigación de TN.com.ar que reveló denuncias de abuso sexual. Efectivos de la policia de Salta que investiga delitos contra la integridad sexual arrestaron al sacerdote Agustín Rosa, en la finca La Cruz, donde estaba alojado desde que fue separado de su cargo por la Santa Sede. Está citado a declarar mañana.

La fiscalía de Salta dipuso rápidamente que un médico evalúe la salud de Rosa. El profesional optó por dejarlo internado en la clínica privada Santa Clara de Asís, informaron fuentes judiciales a TN.com.ar.

La orden de detención fue dictada por la jueza Ada Zunino del juzgado de Garantía de Primera Nominación. Rosa y el cura Nicolás Parma fueron señalados por testimonios exclusivos de este sitio.

El exnovicio Yair Gyurkovitz los denunció por abuso sexual simple. La fiscal del caso, Luján Sodero Calvet reconoció que en su declaración “hay fuertes indicadores de experiencias traumáticas”. 

Por su parte, la exmonja Valeria Zarsa denunció el abuso de Rosa, fundador del Instituto. Lo acusó de amenazas coactivas, reducción a la servidumbre y abusos sexuales reiterados contra su persona y otros miembros de la comunidad. También hizo una petición de prohibición de acercamiento

Esta mañana, Zarza y Gracia Ramia, otra novicia que denuncia abusos de una monja declararon durante dos horas y respaldaron los dichos Yair

Sodero Calvet advirtió que la pericia psicológica a Yair “es contundente“. Su testimonio “describe diferentes situaciones, hay una secuencia, un historial de hechos”

Para muchos, Rosa es un santo; para otros, es el hombre que les destruyó la vida. “Me volvió a pedir que nunca dijera nada de lo ocurrido y que cuidara el nombre del padre Felipe”, dijo Yair. 

La semana que viene, se prevé que una nueva víctima declare en la causa. En su denuncia canónica, relata la experiencia de vivir a solas con su abusador Nicolás Parma. “Me mostraba en su celular alguna novedad y me empezaba a tocar el pene por arriba del pantalón, de a poco me desprendía el botón, metía su mano por debajo de mi pantalón y comenzaba a masturbarme, lo hacía hasta eyacular porque según él le gustaba que eyacule en su mano”, asegura el documento al que accedió este sitio. 

La congregación de los “malos hábitos”

La orden fundada por Rosa nació en la Parroquia de la Santa Cruz en Salta y se convirtió en una comunidad con representación en todo el país, Chile, México y España. El Instituto tiene a cargo parroquias, hogares de ancianos, conventos de clausura y casas para la formación religiosa. 

En esos lugares, conviven hermanos y hermanas que, según los preceptos del derecho canónico, deben consagrar su vida a la oración y respetar los votos de obediencia, pobreza y castidad. La orden, que hoy tiene 150 miembros, llegó a contar con más de 47 sedes

El cura que había jurado por Dios ser inocente

Este fin de semana, antes de revelar el caso, TN.com.ar viajó a Salta para conocer la versión del ahora detenido. Ante la pregunta de Miriam Lewin, el padre Agustín Rosa negó conocer alguna acusación de abuso sexual de menores.

“No sé quién pudo haber dicho eso porque nunca fui acusado”. Sin embargo admitió conocer a Yair, uno de los denunciantes. 

“Me siento limpio y tranquilo ante Dios”, aseguró el cura sin perder la sonrisa.

Las denuncias ante la Justicia canónica

En agosto de 2015, el Vaticano designó a un comisario canónico para analizar las 25 denuncias recibidas por canales eclesiásticos de miembros de la comunidad sobre las irregularidades dentro del Instituto.

Las conductas que debía analizar ese enviado papal, Monseñor Luis Stockler, obispo emérito de Quilmes, incluyen abuso sexual de menores, corrupción económica y enriquecimiento, violencia psicológica y reducción a servidumbre.

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

Der Pfarrer von Belair …

LUXEMBURG
Tagebatt

KOMMENTAR

Als in den Jahren 2010 und 2011 eine Serie von Missbrauchsfällen seitens katholischer Geistlicher bekannt wurde (oft an Schutzbefohlenen) und die unappetitlichen Details die Runde machten, sahen sich selbst die CSV und deren Justizminister genötigt, zu handeln. Die allermeisten der Täter konnten sich beruhigt zurücklehnen, da die sexuellen Übergriffe gesetzlich verjährt waren und die göttliche Justiz ohnehin vom Bodenpersonal nicht so ernst genommen wird, wie die Taten an sich zeigen.

rschneider@tageblatt.lu rschneider@tageblatt.lu
Die Opfer allerdings leiden auch noch Jahrzehnte nach dem Missbrauch, befinden sich teils in psychiatrischer Behandlung, um irgendwie mit dem Eingriff in ihre damals junge Persönlichkeit fertig zu werden. Die Folgen des unbekümmerten Missbrauchs, der kirchenintern lange geduldet bzw. verdrängt wurde, sind auch heute noch schrecklich.

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Gericht spricht Ex-Pfarrer vom Vorwurf des sexuellen Missbrauchs frei

LUXEMBURG
Journal

[Court clears ex-priest from accusation of sexual abuse.]

Der ehemalige Pfarrer, dem sexueller Missbrauch vorgeworfen wurde, ist am Dienstag von der Kriminalkammer im Bezirksgericht Luxemburg freigesprochen worden. Dem heute 60-jährigen, mittlerweile in den Laienstand zurückversetzten Ordensmann wurde vorgeworfen, im November 2008 einen 14-jährigen Ministranten im französischen Taizé sexuell missbraucht zu haben. Trotz der schockierenden Erlebnisse hatten mehrere Zeugen ihren Pfarrer in dem Prozess in Schutz genommen.

Beim Plädoyer hatte die Vorsitzende Richterin sowie die Anklagevertreterin dem Angeklagten vorgeworfen, er sei nur „vermeintlich geständig“. Die Anklagevertreterin vermisste ebenfalls Reue bei dem ehemaligen Ordensmann und verlangte eine strenge Bestrafung von sieben Jahren, nicht zuletzt aus generalpräventiven Gründen. Beim Angeklagten gebe es ein Mangel an subjektiver Einsicht. Der 60-Jährige hatte angegeben, er habe sich damit verantwortet, dass er den Versuchungen in Taizé nicht widerstehen habe können. Nebenkläger Albert Rodesch an das Gericht: Der Pfarrer habe sein Opfer für sein Leben lang gebrandmarkt und sein Leben verpfuscht.

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Romero-Sekretär wegen Missbrauchs zwangslaisiert

EL SALVADOR
religion@orf

Wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs hat der Vatikan einem ehemaligen engen Mitarbeiter des salvadorianischen Erzbischofs Oscar Romero (1917-1980) das Priesteramt entzogen.

Die gleiche Sanktion wie den 78-jährigen Jesus Delgado traf zwei weitere Priester der Erzdiözese San Salvador, wie die Vatikanzeitung „Osservatore Romano“ (Mittwoch-Ausgabe) meldet. Delgado, zeitweise Generalvikar der Erzdiözese San Salvador und Medienchef der salvadorianischen katholischen Kirche, war Sekretär Romeros.

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Three alleged victims of abuse at former East Yorkshire school fail in compensation bid

UNITED KINGDOM
ITV

One man has been awarded £14,000 in the civil case against the former St William’s school in Market Weighton. The case of another man will be heard next month.

Up to 249 men are suing the Catholic Church saying they were abused at the approved school in the 1970s and 80s.

Two staff members were jailed earlier this year. The former principal James Carragher, now 75, was jailed for nine years.

Anthony McCallen, 69, and the former chaplain was jailed for 15 years. The judge told them their crimes had blighted the lives of their victims.

Solicitors for the men who have lose their cases say an appeal is being considered.

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St William’s school abuse victim wins £14,000 payout

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A man who claims he was sexually abused at a Catholic school has been awarded thousands of pounds in compensation.

More than 200 men are suing the Catholic Church over alleged historical abuse at St William’s residential school in Market Weighton.

On Wednesday a judge ruled in favour of the man’s claim, ordering the church to pay £14,000 in damages, but rejected a further three test cases.

The men’s lawyers vowed to fight on and say they may appeal against the ruling.

A total of 249 men have lodged claims against the Diocese of Middlesbrough and the De La Salle Institute, which ran the home.

If successful, potential payouts could run into millions of pounds.

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Lawyers vow to continue fight for compensation for Roman Catholic school abuse victims

UNITED KINGDOM
Gazette Live

BYIAN MCNEAL
21 DEC 2016

Lawyers have vowed to fight on with a long-running, multimillion-pound compensation claim over alleged sex abuse in a Catholic children’s home despite losing three out of four first “test” cases.

A total of 249 men have lodged claims against the Diocese of Middlesbrough and the De La Salle Institute which ran the St William’s children’s home in Market Weighton, East Yorkshire.

They claim to have suffered sexual abuse there and, in one of the largest joint compensation claims against the Catholic Church, potential payouts could run into millions of pounds if successful.

Five men gave evidence during the recent civil claim hearing involving St William’s and were cross-examined by lawyers acting for the defendants.

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Archdiocese complies with abuse settlement, work still to do

MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

AP

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis remains in compliance with its agreement with prosecutors to take a series of affirmative steps to protect children from sexual abuse, officials said.

Church officials and prosecutors reached a settlement last December calling for substantial cultural changes within the church after the archdiocese was accused of mishandling an abuse case involving former priest Curtis Wehmeyer. Church officials provided an update on their progress Tuesday to Ramsey County Chief Judge Teresa Warner, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported.

Two church officials who deal with child protection told Warner that nearly 90,000 adults have undergone background checks and training on how to ensure that children are safe in church-related settings. The 187 parishes, 92 schools and two seminaries that belong to the archdiocese are required to comply with the settlement.

“So we have 90,000 sets of eyes and ears out there watching to make sure kids are safe,” said Timothy O’Malley, the archdiocese’s director of ministerial standards and safe environment.

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Ampleforth Abbey & College to be included in sex abuse inquiry

UNITED KINGDOM
The Press

Emily Flanagan

A TOP independent school in North Yorkshire is to be included in one of three public hearings carried out in the national child sexual abuse inquiry.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSE) has published an internal review, setting out how it intends to proceed with its inquiry under its latest chair Professor Alexis Jay, who took over the role this summer.

The review states that it was reducing the number of public-inquiry style hearings into key institutions to speed up the process and refocus on preventing abuse now and in the future.

It will now hold public hearings into three of its investigations; the Roman Catholic Benedictine Congregation, children outside of the UK and Rochdale Council establishments.

The inquiry into the Roman Catholic Benedictine Congregation – which encompasses Benedictine monastic organisations across the UK, including Ampleforth Abbey and College – will be held in December 2017.

There will be further public hearings the following year into the archdiocese of Birmingham and the wider Catholic church.

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Discriminación, autoritarismo y maltrato, características del Instituto del padre Agustín Rosa

ARGENTINA
La Gaceta Salta

[Discrimination, authoritarianism and mistreatment, characteristics of the institute of Father Agustín Rosa.]

Continúan los cimbronazos para la iglesia salteña. En un nuevo informe de TN se da a conocer los maltratos sistemáticos dentro del Instituto Discípulos de Jesús de San Juan Bautista creado en Salta por el padre Agustín Rosa. Ayer se conoció que Rosa no había sido apartado de su puesto por una malversación de fondos, sino por 25 denuncias por abuso sexual. Tal como hicieron en Octubre de 2015, los feligreses ayer respaldaron al sacerdote y dijeron a LA GACETA descreer de las acusaciones.

El nuevo artículo de la periodista Miriam Lewin toma el testimonio de Valeria y Gracia quienes tenían una fuerte vocación religiosa y en carne propia abusos sexuales. Y fueron, además, testigos de cómo “en los enunciados y las homilías, el sacerdote inculcaba lo opuesto a lo que practicaba en su vida cotidiana. “Los votos de pobreza funcionaban solamente para los que debían obedecer, no para el padre Agustín y sus elegidos”, señalan los damnificados.

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5 EYEWITNESS NEWS Sits Down with Archbishop Bernard Hebda

MINNESOTA
KSTP

[with video[

December 20, 2016

This week marks one year since the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis signed a settlement with Ramsey County prosecutors over a criminal and civil case.

Investigators found the church failed to protect children from the sexual abuse of former priest Curtis Wehmeyer. Tuesday in court, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office said it believes the Archdiocese is making progress with the terms of that settlement.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda sat down with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS after the hearing for a wide-ranging interview on recovering from a bruising past. Archbishop Hebda says he’s committed to rebuilding trust in the church and promoting healing for victims.

“To those who have been harmed by the church is to say we’re certainly committed to their healing and we’re doing everything possible to make sure that this doesn’t happen again,”Archbishop Hebda said.

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NSPCC encourages children to speak out about abuse with visit to Cowley school

UNITED KINGDOM
Oxford Mail

Michael Race, Crime reporter also covering Barton, Wood Farm and Risinghurst. Call me on (01865) 425483 / @OxMailMichaelR

CHILDREN were encouraged to talk about their problems and worries in a workshop designed to teach them about the signs and dangers of abuse.

The NSPCC visited St Francis Church of England Primary School in Cowley to talk to year five and year six pupils about types of abuse and what to do if they spotted it, or became a victim.

The visit was part of the charity’s Speak Out, Stay Safe scheme.

Imogen McCabe, who runs the scheme in Oxfordshire, said NSPCC staff and volunteers had visited 170 schools across the county but were still aiming to reach about 100 more.

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Scores of sex abuse victims apply to Cardinal Dolan’s program for compensation from New York Archdiocese

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY
STEPHEN REX BROWN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, December 20, 2016

More than 60 victims have applied to a program founded by Timothy Cardinal Dolan to compensate people sexually abused as children by clergy in the New York Archdiocese.

With still more time to apply, 65 people have provided accounts of abuse by priests when they were minors.

Kenneth Feinberg, the administrator of the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, has thus far offered settlement amounts to 15 victims.

Three of them have accepted compensation from the archdiocese while 12 have yet to respond to the offers. The remaining cases are still under review, Feinberg said.

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Abuse victims’ Rome trip tops fundraisers

AUSTRALIA
SBS

A bid to send Ballarat child abuse survivors to Rome to hear Cardinal George Pell give evidence on clergy sex abuse was the top Australian fundraiser on crowdfunding site GoFundMe in 2016.

The campaign, set up by KIIS FM radio host Meshel Laurie, initially aimed to raise $55,000 to send a group to Rome in February to see Cardinal Pell give evidence to Australia’s royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

It ended up raising more than $203,065 over 10 months with the rest of the money going towards a healing centre for survivors.

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Spanish priest who claimed he leaked Vatican secrets after being ‘blackmailed’ by Italian lover freed early from prison by the Pope

VATICAN CITY
Daily Mail

By Associated Press and Dave Burke For Mailonline

A senior Vatican official has been granted forgiveness by the Pope and freed from jail after he was convicted of leaking secrets to journalists.

Spanish Monsignor Lucio Vallejo Balda was given ‘conditional freedom’ by Pope Francis, having served half of an 18-month sentence handed out by a Vatican court.

He was convicted of passing confidential documents to journalists, and has been sacked from his job as a high-ranking finance official.

In July, a Vatican court convicted Vallejo of conspiring to pass documents on to two journalists, Emiliano Fittipaldi and Gianluigi Nuzzi, although it cleared him and a co-defendant of forming a criminal organisation to do so.

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Victim advocate hopes for statue of limitations reform in ’17

PENNSYLVANIA
WITF

Written by Rachel McDevitt/Radio Pennsylvania | Dec 21, 2016

(Harrisburg) — Statute of limitations reform for victims of child sexual abuse nearly made it over the finish line in the state legislature in 2016.

But, it was hampered by complaints that a certain provision went against the Pennsylvania Constitution.

Now, the state’s Victim Advocate says she will be among those pushing for the measure to become law in the new year.

The bill would have abolished the statute of limitations on future criminal cases of child sex abuse and given past victims of abuse more time to file a civil suit.

Victim Advocate Jennifer Storm says the testimony of then-Solicitor General Bruce Castor that the retroactive measure of the bill was unconstitutional cut the measure off at the knees.

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El cura Jorge Crespo salió a respaldar al padre denunciado por abuso sexual

ARGENTINA
La Gaceta Salta

[The priest Jorge Crespo has supported Father Agustin Rosa who has been denounced for sexual abuse. He said the accused priest has a true vocation and he said rape is hard to prove and is one person’s word against another’s word.]

Un inesperado respaldo obtuvo ayer el sacerdote Agustín Rosa, acusado de abuso sexual. El ex candidato a diputado provincial por el Frente Salteño, el cura Jorge Crespo, expresó su parecer sobre la situación que atraviesa quien estuvo a cargo del Instituto Discípulos de Jesús de San Juan Bautista.

“No vi el informe, solo escuché los comentarios”, dijo Jorge Crespo a Fm Noticias. Y añadió: “A ver, los temas sexuales son muy difíciles de comprobar. Le pasó al padre Grassi, pasó un tiempo hasta que se llegó a una condena. El tema de la violación es palabra contra palabra”.

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Declara una exmiembro de la orden del padre Rosa que denunció abusos

ARGENTINA
El Tribuno

[An ex-member of Father Rosa’s religious order, Disciples of Jesus of San Juan Bautista, today is expected to expand his testimony before the criminal prosecutor. Another priest is said to be involved. The complainant said there could be more sexual abuse victims.]

Hoy, en el transcurso de la mañana, una exintegrante del Instituto Religioso Discípulos de Jesús de San Juan Bautista, creado por el sacerdote Rubén Agustín Rosa Torino, se presentará a ampliar su testimonio ante la fiscal penal 2 de la Unidad de Delitos contra la Integridad Sexual, María Luján Sodero, luego de denunciar que sufrió abusos en la organización. La exreligiosa sostuvo que otros miembros de la comunidad también habrían sido víctimas de abusos sexuales.

La fiscal lleva adelante diligencias penales en torno de las acusaciones realizadas en contra de dos sacerdotes que cumplían servicios en la iglesia de la Santa Cruz. Además del cura Rosa, está siendo investigado Nicolás Parma. Ambos oficiaban en la casa parroquial.

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Hoy ampliará su declaración la ex religiosa que denunció a Rosa por abusos sexuales

ARGENTINA
La Gaceta Salta

[It is not ruled out that the accused priest – Agustin Rosa – should appear before the court to give his version of the facts.]

Durante el transcurso de la mañana se espera que amplíe su declaración una ex religiosa que denunció al padre Agustín Rosa –de la parroquia de la Santa Cruz- por presuntos abusos sexuales. El sacerdote también podría presentarse a declarar.

Se trata de una ex miembro del Instituto Religioso Discípulos de San Juan Bautista –creado por el sacerdote- que aseguró ante la fiscal de la Unidad de Delitos contra la Integridad Sexual, María Luján Sodero, haber sido víctima del religioso.

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Estremecedores relatos de sus víctimas | Indignación por el nuevo caso de un cura abusador protegido por el Vaticano

ARGENTINA
Hora 22

[Shocking Stories of Their Victims | Indignation for the new case of an abuser priest protected by the Vatican. Priest Agustin Rosa had been removed by the Vatican from the management of the Santa Cruz Church in Salta for lack of funds, abuse and drug use. They did not prosecute him and hid the case.]

20-12-2016

Había sido apartado por el Vaticano del manejo de la Iglesia Santa Cruz en Salta, por desmanejo de fondos, abusos y el uso de drogas. No lo denunciaron penalmente y escondieron el caso.

Un nuevo y gravísimo escándalo golpea a la Iglesia Católica y sus seguidores por denuncias de abuso sexual contra el cura Agustín Rosa en la provincia de Salta.

Son dos denuncias que se hicieron públicas por un informe emitido anoche por el canal Todo Noticias y por las cuales derivaron en el apartamiento de sus responsabilidades en la Iglesia de la Santa Cruz en octubre del año pasado.

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Child sex abuse inquiry to include North Yorkshire independent school next year

UNITED KINGDOM
The Northern Echo

A TOP independent school in North Yorkshire will be included next year in one of three public hearings carried out in the national child sexual abuse inquiry.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSE) has published an internal review, setting out how it intends to proceed with its inquiry under its latest chair Professor Alexis Jay, who took over this summer as the fourth head of the inquiry.

The review states it will reduce the number of public-inquiry style hearings into key institutions to speed up the process and prevent future abuse. As a result it will hold public hearings into three of its investigations; the Roman Catholic Benedictine Congregation, children outside of the UK and Rochdale Council establishments, with scope for other public inquiries later.

The inquiry into the Roman Catholic Benedictine Congregation – which encompasses Benedictine monastic organisations across the UK, including Ampleforth Abbey and College – will be held in December 2017. There will be further public hearings the following year into the wider Catholic church.

The internal review stated the investigation will examine the extent of “any institutional failures to protect children from sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales”. It will include two case studies, the first relating to the English Benedictine Congregation and the second to the Archdiocese of Birmingham.

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Former school head accused of child sexual abuse

LOUISIANA/ILLINOIS
The News Star

Bonnie Bolden , bbolden@thenewsstar.com December 20, 2016

Editor’s note: This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

David H. “Dave” DeRousse, 69, of West Monroe, recently was arrested in St. Clair County, Illinois.

As reported by the Belleville News-Democrat: State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly said DeRousse was charged with seven felony counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving a 10-year-old girl and a 12-year-old girl.

According to a news release, DeRousse “knowingly committed an act of sexual conduct” with the minors. Court records allege that the abuse happened between August 2014 and August 2016. The Mascoutah Police Department investigated the case.

Bail for DeRousse was set at $75,000. Mascoutah police said the man turned himself in Dec. 13 and posted bond.

Court records indicated that the case has pending grand jury actions.

DeRousse served as president of St. Frederick Catholic High School in Monroe from 1996 to 1999. DeRousse coached locally, including a stint as the assistant varsity basketball coach at then-Northeast Louisiana University in the 1970s.

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Archdiocese compliant with settlement, pledges ongoing collaboration

MINNESOTA
Catholic Spirit

Maria Wiering | December 20, 2016

A Ramsey County court judge commended the collaboration between the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office at a Dec. 20 hearing on the archdiocese’s efforts to fulfill a year-old settlement agreement to enhance policies to protect children from abuse.

The hearing was the second time the archdiocese appeared in court to report on its progress after entering into the agreement with the county last December.

“I hope the next six of the reviews go as well as the first two, because then we know that there’s been that change” said Judge Teresa Warner, speaking about the archdiocese’s efforts and the positive working relationship it has with the county attorney.

Joseph Dixon, an attorney of Fredrikson & Byron in Minneapolis who represents the archdiocese, presented the judge with the archdiocese’s 28-page report demonstrating substantial compliance with the settlement agreement. Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Thomas Ring concurred that the archdiocese was substantially compliant.

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December 20, 2016

Thank you for your support in 2016

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

21 December, 2016

The Royal Commission would like to thank the community for its continuing support and important contribution to our work in 2016.

In 2016 we conducted 14 public hearings, completed our 6,000th private session, held an inaugural research symposium on children’s views of safety, and published nine case study reports. So far this year 8,713 people called our call centre, 5,552 sent emails and letters, and we have served 786 notices to produce.

The Royal Commission’s call centre will remain open during the holiday season this year, with the exception of public holidays. The call centre can be contacted on 1800 099 340 Monday – Friday between 9am – 5pm AEDT.

Public holiday dates
Monday 26 December 2016
Tuesday 27 December 2016
Monday 2 January 2017

The Royal Commission appreciates that this time of year can be a challenging time. There are a number of organisations available to provide support during the holiday season.

1800 Respect
Website: www.1800respect.org.au
24/7 x 365 telephone and online crisis support, information and immediate referral to specialist counselling for anyone in Australia who has experienced or been impacted by sexual assault, or domestic or family violence.

Phone: 1800 737 732
Online Counselling: www.1800respect.org.au

MensLine Australia
Website: www.mensline.org.au
24/7 x 365 national telephone and online support, information and referral service for men with family and relationship concerns.

Phone: 1300 78 99 78
Online Counselling: www.mensline.org.au

Sexual Assault Counselling Australia (SACA)
Provides telephone counselling for people affected by the Royal Commission, including a free telephone interpreting service. Face-to-face counselling is available in parts of NSW.

Phone: 1800 211 028 (Mon-Fri 8am-11pm AEST/AEDT)
Online Counselling: www.sexualassaultcounselling.org.au

Suicide Call Back Service
Website: www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au
24/7 x 365 counselling for people 18 years and over who are suicidal, caring for someone who is suicidal or people bereaved by suicide.

Phone: 1300 659 467

Lifeline
Website: www.lifeline.org.au
24/7 x 365 national crisis support and suicide prevention.

Phone: 131 114

A full list of the support services available in your state or territory can be found here.

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Pope Francis Grants Conditional Pardon to Convicted Vatileaks Priest

VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register

Edward Pentin

Just a few days before Christmas, Pope Francis has granted a “conditional pardon” to Msgr. Lucio Ángel Vallejo Balda, sentenced in August to 18 months in jail for stealing and passing on documents to two Italian journalists.

In a brief statement released this evening, the Vatican said: “Considering that the Rev. Vallejo Balda has already served more than half of the sentence, the Holy Father Francis has given him the benefit of conditional release.”

It added: “It is a measure of clemency which allows him to regain freedom. The penalty is not settled, but he has the benefit of parole.”

The statement continued: “As of this evening the priest leaves the prison and all ties of employment with the Holy See ceases; he falls within the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Astorga (Spain), his home diocese.”

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Pope Francis orders release of Vatileaks priest from custody

VATICAN CITY
The Guardian

AFP

A Spanish priest jailed by the Vatican for leaking secret files to journalists was released from custody early on Tuesday on the orders of Pope Francis.

Spanish monsignor Lucio Vallejo Balda was sentenced to 18 months in July after the controversial “Vatileaks II” trial of himself, his assistant, two investigative Italian journalists and a PR consultant.

The case centred on the documents used by the journalists for books exposing waste and financial mismanagement at the top of the church.

The journalists and assistant were acquitted, but PR expert Francesca Chaouqui, who was accused of orchestrating the leaks from a financial reform commission, was given a suspended sentence.

“Given that the Rev Vallejo Balda has already served more than half of his sentence (including pre-trial custody), the holy father Francis has granted him the benefit of a conditional release,” the Vatican said in a statement.

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Pope frees jailed Spanish priest in Vatileaks case

VATICAN CITY
Religion News Service

By Josephine McKenna

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Francis has granted early release to a Spanish priest who was sentenced to 18 months in jail by a Vatican court for leaking confidential information to journalists.

Monsignor Lucio Vallejo Balda was sentenced in August for stealing and passing Vatican documents to two Italian journalists in the so-called Vatileaks 2 case.

In a brief statement released late Tuesday (Dec. 20), the Vatican said:

“Considering that the Rev. Vallejo Balda has already served more than half of the sentence, the Holy Father Francis has given him the benefit of conditional release. … It is a measure of clemency which allows him to regain freedom. The penalty is not resolved, but he can enjoy the benefit of parole.”

Vallejo Balda was to be released from prison Tuesday and have no further employment in the Holy See. He will return to his home diocese in Spain.

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Pope orders Spanish priest in ‘Vatileaks’ case freed from jail

VATICAN CITY
Today

DECEMBER 21, 2016

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has commuted the jail sentence of a Spanish priest who was convicted of leaking Vatican documents and ordered that he be released from jail, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

Monsigor Angel Lucio Vallejo Balda was sentenced to 18 months in a Vatican jail last July at the end of a trial dubbed “Vatileaks II”.

A statement said the pontiff took the step because Vallejo Balda, 55, had already served more than half of his sentence. He would leave the employ of the Vatican and be put under the jurisdiction of the diocese of Astorga in his native Spain.

It said he would be under “provisional liberty” for the rest of his sentence, without elaborating. It gave no further details.

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Assignment Record– Rev. Kenneth J. Cabral

CALIFORNIA
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Kenneth Cabral was ordained for the Archdiocese of San Francisco in 1950. He became a priest of the Diocese of Oakland when it was established in 1962. Cabral served in parishes in Tracy, San Jose, Oakland, Martinez, Berkeley, Walnut Creek, Lafayette and San Leandro. He appears to have been active until 1986, after which the Official Catholic Directory shows a year where he does not appear at all, followed by sick leave status and then retirement. He is reported to have died in March 1996.

Cabral was publicly named a child sex offender in the diocese’s October 2004 apology service for abuse perpetrated at St. Catherine of Siena in Martinez during 1964-1965.

Ordained: 1950
Retired: 1991
Died: 1996

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Judge sees progress in St. Paul Archdiocese’s child protection

MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By TORY COONEY | vcooney@pioneerpress.com
PUBLISHED: December 20, 2016

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis was found to be on track with carrying out a settlement plan designed to protect children during a Tuesday review hearing in Ramsey County District Court.

Archdiocese and Ramsey County officials reached a settlement in December calling for an “aggressive” timeline to implement “substantial” changes — including a new child-protection plan and protocols, Ramsey County Chief Judge Teresa Warner said.

“There’s no doubt the reason for this settlement is to protect our children,” Warner said. “For the next several years, it’s going to be our North Star, the guiding principle. It’s a good agreement and it’s there for the right reasons.”

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Concerns over delay to extradition of Roman Catholic monk accused of abuse

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

By Mark Daly
BBC Scotland Investigations Correspondent

The Crown Office has been criticised over its handling of the extradition of a former Catholic monk at the centre of a child sex abuse scandal.

Father Denis “Chrysostom” Alexander was one of several monks accused of abusing boys at the former Fort Augustus Abbey boarding school in the Highlands.

BBC Scotland confronted the former monk in Australia during a 2013 documentary.

In December last year, the Crown Office announced plans to bring him back from his native Australia to face trial.

But on Monday, 80-year-old Father Alexander, who denies the abuse claims, said he was not aware of any extradition plans, fuelling fears the process was stalling.

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Crecen los escándalos de abusos en la Iglesia: ahora investigan a dos sacerdotes en Salta

ARGENTINA
Los Andes

[Church abuse scandals grow: two priests are now being investigated in Salta. Law enforcement officials in Salta, Argentina, are investigating two priests at the church in Santa Cruz, the provincial capital, for acts of sexual abuse that occurred between 2009 and 2013.]

La justicia de Salta investiga a dos sacerdotes de la iglesia de la Santa Cruz, de la capital provincial, por hechos de abuso sexual ocurridos entre 2009 y 2013 a raíz de la denuncia de dos integrantes del instituto religioso Discípulo de San Juan Bautista.

Fuentes del Ministerio Público de Salta informaron hoy que se trata de los curas justicia de Salta investiga a dos sacerdotes de la iglesia de la Santa Cruz, de la capital provincial, por hechos de abuso sexual ocurridos entre 2009 y 2013 a raíz de la denuncia de dos integrantes del instituto religioso Discípulo de San Juan Bautista.

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Assignment Record– Rev. Donald Stavinoha, O.M.I.

TEXAS
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Donald Stavinoha was ordained for the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1970. He served mostly in parishes in the dioceses of Corpus Christi, San Antonio and Galveston-Houston TX. In the late 1970s-early 1980s he was assigned to San Pedro Huamelula in Oaxaca, Mexico, in the Tehuantepec diocese.

In May 1986, Stavinoha was caught by a police officer in Galveston performing oral sex on a young boy in a church van. The boy said similar incidents had happened before. After he was arrested, Stavinoha was suspended from ministry and sent to treatment in San Antonio and New Mexico. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in January 1988 to to nine years and nine months in prison and fined $10,000. The boy’s mother sued and received a settlement before trial. After serving just one year and two months in prison, Stavinoha was returned under supervision to his order in San Antonio. In 2002 he was known to be living at a Missouri treatment center. He died in Houston March 27, 2007.

Born: January 10, 1943
Ordained: 1970
Died: March 27, 2007

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Editorial: Tort reform law needs a fix

Ohio
The Columbus Dispatch

An Ohio Supreme Court ruling reducing damages a jury awarded to a child raped by her church pastor is a sickening miscarriage of justice: But the fault lies not with the justices, whose job is to determine whether laws are constitutional, not second-guess laws. Instead, this is a case of the Ohio legislature using too broad a brush.

It’s hard to believe that the General Assembly and Gov. Bob Taft intended to protect a predator when they enacted tort reform in 2005. The law aimed to curb frivolous lawsuits and runaway jury awards over things such as defective medications, unsafe cars and slip-and-fall accidents — massive civil damages that Republican lawmakers and the insurance industry said were chasing businesses out of Ohio, hurting the economy.

At the time, minority Democratic House members introduced a bill to exempt sexual-abuse victims from the damages cap, but that never passed.

Now is a good time to revisit this amendment.

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Ohio ‘tort reform’ helps protect rapists

OHIO
Cincinnati.com

Marc Pera December 20, 2016

Marc G. Pera is a Cincinnati attorney and Anderson Township resident.

More than a decade ago, the state of Ohio ushered in “tort reform.” Since then, countless Ohioans have been victimized by its needless caps on damages. Because these caps only apply to non-economic damages, those individuals who are hurt the most by “tort reform” tend to be children, the elderly, stay-at-home moms (and dads), the disabled, and the unemployed. In other words, those who have been hurt the worst by negligence tend to be hurt the most by “tort reform.”

A case decided Dec. 14 by the Ohio Supreme Court demonstrates this fact. According to the ruling in Simpkins v. Grace Brethren, an entity that knowingly hires sexual predators is protected by a $350,000 cap on damages, irrespective of the harm a minor child may suffer as a result of multiple sexual assaults. Simply put, “tort reform” protects rapists.

In Simpkins, a pastor repeatedly raped a minor at the minor’s church. The church knew of previous complaints against the pastor, but still hired and continued to employ him. Given these facts, Simpkins and her father sued the church. After hearing the facts, an impartial Ohio jury held the church responsible for $3.6 million in damages. The church appealed, citing Ohio’s “tort reform” laws. The Ohio Supreme Court, after analyzing and applying Ohio’s hurtful “tort reform,” reduced the verdict from $3.6 million to $350,000.

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La fiscal reveló detalles de la investigación contra el Padre Rosa

ARGENTINA
La Gaceta Salta

[The prosecutor revealed details of the investigation against Father Rosa.]

El escándalo por los supuestos abusos sexuales en los que estaría involucrado el padre Agustín Rosa, de la parroquia de la Santa Cruz, junto a sacerdote Nicolás Parma tendría novedades en los próximos días a partir de la declaración de nuevos testigos.

La fiscal a cargo de la causa, María Luján Sodero, busca establecer los hechos denunciados y entre las medidas judiciales que dispuso fue la ubicación y declaración de testigos mencionados por las supuestas víctimas de los abusos.

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Salen a la luz denuncias por abuso sexual contra el sacerdote Agustín Rosa, que había sido apartado de la Santa Cruz

ARGENTINA
El Tribuno

Hace poco más de un año, una comitiva del Vaticano había llegado a Salta para investigar a Rosa. Se lo apartó de la Iglesia Santa Cruz, por supuesto desmanejo de fondos y drogas. Hoy se conocieron dos denuncias de abuso sexual.

Escándalo en la Iglesia Católica por denuncias de abuso sexual en Salta. Se trata de dos denuncias que salieron a la luz en un informe de Todo Noticias en contra del sacerdote Agustín Rosa, quien había sido apartado de la Iglesia de la Santa Cruz en octubre del año pasado. En aquella oportunidad una comitiva del Vaticano, encabezada por el obispo emérito de Quilmes, Luis Stöckler, había llegado a nuestra ciudad para investigar el caso. La situación se había manejado con mucho hermetismo, incluso medios nacionales habían asegurado que se lo apartaba por causas vinculadas al desmanejo de fondos y a las drogas, pero en su momento Stöckler lo había desmentido.

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Malos hábitos: dos historias de abuso que desatan un nuevo escándalo en la Iglesia

ARGENTINA
TN

[Bad habits: two stories of abuse that unleash a new scandal in the church. [The Vatican has intervened in investigation of about 25 complaints against the founder of a religious congregation that started in Salta, Argentina, and expanded into Chile, Mexico and Spain.]

Por Miriam Lewin y Nicolás Tillard. Unas 25 denuncias canónicas y 2 penales detrás del fundador y otros sacerdotes de una congregación que nació en Salta, se expandió por Chile, México y España; y fue intervenida por la Santa Sede. Los relatos de Yair, abusado por dos curas; y de Valeria, una exmonja, que se atrevió a hablar de todo.

Publicada: 19/12/2016

“Te voy a partir en 8”, “te voy a comer la boquita”. Yair tenía miedo cuando el padre Felipe se acercaba. “Tenés que perdonarlo”, le dijo el fundador de la orden, el padre Rosa, cuando el chico le contó del abuso. A él nadie lo contradecía. Algunos lo consideraban un santo. Por miedo, hacían lo que él quería. Yair confió en el hombre que luego sería su segundo abusador.

Valeria fue la mano derecha del padre Rosa, confió en él y hasta llegó a contarle que sabía que había “muchos abusos dentro de la comunidad”. Él no la escuchó: “Es un chusmerío”. Cinco años más tarde, ella sufrió en carne propia.

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Malos hábitos: el cura acusado de abuso sexual juró por Dios ser inocente

ARGENTINA
TN

[Bad habits: the priest accused of sexual abuse swore by God to be innocent. TN.com.ar traveled to Salta, the Finca La Cruz , 32 kilometers from the provincial capital, where the priest – Agustin Rosa – lives since the Holy See intervened in investigation of the Disciples of Jesus of San Juan Bautista Religious Institute. Rosa was founder and director. He and other priests of the congregation have two criminal complaints and 25 canonical complaints against them, including sexual abuse of minors, economic corruption and enrichment, psychological violence and reducing other to servitude.]

Por Miriam Lewin y Nicolás Tillard. Agustín Rosa negó conocer las acusaciones en su contra. Aseguró que la Justicia nunca lo llamó ni tampoco lo citaron por las denuncias canónicas.

Publicada: 19/12/2016

TN.com.ar viajó a Salta, a la Finca La Cruz, a 32 kilómetros de la capital provincial, donde vive el Padre Agustín Rosa desde que la Santa Sede intervino el Instituto Religioso Discípulos de Jesús de San Juan Bautista que fundó y dirigió. Él y otros sacerdotes de la congregación tienen dos denuncias penales y 25 canónicas que incluyen abuso sexual de menores, corrupción económica y enriquecimiento, violencia psicológica y reducción a la servidumbre.

Ante la pregunta, Agustín Rosa negó conocer alguna acusación de abuso sexual de menores.”No se quién pudo haber dicho eso porque nunca fui acusado”. Admitió saber quién es Yair, uno de los denunciantes, pero dijo ignorar los cargos: “la Justicia nunca me preguntó nada”. De los cargos formulados por la exmonja Valeria, dijo lo mismo: “Pregúntele a ella”, se atajó.

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Child abuse: Documenting Australia’s shame

AUSTRALIA
BBC News

By Phil Mercer
BBC News, Sydney

In Australia, a boy of 10 is raped by an Anglican clergyman, who cuts his victim with a small knife and smears blood over his back in a twisted ritual to symbolise the suffering of Christ.

This happened in the 1960s in Cessnock, a former mining town in the New South Wales Hunter Valley, but only now has this and other decades-old stories of sexual violence and degradation been heard, catalogued and, crucially for many victims, believed.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is an unprecedented investigation into an epidemic of depravity across Australia.

The far-reaching inquiry began in 2013 and has heard from thousands of survivors of paedophiles who worked, or volunteered, in sporting clubs, schools, churches, charities, childcare centres and the military.

It has the power to look at any private, public or non-government body that is, or was, involved with children. The Commission’s task is to make recommendations on how to improve laws, policies and practices to protect the young.

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Dallas Morning News offers well-rounded look at Bishop Burns, arriving from Juneau

TEXAS
GetReligion

Julia Duin

Every so often, you run across an article that sings. The Dallas Morning News’ front-page piece on the area’s incoming Catholic bishop was one of them. And we’re talking smack-in-the-middle, above-the-fold placement.

Having recently lived in Alaska, I cannot imagine having to move 3,422 miles from lovely, isolated Juneau, where bald eagles are everywhere and king crab gets sold from the city dock (at least when my family lived there) to flat, hot Dallas.

Yet, this is the fate of Dallas’ new bishop. And the writer gets to the story through an amusing anecdote that could have only happened via good reporting and interviewing. …

There’s a few small things to suggest in improving the piece. First, the scathing letter by the sexual abuse victims group SNAP –- albeit mentioned by the Dallas paper -– should have gotten a bit more ink, as the group criticizes Burns for doing “nothing more than the bare minimum” in helping victims in the church. For instance: Why Burns didn’t post the predators’ names for the Juneau diocese, as 30 other bishops have done?

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December 19, 2016

Assignment Record– Rev. Walter Dayton Salisbury, S.S.J.

UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: A Josephite priest ordained in 1959, Salisbury was a college chaplain, teacher, and Alderian psychologist in Houston for many years. He served on the Galveston-Houston diocese’s Priests Senate and chaired continuing education for priests. He was transferred in 1979 to Washington D.C., where he was a counselor at St. Joseph’s Seminary, and in 1983 he was moved to a parish in the Mobile AL diocese. After two years he was back in D.C., where he was in residence at two parishes, consecutively.

Along the way, Rev. Salisbury was twice convicted of child sexual abuse and accused at least one other time. In 1978 he was charged with indecency with a child; convicted in June 1979 after pleading ‘no contest,’ he was given three-years’ probation. Per news reports, Salisbury was also accused of child molestation in Alabama. It wasn’t until he molested a boy in his Washington D.C. rectory in 1993 that Salisbury was removed from ministry. In that case, he pleaded guilty and was given a one year prison sentence, suspended, and a year of probation. The Josephites sent him to treatment and prohibited him from presenting himself as a priest.

In approximately the mid-1990s, Salisbury relocated to his native Bar Harbor ME. He served for many years on the town’s housing authority board, but resigned under duress in 2010 after his criminal convictions came to light. He had been listed as “Father” W. Dayton Salisbury on the housing authority’s web page.

Ordained: June 6, 1959

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Rabbi charged with rape, sexual assault, sodomy against a minor

ISRAEL
Jerusalem Post

By JEREMY SHARON \ 12/18/2016

According to the indictment, Harrison, now 58, initiated direct contact with the complainant after he was her substitute teacher at Beit Shulamit in December 2009.

In an indictment sheet of horrifying allegations, Rabbi David Harrison, who taught at the Beit Shulamit religious girls high school in Jerusalem, was charged with dozens of counts of rape, sodomy, sexual assault, assault and intimidation through threats against a former pupil, who was a minor at the time.

The complainant, a woman now aged 21, filed a charge of rape and other allegations against the rabbi at the beginning of the month claiming that they took place over a period of several months when she was 14.

Harrison has spent his career as a teacher and educator, and has also worked extensively performing wedding ceremonies for couples without a personal connection to a rabbi. Harrison began work at Beit Shulamit, in the Ramot neighborhood, as a part-time teacher in September 2007 but was fired in June 2010.

According to the indictment, Harrison, now 58, initiated direct contact with the complainant in December 2009, after he was her substitute teacher at Beit Shulamit.

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Federal documents reveal more about priest-teen weapons case

CONNECTICUT
Journal Inquirer

By Alex Wood
Journal Inquirer

After law enforcement officers found silencers, material for making pipe bombs, and other contraband on the East Windsor property where teenager Kyle Bass lived in 2013, Bass told them that his priest, the Rev. Paul A. Gotta, had paid for several of the items, including a gun.

He said the gun and thousands of rounds of ammunition were hidden in a bin beneath the stairs of the rectory of St. Phillip Church on South Main Street, one of two Roman Catholic parishes in East Windsor that Gotta served as administrator.

Agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and East Windsor police subsequently visited the rectory and received consent to search it. Gotta denied ever receiving a gun from Bass, and the agents found nothing beneath the basement stairs, although they saw scrape marks on the floor, indicating that something heavy had been dragged across it.

A few days later, ATF received a call from Gotta’s lawyer, who said he wanted to give them something. They returned to the rectory and were given a bin identical to the one Bass had described, weighing several hundred pounds.

Gotta said nothing about the contents of the bin and didn’t even give the agents a key to it. When the agents broke the lock, they found a .357-caliber handgun, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and a survival guide.

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Malos hábitos: dos historias de abuso que desatan un nuevo escándalo en la Iglesia

MEXICO CITY (MEXICO)
TN Todo Noticias [Buenos Aires, Argentina]

December 19, 2016

By Miriam Lewin y Nicolás Tillard

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Por Miriam Lewin y Nicolás Tillard. Unas 25 denuncias canónicas y 2 penales detrás del fundador y otros sacerdotes de una congregación que nació en Salta, se expandió por Chile, México y España; y fue intervenida por la Santa Sede. Los relatos de Yair, abusado por dos curas; y de Valeria, una exmonja, que se atrevió a hablar de todo. 

“Te voy a partir en 8”, “te voy a comer la boquita”. Yair tenía miedo cuando el padre Felipe se acercaba. “Tenés que perdonarlo”, le dijo el fundador de la orden, el padre Rosa, cuando el chico le contó del abuso. A él nadie lo contradecía. Algunos lo consideraban un santo. Por miedo, hacían lo que él quería. Yair confió en el hombre que luego sería su segundo abusador.

Valeria fue la mano derecha del padre Rosa, confió en él y hasta llegó a contarle que sabía que había “muchos abusos dentro de la comunidad”. Él no la escuchó: “Es un chusmerío”. Cinco años más tarde, ella sufrió en carne.

En 1996, el padre Agustín Rosa fundó el Instituto Religioso Discípulos de Jesús de San Juan Bautista que depende del Arzobispado de Salta. Veinte años después, el cura fue expulsado y vive recluido en Finca La Cruz. Tanto Rosa, de 64 años, como Nicolás Parma, otro sacerdote de 38 años de la misma comunidad, están denunciados por abuso sexual.

TN.com.ar publica el testimonio del exnovicio Yair Gyurkovitz, que denuncia a los dos sacerdotes por abuso sexual simple; y el de la exmonja Valeria Zarsa, que sufrió el abuso del fundador del Instituto. Estos testimonios se convirtieron en denuncias en la justicia penal. La primera es la de Yair y está radicada en la fiscalía número 2 de delitos contra la integridad sexual de Salta, a cargo de María Luján Sodero. La segunda causa, iniciada por Valeria en la Oficina de Orientación a la Víctima, está radicada en la misma fiscalía. Ella denuncia al padre Rosa por amenazas coactivas, reducción a la servidumbre y abusos sexuales reiterados contra su persona y otros miembros de la comunidad e incluye una petición de prohibición de acercamiento. La declaración, que ya tiene trece páginas, será ratificada y ampliada el 21 de diciembre.

La orden, que nació en la Parroquia de la Santa Cruz en Salta, se convirtió en una comunidad con representación en todo el país, Chile, México y España. El instituto tiene a cargo parroquias, hogares de ancianos, conventos de clausura y casas para la formación religiosa. En esos lugares, conviven hermanos y hermanas que, según los preceptos del derecho canónico, deben consagrar su vida a la oración y respetar los votos de obediencia, pobreza y castidad. La orden, que hoy tiene 150 miembros, llegó a contar con más de 47 sedes.

“Te voy a partir en 8”

Yair tiene 21 años y vive en La Plata. Cuando tenía 16, estaba en la casa que la comunidad tiene en Puerto Santa Cruz, en la provincia del mismo nombre. Allí sufrió el primer abuso por parte del cura Nicolás Parma, cuyo nombre religioso es Felipe. “Era una persona violenta”, recuerda Yair. En 2012, el padre lo invitó a su habitación y ocurrió lo que hoy prefiere olvidar. 

Estaba lejos de su familia y sin poder hablar con nadie. En Santa Cruz, al principio, Yair soportó la soledad y el olvido de Felipe. Hasta que algo cambió. Empezó a tenerlo en cuenta. “Te voy a comer la boquita, te voy a partir en 8”, le decía. Le tenía miedo. “Me llamó una vez a su pieza, me pidió que duerma la siesta con él, yo le dije que no. Me dijo que me acueste en su cama. Él estaba tapado y yo estaba vestido. Empezó a besarme el cuello y a acariciarme la espalda y las piernas. Mientras hacía eso, se masturbaba. Sentía cómo se movía y cómo gemía”.

Su hermanito de 12 años fue a vivir con él a la comunidad. Lejos de tranquilizarlo, su presencia le sumó más angustia. El chico confiesa que intentó suicidarse más de una vez. Cuando todo esto pasó, le escribió una carta al Padre Agustín Rosa para contarle su infierno. Confió en que lo cambiarían de casa. Volvió con su familia hasta que, inesperadamente, recibió el llamado de Rosa. Para él fue toda una sorpresa: para sus padres, la palabra del cura era la palabra de Dios. Lo invitó a regresar al Instituto pero en su sede, en Salta. Allí fue abusado al menos otras cinco veces por el fundador de la orden.

Para muchos, Rosa es un santo; para otros, es el hombre que les destruyó la vida. “Me volvió a pedir que nunca dijera nada de lo ocurrido y que cuidara el nombre del padre Felipe”, dice Yair. Rosa le pidió que perdonara la debilidad de su colega y empezó a acercarse más a él. 

“Para abusar de los hermanos, el padre Agustín era muy astuto”, asegura Valeria. “Se acercaba a ellos, les decía que había querido tener hijos y les decía que él los quería como tales. Después (les decía) ‘tu familia no te contiene, yo te contengo’; o ‘tu papá te abandona, yo no’”. Yair relata lo mismo: “Me decía que mi papá no había estado en mi infancia y que él era mi nuevo papá”. Yair y Valeria coinciden en el modus operandi de Agustín: “Le decía a los hermanos que tenían varicocele y les pedía que se bajaran los pantalones para revisarlos”.

“Quedate quieta”, el peor momento de Valeria

Valeria es una exmonja de la comunidad, tiene 43 años y vive en Salta. También denuncia que fue víctima del padre Rosa. Trabajó durante 10 años a su lado: fue su asistente personal y encargada de los retiros que hacían los hermanos. Varios de ellos le confesaron haber sido víctimas de abusos sexuales, acosos o manoseos por parte de algún miembro de la comunidad.

En 1997, con la creación del Instituto Religioso, ingresa a la comunidad por invitación de una amiga. Quería ser hermana misionera. Conoció al padre Agustín y, al poco tiempo, se convirtió en su preferida. Debía resolver sus problemas y hasta incluso hacerle masajes en los pies. También coordinó retiros para los hermanos y fieles. Esa tarea la compartía con Sergio Salas, el padre Josué.

A fines de 2005, Valeria ya conocía situaciones de abuso porque los hermanos confiaban en ella y le contaban lo que sabían. Pero no le decían quiénes habían sufrido el abuso ni por parte de quién. Decidió transmitírselo al padre Agustín. Él le pidió nombres que ella no tenía. “Bueno, entonces esto es un chusmerío. No quiero saber más nada”, le contestó. 

Ese mismo año, Valeria viajó a México luego de que el Instituto decidiera abrir una nueva sede en Toluca. El padre Agustín la visitó en esa ciudad y, dos días antes de que retornara a la Argentina, le dijo que se tenía que quedar allá. La noticia tomó por sorpresa a Valeria, pero aceptó. 

Allí, en Toluca, cinco años más tarde, recibiría nuevamente la visita de Rosa y se desataría un episodio que hoy forma parte de su denuncia judicial. Valeria denuncia cómo fue que el padre abusó de ella luego de una reunión: “Con las mujeres sentía rechazo y aversión, pero en una ocasión estábamos en una habitación de un convento en Toluca, Estado de México. Estando mi Superiora, la hermana María Luz, de nombre civil Daniel Mónica Olmos, el padre Rubén Agustín Rosa Torino me dijo que quería probar si a las monjas le quedaban mejor los cinturones que los cíngulos (cordones que se usan alrededor de la cintura) y en el momento en que mi superiora entra al baño de esa habitación, él se saca su cinturón y lo pasa por detrás de mi espaldadiciendo: “Quedate quieta”. Mientras lo hacía, hundió su rostro en mi pecho, en clara actitud sexual intimidatoria, abusando de su poder”. 

“Yo le grité asustada: ‘No, ¿qué hace Padre?’, le dije y lo retiré, con esfuerzo, de encima mío. Los minutos posteriores no los puedo recordar. Sólo sé que me subí a la camioneta y arranqué mientras mi superiora me decía una y otra vez por celular que vuelva, que el pobre Padre estaba tenso, que lo entendiera, que estaba solo, que los hermanos le habían hecho muchísimo desprecio. Regresé, pero no quise subir de nuevo a su habitación. Me quedé en el comedor del convento, mientras la hermana María Luz permaneció con él en su habitación”, detalla Valeria en su presentación ante la Justicia. 

En octubre de 2010, volvió a la Argentina por pedido de su superiora para descansar tres meses, pero terminó quedándose. Al poco tiempo, la aislaron, no tenía permiso para hacer nada ni contacto con sus hermanas. Un médico clínico le recetó pastillas y sus superiores la trataron de loca. En 2014, logró conseguir un permiso para viajar a España para conocer a su sobrina y su hermana le dijo: “No sos ni la sombra de lo que eras”. Así Valeria empezó a abrir los ojos y en menos de un año abandonó el Instituto.

Las denuncias ante la justicia canónica

En agosto de 2015, el Vaticano designó a un comisario canónico para analizar las 25 denuncias recibidas por canales eclesiásticos de miembros de la comunidad sobre las irregularidades dentro del Instituto. 

Las conductas que debería analizar ese enviado papal, Monseñor Luis Stockler, obispo emérito de Quilmes, incluían abuso sexual de menores, corrupción económica y enriquecimiento, violencia psicológica y reducción a servidumbre.

Tres veces no

TN.com.ar viajó a Salta, a la Finca La Cruz, a 32 kilómetros de la capital provincial, donde vive el Padre Rosa desde que la congregación fue intervenida por la Santa Sede. El sacerdote, muy tranquilo y con una sonrisa, juró ante Dios ser inocente. Se defendió y confió que en el juicio tendrá la oportunidad de que se sepa la verdad. Hoy en Telenoche, el descargo completo del cura denunciado.

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Pope target of unprecedented smear attack by cardinals

ROME
The Times (UK)

Philip Willan, Rome
December 19 2016
The Times

The Pope is facing an unprecedented smear campaign designed to undermine his three-year pontificate. It has been orchestrated by cardinals angry about his sympathy for homosexuals and divorcees.

The campaign, spearheaded by conservative forces within the Vatican, amounts to “a subterranean civil war” within the church, Marco Politi, an expert on the Holy See, said. He added that the smear campaign included books, articles and letters contesting, in particular, the Pope’s teaching that divorced and remarried Catholics can “in certain cases” be allowed to take communion.

Mr Politi said that the criticisms of the Pope from within the Vatican constituted a direct and personal attack that was unprecedented in modern times. He cited the pontiff’s progressive reforms, including his advocacy of a more merciful approach to marital breakdown.

In an article published by Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper to mark the Pope’s 80th birthday on Saturday, Mr Politi said: “It’s a systematic campaign of delegitimisation, which questions the very authority of the pontiff and the rightness of his guidance.”

Mr Politi, a veteran observer of Vatican affairs and author of the book Pope Francis among the Wolves, said that the ideological battle resembled the one fought over the modernising reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.

While Vatican factions have traditionally fought among themselves, they still accepted the role of the Pope as referee, he said. “It’s absolutely new that the attacks should be levelled directly at the Pope now.”

Last month four cardinals, including the conservative American Raymond Burke, wrote to the Pope asking him to clarify his guidance on this point, which was published in a footnote to Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), a teaching document issued last April.

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Malta’s knights ‘at war’ over Chancellor’s sacking

ROME
Malta Today

Matthew Vella 18 December 2016

Civil war has broken out among the Knights of Malta, after Grand Master Fra Matthew Festing threatened disciplinary action against any member criticising his expulsion of senior Knight Albrecht Boeselager, the Grand Chancellor.

The international Catholic weekly The Tablet said the move has sparked “open warfare” inside the Church’s oldest and most illustrious military order, founded in the 11th century during the crusades and which ruled over Malta between 1530 until their expulsion by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798.

Boeselager, who as Grand Chancellor was the number three in the Order, told friends he had been accused of not following the Church’s teaching on the distribution of condoms in Africa. Festing denies this claim, saying Boeselager tried to conceal problems concerning his stewardship of the Order’s charitable work.

The Order’s patron and Vatican liaison, the arch-conservative Cardinal Raymond Burke – a critic of Pope Francis – was present when Festing asked Boeselager to resign.

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Ongar resident Teresa Cooper reacts to report into abuse at Church of England run Kendall House

UNITED KINGDOM
This is Local London

A GRANDMOTHER who was drugged and sexually abused in a children’s home has welcomed a church report on the scandal – but is still waiting for a formal apology.

Teresa Cooper, who now lives in Ongar, says the harrowing report about the Church of England-run Kendall House won’t ever erase the scars she will carry around for the rest of her life.

Now 49, she was just 14 when she was sent to the home, where she was locked in isolation and physically, emotionally and sexually abused in the institution that “normalised” cruelty.

Below, Teresa Cooper aged 14 while in Kendall House. She says the effects of the drugs made her look like an ‘old woman’

After spending the best part of 30 years tirelessly fighting for justice, she is single-handedly responsible for bringing what happened to light and the release of the report.

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Priester soll elf Kinder sexuell missbraucht haben

DANEMARK
Spiegel

[A pastor at the Free Church in Denmark has been accused to sexually abusing several children.]

Gegen den früheren Priester einer Freikirche in Dänemark ermittelt die Polizei wegen des sexuellen Missbrauchs mehrerer Kinder und Jugendlicher. Den Ermittlern in Mittel- und Westjütland sei der Geistliche aus dem Städtchen Silkeborg bereits seit Längerem verdächtig gewesen, teilte eine Polizeisprecherin mit.

Der Beschuldigte mit dänischem und amerikanischem Pass halte sich zurzeit in den USA auf, wo er laut der dänischen Polizei in einer anderen Sache angeklagt ist. Worum es dabei genau geht, ist unklar. Die Anklage in den USA wollen die Ermittler zunächst abwarten, bevor sie womöglich einen Antrag auf Auslieferung stellen.

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Vatikan bestätigt Missbrauchsvorwürfe

DEUTCHLAND
BR

[Vatican confirmed allegations of abuse. Heinrich M. (80), retired from Würzburg, can no longer serve as a priest and he is also forbidden to stay in the parishes of of Bad Kissingen where he was most recently employed.]

Das hat die Pressestelle des Ordinariats Würzburg mitgeteilt. Die vatikanische Glaubenskongregation hat die Vorwürfe wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs geprüft und in letzter Instanz bestätigt. Der Priester hat demnach vor mehr als 40 Jahren während seines Wirkens in Polen eine Minderjährige über mehrere Jahre hinweg sexuell missbraucht.

Bistum hatte schon reagiert

Würzburgs Bischof Friedhelm Hofmann hatte dem Ruhestandspfarrer im Landkreis Bad Kissingen bereits im Mai verboten, als Priester zu wirken. Außerdem muss der Geistliche aus dem Pfarrhaus ausziehen. Bischof Hofmann hat den Geistlichen aufgefordert, das Dekanat Bad Kissingen zu verlassen. Gegen den Ruhestandspfarrer läuft seit November 2015 eine kirchenrechtliche Voruntersuchung.

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Wegen Missbrauchs: Dekret gegen Pfarrer bestätigt

DEUTSCHLAND
inFranken

[Because of abuse: decree against German pastor is confirmed.]

Die römische Glaubenskongregation hat das Ergebnis der kirchenrechtlichen Voruntersuchung jetzt offiziell bestätigt.Damit sind die von Bischof Friedhelm Hofmann im Dekret vom 25. Mai 2016 verhängten Maßnahmen gegenüber dem Ruhestandspfarrer im vollem Umfang wirksam, teilte das Bischöfliche Ordinariat Würzburg am Montag mit. M. ist damit jedes öffentliche Wirken als Priester in Seelsorge und Liturgie verboten. Weiter ist ihm der Aufenthalt in den Pfarreien des Dekanats Bad Kissingen untersagt. Dort hatte er zuletzt gewirkt.

Die kirchenrechtliche Voruntersuchung wurde am 11. November 2015 eingeleitet und schließlich im Bischöflichen Offizialat Würzburg durchgeführt. Ergebnis war, dass M. vor mehr als 40 Jahren während seines Wirkens in Polen eine Minderjährige über mehrere Jahre hinweg sexuell missbraucht hatte

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Vatican trial finds three El Salvadoran priests guilty of sex abuse

EL SALVADOR
RTE News (Ireland)

A Vatican court has found three El Salvadoran priests – including a prominent monsignor – guilty of sexually abusing minors and has suspended them from their priestly duties, the country’s senior archbishop has announced.

Archbishop Jose Luis Escobar said Monsignor Jesus Delgado, the biographer and former secretary to the martyred Archbishop Oscar Romero, was among those convicted by the church court.

Last year Monsignor Delgado was among the three church representatives who announced in the Vatican that Pope Francis was promoting the late Archbishop closer to sainthood by giving him the title “Blessed”.

The late Archbishop’s assassination in 1980 by a state-sponsored death squad has been officially acknowledged by the civil authorities and led to last year’s beatification ceremony in San Salvador which was attended by a quarter of a million people.

The promotion was a highpoint in Pope Francis’ pontificate as he had personally “unblocked” the process of investigating Romero’s “cause” after conservatives in the Vatican had suggested it would be imprudent to promote a man who was closely associated with radical movements in the Church.

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IN–Abuse victims challenge newly-elected bishop

INDIANA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, Dec. 19, 2016

For more information: David Clohessy 314 566 9790 cell, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com, Barbara Dorris314 503 0003 cell, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org

Indiana bishop wins bid for national office

Victims challenge him to “do more to protect kids”

Last month, a top Indiana Catholic official won his bid to head a national church sex abuse panel. Now, a victims group that supported him is urging him to “do more to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded and expose the truth about clergy who commit and conceal child sex crimes.”

[SNAP]

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, backed Bishop Timothy L. Doherty of Lafayette over Bishop Joseph Tyson of Yakima for the chairmanship of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People. Doherty won that election.

“Doherty is taking over a committee that’s done very little for a very long time. We hope he’ll take immediate, concrete steps to safeguard kids,” said David Clohessy of SNAP.

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Oscar Romero’s Aide Guilty Of Child Sex Abuse, Vatican Inquiry Concludes

EL SALVADOR
Christian Today

Ruth Gledhill CHRISTIAN TODAY CONTRIBUTING EDITOR 19 December 2016

Two Catholic priests and a bishop from San Salvador have been removed from the priesthood after being found guilty of sexual abuse.

The Archbishop of San Salvador, José Luis Escobar, confirmed that the well-known Bishop Jesús Delgado and priests Francisco Gálvez and Antonio Molina have been deposed from clerical orders, “totally and definitively” losing all priestly functions, La Prensa reports.

“From now on, they can not exercise any office or priestly function according to canon 292 of the Code of Canon Law. These resolutions of the Holy See have already been communicated respectively to each of the aforementioned priests.

“We have also communicated it to the victims, to each one of the cases respectively, and today we make it known to all,” said Archbishop Escobar.

Bishop Jesús Delgado was removed last year from his post as third in command of the Catholic Church of El Salvador.

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Rabbi disbarred for alleged sex offences is still practicing — report

ISRAEL
Times of Israel

A rabbi who was disbarred by the Chief Rabbinate after accusations of sexual assault still presents himself as a rabbi and counselor, according to a Channel 2 investigative report aired Sunday.

Rabbi Shimon Garelick had his rabbinic license revoked in August at the recommendation of the rabbinic disciplinary committee after accusations that he committed a spate of sexual crimes over many years.

Garelick served as a neighborhood rabbi in the northern city of Nahariya, as a kashrut supervisor, and as a chaplain at the city’s hospital.

Accusations against Garelick have come from girls, boys, women and men, according to Channel 2. Some date back many years, while some are recent.

Police have closed all cases against him because the complainants were minors and there was not sufficient corroborating evidence to prosecute him.

Channel 2 found that he still serves as the head of a synagogue in his neighborhood. A reporter also went to the rabbi for counseling and secretly filmed him.

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Young People Feel Unsafe in Residential Care

AUSTRALIA
Pro Bono Australia

Monday, 19th December 2016

Wendy Williams, Journalist

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse released the findings of a study on Monday exploring the experiences of children and young people in residential care.

The report, the first of its kind in Australia to explore the issue from the perspective of young people, found most young people in residential care felt they were at risk of physical violence, sexual threats from their peers and from outsiders, and of ongoing bullying and harassment.

The study also found that children’s experiences of harm were often under-reported, and that children and young people could provide unique observations on the experience of abuse in residential care as well as how best to support children and young people in care.

Lead researcher Dr Tim Moore from the Institute of Child Protection Studies (ICPS) said the study highlighted that adult’s views about children’s safety, did not always “match up” with what children and young people felt they needed to be safe.

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Catholic Knights of Malta remove top official amid questions over fidelity to Church teaching

ROME
LifeSite News

ROME, December 15, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) — The Sovereign Military Order of Malta, an organization of professed Catholic knights overseen by the Vatican, have removed a top official amid an alleged flap over the distribution of condoms in the developing world, and allegations of infidelity to Church teaching.

As the controversy reaches the public, the Order says it is now between them and the Vatican, which means it will involve Cardinal Raymond Burke, whom Pope Francis appointed as patron of the Order in 2014.

The Prince and Grand Master of the Order on Wednesday appointed Fra’ John Critien as Grand Chancellor ad interim to replace Albrecht von Boeselager after he was removed from his post last week on the grounds that he violated his promise of obedience.

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Fra’ John Edward Critien appointed Grand Chancellor of the Sovereign Order of Malta

ROME
Order of Malta

The Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta, Fra’ Matthew Festing, with the deliberative vote of the Sovereign Council, has appointed Fra’ John Edward Critien to the office of Grand Chancellor ad interim

The Sovereign Council met on December 14 at the Grand Magistry in Rome.

Fra’ John E. Critien, after taking the oath, has officially entered today into the fullness of his powers. Within the Government’s structure of the Sovereign Order of Malta, the Grand Chancellor is both the Foreign Minister and the Minister of the Interior. He is the head of the chancery and its related offices, and is responsible for relations with the national Associations of the Order. He is also the Order’s representative in dealings with third parties, and the implementing of policy and of internal administration of the Order. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, he is in charge of all diplomatic missions of the Sovereign Order of Malta in the world.

John E. Critien, born in Sliema, Malta, on 29 September 1949, is the younger son of the late Major Frank Edward Critien, and the late May Grech.

After graduating Bachelor of Arts at the Royal University of Malta, John E. Critien continued his studies in Italy at the University for Foreigners of Perugia and the State University of Pisa. John E. Critien then settled in Pisa for 22 years where he taught English Language and Literature.

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The current situation between the Order of Malta and Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager

ROME
Order of Malta

Because, unfortunately, some details of the events of last week are being circulated and discussed in an unbalanced manner, the Grand Master of the Order, HMEH Fra’ Matthew Festing, would like to communicate the following. On Tuesday, December 6, an extremely grave and untenable situation became apparent concerning Albrecht von Boeselager’s position as Grand Chancellor of the Order of Malta, and the Grand Master called Boeselager for a meeting in presence of the Grand Commander, Fra’ Ludwig Hoffmann von Rumerstein and Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke as the Holy Father’s representative to the Order of Malta.

In the meeting the Grand Master said that the situation called for Albrecht von Boeselager to resign as Grand Chancellor, which is especially regretful because of his service to the Order for so many years. After Boeselager refused this, eventually the Grand Master had no choice but to order him, under the Promise of Obedience, in presence of the Grand Commander and the Cardinal Patronus, to resign. Boeselager refused again. Thus, the Grand Commander, with the backing of the Grand Master and the Sovereign Council and most members of the Order around the world, initiated a disciplinary procedure after which a member can be suspended from membership in the Order, and thus all Offices within the Order.

The reason for his removal as Grand Chancellor was due to severe problems which occurred during Boeselager’s tenure as Grand Hospitaller of the Order of Malta, and his subsequent concealment of these problems from the Grand Magistry, as proved in a report commissioned by the Grand Master last year.

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Grand Chancellor of Knights of Malta removed

ROME
Herald Malaysia

By Robert Mickens

The Knights of Malta made the surprise announcement last week: that the mandate of their Grand Chancellor, Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager (pic), has come to an abrupt end only halfway through the German nobleman’s five-year term.

No reason was given in the short news item that was posted December 8 on the Sovereign
Military Hospitaller Order’s website.

The Order’s Prince and Grand Master, Matthew Festing, was just as vague in a letter (which La Croix International has seen) that was sent to the Knights’ national priors and other leading officials.

While Festing expressed “regret” that Boeselager “no longer holds the position of Grand Chancellor”, he added that the former official also would not have “any other position in and on behalf of the Order”.

Some saw that as a clear sign that the 67-year-old German, a Knight of Malta since 1976 and one of its top international officers since 1989, had been pushed out.

Festing said this was “with immediate effect” and added that members would “be informed as soon as possible” of the man who would temporarily fill the extremely important post of Grand Chancellor, basically the Order’s head of foreign affairs and the interior.

Sources close to the Knights of Malta, but who wished not to be identified, said it was suspected that Cardinal Raymond Burke played a role in sacking Boeselager.

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Across region, outdated sex abuse laws have loopholes

NEW ENGLAND
Boston Globe

By Todd Wallack, Jonathan Saltzman and Jenn Abelson GLOBE STAFF DECEMBER 19, 2016

Laura and Antonio Siracusa were horrified when then discovered their teenage daughter was in a sexual relationship with her Spanish teacher from Cardinal Spellman High School in Brockton seven years ago. The daughter and teacher denied they were a couple, the Siracusas said. But the parents eventually found evidence they couldn’t ignore, including a hotel receipt and graphic photos of the teacher taken with their daughter’s phone.

The Catholic school fired the teacher after administrators saw the photos, according to the Siracusas and their attorney. But the teacher refused to stop seeing the Siracusas’ daughter.

Yet, when the parents contacted a lawyer and police to intervene, they got an ugly surprise: There was nothing authorities could do. In Massachusetts and some other states, it turns out, it’s legal for a teacher to have sex with a high school student, as long as the student is at least 16 and consents.

“It was unfathomable to us,” recalled Laura Siracusa, who told her story to state legislators last year in an unsuccessful effort to persuade them to change the law. “We couldn’t get our arms around the fact that we had no legal options.”

Attorneys, police, and child welfare advocates say the age of consent law in Massachusetts is just one example of how outdated statutes and regulations sometimes enable educators in both public and private schools to exploit students with impunity.

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Archbishop Byrnes heads back to Detroit, will return to Guam in January

GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Dec 18, 2016 1

By Krystal Paco

Guam’s new coadjutor archbishop has returned home for the holidays. Archbishop Michael Byrnes left early Friday morning for Detroit. He’s scheduled to make the permanent move to Guam late-January.

Archbishop Byrnes was appointed by the Vatican on October 31 and given full authority over the Archdiocese of Agana.

Meanwhile, Archbishop Anthony Apuron faces a canonical trial in Rome for accusations of child molestation.

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Lawsuit: Archdiocese still pays Brouillard

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio , heugenio@guampdn.com December 19, 2016

A lawsuit alleges that the Archdiocese of Agana still sends regular retirement payments to former Guam priest Louis Brouillard, who is accused in seven of the 13 clergy sex abuse lawsuits filed so far against the archdiocese and current and former Catholic priests on Guam.

Brouillard has publicly admitted to sexually abusing at least 20 boys while he was on Guam, from the late 1940s to 1981. Brouillard was ordained as a priest at the Archdiocese of Agana in 1948.

“Despite the prolonged and egregious sexual abuse, spanning a period of several decades, neither the Agana Archdiocese nor the Roman Catholic Church ever formally disciplined Brouillard, and in fact have paid and continued to pay up through present time, sums of money to Brouillard on a regular basis, ostensibly under the guise of a retirement stipend,” states the Dec. 16 lawsuit filed against Brouillard, the Archdiocese of Agana and up to 50 other unnamed people who may have helped, abetted, concealed or covered up Brouillard’s sex abuse of minors.

Rape allegation against another priest

The latest clergy sex abuse lawsuit alleges that Brouillard repeatedly sexually molested and abused James A. Bascon in or about 1968 or 1969 , when Bascon was an altar boy at the San Isidro Catholic Church of Malojloj and a member of the Boy Scouts of America.

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December 18, 2016

El Salvador church fires 3 priests for sex abuse

EL SALVADOR
Fox News

December 18, 2016 Associated Press

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – El Salvador’s Roman Catholic Church has separated three men from the priesthood after they were found guilty by church officials of sexually abusing children.

One is Rev. Jesus Delgado, one of the country’s best-known priests and a former top official in the San Salvador archdiocese.

Delgado served as a private secretary to assassinated Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero and wrote his biography.

Romero was killed in 1980 by a gunman linked to the military government of the time.

The archbishop of San Salvador identified the other two as Rev. Francisco Galvez and Rev. Antonio Molina.

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Research finds that children in residential care feel unsafe

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

19 December, 2016

The Royal Commission has released a new research report exploring children and young people’s views about their safety in residential care. Most of the children and young people who participated in the research described feeling unsafe in residential care due to bullying, harassment and the threat of sexual assault.

In Australia, residential care is considered to be a placement of last resort for children and young people requiring out-of-home care and is used in circumstances where other types of out-of-home care are unsuccessful or unavailable. In 2015 there were 2394 children in residential care in Australia.

The Royal Commission contracted researchers from the Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University, Queensland University of Technology and Griffith University to examine what safety means to children and young people in residential care and how children can be best protected and supported if safety issues arise.

The research was informed by a literature review and interviews with 27 young people who were living in, or had experience of living in, residential care. Children and young people also reported that younger and more vulnerable children should ideally be kept out of residential care altogether, or alternatively placed in units with others of a similar age and background.

Other key findings of the report include:

* Children felt safest in residential care when it felt like home, for example when they were in a clean and welcoming environment, where they were able to celebrate events, and were well supervised by adults;

* To be safe, participants needed their residential care to offer stability and predictability. Many of the young people interviewed described their time in residential care as chaotic, found it difficult to feel settled and spoke of the high turnover of staff;

* Children were provided with a sense of safety when their residential care provided routine, fair rules and the ability to be heard during decision-making;

* Residential care felt most safe when adults and institutions took children and young people’s safety seriously and had proactive strategies in place to protect children from harm.

Young people also reported that in order to feel safe in residential care, they needed workers to realise that it was their home and that it was the workers who were visiting their space, not vice-versa.

Royal Commission CEO, Philip Reed, said the research makes an important contribution to what is known about children and young people’s experiences of safety in contemporary residential care.

“The research adds to the growing consensus that children and young people need an opportunity to participate in decisions about their own safety, and to be taken seriously,” he said.

“It also highlights the need for stable placements so that children and young people can develop trusting relationships.”

Mr Reed said the research will directly contribute to the Royal Commission’s final report and may inform any recommendations that may be made in relation to residential care or out-of-home care.

Read the full report.

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Iglesia destituye a tres sacerdotes salvadoreños por abuso sexual de menores

EL SALVADOR
El Espectador

La Iglesia católica destituyó a tres sacerdotes salvadoreños tras ser encontrados culpables de abuso sexual de menores, aseguró este domingo el arzobispo de San Salvador, José Luis Escobar.

“Hemos concluido los procesos penales eclesiásticos en contra de los sacerdotes acusados de abuso sexual de menores. Los tres sacerdotes procesados fueron encontrados culpables en sus respectivos juicios, por lo que en los tres casos se impuso la pena de dimisión del estado clerical”, señaló Escobar en una rueda de prensa tras la misa dominical en la catedral.

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Vatican trial finds three El Salvadoran priests guilty of sex abuse

EL SALVADOR
Reuters

Three El Salvadoran priests have been found guilty of sexual abuse against minors at a Vatican ecclesiastical trial and suspended from their priestly duties, San Salvador’s Catholic Church announced Sunday.

Archbishop Jose Luis Escobar of San Salvador said Francisco Galvez, Antonio Molina and Jesus Delgado, the biographer and former secretary of murdered Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, were expelled after a criminal trial held at the Vatican found them responsible for sex crimes committed between 1980 and 2000.

No criminal charges have been brought against the three men by the Salvadoran government.

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Assignment Record– Rev. Dennis L. Peterson

TEXAS
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Dennis L. Peterson was a priest of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, ordained in 1973. He served in a number of Houston parishes as an assistant and, for a time, was pastor of one. A master’s level social worker, Peterson founded the Houston Community Youth Center prior to ordination, in 1969. He was long-time director of Diocesan Youth Services and chaplain of of the Harris County Juvenile Detention Center. He also served on the diocesan Priests Personnel Committee.

In 1999 Peterson was placed on leave after he was accused of having sexually abused four children. One accuser claimed his abuse began in 1987 when he was age 14, and that it continued over a 10-year period. His parents had taken the boy to Peterson for counseling related to previous abuse by a Catholic Boy Scout leader. The other three were siblings – three boys and a girl – who said Peterson was a family friend in the 1970s and that he would wrestle with them in their living room and give them “wedgies.” They said they were afraid because Peterson was a deputy constable and had a large collection of guns. All of Peterson’s accusers said he plied them with alcohol and drugs.

Peterson’s accusers sued, but were unsuccessful because the statute of limitations required those claiming abuse as minors to file suit before age 20. Peterson died in July 2007.

Ordained: May 5, 1973
Died: July 12, 2007

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Editorial | Unsealed abuse case shows court’s role in scandal

PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

The attorney general’s investigation of child sexual abuse across the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese unveils two terrible truths.

Priests and others within the church had been assaulting countless children for decades.

And church leaders and law enforcement professionals were not prosecuting the offenders, instead choosing to seal up cases and move priests from parish to parish, allowing for more children to become victims.

The Tribune-Democrat has vowed to help break down both cultures, and last Sunday – with help from both the Cambria courts and the diocese – we took a big step forward with a report on how the case of Monsignor Francis McCaa was mishandled by those trusted with protecting our communities and pursuing justice.

Thirty years ago – on Dec. 11, 1986 – the McCaa abuse case was sealed in Cambria County court by now-retired Judge Gerard Long.

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Archdiocese of Agaña enters a new, troubling era

GUAM
Sunday Post

By Neil Pang | For the Sunday Post

With Apuron’s canonical trial underway and a slew of civil lawsuits filed in Guam, the Catholic Church confronts new crises here and at the Vatican

With the Archdiocese of Agaña facing 13 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse – and the real potential for additional suits to follow – the Catholic Church is preparing for what could be a drawn out and highly publicized exposure of alleged abuses and cover ups, as well as court ordered payouts possibly adding up to millions of dollars.

At the center of the current tumult are two interrelated events: the allegations of child sexual abuse leveled against local archdiocesan clergymen and the passage of Bill 326-33 into Public Law 33-187 that eliminated the statute of limitations in cases involving child sexual abuse.

Years of controversy

Contention and controversy were not new to the Archdiocese of Agaña prior to the May 17 statement made by Roy Quintanilla that alleged child sexual abuse against Archbishop Anthony Apuron.

For at least six years prior to Quintanilla’s accusation, Apuron often found himself the subject of news stories that intimately connected him to instances of alleged cover-ups of priests accused of abuse.

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December 17, 2016

Paedophiles views to be taken into account in child sex abuse inquiry

UNITED KINGDOM
Express

By JON ROGERS
Sat, Dec 17, 2016

The troubled £100 million inquiry, currently chaired by Professor Alexis Jay has unveiled her delayed review after a series of crises have hampered the government investigation.

However the review has already been met with outrage from various victims’ support groups as it was revealed that the public inquiry would talk to convicted paedophiles.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) states: “In addition we will carry out qualitative research with convicted sexual offenders to understand how child sexual exploitation networks are formed and sustained.”

Andi Lavery, who runs White Flowers Alba, a group of victims abused in the Catholic Church, said: “Interviewing paedophiles is wrong. It is demeaning. It is turning this into an experiment and it makes us survivors feel like laboratory rats. I am not being treated like a human being by Jay. They are using us as research.”

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Syracuse woman accused of sending child porn to All Saints defendant

NEW YORK
Syracuse.com

By John O’Brien | jobrien@syracuse.com

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A federal grand jury has indicted a Syracuse woman on charges of producing child pornography of a 10-year-old girl then texting it to another child pornographer.

Kerry Smith, 41, was indicted on charges of sexual exploitation of a child and distributing child pornography.

She was accused in April of sending multiple photos of a naked 10-year-old girl to Jason Kopp, including pictures of her genitalia, according to the indictment.

After Kopp was arrested in March, he told investigators he’d received sexually explicit images of a child from a woman he knew only as “Kerry B,” according to an affidavit of FBI Special Agent Alix Skelton.

Investigators determined the woman was Smith by examining Kopp’s phone, the affidavit said. They confronted her and she admitted she’d produced the photos and texted them to Kopp, Skelton wrote.

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Government child sex abuse inquiry to interview paedophiles as victims hit out at ‘insulting’ decision

UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

Robert Mendick, chief reporter
16 DECEMBER 2016

Child sex abuse victims have condemned as “insulting” the decision to consult paedophiles as part of the Government’s £100 million national inquiry.

Professor Alexis Jay, the inquiry’s chairman, yesterday unveiled her long-awaited review following a series of crises that have dogged the abuse investigation, admitting its progress had been “too slow”.

But campaigners have accused Prof Jay of watering down victims’ public evidence sessions while adding an extra research project that will conduct interviews with convicted paedophiles.

The review states: “In addition we will carry out qualitative research with convicted sexual offenders to understand how child sexual exploitation networks are formed and sustained.”

But victims’s groups said it was outrageous that paedophiles would be ‘consulted’ by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and said it was evidence that Prof Jay, an eminent social worker, was attempting to ‘theorise’ crimes committed over decades by predatory abusers.

Raymond Stevenson, founder of the Shirley Oaks Survivors Association, who was the victim of abuse in a children’s home in south London, said: “This is pathetic. You will not learn anything from speaking to paedophiles. They just lie anyway. It is a waste of public money.”

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“It will never end for me’

CANADA
The Telegram

Barb Sweet/The Telegram

The last days of the Mount Cashel civil trial weren’t the only ones when the sordid details of abuse were rehashed and the effects on lives debated, but they have been powerful torment for the one John Doe who has most frequently attended court.

“I thought a couple times of leaving the courtroom. I was getting aggravated,” Doe said Friday outside court of the previous day’s developments — the beginning of the church’s closing arguments on why it should not be held liable.

The case involves four test case John Does who say the Roman Catholic Church should be held liable for abuse the boys suffered at the hands of certain Irish Christian Brothers at the orphanage from the late 1940s to the early 1960s.

The church’s arguments ended Friday, with Doe sitting forward on a wooden bench and listening to what he remarked later were “half-truths.”

None of the four test case John Does in the trial can be named, but this Doe, a retired teacher, has also had to wear the fact people who know him have seen him coming and going from the courthouse.

“It will be good to not be stuck out in public. I find that hard to take, too. There’s a shame comes with this you can’t shake,” he said, acknowledging he is looking forward to the end of the court proceedings for him and his family.

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Pastor accused of child molestation still held without bond

GEORGIA
News4Jax

By Elizabeth Campbell – Reporter
December 16, 2016

BRUNSWICK, Ga. – Pastor Ken Adkins, has been in the Glynn County Jail for nearly four months since he was accused molesting a teenage boy, will remain locked up after another bond hearing Friday.

Adkins, 56, pastor of the Greater Dimensions Christian Fellowship, was denied bond in September on child molestation charges, was indicted by the Glynn County grand jury last month on three counts of child molestation, five counts of aggravated child molestation, two counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes and one count of influencing a witness.

According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, a young man told investigators that Adkins molested him in 2010 when he was a member of Adkins’ church as a boy under the age of 16.

Adkins’ lawyer, Kevin Gough, filed a new motion for bond and in reaction to the indictment said, “Having already demanded a speedy trial, and eager to clear his good name, Pastor Kenneth Adkins and his family look forward to his day in court.”

During Friday’s hearing on the motion, Gough called three people to the stand: a Waycross pastor, the GBI special agent on the case and a longtime friend of Adkins from Waycross. The pastor and friend said that Adkins does not pose any flight risk or risk to the community.

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Brevard County youth director accused of having sex with teen

FLORIDA
WESH

[with video]

Dan Billow
Reporter

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. —
A Cocoa church youth director has been charged with the sexual molestation of a girl he met through the ministry. His alleged illegal relationship with her resulted in charges of 14 instances of lewd or lascivious battery.

Jon Schils, 27, was arrested shortly after investigators recorded a phone call between him and the 14-year-old alleged victim, in which a police report said Schils told the girl not to talk to her mother about having sex. Detectives said they found evidence of sex at or near the Canaveral Groves ballfield where the two allegedly met. At first, the report said, the meetings were innocent. But before long, the alleged victim told detectives, the two had sexual intercourse 14 times.

“We charge everything the law will permit us to charge. Certainly, there’s also, before we make any charging decision, we’re also in consultation with the victim,” prosecutor Gary Beatty said.

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Ex-Parishioner Sues Over Harassment, Excommunication

ILLINOIS
Courthouse News Service

JEFF D. GORMAN

(CN) – An Illinois woman says in a defamation and assault lawsuit that she was branded a “witch” and cast out of her church for refusing sexual advances from her former pastor.

Araceli Guevera made the allegations against Manfred Malagon, International Christian Fellowship and United Pentecostal Church International in a Cook County Circuit Court complaint filed Thursday. She also sued Malagon’s wife Sarai.

Malagon was pastor of the organizations’ church in Elgin, Ill., which Guevera says she attended from 2008 to May 17, 2016.

Guevera claims Malagon send her texts in March of this year showing, “(1) a monkey with its hands and feet spread, exposing its penis; (2) a dog with its legs spread to show its genitalia; and (3) a woman with her breasts and buttocks exposed.”

In the ensuing weeks, Malagon allegedly asked Guevera to send him photos and videos of her nude.

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December 16, 2016

Lawyers for Msgr. Lynn seek dismissal of retrial for prosecutorial misconduct

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philly.com

DECEMBER 16, 2016

by Joseph A. Slobodzian, STAFF WRITER

Lawyers for Msgr. William J. Lynn – the archdiocesan official who served 33 months in prison before winning a new trial for his role in the Catholic church sex abuse scandal – have asked a Philadelphia judge to dismiss the case because of prosecutorial misconduct.

In a motion this week, defense attorney Thomas A. Bergstrom contended prosecutors withheld evidence that might have cleared Lynn in his first trial in 2012.

Lynn was not accused of sexually molesting children. Instead, the child endangerment charge involved his supervisory role as Philadelphia’s secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004. In that role, he was responsible for investigating allegations against priests and recommending action to the archbishop.

The defense motion also challenged Lynn’s retrial as selective prosecution, noting that the county grand jury that recommended charges against Lynn also was “highly critical” of Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and his successor, Cardinal Justin Rigali but they were not charged by Williams.

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Retired priest guilty on 5 charges stemming from restroom incidents with boys

IOWA
Omaha World-Herald

COUNCIL BLUFFS — The Rev. Paul Monahan has been found guilty by a judge of all five counts of invasion of privacy.

In a ruling released Friday afternoon, Associate Judge Gary Anderson said that he found the testimony of five male high school students who said the retired priest looked at their genitals in a public restroom “entirely credible” and that his actions violated their “reasonable expectation of privacy.”

“The activities of the defendant, Paul Andrew Monahan, were clear cut and lead to the inescapable conclusion that the defendant on that afternoon intentionally violated these boys’ reasonable expectations of privacy for the purpose of satisfying his sexual desires while the boys were in a state of partial nudity,” Anderson wrote in his decision.

In Iowa, invasion of privacy is an aggravated misdemeanor, which carries a maximum two-year prison sentence and/or a fine between $625 and $6,250.

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Brentwood church rape suit shows challenges in cases with young kids

TENNESEE
The Tennessean

Holly Meyer and Dave Boucher , The Tennessean December 16, 2016

Allegations of sexual misconduct, including the rape of a 3-year-old boy, at a Brentwood church have been “resolved,” says an attorney for the church.

“The only comment that I have is that statement that the parties have resolved their differences in both cases,” said Minton Mayer, an attorney for Fellowship Bible Church.

A lawsuit filed in December 2015 accused a teenager who was working in a Sunday school class of raping a 3-year-old child in August 2014. Although the lawsuit says the teen pleaded guilty to criminal charges, records of the case are not publicly available because he is a juvenile. Williamson County prosecutors declined to speak about any specific proceedings.

$37.5M sexual assault suit filed against Fellowship Bible Church

The circumstances highlight issues surrounding child care and safety within churches across the country, and the challenges law enforcement face in trying to investigate and pursue actions against possible perpetrators.

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Mount Cashel civil trial nearing the end of arguments

CANADA
The Telegram

Barb Sweet/The Telegram

By the end of today, the Mount Cashel civil trial could be done with arguments and in the hands of Justice Alphonsus Faour to decide.

Weather has hampered closing arguments this week but lawyers were back in court Friday. It’s possible they could finish up today or may have to sit for part of Saturday. The Catholic Church is represented by Toronto lawyers.

Faour’s decision will not come until sometime in 2017.

The case involves four test case John Does who say the Catholic Church should be held liable for abuse the boys suffered at the hands of certain Christian Brothers at the infamous orphanage during the era late 1940s to early 1960s.

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Hazel Green children’s minister arrested for child sex abuse

ALABAMA
WSFA

HAZEL GREEN, AL (WAFF) –
A Madison County children’s minister is charged with the sexual abuse of a child less than 12-years-old.

39-year-old James Vernon McNeal was arrested on Thursday.

The Madison County Sheriff’s Office confirms NcNeal was the children’s pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church Hazel Green.

The church confirms McNeal was employed for six years and has since been fired.

A prayer service is scheduled for 6:00pm Saturday.

Investigators report there is one victim at this time. The exact age of the child has not been released.

It’s not clear where the alleged crime took place.

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Priest’s sentencing delayed as judge balks at hearing on sex charges

CONNECTICUT
Journal Inquirer

By Alex Wood
Journal Inquirer

The priest who formerly served East Windsor’s two Roman Catholic parishes was to be sentenced Thursday for providing gunpowder to a juvenile parishioner, and federal prosecutors wanted to use the occasion essentially to put him on trial on accusations that he had sexually assaulted the boy as well.

But Judge Robert N. Chatigny torpedoed the plan, causing more delay in the sentencing of the priest, Paul A. Gotta, in U.S. District Court in Hartford.

In July 2013 Gotta was placed on leave from his post as administrator

of St. Philip Church on South Main Street and St. Catherine Church on Windsorville Road as a result of sexual abuse allegations by the boy, Kyle Bass, who had been arrested on firearms charges.

The issue the judge faced Thursday is a result of federal sentencing procedures in which a judge who is sentencing a defendant for a crime can also consider other misconduct by the defendant.

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Judge finds retired priest guilty on all five counts of invasion of privacy

IOWA
Daily Nonpareil

By John Schreier
jschreier@nonpareilonline.com

The Rev. Paul Monahan has been found guilty by a judge of all five counts of invasion of privacy.
In a ruling released Friday afternoon, Associate Judge Gary Anderson said he found the testimony of five male high school students who said the retired priest looked at their genitals in a public restroom “entirely credible” and that his actions violated their “reasonable expectation of privacy.”

“The activities of the Defendant, Paul Andrew Monahan, were clear cut and lead to the inescapable conclusion that the Defendant on that afternoon intentionally violated these boys’ reasonable expectations of privacy for the purpose of satisfying his sexual desires while the boys were in a state of partial nudity,” Anderson wrote in his decision.

In Iowa, invasion of privacy is an aggravated misdemeanor, which carries a maximum two-year prison sentence and/or a fine between $625 and $6,250.

Monahan, 83, a former principal at St. Albert High School and veteran priest in southwest Iowa, did not take the stand during his three-day bench trial, which ran from Nov. 28-30.

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Alabama minister accused of sexually abusing child

ALABAMA
AL.com

By Ashley Remkus | aremkus@al.com

An Alabama children’s minister has been arrested on an accusation he inappropriately touched a child.

James Vernon McNeal, 39, is charged with sexual abuse of a child younger than 12, a Class B felony. If convicted, McNeal faces two to 20 years in prison. He was released from the Madison County Jail after posting $30,000 bail on Thursday.

McNeal, a children’s minister at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Hazel Green, is accused of abusing a child from the church, said Madison County sheriff’s Lt. Brian Chaffin.

“We’re still investigating,” Chaffin said. “But, we don’t expect there are any other victims.”

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Children’s minister in Madison County arrested, charged with sexual abuse of a child

ALABAMA
WHNT

MADISON COUNTY, Ala. – A children’s minister from Bethlehem Baptist Church in Hazel Green has been arrested on two charges of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12. The church has confirmed to WHNT News 19 James “Javie” McNeal was arrested yesterday.

Lon Ostrzycki, lead pastor of the church, says “McNeal has been terminated and isn’t allowed on the property.”

Church leaders are working with the families involved.

Ostrzycki called the situation a bad mistake and says McNeal will suffer the consequences. He also says the church will continue to preach Jesus and they will pull together as a church family and pray.

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Kardinal: Missbrauch bei Regensburger Domspatzen aufgeklärt

DEUTSCHLAND
T-Online

Der ehemalige Regensburger Bischof und jetzige Kurienkardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller hat den Vorwurf zurückgewiesen, die Aufklärung des Missbrauchskandals bei den Regensburger Domspatzen verschleppt zu haben. Der “Passauer Neuen Presse” (Freitag) sagte er: “Der Versuch, einen früheren Bischof von Regensburg gegen den jetzigen auszuspielen, scheitert angesichts der Tatsachen.” Nach Bekanntwerden des Skandals habe er ab Frühjahr 2010 “den Aufklärungsprozess initiiert und strukturiert”. Er sei froh und dankbar, dass sein Nachfolger Rudolf Voderholzer dies fortsetze.

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Kardinal Müller hält Fälle für aufgeklärt

DEUTSCHLAND
BR

Der ehemalige Regensburger Bischof und jetzige Kurienkardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller hat den Vorwurf zurückgewiesen, die Aufklärung des Missbrauchsskandals bei den Regensburger Domspatzen verschleppt zu haben. Er habe “den Aufklärungsprozess initiiert”.

Der “Passauer Neuen Presse” sagte Müller: “Der Versuch, einen früheren Bischof von Regensburg gegen den jetzigen auszuspielen, scheitert angesichts der Tatsachen.” Nach Bekanntwerden des Skandals habe er ab Frühjahr 2010 “den Aufklärungsprozess initiiert und strukturiert”. Er sei froh und dankbar, dass sein Nachfolger Rudolf Voderholzer dies fortsetze.

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Kardinal Müller offenbar zu Gesprächen mit Opfern bereit

DEUTSCHLAND
Passauer Neue Presse

[Cardinal Müller apparently is ready for talks with victims.]

Der Präfekt der Glaubenskongregation, Kardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, ist offenbar zu Gesprächen mit Opfern sexuellen Missbrauchs bei den Regensburger Domspatzen bereit. Das deutete er im PNP-Interview an. Eine entsprechende Frage beantwortete er mit dem Hinweis, persönliche seelsorgerliche Gespräche blieben “ihrer Natur nach vertraulich”. Solche Gespräche waren von Opfervertretern gefordert worden. Müller nahm in dem Interview auch Stellung zum Umgang mit wiederverheirateten Geschiedenen und zur Forderung des Papstes nach einer synodalen Kirche.

Herr Kardinal, im Rahmen der Reihe “MENSCHEN in EUROPA” in Passau werden Sie im November 2017 auf den EKD-Ratsvorsitzenden Heinrich Bedford-Strohm treffen. Das Reformationsjubiläum wird dann schon Geschichte sein. Sehen Sie das Lutherjahr als Anlass zu ökumenischer Freude oder eher als ein Ereignis, bei dem die Spaltung zwischen den Konfessionen besonders deutlich wird?

Kardinal Müller: Die Spaltung der Christenheit widerspricht dem Willen Jesu Christi und schmerzt uns bis ins familiäre Leben hinein. Das protestantische Reformationsfest wird 2017 nicht mehr wie in den vorhergehenden Zentenarien in konfessionalistischer Selbstabgrenzung begangen. Hoffentlich gibt es so wenig wie möglich politische Vereinnahmungen des Christentums als eine Art Zivilreligion, die man jenseits des Wahrheitsanspruchs der Kirche nur als gesellschaftlichen Kitt braucht. Angesichts des sich ausbreitenden Säkularismus, d.h. des Lebens und Denkens “als ob es Gott nicht gebe”, wollen wir als katholische, evangelische und orthodoxe Christen gemeinsam Zeugnis geben von all dem, was Gott für uns getan hat in Jesus Christus, seinem WORT, das unser Fleisch angenommen hat (Johannes 1,14). In diesem Geist der Gemeinsamkeit können wir dann auch über die Unterschiede und die noch vorhandenen Lehrgegensätze z.B. im Verständnis der Mission und des Wesens der Kirche und der Sakramente sprechen.

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Domspatzen-Missbrauch: Müller will Aufarbeitung unterstützen

VATIKAN
Radio Vatikan

[The Prefect of the Congregation for the Congregation of the Congregation, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, wants to support the processing of the abuse cases at the Regensburg Cathedral in Germany.]

Der Präfekt der Glaubenskongregation, Kardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, will die Aufarbeitung der Misshandlungs- und Missbrauchsfälle bei den Regensburger Domspatzen unterstützen. Bei dem weltberühmten Regensburger Knabenchor war es zwischen 1953 und 1992 in Hunderten Fällen zu körperlicher und sexueller Gewalt gekommen. Er wolle mit Rechtsanwalt Ulrich Weber zusammenarbeiten, der im Auftrag des Bistums Regensburg die Missbrauchsfälle untersucht, sagte der frühere Regensburger Bischof der „Passauer Neuen Presse“ am Freitag. Der Kurienkardinal erklärte, was er zur Aufklärung der Straftaten beitragen könne, das werde er Weber mitteilen.

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Kardinal Müller nennt Vorwürfe mangelnder Missbrauchs-Aufklärung bei Domspatzen ,postfaktisch’

DEUTSCHLAND
Wochenblatt

[The former Regensburg bishop Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Mueller has rejected allegations that the he could have acted on the abuse scandal at the Regensburger Domspatzen.]

Der frühere Regensburger Bischof Gerhard Ludwig Kardinal Müller hat Vorwürfe zurückgewiesen, die Aufklärung des Missbrauchsskandals bei den Regensburger Domspatzen verhindert zu haben.

In einem Interview mit der Passauer Neuen Presse (Druckausgabe vom 16. Dezember) wies Müller die Vorwürfe, die auch von Insidern der Regensburger Domspatzen gegenüber dem Wochenblatt getätigt wurden, zurück, er habe die Aufklärung des Missbrauchsskandal bei den Domspatzen verhindert oder verzögert. Wörtlich sagte Müller der PNP: „Die gezielt verbreiteten postfaktischen Behauptungen, ich hätte die Aufklärung sogar noch drei Jahre über das Ende meiner Amtszeit am 1. Juli 2012 hinaus verzögert und sogar verhindert, sind schlichtweg falsch, weil sie den Tatsachen widersprechen. Man muss die Zuständigkeiten und die entsprechenden Amtszeiten klar voneinander trennen.“

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Erzbischof zieht sich nach Pädophilie-Skandal zurück

AUSTRALIEN
news.de

[Anglican Archbishop Roger Herft has resigned because of his failure to properly handle sexual abuse allegations by clergy.]

Im Zuge eines Skandals um Kindesmissbrauch in Australien hat der anglikanische Erzbischof von Perth angekündigt, vorzeitig in den Ruhestand zu gehen. Roger Herft werde sich im Juli 2017 und damit ein Jahr früher als geplant zurückziehen, teilte die anglikanische Diözese der westaustralischen Großstadt mit. Bis dahin werde der 68-Jährige seinen angesammelten Urlaub in Anspruch nehmen.

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Childhood Trauma Effects Often Persist Into 50s and Beyond

UNITED STATES
Next Avenue

By Emily Gurnon
Health & Caregiving Editorchildhood trauma

The responses to an open-ended online survey question were heart-wrenching.

“Those five years ruined everything. My self-identity is sad, melancholic, shy, retiring and angry… never content or at peace.”

“It has hampered me all my working life.”

“Problems with relationships with the opposite sex my whole life made me think something was wrong with me.”

“I will never know the person I could have become….”

Lasting Scars of Childhood Sexual Abuse

All of those comments were made by adult men who had experienced sexual abuse at the hands of clergy, particularly priests, when they were children. Collected as part of a 2010 survey, they illustrate the insidious harm that can follow individuals throughout their lives when they are badly hurt — physically or emotionally — as children.

A study of more than 21,000 child abuse survivors age 60 and older in Australia found they reported a greater rate of failed marriages and relationships.
(See below for a video of one such man.)

Childhood sexual abuse is just one type of early trauma that can affect one’s life for decades — even into middle age and beyond. Research has shown that childhood trauma, ranging from parents’ divorce to alcoholism in the home, increases the odds of heart disease, stroke, depression, suicide, diabetes, lung diseases, alcoholism and liver disease later in life. It also increases risky health behaviors like smoking and having a large number of sexual partners. And it contributes to “low life potential,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

One more thing: those traumatized as children die earlier.

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