ABUSE TRACKER

MICHIGAN
WLNS

JACKSON, MI (WLNS) – A former Roman Catholic priest has learned his sentence after pleading no contest to sexual abuse charges that date back to the 1980s.

James Rapp pleaded no contest back in February.

On Friday 75-year-old Rapp was sentenced to up to 40 years in prison for three counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct and three counts of second degree criminal sexual conduct.

Defense attorney Alfred Brandt told a Jackson County judge back in February that Rapp coerced students into having sexual contact while working as a teacher and wrestling coach at Lumen Christi High School.

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.

UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: John P. McManus was ordained for the Society of St. Sulpice in 1940. He worked in the Archdioceses of Baltimore MD, Washington DC, San Francisco CA, Detroit MI, and Seattle WA. Most of his career was spent as a faculty member for seminaries, including almost 20 years at St. Edward’s minor seminary in Kenmore WA. He died in 1986. McManus’s name was included on the Archdiocese of Seattle’s list January 15, 2016 of clergy and religious with admitted, established or credible allegations against them of sexual abuse of a minor.

Ordained: 1940
Died: June 21, 1986

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.

MICHIGAN
MLive

By Benjamin Raven | braven@mlive.com

JACKSON, MI — A former Jackson Lumen Christi High School priest was sentenced to 40 years in prison before a barrage of cameras, friends and families of his victims.

The sentence came Friday, April 29, in a Jackson County Circuit courtroom after six of James Rapp’s victims provided more than two hours of gripping, detailed testimonials of how the former priest and coach abused them and affected their lives.

Some remained anonymous, but others made the choice to make themselves known in court.

Photos of victims were placed on a table in front of Jackson County Circuit Judge Susan Beebe and in plain sight of Rapp, his attorney Alfred Brandt and Assistant Attorney General Angela Povilaiti, who prosecuted the case.

All but one of the photos were black and white and ranged in date from the 1970s to the early 1990s. They represent the victims at the age they were abused by Rapp.

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.

VATICAN CITY
Catholic Register

BY JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES, CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
April 29, 2016

VATICAN CITY – The first witnesses called by the Vatican prosecution in a case involving leaked documents testified about suspicious secret meetings and excessive photocopying of sensitive documents.

Three former and current staff members of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See took the stand in the Vatican courtroom in late April during the trial of Spanish Msgr. Lucio Vallejo Balda, his former executive secretary and assistant, Nicola Maio, and Francesca Chaouqui, a member of the former Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Economic-Administrative Structure of the Holy See (COSEA).

The defendants are accused of leaking documents about Vatican finances and financial reform to Italian journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi.

Stefano Fralleoni, former accountant general of the prefecture, took the stand April 26, and said COSEA’s investigations into the Vatican’s finances, including those of the prefecture, caused a “fracture” within the office’s staff. Fralleoni said he felt he was considered an “enemy” by Vallejo Balda and Msgr. Alfredo Abbondi, another official who worked at the prefecture.

Although not members of the commission, Abbondi and Maio often would meet behind closed doors with Vallejo Balda and Chaouqui, which led to further suspicions and tensions among the prefecture staff, Fralleoni said.

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

TEXAS
News 4

[with video]

BY DELAINE MATHIEU, NEWS 4 SAN ANTONIO

SAN ANTONIO — It was one of the oldest cold cases in Texas: the murder of Irene Garza in McAllen in 1960. Now, as a former priest awaits trial for the crime, there are concerns by some who question if Irene will get justice.

She was a beauty queen from McAllen who melted hearts all over the Rio Grande Valley.

“That’s the way I remember her,” said Carlos Cantu, a family friend. “She was just very very special because of her beauty and she had a very soft voice when she spoke, you know.”

Timeline

She was only 25 when she died. Her brutal murder on Easter Weekend in 1960 sent fear through the streets of this South Texas town.

It would take 56 years before the only suspect in the case, ex-priest John Feit, would be charged for the crime. The 83-year-old was extradited from Arizona in March after newly-elected Hidalgo County District Attorney, Ricardo Rodriguez, took on the case.

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.

FRANCE
National Catholic Reporter

Catholic News Service | Apr. 29, 2016

LYON, FRANCE
A French cardinal under judicial investigation over his handling of sexual abuse accusations against clergy admitted making mistakes and unveiled new anti-abuse measures at a meeting with local priests.

“The cardinal has accepted the archdiocese committed errors in managing and nominating certain priests and has reiterated how important it is for victims of sexual abuse by clergy to see their right to truth and justice recognized,” the Lyon archdiocese said.

The statement was published in French newspapers following a Monday meeting between Lyon Cardinal Philippe Barbarin and 220 priests from the eastern archdiocese, which has been hit hard by abuse accusations.

France’s Catholic La Croix daily said the three-hour closed meeting in a Lyon suburb included testimony from at least one victim. It said participants described the atmosphere as “fraternal but noncomplacent” and said some priests had made “virulent criticisms” of the cardinal’s conduct, while others urged clergy to “stick together.”

In its statement, the archdiocese said the gathering had “unanimously determined to reinforce the struggle against pedophilia in the church,” by strengthening clergy formation and “establishing new criteria” for future appointments. The statement said a “listening cell” would be set up for victims to discuss their needs with clinical psychologists, and a “college of experts,” meeting twice monthly, would “study and analyze” the cases of accused priests.

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.

MICHIGAN
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, April 29,2016

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home,davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

Today, a serial predator priest who is in prison in Oklahoma will be sentenced for more crimes in Michigan. For the safety of kids and the healing of victims, we hope he gets the most stern sentence possible.

[WILX]

We’re grateful that Fr. James Francis Rapp was charged again and pled guilty to more child sex crimes.

Fr. Rapp has already been convicted on other child sex charges and is imprisoned. So it would have been easy for law enforcement to look the other way when more victims surfaced.

But Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette filed more child sex charges against him for molesting kids at Jackson Lumen Christi Catholic High School in Jackson in the 1980s.

Once a child molester is convicted, many people who could be helpful get complacent. They assume his sentence will stand, his appeals will fail, and he’ll be kept away from kids for many years. But often, child molesters – especially clerics – get top notch defense lawyers, exploit legal technicalities, and escape with little or no jail time. Then, when other victims, witnesses and whistleblowers find this out, it’s too late for them to really make a difference.

So we’re glad Schuette was prudent, pro-active and successful here. Now, the odds that Rapp will ever walk free are even slimmer. And more of his victims feel vindicated.

There are two important lessons. First, these days, police and prosecutors are often more aggressive and creative about pursing child predators, even in older cases. (The old adage “where there’s a will, there’s a way,” fits here.) More law enforcement officials should follow Schuette’s example and consider going after even elderly child molesting clerics.

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.

VIRGINIA
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Posted: Thursday, April 28, 2016

By MARK BOWES Richmond Times-Dispatch

A former volunteer youth group leader at Immanuel Baptist Church in Colonial Heights has been sentenced to serve 25 years for sexually abusing seven boys between 12 and 17 years old he met through the church’s youth organization.

Jeffrey D. Clark, 46, molested the majority of the victims after they said Clark gave them alcohol, marijuana or sleeping medication, prosecutors in Chesterfield County and Colonial Heights said.
Clark molested two of the victims, 12 and 16, in Colonial Heights, including one incident that occurred in the youth room at Immanuel Baptist Church at 620 Lafayette Avenue.

The five other boys, 12 to 17, were abused in Chesterfield County, where Clark lived in the 3400 block of Burnettedale Drive.

The abuse occurred between 2010 and 2015 and ranged from fondling to sodomy, authorities said.

“The young men who came forward were very brave and courageous,” said Chesterfield Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Erin Barr. “They saved a number of future victims from ever having to experience the trauma of sexual abuse by this man. They should be recognized for that along with the friends and family who believed them and stood by them.”

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.

NEW YORK
Courthouse News Service

By NICK DIVITO

MINEOLA, NY (CN) — A New Yorker filed suit against a Catholic Church on Long Island that he says keeps his abuser in active ministry, despite mounting complaints.

Sean Kiefaber says he was between 5 and 7 years old from 2001 to 2003 when the Rev. Gregory Yacyshyn sexually molested him during after-school youth programs at the St. Francis of Assisi parish in Greenlawn, N.Y.

The Diocese of Rockville Center ordained Yacyshyn in 1998, and St. Francis is one of three parishes where Yacyshyn has worked over the years, according to the complaint, filed Monday in Nassau County Supreme Court.

Newsday quoted the diocese this week as saying it “intends to address the claims vigorously in a court of law.”

Kiefaber’s suit comes about three months after a woman named Kaitlyn Monghan brought similar claims against the Rockville Center diocese, the St. Francis parish and the Rev. Yacyshyn. The priest is not a defendant to Kiefaber’s suit, however, which takes aim only at the parish and diocese.

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.

DEUTSCHLAND
SRF

[Abuse cases: How much transparency will the Church allow?]

Klaus Mertes deckte 2010 einen der grössten Missbrauchsfälle in der katholischen Kirche auf. Über Jahre hinweg hatten zwei Patres am Canisius-Kolleg in Berlin hunderte von Schülern missbraucht. Mertes machte die Fälle öffentlich und wurde bald darauf in einen kleinen Ort im Schwarzwald versetzt.

Als Klaus Mertes Kolleg-Rektor in Berlin war, haben sich ihm zwei ehemalige Schüler anvertraut. Er hat daraufhin sämtliche Schüler der betroffenen Jahrgänge des Canisius-Kollegs angeschrieben und nach ihren Erlebnissen mit Patres gefragt. Es stellte sich heraus, dass Hunderte missbraucht wurden, ohne dass es Konsequenzen für die Übeltäter gegeben hätte.

Mertes übernahm die Verantwortung für das Vertuschen und das Schweigen in seiner Kirche. Er brach ein Tabu, ging an die Öffentlichkeit und entschuldigte sich für seine katholische Kirche. Er erhielt jede Menge Preise, darunter in der Schweiz den Herbert-Haag-Preis.

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.

SCHWEIZ
cath.ch

[Les évêques suisses versent 300’000 francs pour les victimes d’abus sexuels]

[Swiss victims of sexual assault in a church environment whose cases are time-barred and who many of are of an advanced age will soon receive a financial contribution from the Catholic church. The Swiss Bishops’ Conference (SBK) and the religious communities and the Roman Catholic Central Conference (RKZ) have so far pledged 460,000 francs for this fund.]

Zürich, 28.4.16 (kath.ch) Opfer von sexuellen Übergriffen im kirchlichen Umfeld, deren Fall bereits verjährt ist und die zum Teil in vorgerücktem Alter sind, sollen bald einen finanziellen Beitrag seitens der Kirche erhalten: Die Schweizer Bischofskonferenz (SBK), die Ordensgemeinschaften und die Römisch-Katholische Zentralkonferenz (RKZ) haben bisher 460’000 Franken für diesen Fonds zugesagt, wie Giorgio Prestele, Präsident des Fachgremiums sexuelle Übergriffe im kirchlichen Umfeld, gegenüber kath.ch sagte.

Sylvia Stam

Mit einer halben Million soll der Fonds für verjährte Fälle geäufnet werden, sagt Giorgio Prestele, Präsident des Fachgremiums sexuelle Übergriffe im kirchlichen Umfeld der SBK. Die Bistümer hätten einen Beitrag von 300’000 Franken zugesagt. «Diese Rückmeldungen sind sehr rasch gekommen, das war überhaupt kein Thema!», betont Prestele. Nun hat auch die RKZ, der Zusammenschluss der kantonalen Körperschaften, einen Betrag von 150’000 Franken zugesichert. Die als Verein organisierte Vereinigung der Höhern Ordensobern (VOS’USM), die über wenig finanzielle Mittel verfügt, hat 10’000 Franken zugesagt. Prestele hofft für die fehlenden 40’000 Franken auf Ordensgemeinschaften, von denen man annehmen kann, dass sie über Geld verfügen, etwa Klöster grösserer Wallfahrtsorte.

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.

FRANCE
La Vie

[A priest of the Bayonne diocese in France is indicted for sexual abuse of minors in the 1990s.]

Une nouvelle affaire de pédophilie remonte à la surface, cette fois dans le diocèse de Bayonne. Le P. Sarramagnan fait ainsi l’objet d’une enquête judiciaire pour agression sexuelle, rapporte Le Point. Mgr Marc Aillet a saisi la justice le 15 avril, soit trois jours après la réunion des évêques de France, le 12 avril, sur la thématique ultra-sensible des cas de pédophilie en son sein. Mais le prêtre incriminé animait encore le 6 février une Journée diocésaine organisée pour des collégiens.

Dans les années 1990, le prêtre aurait agressé un mineur de 12 ans, puis une jeune fille majeure en 2007. Alertés depuis vingt-cinq ans, les évêques successifs n’en avaient jamais informé la justice avant le signalement au procureur de la mère d’une victime, fin 2015, selon Mediapart, qui s’étonne de ce que le prêtre avait encore des responsabilités en paroisse et comme adjoint au directeur diocésain de l’enseignement catholique à Bayonne, « il y a encore quinze jours ».

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.

FRANKREICH
Deutschland Funk

[Sexual abuse shakes the Church in France.]

Von Bettina Kaps

Aymeri Suarez-Pazos weiß, dass er schwere Vorwürfe formuliert, aber der Vorsitzende des französischen Selbsthilfevereins AVREF ist sich seiner Sache absolut sicher. Übersetzt bedeutet das Kürzel AVREF “Hilfe für Missbrauch-Opfer in religiösen Bewegungen und für ihre Familien”.

“Wir wissen, dass es viele Bischöfe gibt, die pädophile Pfarrer schützen. Und ausgerechnet auch jene Bischöfe, die sich neuerdings als Weltmeister des Bedauerns und des Mitleids mit den Opfern darstellen. Überall können neue Skandale aufbrechen. Es ist durchaus möglich, dass jetzt viele Opfer Klage einreichen werden.”

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.

NEW MEXICO
Gallup Independent

Published in the Gallup Independent, Gallup, N.M., April 27, 2016

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Independent correspondent
religion@gallupindependent.com

ALBUQUERQUE – The Diocese of Gallup may be just one week away from obtaining a confirmation hearing date for its Chapter 11 plan of reorganization.

Attorneys for the diocese filed a proposed plan of reorganization with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court March 21. The plan outlined how the Gallup Diocese, insurers and other Catholic entities will contribute more than $21 million to fund the plan, with much of it going to compensate 57 individuals who filed clergy sex abuse claims in bankruptcy court.

“This is a complicated plan because of the number of funding sources,” Susan Boswell, the diocese’s lead attorney, told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma during a court hearing Tuesday. “It just has been a long process, believe me I know, and a lot of work, but I do think that we are at the finish line.”

Although attorneys were continuing to make minor changes to the plan and its disclosure statement, Boswell said those changes should be finalized before next week’s hearing.

As part of the plan of reorganization, the Gallup Diocese has been filing settlement agreements with the participating parties in the bankruptcy case. As of Thursday, the diocese had filed settlement agreements with insurers in the case, two Franciscan provinces and the Diocese of Phoenix. Settlement agreements with Catholic entities within the Diocese of Gallup such as its own parishes, the Catholic Peoples Foundation and the Southwest Indian Foundation have also been filed.

A settlement agreement with St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School has yet to be filed. In addition, the Gallup Diocese has yet to file the non-monetary commitments it has been negotiating with clergy sex abuse claimants for several months.

Boswell and fellow diocesan attorney Thomas Walker told the court those documents would be filed soon.

Thuma expressed optimism that all the final pieces of the plan would be ready next week so he can schedule the confirmation hearing.

Abuse claimant concerns

Attorneys James Stang and Ilan Scharf, who serve as legal counsel for the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors that represents the interests of clergy sex abuse claimants, raised two issues of concern to their clients.

“There are a number of survivors who live in the Phoenix area who’ve expressed an interest in attending the hearing but cannot afford to do so — the confirmation hearing,” Stang said. He asked Thuma to approve a video link setup in Phoenix’s U.S. Bankruptcy Court or in a private law office.

Scharf also asked Thuma to approve the employment of William L. Bettinelli, a former California Superior Court judge, as the case’s abuse claims reviewer, and allow Bettinelli to begin reviewing the abuse claims immediately rather than waiting until the plan of reorganization is confirmed. Scharf had filed documents regarding Bettinelli’s employment April 8.

“The reason for that is that many of the claimants are elderly,” Scharf said. “This case has lasted a long time, and the people who are litigating cases have been waiting a very long time, and in addition to people who have been waiting for years or decades for resolution here.

“We can essentially save about 90 days after the effective date before we get money out the door to the survivors,” Scharf added.

With no objections to Scharf’s requests, Thuma indicated he would sign an order authorizing Bettinelli’s employment and immediate review of the abuse claims.

Thuma scheduled the next court hearing for 1:30 p.m. May 3.

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.

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service – Bollettino

Vatican City, 29 April 2016 – Yesterday, Thursday 28 April, at 3.30 p.m. a further hearing was held in the ongoing trial for the dissemination of reserved information and documents in Vatican City State Tribunal, according to information provided by the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J. It was attended by the members of the Tribunal (Professors Giuseppe Dalla Torre, Piero Antonio Bonnet, Paolo Papanti-Pelletier and Venerando Marano), the Promoter of Justice (Professors Gian Pietro Milano and Roberto Zannotti), and the defendants Ángel Lucio Vallejo Balda, Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui and Nicola Maio, with their respective legal representatives Emanuela Bellardini, Laura Sgrò and Rita Claudia Baffioni. The defendants Emiliano Fittipaldi and Gianluigi Nuzzi were absent, but their legal representatives Lucia Teresa Musso and Roberto Palombi attended.

The hearing was dedicated fully to the examination of two witnesses, Paola Monaco and Paolo Pellegrino, who at the time of the events in question were secretary of the Cardinal Presiden and archivist of the Prefecture of Economic Affairs of the Holy See respectively. Both witnesses were interrogated by the members of the Tribunal, the Promoter of Justice and the counsels for the defence. Following the interrogations, the report of the examination was read and approved.

The hearing ended at approximately 8 p.m. The next hearing will take place on Saturday, May 7 at 9.30 a.m., with the possibility of continuing in the afternoon, and will be dedicated to further examination of witnesses.

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.

MICHIGAN
WILX

Jackson– A former teacher and priest at Lumen Christi Catholic High School charged with sexually abusing boys will learn his fate today.

James Rapp will be sentenced this afternoon on sexual charges stemming from child abuse cases in the 1980s.

Rapp was a teacher, priest, and wrestling coach at the high school in Jackson County from 1980 through 1986, and that is when prosecutors say the abuse happened.

He was convicted in 1999 for sexually abusing boys in Oklahoma when he was a pastor there.

An investigation into Rapp for crimes in Mid-Michigan started in 2013 when two victims came forward and reported the abuse to the Jackson County Sheriff’s office. Lumen Christi’s principal calls the abuse a horrible tragedy.

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.

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY REUVEN BLAU, LARRY MCSHANE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Friday, April 29, 2016

A coalition of more than 130 Jewish leaders now back the Child Victims Act which would eliminate the statute of limitation in New York — allowing countless child sex abuse victims to seek justice as adults

The show of support on Thursday comes just days before advocates of the bill plan a two-day lobbying effort in Albany to win passage of the long-languishing legislation.

“After decades of denial, coverups and darkness across New York State, light is finally being shone on the scourge of child sexual abuse,” read the petition signed by scores of high-profile leaders.

“The lasting and far-reaching damage caused by abusers is intolerable, and it is incumbent upon all the citizens of New York State to work to reduce it.”

The writers also acknowledged the role played by religious institutions in blocking the legislation in past years.

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.

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

[with audio]

(Vatican Radio) It was a busy Thursday afternoon as two witnesses were questioned in the ongoing so-called Vatileaks trial in which confidential documents were released to the press without authorization.

Listen to Alexander MacDonald’s report:

Paola Monaco and Paola Pellegrino described how relationships in the office of COSEA, the commission which regulates the Vatican, suffered from a climate of division and tension. Monaco and Pellegrino described a breakdown in relations with Monsignor Vallejo Balda which at first were cordial but descended into a relationship characterized as continuously critical and verbally abusive, including accusations of incompetence.

Neither witness stated explicitly that confidential documents were misappropriated but that they expected this would happen.

The witnesses confirmed people coming and going without control and conspiratorial meetings behind closed doors. Pellegrino recounted having thought of warning Mgr Vallejo about one of the accused, Chaouqui, but said the environment was one that required silence. She also recounted the priest’s continuously aggressive behavior and the vast quantities of documents which were photocopied. Documents were published with the stamp “sub secret” which in the original did not have such a designation and there were other alleged information violations. Passwords to computers, held in sealed envelopes in the custody of Mgr Vallejo, were found open in his office.

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.

PERU
El Comercio

[The Sodality of Christian Life (SVC), through its Superior General Alessandro Moroni, announced that the Vatican accepted the request to intervene directly in the reform process of the community. In addition, they will be responsible for issuing a statement regarding the future of its founder Luis Figari within the movement. According to the statement posted on Facebook, the Holy See will issued in the coming days a statement regarding allegations of alleged sexual abuse, physical and psychological perpetrated by members of the movement, including founder Luis Figari.]

El Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana (SVC), a través de su superior general Alessandro Moroni, anunció que el Vaticano acogió el pedido de intervenir directamente en el proceso de reforma de la comunidad. Además, serán los encargados de emitir un pronunciamiento respecto al futuro de su fundador Luis Figari dentro del movimiento.

Según indica el comunicado del Sodalicio publicado en Facebook, la Santa Sede emitirá en los próximos días un pronunciamiento respecto a las denuncias sobre presuntos abusos sexuales, físicos y sicológicos perpetrados por miembros del movimiento, entre ellos Luis Figari.

“La Santa Sede ha acogido nuestro pedido de intervenir directamente en el proceso de reforma de la comunidad. Estamos a la espera del decreto que nombre oficialmente al prelado que nos acompañará en el gobierno durante este tiempo. Nos han pedido que permanezcamos algunos días más en Roma, esperando recibir este importante documento, donde se harán explícitas también las medidas que las autoridades pontificias decidan sobre el caso de Luis Fernando Figari”, informa el comunicado.

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.

UNITED KINGDOM
National Secular Society

Posted: Thu, 28 Apr 2016

Church review into abusive Bishop refuses to explicitly consider bullying of victims in its Terms of Reference

A victim of clerical abuse has refused to give evidence to a Church review of the Bishop Peter Ball case, after it declined to explicitly mention intimidation of victims in its Terms of Reference.
The Revd Graham Sawyer was seriously abused as a young man by former Anglican bishop Peter Ball and gave evidence at the trial at which the bishop was jailed last year, aged 83.

It took decades to bring Ball to justice and Reverend Sawyer asked that, given the role played by bullying in delaying justice in the Ball case, the Review into the matter set up by the Archbishop of Canterbury specifically address “bullying, intimidation and threats” made to victims. He asked for this request to be considered by Archbishop Welby personally.

Sharing Reverend Sawyer’s concerns about the limits of the Review’s Terms of Reference, the National Secular Society had also asked for the Review’s Terms of Reference to be expanded to include “specific reference” to the “extent of historic and current bullying by senior figures in the Church of alleged victims and whistle-blowers.”

However the Review has declined to do so, and the Review’s chair, Dame Moira Gibb, told the National Secular Society that they will not make any changes to the Terms of Reference. She told the NSS that the Terms of Reference will not be amended “as we think they are sufficient to allow us to cover these issues.”

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.

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

29 April, 2016

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is closing registrations for private sessions on 30 September 2016.

Private sessions allow survivors of child sexual abuse in an institution to share their story directly with a Commissioner in a private setting.

The Hon. Justice Peter McClellan AM, Chair of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse said the strong demand from survivors to share their story has resulted in a queue of people waiting to meet with a Commissioner.

“The rate at which people come to the Commission seeking a private session shows no present sign of diminishing. It has averaged 37 per week over the past 12 months,” Justice McClellan said.

“If the present demand for private sessions continues throughout the life of the Commission, unless we close off applications well before we complete our final report, many people who may seek a private session will be disappointed.”

“In our view it would be intolerable for a survivor to be accepted for a private session only to find we could not meet with them,” he said.

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

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Friday, April 29, 2016Gordon Deegan and Conall Ó Fátharta

Some 624 women held in Magdalene laundries have to date received a lump sum payment of more than €23m under a government redress scheme.

The payments work out at an average of €36,858.

According to Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald, some 807 applications have been received under the Magdalene Laundries Restorative Justice Ex-Gratia Scheme.

She said 103 applications were refused, as the women had not been admitted to one of the 12 specified institutions.

Ms Fitzgerald said 11 applications were received from women who are now resident in the US.

“Eight of these women have received their lump- sum payments and the other three applications were refused as the women had not been admitted to a relevant institution,” Ms Fitzgerald said.

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

ILLINOIS
WLS

By Sarah Schulte
Thursday, April 28, 2016

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WLS) — On the heels of the Dennis Hastert case, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan wants to eliminate the statute of limitations for people accused of molesting children.

Illinois took a huge step in 2014 when the statute of limitations for sex abuse crimes was partially eliminated. However, Madigan and the victims’ group SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) say the law doesn’t go far enough. They hope the publicity surrounding the Hastert case will push lawmakers to make more changes.

Often, it takes high profile sex abuse cases – such as Roman Catholic priests, Penn State’s Jerry Sandusky and now, Dennis Hastert – to change the law. Two years ago, the statute of limitations for child sex abuse cases in Illinois was abolished, but, not completely.

“You have until your 18th birthday plus 20 years to report, so after your 38th birthday, in most cases you are out of luck,” Madigan said.

Madigan said it is time to lift the conditions attached to the current law and eliminate the statute of limitations for felony child sex abuse cases altogether.

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.

UNITED STATES
Herald Democrat

By Jerrie Whiteley
Herald Democrat

When former Speaker of the House of Representatives Dennis Hastert was sentenced to 15 months in prison this week, the banking charges to which he pleaded guilty in federal court were likely the least of what captured people’s attention about the case.

Government officials allege that Hastert, a former Illinois high school wrestling coach, practiced his creative accounting to help cover up allegations that he abused some of the young athletes entrusted to his care.

Though Hastert didn’t specifically admit to abusing children, he did say at the sentencing, “I know I’m here because I mistreated some of my athletes as a coach,” according to a report on CNN.com.

One of those alleged victims spoke out in court about how the abuse has impacted his life over the years.

Afterward, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said she thinks the statute of limitations should be eliminated when prosecuting alleged child sex crimes.

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.

ILLINOIS
nwi.com

Dan Petrella Lee Springfield Bureau Chief

SPRINGFIELD — After former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert was sentenced Wednesday to 15 months in federal prison for violating banking laws in an attempt to cover up decades-old sexual abuse allegations, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan called on lawmakers to eliminate the statute of limitations on felony sex crimes against children.

But legal defense experts say doing away with restrictions on how long after an alleged crime someone can be charged could undermine the fairness of the legal process and put innocent people at risk of prosecution.

“It is very, very dangerous,” said William Schroeder, a criminal law professor at Southern Illinois University. “There are reasons for the statute of limitations.”

Chief among those reasons is that the memories of both alleged victims and alleged perpetrators become less reliable over time, Schroeder said.

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

UNITED STATES
The Press Democrat

THE EDITORIAL BOARDBY

Less than a decade ago, Dennis Hastert stood second in line to the presidency. On Wednesday, the former House speaker stood before a federal judge who called him a “serial child molester.”

It was an appropriate description of the 74-year-old Hastert, who has acknowledged sexually abusing four teenage boys while working as a high school wrestling coach in Illinois 30 years ago. “I want to apologize to the boys I mistreated,” he said. “They looked (up) at me and I took advantage of them.”

Yes, he did. But the abuse was not the primary reason for his conviction nor for the sentence he received of 15 months in federal prison. His conviction was for bank fraud related to the secretive withdrawal of hush funds to cover up his past actions. It’s equivalent to sending Al Capone to prison on tax evasion charges. It results in jail time but not justice.

Hastert would have faced much more serious charges and a longer prison sentence if not for one thing — the statute of limitations for criminal sexual misconduct in the state of Illinois. It expired long ago.

Such limitations also are at the heart of the cases against actor and comedian Bill Cosby, who has been accused of sexual misconduct and rape by more than 50 women. Many of the accusations date back decades, meaning the statutes of limitations have expired.

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.

WISCONSIN
Fox 1

GREEN BAY — A local retired priest faces multiple charges after he allegedly exposed himself to a minor.

Father Richard Thomas, 78, of Green Bay, was charged with four felonies Thursday.

The Green Bay Catholic Diocese released the following statement:

The Diocese of Green Bay received a report of misconduct involving Father Richard Thomas, a diocesan priest. Upon receiving this report, the diocese notified civil authorities. Following the policies of the Diocesan Code of Pastoral Conduct, Father Thomas, a senior (retired) priest, has been restricted from performing any public ministry pending the outcome of the civil authorities’ investigation. This is an ongoing investigation and the Diocese is fully cooperating. The Diocese asks for prayers for all involved in this matter. The Diocese remains committed to the protection of children and vulnerable adults. Its policies include permanently removing from ministry any clergy who have a substantiated allegation of abuse of a minor against them. In addition, the Diocese requires all clergy, employees, and volunteers in all parishes, schools and diocesan offices to complete mandatory background checks and training on keeping children safe. Since 2003, 35,284 background checks have been completed and 37,054 people have completed the “VIRTUS – Protecting God’s Children” program. (Data reported October 2015) If you know of an incident of sexual abuse of a person who is now under the age of 18 by a priest, deacon, employee or volunteer, please immediately call the civil authorities and then the diocese.

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.

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Jasmine Stole, Pacific Daily News April 29, 2016

A week after Catholic Church members held a heated protest at the A.B. Won Pat International Airport, the Archdiocese of Agana’s Chancery Office issued a statement responding to that demonstration and others at the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona.

The archdiocese was “extremely saddened by the actions of the angry mob” at the airport, the statement said.

Giuseppe Gennarini, Claudia Gennarini and Rev. Angelo Poschetti arrived the night of April 21. The Gennarinis and Poschetti are high-level U.S.-based officials of the Neocatechumenal Way.

“This is not the warm Hafa Adai spirit that the Chamorro people are well-known for,” the archdiocese’s statement said.

The Gennarinis and Poschetti are board of guarantors’ members for the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Guam.

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.

UTAH
Deseret News

By Tad Walch, Deseret News

Published: Thursday, April 28 2016

SALT LAKE CITY — An official Mormon website has published the most comprehensive review yet of how the LDS Church works to prevent child sexual abuse in its congregations.

It characterized child sexual abuse as a societal plague and said the church’s first priority when it learns of abuse is to help the victim and stop the abuse.

“Every victim is a boy or girl who is suffering deeply,” the statement said. “We must do everything we can to protect and love them. We urge our local leaders and members to reach out to victims, comfort and strengthen them, and help them understand that what happened was wrong, the experience was not their fault, and that it should never happen ever again.”

The long statement was published Thursday as an approved resource on the official news website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson, the church’s Young Women general president, also addressed child abuse on Thursday when she presented $125,000 in donations from the church to two child advocacy programs.

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.

GEORGIA
The Telegraph

BY BECKY PURSER
bpurser@macon.com

More than a 100 pastors and other church leaders gathered at Southside Baptist Church on Thursday for a seminar about safety and security at places of worship.

The daylong seminar was offered by Warner Robins police in partnership with Training Force USA, a training organization based in Tallahassee, Florida. Several Warner Robins police officers also attended the seminar.

Seminar topics ranged from non-custodial parents who might want to go to a church and take a child home to a loud outburst in the sanctuary, said Jennifer Parson, public information officer for Warner Robins police.

“We’re also talking about active-shooter situations and natural disasters and how to create that safety plan and be prepared for anything,” Parson said.

Other topics included domestic and workplace violence, development of safety-security and child-protection policies, recognizing high risk areas in places of worship and offices, and insurance and liability issues.

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.

WISCONSIN
WBAY

By Jorge Rodas and Emily Matesic
Published: April 28, 2016

A local priest appeared in Brown County court on Thursday accused of flashing a teenage boy multiple times last month.

The priest’s bail was set at $750 cash, though prosecutors asked the court for $5,000.

Father Richard Thomas was arrested Wednesday on four felony counts of exposing himself to a minor.

Thomas’s attorney entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf as the Catholic priest appeared via video conference from the Brown County Jail for his initial appearance.

According to the criminal complaint, Thomas exposed himself to a 16-year-old boy on March 14, 15, 16 and 17.

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.

CANADA
The Globe and Mail

LORIA GALLOWAY
OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Apr. 28, 2016

A court is being asked to decide whether the secret nature of the compensation process for people who were abused as children at one of Canada’s Indian residential schools allowed government lawyers to persuade adjudicators to deny compensation unfairly to those who suffered.

Depending upon the outcome of the case, compensation claims from many of the schools’ survivors may have to be reopened just as the nine-year Independent Assessment Process (IAP) is winding down.

An indigenous man who says a priest sexually abused him over a number of years at one of the most notorious schools is asking the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to allow the public release of secret documents that could explain why he was denied a cash settlement.

He also wants government lawyers, whom he accuses of withholding evidence that could have backed up his story – and possibly the stories of other claimants who allege abuse at St. Anne’s Indian Residential School in Fort Albany, Ont. – to be compelled to testify about why they acted as they did.

The man, who is known to the court as H-15019, attended St. Anne’s in the 1970s. People who were sent to that school report being tortured in a homemade electric chair, forced to eat their own vomit, raped and sexually molested.

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.

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Jasmine Stole, Pacific Daily News April 29, 2016

Three Guam Police Department officers were present Thursday morning at a peaceful protest held by Catholic Church members who continue to take issue with who owns the property of a Yona seminary.

The officers posted themselves between the demonstrators and the entrance gate to the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona. There were just over a dozen protesters. The demonstration never became heated, and no arrests were made. One Guam lawmaker present at the protest said the community’s public safety resources might have been more useful elsewhere.

Law enforcement presence was expected. Police were called to a demonstration held at the seminary on Tuesday after protesters walked into the seminary, which is on private property, and requested to see the archbishop. Prior to Thursday’s protest, GPD spokeswoman Capt. Kim Santos said police planned to come to the demonstration.

The Yona seminary is a registered nonprofit corporation. Who controls the property has been a controversial subject among local Catholics.

Archbishop Anthony Apuron has said in issued statements that the archdiocese controls the property. However, some church members have disagreed, saying the Neocatechumenal Way controls the property.

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.

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By Jean Hopfensperger Star Tribune APRIL 28, 2016

A well-known St. John’s Abbey monk, the Rev. Timothy Backous, is accused of sexually abusing two boys decades ago in lawsuits filed Thursday in St. Paul.

It was the second time in recent weeks that a St. John’s monk was sued after being suspended from ministry and then cleared by the abbey. The Rev. Thomas Andert, former abbey prior, also was sued by two men after being cleared by the abbey last November.

Both monks were former headmasters at St. John’s Preparatory School.

“St. John’s claimed to have done a thorough and complete investigation in both cases,” said victims’ attorney Jeff Anderson at a news conference Thursday. Instead, he said, it was “an investigation designed by them to protect the accused offender.”

One of the suits announced Thursday stemmed from incidents during a 1990 St. John’s boys choir trip to Europe. The other suit was filed by a man who alleges that he was abused by Backous as a young teen at the prep school in early 1980s.

The abbey suspended Backous from ministry last year while investigating the choir trip, then reinstated him last November after finding the allegations unsubstantiated.

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.

MAINE
Portland Press Herald

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BANGOR — The Maine supreme court has rejected the appeal of a former Greek Orthodox priest who was convicted of sexually abusing a child.

The justices let the conviction of Adam Metropoulos, 53, stand on Thursday. The Bangor man is serving a 6½-year sentence for four counts of sexual abuse of a minor.

Metropoulos was convicted and sentenced a year ago. A former altar boy at St. George Greek Orthodox Church said he was sexually assaulted by Metropoulos as a teenager. The man, now 23, testified that Metropoulos “stole my life.”

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.

MARYLAND
WUSA

[with video]

Debra Alfarone, WUSA

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, Md. (WUSA9) — A 22-year-old Prince George’s County woman told prosecutors her boss, Pastor Michael C. Turner of The Miracle Center of Faith Missionary Baptist Church, made unwanted sexual advances to her and sexually abused her during February and March of this year.

In her complaint, she says she worked at the Capitol Heights church for about 4 weeks. During this timeframe, and for 3 of them, Turner sexually harassed her and touched her without her permission. She says, “He would just literally rub his hands all over my body and push his body up against my body.”

But, in the end, she says what happened in his private office one day is what made her speak to prosecutors and file a report, “He pushed me onto his couch and he had got on top of me.”

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.

AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

AAP

The child sexual abuse royal commission has announced it will close off applications for private sessions in September – more than a year before its final report is due.

The decision was announced on Friday by commission chair Peter McClellan who said requests for private sessions were still high but other constraints meant accepting applications beyond September 30 could see abuse survivors disappointed and this would be “intolerable”.

More than 5000 private sessions, where people met with a commissioner and gave personal accounts of the abuse they endured, have been held across the country since the commission started in 2013.

They have been crucial to the public investigations into church, state and other institutions where shocking levels of child abuse were exposed.

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.

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Jane Lee
Legal affairs, health and science reporter

It has spoken to 5111 survivors in private sessions, with 1544 waiting for future sessions. Over the past year, it has held about 37 private sessions a week.

But now, the child abuse royal commission is winding down its private sessions with survivors.
The commission, which is due to deliver its final report in December 2017, will stop accepting survivors’ applications to tell their stories to commissioners in private hearings after September 30.

The chairman of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Justice Peter McClellan, will make the announcement at a hearing in Sydney on Friday.

“There can be no exceptions for any application received after that date,” his prepared statement says. “I know this will mean that some people will be disappointed. For that the commissioners are sorry.”

Survivors will still be able to send written accounts to commissioners and receive help from commission officers to do this.

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.

ILLINOIS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Statement by Barbara Blaine of SNAP (312 399 4747), April 28, 2016

If one in four homes were burglarized in Illinois, lawmakers would be jumping into action.

If one in eight cars were stolen in IL, lawmakers would be climbing over one another to propose solutions.

But one in four girls and one in eight boys are sexually violated as children in Illinois. So where’s the legislative uproar?

And most child molesters, unlike Denny Hastert, never get caught. The relatively few who are caught, like Denny Hastert, hurt several or many kids and perpetrate for years undetected, in part because it takes them so long to be able to tell. Telling is not simple. It usually takes years before victims realize what happened to them as children was criminal and abusive, and that it still cripples them years later. Then it takes strength and courage to come forward. When they do, they are usually told, “You’re too late.” Those who committed the crimes go scot-free. Those who concealed the crimes go scot-free. And those who suffered the crimes keep suffering.

We applaud Attorney General Lisa Madigan for speaking out for statute of limitations reform.

We applaud every lawmaker – and there were plenty of them – who opined in recent days just how awful Hastert’s crimes were.

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.

ILLINOIS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Statement Eric Johnson of Colorado, repeatedly sexually abused as a child by Fr. Bruce Wellems

Although Wellems has publicly admitted to sexually abusing me as 7 year old boy when he was 15, he remains active as a suspended priest, and as an influence with At-Risk Youth. Although his faculties in the Archdiocese have been temporarily suspended; as a Claretian, he is allowed to appear as a leader and have contact with kids.

By the time I found the courage to tell my Mother about Wellem’s sexual abuse, I was well past the Stature of Limitations. Guilt, Confusion, Depression and Shame eat at you to a point so low that you have a choice; Continue to be self destructive and die, or share your story.

It took me decades to begin to heal and share my abuse. And when I did share, it was too late to hold him accountable. I remember vividly how Wellems used me for blow jobs, hand jobs, ejaculations, and other reprehensible acts for his own pleasure. He was in High School, I was in 2nd grade. Picture it. However, because of the short Statute of Limitations, I had no recourse. I had no route to regain my self-respect and dignity.

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.

ITALY
Newsweek

BY JACK MOORE ON 4/28/16

Italian authorities arrested four people suspected of extremism on Thursday and issued arrest warrants for two more operating in Syria, according to the Milan prosecutor.

Authorities said one of the suspects is a Moroccan-born national living in Italy who had received orders from the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) to conduct an attack in Rome during the Holy Year, a period announced by Pope Francis that lasts from December 2015 to November 2016.

The man, who authorities named as Abderrahim Moutahrrick, is reported to have received a WhatsApp message from ISIS-held territory that read: “Dear brother Abderrahim, I send you… the bomb poem… listen to the sheik and strike,” in reference to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Milan prosecutor Maurizio Romanelli said that Moutahrrick planned to attack the Vatican and the Israeli embassy in Rome and told one of the other suspects, 23-year-old Moroccan-born Abderrahmane Khachia, in a monitored conversation: “I want to hit Israel in Rome.” Authorities arrested Khachia in the northern Italian city of Varese and Moutahrrick was living in the city of Lecco, north of Milan in the province of Lombardy.

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.

ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune

William Lee
Chicago Tribune

A day after former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was sentenced to prison in a federal banking case tied to the decades-old sexual abuse of a high school wrestler he coached, victim advocates say it’s time to get rid of the deadlines for prosecuting child sex crimes.

In handing down the 15-month prison sentence on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin repeatedly slammed Hastert as a “serial child molester” after he acknowledged there were several sex abuse victims; but prosecutors have noted that Hastert could not be charged with sex crimes in those cases because the statute of limitations had long passed.

In front of the Chicago Archdiocese’s Gold Coast headquarters, members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests pushed for state and federal reform regarding statutes of limitations on sex crimes against children, and called on the public to pick up the phone and ask their elected officials to act.

SNAP wants Illinois to join the handful of states that have completely removed statutes of limitations for child sex crimes.

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.

MINNESOTA
KSTP

Scott Theisen
Updated: 04/28/2016

Two civil lawsuits against a recently reinstated priest accused of sexual abuse have been filed.

St. Paul attorneys Jeff Anderson and Mike Bryant announced the filing of the suits Thursday morning. The Rev. Timothy Backous and St. John’s Abbey are named in both lawsuits on behalf of two men known as Doe 413 and Doe 188.

One man claims he was abused by Backous at St. John’s Prep School between 1982 and 1983 when he was 16 years old.

The other man claims he was abused during a 1990 choir trip to Europe when he was as a member of the St. John’s Boys Choir. He was 12 to 13 years old at the time.

Anderson and Bryant also discussed the internal investigations into Doe 188’s allegations in 1991 and 2015 in which St. John’s cleared Backous.

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.

MINNESOTA
St. Clouid Times

David Unze, dunze@stcloudtimes.com April 28, 2016

Two lawsuits filed Thursday in Stearns County accuse former St. John’s Prep headmaster Rev. Timothy Backous of sexually abusing two children, one in the early 1980s and another in 1990.

The lawsuits don’t describe specifics of the abuse, other than to say one victim was 12 or 13 at the time and was a member of the Boys Choir and the other victim was 16 or 17 and was a Prep School student.

Backous has been accused previously of sexually abusing a boy during a 1990 European tour by the choir. St. John’s Abbey in 1991 looked into the allegations and found them to be unsubstantiated. The parents of the boy who accused Backous of sexual misconduct renewed the allegations in June 2014, and the Abbey retained an independent, third-party investigator to review the claim.

The claims again were determined to be unsubstantiated.

The abbey issued a statement Thursday that said the allegations against Backous are “without merit and false” and that the abbey will “fully and aggressively defend against the false claims.

Jeff Anderson, who is suing the abbey and Backous, said the abbey’s investigations have been far less than thorough. The abbey indicated that it had interviewed eight of the nine chaperones who were on the choir tour.

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.

MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson and Associates

Backous Worked in Prominent Roles at St. John’s and Duluth after St. John’s ‘cleared’ him of allegations in 1991 and 2015

Doe 188 Complaint
Doe 413 Complaint
Backous Timothy Timeline
Backous Photo
Sketch by Patricia Chiapusio-Riedl
Statement of Patricia Chiapusio-Riedl
Media Advisory

What: At a news conference tomorrow in St. Paul, attorneys Jeff Anderson and Mike Bryant will:

• Announce the filing of two civil lawsuits naming St. John’s Abbey and Father Timothy Backous as defendants. One suit is being brought by Doe 413, a survivor who was sexually abused by Backous at St. John’s Prep School in approximately 1982-1983 when he was 16 years old. The second lawsuit is being brought by Doe 188, a former member of the St. John’s Boys Choir who was abused by Backous on a choir trip to Europe in 1990 when Doe 188 was 12 to 13 years old.
• Discuss St. John’s internal investigations into Doe 188’s allegations. St. John’s cleared Backous of Doe 188’s allegations after investigations in 1991 and 2015.
• Encourage survivors of sexual abuse by Fr. Timothy Backous, and others, to come forward safely and confidentially before the Child Victims Act window legislation expires on May 25, 2016.

WHEN: Thursday, April 28, 2016, at 11:00 AM CT

WHERE: Jeff Anderson & Associates
366 Jackson Street, Suite 100
St. Paul, MN 55101

Notes: The event will be live-streamed online with links available on our homepage shortly before the event at www.andersonadvocates.com

Timothy Backous has been a long time priest and monk of St. John’s Abbey with prominent positions as Prep School Headmaster director of campus ministry, and athletic director, and who has been heavily involved in the St. John’s Boys Choir over the years. Backous was most recently assigned by St. John’s to work as Vice President of Mission Integration and Benedictine Sponsorship for Essentia Health in the Diocese of Duluth. When the parents of a child he abused in 1990 made their son’s allegations public in 2014, St. John’s placed Backous on temporary administrative leave pending an investigation. In November 2015 St. John’s announced they finished a “thorough and complete investigation” and found that the allegations were “unsubstantiated.” This was the second time St. John’s cleared Backous of the 1990 abuse allegations. The first was in 1991 when it initially learned of them from the boy’s parents.

St. John’s Abbey, Timothy Backous, and many of his colleagues including Reverend Billy Graham of the Diocese of Duluth made much fanfare about the fact that Backous had been ‘falsely’ and ‘wrongfully’ accused. Graham wrote in the Duluth News Tribune that Backous had been ‘victimized’ by his accuser, and that St. John’s ‘comprehensive’ investigation proved the allegations were nothing but lies.

During the pendency of the 2015 investigation, while Backous was on leave, Jeff Anderson, one of the attorneys representing the two survivors filing the new lawsuits, brought forward information from an independent witness that walked in on Backous lying on a bed with a child in a dark room during a trip with the St. John’s Boys Choir in 1990. The witness was a chaperone on the trip. It was the same trip the 1991 allegations against Backous stemmed from. However, nobody from St. John’s ever spoke to the chaperone in 1991 before finding the allegations against Backous “unsubstantiated,” and Backous was placed back in ministry with no restrictions. In fact, the chaperone didn’t learn of the allegations until she read about them in 2015. St. John’s Abbey chose not to thoroughly investigate Backous in 1991, and chose to again reinstate Timothy Backous to ministry in 2015 after a second internal “thorough and complete investigation” cleared him again.

“This is a repeat performance of gross malfeasance by St. John’s,” Anderson said. “Two investigations in one year, Tom Andert and Tim Backous, and two findings that allegations were ‘unsubstantiated.’ St. John’s chose to believe the wrong people again, the offenders, and chose to protect them again.

Survivor Doe 413’s complaint also refers to Brother John Kelly, who is on the list of credibly accused and is supposed to be living under restrictions at St. John’s. In addition to sexual abuse by Backous, John Kelly attempted criminal sexual conduct upon Doe 413 when he was a student at St. John’s Prep School in the early 80’s. At the press conference on Thursday, Anderson will discuss the fact that despite his “restrictions,” John Kelly continues to seek and pursue contact with the victim.

Also to be released will be the complaints, pictures of Backous, and the statement of the independent witness who came forward to report that she had walked in on Backous in bed alone with a child.

• A copy of the complaints will be available at the press conference and on our website and the event will be live-streamed online with links available on our homepage shortly before the event at www.andersonadvocates.com.

Contact Jeff Anderson: Office: 651.583.7633 Cell: 612.817.8665
Contact Mike Bryant: Office: 320.259.5414 Cell: 800.359.0061

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.

VATICAN CITY
Crux

By Ines San Martin
Vatican correspondent April 28, 2016

ROME— More than 540 suspicious financial transactions in the Vatican were flagged in 2015, leading to the suspension of eight of those transactions totaling over $10 million, and the freezing of four accounts at the Vatican bank worth another $8 million.

Those figures came from an annual report released Thursday by the Vatican’s financial watchdog unit, the Financial Information Authority, which was launched under emeritus Pope Benedict XVI in 2010.

In terms of the number of red flags raised, the total of 544 from 2015 represents a substantial increase from 147 in 2014 and 202 in 2013.

However, only 17 of those cases led to reports forwarded to the Promoter of Justice in the Vatican City State’s tribunal for investigation, which means that, upon review, only a handful was judged possibly to be the result of criminal activity.

“We’re talking about suspicion, not evidence,” said René Brülhart, President of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority, in presenting Thursday’s report.

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.

VATICAN CITY
Times of India

Vatican City, April 28, 2016 (AFP) –
A clean-up of the Vatican bank has been completed, with the final tally of suspect accounts that had to be closed nearing 5,000, the Holy See’s financial watchdog said Thursday.

Unveiling the 2015 annual report of the Financial Information Authority (FIA), its director Tommaso Di Ruzza said a three-year examination of the scandal-hit Institute of Religious Works (IOR), as the bank is officially known, was now finished.

“We took a very strict line towards any accounts that were not in compliance (with Vatican legislation) and now finally the process of closures is done,” Di Ruzzo told a Vatican press conference. “A total of 4,935 were closed and that is a final figure.”

The FIA was established in 2010 by now-retired Pope Benedict XVI to bring the Vatican’s financial institutions into line with international standards designed to reduce the risk of accounts being used for nefarious purposes.

IOR account holders in the past have included mafia figures and it became notorious around the world because of a 1980s scandal centred on the death of banker Roberto Calvi, whose corpse was discovered hanging under Blackfriars bridge in London.

At the same time as it established the FIA, the Vatican signed up for external evaluation by Moneyval, a European body that combats money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
Moneyval reported in December that the Vatican had addressed most of its structural weaknesses.

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.

TEXAS
Raw Story

BETHANIA PALMA MARKUS
28 APR 2016

A bizarre “non-religious” church in Texas is set to hold an event this weekend in which participates will drink a potentially-fatal chemical found in pesticides because the organization’s leader claims it holds the power to heal conditions including erectile dysfunction, the Houston Chronicle reports.

Jim Humble, the archbishop of Genesis 2 Church of Health and Healing, hawks “Miracle Mineral Supplement” as a cure-all for cancer, AIDS, arthritis, malaria, acne, erectile dysfunction and other ailments, the Chronicle reports. The catch? It’s made from sodium chlorite — a chemical used in pesticides, fracking and fabric bleaching.

It can be deadly if swallowed. Yet participants will fork over $500 a head for a three-day seminar at a Houston-area hotel to learn about the supposed health benefits of the “the world’s most important broad-spectrum, nontoxic anti-microbial agent.”

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.

MAINE
Bangor Daily News

By Judy Harrison, BDN Staff
Posted April 28, 2016

PORTLAND, Maine — The Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Thursday upheld the conviction of a former Greek Orthodox priest on sex charges involving a former altar server in a one-page memorandum of decision that did not explain the reasons for the decision.

Adam Metropoulos, 53, of Bangor was sentenced a year ago to 12 years in prison with all but 6½ years suspended, to be followed by three years of probation.

Metropoulos, who was the priest at St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Bangor for 14 years, is incarcerated at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham, according to the Maine Department of Corrections inmate locator. His earliest possible release date is May 14, 2020.

Superior Court Justice Ann Murray in March 2015 found Metropoulos guilty on four felony counts of sexual abuse of a minor following a jury-waived trial. The charges stemmed from the former priest’s sexual assault on a 15-year-old altar server at the church in 2006 and 2007.

Before the trial began, Metropoulos pleaded guilty to one count of felony possession of sexually explicit materials — for nearly 400 sexual images including many involving children — found on his computer. He also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor violation of privacy for filming a relative taking a shower just days before his arrest.

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.

UNITED STATES
Verdict

28 APR 2016 MARCI A. HAMILTON

So far in the 21st century, U.S. religious leaders are best known for negative positions like their demands for a “free exercise right” to discriminate against the beleaguered minority of LGBTQ individuals, a First Amendment right to discriminate against their own ministers, a right of secular employers to deprive women of reproductive health care choices in their employment benefit plans, and, last but not least, child endangerment, from starvation, to neglect to sex abuse. Small wonder that institutional religious affiliation has been dropping. At the same time, the headlines persistently cover religiously-fueled global terrorism, which is a sobering reminder of the atrocities that religion can justify, as we know from even a cursory study of world history.

Others have tried to paint the contemporary push for extreme religious liberty as a new “Great Awakening” when in fact it has been a time of global darkening for the vulnerable, including LGBTQ individuals, women, and children.

The Supreme Court has abetted some of this by failing to stand up for its power to interpret the First Amendment and instead letting Congress, via the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, unilaterally set free exercise standards. Moreover, the Court acquiesced in RFRA’s allowing the courts to become unaccountable policymakers, letting a majority of Justices hand employers an unnecessarily broad right to discriminate against their employees well beyond the category of clergy in Hosanna Tabor. Finally, at least while Justice Antonin Scalia was on the Supreme Court, a majority significantly narrowed the indispensable separation of church and state by carving back the Establishment Clause’s standing doctrine and opening doors to and more.

Thus, the Court with Scalia responded to the era of darkening by reinforcing the voices of negativity, discrimination, and oppression. A majority often seemed to have abandoned the pose of blind (fair) Lady Justice and instead flirted with theocracy. The one bright spot has been the Supreme Court’s majority affirming the fundamental right for same-sex couples to marry, but the hysterical voices in dissent in Windsor and Obergefell no doubt mobilized and empowered the ugly developments we now see in North Carolina and

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.

ILLINOIS
Capital Fax

Thursday, Apr 28, 2016

* In the wake of Dennis Hastert’s sentencing yesterday, this press release landed in my in-box…

Attorney General Lisa Madigan and the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault (ICASA) [yesterday] called on Illinois lawmakers to eliminate the statute of limitations for felony criminal sexual assault and sexual abuse crimes against children.

Madigan and ICASA’s Executive Director Polly Poskin have long supported the removal of the current statute of limitations for sexual assault crimes against children. Illinois law should allow children who have been victims of sexual assault and abuse the time to come forward and report their crimes. Survivors of sexual assault crimes during their childhood should be afforded the time it takes to process their assault and come forward to report their crimes to authorities.

“Sexual assault continues to be pervasive in society, affecting far too many children and families across Illinois,” said Madigan. “When a prosecutor cannot indict an offender for these heinous acts because the statute of limitations has run, it raises serious moral, legal and ethical questions. We have long supported extending the time period for prosecutors to file sexual assault and abuse charges, and we urge the Legislature to eliminate the statute of limitations on all sex crimes involving children.”

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

RHODE ISLAND
Boston Globe

By Bella English GLOBE STAFF APRIL 28, 2016

After a private meeting with a group of victims, a committee of the board of trustees at the embattled St. George’s School has agreed to get training on the “lifelong impacts” of childhood sexual abuse, and will enter into reparation talks with some alumni who were allegedly assaulted as students at the elite prep school in Middletown, R.I.

According to a statement posted Monday night by the victims’ group SGS for Healing, trustees will also consider concerns about headmaster Eric Peterson, who has been criticized by some alumni for his handling of abuse complaints. An independent investigation of the school is due from attorney Martin Murphy in June, and the trustees agreed to take action on “issues raised regarding Peterson” within 30 days of the report’s release.

The agreements came at a meeting held Saturday in Boston between five members of SGS for Healing and five members of the school’s board of trustees. It was the first time the two groups have met since St. George’s became embroiled in a sex abuse scandal in December, with some allegations dating to the 1960s.

The trustees, according to the statement, also agreed to inform victims about actions regarding Zane Dormitory, named for a former headmaster, Tony Zane, who has also been criticized for his handling of allegations of sexual abuse by staffers. Victims have asked that the dorm be renamed.

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.

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

APRIL 29, 2016

Tessa Akerman
Reporter
Melbourne

Ronald Mulkearns helped draft a protocol for dealing with alleg­ations of criminal behaviour by clergy while running the nation’s worst diocese for pedophile priests and brothers.

The former bishop of Ballarat, who died this month, was ­appointed to the special issues committee run by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference ­despite failing to deal with some of the world’s worst abusers.

Mulkearns presented a draft protocol to the conference in November 1989. It was to be observed if accusations of criminal behaviour, ­including pedophilia, were made against priests. The protocol, which was tendered to the child sex abuse royal commission, states that bishops have a responsi­bility to protect the reputation of individuals and the image of the church as a whole.

It states that bishops and major superiors must have ­regard to the welfare of any complainant, victim and accused, and safeguard individuals’ reput­ations and their right to privacy.

“They must safeguard the good name of the church as a whole and act to prevent or remedy scandal,” it said. “They must have a pastoral solicitude for those involved in criminal behaviour­, mindful of the words of the Lord who came ‘to seek out and save what was lost’ (Lk 19:10).”

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.

MINNESOTA
KAAL

Scott Theisen
Updated: 04/28/2016

Attorneys plan to discuss the filing of two civil lawsuits against a recently reinstated priest accused of sexual abuse.

St. Paul attorneys Jeff Anderson and Mike Bryant will have a news conference Thursday morning to discuss the suits naming the Rev. Timothy Backous and St. John’s Abbey. The attorneys are representing two men known as Doe 413 and Doe 188.

One man claims he was abused by Backous at St. John’s Prep School between 1982 and 1983 when he was 16 years old.

The other man claims he was abused during a 1990 choir trip to Europe when he was as a member of the St. John’s Boys Choir. He was 12 to 13 years old at the time.

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.

VATICAN CITY
Wall Street Journal

By FRANCIS X. ROCCA
April 28, 2016

ROME—The Vatican’s financial watchdog registered 544 suspicious transactions in 2015—almost four times as many as the previous year—but officials said Thursday it reflected greater vigilance rather than any rise in illicit financial activities.

The Financial Information Authority, or AIF, said it turned over 17 of those cases, mostly involving potential money laundering, to Vatican prosecutors.

“I would like to see the figure zero,” René Brülhart, the AIF’s president told reporters. “But it doesn’t reflect reality. Wherever you have financial transactions, financial activity, you always see something potentially suspicious.”

Mr. Brülhart said the Vatican’s oversight system uses a “rather low reporting threshold,” in part to raise awareness of potential problems. He said it was a “fair assessment” that none of the suspicious activity was related to the financing of terrorism.

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.

MARYLAND
NBC Washington

[with video]

A 22-year-old woman says the prominent bishop of a Baptist church in Prince George’s County repeatedly stalked, harassed and made unwarranted sexual advances toward her at the church.

Bishop Michael C. Turner Sr., the senior pastor at The Miracle Center of Faith Missionary Baptist Church in Capitol Heights, Maryland, has been charged with second-degree assault, fourth-degree sex offense and harassment, according to court documents obtained by News4’s Jackie Bensen.

The woman said during the four weeks in February and March that she worked at the church, Turner, 61, repeatedly assaulted and harassed her in his private office, the copy room and the elevator.

“On many occasions he would repeatedly touch me all over my body with his hands, press on my body with his body and his private parts…kiss me on my forehead, and hold me captive in his office and copier room,” the woman said in a written statement to police.

She said she was frightened to tell anyone because she was afraid of him and afraid of losing her job.

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.

VATICAN CITY
Crux

By John L. Allen Jr.
Editor April 28, 2016

Contrary to popular mythology, the Vatican is hardly a sprawling bureaucracy comparable to, say, the roughly three million people who work for the federal government in the United States. All in, we’re talking about a work force of under 5,000, which means it’s more akin to a village than an empire.

In such a small world, personnel is always policy: Choices about who gets the most important jobs inevitably drive how decisions are made.

Pope Francis has been running the show for three years now, and at first blush, it’s tempting to say that almost nothing has changed on the personnel front. As of today, almost three-quarters of the officials who lead important departments are still hold-overs from the reign of emeritus Pope Benedict XVI.

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.

FRANCE
Mediapart

Accusé d’actes de pédophilie et d’agression sexuelle sur majeur, un ancien religieux de la communauté Saint-Jean, qui a reconnu les faits en 2015, est jugé ce vendredi à Chalon-sur-Saône. Des documents consultés par Mediapart révèlent que des supérieurs de cette fraternité contestée savaient tout du mal-être et des agissements de leur frère, mais n’ont jamais alerté les autorités.

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.

FRANCE
France 3

Ce vendredi 29 avril 2016, Régis Peillon va comparaître devant le tribunal correctionnel de Chalon-sur-Saône pour agressions sexuelles sur deux victimes françaises, un mineur et un adulte. Il portait alors l’habit et appartenait à la communauté de Saint-Jean, déjà entâchée de scandales du même ordre

Par Maryline Barate

Une nouvelle fois, la communauté de Saint-Jean, basée à Rimont en Saône-et-Loire, voit un des ses anciens membres comparaître devant la justice. Régis Peillon, 57 ans, sera jugé demain par le tribunal correctionnel de Chalon-sur-Saône. Il est accusé d’avoir agressé sexuellement un mineur et un majeur alors qu’il était « frère Jean-François Régis » dans cette congrégation.

Un religieux qui avait été déjà été repéré par sa hiérarchie pour des actes de pédophilie
L’agression sur mineur a eu lieu au prieuré de Murat, dans le Cantal, qui accueille de nombreux camps de jeunes. Ce lieu d’affectation, décidé par les reponsables de la communauté, indigne progondément l’AVREF, l’association d’aide aux victimes des dérives de mouvements religieux en Eruope et à leurs familles. En effet, ce religieux venait d’être rappatrié du prieuré d’Abidjan où il avait reconnu avoir touché 10 à 15 jeunes garçons africains pour vérifier “si leurs organes sexuels étaient bien développés “, d’après ses propres mots couchés dans document interne de la congrégation.

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.

FRANCE
RFI

A priest in the French Basque country was accused of sexually assaulting a teenager on Wednesday and a former monk was to appear in court on Friday in ongoing revelations of paedophilia in the French Catholic church. Lyon Archbishop Philippe Barbarin is currently under investigation for allegations that he covered up cases of sexual assault on minors in his diocese.

The mother of the alleged victim filed a case for sexual assault on her son in the 1990s against a priest in Bayonne on Wednesday and he has been relieved of his functions.

In a letter published on the diocese’s website Bayonne Archbishop Marc Aillet said he had notified the legal authorities of the case on 15 April and promised to cooperate with the investigation.

The priest has already tried to commit suicide twice – once after being investigated for allegedly molesting his nephew on a camp in Poland, the other time during a scandal over the molesting of a teenage girl in 2007.

He went into therapy after that attempt and on arriving in the diocese Archbishop Aillet met him and assigned him to tasks that did not involve contact with children, according to his letter.

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.

IRELAND
The Irish Catholic

The final tranche of reports from the national safeguarding board is expected to be released next week, The Irish Catholic understands.

The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC) has now completed reviews of safeguarding practice and procedures in almost every Church body that comes under its authority.

The few exceptions who have not yet been reviewed include some religious orders whose exclusively female memberships are aging and declining in numbers, and who have no ministry with children, as well as a small number of religious orders currently subject to investigation under the Northern Ireland Historical Inquiry.

Reports by the board into child safeguarding practices within these orders cannot be produced publicly until after the Northern inquiry has reported its findings, which will happen next year.

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

IRELAND
The Irish Catholic

by Michael Kelly
April 28, 2016

The watchdog set up to monitor the Church’s adherence to stringent child protection rules has published a new set of ‘standards’. Amongst other things, the document aims to redress a perception that a priest who is accused of abuse is treated unfairly. These concerns have been particularly evident when a priest has been stood aside, forced to leave his home and months, or even years later, is found to have no case to answer.

The new standards from the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC) are currently being rolled out across all 26 dioceses and, evidently, have been well received.

I can say without fear of contradiction that the Catholic Church in Ireland is now governed by some of the strictest policies and procedures in the country when it comes to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.

The heightened sense around safeguarding is only to be welcomed and it is to the Church’s credit that such a comprehensive job of work has been undertaken.

In parishes and communities up and down the country there is a veritable army of volunteers charged with implementing safeguarding policies – it has, in fact, been one of the largest lay-led initiatives in the Catholic Church in Ireland in decades. Literally thousands of Catholic parishioners have volunteered their time and energy to ensure that the Church is a safe environment.

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.

FRANCE
Metro News

EGLISE CATHOLIQUE – Les faits remontent à 1990. C’est la mère de l’une des victimes, neveu du prêtre, qui a porté plainte auprès du parquet de Clermond-Ferrand.

L’Eglise catholique fait-elle face à une nouvelle affaire de pédophilie ? Dans les Pyrénées-Atlantiques, un prêtre du diocèse de Bayonne est en tout cas mis en cause pour des faits de pédophilie remontant à 1990 et vient d’être suspendu de toute fonction ecclésiastique, informe l’AFP d’après le parquet de Bayonne.

Mercredi soir, l’affaire a également été signalée dans une lettre à ses “chers diocésains” par l’évêque de Bayonne, Mgr Marc Aillet, connu pour ses positions conservatrices et qui mène une croisade contre l’avortement. Ces nouvelles accusations apparaissent trois mois après l’affaire de pédophilie du diocèse de Lyon où un prêtre a été mis en examen pour agressions sexuelles le 25 janvier 2016.

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.

FRANCE
La Republique des Pyrenees

Une affaire de pédophilie met en cause un prêtre du diocèse de Bayonne. L’information a été livrée par l’évêque Marc Aillet sur le site du diocèse de Bayonne, ce mercredi soir.

“Mgr Aillet prend la parole au sujet d’une affaire de pédophilie dans notre diocèse.” C’est sous ce titre que le site Internet du diocèse de Bayonne, Lescar et Oloron publie une lettre de l’évêque Marc Aillet adressée aux diocésains. Il y évoque en détail l’affaire mettant en cause le prêtre Jean-François Sarramagnan.

Monseigneur Aillet commence par placer le contexte. “En octobre 2007, il avait fait une tentative de suicide, alors qu’il était curé de la paroisse St-Etienne de Bayonne, en raison d’une affaire avec une jeune fille, pour laquelle la justice s’est prononcée.” Au cours de l’entretien qu’il eut avec l’évêque en 2009, l’abbé Sarramagnan l’informa “de faits plus anciens, qui s’étaient produits dans le cadre familial, au cours de l’été 1990, et qu’il porta à la connaissance de son frère et de sa belle-sœur”.

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.

FRANCE
The Local

A priest in south-western France has been accused of sexually abusing a minor, the latest in a long line of alleged paedophilia in French churches.

It was the mother of the victim who spoke out, claiming that her son – the nephew of the priest – was abused two decades ago.

The assaults allegedly occurred in Bayonne, in south western France, when the victim was a teenager.

Bayonne Bishop Marc Aillet (pictured below), who is known for his conservative positions and leading a crusade against abortion, said in an open letter to his diocese on Wednesday said he had reported the matter to the Bayonne prosecutor.

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.

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) A press briefing was held on Thursday morning, in the John Paul II Hall of the Press Office of the Holy See, for the presentation of the Annual Report of the Autorità di Informazione Finanziaria (the Financial Information Authority, AIF), on the activities of financial reporting and supervision, both with regard to prudential decisions and for the prevention and combatting of money laundering and the financing of terrorism during Year IV, 2015.

Present at the briefing, in addition to the Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, were the President of the AIF, Dr René Brülhart, and the Director of the AIF, Dr Tommaso Di Ruzza.

Below, please find the official Press Release regarding the 2015 Annual Report of the Autorità di Informazione Finanziaria:

AIF press release | Annual Report 2015 | Effective regulatory framework

The Autorità di Informazione Finanziaria(AIF) of the Holy See and the Vatican City State has presented its Annual Report for 2015. The report reviews the activities and statistics of AIF for the year 2015.

2015 has seen an effective implementation and application of the regulatory framework of the Holy See and the Vatican City State. Furthermore, international cooperation of the Vatican competent authority with its foreign counterparts to fight illicit financial activities has been intensified.

“The full implementation and application of Regulation No. 1 has shown the effectiveness of the regulatory framework of the Holy See and Vatican City State,” said René Brülhart, President of AIF. “International cooperation remains a key commitment of AIF. Additional Memoranda of Understandings with competent authorities of other jurisdictions were signed and the exchange of information on a bilateral level has increased significantly.”

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.

VATICAN CITY
Montreal Gazette

Associated Press

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican’s financial watchdog says it received 544 reports of suspicious financial transactions last year, thanks in large part to beefed-up efforts to flag potential tax cheats who are using the Vatican bank to hide money.

In its annual report, the Financial Information Authority said Thursday it passed 17 cases on to Vatican prosecutors for possible investigation, up from seven a year earlier. In December, European evaluators urged prosecutors to actually bring charges in some of those cases since no indictments have been handed down.

Since 2011, 36 out of 900 suspect transactions have been forwarded to prosecutors for possible follow-up.

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.

VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Apr. 28, 2016

VATICAN CITY
The Vatican’s financial watchdog agency registered a three-fold increase in suspicious transactions undertaken in the city state’s financial institutions in 2015, marking 544 activities as questionable and freezing or halting movement of a total of some $2.4 million and 15.3 million Euros.

The Financial Information Authority, or AIF, says it also made 17 reports to the Vatican’s Office of the Promoter of Justice for possible review of crimes such as fraud, tax avoidance, tax evasion, and “more serious financial crimes … such as market disruption in foreign states.”

The watchdog agency revealed the statistics with the release of its fourth annual report Thursday. The agency, which was started by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 but continued and strengthened under Pope Francis, has been working to bring the Vatican’s diverse set of financial organizations into compliance with international standards.

Thursday’s release comes as the city state’s financial dealings have again been in the spotlight, with news in recent weeks that the Vatican had suspended an external audit it had contracted with the international firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

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.

DEUTSCHLAND
General-Anzeiger

27.04.2016 BONN. Die Skulptur vor der Kirche sieht dem ehemaligen Schulleiter und 2010 verstorbenen Missbrauchstäter, Pater Stüper, täuschend ähnlich. Nun wurde sie entfernt.

Das Aloisiuskolleg (Ako) hat eine seit Jahren heiß umstrittene Statue vor dem Eingang seiner Kirche entfernt. Offiziell war sie als Statue des Heiligen Jeremias ausgewiesen, inoffiziell wurde sie als „Stüper-Denkmal“ gehandelt. „Der Respekt vor den zahlreichen Betroffenen von sexualisierter Gewalt und Machtmissbrauch und ihr Schutz haben mich nach langem Abwägen zu dieser Entscheidung kommen lassen“, schreibt Rektor Pater Johannes Siebner an die Mitarbeiter, Eltern und Jesuitenbrüder.

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.

AUSTRALIEN
Katholisch

Drei frühere Kirchenmitarbeiter in Australien haben die Glaubwürdigkeit von Kurienkardinal George Pell im Missbrauchsskandal infrage gestellt. Medienberichten zufolge zeigten sich die drei ehemaligen leitenden Mitarbeiter des Schulamtes der Erzdiözese Melbourne am Mittwoch vor der Missbrauchskommission “geschockt”, “enttäuscht” und “verärgert” über die Aussage von Kardinal Pell im vergangenen Monat.

Pell hatte erklärt, er sei als damaliger Weihbischof von Melbourne bei den Missbrauchsvorwürfen gegen den Pfarrer Peter Searson vom Schulamt “hintergangen” und nur unvollständig informiert worden. Die Leitung des Schulamtes habe den Fall zum Schutz des damaligen Erzbischofs Frank Little “vertuschen” wollen, so der Kardinal in seiner von Rom aus per Videoschaltung getätigten Aussage. Trotz wiederholter Missbrauchsvorwürfe war der inzwischen verstorbene Searson jahrelang im Amt geblieben.

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.

AUSTRALIA
Bay 939

Rob McLennan / 28 April 2016

A former Christian Brother who abused children at a Geelong orphanage has admitted to a dozen charges of indecently assaulting young boys.

William Stuart Houston worked at St Augustine’s in the 1960’s. He left the Christian Brothers in the 1990’s.

The County Court yesterday lifted a supression order that had prevented the media from identifying the 77-year-old.

The charges are believed to relate to male victims during Houston’s time at St Augustines.

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.

ILLINOIS
WJBD

4/27/2016

SPRINGFIELD, IL (AP) – The Illinois attorney general is calling on state legislators to eliminate the statute of limitations for child sex crimes in the wake of former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s sentencing.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan and the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault issued a statement Wednesday, the day Hastert was sentenced to 15 months in a federal hush-money case. He pleaded guilty to breaking banking law while trying to pay someone millions to conceal sexual abuse.

Prosecutors contend the abuse occurred while Hastert was a teacher and wrestling coach decades ago, but too much time had passed to bring charges for the abuse.

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.

SOUTH AFRICA
Sowetan Live

Gauteng Social Development MEC Nandi Mayathula-Khoza has reacted with anger at the reports of abuse of women by Gauteng faith leaders.

On Monday‚ two national dailies‚ the Sowetan and Daily Sun‚ with chilling pictures‚ reported stories of two Gauteng pastors sexually and physically abusing young women in their teens and early 20s.

Mayathula-Khoza said the actions of Pastor Fezile Gxokwe of Mount Olive Church of Poortjie in Sedibeng were an indictment to gains achieved so far with freedom of women.

She also welcomed the arrest of another pastor who assaulted two teenage girls and a young lady in Carletonville‚ in the West Rand‚ whose sordid story was carried in the Sowetan.

“We welcome the arrest of the wicked man who prey on girls whilst masquerading as a man of God.

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.

PENNSYLVANIA
Reuters

HARRISBURG, PA. | BY DAVID DEKOK

A Pennsylvania judge on Wednesday ordered three Franciscan friars to stand trial on charges they endangered boys by assigning a fourth cleric they knew to be a sexual predator to work at a Catholic high school in the 1990s.

Magisterial District Judge Paula Aigner ordered Fathers Giles Schinelli, 73; Robert D’Aversa, 69, and Anthony Criscitelli, 61, to stand trial in Blair County Court of Common Pleas in Hollidaysburg, Pa., on felony charges of endangering the welfare of children and conspiracy. No date for the trial was set.

“We’re obviously pleased at the court’s ruling and are ready to take the case to trial,” Deputy Attorney General Daniel Dye, the prosecutor, said in a phone interview.

Lawyers for the three priests could not be reached for comment.

The three are accused of enabling Brother Stephen Baker, a member of their order, to sexually assault numerous boys at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. According to testimony, they assigned him to jobs where he would have contact with boys despite knowing he was an active pedophile. Baker committed suicide in 2013.

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.

UTAH
Slate

By Dahlia Lithwick

Brigham Young University made national headlines this month when it was revealed that female students who reported being raped could be suspended or expelled for violating the school’s onerous honor code. The details of the case are infuriating. Whether or not the school is technically in violation of Title IX remains to be seen, but the school is clearly violating the spirit of the law in a way that does untold damage to rape survivors and makes future rapes more likely.

BYU, a private university in Provo, Utah, is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A handful of students came forward at a rape awareness conference earlier this month to describe their experiences with the school’s honor code policy. The Salt Lake Tribune then picked up and expanded upon the story, reporting that the practice of expelling rape victims for violations of the university’s honor code dates back decades. A petition with more than 110,000 signatures is calling for the school to amend the honor code to afford amnesty to the victims of sexual assault. BYU says it is “studying” its policies around investigating the victims of sexual assault for conduct that may represent small honor code violations.

The BYU honor code is far more restrictive than most other university codes. Created by BYU students in 1949, it forbids students from drinking, using drugs, wearing tight clothing, gambling, drinking coffee, homosexual conduct, engaging in premarital sex, or being in the bedroom of anyone of the opposite sex. Code violations may lead to expulsion. The problem? This code is on a collision course with Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination at any schools that receive funds from the U.S. government. Title IX requires that sexual assaults be counted and investigated; it certainly does not contemplate that any young woman fighting to protect her civil rights will be tossed out of her school for violating an honor code, a threat that is clearly antithetical to the promise and goals of Title IX.

The aforementioned online petition was launched earlier this month by 20-year-old BYU student Madi Barney, who reported last September that she was raped in her off-campus apartment by a man who is not a BYU student. According to police documents, the alleged attacker, Nasiru Seidu, admitted to Barney during a phone conversation that he had raped her. He now claims the sex was consensual. After agonizing for four days over whether she could report the assault and afford to be charged with an honor code violation, Barney went to the police and not the university. Seidu was arrested in September and is awaiting trial. But the school got ahold of her police report when sheriff’s deputy Edwin Randolph turned it over to the BYU Honor Code Office. Both her alleged attacker and Randolph were charged with witness retaliation, but the charges were later dropped. (A court petition filed by a prosecutor in the case described Seidu and Randolph as “friends,” something that Randolph denied.)

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.

UNITED STATES
Love, Joy, Feminism

April 25, 2016 by Libby Anne

There’s something we need to talk about. Opposition to trans bathroom access is perhaps most pronounced among evangelical Christians, a group whose inability to deal with sexual abuse in their own communities rivals that of the Catholic church. Evangelicals claim they oppose trans bathroom access because of the threat this access poses to women and children. Why, then, are they so quick to turn a blind eye to the abuse of women and children in their own communities?

When 15-year-old Tina Anderson was raped by a church elder and became pregnant, the church leadership believed her rapist’s claim that the interaction was consensual and punished Tina by making her confess to sexual immorality in front of the congregation, sending her away for the duration of her pregnancy, and forcing her to give her baby up for adoption. Meanwhile, her rapist was allowed to retain his position in the church’s children’s ministry.

For decades, Christian homeschool families overlooked warning signs and allowed Bill Gothard to maintain his leadership position in IBLP and his contact with and control over the teenage girls he hired as his personal secretaries. The IBLP Board of Directors was aware that Gothard had crossed lines and done things that were inappropriate and yet they took no action. Meanwhile, the many dozens of girls who suffered harassment and sexual molestation at Gothard’s hands suffered in silence, knowing that they would not be believed if they told someone what was happening.

There was a time I thought such abuses were rare, perhaps confined to more fundamentalist groups and certainly not characteristic of evangelicals as a whole. I’m no longer so sure of this.

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.

ALABAMA
Reveal: The Center for Investigative Reporting

By Amy Julia Harris / April 27, 2016

The day care owner was arrested in 2010 in Birmingham, Alabama.

Three young girls said Robert Frost, the owner of Christian’s Day Care and Learning Academy, had molested them for years at his church day care. They reported that Frost would sit them on his knee, slip his hands beneath their clothes and violate them.

The consequences for Frost came quickly. At trial, he was criminally charged with first-degree sexual abuse, convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The family of one of Frost’s victims then sued the organization they thought was in charge of the day care: Wooten Chapel Freewill Baptist Church.

They had good reason to think the church was responsible. Frost’s day care was registered under Wooten Chapel’s name. The church’s pastor was the day care’s contact person.

Several of the day care workers were longtime Wooten Chapel congregants and taught Bible study at the church. Frost offered parents discounts if they attended the church’s worship services. And kids were transported to the day care in the church’s white van.

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.

TEXAS
Baylor Lariat

By Kalyn Story

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and Baylor has held several opportunities for students to get involved and educated on the issue. Although the month is ending, sexual assault awareness remains relevant.

Justin Smith, 2010 Baylor Law School graduate and current partner vat Sloan, Bagley, Hatcher & Perry Law Firm in Longview, has tried several sexual abuse and assault cases. Smith said he believes it is a much bigger problem than people realize.

“It is great that we have Sexual Assault Awareness Month, but we don’t need a month, we need 12 months,” Smith said. “We need 365 days of awareness and support for victims. Victims are affected for much longer than a month, and we need to be aware all the time.”

Smith said he is glad America is recognizing sexual assault as a problem now, but he believes sexual assault awareness had been virtually nonexistent until recently. Specifically, he cites the realization of abuse within the Catholic Church and Boy Scouts as helping open up the discussion about sexual assault. Despite this, Smith said he doesn’t want the conversation to stop there.

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.

MALTA
Independent

A court has turned down a request by the victims of clerical sex abuse to have their compensation case reassigned.

Lawrence Grech, Joseph Magro, Leonard Camilleri, David Cassar, Noel Dimech, Angelo Spiteri, Raymond Azzopardi, Charles Falzon, Philip Cauchi and Joseph Mangion had filed a case for compensation after Godwin Pulis and Carmelo Scerri had been found guilty of sexually abusing them at the St Joseph Home in Santa Venera in the late 80s.

The accused were sentenced to five and six years in prison and were later defrocked. Their sentences were confirmed on appeal.

The compensation case had been assigned to Mr Justice J.R. Micallef but the plaintiffs had requested the judge to recuse himself. They argued that since he was the President of the catholic Radju Maria radio station he could not be impartial. The judge had turned down the request and the plaintiffs then filed a separate constitutional application requesting the case to be reassigned.

The application was filed against the Attorney General, the Missionary Society of St Paul, the Archdiocese of Malta, Godwin Scerri and Charles Pulis. The men claimed a breach of their fundamental right to a fair hearing.

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.

MALTA
Malta Today

Matthew Agius 28 April 2016

A Constitutional court has turned down a request that it order a judge to recuse himself from hearing a case asking for damages for clerical sex abuse, due to his involvement in church-related organisations.

Judge Mark Chetcuti delivered the judgement in the Constitutional case filed this May by eleven victims of clerical sex abuse, after Judge Joseph R. Micallef had turned down their request that he abstain from deciding the claim.

The plaintiffs had been seeking redress after suffering abuse at the hands of priests whilst they had been children in Church care in the late 80s and early 90s. Carmelo Pulis and Godwin Scerri, both now defrocked, had been jailed, for 5 and 6 years respectively, for their cruelty and abuse against the boys in July 2011, confirmed on appeal in November 2012.

But when the subsequent civil case for damages against the Archdiocese of Malta was assigned to Mr. Justice Micallef, a staunch Catholic and president of the Malta Radio Maria Association, the men filed a request that the judge recuse himself, citing a perceived risk of pro-church bias on the part of the judge.

Micallef did not uphold their request and the men had then, in April 2015, filed urgent Constitutional proceedings, claiming a breach of their right to a fair trial.

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.

MALTA
Times of Malta

by Keith Micallef

Mr Justice Joseph R Micallef will continue to preside a case filed by victims of clerical sex abuse at Dar San Ġużepp in the late 1980s, who are seeking compensation from the Church.

The victims had questioned the judge’s impartiality on grounds that he presides the Radju Marija Foundation, which they claimed had strong links with the ecclesiastical authorities.

However, Mr Justice Micallef had turned down their request to stop hearing the case, forcing the plaintiffs to file an application before another court.

In a judgment this morning, Mr Justice Mark Chetcuti rejected the victim’s request saying that their fundamental right to a fair hearing had not been breached.

In July 2011, Charles Pulis and Godwin Scerri, both members of the Missionary Society of St Paul’s, were sentenced to six and five years’ imprisonment respectively for sexually abusing 11 boys in their care at St Joseph’s Home in Sta Venera in the late 1980s. The sentence had been confirmed on appeal in November 2012.

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.

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY LARRY MCSHANE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Only the 2011 arrest of Penn State pervert Jerry Sandusky convinced an upstate sex abuse victim to end decades of silence about his own nightmarish abuse.

“Something happened — I said to myself, ‘You know what? I have to come forward,’” recalled Jack Cesare, a former upstate Catholic schoolboy molested by a predatory janitor while in grammar school.

Sandusky, tried and convicted in Pennsylvania, will die behind bars. The man who raped 13-year-old Cesare in Albany lived another 20 years and died a free man, a beneficiary of New York State law.

The 1977 assault inside the St. Teresa of Avila School was never addressed in its aftermath, with Cesare too humiliated to say anything until long after the statute of limitations in his case expired.

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.

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service – Bollettino

Vatican City, 27 April 2016 – Yesterday at 3.30 p.m. a new hearing began in the ongoing trial for the dissemination of reserved information and documents in Vatican City State Tribunal, according to information provided by the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J. It was attended by the members of the Tribunal (Professors Giuseppe Dalla Torre, Piero Antonio Bonnet, Paolo Papanti-Pelletier and Venerando Marano), the Promoter of Justice (Professors Gian Pietro Milano and Roberto Zannotti), and the defendants Ángel Lucio Vallejo Balda, Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, Nicola Maio and Gianluigi Nuzzi, with their respective legal representatives Emanuela Bellardini, Laura Sgrò, Rita Claudia Baffioni and Roberto Palombi. The defendant Emiliano Fittipaldi was absent, but his lawyer Lucia Teresa Musso was present.

The examination of witnesses began during the hearing, which was dedicated fully to the testimony of the first, Stefano Fralleoni, who was the Accountant General of the Prefecture of Economic Affairs of the Holy See at the time of the events in question. He was interrogated by the members of the Tribunal, the Promoter of Justice and the defendants’ lawyers. Finally, the report of the proceedings was read and approved. The hearing was adjourned at approximately 6.45 p.m.

The next hearing will take place on Thursday 28 April at 3.30 p.m., during which the interrogation of admitted witnesses will continue.

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.

AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Andrew Bolt

HIS critics still claim — falsely — that Cardinal George Pell tried to save his church by covering up for paedophiles.

Yet Pell today is in an open war with Vatican officials who seem to be covering up for crooks.

You might call that ironic. I call it a lesson to Pell haters that he’s not the kind of man they take him for.

Last week Archbishop Giovanni Becciu, from the Vatican’s powerful state secretariat, ordered Vatican officials not to co-operate with the PricewaterhouseCoopers audit overseen by Pell into church finances.

To the public it must suggest the Godfather films weren’t too wrong and criminals have their fingers on the Vatican’s billions.

But to Pell’s critics it should suggest he’s not actually a man who’d do nothing about criminals in his church.

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.

PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

We’re grateful that the trial of three Pennsylvania Catholic officials who repeatedly ignored and hid child sex abuse reports against a cleric will go forward.

[ABC News]

[PennLive]

Church officials claimed they did nothing wrong because they sent Brother Stephen Baker to a doctor who essentially cleared him to stay on the job. We’re not buying it. We’re glad the judge didn’t either.

Catholic bureaucrats have made this claim about thousands of predators: “A doctor said he was ok.” But in most cases, bishops carefully pick devout Catholic doctors who will provide the “diagnosis” bishops seek. Or they give doctors inaccurate and inadequate information about the predator. Or they pick general practitioners who know little or nothing about sexual deviants. So it’s “garbage in, garbage out.”

Church officials often use these carefully-chosen professionals for “cover” to keep sexually troubled priests, nuns, brothers and seminarians in parishes and schools, and later feign shock when abuse reports surface.

We are saddened but not surprised that Franciscan officials didn’t tell principal William Rushin about Brother Baker’s crimes. And we hope that anyone with knowledge or suspicions of wrongdoing by Franciscans, especially Anthony Criscitelli, Giles Schinelli and Robert D’Aversa will speak up now.

No matter what lawmakers or church officials do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in Catholic churches or institutions – especially in the Altoona area – to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling law enforcement, get justice by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.

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.

CANADA/UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Raoul Gauthier was ordained for Canada’s Diocese of Gravelbourg in 1933. He assisted in several Saskatchewan parishes before going on leave in 1939. He reappeared in 1940 as a hospital chaplain in the Diocese of Crookston MN, in the United States. After four years in Crookston, he was sent to a hospital chaplaincy in the St. Cloud diocese. It is unclear where Gauthier spent 1948-53. During 1953-78 he was chaplain at St. Michael’s Hospital in Sauk Centre, MN, except for a period 1968-69 when he was at a “clergy retreat center” run by the Servants of the Paraclete in Nevis. In 1979 Gauthier was charged with fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct after he admitted to fondling a developmentally disabled man. He fled shortly thereafter to Canada. He died in 1995, never having been extradited to the Unites States. Gauthier’s name was included on the Diocese of St. Cloud’s list January 3, 2014 of clergy involved in incidents of likely claims of sexual abuse of minors.

Ordained: 1933
Retired: 1979
Died: 1995

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.

PENNSYLVANIA
WTAE

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa —Three Franciscan friars must stand trial on charges linked to their role in supervising a suspected sexual predator accused of molesting more than 100 children, a judge ruled Wednesday.

The decision comes after additional testimony in their preliminary hearing on child endangerment and conspiracy charges.

Giles Schinelli, Robert D’Aversa and Anthony Criscitelli assigned or supervised Brother Stephen Baker when he served at Bishop McCort Catholic High School in Johnstown in the 1990s.

The defense had argued that it’s too late to file charges and that their clients did their best to supervise Baker given what they knew.

More than 90 students have settled lawsuits for more than $8 million claiming Baker molested them, mostly while acting as a sports trainer. Baker fatally stabbed himself in the heart days after a diocese settled claims by former high school students in Warren, Ohio, that they had been abused in the late 1980s.

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.

PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

By Dave Sutor
dsutor@tribdem.com

HOLLIDAYSBURG – Blair County Magisterial District Judge Paula Aigner has ruled that sufficient evidence has been presented and charges can move forward against all three Franciscan leaders accused of allowing Brothers Stephen Baker to be around children at Bishop McCort High School or other locations – even though they allegedly knew he was suspected of having sexually abused students previously.

The Attorney General’s Office rested its case Wednesday at the Blair County Courthouse against the Revs. Giles A. Schinelli, 73; Robert J. D’Aversa, 69; and Anthony M. Criscitelli, 62 – Third Order Regular, Province of the Immaculate Conception, minister provincials – who are accused of conspiracy and endangering the welfare of children.

The attorneys for the Franciscan leaders are expected to present their cases after the lunch recess.

Earlier Wednesday, Former Bishop McCort High School Principal William Rushin testified that no one ever told him about Baker.

“I should have been notified,” he said.

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

OKLAHOMA
Texomas Homepage

[with video]

LAWTON, Okla.

A Lawton Catholic priest who previously plead guilty to sexual battery, has now been removed from his post.

Father Jose Alexis Davila was convicted of his crime in 2012 while working in San Diego.

New reports claim he arrived in Lawton in December of 2015 having been deemed “fit to minister.”

Archbishop Paul Coakley says “new information” about the allegations against Davila led to his removal from Blessed Sacrament and Saint Mary’s Catholic School.

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.

PENNSYLVANIA
KARE

A Pennsylvania judge has ordered three Franciscan friars, including one with Minnesota ties, to stand trial on charges linked to their role supervising another friar accused of molesting scores of children.

The decision comes after more testimony Wednesday in their preliminary hearing on child endangerment and conspiracy charges.

Anthony Criscitelli, who recently served at St. Bridget’s Parish in Minneapolis, Giles Schinelli and Robert D’Aversa assigned or supervised Brother Stephen Baker when he served at Bishop McCort Catholic High School in Johnstown in the 1990s. Prosecutors say they enabled him.

The defense argued that it’s too late to file charges and said their clients did their best to supervise Baker given what they knew.

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.

UNITED STATES
Chicago Sun-Times

Bill Goodykoontz | USA TODAY Network

Chilean writer and director Pablo Larraín moves away from films about the Pinochet regime with “The Club,” in which he takes on the Catholic Church.

It’s an interesting movie, odd and disturbing by design. But it’s also effective.

Four men and a woman share a house in a small coastal village. They train a greyhound and mill around. Over time, we learn why they are there.

They are disgraced priests, sentenced, basically, to the house to keep them both out of trouble and out of the public’s notice. They have committed various offenses against the church, which, as someone notes later in the film, are also crimes. (“Has it ever occurred to you that you’re a criminal?”)

The woman, Mother Monica (Antonia Zegers), looks after the priests, keeps things in order — and has sins of her own.

Another priest arrives, and Mother Monica explains the house rules and curfews to him. It’s a monastic existence, you might say, though the irony is uncomfortable. Lots of prayer and meditation, some TV and not much else, other than working with the dog.

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.

PARAGUAY
La Nacion

[con audio]

[The Apostolic Nuncio, Eliseo Ariotti, spoke about the case of censorship of the series of publications that the research team of the newspaper La Nacion brought to light under the name of “Dark Church”, which exposed Argentine priests accused of sexual abuse of children were hiding in Paraguay and protected by by authorities of the Catholic church in Paraguay.

Monsignor Ariotti told Channel 13 RPC he made a phone call to the owner of the Nacion Communications – Sarah Cartes Group – but did not specifically request that the investigation be stopped but “to be allowed to clarify what happened.”]

El Nuncio Apostólico Eliseo Ariotti habló sobre el caso de censura de la serie de publicaciones que el equipo de investigación del diario La Nación sacó a la luz bajo el nombre de “Iglesia Oscura”, en la que se dejaba al descubierto como sacerdotes argentinos denunciados por abuso sexual a niños eran escondidos en Paraguay por autoridades de la iglesia católica en nuestro país.

Monseñor Ariotti reconoció a Canal 13 RPC que realizó un llamado telefónico a la propietaria del Grupo Nación de Comunicaciones Sarah Cartes, pero que no pidió expresamente que la investigación se dejara de publicar, sino “que se me permita aclarar lo que pasó”.

Ariotti dijo que le comentó a Sarah Cartes que estas publicaciones lo dañaban moralmente, pero que no expresó que le dañaban la carrera.

“No era oportuna la publicación, fue nomás fue lo que le dije a Sarah Cartes”, siguió la alta autoridad de la Iglesia Católica en nuestro país.

En otra parte de la entrevista, en Nuncio Apostólico dejó en claro que los periodistas de La Nación primero le debían entregar los documentos con los que contaban antes de publicarlos.

“¿Por qué si periodistas de LN sabía de documentos no vinieron a pasármelos?. Solo en abril me pidieron aclaraciones del caso que estaban investigando. Este caso debía ser primeramente estudiado, los documentos eran fotocopias y mensajes de mail”, lamentó en otro momento Nuncio Ariotti.

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.

ARGENTINA
La Nacion

[The Benedictine Abbey of the Child Jesus in Argentina agreed not to receive into its midst the pedophile priest Fabian Nestor Monzon, 47, He was detained and accused of seriously outrageous sexual abuse, aggravated because he was minister of a religious cult. Abuse caused serious damage to the health of the victim, a child under 3 in Reconquista.]

José E. Bordón

SANTA FE.- Tolerancia cero de la iglesia argentina para los casos de abusos de menores comprobados que hayan cometido sacerdotes. La Abadía Benedictina del Niño Dios, de Victoria, Entre Ríos, no aceptó recibir al sacerdote pedófilo, Fabián Néstor Monzón (47 años), detenido e imputado por abuso sexual gravemente ultrajante, doblemente agravado por la condición de ser un ministro de un culto religioso reconocido, y por producir un grave daño en la salud de la víctima, una menor de 3 años, en la parroquia de un barrio de Reconquista, al norte de la provincia.

“El cura Monzón no ha estado, no está, ni va a estar en la Abadía”, fue la respuesta que dio a conocer el abad Carlos Oberti, de la comunidad benedictina de Victoria. Además, la comunidad no está en condiciones de recibir a un sacerdote en esta situación”, dijeron desde la Abadía.

El abad Oberti mantuvo una comunicación con Jorge Lozano, obispo de Gualeguaychú, que tiene jurisdicción sobre Victoria, y juntos acordaron dar a conocer un pronunciamiento público respecto de este espinoso asunto. De ese modo, los benedictinos procuran quedar al margen de una polémica desatada en torno a la decisión de la Justicia santafesina, que rechazó un pedido de la fiscalía de mandar al cura Monzón a la cárcel, y en su lugar resolvió permitirle ir a un retiro espiritual.

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.

PARAGUAY
Clarin

[Journalists of the newspaper La Nacion of Paraguay rallied yesterday in front of the newspaper because of as decision by the company to suspend the publication of a series of reports on pedophile priests accused in Argentina who received ecclesiastical protection of the Church of Paraguay .

At the same time, the journalist Paul Noah, co – author of the research, released an open letter to Pope Francis in which remarked that he hoped the pope received his complaint and take care of the matter. The journalist told the pope that the only thing he could do was banish the practice of moving accused priests and encourage people to continue fighting against the arkness which many want to keep in the church.

The Union of Journalists denounced the apostolic nuncio (Vatican representative), Monsignor Eliseo Ariotti, who encouraged suspension of publication because it was “inconvenient” for the church. The newspaper’s management said there was no censorship because the series of notoes on priests who ministered in the country was published and there was the expected reaction from church authorities.]

Periodistas del diario La Nación de Paraguay se manifestaron ayer frente a las instalaciones del periódico por la decisión de la empresa de suspender las publicación de una serie de informes sobre curas argentinos acusados de pedofilia que recibieron protección eclesiástica de la Iglesia de Paraguay.

A la vez, el periodista Pablo Noé, el coautor de la investigación, divulgó una carta abierta dirigida al papa Francisco en el que remarca: “Espero, papa Francisco, que llegue esta denuncia a sus manos y que se tomen cartas en el asunto. En este tipo de situaciones no importan las cuestiones superfluas ni las medias verdades. Lo único que se puede hacer para desterrar este tipo de prácticas es seguir el camino que usted marcó, que desde el ejemplo nos impulsa a seguir peleando contra la oscuridad en la que mucha gente quiere mantener a la Iglesia”.​

En otro tramo de la carta al papa, Noé dice: “Por la influencia histórica, por la preponderancia que tiene usted como líder mundial, por la necesidad de que los modelos a seguir sean contundentes, le ruego humildemente que pueda dar una mirada al trabajo de investigación publicado en este medio. Estoy convencido de que servirá como un esfuerzo más para hacer de este un mundo mejor, que es el mensaje que más me impactó de su pontificado”.

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.

PENNSYLVANIA
PennLIve

By The Associated Press
on April 27, 2016

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A former principal of a Roman Catholic high school testified Wednesday that he was never told by a Franciscan religious order that a friar he hired as a teacher had been accused of child sexual abuse.

William Rushin spoke at the preliminary hearing of three Franciscan friars accused of allowing Brother Stephen Baker to hold jobs where he molested children or posed a threat to children.

The hearing will determine whether Giles Schinelli, Robert D’Aversa and Anthony Criscitelli will stand trial on child endangerment and conspiracy charges.

William Rushin was principal of Bishop McCort Catholic High School in Johnstown from 1989 to 1997.

He said he hired Baker as a religion teacher and Baker eventually volunteered as an athletic trainer.

When asked if he would have hired Baker had he known of the allegations, Rushin replied, “Obviously, it would have been inappropriate to have someone like that working with children.”

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

AUSTRALIA
Stuff

LOUISE HALL

A notorious paedophile priest in Australia has pleaded guilty to historical child sex offences on the eve of his trial.

On Wednesday, Vincent Gerard Ryan, 78, pleaded guilty to attempted homosexual intercourse with a male aged between 10 and 18, indecent assault on a male and gross indecency with a male under 18.

Ryan had been due to face a two-week trial in the Downing Centre District Court. The offences occurred in the mid-1980s in the Hunter region of New South Wales. The victim was aged between 13 and 15.

The Catholic priest, commonly known as Vince Ryan, has previously spent 14 years in jail for preying on 35 boys aged six to 14 between 1972 and 1991. He was released from Long Bay jail in 2010.

In a statement, Bishop Bill Wright of the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, welcomed Ryan’s guilty pleas.

“While a small consolation, I am grateful that Ryan’s victim and others were spared the ordeal of a trial. Ryan’s past crimes continue to throw a dark shadow onto the Diocese’s present and I am terribly saddened that there is yet another child whose innocence was robbed by the sins of this man,” he said.

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

AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail

By AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS and NELSON GROOM FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

A Catholic priest working at a notorious boarding college enticed a Year 7 student into his office with computer games then raped him on the floor.

Michael Scott Aulsebrook, 60, of Traralgon, was found guilty of one count of rape after he fought the charge in the Victorian County Court. He has also admitted to sexually assaulting two other children.

During his trial, the jury heard Mr Aulsebrook invited the boy into his office at Salesian College Rupertswood after lights-out with an offer to play on his computer, then gave his victim a soft drink that had been spiked with a sedative.

The boy woke up on the floor while Mr Aulsebrook was raping him and pushing his face into the floor.

‘He felt a large amount of pain,’ prosecutor Andrew Grant said during the trial.
Afterwards, Aulsebrook said to the boy: ‘Get out of my sight. You disgust me’.

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.

PENNSYLVANIA
ABC News

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — Apr 27, 2016

The Latest on a hearing to decide whether three Franciscan friars should stand trial on child endangerment and other charges for their role in supervising another friar accused of molesting more than 100 children (all times local):

——

3:05 p.m.

A lawyer for one of three Franciscan friars ordered to stand trial in Pennsylvania in a child endangerment case says there is no evidence his client did anything wrong.

Giles Schinelli, Robert D’Aversa and Anthony Criscitelli assigned or supervised another friar accused of molesting scores of children at a Catholic high school in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in the 1990s.

They now face trial on charges of conspiracy and child endangerment.

Attorney Charles Porter Jr. says Schinelli investigated an allegation against Brother Stephen Baker and had him examined by a doctor, who found he had no sexual disorder. Given that, the attorney says there’s no evidence of criminal intent.

The attorneys for the other two men declined to comment after the hearing, as did all three friars.

Baker killed himself in 2013.

———

2:35 p.m.

A Pennsylvania judge has ordered three Franciscan friars to stand trial on charges linked to their role supervising another friar accused of molesting scores of children.

The decision comes after more testimony Wednesday in their preliminary hearing on child endangerment and conspiracy charges.

Giles Schinelli, Robert D’Aversa and Anthony Criscitelli assigned or supervised Brother Stephen Baker when he served at Bishop McCort Catholic High School in Johnstown in the 1990s. Prosecutors say they enabled him.

The defense argued that it’s too late to file charges and said their clients did their best to supervise Baker given what they knew.

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.

PENNSYLVANIA
WRAL

HOLLIDAYSBURG, PA. — A former principal of a Roman Catholic high school testified Wednesday that he was never told by a Franciscan religious order that a friar he hired as a teacher had been accused of child sexual abuse.

William Rushin spoke at the preliminary hearing of three Franciscan friars accused of allowing Brother Stephen Baker to hold jobs where he molested children or posed a threat to children.

The hearing will determine whether Giles Schinelli, Robert D’Aversa and Anthony Criscitelli will stand trial on child endangerment and conspiracy charges.

William Rushin was principal of Bishop McCort Catholic High School in Johnstown from 1989 to 1997.

He said he hired Baker as a religion teacher and Baker eventually volunteered as an athletic trainer.

When asked if he would have hired Baker had he known of the allegations, Rushin replied, “Obviously, it would have been inappropriate to have someone like that working with children.”

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

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Jasmine Stole, Pacific Daily News April 28, 2016

Police plan to check on protesters expected at the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona Thursday, after two protests occurred in the past week.

Following a heated protest at the A.B. Won Pat International Airport last Thursday, the Guam Police Department was called to another protest at the seminary Tuesday.

Police will be making occasional checks at the seminary Thursday in anticipation of the protest, according to Capt. Kim Santos, GPD spokeswoman.

After dozens of silent protests in front of the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica in Hagåtña for the past year or so, the protests in the past week have not been as silent.

Police have not been present at the silent protests, hand billing or prayer demonstrations hosted by the Laity Forward Movement or the Concerned Catholics of Guam at various local churches, according to Robert Klitzkie, former senator.

Robert Klitzkie and members of Concerned Catholics and Laity Forward have been calling attention to Archbishop Anthony Apuron, some calling for his resignation, consistently over the past two years. Apuron’s ties with the Neocatechumenal Way have angered some local Catholics.

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.