ABUSE TRACKER

An investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has resulted in a one-year sentence for passport fraud for Jorge Antonio Velez-Lopez, a 69-year-old Columbian national, former archdiocese priest and convicted child molester, Feb. 28. Velez was also civilly denaturalized as a U.S. citizen and ordered removed from the United States.

Velez entered the U.S. in 2003 as a temporary religious worker. Velez applied for permanent residency May 15, 2007, to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and stated under penalty of perjury that he had never knowingly committed any crime of moral turpitude. He was granted permanent residency Nov. 6, 2007.

Velez applied for naturalization March 11, 2013, to Citizenship and Immigration Services and stated under penalty of perjury that he had never committed a crime for which he had not been arrested, that he had never given false or misleading information to any U.S. government official while applying for an…

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While many good and dedicated bishops and priests in the Philippines and elsewhere are examining their conscience about their responsibility to bring pedophile clergymen to justice, many more are not. In the past, Pope Francis — who remains hospitalized — has strongly spoken out on the urgent need to cleanse the institution of child-abusing priests and religious. “A priest cannot remain a priest if he is an abuser,” he said.

As the successor of Saint Peter and Vicar of Christ, Francis speaks with authority in urging Church leaders to take responsibility for the widespread clerical child sexual abuse that has come to light in the past 20 years and its constant concealment by bishops and priests. “I will be responsible that it doesn’t happen anymore,” he told CNN Portugal in the wake of shocking revelations of such abuse there. Frequently, bishops, priests and lay leaders turned away from the victims,…

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Irish and Polish dioceses commemorate the Day of Prayer for Survivors and Victims of Sexual Abuse on the first Friday of Lent, which is March 7 this year.

Since 2016, the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors has established a Universal Day of Prayer for Survivors and Victims of Sexual Abuse. In the press release announcing its creation, the Commission explained that a “survivor of clerical child sexual abuse made the proposal of a Day of Prayer.”

In response, Pope Francis requested Bishops’ Conferences around the world to choose an appropriate day to mark this prayer initiative. Dioceses in Poland and Ireland mark the Day of Prayer for Survivors and Victims of Abuse on the first Friday of Lent, which this year falls on March 7.

Candles to be lit in Ireland

Since 2017, the dioceses in Ireland have commemorated this day of prayer. This year, parishes across the country will light…

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Education officials in Catholic-majority nation say student abuse will not be tolerated after two recent scandals

The top education officials in Catholic-majority Timor-Leste have warned of stern punitive action against teachers if students face sexual abuse from them in schools. Education Minister Dulce de Jesus Soares said the government will not tolerate sexual abuse committed in schools.

Soare’s press meeting last Friday at the Education Ministry office in the national capital, Dili, came after sex abuse cases were reported in two public schools involving school directors within a week. Among others present at the conference were Secretary of State for Gender Equality Elvina Sousa Carvalho and National Institute for Child Rights Protection Dinorah Granadeiro.

The government response came a day after Estefania Barreto Cardoso, the mother of an abuse victim, held a press conference saying her daughter faced sexual violence in Nicolao Lobato Public School.

In…

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Members of the Symposium of Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) are among the faith and civil society organizations proposing the formation of “an ethical reference group” that will help in overseeing the reparations for Africa following the historical injustices the continent has suffered.  

In a declaration issued at the end of the February 27-28 workshop that took place at the African Union Commission (AUC) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the delegates said that the group would guide “restorative justice based on indigenous African traditions, sources, and spirituality.”

“We propose the formation of an Ethical Reference Group, in close coordination with the African Union Commission, to assist the AU Committee of Experts and the AU Special Envoy by providing ethical guidance on the issue of reparations,” the delegates said in the statement.

They added, “The Ethical Reference Group will also offer thought leadership and counsel, drawing on global case studies to inform…

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[See also the unsealed Supplemental Brief of the Petitioner State of New Jersey.]

After a Pennsylvania grand jury in 2018 found hundreds of Catholic priests had sexually abused at least 1,000 children over seven decades, New Jersey’s then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal launched an investigation of allegations of sexual abuse by members of the clergy within Catholic dioceses here.

Prosecutors wanted a grand jury empaneled to consider evidence in the case, but Camden’s diocesan leaders successfully squashed it, persuading trial and appellate judges that a state grand jury had no authority to issue a presentment against a private religious entity — and that all court records in the matter should be sealed.

Wednesday, the state snagged a win in the long-fought battle, when the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered the records to be unsealed and agreed to hear arguments in the case next month.

The decision clears the…

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The 2019 report, which says the university’s president didn’t properly report allegations, could become public in a separate church abuse case.

Seton Hall University has ignored calls by New Jersey’s governor, three state lawmakers and a member of Congress to release a report critical of its new president’s failure to report allegations in a major sexual abuse scandal more than five years ago.

Now it could be a judge who forces the storied Catholic university’s hand.

Avion Benjamin, a state Superior Court judge in Essex County, New Jersey, spent the last seven months overseeing the litigation of 450 claims of sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of Newark and at Seton Hall. Her predecessor in the case, which began in 2019, long ago ordered both institutions to disclose a mountain of evidence to lawyers for the alleged victims.

Yet even Benjamin said she was…

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[Note: The most recent clergy abuse article in the Canton Repository is about a Seventh Day Adventist pastor: Stark and Wayne County pastor accused of kidnapping, sex abuse of a minor, February 25, 2025]

In response to the Canton Repository story of a local pastor sexually abusing a minor, I feel the need to respond. I am 100% against child abuse of any kind in any church or organization. I pray for this minor and her family and that this pastor gets what he deserves.

With that being said, I must also note that I am a strong and unworthy devoted Catholic. So much that in my youth, I considered a vocation to the priesthood and religious life before deciding my vocation was somewhere else. It brought me closer to God, and the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church is not the reason I didn’t enter the seminary…

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Many people have asked for a long time. What did the popes do to curb the incredible amount of child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church?

My usual answer is: nothing. This excellent new book by investigative journalist Philip Shenon confirms that the popes ignored abuse and protected abusers every way they could—in the United States and across the world. Shenon’s “investigative history of the modern Roman Catholic Church,” shows that the popes made numerous terrible mistakes in running the church. I focus on sex abuse because this book helps to explain why Catholicism has avoided responsibility for abuse for so long.

Do you know the last seven popes? They are:

• Pius XII (1939-1958)
• John XXIII (1958-1963)
• Paul VI (1963-1978)
• John Paul I (August-September 1978)
• John Paul II (1978-2005)
• Benedict XVI (2005-2013)
• Francis (2013-present)

The Beginning

Father Marcial Maciel Degollado started the Legion of Christ, a Roman Catholic religious congregation, in 1941. His abuses started in the…

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A former Catholic priest who was convicted of sexually abusing a minor will be deported back to his native country of Colombia after he serves his time in prison, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). 

Jorge Antonio Velez-Lopez — who has not had any assignments or faculties to serve as a priest since 2010 — pled guilty in 2021 of sexually abusing a minor for whom he had a temporary responsibility of supervising. 

The abuse began in June 2005 when the victim was a teenager, and the sexual relationship continued into her adulthood.

At that time, Velez-Lopez was serving as the girl’s priest at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Columbia, Maryland, according to the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The victim gave birth to the former priest’s child and the two married in 2016 when she was 24 years old. 

Velez-Lopez…

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Teachers, health care providers and others must report suspected abuse. Clergy should as well.

There are few areas of lawmaking as fraught with the competing tensions between rights and responsibilities than those involving religion, a necessary result of the constitutional freedom that the First Amendment guarantees for Americans’ exercise of faith.

That tension between rights and responsibilities has been on painful display this legislative session as state lawmakers again consider a bill that would add clergy to the list of those who are considered mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect.

State law outlines an extensive list of people — with varying levels of contact with children — who are required to report child abuse or neglect to law enforcement or the state’s Department of Children, Youth and Families. Among those mandatory reporters are teachers, coaches and other school employees, law enforcement, health care providers, counselors,…

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Last week, Christian County judge Jessica L. Kruse ruled against motions made by Kanakuk Kamps and ACE Insurance Co. in a fraud case filed against them by sexual abuse survivor Andrew Summersett. Despite their arguments that Summersett’s claim was filed after the statute of limitations, the case will proceed.

Summersett is suing Kanakuk, ACE and other individual parties for fraudulent concealment and civil conspiracy related to sexual abuse he experienced as a child at the hands of Kanakuk camp counselor Pete Newman.

Newman was a serial offender during his tenure at Kanakuk and is currently serving two life sentences plus 30 years for sexual abuse against children.

This decision follows a contrasting decision made by another Christian County judge, Raymond M. Gross, in a lawsuit filed against Kanakuk and other relevant entities by Logan Yandell, who also was abused by Newman while at camp. Yandell’s case recently was dismissed for being “time-barred” and…

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The Congregation of the Fathers of Bétharram has acknowledged responsibility in widespread sexual abuse at a Catholic boarding school it oversees near the town of southwestern town of Pau, where Prime Minister François Bayrou has been mayor since 2014. Meanwhile a prosecutor has dismissed complaints alleging Bayrou failed to act on the abuse when he was education minister in the 1990s.

Since last year,  police have received more than 150 complaints of violence, sexual assault and rape against former religious figures and lay personnel at the Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram boarding school. The alleged abuse occurred between the 1950s and 2010’s.

A judicial investigation was opened on 21 February for rape and sexual assault. Only one of the three men placed in police custody was indicted – the other two benefiting from the statute of limitations, some dating back 70 years.

The Catholic priests who ran the school for many…

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A man who claimed he was sexually abused by a priest while attending a school in Newry in the 1980s is to receive £115,000 in damages.

The High Court case alleged he was attacked by the late Fr Malachy Finegan, who was a former headmaster at St Colman’s College.

The priest, who died in 2002, was accused of a long campaign of child sex abuse but was never prosecuted or questioned by police about claims made against him.

The plaintiff, who is not being named, sued the Diocese of Dromore along with the trustees and board of governors of the school.

The plaintiff was also awarded legal costs as part of the settlement.

No admission of liability was made by the defendants.

It is the latest in a series of settlements reached by people who reported being sexually abused by Finegan while he worked as a teacher in Newry.

He…

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The Fountain Police Department (FPD) reported that a former youth pastor in Fountain was arrested for alleged sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust on Sunday, March 2.

According to FPD, 45-year-old Stephen Hutto was arrested around 10 a.m. on Sunday after an investigation that indicated he had been previously employed as a youth pastor at Fountain Independent Baptist Church, off of North Main Street and West Iowa Avenue, and is currently a pastor at Highlands Baptist Church, located in Boone, Colorado.

Hutto was booked into the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center (CJC) on a felony charge of Sexual Assault on a Child by One in a Position of Trust.

FPD Detectives are asking for the public’s help in locating any additional witnesses or victims who may have information related to the case. Those with information can call Detective Tori Smith at (719) 382-4288…

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A local pastor is facing serious allegations of sexual assault against a minor. Charles B. Brinson, 64, the bishop of Brinson Memorial Church, was arrested on February 19, 2025, and charged with multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

New Jersey Pastor Charged with Sexual Assault of Teenager

Authorities allege that Brinson assaulted a 16-year-old teenager twice in January and February 2024 at his residence near the church. The victim reported that Brinson administered an unknown substance, causing loss of consciousness before the assaults. Following the second incident, the victim underwent a medical examination at a local hospital.

The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office has filed a motion to detain Brinson pending trial. He is currently in jail awaiting a court hearing scheduled for later this month.

Community Reaction to Sexual Assault by Bishop

Local resident Brooke Baker expressed shock upon learning of Brinson’s arrest,…

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An Arlington pastor who was arrested last July on sexual assault charges is now being sued by an alleged victim on seven different counts including sexual exploitation, according to a lawsuit filed Friday.

The suit claims Ronnie Goines, who serves as lead pastor at Koinonia Church, sexually assaulted a church member on two separate occasions in 2023, and that the church failed to hold Goines accountable for his actions, despite other accusations in the past.

“Koinonia and Goines knew that the representations were false or made the misrepresentations recklessly without any knowledge of their truth and as a positive assertion,” according to the suit. “For example, Koinonia knew that Goines had been involved in prior sexual abuse of a female.”

The woman sued Goines for assault, and accused both him and Koinonia Church of negligence, fraud, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy, and sexual exploitation. The…

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Ali Terwilliger was having coffee with friends when she learned that prosecutors weren’t filing charges against Bobby Hawk, a former pastor accused of grooming young women years ago.

“My heart just dropped,” Terwilliger said. “I feel like I was in shock for a couple of days.”

Terwilliger is one of several women who came forward last year, hoping Hawk — who led EPIC Church KC and also was president of the Blue Springs school board — would be held accountable. But they were told recently that because the statute of limitations had run out, charges could not be filed.

“We were really devastated by this,” said Destiny Bounds, who led a news conference in July where women alleged that Hawk had taken advantage and groomed them dating back to the 1990s, But they also took comfort, Bounds said, that the prosecutor’s office said the reason for no charges…

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The attacks occurred in a children’s home during the 1970s and 1980s, and the case has been referred to the public prosecutor’s office

A case of sexual abuse against a minor within Luxembourg’s Catholic Church, dating back to the period from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, was reported last year to church authorities, according to a report published on Monday.

The attacks took place against a young male at a children’s home, and a resident of the home has been named as the perpetrator, the report released by the Archdiocese of Luxembourg stated.

The case has been forwarded to the public prosecutor’s office, the archdiocese said.

Another complaint of abuse received involved a religious community, the report said, adding that this referral did not relate to sexual abuse against minors.

Since 2019, the Luxembourg Catholic Church has published annual figures on the number of reports of abuse it received…

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A Roman Catholic diocese has been ordered to hand over almost half-a-million pounds to a man who was sexually abused by a priest nearly 50 years ago.

Judge Lord Clark ordered the Diocese of Galloway to pay the male, who has not been identified for legal reasons, a total of £473,250 for the impact the abuse has had on his life.

Lawyers for the man raised an action against the church at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

They argued that their client was entitled to compensation for how the priest targeted the boy when he was around five or six-years-old at St Mark’s primary school in Irvine.

The court heard that the boy had sustained a serious psychiatric injury as a consequence of the abuse carried out on him and this impacted his ability to work and live his life.

The same priest, who also hasn’t been identified, targeted the…

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The convent of Montefiolo, in Sabina, where the Pope’s former Vicar for Rome has built a luxurious apartment, will become the new headquarters of the former Jesuits of the Aletti Centre. With the relative expulsion of the nuns who live there. Our report.

“The nuns have gone out, there’s nobody here at the moment, I’m just passing through and can’t let you in,” answers a woman’s voice over the intercom. “But can’t we just visit the church and the grounds, we’ve heard it’s beautiful?” we ask. “No, there’s no one here. But we know there are priests… Silence, the conversation abruptly ends. It’s Thursday 27 February, and we’re standing outside the large metal gate of the convent of the Benedictine Sisters of Priscilla in Montefiolo, in the municipality of Casperia, a small village in the Sabina hills, in the province of Rieti.

We came here because we had been told that Father…

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Since last year, police have received more than 150 complaints of violence, sexual assault and rape at the Notre-Dame de Bétharram school near the southwestern town of Pau, where Prime Minister François Bayrou has been mayor since 2014.

A spokesman for priests who ran a French school where staff have been accused of repeated abuse against boarders on Tuesday, March 4, said they felt “responsible” for what had happened and were seeking to make amends.

Allegations of repeated sexual and physical violence at the Catholic school have cast a shadow over the premiership of François Bayrou, who has been accused of knowing about some of the accusations as early as the 1990s as education minister and as a local official but not acting on them. Bayrou’s wife was a religious studies teacher at the school and several of his children were educated there.

A prosecutor on Monday however said two…

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[See also Judge Clark’s opinion.]

A Roman Catholic diocese has been ordered to pay a man more than £470,000 after he suffered “horrific” sexual abuse at the hands of a priest almost 50 years ago.

The man, who has not been identified, was targeted by the priest when he was five years old while at school in Irvine in Ayrshire and again while he was a boarding school pupil in the Highlands aged 14 to 16.

The Court of Session said the Diocese of Galloway was “vicariously liable” for the abuse, which has left the man unable to work since 2012.

It ordered the diocese to pay a total of £473,250 for the impact it has had on his life.

The priest, who has not been identified, died in 2021 and had been convicted of sexual abuse.

Lawyers for the man, also unidentified for legal reasons, raised an action against…

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A 32-year-old now-former teacher at Archbishop Murphy High School (AMHS) in Everett has been charged with sex crimes involving very young children.

According to King County court records, John Doty was arrested after investigators discovered multiple downloaded files on his computer that contained explicit child pornography in video and image form. The documents state many of the victims were between 4 and 7 years old, with some likely being as young as 1 year old.

“He said that he doesn’t find the content with kids sexually arousing and doesn’t have a sexual interest in kids, but he finds it exciting to know that he is doing something illegal,” the documents read.

Doty allegedly told investigators he downloaded the abuse material as part of his “crime game,” and described downloading, watching, and distributing the child abuse materials as “…very silly but still thrilling, [like] ‘Oops, I did a crime.’”

Prosecutors allege…

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[See also the full text of the MI AG’s report on the Diocese of Lansing.]

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel released a report in December on sexual abuse in the Diocese of Lansing. It is seriously flawed, though she received no pushback from the media; they accepted the report at face value. We did not, and with good reason: Nessel’s animus against the Catholic Church is indisputable (see our website for the evidence).

This is the fourth diocesan report on this subject: reports on the dioceses of Marquette, Gaylord and Kalamazoo were previously issued. The Lansing report found that there were 56 diocesan officials who were accused of sexual abuse between the 1950s and the 2010s. Unlike most probes on this subject, this one includes alleged adult victims as well as minors.

The alleged offenders include one male teacher, three religious brothers and 52 ordained clergy (four deacons and…

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[Includes eight-minute video report and interview.]

A judicial investigation was opened on February 21 into charges of rape and sexual assault against a former school employee at the Notre-Dame de Bétharram school in southwestern France. French Prime Minister François Bayrou, whose children attended the school, has come under increasing scrutiny after a former teacher accused him and his wife of having turned a blind eye to years of abuse. For analysis, we’re joined by Alice Ackermann, communications consultant for the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

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[See also Judge Clark’s opinion.]

A man who was sexually abused by a priest at a Roman Catholic primary school when he was five or six and developed Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of that and other abuse has been awarded £627,000 in damages by the Outer House of the Court of Session.

The anonymous pursuer, F, argued that significant weight ought to be ascribed to his experiences at the school in assessment of damages. The action came to proceed solely against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Galloway, originally convened as second defender, which argued that other abuse the pursuer suffered later in life was an equal contributor to his mental health issues.

The case was heard by Lord Clark. Milligan KC and McCaffery, advocate, appeared for the pursuer and Primrose KC and Rolfe, advocate, for the second defender.

Most significant factor

In the late 1970s,…

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The Archdiocese of Cologne, Germany, has issued a statement of condemnation after a carnival float associating Jesus with the sex abuse crisis was premiered at a parade in the city. 

The float featured a cartoon of a young boy wearing altar server clothes standing outside a confessional. An arm sticking out from the curtain beckons the boy, who pulls away, while a sign outside the confessional reads, “Jesus Loves You.”

In a statement addressed to the festival committee, Frank Hüppelshäuser, head of office at the archdiocese, condemned the float as “tasteless,” pointing out that its imagery “directly associates Jesus, the Son of God, with abuse.” 

“It is suggested that Jesus himself is sitting in the confessional and wants to pull the altar boy into it with a wave of his hand; at the very least, Jesus is being instrumentalized here,” he continued. “If one assumes that the Son…

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Half measures and foot dragging won’t do.

Any good Baptist preacher will tell you that repentance means more than just feeling sorry for one’s shortcomings. It means doing something about them — turning away from evil and heading in the other direction. But the Southern Baptist Convention seems to be having trouble practicing what it preaches.

Eighteen years after an ABC 20/20 investigation found evidence of “preacher predators” in the denomination, six years after the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News detailed complaints against 300 church leaders by more than 700 victims, and almost three years after an audit ordered by the SBC’s own executive committee found that church leaders had ignored, belittled and intimidated survivors of sexual abuse, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination is still dragging its feet.

This month, at a meeting of the SBC executive committee in Nashville, committee president Jeff Iorg said…

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The Catholic Diocese of Arlington has learned that Dr. Eric Sean Williams of Annandale was arrested on Thursday, February 27 in Fairfax County and criminally charged on multiple counts of sexual assault involving a minor.

Until his arrest, Dr. Williams was a long-term substitute teacher since January 2019 and volunteer since October 2016 at St. Michael’s Catholic School in Annandale. His volunteer activities included CYO coaching. No known criminal incidents took place on parish or school property.

As a condition of his teaching and volunteering, Dr. Williams underwent a criminal background check and completed VIRTUS safe environment training on the prevention and reporting of abuse. Dr. Williams first became VIRTUS compliant as a condition of his volunteering in 2016 and had maintained his compliance up to the time of his arrest.

Anyone with any relevant information regarding Dr. Williams should immediately contact the Fairfax County Police Department by calling (703)…

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Frock and frisk.

An NYPD chaplain has been busted in the Bronx for allegedly patronizing a prostitute, according to police.

Father Michael Eguino, a Catholic chaplain for the NYPD and parochial vicar of St. Anselm Church in the Bronx, was arrested at about 11:20 a.m. Friday, cops said.

Sources said the 40-year-old was caught offering a woman money for sex.

Eguino was charged with patronizing a prostitute and served a desk appearance ticket for his unholy alleged act.

The circumstances surrounding the sinful solicitation remain unclear.

Eguino was made an NYPD chaplain in August 2021, just seven years after being ordained a priest.

He also serves as a spiritual director for the NYPD Manhattan, Bronx, and Staten Island Holy Name Society.

“In his spare time, he enjoys fishing, traveling, strategy games, playing sports, and is a fan of the Yankees, Knicks, and Jets,” according to…

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In the past week, two important reports have called attention to the lingering, devastating fallout from the sex-abuse scandal. The fundamental problem today is the same problem that gave rise to the scandal in the first place: too many bishops are not acting like bishops.

First let me call your attention to an essay in First Things by Michael Mazza, with the provocative title: “Who’s Really Calling the Shots at US Diocesan Chanceries?” Mazza observes that Vatican II clearly taught that bishops are responsible for the operations of their own dioceses. In practice, however, “It seems that lawyers and risk managers, not bishops, are often running the show.”

Mazza can cite chapter and verse. Since 2002, when the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire, caved in to demands from the state’s attorney general in order to avoid criminal prosecution, one diocese after another has agreed to prosecutors’ demands that endanger—in…

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The Second Vatican Council taught that bishops are not mere delegates of the pope, regional managers of an international operation headquartered in Rome. On the contrary, bishops have authority directly from God to shepherd those entrusted to their care—to exercise their office as teacher, priest, and ruler. 

So the answer to “who’s in charge” of the dioceses ought to be very simple. But is it? A quick glance at publicly available documents should raise serious doubts, particularly regarding the discipline of diocesan clergy. It seems that civil lawyers and risk managers, not bishops, are often running the show.

The Diocese of Manchester signed a Non-Prosecution Agreement in 2002 with the state attorney general, agreeing to require that “all diocesan personnel” comply with the mandatory reporting requirements for child abuse under state law—with no exception for the sacramental seal or the internal forum, raising obvious concerns regarding the inviolable…

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The Church of England is preparing charges against 10 mostly retired clergy, including former Archbishop George Carey and retired Bishop of Durham Paul Butler, who stand accused of not acting on reports of abuses by layman John Smyth in the 1970s and 1980s.

Smyth used a twisted interpretation of Hebrews 12:4 to convince young men that they could draw closer to God by allowing him to beat them with a cane, often to the point that their posteriors were bleeding profusely. Smyth’s wife reportedly provided his victims with diapers and ointment to help with the wounds.

Several of the 10 were significant figures in conservative evangelical circles within the Church of England. Smyth, a popular speaker, was chairman of the trust that operated the Iwerne Camps, through which he found many of his victims, from 1974 to 1982.

Some of the 10, such as Lord…

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A former Catholic school teacher and serial abuser of boys with three previous convictions for sexual offending will now be sentenced for a fourth time after admitting another historic crime.

Charles Robert Afeaki, 81, was a Marist Brother who used his teaching positions in Invercargill and Auckland in the 1970s and early 1980s to target victims. He often claimed to be disciplining his victims for alleged minor infractions, dishing out instead sadistic sexual abuse.

His crimes first caught up to him in the 1990s, when he was found guilty after a trial in the High Court at Auckland of abusing four former students. He was sentenced again in the High Court in 2003 after a fifth student came forward and again last year – this time in Auckland District Court – for the abuse of two others.

In January, he returned to Auckland District Court – albeit…

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Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv DD STL, Bishop of Parramatta

Homily for the 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C 

Readings: Ecclesiasticus 27:4-7; 1 Cor 15:54-58; Luke 6:39-45

Caution against our blind spots and distortions of the Christian faith.

Dear brothers and sisters,

At the beginning of the synod in Rome last year, there was a penitential ceremony that was particularly significant. It signalled the “change of era” that Pope Francis often spoke about. “Change of era” indicates the willingness to convert to a new way of being Church, consisting in adopting a culture of humility, vulnerability, servant-leadership and preferential option for the poor. This was truly a paradigm shift, that is, a radical change from the default position of dominance, power and triumphalism that was part of the legacy of the pre-Vatican II era.

During this ceremony, Pope Francis asked for forgiveness for the Church’s sins…

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Pope Francis’ clinical condition remains stable after Friday’s bronchospasm episode that caused vomiting and sudden respiratory deterioration, according to a Holy See Press Office statement released Saturday evening.

The 88-year-old pontiff has been alternating between noninvasive mechanical ventilation and high-flow oxygen therapy, the Vatican communiqué stated.

Medical updates indicate the Holy Father remains fever-free with no signs of infection in his blood work. His vital signs, including blood pressure and heart rate, continue to be stable. The statement also highlighted that Pope Francis has maintained a healthy appetite and is actively participating in breathing exercises prescribed by his medical team.

Vatican officials confirmed the pope has not experienced further bronchospasm episodes. He remains “alert and oriented” and received the Eucharist Saturday afternoon, after which he dedicated time to prayer.

The statement concluded by noting that “the prognosis remains reserved,” suggesting doctors are still cautious about the pope’s recovery timeline.

The Holy…

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Eric Sean Williams of Annandale, a longtime substitute teacher at St. Michael’s Catholic School in Annandale, was arrested on Feb. 27 for multiple counts of sexual assault involving a minor, the Catholic Diocese of Arlington announced.

No known criminal incidents took place on parish or school property, the diocese states. Williams had been a sub since January 2019 and a volunteer since 2016 at St. Michaels. His volunteer activities included coaching students in the Catholic Youth Organization.

The diocese encourages anyone with relevant information about Williams to immediately contact the Fairfax County Police Department at 703-691-2131.

Before being allowed to volunteer, Williams underwent a criminal background check and completed VIRTUS training on the prevention and reporting of abuse, the diocese states. Williams first became VIRTUS compliant in 2016 and had maintained his compliance up to the time of his arrest.

“The Catholic Diocese of…

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In the past week, two important reports have called attention to the lingering, devastating fallout from the sex-abuse scandal. The fundamental problem today is the same problem that gave rise to the scandal in the first place: too many bishops are not acting like bishops.

First let me call your attention to an essay in First Things by Michael Mazza, with the provocative title: “Who’s Really Calling the Shots at US Diocesan Chanceries?” Mazza observes that Vatican II clearly taught that bishops are responsible for the operations of their own dioceses. In practice, however, “It seems that lawyers and risk managers, not bishops, are often running the show.”

Mazza can cite chapter and verse. Since 2002, when the Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire, caved in to demands from the state’s attorney general in order to avoid criminal prosecution, one diocese after another has agreed to prosecutors’ demands that endanger—in…

View Cache

he Second Vatican Council taught that bishops are not mere delegates of the pope, regional managers of an international operation headquartered in Rome. On the contrary, bishops have authority directly from God to shepherd those entrusted to their care—to exercise their office as teacher, priest, and ruler. 

So the answer to “who’s in charge” of the dioceses ought to be very simple. But is it? A quick glance at publicly available documents should raise serious doubts, particularly regarding the discipline of diocesan clergy. It seems that civil lawyers and risk managers, not bishops, are often running the show.

The Diocese of Manchester signed a Non-Prosecution Agreement in 2002 with the state attorney general, agreeing to require that “all diocesan personnel” comply with the mandatory reporting requirements for child abuse under state law—with no exception for the sacramental seal or the internal forum, raising obvious concerns regarding the inviolable…

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The Catholic Diocese of Arlington has learned that Dr. Eric Sean Williams of Annandale was arrested on Thursday, February 27 in Fairfax County and criminally charged on multiple counts of sexual assault involving a minor.

Until his arrest, Dr. Williams was a long-term substitute teacher since January 2019 and volunteer since October 2016 at St. Michael’s Catholic School in Annandale. His volunteer activities included CYO coaching. No known criminal incidents took place on parish or school property.

As a condition of his teaching and volunteering, Dr. Williams underwent a criminal background check and completed VIRTUS safe environment training on the prevention and reporting of abuse. Dr. Williams first became VIRTUS compliant as a condition of his volunteering in 2016 and had maintained his compliance up to the time of his arrest.

Anyone with any relevant information regarding Dr. Williams should immediately contact the Fairfax County Police Department by calling (703)…

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The state Senate passed a bill Friday afternoon to make religious leaders mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect. Supporters say the move is crucial to protecting children from harm, especially sexual abuse, while opponents argue the bill could end up doing more harm.

Senate Bill 5375 would make “members of the clergy” mandatory reporters like doctors, teachers and other people who work with kids. Under the law, religious leaders would be required to tell law enforcement or the Department of Children, Youth and Families if they suspect any harm has been done to a child. They must do so even if they learned that information during a confession or other penitential communication.

This is the third time in recent years that making clergy mandatory reporters has been attempted, with exemptions for reporting information learned in confession being a sticking point in the past.

Prime sponsor Sen….

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Legislation to make clergy members mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect passed the Washington State Senate Friday on a 28-20 vote.

Currently, Washington is one of just five states in the country that does not list clergy as mandatory reporters of child abuse or neglect.

Senate Bill 5375, sponsored by Sen. Noel Frame (D-Seattle), would require clergy to report information about child abuse to law enforcement or the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, with no exemption for whether it was learned during “penitential communications” – a term applicable to many religions but commonly understood as “confession” in the Catholic faith.

“It’s long past time that the Legislature steps up, closes this loophole, and protects children,” Frame said. “I know this is a tough subject for many of my colleagues, especially those with deep religious views. I respect that, but this bill is about the separation of church and state. This bill…

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The next pope must do what Francis refused: enact a universal zero tolerance law for abuse and cover-up

Sympathy for the pope must not mean ignoring his failure on abuse

Unlike Francis, Benedict XVI, and John Paul II, successor cannot have covered up sex crimes 

Summary 

• The next pope must institute a zero tolerance law for sexual abuse that immediately removes abusive clergy and leaders who have covered up abuse from ministry and mandates independent oversight of bishops. He must use his authority to enact fundamental, institutional changes to end the systematic practice of sexual abuse and its concealment.
• The next pope must not have any history of having covered up sexual abuse.
• Because of his history of covering up abuse in Argentina, Francis never possessed the necessary credibility to overhaul the Vatican’s management of sexual abuse cases.
• None of Francis’ reforms or initiatives have produced actual “zero tolerance” for abuse…

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An anonymous woman from Indiana alleges Miller raped her in 1998 when she was 15 and he was 19 and working as a youth church leader, per the complaint

South Carolina pastor John-Paul Miller, whose estranged wife authorities say died by suicide last April, is accused in a new lawsuit of raping a 15-year-old girl decades ago.

An anonymous woman from Indiana alleges Miller raped her in 1998 when she was 15 and he was 19 and working as a youth church leader, according to a complaint filed Feb. 25 in Horry County’s Court of Common Pleas reviewed by PEOPLE.

The Jane Doe also alleged Miller touched her genitals without her consent when the two encountered each other in public in Myrtle Beach in 2023, per the complaint.

About 30 minutes later, Doe says the two got into an argument over him allegedly using his title…

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 Anglican Watch, a watchdog group for the Episcopal Church, is calling for the immediate resignation of the Rev. Barb Kempf, who serves as the national intake officer for complaints against bishops under the church’s Title IV clergy disciplinary processes. The move follows a series of dismissals by Kempf on pretextual bases, including canonically unauthorized factfinding efforts, false and misleading interpretations of church canons, and repeated refusals to obtain needed information from complainants.

In one case, Kempf brushed off a clergy disciplinary complaint against retired Massachusetts bishop Alan Gates involving taking a child across state lines for purposes of sexual abuse. Gates failed to report the matter to law enforcement as required by state law and church policy.

“When incoming presiding bishop Sean Rowe took office, and with the departure of corrupt Bishop Todd Ousley, who previously handled bishop clergy disciplinary complaints against bishops, we had great hopes that the…

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The Vatican Dicastery for Legislative Texts strongly cautioned against publishing “news” that would harm the reputation of an individual, especially someone who is deceased, when it comes to priests accused of abuse and not found guilty in civil or canonical procedures.

The right to defend oneself and the principles of presumed innocence until proven guilty must be protected and guaranteed, said a letter signed by Archbishop Filippo Iannone, prefect of the dicastery, and Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, dicastery secretary.

They also said the church must uphold the principle of the non-retroactivity of crime, that is, that no person can be criminally responsible under a law or statute for conduct before that law enters into force.

Another “undeniable legal foundation” for forbidding this practice, they wrote, is Pope Francis who wrote: “It is necessary to prevent the lists of the accused being published, even by dioceses, before the preliminary investigation and…

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Janko Kolosnjaji guilty of sexually assaulting minor in 2023

Warning: this story contains references to sexual assault.

A Ukrainian Catholic priest collapsed in a Saskatoon courtroom and had to be defibrillated after a judge declared him guilty of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in a church.

Janko Kolosnjaji, 71, was in Saskatoon provincial court Wednesday to hear the verdict in his judge-alone trial for one count of sexual assault of a minor. Saskatoon police charged Kolosnjaji in April 2023, about a month after a woman reported her 13-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of St. George in the Pleasant Hill neighbourhood.

Judge Lua Gibb found Kolosnjaji guilty and scheduled sentencing for June 16. Gibb found the girl did not consent to a kiss from Kolosnjaji and rejected the defence that he kissed the girl on the lips as part of a cultural greeting and not for sexual purposes.

…

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CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to child abuse.

A teacher at a Canberra college who sexually violated a student four decades ago had already indecently assaulted one child and went on to rape a third.

On Wednesday (27 February), 82-year-old John Vincent Roberts was sentenced to two years and eight months’ jail, to be suspended once he spent 12 months behind bars, over the abuse he inflicted in the early 1980s against his second victim.

In 1982 and 1983, he was in his 40s and worked as a drama teacher at St Edmund’s College, the ACT Supreme Court heard.

The college was a boy’s school run by the Congregation of Christian Brothers at the time, while Roberts was a member of the congregation who lived at the school’s accommodation.

He began to befriend the victim-survivor when the boy was 15, showing him favouritism over other students, and eventually offered to…

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Lucas Timothy Hunt, the 25-year-old founder of Thank You Jesus Yard Signs, was charged Feb. 25 with one count of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor in Randolph County, N.C., after a brief investigation by the Invictus Task Force.

North Carolina residents likely have seen hundreds of these signs scattered around neighborhoods or along highways, as the signs are part of a larger “Thank You Jesus Mission” the 501(c)3 nonprofit ministry advertises.

According to the company website, Hunt founded the ministry as a teenager in 2016 as an Easter project for his “small rural church.” Since then, “170,000 signs have been sold along with car magnets, garden flags and bracelets.” Revenue from the sales is used to provide “grants to religious 501(c)3’s who seek to share God’s love.”

According to court documents, Invictus Task Force investigators found a pornographic video of two children in Hunt’s possession after receiving a tip from the…

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Calvary Church Lead Pastor Chantry Dean said that the church is committed to supporting the victims and enhancing security.

The pastor of a Bentonville church where multiple sexual assaults allegedly took place at the hands of a former volunteer has released a statement addressing the situation and vowing to enhance training requirements.

Andrew Apple, 27, was arrested on Feb. 21 by the Bentonville Police Department and is accused of rape, second-degree sexual assault, and sexual indecency with a child.

Court documents filed days later revealed that Apple was a volunteer at a Bentonville church, and that incidents of alleged rape, sexual assault, and inappropriate touching occurred between Apple and multiple children over the span of years on church grounds.

The church that Apple volunteered at was not identified in court documents. However, the pastor at Calvary Church in Bentonville has since confirmed that Apple was a…

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Spain’s Catholic Church, long criticised for lacking transparency about its handling of sexual abuse committed on its watch, on Thursday said its contested scheme to compensate victims had started.

Pressure on the Spanish Church to compensate victims amplified after a damning 2023 report estimated that Roman Catholic clergy and lay people sexually abused more than 400,000 minors since 1940.

The Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), which groups the country’s leading bishops, presented its own compensation plan last year but without providing details on when or how it would be implemented.

CEE secretary general Francisco Cesar Garcia Magan told reporters the plan “is working… cases presented by congregations, by dioceses or directly by victims are being handled”.

But he was unable to reveal how much had been paid out to victims, saying the commission responsible for handling the claims “works independently”.

The commission would report on its work after a year of…

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The Spanish Catholic Church announced February 27 that it has put in place its mechanism for compensating victims of sexual assaults committed by clergy. According to the press, the commission began its work at the end of last year.

The Spanish Catholic Church, criticized for years for its inaction regarding sexual assaults committed by clergy, announced that it has put in place its compensation mechanism.

“The comprehensive reparation plan for victims of abuse is operational (…) Cases presented by congregations, dioceses, or directly by victims are already being handled,” declared Auxiliary Bishop Francisco García Magán of Toledo, secretary general of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), during a February 27 press conference.

However, he did not specify how long the mechanism has been operational and said he did not know how much compensation has already been granted, as the commission responsible for awarding them “operates autonomously.”

Further reading: In Spain, church…

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Mobile pastor Bradrick Vail, who was accused of raping two women in Prichard and Mobile, has been found guilty on seven counts of the lesser charge of sexual misconduct.

The jury deliberated over parts of two days before returning the verdict.

Investigators say he met both alleged victims through his church, Tree of Life Deliverance Ministries on Stanton Road.

The two women testified that he sexually assaulted them.

Vail had been charged with three counts of first-degree rape, one count of first-degree sodomy and three counts of first-degree sexual abuse. Those are all felonies.

But the jury opted to convict on misdemeanors charges, meaning the maximum punishment is one year in jail on each count.

Mobile County Circuit Judge Jill Phillips allowed Vail to remain free on bond until sentencing, which she set for April 7.

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Law enforcement officials in New Jersey have arrested 64-year-old Charles B. Brinson, on charges that claim he molested a teen who passed out after Brinson, allegedly, gave the victim an ‘unknown substance’

Law enforcement officials have arrested a 64-year-old pastor at a church in Trenton, NJ, on charges that claim he molested a teen.

According to police, Charles B. Brinson, pastor of the Brinson Memorial Church on Brinson Avenue in Trenton, NJ, has been arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child following separate incidents that, allegedly, happened earlier this year.

Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673.

Police officials said they were contacted by the alleged 16-year-old victim who claimed that on separate occasions in January and February of this year, while at Brinson’s home, the…

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Former federal parliamentarian Jessika Soors has been appointed National Coordinator for the fight against sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

The Dignity Foundation, created by the Church to handle reports of sexual violence by religious leaders, announced her appointment on Wednesday.

Soors, 36, was briefly a Groen parliamentarian before resigning in 2020 to join the office of then Secretary of State for Gender Equality Sarah Schlitz as her political director.

She then moved to the Flemish administration, where she worked on recognising local religious communities.

Soors’ role will involve coordinating and independently implementing the Catholic Church’s policies against sexual violence.

Archbishop Luc Terlinden of Mechelen-Brussels described her as a key figure in the Church’s renewed action plan to combat sexual abuse within pastoral relationships.

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A former Sioux Falls pastor is in the Minnehaha County Jail facing sex charges.

52-year-old Patrick Anderson is accused of having unwanted sexual contact with four different people, between April and August of last year.

In one case he’s also charged with raping the victim.

According to court records, he used to go by the name of Patrick Boll.

KELOLAND News did a story with him in 2016 when he was the pastor of a local Baptist church.
He told us about a program he started to help women in abusive relationships.

“I have a heart for women, for children, for people that have been pushed out of a bully position really that they just need someone to fight for them,” Anderson said in the 2016 story.

Authorities issued a warrant for Anderson’s arrest last week. He was booked into jail this morning, where he is being held on a $10,000…

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A former Sioux Falls pastor was arrested on Tuesday for charges of rape and sexual contact.

Patrick Michael Anderson has pled not guilty to one count of rape in the fourth degree and four counts of sexual contact without consent.

According to court documents, the charges the 52-year-old faces stem from incidents that occurred between April and August of 2024 and involve four different victims.

The Restoration Baptist Church of Sioux Falls confirmed to Dakota News Now that Anderson, who is also known as Patrick Boll, was a pastor at the church, but was fired in 2023.

According to Call to Freedom, a local human trafficking advocacy organization, Anderson ran a program for women coming out of trafficking situations called House of Boaz. Call to Freedom urges any women who came into contact with Anderson to call 605-759-3565 for assistance.

The rape charge is a Class 3 felony and is…

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A Colorado man accused of sexually assaulting a child while working as a youth pastor in Wisconsin Rapids more than 20 years ago is expected to reach a plea agreement in his case.

James Lane, 52, of Centennial, Colo., is charged with repeated sexual assault of a child.

Investigators the charge stems from a report made to the Clergy and Faith Leader Abuse Initiative. According to a news release, the victim in this case had not reported the assault to either church or legal authorities prior to reporting through the tip website.

According to a news release, Lane was working at Faith Reformed Church in Wisconsin Rapids when he assaulted the victim in his vehicle while driving the victim home. When interviewed by Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation special agents, Lane allegedly stated that he had a “relationship” with a girl in the youth group that got…

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A new court date has been set for a former Romanian Orthodox priest, charged in connection with a historical sexual assault in the Russell area.

Last June, Russell RCMP say a woman in her 60’s reported that a priest at a church in Lennard, Manitoba, had sexually assaulted her multiple times over the course of two years, in the early 1970’s.

The victim was between the ages of 11 and 12 at the time of the alleged assaults.

81-year-old Constantin Turcoane of Regina, had his matter heard in Russell Provincial Court yesterday (Wed), where it was adjourned to April 23.

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Three children sexually abused by their father asked the Arizona Court of Appeals to reverse a summary judgment action clearing the children’s physician, who didn’t report the abuse because it was disclosed to him under religious confession.

The children’s attorney argued Tuesday that John Herrod — bishop of a small Mormon congregation in Bisbee, Arizona — waived his clergy-pertinent privilege to keep the abuser’s confession confidential when he told the children’s mother about the abuse. The plaintiffs asked the court to reverse a lower ruling that says Herrod never waived that privilege. 

Paul Adams sexually abused all six of his children for at least seven years until his arrest, confession and subsequent suicide in 2017. He regularly raped Jane Doe 1, now 15, when she was as young as six years old and posted videos to the internet, which eventually led to his demise.

In 2021,  View Cache

Apologist Michael Brown, who’s under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct, was honored with a standing ovation at a conference last weekend at Mercy Culture Church, where Brown serves as an apostolic elder.

In his message at the Presence Driven Church Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, Mercy Culture Pastor Landon Schott equated the allegations against Brown with “gossip and slander.”

Schott also warned pastors that an “accuser of the brethren is going after men of God that have given their lives to build the kingdom.”

Then, directly addressing Brown, who was sitting in the first row, Schott exclaimed, “Dr. Brown, we honor you! We celebrate you! And this Presence Driven Church and community of pastors is behind you!”

The approximately 1,500 pastors and attendees in the room rose to their feet cheered for Brown for nearly a minute.

Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold…

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CANTON − A Stark and Wayne County pastor is accused of kidnapping and sexually abusing a minor during a camping trip last year in Ashland County.

The Rev. Jesse Santos, 59, pastor of the Canton Seventh-day Adventist Church in Plain Township, was initially arrested by Stark County sheriff’s deputies on Feb. 15 and held at the jail in lieu of bond for the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office, where the complaint originated.

Santos faces charges of kidnapping, a first-degree felony; two counts of gross sexual imposition, a fourth-degree felony; sexual imposition, a third-degree misdemeanor, and endangering children, a first-degree misdemeanor.

The charges allege Santos, who lives in Lake Township, took a 14-year-old girl against her will and had sexual contact with her on Sept. 17 and 18 while camping in Ashland County.

He was arraigned Tuesday by Ashland County Common Pleas Magistrate Emily Bates.

Santos, who remained in the Ashland County…

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COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — Germany’s Catholic Church has sharply criticized a carnival float made for a big street parade in the western city of Cologne that linked Jesus with the church abuse scandal.

The float, which was unveiled Tuesday, shows an altar boy in front of a confessional with an arm sticking out and an outstretched hand luring the boy inside. On the side of the confessional, bold letters read “Jesus loves you.”

The Cologne archdiocese condemned the float as “tasteless.”

“The inscription on the confessional — ‘Jesus loves you’ — directly associates Jesus, the Son of God, with the abuse,” it wrote in a letter published Tuesday on its website.

“It is suggested that Jesus himself is sitting in the confessional and wants to pull the altar boy into it with a wave of his hand; at the very least, Jesus is being instrumentalized here,” the letter said.

The floats for…

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[SEE VIDEO.]

John Robert Doty, 32, was a teacher at Archbishop Murphy High School and was found with pornographic footage of children as young as 1 year old.

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The Spiritan congregation has now paid out €8.8 million (£7.28 million) to 125 victims of clerical sexual abuse in the Republic of Ireland, according to recent reports.

The Irish Times reports that between 1998 and 2022, the religious order, formerly known as the Holy Ghost Fathers, made payments totalling €5.4 million in settlements to 73 survivors.

In November 2022, a harrowing radio documentary was released by national broadcaster RTÉ detailing abuse perpetrated by members of the religious order at Blackrock College in Dublin, a prestigious private all-boys boarding school.

The documentary follows the stories of brothers Mark and David Ryan, who were repeatedly abused at the college by multiple perpetrators.

The release of the documentary sparked a wave of allegations, with hundreds of men coming forward with similar accounts of experiencing abuse at Spiritan-run schools.

It also paved the way for the Scoping Inquiry, led by Senior Counsel Mary O’Toole, which examined sexual abuse…

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An allegation of sexual abuse against a priest who went on to become a bishop appears to have been reported to “senior figures” in the church 17 years before it was passed to police.

The alleged victim of Anthony Pierce, believed to have been under 18 at the time, had died by the time the church contacted the police in 2010.

This meant the allegation of sexual assault made in 1993 could not be investigated. It only came to light after the former bishop of Swansea and Brecon admitted five counts of indecent assault on a child in another case.

The Church in Wales said an independent review had begun into the separate allegation of Pierce’s “improper (and possible criminal) conduct”.

South Wales Police said: “Sadly, in this specific case the victim had passed away in 2010 when allegations were made of abuse.

“Therefore we are not able to progress…

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The Dicastery for Legislative Texts issued guidance to bishops last year, which said that canon law prohibits published lists denoting clerics “credibly accused” of sexual abuse crimes.

In a letter likely to spark backlash from some victims’ advocates, the dicastery said that such lists can violate fundamental legal rights when published.

The Vatican department, which responsible for issuing authoritative legal interpretations for the universal Church, issued its directives in a September 2024 letter published online by the dicastery on Feb. 22.

The Dicastery for Legislative Texts is the most recent Vatican department to criticize or prohibit the practice of dioceses releasing lists of “credibly accused” clergy. Both the Dicasteries for the Doctrine of the Faith and for Clergy — and Pope Francis personally — have previously warned against the practice.

Many dioceses in the United States adopted the practice of publishing lists in the wake of the clerical abuse scandals…

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Stephen Adams says a Catholic priest sexually assaulted him more than 60 years ago, and he has thought about it every day since.

The priest, Gerald Burns, cornered Adams in the rectory at the Church of St. Dominic in Wilkes-Barre. Adams was 11 years old, and can still picture the view he had while it happened: the crucifix the church used for Good Friday services.

“I still think, why didn’t I punch him?” Adams said recently. “Why didn’t I literally bust his lip?”

Burns was never charged with a crime, and continued working in various churches in the Scranton diocese for another three decades. In 1994, a woman accused him of having abused her husband in the 1950s, and the bishop urged him to retire. Burns denied the allegation but agreed to leave, and died five years later.

Adams, who requested a pseudonym for this story, keenly felt the lack…

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Seton Hall students are juggling academics, internships, and extracurriculars, but for some, another major concern looms: the controversy surrounding the leader of their university.

As described last week in The Setonian, the university has been disputing allegations that President Msgr. Joseph Reilly failed to properly report allegations of sexual misconduct at SHU’s Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology (ICS) and the College Seminary at St. Andrew’s Hall during his time as the leader of those seminaries.

While many students chose not to comment on the situation, those who did expressed concern.

Michael Parisi, a graduate supply chain management major who said he first heard of the Msgr. Reilly allegations from The Setonian’s Instagram, connected it to other scandals that the university has faced during his four years at SHU. These issues ranged from an embezzlement scheme at the law school to the surprise resignation of and subsequent lawsuit filed by former president Dr. Joseph…

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The Church of England says it is initiating disciplinary proceedings against 10 members of clergy following a review of evidence in the report into the prolific abuser, John Smyth.

Among those facing action are former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey and Rev Andrew Cornes – who was due to be on the committee picking the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

Smyth, who died in 2018, used horrific violence to attack boys at his Winchester home in the 1970s and 1980s, the Makin Review into his abuse found.

Justin Welby, who stepped down as Archbishop of Canterbury earlier this year because of the scandal, is among several senior figures not facing action because of “insufficient evidence” for disciplinary proceedings.

• Church covered up ‘abhorrent’ abuse, report finds

Also not facing action but coming under criticism in the Makin Review are four serving bishops – the current Bishop of Lincoln Stephen Conway, Bishop…

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An allegation of sexual abuse against a priest who went on to become a bishop appears to have been reported to “senior figures” in the church 17 years before it was passed to police.

The alleged victim of Anthony Pierce, believed to have been under 18 at the time, had died by the time the church contacted the police in 2010.

This meant the allegation of sexual assault made in 1993 could not be investigated. It only came to light after the former bishop of Swansea and Brecon admitted five counts of indecent assault on a child in another case.

The Church in Wales said an independent review had begun into the separate allegation of Pierce’s “improper (and possible criminal) conduct”.

South Wales Police said: “Sadly, in this specific case the victim had passed away in 2010 when allegations were made of abuse.

“Therefore we are not able to progress…

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He is one of 10 people named regarding potential failures in handling abuse allegations.

Former archbishop of Canterbury George Carey is among a number of clergy facing possible disciplinary action after a damning abuse report which prompted Justin Welby’s resignation.

Lord Carey was named in the Makin review, which concluded abuse carried out for decades by Christian camp leader John Smyth was known about and not acted upon by various people within the Church.

Lord Carey resigned as a priest in December following an investigation into the Church of England’s handling of a separate sexual abuse case.

We know this will never undo the harm caused but the Church is committed to taking very seriously its response to the findings of the review as well as responding to its recommendations

Alexander Kubeyinje, Church safeguarding director

He is one of 10 clergy named by the Church’s national safeguarding team (NST) on…

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At his introductory press conference in April 2019 on the morning when Pope Francis had named him the new archbishop of Washington, then-Archbishop Wilton Gregory pledged to work to rebuild trust and foster healing in the archdiocese, which had been shaken by the clergy abuse crisis in a personal way.

In an opening statement, then-Archbishop Gregory said, “This is obviously a moment fraught with challenges – throughout our entire Catholic Church certainly, but nowhere more so than in this local faith community. And as in any family, challenges can only be overcome by a firmly articulated resolve and commitment to be better. To know Christ better. To love Christ better. To serve Christ better.”

In July 2018, former Washington archbishop Theodore McCarrick had resigned from the College of Cardinals and had been ordered to live a life of prayer and penance after allegations accusing him of abusing minors and engaging…

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It nearly played out as expected. Despite pleas from victims for a fully independent body to oversee safeguarding in the Church of England, the General Synod (its national assembly) last week opted for a compromise—enhancing oversight but stopping short of complete independence. Members of the Church’s parliament voted in favour of new measures to handle abuse complaints, a move aimed at rebuilding trust after multiple scandals. But for survivors who have long called for real accountability, the decision will likely feel like yet another case of the Church protecting its own.

The five-day Synod meeting unfolded against the backdrop of an unprecedented crisis for the Church of England. The abuse scandals have deepened an already severe loss of public confidence, compounding multiple crises that threaten the Church’s future. For centuries, it has presented itself as Britain’s moral compass—but its failure to protect vulnerable individuals has shattered that image. To many,…

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Abraham Molina, 44, was arrested by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office on charges of indecency with a child by sexual contact and aggravated sexual assault of a child. The arrest comes as authorities investigate a series of alleged child sex assaults in the Conroe area.

Former Church Worker Arrested for Child Sexual Assault in Montgomery County

Molina, who previously worked in churches in Tomball and Magnolia and may have volunteered in youth ministry, is accused of inappropriately touching an 8-year-old boy in Conroe in late 2024. The incident allegedly occurred when the child’s caregiver briefly left the room.

Upon Molina’s arrest, detectives discovered several past sexual assault reports involving him. These reports suggest multiple juvenile male victims of similar ages, all reportedly abused in a comparable manner.

Ongoing Investigation After Former Church Worker Charged with Child Sex Crimes

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office believes there may be additional victims, with…

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It was an emotional testimony from both alleged victims on Monday as they claimed they trusted Vail as their pastor.

The trial for a Mobile-area pastor accused of rape is underway.

Some of the details are disturbing…

Bradrick Vail faces three counts of 1st-degree rape, three counts of sexual abuse, and one count of 1st-degree sodomy.

Mobile area pastor charged with rape pleads ‘not guilty’

He was arrested last May after a Mobile County grand jury secretly indicted him.

Mobile Police called this an “extensive sexual assault investigation” with victims in both Mobile and Prichard.

Investigators say Vail met his alleged victims through his church.

Vail is the pastor of Tree of Life Deliverance Ministry on Stanton Road.

It was an emotional testimony from both alleged victims on Monday as they claimed they trusted him as their pastor.

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Last week, after the Southern Baptist Convention’s top CEO admitted that the development of a clergy abuser database was being sidelined, Karen Roudkovski asked this question:

“With no database, why the hotline?”

Why indeed?

Who does the hotline serve?

“I thought the original purpose was to funnel names over to the database,” said Roudkovski, who is a licensed professional counselor and the author of Understanding Spiritual Abuse.

Survivors were baited

Roudkovski didn’t get her ideas about the SBC’s sexual abuse hotline from out of the blue. Repeatedly, those who developed and promoted the hotline told us that one of its primary purposes was to gather information to assess: “Is this person credibly accused and should they be going on the database.”

Further, the abuse reform task force claimed it was going to hire personnel “to receive and investigate reports of abuse and mishandling abuse” in Southern Baptist churches, and told survivors…

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LONDON (AP) — A former leader of the Church of England is among several members of the clergy facing potential disciplinary action over the way the institution handled sexual abuse allegations, church officials said Tuesday.

George Carey, who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, resigned as a priest in December after media reports that he allowed the Rev. David Tudor, who had been banned over sexual abuse claims, to return to the priesthood in the 1990s.

The church’s national safeguarding team said it is seeking to bring disciplinary proceedings against Carey and nine other clergy over failures in a separate abuse case that has renewed anger over a lack of accountability among senior church leaders.

In November, the church published a damning independent report concluding that serial abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps was known about and not acted upon by various people in the church.

The…

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A youth pastor at Elevation Church in North Carolina has been fired following historic allegations of inappropriate conduct involving former students at Oaks Church in Texas.

Tim Somers has been dismissed from his role while an investigation is conducted into alleged misconduct dating back over a decade when he served at an Assemblies of God church in Texas.

To date, no charges have been filed against Somers.

“As soon as Elevation learned about these allegations, we reached out to local Texas authorities and immediately placed Tim on leave. No charges have been filed. But Tim understands how impactful these allegations are for his role in ministry and we have agreed he will no longer serve on staff,” Elevation Church said in a statement to The Christian Post.

The allegations against Somers have surfaced around the same time as those involving another former youth leader at Oaks Church, Jerry Nickerson.

Nickerson,…

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Catholicism is about more than sex and scandals

Is the character and identity of the Catholic Church best described by juxtaposing “the people of God” to “a monarchical line of popes”? Were Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI really opposed to “the spirit of Vatican II”? Did Pedro Arrupe, the former superior general of the Jesuits, “turn the order around”? Did the revelations of clerical sexual abuse cause “millions” to leave the Church? Did Pope John XXIII’s encyclical Pacem in terris help end the Cold War?

All these assertions are made by the journalist and author Mary Jo McConahay in her New York Times review of Philip Shenon’s Jesus Wept: Seven Popes and the Battle for the Soul of the Catholic Church. I have not read Shenon’s book, which, as McConahay describes it, is a familiar rehash of battles between so-called reformers and so-called traditionalists over the legacy of Vatican II. Evidently, Shenon…

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Former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey is among several clergy facing potential disciplinary action following a damning report on abuse perpetrated by John Smyth, a Christian leader and alleged serial abuser.

The disciplinary proceedings come after the Makin Review revealed extensive failures in safeguarding and holding accountable those aware of the abuse, the Church of England said.

Newsweek reached out to Carey for comment via email to his office in the House of Lords.

Why It Matters

The Church of England has been embroiled in a safeguarding crisis following revelations that senior clergy failed to take sufficient action to prevent abuse. The case of Smyth, who allegedly subjected boys and young men to physical and sexual abuse over decades, has drawn widespread condemnation and led to high-profile resignations, including that of former Archbishop Justin Welby.

Survivors have long called for accountability, arguing that the Church’s response has been…

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Tim Somers, a youth pastor with Steven Furtick’s Elevation Church in North Carolina, was fired from his role after he was accused of engaging in inappropriate conduct with former students at Oaks Church in Texas, where he served as an intern and staff member more than 10 years ago.

“Recently, allegations were brought forward about Tim Somers’ conduct while serving at a church in Texas approximately 12 years ago,” a spokesperson for Elevation Church told The Christian Post Monday.

“As soon as Elevation learned about these allegations, we reached out to local Texas authorities and immediately placed Tim on leave. No charges have been filed. But Tim understands how impactful these allegations are for his role in ministry and we have agreed he will no longer serve on staff.”

In a statement to CP Monday, Red Oaks Police Department Chief of Police Garland Wolf confirmed that…

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The Church of England will seek to bring disciplinary proceedings against 10 clerics including former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, it said on Tuesday, implementing recommendations from an abuse report last year.

The CoE, central to 85 million Anglicans worldwide, has been in crisis over safeguarding the vulnerable since the November report, which said ex-leader Justin Welby had taken insufficient action to stop one of the church’s most prolific serial abusers. Welby eventually stepped down over the findings.

Eight priests and a former bishop were also listed among those potentially facing disciplinary action in the CoE statement as the CoE concluded its own independent review into all clergy criticised in last year’s report.

That report found that the late John Smyth, a British lawyer who volunteered at Christian summer camps, subjected more than 100 boys and young men to “brutal and horrific” physical and sexual abuse over a 40-year period.

…

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A Miami federal jury found Michael Karl Geilenfeld, 73, guilty of sexually abusing six boys at an orphanage he owned in Haiti. Courtesy of Homeland Security Investigations

At 73, Michael Geilenfeld could have cut a plea deal to reduce his potentially long prison sentence on federal charges of sexually abusing numerous boys in Haiti.

But the American founder of a Port-au-Prince orphanage gambled on a jury trial in Miami federal court — and lost.

The 12-person jury found Geilenfeld guilty, after deliberating for only five hours on Thursday, of six counts of engaging in illicit sexual contact with minors in a foreign place and one count of traveling from Miami to Haiti for that purpose. He faces up to 30 years in prison on each of the charges at his May 5 sentencing before U.S. District Judge David Leibowitz.

READ MORE: American founder of orphanage in Haiti…

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Philip Shenon’s “Jesus Wept” looks at the church since World War II, with particular focus on the clerical abuse crisis and the ideological battles that followed the Second Vatican Council.

JESUS WEPT: Seven Popes and the Battle for the Soul of the Catholic Church, by Philip Shenon

The Roman Catholic Church defines itself as the “people of God,” a community of all the baptized — lay women and men, the clergy, prelates — and not as a monarchical line of popes.

Yet with sharp portrayals of the last seven men who have served as supreme pontiffs, Philip Shenon’s “Jesus Wept” delivers a compelling recent history of the 2,000-year-old institution whose leaders reach for heaven but often fall spectacularly, sadly, into the morass of mortal fallibility.

Popes grapple with heinous waves of clerical sex abuse. Bishops and laity grapple for control of papal agendas, and all grapple with the watershed reforms…

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Two victims denounced a leader of the church Comunidad Samaria and a member who was a minor at the time of the incidents. The regional evangelical council has joined the trial as a private prosecution.

An examining court in the Catalan town of Terassa is investigating a case of alleged sexual abuse committed in the evangelical church Comunidad Samaria.

Two complaints have been filed by two victims, against a group leader in charge of organising the church’s artistic performances and against a member of the community who was a minor at the time of the incidents.

According to the first complaint, the group leader “took advantage of his position to take young people to his house, where he forced them to perform sexual acts, threatening to expel them from the community if they reported him and accusing them that the minor was the aggressor”.

…

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What will be the effect of the second Trump administration on the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church and beyond? Trump’s record on abuse and his relationship with U.S. Cardinals force to wonder what the effects of his second term on the clergy sexual abuse crisis will be.

Dolan, Barron, Naumann, and other U.S. bishops endorse Trump at the expense of spreading lies about the role of other bishops supporting migrants, fostering distrust about their role in the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

One of the most imminent risks posed by what seems to be a coup d’ Etat in the United States at this point is the way many institutions are folding into whatever form the current regime desires.

This is relevant for the global clergy sexual abuse crisis not only because of the potential future of cases in the United States, up until now one of the…

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Bayrou has accused his critics of exploiting the scandal for political reasons

France’s prime minister was under increasing pressure Friday after a former teacher at a Catholic school claimed Francois Bayrou was aware of claims of sexual abuse there in the 1990s but did not act on them.

Bayrou has in recent days faced accusations from the opposition that as education minister in the mid-1990s he knew of widespread physical and sexual abuse at the Catholic boarding school to which he sent some of his children. 

Since last year, prosecutors have been investigating more than 100 complaints of violence, assault and rape over many decades at the Notre-Dame de Betharram school near the southwestern town of Pau where Bayrou has been mayor since 2014.

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A senior Catholic Bishop has apologised to the alleged victims of a deceased parish priest.

In a statement, the Bishop of Down and Connor, Alan McGuckian, said that his diocese had received several “credible allegations of sexual abuse” against Fr Patrick O’Neill.

The statement revealed that an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor was received by the diocese in 2004 and another similar allegation was made “recently”.

In addition three allegations of sexual abuse of adults, manipulation and abuse of power were made against Fr O’Neill and received by the diocese in 2003, 2005 and 2006.

Following the allegation made in 2004, Fr O’Neill was “stepped aside” from his ministry in the Parish of Arkeen in Kirkistown, County Down.

He remained permanently out of ministry until his death in November 2009.

‘Matter of deep regret’

Bishop McGuickian has said that at the time that Fr O’Neill was asked to…

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The Flemish recognition and mediation commission for victims of historical abuse wants to declare 23 February as the Day of the Forgotten Victim, reported newspaper De Zondag. A day earlier, 22 February, is listed as the European Day for the Victims of Crime.

Following testimonies of transgressive behaviour in youth and education institutions, a temporary recognition and mediation commission was set up in Flanders in 2014. Years later, in 2018, the Flemish parliament organised hearings with testimonies of sexual abuse, first from the sports sector and then in other sectors. Afterwards, the parliament drafted a decree to make the commission permanent and expand its scope. “As a society, we underestimate how destructive violence or abuse is for a child, also in their later life”

Since 2020, victims of transgressive behaviour in all relationships of authority, peer relations and in intrafamilial contexts can be heard by the commission. It deals with…

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Decision expected this week could determine if multiple child sexual abuse lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Diocese can go to trial

A federal bankruptcy judge in Albany is weighing whether to allow multiple child sexual abuse lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany to go to trial in order to “jump-start” what many attorneys for hundreds of alleged victims have said is a languishing attempt to reach a global settlement with the church and its insurers

“The only thing I’ve produced in the last 13 months is millions of dollars in professional fees,” Judge Robert E. Littlefield Jr. said during a conference last month. “It is getting somewhat frustrating that all I’m doing is approving fees. I’m not approving anything of substance. We’re just languishing on the sidelines. We need to jump-start the process or the case is heading to failure.”

After hearing objections from attorneys for multiple insurance…

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Catholic communities today are facing significant challenges. In addition to the clericalism that has been around for centuries, the Church is facing distrust because of the sexual abuse scandal, disappointment because of parish closures, and historic injustices such as colonization, slavery, racism, and violence against Native Americans.

The Catholic sex abuse scandal has shown the worst side of clericalism. The Church hierarchy chose to protect its clerics and the institution at all costs and at the expense of the most vulnerable. According to the 2004 John Jay Report, “The Nature and Scope of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests and Deacons in the United States 1950-2002,” sexual abuse of minors was widespread throughout the country. 

“The survey responses make it clear that the problem was indeed widespread and affected more than 95% of dioceses and approximately 60% of religious communities.”

According to the report, “approximately 4%…

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The Defendant Used the Church’s Computer to Access, View, and Download Material Depicting the Sexual Exploitation of Children

Ashley James Crouse, 53, of Granite Falls, N.C., was sentenced today to 120 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for possession and receipt of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), announced Lawrence J. Cameron, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Crouse was also ordered to register as a sex offender after he is released from prison.

Robert M. DeWitt, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, Roger “Chip” Hawley, Director of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), Sheriff Alan C. Jones of the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office, and Chief Reed Baer of the Hickory Police Department, join Acting U.S. Attorney Cameron in making today’s announcement.

According to court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, in April 2023, the National Center for Missing and Exploited…

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When Chris Graham slides his tablet across the table to show lawmakers the police report detailing his rape, he sees their faces change.

That’s because in the report, there’s the account of someone who remembers seeing the perpetrator, a Catholic priest, chasing after a 14-year-old Graham and then grabbing him and trying to get him to go back into a private room at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Powell.

It’s a powerful corroboration of his abuse in 1997 by the late Rev. Raymond Lavelle, Graham has found — as is the fact that the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus both declared the allegation credible. 

Now, he’s using it to raise awareness about clergy sexual abuse of minors and the Ohio laws that keep people like him from seeking justice.

‘There’s no escape’:  Memories of…

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The former Southern Baptist seminary professor who has admitted to lying to the FBI about documentation of alleged sexual abuse by a student should not be imprisoned for his crime, his attorney wrote in a letter to the judge Feb. 19.

Although marked as “unredacted and to be filed under seal,” the letter was published online by the X site SBCLitigation. It was addressed to federal judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who is presiding over the case.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 5 in New York. The Department of Justice has requested a $2,000 fine and one year of probation without incarceration.

Matt Queen already has suffered the consequences of his actions — which, his attorney says, were unintentional and nearly harmless — so “punishment that includes incarceration is not necessary,” attorney Sam Schmidt says in the letter.

Queen left the staff of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas,…

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A judicial investigation into charges of rape and sexual assault at the Notre-Dame de Bétharram school in southwestern France was opened against a former school employee Friday. French PM François Bayrou, whose children attended the school, has come under increasing scrutiny after a former teacher accused him and his wife of having turned a blind eye to years of abuse.

A judicial investigation was opened on Friday into charges of rape and sexual assault against one of the three men held in custody in connection with allegations of widespread physical and sexual abuse at the Notre-Dame de Bétharram school in southwestern France, the Pau public prosecutor’s office announced on Friday.

The suspect, a former monitor, was working at the school last year before being dismissed following the opening of the judicial investigation.

The other two men who were taken into custody on Wednesday were let go as the charges against them fell outside…

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Denomination revokes ministerial credentials

A former Church of God senior pastor in Tennessee has pleaded guilty and was sentenced to eight years in prison for possessing child sexual abuse images on his laptop.

Richard Lee Sentell of the defunct Cornerstone Church of God in Cleveland entered a guilty plea Friday to sexual exploitation of a minor. He received an eight-year sentence with the Tennessee Department of Corrections, according to the Tenth Judicial District Attorney General’s office. He is not eligible for parole. 

Sentell was arrested in December 2023 and subsequently suspended from all ministerial activities by the Tennessee Church of God, pending the outcome of his case. 

In a statement to The Christian Post, The Church of God Tennessee State Office stated that Sentell’s ministerial credentials have been “permanently revoked” as a result of this disposition. The denomination added that Cornerstone Church of God in Cleveland was…

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