ABUSE TRACKER

Anthony Odiong, accused of sexually abusing three female congregants in Waco, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison per charge.

The criminal trial of a Roman Catholic priest who ministered in Texas and southeast Louisiana and was charged with illicitly abusing his status as a clergyman to pursue sex with spiritually vulnerable female congregants began on Tuesday with jury selection.

Anthony Odiong, 57, faces five charges of first-degree sexual assault and two such counts in the second degree in a state courthouse in Waco, Texas, involving three women whom he met while working there.

He could receive life imprisonment if convicted on any of the first-degree charges at the end of a trial that could last a week or more. Second-degree sexual assault can carry between two and 20 years in prison as well as a maximum $10,000 fine.

The charges against Odiong were effectively prompted by  View Cache

An Iowa teacher was arraigned on charges related to alleged child sex crimes.

Andrew Roos, a teacher at Hempstead High School in Dubuque, allegedly tried to use, persuade or entice minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct, according to a federal indictment. Then, he would allegedly produce visual depictions that he distributed and possessed as child pornography.

According to documents, this happened at the school over “several” years.

Police said they took two pens with hidden cameras and a USB drive from Roos’ classroom.

Police also said he had AI-generated images of high school students from Dubuque.

The investigation started after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alerted law enforcement to potential child sexual abuse materials. Multiple victims were identified.

“Actions like those alleged have no place in our schools or community and, as a District, we share in this deep concern. It is clear from the charges…

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Editor’s note: this article outlines allegations of sexual offending, which may not be suitable for some readers. Discretion is advised.

Accused of orchestrating repeated incidents of sexual misconduct against two complainants in his Christian youth ministry, an anticipated lengthy BC Supreme Court trial is underway.

Ryan Richard James Morgan, 43, is charged with six counts related to alleged sexual offences involving a pair of female complainants, 15 and 18-years-old at the time, both of whom knew the accused through his role as a youth pastor at Generations Church on Princess Royal Ave. in Nanaimo.

The alleged violations against the younger victim occurred during two occasions in 2017 in Nanaimo and Bella Bella, amounting to four total charges.

Two other charges involve the second complainant, which centres on alleged offending by Morgan in 2020 in Nanaimo and Courtenay.

Crown prosecutor Tania Holland opened the trial by stating Morgan, who had first…

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Pastor Alonzo Diego Fuller Jr. has been in a Tarrant County jail since May 5. No bond is posted, and no amount is set. The charismatic church leader is facing a charge of sexual assault for a victim who is allegedly under the age of 18.

“And now my name is known to everybody in Texas,  it seems like,” Fuller said. “And I’m like, God, if this attack is that big, I can imagine the reward that will come back as long as I continue to stand faithful. I’m going to follow through until it’s finished.”

The 40-year-old spoke openly to his members about his August 31, 2025, arrest by Fort Worth Police at his Journey Fort Worth Church in a sermon last year.

“Before it all came out, I already had an idea that I was going to post my mug shot, put my mug shot up…

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SNAP Aotearoa warns proposed redress laws could create categories of “deserving” and “undeserving” survivors.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) in Aotearoa says the Government’s proposed Redress System for Abuse in Care Bill, which has now passed its second reading in Parliament, risks excluding some survivors from financial redress on the basis of later offending, creating what the organisation described as a discriminatory and survivor-excluding system.

Under the Bill, survivors of abuse in State or faith-based care who have served prison sentences for serious offending may be excluded from receiving redress. Clause 9 of the Bill provides that a “serious violent or sexual offender is not eligible for financial redress unless the redress officer appointed under section 10 determines under section 19 that financial redress should be made available to the person.”

SNAP says the policy is discriminatory, cruel, and a betrayal of the Royal Commission into…

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Though Pope Leo XIV’s nearly 43,000-word teaching document largely looks to the future, warning of the moral risks of humanity’s rapid entry into the age of artificial intelligence, it also revisited two of the church’s most fraught teachings from the past: slavery and war.

Throughout his first encyclical, titled Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), the pope used AI as an entry point to articulate the church’s position on broader social issues. 

Highlighting the “new forms of slavery” propagated by technological developments — including people condemned to data labeling, model training and content moderation, as well as those who labor to extract rare minerals for tech devices — Leo addressed the church’s own history of complicity with the slave trade. He stated that Catholics cannot “deny or diminish the delay with which both society and the Church came to denounce the scourge of slavery.”

“There is a subtle but important movement in the language…

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Paris schools under scrutiny as child abuse allegations surface, prompting widespread investigations and reforms.

France is confronting what prosecutors describe as the worst institutional child abuse scandal in its modern history, as criminal investigations spread through 114 Paris schools and nurseries where children as young as three were allegedly raped, beaten and denied food by the very workers paid to protect them. What began as a local outrage has now engulfed the entire capital, exposing systemic failures in the safeguarding of some of France’s youngest pupils.

The scandal has been building since January 2026, when France 2’s investigative programme Cash Investigation broadcast hidden-camera footage of a monitor at a Paris nursery screaming at toddlers and threatening to leave them without food. That broadcast prompted twelve immediate suspensions. Since then, the number of institutions under investigation has expanded to encompass 84 nursery schools, around 20 primary schools and approximately ten crèches…

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France is confronting one of its most serious child-protection scandals in recent years after authorities confirmed investigations into nearly 100 allegations of abuse across preschools, primary schools and daycare centres.

France is facing growing scrutiny over child safety within its public education system after prosecutors confirmed investigations into dozens of schools and childcare facilities linked to allegations of abuse involving young children. According to French authorities, investigations are currently under way in 84 preschools, around 20 primary schools and approximately 10 daycare centres in Paris alone. The cases involve allegations ranging from physical mistreatment and neglect to sexual assault and rape, with some complaints involving children as young as three years old.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said investigators are examining nearly one hundred reports connected to alleged misconduct by school monitors, adults employed by local authorities to supervise children during lunch breaks, naps and after-school activities. Several cases have already…

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Roughly six months have passed since a federal judge confirmed the multimillion-dollar bankruptcy plan to settle hundreds of clergy sex abuse claims against the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Some survivors of alleged sex abuse say it is taking too long to receive their share of the settlement.

Johnny Krummel says clergy sexually and physically abused him when he was a boy at the Madonna Manor Orphanage in the 1980s. He is among the many claimants awaiting payment.

“I mean, it’s been frustrating because, you know, you can’t get too many answers and, you know, it’s just taking a while,” Krummel said.

Attorney Richard Trahant represented 75 survivors in the bankruptcy, which took more than five years to settle. He says some survivors have been dealing with decadeslong trauma and are now being forced to wait for compensation.

“If you remember payments were actually slated to begin at the end of…

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The bigger questions are about the kind of work the network would support for women and the resources available

The Catholic bishops in the Philippines have established offices to create a network of women in dioceses nationwide, aiming to ensure greater participation of women in the Church.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Office on Women launched this network in the conference’s Manila headquarters on May 22.

Bishop Isabelo Abarquez, who heads the conference’s Office on Women, said they established this network because many dioceses lack women’s offices or have limited coordination with the conference.

Of the 84 dioceses in the country, only 14 have fully or partially established women’s offices, according to data the Office on Women shared with UCA News on May 25.

In other dioceses, similar ministries “are newly set up as separate offices or are temporarily included in other ministries…

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• Summary

• Pope Leo says Church was slow to condemn slavery
• Pope offers clearest apology yet for Church role
• Calls the legacy “a wound in Christian memory”

Pope Leo on ​Monday issued the clearest apology yet from a pontiff for the Catholic Church’s ‌role in slavery, acknowledging both its delay in condemning the practice and its historic involvement in legitimising it.

In a key passage of his first papal encyclical, Leo said the Church had taken centuries to fully recognise “the ​scourge of slavery” as incompatible with human dignity, calling the legacy “a wound in Christian ​memory.”

“For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for ⁠pardon,” he wrote in the wide-ranging manifesto, expressing “deep sorrow” for the suffering endured by enslaved ​people.

Leo acknowledged that Church authorities had, at times, responded to rulers by regulating and legitimising ​forms of subjugation, including…

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In Peru, Cardinal Carlos Castillo, with Pope Leo XIV’s support, acknowledged the scale of abuse at the Sodalitium of Christian Life.

But gestures from the Catholic Church leadership are dime a dozen. Without real commitment from the governments, it is hard to put an end to abuse.

Whether in Peru with the Sodalitium, in Mexico with the Luz del Mundo Church or elsewhere, abuse is only possible if the government allows it to happen.

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May is coming to an end with an avalanche of news and developments hard to dismiss if one wants to understand the reach of the clergy sexual abuse crisis in Latin America. Sadly, unlike what happens in the United States, Canada, France, Germany and more recently Spain, the news is not always auspicious.

For the most part, as the last two installments of this series proved, the key issue is how Latin American countries lack…

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A high-profile alleged sexual abuse case within a wealthy Thai beer brewing family has prompted a wave of painful accounts from survivors of unconnected abuse in the conservative country.

Siranudh Scott, a fourth-generation member of the billionaire Thai family that founded the ubiquitous Singha beer brand, posted an emotional video this month accusing his older brother Sunit of repeatedly abusing him when he was a teenager.

Sunit, who is in his 30s, later denied the allegations in a video clip posted online, but Singha parent Boonrawd dismissed him from his executive role with the company on Tuesday.

“I felt I needed to speak out, otherwise I would have been dead inside,” Siranudh, known locally as Psi, told AFP late last week.

Siranudh said in a second interview on Sunday that the alleged sexual abuse occurred from when he was nine to 13 years old, every time his brother returned home…

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In 2004, Washington became the first state in the country to enact a “Don’t Pass the Trash” law, seeking to prohibit public school districts from allowing K-12 teachers accused of sexual misconduct from quietly resigning and moving on to teach elsewhere.

The law requires school districts to request information from previous employers regarding an educator’s past sexual misconduct, and it bans school districts from entering into contracts or agreements that hide related information. The legislation became a model for other states. As of October 2024, 18 states have enacted similar legislation.

But recent reporting by InvestigateWest has shown how some Washington K-12 public schools and higher education institutions have circumvented that and other state laws meant to prevent educators accused of misconduct from teaching elsewhere. Districts have allowed teachers to resign without formal discipline on their records, have utilized confidentiality clauses and settlement agreements that kept misconduct quiet, and have…

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Organizers say listening centers are not meant to replace confessionals, which will not be installed at a papal youth event

Confessionals will not be set up during a youth prayer vigil and other events of Pope Leo’s trip to Spain next month, while “listening centers” will be available for young people who wish to speak with lay pastoral workers dispatched as “listening agents.”

But a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Madrid, which is organizing the visit, told The Pillar that the listening centers are not meant to replace confession, which is available in the city’s parishes and churches.

Meanwhile, sources close to the trip’s planning told The Pillar that some organizers had proposed installing confessionals, but the idea failed to gain traction among archdiocesan planners.

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In a May 19 press conference, Madrid’s archdiocesan communications director Sara de la Torre said that the listening centers were thought of especially for “young people, who will be received…

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Frequent confession was once normal—monthly, biweekly, or even weekly. But it became rarer among Catholics formed from the 1970s through the 1990s. Today, many Catholics go to confession only after major moral failures or when life feels spiritually overwhelming. 

Strictly speaking, confession is only required for mortal sins, and there was an emphasis on that fact in seminary formation and catechesis after the Second Vatican Council. Some years ago, a friend reported to me that her parish priest tersely instructed the faithful, “Don’t waste my time in the confessional with your little sins.” Historically, however, many Catholics confessed venial sins regularly. Confession was not merely emergency treatment; it was ordinary spiritual medicine. What changed?

The postconciliar period rightly sought to move away from what many perceived as a thoughtless “assembly line” mentality in the confessional—as though the sacrament were merely a spiritual car wash. There was increased attention given to…

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Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire has acknowledged “systemic” failings as investigators probe allegations of child abuse by non-teaching staff at more than 100 nurseries and primary schools in the French capital. The scandal has shocked the public and exposed major shortfalls in child protection and accountability.

French police carried out a wave of arrests over suspicions of child abuse at schools in central Paris on Wednesday, dramatically accelerating the authorities’ response to a scandal that has shaken the French capital and undermined faith in its schools.

Officers from the Brigade de protection des mineurs, a child protection unit, detained 16 people with links to a nursery school in the 7th arrondissement (district) of Paris, one of several establishments rocked by allegations of child abuse in the capital’s after-school care system, known as périscolaire.

The suspects were held on an array of charges including “rape of minors”, “sexual assault of minors” and “violence against minors”,…

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Jury selection in the sexual assault trial of former Central Texas Catholic priest Anthony Odiong is set to begin Tuesday morning in Waco’s 19th State District Court.

Odiong, 57, a native of Nigeria, is charged with five first-degree felony counts of sexual assault and two second-degree felony counts of sexual assault involving three of his former parishioners who sought his spiritual guidance.

Odiong, a former priest in West, Waco, Louisiana and Florida, is charged with “exploiting his parishioners’ emotional dependency upon him as a spiritual adviser and engaging in sexual conduct with them,” according to court documents.

Sexual assault normally is a second-degree felony. However, it can be charged as a first degree, punishable by up to life in prison, if a defendant is prohibited under the bigamy statute from marrying the victim. Some of Odiong’s alleged victims are married.

While at least nine alleged victims have come forward since his…

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Richard Trahant appeals to supreme court after he was fined $400,000 for helping get priest removed from school – and the record of his sanction was placed under seal

Roman Catholic priest Paul Hart had admitted to inappropriate conduct with a teenage girl; been accused of rape by one woman, which he denied; and faced rumors of sexually harassing another when New Orleans’s archbishop assigned him to be a high school chaplain in 2017.

When an attorney representing survivors of a clergy abuse scandal that drove the city’s archdiocese into bankruptcy learned about Hart’s past, he took steps to get him removed from the Brother Martin high school, an all-boys institution that draws dance team members from a girls-only college preparatory school.

A federal judge presiding over the church’s bankruptcy fined the lawyer, Richard Trahant, more than $400,000.

Two higher courts have left that 2022 sanction in place. So now Trahant has…

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The Court of Málaga is trying a priest this week who the Prosecutor’s Office accuses of alleged sexual abuse of several women with whom he maintained a friendship —four of them have filed a complaint—, after allegedly sedating them and recording those moments on video while they were unconscious. The public prosecution is seeking a total sentence of 72 years in prison for him.

The oral hearing begins this Monday and will continue on the 27th, 28th, and 29th, as indicated by the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA). The specific date for the defendant’s interrogation will be set during the course of the hearing, in which the appearance of 16 witnesses is scheduled, including the women who reported the alleged abuse.

Also summoned on the specified dates are about twenty National Police officers, and forensic medical expert reports, as well as police officials proposed by the prosecution —Prosecutor’s…

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Court documents obtained by KGW provide more details about why Longview Public Schools Superintendent Karen Cloninger is accused of stifling an internal investigation into a series of reported sexual assaults involving Mark Morris High School students.

Cloninger, who was arrested Thursday and appeared in court for the first time Friday, told district employees to “figure this out” and to do it quietly and internally, threatening that it would otherwise be a “career killer,” according to an affidavit from a Longview Police Department investigator. A district employee was also told that the likely recourse for two students accused of a series of sexual assaults would be short-term suspensions, according to the affidavit.

Cloninger faces a felony charge of tampering with a witness, along with misdemeanor charges of failure to report and obstructing a law enforcement officer. During Friday’s hearing in Cowlitz County Superior Court in Kelso,…

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After years of allegations of land dispossession by a now-dissolved Catholic group, the highest ecclesiastical authorities in the Andean country on Saturday held a symbolic reparation ceremony for the Indigenous people whose land was taken away.

The Peru-based Sodalitium Christianae Vitae was dissolved din 2025 by the late Pope Francis, after years of attempts at reform and a Vatican investigation that uncovered sexual abuses by its founder, financial mismanagement by its leaders and spiritual abuses by its top members.

The ceremony in Peru took place before the Indigenous people of Tallán, in the northern community of Catacaos.

“We are here to ask for your forgiveness in the name of the Church,” Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, apostolic commissioner who was in charge of the dissolution process of the Sodalitium, said before a packed church. “We are late. We should have come 20 years ago, and we are truly sorry.”

The Sodalitium was founded…

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After one three-week delay, the trial of Antony Odiong accused of sexual assault and fathering a child is set to begin Tuesday in 19th District Court.

The former Catholic priest has been indicted on three counts of sexual assault by a McLennan County grand jury.

Prosecutors earlier obtained a ruling consolidating all of the charges against Odiong into one trial.

Anthony Odiong served as a Catholic priest at St. Peters Catholic Student Center in Waco, as well as St. Mary`s of the Assumption in West from 2007 to 2012. Investigators say they also know that Anthony Odiong served in Luling, Louisiana from around 2015 to 2023.

Odiong has been in the McLennan County Jail since August 2024, after being brought to Waco from Ave Maria, Florida where he had been arrested in July of 2024 by the Florida Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force on a charge of possession of child…

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The Diocese of Ogdensburg has reached a settlement that will pay a total of $45 million to the victims of child sexual abuse in the church. 

The settlement was announced May 19 and will seek to resolve more than 100 claims of sexual abuse. 

“The Diocese of Ogdensburg is committed to ensuring the safety of all persons entrusted to our care,” said Bishop Terry R. LaValley.  “The great harm that has been caused by this sinful behavior must never be allowed to happen again. It is my sincere hope that this process has brought the survivors some comfort and peace.” 

The Diocese filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in July 2023, before the United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of New York to resolve 125 claims of child sexual abuse filed against the Diocese under the Child’s Victim Act.  The Committee was appointed by the U.S. Trustee to represent all…

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The diocese, which plans to close 13 parishes, is seeking approval of a $180 million settlement concerning child sex abuse dating back decades.

Amid rising child sex abuse payouts and an ongoing bankruptcy, Diocese of Oakland has announced it will close 13 parishes, including a Catholic church founded in 1878 that is connected to African-American Catholics.

St. Patrick’s Church in West Oakland is among the churches across California’s East Bay that the diocese says have seen declining Mass attendance as well as financial struggles, compounded by a priest shortage.

“The status quo is not sustainable nor is it serving God’s people,” said Bishop Michael C. Barber, SJ in a letter to the faithful on April 28.

“As I have full responsibility for the pastoral care of every Catholic in our diocese, it is my priority to ensure all affected parishioners are welcomed…

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In his day job, criminal defense lawyer Matthew LaMountain is representing a former Ponaganset High teacher accused of sexual misconduct with one or more students.

As the chairman of the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee, LaMountain is leading a drive for a Supreme Court opinion – in lieu of a long-sought Senate vote in the waning days of this legislative session – on House-passed legislation to allow child sex-abuse victims to sue the Catholic Church and other institutions that failed to protect them from pedophiles.

“It’s hard for me to wrap my head around Sen. Matt LaMountain currently defending a school teacher indicted for sexual assault of her minor student, while simultaneously stonewalling our bill which would give victims of such crimes a road to justice,” clergy abuse victim Ann Webb told The Journal earlier this week.

“It certainly gives the appearance of a conflict…

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Long before an Assemblies of God pastor was convicted of rape, children told church leaders about hidden cameras, drugged drinks and abuse, a new lawsuit says.

This article is part of “Pastors and Prey,” a series investigating sex abuse allegations in the Assemblies of God.

More than a decade before police found dozens of videos of naked children on the computer of longtime children’s pastor Tony Waller, girls at his Assemblies of God church in Arkansas repeatedly warned adults about what was happening behind closed doors, according to a lawsuit filed this week.

The sweeping civil complaint, filed by six women in Craighead County Circuit Court, accuses Refuge Church in Jonesboro, along with regional and national leaders of the Assemblies of God, of dismissing reports of Waller’s abuses — enabling him to groom, molest and secretly film girls for 15 years.

When…

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The FIFA Men’s World Cup could lead to a rise in human trafficking and sexual exploitation, according to the Catholic Church in Mexico.

More than five million visitors are expected to visit the country as three cities host matches. The tournament is being played across Mexico, the United States and Canada. 

The Archdiocese of Mexico has released a statement warning that “risks may increase” regarding “human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and other forms of violence”, with particular concern for women and children. 

While sporting events “present an opportunity for encounter, togetherness, fraternity, and cultural exchange”, they can be abused by “criminal networks that operate through deception, manipulation, coercion, exploitation, and the abuse of individuals”, the statement said. 

The Archdiocese has called on authorities to “strengthen prevention, early detection, responsible reporting, and the protection of potential victims during this period”. 

Christians have been encouraged to raise awareness of the issue and “speak…

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The provisional agreement bans AI tools used to create nonconsensual intimate imagery and abuse material, drawing immediate welcome from European bishops and ethicists.

EU lawmakers have agreed to ban AI “nudifier” applications and systems used to generate child sexual abuse material, a move welcomed by faith leaders and ethicists ahead of Pope Leo XIVʼs first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, on human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence, scheduled for release on May 25.

‘An attack on human dignity’

Speaking to EWTN News, Irish Member of European Parliament Michael McNamara, one of the European Parliamentʼs lead lawmakers on the AI Act, said negotiators pushed for an outright ban on systems used to generate nonconsensual intimate imagery and AI-generated child sexual abuse material, which he described as “an attack on the fundamental rights of real people, particularly the inviolability of human dignity and the right to privacy.”

McNamara previously participated in…

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A Perry County LifeWise volunteer was immediately removed from the program after he was arrested in connection with the rape of a minor, one of three former Ohio LifeWise affiliates charged with sex crimes against a minor in the last six weeks.

Northern Local LifeWise chapter volunteer William VanSickle was arrested in mid-April and pleaded guilty to one count of rape and two counts of sexual battery against a minor. LifeWise, a religious release program that legally provides public school students with biblical education off-campus during the school day, said VanSickle was immediately removed from his position once the Hilliard-based organization learned of his crimes.

Just weeks after VanSickle’s arrest, Muskingum County pastor and former LifeWise teacher Christopher Riggs pleaded guilty to voyeurism and gross sexual imposition, also with a minor victim.

On Wednesday, the Miami County Sheriff’s Office said it received…

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Nathanael Greene Academy, which operated since 1959, permanently closed amid fallout from the investigation into two teachers

A former Georgia Christian school teacher was sentenced Monday to 12 years in prison after admitting she sexually abused a 15-year-old student in a scandal that shut down the private academy.

Sherri Delle Mauldin, 61, pleaded guilty in Greene County Superior Court and was also sentenced to 25 years of probation and ordered to register as a sex offender.

The case centered on allegations that Mauldin abused a teenage boy while she worked at Nathanael Greene Academy, a private Christian school in Siloam, Georgia. Prosecutors said the abuse happened over the course of a month and involved multiple sexual encounters in different locations.

“What we had here was a 15-year-old child, and let’s call it what it is — a 60-year-old adult,” Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney T. Wright…

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Christian Vargas, 22, was arrested for the third time today at the Alachua County Criminal Courthouse for failing to appear at his scheduled arraignment earlier this month.

Vargas currently faces three separate criminal cases for lewd/lascivious behavior. Police reports describe him sexually abusing girls between the ages of 12 and 15 while he was between the ages of 16 and 18 at Ignite Life Center Church.

Vargas was arrested and charged as an adult for two of the cases in 2023 while he was charged in the third case in 2025 within juvenile court. Earlier this year, Vargas’ third case was transferred to felony court, prompting him to be arrested again and post bond a second time.

Vargas’ Cases (Alachua County Court Records)

Vargas’ father, Mark Vega, faces a count of failing to report suspected child abuse while serving as senior pastor at Ignite Life Center…

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Editor’s Note: This article has been modified to reflect changes in the charges Andrew Miller is on trial for. Shortly before trial, prosecutors lost contract with one of the two accusers, leading the State to dismiss three counts of the five counts originally filed against Miller.

The trial of Andrew Miller, a convicted conman and church pastor accused of raping a woman, is now in the hands of the jury following closing arguments delivered Thursday afternoon.

State prosecutors discussed the evidence presented, stating, “There was phone and computer analysis done, and there was DNA testing. Was this really a lacking investigation?” This marked a heated fourth day of testimony in the case against Miller, who faces charges of raping a woman at Albuquerque’s New Hope Church three years ago. Prosecutors allege that he posed as a producer of a reality show and sent out fraudulent messages attempting to hire models.

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Disgraced former Central Texas Catholic priest Anthony Odiong is set to stand trial next week after a judge denied defense motions to postpone the trial for a second time and to suppress evidence of alleged child pornography found on Odiong’s phone before his arrest two years ago in Florida.

Odiong, 57, who remains jailed in lieu of bonds totaling $5.5 million, is set to stand trial beginning Tuesday in Waco’s 19th State District Court on seven counts of sexual assault involving three of his alleged nine victims.

One of his alleged victims has told authorities Odiong, a Nigerian native, is the father of her child, an allegation confirmed through DNA testing, officials have said.

Odiong, a former priest in West, Louisiana and Florida, is charged with “exploiting his parishioners’ emotional dependency upon him as a spiritual adviser and engaging in sexual conduct with them,” according to court documents.

Sexual assault normally…

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The school argued its report was protected by attorney-client privilege.

Seton Hall University could be forced to release a long‑hidden investigation into clergy sexual abuse at the Catholic institution’s seminary and the university’s handling of it.

The controversy centers on the so-called “Latham report,” a years-old inquiry commissioned by the school itself amid the fallout of bombshell abuse allegations against now-disgraced and deceased former cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

Attorney Gabriel Magee represents several Church abuse victims as part of “approximately 400 cases total” in a consolidated litigation against the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey. Seton Hall is a defendant in a handful of the cases, he told EWTN News.

As part of those proceedings, state judge Avion Benjamin had ordered the school in November 2025 to turn over the Latham report to lawyers representing victims of clergy abuse. The school had previously argued that the report was protected by attorney-client privilege.

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Diocese of Cheyenne and church implicated in lawsuit also seek to dismiss most claims.

A former Wyoming youth minister accused of sexually assaulting three boys has “never hurt a young person,” including the men who brought a lawsuit against him earlier this year, his lawyer said Thursday.

The civil complaint, filed in March, alleges that then-Wyoming Catholic youth minister Doug Hudson sexually assaulted the three boys, who are now adults, in the 1990s. The complaint also lists the Diocese of Cheyenne, which oversees parishes throughout Wyoming, and Our Lady of Fatima Church in Casper as defendants, stating that they failed to “supervise and control” Hudson and protect the boys, which allowed for the alleged sexual assaults to occur.

The complaint seeks at least $50,000 in damages per plaintiff. 

Hudson denied the allegations in a Wednesday court response. Casper Attorney Ryan Semerad, who is representing Hudson, said in a statement that…

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A former Wyoming minister “unequivocally denies” in a Wednesday court filing claims that he sexually abused three boys in the 1990s. “He has never hurt a young person,” his attorney says, adding that despite the lawsuit, “he is praying for all involved.”

A former Wyoming minister sued on claims he sexually abused three boys in the 1990s denies wrongdoing and says the boys — now men — haven’t overcome the state’s time limit on filing such lawsuits by saying they discovered the abuse roughly 30 years after it happened.

The three men in late March sued former Wyoming Catholic youth minister Doug Hudson, as well as the Catholic Diocese of Cheyenne and Our Lady of Fatima Church in Casper.

They accused the diocese and church of three variations of negligence and one breach of fiduciary duty; and Hudson of sexual assault/civil battery, and intentionally inflicting emotional distress. 

They are requesting at least $50,000 per…

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The nation’s Catholic bishops have a full agenda for their annual spring meeting, with topics including safe environment protocols, sainthood causes, the Synod on Synodality and the consecration of the U.S. to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will gather June 10-12 for a spring plenary assembly in Orlando, Florida.

The public sessions of the meeting, which will take place June 10 and 11, will be livestreamed through the USCCB’s website at usccb.org, according to a May 18 press release issued by the conference.

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City will open the public sessions with his first address as USCCB president, having been elected during the conference’s annual fall meeting in November 2025.

Also addressing the bishops will be Archbishop Gabriele G. Caccia, who was appointed as papal nuncio to the U.S. in March, having previously served as the Holy See’s permanent observer to the United Nations….

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Washington was the first to enact “Don’t Pass the Trash” legislation two decades ago

In 2004, Washington became the first state in the country to enact a “Don’t Pass the Trash” law, seeking to prohibit public school districts from allowing K-12 teachers accused of sexual misconduct from quietly resigning and moving on to teach elsewhere. 

The law requires school districts to request information from previous employers regarding an educator’s past sexual misconduct, and it bans school districts from entering into contracts or agreements that hide related information. The legislation became a model for other states. As of October 2024, 18 states have enacted similar legislation. 

But recent reporting by InvestigateWest has shown how some Washington K-12 public schools and higher education institutions have circumvented that and other state laws meant to prevent educators accused of misconduct from teaching elsewhere. Districts have allowed teachers to resign without formal discipline on their records, have…

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Investigators say they have discovered “several” more victims of a Tri-Cities paraeducator and pastor accused of using AI technology to make child pornography.

Police and prosecutors gave no specifics on how many more children are allegedly involved but Benton County prosecutors filed seven more protection orders on Wednesday.

The orders prevent Kevin Royal Johnson, 54, from contacting any of the suspected victims.

Johnson is already charged with four counts of possessing sexually explicit images and movies involving children. No new charges have been filed. He remains in the Benton County jail with bail set at $250,000.

All four counts are tied to the same out-of-state victim who is not connected to Johnson’s work as a paraeducator.

He is suspected of downloading pictures of the girl that were posted on Facebook and Instagram, then altering them with artificial intelligence software to create sexually explicit videos and photos of her.

…

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Ryan Bennett Segura, who was a religion teacher and head track and field coach at the North Park school, was arrested last year.

A former St. Augustine High School teacher was awaiting sentencing Wednesday after pleading guilty this week to distributing child sexual abuse material.

Ryan Bennett Segura, who was a religion teacher and head track and field coach at the North Park school, was arrested last year on allegations that he exchanged sexually explicit videos featuring minors with an unidentified man residing in Denver.

In Segura’s plea agreement filed in federal court, he admitted sharing the material with a social media user living outside California and acknowledged that the material depicted minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

The plea agreement references a specific occasion from September of 2024 in which he shared three such videos with the user.

Investigators wrote in a probable cause statement filed last year that…

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A lawsuit filed in Craighead County on Wednesday alleges that a children’s minister at a local church had been molesting and secretly filming young girls for approximately 15 years.

The suit alleges Anthony “Tony” Waller of the Refuge Church in Jonesboro was the molester. The suit asserts that Waller did this while a credentialed child’s minister at the Assemblies of God church.

Saline County pastor listed on sex offender registry raises concerns for community member

The suit was brought by six adult women who allege they suffered later-in-life trauma after being repeatedly molested by Waller across two generations. The trauma was made worse by the Assemblies of God policy that discouraged secular counseling, they assert.

“In this present matter, it was the abundance of tenderness and forgiveness extended to pedophile children’s pastor Tony Waller by the Assemblies of God that resulted in these Plaintiffs’ abuse and resulting harms,” the…

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A former Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints bishop has been charged and arraigned in Alameda County with multiple counts of child sexual assault, District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson announced on Thursday.

The D.A.’s office said the charges stem from allegations of sexual abuse involving multiple juveniles in Livermore during the 1990s and early 2000s. Michael Morris is charged with 18 felony counts of non-forcible sexual assault involving four separate victims.

The alleged offenses occurred between approximately 1991 and 2001, while he served as a bishop in Livermore and supervised a church-affiliated boys’ youth group.

MORE: Jury awards $16M to survivor in 1970s Oakland Diocese priest abuse case

“This case involves deeply troubling allegations of abuse of trust and authority involving children,” Jones Dickson said in a statement. “Our office remains committed to pursuing justice for survivors of sexual abuse, regardless of how much time has passed, whenever the…

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This year’s legislative session has marked more victories for Trey’s Law bills across the states.

Similar bills, which nullify the use of nondisclosure agreements in child sex abuse, sexual assault and trafficking cases, were signed into law in Alabama (SB-30) and Georgia (HB-1187). In Louisiana (SB-185), a bill passed and awaits the governor’s signature.

Alabama’s version of Trey’s law will be effective for agreements entered on or after Oct. 1 this year. In Georgia and Louisiana, the law will be retroactive, meaning survivors who entered NDAs in the past are no longer required to remain silent.

In Georgia, Trey’s Law was one of two bills passed in support of sexual abuse survivors. Along with HB-1187, the Georgia Legislature also passed the Clergy Sexual Abuse Accountability Bill (SB-542) which criminalizes sexual abuse committed by clergy who exploit their position of spiritual authority, even when victims are at or above the age of consent.

In all…

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The toxic reality of survivors having to plead their cases before the same celibate men who make, interpret and enforce Church law creates a system of silence and complicity

On March 4, 2026, while the world was still reeling from the final disclosures of the Epstein files, another shocking document was released in the US – the Rhode Island Attorney General’s 284-page report.

This Report was a state-directed exposure of what had once been a closely guarded religious secret.

It aligned with the Epstein disclosure process, as the investigation spanned six years, beginning in 2019. It exposed 75 years of diocesan records dating back to 1950, which the Church claimed were ancient history.

The revelations in this Report make it clear that while the media often treats the Epstein Files as an unprecedented explosion of “elite” secrets, the Catholic Church has already ‘been there, done that.’

The parallels are striking,…

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SNAP applauds the courageous survivors who have stepped forward and cooperated with investigators to hold another sexual predator to account, following the arrest of a retired Catholic priest and former Pennsylvania State Police Chaplain. 

Robert Byrnes, 84, has been charged with aggravated indecent assault and other charges for sex crimes dating back more than 10 years ago. 

“This arrest is yet another painful reminder that survivors were often silenced not only by individual predators, but by the power and prestige those predators carried within their communities,” said SNAP Board President, Shaun Dougherty. “When a priest also served as a police chaplain, survivors could understandably fear that reporting abuse would lead nowhere or even place them at greater risk of intimidation and disbelief. Their bravery may very well protect others and help bring long overdue accountability.”

Speaking publicly about childhood sexual abuse is extraordinarily difficult, especially when the accused held positions…

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“It’s beyond time for some forward movement,” said Judge Heather Cooper, who’s waiting for the state’s largest religious denomination to submit a fiscal reorganization plan originally due more than a year ago.

A U.S. bankruptcy judge is voicing concern that the Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese has spent nearly two years and $2 million in legal bills to reorganize its depleting finances — yet still lacks a plan.

The state’s largest religious denomination filed for Chapter 11 protection in the fall of 2024 after a past series of priest misconduct settlements reduced its assets by half, to about $35 million. Since then, it has paid more than 5% of its remaining money in fees for its attorneys and for counsel to represent officially recognized creditors, as required by federal law.

On Tuesday, Judge Heather Cooper met behind closed doors in Burlington with all the lawyers to explore ways to make progress and…

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A grand jury in the District of New Jersey returned a superseding indictment yesterday charging Treva Edwards, 61, Orange, New Jersey, with two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, three counts of forced labor, and conspiracy to commit forced labor. The superseding indictment also charged his wife, Christine Edwards, 64, also of Orange, with conspiracy to commit forced labor.

According to the superseding indictment, Treva and Christine Edwards were the founders and pastors of a church they named “Jesus is Lord by the Holy Ghost,” which they operated out of a multi-unit apartment building in Orange, where they conspired with each other and others to obtain the compelled labor of church members.

As charged in the superseding indictment, between 2010 and 2025, the defendants identified and recruited victims who were facing struggles in their personal lives, including financial and familial, to join the church and live and worship…

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A Holmes County pastor has been arrested for alleged sexual battery of a minor.

According to the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office, investigators were contacted by the Walton County Sheriff’s Office after a parent reported discovering concerning messages on their child’s phone.

The messages were allegedly from Randon Carroll and were sexual in nature.

Investigators met with Walton County authorities at the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center in Niceville to interview the victim. During the interview, the victim reported that Carroll had engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with them.

Holmes County investigators travelled to Carroll’s residence, where he was interviewed regarding the child’s claims. During the interview with Carroll, he reportedly confessed to the incident.

Carroll was arrested and charged with sexual battery on a child. The investigation remains ongoing.

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A former Middle Georgia youth pastor faces more than 7,000 charges related to possession of child pornography and acts of child sexual abuse as he awaits a court hearing in Pennsylvania.

John Tyler Moreland, former director of students and families at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Monroe County, was charged with one count of criminal use of communication facility, one count of corruption of minors, 135 counts of photograph/film/depict of computer sex act, 135 counts of unlawful contact with a minor and 6,770 charges of child sexual abuse material, according to a 475-page document from Pennsylvania’s online courts portal.

The Lycoming County Magisterial District in Pennsylvania confirmed Monday that Moreland faces 7,042 charges, all waived for court, meaning they will be transferred to and handled by the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas. The magisterial district closed Moreland’s case on May 14, according to the courts portal.

The final charging…

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A former president of an Orlando-based Christian church is accused of soliciting a teen boy for sex through social media. 

After a four-month investigation – in which an Orange County detective was working undercover as a 14-year-old boy living in Orlando – Alan Chambers, 54, was arrested at a traffic stop. 

Chambers is the former president of Exodus International, a ministry that took part in counseling gays to change their sexual orientation, FOX News reported.

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A South Florida pastor was arrested on child rape and molestation charges on Tuesday and authorities say they think he may have victimized others.

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Records show Elie Dorcius, 62, is the pastor of Unity Baptist Church at 13001 NW Seventh Ave. in North Miami. He also lives in North Miami.

According to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, a woman came forward to say that Dorcius had raped her beginning when she was 5 years old and committed other acts of sexual abuse when she was a child.

Local 10 News is not disclosing the relationship between Dorcius and the accuser in order to avoid identifying her.

Authorities said he declined to speak with investigators about the allegations.

An MDSO spokesperson said in a news release that owing “to his position within the community, detectives believe there may be additional victims.”

Anyone with information or who…

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Matthew Rutledge, a former teacher at the school, has been charged with rape

Two survivors who attended Miss Hall’s School in Pittsfield are pushing to close a loophole in Massachusetts that they say allows predators to target young people.

Melissa Fares and Hilary Simon attended the school as teenagers, though Simon was there five years ahead of Fares.

“I arrived at that school, I was full of hope,” Simon said in an interview with 5 Investigates’ Karen Anderson.

Both girls quickly got the attention of a teacher named Matthew Rutledge, which included gifts, pet names and compliments.

“It’s powerful for a 14-year-old girl. It shapes your identity at that age when someone like that starts honing it and paying attention to you,” Simon said.

But the women say Rutledge started touching them. At first, on the back or upper thigh, and then finding ways to spend time alone in the…

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Opening statements have begun for a convicted conman and church pastor, facing five charges of rape. KRQE News 13 has reported on Andrew Miller many times before, from child abuse to racketeering. He has a criminal history dating back to 1998.

Former Albuquerque Public Schools bus attendant pleads guilty to child pornography charge

Two years ago, Andrew Miller was charged with raping two women while working as a senior pastor at a local church. According to the state, Miller was posing as the producer of a reality show and sending out fraudulent messages looking to recruit models. “This case is about a young, vulnerable 21-year-old high school dropout, named ***. She thought that she had found her big break into the modeling and acting industry. But that’s not what happened in this case. Instead, she was lured into a bad situation and taken advantage of by someone who was…

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The vast majority of the settlement would come from insurance contributions, according to a filing from the archdiocese.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore is proposing nearly $170 million in compensation for abuse victims amid its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings there.

A May 15 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court revealed that the archdiocese would contribute just under $44 million to an abuse settlement for survivors, while “settling insurers” would pay a total of $125 million into the fund.

The insurance amount represents a 25% increase from an earlier proposed contribution of $100 million.

In a statement on the filing, the archdiocese said the overall plan “seeks to provide equitable compensation to survivors while sustaining the Church’s mission and ministries.”

The proposal “reflects a commitment to transparency and a realistic assessment of available resources,” it said.

The archdiocese noted that “no final agreement has yet been achieved.” The proposal would also establish a…

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Statute of limitations reform legislation died last Friday after the Missouri Legislature adjourned without passing at least one of the companion bills, SJR-93 and HJR-130, despite the Against the Clock advocacy campaign urging voters to call their representatives and emphasize the importance of the resolutions.

These resolutions would have been the first step in getting retroactive statute of limitations reform passed into law.

The proposed legislation would have allowed Missourians to vote on whether their Legislature is able to narrowly amend the state’s Constitution to create retrospective laws, specifically pertaining to civil child sexual abuse and trafficking cases.

As it stands, the Missouri Constitution does not allow for retrospective laws to be enacted, meaning reform is only possible for civil cases that occur in the future. Current Missouri law does not allow survivors to bring a civil claim against negligent institutions past the age of 26 or against direct perpetrators past the age…

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Four former elementary school students who claim they were sexually abused or inappropriately touched by a teacher in Monmouth County have settled their lawsuits for more than $3.7 million, court records show.

The victims, who were students at George L. Catrambone School in Long Branch, claim in court papers they were violated by Gustavo Barrientos, 58, who was taught third and fourth grade at the school.

The lawsuits allege the girls ranged in age from 9 to 13 when Barrientos rubbed their shoulders or backsides, inappropriately hugged and kissed them and sexually assaulted some of them.

The crimes occurred from 2017 through 2020 in Barrientos’ classroom and while he tutored one of the children in reading after school, according to court documents.

In one case, Barrientos showed a child pornographic images, kissed her mouth, placed his hand on her inner…

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Henry Wise Wood volunteer coach used position to groom, abuse minor, police say

Calgary police say a high school coach has been charged after allegedly sexually abusing a minor.

Drew Alan Robertson, 50, allegedly used his position of trust as a volunteer coach at Henry Wise Wood High School to groom a then-15-year-old and sexually abuse her over the course of nearly two years, police said in a release.

Police announced Tuesday that Robertson has been charged with one count each of sexual assault, sexual exploitation and making sexually explicit material available to children.

Robertson will next appear in court on Wednesday.

David Roper, Robertson’s lawyer, declined a request for comment.

Coach shared ‘inappropriate’ video with parent-student group chat: police

Staff Sgt. Chris Tudor with the Calgary Police Service child abuse unit told reporters the investigation began after a video that was “inappropriate and sexual in nature,” believed to depict Robertson,…

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Deputies say Alan Chambers communicated for months with someone he believed was a 14-year-old boy

A former leader of an Orlando-based ministry that claimed for years it could cure homosexuality has been arrested in an underage sex sting, according to an Orange County arrest affidavit.

Alan Manning Chambers, 54, was arrested Tuesday in Winter Park and booked into the Orange County Jail without bond.

He’s expected to appear in front of a judge for the first time on Wednesday afternoon.

Chambers is charged with solicitation of a minor via computer, transmitting harmful material to a minor and unlawful use of a two-way communication device, according to the affidavit.

Undercover Snapchat investigation began in February

Investigators said an undercover detective operating a Snapchat account began communicating with a user in February.

According to the affidavit, the detective identified himself as a 14-year-old boy living in Orlando.

The user identified himself as…

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Chambers gained national notoriety for promoting the idea that therapy could change someone’s sexual orientation. He later apologized and announced in 2013 that the ex-gay ministry, supported by religious right leaders like James Dobson, would disband.

The former leader of a now-defunct ex-gay ministry was arrested in Florida on Tuesday morning (May 19) in connection with a sheriff’s department sting. 

In an arrest affidavit, an undercover officer alleged that 54-year-old Alan Chambers, the former president of Exodus International, which disbanded in 2013, exchanged sexual messages for several months with someone he thought was a teenager.

“Alan Chambers has been arrested after he attempted to meet someone he thought was a 14-year-old boy — but it was actually an undercover detective,” the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post on Tuesday.

According to the sheriff’s office, Chambers has been charged with solicitation of a minor and…

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As sisters in the Philippines were led to detention or prison for protesting and advocating for justice during the Marcos era of 1972-1986, a thought persisted: “What should I be doing as a follower of Christ? Belief in Christ is not enough. We are called to ‘follow Christ.’ “

According to historian Mina Roces, in a recent lecture titled “Reflections on the Filipino Catholic Nun as Feminist and Militant Activist” — drawing from her book Women’s Movements and the Filipina: 1986-2008 — these sisters’  passion for their mission inspired lay women and new entrants to religious life to follow their lead.

Roces’ stories transported me back to when I visited projects in the Philippines as the director of the Hilton Fund for Sisters. I had personally walked with some of those sisters into Mindanao mountain communities to meet groups of families fighting against military intimidation. I accompanied others to Manila urban communities…

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The Diocese of Ogdensburg will pay $45 million to settle lawsuits that were filed against it for childhood sexual abuse claims under the Child Victims Act.

The legal firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates announced the settlement on Tuesday. They partnered with LaFave, Wein, Frament & Karic to represent 58 survivors who brought claims against the diocese.

The $45 million settlement includes contributions from the Diocese of Ogdensburg, its parishes, schools and other Catholic entities within the diocese.

In addition to the financial settlement, the Survivor Committee and the diocese will continue negotiations regarding significant non-monetary provisions, including enhancements to child protection policies and the public disclosure of information related to clergy and other personnel accused of sexual abuse.

“This is a testament to the survivors’ courage, perseverance, and unwavering demand for reckoning,” Jeff Anderson said in a statement.

Earlier this year, a federal judge…

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Ogdensburg has agreed to pay $45 million to people who say they were sexually abused as children by clergy and other church leaders.

The settlement to resolve 125 claims of sexual abuse was announced Tuesday afternoon.

“My hope and prayer is that this process will bring peace and healing to all survivors and to all the faithful whose hearts were broken by the gravely sinful conduct of Church leaders. I pray that this settlement will bring healing to all,” said Bishop Terry LaValley.

Settlement follows bankruptcy filing

The settlement comes years after New York passed the Child Victims Act. The 2019 legislation gave a one-year window for sexual abuse survivors to file civil lawsuits barred by the statute of limitations.

The Diocese of Ogdensburg, like others around the nation, filed for bankruptcy on July 17, 2023, to resolve the lawsuits. A committee of abuse survivors…

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The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will gather for the 2026 Spring Plenary Assembly in Orlando, Florida, June 10-12. The public sessions on June 10 and 11 will be livestreamed on the USCCB website.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will gather for the 2026 Spring Plenary Assembly in Orlando, Florida, June 10-12. The public sessions on June 10 and 11 will be livestreamed on the USCCB website.

The public portion of the assembly will begin with an address by Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, who will deliver his first remarks as president of the Conference. Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, the Papal Nuncio to the United States, is also expected to deliver an address to the body of bishops.

The plenary agenda has not yet been finalized and is therefore subject to change but is expected to include votes on a number of action…

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Chad Kendall, a former Archbishop Hoban teacher, received an eight-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to six counts of sexual battery involving students.

Former Archbishop Hoban High School teacher Chad Kendall received his sentence on Tuesday after pleading guilty to six counts of sexual battery. 

Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Joy Oldfield sentenced the 37-year-old Kendall to eight years in prison for charges stemming from sexually abusing two students between the ages of 16 and 17 for multiple years during his time as a teacher. 

“You used emotional and psychological manipulation of these minor girls for your own sexual satisfaction. That’s really what it is,” Oldfield told Kendall.

In addition, Kendall has also been designated as a Tier III sex offender, which requires him to register every 90 days with the local sheriff for the rest of his life upon release from prison.

Prior to his sentencing, Kendall addressed…

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Several survivors of sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of Baltimore and their advocates expressed dismay Monday that the church’s proposed bankruptcy plan doesn’t do enough to compensate for decades of emotional damage.

“I think they have a long way to go yet,” said survivor and attorney Teresa Lancaster. Although she was encouraged to see the church “starting to put numbers on paper,” Lancaster said she felt their proposed amounts were “painfully low.”

Recent filings in federal bankruptcy court show that the Archdiocese of Baltimore and its survivors are still hundreds of millions of dollars apart on a settlement.

The church on Friday submitted a reorganization plan, a blueprint to keep its business alive while it satisfies its debts to creditors. In this case, the plan would allow the diocese to continue its charitable and religious mission while also compensating hundreds of survivors, whose rush of…

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Almost $169 million would be available to settle 900 claims, court documents reveal

There are possible changes to Chapter 11 plans for the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

The church on Friday filed a 175-page Chapter 11 reorganization plan that contains a new dollar amount and includes contributions from parishes and schools, WBAL-TV 11 News Investigates has learned.

| COURT DOCUMENT: Read the new Chapter 11 reorganization plan

The archdiocese called the reorganization plan a step toward recognizing child abuse survivors’ rightful desire for a resolution of their claims.

According to court documents obtained by WBAL-TV 11 News Investigates, almost $169 million would be available to settle 900 claims.

David Lorenz, the director of the Maryland Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, expressed relief that the process may be moving forward.

“I have two reactions. First, is kind of relief; finally, they’re stepping up, they’re doing something….

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Investigators say Robert Byrnes leveraged his position with law enforcement and the church to shield his behavior and lure victims

Investigators in Greensburg are seeking additional alleged victims of a retired Catholic priest charged late last week with sexual crimes.

During a Monday news conference at the barracks in Greensburg, state police spokesman Trooper Steve Limani said authorities found an unspecified number of photographs of a sexual nature related to the case. The images appear to depict potential male victims of the man authorities contend leveraged his position as a former law enforcement chaplain to lure his victims and prevent them from disclosing his behavior.

Robert Byrnes, 84, was charged with aggravated indecent assault without consent, two counts of official oppression and two counts of obstructing administration of law or other governmental function. The charges are in connection with allegations he had inappropriate sexual contact with at least…

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Editor’s note: This article contains mentions of alleged sexual misconduct and assault.

Pennsylvania State Police are looking for area males who may have been sexually assaulted or abused by former Catholic priest and state police chaplain, Robert Byrnes, 84. As of now, two men have come forward and accused Byrnes of sexual misconduct, PSP Greensburg’s Public Information Officer Steve Limani said during a Monday press conference.

Police also found an unspecified number of photos in Byrnes’ bedroom depicting males who could be minors, but their ages have not been determined, Limani said. He clarified the photos were not of the two men who came forward, and some of them are sexual in nature.

Police have yet to identify the males in the photos. 

“The concern is, with the photographs that we found, maybe there’s other victims,” Limani said. “It’s a matter of, are these photographs taken with the person’s knowledge…

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A retired priest and former Pennsylvania State Police chaplain from Westmoreland County is facing charges relating to sex crimes dating back more than a decade.

Pennsylvania State Police said that Robert Byrnes, 84, has been charged with aggravated indecent assault without consent, obstruction and official oppression.

In March, police said a person reported he was sexually assaulted by Byrnes while he was working at Christ Our Shepherd Center in Greensburg in 2014. Byrnes lived in an apartment above the kitchen of the center.

The man told police he was in the center’s kitchen when Byrnes approached him from behind and touched him inappropriately under his underwear. The incident was unwanted and unsolicited, police said.

During the investigation, police said another person who worked in the center’s kitchen prior to the 2014 incident came forward to also accuse Byrnes of sexual assault. That accuser told police…

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Southlake’s Gateway Church and its founder, Robert Morris, have agreed to dismiss a yearlong, multi-million-dollar lawsuit over Morris’ retirement pay, according to court documents.

Filed Friday in Tarrant County, the agreement comes weeks after Morris was released from an Oklahoma prison after serving a six-month sentence for child sexual abuse.

“The parties have reached agreement on an appropriate arbitration forum to resolve their dispute and will now proceed in that forum and not in state court,” Morris’ attorney, Bill Mateja, said in a statement on Tuesday. “Thus, the state court proceeding was dismissed.”

The parties agreed to dismiss the suit without prejudice, and for each side to cover any expenses incurred over the course of the action.

Morris, the North Texas megachurch’s former senior pastor, was seeking a $1 million one-time payment, and annual payments of $600,000 to $800,000 for the rest of his and his wife,…

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School cites attorney/client privilege as cause to defy legal order while plaintiffs counter that document about McCarrick was shared with Vatican

Editor’s note: This story was published first in New Jersey Monitor.

Seton Hall University doubled down Thursday on its yearslong battle to keep secret a 2019 report on how the school handled a priest’s sex abuse of seminarians, asking a state appellate panel to reverse a lower court’s order to disclose the document and related records.

Patrick Papalia, an attorney for the private Roman Catholic university in South Orange, insisted the documents in question — including the report, emails between Seton Hall and various lawyers, and witness interviews — should not be released to victims’ lawyers because they’re protected by attorney-client privilege, despite Judge Avion Benjamin’s November finding that they are not.

“This would send a chilling message not only to entities and businesses in the…

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An 83-year-old church pastor who sexually abused a child in his congregation over a number of years has been jailed for 12 and a half years.

The man, who can’t be named to protect the anonymity of the victim, was found guilty by a jury of one count of attempted rape, one count of oral rape and three counts of sexual abuse of his victim at a church within the State on dates between December 2013 and April 2018.

He had denied the allegations and stood trial in the Central Criminal Court earlier this year. He has no previous convictions.

A local detective garda told Timothy O’Leary, prosecuting, that the man was a pastor in the church and the complainant was a member of his congregation, having attended the church with her family from a young age.

The court was told that, notwithstanding the dates on the indictment, it was agreed the girl was between eight and 11…

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A Zanesville pastor who once taught with a local LifeWise Academy program has admitted to sex-related crimes involving a teenage victim, according to court filings. Christopher Riggs has pleaded guilty to one count of gross sexual imposition and two counts of voyeurism. Court documents say the alleged conduct began when the victim was 14 and continued when the teen was older. Riggs remains free on bond while he waits for a July sentencing hearing.

Court records reviewed by Cleveland.com state that Riggs entered a guilty plea to all three counts. The filings, as summarized in those reports, allege he forced sexual contact between June 1 and Sept. 23, 2023, and that the separate voyeurism allegations stem from incidents in November 2025.

Additional coverage reported by local station WCMH and republished by national partners says court documents identify the victim as someone known to Riggs and note that the…

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The closure of an Islamic boarding school in Pati, Central Java, after its founder was accused of sexually abusing female students, should not be seen as an isolated scandal.

It is a warning sign of a deeper, systemic crisis across Indonesia’s education sector — in public schools, universities and faith-based boarding institutions — where sexual violence has become a recurring pattern rather than an exception.

In the Pati case, reports say the number of alleged victims ranges from 30 to 50 students, although the number of formal complainants remains smaller as authorities continue accepting reports.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs, through local religious authorities, has moved to close the boarding school, suspend new admissions, and relocate students so they can continue their studies elsewhere.

Police investigating the case said they had questioned 17 witnesses. Authorities also said the suspect admitted to some acts as investigators continue gathering evidence and determining…

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Former Catholic priest Justo José Ilarraz loved to use Old Spice cologne, a scent his victims of sexual abuse have a hard time forgetting.

Hernán René Rausch, an Argentine survivor of clergy sexual abuse has been fighting his case for 34 years now.

Ilarraz was already laicized by Pope Francis in 2024, so he is a predator. The Argentine judiciary itself acknowledges his abuse. The issue is the statute of limitations.

After the awful news coming from Chile, where a major case of documented clergy sexual abuse was declared as prescribed by the courts, that was the subject of this series installment, news from Argentina offers a ray of hope for victims of sexual abuse, clergy or otherwise, whose crimes have followed similar patterns all over Latin America.

The case is one promoted by the victims of Justo José Ilarraz, a now former Catholic priest who used to offer his services…

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Almost $169 million would be available to settle 900 claims, court documents reveal

BALTIMORE — There are possible changes to Chapter 11 plans for the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

The church on Friday filed a 175-page Chapter 11 reorganization plan that contains a new dollar amount and includes contributions from parishes and schools, WBAL-TV 11 News Investigates has learned.

| COURT DOCUMENT: Read the new Chapter 11 reorganization plan

The archdiocese called the reorganization plan a step toward recognizing child abuse survivors’ rightful desire for a resolution of their claims.

According to court documents obtained by WBAL-TV 11 News Investigates, almost $169 million would be available to settle 900 claims.

David Lorenz, the director of the Maryland Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, expressed relief that the process may be moving forward.

“I have two reactions. First, is kind of relief; finally, they’re stepping up, they’re…

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The last active lawsuit alleging former Archbishop Anthony Apuron of sexual abuse in the federal court is on its way to being dismissed.

On Thursday in the District Court of Guam, Apuron’s lawyer Jacqueline Taitano Terlaje filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed against Apuron.

The case, first filed in the federal court in 2019, alleged Apuron sexually assaulted a student when he was a minor in the 1990s.

It was one of nine sexual assault lawsuits naming Apuron as a defendant, but now remains the last active case since the other eight were dismissed with prejudice a year ago.

Terlaje wrote in her motion, last May when the other suits were being dismissed, she had received a notice from the plaintiff indicating prosecution would continue after it had been stalled primarily by bankruptcy proceedings for the Archdiocese of Agana.

However, in the past year Terlaje stated she had…

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“It is, in my view, punting, passing the buck, failing to carry out our responsibility as senators,” Senator McKenney said of a resolution seeking court advice. “It is, for the survivors of the abuse a timid, feeble action.”

PROVIDENCE — In passionate testimony Thursday, Rhode Island’s attorney general, a retired judge, and a clergy abuse victim called for the Senate to act now — and not wait for court advice — on a bill allowing expired civil claims for sexual abuse against institutions such as the Roman Catholic Church.

Attorney General Peter F. Neronha testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying it would be a mistake for the Senate — and a victory for the Catholic Church — if senators passed a resolution asking the state Supreme Court to provide an advisory opinion on the bill’s constitutionality.

Neronha, who backed the bill when he issued a  View Cache

A Waterford-based priest who was defrocked by Rome following a Church investigation into child abuse claims still carries a picture of his alleged victims on his phone.

Michael O’Connor, the former president of the seminary at St Johns in the city, continues to live rent free in a church-owned property despite being dismissed from the priesthood.

The former priest says he still carries the photograph because it has become relevant.

84 year old Michael O’Connor claims he is not guilty of abusing girls – some of whom made allegations of abuse against him from incidents between the 1970s and 1990s.

O’Connor – a former captain of Waterford Golf Club – has confirmed he has written to the Pope’s ambassador in Ireland and the Vatican in a bid to be reinstated to the priesthood.

Some of his alleged victims have come forward following a three-month investigation by WLR and the Mail…

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The case was revived by authorities following an investigation that led to a civil lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice.

U.S. immigration authorities have initiated legal proceedings to strip the citizenship from a former Colombian priest accused of concealing serious crimes during his naturalization process.

Oscar Alberto Peláez arrived in the United States to serve as a priest in California. In 1999, he applied for citizenship, attesting that he had no criminal record and had never been arrested for any offense.

He was granted naturalization as a U.S. citizen in 2001. However, just one year later, in 2002, Peláez was found guilty of 13 felonies after confessing to the sexual abuse of a 14-year-old minor. The abuse took place within his own parish between 1998 and 2000.

The case was revived by authorities following an investigation that led to a civil lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of…

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[Click here to listen.]

For the second time in a year, survivors of sexual abuse in Timor-Leste are fighting a government proposal to pardon a convicted paedophile and ex-priest.

Last year President Jose Ramos Horta rejected a proposal to pardon former Catholic priest Richard Daschbach, who’s currently in prison for the sexual abuse of girls under his care at a remote orphanage.

But the Justice Minister has revealed Daschbach is among the dozens of names submitted to the president for a pardon on Independence Day later this month.

By Vonia Vieira, Reporter

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The biggest dispute centers on information from religious rites such as confession.

Conversations with survivors of sexual abuse left Missouri state Sen. Tracy McCreery wondering what could have prevented the harm, leading her to sponsor a bill that would require clergy and religious workers to report suspected child abuse or neglect.

Her bill would have forced ministers to report even if they learned of abuse during confession or another religious rite. She urges people to view the issue through the lens of child safety and not against religion.

“Children are just very vulnerable and it’s up to us as adults to not allow them to be harmed,” the Democrat told Stateline. “There shouldn’t be an exception for adults that know about something and just don’t report it.”

Her bill failed to advance as the Missouri legislative session drew to a close. Other state lawmakers across the country also…

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A retired Catholic priest, who also served as a Pennsylvania State Police chaplain, has been arrested and charged with sexual crimes that date back more than a decade.  

According to the criminal complaint provided to KDKA-TV, 84-year-old Robert Byrnes was charged with aggravated indecent assault, obstruction of administration of law or other governmental functions, and official oppression. 

The criminal complaint states that in March, a man came forward and reported to state police that while he was working at Christ Our Shepard, he had been sexually assaulted by Byrnes. According to the man’s recounting, while working in the kitchen, he was bent over at an ice machine when Byrnes put his hand down the back of his pants and began to assault him. 

The man told police he did not consent to the interaction. 

Another man, who also worked at Christ Our Shepard, came forward and reported to police…

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Underlying all the unintelligible, incomprehensible gibberish in the Synod’s recent “Final Report of Study Group Number 9” is a distinct ideological goal. And that goal is not liberation; it’s domination.

Pope Francis meets with other delegates of the Synod on Synodality at a roundtable discussion in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on Oct. 17, 2024. (Credit: Vatican Media)

I continue to be puzzled by the language in the documents emerging from ecclesiastical bureaucrats. Who are these people talking to? Not “people of goodwill” around the world, nor the basic layman in the pew.

The jargon is so thick that the only possible audience could be other bureaucrats. And in my experience, questionable things are brewing when bureaucrats write to other bureaucrats in their own specific argot—a term I have used purposefully because it originally described the jargon, slang, or secret language used by criminals, rogues, and beggars to communicate without being understood…

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A couple dozen people stood outside Saint Cecilia Parish Church in Philadelphia’s Fox Chase neighborhood Friday morning, acknowledging deep scars.

“No prayer can erase the past,” one speaker said.

Former parishioner Paul Dickson told CBS News Philadelphia the reason behind the gathering is tragic: sexual abuse.

“These men who nobody believed for years,” he said of the victims of priest sex abuse. “It’s still painful, right?”

The parish is taking an unusual step — dedicating a memorial to those abused by priests.

“The fact this church acknowledged it, step one in healing,” Dickson said.

Father James Brzysk, one of the most notorious abusers, was stationed at Saint Cecilia in the ’80s. Investigators allege Brzyski had more than 100 victims. The disgraced ex-priest died in 2017.

Leo Argeros’ son is a survivor.

“It’s been such a long time and I think it’s high time this is recognized around the whole area,”…

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No More Victims Alliance has launched a new advocacy campaign called “Against the Clock” in response to the stalling of two statute of limitations reform bills in Missouri as part of its national effort to expand abuse survivor access to justice.

Currently, Missouri law blocks survivors of childhood sexual abuse in the state from pursuing civil claims past the age of 26 against a liable institution.

Against the Clock aims to raise awareness of how outdated statute-of-limitation laws deny survivors a path to justice, barring them from the courts before they are ready to come forward. Mamy survivors don’t even know they’re on a deadline dependent on the ZIP Code in which they were abused. In Missouri, these arbitrary deadlines create a clear and urgent barrier to truth and justice.

The campaign urges Missourians to call on their lawmakers to pass SJR-93 and/or its companion bill, HJR-130, before the end of session…

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A bill to strengthen protections for child abuse victims is currently stalled on the Senate floor, despite easily passing every other step of the legislative process this session.

House Bill 4227, also known as the Cindy Clemishire Act and Trey’s Law, has received zero no votes at the Oklahoma State Capitol.

This has led to growing confusion about why the Senate hasn’t taken the legislation up. Right now it is a race against time to get it across the finish line.

Christmas night 1982 was the first time Robert Morris sexually abused Cindy Clemishire.

She was 12 at the time, and he was a family friend.

“Also he was a traveling evangelist and we’ve now started referring to him as… a pedophile disguised as a preacher,” Clemishire said. “But he started abusing me when I was 12-years-old and that went on for about four and a half years.”

In March…

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Ohio State University is asking a federal court to dismiss dozens of cases in ongoing litigation over the sexual abuse by former university physician Richard Strauss.

Strauss sexually abused and assaulted hundreds of student athletes from 1978 to 1998. Over 200 survivors of Strauss’ abuse are involved in lawsuits against Ohio State, alleging it failed to protect students and contributed to a cover-up. Ohio State denies the allegations and said a small number of people had the authority to act.

On behalf of Ohio State, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a motion Sunday asking the court to dismiss claims from former students who faced abuse before October 1986. If approved, the request would affect about 80 cases where survivors are seeking reparations for abuse that took place during Strauss’ first eight years at OSU.

The motion is based on a…

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The victim was sexually assaulted by a babysitter while living at the Namao military base near Edmonton

Alberta’s top court has confirmed a lawsuit filed over sexual abuse by an armed forces chaplain can proceed as a class action.

In a written decision released Friday, a three-member Alberta Court of Appeal panel rejected an application by the federal government to overturn the decision to certify Bobbie Bees’ claim as a class action lawsuit.

The government had challenged Calgary Court of King’s Bench Justice Robert Neufeld’s certification on the basis that Bees wasn’t a direct victim of Father Angus McRae at Canadian Forces Base Namao in Edmonton.

Neufeld defined the class of plaintiffs that could proceed with the lawsuit as either victims of sexual abuse by the armed forces captain, or “with his participation, encouragement or facilitation.”

“Canada does not dispute that the claim reveals a potentially viable cause of action…

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A former member of the school board for Aurora Christian Schools is charged with multiple counts of child sex abuse, accused of grooming and sexually abusing a teenage boy for years, and police are looking for more victims.

Michael Robert Herbert, 55, was arrested and charged Thursday with 10 felonies, including involuntary sexual servitude of a minor under 17, criminal sexual assault, involuntary sexual servitude of a minor aged 17-18, aggravated criminal sexual abuse, and possession of child sexual abuse material.

Herbert served as a board member at Aurora Christian Schools, a private religious school with grades preschool through high school.

Prosecutors said his wife is a teacher at the school, and that he was acting as a tutor and mentor when he allegedly sexually abused a teenager who trusted him.

Aurora police said that in December 2025, a man in his 20s reported that he had been the victim…

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Sri Lankan authorities arrested a senior Buddhist monk on Saturday for the alleged sexual abuse of an underage girl, police said, marking the highest-profile case involving clergy in the country.

Pallegama Hemarathana, 71, was arrested at a private hospital in the capital Colombo where he had sought treatment over the weekend amid an investigation into the alleged abuse of the 11-year-old girl in 2022.

The crime is alleged to have taken place at a highly venerated temple in Anuradhapura, around 125 miles north of Colombo, where Hemarathana is the chief priest. The ancient city is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“We will be guided by the magistrate on further action,” a police statement said Saturday.

The monk will soon be presented before a judge.

Authorities added that the victim’s mother has also been arrested for aiding and abetting the monk.

The development comes a day…

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Robert Byrnes, 84, was arrested and charged Friday.

A retired Catholic priest and former Pennsylvania State Police chaplain is facing several charges in connection with sex crimes dating back more than 10 years.

Robert Byrnes, 84, is charged with aggravated indecent assault, obstruction of administration of law or other governmental functions and official oppression.

Following his arraignment, Byrnes was released on bail. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for June 1, 2026.

According to the criminal complaint, back in March, a man reported to state police that he was sexually assaulted back in 2014 while he was working at Christ Our Shephard. Police said during the course of the investigation, another victim was identified who also worked there.

According to court documents, the two men confronted Byrnes about the alleged abuse during recorded phone calls as part of the investigation. Both victims asked Byrnes if they should talk to the…

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For Immediate Release:
May 15, 2026
Contact: Christian Kendzierski
Tel. 410-547-5378
christian.kendzierski@archbalt.org

As mediation in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process continues, the Archdiocese of Baltimore has submitted a proposed Plan of Reorganization to the Court. This step is in furtherance of the Archdiocese’s pursuit of accomplishing its dual objectives in its bankruptcy proceeding, in recognition of child abuse survivors’ rightful desire for a resolution of their claims, and in response to the Court’s direction to any party who intends to file a plan to do so by May 15. At its core, the proposed plan seeks to provide equitable compensation to survivors while sustaining the Church’s mission and ministries. It reflects a commitment to transparency and a realistic assessment of available resources.

While the Archdiocese remains firmly committed to reaching an agreed-upon resolution through mediation with representatives of survivors and insurers, no final agreement has yet been achieved. The proposed plan is intended…

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Just east of the front doors of St. Cecilia’s Roman Catholic Church in Fox Chase, there sits a memorial to victims of sexual abuse — a rare sight not only in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, but at churches nationwide.

Consisting of a stone pillar embellished with a light and a blue-and-white wreath, in a parish that has reckoned with its own history of abuse, the memorial features messages of support for victims engraved into its sides.

“This light burns to honor all victims of sexual abuse by clergy and others at our parish, throughout the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and throughout the nation,” an inscription reads. “May their light burn brightly as we protect our children and all the vulnerable.”

The Rev. Chris Walsh, pastor of St. Cecilia’s, announced the memorial’s completion in a church newsletter late last month. A small ceremony was held at the site Friday….

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“The Legislature is poised to kick the can down the road. They want an advisory opinion from the Supreme Court … at the last minute, when they could have done this months ago,” attorney Mitchell Garabedian said

Survivors of clergy sexual abuse and a Boston attorney who represents victimssay the Rhode Island Senate is poised to thwart a landmark bill that would allow abuse victims to bring previously expired civil claims against institutions including the Roman Catholic Church.

Instead of voting on the bill amending the statute of limitations, the Senate Judiciary Committee will take up a resolution on Thursday to ask the state Supreme Court for a written opinion about whether the legislation is constitutional.

Robert Houllahan and Dr. Herbert “Hub” Brennan, who’ve testified about the abuse they suffered as children, and attorney Mitchell Garabedian decried that…

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Retired Columbus Division of Fire Chief Jeffrey Happ said he was a survivor of sexual abuse by former Ohio State University team doctor Richard Strauss when he was a minor in the 1980s.

Happ came forward with the allegations in a news release sent by former OSU athletes and students who are suing the university and seeking damages from the university, because Strauss abused them over the course of decades at OSU. Strauss died by suicide in 2005.

Happ said he was just 15 when he was sexually abused by Strauss during his sophomore and junior years at Bishop Ready High School on the west side of Columbus. At the time, he was a multi-sport athlete and part of the high school’s state championship wrestling team when the multiple athletes with the team were asked to take part in a study with OSU Athletics.

Happ said in a statement the…

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The state AG is seeking to dismiss 77 claims because the alleged abuse happened before Congress passed a law allowing sex abuse survivors to sue state-funded schools.

Ohio State University has filed a motion to dismiss about a third of the remaining claims of the former students who are suing the school for failing to protect them decades ago from being sexually abused by campus doctor Richard Strauss.

Writing on behalf of the university, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said 43 of the cases should be dismissed “in whole” because the alleged abuse happened before Oct. 21, 1986, when Congress passed a law allowing states and their educational institutions to be sued in federal court for not taking steps to prevent sex abuse of students.

“These are all of the discovery plaintiffs whose alleged violations occurred prior to October 21, 1986,” Yost wrote in a motion filed Sunday in the…

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I just read a remarkable article that helped me make sense of our times.

It’s by an investigative journalist named Robert Downen, and it appeared in Texas Monthly. It tells the tale of one of the most powerful American religious leaders of the 20th century.

And chances are, you’ve never heard of him.

His name was Paul Pressler. I wrote about him more than two years ago when the Southern Baptist Convention settled a sex abuse suit filed against him by Duane Rollins, who claimed that Pressler had repeatedly raped him, beginning when Rollins was 14 years old.

Pressler, who died in June 2024, was a former Texas judge, an influential lawyer and one of the leading architects of the so-called conservative resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention, by far the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

In evangelical America, the story of this conservative resurgence is the stuff of legend….

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Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation on Monday, May 11, adding clergy to Georgia’s improper sexual contact statute, creating a pathway for prosecutors to pursue charges when ministers use positions of spiritual authority to obtain sexual contact through counseling relationships.

The legislation, authored by Sen. Randy Robertson, places clergy alongside other authority figures already covered under Georgia’s improper sexual contact statute. Advocates said the law recognizes the unique power imbalance that can exist when spiritual authority is used for exploitation.

Supporters of Senate Bill 542, which was passed unanimously in both the Senate and the House, said the measure closes a longstanding gap in Georgia law.

During debate on the House floor, House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration said the bill addresses the misuse of influence within counseling and ministry relationships.

“Spiritual authority creates an imbalance of power between clergy members and congregants,” Efstration said, explaining that the legislation is intended to…

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