ABUSE TRACKER

PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive

By Ivey DeJesus | idejesus@pennlive.com

Pennsylvania’s Catholic community enforces strict policies to ensure all children are safe on church property – particularly from child sex abuse.

That was the message from the spokeswoman for the legislative branch of the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania on Friday.

In a statement regarding news that the state Attorney General’s office has been conducting for months a grand jury investigation into allegations of child sex abuse across the state’s dioceses, Amy Hill, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, reiterated that the “Catholic community” maintained strict policies to ensure the welfare of all children on church property. The church, she noted, also offers assistance to survivors and their families such as counseling, addiction treatment, medication, and transportation.

“We will continue to offer assistance to enable healing as long as it is needed,” Hill said in a written statement.

News that the state Attorney General’s office was conducting a statewide probe into allegations of child sex abuse across the Catholic dioceses was first reported by The Morning Call. On Friday, the Harrisburg Diocese confirmed to PennLive that it was one of the diocese’s under investigation by the agency. Others include Pittsburgh and Allentown, two of the biggest dioceses in the state.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Your Erie

Bishop Lawrence Persico was subpoenaed to provide information to a statewide grand jury investigation into child abuse in the Catholic church.

Persico was subpoenaed Sept. 1 to give any information related to past and present allegations of sexual abuse of children in the Diocese of Erie.

Several bishops across the state were subpoenaed at the same time, according to a statement by the diocese.

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MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Sept. 16, 2016

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

Corrupt and callous Kansas City cops must be fired and prosecuted for putting suffering children through even more suffering by ignoring or concealing known or suspected crimes.

[MSN]

It’s not enough that some claim “progress” is being made now. It’s not enough that officers have been moved back to street patrols and out of the crimes against children division. (If officers are so irresponsible that they’ll let hurting kids keep hurting, it’s unlikely they’ll suddenly ‘reform’ and start acting responsibly toward adults.)

Ignoring wrongdoing encourages more wrongdoing.

It’s just heart-breaking that KCPD officers have repeatedly violated the trust of crime victims and enabled criminals to commit more crimes. We desperately hope that these brave victims report again and keep reporting – to police, prosecutors, even federal officials – until they are heard and justice is done. Giving up helps no one.

No matter what politicians or police officials do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered violent or sexual crimes to continue protecting kids by calling police – and persist, no matter how many delays – and get help by calling therapists, get justice by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, victims will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.

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

MAINE
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, September 16, 2016

For more information: David Clohessy 314 566 9790, davidgclohessy@gmail.com

A convicted murderer who says his crime stemmed, in part, from being sexually abused as a boy by priests is filing a civil lawsuit charging that two clerics assaulted him.

[Portland Press Herald]

Jeff Libby was sentenced to 60 years in prison in Maine for killing his grandfather in 1986. Experienced therapists who have evaluated Libby strongly believe his childhood trauma contributed significantly to Libby’s crime.

In 2009, Libby received a settlement from the Hartford CT archdiocese after they deemed his abuse report against Fr. Richard P. McGann credible. Libby estimates that Fr. McGann assaulted him about 200 times.

Now, in a new civil lawsuit against Maine Catholic officials, Libby is also charging that two other priests assaulted him in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The accused are

–ex-prison chaplain Fr. Christian F. Roy of Maine and

–Fr. Raymond Lauzon, who was sued multiple times in the 1990s over alleged abuse.

Fearing retaliation and feeling shame, Libby was unable to report the crimes after they happened.

“We applaud Jeff for reporting the suffering he endured at the hands of these priests,” said Barbara Dorris, outreach director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “Innocent kids and vulnerable adults are safer when predators are exposed.”

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

PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive

By Ivey DeJesus | idejesus@pennlive.com

State Rep. Mark Rozzi (D-Berks) on Friday called police to his district office after a member of his staff received a threatening phone call.

“They felt it was crazy enough to call Capital Police and also bring in our local township police,” Rozzi said speaking by phone from his district office in Mullenberg Township . “They are saying a lot of crazy things. They are concerned.”

The call came amid a story published by The Morning Call detailing a statewide investigation by the state Attorney General’s office into allegations of clergy sex abuse.

Among the diocese being investigated by grand jury prosecutors are the dioceses of Harrisburg, Allentown and Pittsburgh.

Rozzi said that while Friday’s caller was prompted by the story in The Morning Call, he has in the past received similar threatening calls.

“They are very will do anything to protect the church,” he said “That’s what this one guy is. This has nothing to do with the church. This is about predators within the church that are protected by the hierarchy.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive

By Ivey DeJesus | idejesus@pennlive.com

Several of the witnesses called to testify before a grand jury investigation by the state Attorney General’s office into allegations of clergy sex abuse across dioceses in the state are warning that they expect those findings to dwarf an earlier report this year out of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.

“After reading the Altoona-Johnstown report, I thought it couldn’t get much worse but from hearing stories from victims about their abuse in Allentown it’s going to make the Altoona-Johnstown report look mild,” said Rep. Mark Rozzi (D-Berks), who gave testimony to investigators a month ago in Pittsburgh.

“The number of people that I know that want to testify clearly outweighs the number that they were able to get in Altoona-Johnstown,” he said on Friday. “I think you are really going to see some horrific stories of abuse that you didn’t see in Altoona.”

The Harrisburg Diocese on Friday confirmed that it had received a subpoena from the Attorney General’s office to testify in a statewide probe into allegations of child sex abuse by priests from dioceses across the state, including those in Allentown and Pittsburgh.

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ARIZONA
New York Daily News

BY CHRIS SOMMERFELDT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Updated: Friday, September 16, 2016

A perverted Arizona pastor has been arrested for allegedly molesting several children — at one point impregnating a 13-year-old girl he had illegally married in Mexico, prosecutors said.

Jose Vicente Morales, 49, was arrested Sept. 9 at his Phoenix home after one young accuser’s mother alerted authorities of the pastor’s appalling acts, KNXV-TV reports.

An investigation is ongoing but cops have so far found Morales molested at least five girls over the the past three decades, several of whom were as young as 7.

Many of Morales’ victims attended his church, Iglesia Impacto De Fe, cops said.

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

ARIZONA
Daily Mail (UK)

By THOMAS BURROWS FOR MAILONLINE

A pastor has been arrested after he allegedly molested several children – including a 13-year-old girl he had illegally married.

Jose Morales, 49, was arrested at his home in Phoenix after the mother of one of his victims alerted police.

She noticed her daughter, 17, had been self-harming as a result of the sexual abuse Morales allegedly did to her five years earlier.

An investigation is ongoing but police have so far found the pastor molested at least five girls over a 30-year period.

Morales came to Arizona in 1986 at the age of 19.

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

ARIZONA
International Business Times

[with video]

BY CORTNEY DRAKEFORD ON 09/16/16

Church is supposed to be a safe space where anyone can come and worship a higher spiritual power, but an Arizona pastor has been accused of violating that safety by allegedly molesting children for several years who belonged to the house of worship he presided over. Jose Vincente Morales was arrested last week after he allegedly sexually targeted youth members of the Iglesia Impacto De Fe in Phoenix as well as other children outside of the church. During this time, he also impregnated a girl when she was 13 years old, local news outlet ABC 15 reported.

The 49-year-old man was arrested Sept. 9 at his Phoenix home after the mother of one of his alleged victims told police about the crimes she said were committed against her child. The mother said she noticed her child began to self-mutilate as a result of the sexual abuse she allegedly suffered five years earlier.

Although the case is still under investigation, police have already found that Morales has molested at least five girls within the last three decades, some who were as young as seven years old, the New York Daily News reported.

Back in 1986, when Morales first arrived to Arizona at 19 years old, he was in a relationship with an 8-year-old girl who he married once she turned 10 in Mexico. When she was 13 years old, the girl became pregnant.

Since the local media began reporting on the crimes, several of Morales’ alleged victims have come forward. An 18-year-old church member told police that the pastor sexually assaulted her. Another victim told authorities that he molested her from the age of seven until she was 12 years old. Police stated that none of the assaults took place on church property but some did occur in homes and swimming pools.

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GEORGIA
CBS 46

By Briana Belser, Digital Content Producer

COBB COUNTY, GA (CBS46) –
Danny Wells, also known as Pastor 7, has been arrested and charged with rape and aggravated child molestation.

The incident occurred at The Garden recovery center where Wells is the founder and pastor. He’s accused of sexually abusing a 10-year-old juvenile who was staying at the center with their family. That child was interviewed by detectives where the victim disclosed the sexual abuse.

The Garden recovery center is a non-profit organization for “that reaches out to the lost and broken of Atlanta and beyond,” according to their website. It’s home to over 60 women and 40 children rescued from the streets. Wells started this program after growing up homeless himself.

This isn’t Pastor 7’s first run in with the law however. According to the site, he has a history of drugs, firearms, money laundering and the mafia. He spent time in solitary confinement and was released back in 2000.

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GEORGIA
Atlanta Journal Constitution

A Cobb County pastor is charged with sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl while she was staying at the homeless shelter his ministry ran.

Danny Wells — founder of the 7 Bridges to Recovery ministry, and known as Pastor 7 — was arrested Thursday morning on charges of rape and aggravated child molestation, according to Cobb County police.

The investigation began in Dothan, Alabama, where the girl told detectives she was abused at The Garden at 2840 Plant Atkinson Road in Smyrna.

According to the shelter’s website, The Garden is described as “… a home for 105 women and children and a program for 25 men that have all been rescued from the streets. These men and women continue to go to the streets multiple times a week reaching out to the lost.”

“The investigation into this incident is ongoing and there may be additional victims,” police said.

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GEORGIA
11 Alive

Greg Rossino, WXIA September 16, 2016

SMYRNA, Ga. — A local pastor has been arrested and charged with child molestation and rape following an investigation from County Police Department’s Crimes Against Children’s Unit.

According to detectives, the investigation originally began in Dothan, Alabama, leading to the interview of a 10-year-old juvenile victim.

During the interview, the juvenile victim disclosed she was sexually abused by “Pastor 7” David Wells, while staying at the recovery center, The Garden, in Smyrna, Ga. with family.

The Garden, which “is home to about 60 women and 40 children that have been rescued from homelessness or broken situations,” was founded by Wells back in 2008.

According to the recovery center’s website, “(Wells) was released from prison in 2000 and God told him to go into the streets and under the bridges and love those with this new love he had been given. Eventually, he was given a home and began rescuing men off the streets and bringing them into his house. Then, women and children started showing up wanting help and God eventually provided the Garden, a home for women and children.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse – FACSA

1. Tuesday 9/20/16 | 10:30 AM | “Spotlight” Press Conference with Spotlight’s Phil Saviano, Joe Crowley and Eric MacLeash | Philadelphia Sheraton Downtown | (MAP HERE)

The press conference follows an earlier panel discussion about the true story behind the movie focusing on the role of the media, the importance of civil remedies and obstacles created by statutes of limitation.

Please spread the word and join us as we attempt a final push to get the original version of HB 1947 (that passed the House overwhelmingly in April) back onto the House Floor for a vote and onto the Senate for concurrence.

Also, if you happen to know a survivor or family member of any of the priests from the 2005 Philadelphia Grand Jury Report, please pass along this invitation. Also, if you have knowledge about where the priests are currently located, and especially if they live close by to where children congregate, please let Pam Oddo know by e-mail. Pam would also appreciate an RSVP if you can attend the press conference.

2. Tuesday 9/27/16 | 10 AM | Rep. Rozzi Press Conference at the Capitol Building- more info to come as to exact location. (MAP HERE)

More on the status of the bill will be posted on our Facebook page and Twitter feed as events will likely happen quickly.

Any questions, concerns, just reply to this email and I will get it.

Marie Whitehead
Communication Coordinator for TEAM FACSA

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PENNSYLVANIA
Lehigh Valley Live

By Sarah Cassi | For lehighvalleylive.com

The Diocese of Allentown has been named in a statewide grand jury investigation into child sex abuse claims, according to reports.

The Allentown and Harrisburg dioceses are part of the investigation, The Morning Call reported.

State Rep. Mark Rozzi, a Democrat from the Reading area, confirmed to media outlets that he recently testified before the grand jury convened in Pittsburgh. Rozzi, of Muhlenberg Township, has previously revealed he was abused by an Allentown Diocese priest in 1984 when he was 13.

While grand jury proceedings are conducted in secret, grand jury witnesses can discuss their testimony.

A timeline of abuse allegations over the past 14 years involving priests with local connections.

Diocese of Allentown spokesman Matt Kerr would not confirm the diocese’s involvement in the grand jury or say if the diocese was subpoenaed. He issued a statement in the wake of Rozzi’s revelations.

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CANADA
Windsor Star

[with video]

A mass was held in Windsor Thursday night at Our Lady of the Assumption for victims and survivors of clergy abuse. Similar masses were held in churches spanning the London Diocese.

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

FLORIDA
Washington Post

By Peter Holley September 16

The men come from any number of backgrounds and range from young to old.

In the end, Pensacola police said, they were united by a common goal: having sex with minors.

During a five-day stretch that ended Sunday, all 22 of the men — including a pastor from a Florida church — were dragged down by “Operation Undertow,” an Internet sting in which undercover agents lured suspected child predators via computer to an undisclosed Florida location, police said.

The men were snagged after they responded to ads for sex with teenage males and females created by agents on “various websites,” police said. Once the men initiated conversations with investigators, police said, warrants were issued for their arrest.

When the suspects showed up at the designated location, they were taken into custody and charged with traveling to meet after using a computer to lure a child.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WITF

Associated Press

(Allentown) — A state lawmaker who says he was abused by a suburban Philadelphia priest more than three decades ago now says state prosecutors are investigating priest abuse accusations in two dioceses.

Democratic state Representative Mark Rozzi of Berks County says the state attorney general’s office has a grand jury investigating the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown.

He says he testified several weeks ago in Pittsburgh, but declined to provide details.

A March report uncovered hundreds of abuse cases in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown that spanned decades.

A spokesman for the Harrisburg diocese says it has received a subpoena from the grand jury.

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WASHINGTON
AOL

[with video]

HOQUIAM, Wash. (KCPQ) — Police on Wednesday arrested a Hoquiam pastor accused of molesting two children — one of the cases dating back almost 15 years.

Authorities said Adair Krack, 67, was booked into the Grays Harbor County Jail for investigation of child molestation 1st degree and child molestation 2nd degree.

According to the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office:

Deputies were first contacted on Aug. 19 by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon. Investigators received a report that a 12-year-old girl from Oregon had been touched inappropriately by Krack at his home last summer.

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MISSOURI
MSN

Kansas City Star
By Glenn E. Rice, Donna McGuire and Ian Cummings

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For years, Kansas City police detectives failed to properly investigate some rapes, serious abuse and other crimes against the city’s children. And in many instances, detectives did no work at all, internal police department memos recently obtained by the Kansas City Star reveal.

A special squad assigned a year ago to help clear backlogged cases uncovered those problems and many others so serious that in January Police Chief Darryl Forte suspended nearly the entire Crimes Against Children unit of detectives and sergeants. At the time, Forte said cases were being worked too slowly.

But police never disclosed the depth and scope of the detectives’ inaction on reported crimes — sexual assaults, broken bones, near starvation among them. The department’s own memos describe 148 “severely mishandled” cases, “gross negligence,” “incompetence” and evidence of attempts to “cover up.”

“Never in my career with the KCPD have I seen such a systemic failure,” Maj. David Lindaman wrote in a Nov. 19 memo to a deputy chief that was among hundreds of pages of documents obtained by The Star.

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IRELAND
The Irish Catholic

by Greg Daly
September 15, 2016

The decision to involve the Vatican’s child protection commission in training new bishops is very welcome, child abuse survivor Marie Collins has said.

Mrs Collins, in Rome for a plenary assembly of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, told The Irish Catholic that the commission has been “invited to take part in training of new bishops here in Rome this week”, continuing, “I will be taking part.”

She described this as “a very welcome development”.

The decision stands in sharp contrast to last year’s training course, when Msgr Tony Anatrella told newly appointed bishops it was up to victims of sexual abuse or their parents to report allegations of abuse to the civil authorities. Cardinal Sean O’Malley, who heads the child protection commission, challenged this advice, saying that bishops had an “ethical and moral” obligation to report abuse allegations.

As well as providing training for new bishops, commission members were invited to address meetings of the Pontifical Ecclesiastic Academy and the Congregation for Consecrated Life.

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LOUISIANA
The Times-Picayune

By Diana Samuels, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

Two more people have come forward to accuse a Marrero pastor of molesting them when they were young girls, raising to five the number of people accusing him of sexual crimes as part of a growing investigation, Orleans Parish court documents said.

The documents said police have also been contacted by two additional possible victims, though their allegations are not detailed in the record.

Sherman Smith was arrested in November on aggravated rape and sexual battery charges after three people came forward. He was booked on further charges Wednesday (Sept. 13), court records showed, including indecent behavior with a juvenile, sexual battery, and molestation of a juvenile or person with a disability.

Smith, a 56-year-old Algiers resident, was a pastor at Second Highway Baptist Church, 1533 block of Haydel Drive, Marrero.

An affidavit for the recent arrest warrant said four more people came forward after information about Smith’s first arrest was distributed on social media. The affidavit contains details about two of those victims’ allegations. The records don’t say how long ago the crimes occurred, but the original case that led to Smith’s arrest had occurred about 22 years earlier.

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ILLINOIS
Aurora Beacon-News

Dan Campana
Aurora Beacon-News

The leader of a North Aurora church will ask the judge overseeing his sex assault case to reduce his bail at a hearing later this month.

Ralphael Robinson, 39, who is listed with an Aurora address, appeared in Kane County court Thursday for a hearing at which he was scheduled to be arraigned on charges of criminal sex assault, criminal sex abuse, attempted aggravated criminal sexual abuse and violation of sex offender registry rules. During the appearance, Robinson’s attorney requested Judge Linda Abrahamson set a hearing for a bond reduction motion. Robinson remains in Kane County Jail on $107,500 bail, with arraignment and the bond issue scheduled for Sept. 30.

Robinson faces a three-count indictment alleging he “begged” to have sex with a teen girl while at Kingdom Church in April.

Authorities have said Robinson fondled and inappropriately touched the teen, who later confronted him about the incident April 18 at the church on South Lincolnway Street. Robinson, who is a registered sex offender following a 2004 sex abuse conviction in Cook County, is accused of violating registry rules after Aurora police said he gave false information, including his employment status. He pleaded guilty to a similar charge in 2004 and received probation.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

The new chairwoman of the inquiry into child sexual abuse in England and Wales, Prof Alexis Jay, is to be paid a salary of £185,000.

The academic and former social worker will also receive an annual accommodation allowance of £35,000.

She is the fourth person to head the inquiry. Her predecessor, Dame Lowell Goddard, who resigned last month, had criticised the scope and scale of the inquiry and said it should be reviewed.

Dame Lowell was being paid £355,000.

She received nearly £30,000 in accommodation expenses, and also claimed £3,324 in expenses last year and more than £37,000 in expenses relating to her relocation to the UK from New Zealand.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY MICHAEL O’KEEFFE
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Friday, September 16, 2016

A Long Island milkman hopes to deliver justice to survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

The owner of Milky Whey Calfeteria has asked his 200 Suffolk County customers to donate this week’s bill to the Democrat running against State Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, a longtime foe of efforts to reform the statute of limitations on child sex abuse cases.

“In lieu of this week’s milk bill payment I am requesting instead that you make a contribution to the below campaign,” Milky Whey Calfeteria owner Kevin DeBlasi wrote in a letter he began distributing to his customers Wednesday. “Your September invoice will reflect zero charges for the week 9/12-9/18.”

The letter includes info on how DeBlasi’s moo-juice customers can donate money to the campaign of Peter Magistrale, a Democrat who supports the Child Victims Act, a bill that would eliminate the statute of limitations for childhood sex abuse — a caused championed by the Daily News.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Concord Monitor

By ALYSSA DANDREA
Monitor staff
Thursday, September 15, 2016

A state senator is drafting a bill that would eliminate the time frame sexual assault victims have to pursue legal action against their attackers.

Martha Fuller Clark, a Portsmouth Democrat, plans to sponsor legislation in the 2017 session that would remove the six-year limitation in felony cases involving adult victims, according to a statement issued Thursday.

Fuller Clark clarified by phone that she is also looking to eliminate the time restriction in child sexual abuse cases, which is longer, but, she argues, still insufficient.

The current statute gives prosecutors 22 years from the child’s 18th birthday – so until age 40 – to file sexual assault charges. Those same victims have less time to file a civil lawsuit; the state statute gives child victims until age 30 to seek damages.

“The timing of these charges shouldn’t be arbitrary,” she said of the limitations period in criminal cases. “We don’t know when an individual who has been traumatized will feel comfortable coming forward.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Premier

Fri 16 Sep 2016
By Alex Williams

The new chairperson of the national inquiry into how the Church, among other UK bodies and institutions, handled child sex abuse has asked that she earns nearly 50 per cent less than her predecessor.

Prof Alexis Jay became the fourth head of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) last month after New Zealand high court judge Dame Lowell Goddard (pictured below) resigned.

The inquiry said: “Professor Jay specifically requested this salary and furthermore did not require the use of a car and driver as provided to the previous Chair.”

While her successor has requested a salary of £185,000 per year, Dame Goddard was paid £355,000 in the last financial year.

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WEST VIRGINIA
Mineral Daily News-Tribune

Posted Sep. 15, 2016

By Barbara High
bhigh@newstribune.info
Tribune Staff Writer

BURLINGTON – Pastor Richard Hogg, former spiritual life coordinator for the Burlington United Methodist Family Services, has pled guilty in Mineral County Circuit Court to one felony count of sexual abuse of a minor by a parent, guardian, or custodian.

The incident occurred when Hogg was employed by Burlington United Methodist Family Services.

According to Mineral County prosecuting attorney Cody Pancake, Hogg was originally charged with two similar counts involving a minor following an investigation led by the West Virginia State Police.

Pancake said Hogg was not indicted by the Mineral County Grand Jury, but instead chose to plead to the information in front of a judge.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Fox 43

BY HOWARD SHEPPARD

HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office is reportedly looking into allegations of sexual abuse by priests in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg. That is according to an article published in the Allentown Morning Call.

The article also quotes diocese spokesperson Joe Aponick acknowledging that the diocese has received a subpoena from the state grand jury. The diocese issued a statement saying that it is cooperating with investigators.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WFMZ

Kyle Rogers , Reporter, KRogers@wfmz.com

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – A local state lawmaker, who was sexually abused by a priest, said he testified before a grand jury investigating abuse in the Diocese of Allentown as part of a statewide probe.

Representative Mark Rozzi (D) of Berks County said the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General is investigating clergy sexual abuse and the findings will be shocking.

Rozzi told 69 News he was in Pittsburgh recently to testify before a grand jury about his personal experience as a child abused by a priest within the Diocese of Allentown.

“I think people are going to be really, really shocked, saddened, dismayed when they find out what really happened in the Allentown diocese,” said Rozzi.

The Berks County lawmaker has led the charge to crackdown on sexual abuse in Pennsylvania. “I got my subpoena months ago and I just recently testified about three to four weeks ago in Pittsburgh specifically on my abuse,” said Rozzi.

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GUAM
Radio New Zealand

[with audio]

From Dateline Pacific

A bill that would enable victims of historical sexual abuse in Guam to file civil action is a step closer to becoming law.

A victims advocate says it could have tremendous implications for the Catholic Church which has been hit by more allegations of abuse by Guam’s Archbishop and other clergy members.

Jo O’Brien has more

TRANSCRIPT

“My name is Ramon Afaisan de Plata. When I was 10 years old in March 1964 I witnessed Pale Antonio Cruz and Anthony Apuron molest an altar boy.”

The latest accusation of sexual abuse made against Guam’s Archbishop Anthony Apuron who was a seminarian at the time, and a now deceased priest, Reverend Antonio Cruz. During a media conference posted on the Pacific Daily News website, 62 year-old Ramon De Plata went on to describe how he saw Anthony Apuron performing oral sex on the boy, who was then just 10 years-old.

The allegation of abuse in the 1960s follows four earlier claims the Archbishop molested or raped altar boys in the 1970s. Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests spokesperson Joelle Casteix says the fresh allegation suggests the abuse was more widespread.

“If it goes as far back as the 1960s we’re going to see that there was a web of abuse and coverup that went back much bigger and much further than we really even know right now.”

The most recent allegations come as Guam’s legislature has unanimously approved a bill that would lift the two-year statute of limitations for filing civil action in sexual abuse cases. The bill would allow civil action to be taken against alleged perpetrators of historical abuse and the institutions that protected them. Joelle Casteix says that makes it very powerful, enabling victims to access church files, and force church officials to reveal what they know about abuse under oath.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WGAL

By Hannah McDonald

The Harrisburg Diocese is part of grand jury investigation into possible sexual abuse by priests.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call

Steve Esack, Peter Hall and Matt Assad
Of The Morning Call

“Allentown is definitely under the microscope.”

The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office is looking into allegations of abuse by priests in the Allentown Diocese as part of a bigger statewide investigation, a lawmaker who was called to testify told The Morning Call Thursday.

The Harrisburg Diocese also is under investigation.

“I can acknowledge that the Diocese of Harrisburg has received a subpoena from the state grand jury,” spokesman Joe Aponick said Thursday.

State prosecutors have been taking testimony in Pittsburgh for months in a wide ranging investigation that started with a scathing March report detailing allegations of abuse by about 50 priests and other religious leaders in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese and a coverup by church officials. It’s not clear how many of the state’s eight dioceses are being investigated.

“They’ve got a grand jury going on in the Allentown Diocese and on the Harrisburg Diocese,” said Rep. Mark Rozzi, a former altar boy who says he was abused by an Allentown Diocese priest in 1984. “Allentown is definitely under the microscope.”

Allentown Diocese spokesman Matt Kerr would not confirm the investigation Thursday. In a statement, he said the diocese promptly reports abuse allegations and has “zero tolerance” for offenders.

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CONNECTICUT
CT Post

By Daniel Tepfer Thursday, September 15, 2016

BRIDGEPORT – Lawyers for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport and the international Congregation of Holy Cross urged a judge Thursday not to make public hundreds of documents detailing how priest abuse was handled by bishops Edward Egan and William Lori.

“If there is a letter to the diocese that we heard Father so-and-so had done this thing and this information, if it were made public, would taint this priest,” Diocese lawyer Ernest J. Mattei told Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis.

It’s been more than 10 years since the diocese paid more than $15 million to more than two dozen people who claimed they were abused by priests when they were children. And then there was the award-winning movie, “Spotlight,” about the abuse cases in Boston that many thought had closed the door on the whole abuse scandal.

But for more than two years, three local lawyers, Jason Tremont, Cindy Robinson and Douglas Mahoney, who represent five alleged victims of four priests, have been battling with the lawyers for the diocese in Superior Court here.

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AUSTRALIA
Northern Star

Sherele Moody | 16th Sep 2016

A VICTIM of a notorious paedophile priest told Cardinal George Pell in 2002 that he had experienced “severe and prolonged sexual abuse”.

The victim’s letter sent to Cardinal Pell when he was archbishop of Sydney was tendered as evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse this week.

The victim describes being abused by Father John Farrell in the 1980s.

Farrell was convicted earlier this year of 62 child abuse offences against 12 victims.

Farrell’s victims made allegations about the priest as far back as 1984 but the Catholic Church allowed him to continue working with young boys until 1992 – the same year the former priest “confessed” to three senior church members to abusing five boys in the Armidale diocese in 1992.

The victim’s letter was sent to Cardinal Pell and the then Armidale bishop Luc Matthys who was Farrell’s superior.

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CANADA
Catholic Register

BY DEBORAH GYAPONG, CANADIAN CATHOLIC NEWS
September 15, 2016

OTTAWA – The Archdiocese of Ottawa is withholding comment on a $2-million lawsuit launched by the estate of a man who, according to his wife, claimed on his death bed that he had been sexually abused by a priest in the 1960s.

The case of the man identified as “John Doe” was filed in August by Robert Talach, a lawyer who has represented many sexual abuse claimants against the Catholic Church.

According to a report in the Ottawa Citizen, “John Doe” claimed to his wife that he was abused by Fr. Jean Gravel, a priest at Ottawa’s Saint-Remi parish. “Doe” died in 2014.

Gravel pleaded guilty in 1967 to gross indecency charges involving two teenaged boys. In a rare move for that time, Archbishop Joseph -Aurèle Plourde appealed to the Vatican to have Gravel removed from the clerical state in 1970. Gravel committed suicide in 1980. Plourde died in 2013.

According to the Citizen, court documents indicate that “John Doe” was one of the priest’s teenaged victims involved in the 1967 criminal case. His wife told the Citizen she only became aware of the alleged abuse when her husband spoke about it before he died.

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MAINE
Portland Press Herald

BY ERIC RUSSELL STAFF WRITER
erussell@pressherald.com | @PPHEricRussell | 207-791-6344

An inmate at the Maine State Prison serving a 60-year sentence for the 1986 murder of his grandfather has sued the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland for alleged sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of two priests, dating back to the late 1970s.

Jeffrey Libby, through his attorney Verne Paradis Jr., filed the suit Thursday in Cumberland County Unified Court, alleging negligence, sexual assault and battery, invasion of privacy, clergy malpractice and more. He is seeking unspecified damages.

He named his abusers as: Christian Roy, who was permanently removed from the priesthood in 2006 and now lives in Boston, and Raymond Lauzon, who died in 2005. Both have long histories of abuse allegations against them, according to previously published stories.

Libby alleges that he was raised in a devout Catholic family and lived with his grandparents in Winslow during the time of the abuse. He met Roy at a church function in 1979 and Roy subsequently introduced Libby to Lauzon.

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FLORIDA
KCBY

BY ALLIE NORTON, WEAR THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15TH 2016

SANTA ROSA COUNTY, Fla. (WEAR) — Parishioners from the church neighboring First United Methodist Church of Pace circled around the building in prayer on Wednesday night. Hours earlier, news broke that the senior pastor was one of nearly two dozen men arrested in a child sex sting led by the Pensacola Police Department.

“It’s a major issue,” Chief David Alexander III said in a press conference. “It is something I believe the people need to know, that this is very serious and there are long term consequences when we don’t do what we can to pull these kind of people off the street.”

According to the police report, David D Hoppenjan, 52, contacted an undercover officer posing as a 14 year old boy through an “ecommerce” website profile. Hoppenjan and the officer communicated through writing where they agreed to oral sex at a Pensacola location. According to the report, Hoppenjan arrived, but was given a second location by the officer to meet the juvenile. Hoppenjan was taken into custody on charges of obscene communication and traveling to meet after using computer to lure child.

The 21 other suspects were arrested for similar circumstances during the five-day sting. At least one suspect traveled from Mobile, but it is possible some came from as far as Mississippi. Florida Attorney Bill Eddins said he applauds the hard work of the numerous law enforcement agencies, but adds it a little discouraging to see so many arrests.

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ALABAMA
AL.com

By Leada Gore | lgore@al.com

Twenty-two men – including 4 from Alabama and a former youth pastor at a Wetumpka church – were arrested in an internet sting that targeted adults who traveled to Pensacola to have sex with children.

Dubbed “Operation Undertow,” the Pensacola police said the sting took place Sept. 7-11. Warrants were issued for all of the suspects after they contacted undercover agents via the computer in an attempt to arrange sexual encounters with teenage males and female.

The suspects were arrested when they arrived at the designated location where they thought they would be meeting the teens. They were instead met by Pensacola police.

“This effort of arresting and prosecuting these individuals helps to stop future abuse,” said Pensacola Police Chief David Alexander III. “This was five days of hard work for our officers, dispatchers, support personnel, and personnel from other agencies in addition to the planning of this operation.”

Among those arrested was David Hoppenjan, 52, of Pace, Florida, senior pastor at the First United Methodist Church of Pace. Prior to coming to Pace last year, Hoppenjan was executive pastor at Shalimar United Methodist Church in Florida for nine years and before that, he was youth pastor at Wetumpka First United Methodist Church in Alabama.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

15 September

Details about the remuneration package for the newly appointed Chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse have today been published. Alexis Jay, who took over from former Chair, Dame Lowell Goddard, last month is to receive a salary of £185,000 and an accommodation allowance of £35,000.

Professor Jay specifically requested this salary, and furthermore did not require the use of a car and driver as provided to the previous Chair.

Further information about the Chair’s remuneration package can be found in our library.

We have also published our financial report for 2015/16.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By PRESS ASSOCIATION

The new chairwoman of the national inquiry into child sexual abuse will earn £185,000 a year.

Professor Alexis Jay, who was named as the fourth head of the probe last month after Dame Lowell Goddard resigned, will also be given a London accommodation allowance of £35,000.

Prof Jay’s salary is substantially lower than that given to her predecessor, who was paid £355,000 in the last financial year.

Releasing details of the new chair’s remuneration package, the inquiry said: ” Professor Jay specifically requested this salary and furthermore did not require the use of a car and driver as provided to the previous Chair.”

The inquiry also published its financial report for 2015/16, including details of spending amounting to more than half a million pounds in relation to Dame Lowell’s terms.

This included £355,000 in annual salary and £119,000 on rental and utilities allowance
The inquiry incurred costs of £67,319 during the last financial year on travel included in the New Zealand high court judge’s terms of appointment.

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ARIZONA
Addicting Info

By Stephen D Foster Jr on September 15, 2016
·
An Arizona pastor used his position to get close to children for decades so he could rape them – and now he has finally been arrested by law enforcement.

Jose Vicente Morales of the Iglesia Impacto De Fe church in Phoenix was arrested at his home on September 9th and charged with sexual abuse, child molestation and sexual conduct with a minor, one of whom he “married” when the girl was 10 years old and impregnated when she was 13 years old.

According to ABC 15:

Court records show that 49-year-old Jose Vicente Morales had been molesting children for years; he impregnated one of the victims when she was 13 years of age.

In the ongoing investigation, police report Morales may have molested or sexually assaulted at least five victims who were either church members or known to Morales outside of the church setting.

Multiple victims have come forward, including a teen who says the pastor lured her into a home and and sexually assaulted her and another who says he molested her from the time she was seven until she turned 12.

Thus far, Morales’ church has not responded to the arrest and charges.

But when they finally get around to doing so, hopefully they will not blame the victims like the Columbia Road Baptist Church in North Olmsted, Ohio did earlier this month when they demanded that a teenage girl apologize to the wife of the youth pastor who raped her repeatedly.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | Sep. 15, 2016

Eight months without reply, Catholic advocates for survivors of clergy sexual abuse have hit resend on their request for a Vatican investigation into the abuse policies of U.S. bishops.

The Catholic Whistleblowers mailed a second letter Sept. 1 to the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops, addressed to its prefect Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Canada.

The brief one-page letter summarizes and refers back to another letter the advocacy group sent at the beginning of the year. That first letter raised concerns that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was not fully implementing its zero tolerance policy toward abusive priests, and as a result putting children and communities at risk while also creating scandal in the church.

Specifically, Catholic Whistleblowers argues the conference and its bishops have not reported all appropriate abuse allegations to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and lack a mechanism to assure bishops pass such cases to the congregation at all.

“The USCCB established a Zero Tolerance policy regarding clergy sexual abuse and then has worked against its own commitment? What motivates such behavior?” wrote Fr. James Connell, a member of the Whistleblower Steering Committee, repeating a line from the first letter, in all 13 pages, to Ouellet.

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ARIZONA
Downtown Devil

By Kelsey Hess – September 15, 2016

There is a long, deafening silence that follows the end of the Academy Award-winning film, Spotlight.

That silence was the result of a stunned audience when I saw Spotlight at the AMC Theatre in the Arizona Center last November upon release. Nearly one year later at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the film brought out a similar reaction from ASU journalism students as a long list of cities represented that, yes, priests in your hometown – or a town just like it – have been caught molesting children.

Spotlight, which won Best Picture at the Academy Awards last year in a triumphant win for journalism, followed the story of new Cronkite professor and The Boston Globe’s Walter Robinson and his investigative reporting team through their discovery of the cover-up of sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church. The article resulted in 300 calls from victims the day after the article was printed from as far as Australia. Nearly 600 follow-up articles were written by the Spotlight team in the year following.

“We knew it was going to be a good story but we had no idea it would reverberate the way it did,” Robinson said to the crowd of students on Wednesday night. “It became apparent that this was a systematic problem. It’s not the crime as much as it is the cover-up; it became much clearer that everyone knew and had to have had facilitated this.”

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service
9.15.2016

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Though it has no juridical power, Pope Francis’ committee on protecting children has discovered it has consultative punch.

Members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors have now become the go-to team for educating bishops, Vatican diplomats in training and Curia staffers, religious orders and local churches about safeguarding children, adolescents and vulnerable adults and protecting them against sexual abuse.

More than two years after Pope Francis established this advisory body and 16 months after its statutes were approved, “the openness is finally there” to tap into the papal think tank and take advantage of its expertise, said Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, a commission member, psychologist and president of the Center for Child Protection at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University.

“The interest in doing something is growing fast,” he told Catholic News Service. The commission’s experts — including an abuse survivor — have been called on to speak all over the world and, this year, at the Vatican as well. They have addressed staff at the offices overseeing clergy, bishops, religious and future papal diplomats, providing them with a priority list of what to do.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Maureen Fiedler | Sep. 15, 2016

NCR reported that the Council of Cardinals, an advisory group to Pope Francis, has been discussing the process for selecting bishops. And evidently, the role of Apostolic Nuncios (the ones who usually recommend candidates for bishops in various dioceses) was discussed extensively.

What was apparently missing from the discussion was the ancient form of selecting bishops, highly relevant in today’s world. It’s a method used today — with some variations — by the Episcopal, Lutheran and Methodist churches. It was also a method used in the first centuries of the Christian church (before any denominations), and it’s a method that should resonate in the modern world.

It’s called election. In other words, why not devise a system to elect bishops? Let the people of a diocese choose their bishop(s). Now, this would require some process for nominations, probably presentations by the candidates either in a public forum or at least in writing, and formal voting. Eligibility for voting ought to include both women and men in good standing in a given diocese … probably 18 years of age or older, as in our secular election system. Or, if one wanted to dilute the democratic process a bit, election might be done by lay delegates who are elected by parishioners.

In any event, this would revive the system for bishop selection that predominated in the earliest centuries of the church. An early history of this practice by Juicio Brennan says that, “In these early centuries, the nominations and elections of bishops were done solely by a popular vote of all the faithful. St. Cyprian believed elections prevented unworthy persons from becoming bishops.” He also notes that “by the middle of the third century … evidence shows that women were beginning to be excluded from the voting.” Obviously, that would be unacceptable today.

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CANADA/ISRAEL/GUATEMALA
National Post (Canada)

Graeme Hamilton and Peter Kuitenbrouwer | September 14, 2016

Spurred by officials in Israel, child-protection authorities in Guatemala have raided an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect whose members fled Canada in 2014 after they came under investigation.

About 200 police, crown prosecutors and representatives of the attorney general’s office executed a search warrant targeting the Lev Tahor community Tuesday, said Salvador Soto, a lawyer for the Lev Tahor community.

He said the community members responded with shock because “most of the families were asleep” when police arrived at dawn at the apartments where the Lev Tahor families live in Guatemala City’s Ninth Zone.

“They were waving around their guns, and the families were terrified,” Soto said. “They entered by force because the families wanted to keep them out.”

A statement Tuesday from Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it is in close contact with Guatemalan authorities over concerns that the children of Lev Tahor members, many of them Israeli citizens, are suffering abuse.

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RHODE ISLAND
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: B. Samuel Turillo was ordained for the Diocese of Providence in 1946. He assisted in parishes in Warwick, Providence, West Warwick, Cranston, Barrington and Woonsocket, and he served as a hospital chaplain. In 1971 he was named pastor of St. Joseph’s in Hope Valley, followed in 1979 by Sacred in West Warwick. He retired in 1994. In June 2016 the diocese announced that Turillo was “prohibited from exercising the sacred ministry” due to a credible allegation against him of sexual misconduct with a minor which occurred about 60 years previously.

Ordained: 1946
Retired: 1994

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Tawar Razaghi

The Catholic Church took two years to defrock New South Wales paedophile priest John Joseph Farrell after a report found he posed a risk to children, a royal commission has heard.

Former Armidale Bishop Luc Matthys has been giving evidence to the commission as it looks into how the church dealt with decades of abuse allegations made against Farrell.

In 2003, the church received a damning report commissioned by Encompass, a church-based organisation, that identified Farrell’s pattern of behaviour as being long term and that he was “accountable to no-one”.

When questioned why the church did not act immediately on the report, Bishop Matthys said the process at the time was arduous.

“In those days you couldn’t get a laicisation [de-frocking] done without the cooperation and knowledge of the person,” Bishop Matthys said.

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IOWA
Quad-City Times

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Sioux City Diocese says five more people have made allegations of years-ago sexual abuse by a now deceased priest.

The Sioux City Journal reports (http://bit.ly/2cHLGLb ) that the diocese also confirmed Wednesday that it has reached a settlement with the man who first came forward with allegations against the Rev. Peter Murphy, who served in several northwest Iowa parishes from the 1950s through the 1970s.

Spokeswoman Kristie Arlt says Bishop Walker Nickless is reaching out to the people who’ve contacted the diocese since June, when the diocesan newspaper asked readers for information about sexual misconduct by Murphy, who died in 1980.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

September 16, 2016

DAN BOX
Crime reporterSydney
@DanBox10

George Pell was told about child abuse committed by a pedophile Catholic priest a decade before a police strike force was set up to investigate the man’s crimes, a royal commission has heard.

The priest, John Farrell, was the subject of repeated allegations received by the church as early as 1984, but was jailed only after the strike force was set up in 2012 following media reports.

Farrell is also alleged to have confessed during a meeting with three senior clerics to abusing five altar boys in the Armidale diocese in northern NSW in 1992, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard. One of the clerics, John Usher, later worked with Cardinal Pell as chancellor of the Sydney archdiocese.

Farrell, also known as Father F, was convicted in May of 62 ­offences against 12 victims.

Cardinal Pell, now a senior Vatican official, has been named in evidence during several hearings and has given evidence in person relating to his time in ­Ballarat, Melbourne and Sydney.

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

Cindy Wooden
September 14, 2016
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis and members of his Council of Cardinals advising him on church governance once again discussed ways to improve the process of identifying the best priests to become bishops.

“The cardinals reflected broadly on the spiritual and pastoral profile necessary for a bishop today,” said Greg Burke, director of the Vatican press office.

Meeting with Pope Francis Sept. 12-14, they also discussed “the theme of the Holy See’s diplomatic service and the formation and tasks of apostolic nuncios with particular attention to their great responsibility in the choice of candidates for the episcopacy,” Burke said in a statement.

At their April meeting, the pope and cardinals also had spoken about the process of choosing new bishops and they looked specifically at the questionnaire that nuncios send around to bishops, priests and others asking their opinions about certain candidates.

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NEW ZEALAND
TVNZ

[with video]

Emily Cooper
ONE News Reporter

Grant West was a victim of sexual abuse as a boy and for the past month he has spent his time travelling New Zealand to collect signatures.

His petition, presented to MPs today, asks for a Royal Commission into the handling of historic child sexual abuse.

“I’m 54 now and I’m living with this every day – I have nightmares at night, I have flashbacks,” Mr West said.

It’s estimated that one in three girls and one in six young boys experience some sort of unwanted sexual advance before their 16th birthday – and most don’t report it.

In Australia, Mr West helped push for the establishment of a Royal Commission into child sex abuse, and campaigners say a New Zealand inquiry could be similar, as the same sort of abuse occurred here.

The government insists that the situation in New Zealand is under control, with different reporting procedures in place to address historic abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – PM

MARK COLVIN: A warning: the following story on the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse includes details some may find disturbing.

The inquiry has heard how a priest, long suspected of molesting children, was not forced out until two decades after the first complaints emerged.

The priest was John Joseph Farrell, who worked in regional New South Wales and Parramatta.

Brendan Trembath reports.

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GUAM
Radio New Zealand

A deacon on Guam says it is concerning the Vatican does not appear to have begun investigating abuse allegations against the island’s Archbishop.

Five allegations Archbishop Anthony Apuron raped or molested altar boys in the 1960s and 1970s have now been made over the past year.

Deacon Steve Martinez, the former sex abuse response co-ordinator for the Catholic Church on Guam, said it was right that the Vatican investigates allegations against Archbishops so there is no conflict of interest.

But he said he had seen no evidence an investigation had started or that Rome had even communicated with the alleged victims.

“If they have not it’s not a good sign because some of these allegations have been out there for practically a year. It’s not fair to the victims and it’s not fair to the accused as well,” he said.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is hosting a research symposium about children and young people’s issues in October.

Attendance is free and invitations are open to everyone.

‘Listen and give us a say: Children and young people’s views about safety in institutions’ will share findings from research reports commissioned and published by the Royal Commission.

Researchers spoke directly with diverse groups of children and young people, including those with a disability, about the safety issues they experience in institutional contexts and how these are best addressed.

Findings will be presented from a selection of research reports including, Taking us seriously, Feeling safe, being safe and Our safety counts

There will be presentations by the report authors followed by a panel of children and young people.

The findings will be relevant to a range of organisations including service providers, advocacy groups, government and research as well as to young people themselves, and those working with young people in education, justice, religious organisations and sports groups.

VENUE: University Hall, University of Technology Sydney
15 Broadway
Ultimo NSW 2007
TIME: 9:00am – 12:30pm including morning tea. Registration from 8:30am.

If you would like to attend, email symposia@childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au by 23 September 2016.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Morning Star

There is something amiss in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse when its third chairperson resigns amid disturbing revelations about its ever-changing remit. It has certainly lost the confidence of the victims, says STEVEN WALKER

Back in April Justice Lowell Goddard, the chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, admitted that she was going to ignore allegations against prominent politicians as directed by the then home secretary Theresa May.

She also agreed to stop investigating allegations of a cover-up of such criminal activity by the security services, the police and Whitehall.

When she recently resigned from the inquiry Goddard became the third chair to quit in two years.

She was appointed by May, who also changed the terms of the inquiry to focus on institutions covering an enormous swathe of public life such as schools, hospitals, churches, children’s homes, youth clubs — anywhere children were meant to be looked after.

The widening of the inquiry was seen as an obvious attempt to take the spotlight off what was emerging as a potential parliamentary paedophile scandal dating back decades.

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AUSTRALIA
Eastern Riverina Chronicle

Ken Grimson
15 Sep 2016

BISHOP Gerard Hanna has spoken of being forced to work with suspected paedophile priest John Farrell and of the tight restrictions he placed on him.

The retiring Bishop of Wagga diocese was questioned about Farrell on Wednesday at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The bishop said he was parish priest of St Nicholas’ in Tamworth in 1984 when Farrell was foisted on him by Bishop Henry Kennedy amid rumours of inappropriate behaviour following his overnight removal from Moree.

He said Bishop Kennedy gave him no details of the allegations, saying only that Farrell was “high risk, you have to watch him and put him on restricted ministry.”

Bishop Hanna told counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness, he imposed tight restrictions on Farrell’s movements that kept him out of schools and away from altar boys.

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WASHINGTON
Peninsula Daily News

ROB OLLIKAINEN
Thu Sep 15th, 2016

PORT ANGELES — Douglas J. Allison, a former private school teacher who pleaded guilty to raping and molesting two 10-year-old students, was sentenced Wednesday to 26½ years in prison.

The 55-year-old was the head teacher and principal of Mountain View Christian School near Sequim.

He pleaded guilty last month to two counts of first-degree child molestation and two counts of first-degree child rape for crimes that occurred during his classes last fall and winter.

Clallam County Superior Court Judge Christopher Melly sentenced Allison to 318 months — the top end of the standard sentencing range — and a life of community custody.

“I think that justice deserves it, but I think more importantly, the girls do,” Melly said.

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ARIZONA
AZ Family

By David Baker

PHOENIX (KPHO/KTVK) –
A Phoenix pastor is jail and accused of molesting girls, including two that went to his church, and impregnating a girl who may have been as young as 13 years old.

Jose Vicente Morales was arrested on Friday, Sept. 9 near 43rd Avenue and Bethany Home Road.

According to court documents, there are at least five victims that he knew through his church or already knew outside of the church.

Police said Morales impregnated a girl when she was 13 or 14 years old. He reportedly met her when she was 8 years old and got “married” when she was 10 years old, court documents said.

Another victim said she was sexually abused from when she was 7 years old to when she was 12 years old. She recalled being molested by Morales when she was sleeping over at his house and then another time while she was swimming in his pool, court documents said.

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ARIZONA
Arizona Republic

Megan Janetsky, The Republic
September 14, 2016

A Phoenix pastor was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of child molestation and sexual conduct with a minor, according to court documents.

Jose Vicente Morales, 49, was arrested Sept. 9. Court documents include several allegations against Morales, detailing alleged sexual assaults and molestations of four underage girls and one 18-year-old woman.

Morales was held on one count of child molestation and one count of sexual conduct with a minor. Investigators were continuing to look into other allegations, court documents say.

According to court reports, Morales was pastor to some of the females reporting the alleged abuse and knew others outside of church.

According to Univision, Morales was a pastor of Iglesia Cristiana Impacto de Fe, a small church at 4030 N. 27th Ave.

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ARIZONA
12 News

[with video]

Dee Dee Gatton , KPNX September 14, 2016

PHOENIX – A Phoenix pastor is accused of sex crimes against at least five victims, some who were relatives or members of his church.

According to court documents, 49-year-old Jose Vicente Morales has been molesting or engaging in sexual contact with minors for years.

Phoenix police started their investigation after one of the victims told her mother she was cutting herself as a result of sexual abuse when she was 12 years old.

According to the report, Morales came to Arizona in 1986 at which time he got to know another victim, his current wife, at the church they attended.

Reportedly, they got married in Mexico when the victim was only 10 years old and she was impregnated at 13 or 14.

The defendant stated they have three children together; the oldest is 24 years old.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Get Religion

Jim Davis

Child porn charges against a Pennsylvania priest are yielding coverage with a different kind of ghost” – the specter of past crimes illustrated with a literal list in a newspaper. But is such a focus always warranted? Do journalists use this with the Catholic sins, alone?

After a Faithful Reader brought this up, I looked at the examples sent in. Here’s what I saw.

The focus is retired Monsignor John S. Mraz, charged with collecting and viewing child porn on two laptops. Two local newspapers do a fine job on the story – to a point.

Both of them do what newspapers do best: narrating the chilling details. Take the Reading Eagle account:

A senior Allentown Catholic Diocese priest who began his career in Reading was caught with child pornography on his computer, Lehigh County District Attorney James B. Martin said Tuesday.

Officials said Monsignor John S. Mraz admitted that he sought out and viewed the images for his sexual gratification. They said the investigation began after a parishioner of Mraz’s Emmaus church reported uncovering a file with a name along the lines of “naked little boys” while performing maintenance the priest had requested.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

Rebekah Ison – AAP on September 15, 2016

A Sydney Catholic bishop destroyed a letter regarding civil action against a pedophile priest years after police raided his office and left him “traumatised”, a royal commission has heard.

Former Parramatta Bishop Bede Heather testified he developed a stress disorder and became very concerned about confidentiality after police investigating child sex allegations left his office in “disarray” in 1994.

On Thursday he admitted to ripping up a 1996 letter to lawyers about civil action taken against a pedophile priest and the diocese and later conceded he must have destroyed 1994 advice to church insurers.

“Shortly afterwards (the raid) I took the precaution of destroying all papers of mine which could have been to the disadvantage of persons with whom I deal,” said Dr Heather’s letter to lawyers, which was read by Chair Peter McClellan at the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse on Thursday.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

A Catholic bishop has admitted destroying documents relating to child sexual abuse by priests after police raided his office.

Giving evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Bishop Bede Heather said he was “traumatised” when police investigating sexual allegations against three priests searched his office in the western Sydney diocese of Parramatta in 1994.

Before this, “I did not see myself as bound to take these complaints to the police,” Bishop Heather told the commission.

Following the police raid “I took the precaution of destroying all papers of mine which could have been to the disadvantage of persons with whom I dealt,” Bishop Bede wrote in a letter to the diocese’s lawyers.

That letter was provided to the commission by the law firm, Makinson & d’Apice, as Bishop Bede’s copy of the letter was also destroyed, the commission heard.

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AUSTRALIA
Moree Champion

Rachel Browne
15 Sep 2016

The former Catholic Bishop of Parramatta, Bede Heather, told a royal commission he destroyed documents relating to potential legal action against a paedophile priest.

Bishop Heather told the public inquiry he destroyed documents because he was traumatised by a police search of his office as part of an earlier investigation into sexual abuse by clergy.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard Bishop Heather advised his lawyers Makinson & D’Apice of his actions in a 1996 letter.

“Following the police raid on our offices, shortly afterwards I took the precaution of destroying all papers of mine which could have been to the disadvantage of persons with whom I deal,” he wrote in the letter which was partly read out before the commission.

In evidence, Bishop Heather admitted he destroyed material which might contain information about crimes committed by clergy.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Philly.com

SEPTEMBER 15, 2016

by Julia M. Klein, For The Inquirer

In Doubt: A Parable, a fierce, humorless nun and a likable priest seem locked in a battle over repression and freedom in the Catholic Church. Among those caught in the crossfire are an innocent younger nun and a pioneering black student who never appears on stage.

The Way Off Broad Street Theater Company, capitalizing on the site-specific resonance and intimacy of the Arch Street Chapel, is mounting a creditable, involving production of John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play as part of the Fringe Festival.

It’s clear at first where the audience’s sympathies will lie. Jason Cutts’ Father Brendan Flynn is a handsome charmer, even if he has a dash of arrogance and a fixation on well-tended fingernails.

By contrast, Kris Andrews’ Sister Aloysius is an uncompromising task-master, opposed to ballpoint pens, the (overly) passionate teaching of history, and, seemingly, modernity itself. In this production, Andrews’ performance doesn’t do much to right the balance: She’s uncharismatic, awkward, and slow to reveal the fire beneath her ice

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IOWA
Sioux City Journal

SIOUX CITY | Five more people have come forward with allegations of sexual abuse against a now-deceased Sioux City priest, a spokeswoman with the Sioux City Diocese confirmed Wednesday.

The diocese also confirmed it has reached a settlement with the man who first came forward about his violent abuse by the priest 20 years ago.

Sioux City Diocese Spokeswoman Kristie Arlt said in the past two months, five people have contacted the victims assistance coordinator at the Mercy Child Advocacy Center reporting abuse by the Rev. Peter Murphy, who was ordained in 1955 and served at eight parishes throughout northwest Iowa in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.

Arlt said Bishop Walker R. Nickless is in the process of reaching out to the four victims who provided the diocese with their names. One victim is remaining anonymous, she said.

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AUSTRALIA
Canberra Times

Christopher Knaus

A survivor of abuse at St Edmund’s College has urged others to come forward, saying the justice process helped him heal and live a full and happy life.

Anthony Kane, as a boy of 13, was invited back to the room of lay teacher Patrick O’Flaherty in the winter of 1968 after a football match.

Mr O’Flaherty was a new teacher at the school, and lived on the St Edmund’s campus, near the school’s monastery.

It was there that court documents allege Mr O’Flaherty began to abuse the 13-year-old in his room.

Mr Kane was saved by a knock on the door from his father, who had been frantically looking for his boy.

Complaints were made and Mr O’Flaherty was immediately removed from teaching and referred to police.

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Sep 14, 2016

By Krystal Paco

The Vatican is doing its part to train new bishops on sex abuse awareness. The news follows a meeting of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors held earlier this month. For decades the church has been accused of covering up for abusers by moving priests around rather than report them to police.

Now, priests will be taught to listen to survivors with open ears and hearts so healing may begin.

Pope Francis established the Commission in 2013 to serve as an advisory panel to protect children and keep pedophiles out of priesthood. In the last few months, six alleged victims have surfaced here on Guam.

At this time, Guam’s apostolic administrator Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai is in Rome. He’s anticipated to return to Guam on Monday.

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VATICAN CITY
Natonal Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Sep. 14, 2016 NCR Today

ROME
The group of cardinals advising Pope Francis on reforming the Catholic church’s central bureaucracy spent time in their latest meeting discussing how Catholic bishops around the world are selected, the Vatican’s main spokesman said Wednesday.

Gregory Burke, the head of the Holy See press office, said the nine-member Council of Cardinals focused particularly on the role the Vatican’s various global ambassadors, known as apostolic nuncios, play in helping select new bishops.

“The cardinals reflected extensively on the spiritual and pastoral profile necessary for a bishop today,” Burke said in a statement following the cardinals’ meeting.

“They spoke of the diplomatic service of the Holy See and of the formation and duties of apostolic nuncios, with particular attention to their great responsibility in choosing candidates for the episcopacy,” Burke continued.

The Council, created by Francis to help him in reforming what is known as the Roman Curia, has been meeting with the pope in Rome Monday through Wednesday for the 16th of its in-person meetings.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY KENNETH LOVETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Updated: Wednesday, September 14, 2016

ALBANY — Child sex abuse survivors were saddened by the surprising Democratic primary loss of the prime Assembly sponsor of the Child Victims Act, but they say it will not deter their efforts to get the bill passed in 2017.

First elected to the Queens seat in 1998, Assemblywoman Margaret Markey was soundly defeated by Woodside attorney Brian Barnwell in Tuesday’s primary contest, which had flown below the radar of most political insiders.

Markey has aggressively pushed the Child Victims Act, which would make it easier for child sex abuse victims to bring cases as adults, for about a decade.

There are dozens of Assembly co-sponsors, but it’s unclear who will take the lead in Markey’s absence. Democratic Assembly members Amy Paulin, of Westchester, and Linda Rosenthal and Daniel O’Donnell, both of Manhattan, have already been mentioned as possibilities in some circles.

“We’ll miss Markey,” said Gary Greenberg, an upstate investor and child sex abuse victim. “She’s done a hell of a lot of work for this bill. But that’s politics. It’s a passing of the torch.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A campaign group involved in the public inquiry into historic allegations of child sexual abuse says it may withdraw from the process.

Shirley Oaks Survivors Association said the inquiry’s new chair, Prof Alexis Jay, may have a potential conflict of interest as a former social worker.

The group represents 600 people who allege they were abused in south London children’s homes.
The national inquiry is made up of 13 separate investigations.

Investigations into claims of abuse in children’s homes in Lambeth are due to form a key part of the embattled inquiry’s work.

But Labour MP Chuka Umunna, who supports the Shirley Oaks campaign, said the social work profession was “culpable” and that Prof Jay should step aside for this strand of the inquiry’s work.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

By Jake Morris
BBC Newsnight

The inquiry into child abuse should be restructured to regain the confidence of survivors, an MP has said.

The Labour MP Chuka Umunna told BBC Newsnight each of the 13 strands that make up the overall inquiry should have their own dedicated head as a way of heading off concerns that the new overall chair of the inquiry has a background in social work, an industry many survivors say failed them.

Some of those survivors have criticised the recent appointment of Professor Alexis Jay. She was appointed as chair following the departure in August of her predecessor Judge Lowell Goddard.

Abuse of children in care in the London borough of Lambeth, which includes Mr Umunna’s constituency, is one of the inquiry strands.

Mr Umunna, who also serves on the Home Affairs Select Committee and is standing to replace Keith Vaz as chair of the committee, told BBC Newsnight: “I think there is a way of moving forward where you have Professor Jay at the top of a federal like structure, encompassing people heading each of the different 13 investigations. I think that way perhaps we can move forward in a way that the survivors will feel comfortable with.”

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NEBRASKA
Kearney Hub

Hub staff

HAZARD — A Kearney man charged last week in Kearney County Court with two felonies involving a child died this morning (Tuesday) in a head-on crash west of Hazard.

Shawn Dowse, 44, died after the pickup he was driving west on Highway 2 collided with an eastbound straight truck being driven by Alan Nielsen, 52, of Litchfield.

Dowse was pronounced dead at the scene and was ejected from the pickup, according to Sherman County Sheriff Michael Janulewicz.

The crash happened about 8:30 a.m. two miles west of Hazard.

Nielsen was transported to CHI Health Good Samaritan where he was listed in fair condition this afternoon (Tuesday).

An autopsy has been ordered for Dowse. The crash was investigated by accident reconstructionists from the Nebraska State Patrol and remains under investigation.

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NEBRASKA
Lincoln Journal Star

The Associated Press

MINDEN — A former Kearney Catholic High School golf coach died in a Tuesday morning highway collision.

Shawn Dowse of Kearney, died at the scene about two miles west of Hazard on Nebraska 2. Sherman County authorities said he was driving a pickup west when he ran into an eastbound truck. The other driver was taken to a hospital.

Dowse, 44, was arrested last week on charges of felony child abuse and enticement by electronic device, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor. A court date hadn’t been set, and he was free on bond.

He was the boys golf coach at Kearney Catholic High School in the spring 2016 season. A school representative said Dowse did not sign another contract for this year.

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NEBRASKA
Grand Island Independent

HAZARD — A Kearney man charged last week in Kearney County Court with two felonies involving a child died this morning (Tuesday) in a head-on crash west of Hazard.

Shawn Dowse, 44, died after the pickup he was driving west on Highway 2 collided with an eastbound straight truck being driven by Alan Nielsen, 52, of Litchfield. The crash happened about 8:30 a.m. two miles west of Hazard.

Nielsen was transported to CHI Health Good Samaritan where he was listed in fair condition this afternoon (Tuesday).

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NEBRASKA
NTV

BY ANDREA BRASWELL TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13TH 2016

A former Kearney Catholic High School golf coach facing charges of child abuse and enticement is dead following an early morning crash.

According to the Sherman County Sheriff’s Office, Shawn Dowse was driving a pickup west along Highway 2 when he hit a large straight truck going east.

The crash happened just two miles west of Hazard around 8:30 a.m.

A Nebraska State Patrol accident reconstruction team was on the scene, as well as the Litchfield Fire Department.

Last week prosecutors filed three charges against Dowse that included child abuse, enticement by electronic device, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

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ILLINOIS
Legacy

Father F. Lee Ryan, 83, of Watseka, IL, passed away on Friday, September 02, 2016.

He was born on August 14, 1933 in Kinsman, IL, the son of Leo Ryan and Hildegard (Coughlin) Ryan.

Mr. Ryan was in the Army. After completing his time in the Army he attended U of I, transferring over to Conception Seminary Conception Missouri where he received his Masters of Theology. He was ordained a priest on May 25, 1968. He was a priest at St. Edmunds Catholic Church in Watseka for over 20 years. He was also a Chaplin and Chaplin emeritus for the Knights of Columbus. He enjoyed gardening and traveling.

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NEW YORK
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on the upset victory by Democratic primary challenger Brian Barnwell over incumbent New York Assemblywoman Margaret Markey:

The big losers last night are those who have been waging war against the Catholic Church in New York State: Margaret Markey, the Daily News, and attorney Marci Hamilton.

Markey spent 18 years of her life trying to stab the Catholic Church. First elected in 1998, she has been at the forefront of bills that would do absolutely nothing to protect public school students who have been molested by their teachers. Her sole objective was to sponsor bills that exclusively targeted private institutions, her real goal being parochial schools. The one time she strayed from her agenda and included public schools in her bill, she incurred the wrath of the public school establishment.

Markey’s low point came this past spring when she falsely accused Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of trying to bribe her nearly a decade ago. It showed a side to her so dirty that no respectable person could stomach it. I called for her to resign in June. Now she’s toast.

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OREGON/COLORADO
Raw Story

TRAVIS GETTYS
14 SEP 2016

A youth pastor who says he loves “spoiling” boys on camping trips is accused of producing child pornography in national parks throughout the West.

James Parkhurst was arrested Aug. 2 in Portland, Oregon, where he serves as executive director of the Oregon-Idaho Conference Board of Camp and Retreat Ministries, reported the Denver Post.

The 56-year-old Parkhurst is accused of producing 163 pornographic images of five boys taken at national parks in Colorado and other states, which court documents show he then sent by U.S. Mail to collectors in 15 states.

The images show nude or partially nude boys between the ages of 9 and 12, sometimes bathing or urinating, and often “smiling or smirking with an expression that suggests sexual coyness,” court documents show.

Parkhurst, a United Methodist deacon and Kentucky native, regularly took boys on camping trips between 2007 and 2014 and worked at camps throughout his life.

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UNITED STATES
PRNewswire

“Catholics Finally Have a Philip Roth”

LA JOLLA, Calif., Sept. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — You expect confession from a Catholic priest.

What is unexpected about the new tell-all book I Confess, is the raw vulnerability from psychotherapist and author A.W. Richard Sipe. The 83-year-old former Benedictine monk and Catholic priest captures his life experiences in poetry.

“I have spent decades encouraging the hurt and the hurting to face the truth about themselves,” Sipe writes, “and share it fearlessly to aid their own healing and in the service of helping others. My moral obligation – duty – is to practice what I have counseled others: Embrace the truth. It will free you.”

Tom Roberts, editor at large for the National Catholic Reporter, said “I Confess is courageous, funny, provocative, raw, delightful. Catholics finally have a Philip Roth!” Roberts added “Some of it, too, is downright searing, the Catholic reality that I am glad is, in this elegantly subjective way, preserved.”

Sipe’s lifelong work counseling priests led to his research and observations about celibacy, sexual practice and abuse of minors within the Church. His 1995 book Sex, Priests and Power: Anatomy of a Crisis was highlighted in the award-winning film Spotlight and Sipe’s data was pivotal to the expanded scope of the investigation by the Boston Globe’s investigative reporting unit.

His new book I Confess is written in verse. Sipe said the poetic inspiration hit at the age of 80.

“I want to encourage older people not to give up on their spiritual search, no matter how old they are,” Sipe explained.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The Council of Nine Cardinals, who are Pope Francis’ special advisors on the reform of the Roman Curia and on other aspects of governance and administration of the universal Church, held a regularly scheduled meeting this week, which opened on Monday, September 12th, and concluded Wednesday, September 14th.

The Director of the Press Office of the Holy See, Greg Burke, briefed reporters on the three days of sessions on Wednesday morning.

During the course of the briefing it emerged that the meeting, which took place over morning and afternoon sessions in which the Holy Father took part, were devoted in large part to further considerations about the way in which the various departments the Curia can better serve the mission of the Church, and focused in particular on the Congregations for the Clergy, for Bishops, and for Catholic Education, as well as on the work of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

The Cardinals also addressed the issue of the diplomatic service of the Holy See: the training and tasks of Apostolic Nuncios, with particular attention to the weighty responsibility they have in assisting the selection of candidates for the episcopate.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

September 14, 2016

DAN BOX
Crime reporterSydney
@DanBox10

The Catholic bishop of Wagga Wagga allowed a pedophile priest to move into his parish despite knowing allegations of child abuse had been made against him, a royal commission has heard.

Bishop Gerard Hanna told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse today that he was the administrator of a parish in Tamworth, northern NSW, when he was told to accept the priest, John Farrell, in 1984.

Farrell, who was jailed in May this year for dozens of child offences, had been moved from another parish after the church received allegations that he had been sexually abusing children.

“The bishop said ‘Oh, you know Gerry, it’s that usual thing. He was messing around with altar boys’,” Bishop Hanna said.

When asked what was meant by “the usual thing”, Bishop Hanna told the commission “It wasn’t unknown … that there were priests who used altar boys, that they were pedophiles in fact.”

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NEW MEXICO
KGLP Gallup Public Radio & El Morro Theater

SPOTLIGHT: A public discussion in Gallup

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
ehardinburrola@yahoo.com
Cell: 505-870-0745

[See also the event flyer.]

Church sexual abuse, protection of children focus of Gallup panel

GALLUP – “Spotlight: A Public Discussion about Faith, Journalism and Protecting Children from Sex Abuse” will be held Saturday, Sept. 24, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., at Gallup’s El Morro Theatre, 207 W. Coal Ave. The event will be held in conjunction with two free screenings of “Spotlight,” the 2015 Academy Award winner Best Picture of the Year.

The public is invited to attend the panel discussion and public Question and Answer session. Panelists include Terry McKiernan, of Boston, the founder of BishopAccountability.com and a consultant to “Spotlight”; Phoenix attorney Robert E. Pastor, who represented 18 clergy sex abuse claimants in the Diocese of Gallup’s bankruptcy case; Gallup attorney Billy Keeler, who has represented Navajo plaintiffs in Catholic sex abuse lawsuits and currently represents Navajo plaintiffs in abuse complaints against the Mormon Church; and Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola, a freelance journalist who has covered the Gallup Diocese for 14 years. Rachel Kaub, station manager at KGLP Gallup Public Radio, will serve as the event’s moderator.

Bishop James S. Wall of the Diocese of Gallup was invited to participate in the panel discussion and provide the diocese’s perspective. However, he declined to participate or send another diocesan representative.

Community members are invited to participate in the panel discussion and public Q&A and attend a screening of “Spotlight.” Discussion topics will include the protection of children in society, particularly in churches, schools and families; the legacy of sexual abuse in the Four Corners Region; challenges adult abuse survivors face; the Diocese of Gallup’s bankruptcy case; and journalism’s role in covering these issues.

“Spotlight” is a modern day suspense drama that tells the true story of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe investigation that uncovered a decades-long sexual abuse cover-up at the highest levels of Boston’s religious, legal and government establishment. The film was released in November 2015, but because the film was never previously shown in Gallup, this will be the first opportunity for local audiences to see “Spotlight” on the big screen.

“Spotlight” will be shown at 3 p.m. and 8:15 p.m., with free admission. The film is rated R, and parents are asked not to bring any children younger than 15.

***Below are profiles of each panelist, with contact information:

• Terence McKiernan, from Boston, is the founder and president of BishopAccountability.org, an archive and research institute of the worldwide clergy abuse crisis (www.bishop-accountability.org). He compiled the lists of cities shown at the end of the movie Spotlight. McKiernan was born in the Bronx and attended Catholic elementary school and Jesuit high school. He studied Latin and Greek and Ancient Art History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the University of Bristol in England, and Stanford University. McKiernan worked as an academic editor and consulting firm manager before founding BishopAccountability.org in 2003. He is married, with two children now in college. Contact: mckiernan1@comcast.net Cell: 508-479-9304

• Phoenix attorney Robert E. Pastor is a personal injury attorney representing individuals and their families who suffered life-changing injuries including sexual abuse and death due to the wrongful acts of others. Born and raised in the Catholic faith, Pastor graduated from Boston College and then spent a year serving in the Jesuit Volunteer Corp, working for a non-profit legal center. He graduated from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University in 2002. Pastor served as a deputy county attorney for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office from 2002 through 2005 where he prosecuted violent crimes, including crimes against children. In 2010, Pastor filed the first of 14 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Gallup, contributing to Bishop James S. Wall’s decision to file for bankruptcy protection. Pastor and his wife, Tiffani Lucero, have three sons. Contact: pastor@mjlpattorneys.com Office: 602-279-8969

• Gallup attorney Billy Keeler is a founding partner of Keeler & Keeler, LLP, and has established a successful record of securing large settlements and verdicts for his clients in civil litigation throughout the Southwest. Keeler earned his undergraduate degree from the University of New Mexico, where he was a member of the Lobo football team. Later, he received a Masters in Public Administration from Baylor University and a law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Keeler worked with Patrick Noaker on abuse cases on the Navajo Nation involving the Diocese of Gallup and the Franciscans. He is currently pursuing claims on the Navajo Nation against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for alleged abuse in its Indian Student Placement Program with co-counsel Craig Vernon, Lee James and Patrick Noaker. Keeler is admitted to practice law before the State and Federal Courts of New Mexico, the Navajo Nation Tribal Court and the Hopi Tribal Court. He stays busy coaching all three of his kids and being involved in community activities. Contact: billkeeler@keelerandkeeler.com Office: 505-722-5608

• Freelance journalist Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola is coordinating this panel discussion and public Q&A at El Morro Theatre on Sept. 24. A resident of the Four Corners region since 1970, Hardin-Burrola has worked as a correspondent for the Gallup Independent since 2000 and has covered the Diocese of Gallup for the past 14 years. She has reported on the Gallup Diocese’s bankruptcy case for the Independent and the National Catholic Reporter. Hardin-Burrola earned two undergraduate degrees from the University of Arizona, in English and General Studies with an emphasis on American Indian Studies. She and her husband are former parishioners of Gallup’s Sacred Heart Cathedral, where they raised their two daughters in the Catholic faith and she served as a volunteer. Contact: ehardinburrola@yahoo.com Cell: 505-870-0745

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Liam Heylin

A 72-year-old priest was arrested and charged yesterday with indecently assaulting a boy at a school in Co Cork about 35 years ago.

Tadhg O’Dalaigh, aged 72, of Woodview, Mount Merrion Avenue, Blackrock, Dublin, made no reply when he was accused of the offence.

Detective Garda Kevin McCarthy formally arrested O’Dalaigh at the courthouse on Washington Street, Cork, yesterday. Detective Garda McCarthy said he cautioned the accused.

Inspector Mary King said the Director of Public Prosecutions had directed trial by indictment in the case. There was no objection to the accused being remanded on bail in the case.

Judge Con O’Leary remanded him on his own bail of €500 and adjourned the case until October 11 to allow time for preparation and service of a book of evidence.

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GUATEMALA
Haaretz

Unconfirmed reports say police took children away from parents, and that Israeli officials were present at the raid on the Lev Tahor community.

Yair Ettinger Sep 13, 2016

After having been forced to abandon Israel, the United States and Canada amid accusations of child abuse, the radical ultra-Orthodox Lev Tahor sect is now under investigation in Guatemala, where it has been based for the past two years.

Guatemalan media reported that police had conducted a raid lasting several hours on the village where over 200 Lev Tahor members live. One unconfirmed report said children were taken away from their parents, and another said that Israeli officials were present during the raid.

The Foreign Ministry said in a press statement last night that Israel was cooperating with Guatemalan authorities.

“The Guatemalan authorities recently decided to investigate members of the community on suspicion that serious criminal offenses, including against minors, are being committed in the compound where they live,” the statement said. “The relevant Israeli authorities are in direct contact with the Guatemalan authorities and are following developments closely in order to ensure the welfare of Israeli citizens, most of them minors, who are in the Lev Tahor community’s compound in Guatemala.”

The community is headed by Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans, an Israeli who fled the country with a group of his disciples in 1990. For the past 15 years, most of the community has been wandering around North and South America, most recently in Guatemala. But the sect also has members in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh.

Relatives of Lev Tahor members have testified in recent years that Helbrans and his senior disciples use extreme, violent methods to retain control over the community, including abuse, corporal punishment of children, use of psychiatric drugs, kidnapping children from their parents and forcing young girls to marry older men. In Canada, these suspicions resulted in criminal proceedings against some community members, and several children were taken from their parents.

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NEW YORK
Times Ledger

BARNWELL DEFEATS MARKEY Lawyer Bryan Barnwell delivered a stunning blow to state Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D-Maspeth), walking away with 66 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s Democratic primary with 92 percent of the precincts counted, the city Board of Election unofficial results revealed soon after the polls closed.

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NEW YORK
QNS

By Robert Pozarycki / rpozarycki@qns.com / Tuesday, September 13, 2016

This might be one of the biggest political upsets Queens has ever seen.

Upstart Brian Barnwell defeated nine-term incumbent Assemblywoman Margaret Markey in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for the 30th Assembly District seat.

WNYC called the race for Barnwell at about 9:25 p.m. Tuesday night. Turnout was extremely low, but Barnwell got 65.6 percent of the vote (1,458) to Markey’s 34.4 percent (763), with more than 91 percent of the precincts reporting.

Incumbents are normally a shoe-in to win re-election in a primary, but the tide turned against Markey last month amid the ongoing debate over a proposed homeless shelter in Maspeth, in the heart of her district. Markey took flack from residents for failing to show up at a public meeting and a protest over the shelter, although she expressed opposition to the plan in statements that her office issued.

Things came to a head at an Aug. 31 Community Board 5 public hearing on the shelter proposal, when Markey was roundly jeered by the attendees and cut her speech short.

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NEW YORK
TWC News

[with video]

By Alexa Green
Updated Tuesday, September 13, 2016

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — They’ve been described as some of the most disturbing crimes many in the justice system have ever seen.

“For over a decade, 16 years, this defendant victimized young children, as young as 6 days old,” explained US District Attorney of the Northern District of NY Richard Hartunian.

Tuesday, 40-year-old Jason Kopp was sentenced to 235 years behind bars. He sexually abused a number of children over the course of 16 years. Investigators found videos and photos of the underage victims on his computer.

“It kind of takes your breath away,” Hartunian said. “When you read some of the material, the judge made reference to some of the text messaging, it was horrific.”

During sentencing, Kopp became too overcome with emotion to read his prepared statement. His attorney instead read it on his behalf.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

14 September, 2016

The Royal Commission’s Report into Case Study 21 – the response of the Satyananda Yoga Ashram at Mangrove Mountain to allegations of child sexual abuse by the ashram’s former spiritual leader in the 1970s and 1980s – was released today.

The report follows a public hearing in December 2014 and oral submissions in April 2015, which explored the experiences of 11 survivors of child sexual abuse at or connected with the ashram, and the response of the ashram to that child sexual abuse.

Satyananda Yoga Ashram was established in the early 1970s, and from about 1974 was overseen by Swami Akhandananda Saraswati. In 1989, Akhandananda was arrested on charges of child sexual abuse and was sentenced in 1989 to two years and four months imprisonment.

Residents, who included between 12 and 22 children at any one time, followed the key philosophies and practices of Satyananda Yoga, which were based on the principles of the guru-disciple relationship and development of mind, body and spirit.

Shortly after his arrival, Akhandananda began a sexual relationship with 17-year-old “Shishy”, who through this relationship became second-in-charge at the ashram. Akhandananda and Shishy remained together in a sexual relationship, albeit an increasingly violent one, until the end of 1985.

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AUSTRALIA
Catholic Leader

THE Catholic Church is not getting much good press of late.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has made the Church an easy target for the media and deservedly so.

Mother Teresa made headlines for a few days with her canonisation, but always paired with negative connotations regarding her legacy.

This is the state of mainstream press, but what does it look like in a Catholic media newsroom?

Working in Catholic media has its moments, but your efforts can be taken for granted.

The Archdiocese of Brisbane has its own media team, a Communications office and this newspaper, the latter of which is funded by people who pay each week to read our paper, and our advertisers.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Nicole Chettle

When allegations of child abuse emerged at Australia’s oldest yoga ashram, the main concern from its spiritual headquarters in India was protecting its reputation, a royal commission has found.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has examined the handling of complaints made against the former spiritual leader of the Satyananda Yoga Ashram, at Mangrove Mountain on the New South Wales Central Coast, Swami Akhandananda Saraswati, and his former partner Shishy.

The allegations were made over a period of 40 years and related to sexual abuse that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s.

During public hearings in October 2014, six survivors each called for a $1 million compensation payment.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Melanie Kembrey

For years they have waited for justice, and it came a step closer as they stood together and watched Neil Albert Futcher empty out his pockets and be taken into custody.

The sounds of their sobbing had filled the court room as the former Trinity Grammar School teacher was found guilty by a jury of 22 child sex charges, including eight counts of buggery, on Wednesday.

Futcher’s trial had heard distressing details of how he sexually abused six boys, aged between 12 and 15, while he was working as a teacher and swimming coach between 1974 and the early 1980s.

Robert Anderson, 53, who was a student at Trinity and abused when was 12, said he had nearly given up hope that he would ever see Futcher brought before a court.

He said he first told police about the abuse in 1990, and again in 1997, but it was after giving evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that Futcher was finally charged.

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GUAM
Radio New Zealand

A campaigner for victims of abuse by priests says civil lawsuits will be far more effective in uncovering abuse on Guam than the Catholic Church’s own investigations.

A bill has been approved by the Guam legislature removing the statute of limitations for filing civil claims for sexual abuse crimes.

It comes as a fifth allegation of historical abuse has been made against Guam’s Archbishop Anthony Apuron.

Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests spokesperson Joelle Casteix said the allegations have been poorly handled by the Church.

She said giving victims access to the courts has been shown to be the best way to get to the bottom of institutional abuse.

“It will allow them access to secret abuse and coverup documents. It will also give victims the opportunity to sit and watch as church officials are deposed under oath to tell what they know about abuse.”

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AUSTRALIA
Business Insider

SARAH KIMMORLEY
SEP 14, 2016

The former headmaster of elite Sydney school Knox Grammar “deliberately covered up” allegations about child sexual abuse to protect the reputation of the school.

This finding comes from a report from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse into how Knox Grammar and the Uniting Church handled multiple allegations about teachers over a 40-year period.

Ian Paterson was found have “deliberately withheld information” from police investigating allegations at the school, the report reads.

It also found that he was aware of more than one incident of sexual abuse at the school.

“A former headmaster of Knox, Dr Ian Paterson, told the Royal Commission that, during his 29 years in the role, he was only aware of one instance of sexual abuse, involving Mr Vance,” the report found.

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OHIO
Vindicator

Published: 9/14/16

By Peter H. Milliken
milliken@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Representatives of 28 people who were sexually abused by Brother Stephen Baker while they were students at Warren JFK High School conducted a sidewalk news conference outside the Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown offices to announce a $900,000 settlement.

They decried, however, what they said was the inadequacy of the settlement.

A diocesan official said Tuesday the church is committed to protecting children and helping abuse victims heal.

Baker, a member of the Third Order Regular Franciscan Friars of Hollidaysburg, Pa., who killed himself Jan. 26, 2013, in a Pennsylvania monastery, was a former teacher and coach, who was at JFK from 1986-91.

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COLORADO
Denver Post

By KIRK MITCHELL | kmitchell@denverpost.com
PUBLISHED: September 13, 2016

A 56-year-old Portland, Ore., pastor and former national youth camp official for the United Methodist Church made his initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Denver on felony charges for allegedly producing child pornography while taking boys to national parks in Colorado and across the West, authorities say.

James Parkhurst, 56, who was arrested in Portland on Aug. 2, was indicted in late August by a federal grand jury in Denver and appeared in federal court on Monday, according to a news release by Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer of the District of Colorado.

Parkhurst produced 163 child pornography images of five boys taken at national parks in Colorado and across the West and then sent them by U.S. mail to 15 states to child pornography collectors, according to court documents. The images include pictures of nude and partially nude boys between the ages of 9 and 12, some while the boys took baths or as they urinated.

“In many of the images, the boys are looking directly at the camera and smiling or smirking with an expression that suggests sexual coyness,” according to a Denver court affidavit.

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CANADA
Global News

By Denis Ram Global News

A former pastor at Calgary’s Western Baptist Church denied sexual abuse allegations laid against him during the second day of trial on Tuesday.

Thomas Larry Jones is charged with indecent assault of a female, three counts of gross indecency, four counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual interference and two counts of sexual exploitation.

The abuse allegations date back to 1979 and 1986, when two young victims were five and nine years old. The abuse continued until they were 15 and 18, allegedly occurring both at the church and his home.

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ARIZONA
ABC 15

[with video]

Joe Enea, Megan Thompson
Sep 13, 2016

PHOENIX – A Phoenix pastor has been arrested and accused of child molestation, and police say some of the victims are members of his church.

Court records show that 49-year-old Jose Vicente Morales had been molesting children for years; he impregnated one of the victims when she was 13 years of age.

In the ongoing investigation, police report Morales may have molested or sexually assaulted at least five victims who were either church members or known to Morales outside of the church setting.

Police began their investigation after a mother of a victim noticed her daughter had been injuring herself as a result of the sexual abuse Morales allegedly did to her five years prior.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

By Dave Sutor
dsutor@tribdem.com

Terms of a new out-of-court settlement involving 28 individuals sexually abused by Brother Stephen Baker, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, and the Third Order Regular, Province of the Immaculate Conception were released on Tuesday.

The victims received a combined $900,000, coming out to about $32,000 each.

In comparison, back in 2013, the diocese settled with a group of other Baker victims for $75,000 apiece.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represented the individuals in the latest case, called the settlement “offensive,” since it paid significantly less per victim than the amount given in the past. “Many of my clients felt re-victimized,” Garabedian said.

Baker, a former member of the Blair County-based Province of the Immaculate Conception, was accused of abusing about 100 children when he served at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown from 1992 to 2000.

The Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, Bishop McCort and Third Order Regular reached settlements with at least 91 victims, totaling more than $8 million.

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