ABUSE TRACKER

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

28 February, 2017

The Royal Commission will hold a public hearing commencing Monday 27 March 2017 in Sydney.

The scope and purpose of the public hearing is to inquire into:

1. The nature of child sexual abuse and related matters in institutional contexts in Australia and how community understanding of abuse has changed over time.

2. The extent of child sexual abuse in institutional contexts historically and in contemporary Australia, and challenges to identification and prevention.

3. The factors that contribute to the risk of child sexual abuse in institutional contexts:

* factors that make all children vulnerable to sexual abuse and heighten the vulnerability of particular groups of children to sexual abuse

* factors that may contribute to people sexually abusing children in institutional contexts

* institution-specific factors that may contribute to child sexual abuse.

4. The impacts of child sexual abuse and institutional responses on survivors, both in childhood and throughout their adult lives, their families and supporters, and the wider community.

5. Any related matters

Any person or institution wishing to seek leave to appear is invited to lodge a written application for leave to appear at the public hearing by Friday 10 March 2017.

Click here to access the form for applications for leave to appear.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

By Dave Sutor
dsutor@tribdem.com

Two separate bills to extend the statutes of limitation for victims of child sexual abuse have been introduced into the Pennsylvania General Assembly this year.

Both would eliminate all age limits for criminal actions and civil lawsuits against alleged abusers going forward.

However, there is a major difference.

A House of Representatives bill – introduced by state Rep. Mark Rozzi, a Democrat from Berks County, and supported by state Rep. Frank Burns from East Taylor Township – includes a two-year window in which past victims could file civil complaints against their alleged abusers. The Senate version does not contain any such retroactivity.

That point of contention led to the issue going unresolved last year when similar bills were debated after the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General issued a report – released one year ago on March 1, 2016 – that accused the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown of covering up child sexual abuse.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

By Dave Sutor
dsutor@tribdem.com

For decades, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown allegedly perpetrated a coverup to protect priests accused of sexually assaulting children.

Accusations against a few reported abusers, including Rev. Francis Luddy and Msgr. Francis McCaa, became publicly known during those years. But, for the most part, they were treated as isolated incidents by the community, instead of indications of a systemic problem.

That changed one year ago – on March 1, 2016 – when the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General released a grand jury report, accusing the diocese of sheltering at least 50 priests and other religious leaders, allegedly under the direct supervision of former Bishops Joseph Adamec and James Hogan.

The 147-page document provided information about “secret archives” kept by the diocese, a payout chart for different types of abuse, testimony from at least four priests who admitted to inappropriately touching children, and detailed biographies of the accused.

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

NEW YORK
New York Post

By Julia Marsh and Bruce Golding
February 28, 2017

The Archdiocese of New York wants to mortgage a prized piece of property behind St. Patrick’s Cathedral to obtain $100 million to pay off victims of priestly sex abuse who agree not to take their cases to court.

The filing in Manhattan Supreme Court says JP Morgan Chase has agreed to loan the money against the archdiocese’s ownership of land beneath the luxury Lotte Palace Hotel on Madison Avenue between 50th and 51st streets.

Although the court filing doesn’t say why the church needs the dough, a spokesman confirmed it was part of a plan announced by Cardinal Timothy Dolan last year to strike out-of-court settlements with people who were abused by priests and deacons.

“When he introduced the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, the archdiocese planned to take a loan to cover the cost of the compensation. This loan is to do that,” archdiocese spokesman Joe Zwilling said.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

STEPHEN REX BROWN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, February 28, 2017

The Archdiocese of New York is seeking approval of a $100 million loan by mortgaging land behind St. Patrick’s Cathedral that will be used to pay victims of sexual abuse by clergy.

The loan, which requires a judge’s approval, will use the land, occupied by the Lotte New York Palace Hotel, as collateral.

Joseph Zwilling, spokesman for the Archdiocese, confirmed “the loan would be used to cover the settlement costs” of the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program.

Timothy Cardinal Dolan announced the program last year meant to compensate victims of abuse of Archdiocese of New York clergy who were barred from bringing claims of sex abuse in court by the state’s statute of limitations.

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.

OREGON
The Register-Guard

By Jack Moran
The Register-Guard
FEB. 28, 2017

The alleged victim in a Eugene priest’s prostitution case told a jury on Tuesday that she was not completely truthful when testifying before a grand jury that returned a 10-count indictment against the priest last October.

The 18-year-old woman — a key prosecution witness — returned to the witness stand during Daniel MacKay’s trial on Tuesday in an attempt to clear up confusion about what she asserts happened between her and the priest.

The teenager testified Friday about a variety of sex acts that she says occurred during arranged meetings with MacKay.

But she acknowledged Tuesday that she had told the Lane County grand jury only about having performed oral sex on the priest, and had neglected to talk about other sex acts.

The alleged victim blamed alcohol and marijuana use, as well as embarrassment, for why she didn’t provide the grand jury with a complete account. She said she was high on drugs during her grand jury testimony.

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.

INDIA
Deccan Herald

The police in Kannur on Tuesday recorded the arrest of a Catholic priest in connection with the rape of a minor girl in Kottiyoor in the district.

Questions remained on the reported attempts to cover up the incident and the help that the priest got from some quarters as he attempted to flee the country.

Kelakam Police has registered a case against Robin Vadakkancheril (48) under the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Section 376 (rape) of the IPC. The incident came to light after a17-year-old girl delivered a child earlier this month.

Vadakkancheril was vicar at the St Sebastian Church in Kottiyoor, under the diocese of Mananthavady, and manager at a higher secondary school. He has since been removed from the positions.

The class XI student was raped by the vicar in the parish about a year ago. She was 16 at the time of the incident.

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.

INDIA
The Indian Express

Written by Shaju Philip | Thiruvananthapuram | Published:March 1, 2017

The Kerala Catholic priest, who allegedly raped a minor, had tried to foist the paternity of the child born to the victim on her own father, police said Tuesday.

An investigating officer of Kannur police said that in return Father Robin Vadakkancheril had promised to look after the family’s financial requirements in future.

Father Robin, 48, who belonged to the Catholic Diocese of Mananthavady, was caught from Kochi on Monday.

The girl, who earlier this month gave birth to a boy, had initially said her own father was the parent of the newborn.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Yahoo! News

The email addresses of people who registered to a child abuse victims forum have been shared with others in a blunder by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse. On the first day the beleaguered inquiry began hearing public evidence after a series of setbacks, the addresses of those on the Inquiry Victims and Survivors Forum were mistakenly made visible to each other. The inquiry team issued an immediate apology and referred the issue to the Information Commissioner’s Office. It came as the inquiry heard about the torture, slavery and rape of children forced to live abroad under the child migrant schemes in the wake of the Second World War.

Many never recover and are permanently afflicted with guilt, shame, diminished self-confidence, low self-esteem and trauma.
One victim of the child migrant scheme, David Hill

The inquiry has been plagued by problems – not least the resignation of three of the chairman and disagreement between some of the key figures in the team. In 2015, a technical blunder caused the accounts of child sex abuse victims to be deleted before even reaching inquiry staff. The latest error saw the email addresses of those who registered for the inquiry’s Victims and Survivors Forum made visible to others on the list. Chief Press Officer Debbie Kirby said: “This morning the Inquiry has apologised to a number of email recipients whose email addresses were mistakenly accessible to others on the list. We have asked them to delete the email. “The email was sent to those people who have registered for the Inquiry’s Victims and Survivors Forum. We will be self-referring this issue to the Information Commissioner’s Office.”

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

SCOTLAND
BBC News

The cost of compensation for survivors of childhood abuse in Scotland could total at least £200m, MSPs have heard.

A bill has been tabled which would allow victims to claim compensation beyond the current three-year time bar.

Alistair Gaw of Social Work Scotland told Holyrood’s justice committee the cost could be “highly significant”.

He cited an inquiry in Jersey, where the average cost of a payout was £40,000, expanding this to a possible 5,000 Scottish victims.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A woman who was sent from England to Australia as a child was molested and left so hungry she ate grain meant for pigs, an inquiry has heard.

Marcelle O’Brien was sent to a home in Pinjarra, western Australia, run by the Fairbridge Society, at the age of four.

The then-Queen, wife of George VI, later intervened to ask whether she could return to the UK to be adopted.

But Fairbridge said it would not be in her “best interests”, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse heard.

Mrs O’Brien said she suffered “mental cruelty” and “sadistic” treatment at the home where she was forced to do “slave labour”.

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.

SCOTLAND
STV

Aidan Kerr

Around 5000 files relating to historical child abuse are held by Police Scotland.

Compensation paid to Scottish victims of childhood sexual abuse could total around £200m, MSPs have been told.

The Scottish Government has recently tabled legislation which would expand the time limit on compensation claims, meaning many more victims may come forward.

An independent inquiry into historical sexual abuse in Scotland is currently under way.

Alistair Gaw, of Social Work Scotland, told Holyrood’s justice committee the compensation bill could run into millions of pounds.

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

AUSTRALIA/UNITED KINGDOM
news.com.au

Victoria Craw
news.com.au
@Victoria_Craw

AN EYEWITNESS has told of the horror he experienced at growing up in Western Australia where he was abused by older boys and a priest in a boarding school from age seven.

Speaking to the UK Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, the anonymous witness who is now 70 years old, said he was repeatedly raped and molested by older boys and in the church vestry as a child.

“It wasn’t just older boys it was some of the younger ones as well. Because I was small … they seemed to think it was very funny just to pick on the small ones and they did what they wanted to do.”

“Sometimes it wouldn’t just be myself. Sometimes it would be three or four of us. So I mean it wasn’t just me all the time.”

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

IRELAND
Mayo News

Liamy MacNally

In Australia, the Catholic Church is facing a Royal Commission on child abuse. The public hearing was set up on February 6 to inquire into the current policies and procedures of Catholic Church authorities in Australia in relation to child-protection and child-safety standards, including responding to allegations of child sexual abuse.

One participant is Bishop Vincent Long from Sydney, who was questioned by Ms Gail Furness SC, Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald and Ms Jane Needham SC. Responding to a query ‘that clericalism has been described as a factor or playing a role in the abuse of children and the response to that abuse…’ he said:

“I see the clericalism as a by-product of a certain model of Church informed or underpinned or sustained by a certain theology. I mean, it’s no secret that we have been operating, at least under the two previous pontificates, from what I’d describe as a perfect society model where there is a neat, almost divinely inspired, pecking order, and that pecking order is heavily tilted towards the ordained. So you have the pope, the cardinals, the bishops, religious, consecrated men and women, and the laity right at the bottom of the pyramid.”

Bishop Long continued: “I think we need to dismantle that model of Church. If I could use the biblical image of wineskins, it’s old wineskins that are no longer relevant, no longer able to contain the new wine, if you like. I think we really need to examine seriously that kind of model of Church where it promotes the superiority of the ordained and it facilitates that power imbalance between the ordained and the non-ordained, which in turn facilitates that attitude of clericalism, if you like.”

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

UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Michael Sean Winters | Feb. 28, 2017

The headline was alarming: “Pope Francis quietly trims sanctions for sex abusers seeking mercy.” The reporter, Nicole Winfield of The Associated Press, is one of the most respected in the religion news business. But is it so?

The clergy sex abuse story is the ugliest in the recent history of the Catholic church. Under St. Pope John Paul II, a serial abuser like Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder and head of the Legionaries of Christ, was not only unpunished, but he continued to receive support and even adulation at the Vatican. Pope Benedict XVI began a serious crackdown on clergy sex abuse, one of the real achievements of his pontificate.

Those of us who have studied the sex abuse crisis know how intimately intertwined it is with an unhealthy culture of clericalism. Just last week, the bishops of Australia acknowledged the role clerical culture played in both facilitating the crimes and the cover-up of those crimes. Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen of Parramatta, Australia, himself a victim of sex abuse, was especially withering in his criticism of clerical culture.

So, it is surprising to read that Francis, who is astute generally, and especially so in diagnosing the ills of clericalism, would be backsliding on the “zero tolerance” policy that is the keystone in the church’s response to the abuse of children. Again, is it so?

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

UNITED STATES
These Stone Walls

POSTED BY FR. GORDON J. MACRAE ON FEBRUARY 22, 2017

I had a recent exchange of messages with Jennifer Haigh, a very accomplished author whose critically acclaimed novel, Faith (Harper, 2011), kept me sleep deprived for a couple of nights. It’s a book, of fiction, but for me, the fiction was painfully familiar. It is the story of Father Art Breen, a Boston priest accused of sexual abuse. Cast under a cloud of abuse of another sort – a vague state of priestly limbo called “administrative leave” – Father Art descends into despair as the Archdiocese “investigates” (aka “settles”) the claim.

Father Art’s skeptical younger sister, Sheila McGann, returns to Boston to launch an investigation of her own while younger brother Mike, a police officer, has “already convicted his brother in his heart.” The Archdiocese simply discards its tainted priest and moves on. The book has some surprises, which I won’t reveal, but no one among my family or friends would read it. “The anger and hurt are still too close,” they said.

Some of their anger is at me for not simply caving in. “If you just took the deal,” they say, “you would have been free twenty years ago.” More of their anger is at the accusers who they know, with a moral certainty, rode their wave of priestly scandal all the way to the bank, aided and abetted by the activists and lawyers who were recently unmasked in “David Clohessy Resigns SNAP in Alleged Lawyer Kickback Scheme.”

There is plenty of righteous anger to go around. . Just after that post was published, a priest-friend said it made him very angry. He has never been the subject of an accusation, but having seen the lives of too many priests destroyed, he has become keenly aware of how David Clohessy and others in SNAP exploited accusations under the guise of “survivor support.”

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

AUSTRALIEN
Katholisch

[How should priests who experience confessions of abuse during confession deal with this information? On this question Australian bishops want to turn to the Vatican.]

Die australischen Bischöfe wollen von Papst Franziskus eine Klarstellung des Beichtsakraments fordern. Wie die US-Zeitschrift “National Catholic Reporter” schreibt, ziehen es fünf australische Erzbischöfe in Betracht, den Vatikan um eine Klärung zu bitten. Sie hatten zuvor an einer Anhörung vor der australischen Missbrauchskommission teilgenommen.

Die Absolution bei Missbrauch verweigern?

Dabei soll es vor allem darum gehen, ob das Beichtgeheimnis nur die tatsächlich gebeichteten Sünden betrifft oder auch sonstige Informationen, die während des Gesprächs bekannt werden. Die Bischöfe wollen außerdem wissen, unter welchen Umständen Priester eine Absolution des gebeichteten Missbrauchs verweigern könnten.

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.

ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

[Pedophilia of the clergy: “sin” or “murder”?]

Chi violenta un minore non “offende” solo la castità (come dice il catechismo) ma compie un vero e proprio “delitto”.

di David Gabrielli

La questione della pedofilia del clero cattolico rimbalza, da qualche tempo, sulle prime pagine dei giornali, ed è tema di libri di successo. Essa – la violenza sessuale su bambini e adolescenti (seppure per questi si dovrebbe parlare di efebofilia) – non è affatto una “esclusiva” del clero; avviene soprattutto in famiglia, o col “turismo sessuale” in paesi esotici, praticata da gente che svolge le professioni più variegate e, di norma, è coperta da un’insuperabile omertà. Tristissimo fenomeno sul quale di solito si tace.

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.

ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

[A priest has been sentenced to five years in prison for abusing minors.]

Sette i ragazzi vittime di Don Massimo Iuculano, 47 anni, direttore dell’Istituto salesiano “Sacro cuore di Gesù” di Vercelli. Li invitava in una sala all’interno della struttura, li depilava e li massaggiava con dell’olio. Seguivano palpeggiamenti e rapporti orali.

di Andrea Giambartolomei

Ha risarcito le vittime e ha ringraziato la procura per essere intervenuta a fermarlo, ma non è bastato. Il gup Luca Del Colle del Tribunale di Torino ha condannato a cinque anni di carcere don Massimo Iuculano, 47 anni, parroco e direttore dell’Istituto salesiano “Sacro cuore di Gesù” di Vercelli, accusato di diversi episodi di violenza sessuale su minori. All’uscita dal palazzo di giustizia il religioso ha preferito non rilasciare dichiarazioni. “Prendiamo atto – ha detto il suo avvocato, Carlo Blengino – e valuteremo se presentare appello”.

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.

GROSSBRITANNIEN
Blick

[Simon Bailey, president of the police association in the UK, describes child porn consumers as “low-risk” and said they should not be imprisoned.]

«Kinderpornos zu schauen sollte nicht strafbar sein», sagt Simon Bailey, Polizeipräsident in Norfolk, zur «DailyMail». Polizisten sollten sich auf Pädophile konzentrieren, die direkten Kontakt zu Kindern haben oder Missbrauch in Auftrag geben, zum Beispiel online.

Bailey will demnach «mindere» Vergehen entkriminalisieren und mit Beratung und Rehabilitation bekämpfen. Ihm sei bewusst, dass er mit dieser Forderung anecke.

Der Grund für seine Forderung: Weil sexueller Missbrauch auch gemeldet werden kann, wenn er Jahre zurück liegt, seien die Polizeisysteme an eine «Sättigungsgrenze» gelangt. Jetzt sei ein Punkt erreicht, das Blatt zu wenden. «Wir müssen nach Alternativen suchen.»

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

Patrick Sawer, senior reporter
28 FEBRUARY 2017

A leading police officer has said that paedophiles who view indecent images should not be charged and taken to court unless they pose a physical threat to children.

Simon Bailey, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for child protection, said low level offenders should simply be placed on the sex offenders register and given counselling and rehabilitation instead.

He said that would free the police to deal with the core of dangerous paedophiles who are seeking out and exploiting children in order to rape and carry out “the most awful sexual abuse” against them.

Mr Bailey said he acknowledged that many people would be “nervous” about his proposals.

But he said it was time to look at alternatives to prosecution because reports of sexual abuse have reached “saturation point”.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

This links to the live stream for today’s inquiry hearing.

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UNITED STATES
GetReligion

Terry Mattingly

It is, without a doubt, one of the most frustrating, infuriating things that can happen to a reporter.

You write your story. You are extra careful – since it’s on an emotional topic full of fact-claims that are in dispute – to make sure that you have included several qualified voices offering competing points of view. You make sure your story is the length assigned by the editors.

You turn the story in. Then, when it comes out (this happens A LOT in ink-on-paper news) you see that the copy desk has – for some reason, often page layout – basically cut the story nearly in half. To make matters worse, the editors didn’t thin the story in a way that left the balanced structure intact. They just chopped off the end.

Some of your sources are furious. They accuse you of bias, because the story is so one-sided. They have no way to know that the printed story is not the story that you wrote.

I bring this up because I saw an Associated Press story the other day – with a Vatican dateline – that had me really shaking my head. It had, I thought, all kinds of problems in terms of balance and essential information. It didn’t help that this was on a very controversial topic, one cutting against the grain of most reporting about Pope Francis. The lede:

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has quietly reduced sanctions against a handful of pedophile priests, applying his vision of a merciful church even to its worst offenders in ways that survivors of abuse and the pope’s own advisers question.

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

GEORGIA
WSAV

[with video]

By Andrew Davis Published: February 27, 2017

The Catholic Church is stepping up to protect children.

A conference in Savannah this week is covering a wide range of topics including screening applicants who may be a risk for committing sexual abuse.

Unfortunately – events like this come too late for victims like Chris Templeton. He spoke to News 3 last year about being abused by Father Wayland Brown. Assaulted nearly sixty times back in 1987.

“(I remember) Him raping me in the Rectory. These were the flashbacks I was having, of him raping me in my parent’s home,” said Chris Templeton. “He walked in and told my mother i’ll sit with Chris while you get the girls. and he raped me right on my mom and dad’s couch. I can still see the fibers of the couch pressed up in my face. I can still feel it like it was yesterday. I can still see the yellow and brown carpet in my mom and dad’s house.”

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

UNITED STATES
Frum Follies

We have a serious problem when people say, “But it wasn’t rape,” or “Sexualizing a child without touching is creepy but not sexual abuse.” Creepy is practically a synonym for sexualizing.

Sex crimes should be seen from the point of view of harm to the victim/survivor, not in terms of the mechanics and body parts. There is what I call a “penetration fallacy” where the halachic and legal criteria of severity ignore the psycho-emotional harm.

Professionals report profound harm including suicides and overdose deaths because of sex abuse that did not involve penetration of any sort. As long as the sexual dimension is apparent enough to make it creepy, it becomes possible for it to seriously harm a child. Not every child. Resilience varies. Some can come out pretty well from horrific things while others are deeply harmed by lesser things.

Even the law recognizes the victim’s perspective by considering victim impact reports and statements in setting sentences. The law bases the amount of civil judgements on the basis of the effects such as subsequent functional impairment, not just the acts. This is correct because some children are more harmed by fondling than others are by penetration.

Jewish law has explicit categories for harm: nezek, tzar, ripui, sheves and boishes. Sex abuse, depending on the particulars can include all five: physical harm, pain, medical healing costs, incapacitation, and shame.

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

IRELAND
An Phoblacht

John Hedges
An Phoblacht Editor

THE sixth annual “Flowers for Magdalenes” remembrance event takes place next Sunday (5 March) at 2:30pm at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.

This special event aims to remember the women and girls who were incarcerated in Magdalene Laundries during that shameful period of our all too recent history.

The poignant ceremony will feature an address from Claire McGettrick of Justice for Magdalenes Research, Mary Lou McDonald TD (pictured below) and Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire TD.

This will be followed by the laying of flowers on the graves and monuments to the women, many of whom lived and died inside the walls of these institutions.

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

AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

February 28, 2017

Australian Associated Press

Adelaide’s Catholic archbishop will be allowed to once again appeal over a decision not to halt criminal proceedings relating to the alleged concealment of child sex assault.

NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb SC on Tuesday argued another appeal by Archbishop Philip Wilson would have little chance of success.

But Court of Appeal judges Justice Carolyn Simpson and Justice Arthur Emmett granted permission for an appeal to be heard in front of a full panel of judges.

Archbishop Wilson, who is believed to be the world’s most senior Catholic charged with such offences, is accused of concealing information relevant to the 1971 sexual assault of a 10-year-old boy by deceased pedophile priest James Fletcher in Maitland.

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UNITED KINGDOM/AUSTRALIA
International Business Times

By Frenalyn Untalan on February 28 2017

First-hand accounts of people sent to Australia during the post-war decades will be heard as a step towards an independent inquiry into child sexual abuse. The “largest and most ambitious inquiry in the UK” will reportedly tackle what have really taken place inside the government, schools, hospitals, military and other institutions.

Imran Kahn, who spoke on behalf of former child migrant Oliver Cosgrove, said several children were physical and sexual abused. The scheme to “populate the empire with good, white British stock,” he said, has led to child abuse. Cosgrove has reportedly set foot to Australia in 1941.

“This was a systematic and institutional problem,” Kahn said. Men and women from the UK who were sent to the Land Down Under want to ensure that justice is served.

Based on testimonies at the Australian Royal Commission, schools in Western Australia which were run by the Christian Brothers forced boys to work ad bear beatings. Allegedly, children were also abused sexually and suffered hunger. Christian Brothers in different schools, which include Castledare, Contarf, Tardun and Bindoon in Perth, were named by children as abusers according to news.com.au.

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

MICHIGAN
TheMediaReport

February 27, 2017

A falsely accused priest in Michigan has sued the group SNAP, SNAP’s disgraced former director David Clohessy, the Detroit Free Press newspaper, and the Macomb Daily newspaper, claiming that they wrongly charged that he molested a 16-year-old girl in the 1970s.

Rev. Kenneth Kaucheck filed a lawsuit for defamation and libel in Wayne County Circuit Court in Michigan, on January 30, and now TheMediaReport.com is the first to report the news. This is already the second lawsuit that SNAP has faced so far in 2017.

[**Click to read Fr. Kaucheck’s lawsuit against SNAP and the press (pdf)**]

Seeking truth and justice

In 2009, after Fr. Kaucheck had served over three decades in ministry with a completely unblemished record, a lone woman came forward to claim that Kaucheck molested her over thirty years earlier, in 1976. Kaucheck has vehemently denied the charges.

According to the lawsuit, Kaucheck was placed on administrative leave after the allegation, but neither a civil, criminal, or canonical hearing has ever been held for Kaucheck to present his case and fight the false claim.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

Timna Jacks

It can start with making a child in their care feel “privileged”. Then might come the purchase of a toy.

What may seem like an innocent gesture may be the beginning of a plot to prepare a child for sex, according to the child abuse royal commission.

But how do you know? Schools, youth groups, and other organisations caring for children are being asked to be alert to grooming, but how can they step in before it’s too late?

The question is even more pertinent in Victoria, with new laws making grooming a criminal offence and the Victorian Government releasing new guidelines teaching children to watch out for grooming.

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TENNESSEE
WBIR

[with video]

John North , WBIR

A Jacksboro preacher faces multiple sex charges that accuse him of abusing a now 17-year-old girl who lived with him, records show.

Jimmy E. Orick, 68, is accused of aggravated statutory rape, statutory rape by an authority figure, and sexual battery by an authority figure. A Campbell County grand jury returned the eight-count indictment on Thursday, and Orick was arrested the next day.

Orick has a March 6 court date in Campbell County Circuit Court, criminal division. He is free on bond.

The investigation began in December after the girl’s mother called authorities, according to records.

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UNITED STATES
Church Militant

by Christine Niles, M.St. (Oxon.), J.D. • ChurchMilitant.com • February 25, 2017

NAIROBI (ChurchMilitant.com) – A Kenyan home for abused boys needs help — and a faith-friendly crowdfunding initiative is featuring the the home as its newest featured project.

Founded by the Jewish Institute for Global Awareness (JIFGA) based on a concept developed by its co-director Arthur Goldberg, fundingmorality.com is focusing the spotlight on the Kenyan Youth Center for Sexually Exploited Boys. According to Goldberg, JIFGA ‘s mission is to educate people and develop projects to implement the universal ethical and moral values promulgated by God to Noah after the biblical Flood.

“Rich male tourists come to Kenya and lure these boys into this lifestyle,” Goldberg told Church Militant, “and the boys, many of them extremely poor, see it as a way to make quick money and get out of poverty. However, once they experience this life, they come to realize there are numerous damaging emotional, physical and psychological costs.”

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Advertiser

Katie Burgess

28 Feb 2017

A FORMER Tumut Catholic priest who was investigated for inappropriately touching children in the town was housed next to two Canberra primary schools because there was nowhere else to put him, the Archbishop of Canberra-Goulburn has revealed.

Father Brian Hassett has been living at Lanigan House in Garran, on the ground of Sts Peter and Paul Primary School, for about two years, Fairfax Media has learnt.

He was moved into the home for retired clergy, which also sits close to the Malkara School, after complaints about inappropriate behaviour towards children were made against him.

The claims related to his 30-year tenure in Tumut.

A spokesman for the church said one complaint related to a boundary violation and one to inappropriate touching.

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MARYLAND
CBS Baltimore

February 27, 2017
By Denise Koch

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — In the 60s and 70s, Father Joseph Maskell, a counselor at Archbishop Keough High School, was accused of molesting dozens of students — mostly women.

A recent WJZ investigation revealed many of those victims confided in 26-year-old Sister Cathy Cesnik just before her shocking murder nearly 50 years ago.

“She confronted him and she lost her life for it,” says Teresa Lancaster.

Harsh accusations were told to WJZ by many of Maskell’s victims. We have spoken with two of those women, and now a third, Lancaster, is coming forward with a new bombshell.

She told WJZ she was abused not only by Father Maskell, but also by police officers.

“Father Maskell picked me up, took me to a wooded area where there was a lot of policemen gathered around, he left me in the backseat and two policemen abused me while Maskell stood next to the car,” she told WJZ’s Denise Koch.

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INDIA
Mathrubhumi

Peravoor (Kannur): Fr. Robin Vadakkumchery (48), who was nabbed on Monday for abusing and impregnating a Plus One student, has confessed to the crime.

The police are considering to register cases against the hospital authorities who concealed the girl’s delivery and against those who tried to protect.

Police said that Robin confessed to the crime during the questioning. The priest was taken to St. Sebastian’s church to collect evidence.

Police had arrested Robin on Monday from Chalakudy after he went absconding when the incident became public. He was caught while trying to escape to C.

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INDIA
Scroll

A 48-year-old Catholic priest has been arrested in Kochi for raping a 17-year-old girl in 2016, who gave birth to a child a few weeks ago, ANI reported. Father Robin Vaddakumchiryil, vicar of St Sebastian church in Kottiyoor, allegedly got the baby admitted to a facility in Wayanad. Ironically, the accused was known for speaking publicly against child sex abuse.

“The parents had not filed a complaint. But based on a tip-off received by the child helpline, we carried out an initial probe and found the report to be true. We have filed a case of rape against the priest,” a police officer told NDTV.

Officials said a case has been registered against a private hospital, for conducting the delivery without informing the police, Hindustan Times reported. “The priest also made an attempt to implicate the girl’s father in the case. Since the family is from an economically weaker section, he tried to implicate him and told many about this,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police Prajeesh.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By GEORGE ODLING FOR THE DAILY MAIL

Paedophiles who look at indecent photos of children should not face criminal sanctions unless they pose a physical threat, according to Britain’s most senior child protection officer.

An increase in reporting of sexual abuse – including online and historical cases – has meant the policing system has reached ‘saturation point’, according to chief constable Simon Bailey, national police lead for child protection.

Taking a stance he acknowledged would horrify many, he said lower level offending should be de-criminalised and dealt with through counselling and rehabilitation, The Times reported.

But critics argued the proposals could give paedophiles the green light to offend without fear of prosecution.

‘The police service [is] having to deal with an unprecedented volume of reports of non-recent abuse, ongoing abuse, online abuse, peer to peer abuse,’ he said.

‘The numbers are continuing to rise. We have reached saturation point…the police service has responded to the threat but it has now reached that point whereby we have to try and turn the tide. We have to look at alternatives.’

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UNITED KINGDOM
Independent

Editorial

Well within living memory, the British state, alongside charities and churches, was engaged in the mass abuse of children. In what was virtually a modern system of transportation – but without even the semblance of justice in those older cases of the deportation of convicts – thousands of children were in effect removed unlawfully from the UK to Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The final destination of the White Commonwealth dominions added a little racism to the toxic mix, and these children were indeed treated little better than livestock.

This grotesque system of child disposal only dragged to a halt in 1974. It is, then, not some horror tale from the middle ages or the Victorian workhouse. It’s very much in our time.

The children, as we know now, were sent very often without their parents’ knowledge, let alone permission, and against the wishes of the child. They were dispatched because they were “in care” – the ugly irony echoes down the decades – and because they were perhaps too much bother for the authorities to deal with. They were knowingly sent to work and to be mistreated, and, above all, to be forgotten.

Although the public knew little about these crimes – there is no other word for it – there is evidence that the Government knew as early as the mid-1950s about the scale of the abuses, noting in one official report the “indecent haste” with which children were chosen to be sent away. And who was doing the choosing? Without being sensationalist, many were undisputedly paedophiles.

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AUSTRALIA
The Journal (Ireland)

ENGLAND’S MAMMOTH INQUIRY into historical child sex abuse was told of the “torture, rape and slavery” suffered by child migrants shipped to Australia, at its first public hearings today.

The wide-ranging Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse opened by looking at the schemes that sent thousands of vulnerable children to far-flung parts of the Commonwealth in the decades after World War II.

David Hill broke down as he told the inquiry of the “endemic” sexual abuse at the school he was sent to in Australia.

“I hope this inquiry can promote an understanding of the long-term consequences and suffering of those who were sexually abused,” he said.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Caroline Davies
Monday 27 February 2017

More than 130,000 children were sent to a “better life” in former colonies, mainly Australia and Canada, from the 1920s to 1970s under the child migrant programme .

The children, aged between three and 14, were almost invariably from deprived backgrounds and already in some form of social or charitable care. It was believed, they would lead happier lives.

Charities such as Barnardo’s and the Fairbridge Society, the Anglican and Catholic churches and local authorities helped with the organisation of the emigration.

Once there, the children were often told they were orphans to better facilitate their fresh start. The parents – many of them single mothers forced to give up their child for adoption because of poverty or social stigma – believed this was giving them best chance in life, though often did not have details of where their offspring were sent to.

The reality, for some of those children, was a childhood of servitude and hard labour at foster homes: on remote farms, at state-run orphanages and church-run institutions. They were often separated from siblings. Some were subjected to physical and sexual abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

28 February, 2017

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has released a new research paper, Grooming and child sexual abuse in institutional contexts, which provides an overview of key conceptual issues in understanding grooming and discusses what is known about grooming, particularly as it relates to institutional child sexual abuse.

Royal Commission CEO, Philip Reed, said the research shows that grooming can involve a range of behaviours that target not only children but also others involved in gaining access to the child’s life including parents and caregivers and staff in institutional settings.

“What makes grooming harmful is that the perpetrator’s motivation is to facilitate or conceal child sexual abuse,” he said.

The research describes grooming as an often incremental process that can involve three main stages – from gaining access to the victim, initiating and maintaining the abuse and concealing the abuse.

The report notes that grooming does not inevitably lead to sexual abuse, and child sexual abuse can also commence in the absence of grooming.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Road to Recovery

A Jesuit priest, Fr. Leo Pollard, SJ, stationed at Boston College High School from approximately 1951-1967, repeatedly sexually abused a minor child, Ronald Edward Casey, from approximately 1956 through 1957 when Ronald Edward Casey was approximately 11 to 13 years of age

Fr. Leo Pollard, SJ, held himself out as a Boy Scout chaplain and took Ronald Edward Casey on Boy Scout trips to Camp Loon Pond in Lakeville, MA, where Fr. Leo Pollard, SJ, repeatedly sexually abused minor child Ronald Edward Casey from approximately 1956 through 1957

The Jesuit priests and brothers of the Northeast Province, which includes Boston College High School., continue to re-victimize childhood sexual abuse victim Ronald Edward Casey by not reasonably and fairly settling the claim of sexual abuse of a minor child against Fr. Leo Pollard, SJ

What
A press conference announcing that the Jesuit priests and brothers of the Northeast Province refuse to reasonably and fairly settle the sexual abuse claim of Ronald Edward Casey who is 72 years of age and continues to suffer from the effects of sexual abuse by Fr. Leo Pollard, SJ, from approximately 1956 through 1957

When
Tuesday, February 28, 2017 at 11:00 AM

Where
On the public sidewalk in front of Boston College High School, 150 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, MA 02125

Who
Ronald Edward Casey, sexual abuse victim of Fr. Leo Pollard, SJ, assigned to Boston College High School during the period 1956 through 1957; and, Dr. Robert M. Hoatson, President of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity based in New Jersey that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families.

Why
Ronald Edward Casey was born in 1944 and grew up in a large family in South Boston, MA. His older brother, Bill Casey, was being counseled by Fr. Leo Pollard, SJ, who was assigned to Boston College High School and endeared himself to the Casey family which he visited frequently. Fr. Leo Pollard, SJ, told Ronald Edward Casey when Ronald Edward Casey was approximately 11 years old that he (Fr. Leo Pollard) was a Boy Scout chaplain. Fr. Leo Pollard, SJ, took Ronald Edward Casey on a Boy Scout trip to Camp Loon Pond in Lakeville, MA, where he was forced to sleep in the same cabin as Fr. Leo Pollard, SJ. Fr. Leo Pollard, SJ, took Ronald Edward Casey on at least six more Boy Scout trips from approximately 1956 through 1957 when Ronald Edward Casey was approximately 11-13 years of age. Fr. Leo Pollard, SJ, sexually abused Ronald Edward Casey on each of the Boy Scout trips. Ronald Edward Casey and his advocate will demand of the Jesuit priests and brothers of the Northeast Province that they do the right thing by reasonably and fairly settling his claim of sexual abuse.

Contacts
Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Road to Recovery, Inc. – 862-368-2800 – roberthoatson@gmail.com
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Boston, MA – 617-523-6250 – garabedianlaw@msn.com

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NEW ZEALAND
Stuff

Britain’s inquiry into historical child sex abuse, dogged by problems since it was launched three years ago and leading to the resignation of three chairmen, has finally begun holding its first public hearings.

On Monday, the inquiry began hearing evidence about those who suffered sexual abuse resulting from British child migration programmes in which thousands of youngsters, many in state care, were sent out to former colonies such as New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Zimbabwe.

The multi-million pound inquiry has been riven by setbacks since it began in the aftermath of 2012 revelations that the late former BBC TV presenter Jimmy Savile was one of Britain’s most prolific sex abusers.

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JAMAICA
The Gleaner

The scandal-hit Moravian Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands has postponed its biennial Synod that was scheduled for April.

The acting president of the Moravian church Reverend Phyllis Smith Seymour has conceded that the recent incidents involving allegations of sex crimes involving three senior ministers were part of the reasons.

However, according to Reverend Smith Seymour, the church also became distracted and would not be able to adequately prepare all the necessary reports, for example, ahead of the synod, the highest decision-making body of the Moravian Church in Jamaica.

As a result, she says the one-week meeting has now been pushed back to July.

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MEXICO
Excelsior

CIUDAD DE OAXACA.

El sacerdote Gerardo Silvestre Hernández recibió una sentencia de 16 años y seis meses de prisión, por el delito de corrupción de menores en su modalidad de inducción a actos sexuales y exposición de filmes pornográficos, tras quedar comprobado que abusó de varios menores entre 2009 y 2010.

El magistrado presidente del Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Oaxaca, Alfredo Lagunas Rivera, confirmó la sentencia de Silvestre Hernándes, quien desde el 2013 está en prisión para enfrentar el proceso ante la justicia.

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MEXICO
Catholic Philly

By Catholic News Service • Posted February 27, 2017

MEXICO CITY (CNS) — A priest in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca has been sentenced to 16 years and 6 months in prison for sexual abuse, marking the first ever conviction of a Catholic clergyman for such a crimes in the country.

Father Gerardo Silvestre Hernandez, a priest in the Archdiocese of Antequera Oaxaca, was convicted in January of corrupting minors while serving as a priest in a remote indigenous village of Oaxaca. His sentence was made public Feb. 24, Mexican media reported.

Father Silvestre was found guilty of plying his victims with alcohol, showing them pornographic films and then sexually abusing them.

The crimes took place in 2009 and 2010, according to court documents, Mexican media reported, although other accusations were reported earlier. A coalition of nongovernmental groups known as the Oaxaca Childhood Forum alleged there have been other victims, too.

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AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

Victoria Craw
news.com.au
@Victoria_Craw

THEY were told they were going to a place filled with sheep, where they could ride horses, pick fruit from the trees and have picnics all day long.

Instead they faced decades of sexual abuse at the hands of the men caring for them, were beaten, forced to work like slaves and rummage in pig bins for food.

Now the first-hand accounts of men and women sent to Australia as children will be heard as part of an independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.

Beginning in London this week, a panel will hear from some of the estimated 10,000 children sent to Australia in the post-war decades as a cheap way of populating the country and solving the problem of how to care for young British orphans.

The Australian story is just part of a much bigger picture that saw an estimated 150,000 children sent overseas to mainly Commonwealth countries over a 350-year period. In a world without air travel and internet, many of them never saw home again. …

In 2014, Clifford Walsh, now 72, told how he was assaulted from the second day he arrived including being punched, beaten and sexually abused. Christian Brothers in four separate schools including Castledare, Contarf, Tardun and Bindoon in Perth were named by children as abusers.

He also recently told the BBC the UK government had sent young children to a “living hell” that put them in the care of paedophiles, 100 kilometres from the closest town.

“I was not good looking and I was badly sexually abused,” he said. “How badly were the ones that were better than me?”

“They sent us to a place that was a living hell … These paedophiles must have thought they were in hog heaven.”

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INDIA
New Indian Express

KANNUR: Police have registered a case against a priest for sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl, who delivered a baby in a private hospital at Kottiyoor in Kannur, on Monday.

According to police, the girl, studying in eleventh standard in a school at Kottiyoor, is a resident of Neendunooki in Kottiyoor. The girl delivered a baby in a private hospital on Sunday.

Following the information received by Child Line, who later informed the police, during initial inquiry said that she was raped by her father.

However, when her father was taken into custody and questioned for the crime, he alleged that Vadakkancheril Mathew (Robin), a priest at the Kottiyoor St Sebastian Church, committed the crime.

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MINNESOTA
KEYC

By Brittany Kemmerer

NEW ULM, Minn. –
The investigation surrounding the Diocese of New Ulm priest placed on leave in response to allegations of inappropriate conduct is still ongoing.

The investigation involves Father Sam Wagner, who was assigned to the Cathedral parish in New Ulm from June 2014 to June 2016.

New Ulm Police Senior Investigator Jeff Hohensee says they have received search warrants for digital evidence that the judge reviewed and signed.

Hohensee interviewed five priests last week and will now be conducting interviews with a few juveniles.

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INDIA
NDTV

by Sneha Mary Koshy | Updated: February 28, 2017

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A catholic priest in his late 40s has been arrested by the police in Kerala on charges of raping a 17-year-old girl last year. Father Robin Vadakkancherry was taken into custody after the girl delivered a baby in Kannur last week.

“The parents had not filed any complaint but based on a tip off received by the child helpline, we carried out an initial probe and found the report to be true. We have filed a case of rape against the priest. He was absconding but now has been taken into custody,” a police officer said.

According to the police, the girl was raped in May 2016. The police carried out an initial probe over the weekend, based on the tip off.

The newborn has been taken to a special home in Kannur based on the court orders, while the girl, a class 11 student, is with her parents.

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MICHIGAN
NBC 25

ROGERS CITY, Mich. (WPBN/WGTU)– A Roman Catholic priest accused of sexual misconduct has been charged.

Rev. Sylvestre Obwaka was charged Tuesday with first degree criminal sexual misconduct using force causing personal injury and third degree sexual misconduct using force. If convicted, Obwaka faces up to life in prison.

The incident allegedly happened Feb. 1 while a 28-year-old man was staying at Obwaka’s house in Rogers City.

According to the Michigan State Police, the 28-year-old man alleges that Obwaka sexually assaulted him while he was sleeping.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Hertfordshire Mercury

Baldock church computer hard drive allegedly containing indecent images of children was destroyed by the priest, a Diocese of St Albans safeguarding report has confirmed.

The report states that Reverend Andrew Holford, rector of St Mary’s Church, admitted to disposing of the computer’s hard drive at the request of the church administrator in 2010.

Mr Holford said: “I now accept that destroying the hard disk was unwise and made a difficult situation worse.

“I am sorry for that and pledge that safeguarding policies will be given proper priority in St Mary’s.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Sandra Laville
Monday 27 February 2017

The national child abuse inquiry has been urged at the opening of its public evidence sessions to name and shame the perpetrators of the sexual abuse of tens of thousands of British children forcibly deported to Australia by the UK government and leading churches and charities.

David Hill, one of more than 4,000 children who were sent to Australia and other Commonwealth nations from 1947 to the 1970s, waived his anonymity at the opening of the independent inquiry on Monday to make an emotional call for justice for victims.

Hill is one of 22 men and women who will give evidence either in person or in written testimony about the sexual and physical abuse they experienced when they were sent to Australia as part of the child migrant programme.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

This links to the live stream of today’s hearing.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Sandra Laville
Monday 27 February 2017

The national child abuse inquiry is to hold its first public evidence session after months of delays and controversy over the way it operates.

Its chair, Alexis Jay, will open the sessions on Monday to investigate the abuse of child migrants who were shipped to Australia and Canada by the British government between 1920 and the 1970s.

The children were part of a programme that saw up to 150,000 youngsters, aged three and over, taken from their families. A parliamentary report in 1998 on the abuse suffered by some of the children in Australia described it as widespread, systematic and exceptionally depraved.

About 2,000 former child migrants are still alive and several are giving evidence at the hearings. David Hill, who has waived his anonymity to give evidence at the London inquiry, said in his submission he was sent to Fairbridge Farm in Molong, New South Wales in 1959 with his two brothers.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Former child migrants are to give “very emotional accounts” about the physical and sexual abuse they faced, the first public hearing in the independent inquiry into historical child abuse in England and Wales has been told.

Thousands of British children were sent to Australia and other parts of the British Empire up to 1974.

Inquiry counsel Henrietta Hill QC, said thousands faced “decades of pain”.

Its chairwoman praised the “courage” of those who will give evidence.

The first phase of the inquiry is looking at the way organisations have protected children outside the UK.

It will eventually investigate claims against councils, religious organisations, the armed forces and public and private institutions.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Reuters

Britain’s inquiry into historical child sex abuse, dogged by problems since it was launched three years ago and leading to the resignation of three chairmen, finally began holding its first public hearings on Monday.

The inquiry, one of its largest and most expensive ever undertaken, was set up in July 2014 by now-Prime Minister Theresa May in her former role as interior minister after a series of shocking abuse scandals dating back decades, some involving celebrities and politicians.

It is expected to take some five years to complete.

In a number of cases, victims said institutions had actively covered up cases at the behest of powerful establishment figures including senior lawmakers, spies and police officers.

“This is an important day for the work of the inquiry,” chairman Alexis Jay said. “Today marks … the opening of the first public hearing in which the inquiry will hear live and read evidence from complainants.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
ITV

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in England and Waleshas begun its first hearing, two and a half years after it first began.

The inquiry has been dogged by controversy since being set up in 2014 and is now on its fourth chairwoman and has cost £23.6 million to date.

The IICSA was set up after the death of Jimmy Savile in 2011 when hundreds of people came forward to say he had abused them as children.

The spotlight then fell on sexual assaults carried out in schools, children’s homes and at NHS sites, as well as on claims of past failures by police and prosecutors to properly investigate allegations.

The first hearing will begin with the child migration programme, which were large-scale schemes in which 130,000 children from poor families or in the care system were sent to parts of the British Empire between 1920 and 1974, by religious institutions and charities with the aim of giving them better lives.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

The Inquiry has commissioned the Department of Sociology at Lancaster University to provide us with a review of the most up to date research on the characteristics and vulnerabilities of victims of online-facilitated child sexual abuse (CSA). The findings will help pinpoint areas where further research is needed and help inform IICSA’s investigations. They may also inform recommendations for policy and practice. IICSA and Lancaster University are asking organisations to let us know about any unpublished literature or ongoing research in this area. Full details of the request can be found in the library on our website.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

[live stream]

On Monday 27 February, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse begins its first public hearings. These relate to sexual abuse in the British child migration programmes and the institutional failings of organisations based in England and Wales.

The child migration programmes are a case study which is part of the Inquiry’s Protection of Children Outside the United Kingdom investigation.

The child migration programmes were large-scale schemes in which thousands of children, many of them in the care of the state, were systematically and permanently migrated to parts of the British Empire by various institutions in England and Wales, with the knowledge and approval of the British Government. Most were sent to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and what was then Southern Rhodesia, modern-day Zimbabwe. In 2010, the UK Government issued an apology for its role in the child migration programmes.

The Inquiry will hear from a number of former child migrants who have alleged that they suffered sexual abuse in relation to their migration in a range of institutions and contexts. The Inquiry will also hear evidence from expert witnesses about the history and context of the child migration programmes and from the Child Migrants Trust, which supports former child migrants. A further public hearing is scheduled for July when the Inquiry will hear evidence on behalf of institutions and others involved in the child migration programmes.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By Martin Robinson, UK Chief Reporter For Mailonline

The controversial public inquiry into child sexual abuse will start today and hear harrowing accounts from victims sent to the colonies after the Second World War.

The £20million Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) has been plagued with delays and is already on its fourth chairwoman since it was set up by Theresa May in 2014.

The inquiry will draw together a staggering 13 different probes, including investigations into alleged abuse at Westminster, in children’s homes, within the Anglican and Catholic churches and by alleged abusers such as Lord Greville Janner.

Today it begins by considering the physical and sexual abuse suffered by hundreds of children sent abroad after the war – some were falsely told that their parents had died.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

Joanne McCarthy
27 Feb 2017

ONE of the heroes of Newcastle Anglican diocese’s shocking history of responding to child sexual abuse in the Hunter has resigned after alleging he had been “punished by the church for being a whistleblower”.

Diocese business manager John Cleary’s resignation was announced in a statement released by Acting Bishop Peter Stuart on Monday.

“John Cleary has resigned from the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle by mutual agreement following a very demanding time for him and his family,” Bishop Stuart said.

“John has been dedicated and diligent in uncovering child sexual abuse in the diocese and in providing crucial support to survivors. John has spent over four years assisting the work of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.That has been extremely taxing on him and his family.”

Mr Cleary was singled out for praise by abuse survivors at the Newcastle Anglican Church hearing. A final report is expected in the near future.

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AUSTRALIA
Catholic Outlook

Transcript of Bishop Vincent Long’s testimony at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

The following is a transcript of Bishop Vincent Long’s testimony at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Tuesday 21 February. Participating in the interview are Counsel Assisting the Royal Commission Ms Gail Furness, Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald and TJHC Counsel Ms Jane Needham.

BISHOP LONG: My name is Vincent Long Van Nguyen.

MS FURNESS: You’re the Bishop of the Diocese of Parramatta?

BISHOP LONG: Yes, that’s correct.

MS FURNESS: What did you do before your appointment in Parramatta?

BISHOP LONG: I was an auxiliary bishop in Melbourne for nearly five years, from June 2011 till my appointment to Parramatta, which was in June last year.

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AUSTRALIA
Eternity

JOHN SANDEMAN | FEBRUARY 27TH, 2017

Joanne McCarthy is the brave journalist who spearheaded the Newcastle Herald’s “Shine the light” campaign which, arguably, brought about the Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Abuse, and an earlier NSW special enquiry. She interviewed about 200 victims of sexual abuse, many of them scarred by alcohol, drugs and depression. She uncovered no less than 12 suicides or drug overdoses among former students of a priest called John Denham. McCarthy is the current holder of Australia’s highest journalism award, the
Gold Walkley.

“My first involvement was in June, 2006. A man rang me, out of the blue,” McCarthy tells Eternity. “I had been raised in a Catholic family and my parents still went to church.

“He was a victim of a Catholic priest called John Denham. He contacted me. For a lot of male victims, I was a mother figure, that woman who writes about her sons and the cars breaking down and that sort of stuff.”

The man on the phone asked McCarthy why no media had reported on the fact that John Denham had been convicted five years earlier.

He told her that Denham was working in Sydney for a Catholic organisation, located close to a school.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Mindy Aguon | For The Guam Daily Post Feb 27, 2017

A Virginia resident who lived on Guam in the 1970’s alleges he was sexually molested and abused by a former priest and Boy Scout Master on Guam in order to attain Boy Scout badges.

Morgan Wade Paul, 53, is the latest victim to come forward and file a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Agana and retired priest Louis Brouillard in the District Court of Guam.

The lawsuit states that Paul became an altar boy in 1974 when he was 11 years old at Mongmong Parish of Nuestra Senor De Las Aguas. Paul alleges that he was required by the Agana Archdiocese to join and also become a member of the Boy Scouts Mongmong troop.

A year later, Paul met Father Louis Brouillard, the Boy Scout Troop Master and parish priest at the Mongong church. Paul was proud to be an altar boy and a Boy Scout and motivated to earn his swimming and lifesaving merit badges, the lawsuit states.

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INDIA
Swarajya

“ The Gospel message of mercy is ultimately a source of powerful healing and of grace,” said the Church as it granted mercy to a handful of paedophile priests last week reducing their sanctions. Pope Francis reduced sanctions against priests charged with abusing children, on the grounds of mercy and granted clemency, rubbing many survivors of abuse and his own advisors the wrong way.

This despite the Church’s benevolence backfiring last year with the Italian courts convicting an Italian priest Rev. Mauro Inzoli. Inzoli, despite being found guilty of sexual crimes against children by the Vatican in 2012, had appealed for and been granted mercy by Pope Francis in 2014, on the grounds that ‘No misery is so profound, no sin so terrible that mercy cannot be applied”. The Church has now ordered a second trial, citing emergence of fresh evidence against him, while the Italian courts sentenced him to four years, nine months in prison.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio , heugenio@guampdn.com Feb. 27, 2017

A former altar boy said a priest gave him his Boy Scouts of America swimming merit badge only after the priest subjected him to repeated sexual abuse in the 1970s, bringing to 23 the total number of clergy sexual abuse lawsuits filed on Guam, as of Monday.

Morgan Wade Paul, now 53 and living in Virginia, said former island priest Louis Brouillard sexually abused him as an 11- or 12-year-old boy scout and altar boy at the Mongmong Parish of Nuestra Senora De Las Aguas in or about 1975.

Paul, through attorney David Lujan, filed a lawsuit against Brouillard, the Archdiocese of Agana and up to 50 other unnamed entities who may have helped, abetted, concealed or covered up the priest abuse.

The archdiocese now faces a minimum $115 million in damages in connection with the lawsuits, which could double in the weeks ahead as attorneys for other survivors confirmed they will be filing similar cases.

As an altar boy around 1975, Paul said he also was required to join the Boy Scouts. Brouillard was a scoutmaster in the Guam chapter of the Boy Scouts at the time.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Janela Carrera

The Archdiocese of Agana is now facing $115 million from 23 different sex abuse lawsuits filed against them.

Guam – Yet another sex abuse lawsuit has been filed against the Catholic church and once again former Guam priest Father Louis Brouillard is named as the perpetrator.

The latest accuser is former resident 53-year-old Morgan Wade Paul, who served as an altar boy in the 1970s. Paul says the sexual abuse happened when he was around 10 to 11 years old and while he was a part of the Boy Scouts. In addition to a priest, Brouillard was also the Scout Master for the Boy Scouts on Guam.

Paul says the abuse happened when he was trying to earn his swimming merit badge. Brouillard would force Paul to strip naked, tread water and then molest him in the water, the complaint states.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release Sunday, February 26, 2017

Statement by Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach, California, SNAP Volunteer Western Regional Director (949) 322-7434 jcasteix@gmail.com

Once again, church officials have put the needs and feelings of predators over public safety and the needs of children who are the victims of sex crimes.

[Associated Press]

Pope Francis must remember that there is a difference between crime and sin. Child sex abuse is a crime for which the offender must be held accountable. While Francis may feel sorry for a predator, the only person with the right to forgive an abuser is the victim. And even then, the offender must be held accountable for his actions so that he may not go on to hurt others.

The Pope has created window dressing tribunals and commissions, but as far as we know he has yet to take actions that will actually protect children. This latest move is just another indication that it’s just “business as usual” inside the Vatican. We fear that children will continue to needlessly be placed at risk.

The place for mercy is with victims and children, not offending clergy.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

Patrick Foster
26 FEBRUARY 2017

A barrister at the centre of a child abuse scandal committed a series of sickening assaults against young men after leading evangelical groups failed to report him to the police, it is claimed.

John Smyth QC, a friend of the Archbishop of Canterbury, is accused of carrying out sadomasochistic attacks on boys he met at Christian camps in Britain and Zimbabwe.

The assaults first came to light in 1982, when a victim attempted suicide after being summoned to a beating in the shed of Mr Smyth’s Winchester home.

But both the Iwerne Trust, the Christian group that Mr Smyth chaired, and Winchester College, the school attended by some of his alleged victims, did not report the claims to police.

The part-time judge then moved to Zimbabwe, where he founded a series of summer camps at which it is alleged he again abused young men.

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UNITED STATES
YouTube

John Cedars

Published on Feb 26, 2017

In the first episode of a new series aimed at shining a spotlight on Watchtower-related news, I discuss the Stephanie Fessler lawsuit in Pennsylvania in which Watchtower’s legal team was forced to reach a settlement after only four days of testimony. Joining me is Covert Fade, JWsurvey’s editor, together with John Redwood, who was present for all four days of the trial.

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UNITED STATES
Times of Israel

Guila Benchimol

In light of ex-Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos’s remarks suggesting that mature 13-year-old boys and adult men can have consensual relationships, I want to share what I recently learned at the Global Summit on Child Sexual Abuse in the Jewish Community convened by Kol V’Oz. Listening to the male sex offender who was convicted of sexually abusing young boys in his Jewish community gave me pause about the areas we may have neglected to consider in our quest to prevent and address abuse when it arises in our institutions.

— He began by explaining that he was completely clueless as to the damage he had inflicted on his victim. Most people have no idea how victimization affects a person’s life, both in the short and long term. Sexual abuse exacts real life, long-lasting, physical, emotional, spiritual, and psychological tolls. Because young perpetrators find this difficult to grasp, he stressed the need to make the impact of the abuse explicit to perpetrators, even if many years have passed since the abuse. Interestingly, Professor. Marci Hamilton suggested that survivors’ stories are not the primary way to reach legislators at this point in history when so many stories have been told in the press. Instead, child sexual abuse must be framed as a quantifiable public health issue to make them pay attention. How, then, should we frame sexual violence in the Jewish community so that people care enough to create systemic and lasting change?

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ROM
Katholisch

[Müller: Abuse not systematically covered up. Has the Church systematically hijacked abuses in its own ranks? Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mueller vehemently rejects such assumptions.]

Hat die Kirche Missbrauchsfälle in den eigenen Reihen systematisch vertuscht? Kardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller widerspricht solchen Vermutungen vehement. “Die Kirche verdeckt auf jeden Fall nichts”, so Müller.

Missbrauch | Rom – 26.02.2017

Aus Sicht von Kurienkardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller gibt es in der katholischen Kirche keine systematische Vertuschung von Missbrauchsfällen. “Die Kirche verdeckt auf jeden Fall nichts”, sagte er im Interview der italienischen Tageszeitung “La Repubblica” (Sonntag). Es könne in einigen Fällen aus Ahnungslosigkeit geschehen sein, “aber nicht systematisch”, so der Präfekt der vatikanischen Glaubenskongregation. “Die Kirche arbeitet, im Gegensatz zu vielen anderen Institutionen, wirklich für Null-Toleranz.”

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ISRAEL
YNet News

Liran Levi|Published: 23.02.17

Former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel Yona Metzger was told Thursday afternoon by the courts that his prison sentence of three-and-a-half years would be increased by one year, despite a plea bargain signed in January over a string of corruption offences including bribery, fraud and breach of trust during his tenure as chief rabbi.

In January, the rabbi signed a plea agreement with the Jerusalem district attorney, stipulating that he would serve 3.5 years in jail after pleading guilty to the charges of bribery and fraud. Metzger was also fined NIS 5 million by the court.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY DAVID J. KRAJICEK
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Saturday, February 25, 2017

On Sept. 5, 1913, neatly bound bundles of body parts sawn with surgical precision began washing up on the New Jersey shore of the Hudson River.

Over several days, authorities pieced together six fragments — minus the head, which never surfaced — into a single human being, a formerly robust young woman.

The slightest clue enabled adroit cops to connect a name to the victim, raising the curtain on a scandalous crime story that stands apart even in New York’s illustrious record of you’ve-got-to-be-kidding murders.

The tipoff was a maker’s label on a pillowcase used to package the upper torso. The tag led police to Robinson-Roders, a Newark bedding firm, where sales books pointed detectives to a store on Eighth Ave. in Harlem.

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UNITED STATES
Progressive Secular Humanist

February 25, 2017 by Michael Stone

A new report reveals Pope Francis is quietly making the Catholic church a safe space for pedophile priests.

The Associated Press reports that Pope Francis is reducing sanctions against pedophile priests, and even refusing to defrock priests found guilty of sexually abusing children, all in the name of mercy.

In one particularly egregious case, Francis let off one notorious pedophile priest, Rev. Mauro Inzoli, with just a lifetime of prayer for abusing five young boys.

The Associated Press reports about the Pope’s leniency towards pedophile priests:

One case has come back to haunt him: An Italian priest who received the pope’s clemency was later convicted by an Italian criminal court for his sex crimes against children as young as 12. The Rev. Mauro Inzoli is now facing a second church trial after new evidence emerged against him, The Associated Press has learned.

The Inzoli case is one of several in which Francis overruled the advice of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and reduced a sentence that called for the priest to be defrocked, two canon lawyers and a church official told AP. Instead, the priests were sentenced to penalties including a lifetime of penance and prayer and removal from public ministry.

The report notes that by refusing to punish pedophile priests Francis is going against the recommendations of his advisers in an attempt to show “mercy.”

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VATICAN CITY
Metro (UK)

Charles White
Sunday 26 Feb 2017

Pope Francis has reduced punishments for paedophile priests who abused children as young as 12.

The leader of the world’s biggest faith wants to apply his vision of a ‘merciful’ church and has changed the punishments for a handful of priests.

Italian priest Mauro Inzoli had been sentenced to be ‘defrocked’ (removed from the priesthood) in 2012, but Pope Francis reversed the decision in, telling him instead to stop public ministry and do penance and pray for the rest of his life.

The Inzoli case is said to be one of several similar cases when harsher sentences had been recommended by the Pope’s own advisory council on this issue, the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

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FRANCE
La Parisien

[Rouen: indictment of a 73-year-old priest suspected of rape of a minor.]

L’homme d’église est poursuivi pour viols et agressions sexuelles.

Un prêtre de 73 ans du diocèse de Rouen a été mis en examen pour des actes de pédophilie, indique France 3 Normandie. Plus tôt dans la journée, on avait appris son arrestation auprès du parquet et de l’archevêché, après que M6 a révélé son placement en garde à vue.
Il est poursuivi pour viols et tentatives de viol aggravés sur mineur de 15 ans par personne ayant autorité, délits d’agressions sexuelles sur mineur de 15 ans par personne ayant autorité et délits d’agressions sexuelles par personne ayant autorité.

Deux jeunes hommes ont dénoncé ces actes, indique le parquet. Selon M6, l’un des deux jeunes hommes est âgé de 21 ans. Ce dernier, qui fréquentait la même paroisse que l’homme d’église, l’accuse d’avoir abusé de lui lors des dix dernières années.

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CANADA
Huffington Post

[Cardinal Lacroix is reported to have turned a blind eye to a case of alleged sexual assault.]

Un homme de Québec poursuit l’Institut Séculier Pie X pour des séquelles permanentes en lien avec des agressions sexuelles qui seraient survenues dans les locaux de la mission apostolique au sein de laquelle a oeuvré le cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix.

Un texte de Marie Maude Pontbriand

André Lachance réclame 370 000 $ à l’Institut Séculier Pie X, situé à Charlesbourg. Il aurait été agressé entre l’âge de 3 et 16 ans par son oncle et membre de l’Institut, Jean-Paul Lachance. Ce dernier s’est enlevé la vie en 2014.

Les sévices sexuels auraient commencé en 1971 et se seraient produits dans différents lieux comme la résidence de la victime alléguée ou encore les locaux de l’Institut Séculier Pie X.

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AUSTRALIA
Vanity Fair

di Monica Coviello

[Stephanie committed suicide. The head priest of the parish youth group that she attended was abusing her. Since then her mother Eileen tries to get justice and an official apology from the church.]

Eileen Piper, australiana, non è ancora riuscita a superare il trauma: continua a raccontare la tragica storia di sua figlia Stephanie, e non si dà pace. Era la fine degli Anni Settanta e da allora quella mamma, che adesso ha 92 anni, non è più riuscita a dormire una notte intera. Quello che sta aspettando sono le scuse, ufficiali, da parte della chiesa. «Ho il cuore a pezzi – spiega a www.abc.net -. Devono aiutarmi a superare questa situazione, devono chiedermi scusa».

Quando Stephanie era un’adolescente è entrata a fare parte di un gruppo di giovani legato alla chiesa e coordinato da un sacerdote, Gerard Mulvale. Quel prete approfittò delle paure della ragazza per ricattarla e abusare di lei. Stephanie l’ha raccontato a sua madre solo tanti anni dopo: «Le diceva che, siccome era stata adottata, era nata nel peccato e doveva pagare per questo». Mulvale approfittava dell’ingenuità della ragazza per violentarla e assicurarsi il suo silenzio.

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VATIKAN
Huffington Post

Oliver Lippert Fan werden
Kritiker, freier Autor

[The pope has cut the penalties for pedophile priests- including one who has received a sentence of lifelong prayer for the abuse of five boys.]

Der Papst hat die Strafen für pädophile Priester gekürzt – inklusive einem, der eine Strafe in Höhe von lebenslangen Beten bekommen hat. Für den Missbrauch an fünf Jungen.

Papst Francis sagte, um seiner Vision einer „barmherzigen Kirche” nachzukommen, hat er die Strafe für Rev Mauro Inzoli von einer Amtsenthebung auf lebenslanges Beten geändert. Aber der Sprecher des Vatikans sagte, das Priester, die Missbrauch verübt haben, auch aus dem Ministerium entfernt werden.

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UNITED STATES
Ground Report

David Trounce Feb 25, 2017

Many reasons have been put forward in an effort to explain a large amount of under-reporting or even undetected incidents of sexual abuse against boys.

Doctoral research conducted by Scott D. Easton hospitalized, ACSW, LMSW Boston College Graduate School of Social Work in March, 2012 demonstrated that the average reporting time was around 20 years.

In those intervening years many adult males report lengthy periods of depression, anxiety, and fear.

There are a number of reasons for the delay in reporting. Those reasons include fear of not being believed or being considered homosexual for having experienced the abuse.

But the differences do to not stop there. There has been significant research in the last 15 to 20 years on the differences between males and females who experience childhood sexual abuse.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

For several decades, the UK sent children across the world to new lives in institutions where many were abused and used as forced labour. It’s a scandal that is still having repercussions now.

Imagine the 1950s, in the years before air travel became commonplace or the internet dominated our lives. Imagine being a child of those times, barely aware of life even in the next town. An orphan perhaps, living in an British children’s home.

Now imagine being told that shortly you would board a ship for somewhere called Australia, to begin a new life in a sunlit wonderland. For good. No choice.

It happened to thousands of British children in the decades immediately following World War Two, and they had little understanding of how it would shape their lives.

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AUSTRALIA
Blue Mountains Gazette

Joanne McCarthy
26 Feb 2017

GOUGH Whitlam wrote a letter to Pope Benedict XVI in October, 2012, nearly four decades after his government granted formal diplomatic recognition to the Vatican, and only weeks before another Labor prime minister, Julia Gillard, established a royal commission that would expose the extent of child sexual abuse within the Australian Catholic Church.

Diplomatic relations with the Vatican from 1973 was a “memorable and significant initiative” of his government, Whitlam told the Pope. The relationship was one “which has always been maintained with deep mutual respect and consideration”.

“The mutual hopes for closer relations between the Holy See and Australia have been fulfilled in abundance. I shall always have fond memories of visiting Pope Paul VI and of the great enchantment of Rome, the Eternal City,” one of the Labor Party’s great reformers wrote.

Whitlam died two years later, on October 21, 2014, only three months after Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin declined a request from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse for files of all Australian alleged perpetrator priests held by the Vatican.

Commission chair Justice Peter McClellan said the files would help commissioners understand the extent of allegations referred to the Vatican, and action taken by the church in each case.

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UTAH
Fox 13

FEBRUARY 25, 2017, BY BEN WINSLOW

SALT LAKE CITY — A judge has quashed a deposition subpoena of the leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in connection with a series of lawsuits alleging sex abuse in a church-run program on the Navajo Nation.

Court records show that in a hearing earlier this week, Third District Court Judge Su Chon rejected a subpoena to make LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson sit for a deposition. She allowed the church to appoint a representative to give testimony instead.

“The depositions of lower level corporate representatives or officers should be noticed prior to any deposition of President Monson,” Judge Chon’s order states.

“The Court hereby quashes Plaintiffs’ Subpoena Duces Tecum and orders that Plaintiffs are precluded from deposing President Monson or obtaining the documents sought by way of the Subpoena at this time.”

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JAMAICA
The Gleaner

Thursday | January 5, 2017

Canute S. Thompson

The Moravian Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, as well as her sister provinces across the world must be experiencing what may be one of their darkest moments in several decades, on account of the arrest and charge of a senior minister for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old girl.

Let me declare interest. I am a member of the Moravian Church and once served as a minister in the Church. I, therefore, come to this issue with a bundle of mixed emotions and thoughts, and some for reasons that would not be apparent to some readers. The pain being experienced by so many of us, and especially close friends, family members, the alleged victim and her family, is beyond words.

BASIC THEOLOGICAL ORIENTATION

My basic theological orientation is one that is informed by an ethic of compassion. I hold the worldview that accountability is an absolute essential in relation to all decisions and actions that adults take – whether or not they hold leadership positions. I, however, subscribe to, what I consider to be, a deeper human calling, namely that redemption, reconciliation, and restoration are the duties and opportunities given to all human vessels as part of the journey of human life. Part of the reason these virtues are so essential is that error and failure to do right is part of the human reality.

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JAMAICA
The Gleaner

Sunday | February 26, 2017

In Part 1 of this series, I explored what I regard as the issues facing the Moravian Church. I argued, in the February 5, 2017, In Focus publication, that the current crisis wherein some ministers have been charged for alleged sexual misconduct involving minors is, in some respects, a symptom of a deeper problem.

I acknowledged that there are many dimensions to that deeper problem but chose to focus on one aspect, namely, how the leadership of the Church understands and exercises power and accountability. I further suggested that the Church’s handling of a 2014 report of alleged sexual misconduct involving a minor, or minors, reflected part of the overall culture of how power and accountability were understood.

I offered the painful, but necessary, critique that for far too long, many of us as members of the Church have been willing to explain or justify the actions of our leaders, which, very often, we know to be wrong or unwise.

In this final part, I offer some suggestions on how the Church might deal with the current crisis.

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GEORGIA
Savannah Morning News

Posted February 25, 2017
By Jan Skutch jan.skutch@savannahnow.com

A three-day conference of Catholic church leaders will convene in Savannah beginning Sunday to discuss the church’s ongoing response to protecting children and youth in the wake of priest sex abuse scandals.

The 2017 Child and Youth Protection Catholic Leadership Conference will feature a number of speakers, including Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta who is co-hosting the event with Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer of Savannah.

Gregory, then bishop in Belleville, Ill., was head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops when the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” was adopted in Dallas in 2002.

The charter is a comprehensive set of procedures for addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy. It also includes guidelines for reconciliation, healing, accountability and prevention of future acts of abuse.

In comments in a letter prepared for the conference, Hartmayer said the theme for this year’s conference is “hospitality.”

“This year will be the 12th convocation since the passage (of the charter) in 2002,” he said. “Over the years we have worked hard to protect our most vulnerable, but the job is never complete.

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PERU
Associated Press

BY NICOLE WINFIELD AND FRANKLIN BRICENO
ASSOCIATED PRESS

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Victims of Latin America’s latest charismatic Catholic leader-turned-sexual predator are denouncing the Vatican’s handling of the case, saying the six-year delay and final resolution are anything but satisfactory for survivors of his sexual, psychological and physical violence.

“It’s really shameful,” said Pedro Salinas, who blew the whistle in 2015 on the twisted practices of the Peru-based Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, and was himself a victim of Luis Fernando Figari’s psychological abuse.

Figari founded the SCV, or Sodalitium of Christian Life, in 1971 as a lay community to recruit “soldiers for God.” It was one of several Catholic societies born as a conservative reaction to the left-leaning liberation theology movement that swept through Latin America starting in the 1960s.

The group counts some 20,000 members across South America and the U.S.

Figari was a charismatic intellectual, but he was also “narcissistic, paranoid, demeaning, vulgar, vindictive, manipulative, racist, sexist, elitist and obsessed with sexual issues and the sexual orientation of SCV members,” according to a Feb. 10 investigative report commissioned by the SCV’s leadership.

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NEW ZEALAND
Stuff

TALIA SHADWELL
February 26 2017

Spiritual leaders with access to children are not subject to police vetting, a loophole that urgently needs closing, according to a victim of historic sex abuse.

Ann-Marie Shelley, of Upper Hutt, was abused by Catholic priest Peter Hercock, who molested her when she was a teenager, along with three other girls.

“As more voluntary groups become known for their rigorous screening practices, potential child abusers will be put off even applying for work with children.”

As it stands now, the law states that all State-funded organisations have to vet children’s workers. But despite a legacy of child sexual abuse scandals, the law does not cover religious institutions.

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VATICAN CITY
International Business Times

By Priya Joshi
February 25, 2017

Pope Francis’s decision to reduce penalties for paedophile priests has been met with widespread condemnation from church officials and sex abuse survivors.

Applying his vision of a ‘merciful church’ the Pope previously sanctioned weaker canonical sentences for two sex offenders within the church, which were commuted to a lifetime of prayer and penance after they appealed for clemency.

Reverend Mauro Inzoli was found guilty by the Vatican of abusing boys as young as 12, in 2012 and was ordered to be defrocked.

However, following an appeal, in 2014 Francis reduced the penalty to a lifetime of prayer and to continue service in a restricted ministry.

Inzoli is prohibited from celebrating Mass in public or being near children, and is barred from his diocese. He has also been ordered to undergo five years of psychotherapy.

Pope Francis overruled the advice given to him by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which recommended sterner penalties befitting the heinous crimes against children, but Inzoli was controversially, welcomed back to the priesthood.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Neil Pang | The Guam Daily Post

An alumnus of St. Anthony Catholic School (SACS) told The Guam Daily Post that he was sexually abused by one of his teachers when he was a student at the institution in the 1990s.

Troy Torres, the chief of staff to Gov. Eddie Calvo, spoke to the Post about the incident that occurred more than 23 years ago and the series of events that followed in which he was able to prevent his abuser from obtaining later teaching posts after a complaint filed with the Guam Police Department failed to result in an arrest.

Torres told the Post that he was around 13 years old and in eighth grade when he was abused by a music teacher employed at SACS. He said the teacher was well-liked, trusted and even seen as something as a big deal around the campus as a talented music instructor.

This is not the first time Torres has spoken about the abuse. In his conversation with the Post, he said he first came out about the abuse a few months after the incident when another teacher who had noticed a change in Torres’ behavior got him to break his silence.

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VATICAN CITY
Daily Mail (UK)

By Isobel Frodsham For Mailonline

Pope Francis has been slammed by church officials and sex abuse survivors for cutting penalties for paedophile priests.

The Pope is said to be applying his vision of a ‘merciful church’ to sex offenders by reducing punishments to weaker sentences, such as a lifetime of prayer and penance.

It has been revealed by church officials that Pope Francis overruled advice given to him by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith about two priests – allowing them to be punished by a lifetime of prayer.

One of the priests was the Reverend Mauro Inzoli, who was found guilty of abusing young boys by the Vatican in 2012 and was ordered to be defrocked.

However, he appealed, and in 2014 Francis reduced the penalty to a lifetime of prayer, prohibiting him from celebrating Mass in public or being near children, barring him from his diocese and ordering five years of psychotherapy.

Rev Inzoli was then convicted by an Italian criminal court for his sex crimes against five children as young as 12.

He is now facing a second church trial after new evidence emerged against him.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Argus

A FORMER priest who is already serving ten years in prison for 36 historic sexual offences has now been sentenced to nine months in prison.

Gordon Rideout pleaded guilty to one charge of indecent assault on a girl under the age of 16 at a children’s home in Reigate when he appeared at Guildford Crown Court on 20 December 2016. The assault took place between 29 July 1969 and 21 July 1974.

Rideout was originally jailed for 10 years in May 2013 at Lewes Crown Court for a series of historic sexual offences between 1962 and 1973, including attempted rape and indecent assaults on both boys and girls, some of whom were under 13 years of age.

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VATICAN CITY
Associated Press

BY NICOLE WINFIELD
ASSOCIATED PRESS

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has quietly reduced sanctions against a handful of pedophile priests, applying his vision of a merciful church even to its worst offenders in ways that survivors of abuse and the pope’s own advisers question.

One case has come back to haunt him: An Italian priest who received the pope’s clemency was later convicted by an Italian criminal court for his sex crimes against children as young as 12. The Rev. Mauro Inzoli is now facing a second church trial after new evidence emerged against him, The Associated Press has learned.

The Inzoli case is one of several in which Francis overruled the advice of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and reduced a sentence that called for the priest to be defrocked, two canon lawyers and a church official told AP. Instead, the priests were sentenced to penalties including a lifetime of penance and prayer and removal from public ministry.

In some cases, the priests or their high-ranking friends appealed to Francis for clemency by citing the pope’s own words about mercy in their petitions, the church official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the proceedings are confidential.

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COLOMBIA
Solo Paisas

[Sexual abuse of children is the parents’ fault: Archdiocese of Cali. The controversy again puts the Colombian Catholic Church in the eye of the hurricane for this response to the lawsuit filed by families in eastern Cali demanding compensation and reparation due to sexual abuse suffered by their children eight years ago by priest William Mazo.]

Así respondió la defensa del clero católico ante el caso de pederastia más sonado en esa ciudad por cuenta del cura William Mazo.

La polémica vuelve a poner a la Iglesia Católica colombiana en el ojo del huracán por esta respuesta, ante la demanda presentada por familias del oriente de Cali exigiendo la indemnización y reparación debidas por el abuso sexual que sufrieron sus hijos hace ocho años por cuenta del sacerdote William Mazo.

Como reveló El Espectador, el abogado Walther Collazos solicitó al juez 22 penal de conocimiento de Cali que revise si los familiares de los cuatro menores abusados sexualmente “hicieron lo que debían hacer” o si su proceder fue “laxo, permisivo, omisivo, abandonado y desinteresado”, y “hoy concurren ante un juez para aprovechar un hecho dañino a un tercero y fingir como víctimas directas”.

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SPANIEN
Deutschland Funk

[The tragedy began at the time of the Spanish Civil War and continued into the 1990s. Originally politically motivated, the babies soon turned into a lucrative business, involving physicians, lawyers, and above all the Catholic Church. It is estimated that more than 300,000 babies disappeared in Spanish birth hospitals.]

Die Tragödie begann zur Zeit des spanischen Bürgerkriegs und setzte sich bis in die 90er-Jahre fort. Ursprünglich politisch motiviert, wurde der Babyraub bald zu einem lukrativen Geschäft, in das Ärzte, Anwälte, und vor allem die katholische Kirche verwickelt waren. Man schätzt, dass in spanischen Geburtskliniken mehr als 300.000 Babys verschwanden.

Von Margot Litten

Die Tragödie begann zur Zeit des spanischen Bürgerkriegs und setzte sich bis in die 90er-Jahre fort. Ursprünglich politisch motiviert, wurde der Babyraub bald zu einem lukrativen Geschäft, in das Ärzte, Anwälte, und vor allem die katholische Kirche verwickelt waren. Man schätzt, dass in spanischen Geburtskliniken über die Jahrzehnte mehr als 300.000 Babys verschwanden und mit gefälschten Papieren an kinderlose Paare verkauft wurden.

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BELGIEN
cath.ch

[A 57-year-old man said former Bishop Roger Joseph Vangheluwe abuse him in the early 1970s.]

Brüssel, 24.2.17 (kath.ch) Gegen den emeritierten Bischof von Brügge, Roger Joseph Vangheluwe, sind neue Missbrauchsvorwürfe bekanntgeworden. Ein 57-jähriger Mann beschuldigt Vangheluwe, Anfang der 70er Jahre von ihm missbraucht worden zu sein, berichten belgische Medien (Freitag).

Der ehemalige Messdiener beschuldigt auch einen weiteren Priester, an Vergewaltigungen im flandrischen Harelbeke beteiligt gewesen zu sein. Der heute 80-jährige Vangheluwe musste 2010 auf öffentlichen Druck zurücktreten, weil er seinen Neffen über Jahre sexuell missbraucht hatte.

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