ABUSE TRACKER

UNITED STATES
New York Times

By MICHELLE STEVENS
APRIL 14, 2017

My heart is racing as he kisses my cheek. “Bye, Mom,” he says. Then he grabs his backpack and walks away. I want to snatch him back. I’ll settle for puking instead.

It’s the summer of 2015, and my baby is going off to camp. It’s 3,000 miles away. It’s his first time flying on a plane by himself. When he gets to the other side, a stranger will pick him up and drive him to the Poconos. To a cabin I’ve never seen. To sleep in some foreign, far-off bed.

Although he’s only 9, my boy fears none of this. On the contrary, he’s excited about the adventure. My son is unusually independent, which doesn’t surprise me.

I raised him to be like that.

It hasn’t been easy taking this approach to parenting. When I was 8, a sadistic pedophile decided to make me his victim. He terrorized me for the next six years and left me a nervous wreck for the rest of my life.

He was a teacher who molested dozens of his students over the course of two decades. Like the teachers at Choate Rosemary Hall who, we found out this week, sexually abused students for years without consequence, he was very skilled at choosing his prey. He wanted kids who were lacking in self-confidence, because kids like that don’t know they can say no. They’re also too afraid to tell anyone that they’re being molested.

Pedophiles are very good at conning parents. My abuser convinced my mother — and many other mothers — that he was a nice, trustworthy guy. Believing this, my broke, single mom eagerly accepted his offer to provide free child care. She thought it was safer to have me stay with him than for me to walk home from school alone.

Now that I have a kid, I’ve noticed that most parents think like this. They believe children are safe only when they are in the care of adults, in part because kids have to be protected from would-be pedophiles and abductors. But as a psychologist with an expertise in child abuse, I can tell you this theory is hogwash. It’s exceedingly rare for a child to be taken by a stranger, and in around 90 percent of sexual abuse cases, the perpetrator is someone the kid already knows.

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
Daily Mail (UK)

By Anna Hopkins For Dailymail.com

A Utah judge reportedly held back tears as he condemned a rapist he characterized as an ‘extraordinarily good man’ to prison this week.

Julia Kirby, the victim and sister-in-law of Keith Vallejo, was in the courtroom as the judge tasked with delivering her justice praised her attacker.

Vallejo, a former Mormon priest, was convicted of first-degree felony of object rape and 10 second-degree felonies of forcible sexual abuse in the cases of Kirby and another one of her female relatives.

‘The court had no doubt that Mr. Vallejo is an extraordinarily good man,’ Fourth District Court Judge Thomas Low told the courtroom on Wednesday, according to the Huffington Post.

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.

CALIFORNIA
Pasadena Star-News

By Christopher Yee, Pasadena Star-News
POSTED: 04/14/17

SAN GABRIEL >> Representatives from a group advocating for justice for victims of sexual abuse by church leaders are calling for the San Gabriel Mission Church to retract an award intended to be given to an embattled former parish pastor.

According to a weekly bulletin, San Gabriel Mission Church intends to honor Bruce Wellems at its May 25 “Build the Dreams” scholarship fundraising dinner. Actor Edward James Olmos is also set to be honored at the dinner.

Wellems, a Roman Catholic priest originally from Chicago who was a member of the Claretian Missionaries, served as parish pastor in San Gabriel from 2012 to 2014 until he abruptly resigned.

Following his resignation, members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) published documents indicating Wellems admitted to sexually abusing another boy when he was 15 years old.

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ITALIA
Affaritaliani

[A priest from Argentina – Rev. Carolos Buela – who has been accused of sexual abuse is said to be living in the Genoa diocese which is headed by Cardinal Angela Bagnasco, president of the Italian bishops conference. He was already condemned by the Vatican court for sexually abusing seminarians.]

CHIESA: PRETE PEDOFILO OSPITE NELLA DIOCESI DI GENOVA

“E’ grave che proprio la diocesi di Genova, quella del cardinale Angelo Bagnasco presidente della Cei, ospiti da circa tre anni un sacerdote come don Carlos Buela, argentino, accusato di pedofilia e già condannato dal Tribunale del Vaticano per abusi sessuali a seminaristi”. E’ quanto sostiene all’AdnKronos Francesco Zanardi, fondatore della rete L’Abuso. “Per la Chiesa, la sanzione è stata il trasferimento in Italia, per trascorrere un periodo di isolamento – riferisce Zanardi – Ma per noi non basta: è di fatto un modo per allontanarlo e sottrarlo alla giustizia in Argentina”.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Northern Echo

“CRUEL and sadistic” Catholic priest Michael Higginbottom was jailed for 17 years on Thursday.

Former Darlington parish priest Higginbottom repeatedly raped a boy almost 40 years ago and, following decades of silence, was finally brought to justice this week.

A judge told the 74-year-old he had made a young boy’s life a “living hell” for six months in the late 1970s, while he was a priest and teacher at St Joseph’s seminary in Upholland, West Lancashire.

At Liverpool Crown Court, Judge Andrew Menary, QC described Higginbottom as “someone who undoubtedly had a mean and cruel streak, saying: “The evidence makes plain that when you were teaching you employed methods that today – if not then – would be recognised for what they were cruel sadistic bullying.”

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IRELAND
The Times (UK)

Ellen Coyne
March 27 2017
The Times

An agency set up to help survivors of institutional child abuse has been accused of wasting redress funds on expensive administrative costs amid criticism of delays in paying out to victims.

Mary Higgins, chief executive of Caranua, received a €10,000 raise in 2015, taking her salary to more than €87,000. Her wages are paid out of a fund from religious congregations established to compensate victims of institutional abuse.

Caranua was set up in 2012 to manage the €110 million fund and make payments to survivors who have health, housing or educational needs. There is €48 million left in the fund.

The Times has spoken to ten survivors who have had negative experiences dealing with the agency. Some said they had waited up to 18 months for cheques to be paid. Others complained of calls not being answered and emails not being replied to in a timely manner.

They also accused staff of making hurtful remarks and said they were afraid to report incidents they were unhappy with in case it led to their payments being denied. Some said they were confused about their entitlements and that the application process was not explained to them fully.

Many of the victims, some of whom were raped while in institutional schools, said they believed that they were losing out and accused Caranua of being too generous with the fund when it was first set up in 2014.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Michael O’Regan

Minister for Education Richard Bruton has said he was aware of “concerns’’ raised about the statutory body Caranua.

The body was set up in 2012 to manage the €110 million pledged by religious congregations to enhance the lives of the survivors of childhood institutional abuse.

“It is vital that in all our dealings with victims of abuse they are dealt with in a sensitive, fair and compassionate manner,’’ Mr Bruton said.

The Minister was replying in the Dáil on Wednesday to Independent TD Catherine Connolly who asked if he could stand over reported comments by the body’s chief executive Mary Higgins.

Ms Connolly said the chief executive, who earns an annual salary of €87,000, had said “some applicants will never be happy and grievances suit a narrative’’.

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
RTE News

To date €210m has been provided by religious congregations towards the cost of compensating victims of institutional abuse, the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee has been told.

The Comptroller and Auditor General has said that the final overall cost of investigating and responding to victims of institutional abuse is estimated to be €1.5bn, with the vast majority of costs relating to the Redress Scheme.

The committee heard evidence on a special report by Seamus McCarthy on the cost of the Abuse Inquiry and Redress schemes, which he published last December.

A senior official from the Department of Education said that when the contributions from the religious congregations provided for in the 2002 Indemnity Agreement are combined with the subsequent voluntary offers, the maximum total contribution is expected to be €321m, of which €210m has been received.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Friday, April 14, 2017

By Fiachra Ó Cionnaith
Irish Examiner Political Correspondent

The head of the State body overseeing compensation payments to religious abuse victims has admitted its initial approach to victims was “appalling”, despite his own CEO defending claims some people are “so damaged” they will never be happy with the help that is given.

Caranua chair David O’Callaghan made the admission as the group faced fresh criticism over a new €15,000 cap on repayments and has admitted counselling services it obtained from a Catholic organisation have already cost more than €90,000.

Speaking during an at times heated Dáil public accounts committee on how the 2002 redress scheme is working, Mr O’Callaghan said the reality is a large number of victims have “not been treated properly” by Caranua.

He said lengthy delays in having their compensation claims assessed were commonplace when the group was set up in 2014, but insisted increased staffing levels mean the “appalling” situation has now been resolved.

However, during the same meeting his CEO Mary Higgins appeared to contradict the claims, saying while she “regrets” recent media interviews in which she described victims as “damaged” any criticism was because some people want to “suit a certain narrative”.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Kitty Holland

The chief executive of Caranua has withdrawn “unreservedly” comments in which she described survivors of institutional abuse as “these people” who were “damaged” and some of whom would “never be happy”.

Mary Higgins faced robust questioning at the Dáil Public Accounts Committee on Thursday about survivors’ experience of Caranua and her comments about survivors in this newspaper and on radio last month.

Caranua is an independent statutory body, established under legislation in 2012, to manage €110 million pledged by religious congregations to enhance abuse survivors’ lives. Survivors can apply for grants for services under headings such as health and wellbeing, housing support, and education, learning and development.

Survivors however described last month being “re-traumatised” by their dealings with Caranua. They complained of long delays in getting a response from the organisation, being told without warning they could no longer apply for services, and being spoken to without respect.

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TEXAS
Courthouse News Service

ERIK DE LA GARZA
April 14, 2017

EDINBURG, Texas (CN) — A state judge has delayed the April trial of the former Catholic priest charged with the 1960 murder of a South Texas beauty queen, and will hear arguments next month that a “media frenzy” has poisoned the jury pool.

O. Rene Flores and Ricardo Flores, representing 84-year-old John Feit, filed a 34-page memorandum last week asking to move Feit’s case out of Hidalgo County. They argued that the “inflammatory nature of the media coverage” in the past 57 years has made it impossible for him to receive a fair trial.

On Wednesday, Hidalgo County Judge Luis Singleterry agreed that the ex-priest is entitled to a hearing and set a May 17 court date. He also scrubbed the original April 24 trial date.

“The media’s reporting of this case has created an irreversible fog of pretrial publicity,” Feit’s attorneys said in the motion to change venue. “The extent and nature of the publicity surrounding Feit’s case make it nearly impossible for Feit to receive a fair and impartial trial in the Rio Grande Valley.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

Tammy Mills

A survivor of sex abuse has slammed a bishop in Victoria’s north-east for statements he says deny the past and minimise the consequences of institutional abuse.

Australian Education Union vice-president Greg Barclay, who was abused by Catholic Marist brother John Skehan as a schoolboy, accused Bishop Leslie Tomlinson of manipulating statistics from the Royal Commission to minimise the impact of abuse.

The commission released statistics in February that put the Sandhurst Diocese, which includes Bendigo, as having the second-highest proportion of priests subject to abuse allegations in Australia.

Bishop Tomlinson, who presides over the diocese, recognised the massive failure of the church to protect children, but went on to say the figures needed to be read in the “correct context”.

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UNITED STATES
Let’s Think This Out

Bruce R. Nelson
Posted on April 13, 2017

A few days ago in this space I kicked off Holy Week with an expression of dismay over the Catholic Church’s incorrigible ineptitude in dealing with its never-ending child sex abuse scandal. I wrote about being stunned over the Church’s legislative campaign to make it more difficult for people to sue their rapists and molesters.

The subject was out of my wheelhouse. I am neither Catholic nor a theologian. Yet, the concept of the country’s largest Christian denomination serving, in effect, as a pedophile lobby seemed preposterously creepy. The post triggered more reaction than anything I’ve written since the inception of this site. It was read by hundreds throughout the United States and 12 other countries. Thanks to the comments, email and private messages it produced, I know more about this ecclesiastical quagmire than I did a week ago.

Here’s a smattering of what I learned:

• Holy Week is treacherous for many sexual abuse survivors. It ignites memories of torture that defy comprehension. For some, it means reliving a boyhood Good Friday ritual in which they were tied, naked, to large wooden crosses by their parish priests, and then molested. For other survivors, a term that carries more positive energy than “victims,” the week brings back images of when, at 11 or 12, priests sodomized them in a confessional.

• A 48-year-old man, after multiple suicide attempts and several breakdowns, finally came to grips with the reality that, at age 11, his priest repeatedly raped him, always assuring the boy that this was part of God’s plan. The statute of limitations in his state barred him from filing suit.

• A man in his 20s filed a complaint with Church officials detailing the sexual abuse he encountered years earlier by a priest who ran a boys prep school. After a lengthy internal investigation, the Church exonerated the priest. The man killed himself years before other victims came forward and the state lifted the deadline for filing suit.

• The statute of limitations issue is not just about money. For the survivors, it is about truth telling, pulling back the Church’s veil of secrecy that has draped this scandal, to one extent or another, since the beginning.

With apologies for burying the lede, that last bullet point is the most important one. I always believed plaintiff attorneys had their fingers crossed when they told jurors that, “This is not about the money.” These survivors have nothing crossed. The salve for their unimaginable wounds is not a seven-figure damage award. It is total and complete transparency. They want to open up every dark nook and cranny of this scandal and let the light of day shine in.

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OHIO
WHIO

By: Tom Beyerlein – Staff Writer

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati on Monday sued a former business manager, Thomas “Shaun” Martin of Mason, alleging he stole more than $353,000 from three Hamilton County parishes over a period of years.

Spokesman Dan Andriacco said the archdiocese has been “working closely” with county prosecutors, but Martin has not been criminally charged. “We felt it was time to move on with our part of it, the civil part,” Andriacco said of the lawsuit in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.

Martin, who is no longer employed by the archdiocese, is accused of embezzling the money while he worked for Holy Family, St. John the Evangelist and St. John the Baptist parishes in separate stints over a number of years. He worked consecutively at five Hamilton County parishes since 2000. Andriacco said the investigation “came about because of irregularities that turned up in one parish that caused us to look at others.”

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
Syracuse.com

By John O’Brien | jobrien@syracuse.com

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A former teacher’s aide at a Syracuse elementary school is expected to plead guilty next week in connection with a child pornography case.

Emily Oberst, 24, is scheduled for a “change of plea” hearing Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Glenn Suddaby at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to court records. The records don’t say what charge she’s expected to plead guilty to.

Oberst was indicted last year along with Jason Kopp of sexually exploiting children for the purpose of making child pornography and distributing child porn.

Her lawyer, Kim Zimmer, would not comment on the expected guilty plea. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Fletcher also wouldn’t comment.

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IRELAND
The Times (UK)

Cormac Lucey

Francis has done much to address inequality and homophobia but his efforts on this vile part of the church’s history need more work

Next year Pope Francis is scheduled to come to Ireland in what will be the second papal visit since John Paul II popped by in 1979.

The charismatic Argentinian’s visit is likely to be a big success. The pontiff’s appeal to old-style leftists such as President Michael D Higgins will ensure that. Calling inequality the root of social evil, the Pope regularly pressures governments to help the poor and there is much to admire in his simple lifestyle and refusal to move into the papal palace. He is also rumoured to sneak out of the Vatican to talk to the homeless and give them money.

In one of his most celebrated comments, the Pope said: “If someone is gay, and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” It represented a huge shift from the position of Pope Benedict, his predecessor, who described homosexuality as an intrinsic moral evil.

Compared to his stuffy and conservative predecessors, Pope Francis is a breath of fresh air, but the Irish state should be circumspect in our welcome for him next year. He does preside, after all, over an organisation that still refuses to deal in a moral way with its legacy of child abuse and child rape. As the Pope knows, one should not forgive a sinner until the sinner truly repents.

Last month Marie Collins, who was molested by a Dublin hospital chaplain when she was 13 years old, resigned from a special Vatican commission that was created by Pope Francis to propose child protection initiatives and address the issue of clerical sex abuse. Ms Collins lamented that some senior figures in the church continue to put “other concerns” before the safety of children and vulnerable adults.

She also complained that the reluctance of some in key sections of the Vatican to implement recommendations or co-operate with the work of a commission set up to improve the safety of children and vulnerable adults around the world was “unacceptable”.

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UTAH
KUTV

by Chris Jones, KUTV Friday, April 14th 2017

Provo, Utah — (KUTV) — Fourth District Court Judge Thomas Low had glowing praise for a man who was convicted of molesting two female relatives while they stayed at his home three years ago.

“The court had no doubt that Mr. Vallejo is an extraordinarily good man,” Low said just moments before sentencing Keith Vallejo to prison for sexually abusing the two females. “But great men, sometimes do bad things,” Low continued.

During the sentencing, Low appeared to be emotional as he read the sentence. His praise came as at least one of the victims, Julia Kirby, sat in the court room.

“For him to say that in a court room in front the victim who was abused and raped by this man, that he is a great person, to me was unacceptable and unprofessional,” she told 2News by phone.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Northern Echo

A PERVERTED choirmaster has been jailed for a string of sex offences on young girls during the 60s and 70s.

John Gilbert Blacktop, who went on the run for nine days following his conviction, has been imprisoned for 21-years for a catalogue of offending on five young victims.

The 81-year-old, of Morecambe, Lancashire, was sentenced in his absence last month after he failed to attend Bradford Crown Court where a jury had earlier convicted him of 33 counts of indecent assault, one count of rape and one count of attempted rape.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Crux

Richard Szczepanowski April 14, 2017
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During an April 11 Mass for healing of abuse victims, Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl offered prayers for sex abuse victims, reiterated the Archdiocese of Washington’s commitment to keep children safe, and offered sympathy and solidarity to victims of the recent Coptic church bombings in Egypt.

Cardinal Wuerl – offering the Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle on the Tuesday of Holy Week – said it was appropriate to offer the Mass “during the first three days of Holy Week when the Gospel focuses on human failure and our need for God’s gracious mercy.”

The cardinal said the Gospel reading at the Mass, in which Jesus at the Last Supper announces Judas’s betrayal, shows “the tragic consequences of giving in to human frailty” and the “betrayal, failure, pain and sorrow” that ensues.

About 60 people – including members of the Archdiocese of Washington’s Child Protection Advisory Board – attended the Mass that was concelebrated by Washington Auxiliary Bishop Barry C. Knestout; Monsignor W. Ronald Jameson, rector of the cathedral; and several other priests.

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GEORGIA
Southern Cross

Following is the homily Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM. Conv., gave March 29 at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Savannah during the diocese’s first Lenten prayer service for survivors of abuse.

The suffering of the innocent has mystified and bewildered people of Faith long before Isaiah the Prophet wrote the moving description of God’s suffering Servant that we just heard in our first reading.

The suffering of the innocent goes back to Cain killing his brother Abel out of jealously; out of a complete lack of respect for the sanctity and the preciousness of human life.

Christians have always envisioned Jesus as the unique Innocent One whose suffering is a unique source of healing and life for all of us. Yet we also know that Christ is not the only innocent person ever to have suffered.

Recently we have had to admit that far too many innocent ones have lived with the pain of abuse at the hands of those who should have protected them, nurtured them, and sanctified them.

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MISSOURI
St. Louis Review

By Joseph Kenny | jkenny@archstl.org | twitter: @josephkenny2

A jury in Lincoln County took little time April 6 to find in favor of both Father Xiu Hui “Joseph” Jiang and the Archdiocese of St. Louis in a civil lawsuit that alleged the priest had sexual contact with a 16-year-old girl in 2012. In the trial, the plaintiff sought more than $1 million in compensatory damages. The jury began deliberations just past 1 p.m. and returned the verdict just before 3 p.m.

A statement from the archdiocese reported that “the archdiocese and Father Jiang have steadfastly denied these allegations since they were first raised and are pleased with the jury’s decision.”

In closing arguments, Jerry Carmody, an attorney for Father Jiang, detailed dozens of reasons why the jury should dismiss the allegations. First, he said, Father Jiang, a native of Shandong, China, could have returned to his home country instead of remaining to fight the allegations. He also said Father Jiang never attempted to be alone with the teenage girl, now 21. The allegation was unbelievable, he said, because it was said to have happened in a family room with the teen’s parents and siblings present, seven people in all. It was alleged to have occurred while they were sitting under a blanket on the living room couch.

The two didn’t have sexual or romantic texts, Carmody said. The family didn’t contact the police with their suspicions, he added. The girl, he said pointing to testimony, was controlled by her mother and afraid of the consequences if she didn’t go through with the lawsuit.

Father Jiang adamantly denied the accusation that he had sexually abused her and maintained his innocence throughout the time frame.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Chronicle Live

KATIE DICKINSON
13 APR 2017

A Catholic priest from Newcastle has been jailed for 17 years for repeatedly sexually abusing a teenage boy while working as a teacher in the 1970s.

A church spokesman for the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle has issued an apology to the victim after Father Michael Higginbottom was sentenced for the abuse, which happened when he worked at St Joseph’s College in Upholland, Lancashire.

The 74-year-old of West Farm Road, Newcastle, had denied four counts of buggery and four counts of indecent assault but was found guilty after a trial.

Liverpool Crown Court heard his victim attended the seminary, for boys who wanted to become priests, for six months when he was aged between 13 and 14.

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UNITED STATES/IRELAND/ZAMBIA/UNITED KINGDOM
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Bernard Lynch was ordained in his native Ireland for the Society of African Missions in 1971. After a short stint in Zambia, he was sent to New York to study counseling and psychotherapy. While in New York he assisted at a Bronx parish and was chaplain for a private boys’ school, Mount St. Michael’s. He also became involved with the support group for gay Catholics, Dignity, and ministered in the 1980s to men dying of AIDS.

In July 1987 Lynch became the subject of a criminal investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse, after Mount St. Michael’s teachers filed a complaint that he and acting principal, Marist Brother Timothy Brady, were possibly molesting students. Both were charged; Brady was convicted. Lynch was tried in April 1989 on charges of molesting one Mount St. Michael’s student in 1985 or 1986. Lynch’s attorney said it was the boy who made a pass at Lynch. Lynch strongly denied the accusation and claimed he was the victim of a witch-hunt by the church because of his AIDS ministry. He was found not guilty.

Lynch moved in 1992 to England where he started a ministry for closeted gay priests. He was expelled from his order in 2011 and, in a 2012 memoir, he announced that he had been married to a man for fourteen years. In April 2017 Lynch works independently as a counselor and spiritual director. He has not been laicized.

Ordained: 1971

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GUAM
Hawaii Public Radio

[with audio]

By NEAL CONAN

This week, the Archdiocese of Guam asked a federal court to dismiss dozens of law suits filed by former altar boys who say they were raped and assaulted by priests as far back as the 1970s. The key to the suits was a law passed last year that lifted the statute of limitations, and as we hear from Neal Conan in today’s Pacific News Minute, that law is also the basis of the Archdiocese’s argument.

Under the old law, suits had to be filed within one or two years after the alleged abuse. But as outrage grew following publication of the altar boys stories, the legislature approved a bill that removed the time limit entirely. Even as he signed the bill, Governor Eddie Calvo wondered whether it was constitutional to lift the statute of limitations retroactively. Afterwards, 47 cases were filed, which ask for millions of dollars in damages from individual priests, from the Archdiocese and, in some instances, from the Boy Scouts.

On Monday, attorneys for the Archdiocese argued that, even if the law is constitutional, it only applies to perpetrators, and not to third parties.

Last week, attorneys for Archbishop Anthony Apuron asked the federal court to find the 2016 law entirely unconstitutional, and dismiss the four suits that name him as an abuser.

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IRELAND
Dublin City University

Dr James Gallen of the DCU School of Law and Government has been appointed by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs as an expert adviser to assist the Commission on Mother and Baby Homes by mapping out a model of ‘transitional justice’ as a means of giving voice to former residents of Mother and Baby Homes and County Homes.

Dr Gallen’s expertise in transitional justice will help to develop an approach which can acknowledge the experiences of former residents and further enhance public awareness and understanding of this part of our history.

13th April, 2017

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NEW YORK
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Morgan J. Kuhl was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of New York in 1993. He assisted for five years at Holy Child parish on Staten Island, moving to St. Mary of the Assumption in November 1998 where he served as the sole priest and administrator.

In October 1999 Kuhl was arrested in New Jersey in a sting operation. He had traveled to Perth Amboy after arranging over the internet to have sex there with a 15-year-old boy. The ‘boy’ was actually an undercover FBI agent. Kuhl admitted to his intentions. He reportedly had attempted previously to meet up with another New Jersey boy. He was sentenced in October 2000 to four months in a halfway house and four months under house arrest; a U.S. district judge later reduced his sentence to five years’ probation and ordered him to “adhere to the program” at Trinity Retreat in Larchmont, New York. Kuhl was arrested again in September 2002, this time on charges that he fondled a 16-year-old boy in 1999. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in May 2003 to 45 days in jail. The judge gave him a one-year conditional discharge.

In April 2017 Kuhl’s whereabouts and status are unclear.

Ordained: 1993

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CALIFORNIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Parish honoring admitted child molester

He has been banned from LA and Chicago archdioceses and taken out of ministry by his religious order
He was sued for abuse last year, however
San Gabriel Parish still calls him priest, gives him award
May 25 event will also honor actor Edward James Olmos, others
Victims to Archdioceses: Act now to stop dangerous callous behavior

Victims of child sex abuse wrote a letter today to the Archdioceses of Los Angeles and Chicago and a Chicago-based religious order to express their outrage that a banned priest and admitted child molester is being honored by a local Los Angeles-area parish.

That man, Bruce Wellems, has been banned from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, removed from the priesthood in both Los Angeles and Chicago, and has also been taken out of ministry by the Claretians, a religious order—all for allegations of sexual abuse.

[Chicago Tribune]

Last year, he was sued for child sexual abuse.

[Associated Press]

Despite this, San Gabriel Mission is honoring Wellems at a scholarship dinner alongside actor Edward James Olmos.

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GUAM
The Guam Daily Post

Mindy Aguon | For The Guam Daily Post

The Archdiocese of Agana and the Boy Scouts of America should have known about the “sexually abusive and exploitative propensities” of a priest who served in parishes around the island for more than two decades and also served as a leader in the Scouts organization in Guam, said a new lawsuit filed in the District Court of Guam.

An individual identified with the initials “J.D.” to protect his identity, filed a lawsuit that marks the 49th civil complaint lodged against the Catholic Church in Guam.

J.D. alleges that he was sexually molested and abused by Father Louis Brouillard over a three-year period while J.D. was an altar boy at San Isidro Catholic Church in Malojloj and a Boy Scout.

The lawsuit alleges that Brouillard obtained permission from J.D.’s parents to spend the night so the boy wouldn’t be late to serve the next day as an altar boy during early morning Masses.

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CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversary

April 13, 2017 Joelle Casteix

Not fake news. They’re really doing it. And Edward James Olmos is gonna be there, too.

Bruce Wellems is a problematic guy, to say the least.

He’s been banned from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He’s been removed from ministry in the Archdiocese of Chicago and by the Claretian order. Last year, he was sued for child sex abuse by one of his alleged victims.

He’s even admitted to molesting the alleged victim.

But the San Gabriel Mission (where he was working when he was banned from Los Angeles—and whose leadership is well aware of everything I have written here) is still honoring him at their May 25 Build the Dreams Scholarship Fundraiser, alongside actor Edward James Olmos.

My sources tell me that Olmos has known for more than a year about Wellems. We will see if he pulls out of the event.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

It’s Holy Thursday, and so I’m thinking, of course, about Jesus’ command that his followers serve each other and not seek to lord it over others. As was typical in his ministry, he put this message into action by taking a basin and towel and washing his disciples’ feet, an action people considered “lower” than others — slaves and women — undertook in his culture.

Thinking about the significance of the gospel accounts on which Holy Thursday is based brings to mind another letter I wrote to the the-bishop of Charlotte, North Carolina, in September 1997. As with the letter I shared on Palm Sunday, I have spoken about this letter in a previous posting without sharing its entire text here. Now I’d like to share the letter in full.

Colleen responded to the letter I shared on Palm Sunday by noting that it struck her as amazing that I spoke out in 1997 in the way I did in that letter, when the abuse crisis had not yet taken place. She’s right about the fact that my 1997 letters predated the breaking open of the abuse crisis in the Catholic church. Later in the year in which I wrote the letter I shared on Palm Sunday, I began to have more and more inklings that something was looming on the horizon for the church — revelations about clerical sexual abuse. Already in 1997, as a lay theologian, I had begun to hear hints about this from priests, who usually carefully guarded their tongues when speaking about clerical secrets — hints of abuse cases and pay-offs to silence families filing such cases.

I heard discussions, in fact, between two former monks of Belmont Abbey about two cases in which there had been pay-offs to silence victims, about which they knew in a very direct way, and I believe they wanted me to overheard their conversation. One of these actually made the news when information about it reached the media.

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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

[The prosecutor of Palermo is assuming that catechist Benedetto Salemi, who was arrested last month for alleged sexual assault on a 11-year old-girl, could have raped other youngsters.]

La Procura di Palermo ipotizza che Benedetto Salemi, arrestato il mese scorso a Termini per presunte violenze sessuali su una ragazzina di 11 anni, possa aver violentato altri adolescenti.

Conosceva tanti ragazzini, non solo perché a Termini Imerese per diversi anni è stato catechista alla chiesa Madre, ma anche perché, sempre lì, è contitolare di una cartolibreria, molto frequentata dai più giovani. E’ per questo che la Procura di Palermo ipotizza che Benedetto Salemi, 44 anni, arrestato lo scorso 3 febbraio per presunti abusi su una ragazzina di 11 anni, possa aver violentato altri adolescenti. Le indagini del procuratore aggiunto Salvatore De Luca e del sostituto Federica La Chioma si stanno muovendo adesso proprio in questa direzione.

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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

[A special program on pedophilia among clergy in the Catholic Church will be held April 28 in Rome. The program will be presentation of a book about pedophilia in the Italian church by Federico Tulli.]

Libreria Feltrinelli di viale Libia 186 a Roma, venerdì 28 aprile 2017 ore 18

Perché in Italia, la Chiesa non ha ancora disposto un’indagine nazionale come quelle che in Irlanda, Usa, Olanda, Belgio, Australia, Germania etc, hanno consentito di arginare notevolmente la diffusione della pedofilia nel clero?

«Perché in Italia non ce n’è bisogno» si sentì rispondere nel 2012 il giornalista Federico Tulli dall’allora portavoce vaticano mons. Federico Lombardi.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Lexology

Bolt Burdon Kemp

Further questions are being asked in relation to an alleged cover up of child abuse which was endured by teenage public school boys at the hands of a British barrister, John Smyth QC, in the 1970s and the 1980s.

On behalf of the Iwerne Trust, John Smyth ran religious summer camps in the 1970s and early 1980s, which were attended by boys from elite public schools. It is alleged that Smyth subjected the school boys to horrific beatings in order to purge them of their “sins”.

Allegations of abuse emerged back in 1982 after one of Smyth’s alleged victims attempted to commit suicide. In response, the Iwerne Trust commissioned an internal inquiry into the abuse which was conducted by Mark Ruston, a Church of England vicar. The report detailed the prescribed punishments for “sins” such as masturbation and pride, 100 and 400 strokes respectively. It was reported that over a three year period, eight boys had received 14,000 lashes between them, with two of the boys being whipped 4,000 times each. The report also stated that these beatings were carried out while the boys were either naked or semi-naked in order to “increase humility”.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Wigan Today

A “cruel sadistic” catholic priest who repeatedly raped a boy almost 40 years ago in a former Wigan seminary was jailed for 17 years today.

A judge told 74-year-old Father Michael Higginbottom: “For about six months in the late 1970s you made a young boy’s life a living hell.”

The offences, which a jury found him guilty of yesterday, took place at St Joseph’s seminary in Upholland in UpHolland where the defendant was a priest and teacher.

Judge Andrew Menary, QC described Higginbottom as “someone who undoubtedly had a mean and cruel strike.

The evidence makes plain that when you were teaching you employed methods that today – if not then – would be recognised for what they were cruel sadistic bullying.”

He said that the victim, now aged 52, “has been haunted by demons” ever since and an eloquent and moving impact statement from the victim was read to the court.

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MISSOURI
Lincoln County Journal

By Megan Myers
Staff Writer

An emotional scene unfolded inside a Lincoln County courtroom Thursday, after a jury ruled in favor of a Catholic priest who had been accused of sexually abusing a minor.

The jury deliberated for about two hours before reaching their decision.

No punitive damages were awarded to the plaintiff in the civil suit on either counts of sex assault or battery.

The female accuser, who lived in Old Monroe during the time of the alleged abuse, left the room in tears after the verdict was read by St. Louis judge Steven Ohmer.

Her family and legal team joined her outside the courtroom, where they declined to comment on the ruling.

The accused priest, Father Xui Hui “Joseph” Jiang, also reacted emotionally when the verdict was read. He collapsed into the arms of his defense counsel and sobbed loudly.

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UNITED KINGDOM
ITV

A Catholic priest from Newcastle has been jailed for 17 years for repeatedly sexually abusing a teenage boy.

Father Michael Higginbottom, of West Farm Road, Newcastle, had denied four counts of buggery and four counts of indecent assault but was found guilty after a trial.

The abuse took place when Higginbottom, 74, worked as a teacher in the 1970s. He worked at St Joseph’s College, a boarding school in Upholland, Lancashire.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that his victim attended the seminary, for boys who wanted to become priests, for six months when he was aged between 13 and 14.

In a victim statement read to the court, he said:
My sexual abuse happened so often I became numb to what was happening to me.

I cried so often I believe I could have drowned in my own tears.
– VICTIM

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UNITED KINGDOM
Manchester Evening News

NEIL DOCKING
13 APR 2017

A Catholic priest has been jailed for 17 years after a catalogue of horrific sexual abuse against a young boy which left him praying for death.

Father Michael Higginbottom, 74, repeatedly raped his victim who told the court that the “evil” priest had ruined his life.

Higginbottom revelled in “cruel, sadistic bullying” at St Joseph’s College, a seminary for prospective priests, in Upholland, near Wigan .

He used a strap and cane on boys as punishment and said he could “make this as easy or as hard” as the victim wanted before carrying out sickening sexual abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
The West Australian

Taelor Pelusey
Thursday, 13 April 2017

Lawyers building a case against the Catholic Diocese of Bunbury are seeking witnesses to the alleged sexual crimes of a former South West priest who died almost 20 years ago and once served in Margaret River.

Canberra-based Porters Lawyers are preparing to file individual lawsuits against the diocese on behalf of three people who claim they were abused as children by Father William Kevin Glover in Esperance during the 1960s and 1970s.

Principal solicitor Jason Parkinson told the Times the claim would be that the diocese was “vicariously liable” for the alleged crimes of Fr Glover and was calling for witnesses in all regions where the priest had served.

“He was their (the diocese’s) agent and we have to prove they knew, or ought to have known, he was a risk to children,” he said.

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UNITED STATES
Digital Journal

An open letter from advocacy leaders asks: “Will Whole Foods CEO ‘Get Real’ About Sexual Assault Awareness Month?” John Mackey to lead “Get Real” session at Conscious Capitalism 2017 conference in Philadelphia, April 18-20

An open letter from anti-sexual violence leaders to Conscious Capitalism, Inc. urges Whole Foods CEO John Mackey to disavow spiritual leader Marc Gafni, a former rabbi facing allegations of sexual abuse.

The letter’s lead signer, Matthew Sandusky, is founder of nonprofit Peaceful Hearts Foundation, and adopted son of former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky, a convicted pedophile.

The open letter is in response to an announcement about the Conscious Capitalism annual conference in Philadelphia, April 18–20: “Conscious Capitalism, Inc., the nonprofit organization dedicated to elevating humanity through business, announced today the addition of a ‘Get Real with…’ session featuring Whole Foods Market co-founder and CEO, John Mackey.”

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IRELAND
The Irish News

Marie Louise McConville
13 April, 2017

THE future of crisis-hit Maynooth and its suitability as a national training base for seminarians is “an important question”, Bishop Donal McKeown has said.

The Bishop of Derry was responding to questions about the recent crisis at the Co Kildare seminary amid claims of inappropriate behaviour among some of the trainee priests.

Last August it was reported that some students had been using the gay dating app Grindr.

Questions were raised about the seminary’s suitability by Dublin archbishop Diarmuid Martin who has since opted to send his student priests to the Irish College in Rome.

The Archbishop however played down any link between his decision and the allegations of inappropriate behaviour at the seminary saying he had made the decision before the crisis arose.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Rachel Browne

Light sentences for people convicted of historical sexual offences against children could “undermine community confidence in the administration of justice”, the chairman of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will tell a conference of leading legal professionals.

In the second part of a presentation about justice for victims, Peter McClellan raised concerns about sentencing historical offenders in accordance with standards at the time of the crime.

Research commissioned by the royal commission found it can take decades for people abused as children to report to authorities. In one case, almost 52 years passed between the offence and the sentencing of the perpetrator.

“In most Australian jurisdictions, an offender is sentenced with reference to the sentencing standards in existence at the time of the offending. There are a number of concerns with this practice,” Justice McClellan will say in a keynote address to the Modern Prosecutor Conference in Melbourne on Thursday.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

Joanne McCarthy
13 Apr 2017

PUBLIC prosecution offices across Australia could be held accountable for their decision-making for the first time after “significant problems” identified by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Prosecution offices could be subject to oversight, have to provide reasons for discontinuing or failing to proceed with prosecutions, or be subject to internal reviews, royal commission chair Justice Peter McClellan will tell a prosecutors’ conference in Melbourne on Thursday.

He also flagged the likelihood of resistance from the legal fraternity to significant recommendations expected in a criminal justice report to governments in August, ahead of a final royal commission report to Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove in December.

“There are likely to be some, perhaps many, practitioners and judges, who are resistant to change,” Justice McClellan said.

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Apr 13, 2017

By Krystal Paco

Another former altar boy and Boy Scout sues for clergy sex abuse. “J.D.” alleges he was around ten years old when he sexually molested by Father Louis Brouillard in the early 1970s. Brouillard was a priest at San Isidro Catholic Church in Malojloj at the time.

J.D. recalls being forced to sleep on the priest’s bed during sleepovers at the Convent and waking up to Brouillard performing oral sex on him. On camping trips, he alleges the priest would come into his tent and also perform the sex act on him and his tent mate.

J.D. marks the 49th plaintiff since local law was changed to lift the civil statute of limitations on child sex abuse cases. J.D. is suing for $10 million.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Thursday, April 13, 2017

The language and scope of the Mother and Baby Home Commission is questionable, says Conall Ó Fátharta

WE WAITED seven months for the Government to publish the second interim report of the Commission to Inquire into Mother and Baby Homes. It did not make for encouraging reading.

Running to 16 pages, the report has three main sections — on redress, its terms of reference, and on the issue of the false registration of births.

However, on the issue of the real elephant in the room — illegal adoptions — it was remarkably, and worryingly, lukewarm. In fact, the section is not even titled “illegal adoptions”. It is given the more euphemistic title — one favoured by government departments — “false registration of birth”.

While the commission notes that illegal adoptions cover a “wide variety of situations including actions taken (or not taken) prior to the adoption and illegality in the adoption orders made”, it makes no effort to highlight any of these. Instead, the focus of the section is on false (or more accurately, illegal) birth registrations. These occurred where the birth was registered in the name of adoptive parents and — crucially, from the State’s perspective — no formal adoption order was ever made.

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IRELAND
Connacht Tribune

Galway Bay fm newsroom – A Galway East T.D is warning that there are ‘large gaps’ in the recently published Second Interim Report from the Commission of Investigation into mother and baby homes.

Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Children and Youth Affairs Anne Rabbitte says she also has ‘grave concerns’ about the length of time it has taken to see this report published.

Deputy Rabbitte says are still a large number of questions which remain unanswered.

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CANADA
Toronto Star

By JESSE WINTER
Staff Reporter
Wed., April 12, 2017

The federal government is continuing to obstruct justice for the survivors of St. Anne’s residential school by “thumbing their nose” at the information commissioner and releasing 1,200 pages of almost entirely blacked-out documents, NDP MP Charlie Angus says.

Last week the justice department sent Angus’s office the first batch of some 70,000 pages of emails, speaking notes and memos related to the notorious residential school as part of an ongoing access to information request. The disclosure came after the federal information commissioner threatened to sue the government for originally refusing to disclose the documents.

But of those 1,200 pages, all but a handful have been stripped of any information beyond email addresses and the occasional emoji.

“This is clearly them thumbing their nose at the access to information law and the information commissioner who already threatened to take them to court,” Angus said.

Angus hopes the emails he is after will shed light on how and why the justice department decided not to disclose thousands of pages of police records detailing horrific abuse at St. Anne’s during the residential school claims process for survivors of the church-run school.

Neither the justice department nor Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould’s office returned the Star’s requests for comment.

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AUSTRALIA
New South Wales Police Force

Thursday, 13 April 2017

A man has been charged after allegedly sexually assaulting a child he met at a south-western Sydney church at the weekend.

Detectives from the State Crime Command’s Child Abuse Squad commenced an investigation following reports a young girl had been sexually assaulted by a man within the church facilities.

Following extensive investigations, detectives arrested a 66-year-old man at a home at Ashcroft yesterday (Wednesday 12 April 2017).

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio , heugenio@guampdn.com Published April 13, 2017

As the number of lawsuits against Guam clergy continues to grow, a new independent support program, initiated by the Archdiocese of Agana, already has started to provide professional counseling and other support to victims of clergy sexual abuse, said attorney Michael W. Caspino, executive director of the non-profit organization Hope and Healing Guam.

Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes has also started meeting with victims, Caspino said.

Caspino said the archdiocese and Byrnes acknowledge the victims’ pain, and the creation of Hope and Healing aims to do that — provide hope and healing.

The archdiocese will fund Hope and Healing Guam using payments from its insurance providers and also from the sale of church property, Caspino said, adding it is expected to bring millions in funding.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Emma Younger

Notorious paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale has pleaded guilty to more historical sexual abuse offences committed against 10 boys and a girl during his time at parishes in western Victoria.

The 82-year-old faced the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court via video link from prison and admitted to 20 offences including rape, attempted rape, buggery and indecent assault.

The victims were abused between 1961 and 1988 in various locations, including Merbein, Edenhope, Riverside, Mortlake, and Quantong.

Ridsdale was first convicted and jailed for sexually abusing children in 1994.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph

Padraic Murphy, Herald Sun
April 12, 2017

DISGRACED priest Gerald Ridsdale pleaded guilty this morning to a raft of molestation offences of ten boys and one girl in the Ballarat area.

Ridsdale abused the boys and the girl during the 1960s, 70s and 80s when he was a priest in Ballarat.

Charges involving another female victim were on Thursday formally dropped by prosecutors.

Ridsdale appeared at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court via videolink and the 82-year-old’s walking frame could be seen in the background.

“I plead guilty to all charges as presented, your honour,” Ridsdale said.

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AUSTRALIA
The West Australian

Megan Neil and Angus Livingston
Wednesday, 12 April 2017

The harm caused by Australia’s worst pedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale is still being felt, a victims’ advocate says.

The former Victorian Catholic priest has admitted to abusing more than 60 children, but the true number could be as high as 1000.

Ridsdale, 82, on Thursday pleaded guilty to 20 new charges including rape, buggery and indecent assault against another 11 victims between 1962 to 1988.

“I plead guilty to all charges as presented,” Ridsdale told the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.

He will now face a two-day plea hearing on August 15 before being sentenced.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

Jane Lee

One of Australia’s worst child-sex offender priests, Gerald Ridsdale, has pleaded guilty to a string of new abuse charges against 11 children.

Ridsdale pleaded guilty on Thursday to 20 historical abuse charges. This included 14 counts of indecent assault, two counts of buggery, two counts of rape, one count of attempted rape and one count of taking part in an act of sexual penetration of a child.

Prosecutors withdrew 18 more charges against Ridsdale.The crimes occurred between 1962 and 1988 in various places around the state, including Ballarat, Edenhope, Merbein, Riverside, Mortlake, Quantong and Burnt Creek.

Former Ballarat Bishop Ronald Mulkearns – who died last year – moved Ridsdale to various parishes around Victoria over about three decades where he continued to abuse children, despite persistent allegations of child sexual abuse against him.

Ridsdale appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court via video link, represented by Victoria Legal Aid.

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier

One of Australia’s worst pedophile priests has pleaded guilty to abusing another 11 victims during his time in Ballarat.

Former Ballarat priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale used his exalted position in the eyes of Catholic families and communities to find his prey.

Gerard Ridsdale – already convicted of abusing 53 children – appeared via video link at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday and pleaded guilty to a number of child abuse charges.

Over these decades his modus operandi appeared to follow a pattern; he appeared to be a friendly and hardworking priest who helped his parishioners, particularly youths and the needy.

But it was all a ruse that was allowed to continue for decades and, as one judge put it, plummeted to the depths of evil hypocrisy.

Australia’s most prolific pedophile priest has now admitted in five court cases that he abused more than 60 children.

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UNITED KINGDOM
ITV

A Catholic priest will be sentenced today for abusing a teenage boy at a Lancashire boarding school.

Father Michael Higginbottom, 74, was convicted for subjecting a teenage boy to repeated sexual abuse when he worked as a teacher at St Joseph’s College in Upholland, Lancashire, in the late 1970s.

A jury at Liverpool Crown Court took 10 hours and 20 minutes to find him guilty of four counts of indecent assault and four counts of buggery.

All the verdicts were decided by a majority of 10 to two.

During the trial, which began on Monday April 3, the court heard the victim was aged between 13 and 14 at the time of the abuse.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio , heugenio@guampdn.com April 13, 2017

A former altar boy on Thursday filed a clergy sex abuse lawsuit in federal court, alleging that former priest Louis Brouillard routinely sexually abused him during sleepovers at a Malojloj convent and during Boy Scouts of America camping trips in the early 1970s.

Brouillard, now 95 and living in Minnesota, has admitted to abusing at least 20 boys while he was on Guam.

As of Thursday, 30 men have sued Brouillard, accusing him of sexually abusing and molesting them, including one man who said the priest also raped him.

The latest plaintiff, identified in court documents only as J.D. to protect his privacy, is now 54 and lives in Malojloj. J.D.’s complaint is the 49th Guam clergy sex abuse lawsuit filed so far in the federal and local courts.

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ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune

Manya Brachear Pashman
Chicago Tribune

The Archdiocese of Chicago will pay $3.15 million to settle lawsuits brought by three men who allege they were sexually abused by a notorious former pastor of a West Side Catholic church more than a decade ago, the plaintiffs’ attorney said Wednesday.

The accusers, all identified in court papers as John Doe, said former priest and convicted sex offender Daniel McCormack sexually abused them more than once during their participation in an after-school program called S.A.F.E. at Our Lady of the Westside Catholic School.

The settlements were reached March 17, according to Lyndsay Markley, an attorney for the three plaintiffs.

A spokeswoman for the archdiocese said she could not discuss the case.

“The Archdiocese does not comment on the details of settlements out of respect for the privacy of those involved,” said spokeswoman Colleen Tunney-Ryan.

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IRELAND
Irish Post

By Erica Doyle Higgins

SURVIVORS of institutional abuse have expressed their fury at the Irish Government for its ‘immoral’ exclusion to certain survivors in a redress scheme.

The recommendation came in a 34 page report which suggested that the re-examining of the exclusion of ‘unaccompanied children’ from mother and baby homes and county homes from the redress scheme.

Children were considered ‘unaccompanied’ if they were resident in a home, county or otherwise, without their mother.

The unaccompanied children were situated in homes such as the Protestant Bethany Home, the Bessboro Home and Castlepollard Home.

The report said it is “clear that children who were resident” at the mother and baby homes under investigation “have a real cause for grievance” at being left out of any redress scheme.

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IRELAND
The Journal

Updated 3:46pm

THE COALITION OF Mother and Baby Home Survivors (CMABS) has said that it “utterly rejects” Minister Katherine Zappone’s refusal to offer redress to survivors of these homes.

Measures of redress were recommended in the second interim report by the Commission on Mother and Baby Homes, published yesterday.

In a statement, the government said it had “carefully examined the Commission’s recommendation regarding redress, and has concluded that it is not possible to implement it”.

Minister Zappone said that she had “consulted in great detail with the Taoiseach, the Attorney General and other Ministers” before this conclusion was reached.

CMABS said this failure to provide redress was “immoral, repulsive and cold-hearted” and all it does is “kick the can down the road waiting for more and more elderly survivors to die”.

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IRELAND
Irish Mirror

BY JAMES WARD
12 APR 2017

Mother and Baby Home survivors have branded Zappone’s decision not to include them in a redress scheme recommended by the inquiry as immoral repulsive and cold blooded.”

The second report from the Commission on Mother and Baby Homes was released on Tuesday, despite having sat with the Children’s Minister since last September.

It said the Government should re-examine the decision to exclude children who lived without their mothers in the hellhole homes from the 2002 Residential Institutions Redress Scheme.

Minister Zappone said it was “not possible” to implement the recommendation.

She added: “The Government is conscious that the Commission has made no findings to date regarding abuse or neglect, and believes it would not be appropriate to deal with the question of redress in advance of any conclusions on this issue by the Commission.”

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IRELAND
Breaking News

The children’s minister is defending the decision not to open the residential institutions redress scheme to those in Mother and Baby Homes.

Katherine Zappone says there is so far no finding of abuse or neglect from the Commission of Investigation into the homes.

The minister has told the Dáil it would be premature to deal with the issue of redress at this time.

“This Government is conscious that the Commission has made no findings today regarding abuse or neglect, and believes it would not be appropriate to deal with the question of redress in advance of any conclusions on this issue by the Commission.”

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Marie O’Halloran

Minister for Children Katherine Zappone has insisted the Government will consider redress for people in other mother and baby homes once the commission of investigation has finished its final report.

Ms Zappone was sharply criticised in the Dáil for “adding to the abuse” over the Government’s response to the publication of the second interim report, seven months after it was received.

And Labour finance spokeswoman Joan Burton called for the “cowardly unnamed Minister” referred to in an Irish Times report, to “out themselves”. The Minister was quoted as saying the sky would be the limit on potential future State liabilities if redress from other institutions was accepted.

Ms Zappone said she had not information about that Minister. She said that in 2010 the government took a decision not to extend the redress scheme following publication of the Ryan report on institutional abuse. The last government also decided in 2013 not to extend the scheme.

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IRELAND
RTE News

A former inmate of a Co Limerick Industrial school has said he wants documents related to the institution archived in a place where they can be made public for all to see.

Earlier this week Tom Wall removed the documents, which he says he saved from a bonfire at Glin Industrial School, from the University of Limerick’s Glucksman library over concerns that they were not being placed in the public domain.

Mr Wall had donated the files to UL in 2015. Since then they have remained unexamined in boxes, pending resolution of a dispute over their ownership.

RTÉ News has seen the documents, which include hundreds of court documents committing children to the institution.

They also include letters from children to relatives, and from relatives to children at the home. These letters were apparently never sent or received, but kept in the institution files.

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

Inés San Martín April 12, 2017
VATICAN CORRESPONDENT

ROME – In a fairly obvious attempt to project openness to different voices, Pope Francis on Wednesday green-lighted the appointment of 13 new consultants to the Vatican’s Secretariat for communications, including both Jesuit Father James Martin of America magazine and Michael Warsaw of EWTN.

Those names will speak for themselves for many American Catholics, but to spell it out, Martin is widely seen as a progressive voice in Catholic affairs, including on LGBT issues, while EWTN is generally perceived as solidly conservative.

Both Martin and Warsaw will now work together as consultants of the Secretariat for Communications, a body created by Pope Francis in 2015 to manage and overhaul the Vatican’s different news and media outlets.

The body is headed by Italian Monsignor Dario Edoardo Viganò, who, seeking inspiration for a reform of the Vatican’s communications operations, has declared himself open to turning towards unlikely sources of inspiration such as Walt Disney.

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ILLINOIS
Fox 32

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) – The Archdiocese of Chicago has reached settlements totaling $3.15 million with three alleged victims of convicted child molester and defrocked priest Daniel McCormack.

John M. Doe sued the Archdiocese in April 2015, claiming he was abused by McCormack on two occasions between 2000 and 2001 when he was 13 or 14, according to a statement from the victim’s attorney, Lyndsay Markley, announcing the settlement. The case was scheduled to go to trial in July.

John T. Doe, also represented by Markley, sued the Archdiocese in April 2015, alleging he was abused on more than one occasion between 2003 and 2005, according to the attorney.

Another plaintiff represented by Markley, John J. Doe, sued the Archdiocese in July 2015, alleging McCormack sexually abused him during his attendance at the after-school program “S.A.F.E.” at Our Lady of the Westside Catholic School on more than one occasion between 2003 and 2005.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Northern Echo

PARISHIONERS were left in the dark over why their priest had been suddenly suspended – and the wall of silence went on for several years.

In 1998, Father Michael Higginbottom arrived in Darlington and, as priest of St Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church, quickly became popular with parishioners, establishing a reputation as a respectable and hard-working man.

Sparking a mystery that lasted more than a decade, the popular priest and former teacher was unexpectedly banished from his parish in 2004.

Church authorities had learned that an ex-pupil of his claimed he was abused by him as a child – but this was not made public at the time.

At Sunday service on December 12 that year, Fr Higginbottom was absent and in his place, Canon Seamus Cunningham told the congregation that their much-loved priest was spending time away from the parish because the diocese had received information that required investigation.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Allegations of sexual abuse have been raised against a former priest on Guam who is credited with having established the altar boy program at Mount Carmel Catholic Church in the early 1970s.

A civil lawsuit, filed by an individual with the initials “J.M.,” alleges Father Sigmund Hafemann sexually abused the plaintiff while he was a parishioner at the Agat church.

Hafemann is credited with establishing the altar boy program at Mount Carmel Catholic Church, said the plaintiff’s local counsel, Kevin Fowler, who filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in the Superior Court of Guam.

The victim, who is now 54, alleges he was first abused when he was 10, when he accompanied his mom while she cleaned the church.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A former priest has been found guilty of sexually abusing a pupil at a Catholic boarding school in the 1970s.

Father Michael Higginbottom, 74, of West Farm Road, Newcastle, denied subjecting a teenage boy to repeated sexual abuse while he was a teacher at St Joseph’s College in Lancashire.

Higginbottom was convicted of four counts of a serious sexual offence and four counts of indecent assault at Liverpool Crown Court.

He will be sentenced on Thursday.

The victim was aged between 13 and 14 at the time of the abuse but only went to the police in 2014 after telling a friend who encouraged him to report it.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Focus

[Victims’ association calls for boycott in the Korntaler case.]

Kurz nach dem Start der Aufarbeitung von Missbrauchsfällen in der evangelischen Brüdergemeinde Korntal (Kreis Ludwigsburg) hat eine Opfergruppe am Mittwoch zum Boykott aufgerufen.

Der Verein Netzwerk Betroffenenforum um Sprecher Detlev Zander riet seinen Mitgliedern: „Geben sie unter keinen Umständen Informationen an die neu beginnende von der evangelikalen Brüdergemeinde Korntal und deren Helfershelfer gesteuerte Aufklärung weiter.“ Trotzdem soll das Netzwerk Betroffenenforum demnächst die Bitte erhalten, seine Mitglieder zur Teilnahme an der Aufklärungsarbeit einzuladen, wie der Moderator des Aufklärungsprozesses, Gerd Bauz, auf Anfrage mitteilte. „Wir möchten, dass alle ehemaligen Heimkinder wenigstens die Information erhalten, dass hier aufgeklärt wird und dann selber entscheiden können, was sie tun.“

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DEUTSCHLAND
Domradio

[Surprisingly, a court in the Spanish city of Granada has exonorated the Catholic priest Roman Martinez Velazquez of allegations of sexual abuse.]

Überraschend hat ein Gericht im spanischen Granada den katholischen Priester Roman Martinez Velazquez vom Vorwurf des sexuellen Missbrauchs eines Messdieners freigesprochen.

Wie spanische Medien am Dienstag berichteten, zog die Staatsanwaltschaft, die zuvor neun Jahre Haft wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs und Vergewaltigung geforderte hatte, die Klage gegen Martinez zurück. Zur Begründung gab die Behörde fehlende Beweise und Widersprüche in den Aussagen des mutmaßlichen Opfers an.

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OSTERREICH
HPD

[Abuse victim seeks damages for abuse suffered at a Catholic school.]

Von:
Jakob Purkarthofer

12. APR 2017

Ein neuer Fall von sexuellem Missbrauch bringt die katholische Kirche in Bedrängnis: Der ehemalige Schüler besuchte in den 70er Jahren das Dachsberger “Gymnasium der Oblaten des hl. Franz von Sales”. In den Jahren 1976 bis 1978 sei er Opfer regelmäßiger körperlicher und sexueller Gewalt zweier Pädagogen der Schule geworden. Im Alter zwischen 9 und 12 Jahren habe er regelmäßige orale Vergewaltigungen und andere sexuelle Übergriffe sowie Schläge durch Pater Josef P. und Pater Josef B. über sich ergehen lassen müssen. Beide waren als Lehrer und Erzieher an der Schule tätig, letzterer sogar als Rektor. Sie seien äußerst brutal vorgegangen und hätten einander bezüglich der Vorwürfe gedeckt.

“Nachhilfe in Religion”

Mit dem Argument, der Schüler müsse für seine unbefriedigende sportliche Leistung und seine mangelnde Fußballbegeisterung “bestraft” werden, habe Josef P. regelmäßig orale Penetration am Zögling vorgenommen, so der Kläger. “Ich bin gezwungen worden, an privaten Religions-Nachhilfestunden teilzunehmen und habe dabei auf dem Schoß des Rektors und Lehrers Pater Josef B. sitzen müssen, der unter seinem Talar nackt war. Er habe mich unsittlich berührt und mich zum Oralsex gezwungen. Mir hat so geekelt vor dem Priester” sagt das Opfer heute.

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OSTERREICH
religion@orf

[A former pupil has alleged abuse at the Dachsberg Gymnasium of the Oblates of St. Franz von Sales in Upper Austria and seeks damaged. The independent prosecutor’s office is also criticized.]

Ein ehemaliger Schüler klagt das Dachsberger Gymnasium der Oblaten des hl. Franz von Sales in Oberösterreich wegen Missbrauchs auf Schadenersatz. An der Unabhängigen Opferschutzanwaltschaft wird ebenfalls Kritik geübt.

Der Mann habe in dem 1970er Jahren das Dachsberger Gymnasium besucht und sei in den Jahren 1976 bis 1978 „Opfer regelmäßiger körperlicher und sexueller Gewalt zweier Pädagogen der Schule“ geworden, so eine Aussendung der Plattform Betroffener Kirchlicher Gewalt am Mittwoch.

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IRELAND
Catholic League

Bill Donohue

Catherine Corless, the local typist from Galway behind the “mass grave” hoax, must be furious. She has every right to be. Just last Friday she spent two hours listening to Ireland’s Minister for Children, Katherine Zappone, wax emotional about the Mother and Baby Homes. Corless was all jacked up awaiting the release of the second interim report on this subject. But now she has nothing to chew on.

The report is a dud. Zappone’s commission examined the Homes over the period 1922-1998, issuing its first interim report in July 2015. The second interim report, released yesterday, has been sitting on Zappone’s desk since last September.

It sat because the government was scared to death of its own liabilities. The Attorney General and others were weighing all of the nitty-gritty legal and financial problems connected to this matter. They prudently concluded that the government would be deeply implicated in any alleged wrongdoing. To top things off, there was no finding of abuse.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service – Bulletin

The Holy Father has appointed as Consulters of the Secretariat for Communication the Rev. Fr. Ivan Maffeis, under-secretary for the Italian Episcopal Conference; Fr. José María La Porte, dean of the Faculty of Institutional Social Communication of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross; Dr. Peter Gonsalves, S.D.B., dean of the Faculty of Social Communication Sciences of the Pontifical Salesian University; Fr. Eric Salobir, O.P., Promoter General for social communications for the Order of Preachers; Fr. James Martin, S.J., Jesuit Magazine America; Fr. Jacquineau Azétsop, S.J., dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Pontifical Gregorian University; and Dr. Paolo Peverini, lecturer in Semiotics at the LUISS “Guido Carli”; Dr. Fernando Giménez Barriocanal, president and delegator advisor of Radio Popolar Cadena COPE; Dr. Ann Carter, Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications; Mr. Graham Ellis, deputy director of BBC Radio; Dr. Michael P. Warsaw, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of EWTN Global Catholic Network; Dr. Dino Cataldo Dell’Accio, Chief ICT Auditor at the United Nations; and Dr. Michael Paul Unland, executive director of the Catholic Media Council (CA.ME.CO.).

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MASSACHUSETTS
Cape Cod Chroncile

By: William F. Galvin

WEST HARWICH — A long shadow of sexual abuse came to light this week with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River settling eight sexual abuse cases against the late Rev. James Nickel, who served as a priest in Holy Trinity Church from 1972 to 1978.

Seven of the eight boys sexually abused by Nickel were alter boys. Six of them served in Holy Trinity Church and one at Our Lady of Annunciation in Dennisport. The other child was abused by Nickel on a trip to Abaco Island, Bahamas, said attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represented the eight victims.

A press release issued by Garabedian stated the Congregation of Sacred Hearts and the Diocese of Fall River recently found all of the men’s accounts of having been sexually abused as children credible, and settled the eight cases for $880,000.

Garabedian said the sexual abuses took place between 1973 and 1983 and occurred in West Harwich, Marsh Harbour, Abaco Island, Illinois, New York, Washington, D.C., Rhode Island and New Hampshire. Garabedian said Nickel received the permission of parents to take trips with the boys to baseball games, amusement parks and to visit his family.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Wigan Today

A catholic priest has been convicted of sexually abusing a young boy in his care nearly 40 years ago.

Father Michael Higginbottom, who stood in the dock listening to proceedings using the loop system, showed no reaction when the jury found him guilty following ten hours 21 minutes deliberations.

He was convicted by 10-2 majority verdicts and one of the six women jurors wiped away tears as their verdicts were announced by the foreman.

Judge Andrew Menary, QC, told 74-year-old Higginbottom that a custodial sentence was inevitable but adjourned sentencing until tomorrow.

“It is a delicate matter which requires careful consideration,” he said.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Visiter

BY NEIL DOCKING

A Catholic priest faces jail after he was found guilty of sexually abusing a young boy in the 1970s.

Father Michael Higginbottom, 74, told Liverpool Crown Court he did not remember the victim, who is now in his 50s.

He denied molesting the pupil at St Joseph’s College, a seminary for prospective priests, in Upholland, near Ormskirk.

Higginbottom, of West Farm Road, Newcastle, denied eight offences, including four of buggery and four of indecent assault.

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PENNSYLVANIA
We Are Central PA

Shaun Dougherty, who is a victim of priest abuse as a child, met with Bishop Mark Bartchak on Tuesday. This was there first meeting since Dougherty attended a rally for retroactivity in Harrisburg. That rally was made up of survivors of child abuse, who wanted changes made to the statute of Limitations Bill.

“These bills are for today’s children, Dougherty said. “The raw deal is it’s an enabler’s bill that allows my predator, who’s walking these streets freely, nobody knows he’s a pedophile, he’s not registered or anything. It would let them off the hook and open these children up for the greatest horrors of their life.”

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
New Hampshire Union Leader

By MARK HAYWARD
New Hampshire Union Leader

Defrocked monsignor Edward Arsenault shaved 60 days off his incarceration by participating in mental health counseling and is finishing out his prison sentence on house arrest somewhere in Rockingham County, according to state corrections officials.

Meanwhile, a top state prosecutor said no criminal charges will be brought in connection with a consulting contract that Arsenault had with Catholic Medical Center.

When Arsenault pleaded guilty to theft charges in 2014, he promised to work with police, who were looking into the $200-an-hour consulting contract he had signed with then-hospital President Alyson Pitman Giles.

Last week, Catholic Church officials announced that Arsenault — the face of the New Hampshire Catholic Church during the priest-sex abuse crisis of the early 2000s — had been formally stripped of his clerical duties and obligations.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Janela Carrera

The Hope and Healing fund is a separate entity from the Archdiocese of Agana and all phone calls will be made confidential.

Guam – A day after the Archdiocese of Agana filed for dismissal of 36 federal cases of sexual abuse, they introduced the executive director of the Hope and Healing fund. His name is Michael Caspino, an attorney with extensive background in handling similar cases for other catholic dioceses.

So if the church is asking the federal court to dismiss the cases on grounds that the law that lifted the civil statute of limitations for sex abuse cases is unconstitutional, then how can they, in the same breath, offer a Hope and Healing fund for the same victims who are seeking monetary damages in court?

“My main commitment to this is to the healing of the victims and that we’re ready to do whatever it takes to accomplish that,” said Coadjutor Archbishop Michael Byrnes.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Premier

Tue 11 Apr 2017
By Alex Williams

It has been claimed a man at the heart of a child abuse scandal in the Church of England recruited one of his victims to help him carry out beatings.

Alleged victim Andy Moorse told the BBC that barrister John Smyth QC convinced Simon Doggart to join in committing the sadomasochistic abuse at Winchester College in Hampshire during the mid-1970s.

He alleged that the boys would “bleed everywhere” from the attacks.

Mr Doggart, who has been the headteacher of Caldicott preparatory school in Buckinghamshire for the last two decades, is said to be critically ill and unable to respond to the allegations, the broadcaster said.

There is no suggestion that any pupil at Caldicott Preparatory has ever suffered harm at the hands of Mr Doggart.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Liberal

12 Apr 2017

The NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian (OCG) said on Tuesday it has launched a free online learning tool to help staff and volunteers in all child-related organisations build their capacity to become child-safe.

This forms part of the Child Safe Strategy for NSW and will complement the draft Child Safe Principles which have now been released for public consultation, OCG said.

It said the eLearning initiative is a free resource for all child-related organisations and means quality training is available at the click of a button to all child-related organisations in remote, rural or regional areas.

“The OCG’s Child Safe Organisations eLearning is made up of eight key modules and addresses real issues including how to identify and respond to potential risks in the organisation, identifying grooming practices, developing policies and guidelines for workers, how to recruit and retain staff and how to create a culture where children are valued and listened to.”

The NSW Children’s Guardian, Ms. Kerryn Boland said: “I cannot emphasise enough, the importance of the role that child-related organisations play in meeting the health, educational, social, religious and cultural needs of our children.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

By Dave Sutor
dsutor@tribdem.com

What was described as a “very emotional conversation” took place between Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown Bishop Mark Bartchak and a group of prominent local advocates for victims of child sexual abuse on Tuesday.

In a private meeting, Bartchak spoke with the co-founders of a new local Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests chapter – Thomas Venditti and John Nesbella, reported victim Shaun Dougherty and another unidentified victim.

The get-together lasted about 2 1/2 hours, as the participants discussed an array of subjects that have arisen since the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General released a grand jury report in 2016 that alleged the diocese conducted a decades-long cover-up to protect predator priests.

“It went well,” Dougherty said. “I think it was a productive meeting.”

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Care Appointments

Written by Deborah McAleese

Historical abuse survivors have accused Northern Ireland’s politicians of putting their own needs before victims as they continue to wait for financial payments promised 17 months ago.

Victims have warned that many have been left suicidal or facing financial ruin as the current Stormont impasse means that the findings and recommendations of a four-year inquiry into state and church abuse have still not been presented to the assembly.

The report, which was published just days before Stormont collapsed in January, promised victims state-backed compensation payments of up to £100,000. Victims and government bodies were advised in November 2015 that the report would be recommending financial redress.

However, the failure of the region’s two largest parties, the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein, to form a powersharing government has meant the inquiry’s recommendations have not been implemented.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

By Conall Ó Fátharta
Irish Examiner Reporter

An amnesty from prosecution for those involved in facilitating illegal adoptions has been suggested by the Mother and Baby Homes Commission.

In its second interim report, the Commission briefly highlights that illegal adoptions covered a wide variety of actions but focuses exclusively on the issue of illegal birth registrations. This is where a child was registered as the natural child of the adoptive parents and, in most cases, an adoption order never occurred.

The report notes an amnesty from prosecution may help “to encourage those responsible to come forward and correct the record”.

However, the Commission is lukewarm on the issue of investigating such practices stating that, while it sympathised with people in this situation, “it is difficult to see what assistance could be provided by further investigation” and that the practice was “very difficult to establish”.

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IRELAND
Department of Children and Youth Affairs

Tuesday 11th April, 2017

Katherine Zappone TD, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has today (11 April 2017) published the Second Interim Report of the Commission on Mother and Baby Homes.
The Minister thanked the Commission for its important work and said:

“I want to deal sensitively with the matters raised by the Commission to date. The focus in this report is on children who were unaccompanied by their mothers in Mother and Baby Homes and County Homes.

I want to see what supports and services can be offered to this specific group now in the area of health and well-being. The Commission will continue its work and deal with issues affecting all former residents in its final report, but for now I want to identify how we can be of assistance to those who were left unaccompanied in these institutions. I am going to consult with those affected, and then bring proposals to Government before the summer break.”

The Commission was set up to inquire into the conditions in Mother and Baby Homes and County Homes in the period 1922-1998. Following a short first interim report last July, it submitted a second interim report in September 2016. This deals with a number of issues that had come to its attention during its work and analysis based on information collected up to August 2016.

In its interim report published today, the Commission:

– suggests that the exclusion of children who were resident in Mother and Baby Homes and in County Homes without their mothers from the Residential Institutions Redress Scheme which was established in 2002 and has since closed, or a similar such scheme should be re-examined;
– is satisfied that the institutions it is investigating are ‘unquestionably’ the main such homes that existed during the 20th century, and does not currently recommend that other institutions be investigated;
– is not recommending any changes to its terms of reference at this time but may recommend further investigations when its current investigation is completed; and
– does not make findings to date that abuse occurred in these institutions, but notes that its work is not yet complete;
– recognises that people whose births were falsely registered have a need to establish their identity but recognises that the false registration of births is a very difficult issue to investigate because of a lack of accurate records.

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IRELAND
Dublin Live

BY CLAIRE SCOTT

The Bethany Home survivors group have condemned the government’s refusal to accept the redress recommendation from the Mother and Baby Home Commission of Inquiry.

The Commission’s interim report was published today and recommended that the government should re-examine the exclusion of those in mother and baby homes from the 2002 Residential Institutions Redress Scheme.

Alternatively, it suggested the state establish and additional redress scheme for those who lived in these homes.

In a statement released by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, it said: “The Government has carefully examined the Commission’s recommendation regarding redress, and has concluded that it is not possible to implement it.

“The Government is conscious that the Commission has made no findings to date regarding abuse or neglect, and believes it would not be appropriate to deal with the question of redress in advance of any conclusions on this issue by the Commission.”

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IRELAND
RTE News

The Government should re-examine the exclusion of children who lived without their mothers in the country’s mother and baby homes and county homes from the 2002 Residential Institutions Redress Scheme, the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes has suggested.

As an alternative, it has suggested that Cabinet look again at establishing a similar redress scheme for the homes’ former residents.

The Residential Institutions Redress Scheme was established in 2002 and has since closed.

However in a statement accompanying the publication of the commission’s report, Minister for Children Katherine Zappone said that the Government concluded that it is not possible to implement the commission’s recommendation on redress.

She said Cabinet is conscious that the commission has made no findings to date regarding abuse or neglect, and that it believes it would not be appropriate to deal with the question of redress in advance of the commission reaching any conclusions on these issues.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

By Conall Ó Fátharta
Irish Examiner Reporter

Immediate redress for thousands of women and unaccompanied children who were in mother and baby homes has been rejected by the Government.

It comes as the second interim report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission recommended an amnesty from prosecution for those involved in illegal adoptions may help “encourage those responsible to come forward”.

The commission also recommends the Government re-examines the exclusion of children who lived without their mothers in mother and baby and county homes from the 2002 Residential Institutions Redress Scheme. It also states the Government could consider “other redress options” for those involved.

As its work is not complete, the commission said it is not yet asserting that abuse took place in any of the institutions it is examining.

It confirmed that around 70,000 women “and a larger number of children” went through the 14 mother and baby homes and four county homes under investigation.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Fiach Kelly

Extending the institutional child abuse redress scheme to those who lived in mother and baby homes as unaccompanied children could cost as much as €1 billion, the Cabinet has been told.

The Government has decided that it is “not possible” to implement such a recommendation from the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes.

The proposal was contained in the commission’s second interim report, which was published yesterday despite having been submitted last autumn. Its central recommendation of reopening the previous scheme caused alarm in the Government and delayed its publication for months.

The Cabinet finally decided against extending the original 2002 scheme, which cost €1.5 billion up to 2015 because of cost and legal implications. The initial estimated cost of the 2002 scheme was €250 million.

Religious orders

However, the prospect of future redress for those who spent time in mother and baby homes was not entirely discounted, and the Government will ask religious orders to carry some of the cost in future.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Fiach Kelly

Support for unaccompanied children who lived in mother and baby homes may be better than access to a redress scheme, the Government has said.

Minister for Children Katherine Zappone said she would carry consultations “regarding the nature and type of services and supports in the area of health and well-being that they consider would be helpful to them at this stage”.

This process will be completed by the end of June, and Ms Zappone will bring firm proposals back to Cabinet before the summer with supports expected to be in place by the autumn.

The Government said it was “not possible” to implement a recommendation to reopen the 2002 redress scheme for survivors of institutional abuse for children who lived in mother and baby homes.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Cormac McQuinn
April 12 2017

The government’s decision to not include children from mother and baby homes in a redress scheme has been criticised as “shameful” and “devastating”.

An interim report of the Commission investigating the homes has said that children that lived in the homes without their mothers “have a real cause for grievance”.

It recommends that the government re-examine a decision not to include them in a redress scheme for survivors of institutional abuse.

However, Children Minister Katherine Zappone confirmed that following an examination of the report the government decided that it is not possible to implement the recommendation that unaccompanied children at the homes should have access to a redress scheme.

A survivor of the Protestant Bethany Home in Dublin, Derek Leinster, called for a reversal of the decision which he described as “shameful”.

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IRELAND
Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation

Katherine Zappone TD, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has today (11 April 2017) published the Second Interim Report of the Commission on Mother and Baby Homes.

Notice- 3rd March 2017

The Commission has completed its test excavation of the Tuam site.

The stratigraphic survey which was conducted in October 2015 identified a particular area of interest and identified a number of sub surface anomalies that were considered worthy of further investigation. These were further investigated by a test excavation in November/December 2016 and in January/February 2017. Test trenches were dug revealing two large structures. One structure appears to be a large sewage containment system or septic tank that had been decommissioned and filled with rubble and debris and then covered with top soil. The second structure is a long structure which is divided into 20 chambers. The Commission has not yet determined what the purpose of this structure was but it appears to be related to the treatment/containment of sewage and/or waste water. The Commission has also not yet determined if it was ever used for this purpose.

In this second structure, significant quantities of human remains have been discovered in at least 17 of the 20 underground chambers which were examined. A small number of remains were recovered for the purpose of analysis. These remains involved a number of individuals with age-at-death ranges from approximately 35 foetal weeks to 2-3 years. Radiocarbon dating of the samples recovered suggest that the remains date from the timeframe relevant to the operation of the Mother and Baby Home (the Mother and Baby Home operated from 1925 to 1961; a number of the samples are likely to date from the 1950s). Further scientific tests are being conducted.

The Commission is shocked by this discovery and is continuing its investigation into who was responsible for the disposal of human remains in this way. Meanwhile, the Commission has asked that the relevant State authorities take responsibility for the appropriate treatment of the remains. The Coroner has been informed.

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IRELAND
Breaking News

12/04/2017

The Coalition of Mother And Baby Home Survivors is demanding to meet the Taoiseach immediately.

The call follows the release of the second interim report of the Commission on the issue, which recommended the Government reconsider including children – who lived without their mothers at such homes – in the State Redress scheme.

However, the Government says it is not appropriate to do that at the moment.

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CANADA
Calgary Sun

BY KEVIN MARTIN, POSTMEDIA NETWORK
FIRST POSTED: TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017

Ruling he was the victim of an abuse of process because of a negligent police investigation, a Calgary judge on Tuesday tossed out sexual assault charges against a former Calgary pastor.

In a brief ruling which will be followed by a more extensive written decision, provincial court Judge Harry Van Harten stayed four charges Wagdi Iskander was facing.

Van Harten agreed with defence lawyer Jennifer Ruttan that there were problems in the police investigation into her client.

Ruttan had argued there were multiple problems with the investigation, including there could’ve been tainting of witnesses and there was evidence lost. But Van Harten in his oral reasons did not specify what exact facts led to his finding there was an abuse of process.

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GEORGIA
Dallas Voice

You know what they say about karma: She is a bitch. And today karma bitch-slapped so-called pastor Kenneth Adkins smack across his face.

Adkins, of Brunswick, Ga., gained notoriety last June 13, the day after 49 people were murdered and more than 50 others wounded in the attack on Orlando LGBT bar Pulse, when he tweeted: “been through so much with the Jacksonville homosexuals that I don’t see none of them as victims. I see them as getting what they deserve!!”

The next day Adkins claimed that his tweet wasn’t referring to those killed and wounded at Pulse, but instead to the LGBT community of Jacksonville, Fla., and others in that city who were advocating for the expansion of the city’s nondiscrimination laws to include protections for LGBT people. (Adkins had served as a panelist the previous December when Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry convened community forums to discuss LGBT people to the anti-discrimination law in Jacksonville.)

Of course, the “they got what they deserved” tweet came on the heels of a string of other anti-LGBT tweets by Adkins earlier that day, including one that declared: “Dear Gays, Go sit down somewhere. I know y’all want some special attention; yall are sinners who need Jesus. This was an attack on America.”

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CANADA
Global News

By Heide Pearson
Online Journalist

Charges have been stayed against a former Calgary pastor who was accused of historic sexual assault.

Outstanding charges against Wagdi Iskander have been thrown out “because the prosecutions against him were an abuse of process,” according to a release from Ruttan Bates Barristers and Solicitors.

Iskander was originally charged in 2015 with sexual assault and sexual interference with a child under the age of 14, after an investigation into assaults against a minor.

The alleged victim of the assaults told police the assaults happened during counselling sessions between 1994 and 1996.

The decision from Judge Harry Van Harten came after four days of evidence presented from multiple witnesses, the release states.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio , heugenio@guampdn.com Published

April 11, 2017

Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes on Tuesday named the head of a new independent body to help victims of clergy sex abuse on Guam find healing and closure, using an initial $1 million in funding.

California attorney Michael Caspino was named executive director of the non-profit Hope and Healing Guam, which the Archdiocese of Agana said could impact the dozens of clergy sex abuse cases currently in local and federal courts.

In the weeks ahead, the archdiocese plans to ask the federal court to postpone the clergy sex abuse cases for three to four months while the church tries to address the complaints outside of court, through the new program.

The archdiocese, through its attorneys, this week also asked the federal court to dismiss the lawsuits, arguing the 2016 law that retroactively lifted the statute of limitations was unconstitutional.

Caspino, who served as general counsel to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange County, and who has dealt with hundreds of victims of clergy sex abuse, said experience has shown that court litigation does not necessarily solve abuse cases and can make the victims feel more alienated.

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MAINE
Portland Press Herald

BY EDWARD D. MURPHY
STAFF WRITER

The former leader of a youth theater group and part-time teacher in Brunswick pleaded not guilty Tuesday at the Cumberland County Courthouse in Portland to two counts involving child sexual abuse.

Henry Eichman, 56, of Topsham also faces 16 counts alleging child sexual abuse in Sagadahoc County.

Most details on the latest charges against Eichman have been removed from his case file in Cumberland County Superior Court, but it does say that the alleged victim was a student. Eichman was a part-time teacher at St. John’s Catholic School in Brunswick.

The alleged abuse occurred Sept. 8, 2016, and Eichman was arrested the following day in Topsham after police executed a search warrant at his home. He initially faced six counts in Sagadahoc County, was indicted on seven counts and then arraigned in January on 16 counts as more alleged victims came forward.

Officials at the school referred questions about the case to Dave Guthro, spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland. Guthro declined to comment because the situation involves a criminal investigation.

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DELAWARE
Hockessin Community News

Michael D. Connelly, retired commander of the Delaware State Police Criminal Investigation Division, will become the coordinator of the Diocese of Wilmington’s Office of Safe Environments.

Connelly spent 20 years as a Delaware state trooper and managed 35 detectives at the time of his retirement in 1998. He also served as director of security for a retail center and performed investigative and security services for government, business and residential customers.

The Office of Safe Environments for the Diocese of Wilmington is responsible for the continuing implementation of the For the Sake of God’s Children program, which focuses on the developing and maintaining safe environments for children and young people in Catholic parishes, schools and youth ministries in Delaware and Maryland’s eastern shore.

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SPAIN
The Local

AFP

12 April 2017

A Spanish court on Tuesday acquitted a Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing a teenage altar boy, in a case in which Pope Francis had pushed for an investigation.
The court in the southern city of Granada, where the abuse was alleged to have taken place, ruled there was insufficient evidence against 63-year-old Roman Martinez.

It said the young man’s testimony during the trial held in March had inconsistencies and contained “absolutely improbable aspects”.

Martinez had been charged with “continued sexual abuse, with the introduction of a bodily member anally and attempt to introduce the penis” involving an underage boy between 2004 and 2007.

His accuser, born in 1990, would have been 14 when the alleged abuse began.

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