ABUSE TRACKER

A digest of links to media coverage of clergy abuse. For recent coverage listed in this blog, read the full article in the newspaper or other media source by clicking “Read original article.” For earlier coverage, click the title to read the original article.

July 14, 2017

Randi Zurenko: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

PENNSYLVANIA
Heavy

By Chris Bucher
Published Jul 14, 2017

A 33-year-old former teacher at a private high school in Pennsylvania was sentenced to a maximum of 23 months in prison on July 13 after she molested two female students over a three-year span.

Randi Lynn Zurenko, of Millerstown in Perry County, was arrested in October 2016 on suspicion of sexually abusing the two students “hundreds of times.”

According to Penn Live, Zurenko, who taught social studies, was once considered one of the “most inspiring teachers” at Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg. Zurenko is a mother of five, and her children range in age from 3-to-11 years old.

She was accused of entering relationships with the two girls outside of school and “coercing” them into performing sexual acts with her.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Zurenko Was Charged with Over 200 Child Sex Offenses

Zurenko was arrested on October 18, 2016 in Harrisburg on suspicion of committing the sexual assaults. Police found out about the allegations when one of the victims came forward and told them that her actions caused her psychological distress.

Police said that between 2013 and 2016, Zurenko sexually abused two female victims, ages 16 and 17, “hundreds” of times. She faced over 230 counts in the case: institutional sexual assault (13 total counts), sexual abuse of children (152), unlawful contact with minors (33), corruption of minors (13), and disseminating obscene materials to minors (20).

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.

Catholic school teacher confronted in court by girls she sexually abused

PENNSYLVANIA
New York Post

Fox News

A former teacher at a Catholic school in Pennsylvania was sentenced to prison after she pleaded guilty to having sexual relations with two of her female teenaged students.

Randi Zurenko, 33, of Millerstown, a married woman with five children was a teacher at Bishop McDevitt in Wyncote, Pa. The school once praised her as one of the most “inspiring” teachers at the academy, according to Penn Live.

Zurenko pleaded guilty to institutional sexual assault, unlawful contact with minors, corruption of minors, possessing child pornography and disseminating obscene materials to minors. She faces 11 ½ to 23 months in prison as well as four years of probation and 500 hours of community service. She also has to register as a sex offender for 25 years in the state of Pennsylvania.

Zurenko’s lawyer asked Dauphin County President Judge Richard A. Lewis to grant her leniency and said she was “truly in love with her victims.”

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

Married Catholic school teacher and mother-of-five, 34, is jailed for just 23 months for sexually abusing two female students HUNDREDS of times

PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Mail (UK)

By Emily Crane and Jennifer Smith For Dailymail.com

A married Catholic school teacher has been jailed for just 23 months after pleading guilty to having sexual relations with two of her female teenage students.

Randi Zurenko, 34, begged a Pennsylvania judge for leniency for the sake of her own young children when being sentenced on Thursday.

The mother-of-five was jailed for up to 23 months with four years probation and must register as a sex offender for 25 years.

She had been charged with more than 200 child sex offences during her time as a teacher at Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg.

Police said Zurenko sexually abused her two victims, aged 16 and 17, hundreds of times between 2013 and 2016.

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.

Church employee fired after alleged discovery of child porn

FLORIDA
Fox 13

By: Josh Cascio, FOX 13 News
POSTED: JUL 13 2017

LECANTO (FOX 13) – Citrus County Sheriff Mike Prendergast says 36-year-old Chad Robison is one thing: “I want to emphasize this is a textbook case of an online sexual predator.”

Robison spent six years as music director of Seven River Presbyterian in Lecanto but in May, a coworker, planning to play on joke on Robison’s computer, allegedly discovered a mountain of child porn.

“On his personal laptop we have more than 3,000 videos and 350,000 photographs that our detectives have combed thru,” said the sheriff.

Investigators say many of those videos were recorded online webcam chats between Robison and underage girls, as young as 14, through the website Omegle.com. It’s a cam-to-cam chat site with users all over the globe.

“We have videos of Robison having virtual sex with an underage female who is not local as well as trying to coerce young girls to show him their breasts,” he said. “The defendant was secretly video and recording females in his restroom at his home over the course of the time he gathered pictures and videos.”

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.

Pastor busted after church prank turns up over 350,000 images of minors performing sex acts: sheriff

FLORIDA
Raw Story

TOM BOGGIONI
14 JUL 2017

Florida authorities have arrested a former youth pastor after a co-worker found hundreds of thousands of sexual-oriented pictures and videos of young girls on his laptop — including some he secretly filmed in his bathroom.

According to FOX13, 36-year-old Chad Robison was the music director at Seven River Presbyterian in Lecanto, Florida, when the co-worker stumbled upon the stash of videos and photos before alerting church authorities and law enforcement.

On Thursday, Robison was charged with three counts of lewd and lascivious exhibition with a victim less than 16 years of age, one count of knowingly promoting sexual performance by a child, and three counts of ‘video voyeurism’ for his own use.

According to Citrus County Sheriff Mike Prendergast, “On his personal laptop we have more than 3,000 videos and 350,000 photographs that our detectives have combed thru. I want to emphasize this is a textbook case of an online sexual predator.”

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.

Pidieron la detención del cura denunciado por abuso sexual de menores

ARGENTINA
Sin Mordaza

[The arrest is sought for priest Carlos Jose who has been accused of sexual abuse of minors.abue asked for the arrest of the accused priest for sexual abuse of minors. In recent days the priest was denounced by two former students of the school San José Obrero de Caseros.]

La Unidad Funcional de Instrucción Nº 14 de Delitos Sexuales de San Martín pidió la detención del cura Carlos Eduardo José, acusado por diversas personas de haber abusado sexualmente de menores.

La decisión de la fiscalía llegó luego de que una nueva prueba acelerara la realización de un allanamiento, que derivó en el pedido de detención del cura que trabajaba en colegio San José Obrero de la localidad bonaerense de Caseros.

En los últimos días, el cura José fue denunciado por dos ex alumnas de esa escuela, que aseguraron que “cuando me llevaba a confesar me hacía sentarme en su pierna y ponía su mano en mi zona” y que “me agarraba con el motivo de enseñarme a nadar y por debajo del agua me manoseaba”.

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.

El cura abusador quiere “formar una familia”, pero está prófugo

ARGENTINA
El Dia

[The priest Carlos José, who was investigated for alleged child abuse at a Caseros school, sent a letter to Pope Francis in which he renounced his religious vows because he wanted to “form a family,” the bishopric of San Martin reported yesterday, although Vatican sources argued that such a presentation does not preclude a canonical judgment.]

El sacerdote Carlos José, investigado por presunto abuso de menores en un colegio de Caseros, envió una carta al papa Francisco en la que renuncia al ejercicio religioso porque quiere “formar una familia”, informó ayer el obispado de San Martín, aunque fuentes del Vaticano sostuvieron que tal presentación no impide un juicio canónico.

“El padre José renunció el 26 de junio porque quería formar una familia, así que es imposible que podamos abrir un proceso canónico porque él ya no es más cura, no tiene una relación formal con la Iglesia: por eso, el procedimiento se llama renuncia y suspensión”, aseguró el vicario de San Martín, Eduardo González.

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.

El cura acusado de abuso se entregó a la Justicia

ARGENTINA
Clarin

[Parroquia San José Obrero de Caseros – Facebook]

[The priest Carlos José was arrested and detained after the arrest by prosecutor of San Martín, Mariana Piwarczuk, for having “evident evidence” of pedophilia following the denunciation by two young men who told what they suffered in a School of Caseros. The request for arrest was accepted by Judge Mariano Porto who last night ordered the arrest and detention of the priest.]

El sacerdote Carlos José se entregó a la Justicia y quedó detenido luego del pedido de detención de la fiscal de San Martín, Mariana Piwarczuk, por tener “pruebas evidentes” de pedofilia luego de la denuncia realizada por dos jóvenes que contaron lo que sufrieron en un colegio de Caseros. El pedido de detención fue aceptado por el juez Mariano Porto, que anoche había ordenado la captura y detención del sacerdote.

Mirá también

Aseguran que el cura acusado de abusos renunció para “formar una familia”
El sacerdote había renunciado en las últimas horas al ejercicio religioso porque quería “formar una familia”, así lo informó ayer por la tarde el obispado de San Martín, aunque fuentes de el Vaticano sostuvieron que tal presentación no impide un juicio canónico.

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.

Indian priest arrested for child abuse

INDIA
UCA nEWS

Saji Thomas, Bhopal
India July 12, 2017

Christian leaders say that a Catholic priest arrested for abusing a child in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has been framed to malign the Christian community in the state ruled by a pro-Hindu party.

Police July 10 arrested Father Leo D’Souza, 56, following a complaint from the parents of an eighth-grade boy of the church-run Amar Jyoti School in the tribal-dominated district of Dindori.

The priest is manager of the school run by Jabalpur Diocese.

The parents in their complaint said the priest summoned the boy to his room July 9 evening and tried to abuse him.

Local church leaders say police arrested the priest even without a preliminary investigation. They say it was an attempt to tarnish the image of Christians that run the school ranked among the three best in the district.

Bishop Gerald Almeida of Jabalpur said the accusation and the arrest has “shocked” the diocese. He said hard-line Hindu groups had earlier tried to create trouble for Christians accusing them of converting tribal people to Christianity.

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.

The Emmys get it so right with ‘The Keepers’ nomination

MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

David Zurawik
The Baltimore Sun

I cannot tell you happy I am to see “The Keepers” get an Emmy nomination as best documentary or nonfiction series.

This is by far the greatest production of the genre this year. And I cannot remember a film as steeped in moral authority and social conscience as this one.

It is almost enough to restore my faith in the awards.

I have come to loathe the Emmys for the way they confuse many of us about quality TV.

The nominations this year are no exception for the most part. …

But, thanks to the nomination of “The Keepers,” I can let all that go this year and actually celebrate something that’s Emmy connected.

I am even going to watch the awards with some real excitement Sept. 17 on CBS to see “The Keepers” win.

I hope it wins, and everyone in the world goes out and sees it.

As for those people in the Baltimore area who looked the other way after Sister Catherine Cesnik was murdered, I hope this production never lets them forget.

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.

Elite St. Paul’s School under criminal investigation after sexual misconduct revelations

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Washington Post

By Kyle Swenson and Fred Barbash July 14

St. Paul’s School, the elite New England boarding school dogged in recent months by allegations of past sexual abuse and misconduct, is now the target of a criminal investigation by local and state authorities.

In a statement released Thursday evening, New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald announced investigators will examine whether the school engaged in conduct that endangered the welfare of a child.

“Protection of children is a paramount priority for law enforcement,” MacDonald said in the release. “I am confident that an institution such as St. Paul’s School will be fully cooperative with this investigation as it has pledged.”

The attorney general’s office stated the investigation was triggered by a series of issues that have come out at the school.

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.

No special treatment for Cardinal George Pell’s first court appearance

AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Shannon Deery, Herald Sun
July 14, 2017

CARDINAL George Pell will be given no special treatment this month when he appears in court for the first time on ­historical sex charges.

The cardinal is due to ­appear at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court for a filing hearing on July 26, after being charged with multiple sex ­offences.

This means he could be forced to line up alongside other accused sex offenders, bikies, fraudsters and low-level criminals on arrival at court.

He will also be subjected to security screening on arrival.

Court spokeswoman Clare Hogarth-Angus said it would be “business as usual” despite church sources fearing for the cardinal’s safety.

Ms Hogarth-Angus said: “This may change nearer the time, however currently there are no special plans in place.”

The case is expected to draw one of the biggest press packs in Victorian court history, with international media organisations already planning their coverage.

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.

Disziplinarverfahren gegen Pfarrer im Ruhestand abgeschlossen

DEUTSCHLAND
Evangelische Kirche in Mitteldeutschland

[The Disciplinary Chamber at the German Evangelical Church (EKD) removed a pastor from the service of the Evangelical Church in Central Germany (EKM). This is the result of disciplinary proceedings against the pastor who was accused of sexual abuse.]

Wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs verurteilt

Die Disziplinarkammer bei der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland (EKD) hat einen Pfarrer im Ruhestand aus dem Dienst der Evangelischen Kirche in Mitteldeutschland (EKM) entfernt. Dies ist das Ergebnis eines Disziplinarverfahrens gegen den Pfarrer, dem sexueller Missbrauch in den Jahren 1973 bis 1978 in der Kirchengemeinde Bad Lauchstädt im Kirchenkreis Merseburg vorgeworfen wurde.

Die EKM hatte das Disziplinarverfahren gegen den Pfarrer im Jahr 2012 eingeleitet, nachdem von Betroffenen Vorwürfe gegen den Pfarrer erhoben worden waren. Der Fall war daraufhin vor der EKD-Disziplinarkammer verhandelt und im Juni 2016 entschieden worden. Gegen das Urteil hatte der Angeschuldigte Berufung eingelegt. In letzter Instanz hat der EKD-Disziplinargerichtshof am 29. Juni dieses Jahres entschieden und die Berufung zurückgewiesen. Damit ist das Urteil der Disziplinarkammer rechtskräftig. Das Kollegium der EKM hat daraufhin in seiner letzten Sitzung (11.7.) beschlossen, das Urteil umzusetzen. Der Pfarrer, der heute in Niedersachsen lebt, darf damit nicht mehr als Pfarrer tätig sein, verliert seine Ordinationsrechte und erhält aus kirchlichen Mitteln kein Ruhestandsgeld mehr.

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.

Anger as controversial sale of 7.5 acres of south Dublin school land is confirmed

IRELAND
The Journal

THE SALE OF 7.5 acres of a school’s playing pitches by the Christian Brothers to pay for their sex abuse redress has been condemned.

There has been significant opposition from local reps, parents and the school’s board of management to the sale of the lands at Clonkeen College in Deansgrange, south Dublin.

The land, which is expected to have fetched around €18 million, has been zoned for housing since 1998, making it a desired target for developers.

The news has been condemned by locals and school officials. They said a lot of money has been put into the school’s facilities and that the strategy for the next 10 years revolved around keeping the fields.

Speaking following the publication of a parliamentary question answer by Education Minister Richard Bruton , confirming the sale, Dún Laoghaire councillor Cormac Devlin said he was extremely disappointed by the news and that allowing this to happen will have a detrimental impact on the community.

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.

Nuns in UK admit child migrant lapses

UNITED KINGDOM
9 News (Australia)

The head of a Catholic order of nuns in the UK has admitted to an inquiry that proper follow-up on the care of child migrants the order sent to Australia could have protected them from sexual abuse.

Sister Anna Maria Doolan, the UK Superior for the Sisters of Nazareth, on Thursday gave evidence to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse sitting in London.

The inquiry is examining the sexual abuse of children sent to church or charity-run farm schools in Australia up to the 1970s.

It has heard that children were regularly beaten and humiliated, poorly fed and clothed and used as virtual slave labour on farms, with the Christian Brothers in Western Australia among the worst offenders.

That Catholic order actively sought boys from the Sisters of Nazareth in the UK.

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.

Sydney rabbi sues Australian Jewish News over alleged defamation on child abuse comments

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Harriet Alexander

On day four of his defamation action against the Australian Jewish News, the rabbi began to pace.

It was complicated to explain why he said he did not know it was a crime to touch a child’s genitals and what he meant when he said rabbis should deal with allegations of child abuse internally.

Yosef Yitzchak Feldman’s frustration had apparently overwhelmed his ability to sit still.

Justice Lucy McCallum addressed his barrister. “Mr Cohen, I’m finding your client’s pacing around and going to the side of the courtroom very distracting,” she said.

The rabbi sat.

Mr Feldman is suing Polaris Media Pty Ltd, publisher of the Australian Jewish News [AJN], for three articles printed during the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse, which reported him giving evidence that he did not know that it was illegal for a man to touch the genitals of a child.

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.

Ricatto hot all’ex parroco, estorsore condannato a 4 anni

ITALIA
Il Giorno

[A Moroccan, 32, blackmailed priest Mario Cardinetti, former pastor of Cava Manara, after they had a year-long affair. Abdellatif Eddari was sentenced to four years in prison.]

di NICOLETTA PISANU

Pavia, 12 luglio 2017 – Un ricatto a luci rosse andato avanti per quasi dieci anni, ai danni di un prete. Abdellatif Eddari, marocchino di 32 anni, è stato condannato a quattro anni di reclusione e duemila euro di multa per estorsione. La vittima è don Mario Cardinetti, ex parroco di Cava Manara, con cui l’imputato ha avuto una relazione durata circa un anno.

Arrivato in Italia nel 1997, l’imputato aveva conosciuto il sacerdote, si era avvicinato a lui per ricevere aiuti. Poi, era nata una relazione, al termine della quale Eddari ha minacciato e ricattato il sacerdote. Gli diceva di essere in possesso di un video che lo immortalava mentre si rivestiva al termine di uno dei loro incontri intimi e che lo avrebbe divulgato se non gli avesse dato il denaro richiesto. Allo stesso modo, lo minacciava di fare irruzione in chiesa durante la messa per rivelare a tutti i parrocchiani la loro relazione.

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.

Criminal investigation to be launched into St. Paul’s School

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Boston Globe

By Danny McDonald GLOBE STAFF JULY 13, 2017

Following new reports of sexual misconduct at St. Paul’s School, authorities in New Hampshire Thursday announced a criminal investigation into the elite boarding school.

New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald’s office, Concord police, and New Hampshire State Police will conduct the investigation, authorities said in a statement released Thursday night.

The investigation will initially focus on whether the school engaged in conduct that endangered the welfare of a child, the attorney general’s office said in the statement. That office will also investigate whether the school violated a law that prohibits obstructing criminal investigations.

“Protection of children is a paramount priority for law enforcement,” said MacDonald in the statement. “I am confident that an institution such as St. Paul’s School will be fully cooperative with this investigation as it has pledged that ‘[t]he safety and well-being of all students remains [its] highest priority.”

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.

Is a fair trial possible? Catholic voices on Cardinal Pell’s return to Australia

AUSTRALIA
Asian Correspondent

By Jo Lane | 14th July 2017

FEARS expressed by senior lawyers that Cardinal George Pell would not get a fair hearing on historic sexual offences were echoed within the Australian Catholic community this week when the nation’s highest-serving Catholic returned from Rome on Monday for his July 18 court appearance.

Pell has been serving as Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy at the Vatican, the third most senior Catholic at the Vatican, and previously gave evidence in Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. He has strenuously denied the allegations that involve multiple complainants.

Asian Correspondent spoke to Catherine Smibert, a journalist who grew up in Pell’s hometown of Ballarat where he served as a priest from 1973 to 1983. Smibert was also employed by the Vatican media in Rome for eight years.

Speaking from her personal and working knowledge of Cardinal Pell she said, “I genuinely question the capacity for a fair trial.” She said he had been “persecuted unfairly” and the charges were “the grosses miscarriage of justice”.

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.

South Florida Youth Pastor Accused of Sex Battery on Girl, 15

FLORIDA
NBC Miami

A South Florida youth pastor is facing sexual battery charges after police say he began a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl.

Fernando Misael Ponce, 24, was arrested in Miami Wednesday on 20 counts of lewd and lascivious battery and one count of possession of sexual performance by a child, according to an arrest report.

The report said Ponce, who lives in Miramar, was the girl’s youth pastor at Sembrador De Fe Church on Northwest 21st Avenue in Miami. When the girl was between 11 and 12, Ponce showed interest in her but the victim’s mother intervened and told him to stay away from her, the report said.

But when the girl was 14, Ponce secretly asked her to be his girlfriend and they began a relationship, the report said. For 8 to 9 months they had a boyfriend and girlfriend relationship and engaged in sexual activity, according to the report.

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.

A Question of Accountability: Cardinal Pell

NEW ZEALAND
Scoop

Friday, 14 July 2017

Article: Binoy Kampmark

The Catholic Church, much in the manner of a modern corporation, is a sprawling edifice of operations and functions. To hold part of it accountable for abuses – against human, bank account, or country – has presented a formidable legal obstacle.

This nightmare has taken place amidst a broader question: the extent Church officials believe they are accountable to secular justice, or those ordained by the Church itself. St. Augustine’s point was clear enough: of the two sovereignties – that of the City of Man, or that of God – the latter would prevail.

Apologies for the specific issue of clerical child abuse have issued over the last decade. In 2003, Pope John Paul II, hardly a man known for his progressive tidings, suggested there was “no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young.” In July 2008, Pope Benedict XVI, on a visit to Australia, issued a specific apology for the past abusive conduct by the church’s Australian clergy, demanding reparations and punishment as a response. But the wheels of justice have not so much grinded slowly as indiscernibly.

In an unprecedented move, Cardinal George Pell, termed by author Gianluigi Nuzzi “the ambitious bulldog from Sydney,” and one present at the penitent moments of Benedict XVI’s apology, has made his way to Australia to face what are termed “historical sex offences”.

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.

Archdiocese now facing 91 sex abuse lawsuits

GUAM
Pacific News Center

By Janela Carrera July 14, 2017

Three of the cases are against Louis Brouillard while two of the cases are against Raymond Cepeda.

Guam – Another five lawsuits were filed against the Archdiocese of Agana, making the total count of sex abuse cases 91.

Three of the five are against former priest Father Louis Brouillard while two of the cases are against defrocked Santa Barbara priest Raymond Cepeda.

The first three cases filed Thursday against the Archdiocese of Agana have similar allegations of sexual abuse.

W.E.T., 58, says back in the early 1970s when he was between the ages of 11 to 13, Malojloj Parish priest Louis Brouillard, who was also a Boy Scout master at the time, routinely molested him and other boy scout members at the convent and during swimming lessons.

Next is 50-year-old P.P.R. who claims that when he was about 9 years old, Brouillard molested him during swimming trips and at a room behind the altar of the Barrigada Parish. P.P.R. says Brouillard coerced him by telling him “it was a sin if P.P.R. didn’t do as Brouillard asked.”

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.

Vatican to judge hospital officials for diversion of pediatric funds

VATICAN CITY
Rome Reports

[with video]

2017-07-13

The doors of the civil court of the Vatican City State will soon be reopened. Thus, all eyes will be focused on the ex-president and the ex-treasurer of the Bambino Gesu Hospital foundation, who have been charged with diversion of funds.

Giuseppe Profiti and Massimo Spina are accused of having taken 422,000 euros from the foundation to restructure Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone’s attic.

The court has stated that the apartment had nothing to do with the foundation, but they made this renovations to benefit a Roman builder.

The main accused said it was an investment for the hospital, because the cardinal’s private apartment was to host high-level meetings seeking donations.

The first hearing will be on July 18, and if they do not appear, they will be judged in contempt, as an act of disregarding the court authority.

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.

July 13, 2017

Desde 2002 hubo 65 miembros de la Iglesia denunciados por abuso, entre ellos Brizzio

(ARGENTINA)
Saber Mas Santa Fe [Santa Fe, Argentina]

July 13, 2017

Read original article

La agencia de noticias Télam elaboró un informe que desnuda este costado oscuro, aunque sólo tres religiosos fueron expulsados del sacerdocio. Al padre Luis Brizzio primero lo ocultaron y después lo protegieron. En la actualidad desarrolla su tarea pastoral con normalidad.

La Iglesia argentina agregó un nuevo pedófilo a su extensa historia de abusos contra menores al conocerse la denuncia contra el cura Carlos José, quien acaba de renunciar al sacerdocio, con lo que ya suman 65 los miembros denunciados por abuso sexual desde que en 2002 estalló el escándalo del cura Julio César Grassi.

De esta manera, en Argentina más de cuatro curas son denunciados, en promedio, cada año por haber cometido abuso y de todos ellos, hasta ahora, sólo tres fueron condenados con la máxima pena dentro de la Iglesia, la expulsión del sacerdocio.

Dos mujeres contaron los abusos a los que las sometió el ex sacerdote José cuando eran menores hace más de una década, según una investigación del canal TN. El cura, quien se desempeñaba en el colegio San Francisco Javier, en la localidad bonaerense de Caseros, está acusado por los delitos de abuso sexual simple y agravado.

Desde la Fiscalía de San Martín que lleva adelante la investigación dijeron que hasta ahora no habían podido informar al sacerdote sobre la imputación en su contra, pero el vicario de San Martín confirmó a esta agencia que el sacerdote presentó su renuncia como párroco de San José Obrero, una parroquia ubicada en el mismo predio del colegio.

“La renuncia es al estado eclesiástico, significa que no puede ejercer el ministerio ni depende de ningún obispo. En términos populares, deja de ser cura”, aseguró el vicario de San Martín.

Sin embargo, Carlos Lombardi, especialista en derecho canónico, señaló que la medida no garantiza que José no vuelva a ejercer como sacerdote. “Esto no significa que alguien lo controle, nadie puede garantizar que no aparezca dando misa en Brasil. La Iglesia no muestra ninguna evidencia ni de que él haya presentado la renuncia ni que el obispado la haya aceptado, es una falacia”, dijo Lombardi.

El abogado consideró que este tipo de medidas “se toman cuando ya no lo pueden defender más, cuando la situación se les hace insostenible”.

En mayo, Télam publicó una investigación exclusiva en la que constató que al menos 62 miembros de la Iglesia -59 sacerdotes y 3 monjas- habían sido acusados a lo largo de los 15 años que transcurrieron desde que se conocieron las primeras denuncias contra Grassi. Pero en apenas dos meses, otros tres curas se agregaron a la lista. Se trata de Ezequiel Maggiolo, párroco de Monte Vera, en Santa Fe, quien fue apartado del cargo por monseñor José María Arancedo por acosar a una chica de 16 años por Whatsapp.

El segundo caso fue el de Luis Bergliaffa, acusado por haber abusado de una nena de diez años en Córdoba, y a quien el Vaticano le aplicó una pena de diez años durante los que no puede actuar como sacerdote. Sin embargo, el cura fue descubierto trabajando en la sede del obispado del Alto Valle.

En abril último, dos mujeres se presentaron en la UFI 14 de San Martín para denunciar los abusos a los que habían sido sometidas por José, quien renunció al sacerdocio hace dos semanas atrás, según informó el obispado. En uno de los casos, Mailin, cuyo calvario comenzó cuando tenía diez años, denunció que José la abusaba en un sótano y la obligaba a sentarse en sus rodillas cuando se confesaba para tocarle las partes íntimas.

Consultado por Télam, el vicario de San Martín precisó que “toda esta situación fue llevada al fuero penal, en la UFI 14 (a cargo de la investigación), lo cual facilita que la acusación pueda explayarse y que el acusado pueda ejercer su defensa”.

Según González el obispado tenía “mínimo contacto” con el cura y era “por cuestiones puntuales”. Además dijo que hacía un año que el sacerdote tenía una licencia: “Estaba en un año sabático. En cuanto falleció el papá hizo ese pedido”, señaló el vicario, quien informó que desde entonces dejó de dar misas en la parroquia San José Obrero que funciona en el mismo predio del colegio donde habrían sido cometidos los abusos, en el partido de Tres de Febrero.

Hasta hoy sólo tres religiosos fueron expulsados del sacerdocio, son Miguel Ángel Santurio, de Misiones, y Cristian Gramlich y José Mercau, de San Isidro.

En Esperanza

El caso de abuso que involucró al padre Luis Brizzio fue noticia a nivel nacional, pero también estuvo envuelto en un sinnúmero de irregularidades: inicialmente la Iglesia intentó negar la realidad diciendo que dejaba la Basílica por “un cuadro de estrés”, después lo protegieron al enviarlo a un lugar de aislamiento, pero desde allí hablaba por teléfono y enviaba mails a varios esperancinos, y finalmente en el propio fallo del Arzobispado nunca negaron su culpabilidad, pero para protegerlo de un juicio civil millonario adujeron, increíblemente, que “al momento de los hechos el denunciante era menor de edad, por lo cual no se puede hablar de abuso de menores”.

Insólito pero real, porque aun siendo mayor la víctima, algo sobre lo que hay pruebas de todo tipo que demuestran que tenía 17 años, eso no exime de culpabilidad a un sacerdote que debía ser ejemplo de conducta… Es más, en su defensa Brizzio habría aducido que mantenían una relación sentimental, algo también prohibido por la propia Iglesia.

Pero así y todo las autoridades dejaron pasar el tiempo y como se fue de la ciudad, a escondidas, Brizzio llegó a San Javier y lleva una vida normal en el templo de esa ciudad y dentro de la comunidad.

No existió castigo a pesar que reconocieron el vínculo con el joven que lo denunció por abuso. Su estrecha relación con monseñor Arancedo lo salvó de todo.

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Former worship director accused of ‘virtual sex acts’ with children

FLORIDA
Citrus County Chronicle

Thursday, July 13, 2017

The former worship director at Seven Rivers Presbyterian Church was arrested Thursday morning on various sex-related charges, the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office has announced.
.
Chad Robison, 36, of Hernando, was charged with video voyeurism, lewd and lascivious exhibition and knowingly promoting sexual performance by a child, the sheriff’s office said in a press release. His bond was set at $26,000.

Robison, who served in the position from 2011 to 2017, reportedly had more than 3,000 illicit videos and 350,000 illicit pictures on a laptop discovered by a coworker in May. The photos and videos reportedly showed young girls performing “virtual sex acts” with Robison, according to the release. He is also accused of videotaping girls using the restroom at his home without their knowledge.

“We believe there could be multiple victims. Some may be local here in Citrus County, and others across the states and abroad,” said Major Crimes Capt. Brian Spiddle. “It’s going to be a very difficult and long process to find those who have been victimized by this man.”

The sheriff’s office is asking parents, parishoners and anyone victimized by Robison to contact its Major Crimes division by calling 352-726-1121.

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Citrus sheriff seeks to ID young victims of Seven Rivers church leader

FLORIDA
The Gainesville Sun

Sheriff Mike Prendergast described Chad Robison as “a textbook case of an online sexual predator.”

The Citrus County Sheriff’s Office is seeking to identify girls targeted by online sex crime suspect Chad Robison, 36, the former worship director at Seven Rivers Presbyterian Church in Lecanto.

Sheriff’s officials said he victimized girls online using the chat website Omegle.

They have found hundreds of videos featuring “young girls performing virtual sex acts with Robison,” a CCSO press release states.

Sheriff Mike Prendergast described him as “a textbook case of an online sexual predator.”

Robison, who worked at Seven Rivers from 2011 to 2017, is charged with three counts of lewd and lascivious exhibition, one count of knowingly promoting sexual performance by a child; and three counts of video voyeurism for own use, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

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Citrus Co. church leader arrested for child porn secretly recorded girls in bathroom, cops say

FLORIDA
WFLA

CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – A church leader in Citrus County is accused of possessing child porn and recording young girls as they used the bathroom.

The Citrus County Sheriff’s Office says a coworker found videos and inappropriate images on a laptop belonging to 36-year-old Chad Everett Robison, who worked as the worship director at Seven Rivers Presbyterian Church in Lecanto.

Detectives later discovered child pornography on Robison’s personal and work computers.

At a press conference Thursday, detectives said Robison had placed a camouflaged camera on the counter inside a bathroom at his home and recorded young girls using the restroom.

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Four former teachers are charged over sex abuse claims at Christ’s Hospital School in Horsham

UNITED KINGDOM
The Argus

Flora Thompson

FOUR former teachers at a private school have been charged with non-recent sexual offences.

The alleged offences are said to have taken place at Christ’s Hospital School in Horsham.

Jayne Cioffi, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Four men, all former teachers at Christ’s Hospital School, were informed that they have been charged with non-recent sexual offences.

“Having carefully considered the evidence in this case, we have concluded that in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to prosecute.” …

The Christian school is in the diocese formerly overseen by Bishop of Lewes Peter Ball who served a 32-month sentence for abusing 18 young men.

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Finance council: 41 church properties ‘on the block’

GUAM
The Guam Daily Post

Neil Pang | The Guam Daily Post Jul 13, 2017

Forty-one properties owned by the Archdiocese of Agana have been deemed “non-essential” and will be the first to be liquidated if and when additional money is needed for settlement negotiations with litigants in the pending clergy sex abuse cases against the church.

Archdiocesan Finance Council President Richard Untalan told media during the third press conference held this week that “thousands of man-hours” went into compiling a list of all church properties.

The finance council provided media with two lists of properties marked “essential” and “non-essential.”

“The Guam Catholic Church essential properties is defined as such: the church buildings and the surrounding grounds, the schools and the surrounding grounds, Kamalin Karidat, Catholic Social Service and surrounding grounds and four leasehold properties that we consider essential to maintaining the operation of the chancery and this archdiocese,” Untalan said. “Everything else falls under non-essential.”

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Victim alleges sex abuse before grandma’s funeral

GUAM
The Guam Daily Post

Neil Pang | The Guam Daily Post Jul 13, 2017

Attorney David Lujan filed five more clergy sex abuse lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Agana, Boy Scouts of America and two former Guam priests in federal court yesterday afternoon.

One of the cases alleges defrocked priest Raymond Cepeda abused a boy after officiating the funeral Mass for the boy’s deceased grandmother, and while in a car ride to the burial site.

The latest cases also added more cases against former Guam priest Louis Brouillard.

With the complaints filed by W.E.T., R.W.J. and P.P.R., the number of individuals who have come forward accusing Brouillard of child sexual abuse now totals 52.

As with the previously filed cases, the three newest plaintiffs accusing Brouillard also name the Boy Scouts of America Chamorro District as a co-defendant. They are seeking $10 million each in damages.

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Friar who once served Pittsburgh diocese accused of sex abuse in N.H.

PENNSYLVANIA
Trib Live

JASON CATO | Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh this week notified parishes and alumni of a high school that a priest who worked there is accused of sexual abuse.

The Rev. Michael Ledoux, 55, a Franciscan friar, served as pastor of St. Pamphilus in Beechview from 1993-95; headmaster of Serra Catholic High School in McKeesport from 1995 to 2000; and worked as an adjunct professor at Duquesne University from 1997 through 2000.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported this month that Ledoux resigned in July as a dean at Widener University in Chester because school officials learned of a 2003 allegation that he sexually abused a teenage boy in the 1980s in New Hampshire.

Ledoux could not be reached for comment. …

A lawyer representing the New Hampshire accuser contacted church officials in January 2003, saying that Ledoux sexually abused a teen boy in 1987 or 1988. A Catholic Diocese of Manchester, N.H., report states that Ledoux’s Franciscan order learned of the allegations in 2002.

The diocese forwarded the complaint to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. Authorities never filed charges.

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Church foresees full resolution of clergy abuse cases

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

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

Archbishop Michael Jude Byrnes said the church is looking forward to a full and complete resolution of all clergy sexual abuse cases, as he acknowledged the nine latest accusers on Thursday.

“The abuse of children is one of the most horrible of crimes, precisely because it is perpetrated upon the most vulnerable and innocent among us by people of power and so-called trust. Let no one diminish victims of abuse, for they have already suffered immensely,” Byrnes said in a statement that also offers prayers, hope and healing for the latest victims, A.Q., B.C., T.M., F.A.M., M.M., R.M.S., R.P., J.A. and S.N.J.C.

The Archdiocese of Agana is now facing 91 childhood sexual abuse cases in local and federal court.

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Ex-Bishop McDevitt teacher gets prison in student-sex case

PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive

By Matt Miller mmiller@pennlive.com

A former Bishop McDevitt High School teacher was sentenced to 11 1/2 to 23 months in Dauphin County Prison on Thursday morning for molesting two of her female students.

President Judge Richard A. Lewis imposed that penalty after 34-year-old Randi Lynn Zurenko begged for mercy for the sake of her five children.

Zurenko, of Millerstown, Perry County, pleaded guilty to a legion of charges, including institutional sexual assault, unlawful contact with minors, corruption of minors, possessing child pornography and disseminating obscene material to minors.

She was arrested last fall after one of the victims went to police and described years of sexual and psychological abuse at Zerenko’s hands.

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VATICAN SETS TRIAL FOR 2 EX-ADMINISTRATORS OF HOSPITAL

VATICAN CITY
Associated Press

BY NICOLE WINFIELD
ASSOCIATED PRESS

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Vatican prosecutors have indicted the former president and ex-treasurer of the Vatican-owned children’s hospital for allegedly diverting money from the hospital’s fundraising foundation to pay for renovating a top cardinal’s apartment.

The indictment released Thursday orders Giuseppe Profiti and Massimo Spina to stand trial in the Vatican tribunal starting next Tuesday.

The indictment accuses the two of using 422,000 euros ($481,000) from the Bambino Gesu Pediatric Hospital’s fundraising foundation to pay for renovating Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone’s apartment starting in 2013, when he retired as Vatican secretary of state.

Profiti, whose administration was the subject of a recent AP investigation into quality of care problems at the “pope’s hospital,” has admitted to the payment but said it was an investment so that the foundation could use the apartment for fundraising events.

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Former administrators of Bambino Gesù Foundation indicted

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The Holy See Press Office has issued a statement concerning indictments for embezzlement of funds from the Bambino Gesù Foundation, which exists to support the work of the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital.

The Statement says the former President of the Foundation, Giuseppe Profiti, and the former Treasurer of the same Foundation, Massimo Spina, were summoned to appear before the court to answer charges that they diverted more than four hundred thousand euro (€400,000) belonging to the Foundation.

The charges were brought by the Office of the Promoter for Justice, the Vatican prosecutor, at the end of a preliminary investigation into the misuses of Foundation funds. A preliminary hearing has been set for Tuesday, 18 July.

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Former president, treasurer of Pope’s hospital charged with misuse of funds

VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Agency

By Hannah Brockhaus

Vatican City, Jul 13, 2017 / 06:22 am (CNA).- The Vatican announced Thursday that an investigation involving the former president and treasurer of the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesù hospital in Rome will proceed to trial before the Vatican court.

The former president, Giuseppe Profiti, and former treasurer, Massimo Spina, have been charged with the illicit use of hospital funds in the amount of 422,005.16 euros ($480,600.58) for the refurbishment of the apartment where Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone lives.

The crime is said to have been carried out during the period of November 2013-May 28, 2014 and to have benefited the construction firm of Italian businessman Gianantonio Bandera, which was carrying out the renovations on the apartment.

Profiti and Spina were summoned to appear before the court by a June 16, 2017 decree from the president of the Vatican Tribunal, Giuseppe Dalla Torre. The first hearing will take place July 18.

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Vatican charges two ex-officials over funding for Cardinal Bertone’s apartment

VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Jul. 13, 2017

ROME

Vatican prosecutors are pressing charges against two former leaders of the Vatican-run Bambino Gesu hospital for allegedly redirecting funds from the hospital’s foundation to pay for renovations of former Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone’s apartment.

The Vatican announced indictments July 13 against Giuseppe Profiti, the former president of the hospital, and Massimo Spina, its former treasurer. The two have been ordered to stand trial starting July 18.

The announcement alleges the two ex-officials “used money belonging to the Bambino Gesu Foundation in an illicit way.” It specifies that they allegedly paid more than 422,000 euros “to restore a building … meant as the residence of the emeritus Secretary of State.”

The Vatican had announced the investigation of Profiti and Spina in March 2016. Greg Burke, the director of the Holy See Press Office, said at the time that Bertone himself was not facing inquiry.

While Bertone has not admitted any guilt in the matter, he made a large donation of 150,000 euros to the Bambino Gesu in December 2015 after a book published in Italy detailed the spending on his apartment.

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Vatican hospital officials indicted for funding cardinal’s flat

VATICAN CITY
Metro

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – A Holy See tribunal has indicted two former top officials of a children’s hospital on charges of diverting nearly half a million dollars to renovate the apartment of a high-ranking cardinal, the Vatican said on Thursday.

The two, Giuseppe Profiti and Massimo Spina, respectively the former president and treasurer of the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesu hospital in Rome, were ordered to stand trial, a statement said. The first hearing was set for July 18.

The indictment accuses the two men of spending 422,000 euros ($481,000) in 2013 and 2014 on refurbishing the large Vatican apartment of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who was not indicted.

Profiti and Spina made no immediate comment.

Bertone, 82, was the Vatican secretary of state for most of the pontificate of former Pope Benedict and was one of the most powerful men in the Holy See.

He was removed from office in 2013, eight months after the election of Pope Francis. The renovation work started a few weeks later on the spacious property, which is next door to the Vatican guest house, where the pope lives in a modest suite.

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SALEM STATE UNIVERSITY PRESENTS UNCOVERING TRUTHS

MASSACHUSETTS
Salem State Univeristy via BishopAccountability.org

with filmmaker Joe Cultrera and investigative reporter Mike Rezendes

THURSDAY, JULY 13, 2017

6:30 pm (doors open at 6:00 pm)
Admission is free but seating is limited
Salem Visitors Center,
2 New Liberty Street,
Salem, MA

Please join us for a riveting conversation between documentary filmmaker and co-founder of Salem Film Fest Joe Cultrera and Michael Rezendes, an investigative reporter with the Boston Globe Spotlight Team who shared a Pulitzer Prize for revealing the cover-up of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Preceded by a special screening of Cultrera’s deeply personal documentary HAND OF GOD, this conversation will focus on the documentarian/journalist role in uncovering truths as seen through the lens of a scandal that rocked the Salem community and the nation.

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Church properties on the chopping block identified

GUAM
Pacific News Center

The Redemptoris Mater Seminary property in Yona has the highest value amongst the properties the church owns.

Guam – The Archdiocese of Agana has identified a total of 86 properties so far it owns of which 41 are on the chopping block as part of settlement negotiations. However, at this point, the church does not want to disclose the value of those properties

Two days after the Archdiocese of Agana announced their intention to assess parishes and schools additional charges in order to raise $2.5 million for their 2018 operating budget, today they disclosed the number of properties they have at their disposal.

Archdiocesan Finance Council President Richard Untalan and other members of the finance council handed out a listing of properties the Archdiocese owns. There are a total of 86 they have identified so far.

The list is divided into two: essential and non-essential properties. Essential properties are, for the most part, parishes and schools, as well as four lease-hold properties that include the San Vitores shrine, the Civille and Tang law office building, the Epicure building and the FHP lease property. These properties are not available for sale or liquidation and are “essential” to the archdiocese in order to operate.

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5 new clergy sex abuse suits name Cepeda, Brouillard

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

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

Five new Guam clergy sex abuse cases were filed in federal court Thursday, accusing former priest Louis Brouillard and defrocked priest Raymond Cepeda of molesting boys decades ago.

The five plaintiffs, represented by attorney David Lujan, bring to 91 the total number of childhood sexual abuse lawsuits filed so far in local or federal courts against the Archdiocese of Agana. Priests, the Boy Scouts of America and other entities are also listed as defendants in the lawsuits.

Plaintiffs identified in court documents only as N.P.J.D. and B.B.J., to protect their privacy, alleged that Cepeda abused them. They demand a jury trial and $5 million in minimum damages each.

N.P.J.D., now 50, said he was 12 or 13 around 1979 or 1980 when Cepeda molested him. The boy was a student at Santa Barbara Catholic School in Dededo, according to the lawsuit.

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Confesor y pedófilo: el Vaticano le iniciará un juicio canónico al cura acusado de abuso

ARGENTINA
TN

[Confessor and pedophile: The Vatican will initiate a canonical trial to the priest accused of abuse.
In addition to the process he faces in Justice, Carlos José will be investigated by the church.]

Dos jóvenes del colegio de la parroquia San José Obrero de Caseros aseguran haber sido víctimas de abuso desde los 10 años. Las chicas, que no se conocen entre sí, denunciaron que el culpable es el sacerdote Carlos José. Acorralado por las acusaciones, el cura renunció a su cargo. Tras la difusión mediática del caso, esta tarde se conoció que el Vaticano le hará un juicio canónico.

Carlos José, además, enfrenta un juicio penal por abuso sexual sufrido por dos chicas, que ahora son mayores, pero que al momento del delito tenían 10 años. Ayer se supo que el cura renunció hace 15 días, cuando supo que la información iba a trascender en la televisión.

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En Argentina, ya son 65 los curas denunciados por abuso

ARGENTINA
Sin Mordaza

[In Argentina, there are already 65 priests denounced for abuse.]

La Iglesia argentina agregó un nuevo pedófilo a su extensa historia de abusos contra menores al conocerse la denuncia contra el cura Carlos José, quien hoy renunció al sacerdocio, con lo que ya suman 65 los miembros denunciados por abuso sexual desde que en 2002 estalló el escándalo del cura Julio César Grassi. De esta manera, en la Argentina más de cuatro curas son denunciados, en promedio, cada año por haber cometido abuso y de todos ellos, hasta ahora, sólo tres fueron condenados con la máxima pena dentro de la Iglesia, la expulsión del sacerdocio.

Dos mujeres contaron los abusos a los que las sometió el ex sacerdote José cuando eran menores hace más de una década. El cura, quien se desempeñaba en el colegio San Francisco Javier, en la localidad bonaerense de Caseros, está acusado por los delitos de abuso sexual simple y agravado.

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Records: Priest admitted in 2007 to using parish checks for home construction

MICHIGAN
Lansing State Journal

Beth LeBlanc, Lansing State Journal

July 12, 2017

A decade before he was charged with embezzlement, Rev. Jonathan Wehrle admitted to writing checks from St. Martha Parish to pay for the construction of his $1.48 million home.

In November 2007, Wehrle told lawyer Michael Ryan that at times he transferred money from his personal accounts to the church’s account, then issued checks from the church’s account for personal use.

“Why would you do that?” Ryan asked, according to the transcript from the 2007 deposition.

“Convenience,” Wehrle said.

Police and prosecutors have alleged Wehrle used money from St. Martha Parish to pay for work and materials at his Williamston home. At a hearing last week, Assistant Ingham County Prosecutor Andrew Stevens said an ongoing audit estimates about $5 million is missing from the parish.

Wehrle’s attorney argues there was an understanding between Wehrle and the Diocese of Lansing regarding use of parish funds.

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Cardinal George Pell hires ‘Australia’s best lawyer’ to fight historic sex charges for rumoured $11,000 a day – and underworld figure Mick Gatto has ‘his name tattooed across his chest’

AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail

By Josh Hanrahan For Daily Mail Australia

The top lawyer who will defend Cardinal George Pell against his multiple charges of historic sexual offences has successfully defended hitmen and underworld figures.

Robert Richter, QC, will be the face of the defence for Australia’s top ranking catholic when his looming court date arrives after returning to Victoria from the Vatican City.

Having made a name for himself defending Mick Gatto over the shooting of Andrew ‘Benji’ Veniamin at the height of the underworld war, it’s believed Mr Richter is in line to be paid $11,000 a day for defending Cardinal Pell, Nine News reports.

In 2004 the 71-year-old successfully convinced a jury Gatto’s shooting of Veniamin was in self-defence, leading to the notorious ‘Big Mick’ being acquitted of murder.

After the trial, a thrilled Gatto went and got ‘Robert Richter’ tattooed on his chest.

Known as ‘The Red Baron’, Mr Richter’s work has be described as ‘sheer brilliance’ by his peers.

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Clinton youth pastor arrested for indecent behavior with a juvenile

LOUISIANA
WAFB

By Samantha Morgan, Digital Content Executive Producer

ZACHARY, LA (WAFB) –
A youth pastor is facing criminal charges for an alleged sexual relationship he had with a female when she was a juvenile.

According to the Zachary Police Department, detectives arrested and charged Clayton Hand, 25, and charged him with indecent behavior with a juvenile.

The investigation against Head as launched in May 2017 after allegations about inappropriate relationships surfaced.

Zachary Police Chief David McDavid confirms that three victims came forward with allegations. However, investigators were only able to confirm that one victim was underage at the time the contact occurred.

The alleged relationship occurred roughly four years ago.

Hand is a youth pastor at a church located in Clinton, but the interaction between Hand and the teen happened in the Zachary area.

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Former youth minister will stand trial on sexual assault charges

PENNSYLVANIA
WPXI

A former Mt. Lebanon youth pastor will stand trial on charges that he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl he was supposed to mentor.

Channel 11 first reported on Monday that Nicholas Lies, 21, worked at Southminster Church last year when investigators said he was with the teen.

Court paperwork said the sexual abuse started in April of 2016 and continued for five months.

Most of the incidents happened inside Lies’ car at Bird Park, less than a mile from the church.

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Guam’s Catholic church could sell 41 properties to settle clergy abuse cases

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

[with video]

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

The Guam Catholic church’s financial arm on Thursday released a list of 41 non-essential properties that could be sold to help settle more than 90 Guam clergy sexual abuse cases.

The most valuable of the assets are the former Accion Hotel, which now houses the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona, the chancery complex where the archbishop lives, and the former Thomas Aquinas High School in Ordot, the Archdiocesan Finance Council said.

The seminary in Yona has been run by the Neocatechumenal Way. Richard Untalan, president of the council, said matters related to the seminary are being handled by the Seminary Review Committee. He said the property is available as part of the settlement process, but the property has not been appraised for quite a while.

The Archdiocese of Agana is facing 91 childhood sexual abuse cases in local or federal court.

The archdiocese, through its Hope and Healing initiative, is trying to settle the sexual abuse cases out of court. Parties have yet to decide which retired California judge will handle the mediation, said attorney David Lujan, counsel for most plaintiffs, on Tuesday.

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Claretians Roman Catholic Order Settles Sexual Abuse Lawsuit

ILLINOIS
NBC Chicago

The Claretians Roman Catholic order has settled a lawsuit from a man sexually abused as a 6-year-old by a teenager who later became a prominent priest in Chicago, confirming in the settlement obtained by The Associated Press that the longtime cleric recently left the priesthood.

But Bruce Wellems, 60, still works as executive director of a non-profit that offers youth mentoring, alternative schooling and other programs for children, according to a staff list at the Peace and Education Coalition. Its head office is also located in the same southwest side Chicago church where he served as priestfor two decades.

The settlement was signed in May and not released publicly. It does not say exactly when Wellems asked to be released from the priesthood but it would have been since the lawsuit was filed in September.

The Chicago-based Claretians did not agree to one request of the now 52-year-old victim, Eric Johnson, that the order release records of all its priests credibly accused of sexual abuse, as several other Catholic orders have done.

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U.S.-based Nigerian pastor jailed 15 years for raping two teenage church members

NEW YORK
Africa News

Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban

NIGERIA
A 56-year-old United States-based Nigerian pastor has been jailed 15 years for raping two teenage girls who were part of his congregation.

Aside serving jail time, Reuben Chizor, of the Hope Restoration Ministries Worldwide Inc. Will also have 10 years of post release supervision.

According to the District Attorney of Queens County, Richard A. Brown, Chizor raped both girls in the basement of his church which also served as his residence.

‘‘The sexual abuse began with the 14-year-old victim in July 2011 and continued with one or both of the girls through May of 2013,’‘ a statement from the Attorney’s office read.

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Abuse victim urges NSW Government to hurry up and sign up to National Redress Scheme

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Elloise Farrow-Smith

When Robbie Gambley was a boy, he dreamed of cars. Driving them, fixing them, owning them.

His abuser used that passion, turning a boy’s dream into a predator’s advantage, and life into a nightmare for Mr Gambley.

After he was abused by his school teacher, Mr Gambley lost his way to drugs and alcohol and the dream of being a mechanic disappeared in a haze of guilt and shame.

For 25 years, Mr Gambley hid the truth of what his male school science teacher did to him.

His young life became ruled by excessive expressions of masculinity, in a bid to erase the memory of his abuser.

Throughout the late 1970s and early 80s, Mr Gambley drank heavily, used drugs, and rode motorbikes with reckless abandon. He reflects upon this as his death wish, a way to end the pain.

“I lived with this by myself and it had a massive effect,” he said.

“I never married, I haven’t got children, that’s a great sadness to me now.”

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Statute Of Limitations On Child Abuse Cases Should Be Longer

NEW YORK
Post-Journal

Editorial

Rarely does a month go by without us having to publish a police or court report involving an adult who has victimized a child sexually.

It was only a few short weeks ago we reported charges against a Cassadaga man accused of alleged sexual conduct with a child under the age of 11. There are enough such cases for Patrick Swanson, county district attorney, to suggest adding money to his budget next year to assign a prosecutor solely to sexual crimes against children.

New York state has tough penalties for those who victimize children, but clearly criminal penalties for those who prey on children are not sufficient to deter some. And, we know that sometimes it can take years for young victims to process what happened to them. Under current law, the statute of limitations begins when the victim turns 18. Under the Child Victims Act, approved in the state Assembly, in cases involving a felony sex crime against a minor that have a statute of limitations for criminal prosecution, the limitations period would have begun when the victim turned 23 years of age while the statute of limitations for civil cases would be extended until the victim turns 50. Both Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, R-Jamestown, and Joseph Giglio, R-Gowanda, voted in favor of the change, but a companion bill didn’t make it out of the state Senate’s Rules Committee.

If there is a good reason why the Senate chose not to take action we’d like to hear it. If there is none, then we expect the state Senate should give the Child Victims Act a fair airing on the Senate floor when the legislature convenes its next session.

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The great and good shouldn’t stoke conspiracies

UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

David Aaronovitch

The child abuse inquiry and the Grenfell investigation are undermined by remarks from those who should know better

Dark Forces eh? True, Professor Alexis Jay, head of the infinite Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, did not actually use this phrase. But, deployed in the headline above an interview she gave at the weekend, it conveyed her meaning. Dark Forces wanted her to fail.

Professor Jay actually told her questioner that “strong vested interests would like to see this inquiry implode”. And she continued: “There are institutions which would prefer to see us fail, because we are such a threat.”

I’d say “dark forces” covers that. Especially since Professor Jay did not offer any suggestion as to who or what these vested interests were, or indeed cite any evidence she had for the claim that they wanted her to fail. I did call the inquiry press office for some elaboration and was told politely that, “We’re not going beyond the interview but thanks for getting in touch”.

Professor Jay will be able to get in contact and put me straight if she does have answers. At the same time she could deal with my contention that, deliberately or not, she created the impression that these dark forces may have tried to undermine the inquiry. In other words that “they” had helped to contrive accusations of sexual misconduct on the part of one of the lawyers associated with the inquiry as a way of killing off the whole thing. (By the way, both the lawyer and Professor Jay herself have been exonerated recently in separate inquiries.)

This return to the language of conspiracism was unfortunate. Because, among all the genuine revelations of historical institutional child abuse (most child abuse, lest we forget, is not institutional), there have been a number of elaborate conspiracy theories about “VIP” abuse and its supposed cover-up. From the Geoffrey Dickens “dossier” to the accusations of murder by the fantasist “Nick” against Harvey Proctor, Lord Brittan, Lord Bramall and Sir Edward Heath, these cases have wasted time, diverted attention and blighted the lives of the innocent.

These phenomena have caused collateral damage to the inquiry. But its underlying problem is nothing to do with vested interests, dark forces or powerful individuals. It is that its scope is far too great and stretches from offering a therapeutic function for victims to discovering the truth; its expense — it employs 200 staff — is huge; the opportunity cost in terms of official time is vast; and its value to present and future sufferers of child abuse is likely to be negligible. Indeed, in her weekend interview Professor Jay more or less suggested that she already knew what the patterns of historical institutional child abuse had been.

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Seminary is first church property that could be sold

GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Jul 13, 2017

By Krystal Paco

It’s been at the center of controversy and divide amongst traditional Catholics and members of the Neocatechumenal Way. The Redemptoris Mater Seminary has been under fire for years, critics questioning the credibility of the seminary and the quality of the priests being formed there.

While it has yet to be formally appraised, KUAM files show the RMS is estimated to value up to $75 million and likely the Church’s most valuable asset.

Today, Church officials confirm the Yona property is the first on a list of properties that could be sold to pay out the multimillion dollar sex abuse lawsuits now plaguing the Church.

The Archdiocese of Agana presented an inventory of their properties today, mostly to depict what could be sold to pay for the 80-plus sex abuse lawsuits filed against the Church.

Unsurprisingly, the Redemptoris Mater Seminary at the top of the list of 41 potential properties listed as non-essential.

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WA bishop hired paedophile priest despite previous sex abuse, letters reveals

AUSTRALIA
WA Today

[with documents]

Andrew Elstermann

Documents tendered to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse have revealed that Bunbury Bishop John Goody agreed to hire a priest in 1959 – despite knowing he had previously sexually abused a number of boys.

In June 1958, Father William Kevin Glover was removed as a superior and parish priest in Victoria for “immoral and criminal sexual behaviour with boys and male adolescents”.

He was given a formal canonical warning and sent to a 30-day penitential retreat in Armidale, NSW.

Having been assigned a new parish, Glover was brought to Sydney in July 1959 and given a second canonical warning for committing similar offences.

Despite this, an agreement was reached in early September that Father Glover would be accepted into the Catholic Diocese of Bunbury on a three-year trial, following an appeal for priests from Bunbury’s Bishop Goody.

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How the Catholic Church’s hierarchy makes it difficult to punish sexual abusers

UNITED STATES
SFGate

Mathew Schmalz, College of the Holy Cross
Thursday, July 13, 2017

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

(THE CONVERSATION) Cardinal George Pell, a top adviser to Pope Francis, returned to his native Australia July 10 to face criminal charges related to sexual assault. While the specific allegations and names of the accusers have not been made public, Cardinal Pell maintains that he has been a victim of “character assassination.” His case will be decided by an Australian court.

This is not the first time the Catholic Church has been rocked by charges of sexual abuse. While reforms in the Catholic Church in the United States have made it mandatory for priests to report instances of sexual abuse, there still remains much work to be done in the Catholic Church worldwide.

From my perspective as a Catholic scholar of religion, one of the challenges in tackling this issue is the hierarchy of the church itself. It is still difficult to hold high-ranking clerics responsible, either for the misdeeds of their subordinates or for the crimes that they may have committed themselves.

At the top of the Catholic Church’s hierarchy is the pope. He is said to be the successor of the Apostle Peter, about whom Christ said, “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church.”

For Catholics, the pope is that “rock” that gives the church a firm foundation. The pope is considered to speak infallibly, “without error,” under specific conditions concerning doctrine and morals. But he is not infallible when it comes to personal judgment such as whom he chooses to get advice from.

Under the pope are bishops, who serve the pope as successors to the original 12 apostles who followed Jesus.

There are also cardinals, who are appointed by the pope, and only they can elect his successor.

Cardinals also govern the church between papal elections. Cardinals rank higher than bishops, so not all bishops are cardinals. But now all cardinals are bishops, although in the past there have been exceptions. George Pell is both a bishop and a cardinal, as well as the third-ranking official at the Vatican.

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Christian Brothers sell former Clonkeen College playing fields

IRELAND
Irish Times

Áine McMahon

The Christian Brothers have sold the 7.5 acres of land that was previously used as playing pitches by Clonkeen College in south Dublin.

It emerged last month that the school had been told on May 3rd a “legally binding” contract had been entered into with local homebuilder Patrick Durkan snr, to sell the playing fields for a reported €18 million.

Negotiations for the sale had been ongoing for 12 months, without the school’s knowledge.

Minister for Education Richard Bruton on Wednesday confirmed the land has been sold in response to a parliamentary question from Labour TD Joan Burton.

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Christian Brothers sell Dublin school pitches to raise money for clerical abuse compensation schem

IRELAND
Breaking News

13/07/2017

Playing pitches at a south Dublin school, which were controversially put on the market, have been sold.

Parents and staff at Clonkeen College in Deansgrange had tried to block the sale of the 7.5 acres for housing.

The Christian Brothers said they needed to raise money for a compensation scheme for survivors of abuse.

Local politicians unsuccessfully tried to have the land rezoned so it could only be used for recreational purposes.

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Cardinal ‘knew about priest’s conviction’

AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

JULY 13, 2017

Megan Neil
Australian Associated Press

Australia’s first Catholic cardinal suspended a priest who exposed himself to children but the man later returned to parish work and allegedly abused a boy, documents before a royal commission reveal.

The Catholic Church’s insurance company refused to cover a claim that Father Robert Alban McNeill abused a boy in the 1980s because of Sydney archdiocese’s prior knowledge in 1969/1970 of “the offender’s propensities”.

A 2004 Catholic Church Insurances Ltd letter to the Diocese of Broken Bay said Fr McNeill’s 1970 conviction for sexual offences involving children was brought to then Sydney archbishop Sir Norman Thomas Gilroy’s attention at the time.

The 1940-1971 Sydney archbishop became the first Australian-born member of the Sacred College of Cardinals in 1946 and was the 1970 Australian of the Year.

Tendered documents released by the child abuse royal commission show Fr McNeill was fined for exposing himself to children in 1969 and 1970 when he said he was suffering from depression and a nervous breakdown.

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July 12, 2017

Cocaine Found in Raid at Vatican Apartment is the Latest Scandal to Rock the Vatican

UNITED STATES
The Legal Examiner

Posted by Mark Bello
July 12, 2017

It is no secret that the Vatican has been sweeping the issue of pedophilia under the rug for many years. As many of my readers know, I provide a vivid, albeit fictional, account of the Church’s ‘conspiracy of silence’ in my recent clergy abuse legal thriller, “Betrayal of Faith.” But, fact can often mirror fiction- in 2014, the UN issued a scathing report, blasting the Vatican for protecting pedophiles.

On the heels of Cardinal George Pell being charged with child sex abuse, another scandal has been uncovered in Rome.

According to reports, Vatican police raided an apartment owned by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) and discovered that a drug-fueled homosexual orgy was taking place. The CDF is the branch that reviews appeals from clergy found guilty of sexual abuse of minors.

Police became suspicious after neighbors (all high prelates of the Church) in the building complained repeatedly about “a steady stream of young men” and loud parties during all hours of the night. Msgr. Luigi Capozzi, secretary to Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, one of Pope Francis’ key advisors, was arrested in the raid. At the time, Capozzi was allegedly so high on cocaine that he was hospitalized for detoxification. Prior to the raid, Capozzi was slated to become a bishop at Cardinal Coccopalmerio’s recommendation.

There are several unexplained facts about the scandal:

* Reports state that the middle-of-the-night raid happened nearly two months prior, yet not a word was said by Vatican officials. The Italian media broke the story last week after receiving inside information.

* Msgr. Capozzi had an apartment that is officially for use by top officials of the Roman Curia. According to an Italian newspaper, the Monsieur also had access to a car with Vatican plates. Those plates made him virtually exempt from searches by the Italian police; could the vehicle have facilitated the transportation of illegal drugs?

* Despite Capozzi’s arrest months ago, he is still listed as an active staff member on the website of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legal Texts.

* After being released from the hospital, Capozzi was taken to an undisclosed monastery outside Rome for a spiritual retreat.

* There is speculation that Cardinal Coccopalmerio knew about the orgies and did nothing about them.

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Former priest charged with sex abuse in Aurora faces deportation

ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune

Dan Campana
Aurora Beacon-News

Alfredo Pedraza Arias, the former Aurora priest charged with fondling two young girls, has been detained by immigration officials and faces deportation to his native Colombia, court records show.

Arias, 50, has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving the girls who were under the age of 6 at the time of the incidents at Sacred Heart Church in Aurora which occurred between 2012 and 2014, according to Kane County prosecutors.

Arias was free on $50,000 bail until officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took him into custody May 4. A month later, on June 14, he was ordered to be deported, court records show.

In light of that, prosecutors have asked Kane County Judge Linda Abrahamson to revoke or increase Arias’ bail to ensure he remained in the country for his trial, which originally was scheduled to begin July 31, but has been continued to a yet-to-be-determined date.

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After ‘Jewish Taliban’ Leader’s Drowning, Young Boy Tells of Abuse: ‘This Is Hell’

ISRAEL
Haaretz

Boy, 14, tells of men in Lev Tahor cult, now in Mexico, who ‘undressed me and beat me and kicked me many times. And did bad things to me many times.’

Allison Kaplan Sommer Jul 12, 2017

In the aftermath of the drowning of Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans, leader of the “Jewish Taliban” cult Lev Tahor in Mexico, the ultra-Orthodox press in Israel has been rife with reports regarding the location of his funeral and burial, and speculation as to which member of the cult will succeed him as leader of the reclusive group of 40 families believed to be in a remote southern part of Mexico, weeks after fleeing Guatemala, where they had lived for three years.

One ultra-Orthodox website, Kikar HaShabbat, published a short but disturbing video account of life inside the cult recorded in stealth by a 14-year-old member, describing severe abuse at the hands of men in Lev Tahor.

The blurred video showed only the boy’s hat, chest and sidecurls as he gives his testimony from a bowed position in halting Yiddish. The website bleeped the names of the Lev Tahor members he named.

“I’ve lived in Lev Tahor for 12 and a half years and I want to tell you everything,” the boy says. “I’ve been living in this hell that everyone claims is made up and untrue – it is true. I want to tell you about the things that are happening in Lev Tahor.

“I wrote down on a piece of paper all of the things I want to talk about,” he continues. “Bad things are happening here. First, I want to tell about XXXX. He is a bad teacher. He does bad things to children. He hits children, kicks them and does other bad things.”

The boy continues to charge that another member of the group “killed a baby and another man. He hits and kicks all of the children.” He added that the men he named “undressed me and beat me and kicked me many times. And did bad things to me many times. At first, I thought they were good Jews. But then I saw they were bad people.”

Another ultra-Orthodox website, B’Hadrei Haredim, published an interview with a Philadelphia rabbi who said he was in touch with two Lev Tahor members in Mexico. He denied there was abuse in the cult, saying only that they had a “strict regime.” The rabbi told the story of Helbrans’ death, saying that on Friday he was at a river and slipped, hit his head on a rock, was carried away by the current and lost consciousness, and that attempts by his followers to rescue him had been unsuccessful.

Feared Israeli intervention

The rabbi said Helbrans’ body was recovered by Mexican authorities and examined, but no autopsy was performed. Fearing that the Israeli government would intervene and bring Helbrans’ body back to Israel, the rabbi said, Lev Tahor members turned to the mayor of Guatemala City, where they had lived previously, asking him to request the release of the body from Mexico for burial in Guatemala. The rabbi said the entreaties had been successful and that Helbrans had been buried in Guatemala.

The group, the rabbi said, had only crossed the border to Mexico three weeks ago, after three years of living in multiple locations in Guatemala. They left, he said, because they feared apprehension by Israeli authorities. Families of Lev Tahor members have been pressuring the Israeli government for years to assist them in repatriating their relatives, claiming they are being drugged and abused, and that underage girls were regularly married off to older men. The group fled Canada three years ago, after authorities there investigated allegations that Lev Tahor was physically and sexually abusing children, and removed some of them from their homes.

A report in the Yeshiva World News said Helbrans would be succeeded as leader by Rabbi Meir Rosner, reportedly the head of Lev Tahor’s yeshiva.

In a 2014 story on the group in the Canadian press, a former Lev Tahor member charged that Rosner had taken his money, claiming that he wasn’t capable of managing his own finances.

Another story, written the previous year, investigated the cult’s finances, and quoted Rosner vehemently denying that the millions of dollars flowing through the group’s accounts went to line the pockets of its leadership while rank and file members lived in poverty. Two of Helbrans’ sons are with the group, while a third, Rabbi Natan Helbrans, remained in Canada with a breakaway faction. This week, an Israeli ultra-Orthodox website in Israel, Haredi 10, reported that Natan Helbrans’ followers were “preparing to crown” him as his father’s successor and invited members of the group in Mexico to abandon the leaders who were at his father’s side and “come to Canada and accept his authority.”

The younger Helbrans said he would rebuild the community on a more “open, normal” and “successful” model that would be less strict and “open it to all those who seek God,” indicating that while the group would remain strictly Orthodox he would do away with the Taliban-style, burka-like black robes worn by women that earned the group its nickname.

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Diocese of Palm Beach loses fight to toss priest’s defamation suit

FLORIDA
Palm Beach Post

Jane Musgrave Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 12, 2017

WEST PALM BEACH
A priest will be allowed to sue the Diocese of Palm Beach for defamation after a judge this week rejected claims that the constitutional separation of church and state prevents the lawsuit from being decided in a secular court.

In a four-page order, Palm Beach County Circuit Meenu Sasser on Tusday said Rev. John Gallagher’s claims that the diocese defamed him by calling him a liar who needed “professional assistance” can be decided without getting involved in the policies of the Catholic church.

Further, she said, the diocese made many of its claims about Gallagher publicly. The diocese posted three comments on its website vehemently disputing Gallagher’s allegations that it tried to cover up sexual abuse by a visiting priest. It repeated its dim view of Gallagher’s veracity in a letter Bishop Gerald Barbarito ordered by read at all Masses in the five-county diocese in January 2016.

“This court also notes the public nature of these statements,” Sasser wrote. While attorneys representing the diocese claimed the lawsuit was barred by the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine, which prevents secular courts from becoming involved in religious affairs, Sasser disagreed.

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PAEDOS IN ROBES Revealed – the depressing history of Catholic Church sex scandals

UNITED KINGDOM
The Sun

Allegations have been levelled across the world with the Vatican saying at least 3,400 credible cases were referred to it between 2004 and 2014

By Guy Birchall
12th July 2017

FOR years now the Catholic Church has been rocked by child sex abuse allegations on an almost biblical scale.

Accusations against priests have been levelled across the world with the Vatican saying at least 3,400 credible cases were referred to it between 2004 and 2014.

Years and billions of dollars later the full scale of the abuse around the world is not yet known, and the full extent may never be revealed.

Along with the allegations of abuse, cover-ups are also said to have been commonplace amongst the clergy.

But some countries have gone to extraordinary lengths to uncover the crimes committed by men of the cloth.

The Sun looks at just some of the harrowing figures and facts that surround this deeply troubling story of abuse by those who children trusted were doing the work of God.

USA

Abuse by Catholic priests first reared its ugly head in the USA to the public in Louisiana in 1985.

The Rev. Gilbert Gauthe pleaded guilty to 11 counts of molesting boys, shocking the country.

It became clear he had been abusing kids for decades and he would eventually confess to a psychologist to abusing more than 300 children. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

This case and several books in the 1990s served to raise some awareness of the case but the true extent of the problem would not be revealed until 2002.

That year the Boston Globe published an exhaustive list of abuse that had taken place in the Boston area, an event captured in the Oscar winning film Spotlight.

This prompted victims to come forward and more and more lawsuits filed against various Catholic dioceses across the country.

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Leeds victim of sex abuse choirmaster launches bid for compensation

UNITED KINGDOM
Yorkshire Evening Post

A Leeds man who was sexually abused by a choirmaster and former magistrate for five years has urged victims of similar offences to come forward as he revealed plans to take legal action over his ordeal.

The abuse Roy Blanchard suffered at the hands of Kenneth Endersby, a choirmaster and organist at St Stephen’s church in Kirkstall, began in 1966 when he was 11.

It was only last year that Endersby was found guilty of ten offences at Leeds Crown Court and jailed for eight years.

Lawyers for Mr Blanchard, who waived his anonymity to speak to the YEP, are preparing to issue legal proceedings in the High Court in a bid to get compensation.

They believe the correct defendant is the Parochial Church Council (PCC) of Kirkstall and are in discussions with the Church of England Diocese of Leeds to establish who the correct insurer would be.

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Altar boy abused by Derby paedophile priest receives £95,000 compensation

UNITED KINGDOM
Derby Telegraph

By ICrowsonDT | Posted: July 12, 2017

A former Derby altar boy who was subjected to years of sexual abuse by a paedophile priest has received £95,000 in compensation from the Catholic Church.

Father Francis Cullen was jailed for 15 years in 2014 after admitting abusing five boys and two girls over a 34-year period.

Four of his victims were targeted while he worked at Christ the King church in Mackworth.

And now one former altar boy, who was just eight years old when Cullen started to molest him, has been given compensation by the Catholic Church.

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Bunbury bishop John Goody welcomed Father William Glover in 1959 despite known paedophile allegations, court documents reveal

AUSTRALIA
Busselton Mail

Andrew Elstermann
@AElstermann

12 Jul 2017

Documents tendered to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in February have revealed that in 1959, Bunbury Bishop John Goody agreed to hire a priest despite knowing he had previously sexually abused a number of boys.

In June 1958, Father William Kevin Glover was removed as a superior and parish priest in Victoria for “immoral and criminal sexual behaviour with boys and male adolescents”.

He was given a formal canonical warning and sent to do a 30 day penitential retreat in Armidale, NSW.

Having been assigned a new parish, Glover was brought to Sydney in July 1959 and given a second canonical warning for committing similar offences.

He was sent to St John of God Hospital at Richmond while attempts were made to see if another Marist Province would be willing to accept him.

An agreement was reached in early September that Father Glover would be accepted into the Catholic Diocese of Bunbury on a three-year trial, following an appeal for priests from Bunbury’s Bishop Goody.

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Trace: Police admit DNA bungle wrongly cleared paedophile priest as suspect in cold case murder

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Rachael Brown for Trace

Police have admitted they used an incorrect DNA sample to rule out a paedophile priest in the brutal killing of Melbourne cold case murder victim Maria James.

The ABC understands a bloodied pillow case, used to establish a DNA profile for the suspected killer of the Thornbury single mother, came from an unrelated crime scene.

Local priest Father Anthony Bongiorno, as well as multiple other suspects in Maria James’ 1980 murder, were cleared as a result of DNA testing against that incorrect sample.

Her two sons, Mark and Adam James, have now formally applied to the Victorian coroner to set aside the original finding and reopen the 37-year-old case.

Warning: This article contains content from the Trace podcast. If you would prefer to listen, head to the Trace site, and subscribe in iTunes or your favourite podcasting app via the RSS feed.

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Queens pastor gets 15 years behind bars for raping two girls

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

STEPHEN REX BROWN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, July 12, 2017

A Queens pastor was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison for raping two girls in the basement of his church.

Reuben Chizor’s victims were 12- and 14-year-old sisters and members of his Hope Restoration Ministries congregation in Queens Village.

“The defendant took advantage of his position as a man of the cloth and the trust placed in him by his followers to satisfy his depraved desires. Through manipulation and conniving control, he sexually abused his two young victims for nearly two years,” Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. “What the defendant forced his victims to endure was horrendous — and as punishment he now will be spending a lengthy term behind bars.”

Trial testimony last month revealed that on July 27, 2011, Chizor took the 14-year-old victim to the church basement, where he lived, and raped her. On Aug. 22, 2011, he raped the 12-year-old.

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Bishop gave ‘fresh start’ to abuser

AUSTRALIA
CathNews

Fr William Kevin Glover received two warnings under canon law for “immoral and criminal sexual behaviour with boys and adolescents” while in the Marist Fathers – Society of Mary before being sent to Western Australia’s Bunbury diocese in 1960.

Fr Glover was removed from a Victorian parish and given his first warning in June 1958 over the systematic sexual abuse of adolescent boys, tendered documents released by the child abuse royal commission reveal.

“In September of that year a Marist priest working in the parish expressed the view that Fr Glover had been involved with as many as 30 boys over a three-year period,” a 1994 Marist Fathers incident report to its insurer stated.

Fr Glover was posted to another parish but was removed in July 1959, given another canonical warning and sent to Sydney for treatment at Richmond’s St John of God Hospital. He transferred to the Bunbury diocese on a trial basis following an appeal for priests by the bishop, the late Sir Launcelot John Goody, who was archbishop of Perth from 1968 to 1983.

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Nouveau classement sans suite d’une plainte contre le cardinal Barbarin

FRANCE
La Croix

[The diocese of Lyon took note on Tuesday, July 11, of the filing of a preliminary investigation for non-denunciation of sexual assaults against Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, archbishop of Lyon.]

Gauthier Vaillant, le 11/07/2017

Le diocèse de Lyon a pris acte, mardi 11 juillet, du classement sans suite d’une enquête préliminaire pour non-dénonciation d’agressions sexuelles qui visait le cardinal Philippe Barbarin, archevêque de Lyon.

Cette plainte, qui concernait des faits reprochés au Père Jérôme Billoud, est la deuxième contre le cardinal à connaître ce sort, après une première dans l’affaire Preynat.

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Une enquête visant le cardinal Barbarin classée sans suite

FRANCE
Liberation

[An investigation of Cardinal Barbarin filed without further action.]

La seconde enquête ouverte en 2016 aux dépens du cardinal Philippe Barbarin, pour non-dénonciation d’agressions sexuelles d’un prêtre, a été classée sans suite comme la première, s’est félicité mardi le diocèse de Lyon.

Celui-ci indique avoir «pris officiellement connaissance» de cette décision du parquet de Lyon, rendue le 11 décembre et confirmée à l’AFP de source proche de l’enquête. Des médias avaient déjà fait état il y a plusieurs mois de cette décision du parquet de Lyon.

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Drowning of Lev Tahor leader raises fears over ultra-Orthodox sect’s future

CANADA
National Post

Graeme Hamilton
July 11, 2017

MONTREAL — To the roughly 200 Lev Tahor adherents who followed their charismatic rabbi from country to country, Shlomo Helbrans knew the path to eternal truth. To his numerous detractors, he was a dangerous charlatan who deserved to be locked up.

Now, after Helbrans drowned last week in Mexico at age 55, the future of the cult-like group has been cast into doubt, and a path that has jumped from Israel to the United States, Canada, Guatemala and Mexico looks less clear than ever.

“There is now a power vacuum,” said Marci Hamilton, a professor of religion at the University of Pennsylvania who has been watching the ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect for about a decade.

She said it would be hard for anyone to replace Helbrans, particularly when his death was so sudden. “The attachment to a charismatic leader in a very isolated group that engages in illegal practices is so strong,” she said.

Helbrans and his followers had arrived in Mexico’s southern Chiapas province recently after spending three years in Guatemala. They had travelled to Guatemala from Canada, where child-protection authorities were moving to seize children allegedly suffering from neglect.

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Former head of Orthodox Gymnasium in Yakutia charged with pedophilia

RUSSIA
Crime Russia

The Supreme Court of Yakutia arrested the ex-director of St. Innocent’s Orthodox Gymnasium, cleric hieromonk Meletius (Andrey Tkachenko), on charges of pedophilia, the press service of the Yakutsk City Court reported to the agency Interfax-Far East.

“The Supreme Court of Yakutia considered the appeal submitted by lawyer Tkachenko against the decision of the City Court to arrest the priest and rejected it. The defendant is taken into custody and placed in Yakutsk’s pre-trial detention center until August 9,” the source said. The hearing was held behind the closed doors, and Tkachenko introduced himself at the trial as “the regular clergyman of the Yakutsk diocese, Hieromonk Meletius.”

The press service of the Yakutsk diocesan administration published a message stating that Tkachenko was banned from the service for the period of the trial. “We have not received any complaints from alleged victims, so we have no reason to comment on the situation,” the report says.

According to NVK Sakha, Tkachenko stopped managing the Gymnasium in March this year. After the meeting, archbishop Roman of Yakutsk and Lensk thanked Tkachenko for his “work”. After that, the priest had to go “to guide the flock of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad.”

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Woman says Columbus pastor got her pregnant as teen, paid for abortion

GEORGIA
Ledger-Enquirer

[with video]

BY CHUCK WILLIAMS
chwilliams@ledger-enquirer.com

A Columbus woman who has filed a civil suit against a local pastor after years of inappropriate sexual abuse said that he twice paid for abortions after getting her pregnant, once when she was 16.

Lequita Jackson, who started attending pastor Lewis Clemons’ church when she was 14 and did not leave it until last month, alleges that Clemons led her into “inappropriate sexual contact.” Jackson, now 30, said Clemons used his position of leadership in the church to make her “do what he wanted and to justify his actions.”

Jackson’s revelations came on the same day that a second Clemons’ church member claimed the pastor had made inappropriate physical contact with her. Tuesday, a second former member of Clemons’ congregation stepped forward with her story of inappropriate contact by the pastor. Lakisha Smith, a member of Clemons’ church from 2011-2016, told of three occasions where the pastor acted inappropriately.

Jackson filed a suit in Muscogee County Superior Court last month, seeking financial damages and to have Clemons banned from serving as a pastor. She has hired Atlanta attorney Jeb Butler of the firm Butler Tobin.

The civil suit was filed against Clemons, Church of God in Christ Inc., Wynnton Road Ministries Church of God in Christ, Inc., and five other parties that were not named. Clemons is currently senior pastor at Kingdom Awareness Ministries, where his title is apostle.

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Two women accuse Columbus pastor of sexual assault, say there are more victims

GEORGIA
WRBL

COLUMBUS, Ga. — A local pastor is being sued over allegations that he sexually assaulted members of his church. Two women have come forward with their stories, saying Apostle Lewis Clemons molested them. News 3 sat down with those women, who say they can no longer keep silent. Apostle Clemons is at the center of the civil lawsuit, filed June 19 with Muscogee County Superior Court.

The plaintiff, Lequita Jackson, accuses the pastor of child molestation, sexual battery, and even rape. It’s a position neither Jackson, 30, nor another alleged victim, Lakisha Smith, expected to be in.

“He was a child molester,” Jackson said. “He was a sexual predator who needed to be stopped. I just kind of accepted it at that age. That was what would help me come to terms with what was happening.”

Jackson claims what started as simple talks in the car when she was 15 escalated in to kisses, caresses and even sexual intercourse. Jackson adds the pastor would perform what he called “body anointings,” rubbing oil all over her body. Jackson says Clemons impregnated her twice, posed as her guardian, and paid for two abortions. According to her revelation, Apostle Clemons would cite and use scriptures in the Bible to justify these alleged acts.

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3 new suits filed in Scouts abuse case

GEORGIA
Gainesville Times

By Nick Watson
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
@NickWatsonTimes
POSTED: July 12, 2017

Three new lawsuits have been filed in Cobb County Superior Court by men claiming they were sexually abused by a former Gainesville scoutmaster.

Two of the cases were filed anonymously under a John Doe pseudonym and a third was by James Frank Lloyd, all of whom served as senior patrol leaders of Troop 26 under scoutmaster R. Fleming Weaver Jr.

Robert William Lawson III was the first to bring a case against Weaver in 2016. Lawson claimed he was raped by Weaver during an Order of the Arrow scouting event in 1985.

Weaver served as the scoutmaster for Troop 26 from 1969 to 1981. The troop was sponsored by First Baptist Church of Gainesville.

All three cases allege the plaintiffs were sexually abused by Weaver, and that when the church pastor at the time, Steven N. Brown, was informed of the incidents, they were not reported to police.

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Clergy sex abuse cases moving forward in federal court

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, heugenio@guampdn.com July 12, 2017

Eleven clergy sex abuse cases will move forward while parties in other cases try to settle them out of court.

U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Joaquin V.E. Manibusan Jr. on Tuesday vacated his April order temporary halting the filing of briefs in clergy sex abuses lawsuits. Manibusan set August deadlines to file motions on 11 of 66 clergy sex abuse cases filed so far in federal court. A hearing on those cases is set for August 29 at 9:30 a.m.

The 11 cases are among those the judge earlier expressed concerns over diversity jurisdiction — whether the federal court can entertain the cases because they involve citizens of different states.

They include lawsuits that accuse Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron of raping and sexually abusing Agat altar boys; the former altar boys now live in Hawaii and Arizona.

They also include lawsuits filed by plaintiffs living outside of Guam that accuse Louis Brouillard, a former priest and Boy Scouts of America scoutmaster who lives in Minnesota, as well as former priest David Anderson, defrocked priest Raymond Cepeda, and former priest Joe R. San Agustin, also known as Andrew San Agustin.

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Four more sex abuse cases filed against church in local court

GUAM
Pacific News Center

By Janela Carrera – July 12, 2017

There are now a total of 86 cases filed against the Archdiocese of Agana in both local and federal court.

Guam – As the Archdiocese of Agana continues to assess its financial situation, more sex abuse lawsuits are being filed against the church. Four news cases have been filed in local court and involve Louis Brouillard, former St. Anthony music teacher Ray Caluag and former priest Ray Cepeda.

The first case was filed by a former St. Anthony School student with the initials F.A.M. who claims that his former music teacher, Ray Caluag, sexually abused him. In his complaint, F.A.M. says in the early 1990s, he spent the night at Caluag’s residence with other St. Anthony students and woke up with no memory of what had just occurred. F.A.M. says this happened on more than one occasion and he believes Caluag drugged him and then sexually abused him while he was passed out.

The next two cases name a former priest who’s already facing dozens of allegations as well: Father Louis Brouillard. And for the first time since Brouillard was named in the sex abuse allegations, a woman is claiming Brouillard molested her.

The woman is identified by the initials B.C. and is now 59 years old. B.C. claims that in the 1960s, as a member of the San Isidro Parish in Malojloj, she and a friend would clean the parish rectory. On one occasion, B.C. says they walked in on Brouillard naked and looking at pornographic magazines. It was then that Brouillard allegedly grabbed B.C. and molested her as she struggled to get away.

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Ex-teacher accused of drugging student before molestation

GUAM
The Guam Daily Post

Neil Pang | The Guam Daily Post

A third alleged victim of former Catholic school teacher Raymond Caluag has filed suit in local courts, this time accusing the former music instructor of drugging and then sexually abusing him during overnight stays at Caluag’s residence.

F.A.M., a Dededo resident, accused Caluag of molestation over the course of his three years in middle school, which culminated with two overnight stays at the teacher’s residence in which he recalled “mysteriously passing out” and waking hours later believing he “was drugged by Caluag,” according to court documents.

Caluag has left Guam, and when The Guam Daily Post reached him by phone in the Philippines more than a month ago, when the first case was filed, he hung up. Social media appear to show him teaching music to a Catholic parish and school in the Philippine city of Marikina.

Information provided in the complaint filed Tuesday detail F.A.M.’s accusations of abuse, which allegedly began in 1991 when he was 11 years old and in the sixth grade at St. Anthony Catholic School in Tamuning. At the time, Caluag was his music and religion teacher, as well as the director of music and drama productions.

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Man says Chicago Archdiocese, Catholic Bishop responsible for priest’s sex abuse

ILLINOIS
Cook County Record

by Louie Torres | Jul. 12, 2017

CHICAGO — An individual is suing The Archdiocese of Chicago and The Catholic Bishop of Chicago, alleging battery and sexual abuse by a member of the clergy.

An unnamed man filed a complaint on June 15 in Cook County Circuit Court against the defendants alleging defrocked Catholic priest Daniel McCormack sexually abused the plaintiff while he was still a practicing member of the clergy in Chicago.

According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges The Archdiocese of Chicago and The Catholic Bishop of Chicago allowed McCormack to abuse the plaintiff.

The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment against the defendants in an amount greater than $100,000 plus court costs, interest and any further relief this court grants. He is represented by Robert R. Cohen and Scott J. Frankel of Frankel & Cohen in Chicago.

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The Case of Cardinal Pell Raises Hope of Reform Among Australian Victims of Clerical Abuse

AUSTRALIA
Times

Sharon Verghis / Sydney
Jul 11, 2017

The Catholic Church, long damaged by sex abuse scandals, is facing a fresh crisis following the laying of charges of child sex abuse against one of its most senior clerics, the Australian cardinal George Pell.

The 76-year-old Pell, who as the Church’s treasurer is the most senior Vatican figure to be charged with sexual abuse, returned home to Australia from the Vatican early Monday, where he was met at Sydney airport by police. He is due in a Melbourne magistrates court on July 26 for the hearing of charges that he has strenuously denied.

“I have been completely consistent and clear in my total rejection of these allegations,” he has stated. “News of these charges strengthens my resolve, and court proceedings now offer me an opportunity to clear my name.”

Pell’s return has inspired mixed feelings among the Catholic faithful. On a crisp winter Sunday in Sydney, many gathered for the 9:00 a.m. Holy Solemn mass at St Mary’s Cathedral. It was Cardinal Pell’s seat of power when he was the eighth Archbishop of Sydney, and before he left for Rome in 2014, when Pope Francis appointed him to head the Secretariat for the Economy at the Vatican.

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3 new sex-abuse cases filed against former priests

GUAM
The Guam Daily Post

Three new sex-abuse cases filed yesterday pushed to 82 the number of cases against former Guam priests and the Archdiocese of Agana.

The Archdiocese of Agana had faced more than $575 million worth of claims for damages before these latest three cases were filed.

One of the cases was filed by a woman, now 59, known through initials B.C. She was a minor girl when she was sexually abused by then-Guam priest Louis Brouillard, according to her complaint.

B.C.’s lawsuit alleges that in the mid- to late-1960s, she, her mother and aunt would clean the San Isidro Parish rectory where Brouillard lived, but the priest would be out of the rectory while they cleaned.

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July 11, 2017

APNewsBreak: Priest who abused child still working with kids

ILLINOIS
Quad-City Times

By MICHAEL TARM AP Legal Affairs Writer Jul 11, 2017

CHICAGO (AP) — The Claretians Roman Catholic order has settled a lawsuit from a man sexually abused as a 6-year-old by a teenager who later became a prominent priest in Chicago, confirming in the settlement obtained by The Associated Press that the longtime cleric recently left the priesthood.

But Bruce Wellems, 60, still works as executive director of a non-profit that offers youth mentoring, alternative schooling and other programs for children, according to a staff list at the Peace and Education Coalition. Its head office is also located in the same southwest side Chicago church where he served as priest for two decades.

The settlement was signed in May and not released publicly. It does not say exactly when Wellems asked to be released from the priesthood but it would have been since the lawsuit was filed in September.

The Chicago-based Claretians did not agree to one request of the now 52-year-old victim, Eric Johnson, that the order release records of all its priests credibly accused of sexual abuse, as several other Catholic orders have done.

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No settlement progress means sex abuse cases will proceed

GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Jul 11, 2017

By Krystal Paco

Dozens of clergy sex abuse cases will proceed in the District Court of Guam, according to federal Judge Joaquin Manibusan. During a status hearing on Tuesday, the judge stated he wishes to move forward with the cases since no progress with settling with Hope and Healing Guam has been made in the last month.

As a result, he’s vacating his intent to order a stay. This was welcome news to attorney Jacque Terlaje who represents Archbishop Anthony Apuron.

Apuron stands accused of sexually molesting four former altar boys decades ago at Mt. Carmel Parish in Agat.

In a previous hearing, the attorney stated she wouldn’t participate in settlement talks until her client’s canonical trial was complete in Rome. “The position is still the same,” Terlaje said. “Today we had a status conference with the court and I am very pleased to see that the court has decided to move forward with our motion to dismiss, and the court has scheduled a hearing on the constitutionality issue.”

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Archdiocese faces ‘bare-bones’ 2018 budget

GUAM
The Guam Daily Post

Neil Pang | The Guam Daily Post

In order for the Archdiocese of Agana to fully meet its financial obligations through the next year, the Archdiocesan Finance Council says Catholic schools and parishes under the purview of the archdiocese will have to increase their revenue collections, by whatever means they deem appropriate.

Members of the council yesterday clarified long-circulating rumors about an alleged tuition hike for Catholic schools when AFC President Richard Untalan and member Rick Duenas explained the latest financial assessment of Guam’s largest faith-based organization.

According to Duenas, the Chancery Office has determined that two additional assessments totaling $169 per student per year for Guam’s Catholic schools are necessary to keep the church afloat through the next fiscal year.

Those assessments are explained as a $25 per student per year Catholic Schools Operation Student Assessment, that is projected to amount to $110,600 and is budgeted for the office of the Catholic Schools superintendent. Duenas added that of the total $110,600, about $43,000 is the annual salary for the newly appointed superintendent of Catholic education, Richard Zapanta Alvia.

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Civil lawsuit alleging sexual abuse names Hanna Boys Center official, teacher and Santa Rosa Diocese

CALIFORNIA
The Press Democrat

PAUL PAYNE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | July 11, 2017

New allegations of sexual abuse at the Hanna Boys Center have surfaced in a civil lawsuit naming a top official jailed on criminal charges, a ministry teacher at the high school and the Diocese of Santa Rosa.

A former resident of the Sonoma Valley home for troubled youth claims clinical director Kevin Thorpe preyed on him after becoming the teen’s caseworker in 2006, subjecting him to about 260 incidents of abuse, including masturbation and oral sex.

When the boy was 15, he claims Thorpe was molesting him in his locked office when ministry, religion and social justice teacher Joseph Filice walked in using a master key and saw what was happening.

Rather than intervening, the lawsuit claims Filice covered his eyes and said, “Oh God!” before turning on his heel and leaving the room. The incident was never reported to police.

The boy, who attended Archbishop Hanna High School at the center from 2007 to 2012, did not complain because he feared getting kicked out, losing a scholarship and becoming homeless, the suit said.

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Former top Vatican official strikes back at Pope

ROME
CNN

By Delia Gallagher, CNN
Tue July 11, 2017

Rome (CNN)A top Vatican cardinal recently dismissed by Pope Francis struck back this week, calling the Pope’s treatment of him and other Vatican employees “unacceptable.”

“I cannot accept this way of doing things,” Cardinal Gerhard Muller said in an interview with German newspaper Passauer Neue Presse.

“As a bishop, [the Pope] cannot treat people in this way.”

Francis informed Muller, the former head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Vatican’s doctrinal office, that he would not be renewing his contract in a brief meeting on June 30, just two days before the contract expired.

“He did not give a reason,” the 69-year-old cardinal said in the interview. “Just as he gave no reason for dismissing three highly competent members of the CDF a few months earlier.”

Greg Burke, director of the Vatican Press Office, told CNN: “It was a private meeting with the Pope. We have no comment.”

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CARDINAL PELL ACQUIRES TOP LAWYER

UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the latest round of attacks on Cardinal George Pell:

Cardinal George Pell has acquired the services of one of the most respected lawyers in Australia, Robert “The Red Baron” Richter. One prominent lawyer from Melbourne called him “the Rolls Royce of criminal defense lawyers.” We are delighted to learn of this development, though many others are clearly chagrined.

From reading the accounts of various professional victims’ attorneys, it is clear that some believe Pell is guilty until proven innocent. Others think he does not deserve first-class defense lawyers, while others question the motive of Church officials who are coming to his defense, including Pope Francis.

Due process and basic civil liberties are at stake, but given the hysteria in some quarters of the media, it is not surprising that Pell is being treated unfairly, to say the least. Moreover, some are using his case to make a larger point: The institutional Church is guilty as charged.

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Ex-principal on child sex charges could face ‘fact-finding’ hearing

NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

By John Cassidy
July 11 2017

A judge has refused to halt proceedings against a former Catholic school principal facing historical child sex abuse allegations.

Lawyers for Co Antrim man Richard Duffin (78) said he was too ill to stand trial on eight counts of indecent assault, two charges of cruelty to children under the age of 16 and two counts of common assault.

Judge Gordon Kerr QC said yesterday that although he was refusing to grant the abuse of process application, one remedy to the case instead of a trial could be to hold a “fact-find hearing” in which it would be decided if Duffin had committed the acts as alleged by three male complainants.

The offences are alleged to have taken place on dates between June 1975 and June 1981 against three males while he was principal of St Joseph’s Primary School in Ballymena. He denies all the charges.

Last week, Duffin’s legal team advanced an abuse of process application stating the accused was not fit to stand trial due a number of medical conditions, and asked for a stay in the proceedings against him.

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Should George Pell have a judge-only trial? Why some lawyers are calling for Vatican’s third most powerful figure to be tried over historical sex charges WITHOUT a jury

AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail

By Sam Duncan For Daily Mail Australia

Australia’s most powerful Catholic has landed in Sydney amid calls for him to be the subject of a judge-only trial when he fronts court over historical sex charges in Victoria.

Senior lawyers are concerned that Cardinal Pell could be adversely affected by juror perceptions of him and the Catholic Church, and are arguing for a judge-alone trial.

Cardinal Pell landed in Sydney on Monday morning, and will base himself there when he is not required at Melbourne Magistrates Court during the trial.

‘There’s been an awful lot of publicity, a lot of discussion and it’s a good argument for a judge-alone trial, said Mr Chadwick.

He and Mr van de Weil are calling for Victoria to follow NSW, Queensland, and Western Australia in allowing high-profile defendants to have judge-only trials.

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Fears that George Pell might not get a fair go drive calls for judge-only trials

AUSTRALIA
Border Mail

Adam Cooper
11 Jul 2017

Senior lawyers say Victoria should allow judge-only trials in some cases, after expressing concerns Cardinal George Pell would not get a fair hearing on historic sex charges.

As Cardinal Pell returned to Australia on Monday ahead of his July 26 court appearance, two QCs not connected to his case have raised doubts about the 76-year-old getting a fair hearing, should his case proceed to a jury trial.

They said it was time Victoria followed NSW, Queensland and Western Australia and had the option of judge-alone trials in cases with high-profile defendants.

Peter Chadwick and Remy van de Weil​, QCs with more than three decades each of experience as barristers, questioned whether jurors could shut out their perceptions of the cardinal and the Catholic Church and focus solely on the criminal allegations.

Cardinal Pell has denied the offending.

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As Cardinal Pell goes on trial, the Australian Church must hold its nerve

UNITED KINGDOM
Catholic Herald

by Fr Raymond de Souza
posted Thursday, 6 Jul 2017

The Church’s enemies are thirsty for blood. A failure of nerve now will be catastrophic for the Catholic future in Australia

The sexual abuse charges against Cardinal George Pell by the Victoria police are a test for Australian criminal justice, the Australian Church and for the cardinal himself.

We already know the result of the first and the third tests. Australian criminal justice has already failed, and the cardinal, even if wrongfully convicted, will further demonstrate the character and virtue that have marked his years of dealing with public vilification. How the Church in Australia will fare is the great unknown.

I first met George Pell when he was Archbishop of Melbourne in 1998, interviewing him in the context of the Synod of Oceania then taking place in Rome. After that synod, the Holy See convened all the bishops of Australia in an attempt to fashion some doctrinal and pastoral unity in a local Church that seemed unable to escape the 1970s. Pell welcomed it, many of his brother bishops did not.

It was then that I discovered what Aussie Catholics long knew, that George Pell was a singular force. The most outstanding Australian churchman of his generation, he has also been a force for good in the universal Church, long before his current posting in Rome, most notably in his chairmanship of the Vox Clara commission on liturgical translations.

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Is NCSY Following Up on Rabbi Menachem Chinn’s Molesting

NEW JERSEY
Frum Follies

Rabbi Menachem Chinn of East Windsor, NJ just accepted a plea bargain for molesting two boys under the age of 13, one in 2005 and the other in 2012. He got off without going to jail but has a long probation with what seems like house arrest with a monitoring bracelet. His ten years of probation also bar his working with kids or being in their settings. He will also be on the sex offender registry for life.

Chinn was working as a Yeshiva teacher and a youth leader on behalf of the National Council of Synagogue Youth (NCSY) of the OU.

Based on his pattern there is good reason to suspect additional victims. As a yeshiva teacher and National Council of Synagogue Youth (NCSY) leader he had loads of access to children. Based on talks with a well informed source, I am not convinced that NCSY is doing its best to support others who may have been abused or to facilitate reporting by additional potential victims.

It is now almost two decades since the shocking revelations of extensive abuse by their key employee, Rabbi Boruch Lanner. They then set all sorts of protocols in place, but somehow, I think they still haven’t gotten it. This is especially true for their part-time employees in smaller communities.

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Judge dismisses claims against Boy Scouts, church in sex abuse suit

GEORGIA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

By Christian Boone – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A judge has dismissed some charges against the Boy Scouts of America and First Baptist Church of Gainesville filed by a man alleging he was molested 32 years ago by a former scoutmaster.

Critics say Cobb County Superior Court Judge LaTain Kell’s ruling reveals a shortcoming in the Hidden Predator Act. While the 2015 law extended the statute of limitations in Georgia for childhood victims of sexual abuse seeking damages, it protects the institutions that provided access to children for alleged abusers from any liability, they said.

The case against Fleming Weaver, who is accused of raping Robb Lawson when he was 14 years old at a Boy Scouts campground, will continue. Judge Kell denied Weaver’s motion to dismiss, saying his claim that Georgia’s Hidden Predator Act is unconstitutional is unfounded.

“The Boy Scouts of America is aware of the decision made by the Superior Court of Cobb County,” the Scouts said in a statement provided to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We thank the Court for its time and careful consideration of all viewpoints in this case.”

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11 Bergen Catholic HS alumni await settlement funds for alleged sexual abuse

NEW JERSEY
Fios 1 News

Walter Slapkowski, 60, was just a 13-year-old freshman at Bergen Catholic High School when a teacher allegedly sexually abused him.

He says he was sent to after-school detention for talking in class when a science teacher he identifies as Brother Timothy Joseph O’Sullivan took him into a back room.

“He asked me to take my clothes off then he brought me by the hand and said ‘I have to discipline you because you were talking in my class.’ He spanked me 20 times and made me count..and his fingers were traveling,” Slapkowski said.

He came forward last year, alongside 10 other alleged abuse victims at the school. The victims allege that five faculty members abused them during the 1950s and 1970s.

Dr. Robert Hoatson who works at a recovery center for child sexual abuse victims says the school has never apologized to the alleged victims and is dragging its feet in settling a monetary claim even though similar claims have been settled in past years at the school with as many as over a hundred victims over the past two decades.

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Catholic schools, parishes will have to pay more

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

[with video]

Haidee V Eugenio , heugenio@guampdn.com July 11, 2017

The Archdiocese of Agana, which church officials said is struggling financially because of past mismanagement, plans to collect an additional $1.81 million a year by requiring village parishes and Catholic schools to pay more.

None of the new and increased assessments are related in to clergy sex abuse lawsuits against the archdiocese and its clergy, the Archdiocesan Finance Council said.

Catholic schools will be assessed new fees of $25 per student each year to fund the operations of a Catholic education superintendent, and $144 a year per student to help the church weather its financial crisis, church officials.

Parishes will be asked to contribute more to the archdiocese, effective July 1, also to help the archdiocese address its financial problems, church officials said.

The amount the parishes will depend on the parish size and previous collections.

“The previous governance of this archdiocese was almost upside down, and again we are not trying to lay the blame, but there were many things that were not done in the past and so we’re now doing them,” Archdiocesan Finance Council president Richard Untalan said during a press conference Tuesday. “All of this costs money, to run an organization of this size, an archdiocese with 26 parishes and 14 schools and other organizations, takes considerable governance, resources, skills and leadership.”

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Criminal Charges Against a High Vatican Official Are Fueling New Question About Pope Francis’ Response

UNITED STATES
NECN

By Sue O’Connell

Criminal charges against a high Vatican official are fueling new questions about Pope Francis’s response crisis of sexual abuse by clergy. The Take’s Sue O’ Connell interviews Anne Barrett Doyle, co-founder of BishopAccountability.org.

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Was wir von “The Keepers” über den Umgang mit Missbrauch lernen können

DEUTSCHLAND
Bento

[What we can learn from “The Keepers” about dealing with abuse.]

“Warum hast du nicht schon früher etwas gesagt?”
“Was hast du denn auch zu der Zeit an diesem Ort gemacht?”
“Hast du dich auch gewehrt?”

Missbrauch ist immer ein schreckliches Thema. Und auf das erste Trauma, den Missbrauch selbst, folgt oft ein zweites: Wenn dem Opfer niemand glaubt. Wenn die Fragen, die gestellt werden, immer nur um das Opfer kreisen und wenig um den Täter.

Trauen sich die Opfer trotzdem, vor Gericht zu ziehen, ist die erste Frage meist: Sind sie glaubwürdig?

Weshalb viele ihre Geschichte für sich behalten – oder aufgeben, nachdem sie vergeblich angerannt sind, gegen die Institutionen und den Unglauben ihrer Umgebung, es gibt viele, die fürchten, das schreiende Unrecht mit ins Grab nehmen zu müssen.

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Über Sieben Jahre Haft für Zen-Priester aus Dinkelscherben

DEUTSCHLAND
BR

[Before the Augsburg court, a 62-year-old Zen priest found guilty of child molestation was sentenced to a prison term of seven years and nine months.]

Priester nutzte Vertrauen der Familien aus

Der Mann hatte sich unter anderem das Vertrauen von Familien erschlichen, in denen der Vater fehlte. Dort übernahm er die Trauerbegleitung und wurde teils zu einem Vaterersatz. So kam er auch an die Kinder, die er später missbrauchte.

In einem Fall hatten Eltern ihren 13-jährigen Sohn wegen Drogenproblemen in den Zen-Tempel des Mannes geschickt. Sie erhofften sich, dass der Junge dort seine Drogensucht in den Griff bekommen würde. Der Zen-Priester nutzte jedoch Meditationsübungen, um sich an dem Kind zu vergehen.

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