ABUSE TRACKER

A Franciscan friar who pleaded guilty to fraud told a judge last week that he should not be sentenced to more than two-and-a-half years in prison, because of a troubled childhood in which the friar was allegedly abused numerous times.

The plea came as a federal judge considers the possibility of a 20-year prison sentence for Fr. Pawel Bielecki, a Capuchin Franciscan who stole more than $500,000 in an elaborate scheme involving several invented personalities, claims of royalty, and phony Lebanese medical clinics.

Bielecki pled guilty in November to wire fraud, after federal prosecutors said the priest bilked Catholics by pretending to run fake medical clinics in Beirut, Lebanon, pretending to be a doctor, and falsely claiming direct lineage to two European royal families.

That fraud, his attorney told the court last week, was an attempt “to buy self-worth and acceptance.”

“I truly regret what I did,” Bielecki wrote in…

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Two men have been arrested and charged in connection with multiple counts of child sexual abuse that allegedly took place between 1994 and 1996.

John Taggart, 80, a former priest, and Christopher Crisona, 57, a former teacher, are facing felony charges following an investigation into abuse allegations at St. Thomas the Apostle School and its rectory, as well as other locations.

“The State’s indictment alleges a pattern of gravely serious abuse against a juvenile by two adults in a position of trust,” said Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings. 

“As prosecutors, and as parents, these kinds of cases keep us up at night — but they also give us purpose. The victim in this case suffered profound trauma over a period of years and deserves justice. I’m grateful to the police, prosecutors, and social workers who have been critical to this investigation and who are committed to getting justice.”

The investigation…

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[Includes a link to a YouTube video of Cindy Clemishire’s 25-minute testimony.]

The woman, whose report of abuse by Gateway Church Founder Robert Morris led to his arrest on child sex charges, today urged Texas lawmakers to approve a bill nullifying nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) for child sex abuse. 

Speaking through tears, Cindy Clemishire, 55, recounted that for decades, Morris made her feel like she had done something wrong. Meanwhile, Morris became the pastor of one of the biggest megachurches in the country.

“My life seemed to attract more shame, while Robert’s attracted fame,” Clemishire testified  at a hearing of the Texas House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence, which is considering House Bill 748, known as Trey’s Law. If enacted, the bill would render NDAs for child sex abuse void and unenforceable in Texas.

Clemishire testified that 18 years ago, Morris’ lawyer tried to…

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[This article includes a link to the audio of the podcast. See also Judy Courtin’s recent article in the Saturday Paper.]

Lawyer and advocate representing victims of institutional abuse, Judy Courtin, on the far-reaching consequences of this ruling – and how the courts continue to fail victim-survivors.

From Schwartz Media, I’m Ruby Jones. This is *7am*.

Are Catholic priests employed by the church, or by the hand of God?

This question was at the heart of a five-year legal battle between a survivor of child sex abuse seeking compensation from the Church and Bishop Paul Bird of the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat.

The decision by the High Court in November last year – that the Church does not employ priests and therefore is not liable – came as a surprise to lawyers and survivors alike. We’re the only common law country, including Ireland, that feels this way.

Today, lawyer…

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New Jersey may be one step closer to knowing what Seton Hall University has been hiding regarding sexual abuse claims involving the school’s clergy.

Superior Court Avion M. Benjamin on Tuesday ordered Seton Hall to provide her with an internal investigative report the school commissioned on the sex abuse claims, saying she needs to read the unredacted report to determine if plaintiffs in a wide-ranging sex abuse case targeting the Archdiocese of Newark should get a copy.

Benjamin’s ruling is likely just one step in what could be a long slog toward learning what’s in the Seton Hall report. But it’s a step in the right direction, one that could lead us to discover the true scale of what looks like a massive cover-up at Seton Hall and in the archdiocese.

“The Catholic Church has always suggested that sexual abuse is just an isolated, bad apple, and…

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In a letter, dated March 13th, 2025, a member of the laity, Brian Almon, wrote to the editor of the Advocate Newspaper in Louisiana. In the letter, he blamed both the Bishops and the Victims for the scandal, and failed to absolve the Laity from any responsibility. I do admit that prior to his letter, I was gentle with the Laity. I would say often that “The Laity was groomed by the Catholic Church before they groomed their child Victims.” I have the luxury of changing my mind, and after my thoughtful consideration, after being presented with the facts, I have. I’ll address Mr. Almon’s arguments, point-by-point:

“A 40 year sex abuse scandal”

In the year 306 AD, in the Roman province of Hispania, bishops and elders of the early Christian church gathered in the city of Elvira (today, modern-day Granada, Spain) to discuss pressing issues of faith and discipline….

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Dear SNAP Members,

We want to share an update from our time here, as we’ve had a productive weekend speaking with members of the press. Yesterday, we had conversations with journalists from CNN and Reuters, and today we are scheduled to meet with representatives from the Associated Press, The New York Times, and The Washington Post in preparation for a press conference this Thursday.

Pope Francis has now been hospitalized for over a month. Though it’s impossible to predict the timing, when Pope Francis dies (or resigns), 137 cardinals from around the world will gather in Rome to select the next pope. This is the only semi-democratic process within the Catholic Church, and we believe it is crucial that U.S. cardinals know that SNAP members are paying attention before they cast their votes. No one knows more about the way the hierarchy has covered up and enabled…

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A growing number of alleged victims are coming forward saying they were abused in Maryland juvenile facilities over several decades, and some are suing for compensation. 

Their advocates say the abuse scandal could rival that facing the Catholic church. 

The flood of lawsuits started when Maryland removed the statute of limitations on filing these cases.     

Survivor story 

WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren spoke to an alleged victim who is set to address a rally near Baltimore City Hall on Wednesday.

“At 14 years old, all you want to do is go home, so what do you do? You stay quiet and you shut up,” abuse survivor Nalisha Gibbs told WJZ Investigates. 

Gibbs is done being quiet, opening up about repeated sexual abuse she says she suffered as a child in 1989 and 1990 at the state-run Thomas Waxter Children’s Center…

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A former pastor of a Texas megachurch accused of child sexual abuse surrendered to Oklahoma authorities Monday.

Robert Preston Morris, 63, turned himself in to officials in Osage County, where he was charged last week with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, Phil Bacharach, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office, told The Associated Press.

Court records show an Osage County judge set a $50,000 bond and ordered Morris to surrender his passport.

Morris is expected to make an initial appearance before a judge at 10 a.m. on May 9, Bacharach said.

Attorney Mack Martin declined to comment on the charges but said he anticipated entering a not guilty plea on Morris’ behalf.

Morris resigned last year as pastor of Gateway Church in the Dallas suburb of Southlake after a woman accused him of sexually abusing her in the 1980s.

The victim, referred to in the indictment…

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Disgraced preacher Robert Morris surrendered to authorities in Osage County, Oklahoma, this morning, after being indicted last week on child sex charges, stemming from the 1980s.

The founder of Dallas-area Gateway Church walked into the Osage County Sheriff’s Office just before 8 a.m., according to a booking sheet obtained by The Roys Report (TRR). He was accompanied by his attorney, Oklahoma City criminal defense attorney, Mack Martin, and a bail bondsman.

Morris was taken into custody, handcuffed, and had his mugshot taken. He then had a “special arraignment,” a clerk in Judge Cindy Pickerell’s office told TRR. Sources close to the investigation said that during the arraignment, the judge would enter a plea of not guilty.

Morris, 63, was released on $50,000 bail bond. He is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing on May 9.

Phone calls left for his attorney were not returned.

Last Thursday, Oklahoma Attorney…

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A Georgia pastor connected to a global megachurch, with 16 campuses in Australia, Indonesia, and the U.S., has been arrested for possessing child sexual abuse material, according to court records.

Daniel Menelaou, 28, previously served as the youth pastor at Futures Church Alpharetta—one of five Futures Church locations in the Atlanta area.

Menelaou was placed on leave as soon as the church learned of his arrest, church leaders said in a statement to The Roys Report (TRR).

Two days after Menelaou’s arrest, the church fired him when they became aware of the “full extent” of his charges.

Menelaou has been charged with six counts of possession or control of any material depicting a minor in sexually explicit conduct, court records report.

“The charges against Daniel Menelaou are abhorrent, appalling, and completely contrary to everything we stand for,” Futures Church Alpharetta said in its statement….

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The United States Department of Justice has shut down its investigation into sexual abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention.

Attorneys for the SBC Executive Committee said they were notified last Wednesday of the investigation’s closure, and since then prominent Southern Baptists have been publicly crowing.

The two-and-a-half year investigation resulted in a single criminal conviction — that of a Southern Baptist seminary professor, Matt Queen, who pled guilty to lying to the FBI about a sexual abuse report.

Because no additional criminal charges were prosecuted, many Southern Baptist leaders have interpreted the investigation’s closure as a form of exoneration, celebrating it as though it were proof there’s no sexual abuse crisis in the SBC.

For example, pastor Jack Graham said: “The outcry and false reporting of a systemic sexual abuse problem in the SBC has been a hoax.”

“The lie continues to unravel,” wrote former SBC Executive Committee member Rod Martin. “There was never any…

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Christopher Hayes, a 46-year-old realtor, youth lacrosse coach, and church deacon, has been arrested following a disturbing investigation into child pornography and bestiality. The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office uncovered hundreds of explicit files linked to Hayes, including videos depicting child sexual abuse and sexual acts involving animals.

The investigation began on December 12, 2024, when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) issued a CyberTip.

The tip alleged that four files containing child pornography had been uploaded to Kik Messenger on August 16, 2024. The tip included critical details such as an email address, a Kik username (phalcuttlefish2.0_309), and an IP address traced to Frontier Communications in Land O’ Lakes, Florida.

Subpoenas were issued to Kik, Frontier, and Google, revealing that the IP address was registered to Christopher Hayes in Spring Hill, Florida, Pasco County.

Warning: Some of the details below are graphic.

A content warrant executed on…

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A former priest and a former teacher of the Diocese of Wilmington have been arrested and charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse occurring between 1994 and 1996. John Taggart, 80, and Christopher Crisona, 57, are charged with several felonies following an investigation into a report of abuse by the Delaware Department of Justice. The investigation began when the Diocese of Wilmington received an anonymous complaint and reported it to law enforcement.

John Taggart was arrested in Georgia on Friday, March 14, 2025. Taggart was indicted by a Delaware grand jury on March 3rd on 10 counts pertaining to the sexual abuse of a minor from the mid 1990’s while Taggart was a priest at St. Thomas the Apostle in Wilmington, DE. John Taggart resigned from priestly ministry in 2004 and moved out of state.

Additionally, Christopher Crisona of Orlando, Florida was also arrested and taken into custody after being…

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An newly retired Orland pastor has been arrested on five counts of child molesting stemming from incidents that occurred allegedly starting on May 7, 2024.

Rodger Daily Strong, 69, Angola, was arrested on Monday after apparently presiding over his final service or services on Sunday, based on documents filed in Steuben Superior Court.

The incidents allegedly occurred with a girl that was 5 years old and is 6 now. The offenses allegedly occurred between Jan. 1, 2024 and May 8, 2024.

Strong, pastor of the Orland Church of the Nazarene for some 40 years, is facing three charges of Level 1 felony child molesting and two counts of Level 4 felony child molesting.

The incidents came to light earlier this month after certain behavior was displayed by the victim to her parents, court documents said.

The parents of the victim confronted Strong and recorded him in an interview. The father…

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Indictment records allege a Mid-South music minister, now fired, attempted to send a sexual picture to an underaged girl. 

Those court records charge Britt Taylor with one count of transferring obscene materials to a minor. 

In December 2024, Taylor worked as the Minister of Music at Calvary Baptist Church of Horn Lake. That’s also when, according to the indictment, Taylor sent a message containing an image of a man’s genitals. Court records claim that Taylor thought he was messaging a girl under the age of 16. However, on the other end of the phone was an undercover officer. 

On January 6, 2025, as part of the investigation into Taylor, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security seized an Apple iPhone 12, the indictment said. 

Calvary Baptist Church told FOX13 that Taylor called the church’s lead pastor, Greg Cook, the same day and admitted to online sexual misconduct, telling the lead pastor…

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An Oklahoma woman recalled a traveling evangelist who preached at her family’s church in Osage County more than 40 years ago.

The preacher, along with his wife and son, eventually befriended the woman’s family and stayed in their home, she said. That’s when the woman alleged the sexual abuse began, in 1982 when she was just 12 years old.

On Monday, former Texas megachurch pastor Robert Preston Morris, 63, surrendered to authorities in Osage County after being indicted on child sexual abuse charges.

Here are some things to know about the case:

Who accused Morris of sexual abuse?

Cindy Clemishire, Morris’ accuser, told authorities that Morris’ abuse began on Christmas 1982 when he was staying at her family’s house at age 12 and continued over the next four years.

The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward…

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Cardinal Wilton Gregory has now retired as the archbishop of Washington, D.C. In 2001, Gregory was elected president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The following year, the abuse crisis erupted in Boston, and the American bishops, under Gregory’s leadership, approved the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, colloquially known as the Dallas Charter. In an interview, Gregory cited the episcopal approval of the Charter as a “pivotal moment” for the Catholic Church, at which time the “people of God breathed a sigh of relief” that the bishops were finally taking action.  

It may indeed be argued that the Charter was crucial for clearing up the abuse problem in the Church. As Bill Donohue, long-time president of the Catholic League, has argued in his informative book The Truth about Clergy Sexual Abuse, the American Church has…

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Key Points

• A lawsuit filed earlier this month accuses a now-former priest of abusing a boy at a Peoria Catholic church from 1997 to 2003.
• SNAP is asking the diocese and Bishop Louis Tylka to take five steps to condemn the alleged actions.
• A 2023 report detailed how 51 clerics in the Peoria church system had raped, sexually assaulted, molested or harassed children within their diocese.

The Catholic Diocese of Peoria ranks among the “lowest tier” of Catholic dioceses in how it has handled claims of sexual abuse by its clerics, according to one outreach group that is calling it to do more to protect children.

David Clohessy, the former national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said Monday in Peoria that there are “many, many” clerics from the Catholic Church who have molested children and are still living free with access to minors.

Clohessy includes former Peoria-area priest…

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A former priest and current teacher have been indicted and charged with sexually abusing a former student of a Catholic school in Wilmington.

The incidents, according to the Delaware Delaware Department of Justice, occurred between 1994 and 1996 at the former St. Thomas the Apostle School and rectory, as well as other locations. The men, who were indicted on March 3, are:

• John Taggart, who resigned from active ministry in 2004 and currently lives in Georgia.
• Christopher Crisona, who worked as a teacher at St. Thomas until he was removed following a student complaint. He currently works as an elementary school teacher in Florida.  

The investigation of the men began when the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington received an anonymous complaint and reported it to law enforcement, said Robert Krebs, a diocese spokesperson, in a statement.

“In keeping with policy, the Diocese of Wilmington has been and will continue to cooperate with the…

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Two men, a retired priest and a Catholic school teacher, have been charged with sexually abusing the same child multiple times between 1994 and 1996 when they worked in Wilmington, Delaware

Law enforcement officials in Delaware have charged two men — a retired priest and an elementary school teacher — following an investigation into allegations of child sex abuse that stem back to the nineties.

According to law enforcement officials, John Taggart, 80, a former priest, and Christopher Crisona, 57, have been charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child, unlawful sexual intercourse and related charges following an investigation into their alleged activities from 1994 through 1996 when they both worked at St. Thomas the Apostle School and rectory.

The allegations against this pair were uncovered, law enforcement officials said, after an investigation began into Taggart and the now-deceased Father John Francis O’Brien, concerning their time working at St. Thomas…

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A state judge will hear arguments Tuesday in a fight over whether Seton Hall University must disclose secret documents to lawyers suing the Archdiocese of Newark over its handling of sexual abuse claims.

Seton Hall administrators have refused to hand over the documents, which include a 2019 investigative report on abuse allegations at the school’s seminary and alleged failures by Monsignor Joseph R. Reilly, the university’s president since last July and a former seminary rector and dean, to properly report them.

In a February motion, the school’s lawyers argued the report and related records are protected by attorney-client privilege because they were prepared to help the school respond to anticipated litigation. They want a judge to issue an order protecting the documents from disclosure.

“The compelled disclosure of these documents will have a chilling effect on all universities and corporations in New Jersey, sending the message that institutions should not retain counsel to protect…

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The Galway Diocese has not yet decided if the remains of disgraced Irish Bishop Eamonn Casey will be removed from the crypt of Galway Cathedral, where he was laid to rest in 2017. Casey resigned as bishop of Galway in 1992 when it became public that he had fathered a child; he was removed from public ministry in 2007 after he was accused of sexual abuse. 

Many Catholics in Ireland have called for Casey’s body to be disinterred from the cathedral crypt following the July 2024 broadcast of the RTÉ/Irish Mail documentary, “Bishop Casey’s Buried Secrets.” The film alleged that the Vatican had earlier investigated Casey over child abuse allegations concerning multiple  people, including his niece, Patricia Donovan. At least two of the alleged victims were minors. Those allegations, nor the reason Casey was removed from public ministry, were not made public at the time.

Fr. Diarmuid Hogan, a spokesperson…

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In short:

A man suing the Christian Brothers in the Supreme Court of Tasmania has settled his case part-way through the civil trial.

The man previously told the court he had been sexually and physically abused while a student at St Virgil’s College in Hobart.

What’s next?

The settlement details are being finalised.

A civil court matter involving allegations of sexual and physical abuse at a Hobart Catholic school in the late 1970s and early 1980s has been resolved part-way through the trial.

Callum* told the Supreme Court in Hobart last week that he was sexually abused by school sports coach Stephen Randell and priest Phillip Green while he was a student at St Virgil’s College in Hobart, which was run by the Christian Brothers at the time.

He also told the court he was physically abused by a lay teacher Tom Burke, and three other Christian Brothers who were teachers…

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A former pastor of a Texas megachurch is expected to turn himself into Oklahoma authorities Monday on child sexual abuse charges.

Robert Preston Morris, 63, is expected to surrender to officials in Osage County, where he was charged last week with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, his attorney, Mack Martin, told The Associated Press.

Martin declined to comment on the charges against Morris, but said he anticipated entering a not guilty plea on Morris’ behalf.

Court records show an Osage County judge set a $50,000 bond and ordered Morris to surrender his passport to the local sheriff.

Morris resigned last year as pastor of Gateway Church in the Dallas suburb of Southlake after a woman accused him of sexually abusing her in the 1980s.

The alleged abuse started in 1982 when the victim, referred to in the indictment as C.C., was 12 years old and Morris was…

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The church’s former senior pastor Robert Morris faces up to 100 years in prison if convicted on all five counts of lewd or indecent acts.

“You’re still the great ‘I Am.’ I’m still within your hands,” worship leader Austin Benjamin sang at the beginning of Gateway Church’s Saturday service.

Much of the worship center’s upper level was empty, but on the first floor, seating was almost full. A row of people young and old stood in front of the stage, lifting their hands and swaying.

The Southlake megachurch held its first weekend service on March 15 since its founder and former senior pastor Robert Morris was indicted Wednesday on charges of sexual abuse of a child.

Morris, a celebrity televangelist who founded Gateway in 2000, was charged in an indictment with five counts of indecent or lewd acts involving a child and faces up to 100 years in prison if…

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A KSL.com investigation reveals some Grantsville High students who reported sexual abuse were threatened and harassed.
• One police investigation involved the attempted suicide of a student victim and the suicide of a vice principal.
• Teachers, coaches and staff attending court and appearing to support accused abusers has divided the community.

Grantsville High School has been the site of a number of sexual abuse investigations against teachers and coaches in just a handful of years.

Patterns of community support for some of the accused abusers have spurred some victims who experienced sexual abuse at the hands of school staff to recently come forward despite the immense pressure they say they felt in the past to stay silent.

KSL.com interviewed former students, district officials, current parents of students, victims of sexual abuse and investigators to understand the ripple effects of what might be going on in the Grantsville community.

Extensive reporting, based…

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“People are fed up with pastors who pray in tongues and prey upon children,” said attorney Brian Butcher.

A multimillion-dollar civil judgment has been levied against a Fort Worth pastor in a sexual assault civil case that had already cost the pastor’s church its entire Rosemont neighborhood campus.

Jose Francisco Bernal was arrested and indicted in 2017 for the alleged sexual assault of two girls in the youth department of his congregation at Tabernaculo de Vida-Iglesia Pentecostal Church. The women, now adults, claimed they had been repeatedly sexually assaulted by Bernal since they were as young as 7 years old.

His criminal case went to trial in 2022 and ended with a hung jury, and a mistrial. Prosecutors chose not to retry the case. But in 2023, Adriana Jaimes and her sister brought a civil suit against the church.

“He would always just be right in front of me,” Adriana said…

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A man who was sexually abused as a child by the first Catholic priest to attract national media attention was beaten to death earlier this month. Our hearts ache for his family and loved ones in the wake of this tragic loss. We have only heard Scott Anthony Gastal’s public story, but those who knew Scott personally realize that he was more than the worst thing that happened to him, and we hope that they will share that side of Scott in the coming days.

SNAP Louisiana leader, Letitia Peyton, called Scott’s murder was “a sad end to a life that was riddled with early childhood trauma.” But Letitia also credited Scott with “preventing so many other children from suffering the horrific abuse that he suffered,” and hailed him as “a truly brave little boy.”

Scott was repeatedly violated by Fr. Gilbert Gauthe. The…

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The Jefferson Parish Council has reached a deal with the Archdiocese of New Orleans to purchase Hope Haven in Marrero, the former orphanage where dozens of children were physically, sexually and psychologically abused decades ago by priests, brothers and nuns charged with caring for them.

The parish has been leasing the 15-acre campus, with its sprawling grounds and century-old, Spanish mission-style buildings, from the local Roman Catholic Church since 2018, and has already built a walking trail and recreational area on a portion of the site.

Now, it is moving forward with plans to purchase the property for $3.8 million and turn it into a multi-use complex that could include expanded recreational areas, festival grounds, educational attractions and, potentially, offices or apartments.

The redevelopment of Hope Haven by the parish is seen as a way to breathe new life into what stands as a stark reminder of one of the…

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Bryant Law is welcoming William F. McMurry to its firm as Of Counsel. McMurry is a nationally recognized attorney with a distinguished career in civil rights, professional liability, and malpractice litigation.

As a third-generation attorney, McMurry has spent his career advocating for justice. Among his many career highlights, McMurry served as lead counsel in securing a landmark $25.7 million settlement from the Archdiocese of Louisville on behalf of 243 survivors of clergy abuse. He also successfully argued that the Vatican could be held accountable in U.S. courts for the actions of American bishops in child abuse cases, challenging the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. In another precedent-setting case, McMurry, alongside Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center, secured a $2.5 million verdict against leaders of the Imperial Klans of America for a racially motivated attack on a teenager.

McMurry is board-certified in both Medical and Legal Malpractice by the American…

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A Waxhaw-area pastor is dead a week after being arrested in connection to a child sexual assault investigation, according to the Union County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office confirmed Friday that 79-year-old Waymon S. Jordan, formerly senior pastor of Greater Blessed Hope Baptist Church, has died. No cause of death has been given, but no foul play is suspected and he was no longer in custody of the law enforcement.

The investigation, led by detectives with the Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit, began in late February after reports of an alleged assault surfaced. He was arrested on March 6.

Over several weeks, investigators said they conducted several interviews and collected evidence, leading them to Jordan as the suspect.

Jordan has been charged with four counts of felony statutory sexual offense with a child. After his arrest, he was processed into the Union County Detention Center with a secured bond…

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• A Lakeland man is suing his former Royal Rangers leader, alleging sexual abuse over 40 years ago.
• The lawsuit also names Victory Church pastor M. Wayne Blackburn and the Assemblies of God Peninsular Florida District as defendants.
• The plaintiff claims Blackburn and another pastor failed to report the abuse and discouraged him from speaking out.
• Blackburn’s lawyer denies the allegations, stating it is a case of mistaken identity.

A Lakeland man names a prominent local pastor and a church organization as defendants in a lawsuit claiming that a youth group leader sexually abused him more than 40 years ago, when he was 7 years old.

Christopher Woods Sr., 47, filed a civil lawsuit against Walter Steverson, the alleged abuser, along with M. Wayne Blackburn, senior pastor at Victory Church, and the Assemblies of God Peninsular Florida District, based in Lakeland.

Boz Tchividjian, a DeLand lawyer, filed the suit on Woods’ behalf March 5…

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Robert Morris was on President Donald Trump’s spiritual advisory board during his 2016 campaign, but did not have a role in his 2024 reelection campaign.

Before an Oklahoma grand jury indicted Gateway Church founder Robert Morris on five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child, the senior pastor’s resignation a year ago caused a stir among his former congregation as his accuser came forward and detailed his alleged years of sexual abuse.

The multi-county grand jury indicted Morris, 63, for alleged sexual misconduct that began in December 1982 and involved a 12-year-old girl, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office said in a statement Wednesday. The indictment says Morris’ actions started on Christmas and continued over the next four years.

“There can be no tolerance for those who sexually prey on children,” Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement. “This case is all the more despicable because the alleged perpetrator…

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Read More: Texas Megachurch Founder Indicted On Child Sexual Abuse Charges 

The founder of a Texas megachurch who resigned as Senior Pastor last year has been indicted on five criminal counts involving a child. The indictments out of Oklahoma were announced on Wednesday.

Robert Morris founded Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas has been charged with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child. Morris resigned last year from his position at Gateway Church after admitting “inappropriate sexual behavior” in the 80’s. He was accused of sexually abusing Cindy Clemishire, who came out publicly last year with the accusation.

According to NBC News, the alleged abuse began in December of 1982 when Morris was visiting Hominy, Oklahoma says the attorney general’s office. Morris would have been 21 at the time while Clemishire would have been 12 years old.

No Statute of Limitations in This Case

The  View Cache

When I hear mention of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), my brain jumps to visions of The Book of Mormon, of patriarchal standards, and cults. I also cringe a little because Adventists are not immune to accusations of being patriarchal and, at times, exhibiting cultish behavior. But upon reading Shari Franke’s memoir The House of My Mother—which provides insight into the now defunct YouTube channel Eight Passengers and outlines the abuse she and her siblings suffered at the hands of her mother, Ruby Franke, and Ruby’s business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt—I was humbled by Shari’s relationship with God, despite any theological disagreements I hold with the LSD and its congregants. I am also reminded of just how easy it is to let our beliefs and quest for righteousness quiet that still, small voice, and of how much harm we, as humans, can inflict on others as a result. Shari’s…

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A leader at Southlake-based Gateway Church on Saturday provided the first update to its congregation since founding pastor Robert Morris was indicted on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child in Oklahoma.

“I’m sure that stirred up a lot of emotion for you,” said Nic Lesmeister, the North Texas megachurch’s executive pastor of Global Outreach. “It stirred up a lot of emotion for us, and reliving our challenging history can be at times odd. We don’t know what to do with our emotions.”

The accusations date back to the early 1980s in Oklahoma, but charges were only officially brought this week. Morris is expected to turn himself in to police early next week.

Lesmeister said Gateway is no longer affiliated with Morris, emphasizing that the church is not involved in the investigation and will not provide continual updates as legal proceedings continue.

However, Lesmeister…

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Legionaries of Christ priest accused of abusing 5 schoolgirls in Spain

Madrid, Spain, Mar 13, 2025 / 06:40 am (CNA).

Father Marcelino de Andrés Núñez, a priest of the Legionaries of Christ and former secretary of Marcial Maciel, was arrested in Spain and released subject to restrictions, accused of abusing five underage girls at a school where he served as a primary and secondary school chaplain.

Maciel, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, sexually abused at least 60 minors, most between the ages of 11 and 16, according to a report issued by the Legionaries of Christ in December 2019. 

According to several statements released by Highlands El Encinar School in recent days, Spain’s National Police arrested de Andrés on March 6, initially accused of sexually abusing one female student.

Upon learning of the events, the school activated the Safe Environment Protocol for cases of sexual abuse reported against a…

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Prosecutors argued for 4 years in prison for out-of-state man

An Oregon man – described by his attorney as a successful businessman, Eagle Scout and former eucharistic minister – was sentenced to jail time and probation Friday for sexually abusing a former Port Barrington child.

James Schlight, 69, was found guilty in January by McHenry County Judge Mark Gerhardt on seven counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child younger than 13, Class 2 felonies, according to records in McHenry County court. The sentencing range on a Class 2 felony is probation to up to seven years in prison.

Schlight must serve half of a 60-day jail sentence and also received three years of probation, which he will be allowed to transfer to Oregon. He also is required to pay his victim’s therapy bills not covered by insurance….

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A man who was sexually abused as a child by the first Catholic priest to attract national media attention was beaten to death earlier this month. Our hearts ache for his family and loved ones in the wake of this tragic loss. We have only heard Scott Anthony Gastal’s public story, but those who knew Scott personally realize that he was more than the worst thing that happened to him, and we hope that they will share that side of Scott in the coming days.

SNAP Louisiana leader, Letitia Peyton, called Scott’s murder was “a sad end to a life that was riddled with early childhood trauma.” But Letitia also credited Scott with “preventing so many other children from suffering the horrific abuse that he suffered,” and hailed him as “a truly brave little boy.”

Scott was repeatedly violated by Fr. Gilbert Gauthe. The…

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A Lafayette man who was found severely beaten in Lake Charles has died, according to media reports.

Scott Anthony Gastal was found in the parking lot of a motel near the Lake Charles Event Center in the 1000 block of N. Lakeshore Drive around 10 p.m. March 2. Gastal appeared to have head injuries, and he was taken to a Lafayette hospital, where he died Tuesday.

Gastal, 50, was one of the first, at age 11, to accuse a Catholic priest of sex abuse, according to The Guardian. He testified in the 1980s that his priest, Gilbert Gauthe, had raped him.

Gauthe is believed to be the first priest in the United States to be openly accused and prosecuted for child sexual abuse. He served various church parishes in the Acadiana area. 

Reese Iles Chaumont, 28, of Lake Charles, was charged with second-degree battery,…

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A Lafayette man was recently beaten to death in Lake Charles, authorities said.

Scott Anthony Gastal, 50, was found in the parking lot of a motel in the 1000 block of N. Lakeshore Drive around 10 p.m. on March 2. Gastal appeared to have head injuries, and he was taken to a Lafayette hospital, where he died on Tuesday.

Reese Iles Chaumont, 28, of Lake Charles, was charged with second-degree battery, which was upgraded to second-degree murder when Gastal died, authorities said. Chaumont was originally arrested March 2 by Lake Charles Police on unrelated charges about an hour after the incident occurred, officials said.

Chaumont is being held in the Calcasieu Correctional Center on $650,000 bond.

Detectives say this is an ongoing investigation, and anyone with information is asked to contact Lake Charles Police at (337) 491-1311 or anonymously leave a tip on the Lake Charles PD app.

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A Union County pastor has died a week after he was charged with child sex abuse.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to WCNC Charlotte on Friday, March 14 that 79-year-old Waymon Jordan was dead. While a cause and manner of death could not be revealed, the sheriff’s office said no foul play was suspected in Jordan’s death.

Jordan, the founder and pastor of Greater Blessed Hope Baptist Church in Waxhaw, was arrested after a weeklong investigation sparked by reports of a child sexual assault. During the course of the investigation, detectives interviewed multiple potential witnesses and collected data they say pointed to Jordan as the primary suspect in the case. 

He was taken into custody on Thursday, March 6 and charged with four felony counts of statutory sexual offense with a child. Jordan was granted a $200,000 bond and released…

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A former priest with a history of child sex offences who told an undercover police officer how to abuse boys has been jailed for eight and a half years.

Timothy Gardner, 53, also showed a persistent “disregard” for a sexual harm prevention order by hiding his internet history and not registering user names, bank cards, emails and memory cards with police, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

He admitted encouraging or assisting the commission of a child sex offence and multiple breaches of orders.

Gardner was a close associate of Bishop Robert Byrne, who resigned from the Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle amid serious concerns over his handling of reports about the priest in December 2022.

Gardner was convicted of 11 offences of making indecent images of children in 2014, prosecutor Robin Turton said.

As a result, he had to register any names, aliases, bank accounts and addresses with police, the court…

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There was much media coverage some months ago about the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby over his failure to deal adequately with the notorious Anglican child abuser John Smyth who was not formally reported to the police, and allowed to continue with his appalling activities. Smyth died unpunished before the law caught up with him.

​Welby was right to resign but there are more senior Anglican figures who knew about Smyth and other abusers, and the story is far from over. It is being kept alive particularly by Channel 4 News which first outed Smyth, and more headline-making resignations may follow in the fulness of time.

This kind of scandal, of course, is not confined to one denomination, and a new book by Patsy McGarry, the distinguished former religion editor of the Irish Times, is a reminder of the widespread child sexual abuse in the Irish Roman…

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“I am grateful for the unmerited grace of God in the gospel to extend His full forgiveness to me.”

In September 2024, Steven J. Lawson, the once prominent pastor at Trinity Bible Church of Dallas, was fired after he admitted to an “inappropriate relationship” with a younger woman. The 73-year-old husband, father and prolific author of books on Calvinism and religious icons had an alleged five-year relationship with a woman in her twenties, shocking his Reformed Baptist followers in North Texas and across the country.

Then Lawson went quiet.

After six months of silence, Lawson took to X on Wednesday to “beg for your forgiveness.” He said he “sinned grievously” against God, his family and supporters by “having a sinful relationship with a woman not my wife.” By Thursday afternoon, about 1 million people had viewed the nearly 500-word message (though the post was disabled for comments).

“I…

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The Catholic Church is at it again.

The decision in Bird v DP has the privileged, affluent and braggadocious church publicly thanking the High Court for a ruling that pierced the hearts of thousands of survivors who were, as children, raped or sexually assaulted by Catholic clergy.

The Bird who gave the case its name is Paul Bird, the current bishop of the Diocese of Ballarat in Victoria.

DP is the pseudonym of a man who was sexually abused in 1971 at the age of five by Father Bryan Coffey, the assistant parish priest at Port Fairy.

The Catholic Church insists that its clergy members are not employees. In Bird v DP, not only did the High Court agree with this, it held that the relationship between a clergy member and the institution is not even akin to an employment relationship. As such, the church cannot be found liable for the sex crimes of…

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A Ministry Check database of Southern Baptist ministers convicted or credibly accused of sexual abuse is “not so much on the back burner” as it is derailed by legal hurdles, said Jeff Iorg, president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.

Instead, the SBC will focus on educating churches about best practices and resources that already exist to prevent sexual abuse in churches, Iorg said in a 15-minute Zoom interview with the Baptist Standard on March 10.

At a news conference held during the most recent SBC Executive Board meeting, Iorg said about the Ministry Check database, “At this point, it’s not a focus for us.”

When asked what factors prompted Executive Committee leaders to place the Ministry Check database on the back burner, he said the question seemed to make assumptions he didn’t share.

“I would say, it’s not so much on the back burner as it is we want to…

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Many of the most prominent families in Dallas send their children to Kanakuk, even as hundreds of cases of sexual abuse have come to light. One woman is on a mission to seek justice—for those families and for survivors all across the country.

Tucked between the low hills of the Missouri countryside, the maximum-security Jefferson City Correctional Center spans a massive parcel of pastoral land that seemed too pleasant to house nearly 2,000 violent criminals. Maybe it was the time we were there, late afternoon on a cloudless day in April, but it didn’t look like a terrible place to be detained. 

We’d had a bit of difficulty finding it. While prison addresses are public information, this one is slightly off the beaten path. We were tired after having spent the previous 48 hours pounding the halls of the Missouri State Capitol, and driving a rental car seemingly designed for Keebler…

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A police chief told the Clarion Ledger on Friday that a Copiah County pastor was arrested Tuesday for multiple sex-related crimes, including statutory rape and unnatural intercourse.

The Crystal Springs Police Department identified the man as Christopher Willett, a pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Crystal Springs — a town with a population of fewer than 5,000 about 30 minutes south of Jackson. Willett’s age was not immediately provided.

Crystal Springs Police Chief Robert Thomas said a female victim came to the police station with a psychologist, who is a family-friend of the victim, on the evening of Friday, March 7. Thomas said the victim told officers she was being molested by Willett. Thomas told the Clarion Ledger the alleged crime began when the victim was 15 years old, and the victim is now 19 years old.

Thomas said officers took the victim’s statement and began an investigation…

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South Beloit Police arrested Anthony Dusso, 52, for disseminating child pornography, according to reports.

Dusso is the pastor at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Beloit, Wisconsin, according to the church’s website.

Investigations started in Dec. 2024 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported a social media account for distributing child porn.

Dusso was identified as the suspect on March 13th. His residence was searched and he was taken into custody.

Officials took several electronic devices as evidence.

Dusso is charged with six counts of dissemination of child porn.

He was lodged in the Winnebago County Jail.

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John Raymond, the founder of Lakeside Christian Academy in Slidell, was also ordered to serve three years of probation following his release.

Slidell pastor John Raymond, convicted last year on multiple child cruelty charges, was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison by State District Judge John A. Keller, according to our partners at NOLA.com. Raymond, the founder of Lakeside Christian Academy in Slidell and a former contestant on the reality TV show Survivor, was also ordered to serve three years of probation following his release.

Raymond, 63, was taken into custody immediately following the sentencing but will have the opportunity to remain out on bond while he appeals the ruling, according to court officials.

The conviction stems from a high-profile trial last September, where Raymond was found guilty on four felony child cruelty charges. The charges were related to disciplinary actions he took against students at his school, including taping the…

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• ‘All of a sudden everybody became a #MeToo lawyer,’ leading litigator says
• Lawyers use financing to pay for time-consuming prep in sex abuse suits

Law firms pursuing sexual abuse suits against large institutions like the Boy Scouts, the Catholic Church, and a federal prison have turned to outside funders amid increasing competition to land cases.

Moves by states to enlarge the window for filing older sex abuse claims prompted a flood of litigation accusing organizations of turning a blind eye to exploitation. Plaintiffs’ firms are using specialized banks, hedge funds, and litigation funders to sustain the cases.https://www.youtube.com/embed/D9nqJXMXzRI

WATCH: Billion Dollar Lawsuits: When Litigation Finance Met Mass Torts

“You’ve got the cost of litigation as well as depositions and all those other things, so you have to have the capital in order to do your job,” said Jessica Pride, a San Diego attorney who represents victims of sexual…

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The Brief

• Jose Bernal was arrested in 2017 for allegedly sexually abusing two children who attended his Fort Worth church.
• The charges were dropped in 2022 after his jury trial ended with a mistrial.
• One of the victims is now getting some justice. Jurors in a civil trial ordered Bernal to pay her $124 million.

A Tarrant County jury awarded $124 million to a woman who accused her former pastor of sexual abuse.

Hurst pastor accused of sexual abuse

The backstory:

In 2017, Jose Francisco Bernal was arrested and charged with the continuous sexual abuse of two children who attended his church in Fort Worth.

Bernal is the former pastor at Tabernacle of Life Pentecostal Church.

Police said two adult women came forward to report that the alleged sexual assaults occurred when they were girls living in Hurst between 2007 and 2013.

In 2022, a criminal trial jury could not…

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Jack Manning previously imprisoned for indecent assault of four other boys

An 88-year-old former Christian brother and teacher has been jailed for four years for the sexual abuse of eight boys he was teaching in first class in primary school in the 1970s.

The court heard Jack Manning would call each of the boys up to the top of the class and make them read a book that was sitting on his desk. He would then bring a boy in close and sexually abuse them by touching their bottom and genitals inside and outside of their clothing. He would call up the next boy when the first boy had returned to his seat.

Manning, who lives in a nursing home on Dunsink Lane, Blanchardstown, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Court to 14 charges of indecent assault at CBS, Westland Row, Dublin 2, on dates in 1973 and 1974.

The court…

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In an exclusive for Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, a bishop speaks to the journalist about why he offered money to a former altar boy who claimed to have been abused by a Catholic priest in the city of Bydgoszcz in Poland.

TW: This article contains references to sexual violence and abuse that some may find distressing.

“The bishop of Bydgoszcz showed me mercy and put the money on the table, or rather on the desk. In an envelope…”

The testimony, recounted to Gazeta Wyborcza, comes from a former altar boy who had been sexually abused by a priest dubbed Rafal K. in the northern Polish city of Bydgoszcz.

The story of the sexual abuse committed by Father Rafał K., then a priest from the parish of the Holy Polish Martyr Brothers in the Bydgoszcz housing estate of Wyżyny, was first revealed in late 2021, in the…

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A media report says the Vatican’s doctrine office could be close to a decision in the case of the ex-Jesuit Father Marko Rupnik.

According to OSV News, a “sentence is expected in the not too distant future” in the canonical trial of the priest-artist accused of the sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse of dozens of religious sisters under his spiritual care.

OSV News also said Rupnik would be tried for the crime of “spiritual abuse.” Last November, the head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, said a Vatican working group was studying the possibility of making “spiritual abuse” a formalized crime in Church law rather than merely an aggravating circumstance of other crimes.

The report was published as some of Rupnik’s alleged victims shared their stories on the Italian television program “Le Iene” (“The Hyenas”), which aired on March 9. In the program, Italian journalist…

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Disgraced preacher Steven Lawson has broken his silence since his Dallas church removed him six months ago for an “inappropriate relationship” with a woman not his wife. On X last night, Lawson stated, “I have sinned grievously against the Lord, against my wife, my family, and against countless numbers of you.”

Lawson, former lead preacher of Trinity Bible Church of Dallas and dean of D. Min studies at John MacArthur’s The Master’s Seminary (TMS), confessed to the sinful relationship last September.

Trinity Bible then removed Lawson “indefinitely” from all ministry activities. And TMS declared him “permanently disqualified” from ministry.

“I am deeply broken that I have betrayed and deceived my wife, devastated my children, brought shame to the name of Christ, reproach upon His church, and harm to many ministries,” Lawson wrote.

He added that he has been silent for so long because he “needed…

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Claims against the famous artist have brought attention to the widespread sexual, psychological and spiritual abuse of religious sisters.

Three women who claim to have suffered abuse at the hands of the Slovenian Jesuit priest Marko Rupnik joined together with their lawyer, Laura Sgrò, to ask the Vatican for justice on Wednesday (March 12), while calling attention to the growing number of religious sisters denouncing abuse in the church.

“We will continue our fight for this. We will continue fighting to make sure their voices are heard,” Sgrò said. “The issue of abuse against religious women must be addressed,” she added.

The appeal was made at the Spazio Sette bookstore in Rome during the presentation of Sgrò’s new book, “Sacred Rapes,” which tells the stories of three nuns, Gloria, Mirjam and Samuelle, as well as other religious sisters who claim sexual, psychological and spiritual abuse within the church.

In her…

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Regnum Christi has announced that it will review the safe environments protocols it has in place in Spain following five allegations of sexual abuse against the former secretary of Marcial Maciel, Legionary priest Marcelino de Andrés Núñez, who worked at the Highlands El Encinar school in that country.

Maciel, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi, was found to have sexually abused at least 60 minors, most between the ages of 11 and 16, according to a report issued by the Legionaries of Christ in December 2019. 

The measure was announced in a letter to the students’ parents dated March 11 listing a series of “public commitments” that were reportedly conveyed to the students’ parents in an in-person meeting held Monday.

The section on reviewing processes and protocols begins with the decision to “select and hire an external auditing firm to…

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A lawsuit was filed against McDonogh School, a private institution in Baltimore County, claiming it enabled a former dean to sexually abuse a student in the 1960s.

This recent lawsuit is the fourth against the school under Maryland’s Child Victims Act, which became law in 2023, removing the statute of limitations on child sex abuse cases.

The new 10-page lawsuit details a former student’s account of being sexually assaulted several times by former dean Alvin Levy, while alone on weekends. 

Ari Casper, who represents the alleged victim, said his client was 10 years old when the reported abuse happened.

“He ruined the lives of many, many McDonough students and that harm doesn’t go away,” said Casper, from The Casper Law Firm.

Lawsuit claims school didn’t protect students

The latest lawsuit says the accuser alleges McDonogh School was aware of the abuse and failed to protect students.

“The…

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The North Texas megachurch founder and former spiritual advisor to President Donald Trump, Robert Morris, is facing child sex abuse indictments in Oklahoma, where the attorney general said the statute of limitations has not run out on the alleged incidents from the 1980s.

Morris resigned from Gateway Church last year following allegations that he had sexual relations in Oklahoma with a then 12-year-old girl, Cindy Clemishire, four decades ago. 

During the 1980s, Morris was a traveling preacher and came in contact with Clemishire because he would often stay with her family when he was in the area preaching.   

The allegations against Morris were first published Friday by The Wartburg Watch, a North Carolina-based church watchdog blog. The Christian Post then picked up the story.  

Clemishire, now 55, confirmed she is the unnamed victim in the indictment. She told CBS News…

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Morris is a former spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump, and Gateway — one of the nation’s largest megachurches — has been particularly active in Dallas-area GOP politics.

Robert Morris, the Dallas-area megachurch pastor who resigned last year amid sexual abuse allegations, has been indicted in Oklahoma for child sex crimes that date back to the 1980s.

Morris is a former spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump, and Gateway — one of the nation’s largest megachurches — has been particularly active in politics. In 2020, Trump held a “Roundtable on Transition to Greatness” there that was attended by then-U.S. Attorney General William Barr and other prominent Republicans.

Morris faces five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office said in a Wednesday evening press release.

The indictment comes less than a year after Morris resigned from Gateway Church in Southlake after an adult woman,…

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A former pastor of a Texas megachurch who resigned after a woman accused him of sexually abusing her in the 1980s has been indicted in Oklahoma on child sexual abuse charges, that state’s attorney general’s office said Wednesday.

Robert Preston Morris, 63, has been charged with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child.

The alleged abuse started in 1982 when the victim, referred to in the indictment as C.C., was 12 years old and Morris was a traveling evangelist staying in Hominy, Oklahoma, with her family, according to the attorney general’s office. The abuse allegedly continued for four years.

Cindy Clemishire, Morris’ accuser, said in a statement that she is very grateful to the authorities who have worked to make the indictment possible and is hopeful “justice will ultimately prevail.”

“After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he…

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Megachurch founder Robert Morris was indicted Wednesday, nine months after Cindy Clemishire publicly accused him of molesting her in the 1980s, beginning when she was 12.

The indictment of former megachurch pastor Robert Morris on child sex abuse charges this week was made possible by an accuser who refused to quit, a novel legal theory and an archaic section of state criminal code that dates to Oklahoma’s origins on the wild frontier.

Morris, a leading national figure in the American evangelical movement and the founder of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, was charged Wednesday with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child. The indictment by a multicounty Oklahoma grand jury came nine months after Cindy Clemishire publicly accused Morris of repeatedly molesting her over a four-year span when she was a child in the 1980s.

Clemishire was 12 and dressed in…

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An Eagleville man has been arrested for the sexual abuse of a child at a local church while he was still a teenager himself.

Harrison County, Missouri, Circuit Court records filed on Friday, March 7, indicate that Tyler R. Lundy, 23, of Eagleville, has been charged in connection to the alleged sexual abuse of a child.

A probable cause statement filed by the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office revealed that on June 27, it was reported that Lundy may have sexually assaulted a child he knew well at the Eagleville Church of Christ. At the time of the crime, Lundy was a teenager in high school.

The victim reported that Lundy had lured him into restrooms at the church with stuffed animals or games in order to sexually assault him. This allegedly continued until a family member of the suspect may have started to catch on.

…

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The Brief

• Roswell Police arrested Daniel Menelaou on six counts of possession of child sexual abuse material.
• The investigation began after a cybertip, leading to a search warrant at his home on March 11, 2025.
• Authorities say the case is still ongoing, and additional charges may be filed.

A Roswell man has been arrested on six counts of possession of child sexual abuse material following an investigation by the Roswell Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) unit.

What we know:

Authorities say the investigation began at the end of February when detectives received a cybertip related to the possession of child sexual abuse material. The tip led investigators to the home of Daniel Menelaou in Roswell.

On March 11, detectives, along with agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), executed a search warrant at Menelaou’s residence. He was taken into custody and charged with six…

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A federal judge in Albany on Wednesday said he will allow seven child sexual abuse lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany to go to trial.

A federal judge in Albany on Wednesday said he will allow seven child sexual abuse lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany to go to trial after mediation efforts in the diocese’s bankruptcy case have languished.

The decision by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert E. Littlefield Jr. came as the attorneys for hundreds of alleged victims have been unable to reach a global settlement with the church and its insurers.

Cynthia S. LaFave, an Albany-area attorney whose firm, along with Jeff Anderson & Associates, represents 190 plaintiffs who have pending claims against the Albany diocese, said many victims are dying — or have died — as their cases were put on hold after the diocese filed for bankruptcy several years ago.

“The worst days that we…

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Father Marcelino de Andrés Núñez, a priest of the Legionaries of Christ and former secretary of Marcial Maciel, was arrested in Spain and released subject to restrictions, accused of abusing five underage girls at a school where he served as a primary and secondary school chaplain.

Maciel, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, sexually abused at least 60 minors, most between the ages of 11 and 16, according to a report issued by the Legionaries of Christ in December 2019. 

According to several statements released by Highlands El Encinar School in recent days, Spain’s National Police arrested the priest on March 6, initially accused of sexually abusing one female student.

Upon learning of the events, the school activated the Safe Environment Protocol for cases of sexual abuse reported against a Legionary of Christ, the last approved version of which dates back to…

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During his 12 years as head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has been a voice for compassion and peace, reformed the Vatican government and taken action against clerical child abuse.

Here are some of the main achievements of the Argentine pontiff and the opposition he has faced – and what he has left to do.

Battle against sex abuse

Dealing with the worldwide scourge of sexual abuse by clergy and its cover-up was one of the biggest challenges for Pope Francis when he took office in 2013.

A 2018 trip to Chile proved a turning point. Francis initially defended a Chilean bishop against allegations he covered up the crimes of an elderly priest, demanding that the accusers show proof of his guilt.

He later admitted making “grave mistakes” in the case – a first for a pope. He summoned all of Chile’s bishops to the Vatican, after which View Cache

A former bishop has been jailed for sexually abusing a boy over a five-year period while he was a priest.

Anthony Pierce, 84, who was bishop of Swansea and Brecon between 1999 and 2008, pleaded guilty to five counts of indecent assault on a child under the age of 16.

Swansea Crown Court heard the offences, which included sexual touching, happened between 1985 and 1990, while Pierce was a parish priest in West Cross, Swansea.

Sentencing Pierce to four years and one month – half of which he will serve behind bars before spending the rest on licence – Judge Catherine Richards said: “You exploited his age and your position of trust.”

Reading a statement in court, the victim said he remembered “exactly how I felt as the abuse took place” and had “an overwhelming sense of embarrassment, as I could not feel the courage to say no”.

“I have…

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A recent incident where a trainee nun has been accused of killing her newborn has not only shaken the Catholic Church in India but highlighted an “urgent need” to revise the way religious are formed, Sr. Molly Mathew, a member of the Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians, told Global Sisters Report.

The police in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh arrested the 18-year-old trainee on Dec. 8, 2024. They also arrested a Capuchin deacon after the woman blamed him for her pregnancy. 

However, further police investigations revealed the child’s father was another man, said to be the trainee’s boyfriend. The deacon remains in jail because the trainee alleges that he molested her.

The Catholic religious in India have undertaken several steps to form brave, confident and socially relevant nuns.

As a first step, the Conference of Religious Women…

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A Woodbridge man has been ordered to pay one of the largest awards to a victim of sexual abuse issued by a San Joaquin County jury.

Pastor Frank James Palmer of Woodbridge Missionary Church was found liable in January of sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress stemming from molesting his niece over the course of eight years.

A jury returned a unanimous verdict of $47,000,700 to be paid to Darleen Patrick, according to Zalkin Law, LLP of San Diego, the firm that represented her.

The abuse began when Patrick was 5 years old. Palmer was a 21-year-old seminary student when he stopped abusing her, the law firm said.

“For the first time in the past 58 years, I was able to explain in detail what Frank James Palmer did to me and the damage it caused,” Patrick said in a statement prepared by the firm. “I was finally…

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Disgraced Gateway Church Founder Robert Morris has been indicted on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, according to a press release by the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office.

The indictment stems from incidents that began around Christmas 1982, when Morris’ alleged victim was 12 years old, the release states. This matches the description of sexual abuse alleged last June by Oklahoma resident Cindy Clemishire.

Shortly after the allegations became public, Morris resigned from Gateway, one of the largest megachurches in the country.

In November, Gateway removed four elders who either knew about the allegations of abuse or knew enough that they should have investigated, the church stated.

“After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child,” Clemishire told The Roys Report (TRR) today.

“Now, it is time for the legal system to hold him…

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Robert Morris, founding pastor of Gateway Church⁩, a megachurch in Southlake, Texas, has been indicted on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, stemming from alleged incidents dating back to the 1980s, the Oklahoma attorney general’s office announced Wednesday.

Morris resigned from Gateway Church last year following allegations that he had sexual relations in Oklahoma with a then 12-year-old girl, Cindy Clemishire, four decades ago. 

“After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child,” Clemishire said in a statement Wednesday. “Now, it is time for the legal system to hold him accountable. My family and I are deeply grateful to the authorities who have worked tirelessly to make this day possible and remain hopeful that justice will ultimately prevail.”  

The indictment was announced by the office of Oklahoma Attorney…

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A federal bankruptcy judge’s ruling on Wednesday allows several child sexual abuse suits against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany to go to trial in state court, which attorneys hope will pave the way for settlements. 

Judge Robert Littlefield Jr. of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Northern District of New York ruled eight cases against the Albany Diocese can advance to trial, reopening Child Victims Act cases that were sidelined by the diocese’s filing for bankruptcy two years ago in March. 

“This is a breakthrough moment for survivors to advance their claims, reveal the horrors inflicted upon them by the offenders and by the Albany bishop to hold them accountable without further delay,” said Jeff Anderson, an attorney representing several people with claims against the diocese.

He added there are about 390 cases pending.

The diocese responded Wednesday, saying it backs mediation to come up with a plan to provide compensation to…

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Washington’s new archbishop, Cardinal Robert McElroy, encouraged Catholics at his installation Mass on Tuesday (March 11) to have hope and show mercy in a service that included prayers in eight languages, with multiple mentions of the well-being of migrants.

“Mercy and compassion must be our first impulse when confronted with sin and human failure,” said the cardinal, who will fill the seat vacated by Cardinal Wilton Gregory, who retired at the beginning of this year.

The cardinal’s installation Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Catholic Church structure in North America, was attended by thousands of lay Catholics, as well as seven fellow cardinals and about 80 bishops and 300 priests. Also in attendance were local politicians and some national politicians who are Catholic, including House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and former Vatican ambassador Callista Gingrich.

At Communion, bishops across the ideological spectrum,…

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Notorious alleged abuser Father Marko Rupnik was recently approached by a journalist at a Rome airport who questioned him about accusations he sexually abused over 40 adult women over a span of decades.

Italian journalist Roberta Rei with the television program La Iene confronted Rupnik at the baggage claim of Rome’s Fiumicino airport, where he apparently arrived from the Schengen area along with a friend or assistant.

In a video of the encounter, published to social media, Rei approaches Rupnik and introduces herself, repeatedly asking if he has a response to allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct with the women who have accused him.

Rupnik in the video declines to comment and places his hand in front of the camera recording him. At other times the hand of his travel companion is seen blocking the screen, and at others, the companion puts himself between Rupnik and the camera.

Rei among other things asks…

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Washington’s new archbishop wasted no time addressing the divisions that exist in his new archdiocese as well as the church’s past sins in dealing with sexual abuse of minors.

During his homily at his March 11 installation Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Cardinal Robert McElroy spoke about some of the tensions that often begin in Washington’s institutions and radiate to the rest of the country and stressed instead that God wishes dignity and hope for humanity.

“How deeply that contrasts with the world that we have made,” he said. “Divisions of race, gender, ideology and nationality, flourish in the world of politics, religion, family life and education. The poor and the migrant are daily dispossessed, and the dignity of the unborn is denied.”

He addressed a shrine packed with a cross section of the archdiocese — from the District of Columbia, the country’s…

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A former teacher and headteacher have appeared in court over allegations of rape and sexual assaults on pupils at a catholic school while in a position of trust.

Edward Waller, 65, of Winter Road, Southsea, denied one count of rape and two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity during his appearance at Portsmouth Crown Court. James Rouse, 48, of Lowford Hill Close, Southampton, pleaded not guilty to sexual activity with a child.

The charges are part of a police investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse at St Anne’s Catholic School and Sixth Form College in Southampton where Waller used to be a teacher and Rouse a former headteacher. The alleged offences took place between 2004 and 2006.

Waller’s alleged offence of rape of a woman aged 16 or over took place on December 19, 2005, in Southampton.

The two alleged counts of causing or…

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My UNLV colleague, Nancy Rapoport, sent me In re: The Roman Catholic Bishop of Sacramento, a decision written by Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein, who sits in the Eastern District of California. It is a smart decision. It is beautifully written. This judge allows abuse survivors to speak in the bankruptcy court even though the insurers said allowing the survivors’ comments would be illegal.

I regularly tell Professor Rapoport that churches use bankruptcy to avoid their liability to survivors of sexual abuse. Bankruptcy stalls their abuse lawsuits. It drags out the proceedings, perhaps making survivors less willing to keep filing their lawsuits. Some of the survivors are old enough to get sick and die. Can the church outlast the survivors of abuse? Sometimes I think yes, especially due to bankruptcy law.

Fortunately, this time Professor Rapoport and Judge Klein showed me bankruptcy courts will listen to abuse victims and hear their…

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In short:

Callum* is suing the Christian Brothers in the Tasmanian Supreme Court over physical and sexual abuse he alleges he experienced while a student at Hobart’s St Virgil’s College.

The Christian Brothers, who ran the school at the time, argue they should not be vicariously liable for the actions of the teachers and a volunteer sports coach named in the case.

What’s next?

The civil trial is expected to run for two weeks.

A man who alleges he was sexually and physically abused while a student at a Catholic school in Hobart has told a court he felt like he was “going to die” during one of the alleged assaults.

WARNING: This story contains details of alleged sexual abuse which may cause distress.

Callum*, now aged in his 50s, was a student at St Virgil’s College from 1977 until 1981. 

He is suing the Christian Brothers, the religious order…

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A Missouri House committee voted to advance a bill hoping to help minors who have been sexually assaulted.

House Bill 709 makes non-disclosure agreements unenforceable in child sex abuse cases. This means victims can speak out and tell their stories if they choose to.

The bill was introduced in response to the abuse scandal at Kanakuk Sports Camp in the Branson area. Brian Seitz, who represents the area, says that while there is still much more to be done before the bill becomes a law, this is progress nonetheless.

“We should be hearing House Bill 709 on the House floor as early as next week,” says Rep. Seitz. “Let’s get it to the governor’s desk. Let’s help the now adult victims of child sexual abuse heal.”Ex-camper sues Branson-based summer camp for allegedly concealing sexual abuse

Seitz explained that this bill is personal to him as the Kanakuk abuse scandal…

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Plaintiff claims abuse by priest in the Manitoba village of Somerset started more than 50 years ago

The Archdiocese of St. Boniface in the Roman Catholic Church is being sued by a man who says he was sexually assaulted by a former priest at the church in the village of Somerset, Man., in the 1970s.

The lawsuit says a priest named Rene Touchette, who is now deceased, was convicted of sexual assault against the plaintiff and other victims from Somerset in or around December 1993.

The plaintiff is now in his 60s and his statement of claim filed March 3 in Manitoba Court of King’s Bench says that sexual assaults took place between 1972 and 1980 when the plaintiff was about 13 to 21 years old.

At the time the plaintiff was a member of Somerset Church, where Touchette was the priest.

The plaintiff alleges that starting when he was around…

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The Archdiocese of St. Boniface has again been hit with a lawsuit over allegations of historical sexual abuse by a Roman Catholic priest in rural southern Manitoba decades ago.

The statement of claim, filed in the Court of King’s Bench earlier this month by Winnipeg lawyers Faron Trippier and Irina Vakurova on behalf of a 67-year-old man, names the archdiocese and its corporate arm, as well as the archbishop, as defendants.

The plaintiff, who the Free Press is not naming due to the nature of the allegations, claims he was sexually abused by now-deceased priest Rene Touchette while he was a youth member of the Notre-Dame-de-la-Nativité in the village of Somerset, about 150 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg.

The lawsuit is the third filed by lawyers Trippier and Vakurova since 2023 on behalf of different plaintiffs over allegations of sex abuse at the hands of Roman Catholic Church priests in Manitoba.

Both earlier…

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Former pupils of a late Catholic priest accused of sexual abuse have questioned why a church apology did not contain details of the “evil” cleric’s time as a teacher in Co Antrim.

Fr Patrick O’Neill, who died in 2009, was the subject of a statement last month by Down and Connor Bishop Alan McGuckian.

Fr O’Neill was “stepped aside” from his ministry in the Co Down parish of Ardkeen in 2004 following an allegation of abuse, and the bishop said it was a matter of “deep regret” that the diocese did not at the time issue a drafted statement that would have “empowered other victims to come forward”.

Bishop McGuckian said he became aware of an allegation made recently about Fr O’Neill, and referred to the “similarly credible” accusation in 2004 that prompted the draft statement which was never issued.

The bishop…

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A man who founded Greater Blessed Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Waxhaw is facing charges on child sex crimes.

Waymon Jordan, 79, who was also the senior pastor, has been arrested and charged with four counts of felony statutory sexual offense with a child after an investigation by the Union County Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit.

The investigation began in late February when detectives received reports of a child sexual assault in the Waxhaw area. Over several weeks, detectives conducted numerous interviews and gathered critical evidence that led to the identification and arrest of Jordan.

The incidents happened in 2022 when the victim was under the age of 15.

It is unclear if the two knew each other.

One woman, who didn’t want to show her face, said Jordan has a large family.

She isn’t convinced that a man in his 70s, who is so loved in the community, is…

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The Diocese of Lincoln has suspended a priest and teacher with Pius X amid self-reported allegations of sexual misconduct.

Father Joe Bernardo has been suspended after being placed on administrative leave in recent months, according to a release shared with Pius X members on Tuesday.

Bernardo, who’s worked with the school for several years, took a sabbatical and sought inpatient counseling late last year. The Diocese of Lincoln said that during his sessions with a therapist, Bernardo self-reported several incidents of sexual misconduct.

The priest told his therapist that he had intentionally rubbed up against one or more male students at Pius X, according to the release. Church officials said the incidents likely happened off school grounds and may have seemed unintentional to a victim.

Bernardo also divulged instances where he had taken photos of students in public places without their consent. He also said he had taken photos of…

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A Florida pastor and support staff member at a local elementary school has been arrested and charged with two child sex abuse felonies. 

Jeffery Summers, 51, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Port Orange, was arrested on Friday evening by deputies of Port Orange Police Department, according to court records. He was charged with solicitation for sexual conduct with a child over a computer and traveling to meet a minor for sexual conduct.

The arrest came as part of “Operation Full Throttle” last weekend. The initiative included several Florida law enforcement agencies and targeted child predators, according to a Port Orange Police press release. Sixteen people were arrested and charged with various crimes related to child sexual exploitation.

Summers also worked as a paraprofessional at Horizon Elementary, a public school in Port Orange, reportedly working with special education children. On Sunday, school principal Melani Johnson sent…

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As News 12 has reported, Jose Saez Jr. had been accused of sexually exploiting dozens of children while he was the pastor of the Iglesia Cristiana Alumbranda El Camino Church.

A Brentwood pastor pleaded guilty Tuesday to sexual exploitation of a child, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

As News 12 has reported, Jose Saez Jr. had been accused of sexually exploiting dozens of children while he was the pastor of the Iglesia Cristiana Alumbranda El Camino Church.

“The defendant’s sexual exploitation of minors, both in person and online, is horrific, and he now faces at least 15 years in prison for his unspeakable crimes,” stated United States Attorney John J. Durham. “That he held a position of trust and responsibility as a pastor of a local church makes his conduct even more reprehensible. Protecting vulnerable children from predators like this defendant will always be a priority of…

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A lawsuit filed in Peoria County alleges a former priest of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria sexually abused a man over a six-year period starting in the late 1990s.

The suit, filed on behalf of Michael Eckert by attorneys at Jeff Anderson and Associates, claims Father Thomas Miller’s abuse of Eckert started when the boy was 8 years old in 1997 and continued through 2003.

Eckert’s attorneys make the argument that the alleged abuse of Eckert is part of a larger pattern of abuse and cover-ups or ignorance of abuse at the diocese starting as early as 1946. The lawsuit frequently cites a 2023 report published by the Office of the Illinois Attorney General that found more than 50 documented instances of bishops receiving reports of child sexual abuse.

The attorneys go on to claim abuse was repeatedly ignored or handled inadequately,…

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– Interview. During its March 31–April 4 Plenary Assembly, the French Bishops’ Conference will elect a new president to succeed Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort. After six years in office, Archbishop de Moulins-Beaufort reflects on a presidency indelibly marked by the issue of sexual violence in the church.

La Croix: You will complete your second term as president of the French Bishops’ Conference (CEF) at the end of June. What are you feeling?

Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort: We have worked extensively on very painful issues. These six years have opened my mind and my heart. I feel a certain relief in moving on to another phase, in being able to serve the Archdiocese of Reims more fully. However, I do not at all see myself as being relieved of the issue of sexual abuse, which has definitively marked my life and my ministry. This is an evil that must continue to…

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Dear SNAP members and supporters,

We are writing to you from Rome, where three representatives from our community have been dispatched to advance our mission of protecting children and holding the Catholic church accountable for its handling of clergy abuse. Our presence here is critical during this time of a potential papal transition — and we want you to know exactly what we are doing and why.

A Legacy To Be Proud Of

As you know, SNAP is the world’s oldest and largest survivor organization for clergy abuse, with a mission that has always been global. This is because abuse within the Catholic church ultimately traces back to one man — the pope — who holds absolute authority over every ordained cleric worldwide. Only the pope can hire, fire, or discipline a priest, including those who sexually abuse children or vulnerable adults. If abusive priests are concealed, transferred, or protected from…

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It’s been 500 days since the Oct. 27, 2023, papal lifting of the statute of limitations in the case of Father Marko Rupnik, the Slovenian ex-Jesuit who has been accused of spiritual and sexual abuse by at least 20 women, and developments are ongoing.

On March 9, three alleged victims shared testimonies of their interactions with Father Rupnik on a prime time Italian television program, and when reporters tried to speak with Father Rupnik, he refused.

At the same time, the retired bishop of the Diocese of Koper, where Father Rupnik was incardinated in August 2023, told OSV News that the priest “continues his work all over the world.”

And finally, according to a source close to the Vatican, Father Rupnik is to be tried under the canonical crime of “spiritual abuse” and “false mysticism” — a crime mentioned during the Nov. 22, 2024, audience of Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández…

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It can be tackled by integrating faith-based values with strong legal protections and community involvement

On March 7, UCA News published a report highlighting a strong warning from Timor-Leste’s Education Minister Dulce de Jesus Soares to teachers who engage in the sexual abuse of students.

It underscored the government’s commitment to fostering a safe school environment in Catholic-majority Timor-Leste.

The warning followed a report on recent cases of sexual abuse at two public schools, with school directors as the primary suspects. This represents a serious breach of trust. The directors involved are facing immediate suspension from their teaching roles and positions.

Recently, two high-profile Catholic clergy members drew global attention.

In 2021, a foreign priest from the US, Richard Daschbach, was convicted of sexually assaulting four minors at the orphanage he managed. He was a close associate of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

In 2022, former  View Cache

A second lawsuit has been filed against controversial pastor John-Paul Miller, accusing him of sexually assaulting a woman decades ago when she was 14. The alleged assault occurred at a school Miller ran as a “hunting area for under-age females.”

The assault reportedly happened in the late 1990s, when Miller taught at his father’s former Christian school, Cathedral Hall Academy, according to a lawsuit filed last week in Horry County, South Carolina.

This suit comes just eight days after an Indiana woman, “Jane Doe 1,” sued Miller for allegedly raping her when she was a minor, The Roys Report (TRR) previously reported.

The latest lawsuit further details how Miller and his father, Reverend Reginald Wayne Miller, created churches and religious organizations to conceal and further a pattern of “predatory behavior.”

It added that Reginald Miller used the school “to extend his authority over students and staff while securing financial and…

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A lawsuit was filed Monday against the Catholic Diocese of Peoria on behalf of a man who alleges a priest sexually abused him many years ago.

The suit filed in Peoria County Court alleges Father Thomas Miller sexually abused Michael Eckert starting when Eckert was eight years old, between 1997 and 2003. The abuse happened at church, the rectory, and at St. Vincent de Paul Parish.

Attorneys from the law firm Jeff Anderson and Associates said since 1950, 20 reports of sexual abuse by clergymen have been made to bishops of the Diocese of Peoria.

Anderson said that the bishops have a long history of ignoring reports of abuse, and he noted that 53 Peoria-area clergymen have now been accused of sexual abuse of a child.

“Peoria stands, in my view and my experience, as one of the most dangerous, perilous, and difficult places of all the Catholic…

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Survivors group speaks on efforts by the church to quash abuse cases

After years of waiting, New Jersey’s victims of alleged clergy sexual abuse may finally get answers.

The state Supreme Court on Thursday ordered hundreds of pages of records in the cases to be unsealed, handing a blow to the Catholic Church. The court agreed to hear arguments next month over whether a grand jury investigation of the abuse complaints can proceed.

NJ Spotlight News spoke with Mark Crawford, the New Jersey director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), about the latest revelations and what they means for survivors.

“It’s really huge,” he said. “They were asked to come forward, give testimony, which they’ve done. And for years we’ve heard nothing.”

“[Survivors] want people to know who did this and what could have been done either to stop it or what was not done to…

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An alleged sexual assault victim of a former Warsaw pastor facing 30 felony charges including aggravated sexual battery and taking indecent liberties with a child speaks exclusively with 8News.

Following a 15-month investigation, in December of 2023, Albert Wharton was arrested in South Carolina by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and South Carolina’s Pickens County Sheriff’s Department.

According to the arrest warrant, Wharton was charged with a total of 30 felony charges — including 22 felony counts of taking indecent liberties with a child under the age of 13 while in a custodial position and eight felony counts of aggravated sexual assault.

The alleged offenses were committed beginning in 1981 through 1996. Authorities say the alleged offenses happened while Wharton was a preacher at Berachah Academy, a former school located at Victory Baptist Church.

8News spoke with an alleged victim who wished to remain anonymous. She says she attended the academy from…

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