ABUSE TRACKER

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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Home Office Minister Jess Phillips believes that victims of abuse within the Church deserve real change from institutions, not just “lamenting and repenting”.

This comes as the Church of England faces a safeguarding crisis, with the Archbishop of Canterbury recently resigning over mishandling abuse allegations against John Smyth, now known as one of the Church’s most prolific abusers.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Phillips declined to specify what changes the Church should make in response to recent safeguarding failures but stressed that victims of institutional abuse are owed a debt for coming forward.

She said: “Whilst I cannot tell the Synod what it has to do, I condemn the acts of psychological, emotional and physical abuse and sexual abuse against both adults and children, including where they occur in religious settings or contexts.

“What I know of the years of working on the frontline with victims of both historical…

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• Following third-party report on clergy sexual abuse in Southern Baptist Convention, feds launch investigation into Nashville-based denomination and leads to charges over incident at Texas seminary.
• Former pastor and seminary faculty Matt Queen pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators in October. Judge sentences Queen TK.
• Outcome of federal investigation so far has fallen short of abuse survivors and allies’ hopes for denomination-wide accountability.

A former Southern Baptist pastor and seminary professor won’t serve jail time after lying to federal investigators in the first and potentially only felony conviction to emerge from an abuse-related investigation into the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

The Department of Justice began investigating the Southern Baptist Convention in late 2022 following a third-party report on clergy sexual abuse, leading to scrutiny into a January 2023 incident at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas where administrators reportedly mishandled an abuse report. Matthew Queen, a former professor and…

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• New Jersey’s clergy abuse victims and their advocates have been waiting seven years for the state to issue a report on clergy abuse.
• Newly released documents show the Catholic Church’s quest to quash the investigation.

A slew of court documents recently unsealed by New Jersey’s Supreme Court reveals the secret quest of the Catholic Church to quash the state’s grand jury investigation of decades of clergy sexual abuse.

The court has scheduled a hearing next month that pits the state Attorney General’s Office against the Catholic Diocese of Camden over the issue of whether the state can go forward with its grand jury investigation of clergy abuse.

After a 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report found that hundreds of Catholic priests had sexually abused at least 1,000 children, New Jersey’s Attorney General’s Office launched its own investigation.

For nearly seven years, New Jersey’s clergy abuse victims and their advocates have been waiting…

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One year into his tenure as San Diego’s bishop in 2016, Cardinal Robert McElroy was asked to meet with a resident of his Southern California diocese to discuss grave matters regarding the ongoing clergy sexual abuse crisis.

McElroy, the incoming archbishop of Washington, D.C. who will be installed March 11, said in an NCR interview that he had a constructive initial meeting nine years ago with Richard Sipe, a former Benedictine priest, researcher and psychotherapist, and a well-known voice in the Catholic world in support of survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

However, the discussions took a strange turn at a second meeting, McElroy said, when Sipe began making hearsay claims without providing verifiable evidence, including about now-former cardinal and retired archbishop of Washington, D.C., Theodore McCarrick.

Afterwards, Sipe began behaving in an unorthodox manner. McElroy said that Sipe delivered an allegation-filled letter through a process server who falsely impersonated a…

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A Hungarian teacher has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a student during a school-organised sleepover, sparking outrage and legal action. The incident, which took place at a Catholic primary school, was reported by a concerned parent, leading to an immediate investigation. As authorities continue their inquiries, the teacher remains in custody, facing serious allegations that could result in a lengthy prison sentence.

24.hu writes that a teacher from Laky Demeter Roman Catholic Primary School in Hungary has been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault, following a shocking incident at a school-organised sleepover. Reports indicate that the teacher arranged for an eighth-grade student to sleep in close proximity to him in a separate room from others during the event, which took place in the school’s gymnasium. The Zalaegerszeg District Court has ordered the teacher’s detention, while the Zala County Prosecutor’s Office continues its investigation. Further details remain undisclosed, but…

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Accused have been identified as Mahesh Popat Narode (27) and Gaurav Dattatray Mali (21). This marks the third such case reported in Alandi.

A shocking incident has come to light in Alandi, Pune district, where a 15-year-old student at a reputed Warkari educational institution was allegedly subjected to sexual abuse. Two individuals have been booked under the POCSO Act late Tuesday (March 4) night in connection with the case.

The accused individuals have been identified as Mahesh Popat Narode (27) and Gaurav Dattatray Mali (21). This marks the third such case reported in Alandi since January, sparking widespread outrage among residents and raising concerns over misconduct within religious institutions.

https://www.thebridgechronicle.com/news/alandi-two-minor-boys-sexually-assaulted-at-educational-institute-28-year-old-arrested

According to Dighi Police, the victim is a child in conflict with the law (a minor under legal supervision). The incident reportedly took place in January when the student was asleep with other boys in the…

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Marcelino de Andrés, 58, a member of the Legion of Christ, was the chaplain of the Highlands School in Madrid.

The news about these new cases at the Legion of Christ happen as Pope Francis suppresses a similar, but smaller Argentine predatory order.

Five more victims of clergy sexual abuse to the already monstruous record of the Legion of Christ. The accused of these abuses is a priest, Marcelino de Andrés, a 58-years old Spaniard who was Marcial Maciel’s last private secretary.

Him, as other leaders of the Mexican religious order, appear in the main picture of this story as captured by a photographer who documented how the members of that order paid their respects to the predator behind a multinational religious empire who had, until the end, John Paul II’s support and barely was “punished” by Benedict XVI with a “retierement into a life of prayer”.

Following standard practice, Spanish authorities released De Andrés…

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Police in Peel Region say a religious leader from Brampton has been charged in connection with a sexual assault investigation.

Peel Regional Police said the 69-year-old man attended a residence Monday to perform a religious ceremony.

During that time, he allegedly sexually assaulted a female victim.

Police said they arrested the man, identified as Ashok Kumar, on Friday and charged him with sexual assault. They noted that Kumar is also known by the name Ashok Sharma.

“The accused has been a religious leader in the Brampton community for several years and investigators believe there may be additional victims,” police said in a news release on Saturday.

They are asking anyone with information to contact them at 905-453-2121 ext. 3460 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

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A board said it found evidence that the complaints were credible, noting evidence of “frequent boundary violations with both minors and adults.”

The Diocese of Knoxville said it is searching for a new assignment for a St. John Neumann Catholic Church and School priest who was placed on administrative leave in December.

Father Joseph Reed was placed on leave after a complaint of “boundary violations” was brought to the attention of the Diocese of Knoxville. The diocese had reported the complaint to state authorities and told Reed of the situation.

At the end of January, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office closed its investigation into Reed and said the allegations were unsubstantiated. Soon after, the Department of Children’s Services and the Diocese of Knoxville both confirmed they had opened investigations into the case. 

On March 4, the Diocese of Knoxville shared a letter updating the community on the conclusion of the…

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The Vatican’s Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life has decreed the suppression of the Miles Christi religious order, founded in Argentina and the subject of a Vatican intervention in 2022.

“This decision was specifically approved by Pope Francis on Feb. 6, 2025,” stated an official communication released by the AICA news agency.

Implementing the measure fell to Mauricio Landra, auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Mercedes-Luján, as the papal delegate appointed by the Vatican dicastery.

“Given the delicacy and complexity of the situation, in order for everything to be carried out with justice and charity, in order to implement the decision taken by the Holy See, we entrust this time to Mary, Mother of the Church,” Landra said when announcing the decision.

Miles Christi (Soldier of Christ) was a clerical religious order of diocesan right founded in 1994 in the Archdiocese of La Plata, Argentina.

In…

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STEPHEN Cottrell, the current Archbishop of York who is also caretaker Archbishop of Canterbury following Justin Welby’s resignation, is now in a maelstrom of historic safeguarding scandals engulfing the Church.

The central allegation against Mr Welby is that abuse carried out for decades by Christian camp leader John Smyth was known about and not acted upon by senior figures within the Church. The former archbishop bowed to pressure and resigned after a damning report concluded that had he formally contacted police when he had the opportunity, five years before Smyth’s death, a trial might have been possible.

As a result of the same report, ten clergy were named last month as facing possible disciplinary action over safeguarding failures. They include George Carey, who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002. The review said he had, as principal of Trinity Theological College in Bristol,…

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Dozens of statements to a French court tell of decades of sexual abuse at a Catholic school. The case has also created a political crisis, with media allegations that today’s prime minister François Bayrou knew what was going on but failed to act.

Since early February, France’s prime minister François Bayrou has been the subject of a damning series of articles by the investigative outlet Mediapart detailing allegations that he turned a blind eye to decades of allegations of physical violence, sexual abuse, and rape at Notre-Dame de Bétharram, a private Catholic school. It is located just outside of Pau, where Bayrou is mayor, and where he’s built his political career for the past forty-five years.

The Mediapart revelations come less than a year after a parliamentary report revealed just how little control the state is exercising over the thousands of private Catholic schools it funds. According to the parliamentary report, most schools have their contracts…

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A New Jersey diocese this week faced a significant setback in its ongoing court battle related to a clergy abuse investigation as the state Supreme Court announced it would consider whether decades of abuse allegations can be presented to a grand jury.

The high court said it would hear from both the state attorney general and the Diocese of Camden in the years-old controversy. Oral arguments are scheduled for April 28-29. 

After a Pennsylvania grand jury report in 2018 found allegations of decades of clergy sexual abuse in that state, former New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal convened a “Clergy Abuse Task Force” to investigate allegations of abuse. 

Heavily redacted documents released by the state Supreme Court and obtained by CNA show that the government sought to impanel a grand jury to consider the findings of the task force, which was charged with “investigating allegations of sexual abuse by…

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Poland’s day of prayer for victims of clerical sexual abuse, scheduled each year for the first Friday in Lent, was overshadowed March 7 by a controversial opinion from the legal council of the Polish bishops’ conference regarding an independent commission for the investigation of abuse cases that has been under development for the past two years.

According to the Polish Catholic information agency KAI, the legal council blasted several fundamental foundations of the “Commission of Independent Experts to Investigate the Sexual Exploitation of Minors in the Catholic Church in Poland,” which had been approved by the bishops in June 2023.

The bishops’ legal council opinion, which was sent to all curial offices Feb. 28, according to KAI, said that a critical vote and resolution taken on June 14, 2023 were actually invalid and would have to be repeated; cited potential lawsuits and other risks for bishops that could come from…

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The Vatican has suppressed an Argentine religious order founded by a priest who sexually abused adult members, and abused the confessional to cover his tracks.

The suppression of the clerical religious institute Miles Christi was announced by the Argentine bishops’ conference Thursday, but approved by Pope Francis before he went into the hospital for pneumonia last month, according to a March 6 announcement from the conference.

The suppression is the latest in a series of moves during the Francis pontificate to address issues with religious institutes founded by abusive priests, and to address governance in new ecclesial movements and religious communities.

Miles Christi was founded by the now-laicized Fr. Roberto Yannuzzi in 1994, as an association of clerics in the Archdiocese of La Plata, Argentina. Drawing on Ignatian spirituality, the members of the institute focused on spiritual direction, retreats, and other initiatives for the spiritual formation of Catholics.

While Yannuzzi…

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In March 2024, the 12-year-old son of popular podcasters Josh and Ginny Yurich wrote a letter to leaders at a Michigan megachurch, pleading with them to confront the behavior of the church’s youth pastor.

“He always comes up to me at youth group and yells my name and gives me hugs and says he loves me, which I feel weird about,” the boy’s letter stated. “It feels creepy considering I’ve barely known him a year.”

Now, that youth pastor, Matthew Swider, is facing multiple felony charges for allegedly soliciting sex online with someone he thought was a 15-year-old boy and then touching him inappropriately.

And the Yurichs are furious with their former church—Community Bible Church in Brighton—for allegedly failing to take their concerns seriously and instead kicking the Yurichs out of the church.

But, in an email to the congregation last December, Community Bible Church claimed it had engaged…

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Apologist Michael Brown is facing criticism for releasing his autobiography on how God can turn “broken people into world-changers,” despite an ongoing investigation into alleged sexual misconduct.

Brown and his publisher, Destiny Image Books, released Brown’s autobiography, “Living in the Line of Fire,” two days ago.  Meanwhile, Firefly, the firm hired by the board of Brown’s ministry, is actively investigating Brown.

“I find it unconscionable, unchristlike, tone-deaf, and extremely hurtful to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and spiritual abuse at the hands of Dr. Michael Brown that Destiny Image Publishers would release Mike’s autobiography while he’s being investigated for clergy sexual abuse,” wrote Shelanu TV President Ron Cantor on X. “Read the room! You could not have waited until the investigation was over?”

Brown has been accused of crossing physical boundaries in the early 2000s with a former secretary, by holding her hand,…

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A secret legal battle over whether the state could investigate allegations of sexual abuse by members of the clergy within the Catholic Church finally came in the open Thursday after the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered the release of hundreds of pages of court filings detailing the behind-the-scenes fight.

At the same time, the high court scheduled a hearing next month to hear arguments as to whether a grand jury investigation of those abuse complaints can proceed.

Survivors of abuse at the hands of priests and others within the church have been waiting for such an accounting since 2018 — when then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced he would undertake a new effort to uncover and document decades of allegations and make those results public.

But despite the creation of a special task force and the promise of a grand jury investigation, it all seemed…

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An investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has resulted in a one-year sentence for passport fraud for Jorge Antonio Velez-Lopez, a 69-year-old Columbian national, former archdiocese priest and convicted child molester, Feb. 28. Velez was also civilly denaturalized as a U.S. citizen and ordered removed from the United States.

Velez entered the U.S. in 2003 as a temporary religious worker. Velez applied for permanent residency May 15, 2007, to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and stated under penalty of perjury that he had never knowingly committed any crime of moral turpitude. He was granted permanent residency Nov. 6, 2007.

Velez applied for naturalization March 11, 2013, to Citizenship and Immigration Services and stated under penalty of perjury that he had never committed a crime for which he had not been arrested, that he had never given false or misleading information to any U.S. government official while applying for an…

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While many good and dedicated bishops and priests in the Philippines and elsewhere are examining their conscience about their responsibility to bring pedophile clergymen to justice, many more are not. In the past, Pope Francis — who remains hospitalized — has strongly spoken out on the urgent need to cleanse the institution of child-abusing priests and religious. “A priest cannot remain a priest if he is an abuser,” he said.

As the successor of Saint Peter and Vicar of Christ, Francis speaks with authority in urging Church leaders to take responsibility for the widespread clerical child sexual abuse that has come to light in the past 20 years and its constant concealment by bishops and priests. “I will be responsible that it doesn’t happen anymore,” he told CNN Portugal in the wake of shocking revelations of such abuse there. Frequently, bishops, priests and lay leaders turned away from the victims,…

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Irish and Polish dioceses commemorate the Day of Prayer for Survivors and Victims of Sexual Abuse on the first Friday of Lent, which is March 7 this year.

Since 2016, the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors has established a Universal Day of Prayer for Survivors and Victims of Sexual Abuse. In the press release announcing its creation, the Commission explained that a “survivor of clerical child sexual abuse made the proposal of a Day of Prayer.”

In response, Pope Francis requested Bishops’ Conferences around the world to choose an appropriate day to mark this prayer initiative. Dioceses in Poland and Ireland mark the Day of Prayer for Survivors and Victims of Abuse on the first Friday of Lent, which this year falls on March 7.

Candles to be lit in Ireland

Since 2017, the dioceses in Ireland have commemorated this day of prayer. This year, parishes across the country will light…

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Education officials in Catholic-majority nation say student abuse will not be tolerated after two recent scandals

The top education officials in Catholic-majority Timor-Leste have warned of stern punitive action against teachers if students face sexual abuse from them in schools. Education Minister Dulce de Jesus Soares said the government will not tolerate sexual abuse committed in schools.

Soare’s press meeting last Friday at the Education Ministry office in the national capital, Dili, came after sex abuse cases were reported in two public schools involving school directors within a week. Among others present at the conference were Secretary of State for Gender Equality Elvina Sousa Carvalho and National Institute for Child Rights Protection Dinorah Granadeiro.

The government response came a day after Estefania Barreto Cardoso, the mother of an abuse victim, held a press conference saying her daughter faced sexual violence in Nicolao Lobato Public School.

In…

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Members of the Symposium of Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) are among the faith and civil society organizations proposing the formation of “an ethical reference group” that will help in overseeing the reparations for Africa following the historical injustices the continent has suffered.  

In a declaration issued at the end of the February 27-28 workshop that took place at the African Union Commission (AUC) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the delegates said that the group would guide “restorative justice based on indigenous African traditions, sources, and spirituality.”

“We propose the formation of an Ethical Reference Group, in close coordination with the African Union Commission, to assist the AU Committee of Experts and the AU Special Envoy by providing ethical guidance on the issue of reparations,” the delegates said in the statement.

They added, “The Ethical Reference Group will also offer thought leadership and counsel, drawing on global case studies to inform…

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[See also the unsealed Supplemental Brief of the Petitioner State of New Jersey.]

After a Pennsylvania grand jury in 2018 found hundreds of Catholic priests had sexually abused at least 1,000 children over seven decades, New Jersey’s then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal launched an investigation of allegations of sexual abuse by members of the clergy within Catholic dioceses here.

Prosecutors wanted a grand jury empaneled to consider evidence in the case, but Camden’s diocesan leaders successfully squashed it, persuading trial and appellate judges that a state grand jury had no authority to issue a presentment against a private religious entity — and that all court records in the matter should be sealed.

Wednesday, the state snagged a win in the long-fought battle, when the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered the records to be unsealed and agreed to hear arguments in the case next month.

The decision clears the…

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The 2019 report, which says the university’s president didn’t properly report allegations, could become public in a separate church abuse case.

Seton Hall University has ignored calls by New Jersey’s governor, three state lawmakers and a member of Congress to release a report critical of its new president’s failure to report allegations in a major sexual abuse scandal more than five years ago.

Now it could be a judge who forces the storied Catholic university’s hand.

Avion Benjamin, a state Superior Court judge in Essex County, New Jersey, spent the last seven months overseeing the litigation of 450 claims of sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of Newark and at Seton Hall. Her predecessor in the case, which began in 2019, long ago ordered both institutions to disclose a mountain of evidence to lawyers for the alleged victims.

Yet even Benjamin said she was…

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[Note: The most recent clergy abuse article in the Canton Repository is about a Seventh Day Adventist pastor: Stark and Wayne County pastor accused of kidnapping, sex abuse of a minor, February 25, 2025]

In response to the Canton Repository story of a local pastor sexually abusing a minor, I feel the need to respond. I am 100% against child abuse of any kind in any church or organization. I pray for this minor and her family and that this pastor gets what he deserves.

With that being said, I must also note that I am a strong and unworthy devoted Catholic. So much that in my youth, I considered a vocation to the priesthood and religious life before deciding my vocation was somewhere else. It brought me closer to God, and the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church is not the reason I didn’t enter the seminary…

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Many people have asked for a long time. What did the popes do to curb the incredible amount of child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church?

My usual answer is: nothing. This excellent new book by investigative journalist Philip Shenon confirms that the popes ignored abuse and protected abusers every way they could—in the United States and across the world. Shenon’s “investigative history of the modern Roman Catholic Church,” shows that the popes made numerous terrible mistakes in running the church. I focus on sex abuse because this book helps to explain why Catholicism has avoided responsibility for abuse for so long.

Do you know the last seven popes? They are:

• Pius XII (1939-1958)
• John XXIII (1958-1963)
• Paul VI (1963-1978)
• John Paul I (August-September 1978)
• John Paul II (1978-2005)
• Benedict XVI (2005-2013)
• Francis (2013-present)

The Beginning

Father Marcial Maciel Degollado started the Legion of Christ, a Roman Catholic religious congregation, in 1941. His abuses started in the…

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A former Catholic priest who was convicted of sexually abusing a minor will be deported back to his native country of Colombia after he serves his time in prison, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). 

Jorge Antonio Velez-Lopez — who has not had any assignments or faculties to serve as a priest since 2010 — pled guilty in 2021 of sexually abusing a minor for whom he had a temporary responsibility of supervising. 

The abuse began in June 2005 when the victim was a teenager, and the sexual relationship continued into her adulthood.

At that time, Velez-Lopez was serving as the girl’s priest at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Columbia, Maryland, according to the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The victim gave birth to the former priest’s child and the two married in 2016 when she was 24 years old. 

Velez-Lopez…

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Teachers, health care providers and others must report suspected abuse. Clergy should as well.

There are few areas of lawmaking as fraught with the competing tensions between rights and responsibilities than those involving religion, a necessary result of the constitutional freedom that the First Amendment guarantees for Americans’ exercise of faith.

That tension between rights and responsibilities has been on painful display this legislative session as state lawmakers again consider a bill that would add clergy to the list of those who are considered mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect.

State law outlines an extensive list of people — with varying levels of contact with children — who are required to report child abuse or neglect to law enforcement or the state’s Department of Children, Youth and Families. Among those mandatory reporters are teachers, coaches and other school employees, law enforcement, health care providers, counselors,…

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Last week, Christian County judge Jessica L. Kruse ruled against motions made by Kanakuk Kamps and ACE Insurance Co. in a fraud case filed against them by sexual abuse survivor Andrew Summersett. Despite their arguments that Summersett’s claim was filed after the statute of limitations, the case will proceed.

Summersett is suing Kanakuk, ACE and other individual parties for fraudulent concealment and civil conspiracy related to sexual abuse he experienced as a child at the hands of Kanakuk camp counselor Pete Newman.

Newman was a serial offender during his tenure at Kanakuk and is currently serving two life sentences plus 30 years for sexual abuse against children.

This decision follows a contrasting decision made by another Christian County judge, Raymond M. Gross, in a lawsuit filed against Kanakuk and other relevant entities by Logan Yandell, who also was abused by Newman while at camp. Yandell’s case recently was dismissed for being “time-barred” and…

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The Congregation of the Fathers of Bétharram has acknowledged responsibility in widespread sexual abuse at a Catholic boarding school it oversees near the town of southwestern town of Pau, where Prime Minister François Bayrou has been mayor since 2014. Meanwhile a prosecutor has dismissed complaints alleging Bayrou failed to act on the abuse when he was education minister in the 1990s.

Since last year,  police have received more than 150 complaints of violence, sexual assault and rape against former religious figures and lay personnel at the Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram boarding school. The alleged abuse occurred between the 1950s and 2010’s.

A judicial investigation was opened on 21 February for rape and sexual assault. Only one of the three men placed in police custody was indicted – the other two benefiting from the statute of limitations, some dating back 70 years.

The Catholic priests who ran the school for many…

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A man who claimed he was sexually abused by a priest while attending a school in Newry in the 1980s is to receive £115,000 in damages.

The High Court case alleged he was attacked by the late Fr Malachy Finegan, who was a former headmaster at St Colman’s College.

The priest, who died in 2002, was accused of a long campaign of child sex abuse but was never prosecuted or questioned by police about claims made against him.

The plaintiff, who is not being named, sued the Diocese of Dromore along with the trustees and board of governors of the school.

The plaintiff was also awarded legal costs as part of the settlement.

No admission of liability was made by the defendants.

It is the latest in a series of settlements reached by people who reported being sexually abused by Finegan while he worked as a teacher in Newry.

He…

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The Fountain Police Department (FPD) reported that a former youth pastor in Fountain was arrested for alleged sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust on Sunday, March 2.

According to FPD, 45-year-old Stephen Hutto was arrested around 10 a.m. on Sunday after an investigation that indicated he had been previously employed as a youth pastor at Fountain Independent Baptist Church, off of North Main Street and West Iowa Avenue, and is currently a pastor at Highlands Baptist Church, located in Boone, Colorado.

Hutto was booked into the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center (CJC) on a felony charge of Sexual Assault on a Child by One in a Position of Trust.

FPD Detectives are asking for the public’s help in locating any additional witnesses or victims who may have information related to the case. Those with information can call Detective Tori Smith at (719) 382-4288…

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A local pastor is facing serious allegations of sexual assault against a minor. Charles B. Brinson, 64, the bishop of Brinson Memorial Church, was arrested on February 19, 2025, and charged with multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

New Jersey Pastor Charged with Sexual Assault of Teenager

Authorities allege that Brinson assaulted a 16-year-old teenager twice in January and February 2024 at his residence near the church. The victim reported that Brinson administered an unknown substance, causing loss of consciousness before the assaults. Following the second incident, the victim underwent a medical examination at a local hospital.

The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office has filed a motion to detain Brinson pending trial. He is currently in jail awaiting a court hearing scheduled for later this month.

Community Reaction to Sexual Assault by Bishop

Local resident Brooke Baker expressed shock upon learning of Brinson’s arrest,…

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An Arlington pastor who was arrested last July on sexual assault charges is now being sued by an alleged victim on seven different counts including sexual exploitation, according to a lawsuit filed Friday.

The suit claims Ronnie Goines, who serves as lead pastor at Koinonia Church, sexually assaulted a church member on two separate occasions in 2023, and that the church failed to hold Goines accountable for his actions, despite other accusations in the past.

“Koinonia and Goines knew that the representations were false or made the misrepresentations recklessly without any knowledge of their truth and as a positive assertion,” according to the suit. “For example, Koinonia knew that Goines had been involved in prior sexual abuse of a female.”

The woman sued Goines for assault, and accused both him and Koinonia Church of negligence, fraud, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy, and sexual exploitation. The…

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