ABUSE TRACKER

Andres Andino, a 60-year-old former employee at both St. John Bosco and St. Joseph Catholic parishes, faces trial for alleged sexual abuse of a minor.

Attorneys delivered opening statements Tuesday afternoon in the trial of Andres Andino, a 60-year-old former church worship director accused of sexually abusing a minor.

Police arrested Andino 11 months ago outside St. Joseph Parish in Avon Lake, where he worked part-time. He had additionally served as director of worship at St. John Bosco Catholic Church in Parma Heights, and also volunteered for a number of other parishes and faith groups around the Diocese of Cleveland.

Andino faces two counts of sexual battery, two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and one count of rape. He has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors told the jury Tuesday that Andino served as a private music teacher for the victim and that their relationship became…

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A central Oregon pastor who served 16 years in jail for abusing a 13-year-old girl is back in ministry after his 2007 conviction was overturned. 

Bend, Oregon prosecutors considered re-charging Jeremy Shane Hall, a former pastor in the mountain town of Sisters, according to The Bulletin. But they decided to drop the case. 

Deputy District Attorney Aaron Brenneman submitted a motion to dismiss in September. He said that because of the amount of time that has passed, there is a lack of evidence and available witnesses, making a retrial impossible. 

Hall relocated east to Hermiston, a small Oregon city on the Columbia River gorge, when he was released from prison. TRR confirmed he is now the pastor of Echo Community Church on Bonanza Street in the town of Echo, just south of Hermiston. The church did not respond to phone calls asking for a comment. 

The church has regularly posted Hall’s sermons online since September 2024. 

“Doggone stinking sin,” Hall preached in the first sermon. “Jesus goes, ‘Alright,’ and what was dirty with sin is now…

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A growing lawsuit alleges years of sexual abuse by a former sports medicine director at North Carolina State University, with 31 former student-athletes now involved. The case reflects broader concerns about oversight, accountability, and abuse in college athletics.

A new wave of allegations has emerged in a North Carolina college sports sex abuse case, drawing national attention as more student athletes step forward. A recent filing accusing a former North Carolina State University sports medicine director of sexually abusing student athletes has grown significantly.

A complaint was filed in Wake County Superior Court in late January alleging years of sexual abuse, exploitation, and harassment by Robert L. Murphy Jr., the former NC State director of sports medicine. Plaintiffs claim that Murphy abused his position of trust by engaging in improper touching during medical treatments and subjecting athletes to invasive and humiliating drug-testing procedures. Murphy has denied the allegations.

How…

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Beatification of the popular American archbishop has been anticipated for several years

Peoria Bishop Louis Tylka announced Monday that the Vatican has approved the beatification of American Archbishop Fulton Sheen, setting the stage for a beatification Mass later this year.

While Tylka did not announce when the beatification Mass will take place, sources close to the process have told The Pillar that a September date is likely, and the Mass is likely to take place outside Peoria, the largely rural diocese where Sheen was ordained a priest, and where his canonization cause was initiated.

The Feb. 9 announcement comes after The Pillar reported last month that Sheen’s beatification approval was imminent, and would come ahead of the anticipated retirement of apostolic nuncio Cardinal Christophe Pierre, which Vatican-watchers expect to see announced within weeks.

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“The Holy See has informed me that the Cause for the Venerable Servant of God Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen can…

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A woman whose story led to the resignation of the president at a prominent Southern Baptist–affiliated university testified Monday at the Georgia State Capitol to urge passage of a bill to protect survivors. 

“For me, this issue, it hits really hard,” said Hayle Swinson, a graduate of Truett McConnell University (TMU), a top-ranked SBC-affiliated school in North Georgia. “I’m a survivor of sexual abuse here in Georgia at a university. In my case, leaders used power, authority, fear, grooming, manipulation and spiritual language to control and exploit.” 

On Monday, Swinson was among nearly a dozen abuse survivors and advocates who testified before the Georgia House Judiciary Committee in Atlanta. They spoke in support of Trey’s Law, a bill that would prohibit non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in cases of child sexual abuse. 

Four states have enacted Trey’s Law so far, as The Roys Report (TRR) previously reported. “We will be the fifth state to pass this law if it moves forward,” said…

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As part of a government probe into allegations of child abuse by priests, Cardinal Godfried Danneels was questioned for several hours by Belgian police on Tuesday. Reportedly in “a state of shock,” he is said to have difficulty believing that many people think he knew about sexual abuse and did nothing.

As part of a government probe into allegations of child abuse by priests, Cardinal Godfried Danneels was questioned for several hours by Belgian police on Tuesday. Reportedly in “a state of shock,” he is said to have difficulty believing that many people think he knew about sexual abuse and did nothing.

The 77-year-old cardinal led the Catholic Church in Belgium until his retirement last year. A retired priest has accused him of sheltering abusive priests during his tenure from 1979 to 2009, the Agence France Presse reports. The cardinal has denied any cover-up.

During police questioning, Cardinal Danneels was…

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A Plymouth-based former teacher who betrayed his position of trust by sexually abusing two students at the school and sixth form he worked at has been jailed. 

Anthony Redmond, 54, of Fort Austin Avenue in Plymouth, abused one of the victims in a hotel prior to her turning 16.

Redmond was convicted following a trial at Plymouth Crown Court of seven counts of abuse a position of trust by engaging in sexual activity, three of which related to full intercourse, and one count of indecency with a child.

He returned to the court to be sentenced on Tuesday 10 February and was sentenced to three years and nine months imprisonment. Restraining orders were also put in place to prevent Redmond from contacting the victims.

During the trial, the court heard how Redmond used his status as a teacher and band musician to appeal to, and groom his victims.

He continued…

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A man who was sexually abused by a priest says he’s “appalled” police were not notified the priest had admitted abuse to leaders of his religious order nearly 20 years ago.

He said he expected authorities to be told of all other members of the order who admitted child sex offences.

RNZ earlier revealed Fr Rowan Donoghue had admitted six charges including indecent assault on a boy aged 12-16, indecent assault on a boy 16 and over and sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection.

The offending related to four boys who were boarding at St Bede’s College in Christchurch between 1996 and 2000.

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

In response to questions by RNZ, a Society of Mary spokesperson said a complaint alleging offending by Donoghue was received by the priest via an anonymous Hotmail account in October 2007.

“He advised Society of Mary administration and in a conversation with leaders of…

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It’s a sad and sordid reality of human nature: Some adults have the desire to prey on children, and such people are likely to enter careers or otherwise seek out situations that give them the opportunity to do so.

For reasons that are largely impossible for functional, well-adjusted people to understand, this problem has always existed. The best society can do is take steps to identify potential predators – people, for example, who’ve faced several allegations of sexual misconduct – and remove them from settings that provide easy opportunities to offend. No institution can be expected to identify predators before they strike, but once a pattern of allegations is established, it’s the responsibility of those institutions to prioritize safety over all other concerns.

Reports from Hearst Connecticut Media indicate school officials in two Connecticut recently failed to perform this fundamental duty.

Darien High School teacher Sean Arthur Boardman was…

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A former Subiaco Academy student has filed a lawsuit alleging she was sexually abused as a minor by a Benedictine monk in 1978.

Subiaco Academy is a private Benedictine boarding and day school for boys in grades seven through 12 and is located near Paris in Logan County. Subiaco Academy is directly owned by and canonically part of Subiaco Abbey, the Benedictine monastery located on the same hilltop campus near Paris in Logan County.

The complaint, filed Jan. 30 in Logan County Circuit Court, names Brother Ephrem O’Bryan, O.S.B., along with Subiaco Abbey, Subiaco Academy, the Subiaco Foundation and the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock. Arkansas resident Brenda Bann is represented by attorney Andrew Myers of Myers & Woods Law Firm in Fayetteville.

Allegations of abuse

The lawsuit states Bann was scheduled for French tutoring with O’Bryan, who was an educator at Subiaco at the time. It alleges that during…

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Inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral were 2,000+ people who were lucky enough to score tickets to the installation of Archbishop Ronald Hicks. Outside were hundreds of the faithful who reflected the hopes as well as the problems the new spiritual leader must confront.

The pomp and circumstance of the Roman Catholic Church were on full display on Feb. 6 as Archbishop Ronald Hicks was installed as the new spiritual leader of the 2.5 million Catholics in the Archdiocese of New York in a ceremony at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

He’s replacing Cardinal Timothy Dolan who reached the mandatory retirement age.

The new archbishop, 58 years old, who was most recently the archbishop of a suburban Chicago diocese in Joliet, IL, spent five years as a missionary priest running an orphanage in El Salvador. He’s a fluent Spanish speaker. Marachi bands and songs in Spanish were heard often echoing off the streets surrounding…

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Bill faces no opposition as lawmakers move to close gap that survivors say allowed predators to escape justice

Kansas clergy would report suspected child abuse under legislation advancing to the House floor with no opposition.

On Friday, Feb. 6, the House Judiciary Committee recommended House Bill 2352 be passed after hearing emotional testimony from survivors and support from religious leaders.

No one testified against the measure during a Jan. 26 committee hearing.

The bill would add ordained ministers to Kansas’s list of mandated reporters. Currently, Kansas is one of several states that does not require clergy to report suspected child abuse.

“Our kids are our future, and we must do everything we can to protect them from sexual predators. The bill fills a conspicuous lacuna in the long list of those professionals who are legally required to report any suspicion of child sexual abuse by adding…

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The data suggest that children make up more than half of all trafficking victims on the African continent, subjected to horrific abuse, including sexual exploitation and forced labor.

As Catholics mark the Feast of St. Josephine Bakhita on February 8, harrowing testimonies from survivors of human trafficking across Africa are shedding light on the horrendous treatment they endure.

John, a mechanic from Nigeria, is one such survivor. He recalls being trafficked to Libya in 2015 after being promised a good-paying job that would generate the income he needed to eventually migrate to Europe.

 “When I got to Libya, I discovered it was all a lie,” he told CWR.

 “Terrible things were done to us in that place,” he said, revealing scars on his body as proof. “Eventually, I was sold out for $300 to go and work in a mine.”

A widespread and predatory system

John’s tragic experience is not…

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Two sisters have sued several United Methodist Church entities in Ohio, claiming church leaders enabled former music director to sexually abuse them for years.

The 26-page complaint, filed Jan. 29, alleges the church defendants failed to stop or report sexual abuse of sisters “Jane Doe” and “Mary Doe.” The sisters say they were assaulted hundreds of times beginning as young teens at United Methodist churches in western Ohio.

The suit names as defendants the General Council on Finance and Administration of the United Methodist Church; the West Ohio Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church; and the Great Miami River District of the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church, Inc.

Christ United Methodist Church, formerly known as St. Andrew United Methodist Church; Parkview United Methodist Church; and the United Methodist Children’s Home West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church, doing business as UMCH Family…

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A former Michigan pastor will spend at least 10 years behind bars after pleading no contest to multiple child sex abuse charges. Michael Ronald Goble, 77, maintained at sentencing that he committed no crimes despite agreeing to a plea deal. 

Editor’s note: This article refers to reports of child sex crimes that some readers might find triggering and/or disturbing.

Goble was formerly the pastor of the now-defunct Church of the Good Shepherd in Adrian, Michigan.

Goble was initially arrested in July 2024 after two victims came forward. Both were minors under the age of 13 at the time of the alleged abuse. 

RELATED: Worship Leader Formerly Associated With Creation Museum Sentenced to 15 Years in Child Sex Abuse Case

The two victims, who were brothers, alleged that Goble sexually abused them on separate occasions as they helped him with yard work at his home. Goble was charged with…

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Editor’s note: If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.

Cindy Clemishire was 12 years old on Christmas night in 1982 when a traveling evangelist staying with her family first abused her.

According to Clemishire, the sexual abuse continued over the next four years. She eventually told her family and the abuse stopped. But her abuser, Robert Morris, went on to found Gateway Church in Texas, which became one of the largest megachurches in the nation.

When Clemishire sought restitution in 2007, Morris’ attorney offered her $25,000 if she would sign a nondisclosure agreement that would prevent her from speaking publicly about the abuse. She refused.

“Had I agreed to that NDA, Robert would have continued to have power over me,” Clemishire View Cache

Note: This story contains descriptions of child sexual abuse. 

Fourteen women filed suit in federal court last week against a former pastor and regional director of the Texas Baptist Bible Fellowship who possessed images of them being abused as children.  

David Lloyd Walther, 59, pleaded guilty to possession of child sexual abuse material back in 2023. According to an FBI investigation, the pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Round Rock, Texas, had more than 100,000 explicit and obscene images of children on two hard drives he carried with him.  

Some of the images depicted small boys tied down, gagged and raped. Some showed girls performing sex acts on dogs. The children appeared to be as young as 3, according to the FBI. 

Law enforcement was able to identify some of the people in those images and notify them in July 2023. Fourteen of the victims chose to review the evidence, confirming they were the ones being assaulted. 

The women…

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Bishop Arthur N.Tafoyaof Pueblo, Colorado in an official, statement released today, answered to charges of negligence and misconduct directed against his diocese from lawyers and pressure groups defending victims of sexual abuse.

Bishop Arthur N. Tafoya of Pueblo, Colorado in an official, statement released today, answered to charges of negligence and misconduct directed against his diocese from lawyers and pressure groups defending victims of sexual abuse.

The issue came to the attention of the diocese of Pueblo through an article released yesterday in the Pueblo Chieftain newspaper, and related by pressure groups, alleging the diocese had documents showing the diocese was aware of abuse in June 2002, way before any actions was formally taken.

To this Bishop Tafoya answered that “as has been stated in recent newspaper articles, records indicate that the Diocese of Pueblo received no complaints or reports of sexual misconduct or abuse against former Brother Mueller until the…

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California’s Legislature is considering revising a state law that has enabled more victims of child sexual abuse to sue public schools. This column argues against reforming the law. This accompanying column argues for it.

Lobbyists for school districts, public employee unions and insurance interests are again pressuring California legislators to emasculate Assembly Bill 218, a measure legislators enacted unanimously in 2019 to close a gaping loophole in the statute of limitations that let schools  avoid civil liability for enabling or covering up child sexual abuse by teachers and staff. 

AB 218 passed as awareness grew of the psychological, cultural and economic barriers victims face, discouraging them from disclosing their abuse — often for many years — as well as the revelation of mass abuse cases still occurring. Case in point: the horrific Miramonte Elementary School case in which Los Angeles Unified School District teacher Mark Berndt posed and photographed dozens of…

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California’s Legislature is considering revising a state law that has enabled more victims of child sexual abuse to sue public schools. This column argues for reforming the law. This accompanying column argues against it.

What began as a moral imperative has become a fiscal emergency, draining California’s public schools of the dollars meant for students.

Assembly Bill 218 was written to deliver justice for survivors of sexual abuse, but its design opened the door to a costly and unbalanced system — one that rewards trial lawyers while punishing classrooms across California. 

During the last legislative session, lawmakers attempted to craft a solution to address the law’s unintended consequences. But pressure from trial lawyers, who stand to make billions from AB 218 lawsuits, blocked any meaningful reform. 

The consequences of inaction are mounting: every day reform is delayed, attorneys profit while classrooms lose vital resources, and California’s students continue to bear…

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Details can be revealed as one diocese argues it has no immediately available funds to pay abuse victims

Catholic dioceses with parishes in Northern Ireland are sitting on cash and assets totalling more than £400m.

Trusts overseeing the finances of Down and Connor, Derry, Clogher, Dromore and the Archdiocese of Armagh had close to £200m in the bank or investments, with income in 2024 reaching approximately £70m.

Details of the total funds held by the dioceses can be revealed as Dromore, administered by Archbishop Eamon Martin, asks a court to decide what cash and assets it can use to pay those abused by Malachy Finegan, the deceased former principal of St Colman’s College in Newry.

In total, across all four dioceses and the archdiocese, funds held amounted to £438m. This includes more than £180m in cash and investments.

Only Down and Connor, and Dromore are entirely within Northern Ireland.

Dromore…

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In the Catholic tradition, repentance begins with truth. It requires acknowledging harm, accepting responsibility and committing to change. Bankruptcy, by contrast, is a legal process. It exists to manage risk, limit exposure and bring disputes to procedural closure. When the church turns to bankruptcy to resolve clergy sexual abuse claims, the gap between those two ideas becomes difficult to ignore.

I am currently serving in a court-appointed role representing abuse survivors in a diocesan bankruptcy. I cannot discuss confidential details of that case. What I can describe is the structure survivors encounter once abuse enters the bankruptcy system and the unease many feel as deeply personal harm is absorbed into a process designed for financial claims.

In bankruptcy, language matters. Survivors become “claimants.” Abuse is categorized, scheduled and valued. Deadlines replace dialogue. The process is orderly and neutral by design. But for those who were harmed, nothing about this experience…

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Cardinal Pierre turns 80 on Friday. Who will follow him?

The long-serving apostolic nuncio to the United States, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, turns 80 on Friday. While the cardinal’s replacement may take a few days, or even a week to be announced by the Holy See, there is no doubt that the guard will soon be changed.

Media reports continue to speculate on who might be named to replace Pierre in one of the Vatican’s most senior and visible diplomatic postings — one made all the more sensitive by the ascension of the second Trump administration and the election of the first American pope last year.

While nothing is certain until the official announcement, some names have emerged as rumored or theorized front runners — among them current Vatican sostituto Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra — even if there appears little to recommend the logic of their prospective appointments.

Meanwhile, other, less remarked upon…

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A Contra Costa County jury on Wednesday convicted Richmond pastor Emilio Alberto Esperanza-Pacheco of sexually abusing a child in his congregation, a verdict that could carry life behind bars. Jurors found the 52-year-old guilty of five counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and 10 counts of forcible lewd acts for conduct prosecutors say happened between June and October 2023. Judge Danielle Douglas has set a sentencing hearing for April 9 at the Martinez courthouse. Prosecutors say the victim and her family

Verdict and charges

The jury convicted Esperanza-Pacheco on five counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14 and 10 counts of forcible lewd acts, including a forcible lewd act committed during a burglary. Prosecutors told jurors the offenses occurred between June 1 and Oct. 14, 2023, and that the defendant used his position at God’s Lighthouse of Truth Church and a friendship with the family…

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De haber reincidencia, se debe acudir a denunciar formalmente y pueden dirigirse al comisión de protección de menores del obispado: Víctor Ledesma

Celaya, Gto.- Sin una denuncia formal de por medio, no se puede dar seguimiento a las declaraciones dadas por el colectivo de víctimas de abuso sexual, donde señalan que un sacerdote adscrito a la diócesis de Celaya presuntamente habría abusado sexualmente de niñas en años pasados, así lo señaló el obispo de la diócesis de Celaya, Víctor Alejandro Aguilar Ledesma.

Esto, luego de que en días atrás el Colectivo de Víctimas de Abuso Sexual de Apaseo el Grande hizo pública esta situación, en donde señalan presuntos actos de violación y presunto abuso sexual contra niñas y adolescentes por parte de un sacerdote identificado como Roberto Carlos.

El comunicado hizo público que el sacerdote Roberto Carlos, actual representante legal de la Diócesis de Celaya, tiene un historial de presunto abuso.

“Durante varios años fuimos víctimas de conductas que vulneraron de manera profunda nuestra integridad física,…

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Two former Gateway Church elders on Friday have lost their bid to be removed from a $1 million defamation lawsuit filed by sexual assault survivor Cindy Clemishire.

Dallas County Judge Emily Tobolowsky issued the ruling after a hearing Friday, saying the case can move forward.

Steve Dulin and Kevin Grove, both former elders, had argued they shouldn’t be part of the suit under the Texas Citizens Participation Act, legislation designed to protect people from meritless or retaliatory legal claims.

Defamation suit filed

Clemishire and her father filed the suit against Gateway Church in June of last year.  It names the church, its founding pastor, Robert Morris, wife, Debbie, along with former and current elders and a staff member.  In their suit, the Clemishires alleged the church downplayed and mischaracterized abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of Mr. Morris.

In November, the Fifth Court of Appeals…

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Group meetings are part of a $305 million settlement resolving hundreds of clergy abuse claims and come as Archbishop Gregory Aymond prepares to retire.

NEW ORLEANS — A small number of victims of clergy abuse filed into the Holy Name of Jesus Parish Center on Friday for the first of 10 group meetings with Archbishop Gregory Aymond.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans agreed to the meetings as part of its bankruptcy settlement late last year. Group and one-on-one meetings are some of the nonmonetary terms of a settlement that’s expected to pay about 600 abuse survivors $305 million.

The church set the schedule for group meetings, with two each day for the next five days. Some survivors complained about the tight schedule during Carnival and Super Bowl weekend, but Aymond said he was “befuddled” by the criticism, pointing out that the church advertised the meetings in January and explaining a…

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Lafayette lawyer went from defending pedophile priest Gilbert Gauthe to crusading to expose breadth of US church’s coverup

Ray Mouton, a Lafayette attorney whose work helped crack open the Catholic Church’s long-hidden clergy sexual abuse crisis, died Thursday morning at Ochsner Medical Center in Jefferson after a yearlong battle with cancer. He was 78.

Mouton’s path to becoming one of the earliest and most influential figures in exposing systemic abuse inside the Church was deeply personal — and professionally paradoxical. In the 1980s, he was hired by the Diocese of Lafayette to defend Gilbert Gauthe, a priest charged with raping children.

Mouton successfully negotiated a plea deal for Gauthe to serve a 20-year prison sentence. The case effectively started the US’s reckoning with the worldwide Catholic clergy molestation scandal, though Gauthe was released from prison after just a decade.

And in the course of that work, Mouton became privy to…

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Former priest Mark Ford indicted for allegedly victimizing a boy between ages 12 and 14, between 2006 and 2008.

A man accused of molesting a disabled boy whom he met while working as a Roman Catholic priest in New Orleans has been indicted on child rape charges, according to authorities.

An Orleans Parish grand jury on Thursday handed up a nine-count indictment against Mark Francis Ford, nearly five months after authorities arrested him and jailed him without bail. The document charges Ford, 64, with aggravated rape of a child; raping a person suffering from a physical disability preventing resistance; two counts of molesting a juvenile; another three of indecent behavior with a minor; and kidnapping.

Ford is only the latest figure to come under authorities’ scrutiny during the longstanding clergy molestation scandal within the New Orleans Catholic Church. Prosecutors allege that he committed the offenses cited in the indictment between 2006…

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The student, who tested positive for a sexually transmitted infection in October, described inappropriate physical contact by a teacher at the Solomon Schechter Day School, according to the Boston Globe.

Multiple investigations are underway, and a private school teacher in Newton, Massachusetts, has been placed on leave after a young child, who tested positive for a sexually transmitted infection, reported the teacher touched them inappropriately.

The Boston Globe reports officials at the Solomon Schechter Day School sent an email to parents on Jan. 15, saying a student at the lower school “described inappropriate physical contact by a teacher at the school during the previous school year.”

The student’s age was not disclosed by school officials, however the lower elementary school is attended by students in pre-kindergarten through third grade. Solomon Schechter‘s head of school, Rebecca Lurie, and the board of trustees’ president, Eytan…

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For the second time in less than a year, Clovis Unified School District in Fresno County is being accused of ignoring sexual abuse, the Fresno Bee reported. 

A former Clovis North High School student is suing the school district and two men convicted of sex crimes in other cases. She alleges that the men groomed students and that they were able to do so because of the district’s lack of oversight, the Bee reported. 

The lawsuit, filed Dec. 19, alleges that the school’s drama teacher, Andrew Cardillo, often behaved inappropriately toward students and allowed community member and parent Michael Conner into the classroom, according to The Bee. Conner allegedly began sexually abusing the complainant in March 2010 after months of grooming. 

Clovis Unified failed to conduct proper background checks on Cardillo, to investigate rumors of his inappropriate behavior and to oversee the department, the lawsuit alleged. A…

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A Burlington County woman has filed a lawsuit against the Lenape Regional High School District, claiming teachers and administrators failed to protect her from a teacher’s alleged sexual abuse.

The woman claims in court papers she was 14 when Brantley Cesanek, her Latin teacher, began grooming her when she was a student in 2014 at Cherokee High School in Marlton.

“This case exposes the horrific experience of a minor student who was abused for years by a teacher and the school system that failed to protect that student,” the victim’s attorney, Ashley Garland, an associate at Anapol Weiss, states in a lawsuit filed Jan. 14 in New Jersey Superior Court.

The teacher allegedly bought the student coffee and breakfast, removed her from school grounds for sex at his home, groped her in his classroom and wrote her excessive hall passes when she was…

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An unidentified woman is suing the school district and the teacher, who was convicted in 2019 of endangering the welfare of a child and sentenced to five years in prison

NEED TO KNOW

• A New Jersey woman is suing her former school district for allegedly failing to protect her when her high school teacher groomed and sexually assaulted her
• The teacher, Brantley Cesanek, pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child in 2019 and was sentenced to five years in prison
• Cesanek was “obsessed” with the student, but no one at the school protected her, the complaint alleges

A New Jersey woman is suing her former school district for allegedly failing to protect her when her high school teacher groomed and sexually assaulted her.

In a civil complaint filed on Jan. 14 in New Jersey Superior Court, a woman identified as Jane Doe A.H. alleges that for more than…

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[Click here to see a PDF of the lawsuit filed by D.O. – BishopAccountablity.org]

The Diocese of Little Rock said it has put in place “significant” measures to protect minors from sexual abuse while in the care of the church.

Dennis Lee, a spokesman for the diocese, said the effort doesn’t minimize or change prior abuses, but the church is making an effort to ensure protections are put in place.

“What has happened in the past continues to be addressed,” Lee said.

Lee’s comments came after a man identified in court records only as “D.O.” sued the diocese in Pulaski County Circuit Court on Jan. 30, claiming a priest, Joseph Correnti, and an unnamed staff member sexually abused him in 1975 and 1976, when he was a 7-year-old attending school and church services at Our Lady of Holy Souls in Little Rock.

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The allegation of sexual abuse involving a suburban private tutor and a juvenile has landed a 43-year-old behind bars.

According to Orland Park police, officers arrested Brett Smith on Wednesday, Jan. 28, after he turned himself in. Police say their investigation began when parents hired a tutor who identified himself as “BJ S. McAuliffe” to tutor their child.

Police say concerns grew when the name on a bank payment appeared as Brett Smith.

The parents ran an online search of Brett Smith, also known as Brett Zagorac. Police said they found news articles and videos referencing prior allegations against Smith involving children in other states.

Orland Park opened their investigation after the parents contacted the department.

Upon further investigation, area detectives found that Brett Zagorac legally changed his name to Brett Smith and used several aliases, including “BJ S.,” “BJ Smith,” and “BJ S. McAuliffe,” when advertising private tutoring services.

…

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In South Africa, a child or woman is raped or killed every 23 seconds. It is a daily reality documented by the South African Law Reform Commission.

The perpetrator could be anyone. A pastor delivering a Sunday sermon. A politician promising change. A judge sworn to uphold justice. A lawyer defending the vulnerable. A police officer meant to protect. A father, an uncle or a brother. A friend. A colleague. A celebrity admired by millions.

This crisis cuts across race, class, language and age. Black, white and Indian women live with the same fear. Newborn babies, toddlers, schoolchildren, teenagers, university students, mothers and grandmothers — even women in their late eighties — have become victims. No woman or child in South Africa can confidently say, “I am safe here.”

Some church leaders have mirrored the wider culture of abuse, leaving congregants spiritually and physically endangered.

Women and children are being…

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Note: This story contains details of child sex abuse.

A Texas woman says the pastor of the largest Assemblies of God church in Arkansas sexually abused her for years, starting when she was a teen.

Georgetown, Texas, resident Suzanne Lander filed suit against North Little Rock First Assembly of God Church (First NLR) and its lead pastor, Rodney Loy, on Jan. 26.

Lander claims that Loy began grooming her in 1996 shortly after she began attending the church. He was an executive pastor at the time. She was 16 and had recently “encountered God for the first time” at the church. She says she was previously a victim of parental sex trafficking and abuse.

According to the suit, Loy took Lander shopping for dresses, watched her model them, and began attending her basketball games. He then began inviting her over to his home to play Nintendo while “positioning himself as a…

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Rio Dell City Manager Kyle Knopp returned our phone message and explained that while the parcel is currently zone for one-acre minimum parcels, the city would “enthusiastically” support up-zoning to allow for denser development. 

The water board previously curtailed development in this area due to wastewater issues, but a new treatment plant was built in 2013 and restrictions were lifted in 2017. 

“We have a project going on already to upsize the sewer line in that area,” Knopp said. “The parcel is ripe for housing, it’s in a great location and it has beautiful views of the Scotia Bluffs.

The Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa recently put a handful of Northern California properties, including 8.19 undeveloped acres in Rio Dell, up for sale in an effort to raise some quick cash as it works through bankruptcy proceedings. 

The diocese, whose territory comprises Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma…

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Ray Mouton, the Louisiana attorney who defended since-defrocked priest Gilbert Gauthe against child sex abuse allegations and later co-authored a confidential report warning U.S. bishops about the growing crisis of clergy abuse nationwide, long before the Vatican publicly acknowledged the scandal, died Feb. 5 at a hospital in Jefferson, Louisiana. He was 78.

 His death was confirmed by his son Todd, who cited the cause as cancer.

The Cajun lawyer’s introduction to the scourge of child sex crimes committed by Catholic priests came from representing Gauthe, a prolific abuser, nearly two decades before revelations in The Boston Globe roiled the Vatican and stunned the faithful. Galvanized and horrified by what he learned, Mouton, a Catholic, began a crusade to caution bishops about a burgeoning national scandal that tallied untold numbers of young victims and threatened to bankrupt the church.

But attempts by Mouton and others to…

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Bishop Socrates Mesiona issued a pastoral message for the National Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking that serves as a “call to the conscience of the entire nation.”

A Filipino bishop said human trafficking is a significant problem in the country driven by poverty, illegal recruitment, online abuse, and growing dangers facing migrants, women, and children.

Bishop Socrates Mesiona of Puerto Princesa, chairman of the Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People within the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, issued a four-page pastoral message for the National Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking on Feb. 1 that served as a “call to the conscience of the entire nation.”

He urged all parishes nationwide to intensify their anti-trafficking efforts, particularly by increasing awareness, educating the public, and providing support for the protection of vulnerable individuals.

False promises

Twelve of the country’s 87…

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A Long Island man was recently arrested for sexual abuse that allegedly occurred at a Catholic school in Ozone Park more than a decade ago, according to the authorities.

The NYPD Special Victims Squad arrested Jeffrey Connelly, 36, on Jan. 22 for sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a teenage girl in 2015, cops said, within the confines of the 102nd Precinct.

According to the criminal complaint, between June 15 and July 17, 2015, Connelly, then a 25-year-old teacher at 103-12 101 Ave. in Ozone Park, the now-defunct St. Mary Gate of Heaven Catholic Academy, allegedly kissed and pressed himself against a 14-year-old student. He was charged with third-degree sexual abuse.

In addition to the incident in Queens, there is another on file, according to state court records, that also occurred in 2015, but within the NYPD’s 6th Precinct in Manhattan. In that case, Connelly is charged with three…

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Queen of Martyrs teacher, private tutor Brett Smith fired over history of child molestation allegations: Archdiocese of Chicago

There new allegations tonight against a fired Chicago-area Catholic school teacher.

Brett Smith was already accused of sex abuse. Now a family’s lawsuit says he groomed their second grader and “inappropriately touched” him last month.

A lawsuit filed by the mother of a second grader at Queen of Martyrs School in Evergreen Park alleges 43-year-old Brett Smith groomed her second grade son and inappropriately touched him.

Last week, days after the Archdiocese of Chicago said Smith was fired as a substitute teacher at Queen of Martyrs, Evergreen Park Police announced he was charged with battery related to his time at the school. It’s unclear if those charges and the new lawsuit are related.

Smith was also charged last week by Orland Park Police with criminal sexual abuse of a 9-year-old boy during private…

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The sentencing of a paedophile priest over the abuse of children in the 1970s and 80s has been adjourned after it emerged he has cancer.

Edward Phillips-Smith, 75, has admitted abusing boys while working as a priest in the Lichfield Diocese and chaplain at a school in Wolverhampton.

During a hearing at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Thursday, Judge Lockhart described the accused’s condition as “very significant and life-limiting”.

Phillips-Smith was remanded in his absence on conditional bail ahead of a sentencing date on 10 April, pending pre-sentencing and medical reports.

He has admitted and indicated guilty pleas to counts of abuse carried out between 1978 and 1983, following separate police investigations in Staffordshire and Wolverhampton.

In November, he pleaded guilty to indecent assault of a boy under the age of 14 and to inciting the boy to commit an act of gross indecency.

These two charges relate to attacks that…

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A judge at Derry Magistrate’s Court said that he was ‘disappointed’ that there was only one police officer assigned to the case of a priest charged with attempted sexual communication with a child.

Edward Gallagher (58) of Orchard Park, Lifford has been charged with one count of attempted sexual communication with a child between April 2 and April 17, 2025, and with seven further offences, including inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, causing a child to watch sexual activity, and charges of possessing indecent images of children.

Defence solicitor Derwin Harvey said that no time-frame has been identified for the case.

Deputy District Judge Trevor Browne gave two weeks to submit a completed file, and said he is ‘dissapointed that only one officer was allocated’ to a case this size.

The prosecution described the charges as a ‘huge crime’ with 650 pages of communications in police possession.

Gallagher…

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At the end of January, several civil lawsuits were filed against multiple churches in the city of Little Rock. In all three, the plaintiffs ask for a trial by jury.

The first, filed Jan. 26, claims a pastor at Defendant North Little Rock First Assembly of God Church sexually abused a 16-year-old girl in 1996. The girl, now a woman living in Texas, says the abuse continued for 20 years until she moved.

The accused pastor, Rodney Loy, served as executive pastor at Defendant Church in 1996 and now serves as the Senior Pastor of the church.

Court documents detail how Loy began grooming her by showing up at her after school events and part-time job. This escalated to her visiting his home multiple times a week and arranging private meetings in his church office. She says he began to sexually abuse her just a few months after she began…

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Detectives say there may be other victims.

Investigators believe there may be additional victims after a Pacoima pastor was arrested on child sex abuse charges, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department (SBSD) said.

Junior Andrew Bennett, 32, of Piñon Hills, was arrested on suspicion of child sex abuse after allegedly using his role as head Pastor of Breakthrough Church to target minors. According to SBSD, the suspect, who was known as Prophet Junior Bennett, used his title to “manipulate minors and ultimately sexually assault them.”

Bennett faces charges that include sodomy of a minor, lewd acts with a child and oral copulation of a minor.  Detectives say there may be other victims.

Anyone with information on the case or who believes they have been victimized by Bennett is urged to contact SBSD’s Victor Valley station at 760-552-6800 or 760-956-5001. Anonymous tips can be made by contacting the We-Tip Hotline at…

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One of the nation’s top podcasters says he is not backing down after Kanakuk Ministries threatened to sue him over statements about past child sex abuse at the summer camp. 

On Tuesday, in a video posted to his YouTube channel, Shawn Ryan said he had received a demand letter from Kanakuk, a prominent Christian camp in southwest Missouri. The letter accused Ryan of having “callous and malicious disregard of the truth” and demanded he retract one of his statements and apologize for its content.  

“Here’s my response: No,” said Ryan in his video. “I don’t negotiate with pedophiles or the people who defend them. I’m not taking anything down. I’m not apologizing. And I’m damn sure not going to stop talking about child sexual abuse in a Christian camp that continues to operate on the same grounds where horrific abuse took place.” 

Ryan also posted a lengthy letter his attorney sent in response. 

Kanakuk’s letter followed Ryan’s release of a four-hour podcast with abuse prevention advocate Elizabeth…

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Thirteen women filed a suit against David Lloyd Walther claiming he possessed pornographic images depicting them being sexually abused as children.

A federal lawsuit has been filed against a former Round Rock pastor previously sentenced for possession of child pornography. 

Multiple people filed the suit Wednesday in Austin against David Lloyd Walther, who served as the pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Round Rock before his arrest in 2022. 

Among those suing Walther are 13 women who are listed in the documents under the pseudonyms: “April” Doe, “Angela” Doe, “Chelsea” Doe, “Cara” Doe, “Lily” Doe, “Maria” Doe, “Sarah” Doe, “Pia” Doe, “Sloane” Doe, “Violet” Doe, “Maureen” Doe, “Taylor” Doe and “Jenny” Doe. The suit states that all of these women were sexually abused as children, and that their abuse was “depicted in images of child pornography” possessed by Walther. 

The suit states that Walther was…

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Legal experts are perplexed over how a substitute teacher convicted of abusing children passed a background check and worked as a substitute teacher for the Archdiocese of Chicago for over a year.

And no one has an answer why.

Brett J. Smith passed background and fingerprint checks despite allegations, charges and convictions going back over 20 years across several states. Searches on the Illinois State Police’s publicly accessible sex offender registry didn’t produce results for his name or his aliases. The archdiocese has not responded to a detailed list of questions asking about the church’s background check process.

But experts told the Sun-Times it’s hard to believe a person’s lengthy criminal record wouldn’t come up in a background check.

“I find that almost impossible,” said Mike Leonard, a Chicago-based criminal defense attorney who specializes in state and federal criminal matters and civil employment. “Especially with a fingerprint check. There is…

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Lea el artículo en español aquí.

More real estate from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa is being offered for sale as the organization seeks to shore up its finances as it navigates bankruptcy reorganization amid hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse.

The diocese, whose territory includes 40 parishes stretching from Sonoma and Napa counties north to the Oregon border, has been in mediation with insurers and groups of alleged victims, whose claims have totaled 260, The Press Democrat reported. A portion of those sexual abuse lawsuits have been headed for trial potentially this year. The claims prompted the Chapter 11 filing in April 2023.

The latest five real estate listings, mentioned vaguely in a recent court filing, are a couple of vacant acres in Sebastopol, a Napa Valley vineyard, a small Napa home, several undeveloped acres in Humboldt County and the long-vacant former clergy residence next to a 125-year-old stone…

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The archdiocese alleged that Chubb Insurance posed as the “Church Accountability Project.”

The Archdiocese of New York is arguing in state court that its longtime insurer has secretly been “waging a shadow campaign” and posing as a victims’ rights group in order to “undermine and weaken” the archdiocese amid an ongoing insurance dispute.

In a Jan. 31 legal filing at the New York State Supreme Court obtained by EWTN News, the archdiocese said that Chubb Insurance — which the archdiocese sued in 2024 over an alleged failure to pay out financial claims for sex abuse victims — has for several years been “secretly” posing as the “Church Accountability Project,” allegedly encouraging abuse victims to “pursue claims against the [archdiocese].”

The archdiocesan filing said the insurer has secretly run the website in order to “elevate Chubb’s own financial interests” and improve its leverage in the ongoing lawsuit.

As of…

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Brett Smith, a former substitute Catholic school teacher and private tutor employed by the Archdiocese of Chicago, has been charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse for allegedly molesting a 9-year-old student he was privately tutoring. The allegations surfaced after the child disclosed the abuse, prompting an investigation that raised serious concerns about Smith’s access to children and institutional oversight.

Smith, who used aliases (BJ S. McAuliffe and Brett Zagorac) and gained unsupervised access to children by offering additional tutoring via Nextdoor, was entrusted to work closely with young students. This position of authority gave him the ability to exploit a child’s trust. Investigators allege that Smith used that access to sexually abuse a minor during tutoring sessions, conduct that remained hidden until the child came forward.

In the aftermath of Smith’s arrest, the child’s parents discovered that he had worked in at least four Catholic schools in the Chicago area over…

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Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We are anticipating the release of the Rhode Island Attorney General’s report on his six-and-a-half-year historical review of clergy sexual abuse in Rhode Island dating back to 1950. Our diocese entered into this review voluntarily in 2019 in the interest of transparency and so that broader societal good could come from our experience, from the failures and successes of the past.

The report does not contain any new cases of abuse and much of its content has already been widely publicized in the media over the decades. For many, this report will undoubtedly be a difficult and painful retelling of historical cases of abuse in our diocese. Catholics and members of the wider community alike have understandably been scandalized, demoralized, and angered by these heinous sins and crimes of the past.

I take this opportunity to apologize to the victim-survivors for the failures of Church…

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The Brief

• 70-year-old Reymundo Almaraz was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a 17-year-old male at a Lubbock TruFit gym in June.
• The victim reported being trapped in a dressing room and assaulted after witnessing the suspect acting suspiciously in the locker room.
• Almaraz, a former local ministry leader who recently retired, is no longer in custody following his arrest on Thursday.

A 70-year-old man has been arrested on sexual assault charges following an investigation into a June incident at a Lubbock gym involving a teenager, according to the Lubbock Police Department.

Lubbock pastor arrested

The backstory:

Reymundo Almaraz was taken into custody after multiple members of the public identified him as the suspect in the assault at the TruFit gym located near 82nd Street and Slide Road.

Police records show that officers were dispatched to the gym around 10 p.m. on June 30. When they arrived, investigators learned the victim, a 17-year-old…

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Mercy Culture Pastor Landon Schott visited disgraced pastor Robert Morris in jail on Tuesday and emerged talking about new beginnings and restoration.

Schott posted on Facebook Tuesday night that God told Schott that he’s forgiven Morris. Last October, Morris, the 64-year-old founder of Dallas’s Gateway Church, pleaded guilty for molesting Cindy Clemishire beginning when she was 12. Morris is serving six months in an Oklahoma county jail.

Schott, whose megachurch is based 300 miles away in Fort Worth, said he “had the honor” to meet with Morris.

“I do not believe we can preach mercy at our altars if that same mercy is not available to those who once stood behind them,” Schott wrote.

Morris’s release from jail is set for early April, right before Easter, which Schott’s said is spiritually significant.

“The week we celebrate the Lamb. The blood. The cross. The resurrection. You cannot script that,” Schott…

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Tuesday marked the first hearing in Lewis County court for John Radcliff, a former pastor accused of sexually abusing young girls over a period of several years.

Tuesday began the pre-trial motion hearing. Prosecutor Christina Flanigan moved to continue the case until the June term and informed the court that the investigating officer has learned of another named alleged victim who lives out of state.

Flanigan requested that the prosecution be given time to track down this new alleged victim to potentially pursue additional charges against Radcliff. The defense did not object to this motion, which was granted by Judge Jacob Reger.

The next pretrial hearing in Radcliff’s case is scheduled for June 3 at 9:15 a.m. Jury selection is set for June 15 at 9 a.m.

Radcliff was indicted in Lewis County in July 2025 on 47 felony charges against eight victims, including sexual assault,…

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Isaiah Teague was sentenced to life, with a minimum of 20 years, for sexual abuse of a minor.

A Meridian youth pastor was sentenced to life in prison for sexual abuse of a minor this week. 

Isaiah Teague, 25, will serve a minimum of 20 years following a guilty plea to a felony charge of lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor. He was accused of five separate counts of sexually abusive conduct according to court documents obtained by KTVB.

Teague was arrested in June 2025 after reports of contact with the 14-year-old victim for over a year. According to the prosecutor’s office, Teague sexually assaulted the victim multiple times and threatened the victim, saying he could make her “disappear” if she told anyone.

The repeated abuse was discovered by the victim’s mother, who found messages on her daughter’s phone discussing the assaults with a friend, according to…

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The Queens Special Victims Squad arrested a former parochial schoolteacher from Long Island to close a cold case investigation into an incident that occurred more than a decade ago.

Jeffrey Connelly, 36, of Meadowbrook Lane in Valley Stream, was taken into custody on Jan. 22 and booked at the 102nd Precinct in Richmond Hill, where he was charged for a sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child incident of a 14-year-old girl inside the St. Mary Gate of Heaven Church in Ozone Park in 2015.

Connelly was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on Jan. 23 on a complaint charging him with sexual abuse in the third degree.

According to the criminal complaint, on June 14, 2015, inside the church at 103-12 101st Ave., Connelly kissed his 14-year-old student on her lips, pressed his body against her, and pressed his penis against her leg. Connelly was 25 years…

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Survivors of sexual abuse connected to the Diocese of Alexandria only have a few months to file a claim.

On Monday morning, the diocese announced the bankruptcy court of the Western District of Louisiana set a deadline of June 8, 2026, for both general and abuse survivor claims. CLICK HERE TO FILE A CLAIM.

Last October, Bishop Robert Marshall of the Diocese of Alexandria wrote a letter to the public, announcing the diocese had filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy for two reasons.

First, to “compensate all abuse survivors with unresolved claims in a single process overseen by a court – ensuring all are treated equitably”.

And second, “to allow the church to move forward on stable financial ground, focused on its gospel mission.”

According to the diocese, anyone who suffered sexual abuse connected to any of the following are entitled to relief: a parish church, a diocesan school, an orphanage or…

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A lawsuit against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for not reporting child abuse was revived last year by an Arizona court.

The Church is back in court on charges it failed to alert police to child sexual abuse known to authorities at the highest level.

The Church claimed it had no responsibility to report the abuse to police. The court of appeals noted that the man admitted the abuse to his wife during a meeting with a Mormon bishop — and a jury could decide that the meeting was not a religious confession.

The court remanded the case to the lower court, pending the Church’s expected appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court.

The Church has not apologized for its decision to not report the case to police, and no apology should probably be anticipated since the new prophet and president of the church has publicly stated, “The…

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Gov. Josh Shapiro took aim at the Republicans who control the Pennsylvania Senate on Tuesday, urging them to open a path for older survivors of childhood sexual abuse to bring lawsuits and “stop tying justice to … pet political projects.”

For decades, survivors have urged the state to open a temporary window so those abused can file lawsuits even though the statute of limitations has passed. They view creating a path for victims in older cases to sue their abusers as a crucial step for accountability.

In recent legislative sessions, Republican leaders in the state Senate have refused to advance a proposed constitutional amendment on the issue unless it is tied to an expanded voter ID measure.

“Leader [Matt] Bradford has put a clean bill on the House floor six different times over the last three years, and it has passed each time. But I got to say it, I…

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David Ryan, an Irish survivor whose tragic story of the abuse he and his brother suffered was the subject of a 2022 documentary, was overcome with emotion after meeting with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican. The pope was reportedly shocked and apologized to the Irish victim. 

“I’ll never forget it,” Ryan told journalists outside the Santa Anna gate entrance to Vatican City Feb. 2, recalling the pope’s “sincerity” and “empathy.” 

“He felt my pain. He hasn’t experienced my pain, but he knows what pain I had gone through with my family,” Ryan said.

Fighting back tears, Ryan said Pope Leo was “just a lovely, lovely man. What an experience to have.”

Abuse at Blackrock

In 2022, Ryan and his brother, Mark, were featured in the RTÉ documentary “Blackrock Boys,” which chronicled the years of abuse they suffered at the elite Blackrock College in South County Dublin, which was…

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William Hambleton alleged last year that he was abused as a teen by a priest in Utah, an assertion the Diocese of Salt Lake City later deemed “credible.”

Now Hambleton contends that the diocese has confirmed to him a wider issue: A powerful cleric occasionally destroyed documents in personnel files of priests.

Monsignor J. Terrence Fitzgerald, the diocese’s longtime vicar general, told multiple priests about his purges of “information that could cast clergy in a poor light,” according to Robert Moriarty, a former priest in the diocese.

“I came to assume that this practice was common knowledge,” Moriarty, a friend of Hambleton, wrote in a letter provided last summer to the diocese’s internal review board during its investigation.

In a meeting earlier this month, Hambleton said, Bishop Oscar Solis told him that the diocese found “credible” the allegation that…

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A senior Catholic Church official in Poland has called for the creation of an independent commission to investigate cases of sexual abuse within the institution.

Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś said he hopes that a nationwide commission made up of independent experts will be established at the next plenary meeting of the Polish Bishops’ Conference in March.

Ryś, who serves as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Kraków, added that if no such decision is taken, he will set up a commission at diocesan level.

In a statement issued on Monday, the spokesman for the Archdiocese of Kraków, Father Piotr Studnicki, said the commission would be tasked with examining abuse cases and creating a space in which those reporting harm could be heard and offered appropriate support.

This would be particularly important in situations where no formal investigation can be carried out against the accused, he said.

Recent allegations

The announcement follows allegations made against the late…

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CINCINNATI — A Cincinnati man who was fired from his teaching job at a Pittsburgh Catholic school 25 years ago for molesting two teen boys has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for possessing child pornography.

In a release, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio’s office said 58-year-old Martin Bayhan pleaded guilty in July 2025 to possession of child porn. Court documents say Bayhan’s Kik, Snapchat and Telegram accounts were all flagged for uploading child sexual abuse material. After executing a search warrant, agents found more than 30 videos and 300 images on his phone and thumb drive.

Officials said Bayhan had previously pleaded guilty to misdemeanor crimes in connection with a 1999 case where he molested two students at a Catholic school in Pittsburgh. At the time, he received probation.

Bayhan was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court to 84 months in prison and 10…

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The Chicago Archdiocese announced Monday that Evergreen Park’s Queen of Martyrs Catholic School appointed an interim principal, less than a week after a substitute teacher was fired and charged over child molestation allegations.

While the archdiocese did not confirm why former Principal Stephen Davidson no longer works at the school, Beth Guerrero’s appointment “comes as Queen of Martyrs moves forward after the termination of a second-grade teacher,” it said in a news release.

Brett Smith, a 43-year-old Tinley Park resident, was charged last week in Orland Park with felony aggravated criminal sexual abuse to a minor and in Evergreen Park with misdemeanor battery for physical contact with a minor.

“Our community has shown tremendous strength and resolve over the past week,” said the Rev. Ritchie Ortiz, priest and administrator of St. Gianna Molla Parish in Evergreen Park. “Beth’s leadership reflects the values that define Queen of Martyrs — faith, integrity, and an…

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“I told him about the abuse,” David Ryan said. “I did get a feeling of being listened to and being understood.”

A victim of clerical sexual abuse from Ireland shared his story in a private meeting with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Monday.

David Ryan, who was sexually abused by a Catholic priest at Blackrock College in Dublin in the 1970s, told a small group of reporters, including Colm Flynn of EWTN News, after the meeting that the pope “was horrified” by his story during their 40-minute conversation Feb. 2.

“I didn’t hold back. I told him about the abuse,” said Ryan, whose deceased brother, Mark, was also abused while attending the same school.

The pope “just listened to me and then I put my questions to him and we spoke about each one at length,” Ryan said.

Ryan said Leo called his questions “tough” and asked if…

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Mr Ryan and the Pope held a private audience at the Vatican Monday to discuss the abuse both men suffered at Blackrock College and its preparatory school, Willow Park, in Co Dublin, as children.

Pope Leo XIX has apologised to Blackrock College abuse survivors David Ryan and his late brother Mark.

Speaking after the exchange, Mr Ryan said the newly elected pontiff was “so sorry to hear of my pain, for my family’s pain and for the other survivors that haven’t come forward yet.”

Abuse survivor and campaigner Colm O’Gorman told The Anton Savage Show on Newstalk Sunday that the meeting was “very significant to David Ryan and unprecedented in the context of such cases.”

“The Vatican is not good at this. When all of these stories started to emerge like when I came forward in the 90s, the Vatican was dismissing that abuse even happened: it was describing victims as fantasists. 

“All…

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‘What stood out was his sincerity, his empathy,’ says Ryan, who was abused as a child

For David Ryan, Monday February 2nd, 2026, will live long in his memory. “What an experience. I’ll never forget it, never, never forget it,” he said.

It was the day a pope apologised to him personally for the abuse he, his late brother Mark and their friend Aidan Moore suffered as children at the Spiritan-run Blackrock College in Dublin and its preparatory school Willow Park. He had also told the pope about the abuse he suffered as a child at the Jesuit-run St Declan’s school on Dublin’s Northumberland Road.

“I told him that it took me 40 years to realise it wasn’t my fault, it was their fault,” he said.

He felt the pope’s “sympathy, his empathy for survivors, for myself and for my family and my close friends. He felt it and he was sorry.”

…

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SÃO PAULO, Brazil – Jesuit Father Francesc Peris, accused by numerous former students of committing sexual abuse against them at a school in Barcelona, Spain, and another in Cochabamba, Bolivia, will not face criminal prosecution due to the statute of limitations of his crimes, according to a judicial decision issued last week.

Spanish judge Santiago García had opened an inquiry into Peris’s actions and concluded that two allegations of abuse, committed by him in 1999 and 2004, could lead to criminal proceedings.

However, according to a story published on Jan. 25 by the Catalan newspaper El Periódico, the District Attorney’s Office determined that the 2004 incidents have already reached the statute of limitations, meaning the 1999 allegation will likely meet the same outcome.

These were the most recent of several accusations made against Peris by students of Casp–Sagrat Cor de Jesús School, run by the Catalan Jesuits in Barcelona since 1881.

…

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Pope Leo XIV addressed the participants in the plenary session of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on Thursday of last week, and his remarks for the occasion reward careful attention.

Gently and without fanfare, without spectacle, in terms humane and genuinely solicitous of the department’s work, Leo set not so much a new agenda as a new – old – course for the office, after a two-year adventure inaugurated when Francis named Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández to lead the dicastery.

“I am well aware of the valuable service you perform,” Leo said, “with the aim – as the Constitution Praedicate Evangelium states – to ‘help the Roman Pontiff and the Bishops to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world by promoting and safeguarding the integrity of Catholic teaching on faith and morals … by drawing upon the deposit of faith and seeking an ever deeper understanding of it in the…

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Pope Leo XIV will hold a private audience with abuse survivor David Ryan who featured in the RTÉ Radio documentary Blackrock Boys.

In November 2022, the Doc on One programme revealed through interviews with Mr Ryan and his brother Mark, that they had been repeatedly sexually abused at Blackrock College during the 1970s.

The school is run by the Spiritan Order, formally known as the Holy Ghost Order.

Hundreds of victims from many fee-paying schools across Ireland reported alleged historical sexual abuse following the Blackrock Boys documentary.

Some revealed their abuse for the first time.

David Ryan took it upon himself to request a meeting with the head of the Catholic Church about the shame and hurt they experienced as a result of the abuse.

Mark Ryan was sceptical that such a meeting would take place and, sadly, he died in 2023.

In the absence of his brother, David continued in…

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(ANALYSIS) The Boston Globe headline was blunt: “Church allowed abuse by priest for years.”

This massive investigation into sexual abuse by Catholic clergy won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, forcing major newsrooms to cover a scandal that had festered for decades. The shockwaves continued in Boston and, more than a decade later, The Globe began a website — Crux (Latin for “cross”) — to cover Catholic news.

Reporter John L. Allen Jr. was a pivotal figure in that project since he was already an established expert on all the roads that lead to Rome. However, Crux quickly showed that the news was there, the readers were there, but the dollars didn’t add up — yet.

Allen got the green light to create an independent Crux, which launched on April 1, 2016. The question was whether he could build a coalition of donors and organizations — the Knights of…

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A familiar announcement, a familiar pain—when headlines celebrate progress that survivors know is unfinished.

When the archdiocese of New York announced plans to raise at least $300 million toward a potential global settlement with childhood sexual abuse survivors, headlines framed it as progress. For those living with the trauma, it landed as a mix of relief, anger, exhaustion and deep skepticism shaped by decades of abuse of power, institutional denial and calculated delay. 

The story isn’t the dollar amount; it’s the decades survivors have waited for justice. They had to fight just to be heard by the very institution that failed to protect them and now must watch that same institution frame overdue negotiations as moral penance. 

Any willingness by the church to engage in meaningful talks is better than silence, but this moment should not be mistaken for accountability. It signals the start of a process survivors should never have had to force through legislation, litigation and…

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Teacher at Chicago, suburban Catholic schools recently fired over history of child molestation allegations: Archdiocese of Chicago

Private tutor Brett Smith, a former Chicago-area Catholic schools teacher, was charged with sexual abuse of a juvenile in Orland Park, police said.

EVERGREEN PARK, Ill. (WLS) — A man working as a private tutor in the south suburbs has been arrested and charged with felony criminal sexual abuse and battery.

He worked as a substitute teacher at local Catholic schools and was recently fired, the Chicago Archdiocese said.

Orland Park police say 43-year-old Brett Smith engaged in sexual contact with a juvenile.

Smith was expected to make an initial court appearance Friday in Bridgeview.

In a letter to school parents, the Chicago Archdiocese says they fired Smith as a substitute teacher after learning of a history of sexual misconduct allegations.

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[See also the text of Bishop Lewandowski’s letter.]

• Rhode Island’s Catholic Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski has apologized ahead of a state report on clergy child sex abuse.

• The attorney general’s report is expected to detail how the church hid abuse by dozens of priests affecting hundreds of children.

• The diocese voluntarily entered the review and asserts it now has robust policies to protect children.

Rhode Island’s Catholic Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski is seeking to prepare the many Catholics in the state for the imminent release of the attorney general’s long-anticipated report on decades of clergy child sex abuse.

And, on Thursday, he also offered an apology.

“I take this opportunity to apologize to the victim-survivors for the failures of church personnel and others in past decades to protect them and keep them safe,” he said Jan. 29 in a letter addressed to “Brothers…

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Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We are anticipating the release of the Rhode Island Attorney General’s report on his six-and-a-half-year historical review of clergy sexual abuse in Rhode Island dating back to 1950. Our diocese entered into this review voluntarily in 2019 in the interest of transparency and so that broader societal good could come from our experience, from the failures and successes of the past.

The report does not contain any new cases of abuse and much of its content has already been widely publicized in the media over the decades. For many, this report will undoubtedly be a difficult and painful retelling of historical cases of abuse in our diocese. Catholics and members of the wider community alike have understandably been scandalized, demoralized, and angered by these heinous sins and crimes of the past. 

I take this opportunity to apologize to the victim-survivors for the failures of Church personnel…

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[This statement was made in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Buffalo NY on January 27, 2026 by survivor Joe Cercone. See also the original PDF of his statement.]

Ladies and gentlemen
I stand before you today as a broken man and, as a broken child.
I was only thirteen years old.

At thirteen, a child should be worried about homework, friendships, sports, and what they want to be when they grow up. I was not given that chance. Instead, I was placed in the care of someone who held power, authority, and trust—and that trust was abused in the most devastating way.

Parents, I ask you to pause for a moment and imagine sending your child somewhere you believed was safe. Somewhere tied to faith, morality, and protection. Now imagine discovering that the very place you trusted caused your child harm that will follow them for the rest of their life. My…

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[This statement was made in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Buffalo NY on January 27, 2026 by the parents of Joe Cercone. See also the original PDF of their statement.]

Your Honor,

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I would like to thank all the courageous men and women who have spoken the truth about the horrendous evil that has taken place in the Buffalo Diocese for decades, but most especially the courageous survivors, the whistleblowers and the journalists who put their necks on the line for exposing the
horrendous evil we are hear to discuss today. It was their involvement and stories that encouraged my son to expose the evil done to him.

My husband and I and our children were parishioners of St. Mary’s in Swormsville starting 2009. Both my husband and I were educated on child sexual abuse. My husband was a teacher, thus a mandatory…

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The mishandling of sexual misconduct allegations against Fr. Robert Yetter is one of the things that brought down former Bishop Richard J. Malone in 2019.

Joe Cercone was silently watching that scandal. He says Yetter sexually abused him in 2015, when Cercone was 13 years old, during the sacrament of reconciliation or confession at St. Mary’s of Swormville Catholic Church.

“There was the traditional kind of wall, and as soon as he would hear my voice, he would say, ‘oh, Joe,’ and then he would make me move from that wall to sitting in front of him,” Cercone said in an interview this week. “But then, you know, when he starts moving his hand up my leg and, you know, and kissing me, it’s…it’s a lot.”

It is difficult for the 23-year-old to talk about it even now, 10 years later. 

“That broke me as a child,” Cercone…

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Survivor statements began Tuesday, nearly seven years after the Diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Nearly seven years after the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, abuse survivors finally had their day in court on Tuesday.

It was a heavy feeling in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in downtown Buffalo on Tuesday when abuse survivors shared horrifying details about when they were raped as children by priests and nuns who were supposed to be counseling them and helping them.

Michael Whalen of South Buffalo, who was the first survivor to go public in 2018, spoke first, saying he wanted survivors to know they are not alone.

“Where was the diocese?” Whalen asked. “Has anyone from the diocese cried with survivors? I have.”

Whalen was abused by Fr. Norbert Orsolits, an admitted pedophile, in the 1980s at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Orchard Park.

Gary Astridge,…

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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you.

Good morning and welcome!

Dear Cardinals,
Dear brothers in the Episcopate,
Dear brothers and sisters,

I welcome you with joy on the occasion of your Plenary Session. I cordially greet and thank the Prefect of the Dicastery, with the Superiors and the Officials. I am well aware of the valuable service you perform, with the aim – as the Constitution Praedicate Evangelium states – to “help the Roman Pontiff and the Bishops to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world by promoting and safeguarding the integrity of Catholic teaching on faith and morals … by drawing upon the deposit of faith and seeking an ever deeper understanding of it in the face of new questions” (no. 69).

Your task is to offer clarifications regarding the doctrine of the Church, through pastoral and theological guidance on often…

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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you.
 

Dear sisters and dear brothers, good morning and welcome!

I am pleased to meet you, on the occasion of your General Assemblies, and I would like to take the opportunity to share some reflections with you, which I would like to divide into three points: charism, governance and communion.

Regarding the first, the Magisterium teaches us that “the Church rejuvenates in the power of the Gospel and the Spirit continually renews her, builds her up, and guides her ‘with hierarchical and charismatic gifts’. [1] The Second Vatican Council has repeatedly highlighted the marvellous work of the Holy Spirit that sanctifies the People of God, guides it, adorns it with virtue, and enrichens it with special graces for her edification”. [2]

In these days you have had the opportunity to reflect and discuss the definition…

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Dear brothers in the episcopate,

I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you who have come to Rome for the ad Limina Apostolorum visit. [I am grateful for the kind words that the president of the Episcopal Conference has addressed to me on behalf of everyone.] I ask you to remind my dear children in Peru that the Pope carries them in his heart and remembers them with affection, especially in his prayers.

It seems providential to me that this visit is taking place in the context of the 300th anniversary of the canonization of Saint Toribio de Mogrovejo. You, dear brothers, are the fruit of the evangelical seed that this bishop saint sowed in those lands. Therefore, I would like to propose that, following his example, we look with the eyes of faith on the reality we are facing today, which has been summarized well in the…

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John L. Allen Jr., a journalist admired for his informed coverage of the Vatican, much of it derived from his extraordinary insider access to the church’s power players that some critics said put him too close to his sources, died on Jan. 22 in Rome. He was 61.

His death, from stomach cancer, at a hospice facility, was announced by the Catholic news website Crux, which he founded.

For 25 years, Catholic Church watchers paid close attention to the reporting that Mr. Allen did, first as the Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, and then as the executive editor of Crux and as a columnist for it.

Mr. Allen seemed to know everybody at the Holy See, from the lowest functionaries to the popes themselves — from John Paul II to Leo XIV — and it showed in the depth of his reporting. He arrived in Rome…

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Pope Leo XIV told the Vatican’s doctrine office on Thursday to uphold truth, justice and charity when deciding clergy sex abuse cases, confirming a calibrated approach to dealing with a scandal that has tarnished the Catholic Church’s credibility worldwide.

History’s first American pope dedicated only a small part of his speech to abuse in an address to members of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that polices Catholic doctrine but also processes abuse cases worldwide.

What Leo didn’t say was almost more significant than what he did: Leo made no mention of victims in his speech, suggesting he believes the dicastery should function almost exclusively as a church tribunal, not a pastoral office.

Another Vatican department, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, has become a main point of reference for abuse survivors. Pope Francis had made the commission part of the doctrine office,…

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The diocese has paid out millions to Malachy Finegan victims

A Catholic church diocese facing a multi-million pound sex abuse compensation bill has lodged an application with a court over “material uncertainty regarding its finances” and asked for guidance on how to manage its shrinking assets.

The Diocese of Dromore has been at the centre of an abuse controversy over its handling of serial child abuser Malachy Finegan, a former priest of the diocese.

It has emerged that church authorities have made an application to the Chancery Court, which deals with various financial matters, last month.

It is understood a court hearing linked to the application was held behind closed doors on Friday.

Lawyers for the church were instructed to file an application for directions with the Chancery Court on behalf the Dioceses of Dromore Trustee “arising from material uncertainty regarding its finances”.

According to correspondence from church legal representatives,…

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“The presence of this individual in some of our schools and with some of our students is very alarming,” the Archdiocese of Chicago said in a letter.

A man used a fake name to get a private tutoring job in the south suburbs, then engaged in sexual contact with a child, police say. He also worked at multiple Catholic schools in the Chicago area, according to the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Orland Park police arrested 43-year-old Brett Smith, and he made his initial court appearance Friday in Bridgeview. He’s been charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

Authorities said parents in the south suburbs looked on the Nextdoor app for a tutor for their 9-year-old son and found a man going by the name BJ S. McAuliffe.

He got the job, but the parents became suspicious after the Zelle bank payment showed up under the name Brett Smith. Soon after, they found…

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Did British Jesuits try to conceal a high-profile abuse allegation?

A student has accused the Jesuits in Britain of falsely stating he had withdrawn an allegation of misconduct against a former Jesuit provincial superior.

But while the Jesuit province says it handled the allegation correctly, the Oxford University graduate student said he was shocked to see a communication between the Jesuits and a diocesan safeguarding team, which claimed he had retracted the complaint.

The student told The Pillar that he never indicated he wished to withdraw his allegation, and could not explain or understand why the British Jesuit province would claim otherwise.

The alleged victim, who asked not to be named, made in July 2025 an allegation of inappropriate conduct on the part of Fr. Damian Howard, S.J., the British Jesuits’ former provincial superior, who was then serving as senior chaplain at the Oxford University Catholic Chaplaincy.

The complaint saw Howard removed…

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Newly obtained records are raising serious questions about how the Diocese of Lafayette handled allegations against an Acadia Parish priest who remained in active ministry for more than six weeks during a criminal investigation.

According to documents uncovered by News 15 anchor Jim Hummel, Father Korey Lavergne was under investigation by the Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office beginning December 2, 2025. Deputies received a complaint that a boy had been inappropriately touched by Lavergne on multiple occasions at St. Edward Catholic Church in Richard.

Mother Says Bishop Was Informed Early

The mother of the alleged victim told News 15 that she and her son met with Lafayette Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel in early December, shortly after the complaint was made. She said the discussion involved what she now believes was grooming behavior, including gifts, private time at the rectory, and physical contact that made her son…

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A man who has served as a leader in the Lutheran Church in Illinois was arrested and appeared in court on a charge of child pornography.

Michael William Mohr, 54, of Springfield, was charged by complaint on Wednesday with one count of producing child pornography, according to the Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri.

Mohr waived his right to a detention hearing and will be held in jail until trial.

In a release, according to an affidavit, a court-approved search of Mohr’s home in Springfield allegedly found storage devices that contained videos of three juveniles in a bathroom. In a search of a home used by Mohr in Vandalia, hidden cameras disguised as a wall clock and a Bluetooth speaker were also allegedly uncovered.

The DOJ said the investigation began after one of the juveniles told Vandalia Police that he allegedly discovered…

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The former pastor of a Downtown Peoria church will be allowed to remain out of custody pending trial on allegations he sent inappropriate pictures to a boy last summer.

Michael S. Ritchason, 48, of Pekin, appeared in Tazewell County Circuit Court on Thursday and pleaded not guilty to the single felony count of dissemination of harmful materials, a felony that could send him to prison for up to three years.

He was charged last month and Thursday’s brief court hearing was his first. Prosecutors did not seek to detain him but asked for some conditions which included allowing pretrial release officers to have access to any electronic device that was connected to the internet.

He was also ordered to remain away from a minor whose name was redacted. He will next appear in court on Feb. 26.

According to a probable cause statement filed in court, Ritchason was allegedly sending…

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A former Tulsa minister has pleaded no contest to allegations he sexually abused his daughter.

On Jan. 22, Bertheophilus Maurice Bailey, Sr., also known as “Judge,” pleaded to charges of first-degree rape, child sexual abuse, incest and forcible sodomy.

A no-contest plea means the defendant acknowledges sufficient evidence exists for conviction, and the judge enters a guilty ruling.

Bailey’s now-adult daughter has publicly identified herself as his victim on social platforms, as previously reported by The Roys Report (TRR).

In a Jan. 22 Facebook post, Harmony Bailey Oates wrote:

“Finally Got justice 🥹🤍

“I am not ashamed to say I am the victim I am his daughter but I got justice … God has his hands on me and is not done with me yet!!! I’m so grateful for everyone would (sic) stood by me through this whole journey!!!”

Oates told police the abuse began when she was in sixth grade….

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Records obtained by News15 Investigates show Father Korey Lavergne was under criminal investigation for more than six weeks before his arrest on child sex crimes. As some Catholics question why Fr. Lavergne wasn’t removed from ministry during the investigation, the accuser’s mother tells News 15 that both she and her son met with Lafayette Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel in early December.

According to the initial report obtained through a public records request, deputies with the Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office first received a complaint against Fr. Lavergne on December 2, 2025.

Records show the person who called the sheriff’s office reported that a boy told him he was inappropriately touched by Fr. Lavergne at St. Edward Catholic Church in Richard on multiple occasions within the last year.

The name of the person who filed the complaint is redacted in the initial report, but News15 Investigates has learned the complaint was made…

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Salt Lake City diocese confirms it conducted an investigation but says only that it “has taken steps to address its findings.”

William Hambleton alleged last year that he was abused as a teen by a priest in Utah, an assertion the Diocese of Salt Lake City later deemed “credible.”

Now Hambleton contends that the diocese has confirmed to him a wider issue: A powerful cleric occasionally destroyed documents in personnel files of priests.

Monsignor J. Terrence Fitzgerald , the diocese’s longtime vicar general, told multiple priests about his purges of “information that could cast clergy in a poor light,” according to Robert Moriarty, a former priest in the diocese.

“I came to assume that this practice was common knowledge,” Moriarty, a friend of Hambleton, wrote in a letter provided last summer to the diocese’s internal review board during its investigation.

In a meeting earlier this month, Hambleton said, Bishop Oscar…

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A former Catholic school teacher, who just days ago was fired by the Archdiocese of Chicago, has been charged with sexually abusing a child while working as a private tutor in southwest suburban Orland Park.

Brett Smith, 43, has been charged with one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

Orland Park police said they began investigating Smith – who had been advertising private tutoring services on social media – after parents who had hired him became suspicious, because he identified himself as BJ S. McAuliffe, but the name associated with their requested bank payment for his services appeared as Brett Smith. 

After conducting an online search for Smith, who had legally changed his name from Brett Zagorac in 2019, they discovered several news articles from other states involving prior allegations of child molestation, and contacted police.

After launching an investigation, detectives determined Smith had used several aliases while advertising private…

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“I will be listening intently with an empathetic heart and mind”

Survivor details decades of abuse

More than five years after the first Child Victims Act lawsuit was filed, clergy sex abuse survivors of the Buffalo Diocese are finally having their voices heard in federal court.

Survivors began delivering statements Tuesday before U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Carl Bucki and Buffalo Bishop Michael Fisher as part of the diocese’s ongoing bankruptcy case.

The emotional and graphic testimonies marked a significant moment for those who have waited years for this opportunity.

Michael Whalen, a clergy sex abuse survivor, was the first of about 20 survivors to speak. He was also the first person to come forward eight years ago, saying he was sexually abused by Father Norbert Orsolits at St. John Vianney Church in Orchard Park when he was a teenager.

“These were crimes against children and they went unpunished,” Whalen noted.

…

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When John Carr was growing up in Minnesota, he dreamt of one day becoming either a priest or a U.S. senator.

Meeting and falling in love with his future wife, Linda, halted the priesthood dream for the onetime seminarian.

“She changed my life,” he said in a recent interview. In 2025, John and Linda Carr marked their 50th wedding anniversary, and they have four children and 10 grandchildren.

And losing a close race for the Minnesota House of Representatives at the age of 24 scuttled his dreams of public office.

Yet his life and work would ultimately revolve around the intersection of faith and politics, and on Jan. 21, 2026, John Carr – the founder of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University who retired at the end of 2025 – was honored for a half-century of connecting Catholic social thought and public life.

That Georgetown…

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Multiple survivors in the Awake community have shared that confession, formally known as the sacrament of penance and reconciliation, played a role in their abuse.

In some cases, the sexual abuse itself took place in the confessional or reconciliation room. Other times, information the priest heard from a person in confession was used to groom, manipulate, and victimize them. And some survivors have described situations in which confession took place immediately before abuse or after it.  

Terence McKiernan, best known as founder and co-director of BishopAccountability.org, an extensive archive of information about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, is currently researching and writing a book about confession, including its history in the Church and influence in broader culture. The book will also consider what McKiernan calls “the horror of confessional abuse” and what survivor stories can tell us about the risks of harm in this sacrament.

The Power of…

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