ABUSE TRACKER

Slow progress in case involving top Buddhist prelate accused of repeatedly abusing a minor since 2022

Rights activists in Sri Lanka have slammed the state authorities for alleged attempts to protect an influential Buddhist monk who is charged with raping a minor multiple times since 2022.

Human rights and child rights campaigners, during a press conference in the national capital Colombo on Aug. 31, accused the state of using delaying tactics in the prosecution of Pallegama Hemarathana Thero.

The 71-year-old monk was arrested on May 9 after he was accused of repeatedly abusing a minor since 2022. The girl was reportedly 15 years old when the abuse began.

At the time of his arrest, Hemarathana was the chief Buddhist prelate of the Nuwara Kalaviya region and the head of eight of the most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites of Anuradhapura, a major city and a World Heritage Site in north-central Sri…

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An agent said he began looking into Ryan Richardson after ProPublica and The Washington Post reported that the coach was still working with teens after a sports oversight group found that he had engaged in sexual misconduct.

A Texas volleyball coach who was the subject of an investigation last month by ProPublica and The Washington Post is now facing a federal child exploitation probe, according to an agent for Homeland Security Investigations, the main investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

The ProPublica and Post story detailed how Ryan Richardson continued to coach teenage girls for years at his gym in Pharr, Texas, amid allegations of misconduct, even after he was suspended in early 2025 and subsequently ruled “permanently ineligible” this February by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, an oversight group. On its public disciplinary list, SafeSport said it found that Richardson had an intimate relationship with a minor, committed…

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A ruling by the Superior Court of Quebec in Canada finds that Cardinal Marc Ouellet was “falsely accused” of sexual assault in connection with a class action against the Archdiocese of Quebec, and he will receive $100,000 in damages, which he will donate to organizations combating the sexual abuse of Indigenous peoples.

Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Prefect Emeritus of the Dicastery for Bishops, has won his case against Paméla Groleau, the woman who “falsely accused him of sexual assault in connection with a class action against the Archdiocese of Quebec.”

The Cardinal, who described himself as a “victim of defamation and slander,” will receive $100,000 in damages for the violation of his right to honour.

The decision was handed down by the Superior Court of Quebec in Canada. Published on 31 August, it ruled in the Cardinal’s favour in the defamation lawsuit he brought after the allegations of sexual assault…

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Judge orders Paméla Groleau to pay $100K to Cardinal Marc Ouellet

A Quebec Superior Court judge has ruled in favour of Cardinal Marc Ouellet in a defamation lawsuit brought against Paméla Groleau, ordering her to pay him $100,000 in damages.

Ouellet filed the lawsuit on the grounds that Groleau damaged his reputation, honour and dignity, after she named him in a 2022 class-action lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct by members of the Archdiocese of Quebec.

Groleau had alleged meeting the cardinal on several occasions between 2008 and 2010 while she was training or working as a lay pastoral agent for the Catholic Church and that Ouellet had engaged in various forms of inappropriate conduct toward her, including unwanted touching.

Groleau first reported her allegations anonymously in 2008 to a church advisory committee and later in a complaint directed to Pope Francis in 2021, which was rejected in 2022 — the same…

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In response to Why do problems with church governance persist?

Transparency in the Catholic church

The lack of transparency in the Catholic Church reflects the famous line of the Sicilian aristocrat in Giuseppe de Lampedusa’s novel, The Leopard: “If you want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.” In 2019 Pope Francis abolished the pontifical secret over child sexual abuse but retained what he called “office confidentiality” for canonical proceedings. In 2020, in response to the Australian Royal Commission recommendation to publish the judgments in the Church’s disciplinary proceedings, the Holy See said that it would do so on a case by case basis, but that it had an obligation to preserve the reputations of all persons involved in canonical proceedings. “All persons” includes the perpetrators, and that is exactly what has happened. The Church only publishes the results of its disciplinary…

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The apostolic nunciature in Paris confirmed to OSV News Aug. 31 that no papal celebration is scheduled in the Father Marko Rupnik mosaic-decorated chapel inside its Paris building during the apostolic trip to France Sept. 25-28.

The confirmation came as French media confirmed with the bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes that Pope Leo XIV ordered the removal of artwork created by Father Marko Rupnik that was used on the Vatican News website.

In the interview with Paris Match, which was published in full Aug. 31, Bishop Jean-Marc Micas said that during a private audience in June 2025, the pope made his willingness to resolve the matter regarding the controversial priest’s artwork “very clearly.”

Pope Leo, he said, “immediately asked me how Lourdes was handling this issue” and expressed his support for “the way we have approached things,” following Lourdes’ covering of the priest’s mosaics at the entrance of the Basilica…

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Alleged victim says administration, staff took ‘no action’ to protect students

A former student of Innovation Academy Charter School alleges that the school should have known that a former teacher on staff had a “history of inappropriate student interactions,” but took no action to protect students from him.

Jane Jones No. 600 (a pseudonym allowed by a judge) filed a civil complaint against the Tyngsboro-based school and the former teacher on July 31. She alleges that she was “groomed, sexually harassed, assaulted and raped by Ryan Deery, a teacher in that school.”

The 18-page document filed with Middlesex Superior Court alleges that IACS “encouraged an atmosphere of familiarity between the teachers, and the students, different from the accepted and expected boundaries in an educational setting.” See original article for civil complaint.

Defendants’ statements on allegations

IACS Head of School Greg Orpen said by email Monday that the school was unable provide…

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Pope Leo XIV’s trips to France in September and Uruguay, Argentina and Peru in November, are anything but slam-dunks about to happen.

https://www.bishop-accountability.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Leo-XIV-and-the-infinite-complexity-of-Papal-trips.pdf

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I have found it advisable not to give too much heed to what people say when I am trying to accomplish something of consequence. Invariably they proclaim it can’t be done.” ― Calvin Coolidge.

What is Protestant Accountability?

A new website launched with names and information for more than 2,700 clergy in 100+ denominations, along with their photos and the churches where they were thought to have served. Protestant Accountability operates under the umbrella of Protestant churches of all denominations, nondenominational, and mainline denominations. Here is what they say about their tracking database.

Protestant Accountability functions as an interactive computer service that distributes content created or provided by other users & content providers.

“We document allegations of abuse, as well as individuals in a position of leadership who allegedly mishandled allegations of abuse within their organization.

“This site relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is…

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Shannon Burgess resigned from Jesus Name Pentecostal Church citing “moral failure”

The former leader of a Chehalis church has been accused of grooming and sexually abusing two church members in a civil complaint filed in Lewis County Superior Court last month.

Shannon Burgess, former pastor of Jesus Name Pentecostal Church (JNPC), is listed as a defendant in the complaint. Other defendants include the church and Jesus Name Christian Academy (JNCA), a nonprofit entity that operates as a K-12 school within the church.

Multiple sources have indicated Burgess, 54, is also the subject of an active criminal investigation, though he has not been charged with any crimes.

Burgess’ civil attorney, Christopher Coker, of Younglove Coker & Rhodes PLLC, did not respond to a request for comment before press time. Coker filed a notice of appearance in Lewis County Superior Court on behalf of Burgess on Aug. 11.

Burgess resigned as senior pastor…

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A judge exonerated Nancy Smith, an Ohio bus driver, after she was convicted of abusing children in her care. Now, prosecutors want to reverse an order saying she was innocent.

In 1990, Nancy Smith, a divorced mother of four, took a job as a bus driver in Lorain, Ohio, a working-class city on the underbelly of Lake Erie. Each time a child got on her bus, she marked half of an X on the roster. When the child got off, she marked the other half. The children gave her hugs and holiday gifts.

One day in 1993, Ms. Smith was pulled off the route. A mother had come forward with a startling story she had heard from her 4-year-old daughter: Ms. Smith and a bus aide named Joseph had taken the child not to preschool, but to a basement where Joseph and the children got undressed, played “doctor,” and worse.

…

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Victims of sexual abuse should not report it to the Church, but should turn to the police or other professionals instead, Labour MP Ramona Attard has said, after the Bishop of Gozo announced that no canonical action would be taken against the priest who brokered a payment that led a family to withdraw a rape allegation against his relatives.

Attard’s comments follow a statement by Bishop Anton Teuma, who said two investigations, including an independent one he had personally requested, had found no grounds for disciplinary action against the priest, despite concluding that he had improperly influenced the family into dropping the case.

Attard said she had read the full court judgment on the underlying case, from Nadur, which she described as shocking. The case concerned a girl who alleged she had been sexually abused for years by four men, with claims including that she had been locked in a car…

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The Lisa Maria Foundation has condemned a statement by Gozo Bishop Anton Teuma confirming that while priest Michael Said influenced a victim’s family to accept hush money instead of reporting alleged child abuse, no canonical action will be taken against him.

The development follows initial media reports and a March 2026 press release from the foundation detailing the priest’s alleged breach of trust, raising urgent concerns over institutional accountability and the handling of child abuse within the diocese.

“We are further shocked to hear that the Bishop of Gozo, Anton Teuma, released a video in which he confirmed that the priest did in fact influence the family to accept the money rather than report this alleged child abuse, yet he also confirmed that no canonical action will be taken against Fr Said. The Bishop minimised the involvement of the priest by emphasising that he had no part in the abuse…

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Survivors of clergy abuse learned this week they’ll receive far less than expected from a $305 million settlement, with payouts capped at about $641,000.

NEW ORLEANS — Individual survivors of child rape and other sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of New Orleans learned this week that$641,000 is the most they can get under the settlement approved in December to resolve a yearslong bankruptcy protection case.  

Those amounts were communicated in letters that hundreds of clergy abuse survivors participating in the archdiocese’s bankruptcy began quietly receiving on Tuesday. The figures are well below a $2.4 million jury verdict awarded to an unrelated Louisiana religious sexual abuse claimant in June 2025 after the state’s legislature temporarily eliminated filing deadlines for such cases.   

And the amounts cited in the recent letters were also substantially below out-of-court settlements that a handful of clergy abuse survivors in the New Orleans area have reached in the verdict’s…

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The good news is that for the fifth time since 2021, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, pastor at St. Sabina Catholic Church in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood, has been cleared of any wrongdoing, after being accused of sexual abuse earlier this summer.

The Archdiocese of Chicago issued this announcement in a Monday news release. I expected nothing less. Pfleger has vehemently denied any wrongdoing each time an allegation was brought, and each time, he has been cleared after an investigation, making him perhaps the most investigated priest in the archdiocese’s history.

I must ask: As things stand now with the archdiocese, has anything been done to ensure that frivolous allegations cannot be lodged, which force Pfleger to be sidelined while they are investigated?

Some may believe multiple allegations over time equate to something of substance. I implore these people to realize that each time an allegation has been…

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A newly reinstated priest in Chicago says he will not back down from his social activism and claimed that the abuse allegation made against him was motivated by his political beliefs at a press conference held outside his parish on Wednesday, August 26.

Fr Michael Pfleger, who was cleared of any wrongdoing following a six-week investigation by the Archdiocese of Chicago into a historical allegation of sexually abusing a minor, said the process of investigating abuse claims was “unjust, and it’s broken”.

“There is no balance, nor fairness. Without a simple investigation, a background check or even an interview, a priest can be removed and told to find a place to live and to find a lawyer to represent you at your own expense,” he said, as reported by the Chicago Tribune.

After he was suspended…

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Reagan Charleston Thomas is an attorney representing sexual abuse survivors across the country, including dozens of clients in Louisiana. Thomas says The Diocese of Lafayette has not filed for bankruptcy and there is no indication that it will do so. However, she says the diocese has hired a prominent bankruptcy attorney for a filed case in Lafayette State Court. Attorneys representing sexual abuse survivors are concerned.

Reagan Charleston Thomas is an attorney representing sexual abuse survivors across the country, including dozens of clients in Louisiana. She highlighted the significance of the diocese bringing a bankruptcy attorney.

Thomas explained why the legal maneuver has drawn attention.

“The reason this is in the news and why I thought it was important to talk about, is because they brought a very well-known bankruptcy attorney into one of their filed cases in Lafayette State Court,” Thomas said. “And that particular attorney is very involved…

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A jury convicted Sally-Anne Bowen of seven charges related to assaults on two pupils in the late 1980s.

What matters

• Sally-Anne Bowen, a teacher at Christ’s College in Finchley, was convicted of seven counts of indecent assault.
• The offences occurred in the late 1980s against two pupils who were approximately 14 to 15 years old.
• Bowen, aged 65, was found guilty by a jury at Harrow Crown Court.
• She has been granted bail and is scheduled for sentencing on November 20.

Ajury has found Sally-Anne Bowen, a former teacher at Christ’s College in Finchley, guilty of seven counts of indecent assault. The offences involved two pupils at the north London school and took place in the late 1980s when the victims were aged between 14 and 15. Bowen, who was in her mid-20s at the time of the assaults, is now 65.

Jury Verdict at Harrow Crown…

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Gozo Bishop Anton Teuma will not take action against priest, who admitted influencing family’s decision to drop rape charges against men who abused of their minor daughter • Teuma says priest’s intervention was ‘unwise’ and he would have acted otherwise today

Updated with statement from Victim Support Malta at 2:50pm

The Gozo Diocese will take no action against Fr Michael Said despite the priest admitting to influencing a family to drop rape charges against their daughter’s abusers.

Gozo Bishop Anton Teuma said in a video statement on the Gozo Diocese Facebook page on Friday he reached this conclusion after receiving two investigative reports into the case. The rape of the 14-year-old girl by four men happened in 2008 and resurfaced last March. 

“There was influence by the priest on the family that led to the case being dropped. The original testimony of the parents, and the signature of the priest,…

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Gemma Hickey says it’s beyond time for the church to take the lead on exposing abuse

Gemma Hickey is tired of waiting for the Roman Catholic Church to take the lead on exposing clergy abuse.

A longtime advocate and abuse survivor, Hickey is calling on church officials in Newfoundland and Labrador to open the books on the use of an Ontario therapy centre in the wake of a recent CBC News story.

They want to see an independent examination of records related to the church’s reliance on the Southdown Institute to house and rehabilitate abusive priests from Newfoundland.

“All of us continue to pay the price for these sins, and it’s time for the church to be open about all of it in whatever way they can in order to be sure this isn’t happening anymore,” Hickey said.

CBC News reported earlier this week on a series…

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A former Wiregrass-area worship pastor has been arrested in Tennessee on multiple felony sex-related charges, according to jail records.

Joshua Landon Wilhoit, 43, was booked into the Jefferson County Jail in Dandridge, Tennessee, on Thursday morning. Jail logs indicate Wilhoit faces five sex-related charges, including rape and sexual battery. He remained in custody as of Friday morning.

Before moving to Tennessee, Wilhoit served as a worship and music pastor at several churches in southeast Alabama. His local ministry career included leading music at two Baptist churches in Dothan and serving at two other churches in neighboring Dale County.

Most recently, Wilhoit pastored a church in the Knoxville area, though he was removed from the church’s website months ago.

Online Tennessee court records did not immediately show additional details regarding the specific allegations or circumstances leading to his arrest. It was also not immediately clear if Wilhoit had retained an attorney…

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While Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime today walks the Vatican corridors vested with the authority of Pro-Prefect of the Dicasterio for Consecrated Life and newly appointed judge of the Court of Cassation, Pedro Mario Ayala —a surviving victim of the sexual abuse committed by a priest against him when he was a minor within the Salesians— suffers the aftermath of a trauma that has led him to psychiatric hospitalization. A recent investigative article by InfoVaticana has revealed the details surrounding this unfortunate case.

The painful aspect of this story is that Artime —as superior of the Salesians— ended up protecting and shielding the perpetrator with a cloak of bureaucratic impunity, while abandoning the victim to his fate, producing a terrible paradox: the current person in charge of overseeing, accompanying, and supervising all Catholic religious life in the world —let us not forget that, despite being subject to Sor Simona…

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Pedro Almodóvar does not look like a monster. When the 76-year-old master of Spanish cinema enters the library of the Soho Hotel in London, he is casually but stylishly turned out: his box-fresh shoes are Valentino; his crisp checked shirt, Louis Vuitton; his sculpted white hair, more Louis XV. For reasons that will become clear, he holds himself bolt upright, which gives him a distinctly stately bearing. Settling into a chair, removing his dark glasses and slipping a discreet hearing aid into his left ear (“my good ear”, as he calls it, such is the cruelty of age), he seems both approachable and unyielding, like a teddy bear cast in bronze.

Yet, as Bitter Christmas, his playful, Pirandellian new drama, reminds us, filmmakers are powerful and, potentially, treacherous creatures, however cuddly they may appear. “If you’re an authoritative person and on top of that you are a film…

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A former Montreal priest convicted of sexually abusing teenagers has been arrested again for allegedly possessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material while living in a halfway house, CTV News has confirmed.

Brian Boucher, 64, is serving the remainder of his eight-year sentence in the community under several conditions after being found guilty in 2019.

He was convicted on charges of sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching for events in Montreal that took place between 1995 and 1999, as well as between 2008 and 2011, involving two teenage boys when he was their Catholic priest.

According to court records, Boucher appeared in court at the beginning of August to face two counts of possessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material — which was formally known as possession of child pornography — in April 2026.

At the time of the alleged offence, he was living at a community…

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Five men who formerly served as altar boys are coming forward and suing the Roman Catholic Church in Rhode Island over the abuse they reportedly endured and kept hidden for more than 50 years.

Boston Globe Rhode Island Reporter Amanda Milkovits has been following dozens of lawsuits filed against institutions over child sexual abuse since a new law took effect, extending the window for victims to pursue legal action in Rhode Island.RELATED: Sexual abuse victims at former St. Aloysius Home sue Diocese of Providence

On Thursday, Milkovits joined 12 News at 4 to share more about the five men, who grew up together in Pawtucket’s Prospect Heights neighborhood during the 1970s.

The men, who were friends and brothers, also served as altar boys. They allege their priest, Father Armand Ventre, invited them to his lakeside cottage in Glocester, where he molested them.

See the full video interview…

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Growing up, I didn’t know I was living inside a persistent but largely silent epidemic. Like most children who experience clergy sexual abuse, I thought what was happening belonged only to me. The secrecy, shame and confusion felt deeply personal. 

After two decades working in public health, I learned to widen the lens. I came to understand what happened to me not only as a crime and an institutional failure, but as part of a much larger public health problem extending far beyond the Catholic Church into families, schools, sports, youth organizations, and communities around the world.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about one in four girls and one in 20 boys in the United States experience child sexual abuse, and that approximately 90% of children who are sexually abused are harmed by someone they know and trust. The lifetime economic burden of child…

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An elementary school teacher in the Philadelphia suburbs has been arrested and charged with manufacturing child pornography, federal officials said. 

Eric Sanville, 39, of Norwood, Pennsylvania, was arrested Thursday. Sanville is a teacher at Gwynedd Square Elementary School in the North Penn School District in Montgomery County, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 

The teacher was immediately placed on leave and prohibited from being on district property or contacting students, North Penn officials said in a statement posted on the school system’s website. 

Sanville allegedly used a messaging app to entice two 8-year-old girls to engage in sexually explicit behavior and record it. 

Investigators do not believe any North Penn students were involved, district officials said. Authorities also do not believe Sanville used district technology in the alleged crimes. 

The district is cooperating with law enforcement, officials said. 

Sanville had his first…

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Ventura County prosecutors on Wednesday charged a pastor, who also worked as a massage therapist, accused of molesting at least two children. 

David Johnson, 58, faces four counts of lewd acts upon a child and two counts of continuous sexual abuse, with the special allegations of substantial sexual conduct and the victims being under 14 years old, according to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office. 

Johnson pled not guilty to all charges. He’s being held without bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 28. 

Investigators believe there may be additional victims and released Johnson’s photo. 

Prosecutors said the alleged abuse happened over several years at locations in Ojai and Oxnard. Authorities added that he knew the children through a familial relationship.

Investigators urged anyone with information about the case or any additional victims to contact the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Detective Michael Loth at (805) 384-4745.

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David Johnson, 58, of Ojai, who’s also a massage therapist, allegedly abused the children over several years

A California pastor and massage therapist has pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of molesting two children under the age of 14 over several years, prosecutors said.

David Johnson, 58, of Ojai, faces six felony child molestation charges in Ventura County, according to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.

Investigators are also looking for possible additional victims and have publicly asked anyone with information about Johnson or other possible unreported crimes to come forward.

Johnson is accused of molesting two children who were under 14 years old at the time of the alleged abuse.

Prosecutors said the alleged abuse occurred over several years at locations in Ojai and Oxnard.

SAN FRANCISCO ARCHDIOCESE AGREES TO $395M SETTLEMENT WITH 530 CLERGY ABUSE SURVIVORS

Johnson, who…

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Billy Anders, a Buna pastor, was arrested for assault causing bodily injury after a woman alleged he struck her, according to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office.

A 58-year-old Buna man was arrested Wednesday after a woman reported that he assaulted her at their residence, according to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputy Hoke responded at about 8:48 p.m. Tuesday to the Evadale Sub Courthouse to meet with a woman who had reported the assault to Sheriff Chuck Havard.

The woman told Hoke that her husband, Billy Anders, had struck her in the back of the head more than once at their residence in Buna, according to the Sheriff’s Office. She reported that the assault caused damage to her teeth and resulted in a nosebleed.

On Wednesday, Deputy Bradley Morgan arrested Anders at his residence on a warrant charging him with assault causing bodily injury, a Class A misdemeanor. He was…

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Fr. Michael Pfleger, a priest in the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, has again been returned to ministry following an investigation into the 5th accusation of sexual abuse against him. Four of those accusations, including this last one, involved children. The Abuse Survivors Coalition (ASC) remains skeptical that with 5 accusations, there is no fire behind this smoke. Despite the promises of the Dallas Charter for openness and transparency, the findings of Review Boards are seldom explained, as is the case here.

According to the Archdiocese, it accepted the conclusion of the Review Board that “there is no reason to believe Father Pfleger is guilty of this allegation.”  The Abuse Survivors Coalition finds this a disappointing conclusion to the investigation, particularly with almost no information about the 5th accusation, and absolutely no explanation for the reasons behind the reinstatement. Moreover, just how independent can a…

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Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth settled class-action lawsuit in 2022

Dozens of victims of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests in central and western Nova Scotia are finally set to be paid compensation, nearly four years after the settlement of a class-action lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth.

The confirmation by lawyers that cheques are anticipated to be sent out mid-September comes after concern earlier this year from some claimants — and from the judge overseeing the case — about the long wait for payouts and what some viewed as a lack of communication.

Timothy Clark, who was abused by a priest in the mid-1980s when he was a teen and spoke publicly this spring about his frustrations with the case, said this week he’s pleased the process is nearing completion and feels like an emotional weight is lifting.

“Overall, I’m still not satisfied that the process…

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The Archdiocese of Kraków has created a commission to review past and current cases involving adults who say they were harmed in situations of vulnerability or dependency within the Church.

It is among the first diocesan initiatives in Poland and the Catholic world focused specifically on adults harmed in Church settings, rather than on cases involving minors.

The “Listening and Clarification Commission” will examine historical cases dating back to 1945 while also providing a place where adults can come forward and report abuse that may never have been formally addressed.

“It is a historical commission, not an investigative one,” Jesuit Father Jacek Prusak, a psychologist, psychotherapist and member of the commission, told OSV News. “On the one hand, it will examine archival records for information about this kind of harm. On the other hand, it is meant to remain open to people who wish to come forward, identify victims and perpetrators, and offer…

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Christians can criticize affirmative action and DEI hires all they want, but the continued employment of disqualified pastors in the pulpit is the church’s own form of an employment program.

Fake testimony. Inflated credentials. Fabricated personal history. Embellished resume. Incompetent scholarship. Blatant, repeated and rampant plagiarism.

I’m not talking about Cambridge University and the recent tragedy involving Jason Arday, a professor who was accused of all these things, subsequently resigned and was found dead just a few days later, presumably by suicide.

No, I’m not talking about Cambridge. I’m talking about the church and Christian leaders.

The problems I list above are far more common and overlooked or excused than they should be among those who claim the Christian faith.

To be sure, charlatans and cheaters are everywhere. But Christians would do well to examine how the church attracts and fails to prevent these forms of fraudulent behavior, especially among…

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An Edinburg pastor who has been charged with indecency with a child is now facing child grooming charges, according to a spokesperson from the city of Edinburg.

Jorge Gonzalez Martinez, 49, of Iglesia Internacional Poder y Gloria, appeared before a judge on Tuesday.

Martinez was charged with two counts of child grooming, a third-degree felony. An Edinburg spokesperson said the case allegedly involves two separate juvenile victims.

A judge set Martinez’s bail at $100,000.

Martinez was released from Hidalgo County jail on Aug. 6 in connection with an indecency with a child charge. Bail was initially set at $300,000 but was later reduced to $70,000, according to Hidalgo County District Attorney Toribio “Terry” Palacios.

A police report was filed in July after a girl told someone at the church that Pastor Martinez had touched her inappropriately several times. That person told a parent, who then reported the…

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The new online database Protestant Accountability offers some hope to survivors of clergy sexual abuse in non-Catholic settings.

Will Naasón Joaquín García’s inclusion at Protestant Accountability prompt Mexican authorities to launch criminal investigations regarding abuse at Luz del Mundo settings?

Protestant Accountability could help to better understand and prevent clergy sexual abuse while forcing authorities to offer survivors a measure of justice.

Over the last 40 years, most of the attention when it comes to sexual abuse in 
 religious contexts has been concentrated in what happens or not in the Catholic Church. The reasons for such emphasis are not, as the most intolerant wings of that church frequently argue because there is an anti-Catholic plot of sorts.

Often, what brings more attention to Rome is the byproduct of the very structure of that Church, the fact that unlike the Orthodox, Oriental, Anglican, Lutheran, and the many offshoots of what was Calvinism…

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An Edinburg pastor who was initially arrested in July following a victim’s outcry has now been charged with child grooming.

Jorge Ivan Gonzalez Martinez of Mission was arraigned Tuesday on two counts of child grooming and given a $100,000 bond, according to a press release from the city of Edinburg.

The two counts stem from two separate juvenile victims, according to the release.

The investigation into Gonzalez began on July 19 after one of the victims made outcry to her dad, according to a probable cause affidavit.

She told police that she had been touched inappropriately multiple times between March and April 2025 at their church, Poder Y Gloria Church, which is located at 4801 S. Business Highway 281 in Edinburg.

Five days following the outcry, an Edinburg detective attended a Children’s Advocacy Center interview with the victim who stated that the abuse started when Gonzalez would give her hugs…

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Survivors of church abuse have launched a groundbreaking new database, meticulously compiling information on alleged perpetrators across 100 denominations to protect vulnerable congregants and expose wrongdoing.

No one wants to believe that abuse actually happens within the institution of the Church, and certainly not within their own denomination. Congregants want to believe that pastors are “the good guys” that God has placed in their path to help them grow as Christians and in their relationship with Jesus. Unfortunately, when abuse has occurred in the past, it has been covered up, and guilty leaders have been moved to another parish or church, only to be free to hurt others. Those who have been abused suffer for the rest of their life with feelings of shame, guilt and more, even though they aren’t to blame.

Survivors Sound the Alarm through the Database

A group of church abuse survivors has banded together and is…

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A Hindu priest from New York has been charged after police allege he sexually assaulted a woman under the guise of performing a religious ceremony in Oshawa.

Durham Regional Police say officers were called Tuesday to the area of Harmony Road North and Conlin Road East following reports of a sexual assault.

Police allege the victim and her family had hired a Hindu priest, known as a pandit, to visit their home and perform a religious ceremony.

The suspect allegedly told the victim she was possessed by “evil spirits” and required a specific ceremony in a private location for healing purposes, police said.

Police allege the woman was sexually assaulted while the ceremony was being performed.

Rajendranauth Doodnauth Maraj, 50, of Richmond Hill, N.Y., has been charged with sexual assault.

The charge has not been tested in court.

Maraj was held for a bail hearing.

Police believe there may be…

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A polygamous sect leader already serving a 50-year federal sentence for orchestrating sex involving children was given another 24 years in prison Tuesday on separate state convictions for child abuse for hauling girls in an unventilated trailer in Arizona.

Samuel Bateman, 50, was convicted of three child abuse counts stemming from an August 2022 traffic stop in Flagstaff that led to the discovery of three girls, ages 11 to 14, in the trailer. It had a makeshift toilet, sofa and camping chairs and lacked air conditioning and seat belts. Someone tipped off authorities about the trailer after seeing small fingers reaching through gaps in the doors.

Bateman’s small group was an offshoot of the polygamous sect once led by Warren Jeffs. Bateman is currently serving 50 years in federal prison for coercing girls as young as 9 to submit to sex acts with him and other adults and for scheming to…

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D’Sa has been a member of the clergy since 2010 and the diocese said he’s served as pastor of St. Dominic Parish in Oakville since 2016, as well as the Dean of Halton.

A sexual assault charge has been dropped against a Catholic priest, Halton Regional Police confirmed on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, the Diocese of Hamilton said in a news release that Father Ranjan D’Sa of Oakville, Ont., had the case against him withdrawn at the request of the Crown Attorney’s Office.

“We wish to make public the withdrawal of the charge against Fr. D’Sa to assist in restoring his reputation and declare that he is a priest in good standing with the faculties necessary to continue to exercise his priestly ministry,” the diocese wrote on Aug. 10.

On Tuesday, Halton Regional Police, which had originally been investigating, confirmed to Global News that the case against D’Sa had…

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Clergy in England who are told about incidents of child sexual abuse during Confession will not be legally bound to report the disclosures to authorities when a new law comes into force next year.

A new mandatory reporting law which is part of the Crime and Policing Act states that those working, volunteering or undertaking “relevant activity” with children must report any abuse disclosures. Section 85 of the Act says the duty applies to people undertaking “regulated activity”, however Confession has not been classified as a “regulated activity”, so will be exempt from the reporting requirement. The fact that a priest hears confessions does not make the hearing of Confession a regulated activity.

Earlier this year, the Church of England’s lead bishop for safeguarding, Rt Rev Robert Springett, told General Synod that “the responsibility is firmly in our court”.

He added that he was “acutely aware that the continued use of the Seal…

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The church has resources for helping justice movements remain safe and liberatory—but it also has a lot to learn.

In March 1966, around 100 striking farmworkers started walking 300 miles from Delano, California, toward Sacramento. The mostly Mexican American and Filipino farmworkers had been on strike for six months and were marching to the state capitol to bring attention to their demands for higher pay and safer working conditions. Organized by Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers (UFW), the march included a lot of religious imagery: Someone carried a cross on their shoulder, and a banner with Our Lady of Guadalupe led their way as they walked under the sun along highways and through remote towns and fields.

The religious imagery signaled that the movement was Catholic and holy, says Nahomi Esquivel, a former labor and community organizer. Chavez even became an “uncanonized saint for some people,” she says.

…

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Insurance company believes therapy records can show who knew what, and when

The first letter is dated March 31, 1970.

Father Leonard Joseph Kelly was told to leave his parish in a hurry. The bishop could see no other option.

“It seems that you have been committing these acts over a long period,” reads the letter from John Michael O’Neill, then the bishop of Grand Falls. “You should make immediate preparations to leave Baie Verte permanently. To avoid scandal, you can say that you have not been feeling well and need medical care.”

The wording is ambiguous. The bishop never spells out exactly what the priest has done. He refers to it only as a “problem” far more “deep-seated” than was previously known.

O’Neill asks Kelly for frankness and honesty — and underscores his desire for secrecy.

“I thought of calling a meeting of the consultors but decided against it…

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A federal judge said that Michael Jeffries had shown “sufficient cognitive functioning.” His lawyers had argued that he could not understand the charges against him because of his mental state.

A federal judge on Thursday ruled that Michael Jeffries, the former chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch who stands accused of running an international sex trafficking ring, was fit to stand trial after being diagnosed and treated for dementia.

His lawyers had argued that Mr. Jeffries, 82, could not understand the charges against him because of his deteriorating mental state. Yet the judge, Nusrat J. Choudhury of Federal District Court in Central Islip, N.Y., said that Mr. Jeffries had shown “sufficient cognitive functioning in areas relevant to competence.”

He cracked jokes to a doctor who was observing him and remarked on current events — like the election of Mayor Zohran Mamdani — in phone calls from prison, Judge Choudhury wrote…

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It’s been two days since Father Michael Pfleger found out the Chicago Archdiocese has reinstated him to serve at Saint Sabina Church.

A review board found no evidence to support accusations against him.

Wednesday, Father Pfleger is expected to speak about his return to St. Sabina after being cleared following an investigation into allegations of child sex abuse claims.

This is the fifth allegation made against Pfleger in recent years. All of them were determined to be unfounded.

Father Pfleger has been cleared to return to the ministry after claims that he sexually abused a young girl more than 30 years ago.

The Archdiocese of Chicago’s independent review board found no evidence for the allegation, concluding there was no reason to believe the pastor was guilty of any wrongdoing.

Cardinal Blase Cupich accepted the board’s decision which was aided by the church’s office of child protection and outside investigators.

As…

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The state’s largest religious denomination, now in bankruptcy court, wants to save the school in South Burlington from potential liquidation by privately offering it for $4.3 million — 14% of the campus’s $30.5 million appraised value.

Creditors in the Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese’s Chapter 11 financial reorganization case are fighting a church plan to sell Rice Memorial High School to supporters to protect the grade 9-12 South Burlington campus from potential liquidation.

In a U.S. Bankruptcy Court filing Monday, lawyers for a creditors’ committee that represents more than 100 clergy abuse claimants questioned the proposed $4.3 million price tag for Rice’s 42-classroom building and 27 acres of athletic fields, parking areas and wetlands. The figure is only 14% of the $30.5 million value reported in a recent church-commissioned appraisal.

“The proposed sale is a functional insider transaction,” the claimants’ counsel wrote in the filing. “The diocese did not list the property. It did not…

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Father Michael Pfleger has been reinstated to ministry at St. Sabina Church following an investigation into alleged sex abuse, according to a letter from Cardinal Blase J. Cupich.

A woman claims Pfleger abused her when she was a child more than 30 years ago.

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The Archdiocese of Chicago’s Independent Review Board investigated the allegation alongside the Office of Child Protection and outside investigators, Cupich said.

Cupich’s letter to parishioners on Monday said the Review Board — established in the 1990s to advise on sexual abuse allegations against priests and other church officials — concluded that there is no reason to believe Pfleger is guilty.

SEE ALSO | Father Michael Pfleger reveals cancer diagnosis, says he is now cancer free

Pfleger has long been a high profile priest in the Catholic Church and a national figure in the fight against gun…

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After an investigation, the Archdiocese of Chicago concluded “there is no reason to believe Father Pfleger is guilty of this allegation.”

The Rev. Michael Pfleger was reinstated in his position as priest at St. Sabina Catholic Church in Auburn Gresham following an investigation into child sex abuse claims against him from decades ago, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced Monday.

In July, Pfleger was accused of sexually abusing a girl who was a student at St. Sabina between 1993 and 1995. It was the fifth similar accusation against Pfleger within five years. He staunchly denied the most recent accusation as the archdiocese’s Independent Review Board investigated.

The archdiocese said the investigation concluded, “There is no reason to believe Father Pfleger is guilty of this allegation.”

“I want to recognize the suffering you and Father Mike have endured, for I know his absence has been real and painful. But I ask you…

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A Marathon County judge set at $15,000 cash bail Aug. 24 for a former priest charged with trying to groom a child for sexual activity.

Andrew J. Showers, 38, of Madison, also faces two counts of felony bail jumping for two Waupaca County cases. The open Waupaca County cases are for two counts of child pornography possession in one and attempting to use a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, attempting to expose genitals to a child and attempted second-degree sexual assault in the other.

Showers has a Sept. 16 court appearance in the Waupaca County cases. Marathon County Circuit Judge Suzanne O’Neill set his next appearance on the Marathon County cases for Oct. 8.

Showers was a Catholic priest in Madison when he was arrested for the Waupaca County charges of attempting to use a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, attempting to expose genitals to a…

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A former Madison priest out on bond for child sex crime charges in Waupaca County was back in court Monday on new charges in Marathon County.

Andrew Showers is accused of attempted grooming of a child for sexual activity and two counts of bail jumping.

According to a Wausau Police Department report, an officer conducted an undercover investigation from late 2025 through July 2026. The officer posed as a 15-year-old girl and was communicating online with Showers, who is 38 years old.

The police officer reported Showers repeatedly acknowledged that the alleged victim was underage, that he had a legal risk when talking to a minor and he knew the consequences of what could happen if he was caught.

The officer started screenshotting and recording the conversations in March 2026, which was seven months after Showers was first arrested on charges related to child sex crimes in Waupaca County.

Based…

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New developments come about 18 months after POLITICO first reported university president Joseph Reilly mishandled allegations.

Seton Hall University’s leadership tried to move on from the negative attention on its new president after an independent investigation released in July concluded he did nothing wrong in responding to a sexual abuse allegation when he held a prior position.

But in a matter of days last week, things got worse for the esteemed Catholic school.

A new lawsuit adds fresh details and allegations against the new president, Monsignor Joseph Reilly, claiming he had a former seminarian tracked by a private investigator and tried to delay his advancement in the church. That came shortly after a high-ranking state senator asked New Jersey’s attorney general to investigate how Reilly and the university handled a sexual abuse allegation by that very seminarian more than a decade ago.

And between those two actions, Reilly’s predecessor refiled a whistleblower lawsuit against the school claiming…

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An Argentinian court has overturned the acquittal of a former nun in a notorious sex abuse case involving deaf children, authorizing a lower court to determine her punishment, according to a ruling obtained by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Kumiko Kosaka, a Japanese national, had been acquitted in 2023 of abusing students at the Provolo Institute of Mendoza, a free boarding school for underprivileged children with hearing and speech difficulties.

The 51-year-old former nun could now face up to 50 years in prison following the reversal by the Supreme Court of Justice of Mendoza province, plaintiff’s attorney Sergio Salinas told AFP of the ruling issued on Friday.

The court decision was “historic,” he said.

“It means the children told the truth and the court acted very arbitrarily when it acquitted her.”

A sentencing date has not yet been set.

The case, with allegations first surfacing in 2016, had sent shockwaves through the…

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“All of this was preventable with a little effort.”

An expert in parish financial misconduct told The Pillar that the recent arrest of a Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest represents possibly the worst case he has encountered, and that numerous red flags were missed, which might have curtailed the priest’s alleged criminal activity well before he was caught.

The case involves a 69-year-old priest accused of stealing nearly $750,000 over five years, from various Church entities and his own elderly mother. The alleged crime was discovered during a narcotics investigation which uncovered drug-related messages and photos on the priest’s phone, the Pennsylvania attorney general said.

“This case is a cross between ‘Breaking Bad’ and the ‘Bells of St. Mary,’” said retired IRS criminal investigator Robert Warren, an associate professor of accounting at Radford University.

Warren stressed that there were years of warnings were missed in the case – and said that if they…

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Adams County jury convicted Joshua Lucero of sexual assault on a child in May

A Thornton youth pastor convicted of child sex assault may spend the rest of his life in prison, according to Adams County officials.

Joshua Lucero, 29, was sentenced Friday to 13 years to life in the Colorado Department of Corrections, according to a news release from the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. An Adams County jury convicted him in May of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust — pattern of abuse.

Lucero worked as a youth pastor at Word Alive Church in Thornton, where his father was the lead pastor, the news release stated. He mentored teens, led church events and supervised overnight youth retreats, officials with the district attorney’s office said.

Prosecutors said Lucero secretly developed a relationship with a teenage girl in the church’s youth…

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Lawsuit says pastor did nothing after woman tried to report incident

A former priest at St. John Paul II Catholic Church in Sellersburg is accused of sexually assaulting one of his adult parishioners, according to a lawsuit. The woman said she went to the church for help, and her complaint went nowhere.

The lawsuit accuses the former priest, identified as Rev. Ronald Mervil, of sexual assault. It also accuses the current head pastor of doing nothing after the woman tried to report what happened.

Before mass Sunday, a deacon read a statement to the congregation.

“The Archdiocese of Indianapolis is aware of a complaint filed on June 10, 2026, in Marion County Superior Court involving Father Ronald Mervil,” part of the statement said.

A parishioner identified as “Jane Doe” said she met Mervil after joining the church following her move to the area seeking asylum. She was looking for work,…

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Madison diocese: “The new criminal complaint is connected to an online undercover investigation.”

A former Wisconsin priest has been charged with bail jumping and new sexual offenses against minors, the Diocese of Madison has confirmed. Andrew Showers was arrested Aug. 20 for attempted grooming of a child and violation of the conditions of his bail almost exactly one year after his initial arrest.

Andrew Showers at the time of his initial arrest in 2025.

A statement from the Madison diocese, released Friday, called “the allegations of attempted grooming of a child for sexual activity and bail jumping[…] incredibly disturbing.”

“Similar to the charges filed in Waupaca County in August of 2025, the new criminal complaint is connected to an online undercover investigation conducted by a police officer posing as a 15-year-old girl,” said the statement. “A warrant was issued for Showers’ arrest, and, after turning himself in, he was taken…

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Sally-Anne Bowen, 65, faces eight charges relating to alleged abuse of boys aged 14 in 1987-88

What matters

• Sally-Anne Bowen, 65, denies eight counts of indecent assault against two former pupils, both boys aged 14 at the time of the alleged offences in 1987-88.
• One accuser told police he had sex with Bowen “20 or 30 times” during the 1988 school year, describing encounters at her flat and a local café.
• Bowen reported one of her accusers to police in 2025 after he made comments about her in a podcast interview, which she claimed threatened to rape her.
• The trial continues at Barnet Crown Court, with a second complainant’s testimony expected this week.

A former teacher at Christ’s College Finchley is standing trial at Barnet Crown Court, accused of indecently assaulting two of her pupils when they were 14 years old. Sally-Anne Bowen, now 65, taught at…

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Christopher R. Clay was credibly accused of sexual contact with a minor, prohibited from acting as a priest in 2004 and moved to Texas to continue preaching

The Vatican defrocked a former priest from the Diocese of Scranton who the church said was credibly accused of sexually abusing a minor, the diocese said this month.

Christopher R. Clay, 62, petitioned Pope Leo XIV for dispensation from the clerical state in March, which the pope granted July 24.

That means that Clay, now of Dallas, Texas, cannot celebrate Mass, confer the sacraments, wear priestly garb or assume the title of Father. 

The diocese first prohibited him from acting as a priest in 2004, a few years after he was first accused of sexual misconduct, but the church had not taken the step to formally defrock him until this summer.

Clay was ordained in 1998 and, among his assignments, served…

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Vicars won’t have to tell police about child abuse confessions under new law

Penance exempt from Labour’s ‘mandatory reporting’ legislation coming into effect next year

Vicars and priests who are told about child sex abuse during confession will be exempt from new “mandatory reporting” laws.

Labour has been accused of creating an “indefensible loophole” by failing to include confession in the Crime and Policing Act, which is coming into force next year.

The new law introduces a legal obligation on those working or volunteering with children to report any disclosures of sex abuse to the authorities, or face sanctions.

Last year, the Home Office wrote to Stephen Evans, the chief executive of the National Secular Society (NSS), to reassure him that the new duty would apply to “all individuals undertaking relevant activity with children, including within religious and faith-based settings”.

In a letter to Mr Evans last May, the Home…

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Japanese national Kumiko Kosaka was previously acquitted in 2023 of abusing deaf children at the Instituto Próvolo in Mendoza between 2005 and 2016.

he Supreme Court of Mendoza Province has overturned the acquittal of a former nun in a case involving the abuse of deaf children, paving the way for a court to determine her sentence, according to a ruling released on Friday night and seen by AFP.

The woman, Japanese national Kumiko Kosaka, was acquitted in 2023 of abusing deaf children at the Instituto Próvolo in Mendoza between 2005 and 2016.

The 51-year-old former nun could now face a prison sentence of up to 50 years, plaintiffs’ lawyer Sergio Salinas told the AFP news agency on Saturday.

A date has yet to be set for the court to meet and determine her sentence.

In a 2019 trial, priests Horacio Corbacho and Italian national Nicola Corradi were sentenced to 45…

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An Argentinian court has overturned the acquittal of a former nun in a notorious sex abuse case involving deaf children, authorizing a lower court to determine her punishment, a ruling showed.

Kumiko Kosaka, a Japanese national, had been acquitted in 2023 of abusing students at the Provolo Institute of Mendoza, a free boarding school for underprivileged children with hearing and speech difficulties.

The 51-year-old former nun could face up to 50 years in prison following the reversal by the Mendoza Province Supreme Court of Justice, the plaintiff’s attorney, Sergio Salinas, said of the ruling issued on Friday.

The court decision was “historic,” he said. “It means the children told the truth and the court acted very arbitrarily when it acquitted her.”

A sentencing date has not yet been set.

The case, with allegations first surfacing in 2016, had sent shock waves through the Catholic Church in the homeland of former…

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New research has found that annual baptisms have fallen by 30 percent over the last ten years in Ireland.

A briefing note from the Iona Institute, a Christian advocacy and research body, says falling births and the rise of secularism are the two driving causes of the decline, with the drop in birth rates accounting for approximately 60 percent of the decrease.

In the ten year period which the research looks at, it was also shown that births in the Republic of Ireland have fallen by 19.9 percent, and 21.3 percent in Northern Ireland. Overall, this is a decline of 18.8 percent.

The report said the “biggest part of the decline [in baptisms] is accounted for by a fall in the number of births overall.”

“However, the effect of secularisation has been very significant, as we will see. The number of people who says they belong to no religion (the…

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After a series of high-profile child sex abuse allegations involving North Texas educators, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas announced Project Safe Schools, a new initiative for fighting abuse in public schools, while announcing two North Texas educators now face federal charges.

U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould spoke at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon, along with FBI Dallas Special Agent In Charge Joseph Rothrock and other federal, state and local law enforcement officials. An official with the Texas Education Agency was also present.

Raybould said “the problem is clear and urgent”, saying educator misconduct was happening too often.

“Some districts have even engaged in what is referred to as ‘passing the trash’, quietly moving educators with known misconduct issues to new campuses or new districts, where they hurt other children,” he said. “That practice puts children at risk, it violates federal grant conditions, and it…

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Marko Rupnik’s mosaics were added to the neo-Gothic façade of the lower basilica at the Shrine of Lourdes at the end of 2007, when the priest-artist enjoyed a high profile with commissions at major sites across the world.

The bishop who oversees the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes said it will cover all its mosaics by Fr Marko Rupnik, the former Jesuits accused of abuse, ahead of the Pope’s visit next month.

Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes and Lourdes told the French daily La Dépêche du Midi on 20 August that “all of the works on the façade” of the Basilica of the Rosary will be covered and redecorated out of respect for abuse victims, and that they will remain covered afterwards.

EWTN News confirmed the report with the press office of the shrine. Details about how the mosaics are to be covered and when were not yet available.

Bishop Micas’ decision…

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Lourdes to Cover All of Rupnik’s Mosaics, Turning a Controversial Artwork into a Test of Healing

The façade of the Basilica of the Rosary at Lourdes will soon lose one of its most recognizable artistic features. All of the mosaics created by the former Jesuit Marko Rupnik will be covered, and unlike earlier measures, this time the change is intended to be permanent.

Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes and Lourdes has made clear that the decision is not simply a temporary adjustment for Pope Leo XIV’s visit to the French shrine on September 26 and 27. The mosaics will remain concealed after the Pope leaves, while the diocese begins a new process to determine how the façade should ultimately be redecorated. Artists and theologians are expected to join the commission already examining the future of the site.

The timing is nevertheless significant. Leo XIV will spend just over a day…

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In the past year, Holy Apostles Parish has seen its closure and, more recently, its assessment to help pay for the Diocese of Buffalo’s $150 million settlement with child sex abuse survivors overturned by the Dicastery for Clergy.

The Save Holy Apostles Parish group announced via Facebook on Wednesday that the parish had received a letter from the Vatican ruling in favor of its assessment appeal, revoking Bishop Michael Fisher’s decree and ordering the return of any money already transferred to the diocese to be returned to Holy Apostles. The Dicastery for Clergy said in its decision that the diocese didn’t follow proper processes outlined in Canon Law.

Holy Apostles was being assessed $1.3 million, or 80% of the parish’s unrestricted cash and assets, when the assessment was first announced in the summer of 2025. That rate was being used for any church scheduled for closure or merger, which was…

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Survivors of alleged child abuse by Catholic priests in Maine settle with the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland, but want more accountability.

Survivors who say they were abused by different Catholic priests in Maine as children are speaking out following a settlement with the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland. 

A childhood sexual abuse survivor and the wife of another survivor gathered in Portland Thursday to share several stories of sexual assault at the hands of Catholic priests across Maine.

It’s a major milestone for survivors, who could have gone to court but wanted closure and healing. Survivor Keith Amato struggled to hold back tears as he talked about painful memories he had buried until his 30s.

“It hits you when you remember, and that’s really overwhelming,” Amato said as he wiped away tears.

Amato said he was 6 years old when a priest at St. Bruno Parish in…

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Several who settled said they are still seeking an apology from the diocese.

Maine’s Catholic diocese has settled more than 100 claims brought by people who said they were sexually abused as children by clergy.

Roughly half of the claims were covered by a seven-figure payout, according to one lawyer for the plaintiffs, who were represented by four firms. They declined to share a specific amount.

“This process has brought life-changing validations after decades of institutional silence and concealment,” attorney Michael Bigos said.

Lawyers said on Thursday that, despite repeated requests, the diocese has not apologized to dozens of people who have reported past abuse by clergy.

In a statement published online last month, announcing that some settlements had been reached, Bishop James Ruggieri said they were “intended to acknowledge, in a tangible way, consistent with our resources and obligations, the seriousness of what has been reported and…

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Protestant Accountability, a survivor-led nonprofit, announced the launch and expansion of ProtestantAccountability.org, a searchable database that collects publicly available information about Protestant clergy and other spiritual leaders who have been accused of committing, enabling, or mishandling sexual abuse.

During a video press release on Wednesday (Aug. 19), Chellee Taylor, president of Protestant Accountability and a survivor of clergy sexual abuse, said the organization was created by roughly a dozen survivors to “spread awareness, inform the public, protect potential victims, and help heal those who’ve already been wounded.”

Taylor emphasized that the organization does not conduct its own investigations or determine guilt. Instead, it gathers existing public information, including news reports, police reports and court records, and places that information in one searchable location so users can review the material themselves. For example, many citations come from The Roys Report, Baptist News Global, and local news sites.

RELATED: Johnny…

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The Baeza Law Firm and a client identified as a sexual abuse survivor are calling on anyone abused by clergy within the Catholic Diocese of El Paso to come forward before a looming headline.

In March, the Diocese filed for bankruptcy due to a wave of lawsuits claiming sexual abuse when they were minors by clergy members from 1956 to 1982.

In an interview with KTSM 9 News, Attorney Jonathan Baeza from Baeza Law Firm said the federal bankruptcy court in West Texas has set a final deadline of Sept. 11 for survivors of sexual abuse to file their claims.

Ticking clock for abuse claims in El Paso Diocese bankruptcy; what’s next for both sides

“There’s a misconception out there that the bankruptcy closed the door,” Baeza said.

Baeza accompanied one of his clients, remaining anonymous, who said they carried the weight of the sexual abuse for 50 years…

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All mosaics by disgraced priest Father Marko Rupnik adorning the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Lourdes will be covered ahead of Pope Leo XIV’s September visit and will remain covered indefinitely, said Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes and Lourdes.

Although mosaics covering the basilica’s entrance were covered in March 2025, Bishop Micas told the French daily La Dépêche that the mosaics on the basilica’s facade will be covered before the pope’s Sept. 25-28 visit to France.

“The Holy Father’s visit to Lourdes is an opportunity to take another step on this matter,” the bishop said. “All the works on the facade will be covered and then decorated in connection with Leo XIV’s apostolic journey.”

A former Jesuit, Father Rupnik, 71, was briefly excommunicated by the church in 2020 for absolving an Italian novice with whom he had a sexual encounter. The excommunication was lifted after he repented. 

…

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Mosaic artwork decorating one of the world’s most famous healing shrines will be covered ahead of a papal visit later this month, a move long sought by abuse survivors and victim-advocates after the artist who designed the mosaics was exposed as a serial abuser. 

Disgraced former Jesuit Marko Rupnik was expelled from his former religious order for disobedience in 2023 and later incardinated in the diocese of Koper in his native Slovenia, despite numerous “highly credible” allegations of serial psychological, spiritual, and sexual abuse against numerous victims, most of them women religious.

Rupnik was a celebrity figure for decades, during which he used his status and “creative process” to abuse dozens of women. Artwork by Rupnik and his students adorns shrines and chapels around the world, including in the Vatican.

The Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, Jean-Marc Micas, made the announcement in an interview published Thursday with French newspaper La…

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Nathan Brooks, a former Roman Catholic priest accused of sexual misconduct in Cortland, has been officially dispensed from clerical duties.

Following the accusations and civil proceedings regarding Brooks’ involvement with a minor, Most Reverend Douglas J. Lucia, Bishop of the Diocese of Syracuse, was advised by the Diocesan Review Board that the allegations were credible. Brooks, upon canonical consultation with Bishop Lucia and the Diocese, petitioned the Vatican to be “dispensed from all obligations of the clerical state.”

Brooks was first accused and charged with four misdemeanors relating to contact with a minor in September 2023. Charges in Homer Town Court included endangering the welfare of a child, forcible touching and sexual abuse in the third degree. Brooks was also charged with forcible touching in Cortland City Court. According to original reports, the allegations stem from incidents occurring while Brooks was assigned to St. Mary’s Church and St. Anthony of…

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Geoff Drew served 7 years for the repeated rape of an altar boy, as set by his plea deal

A former priest and confessed rapist was released from prison on Monday morning after completing his 7-year sentence, and authorities are warning the public that he is still very dangerous.

Geoff Drew was released from the Noble Correctional Institution, a medium-security prison for men in rural Noble County between 8:30 and 8:45 a.m., according to an Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokesperson.

Now Drew is set to live in a two-story halfway house in Over-the-Rhine, Volunteers of America, a re-entry program on W. McMicken Avenue that currently houses 35 registered sex offenders, according to the Ohio sex offender locator website.

“He mastered his craft,” said retired Cincinnati police detective Dana Jones, who led the case against Drew with Green Township police detective James Conforti. “His title of being a priest…

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Two Phillips Academy alumni have reported sexual abuse by a former longtime medical director who was charged and sentenced on child pornography charges more than a decade ago.

Phillips Academy Head of School Raynard Kington and Board of Trustees President Eric Zinterhofer released a joint statement Thursday afternoon about former students reporting being sexually abused by Richard Keller, who served as the school’s medical director from 1992 to 2011. Keller was arrested in 2012 and sentenced in 2014 to 78 months in prison for receiving and possessing child pornography.

“We are thankful for their courage in coming forward and sharing this information with the Academy,” the statement read about the alumni reporting the abuse. “We recognize that people process trauma on their own terms and timelines, which is why Andover remains open to hearing from alumni, no matter how many years have passed since they were harmed.”

The school asked…

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Two Phillips Academy alumni have reported they were sexually abused as students by the boarding school’s former medical director, who was convicted more than a decade ago on federal child pornography charges, school officials disclosed Thursday.

Richard Keller served as Phillips Academy’s medical director from 1992 to 2011. He was arrested in 2012 and pleaded guilty the following year to two counts of receiving and one count of possessing child pornography.

In a letter to alumni Thursday, Head of School Raynard Kington and Board of Trustees President Eric Zinterhofer said two former students have since come forward to report that Keller sexually abused them while they attended Phillips Academy.

The school did not identify the alumni or say when the alleged abuse occurred.

One of the two alumni provided Andover News with a statement describing the lasting effects of the alleged abuse and criticizing the Academy for failing to protect…

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A former English teacher at Tabor Academy has been arraigned on 12 charges of rape after allegedly abusing a student over a three-year period.

Nannie Clough was arraigned Aug. 17 in Brockton Superior Court on the rape charges and one count of intimidating a witness.

She pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released without bail. She was ordered to have no contact with the alleged victim and to surrender her passport.

The female  victim was “sexually exploited’’ starting at age 15, according to her attorney Kristen Knuuttila. Clough “groomed our client, opening her home to her and gaining her trust,’’ the attorney said.

The abuse lasted from 1996 to 1999, Knuuttila said.

The abuse continued even after the girl left Tabor, Knuuttila said. Clough threatened to kill herself, the attorney said, if the girl ever told anyone.

“The most insidious part of the abuse was the fact that Clough took…

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A former English teacher at Tabor Academy, a private boarding and day school in Marion, was arraigned this week on multiple charges of rape.

Nannie Clough, 57, was arraigned Monday in Brockton Superior Court on 12 counts of rape and one count of intimidating a witness, court records show. A plea of not guilty was entered on all the charges, and Clough was released without bail.

Attorneys for the alleged victim told 5 Investigates that Clough was an English teacher at Tabor at the time and the alleged victim, a female, was her student.

Clough, now in Colorado, is accused of raping the alleged victim between 1996 — the girl’s sophomore year — and 1999, according to court records and her attorneys.

“The thing that made Clough’s abuse so particularly insidious is that she first groomed and manipulated our female client, welcoming her into her home and taking her on…

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A Dallas appeals court ordered a district judge to dismiss most claims against former Gateway Church Senior Pastor Robert Morris, his wife, the Southlake megachurch and three elders in a defamation lawsuit filed by Cindy Clemishire, whom Morris sexually abused as a child, and her father, Jerry Lee Clemishire.

The Fifth Court of Appeals on Wednesday conditionally granted all or part of two mandamus petitions in separate opinions involving Gateway, Elders John D. Willbanks III, Kenneth W. Fambro II and Dane Minor, and the Morris family. A companion opinion addressed Morris, Deborah Morris and the Robert Morris Evangelistic Association.

The August 19 orders give the trial judge 30 days to vacate her earlier denial and grant the covered motions. The appellate court said it would issue formal writs only if the judge fails to comply.

The court did not decide whether the disputed statements were defamatory….

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The Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 19 to dismiss all but two of sexual abuse survivor Cindy Clemishire’s defamation claims against Gateway Church and its elders.

The lawsuit, which was filed in June 2025, names as defendants Gateway Church, Robert Morris and his wife Deborah Morris, Thomas H. Miller Jr., John D. Willbanks III, Kevin Grove, Jeremy Carrasco, Kenneth W. Fambro II, Gayland Lawshe, Dane Minor, Lawrence Swicegood, Steve Dulin and the Robert Morris Evangelistic Association Inc.

Gateway is a multi-campus megachurch based in North Texas.

Clemishire was repeatedly sexually abused by Gateway Church founder Robert Morris in the 1980s beginning when she was 12 years old. In October 2025, Morris pleaded guilty to five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child.

While he was given a 10-year sentence for these crimes, he served onlu six months under a plea deal. He also was ordered to register…

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Cadiz resident and former Hopkinsville youth pastor Jeremiah E. Swaw, 38, has been charged with grooming a minor after both Swaw and his wife, Hayla Swaw, as well as the minor involved walked into the Cadiz Police Department to report the circumstances that occurred over multiple days with Jeremiah Swaw.

A citation from the Cadiz Police Department notes that the Swaws have a power of attorney for guardianship of the minor, who is unnamed, as of March 13 of this year.

Information included in the citation reports that the minor, among other things, stated that Jeremiah Swaw on July 28 touched her leg and thigh area while traveling in the car during a shopping trip in Clarksville, Tennessee.

They later watched a movie together after returning back home, and Jeremiah Swaw afterward came into the minor’s room and engaged in incidents that the minor said continued about every other day…

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Hillcrest Baptist Church announced that Pastor Jeremiah Swaw has been let go after turning himself in to authorities.

Hillcrest Baptist Church, located on Skyline Drive in Hopkinsville, shared an official statement on Aug. 20 announcing the dismissal of Next Generation Pastor Jeremiah Swaw.

The statement said that on the afternoon of Aug. 17, church leadership became aware that Swaw had turned himself into authorities. The Christian Country Jail confirmed that Swaw was booked on Aug. 17 and was bailed out the next day. His charge was listed as “any misdemeanor charge not covered by these codes” before his inmate listing was taken down after his release.

“Jeremiah has been terminated effective immediately,” said the statement from Hillcrest. “He is prohibited from having any contact with the young people in our church and from participating in church-sponsored activities.”

The church additionally disclosed that any alleged offence did not occur on church property….

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Investigation into ‘16 distinct allegations’ against Phil Baniewicz over 40 years finds consistency from complainants who didn’t know one another.

The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas announced today that based on an independent investigation into “16 distinct allegations” against former Bishop Miege President Phil Baniewicz “spanning from approximately 1985 to 2025,” he is barred from service in any capacity for the archdiocese.

That’s such a relief to at least a couple of the 16 who made those allegations that they can’t believe it.

These weren’t old accusations that had been long ignored but reports that had never been taken because previous vetting of someone known to have been accused of sexual assault 40 years ago had been so slapdash; the independent investigation ordered by the archdiocese a year ago started with two complaints, and the last two came in just recently.

“Two other girls reached out to me just in…

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Keith Amato says he was 6 years old when he was sexually abused by a priest in Van Buren, Maine.

He says he suffered injuries and years of psychological trauma from what happened decades ago.

Amato is one of seven survivors claiming childhood sexual abuse by seven different Catholic priests. All of them are receiving a settlement from the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland.

“It’s not about the money. It never was,” Amato said. “I just want somebody to say sorry.”

Casey Guidry, the wife of another survivor, Timothy Guidry, says her husband’s memories of abuse led him to addiction, rehab, homelessness and pain.

“It is difficult to explain how it feels to hold your best friend in your arms so, so tightly as he remembers and screams a scream you can never unhear,” Guidry said in a statement.

Berman & Simmons Attorney Timothy Kenlan says the settlement was years…

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A settlement agreement has been reached between seven survivors of childhood sexual abuse, Catholic priests and the Maine Diocese. For more on this story, visit: https://bit.ly/4ztrJxT

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It happened with little fanfare. But a single lawsuit recently transferred from Alameda County to Sonoma County Superior Court represents an important moment for hundreds of people from California’s North Coast who came forward in recent years with claims they were sexually abused by Catholic clergy.

It also carries major ramifications for the financial standing of the church’s Santa Rosa Diocese, which stretches from San Pablo Bay to the Oregon border.

Known as a bellwether case, the lawsuit is meant to serve as a guidepost for the roughly 260 claims filed against the diocese after the state of California opened a three-year litigation window through 2019 legislation for people whose allegations fell outside the statute of limitations.

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A couple allegedly caught a priest and a registered sex offender engaging in sexual activity in a park in Ohio.

According to WFMJ, 75-year-old Monsignor Anthony Spinosa, the rector of the Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in North Jackson, was taken into custody last Thursday after he was allegedly caught engaging in sexual activity with a registered sex offender in Perkins Park in Warren, Ohio.

Per the report, Spinosa has been rector at Our Lady of Lebanon since 2002 and is Chorbishop with the Maronite Catholic Church.

The station reported that Spinosa was charged days after a couple who had been walking their dog in Perkins Park went to law enforcement on July 31 after they allegedly noticed 54-year-old Kenneth Kopp down on his knees as he was performing a sex act on Spinosa. The couple reportedly noted that Spinosa was smoking a…

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The Vatican defrocked a former priest in the Diocese of Scranton for sexually abusing a child, a move that permanently ends his time as a priest.

Christopher R. Clay, 62, was dispensed from the clerical state effective July 24 following credible accusations of sexual abuse of a minor, diocese officials announced this month.

The diocese removed him as chaplain and theology teacher at Bishop Hafey High School in Hazle Twp. in 2002, amid a criminal investigation in Monroe County of alleged sexual misconduct involving a teenage boy. At the time of the alleged incident in 1998, the priest was associated with the Newman House oratory in Mount Pocono.

The accusation arose from a federal lawsuit filed by a man who said he was sexually abused as a high school student by two other priests, Carlos Urrutigoity and Eric Ensey, who were members of the Society of St. John. The society,…

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Lithuania’s prime minister and parliamentary speaker have both pushed back against calls for a large-scale independent investigation into sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, even as two priests face criminal charges over alleged offences against children, though the two men have framed their caution differently.

Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said on Friday that the decision was not one for politicians to make at all.

“Church leaders can decide on the necessity of such an investigation. State governance is separate from Church governance; these are entirely separate areas,” he told reporters, adding that Lithuania’s rule-of-law principles meant politicians should not interfere in decisions by Church hierarchs.

Meanwhile, Parliamentary Speaker Juozas Olekas took a different line, saying the priority was to let the courts do their work first and then consider if additional probes are necessary.

“I would not say that it is needed now. We need to wait for the court…

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A group of survivors launched a searchable database of more than 2,700 people publicly accused of abuse in Protestant churches Wednesday, at an online press conference organized by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP. Florida survivors and a veteran archivist run ProtestantAccountability.org, modeled directly on BishopAccountability.org, the 20-year-old Catholic database that has spent two decades collecting the same kind of records.

The database draws entries from court records, state attorney general reports, news accounts and existing survivor-run archives. The site sorts them by tradition: Episcopal, Presbyterian, Pentecostal and charismatic, non-denominational and other categories. Protestantism has no central authority that keeps a list like this on its own, no single office that holds personnel files across denominations.

The names aren’t only lead pastors. The database covers church workers broadly, including youth leaders, worship leaders, associate pastors and staff who never held a pulpit.

Founding member Chellee…

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The video in the player above is the latest coverage by 22News of the arraignment of former school head Jeannie Norris. See original article for video.

A former teacher at Miss Hall’s School in Pittsfield was indicted on three assault charges.

According to the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office, 70-year-old Matthew Johnson of Norfolk, Connecticut, was indicted on Thursday by a grand jury in Berkshire Superior Court on assault with intent to rape and two counts of indecent assault and battery over the age of 14.

Former head of Pittsfield all-girls school arraigned in sexual abuse probe

Johnson was a science teacher at Miss Hall’s School from 1993 to 1994. The charges stem from his tenure at the school, and an arraignment date has not yet been scheduled. Johnson is the third former staff member of Miss Hall’s School indicted in connection with the abuse case.

The DA’s Office has…

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Prosecutors say she knew about inappropriate conduct between a teacher and students

A former science teacher at Miss Hall’s School, an elite boarding school in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, was indicted Thursday on three criminal charges in connection with a growing teacher abuse scandal.

Matthew Johnson, 70, of Connecticut, was indicted on charges of assault with intent to rape and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a victim over age 14.

“The Defendant served as a science teacher at Miss. Hall’s School from 1993 to 1994. Evidence gathered during the investigation shows that the Defendant was dismissed from the school in 1994, prior to the end of the school year. The criminal charges all stem from the Defendant’s tenure at the school,” according to a statement from the Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office.

This comes two days after the arraignment of Jeannie Norris, 80, of North Carolina, who faces one…

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The former Catholic Bishop of Broome, Christopher Saunders, has finally been convicted of sexually abusing young Aboriginal men. But the most damning fact in this case may be that the system had years to protect those vulnerable men—and failed.

Saunders was not an obscure priest operating in the shadows. He was a bishop for 25 years. Ordained a priest in 1976, he became Bishop of Broome in 1996. He had status, money, institutional authority, access to remote Aboriginal communities and the credibility that comes with wearing a mitre and representing the Catholic Church.

The young men who accused him had none of that.

Read More: The downfall of sexual predator Bishop Christopher Saunders – ABC News

On 13 August 2026, a Western Australian jury found Saunders guilty of 13 sexual offences against two young Indigenous men. The offences occurred between 2008 and 2019. He was acquitted of…

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Statement from the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas

Based on the recommendation of the Independent Review Board of the Archdiocese after an independent investigation into the allegations regarding Mr. Phil Baniewicz, former president of Bishop Miege High School (Miege), concerning his ability to oversee a safe environment for minors and vulnerable adults, Archbishop Shawn McKnight has determined that Mr. Baniewicz is not suitable for ecclesiastical employment, appointment, volunteer service, or ministry involving minors or other vulnerable persons within the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

“The protection of minors and persons in vulnerable situations is fundamental to the mission of our church, ” Archbishop Shawn McKnight said. “As believers and followers of Jesus Christ, we have a sacred responsibility to safeguard the innate human dignity of every person and to hold one another, especially those who exercise authority and power in the Church, to the high moral standards of…

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Reporting Highlights

• “Permanently Ineligible”: An oversight group found that Texas girls’ volleyball coach Ryan Richardson engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor, among other allegations, and banned him.
• An Inappropriate Relationship: One mother alleged that Richardson began having sex with her daughter, one of his players, when she was 16 and he was 36.  
• Still Coaching: Despite the ban, major sports organizations failed to keep him from interacting with children even as allegations of inappropriate behavior and abuse piled up.

These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.

The first time Ryan Richardson was suspended from coaching volleyball, in early 2024, he gathered the parents of his teenage players in the back room of his gym in the border city of Pharr, Texas. It was a dark, cool space, one wall lined with shelves of trophies and dangling medals. The tinted windows looked out…

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A maintenance worker at Cross Church Pinnacle Hills in Rogers was arrested and charged with second degree sexual assault after an incident on church property.

According to court documents, Jason Barrowman, 57, was clearing equipment from a Conex container. Helping him was a minor, who was volunteering at the church over the summer.

The minor said while the two were alone in the container, Barrowman groped them in their private areas over their clothing. The minor immediately walked out and reported the incident to an adult, who called authorities.

The minor later told officers the incident was not the first of its kind. About two weeks prior, Barrowman had grabbed their buttocks and later that same week, had groped their thigh. The minor thought the earlier incidents could have been accidents or jokes. Upon the third encounter, however, the minor said, “That’s enough,” and made the report.

Barrowman denied all…

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Maine’s Catholic Diocese has reached a settlement with several dozen survivors of childhood sexual abuse by Catholic priests from Portland to Van Buren between 1961 and the 2000s.

Forty-two claimants were represented by attorneys from Berman & Simmons law firm. On Thursday, two of the attorneys and their clients held a press conference to discuss the outcome.

“For me, it’s not about the money. It never was,” said Keith Amato, who was just six years old when he says a priest in Van Buren abused him, leaving him with injuries that required surgery.

He said he turned to opioids as a result of the surgical pain and was addicted to drugs for 30 years.

“I just wanted someone to say sorry. I never got that. The church needs to take accountability. They promised me a letter of acknowledgement. I still haven’t gotten that. That was the only thing I really…

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Seven survivors of childhood sexual abuse by seven different Catholic priests have reached a settlement with the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland.

The law firm Berman & Simmons represents the seven survivors. Attorneys say the settlements represent a significant milestone for survivors who have spent decades carrying the physical, emotional, and psychological consequences of abuse that occurred during their childhoods.

Seven survivors of childhood sexual abuse by seven different Catholic priests have reached a settlement with the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland.

The law firm Berman & Simmons represents the seven survivors. Attorneys say the settlements represent a significant milestone for survivors who have spent decades carrying the physical, emotional, and psychological consequences of abuse that occurred during their childhoods.

“For far too long, survivors were ignored, doubted, or left to carry these burdens on our own. My hope is that this moment sends a message to every survivor that their voice matters, that…

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If you or someone you know needs resources or support related to sexual violence, contact the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault’s 24/7 hotline at 800-871-7741.

More than 100 people who say they experienced sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Maine have reached a settlement with the Roman Catholic Bishop of Maine.

About half the settlements were reached in the fall, with the remaining reached in the spring, attorney Michael Bigos said. The terms were recently settled and the process is coming to a close as payments start, Bigos said.

The settlement is seven figures, Bigos said.

“We were able to get the settlement for all survivors who waited decades for change to see and accomplish compensation for the harm that was caused to them,” he said.

The settlements come more than a year after Maine’s highest court struck down a 2021 state law that retroactively removed the statute of limitations for lawsuits…

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