ABUSE TRACKER

• New laws to give survivors of child abuse better access to compensation
• Reform to get around conduct by religious orders that avoid paying victims
• Regulations will first be used to ensure payment on behalf of Christian Brothers entities

The Cook Labor Government will draft regulations to ensure victims of historic abuse at the hands of Christian Brothers are better protected in compensation claims if the order argues it cannot afford to pay.

The regulations will apply to the Christian Brothers religious order which went to court in June over its debts.

The Cook Labor Government has been concerned the Christian Brothers gave away and sold substantial assets to the Trustees of Edmund Rice Education Australia (TEREA) which was named after the Christian Brothers’ founder.

TEREA paid as little as $1 for valuable pieces of real estate and now holds $2.3 billion of assets.

The regulations would ensure…

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A Denver family is suing St. John’s Church and School, alleging that its lead pastor pressured their then-13-year-old daughter to recant her account of being sexually assaulted by the church’s music director in 2022, rather than reporting the allegations to police. The girl, now 17, says she was assaulted by Diego Marroquin, a music director at the Wash Park congregation, and that when her family came forward, church leadership accused her of lying instead of acting to protect her.

According to The Denver Post, the lawsuit alleges that Lead Pastor Andrew Farhat ordered the girl to keep quiet, accused her of lying about being raped, and pressured her to recant her allegations after meeting with her, her father, and Marroquin. The suit, filed under Colorado’s Child Sexual Abuse Accountability Act, includes claims for negligent hiring and supervision, false imprisonment, and emotional distress against St. John’s Church and…

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A former student and her parents are suing St. John’s Lutheran Church and School in Denver, alleging church and school officials failed to protect the girl from a music director who they say sexually assaulted her when she was 13 and then failed to properly respond when concerns about the alleged assault surfaced.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in Denver District Court, also accuses St. John’s of failing to properly screen and supervise Diego Marroquin, who worked as the church and school’s interim music director and technical coordinator.

But in a letter sent Saturday to church and school families, St. John’s strongly disputed several of the allegations, particularly claims that Pastor Andrew Farhat or other staff members accused the girl of lying, pressured her to recant or failed to report suspected abuse.

“Two staff members independently reported quickly and appropriately to authorities as required by Colorado’s mandatory reporting laws,”…

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A former missionary with an Ohio-based ministry pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges that he sexually abused two boys in Haiti, reaching an agreement with prosecutors that could lead to a prison sentence of at least 25 years.

Jeriah Mast, 45, of Millersburg, Ohio — who told police in 2019 he had molested more than 30 boys in Haiti and four children in Ohio — entered the plea before Judge Donald C. Nugent in federal court in Cleveland.

Under the plea agreement, Mast and prosecutors agreed that an “appropriate” sentence would be between 25 and 33 years, though the judge would have final say. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 15.

Mast took trips to Haiti for mission work between 2002 and 2019. That included several years of work for the Millersburg-based Christian Aid Ministries, which coordinates missionary activities supported by Amish, conservative Mennonite and related church groups. Mast belonged to a…

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Brian Boucher’s case will return to court in November

A former Montreal priest who has been charged with possessing and accessing child sexual abuse material will stay detained until his next court appearance in November.

Brian Boucher’s lawyer told a judge Tuesday that her client has waived his right to a bail hearing.

The 64-year-old was sentenced in 2019 to eight years in prison for sexually assaulting two boys, after being found guilty in one case and pleading guilty in the other.

The abuse took place at two churches, between 1995 and 1999 in the case of one victim and between 2008 and 2011 in the other.

• Former Montreal priest imprisoned for sexually abusing boys facing new charges

Boucher was granted statutory release in 2024 and was serving the remainder of his sentence in the community at an approved residential facility before his arrest on the…

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The Catholic Church’s National Office for Professional Standards (NOPS), responsible for developing safeguarding procedures and coordinating responses to clerical and religious sexual abuse complaints, says safeguarding in the New Zealand Catholic Church has undergone a “positive culture shift.” Survivors say that claim is contradicted by what happens when they actually come forward.

“Our members who have approached NOPS report a familiar pattern of being ignored, sidelined, delayed and left without justice,” says Richard van der Hulst, a trustee of SNAP Aotearoa. His comment follows the Wellington Archbishop Paul Martin’s recent decision not to uphold his complaint to NOPS, which alleged a coverup in the Hamilton Diocese.

Van der Hulst says Martin did not uphold his complaint on the basis that records had been destroyed by the Church and the allegation therefore could not be proven.

“Stop congratulating yourselves and start listening to survivors,” says van der Hulst.

The comments follow a 4…

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There were calls for an independent investigation into the scale of abuse in the Church in Lithuania in 2023 after the chancellor of diocesan curia in Vilnius was convicted of possession of child abuse images.

Lay activists repeated their call for an independent commission to investigate abuse within the Lithuanian Church after two further criminal cases against priests for sexual offences against minors.

The Vilnius Regional Prosecutor’s Office announced the cases on 11 August. Tadas Švedavičius, 56, pleaded guilty to committing total of 34 sexual offences against minors between 2002 and 2025, while 51-year-old Ryšardas Peciunas, charged with possession of child abuse images, denies allegations.

The Archdiocese of Vilnius issued a statement pledging cooperation with the law enforcement and said it would conduct canonical investigations. Both clerics were immediately suspended from their duties. However, the archdiocese claimed that church authorities only learned about the allegations from prosecutors.

This prompted an…

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The Diocese of Palm Beach began investigating reports of sexual misconduct involving the Rev. Alex Vargas of St. Thomas More Catholic Church in June.

The Diocese of Palm Beach has officially removed the Rev. Alex J. Vargas from St. Thomas More Catholic Church near Boynton Beach following an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.

Bishop Manuel Rodríguez announced in a Sept 6. letter that the investigation, launched in June, found insufficient evidence that Vargas had sexually abused a minor.

However, investigators found enough evidence to sustain allegations of sexual misconduct, abuse of authority, financial malfeasance and violations of the church’s code of conduct.

Rodríguez emphasized that Vargas’ removal is not a determination of guilt. Vargas will participate in a canonical judicial process that will determine whether the allegations are substantiated.

“I recognize that this news may be troubling and difficult to understand,” Rodríguez wrote. He said members of the…

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An insurance company has agreed to pay $30 million to settle abuse claims on behalf of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, narrowly avoiding a jury trial.

The claims at issue date from the 1960s through the late 1980s, centering on former diocesan priest Thomas P. Adamson, who was dismissed from the clerical state in 2009 and died in 2019.

The case highlights continued tension between dioceses and their liability insurers in covering such claims, with the latter now often pushing back on payouts.

In an Aug. 27 letter, attorney Timothy W. Burns of Burns Bair, the firm representing the diocese’s settlement trustee, advised Judge Nancy Buytendorp of the Winona County District Court that an agreement had been reached between his client and United States Fire Insurance Company in the matter.

Will address abuse claims filed against diocese

The $30 million settlement will address abuse claims filed against the diocese, which concluded…

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A St. Louis pastor convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl inside his Baltimore church nearly two decades ago is set to become Missouri state overseer of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International next week, a promotion that places a registered Tier 3 sex offender atop a state branch of a fellowship claiming roughly 2 million members. Timothy D. Price III, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of St. Louis, is scheduled for installation as the fellowship’s Missouri state overseer on September 16, according to facts confirmed in reporting on the appointment.

Price pleaded guilty to second-degree rape in May 2008 and was sentenced that August to seven years in prison, according to reporting by The Roys Report. He was 31 years old at sentencing. Charging documents from February 2008 cited by the Baltimore Sun detailed how Price had obtained permission from the victim’s mother…

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A second Southern Baptist church in South Carolina has made headlines recently for allowing a registered sex offender to participate in congregational ministry.

Ministry Watch reported Aug. 31 that Brookwood Church in Simpsonville recently disqualified an adult male from serving in any capacity in the church, saying: “The man is a registered sex offender in South Carolina who was convicted in Georgia in 1983 for two offenses: Enticing a child for indecent purposes and child molestation.”

Brookwood Executive Pastor of Strategy J.C. Thompson said the man was “forthcoming” about his criminal history when he began attending the church in 1999, and that “church leaders set boundaries for his participation at the church.”

“Those boundaries included prohibiting him from volunteering in children’s or student ministry areas and requiring ministry leaders working with (him) to be fully informed about his background and committed to following the established parameters,” Thompson said in a statement.

In an email…

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In short:

The Trustees of Edmund Rice Education Australia, is looking to part ways with the Christian Brothers after agreeing to take on its child abuse payouts.

In June, the order announced it was running out of money for survivors and applied to stop all litigation on compensation claims, some of which were in the final stages.

What’s next?

A lawyer says survivors may have to wait up to two years to receive settlements due to new legal barriers. 

The national organisation set up by the Christian Brothers, which runs 61 Catholic schools across Australia, is considering severing its ties with the order amid mounting tensions over compensation to victims of child sexual abuse.

Relations between the Trustees of Edmund Rice Education Australia (TEREA) and the Christian Brothers have become strained after the order did not disclose relevant information about its financial position.

For nearly a decade, the Christian Brothers…

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[See also the letter by Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez.]

Boynton Beach FL – The Diocese of Palm Beach says an investigation substantiated allegations of sexual misconduct, abuse of power, and fraud against a Boynton Beach priest.

Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez announced the findings in a letter Saturday involving the Rev. Alex J. Vargas, who previously served as pastor of St. Thomas More Parish in Boynton Beach.

The diocese said it was notified June 17 of “serious allegations” involving Vargas, according to previous reports. The matter was reported to civil authorities and law enforcement, and Renaissance Associates, Ltd., was hired to conduct an independent investigation.

Because there was no credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor, the findings were presented to the diocese’s Adult Allegation Board for review.

The board determined there was insufficient information to substantiate an allegation of sexual abuse.

However, it found…

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[See also the letter by Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez.]

The Diocese of Palm Beach released an update in regard to alleged misconduct against one of its reverends.

The Diocese of Palm Beach announced on Saturday, Sept. 5, that following an independent investigation, it determined that there was insufficient information against Reverend Alex J. Vargas of St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Boynton Beach to substantiate or prove the allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.

The diocese added there was sufficient information to substantiate allegations of sexual misconduct, abuse of power, authority and/or office, financial malfeasance and violation of the code of conduct including provisions relating to sexual contact, harassment, conflicts of interest and administrative responsibilities against Vargas.

The Diocese of Palm Beach said Renaissance Associates, LTD, a law firm based in New York, conducted the investigation.

The findings of the investigation were presented to the Adult Allegation…

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A$30 million settlement has been reached related to sexual abuse claims filed against the Diocese of Winona.

Jeff Anderson & Associates PA in St. Paul announced Thursday the settlement with U.S. Fire Insurance Co., the diocese’s largest insurer.

The firm stated the settlement will impact more than 145 people who filed claims against the diocese for sexual abuse.

“U.S. Fire Insurance denied, delayed, and, for business reasons, chose to oppress survivors in bringing closure and making settlements,” attorney Jeff Anderson stated in the settlement announcement Thursday. “U.S Fire and the entire insurance industry is now required to reckon in a way like never before.”

The diocese itself, which filed for bankruptcy in 2018, previously agreed to a $28 million settlement for the sexual abuse cases in 2021. That settlement included parishes and schools and insurers LMI and Interstate, but not United States Fire.

Three of the sexual abuse cases resulted in…

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It’s been a year since survivors of childhood sexual abuse in one of our upstate communities received some closure. More than 11,000 civil suits were filed under the Child Victims Act in New York, including hundreds against the Catholic Church. But Sept. 5 of last year, a judge ruled on the settlement for survivors in Rochester.

“I held myself together for years during that, and I listened to stories. They were horror stories,” Carol DuPré said. “You can’t get more personal than the kind of things that were brought into that courtroom.”

She’s referring to stories about sexual assault and abuse. DuPré was abused by her priest when she was 15 years old. She was a part of a six-year lawsuit as insurance companies fought against the diocese’s bankruptcy claims. Throughout the longer part of Carol’s battle, she wore black to mourn what she and thousands of others across the…

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Pope Leo XIV will hold a private meeting with victims of sexual abuse during his visit to Lourdes, France, on September 26 and 27, but no association or collective will participate as such in the meeting. This was confirmed by the Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes, Jean-Marc Micas, who explained that the decision was made to receive the selected individuals individually due to the high number of requests.

“No collective, neither from Bétharram nor from any other place,” will be invited to the meeting, Micas specified this Friday during a press conference dedicated to the preparations for the papal visit. The location, time, and final composition of the group will remain confidential to protect those who have agreed to participate.

The French Episcopal Conference (CEF) has indicated that seven victims will be received by Leo XIV, although Micas noted that the number still needs to be finalized. Among the participants could…

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The settlement is expected to involve the more than 145 victims of sexual abuse whose claims had been delayed by the diocese’s 2018 bankruptcy and other factors.

Attorneys for survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of southeast Minnesota priests announced Thursday a $30 million settlement with the Diocese of Winona-Rochester’s largest insurer.

Jeff Anderson & Associates, a St. Paul-based law firm representing clients in clergy sex abuse cases, announced it had reached a deal with U.S. Fire Insurance Company, saying the insurance company had yet to pay out claims in dozens of sex abuse cases filed against the diocese.

“U.S. Fire Insurance denied, delayed, and for business reasons, chose to oppress survivors in bringing closure and making settlements,” attorney Jeff Anderson said in a release. “U.S. Fire and the entire insurance industry is now required to reckon in a way like never before.”

The Minnesota Star Tribune reached out…

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The settlement process resolved roughly 100 claims, brought by people who said they were sexually abused as children by clergy of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.

Lawyers say Maine’s Catholic diocese agreed to settle claims brought by people who said they were sexually abused by clergy as children but were unable to sue, following a ruling from the state’s highest court, only if dozens who could sue agreed to drop their cases.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court struck down a state law in 2025 that made it possible for people with decades-old claims to sue for child sexual abuse, following an appeal by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland arguing that the diocese and other entities had a “vested right” in being protected from the older claims.

Dozens of people who had come forward before then, saying they had been abused by…

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For 15 years, the Healing Garden of the Archdiocese of Chicago has offered a calm, beautiful place, a place of growth and rebirth, to offer respite and an opportunity for healing in response to clerical sexual abuse of children.

Now a National Healing Garden is expected to be dedicated on the campus of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., next year, said Michael Hoffman, a victim-survivor who spearheaded the construction of the Chicago garden and is leading the effort to establish a national garden.

Hoffman, chairman of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Hope and Healing Committee, said the idea for a national garden started about five years ago, coming out of consultations with the National Catholic Restorative Justice Initiative.

Since then, the other victim-survivors of clerical sexual abuse, clergy, officials from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and from the Catholic Project have formed a working group to…

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Nearly 900 survivors of clergy abuse in the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo will soon receive ballots to vote on a $362 million settlement that has been years in the making.

Bankruptcy Judge Carl Bucki finalized an amended settlement in federal court late last week. The diocese is expected to mail ballots to survivors by Friday.

“There’s a great sense of relief that it is coming to an end,” attorney Steve Boyd said.

Boyd represents 380 area survivors.

The settlement totals $362 million, with $150 million coming from the diocese and $176 million from insurance carriers.

“They went back and worked on it back and forth until it got to the point where the judge ruled that it was sufficient. It did have enough information for the people to vote,” Boyd said. “And then I think the hope and the expectation is that the people are going to vote for the…

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A Covington principal and assistant principal accused of failing to comply with the state’s mandatory reporting law both pleaded guilty to charges in court Wednesday morning.

Tanya Barth and Lauryn Faciane both pleaded guilty to charges of failing to report the abuse of a child. Faciane pleaded guilty to two counts.

Both were sentenced to probation in consultation with the victims’ families.

Barth and Faciane worked at E.E. Lyon Elementary School in Covington, according to the school’s website.

The law requires school administrators to promptly report suspected abuse, neglect and other incidents involving children to authorities.

At the time of the incident, Covington police said the charges followed an investigation conducted by the department’s Criminal Investigations Division.

At the time of their arrests, the Department of Children and Family Services, the Louisiana Department of Education, and the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education were notified of…

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The program has been a fixture of the Church calendar since 2000, when it was launched by St. John Paul II.

The Vatican is hosting its annual formation course for newly appointed bishops from Sept. 2-10, bringing together 147 prelates from five continents to strengthen ecclesial communion and provide practical tools for the exercise of episcopal ministry.

The program has been a fixture of the Church calendar since 2000, when it was launched by St. John Paul II. Described by Vatican media as a condensed “master’s program” for new bishops, it is designed to foster the exchange of experiences among pastors from widely differing cultural, social, and ecclesial contexts while offering practical guidance for governing local churches.

This year’s participants come from countries across Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Latin America, including Algeria, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Ghana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Myanmar, Namibia, Papua…

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After decades of fighting to obtain justice, 145 people who were sexually abused by Catholic clergy and staff in the Diocese of Winona-Rochester will be paid $30 million in a settlement agreement reached with the largest insurer of the diocese.

“This is a breakthrough and powerful moment in time in getting justice for survivors,” said Jeff Anderson, whose law firm, Jeff Anderson & Associates, represented the sexual abuse survivors.

Anderson told MPR News the settlement with the United States Fire Insurance Company covers incidents of abuse dating back to the early 1960s, and some of the survivors began filing claims against the diocese back in the early 1980s.

“I am so proud to stand with these courageous survivors — to have first put it to the bishops, and now to the insurance industry that has refused to abide by their obligations to the survivors and to the bishops themselves,” Anderson…

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The Minnesota diocese paid out another multimillion-dollar settlement several years ago.

Insurers for the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, will pay an additional $30 million to clergy-abuse victims there, with the payout coming several years after the diocese itself already settled with victims for another multimillion-dollar sum.

The settlement was announced on Sept. 3 by the law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates. The law firm, which represents abuse victims around the country, said the settlement will apply to more than 145 survivors.

The Winona-Rochester Diocese filed for bankruptcy in November 2018 and settled with abuse victims there in 2021 for $28 million. The law firm said that settlement included contributions from two diocesan insurers — LMI and Interstate — but did not include a payout from the diocese’s largest insurance company, U.S. Fire.

A lawsuit against the insurer had been working through the courts, the Anderson law…

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Key Points:

• A West Warwick housing complex was renamed after its namesake, Monsignor Anthony DeAngelis, was accused of child sexual abuse.
• The buildings, formerly “Monsignor DeAngelis Manor I and II,” are now named “Wakefield Manors.”
• The name change followed the RI attorney general’s report detailing decades of abuse by clergy members in the Diocese of Providence.
• Abuse survivor Ann Hagan Webb, who was molested by DeAngelis, witnessed the removal of his name from the facade.

Ann Hagan Webb thought she was meeting a friend for an early morning coffee in West Warwick, the town where she grew up and lost her innocence.

What she did not expect to see when she arrived on Monday, Aug. 31, was the removal, from the brick facade of what until that day had been known as “Monsignor DeAngelis Manor I and II,” of the name of the clergyman…

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Ian Cornish used a dating up to chat and meet up with a child of just 13

An ex-teacher who used to work at a prestigious Surrey private school has been banned from the profession for life after being convicted of child sex offences.

A panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency heard that Ian Cornish, who was employed at Ewell Castle School, used a dating site to chat and meet up with a child of just 13.

The panel reports that what followed was a series of “sexualised communications”, meetings between them as well as “sexual activity.”

Following a police investigation and prosecution, Cornish, 70, pleaded guilty to three offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

The offences were meeting a boy under 16 following grooming, arranging/ facilitating the commission of a child sex offence and engaging in sexual communication with a child.

In January 2023, Cornish was sentenced to four…

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A 30-year-old physical education teacher in Southampton is standing trial on charges of sexual misconduct involving a 16-year-old student. The defendant has entered a plea of not guilty to all four counts.

A physical education teacher from Southampton, England, is currently facing trial at Winchester Crown Court on charges involving an alleged sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student. Bronwen James, 30, stands accused of four counts of sexual activity with a minor, allegations she has formally denied.

The prosecution, led by Edward Culver, outlined a series of events that allegedly began after the teacher accepted a social media request from the student. According to court testimony, the initial digital interactions between the two evolved into a flirtatious exchange. Prosecutors claim that these communications eventually led to private meetings, including an encounter at Weston Shore where the pair allegedly kissed in a vehicle.

Details of the Prosecution’s Case

During the opening of…

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A Hanover High School teacher appeared before a judge Friday morning and was denied bond after being charged with soliciting a minor and sexually exposing himself.

Ronald Wayne England, 44, was arrested at his home Thursday after Henrico Police executed a search warrant.

He is charged with soliciting a child under 15 and sexually exposing himself.

CBS 6 reporter Kelsey Jones got court documents that reveal disturbing online conversations investigators claim took place between England and a minor through a dating app called “Pure.”

Messages show what court documents describe as a back and forth between England and a child under the age of 15 in July and August.

Henrico Police received a tip in June from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about a possible child solicitation incident.

England has worked as a teacher at Hanover High School since 2018.

School leaders say he previously worked as…

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ABC13 has learned that a one-time employee of Cypress Christian School is facing multiple charges in Georgia over allegations of sexual misconduct with an underage boy.

Jared Barber has been charged in Bryan County, Georgia, with grooming a minor, criminal attempt to commit grooming a minor, and electronically furnishing obscene material to a minor.

Court records allege the allegations against Barber began in July 2024 and continued until April 29, 2026.

The indictment against Barber came down on Aug. 18, according to those records.

Cypress Christian School sent ABC13 a statement saying they first received “information concerning Mr. Barber” on April 29 of this year.

“The school reported the matter to Texas authorities, terminated his contract that day, and removed him from all contact with students (on April 29),” read part of that statement.

The school declined to elaborate on what roles Barber had while employed at Cypress Christian School.

…

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Professor and therapist David Pooler was known for advocating for abuse survivors. Some of those survivors say he violated their trust.

A leading expert and advocate in the field of clergy sexual abuse at Baylor University is now himself accused of personal and professional misbehavior with abuse survivors.

An independent investigation, initiated by a national nonprofit that helps survivors of adult clergy abuse, found “credible” evidence that David Pooler, therapist and professor at the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work, engaged in “verbal or virtual sexual misconduct.”

That allegedly included making sexualized remarks and disregarding personal and professional boundaries at multiple times and places with women he knew had been abused.

The report was commissioned by the nonprofit Restored Voices Collective, a clergy abuse survivor support organization that Pooler served as an advisory board member. A firm called Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, or GRACE,…

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The Vigo County Sheriff’s Office issued a statement addressing the arrest of Daniel Willis, a Terre Haute pastor accused of possessing child sexual abuse material, following inquiries about his past ties to the agency.

Willis, 62, of Terre Haute, was arrested Monday and charged with 10 counts of possession of child sex abuse material (underage of 12/bondage), Level 4 felonies, according to Indiana State Police.

Investigation and arrest

Indiana State Police said the investigation began in early 2026 after investigators received tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and a second company that was not named.

Indiana State Police, with assistance from local and federal agencies, served a search warrant at Willis’ home and at the church where he serves as senior pastor, according to police. Indiana State Police identified Willis as a pastor but did not name the church he is connected to. It is unclear…

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A Twin Cities law firm known nationally for representing victims of clergy sexual abuse today announced a settlement with an insurance company that had refused to participate in previous settlements involving the Catholic Diocese of Diocese of Winona-Rochester

New Settlement Involves 145 Clergy Abuse Survivors

A news release issued by Jeff Anderson & Associates says U.S. Fire Insurance has agreed to a $30 million settlement that will benefit 145 victims of clergy sexual abuse. The cases were included in a previous $28 million settlement with the diocese in 2021 that covered the church and two of its insurers.

Insurance Company Had Declined Earlier Settlements

“U.S. Fire Insurance denied, delayed, and for business reasons, chose to oppress survivors in bringing closure and making settlements. U.S. Fire and the entire insurance industry is now required to reckon in a way like never before.” – Jeff Anderson

Three Abuse Cases Went…

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Parishes in the New York diocese will also undergo a notable bankruptcy proceeding called “rapid pre-pack Chapter 11.”

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The Diocese of Winona-Rochester has reached a $30 million settlement with its largest insurer nearly eight years after filing for bankruptcy in 2018.

The settlement with United States Fire Insurance Company will impact more than 145 survivors of sexual abuse who filed claims against the diocese in the bankruptcy. This follows an earlier $28 million settlement reached in February 2021 that included the diocese, parishes and schools, and two other insurers but did not include U.S. Fire.

“It’s time – the landscape versus the insurance industry has shifted,” said Jeff Anderson.

The latest settlement comes after three survivors won jury verdicts against the diocese in 2025. Doe 254, who was abused by Fr. Joseph Cashman in the 1970s when he was 15 to 18 years old and a student at Lourdes High School in Rochester, was awarded $7.6 million after a trial in Olmsted County in June 2025. Doe 539,…

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About a dozen survivors of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests in the Diocese of Portland on Wednesday publically called for accountability following the diocese’s legal settlement with a large group of survivors last month.

In 2021, Maine passed a law that allows survivors of sexual abuse to bring civil lawsuits against older cases. Before this, survivors could not bring forward lawsuits if the abuse happened before the late 1980s.

According to attorney Michael Bigos, who represented several survivors, the Portland diocese has resolved more than 100 child sex abuse claims made against it since 2021. He said the survivors have been between the ages of 35 to late 80s and are about equally men and women. In late August, according to Maine Public, the diocese settled with 42 survivors.  

The terms of the settlements are undisclosed.

In July, Bishop James T. Ruggieri released a statement saying the diocese will continue to…

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I worked in senior staff positions in Catholic dioceses for twenty-seven years. For nearly all of them my duties included, in part, dealing with the legal, political, and media fallout of clergy sex abuse. A favorite theme of those years, from plaintiffs’ attorneys to the mainstream press, was the hypocrisy of a Church that preached sexual purity while harboring a tribe of sex predators. It was an ugly experience, but not an unwarranted one. As a parent myself, I believed that the punishment of abuse perpetrators and those who knowingly protected them was only just—Roman collar or not. So was ample compensation for their victims.

What struck me as much less just, and laced with an even bigger helping of hypocrisy, was the refusal of public authorities—including my own state’s then–attorney general, Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro—to acknowledge the same or worse abuse problems in their own institutions, and deal with them…

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A federal criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Lexington adds new details to the case against Lincoln County youth pastor Jason Coulter.

According to an affidavit filed by an FBI Special Agent, Coulter contacted the Kentucky State Police on Aug. 14 and said he wanted to confess to crimes. The affidavit states Coulter told investigators he communicated with the 17 year-old-girl through TikTok and Snapchat.

The complaint alleges Coulter told investigators he exchanged explicit messages and images with the teenager over about six weeks in spring 2026 and that they met twice for sexual activity, once at a park in Mercer County and once in his vehicle in Lincoln County.

The affidavit states the girl later told Kentucky State Police that she and Coulter engaged in sexual activity on two occasions and exchanged nude images through Snapchat and TikTok.

Federal prosecutors allege Coulter used online platforms to persuade,…

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‘Our young Province finds itself in a challenging and uncomfortable season,’ Julian Dobbs, who has taken over the archbishop’s duties, wrote in an email to the denomination on Tuesday. ‘Our unity, fervor, and faith are surely being tested.’

The Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, Steve Wood, will face a church trial starting on Monday (Sept. 7). It’s the young denomination’s first trial of a sitting archbishop.

He faces three charges: violation of ordination vows, abuse of church power and sexual immorality.

“Our young Province finds itself in a challenging and uncomfortable season,” Julian Dobbs, who has taken over the archbishop’s duties, wrote in an email to the denomination on Tuesday. “Our unity, fervor, and faith are surely being tested.”

Wood, a bishop in South Carolina, was elected in 2024 to lead the ACNA, a small denomination founded in 2009 after congregations broke from the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of…

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Young worshippers say they hope the church’s troubles — including failed prophecies and pastoral misconduct — will lead to repentance and revival at a prominent Charismatic Christian church.

“Cast out the spirit of suicide, Lord!”

A congregant’s voice sailed over the loud, ambient keyboard and clear, emotion-laden vocals leading worship at a full Sunday evening service in early August.

Seated near the back, his words could be heard alternating between prayer and speaking in tongues.

Sha-ta-ta-ta-teh.

His hands, along with those of his neighbors, were pressed squarely on the shoulders of a writhing, tearful woman. Her sobs, almost indiscernible from brief outbursts of laughter erupting around the room, grew longer as his voice lost steam.

“Out, out!”

In the aisle, a graying middle-aged man lay face down on the carpeted floor. He was “soaking” — resting in God’s presence. Young men, in comfortable closeness, gripped each other’s necks, whispered words…

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“I do think we have a dispute on fair market value,” a judge said of a proposal to privately offer the South Burlington school for $4.3 million — or 14% of a church-commissioned appraisal of $30.5 million.

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge is questioning a Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese request to sell its flagship Rice Memorial High School to supporters for $4.3 million — or 14% of a church-commissioned appraisal of $30.5 million — as part of the diocese’s Chapter 11 financial reorganization case.

“While I do appreciate the continuation of a nonprofit mission is a factor, that does not dilute the duty of the debtor in this case to maximize the value,” Judge Heather Cooper said Tuesday at a hearing in Burlington. “I do think we have a dispute on fair market value, and it is something that does need to be addressed.”

The diocese has asked the court for permission to…

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Another survivor of child sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, which serves the entire state of Maine, is speaking out about the diocese’s settlement to resolve more than 100 clergy abuse claims.

Annie Allen detailed some of her experiences and feelings about the outcome of her case during a news conference held on Monday at Bigos Law in Auburn. She was joined by attorney Michael Bigos and Horowitz Law attorney Jessica Arbour.

Allen and other survivors are taking issue with the Diocese of Portland’s public statement about the settlement, in which Bishop James Ruggieri said the following:

“This is intended to acknowledge, in a tangible way, consistent with our resources and obligations, the seriousness of what has been reported and the lasting impact of abuse. Funds used are from those previously designated for liability claims, not from the Catholic Appeal. The diocese will continue,…

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More than a hundred people have settled their cases against the church, but survivors say the Portland Diocese has not done enough to protect future victims.

For decades, Annie Allen had to mentally and emotionally process the abuses she endured at the hands of her childhood priest. Earlier this year, she and a hundred other survivors reached a settlement, but they are still waiting for an apology.

Earlier this year, more than 100 survivors of abuse and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland reached a multimillion-dollar settlement. On Wednesday, more of those survivors spoke out about the abuses they endured and the reaction from the church, which they say lacks real safeguards to prevent further abuse.

Joined by her attorneys, activists and other survivors, Allen recounted what happened to her. “I’m here today to speak about the sexual abuse I suffered when I was seven years old at the hands…

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About a dozen survivors are expected to discuss their settlements and the Diocese of Portland’s response to clergy sexual abuse claims.

Survivors who said they were sexually abused as children by Catholic priests in Maine are expected to speak publicly Wednesday following settlements with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.

About a dozen survivors are scheduled to appear at a news conference alongside attorneys Jessica Arbour of Horowitz Law and Michael Bigos of Bigos Law. The survivors are expected to discuss their experiences, the outcomes of their cases and the diocese’s response to their claims.

NEWS CENTER Maine plans to stream the news conference live in this story. It’s scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.

Other survivors have recently spoken publicly about reaching settlements with the diocese, including Keith Amato, who told NEWS CENTER Maine that his decision to settle was about finding closure rather than money.

RELATED: Survivors of clergy…

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The conference comes following their legal settlements and the Diocese of Portland’s response to clergy sexual abuse claims.

See video below:

https://www.newscentermaine.com/video/news/crime/watch-in-full-more-maine-clergy-abuse-survivors-address-the-public/97-f7958b08-006c-4e1f-a9da-4098acdce2e7

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An independent investigation found credible allegations that Dr. David Pooler, a professor in Baylor’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work, engaged in sexual misconduct and violated professional boundaries. The allegations involved survivors of adult clergy sexual abuse, the same population at the center of Pooler’s research and clinical work.

Former School of Social Work staff and students have called for Pooler to be held accountable for his actions by the university. As of Sept. 1, he is still on faculty at Baylor. According to Pooler’s faculty profile, his “advocacy work focuses on creating spaces where people’s needs for safety and accountability are prioritized.”

His profile further states his involvement in the field, addressing that his “passion over the past 15 years has been studying Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse. As director of the Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse: Advocacy and Research Collaborative (ACSARC), Dr. Pooler works to advocate…

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Former residents allege forced labor and sexual abuse at Show-Me Christian Youth Home

A children’s Christian residential facility whose director has spent three years urging Missouri lawmakers to allow unlicensed religious organizations to care for foster children in state custody is being sued in federal court by former residents who allege they were subjected to forced labor and sexual abuse.

Three lawsuits filed against Show-Me Christian Youth Home allege that the former residents were forced to perform heavy manual labor under threat of food deprivation, isolation or more work. The lawsuits also allege the three plaintiffs, who each spent time in the same Show-Me household between 2007 and 2012, were touched sexually, beaten while naked, surveilled in the shower by their “house father” and punished when they reported the abuse. 

The lawsuits were filed in June in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Missouri. The…

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Edmonton clergyman remains listed as active protodeacon after criminal charge

A member of the clergy with an Orthodox church in Edmonton has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman more than two decades ago, and the complainant in the case says she was ostracized from the church after reporting the alleged crime.

Jesse Isaac, 43, was charged by the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) in July in connection with an alleged sexual assault in October 2004 involving a woman whose identity is protected by a publication ban.  The allegations have not been proven in court.

According to the website for St. Olga of Alaska Orthodox Church, Isaac serves as a protodeacon at the south Edmonton church. The church is part of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), which includes hundreds of parishes across Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Isaac previously served at the St. Herman of Alaska Orthodox Church, which…

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A court has ordered a Catholic diocese in Poland to pay 550,000 zloty (€128,250) in compensation to a woman who suffered sexual abuse as a child at the hands of a priest over four decades ago. It has also ruled that the priest himself must publish an apology to his victim and admit his guilt.

The ruling, which can still be appealed, represents one of the largest compensation orders ever issued against Poland’s Catholic church, which has in recent years been hit by a series of revelations of clerical child sex abuse, as well as of negligence by bishops in dealing with such cases.

Iwona Dudzik-Osińska, who has allowed her name to be published, was first raped in 1981 at the age of 12 by a priest, who has only been named so far as Father Jan and is now 76 years old, in the city of Kielce. The abuse…

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Free Life Community Church has released a statement about a former pastor who’s accused of child sex crimes.

62-year-old Daniel Willis was arrested Monday. Willis has been charged with 10 counts of possession of child sex abuse material (underage of 12/bondage), Level 4 felonies, according to Indiana State Police.

Free Life Church statement

Free Life Church released this statement, saying quote;

“Free Life Community Church has been informed of the arrest of Daniel Willis, 62, the church’s former pastor, on 10 counts of Possession of Child Sex Abuse Material. Church leaders and members are shocked, saddened, and deeply disappointed by the allegations and circumstances surrounding the arrest.

Willis has officially been terminated from all pastoral and church responsibilities, effective immediately. There is no possibility for his reinstatement at Free Life Community Church. As the outcomes of the investigation are decided, church leadership will also implement formal denominational protocols regarding the former pastor’s ministerial…

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Judge finds Paméla Groleau’s accusations were false and her conduct showed “recklessness equivalent to malice.”

Retired Quebec cardinal Marc Ouellet won a $100,000 defamation case Monday against a former pastoral agent who accused him of sexual assault, after a Quebec Superior Court judge found her allegations were false.

The case stems from allegations Paméla Groleau made about four encounters with Ouellet between 2008 and 2010 that were later included in a 2022 class-action lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. Ouellet denied sexually assaulting Groleau and sued her for defamation months after the class action was filed.

“Ms. Groleau … did not act as a reasonable person,” Justice Martin Castonguay wrote in a 52-page decision issued Monday, adding that her actions showed “a very high degree of recklessness equivalent to malice.”

Castonguay ordered Groleau to pay Ouellet the full $100,000 he sought, plus interest and an additional…

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Attorneys Adam Horowitz and Jessica Arbour of Horowitz Law announce the filing of a new lawsuit against St. Thomas More School in Oakdale, Connecticut, on behalf of a former student who alleges he was sexually abused as a child by the school’s chaplain and counselor, Fr. Edward McGrath.

The lawsuit, filed in Connecticut Superior Court in New London, says that the Plaintiff attended St. Thomas More as a boarding student during the 1992-1993 school year. According to the Complaint, Fr. Edward McGrath, an ordained Roman Catholic priest who lived on campus and served as the school’s chaplain and counselor, regularly invited the Plaintiff to his private living quarters, where McGrath then sexually abused him on multiple occasions.

The Complaint further alleges that the Plaintiff reported the abuse to St. Thomas More’s headmaster, Mr. Hanrahan, in the spring of 1993. According to the Plaintiff’s allegations, the school failed to investigate the…

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With the help of Catholic abuse survivors, Protestant survivors of abuse have created their own database of church leaders accused of sexual abuse.   

Chellee Taylor, who has shared the story of her abuse by a Southern Baptist pastor in 2023 and won a settlement from the church, spearheaded the database.

“I don’t want to burn down the church, but I don’t have a problem dismantling the aspects that are harming people,” Taylor told CT. “The reason that we built this site is because I love the church and I love what the church can and should be. But what it is currently does not mirror that at all.” 

Attorney Boz Tchividjian, who has represented Taylor as well as many other church abuse survivors, consulted with David Clohessy, the former executive director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), a leading organization documenting Catholic abuse, and came to her with the idea of building a website in 2024.

Tchividjian told…

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About 900 survivors of clergy abuse in the Buffalo Catholic Diocese will soon vote on a $326 million settlement, part of a process that’s been in the works for years.

Since the diocese filed bankruptcy in February 2020, it’s been the longest settlement process involving priest sexual abuse cases in the country.

Attorney Steve Boyd represents many of the victims. He sat down with WIVB News 4 to explain the process and what he thinks the outcome could be.

“We think overwhelmingly they will vote yes. It’s been the history; that’s what happened in Syracuse, that’s what happened in Rochester,” Boyd said. “They will get the ballots; we receive the ballots on Friday of this week.”

Boyd explained how the funds will be distributed if the settlement is approved.

“There is an expert who is an allocator, and the allocator is hired by the survivors committee, and he’s going to…

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An Indiana pastor has been arrested on multiple child sexual abuse material charges, according to the Indiana State Police.

ISP says the department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, with assistance from Terre Haute police and the Department of Homeland Security Investigations, arrested Daniel Willis, following the execution of a residential search warrant.

Troopers say an investigation was initiated earlier this year after ISP received multiple tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and a second unnamed company.

According to ISP, a “variety of investigative” techniques were used, which resulted in a search warrant for Willis’ home and place of employment, where Willis worked as a senior pastor.

ISP did not identify the church Willis served as a pastor at, but did say the search warrant was executed in Terre Haute.

Willis also served in a volunteer capacity as a chaplain for the Vigo County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff…

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Le cardinal Marc Ouellet a été victime «d’infamies et de propos infamants» de la part de l’ex-agente de pastorale Paméla Groleau, vient de conclure le juge Martin Castonguay. Il la condamne à verser au cardinal la somme de 100 000 $.

En août 2022, la Demande introductive d’instance déposée dans le cadre de l’action collective contre l’archidiocèse de Québec offre une dizaine de témoignages de victimes alléguées de prêtres. Parmi ces témoignages, il y a celui de Paméla Groleau – connue alors sous le nom de F. Elle déclare avoir été agressée par un prêtre avec qui elle a été œuvré en paroisse ainsi que par le cardinal Marc Ouellet qui fut son patron à ses débuts à titre d’agente de pastorale. Elle décrit ensuite les gestes déplacés qu’elle reproche au cardinal, dont un massage d’épaules et une main baladeuse au bas de son dos.

Le cardinal Marc Ouellet estime que les…

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Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet has won his civil defamation suit against a woman who accused him of sexual misconduct as part of a class-action lawsuit.

Superior Court Justice Martin Castonguay ruled that Paméla Groleau’s accusations against Ouellet are unfounded and ordered her to pay him $100,000. 

“The court finds that the allegations describing the four events cited by Ms. Groleau in the context of the class action are false,” he wrote in a decision released Monday.

Groleau had accused Ouellet of touching her without consent on three occasions between 2008 and 2010, while she was training or working as a lay pastoral agent for the church.

She also said she felt “hunted” by him at a fourth event, during which Ouellet moved across a room to come sit down next to her. 

Castonguay noted in his judgment that Groleau changed her story several times, including eventually saying that she only…

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Date: Monday, Sept. 28
Start Time: 6:30 p.m.
End Time: 8 p.m.
Location: Virtual
Registration

A Sister’s Story of Harm in the Church and How She is Reclaiming the Sacred in Her Own Journey through Art

Sr. Danielle Victoria will share several art pieces she created through her journey of grief, after learning that her trusted spiritual director had allegedly assaulted a sister from her former community. Her story, along with Sr. Theresa Aletheia, is told in an audio documentary style through “Descent Into Light”, a podcast available wherever you get your podcasts. Unpacking her initial shock, denial, and anger in the darkness, the art she created held her in the mystery of her suffering. In the darkness, she encountered hope and a little way forward.

Sr. Danielle Victoria, along with Sr. Theresa Aletheia, are founders of the Sisters of the Little Way of Beauty, Truth, and Goodness, a private association of the faithful…

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A former Montreal priest who sexually abused two boys under his tutelage is facing new child pornography charges for alleged acts occurring in 2026, two years after he was released from prison.

Brian Boucher, 64, has been charged with possessing and accessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material, court documents show.

He remains in custody and is scheduled for a bail hearing on Sept. 8.

In 2019, Boucher was sentenced to eight years in prison for sexually abusing two boys; he was found guilty in one case and pleaded guilty to another.

Boucher was released on statutory release on July 23, 2024, under a residency condition, parole documents show. He was transferred to another facility in February 2025 following “multiple incidents with a co-resident.”

In December, a geographic restriction was imposed at Correctional Service of Canada’s (CSC) recommendation.

“The CSC assesses that you are not trustworthy,…

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A longtime pastor with a decades-long ministry spanning Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas is behind bars following his arrest Monday evening on multiple felony sex charges.

Wade Booth, 70, was booked into custody at 7 p.m. on Aug. 31, according to jail records.

Booth has served as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Pleasanton since 2007, but his ministerial background in the region dates back to the late 1970s.

Pleasanton is an hour’s drive from Kansas City, about 70 miles southwest of downtown.

According to his church biography, Booth graduated from Springfield, Missouri’s Baptist Bible College in 1981. He later served as pastor of Calvary Bible Baptist Church in Harper, Kansas, for 12 years before working as a missionary church planter in Oklahoma. From 1997 to 2005, Booth started two churches in Oklahoma before eventually moving to his current pulpit in Pleasanton in 2007.

According to booking records, Booth faces…

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WARNING: This story mentions topics that are not suitable for all audiences. Discretion is advised.

A pastor in Terre Haute was arrested Monday after investigators found evidence that he allegedly owned child pornography.

Daniel Willis, 62, was a senior pastor at a church in the area, according to the release from Indiana State Police. An ISP detective launched the investigation earlier this year following multiple tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and another company.

The detective got a search warrant for Willis’ home and the place he worked. It wasn’t named in the release, but according to his LinkedIn page, he worked with Free Life Community Church. He also served as a deputy sheriff and an adjunct professor.

The ISP’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force took his electronic devices and found evidence of child sex abuse files, according to the release.

Willis faces 10 counts…

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When the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled recently that the national Boys & Girls Clubs of America could not be held liable for decades-old sexual assaults allegedly committed by a youth counselor at its Jersey City affiliate, it did more than close the courthouse doors to survivors.

It established a precedent that could affect children across New Jersey who participate in youth programs, from the Boy Scouts and athletic organizations to colleges, universities and other institutions entrusted with their safety.

A question of accountability

The facts alleged in the case are deeply troubling. A counselor at the Jersey City Boys & Girls Club is accused of abusing children over a period of years, both at the club and in his home.

According to the survivors’ allegations, the abuse was not an isolated incident. It was a pattern that persisted over time under the banner…

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For over three decades, the allegations of sexual, psychological and spiritual abuse against Slovenian Father Marko Rupnik were met with cover-ups and bureaucratic delays. 

In a message to a safeguarding conference in October 2025, Pope Leo XIV highlighted the need for safeguarding and transparency within the Catholic Church.

“I renew my appeal that there can be no tolerance for any form of abuse in the Church,” the pope said. 

However, in the time since the allegations against Father Rupnik were revealed to the public during Pope Francis’ pontificate, the case has tested the Catholic Church’s commitment to transparency and tackling the institutional problems that allowed the Slovenian artist to continue his artistic public ministry for years relatively unscathed.

Allegations and revelations

The revelations of the many allegations against Father Rupnik were made public in 2022. However, internal warnings and complaints about the Slovenian priest’s alleged psychological, spiritual and sexual abuses…

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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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