Harris stepped down as Santa Margarita's principal the same year he underwent the psychological exam. And yet, despite knowing what was in the report, Orange diocese officials allowed Harris to attend Santa Margarita football games for the next several years and didn't defrock him until 2001.
To download and read the 12 page pdf document, click here http://www.ocweekly.com/images/ink/05/22/22letter.pdf.
Please note: The document should take about three minutes to load with a 56k modem.# [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 09:03 PM]
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Archdiocese Documents [1980s Cincinnati Archdiocese, Pilarczyk, Kelley] - RCC. Boys.
WCPO www.wcpo.com/ wcpo/localshows/ iteam/7a7022c. html , Reported and Web Produced by: I-Team, Laurie Quinlivan lquinlivan@wcpo.com , 21:23:27, Updated: Feb/03/05 CINCINNATI (OH) - Tonight the I-team lays out documents the Archdiocese of Cincinnati hoped people would never see. They show the Cincinnati Archdiocese leaders' failure to report the sexual abuse of a priest with dozens of victims. I-team reporter Laure Quinlivan has our exclusive report. (Laure Quinlivan) Have you covered up any of the crimes of your priests? (Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk) No, No. (Laure Quinlivan) Have you reported felony child abuse to police as required by Ohio law? (Archbishop Pilarczyk) Yes. (Laure Quinlivan) When? (Pilarczyk) When required. (Quinlivan) Well that's been a law since 1974, have you been reporting all the child abuse you've become aware of to police?" Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk, on tape: "We have reported all the child abuse that we are required to report. That's all I can tell you, I don't know any more than that." Victim of priest, on tape: "He is a liar." Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, on video: Victims are angry after reading these letters www.wcpo. com/wcpo/ local shows/ iteam/arch diocese/ index.html> from one priest's personnel file. They call them bombshells and we're going to show them to you. David Kelley was a charming priest who befriended boys from West Side parishes he served, and from Elder High School where he taught religion. Victim of priest, on tape: "We thought, why don't we invite Father Kel? Father Kel's cool." Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, on video: In May of '83, his glee club invited Chaplain Kelley to their end of year party. He says Kelley drank with the teens then invited him in for a nightcap. Victim of priest, identity hidden, on tape: "I said sure." Laure Quinlivan, I-Team Reporter, on video: He was naive, and a virgin. Kelley was a wrester, chaplain of Elder's team. He used wrestling skills to pin the boy's head between his legs and sexually assault him. Victim of priest, identity hidden, on tape: "That still just haunts me." Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, on video: "Why?" Victim of priest, identity hidden, on tape: "Because I'm a male and that just doesn't happen." Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, on video: "He made you question your sexuality?" Victim of priest, identity hidden, on tape: "Yeah, everything. You know what happened to me? I haven't told my wife what I've told you." Victim of David Kelley, identity hidden, on tape: "The drinking and smoking. Full screen image of four victims. Victims say Kelley routinely invited boys to his room where he gave them beer, pot, porn and molested those he could. Victim of priest, identity hidden, on tape: "He says what happened here, we can't let this go out of this room, and I was like who do you think I'm gonna tell?" Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, on video: He graduated in '83 and told no one. But that fall, another victim did tell. An Elder sophomore told his mom Kelley had abused him, and she told Elder Principal Tom Kuhn. Voice of victim's mother from phone call: "I talked to Father Kuhn on the phone and told him." Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, on video: This letter proves Archbishop Pilarczyk knew several teens accused Kelley of molesting them. Names are erased from these letters, but using dates and Catholic directories, the I-Team fills in the blanks. Full screen graphic of letter. Pilarczyk writes in the fall of '83:
"The priest principal, [Laure says: Father Tom Kuhn], reported parents of at least two students said.
(Father Kelley) had them take off their clothes and he touched their genitals….within a few weeks the
same kind of reports were brought to the principal by several additional students"
Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, on video: Compare the Archbishop's letter to the what he told the I-Team about Kelley in 2003.
"fearing the real possibility of widespread scandal… (fr. kelley) was told he would have to leave the faculty and the parish. he readily agreed. he was strongly advised…to enter into professional counseling. he never did, to the best of my knowledge." Archbishop Pilarczyk, on tape during 2003 interview with I-Team: "He was excessively familiar with young men."
Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, on video, during 2003 interview: "You removed Father Kelley from Elder. Why wouldn't you remove him from the priesthood? You didn't even send him to counseling."
Victim of David Kelley, on tape: He should have taken Father Kelley by the hand and marched him right down to police and said here, we know this guy is abusing little kids."
Archbishop Pilarczyk, on tape during 2003 interview with I- Team: "No, I'm sorry, I don't remember all the details. I'm not trying to be coy, I don't remember." Graphic of a letter. Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, voice over video: This memo shows leaders knew the law. In 1985, Priest Personnel Director Paul Rehling writes, Kelley should be sent to counseling "out of state. Reason: Ohio law requires reporting of child abuse." Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, voice over video: Instead of calling police to report Kelley's alleged abuse, the Archbishop moved him to St. Christopher's, north of Dayton. No one told the pastor here Kelley might be a child molestor. Two years later, he kicked Kelley out. (Graphic of a letter.) Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, reading text of letter: Reverend Bob Monnin writes Kelley...
"The first day or so of your arrival, I bluntly asked you what the problem was. You said very little. I did emphatically state to you, 'no one except priests or family would be allowed to go to the second floor into our quarters.'"
Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, voice over video: The same month, the Archbishop got another letter about Kelley from another priest, Reverend Tom Bolte.
"In the months that followed, there were numerous occasions when you took people into your room while I was in Texas. It's evident that [boy] was allowed to spend the night." "[Boy] is a high school student who missed school the next day. Frankly, this scares the Hell out of me!" "I have asked Father [Rehling] to reassign you. Not a single person in the parish will suspect a thing when you leave." Bolte pastors St. Ingatius Loyola in Monfort Heights. Bolte says a man he was preparing for marriage in 1986 told him Kelley had abused his best friend at Little Flower back in the 70's. Rev. Tom Bolte, St. Ignatius Loyola, on tape: "So I contacted Father Rehling who was in charge of, uh, priest personnel at that time to let him know the situation and Father Rehling asked me to send it in a letter you know so it would be documented and that's what I did." Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, voice over fullscreen graphic, then reading aloud from letter: He writes that he told Rehling...
"This is a serious matter. I wonder if there might have been other students [Fr. Kelley] took up to his bedroom. These boys might need counciling [sic]."
Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, voice over fullscreen graphic, then reading aloud from letter: So Rehling writes Pilarczyk.
"Advise [Fr. Bolte] to tell the [groom's] friend to talk to some priest he can trust. The problem: if the young man were to talk to a professional counselor, that person may report the accused priest to civil authorities. I don't think you should say this to [Fr. Bolte] however. It would be held against you in any future court case."
Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, voice over video: Former Priest Personnel Director Paul Rehling is now at St. William in Price Hill. He declined to talk.
Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, asking Rehling a question on video: "How can you justify not taking him out of the ministry?" Video continues, showing Rev. Paul Rehling slamming door. Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, voice over graphic: The Archbishop took Rehling's advice and wrote Bolte. Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, reading aloud from letter:
"I suggest he talk to some priest he can trust. There is some possibility he is confused about what happened."
Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, voice over video: We showed these documents to Father Bolte.
Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, on tape, interviewing Bolte: "What disturbs you about the letter?" Fr. Tom Bolte, on video: "If criminal proceedings needed to occur, it should have occurred, and to remove Fr. Kelley from ministry at that time." Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, voice over video: Instead, the Archbishop sent Kelley for treatment out of state then assigned him chaplain at Mercy Hospital in Anderson. Father of priest victim, on tape: "He's a monster who masquerades as a priest." Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, voice over video: Kelley apparently kept abusing. In 1993, Father Bolte said another young man told him Kelley had tried to seduce him. Bolte says he told Priest Personnel Director Ken Czillinger, who's since left the priesthood. Bolte writes... [Reading letter text:] "I told him [Father Kelley] was still stalking teenagers, still coming on sexually to young men after I had reported him in 1986. This was a serious problem with [Fr. Kelley] being chaplain at the hospital and living in an apartment unsupervised." (Fr. Tom Bolte) "It was wrong, this was a dangerous situation and I hoped they were working with it." Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, voice over video: But the Archbishop let Kelley continue as Mercy's chaplain. Kelley also said mass at St. Veronica's in Mt. Carmel and St. Andrews in Milford. He even worked at this rehab center counseling teenagers. Video shows rehab center. Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, voice over video: Kelly's secret came out only after victims filed lawsuits in 2003, and despite all their letters on Kelley from the mid-80's we've shown you, this was the Archdiocese's public response. Dan Andriacco, Archdiocese spokesperson, on tape during September 2003 news conference: "We are certain that we have not received any allegations of child abuse by Father Kelley previous to 1994. If there was any report of abuse before 1994, it never made it to the Archdiocese." Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, voice over video: That claim upset Father Bolte, who wrote church leaders to remind them he "contacted the Archdiocese about [Fr. Kelley] in 1986 and 1993." Fr. Tom Bolte, on tape: "Everything needs to be above board and honest. Yes it does." Laure Quinlivan, on tape, approaching David Kelley in fall 2003: "Can we talk to you?" David Kelley on tape in fall 2003: No, you can't." Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, voice over video: In December 2003, Kelley left Cincinnati for Clarksville, Tennessee. He lives here, in a neighborhood with children. Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, on tape: "There is no cure for pedophilia and they remain dangerous forever." Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, on tape talking with Deters: "Given that, should the Archbishop take responsibility to warn people about Kelley, keep track of him?" Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, on tape: "They should be taking every step to make sure the priests who engaged in this activity never have contact with any child again, no matter what it takes." Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, voice over video: The Archdiocese warned the local church but not Kelley's neighbors. They found out when victims handed out flyers in October. Alexandra Neppl, neighbor of Kelley's, on tape: "He had teenage kids -- I think they were 17 or 18 -- over to his house. They were helping him cut his grass, just have a barbeque. [sic] I have told my little brother to stay on our side of the driveway, not to go over and talk to him or anything." Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, voice over video: "This local news story [Video shows the front page of the Leaf-Chronicle] is how Kelley's new boss learned his background. Kelley'd been working as a counselor." Laure Quinlivan, on tape: "If you would have known that he was suspected of all these sexual offenses would you have hired him?" Voice of Barb Smith, Buffalo Valley Rehab Center: "Definitely not." Laure Quinlivan, voice over video: And now victims have learned the former prosecutor who declared justice... Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen, during November 2003 news conference, on tape: "The Archdiocese has been held responsible." Laure Quinlivan, voice over video: ...focused his plea deal on church crimes before 1982, letting the Archbishop off the hook. Archbishop Pilarczyk, during November 2003 interview, on tape: "I believe that whatever needed to be done on my watch was done." Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen, during November 2003 news conference, on tape: "There's nothing more we could have gotten out of this case than we got." Laure Quinlivan, voice over video: But our investigation finds Allen had all the documents we've shown you, that prove the Archbishop's involvement. Joseph Deters, Hamilton County Prosecutor, on tape: "It looks like they had those records." Laure Quinlivan, interviewing Deters: "Then why didn't he use them?" Joseph Deters, Hamilton County Prosecutor, on tape: "I don't know. That is an issue for Mike Allen." Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen, during November 2003 news conference, on tape: "We examined under oath every witness from the Archdiocese who would have had knowledge of this abuse." Laure Quinlivan, interviewing Bolte: "Did prosecutors contact you?" Fr. Tom Bolte, on tape: "No, I was not contacted." Joseph Deters, Hamilton County Prosecutor, on tape: "If anyone in your listening audience has evidence that someone, or they saw something that should come to our attention, please call us, because we're reviewing this right now, and if there's information we should know about, I hope they report it." I-Team "BONG" and animation Laure Quinlivan, on set: The Archbishop declined to answer any questions, on camera or in writing, because of pending litigation. However a spokesman says: "Archbishop Pilarczyk never intentionally misled anyone about his knowledge of child abuse by priests or others representing the Archdiocese during his tenure as Archbishop." Meanwhile, victims are working with Ohio lawmakers to temporarily lift the statute of limitations www.wcpo.com/wcpo/localshows/iteam/archdiocese/index.html to file civil lawsuits for childhood sexual abuse. Contact the I-Team Laure Quinlivan lquinlivan@wcpo.com # |
Reuters, http://olympics. reuters.com/newsArticle. jhtml?type= domesticNews& storyID= 7532094 , By Greg Frost, 04:20 PM ET, Thu Feb 3, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Reuters) - The defense attorney for Paul Shanley, the defrocked U.S. Catholic priest accused of child rape, said Thursday there was "massive doubt" about what occurred two decades ago and called for the jury to acquit him.
In closing arguments of the trial of Shanley, a central figure in a U.S. Catholic Church abuse scandal, attorney Frank Mondano said the accuser may have lied about events at a Boston-area church, but the prosecution contended there was no doubt the boy was molested "again and again and again."
"There isn't reasonable doubt in this case. There's massive doubt in this case," Mondano said in his closing arguments, in which he cast doubt on the memory and motives of the sole accuser in the criminal trial.
The jury retired to consider its verdict Thursday afternoon.
Shanley, the 74-year-old former priest, was indicted in 2002 on charges of child rape and indecent assault and battery on a child. Prosecutors dropped most of the charges because three of the original four accusers either would not testify or could not be found.
The only remaining charges relate to a 27-year-old firefighter who last week took the witness stand and tearfully told of being raped and molested in the 1980s -- memories he says he repressed until they came flooding back as a clergy sex scandal rocked the Archdiocese of Boston.
• Priest suspended after child porn arrest [2005 Bagert] - RCC. Computer child porn.
Star-Telegram, www.dfw.com/ mld/dfw/news/ 10808718.htm , By Susan Schrock, ~ February 03, 2005
GRAND PRAIRIE (TX) - The Dallas Catholic Diocese has suspended a Grand Prairie priest indefinitely after he was arrested for reportedly possessing child pornography on his church computer.
Father Matthew Bagert, 36, was arrested Wednesday morning at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church on NE 17th Street, two days after the diocese contacted Grand Prairie police that he had child pornography on his computer.
Bagert was released from the Grand Prairie Jail on $20,000 bond.
Bronson Havard, spokesperson for the diocese, said Bagert was consulting an attorney Thursday and was declining interviews.
Bagert was ordained in 1997 and has been the church's pastor since 2001, Havard said. The diocese had received no previous complaints about him, Havard said.
"This was a shock for all of us," Havard said. [Bolding added!]
• Supes seek to save St. Brigid Church - RCC.
San Francisco Chronicle, www.sfgate.com/ cgi-bin/article. cgi?f=/c/a/2005/ 02/03/BAGMTB4 NTJ1.DTL ; by Suzanne Herel, Chronicle Staff Writer, Thursday, February 3, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO (CA) - The San Francisco Board of Supervisors wants to label the long- closed St. Brigid Catholic Church a local historic landmark in an effort to thwart the archdiocese's plan to demolish the building and sell the land to pay off settlements of priest abuse cases.
Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, who represents District 2, where the church sits at Broadway and Van Ness Avenue, introduced a resolution Tuesday urging the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board to consider an official historic designation for the structure, built in Richardsonian Romanesque style in 1900.
The measure has enough co-sponsors to pass at the board meeting Tuesday.
But Maurice Healy, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, said that even if the church does become a historic landmark, it won't affect the archdiocese's plan to sell the building to a developer who intends to erect condominiums on that corner.
Under state law, Healy said, religious organizations are permitted to reject landmark status -- as the archdiocese already did in this case with the national and state registers of historic places -- and do what they like with the buildings they own.
[COMMENT: If outsiders tried to knock St Brigid's down, the Church leaders would cry "sacrilege!" But if a priest destroys the virtue of a child (whose body is a "temple of the Holy Spirit"), the leaders hush it up, and move the destroyer to another place. "These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." - JCM. COMMENT ENDS.]
• Support Groups Help Victims of Sexual Abuse - RCC.
Arlington Catholic Herald, www.catholic herald.com/ articles/05 articles/support 0203.htm , By Soren Johnson, Special to the Herald, Feb/3/05
VIRGINIA - The diocesan Victim Assistance Office and Catholic Charities will collaborate to offer two support groups for victims of sexual abuse beginning this spring.
The confidential support groups, to be offered initially in Arlington and Fredericksburg over a 10-week period, will be a "safe place of ongoing healing, where trust might be in some part regained," according to Pat Mudd, diocesan victim assistance coordinator.
"We're here to support victims/survivors on their journey to healing." The establishment of the groups was requested by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde last fall.
Because of the sensitive nature of the topic, it will not be a drop-in group; participants will be asked to register and commit to attend weekly sessions.
Among those leading the support groups will be Pamela Staszak, a professional counselor with Catholic Charities who has previously overseen support groups for victims of sexual abuse in North Carolina; Pat Cole, assistant program director of Family Services for CCDA who has worked extensively with adult victims of sexual abuse and trauma in workshops and support groups; and Marguerite Turner, assistant program director of Family Services, who has provided therapy to individuals, couples and families focusing on issues of depression, self-esteem, abuse survival, trauma and anxiety.
[COMMENT: They want to shut the gate after the horse has bolted! - KJJM. COMMENT ENDS.]
• Second creditors' committee formed [Spokane Diocese] - 5 victims now on committee. RCC.
KGW, www.kgw.com/ sharedcontent/ APStories/ stories/D8818 BT01.html , By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS / Associated Press, February 03, 2005
SPOKANE (WA) - A second committee of creditors has been formed in the bankruptcy of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane, to satisfy complaints that the first group did not include enough victims of sexual abuse.
The new committee contains five men who have filed lawsuits against the diocese contending they were abused by priests.
The original committee now contains just three members, representing sexual abuse victims who so far have declined to sue the diocese. Two other members of the original committee have moved over to the new committee.
The Office of the U.S. Trustee made the changes on Wednesday.
"The trustee advised diocesan attorneys that the second committee had been formed because the makeup of the original, single committee left some individuals feeling disenfranchised from the process," the diocese said in a news release.
• Bias Detected In Super Bowl Ad Protest - RCC and Episcopal.
Catholic League, www.catholic league.org/05 press_releases/ quarter%201/ 050203 _superbowl. htm , February 03, 2005
UNITED STATES - Bowing to pressure from SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), Catholic activists, lawyers, psychologists and feminists, the Ford Motor Company has withdrawn a Super Bowl ad for a new Lincoln truck, the Mark LT.
The ad shows a clergyman (dressed to look like either a Catholic or an Episcopalian priest) who finds the keys to the truck in the collection plate; a little girl put them there as a prank.
The happy cleric, who thinks the truck is his, is dismayed when the girl and her father show up to claim the keys. The ad ends by showing the cleric approaching a church ; he then puts the letters L and T on the opposite sides of the word US, thus spelling LUST.
Catholic League president William Donohue criticized the protesters today:
"When asked yesterday by the Chicago Tribune what I thought of the ad (it could be seen on the Internet), I had a one-word response - asinine. When asked what I had to say about the protesters, I said it was 'absurd' to charge that the ad 'trivializes and exploits the sex scandal.' Indeed, it is worse than absurd - it reveals a deep-seated bias against Catholic priests that is very disturbing.
• Jury gets case in Shanley priest-abuse trial [1980s Shanley] - RCC. Boy.
Union-Tribune, By Denise Lavoie, ASSOCIATED PRESS, 1:34 p.m. February 3, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - A jury on Thursday began deliberating the fate of defrocked priest Paul Shanley, who is charged with raping a boy at his church outside Boston in the 1980s.
The jury got the case after lawyers clashed over the validity of the repressed memories Shanley's accuser said came to him three years ago, when the Boston church abuse scandal broke.
The jury of seven men and five women deliberated for all of 30 minutes before the judge sent them home for the day. They were to return Friday.
The defense earlier presented a sole witness: a psychologist who argued that some people's repressed memories are really false.
Shanley's lawyer said the accuser's claims of sexual abuse were lies orchestrated by personal injury lawyers.
But prosecutor Lynn Rooney said the accuser had no reason to lie, particularly since he was required to endure three days of intense questioning on the witness stand.
• Accused priest being returned to Jackson parish - RCC. (1980) Fr Mickey said to be cleared. 2 boys.
Commercial Appeal, www.commercial appeal.com/mca/ midsouth_news/ article/0,1426, MCA_1497_3518 678,00.html , By Bill Dries, February 3, 2005
TENNESSEE - A Catholic priest accused in a civil lawsuit of sexually abusing two teenage brothers will return to his parish in Jackson, Tenn.
Memphis Catholic Bishop J. Terry Steib announced Wednesday he is returning Father Richard Mickey to the ministry after the church's investigation concluded the allegations were "not credible."
Blain and Blair Chambers are suing Mickey, the Memphis Diocese and Bishop Byrne High School, claiming Mickey sexually abused them in 1980 when they were students at the high school and Mickey was a counselor and teacher. Mickey was not a priest at the time.
The lawsuit, filed in July, claims the twins each had repressed memories of the alleged abuse that surfaced during a July 2003 fishing trip in Montana.
It is the first time a priest in the Memphis Diocese has been publicly accused of child sexual abuse.
Depositions in the lawsuit are scheduled to begin later this month.
• Man accused of molesting girls at church [1999-2004 Ruiz] - Elim Church. 4 girls.
KESQ, www.kesq.com/ Global/story. asp?S=2896092 , ~ February 03, 2005
RICHMOND, Calif. A man arrested for allegedly molesting four girls was kicked out of a Richmond church last year -- but officials there never called police.
Prosecutors filed charges last week against 34-year-old Boris Mauricio Ruiz on suspicion of molesting four girls during a five-year span that ended last March or April, when a pastor counseled a family in his congregation to report the crimes.
After that meeting at Iglesia de Cristo Ministerios Elim -- Ruiz vanished and no one called police until July.
Three of the four victims are sisters related to Ruiz who were all 8 to 10 years old when he allegedly propositioned them, showed them pornography, exposed himself and fondled them at times from 1999 to 2004.
• Ex-Priest's Defense to Call Psychologist [1980s Shanley] - RCC. Boy.
Guardian (Britain), By DENISE LAVOIE, Associated Press Writer, 1:46 PM, Thursday February 3, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - The defense in the child rape trial of a former priest is focusing on the validity of repressed memory theories, hoping to debunk a key claim of the 27-year-old accuser in the case.
Paul Shanley's defense was expected to call just one witness - Elizabeth Loftus, a psychologist and memory researcher who is skeptical about the validity of repressed memory theories.
After her testimony is presented Thursday, closing arguments are expected to follow.
On Wednesday, a judge rejected a request from Shanley's attorney to dismiss the child rape and indecent assault charges against the defrocked priest. Attorney Frank Mondano said the evidence showed Shanley's accuser has a false memory of being abused in the 1980s.
"You have either a false memory or a repressed memory, and I submit that the evidence is greater on the false memory theory," Mondano said.
• Lustful cleric ad is now commercial that never was - Ford Lincoln.
Sun-Sentinel, By Bonnie Miller Rubin and Meg McSherry Breslin, Tribune staff reporters. Tribune staff reporter Jim Kirk contributed to this report; Posted February 3 2005
UNITED STATES - An automaker on Wednesday said it would pull a 30-second Super Bowl commercial featuring a clergyman who lusts in his heart for a truck, after a group representing victims of clergy sex abuse registered its outrage.
In the ad, the clergyman discovers an unusual tithe in the collection plate: the keys to a new Lincoln Mark LT. The cleric checks out the truck and finds it heavenly, but then is returned to earth when the owner arrives to say his little girl had put the keys on the plate by mistake. The commercial ends with the clergyman adjusting the church marquee to note that next week's sermon will be on "lust."
Leaders of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP] sent a letter Wednesday to Ford Motor Co., urging the firm to withdraw the ad, contending it trivializes and exploits the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.
"We are appalled at how insensitive this ad is," SNAP president Barbara Blaine said in a statement. "It just rubs salt into an already very deep and still hurting wound for many of us."
• Paterson Diocese rules priest molested boy [1960s Smith] - RCC. Minor.
NorthJersey.com ; www.northjersey. com/page.php? qstr=eXJpcnk3 ZjczN2Y3dnFlZ UVFeXk0NSZmZ2 JlbDdmN3ZxZWV FRXl5NjY0OTA5 NSZ5cmlye TdmNzE3Zjd2c WVlRUV5eTM= ; By JOHN CHADWICK, STAFF WRITER, Thursday, February 3, 2005
PATERSON (NJ) - The Paterson Diocese has determined that one of its priests molested a Fair Lawn boy in the 1960s and should be removed from public ministry, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.
The ruling brings to a conclusion the first church trial held in North Jersey as a result of the clergy abuse scandal of 2002.
A panel of three priests found that the Rev. James A.D. Smith was "guilty of at least one act of sexual abuse of a minor," spokeswoman Marianna Thompson said in a statement.
Smith, in his 70s, is barred from celebrating the sacraments of the church, including communion.
"The penalty shall be permanent suspension of Rev. Smith's faculties as a priest," the statement said. "He may no longer represent himself as a priest or exercise any of the authorities or duties of ecclesiastical office."
Smith, who served in several parishes, including Sacred Heart in Clifton and Our Lady of Victories in Paterson, is expected to appeal the decision to Rome.
• Head Priest Suspended From School After Arrest [2004 Bagert] - RCC. Child porn.
NBCi.com ; www.nbc5i.com/ family/4159178/ detail.html , February 3, 2005
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas -- A Grand Prairie priest has been suspended after being arrested, accused of possessing child pornography.
Officials arrested Father Matthew Bagert on Wednesday. Bagert served at Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Grand Prairie.
The school notified parents of Bagert's arrest by sending letters home with the children.
"I don't want to say that I do believe, and I don't want to say I don't believe. We need to wait and see. He was always real nice, talking to everyone. But you never know what people do behind closed doors ... [Emphasis added!]
• Lawsuit says priest molested two girls [2001 Arakal, Stockton Diocese, Illo] - RCC. 2 girls.
Modesto Bee, By AMY WHITE, ~ February 03, 2005
MODESTO (CA) - A lawsuit alleging that a Modesto priest molested two Hughson girls is set for trial in Stockton this month.
The lawsuit, filed in September 2002, alleges that the Rev. Francis Arakal, an associate pastor at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Modesto, fondled 11- and 13-year-old sisters at their Hughson home in July 2001. The trial proceedings are set to begin Feb. 22 in San Joaquin County Superior Court.
The lawsuit also charges that the Diocese of Stockton and St. Joseph's pastor, the Rev. Joseph Illo, responded inappropriately when one of the girls told Illo about the alleged abuse on Sept. 11, 2001.
Diocese officials declined to comment on the case. Illo, reached by phone this week, contested the lawsuit's description of events.
According to the complaint, Arakal touched the breasts of the 13-year-old girl and breasts and groin area of the 11-year-old girl on July 25, 2001.
According to her attorneys, the younger girl told Illo of her sister's abuse in a setting at the church that she believed was confidential. Illo violated that confidentiality, the lawsuit says, setting a meeting for him, Arakal and the younger girl.
"During the confrontation, (Arakal and Illo) began to yell, berate and intimidate (the girl), calling (her) a 'liar,'" the complaint says. It states that Illo said, "All your mother wants to do is have sex with me."
• Hurt, angered by abuse scandal, Catholics gather to seek healing - RCC.
Naples Daily News, By JANINE A. ZEITLIN, jazeitlin@naplesnews.com , February 3, 2005
NORTH NAPLES (FL) - Catholics burdened by how their church leaders tucked decades of sexual abuse by priests into shadows left a North Naples mass Wednesday feeling lighter.
Nearly 500 attendees packed pews at the spacious St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church for the noon mass pulled together by the Southwest Florida chapter of Voice of the Faithful.
The group with 40,000 members nationwide was formed by lay people to respond to unraveling scandals and to support sexual abuse victims and innocent priests.
Devout Catholics compared the church response's to sexual abuse to familial deception.
"It was just like being viscerally hurt by your family. There was a lot of anger," said Peg Clark of East Naples, president of the local chapter.
Of Wednesday's mass, Clark said: "I could feel the embrace. Everything today clicked . . . There was definitely community there."
[DOCTRINE: 2 - 3 - 6:44 "For of thorns men do not gather figs." DOCTRINE ENDS.]
• Church wants Gilpin to stay [1960s Gilpin] - RCC, then Episcopal Church. 2 boys.
Bradenton Herald, Bu RICHARD DYMOND, ~ February 03, 2005
MANATEE (FL) - Fellow church members of a man accused of molesting two boys in the 1960s have offered their public support to him and will not ask him to resign from the church's vestry.
Christ Episcopal Church officials cited Joseph Gilpin's service to the church, including teaching a sexual molestation awareness course for adults called "Safeguarding God's Children."
Gilpin's decades of service prompted the church to back him amid the allegations made public last week, said the Rev. Kerry Robb, the interim rector of Christ Episcopal Church on Manatee Avenue West.
"I have received letters from church members saying the allegations against him are unproven and we should support him," Robb said. "And that is our posture. We are going to continue to support him."
• Sex-abuse talks set - RCC. Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, USA), ~ February 03, 2005
WORCESTER (MA) - College of the Holy Cross is sponsoring two lectures dealing with aspects of the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church as part of its "Beyond Brokenness: Healing, Renewal and the Church" series.
Judge Anne Burke, former interim chairwoman of the United States Catholic Bishops' National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People, will speak at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Rehm Library at the college as part of the series.
Judge Burke, who lives in Chicago, serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals, and will speak on "Lay Catholics and the Future of the American Church."
She will be giving the annual Bishop Flanagan Lecture which began in 1991 to build a relationship between the Diocese of Worcester and Holy Cross on social justice and peace issues.
Janine Geske, professor at Marquette University Law School, will speak at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Rehm Library.
• Revelations: Faith betrayed (Part 4) - RCC.
KTUU, www.ktuu.com/ CMS/templates /master.asp? articleid= 11292&zone id=4 , by Megan Baldino, Tuesday, February 1, 2005
FAIRBANKS, ALASKA -- "There is no one in this room that is anti-Catholic. The last thing anybody at this table wanted is to be here."
John Manly is a partner with the law firm Manley and McGuire in Orange County, Calif. The firm helped win the largest clergy sex-abuse settlement in the nation -- $100 million -- against the Orange County Diocese.
Manley represented 30 of 90 clients. "Ten years ago, if you told me I was going to be doing this work, I would've laughed," he says.
Manley says he's a real estate lawyer, who got a call one day that changed his life. A young man needed a lawyer to sue the Orange County Diocese. That man, now a lawyer at Manley's firm, was abused by a popular priest.
Manley says the diocese would not accept an initial offer to settle for $100,000.
"Four-and-a-half years later, they paid my client $5.2 million," he says.
• Revelations: Faith betrayed (Part 5) [Lundowski] - RCC. 34 boys.
KTUU, www.ktuu.com/ CMS/templates/ master.asp? articleid= 11394&zone id=4 , by Megan Baldino, Wednesday, February 2, 2005
CHICAGO, Illinois - When 34 men came forward accusing Deacon Joseph Lundowski of sexually abusing them as children, many questions surfaced about who Lundowski is. The church says it has little record of Lundowski, saying that he was simply a lay volunteer.
Despite the lawsuit, officials haven't tried to track him down.
In the darkest days of winter, the secrets of a small church on the edge of Alaska's Norton Sound are finally being exposed.
"He pulled my pants down and I was holding them like this, and he unbuckled and un-zippered my pants and pulled it down, and I keep asking what he was doing and he said I'll find out," said Peter Kobuk, who is James Doe 18 in the lawsuit.
The man Kobuk is referring to is Deacon Joseph Lundowski, now accused by 34 men of sexually abusing them as children -- the largest case of alleged clergy sex abuse in Alaska.
"He was a big heavy-set person, very strong," Kobuk says.
• Revelations: Faith betrayed (Part 6) [Lundowski] - RCC. 33 boys.
KTUU, www.ktuu.com/ CMS/templates/ master.asp? articleid= 11395&zone id=4 , by Megan Baldino, Wednesday, February 2, 2005
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The village of Stebbins has always been a quiet place. Residents tend to keep to themselves. That makes it that much more surprising that several men of the village are finally talking about what they say happened to them when they were children.
In a lawsuit filed against the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks, 33 men claim that Joseph Lundowski -- who served in Stebbins, St. Michael and Hooper Bay -- sexually abused them, even raped them, as children.
Most of the men say the abuse has changed them and their communities.
"I know it had an effect on them inside them. I know it had an effect on the community, too," says one victim who did not wish to be identified. He admits he has struggled
• Shanley defense to call just one witness [1980s Shanley] - RCC. Boy.
The Boston Globe, By Joanna Weiss, Globe Staff | February 3, 2005
CAMBRIDGE (MA) -- When the child rape trial of defrocked priest Paul R. Shanley resumes today, the defense will call only one witness: a California professor who has built a long and prominent career out of debunking repressed memories.
Elizabeth Loftus has drawn both accolades and death threats, as well as a steady stream of legal consulting work, for her contention that false memories can be planted in susceptible minds.
She represents the debate at the core of the Shanley case: whether his accuser's 20-year-old memories are genuine or were suggested to him by personal-injury lawyers and the experts they hired.
Loftus's believers are drawn to her vivid descriptions and striking experiments; at the University of California-Irvine, where she teaches social ecology, she once persuaded some lab subjects, falsely, that they remembered hugging Bugs Bunny at Disneyland.
"Elizabeth Loftus has done a lot of research which helps us in understanding that not all of the repressed memory cases are legitimate," said Michael Avery, an evidence professor at Suffolk Law School.
But advocates of child abuse victims have long criticized Loftus's methods and her willingness to help certain defendants.
David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests [SNAP], calls her "a hired gun for the defenders of child molesters."
And some mental-health specialists question whether her research, often done within the confines of a lab, bears weight in a highly charged case of child trauma.
• Ex-priest vanishes [1980s-89 Dominguez] - RCC. 2 boys.
San Bernardino Sun, By BILL BYRON and BRAD A. GREENBERG, ~ February 3, 2005
CALIFORNIA - Investigators believe a defrocked Catholic priest called Father Jesse has fled to Mexico to escape charges of sexually molesting two teenage altar boys in the 1980s.
Jesus Armando Dominguez, who once served as associate pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Chino, could not be found when Riverside County sheriff's deputies tried to execute a $500,000 arrest warrant that was issued Tuesday morning.
When the incidents occurred, Dominguez, 55, was a priest at Our Lady of Soledad Church in Coachella and St. James Church in Perris, Riverside County prosecutors said.
He last lived in Whittier. Dominguez is accused of oral copulation, sodomy and other sexual acts involving two boys in a period from the mid-1980s to 1989. The boys were around 14 and 17.
If found and convicted, Dominguez could face more than 43 years in prison.
• Gauthier: Who would you believe? [1980s Shanley] - RCC. Boy.
MetroWest Daily News, By Deborah E. Gauthier, Thursday, February 3, 2005
CAMBRIDGE (MA) - It's hard to feel anything but compassion and admiration for the 27-year-old Newton firefighter with courage enough to confront the man he says raped him over a period of years when he was a young boy. It's hard to feel anything but contempt for the man accused.
But in a court of law, one is innocent until proven guilty. Who would you believe if you were on the jury?
The young man says he repressed the memories of sexual abuse until two years ago when three other men -- who were parishioners of St. Jean's Parish in Newton between 1979 and 1989 just as he was -- filed charges that they were molested by the Rev. Paul Shanley.
He heard their stories, and a torrent of memories flooded in -- memories of being pulled from CCD classes and sexually abused in church pews, the bathroom and the confessional. He was 6 years old the first time it happened. It continued for six years.
His sobs at the end of the first day of grueling cross-examination, when his memories, motives and lifestyle were attacked, tore at the heart. He begged the judge not to make him go through it again.
But the judge said the case would be lost if he did not return, and he returned. He is a brave man, Shanley's lone accuser. Prosecutors dropped the complaints from three others rather than have them face Shanley's defense attorneys.
• Ford forced to pull 'lustful' clergy ad from Super Bowl - Ford Lincoln.
Brand Republic, Staff, Brand Republic, 12:30, Feb-03-2005
NEW YORK - Ford has pulled an ad it was planning to run during the Super Bowl, which showed a clergyman being tempted by a Lincoln truck, after complaints from those who have been sexually abused.
People who had been sexually abused by the clergy objected to the spot because it featured a little girl, and a joke at the end where the priest was set to give a sermon on the topic of lust.
There is super sensitivity regarding every second of Sunday's broadcast, after last year's debacle when Janet Jackson exposed her breast, leading to some parents claiming that their children were damaged by the site of her heaving bosom.
In the spot, produced by WPP's Young & Rubicam New York, a Christian clergyman finds not just cash on the collection plate, but a set of car keys for a Lincoln Mark LT luxury pick-up truck.
Outside in the church's parking lot, he sees the new Lincoln and stands admiring his new drive as a parishioner turns up with his young daughter in tow.
The father explains that his daughter dropped the keys in the collection plate by accident.
The 30-second spot finishes the with minister putting the letters "LT" outside the church to spell out next week's sermon topic: "LUST." [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:11 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Thu February 03, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont109.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Fri February 04, 2005 edition follows:-
• No Verdict Yet in Mass. Priest Abuse Case [1980s Shanley] - Roman Catholic Church. Boy.
Guardian (Britain), www.guardian. co.uk/uslatest/ story/0,1282,- 4779098,00.html , 10:16 PM, Friday February 4, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - A jury deliberated for seven hours Friday without reaching a verdict on child rape charges against defrocked priest Paul Shanley.
The jury is to resume deliberations Monday.
Shanley's accuser, now a 27-year-old firefighter in a Boston suburb, testified that the priest began molesting him while he was in the second grade, taking him out of religious education classes for discipline and raping him in the confessional.
The man says his repressed memories of the alleged abuse were recovered when he heard media reports about the clergy sex abuse crisis in Boston in 2002. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:11 PM]
• Grand jury indicts Hebron pastor on sex charges [2002-04 Aleshire] - Baptist. 2 girls.
The Advocate, By ERIK JOHNS, ~ February 04, 2005
NEWARK (OH) - A Licking County [This is a real name] grand jury indicted a Hebron pastor Friday on seven felony sex abuse charges, including one count of rape.
Lonny J. Aleshire Jr., 34, of 503 E. Main St., Hebron, faces six counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, third-degree felonies, three counts of sexual imposition, third-degree misdemeanors, and one count of rape, a first-degree felony.
The indictment claims Aleshire engaged in sexual conduct and contact with a girl, now 15, between August 2002 and August 2004.
Prosecutors also claim that Aleshire raped a second girl in June 2004, when she was 16. She is now 17.
Licking County Assistant Prosecutor Melinda Seeds alleges that some of the abuse - including the rape - took place in the Licking Baptist Church, Hebron, where Aleshire is the associate pastor.
• 3 priests laicized [McGrath, Straub, Yim] - RCC. Minors.
St. Louis Review, ~ February 04, 2005
ST. LOUIS (MO) - Three priests accused of sexual abuse have been dismissed from the priesthood, Archbishop Raymond L. Burke announced Jan. 28.
Archbishop Burke had initiated laicization proceedings last year against Michael McGrath, Donald Straub and Robert Yim "for the welfare of all children and for the welfare of the Church," according to a statement by the archdiocese.
The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith dismissed the three from the clerical state.
According to the statement by the archdiocese, all three men had credible allegations of sexual abuse of a minor against them. Last year in a mediation process the archdiocese settled several civil cases of clergy abuse that involved McGrath and Yim as well as others.
Laicization, which is given with the approval of the pope, means that a priest has been definitively returned to the status of a layman, is dispensed from all the obligations that he assumed by sacred orders and that a diocese no longer has responsibility for his support.
• Jury resumes deliberations in case against defrocked priest [1980s Shanley] - RCC. Boy.
azcentral.com ; Associated Press, 12:55 PM, Feb. 4, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - A jury resumed deliberating the fate of defrocked priest Paul Shanley on Friday, weighing conflicting views on the repressed memories his accuser said came to him decades after the sexual abuse allegedly took place.
The jurors received the case Thursday afternoon and deliberated for 30 minutes before the judge sent them home for the day. They returned to Middlesex Superior Court on Friday.
The accuser said his memories of the abuse were repressed for 20 years and then resurfaced when the Boston church abuse scandal broke in 2002.
But Shanley's lawyer, Frank Mondano, said in his closing argument Thursday that they were false memories that were planted by a friend, who also had accused Shanley of abuse, and then were exploited by attorneys who filed a lawsuit.
"The core facts in this case are just not true," Mondano said.
• Missionary indecently assaulted teenage nephew - [1978-82 MacEntee (Capuchin)] RCC. Boy (nephew).
One in Four, by Azra Naseem - Irish Independent, ~ February 04, 2005
IRELAND - A MISSIONARY brother who indecently assaulted his teenage nephew has been remanded in custody for sentence by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
The Capuchin Order brother pleaded guilty to two counts of indecently assaulting his nephew between February 27, 1978, and February 27, 1982, at two locations in Ireland.
Patrick MacEntee SC, for the 51-year-old brother, told Judge Frank O'Donnell his client had committed the offences at a time when he was coming to terms with the realisation that he was of homosexual orientation.
Detective Garda Michael Lally told the court that the brother had spent most of his working life as a missionary in South Africa. He was on holiday in Dublin when he invited his nephew to the Capuchin Priory in Raheny.
• Priest's tip led to pastor's arrest in porn case [2004 Bagert] - RCC. Boy computer porn.
The Dallas Morning News, By STEPHANIE SANDOVAL, 08:40 PM CST, Thursday, February 3, 2005
GRAND PRAIRIE (TX) - While associate priest Jesús Belmontes spoke with Father Matthew Bagert in his office at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Grand Prairie in December, he noticed a reflection from the pastor's computer screen on a glass picture frame behind his desk.
The reflection turned out to be the image of a nude boy. Father Belmontes alerted a Dallas Catholic Diocese official, and his tip ultimately led to the arrest Wednesday of Father Bagert on charges of possession of child pornography, a third-degree felony. He was released on $20,000 bail.
According to Grand Prairie police arrest affidavits, investigators seized Father Bagert's computer Jan. 31 at the church rectory. They found that the hard drive contained "numerous images, sexual and lewd in nature" of naked boys from ages 4 to 14 years old.
Police also seized videotapes and printed materials during the search of the rectory.
The Dallas Catholic Diocese on Wednesday suspended Father Bagert - the pastor of Immaculate Conception since 2001 - pending the outcome of the police investigation.
Father Bagert, 36, could not be reached for comment. But he has retained former Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick McLain, who specialized in prosecuting child exploitation cases.
• Diocese suspends accused priest [2004 Bagert] - RCC. Boy computer porn.
Star-Telegram, By Susan Schrock, ~ February 04, 2005
GRAND PRAIRIE (TX) - The Dallas Catholic Diocese has indefinitely suspended a Grand Prairie priest who was arrested after diocesan officials accused him of having child pornography on his church computer.
Father Matthew Bagert, 36, was arrested Wednesday morning at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church on Northeast 17th Street. The arrest came two days after the diocese told Grand Prairie police that he had child pornography on his computer.
Bagert was released from the Grand Prairie Jail on $20,000 bond.
Bronson Havard, spokesman for the diocese, said Bagert was consulting a lawyer Thursday and was declining interviews.
Bagert was ordained in 1997 and has been the church's pastor since 2001, Havard said. The diocese had received no previous complaints about him, he said.
"This was a shock for all of us," Havard said.
• Clergy abuse payouts delayed - RCC. 134 applications.
Cincinnati Enquirer, By Dan Horn, ~ February 04, 2005
CINCINNATI (Ohio) - Victims of clergy abuse might have to wait another two months to find out whether they will be paid from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati's $3 million victims' compensation fund.
The officials overseeing the fund originally had hoped to complete their work and begin paying victims in December.
But they said Thursday it has taken longer than expected to review the 134 applications for compensation - nearly twice the number expected - and to interview the victims and the accused priests.
"We're not dragging our feet," said Robert Stachler, a Cincinnati attorney and member of the independent tribunal that will disburse the money. "We want to get this behind us."
The administrator of the fund, Matthew Garretson, said the process of evaluating the claims is long, hard work. He said he could not set a deadline for finishing that work, but he estimated it could be another six to eight weeks.
• Pre-trial talks heat up in clergy sex-abuse cases - RCC. 150 cases.
Contra Costa Times, By Randy Myers, ~ February 04, 2005
OAKLAND (California) - With two cases set to go to trial in a month and intense mediation under way, attorneys in the Northern California clergy sex abuse scandal went to court Thursday to hash out more pretrial details.
But while an Alameda Superior Court judge tentatively ruled on several actions that could shape the 11 scheduled trials, it was the legal maneuvering going on behind closed doors that seemed to hang over the proceedings.
Those discussions will likely produce more settlements, stopping some of the 150 cases from going to trial.
Some of the victims remain steadfast and want their day in court, said plaintiff attorney David Drivon.
"Some clients are motivated to have (a) public record made of this," he said.
Even without a trial, some of the victims' settlements require release of key documents.
• Child-Rape Case Against Ex-Priest Is Before the Jury [1980s Shanley] - RCC. Boy.
Washington Post, By Jonathan Finer, Page A03, Friday, February 4, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 3 -- On the final day of testimony in the trial of defrocked priest Paul R. Shanley, attorneys for both sides focused closing arguments Thursday on the validity of his lone accuser's account of sexual abuse forgotten for decades and then remembered.
The case, which includes two counts of child rape and two counts of indecent assault and battery, was left to a 12-member jury, which deliberated for half an hour before adjourning until Friday morning.
Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Stephen A. Neel threw out a third count of child rape earlier this week for lack of evidence.
Defense attorney Frank Mondano said the accuser, a 27-year-old firefighter who has asked not to be identified, was manipulated by personal-injury lawyers bent on pursuing a civil suit against Shanley.
"The core facts in this case are just not true," Mondano said.
• 2 Sides Finish at the Trial of Ex-Priest in Abuse Case [1980s Shanley] - RCC. Boy.
The New York Times, By PAM BELLUCK, February 4, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 3 - The lawyer for Paul R. Shanley, a defrocked priest accused of sexual abuse, told a jury in closing arguments on Thursday that the accuser, now a 27-year-old firefighter, either had false memories of fictitious abuse or invented the accusations to win a suit.
"There isn't reasonable doubt in this case," the lawyer, Frank Mondano, said. "There is massive doubt in this case."
The prosecutor countered in her closing that the lack of specificity lent the accusations veracity.
"If it was all a lie, it would have been a better one," the prosecutor, Lynn Rooney, said. "If it was all made up, wouldn't it have been better scripted? Wouldn't there have been more detail?"
The jury began deliberating and went home after half an hour.
Earlier, Judge Stephen A. Neel of Middlesex Superior Court, had instructed the seven men and five women on the jury that there was no direct evidence to support one of the accuser's main contentions, that as a boy he was sent out of his Christian doctrine class when he misbehaved.
• Diocese OKs priest to return to duties - RCC. Rev. Mickey back to work. (1980, boys.)
Jackson Sun, By TAJUANA CHESHIER, tcheshier@jacksonsun.com , Feb 4 2005
TENNESSEE - Although a civil lawsuit against him is still pending, Father Richard Mickey will return to his duties later this month at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Jackson and St. John's Catholic Church in Brownsville.
Twin brothers Blain and Blair Chambers have accused Mickey of sexually abusing them in 1980 while they were students at Bishop Byrne High School in Memphis, according to a lawsuit the brothers filed in August in Memphis Circuit Court.
After the lawsuit was filed, Mickey was reassigned to administrative duties in Memphis pending an internal investigation by the Catholic Diocese of Memphis.
Bishop J. Terry Steib announced this week he decided the allegations against Mickey were not credible, a press release from the diocese said. The bishop made the decision to allow Mickey to return to Jackson after he accepted a report from the Diocesan Review Board. The board's task is to advise the bishop in his assessment of allegations of sexual abuse of minors, the release said.
Mickey, who has denied the allegations, will return to the parishes on Feb. 19.
• Paterson Diocese finds priest sexually abused teen [1960s Smith] - RCC. Teenager.
Star-Ledger, BY JEFF DIAMANT, Friday, February 04, 2005
PATERSON (NJ) - A Paterson Diocese tribunal has determined that a priest molested a teenager in the 1960s and should be permanently suspended from priestly duties, but it did not recommend he be formally removed from the priesthood.
The diocese announced Wednesday that a judicial panel of three priests decided, after a closed church-run trial, that the Rev. James A.D. Smith was "guilty of at least one act of sexual abuse of a minor."
Bishop Arthur Serratelli has approved the penalty, a spokeswoman said.
Smith, 74, a diocesan priest for about 50 years, was accused of repeatedly molesting a teenager in the 1960s while he worked at Our Lady of Victories Church in Paterson.
Smith has long denied the charge and will appeal the verdict to the diocese judges and, if necessary, to the Vatican, diocese spokeswoman Marianna Thompson said.
• Shanley case goes to the jury [1980s Shanley] - RCC. Boy.
The Boston Globe, By Joanna Weiss, February 4, 2005
CAMBRIDGE (MA) -- Paul R. Shanley's accuser is a victim overwhelmed with true memories of abuse by his parish priest, or he's a suggestible man who believes vivid stories that were planted in his mind.
He is a publicity-monger desperate for attention and reward, or he's a brave young man with a story to tell and nothing to gain but the truth.
It's now up to a Middlesex County jury to decide, as it debates whether Shanley, 74, repeatedly raped and abused the alleged victim in the early 1980s.
As lawyers delivered their closing arguments yesterday in Shanley's child rape trial in Middlesex Superior Court, it was the accuser who seemed more directly on trial: his life recounted, his motives questioned, his testimony examined. Both sides reminded jurors how the accuser had sobbed last week on the witness stand, but they offered different theories for those emotions.
The alleged victim, a 27-year-old firefighter, accuses Shanley of molesting him during Sunday school hours from ages 6 to 11, in the pews, rectory, confessional, and boys' room of St. Jean Church in Newton.
The accuser says he forgot about the abuse, but remembered it in 2002, when he learned of The Boston Globe stories about Shanley and a Sunday school classmate. Last year, he was awarded $500,000 in a civil settlement with the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.
• Former parishioners try to save priest's image [1970s Feely] - RCC. 2 boys.
The Press-Enterprise, By MICHAEL FISHER, 11:27 PM PST, Thursday, February 3, 2005
CALIFORNIA - When Diane Lamb wed in 1976, the Riverside woman vowed that her family's former priest, the Rev. Theodore Feely, would perform the ceremony.
"He was just a wonderful man," said Lamb, now 48. "I changed parishes because it meant that much to me that he officiate over my wedding."
Nearly two decades later, Lamb is organizing a group of former Queen of Angels parishioners who are defending Feely, accused in recent months of molesting two boys in Rockford, Ill., during the 1970s.
The Riverside group, who grew up revering the Franciscan friar in the 1960s, are gathering signatures to send to Feely's religious order, hoping to preserve his memory as a quiet, spiritual priest who died in 1991.
"I believe to my soul that he didn't do it," said Lamb's brother, Robin Woolsey, 50, who suspects Feely's accusers are trying to cash-in on the clergy sex scandal gripping the Catholic Church. "It's an opportunity to make a buck by leveling charges that really can't be defended."
• Assistant principal resigns [1960s, 1996-2004 Gilpin (former seminarian; school assistant principal)] - RCC, then Episcopal.
East County Observer, By Christine Suh, Feb/03/05
MANATEE (FL) - When the news hit that Joseph Gilpin, assistant principal at Haile Middle School, was suspended for allegations of sexual abuse in the late 1960s, parent Lisa Veltri said she supported the decision.
And like the Manatee County School Board, she would wait for the outcome of a private investigation before drawing any conclusions.
At the same time, she said although disturbing, the announcement wasn't shocking. Gilpin's behavior around children didn't seem appropriate for an educator.
In fact, Gilpin had been accused of inappropriate behavior with students in Manatee schools as early as 1996 and as late as last November.
According to Manatee County Sheriff's Office reports, three Haile students accused Gilpin of inappropriate behavior on Nov. 3. Investigators questioned the students as well as Gilpin.
The statements among the parties conflicted, and the investigators found no evidence of criminal violation.
Veltri wished there was some mechanism to catch people who fall through the cracks of the school's background check.
• Church suspends Gilpin as teacher [1960s Gilpin (ex-seminarian, school assistant principal)] - RCC, then Episcopal. Boys.
Bradenton Herald, By RICHARD DYMOND, Herald Staff Writer, ~ Feb 04, 2005
MANATEE (FL) - A man accused of molesting two boys in the 1960s will not be permitted to work directly with children at Christ Episcopal Church, where he has attended services for three decades.
The Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida issued a news release Thursday afternoon that said Gilpin had been suspended from participation in a program titled "Safeguarding God's Children," designed to protect children from sexual abuse.
Joseph Gilpin, however, will remain on the church vestry, said the Rev. Kerry Robb, Bradenton's Christ Episcopal Church interim rector.
"In light of the circumstances, our bishop has said that Mr. Gilpin should not participate at that level," Robb said of Gilpin working with children. "I have not talked to Mr. Gilpin, but I am sure he agrees."
The news release said even though there is no evidence of Gilpin's guilt, the allegations were enough for the church to make the announcement.
"Obviously, teachers of a program to prevent child sexual abuse must be above reproach on this issue, and so allegations involving Mr. Gilpin's conduct with youth that have recently come to our attention are disturbing.
While we recognize that Mr. Gilpin has not admitted wrongdoing, the allegations alone have severely damaged his credibility as a trainer," the news release said.
• Boston priest's child-rape case goes to jury [1980s Shanley] - RCC. Boy.
The Seattle Times, By Denise Lavoie, The Associated Press, ~ Feb 04, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - A jury yesterday began deliberating the fate of defrocked priest Paul Shanley, charged with raping a boy at his Boston-area church in the 1980s.
The jury received the case after lawyers clashed over the validity of the repressed memories Shanley's accuser said came to him three years ago, when the Boston church abuse scandal broke.
The jury of seven men and five women deliberated for 30 minutes before the judge sent them home for the day. They were to return today.
The defense earlier presented a sole witness: a psychologist who argued that some people's repressed memories are false. Shanley's lawyer said the accuser's claims of sexual abuse were lies orchestrated by personal-injury lawyers.
• Jury begins deliberations in ex-priest's child-rape trial [1980s Shanley] - RCC. Repressed memory disputed. Boy.
Boston Herald, By Marie Szaniszlo, Friday, February 4, 2005
CAMBRIDGE (MA) - After six days of emotional, often combative testimony about memory and motive, a Middlesex jury yesterday began deliberations in the child-rape trial of defrocked priest Paul Shanley.
The panel of seven men and five women met for only a half-hour late yesterday afternoon before Superior Court Judge Stephen Neel told them to resume talks this morning about whether Shanley, 74, repeatedly molested a former Sunday school student from 1983 to 1989 at St. Jean's parish in Newton.
The alleged victim, now a 27-year-old firefighter, claims he repressed memories of the abuse until early 2002, when he began having flashbacks after learning that a former classmate had made similar allegations. The Herald does not name alleged sexual assault victims.
Yesterday, the defense called its only witness, Elizabeth Loftus, a University of California at Irvine psychologist, who testified, "I don't believe there is any credible scientific evidence that years of brutalization can be massively repressed."
During cross-examination, Deputy First Assistant District Attorney Lynn Rooney noted that Loftus had acknowledged in an article that people "most certainly" can forget "horrible" events because they are too painful to remember.
Loftus acknowledged she has testified on behalf of such criminals as serial killer Ted Bundy and the "Hillside strangler," even though she is neither a clinician nor an expert on dissociative disorders. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:04 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Fri February 04, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont109.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
• Jury rejects brutal sex fiend's story. [Vassallo] - No religion link reported. Girl.
The West Australian, By ROY GIBSON, p 34, Friday, February 4, 2005
PERTH (W. Australia): An Attadale man was warned to expect a long jail term yesterday after a District Court jury convicted him of raping a teenage girl during a home burglary.
Spray painter Nickolas Mondon Vassallo, 33, of Brolin Road, has been in custody since he was arrested in January last year.
He admitted breaking into a house in Booragoon and depriving the 16-year-old girl of her liberty but denied committing a host of indecent assaults and sex offences during a terrifying two-hour ordeal.
Vassallo claimed the only sexual incident was when the girl offered to masturbate him if he did not steal from her and then left the house. The offer shocked him but he accepted it, he claimed.
But the jury rejected this and returned unanimous guilty verdicts after a four-day trial.
Judge Kate O'Brien remanded Vassallo in custody for pre-sentence and psychological reports and he will be sentenced later on one charge of aggravated burglary, one of deprivation of liberty, nine of indecent assault and six of sexual penetration.
Prosecutor Sean O'Sullivan said the jury clearly did not believe Vassallo.
"Any shame he feels is personal - any remorse is over being found out. He treated her as a toy for his own gratification, degrading her and keeping her naked in his presence for a long time," Mr O'Sullivan said.
It was a traumatic experience for the girl who was forced to re-live the ordeal when giving evidence.
The girl, who was at home with her 14-year-old brother, testified she got up after hearing a noise and someone jumped her from behind. He put an arm around her neck and a cushion over her face.
The girl said her pyjamas were removed and the man committed a number of sexual assaults.
Police found Vassallo's fingerprints and DNA in the bedroom.
In his evidence, Vassallo said he broke into the house believing no one was at home and spent a couple of hours searching for items to steal before the girl disturbed him.
He denied removing her clothes and denied making up a story about her masturbating him simply to explain how his DNA was found in the bedroom.# [Feb 4, 05]
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sat February 05, 2005 edition follows:-
• Catholic hero now faces Vatican inquiry [Maciel (Legionaries of Christ)] - Roman Catholic Church. 8 complainants. Male seminarians.
Guardian (Britain), http://observer. guardian.co.uk/ international/ story/0,6903, 1406844,00.html , Jo Tuckman in Mexico City, The Observer, for Sunday February 6, 2005
MEXICO - It was nearly 50 years ago, but José Barba winces as he remembers Father Marcial Maciel, founder and icon of the Legion of Christ, the secretive Roman Catholic order said to be second only in papal influence to Opus Dei.
'Oh, I felt so very unhappy,' he said, after describing one incident just before the priest said Mass one Easter Sunday. 'I wanted to run, but he was everything to us. He was Our Father and we thought he was a saint. I went to my room and I cried and cried, and then I went to Mass.'
The fear, pain, humiliation and resentment that Barba says once tormented him have faded over the years, but for the Catholic church the abuse he and others claim to have suffered threatens to erupt into a child abuse scandal that reaches the highest Vatican ranks.
Barba wants the church to recognise publicly the crimes he and many others claim Maciel committed. 'We want people to know that the founder of an institution so close to the Pope and who has written so much about chastity is in fact a pederast.'
Along with seven other former seminarians - all now in their sixties - this mild-mannered university lecturer has been trying to get the Vatican to investigate Maciel for years. Several of the eight plaintiffs approached bishops as early as the 1960s, only to be told to leave it all in God's hands.
One of the group, Juan José Vaca, sent several complaints to the Vatican and got no response. The group lodged formal charges at the Vatican in 1998. A year later they were informed the case had been shelved with the extra-official justification that their suffering could not compare to the risk of disillusioning thousands of Catholics. [Posted by Kathy Shaw 08:42 PM]
• Archbishop Fails to Send Letter [1972 Christian] - RCC. Month but no apology letter. Boy.
KWMU, http://publicbroadcasting.net/kwmu/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=735476 , by Kevin Lavery, Feb 03, 2005
ST. LOUIS, MO. -- The sister of an accused child molester is calling on St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke to make a formal apology for the abuse.
Last December, the archdiocese settled a lawsuit against Father Norman Christian, who was accused of molesting victim Tim Fischer in 1972. The settlement required Archbishop Burke to write Fischer a letter of apology.
But Carol Kuhnert, the priest's sister, says that letter has yet to come and she wants Burke to express more compassion for victims.
"You would think he would be reaching out and protecting his flock, and I don't see him doing that," Kuhnert said. "He protects his priests very well, but he does not reach out to his priests' victims."
Church officials say an administrative snag is holding up the court-ordered apology. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:37 AM[
[DOCTRINE: 2 - 4 - 10:13 -- And the hireling flieth, because he is a hireling ; and he hath no care for the sheep. DOCTRINE ENDS.]
• Rapist priest preyed on vulnerable women [1990s-2000s Somanathan] - Hindu. Women.
Local London, By Local London Reporter, ~ February 05, 2005
BRITAIN - A Hindu priest fired by a temple in Tooting for his behaviour around women went on to rape a female worshipper from a temple in Croydon.
Ramanathan Somanathan was found guilty of twice raping the 29-year-old woman, abusing his position as a respected priest at the Sivaskanthagiri Arulmigu Murugan Temple in Thornton Road, Croydon.
Croydon Crown Court heard how the chairman of the Sivayogam Muthumariyamman temple in Upper Tooting Road had decided not to renew Somanathan's contract when he worked there six years ago, because he had become concerned about the defendant's behaviour towards women at the temple.
The court heard that the married 41-year-old from Thornton Heath had told his victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, that they had been married in a previous life.
Gillian Etherton, prosecuting, told the court that Somanathan had also sexually harassed other worshippers at the Croydon temple, and many of them had been afraid to come forward fearing a backlash from the local Hindu community.
• Church clergy board clears priest [? 1968 King] - RCC. Girl.
Pasadena Star-News, By Marianne Love, ~ February 05, 2005
CALIFORNIA - A lawsuit accusing a former Covina priest of molesting an 11-year-old boy will go forward, despite a church oversight board's finding that he did nothing wrong.
The attorney for the plaintiff said the decision by the Clergy Misconduct Oversight Board of the Los Angeles Archdiocese doesn't affect his case against the Rev. Thomas King, who began his career at St. Louise de Marillac Catholic Church 37 years ago and continues as pastor at St. Anastasia Catholic Church in Los Angeles.
"I'm not surprised. It's like the wolf watching over the hen house," said Irwin M. Zalkin of Zalkin and Zimmer, LLP in San Diego. "I don't have any faith in what they do. The depth and breadth of their investigation doesn't compare with what we will do when we have the opportunity to conduct discovery, to get documents, interview witnesses under oath that's when life changes.'
King remains accused of engaging in sexual molestation for three to six months when the plaintiff, fictitiously referred to as John Roe 6, now 48, was 11 years old. Attorneys have refused to release the plaintiff's name.
• Prosecutor: Pastor Seduced Victim [Aleshire] - Baptist. Girls.
The Advocate, By Erik Johns, February 05, 2005
NEWARK (OH) -- A local prosecutor described a two-year relationship between a Hebron pastor and his teenage parishioner as a love affair that included hand-holding and romance.
"He and (the victim) actually had a love affair," Licking County Assistant Prosecutor Melinda Seeds said Friday. "He completely seduced her."
A Licking County grand jury on Friday indicted Lonny J. Aleshire Jr., 34, of 503 E. Main St., Hebron, on seven felony sex abuse charges involving two teenage sisters, including one count of rape by force. Aleshire also faces three misdemeanor counts involving the youngest girl, now 15.
Seeds says she plans to seek more charges from a grand jury next week.
Authorities allege the rape occurred last June in a hallway at the Licking Baptist Church, 1380 Beaver Run Road, Hebron, where Aleshire is the associate pastor. The victim in that case is the older sister of the girl who reportedly had the two-year relationship.
The older sister, now 17, told authorities what had happened.
Aleshire faces six counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, third-degree felonies, three counts of sexual imposition, third-degree misdemeanors, and one count of rape by force, a first-degree felony.
• Gilpin quits vestry [1960s Gilpin (former seminarian; school assistant principal)] - RCC, then Episcopal. Boys.
Bradenton Herald, www.bradenton. com/mld/ bradenton/ news/local/ 10822783.htm , By RICHARD DYMOND, ~ February 05, 2005
MANATEE (FL) - Joseph Gilpin resigned from the vestry of Christ Episcopal Church on Friday morning, hours before two clergy abuse groups had planned to ask the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida to remove him.
"This has been the best news," said Christopher M. McCafferty, president of Advocates for Children's Innocence Inc., after Bishop John Lipscomb of the diocese made the announcement in the middle of a news conference.
McCafferty's group and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP] called the news conference at the diocese's Lakewood Ranch headquarters, alarmed that Gilpin was allowed to continue serving on the vestry.
Gilpin resigned as assistant principal at Haile Middle School on Jan. 28 after allegations surfaced that he molested two boys in the 1960s.
• Sex-abuse scandal puts parish assets in jeopardy - RCC.
Winston-Salem Journal, By Steve Woodward, RELIGION NEWS SERVICE, ~ February 05, 2005
FLORENCE (OR) - The 450 families of St. Mary Our Lady of the Dunes Catholic Church in Florence, Ore., have no doubt that the parish belongs to them.
The congregation dates to at least 1949, when the parish priest in Reedsport made monthly trips to Florence to celebrate Mass in people's homes. Since then, the church has been housed in an American Legion hall, the upstairs of Cooper's Mercantile Store and a 20-by-50-foot donated building that had to be trucked to the site in 1953. Parishioners have pledged $1.9 million toward a major building expansion, said Ken Janowski, fund-raising chairman.
There's just one problem: The parish might not actually exist as a separate legal entity, because the archdiocese holds the title for its property. If that's the case, St. Mary's could see $1.5 million in property, cash and savings used to help settle a staggering $534 million in claims against the bankrupt Archdiocese of Portland for alleged clergy sexual abuse of at least 72 men and women.
As a result, the building expansion, which had already gone out to bid, is on indefinite, and perhaps permanent, hold.
[COMMENT: It's possibly a local reaction to being dispossessed, but it could be just another of the stratagems to deny compensation to the victims, If so, it is part of the Roman Church's system of setting unscriptural standards of sexual morality, failing to live up to them, and then being "in denial." Faulty translations and tricky interpretations of old documents is part of the root cause of this mentality. Gullibility (apparitions that no-one else see, weeping statues, apostolic succession, keeping secrets, etc) keeps it going. COMMENT ENDS.]
• 5 clergy abuse victims get cash from diocese [Albany Diocese] - RCC. 5 settled, 25 to go.
Albany Times Union, By MICHELE MORGAN BOLTON, Saturday, February 5, 2005
ALBANY (NY) -- Five victims of clergy sexual abuse have each been paid tens of thousands of dollars to settle claims against the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese, the first to be compensated through an independent mediation program.
"I think the victims are satisfied and I think the diocese is satisfied," said Howard Levine, the retired Court of Appeals associate judge who oversees the program created last fall.
Even as these settlements are announced, another 25 claims are being investigated and a victims advocacy group is seeking to extend a Feb. 20 deadline to apply for the program.
Levine declined to release the names of the five priests involved in these cases, but said none are in active ministry. He also declined to discuss specific settlement amounts, but noted that several were "substantial." [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:35 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sat February 05, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont109.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
• Man jailed for massive child porn collection. [Arnold] - No religion link reported. Community Welfare ex-employee. > 300,000 computer images.
The West Australian, By GAY McNAMARA, p 52, Saturday, February 5, 2005
PERTH (WA): A Joondanna man who collected more than 300,000 images of child pornography and who fantasised about drugging and raping a child has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years jail.
Christopher James Arnold, 52, was one of the worst offenders caught in Operation Auxin. Yesterday, District Court Judge Michael O'Sullivan said a number of the images could only be described as perverted, disturbing and depraved.
"Many of these children are clearly not Australian and heaven knows what abuse and degradation they have been subjected to," he said.
Judge O'Sullivan said when police raided Arnold's house they found boxes of pornographic magazines, video cassettes, video clips and stories penned by Arnold in a diary.
The video clips included boys engaged in sexual acts, as victims and perpetrators, and with adults.
Arnold had worked at the Department of Community Development (then known as Community Welfare) for many years before retiring to run a computer business.
He had never married or had a long-term relationship and lived with his parents until they died. He had no prior convictions, he said.
Judge O'Sullivan said Arnold had fantasised about children but psychologists' reports found no evidence of a desire for physical contact with boys.
One psychologist said Arnold was a very unusual case because fantasising normally led to hands-on offending. The two psychologists deemed Arnold as a low risk of re-offending.
Judge O'Sullivan discounted the sentence for Arnold's early plea of guilty to the eight charges of possessing child pornography and made him eligible for parole.
The sentence is the biggest handed down to WA offenders caught in Australia's biggest child pornography crackdown, Operation Auxin.
Department for Community Development executive director Mino Intini said Arnold worked for the department from 1970 to 1991, in clerical positions and as a resources officer, and pre-dated the introduction into the department of access to the internet.
Mr Intini said the department has had a compulsory screen policy in place since 1998. [Feb 5, 05]
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont109.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sun February 06, 2005 edition follows:-
• Supporters, accusers have stake in priest trial [1980s Shanley] - Roman Catholic Church. Boy.
Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, USA), By DENISE LAVOIE, AP Legal Affairs Writer, February 06, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.- Defrocked priest Paul Shanley was one of the most notorious figures in the clergy sexual abuse scandal that has shaken the Roman Catholic Church, but his trial has been a low-key affair, drawing only a smattering of spectators on any given day.
A few Shanley supporters have shown up, offering him a handshake or an occasional cup of coffee during breaks in the testimony. Some of his alleged victims have been there, too, listening as his now-adult accuser testified the once charismatic priest would take him out of Catholic education classes to molest him.
And what they see is not the long-haired vigorous "street priest" once hailed for befriending the downtrodden, but a frail old man wearing a hearing aide [? aid] remaining stoic as the most graphic of allegations unfolded over the course of the two-week trial. The jury resumes deliberations Monday.
"I didn't want to be afraid any more," said one man who went to see Shanley for counseling 30 years ago at age 15, when he felt confused after his first homosexual experience. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 01:37 PM]
• Sex molestation cases against Jehovah's Witnesses narrowed [Glew]- Jehovah's Witnesses. 7 complainants now.
Napa Valley Register, www.napanews. com/templates/ index.cfm? template=story_ full&id=07DC 390C-0BCC-47E2- BAE0-3EF7 CD306533 ; By DAVID RYAN, Saturday, February 5, 2005
CALIFORNIA - A stack of child molestation cases filed against the Jehovah's Witnesses is due to shrink.
Lawyers representing individuals suing Jehovah's Witness organizations said Friday they would move next week to dismiss eight Sonoma County plaintiffs they believe are more trouble than they're worth.
In the case of two of the plaintiffs, lawyers had been unsuccessful in their attempts to communicate with their clients.
When finalized, the action will drop the number of lawsuits against the Jehovah's Witnesses in Napa Superior Court from 11 to seven. Three of the cases affected were originally filed in Sonoma County, but were later consolidated in Napa with cases from Napa, Tehama, Placer, Yolo and Monterey counties.
The Sonoma County plaintiffs accused the church of taking no action to stop a former Sonoma County Jehovah's Witness official named Donald Glew from molesting children, even though they claim the church knew of Glew's conduct.
• A full accounting [Gilpin (former seminarian; school assistant principal)] - RCC, then Episcopal. Boys.
Herald Tribune, February 05, 2005
MANATEE (FL) - When Manatee County school officials complete their review of allegations against longtime educator Joseph Gilpin, they need to publicly detail the events leading to his departure and any resulting changes in school district policies and practices.
Gilpin, a 34-year employee of the district, resigned as assistant principal at Haile Middle School last week after officials learned of accusations that he sexually molested two boys while he was studying to become a priest in the Northeast in the 1960s.
One of the complaints was part of an $85 million settlement reached by the Archdiocese of Boston with numerous individuals who reported being abused by priests. A second man has filed a complaint with the Roman Catholic Church in Maine, alleging Gilpin molested him from 1968 to 1970.
Although Manatee officials now appear to be on the right track with their review, numerous reports have emerged in recent days that warrant a formal report explaining certain details:
• Advocates for victims of abuse seek reforms - Various religions.
The Cincinnati Post, February 05, 2005
OHIO - Stung because court decisions have ended most Hamilton County cases alleging priest sex abuse before they can be prosecuted, advocates for the victims want to change the law.
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, a support groups for victims, called for support for new legislation that would extend or eliminate the statute of limitations.
Ohio's law now usually gives victims only until they turn age 20 to expose the abusers, not enough time for children victims of abuse to realize what has happened to them, deal with it and report it.
Specifically, SNAP is advocating for a law change that allows for a two-year time frame "in which the statute of limitations may not be asserted as a defense."
• Phoenix Bishop says that scandal may return a healthy sense of sin - RCC.
Catholic News Agency, www.catholic newsagency.com/ new.php?n=3023 , Feb. 04, 2005
PHOENIX (AZ) (CNA) - Speaking to a group of youth ministers in the Diocese of Phoenix in January, Bishop Thomas Olmsted said that, "popes this century have described a loss of the sense of sin, a phenomena that is accompanied by the loss of the sense of God. But, through the scandal of child abuse by clergy, this trend may be changing."
According to the Phoenix Catholic Sun, Olmsted told the group that, "We become truly eager for the grace of conversion when deep down inside of us we feel real shame and real sorrow for our own sinfulness and the harm it causes others."
[COMMENT: What, "eager for the grace of conversion"? How about being eager for the grace of discernment, to find the causes of the failure to love normally? Could it be the skewed selection standards and denial of marriage in the RCC? COMMENT ENDS.]
• Some call him priest; church calls him fake [Scott] - "Bishop" of "Abbey", and complainant.
Chicago Tribune, By E.A. Torriero, Published February 6, 2005
GALESBURG, Ill. -- His followers know him as Father Ryan St. Anne Scott, bishop of the independent Holy Rosary Abbey, currently housed in a converted home for the mentally ill in this western Illinois city.
For more than 15 years, the gregarious Scott--divorced and a convicted felon--has moved his troubled abbey around the Midwest, drawing small bands of disenchanted, mostly elderly, Catholics who long for the Latin mass of their youth.
But time after time, Scott and his followers have parted acrimoniously after battling over property, money and theology.
Roman Catholic officials in at least four states have publicly warned that Scott is not a legitimate priest and that the baptisms, weddings, funerals and other ceremonies he conducts are not sanctioned by the church.
Those warnings are now being echoed by the Peoria diocese, which has advised Roman Catholics in western and central Illinois not to attend mass or receive sacraments or counseling from Scott. ...
In 2002, while still running his abbey in Iowa, an emotional Scott appeared in full clerical garb at news conferences in Washington and Dallas, where Catholic bishops were meeting to grapple with the priest sex-abuse scandal.
He provided a graphic account of being gang-raped, along with several other young men, in the 1970s by a group of priests in the rectory of St. John's Cathedral in Milwaukee.
Church officials, police in Wisconsin and victim support groups all rushed to investigate his claims, but none could substantiate his story.
A diocese spokeswoman says Scott never provided specifics, including dates and names of priests or other possible victims. Scott says he attempted to get church officials and detectives in Wisconsin to investigate his claim before going public.
• I enjoy being a Pastor - RCC.
The New Mexican, By HENRY M. LOPEZ, February 6, 2005
NEW MEXICO - When he was a boy, Jerome Martinez y Alire told his father he wanted to become a priest in the Roman Catholic Church. He remembers his father's words, which have served as an inspiration during his 29 years as priest.
"If you want to be a priest, I want you to be a damn good one," Martinez recalled with a laugh Friday. "So I have to live up to that and try and be a damn good priest."
Last Sunday, the 54-year-old was named monsignor, a title of honor demonstrating how far he had come to meet his father's expectation. The title monsignor is conferred on Catholic clergymen for outstanding service to the church.
Martinez becomes only the second priest in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe so honored in the last 40 years. And while it is Martinez who will be called monsignor, he said, the honor belongs to all the archdiocese priests who persevered during the past decade, when allegations of sexual abuse and their resulting lawsuits bludgeoned the church's image in the United States.
"The vast majority of priests kept their parishes together during all the crises by just being outstanding, hard-working men of God," Martinez said. "And that's why (last) Sunday I accepted this honor, not for me -- I don't count for much -- but for the all the priests."
• The Men Behind The Pope - RCC. Card. Cottier backs anti-AIDS condoms, Spain backs homo. weddings.
Time Magazine, BY JEFF ISRAELY, VATICAN CITY, ~ February 06, 2005
VATICAN CITY - Ever since the Pope barely survived a 1981 assassination attempt, Catholics worldwide have got used to praying for his health. Whenever John Paul II has a setback - and he's had quite a few in the past 10 years - speculation about his successor ratchets up another notch.
So when the Pope was rushed to the hospital last week suffering from an inflamed windpipe, spasms of the larynx and the flu, people wondered how long he would be able to continue in office. The Vatican reported that John Paul was making a good recovery, but with the 84-year-old Pontiff increasingly debilitated by Parkinson's disease, some are asking a more immediate question: Who's running the church?
Despite his physical frailty, Vatican officials say John Paul is still mentally alert and capable of making the big decisions. And the Pope insists on appearing as often as possible in public. But even the most steadfast loyalists concede that his failing health has forced the Pope to delegate a substantial chunk of his workload.
"He's still the head of the church," says one priest based in Rome who is well-connected to top Vatican officials. "But he's more of a figurehead. He's not making the day-to-day decisions anymore." That, according to one senior Vatican official, poses risks. "There's more of a chance for corruption," the official told Time. "People start coming in and looking for a favor - sometimes with money - looking to have someone appointed or transferred to this or that diocese."
There have been no recent reported charges of priests or laypeople bribing church officials, but there have been concerns that the Holy See was lax in responding to the ongoing sexual abuse scandal in the U.S. And there have been some mixed messages coming out of Rome.
Just last week, the theologian Georges Cardinal Cottier contradicted longstanding Church teachings that ban condom use, saying they could be "legitimate" to fight aids. The Vatican also seems to have been caught off guard by Spain's move to legalize gay marriage, which the church vehemently opposes.
• Cleric removed from priesthood [1987 Salazar] - RCC. Convicted, but re-hired. Now dismissed. Male.
Amarillo Globe-News, By BRANDI DEAN, brandi.dean@amarillo.com , February 06, 2005
TULIA (TX) - A former priest of Church of the Holy Spirit in Tulia accused of sexual abuse was recently removed from the priesthood by the Vatican.
The Rev. Michael Colwell, vicar general of the Catholic Diocese of Amarillo, said the diocese received word about a week ago that Pope John Paul II had made the final decision to end John Salazar's employment as a result of proven inappropriate sexual behavior with a minor in California in the late 1980s.
Salazar pleaded guilty to two child-sex related charges in Los Angeles in 1987. He served three years in prison and was released to a treatment program for sex offenders before coming to the Amarillo diocese in 1991.
He is now awaiting a Dallas trial to face accusations of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old former parishioner in an Irving hotel room while the man was unconscious. The trial was delayed in August to give the prosecutors time to amend the indictment after they received information that Salazar allegedly committed other acts of sexual misconduct against victims in Swisher County, according to Globe-News files.
Until now, the diocese had to provide Salazar with a food allowance and money for basic sustenance, as well as medical insurance while he awaited trial. But as he has now been dismissed, Colwell said, the food and basic sustenance allowance ended immediately, and the medical care will be discontinued at the end of February.
• Clergy sex abuse inquiry labors on - RCC. < 3yrs, 1 arrest.
Philadelphia Inquirer, www.philly.com/ mld/inquirer/news/ local/states/ pennsylvania/ 10826625.htm , By Nancy Phillips, ~ February 06, 2005
PHILADELPHIA (PA) - Hundreds of witnesses have been interviewed. A cardinal's words and deeds have come under scrutiny; even his appointment books are of interest. Behind the closed doors of a Philadelphia grand-jury room, tears have flowed.
But after nearly three years, the nation's longest-running investigation of sex abuse by Catholic clergy has yielded but a single arrest. And some victims have become frustrated by the probe's secrecy and its lumbering pace.
When she launched the inquiry at the height of the abuse scandal, District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham vowed to root out abuses by Philadelphia clergy, living or dead. That was in April 2002.
"It's been three years, and the victims want to know what's going on," said James P. Dolan of South Philadelphia, who told investigators that his parish priest abused him as a teenager. "I want to know what's going on behind those doors."
People familiar with the investigation say the grand jury toils on, with new documents or testimony each week, and prosecutors considering criminal charges.
Any decision on whether to file charges will fall to Abraham, who declined to comment last week, citing grand-jury secrecy rules and a gag order imposed by the judge. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:36 AM]
• IRS documents show ties between charity, sex cult - The Family / Children of God.
San Francisco Chronicle, by Don Lattin, Chronicle Religion Writer, Sunday, February 6, 2005
DULZURA, San Diego County, CALIFORNIA -- Internal Revenue Service documents filed by the Family Care Foundation, a not-for-profit charity in Southern California, show deep, ongoing ties between the organization and the Family, the evangelical sex cult rocked by a recent murder-suicide.
But officials with the Family Care Foundation deny any connection to the controversial cult.
The religious sect, formerly known as the Children of God, was started in the late 1960s by Oakland native David "Moses" Berg, who attracted tens of thousands of devotees in the 1970s with his strange brew of evangelical Christianity and sexual license.
But J. Gordon Melton, an authority on new religions who has studied the Family for years, said the sect established the charitable foundation to help raise money for church projects.
"The Family Care Foundation is the Family," said Melton, who directs the Institute for the Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara.
• Utah court upholds child rape conviction [Green] - Polygamy sect.
Casper Star-Tribune, By DEBBIE HUMMEL, Associated Press writer, ~ February 06, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- The Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the child rape conviction of polygamist Tom Green for having sex with his first wife, Linda Kunz, in 1986, when she was 13 years old.
Green, 56, one of Utah's most prominent polygamists, was sentenced to up to life in prison after his June 2002 conviction.
He appealed, arguing the statute of limitations had run out. He also claimed the trial court lacked jurisdiction because the alleged rape occurred in Mexico.
The high court ruled Tuesday the statute had not run out because the 1985 incident wasn't reported to law enforcement until 1999. ...
Dupaix also said the decision would be important in future child sexual abuse cases because the ruling more clearly outlines the statue of limitations and clarifies what constitutes a report to law enforcement. [Bolding added]
• Psychologist Sues Catholic Church and Midwest Attorney Generals to Enforce Child Sex Abuse Laws, Asks Court to Equate Abuse with "Emotional Murder" [Chicago Archdiocese] - RCC.
PR Leap, www.prleap. com/pr/4145 , ~ February 06, 2005
CHICAGO (IL) - The Catholic church's sex abuse scandal takes center stage Wednesday, February 16th at 10:30 before the Chicago federal courtroom of 7th Circuit District Court Senior Judge George Marovich, when Illinois psychologist Dr. Theophilus Green takes on Chicago's Cardinal Joseph Cardinal George and asks the court to remove state and federal statute of limitations on child sexual abuse.
At this hearing, both are expected to be present.
Dr. Green sued Cardinal George and the Washington-based United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on behalf on his clients, using a rarely used and little understood legal strategy called jus terii.
Simply put, it allows a third party stakeholder to sue on behalf of another, for himself and the second party, when both are damaged and the latter is unable to sue the first.
As a psychologist, Dr. Green sued Cardinal George, a vice president of USCCB, Vatican City's legal representative in America, for not complying with child protection laws that could have protected his clients from abusers church Mandated Reporters knowingly failed to report.
Dr. Green complains that when Illinois unlawfully placed sanctions on his license, following compliance with child protection laws, and enforced them with other states, they interfered with his ability to protect his clients locally and nationally.
• Five church abuse victims compensated [Albany Diocese] - RCC. $US 5.2m. 5 victims paid so far.
Record, www.record online.com/archive/ 2005/02/06/ brf559.htm , February 06, 2005
ALBANY (NY) - Five victims of clergy sexual abuse each received tens of thousands of dollars under a program that investigates abuse allegations and provides financial assistance to victims.
Retired state Court of Appeals Judge Howard Levine, who heads the program, declined to release the names of the priests involved but said none are in active ministry.
"I think the victims are satisfied, and I think the diocese is satisfied," Levine said Friday. He would not provide details about specific settlement amounts.
A $5.2 million fund is available to pay church abuse victims. The five victims are the first to be compensated by the program. Another 25 claims are pending.
• Avoid St. Padre Pio magazine, diocese warns - RCC.
Post-Gazette, By Ann Rodgers, Sunday, February 06, 2005
PITTSBURGH (PA) - The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh has warned local Catholics against a magazine devoted to St. Padre Pio that is closely associated with a former Pittsburgh priest who was removed from ministry by the pope due to allegations of child sexual abuse.
Copies of Thorns and Roses, containing an article signed "Father Anthony Cipolla" had been found at several parishes, said the Rev. Lawrence DiNardo, diocesan chief canon lawyer.
Cipolla has been forbidden to call himself "Father" since Bishop Donald W. Wuerl banned him from ministry in 1988. After diocesan officials repeatedly caught him acting as a priest outside the diocese, Wuerl successfully appealed to have Pope John Paul II remove Cipolla from all ties to the priesthood. That was done in 2002.
Thorns and Roses is published by Padre Pio Spiritual Refuge Inc., which Cipolla founded. "As you read through the magazine, it is very clear that the main leadership of the spiritual refuge organization is Anthony Cipolla," DiNardo said.
• 3 priests quietly dismissed [Schmeer, Sicoli, Henry] - RCC. Minors.
Philadelphia Inquirer, www.philly. com/mld/ inquirer/ news/local/ states/penns ylvania/108 26638.htm , By David O'Reilly, ~ February 06, 2005
PENNSYLVANIA - The Archdiocese of Philadelphia dismissed three priests in November - quietly.
Months earlier, two of the priests had stepped down as pastors after they were accused of sexually abusing minors, which they denied.
But on Nov. 22, when the church removed them from ministry, effectively ending their careers, it made no announcement outside their parishes, and last week provided little additional information.
The three men removed from ministry were the Rev. John P. Schmeer, pastor of St. Martin of Tours parish in New Hope since 1991; the Rev. David C. Sicoli, pastor of Holy Spirit parish in South Philadelphia since 1999; and the Rev. James T. Henry, parochial vicar at Christ the King parish in Philadelphia since 2000.
Their exits were in contrast with the archdiocese's public announcement of the dismissals of four priests for sex-abuse charges in 2003. The church identified the priests by name - suggesting a new transparency after decades of secrecy.
On Dec. 18, 2003, the archdiocesan newspaper reported that the church review board had "determined that allegations of sexual misconduct with teenagers against [the] four priests are deemed credible."
• Abuse victims urged to talk [1988-89 Dominguez] - RCC.
The Press-Enterprise, By MICHAEL FISHER and MELISSA EISELEIN, 12:15 AM PST on Sunday, February 6, 2005
CALIFORNIA - Just days after prosecutors filed a record 58 sexual-abuse charges against a defrocked Inland priest, the diocese's leader urged any molestation victims to come forward at four area churches where Jesús Armando Dominguez once worked.
A letter issued by Bishop Gerald R. Barnes was read Saturday evening at English- and Spanish-language Masses at Our Lady of Soledad Church in Coachella, St. James Church in Perris, St. Edward Church in Corona and Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Chino -- all parishes where Dominguez worked during his 15 years in the diocese.
The letter, which will be read again today at all Masses celebrated at the four churches, states that the San Bernardino Diocese is being sued over sexual-abuse accusations against Dominguez, also known as Father Jesse.
But the letter made no mention of the criminal charges filed last week against Dominguez, accused of molesting two teenage boys in 1988 and 1989 at Our Lady of Soledad and at St. James.
"Bishop Gerald Barnes asked us to encourage anyone who may have been victimized or knows anyone who claims to be a victim of Jesse Dominguez or any other church personnel to please come forward by contacting civil authorities, the diocesan hotline or by using the reporting form available in the back of the church," said Father Arturo-Guadalupe Chávez as he read the letter at St. James Church.
• Mystery surrounds case of ex-bishop [Dupre] - RCC.
Republican, By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com , Sunday, February 06, 2005
SPRINGFIELD (MA) - Nearly a year after the Most Rev. Thomas L. Dupre resigned as bishop, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield has struggled through chaos, challenges and controversy.
While the Most Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell has shepherded the diocese through many changes since being installed as bishop last April 1, some questions remain unanswered.
Dupre's whereabouts remain a mystery as do the results of a Vatican investigation into allegations that he abused two minors when he was a parish priest.
Dupre's resignation at 70 was announced Feb. 11 - a day after he was confronted by The Republican with allegations that he sexually abused two boys decades earlier when he was a parish priest.
Dupre became the first U.S. bishop indicted on sexual abuse charges when a Hampden County grand jury handed down two indictments of rape against him in September. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:12 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sun February 06, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont109.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Mon February 07, 2005 edition follows:-
• JURY: SHANLEY GUILTY OF CHILD RAPE [1980s Shanley] - Roman Catholic Church. Boy.
TheBostonChannel.com ; www.theboston channel.com/ news/4171735/ detail.html , POSTED 11:48 am EST February 7, 2005; UPDATED 4:38 pm EST February 7, 2005.
BOSTON (MA) USA -- After three days of deliberations, a jury found defrocked priest Paul Shanley guilty of two charges of child rape and indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14 Monday.
Shanley showed no emotion as the unanimous verdict was read in a Middlesex Superior courtroom. Shanley still awaits sentencing, but the verdict could leave him in prison for the rest of his life.
The jury began deliberating Shanley's fate Thursday afternoon.
The case against Shanley, 74, hinged solely on the account of one unidentified accuser, now 27, who said that memories of abuse came flooding back a few years ago.
The defense criticized the concept of "repressed memories," and questioned the alleged victim's motive, noting he settled his civil case last spring for about $500,000. The defense called one witness, Dr. Elizabeth Loftus, from the University of California at Irvine who testified that she doesn't believe that there is any evidence that the victim has repressed memories about the alleged abuse.
"I don't believe there is any credible scientific evidence for the idea that years of brutalization can be massively repressed," Loftus said.
The defense said the accounts of another alleged victim influenced the accuser's memories. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 03:42 PM]
• Shanley Convicted of Child Rape in Mass. [1980s Shanley] - RCC. Boy.
Yahoo! News, http://story.news.yahoo.com/news? tmpl=story& e=4&u=/ap/ 20050207/ ap_ on_re_us/ church_abuse_ shanley ; By DENISE LAVOIE, Associated Press Writer, February 07, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Defrocked priest Paul Shanley, the most notorious figure in the sex scandal that rocked the Boston Archdiocese, was convicted Monday of raping and fondling a boy at his church during the 1980s.
The conviction on all four charges gives prosecutors a high-profile victory in their effort to bring pedophile priests to justice for decades of abuse at Roman Catholic parishes around the country.
The victim, now 27, put his head down as the verdicts were announced after a trial that turned on the reliability of what he claimed were recovered memories of the long-ago abuse. Shanley showed no emotion as he stood next to his attorneys.
• Juror's Request to Read Accuser's Diary [1980s Shanley] - RCC. Boy.
WPRI, www.wpri.com/ Global/story. asp?S=2912947& nav=F2DOW4q0 , ~ Feb 07, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) -- The jury in the sex-abuse trial of defrocked priest Paul Shanley has asked the judge if they can review the alleged victim's diary. The trial began two weeks ago in Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge. Jurors began deliberating Thursday.
Judge Stephen Neel said the jury could only look at transcripts from the diary that were read into the record during the trial, but not the entire diary. Shanley was one of the most notorious figures in the clergy sexual abuse scandal that has shaken the Roman Catholic Church. He is accused of molesting a boy at a Newton parish in the 1980s.
• Ex-Priest Shanley Found Guilty in Child Abuse Case [1980s Shanley] - RCC. Boy.
National Public Radio (USA), www.npr.org/ templates/ story/story. php?storyId= 4489581 , All Things Considered, by Tovia Smith, February 7, 2005
CAMBRIDGE (MA) - A jury in Cambridge, Mass. convicts defrocked Catholic priest Paul Shanley on four charges of child rape and indecent assault and battery. Shanley, accused of molesting a boy at his church during the 1980s, faces up to life in prison at sentencing next week. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 11:20 PM]
• Local attorney comments on Shanley verdict [1980s Shanley] - RCC. Boy.
Capital News 9., www.capital news9.com/ content/your_ news/capital_ region/default. asp?ArID= 116685 , By Capital News 9 web staff, 10:09 PM, Feb/7/2005
ALBANY (NY) - Defrocked priest Paul Shanley has been convicted of child rape by a Middlesex Superior Court jury.
The 74-year-old showed no reaction when the verdict was read. He was one of the most notorious figures in the clergy sex abuse scandal that rocked the Boston archdiocese.
Shanley was found guilty of molesting a young boy over a six-year period. Jurors deliberated for about 13 hours over five days.
Capital Region attorney John Aretakis, who represents many alleged victims of clergy sex abuse, said the verdict reinforces the message that justice is being served.
• Church Splits After Pulpit 'Assassination' [Dube] - Durban Christian Centre.
Sunday Times (Johannesburg), by Futhi Ntshingila, February 7, 2005
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - THE public denunciation of a popular pastor for alleged extramarital affairs has left a big church congregation deeply divided.
The resignation of Vusi Dube, a driving force behind "Abstinence Walk", which forms part of the "True Love Waits" campaign, has split the 7 000-strong Durban Christian Centre. Dube resigned in the wake of the allegations made from the pulpit by pastor John Torrens.
Dube, who denies the allegations, and his wife, Taki, resigned from their positions in the church two weeks ago after they were suspended by church leaders.
More than a thousand black members of Durban Christian Centre rallied behind Dube, saying the accusations made against him by Torrens were untrue. In a show of solidarity many black members have left the church and formed a "Pastor Dube Support Group".
• Pastor granted bond in molestation case - Faith Life Fellowship pastor charged.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, By TASGOLA KARLA BRUNER, Published Feb/08/05
GEORGIA, USA - About 50 supporters of a Norcross-area pastor accused of molesting a young male family member rejoiced Monday when he was granted bond.
Gwinnett Superior Court Judge Melodie Snell Conner, saying she knows Pastor Nathan Ridgeway is "not an extremely wealthy man," set the bond at $50,000.
"We can handle that," a member of Faith Life Fellowship Church said quietly, to no one in particular, from the back of the courtroom.
Supporters, wearing yellow ribbons, had been prepared to post an even higher bond to free their minister, maintaining he is innocent. One parishioner offered $250,000, another $50,000.
Several had offered their homes to back the bond, said one of Ridgeway's six siblings, Phil Ridgeway, holding a pile of financial statements.
[FOLLOW-UP: It was reported on May 5, 2006, that the child had pinworm, the child had bumped his leg causing a bruise, there had been family tension, and that the Rev Mr Ridgeway had passed a lie-detector test. The authorities administratively dismissed the case on April 6, 2006.]
• Associate Pastor Pleads Not Guilty To Sex Charges [2002-04 Aleshire] - Baptist. Girls.
NBC4i, www.nbc4i.com/ news/4170965/ detail.html , Feb 7, 2005
HEBRON, Ohio -- A pastor accused of having sexual contact with two teenage girls pleaded not guilty Monday, NBC 4 reported.
Lonny Aleshire Jr., the associate pastor at the Licking Baptist Church in Hebron, was indicted Friday on seven felony sex abuse charges involving two teenage sisters, NBC 4's Elizabeth Scarborough reported.
Prosecutors said Aleshire, 34, had sex with two sisters while taking them to and from babysitting jobs, Scarborough reported.
Aleshire faces multiple charges, including one count of rape by force for allegedly forcing a 17-year-old girl to have sex with him in the church hallway in June.
Authorities said he also had sex with the girl's younger sister from the time she was 13 to 15. For that, Aleshire faces six counts of sexual misconduct with a minor and three counts of sexual imposition.
• Cardinal may face public grilling on abuse scandals [Dublin Archdiocese, 60 priests] - RCC.
Irish Examiner, www.examiner. ie/pport/web/ ireland/Full_ Story/did- sg8B2CUkKe LzIsg7OWirISt PSk.asp , By Mary Dundon, Political Reporter, Feb/08/05
IRELAND - SENIOR clerics such as Cardinal Desmond Connell could be questioned in public about their responses to abuse complaints against priests in their charge under plans to be brought to Cabinet within a month.
The proposals, drawn up by Justice Minister Michael McDowell, are part of the fast-tracking of public inquiries under an alternative to tribunals which will investigate child sexual abuse by priests in the Archdiocese of Dublin.
The latest figures show that the Archdiocese of Dublin has recorded complaints against 60 priests over the last 40 years, one of which has now been established as false. It has paid out €2.5 million in compensation to 38 victims.
• US priest convicted of raping boy [1980s Shanley] - RCC. Boy.
BBC News (Britain), ~ February 07, 2005
CAMBRIDGE (MA) - A court in the United States has convicted defrocked Roman Catholic priest Paul Shanley of raping a boy at a Massachusetts church in the 1980s.
The victim, now 27, lowered his head as the verdicts were read out in the Cambridge court on four charges including rape and fondling.
Shanley, at the centre of a scandal which shook the Boston archdiocese, reportedly showed no emotion.
The 74-year-old could face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
He was taken into custody after the verdicts. He had been pleading not guilty.
• Timeline: US Catholic sex scandal - RCC. Boys, some girls.
BBC News, http://news. bbc.co.uk/2/ hi/americas/ 3872499.stm , ~ February 07, 2005
UNITED STATES - The main events in the ongoing sex abuse scandal involving the US Roman Catholic Church and in particular the Boston Archdiocese, which has been at the centre of many of the highest-profile accusations.
1984: Bernard Law is appointed archbishop of Boston, and elevated to cardinal a year later.
1985: Sex abuse by priests becomes a national issue in the US for the first time, as Louisiana priest Gilbert Gauthe pleads guilty to 11 counts of molestation of boys.
• Diocese faces DA inquiry [1990s, 2002 Dallas Diocese] - RCC.
The Dallas Morning News, By BROOKS EGERTON, 09:03 PM CST, Monday, February 7, 2005
DALLAS (TX) - Dallas County District Attorney Bill Hill is launching a broad criminal investigation of how Catholic Bishop Charles Grahmann and his staff have handled sexual abuse cases, officials confirmed Monday.
The goal is to determine whether the Dallas Diocese "has received any allegations of abuse by members of the clergy that have not subsequently been reported to law enforcement," said Rachel Horton, a spokeswoman for Mr. Hill.
She said two recent disclosures made prosecutors suspicious of the diocese's written insistence, in 2002, that it had no one in the ministry with "any indication of violations of state laws relating to minors."
First, a Rockwall pastor who announced his resignation Sunday had been accused in sworn statements in the early 1990s of sexually harassing boys at jobs in Dallas and Plano, The Dallas Morning News reported Monday. Accusers said they saw no sign that the diocese investigated the allegations or reported them to state authorities.
• Shanley Convicted in Clergy Sex Abuse Case [1980s Shanley] - RCC. Boy.
Independent Record, By DENISE LAVOIE, ~ February 07, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Defrocked priest Paul Shanley, the most notorious figure in the sex scandal that rocked the Boston Archdiocese, was convicted Monday of repeatedly raping and fondling a boy at his Roman Catholic church during the 1980s.
The conviction on all four charges gives prosecutors an important victory in their effort to bring pedophile priests to justice for decades of abuse at parishes around the country.
Shanley, 74, could get life in prison for two counts each of child rape and indecent assault and battery on a child when he is sentenced Feb. 15. His bail was revoked and he was immediately led off to jail.
The victim, now 27, put his head down and sobbed as the verdicts were announced after a trial that turned on the reliability of what the man claimed were recovered memories of the long-ago abuse. Shanley showed no emotion as he stood next to his lawyer.
• Fast-track inquiry into abuse moves a step closer [Archdiocese of Dublin] - RCC.
One in Four, http://onein four.org/news/ news2004/track , by Liam Reid - Irish Times, ~ Feb 07, 2005
IRELAND - The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, is to bring proposals to Cabinet in the next month for the first fast-track public inquiry under the new alternative to tribunals which will investigate child sexual abuse by priests in the Archdiocese of Dublin.
The new inquiry, which will be called a commission of investigation, will have similar powers to tribunals to gather evidence. It could involve the investigation of abuse claims and their handling from potentially thousands of victims of sexual abuse.
Much of its work is expected to be carried out behind closed doors however, although it will be able to hold some parts of the inquiry in public.
• Rebel Mormon's memoir ignites a furor - Mormons. BOOK
The Salt Lake Tribune, www.sltrib. com/search/ ci_2555256 , By Peggy Fletcher Stack, ~ Feb 07, 2005
UTAH - A daughter of famed Mormon intellectual Hugh Nibley has accused him of ritually abusing her as a 5-year-old, possibly wearing some kind of Egyptian garb and imitating the sacrifice of the biblical Abraham.
Martha Nibley Beck makes this and a host of other allegations against her aged father, mother, siblings, Brigham Young University, Mormons in general as well as leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in an explosive new book, Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith.
Beck, author of the best-seller Expecting Adam, takes the far side of often virulent debates about recovered memories of sexual abuse versus false memories, dissidents versus the LDS Church, scholarly debate about the veracity of Mormon truth claims, and feminists versus patriarchal religions.
For many, especially non-LDS readers, it will be a compelling tale, enlivened by hilarious as well as agonized dispatches from Mormon country.
• Temple priest booked for rape [2004] - Temple.
Express India, http://cities. expressindia.com/ fullstory.php? newsid=116781 , February 6, 2005
LUDHIANA, INDIA: THE Basti Jodhewal police have registered a case against the priest of a temple. The priest had allegedly drugged a girl and taken her to Mohali where he allegedly raped her for over three months. Later, the girl managed to flee from his custody. The priest has not been arrested.
According to the FIR registered by the Basti Jodhewal police, a 25-year-old girl, a resident of Subhash Nagar in the city, had gone to a temple in the area on October 15, 2004. In her complaint to police, she has said that the family of her maternal grandparents was familiar with the priest of that temple.
The girl, in her statement to police, said that due to the crowd in the temple that day, she got late and the temple priest Prem Chand said he would drop her home. According to the FIR, on the way near Tibba Road the priest allegedly gave her something to eat after eating which she became unconscious.
• Parishioners asked to forgive GP priest [2004 Bagert] - RCC. Reported by Rev. Jesus Belmontes. Computer child porn.
The Dallas Morning News, www.dallasnews. com/sharedcontent /dws/dn/religion/ stories/020705 dnmetbishop. d7cd3.html ; By CHRISTY A. ROBINSON, 02:44 AM CST, Monday, February 7, 2005
GRAND PRAIRIE (TX) - Dallas Bishop Charles Grahmann, in an address laced with tears, asked parishioners in Grand Prairie on Sunday to forgive their priest who four days earlier was arrested on charges of child pornography possession.
The bishop stood before the standing-room-only congregation at Immaculate Conception Church to announce the allegations against the Rev. Matthew Bagert and deliver words of comfort.
"It's with profound sadness that I address these words to you," he said before stating the accusations against Father Bagert, 36. "We all know this is a federal offense. This is in the hands of the Grand Prairie police."
He publicly thanked the church's associate pastor, the Rev. Jesus Belmontes, who alerted the Dallas Catholic Diocese of his suspicions, and added that it's proof the diocese's reporting procedures with regard to sexual misconduct are working.
He also told parishioners - a crowd of varied ages and ethnicities - that their priest had been suspended pending the outcome of the police investigation.
Emotion broke the bishop's normally reserved demeanor as parishioners listened intently. (Emphasis added :-)
• Rockwall priest agrees to leave [Richard] - RCC. Kept employee convicted of indecent exposure. 2 others gone.
The Dallas Morning News, By BROOKS EGERTON, 10:20 PM CST, Sunday, February 6, 2005
ROCKWALL (TX) - An embattled pastor announced his resignation Sunday, making him the second Dallas Catholic Diocese priest in a week to fall in connection with sexual misconduct allegations.
The Rev. William "Bill" Richard said he was leaving Our Lady of the Lake Church to bring "peace and reconciliation" to the parish, where protesters recently began pressing Dallas Bishop Charles Grahmann to remove him.
They have cited Father Richard's efforts to save the job of a top aide - who is serving probation for indecent exposure - and his dismissal of critics from church positions.
Bishop Grahmann responded to the campaign by seeking Father Richard's resignation last week.
It is highly unusual for him to give in to parishioners' personnel demands, especially given the diocese's severe shortage of priests - one was arrested on child pornography charges last week in Grand Prairie, and another recently was suspended for planning to get married. [Emphasis added.]
• Local Priest Cheered For His Role As Whistleblower [Cincinnati Archdiocese] - RCC. Thanks to Father Tom Bolte.
WCPO, www.wcpo.com/ news/2005/local/ 02/06/iteam_ folo.html , Web produced by Neil Relyea, 11:15:01 PM, Feb/6/2005
CINCINNATI (OH) - On Sunday survivors of priest sex abuse gave an emotional thank you to the local priest who publicly condemned the Archdiocese of Cincinnati this week.
If you saw our 9News I-Team report, you know his actions were bold -- and on Sunday night, he got some bold support.
Dan Frendorf hasn't walked into a Roman Catholic church in two years, but someone inspired him to come to St. Ignatius of Loyola on Super Bowl night.
The presiding priest, Father Tom Bolte, stood up for priest sex abuse victims -- like him.
• Notre Dame Academy "no bill" [Johnson, Conte] - RCC. DA's wife's former partnership with Byrne. No prosecution. Female.
Worcester Voice, http://worcester voice.com/conte's_ failed_indict ment.htm , ~ February 07, 2005
WORCESTER (MA) - In reviewing documents from Worcester Superior Court in the case where Kallin Johnson is alleged to have sexually abused a female student at Notre Dame Academy in Worcester, it becomes apparent that Mr. Johnson at one point was a business partner with the wife of the attorney representing Notre Dame, Kevin Byrne.
The records also show an appalling lack of action on behalf of the district attorney, John Conte.
District Attorney Conte allowed Mr. Johnson, a music teacher at Notre Dame, to remain in the school after the allegation against him was supported by the Massachusetts Department of Social Services and his name was placed on their registry for sexual offenders. This information was provided by Attorney Wendy Murphy. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:45 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Mon February 07, 2005
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont109.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Tue February 08, 2005 edition follows:-
• Catholic church says priest may have abused at least a dozen boys [1960s Degnan] - Roman Catholic Church. ~ 12 boys.
Belleville News Democrat, www.belleville. com/mld/belle ville/news/ local/1084 9120.htm , By DAVID A. LIEB, Associated Press, ~ February 08, 2005
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., USA - The Roman Catholic Church acknowledged Tuesday that a former priest may have sexually abused at least a dozen boys over a couple [of] decades in several mid-Missouri parishes.
The Jefferson City Diocese said the Rev. John Degnan had been accused in 2001 - about the time he retired from parish ministry - of sexually abusing a boy in the 1960s.
"Additional allegations surfaced in 2002," the diocese said in a statement issued Tuesday in response to media questions. "The investigation of this case by the diocese eventually suggested the probability of more victims of (father) Degnan in the same locations."
Although church officials have heard of about 12 alleged victims, "our sense has been there are others out there," said Sister Ethel Marie Biri, the diocese chancellor.
Degnan, who turns 80 next week, could not immediately be reached for comment. Biri said that in 2002 Degnan was placed in a supervised residential center run by the St. Louis Archdiocese for priests who can no longer be assigned to parishes for fear they could harm others. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:32 PM]
• St. Joseph's Priest Resigns Amid Sex Allegations [1974 Crespin] - RCC.
Berkeley Daily Planet, By MATTHEW ARTZ, ~ February 08, 2005
BERKELEY (CA) - Father George Crespin abruptly retired from his post as pastor of Berkeley's St. Joseph The Worker parish last week amid an accusation that he sexually abused a parishioner 30 years ago.
In a letter read by priests to parishoners Sunday, Crespin denied the charge and questioned the motives of his accuser.
"Since I know the person making this accusation, I am firmly convinced that this is being done to get money from the church," he wrote.
Crespin was out of town for an uncle's funeral and could not be reached for comment.
The Diocese of Oakland, which includes Berkeley, refused to disclose the accuser's gender or specifics about the allegations other than that they were sexual in nature.
Diocese officials were also unable to answer which church Crespin was assigned to when the alleged misconduct occurred. Crespin joined St. Joseph's in 1980, six years after the alleged incident.
• More Clergy Abuse Cases Pending [1980s Shanley] - RCC. Boy.
NPR, www.npr.org/ templates/ story/story. php?storyId= 4490704 , by Luke Burbank, Day to Day, February 8, 2005, MASSACHUSETTS -
Samantha Nelson approached her pastor for spiritual counseling in 1999. "He was 27 years older than me," she explained. "He was a father figure to us."
