Clergy Child Molesters (126) — References/Archive/Blog

• Minister is guilty of child rape

  [~ 2005-06 Thomas -NEW*] - Reformed Church. Boys. Britain and Northern Ireland, United Kingdom of, flag; Mooney's MiniFlags  
   BBC News, http://news.bbc. co.uk/2/hi/uk_ news/england/ hampshire/ 5129386.stm , July 01, 2006
   UNITED KINGDOM -- A married church minister is facing a life sentence after pleading guilty to 35 counts of child abuse, including two charges of raping an 11-year-old boy.
   The Reverend Simon Thomas, 44, of Hythe, Hampshire, admitted the charges at Southampton Crown Court.
   The court heard he had used internet chatrooms to groom his victims.
   Thomas, who had worked in Hythe for 10 years, has been suspended by the United Reformed Church and disciplinary proceedings will now continue. (This is the first of the Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse , for Sat, July 01, 2006. )
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INTENTION: A challenge to RELIGIONS to PROTECT CHILDREN
Series starts: www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethicscontents.htm   Visit http://www.ncrnews.org/abuse . These are digests of and links to mass media coverage of clergy abuse. Get fuller details by trying the link.

Catholic high school settles 1979 abuse allegations for $700,000

  [1979 Mr Vittone -NEW*; Salesian school]- Roman Catholic Church (RCC). $US 700,000. Boy/s. United  States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   San Francisco Chronicle, by Matthai Chakko Kuruvila, Chronicle Staff Writer, Friday, June 30, 2006
   RICHMOND (CA) -- A Catholic high school in Richmond agreed to pay $700,000 to settle allegations that it knew a teacher had abused one of its students but failed to act on the accusation.
   Salesian High School admitted no wrongdoing.
   The plaintiff, a 17-year-old senior at the time, said that a lay history teacher, Samuel Vittone, sexually abused him in 1979. He also said the school knew Vittone had "in the past engaged, and was continuing to engage in unlawful sexually related conduct with minors ... but intentionally suppressed, concealed or failed to disclose this information," according to records in Alameda County Superior Court.
   Attorney John Manly, who filed the suit in December 2003, said there was "unequivocal evidence" that school authorities knew about the past abuse by Vittone. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 01:36 PM]

• Pastor charged after sexual relations

  [? 2000s pastor -NEW*] - Norwegian Church. Woman. Norway flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   Aftenposten, www.aften posten.no/ english/ local/ article1 373737.ece , ~ July 1, 2006
   NORWAY -- The 62-year-old former pastor was summoned for questioning on Thursday and afterwards was officially charged in the case.
   "I was told that this is purely a formal charge. The police wanted to examine my computer and must file charges to be able to do this," the ex-pastor told news agency NTB.
   The 62-year-old said he did not view the latest development as dramatic, and that he had not contacted an attorney.
   "I have already put all my cards on the table," he said.
   Police captain Magne Storaker of the Vest-Agder police said that the woman involved had yet to give a statement and also had no desire to release the former pastor from his pledge of confidentiality. The pastor resigned his position a week ago. [...]
   The encounter with the young woman began with 'spiritual comfort' and developed into a sexual relationship. The 62-year-old is charged with violating paragraph 193 of the penal code - "obtaining sex through the abuse of his position, a relationship of dependency or a relationship of confidence".
   The violation carries a potential penalty of five years in prison, and the pastor has already forfeited all possibility of holding a position in the Norwegian Church. #

• Book says abuse by priests nothing new

  - RCC. At least back to 4th Century. BOOK.  United  States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   Toledo Blade, http://toledo blade.com/ apps/pbcs. dll/article? AID=/20060 701/NEWS10/ 607010313 ; By DAVID YONKE, BLADE RELIGION EDITOR, July 01, 2006
   Sex, Priests, and Secret Codes - DOYLE, SIPE, and WALL TOLEDO (OH) -- The Rev. Thomas P. Doyle, a Catholic priest in the Dominican order, was asked in 2002 to do research for the church on whether its current leadership had ever had notice of sexual abuse of children by clergy.
   "When I started the research, I found that it goes back to the fourth century at least, and that there is extensive evidence," Father Doyle said in a recent telephone interview from California.
   The priest, who lives in Vienna, Va., teamed up with A.W.R. Sipe, a Benedictine monk-turned-counselor, and Patrick J. Wall, a former Roman Catholic priest and Benedictine monk, to write the hard-hitting expose, Sex, Priests, and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church's 2,000-Year Paper Trail of Sexual Abuse (Volt Press, $29.99).
   "One of my conclusions was that this is not a crisis that arises from time to time, but that clerical celibacy violations are an unfortunate part of the very life of the Catholic Church.

Cornwall Public Inquiry establishes research agenda on institutional practices and policies

  Canada flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   CNW Telbec, June 30, 2006
   CORNWALL, ON, Canada / CNW Telbec / - The Commission of the Cornwall Public Inquiry has established a research agenda for Phase I of the Cornwall Public Inquiry that will result in a series of reports on institutional practices and policies in different jurisdictions.
   This research is the first in a series of research-focused undertakings that will play a vital role in the overall work of the Inquiry.
   While various components of the research agenda will develop over the life of the Inquiry, the main functions of all research work will be consistent - it will serve as one important tool to support Inquiry recommendations, particularly in respect to any future changes, and a critical and accessible source of education for the public.

Arizona polygamy trials to commence despite lack of witnesses

  [2000-01 Fischer] - Fundamentalist LDS. Girl. United  States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   Las Vegas Sun, By JENNIFER DOBNER, ASSOCIATED PRESS, July 01, 2006
   SALT LAKE CITY (UT), (AP) - The first of eight trials alleging sexual misconduct with minors by men from a polygamist community on the Utah-Arizona border will begin next week, despite the inability of prosecutors to locate some witnesses and alleged victims.
   In a news release issued Friday, Mohave County, Ariz., Attorney Matthew Smith said a jury trial for Kelly Fischer will begin Wednesday in a Kingman district court and is expected to last two days.
   Fischer, 38, is charged with one count each of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor for his alleged "spiritual marriage" with a 16-year-old girl that occurred between October 2000 and March 2001. Prosecutors have constructed the time frame for the marriage from birth certificates of the girl and her first child.

Man facing sex charge is ex-minister

  [~ 2000s Walston*] - Pentecostal. Girl/s.
   Morning Sentinel, By BETTY JESPERSEN, ~ July 1, 2006
   WILTON (ME) -- A 79-year-old Wilton man charged last week with attempted unlawful sexual contact with a boy during a church function was a former minister who stepped down two years ago following a similar charge that involved a girl.
   Alton Walston, who is charged with the Class C felony of attempted unlawful sexual contact, no longer has ministerial credentials, The Rev. Rick Stoops, the superintendent of a Pentecostal organization in Maine, said Friday.
   In 2004, Walston was charged with felony unlawful sexual contact but after negotiations, pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of unlawful sexual touching. He was sentenced to 364 days in jail, all suspended, and one year probation, which expired in April. Because it was a misdemeanor, he was not required to file as a sex offender with the state.

Faith + Values Forum: God has given her what church hasn't

  [1960s nun] - RCC. Orders not responsible to bishops. Girl.
   Minneapolis Star Tribune, by Mary Dunford, Last update 6:41 PM, June 30, 2006 -
   MINNESOTA -- Fifty years ago, I was sexually abused by a Catholic nun every night for two years in a southern Minnesota boarding school. After reading reports about sexual abuse by priests in 1990, I came to understand that I hadn't had an affair with a nun -- I had been criminally sexually abused.
   Many difficulties in my life and the lives of my husband, three children, nine grandchildren and great-granddaughter stem from the abuse.
   My husband and I have worked hard trying to gain justice and healing for us and for other sexual abuse victims of Catholic nuns and priests. Bishops will not intervene and help victims of nuns find restorative justice. Nuns are accountable only to their provincials and Rome.

Documentary details abuse

  [> 10yrs O'Grady] - RCC. DOCUFILM. $US 7.5m. 2 boys. United States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags  Ireland, Republic of / Eire, flag; www.edwardmooney.com/miniflags 
   Stockton Record, By LINDA HUGHES-KIRCHUBEL, Saturday, Jul 1, 2006
   STOCKTON (CA) -- Quotes from attorney Larry Drivon, who represented two of Oliver O'Grady's victims and won a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton. He called O'Grady's interviews with filmmaker Amy Berg "chilling."
   A documentary about Oliver O'Grady, the former Stockton priest who in 1993 was convicted of molesting two children, has won Best Documentary Feature at the Los Angeles Film Festival.
   "Deliver Us From Evil," produced by filmmaker Amy Berg, offers a disturbing look into O'Grady's mind through interviews with him given from his native Ireland. It documents his history of abusing children and levels a strong indictment against the Catholic Church hierarchy, claiming it failed to respond adequately to O'Grady's victims.
   "I recognize in my life there had been a major imbalance," O'Grady says in the film's opening moments. "I want to promise myself this is going to be the most honest confession of my life."
   Officials deported O'Grady to Ireland after his release from Mule Creek State Prison in 2000. He had served seven years of a 14-year sentence issued for his molestation of two young boys for more than 10 years. During his incarceration, his victims, Joh and James Howard, sued the local diocese and won a multimillion-dollar judgment that was eventually reduced to $7.5 million. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:32 AM]

What Ochoa left behind tells a story

  [~ 1991, 2006 Ochoa-Perez*] - RCC. Altar boy + 2 others. United  States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags  Mexico flag; www.edwardmooney.com/miniflags 
   The Press Democrat, By MARTIN ESPINOZA, July 01, 2006
   CALIFORNIA -- In a chilly Petaluma storage space off Lakeville Highway lie the remnants of the Rev. Xavier Ochoa's life, an existence ruptured by sex abuse charges.
   There's the toy police car sticking out of a box, a white ceramic clock with a broken minute hand lodged between boxes of books and picture frames and a shallow box of prescription drugs sitting on a box of clothes.
   And there are the photos, hundreds of them, showing the fugitive priest from Sonoma conducting countless religious ceremonies such as baptisms and weddings.
   The many smiling faces reflect a Latino community that seemed to love him.
   Last week, the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office filed 10 felony sex abuse charges against Ochoa, a former assistant pastor at St. Francis Solano Catholic Church in Sonoma. The charges involve lewd conduct with three minors, forcible sodomy and forcible oral copulation.

Sex-offender registry takes shape

  United  States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   Toledo Blade, By JIM PROVANCE, BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU, July 1, 2006
   COLUMBUS (OH) -- Ohio set out without benefit of a road map yesterday to create an unprecedented on-line civil registry of accused sex offenders who may never have been convicted of a crime, charged with one, or even successfully sued.
   With no similar plan tried in any other state, rules proposed by Attorney General Jim Petro provide insight into how the program would work.
   The general idea was proposed last year by the Roman Catholic Church when faced with a unanimous Ohio Senate vote to open a one-time, one-year window for the filing of civil lawsuits in child sex abuse cases dating back as long as 35 years ago.
   The bill would have allowed victims to sue not only their alleged abusers but also those they claimed covered for them.

Fugitive priest still out of 'reach'

  [~ 1991, 2006 Ochoa-Perez*] - RCC. Altar boy + 2 others. United  States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags  Mexico flag; www.edwardmooney.com/miniflags 
   The Press Democrat, By GUY KOVNER, July 01, 2006
   CALIFORNIA -- Two months after identifying the Rev. Xavier Ochoa as a child-molest suspect and a week after issuing a warrant for his arrest, authorities still don't know the whereabouts of the Catholic priest who served in Sonoma County since 1988.
   Investigators believe the fugitive priest, who left town in early May, is in Mexico, putting Ochoa "beyond our immediate reach," Sheriff's Sgt. Dennis O'Leary said.
   Church officials said they, too, do not know where Ochoa is.
   But detectives continue to work the case, trying to determine whether there are more than the three victims already identified, he said.
   The 10 felony child sex abuse charges and one misdemeanor filed against Ochoa on June 23 were based on sexual misconduct allegations involving a 12-year-old boy in April and incidents years ago involving two males who are now adults.

Forgiveness is at heart of reconciliation

  - RCC. United  States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   The Tidings, By Jerry Filteau, June 30, 2006
   UNITED STATES -- It is forgiveness, not justice, that brings repentance and reconciliation, Boston College theologian Roberto Goizueta said in a Catholic Common Ground Initiative lecture June 24 at The Catholic University of America.
   Before the lecture, Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk of Cincinnati presented Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta with the initiative's 2006 Cardinal Bernardin Award. The award recognized the Atlanta archbishop's efforts to bring healing to the U.S. church in the wake of the 2002 crisis over clergy sexual abuse of minors.
   Archbishop Gregory was elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in November 2001, just two months before the Boston Globe began an investigative series on clergy sex abuse in Boston that quickly burgeoned into a nationwide outcry.    [COMMENT: Check if Cardinal Bernardin was squeaky clean! COMMENT ENDS.]

Lawmakers may up statute of limitations for sex abuse crimes

 
   Times Argus, Associated Press, July 1, 2006
   BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - A key Statehouse committee is recommending the state extend the statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse by 10 years.
   The limit is now 15 years. The Judiciary Committee recommended Friday extending that to 25 years.
   Advocates for victims of child sexual abuse had pushed for lifting the statute of limitations completely, saying it sometimes takes decades for victims to face the abuse they suffered as children.
   The state's four Catholic bishops, including Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, praised the recommendation in a written statement.
   "The Commonwealth's law enforcement officials should be given the tools they need to remove sexual predators from our communities. We support the proposed increase in the criminal statute of limitations for the sexual abuse of children," the statement said.

A baptism in business for pastors, laypeople

  - RCC.
   The Boston Globe, By Michael Paulson, | July 1, 2006
   MASSACHUSETTS -- Boston College is preparing to launch the nation's first graduate program to train priests, nuns, and laypeople who manage Catholic parishes and organizations, an effort to help the Catholic Church respond to the widespread criticism of its administrative, financial, and personnel practices during the clergy sexual abuse crisis.
   The Jesuit university's decision to offer degree programs in church management is the latest in a series of steps BC has taken to confront the issues raised by the abuse crisis.
   College officials say the efforts are motivated by a desire to help the church, but the program could also serve as part of an answer to occasional critics who have questioned the strength of the college's Catholic identity. The programs will be marketed to non-Catholics, as well as Catholics.

Local diocese exceeds goal for donations

  - RCC.
   Arizona Daily Star, By Stephanie Innes, July.01.2006
   TUCSON, Arizona -- Less than one year after it emerged from bankruptcy, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson has received a record amount of donations in its Annual Catholic Appeal.
   During "Amen Sunday" services this weekend thanking parishioners for their donations, parish priests will announce that the annual fund-raiser had collected $3.6 million in pledges by the time it ended Friday. That's the most the campaign has ever raised. The goal was $3.1 million.
   The appeal funds 23 Catholic charities and ministries, including a seminarian-education fund, a lay-ministry training and formation program, the diocese's Marriage Tribunal and Catholic schools administrative offices, as well as the St. Elizabeth of Hungary Clinic, which gives medical care to people without health insurance.
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sat July 01, 2006
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont126.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.

#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sun July 02, 2006 edition:


• Two held on rape charge; Efforts are on to arrest the rest of the accused in the case

  [2006 Stellus, Lear, Sivaji, Reji] - Christian sect. Girl. India flag; www.edwardmooney.com/miniflags  
   The Hindu, www.hindu.com/ 2006/06/30/ stories/20060630 22270300. htm , Staff Reporter, June 30, 2006
   THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India: The Pettah police have arrested two persons, including a pastor, in connection with the rape of an 18-year-old Dalit girl.
   Circle Inspector, Pettah, Salim Kumar, identified the accused as Stellus (48) and Lear (45). Stellus is a music teacher hailing from Pattoor and Lear works as a pastor for a religious mission.
   According to the police, Stellus had sexually exploited the girl while she was his student. Lear has been accused by the police of raping the girl after she joined the religious mission.
   The police were looking for one Sivaji of Pettah and Reji of Barton Hill in connection with the case. An Excise department guard is also likely to figure as accused in the case along with nine others. [...]
   The case came to light after the girl was rescued by the police from a bus stand in Alappuzha. Earlier, her mother had given a complaint to the Museum police station that her daughter had been missing for several months.
   The police said the girl was raped by several people at various locations in the State. [...] [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:39 AM]

Pastor Held in Rape Of Church Member

  [2006 French] - Church of Disciples. Woman. United  States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   The Ledger, July 01, 2006
   COCOA (FL) -- The pastor of a Rockledge church has been charged with raping a member of his congregation and is being held without bail, police said.
   Solid Life Ministries pastor Jesse French, 43, was arrested June 22 on 10 counts of sexual battery and 15 counts of lewd and lascivious conduct.

FOR THE RECORD

  - Correction. "Deliver Us From Evil"
   Los Angeles Times, June 28, 2006
   LOS ANGELES (CA) -- "Deliver Us From Evil": A story in Monday's Calendar about the documentary "Deliver Us From Evil" reported that Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, said that he and attorneys for Cardinal Roger M. Mahony and the church had viewed the film Thursday. In fact, Tamberg said he and members of his staff had seen it, not any attorneys.

A worthy compromise

  - Extra 10 years grace.
   Boston Herald, Sunday, July 2, 2006
   MASSACHUSETTS -- The Legislature's Joint Committee on Judiciary has at last reached a reasonable compromise on the issue of extending the statute of limitations on crimes involving the sexual abuse of children - one that should be passed before lawmakers adjourn later this month.
   Victims of abuse and their advocates have lobbied hard to lift the statute of limitations entirely in the wake of their own frustrations in pursuing cases, particularly against priests whose crimes were long covered up by officials of the Roman Catholic Church. Currently those abused as children have until 15 years after their 16th birthday to report such crimes to have them prosecuted. Only if the abuser leaves the state - as some had done - does the clock stop ticking.
   The bill reported out Friday extends that deadline another 10 years, allowing for a total of 25 years after the victim reaches age 16. It is a difficult balance to achieve, but the current proposal is far better than the five-year extension favored earlier by Rep. Eugene O'Flaherty (D-Chelsea). And before the ink was dry on the compromise, the state's bishops and Cardinal Sean O'Malley lent their support, while once again apologizing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse.

Woman, priest say abuser still in public ministry

  [1961-68, 1985, 2002 Unnamed priest -NEW*] - RCC. Seminary sex. Female.
   Renew America, by Matt C. Abbott, July 1, 2006
   PENNSYLVANIA -- Judith Weiss Collins of Lehigh Valley, Pa., alleges that a priest of the Allentown diocese - still in public ministry - raped her at gunpoint on two separate occasions, once in 1985 and once in 1988.
   She also alleges she had been ritually abused by the same priest from 1961 through 1968 on the property of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in the Philadelphia archdiocese. She was 9-years-old in 1961.
   Collins says she did report the two alleged rapes to the assistant DA in Northampton County in 2002; the alleged ritual abuse was reported to the DA's office in Philadelphia; and Crime Victims Council was notified in 1985 and again in 2002. She also says two diocesan officials found her account credible and apologized to her, but that the accused priest denied the allegations when confronted by the bishop. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:03 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Sun July 02, 2006
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont126.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.

#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Mon July 03, 2006 edition:


• Breaking News: Priest on child porn charges

  [2006 Jones -NEW*] - RCC. Making indecent images. Britain and Northern Ireland, United Kingdom of, flag; Mooney's MiniFlags  
   Leamington Spa Today, www.leamington spatoday.co.uk/ ViewArticle2. aspx?Section ID= 691& Article ID= 1603972 , ~ July 03, 2006
   UNITED KINGDOM -- Detectives have charged Leamington's Catholic leader with child pornography offences.
   Father Anthony Michael Jones, 55, who joined St Peter's church in Dormer Place in November, has been charged with 17 counts of making indecent images of children.
   An inquiry began after police seized a computer from the church's parish office and Fr Tony was arrested on June 12 and released on bail pending further inquiries. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:48 AM]

Family says treatment was unjust

  [1970s Ms Breton -NEW*] - RCC. Minor. United  States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   Morning Sentinel, By COLIN HICKEY, ~ July 03, 2006
   WATERVILLE (ME) -- The family of a longtime organist for the Parish of the Holy Spirit on Sunday blasted Maine's Roman Catholic Church as arrogant and unjust in dismissing their mother from her church duties for allegedly having inappropriate sexual contact with a minor about 30 years ago.
   The Roman Catholic Church of Portland announced Saturday that Toni Breton, a Waterville resident, would no longer be allowed to function in a ministerial role in the church after the church validated the charges against her by a person the church has declined to identify.
   In a letter to parishioners, Bishop Richard J. Malone wrote that "I find that claims of improper sexual acts with a minor have been substantiated."

Letters detail charges of abuse by priest

  [~ 1970s Paquette] - RCC. Boys.
   The Republican, By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@rep ub.com , Monday, July 03, 2006
   VERMONT -- The handwritten letter by the Rev. Edward O. Paquette, a Westfield resident, to Bishop John A. Marshall of the Burlington, Vt., diocese, was a failed attempt to be honest about Paquette's sexual attraction toward boys.
   Paquette, who previously departed two other Roman Catholic dioceses after being accused of sexually abusing boys, was asking Marshall for another chance to be a priest.
   "I did have problems but received medical treatment, and I am cured now," the March 18, 1972 letter stated without a specific reference to sexual abuse.

Church case back in court this week

  - RCC. [~ 1970s Paquette] - $US 965,000. Boys. [1979-2006 Burlington Diocese] - $US 1m so far. 19 males.
   Times Argus, By Kevin O'Connor, Rutland Herald, July 3, 2006
   VERMONT -- The state's chief administrative judge will hold a hearing Wednesday on a Vermont Catholic Church request that she bar a trial judge from presiding over almost two dozen priest misconduct lawsuits.
   The statewide Diocese of Burlington decided to seek the removal of Chittenden Superior Court Judge Ben Joseph from its cases after he oversaw a record $965,000 settlement in an initial lawsuit this spring.
   The church claims Joseph's rulings in the civil case of Michael Gay versus the Rev. Edward Paquette - most specifically, the fact the judge let lawyers talk publicly after the settlement - has jeopardized the diocese's ability to receive a fair trial in the future.
   The church had asked Joseph to recuse himself, but he instead forwarded the request to the state's chief administrative judge, Amy Davenport. She is scheduled to hold a one-hour hearing on the motion July 5 at 1 p.m. at Washington Superior Court in Montpelier. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:37 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Mon July 03, 2006
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont126.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.

#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Tue July 04, 2006 edition:


• Shrine priest busted for molesting high school girl

  [2006 Ginbayashi -NEW*] - Shinto. Girl. Japan flag; www.edwardmooney.com/miniflags  
   Mainichi, http://mdn. mainichi-msn. co.jp/national/ news/20060704 p2a00m0na 018000c.html , July 04, 2006
   KAWASAKI, Japan -- A shrine priest has been arrested for molesting a high school girl on a train here Tuesday morning, police said.
   Priest Yoshinori Ginbayashi, 36, who is also an employee of the Association of Shinto Shrines, is accused of violating a Kanagawa prefectural ordinance prohibiting people from creating a nuisance.
   He admitted to the allegations during questioning. "It was disgraceful behavior. I regret what I did," Ginbayashi was quoted as telling investigators. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:02 AM]

Chesco pastor removed over 1970s abuse case

  [Hummell-NEW* 1970s] - RCC. Child. United  States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   Philadelphia Inquirer, By Craig R. McCoy, July 04, 2006
   PENNSYLVANIA -- The pastor of a Catholic parish in Chester County was removed by church officials last week after they concluded he had abused a child while teaching at Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia in the 1970s.
   The Rev. John F. Hummell, 66, was ordered to step down at Sacred Heart Parish in Oxford, and banned from serving anywhere as a priest. Hummell has denied the allegation. He will not talk to reporters, a church spokeswoman said yesterday.
   The archdiocese took action, officials said, after a 10-month investigation of an allegation received in October. In a statement, the church provided no details of the case against Hummell beyond saying the inquiry had taken months because the allegation was "particularly complex."
   The complaint against Hummell came one month after a Philadelphia grand jury issued a scathing report accusing the archdiocese of a decades-long coverup of extensive abuse by scores of priests.

Port Dover : Sentence Expected Today for Former Priest

  [1995-2000 Pryzybylski*] - RCC. 2 boys. Canada flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   CD98.9, Posted by Newsroom on July 4, 2006
   CANADA: The sentence will be handed down today for a former Port Dover priest.
   Father Konnie Pryzybylski will be back in at the Simcoe Courthouse today after pleading guilty to three charges of sexual assault.

Legislators to consider compromise on sex abuse bill

  United States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   The Boston Globe, By Russell Nichols | July 4, 2006
   MASSACHUSETTS -- The Legislature will take up a compromise bill that would give victims who were sexually abused as children 25 years to report criminal cases to authorities.
   The proposal, endorsed by the Joint Committee on the Judiciary where it had languished, extends the current statute of limitations by 10 years, giving childhood victims until they are 41 years old to report sexual crimes. But it does not abolish the statute all together as proponents had wanted, and as the legislation moves to the House, it is drawing fire.
   Eliminating statutes of limitations for sex crimes has been a simmering issue for years. Opponents say limitations minimize the risk of people being wrongly convicted many years later, when evidence is scarce and memories have faded. Advocates say the limits hinder justice for victims of sexual abuse.
   State Representative Eugene L. O'Flaherty, the House chairman for the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, said that through testimony, he learned most victims come to terms with childhood abuse between ages 28 and 34. Democrat O'Flaherty, who was previously leaning toward a 5-year extension, said giving victims 10 more years would "absolutely cover the bulk of the individuals as was represented to us."

'Clergy sexually abusing their flock'

  - Anglican calls for admission, penitence. Jamaica flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   Jamaica Observer, BY T K WHYTE, Tuesday, July 04, 2006
   JAMAICA -- AN Anglican priest Sunday charged that sexual misbehaviour among the clergy was a serious problem and called for the removal from front-line duties of those who "feed sexually" on members of their flock.
   "It is immoral, unchristian and unethical for the shepherd to feed on the sheep sexually or otherwise, instead of tending the sheep," declared the Rev Father Patrick Cunningham, rector of Christ Church, Vineyard Town in East Kingston.
   Cunningham also warned that clergymen guilty of sexual abuse should not merely be shifted to another parish, saying that simply shifting such clergy did not solve the problem, "it only shifts the problem to another parish".
   Delivering the homily before a large congregation at the ordination mass for three members to the Anglican clergy at the historic St James Cathedral in Spanish Town, the St Catherine capital, the priest urged his listeners not to focus only on homosexuality but the wider topic of sexuality among the laity and clergy.

Hearing set on request for judge's removal

  [~ 1970s Paquette+] - RCC. $US 965,000. Boys. United States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   The Boston Globe, July 3, 2006
   MONTPELIER, Vt. --Lawyers for Vermont's Roman Catholic Diocese and people suing the church for alleged sexual abuse by priests are set to argue this week over whether the judge in the case should be removed.
   The diocese asked that Chittenden County Superior Court Judge Ben Joseph be removed from hearing more abuse cases after he issued a series of ruling adverse to the diocese in connection with one of the cases in April.
   David Cleary, the church's lawyer, said he particularly objected to Joseph's lifting of a gag order after the church reached a $985,000 settlement with a South Burlington man, a move that prompted extensive news coverage.
   The release of details in the case involving retired priest Edward Paquette will make it difficult for the church to get a fair trial in 15 more suits alleging he abused boys while serving in parishes in Burlington, Montpelier and Rutland in the 1970s, Cleary said. Two other former priests also have been named as abusers in one suit each.

Op-Ed: Impact of Incest Lingers for Male Victims as Well

 
   Salem-News, By B. Lee Coyne, MSW Special for Salem-News.com , July 03, 2006
   This column is written in the heat of summer about a hot-button topic that has for far too long been hidden in society's closet. It is time that it sees the light of day. That topic is incest's impact on male victims, which is at times trivialized.
   SALEM (OR) -- I am by no means an expert on sexual abuse, quite the opposite, having grown up in a hugely Victorian family on the East Coast. But over the last decade, as a Clinical Social Worker in Oregon, I have had nearly a dozen adult male clients who retain the trauma left by childhood incest and abuse.
   In one case, the victim was actually transferred from the home of an alcoholic mother to foster care with a church elder. Reportedly the elder had a dying wife, and chose to molest his young teenage ward as a substitute for his perverted hormones. In another case, both parents allegedly molested their little boy to the extent that he required surgery.
   Such sick scenarios may be far more extensive than we wish to acknowledge. The recent public scandal involving pedophile priests may merely be the proverbial "tip of the iceberg". Why the male reticence to step forward?
   Probably because we males are socially conditioned not to appear weak and helpless. If a grown man admits to victimization, that shatters our public image of self-sufficiency. You will find far more women in therapy than men, based on the premise above.

Pastor asked to step down over alleged abuse

  [Hummell* 1970s] - RCC. Child.
   Daily Local, By MICHAEL CRIST, July/04/2006
   PENNSYLVANIA -- Allegations of sexual abuse purportedly committed about 30 years ago have caught up with a local pastor.
   The Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced Monday that after a preliminary investigation, the Rev. John F. Hummell, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Oxford, has been asked to step down from his ministry effective immediately.
   "This was a very emotional announcement. It's a very difficult time for the parish and I think people are reeling," said Donna Farrell, director of communications for the Archdiocese. "It's a very painful time for the parish, as well as the Archdiocese."
   According to a release, the Archdiocese received an allegation in October 2005 that Hummell had sexually abused a minor in the mid-1970s, when he was a teacher at Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia. It was the only allegation of sexual abuse of a minor received by officials regarding Hummell.
   Farrell said the Archdiocese does not discuss specifics of a case, "mostly out of respect for the victim." [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:42 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Tue July 04, 2006
• Church paid a $40,000 settlement to an ex-pupil.  [1971+ Hartcher (Vincentian)] - RCC. $AUST 40,000. Boy pupil. Australia flag; www.flagaustnat.asn.au/  Vatican City / Papal flag; www.edwardmooney.com/miniflags   New Zealand flag; www.edwardmooney.com/miniflags   United States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont126.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.

Church paid a $40,000 settlement to an ex-pupil

 
   Broken Rites - Australia, http://brokenr ites.alpha link.com.au/ nletter/ page114- hartcher.html , E-mail of July 4, 2006
   AUSTRALIA: A prominent Australian Catholic bishop has confirmed that he appointed a priest to administer a parish after the church had paid a $40,000 settlement involving the priest.
   Bishop Michael Malone, the head of the Maitland-Newcastle diocese in New South Wales, has played a prominent role in supervising the Australian church's professional standards. In the late 1990s, he became a member of the church's National Committee on Professional Standards. So it is interesting to see how Bishop Malone, with his special interest in professional standards, has managed professional standards in his own diocese.
   In 1999, Bishop Malone appointed Father Guy Hartcher, then aged 52, to be in charge of two parishes, Gresford and Dungog, in rural areas north-west of the city of Newcastle.
The priest's career
   Father Hartcher was not originally a diocesan priest but has always been a member of the Vincentian Fathers religious order (also called the Congregation of the Mission).
   In 1971, after training to be a Vincentian priest, Father Hartcher began working as a teacher at St Stanislaus College in Bathurst, NSW (a Catholic boys' secondary school, known locally as "Stannies" and staffed by the Vincentian order). Father Hartcher was then aged about 24. According to the Catholic Directory for the early 1970s, St Stanislaus College then had eleven priests and two lay brothers (all of them Vincentians) located at this school.
   By 1974, the Vincentian order arranged for Father Hartcher to go to overseas. He was listed for the last time in the Australian Catholic Directory's 1973 edition (at the Bathurst school) and was not listed in the Australian directory again until the 1990s. It is believed that he spent time in Rome, New Zealand and the United States.
   Returning to Australia, he was listed in the 1994 Directory as the rector of the Catholic Church's St Francis Xavier Seminary in Adelaide, South Australia.
   From 1995, the directory listed him at Vincentian addresses in Sydney until Bishop Malone appointed him to the Gresford-Dungog parish in 1999.
The bishop's announcement
   In 2004, when Father Hartcher had been administering the Gresford-Dungog parish for five years, journalists on the Newcastle Herald discovered some new information about Father Hartcher - information that his parishioners did not have. When Bishop Malone realised that this information might become public, he acted pre-emptively by issuing "A Message to Parishioners of Dungog and Gresford Parishes", dated Saturday 4 September 2004. This message, which was published on Bishop Malone's diocesan web site, told Father Guy Hartcher's parishioners: "Regretfully I inform you that Fr Guy Hartcher CM, who is a priest of the Vincentian Congregation and who has served you as Administrator of Gresford and Dungog Parishes since 1999, has been withdrawn from active ministry, as of Sunday 5th September, 2004."
   Three days after this, on 7 September 2004, the Newcastle Herald reported extensively on this development. The Herald revealed that, some time in the past before Father Hartcher came to the Gresford-Dungog parish, the Vincentian Fathers had paid a $40,000 settlement to a former student of St Stanislaus College in Bathurst.
   Broken Rites knows that this student was born in 1957 and was aged 14 in 1971. The civil settlement was made in March 1994, when the ex-student was aged 37.
The settlement deed
   Broken Rites has inspected a copy of the Deed of Release relating to this settlement. The Deed of Release is an agreement between the former student and the trustees of the Vincentian Fathers. According to the Deed of Release, the ex-student claims "that he has suffered loss and damage and that he requires specialist counselling and therapy ... as a consequence of alleged unlawful sexual assaults... that occurred while he was a student at the St Stanislaus College at Bathurst."
   In the Deed, the Trustees of the Vincentian Fathers agree "without any admission of liability" to pay $43,000 (inclusive of costs) to the ex-student "in full and final settlement" of all or any rights and actions that the ex-student may have "against the Trustees, Father Guy Hartcher or any servant or agent of the Trustees." In return for this payment, the ex-student "releases" the Vincentian Fathers from any further claims for payment (hence, this document is called a Deed of Release). It means that the student agrees not to sue the Vincentian Fathers through the civil courts.
   The ex-student's expenses amounted to more than $3,000, leaving him nearly $40,000, clear, from the gross figure of $43,000.
   In a letter dated 27 April 1994, the Australian head of the Vincentian Fathers (Fr Anthony Mannix) wrote to the ex-student: "I offer an apology to you, in an official capacity, for any harm experienced by you while you were in our care." [Broken Rites has inspected a copy of this letter.]
   During 1994, the year the settlement was signed, Father Hartcher left his position at the Adelaide seminary and moved to Vincentian addresses in Sydney.
   When Bishop Malone appointed Fr Hartcher as the administrator of St Helen's parish at Gresford and St Mary's parish in neighbouring Dungog in 1999, parishioners were not aware of the $40,000 settlement.
   Bishop Malone's statement on 4 September 2004, announcing Father Hartcher's withdrawal "from active ministry", did not mention the $40,000 civil settlement of March 1994. Instead, the bishop referred to criminal prosecutions against Father Hartcher that began in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on 30 November 1994 (and continued through the court system until 1997). The criminal proceedings concerned allegations made, separately, by two former students of St Stanislaus College. One of these students was the recipient of the $40,000 settlement. (In the criminal proceedings, Father Hartcher's full name was given as Guy Norman Hartcher.)
   Neither of the two criminal court prosecutions resulted in a conviction.
   The bishop's message said regarding the prosecutions: "Fr Hartcher maintained his innocence throughout the investigations."
   Bishop Malone's message continued: "Recently, a person scanning the Internet found reference to these historic matters and concluded that Fr Hartcher was unfit for ministry with children. This person made a formal complaint to police.
   "No new information has come to light but until these matters are independently investigated, Fr Hartcher will be withdrawn from active ministry. In accord with statutory requirements an independent assessment will be undertaken to determine his suitability for ministry with children. His Vincentian Congregational Leader Fr Gregory Cooney CM and myself agree on this course of action. Fr Hartcher will leave the parishes immediately.
   "Parishioners will be shocked by these events. Given the fact that two other priests in the diocese, both of whom spent time in Dungog and Gresford, have been stood down for similar reasons, the effects of this latest incident run deep," Bishop Malone wrote.
   Bishop Malone's message was also reported on the Catholic News web site www.cathnews.com and on another Catholic web site, www.onlinecatholics.com.au
   In the Newcastle Herald on Tuesday 7 September 2004, Bishop Malone's message was reported on page one. In this report, Bishop Malone strongly defended his 1999 appointment of Fr Hartcher.
   The Herald article said (on page 2): "Bishop Malone said he 'personally' believed Father Hartcher was fit for ministry of children. He said he had known about the old allegations before hiring Father Hartcher in 1999 and had received information in writing from the Vincentian Fathers that he was a 'fit person for the ministry and for ministry with children'."
   "I was also given many references in support of Father Guy and his ministry and he was also interviewed by a psychologist of the diocese who spoke to him at length prior to him engaging in ministry," Bishop Malone said.
   "So we were satisfied in the diocese that, with all the other bits and pieces that the Vincentians were able to supply about him, that he was a fit man for ministry. And I personally still believe that."
   Bishop Malone said he did not feel it was his job to tell Gresford parishioners about the previous allegations when Father Hartcher was appointed to the parish in 1999.
   "I chose not to inform the people because I didn't really think that needed to be done and a man was entitled to his own reputation in the eyes of the people," Bishop Malone said. "If he chose to tell people, then that was his business about what had happened to him."
   Although Bishop Malone's September 2004 message to parishioners did not mention the $40,000 civil settlement, the Newcastle Herald quoted him as acknowledging the settlement. The Herald article said: "Bishop Malone confirmed a cash settlement was made between the Vincentians, of which Father Hartcher is a member, with one of his students. The Herald understands it was about $40,000."
   The Herald quoted Bishop Malone as saying: "...I think the Vincentians chose to settle rather than engage in a long and protracted court process which may or may not have been successful, given the climate of these matters and that was their choice."
   After leaving the Gresford-Dungog parish, Father Hartcher was listed in the National Council of Priests directory in 2005 and 2006 as being located at a parish in Sydney's inner-west that is staffed by the Vincentian Fathers. This parish is within the Archdiocese of Sydney and it therefore comes under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop, Cardinal George Pell. Bishop Malone's decision in the Maitland-Newcastle diocese does not apply in the Sydney diocese - or in any other diocese.
Developments in 2006
   Twenty months after his September 2004 announcement, Bishop Malone issued another statement. On 30 May 2006, the Newcastle Herald reported: "Bishop Michael Malone has told Dungog-Gresford parishioners and his clergy that the diocese had withdrawn the approval for Father Guy Hartcher to minister in the region regardless of the outcome of an investigation into the cleric's past."
   Bishop Malone said consideration had involved consultations with Father Hartcher, his representatives, parish representatives, the Vincentian order leadership, as well as "many hours of investigation, deliberation and prayer."
   Bishop Malone's statement said: "Please be assured that this decision has been given the most careful consideration from every perspective.
   "After much discernment and advice, as your pastoral leader I believe I am acting in the best interests of all people involved, including Father Hartcher and the parish community of Dungog-Gresford."
   Bishop Malone's statement related only to the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle. Father Hartcher's future in the Vincentian order is a matter for that world-wide religious order. Therefore, Father Hartcher continued to be a priest in the Vincentian order, although he cannot practise in the diocese of Maitland-Newcastle. #
   OTHER INFORMATION: Read Newcastle Herald archives ($2.20 per newsitem off the internet):- "In the name of the fathers": The Catholic Church moves in mysterious ways when dealing with priests accused of sexual abuse. Joanne McCarthy finds that a system of transferring, rather than excommunicating, may have allowed the issue to fester. 10/June/2006, 1691 words.
   "Revealing response": My issue with the leaders of the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Diocese has never been the sexual abuse of children by individual priests. No reasonable person would blame a diocesan leader for a priest's perversion. 31/May/2006, 694 words. [Jul 04, 06]

• Church used collection-plate money to defend a criminal priest  [1978, 1986-7, 1990+ Fletcher] - RCC. $AUST. 200,000 legal fees. 6 altar boys. Australia flag; www.flagaustnat.asn.au/ 
   Broken Rites - Australia, http://broken rites.alpha link.com.au/ nletter/page 115-fletch er.html , E-mail of July 4, 2006
   AUSTRALIA: A prominent Australian bishop has admitted that Christmas collection money was diverted to lawyers to defend a priest in a child-abuse court case. In addition, the priest's lawyers were paid thousands of dollars from other church sources. [...]
   An interesting aspect of the Fletcher case is that in the late 1990s, while Desmond was suffering in silence about his sexual abuse, his local bishop (Bishop Michael Malone) was appointed as a member of the Australian Catholic Church's National Committee on Professional Standards, which supervises the church's handling of sexual abuse. And Adelaide's Archbishop Philip Wilson, who had begun his own career at the Maitland cathedral in the early 1980s in the heyday of Father Jim Fletcher, became the chairman of this national committee.
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont126.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.

Church used collection-plate money to defend a criminal priest

 
   Broken Rites - Australia, http://broken rites.alpha link.com.au/ nletter/page 115-fletch er.html , E-mail of July 4, 2006
   AUSTRALIA: A prominent Australian bishop has admitted that Christmas collection money was diverted to lawyers to defend a priest in a child-abuse court case. In addition, the priest's lawyers were paid thousands of dollars from other church sources.
   The priest, Father James Patrick Fletcher, of the Maitland-Newcastle diocese in New South Wales, pleaded not guilty in 2004 to multiple counts of anal and oral sexual penetration of an altar boy, Desmond. The offences began in 1990, when Desmond was 13. A jury found Fletcher guilty on all charges.
   Legal experts said that Fletcher's legal costs for the 11-day trial exceeded $200,000. The church's defence team included an expensive Queen's Counsel (this barrister had previously represented Lindy Chamberlain), plus a second barrister and a solicitor.
   After the guilty verdict, the media questioned Fletcher's superior (the Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle, Most Reverend Michael Malone) about aspects of the case, including how the defence team was financed. Malone said that Fletcher "availed" himself of an "offered loan facility" to help fund his defence. It is not known how the "loan" was supposed to be "re-paid", especially seeing that Fletcher was about to be jailed for the crimes. It is not known why Bishop Malone called this payment a "loan".
   Bishop Malone also admitted he was aware of "one priest from one parish" donating part of the parish's Christmas collection to help pay Fletcher's lawyers. [The parishioners of this generous priest did not know that their Christmas donations were to be used to help another priest, Father Fletcher, to evade child-sex charges.]
   "Desmond" (not his real name) was not Fletcher's only victim. Desmond was merely the first Fletcher victim who eventually contacted the police - in 2002 at the age of 25.
   After Fletcher was charged in 2003, further Fletcher victims (from Fletcher's other parishes) began contacting the police.
The priest's background
   One of the victims who contacted police in 2003-4 said he was abused by Fletcher as early as 1978 - 12 years before Desmond's time. In 1978, Fr Jim Fletcher Fletcher had been the administrator (i.e., priest in charge) at St John's Cathedral, Maitland. He was also the master of ceremonies for the then bishop, Bishop Leo Clarke. (Bishop Clarke was in charge of the Maitland-Newcastle diocese from 1976 to 1995.) Fletcher's position at the cathedral was a prestigious one. Fletcher's colleagues at this cathedral (as shown in the Catholic directory for 1983-4) included another up-and-coming young priest, Father Philip Wilson, who eventually became the Archbishop of Adelaide.
   Fletcher took a particular interest in altar boys. Years later, his victims told how Fletcher had "groomed" them before sexually abusing them.
   According to police, Bishop Clarke knew in the late 1970s and early '80s that Fletcher's liking for boys was a potential public-relations problem for the cathedral. Therefore, in the mid-1980s, Bishop Clarke removed Fletcher from Maitland (a demotion that he resented thereafter). However, instead of removing Fletcher from parish work altogether, Bishop Clarke transferred him to other, less important parishes, including Gateshead (in Newcastle) and later Denman (a rural parish) in the mid-1980s. In these parishes, the congregations did not know about Fletcher's past, so he was able to continue unhindered with more altar boys. (Yet another of Fletcher's alleged victims - from 1986-7 - came forward in 2004, as will be explained later in this article.)
   By 1988, Fletcher had been transferred to another parish, with a fresh lot of altar boys and a fresh lot of unsuspecting parents. One of these altar boys (Desmond) ultimately caused the unmasking of Fletcher in 2002. In order to protect the privacy of Desmond and his family, Broken Rites is not publishing the name of Desmond's parish.
The story of Desmond
   Fletcher, who was known to parishioners as "Father Jim", committed sexual crimes against Desmond (an altar boy) repeatedly from the age of 13 in 1990. The details, as later established in court, were as follows.
   As a Catholic priest, Father Fletcher ingratiated himself with Desmond and his family, had meals at their home and lured Desmond away from home for sex. Fletcher drove the boy to parks and other public locations around the Hunter Valley. Fletcher, who had enormous authority over the boy as a Catholic priest, intimidated the boy into taking part in sex acts. The boy trusted the priest and therefore obeyed him. Fletcher instructed the boy how to perform oral sex on the priest and these encounters eventually progressed to anal sex.
   Desmond testified that, during anal intercourse, "he had never felt pain like it in his life" and had looked at a Saint Christopher medal in the car while the intercourse took place. The boy then cried and Fletcher hugged him, saying that "it was a normal part of life".
   After one incident, Fletcher dropped the boy at a bus stop to find his own way home.
   Desmond was unable to tell anyone about Fletcher's crimes because, as a priest, Fletcher had an exalted position in the Catholic community and he was a friend of Desmond's parents. Furthermore, to intimidate Desmond into silence, Fletcher warned him that "no-one would believe him" if he told anyone "because priests never lie. And he threatened to hurt Desmond's siblings if the boy ever spoke out.
   During these years of abuse, Desmond increasingly became a "difficult" boy but his parents did not know the cause of his grumpiness.
   The sexual abuse continued throughout Desmond's secondary schooling but Fletcher was charged only with certain selected incidents in the boy's early teenage years. It was not until Desmond was in Year 12 that he finally broke away from Fletcher's clutches.
   By 1995, Fletcher had moved on to a new parish -- St Brigid's parish in rural Branxton, west of Maitland - leaving Desmond to suffer in silence at the previous parish.
   This secrecy disrupted Desmond's adolescent development. He became distant, angry and depressed. He became a binge-drinker. At age 19, he tried to commit suicide.
   Finally, during a serious personal crisis in 2002, aged 25, Desmond admitted to his parents that he was a sex-abuse victim and that the offender was the Reverend Father Jim Fletcher. He disclosed how Father Fletcher forced him to have sexual intercourse with the priest.
   Desmond's father complained about Fletcher to the new bishop, Most Reverend Michael Malone, who had succeeded Bishop Clarke in 1995. But later the family realised that notifying the diocese turned out to be an unwise move.
   After telling his family, Desmond made a signed, sworn statement for the NSW police in mid-2002. As part of their investigation, the police contacted the Maitland-Newcastle diocesan office to ask if the diocese had received any previous complaints about Fletcher in any of his parishes. But this was another unwise move because the diocese "tipped off" Fletcher at Branxton parish that he was facing potential criminal charges. This enabled Fletcher to get his story together and to begin marshalling church support for his defence.
   According to public promises previously made by Australian Catholic bishops, the Maitland-Newcastle diocese should have transferred Fletcher immediately to other duties or they could have granted him leave (which the church sometimes disguises as "study leave" or "sick leave" for a priest facing sex-abuse allegations), so that he would not have contact with families or children, while the police investigation was proceeding. However, the diocese allowed Fletcher to continue working in his parish among families and children. The diocese was prepared to continue protecting Fletcher as long as it could get away with it.
   Indeed, in January 2003 (six months after the police complaint), the diocese even enlarged Fletcher's area of responsibilities, by adding another parish (Lochinvar) to that he already held (Branxton), thereby increasing his parishioners from 2447 to 3125. This additional appointment was documented in the next annual National Council of Priests directory, compiled in January 2003.
   By March 2003, it became evident that the police intended to formally charge James Fletcher with child-sex crimes. This meant that the charges eventually would be reported in the media, so, faced with a looming scandal, the diocese finally stood Fletcher down. This was nine months after the diocese learned about the police investigation.
Priest arrested
   On 14 May 2003, police arrested Father James Fletcher and laid the charges. Fletcher, with his legal defence strategy now organised, denied the charges. A magistrate granted him bail on condition that he have no contact with children younger than 16.
   The Fletcher charges were reported in the media. Newcastle and Hunter Valley newspapers demanded to be told why the diocese had waited so long before withdrawing Fletcher from parish ministry. Why had he been kept in his position during the police investigation?
   In a media statement immediately after the laying of charges, Bishop Michael Malone said the diocese had not stood Fletcher down in June 2002 because it "did not deem him to be a risk". [The church's statement did not explain how Fletcher had suddenly become a "risk" only after the media exposure, whereas he had "not been a risk" beforehand while the church was able to prevent Fletcher's parishioners from knowing about the matter.]
   In fact, Father James Fletcher obviously had been a huge risk for many years, as shown in the subsequent court proceedings and by the emergence of further victims afterwards.
   Thus, by speaking to the police, Desmond ensured that the church's cover-up of Fletcher was thwarted, although Fletcher continued to receive support in church circles during the court proceedings and afterwards.
   In the East Maitland District Court in November 2004, James Patrick Fletcher (aged 63) was charged with having performed sexual intercourse (anal and oral) on Desmond on eight occasions in 1990-1. He was also charged with committing an aggravated act of indecency on the child.
   Fletcher pleaded "not guilty" to all charges but declined to give evidence in the witness box (to defend himself against the charges). This protected him from being cross-examined.
   The jury, comprising eight men and four women, heard the full details of Desmond's abuse. The evidence was thoroughly sifted, at length, by the prosecutor and by the church's lawyers.
   Finally, the prosecution produced another alleged victim of Fletcher -- a 30-year-old man who said he was abused by Fletcher at the age of 13. This witness, who can be identified only as "Mr G", told the court that he was he twice stayed overnight at Father Fletcher's presbytery (parish house) in 1986 and 1987. (This was in one of Fletcher's new parishes after he had left the Maitland cathedral.) Mr G said that, both times, Fletcher gave him a goodnight kiss, interfered with the boy's genitals, performed oral sex on the boy and ordered him not to tell his parents. Mr G said he told nobody about this abuse until Fletcher asked a family member for a character reference. Mr G then contacted the prosecutors and arranged to give this evidence in court.
Guilty verdict
   On 6 December 2004, after long deliberations in the jury room, the jury unanimously returned a verdict of guilty on all nine charges. Fletcher was placed in prison on remand, pending the sentencing on a later date.
   Bishop Michael Malone told the media that he wished to apologise to the victims (plural) and their families and friends "for the immense pain and suffering caused by Father Fletcher's criminal actions". He apologised for not transferring Father Fletcher from parish work immediately after being told about the child-sex charges. He said: "In retrospect, the matter could have been handled better and we have learned that we have to respond more appropriately to these issues."
   Malone said that Fletcher would not return to the ministry. [This was a safe assumption because Fletcher had been thoroughly exposed and was facing a jail sentence].
   Malone claimed that the diocese was setting up a toll-free telephone number so that people could talk to the church about the matter. [This is a common tactic, which often results in further victims reporting offences - possibly about other perpetrators - to the church instead of contacting the police or a victims' group such as Broken Rites.] However, when a Newcastle Herald reporter rang the toll-free number, nobody answered.
   Malone also telephoned the victim, Desmond, telling him that he was courageous for coming forward. Malone also urged Desmond to "keep your faith". Desmond told the Newcastle Herald that this did not amount to an apology.
   After Fletcher's conviction, the diocese finally dropped his name from the March 2005 directory of the National Council of Priests. The church did not want to mention that he was in remand prison, awaiting his full sentence.
Jailed
   At the sentencing in Sydney District Court on 11 April 2005, Judge Graham Armitage said Fletcher committed an "inexcusable" breach of trust. He said the victim's evidence was the most compelling that he had heard.
   Judge Armitage said the victim had presented to the court as a down-to-earth young man who was truthful.
   Judge Armitage sentenced James Fletcher, aged 64, to a maximum 10 years in jail, with a non-parole period of seven and-a-half years.
Mother's anguish
   Outside the court, Desmond's mother told the media that, for her family, the sentence was "life-long" and no amount of time in prison could restore the joy in faith that they had lost.
   Praising her son's courage, the woman described him as "an extraordinarily brave boy".
   The mother thanked a Hunter Valley detective, Detective Sergeant Peter Fox (of Maitland and Cessnock), for his diligence and compassion in pursuing the case. She said she hoped her son's actions would make it easier for other victims to speak out.
   In media statements after the sentencing, Bishop Michael Malone admitted that he had handled the Fletcher matter badly. He also admitted that more needed to be done to ensure that those affected by Fletcher's actions got proper attention and support.
Court appeals
   Fletcher's conviction meant that the church was forced finally to distance itself from Fletcher, though not completely. Several of Fletcher's fellow priests continued to organise on his behalf.
   Fletcher appealed to the NSW Court of Appeal against his conviction. The church lawyers argued that the trial judge erred in admitting evidence from the second altar boy, Mr G, who said Fletcher performed oral sex on him in 1986 and 1987.
   The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. One of the appeal judges, Justice Carolyn Simpson, said the trial judge was correct in allowing Mr G's evidence. At the time of the alleged offences against him, Mr G was the same age as the complainant [Desmond] and there were sufficient similarities between the two sets of allegations for the evidence to be admitted, Judge Simpson said.
   After losing his appeal in New South Wales, Fletcher then initiated an appeal to the High Court of Australia against the conviction, again opposing the use of Mr G's evidence. A High Court appeal is an expensive exercise but Fletcher had backing for this from his supporters in the church.
More victims
   Meanwhile, more victims of Fletcher were coming forward. On 13 December 2004 - while he was awaiting his sentence - Fletcher was charged in Maitland Local Court with having indecently assaulted yet another teenage boy. These incidents occurred at Maitland in January-March 1978 when Fletcher was located at the cathedral. This was a decade before Fletcher went to Desmond's parish. This case was adjourned to 18 April 2005 but, by then, Fletcher was in jail and the prosecutors considered that there was no point in bringing him back to court again. The 1978 victim was not the same as the previously mentioned "Mr G", whose incidents occurred at a different parish in 1986-7.
   Fletcher died in jail in January 2006, from a stroke, after serving 14 months of his jail sentence. His funeral service, held in his last parish at Branxton, was attended by Bishop Michael Malone, vicar-general Father Jim Saunders and 31 other priests. Fletcher's long-time friend Father Des Harrigan, who officiated at the service, asked those present to pray for Fletcher.
   Fletcher was buried in the priests' section of Sandgate Cemetery, near Newcastle.
   Father Harrigan, who was the executor of Fletcher's estate, confirmed that the High Court appeal application would still go ahead. Harrigan said that, as the executor, he had to follow the wishes of the deceased.
   Bishop Michael Malone said he would like to see the appeal proceed, so that Fletcher's family, his family and his victims could all "find closure".
   A family member of one of Fletcher's victims told the Newcastle Herald: "I cannot understand why his [Fletcher's] supporters keep pushing this. He is dead. Can't they understand that it is just perpetuating the pain for everyone involved, particularly the victims?"
A victim's letter
   One of Fletcher's victims wrote a letter to the editor, published in the Newcastle Herald on 10 March 2006, asking Fletcher's supporters not to proceed with the High Court appeal. The letter indicates that the writer's family had encountered Fletcher in the late 1970s
   The letter said, referring to Fletcher's abuse: "I am not the courageous young man ["Desmond"] who came forward, complained and testified about that abuse.
   "Nor am I the other brave person ["Mr G"] who gave evidence in support of that claim.
   "I am, however, the survivor of years of grooming and sexual abuse at the hands of Father Fletcher.
   "I met him as a shy nine-year-old, a member of a devout Catholic family whose devotion to the church meant that closer to a priest was to be closer to God.
   "For 25 years I tried to forget what Fletcher did to me and for 25 years I did not tell a soul. For the past two years, I have been forced to confront my reality over and over again, and I have had to contend with people who cannot see the truth.
   "The Catholic Bishop and Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle believe my story, as do the NSW police. Sadly, though, Father Des Harrigan and a (hopefully) small group of other people believe that me and Fletcher's other victims are liars and that we and our families should keep on suffering. Witness this week's appeal by Father Harrigan to the High Court.
   "I feel very sorry for Jim Fletcher's mother, family, friends and supporters. It must be a terrible burden to have to confront the double life of someone you love. Nonetheless, I would like to ask them all, and Father Harrigan in particular, to stop trying to clear his name.
   "It can do Fletcher, his supporters and his victims no good.
   "It is time that they too confronted their reality - they were deceived, and in their own way abused, by a man who was driven by his own desires." [End of letter. Name and address withheld. ]
   On the same day that this letter was published, the High Court dismissed Father Harrigan's application to appeal. Chief Justice Murray Gleeson said: "We [the judges] are of the view that the evidence in question [by Mr G] was correctly admitted in the particular circumstances of this case and we are not persuaded there has been any miscarriage of justice."
   By April 2006, six of Fletcher's sex-abuse victims had contacted the NSW police. However, police told Broken Rites that the police can do nothing further about Fletcher because of his death. Therefore, the police said, these new complainants should seek justice by claiming compensation from the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle. The payouts by the church would be a kind of fine for the church's negligence in inflicting Fletcher on his victims.
Family hurt by the church
   A close friend of Desmond's family told Broken Rites in early 2006: "The whole process of the past three years has been traumatic, especially by the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese giving Fletcher a tip-off that the victim had gone to the police.
   "The church's compensation process is slow and the Catholic Church seems to be trying to minimize the damage done to this young man and his family. After five years of this trauma, the family is struggling to keep their head up.
   "The church claims that it was not responsible for the priest. However, we believe, from things that we have heard, that the diocese knew that Fletcher was a danger to children but it protected him. I believe the church is responsible. They have a duty of care. And they claim that priests are people that you could welcome into your home and lives. It was a huge breach of trust."
   An interesting aspect of the Fletcher case is that in the late 1990s, while Desmond was suffering in silence about his sexual abuse, his local bishop (Bishop Michael Malone) was appointed as a member of the Australian Catholic Church's National Committee on Professional Standards, which supervises the church's handling of sexual abuse. And Adelaide's Archbishop Philip Wilson, who had begun his own career at the Maitland cathedral in the early 1980s in the heyday of Father Jim Fletcher, became the chairman of this national committee. #
[Jul 4, 06]
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont126.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.

#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Wed July 05, 2006 edition:


• Wenceslao: Erring priests

  - RCC. Philippines flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   Sun.Star , www.sunstar. com.ph/static/ ceb/2006/07/06/ oped/bong.o.. wenceslao.html , By Bong O. Wenceslao, for July 06, 2006
   PHILIPPINES -- Funny how perceptions change when sordid tales about a person are dug up. Like the priest in the Cebu archdiocese mentioned in earlier reports as having been involved in "inappropriate liaisons" with two altar boys in the States 20 years ago. After I surfed the Net and got his identity, I was shocked. You just can't judge people on mere appearance.
   The first time I attended a mass officiated by the priest, and that was years ago, I thought he had charisma. He has this presence in the pulpit and his voice can bring the faithful to rapt attention. There is also creativity in his handling of the ritual, which is probably why he has been increasingly relied upon to handle some major church events.
   But that impression was molded from afar, in much the same way that people's appreciation of priests in general are formed by acts that merely skim the surface of their characters: the way they deliver their homilies, their gentle voice, etc. As a result, many parishioners end up defending priests who are accused of misconduct, like rape. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:21 PM]

Priest gets five years for abusing altar boys

  [1995-2000 Przybylski*] - RCC. 2 teenage altar boys. Canada flag; Mooney's MiniFlags  Vatican City / Papal flag; www.edwardmooney.com/miniflags  
   The Hamilton Spectator, By Paul Legall, Jul 5, 2006
   SIMCOE, Canada -- A Roman Catholic priest apologized and asked for forgiveness yesterday before he was sentenced to five years for sexually abusing two altar boys.
   One of the teenagers was molested when the 56-year-old cleric took him to the Vatican to meet the pope.
   Apart from handing down the jail term, Ontario Court Justice Martha Zivolak ordered Father Konstanty Przybylski to provide a DNA sample and placed him on the sexual offenders data bank for 20 years.
   She said his crimes were aggravated by the fact that he was a Roman Catholic priest and had violated the trust of the community as well as the teenagers who regarded him as their spiritual mentor. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:24 AM]

Priest cleared of abuse claim

  - RCC. Canon Niall Ahern reinstated. Ireland, Republic of / Eire, flag; www.edwardmooney.com/miniflags 
   One in Four, Irish Independent, ~ July 05, 2006
   IRELAND -- A Senior parish priest has been cleared of a sexual abuse allegation dating back to the late 1970s.
   Canon Niall Ahern, the parish priest of Strandhill, Co Sligo, has been reinstated into the active ministry, it was announced yesterday through the Catholic Communications office in Maynooth by the Bishop of Elphin, Christopher Jones. "No taint or suspicion attaches in any way to the priest," a statement by the diocese said.
   "He enjoys the complete confidence of the bishop as he re-affirms him in full and ongoing ministry in the diocese," the statement added.

Church Removes Pastor It Determines Abused Child In 1970s

  [1970s Hummell*] - RCC. Child. United States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   NBC 10, ~ July 05, 2006
   PHILADELPHIA (PA) -- Church officials have removed the pastor of a Roman Catholic parish after concluding he had abused a child while teaching at an archdiocesan high school in the 1970s.
   The Rev. John F. Hummell, 66, was ordered to step down last week from Sacred Heart Parish in Oxford, and was banned from serving anywhere as a priest.
   Hummell, who has left the Chester County parish, has denied the allegation. He will not talk to reporters, a church spokeswoman said Monday.
   The archdiocese took action after a 10-month investigation of an allegation received in October, officials said. In a statement, the church provided no details of the case against Hummell beyond saying the inquiry had taken months because the allegation was "particularly complex."

Catholicism 'faces biggest crisis since Reformation'

  - RC marriages fall 60%. Child abuse. United Kingdom flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   The Times, By Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent, ~ July 05, 2006
   UNITED KINGDOM -- THE Roman Catholic Church in Britain is facing its greatest threat since the Reformation, according to research.
   Over three decades Mass attendance has slumped by 40 per cent, baptisms by 50 per cent, Catholic marriages by 60 per cent and confirmations by 60 per cent.
   The 260-page study of the Church indicates that the number of adult converts fell by 55 per cent and first communions by nearly 40 per cent, described as the "greatest pastoral and demographic catastrophe" since the Reformation of the 16th century. ...
   In The Future of the Catholic Church in Britain, Tom Horwood said: "The Church in Britain is suffering from a terminal decline in membership, irregular commitment among the remnant, and, in the wake of persistent child abuse scandals, a leadership of bishops and priests that has toppled from its pedestal with a mighty crash."

Vercellotti recovering from fire

  - Home fire destroys SNAP documents. United States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   Toledo Free Press, By Danielle Portteus, news@toledo freepress. com , ~ July 05, 2006
   TOLEDO (OH) -- Claudia Vercellotti, co-leader of Toledo Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said every day since her Sept. 2005 fire is a challenge. The fire destroyed virtually all her possessions, including documents to fight clerical abuse.
   Lt. Richard Bosak said the fire investigation is continuing.
   "We have received a lot of phone tips because of the person's name," he said. "We can do follow-up things through interviews."
   Bosak said the cause of the fire has yet to be identified.

Sentencing set for former Clayton priest

  [2005 Silva*] - RCC. Boy. United States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags  France flag; Mooney's MiniFlags  Portugal flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   Amarillo Globe News, By Michael Smith, michael. smith@ amarillo. com , ~ July 06, 2006
   NEW MEXICO -- A former Raton, N.M., priest who once oversaw a parish in Clayton, N.M., will learn his fate in September after pleading guilty last month to taking a minor out of the country and having sex with him, court documents show.
   George Silva entered his plea June 12 before U.S. District Judge Judith C. Herrera in a New Mexico federal courtroom in Albuquerque, according to court documents.
   Sentencing has been scheduled for Sept. 28.
   A federal grand jury indicted Silva in February on two counts of transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and two counts of travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct, court records show.

Diocese recusal request headed to court

  [1979-2006 Burlington Diocese] - RCC. $US 1m so far. 19 males. United States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   Burlington Free Press, By Adam Silverman, Wednesday, July 5, 2006
   VERMONT -- Lawyers are scheduled to argue today about whether a Chittenden County judge should be removed from hearing lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington alleging sexual abuse by priests.
   The diocese -- facing 21 claims filed by people who say they were victims of abuse and having settled one case for nearly $1 million -- asked in May that Superior Court Judge Ben Joseph step down from presiding over the pending cases.
   Diocesan attorneys argued in court papers that Joseph has issued a spate of biased rulings against the church that necessitated the settlement and made it nearly impossible for future trials to be fair.
   Plaintiffs countered that Joseph's decisions have been impartial and proper, and they accused the diocese of "judge shopping" and trying to intimidate the judiciary.

Priest admits 1970s abuse at Gormanston

  [1974-81 Bennett (Franciscan)] - RCC. 4 pupils. Ireland, Republic of / Eire, flag; www.edwardmooney.com/miniflags 
   Irish Independent, ~ July 05, 2006
   IRELAND -- A FORMER spiritual director and bursar of Gormanston College was remanded on bail for sentence last week at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, where he pleaded guilty to six sample charges of indecent assault on boys at the school between 1974 and 1981.
   Fr Ronald Bennett (71), with an address at Dun Mhuire, Seafield Road, Killiney, Co Dublin, had been sports master at the east Meath boarding school at that time.
   Niall Muldoon, senior clinical psychologist at the Granada Institute, told the court that the defendant had undergone "considerable therapy" there over the past seven years. He was categorised at the lowest level of a re-offending risk.
   Witness added that the defendant was "ill-equipped for the position of spiritual director" when appointed in 1963. In dealing with sex education matters, the defendant was unable to distinguish between the boundaries in relation to his own sexuality.

Memory of clerical abuse still haunts author

  [? 1950s-60s priest] - RCC. Teenage girl. United States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   Toledo Free Press, By Danielle Portteus, news@toledofreepress.com , ~ July 05, 2006
   TOLEDO (OH) -- Pat Zielinski said she was abused by a Catholic priest as a teenager, but people did not believe her.
   "People either didn't believe me or didn't want to," she said. "People felt if I said anything I would hurt the good clergy - I needed to have a voice, but I didn't have one."
   Zielinski's need for someone to listen to her led her to write the novel "Behind the Stained Glass," published in 1998. The recent murder conviction of a Toledo priest and new lawsuits (see page A11) have Zielinski speaking out about her experiences.
   Zielinski, a Toledo resident, attended a Catholic boarding school from 1957 to 1965 in Michigan, less than half an hour from the border.

Priest gets 5 years

  [1995-2000 Przybylski*] - RCC. $US 36,000 request. 2 teenage altar boys. Canada flag; Mooney's MiniFlags  Vatican City / Papal flag; www.edwardmooney.com/miniflags  
   London Free Press By JANE SIMS, FREE PRESS JUSTICE REPORTER, ~ July 05, 2006
   SIMCOE, Canada -- As a Roman Catholic priest for three decades, Konstanty Przybylski had walked this way before -- with his head bowed, his hands clasped in front of him.
   But yesterday's walk from the Simcoe courthouse through the parking lot to the OPP station for a DNA sample was one of humiliation, not humility.
   Przybylski's clasped hands were held together with handcuffs.
   The head was bowed in shame.
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Wed July 05, 2006
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont126.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.

• Sex fiend free to live near children  Australia flag; www.flagaustnat.asn.au/ 

Sex fiend free to live near children

 
   The West Australian, www.thewest. com.au/default. aspx?MenuID= 77&Content ID=579 , By GARY ADSHEAD, SEAN COWAN, LEE-ANNE PETCHELL, and MEGAN SADLER, Page One, Wednesday, July 5, 2006
   PERTH: A decision by Chief Judge Antoinette Kennedy to release a self-confessed child-sex predator back into a small WA community has outraged residents, who include the families of his three young victims.
   Bullsbrook residents yesterday demanded 58-year-old Kevin James Lilly be forced to leave the area and have distributed a letter outlining his appalling crimes around the semirural town 40km north of Perth.
   "Please give this notice high regard when sending children out to fundraise and travelling to and from school and sports," the letter reads.
   Last week's murder and rape of eight-year-old Sofia Rodriguez-Urrutia-Shu has added to the anxiety of residents and police were last night concerned about a vigilante-style attack on the child abuser's home.
   Lilly, who lives with his family near Bullsbrook Primary School, was believed to have fled the home yesterday and gone into hiding.
   He pleaded guilty to 10 counts of indecently dealing with two 10-year-old girls and a six-year-old girl and was given a two-year suspended jail sentence.
   In the first incident, last August, he exposed himself to the two older girls and then forcibly kissed one of the girls on the lips.
   When they said they didn't like what he was doing, he responded by saying to them: "It's my yard. I can do what I want."
  [Picture] Antoinette Kennedy: Sparks outrage.  
   In the second incident, on February 4, he played "truth, dare or torture" with one of the 10-year-olds and the six-year-old before prompting them to expose themselves to him and touching one of them. But when one of the girls' mothers saw him expose himself, Lilly was reported to police.
   "Why should my kids be the ones to suffer?" the mother of one of Lilly's victims said. "Where's the protection for her? "
   Residents, who have learnt some of the shocking details in the past 24 hours, said they couldn't understand why a court would allow him to return to the scene of his crimes.
   "It is very unpleasant to have someone like that living in the neighbourhood - a lot of kids walk up and down the street to get to school and cars go up and down all day with mums taking the children to school," long-term resident Arnold Roth said.
   In sentencing Lilly on June 23, Judge Kennedy was told Lilly had an alcohol problem and could drink up to 20 cans of full-strength beer in a single drinking session.
   He "returned to an immature state" when he drank, defence lawyer Michael Tudori said of Lilly.
   Prosecutor Mark Nicol told Judge Kennedy that because of the gravity of Lilly's crimes, a jail sentence was required.
   "This sort of thing really needs to have deterrence as the paramount factor," he said. "We say really this is such that nothing less than immediate imprisonment will suffice."
   But Judge Kennedy said there was a medium-to-low risk that Lilly would reoffend in the next five years.
   "I really feel from having read about you that you do realise the seriousness of what you have done to these little girls and their family," Judge Kennedy said. "I really do believe that you will do your best not to cause any more pain, and you have caused pain and you have to accept that."
   Attorney-General Jim McGinty said he had taken the residents' concerns to the Police Minister to ensure that children in the area were protected from Lilly. #
   [RECAPITULATION: I really do believe that you will do your best not to cause any more pain. RECAP. ENDS.] [Jul 5, 06]
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont126.htm

#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Thu July 06, 2006 edition:


• Priest's denial over child porn

  [2005-06 Jones*] - RCC. Computer child pornography. Britain and Northern Ireland, United Kingdom of, flag; Mooney's MiniFlags  
   IcCoventry, http://iccov entry.icnet work.co.uk/ 0100news/0100 localnews/tm_ objectid=1732 9579&method= full&siteid= 50003&headline= priest-s-denial- over-child-porn- name_page. html ; by Ben Griffin, crime reporter, Jul 4 2006
   UNITED KINGDOM -- A WARWICKSHIRE priest at the centre of child porn allegations has protested his innocence.
   Fr Tony Jones, of St Peter the Apostle Church, in Dormer Place, Leamington, is accused of down-loading child pornography.
   As part of a seven-month investigation, police seized a computer from the parish office of the church on June 12 and arrested the 55-year-old.
   He was released on police bail pending further inquiries and, after answering his bail at Leamington police station on Friday, he was charged with 17 counts of making indecent images of children. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:22 AM]

• Defrocked rabbi's Jerusalem lecture cancelled after threats

  [? 1990s -2000s Tendler] - Judaism (Orthodox). Women. Israel flag; Mooney's MiniFlags  United States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   Haaretz, www.haaretz. com/hasen/ spages/735 378.html , By Daphna Berman, Haaretz Correspondent, ~ July 06, 2006
   ISRAEL -- A lecture by an American rabbi accused of sexual improprieties by several of his New York congregants, scheduled to be held in Jerusalem on Thursday night, was cancelled, following threats of protests and a flood of complaints, activists said.
   Mordechai Tendler, a scion of a prominent rabbinic family, was expelled unanimously last year by the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) after the organization decided that he had "engaged in conduct inappropriate for an Orthodox rabbi."
   In March, he was also suspended by the board of Kehillat New Hempstead, the New York synagogue that he founded. Tendler, who is currently in Israel, was scheduled to speak Thursday in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Har Nof. A protest was scheduled to take place outside the event.
   "This is definitely a victory," said Leah Marinelli, a former congregant from New York, Wednesday. Marinelli was one of the first community members to speak out against the rabbi and convinced some of his alleged victims to come forward publicly to the RCA.
   LOOK FORWARD: See newsitem of ~ August 24, 2007

Here's hoping diocese gets fair coverage

  [Decades - Joliet Diocese] - RCC. Children. United States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   The Herald News, ~ July 06, 2006
   JOLIET (IL) -- The way The Herald News has characterized the Joliet Diocese and its former bishop, the Most Rev. Joseph Imesch, regarding the abuse of children has been tragically flawed.
   Of course, any child who has been abused by a priest is one too many. In reality, though, the situation in the Joliet Diocese is better than - sometimes far better than - average when compared to other dioceses in the United States in terms of percentages of priests who have abused children, numbers of victims, and monetary costs to the diocese.
   Unfortunately, some of the writers, columnists and editors portrayed the diocese and Imesch in a way that made Joliet seem like one of the worst places in the country. The paper has a responsibility to provide not only facts, but to put the story in proper perspective. They failed miserably in that.
   Also, not enough attention has been paid to the actions of Imesch and the diocese since 2002. The diocese's response with the program of Protecting God's Children and safeguards put in place to protect young people has been exemplary. These should have been mentioned more and commended in newspaper reports. Many readers were intentionally misled these past four years into believing Joliet was somehow one of the worst dioceses or a particularly problematic diocese, when it clearly was not.

Child Protection Policies Working

  [2005] - RCC. 21 more victims. (Total 75 more victims) Britain and Northern Ireland, United Kingdom of, flag; Mooney's MiniFlags  
   The Universe Newsroom, By Paul Donovan in London, Posted on July 06, 2006
   UNITED KINGDOM -- The Catholic Office for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults (COPCA) has reported a drop in the number of cases involving Church personnel from 100 (2004) to 60 (2005).
   The publication of the annual report of COPCA showed 60 reports of alleged abuse involving some 75 victims being passed on to the police. Of the 21 incidents that allegedly occurred during 2005, five involved allegations of abuse by priests - two sexual and two physical plus one of possession of child abuse images.
   There were 16 other cases involving employees, volunteers and parishioners, 10 of which were allegations of sexual abuse. The remaining 54 victims were abused in preceding years going back to the 1930s.
   The figures show the next highest years for abuse as being the 1980s with 16 and the 1970s with 15.

Abuse extension bill clears panel

  [1970s Bishop Dupre*] - RCC. 2 boys United States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   The Republican, By DAN RING, dring@repub.com , Thursday, July 06, 2006
   BOSTON (MA) -- Victims of childhood sexual abuse would have up to 25 years to report their cases for possible criminal prosecution, according to a bill approved by a legislative committee.
   The Judiciary Committee voted on Friday to extend the statute of limitations for childhood victims of sexual abuse from the current 15 years to 25 years. Because the deadline for reporting the crime starts when the child reaches age 16, victims would have until the age of 41 to report sexual abuse crimes.
   It was the statute of limitation that stopped any consideration of prosecuting Bishop Thomas L. Dupre, the former bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, after a grand jury indicted him on two counts of child rape in 2004, according to Hampden County District Attorney William M. Bennett.

Diocese expresses regret for abuse

  [1995-2000 Przybylski*] - RCC. 2 altar boys. Canada flag; Mooney's MiniFlags  Vatican City / Papal flag; www.edwardmooney.com/miniflags  
   London Free Press, By JANE SIMS, FREE PRESS JUSTICE REPORTER, Thu, July 6, 2006
   CANADA: In the wake of a long prison sentence dealt a sexually abusive Roman Catholic priest, the diocese of London has added its regret and concern.
   But critics say they want a more concrete response from the church to ensure abuse of children ends.
   The diocese said in a written statement on the case of Konstanty Przybylski that it "deeply regrets the hurt his actions have caused the victims, their families and the entire community."
   Przybylski, 56, known as "Father Konny" to parishioners, was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for three sex-related crimes involving altar boys at St. Cecilia's parish in Port Dover.
   It's one of the longest sentences ever given a Catholic cleric in the region.

'Heaven' Is On The Block

  [McSheffery] - RCC. 8 students. United States of America flag; Mooney's MiniFlags 
   Hartford Courant, By DAVE ALTIMARI, July 6, 2006
   CONNECTICUT -- The Archdiocese of Hartford is about to sell a little piece of "Heaven" - and could make a nice profit from it.
&nbs