Clergy Child Molesters (145) — References/Archive/Blog

Posted by Kathy Shaw at 8:21 AM

• 'Deeply ashamed' Tate sentenced to five and a half years

  [- 2006 Mr Tate*]- Episcopalian. Naked boy pictures. Sex with minors. [2006 Lawyer Russell*] - Destroyed evidence.    
   Greenwich Post, By Ken Borsuk,
   GREENWICH (CT) -- Robert Tate, former musical director of Christ Church, has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography.
   In addition to the 66 months in prison, Mr. Tate, who is 66-years-old, will have to pay a $50,000 fine and be under supervised release for the rest of his life. Once he is released from prison, he will have to register as a sex offender wherever he works or lives, have monitored Internet usage and be barred from spending any time alone with children under the age of 18 unless there is a "responsible adult" present who is aware of his conviction, among other conditions imposed by Senior United States District Judge Alan Nevas.
   Mr. Tate had faced a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He pleaded guilty to the charge in January 2007 after being arrested in November 2006.

• Portland Man From Nampa Suing LDS & Boy Scouts

 
   KTRV
   NAMPA, Idaho -- A former Nampa teenager is suing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints and the Boy Scouts for 5-million dollars, claiming he was sexually abused.
   The man who's now 54-years-old, says it happened decades ago.
   Why is the lawsuit being filed now?
   The Idaho and Oregon statute of limitations allows it.

• SNAP raps Fall River Diocese on abuse allegations

  [1980s Lebel* (Jesuit)] - RCC. Minor.
   The Sun Chronicle, BY GLORIA LaBOUNTY, 12:43 AM EST, Friday, February 22, 2008
   FALL RIVER (MA) - A national support group for sexual abuse victims is alleging the Fall River Diocese has not done enough to inform the public about allegations against a Maine priest who once served in the Fall River and Attleboro areas, but diocesan officials say they already have done everything the group is now demanding.
   SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said this week in a letter to Bishop George Coleman that more should be done to find other possible victims of the Rev. Maurice Lebel, who has been accused by one person of abuse in Massachusetts in the early 1980s.
   That was when Lebel was a counselor with the Fall River and Attleboro offices of Catholic Social Services. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 8:11 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker , Fri February 22, 2008
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont145.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.

#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker , Sat February 23, 2008 edition:

• Attack of the Bishops: What happens when you advocate for sex crime victims in the Catholic Church in Geneva, Illinois

   
   City of Angels By Kay Ebeling
   ILLINOIS -- One priest ranted in daily Mass sermons against "those who go to the media." The monsignor visited choir practice and called them sons and daughters of Satan. Their sin? When they found out Father Mark Campobello who taught at their high school was an ephebophile with a predilection for eighth grade girls, they wanted to help the victims. Then the Rockford Diocese refused to cooperate with the local DA and a few church members spoke to the media. St. Peter's parish responded by attacking the crime victims and anyone brave enough to be a victims' advocate.
   Campobello was released from prison in Illinois last week, after serving four years of an eight year sentence, and he now lives in Crystal Lake where he's registered as a sex offender, but the damages his crimes caused at St. Peter's parish are probably permanent.
   "There's people in the pews snapping pictures of us," Frank Bochte said. A website obviously connected to the parish then prints the stalker photos. You can also listen to voice mail messages Bochte and his wife Kate left with St. Peter's parish priests with one click at the CTL-NYC website, so much for confidentiality. In the forum section at CTL, someone slyly identified a Campobello victim by stating her father's job title. A "film crew" from CTL points cameras in advocates' faces -- with press badges at the last SNAP meeting in New York last year. They claim to be making a documentary. … [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:51 PM]

• I Voted for Obama. Will I Go Straight to … ?

 
   Washington Post By Joe Feuerherd Page B05 Sunday, February 24, 2008
   UNITED STATES -- Like most Maryland Democrats, I voted for Sen. Barack Obama in the recent Potomac Primary. By doing so, according to the leaders of my church, I put my soul at risk. That's right, says the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops -- tap the touch screen for a pro-abortion-rights candidate, and you're probably punching your ticket to Hell.
   For a church that "thinks in centuries," things sure are moving quickly. Back in 2004, as Washington correspondent for the independent National Catholic Reporter, I covered what Comedy Central's Jon Stewart dubbed the "wafer wars." A handful of conservative bishops warned Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry, a pro-abortion rights Catholic, that they would deny him Communion should he attempt to receive the church's most sacred sacrament. …
   This fire-and-brimstone approach to the ballot box is the long-term bequest of a conservative pope, John Paul II, enacted by a U.S. hierarchy appointed during his 27-year tenure and now by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI. John Paul's key criterion in choosing the men who lead the United States' 194 dioceses was their vocal support for church teachings that have been rejected in whole (birth control) or in part (women's ordination and abortion) by many Catholics in the pews and the broader American culture. John Paul gave little weight to management or pastoral experience, as evidenced by the bishops' handling of the clergy sex-abuse crisis.

• Diocese sells school site to The Irvine Co.

 
   Union-Tribune By Mike Freeman February 23, 2008
   LINDA VISTA (CA) -- The Irvine Co. has purchased the University of San Diego High School site in Linda Vista from the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego for $50 million.
   The Newport Beach-based real estate giant plans to build 533 apartments at the former private Catholic school site, which closed in 2005 when the diocese opened Cathedral Catholic High in Carmel Valley.
   Known as "Uni," the high school site was the most high profile of the church-owned properties involved in the diocese's bankruptcy filing last year. Proceeds from the sale will go toward paying the $198 million settlement the diocese reached in September with victims of sexual abuse by clergy members.

• Catholic Churches Must Decide Future

 
   WBNG By Gabe Osterhout
   [with video]
   NEW YORK -- Dozens of Catholic Churches are close to a deadline to decide their future.
   The Syracuse Diocese picked parishes to merge or link.
   Their plans are due next month.
   Our Lady of Angels Church in the Town of Union was built in the 1960s, as an offshoot to Christ the King Church.
   Now the two parishes will again be one.

• New Documents Released in Decades Old Murder

  [1972 Person unknown, or Lavigne] - RCC. Altar boy Croteau murdered.
   CBS 3 By Matt DeLucia
   [with video]
   SPRINGFIELD (MA) -- More than 35 years after the death of 13 year-old Danny Croteau, a Springfield altar boy, documents that have never been seen before by the public have finally been released.
   Croteau's family sees this latest development as a big victory, while the Hampden County District Attorney's office fought hard to keep the documents from the public eye.
   It was just last month when a Hampden County Superior Court Judge ordered the District Attorney's office to turn over dozens of pages of witness statements related to the murder. This week, those documents became public for the first time in over three decades. Documents the Croteaus say will help them form an independent investigation.

• Fleecing the sheep

  [~ 1990s-2000s Rodis] - RCC. ≥ US$1m gone. Mail fraud, money laundering. Has wife and children too.    
   The Free Lance-Star February/23/2008
   VIRGINIA -- FORMER Louisa County priest Rodney Rodis rendered unto both God and Caesar. He rendered perfidy and criminal offense. On Thursday Caesar, at any rate, rendered back.
   In Richmond, federal Judge Richard Williams sentenced Rodis, a shepherd who took the sheep for a fleecing, to 63 months in prison--a term exceeding the customary guidelines, exceeding even what prosecutors sought--minus the nine months Rodis has sat in jail. Judge Williams gave the crooked cleric the maximum, the jurist said, specifically because in his role as parish priest Rodis "abuse[d] a sacred trust."
   That abuse was calculated, long-lasting, and severe. Rodis is slammer-bound technically because in 2002 he stole almost $600,000 from the two Catholic churches he "served" much as a wolf serves itself mutton--Immaculate Conception and St. Jude. But he actually swiped perhaps a million dollars or more over four years, both sending the money back to his native Philippines to acquire land and, more remarkably, financing a Spotsylvania County household that included a wife and kids. That Louisa and Spotsylvania counties fall under different Catholic dioceses facilitated the charade.

• Vatican defrocks convicted priest Donald McGuire

  [2000-02 McGuire (Jesuit) and friend of Mother Teresa] - RCC. 3 more charges. Minors.        
   Chicago Tribune, By Karoun Demirjian | February 23, 2008
   CHICAGO (IL) -- A Jesuit priest convicted of molesting students at a Chicago-area Catholic school in the 1960s was officially defrocked Friday.
   Donald J. McGuire has been permanently removed from all clerical functions, said a statement from Rev. Edward Schmidt, the head of the Chicago order of the Society of Jesus to which McGuire belonged.
   "We are outraged and saddened that any abuse ever took place," Schmidt said. "[McGuire] has terribly abused the trust [the victims], and we, put in him. And the church, by the action taken today, has demonstrated that same belief."

• Two Endwell parishes to become one

  - RCC.  
   Press & Sun-Bulletin By William Moyer
   ENDWELL (NY) -- Not that parishioners didn't see it coming, but the long-time priests at two Catholic parishes in Endwell have announced their retirements, which has triggered a diocesan-mandated formal process to merge the churches into a single parish.
   The Rev. Thomas F. Hobbes, at Christ the King, and the Rev. John D. Roock, at Our Lady of Angels, informed parishioners that they will retire in July or August, depending on a still-to-be-determined and diocesan-approved timetable for merging the two parishes.
   "Anything else would have been wishful thinking; it would have kept (Christ the King) open for a while, but people knew what was in the works," Hobbes said about the timing of the two priests' retirements. "People want some roots and to know what parish is going to be there for their children."

• Firm: Keep St. Ann's as Freeland's church

  - RCC. 4 to become 1.
   Standard Speaker By TOM RAGAN Saturday, 23 February 2008
   FREELAND (PA) -- The Roman Catholic Community of Freeland knew for months that four of its long-standing churches would be reduced to one.
   They now know which one is likely to survive.
   About 200 parishioners attended a Friday night meeting to hear the Rev. John Melnick announce that he would recommend St. Ann's Church on Centre Street serve the parish and be renamed Immaculate Conception Church.
   Under the recommendation, the other three churches – St. Casimir's, St. John's and St. Anthony's – would be closed.

• Justice sought in Croteau case

  [1972 Person unknown, or Lavigne] - RCC. Altar boy Croteau murdered.
   The Republican By BUFFY SPENCER, bspencer@repub.com , Saturday, February 23, 2008
   SPRINGFIELD (MA) -- Investigators have worked persistently during the past 35 years to find the killer of altar boy Daniel Croteau, but have been thwarted at every turn by a lack of physical evidence to link a suspect to the crime, Hampden County District Attorney William M. Bennett said. …
   In the documents released this week, one witness told police in 2004 she had seen a boy in a yellow rain coat lying beneath the bridge where Croteau's body was found. A priest was standing over him, she said.
   Her statement recounts the encounters with then-Bishop Christopher J. Weldon and then-District Attorney Ryan.
   The witness told police that Weldon threatened to excommunicate her father, and that Ryan told her there was no evidence to support her claim. Ryan, according to the woman's statement, said he could arrest her for filing a false report if she pursued her claims.
   Yesterday, Mark E. Dupont, spokesman for the Springfield diocese, said, "Diocesan legal counsel has reviewed the witness statement which alleges involvement by the late Bishop Christopher J. Weldon. There are a number of notable discrepancies in this witness' statement relative to dates and circumstances which call into question its overall reliability."
   "We maintain complete confidence that the office of the district attorney and state police would have pursued this matter had it been deemed credible," Dupont said.

• Church closings a new chapter in sad history

  - RCC leadership discredited; losing priests through seductions.
   The Pueblo Chieftain by Marvin Read
   PUEBLO (CO) -- The announcement this week that the Pueblo Catholic Diocese is shuttering two parishes - St. Patrick and Our Lady of the Assumption - is disappointing to the members of those congregations but no surprise.
   The closures represent locally the latest in a string of events that are changing the face of Roman Catholicism and that will, at some point, force church officials at every level to reconsider how to run that billion-member monolith. …
   The pedophile scandal of the last decade was seen by many as a coup de grace as more priests disappeared from the ranks, exposed for their abuse, defrocked and some jailed. Their bishops and other church officials were demeaned for their complicity and ineffectiveness in dealing with pervert priests. Dioceses were drained financially - some to the point of bankruptcy - to pay victims and their attorneys for abuse and sins of the past. The clergy, the episcopacy and the institution lost even more prestige than money.

• DA releases documents related to 1972 unsolved altar boy slaying

  [1972 Person unknown] - RCC. Altar boy Croteau murdered.
   Examiner By STEPHANIE REITZ, AP, 3:57 PM Feb 22, 2008
   SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (Map, News) - Newly released documents related to the 1972 murder of a 13-year-old altar boy include dozens of pages of witness statements and police reports, but have left his aging parents still hoping for the information that could bring their son's killer to trial.
   "Somebody out there knows something, and hopefully they will finally tell. That's what we've been desperately hoping for," said Bernice Croteau, 71, whose son, Danny, was killed more than three decades ago. "We've been waiting such a long time."
   Danny's body was found on the banks of the Chicopee River on April 15, 1972, after someone fatally bludgeoned him. Police think a bloody rock left at the scene may have been the murder weapon. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:34 AM]

• Psych tests for man who sexually abused daughter

  [Unnamed man] - Clergyman helps survivor. Female.  
   Calgary Sun By KEVIN MARTIN, SUN MEDIA
   CANADA -- Psychological testing has been ordered for a Calgary man who sexually abused his developmentally delayed adult daughter.
   Provincial court Judge Terry Semenuk yesterday asked that a report be prepared after the 60-year-old man entered a guilty plea to sexual assault. …
   The assaults came to light after the woman disclosed the abuse to her pastor.

• Bishop's lack of good judgment outrageous

  - RCC.
   Kennebec Journal
   MAINE -- When do good men stop being good men? At what point should good people examine the dark side of inaction? Both the Bible and the incarcerated make it clear how disgusting sexual abuse against children is, but inexplicably the Catholic Church continues to act as if this horror is mostly just an embarrassment to be worked around.
   Bishop Richard Malone's recent decision allowing former priest Paul Coughlin to resume duties, three years after resigning for covering up sex abuse charges against a church volunteer, is another example. The volunteer who Coughlin allowed to reside in the church rectory went to the Maine State Prison, having been convicted of the pedophilia Father Coughlin tried to hide. Not surprisingly, Coughlin himself was found to have had "inappropriate physical contact" with a minor at his church years earlier.
   If an administrator allowed this to happen in a local school, public outrage would demand the expulsion of the perpetrator and administrator. Why then should Bishop Malone not be expelled for his apparent lack of good judgment?

• Priest honored for work helping clergy fill roles

  - RCC.
   The Courier-Journal By Peter Smith psmith@courier-journal.com
   LOUISVILLE (KY) -- It was challenging enough to recruit young men for the Roman Catholic priesthood at a time when few were heeding such a call.
   But the Rev. Ronald Knott's job with the Archdiocese of Louisville became nearly impossible when the crisis of sexual abuse by clergy and others in the church hit its peak in 2002 and 2003. The crisis also threw Knott into the lowest point of his career, a depression he said many priests experienced then. But it got him thinking deeply about how many priests are overworked, isolated from each other and their parishioners and -- in the case of new priests -- poorly prepared for the realities of life as a pastor. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:24 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Sat February 23, 2008
• Church accepts convicted pedophile priest into choir.  - Anglicans. [1974-76 Sharwood] - Male. [1976-2002 Anglican Church authorities] - Permitted Sharwood to continue, employed at "Churchie" school.     http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont145.htm#church_accepts_convicted    [ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Broken Rites - Australia  ENDS.] [Feb 24, 08]
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont145.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.

#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker , Sun February 24, 2008 edition:

• Priest runs pub with divorcee

  [2008 O'Sullivan -NEW*] - RCC. With divorcee, in Spain.    
   The Courier By David Clegg, for February 25, 2008
   SCOTLAND -- THE CATHOLIC Church in Dundee has been rocked once more after it emerged a priest who retired on health grounds is running a pub in Spain with a divorcee.
   Father Eugene O'Sullivan, former parish priest of St Francis in Tullideph Road, confessed to a Sunday tabloid that he was also living with 41-year-old Fiona Aitken from Forfar–but denied they were having a sexual relationship.
   The 61-year-old said he was in the process of leaving the priesthood and refused to rule out the possibility he would marry in the future. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 8:46 PM] [COMMENT: Rocked once more, or rooked once more? ENDS.]

• McGuire removed from priesthood

  [2000-02 McGuire (Jesuit) and friend of Mother Teresa] - RCC. 3 more charges. Minors.        
   ABC 7 ~ February 24, 2008
   CHICAGO (IL) -- A Jesuit priest convicted of molesting Chicago-area students in the 1960's has been removed from the priesthood.
   Donald McGuire was officially defrocked Friday, according to the Chicago order of the Society of Jesus.
   On top of his 2006 molestation convictions, McGuire has also been accused in cases involving other children between the 1960s to 2002.
   Sunday, the activist group Survivor Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said not enough is being done to deter priests from abusing children. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 8:49 PM]

• Church hears evidence in child sex case

  - Anglicans. [1974-76 Sharwood] - Male. [1976-2002 Anglican Church authorities] - Permitted Sharwood to continue, employed at "Churchie" school.    
   Brisbane Times February 25, 2008
   AUSTRALIA -- An Anglican Church tribunal this week will hear evidence which could lead to a priest jailed for child sex being stripped of his orders.
   Robert Francis Sharwood, 62, of Brisbane, was jailed for 12 months in November 2006 after being found guilty of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy in Brisbane more than 30 years ago.
   Sharwood was released from jail in November last year, attracting calls by child protection advocates for him to be immediately stripped of his holy orders.

• Jesuits defrock priest who abused 2 boys

  [2000-02 McGuire (Jesuit) and friend of Mother Teresa] - RCC. 3 more charges. Minors.        
   Chicago Sun-Times BY MONIFA THOMAS / mjthomas@suntimes.com February 24, 2008
   CHICAGO (IL) -- A once-prominent Jesuit priest convicted of molesting two boys in the 1960s was officially defrocked Friday.
   The Rev. Donald J. McGuire has been permanently expelled from his religious order and removed from all clerical duties, according to a statement from the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus.
   The Rev. Edward Schmidt, head of the Chicago Jesuits, said the order is "outraged and saddened that any abuse ever took place."

• Father Haley's cryptic message; SNAP director writes Cardinal Maida

  [Haley] - RCC.
   Renew America by Matt C. Abbott February 24, 2008
   UNITED STATES -- Over the last couple of years, I've received e-mails asking about the status of Father James Haley, the priest whose story is detailed in this 2004 Washington Times article, and whom I've quoted in previous columns.
   In late November 2007, I e-mailed Father Haley to ask how he's doing and if there's been any new development(s) in his case, which had essentially placed him in canonical limbo. I also e-mailed him earlier this month about another matter.
   Father Haley responded on Feb. 19, 2008 (slightly edited):
   "I wanted to acknowledge these two emails, but I have nothing to say at this point in time. Well, other than I have heard nothing, absolutely nothing from the Church since Wednesday Nov. 30, 2005 at 12:37 p.m. Please keep me on your radar – 'it' will be the big blip that suddenly appears after so many warnings. And thanks for your work on this vital issue."

• Vizcaya priest finally charged for kissing, biting GRO's lips

  [2007 Saludares*] - RCC. Priest bites lips.  
   ABS-CBN By CHARLIE LAGASCA, The Philippine Star, ~ February 24, 2008
   BAMBANG, Nueva Vizcaya, PHILIPPINES – After almost six months, police and social welfare officials filed a case of unjust vexation before the provincial prosecutor's office against a Catholic priest who reportedly bit a guest relations officer (GRO) on the lips while he was drunk inside a videoke bar here in July last year.
   The case, docketed as I.S. No. 5356-B-2008, was transmitted last Feb. 20 by Chief Inspector Joseph de la Cruz, this town's police chief, and Myrna Pinaroc, municipal social welfare officer, against Fr. Elmer Saludares, parish priest of Saint Anne Parish in Barangay Malasin in neighboring Dupax del Norte town.
   Saludares was accused of biting the lips of Genalyn Abella while at the Estrella's Videoke Bar in San Antonio on July 17 last year.

• Norwich Diocese faces another sexual abuse lawsuit

  [1966-74 - Curry] - RCC. Girl  
   Newsday ~ February 24, 2008
   NEW LONDON, Conn. - A 49-year-old woman has sued the Norwich Diosese of the Roman Catholic Church, alleging she was the victim of years of sexual assaults at the hands of a priest in Groton.
   The woman says the Rev. James Curry began the assaults at St. Mary's Church in 1966 when she was 8-years old during private counseling sessions. The lawsuit alleges that Curry sexually assaulted the girl in the church sacristy and rectory, in the church center and in his car.
   The abuse continued on a regular basis for the next eight years and involved hundreds of sexual assaults, according to the woman's attorneys.

• St. John Bosco holds final Mass

  - RCC.
   The Observer By SHIRLEY WEST February/24/2008
   SHERIDAN (NY) – St. John Bosco Roman Catholic Church held its final Mass on Saturday afternoon to an overflowing crowd of dedicated, and slightly heartsick, parishioners.
   The lovely stone-faced church left its doors wide open during the Mass, welcoming any who would wish to say goodbye to what was to many "a home away from home."

• Why Wasn't He Stopped?

  [Dr Reardon] - Photography.
   Hartford Courant By HILARY WALDMAN And DANIEL P. JONES | February 24, 2008
   CONNECTICUT -- During the same stretch of time that Dr. George Reardon was allegedly fondling youngsters in his office at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, a psychologist across town at the Institute of Living reached this conclusion:
   "Dr. Reardon is not a pedophile."
   Sparked by complaints, the state Department of Public Health – which has the authority to lodge formal charges against doctors and initiate disciplinary hearings – had asked the prestigious institute to examine Reardon to determine whether he was a child molester.

• 'Ill' Priest And Secret Partner Run Pub In Spain

  [-2008 O'Sullivan*] - RCC. Divorcee, in Spain.      
   Sunday Mail By Charles Lavery Feb 24 2008
   SCOTLAND -- A PRIEST who left his Scottish parish on health grounds is running an Irish bar in Spain with his secret partner.
   Father Eugene O'Sullivan, 61, hopes to wed Fiona Aitken, 41, who he met as a young bride when he conducted her wedding in 1985.
   O'Sullivan's former parishioners will be stunned by the truth about where their priest has gone. They thought he was terminally ill and planning to spend his remaining time in Ireland.

• Our View - Sunday

  - Wants legal window opened.  
   Colorado Springs Gazette
   COLORADO -- Save the children. We must save them from the Catholic Church and its predatory pedophile priests. If we care about kids, we'll support House Bill 1011. That's what the bill's sponsor, state Rep. Gwyn Green, D-Golden, wants us to believe. The law would be a gift to predatory plaintiff's lawyers who are getting rich by emptying the coffers of the Catholic Church.
   The law would open a two-year window in which plaintiffs could sue private organizations for allegations of past sexual misdeeds of their employees. It would hold private organizations (read: the Catholic Church) accountable for the actions of the accused "even though the perpetrator of the offense is deceased or incapacitated."
   A dead priest is completely incapable of putting on a defense. He's equally useless for paying damages a judge or jury might award. Under the proposed law, therefore, those who failed to properly manage long-dead allegedly predatory priests would be held liable.

• Shamed Cleric Joseph Creegan In Battle To Keep Flat

  [18yrs ?+ Mons. Creegan] - RCC. Married woman; divorcee.  
   Sunday Mail Feb 24 2008
   SCOTLAND -- A MONSIGNOR sacked over an 18-year affair with a parishioner is battling to stay in his grace-and-favour home.
   We revealed that Joseph Creegan was sacked by Bishop Vincent Logan over "irrefutable proof" that he had an affair with a married woman.
   But last week Creegan sparked a row with the bishop that could go all the way to the Vatican.
   Creegan was sacked after the spurned woman at the centre of the affair confessed all to Bishop Logan.

• Fewer priests for local Catholics

  - RCC.  
   Sun Journal By Daniel Hartill, Sunday, February 24, 2008
   LEWISTON, MAINE - The number of Catholic priests in the city will shrink again.
   Lewiston parishioners were told Saturday that Monsignor Marc B. Caron and two parochial vicars will lead services at the city's five churches: Holy Family, Holy Cross, St. Patrick's, St. Joseph's and the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. Four priests currently share the duties.
   In addition, a single priest will soon be responsible for churches in Lisbon and Sabattus and a mission in Greene.
   The announcement came in the form of a letter distributed to parishioners Saturday and signed by Bishop Richard Malone, the leader of Maine's Catholic church.

• Church accepts convicted pedophile priest into choir

  - Anglicans. [1974-76 Sharwood] - Male. [1976-2002 Anglican Church authorities] - Permitted Sharwood to continue, employed at "Churchie" school.    
   Courier Mail By Tanya Chilcott and Alison Sandy February 24, 2008
   AUSTRALIA -- A CONVICTED pedophile priest is being allowed to sing in a choir with children at one of Brisbane's most distinguished Anglican churches.
   Robert Francis Sharwood, who was released from jail three years ago after serving a year for sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy, sang in the third row of the Holy Trinity Church choir in Fortitude Valley yesterday. A 14-year-old and 16-year-old girl sang in the front, while infants and children, including young boys, were present in the congregation.

• Speaker to address behavior problems

   
   Billings Gazette
   HELENA (MT) -- Toni Cavanagh Johnson, Ph.D., a leading authority on children with sexual behavior problems, will speak in Helena on March 7-8 at the Best Western Great Northern Hotel. The event, which is open to the public, is presented by Intermountain. The registration fee is $150; to register, go to www.intermountain.org.
   The conference will be beneficial for juvenile justice workers, health care professionals, social workers, child care workers and church leaders in understanding normal vs. problematic sexual behavior in children.

• Tate's apology at sentencing prompts questions

  [- 2006 Mr Tate*]- Episcopalian. Naked boy pictures. Sex with minors. [2006 Lawyer Russell*] - Destroyed evidence.    
   The Advocate By Martin B. Cassidy February 24 2008
   GREENWICH (CT) -- Jack Bausman heard Robert Tate, former Christ Church Greenwich choir director, confess Thursday to viewing child pornography and committing decades of sexual abuse of minors. But Bausman said he still has questions about Tate's admission that he had hired two pedophiles who preyed on choir boys.
   At his sentencing Thursday, Tate, 66, apologized for knowingly hiring the two unidentified men and called himself "a coward" for firing the men but not turning them into police when they molested boys in the choir.
   Bausman, a Christ Church parishioner who has known Tate for 34 years, said he had hoped for the benefit of parishioners that authorities would identify the men and say when they had worked at the church.

• WORKSHOP ON SEXUALITY, CELIBACY AND BOUNDARY VIOLATIONS

     
   Don Bosco India, Feb. 23, 2008
   HYDERABAD, India -- Bosco Psychological Services, New Delhi Province, celebrated its 10 years of service to the Province and the Church with a well attended 3 day workshop on Sexuality, Celibacy and Boundary Violations: Understanding and Helping the Victim and the Offender. The programme started on 18th February morning and ended on 20th evening.
   The resource persons were Dr. Tony Robinson, clinical psychologist and CEO and Dr. Gerardine Taylor, Clinical Director, of Encompass Australasia. Encompass is a residential treatment centre in Sydney, Australia for professionals, clergy, religious men and women who are struggling with sexual issues. [COMMENT: There is no need to STUDY or DISCUSS celibacy -- it is unChristian.  Both Old and New Testaments counsel men to marry women and vice-versa.  In fact, being married is a condition for being a Christian clergyman, if certain epistles can be trusted. ENDS.]

• Lawsuit Accuses Ex-priest Of Abuse

  [1966-74 - Curry] - RCC. Girl  
   The Day
   GROTON (CT) – One day in 1966, 8-year-old "Mary Doe" went to confession at St. Mary's Church where the Rev. James Curry told her that she should later speak to him in private.
   Doe, who helped her mother clean the church and rectory, went to several private counseling sessions with the 42-year-old priest. During those sessions, Curry prayed with the girl while massaging her shoulders, stroking her hair and kissing her forehead. He told her she was special and to "trust in the Lord."
   Those details come from a lawsuit filed against the Diocese of Norwich last week in New London Superior Court. During the third or fourth such session, according to the suit, Curry had the girl drink the sacramental wine used at Mass before they engaged in oral sex, and he raped her. That pattern continued on a regular basis for the next eight years and involved hundreds of sexual assaults, according to attorneys for the now 49-year-old woman.

• Rev. James Curry Had Faced A Separate Rape Allegation

  [1966-74, 1980-81 - Curry] - RCC. Girl
   The Day By JOE WOJTAS
   GROTON (CT) – The lawsuit newly filed by "Mary Doe" is not the first time the late James Curry, formerly a priest in the Norwich diocese, has been accused of raping a young girl.
   In 1981 a Groton woman who had worked as Curry's housekeeper filed a criminal complaint against Curry with the town police. In it she alleged the priest had raped her 11-year-old daughter on various occasions in 1980 and 1981.
   Curry resigned from the church that fall, while denying the allegations. Diocesan spokesman Michael Strammiello said Friday that records show the Norwich diocese removed Curry from his ministry. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:40 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker , Sun February 24, 2008
• Lawsuit alleges decades of abuse.  - RCC. [1970-93 Marist College] - Many boys. [1986-87 Bro. Kostka] - 4 boys. [~ 1984 Mr Lyons] - Boys.     http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont145.htm#lawsuit_alleges_decades    [ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Broken Rites - Australia  ENDS.] [Feb 25, 08]
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont145.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.

#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker , Mon February 25, 2008 edition:

• Cameroon: Priest Accused of Mismanaging Harvest Thanksgiving Fund

  [~ 2000s Mons. Ateba -NEW*] - RCC. Money.  
   AllAfrica, The Post (Buea), by Kini Nsom, Leocadia Bongben & Edith Wirdze, February 25, 2008
   CAMEROON -- The Parish Priest of the St Joseph's Anglophone Parish in Mvog-Ada Yaounde, Mgr Joseph Befe Ateba, has been accused of mismanaging harvest thanksgiving funds.
   The accusations are contained in a petition some Christians wrote to the Yaounde Archbishop, Mgr Victor Tonye Bakot, recently.The mismanagement allegations that have since been making rounds in the parish rated as the richest in the country, indict the priest for living an extravagant life.

• Student testifies of bizarre abuse

  [l985-87 Wood -NEW*] - Baptist. Children.  
   The Chronicle Herald, By JANE SIMS The Canadian Press, 6:13 AM, Thu. Feb 14, 2008
   LONDON, Ont., CANADA – The trial for a teacher accused of bizarre abuse at a defunct Baptist school began this week amid allegations of students standing at attention for hours on end, having facial hair plucked with pliers and a greeting that involved fondling the breasts of parishioners.
   Royden Wood, a church pastor and teacher at the school, has pleaded not guilty to 10 assault charges, two sexual assault charges and one charge of sexual interference.
   A man who is now 35 years old testified Tuesday about the alleged abuse he suffered as a boy at the alternative school which ran out of the basement of the Ambassador Baptist Church from about 1985 to 1987. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 8:39 PM]

• Many Americans switch religious denominations, study finds

  - 10% of citiznes have left RCC; loss of 7.5%.  
   The Christian Science Monitor By Jane Lampman | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor from the February 26, 2008 edition
   UNITED STATES -- Reporter Jane Lampman talks about the results of a new survey on religion in America.A panoramic snapshot of American religious life in 2008 reveals an extraordinary dynamism that is reshaping the country's major traditions in historic ways.
   Almost half of Americans have moved to a different religious denomination from that in which they were raised, and 28 percent have switched to a different major tradition or to no religion (i.e., from Roman Catholic to Protestant, Jewish to unaffiliated). …
   Perhaps the big surprise, though, relates to Roman Catholicism, which experienced the greatest net loss. While 31.4 percent of adults say they were raised Catholic, today only 23.9 percent identify as Catholic, a net loss of 7.5 percent.
   "The Catholic numbers are eye-popping," says Dr. Lugo. "One out of every 10 people you meet on the street is a former Catholic." …
   "Scandals and conflicts lead some to distance themselves even though they still hold Christian beliefs," says Darren Sherkat, a sociologist at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, who has studied the unaffiliated. "A perhaps growing percentage are disaffiliated because they don't hold Christian beliefs."

• Ex-priest probed over abuse claim

  [≤ 2003 James Robinson*] - RCC. Police failed to investigate. Child.    
   BBC News,
   UNITED KINGDOM -- Police have agreed to re-examine allegations of child abuse made against a former Roman Catholic priest.
   West Midlands Police is reviewing the case after admitting it failed to investigate when a complaint was made about Father James Robinson in 2003.
   Father Robinson, who denies the claims, worked in Sutton Coldfield, Cradley Heath and Newcastle-under-Lyme, but moved to California in 1985.

• Young sex-abuse victims need extension of time for suits

   
   MinnPost By Paula Ruddy Monday, Feb. 25, 2008
   MINNESOTA -- How many victims of sexual abuse in childhood are competent by the age of 24 to know how damaging the abuse has been to their lives? Yet in Minnesota, child victims of sex abusers currently have to file suit in civil court to cover the costs of injuries within six years after they "knew or had reason to know" that the injury was caused by the sexual abuse, according to Minnesota Statutes, Section 541.073 Subd.2(a).
   The Minnesota Supreme Court has held that a child can't know or have reason to know that he or she has been injured by sexual abuse until the age of 18. But unless another disability is proven, the court's decision is read to give victims six years after the age of 18 to sue for damages. In most cases, by the age of 24 the person's right to sue is foreclosed. This statute applies not only to suits against an abuser but it also applies in Subd.3(2) to suits against a person who caused the injury by "negligently permitting sexual abuse against the victim to occur." The employer who was negligent in hiring an abuser and placing children in harm's way is protected by this statute, too.

• Calif. woman sentenced for allowing son to be sexually abused

  [Ms Hunt] - New religion. Transporting child for sex.
   San Francisco Chronicle AP, Monday, February 25, 2008
   SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, (AP) -- Irene Hunt, the common-law wife of a self-styled religious leader, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for transporting her 7-year-old son to have sex with an adult.
   Hunt's common-law husband, 60-year-old Allen Harrod of Sacramento, was found guilty earlier this month of transporting minors for sexual activity.
   He was accused of engaging in ritualistic sex acts with children from two families for more than a decade as part of a religion he claimed to have started. One of his followers, 48-year-old Michael Labrecque, also was previously convicted.

• Priest dismisses sexual abuse allegations

  [1980s-90s McCollough] - Anglican (later became RC priest). 12 sex charges. Boys.  
   Fleetwood Weekly News
   UNITED KINGDOM -- A priest has dismissed allegations he sexually abused a boy in his care, when he was a minister in Greater Manchester, while visiting the house of a judge.
   Father John McCollough, 63, denies claims he preyed on youngsters, while he was the minister at Holy Trinity Church in Bury, in the 1990s.
   One alleged victim, a heroin addict since the age of 14, claimed to have been attacked while on trips to Lourdes and London with the priest.
   Giving evidence from the witness box at Bolton Crown Court, McCollough agreed the two had stayed with Deborah Champion, a barrister, from Putney, London, on one visit in May 1990.

• CONNECTICUT: Former music director sentenced on child pornography charge

  [- 2006 Mr Tate*]- Episcopalian. Naked boy pictures. Sex with minors. [2006 Lawyer Russell*] - Destroyed evidence.    
   Episcopal Life By Lisa B. Hamilton, February 25, 2008
   GREENWICH (CT) -- {Episcopal News Service} The former music director of Christ Church, Greenwich, Connecticut was sentenced February 22 to 5 1/2 years in prison for possessing child pornography, according to reports.
   Robert F. Tate, 66, is also required to pay a $50,000 fine and continue treatment for sexually deviant behavior. Once he is released from prison, Tate will be under supervision, requiring him to register as a sex offender, have his Internet usage monitored, and barred from spending time with children under the age of 18 unless accompanied by a responsible adult aware of his conviction. Tate is not expected to appeal.
   Tate, who was music director at the church for 34 years, has admitted to possessing child pornography, having sex with boys in Thailand, the Philippines and Costa Rica and having sex with boy prostitutes from New York in his church apartment. He maintains he never assaulted members of the church's choirs, but knowingly hired two pedophiles to work in the choir.

• Church sex abuse dispute erupts

  [Years - Portland Archdiocese] - RCC. 175 claimants.  
   The Register-Guard By Bill Bishop 10:19AM February 25, 2008
   OREGON -- Negotiations to unveil court documents about the role of church leaders in the Archdiocese of Portland's priest sex abuse scandal have broken down and the issue is headed back to court next month.
   Release of the documents was a key to settling lawsuits last April enabling the archdiocese to pay 175 claims by sex abuse victims and to continue operations without selling local parish or school properties.
   The Portland archdiocese in 2004 became the first Catholic organization to file for bankruptcy protection on the eve of trials in multimillion-dollar lawsuits over child sexual abuse by priests. @@@@@

• Commissioner to rule on mandate change for Cornwall sex abuse inquiry

  - Ruling constricts Cornwall inquiry.  
   CBC
   CANADA -- The commissioner of a public inquiry into sexual abuse in eastern Ontario was to decide Monday whether to throw out certain evidence the commission has heard and limit future evidence after a ruling by the Ontario Court of Appeal.
   Justice Normand Glaude was to respond to a ruling issued Jan. 18 by a three-member panel of judges that narrows the mandate of the Cornwall Public Inquiry.
   For two years, the inquiry has been looking into the response by the justice system and other public authorities to dozens of allegations of sexual abuse against members of the community in Cornwall and surrounding areas over decades, starting in the 1950s.

• Watchdog Group Concerned That Accused Priests Not Being Watched Closely Enough

  [1960s - 2002 McGuire (Jesuit) and friend of Mother Teresa] - RCC. 3 more charges. Minors.        
   WBBM
   CHICAGO (IL), (WBBM) - The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests handed out hundreds of flyers Sunday morning in front of Holy Name Cathedral.
   WBBM's Jennifer O'Neill reports.
   They were asking parishioners to join them to trying to keep vulnerable kids protected from predator priests.
   SNAP President Barbara Blaine says two Chicago Jesuit priests who have been accused of sexual misconduct are not being monitored.
   Father Donald McGuire was officially defrocked on Friday, following a conviction stemming from sexual misconduct in the 1960s.

• Sex-offender law ignores real harm

 
   Philadelphia Inquirer, Sarah Tofte is a U.S. researcher for Human Rights Watch,
   UNITED STATES -- State lawmakers will need to decide whether to comply with the federal Adam Walsh Act on sex offenders or lose federal money for law enforcement. The choice for states is to dramatically increase their registration and community-notification requirements for convicted sex offenders by 2009 or lose significant federal law enforcement grant money.
   It doesn't seem like a difficult choice. Who wouldn't want to support laws targeting convicted sex offenders and be paid for it? Yet legislatures from Arizona to Illinois to Rhode Island are leaning against implementing the law. Because once you get past the painful emotions and look hard at the problem of child sexual abuse, it turns out that sex-offender registration and community-notification laws might not actually prevent sexual violence.
   Sex-offender laws are based on two popular myths about child abuse: that children have most to fear from strangers, and that sex offenders will repeat their crimes. In fact, more than 90 percent of child sexual abuse is committed by someone the child knows. And authoritative studies show that three out of four sex offenders do not re-offend within 15 years of release from prison. In fact, 87 percent of sex crimes are committed by people with no previous sex-offense convictions.

• Graphic list of abuse to settle claims

   
   Globe and Mail By KATHERINE O'NEILL 4:42 AM EST February 25, 2008
   EDMONTON (Alberta), CANADA – It's a scorecard ranking unspeakable acts.
   From sodomy to severe beatings causing disfigurement to persistent fondling - the list is graphic and disturbingly thorough.
   It's all part of a complicated compensation system that a court-ordered independent program is now using to settle serious sexual- and physical-abuse claims by former residential-school students.
   The majority are aboriginal. All were either children or teenagers when they were assaulted, often by the adults paid and trusted to look after or teach them.

• Church is paying a high price for its celibacy rule

  - RCC celibacy rule, and conversion to Church of Ireland.  
   Irish Independent By John Cooney Monday February 25 2008
   IRELAND -- The appointment of a former Catholic priest as the Anglican Dean of Dublin's Christ Church cathedral is an example how the obligatory rule of celibacy of the Roman priesthood is losing clergy to the more liberal Church of Ireland.
   After his marriage to his wife Celia, and his resignation as a priest of the Catholic diocese of Cork and Ross, Dean Dermot Dunne has been ministering as an Anglican rector in the diocese of Ferns, Remarkably, Dean Dunne discovered that three of his 11 colleagues had also left the ranks of the Catholic clergy.
   A number of nuns and Catholic laity have also found a spiritual haven in becoming members of the Church of Ireland.

• Greenwich church hopes to restore 'circle of trust'

   
   The Advocate, By Hoa Nguyen, Staff Writer, February 25 2008
   GREENWICH (CT) -- Officials at Christ Church Greenwich are searching through old employment files to find any trace of two pedophiles said to have assaulted choirboys when they worked at the church three decades ago.
   The records have so far yielded no information on the two men, Tim Carpenter, a senior warden at the church, said yesterday.
   "Nobody knows what the deal is," he said. "This was a rude awakening for us."

• Abuse led church's female assistant pastor to enter priesthood

  - Move to variant Catholic Church.  
   Northumberland Today
   CANADA -- She's continuing her journey with God in a new church that will accept her as the shepherd of its flock.
   Marie Evans Bouclin, an ordained priest with the Roman Catholic Women Priests organization, was inducted into Christ the Servant Catholic Church in Cold Springs Sunday. …
   She heard about women who were being sexually abused by priests.
   "I felt a call to minister to these women," she said.

• Biloxi Bishop Sends Letter To St. Paul's Parishioners Asking Them To Drop Lawsuit

  - RCC.  
   WLOX
   [with video]
   MISSISSIPPI -- For almost a year, they've met on the steps of their hurricane battered church every Sunday morning, hoping for an answer to their prayers.  But the only answer they received recently, came in the form of a letter from Bishop Thomas Rodi, implying that Pope Benedict himself wants them to end their disagreement with the church.
   "There was 3 scriptural passages, and his urgent request that we drop the lawsuit," says Parishioner Frank Schmidt.
   The lawsuit, brought by parishioner Frank Schmidt along with 155 others, came as an appeal of the Diocese's decision to merge St. Pauls with Our Lady of Lourdes and build a new church away from the beach.

• Local Parish Fine Despite Church Scandal

  - RCC.
   WUMW
   [with audio]
   MILWAUKEE (WI) -- The Catholic Church in Milwaukee is facing a long and tough road. That's because of settlements stemming from sexual abuse cover-ups and new legislation that could open the church up to more litigation. WUWM's LaToya Dennis visited a local parish to find out what churchgoers think about the state of Catholicism in Milwaukee given the controversy.
   The sentiment was the same from most members of Saint Martin de Porres on Milwaukee's north side. The fallout from years of sexual abuse on the part of some priests, covered up by the Milwaukee Archdiocese, hasn't waivered their faith, at least not for long. JC McClendon is a longtime church member.
   "I was an altar boy. I went to a Catholic school my entire life and the priest had a big part of my life. It was kind of devastating at first, but when you think about it, it's a personal thing. It doesn't have anything to do with my Catholicism or my belief in the lord. Man is not perfect," McClendon says.

• Faithful must make church change its ways

  - RCC. [Sicoli] - Child seducer. [Various RCC leaders] - Hiding, transferring, intimidating. 30yrs to defrock seducer.
   Philadelphia Inquirer By David Clohessy
   PENNSYLVANIA -- Three decades after he was first reported as a child molester, David Sicoli, a Philadelphia Catholic priest, was finally defrocked last week by the Vatican. The move has renewed debate over what should be done with the dozens of sexually abusive priests, ex-priests, nuns and seminarians who have been deemed guilty of child-sex crimes by civil or church authorities. They are walking free - often among unsuspecting neighbors - largely because of Pennsylvania's archaic child-molestation laws.
   State laws often require that child victims of sexual abuse take legal action quickly, usually by the time they turn 20 or 21. That restrictive deadline gives predators (and those who employ or shield predators) strong incentives to intimidate victims, deceive parents, threaten witnesses and destroy evidence, to help "run out the clock" and escape detection and prosecution. Such laws also deny victims the necessary time to learn how severely they have been hurt, and to gather the strength and courage it takes to report horrific and embarrassing crimes by powerful adults.
   Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering a measure that would temporarily suspend the statute of limitations, giving more child-sex-abuse victims a chance to expose their predators in court. Despite vehement opposition from the state's Catholic bishops, I hope that measure soon passes.

• Dealing with the demons

  - 9yrs at Indian Residential School like prison.  
   Edmonton Sun By ANDREW HANON Mon, February 25, 2008
   CANADA -- For years, Joe Courtoreille refused to go into St. Albert.
   "I just couldn't come through on that road," he says. "Too many bad memories. I'd always have to go around."
   Just thinking about the nine years he spent "imprisoned" at St. Albert's Indian Residential School used to anger Courtoreille.
   "It was awful," he says, "just like jail." [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:24 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Mon February 25, 2008
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont145.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.

#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker , Tue February 26, 2008 edition:

• Monk was arrested in sex sting here

  [2008, Feb - Kavanagh / Kavanaugh -NEW* (Benedictine)] - RCC. Obscenity charge.  
   The Shreveport Times, By John Andrew Prime, jprime@gannett.com , February 26, 2008
   LOUISIANA -- One of three men arrested last week at a local adult video store was a Benedictine monk from south Louisiana, The Times has learned.
   Michael Kavanagh, 62, who gave Shreveport police an address on River Road in "Lake Benedict" when he was booked on an obscenity charge late Wednesday, is Father Aelred Kavanagh, then a member of the faculty at St. Joseph's Abbey and Seminary in St. Tammany Parish. The Benedictine abbey and the seminary are on River Road near Covington.
   "Father Aelred Kavanaugh, O.S.B., whose lay name is Michael Kavanaugh, has resigned from his position on the faculty of Saint Joseph Seminary College," abbey Director of Development Vanessa Crouere told The Times in response to e-mail and phone queries. @@@@@

• Sex trial priest 'wanted to help'

  [? 2000S McCullough -NEW*] - C of E became RC. 2 boys.    
   Manchester Evening News, by Andy Russell, Feb/ 26/ 2008
   UNITED KINGDOM -- A PRIEST accused of child abuse has denied sexually molesting two boys, saying he just wanted to help them 'to be happy'.
   Former Church of England rector John McCullough, 63, who later became a Roman Catholic priest, admitted one of the boys had regularly stayed at his vicarage in Bury.
   Mr McCullough also admitted sharing a twin bed hotel room on a pilgrimage to Lourdes with the boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.

• Priest arrested in Jakarta over child sex charges

  [1970s Unnamed priest -NEW*] - RCC. Child.      
   ABC News, By Jakarta correspondent Geoff Thompson, ~ February 26, 2008
   AUSTRALIA -- A former Catholic priest from South Australia has been arrested near Jakarta and may be extradited to Australia to face child sex charges dating back to the 1970s.
   Indonesian police arrested the 66-year-old man after a request from Australia.
   He was once a Catholic priest in the Port Pirie area of South Australia but for the past 12 years he has been living in Indonesia running a garment business and working as an English teacher.
   A week ago, he was arrested by Indonesian police in Depok, just south of Jakarta, following an extradition request from Australia. [Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 26, 2008 6:22 PM]

• John Doe lawsuits allege sexual abuse by priests years ago

  [1968 Lawbaugh -NEW*] - RCC. Boy.  
   The Kansas City Star, By JOE LAMBE, ~ February 26, 2008
   KANSAS CITY (MO) -- Two new John Doe lawsuits filed Monday allege that Kansas City priests sexually abused children decades ago.
   For the first time, accusations are raised against James Lawbaugh, who left the priesthood 39 years ago. A lawsuit contends he molested a 10-year-old Baptist boy at St. Vincent's Church at 31st Street and Flora Avenue in 1968.
   That boy, now 50, says the abuse happened in a short-lived Catholic program for inner-city youths during and after the riots that followed Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination.
   Reached by phone Monday at his Florida home, Lawbaugh denied the allegations.

• Meeting Planned About Priest Investigation

  [1970s Salerno] - RCC. Boy.  
   WJZ, ~ February 26, 2008
   BALTIMORE (MD), (AP) -- Members of a Baltimore Catholic parish hope to learn more about a priest who's been relieved of his duties in the wake of sexual abuse allegations.
   Reverend Mike Salerno, of Saint Leo's Parish in Little Italy, was removed after allegations surfaced that he abused a teenage boy in Brooklyn, N.Y. in the 1970s.
   Church members have posted fliers for the 6:45 p.m. meeting at the church's hall asking whether Salerno will return to St. Leo's. [Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 26, 2008 6:28 PM]

• Trinity Baptist Faces Court in October

  [Gray] - Baptist. Female.
   First Coast News, By Jeannie Blaylock, ~ February 26, 2008
   JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Jane Doe #3 is her protected name in the civil suit. She alleges Trinity Baptist Church in Jacksonville knew former pastor Bob Gray was an alleged child molester and did not protect her as a child.
   Now Jane Doe #3 will get her day in court in civil action.
   Today a judge set the trial date the week of October 13th.

• Americans spurn church as land of evangelicals loses its Christian faith

  - 10% of Americans are ex-RCs.
   Scotsman, By Richard Luscombe, ~ February 26, 2008
   UNITED STATES -- IT'S A religious awakening in a land where Bible thumpers have held sway for centuries and Christian evangelicals have dominated White House politics for almost a decade.
   Americans are turning away from the Church at a rate never seen before, according to the surprising results of a major study of the country's religious landscape. And many of those who remain are switching between faiths as freely as flicking television channels. …
   The Catholic Church, riven by recent sex-abuse scandals that have cost it millions of dollars in compensation, fared even worse.
   Of the one in three who said they were brought up as Catholics, fewer than one in four is still practising today. It means 10 per cent of Americans are former Catholics.

• Who's watching the collection plate?

  - 2 religions, similar charge -- money missing.
   Southtown Star By Steve Metsch, February 24, 2008
   ILLINOIS -- It happens in most Christian churches on any given Sunday. Call it the weekly envelope, free-will offering, donation - chances are a collection plate will be passed your way during a worship service. You place an envelope or spare change in and off it goes. But how do you know it goes where it should?
   In the Southland, pastors at two churches recently were asked to step down amid allegations of missing money.
   Investigations are ongoing at All Nations Community Church in Homewood and at Infant Jesus of Prague Catholic Church in Flossmoor.

• Bussman found guilty of sexual misconduct

  [2002-03 Bussmann*] - RCC. Guilty again. Women.
   Star News Tuesday, 26 February 2008
   MINNESOTA -- A former Hassan Township and Rogers priest has been found guilty of third-degree sexual conduct.
   On Tuesday, Feb. 12 inside a Hennepin County District Court room, John Bussmann was found guilty of using his position to have sex with vulnerable female parishioners.
   The main issue surrounding the case was whether the involved women were seeking religious or spiritual advice, aid or comfort at the time.

• Archdiocese Deal Breaking Down In Dispute Over Documents

 
   PORTLAND (OR) -- OPB News By Pete Springer
   Portland, OR February 25, 2008 4:18 p.m.
   Negotiations to release documents related to the Portland Archdiocese clergy sex abuse cases have broken down and will likely end up in mediation next month. Pete Springer reports.
   Attorney Kelly Clark is representing more than a hundred abuse victims. He says nearly a year after reaching a legal settlement with the Archdiocese of Portland, very few documents have actually been released.
   Clark says the release of the documents was key to settling the sex abuse lawsuits.

• Faith is fluid to many in US

 
   UNITED STATES -- Cincinnati Enquirer BY ERIC GORSKI | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AND JOHN JOHNSTON
   The U.S. religious marketplace is extremely volatile, with nearly half of American adults leaving the faith tradition of their upbringing to either switch allegiances or abandon religious affiliation altogether, a new survey finds.
   The study released Monday by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life is unusual for it scope, relying on interviews with more than 35,000 adults to document a diverse and dynamic U.S. religious population. …
   The Roman Catholic Church has lost more members than any faith tradition because of affiliation swapping, the survey found. While nearly one in three Americans were raised Catholic, fewer than one in four say they're Catholic today. That means roughly 10 percent of all Americans are ex-Catholics.
   Reasons for leaving vary. Janet Steele of Springfield Township cites the priest sex abuse scandal and the church's teachings on birth control among the reasons she's no longer Catholic. Her family joined Forest Chapel United Methodist Church in Forest Park, where she is now lay leader.

• Former SA priest held in Jakarta

  [1970s Unnamed priest*] - RCC. Child.      
   Adelaide Now, 02:25am, February 26, 2008
   AUSTRALIA -- AN Australian man, believed to be a former South Australian priest, has been arrested in Bali for pedophile offences on nine boys.
   The man, 66, was arrested in the West Jakarta suburb of Depok on February 20 and is being held at the police station in South Jakarta.
   Depok police said last night that Australian authorities, who requested his arrest, had told them he was suspected of offences against nine Australian boys aged 12 to 17 years between 1979 and 1994.

• Meeting Planned About Priest Investigation

  [1970s Salerno] - RCC. Boy.  
   WJZ
   BALTIMORE (MD), (AP) – Members of a Baltimore Catholic parish hope to learn more about a priest who's been relieved of his duties in the wake of sexual abuse allegations.
   Reverend Mike Salerno, of Saint Leo's Parish in Little Italy, was removed after allegations surfaced that he abused a teenage boy in Brooklyn, N.Y. in the 1970s.
   Church members have posted fliers for the 6:45 p.m. meeting at the church's hall asking whether Salerno will return to St. Leo's. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 6:28 PM]

• VOTF 2008 Election Results

 
   Voice of the Faithful
   UNITED STATES -- This links to official results of the recent national election of officers for Voice of the Faithful.

• A look at diocese's long struggle with closures

 
   The Tribune-Democrat By SUSAN EVANS
   PENNSYLVANIA -- The Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown has been struggling with church closings since 1994, when a plan was drafted to deal with a declining population and fewer priests.
   During the past seven years, 25 parishes in the eight-county diocese have closed.
   The cutback specifics in Greater Johnstown:
   – In 1994, the diocese closed Sacred Heart and St. John the Baptist in Central City, Somerset County, and merged them to become Our Lady Queen of Angels. Also, Holy Child in Windber closed and merged into SS. Cyril and Methodius.

• Catholic diocese to shutter 4 churches

 
   The Tribune-Democrat By SUSAN EVANS
   JOHNSTOWN (PA) -- Four of the five Roman Catholic churches in Johnstown's historic Cambria City section will close next year, and the last remaining Catholic school in the neighborhood is shutting in June.
   The announcement of the closings, made by Bishop Joseph Adamec late Monday after word leaked during the weekend, rocked the neighborhood best known for its annual church-based ethnic festival.
   Which one of the five churches will survive has not been decided and will depend on an engineering study to evaluate each structure, said Adamec, leader of the eight-county Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.

• Anglican Dean quit Catholic Church 'over celibacy rules'

  - Celibacy and other rules criticised.  
   Irish Independent, By John Cooney, Tuesday February 26, 2008
   IRELAND -- A priest has told how compulsory celibacy was part of his personal journey away from the Catholic "church of his youth" towards the Anglican ministry.
   The Very Reverend Dermot Dunne also spoke of his concerns over the Catholic Church's teaching against birth control, on not allowing divorce to couples in broken marriages, as well as its refusal to admit women to the priesthood.
   He was speaking in Dublin yesterday at the announcement of his appointment as Dean of the Church of Ireland's Christ Church cathedral.

• Marist faces 'dozens' of claims

  [Bro. Kostka Chute (Marist)] - RCC. Several children.    
   Canberra Times, by Victor Violante,
   AUSTRALIA -- Marist College was told as early as the 1970s that Brother Kostka Chute was molesting young students, but he was allowed to teach for a further 15 years, according to a civil claim seeking compensation for one of his alleged victims.
   Also, dozens more claims will be lodged against the Marist Brothers organisation relating to alleged sexual offences by Kostka and two other former teachers at the Canberra school one, a former brother who taught in the 1970s, and the other Paul Lyons, who committed suicide in 2000 after he was charged with molesting a Daramalan College student in the 1990s.
   Porters Lawyers partner Jason Parkinson, who is representing "dozens" of alleged victims in civil claims against the Marist Brothers organisation, told The Canberra Times yesterday that two further civil claims relating to alleged child molesting offences by Kostka will be lodged today.

• Back in Court

  [Nolte, Mr Benyo]  
   WTAP,
   [with video]
   WEST VIRGINIA -- Steve Benyo appeared before Judge Robert Waters Monday to make a motion to have the alleged abuse victim's psychological records released in the trial.
   Judge Waters denied Benyo's request. The case heads to trial on Tuesday.
   This all stems from an incident where police say former church pastor Jeffrey Nolte and Benyo had an improper sexual relationship with the boy at Sand Hill United Methodist Church in Boaz.

• In Painful Retrospect

 
   Hartford Courant February 26, 2008
   HARTFORD (CT) -- With excruciating hindsight, it is now clear that the state Department of Public Health should have trusted the victims rather than the forensic experts who said, two decades ago, that Dr. George Reardon was not a pedophile.
   The Courant reported on Sunday that a psychologist and psychiatrist from the Institute of Living in Hartford concluded in 1988 and again in 1991, after examinations spanning weeks, that the doctor could safely continue practicing medicine even though victims kept coming forward. Dr. Reardon was stopped two years later when one of the Institute's experts, given additional evidence, changed his mind and testified against him.
   The discovery last year of a huge cache of child pornography hidden in the former home of the late doctor appears to validate claims that he fondled and filmed children in suggestive poses for decades. The experts now look so wrong.

• Ex-city cop won't testify

   
   Standard Freeholder, Posted By Trevor Pritchard,
   CANADA -- The former city cop who handled the allegations of a number of sexual abuse victims, including David Silmser, will not be taking the stand at the Cornwall Public Inquiry.
   Inquiry commissioner Normand Glaude excused Heidi Sebalj from testifying after receiving a psychologist's report Monday on her mental and physical well-being.
   "You'd have to know Heidi at the present time. She's just not capable," said Sebalj's husband, Peter Huffrey, who delivered the report.

• Disconnect between pew, pulpit

  [Becker] - RCC.  
   Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, By JENNIFER L.W. FINK, Posted: Feb. 25, 2008
   WISCONSIN -- My son was a student at St. Mary's/St. Andrew's Catholic School in LeRoy about four years ago when Father Franklyn Becker moved in next door.
   Becker, a former archdiocesan priest who has been accused of sexual abuse of children, quietly moved into the rectory, an unassuming brick home just feet from the school. The defrocked priest was within spitting distance of a school full of children ages 2 to 8.
   It was only after parents found out through the grapevine and complained that a letter was sent home. The letter urged parents to have compassion, to practice Christian charity and to remember that people are innocent until proven guilty.

• Oakland Diocese Reinstates Priest Accused Of Sexual Misconduct

  - RCC reinstates Berbena, again.
   KTVU,
   OAKLAND (CA) -- A priest accused of sexual misconduct with a minor is being reinstated after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland ruled the allegation could not be substantiated.
   Father Chris Berbena began working for the Diocese of Oakland in 1997 and was removed twice since February 2004 after his name popped up on a list of alleged sexual abusers posted on the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Web site, where Berbena once worked, according to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland.
   He was reinstated within the month in 2004 because an investigation by the diocese could not turn up the name of the accuser or details of the alleged incident of sexual abuse, according to the Diocese of Oakland.

• E. Bay Priest Reinstated After Sex Abuse Probe

 
   CBS 5,
   [with video]
   OAKLAND (CA), (BCN) – A priest accused of sexual misconduct with a minor is being reinstated after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland ruled the allegation could not be substantiated.
   Father Chris Berbena began working for the Diocese of Oakland in 1997 and was removed twice since February 2004 after his name popped up on a list of alleged sexual abusers posted on the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Web site, where Berbena once worked, according to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland.
   He was reinstated within the month in 2004 because an investigation by the diocese could not turn up the name of the accuser or details of the alleged incident of sexual abuse, according to the Diocese of Oakland. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 7:19 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Tue February 26, 2008
• Pastor guilty of child abuse.  [Harper*] - The Church. 10 females alleged.   http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont145.htm#pastor_guilty_of    [OTHER NEWSITEM dates on Religion News Blog: October 30, 2007; November 3 and 10, 2007. ENDS.]
   [ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Religion News Blog. ENDS.] [Feb 27, 08]
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont145.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.

#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker , Wed February 27, 2008 edition:

• Syracuse Diocese priest accused of abuse in Montgomery County

  [2007 Broderick -NEW*] - RCC. 4 children.  
   The Post-Standard, Posted by Renée K. Gadoua, 8:25PM, February 27, 2008
   SYRACUSE, NY -- A priest of the Syracuse Diocese has been charged with felony sex abuse and endangering the welfare of a child in Montgomery County.
   The Rev. John W. Broderick, 47, was suspended from ministry early this year for incidents unrelated to sexual abuse, said Danielle Cummings, assistant chancellor and diocesan spokeswoman. She said she could not discuss specifics, but confirmed that Broderick was disciplined for "lack of pastoral judgment."
   Cummings said she and diocesan officials learned today about Broderick's arrest on Monday.
   State police in Fonda say Broderick engaged in inappropriate sexual contact last year with at least four children, ages 5 to 11. The victims' family told investigators Broderick was considered their spiritual adviser. [Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 27, 2008 9:16 PM]

• HS HONCHO GETS BOOT

  [2007 Bro. Keogan -NEW*] - RCC. Computer images.
   New York Post, By DAN MANGAN, February 27, 2008
   NEW YORK -- The principal of one of the city's premier Catholic high schools was forced to resign over the weekend after inappropriate images were found on his computer at the Bronx school, The Post has learned.
   Christopher Keogan's abrupt departure from the all-boys Cardinal Hayes HS, where he had worked for 18 years, caught teachers and students by surprise, and led to a firestorm of rumors as school officials refused to tell them yesterday why the Catholic brother quit.
   "[He] is no longer the principal, and that's all I'm going to say at this point," said Joseph Zwilling, spokesman for the New York Archdiocese. [Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 27, 2008 8:37 AM]

• OUR OPINION: A criminal abuse of power

 
   The Patriot Ledger, ~ February 27, 2008
   MASSACHUSETTS – It shouldn't have to take a legislative act to warn teachers they cannot use their positions to engage students, even if they are over the age of consent, in a sexual relationship.
   But apparently it does. The Legislature held a hearing Tuesday on a bill that would criminalize sexual relations between teachers and students younger than 18. …
   If it sounds familiar, one only has to go back to the clergy sex abuse scandal and see many of the young victims had emotional upheaval in their lives and the priests who were supposed to be the shepherds became wolves.
   The bill should be expanded to include anyone in a position of authority – coaches, counselors, administrators – who has contact on a regular basis with a teen. The measure should also cover any type of sexual contact, not just intercourse.

• Bankruptcy court to mull release of more sex abuse documents

  - RCC secrecy still.
   Catholic Sentinel, ~ February 27, 2008
  PORTLAND (OR) -- A federal bankruptcy judge in Portland will hold a hearing next month to decide if hundreds more Archdiocese of Portland documents pertaining to clergy sex abuse should be unveiled for public view.
   The archdiocese last June released scores of decades-old private letters, formal depositions and memos. The documents, posted on the Internet, show that church officials at the highest levels often knew about abusive priests, but operated under the standards of the times and attempted to handle matters internally.
   Lawyers for accusers have been negotiating for more documents to be released, but a key attorney, Kelly Clark, left the talks, despite archdiocesan officials' belief that the process was working. Erin Olson, a Portland attorney representing accusers, refused to enter negotiations. She has asked Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris to unseal many of the same documents that were being considered in the talks. Perris has set a hearing for March 13. The archdiocese has asked that Perris appoint U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan to decide the question, delay action until mediation and arbitration are complete, or take no action.

• Priest charged in child molesting case

  [2007 Broderick*] - RCC. 4 children.
   Albany Times Union, By DAVID FILKINS, Last updated 4:08 p.m., Wednesday, February 27, 2008
   PALENTINE (NY) -- A priest accused of molesting at least four children in a Montgomery County family he had befriended has been charged with four felonies, State Police said.
   The Rev. John W. Broderick, 47, of Nicholville, was considered the family's "spiritual advisor" when the alleged abuse occurred over several months last year, according to State Police. The children's ages range from 5 to 11 years old.
   State Police said Broderick is assigned to the Syracuse Diocese of the Catholic Church, though his faculties were suspended earlier this year. It wasn't clear why.

• Sexual abuse bill to cover church

 
   Metro, February 27, 2008
   BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS -- The clergy sex abuse scandal may not make daily headlines anymore, but the need to protect children from pedophiles is something that will not be pushed to the background. Victims and advocates converged on the State House yesterday, pushing for stricter child protection laws.
   The Joint Committee on the Judiciary yesterday held a hearing on more than a dozen proposed bills concerning child sex abuse and sex offenders. Among them was comprehensive legislation drafted in the wake of the Catholic church abuse scandal – which prompted scores of victims to come forward over the past decade.
   "This bill is about helping children. … It's about prevention. It's about deterrence," said Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney who has represented more than 100 victims in suits against the Catholic church.

• Plea Deal Reached in SK Pastor Sex Abuse Case

  [Harper*] - "The Church." 23¼ yrs prison. ≥ 10 girls.
   Kitsap Sun, By Josh Farley, Originally published 09:30 a.m., February 27, 2008
   SOUTH KITSAP (WA) -- A plea deal has been struck between Kitsap County Prosecutors and Robbin L. Harper, a former South Kitsap pastor accused of the sexual abuse of at least 10 girls during the time he was head of The Church in South Colby.
   Prosecutors and Harper's attorney, Tom Weaver, will both recommend to Judge Karlynn Haberly that Harper be sentenced to 279 months incarceration – about 23 and 1/4 years – when he is sentenced April 9 in Kitsap County Superior Court.
   Harper, 60, was charged Nov. 1 by prosecutors with eight felonies that emerged from accusations of molestation or rape by five women or girls, all members of the South Kitsap church Harper is said to have established.

• Priest charged with sex abuse in Montgomery County

  [2007 Broderick*] - RCC. 4 children.
   Daily Gazette ~ February 27, 2008
   PALATINE (NY) – A priest now living in the Massena area has been charged with having sexual contact with four young members of one Montgomery County family.
   State police investigators in Fonda say Rev. John W. Broderick, 47, of Nicolville, just south of Massena, befriended a family and served as a spiritual advisor while living in the area in 2007. But over several months, investigators said, Broderick had sexual contact with four members of the family, ranging in age from 5 to 11.
   Investigators said Broderick left the area in May 2007 and was found by state police at the Holy Name of Jesus Academy in Massena, where he was arrested. Broderick was assigned to the Syracuse Diocese at the time of the alleged abuse, investigators said, though he was not assigned to a specific church or school. Investigators said his official faculties were suspended earlier this year.

• Vatican won't block parish merger

  - RCC h.o. okays merger.
   Business First, ~ February 27, 2008
   BUFFALO (NY) -- The Diocese of Buffalo said Wednesday that a Vatican office has upheld the decision of Bishop Edward Kmiec to merge St. John Kanty and St. Adalbert parishes located in the City of Buffalo.
   In a decree written on Feb. 13, 2008, and delivered to diocesan officials on Feb. 25, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican's highest canonical court, upheld an earlier Vatican ruling, stating "The recourse presented has been rejected."

• Bill would extend deadline for sex abuse lawsuits

 
   Baltimore Messenger by Bryan P. Sears, Feb/27/08
   MARYLAND -- The General Assembly is considering legislation to extend the statute of limitations on filing sexual abuse lawsuits.
   But the bill, sponsored by Del. Eric Bromwell, is drawing opposition from the head of Calvert Hall College high school in Towson.
   Bromwell wants to give people alleging sexual abuse more time to file lawsuits.

• Parishioners Upset About Priest Investigation

  [1970s Salerno] - RCC. Boy.
   WJZ ~ February 27, 2008
   BALTIMORE (MD), (WJZ) -- There's anger from members of one Baltimore Catholic church. Their priest was removed after he was accused of sexually abusing a teenager.
   Denise Koch reports months later, these parishioners say they're being kept in the dark and they're demanding answers.
   "You know, the light shines on this candle but certainly we're not getting any light from our council or our church," said Giovanna Blatterman.
   There's outrage from members of Saint Leo's Roman Catholic Church over the abrupt departure of their beloved priest Father Mike Salerno.

• Anonymous keeps tapping the keys, and Rocky hits home harder on his webcast, as the comments saga here and attacks on advocates in Illinois continue

 
   City of Angels By Kay Ebeling
   UNITED STATES -- "A more clear question for 'Anonymous:' how has the PRIESTHOOD where all of this filth thrived been changed? How has the training and recruitment of priests changed? What has the LA Archdiocese changed in priests' lives to ensure your priests aren't wacko sickos who only come to the church because they know that there, in the seminaries and confessionals, they can get away with all these sex crimes and NO ONE WILL STOP THEM?
   "How has the archdiocese addressed that problem, the real problem that exists in the Catholic church and the Catholic church alone, because of its sick preoccupation with sexuality in the first place. Phew."
   The above quote is my response to a person called "Anonymous" who jumps in to the comments section here at City of Angels Blog after almost every post. He/she copy and pastes articles from The Tidings and archdiocese press releases to show what a great job Roger Mahony and the bishops have done handling perpetrator priests. The more he posts, the more I see the holes in the church's claims.

• Ex-priest probed over abuse claim

  [≤ 2003 James Robinson*] - RCC. Police failed to investigate. Child.    
   BBC News
   UNITED KINGDOM -- Police have agreed to re-examine allegations of child abuse made against a former Roman Catholic priest.
   West Midlands Police is reviewing the case after admitting it failed to investigate when a complaint was made about Father James Robinson in 2003.
   Father Robinson, who denies the claims, worked in Sutton Coldfield, Cradley Heath and Newcastle-under-Lyme, but moved to California in 1985.

• Ex-Coventry priest in sex abuse probe

  [≤ 2003 James Robinson*] - RCC. Police failed to investigate. Altar boys.
   IcCoventry By Emma Stone, Crime Reporter, Feb 27 2008
   UNITED KINGDOM -- A FORMER Coventry priest faces extradition from California, 25 years after allegedly abusing altar boys.
   Fr James Robinson was assistant parish priest at St Elizabeth's, Eld Road, Foleshill, Coventry, during the early 1980s.
   At least two men in the city claim they were sexually abused as boys by him and have been given compensation by the archdiocese of about £25,000 apiece.

• National view: Shedding light on abusers is key to protecting children

   
   Duluth News Tribune Kristine Ward, Published Wednesday, February 27, 2008
   UNITED STATES -- To heal the wounded and protect the vulnerable." That is the mission of a sometimes controversial, mainly volunteer-led support group called SNAP, or the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. I have known of, supported, and followed SNAP's work for years.
   Sometimes SNAP gets criticized for helping to expose credibly accused child molesters who haven't been formally sued, suspended or charged. I understand such criticism. Sometimes SNAP gets blasted for helping to expose alleged sexual predators whose cases – whether criminal, civil or canonical – haven't yet been finally resolved. That's somewhat understandable.
   But I've never seen SNAP get attacked for shedding light on the whereabouts or activities of convicted child-molesting clergymen, especially when those men used religious titles and positions to hurt children and still have religious titles and positions. Not until the News Tribune's Feb. 13 editorial, "Little gained by exposing abusers on sex offender list."

• Inmate pleads guilty to extortion involving prison chaplain

 
   EBENSBURG (PA) PennLive
   by The Associated Press Wednesday February 27, 2008, 7:46 AM EBENSBURG -- A state prison inmate pleaded guilty to extorting money from a chaplain accused of having sex with him at the prison.
   William Victor, 37, was sentenced to two years of probation after pleading guilty to theft by extortion on Monday in Cambria County Court. The sentence will begin after he completes a term of more than 42 years for sexually assaulting a woman at gunpoint and trying to rob the woman and her husband at a resort in the Poconos.
   Prosecutors said Victor extorted $7,600 from the Rev. Gerard M. Connolly, a Franciscan priest who was a chaplain at the State Correctional Institution-Cresson. Connolly, 66, of Altoona, faces trial on 12 counts of institutional sex assault and five counts of taking contraband alcohol into prison. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 27, 2008 8:55 AM

• Priest can't be prosecuted for failing to report abuse

     
   Herald Sun by Mark Buttler, for February 28, 2008
   AUSTRALIA -- A MELBOURNE priest did not report a child sex abuse confession by a parishioner who went on to strike again.
   But clergymen are not subject to mandatory reporting laws and the priest will not be charged.
   The case has stirred debate over the role of the church in handling confessions by lawbreakers.
   The allegations came to light when a Croydon man recently went to a police station and told officers he had sexually assaulted his daughter, believed to be aged four. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 27, 2008 8:52 AM

• Did church act responsibly on ex-abusers? Yes: Church has safeguards in place

   
   MINNESOTA -- Duluth News Tribune Published Friday, February 22, 2008
   I applaud the good work of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a group better known as SNAP. The organization has done much good in exposing clergy sexual abuse, secrecy and cover-up by authorities in the church and in demanding policies and practices to guard against abuse and cover-up. The group also does a great service in assisting the victims of clergy sexual abuse with financial settlements, counseling and healing. I have been involved with the good work of SNAP.
   The Feb. 12 story, "Group criticizes involvement of convicted child molesters in state Episcopal diocese," reported that two priests convicted of the sexual abuse of minors have been involved in the Episcopal diocese. One of them, a former Episcopal priest, led a workshop at a retreat house in Collegeville, Minn. The other, a former Catholic priest, served on a diocesan council. It was important to note that no children or young adults were involved in either the workshop or the council. Neither man is a clergy person any longer. Both have been deposed, or removed from the clerical state. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 27, 2008 8:49 AM

• CHURCHES: St. Mary's appeals merger; All Saints administrator named

 
   LOCKPORT (NY) -- Lockport Union-Sun & Journal Staff Reports ~ February 27, 2008
   The Rev. Daniel A. Young, who has served as pastor of St. Joseph's and St. Anthony's parishes, has been appointed temporary administrator of the new All Saints Parish at St. Patrick's.
   St. Joe's, St. Anthony's and St. Patrick's merged into All Saints, at the site of St. Patrick's on Church Street. St. Mary's was to be the fourth parish to combine into All Saints. However, St. Mary's is appealing the Diocese of Buffalo decision to close the church on Saxton Street.
   The Rev. Francis Schimscheiner has been serving as pastor of St. Patrick's.
   "Priests will have applied for that position," said Kevin Keenan, director of the diocese Office of Communications. "The Priests Personnel Board will make the decision, and it will be announced at a later date. Father Young will run the parish." Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 27, 2008 8:42 AM

• New Book on Warren Jeffs' Polygamy Sect Provides Insight into Lives of Women Enslaved by Fundamentalist Group

  - New book on "Christian" sex-slaves.
   PR-inside Business Wire 2008 14:24:38, February 27, 2008
   - The Bohle Company, Kelly Taylor, 310-785-0515, ext. 207 kelly@bohle.com
   UNITED STATES -- A new book, Inside the World of Warren Jeffs, by author Dr. Carole A. Western, takes the reader inside Short Creek, two nearby communities in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., where the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) leader ruled until his arrest and conviction in the fall of 2007 as an accomplice in the rape of a 14-year-old girl.
   Western details the experiences of several young women enslaved in Short Creek and lets them tell in their own words how they were coerced into virtual servitude and forced into unwanted pregnancies by the "husbands" they were ordered to marry. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 27, 2008 8:32 AM

• Polygamist Leader Faces Ariz. Charges

 
   The Associated Press, By AMANDA LEE MYERS, ~ February 27, 2008
   KINGMAN, Ariz. (AP) – Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs was handed over to Arizona authorities Tuesday to face sex charges stemming from the arranged marriages of two teenage girls to older relatives.
   He already has been convicted in Utah in connection with one of those cases, involving a 14-year-old girl.
   Deputies from the Mohave County Sheriff's Office took custody of Jeffs from Utah officials, sheriff's spokeswoman Trish Carter said. He was booked into the county jail, where he will be kept separate from other inmates, said sheriff's department Capt. Greg Smith. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 27, 2008 8:27 AM

• When Child's Plea Goes Unheard; Another Pedophile May Go Free

 
   CONNECTICUT Hartford Courant
   Susan Campbell February 27, 2008 My mother married her second husband against the wishes of just about everyone, including her three children. Love might be blind, but a child sees all.
   Things got so bad at home that I broke the code. I went outside the family for help, stepped up to my fourth-grade teacher's desk and told her that my stepfather was hurting me.
   She looked confused, so I said it again, as loudly as I dared, considering that the kids in the front row could hear, and then know. …
   Some of the sad victims of George Reardon, too, tried to tell someone that the respected St. Francis Hospital endocrinologist was hurting them. Maybe they spoke as inexpertly as I, but you can forgive us because children are not supposed to know how to deal with sexual abuse. When it happens – and it does – it's up to a caring adult to step in. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 27, 2008 8:20 AM

• Diocese says grand jury has cleared Piscataway priest of sexual misconduct

 
   NEW JERSEY Home News Tribune
   STAFF WRITER A Middlesex County grand jury has declined to indict a Roman Catholic priest who had been accused of sexual misconduct, according to the Diocese of Metuchen.
   In a brief written statement released late today, the diocese said Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski had been informed of the finding.
   A male employee of the diocese had initiated the accusation against the Rev. Edgardo D. Abano, 51, pastor of a church in Piscataway. The diocese informed law enforcement authorities of the complaint.
   Abano has been pastor of St. Frances Cabrini R.C. Church since 1992. He was arrested on the charge in October 2007. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 27, 2008 8:12 AM

• Vatican ruling bad news for parish-closing opponents

  - RCC.
   The Boston Globe, By Michael Paulson / February 27, 2008
   [Ruling by Apostolic Signatura Latin (PDF) | English (Word)] [Brief submitted by parishioners Latin (Word) | English (Word) ]
   MASSACHUSETTS -- In a decree that is dimming the hopes of Catholics who have challenged the closings of parishes in the Archdiocese of Boston, the Vatican's highest tribunal has refused an appeal brought by parishioners whose church in Lowell was closed by Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley four years ago.
   Parishioners fighting the closings said they would continue their effort in the Vatican and in civil courts in Boston. But they acknowledged that the ruling, issued in Latin, dismisses their arguments that O'Malley violated canon laws by closing the church, and instead expresses support for O'Malley's argument that he needed to close parishes for the good of the archdiocese.
   Although the ruling applies only to St. Jeanne d'Arc in Lowell, the advocates for Catholics fighting parish closings view the ruling as a likely indicator of how the Vatican will rule on other challenges brought in response to O'Malley's 2004 decision to close scores of parishes. Parishioners from 10 of those closed parishes have appealed their closings to the Vatican tribunal, called the Apostolic Signatura. Five closed parishes have been occupied by protesters for as long as 40 months. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 27, 2008 8:09 AM

• Former cop's psychologist should testify: attorney

 
   CANADA Standard Freeholder
   The Cornwall Public Inquiry needs to hear from the psychologist who diagnosed a former Cornwall cop as medically unfit to take the stand, an attorney representing a citizens' group argued Tuesday.
   Frank Horn, a lawyer for the Coalition for Action, said that Heidi Sebalj's involvement with at least four alleged abuse victims makes her a "very important witness" for the inquiry to hear.
   The coalition is made up of people concerned that institutions like the city police might have covered up historical allegations of sexual abuse in the Cornwall area.
   "By her not being here, all we have to go on is documents. And we can't question documents," Horn told the Standard-Freeholder yesterday. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 27, 2008 8:07 AM

• Timeline: the Silmser investigation

 
   CANADA Standard Freeholder
   In the coming weeks, the 1993 investigation by Cornwall police into allegations made by David Silmser of sexual abuse will be coming under close scrutiny at the Cornwall Public Inquiry.
   On Monday, it was revealed that the officer who conducted the investigation, Heidi Sebalj, is medically unable to take the stand at the inquiry.
   Yesterday, the commission received an 18-page document that outlines how Sebalj handled a nine-month investigation that ended with no charges being laid against the two alleged abusers, Rev. Charles MacDonald and probation officer Ken Seguin. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 27, 2008 8:05 AM

• Oakland Diocese reinstates accused priest

 
   OAKLAND (CA) San Jose Mercury News
   By Barbara Grady STAFF WRITER
   OAKLAND -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland is reinstating a priest once accused of sexual misconduct with a minor after an investigation found the allegation could not be substantiated, the diocese said.
   The Rev. Chris Berbena will return to St. John Vianney Roman Catholic Church in Walnut Creek where he had been in ministry as a parochial vicar before the diocese removed him in 2004. That year, his name appeared on a list of priests accused of sexual misconduct in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The list, posted on the Archdiocese Web site, cited him as accused of a single incident in 1980.
   But the Oakland Diocese Review Board began an investigation and could not find any evidence an incident had occurred. It returned Berbena to ministry, only to again remove him in 2006 when he became part of a settlement reached by the Franciscan Order and plaintiffs alleging misconduct by 10 Franciscan priests in the Los Angeles area. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 27, 2008 8:01 AM

• State inmate gets probation in extortion case

 
   EBENSBURG (PA) The Tribune-Democrat
   By SANDRA K. REABUCK The Tribune-Democrat
   EBENSBURG – A state inmate pleaded guilty Monday to extorting hush money from a chaplain who reportedly had sex with him at the State Correctional Institution-Cresson.
   William Victor, 37, who is now at SCI-Huntingdon, was sentenced immediately by Judge Gerard Long to two years' probation, to be served after Victor is released from state prison.
   Victor is serving 423/4 to 861/2 years in state prison for sexually assaulting a woman at gunpoint and trying to rob her and her husband at a Pocono Mountain resort. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 27, 2008 7:58 AM

• Festival rolls out red carpet to draw more film business to Salem

 
   The Salem News By Chris Cassidy Staff writer
   SALEM (MA) – To attract film producers and directors to Salem for the week, the city is rolling out the red carpet.
   Literally.
   A Hollywood-style red runway will guide guests tomorrow night into CinemaSalem, where more than two dozen independent films and documentaries will be screened over seven days. …
   To attract filmmakers, Salem resident Joe Cultrera invited some of the producers and directors he met two years ago while traveling the country showing his documentary "Hand of God," about the sexual abuse of his older brother by a Salem priest.
   "I've been amazed at what's been put together in a short amount of time doing this," Cultrera said. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 27, 2008 7:54 AM

• Meeting irks backers of beset priest

  [1970s Salerno] - RCC. Boy.
   Baltimore Sun By Michael Hill | Sun reporter February 27, 2008
   BALTIMORE (MD) -- Several dozen members of St. Leo's Catholic parish gathered in front of the Little Italy church last night, hoping to find out answers about the fate of the Rev. Michael Salerno, the priest ousted last fall after an allegation of sexual abuse, but were barred from entering a meeting of the parish council.
   They gathered because an e-mail circulated among the parishioners saying the Rev. Peter Sticco, head of the Pallottine Fathers, the order that runs the church, would be at the meeting called to discuss the parish's finances. But one of the church's pastors, identified as the Rev. Louis Rojas, refused to allow anyone not on the council to enter the rectory.
   "Shame!" several of those on the street shouted as the door closed. [Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 27, 2008 7:43 AM}
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Wed February 27, 2008
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont145.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.

#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker , Thu February 28, 2008 edition:

[2006 Sprinkel*] - Methodist. 5yrs probation. Child.

• FORMER SHELBY COUNTY YOUTH MINISTER RECEIVES SUSPENDED SENTENCE FOR CHILD MOLESTATION

   
   Macon Chronicle Published: Thursday, February 28, 2008 11:16 AM CST
   MACON (MO) -- Christopher C. Sprinkel, 32, formerly of Shelbina was sentenced in Macon County Circuit Court yesterday in front of Judge Hadley E. Grimm. Sprinkel was sentenced to eight years, execution of sentence suspended, but was placed on five years probation for felony child molestation.
   He was found guilty of child molestation in the first degree charge at a trial on Jan. 3 and 4 at the Macon County Courthouse on a change of venue from Shelby County. A jury found Sprinkel guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of having sexual contact with a child under the age of 14 on or about Jan. 9, 2006.
   Sprinkel, formerly served as youth minister at the United Methodist Church of Shelbina according to a February 2006 article from the Shelbina Weekly newspaper. [Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 28, 2008 7:43 PM]

• Oregon attorney challenges Portland archdiocese over documents

 
   PORTLAND (OR) -- The Oregonian
   2/28/2008, 12:39 p.m. PST
   By WILLIAM McCALL The Associated Press
   PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – An attorney for victims of alleged sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests is challenging an Archdiocese of Portland request to appoint a federal judge to decide whether to release church documents on the priests.
   The archdiocese settled about 175 lawsuits last April for $50 million to end the first bankruptcy in the nation filed by a Catholic diocese.
   As part of the settlement, the archdiocese agreed to release documents that victim advocates say will show church leaders knew more about the abuse than they have acknowledged. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 28, 2008 7:39 PM

• House backs tougher sex-abuse penalties

 
   KENTUCKY The Courier-Journal
   By Peter Smith psmith@courier-journal.com The Courier-Journal The Kentucky House voted 96-0 today to approve a bill that would toughen penalties on sexual abusers and those who fail to report them to authorities.
   The bill – which now goes to the Senate – passed after its sponsor told colleagues of the decades of turmoil his late father had suffered after being molested as a boy by a Roman Catholic priest in 1930.
   "A tragedy occurred that night," said Rep. Jim Wayne, D-Louisville. "In his 70s, he told his family about this tragedy and how upsetting it was and how really it impaired his relation to God as well as to his church." Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 28, 2008 4:16 PM

• Parishioners of St. Frances Cabrini seek control of church property

 
   SCITUATE (MA) The Patriot Ledger
   By Kaitlin Keane The Patriot Ledger Posted Feb 28, 2008 @ 12:22 PM
   SCITUATE – Their churches were closed by the Boston Archdiocese more than three years ago, but parishioners believe the churches and their assets should belong to them.
   More than 60 parishioners from St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church in Scituate and St. Jeremiah Church in Framingham packed a courtroom at the state appeals court in Boston Wednesday as lawyers again argued that church assets should belong to parishioners, not the archdiocese.
   In January 2007, a Superior Court judge dismissed the lawsuit filed by parishioners against Cardinal Sean O'Malley. Parishioners appealed the decision. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 28, 2008 2:42 PM

• Vatican Approves Church Merger

 
   BUFFALO (NY) WNED
   Chris Caya BUFFALO (2008-02-28) For the second time in just a few months, Church officials in Rome have agreed with Bishop Edward Kmiec's decision to merge St. Adalbert and St. John Kanty.
   The Vatican's highest canonical court notified the Diocese earlier this week that it has upheld a December ruling by the Congregation for the Clergy and the Court has rejected the latest appeal made by some parishoners of St. Adalbert.
   Diocesan Spokesman Kevin Keenan says now it's up to the parishes to set a timetable for moving forward. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 28, 2008 2:32 PM

• Court allows sex abuse charges in St. Columbkille's case

 
   Wicked Local, By Jessica M. Smith, 11:21 AM EST, Thu Feb 28, 2008,
   ALLSTON-BRIGHTON (MA) -- A former Brighton man who alleges that he was abused by three St. Columbkille's priests won an intermediate judicial victory in Superior Court.
   The victim, who spent his childhood in Brighton, told the court that he was sexually abused by two priests in the rectory of St. Columbkille's Parish and by a third priest outside Brighton.
   The accused clergy, named as defendants in court documents, are Father Eugene Sullivan and Father Edward T. Kelly. Sullivan and Kelly were seeking a summary judgment, which is when a judge decides the case before it goes to trial.

• Gilyard's former counselor speaks

 
   JACKSONVILLE (FL) Fox 30
   [video]
   Don Simpkins says he counseled former Pastor Gilyard years ago, but eventually turned him in. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 28, 2008 11:04 AM

• Appeal date for vicar

 
   UNITED KINGDOM Whitby Gazette
   By Staff Copy A LOCAL vicar fighting for reinstatement after he was removed from office for having an affair with a married woman will have his appeal heard next month.
   Reverend David King was banned from practising for four years following a Church of England disciplinary tribunal held in November last year – the first Church of England disciplinary tribunal of its kind.
   The Chancery Court of York will sit at Leeds Combined Court Centre on Monday 10 March to hear the appeal by Rev King. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 28, 2008 11:00 AM

• Catholic Priest Jailed on Accusations of Sexual Abuse

  [2007 Broderick*] - RCC. 4 children.
   WTEN, Posted 08:23 AM EST, Feb 28, 2008
   NEW YORK -- A Roman Catholic priest is in jail this morning, facing several felony sex abuse charges. Father John Broderick, who is in the Montgomery County Jail, is accused of having inappropriate contact with at least four children, all of them in the same family.
   Police say the alleged abuse took place over the course of several months last year. The victims' parents tell investigators that Broderick was a trusted friend.
   NEWS10's Demetra Ganias has more on the relationship between Broderick and his alleged victims.

• Catholic priest arrested in Massena

  [2007 Broderick*] - RCC. 4 children.
   Watertown Daily Times, By CHRIS GARIFO, TIMES STAFF WRITER, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2008
   MASSENA (NY) – A Roman Catholic priest has been arrested here on several felony counts of having sexual contact with children, state police in Montgomery County said.
   John W. Broderick, 47, Nicholville, was arrested Monday on three counts of first-degree sexual abuse, one count of second-degree sexual abuse and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child. The sexual abuse charges are all felonies and the endangering of a child charges are misdemeanors.
   Broderick was arraigned in the town of Palatine Court and was sent to the Montgomery County Jail, Fultonville, where bail was set at $50,000 cash or $100,000 bond.
   State police made the arrest on a complaint from a Montgomery County family. The victims' father said Broderick befriended his family and had become its spiritual adviser, state police said.

• 'DIOCESE LET SCHOOL BIG SLIDE'

  [2007 Bro. Keogan*] - RCC. Computer images.
   New York Post, By DAN MANGAN, February 28, 2008
   NEW YORK -- The former principal of a prestigious Catholic high school who resigned amid allegations of inappropriate images on his work computer was allowed to stay on the job for nearly five months after a priest wrote the New York Archdiocese accusing him of serious misconduct, The Post has learned.
   "It's just another stall tactic," said the Rev. Robert Hoatson of the slow response by the archdiocese to his Oct. 5, 2007, letter to Cardinal Hayes HS principal Christopher Keogan.
   He claimed copies of the note were sent to the archdiocese, the Bronx school's superintendent and president, and prosecutors.
   "The church wants to minimize its damage, and they continue to cover up and coddle these people until something more dramatic comes up and then they have to make a move," Hoatson said.

• Catholic Principal Was Fired Over Photos, Official Says

  [2007 Bro. Keogan*] - RCC. Computer nudes (men).
   The New York Times, By CARA BUCKLEY, Published: February 28, 2008
   NEW YORK -- The principal at a prominent Catholic boys' high school in the Bronx was ousted late last week after photos of nude men were discovered on his computer, a law enforcement official confirmed on Wednesday.
   No criminal charges were filed against the principal, Christopher Keogan of Cardinal Hayes High School, because the photos were of adults.
   The dismissal, reported in The New York Post on Wednesday, deeply shook morale at the school, which prides itself on upholding strict codes of discipline and ethics, and sees its mission as plucking boys from struggling city neighborhoods and shaping them into ambitious young men. Among the school's alumni, who refer to themselves as "Hayes Men," are Regis Philbin, Martin Scorsese and the novelist Don DeLillo. George Carlin, the comedian, lasted three semesters at Cardinal Hayes before getting kicked out.

• Bullying, harassment, intimidation continue to this day at St. Peter, Geneva, Illinois -- Comment from Integrity

 
   City of Angels,
   (This came to City of Angels Blog email, signed by "Integrity")
   GENEVA (IL) -- One time the Geneva Police came into Saint Peter Church during Mass because a man in his late 60's was stalking a woman going to mass. This is not the first time this man has stalked and harassed women going to mass or attending mass at St. Peter. Another time someone locked the bathroom doors at St. Peter during mass. Later that day it was posted on CTL: hope the people who were at mass and needed to use the washroom wet their pants.
   Monsignor Jarmoluk was seen at the Fall '07 St. Peter Barn Sale leading fake "CTL NYC" camera men around the grounds. Monsignor Jarmoluk was conducting interviews with unsuspecting parishioners (adults, children, teens). The so-called CTL camera crews (who knows who these men really are) filmed the interviews. As far as we know these children and teens were interviewed and filmed without their parents' knowledge or consent.

• Bronx Catholic school principal blames smear campaign for his ouster

  [2007 Bro. Keogan*] - RCC. Computer nudes (men), affair with male.
   New York Daily News, BY ERIN EINHORN, Thursday, February 28th 2008
   NEW YORK -- The Bronx Catholic school principal forced to resign over alleged "inappropriate images" on his computer has been accused by former staffers of other improprieties.
   Two ex-faculty members and a priest familiar with the school have accused former Cardinal Hayes High School Principal Christopher Keogan in letters and affidavits of theft, an affair with a male subordinate and of faking transcripts to help that man get into college.
   In an exclusive interview with the Daily News yesterday, Keogan denied all the allegations and said he is the victim of a smear campaign by disgruntled employees and others carrying out a "vendetta" against him.

• Priest charged with abuse

  [2007 Broderick*] - RCC. 4 children.
   Capital News 9, with video, Updated 09:35 PM, Feb/27/2008
   MONTGOMERY COUNTY, N.Y. -- A local priest is facing sex abuse charges after accusations he had inappropriate contact with several members of a family, who considered him their spiritual advisor.
   Parents of the victims, who range from five to eleven years old, said John Broderick, 47, of Nicholville abused the children over the course of several months.

• No response from diocese prompts priest to write public letter to Martino

 
   SCRANTON (PA) The Citizens Voice
   [with letter]
   After the rejection of several requests to speak with Bishop Joseph F. Martino and other Diocese of Scranton officials, King's College professor, the Rev. Patrick J. Sullivan, C.S.C., Ph.D., is speaking out against the bishop's rejection of the teachers union.
   "The Church has already suffered from too many losses and scandals. May we not add more pain and shame," Sullivan wrote in a letter directed to Martino, sent to Times-Shamrock Newspapers on Tuesday. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 28, 2008 8:06 AM

• Priest who abused boy loses court appeal

 
   AUSTRALIA Brisbane Times
   February 28, 2008
   A former Anglican priest convicted of indecently assaulting a 13-year-old boy has lost his appeal to the High Court.
   Raymond Frederick Ayles was sentenced to four years' jail after pleading guilty to two of six counts of indecent assault but not guilty to the four other counts and two counts of buggery.
   The charges date back to 1971, and took place between then and 1973, when Ayles was a priest at Para Hills in Adelaide and the victim was from a family of his parishioners. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 28, 2008 8:04 AM

• Pastor guilty of child abuse

 
   KITSAP COUNTY (WA) Seattle Post-Intelligencer
   By CLAUDIA ROWE P-I REPORTER
   A pastor described by police as charismatic and controlling pleaded guilty Wednesday to numerous counts of child rape and molestation involving five young girls in Kitsap County.
   Robbin Leeroy Harper, 60, leader of a fringe religious group called The Church, faces more than 26 years in prison, though prosecutors and his own lawyer have agreed to recommend a 23-year term when Harper is sentenced April 9.
   "We're happy with this," said Brenda, the mother of one victim, who asked that her last name not be published in order to shield her daughter's identity. "Everybody is relieved. My daughter is happy about it, too." Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 28, 2008 7:52 AM

• City lawyer decides not to return to inquiry

 
   CANADA Standard Freeholder
   A city lawyer who felt he was treated unfairly at the Cornwall Public Inquiry last November has turned down an opportunity to return to the stand.
   Sean Adams had been seeking another chance to answer questions about his involvement in a $32,000 settlement between an alleged sexual abuse victim and the Alexandria-Cornwall Roman Catholic Diocese.
   In December, Gordon Cameron, one of Adams' attorneys, filed a motion with the commission that stated questions posed by lead counsel Peter Engelmann had done "irreparable harm" to his client's reputation. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 28, 2008 7:48 AM

• Police Charge Priest with Sex Abuse

  [2007 Broderick*] - RCC. 4 children.
   WSYR
   [with statement from the Diocese of Syracuse]
   FONDA, New York (AP) - An upstate New York Roman Catholic priest is facing several counts of felony sex abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.
   State police say Father John Broderick engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with at least four children in a Montgomery County family over the course of several months in 2007. The children range in age from 5 to 11. The victims' parent told investigators Broderick befriended his family and was considered their spiritual adviser.
   Broderick left the area sometime in May and was associated with the Holy Name of Jesus Academy in Massena. He was arrested Monday without incident.

• Priest arrested in Massena

  [2007 Broderick*] - RCC. 4 children.
   News 10 Now, 09:38 PM, Feb/27/2008
   [with video]
   MASSENA (NY) -- A priest is arrested in Massena on sex abuse charges after accusations he had inappropriate contact with the children of a Montgomery County family.
   Police said John Broderick of Nichoville in northern New York, had sexual contact with the children over the course of several months. The victims range in age from five to eleven-years-old.
   Broderick was arrested at the Holy Name of Jesus Academy in Massena.

• Priest arrested for abusing children in Montgomery County

  [2007 Broderick*] - RCC. 4 children.
   WNYT,
   [with video]
   PALATINE (NY) -- A priest is accused of sexually abusing at least four children in a Montgomery County family. Father John Broderick now faces felony charges. According to the attorney representing the family of the children, Father John Broderick was treated like a family member until the mother of the children became suspicious.
   State police say Broderick had inappropriate sexual contact with the four siblings who ranged in age from five to 11. The charges range from sexual abuse to endangering the welfare of a child. State Police say Broderick was the spiritual advisor to the mother of the children who they say Broderick abused. That is confirmed by the attorney who now represents the family. He says at first other family members became suspicious of Broderick's behavior but it wasn't until the mother became suspicious, that police were asked to investigate.

• Priest denies indecent acts

  - Anglican.  
   UNITED KINGDOM -- This is Lancashire By Staff Reporter
   A PRIEST has rejected claims he abused two young boys at a vicarage in Bury and on trips to London.
   John McCollough gave evidence at Bolton Crown Court on Monday, accused of 11 indecent assaults and one act of gross indecency against a child.
   It is alleged he performed sex acts with the young boys, touched them inappropriately and tried to kiss them while McCollough was an Anglican rector at Christ of King with Holy Trinity Church in Spring Street, Bury, during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 28, 2008 7:38 AM

• Priest accused of child molestation

  [2007 Broderick*] - RCC. 4 children.
   Albany Times Union, By DAVID FILKINS, Thursday, February 28, 2008
   PALENTINE [? PALATINE] (New York State) -- A priest accused of molesting at least four children in a Montgomery County family he had befriended has been charged with four felonies, State Police said.
   The Rev. John W. Broderick, 47, of Nicholville, was considered the family's "spiritual adviser" when the alleged abuse occurred over several months last year, according to State Police. The children's ages range from 5 to 11.
   State Police said Broderick is assigned to the Syracuse Diocese of the Catholic Church, though he was suspended earlier this year. It wasn't clear why.

• Police: Priest abused kids

  [2007 Broderick*] - RCC. 4 children.
   Daily Gazette, By Steven Cook,
   MONTGOMERY COUNTY (NY) – A Catholic priest acting as a Montgomery County family's spiritual adviser has been arrested, accused of sexually abusing the family's four children, state police said Wednesday.
   John W. Broderick, 47, of Nicholville, St. Lawrence County, is accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with the children, ages 5 to 11, over several months last year.
   State police in Fonda began investigating after receiving a complaint from a Montgomery County family. The parent told police Broderick befriended the family and became their spiritual adviser. [Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 28, 2008 7:32 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker Thu February 28, 2008
• Holy Trinity Anglican Church sweeps priest's sins under carpet.  - Anglicans. [1974-76 Sharwood] - Male. [1976-2002 Anglican Church authorities] - Permitted Sharwood to continue, employed at "Churchie" school. [Canon Greaves, Rector Bulled]     http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont145.htm#holy_trinity_anglican    [COMMENT: Like mother, like daughter (Church). COMMENT ENDS.]
   [ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Broken Rites - Australia. ENDS.] [Feb 29, 08]
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont145.htm
For good teachings to be heeded, a big clean-up is needed.

#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker , Fri February 29, 2008 edition:

• Suit Against Priest To Involve Church Officials

  [1970s Foley -?NEW*] - RC. 11 males.  
   Hartford Courant, By DAVE ALTIMARI | February 29, 2008
   HARTFORD (CT) -- A rare civil trial involving a priest and a former altar boy began playing out in a Hartford courtroom Thursday, with signs that the case could provide explosive details about how the Catholic church has dealt with sex-abuse allegations.
   F. Glenn Sutherland claims that the Rev. Stephen C. Foley molested him in the 1970s while he was an altar boy at a Bloomfield church and that the Archdiocese of Hartford did nothing about it.
   Foley, who also served as state police and fire chaplain, has been sued by 11 men who say he molested them when they were children. All but Sutherland and one other have settled, with the archdiocese paying hundreds of thousands of dollars.

• Extension for sex-abuse victims fails again

 
   Examiner, ~ February 29, 2008
   Filed under: BALTIMORE , Jaime Malarkey , Statute of Limitations
   BALTIMORE, MARYLAND -- Facing staunch opposition from the Catholic Church, Del. Eric Bromwell withdrew a bill this week that would have suspended time limits for sex-abuse victims to file lawsuits against their alleged molesters.
   Under existing law, civil suits for child sex-abuse claims must be filed by the victim's 25th birthday. Bromwell's bill – which was co-sponsored by five other lawmakers – would have opened 2009 to lawsuits, regardless of the victim's age. After 2009, the statute of limitations would extend until the victim's 50th birthday.
   Bromwell initially proposed the bill to help victims who are often not ready to come forward until decades after their abuse. He said Wednesday he would give "serious consideration" to sponsoring it during the next General Assembly session. It is the second year in a row that the bill died. [Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 29, 2008 6:00 PM]

• Not guilty - priest cleared of indecency charges

  [McCollough] - Christian. Cleared.  
   This is Lancashire By Terry Morgan, ~ February 29, 2008
   UNITED KINGDOM -- A PRIEST accused of abusing young boys in Bury has been cleared of all charges.
   John McCollough was found "not guilty" this afternoon (Friday Feb 29) at Bolton Crown Court of 11 indecent assaults and one act of gross indecency against a child.
   The jury of seven men and five women was out from 10.30am to 3.45pm today, and returned not guilty verdicts.
   Mr McCollough told the Bury Times: "I am extremely relieved. At the end of the film US Marshal, Wesley Snipes was asked the same question "how do you feel?", and his response was "righteous"."

• Priest cleared of sex abuse charges

 
   Chester Evening Leader, ~ February 29, 2008
   UNITED KINGDOM -- A priest has been cleared of the sexual abuse of two boys in Bury.
   Father John McCollough, 63, had been accused of preying on the youngsters while a minister at Holy Trinity Church in the 1990s.
   But after a two week trial at Bolton Crown Court he was found not guilty of 11 counts of indecent assault and one charge of gross indecency.
   Both youngsters, now adults, claimed he had abused them by touching them sexually on numerous occassions.

• On the Death of Legion of Christ Founder Fr. Marcial Maciel

  [Maciel] - RCC. 20 to 100 male victims.  
   In the Vineyard, by Carolyn Disco, VOTF NH, February 28, 2008
   Many obituaries for Legion of Christ founder Father Marcial Maciel, who died January 30, 2008, noted the sexual abuse charges against the priest by eight former seminarians in the 1940s and 1950s; his restriction to a life of penance by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006; and the suspension of the canonical case against him due to age. None went into much detail about the survivors, whose stories deserve recognition on the occasion of Maciel's passing.
   The church never adjudicated the sexual molestation charges, leaving those survivors in limbo. Who are they? They include a Mexico City university professor with a doctorate from Harvard; a faculty member at the US Defense Languages Institute in Monterey, CA; a retired priest in Madrid; a professor of psychology and sociology in Westchester County, New York; and also in Mexico, a lawyer, rancher, former university president, and private school professor.
   All wanted to forget what happened and get on with their lives after leaving the Legion. It took many decades of chance encounters for them to find each other, gradually share their abuse histories, and only as Maciel continued gallingly to reap high praise from Pope John Paul II did they finally galvanize and file a canon law case in Rome. None wanted money; they only wanted justice, racked as they were by horrific memories, and fear for other victims after them. How many might there be? To date, John Allen, the veteran journalist at the National Catholic Reporter, reports Vatican sources cite "more than 20 but less than 100" victims.

• Priest accused of sex abuse posts bail

  [2007 Broderick*] - RCC. 4 children.
   Press & Sun-Bulletin, By Eric Reinagel, ereinagel@pressconnects.com , February 29, 2008
   MONTGOMERY COUNTY (NY) -- A former Vestal priest posted bail Thursday at Montgomery County Jail after being charged with inappropriate sexual conduct with at least four children ages 5 to 11.
   The Rev. John W. Broderick, 47, of Nicholville, was charged with three counts of sexual abuse in the first degree, one count of sexual abuse in the second degree, both felonies, and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child, misdemeanor, according to State Police Investigator Paul Cituk.
   The charged stem from a complaint that State Police received from a Montgomery County family. The parents called Broderick their "spiritual advisor" and stated that Broderick befriended the family, according to Cituk. Cituk said over the course of several month in 2007 Broderick inappropriately had sexual contact with at least four family members at the family's home.

• Breslin announces retirement

  - RCC.
   Catholic Explorer, ~ February 29, 2008
   ROMEOVILLE – Mary Breslin, editor and general manager of the Catholic Explorer since June 1, 1998, announced Feb. 22 that she will retire from the leadership position at the diocesan newspaper. …
   In 2001, when news of the sexual abuse scandal in the church first surfaced, on the recommendation of the Explorer Advisory Board, Breslin established an editorial policy of transparency, establishing and encouraging an environment of credibility in the diocese.

• Tom Economus would be 52 years old today, Feb. 29, an unusual birthday for an unusual man

  - Victim, later clergyman in Ind. Catholic Church, director of Linkup.
   City of Angels, By Kay Ebeling, ~ February 29, 2008
   UNITED STATES -- At age 10 Tom Economus was traveling companion for a pedophile priest, doing scams at fundraisers by day and getting alcohol and raped by night. Then as a young adult Tom sought counseling and his therapist, another priest, stripped down to his underwear and begged Tom for help with his own sex identity crisis. Still spiritually passionate, Tom entered a seminary where he got hit on for sex right and left. He dropped out, sank into drugs and alcohol, made it to rehab, became ordained with the Independent Catholic Church and in 1992 was named director of Linkup, one of the first organizations for survivors of Catholic priest sex crimes.
   An email came in to City of Angels Blog yesterday: "Tom Economus' Birthday Tomorrow: An unusual birthday.. An unusual man. A fierce warrior for our cause. Must never be forgotten by us!!"
   JAY NELSON: "I still miss Tom's sense of humor, his fearlessness. He would wear his Roman collar to meetings with Bernardin just to drive the hierarchy crazy."

• Cardinal Hayes principal forced out of other Catholic school earlier in career

  [1989, 2007 Bro. Keogan*] - RCC. 1989 Money. 2007 Computer nudes (men). Date unknown - affair with male.
   New York Daily News, BY ERIN EINHORN, Friday, February 29, 2008
   NEW YORK -- The principal forced out of Cardinal Hayes High School for "inappropriate images" on his computer was removed from another Catholic school earlier in his career for mishandling funds.
   Christopher Keogan also hired a teacher at Hayes last September knowing he had been charged with a felony for stealing from his ex-girlfriend, a soldier serving in Iraq.
   Keogan admitted both improprieties in an interview with the Daily News.
   He said he was caught mishandling money at Newark's Essex Catholic High School in 1989.

• Holy Trinity Anglican Church sweeps priests sins under carpet

  [Sharwood, Greaves, Bulled] - Anglicans. Children.    
   Courier Mail, by Alison Sandy, February 29, 2008
   AUSTRALIA -- BRISBANE'S Holy Trinity Anglican Church has been dubbed the "Unholy Trinity" after it has been revealed a pedophile, an alleged pedophile and a practising priest with his own seedy past are leading its Sunday services.
   Following revelations in The Courier-Mail this week that convicted pedophile priest Robert Sharwood, who was released from jail only three months ago, has been allowed to sing in the choir with children, it has now been discovered that Canon Barry Greaves, who will stand trial on child sex charges in August, participates in bible readings.
   Their role in the Fortitude Valley church has been approved by the Parish Council, headed by rector Trevor Bulled, who was convicted of indecent behaviour in a public toilet almost 20 years ago.

• Vatican rejects appeal of Lowell parish closure

  - RCC.  
   The Pilot (RC paper) By Christine Williams Posted February/29/2008
   LOWELL (MA) -- The Apostolic Signature, the Catholic Church's supreme court, has rejected an appeal of the suppression of St. Jeanne d'Arc Parish in Lowell, the Archdiocese of Boston confirmed Feb. 27.
   In 2006, the Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy denied the appeals of St. Jeanne and about a dozen other former parishes that were closed in the process of archdiocesan reconfiguration. Representatives from 10 other parishes still have pending appeals to the Apostolic Signature, said Kathleen Heck, special assistant to the moderator of the curia.
   Heck said the archdiocese received the St. Jeanne ruling in Latin and the translation to English was completed Feb. 26.

• Hearing held to see if retired priest can stand trial

 
   Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, MA), By Gary V. Murray, gmurray@telegram.com ,
   WORCESTER (MA) – A psychiatrist testified yesterday that he found the Rev. John Szantyr mentally competent to stand trial on child sexual assault charges in an evaluation conducted last summer.
   A hearing got under way yesterday in Central District Court to determine whether Rev. Szantyr, a 76-year-old retired priest now living in Waterbury, Conn., is competent to stand trial on charges of sexually assaulting two altar boys more than 20 years ago in Worcester. The assaults allegedly occurred in the 1980s, when Rev. Szantyr was assigned to Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish on Ward Street. The charges were lodged in 2003.
   In September 2006, Judge Dennis J. Brennan, since retired, found Rev. Szantyr mentally incompetent to stand trial based on an evaluation done at that time by Dr. John Murphy, a neurologist.

• "I had to let the process run its course"

 
   California Catholic Daily
   OAKLAND (CA) -- Following three-year investigation, Oakland bishop reinstates priest once accused of molesting minor
   Bishop Allen Vigneron, heeding the recommendations of a Diocese of Oakland review panel, has reinstated to active ministry a priest once accused of molesting a minor.
   "I think it is a disgrace, an utter disgrace," Joey Piscitelli, Northern California director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, told the Feb. 26 San Jose Mercury News, referring to Vigneron's decision.
   Piscitelli opined that "it's because of a shortage of priests" that dioceses reinstate priests like Franciscan Father Chris Berbena, who will shortly resume ministry at St. John Vianney parish in Walnut Creek. Berbena was parochial vicar there until 2004, when the diocese put him on a leave of absence. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 29, 2008 9:02 AM

• Commentary - Marci A. Hamilton: Killing abuse suit bill puts children at risk

 
   MARYLAND Examiner
   Filed under: BALTIMORE , Marci A. Hamilton , BA Opinion BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Under pressure from the Catholic Church, Maryland lawmakers shelved legislation to identify predators among us. With HB858, Maryland was part of a national movement to eliminate statutes of limitations for childhood sexual abuse. This bill offered the hope of a "window" to allow claims previously barred.
   Our legal system favors predators over the protection of children. By the time victims are capable of coming forward, the law lets predators escape through the statute of limitations – again and again.
   Those predators now live and work near – often with – our children, but we do not know who they are because we keep the courthouse locked against victims. Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 29, 2008 8:52 AM

• 'CARDINAL' SIN: 10G FOR FURNITURE

  [1989, 2007 Bro. Keogan*] - RCC. 1989 Money. 2007 Computer nudes (men). Date unknown - affair with male.
   New York Post, By DAN MANGAN, February 29, 2008
   NEW YORK -- A Bronx Catholic HS principal who resigned last week amid allegations of inappropriate photos on his work computer used $10,000 from a charity set up to aid the academy to buy furniture for his own apartment, The Post has learned.
   Christopher Keogan, the ousted principal of Cardinal Hayes HS, was given the money at about the same time that he was moving out of his residence on the school campus, several sources said.
   Keogan was listed as a director of the nonprofit charitable foundation the Cardinal and Gold Fund Inc. at the time the group is said to have authorized the payout.

• Sex abuse statute of limitations considered by Mo. Supreme Court

  [1958 - 1980s Bro. Mueller* (Marianist)] - RCC. Boys - Knife to throat. 24 more suing.
   Belleville News Democrat, By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER, Associated Press Writer
   JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. --A former Catholic school student in suburban St. Louis should have quickly realized that a Marianist brother's back-room "experiments" on the boy were a form of sexual abuse, an attorney for the religious order argued Thursday before the Missouri Supreme Court.
   Robert Visnaw, a former student at St. John Vianney High School in Kirkwood, sued William Mueller in 2006, more than two decades after the alleged abuse occurred.
   Visnaw argued that he didn't remember any sexual acts until a year before filing suit. The religious order countered that Mueller's alleged behavior - which reportedly included blindfolding Visnaw and stripping the teen to his underwear while holding a knife to his throat - were clearly sexual in nature.

• House OKs tougher sex-offender penalties

 
   The Courier-Journal By Peter Smith psmith@courier-journal.com
   KENTUCKY -- The Kentucky House approved a bill yesterday that would strengthen penalties for sexual abusers and those who fail to report them to authorities.
   The vote on House Bill 211 -- which now goes to the Senate -- was 96-0. Passage came after the bill's sponsor told colleagues of the decades of turmoil his late father had suffered after being molested as a boy by a Roman Catholic priest in 1930.
   "A tragedy occurred that night," said Rep. Jim Wayne, D-Louisville. "In his 70s, he told his family about this tragedy and how upsetting it was and how really it impaired his relation to God as well as to his church." Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 29, 2008 8:36 AM

• Priests seek ouster of bishop

  - Russian Orthodox Church. [≤ 2004 Mr Dushkin] - 9 convictions. [~ 2008 Alaska Diocese] - Installed convicted paedophile as a reader. Dismissed whistleblower.    
   Anchorage Daily News By LISA DEMER ldemer@adn.com
   Published: February 29th, 2008 12:27 AM Last Modified: February 29th, 2008 01:01 AM
   ALASKA -- The Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska is in turmoil. Priests from around the state are seeking removal of the top official here, Bishop Nikolai Soraich. They say he is hurting the church and ruling by intimidation.
   "The clergy and probably a large percentage of the laity in the church have reached the point where they believe they can no longer serve with or under Bishop Nikolai Soraich," said the Rev. Michael Oleksa, archpriest at St. Alexis in Anchorage and the best-known Orthodox pastor in Alaska. …
   Some of the discord arises from a May 2007 situation in Kodiak involving allegations against the second-ranking church official in Alaska, Chancellor Archimandrite Isidore, of drunken sexual misconduct. The accuser, Paul Sidebottom, a teacher at St. Herman's seminary, has filed a sexual harassment complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. According to The Associated Press, the complaint alleges he was fired by the chancellor and bishop after complaining to Metropolitan Herman.
   Bishop Nikolai said an investigation by the church's New York headquarters has already found the allegations unsubstantiated.

• Church to decide sex abuse priest's fate

  - Anglicans. [1974-76 Sharwood] - Male. [1976-2002 Anglican Church authorities] - Permitted Sharwood to continue, employed at "Churchie" school.    
   The Age
   AUSTRALIA -- An Anglican Church board will hear evidence on Saturday which could lead to a priest jailed over child sex offences being stripped of his orders.
   Robert Francis Sharwood, 62, of Brisbane, was jailed for 12 months in November 2006 after being found guilty of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy in Brisbane more than 30 years ago.
   Sharwood was released from jail in November last year, attracting calls by child protection advocates for him to be immediately stripped of his holy orders.

• Religious order says time ran out for abuse victim

  [1958 - 1980s Bro. Mueller* (Marianist)] - RCC. Boys - 24 more suing.  
   St. Louis Post-Dispatch By Virginia Young JEFFERSON CITY BUREAU CHIEF February/29/2008
   JEFFERSON CITY (MO) – Robert Visnaw says he never forgot the secret psychology "experiments" conducted by Brother William "Bill" Mueller when Visnaw was a senior at Vianney High School in Kirkwood.
   Visnaw alleges in court documents that in one incident in 1985, Mueller told him to strip down to his underwear, blindfolded him, held a knife to his throat and made him hyperventilate to the point of unconsciousness.
   What Visnaw didn't remember for many years was the sexual abuse that went along with the experiments, he says. That memory surfaced in 2005, he says, when he read a Post-Dispatch article recounting other allegations against Mueller.

• Woman alleges sexual abuse against former Salesian High clergyman

  [1960s Vas* (Salesian)] - RCC. 2nd allegation. Female.
   San Jose Mercury News, By Scott Marshall, Article Launched Feb/28/2008
   RICHMOND (CA) -- A woman came forward Thursday and alleged that she was sexually abused by a Catholic clergyman at Salesian High School in the 1960s, during visits to the school with her family and also at her home.
   It was the second public allegation against the former clergyman, John Vas, now 86 and living in Florida, who formerly was a band instructor at the private school and a brother in the Salesian order.
   Since the 1950s, when Salesian was a seminary, six clergymen there have been accused of abuse. Another three who once worked there were accused after they left the campus. [Posted by Kathy Shaw on February 29, 2008 4:49 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker , Fri February 29, 2008
   * -- NEW*, and in later entries summarising the facts just an asterisk (*), signify clergy who were not known to the public, and probably/possibly not included in previous overall statistics and enumerations of the numbers of seducing etc. clergy.
   ≤ means "less than or equal to," and in addition is used here to signify before or during that year, or, before or on that date.
   ~ is being used to signify approximately. FOR GOOD TEACHINGS TO BE HEEDED, A BIG CLEAN-UP IS NEEDED
Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.bishop- accountability. org/ abuse tracker for current on-line
The Boston Globe book: http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse USA
Weblog starts: www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethicscontents.htm
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US Archive: www.BishopAccountability.org

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ANCHOR LIST (After reading an article, use Browser's "Back" button to return to Anchor List)
* Catholic priest on child sex charges resigns. MELBOURNE, Australia. 2007-08 Haines. Feb 21, 08
* Church accepts convicted pedophile priest into choir. BRISBANE, Australia: Sharwood, Anglican. Feb 24, 08
* Ellery rules out increasing abuse compo fund. WESTERN AUSTRALIAN State Government set up Redress WA late last year.  It will cover indigenous children, child migrants, orphans, and other categories. Feb 22, 08
* Have you been in State care in WA? Advert. W. AUSTRALIAN Government offers payment if harmed whether in institutions or otherwise. Feb 9, 08
* Holy Trinity Anglican Church sweeps priest's sins under carpet. BRISBANE, Australia: Sharwood, Canon Greaves, Rector Bulled. Feb 29, 08
* Lawsuit alleges decades of abuse. CANBERRA, Australia: RCC Marists. Feb 25, 08
* Not guilty plea to sex charges. W. AUSTRALIA: Teacher and de-facto woman abusing two girls under his authority. No religion link reported. Feb 01, 08
* Nun had sex with [2 boy] students. CHICAGO, Illinois, U.S.A. Sr Giannani. Feb 03, 08
* Pastor guilty of child abuse. [Harper*] - The Church. 10 females. Feb 27, 08
* Priest 'in child porn' [and indecent assault.] MELBOURNE, Australia: Haines 2007-08. Feb 22, 08
* Sorry to all stolen kids. Waiting for apology, too. [Some were a 'Saved Generation']. AUSTRALIA: Feb 17, 08
* WA 'dithering' on child abuse reporting laws. W. AUSTRALIA. ASCA speaks as Child Wise launches campaign. Feb 12, 08

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