References cont. (52) — Clergy Child Molesters

• [Newspaper comments on Vatican's Cardinal Angelo Sodano blaming news media, and Church's failures; $5.2m agreed for Covington.]

   Toledo Blade, "Tough to be the messenger," http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2003111050077
   UNITED STATES: When shame and disgrace upset an organization as the sexual abuse scandal has the Catholic Church, the principal figures usually look for a scapegoat. Evidently, the Vatican is no different. Pope John Paul II's top aide says the media magnified the shame.
   Cardinal Angelo Sodano's take on the issue simply reflects the stance that tried to keep the abuse scandal secret. And yet the cardinal blames news organizations for shaking the U.S. Roman Catholic Church to its core for reporting about priests accused of sexually molesting youths entrusted to their care.
   "The scandals in the United States received disproportionate attention from the media," he said. But the coverage about the priests and their accusers was wide-ranging and warranted, given the extent of the abuse on the countless victims, the affect on their lives, the prolonged years of abuse, and the failure of the church to do the right thing.

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FOR GOOD TEACHINGS TO BE HEEDED, A BIG CLEAN-UP IS NEEDED
References series starts: www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethicscontents.htm
Most newsitems are from http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46    The Catholic Diocese of Covington, Ky., recently settled a case in which 27 adults blamed several priests for sexually abusing them as children during the 1960s and 1970s. The victims will net $5.2 million.
   The scandal was perhaps most devastating in Boston. In September a former Boston priest, John Geoghan, serving a prison sentence for assaulting a 10-year-old boy, was murdered while incarcerated. He had been accused of molesting 150 boys over three decades.
   Also in Boston, about 250 clergy, other church officials, and workers were exposed for ignoring the sexual abuse of nearly 800 children over decades, and Boston Cardinal Bernard Law lost his job. (Posted by Kathy Shaw, Poynter)
   (The above is the first of the Poynteronline Abuse Tracker edition for Friday, November 7, 2003.)
• Residential school victims decry plan. OTTAWA, CANADA--Victims of Canada's Indian residential schools say the government's decision to back away from some of the controversial elements of a new out-of-court dispute-resolution process isn't enough to fix a badly flawed plan.
   "There is no closure in the process, none whatsoever," said Ted Quewezance, who was sexually abused at a Saskatchewan school and now works on the issue for the Assembly of First Nations. Quewezance, who was taken from his home and sent to the school along with his eight brothers and sisters, said the plan still fails to address the harm caused by loss of culture and language.
   Despite the government's concessions, he said he won't take part in the government's $1.7 billion alternate dispute-resolution process. Instead, he'll keep working on the lawsuit he's filed claiming compensation for his suffering.
   Public Works Minister Ralph Goodale, who is responsible for the residential school issue, announced yesterday he's dropping a demand victims sign away their right to sue before they can take part in a new out-of-court dispute-resolution process. Victims also won't have to waive the right to sue for loss of their language and culture. -- Toronto Star www.thestar.com , By Valerie Lawton, Ottawa Bureau
• New lawsuits names priests, archdiocese. CINCINNATI (OH): A lawsuit was filed in Hamilton County Court Oct. 17 on behalf of five men who say they were sexually abused by retired Cincinnati priest Father John Berning The lawsuit names Father Berning and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati as defendants.
   The five plaintiffs, four of whom still reside in Cincinnati, are being represented by attorney Janet Abaray, who also brought a suit a year ago against the archdiocese and the priest on behalf of another alleged local victim. That suit was dismissed last month. Another former Cincinnati resident also filed a lawsuit against Father Berning in Florida in August. Father Berning has resided in Florida since his retirement in 1970.
   The plaintiffs in the most recent suit claim that between 1956 and 1963, while Father Berning, now 96, was pastor at the former Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish and St. Margaret of Cortona Parish in Cincinnati, he sexually abused them while they served as altar boys in those parishes.
   The suit alleges that "recent alerting events have given plaintiffs reason to believe that defendant archdiocese knew or should have known of John Berning's sexual misconduct, but failed to investigate, prevent and warn of such misconduct." In addition, one plaintiff has brought the action directly against the priest "for his intentional acts of sexual abuse and for intentional infliction of emotional distress." -- The Catholic Telegraph (http://www.catholiccincinnati.org/tct/nov0703/110703lawsuits.html)
• I was sexually abused by priest, exile says. FLORIDA: A Cuban exile on Thursday accused a veteran Catholic priest of sexual abuse 23 years ago at a Coral Gables church where he was living after arriving from Cuba on the Mariel boatlift.
   The alleged victim said in a lawsuit the Rev. Alvaro Guichard promised him a car and a job in exchange for sex. At the time Guichard was a priest at the Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables.
   "It is hard for me to talk about this . . . I have lived with this problem for many years without telling my family or anybody," the alleged victim, 39, said Thursday at his attorney's office in Hollywood.
   Guichard was reinstated in August as pastor of St. Francis de Sales Church in Miami Beach after the Archdiocese of Miami cleared him of two earlier sexual abuse complaints. Guichard had been suspended for 15 months.
   Guichard, who has served as an archdiocesan priest for 30 years, adamantly denied the allegations in an interview in his parish office. "It's fiction, false and lies," Guichard, 63, said. "The new allegations are as ridiculous as the other ones." -- Miami Herald (http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/7206399.htm) By Jay Weaver, jweaver@herald.com
• Diocese offers apologies to suspended Lee priest. SPRINGFIELD (MA): The Diocese of Springfield apologized to a suspended priest from Lee yesterday, saying that incorrect information about a 1999 misconduct investigation had been released, suggesting that the priest had been disciplined for becoming involved with a married woman -- when in fact the earlier probe found the allegation "not credible."
   The Rev. Paul Laflamme was suspended last month after admitting that he had an inappropriate relationship with a 34-year-old rectory worker from St. Mary Mother of God Parish. That worker, Josephine DiZoglio, is five months pregnant and has said she is carrying Laflamme's child.
   After a meeting between DiZoglio and Bishop Thomas L. Dupre earlier this week, a spokesman for the diocese said Wednesday that Laflamme had agreed to take a leave of absence and seek counseling following a prior allegation that he was involved with a married woman.
   Yesterday, however, spokesman Mark E. Dupont released a statement saying that the information was incorrect and the six-month leave Laflamme took last year was unrelated to the 1999 allegation. Dupont also said that a review of church documents shows that an investigation found the prior allegation "not credible." -- Boston Globe www.boston.com
• Suit links suicide, priest abuse. KENTUCKY: The family of a Jefferson County woman who killed herself last spring has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Owensboro, alleging that her suicide resulted from actions of the church, including being contacted by one of the priests who allegedly abused her years ago. Karen Roby, 50, fatally shot herself in the chest in the parking lot of McNeely Lake Park, and was pronounced dead early on May 2. The lawsuit filed by her estate is the first in Kentucky and one of a handful nationally to accuse a diocese of wrongfully contributing to the death of an alleged victim of priest sex abuse. The lawsuit alleges that Roby was sexually abused by three priests -- the Revs. Delmon Clements, Robert Willett and Richard Powers -- when they were assigned to SS. Joseph and Paul Catholic Church in Owensboro, where she was a parishioner and student. The abuse is alleged to have taken place between 1962 and 1970, when Roby was under 18. -- The Courier-Journal www.courier-journal.com , By Gregory A. Hall ghall@courier-journal.com
• Landmark sex assault case exposes costly flaws. IRELAND: A landmark sexual abuse case has exposed new flaws in the controversial Church-State indemnity deal for which the taxpayer will ultimately foot the bill. It emerged last night that the State can be kept in the dark for years about ongoing cases against religious institutions - but can be called in at the last minute to defend them or pay out compensation. A Sligo man this week settled his case for €50,000 against the nun who ran an orphanage where he claimed he was abused by older boys who had been put in charge of him. The first documents on the case were filed in 1999, but the State was only called in to defend it under the indemnity deal last Friday - when the case was due in the High Court in Sligo on Monday. -- One in Four (http://oneinfour.org/news/news2003/redressc/)
• VOTF hears national leader. NORWALK (CT): The national president of Voice of the Faithful (VOTF) told 75 members of the Southwestern Connecticut Chapter on Thursday night that the laity is eventually bound to have a greater voice in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States because of the declining numbers of clergy. James Post, one of the co-founders of the organization 21 months ago in the Boston Archdiocese, said that the 30,000 lay leaders in this nation match the number of clergy, but that the 30,000 additional Roman Catholics in lay leadership training dwarf the number of clergy in training. "The church will become more and more dependent upon the laity and that should lead to a greater voice for the laity," he said. The fact that the meeting was held in the First Congregational Church on the Green, instead of in a Catholic church building, led him to note that only eight of the 59 diocesan bishops in the nation have barred the organization from using church facilities. "The prohibition is mostly along the East Coast from Philadelphia to Maine," he explained. -- The Hour (http://www.thehour.com/279057079090328.bsp) By Francis X. Fay Jr, Hour Senior Writer
• Lawsuit accuses priest of sexually abusing youth. FLORIDA: A priest who recently returned to the pulpit despite sexual abuse complaints is facing new allegations that he molested a homeless teenager two decades ago after the boy arrived from Cuba and turned to the Catholic Church for help. Rev. Alvaro Guichard, reinstated to priest duties on Aug. 23, is accused in a lawsuit filed Thursday of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy who was placed in his care after landing in the 1980 Mariel boatlift. The priest made nighttime "tucking in" visits over four weeks and forced the teen to have sex in the pastor's quarters at The Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables, the lawsuit said. "Guichard used his position within the archdiocese to establish a position of trust with John" according to the lawsuit, which referred to the accuser as John Doe. "The archdiocese knew or should have known that Guichard was sexually abusing boys and it took no action to protect John." The archdiocese announced Thursday that Guichard would remain as pastor for the St. Francis de Sales Church in Miami Beach while it conducts an internal investigation. Church Spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta said the investigation would be finished in a "timely manner." -- Sun-Sentinel www.sun-sentinel.com , By John Holland, November 7, 2003
• D.C. Archdiocese Issues Abuse Data. WASHINGTON (DC): The Washington Archdiocese said yesterday that 26 of its priests have been credibly accused of child sexual abuse over the past 56 years and that it has spent $4.3 million on victim compensation, legal fees and other expenses stemming from those cases. About 85 percent of the incidents of abuse occurred before 1980, and the last known incidents occurred in 1990, said archdiocesan spokeswoman Susan Gibbs. She said that none of the 26 priests is still in active ministry. The archdiocese compiled the figures as part of a survey mandated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Under policies that the bishops adopted last year, all of the country's 194 Catholic dioceses are required to conduct such reviews and to send the results to researchers who are compiling a national study on the scope of the child sexual abuse scandal in the church. The dioceses are not required to release their figures to the public, however, and church officials have said that the national study will not list the number of abusers or the financial costs for each diocese. So far, only about a dozen dioceses have made a full public accounting of how much money they have spent on sexual abuse settlements, and relatively few have disclosed the numbers of their priests who have been accused of abuse. -- Washington Post, (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9879-2003Nov6.html) By Caryle Murphy, Friday, November 7, 2003; Page B01
• Norwich diocese names coordinator for abuse reports. NORWICH (CT): When someone is abused by a member of the clergy, "there's a lot of pain with that and anger," said Jacqueline Keller, communications director at the Diocese of Norwich. "You really need someone who is trained to help. The purpose is to help people, not to hurt them anymore," Keller said. Victims of sexual abuse by clergy have a new source of experienced help at the [diocese] in Norwich. Sherry Antoch has been named new interim assistance coordinator by Bishop Michael R. Cote. This position is in accordance with the "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" adopted in June 2002 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Antoch will provide information about counseling services, spiritual assistance, support groups, and social service agencies to people who claim to have been sexually abused by clergy or other church staff. While some survivors may have been going to counseling for years, they may "need to talk to somebody in the church because of how they're feeling about the church," said Keller. --Norwich Bulletin, www.norwichbulletin.com , By Claire Cantu.
• Catholics surveyed give local bishops a greater approval. USA: Three of every four Roman Catholics who regularly attend Mass say that they want their church to be more financially accountable in the wake of its sexual-abuse crisis, and one in four say that they did not respond this year to financial appeals from the national church, according to a new Gallup survey. But the survey also suggests that many Catholics who were angry about the scandal last year have begun to change their attitudes toward their local bishops. Forty-nine percent of the respondents said the bishops were doing a "good job" in handling the scandal, up from 35 percent last year. And most said they had not cut their giving to their parishes or their local dioceses and bishops. "They're blaming the bishops as a group rather than their own individual bishop," said Francis Butler, president of Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities, an association of philanthropists, which commissioned the survey. "They're making distinctions, cutting contributions to things that originate at the bishops conference, whereas things that originate at the diocese or the parish get a more positive reaction," Butler said. The survey, conducted in October by the Gallup Organization, polled the same Catholics who answered some of the same questions in a similar Gallup survey last year. -- Star-Telegram, (http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/nation/7205873.htm) By Laurie Goodstein, The New York Times
• Two new priest abuse lawsuits filed in Altoona-Johnstown. PENNSYLVANIA: On the day before attorneys for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown were to ask a judge to dismiss nine priest-sex abuse lawsuits against it, the attorney behind those lawsuits filed two more. Richard Serbin now has filed 11 lawsuits on behalf of 14 clients, none of which target the priests in question, but instead blame the diocese, current Bishop Joseph V. Adamec, or his predecessor, Bishop James Hogan, for failing to properly investigate alleged abuse dating to the 1950s. On Friday, diocesan attorney Eric Anderson will ask Blair County Judge Hiram Carpenter to dismiss the lawsuits saying that they violate the church's First Amendment right of freedom against government encroachment. "The state shouldn't interfere with church regulations and policies and practices," Anderson said Thursday. Serbin contends the diocese essentially hid behind those policies and allowed priests known to have abused minors to continue in ministry, and failed to properly discipline them. Serbin argues that it's not unconstitutional to require the church to obey civil and criminal laws that govern child abuse cases. -- NEPA News, www.zwire.com , The Associated Press
!!!: While Mum ran the Church office, "Father" molested the daughter [to 2000]. NEW YORK: A former parish secretary filed a $30-million lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn Thursday, claiming the priest she worked for molested her prepubescent daughter while the mother ran the church office. The suit alleges the Rev. James Smith molested the girl, now 17, at St. Kevin's Parish in Flushing from 1996 through 2000. At the time, the girl was 11 through 14 years old and attended the parish school. Meanwhile, Newsday learned that Queens District Attorney Richard Brown is investigating the girl's claims against Smith because the allegations fall within the five-year time frame for bringing criminal charges. Brown's office declined to comment, but if the district attorney files charges against Smith, it would mark the first criminal case in Queens arising from the ongoing sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Most of the allegations have been too old under the statute of limitations to prosecute. -- Newsday, "Lawsuit Charges Molestation Occurred At Flushing School," www.nynewsday.com , By Stephanie Saul, November 6, 2003.
• Dolan setting up $4 million victims fund. MILWAUKEE (WI): Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan is establishing a settlement fund of about $4 million for people who were abused by clergy as minors, and he has arranged for an independent mediator to design and manage a dispute resolution system he hopes church-wary victims will accept. Dolan, the leader of nearly 700,000 Catholics in the 10-county archdiocese, announced those and other changes Thursday in interviews and in the archdiocese's weekly newspaper, the Catholic Herald. "I'm sure that some will continue to criticize what we are doing as either 'too much' or 'too little,' " Dolan wrote in his Herald of Hope column. "I can only hope and pray that people see this as an honest, sincere attempt at justice, charity and compassion." The settlement money will come from the sale of buildings and land that was given to, or was purchased by, the archdiocese over the years. Dolan said in an interview that he picked a $4 million estimate because his financial advisers had estimated that the property would sell for $3.5 million to $4.5 million. That will not involve property from closed parishes, he added. -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, (http://www.jsonline.com/lifestyle/religion/nov03/183211.asp) By Tom Heinen, theinen@journalsentinel.com , Last Updated: Nov. 6, 2003
• Lafayette bishop set to attend national conference. LAFAYETTE (LA): An update from the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse is one of several items that appear on a proposed agenda for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, set to meet Nov. 10-13 at the Hyatt Regency in Washington, D.C. Lafayette Diocese Bishop Michael Jarrell, scheduled to attend the conference, said that he expects only a report on the status of an ongoing audit of individual dioceses across the nation. "I haven't heard anything just yet, so I don't really know what to expect," Jarrell said. The youth sex abuse scandal that rocked the U.S. Roman Catholic church in recent years began here in the 1980s with defrocked priest Gilbert Gauthe, who was convicted of abusing children while he served as pastor in several Lafayette Diocese church parishes. Bishop Edward O'Donnell, who resigned last fall because of failing health, established a zero-tolerance policy in the local diocese in the 1990s. Jarrell, O'Donnell's successor, continued the zero-tolerance policy after his Dec. 18, 2002, installment. -- The Advertiser. www.theadvertiser.com
• Church lawsuits may be amended. CINCINNATI (OH): Officials of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati on Thursday applauded a judge's dismissal of a civil lawsuit claiming the archdiocese covered up a priest's sexual abuse of children, and said they hope seven other lawsuits also are dismissed because the statute of limitations has expired. But the lawyer who filed most of the lawsuits said he can amend them to include language that Judge Thomas Crush found missing in a lawsuit involving the Rev. Lawrence Strittmatter. Attorney Konrad Kircher on Thursday asked Crush to reconsider an amended version of that lawsuit and said he will appeal if the judge declines to do so. Crush, of Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit Kircher filed on behalf of six men who say they were abused by Strittmatter as minors in the 1970s and '80s. Crush ruled the statute of limitations expired. "We hope that this will be the model for other lawsuits pending," archdiocese spokesman Dan Andriacco said of the ruling. -- Dayton Daily News, www.daytondailynews.com , By Tom Beyerlein, tbeyerlein@DaytonDailyNews.com
• Sex abuse lawsuit filed against former Queens pastor. NEW YORK (AP): A lawsuit filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn claims a former Queens priest sexually molested the young daughter of a church employee. Lawyer Michael Dowd, who represents the alleged victim's family, filed the lawsuit naming the Rev. James Smith on Thursday. The suit charges that Smith, who was pastor at St. Kevin's Church in the Flushing section of Queens for 13 years, molested the girl from 1996 to 2000, beginning when she was 11. She is now 17. Smith was placed on administrative leave in April 2002 amid allegations that he was involved in inappropriate sexual contact with minors. -- Newsday, www.newsday.com , November 7, 2003
• Priest apologizes for 'indiscretion'. LEE (MA): The Rev. Paul C. LaFlamme II apologized publicly for the embarrassment his "indiscretion" caused his church, parish, friends and family in a letter to the editor that ran in the Oct. 31 issue of The Catholic Observer, a newsletter published by the Springfield Diocese. The Catholic Diocese removed LaFlamme from the ministry indefinitely on Oct. 17 after he admitted to having a sexual relationship with a former rectory housekeeper, Josephine DiZoglio. DiZoglio, who is now six months pregnant, claims the child belongs to LaFlamme, although its paternity has not yet been determined. LaFlamme, who has not spoken to the media about the issue, addressed what he called "unsubstantiated statements" in his letter. He denied acting as DiZoglio's counselor or confessor, as she has claimed. "Upon my arrival it appeared that she was making extra efforts to become a friend and co-worker. This pseudo-befriending, I now know, was a gross error in judgment on my part. Any actions that resulted from this deceitful friendship were never the result of a priest/ parishioner or employee relationship, but that of two persons -- one of whom is a man and the other of whom is a woman," wrote LaFlamme. -- Berkshire Eagle, (http://www.berkshireeagle.com/Stories/0,1413,101~6282~1750495,00.html) By Stefanie Cohen
• Lawsuit filed alleging abuse by priests led to woman's suicide. OWENSBORO (KY): A lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Owensboro claims sexual abuse by several priests caused a woman to kill herself. Karen Roby, 50, fatally shot herself in a park last spring. A lawsuit filed by her estate Thursday is the first in Kentucky and one of a few nationwide to claim a diocese contributed to a suicide. Roby, a Jefferson County nurse who underwent psychiatric treatment as an adult, was allegedly abused between 1962 and 1970 by three priests - the Revs. Delmon Clements, Richard Powers and Robert Willett - when she was a parishioner and student at Sts. Joseph and Paul Catholic Church in Owensboro. The lawsuit says that the diocese paid $41,000 to Roby in a confidential settlement in 1999 but that that money was returned last month. Now a pastor at St. Mary Magdalene Church near Owensboro, the 71-year-old Powers denied any contact with Roby. -- Mercury News, Associated Press, (http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7203790.htm)
• Suburban woman, others say priest abused them. CHICAGO (IL): Three women, including one from the Northwest suburbs, filed a civil lawsuit Wednesday against a priest they say sexually abused them while they were students at Loyola University in Chicago in the 1970s. The suit, filed in Cook County, brings to seven the number of women who say they were abused by the Rev. John Powell, a Jesuit priest and author. The women, two of whom wanted to become nuns, were in their late teens when they went to Powell "for counseling and spiritual guidance" but were instead abused, attorney Marc Pearlman said. Today the women - including one from Iowa and another from the Kankakee area - are in their 40s and are married with children. Pearlman said the women didn't report the crimes at the time because they were fearful of Powell's stature and popularity. Each believed they were the only victims until they heard about the lawsuits filed in September. "Their lives have been profoundly influenced by this," Pearlman said. "Until very recently, they suffered in secrecy and silence." The suit, which asks for more than $50,000 in damages and fees per plaintiff, also accuses the Jesuits, through the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus, of ignoring a victim's complaint against Powell in the early 1980s. The Rev. James P. Gschwend, provincial delegate for the Chicago province, denied that claim, saying it is "not our normal way of proceeding." -- Daily Herald, (http://dailyherald.com/cook/main_story.asp?intID=37931122) By Sara Burnett, Posted November 06, 2003
• Springfield Diocese releases new rules for clergy conduct and protection of children. SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP): Faced with civil lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by priests and a recent controversy over a cleric who had sex with a rectory housekeeper, the Springfield Diocese on Thursday released new policies to protect children and rules for clergy conduct. Officials from the diocese spent a year meeting with social workers, district attorneys and lay groups to come up with the new policies. Under the Charter for the Protection of Children, adopted last year by a conference of Roman Catholic bishops in Dallas, all dioceses are required to institute child-abuse prevention measures. An independent company has been auditing the policies adopted by individual dioceses and is expected to release a national report later this month. "We were found to be completely in compliance with the charter and the norms (of the Dallas conference)," Bishop Thomas Dupre said. According to the diocese's Policy for the Protection of Children and Youth, no priest who has sexual relations with a minor will be allowed to return to any form of ministry. -- The Republican, www.masslive.com , By Adam Gorlick, The Associated Press, Nov 6 2003
• Springfield Diocese makes mistake in reporting reason for priest's leave. SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP): The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield announced Thursday it had erroneously stated that the leave of absence taken by a priest was tied to allegations he was having an inappropriate relationship with a married parishioner. Diocese spokesman Mark Dupont had said Wednesday that the Rev. Paul Laflamme took his leave of absence last year, after being accused of "getting too close" to the woman. Dupont said that during that six-month leave, Laflamme received counseling. On Thursday, church officials said Laflamme's leave of absence had nothing to do with his relationship with the married woman, and that he didn't receive counseling on that issue. A statement issued by the diocese on Thursday said the church's misconduct commission received a complaint in June 1999 about Laflamme's relationship with the married woman. "After interviewing the parties, they denied any impropriety and the commission found the complaint not credible," the diocese said. -- The Republican, www.masslive.com , By Adam Gorlick, The Associated Press, Nov 6 03
• Lawyer for accused priest explains his link to inmate. WORCESTER (MA): A lawyer for the Fitchburg pastor accused of stealing more than $250,000 from Immaculate Conception Church attempted to clarify the priest's connection to a state prison inmate Wednesday. Former Lunenburg resident William LaMontagne, serving the end of a state prison sentence for raping a young girl, has told state police investigators that Ouellette gave him some of the stolen money. "Concerning this LaMontagne matter, Father Ouellette's relationship was through (prison) ministry," Ouellette's lawyer Michael McEvilly said at a Wednesday hearing. "His visits were made through the parish." "That's what we're trying to establish," said Assistant District Attorney Richard Greco. Greco last month asked the state Department of Correction to release all of LaMontagne's prison financial records since the Whitinsville native's 1989 conviction. "The material wasn't ready for us yet, but it's still in the process," Greco said Wednesday. Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Fahey postponed the hearing on the documents until Dec. 2 and said the priest could be excused from the next hearing. -- Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise, www.sentinelandenterprise.com , By Matt O'Brien
• Priest sorry for his conduct. SPRINGFIELD (MA): The priest accused by a former rectory housekeeper in Lee of fathering her unborn child has offered an apology for his "indiscretion" and criticized print media reports on the matter. The Rev. Paul C. Laflamme II's comments, his first since the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield announced Laflamme was placed on leave Oct. 17, were published in the "Letters from Readers" column in the Oct. 31 edition of The Catholic Observer. Laflamme was serving in St. Mary Mother of the Church parish in Lee when put on leave. It is the second leave of absence for Laflamme, according to diocesan spokesman Mark Dupont. While serving at another parish, a man complained to the Misconduct Commission that Laflamme had an inappropriate relationship with his wife, but was not specific about his suspicions, Dupont said. Laflamme and the woman denied they had done anything wrong, but Laflamme agreed to undergo counseling while on leave. Dupont said he was not sure which parish Laflamme was serving in at the time, but records shows he was at Sacred Heart in Pittsfield. "When the six months was over, the counselor indicated there was no reason (for Laflamme) not to return," said Dupont. Laflamme was sent to the Lee parish. -- The Republican, www.masslive.com , By Bill Zajac, wzajac@repub.com (Posted by Kathy Shaw, Poynteronline Abuse Tracker)
//////////////////// End of www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Friday, November 7, 2003
• Catholic layperson careful speaking about Hobart RC archbishop condoning.
   Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Stateline Tasmania, "Catholic Faithful," ( http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/tas/content/2003/s984695.htm ) Reporter: Judy Tierney, Nov 7 03
   HOBART, Tasmania, AUSTRALIA: JUDY TIERNEY: Well, over the past week, the Catholic Church of Tasmania has been rocked by allegations of sexual abuse by members of its clergy. There've been several complaints against former Hobart priest Monsignor Philip Green. And a different investigation is under way into claims by a former Marist College student that he was sexually abused by a priest. The church is bracing itself for more allegations to come and Archbishop Adrian Doyle is standing firm on his decision not to quit. So how is the controversy affecting the faithful? Dino Ottavi is a proactive lay member of the Catholic Church in Tasmania. He's a member of the parishioner-elected pastoral council in Hobart and the principal advisor to a group called Helping Hands which addresses the issue of bullying in the community. I spoke with him earlier.
   JUDY TIERNEY: Dino Ottavi, how has the Catholic community responded to the latest allegations of sexual abuse?
   DINO OTTAVI, MEMBER OF PASTORAL COUNCIL: This is a very difficult time for the for lots of Catholics. I think it's fair to say there's a lot of disquiet. A lot of people are finding it very difficult to really cope with some of the things they are reading and seeing and hearing about this is a very, very difficult time. The thoughts are behind also, obviously the victims obviously there are a lot of things to be resolved. So people basically, a lot of people are holding their breath. Waiting for the next issue to hit, or the news or something.
   JUDY TIERNEY: Because it has been fairly protracted now. How does a church apologise for victims when this has been going on for so long?
   DINO OTTAVI: I think that time-factor is a big key. This is such a difficult thing because we are talking about issues that happened many years ago. So it is reviving many things. But the the key I think, is I believe certainly in my mind is the time you are taking, the time any organisation takes to actually resolve, come to resolve, a situation.
   JUDY TIERNEY: Are you saying that the church hasn't acted quickly enough?
   DINO OTTAVI: It is safe to say that there is a real difficulty in accepting the fact that some of these issues are taking quite some time to resolve.
   JUDY TIERNEY: Now, Archbishop Doyle has been pretty stoic throughout this latest crisis. Did he receive bad advice do you think in the first instance to keep quiet about the allegations and act the way that he did?
   DINO OTTAVI: I believe that he did get maybe not as complete advice as he could have got. And maybe inappropriate advice. That is my personal point of view, yes. I do believe that the advice has been wanting.
   JUDY TIERNEY: So within the church hierarchy who instructs how the allegations should be dealt with.
   DINO OTTAVI: I must say, I myself don't know in terms of the hierarchy. I do know for example there are advisors on issues to do with all sorts of human resource issues, employees' issues, anti-discrimination issues.
   JUDY TIERNEY: That would be local advice? Or would it come from higher up?
   DINO OTTAVI: I would imagine in the first instance it would have been a local advice or recommendation to the Archbishop.
   JUDY TIERNEY: Is it that a reasonable, and even a responsible line of control now given the outcomes, and the effect on, not just on the parishioners but the victims themselves?
   DINO OTTAVI: Well I think there's something to be said about the independence of an investigator. I believe that possibly with some of the issues that we are hearing, it is possible that it may have been more prudent to have an independent phase of the investigation so that there is more transparency that's seen. I think that is something that the church has to see, not just in Tasmania, I believe that the Towards Healing document itself as a principle, as a start, is a starting point, but it must be re-examined. Not just because of the reasons we are hearing here in Tasmania or in Australia. There is something to be said about that phase of taking the issue to an investigator who is not somebody that is in the Catholic Church.
   JUDY TIERNEY: So independent. All right. So with such a high-profile priest as Monsignor Philip Green implicated. How does that impact on the trust, the trust that people have in their church?
   DINO OTTAVI: I think this is a very, very deep and disquieting issue. I believe that it is the trust and the faith in people like Monsignor Green that has really been rocked. One issue that must be said is that of course, under natural justice people have to be afforded the right to reply etc. However it seems to be that Monsignor Green had admitted to inappropriate behaviour. Having said that, that means that people who have dealt with Monsignor Green that have been parishioners are really conflicted.
   JUDY TIERNEY: So the trust has been violated?
   DINO OTTAVI: It has been violated. It has been violated and I guess that people are bracing themselves. What else, who else are we going to see or hear? What else is happening?
   JUDY TIERNEY: So is it time then for the church to address the issue of celibacy?
   DINO OTTAVI: This has been spoken to, spoken about even by priests. Maybe different people are already talking in this fashion about celibacy and other reforms within the Catholic Church. Will that address -- is that a solution to the problem? It may not be a total solution but it is something that possibly needs to be advanced within the Catholic Church.
   JUDY TIERNEY: Thank you very much indeed, Dino Ottavi.
   DINO OTTAVI: Thank you.
• Monstrous rapist jailed for 16 years [2002, not religion-based]. MELBOURNE (Victoria) AUSTRALIA: A respected businessman who turned into a "monster" after an Elders company party will spend at least 12 years behind bars for one of Victoria's worst rapes.
   A Supreme Court judge said yesterday the crimes of Christopher William Empey, 31, were the acts of a monster. Justice Bernard Teague sentenced Empey, who it is said drinks to excess, to a maximum of 16 years in jail. . . . He said Empey's victim had suffered horrific injuries, brain damage and possibly permanent neurological and gynecological damage. . . . The judge said Empey, the Tasmanian wool manager of Elders VP, had attacked his victim just a few hours after dancing with her at the Elders' awards function at the Carlton Crest Hotel on July 26 last year.
   After raping the woman on the Southbank stairwell, Empey briefly walked away from his bloodied and battered victim to check up and down the street. He then continued his attack repeatedly stomping on his victim's head -- apparently unaware that two doctors were watching from a nearby apartment. . . . Empey, married, with one child, of Mulgrave St, Launceston, pleaded guilty to rape and intentionally causing serious injury. -- Herald Sun, © Herald and Weekly Times, by Wayne Howell, Nov 07 03 (By courtesy of MAKO, Australia )
• Private school teacher at least 11 months jail for sex activities. [2002]
   The West Australian, "Teacher jailed for sex," by Anne Calverley, p 41, Friday November 7 2003
   PERTH, W.Australia: A private high school teacher who abused his position by starting a sexual relationship with one of his students was jailed for almost two years yesterday.
   District Court Judge Kevin Hammond said the fact that the young girl, aged 15 and then 16, was under the 24-year-old teacher's care made the sex offences even more serious.
   The Heathridge man was sentenced to 22 months jail after pleading guilty to eight counts of indecent dealings and five counts of digital sexual penetration over six months last years.
   He must serve at least 11 months before being eligible for release on parole.
   The court was told the victim was in one of his classes but neither the teacher nor the school where he taught is named to protect the girl's identity.
   Crown prosecutor Darryl Ryan said the young teacher started exchanging flirtatious text messages with his student daily before arranging to pick her up from her house after her parents went to bed.
   He said the girl would leave by her bedroom window and meet him in his car.
   There they kissed and he put his hands inside her pants and she fondled him. The third time they went back to his parents' house while they were away.
   Judge Hammond said the teacher's behaviour was totally inappropriate.
   "The simple and overwhelming fact is that there were seven years difference between them and the offender was in a clear position of trust and authority," he said.
   AND, The West Australian Online, "Teacher jailed for sex with pupil," By Anne Calverley, http://www.thewest.com.au/20031107/news/general/tw-news-general-home-sto115359.html , 32854 bytes. Nov 7 03
   [FOOTNOTE: For previous newsitem, see Oct 29 03 report. FOOTNOTE ENDS.] Nov 7 03
   [COMMENT: In Western Australia the vast majority of private schools are run by religions. COMMENT ENDS.] Nov 7 03
########## Poynteronline Abuse Tracker, www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Saturday, November 8, 2003 edition follows:-
• 1972 slaying at center of appeal. -- The Republican, "1972 slaying at center of appeal," http://masslive.com (or is it http://www.masslive.com ), By Bill Zajac, wzajac@repub.com , BOSTON (MA): Lawyers for a sexual abuse plaintiff and The Republican yesterday argued that files relating to the 1972 murder of a Springfield altar boy should be unsealed partly because society has changed since the documents were impounded in 1996. Citing the unfolding sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, lawyers John J. Stobierski and Joseph P. Pessolano told an Appeals Court judge that the court should not overturn a ruling last week unsealing the documents. The order by Hampden Superior Court Judge Peter A. Velis was appealed to the state court by Hampden County District Attorney William M. Bennett. The files relating to the slaying of 13-year-old Daniel Croteau were among those left impounded under a 1996 freedom of information case argued by Pessolano, the newspaper's lawyer, before the Appeals Court. Stobierski is seeking the files for a client who says he was molested by the Rev. Richard R. Lavigne, a convicted child molester who was the chief suspect in the murder of Croteau. Lavigne's lawyer is working with the district attorney to keep the files closed. Velis ordered the documents released, except for names of witnesses, after finding the district attorney had failed to show that the investigation into the 31-year-old slaying would be compromised. Yesterday, presiding Appeals Court Judge John H. Mason quickly placed the burden of proving a need to change the impoundment order by the higher court on the lawyers defending the lower court's ruling. (Posted by Kathy Shaw, Poynter)
• Victims' group director wants 2 priests suspended. LOUISVILLE (KY): The executive director of a national group for people abused by priests is calling for Owensboro's bishop to suspend two priests accused of sexual abuse in a wrongful-death suit filed in Louisville this week. "This is the least you can do as a precaution," wrote David Clohessy, executive director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP]. In the letter, a copy of which he provided to The Courier-Journal, Clohessy notes that Roman Catholic bishops in this country have promised that priests accused of abuse will be removed from active ministry until allegations can be investigated. The letter was prompted by a lawsuit filed Thursday in Jefferson Circuit Court against the Diocese of Owensboro, in which the family of a woman who killed herself last May claims that her suicide resulted from the actions of the church, including being contacted by one of three priests alleged to have abused her years ago. Karen Roby, 50, fatally shot herself in the chest in a parking lot at McNeely Park. One of the priests accused of abuse in the lawsuit, the Rev. Robert Willett, is dead. -- The Courier-Journal, www.courier-journal.com , By Gregory A. Hall, ghall@courier-journal.com
• Nashua priest denies claims that he is gay. NASHUA (NH): The Nashua priest who abruptly left his parish this week failed to tell his flock the real reason for his departure is the bishop's refusal to let him live in the parish rectory with his homosexual lover, sources said. The priest, the Rev. Gerard R. Desmarais, vehemently denies the allegation. During last weekend's Masses, Desmarais, 58, blamed Bishop John B. McCormack's lack of leadership for his decision to resign as pastor of St. Joseph Parish. But two New Hampshire priests, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Desmarais left the parish Tuesday because he wanted his partner to live with him and the bishop insisted he lead the chaste and celibate life required of a Roman Catholic priest. Desmarais, when reached for comment yesterday, said, "That is absolutely ridiculous. That is ridiculous," he said. "I'm not gay, first of all," he added. -- Union Leader, (http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_show.html?article=28656) By Kathryn Marchocki
• Fired teacher sues Catholic school; wanted abortion rights. WILMINGTON (DE): A former teacher at an all-girls Catholic school in Wilmington filed a federal lawsuit Friday claiming she was illegally fired for supporting abortion rights because she is a woman. Michele Curay-Cramer, 32, of Wilmington, was fired from Ursuline Academy days after her name appeared in a "pro-choice" advertisement in The News Journal in January. The ad included signatures from 600 other people, including Gov. Ruth Ann Minner. School officials have said Curay-Cramer was fired because she publicly opposed teachings of the Catholic Church, which has fought abortion. Curay-Cramer said the church and the school have not taken the same action against men who did not follow church doctrine. ... The lawsuit said the school employs a male Jewish teacher whose religious beliefs oppose tenets of the Catholic faith. And Neuberger said the church's transferring of priests accused of sexual misconduct to other parishes in the past, rather than discharging them, proves that Curay-Cramer was treated differently because she is a woman. Willoughby said 80 percent of the Ursuline faculty are women. He said male and female teachers who practice the Jewish faith remain there because they have not publicly opposed Catholic teachings. He said that whatever has happened to priests who are not at Ursuline is irrelevant to the school's practices. -- The News Journal, "Fired teacher sues Catholic school," www.delawareonline.com , By Adam Taylor, Nov 08 2003
• Church argues records private. CINCINNATI (OH): The Archdiocese of Cincinnati wants to bar the public from a court hearing next week that will determine whether prosecutors can see church records related to clergy sexual abuse. The request to close the hearing in the Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals is the latest attempt by church officials to protect documents they claim are private communications with their lawyers. Hamilton County prosecutors say the documents may be crucial in their investigation of priests accused of sexual misconduct. Appeals court officials say requests to close public hearings are rare - they cannot recall such a request in nearly 30 years - and prosecutors say there is no legal justification to keep the public out. "There is no reason in law or fact to close it," said Prosecutor Mike Allen, who filed a brief Friday asking the appeals judges to keep the hearing open. "There is no precedent for it." -- The Cincinnati Enquirer, (http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/11/08/loc_archdiocese08.html) By Dan Horn
• Diocese fails to follow abuse policies. PHOENIX (AZ): The Catholic Diocese of Phoenix has failed to comply fully with the U.S. bishops' guidelines for dealing with sexual abuse but will get a second chance starting Nov. 19. Auditors hired by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are reviewing compliance with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. Phoenix was one of only a few dioceses to require a second visit, said Kathleen McChesney, spokeswoman for the bishops' Office of Child and Youth Protection in Washington, D.C. Phoenix Diocese Youth Protection Advocate Jennifer O'Connor said in July that the diocese was behind schedule on its training and screening programs. Diocesan spokeswoman Mary Jo West confirmed Friday that those are the issues that auditors flagged. The "safe environment" training began two weeks ago, but how to screen volunteers for criminal records is still being reviewed. West said that auditors left recommendations and are returning to "follow up." Doris Kennedy, whose son, Mark, has a lawsuit pending against the diocese and Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien, who has resigned, said she is not surprised that the diocese failed to fully meet terms of the Dallas charter. -- The Arizona Republic, (http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1108audit08.html) by Michael Clancy, Nov. 8, 2003
• Despite sex abuse scandal, Catholics give more to church. UNITED STATES: Despite predictions that the priest sex abuse scandal would lead to a collapse in contributions, American Catholics gave more money to the church last year than they did in 2001, according to a study released yesterday. While overall giving increased slightly, the study suggests that Catholics targeted their dollars - giving more to local parishes and less to appeals by diocesan bishops, who received considerable blame for the scandal. "People care about their parishes," said Mary Gautier, a senior research associate at Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, which compiled the data. "They may not be happy with the bishops in general, but ... they know the parish still needs lights and music." In another survey whose results were released yesterday, three in four Catholics who regularly attend Mass said they wanted greater financial accountability from the church - which has paid hundreds of millions to settle sex abuse cases. The Gallup Organization survey also found that a significant number of Catholics thought the nation's bishops did a better job of handling the sex abuse crisis this year than in 2002. -- Baltimore Sun, www.sunspot.net , By Frank Langfitt, November 8, 2003
• Ex-priest indicted for child porn. [~1991, 2004] ST. LOUIS (MO): A retired Roman Catholic priest convicted of sexual misconduct a decade ago in Wisconsin has been indicted by a federal grand jury on child pornography charges, U.S. Attorney Ray Gruender said Friday. David J. Malsch allegedly received mail that included six images of child pornography between June and October while living at the Wounded Brothers Recon Facility in Robertsville, Mo., about 45 miles southwest of St. Louis. He was charged with one felony count of receipt of child pornography. Under the PROTECT Act, adopted in the spring to strengthen the government's ability to investigate and punish violent crimes against children, Malsch faces a minimum of five years in prison, and up to 20 years, if convicted. Malsch, 64, was convicted of child enticement in 1993 in Wisconsin for incidents that occurred while he was a pastor at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Tomahawk. Malsch was sent to St. Mary's Church in 1987 as an associate pastor and allowed to counsel children with emotional and learning problems. In 1991, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department began investigating allegations that Malsch had sexually assaulted a 14-year-old Tomahawk boy with learning disabilities at a Wausau motel. Investigators found a locked trunk filled with pornography in Malsch's home, and Malsch was suspended from his duties as a priest. Malsch pleaded no contest in 1993 to one count of child enticement for the motel assault. In exchange, prosecutors dropped two counts of second-degree sexual assault. He was sentenced to one year in jail and eight years probation. He also was ordered not to work as a priest or counselor. -- Wausau Daily Herald, (http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/wdhlocal/293156070969399.shtml) by The Associated Press and Wausau Daily Herald.
• Sex-abuse suit hits diocese. [~1980] STOCKTON (CA): Attorneys for a 35-year-old man who has filed a lawsuit claiming a former Stockton priest sexually abused him will discuss the new allegations at a news conference today. The alleged victim, Luis Godinez, says he was 12 when he was first abused by the late Father Fernando Villalobos, a former Stockton priest. Villalobos served at St. Mary of the Assumption in Stockton between 1980 and 1983. Villalobos was 38 when he died in 1985 while out of the country visiting relatives. Without specifically naming the Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton or its former leader, Cardinal Roger Mahony, the lawsuit targets "a nonprofit corporation, located within this judicial district ... and the bishop of defendant diocese" as defendants in the lawsuit. Villalobos also is named. Neither Godinez nor his attorney, Joseph George, could be reached for comment. But the diocese's attorney, Paul Balestracci, said he was aware of the allegations. -- Record, www.recordnet.com , By Linda Hughes-Kirchubel, Thursday, November 6, 2003
• Priest Molested 5 Others, Suit Filed After Settlement Alleges; $1.5m gone already; Hagenbach accused [1968-86] -- Los Angeles Times, "Priest Molested 5 Others, Suit Filed After Settlement Alleges," ( http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-priests6nov06,1,4515188.story ), By Jean Guccione LOS ANGELES (CA): A year after the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles quietly paid $1.5 million to settle a sexual-abuse claim against a priest, five more men stepped forward Wednesday claiming that they had been molested by the late Father Clinton Hagenbach. The men sued the archdiocese, alleging that they were sexually assaulted by Hagenbach between 1968 and 1986 at four of the eight Los Angeles-area parishes where the priest served until his death in 1987. Tod Tamberg, spokesman for the archdiocese, said the archdiocese first learned of the abuse allegations against Hagenbach in November 2001. He added that the alleged abuse took place before Cardinal Roger M. Mahony became archbishop in 1986. At a news conference outside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles, attorney Jeff Anderson demanded that Mahony turn over priest personnel files to document what church officials knew about Hagenbach and when. "We know that he was moved seven times," Anderson said. "We know he abused 12 people."
• Abuse issues, investments top bishops' agenda. UNITED STATES: Bishop Wilton Gregory of Belleville is in Washington finishing the last-minute agenda for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' four-day fall meeting, which opens there Monday. Thursday will mark the beginning of the final year of his three-year term as conference president. Bishop Joseph F. Naumann, as the administrator of the St. Louis archdiocese, also will be among the more than 300 bishops and about nine cardinals in attendance. The bishops will hear a report on how the 194 U.S. archdioceses and dioceses are complying with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Youth. The work of the bishops' Office of Child and Youth Protection, the National Review Board, and the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse will be discussed. After three meetings where the misgovernance of sexual abusers has been the major focus, the bishops hope to widen the agenda. -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch, www.stltoday.com , By Patricia Rice, Nov 07 2003
• Cuttino: The Episcopal homosexual puzzle deepens. CANADA: The January 2002 issue of Christianity Today reports the Cariboo Anglican (Episcopal) Diocese in British Columbia, Canada, was paying $63,000 a month in legal fees for more than 8,000 cases of sexual (mostly homosexual) abuse. The estimated amount of settlement was $1.26 billion. Bishop James Cruikshank retired and the diocese closed its doors, shutting down schools and institutions, in essence, bankrupt. One spokesman said church members will not contribute offerings to open- ended legal cases. This received little note in U.S. papers but is close to New Hampshire and New England where the Episcopal Church has decided to consecrate a homosexual as bishop.
   Thomas Bokenkotter's "A Concise History of the Catholic Church," in defending Pope Pius XI as one who tried to curb Hitler and oppose Nazism, tells on page 350 of a bold condemnation of Nazism in an encyclical "Mit brenender Sorge," one of the greatest condemnations ever issued by the Vatican. It was smuggled into Germany and read from all Catholic pulpits on Palm Sunday, March 1937. It exposed Nazism and referred to Hitler as "a mad prophet possessed of repulsive arrogance." The Nazis were infuriated, sealed all the presses that printed the message and began a series of "morality trials" of the Catholic Church. In Koblenz, 170 Franciscans were arrested and prosecuted for corruption of the youth and for turning their monastery into a "male brothel." A Hitler Youth film was circulated featuring immorality among the priests, causing many to negate any strong witness and authority of the church. -- Carolina Morning News, "Cuttino: The homosexual puzzle deepens," (http://www.lowcountrynow.com/stories/110803/LOCcuttino.shtml) By Bob Cuttino, Special to the Carolina Morning News.
• Priest gets three years in jail for abusing youth. [1995] ST. LOUIS (MO): A St. Louis County circuit judge on Friday sentenced the Rev. Bryan Kuchar to three years in jail for sexually abusing a teenage boy in 1995. "From what I can tell, you've shown no compassion for anyone," Circuit Judge John Ross told Kuchar. "The evidence in this case was overwhelming, in my mind. You've caused tremendous harm to the victim and his family." The victim's mother said afterward that she was upset that the priest made no apology in court for what he did to her son. "The evidence was so blatant," the mother, Sue Lindenbusch, said outside the St. Louis County Courthouse in Clayton. "How could anybody not say that?" Lindenbusch said she had no objection to disclosure of her name but asked that her son, 23, not be publicly identified. -- Post-Dispatch, www.stltoday.com , By Tim Bryant, Nov 07 2003
• Carrollton man gets 20 years for molesting boys [2001]. TEXAS: A former assistant leader of a boys group at Calvary Temple in Irving was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday for sexually abusing two boys during camping trips in Colorado, Oklahoma and East Texas. Tim Renshaw, 42, of Carrollton, formerly the assistant leader of the boys group known as the Royal Rangers, pleaded guilty in May in Wood County to molesting the boys, then ages 11 and 12, in February and April 2001. The incidents occurred during a stay at Lake Fork Reservoir, about 95 miles east of Dallas. In a plea arrangement worked out with the other states, Mr. Renshaw also admitted molesting the same boys June 6-10, 2000, near Antler, Okla., and July 23-30, 2000, in and near Alamosa, Colo. His sentences in those states will run at the same time as his sentence in Texas. Sandra Gallagher, an assistant district attorney in Wood County, and James Wolfe and Mike Gonzales, assistant district attorneys in Pushmataha County, Okla., and Alamosa County, Colo., respectively, agreed that Texas was the best venue. -- The Dallas Morning News, (http://www.dallasnews.com/localnews/stories/110803dnmetmolest.a1994.html) By Jim Getz
• Priest is charged in porn case. [CURRENT] MISSOURI: A priest from Wisconsin was arrested Friday on charges of possessing child pornography at the Wounded Brothers Project - a retreat in Franklin County that bills itself as a place where priests who have committed sex crimes can be monitored. The arrest of the Rev. David J. Malsch, who was convicted of child molestation in Wisconsin a decade ago, caused concern for Wisconsin officials, who fear that Malsch is not getting adequate monitoring. He was civilly committed to the retreat as a "sexually violent person." "I think they relied on more or less self-monitoring," said Steve Watters, director of Wisconsin's program for confining sexual predators. "It's not the sort of facility that is exercising custody over these guys. It's a big open campus. If one of these guys decides to walk away, he's going to walk away." Mark Matousek, the director for the Wounded Brothers, could not be reached for comment Friday. But in an interview last year, he described the retreat as a "halfway house" for people who have exhausted treatment options. "It's best that they be in an environment in which they can be monitored," he said last year. "There is a need to provide them a safe place where they can be taken care of." -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch, www.stltoday.com , By Peter Shinkle, Nov 07 2003
• A Catholic Bishop's Life. TUCSON (AZ): Bob Abernethy, anchor: The U.S. Catholic Bishops gather this coming week for their regular fall meeting -- still grappling with the many consequences of their church's sex abuse scandal -- moral, financial, legal, and pastoral. We wondered what it's like these days to be one of the country's 275 active Catholic bishops. Judy Valente has a profile of Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona. JUDY VALENTE: His day begins shortly after dawn with a two-mile jog. Then he returns to his residence for a half hour of prayer and reflection. Bishop GERALD KICANAS (Tucson Diocese): A bishop really does need to be a man of prayer. I try each day to have some time with the Lord, in silence. VALENTE: When he became Tucson's bishop last March, Kicanas inherited a diocese in crisis. -- Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week710/profile.html)
• Priest Faces Another Abuse Accusation. [1980s] HOLLYWOOD, Fla.: A South Florida priest, already accused of sexual abuse in the past, is responding to new accusations from a Hollywood man. The 39-year-old accuser, who Channel 10 News is not identifying, said the Rev. Alvaro Guichard molested him in the 1980s. "He would slide his hand through my arm, my chest and my legs. He would go and take a shower and he would come out of the shower with underwear. He would offer me some presents and gifts and he would take me out shopping. I want him to be removed out of the Catholic Church and now I don't believe in the Catholic religion anymore," the accuser said. "I don't know why he picked me out of the rest. But I think I was his favorite." Guichard denies the accusation. "Never he went to my bedroom in the Church of the Flower when I live in the rectory," Guichard said. "What he said about abuses, that is totally false, lie and in a way is a coward person ... He's trying to destroy me, but he cannot destroy me because he knows very well that what he say is false, totally false." Jeffery Herman, attorney for the man who accused Guichard, said, "In my experience attacks on victims are commonly made by pedophiles ... What we're seeing today is exactly why victims don't come forward ... Can you see how hard it would be for a child to come forward in a case like this?" -- Click10.com, (http://www.click10.com/news/2619043/detail.html)
• Woman feared RC priest's power, said he was no virgin. AUSTRALIA: A woman who had a sexual relationship with a senior Tasmanian Catholic priest has told how she felt unable to reject his advances.
   She decided to speak out after reading a report in The Mercury in which Archbishop Adrian Doyle said the priest had told him it was an "consensual, adult relationship".
   "It wasn't a friendship," said the woman, who uses the false name of Pauline, which was given to her by the Catholic Church when she first complained about the priest five years ago.
   "It was quite the opposite."
   She also said the priest had told her he had other sexual relationships in Australia and the US.
   "There was no way he was a virgin and having a little lapse. It was part of an ongoing pattern of behaviour," she said.
   Until now, Pauline has never spoken publicly of the events which took place in Hobart more than 25 years ago. She has concealed her identity to protect her family.
   But she decided to speak out as a series of scandals rocked the church over the way complaints of sexual abuse were handled.
   Pauline said the priest had used his superior age and position within the church to exploit her sexually.
   "I was not under 18 and I was not held at gunpoint so I can't go to the police," she said. "But I was very vulnerable.
   "If you're Catholic you are brought up to respect 'Father'.
   "I was 20 years younger than him and at the time I was in the employ of the church. I didn't have the social skills to extract myself from the situation."
   In 1998, Pauline became one of the first people to phone the Catholic Church's hotline, set up under the Towards Healing program to help victims of sexual abuse by clergy.
   A committee of senior church officials had also been established under the Towards Healing program to advise the church on the best way to deal with complaints.
   The priest named by Pauline was on that committee -- and Archbishop Doyle left him there for more than five years.
   He was not removed from the professional standards committee until early this year, when Archbishop Doyle also took action against priest Philip Green, who had admitted sexually abusing a boy.
   Archbishop Doyle has said he did not remove the priest from the board because he felt that would be a harsh punishment.
   Catholic priests are required to lead lives of celibacy, and not engage in sexual relationships.
   The Archbishop said the priest had felt guilty about his actions, and had sought spiritual guidance.
   "But it was not the kind of behaviour we want going on," Archbishop Doyle said of the priest's actions.
   He also said he should have removed the priest immediately from the professional standards committee in 1998.
   Pauline said there were so many discrepancies in the Archbishop's version of events she wondered if he was talking about the same case.
   But she declined to offer an opinion on calls within the Catholic community for Archbishop Doyle to resign.
   "I am not the slightest bit interested in Catholic politics," she said.
   "Adrian has got a lot of good things going for him. If he could get his finger out on this he could help the church emerge stronger."
   Pauline said she was determined to push ahead with her complaints against the priest and would continue through the Towards Healing process.
   It was time for the church to stop covering up sexual abuse by clergy.
   "Hiding these things does not make a church stronger," she said. "If this had all been dealt with appropriately it would all be over now and people would be moving on."
   The priest declined to be interviewed by The Mercury. -- The Mercury, Hobart, "Woman feared priest's power," www.themercury.news.com.au , By Ellen Whinnett, Chief Reporter, Nov 08 2003
• Priest Gets Prison Term for Molestation. [1995] CLAYTON, Mo.: A Roman Catholic priest convicted of molesting a 14-year-old boy in the mid-1990s was sentenced Friday to three years in prison, and church officials said they would begin the process of defrocking him. The Rev. Bryan Kuchar, 38, was convicted in August on three counts of second-degree statutory sodomy. The victim, now 23, knew Kuchar when he was associate pastor in 1995 at Assumption Catholic Church in St. Louis County. He made the sexual abuse allegations for the first time in 2000 when he was a patient in a drug treatment center. Kuchar was arrested two years later. -- PhillyBurbs.com , (http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/1-11072003-192924.html) The Associated Press
• Nashua pastor who quit backed accused peers. NASHUA (NH): The priest who resigned as pastor of a Nashua church this week leaves behind a record of defending priests accused of child sexual abuse and is known for his ties to clergy charged with molesting minors, according to his sworn testimony and fellow priests. It is an ironic twist to the Rev. Gerard R. Desmarais' nine-year tenure at St. Joseph Parish, where he has embraced a local chapter of Voice of the Faithful, a lay reform group that supports victims of clergy sexual abuse. Desmarais, 58, said in sworn testimony last year that he was prepared to testify in support of the Rev. Roger A. Fortier at the 1998 criminal trial that resulted in Fortier's conviction for 17 sexual assaults on two boys. Desmarais also acknowledged he allowed Fortier to stay in St. Joseph rectory during the nine months Fortier was awaiting trial. "Amazingly, Desmarais never advised his parishioners at St. Joseph that Fortier was residing in the parish rectory, despite the fact that he was apparently concerned enough to advise his rectory staff," Manchester attorney Peter E. Hutchins wrote in an Aug. 30, 2002, court motion in which he questions Desmarais' credibility. "Even more disturbing, Desmarais admitted he was prepared to testify as a character witness on Fortier's behalf," Hutchins added. -- Union Leader, (http://www.theunionleader.com/Articles_show.html?article=28580) By Kathryn Marchocki and Scott Brooks.
• Catholic Donations Rise, Despite Sex Scandal. WASHINGTON (DC): Defying predictions, Roman Catholics in the United States increased their donations to the church last year during the height of the scandal over sexual abuse of minors by priests, according to data collected by researchers at Georgetown University. The reported rise in Catholic giving is doubly remarkable because it took place during an economic downturn in which contributions to the nation's 400 largest charities fell for the first time in more than a decade. Behind the overall increase, however, is a telling difference in the two main categories of donations to the church. Catholics put an estimated $5.8 billion in Sunday collection baskets to support their local parishes in 2002, an increase of 4.9 percent, or twice the rate of inflation. Yet they cut their pledges to bishops' annual appeals for diocesan operations by 2.3 percent, to $635 million. "The story that it tells is that people are mad at the bishops in general, demanding accountability from the church as a whole, but they're saying 'My priest is okay'," said Mary L. Gautier, a senior research associate at Georgetown's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. As the sex abuse scandal spread last year from Boston to dioceses across the country, some Catholic activists predicted that the church would face not only a wave of multimillion-dollar lawsuits but also a big drop in donations. In a Gallup poll in March 2002, 30 percent of all Catholics said they were contributing less money to the church because of the scandal. By December, 40 percent said they were reducing their donations, and Catholic fundraisers were "worried into a frenzy," recalled Matthew R. Paratore, secretary general of the International Catholic Stewardship Council, an association of about 1,000 diocesan development directors. -- Washington Post, (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9864-2003Nov6.html) By Alan Cooperman, Friday, November 7, 2003; Page A12
• Monsignor testifies for child abuser. WORCESTER (MA): The chancellor of the Worcester Diocese testified Wednesday at a hearing for a convicted child abuser who has requested counseling help from the diocese. Monsignor Thomas Sullivan joined Frances Nugent, the diocesan victim services coordinator, in speaking at a Worcester Superior Courtroom witness stand as part of a weeks-long sexually dangerousness trial for 38-year-old Neil Sweeney Jr. Sweeney, convicted and jailed in 1995 for indecently assaulting two boys, sent a recent letter to the diocese asking for help, said Sweeney's lawyer Christopher LoConto. The former Worcester man has said he was abused throughout his early teens by a Worcester parish priest, according to a spring 2003 counseling report filed in court. Sweeney also said he was abused for years by his elder brother. He may or may not be released from a secure facility depending on the outcome of the ongoing trial to determine his risk of re-offending. Nugent, a veteran clinician before she began running the new diocesan victim services office in July 2002, testified "the diocese would pay for whatever treatment he requested." Sullivan and Nugent last week voluntarily met the inmate at the Bridgewater Treatment Center where he has been held for 17 months, LoConto said. -- Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise, "Monsignor testifies for child abuser," www.sentinelandenterprise.com , By Matt O'Brien (Posted by Kathy Shaw, Poynter)
//////////////////// End of www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46, Saturday, November 8, 2003
• Abuse charges over child videos [No religion link in newsitem]. PERTH, W. AUSTRALIA: A 37-year-old man is facing 56 child abuse charges, including videotaping children as they trained at gym centres in the northern suburbs over the past 18 months. Malcolm Wayne Liddelow, of Edgewater, has been charged with 33 counts of indecent recording of children under 13 and one count of indecent recording of a child under 13 for alleged offences at gym centres in Balcatta, Bayswater and Wanneroo. Police allege Mr Liddelow filmed children who were training while he sat in his car in adjacent carparks. Child abuse investigators also charged Mr Liddelow with 15 counts of indecent dealing of a child under 13 and seven counts of indecent recording of a child under 13 for alleged offences which occurred seven years ago. He was remanded on bail at Perth Magistrate's Court yesterday. -- The West Australian, "Abuse charges over child videos," p 51, Sat Nov 8 2003 FOR GOOD TEACHINGS TO BE HEEDED, A BIG CLEAN-UP IS NEEDED The POYNTER INSTITUTE is a Journalism School, based at St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.A.
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