////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sun June 20, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont85.htm
• Scandal of child molester not put on official register, now charged again.
The Sunday Times, Perth, W. Australia, It's a scandal; Eight years ago authorities knew this man was a child molester. But he was never placed on a register of offenders. Now he has been charged again. P 1, June 20 2004
PERTH: See page 4 [Picture and heading took up most of Page One]
• Convicted child molester not listed, let free to make his own way to NSW for current trial.
The Sunday Times, "Child molester left off pedophile register," by Nick Taylor, p 4, June 20 2004
PERTH: A WA man charged this week with abusing seriously ill children while supervising a holiday camp was revealed as a child monster eight years ago by The Sunday Times.
Despite being jailed in the US for molesting an eight-year-old boy, Bernard Anthony Stuart Tynas, 39, returned to Perth and was allowed to work with disabled children.
Our 1996 investigation uncovered flaws in the screening system that allowed him to work with children just 12 months after being deported from the US for offences committed at a US children's holiday camp.
As a result of The Sunday Times inquiries, Tynas resigned and promises of sweeping changes to the screening procedures were made by the then State government.
Tynas of Dianella was not named by The Sunday Times for legal reasons, but the state- and commonwealth- funded organisation he worked for was made aware of his imprisonment in the US. ... nothing was done.
Yesterday Detective Peter Yeomans, from the NSW Sex Crimes Unit, confirmed that Tynas's name was never placed on a national pedophile register. [...]
Michelle Stubbs, WA director of the Advocates for Survivors of Child Abuse [ASCA], said the situation was outrageous.
"If we are going to have a national register of pedophiles it must contain the names of those who are in this nation," she said.
"If they have committed their crimes overseas and want to live here they must face the consequences like everyone else.
"This case highlights an atrocious situation, a ridiculous situation. Too often offenders can move around without detection because there is no central registry for checks."
Tynas spent almost two years in a US prison for molesting an eight-year-old boy before he was deported to Australia in 1995.
He was charged with 20 offences but 19 were dropped under a plea-bargaining arrangement. The sentencing judge said jail was appropriate because it kept Tynas off the streets. He sentenced him to from one to three years jail for fondling a young boy. [...]
This week Tynas faced seven charges of aggravated indecent assault against four boys aged between 10 and 14. The charges arose from trips to the Apex-owned Magic Castle Chalets in the NSW Snowy Mountains in 2002 and 2003.
The trips are run in conjunction with Princess Margaret Hospital for children with terminal illnesses. [...]
A magistrate refused to order his extradition, saying the offences were at the "lower end" of the scale for sex offences. He ordered Tynas to make his own way to Sydney for his July 9 court appearance.
Lawyer Richard Bayly said ... the charges would be defended. [...]
[WA] Police Minister Michelle Roberts ... said ... that the Federal Government needed to set up a system for access to overseas criminal records. [Picture -- DARK PAST: Bernard Tynas at Perth Magistrate's Court this week. Picture. Jackson Flindell] [Jun 20, 04]
• Ex-ministers arrested in child sex swoop [1952-2000] - Anglican Church, Salvation Army.
Ex-ministers arrested in child sex swoop
Sydney Morning Herald, www.smh.com. au/articles/ 2004/06/20/ 1087669834 907.html , AAP, June 20, 2004
AUSTRALIA: Two former Anglican ministers and a former Salvation Army officer are among nine people arrested over several days for child sex offences by a South Australian police taskforce.
Those arrested also include a former junior surf lifesaving coach and two former leaders of the Church of England Boys Society.
The first of the nine arrests was made last Thursday by the South Australian Police paedophile task force as part of their investigations into child sex abuse claims within the Anglican Church in Adelaide.
More arrests were expected to be made of people who were once tied to other community and service organisations, Detective Superintendent Grant Stevens said today.
"There are other people that are the subject of ongoing investigations," Det Supt Stevens said.
"There is still quite a long way to go, this is only the first stage in the process.
"It's anticipated that the investigation will result in further arrests."
Police made two of the nine arrests in Adelaide today, with the other seven made since Thursday, Det Supt Stevens said.
The men arrested with direct ties to the Anglican Church included a 58-year-old former minister who allegedly indecently assaulted four teenagers between 1973 and 2000.
Another former Anglican minister, aged 59 and now living in Queensland, was being extradited to SA today to face four indecent assault charges and one count of b*ggery. All the offences allegedly involved a 12-year-old child and occurred between 1970 and 1975.
A former Anglican Church foster carer, aged 54, was charged with indecently assaulting an 11-year-old in 1980-81 when the child was a ward of the state.
The former Salvation Army officer, aged 65 and living in Victoria, was charged with indecently assaulting a 12-year-old in 1966-67.
Another man, aged 71 and a former Salvation Army carer, was arrested on two counts of indecent assault and eight counts of b*ggery. The alleged offences occurred between 1961 and 1964. His alleged victims, aged six and nine, were in the care of the Salvation Army Boys Home at the time.
One of the former Church of England Boys Society leaders, aged 45, will face five charges of gross indecency allegedly committed between 1986 and 1988 on a 13-year-old and a 15-year-old.
The other former Church of England Boys Society leader, aged 69, was arrested for 14 indecent assaults allegedly committed on six victims aged between 12 and 16, between 1970 and 1982.
A 78-year-old former junior coach with the Surf Lifesaving Association of SA was charged with eight counts of rape and seven counts of indecent assault, relating to incidents alleged to have occurred between 1952 and 1980 and involving an eight-year-old and a nine-year-old.
Another man, aged 67, has been charged with three counts of indecent assault between 1964 and 1970.
The police paedophile task force was established in June last year after two Anglican clergymen went public with claims of up to 200 child sex abuses cases within the Adelaide diocese.
The controversy triggered the resignation of Archbishop Ian George 10 days ago in the wake of an independent report into the church's handling of the allegations.
The report found the church's priority was to protect itself at the expense of victims and was more concerned with its legal and insurance standing than the healing of those abused.
An apology to all victims was read at all Anglican parishes in Adelaide today after being ratified by 280 members of the Adelaide diocese at a special synod yesterday.
"We apologise for the shameful way we have actively worked against and discouraged those who have come to us and reported abuse," the apology said.
"We are ashamed to have to acknowledge we only took notice when the survivors of abuse became a threat to us."
The nine arrested will face Adelaide courts at later dates. #
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Mon June 21, 2004 edition follows:-
• Aussie Anglican Church grapples with arrests over child sex abuse
The Straits Times, http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/world/story/0,4386,257627,00.html [Archived already - 06 Jul 04] [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:37 PM]
• Abuse: Int'l investigation implicates Salesians/Australia [Klep, Frankel]
CathNews, www.cathnews.com/news/406/120.php , 22 Jun 2004
DALLAS (Texas): A newspaper located at the ground zero of the US Bishops historic meeting in Dallas two years ago to respond to the US abuse crisis has published a major investigation alleging religious orders and the Church have moved priests from country to country in attempts to avoid police investigation or civil prosecution.
The Dallas Morning Post investigation has been taken up and broadcast further as a major story by many of the quality investigative news agencies around the world including all of Australia's quality broadsheets and the ABC.
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There are two major allegations being levelled at the Church as a result of the investigation. One is that the attempts to cover-up were international in nature. The second is that Rome's knowledge of what has been going on extended back much further in time than hitherto appreciated.
The Australian connection is that it is alleged that the Salesians moved a priest convicted of abuse in Melbourne to Samoa in order to avoid further police investigation and charges. The Age newspaper quotes both Victorian and Federal Police spokespersons confirming that the priest, Fr Frank Klep (60) "left Australia after being charged but before his case came to court" and that attempts have been made to contact Samoan authorities. It is reported that Australia does not have an extradition agreement with Samoa.
The Age reports "Father Klep former principal of the Salesian College in Sunbury, who later ran a youth centre in Brunswick was convicted in 1994 of four charges of sexual assault. Those charges and the 1998 ones relate to incidents during the 1970s."
The Australian Congregational Head of the Salesians, Fr Ian Murdoch, was not responding to media interviews and hung up on a reporter from the ABC's PM program but issued a media statement denying the Order had placed priests overseas to shield them from police or victims. His statement says: "We have co-operated, and will certainly continue to co-operate, with any law enforcement agency... and to assist victims in every appropriate way." It also said the Salesians were "deeply sorry for the sexual misconduct of some of our members and for their violation of the young".
ABC Radio's PM program broadcast an interview with one of Fr Klemp's alleged victims. The Dallas Morning Post as well as their text reports from the hard copy edition of the paper has produced a sophisticated multi-media interactive web-based overview of their investigation.
Further unrelated report
In an unrelated report, the Los Angeles Times is carrying a story on a 375-page report by the controversial US priest who helped blow the whistle on the abuse scandals, Fr Thomas P. Doyle, and two former monks Richard Sipe and Patrick Wall.
They contend that "the church has recognized the problem of abuse by priests for at least 1,700 years and has failed to address it successfully".
Spokespeople for the Church in the US countered to the newspaper "that the three authors are allied with or paid by lawyers representing molestation plaintiffs", and charge that the report "is a ploy to strengthen their hand in court".
Financial scandal
The woes for the Church do not stop there. An Associated Press story originally published last Friday is beginning to be picked up by other media outlets concerning a financial scandal surrounding financier Martin Frankel in Connecticut.
The financier, who initially fled to Europe, came to Mississippi and pleaded guilty in 2002 in Mississippi to stealing $208 million in five states. Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale, who is pursuing the matter has filed a lawsuit, which is moving toward a jury trial in U.S. District Court in Jackson, in which he claims Vatican officials violated the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Dale alleges Damages, if he prevails, could be more than $600 million.
The news agency reports "A Vatican spokesman denies the Roman Catholic church profited from business dealings with Frankel or accepted funds he stole. The church has filed a motion to dismiss the suit for lack of jurisdiction, and a ruling is expected this summer."
SOURCES FULL STORIES: Dallas Morning News Convicted sexual abuser and fugitive works with kids under his religious order's wing http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/longterm/stories/062004dnproklep.275b904e1.html
Dallas Morning News Multi-media interactive presentation http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/spe/2004/runawaypriests/
The Age Pedophile priest stays out of reach http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/21/1087669915702.html
ABC Radio PM Priest with paedophilia conviction relocated to Samoa http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2004/s1136980.htm
ABC Radio PM Alleged sex abuse victim speaks out http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2004/s1137010.htm
LA Times Vatican Aware of Abuse for Centuries, Study Says http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-priests20jun20,1,3735853,print.story?coll=la-headlines-california
AP/Newsday Suing Vatican bank, insurance official charges racketeering http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ct--suingthevatican0619jun19,0,1639930,print.story?coll=ny-ap-regional- wire
LINK: Salesian Australian website http://www.donbosco.asn.au/auxilium/ [22 Jun 2004]
• Salesians Say Press Reports Are Off the Mark; Congregation Cites Dallas Morning News
Zenit, www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=55673 , Code: ZE04062101, June 21, 2004
ROME, (Zenit.org
"It all began with an investigation carried out by The Dallas Morning News," said a press statement issued today by the congregation.
The Salesian statement said that the newspaper asserted that religious involved in cases of sexual abuse of minors "are systematically moved from one country to another to remove them from judicial investigations."
"Insofar as the Salesian congregation is concerned, it is emphasized that this does not correspond to the truth," the statement affirmed. . . .
• Play Based On Cardinal Law's Depositions Comes To Manchester; Production Gets Emotional Reaction From Abuse Victims
The W MUR Channel, www.thewmurchannel.com/news/3444035/detail.html , POSTED: 5:22 p.m. EDT June 21, 2004
MANCHESTER, N.H. -- The curtain will go up in Manchester Monday night on a new show that deals with the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.
The play Sin draws its story from 1,000 pages of testimony from former Boston Archbishop Bernard Law. The dramatization of Law's depositions is at Manchester's Palace Theater for a one-night-only fund-raiser.
"People have heard so much about [the scandal], they're a little bit numb to it," domestic violence advocate Anne Coughlin said. "So this is a way to get into it little bit more."
The show started in Chicago, but it wasn't until it came to Boston that cast members learned how emotional the story was. "A survivor shook my hand and then broke down on my shoulder," said Jim Sherman, who plays Law in the production. "He had been abused by [the Rev. Paul] Shanley. So those things are tough."
Actor Patrick Rybarczyk said he is excited to perform here. He portrays current New Hampshire Bishop John McCormack. During Law's tenure, McCormack was responsible for transferring accused priests from parish to parish, according to court documents. "Before I deliver the line, there's this general 'mumble, mumble, mumble,' and I've even heard some hisses and boos," Rybarczyk said.
• New laws to catch paedophiles
The Daily Telegraph (Brisbane), http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1274&storyid=1512827 [Can't find 06 Jul 04]
• Diocese letter on bankruptcy read to churchgoers; Faithful respond to message with varied sentiments
FOX 11 AZ (Tucson), www.fox11az.com/news/local/stories/KMSB-20040621-cnnbp-bankruptcy.28362191e.html , By Sarah Garrecht Gassen / Arizona Daily Star, 10:45 AM MST on Monday, June 21, 2004
TUCSON (Arizona): A letter from the bishop telling parishioners that the Diocese of Tucson will likely file bankruptcy to deal with past, current and future claims of sexual abuse by priests was read from the pulpits of Catholic churches across the area Sunday.
At Most Holy Trinity Parish on the West Side, the letter from Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas was read at the end of the service. After the reading, Father Mike Kendall told the parish that his order, the Society of the Divine Savior, or Salvatorians, was the first order in the U.S. to declare bankruptcy 34 years ago, and now the diocese appeared ready to be the first in the nation to declare bankruptcy.
"I can tell you it was difficult. People were angry, ashamed, upset," he said. "But we got through it."
The bishop's letter stated the best way to deal with the financial ramifications of sexual abuse by priests - and to work to prevent it in the future - is to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
"Previous settlements have severely limited our ability to respond to the present demands," Kicanas said in the letter. Chapter 11 protection would allow the diocese to continue its parishes, schools and charities and operate as normal while it comes up with a plan to pay its debts related to molestation allegations and lawsuits.
• Catholic Bishops' Retreat Preview
Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week741/news.html
BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: Every few years, instead of their regular spring business meeting, the bishops plan these special assemblies to give themselves an extended time of prayer and reflection. This year, the gathering comes amid new questions about the bishops' long-term commitment to the policies they adopted to prevent sex abuse. Kim Lawton reports.
KIM LAWTON: It was supposed to be a time for the U.S. Bishops to pray and reflect about the spiritual challenges for the Church in the wake of the sex abuse crisis. Now, at their private session, they'll also be discussing some of the reforms they enacted to address that crisis.
Many lay activists and victims' rights groups are worried about a pullback. [Photo of BARBARA BLAINE]
BARBARA BLAINE (President, Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests): Our concern basically is that the bishops committed themselves to a new era of transparency and openness. And yet, what we see happening all across the country is constant backsliding, efforts to keep things hidden and secret.
LAWTON: It was at their spring meeting two years ago, amid charges of inaction and cover-ups, that the bishops adopted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. Among other reforms, the charter called for the establishment of a national lay review board and an annual public report on how the dioceses are implementing the reform policies. [Photo of conference sign]
The first audit was released earlier this year. It found that almost 90 percent of the dioceses were complying with the charter. But now, a number of bishops are urging that the next round of audits be delayed so the entire process can be reevaluated.
That idea has frustrated members of the National Review Board.
Justice ANNE BURKE (Interim Chair, National Review Board): I don't know how widespread that skepticism is among the bishops, but it causes us for some alarm, yes.
LAWTON: New York's Cardinal Edward Egan was one of the first to suggest the delay. In a February 2 letter, he said he and other New York bishops were "not in favor of extending these efforts until after the matter has been discussed by all of the bishops ... at their general meeting in November." Bishops from other dioceses agreed.
Justice Anne Burke and the National Review Board didn't find out about the objections until two months later. She fired off a letter telling the bishops she and the board felt "manipulated." [Photo of Justice ANNE BURKE]
Justice BURKE: We need to determine whether or not, on a national level, the dioceses are really putting in safe environment programs, whether they're still putting in lay review boards, whether they're ministering to the priest and to the victim who has been accused, and to reach out to victims in their time of need -- to make sure that's being done, and the only way to do that is through an audit process. [...]
Catholic Chuck Cabrera, who attends several churches in Tucson, read Kicanas' letter on the diocese Web site Sunday. The letter says all the right things and Cabrera said he doesn't doubt Kicanas' sincerity, but the idea of the diocese seeking bankruptcy protection could be seen as trying to discourage abuse victims from coming forward, seeking compensation or getting the help they need, Cabrera said. [...]
LAWTON: The review board and a committee of bishops agreed on a compromise proposal that will be brought up at this week's Colorado assembly. The bishops' conference declined to provide a spokesperson to talk about the proposal ... or any other parts of the agenda. The meeting itself will be closed to any media coverage.
At a news conference in late February, Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the bishops' conference, denied any backtracking. [Photo of Bishop WILTON GREGORY]
Bishop WILTON GREGORY (President, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): The charter says that we will issue an annual report. It's already in the charter. What needs to be determined is how we go about that. We have some recommendations. We need to consider those recommendations, but the bishops are not stepping back from what we committed ourselves to do in Dallas.
LAWTON: The level of lay frustration runs deep. Last week, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, sponsored a mock grand jury trial of how an archdiocese and its officials have handled the sex abuse crisis. Not surprisingly, the jury in this mock trial voted to indict the Church officials for illegal cover-up.
SNAP is urging the bishops to not only resume the audits but also make them stronger.
Ms. BLAINE: We have to remember that these audits were basically just measuring whether or not the bishops have policies in place. They're not measuring whether the policies are in fact effective or having any impact. [Photo of National Review Board]
LAWTON: There are also questions about the future of the 13-member National Review Board. Beginning at the end of this month, Justice Burke and three other members will be stepping down because of term limits they set themselves. But they plan to stay until their replacements are appointed. Burke says her time on the board has affected her deeply.
Justice BURKE: Well, the one thing I might have to go to confession on, so to speak, is I was a passive Catholic until this time. And I know now that every Catholic in the United States can no longer be a passive Catholic. We have to be involved in our church at every level. And my faith is far ... stronger now than it ever was.
LAWTON: She says the meeting in Colorado will be a critical juncture for the future of the American Church. I'm Kim Lawton reporting. [Photo of bishops]
ABERNETHY: One voice calling for the bishops to change certain parts of their sex abuse policies is that of Catholic theologian Cardinal Avery Dulles. In an article in the Jesuit magazine AMERICA, Dulles calls the bishops' policies "extreme" and urges that they be modified to give more weight to the due-process rights of accused priests. The bishops are scheduled to evaluate their entire sex abuse policy at their November meeting.
• Interview with judge voluntarily heading RCC sex-abuse audit team
Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, "INTERVIEW: Anne Burke," www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week741/interview1.html , Episode no. 741, June 11, 2004
UNITED STATES: Read more of correspondent Kim Lawton's interview with Anne Burke, interim head of the National Review Board, about the June 14-19, 2004 meeting of the U.S. Bishops: I'm going to be the interim chair until my replacement is appointed. And the three other members whose terms are up at the same time as mine, which is June 30 -- we will remain until our replacements are appointed.
I presume that Bishop [Wilton] Gregory will be appointing us or our replacements on June 30 or thereabouts. I think it's important that the terms be adhered to. I think it's important that there be a changeover of not only the executive committee, so to speak, of the National Review Board, but leadership and new people. We only have 13 members total right now, though we're down to 12 since Governor Keating left.
It's important for as many laypeople to be involved in this process as possible, so that's one of the other reasons for the terms of office and appointments -- that more people who are good lay Catholics in the Catholic Church can participate in this process. The people that have been on the board are professionals. Deference to the bishops wasn't something that ever really was on the table for any of us. We were asked to do a job, which was: follow the charter, commission the studies, do the audits, and set up a national office. It was very, very, very positive that we participated in that way.
We got our job done and almost had no interaction with the bishops whatsoever. [The bishops] are going to be presented with a proposal from Archbishop Flynn of Minneapolis, who chairs the ad hoc committee. Archbishop Flynn and his ad hoc committee and the National Review Board met; we discussed what the audits could be for a long-term process and what they should be in 2004, which would be the second audit of all the dioceses in the United States.
So they'll be presented with that proposal, in addition to an urging to permit the National Review Board to commission the study on the "causes and the contexts," and I'm hoping that they will vote on that after their discussion [so] that we can proceed and get on with our business. [...]
This is an important time in the Catholic Church. This is an important time in regard to what the Lay Review Board's report said. There are a number of recommendations that we suggested that could be very positive for the Catholic Church as a whole at this time. I think those kinds of things could be reflected upon, and I hope that they do. I know that they haven't had time really to digest, as a body of bishops, our report, and this could have been a good time for that.
When we were asked to be volunteers on this board, none of us knew the kind of time, the kind of stress, and the kind of work that was going to be required of us. On the one hand, it was fine because all of us are professionals, and we were able to gather, set our own plan, set our own time frame and how we were going to work as a body of people from all over the country.
It's been kind of a roller coaster. We have met physically almost twice a month for the last 23, 24 months; we have been on hundreds of conference calls, e-mails, and it's been a remarkable commitment of time and energy and stress, and I'm so pleased to have been on the board and also with my fellow colleagues on the board. They're remarkable people. [They] love the Church and came to the board with some expertise in every area -- not only law, but communications and health and education. It's just a wonderful group of people, and I'm glad we were able to be a part of this process and hope that we would be able to continue on. [...]
If there is a failing to go forward in June, I believe that a lot has been lost in that effort. And I think we have made a lot of strides in that process -- small steps: by going forward with the charter, by having a Lay Review Board, by having safe environment programs begin so there will be no more victims.
But on the other hand, if we fail to go further and complete what we said we'd do, it's a step back that is, I think, a tremendous step back. If there is no vote for Kathleen McChesney to go forward, for us to proceed, then why are we here? Why would the Office of Child and Youth Protection exist, and why would the Lay Review Board exist anymore? We would have no work. It would send a message to everybody that we didn't mean what we said. #
• Diocese Property Sales -- though bishop said had no land to sell
WWLP 22 News, www.wwlp.com/news2004/story.html?artID=54399 , May-26-2004 5:06 PM
SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS (WWLP) New information may be coming to light today that the Springfield Diocese netted a profit of millions in property sales and purchases.
This week Bishop Timothy McDonnell said the church has no land to sell. But victim abuse advocate, Warren Mason, says there's proof that the church could sell additional property to settle clergy sexual abuse claims. But the Diocese says most of the properties sold are parish-held and their sales benefited parish communities not the Diocese at large.
They also say the money can not be used to settle sex abuse claims. 22News checked with property assessors in East Longmeadow and Longmeadow. They confirm the properties are listed under the Springfield Diocese.
• Pedophile priest stays out of reach [1970s Klep]
The Age (Melbourne), www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/21/1087669915702.html , By Barney Zwartz, Religion Editor, June 22, 2004
MELBOURNE (Victoria) Australia: A Catholic priest and convicted pedophile left Australia after being charged but before his case came to court, a Victoria Police spokeswoman said yesterday.
Sergeant Creina O'Grady said police issued a warrant for Father Frank Klep's arrest after the Salesian priest moved to Samoa in 1998. He has yet to return.
She said the police recommended that Australian Federal Police contact the Samoan Government about Father Klep, 60, who is wanted on five charges of sexual assault.
Australian Federal Police spokeswoman Jane O'Brien said AFP records showed they did contact Samoan authorities, but she did not know what they did with the information.
The priest's order, the Salesians of Del Bosco, yesterday denied moving Father Klep to put him out of reach of Australian police. The Salesians, one of the church's largest orders, were founded to help young people.
The order released a statement yesterday replying to claims in a US newspaper.
The Dallas Morning News mounted an 18-month worldwide investigation into the Salesians. It reported that Father Klep had been moved to Moa Moa Theological College in Samoa to avoid charges, and that two other Salesian priests had been moved from Melbourne to Samoa and Fiji after child-abuse allegations.
Father Klep - former principal of the Salesian College in Sunbury, who later ran a youth centre in Brunswick - was convicted in 1994 of four charges of sexual assault. Those charges and the 1998 ones relate to incidents during the 1970s. ...
• Lawsuits May Send Catholic Diocese Into Bankruptcy
CNS News, www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=%5CNation%5Carchive%5C200406%5CNAT20040621b.html ; By John Gilliland, CNSNews.com Correspondent, June 21, 2004
TUCSON (Arizona) (CNSNews.com) - Unable to pay the victims of priestly sexual abuse, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Tucson, Ariz., says he must take the unprecedented step of declaring the diocese bankrupt.
Bishop Gerald Kicanas said that if attorneys for the alleged victims press for a large settlement, he has no other choice.
"Chapter 11 bankruptcy is the only way for the government to help us to continue our mission," Kicanas said by telephone from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Denver. "We made a multi-million-dollar settlement in some earlier cases because we thought that would be the end, but it was unfortunately only the beginning."
• Let's Play 'Hide The Priest' [Klep]
Story Hunters (news with attitude), www.storyhunters.com/godandcon/archives/001016.html , June 21, 2004
The Dallas News reports that between 100 to 200 Catholic priests accused of sex abuse have been shuffled from country to country, allowing them to start new lives in new locations- without warning the communities the priests are moved to about their histories.
The Chicago Tribune reports that hundreds of priests accused of sex abuse have been shuffled from country to country by the Church's infrastructure, allowing them to start new lives in new locations- without warning the communities the priests are moved to about their histories.
In one case, Rev. Frank Klep, a convicted child molester who has admitted abusing one boy and is wanted on more charges in Australia, was placed in Apia, Samoa, in the South Pacific. Australia has no extradition treaty with Samoa.
"I have found a good measure of contentment," Klep told the Morning News. "I would be quite happy to stay here."
Klep's victims in Australia have tried unsuccessfully for years to have him removed from the priesthood. A church panel that recently investigated one abuse complaint asked the Salesian order to consider suspending his ministry, but not even his admission in that case led to significant discipline. [and continues, similar to previous newsitems]
• Supreme Court allows lawsuit in Catholic priest abuse case [1970s 1985 Widera]
Azcentral, www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0621ScotusChurchAbuse21-ON.html , Associated Press, 09:05 AM, Jun. 21, 2004
WASHINGTON (DC) - The Supreme Court on Monday allowed a lawsuit to proceed that accuses the Archdiocese of Milwaukee of transferring a child molester from Wisconsin to work as a Roman Catholic priest in California.
The justices declined without comment to block a lawsuit involving allegations that the priest, Sigfried Widera, molested an 8-year-old California boy after his move.
Widera committed suicide in 2003, a year after Eric Paino sued him and the Milwaukee Archdiocese over the alleged 1985 sexual assault. Before his death, Widera fled the country to avoid trial on dozens of counts of child molestation in Wisconsin and California.
He had been convicted of perversion with a boy in Wisconsin in the 1970s before he moved to California.
Matthew Flynn, the attorney for the Milwaukee Archdiocese, said that California courts should not handle cases involving out-of-state religious institutions. The lawyer also said in court papers that Widera decided on his own to move to California to be near family, and that the archdiocese no longer had ties with him in 1985.
Paino's attorney, Katherine Freberg, said records show the leader of the Milwaukee Archdiocese arranged the job transfer after repeated complaints about Widera in Wisconsin.
A California court had said that the archdiocese knew Widera was a serious threat to boys in California churches and could be sued. The archdiocese appealed that decision to the Supreme Court.
The case is Archdiocese of Milwaukee v. Superior Court of California, 03-1444.
• Report: 'Papal successor' moved paedophile priest [Vasquez fled Costa Rica, NY, Connecticut, Honduras]
@Ireland Online, http://breaking.tcm.ie/2004/06/21/story153374.html , 08:55:11, 21/06/2004
DALLAS (Texas): A cardinal mentioned as a candidate to be the next Pope sent a fugitive priest accused of molesting an altar boy in Costa Rica to work in two remote parishes in Honduras, it was reported today.
The Dallas Morning News, which has conducted a year-long investigation of runaway Roman Catholic priests, said Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez put the Reverend Enrique Vasquez to work in the parishes from last year until March, when Vasquez fled the village of Guinope days ahead of police.
Rodriguez, head of the Honduran Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa, did not respond to written questions from the newspaper. The Reverend Juan Lopez, a top adviser to Rodriguez, told the newspaper the cardinal was too busy to be interviewed.
Vasquez had fled criminal accusations in Costa Rica in 1998 and served in dioceses in New York and Hartford, Connecticut, before fleeing again and spending time in a clergy treatment centre in Mexico, the newspaper reported. [and continues similar to previous items]
• Fugitive priest worked in remote Honduran parishes: Newspaper report [Vasquez]
The Boston Globe, www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2004/06/21/fugitive_priest_worked_in_ remote_honduran_parishes_newspaper_report ; June 21, 2004
DALLAS -- A fugitive priest accused of molesting an altar boy in Costa Rica was put to work in two remote parishes in Honduras by a Roman Catholic cardinal who has been mentioned as a candidate to succeed Pope John Paul II, The Dallas Morning News reported.
The newspaper, which has conducted a yearlong investigation of runaway Roman Catholic priests, said in its Monday editions that Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez put the Rev. Enrique Vasquez to work in the parishes from last year until March, when Vasquez fled the village of Guinope days ahead of police.
Rodriguez, head of the Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa, did not respond to written questions from the newspaper. The Rev. Juan Lopez, a top adviser to Rodriguez, told the newspaper the cardinal was too busy to be interviewed. [and continues similar to previous items]
• Tough times don't go away at Loyola; Interim chief leaves after fractious year [1986 Knoth]
Nola.com ; www.nola.com/news/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1087802983237790.xml , By Coleman Warner, Staff writer, Monday, June 21, 2004
UNITED STATES: The Rev. William Byron didn't flinch last fall when he was offered the arduous task of moving Loyola University beyond the instability that followed the forced resignation of the school's dynamic president on an old sexual abuse charge.
When the call came, Byron, then 76, was working as a research professor at Loyola College of Baltimore, busy writing a book on business ethics. But he had been president of two other colleges, and he was well acquainted with Loyola in New Orleans, having worked there as a dean during the 1970s and more recently as a member of its board.
"I just got two footlockers and threw some stuff in," Byron recalled recently as he prepared to leave the acting president's role June 24. "I'm a Jesuit. This is a Jesuit institution. I wanted to help the place."
Byron and other Loyola leaders looked to move briskly following the abrupt Oct. 7 departure of the Rev. Bernard Knoth, after his superiors found reason to believe that in 1986 Knoth sexually abused a student from a Jesuit high school he was then directing in Indianapolis. Within weeks, the uproar subsided and a rhythm was restored to campus life.
But the sense of calm didn't last, as Byron proved to be more than a caretaker for the 5,800-student university. He made tough calls. He spoke bluntly. He enforced moral standards. And the 2003-04 year proved to be one of the more controversial in recent memory at Loyola, apart from the Knoth scandal. Among the memorable episodes:
• Paedophile given two-year jail term -- Sunday school teacher, church warden [2001-02 Marshall]
Hounslow Guardian (Britain), www.hounslowguardian.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.501874.0.paedophile_given_ twoyear_jail_term.php ; By BCTreporter, bctrtt@london.newsquest.co.uk , 11:10am Monday 21st June 2004
BRITAIN: A convicted paedophile, from Bedfont, who has served as a scoutmaster, Sunday school teacher and church warden, has been jailed for two years, banned from working with children, for life, and ordered to remain on the Sex Offenders' Register indefinitely.
Jailed last year for two offences of indecent assault, and one of gross indecency with children, aged ten and under, Paul Marshall, 49, then living in Dennison Road, Feltham, was, unknown to police at the time, filming and photographing his abuse of the same children, and keeping the images on his computer.
When he was jailed, at Isleworth Crown Court, the judge asked police to investigate his computer equipment.
The result of that investigation brought him back before the court recently, where he admitted a further ten charges relating to three small children, whom he had befriended and groomed for the purpose, said Riel Karmy-Jones, prosecuting.
Marshall, a divorced man, who now lives with his mother, in West View, Bedfont, was charged with 16 other offences - three of indecently assaulting a boy, aged four, and girls aged seven and ten; gross indecency with the seven-year-old; five of taking indecent photographs of the sexual acts; five of possessing those photographs; one of possessing 44 other indecent photographs and one charge of inciting a child to indecently assault another - between November 2001 and November 2002.
He denied the final charge, and the five possession charges, though he admitted taking the photographs.
The children came from a disadvantaged family which Marshall targeted, on the pretext of helping them, said counsel. But, eventually, he was arrested, in November 2002, on suspicion of molesting the elder girl.
His counsel, John Alban-Williams, pointed out that, had the investigation been thorough in the first place, he would have had all the matters dealt with, in May last year.
He had worked hard in the community, and, until these matters came to light, was highly-regarded, he said.
Jailing him, Judge Richard McGregor-Johnson, said it was a gross breach of trust to abuse these children'.
He extended Marshall's licence for three years, which means that, after his release from prison, he will remain on licence for a further three years beyond the end of his sentence.
One of the officers on the Child Protection team, Det Con Gill Holland, said: "He has always put himself in a position of contact with children."
• Cardinal offered sanctuary to admitted molester; Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez could be the next pope. He also recently sheltered an admitted child molester. [Vásquez]
The Dallas Morning News, www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/062104dnprovasquez.202f8. html , By BRENDAN M. CASE and BROOKS EGERTON , Monday, June 21, 2004
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras A prominent candidate to succeed Pope John Paul II recently sheltered a priest who is an admitted child molester and now an international fugitive, The Dallas Morning News has learned.
Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez, who heads the Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa, put the Rev. Enrique Vásquez to work in two remote parishes from last year until March. The priest had fled criminal accusations in his native Costa Rica in 1998, then served in at least two U.S. dioceses before running again and spending time at a clergy treatment center in Mexico.
Father Vásquez helped found a training center for Catholic lay people in the Honduran town of El Paraíso and served as the resident priest in the village of Guinope. He vanished from Guinope days ahead of police after child-protection activists in Costa Rica pressured their government to revive a languishing criminal case.
Tegucigalpa church officials "realized they had a problem, and they got rid of him," said Interpol Lt. Julián Rivera. The international police organization said it is continuing to search for the 44-year-old priest at the request of the Costa Rican government, but it has not questioned Cardinal Rodríguez.
• A father's passing; Outspoken priest gave voice to liberal views -- one of the 58 sack-Law signers, and opponent of anti-Judaism
The Boston Globe, www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/06/21/a_fathers_passing , By Michael Paulson, June 21, 2004
SHARON -- The Rev. Robert W. Bullock, a leader among Boston-area Catholic priests and an unusually outspoken critic of the church's handling of the sexual abuse crisis, died Saturday at home from metastatic cancer. He was 75.
The president of the Boston Priests Forum, an organization he helped found, Father Bullock was willing to speak directly and publicly about failings of the archdiocese in handling clergy sexual abuse, and he also criticized priests, including himself, for failing to spot and stop the abuse.
In 2002, he joined 57 other local priests in calling for Cardinal Bernard F. Law to resign. More recently, he had become increasingly critical of the archdiocese for what he saw as a lack of due process and a slow pace in the handling of contested abuse allegations against about two dozen priests who have been in limbo for two years or more.
"He loved the church, and he loved it enough to be critical of it," said Robert O'Shea, 74, of Cambridge, a high school classmate who remained one of Bullock's closest friends. "He didn't like going against his cardinal one bit, but he did it because he felt it was necessary, and he showed not only good judgment but great courage."
Father Bullock, who had served on the presbyteral council during Law's tenure, had been a leading liberal voice in the archdiocese for decades, starting with his job overseeing campus ministry during the late 1960s and the early 1970s. For years, he was the Catholic representative on a local interfaith radio talk show, Talking Religion on WRKO.
Until the abuse crisis exploded in 2002, Father Bullock was best known as a leading voice in Catholic-Jewish relations and an authority on Christian anti-Semitism.
He was a leading supporter and onetime board chairman of Facing History and Ourselves, an educational organization with a focus on the Holocaust; he had served as Catholic chaplain at Brandeis University from 1969 to 1978; and since 1978, he was pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Sharon, a largely Jewish town. Father Bullock traveled to Israel at least 14 times and wrote a chapter in a book of essays about the impact of the Holocaust on Christian worship. ...
• Editorial: Clergy sex-abuse probe must run full course
Delco Times, www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=12031203&BRD=1675&PAG=461&dept_id=18168&rfi=6 , June 21, 2004
PHILADELPHIA: More than two years ago, Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham convened a grand jury to investigate clerical sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It came on the heels of a national scandal triggered by hundreds of claims of clerical sexual abuse in Boston under the watch of Cardinal Bernard Law. He eventually resigned because of it.
At the time, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who was Archbishop of Philadelphia, acknowledged that credible allegations of sexual abuse existed against 35 archdiocesan priests or former priests since 1950. The number increased to 44 by the end of 2003, according to Cardinal Justin Rigali, who succeeded Bevilacqua last October.
In early 2002, Bevilacqua assembled an interdenominational lay review board, the Commission on the Protection of Children and Clerical Conduct, headed by attorney Helen M. Alvare, a former Radnor resident. It made recommendations to the cardinal regarding the handling and prevention of clerical sexual abuse.
Since then, archdiocesan officials have also complied with the Charter for Protection of Children and Young People adopted by the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops in June 2002, and implemented comprehensive policies to deal with past victims of abuse and prevention of further abuse. [...]
"Any sort of 'deal' that allows the archdiocese to escape responsibility would continue to leave children at risk and send the message that the church is above the law," maintained Salveson.
Indeed, it is a difficult situation. Because this ugly secret that has been harbored by the church for decades has now been aired, many alleged victims of clerical sexual abuse are emerging. The problem is, for several, it is 20, 30, 40 years after they were allegedly abused, well past Pennsylvania's statute of limitations for such crimes.
Their only recourse for satisfaction is in civil court.
In the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Jan. 30, five men, including three brothers, filed three lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia alleging church hierarchy did not protect them when they were teenagers from priests who were known sexual predators.
One of the alleged abusers was a former religion teacher at Cardinal O'Hara High School in Marple who is no longer in active ministry.
Since then several more lawsuits have surfaced including one from an Upper Darby man who claimed archdiocesan officials failed to protect him in the late '60s from a priest who, up until May, was still the active pastor at a Bucks County church.
The lawsuits have now expanded to alleged victims of a former nun who taught at a Catholic elementary school in Springfield and who has been criminally charged with child abuse in Virginia, which does not have the same statute of limitations as Pennsylvania. . . .
• Child abuse arrests hit Aussie church [1952- 2000] -- Anglicans and others
IOL, www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=qw1087794181917B223 , By Michael Perry, Sydney, June 21 2004 at 07:03AM
AUSTRALIA: The Anglican Church in Australia has been engulfed in a child sex abuse scandal with nine people, including two former ministers, arrested or ordered to appear in court on sexual abuse offences, police said on Monday.
Police made arrests across Australia between Thursday and Sunday after investigating 200 claims of sex abuses against children by former members of the Anglican Church in the state of South Australia.
"As a result of those investigations the paedophile taskforce has arrested or reported nine men," said police, giving details of charges of child sexual abuse between 1952 and 2000.
'I'm sure there will be more': The first to face court was a 59-year-old former Anglican minister who appeared briefly in a court in the South Australian city of Adelaide on Monday. The man, who cannot be named, faced four charges of indecent assault and one of buggery allegedly committed against a 12-year-old victim between 1970 and 1975. The man did not enter a plea and will reappear in court in September. [and so on]
• Father Raymond Messier financially doing fine now. [1970s-80s Messier]
Worcester Voice, http://worcestervoice.com/060104.htm , June 21, 2004
WORCESTER, USA: Father Raymond Messier, removed from his parish assignments by the Diocese of Worcester and subject to civil suits alleging sexual abuse of minors, filed for bankruptcy on November 15, 2002 with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Worcester.
In the bankruptcy proceedings, Father Messier stated he owns $700 in firearms, a 1997 Chevrolet Astro Van worth $5,500, a boat and motor, clothing, household items and a chalice worth about $100. Father Messier also listed a mortgage on his waterfront Charlton home at more than $57,000.
Within two years of bankruptcy on January 15, 2004, Father Messier was able to obtain a $86,000 mortgage
The plaintiffs in the suit, using the names Doe, Coe and Roe
No one was more surprised to hear that Father Messier had been serving in Athol than the mother of one of the victims participating in the civil suit. She has said that she met with then Bishop Timothy Harrington after she found out that Father Messier allegedly sexual abused her son at his Charlton home. The bishop promised her in presence of the boys counselor that Father Messier would never be near children again. [...]
In conclusion, a total of $956,018 - almost one million dollars - of money donated by Catholics was spent on self-preservation, good living and hiding sins and criminal liability. Does this seem like Christian compassion and dedication to Jesus Christ that is preached each weekend from the pulpits?
So sadly, when looked at in a knowledgeable light, the faithful have been misled and deceived. We encourage Worcester Catholics to begin asking questions because it is their money.
Let us not ever forget the struggles of our fellow Worcester parishioners in the attempted closing of St. Joseph's in Worcester, where on June 23 of 1993 Worcester police escorted 49 parishioners from the church on civil contempt of court charges. Will your parish be next? The time to start asking questions - and receiving answers - is now. #
• Some abuse victims say diocese's possible bankruptcy is intimidation ploy; A local network of survivors react to the Tucson diocese possible bankruptcy filing.
KVOA 4 (Tucson), http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=1954607 , Elizabeth Vall Reports, June 20, 2004
TUCSON: Members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests handed out leaflets outside St. Augustine Cathedral Sunday. They informed parishioners Bishop Kikanis may be threatening victims with possible bankruptcy so they feel guilty and accept unjust settlements.
Members say 25 other dioceses have threatened bankruptcy when facing lawsuits. None have ever actually filed. The Tucson diocese says this is no threat, but something they may have to do to meet the needs of the diocese and the victims.
Diocese of Tucson spokesperson Fred Allison says, "If you were to combine all the demands of the lawsuits, and the present debt that the diocese has, there is no way the diocese could meet all of those demands." [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:10 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Mon June 21, 2004
Religions' sex abuse Chronology, visit: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont85.htm
• New laws to catch paedophiles.
News Ltd., www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0%2C4057%2C9912681%255E1702%2C00.html , By Tim Clarke, AAP, June 21, 2004
PERTH (Western Australia): Paedophiles using internet chatrooms to groom West Australian youngsters for sexual abuse could be targeted by an online covert police squad.
WA Premier Geoff Gallop today outlined the new police powers, which would allow the Online Covert Unit to pose as children, particularly in chat rooms, to intercept paedophiles.
The changes to the state legislation also will make it an offence for anyone to surf the internet searching for vulnerable children with the intent of grooming or courting them for abuse.
The new legislation was given preliminary approval by the state's cabinet today and could be on the statute books as early as September if passed by both houses.
Superintendent Alan McCagh of the WA Police Major Crime Unit said paedophiles using chatrooms to search for their victims was [were] a problem locally, nationally and internationally. [Jun 21, 04]
ANCHOR LIST (After reading an article, use Browser's "Back" button to return to Anchor List)
* Convicted = Convicted sexual abuser and fugitive works with kids under his religious order's wing, -- Salesians [1970s Klep, 1970s-80s Fox, 1960s Ayers] ; The Dallas Morning News (Texas, USA), By Reese Dunklin, datelined APIA, Samoa, Monday, June 21, 2004
or click Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse for current on-line
The Boston Globe Spotlight http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse
References at: www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethicscontents.htm
Overview at: www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/minilist.htm
Books: www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/carnalbooks.htm
Buy Fidelity magazine www.j23.com.au Australia
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