Clergy Child Molesters (91) — References/Chronology

• Quincy canon lawyer tackles defrock duty -- Roman Catholic Church.

   Boston Herald, http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=38066 , By Eric Convey, Sunday, August 1, 2004
   QUINCY (MA): The popular pastor of St. Ann's parish in Quincy is headed to Rome to take part in one of the Roman Catholic Church's most delicate tasks.
   Monsignor Robert P. Deeley, a canon lawyer, is being loaned to the Vatican agency that will handle the defrocking of priests. Deeley's specific job at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith over the next year will be helping to work through a backlog of cases involving allegations of clergy sexual abuse.
   "I've been asked to do a task by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Archbishop O'Malley and I'm doing it," Deeley said.
   Asked if he considered the assignment a weighty one, Deeley said: "When asked to do something in the service of the church, it's always important."
   He said he was leaving a "wonderful" assignment at St. Ann's.
   Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley noted his decision to send Deeley to the Vatican in an interview in this week's edition of the archdiocese's newspaper, The Pilot. (This is the first of the Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse , for Sunday, August 01, 2004. )

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< < Back ^ ^ VOICES Irish Survivors VOTF REFERENCES 46 81 Overview Outreach Books "Fathers" Secrecy Religion Submit v v Next > >

INTENTION: A challenge to RELIGIONS to PROTECT CHILDREN
Series starts: www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethicscontents.htm Visit http://www.ncrnews.org/abuse

Sources JavaScript Kit and www.aftinet.org.au/campaigns/signonconfirm.html

   INCOMPLETE LINKS: Refer back to "References 61" for methods of obtaining the URLs. • Inspired by a priest's plea: 'I'm in trouble' -- RCC
   Portland Press Herald, http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/audience/stories/040801booksq&a.shtml , By RAY ROUTHIER, Sunday, August 1, 2004
   MAINE: Peter Mars got a call one day from a Catholic priest in Boston. The priest asked Mars to meet with him, saying, "I'm in trouble."
   The priest and Mars had worked together on the Maine Irish Children's Program, which brought Catholic and Protestant children from Northern Ireland to Maine for summer vacation. The priest had been a chaplain with the Boston Police.
   The priest was in a Boston pub, drunk, when Mars met him. He told Mars about his affair with a married woman, and about the woman's tragic death.
   The priest knew Mars had written books based on real events, and he wanted Mars to write his story, as a form of penance and as a warning to other priests.
   So Mars wrote the book "The Chaplain" (Commonwealth Publishing, $19.95), which came out in June. The book tells the story in great detail, but Mars said he has changed all the names. He calls the priest "Father Mike."
   Mars, 61, worked in law enforcement for 34 years, including jobs with the Metro Police in Massachusetts and the Kennebec County Sheriff's Department in Maine. He's written eight books, including three other "true crime" books. He lives in North Monmouth.
   Q: What did Father Mike tell you when you met him in that pub?
   A: I went up to him and he was drunk and I said to myself, "Gee whiz this has got to be bad." So I said, "Mike, one question, does this have anything to do with kids."
   He said "Kids? Oh no, no, nothing to do with kids."
   Then he told me how he had an affair with a married woman, about 18 years his junior. Mike was savvy to a lot of things, but for a guy in his 40s (at the time of the affair) he was not very savvy to affairs of the heart.
   The woman was being brutally beaten by her husband, so Mike started out counseling her. The husband, who had been arrested several times, started suspecting something. So he started stalking his wife.
   He (the husband) ended up killing her. This just about killed Mike.
   Q: Why did Father Mike want you to write this?
   A: Two reasons. He was so destroyed by it, he thought God was getting back at him for breaking his vows. So this was a form of penance. Second, he wanted to warn other priests not to do this. But he didn't want to embarrass anybody, the senior priests he served, the people he worked with, the people who came to him with their problems.
   Q: What sort of reaction have you gotten from people who read the book?
   A: Almost everyone who has read the book has loved it. More people say they understand where he's coming from, how naive he was. But there's an attorney in Augusta, who reads all my books. He hated it. He said he hated what the priest did to the church. ... ( Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at: rrouthier@pressherald.com ) [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 09:45 AM]
• Polygamists defend lifestyle: Commune and town of Creston co-exist in a delicate economic balance -- Polygamy sect.

   Calgary Sun, www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/CalgarySun/News/2004/08/01/565065.html , By MIKE D'AMOUR, Sun, August 1, 2004
   CRESTON, B.C, Canada -- Winston K. Blackmore has 26 wives. Or 27, 29 or even more depending on who's telling the story. The 47-year-old polygamist himself would only allow he had "less than 20," a number sneered at as low by those who claim inside knowledge of Blackmore's affairs.
   "Having more than one wife is totally normal," argued Blackmore, who reckons he has between "30 and 40" brothers and sisters through different relationships his dad had with wives, or "sister-wives," as they call each other.
   "I'm a product of this religion and this is my lifestyle."
   Until recently, Blackmore -- self-proclaimed Bishop of Bountiful, a community of about 1,000 just south of Creston, B.C. -- was near omnipotent.
   The man, rumoured to have at least 30 wives and more than 100 kids, was chief executive officer of all Bountiful's business interests and trustee of 320 hectares of property. He controlled all the cash and most aspects of the lives of his Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) followers, which is not connected to the mainstream Mormon Church. [...]
   ... the recent announcement by B.C. General Attorney Geoff Plant that a special law-enforcement task force has been appointed to look into charges of sexual exploitation, child abuse and forced marriages of young women to men who are sometimes three times their age. [...]
   Ruth Palmer is one of several wives of a Bountiful man and said the recent allegations are unfounded.
   "I know of no mistreated children in Bountiful," the 42-year-old Creston garden centre owner told the Sun.
   Palmer said members of her community are liked and well-respected by those in Creston. "We love who we are and we're not involved in sick orgies," she said.
   Wild sex is just one of the misconceptions about the polygamist lifestyle, added Marlene Palmer. "The thought that we women are subservient is also a myth," she said.
• Order must talk on abuse: author -- RCC. Salesians.

   The Age (Melbourne), www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/01/1091298576363.html , By Martin Daly, August 2, 2004
   AUSTRALIA: Author and lateral thinker Michael Hewitt-Gleeson yesterday took the first step in a campaign to force the Catholic order of Salesian priests and brothers to speak out about the brutalisation of generations of students at the notorious college, Rupertswood, in Sunbury, by launching a stinging attack on the ethics of the order.
   Dr Hewitt-Gleeson, who founded the School of Thinking with Professor Edward de Bono and wrote the bestseller Software for the Brain, has written to the Catholic Primate of Australia, Cardinal George Pell, and the Papal ambassador, the Apostolic Nuncio, detailing alleged abuse by Catholic priests and brothers and a brutal assault on him when he was eight years old.
   He was left, he says, with "corrugated welts on my bottom, which were wet with the blood that began oozing from the bruises and broken skin".
   "Assault ran rife at Rupertswood. Not many people know that Ronald Ryan, the last man hanged in Victoria, was also a victim of Rupertswood," he said in a public statement yesterday. One Salesian priest was recently defrocked by the Pope at the request of the order's Australian leader, Father Ian Murdoch, for sex abuse against students at Rupertswood, outside Melbourne, while others have been convicted of sex crimes at various Salesian institutions, notably Rupertswood.
• Troubling reality of child sex abuse comes to light: Parents can learn as result of recent allegations -- teachers, coach, pastor.

   Coloradoan, www.coloradoan.com/news/stories/20040801/news/956600.html , By COURTNEY LINGLE, CourtneyLingle@coloradoan.com , Sunday, August 1, 2004
   COLORADO: A number of high-profile cases in Larimer County is dredging up an issue that tends to lie dormant because of its taboo status. And as the courts scrutinize the behavior of those who have been charged with sex crimes against children, local authorities say the publicity is helping shed light on a problem that's more common than most people want to admit.
   In the past nine months, the cases that have made headlines include accusations against a local junior high school teacher, a Loveland substitute elementary school teacher, a former Fort Collins youth coach and a former Fort Collins pastor. All are accused of sexually assaulting children and using their position to gain access to their victims.
   "People do not want to hear about bad things that happen to kids," said Fort Collins police Detective Ginger Mohs, who works in the Crimes Against Persons unit. "It's not pleasant, but we have a responsibility as a community to pay attention to what's happening to kids and help them." [...]
   A former Fort Collins charter school board member last week pleaded guilty to one felony count of distribution and one misdemeanor count of possession of sexually exploitative material involving a child. In exchange for his guilty plea, four felony and four misdemeanor counts of sexual exploitation were dropped. The charges were brought after police found 2,500 images of child pornography on his home computer in April.
• Troubles dogging polygamy prophet [Jeffs] -- Polygamy sect.
   The Arizona Republic, www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0801polygamy-analysis.html , Joseph A. Reaves, Aug. 1, 2004
   HILDALE, Utah -The surveillance cameras around his walled compound are gone. But everywhere the prophet looks these days, he sees trouble.
   From southern Canada to northern Arizona and western Texas, authorities and activists are intensifying their investigations into the inner workings of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its self-proclaimed prophet, Warren Jeffs.
   In the past few days:
* Jeffs was accused in a lawsuit of sodomizing his then-5-year-old nephew and covering up serial child molestations by fellow church leaders for decades. In a statement Friday, he denied the allegation.
* Texas authorities cited FLDS officials for 29 environmental violations at a compound the church is building on a remote ranch in the western part of the state.
* The attorney general of British Columbia organized a task force to look into allegations of sexual exploitation, child abuse and forced marriages at an FLDS community near the Canadian-U.S. border.
* Dozens of young men and boys who were chased out of the FLDS so older men could have a better pick of young brides have taken the unprecedented step of going public with their stories and appealing for help.
* Rumors have circulated that one of Jeffs' dozens of wives may have run away into protective custody.
   Amid the whirlwind of events, Jeffs seems to have disappeared and his carefully crafted world appears to be teetering.
   The prophet was never one to mingle with the masses. He doesn't give interviews and always travels with a phalanx of bodyguards.
   Several months ago, Jeffs took his privacy to a new level, erecting an 8-foot cinderblock wall around his home along West Utah Street and mounting surveillance cameras atop the ramparts.
   Those cameras were gone last week and the compound was quiet.
   "We think he's down in Texas and he took the cameras with him for his new place," said Sam Brower, a private investigator who has been monitoring Jeffs and the FLDS for five years.
   No one knows for sure, but circumstantial evidence indicates Jeffs may, indeed, be living on a 1,691-acre ranch near the tiny town of Eldorado in west Texas. ...
• Details From Secret Priest Files Disclosed: L.A. Archdiocese had resisted turning over the material on clerics accused of sex abuse -- RCC. > 500 complainants.
   Los Angeles Times, www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-priests1aug01,1,4585293.story?coll=la-headlines-california ; By Jean Guccione, August 1, 2004
   LOS ANGELES (CA): Lawyers for Cardinal Roger M. Mahony are now providing plaintiffs' attorneys information about confidential church personnel files on priests accused of sexual misconduct.
   Those files have been sought in court for more than a year by both prosecutors and the lawyers who have sued the Los Angeles Archdiocese on behalf of more than 500 victims claiming abuse by priests.
   Mahony's lawyers argued that the documents were protected by the 1st Amendment right of religious freedom and numerous laws, including those covering communications between lawyers and their clients, psychotherapists and their patients, and penitents and their confessors.
   Attorney Jeffrey Anderson of St. Paul, Minn., said the prolonged legal fights over disclosure of the files are typical. Courts in at least 13 states have ordered documents contained in secret priest files to be disclosed, he said. The court in just one state, Wisconsin, has ruled for the church.
   To avoid what they contend would be confidentiality breaches, Mahony's lawyers have agreed after months of mediation to compile summaries of documents contained in more than 100 confidential priest files being sought in the civil cases.
   Advocates for victims say the internal church documents - like those disclosed in Boston and other U.S. dioceses - could provide new insights into how Mahony and other high-ranking church officials responded to complaints from parents, parishioners and others that priests were sexually abusing minors. Some plaintiffs have said they will refuse to resolve their claims until they see the confidential files on their abusers.
   Confidential files played an important role in the outcome of a 1998 trial involving a former Stockton priest who Mahony supervised when he was bishop there, according to plaintiffs' lawyers. They introduced evidence from the priest's confidential file - a 1976 letter of apology by the priest to the family of an 11-year-old girl he admitted molesting. The jury awarded $30 million to two brothers who said they were molested by the same priest, Father Oliver Francis O'Grady, years after the letter was written. Mahony testified that he was unaware of the letter, which was written four years before he became bishop of Stockton.
   The Catholic Church has acknowledged that it sometimes compiles two separate sets of files: one standard personnel file and another once known as "sub secreto," which can contain the sensitive information.
   Irvine attorney Katherine K. Freberg has viewed 15 secret files as part of lawsuits. She said they provide a more complete picture of the accused priests than separate personnel files that church officials are more likely to disclose.
   "When you look at the personnel file, you would think the priest was on his way to becoming the next bishop," Freberg said. "Then when you finally get the secret archive file … it shows multiple allegations against the priest, psychological reports diagnosing the priest as a pedophile and sham investigations by the diocese."
   Disclosure of such files is "crucial for understanding the persistent dangerous decision-making patterns of the hierarchy," said David Clohessy, executive director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests [SNAP]. "If there is nothing in those files, show us for heaven's sake, and that would go a long way to restoring trust in the leadership" of the church.
   Mahoney's spokesman, Tod Tamberg, said the fight over releasing the documents is "about principle."
   In some cases, Tamberg said, the files will show that the archdiocese acted responsibly by referring accused priests to treatment or removing them from ministry.
   "The accused is presumed guilty regardless of the tenuousness of the accusation and the burden of proving innocence is shifted to the accused," he said.
   By contrast, Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown has handed over all the documents in any file, except for psychotherapy reports.
   So far, Mahony has resisted handing over confidential priest personnel files to criminal prosecutors. Retired Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Thomas Nuss is expected to rule soon on whether prosecutors are entitled to the files.
   In the civil cases, Mahony's lawyers are voluntarily providing a judge with summaries of documents in the confidential files, including information about when church officials learned of alleged abuses and how they responded. After he has reviewed the summaries, the judge has been turning them over to lawyers for the plaintiffs.
   None of the new information has been made public.
   Patrick J. Schiltz, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas who once defended churches in molestation cases, voiced concern for the way some plaintiffs' lawyers have tried to make the mere existence of secret church files "sound dark and sinister … [involving] some dark cabal of evil cardinals."
   But plaintiffs' lawyers cite internal church documents showing that bishops were under orders from the Vatican until 2001 to require those involved in the investigations, including the accuser and witnesses, to take vows of secrecy. There was a threat of excommunication from the Catholic Church for those who even revealed that the papal order existed, according to Richard Sipe, a former Benedictine monk and national expert on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church who acts as a consultant to plaintiffs' attorneys.
   Freberg said she was unaware that there was a second, secret archive file until she was told by a lawyer for the diocese of Orange in 1998 that she would never see the one they kept on Msgr. Michael A. Harris, who was accused of molesting 12 high school boys.
   She began a legal fight to open the files for litigation. Eventually plaintiffs' lawyers got the file, which included a confidential 12-page psychological evaluation diagnosing Harris with same-sex paraphilia and ephebophilia - a sexual attraction to adolescent boys - and sexual deviance.
   Harris, the former principal at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, has denied the allegations. He left the priesthood as part of a 2001 settlement with one of his accusers. The dioceses of Los Angeles and Orange also paid $5.2 million to the victim. # [Emphasis added]
   [COMMENT: The claim that the secrecy order was valid "until 2001" is probably incorrect, in spite of a Vatican statement to that effect on August 7, 2003. US canon law experts were seeking guidance on the 1962 secrecy document, the Instructio Crimen sollicitationis, in Rome with Vatican experts on February 7 2002. Also, it is quoted on the Vatican website in Epistula Graviora Delicta of May 18, 2001 as still being operational. The latter document is still included on a list of Disciplinary Documents at http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/doc_dis_index.htm (accessed 02 August 2004). COMMENT ENDS.]
• Oregon archdiocese takes a page from corporate playbook -- RCC.
   Chicago Tribune, www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0408010031aug01,1,5052842.story?coll=chi-business-hed ; By Susan Chandler, Tribune staff reporter. Freelance reporter Dan Cook contributed to this report from Portland; Published August 1, 2004
   PORTLAND (OR): The Roman Catholic Church in Portland, Ore., has more in common these days with corporate giants such as Dow Corning Corp. and Texaco Inc. than it does with its Methodist or Baptist neighbors.
   When the Portland archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in early July, it was trying to protect itself from hundreds of millions of dollars in damages sought by people who claim they were sexually abused by priests. It's the same strategy often used by corporations faced with legal judgments they can't afford to--or don't think they should have to--pay.
   "It's not unheard of for a religious institution to seek refuge in bankruptcy court, but this is still highly unusual," said James Sprayregen, one of the nation's top bankruptcy lawyers. "This case is going to be watched very closely."
   Anytime an institution gambles on Chapter 11 to solve its problems, the outcome is far from certain. Occasionally, management loses control of the firm, and sometimes the firm can't be saved. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 09:23 AM]
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont91.htm
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sun August 01, 2004
• 'Text from God' cleric jailed for death tryst. [2004 Fossmo] -- ? Pentecostal (or Lutheran?). Women, Man.

   The Sunday Times (Perth, W. Australia), by Simon Johnson, p 36, August 1, 2004
   STOCKHOLM: A Lutheran pastor who faked telephone text messages from God to get his nanny lover to murder his wife and attempt to kill his neighbour has been jailed for life.
   The case has fascinated Sweden with its intoxicating mix of sex, death and the workings of an obscure religious sect.
   The court found Helge Fossmo, a Pentecostal minister in the town of Knutby, north of Stockholm, guilty of inciting Sara Svensson, his children's 27-year-old nanny, to kill his second wife and his neighbour, Daniel Linde.
   Fossmo was having an affair with the nanny and Linde's wife.
   The nanny admitted to the January murder of Alexandra Fossmo and to shooting Linde, who survived the attack. The same court has ordered her to be sent to a psychiatric institution.
   "Helge Fossmo ruthlessly made use of Sara Svensson's love for him and her dependency on him as a religious leader," read the verdict of the court.
   The trial painted a picture of a bizarre religious community, in which life was controlled by a woman known as "Christ's Bride" after she became engaged to Jesus in a ceremony.
   The community's ministers also exercised a controlling influence in the lives of their flock. In Fossmo's case that included using the latest technology to get his nanny to commit murder. Miss Svensson testified she received anonymous text messages, which she believed to be from God, urging her to kill.
   A technology company traced erased messages on her phone to Fossmo, who admitted sending them but said they were intended only to guide the nanny in her faith.
   Miss Svensson also said the pastor told her that killing his wife and neighbour was the only way she could please God. [Aug 1, 04]
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont91.htm
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Mon August 02, 2004 edition follows:-
• Focus Of Catholic Sexual Abuse Suits Now Includes Nuns [Lammers, Sisters of Charity of Nazareth] -- RCC.

   WAVE, www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=2121577&nav=0RZFPRNf , The Associated Press, 4 p.m., August 2nd, 2004
   LOUISVILLE (KY): The Roman Catholic sexual abuse crisis has focused primarily on molestation by priests, but in Louisville, more than 20 people are now suing an order of nuns that staffed an orphanage decades ago.
   While most experts agree the incidence of abuse by nuns has been much less frequent than with male clergy, the phenomenon has been gaining some attention recently.
   The initial lawsuit against the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth was brought by seven plaintiffs July 15, just over a year after 243 people reached a $25.7 million settlement with the Archdiocese of Louisville over abuse claims.
   Herman J. Lammers, a longtime Catholic Charities director who was accused by two of those plaintiffs, was the resident chaplain at St. Thomas-St. Vincent Orphanage, which the sisters ran from 1952 until it closed in 1983. Lammers died in 1986.
   The recent complaints have been filed mostly by women who say Lammers raped or molested them. But there are also allegations against more than 10 nuns.
   "As women, they should want to protect children," said 30-year-old Landa Mauriello-Vernono of Hamden, Conn., who has a pending lawsuit against a nun and the Catholic school she attended.
   She's also leading a national awareness campaign for the Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests [SNAP]. The campaign included a demonstration in Maryland earlier this month asking the Leadership Conference of Women Religious to allow victims to speak at its national gathering in August.
   "What we're really doing is reaching out to the victims and educating parents and grandparents that not all women are safe," Mauriello-Vernon said. "But I think our country will have a pretty hard time hearing that."
   A Boston lawsuit filed in May included allegations by nine people who said they were abused by more than a dozen nuns at a Catholic school for the deaf.
   Jeff Anderson, a Minnesota attorney, said he has represented more than 1,000 people over 22 years in cases involving priests or religious men, but has only handled about a half-dozen involving nuns.
   "That tells you something," Anderson said. "The whole phenomenon of nuns abusing is somewhat recent."
   Anderson said many nuns who abused minors were exploited by male clergy themselves.
   "Abuse in religious orders is a grave problem because they don't have geographic boundaries and can move abusers from parish to parish, state to state and country to country," he said. "It's a serious problem yet to be realized and appreciated."
   The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, for example, is a 192-year-old order of 650 nuns that provides education, health care and social services in the United States and India, Belize, Nepal and Botswana. Spokeswoman Barbara Qualls said the community has had as many as 1,600 nuns.
   The order and its attorney have denied that they have any evidence of abuse or a cover-up at the orphanage, which was owned by the archdiocese through Catholic Charities, or at three schools mentioned in the suits. The archdiocese recently told the order it had heard from some of the accusers.
   "We are very grieved at the memories of any individual of this nature. We want to cooperate in any way we can," Qualls said. "We are also grieved at the memory of our own deceased sisters, who are indeed innocent until proven guilty."
   The order's sexual abuse policy, approved in February 2003, requires an accused nun to be removed from her ministry while a full investigation is conducted. Only one sister named in the lawsuits, Mary Jane Rhodes, is living and still part of the community.
   William McMurry, who orchestrated the settlement with the archdiocese, said the alleged abuse at the orphanage is far worse than priests who preyed on young parishioners.
   "When I reflect on the 243 victims in the archdiocese case, the horrors that occurred here are far more frightening because those children had a home to at least retreat to, but instead these were captives living a child's nightmare," McMurry said.
   McMurry said the orphanage could hold up to 450 children at one time, meaning the number of people suing the nuns could be high. The initial plaintiffs were five biological sisters who were reunited this spring after a half-century and realized they shared similar abuse.
   On the Net: * Sisters of Charity of Nazareth: http://www.scnazarethky.org * William F. McMurry & Associates: http://www.courtroomlaw.com * Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests: http://www.survivorsnetwork.org [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 05:23 PM]
• Bond Delayed in Deacon's Death [Harper, Reynolds] -- Baptist. Love triangle.
   WXIA, www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=49979 , The Associated Press, 11:34:07 AM, Aug/2/2004
   ROME, Ga., USA (AP) -- No immediate reason was given for canceling the bond hearing Monday for an assistant pastor accused of killing a deacon at his own church.
   Richard Scott Harper, 33, was expected to appear in court at 1:30 p.m. in Floyd County Superior Court in Rome, Ga.
   Police say Harper stabbed 36-year-old Thad John Glenn Reynolds to death in July because Harper was romantically involved with Reynolds' wife. Both Harper and 34-year-old Michelle Sullins Reynolds are charged in his death.
   Reynolds, who was the district manager at a Frito-Lay distribution center, was found dead outside the plant. Reynolds had been a deacon and a marriage counselor at Hollywood Baptist Church, and police say he and Harper were close friends. Michelle Sullins Reynolds remains in jail.
• Bond hearing for pastor accused of murder postponed [2004 Harper, Reynolds] -- Baptist. Love triangle.

   AcessNorthGa.com www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=42892 , The Associated Press
  ROME, Ga. The bond hearing for a pastor accused of murdering a deacon has been postponed.
   Thad John Glenn Reynolds, a longtime member of Hollywood Baptist Church, was found stabbed to death last month inside the Frito-Lay distribution center where he worked. Police arrested Richard Scott Harper, a pastor at the church, and Reynolds' wife, Michelle Sullins Reynolds, in his death.
   Authorities believe Reynolds was involved in a love triangle turned deadly. They say that Harper allegedly stabbed Reynolds 19 times, an attack they believe the deacon's wife helped plan via phone calls and computer messages. Both were charged with murder.
• God is probably NOT telling you to kill people via text message -- Lutheran. Two mistresses.

Engadget ; www.engadget.com/entry/5214445011154290 , Posted 8:59 AM ET Aug 2, 2004, by Peter Rojas
SWEDEN: So a Swedish pastor from some fringe Lutheran sect was just sentenced to life in prison for using anonymous text messages that he said were from God to convince his nanny/lover to murder his wife and attempt to kill the husband of his other mistress. Police determined that the text messages were in fact not divinely sourced, tracing them back to the pastor rather easily. Dude, we'd heard Sweden was crazy! (Webpage invites comments)
• Bankruptcy seen as dioceses' shelter -- RCC. 25 more complainants.

   The Oregonian, www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/front_page/ 1091447770312870.xml , By JEFF KOSSEFF and JIM BARNETT, Monday, August 02, 2004
   TUCSON, Ariz. -- On the same day Portland's archdiocese announced its bankruptcy, Tucson Bishop Gerald Kicanas sent a weekly memo to his congregation that strongly hinted at a filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
   "When a dangerous storm is approaching, you should seek shelter," Kicanas wrote, not knowing that his longtime friend Portland Archbishop John Vlazny was headed to bankruptcy court. "In its own way, Chapter 11 reorganization represents an option for shelter for our diocese."
   By taking the drastic step of declaring bankruptcy July 6, Vlazny forever changed how dioceses conduct the business of religion. As dioceses pay settlements for decades of child abuse by priests, bankruptcy is now an option.
   While up to a dozen U.S. dioceses have been considered bankruptcy candidates, Tucson's diocese is widely considered the most likely to follow in Portland's footsteps. Kicanas is expected to announce whether the diocese will file before a sex-abuse trial begins in September.
   Tucson's approach to bankruptcy preparation has been more public than Portland's. Kicanas had turned the deliberations into a public dialogue.
   "Portland's bankruptcy provided almost a sense of relief, because we know we're headed in that direction," said Monsignor Robert Fuller of the St. Frances Cabrini parish in Tucson. "Nobody wants to be the first to go bankrupt. Portland doing it, in a sense, makes it easier for us." [...]
   The diocese has settled some sex abuse allegations for millions of dollars.
   To pay its legal bills and the victims while avoiding a trip across the street to bankruptcy court, the diocese sold the building for $1.65 million to a Catholic foundation, to which the diocese now pays rent.
   The diocese also sold property for a new Catholic high school, bringing in $3 million. But the diocese, as of mid-July, still faced 15 suits from 25 plaintiffs.
   The diocese says bankruptcy protection could allow it to equitably distribute payments to all victims instead of paying on a first-come, first-serve basis. . . .
• Police Promise More Stings to End Lewd Behavior at Public Park [2004 Werth] -- RCC. Males. Park lavatories might be unsafe.
   WGRZ, www.wgrz.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=22114 , Posted by Aaron Saykin, Reporter, Created: July/30/2004 5:22:37 PM, Updated: July/30/2004 7:29:53 PM
   TONAWANDA (NY): A day after the public first learned of the latest arrest of Father Charles Werth, parents like Williamsville's Colleen Buonocore seem unfazed.
   She continues to take her children to play at Ellicott Creek Park in the Town of Tonawanda, where Werth was found exposing himself to other men in a public bathroom.
   "You can stay home and not go out because these things might possibly happen," Buonocore said. "I don't think you can live life that way."
   Police agree, saying the arrest of Werth and three other men during an undercover sting is a sign that they're doing their job.
   They insist the park is safe because men like Werth are not looking for children, only other men; however, they are issuing a warning to all parents.
   "Don't let young children go into any bathroom anywhere by themselves, especially the younger ones because you don't know what you're going to walk into," said Lieutenant James Szabo of the Town of Tonawanda Police Department. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 08:23 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Mon August 02, 2004
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont91.htm
• Failures by top management in dealing with sinful priests. -- RCC.

   America (USA Catholic newspaper), "Of Many Things," www.americamagazine.org/ gettext.cfm?textID=3680&article TypeID=23&issueID=492 , By Thomas J. Reese, Vol. 191 No. 3, August 2, 2004
   UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Everyone recognizes that the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church was not caused only by the sinful failures of individual priests; it was also caused by the failure of a number of bishops to deal appropriately with these priests.
   There were not just personal failures; there were also personnel policy failures. In any other institution, the failures of these bishops in dealing with the crisis would be described as failures in management.
   Seminaries ...
   To see the full text, you must subscribe to America in the print or Web-only version. Editorials & book reviews are open to all. [Found on Internet 01 Aug 04]
• Sex abuse bankruptcy sad, unbelievable? Uncertain future. -- RCC.
   America, "An Uncertain Path," www.americamagazine.org/gettext.cfm?textID=3684 &articleTypeID=1&issueID=492 , by Fred J. Naffziger, Vol. 191 No. 3, August 2, 2004
   UNITED STATES: Sad? Unbelievable? Outrageous? Whatever one thinks about the recent bankruptcy filing by the Archdiocese of Portland, Ore., it is certainly unprecedented. And it is taking the Catholic Church down an uncertain and uncharted legal path.
   Portland's Archbishop John Vlazny has sought the protection of the federal bankruptcy system from the diocese's creditors, including victims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy, while he attempts to ...
   To see the full text, you must subscribe to America in the print or Web-only version. Editorials & book reviews are open to all. [Found on Internet 01 Aug 04]
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont91.htm
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Tue August 03, 2004 edition follows:-
• Judge: Lawsuits against diocese can proceed -- RCC.

   Tribune-Review, www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/pmupdate/s_206408.html , Tuesday, August 3, 2004
   PITTSBURGH (PA): An Allegheny County judge today allowed a series of sex abuse lawsuits to proceed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.
   Common Pleas Judge R. Stanton Wettick Jr. denied the church's request to dismiss on the grounds that reported abuse happened years or even decades ago.
   Lawyers for more than a dozen purported victims are arguing the state's two-year statute of limitations on filing lawsuits over abuse does not protect church leaders from claims they shielded predator priests and helped them gain access to children.
   Church lawyers had argued that the victims had a legal duty to determine years ago if church officials were complicit in the abuse. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 04:45 PM]
• Man claims Springfield Diocese covered up clergy abuse [1976-77, 1977-78 Dupre] -- RCC.
   Telegram & Gazette, www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040803/APN/408030755 , The Associated Press, Tuesday, August 3, 2004
   SPRINGFIELD, Mass.- A man saying he was molested by two priests as a teen has filed a civil suit against the Springfield Diocese claiming that church leaders destroyed personnel files and tried to cover up clergy sex abuse.
   The man filed his lawsuit a week ago in Hampden Superior Court, under the pseudonym John Doe. In it, he claims he overheard retired Springfield Bishop Thomas Dupre, then a priest, say at a rectory meeting in 1977 or 1978 that "priest files previously maintained by Bishop Weldon had been destroyed."
   Bishop Christopher J. Weldon retired as head of the Roman Catholic diocese in 1977 and died in 1982.
   The man says he was abused for two years, starting in 1976, in the Bondsville section of Palmer, by two priests who have since died. He claims the abuse began when he was 15 and continued until he was 17.
   The man, now 43, told The Republican in Springfield that he was serving refreshments to the priests gathered at the rectory when he overhead Dupre.
• Former Local Teacher Pleads Guilty To Sex Abuse [1970s-80s Maggard] -- Baptist. 7 boys.
   TheLouisvilleChannel.com ; www.thelouisvillechannel.com/news/3610125/detail.html , August 3, 2004
   LOUISVILLE (KY): A former teacher pleaded guilty to sexually abusing seven boys in the 1970s and early 1980s.
   The deal calls for Bill Maggard Jr., 57, to spend up to 10 years in prison, WLKY NewsChannel 32 reported Tuesday.
   He could have served 20 years if convicted of the 10 felony counts of indecent or immoral practices with another, and two counts of first-degree sexual abuse.
   Maggard taught for 13 years in Jefferson County Public Schools, and later worked at a school operated by Highview Baptist Church.
• Former youth pastor pleads guilty in sex abuse case [Craig] -- Baptist. Boy.
   Azcentral.com , www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0803PastorPlea03-ON.html , Associated Press, 07:05 AM Aug. 3, 2004
   SIERRA VISTA (AZ): A former youth pastor has pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual abuse of children under the age of 15, authorities said.
   Eric K. Craig was arrested on Nov. 2, 2003, by Sierra Vista police and initially charged in a case involving a 12-year-old boy.
   As the investigation evolved, he was indicted on eight felony charges. Authorities said five of the charges may be dropped under a plea agreement.
   Craig, 42, pleaded guilty Monday to continued sexual abuse of a child under 14, a count of attempted molestation of another child, and a third count of sexual abuse.
   Craig, who formerly worked at First Baptist Church in Sierra Vista, has been held on $250,000 bond at the Cochise County Jail in Bisbee since his arrest.
   He could face more than 50 years in prison when he's sentenced Aug. 30. #
• Evansville priest relieved of duties over Internet use [2004 Traylor] -- RCC.
   Times, www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2004/08/03/roundups/roundups/e48aaf49c3fbe fba86256ee 5005b07cc.txt ; Tuesday, August 3, 2004
   EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) -- A Roman Catholic priest has been relieved of his duties at two Evansville churches and sent to counseling over his viewing of some Internet sites.
   The Rev. William A. Traylor, 54, left a letter to be read to parishioners at St. Joseph and St. Theresa parishes last weekend explaining that he was seeking treatment.
   The letter said he had been viewing "inappropriate" Web sites but did not specify the nature of those sites, the Evansville Courier & Press reported in a story Tuesday. Traylor's letter said officials of the Evansville diocese had urged him to undergo an evaluation -- after which he could return to service.
   Church officials declined to release the text of the letter to the newspaper, saying it was a communication between Traylor and his parishioners. The newspaper reported Traylor had been viewing pornographic Web sites, but gave no specifics.
   Diocesan Chancellor Judy Neff declined to discuss details of the removal of Traylor, who had served St. Joseph and St. Theresa since 2001.
• Three Plaintiffs Join Lawsuit Against Order Of Nuns [1930s + Sisters of Charity of Nazareth] -- RCC.
   WAVE, www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=2127753&nav=0RZFPURO , 5 p.m., August 3rd, 2004
   LOUISVILLE (KY): The latest claims against the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth allege sexual abuse happened at a now-defunct orphanage as early as the 1930s.
   Gladys Cambron, at 72 the oldest person to sue, said she was molested by two nuns and a priest starting at age 6.
   Cambron was among three people added Tuesday to a lawsuit filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court against the sisters. It brings the number of plaintiffs to 24.
   Cambron said she lived at St. Vincent Orphanage in Louisville, which was owned and operated by the sisters, from 1938 until 1943. At that time, her maternal grandparents took custody of her and her older sister and raised them.
• Confessions of a Married Clergyman -- RCC.
   TCRnews.com ; http://www.tcrnews2.com/Fournier2.html , By Deacon Keith A. Fournier, (c) Third Millennium, LLC
   UNITED STATES: I recently returned from two events that gave me great hope for the future of the clergy. First, I had the privilege of visiting a seminarians retreat. There, I met forty wonderful men, in love with Jesus Christ and His Church, clearly called to the celibate life and ready to give themselves to the Lord and His people. Later, I spoke to over a hundred permanent deacons, their wives, their priest director and their wonderful Bishop.
   These men are serving sacrificially as an order of clergy in the midst of the world, committed to the "new evangelization" proclaimed by the Pope. I left both experiences with a deeper conviction than I already had (which was quite deep!) that the "gates of hell will not prevail" against our beloved Church.
   Like every person who has heard or been in any way affected by the "sexual scandal" and resulting crisis facing the Catholic Church, I am still outraged, deeply hurt, concerned and moved to both prayer and action. I have prayed my heart out, appeared as a guest on Television programs, attempted to explain this horror to my children, tried in any way I can to support the victims, promote proper prosecution of the offenders and help provide insight to other Christians and people of good will who have been shocked by this grievous scandal.
   Because I love the Catholic Church, I have proposed, along with many others, that this is a time of purification that sets a course, a way of response, paved by justice, truth, penance and authentic conversion, if she responds in a manner that is faithful to the gospel she proclaims. This way has been forged by the Lord who "hears the cry of the poor" - the abused and the faithful who deserve a Church that can be trusted. He is the One who will guide us all through this time of testing, travail and eventual triumph.
   I believe that we have begun the path down that road and I am deeply grateful once again for the leadership of a giant in the Chair of Peter, John Paul II. Because I believe that the Church is a gift, a communion that has been given from above, I know that it is intended to be a home for the whole human race. It is not the possession of anyone but its Divine Founder.
   The Church is also, as her servant/leaders said so well at the Second Vatican Council, "an expert in humanity." I believe in faith that the Church will rise to the occasion and do what is right because the promise of her Leader and Savior that "the gates of hell will not prevail" can be trusted.
   [COMMENT: Well, the Chair of Peter seems to have a blind spot as far as child sex abuse goes, judging by its failure to even have a trial of a man who allegedly seduced seminarians, and its promotion of Cardinal Law to a Rome sinecure. COMMENT ENDS.]
• Portland archdiocese lists $10 million in assets -- RCC.
   Catholic World News, www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=31225 , Aug. 02, 2004
   PORTLAND (OR) (CWNews.com) - The Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, has filed papers with a bankruptcy court listing $10 million in assets. Creditors of the archdiocese-- including lawyers for sex-abuse victims-- will try to persuade the court that the archdiocese actually controls assets of up to $500 million.
   The Portland archdiocese, which opened a new chapter in Church history by filing for bankruptcy on July 6, has presented the court with a 230-page document, listing all of its assets, to be weighed against creditors' claims. The court filing includes the bank accounts of the archdiocese, and an estimated cash value of material assets-- although sacred objects are not included in the accounting.
   The main point of contention in the bankruptcy case, however, will be the ownership of property held by the parishes of the Portland archdiocese. Real-estate records in Oregon show the value of parish properties at over $400 million. Creditors argue that these properties must be included as assets of the archdiocese, since the Portland archdiocese holds legal title to them. But the archdiocese counters by saying that under canon law, these properties belong to the parishes, and the archdiocese merely holds them in trust.
• Suit: Dupre said files destroyed [1977=78, 1980s] -- RCC.
   The Republican, www.masslive.com/springfield/republican/index.ssf?/base/news- 7/1091521193271443.xml , By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com , Tuesday, August 03, 2004
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): The Most Rev. Thomas L. Dupre said personnel records of priests were destroyed upon the retirement of former Bishop Christopher J. Weldon, according to a clergy sexual abuse suit filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield.
   Dupre was chancellor when he discussed the files in 1977 or 1978 at a deanery meeting of diocesan priests at St. Bartholomew's rectory in Bondsville, according to the suit filed last week in Hampden Superior Court by John Doe, a pseudonym used to protect the plaintiff's identity.
   Dupre resigned as bishop of the Springfield Diocese in February amid allegations that he abused two minors more than 20 years ago.
   Hampden County District Attorney William M. Bennett's office is interested in information contained in the suit, according to Assistant District Attorney James C. Orenstein. "This is someone we will want to talk with," Orenstein said.
   A grand jury has been considering charges against Dupre since March when Bennett determined there was "just cause." Possible charges range from sexual abuse to failure to report abuse to the proper authorities.
   Diocesan lawyers retrieved a copy of the suit in court yesterday and presented it to Bennett's office, according to Mark E. Dupont, spokesman for the diocese.
• Lee County Pastor's Wife Reportedly Killed [2004] -- Crying Out Loud Ministries.

   WRAL, www.wral.com/news/3607776/detail.html , UPDATED: 8:05 pm EDT, August 2, 2004
   RALEIGH, N.C. -- Investigators in three counties reportedly are looking into the death of a pastor's wife. The pastor reportedly is among those being questioned by officers.
   Sources told WRAL the victim's name is Marnita Bynum, a substitute teacher and the wife of Lee County pastor Melvin Bynum. WRAL also was told that police are questioning Melvin Bynum.
   Bynum, pastor of Crying Out Loud Ministries in Sanford, is among several people being questioned. Moore County deputies said they consensually searched the Bynum home near Pine Bluff.
   The victim's body was found north of Hamlet in Richmond County around 2:30 a.m. According to the sheriff's office, she was found in the trunk of a car that is believed to be hers.
• Judge orders embattled pastor locked out of Vegas church [Hunter] -- Baptist. Sexual and financial accusations.
   KESQ News 3, www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=2122665, KLAS-TV, Associated Press
   LAS VEGAS (NV): A judge ordered a Las Vegas pastor locked out of his church today after the congregation turned to the courts for help.
   The congregation at Greater Saint James Baptist Church says it wanted Pastor Gary Hunter out -- and voted 96-to-21 to get rid of him.
   But he refused to leave -- while denying allegations of sexual misconduct and looting the church treasury.
   Hunter remains defiant despite Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Tony Abbatangelo's order today.
   The judge says his action has NO effect on whether Hunter remains the pastor of the congregation.
   But he says church leaders CAN change the locks and ban Hunter from the property.
• Pastor Ordered to Leave Church Property [Hunter] -- Baptist. Stealing and sexual harassment claims.
   KLAS, www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2122958&nav=168XPSDg , by Chris Saldaña, Aug. 2, 2004
   NEVADA: A valley pastor has been ordered to leave church property. His congregation voted on his removal over accusations he's been stealing money from the church, and claims of sexual harassment.
   Pastor Gary Hunter has been preaching at the church for the last three and half years. Monday, an impromptu service took place after the congregation heard the judges ruling -- and praise and worship erupted inside the Greater Saint James Baptist Church.
   Church members say the pastor took their place of worship away. Church member Irene Parker said, "I built this church. I've been at this church for forty years and since Hunter has been there, I have not been able to go to my church."
   Irene Parker is one of many who left the church. "The man is not a spiritual man, and he don't care what he says in church. He calls people names," she continued, a reason why his own congregation voted to oust him from the pulpit.
• Ex-priest faces court [1984 Hawkins] -- Anglican.

   The Courier-Mail, www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936, 10331315%255E1702,00.html , 03 Aug 04
   AUSTRALIA: A former Anglican priest accused of indecent assault today faced a Tasmanian court.
   Garth Stephen Hawkins, 59, appeared briefly today in Hobart Magistrates Court, charged with one count of indecent assault.
   It is alleged the offence occurred at Triabunna, on the state's east coast, in January 1984.
   Mr Hawkins had no legal representation and did not enter a plea. [Duplicated below]
• Give us our place in the church, Reformed women demand in Accra -- Clergy sex abuse makes it unsafe. Women.

   Worldwide Faith News, http://www.wfn.org/2004/08/msg00007.html , by Noel Bruyns, Ecumenical News International, From PCUSA NEWS, pcusa.news@ecunet.org , Mon, 2 Aug 2004
   ACCRA, Ghana - The church is not a safe place for women because of continued sexual abuse by clergy, a gathering of Protestant women at the 24th General Council of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) has cautioned.
   This was a "particularly painful" observation, said about 300 women from Presbyterian, Reformed, Congregational and United churches from around the world, attending a WARC women's pre-council meeting on July 27-28, in a statement released on July 31.
   "A threat to the fullness of life is patriarchal power that is another means of domination and exploitation," said the women, referring to the council theme "That all may have life in fullness" (John 10:10), in their statement distributed to the 400 member church delegates and 600 other participants attending the General Council in the Ghanaian capital.
   "The concern over violence against women as a threat to life came repeatedly to our consciousness. What remains particularly painful is that the church is not a safe place for women - stories of clergy sexual abuse continue to go unchallenged," they said.
   They called on churches to recognize the right of women to "healthy and affirmative relationships" both within the family and the wider community and noted that that the church was still unable to address the root causes of HIV/AIDS, especially its links to poverty, unequal power relations between men and women, and issues of human sexuality. [Emphasis added]
• Ex-priest's sex-abuse trial delayed [2003 Salazar] -- RCC. Female.

   Amarillo Globe News, www.amarillonet.com/stories/080304/new_sexabuse.shtml , By JIM McBRIDE, jim.mcbride@amarillo.com , Tuesday, August 3, 2004
   DALLAS (TX): A judge Monday delayed the sex-abuse trial of a former Tulia priest after the prosecution filed an amended indictment in the case.
   Dallas court records also show prosecutors have received unspecified information that former Tulia priest John Salazar allegedly committed other acts of sexual misconduct against victims in Swisher County.
   Salazar, 48, is accused of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old former parishioner while the victim was unconscious and physically unable to resist, according to Dallas County court records.
   The alleged victim was intoxicated when she was assaulted last year in an Irving hotel room after a wedding, police and church officials said earlier. Salazar's attorney has denied the charge.
   The newly amended indictment alleges Salazar, a clergyman, caused the alleged victim to submit or participate by exploiting the victim's dependence on Salazar's professional character as a spiritual adviser.
• Former teacher pleads guilty to sexual abuse of 7 boys in 1970s, '80s [1970s-80s Maggard] -- Baptist. Boys.

   The Courier-Journal, www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/08/03ky/B8-maggard08030-3109.html , By Jason Riley, jriley@courier-journal.com
   LOUISVILLE (KY): Bill Maggard Jr., a former educator at public and religious schools in the Louisville area, pleaded guilty yesterday to sexually abusing seven boys in the 1970s and early 1980s.
   His plea spared him the possibility of a 20-year prison sentence if convicted at trial.
   The plea agreement calls for Maggard, 57, to spend up to 10 years in prison. He will be sentenced Sept. 30.
   Maggard agreed to plead guilty in Jefferson Circuit Court to 10 felony counts of indecent or immoral practices with another, and to two charges of first-degree sexual abuse.
   He was indicted earlier this year on charges of molesting six boys in the early to mid-1970s and one boy in the early 1980s.
   For one victim, Henry Vaughn, the possibility of up to 10 years in prison is not long enough for his fifth-grade teacher at Schaffner Elementary School. But avoiding a painful trial was for the best, Vaughn said yesterday. [...]
   Maggard taught 13 years in Jefferson County Public Schools and later worked at a school operated by Highview Baptist Church, where he also volunteered in Sunday school and choir programs.
   The church has said that no one has reported any allegations of abuse. Maggard resigned from his Sunday school position and the choir last year, church officials said.
   The molestation occurred at Schaffner Elementary and in Maggard's home, according to court records. Maggard taught from 1969 to 1975 at Schaffner and from 1975 to 1982 at Williams Middle School. ... [Emphasis added]
• Priest relieved of duties [2004 Traylor] -- RCC. Viewing Internet porn.
   Courier & Press, www.courierpress.com/ecp/news/article/0,1626,ECP_734_3083109,00.html , By PHILIP ELLIOTT, 461-0783 or elliottp@courierpress.com , August 3, 2004
   EVANSVILLE (IN): The Diocese of Evansville temporarily has relieved a priest of his duties and sent him to counseling after he allegedly was caught viewing pornographic material.
   The Rev. William A. Traylor left a letter to be read to parishioners at St. Joseph and St. Theresa last weekend explaining he was seeking treatment.
   It said he had been viewing "inappropriate" Web sites and that the diocese had urged him to undergo an evaluation - after which he could return to service.
   Diocesan officials refused to release the text of the letter, saying it was a communication between Traylor, 54, and his parishioners.
   "I believe the letter was written by Father Traylor and it was his communication to his parishes and that is it," said Paul Leingang, the Evansville diocese's director of communications.
   Diocesan Chancellor Judy Neff said it is a personnel matter and would not discuss details of the removal of the priest, who had served St. Joseph and St. Theresa since 2001. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 01:17 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Tue August 03, 2004
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont91.htm
• Former Anglican minister faces court . [1984 Hawkins] -- Anglican.

   Courier Mail, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, "Ex-priest faces court," www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,10331315%255E1702,00.html , August 03, 2004
   HOBART, Tasmania, Australia: A former Anglican priest accused of indecent assault today faced a Tasmanian court.
   Garth Stephen Hawkins, 59, appeared briefly today in Hobart Magistrates Court, charged with one count of indecent assault.
   It is alleged the offence occurred at Triabunna, on the state's east coast, in January 1984. Mr Hawkins had no legal representation and did not enter a plea.
   Magistrate Peter Dixon remanded Mr Hawkins in custody to face the same court on September 2. [Aug 3, 04]
• Tennis coach in jail over teenage student. [1980s Hopper] -- Uniting Church. Girl.
   The Age, Melbourne, http://theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/02/1091432113506.html , By Chee Chee Leung, August 3, 2004
   MELBOURNE, Victoria, Australia: Gavin Hopper, who once coached tennis stars Mark Philippoussis and Monica Seles, was behind bars last night after a jury found him guilty of starting a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old schoolgirl.
   The jury of eight women and four men deliberated for about seven hours over two days before convicting Hopper, 48, on three counts of indecent assault and six counts of gross indecency while the girl was under his care, supervision or authority as a physical education teacher at Wesley College.
   The maximum penalty for indecent assault is five years' jail, and the maximum for the gross indecency charges is three years. Hopper was found not guilty of two counts of gross indecency.
   The County Court heard that Hopper - who runs a tennis academy on the Gold Coast with former champion Pat Cash - started the affair with the teenager in 1985. [...]
   The woman, now 33, told the court she had a four-year sexual relationship with Hopper that included sex at their homes, his school office and his parked car.
   The married teacher told the girl he loved her and promised to leave his wife and move to Queensland with her after she finished school.
   In 1988, while Hopper was the fitness adviser for Fitzroy Football Club, he instructed the girl to go out with player Richard Osborne to avoid arousing suspicion. ... [Emphasis added] [Aug 3, 04]
• Wesley College buys sex victim's silence. [1980s Hopper] -- Uniting Church. Girl.
   The Age, "College buys sex victim's silence," http://theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/03/1091476453935.html , AAP, August 3, 2004
   MELBOURNE: Melbourne's exclusive Wesley College today said it had made a confidential agreement with another former student, separate to the under-age sex conviction of disgraced tennis coach Gavin Hopper.
   While Wesley College principal Helen Drennen was light on details, she revealed that the institution had reached a "confidential agreement" with a former student in 1988.
   Wesley College reportedly paid the student more than $100,000 a year after she left the school, when she took legal action against Hopper and the college over under-age sex claims. But Dr Drennen would not confirm this.
   "All I can confirm is that a confidential agreement was reached, the details of which I can't disclose," Dr Drennen told Melbourne radio ABC.
   "I would like to stress the matter was agreed confidentially to protect the interests and welfare of the student at the time."
   The revelation comes after Hopper, 48, of Hope Island in Queensland was yesterday found guilty of three counts of indecent assault and six of gross indecency stemming from a relationship with a student in the mid-1980s.
   Hopper, who has trained stars including Mark Philippoussis, Monica Seles, and Wally Masur, had pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied having a sexual relationship with the woman.
   The woman, now 33, was a student at Wesley College, where Hopper was a maths and physical education teacher when the affair began. The relationship continued until 1988.
   Former students have alleged Hopper had a string of affairs with schoolgirls while he was a physical education teacher at the exclusive school. [...]
   His lawyer David Galbally, QC, yesterday said he would appeal the conviction. # [Aug 3, 04]
• No appeal for paedophile sentence. -- No religion link reported. Female.
   The Age, http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/03/1091476481753.html , AAP, August 3, 2004
   MELBOURNE: The Victorian Director of Public Prosecutions will not appeal against a judge's decision to allow a convicted paedophile to avoid prison time.
   The 27-year-old man, who was convicted on three child sex charges and cannot be named, was given a suspended sentence with 200 hours of community service and told to get counselling.
   In a statement today, the Director of Public Prosecutions said "there are insufficient prospects of a successful appeal against sentence to justify bringing an appeal".
   The man was reportedly arrested after his victim's mother wore a wire to record his confession.
   The victim's aunt said her sister was deeply disappointed with the sentence.
   "She now feels she's done all this for nothing," she said.
   "He's got off. He basically walked away. My sister can never trust another person and you would never know how much my niece will be affected." [Aug 3, 04]
• Sex fiend may get $1 million. [Cisinski] -- No religious link reported -- Germany, Poland and Israel don't assist Australia. Girl.

   The West Australian, Perth, W. Australia, by Sean Cowan, p 9, Tuesday, August 3, 2004
   PERTH: A German-born convicted sex offender could be paid more than $1 million in compensation for the time he spent in detention while officials tried to have him deported.
   In May, The West Australian revealed the Federal Government had been trying to deport Kaschimier Cisinski, 52, who is not an Australian citizen, for seven years but had been unable to find a home for him in Germany, Poland or Israel.
   He had become eligible for parole release on an 11 1/2 year jail sentence passed in 1997 for a range of sex crimes against a young WA girl. Authorities held him in custody awaiting deportation until late 2002 when a Federal Court Judge ordered he be freed pending a hearing of his application to quash the deportation order. On his release, Cisinski moved to Elleker, a small town near Albany.
   Now, he wants the Federal Government to pay him damages for unlawful detention dating from March 2002 -- when Polish authorities finally rejected efforts to send him there -- until his release nine months later.
   Given a Federal Court ruling in March that Brian Gerald James Goldie was entitled to $15,000 for spending three days wrongfully imprisoned at Perth's Airport Detention Centre, Cisinski's nine months in detention could be worth more than $1.3 million. [...]
   Cisinski, who has denied molesting the WA girl, admitted previous criminal convictions for "sexual violation" and robbery in Germany. He fled to Australia in 1982, before he could be jailed.
   He is considered stateless because he was born to a Polish father who was living in Germany after World War II. He married an Australian in 1982 and was refused citizenship in 1984, but in 1989 he was granted permanent residency. #
   [COMMENT: Why was he granted permanent residency? Can no-one sue the officials or boards or the minister who does these insane actions? The colonists strongly opposed and stopped "transportation" of criminals in the 1800s, one thought. Surely it is obvious that Germany ought to take him for trial, and at the end of his sentence deport him to Poland. COMMENT ENDS.] [Aug 3, 04]
• Coach guilty of schoolgirl affair. [1985 Hopper] -- Uniting Church. Girl.

   The West Australian, p 15, Tuesday, August 3, 2004
   MELBOURNE, Victoria, Australia: Tennis coach Gavin Hopper was behind bars in Melbourne last night after a jury found him guilty of starting a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old schoolgirl.
   The jury of eight women and four men deliberated for seven hours before convicting Hopper, 48, of three counts of indecent assault and six counts of gross indecency while the girl was under his care. He was found not guilty of two counts of gross indecency.
   The County Court was told that Hopper started the affair in 1985 while he was a physical education teacher at Wesley College.
   Hopper denied all charges and said the relationship between himself and the girl was nothing more than a teacher-student relationship.
   Judge Graeme Crossley remanded Hopper in custody and adjourned the hearing until a day to be fixed. # [Aug 3, 04]
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont91.htm
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Wed August 04, 2004 edition follows:-
• SPRINGFIELD, MA: State releases more than 2,000 pages from altar boy murder investigation -- RCC. Boy.

   The Herald News, www.heraldnews.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1710&dept_id=99697 &newsid=12616360&PAG=461&rfi=9 ; By TRUDY TYNAN, Associated Press Writer, Aug/04/2004
   SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) -- Danny Croteau and his friends thought the parish priest was "cool." He drove a convertible and let them thumb through at the Playboy magazines he kept under the driver's seat. And he always made sure there was enough leftover Communion wine for them to share.
   But Croteau's friends also told police investigating Danny's murder that the priest had his dark side and could become violent when crossed.
   Their statements were among more than 2,000 pages of investigative and court records released Wednesday in the unsolved 1972 murder of the 13-year-old altar boy.
   The state's highest court last week ordered the records made public, saying that after more than 30 years there was no longer a good reason to keep the documents under seal. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 10:59 PM]
• Lawyer-preacher held in molestation case [2004 Bautista] -- "Central Misionario Casa de Oracion." Girls.
   San Francisco Chronicle, , By Maria Alicia Gaura, Wednesday, August 4, 2004
   SAN JOSE (CA): A San Jose immigration lawyer who also preached at a small area church has been arrested on suspicion of molesting two teenage girls who attended church services.
   Mario Antonio Bautista, 43, was booked into Santa Clara County's main jail Saturday on two felony counts of sexual assault and one misdemeanor count of child annoyance. He was released after posting $150,000 bond, according to San Jose Police Sgt. Steve Dixon.
   San Jose police said the alleged victims, ages 14 and 16, had attended evening Mass at the Central Misionario Casa de Oracion on July 24. The small church, at N. 13th St. in downtown San Jose, offers services in Spanish to a largely immigrant congregation.
   After the service, the suspect, identified as a pastor at the church, allegedly called three teenage girls into his office, where the crimes allegedly took place sequentially as two of the girls waited outside. The third girl was not assaulted, police said.
• Investigators May Be Close To Arrest In Death Of Lee County Preacher's Wife [2004 Bynum] -- "Cry Out Loud Ministry". Wife.
   WRAL, http://www.wral.com/news/3615430/detail.html , August 4, 2004
   SANFORD, N.C. -- Investigators are getting closer to making an arrest in the death of a local preacher's wife.
   A preliminary autopsy suggests Marnita Bynum died of strangulation. Bynum, a substitute teacher, was the wife of the Rev. Melvin Bynum, pastor of Cry Out Loud Ministry in Sanford.
   Deputies first spotted Marnita Bynum's car abandoned along a rural road about 4 a.m. Sunday. A deputy came by to check on the car Monday morning and realized something was wrong.
   "The deputy went behind the car and as he went behind the car, he could smell the odor, so he called for assistance," Richmond County Sheriff Dale Furr said.
   Investigators believe Marnita Bynum died sometime Saturday night.
   Deputies searched their home and questioned Melvin Bynum. They said she was already dead when her husband explained her absence at Sunday services by saying she was home sick. They are not calling him a suspect.
• Husband awarded $2M in church adultery case [2000 Bailey] -- Church of Christ. Adultery.
   Montgomery Advertiser, By Jessica M. Walker, August 4, 2004
   MONTGOMERY (AL): A former Montgomery preacher will pay dearly for the sin of adultery. A jury levied a verdict of about $2 million on today against Floyd Bailey, the former pastor of Delraida Church of Christ.
   Bailey had an affair with church member Paris Faulkner in 2000. Faulkner was working at the church at the time and she and her husband Jim Faulkner had gone to Bailey for marital advice, according to court testimony.
   Jim Faulkner brought the suit against Bailey, claiming that he used his position as a pastor and marriage counselor to bring an end to the couple's marriage.
   Faulkner's attorney Frank Hawthorne said the verdict would be a warning to other pastors thinking of straying from their duty.
• Fired Pastor's Church Vandalized after sexual harrassment, embezzlent, accusations. [Hunter] -- Baptists.
   KLAS, www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2132938&nav=168XPX3K , Aug. 4, 2004
   LAS VEGAS (NV): A valley church that fired its pastor was vandalized Tuesday night. Church members of the Greater Saint James Baptist Church found the mess when they went to the church.
   A storage area near the altar was trashed, the kitchen was ransacked and an office was vandalized. Door locks were glued and some audio and visual equipment is missing.
   Mother Thelma Simpson, church member, said, "You just want to cry, cry, cry. You work hard. Not me, I'm retired. But these young people put their monies in and it's disgusting that you put your money in and nothing is going right and God's house is supposed to be house of love."
   The former pastor of the church, Gary Hunter, showed up with police, but would not talk on camera. He was voted out Sunday by his congregation after church members accused him of embezzlement and sexual harrassment. Hunter disputes those claims.
• Priest faces prison term [1991-93 Hofton] -- RCC. Altar boys.

   This is Hertfordshire, www.thisishertfordshire.co.uk/news/barnet/display.var.515326.0.priest_faces_prison_ term.php ; By Tom Spender, 4:45pm Wednesday 4th August 2004
   BRITAIN: A Roman Catholic priest who admitted sexually abusing two young altar boys has been ordered to live in a Barnet monastery while he waits to be sentenced.
   Father William John Hofton, 49, has to live in the Poor Clare Monastery in Galley Lane, Arkley, after admitting a string of offences against the two boys in their early teens at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Ruislip.
   Hofton faces a long jail term after pleading guilty to nine charges of indecent assault and seven of committing acts of gross indecency with the boys, who are now adults but cannot be named for legal reasons, between August 1991 and December 1993. The offences came to light last October.
   At Horseferry Road Magistrates Court, District judge Quentin Purdy sent Hofton to Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court for sentencing. Hofton was also ordered to abide by eight undisclosed rules set by his church.
• Priest pleads guilty in 45-year-old sexual abuse cases [1958-59 Landry] -- RCC. Stigmatine, at minor seminary. Boys.

   Boston Herald, http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=38567 , Associated Press, Wednesday, August 4, 2004
   DEDHAM, Mass. - A former Boston-area priest pleaded guilty Wednesday to sexually abusing two boys in the late 1950s.
   Leo Landry, who belonged to the Stigmatine order, was sentenced to lifetime probation after a joint recommendation was made by prosecutors and Landry's defense attorney.
   Landry, now 74, served at Roman Catholic parishes in three states and Canada during his 12 years as a priest. He left the priesthood in 1972.
   He was living in Lakewood, Colorado, when he was indicted by a Norfolk County grand jury in June on two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 and one count of indecent assault and battery on a person younger than 14.
   The abuse allegedly occurred at the former Stigmatine Minor Seminary in Wellesley between September 1958 and June 1959.
   Landry voluntarily returned to Connecticut from Colorado Wednesday to be arraigned on the charges. He immediately pleaded guilty and was sentenced by Judge Paul Chernoff. [Emphasis added]
• State releases more than 2,000 pages from altar boy murder investigation [1972] -- RCC.

   Telegram & Gazette, www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040804/APN/408040906 , By TRUDY TYNAN, Associated Press Writer, Wednesday, August 4, 2004
   SPRINGFIELD, Mass.- Hampden County court officials released more than 2,000 pages of investigative records Wednesday from the unsolved 1972 murder of a 13-year-old altar boy.
   The state's highest court last week ordered the records made public, saying that after more than 30 years there was no longer a good reason to keep documents under seal from the investigation into the death of Danny Croteau.
   Defrocked pedophile priest Richard Lavigne remains the only publicly identified suspect in the case.
   Among the 2,035 pages released by the Superior Court clerk's office was a 1993 search warrant authorizing a blood test of Lavigne to compare his DNA with blood found along the river bank where Danny's body was found. There are also several investigators' reports and summaries of witness statements.
   Following last week's ruling by the Supreme Judicial Court, the district attorney's office released an autopsy report showing Croteau had a blood alcohol level of .18 - more than twice the legal limit for driving - when he was bludgeoned to death on April 15, 1972. His body was found on the banks of the Chicopee River.
   The Republican newspaper in Springfield and John Stobierski, an attorney 24 people who said they were molested by Lavigne, had sued for the release of the documents.
   Hampden District Attorney William Bennett argued against the release, saying the case was still an active investigation.
• Trial date for class-action lawsuit moved to January -- RCC.
   WKYT, www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=2132088
   BURLINGTON, Ky. -- The nation's first class-action lawsuit against a Roman Catholic diocese over clergy sexual abuse is headed for a January trial if settlement talks fail.
   Judge John Potter moved the trial date from Oct. 25 to Jan. 10 during a hearing Wednesday in Boone County Circuit Court. He told the attorneys for the Diocese of Covington and the plaintiffs that he wants them to concentrate on the mediation process instead of trial preparations.
   The lawsuit, certified as a class action last October, was brought on behalf of victims from the past 50 years in the diocese, which included the eastern half of Kentucky until the Lexington diocese formed in 1988.
   Both sides began mediation in June with Kenneth Feinberg, administrator of the government fund for families of Sept. 11 victims.
   The judge granted a joint motion in which the attorneys asked to postpone a pretrial hearing and submit a confidential report on the status of the mediation. The judge asked for that by Sept. 1. [...]
   Potter also said he would consider a July 22 motion filed by an attorney representing some of the living priests named in the lawsuit, asking that they be allowed to refuse to give depositions. The motion said they were invoking their right against self-incrimination.
   The diocese has reported it received allegations of sexual misconduct against 37 of its 364 priests since 1950. Of those, 16 are dead, two are on administrative leave pending investigation and the rest have either been defrocked or permanently removed from active ministry.
* On the Net: Diocese of Covington: http://www.covingtondiocese.org
• Croteau documents unsealed -- RCC. Altar boy's threats revealed.
   Republican, www.masslive.com/hampfrank/republican/index.ssf?/base/ news-1/1091646901206540.xml ; By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com , Wednesday, August 04, 2004
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): At least four years before he was murdered, altar boy Daniel Croteau threatened to expose an improper relationship with a priest who would become the chief suspect in the slaying, according to court documents.
   That allegation was included in more than 2,000 pages of previously sealed documents in the investigation into the 1972 slaying of Springfield altar boy Daniel Croteau. The documents were being unsealed for the first time today after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled last week that the files must be opened.
   Contained in the 2,035 pages of documents were affidavits from investigators, including a letter referenced in a request for a search warrant filed by State Trooper Thomas Daly. The May 3, 1993, letter to Daly recounts a camping trip to Goshen the then-Rev. Richard R. Lavigne took with Croteau and his brothers in 1967 or 1968.
   The letter writer, whose name was removed under the court ruling releasing the documents, said Croteau threatened to expose sexual molestation by Lavigne, who has since been accused by more than 30 people of molesting them.
   Daniel Croteau was quoted in the letter as saying, "I'll tell. I'll tell."
• Delayed justice angers NY archdiocese priests [Kavanagh] -- RCC.
   Irish Echo, www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=14989 , By Ray O'Hanlon, rohanlon@Irishecho.com , issue of August 4-10, 2004
   NEW YORK: The cry of justice delayed being justice denied is a familiar refrain. But it hasn't often been heard in the context of priests directing anger and frustration at their cardinal archbishop or the Holy See in Rome.
   It is, however, being heard loud and clear in the case of Monsignor Charles Kavanagh, for years a leading cleric in the archdiocese of New York, but now a man standing under the long shadow of a serious accusation.
   Since May of 2002, Msgr. Kavanagh has been on administrative leave from his position in the archdiocese, where for years he served as vicar of development, a job that is primarily focused on raising funds and organizing major events.
   It was Msgr. Kavanagh who led the organizing for the funeral of the late Cardinal John O'Connor in 2000.
• Local Pastor's Wife Accuses Him Of Abuse [Sutton] -- "African-American Think Tank." Abuse and theft by deception.
   TheLouisvilleChannel.com ; www.thelouisvillechannel.com/news/3614945/detail.html , August 4, 2004
   LOUISVILLE (KY): A man of the cloth who started an organization designed to stop violence is being accused of such crimes by his own wife.
   The Rev. Gerome Sutton, of the African-American Think Tank, faces charges of terroristic threatening, menacing and harassment with physical contact, WLKY NewsChannel 32's Andy Alcock reported Tuesday.
   According to Metro Councilwoman Denise Bentley, Sutton recently solicited funds for that organization. But she said further investigation revealed Sutton's group was a for-profit business.
   Metro government only can give money to nonprofit groups in good standing with the state, WLKY reported.
   "I am concerned that someone would solicit funds from Metro government to aid in inner city teenage violence if they have a violent history themselves," Bentley said.
   Sutton also faces a charge of felony theft by deception. He's supposed to pay back money in that case.
• Priest, 6 Ateneo Naga teachers in child-abuse rap -- RCC. Jesuit school.

   ABS-CBN, www.abs-cbnnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?section=PROVINCIAL&oid=56663 , By JOEY NATIVIDAD, TODAY Correspondent, 12:03 AM, Thursday, August 5, 2004
   NAGA CITY, PHILIPPINES - A Jesuit priest and six high-school faculty members of the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Naga University in this city were named in a complaint for violation of Republic Act 7610, or the Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.
   The case was filed on July 16 by a parent of a boy, who was subjected to alleged degrading and demeaning school investigation and later dishonorably expelled by the school.
   The parent said in his complaint-affidavit that his son, 15 years old, was investigated by a school panel tasked to look into the alleged scandalous activities of an unrecognized fraternity, Gryphon.
   However, Gryphon is a recognized people's organization by the city government and accredited by the Naga City People's Council.
   The school investigation was based on reports that Ateneo students, who were initiated as members of Gryphon, were involved in lewd acts, such as masturbation and other pervert sexual acts as part of initiation rites. Gryphon's activities were exposed four months ago amid public indignation, blaming Ateneo for failure to impose discipline on the students' ranks.
• Pastor: We had to chain them [1973-74] -- Apostolic Faith Mission.

   News 24, www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1567744,00.html , by Marida Fitzpatrick, 09:34, 04/Aug/2004
   JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA: A church on the East Rand has apparently been keeping people in shackles on church grounds for the past couple of years "to drive their demons out".
   Although the Gauteng Association for Mental Health has been investigating this alleged "inhuman" situation for the past three months, the seven people, who might be mentally ill, have still not been freed from their chains.
   Police spokesperson superintendent Eugene Opperman said police were investigating these allegations. "We will decide what to do as soon as we have enough information."
   Some of the people have allegedly been held for years at the St John's Apostolic Faith Mission in Etwatwa, a township outside Benoni.
• Swedish pastor appeals sentence for ordering nanny to kill his wife [2004 Fossmo] -- Pentecostal.

   Borneo Bulletin, www.brunei-online.com/bb/wed/aug4w33.htm , AP, Wednesday August 4, 2004
   STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - The lawyer for a pastor convicted of manipulating his former nanny into murdering his wife said Monday he would appeal the life sentence a court handed down last week.
   Helge Fossmo, 32, was sentenced to life in prison Friday after the Uppsala District Court ruled that the Pentecostal church pastor persuaded Sara Svensson, 27, to shoot his wife as she was sleeping in their house in Knutby, about 75 kilometres (45 miles) northeast of Stockholm. Svensson also shot Fossmos' neighbour, Daniel Linde, who survived the Jan. 10 attack.
   Helene Fossmo's death was originally declared an accident after medical examiners decided she hit her head on a bathtub faucet after a fall. But during the trial, prosecutors reopened the investigation into Helene's death, claiming that Fossmo had killed her by bashing her head against the faucet.
   Svensson, who was deemed mentally ill by a panel of judges, was sentenced to psychiatric care. She admitted to the shootings, but maintained that Fossmo persuaded her to do it, in part by sending her anonymous text messages on her cell phone.
• Self-proclaimed pastor charged with molesting [2002, 2004 Bautista] -- "Central Missionario Casa de Oracion."

   The Mercury News, www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/the_valley/9311907. htm?ERIGHTS=4915480293185362064mercurynews::kashaw@peoplepc.com&KRD_RM= 4nrnolomtsptrnrkkkkkkkkloo|Kathleen|Y ; By Chuck Carroll, Posted on Tue, Aug. 03, 2004
   SAN JOSE (CA): A San Jose immigration lawyer who calls himself the pastor of a local church has been arrested on suspicion of sexually molesting at least two girls in his church office, San Jose police announced today.
   Police made the arrest Saturday after receiving a call from a Stanislaus County law enforcement agency that had learned of one of the alleged incidents from a 16-year-old victim or her family.
   The girl told investigators that Mario Anonio Bautista assaulted her in his church office on July 24, after Mass at the Central Missionario Casa de Oracion, on 13th Street, according to a police news release.
   The girl alleges that Bautista also assaulted her at his downtown law office in 2002.
   Investigators have also found a second victim, and there may be others, police said. Police have been unable to confirm whether Bautista is really the small church's pastor.
   Bautista, 46, was booked into jail Saturday in San Jose on two felony counts of penetration with a foreign object and a misdemeanor of child annoyance.
• Update: No Response on Priest's Standing: A local priest removed from the pulpit [Traylor] -- RCC. Viewing adult porn in parish office; bishop reported as proposing forgiveness.
   WFIE, www.14wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=2127348&nav=3w6oPVel , Web Producer: Amber Griswold
   EVANSVILLE (IN): Father William Traylor has not conducted mass at St. Theresa and St. Joseph's churches for two weeks. Diocesan officials have refused comment until Tuesday.
   A caller who asked to remain anonymous, told Newswatch last Monday that Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger had explained to the parish council that Father William Traylor was caught by a parishioner viewing adult pornography on a computer in the parish offices at Saint Joseph's Church.
   The caller said the bishop was very vague about the details and told the council they should forgive Father Traylor, who was sent to a St. Louis treatment facility.
   Starting on Monday, Newswatch called the diocese every day to confirm the caller's story. The receptionist told us diocese spokesperson Paul Leingang was out of town all week and the bishop was not available.
• Catholic critics want investigation bill released -- RCC.
   Troy Record, www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=12601927&BRD=1170&PAG=461&dept_id=7021 &rfi=6 , By Robert Cristo , August/04/2004
   ALBANY (NY): It's been nearly seven weeks, and some Catholics are wondering why the Albany Diocese has yet to release the bill for attorney Mary Jo White's investigation that found no merit to sexual misconduct allegations against Bishop Howard Hubbard.
   Members of the Coalition of Concerned Catholics in the Albany Diocese (CCCAD) called upon Hubbard Tuesday to publicly release the full, unedited and itemized bill on the investigation that cleared him, a bill that could potentially cost the diocese more than $1 million.
   White was retained at a cost of more than $700 an hour by the diocese in February to investigate whether Hubbard could be linked to engaging in sexual activities in the 1970s.
   The 350-page report found "no credible evidence" that Hubbard engaged in any sexual activities with a male prostitute, a male suicide victim or other priests.
   "The Albany Diocese admits that it intends to pay for this specimen of self-serving propaganda out of funds collected from the faithful to pay for diocesan insurance," said coalition member Joseph Bonville in a statement.
   "Catholics, therefore, have a right to know the selfish lengths to which our chief shepherd is willing to go in his attempt to escape impartial scrutiny for his misrule in Albany," he added.
• Attacking a cult -- polygamy group. Females.
   The Arizona Republic www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0804wed1-04.html , Aug. 4, 2004
   UNITED STATES: Fall into this rabbit hole and the ordinary rules don't apply.
   A cult is called a church, women are chattel, children are denied education, little girls are assigned as second and third "wives" to older men, and teen boys are driven away because they represent competition for girls.
   That's the way things are in the twin cities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah.
   Here, in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a tyrant is called prophet. He runs everybody's life and owns everything, including the keys to heaven.
   In his corner of Earth, he's the law.
• Plea deal nets ex-teacher 10 years [1970s-80s Maggard] -- Baptist. Boys.
   Lexington Heald-Leader, www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/news/9314880.htm , ASSOCIATED PRESS, Posted on Wed, Aug. 04, 2004
   LOUISVILLE (KY): A former teacher has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing seven boys in the 1970s and early 1980s.
   The plea deal calls for 57-year-old Bill Maggard Jr. to spend up to 10 years in prison. He could have served 20 years if convicted of 10 felony counts of indecent or immoral practices with another and two counts of first-degree sexual abuse.
   Maggard, who taught at public and religious schools in the Louisville area, was indicted earlier this year.
   One victim, Henry Vaughn, said yesterday that the sentence is not long enough for his fifth-grade teacher at Schaffner Elementary School, but Vaughn said he wanted to avoid a trial.
   Maggard taught for 13 years in Jefferson County Public Schools and later worked at a school operated by Highview Baptist Church, where he also volunteered in Sunday school and choir programs until recently. The church has said it has no claims of abuse.
• Sedgley centre set to close [1950s] -- Anglican. Boy.

   Wairarapa Times-Age, http://times-age.co.nz/news2004/040804b.html , Wednesday, 4 August 2004
   NEW ZEALAND: A meeting last week is thought to have decided to sell off the Sedgley Family Centre property and rent accommodation to continue running some of its services.
   The former Sedgley Boys Home that opened in 1939 later became the Sedgley Family Centre, is currently the target of historic allegations of abuse from a man who says he was sexually abused while in care more than 40 years ago. The former home in Intermediate Street housed many boys from 1939 until 1988.
   The Masterton branch of the boys home was opened on 6ha of land at Solway known as Sedgley in 1926 when the Anglican Church's original boys home in Lower Hutt became overcrowded.
   In 1939 a new building was opened on the site. The home was closed as the number of boys fell and the centre was re-established as a family support service designed to help families under stress.
   The services included parental education, family counselling, anger management, women's assertiveness, alcohol and addiction support, men's support and "tough love".
The Anglican Church is now considering financial compensation for victims of sexual, physical and mental abuse at the home.
• Former Youth Pastor Pleads Guilty [Craig] -- Baptist, 8 charges.

   KOLD - TV, www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=2128829&nav=14RTPV3F , By Stefanie Boe , News 13 Producer
   SIERRA VISTA (AZ): A former youth pastor in Sierra Vista admits to sexually abusing children. 42-year old Eric Craig has pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual abuse of children under the age of 15.
   He's charged with a total of eight counts, but authorities say five of the charges may be dropped under a plea agreement.
   Craig used to work at First Baptist Church in Sierra Vista.

Holy Sins
Khilafah.com (Islamic website), www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID =9909&TagID=1 , uploaded 03 Aug 2004

   Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) says in His Glorious Book,

   "And Allah has made for you wives of your own kind, and has made for you, from your wives, sons and grandsons". [TMQ An- Nahl: 72]

   "And among His Signs is this, that He created for you wives from among yourselves, that you may find repose in them, and He has put between you affection and mercy." [TMQ Ar- Rum: 21]

   Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) in all His Wisdom gave for mankind a system to organise their affairs and relationships based upon the attributes that Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) has accorded them in their quality as human beings. These attributes are the instincts (sexual, survival and spiritual) and the organic needs.
   Regarding the satisfaction of the sexual instinct, the interaction and regulation of men and women by Islam is such that on the one hand, Islam did not deprive men and women of the fulfillment of these instincts, which otherwise would result in depression, anxiety and frustration. This fulfillment is through the institution of marriage and what can be discerned from the Islamic texts to represent the Islamic social system. Likewise, Islam did not leave men and women to freely satisfy these instincts without restriction that results in the sexual perversion and the social ills that one can easily identify today.
   Rather Islam provided mankind with a system that ensured tranquility in the fulfilment of the sexual instinct without the denial, or frustration as in religious denominations in the Church nor the 'animalistic unchaining' one finds in decadent western culture.
   Therefore it would come as no surprise that when you bring together the two extremes of dealing with the sexual instinct into a society (the church and 'western culture'), problems would inevitably arise… and the casualties will be the 'holy ones', victims are the innocent and the suffering will always be societal.
   The church today stands embroiled in priestly sex scandals. These are not just a few 'new' priests in a reclusive location. Rather it is an epidemic that encompasses all denominations, all priestly hierarchies and most if not all countries of the world.
   Recently, photographs have appeared in the Austrian media of clerics at St Poelten seminary kissing and fondling student priests. This is after the appointment of Bishop Kueng, of the Austrian city of Feldkirch, by the Pope, and following the criminal charge made against a seminary student in possession and distribution of child pornography.
   While Austria comes to terms with this scandal, a Roman Catholic archdiocese in the US declared bankruptcy because it could not meet the cost of claims by people allegedly abused by its priests. The Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, was the first in the US to do so and has already settled claims by some 130 people who say they were abused by priests, paying out more than $53m.
   In February 2004, a report commissioned by the Church said more than 4,000 Roman Catholic priests in the US had faced sexual abuse allegations in the last 50 years. It said more than 10,000 children - a large majority boys - were allegedly abused, but victims' representatives said this was an underestimate. Throughout the US, sex abuse cases have cost more than $650m. Page 1 of: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont91.htm#holysins    These statistics may appear shocking, but it represents the direction of the world that has either willingly embraced western capitalism or has been forced to embrace it under the guise of 'freedom and democracy'.
   Societies where the naked flesh of the two sexes is plastered in every place and corner…where sex, body-beautiful and love dominates the lives of the people, where sex before marriage and teenage sex is rife and the average number of sexual partners per person has exponentially increased (as has sexually transmitted diseases) - it is inevitable that while the 'temporal' succumbing to these perversions of western 'civilised' culture, that the clergy, who deny the natural aspect of satisfying their sexual instinct through marriage to the opposite sex, themselves satisfy their frustrations by sexual perversions.
   While adultery, incest, pornographic traffic, child abuse, rape, teenage pregnancies, anorexia etc…increase year on year - it is not only the unholy priests, child molesters and rapists that need to stand trial…but it is the very secular western system and values such as 'freedom' which has created these monsters, that needs to be put on trial.
   To this end, Muslims must realise that these problems that embroil and are creating havoc in the church and western societies, are diseases that will spread amongst the Muslim Ummah as 'western culture' seeks to take a grip and control over the whole world. We are not immune to its clutches and must safeguard ourselves and our families from its lure.
   Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) says,

   "O you who believe, protect yourselves and your family from the hellfire…" (TMQ Al-Tahreem:6)

   Truly, to ensure the tranquility and virtues that Islam brings between the sexes, in all aspects of life and to protect it from the pollution and corruption of priestly and western values requires the Khilafah. Without doubt it is the Khilafah that will ensure the creation and safeguarding of a society that will enhance life, both for Muslims and non-Muslims.

Source: KCom Journal
Click here to E-mail us regarding this or any other article on Khilafah.com
"Holy Sins," Khilafah.com ; www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID =9909&TagID=1 , uploaded 03 Aug 2004
http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont91.htm#holysins

• St. Agnes land offered for $15M -- RCC.

   Greenwich Times, www.greenwichtime.com/news/local/scn-gt- stagenes1aug04,0,24351.story?coll=green-news-local-headlines By Neil Vigdor, August 4, 2004
   CONNECTICUT: The Diocese of Bridgeport is offering to sell 25 acres of surplus property surrounding St. Agnes Church to a group of neighbors or a land trust organization for $15 million.
   Open space advocates and neighbors were presented with the option during an informational meeting Monday night at the Greenwich parish. The diocese said it would not sign a sales contract for 30 days to allow neighbors time to explore a purchase.
   "Ideally, if the neighbors themselves could buy the property themselves and keep it as open space, that would be a win-win situation," diocesan spokesman Joseph McAleer said.
   St. Agnes Church would retain 7.5 acres of the 32-plus-acre property at 247 Stanwich Road for itself. Should the two sides fail to reach an agreement, McAleer said the diocese could sell the surplus land to developers, who could then build up to 10 homes.
• Bridgeport Diocese To Sell Land To Help Pay For Abuse Settlements -- RCC. St Agnes land to help $US 21m settlement for 107 complainants.
   Hartford Courant, www.ctnow.com/news/local/hc-ap-diocese-landsale- 0804,1,1216639.story?coll=hc-headlines-local ; Associated Press, August 4, 2004
   GREENWICH, Conn. -- The Diocese of Bridgeport hopes to sell 25 acres of surplus property for $15 million to help pay for a settlement with sexual abuse victims.
   Diocesan spokesman Joseph McAleer said the sale of property surrounding St. Agnes Church would help cover a $21 million settlement reached last year with sexual abuse victims.
   In February, the Bridgeport Diocese reported allegations against 32 priests, or 21/2 percent of the priests in the diocese. The claims involved 109 allegations from 107 people.
   Bridgeport church officials said they have paid $37.7 million in settlements.
   Officials of the diocese say they will not sign a sales contract for 30 days to allow neighbors time to explore a purchase.
   "Ideally, if the neighbors themselves could buy the property themselves and keep it as open space, that would be a win-win situation," McAleer said.
• Breslin's Church, Too, Couldn't Shoot Straight -- RCC.
   The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2004/08/04/books/04appl.html , By R. SCOTT APPLEBY, Published August 4, 2004
   NEW YORK: 'Do I keep on in a church that I mistrust or remain outside and follow a religion I love?"
   This piercing refrain haunts Jimmy Breslin's angry meditation on the scandal of priestly sexual abuse of children and teenagers that has shaken the foundations of Roman Catholicism in the United States (and elsewhere).
   Echoing the anguished cry of countless bred-in-the-bone American Catholics, "The Church That Forgot Christ" devotes four pages to excoriating "the church that I mistrust" for every one that celebrates "the religion I love." The formula produces mixed results.
   On the upside Mr. Breslin brings a distinguished history of giving voice to the voiceless. A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who made his reputation as New York City's relentless exposer of municipal corruption, organized crime, and government policies and actions that discriminate against the poor and racial minorities, he speaks with the authority of a bracingly honest, time-tested public servant.
   Mr. Breslin champions the regular guy struggling at the bottom of the social and economic hierarchy: the single mother working two minimum-wage jobs to put her kids through school; the Mexican immigrant denied legal status, health care and a living wage for his back-breaking construction work; the underpaid, overtasked Catholic-school teacher who, from dedication to her indigent students, cheerfully accepts a life of virtual poverty.
   In focusing his social crusader's eye on the Catholic scandal, Mr. Breslin reports little of substance that is new. Now well known are the patterns of abuse perpetrated by predator priests, and the stunning complicity of some bishops who covered up these serial crimes and reassigned the priests to parishes filled with unsuspecting children. But few critics have provided such a clear-eyed, unsentimental and unflinching depiction of how lives already made difficult were crushed irreparably by an institution that had seduced them into believing it could do no wrong. [Emphasis added]
• Judge: "Test Case" in Diocese Suits Can Go Ahead -- RCC.
   KDKA, http://kdka.com/local/local_story_216173912.html , 5:21 pm US/Eastern, Aug 3, 2004
   PITTSBURGH (PA) (KDKA): Most of the sexual abuse cases filed against the Catholic Church have been thrown out in recent years because they've been filed too late: the statute of limitations requires a victim of abuse to file suit within two years of alleged incident.
   Since some of the allegations are decades old, most courts have declined to let them go to trial; but, today a common pleas judge ruled that a case that's considered the "test case" for such lawsuits can indeed go forward.
   Attorneys say this ruling may ultimately result in court victories for some 28 other people who have sued the diocese.
   The plaintiffs are not suing the priests; they're suing the diocese and bishops, claiming they protected priests who were known or suspected pedophiles.
   In his ruling, the judge said the statute of limitations does not apply and the test case can go forward -- because the alleged victim just recently began to suspect that diocese had not done all it could to protect him.
• Court revives man's lawsuit against diocese [1969-88 Buzanowski] -- RCC. 14 victims.
   Duluth News Tribune, www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/local/9315918.htm , BY ROBERT IMRIE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
   WAUSAU, Wisconsin - A state appeals court Tuesday revived a man's lawsuit against the Green Bay Catholic Diocese and a priest he says sexually abused him as a boy.
   An attorney called the ruling a breakthrough for victims of clergy abuse.
   David Schauer of Marshfield claims he was molested by the Rev. Donald Buzanowski during counseling sessions at Green Bay's Sts. Peter and Paul School in 1988 when he was 10.
   Schauer filed a lawsuit in April 2003, alleging the diocese was negligent because it knew of Buzanowski's prior sexual misconduct against minor children and hid evidence of his past behavior.
   The priest, who served in seven churches in the Green Bay area, has admitted molesting 14 boys between 1969 and 1988, court records said.
• Judge upholds suit against diocese -- RCC. 29 complaints, 14 priests.
   Post-Gazette, www.post-gazette.com/pg/04217/356415.stm , By Jan Ackerman, Wednesday, August 04, 2004
   PITTSBURGH (PA): A judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh of conspiring to protect priests against allegations of child sexual abuse that occurred decades ago.
   Yesterday, Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge R. Stanton Wettick Jr. ruled that a jury would have to decide whether a plaintiff who is suing the diocese can argue that his case should be treated as an exception under the statute of limitations.
   He made that ruling after looking at one case involving the former Rev. John Wellinger, who is accused of molesting 11-year-old Chris Matthews in 1989. The Matthews case was used as a test case on which Wettick was asked to rule on how the statute of limitations would affect complaints filed this year against the diocese.
   Attorney Alan H. Perer, who with Richard M. Serbin represents 25 plaintiffs, called Wettick's decision a "major victory" for his side. Perer said they now plan to begin the discovery process for 29 complaints they have filed against the diocese this year involving allegations of molestation against 14 priests and former priests.
• Woman, 72, claims sex abuse in 1930s [Sisters of Charity of Nazareth] -- RCC. 24 now suing.
   Cincinnati Enquirer, www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/08/04/loc_kychurchabuse04.html , By Ellen R. Stapleton, The Associated Press, Aug 4, 2004
   LOUISVILLE (KY): The latest claims against the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth allege sexual abuse happened at a now-defunct orphanage as early as the 1930s.
   Gladys Cambron, at 72 the oldest person to sue, said she was molested by two nuns and a priest starting at age 6.
   Cambron was among three people added Tuesday to a lawsuit filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court against the sisters. It brings the number of plaintiffs to 24.
   Cambron said she lived at St. Vincent Orphanage in Louisville, which was owned and operated by the sisters, from 1938 until 1943. At that time, her maternal grandparents took custody of her and her older sister and raised them.
"You couldn't imagine the difference," Cambron said through tears in an interview Tuesday. "It was just like going to heaven."
• Court grants clergy abuse case new life [1988 Buzanowski] -- RCC. 14 admitted victims.
   Wausau Daily Herald, www.wausaudailyherald.com/wdhlocal/283545976342354.shtml , By Robert Imrie, AP Wausau Bureau
   WISCONSIN: A state appeals court Tuesday revived a man's lawsuit against the Green Bay Catholic Diocese and a priest who he says sexually abused him as a boy.
   An attorney called the ruling a breakthrough for victims of clergy abuse.
   The man who filed the lawsuit, David Schauer of Marshfield, claims he was molested by the Rev. Donald Buzanowski during counseling sessions at Green Bay's Sts. Peter and Paul School in 1988 when Schauer was 10.
   Schauer filed a lawsuit in April 2003, alleging the diocese was negligent because it knew of Buzanowski's prior sexual misconduct against children and hid evidence of his past behavior.
   Buzanowski, who served in seven different churches in the Green Bay area, has admitted molesting 14 boys between 1969 and 1988, court records said.
   Brown County Circuit Judge Mark Warpinski dismissed Schauer's lawsuit in July 2003, ruling the statute of limitations had expired. Schauer, then 25, appealed. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:43 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Wed August 04, 2004
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont91.htm
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Thu August 05, 2004 edition follows:-
• Anglican Church drafts new guidelines for dealing with sex offenders -- Anglicans.

   Australian Broadcasting Corporation, www.abc.net.au/am/content/2004/s1170222.htm , Reporter: Tanya Nolan, "AM" programme, 08:24:00, for Friday, 6 August , 2004
   AUSTRALIA: ELEANOR HALL: The Anglican Church has drafted new guidelines which would keep known sex offenders within the congregation, and would protect bishops and archbishops from direct involvement in the handling of sexual abuse cases.
   The code of conduct, called 'Faithfulness in Service', is part of the Church's new approach to abuse procedures, and will be voted on at the Anglican General Synod in Perth in October. Professional standards committees in each state and territory will be responsible for the whole process of complaints handling.
   And director of the committee in the Sydney diocese, Philip Gerber, has been telling Tanya Nolan the proposal also includes a register of all church workers
   PHILIP GERBER: A register of all workers, all church workers, all clergy, so that people can verify who is a bona fide person. And the other part of the register is trying to have a list of those against whom findings have been made because of misconduct or child abuse so that they can be followed up internally when they move from state to state and so on. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 11:59 PM]
   [COMMENT: The Australian Anglicans "drafted new guidelines". But, this webspace asked more than a year ago what was wrong with the OLD guidelines. Don't Churches have the words of Jesus regarding harming the "little ones" and so on, his strict saying not to "look after a woman to lust for her," and the Ten Commandments? And, aren't Churches supposed to be led into all truth by the Paraclete? Why can't they pick child molesters before they ordain them? And, there's quite a lot of their forgiveness theology that needs brushing up. COMMENT ENDS.]
• Bishops plan new group to assist sex abuse victims -- RCC.

   Irish Independent, www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1227970&issue_id=11246
   IRELAND: The Catholic bishops are considering setting up a national pastoral support system for victims of clerical abuse which could include an element of financial redress, the Irish Independent has learned.
   It is understood that it could be in place within 12 months.
   A spokesman for the hierarchy said: "This would meet all the needs of a victim: spiritual; counselling and psychological; educational; family support; and financial redress."
   He added: "This pastoral response is being developed by the bishops to meet the needs of persons who, during childhood, have been sexually abused by a priest. The aim of the model would be to bring healing and support to the victims of such abuse."
   Currently only the religious orders, through CORI, have a scheme along these lines in place, although it does not include redress because the 18 orders that ran the country's residential institutions have instead opted to contribute to the Residential Institutions Redress Board.
   The Dublin archdiocese is also considering a pastoral support model for victims that would include an element of financial redress for abuse suffered.
   [COMMENT: Well, that's two groups who obviously don't have the Paraclete "leading them into all truth," but instead are relying on purely earthly methods to deal with the horrible aftermath of their hiding clergy abusers, instead of expelling them. COMMENT ENDS.]
• Cardinal Law Says His Faith Strengthened [Law] -- RCC.

   Lexington Herald-Leader, www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/world/9331009.htm , Associated Press
   ROME: Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned his Boston post two years ago amid accusations he protected priests in sex abuse scandals, said Thursday his faith is being strengthened in his new public role in Rome.
   The cardinal told reporters he was "very happy, very happy" after leading a solemn, centuries-old ceremony in packed St. Mary Major's Basilica in the heart of Rome.
   "I thank God for the faith of the people who are here. It strengthens my faith," Law said in rare public comments since Pope John Paul named him archpriest of the basilica, one of four basilicas under Vatican direction.
   Although the post is largely ceremonial, it is also highly visible, and the assignment in May outraged many in the Boston diocese, which Law had led as archbishop for 18 years.
• Victims ask church to publish open letter to say Church must not blame survivors, has assets. -- RCC.

   KGW, www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D849B6R00.html , By ANDREW KRAMER, Aug/05/2004
   PORTLAND (OR): Victims of priest abuse are made to feel guilty for bringing financial troubles to the Catholic Church through lawsuits, so diocese officials should remind lay members that victims are not "enemies of the church," a victims rights group said Thursday.
   Barbara Blaine, founder of the group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP], hand-delivered a letter to the archdiocesan headquarters in Portland Thursday, asking that it be published in The Catholic Sentinel newsletter read by an estimated 16,000 parishioners, and posted on a church web site.
   The Portland-based Archdiocese of Western Oregon became the first in the nation to file for bankruptcy protection because of the escalating cost of abuse claims this year, over the objections of victims' groups and attorneys who say the archdiocese has a rich endowment in land and other assets.
   "Talk of bankruptcy portrays victims as enemies of the church. Please bear in mind that we are Catholic children from Catholic families who were raped and sexually assaulted by trusted priests," the letter said. "Victims should be thanked for coming forward and speaking the truth... We are gravely concerned about the negative impact your bankruptcy claim may have on our survivors."
• Released court documents reveal little new about Croteau murder, nothing on church knowledge [1972] -- RCC.
   Iobserve, www.iobserve.org/rn0804a.html By Father Bill Pomerleau, Observer staff
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): Newly un-impounded court documents relating to the investigation of the 1972 murder of Daniel Croteau contain little new information not already publicly disclosed.
   And they contain nothing about what the Diocese of Springfield or its leaders may or may not have known about the sexual habits of former priest Richard Lavigne at the time of the murder.
   Nor do they contain any insight into what church officials knew about the murder.
   The 2,035 pages of documents made available to the media Aug. 4 consist largely of material made available in 1996, when State Appeals Court Judge Elizabeth Porada ordered a partial release of materials submitted to the Hampden County Superior Court in 1993 by District Attorney William Bennett.
   After Lavigne's arrest on charges of sexual abuse of minors in late 1991, Bennett re-opened the long-dormant murder investigation. He petitioned the court for permission to take a sample of the then-priest's Type B blood to compare with blood found at the scene of the crime. [...]
   Release of the new materials came just one day before 46 clients of Greenfield attorney John Stobierski were scheduled to accept or decline a proposed settlement with the Springfield Diocese.
   The settlement, which is valued at $7 million plus the worth of two pieces of diocesan property to be turned over to Stobierski's clients, will settle claims that the diocese was negligent in its handling of the misconduct of 18 current and former diocesan and religious priests. #
• Village In Shock As Vicar Resigns [2000s Lawrence] -- Church of England. Alleged affair.

   This is Gloucestershire, www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp? nodeId=140197&command=newPage&contentPK=10700681 ; 18:00 - August 05, 2004
   BRITAIN: The sleepy village of St Briavels was rocked this week after the vicar was forced to resign over his erratic personal conduct.
   The Rev David Lawrence, 51, whose wife Cath moved out of the vicarage two years ago, has since scandalised the village with his behaviour and an alleged relationship with a local woman.
   Matters came to a head when the diocesan authorities in Gloucester were deluged with letters of complaint by more than two thirds of the St Briavels and Hewelsfield Parochial Church Council.
   Mr Lawrence, who has been priest-in-charge in the two parishes for six years, agreed to resign last week after being confronted by diocesan officials, headed by the Archdeacon of Gloucester, the Venerable Geoffrey Sidaway.
   Since then, the Archdeacon has been making regular visits to the parish to extend pastoral care and counselling to shocked worshippers.
   Mr Lawrence said yesterday: "I am sorry that it has been necessary for me to resign, but the parishes now need to move on. I also need time and space to look to the future."
   Mr Lawrence, who is regarded as having been a particularly good priest, has earned fierce loyalty from his congregation, who have collectively closed ranks following his fall from grace.
• Priest's murder sentencing postponed [1986 Kekana] -- murdered own son.

   Iafrica.com, http://iafrica.com/news/sa/130785.htm , Posted Thu, 05 Aug 2004
   SOUTH AFRICA: The sentencing of a 70-year-old priest who murdered his own son was postponed on Wednesday for a report on the feasibility of correctional supervision as a sentence.
   The Johannesburg High Court found Samuel Kekana guilty in June of murdering his son 17 years ago.
   Judge Naren Pandya found that Kekana had not acted in self-defence when he fatally stabbed his son, Moses, in September 1986.
   The body was exhumed from a grave in the backyard of the family's house in Mapetla, Soweto, two years ago.
   Kekana was also found guilty on charges of intimidating family members into remaining silent about the death of Moses.
• 45 of 46 claimants accept settlement with Springfield Diocese -- RCC. $US 7m payout, 550 survivors.
   Telegram & Gazette, www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040805/APN/408050981 , By TRUDY TYNAN, Associated Press Writer, Aug 5, 2004
   SPRINGFIELD, Mass.- All but one of 46 people who accused priests of sexually abusing them as children have agreed to accept a more than $7 million settlement with the Diocese of Springfield, a spokesman for the diocese said Thursday.
   "We respect the decision that these individuals made, including the one who has opted not to participate in the settlement," diocese spokesman Mark Dupont told The Associated Press.
   The attorney for the alleged victims, John Stobierski, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Thursday afternoon.
   Under the agreement, each claimant would receive a minimum of $80,000, with the individual awards to be determined by an arbitration panel.
   The amount they receive will depend on the type of abuse - ranging from fondling to rape - and how long the abuse lasted, with an average award expected to be around $165,000.
   Mediator Paul Finn, who helped broker a $90 million settlement between the Boston Archdiocese and more than 550 clergy sex-abuse victims there, began holding arbitration hearings this week.
• Former Milwaukee Priest Won't Stand Trial For Alleged Assault [1990-91 Palathingal] -- RCC.
   TheMilwaukeeChannel.com ; www.themilwaukeechannel.com/news/3619277/detail.html , POSTED: 9:12 am CDT August 5, 2004
   MILWAUKEE (WI): A former Milwaukee priest accused of sexually assaulting a 9-year-old boy will not stand trial because a possible plea agreement has been reached.
   Rev. Simon Palathingal is accused of assaulting the boy in 1990 and 1991.
   He was arrested in June 3 outside his rectory in New Jersey, where he was living.
   Palathingal's alleged victim is now an adult.
• February trial set for priest charged with killing nun [1980 Robinson] -- RCC.
   Beacon Journal, www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/9328312.htm?ERIGHTS= 9057110203426496721ohio:: kashaw@peoplepc.com&KRD_RM= 3rrmsojkosqnksjjjjjjjjkjjp|Kathleen|Y ; Associated Press
   TOLEDO, Ohio - A Roman Catholic priest charged with killing a nun during a ritualistic slaying in 1980 is scheduled to go on trial in February.
   Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Patrick Foley on Thursday set a trial date of Feb. 22 for the Rev. Gerald Robinson. Foley said he expects it to be a firm trial date and doesn't expect any delays.
   Robinson, 66, is charged with strangling and stabbing Sister Margaret Ann Pahl. He has pleaded innocent to aggravated murder.
   Prosecutors told the judge that they have given defense lawyers all of their evidence collected so far. Those items include polygraph tests from 1980, lab reports and autopsy results.
   Prosecutors are still waiting on DNA tests and hope to have that information in six weeks, said Gary Cook, an assistant county prosecutor.
   Investigators exhumed and examined Sister Pahl's body in April to look for new evidence.
Robinson, long a suspect in the death of Pahl, 71, was arrested April 23. Investigators have described the killing as ritualistic.
• Kueng indicates that Krenn may soon go -- RCC.

   Die Presse, www.diepresse.at/Artikel.aspx?channel=&ressort=ee&id=436176 , 05.Aug.2004
   ST. POELTON, AUSTRIA: Bishop Klaus Kueng, the papal envoy in the St. Poelten seminary sex affair, has called on Austrian Catholics not to lose faith in the Church in the wake of the scandal.
   In an appeal to priests and believers printed in the St. Poelten Church newspaper, the "apostolic visitor" wrote: "Do not lose faith in your beliefs. Do not lose courage! Keep working assiduously with confidence and faith in the Lord."
   Bishop Kueng went on to promise that "all" necessary measures would be taken to ensure "renewal in the diocese." This statement is being read as a signal that controversial Bishop Kurt Krenn may soon be replaced after 13 years at the head of the diocese.
• Ex-archbishop's new flock shrugs off past [Law] -- RCC.

   MSNBC, http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5612567
   ROME: - Cardinal Bernard Law, who was forced to resign as archbishop of Boston over a sexual abuse scandal, celebrated his first public Mass Thursday since taking up a prestigious new post in the Italian Church. Law, resplendent in white robes and golden miter, presided over a packed service marking the feast day of the Rome Basilica of St. Mary Major, the ornate church which Pope John Paul entrusted to him earlier this year.
   Some foreign tourists said they were shocked to see Law back in the limelight, but he received a warm reception from the local Italian flock, who appeared unruffled by his clouded past.
   "It went beautifully. It was very moving for me," a beaming Law said at the end of the service, with faithful crowding round, hoping to kiss his ringed hand and receive a blessing.
• Prosecutor seeks info on priest accused of watching porn near child [2004 Traylor] -- RCC.

   Kentucky.com, www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/9328585.htm , Associated Press
   EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Vanderburgh County prosecutor has asked the Roman Catholic Diocese of Evansville to turn over findings of its investigation of a priest accused of viewing pornographic Internet movies while a child was in the room.
   The Rev. William A. Traylor, 54, was temporarily removed from active ministry at two Evansville parishes after he was caught viewing Internet pornography. He is now undergoing treatment at an undisclosed location, the diocese said.
   Prosecutor Stan Levco said diocese attorney David V. Miller has agreed to provide the diocese's internal findings about Traylor to a deputy prosecutor.
   "It's rather unusual for me to even take this step," Levco said, noting that police agencies usually bring investigations to the prosecutor.
   Miller said he would meet Thursday with the prosecutor's office and declined further comment.
• Vatican defrocks 2 former Tucson priests [Trupia, Teta] -- RCC.
   Tucson Citizen, www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=local&story_id=080504a1_diocese , By SHERYL KORNMAN, Aug 5, 2004
   TUCSON (AZ): Monsignior Robert Trupia and Rev. Michael Teta have been removed from the priesthood by the Pope, Fred Allison, communications director of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson, said this morning. Both were priests in the diocese.
   Allison said the action means neither priest can wear clerical garb, perform the functions of a priest or collect further monies from the diocese.
   Both men were receiving what the diocese calls "sustenance payments" after being suspended by the diocese after what Tucson Bishop Gerald Kicanas called credible allegations of sexual misconduct involving children.
   Neither has been criminally charged with abuse because of the statute of limitations.
   The announcement of the removal of the two priests was made this morning in a letter from Kicanas to the clergy and laity of the Diocese of Tucson. The letter was posted on the diocese Web site under the heading "Restoring Trust."
   In his letter, Kicanas explained that the decision was made by the Pope with the assistance of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican, which was given the task by the Pope of determining whether the priests should be removed.
• 2 southern Ariz. priests dismissed over sex abuse allegations [Trupia, Teta] -- RCC.
   Azcentral.com, www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0805Church-Abuse-ON.html Associated Press, 11:09 AM, Aug. 5, 2004
   TUCSON (AZ) - Two southern Arizona priests who had been accused of sexual abuse were removed from the priesthood, church officials said Thursday.
   Robert Trupia and Michael Teta, both of whom had been suspended years ago, can no longer perform church ceremonies, wear clerical garb or identify themselves by any church title, said Fred Allison, a spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Tucson.
   Neither had been able to function as a priest during his suspension but both had remained priests.
   They will also no longer receive any financial support from the church, Allison said.
   He said Bishop Gerald Kicanas was informed of the priests' removal this week. Kicanas informed the diocese of the move, which had been pending, in a letter released Thursday.
• Croteau: 'I'll tell!' [1972 Lavigne] -- RCC.
   Republican, www.masslive.com/hampfrank/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1091715396295770.xml ; By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com , Thursday, August 05, 2004
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): When police reopened the investigation into the 1972 unsolved murder of Springfield altar boy Daniel Croteau, witness after witness pointed them toward one suspect: parish priest Richard R. Lavigne.
   Lavigne, a convicted child molester who was defrocked last year as a Roman Catholic priest, was described as a sexually abusive, devious man prone to fits of violence in witness statements unsealed for the first time yesterday under a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling.
   But Lavigne's lawyer said the documents also show police had other suspects and found no link between his client and the crime scene, including from tire tracks and blood.
   Among the witness statements was one that gave a chilling account of a possible motive for the crime.
   Four or five years before his 1972 murder, Croteau threatened to expose Lavigne as his sexual abuser, repeatedly saying to him, "I'll tell ... ! I'll tell ... !," according to a letter contained in the files.
   Croteau made the threat when Lavigne joined some other children in name-calling and taunting of Croteau during a camping trip to Goshen in 1967 or 1968, according to the letter.
   Croteau's threats "had an obvious effect on Lavigne. He began to pay more attention to Danny and ordered us to stop the name calling," the letter stated.
• Abusive Ex-Priest Once Served In New Hampshire [1950s - 1967 + Landry] -- RCC. Boys.
   TheWMURChannel.com ; www.thewmurchannel.com/news/3619290/detail.html , POSTED: 10:17 am EDT, August 5, 2004
   DEDHAM, Mass. -- A former priest who pleaded guilty this week to molestation charges in Massachusetts previously admitted similar crimes in New Hampshire.
   Leo Landry, 74, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Massachusetts to sexually abusing two boys there in the late 1950s. He was immediately sentenced to lifetime probation in a deal approved by the victims, who said their goal was to see Landry admit the abuse.
   Landry, who was living in Colorado as of June, left the priesthood in 1972 after 12 years, including service at New Hampshire parishes from 1965 to 1970.
   Landry was interviewed by the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office as part of a massive investigation of sexually abusive priests two years ago. In documents the prosecutors released in March 2003, they said he admitted to numerous sexual encounters with teenage boys.
   Top New Hampshire church officials were aware of at least some of the misconduct, Landry told prosecutors.
   In one 1967 episode, he said he was summoned by then-Bishop Ernest Primeau to answer a woman's complaint that he had been seen having sex with her son at the family's lakeside camp in Milton, N.H. The 13- or 14-year-old was an altar boy at Holy Trinity parish in Somersworth, N.H., where Landry was assigned in 1965-66.
• Ex-priest is top suspect in boy's murder [1972 Lavigne] -- RCC.
   Catholic World News, www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=31308 , Aug. 05, 2004
   BOSTON, Massachusetts (CWNews.com) - Massachusetts police records support a prosecutor's theory that a defrocked Catholic priest murdered an altar boy in 1972, Boston media outlets have reported.
   In over 2,000 pages of previously sealed material, which was released on orders from the state's Supreme Judicial Court, reporters learned why police in western Massachusetts have always considered Richard Lavigne, a former priest, as the principal suspect in the murder of Daniel Croteau. Prosecutors are still searching for conclusive evidence regarding the death of Croteau, a 13-year-old boy whose battered body was discovered floating in the Chicopee River.
   The unsealed records depict Lavigne, who was then a priest of the Springfield diocese, as an intimidating man, who abused boys and threatened to kill them and harm their families if they reported the abuse. One police witness-- whose name was deleted from the records-- said that Daniel Croteau had returned the threats, saying that he would report Lavigne's sexual misconduct.
   Witnesses also reported that Lavigne had given alcoholic drinks to boys before molesting them. Daniel Croteau's blood-alcohol level was well above the legal definition of intoxication when his body was recovered.
   Richard Lavigne was convicted of sexual abuse of children in 1992. However, he remained a priest of the Springfield diocese until he was finally laicized last November.
   Diocesan officials in Springfield reportedly destroyed all clergy-personnel records in the late 1970s. #
• State could face €600m bill for child abuse -- RCC.

   One in Four organisation, www.oneinfour.org/news/news2004/billca , By Liam Reid
   IRELAND: The State is facing a compensation and legal bill relating to child abuse at orphanages and industrial schools of more than €600 million, figures from the official State compensation scheme have suggested.
   According to figures released by the Residential Institutions Redress Board, between 6,500 and 7,000 former residents are now expected to claim compensation through the scheme. However, the board has warned that this could be an underestimate of the final numbers who eventually make claims.
   According to the latest figures from the Department of Education and Science, less than one fifth of the total number of expected applications have now been processed. The board has already made awards in excess of 100 million, and should the current level of awards continue, payments will exceed 600 million.
   The new figures have led to renewed criticisms from Opposition politicians about how the Government handled the scheme.
• Abuse victims get cool reception -- RCC.

   Seattle Post-Intelligencer, http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/184947_victims05.html , By JOSEPH B. FRAZIER, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
   PORTLAND (OR): Victims of priest abuse got a lukewarm reception yesterday when they passed out leaflets to a handful of worshippers at noon Mass, urging them to see the issue from the victims' point of view.
   Many refused the leaflets. "I don't want to get involved in any of this," said one woman as she climbed the steps to the 110-year-old Holy Rosary Church in northeast Portland.
   "Why are you at this church?" parishioner Andre Hesser asked. "Why don't you go down to the cathedral? This is the holiest of churches."
   "It was in the holiest of churches that we were raped and abused," said Barbara Blaine, 48, of Chicago, president of the Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.
   "How do I know who you are?" asked another man who took a leaflet, folded it and agreed to pray for abuse victims.
   [COMMENT: So, the bulk of the parishioners there prefer to believe in the goodness of an institution which has trained, hidden, and is still transferring, criminal clergy -- wolves in sheep's clothing. COMMENT ENDS.]
• Priest to plead guilty in sex case [1990s Palathingal] -- RCC. Kept in ministry for years after exposure.
   Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, www.jsonline.com/news/metro/aug04/248859.asp , By TOM HEINEN, theinen@journalsentinel.com , Posted Aug. 4, 2004
   MILWAUKEE (WI): Father Simon Palathingal, a religious-order priest accused of sexually assaulting a boy in Milwaukee in the early 1990s, has reached an agreement to enter a guilty plea, a Milwaukee County assistant district attorney said in court Wednesday.
   After Palathingal waived his right to a preliminary hearing before Milwaukee County Circuit Court Commissioner Dennis Cimpl, Assistant District Attorney Gale Shelton told Cimpl that an agreement had been reached to resolve the case.
   No details of the oral agreement were released, and action was not taken on it Wednesday because such guilty pleas must be made before a Circuit Court judge rather than a court commissioner. The plea is expected to be scheduled at an Aug. 17 appearance before Circuit Judge Karen Christenson.
   Palathingal's accuser, Nick Janovsky, 23, told Cimpl in court that he supported the agreement.
   Afterward, Janovsky expressed frustration that Palathingal had been able to continue in ministry in other states for years. That happened because a civil suit against the priest was dismissed after a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision in the mid-1990s barred victims of child sexual abuse from suing the church, he said.
• Archdiocese loses land ruling [2004 Archdiocese of Portland] -- RCC. $US 307m plus 61 more lawsuits.
   The Oregonian, www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/109170762347150.xml , By STEVE WOODWARD, Thursday, August 05, 2004
   PORTLAND (OR): U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris sided Wednesday with the plaintiffs in priest sex-abuse cases in allowing them to pursue their claim that the Archdiocese of Portland is the true owner of an estimated $500 million in real estate, cash and investments.
   The Roman Catholic archdiocese contends that it is merely the trustee for the property, nearly all of which it says really belongs to its 124 parishes in Western Oregon.
   The judge gave the plaintiffs until Aug. 18 to file a legal action in bankruptcy court seeking a ruling on the property's actual owner. If the judge rules that the property belongs to the archdiocese rather than the parishes, the property will become available to pay claims to abuse victims who have so far asked for $307 million.
   That figure is sure to rise by millions. An additional 41 abuse cases against the archdiocese have not yet sought specific dollar amounts, according to filings by the archdiocese. Moreover, an additional 20 lawsuits are waiting to be filed, according to testimony in the Bankruptcy Court hearing Wednesday.
   The number of unknown future lawsuits -- and how to pay claims -- is one of the key issues in the bankruptcy case.
   Thomas Stilley, an attorney for the archdiocese, had sought the judge's approval to negotiate settlements for present and future lawsuits first, before tackling the issue of the archdiocese's property ownership.
   The size of the settlements, he told Perris, might be small enough for the archdiocese to pay out of its own assets and proceeds from insurance policies. That might eliminate the need for litigation over property ownership, he said.
• Mediation continues in priest abuse lawsuit [Diocese of Covington] -- RCC.
   The Cincinnati Post, www.cincypost.com/2004/08/05/dioc080504.html , By Bob Driehaus, August 5, 2004
   COVINGTON (KY): The judge overseeing a class action lawsuit alleging decades of sexual abuse against children by priests of the Diocese of Covington delayed a pretrial hearing in the case until September, as attorneys for both sides expressed optimism they can reach a settlement.
   The hearing had been scheduled for Wednesday, but Special Judge John Potter reset it for Sept. 20 at the request of the plaintiffs and the diocese.
   Trial of the suit was rescheduled to Jan. 10 from Oct. 25, but both sides said they hope that the case will be settled before then.
   "The parties remain hopeful that all of the claims can be resolved through the mediation process and without further litigation and request the court's indulgence while the mediation continues," the motion said.
   Carrie Huff, attorney for the diocese, declined comment Wednesday.
• Levco wants diocesan files on priest [2004 Traylor] -- RCC. Porn while child in the room.
   Courier & Press, www.courierpress.com/ecp/news/article/0,1626,ECP_734_3088011,00.html , By PHILIP ELLIOTT and BRYAN CORBIN, 461-0783 or elliottp@courierpress.com 464-7449 or corbinb@courierpress.com ; August 5, 2004
   EVANSVILLE (IN): The Vanderburgh County prosecutor said Wednesday he has requested the results of a Diocese of Evansville investigation into the priest accused of viewing pornographic videos while a child was in the room.
   County Prosecutor Stan Levco said he asked to see the results of the diocese's internal investigation of the Rev. William A. Traylor.
   A Catholic priest serving at St. Theresa and St. Joseph parishes, Traylor has been removed temporarily from active ministry while undergoing treatment.
   "We've been in contact with the Catholic Church. I'm going to get the results of their investigation and I want to review it," Levco said.
   At Levco's instruction, deputy prosecutor Jonathan Parkhurst called the diocese's attorney, David V. Miller, who agreed to provide the results, Levco said.
   "It's rather unusual for me to even take this step," Levco said, noting that police agencies usually bring investigations to the prosecutor. "Having read the article in the paper (Tuesday, about Traylor's removal), I wanted to see what the investigation showed," Levco said.
   Miller said he hasn't talked in detail with Parkhurst about the request, but said they are scheduled to meet today. He declined further comment.
• Teen's threat preceded his death, unsealed statement says [1972 Lavigne] -- RCC. Slapped another child to the floor.
   Boston Globe, www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/08/05/teens_threat_preceded_his _death_unsealed_statement_says ; By Kevin Cullen, August 5, 2004
   SPRINGFIELD (MA) -- Four or five years before he was killed, Daniel Croteau, a 13-year-old altar boy whose bludgeoned body was found floating in the Chicopee River in 1972, threatened a former priest who is the prime suspect in his murder by yelling, "I'll tell, I'll tell," according to a witness account unsealed yesterday.
   The account, given to police in May 1993 by an unidentified peer of the dead boy, is the first one made public that bolsters the contention of his family that Danny Croteau was killed because he was threatening to expose the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of Richard R. Lavigne.
   The account was among about 2,035 pages of previously impounded material unsealed here yesterday by order of the Supreme Judicial Court.
   Croteau's friend said Lavigne, a convicted child molester who was defrocked as a priest last year, was threatened by Croteau with some unspecified sort of exposure after the priest joined a group of boys, including Croteau's brothers, in teasing Danny on an overnight camping trip in Goshen in 1967 or 1968.
   "More than once Danny threatened Lavigne with the words, 'I'll tell! I'll tell,' " the witness said in a statement to Trooper Thomas J. Daly. "This had an obvious effect on Lavigne. He began to pay more attention to Danny and ordered us to stop the name-calling.
   He also showed a change of behavior because of the threats. At one point, Danny and I were vying for Lavigne's attention when I pushed him to the floor. Lavigne reacted violently by slapping me across the face so hard that it knocked me to the floor.
• Ex-priest pleads guilty to abuse at seminary [1958-59 Landry] -- RCC. Stigmatine.
   Boston Globe, www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/08/05/ex_priest_pleads_guilty_ to_abuse ; By Matt Carroll, August 5, 2004
   DEDHAM (MA) -- Leo P. Landry, a former Stigmatine priest, pleaded guilty yesterday to sexually abusing two male teens in 1958 and 1959 and was sentenced to a lifetime of probation.
   The sentencing in Norfolk County Superior Court helped close a chapter in the lives of the two former seminarians who were abused on the grounds of Elm Bank seminary in Wellesley, a nearly idyllic spot for study and spiritual growth that became what one victim called a "hunter's lodge" where Landry was "among the lead predators."
   A number of conditions were also placed on Landry, who has also admitted abusing young teen males in New Hampshire and been sued there. Landry must not contact the two victims or have unsupervised contact with children, he must register as a sex offender in Colorado, where he now lives, and he must submit a DNA sample.
   Landry, 74, was charged with indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14 and two counts of indecent assault and battery on children over the age of 14. He left the Stigmatines, a small Catholic order, in 1972.
   There was no trial, because the sentence was the result of a plea bargain. During the hearing, he did not appear to look directly at either victim. When one of the victims, John Vellante of North Andover, read an impact statement, Landry kept his eyes lowered to a copy of the text.
   Landry did look at a poster board picture Vellante held up, showing him as an eighth-grader wearing a bow tie. Vellante said this was how he looked when he entered the Stigmatines' now-defunct Elm Bank minor seminary for high school boys in 1958.
   "I was 13, away from home for the first time, and very naive," said Vellante, a former Boston Globe employee. "You, Mr. Landry, were my spiritual counselor and took full advantage of that position of power."
• Former priest target of $2.5 million suit [1990s-2002 Tressic] -- RCC. Male.
   Troy Record, www.troyrecord.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=12617050&BRD=1170&PAG= 461&dept_id=7021&rfi=6 ; By Robert Cristo, Aug/05/2004
   ALBANY (NY) - A former Gloversville priest who recently stepped down from the ministry and dropped extortion charges against a former male prostitute he befriended is now the focus of $2.5 million civil suit lodged against the Albany Diocese.
   The 64-page suit filed by attorney John Aretakis, who represents numerous alleged victims of clergy sex abuse, includes allegations that Rev. David Tressic sexually abused Steven Hall, 33, of Cortland, as an adult over a three-year period, as well as accusations against the diocese.
   According to Aretakis, the suit was filed Wednesday with the U.S. District Court Northern District of New York.
   "I've made mistakes in my life - I'm no angel, but to be raped, sodomized and deceived is illegal at any age," said Hall during a press conference at the Albany County Courthouse. "You (Tressic) said you wanted to be my father, but you were a sick man who needed help."
   Tressic, 61, quietly resigned as pastor at Sacred Heart Church in Gloversville in July following two years of claims from Hall that the priest had inappropriate sex with him during the late 1990s and up to 2002.
• Archdiocese's request to move courts denied -- RCC. ~$US 500m assets.
   Statesman Journal, http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=84637 , By WILLIAM MCCALL, The Associated Press, August 5, 2004
   PORTLAND (OR): The first Roman Catholic archdiocese in the nation to file for bankruptcy argued Wednesday that 80 claims of sexual abuse at the hands of priests should be moved to another court to decide how much victims are owed.
   But U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris ruled that the Archdiocese of Portland still must determine how much it is worth, no matter which federal judge hears the case.
   Attorneys for alleged victims estimate the total assets of the archdiocese to be worth about $500 million - $100 million in cash and investments, and $400 million in property.
   The archdiocese sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection July 6, setting the stage for what could become the first ruling in U.S. history on how far the courts can go to ensure that the Catholic Church pays damages for sexual abuse by its priests.
   On Wednesday, attorneys for the archdiocese said that they plan to shift jurisdiction away from Perris and ask that another federal judge with authority over both criminal and civil cases decide each abuse claim to help settle the bankruptcy claim.
   Alleged victims have filed about 60 abuse claims and 20 others are pending, estimates by Perris and attorneys for both sides show.
   Thomas Stilley, one of the archdiocese attorneys, said moving the cases to U.S. District Court would allow the most efficient resolution of all claims.
• State Releases Papers In Altar Boy Murder Probe [1972, 1992] -- RCC.
   TheBostonChannel.com ; www.thebostonchannel.com/news/3618812/detail.html , 7:13 am EDT, August 5, 2004
   SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Four years before his murder, Danny Croteau appeared ready, under teasing, to reveal a parish priest's secret, a childhood friend told police.
   The seeming threat sparked a violent reaction from the priest, and the friend said he figured he knew what the secret was after he was sexually assaulted by the priest the same night.
   The friend's statement, given to investigators in 1993, was among more than 2,000 pages of documents in the unsolved 1972 murder of the 13-year-old altar boy that were released Wednesday.
   The state's highest court last week ordered the records made public, saying that after more than 30 years there was no longer a good reason to keep the documents under seal.
   Defrocked pedophile priest Richard R. Lavigne, who pleaded guilty to molesting two other altar boys in 1992, remains the only publicly identified suspect in the case. He was removed from the priesthood last year. [Emphasis added]
• Documents show pathological playboy priest [1972 Lavigne] -- RCC.
   Boston Herald, http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=38608 , By Thomas Caywood and Marie Szaniszlo, Thursday, August 5, 2004
   SPRINGFIELD (MA): Thousands of pages of previously secret documents about an altar boy's unsolved 1972 murder portray a former Hampden County priest as not only a suspect in the case, but also a child molester who threatened his victims and their families to ensure their silence.
   In at least one case, Richard Lavigne used communion wine as the alcohol he served up to the altar boys in a church chalice, according to some of the 2,035 pages of court records released yesterday.
   Defrocked by the Vatican in November and sentenced to 10 years probation after pleading guilty to molesting two boys in 1992, Lavigne remains the only publicly identified suspect in the bludgeoning death of 13-year-old Daniel Croteau, who had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit for driving when his body was found on the banks of the Chicopee River.
   In 1991, Stephen R. Burnett of Springfield told police that while he was an altar boy with Croteau, they took rides in Lavigne's convertible.
   "He acted like a playboy," Burnett said of the priest. "I do remember there were Playboy magazines in the convertible under the driver's seat. Father Lavigne gave them to us to look at and in fact encouraged it." [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:34 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Thu August 05, 2004
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont91.htm
• Pell tells abuse accuser to go to police. [Salesians] -- RCC.

   CathNews, Australia, www.cathnews.com/news/408/25.php , Aug 5, 2004
   SYDNEY, NSW, Australia: Sydney's Cardinal George Pell has urged a Melbourne man who alleges he was brutalised at the Salesians' Rupertswood College at Sunbury outside Melbourne, to seek justice through the police or church processes in Victoria.
   The Age today quotes Cardinal Pell's assurance that the allegations are "taken most seriously" and told the alleged victim, author and lateral thinker Michael Hewitt-Gleeson, to contact him if he needed help.
   Pell instituted procedures to deal with abuse by Catholic priests and other church employees when he was archbishop of Melbourne.
   In a statement to The Age on Monday, Dr Hewitt-Gleeson attacked the Salesian order of priests and brothers, which operates Rupertswood, for the physical violence inflicted upon him starting when he was aged eight. He sent a copy of his statement to Cardinal Pell, to the papal ambassador, the Apostolic Nuncio, and to the Provincial of the Salesians in Australia, Fr Ian Murdoch, detailing the alleged abuse.
   Cardinal Pell, in an email to Dr Hewitt-Gleeson, said he had no jurisdiction over the Salesian order and urged him to enter the Catholic Church's Towards Healing process in Victoria, which deals with abuse claims, or go to the police.
   The Age says Dr Hewitt-Gleeson said he thanked the Cardinal for his advice and would consider it, although he did not intend to refer the matter to the police.
   SOURCE: Cardinal Pell urges use of police (The Age 5/8/04)
   LINKS
Order must talk on abuse: author (The Age 2/8/04)
Towards Healing
Salesian College Rupertswood
Another top Salesian speaks to The Age (CathNews 21/7/04)
Salesians ponder big picture (The Age 20/7/04)
Salesian provincial speaks on sex-abuse scandal (Catholic World News 19/7/04)
Mission to defrock sex abuser (The Age 19/7/04)
Salesian Provincial breaks silence on sex abuse (CathNews 19/7/04)
Salesian principal faces abuse claim (CathNews 15/7/04)
Allegation causes principal to stand aside (ABC North & West SA 14/7/04)
Salesian priest leaves Samoa (CathNews 9/7/04)
Salesian Works in Samoa: Moamoa Theological College
Convicted priest continues direct contact with children (Samoa News/Tala Nei News) #
HAVE YOUR SAY   Click here [Aug 5, 04]
• Salesian Order Has Been Exposed As Sending Sex-Abusers To The Poor. -- RCC.

Letter sent to Apostolic Nuncio (Pope's representative) Archbishop Francesco Canalini, PO Box 3633, Manuka (Canberra) ACT 2603, Australia, August 5, 2004
AUSTRALIA: [Wording almost the same, with necessary amendments, as that later sent to The Age, Melbourne, on Aug. 7, shown below under heading "Salesians ought to take author Hewitt-Gleeson's advice"] [Aug 5, 04]
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont91.htm
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Fri August 06, 2004 edition follows:-
• Documents in altar boy's killing reveal broad investigation, but no 'smoking gun' [1972] -- RCC.

   Telegram & Gazette, www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040806/APN/408060900 , By TRUDY TYNAN, Associated Press Writer
   SPRINGFIELD, Mass.- Recently released documents in the 1972 murder of 13-year-old altar boy Danny Croteau reveal an extensive police investigation spanning decades.
   But it's also clear that investigators were never able to develop anything more than circumstantial evidence against their chief suspect, now-defrocked pedophile priest Richard Lavigne.
   "I was astonished at the depth and breadth of the investigation," said John Stobierski, who, with The Republican newspaper in Springfield, had sued to force the release of more than 2,000 pages of documents. "There is much, much more there than I had ever imagined."
   But, "they don't have the smoking gun," said Stobierski, who represents two dozen people who say they were sexually abused by Lavigne.
   The state's highest court ordered the records made public, saying that after more than 30 years there was no longer a good reason to keep the documents under seal.
   Still, among all the more than 2,000 pages of documents released Wednesday, there is no answer as to who beat Croteau to death on the banks of the Chicopee River in April 1972. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 06:56 PM]
• Larson denied parole until his release date [1980s] -- RCC.
   The Wichita Eagle, www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/9338591.htm
   WICHITA (KS): The Kansas Parole Board has denied parole for Robert Larson, the former priest who admitted molesting several youths while he was pastor at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Newton in the mid-1980s.
   The board denied parole to Larson until the day state law mandates that he must be released from prison: half his maximum sentence, which translates to March 29, 2006.
• Evansville priest begins 'intensive' therapy program [2004 Traylor] -- RCC.
   Indianapolis Star, www.indystar.com/articles/7/168223-4697-102.html , Associated Press, August 6, 2004
   EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- A Roman Catholic priest confessed in a letter to his congregations that he used a parish computer to view pornographic material on the Web and has begun an "intensive" therapy program.
   Meanwhile, the Catholic Diocese of Evansville has turned over all of its internal findings on the Rev. William Traylor, Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Stan Levco said today.
   Traylor, 54, left his duties as pastor of two Evansville dioceses last month after being caught viewing online pornography during a summer social at St. Joseph Catholic Church. A minor was present in the same room, separated from the priest by a partition.
   In the letter read at Masses last weekend at St. Joseph and St. Theresa Churches and mailed Thursday to 1,200 households in the two parishes, Traylor said Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger met jointly July 23 with both parish councils.
   "At that time he informed them that I had been observed in the Parish Offices of St. Joseph misusing a parish computer by accessing an inappropriate adult website," said the letter, which the Evansville Courier & Press obtained and posted on its Web site today.
• Visiting priest removed from Boston parish [2004 Pereppadan] -- RCC.

   Herald Tribune, www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20040806/APN/408060994 ; The Associated Press, August 6, 2004
   BOSTON (MA): A visiting priest from India studying in the Boston Archdiocese has been removed from public ministry after being accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with a parishioner under 18.
   The Rev. Varghese Pereppadan of the diocese of Irinjalakuda, India, had been allowed to perform priestly duties at Our Lady of the Presentation Parish in Boston's Brighton neighborhood, according to the archdiocese.
   He has had those privileges revoked and has been removed from the parish residence.
   Civil authorities have been informed of the allegation, which were reported to the archdiocese last week, and church officials are cooperating with the investigation.
• Judge: Priest Abuse Case To Continue [1995 Hopkins] -- RCC. Church has already paid compensation.

   CBS 3, http://kyw.com/Local%20News/local_story_219151928.html , 3:18 pm US/Eastern, Aug 6, 2004
   CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) The prosecution of a former Roman Catholic priest charged with sexually assaulting a young parishioner in 1995 can continue, a judge ruled Friday.
   A lawyer for James Hopkins argued that the aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child charges against his client should have been thrown out. The lawyer, Robert Rosenberg, said the charges exceeded a New Jersey statute of limitations and that authorities violated Florida wiretap laws in their investigation.
   Superior Court Judge Linda G. Baxter disagreed and set the next pretrial hearing in the case for Sept. 10.
   Hopkins, who was retired and living in Stuart, Fla., was arrested last year. The former priest and the Camden Diocese had previously settled a lawsuit filed by the family of his alleged victim.
• Federal grand jury indicts disbarred lawyer in priest abuse fraud [Ex-lawyer: Smolka] -- defrauding the RCC.
   KGW, www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D849U0SO1.html , By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI, Associated Press, Aug/06/2004
   PORTLAND (OR): A disbarred Virginia lawyer tried to make a false claim of sexual abuse against a now-deceased Catholic priest who has been at the center of the priest abuse scandal in Oregon, according to an indictment filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office on Friday.
   The indictment charges that Thomas E. Smolka, 57, attempted to defraud the Portland Archdiocese by claiming he had been abused as a child in Oregon by the late Rev. Maurice Grammond.
   Grammond stands accused of abusing more than 50 children in several different Oregon parishes and is at the center of lawsuits filed against the Catholic institution.
   Smolka, a former Virginia Beach lawyer, fled that state a year ago after pleading guilty in Richmond to federal charges that he defrauded 17 clients out of at least $110,000 by taking their retainer, but failing to deliver legal services.
   U.S. Marshals arrested him on a federal fugitive warrant at his apartment in Portland's Pearl District on March 24. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Peifer said that during a search of his apartment, documents were found showing Smolka had tried to pass himself off as a victim of sex abuse in hopes of cashing in on a lawsuit.
• Archbishop John Vlazny in court for bankruptcy hearing today -- RCC.
   KATU, www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=69909
   PORTLAND, ORE. - While abuse victims and those supporting them held a candlelight vigil outside the federal courthouse this morning, Archbishop John Vlazny from the Archdiocese of Portland was inside for a bankruptcy hearing.
   The Archdiocese of Portland became the first in the nation to file for bankruptcy protection because of the escalating cost of abuse claims this year.
   The hearing was designed to find out what assets the Archdiocese of Portland has and start a process to come up with a plan to pay settlements to victims of sexual abuse by a priest.
   Meanwhile, abuse victims and others held candles outside the courthouse, some of whom believe the Archdiocese is using bankruptcy to avoid revealing how abuse by priests have been covered up.
   "It's not fair to the victims. They have the funds to finance the psychological help that these people are going to need," Steven Colvin, an abuse victim, told KATU News.
• Diocese Releases Bill Amount -- RCC. $US 2.2m
   Fox 23, www.fox23news.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=E3C72B4C-8FFF-4AE8-9E09-D26928DDDF34
   ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The Albany Catholic Diocese says the investigation by a former federal prosecutor that cleared Bishop Howard Hubbard of sex-abuse allegations will cost 2.2 million dollars.
   The bill from ex-U.S. attorney Mary Jo White and her team of investigators and attorneys will be paid from a diocese self-insurance fund.
   Officials tell the Albany Times Union the fund is supported by assessments on all 178 parishes in the 14-county diocese and by interest income.
   The four-month investigation, which included hundreds of interviews, several lie-detector tests and review of thousands of documents, found no evidence Hubbard had ever even broken his vows of celibacy.
• Detroit priest arraigned on sexual abuse charges [2004 De Alba] -- RCC.
   Detroit Free Press, www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw102384_20040806.htm , 6:58 PM, August 6, 2004
   DETROIT (MI) (AP) -- A Roman Catholic priest accused of fondling a 7-year-old was arraigned Friday on criminal sexual conduct charges.
   The Rev. Luis Javier de Alba Campos, 49, pleaded innocent through an interpreter to two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. De Alba, a Mexican citizen, had been serving as pastor of St. Gabriel Parish in Detroit since February.
   Second-degree criminal sexual conduct carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, the Wayne County prosecutor's office said. A magistrate set a personal bond of $40,000 for Alba, with the condition that he not have any contact with St. Gabriel's parishioners or any minors.
   The Archdiocese of Detroit announced July 4 that it had removed de Alba from the parish and banned him from public ministry in the archdiocese after learning of the investigation against him.
• Portland archbishop testifies in federal court -- RCC.
   KGW, www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_080604_news_vlazny_court_.4e9e0bd9.html , By TERESA BELL, Aug 6, 2004
   PORTLAND (OR): Testifying in federal court in Portland Friday morning, Archbishop John Vlazny said the Roman Catholic church in western Oregon has not made any changes in its daily operations after declaring bankruptcy.
   The Portland-based Archdiocese of Western Oregon became the first in the nation to file for bankruptcy protection because of the escalating cost of abuse claims this year.
   Vlazny spoke before federal trustees in court, to explain the financial operation of the archdiocese. He also answered questions about the long list of assets held by the church -- mostly real estate and other property.
   The hearing is one of many that will be held to decide just how much the church can pay to settle claims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Oregon. Some of the cases may still have to go to trial before any final settlement is reached.
• Diocese giving police its files [2004 Traylor] -- RCC.
   Courier & Press, By BRYAN CORBIN, (812) 464-7449 or corbinb@courierpress.com , August 6, 2004
   EVANSVILLE (IN): Evansville police are investigating a complaint that a priest viewed a pornographic Web site while a child was in the room, and the Diocese of Evansville is turning over results of its internal investigation of the incident to police.
   "We have been in the process of doing that today (Thursday), and that process will continue until it's completed," diocese attorney David V. Miller said.
   The Rev. William A. Traylor, a Catholic priest serving at St. Theresa and St. Joseph parishes, temporarily was removed from active ministry after the alleged incident. Traylor was accused of viewing a pornographic Web-based film clip July 10 on a computer at the St. Joseph parish while a child was in the room, on the other side of a partition.
   After speaking to Vanderburgh County Deputy Prosecutor Jonathan Parkhurst on Thursday, Miller agreed to turn over to police all documents and materials from the diocese's investigation of the incident.
• Archbishop to meet with trustees in federal court -- RCC.
   KATU, www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=69901
   PORTLAND, ORE. - Archbishop John Vlazny is scheduled to testify in federal court in Portland this morning regarding the bankruptcy filing that affects victims' abuse lawsuits.
   The Portland-based Archdiocese of Western Oregon became the first in the nation to file for bankruptcy protection because of the escalating cost of abuse claims this year.
   Vlazny is testifying in front of trustees at the federal courthouse.
• Priest back in court [1990s Superiaso] -- RCC.
   San Francisco Examiner, www.sfexaminer.com/article/index.cfm/i/080604n_priest , By Sabrina Crawford, Friday, August 6, 2004
   DALY CITY (CA) -- The case against a 50-year-old Catholic priest facing charges that he allegedly molested a 12-year-old Daly City girl in the mid-1990s hit yet another snag yesterday that could ultimately delay his trail.
   Jose Superiaso, a former priest at St. Andrew Catholic Church on Southgate Avenue in Daly City, has been charged with 24 counts of committing lewd or lascivious acts with a minor under age 14 on multiple occasions from July 1994 to November 1995.
   After Superiaso appeared in three different courtrooms, Judge Craig Parsons ordered hearings for arguments on whether, as the defense contends, charges filed against the priest exceeded the statute of limitations and should therefore be dropped or postponed.
   The hearing is currently scheduled for Aug. 12 at 8:30 a.m. At that time, Superiaso is also scheduled to enter a not guilty plea.
• Indictment Paints Picture Of Career Con Artist [Ex-lawyer: Smolka] -- defrauding the RCC.
   KATU, www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=69900 , By Shannon L. Cheesman
   PORTLAND , Ore. - A scheme to make a false claim against the Archdiocese of Portland for alleged sexual abuse is one of several fraud charges 57-year-old Thomas Edward Smolka faces after a federal grand jury indictment in Portland.
   Smolka, who was wanted in Virginia, was arrested earlier this year on a federal fugitive warrant at his apartment in the Pearl District.
   He is a disbarred Virginia attorney who pleaded guilty last year to scamming 17 of his clients out of thousands of dollars.
   At the time, the courts allowed Smolka to return to his home in New Mexico, but the 57-year-old instead disappeared.
   He was found living in Portland earlier this year and was extradited back to Virginia.
• Detroit priest charged with sexual abuse [2004 de Alba] -- RCC.
   Detroit Free Press, www.freep.com/news/latestnews/pm21032_20040806.htm , ASSOCIATED PRESS, Friday, August 6, 2004
   DETROIT (MI): A Roman Catholic priest accused of fondling a 7-year-old has been charged with criminal sexual conduct.
   The Rev. Luis Javier de Alba Campos, 49, was to be arraigned Friday on two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, the Wayne County prosecutor's office said. De Alba, a Mexican citizen, had been serving as pastor of St. Gabriel Parish in Detroit since February.
   Second-degree criminal sexual conduct carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.
   The Archdiocese of Detroit announced July 4 that it had removed de Alba from the parish and banned him from public ministry in the archdiocese after learning of the investigation against him.
• Religious unlikely to release names, says spokesperson -- RCC. 43 perpetrators' names.
   Milwaukee Catholic Herald, www.chnonline.org/2004-08-05/newsstory1.html , By Maryangela Layman Román, Catholic Herald Staff
   ST. FRANCIS, WISCONSIN - In an e-mailed letter July 9, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan encouraged superiors of religious orders of men to make public the names of members of their communities who have substantiated allegations of abuse against children. On the same day, the Milwaukee Archdiocese made public a list of 43 names of diocesan priests, living and deceased, with substantiated allegations of abuse.
   But according to a national spokesman for major superiors of men, it’s unlikely any religious orders of men will follow suit and release names of men in their communities with substantiated allegations of abuse.
   It’s not, however an unwillingness to cooperate or an effort to shield their members, said Marist Fr. Ted Keating, executive director of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men based in Silver Spring, Md., but rather their approach to protecting children while protecting the rights of the accused.
   The Conference of Major Superiors of Men, known as CMSM, is an umbrella group for 317 religious communities in the United States, and according to Fr. Keating, it has discussed the release of names often. Yet, they’ve come to the conclusion it’s not a good idea.
• Local pastor charged with indecent exposure [2004 Ford] -- Baptist.
   WATE, www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=2140355 , By TIM MILLER, 6 News Anchor/Reporter, August 5, 2004
   KNOXVILLE (TN) (WATE) -- A former Anderson County pastor is in trouble with the law after allegedly exposing himself to a teenage girl.
   According to a criminal summons, the incident happened on July 15 at the Exxon gas station on Merchants Drive. The victim told sheriff's investigators she was parking her car when Myron Lee Ford, 39, motioned for her to roll down her window.
   The girl said Ford told her she was beautiful and started asking personal questions. She also claims Ford exposed himself and committed a lewd act. The girl was able to write down his license plate number before leaving the parking lot.
   Ford was arrested and charged with indecent exposure, a misdemeanor. The criminal summons shows that Ford lives in Heiskell.
   A member of Piney Grove Baptist Church in Anderson County who wanted to remain anonymous told 6 News Ford was the pastor of the church for about a year. She said that shortly after the incident, an announcement was made after a Sunday church service that he had resigned because of personal problems.
• Sentinel takes it a story at a time -- RCC.
   The Tribune, www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=25564 , By JON BELL, The Tribune, Issue date: Fri, Aug 6, 2004
   PORTLAND (OR): The Catholic Sentinel is in a unique position in the media, having to report on scandals in its own ranks while remaining a voice for the church.
   As the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Portland and the Diocese of Baker and the oldest Catholic newspaper on the West Coast, it has not shied away from covering the archdiocese’s filing for bankruptcy to help brace against pending sex abuse lawsuits.
   In fact, the paper’s July 9 edition not only carried details of the case and much of Archbishop John Vlazny’s news conference but also included one of the church’s critics protesting outside the event. The Portland man, who had a claim pending against a priest in another abuse case, said he was there "for victims all over the U.S."
   The Northeast Portland-based paper has since run several stories per edition, either staff-generated or from the Catholic News Service in Washington, D.C., about the bankruptcy.
   "When things are negative, they pretty well spell it out," archdiocese spokesman Bud Bunce said of the Sentinel, which has a weekly circulation of about 16,300. "It just pretty well lays out the things in a very factual basis: If we are being sued, this is what the lawsuit says, this is the response of the archdiocese."
• Priest's case set aside without plea [2004 Coleman] -- Anglican.

   CBC, http://nb.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=nb_priest040805 , Aug 5, 2004
   SAINT JOHN, CANADA - The court case involving Ed Coleman, an Anglican priest from Hampton, has been adjourned until the end of August. Coleman is accused of trying to pay a minor for sex.
   Coleman was scheduled to enter a plea in provincial court in Sussex Thursday morning.
   But his defense lawyer said he needed more time to examine the Crown's file. The case has been set aside until August 26.
   Coleman is well known in New Brunswick as a painter. His impressionistic images of Atlantic Canada have been in high demand at local galleries.
• Court date delayed for N.B. priest [2004 Coleman] -- Anglican.
   Canada.com ; www.canada.com/maritimes/news/story.html?id=259b016a-1a4c-4bd7-ae96- 0b96677b3006 , August 6, 2004
   SUSSEX, N.B., CANADA -- The case of a New Brunswick priest accused of trying to pay a minor for sex has been adjourned until later this month.
   Reverend Edward Coleman is the parish priest at St. Paul's Anglican Church in Hampton.
   He was charged after an alleged incident involving a young male in a church parking lot in Midland.
   Coleman has since taken leave from his church duties.
• Monk admits child porn download [? 2004 O'Keefe] -- RCC.

   BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/somerset/3542008.stm
   BRITAIN: A monk and ex-teacher has pleaded guilty to downloading child porn from the internet.
   Desmond O'Keefe, 39, of Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, admitted 16 counts of making indecent photographs of children.
   He also admitted two counts of making indecent pseudo photographs of children, at Bristol Crown Court.
   He was ordered to sign the sex offenders' register and given unconditional bail until sentencing.
• Priest Admits Downloading Child Porn [1997-04 O’Keefe] -- RCC.
   The Scotsman, http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3302994 , By Helen Morgan, PA News
   BRITAIN: A Catholic priest and former teacher today admitted downloading child pornography from the internet.
   Desmond O’Keefe, 39, of Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Radstock, Somerset, pleaded guilty to 16 counts of making indecent photographs of children and two of making indecent pseudo photographs of children, at Bristol Crown Court.
   The dates of the offences range from 1997 to 2004.
   O’Keefe, a monk, wore glasses and a suit at the hearing. He used to teach at Downside Abbey more than six years ago and still lives in the community.
   The abbey teaches boys and girls between the ages of nine and 18 and charges up to more than £6,000 per term for boarders.
• Trial date set for priest accused of killing nun [1980 Robinson] -- RCC.

   Toledo Blade, www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20040806/NEWS02/408060382/-1/NEWS , Aug 6, 2004
   TOLEDO (OH): Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Patrick Foley set a trial date yesterday for the Roman Catholic priest accused of the 1980 murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl in the former Mercy Hospital.
   The Rev. Gerald Robinson will go on trial for aggravated murder Feb. 22. Judge Foley set the date after discussing the progress made by prosecutors in giving discovery evidence to the priest's team of defense attorneys.
   "As far as I am concerned, that is a firm date," Judge Foley said.
   Father Robinson, 66, who was not present for the hearing, has pleaded not guilty of choking to death and stabbing Sister Margaret Ann in the hospital.
   Her body was found April 5, 1980, in the sacristy of a chapel. She was strangled, then stabbed up to 32 times in what investigators called a ceremonial killing.
   A semiretired Toledo diocesan priest, Father Robinson was arrested in April. He pleaded innocent and is out of jail on a $400,000 property bond.
• Mom hopes new probe reveals son's killer [1972] -- RCC.
   Boston Herald, http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=38742 , By Thomas Caywood, Friday, August 6, 2004
   CHICOPEE (MA): Nightmares still torture Bernice Croteau three decades after her 13-year-old son, Danny, was bludgeoned to death and dumped in the Chicopee River.
   "I see him screaming, calling for help. It's horrible because you can't get to him," Croteau said yesterday in the Springfield house where she raised Danny - and mourned his violent death.
   The only publicly identified suspect in the 1972 murder has been now-defrocked priest Richard Lavigne, a convicted child molester who has steadfastly maintained he didn't kill the boy.
   Croteau and her husband, Carl, hope the release this week of thousands of pages of previously secret court records - over the objection of Lavigne's lawyers and Hampden County District Attorney William Bennett - will budge the long-stalled case.
   "I think it's about time people find out what really happened," Croteau said. She has never had any doubt that Lavigne, whom she once trusted as her family's spiritual leader, killed her altar boy son.
   Among the thousands of court documents released Wednesday is a 28-page search warrant application filed in 1993 that lays out the case against Lavigne, including the accounts of several boys who said the priest molested them.
   When questioned about the murder in 1972, according to the search warrant affidavit, Lavigne asked suspicious questions of investigators such as: "If a stone was used and thrown in the river, would the blood still be on it?"
• 3 with ties to Delbarton School punished in sex abuse cases -- RCC. Benedictines.
   Star-Ledger, www.nj.com/news/ledger/sussex/index.ssf?/base/news- 3/109178236668160.xml ; BY BILL SWAYZE, Friday, August 06, 2004
   MORRIS TOWNSHIP (NJ): Two priests and a deacon from the religious order that runs the Delbarton School have been punished in connection with three sexual abuse cases, according to a statement from Saint Mary's Abbey.
   The Benedictine monks of Saint Mary's, which runs the private school in Morris Township, established an independent review board headed by former state Supreme Court Justice Marie Garibaldi two years ago to investigate the cases.
   As a result of the board's recommendations, one former monk who left the abbey after sexual abuse complaints surfaced and later became a deacon is being removed from the ministry, the statement read.
   A priest who pleaded guilty to criminal sexual contact with a 15-year-old student has been committed to a sexual offenders treatment center and is barred from having any contact with minors, according to the abbey.
   A second priest, who was the subject of questions about his time in an out-of-state diocese, was allowed to remain in the order, but he cannot have any contact with minors, according to the statement.
   "The board did thorough and complete reviews of these cases, and the decisions were accepted by the abbot," said the Rev. Elias Lorenzo, spokesman for the abbey.
• Sex claim against church leaders -- sexual harassment, etc.

   Ic North Wales, http://icnorthwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/regionalnews/tm_objectid= 14503129%26method=full%26siteid=50142%26headline=sex%2dclaim%2dagainst%2dchurch% 2dleaders-name_page.html ; By David Greenwood, Daily Post, Aug 6 2004
   WALES: Church leaders are facing a sex discrimination claim from a former employee in North Wales.
   Rebecca Pierce quit her job as a children's officer in Bangor diocese last month.
   She has filed two separate applications claiming sex discrimination which include alleged incidents of sexual harassment, bullying and victimisation.
   The 29-year-old, of Cae Gwyn, Caernarfon, also claims grievance procedures were not followed.
   The Diocese of Bangor last night claimed an independent investigation found her allegations "unsubstantiated" and it would challenge Miss Pierce's version of events.
• Canadian police launch probe of polygamists -- Polygamy group.

   Azcentral.com ; Associated Press, Aug. 6, 2004
   CANADA and UNITED STATES: - Authorities are investigating the alleged abuse of women and children in a Canadian polygamous community populated by an offshoot of fundamentalist southern Utah and northern Arizona Mormons.
   The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is investigating the polygamous Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a Bountiful, British Colombia, church that practices polygamy as a central tenet, spokeswoman Cpl. Catherine Galliford said Thursday.
   The Bountiful congregation is affiliated with the fundamentalist church that has its base in the twin border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., where an estimated 10,000 polygamists live.
• Church equates sexuality with sin -- RCC.

   The Tribune, www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=25485 , By MICHAEL MURPHY, Fri, Aug 6, 2004
   PORTLAND (OR): The Roman Catholic Church’s ongoing struggle with sexual abuse combined with the archbishop’s statements about same-sex marriages - that Catholics who support them should refrain from communion - underscore a significant blind spot in the vocational life of the priesthood: sexuality. When it comes to issues of sexuality, the Catholic Church has lost the moral high ground.
   While the church claims it is doing everything it can to address the heinous history of sexual abuse by our clergy, I must respectfully disagree. We appear to be doing everything but dealing with the root cause. We do not appear to be honestly examining and changing the culture from which these men come from. The process of becoming a priest is both isolating and gender-biased, leaving those who follow that path ill-equipped to deal with issues of sexual development and identity.
   Since the fifth century, when St. Augustine, classically educated in the Greek traditions of separating the mind from the body, won his personal battles with the married clergy of his day (most notably the married Bishop Julian of Eclanum), sexual intercourse and sexuality have been tied to his theories of original sin.
   In other words, the church has historically treated our sexuality as sinful.
   I realize that this is a broad stroke of the brush, and in the last five decades the church has done a much better job of embracing our sexuality. Nonetheless, the Catholic Church today remains steeped in institutionalized sexism that impedes the spiritual growth of not just women, gays and lesbians, but all its members. [Emphasis added ]
• Celibacy doesn’t lead to sex abuse -- RCC.
   The Tribune, www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=25486 , By THE REV. PATRICK S. BRENNAN, Issue date: Fri, Aug 6, 2004
   PORTLAND (OR): The Roman Catholic Church has done a great deal of soul-searching since the clergy’s sexual abuse crisis hit the front pages of our newspapers in January 2002. To say that this has been a painful time is an understatement.
   As a priest, I grieve with the many victims who have suffered because of clerical misconduct. As a priest, I also ask the victims for their forgiveness. The church mishandled the accusations brought to it. Leadership failed when it was most acutely needed.
   Priestly celibacy and the church’s view of human sexuality are often cited as the root causes of the sexual abuse crisis. Such opinions are anecdotal at best. There are no data to substantiate any causal connection between celibacy and the sexual abuse of minors. Does marriage prevent the sexual abuse of children? Statistics would show otherwise.
   Nonetheless, there is a common feeling that the church’s requirement of celibacy for its priests reflects an outmoded and negative view of human sexuality and even contributes to the sexual abuse of minors.
   It may come as a surprise to many, but the church’s teaching on priestly celibacy has less to do with sexuality and more to do with theology. One forgets that Jesus was celibate. He chose celibacy, and he did so in contradiction to the cultural and religious expectations of his day.
   [COMMENT: Steady on, Jesus's chosen Twelve were married, and there is a late-written scripture demanding that clergy had to be "the husband of one wife", with orderly children, and respected in the community (1 Timothy 3:2-7 and Titus 1: 5-9).
   It is strongly suspected that the both letters to Timothy and the one to Titus were written after the death of Paul, and that fact is important. But, the forger in those early centuries felt strongly that a married clergy was essential, and he had so much support that those "epistles" were taken as being sacred scripture. Why? Isn't it obvious that denying marriage rights is going to attract a restricted class of people to ministry? COMMENT ENDS.]
• Kicanas' letter to the diocese [Trupia, Teta] -- RCC.
   Arizona Daily Star, www.dailystar.com/dailystar/dailystar/33122.php
   TUCSON (AZ): The following is a letter from Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas to members of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson announcing that two priests accused of sexual misconduct have been defrocked by the Vatican:
   Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
   This letter is to inform you that I have been notified by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican that the Holy Father has dismissed from the clerical state two priests of the Diocese against whom there are credible allegations of sexual misconduct.
   Released from the priesthood under the penalties of canon law were Robert Trupia and Michael Teta. They no longer are receiving financial support or benefits from the Diocese.
• Judge tells bishops to release records including the secret files. -- RCC.
   San Francisco Chronicle, www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/08/06/BAGLC83PS91.DTL , by Don Lattin, Chronicle Religion Writer, Friday, August 6, 2004
   CALIFORNIA: An Oakland judge ordered Catholic bishops across Northern California on Thursday to turn over an array of internal documents relating to some 150 lawsuits alleging that church leaders negligently allowed priests to sexually abuse children and teenage parishioners.
   Alameda County Superior Court Judge Ronald Sabraw gave the bishops and their lawyers until Sept. 10 to provide clergy personnel records, psychotherapist reports, sub secreto (secret) files and other documents on dozens of priests named in the lawsuits.
   Sabraw is coordinating legal action in the "Clergy III" cases -- litigation made possible by a state law that temporarily suspended the statute of limitations during the year 2003 for adults seeking damages for decades-old child abuse claims.
   Clergy I and Clergy II represent hundreds of additional sex abuse claims that are being jointly processed in Los Angeles and San Diego. Clergy III represent the 150 cases in Northern California.
• Advocacy group criticizes diocese -- RCC. 22 complainants.
   The Kansas City Star, www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/9331632.htm?ERIGHTS= 3961570108208269548kansascity::kashaw@peoplepc.com&KRD_RM= 9ppppvquvyvyxpsysyqqpppppp|Kathleen|Y ; By KEVIN MURPHY
   KANSAS CITY (MO): The Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph has mounted an expensive and "mean-spirited" legal defense to lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by priests, a victims advocate group said Thursday.
   Several representatives of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP] attempted to deliver a letter to Bishop Raymond Boland complaining about motions the diocese has filed in response to the lawsuits.
   Ten lawsuits by 22 alleged victims naming five former Kansas City area priests have been filed since September. The victims say the priests sexually abused them or close relatives when they were children.
   Lawyers for the diocese have filed numerous motions, most asking for more specifics on the charges, that certain language be struck or that the cases be dismissed.
• Hubbard investigation costs diocese $2.4 million -- RCC.
   Troy Record, www.troyrecord.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=12632747&BRD=1170&PAG= 461&dept_id=7021&rfi=6 , By: Robert Cristo , Aug/06/2004
   ALBANY (NY): It will cost the Albany Diocese more than $2.4 million for attorney Mary Jo White's exhaustive investigation that found "no-merit" to sexual misconduct allegations against Bishop Howard Hubbard.
   Nearly seven weeks after the former U.S. attorney cleared Hubbard on a number of sexual misconduct charges, diocese officials made public the final bill late Thursday afternoon by issuing a short statement.
   Diocese officials, including Hubbard, would not comment on the hefty bill, nor discuss how it might affect the feelings of parishioners, except to say they decided to release the amount before they paid it.
   "We're not going to say anything more about it (except what is in the press release)," said diocese spokesperson Kenneth Goldfarb. "Parishioners will hear and read about it in a variety of ways."
   The five-paragraph statement noted that the chair of the Diocesan Sexual Misconduct Review Board received the bill on Wednesday from White's New York City law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.
• Pope defrocks Tucson priests [Trupia, Teta] -- and two more to go [Guillen, Sanz]. RCC.
   Arizona Daily Star, www.dailystar.com/dailystar/dailystar/33126.php , By Scott Simonson and Tom Beal, ARIZONA DAILY STAR
   TUCSON (AZ): Pope John Paul II has defrocked two priests suspended by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson because of sexual-misconduct allegations, and the diocese is seeking the same punishment for two other priests, it announced Thursday.
   Robert C. Trupia and Michael Teta have undergone what the church calls laicization, which means they will no longer be paid by the diocese, cannot identify themselves with a church title and cannot wear clerical garb.
   The diocese also has started the process to laicize priests Juan Guillen and Julian Sanz, according to Fred Allison, diocese spokesman.
   Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas called laicization "the harshest permanent penalty that can be imposed upon a priest."
   Plaintiffs in abuse suits called the news regarding Trupia and Teta long overdue. They said the decision eases but doesn't end suffering and won't stop claims for compensation.
   The Vatican's decision arrived as the diocese faces 20 pending lawsuits involving alleged clergy sexual abuse.
• 45 claimants accept diocese offer -- RCC.
   Republican, www.masslive.com/metrowest/republican/index.ssf?/base/news- 5/10917823056430.xml ; By BILL ZAJAC, wzajac@repub.com , Friday, August 06, 2004
   SPRINGFIELD (MA) - All but one of 46 claimants agreed by yesterday's deadline to accept an historic settlement with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield over claims of clergy sexual abuse.
   Francis Babeu is the only one of the 46 claimants to decide that he doesn't want to participate in the estimated $7.5 million settlement that was reached two weeks ago. The decorated U.S. Marine Corps captain said he is determined to prove his belief that church leaders covered up the sex abuse of children by priests.
   The settlement offer will be reduced by 1/46th as a result of Babeu's opting out. The claimants have begun a binding arbitration process through which individual settlements will be determined based upon the effects of abuse, the duration of abuse and the kinds of abuse.
   The settlement includes a provision for lifetime counseling for the claimants.
• $2.2M bill due for report clearing bishop of charges -- RCC.
   Albany Times Union, www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=273376 &category=REGIONOTHER&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=8/6/2004 ; By MICHELE MORGAN BOLTON, Friday, August 6, 2004
   ALBANY (NY): A four-month investigation that cleared Bishop Howard Hubbard of claims of sexual misconduct will cost the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany $2.2 million.
   Church officials released former federal prosecutor Mary Jo White's bill late Thursday afternoon.
   The $2,231,910.81 total will be paid from a self-insurance fund, which is continually fed by assessments levied to each of the diocese's 178 parishes, and growing interest income, church officials said.
   No money from the Bishop's Appeal, the diocesan capital campaign or any other program or service will be tapped, said the Rev. Kenneth Doyle, Chancellor for Public Communications.
   "Nor will the cost of the investigation compromise the financial resources that the Albany Diocese will make available to assist legitimate victims of clergy sex abuse," he said.
• Investigation clearing bishop costs $2.2 million -- RCC.
   WSTM, www.wstm.com/Global/story.asp?S=2141051
   ALBANY, N.Y.: The Albany Catholic Diocese says the investigation by a former federal prosecutor that cleared Bishop Howard Hubbard of sex-abuse allegations will cost 2.2 million dollars.
   The bill from ex-U.S. attorney Mary Jo White and her team of investigators and attorneys will be paid from a diocese self-insurance fund.
   Officials tell the Albany Times Union the fund is supported by assessments on all 178 parishes in the 14-county diocese and by interest income.
   The four-month investigation, which included hundreds of interviews, several lie-detector tests and review of thousands of documents, found no evidence Hubbard had ever even broken his vows of celibacy.
• Religion in the News [Lammers, Sisters of Charity of Nazareth] -- RCC. Priest and Nuns sued.
   The Charlotte Observer, www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/nation/9336208.htm?ERIGHTS= 144964284810793937charlotte::kashaw@peoplepc.com&KRD_RM= 8oopwowqwwvrxorwpquooooooo|Kathleen|Y ; By ELLEN R. STAPLETON, Associated Press
   LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The sexual abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church has focused primarily on molestation by priests, but in Louisville, two dozen people are now suing an order of nuns that staffed an orphanage decades ago.
   The allegations include some accusing nuns of molestation as well as charges against a now-deceased priest. While experts agree the incidence of abuse by nuns has been much less frequent than assaults by male clergy, the phenomenon has gained some attention recently.
   The initial Kentucky lawsuit against the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth was brought by seven plaintiffs July 15, just over a year after 243 people reached a $25.7 million abuse settlement with the Archdiocese of Louisville.
   Some plaintiffs have accused the Rev. Herman J. Lammers of molesting or raping them. He was a longtime Catholic Charities director who served as the resident chaplain at St. Thomas-St. Vincent Orphanage, which the sisters ran from 1952 until it closed in 1983. Lammers died in 1986.
• Abuse settlements OK'd [Lavigne] -- RCC.
   Boston Globe, www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/08/06/abuse_settlements_okd , By Associated Press, August 6, 2004
   SPRINGFIELD (MA) -- All but one of 46 people who accused priests of sexually abusing them as children have agreed to accept a more than $7 million settlement with the Diocese of Springfield, a lawyer for the alleged victims and a spokesman for the diocese said yesterday.
   "For most of my clients, they want this miserable ordeal to end, so they've had to swallow some pride. Finality to this saga is more important than additional money," said attorney John Stobierski.
   Diocese spokesman Mark Dupont said the diocese had been notified of the acceptances. "We respect the decision that these individuals made," he said.
   The lone holdout is Francis Babeu, a Marine Corps captain who says he was abused by defrocked priest Richard Lavigne between the ages of 12 and 17 while Lavigne was at St. Francis of Assisi Church in North Adams.
• Lawyer: Documents clear ex-priest [1972] -- RCC.
   Boston Globe, www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/08/06/lawyer_documents_clear_ex_priest , By Kevin Cullen, August 6, 2004
   BOSTON (MA): The lawyer for Richard R. Lavigne, the former priest suspected of killing a Springfield altar boy in 1972, yesterday launched a fierce defense of the defrocked cleric, saying the release of impounded materials shows that he did not kill 13-year-old Daniel Croteau.
   Max D. Stern has represented Lavigne since 1991, when Lavigne was charged with and later admitted to molesting altar boys. Stern had previously declined to offer a point-by-point refutation of the circumstantial evidence that has made Lavigne the prime suspect.
   Yesterday, however, Stern issued a statement saying that with the release of 2,035 pages of court documents that police used to get a search warrant to compare Lavigne's blood with traces of blood found at the murder scene, "the public should finally realize that Richard Lavigne did not murder Danny Croteau."
   Croteau's bludgeoned body was found floating in the Chicopee River; his family contends, and police suspect, that Lavigne killed the boy to prevent him from disclosing that Lavigne had been sexually abusing him for years.
   Stern said the documents filed in support of an affidavit filed by State Trooper Thomas J. Daly were more exculpatory than incriminating. The documents include a Chicopee Police Department report that said tire tracks at the murder scene did not match Lavigne's car and that blood found at the scene was not Lavigne's.
   In addition, Stern said Lavigne passed a polygraph test in 1972 and that police had corroborated Lavigne's alibi -- that he was with his family the night of the slaying.
• Bishop Kicanas 'relieved' by Pope's decision [Trupia, Teta] -- RCC.
   KVOA, http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=2139891&nav=HMO6Padi
   TUCSON (AZ): A stunning announcement from the Catholic Church. The Pope personally ordered the permanent removal of two Tucson priests from the church for sexual misconduct.
   Bishop Gerald Kicanas says the Pope's removal of Robert Trupia was based on already-litigated cases of sexual misconduct with children.
   Michael Teta was removed for sexual misconduct with an adult, although he's also accused with children.
   Kicanas describes dismissal as "The most stringent decision the Holy Father can make in the life of a priest."
   Kicanas says it means "He can no longer under any circumstances and for the rest of his life ever present himself as a priest, ever perform any priestly ministry."
   Kicanas says he's relieved by the action. "I hope that for those who have been harmed that this will be another step in their own healing to know that the church recognizes the pain that had been inflicted," Kicanas says. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 12:08 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Fri August 06, 2004
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont91.htm
• Rome laicizes priest charged with blackmail of bishop. Networking suspected. Molester retained until November 2003. [Trupia, Teta] RCC.
   Catholic World News, USA, "Rome laicizes priest charged with blackmail," http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=31345 , August 6, 2004
   VATICAN, Aug. 06 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican has laicized two priests of the Tucson, Arizona diocese, including one former monsignor who allegedly made an effort to blackmail an American bishop.
   Tucson's Bishop Gerald Kicanas has announced that Robert Trupia and Michael Teta, who had previously been suspended from active ministry, were now "dismissed from the clerical state."
   That step was taken by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which has authority for canonical discipline in cases involving sexual abuse by clerics. Bishop Kicanas, in announcing the Vatican decision, observed that it was approved by Pope John Paul II, and cannot be appealed.
   (Want to read more? Get Subscriber access: Sign up now and unlock the full benefits. Current subscriptions are $30 annually or $2.95 per month. Or take a risk-free 30-day trial!) [Aug 6, 04]
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont91.htm
#### Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker, www.ncrnews.org/abuse, Sat August 07, 2004 edition follows:-
• Lawsuit accuses priest of abusing Dona Ana County boy in 1970s [1976-77 Maramba] -- RCC. Boy.

   KOBTV.com ; http://kobtv.com/index.cfm?viewer=storyviewer&id=12886&cat=HOME , Associated Press, 2:38:11 PM, 08/07/2004
   ALBUQUERQUE (NM) (AP) - A Roman Catholic priest and the Diocese of El Paso are being sued by a man who says he was sexually abused by the priest in the 1970s.
   The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court here accuses the Reverend Manuel Perez Maramba of repeatedly molesting and abusing a boy in 1976 and 1977.
   The plaintiffs are listed anonymously in the lawsuit to prevent further embarrassment. They live in Dona Ana County.
   The five counts listed in the complaint are battery, negligence, infliction of emotional distress, and breach of fiduciary duty.
   Maramba is a citizen of the Philippines who now resides there. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 07:19 PM]
• Bishop: Narrow scope in cases against 2 priests [Trupia, Teta] -- RCC. 26 admitted offenders.

   Tucson Citizen, www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=local&story_id=080704a14_defrock_folo , By SHERYL KORNMAN, August 7, 2004
   TUCSON (AZ): The cases against two Tucson diocese priests removed from the priesthood by the Vatican were narrow in scope, according to the bishop.
   The cases included accusations made in civil lawsuits settled by the diocese, said Bishop Gerald Kicanas.
   Kicanas said the cases the diocese presented to Pope John Paul II focused on Monsignor Robert Trupia's sexual abuse of a young boy and Rev. Michael Teta's "repeated sexual misconduct with (male) adults."
   Thursday, Kicanas announced the men were no longer priests.
   "The case that was presented to the Holy Father was based on already litigated allegations of misconduct with minors," Kicanas said regarding Trupia. "There were multiple offenses."
   The diocese identified both men as among 26 diocese priests with credible accusations of child molestation since 1950, according to Citizen archives. Both are named in civil lawsuits.
   The parish priest for Our Mother of Sorrows Parish, where both Trupia and Teta served as ministers, said in a statement Thursday that the defrocking brings some closure to the parish.
• Diocese reports sound financial picture -- RCC.
   Herald News, www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/city/j07diocese.htm , By Ted Slowik
   JOLIET (IL): While an Oregon judge continues to hear the first case of a Catholic diocese declaring bankruptcy because of sexual-abuse claims, the Joliet Diocese said on Friday that its financial picture is sound.
   The Portland, Ore., archdiocese made history when it became the first to file for bankruptcy, saying its assets could not cover claims that total more than $150 million.
   Other dioceses, most notably Tuscon, Ariz., have discussed bankruptcy protection as a means of resolving civil claims for damages because of priests who sexually abused minors.
   The Joliet Diocese is a defendant in six pending lawsuits, and attorneys say additional claims may still be filed.
   "The Diocese of Joliet has adequate liability insurance to cover its sexual-abuse claims and consequently, diocesan assets as well as parish assets are sufficiently protected from any such claims for compensation," diocesan spokesman John Cullen said in a statement released on Friday.
   While weekly donations are the main source of financial support for the diocese's 132 parishes, the Diocesan Annual Appeal is the central fund-raising method for the diocese. Funds are channeled to more than two dozen agencies, including Catholic Charities, which provides shelters for the homeless and numerous other services.
• Church volunteer faces sex charges [1990s Skinner] -- RCC.
   Press Herald Online, MaineToday.com ; http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/040708indict.shtml , From staff and news services, Thursday, July 8, 2004
   BANGOR, MAINE - A former volunteer supervisor for a youth group at a Roman Catholic church in Lincoln has been accused of sexually assaulting a boy during the early 1990s. John S. Skinner Sr., 62, now of Stonington, was indicted by the Penobscot County grand jury Tuesday on six counts of gross sexual assault. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Superior Court on July 30.
   The case involved one alleged victim who was assaulted in Skinner's home between 1990 and 1994, beginning when the boy was 13, Deputy District Attorney Michael Roberts said. [A fuller version has been copied into date order, July 8, 04, elsewhere]
• South Portland priest removed from parishes [1985 Coughlin, Skinner] -- RCC.
   MaineToday.com ; http://news.mainetoday.com/apwire/D84ALNDG1-219.shtml , Associated Press, 7:00 pm Saturday, August 7, 2004
   SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine - A Roman Catholic priest has been temporarily removed from two parishes while officials investigate his involvement with a former church volunteer charged with sexual assault.
   The Rev. Paul Coughlin has served as pastor of Holy Cross and St. John the Evangelist Parishes in South Portland since 1996.
   The Diocese of Portland is investigating whether he put children at risk by allowing John Skinner to live with him at St. John´s rectory. Skinner, of Stonington, recently was indicted on charges he sexually assaulted a teenager between 1990 and 1994, when he served as a youth ministry volunteer at St. Mary of Lourdes in Lincoln.
   Coughlin is not accused of sexual abuse during the time Skinner lived with him, according to Sue Bernard, a spokeswoman for the diocese. But the diocese also is re-examining an earlier complaint which did accuse Coughlin of sexual misconduct with a minor in 1985.
   Those claims were investigated
• Victims of clerical sex abuse dealt with individually -- RCC.

   One in Four organisation, www.oneinfour.org/news/news2004/clericalvictims
   IRELAND: Catholic bishops are currently referring clerical sex abuse victims to the National Counselling Service (NCS), or Faoiseamh, ahead of setting up their own national victim support service, the Irish Independent has learned.
   In the absence of a co-ordinated approach to victim support, each of the country's 26 dioceses has instead been responding to victims' needs on an ad hoc basis.
   According to the bishops' Child Protection Office, 10 of the dioceses use Faoiseamh, the counselling service run by the religious orders, while the reminder either refer victims onto the state-run NCS through one of the health boards, or else refer the person directly to a recommended counsellor. The Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI), the umbrella body for most of Ireland's 150 Catholic religious congregations, set up Faoiseamh seven years ago.
   Faoiseamh is a helpline funded by the orders that can refer individuals who have been in Church-run residential institutions onto counsellors if they wish. The counselling is also paid for by CORI.
• Group Calls For More Information On Accused Former Priest [McGrath] -- RCC.

   The Day, , By KENTON ROBINSON, Day Staff Columnist, Enterprise Reporter/Columnist, Aug/7/2004
   NORWICH (CT): Saying another victim of sexual abuse has come forward, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP] is calling upon Bishop Michael R. Cote to release information about Father Edward P. McGrath.
   McGrath, who died in 1998, taught for 28 years at the St. Thomas More School in Montville. Four years ago, an alumnus of the school told administrators that McGrath sexually molested students. The school conducted an investigation and sent out letters to alumni and students' parents informing them of the allegation.
   The school also informed them that McGrath died at the age of 62 of cirrhosis and liver cancer, the causes of which can include hepatitis type B and C infections associated with sexual activity.
   After a five-month investigation, the school concluded that there was merit to the allegations, according to Headmaster James F. Hanrahan.
• Judge seals court files in church abuse cases -- RCC.
   Alameda Times-Star, www.timesstar.com/Stories/0,1413,125~1486~2320578,00.html , By Paul T. Rosynsky
   OAKLAND (CA): A day after an Oakland judge ordered Northern California Catholic bishops to hand over personal files of priests accused of molestation, he decided to keep those files under seal.
   Alameda County Superior Court Judge Ronald Sabraw agreed with Oakland Catholic Diocese attorneys that the information should not be made public because of privacy concerns.
   Instead, he ruled that the files should only be seen by plaintiffs, accused priests and experts who will be used in an eventual trial. But documents related to a priest's conversation with a psychotherapist will remain unavailable, the judge ruled.
   Sabraw also said the "protective order" will last only until Oct. 29, when he will seek a joint decision by both sides about which files are to ultimately become public and which are to remain sealed.
   "Any and all documentary evidence ... shall be for attorneys' eyes only (and) also the clients," the judge said.
• Con artist indicted in scam to get priest-abuse payment [Smolka] -- defrauding the RCC.
   The Oregonian, www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1091879962213030.xml , By ASHBEL S. GREEN, Saturday, August 07, 2004
   PORTLAND (OR): A federal fugitive on the lam in Oregon didn't sit idly in his swanky Pearl District apartment.
   Thomas Edward Smolka, 57, met with a prominent Portland attorney in mid-March, seeking more than $1 million from the Portland Archdiocese because he said he had been molested by the Rev. Maurice Grammond, according to a federal indictment.
   Smolka convincingly knew all about Grammond -- even though he hadn't lived in Oregon as a boy. But Smolka had researched Oregon's most notorious priest pedophile by reading newspaper articles and making extensive use of court records.
   Portland lawyer David Slader, who has handled dozens of priest-abuse lawsuits, agreed to represent Smolka, who was using the name of a dead man from New Mexico.
   But authorities say the scam was cut short.
   In late March, the U.S. Marshals Service tracked Smolka to his Pearl District apartment and arrested him on a warrant from Virginia, where he had pleaded guilty last year to bilking 17 clients and their families out of at least $110,000.
• Archbishop sets precedent with bankruptcy testimony -- RCC.
   The Oregonian, www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/front_page/1091879814213030.xml , By STEVE WOODWARD, Saturday, August 07, 2004
   PORTLAND (OR): Portland Archbishop John G. Vlazny stepped into history Friday as the first U.S. archbishop forced to testify in an archdiocese bankruptcy proceeding.
   The sometimes contentious four-hour hearing touched on subjects that ranged from the Archdiocese of Portland's sex-abuse policies to First Amendment issues to the amount of control asserted over Vlazny by the Vatican.
   The meeting, which gave creditors a chance to quiz archdiocesan officials about finances, also served as a preview of the myriad complex issues that are expected to entangle the case for potentially years to come.
   Vlazny and the archdiocese, which covers Western Oregon from the crest of the Cascades to the ocean, opened the door to unprecedented scrutiny and outside control last month when the archdiocese became the first in the country to file for bankruptcy in the face of mounting sex-abuse claims.
   In response to questions from creditors' lawyers, Vlazny said he decided over Independence Day weekend to file for bankruptcy. Until then, he held an "unreasonable hope" that the archdiocese would be able to settle about 60 remaining cases out of court.
• Polygamist accused of sexual abuse [1980s Jeffs] Male.
   Fort Worth Star-Telegram, www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/9344491.htm?ERIGHTS=- 1091260207086 147621dfw::kashaw@peoplepc.com&KRD_RM= 8oowvxvswtpwovppxorooooooo|Kathleen|Y ; By Bill Hanna
   TEXAS: As a polygamist group transforms ranchland outside the West Texas town of Eldorado into a cloistered compound, local residents continue to wonder about the whereabouts of the sect's embattled leader.
   Warren Jeffs, who is known as the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, is facing a lawsuit that alleges he and his two brothers sexually abused one of his nephews during the 1980s.
   The church's practice of excommunicating teen-age boys as way of eliminating competition for young brides is attracting more scrutiny in Utah, where the sect originated.
• Priest faces charges in sex assault [? 2003-04 Pereppadan] -- RCC.

   Boston Herald, http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=38860 , By David Weber, Saturday, August 7, 2004
   BRIGHTON (MA): A Catholic priest who allegedly molested a teenage girl inside Our Lady of the Presentation Church was arraigned yesterday in Brighton District Court on three counts of indecent assault and battery.
   Police arrested the Rev. Varrghese Pereppadan, a visiting priest from India, yesterday after church officials notified authorities about the girl's allegation.
   "Upon receipt of the allegation, the faculties granted to Rev. Pereppadan were immediately revoked and he was removed from public ministry and from the parish residence," the Rev. Christopher Coyne said.
   Judge Annette Forde set bail at $500 cash for Pereppadan, who had been studying in Cambridge and working at the church since last October.
• Diocesan Sex Abuse Telephone Number -- RCC.
   The Tablet (USA), http://dioceseofbrooklyn.org/tablet/news/tab_newsarticle01.html
   BROOKLYN (NY): Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio has announced that the Diocese of Brooklyn has established a 24-hour toll-free telephone number for persons to call if they wish to report that as children they were sexually abused by a member of the diocesan clergy.
   The phone line - (888) 634-4499 - became operational Aug. 6.
   Calls will be received by an attorney in private practice whom the Bishop has invited to be the initial contact for persons seeking to report incidents of inappropriate behavior. Until now, a diocesan official received the allegation.
   If John M. Kurkemelis, the attorney, is not immediately available to take the call, he will respond to a voicemail message as soon as he is able, said Bishop DiMarzio, in outlining the new procedure.
   The Bishop said Kurkemelis will report the clergy abuse of a minor to the District Attorney of Kings or Queens, depending on where it took place, and will advise the caller to do the same. For the past two years, this has been the procedure followed by the Diocese.
• Priest still faces charge of sex abuse [1995 Hopkins] -- RCC.
   Courier-Post, www.courierpostonline.com/news/southjersey/m080704h.htm , Courier-Post staff, Saturday, August 7, 2004
   CAMDEN (NJ): A judge on Friday refused to dismiss an indictment charging a former Catholic priest with sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy in 1995 while the priest was assigned to a parish in Oaklyn.
   James F. Hopkins, 61, who now lives in Stuart, Fla., was arrested on sexual assault and child endangerment charges in March 2003. He has been free on bail since shortly after he was returned to Camden County.
   Hopkins' attorney, Robert Rosenberg, had asked Superior Court Presiding Criminal Judge Linda Baxter to dismiss the indictment, arguing in a legal brief that the state statute of limitations had run out and that the indictment was based on an illegal telephone wiretap.
   Baxter denied both requests. She said New Jersey law permits child endangerment charges to be filed up to five years after an alleged victim turns 18, or within two years of the victim's discovery of the event. She added that sexual assault charges on a child have no filing deadline.
   In addition, Baxter said, two recorded telephone conversations between the alleged victim, now 19, and Hopkins were authorized by the Camden County Prosecutor's Office as part of an investigation and were recorded with the approval and participation of the alleged victim.
• Man charged with falsely accusing deceased priest -- disbarred lawyer Smolka. Defrauding the RCC.
   Seattle Post-Intelligencer, http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/185313_priest07.html , THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
   PORTLAND (OR): A disbarred Virginia lawyer has been indicted on fraud charges after he falsely claimed to have been abused by a now-deceased Catholic priest who is at the center of the abuse scandal in Oregon, according to the indictment filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office yesterday.
   The indictment charges that Thomas E. Smolka, 57, attempted to defraud the Portland Archdiocese by claiming that he had been abused as a child by the Rev. Maurice Grammond in Oregon.
   Grammond stands accused of abusing more than 50 children in several Oregon parishes and is at the center of lawsuits filed against the Catholic institution here.
   Smolka, a former Virginia Beach lawyer, fled his home state a year ago after pleading guilty in Richmond to federal charges for having defrauded 17 clients out of at least $110,000 by taking their retainer, but failing to deliver legal services.
• Abusive priest denied parole [1980s Larson] -- RCC.
   The Wichita Eagle, www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/news/local/crime_courts/9341202.htm , BY STAN FINGER
   WICHITA (KS): The Kansas Parole Board on Friday denied parole for admitted child abuser Robert Larson and ordered the defrocked priest to serve the remainder of his prison sentence.
   Larson pleaded guilty in 2001 to molesting three altar boys and a jailed 19-year-old man while he was pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Newton in the 1980s. He was sentenced to three to 10 years at Lansing Correctional Facility and was denied parole for the first time two years ago.
   Friday's ruling means Larson will not be eligible for release until March 29, 2006, the latest he can be in prison under sentencing laws in place at the time of his crimes.
   The parole board had listened to some of Larson's victims at a public comment session last week and met with Larson earlier this week.
   Paul Schwartz, one of the men Larson admitted molesting, said he was not surprised that the board denied parole.
   "I'm satisfied," Schwartz said. "We have now done everything we can do and have been successful every step of the way."
• Portland Diocesan bankruptcy explained -- RCC.
   The Seattle Times, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001999157_diocese07m.html , By SARAH LINN, The Associated Press
   PORTLAND (OR): One reason the Portland Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy was that insurance companies refused to pay any more for settlements to alleged victims of priest abuse, Archbishop John Vlazny said yesterday.
   Vlazny said the archdiocese was forced to exhaust its own $12 million insurance fund before becoming the first Roman Catholic diocese in the nation to file for bankruptcy.
   "I was approaching a situation that pretty much made it financially impossible to operate," Vlazny said of his July 6 decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
   He answered questions from several attorneys representing alleged victims of priest abuse during a hearing in federal court on the archdiocese's bankruptcy filing. Also present were Assistant U.S. Trustee Pamela Griffith, of Portland, and district U.S. Trustee Ilene Lashinsky.
• Priest is arraigned on 2 sex charges [2004 de Alba Campos] -- RCC.

   Detroit Free Press, www.freep.com/news/religion/priest7_20040807.htm , BY SUZETTE HACKNEY, August 7, 2004
   DETROIT (MI): A Catholic priest from Mexico was arraigned Friday on two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct for allegedly fondling a 7-year-old Detroit boy.
   The Rev. Luis Javier de Alba Campos, 49, formerly a visiting priest at St. Gabriel Church in southwest Detroit, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. He was arraigned via video monitor at 36th District Court.
   According to the police report contained within the court file, de Alba Campos was visiting the boy's house in southwest Detroit on June 2 when he was invited to spend the night.
   The boy, who joined de Alba Campos in a bedroom, told police that the priest came to bed wearing only underwear. The boy said he was molested during the night.
   The Free Press typically does not name alleged sexual abuse victims.
   De Alba Campos stood Friday with his hands behind his back listening to an English-to-Spanish translator. He was released on a $40,000 personal recognizance bond and ordered to have no contact with minors or his parishioners. He said he understood the conditions but appeared to miss much of what he was told by 36th District Magistrate Robert Costello.
• Colorado man's sex abuse claim against parochial school dismissed because too late. [1976-78 Meyer] -- Lutheran.
   Casper Star-Tribune, www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2004/08/07/news/regional/a2fc21bc95a1f72987256ee 7005323c3.txt ; The Associated Press, Saturday, August 07, 2004
   LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- A Colorado man was too late when he brought a sexual abuse claim against a Seward parochial school and a former teacher, a judge said in dismissing the case.
   T. Mark Kraft of Denver filed a lawsuit seeking $1 million in U.S. District Court in Lincoln in 2002, saying he was a student at St. John Lutheran School when he was sexually molested from 1976 to 1978 by former teacher Arlen Meyer.
   Kraft, 39, said he should be granted an exception to the statute of limitations because he suffered emotional and physical illnesses that made it impossible for him to recognize until much later the connection between his problems and the alleged abuse.
   U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp on Monday rejected Kraft's arguments. Smith Camp said she did not discount the seriousness of Kraft's mental condition, but it was disingenuous for Kraft to claim he experienced an "epiphany" connecting his problems with the alleged abuse beginning on May 16, 2002.
   Kraft's attorney, David Savitz of Denver, said his client disagreed and would appeal to the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Smolka faces charges in Oregon -- disbarred lawyer. Defrauding the RCC.
   Richmond Times-Dispatch, www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle% 2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031777161816&path=!news&s=1045855934842 ; BY TOM CAMPBELL, Aug 7, 2004
   PORTLAND (OR): Thomas E. Smolka, the disbarred Virginia lawyer awaiting sentencing for cheating prison inmates, faces new fraud charges in Oregon for scheming to make a false claim of sexual abuse by a priest.
   The charges involve a lawsuit Smolka allegedly tried to file in Oregon while he was a fugitive from federal authorities in Richmond.
   A federal grand jury in Portland, Ore., indicted Smolka on Thursday for mail and bank fraud, lying on a credit application and using another person's Social Security number. He faces 18 charges in all.
   The mail-fraud charge alleges that in March, using the name James Horner and a fraudulent Social Security number, he retained a lawyer to file a civil lawsuit against the Catholic Archdiocese of Portland. Smolka made claims to the lawyer that he had been sexually abused by a now-dead priest while he was a child growing up in Portland.
• Judge denies shock probation for teacher in sex abuse case [1970s Greene]
   WKYT, www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=2144820
   LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A parochial school teacher who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing three boys decades ago should serve his full one-year sentence in prison, a judge ruled.
   Joseph B. Greene III was sentenced in February to 20 years in prison, but all but one year was suspended. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Kenneth Conliffe on Friday denied shock probation for Greene, who pleaded guilty in January.
   Greene did not address victims who sat in the courtroom Friday and did not tell Conliffe why he should be released early. But he did tell the judge that his motion for shock probation, which was filed in April, had been postponed repeatedly and he wanted it resolved.
   "Let's get some closure here and make a decision," he said.
   The victims declined to comment as they left the courtroom. But prosecutor J. Bryan Fantoni, who said the case had only been postponed once, told reporters that the victims were happy with Conliffe's decision.
• Indictment says Smolka tried false abuse claim against priest -- disbarred lawyer. Defrauding the RCC.
   The Virginian-Pilot, http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=74058&ran=242874
   PORTLAND, Ore. - Thomas E. Smolka, the former Virginia Beach lawyer convicted of defrauding clients and whose earlier conviction in the death of his wife was overturned, is in more trouble.
   In an indictment filed Friday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland alleges that Smolka, 57, tried to make a false claim of sexual abuse against a now-deceased Catholic priest who has been at the center of a long-running priest abuse scandal in Oregon.
   The indictment charges Smolka with 10 counts of bank fraud, three counts of making false statements on a credit application, four counts of lying about his Social Security number and mail fraud.
   Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Peifer said that during the search of Smolka’s apartment, documents were found showing that he had tried to pass himself off as a victim of sex abuse in hopes of cashing in on a lawsuit.
   In 1993, Smolka was found guilty of murder in the shooting death of his wife, Betty Anne, in Florida. The couple had traveled there together, and she was found dead near their van after going to buy light bulbs.
• Priest abused boy here, suit says [2000 Durran] -- RCC.
   Commercial Appeal, www.commercialappeal.com/mca/news/article/0,1426,MCA_436_3093905,00.html ; By Lawrence Buser, August 7, 2004
   MEMPHIS (TN): A Catholic priest sexually abused a 14-year-old boy here in 2000 and was then quietly moved to another state to avoid scandal, prosecution and liability, according to a civil lawsuit filed this week.
   The Circuit Court suit refers to the boy as "John R. Doe" and says Father Juan Carlos Durran was an associate pastor in the Catholic Diocese of Memphis when the incidents occurred. The suit says he had a documented history of sexual abuse that the diocese and his religious order kept secret.
   The diocese said in a statement Friday it has no liability in the case.
   "Diocesan attorneys have advised us that these matters will be resolved in court during the litigation process and they will demonstrate that the diocese has responded and acted appropriately to any accusation," the statement said.
   Bishop J. Terry Steib was out of town and unavailable for comment.
• Detroit priest arraigned on sexual abuse charges [2004 De Alba Campos] -- RCC.
   The Detroit News, www.detnews.com/2004/religion/0408/07/religion-235068.htm , Associated Press, August 7, 2004
   DETROIT (MI) -- A Roman Catholic priest accused of fondling a 7-year-old was arraigned Friday on criminal sexual conduct charges.
   The Rev. Luis Javier de Alba Campos, 49, pleaded innocent through an interpreter to two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. De Alba, a Mexican citizen, had been serving as pastor of St. Gabriel Parish in Detroit since February.
   Second-degree criminal sexual conduct carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, the Wayne County prosecutor’s office said. A magistrate set a personal bond of $40,000 for Alba, with the condition that he not have any contact with St. Gabriel’s parishioners or any minors.
   The Archdiocese of Detroit announced July 4 that it had removed de Alba from the parish and banned him from public ministry in the archdiocese after learning of the investigation against him.
• Church Told to Release Files on Priests -- RCC. 150 cases affected in one county.
   Los Angeles Times, www.latimes.com/news/local/state/la-me-priests7aug07,1,951115.story?coll=la-news-state ; By Jean Guccione, Aug 7, 2004
   CALIFORNIA: In what lawyers suing the Roman Catholic Church over sexual abuse allegations claim is a major victory, a judge Friday ordered Northern California bishops to turn over personnel files on 40 priests accused of molesting children.
   Similar church files are being sought by prosecutors and lawyers for more than 500 people who say they were sexually abused by priests in the Los Angeles area. The documents could shed light on how the church responded to abuse allegations.
   Friday's ruling by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Ronald M. Sabraw does not directly affect the cases in Southern California, but the decision made him the first judge in the state to publicly reject the church's argument that personnel files of priests are protected by special legal privileges.
   It sets the framework for the exchange of evidence in 150 civil suits pending against eight Roman Catholic dioceses north of Santa Barbara County.
   At a hearing Friday, Sabraw ordered diocesan officials to turn over the files to plaintiffs' lawyers by Sept. 10. The files will not become public immediately. [Posted by Kathy Shaw at 02:09 AM]
////////// End of Clergy Sex Abuse Tracker www.ncrnews.org/abuse , Sat August 07, 2004
Abuse Chronology: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethics/ethcont91.htm
• Salesians ought to take author Hewitt-Gleeson's advice. -- RCC. Salesians.

   Letter sent to The Age, Melbourne, Saturday, August 7, 2004
Salesians ought to take Hewitt-Gleeson's advice
SALESIAN ORDER HAS BEEN EXPOSED AS SENDING SEX-ABUSERS TO THE POOR
   AUSTRALIA: Might I offer my support to author Mr [Dr is his correct title] Michael Hewitt-Gleeson, who according to an August 2 news report in The Age has written to Cardinal George Pell [Sydney] and to the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Francesco Canalini [Canberra], detailing alleged abuse by Catholic priests and brothers at Rupertswood College, in Sunbury, outside Melbourne, which was run by Salesians of Don Bosco.
   He was reported as having written he, at the age of eight, received such a punishment that he was left with "corrugated welts on my bottom, which were wet with the blood that began oozing from the bruises and broken skin". He wants the order "to speak out about the brutalisation of generations of students" at Rupertswood.
   But such brutality, some of which was shared by such orders as the Christian Brothers, I regret to say, is only part of the child-abuse story.
   As these Churchmen would know from inward despatches, and as has been reported by the Catholic World News of June 18, The Dallas Morning News has started a series about the transfers from country to country of accused and convicted sex-abuser Salesians.
   The newspaper stated it had sent reporters to various countries, and had researched the matter for 18 months.
   Its claims were promptly denied by a Salesian leader in Rome, according to Zenit (an RC newsagency) on June 21, "Salesians Say Press Reports Are Off the Mark; Congregation Cites Dallas Morning News."
   A US Salesian leader's denial of the charge of moving sinful priests was reported in the US on June 22. Some of the Faithful are quite simple, but many are too hard-headed to imagine that The Dallas Morning News would pay salaries for 18 months chasing moonbeams!
   On June 21 that newspaper had published "Convicted sexual abuser and fugitive works with kids under his religious order's wing" about a Salesian who has worked in Australia, Fr Frank Klep, a convicted child sex abuser, who was allowed to move to Samoa. There is an Australian warrant out for his arrest. Good heavens, is he there to convert them FROM paganism, or TO paganism?
   The article talks of Honduras, Costa Rica, Chile, Mexico, Africa -- as places to which paedophiles are being transferred to escape complaints and/or the police.
   The Dallas paper on June 23 published "Church aid, legal lapses leave cleric free to roam; 'That's when your hair stands on end and your blood boils' " featuring Father Yusaf Dominic, who masquerades in an Italian diocese as Fr Dominic Yousuf.
   Here in Australia, Father Michael Aulsebrook has left his position at the Salesians' St Mark's College, Port Pirie, South Australia, for unspecified reasons, according to The Age of July 15, page 8. There are other names going into other news-items for the wrong reasons.
   In summing up, the Provincial of their Order in Australia, Father Ian Murdoch, having first denied that there was a Salesian paedophile ring in Australia, then told The Age, see July 19, 2004, www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/18/109008 9040217.html?oneclick=true , that since the year 2000 he had dealt with 15 priests and brothers accused credibly of sex abuse, and had to pay out possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars, and 10 to 12 other cases had been dealt with by the Order before he took over.
   Readers -- that is 25 to 27 clerics -- isn't that enough for a "paedophile ring"? If not, it is bulk criminality.
   Anyway, has Fr Murdoch, by his admissions to the news media, breached the 1962 Vatican Instruction "Crimen Sollicitationis", the "Epistula Graviora Delicta" of May 18, 2001 which quotes it, or the more recent Instruction "Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela", might I enquire?
   The Vatican has said that "Crimen Sollicitationis" was superseded in 2001, but it really isn't, because US canon lawyers were discussing it with the appropriate Congregation in Rome on February 7, 2002, and it is still cited on the Vatican website!
   There is a need for both repentance, scholarship and veracity when serious matters are brought up with such Churchmen as the above-mentioned.
   A moderate Muslim comment at Khilafah.com www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID=9909&TagID=1 of August 3, criticising the degradation being displayed by supposed Christians, might lead to a change of heart, perhaps? [Aug 7, 04]
• Priest charged with blackmail of bishop had been retained in ministry. Networking suspected. Molester retained until November 2003. -- RCC.
   Catholic World News, USA, http://www.cwnews.com, E-mail of August 7, 2004
   UNITED STATES: Our top headline on Friday involved one of the most troubling stories that has emerged during the sex-abuse scandal in the US. Two priests of the Tucson diocese have been defrocked, including one who reportedly tried to buy his bishop's silence by threatening to expose the homosexual dalliances of another prominent bishop with local teenagers. A lawyer for the ex-priest insists that his client was not engaged in blackmail, but even in that denial there's an implicit recognition that when someone threatens to expose another person's disgraceful activities… Well, what else do you call it?
   From time to time during the past few years, there have been rumors that bishops have been blackmailed. If those rumors were true, at least they would help us to understand why so many bishops failed to discipline predatory priests. In this case, it isn't just a rumor; it's a report from the bishop who was the object of the threats.
   The other rumor in circulation-- again, a potential explanation for the bishops' failure to discipline molesters-- is the existence of a "homosexual network" in the American clergy. On that score, too, our Friday headline story contained an important revelation. After he admitted to molesting boys, and after he was suspended from priestly ministry, and after he threatened to expose a homosexual bishop, the priest from Tucson turned up as a consultant to another diocese! Doesn't that sound like successful "networking?"
   Unfortunately, there was another CWN story this week with equally troubling overtones. Here in Massachusetts, the opening of previously sealed police records exposed the evidence that has made another ex-priest the prime suspect in the murder of an altar boy. Prosecutors are still hoping to collect enough hard evidence to support charges against Richard Lavigne, who remained a priest of the Springfield diocese after that 1972 murder, and after his 1992 conviction for child molestation; he was only laicized last year-- just a few weeks prior to the abrupt resignation of his bishop.
   So why was a convicted molester and suspected killer still functioning as a Catholic priest until last November? We really can't explain that. But when we hear that the Springfield diocese destroyed all clergy-personnel files sometime in the late 1970s, we begin to suspect that there were many other clerics who had something important to hide. [Emphasis added] [Aug 7, 04]
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NEWSITEMS RECEIVED COVERING OTHER THAN CHILD AND/OR SEXUAL ABUSE • The Case of Pastor Gone Bonkers [Reynolds] -- money.

   AllAfrica.com ; http://allafrica.com/stories/200408050263.html , by Steven Larbi, August 5, 2004
   GHANA: Reverend 'Dr.' Jack Nana Reynolds, General Overseer and head of the Rama Church in Tema, appears to be sinking faster and deeper into trouble, following his alleged defrauding of a Ghanaian woman resident in London to the tune of £16,000.
   Although the case is before the Awutu Magistrate court, the Lady, Madam Charlotte Ashford has marshaled fresh forces to do battle against Rev. Reynolds, following her discovery that the amount the pastor has duped her rather runs to £20, 000 and not what was previously claimed.
   Consequently, she has dispatched a fresh Power of Attorney to one Samuel Kofi Sakyiamah "to demand, sue for, enforce payment of, and receive and give for the whole or any share or interest of mine in all money," owed her by pastor Reynolds.
• Police Recover 20 Human Skulls, 1 Corpse in Shrines -- 30 arrested

   AllAfrica.com ; http://allafrica.com/stories/200408050319.html , by Anayo Okoli, August 5, 2004
   AWKA, NIGERIA: It was a gory sight yesterday in Awka after the Anambra State Police Command raided some shrines in Okija in Ihiala local government area where they recovered 20 human skulls and one fresh dead body in a coffin. Thirty suspects were also arrested including the priests of two of the shrines.
   The raided shrines included the dreaded Ogwugwu Isiula. The State Police Commissioner, Mr Felix Ogbaudu, who personally visited some of the shrines located in thick forests, said he counted about 50 corpses, some still fresh and headless. Displaying the 20 skulls and the dead body as well as the arrested suspects, Ogbaudu described what he saw as "a sorry sight," saying he never believed that such a thing could happen in the 21st century.
   Vanguard learnt that the chief priest of the dreaded shrine (Ogwugwu Isiula) (name withheld), whose son is one of the prime suspects, was not arrested on account of age.
   He is said to be over 100 years old. The state Police headquarters was besieged by hundreds of people who went to catch a glimpse of the human skulls and the fresh dead body as well as the 30 suspects. The operation led by the Commander of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in the state, Mr. Gabriel Haruna, began on Monday.
   Though the priest of one of the shrines claimed that the skulls and the dead bodies were deposited by their owners because they were killed by the shrine by which name they swore to an oath, a native of Okija who tipped off the police, said the people were actually killed by the priests.
   He alleged that the priests killed their victims through what he called isusu and then ate them. He said the practice had existed for years but nobody was courageous enough to expose the perpetrators.
   He said he, however, took an oath with one of the priests for him to be able to penetrate the cult and have a first hand knowledge of their mode of operation.
• Nigeria discovers 50 possible cult victims -- Alusi Okija cult.

   WCNC, www.wcnc.com/sharedcontent/nationworld/worldprint/080504ccjrawintnigeriacultdeaths.4a627e7a.html ; By DANIEL BALINT-KURTI, Associated Press
   LAGOS, Nigeria - Police in eastern Nigeria discovered body parts, skulls and more than 50 corpses, some partly mummified, in shrines where a secretive cult was believed to have carried out ritual killings, officers said Thursday. Some victims may have died after swallowing poison to prove their innocence.
   Two religious leaders and 28 others have been arrested in connection with the cult, which was feared and obeyed by people living near wooded areas - one known as "the evil forest" - where the 20 shrines were located, police told The Associated Press.
   Investigators are searching near the town of Okija for more possible remains, police spokesman Kolapo Shofoluwe said. "We must go around the forest. As extensive as it is, it may take days," he said.
   All of the dead found so far were adults, and at least one body and four skulls appeared to be from those killed recently, he said. Some of the bodies were in coffins, and some were headless.
   Police believed some of the victims - businessmen, civil servants and others - were poisoned. The cult, known as Alusi Okija, is believed to practice a ritual in which people involved in disputes, often over business deals, are exhorted to settle them by drinking a potion they are told will kill only the guilty.
• Probe ordered into child burial incident -- Tamil ceremony of burying alive to appease goddess.

   Sun Network, www.sunnetwork.org/news/regional/tamilnadu/tamilnadu.asp?id=12158 , Aug 03 2004
   CHENNAI, India - The Virudhunagar district administration has asked the police to conduct an inquiry into the reported child burial ritual performed during a temple festival at Kottaipatti village in the district on July 29.
   Five children were allegedly buried alive in a pit, defying government ban, and taken out after a few minutes as part of rituals during the festival of goddess Muthalamman in the village.
   District collector A Mohammad Aslam told UNI that based on media reports, he had asked the superintendent of police to conduct a probe into the matter.
   "The district police will submit a report after an investigation," he said, adding there was no time frame for the completion of the inquiry. He said such rituals had been in vogue for the last 45 years.
   Usually, those who were above 14 years were only subjected to such rituals, conducted every year during the Tamil month of 'Aadi' (English month July) to appease the goddess, to fulfil the vows taken by the parents of the children and to drive out evil forces.
• South African boy's limbs possibly severed for witchcraft

   CNN, www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/africa/08/02/southafrica.attack.reut/index.html , Monday, August 2, 2004 Posted: 2:04 PM EDT (1804 GMT)
   JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) -- Attackers hacked off a South African boy's hand, ear and genitals and left him for dead in what police said could be part of the "muti" trade in body parts for witchcraft.
   Sello Chokoe, 10, was in critical condition in a hospital Monday after he was attacked near the village of GaMaleka in South Africa's rural northern province of Limpopo.
   Chokoe was searching for cattle in nearby mountains Friday when he was attacked, hit on the head with a blunt weapon and left for dead, said police spokesman Mohale Ramatseba.
   A woman collecting firewood found him after hearing his faint cry for help.
   "The motive has not been established but we don't rule out the prospect that it could be 'muti'-related," Ramatseba said.
• Priest resigns under suspicion [Werra] -- finances.

   Kalamazoo Gazette, , cmeehan@kalamazoogazette.com 388-8412 Tuesday, August 3, 2004
   MICHIGAN: The local Roman Catholic diocese has accepted the resignation of the Rev. Bogdon Werra, an area priest who has been under investigation for alleged financial irregularities at churches he served in Mattawan and Marcellus.
   The priest's resignation, as well as word that the case is now in the hands of the Michigan State Police, was announced in a letter read during weekend services at St. John Bosco Parish in Mattawan and St. Margaret Mary Mission in Marcellus.
   Asked how much money is involved in the case, Michigan State Police Detective Mike Spring said, "a pretty good-size amount."
• Police Storm 9 More Shrines for Corpses

   AllAfrica.com ; http://allafrica.com/stories/200408060287.html , by Felix Uka, August 6, 2004
   AWKA, Nigeria: Police in Anambra State are set to storm nine more shrines in Okija, near Ihiala, today, heightening prospects of more chilling discoveries and gory scenes of skulls and corpses.
   The raid is on the heels of a similar action by the police on Wednesday, which unearthed scores of human skulls and dead bodies, many of them headless at the Ogwugwu Okija shrine.
   In Wednesday's raid, papers allegedly for 419 intent were recovered even as the corpses and skulls also recovered are now kept under tight security in a hospital.
   Also, 30 persons arrested during the raid are still being interrogated.
   Speaking with Daily Champion in Awka, the state capital yesterday, Commander of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), who led the 80-man squad that recovered over 20 human skulls from the two shrines, Mr. Gabriel Haruna, said some of the 30 nabbed suspects informed the police of the presence of nine additional shrines.
   The nine shrines, according to police sources, are of Ogwugwu Mili in Umuhi, Ogwugwu Ajano, Ogwugwu Umugum, Ogwugwu Umuhulihie, Ogwugwu Idipo and Ogwugwu Idingwo.
• Police Uncover 10 Fresh Shrines, Ohanaeze Scribe Slams Raid -- 20 skulls and 1 fresh corpse
   AllAfrica.com ; http://allafrica.com/stories/200408060030.html , by Anayo Okoli & Tony Edike, August 6, 2004
   AWKA, Nigeria: No fewer than 10 shrines similar to those uncovered Wednesday by the police in Okija, Ihiala local government area of Anambra State exist in that area, the police said yesterday. Twenty human skulls and one fresh corpse were recovered in a raid by the police at Ogwugwu Isiula and Ogwugwu Akpu.
   The discovery which came as a shock to many was, however, downplayed yesterday by the Secretary-General of the pan-Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze, Chief Joe Achuzia, who dismissed the police raid as ridiculous and said worshipping at shrines was not a new thing in Nigeria. The police are to continue their raid of the area today with the head of the police operation, Mr. Gabriel Haruna, saying: "It's an on-going fight."
   Mr. Haruna, a Chief Superintendent of Police, said 13 of the arrested suspects were workers at the Ogwugwu Isiula shrine while the remaining 17 were arrested at Ogwugu Akpu
• Beaverton megachurch, pastor to file for bankruptcy -- $US 5m borrowed

   KGW, www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D849JCK01.html , Associated Press, Aug/06/2004
   BEAVERTON (OR): The founder of a financially troubled Beaverton megachurch plans to file for personal bankruptcy to handle at least $1 million in debts.
   Mary Manin Morrissey resigned her position as lead pastor of the Living Enrichment Center earlier this week, saying she is unable to repay loans to church members. The church also plans to file for bankruptcy, officials told The Oregonian newspaper.
   The announcement comes as state and federal agencies investigate what happened to more than $5 million Morrissey and the church borrowed from congregants over the years. Another $1 million to $2 million went to New Thought Broadcasting, a media and Internet startup formed by Mary Morrissey's husband, Edward.
   "I am deeply saddened and heartbroken by all of the hardship and hurt that the church community as a whole and many of you individually have experienced," Morrissey said in a letter to the congregation. "It is obvious that I must do some deep reflection and grow in my own spiritual capacity."
   The Living Enrichment Center, which boasts 3,000 members, once occupied a 94,500-square-foot building in Wilsonville. But the owner, Hawaii-based Watamull Properties, repossessed the land and building in May.
• Church, pastor face criminal investigation
   The Oregonian. www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/front_page/10917936137660.xml , By LISA GRACE LEDNICER and JEFF MANNING, Friday, August 06, 2004
   BEAVERTON (OR): Federal criminal investigators are probing Living Enrichment Center, the financially troubled Beaverton megachurch, which this week lost its charismatic leader and confirmed it will file for bankruptcy and liquidate.
   Mary Manin Morrissey, the church's energetic founder and lead pastor, resigned her position earlier this week and is planning to declare personal bankruptcy as well. She faces at least $1 million in debts, and lenders are repossessing the home she shares with her husband, Edward.
   In a letter to the congregation, Morrissey said she is unable to repay loans from church members, some of whom are suing her and the church for their money.
• Ritual killings linked to fetish trade

   Sydney Morning Herald, www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/06/1091732093978.html , By Ijeoma Ezekwere in Ubahu-Ezike, Nigeria August 7, 2004
   NIGERIA: Nigerian police have arrested 30 witch-doctors in a raid on fetish shrines in Anambra state where more than 50 decomposing bodies and 20 human skulls were discovered, a police spokesman says.
   The head, genitals and other parts had been severed from some of the bodies, found in a teak forest in Okija village, a sign they may have been killed for ritual.
   "We saw more than 50 bodies in various coffins. There were several skulls, some of them really fresh," the police spokesman told Reuters by telephone.
   Ritual killing is common in some parts of Nigeria, where many people believe they can become instant millionaires by using human organs to make potent charms. Many Nigerians mix traditional religions with Christianity or Islam.
   Residents of Ubahu-Ezike, a small town near one of the shrines, said they were afraid to go near the shrine because men faithful to the deities were waiting there to attack outsiders.
   They said that a small group of "high priests" had exploited the traditional religion and turned it into a big money-spinning operation.
   "Those juju priests are very fraudulent," said a secondary school teacher in Ubahu-Ezike, asking not to be named. "They have been using the shrines to extort money from innocent people. They ride the best cars in the community and build fine, fine houses. Nobody dares challenge them, not even the traditional ruler."
• Church embezzler sentenced [2000-03 McKee] -- money.

   ROCKFORD (IL) Rockford Register Star www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040807/NEWS0107/408070314/1004 , By MELISSA WESTPHAL, Aug 7 2004
   ROCKFORD -- A federal judge sentenced a Pecatonica woman Friday to 18 months in prison for embezzling at least $140,000 from Second Congregational Church.
   Jannine M. McKee, 36, pleaded guilty May 26 to using the church's credit card to make personal purchases between August 2000 and July 2003.
   She worked as the financial secretary at the Rockford church. Her duties included maintaining and reconciling all of the church's computer-based accounting records and bank statements, preparing all financial statements, and paying and recording all legitimate bills and expenses.
   In her guilty plea, McKee admitted she used the church's American Express business credit card to buy items like clothing, food, vacation lodging, entertainment, gifts, pet supplies and gas for her personal vehicles. The END of Newsitems Received Covering Other Than Child And/Or Sexual Abuse

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* Holy Sins = Khilafah.com (Islamic website), uploaded 03 Aug 2004 Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) says in His Glorious Book, "And Allah has made for you wives of your own kind, and has made for you, from your wives, sons and grandsons". (TMQ An- Nahl: 72). Clergy, who deny the natural aspect of satisfying their sexual instinct through marriage to the opposite sex, themselves satisfy their frustrations by sexual perversions. In addition, the very secular Western system and values such as 'freedom' which have created these monsters, need to be put on trial. To obtain protection from the pollution and corruption of priestly and Western values requires the Khilafah (? = Caliphate = Muslim rule).

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