References cont. (28) — Clergy Child Molesters

• [Crusader can't get much interest from State legislators.]

ALBANY (New York State): From the circumstances of secrecy where young victims fall prey to sexually abusive clergymen, a similar scandal unfolds very much in the open. It's not the sexual crimes themselves, but rather the reluctance of secular authorities to confront them. At the state Capitol the other day, members of the Legislature showed scant interest in a hearing where the victims and survivors, along with attorneys, advocates and therapists, told their stories. This, as legislation to control the abusers and their enablers languishes. A series of bills sponsored by Sen. Thomas Duane, D-Manhattan, appears to be going nowhere. More than any other legislator, Mr. Duane sees the deep and lasting damage done by the sexual predators in the priesthood. He rightly wants to extend the statute of limitations for prosecuting sexual abuse crimes, and to temporarily lift the ban on most civil lawsuits by victims once they've turned 21. He also would require leaders of religious institutions to turn over personnel records indicating abuse that occurred during the past 50 years. -- Albany Times Union, "Hearing no evil," http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp ?storyID=136395&category=OP INION&BCCode=&news date=5/22/2003 , Thursday, May 22, 2003 (Start of Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker, Thursday, May 22, 2003, Posted by Kathy Shaw)

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References: www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/ethicscontents.htm
Most newsitems are from http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=46 e-mails • [Former Orthodox priest gets 10 years for molesting El Paso girl.] [~ 1993] EL PASO (TX): A former Greek Orthodox priest has been sentenced to 10 years in state prison after being convicted of indecency with a child. Jurors deliberated about four hours Tuesday before sentencing Roy Joe Givens, which includes a $10,000 fine. Givens, 67, also known as Father Mathias, was arrested in January in Springfield, Ill., and extradited to El Paso where he was jailed in lieu of a $500,000 bond. The charges were filed about 10 years ago. He was accused of sexual misconduct with a then 15-year-old girl while working as a priest at a now defunct church he established in El Paso. -- Houston Chronicle, "Ex-priest gets 10 years for molesting El Paso girl," http://www.chron. com/cs/CDA/ ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/1919404 , Associated Press
• Moloka'i cleric resigns four months after admitting abuse. HONOLULU (HI): Nearly four months after he was banished from the Diocese of Honolulu for admitting to sexual misconduct with a minor in the Philippines, the Rev. Roberto Batoon has agreed to leave the ministry of the Catholic Church. Hawai'i church officials were informed of Batoon's intentions in a letter received from the Philippines yesterday, said Patrick Downes, diocese spokesman. Downes said Batoon volunteered to be defrocked as a result of a recent meeting with Laoag Bishop Ernesto Salgado. Batoon was removed from his job as administrator of three Moloka'i churches in January after admitting the misconduct, which occurred in Laoag in northern Luzon. Honolulu Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo ordered Batoon to return home and report to his bishop for possible further action. -- Honolulu Advertiser, "Banished priest to leave ministry," http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/ article/ 2003/May/22/ ln/ln19a.html , By Timothy Hurley, Advertiser Maui County Bureau, May 22 03
• DYFS Investigates Priest for Messages Sent to Minor. METUCHEN (NJ): The Division of Youth and Family Services will investigate a priest for "inappropriate communications" with a minor. Metuchen Diocese general secretary Ronald C. Rak said the Reverend George Farrell has entered a supervised living facility. Farrell is a priest at Saint Matthew the Apostle in Edison. The diocese withheld details so as not to hinder the investigation. In a letter to parishioners, Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski said there was no indication the 42-year-old Farrell had inappropriate physical contact with a minor. -- WPVI (AP), http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/052103_nw_priestdyfs.html , May 21, 2003
• Suit: Priest molested students. [1970-1982] CINCINNATI (OH): A Catholic priest molested dozens of students while he served as principal of Elder High School, a $4 million lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, alleges the Rev. Lawrence Strittmatter molested "several dozen" boys while he was principal at the west side boys school from 1970 until 1982. Mason attorney Konrad Kircher filed the suit on behalf of four men who were not identified in the suit to protect their privacy. He is seeking $1 million for each plaintiff in damages. The suit named Strittmatter, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk as defendants. -- Cincinnati Post, http://www.cincypost.com/2003/05/22/priest052203.html , By Roy Wood, May 22 03
• Ex-National City man's lawsuit alleges sexual abuse by priest. NATIONAL CITY (CA): A former National City resident has filed a suit claiming he was sexually abused for five years beginning in San Diego County in the 1970s by a Catholic priest who was working for the military. The priest accused of molesting the youth is the Rev. Carmelo "Mel" Baltazar, said Elliott Kanter, the attorney representing the plaintiff. While the suit does not list Baltazar or the other individual defendants by name, Kanter said Baltazar is the priest who is identified as a "John Doe" defendant. In these kinds of childhood sexual abuse claims defendants are not listed by name until the court rules the allegations have been corroborated. Baltazar's whereabouts are unknown. Church officials could not say where he is, and he is not listed as currently working in the United States. The suit, filed last week in San Diego Superior Court, names the diocese of San Diego as a defendant, and the archdiocese of Los Angeles, Sacramento, Santa Rosa, Reno, Nev., and Boise, Idaho. -- San Diego Union-Tribune, http://www.signonsandiego. com/news/metro/20030522-9999_6m22priest.html , By Greg Moran, May 22, 2003
• Explicit e-mails, and undercover detective charges former St. Seb's hockey coach. [CURRENT, E-MAILS] NEEDHAM (MA): The Natick High School hockey coach embroiled in a sex abuse scandal spent seven years teaching and coaching at St. Sebastian's School in the 1980s, and an allegation has since arisen that he may have engaged in inappropriate behavior while at the Needham school. Joseph B. Doyle, 44, worked as a hockey coach and social studies teacher at the private Catholic school on Greendale Avenue from 1981 to 1988. He is free on bail awaiting trial in New Hampshire for attempted sexual assault after allegedly exchanging explicit e-mails and arranging a meeting for sex with an undercover New Hampshire police detective posing as a 14-year-old boy. A former St. Sebastian's student of Doyle's told the Boston Herald last week that he warned St. Sebastian's School officials two decades ago that Doyle was drinking with students, buying them beer and, on at least one occasion, showering with his hockey squad. "I complained to St. Sebastian's, and they never did anything," the student, a member of the class of 1982, was quoted as saying. -- Needham Times, "Man charged in sex scandal worked at St. Seb's," http://www.townonline.com/ needham/news/ local_regional/ nt_covnddoyle 05212003.htm , By Amanda McGregor, Wednesday May 21, 2003
• Child Sex Abuse: Bill allowing later lawsuits dormant. MINNESOTA: Efforts to give childhood victims of sexual abuse more time to sue their abusers will have to wait until next year. Negotiators had reached consensus on a bill that would have let survivors up to the age of 32 seek damages, as long as the incident was reported to authorities. Current statutes of limitations allow such victims up to six years from the age of maturity, or age 24. The conference committee's compromise bill never reached either the House or Senate floor for a vote before the regular session ended Monday. Members of Survivors Network Minnesota, which had lobbied extensively for changes, did not like the final proposal and were somewhat pleased that it never came up for a vote. -- Pioneer Press, http://www.twincities.com/ mld/twincities/ news/politics/ 5915349.htm , By Rubén Rosario
• Cincinnati archdiocese held papers, court told. CINCINNATI (OH): Prosecutors have accused the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati of withholding documents that were supposed to have been turned over in an investigation into sexual abuse allegations against priests. Hamilton County prosecutors told the 1st Ohio District Court of Appeals on Tuesday that church officials have made "misleading and inaccurate" statements about records that a Hamilton County Common Pleas judge ordered the archdiocese to share last year. Church lawyers had argued that the records requested by prosecutors were protected by attorney-client privilege and should remain private. In a compromise reached last year, a "special master" was appointed by the court to determine which files should be given to prosecutors and which should remain private. -- The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1053596113123590.xml , Associated Press, May 22 03
• Anglican clergy meet over sex abuse report.
   Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), http://www.abc.net.au/queensland/news/200305/s861494.htm , Thursday, 22 May 2003
   BRISBANE, Queensland, AUSTRALIA: Brisbane's Anglican Archbishop has met more than 150 of his Diocese clergy today to discuss reports of sexual abuse within the church. Dr Phillip Aspinall says the meeting is a regularly scheduled event, but he accepts that his clergy may have questions about the particular issue, including queries from their parishioners. Dr Aspinall says the matter is causing some pain within the church. "People are feeling sad and hurt and tired, but I think the overwhelming majority of responses I've received are supportive and encouraging," he said.
• Women: Bishops wrong. ERIE (PA): Three women who are suing the Catholic Diocese of Erie claim Bishop Donald W. Trautman defamed them in two ways — directly through a public statement, and indirectly from the pulpit. The women, in a detailed civil complaint filed Wednesday, allege that Trautman wrongly characterized them as liars in a letter Trautman released as a public statement a year ago. Trautman was responding to the women's allegations about a priest, the priest's possession of pornography and the priest's interest in what the women claim was "deviant sexual conduct." The women also allege that Trautman, after writing his letter, directed some priests in the Roman Catholic diocese to sermonize against the women. During those sermons, the women claim, their "credibility and integrity were seriously and maliciously attacked." The women — Sally Beres, Ann Caro and Helen Rusnak, all of Erie County — want the diocese to pay each of them no less than $50,000 in damages to compensate them for what they claim is their damaged reputations. They said their complaints and allegations about the priest and the diocese are true. -- GoErie.com , http://goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030522/FRONTPAGE/105220392 , By Ed Palattella ed.palattella@timesnews.com
• Youth group boys flown to and from island state for sex; Anglican sex ring for 30 years.
   The Advertiser, Adelaide, "Church Faces Calls For Action," http://www. theadvertiser.news.com.au/ common/story_page/0,5936,6473418%255E910,00.html , By Colin James, 22 May 2003
   ADELAIDE, S. Australia: An Adelaide Anglican Church youth leader sexually abused teenage boys as part of an interstate pedophile network which operated within the church for more than 30 years.
   An Anglican priest today will reveal Robert Brandenberg and three senior Anglican colleagues have been implicated in South Australia and Tasmania with an estimated 200 cases of sexual abuse dating back to the 1960s.
   Brandenberg is believed to have committed suicide in June, 1999, by drowning himself at the Thorndon Park Reservoir, Paradise, soon after he was charged with child sex offences.
   His former parish priest, Reverend Don Owers, would not comment yesterday, saying only that he will issue a statement today calling for an explanation on what the Anglican Church knew about the men sexually abusing teenage members of the Church of England Boys Society.
   Many of Brandenberg's victims came from a CEBS youth group based at St George's Church, Magill, which Brandenberg led for more than 20 years and which was within walking distance of his home in Magill Rd.
• Priest denies he molested teen. [1995 ACCUSATION] ST. LOUIS (MO): The Rev. Bryan Kuchar denied this morning that he ever molested, or even touched, a troubled teen-ager in 1995 when Kuchar was associate pastor at Assumption Catholic Church in south St. Louis County. The priest told a jury in St. Louis County Circuit Court that a 20-minute audiotaped confession he made on April 10, 2002, was a lie so police would leave him alone and let him go home. Kuchar is charged with six counts of statutory sodomy. The case went to the jury about 3:30 this afternoon; it is expected to decide today whether to believe the alleged victim, now 22 and then 14, and the confession police got from Kuchar or to believe the priest when he says he is totally innocent of the charges. Under questioning by his attorney Scott Rosenblum, Kuchar said county police detectives Jennifer Williams and John Newsham pressured him into a bogus confession during the interrogation. The questioning lasted three hours. -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com/ stltoday/news/stories.nsf/ News/E9443AC8AB1C BF1086256D2D0060B3AF? OpenDocument &Headline= Priest+denies+he+molested+teen , By William Lhotka, May 21 03
• Priest Trial Goes to the Jury. ST. LOUIS (MO): The jury is still out in the sexual abuse trial of a former Ballwin priest. Father Brian Kuchar faces 42 years in prison if convicted. The jury left the courtroom about 3:30 Wednesday afternoon to start deliberating. We're told they've not come out to ask any questions about any evidence presented during the trial. Father Kuchar is charged with six counts of statutory sodomy for crimes he allegedly committed eight years ago. His alleged victim is now 22-years old, but was 14 at the time, and a friend of Kuchar's. The young man gave jurors an emotional, and at times explicit, account of numerous sexual encounters he claims he had with Kuchar. -- KSDK, http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article_lc.asp?storyid=41111 , By Jeff Small
• Elliott and Shearman shadows still on Brisbane Anglicans, Hollingworth.. BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia: The Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, Phillip Aspinall, has called a summit of Brisbane diocese clergy to discuss fallout from the church's controversial report into the handling of sexual abuse. The report criticised Governor-General Peter Hollingworth for his handling of cases of sex abuse involving priests John Litton Elliot and Donald Shearman. It found Dr Hollingworth's decision to allow known pedophile Elliot to continue as a priest was "untenable", and it was critical of the way he handled complaints against Shearman, a former bishop. The report also criticised the role of the former headmaster of St Paul's School, Gilbert Case, who was later forced to resign as the executive director of Brisbane's Anglican Schools Office. -- Herald Sun, "Clergy to address sex report fallout," http://www.heraldsun. news.com.au/ common/story_page/0,5478,6462097%255 E421,00.html , By Ashleigh Wilson, May 20 03
• Boy-sex ring in Tassie, claims priest. ADELAIDE, S. Australia: An Anglican Church priest will today reveal details of an alleged pedophile ring operating in South Australia and Tasmania which could have involved sexual abuse of up to 200 children. The Reverend Don Owers, a priest in Adelaide, will issue a statement today calling for the Anglican Church to reveal what it knew about abuse of boys within the Church of England Boys Society. A number of pedophile priests and church officials have been linked to CEBS with claims this week that up to 200 children may have been sexually abused since the 1960s. Victims claim boys were flown between Tasmania and South Australia to be routinely abused by priests and youth workers. Rev Owers, an abuse victims advocate, has been campaigning for the church to come clean about the activities of a number of CEBS leaders, who have connections to South Australia and Tasmania. -- The Mercury, http://www.themercury.news.com.au/ common/story_page/0,5936,6472774%255E3462,00.html , By Colin James and Ellen Whinnett, 22 May 03
• Former Davenport priest accused of abuse. CLINTON (Iowa): A Clinton County man filed a civil lawsuit this week against a retired Catholic priest from the Diocese of Davenport, accusing the priest of molesting him as an altar boy in the Sugar Creek parish church in the 1960s. The plaintiff, known only in court records as "John Doe," accused retired Rev. James Janssen of beginning the repeated abuse in 1967, when Janssen was assigned to St. Joseph Parish in Sugar Creek. The plaintiff was younger than 14 at the time. The lawsuit claims Janssen prefaced the repeated sex acts that happened in the church rectory and other sites with, "This is how we build trust." The plaintiff also claims the priest took him and other minors to an adult triple-X movie theater in Clinton to watch an explicit movie, and encouraged him and others to shoplift during an out-of-state trip. -- Quad-City Times, http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1012583&t=Gateway&c=30,1012583 , By Kay Luna
• Woodside Greek priest pleads guilty in sex case. [1999, ADMITS] QUEENS (NY): A defrocked Greek Orthodox priest who runs his own splinter church in Woodside pleaded guilty last week to charges he sexually molested a 14-year-old boy in his parish four years ago, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. James Vrionis, 59, of 44-02 48th Ave., pleaded guilty May 14 to misdemeanor charges of sex abuse and attempted sex abuse before Queens Criminal Court Judge Steven Paynter, Brown said. "His conduct not only betrayed his priestly calling but also inflicted deep psychological harm upon his young victim," Brown said in a statement. "The defendant's plea of guilty provides the certainty of a criminal conviction and his permanent registration and Internet posting as a dangerous sexual offender, which will protect the safety of other children." -- Astoria Times-Ledger, http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=8087013&BRD=1079&PAG=461&dept_id=506458&rfi=6 , By Dustin Brown
• Priest won't be charged, DA says. SAN BERNARDINO (CA): San Bernardino County prosecutors will not file statutory rape charges against the Rev. Paul Shanley, a former Inland priest at the center of the national clergy sexual-abuse scandal. The decision led San Bernardino County sheriff's detectives to ask the Riverside County district attorney's office Wednesday to consider charging Shanley with sexually abusing a 17-year-old boy in Palm Springs, deputies said. The developments come after months of investigation into accusations by Kevin English, who said Shanley first seduced him in 1990 in Big Bear Lake, two months before English turned 18. English said more incidents occurred in Palm Springs while he was a minor. - The Press-Enterprise, http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_NEWS_nshan22.102f5.html , by Michael Fisher
• Ex-Elder principal accused of abuse. [1970s-mid-80s] CINCINNATI (OH): The Rev. Lawrence Strittmatter, a former Elder High School principal, molested "several dozen" students at the venerable west side Catholic boys school in the late 1970s to mid-1980s, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by four former students who say they were victims. The men, who were not identified in the lawsuit, are suing the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk and Strittmatter in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court for $1 million. The lawsuit, filed by Mason attorney Konrad Kircher on the alleged victims' behalf, also says the archdiocese knew about the molestation but failed to investigate, never identified victims, never offered assistance to victims and failed to warn anyone about Strittmatter. -- The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www. enquirer.com/editions/2003/05/22/loc_priestscandal22.html , By Sharon Turco, May 22 03
• The path of Father Strittmatter. CINCINNATI (OH):
1957 - Ordained a priest in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
1957-1970 - Assistant pastor at Resurrection of Our Lord (1957-1962), St. Leo the Great (1962-1967) and St. Bernard (1967-1970), all in Cincinnati. Also teaches classical languages at Elder High School.
1970-1982 - Principal of Elder High School.
1982-1988 - Pastor at Our Lady of Victory parish and school in Delhi.
1988 - Accused of sexual misconduct for incident occurring years earlier involving a former Elder student. The archdiocese removes him from Our Lady of Victory and sends him to a treatment program for sex offenders.
-- Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/05/22/loc_priesttimeline22.html May 22 03
• Despite apologies to victims, many Catholic dioceses pursue aggressive legal defense. PENNSYLVANIA, USA: The nation's Roman Catholic bishops promised at the height of the clerical sex abuse crisis last year to heal the church quickly, but critics say that -- when it comes to dealing with lawsuits -- many dioceses are fighting as hard as ever. They have been challenging claims from alleged victims and resisting prosecutors' demands for personnel files, arguing both violate the constitutional separation of church and state. Victims are astounded that bishops have dared mount any challenge, considering the damage some of them wrought by keeping guilty priests in parishes where they had access to children. But church lawyers say such a reaction is unreasonable. A voluntary, 90-day freeze on 500 claims against the Boston Archdiocese expired Monday with no settlement and lawyers prepared to return to court. At least one plaintiffs' attorney wondered why the church would prolong a "public relations disaster." Yet lawyers on both sides say many dioceses have little choice but to contest the suits. They are required under their insurance contracts to aggressively defend themselves or forgo coverage, and must raise any plausible defense theory -- including invoking the statutes of limitations and freedom of religion. -- NEPA News (Pennsylvania), http://www.nepanews.com/ site/news.cfm? newsid =8069378&BRD=2212&PAG=461&dept_id=465812&rfi=6 , May 20 03
• Lawyer files more clergy abuse suits. BOSTON (MA): An attorney with more than 100 clergy sexual-abuse cases against the Archdiocese of Boston filed four new cases yesterday, including one naming a now-deceased priest not previously accused. Msgr. Raymond L. Hyder, who died in 1975, is accused of molesting a teenage boy while serving at St. Margaret's Parish in Lowell, according to the suit filed by Mitchell Garabedian. -- Boston Herald, http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/lnib405222003.htm , Thursday, May 22, 2003
• Victims of Clergy Sexual Abuse Seek Bill to Suspend Three-Year Statute of Limitations. ALBANY (NY): Victims of clergy sexual abuse converged on the capital Tuesday, lobbying lawmakers for an extended statute of limitations and other measures prompted by the national scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church. The late-session push was orchestrated primarily by Sen. Thomas K. Duane, a Manhattan Democrat promoting a broad package of legislation. Mr. Duane in March introduced an expansive legislative agenda which, while it has little chance of passing, is encouraging continued discussions that could lead to some changes. An agreement is near on more moderate proposals by Assemblyman John J. McEneny, D-Albany, and Sen. Stephen Saland, R-Poughkeepsie. At a forum Tuesday sponsored by Mr. Duane, a series of victims came forward in support of his bill that would suspend the three-year statute of limitations and allow lawsuits over abuses that allegedly occurred decades ago. Among those testifying was a Catholic priest. Rev. Robert Hoatson, a cleric in the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., who spent most of his 30-year-career in Manhattan and Ulster and Westchester counties, said he was molested by four different abusers. Among them, he said, was a fellow seminarian. When Rev. Hoatson reported the incident to a religious superior, he was molested again by the priest, he said. Years later, Rev. Hoatson said, he warned his superiors about a colleague who was recently accused of abusing boys, but his warnings were dismissed with "scorn and derision." -- New York Law Journal, http://www6.law.com/lawcom/displayid.cfm?statename=NY &docnum=206903&table=news&flag=full , By John Caher
• Forum on abuse scandal draws few lawmakers. ALBANY (NY): A contingent of speakers -- victims of sexual abuse, attorneys, advocates and therapists -- stepped forward at a public forum at the Capitol on Tuesday, but few lawmakers showed up to listen. At times Sen. Thomas Duane was the only legislator in the room during the three-hour hearing stemming from the Catholic Church's clergy sex abuse scandal. The Manhattan Democrat has proposed legislation that would extend the statute of limitations for lawsuits and criminal prosecutions against priests who sexually abuse children. "It's the cheapest law enforcement money can buy," said David Clohessy, the executive director of the Chicago-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, who came to Albany for the hearing. About 30 people attended the forum, which included testimony from the Rev. Robert Hoaston, a priest from the Archdiocese of New York, who said he was sexually abused by another priest. David Leonard, 60, from Herkimer County, also spoke about his abuse and what he called an exorcism that several priests later performed on him to help with his emotional problems. -- Albany Times Union, http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID =136097&category=STATE&newsdate=5/21/2003 , By Andrew Tilghman, May 21, 2003
• Victims of clergy sex abuse make case for legal reform. ALBANY (NY): Over two dozen people from across the state who say they were abused by priests as children urged legislators Tuesday to reform New York's laws on clergy sex abuse and extend the statute of limitations. Sen. Thomas Duane, D-Manhattan, who proposed legislation to extend the statute, held the legislative hearing Tuesday and said it was a springboard to prompt action. "Between the hearing and the lobbying I think my colleagues will wake up and change laws." The current statute of limitations allows a victim one year from the time he turns 18 to file a complaint seeking criminal charges. On Tuesday, victim after victim recounted abuse, and there were striking similarities in the stories: The priest befriended the child, established a relationship with the family until the abuse began, and then threatened the victim if he told anyone of the abuse. Many victims, who often refer to themselves as survivors, broke down sobbing and spoke of long-lasting emotional scars from the abuse that include depression and an inability to trust people. -- Daily Gazette, http://www.dailygazette.com/albany.shtml#story170D0002, By Jill Bryce
• Mother says priests abused her teen son. [1980-81 ALLEGATION] PENNSYLVANIA: A woman has sued the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese and the oldest Benedictine monastery in the nation, claiming that when her son was a teenager he was plied with drugs and alcohol and abused by three priests. In her lawsuit, filed Monday, the woman claims her son was sexually abused by three priests while he was an altar boy in 1980 and 1981. The son has not filed a lawsuit but is considering one, the woman's attorney said. The abuse began when the Rev. Alvin Downey was transferred to St. John the Evangelist Church in Bellefonte in 1980 to fill in for vacationing priests, according to the lawsuit. The boy, who was then 16, was an altar boy at the church. Downey gave the boy marijuana and alcohol and then fondled him and performed sex acts on him, the woman claims. The abuse continued until 1981, when the boy stayed at the St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe under the guise of meeting Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw, according to the lawsuit. The teen was sexually abused by Downey and two other priests -- the Revs. Andrew Campbell and Athanasius Cherry -- the lawsuit states. -- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/ 20030521lawsuit0521p3.asp , By Mike Crissey, The Associated Press, May 21 03
• President Of Youth Program Is Charged. [CURRENT ACCUSATION] LONG ISLAND (NY): The head of a Roosevelt youth mentoring program was arraigned yesterday on charges of impersonating a police officer and failing to register as a Level 2 sex offender, a status that was unknown to the people who worked with him. James Kimp, 31, of 31 Frazier St., Hempstead, was ordered held at the Nassau County jail when he could not make the $50,000 cash bail set by a First District Court judge in Hempstead. Kimp was president until Monday of the United Males Corp., an organization based at a Mount Sinai Baptist Church building in Roosevelt. Police had been searching for Kimp since May 7. That's when, police said, a parks employee at Kennedy Park in Hempstead informed them Kimp had been looking for a young boy and claiming to be a police officer, said Nassau Special Victims Squad Det. Robert Dunn. -- Newsday, http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lidupe213294822may21,0, 1285468. story?coll=ny-linews-headlines , By Keiko Morris, May 21, 2003
• After years of silence, man tells of abuse. ALBANY (NY): For decades, Charles Bailey says he kept the secret to himself. After time, the Baldwinsville man admitted it to his wife. Tuesday, he went public with a story of how he allegedly was abused by a Catholic priest as a boy. Bailey's voice cracked and he was on the verge of tears as he detailed his journey to Sen. Thomas Duane and others at a public hearing in Albany. Bailey and other victims, including several from Central New York, implored Duane and his colleagues to pass a law abolishing the statute of limitations for prosecuting clergy sex abuse crimes. Bailey, now a 52-year-old grandfather of six, said he was abused between the ages of 10 and 12 by a priest in the Syracuse Diocese who has since died. As a teenager, Bailey said, he wanted no one to know. He got married at 21. "I couldn't tell my young bride of this as I felt so dirty, used and defective," he said. "The shame, guilt and embarrassment was monumental. I would practice telling my wife in the mirror but never could get the courage up." -- Syracuse Post-Standard, http://www. syracuse.com/news/ poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1053506107101780.xml , By Erik Kriss, Albany bureau
• Church accused of hiding evidence. CINCINNATI (OH): The Archdiocese of Cincinnati was accused Tuesday of withholding documents that were supposed to have been turned over as part of an investigation into sexual abuse allegations. Hamilton County prosecutors told an appeals court that church officials have made "misleading and inaccurate" statements about records they were ordered to share last year. Prosecutors had requested the records during their investigation into sexual abuse allegations involving clergy. Church lawyers have argued that the records were protected by attorney-client privilege and should remain private. The two sides compromised last year in Common Pleas court and agreed to allow a court-appointed "special master" to inspect all of the files to determine which should be given to prosecutors and which should not. But in court briefs filed during the past week, prosecutors claim the church did not allow the special master, Glenn Whitaker, to see documents kept by the archdiocese's lawyers. -- The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/05/21/loc_archdiocese 21.html , By Dan Horn (Posted by Kathy Shaw)
########## End of Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker, Thursday, May 22, 2003
• Et tu, Dr. Aspinall? AUSTRALIA: You have to ask the question: Is there no end to this issue? Is there no end to the depravity and deceit and the cover-up by the Churches over paedophile priests? For a while there we had an Anglican hero. The new Brisbane Archbishop Phillip Aspinall after he replaced the disgraced church leader --and now mothballed Governor-General – Peter Hollingworth. He called for a church investigation into allegations that the church put money before morality. That the church – HIS church – listened more to insurance companies and lawyers than they did to victims of child abuse at the hands of his church's priests. He refused to support Hollingworth and battled to get the report that damned the G-G into the public record in the Queensland Parliament. As an atheist I thought: What a strong, decent, moral man. What a hero. Too soon. Too soon. Now it seems, with damning revelations in The Australian newspaper today, Dr. Aspinal has also in the past put money before morality. As Assistant Archbishop in Adelaide he knew about paedophile priests especially a paedophile ring involving Tasmania, South Australia and Queensland through a group called the Church of England Boys Society. They have been operating apparently since the 1960s. One of the molesters, a church youth leader named Bob Brandenburg, committed suicide in 1999 – the day he appeared in court on a series of sexual assault charges. Complaints about Brandenburg had been made in 1993 but nothing was done by a church committee -- of which Aspinall was a member – until six years later. In fact, the Adelaide Archbishop Ian George did not alert the diocese council until June 2002. Money before morality. Aspinall now stands accused of some of the very crimes and lapses we have excoriated Hollingworth over. Even the wording is the same. When The Australian newspaper approached Dr. Aspinall he went into spin doctor mode that would have made Hollingworth's PR men proud. He said he was "sympathetic" to the view that Brandenburg's name be made public but his view was not shared by Archbishop George because of advice from church insurers. So it did not happen. In fact, Aspinall drafted a mealy-mouthed concealing statement released by his Archbishop. He now says, and I quote: "At this time I was sympathetic to the proposal… that a public statement be made calling for any victims of Brandenburg to come forward. The Archbishop was, at that stage not disposed to make such a statement because of advice from insurers that the church should do nothing that could be tantamount to inviting claims." For God's sake! And I say that deliberately. Did any of these so-called shepherds give a tinker's cuss about the members of their flock? I ask again: Who's looking after the children? -- The official Derryn Hinch website, Hinch Says, 'Et tu, Dr. Aspinall?' http://www.hinch.net/says_archive/May03/22-5-03.htm , Thursday, May 22, 2003
########## Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker, Friday, May 23, 2003 edition follows:-
• Fellowship Church pastor-teacher charged with sex abuse. [? CURRENT] MOBILE, (Ala.): A school teacher and minister is out on bond after being arrested on sex charges involving a minor. Members of the Fellowship Church in Eight Mile continue to pray for their pastor 40-year-old Stanley Porter who was arrested and charged with sodomy and sexual abuse of a minor. Local parents NBC 15 interviewed are not as forgiving. "He should be prosecuted. He really should to the fullest 'cause it's too much of it goin' on," said parent Julie Ward Roderick Randolph agreed, "I think it's really messed up that we got adults that have to take out they sexual intents on kids." Others say they will let the courts decide whether the Calloway-Smith teacher had sex with a former student and offered that student money to perform sexual acts. "I guess he's innocent until proven guilty," said Liz Kondroske, "but if he's guilty he deserves to go to jail, and I don't think he should be in the school system." -- WPMI, "Current complaint against teacher not the first," http://www.wpmi.com/global/story.asp?s=1291120&ClientType=Printable , May 22 03 (Posted by Kathy Shaw 9:08:27 AM)
• Baptist jailed for sex abuse of Filipino children. [1999-2001] AUSTRALIA: A former Baptist Church minister has been sentenced to a minimum of five years jail in Australia for the sexual abuse of young boys in the Philippines. Our reporter Jane Maree Sedgman says David John Gillard, 57, was working as a missionary in children's camps in the Phillipines when he committed the offences. The New South Wales Supreme Court heard Gillard interfered with four boys, all of whom were under the age of 16, during visits to the country from 1999 to 2001. Gillard was arrested and deported back to Australia, where he pleaded guilty to 12 charges. -- Radio Australia, "Australian jailed for sex abuse of Filipino children," http://www.abc.net.au/ra/newstories/RANewsStories_862396.htm
• Church reaches deal, but bitterness remains. MANCHESTER (New Hampshire): After reaching a $6.5 million settlement this week with 61 people, the Diocese of Manchester has agreed to pay $15.45 million to 176 alleged sexual abuse victims in just over a year. But with the announcement Thursday of the most recent agreement, the words of attorney Mark Abramson starkly contrasted to those of lawyers who brokered past deals. Abramson believes the diocese does not care for victims, despite its gestures this past year. "Do I think the church is swell and did great things? That's absolutely ridiculous," Abramson said. "They still don't get it." The diocese settled with the 61 people only because Hillsborough Superior Court Judge Arthur Brennan ruled during civil proceedings that the church is responsible for its priests, Abramson said. The diocese moved for an out-of-court settlement only when faced with the prospect of a jury trial, he said. -- Nashua Telegraph, http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/Main.asp?SectionID=25&SubSectionID=377&ArticleID=80852 , By Albert McKeon, mckeona@telegraph-nh.com
• Decision on lay group stalls until new bishop installed. FALL RIVER (MA): Members of the lay Catholic group Voice of the Faithful will have to wait until the installation of Diocese of Fall River Bishop-elect George W. Coleman to learn whether he'll let them meet on church grounds. In the meantime, at least two chapters have been banned from meeting on church property as priests enforce an order Coleman issued earlier this year as temporary diocesan administrator. The chapters are gathering elsewhere. A spokesman for the diocese, John Kearns Jr., said yesterday that Coleman would not make a formal decision until he is elevated to bishop this summer because he believes a matter of such significance should not be settled by an interim leader. "To speak as a bishop, he first needs to be ordained and installed as one," Kearns said. Voice of the Faithful leaders said that leaves members in limbo. -- Boston Herald, http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/votf05232003.htm , by Eric Convey, Friday, May 23, 2003
• Diocese of Manchester settles 61 sex cases for $6.5 million. DOVER (New Hampshire): The Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester announced this morning a $6.5 million settlement with 61 people who accused the church of failing to protect them from childhood sexual abuse by priests. Attorney Mark Abramson of Manchester filed the first of the cases in April 2002 and said some are ready to go to trial in a matter of weeks. "We felt like we were able to take these cases the distance," Abramson said this morning. "The only thing that's left undone is changing the church hierarchy. "My clients seem to be very pleased. They'll be even more pleased if the bishop resigns," he said. Bishop John McCormack has repeatedly said he will not resign his position. He released a statement this morning, expressing his hope the diocese and victims can now heal. -- Foster's Daily Democrat, http://www4.fosters.com/News2003/May2003/May_22/News/reg_pr_0522a.asp , By Brad Morin, May 22 03
• Diocese settles set of claims. NEW HAMPSHIRE: The Diocese of Manchester settled its last big batch of sexual abuse claims after months of sometimes hostile negotiations yesterday, agreeing to pay $6.5 million to 61 people who alleged misconduct by New Hampshire priests, a diocesan brother and a layperson. Attorney Mark Abramson of Manchester said his clients were satisfied with the agreement but, like him, would have preferred that the resignations of Bishop John McCormack and his assistant, Bishop Francis Christian, had been part of the deal. "They are most concerned about power and money," Abramson said of the church's leadership. "I don't believe the victims are at the top of their list. I didn't believe it in the beginning (of negotiations). I didn't believe it in the middle. And I don't believe it now." McCormack offered as part of the settlement to meet with each victim, but Abramson said none of his clients was interested. What the settlement did not include was a public disclosure of the church's alleged wrongdoing that Abramson had originally promised. Abramson said yesterday he could not share damning church files he had collected until after he has settled a few pending claims. -- Concord Monitor, http://www.cmonitor.com/stories/front2003/settlement_2003.shtml , By Annmarie Timmins
• Diocese agrees to pay $6.5m to settle sex-abuse cases. NEW HAMPSHIRE: The Manchester Diocese will pay $6.5 million to settle the lawsuits of 61 people who accused the church of looking the other way when they were being sexually preyed upon as children by Catholic priests. The payments will be made over a three-year period starting at the end of this year, the church said yesterday. The settlement with attorney Mark Abramson's clients brings the total number of sex-abuse cases settled in the past 11 months to 176. The church said the total payout in that time has reached $15,450,000. The diocese believes all but a handful of the sex-abuse cases are now resolved. The three-year payout, the diocese said, is "acceptable to the complainants and also allows for the stabilization of the financial condition of the diocese." -- The Union Leader, http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_show.html?article=21597 , By Nancy Meersman
• Church Official Urges Longer Moratorium. BOSTON (MA): The interim head of the Archdiocese of Boston called Thursday for a 30-day extension of a moratorium on litigation in the church sex abuse scandal, saying he remains committed to settling the suits but needs more time. Bishop Richard Lennon said the extension will allow the archdiocese to work with insurance companies toward a settlement. "It is my fervent hope that such a resolution will serve to foster the healing so desperately needed by those who have been abused, their families, this local Church and the wider community," he said. A 90-day moratorium ended this week without a settlement offer from the church. Late last week, attorneys from the archdiocese asked the alleged victims' lawyers to continue discussions. They refused, saying there had not been enough progress to merit a continuation. About 500 people have come forward with claims of sexual abuse by dozens of current or former clergy in the archdiocese since the church was forced to turn over documents in January 2002 showing the church shuffled priests between parishes to hide their actions. -- Dayton Daily News, http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V2892.AP-Church-Abuse.html , By Theo Emery, Associated Press Writer
• Psychiatrist told priest to go out of town. LOUISVILLE (KY): A retired priest at the center of a sex-abuse scandal Thursday recounted decades-old conversations with a former archbishop who was responding to child-molestation allegations against the priest. The Rev. Louis E. Miller told lawyers at a deposition that former Louisville Archbishop John Floersh seemed to take the attitude that the problem would "take care of itself." Miller also said he was told by a psychiatrist upon his release from a psychiatric hospital in the 1960s that if he needed to have sex, "go out of town for it." Miller said the psychiatrist knew of his sexual past with children and was "probably" chosen by Floersh to assist in his treatment. Miller is accused of abusing children in dozens of the more than 250 lawsuits filed against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville. -- The Henderson Gleaner (AP), "Accused priest recounts abuse response," http://www.myinky.com/ecp/gleaner_news/article/0,1626,ECP_4476_1982791,00.html , May 23, 2003
• Sex, God & Greed. UNITED STATES: Pedophile priests have sparked a litigation gold rush. The Boy Scouts, day care firms and Hollywood may be next. Asbestos, tobacco, guns, lead paint. What's the next jackpot for tort lawyers? It could be sex. The focal point of this tort battle is the Catholic Church. The Church's legal problems are worse even than most people realize: $1 billion in damages already paid out for the victims of pedophile priests, indications that the total will approach $5 billion before the crisis is over. But this wave of litigation does not end here. Is there any reason to think that the priesthood has a monopoly on child molestation? The lawyers who are winning settlements from Catholic dioceses are already casting about for the next targets: schools, government agencies, day care centers, police departments, Indian reservations, Hollywood. Plaintiff lawyer Roderick MacLeish Jr. and other litigators have parlayed the priest crisis into a billion-dollar money machine, fueled by lethal legal tactics, shrewd use of the media and public outrage so fierce that almost any claim, no matter how bizarre or dated, offers a shot at a windfall. The lawyers are lobbying states to lift the statute of limitations on sex abuse cases, letting them dredge up complaints that date back decades. Last year California, responding to the outcry over the rash of priest cases, suspended its statute of limitations on sex abuse crimes for one year, opening the way for a deluge of new claims. A dozen other states are being pushed to loosen their laws. -- Forbes, http://www.forbes.com/markets/forbes/2003/0609/066.html , by Daniel Lyons
[COMMENT: Oh dear, is this a Churchy person trying to pretend that there's no difference between a priest seducing a child, and someone else? If so, and the sacred isn't sacred, why believe any of the creed at all? COMMENT ENDS]
• Sex-abuse suit filed against ex-'Aiea priest. [UNTIL 2001] HONOLULU (HI): An O'ahu man is claiming that a former pastor of St. Elizabeth Church in 'Aiea sexually abused him from 1997 or 1998 until December 2001. A lawsuit filed Tuesday by Honolulu attorney David Gierlach contends that Andrew Mannetta engaged in misconduct toward Elton Killion that included unwanted kissing, getting him drunk and sexually assaulting him. The complaint says Mannetta used his authority as a Roman Catholic priest to facilitate his conduct. Mannetta could not be reached for comment. Gierlach said much of the alleged misconduct took place while Killion was a minor. Killion is now 22, his lawyer said. -- Honolulu Advertiser, http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/May/23/ln/ln15a.html , By David Waite, Advertiser Courts Writer, May 23 03
• Guest Preacher Named In Sex Abuse Lawsuit. [1994-1997] HONOLULU (HI): A Catholic priest who served as a guest preacher at parish retreats and ecumenical events is being accused of sexual abuse. Hawaii resident Elton Killion claims in a Circuit Court lawsuit that the Rev. Andrew Mannetta made unwanted and unlawful sexual advances over a four-year period while Killion was a minor. Killion seeks monetary compensation to be determined at trial. Mannetta served as pastor of St. Elizabeth Church in Aiea from 1994 to 1997 and later lived at the parish residence for Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Pearl City. His order, the Capuchin Franciscans, reassigned him to New York last October. Meanwhile, a priest from the Philippines who served in Hawaii churches from 1997 until last January has agreed to leave the ministry of the Catholic Church. -- TheHawaiiChannel.com , http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/2223044/detail.html
• No inquiry, Brandenburg not in interstate ring: Archbishop. AUSTRALIA: The Anglican Church has rejected calls by two Adelaide priests for an independent investigation into a pedophile network which allegedly operated in South Australia and Tasmania for nearly 40 years. Archbishop Ian George said last night an inquiry was "not necessary" because the Adelaide Diocese had acted "promptly and appropriately" to accusations a former youth leader had sexually abused young boys and teenagers. He was responding to public allegations by Reverend Don Owers and Reverend Andrew King that former Church of England Boys Society chief commissioner Robert Brandenburg was part of a group of senior Anglicans in SA and Tasmania who had preyed on CEBS members since the 1960s. "There is no evidence of any network of pedophiles operating within the Diocese of Adelaide or, as has been suggested, linked with other dioceses," Archbishop George said. -- News.com.au , "Church rejects sex inquiry," http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,6479140%255E26462,00.html , May 23, 2003 FOR GOOD TEACHINGS TO BE HEEDED, A BIG CLEAN-UP IS NEEDED Poynter Institute: http://www.poynter.org/ subscribe.to.clergy.tracker/ for daily e-mails
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