References cont. (29) — Clergy Child Molesters

• [Contempt of court, to plead First Amendment.]

ST. CHARLES (Illinois): The Catholic Diocese of Rockford refused to turn over documents related to the conduct of a priest charged in a sex abuse case, instead asking a judge Thursday to hold it in contempt of court. The diocese told Kane County Judge Timothy Sheldon it would not turn over its internal documents on the conduct of the Rev. Mark Campobello, who is charged with sexual abuse of a minor girl. Sheldon then ruled that the diocese was in civil contempt, which enables the church to appeal to the Illinois Appellate Court. The diocese says it is protected by the First Amendment. "We had to be held in contempt. That is the only way we can get to a higher court," said Ellen Lynch of Hinshaw & Culbertson, which represents the diocese. -- Rockford Register Star, "Appeal set in priest's abuse case," http://www.rrstar.com/localnews/your_community/regional/20030523-5243.shtml , By Geri Nikolai, (Continuation of Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker, Thursday, May 22, 2003)

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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 • Woman sues Sioux Falls diocese claiming sexual abuse. SIOUX FALLS (S.D.): A Florida woman has filed a lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls claiming she was sexually abused by a priest during her childhood. The lawsuit also names Bishop Robert Carlson, retired Bishop Paul Dudley, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and its bishop and the Rev. Bruce MacArthur, a retired priest of the Sioux Falls diocese who now lives in Texas. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Sioux Falls. In the suit, Judith "Judy" Glassman DeLonga, 48, of Pensacola, Fla., claims MacArthur molested her from about 1965 to 1970 while she lived in Beaver Dam, Wis. The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, claims MacArthur committed sexual abuse and accuses the dioceses and bishops of fraud, concealment and negligence. Carlson said Wednesday afternoon that he had not seen the lawsuit but had been in contact with DeLonga. -- Aberdeen News, Associated Press, http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/5920482.htm
• Priest's sex abuse case ends in mistrial.[1995 ALLEGATION] ST. LOUIS (MO): Jurors in the sex abuse trial of the Rev. Bryan Kuchar deadlocked 6-6 despite 14 hours of deliberations, one member said Thursday after the judge declared a mistrial and sent them home. The panel failed to reach unanimous agreement on six charges of statutory sodomy that said Kuchar, as associate pastor at Assumption Catholic Church in south St. Louis County in 1995, had molested a 14-year-old boy. Prosecutors said Kuchar would be tried again. Circuit Judge John Ross set a hearing for May 30. The alleged victim, now 22, sat with his family and members of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP] as Ross asked the jurors to raise their hands if they felt further deliberations would lead to a verdict. No one responded. Most jurors declined to comment on their consideration of the case, which ran from 3:30 to 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, and 9 a.m. to about 4 p.m. Thursday. One was willing to speak without use of his name. -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/ News/ 525011D0808528F486 256D2F00143D55?OpenDocument&Headline=Priest , By William C. Lhotka, May 22 03
• Priest pleads not guilty. SAN BERNARDINO (CA): A Roman Catholic priest who served parishes in Corona, Riverside, Colton and San Bernardino for four decades pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges he molested two teenage boys in the 1960s. The Rev. Peter Luque, 68, faces 12 felony counts of performing lewd acts on a child, sodomy and oral copulation. He entered his plea in San Bernardino County Superior Court. The Colton native began ministering to Inland Catholics in the early '60s, most recently as pastor of St. Edward Catholic Church in Corona, the largest parish in the Diocese of San Bernardino. He resigned earlier this year, 10 months after he was placed on administrative leave amid the sexual allegations. Luque previously served at St. Anthony Catholic Church in San Bernardino, Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission in Riverside, San Salvador Catholic Church in Colton and Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in San Bernardino, according to church officials. - The Press-Enterprise, http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_NEWS_npriest23.f05b.html , by Tim Grenda
• Civil suit against Shanley to continue, attorney says. SAN BERNARDINO (CA): An attorney said his client's civil lawsuit accusing a former Inland Roman Catholic priest of sexual abuse will move forward despite a decision by San Bernardino County prosecutors not to file criminal charges in the case. William Light said he and his client, Kevin English, are disappointed that prosecutors are not filing abuse charges against the Rev. Paul Shanley. "There would be a certain amount of momentum behind this (lawsuit) if the San Bernardino district attorney's office had pursued a prosecution and a conviction, but we don't need that prosecution to prove our case," Light said in a telephone interview Thursday. English, now 30, accuses Shanley of seducing him in 1990 in Big Bear Lake two months before English turned 18. English said more incidents occurred in Palm Springs. -- The Press-Enterprise, http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_NEWS_nshan23.58426.html , By Michael Fisher
• San Bernardino won't charge Shanley. SAN BERNARDINO (CA): Paul Shanley, a retired Catholic priest at the center of sexual abuse claims in two states, will not be charged with statutory rape in San Bernardino County, a prosecutor said. "We don't believe the evidence in front of us at this point in time justified a filing," Dwight Moore, a supervising deputy district attorney, said Wednesday. Shanley could face future charges if new evidence surfaces, he added. Word of the decision prompted a Bernardino County sheriff's detectives to take the unusual step Wednesday of asking officials in neighboring Riverside County to consider charging Shanley. Prosecutors there have agreed to review the case, sheriff's Sgt. Jack Trotter said. -- Press-Telegram, "San Bernardino won't charge former priest," http://www.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,204~21474~1409934,00.html
• Father Miller said three archbishops knew of his abuse. LOUISVILLE (KY): Five days before his sentencing for decades of child molestation, the Rev. Louis E. Miller testified yesterday that three Louisville archbishops knew of his sexual abuse but kept him in the priesthood. During a daylong deposition that included combative exchanges, Miller also testified that in the early 1990s his therapist told police that Miller was a sexual offender, but police never followed up. Miller testified in conjunction with 246 pending civil lawsuits that accuse the Archdiocese of Louisville of concealing abuse by Miller and other priests and workers. It was Miller's first extensive testimony since allegations against him became public last year. His testimony confirmed and expanded on previous revelations about how much the archdiocese knew of his sexual abuse. But he denied that archbishops tried to cover up the abuse, and he took "responsibility for all of it." -- The Courier-Journal, "Pedophile priest says abuse was no secret," http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2003/05/23ky/wir-front-mill0523-10810.html , By Peter Smith and Gregory A. Hall
• Diocese won't share files. ST. CHARLES (IL): The Rockford Diocese would rather be in contempt of court than surrender documents related to the sexual assault investigation of a former Geneva priest. Circuit Judge Timothy Sheldon said Thursday that records from an investigation by the Catholic Diocese of Rockford's review board into sexual assault charges against Mark A. Campobello are not confidential. Diocese attorney Ellen Lynch told Sheldon that she will not surrender the documents and asked the church be held in contempt so an appeal can be filed in the 2nd District of the Illinois Appellate Court. The diocese will be fined $100. "We offered to be held in contempt so we can appeal the matter to a higher court," Lynch said. "There is no Illinois case law that helped the judge decide this issue." Sheldon said the diocese must surrender personnel files, transfer records, intervention team records and misconduct officer records that were subpoenaed by the Kane County state's attorney's office. -- Northwest Herald, http://www.nwherald.com/spider/NWH/news/285717916712349.shtml , By Paul Rock, Shaw News Service
• Church, victims reach deal in N.H.. NEW HAMPSHIRE: In an agreement that ends nearly all the remaining sex abuse lawsuits filed against the Catholic Church in New Hampshire, the Diocese of Manchester will pay $6.5 million to settle 61 civil claims brought by people who allege they were sexually abused by clergy. The diocese has now agreed to pay a total of $15.5 million to settle 176 abuse claims, largely resolving its legal problems stemming from the nationwide sex abuse scandal. The agreement was reached as church leaders and alleged victims elsewhere, including Boston, appear unable to resolve hundreds of lawsuits short of trial. Yesterday, in an effort to reach a settlement of 500 lawsuits filed against the Archdiocese of Boston, Bishop Richard G. Lennon appealed for a 30-day extension of a cooling-off period that ended earlier this week. A lawyer from the Boston law firm representing about 250 alleged victims suing the archdiocese said he would support an extension of the moratorium, given Lennon's personal appeal. -- Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/143/metro/Church_victims_reach_deal_in _ N_H_P.shtml , By Ralph Ranalli, May 23 03
• Cincinnati priest molested dozens, ex-students say in $1 million suit. CINCINNATI (OH): A $1 million lawsuit filed against a priest, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati and the archbishop charges that the priest molested dozens of students at a boys school where he served as principal from 1970 to 1982. The Rev. Lawrence Strittmatter, formerly principal at Elder High School in Cincinnati, molested "several dozen" students at the school, according to the lawsuit filed in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court by four former students. Mason attorney Konrad Kircher filed the lawsuit on behalf of the four men, who were not identified in the suit to protect their privacy. The lawsuit charges that the archdiocese knew about the molestation but did not investigate it. The lawsuit also said the archdiocese never identified victims, never offered them assistance and failed to warn anyone about Strittmatter. -- The Plain Dealer, Associated Press http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1053682316 269490.xml
• Expert on dealing with abuse accused. MARIN (CA): A Catholic priest facing child molesting charges in Marin County is the co-author of new church guidelines on dealing with priests who sexually abuse children. The Rev. Gregory Ingels, who also is a church lawyer, is scheduled to appear Wednesday in Marin County Superior Court on charges that he had oral sex with a 15-year-old boy from Marin Catholic High School in the summer of 1972, two years before he was ordained. Ingels was one of only four experts chosen by the Canon Law Society of America to advise U.S. bishops on abusive clerics. And for the past two decades, he worked on the tribunal of the archdiocese, which considers requests for marriage annulments by Catholics in San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties. According to a one-count criminal complaint filed May 12, Ingels engaged in "substantial sexual conduct" with a child under age 16. -- San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/05/23/MN265106.DTL
• Bishop Brady learnt in 1950s molesters can't be cured. CONCORD (NH): The time was the 1950s, and the situation was one that Bishop Matthew Brady was unsure how to handle - an errant Roman Catholic priest who molested girls, even fathering a child with one. His instinct was to give the Rev. John T. Sullivan another chance, a fresh start in a new diocese. But when he sought advice from a treatment center for abusive clergymen, the response was unequivocal: Molesters of his kind can't be cured, only contained. So Brady began a campaign, sending explicit details of Sullivan's conduct to bishops around the nation, warning them not to offer the priest work and saying "my conscience will not allow me to recommend him to any bishop." Once informed, most bishops wanted nothing to do with Sullivan. Yet Brady's strategy ultimately failed; Sullivan eventually secured a parish in Michigan and continued on his abusive path. Still, Brady's actions stand out amid a sea of revelations that church leaders routinely reassigned abusive priests - especially because the bishop's campaign happened so long ago. Critics say the case shows it was easy even then for prelates to see that putting molesters back into parishes would have disastrous consequences. -- Wichita Eagle, "Religion in the News," http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/5929022.htm , by J.M. HIRSCH, Associated Press, Thursday, May 22, 2003
• Help from Megan's mom. NEW JERSEY: She earned national fame advising people to craft versions of Megan's Law so children could avoid the fate suffered by her daughter Megan, who was raped and killed in 1994 by a neighbor who turned out to be a convicted sex offender. Now, Maureen Kanka of Hamilton Township, whose persistence shaped laws requiring community notification when convicted child abusers move to a neighborhood, has turned her attention to a different group of child victims. Since December, Kanka has been advising the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the main victims' group in the sex-abuse scandal rocking the Roman Catholic Church, on how to shepherd victims' legislation through statehouses including New Jersey's. "What led me to talk to them was they were children that were sexually abused by someone," said Kanka, 42. "They reached out to me about a meeting, and I invited them over." Star-Ledger http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1053585085223 270.xml , By Jeff Diamant (Posted by Kathy Shaw 1:16:59 PM) Thursday, May 22, 2003
########## End of Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker, Friday, May 23, 2003
• Jehovah's Witness elders advised telling police; man jailed. [2001-02]
   The West Australian, "Driving instructor jailed," www.the west.com.au/20030523/ news/state/tw-news-state-home-sto98967.html , By Eloise Dortch, Fri May 23 03, p 35
   BUNBURY, W. Australia: Robert Graeme Carey, 41, a driving instructor, has been jailed for 18 months for fondling the breasts or crotch of three 17-year-old girl clients as they drove.
   A practising Jehovah's Witness who was a close friend of two of the victims families through their church, Carey had also broken trust the families had placed in him, Bunbury magistrate Kelvin Fisher said yesterday.
   While teaching between January 2001 and June 2002, Carey had told the girls there was a spider on them when brushing or pressing on their breast, stomach or crotch.
   Church elders had advised the girls' families to go to the police. Carey had been disfellowshipped by the JWs. Under their rules he could not associate with his daughter who was expecting his first grandchild. He has also lost his instructor's licence.
   The court was told that Carey was a butcher who had emigrated from England to Australia 16 years ago, and had worked as a driving instructor for the past six years.
########## Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker, Saturday, May 24, 2003 edition follows:-
• Manchester Diocese to publish its finances. NEW HAMPSHIRE: The Manchester Diocese said it intends to make a full public accounting of its finances by publishing two years of audited financial statements later this year. The audits for the fiscal years ending June 2002 and 2003 will reflect the financial impact of this year's payments totaling $15,450,000 to settle most of the outstanding sexual abuse claims against the diocese, the church said. The Rev. Edward J. Arsenault, chancellor for the diocese, said Bishop John J. McCormack will publish the financial statements once the final audit is completed in the fall of this year. "Bishop McCormack has made a commitment to the Christian faithful to provide a clear and accurate report of diocesan finances," Arsenault said in a statement. "The financial position of the diocese has been affected by the unforeseen impact of the recent settlements, therefore the 2002 and 2003 statements will be published together." -- The Union Leader http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_show.html?article=21633 , (Posted by Kathy Shaw 9:56:15 AM)
• Lawyer presses archdiocese on a settlement deadline. BOSTON (MA): A lawyer representing 40 alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse said yesterday that he won't go along with further delays in the civil cases filed against the Archdiocese of Boston unless Bishop Richard Lennon promises to make a settlement offer within 20 days. "Such an offer must be specific . . . one in which each plaintiff will know precisely what he or she is being offered, so that it can be accepted, rejected, or met with a counteroffer," said the lawyer, Carmen L. Durso, in a statement released yesterday. The Rev. Christopher Coyne, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said, "I wouldn't respond to that because that's something that needs to be handled through the mediation process." Lawyers handling nearly 400 of the 500 lawsuits had agreed to a 90-day cooling off period, during which all pretrial preparations were suspended, to give lawyers on both sides time to focus on trying to settle the cases. -- Boston Globe, http://www.globe.com/dailyglobe2/144/metro/Lawyer_presses_archdiocese_on _ a_settlement_deadlineP.shtml , By Shelley Murphy, May 24 2003
• Diocesan lawyer seeks investigation of package. ALBANY (NY): An attorney for the Albany Diocese on Friday called for an investigation into an unusual package stuffed with photographs and published material about the Catholic Church that was mailed to the state judge presiding over cases involving sexual abuse by priests. Acting Supreme Court Justice Christian Hummel of Rensselaer County disclosed that he received the strange package and felt an ethical duty to place it into the public record for all sides to inspect. Hummel was clearly cautious about the oversized envelope, which he said he considered a potentially inappropriate ex parte, or one-sided, communication. "I have not looked at the envelope and I cannot say what is contained therein," the judge said. "I am making the envelope available today to all counsel who wish to inspect it." The latest twist in the litigation sparked another contentious exchange between the lawyers. Attorney John Aretakis, who represents victims of clergy sexual abuse, said he recognized a name on a letter in the package as the same name that appeared on his home telephone's caller ID in February. A caller had left a threatening message, and he reported it to State Police, Aretakis said. -- Albany Times Union, http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=137079&category=RE GION&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=5/24/2003 , By Andrew Tilghman, Saturday, May 24, 2003
• Priest receives jail time for sex charges. [CURRENT ABUSE] STATEN ISLAND (NY): He walked into court wearing a black jacket, gray pants and sporting a thick beard. But when the Rev. Morgan Kuhl left Stapleton Criminal Court, he was escorted by two court officers and his wrists were handcuffed. Yesterday, the priest who once led a youth group at Holy Child R.C. Church, Eltingville, was sentenced to 45 days in jail on sex charges -- his second sex-related conviction involving minors in three years. Father Kuhl, 36, was accused of fondling a 16-year-old boy's genitals in August 1999, in the basement of the borough teen's home. He pleaded guilty last month to third-degree sexual abuse, a misdemeanor. A grand jury declined to indict him on felony charges. The victim's name has not been released. Father Kuhl, who faced up to 90 days behind bars, was also given a one-year conditional discharge by Judge Salvatore J. Modica. He could get additional jail time if he gets in trouble during that time. -- Staten Island Advance, http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/1053782202118180 . xml , By Frank Donnelly
!!!: Lawsuit Alleges Sex Abuse By Nun.[SEX ASSAULT IN 1990s] NEW HAVEN (CT): A former student at an all-girls Catholic high school claims she was sexually assaulted more than a decade ago by a nun who taught morals and religion and was in charge of recruiting young women into the sisterhood. Landa Mauriello-Vernon, now living in Rhode Island, says the nun, Sister Linda Cusano, repeatedly forced her into a vacant office in a secluded wing of the school, wrestled her to the floor and threw her body on top of hers, telling her to "submit herself to God," and "join me in the convent." The allegations were contained in a lawsuit Mauriello-Vernon filed against Cusano and Sacred Heart Academy in Hamden on Friday in New Haven Superior Court. School principal Ritamary Schulz did not return repeated calls for comment and the school's lawyer, Stephen Fogerty, could not be reached. Mauriello's parents decided to send both of their daughters to Sacred Heart so they would get a "solid education in a safe environment," said Mauriello-Vernon's lawyer, Patricia Cofrancesco. They grew alarmed when their oldest daughter, Landa, quit the volleyball team and choral group senior year, between 1991 and 1992, and started talking about abandoning her plans for college. -- Hartford Courant, http://www.ctnow.com/news/local/hc-nunsexsuit0524.artmay24,0,7517323.stor y?coll=hc-headlines-local , By Kim Martineau, May 24, 2003
• Nun accused of sex abuse in Hamden. NEW HAVEN (CT): Dealing another setback to the Roman Catholic Church, a 28-year-old woman has accused a nun of raping her several times when she attended Sacred Heart Academy more than a decade ago. Landa Mauriello-Vernon of Rhode Island filed a lawsuit in Superior Court against Sister Linda Cusano and Sacred Heart Academy, the all-girls Roman Catholic preparatory school where Cusano taught. The lawsuit says Cusano, a member of the order of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, was a teacher at the prep school when she "forcibly and repeatedly raped" Mauriello-Vernon. Mauriello-Vernon was 17 and lived in West Haven when the alleged abuse occurred between September 1991 and May 1992. -- New Haven Register, http://www.newhavenregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=8111105&BRD=1281&PAG =461&dept_id=7573&rfi=6 , by Tara York
• Prosecutors Set To Schedule Second Trial For Priest. [1990s CHARGE] ST. LOUIS (MO: Prosecutors say they will schedule a second trial for a St. Louis County priest accused of molesting a teenager eight years ago. Reverend Bryan Kuchar's trial ended in a mis-trial Thursday after the jury failed to reach a decision. Both sides in the case cite a number of reasons for the trial ending without a verdict. The defense questioned the credibility of the alleged victim and some jurors believe the fact the defendant is a priest played a role. Andrew, one of the jurors, said, "I think that it would be ridiculous to say the defendant being a priest did not give the jurors an emotional reaction some more than others." Prosecutors played a confession by Father Kuchar. -- KSDK, http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article_lc.asp?storyid=41222
• Suppressed memory case in Texas. SAN ANTONIO (TX): A rush of memory. A man says he remembers being sexually abused by a San Antonio priest. Memories he says were suppressed for 25 years. The priest who's accused isn't at St. Ann's Catholic Church anymore. He's moved on to the Victoria Diocese. But what one San Antonio man says the father left behind is trauma, shame and embarrassment. The way David Earl remembers it, he was only 13-years-old. He claims his former priest, Father Donald Ruppert, brutally sexually assaulted him on numerous occasions. The priest's attorney, Robert Rush, says not only is the accusation suspect, but the timing is too. Because Earl says he was assaulted 25 years ago ... -- WOAI, "Man Claims He Was Sexually Assaulted By San Antonio Priest," http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=4458DB11-F53B-475A-8 199-AE4C159C24C7 (Posted By: Carly Miller)
• Priest sentenced for church theft. OLATHE (KS): A priest who acknowledged stealing from church funds to feed a gambling addiction was sentenced Friday to serve 48 hours in a county jail and to spend time on probation. The Rev. Anthony Williams, 51, a former pastor at St. Paul's Catholic Church, apologized for stealing $44,000 from church funds. "I hate the fact that I'm a compulsive gambler," he said before being sentenced in Johnson County District Court. Williams resigned in October after admitting to parishioners in a Sunday sermon that he had a gambling problem. His lawyer, Tom Bath, said Friday Williams had received about seven months of treatment for his gambling addiction and recently was released from a program in the St. Louis area. -- Topeka Capital Journal, http://www.cjonline.com/stories/052403/kan_priest.shtml , The Associated Press, May 24 03
• Law expert priest charged with sexual abuse of boy. SAN FRANCISCO (CA): A Roman Catholic priest and expert on church law who co-authored a document on dealing with sexually abusive priests faces a criminal charge of sexually molesting a boy more than 30 years ago. A criminal complaint was filed May 12 against Rev. Gregory Ingels, who until recently served as a priest at St. Bartholomew Church in San Mateo. Ingels was charged with engaging in "substantial sexual conduct" with a 15-year-old boy in 1972, two years before he was ordained. Ingels was teaching at a Catholic high school in Marin County at the time, and the boy was his student. According to the complaint, Ingels made incriminating comments about the incident in recent conversations with the victim, which were tape recorded by police. Ingels could face a maximum sentence of eight years in prison if convicted of the charge. Ingels, 60, who is also a church lawyer, was one of four experts chosen by the Canon Law Society of America to draft a legal interpretation of the child sexual abuse policy adopted last year by the nation's Catholic bishops. -- Daily Bulletin, http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~26127~1412017,00.html , By Beth Fouhy, Associated Press
• Tucson Diocese sued; abuse alleged. TUCSON (AZ): A man is suing the Catholic Diocese of Tucson over allegations that he was sexually abused by a priest in Yuma between 1994 and 1996. Among other things, the lawsuit filed in Yuma County Superior Court says the diocese had received written complaints about the Rev. Juan Guillen concerning sexual misconduct during the 1980s but took no action to prevent him from molesting boys. Officials with the diocese said they couldn't comment on the legal action because they haven't seen it yet. Guillen, 59, is in Yuma County Jail awaiting sentencing on two counts of attempted child molestation. He faces up to 15 years in prison. -- The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0524priest24.html , Associated Press, May 24 2003
• G-G urged to sue church.
   The Sunday Times, W. Australia, http://www.sundaytimes.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,6486723%255E421,00.html , May 24 03.
   AUSTRALIA: Governor-General Peter Hollingworth was urged today to mount a Supreme Court challenge against an Anglican church inquiry finding that he failed to act on child sex abuse claims.
   Australian Council for Civil Liberties president Terry O'Gorman encouraged Dr Hollingworth to argue in the Queensland Supreme Court that he was denied natural justice.
   Dr Hollingworth has reportedly received legal advice he was denied natural justice in the inquiry and is planning to issue that advice some time this week.
   The report from the inquiry, commissioned by Dr Hollingworth's successor as Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, Phillip Aspinall, found Dr Hollingworth had made a serious error of judgment in allowing a priest to continue his ministry despite knowing he was a child abuser.
   If the governor-general was successful in the declaration he would have a legal basis to sue the report's authors - Melbourne barrister Peter O'Callaghan and child protection expert Professor Freda Briggs - for defamation and consequential damages, Mr O'Gorman said.
• Not practising what he preaches. SAN FRANCISCO (CA): At a momentous gathering of U.S. Catholic bishops last June -- the first such conclave after the clergy sex-abuse scandal erupted in Boston and spread across the nation -- San Francisco Archbishop William J. Levada advanced an idea that set him apart from many of his cassocked brethren. Amid multiple proposals to crack down on pedophile priests, Levada challenged the bishops assembled in Dallas to examine their own conduct in handling sex-abuse cases involving the clergy. He called on fellow hierarchs to do everything they could to root out offending priests and to vigorously monitor their own progress in order to restore the badly shaken confidence of rank-and-file Catholics. Levada had hit on the same theme earlier in San Francisco in unusually blunt remarks during a special Mass. "We are suffering for the mistakes of bishops and administrators who did not place the future protection of children above their desire to protect the reputation and service of priests who had proven themselves unfaithful to their duties," the archbishop told an audience of some 400 priests and 2,000 parishioners. His Dallas proposal -- offered at a time when media attention to clergy sex abuse was at its zenith -- helped catapult him to the front ranks of the American hierarchy on the issue. Pope John Paul II later chose Levada as one of four U.S. church leaders to work with the Vatican in crafting a compromise sex-abuse plan that His Holiness could accept. The pope signed off on the watered-down "zero tolerance" policy in December. But if he has distinguished himself by demanding that church leaders be open in dealing with the worst crisis to afflict the church in more than a century, Levada has a record as leader of 425,000 Roman Catholics in San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin counties that suggests he has not practiced what he preaches. Advocates for abuse victims express frustration that more than a year after the clergy sex-abuse scandal burst into the headlines, Levada's archdiocese has dragged its feet in response to victims' pleas for help. And while Levada has drawn praise for his accommodating public statements on the issue, critics say he and his top aides have worked to keep complaints about accused priestly abusers shrouded in secrecy. (Levada declined to be interviewed for this article.) -- SF Weekly, "See No Evil," http://sfweekly.com/issues/2003-05-21/feature.html/1/index.html , By Ron Russell , ron.russell@sfweekly.com , Friday, May 23, 2003
• Queen's man in Australia may still quit as rape case is dropped.
   Independent (UK), http://news.independent.co.uk/world/australasia/story.jsp?story=409089 , By Kathy Marks, 24 May 2003.
   AUSTRALIA: A civil case alleging that the Queen's representative in Australia raped a woman 40 years ago was dismissed by a court yesterday after her surviving relatives withdrew the lawsuit.
   But the decision will not ease pressure on the Governor General, Peter Hollingworth, to resign as the country's nominal head of state. He has also been facing calls to quit over his mishandling of paedophile cases while he was the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane in the 1990s.
   Rosemarie Anne Jarmyn, 57, filed the lawsuit earlier this year alleging that Dr Hollingworth, as a young Anglican priest, raped her at a church youth camp in the 1960s - something he has denied.
   Details of the allegations first became public this month, following the woman's death in April, reportedly by suicide. Dr Hollingworth stepped aside from his post, vowing to fight the allegations.
• Letter condemns Hollingworth: paper.
   The Age, http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/05/24/1053585734527.html , May 24 03.
   AUSTRALIA: A letter written by Peter Hollingworth accusing a child sex abuse victim of initiating a relationship with the alleged abuser could end the Governor-General's reign in office, The Daily Telegraph newspaper said.
   The paper said Prime Minister John Howard's office had sought a copy of the letter sent to Brisbane Anglican Archbishop Phillip Aspinall last week.
   In it, Dr Hollingworth said the then 14-year-old student abused at a Queensland Anglican school in the 1990s had "started" the relationship with the alleged abuser - a priest, The Telegraph reported.
   It said the letter followed controversial comments by Dr Hollingworth last year over another case involving a different priest and a different 14-year-old girl. At the time, Dr Hollingworth defended the role of former Brisbane Anglican bishop Don Shearman in the affair.
• San Bernardino priest due back in court on molestation charges. SAN BERNARDINO (CA): A Roman Catholic priest who pleaded innocent to charges that he molested two teenage boys in the 1960s was ordered to return to court July 9 for a pretrial hearing. The Rev. Peter Luque, who worked at parishes in Corona, Riverside, Colton and San Bernardino for four decades, pleaded innocent to 12 felony counts of performing lewd acts on a child, sodomy and oral copulation. Luque, who appeared before Superior Court Commissioner Joseph Petrasek on Thursday, remained free on his own recognizance. The priest most recently was pastor of St. Edward Roman Catholic Church in Corona, the largest parish in the Diocese of San Bernardino. He resigned earlier this year, 10 months after he was placed on administrative leave pending resolution of the sexual allegations. -- The Press-Enterprise, http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California/CA_Cal_Church_Abuse_106712C.shtml , The Associated Press.
• Former local priest faces public indecency charge. [CURRENT EXPOSURE] INDIANA: A former pastor of the St. Charles Borromeo Church in Bloomington was arrested and preliminarily charged with public indecency after he reportedly exposed himself to a state trooper during an undercover sting operation. On Wednesday night, at a rest stop along I-70, the Rev. Ronald M. Ashmore, 58, reportedly told Indiana State Police Detective J. Jason Fajt that he was "cruising" for sex, according to an Associated Press report. Ashmore then asked the trooper to join him behind the restroom, where Ashmore reportedly exposed himself, the news report said. For years, motorists have complained to police about seeing men engaged in sexual activity at the rest stop, prompting an undercover operation in the area where Ashmore was arrested, about 10 miles west of Indianapolis, state police Cpl. Wiley Mimms said. -- Herald-Times, http://www.hoosiertimes.com/stories/thisday/news.0523-HT-A1_JLR08244.sto , By Katy Murphy
• Priest arrested on charge of public indecency. [CURRENT] TERRE HAUTE (IND.): A Catholic priest from Terre Haute was placed on administrative leave Thursday after being arrested at an I-70 rest stop on a charge of public indecency. The Rev. Ronald M. Ashmore, 58, pastor of St. Margaret Mary Church in Terre Haute, was arrested Wednesday night during an Indiana State Police sweep of rest stops along I-70 near Plainfield in Hendricks County. In a statement, Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein said Ashmore has been relieved of his pastoral duties until further notice. "We are deeply saddened by this news, and we are sorry for the scandal that this has caused," said Buechlein, who heads the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis. "I ask that we keep everyone affected in our prayers." State Police acted after motorists complained about seeing men engaged in sexual activity at the rest areas. -- The Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/0/045258-4260-009.html , By R. Joseph Gelarden, joseph.gelarden@indystar.com , May 23, 2003.
• Baltimore Priest Indicted in Abuse Case That Surfaced Last Summer. [CURRENT ACCUSATION] BALTIMORE (MD): A Baltimore grand jury has indicted a 43-year-old city priest on charges he abused a 14-year-old parishioner. The Reverend Alfred Dean voluntarily resigned as pastor of Saint Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church in East Baltimore after the allegations surfaced in September. The Archdiocese Of Baltimore had suspended his priestly duties in July. Dean is accused of hugging and kissing the boy last year while they were in the rectory of the church on East Oliver Street. According to court documents, the boy had gone to the rectory to visit a friend. Dean was ordained in 1989 and is a native of the Bahamas. -- InsideBaltimore.com http://www.insidebaltimore.com/news/local/baltimore-priest-abuse0523.shtml , May 23 03
• Interpol alert for Priest: Sexual assault case. [CURRENT ACCUSATION]
   Gunaah, http://www.gunaah.com/drafts/article.php3?id=1026&name=SCOOPS&sid=14 , By Our Correspondent, May 23 03.
   HYDERABAD, India: A Roman Catholic priest from Hyderabad, allegedly involved in a sexual assault case at the St Tancissus Catholic Parish in Chicago is now the most wanted man in the city. The state CID has launched a manhunt for the priest as reports from Chicago indicate that after the case came to light he fled to India. It is however not clear whether he is in Hyderabad or has fled to some other city.
• Priest, wanted in Chicago, held in Andhra. [CURRENT]
   Hindustan Times, http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_261399,0008.htm , by Ashok Das, May 23 03.
   HYDERABAD: An absconding Roman Catholic priest, wanted by the Interpol in a sexual assault case in Chicago, was arrested by Andhra police on Friday. Forty-six-year-old Selva Raj Polisetti was taken into custody by CID sleuths from his hideout at Yamjal village in Rangareddy district, M L Kumawat, Additional Director-General of Police, CID stated here on Friday. Selva Raju figures in a sexual assault case at the St Tancissus Catholic Parish in Chicago, United States. He is alleged to have sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl, who was working in the Parish office, between January 1, 2001 and April 29, 2002. According to a look-out notice issued by the Interpol, he fled to India after committing the offence.
• Priest arrested. [CURRENT]
   The Hindu, http://www.hinduonnet.com/stories/2003052404661200.htm , By Our Staff Reporter, May 23 03
   HYDERABAD: A Roman Catholic priest, who was allegedly involved in a sexual assault case in the United States was arrested by the CID sleuths at Yamjal on Friday. Selva Raju Policetti, who went to the U.S. six years ago, was allegedly involved in two sexual cases registered in January 2001 and April 2002. He then fled to India. Police said the arrest has been communicated to the Interpol in New Delhi and he would be produced before the Magistrate here on Saturday. Police said the extradition process would follow.
• Current complaint against teacher not the first. 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 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, http://www.wpmi.com/global/story.asp?s=1291120&ClientType=Printable , May 22 03
• Australian Baptist jailed for sex abuse of Filipino children. [1999-2001 offences]
   Radio Australia, "Australian jailed for sex abuse of Filipino children," http://www.abc.net.au/ra/newstories/RANewsStories_862396.htm
   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.
• 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&Art icleID=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/Nationa l/AP.V2892.AP-Church-Abuse.html , By Theo Emery, (Circulated by Poynteronline, Posted by Kathy Shaw 8:37:23 AM) Associated Press Writer FOR GOOD TEACHINGS TO BE HEEDED, A BIG CLEAN-UP IS NEEDED The POYNTER INSTITUTE is a Journalism School, based at St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.A.
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