• [Archdiocese to pay $8 million, and put abusers' names on Internet.]
CHICAGO (IL): The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago has agreed to pay 15 men and women more than $8 million to settle their claims of sexual abuse at the
hands of a dozen Chicago priests.
In the settlement announced Thursday of the abuse claims that date from
1954 to the early 1990s, archdiocesan officials also agreed:
To fund an annual conference for victims of sexual abuse for the next
five years.
To post the name of any new priest removed from ministry because of
sexual abuse allegations on its official Web site for 30 days.
To establish -- either online or by phone -- a process where anyone can
check to see if a certain priest has had substantiated allegations of
abuse made against him.
That inquiry process, which will also provide the status of ministry and
location (if known) of any accused priest, is expected to be in place no
later than Jan. 15, 2004, said Jeffrey Anderson, an attorney for the 15
victims who settled their abuse claims this week after nearly nine months
of mediation with the archdiocese.
Anderson, a Minnesota attorney who has sued more than half of the dioceses
in the United States over sexual abuse cases, also represented four other
victims who settled their abuse claims with the archdiocese last month for
more than $4 million. Those victims, who all claim to have been abused by
Vincent McCaffrey, a former archdiocese priest who is serving a 20-year
prison sentence for possession of child pornography, also had been part of
the mediation process with the archdiocese, he said.
-- Chicago Sun-Times,
"Archdiocese settles 15 sex abuse claims for $8 million,"
www.suntimes.com ,
By Cathleen Falsani, Religion Reporter,
(distributed by Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker, Friday Oct 3 2003)
• Worcester Diocese hierarchy did not deal with sex abuse: Judge's criticism.
WORCESTER (MA): The judge who sentenced child rapist Robert Kelley to state
prison Wednesday joined the Catholic priest's victims in criticizing the
Worcester Diocese for its handling of the pedophile priest.
"The only sacredness in this saga is the children," Superior Court Judge
John McCann said before a courtroom crowded with abuse victims and their
families. "The only darkness is the inertness of the hierarchy."
McCann said he imposed a five- to seven-year sentence on Kelley with
"sadness for the thousands of very good priests who were stained by this
ugly blemish; sadness that the church hierarchy could not and was not
willing to deal with this extraordinarily difficult issue."
Lawyers and spokesmen for the Office of Bishop Daniel Reilly have
consistently said Kelley was removed immediately from ministry when a
previous bishop learned about the abuse.
"I'm a little bit surprised that the judge is expressing an opinion in
this way," said Ray Delisle, diocesan spokesman. "This case does not
involve the diocese. ... Clearly this was not what was being heard in
court."
In 1999, a civil lawsuit filed by Cyndi Desrosiers, who said she was
victimized by Kelley in Southbridge, found Kelley responsible for money
damages but cleared the Worcester Diocese of responsibility in the abuse.
Kelley was still paying those damages before he was sent to prison
Wednesday.
Another group of women who filed civil lawsuits against the priest and
diocese dropped the suits a few months ago, but said Wednesday they didn't
do it voluntarily. The statute of limitations prevented them from moving
forward.
"I despise the Worcester Diocese for their lack of compassion,
sensitivity, loyalty, honesty, concern, and their total indifference to
victims," said John Mackey outside the courtroom where Kelley was
sentenced for raping his daughter, Heather Mackey.
-- Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise, "Judge, victims condemn the Worcester Diocese,"
(http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/Stories/0,1413,106~4992~1671514,00.html)
By Matt O'Brien,
(Posted by Kathy Shaw, distributed by Poynteronline Abuse Tracker, Oct 3 2003)
• Priest raped two young girls. [1980s]
WORCESTER (MA): Former Leominster priest Robert Kelley cried Wednesday as a
judge sentenced him to five to seven years in state prison for raping two
girls in the early 1980s.
Kelley, 61, pleaded guilty in August to raping the two young girls while
he was a priest at St. Cecilia's Parish in Leominster.
Before Superior Court Judge John McCann sentenced the priest, Kelley
apologized to his two victims.
Kelley, who abused the girls between 1981 and 1984, said he was "truly
sorry" for being the "stumbling block" who robbed them of their innocence
and faith.
"There is nothing else but selfishness, call it sin or whatever you want
to," Kelley said.
But both victims, Heather Mackey Godin of Tewksbury and Diane Gallien of
Ashburnham, said they wanted to be sure Kelley stayed away from children.
The Sentinel & Enterprise named the women because they agreed to speak
publicly to the media.
-- Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise,
"Victim to priest: 'I've seen evil',"
(http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/Stories/0,1413,106~4992~1671495,00.html)
By Matt O'Brien,
(distributed by Poynteronline Abuse Tracker, Oct 3 2003)
• Leominster priest jailed for raping 4 and 5 y-os in '80s; "I've seen evil, and it's you." [1980s]
WORCESTER (MA):A priest who pleaded guilty in August to raping two young
girls in a Leominster parish two decades ago was ordered yesterday to
serve a 5- to 7-year prison term with the stipulation that he be placed
immediately in protective custody.
The Rev. Robert Kelley, 61, who served six years in the 1990s for raping
another girl, was also given 20 years probation by Superior Court Judge
John McCann, who cited the prison murder of defrocked priest John J.
Geoghan in urging protective custody. But he rejected a defense appeal
that the priest serve his time in an alternative setting, calling Kelley
"disingenuous" for stating in his previous trial he had forgotten the
names of his other victims.
"He has not taken full responsibility for his actions," McCann said.
After hearing victims Heather Mackey and Diane Gallian tell of the lasting
pain from his molestation, which began when they were 4 and 5 years old,
the suspended priest and Back Bay flower shop owner apologized to them.
"The best I can offer is to say I'm truly sorry for being a stumbling
block that robbed them of what I heard: innocence, life, happiness, their
religion," said Kelley.
In her statement, Gallian said, "Father Kelley, I know I can say I have
seen evil. And it's you."
-- Boston Herald,
"Leominster priest jailed for raping girls in '80s,"
(http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/prie10022003.htm)
by Robin Washington,
Thursday, October 2, 2003
• $12M Abuse Settlement In Chicago.
CHICAGO (IL): The Chicago Archdiocese agreed Thursday to pay $12 million to 19
people who say they were molested by priests over the past five decades.
Individual settlements will range from $200,000 to $1.7 million, according
to attorney Jeffrey R. Anderson, whose firm worked out the agreement with
the archdiocese.
At a news conference attended by several of the alleged victims, the
archdiocese released the names of the 12 priests accused of committing the
abuse, along with a list of all the parishes they were been assigned to.
None of the men are currently active in the priesthood and several are
dead, Anderson and archdiocese officials said.
Stanley Cwikla, 62, of Fox River Grove, said he was 14 when a priest
abused him. He called the crime "a case of rape and murder of the soul"
and said Illinois should drop the statute of limitations that prevents
prosecutors from bringing charges.
-- CBS (AP),
"$12M Abuse Settlement In Chicago,"
(http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/03/national/main576365.shtml),
Oct 3 03
• Keating, supposed to clean up Church, says he was subject of smear campaign.
WASHINGTON (DC) Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating said he was
subjected to a smear campaign in church circles while he was chairman of
the U.S. bishops' National Review Board investigating clerical sexual
abuse of minors.
In an article in the October issue of Crisis, a Catholic monthly magazine,
Keating said a letter "purportedly" from the vicar general of the Oklahoma
City Archdiocese accused him of not attending Sunday Mass and of having a
mistress.
"Every word was a lie. Mass is a vital part of my Sunday. And my wife of
31 years is my superior in style, talent and virtue. Only a blind man or a
fool would betray her," Keating wrote.
Keating said the letter was "purportedly written by the vicar general of
Oklahoma City -- a priest and the diocese's No. 2 official -- to his
counterpart in Chicago."
-- Catholic News Service,,
"Former sex abuse panel head says he was subject of smear campaign,"
(http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/20031002.htm)
By Jerry Filteau,
Oct 2 03
• Tragic End For Ridgewood Man Who Claimed Abuse By Priest.
NEW YORK: The man scheduled to be the lead plaintiff in a massive sexual abuse
lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens, died last
week, apparently after ingesting antifreeze.
Dennis Brown, 44, was found early Saturday morning by his girlfriend
inside a Ridgewood apartment that he shared with a friend. The girlfriend,
who had argued with Brown earlier in the night, called 911 after finding
him unsteady and breathing with difficulty.
Brown was taken to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn where he
died Sunday night. Police have not yet declared his death a suicide.
It was a tragic end for a man seemingly plagued with despair and pain
throughout his life.
Brown grew up in Flushing attending St. Michael's school and church. He
later studied at Mater Christi Diocesan High School-now known as St. John'
s Preparatory-in Astoria.
Brown claimed that while serving as an altar boy at St. Michael's in
1970 and 1971, he was repeatedly molested by Reverend James Collins, 57.
For years, he kept the alleged sexual abuse private from friends and
family. Following high school, he attended junior college in Florida and
then moved to Atlanta, where he worked for two decades in property
management.
-- Queens Chronicle,
"Tragic End For Ridgewood Man Who Claimed Abuse By Priest,"
(http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1864&dept_id=152800&newsid=1025941
0&PAG=461&rfi=9),
(distributed by Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker, Kathy Shaw, Friday Oct 3 2003)
• Bishop distances himself from lawyers' dismissal moves.
SPRINGFIELD (MA): Thursday, October 2, 2003: Bishop Thomas L. Dupre of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield this week distanced himself from a
recent attempt by lawyers to dismiss five cases against the diocese for
its handling of alleged priest sexual misconduct.
He also pledged that the diocese will go back in its files over the past
50 years to count the number of cases of alleged abuse - and make that
public by the year's end.
"I think that when all that is made public," he said, "the problem is
going to be seen more in perspective."
In an hour-long interview with the Gazette Wednesday, Dupre said that
every case with merit against the diocese should be financially
compensated, regardless of when the abuse occurred.
"I think it's in everybody's interest to settle these things and get them
behind us," Dupre said.
-- Hampshire Gazette, "Bishop supports 'just' settlement of abuse cases,"
(http://www.gazettenet.com/10022003/news/9498.htm) ,
By Kathleen Mellen,
Oct 2 03
• Lawyer: More than 10% of priests abused up to 1,000; accused abuser was put in charge of an orphanage.
COVINGTON (KY): Over the past 50 years, the Diocese of Covington has assigned abusive priests to be pastors, counselors, teachers and even the director of a
boy's orphanage, an attorney suing the diocese said during court arguments
Wednesday.
The diocese moved the priests around after accusations were made against
them, then put them back in places where they had easy access to children.
The diocese also taught children to respect, honor and obey the priests'
commands, attorney Robert Steinberg argued.
The result is that up to 1,000 children were abused over the past 50
years, with at least 40 priests -- more than 10 percent of the total
priests in the diocese over that period -- identified as abusers,
Steinberg charged.
"They have admitted to 30 priests," Steinberg said. "Our count so far is
40 -- and climbing. There was an epidemic in this diocese."
-- The Kentucky Post,
"Lawyer: Up to 1,000 abused,"
(http://www.kypost.com/2003/10/02/dioc100203.html),
By Paul A. Long, Oct 2 03
• Sex with infant girl; bishop reneged, showed no compassion.
WORCESTER (MA): John Mackey spoke directly and passionately as he stood outside
the courthouse where a priest who raped his daughter as a young child had
just been sentenced to prison.
"I despise the Worcester Diocese for their lack of compassion,
sensitivity, loyalty, honesty, concern, and their total indifference to
victims," said Mackey, Tewksbury's police chief.
Mackey said he and his wife, Barbara, met with the late Bishop Timothy
Harrington, then leader of the diocese, when the couple's daughter,
Heather Mackey Godin, was in eighth grade, nearly a decade after the abuse
at the hands of Rev. Robert Kelley began at St. Cecilia's Parish in
Leominster.
"Bishop Harrington told us that he believed Heather's story," John Mackey
said. "Harrington also said that the church was responsible for her and
that they would therefore provide psychological counseling. That agreement
was sealed with a handshake."
Mackey said the diocese later reneged on the agreement when the family
contacted a lawyer.
-- Lowell Sun, "Victim's Dad Speaks Out,"
(http://www.lowellsun.com/Stories/0,1413,105~4746~1671559,00.html),
By Matt O'Brien, MediaNews,
(distributed by Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker, Friday Oct 3 2003)
########## Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker, Oct 3 03 edition follows:- • Diocese well-organised secrecy based on 1962 Vatican document.
NEW YORK: Twenty-seven Catholics charge in a lawsuit that they
were abused by priests as children and that the Diocese of Brooklyn
covered up the abuse in line with secret Vatican policy.
The $300 million lawsuit, filed yesterday in Queens Supreme Court, charges
the diocese with a "well-organized, successful and corrupt" cover-up
scheme.
That scheme was authorized by a secret 1962 Vatican document, said lawyer
Michael Dowd, who brought the suit.
The document - uncovered by lawyers investigating church sex abuse around
the country - says those who handle allegations of priestly sex abuse are
"restrained by a perpetual silence" enforceable by "penalty of
excommunication."
"That's a bombshell of a document," said Dowd.
-- New York Post,
"Diocese Cover-Up Charged In Perv Suit,"
(http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/7112.htm)
October 2, 2003
• 'Taking the lead'.
OWENSBORO (KY): Her testimony was intense.
In a video made by the Diocese of Owensboro, a sexual abuse survivor relayed how a priest repeatedly assaulted her as a child and the long road
she traveled to find healing.
The video -- shown Wednesday night to a large crowd in the cafeteria at
Holy Name School -- is part of a new program called Safe Environment,
mandated by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops during its meeting
last fall in Dallas regarding sexual abuse in the church.
"We're trying to make the best of a tragic situation," said the Rev. Ed
Bradley of Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church. "We (the Catholic church)
are taking the lead now" in combating sexual abuse.
Wednesday's meeting, which lasted about two hours, was a requirement for
all diocese employees as well as any volunteers who work with children,
Bradley said. A Safe Environment program will be held annually at the
beginning of each school year.
-- Gleaner, 'Taking the lead,'
(http://www.myinky.com/ecp/gleaner_news/article/0,1626,ECP_4476_2315096,00
html)
By Beth Smith,
Oct 2, 2003
• Geoghan's sister says guards harassed ex-priest.
BOSTON (MA): Catherine T. Geoghan yesterday added her voice to those who say they
witnessed guards at Concord state prison abuse their authority and harass
her late brother, defrocked priest John J. Geoghan.
In a two-page written statement released yesterday, Geoghan said a prison
official to whom she complained about her brother being assaulted by a
guard in the visitors center "disputed my report, then lied to me,
fabricating the story that he saw John attack the guard when I know that
he did not.
"By inventing a story to protect the guard, that official clearly
communicated to me not only John's vulnerability to the whims of abusive
guards, but the prison's ability to manipulate the disciplinary and
grievance procedures to hide mistreatment," wrote Geoghan, 69, a retired
teacher who frequently visited her brother during his 18 months of
imprisonment. "No honest person would believe John was a discipline
problem."
Leslie Walker, director of Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services,
which represented John Geoghan before he was strangled in prison on Aug.
23, read Geoghan's statement at a news conference yesterday, then added
her own concerns that the state was conducting a "whitewash" investigation
into John Geoghan's death.
-- Boston Globe,
(http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2003/10/02/geoghans_sister_says
_guards_harassed_ex_priest/),
By Sean P. Murphy, Oct 2 2003
(Posted by Kathy Shaw 8:16:15 AM)
########## End of Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker, Oct 3 03
• Convicted Wisconsin priest "recycled" down to California.
SANTA ANA, (Calif.): The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee can be
sued for sending a pedophile priest to California without revealing his
conviction for child molestation, a state appeals court ruled.
The ruling was the first from a California appeals court on the question
of whether out-of-state Roman Catholic officials can be held liable for
failure to report past misconduct. Attorneys said it could affect other
cases statewide.
The 4th District Court of Appeal ruling came in a lawsuit brought by a man
who claimed he was molested in Orange County by Siegfried Widera after the
priest arrived from Wisconsin in 1976.
Widera had been convicted three years earlier of sexual misconduct with a
teenage boy in Wisconsin.
However, the Diocese of Orange said it didn't know about the conviction
when Widera moved to California.
-- Post-Crescent, The Associated Press,
"Court: Alleged victim can sue archdiocese,"
www.wisinfo.com ,
(distributed by Poynteronline, Abuse Tracker, Saturday Oct 4 2003)
And see Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee (WI), "Ruling lets victim sue archdiocese here,"
www.jsonline.com ,
By Tom Heinen,
theinen@journalsentinel.com ,
Oct. 3, 2003
• Archdiocese's Newspaper Nixes Ad; Catholic New York to Voice of the Faithful: No thanks.
NEW YORK: The newspaper of the Archdiocese of New York has refused to publish a paid advertisement for the Catholic lay organization, Voice of the Faithful, according to the organizer of an upcoming conference.
The Voice of the Faithful wanted to publicize their Oct. 25 conference on
the church's sexual abuse crisis. According to a conference program, the
meeting is an effort to "go forth in a spirit of healing and hope."
"It's not an abortion clinic," said the conference coordinator, Marie Ford
Reilly, expressing surprise that the ad would be turned down.
"Obviously it's a blow to us. We very much need to get the word out. This
is an opportunity for Catholics who love our church... to work to
facilitate healing and strengthening and renewal for our future."
-- Newsday,
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/nyc-cath1004,0,1525963,print.story?coll=ny-nynews-headlines ,
By Stephanie Saul,
October 3, 2003
• Sex abuse of girl from age 7; raped two other girls; 5-7 years gaol.
LUNENBURG (MA): Kelly Kurtz remembers the day early in 2002 when a stranger
named Heather Mackey left a short message on the answering machine of her
Lunenburg parents.
"She just said that she and I had a common acquaintance, who was Robert
Kelley," Kurtz said Thursday. "She said please call her back."
Kurtz claims to have been molested by the Rev. Robert Kelley, a former
pastor at churches in Lunenburg, Leominster and Gardner, more than 20
years ago.
She said Thursday she was 7 when the abuse started in the late 1970s.
Kelley was a priest at St. Boniface Church who was also considered a
friend by the Kurtz family.
Kurtz, now a 37-year-old Lunenburg resident, sat in a front row in the
Worcester Superior Court Wednesday when Kelley was sentenced for raping
Heather Mackey of Tewskbury and Diane Gallien of Ashburnham in the 1980s,
while serving as priest at St. Cecilia's Church in Leominster.
She witnessed the 61-year-old Kelley tearfully apologize to Mackey and
Gallien before being sentenced to 5 to 7 years in state prison.
Afterwards Kurtz, who filed a suit against the Worcester Diocese in 2002,
said her own trials with the twice-convicted child rapist are far from
over.
Frustrated because the Diocese has suggested it is not responsible for
Kelley's abuse, Kurtz spoke publicly about the priest for the first time
in an interview with the Sentinel & Enterprise on Thursday.
-- Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise, "Lunenburg woman claims abuse by priest,"
http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/Stories/0,1413,106~4992~1674441,00.html ,
By Matt O'Brien
(distributed by Kathy Shaw of Poynteronline Abuse Tracker, Oct 4 2003)
• Fr. Kelley unnatural rape of child.
WORCESTER (MA): Father Robert E. Kelley, 61, who pleaded guilty in Superior
Court Aug. 14 to four counts of unnatural rape of a child and two counts
of rape of a child, was sentenced to five to seven years in the
Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Cedar Junction, Walpole,
Wednesday.
At the sentencing procedure Wednesday, Worcester Superior Court Judge John
S. McCann also placed Father Kelley on probation for 20 years after he
serves his prison sentence.
Father Kelley served six years in prison after pleading guilty in March
1990 to charges of assault with intent to rape and two counts of unnatural
rape of a child and indecent assault and battery on a child. Father Kelley
was removed from ministry by the Diocese in 1985.
Judge McCann said he imposed the sentence "with great sadness ... sadness
for the victims who have lived in their private prisons for the past 20
years; sadness for the thousands of very good priests who are stained by
this ugly blemish; sadness that the Church hierarchy could not and was not
willing to deal with this extraordinarily difficult issue; sadness that
society must suffer through this and acknowledge that priests can indeed
be pedophiles, and sadness that I must consider the ramifications of
sentencing a Catholic priest."
-- The Catholic Free Press,
"Fr. Kelley sentenced to jail again,"
http://www.catholicfreepress.org/Jail.html ,
By William T. Clew,
(distributed by Kathy Shaw of Poynteronline Abuse Tracker, Oct 4 2003)
• New Bishop Pledges Support for Abuse Victims, Jews, Muslims, Protestants and Immigrants.
BROOKLYN (NY): Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio was installed yesterday as the seventh bishop of
Brooklyn in a rite of pomp and majesty before scores of prelates and a
smattering of New York political figures.
In his homily at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Sunset
Park, the new bishop reached out to the disparate interests of his turf —
Jews, Muslims, Protestants and immigrant groups. And as is now becoming
mandatory for public statements from the nation's bishops, he promised to
take care of the victims of the clerical sexual abuse scandal.
"The church must be a mother to show its care for victims of sexual abuse,
especially those who have suffered at the hands of those working for the
church," the bishop said. But he added that the church must also care for
the perpetrators.
While a joyous time in Brooklyn, it is a nervous moment for Roman
Catholics, as reports about Pope John Paul II's ill health filter back
from Rome. The event yesterday was not immune. The new bishop asked for
prayers for the pope. "We're concerned about his health," Bishop DiMarzio
said in a brief interview after the Mass. "But everyone's life comes to an
end. His legacy is incredible. His impact on the whole world is without
precedent. We just hope he doesn't give up."
-- The New York Times, "New Bishop Pledges Support for Abuse Victims,"
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/04/nyregion/04BISH.html?ex=1065931200&en=3fcb0294c64f43c1&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE ,
By Daniel J. Wakin, Published: October 4, 2003
There were 2000 invited guests, according to Newsday on Oct 3 03.
• "Voice Of The Faithful" Send Message To Church Leaders.
CINCINNATI (OH): About 200 Tri-state residents gathered Saturday to confront the Roman
Catholic church's handling of clergy sexual abuse scandals.
They gathered at Good Shepherd Church in Sycamore Township to attend the
first regional conference entitled, "Voice of the Faithful," and to send a
powerful message to church leaders -- to discover a key to healing.
"If we don't talk about it, and look at it, and grow up as adults in our
church and confront the realities -- our church will become obsolete,"
said Nan Fischer, of Voice of the Faithful.
At Saturday's conference there was less talking, and more listening.
Members heard from Pat Stachler, a wife and mother, who says she survived
a brutal rape at the hands of a Dayton priest almost 40-years ago.
Stachler said she still remembers the moments afterward -- and sometimes
the shame and the pain feel like more than she can bear.
"He takes my left hand, pries it open, slaps money in it and closes it --
and tells me to hop a bus the next day and go down to Cincinnati for
confession to the Franciscans," recalled Stachler.
-- WCPO,
http://www.wcpo.com/news/2003/local/10/04/catholic.html ,
Reported by: Jennifer Steiner,
Web produced by: Neil Relyea,
Photographed by: 9News,
Oct 4 03
• Former teacher faces new sex abuse charges [1998]
NEW ORLEANS (LA): A former educator who lived in New Orleans from 1998 until this summer has
been charged with six additional counts of sexual abuse from three former
students of a Mobile, Ala., high school.
Nicholas Paul Bendillo, 74, a former educator at McGill-Toolen High
School, pleaded innocent Thursday at the arraignment in Mobile. He
remained free on his initial $15,000 bond.
Bendillo is now charged with 10 counts of abuse involving five accusers
who were students at the Mobile school. A tentative trial date of Nov. 17
has been set. Bendillo, also known as Brother Vic, worked at McGill-Toolen
from 1959 until 1998.
Bendillo was removed from his job in 1998 following abuse complaints. He
lived in New Orleans with the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, a religious
order of male teachers, from 1998 until this summer, the Rev. William
Maestri, spokesman for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, said in August.
-- Times-Picayune,
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-1/106524899666270.xml ,
From staff and wire reports
Saturday October 04, 2003
• Priest admits sex with mother while teenage girl in house: Vatican case.
NEW JERSEY: Bishop Frank Rodimer has asked church officials in Rome to hear the case
of a former Morristown pastor accused of molesting a child decades ago --
one of eight cases that Paterson Diocese officials say they are sending to
the Vatican for some sort of determination.
They are among hundreds of cases sent there by Roman Catholic dioceses
across the nation as part of the legal mechanism for determining the guilt
or innocence of priests accused of sexually abusing children.
In a letter dated Aug. 1, Rodimer requested a trial in Rome for Monsignor
John Henry Dericks, former pastor of Assumption parish in Morristown who
has been accused of fondling a teenage girl decades ago at his home in
Andover.
Rodimer said in the letter, sent to the Congregation of the Doctrine of
the Faith, that Dericks, 87, has admitted having an affair with the girl's
mother. The priest also admitted to having sexual relations with the
mother at his home while the girl was in the house, according to the
letter, but he denied having sexual contact with the teenager.
--Daily Record, "Vatican asked to put priest on trial,"
http://www.dailyrecord.com/news/articles/news2-settlement2.htm ,
By Abbott Koloff,
( Posted by Poynteronline Abuse Tracker on Oct 6 03)
FOR GOOD TEACHINGS TO BE HEEDED, A BIG CLEAN-UP IS NEEDED
INTENTION: The intention of this group of Webpages is to PROTECT THE CHILDREN. Click for more.
Some clickable links are for network access only, so might not work for you.
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