September 23, 2018
By Alyssa Milano Sep 23, 2018, Vox
It took me 30 years to tell anyone. And I’m far from alone.
The courage of survivors will always be stronger than Donald Trump’s hate. The lives of survivors will always be more important than Brett Kavanaugh’s career.
When I was sexually assaulted, I wasn’t that much older than Christine Blasey Ford — now a PhD in psychology — was when she was allegedly assaulted by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh (Kavanaugh denies the incident occurred). I’ve watched, horrified as politicians and pundits refused to believe or take seriously these allegations.
September 21, 2018
Author: Christina Coleman, September 20, 2018, Channel 5, St. Louis
The couple said their son lost his life to suicide after a priest abused him for several years.
ST. LOUIS — A Florissant couple is outraged after learning that pedophile priests from Pennsylvania were sent to Missouri.
The couple said their son lost his life to suicide after a priest abused him for several years. They reached a wrongful death settlement with the St. Louis Archdiocese, but new information has them demanding change.
September 18, 2018
Arthur McCaffrey, For the Inquirer, September 18, 2018
Earlier this month, the New York attorney general initiated a criminal inquiry into clergy abuse of children in all the Catholic dioceses in New York state. This came fast on the heels of Pennsylvania's statewide grand jury investigation of Catholic clergy abuse, which was reported out by Attorney General Josh Shapiro on Aug. 14, exposing at least 1,000 cases of child abuse over a 70-year period.
New Jersey, New Mexico, Nebraska, and Missouri have similar criminal investigations underway. This follows previous inquiries in other states.
September 16, 2018
September 15, 2018, CBSNewYork2
NEWARK, N.J. — A hotline created to document reports of clergy sex abuse in New Jersey is receiving so many calls that some can’t even get through. The round-the-clock call center opened last week as part of a new investigation by Attorney General Gurbir Grewal.
Fred Marigliano says it took him more than 50 years to speak out about being abused by his priest when he was 11-years-old.
“All I wanted to do was not be raped again,” he told CBS2. “Sometimes I still have nightmares.”
September 15, 2018
By GUSTAVO ARELLANO, SEP 12, 2018. Los Angeles Times
California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra has gained a reputation for going after anyone or anything that he feels threatens our Golden State. He’s filed 35 lawsuits just against the Trump administration. He’s prosecuted landlords who gouged renters after the devastating Tubbs fire last year. He has stood with “Dreamers” and against gun manufacturers.
So far, however, Becerra’s office has stayed mum on one of California’s biggest criminal outrages: sex abuse in the Catholic Church.
This decades-long scandal flared up again last month with the release of a Pennsylvania grand jury report. It detailed how 300 priests molested at least 1,000 children and groomed them for abuse over the last 70 years. But the equally horrific crime, Pennsylvania Atty. Gen. Josh Shapiro correctly argued, was that church hierarchy and law enforcement officials largely ignored victims and let offenders continue their depravities.
September 11, 2018
By Tim Darragh, The Morning Call, September 1, 2018
As he began a blistering presentation of a grand jury report into decades of child sex abuse by priests in Pennsylvania earlier this month, Attorney General Josh Shapiro singled out two groups — the Catholic Church hierarchy and law enforcement — for sometimes working in tandem to keep the accusations from the public.
“The abuse scarred every diocese,” he said. “The cover-up was sophisticated. The church protected the institution at all costs.”
September 09, 2018
In addition to New York and New Jersey, state inquiries are under way or are in the works in Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska and New Mexico.
By Alex Johnson, September 6, 2018, NBC News
New York and New Jersey on Thursday raised to seven the number of states whose attorneys general have said they are reviewing Roman Catholic dioceses for cases of sexual misconduct by clergy — and several other states could join that growing list.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Thursday that since the release of a Pennsylvania grand jury report last month — which accused more than 300 priests of having abused more than 1,000 children over 70 years — "more than a dozen attorneys general and a senior official at the Department of Justice have reached out to me."
September 05, 2018
By: Jackie Roberts, Aug 30, 2018, Your Eire
Bishop Lawrence Persico is calling to create a fund to compensate victims of clergy sexual abuse... but not everyone is on board.
Survivors are responding to the bishop's announcement, saying their fight is not about money; it's about exposing the truth and protecting kids.
In the wake of the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report, Bishop Lawrence Persico announced an initiative to compensate victims monetarily. The bishop is working alongside Senator Joe Scarnati. A letter from the Diocese of Erie says Persico and Scarnati understand that no dollar amount can make amends for what occurred.
The statement reads, in part, "they believe that the many victims who were unable to seek justice because of Pennsylvania's statute of limitations deserve this alternative response".
But, victims of priest sexual abuse say that's not enough. Jim VanSickle says he was abused by a priest. "The people that I'm speaking to do not talk about money in this case. We want justice. We want to be able to civilly see our predator in court."
