News Story of the Day
Pennsylvania is national leader in aggressively going after institutional child sex predators
By Ivey DeJesus, April 26, 2018, PennLive
More than any other state, Pennsylvania is aggressively going after child sex predators.
From multiple grand jury investigations into the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, a similar grand jury probe into the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, the prosecution of Jerry Sandusky and the investigation into systemic sex abuse of students at a New Hope private school, state prosecutors have positioned the state as arguably the most aggressive in the nation against child sex crimes.
You asked, we answered: Why aren't accused priests in jail?
By
It's been two months since The Buffalo News first reported that a retired priest from the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo admitted that he sexually abused "probably dozens" of teenage boys in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Since then, The News also has published more than 30 stories related to the sexual abuse scandal within the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.
Among The News' findings:
- Catholic parishioners are indirectly funding sexual abuse settlement claims.
Arizona Congresswoman Alleges Sexual Abuse By High School Coach
By Doha Madani, April 24, 2018, The Huffington Post
Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), the first American woman to fly in combat, has gone public with a charge that she was sexually abused by an adult while in high school.
In a Wall Street Journal interview, McSally alleges that her high-school track coach pressured her into having sex with him when she was 17 years old. The congresswoman said she wasn’t physically forced to comply, but accused the coach of using “emotional manipulation” and employing psychological tactics to keep her silent.
McSally, 52, said the alleged abuse occurred during her senior year an all-girls Catholic school in Riverside, Rhode Island. She said she told two adults of situation at the time, but didn’t mention the abuse to friends or family until about a decade later.
McKayla Maroney says she tried to raise sex abuse alarm in 2011
By Sarah Fitzpatrick and Tracy Connor, Apr.22.2018, NBC News
The gymnast says she spoke up after team doctor Larry Nassar 'went overboard'
Larry Nassar had done "the treatment" on gymnast McKayla Maroney before, but nothing prepared her for what happened in a Tokyo hotel room in October 2011.
"That was the scariest night," Maroney told NBC News in her first-ever interview about the abuse she suffered at the hands of Nassar, the former Olympic doctor now at the center of an ever-widening scandal.
Officials: Child abuse allegations swamping state investigators
By JOHN FINNERTY, Apr 20, 2018, The Herald
HARRISBURG — Advocates and county officials await a promised action plan from Auditor General Eugene DePasquale for fixing the state’s struggling child protection system.
Susan Woods, a spokesperson for the auditor general, said those recommendations are expected in mid-May.
The system is challenged by the state’s push to make sure abuse doesn’t get ignored in the wake of the molestation scandal that put former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky in prison.
Aisha Sultan: Priest sex abuse survivor says trauma lingers
By Aisha Sultan, April 20, 2018, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Chris O’Leary started to sweat in church as he moved up the line of parents and kids waiting for a turn at the confessional. When they got to the head of the line, O’Leary was crying and trying not to pass out.
O’Leary’s panic attack hit as his son made his first confession.
He wasn’t sure why, but he wondered if it had something to do with hazy memories from his childhood confessions. Three years later, in 2005, his daughter made her first confession. He had another panic attack.
Youth pastor had sex with 15-year-old. Asks her to say it was her idea, report says
BY TIM POTTER, April 17, 2018, Wichita Eagle
A Wichita youth pastor began having sex with a church member right after she turned 15 and asked her to say she was older when it started and “that she had come on to him,” says an affidavit filed by a sheriff’s detective.
The criminal case against 48-year-old Chauncey Walker began this past August with a tip to the Wichita Police Department’s Facebook page. Detective Daniel Ribble, with the Exploited and Missing Child Unit, learned that the tipster obtained a taped admission from Walker, says the affidavit, received by The Eagle late Tuesday through a court record request.
Law firm renews call for Catholic Diocese to release information on accused Priests
By: Marissa Perlman, April 18, 2018, WIVB.com
WIVB, N.Y. (WIVB) - - The Buffalo Catholic Diocese has come up with a way to help pay settlements to victims who were sexually abused by priests.
The Buffalo Diocese says it's going to put the Bishop's mansion on Oakland Place on the market.
This has been the Bishop of Buffalo's home since 1952.
And Bishop Malone is the sixth out of 14 to have lived there. But faced with this sex abuse scandal,
The Bishop says the Diocese needs all of the resources it can get.
The Bishop will move into the rectory of Saint Stanislaus church on Buffalo's East Side.
Winter Appeal 2023
To our friends,
2023 has been a long year with many ups and downs for us all. As we close out the year, we at SNAP hope that you are feeling like you are on your way to being healthy, fulfilled, and happy. This past year has brought both successes and challenges. Thanks to the support you have shown in the past, we’ve been able to celebrate the good days and weather the stormy ones. Now, we are once again asking for your support as we work to support survivors new and old as we ‘Move SNAP Forward.’
At SNAP we are proud to have hosted a very well-attended conference in August 2023. This event allowed us to gather friends, survivors, advocates, and allies for a weekend of camaraderie and connection. We were so happy to be able to welcome many first-time attendees to gather in person and are already looking forward to the next conference.
To strengthen our movement for justice, healing, and prevention, SNAP will be expanding our peer support and providing more volunteer opportunities in the coming year. Through this great work, we are ensuring survivor voices are represented as we work for significant change that will benefit children and survivors.
Right now, survivors worldwide are getting the help they need from SNAP, and more and more reach out to us daily, but we need your help to keep those programs going and get our volunteers the training they need to thrive.
Your tax-deductible gift to SNAP can help offset the cost of our important mission. If you are not in a position to contribute, you can still support us by sharing this letter with those who can. As we continue to fight for survivors across the globe, your donation or sharing the great work SNAP does will help us continue our work to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded, and prevent abuse.
Your donation ensures SNAP will be there for those who need us more than ever!
Warmly,
Michael W. McDonnell, C.P.S.
Interim Executive Director