News Story of the Day

By Marion Brooks, April 2, 2018, Chicago5

After more than a year of working with survivors to share their stories, NBCChicago.com aims to give a voice to stories of sexual misconduct in the Chicago area

Every 98 seconds someone in America is sexually assaulted.

The statistic from RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) gives shocking context to the #MeToo movement that went viral following the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault allegations last year in Hollywood. Since then, a growing number of high-profile men have been accused of sexual harassment and assault, and women and men around the world have shared their stories, giving voice to the collective silence around sexual misconduct. 

By Rick Murphy, APRIL 3, The Independent

The pedophile priest scandal in Boston, a story told in the Oscar nominated movie Spotlight, earned the Boston Globe a Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for breaking the news.

But pedophile priests were commonplace decades earlier on the East End, a story that has, for the most part, gone untold. As reported last week exclusively in The Independent — this newspaper has followed the story since 2003 —the Diocese Of Rockville Centre often sent priests accused of inappropriate behavior to eastern Long Island, believing they would blend in better in the sparsely-populated communities here.

By Tom Steele, April 3, 2018, Dallas Morning News

By Kristine Phillips, April 2, 2018, The Washington Post

A young man who served as an instructor at a Mormon church in Texas admitted that he sexually assaulted children, authorities said.

Police said 22-year-old Noel Anderson, who was a primary instructor at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Dallas suburb of McKinney, Tex., abused four children between the ages of 2 and 6. The crimes happened over seven years, during which time Anderson met the children through church meetings and other activities, according to the McKinney Police Department.

By JOE MAHONEY, April 1, 2018, Press Republican

ALBANY — Advocates for a one-year window to allow child victims of sexual assault to bring civil suits against molesters and employers who enabled abuse were deeply disappointed that the measure was sliced out of state budget negotiations.

Those crusading for the Child Victims Act — legislation that has been opposed by the state's Roman Catholic bishops, some youth groups and the insurance industry — said they will resume their push in Albany's post-budget legislative session, which closes in mid June.

The one-year revival is intended to arm victims with the ability to pursue legal claims even decades after they were molested.

By Katherine Gregg, March 30, 2018, Providence Journal

Abuse victims gave wrenching accounts at a House hearing on the bill introduced by Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee, whose legislation was motivated by her own sister’s repeated abuse as a child by their family’s parish priest.

ROVIDENCE, R.I. — A Rhode Island lawmaker has ripped the scab off the Catholic Church sex-abuse scandal with legislation born out of her older sister’s repeated abuse, as a child, by their family’s parish priest.

Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee’s legislation would remove the seven-year statute of limitations on the pursuit of legal claims against perpetrators of sex abuse. The statute of limitations derailed a lawsuit by two former victims of an infamous pedophile priest in 2016.

By CHRIS CAYA, March 31, 2018, WBFO 88.7

A local man is going public with claims of being sexually abused as a teenager by a Catholic priest employed by the Diocese of Buffalo.    

Mark Lynch, of Lewiston, says he was sexually assaulted in the rectory of Mount Carmel Parish, in Niagara Falls, by Father Joseph Schuster.

"It was 50 years ago. I was 13 years of age."

Lynch said, he just began his healing process in December. And he chose to break his silence, Good Friday, with great reverence for the traditions stolen from him by the abuse he suffered at the hands of a Catholic priest. 

By Michael Kransz, March 30, 2018, M Live Michigan

SAGINAW, MI -- Some Saginaw Diocese parishioners are calling for Saginaw Bishop Joseph R. Cistone to step down after prosecutors say his diocese failed to cooperate in an ongoing sexual abuse investigation.

"He has no credibility," said Mary Ureche, a parishioner at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Saginaw Township. "The reason he's here is because of the cover-up and shredding of documents in Philadelphia."

Nathan Medina grew up worshiping at Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption in Saginaw. The 34-year-old said, among other options to rebuild trust, the bishop should resign.

by Vivian LaMoore , March 28, 2018, Message Media

A $25 million settlement agreement was approved on Thursday, March 22, by the court between the Crosiers religious order and victims of clergy sexual abuse.

The Crosiers emerged from Chapter 11 as the U.S. Bankruptcy Court confirmed the reorganization plan to allow the Crosiers to settle on $25.5 Million – $5.7 million will be paid directly by the Crosiers and just short of $19 million would be paid by the insurers, Jeff Anderson, attorney for the survivors, said.

By Aaron Besecker, March 27, 2018, Buffalo News

The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo's decision to publicly name its priests who had credible allegations of sexual abuse involving a minor will be followed by one neighboring diocese, but not by  another.

After the Buffalo Diocese released on March 20 a list of 42 priests accused of abusing minors, the Catholic Diocese of Erie, Pa., said it plans to release its own list of accused priests in the coming weeks, the Erie Times-News reported last week.

But the Diocese of Syracuse has not changed its position about withholding the names of accused priests despite what the Buffalo diocese has done, according to newyorkupstate.com.