News Story of the Day

Former priest, Navy chaplain to be sentenced in child porn case

Associated Press, October 2, 2016, Crux

WILMINGTON, Del. - A former Navy chaplain and Catholic priest who sexually assaulted a Naval Academy midshipman years ago is facing sentencing on federal child pornography charges.

Sentencing for John Thomas Matthew Lee of Millsboro, which has been postponed several times, is now set for Wednesday, Oct. 5.


Former altar-boy coordinator at St. Brendan arraigned on child-rape charges

By Staff, Sep. 29, 2016, Dorchester Reporter

Michael Walsh, 80, was arraigned Wednesday on charges he raped and indecently attacked a Dorchester boy more than two decades ago, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, Walsh was an altar-boy coordinator at St. Brendan Church and a coach in the Cedar Grove Baseball League.


Chicago-based religious order sued for docs on allegations


Should Pennsylvania sex abuse survivors accept half loaf of justice?

Bill White, Contact Reporter, The Morning Call, September 26, 2016

 Is half a loaf better than none?

Not when it comes to this year's emotional and contentious effort to offer justice to many victims of child sex abuse in Pennsylvania by extending or eliminating statutes of limitations, according to the Legislature's most visible advocate for changing the law.

State Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, told me last week that he has consulted with survivors, advocacy groups and other House members over the question of whether the House should accept the watered down version of House Bill 1947 that passed the Senate in June.

 


Lawyers have new tool in clergy abuse cases

By Olivier Uyttebrouck, Albuqerque Journal Staff Writer, Thursday, September 22nd, 2016 at 11:43pm

Lawyers representing alleged victims of clerical sexual abuse told a judge last week that the Archdiocese of Santa Fe is liable for the actions of its priests because it provides them with “extraordinary power” over parishioners, comparable to that of police and corrections officers.

The legal theory, called “aided-in-agency,” is becoming more common in civil cases and gives attorneys a potent new tool in clerical abuse cases, attorneys in the case said.


Former Director of Recently Suspended Priest Program in Chicago Arrested on Child Porn Charges

The priest who once led a prominent vocational program for Latino men interested in the priesthood has been arrested on child pornography charges, NBC 5 has learned. 

Father Octavio Munoz, of Casa Jesus, will appear in bond court at noon in Chicago, according to the Cook County State's Attorney's Office and Chicago police. 


Disgraced Catholic bishop's estate to go to victims of abuse

By nine.com.au staff, September 6, 2016

The family of a Catholic bishop blamed for allowing the sexual abuse of hundreds of children say they support his decision to leave $2.1m to the church.

Bishop Rodney Mulkearns died in April aged 85 and left almost his entire estate to the Catholic diocese of Ballarat, including a $2m house in Fairhaven.

 


Women abused by priest Brendan Smyth took own lives, says cleric D'Arcy

By Allan Preston, September 1, 2016, Belfast Telegraph

Outspoken priest Brian D'Arcy has claimed a number of women committed suicide after suffering abuse at the hands of paedophile priest Brendan Smyth.

Fr D'Arcy made the comments in an interview with Hot Press magazine published today.

"There have been people, young women, who took their own lives because of what Brendan Smyth did to them," the Enniskillen priest said.  "I know this personally. They took their own lives because of what Brendan Smyth did to them."


Pressure Mounts on Jewish Groups to Change Course in Sexual Abuse Cases

JOSEPH TREITOVSKY,  31 AUGUST 2016, The Jewish Voice

Is there a divide in the Orthodox Rabbinate regarding preventing child sexual abuse?

In an unprecedented and crucially positive step forward, 300 Orthodox Rabbis from across the nation signed a proclamation regarding child safety in the Orthodox Jewish community. Synagogues and schools are called upon to adopt certain preventative measures outlined in the document to deter child abuse and child sexual abuse.


Norwich Diocese, retired bishop sued in priest sex abuse case

By Karen Florin,  Day staff writer, August 29, 2016, theDay

A 37-year-old Woodstock man who says he was sexually assaulted hundreds of times by a Catholic priest while serving as an altar boy at the Holy Trinity Church in Pomfret in the 1990s has filed a lawsuit against the Diocese of Norwich, retired Bishop Daniel P. Reilly and the church.

The Norwich Diocese previously settled two lawsuits brought by boys who were molested by the priest, Paul Hebert, when he served at St. Michael the Archangel Church in Pawcatuck from 1971 to 1981.


SNAP Network is a GuideStar Gold Participant