News Story of the Day

Women say ‘Keepers’ figure was unnamed rapist in Catholic abuse report

BALTIMORE (MD)
The Baltimore Banner [Baltimore MD]

July 31, 2023

By Justin Fenton and Julie Scharper

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The women spent hours recounting painful memories to investigators with the Maryland Office of the Attorney General. They told of the priests who pulled them out of class at Archbishop Keough High School 50 years ago, then brutally raped and sexually assaulted them.

But when the attorney general’s office released its massive report on sex abuse in Baltimore’s Catholic archdiocese in April, the two women were shocked. Their stories were there on page 258, but a key detail was missing: the name of one of the men who they say raped them.

The report names more than 150 clergy and archdiocesan personnel accused of perpetrating or covering up abuse, with 15 names redacted. But this man’s name was not in the report. He was described only as “the Jesuit intern.”


Misconduct claims against two priests found to be unsubstantiated, another claim substantiated


Rockville Centre diocese bankruptcy update: Legal fees climb, judge may intervene

Newsday [Melville NY]

July 17, 2023

By Bart Jones

 

Bankruptcy proceedings by the Catholic Church on Long Island linked to clergy sexual abuse cases have gone on for nearly three years and piled up $70 million in legal fees.

Now, a federal judge says he may intervene to bring the process to an end — and effectively give clergy abuse survivors their day in court.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn said during a court hearing in Manhattan last week that he may take the highly unusual step of ending the bankruptcy proceedings because the survivors and the Diocese of Rockville Centre can’t reach an agreement.

That would send some 600 cases back to state court for civil trials.


Michigan Senate passes legislation to extend lawsuit filing age for abuse survivors

Survivors of abuse could be given more time to sue their abuser under new legislation passed by the Michigan Senate on Wednesday.

The current cutoff to file a lawsuit in Michigan against an abuser is a maximum age of 28, which was set as a standard following the conviction of former USA gymnastics doctor and serial sexual abuser Larry Nassar.

New legislation passed overwhelmingly Wednesday would raise the age to 52, which lawmakers said is the average age a child sexual assault survivor would report the abuse.

Of every 1,000 sexual assaults, 975 offenders will walk free, according to data from the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, or RAINN.

>>>>>>Full Story Here


Michigan lawmakers renew effort to give sex abuse victims more time to sue

LANSING (MI)
Associated Press [New York NY]

June 6, 2023

By Joey Cappelletti

Michigan lawmakers introduced bipartisan legislation Tuesday that would give victims of sexual abuse more time to sue for damages as the state again looks to overhaul laws following multiple sexual abuse scandals.

The legislation, which appeared before a committee Tuesday afternoon, would expand the civil statute of limitations for sex abuse victims from age 28 to 52. If enacted, victims would also have a two-year window to sue retroactively, regardless of the time limit.

The new measures would allow victims of the late Dr. Robert Anderson at the University of Michigan and others additional time to bring lawsuits that have previously been barred by the statute of limitations. Government entities could not use the immunity defense if they knew or should have known of an accused’s prior sexual misconduct and failed to intervene.

In 2018, Michigan increased the statute of limitations to 28 years old following the conviction of Larry Nassar, who sexually abused hundreds of female athletes under the guise of medical treatment, including at Michigan State University.

Advocates say the time limit still denies delayed justice for many victims who often keep trauma to themselves, citing research that shows many victims don’t come forward until their 50s. Vermont, Maine and Maryland have removed the statute of limitations for child sex crime lawsuits.


Survivors of Catholic Church abuse urge Catholic Diocese of Rockford to add names to ‘credibly accused’ list

ROCKFORD (IL)
WIFR-TV, Ch. 23 [Rockville IL]

May 29, 2023

By Elisa Reamer

 

[Includes a video]

A group of survivors and supporters speak out about sexual abuse within the Catholic Church outside a local place of worship Monday.

Several church abuse victims were among those who stood in front of Cathedral of St. Peter in Rockford Monday holding a poster with names of five priests who have spent time in Rockford accused of sexual abuse. Some priests on the list are dead, others still living.

“We want the bishop to post these five names on his website along the sides of the proven, admitted, critically accused molesters that are there now,” said Missouri’s Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) volunteer director David Clohessy.

The names of the priests are Father Philip Derea, Father John Powell, Father Norman Maday, Father Charles Becker and Father Robert Erpenbeck.

SNAP leaders say those names are listed under other church’s ‘credibly accused’ lists but claim they are not listed on the Catholic Diocese of Rockford’s.

“Why wouldn’t he be on every list? Not just here but every list all the way across the country,” said SNAP of Chicago Leader Larry Antonsen.

Antonsen says he suffered through abuse by a priest when he was a sophomore in high school.

“I don’t want to see another kid live with what I have to live with,” Antonsen said.

Clohessy who suffered abuse for four years says including deceased priests is important because it can be eye opening,

“She may call her son who is in his 50s and 60s and say what’s the name of the priest who used to take you Saturdays to the movies,” Clohessy said. “Well father Mayday is a credibly accused molester, did he do anything to you.”


Accused 2 Decades Ago and Returned to Ministry, SF Priest Faces New Allegations

>>>>Full Story By NBC Bay Area here>>>https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/sf-priest-faces-new-abuse-allegations/3237995/

Fr. Daniel Carter was accused back in 2002 of sexually abusing a Redwood City social worker when she was a child. The Archbishop at the time called the allegations "unfounded" and returned Carter to ministry. He continued to work at least into 2021. Now, six new accusers have come forward.


Fact check: What the Baltimore Catholic archdiocese is saying about the Maryland attorney general’s report

BALTIMORE (MD)
Baltimore Sun [Baltimore MD]

May 22, 2023

By Lee O. Sanderlin

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After a similar report was published in 2018 by the Pennsylvania attorney general into church abuse in that state, Maryland’s attorney general started an investigation here. It ran four years, culminating in November in a 463-page document that detailed how clergy, nuns and teachers tormented more than 600 children and young adults in the archdiocese, dating back to the 1940s. The report was released publicly April 5.

The Baltimore Sun fact-checked the archdiocese’s talking points about the findings of the report and church officials’ responses to survivors of abuse, the media and elected officials.


Catholic leaders named in cover-ups remain active in parish ministries, boards in Baltimore archdiocese

BALTIMORE (MD)
Baltimore Sun [Baltimore MD]

May 11, 2023

By Lee O. Sanderlin and Jonathan M. Pitts

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Monsignor Richard “Rick” Woy is head pastor at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Crofton, Monsignor J. Bruce Jarboe is head pastor at St. Ann in Hagerstown and Monsignor G. Michael Schleupner regularly leads services at Our Lady of Grace in Parkton. All have celebrated Mass since The Baltimore Sun reported Thursday they were part of the hierarchy blamed in a Maryland Attorney General’s Office investigation about how the archdiocese handled abuse cases over decades.


Seminarian booted in Ind. before rape case

Tyler Whetstone

Knoxville News Sentinel USA TODAY NETWORK – TENNESSEE https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/local/2023/05/11/knoxville-seminarian-accused-of-rape-was-booted-from-indiana-seminary/70196612007/


Bishop Richard Stika was told a Diocese of Knoxville seminarian had been kicked out of an Indiana seminary over sexual harassment complaints weeks before the diocese began investigating whether the seminarian had raped a church employee here, Knox News has learned. The dismissal was explained in a letter from the president-rector of Saint Meinrad Seminary to Stika dated March 1, 2021. Nine days later, a Knoxville diocese sexual assault review board member wrote to the victims assistance coordinator about the rape allegation, and the review board began investigating at the end of the month.

Two weeks later, Stika ordered the firing of an independent investigator hired by the review board to dig into the allegation.

And in April 2021, Stika committed the diocese to pay nearly $50,000 for tuition and living expenses for the dismissed seminarian to attend Saint Louis University beginning that fall.

‘Uncomfortable’ behavior detailed

The Very Rev. Denis Robinson, the president-rector of St. Meinard Seminary, included documentation with his letter to Stika detailing the complaints against the dismissed Knoxville seminarian. The letter and supporting documents total 10 pages.

One student said the Knoxville seminarian, who is Polish, invited him to his dorm room, told him his American accent was “sexy,” and tried to hold his hand, prompting the student to immediately leave. Another student

said he was undressing to go to bed when he noticed the Knoxville seminarian gazing at him from his room across a courtyard in the dormitory.


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