News Story of the Day

Irish Catholic Church ‘trying to dump’ sex abuse priests on State

The Irish Times Mon, Jul 18, 2016 by Patsy McGarry

Two of America’s leading Catholic child protection advocates have strongly opposed suggestions by the church that care of laicised priests convicted of child abuse ought, in certain circumstances, to be a State responsibility.


Sen. Leyva’s bill would protect child victims of sex abuse: Guest commentary

POSTED: 07/14/16, 2:42 PM PDT  

The Justice for Victims Act, which has gained traction by passing the state Senate before the summer recess and is ready to be voted on by the Assembly, gives California the chance to take a strong stance against the Catholic Church’s ongoing cover-up of child sexual abuse.     


Ex-Penn State player won’t give up the fight for Joe Paterno despite latest damning court documents

EVAN GROSSMAN, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, Tuesday, July 12, 2016

A week after circulating a petition to have Joe Paterno’s statue and legacy restored in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky horror story, Brian Masella, a former Penn State football player, isn’t relenting in his crusade.

“No, absolutely not,” Masella told the Daily News after a wave of new accusations that Paterno knew about Sandusky’s behavior as far back as 1976 were revealed in unsealed court documents.


Priest sex abuse victim angered by lack of recourse: 'None of them are registered sex offenders'

By Ivey DeJesus, [email protected],  July 09, 2016, PennLive

Shaun Dougherty's story begins on page 66 of the grand jury report into widespread child sexual abuse in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese.

That page - one of 147 pages in the report detailing accusations against more than 50 religious leaders, priests and teachers - begins the account into the investigation of George Koharchik, a longtime priest, who among other diocesan assignments, was pastor at St. Clement Church in Johnstown for a decade.


Lenexa church opposes young sex crime victims remaining anonymous in civil lawsuit

BY LAURA BAUER, [email protected], July 7, 2016, KC Star

Two girls and their guardian sued Westside Family Church, saying it knowingly let teen sex offender be around kids

The victims’ attorney filed a motion to keep the girls’ identities secret during the civil lawsuit

The church’s attorney opposed that motion and said the case should be dismissed and refiled

 


Fugitive molester accused of sexually abusing teen while on the run

By Mark Mueller and Enrique Lavin, NJ Advance Media, For NJ.com, July 05, 2016

An evangelical preacher wanted by authorities in New Jersey for molesting a teenage boy and for allegedly abusing three other young men has been accused by a parishioner of groping a teen in Nicaragua, where the fugitive had been in hiding, according to church officials there.

Gregorio Martinez, whose flight from justice was profiled in a special report by NJ Advance Media in May, allegedly groped a 15-year-old boy in Estelí, Nicaragua, earlier this year, said Pedro Matamoros, the pastor of the church where Martinez lived for about seven months.


Sioux City Diocese asks for information on children victimized by deceased priest

IAN RICHARDSON, [email protected], July 3, 2016 Sioux City Journal

SIOUX CITY | After more than 55 years, a new sexual abuse allegation is casting a shadow on the career of a now-deceased priest who served in the Sioux City Diocese during the 1960s.

The Rev. Peter Murphy, who served at eight parishes throughout Northwestern Iowa in the 1950s, '60s and '70s, has been accused of raping and sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy while he was a temporary assistant at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Sioux City in 1960.


Sex abuse group to Jeff church: 'Shame on them'

Bobby Shipman, The Courier-Journal, July 1, 2016

 

A priest sex abuse victims group has criticized Jeffersonville church officials for requesting prayers for an accused child molester instead of his potential victims.

 

David Clohessy, director the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, released a statement calling First Christian Church’s actions “stunningly callous.”

 

 


Pennsylvania Senate committee reveals its twisted priorities

Bill White, Contact Reporter, June 29, 2016, The Morning Call

Pennsylvania House Bill 1947 stripped of retroactive access for victims

Piorities are important, for people and for politicians.

Most members of the state Senate Judiciary Committee made their priorities clear Tuesday. They concluded that it was more important to protect the financial resources of the Catholic Church and insurance industry than to offer justice to more victims of child sex abuse, to unmask predators to protect future children and to punish institutions that have aided and abetted in child abuse.

 


Editorial: In support of Bill 326

The Guam Daily Post, Post News Staff  June 28, 2016

We join those in the community who support Bill 326 which proposes to eliminate the statute of limitations for civil cases involving child sex abuse. We continue to see child molestation as a particularly heinous crime with traumatic, long-term emotional impact.


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