News Story of the Day

Accuser of sex abuse at Aurora church drops anonymity

Susan Sarkauskas, 11/30/2015, Daily Herald

Members of two groups critical of the Catholic Church's handling of sexual abuse by priests are calling for parishioners to withhold financial donations to an Aurora church.

And the man who sued that church, St. Rita of Cascia, under the name "John Doe" has revealed his identity. He is John Plaschke, who now lives in Maryland, and said he revealed himself to encourage other possible victims to come forward.


Sex-abuse survivor, former R.I. man depicted in 'Spotlight' movie, tells his story

By Karen Lee Ziner, Journal Staff Writer, Posted Nov. 28, 2015, Providence Journal
PROVIDENCE — You won't hear Jim Scanlan's name in the film "Spotlight." But you will see him portrayed as "Kevin from Providence," who suffered sexual abuse by a Boston College High School priest in the late 1970s.
The film is a fact-based drama about the Boston Globe Spotlight Team's Pulitzer Prize-winning 2002 investigation of the Catholic Church's cover-up of clergy sexual abuse.

Victims of Catholic Sex Abuse Cite Impact of ‘Spotlight’

Posted to Politics November 25, 2015 by Graham Vyse, Insidesources.com

The new movie Spotlight is generating Oscar buzz for its depiction of the Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prizewinning investigation into sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. In the nation’s capital, the film is also encouraging advocates for abuse victims who want religious institutions — and the D.C. government — to do more for their cause.

“It’s very motivating to myself and other leaders,” said Becky Ianni, the D.C. and Virginia director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). Ianni told InsideSources she’s seen an increase in phone calls from victims since Spotlight has been promoted and released in the past few months.


Church let 'lunatic' loose in poor parish

BY MEGAN NEIL, AAP, NOVEMBER 25, 2015, The Australian

THE Catholic Church let a "raving lunatic loose" and sent a string of pedophile priests to a disadvantaged Melbourne parish with no concern for the parishioners, an inquiry has heard.

FATHER Victor Rubeo left Doveton overnight because he was having sex with a number of women in the parish, while his "bizarre and lunatic" successor Father Peter Searson told a girl he indecently assaulted in confession "the Lord forgives you".


Vatican puts journalists, employees on trial as media cries foul

By Philip Pullella, Tue Nov 24, 2015, Reuters, 

* Journalists groups condemn trial as violation of press freedom

* OSCE urges Vatican to drop charges against journalists

* Pair wrote books alleging mismanagement and greed in the Vatican

VATICAN CITY , Nov 24 Five people, including two Italian reporters, went on trial in the Vatican on Tuesday, to outrage from rights' groups, on charges arising from publication of books in which the Holy See was portrayed as mired in mismanagement and corruption.


'Spotlight' highlights abusive El Paso priest

Diana Washington Valdez, El Paso Times10:26 a.m. MST November 23, 2015

Victims of a predatory priest who served in El Paso and Alamogordo helped provide the impetus for the Boston Globe investigation that revealed a widespread cover-up by the Catholic Church highlighted by the movie “Spotlight.”

The film’s all-star cast focuses on the newspaper’s investigation “Spotlight Investigation: Abuse in the Catholic Church,” which garnered the daily a Pulitzer Prize in 2003. The new movie by Open Road Films is showing in theaters across El Paso and the nation.


Prosecutor: Hibbing MN priest aggressively targeted girls

By Tom Olsen on Nov 19, 2015 at 7:23 p.m., Duluth News Tribune

A prosecutor has fired back against a Hibbing priest who is seeking to have his child sexual abuse charges dismissed, alleging that evidence shows the Rev. Brian Michael  Lederer demonstrated a pattern of targeting young girls.

Assistant St. Louis County Attorney Jeff Vlatkovich said in a 13-page letter to 6th Judicial District Judge David Ackerson that allegations of inappropriate touching made by four girls, along along with suspected child pornography recovered from Lederer's computer, point to "an aggressive and/or sexual intent."


AP Investigation: Child sex crimes in armed forces shielded by opaque military justice system

By RICHARD LARDNER and EILEEN SULLIVAN, 11/18/15, The Republic

WASHINGTON — More inmates are in U.S. military prisons for sex crimes against children than for any other offense, an Associated Press investigation has found, but an opaque justice system prevents the public from knowing the full scope of the crimes or how much time the prisoners spend behind bars.

Of the 1,233 inmates confined in the military's prison network, 61 percent were convicted of sex crimes, according to the latest available data, obtained through the federal open records law. Children were the victims in over half of those cases.


Duluth bishops were warned about sex abuse, documents show

 on Nov 16, 2015 


Long Island Family Sues Catholic Order and Diocese in Molestation Case

NOV. 16, 2015, The NY Times

In 2009, Augusto Cortez, a Roman Catholic priest, pleaded guilty to forcible touching of a 12-year-old girl in Brooklyn. He was sentenced to six years of probation but was allowed to remain a member of his religious order.


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