News Story of the Day
Former RI Catholic priest indicted on child-molestation charges
PROVIDENCE — A grand jury has returned an 11-count indictment against former priest James Silva alleging he sexually assaulted a boy younger than 14 between 1989 and 1990 while an administrator in the Office of Ministerial Formation within the Diocese of Providence.
Silva, now 81, faces two counts of first-degree child molestation and nine counts of second-degree child molestation.
SNAP and leading advocacy organizations, such as Darkness 2 Light, RAINN, Together for Girls, and the Army of Survivors, will recognize November 18th as the international #EndChildSexAbuseDay.
This November we have a great chance to bring the needs, wants, and asks of survivors to the world stage in a big way! SNAP and leading advocacy organizations, such as Darkness 2 Light, RAINN, Together for Girls, and the Army of Survivors, will recognize November 18th as the international #EndChildSexAbuseDay.
More than 50 countries will be joining us as we make noise on social media and in the streets to draw attention to the needs of survivors, the ways we can prevent abuse, and the action that we are demanding our leaders and elected officials take. We need your voice to join the chorus!
On November 18 we, as part of the steering group for the Keep Kids Safe coalition, will release our Federal Blueprint for action (click here to read the blueprint in full). A key part of this blueprint, and something that SNAPpers have demanded for years, is the importance of a federal investigation into institutions that perpetuate abuse and cover-up, like the Catholic Church, Southern Baptist Convention, and others.
Top Catholic predator cleric who lives in St. Louis is in court today
By David Clohessy
10/28/2021
An ex-priest in the St. Louis area, who is the most highly ranked and prominent US Catholic official to ever face criminal charges of child sexual abuse is back in a courtroom today.
Very few St. Louisans know that he and dozens of other predators from all across the US are living here. Sure, he’s old. Sure, the church center that houses him is ‘out in the boondocks.’ But that doesn’t mean he’s ‘cured’ and is now safe, nor that we should care less about the safety of rural kids. And virtually none of those predators in Dittmer - who’ve been deemed too dangerous, by their own church supervisors, to live back in their home dioceses - are known to St. Louis parents, police, prosecutors, or parishioners.
The cleric in court today is Theodore McCarrick, the only US Catholic cardinal, current or former, ever to be charged with child sex crimes. We hope his prosecution happens quickly. We hope that his victims feel some measure of relief and validation that he’s finally facing justice. And we hope that Catholic officials in St. Louis finally begin honoring their pledges to be ’open’ about abuse and disclose the names of the hundreds of out-of-state child molesting clerics who’ve been secretly welcomed into our archdiocese for decades.
https://www.snapnetwork.org/fact_sheet_on_st_louis_area_accused_priests_feb19
https://www.snapnetwork.org/snap_press_releases/2005_press_releases/012505_importing_predators.htm
What if you experience harm instead of healing in the confessional?
SOUTH BEND (IN)
National Catholic Reporter [Kansas City MO]
October 26, 2021
By Flora x. Tang
“I just had the worst confession ever. I confessed a sexual sin, something I haven’t confessed in a long time, and the priest … asked me if I was a toy,” Zuri Davis wrote on Twitter Oct. 17 about her experience of going to confession in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Davis described how the priest, whose name she still does not know, hounded her to ask if she was raped (an inappropriate and invasive question in this setting), and proceeded to tell her to take ownership of her role in the situation.
Liberty University threatened to punish students who reported being raped with conduct violations: report
THE HILL -
BY MYCHAEL SCHNELL - 10/25/21 11:30 AM EDT
Liberty University threatened to punish students who came forward with reports of being raped for violating the school’s code of conduct, according to a new report published Monday by ProPublica.
ProPublica spoke to more than 50 former students and staffers at Liberty University and reviewed records from more than a dozen cases, which accused the school of discouraging and dismissing students who came forward with allegations of rape, reporting that in some cases they said they were threatened with punishment for breaking the school’s moral code, known as the Liberty Way.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE: https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/578278-liberty-university-threatened-to-punish-students-who-reported
Pope releases shocking letter from Church sex abuse victim
The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors publishes a "letter to seminarians" written by a woman who, as a little girl, was sexually abused by a priest
‘The Problem Remains’
Commonweal Magazine
William Casey Post-Conviction Relief Denied By Panel
William Casey’s bid for post-conviction relief in connection with the former Catholic priest’s 2011 conviction on charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of aggravated rape was denied by the Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee at Knoxville.
In a filing Wednesday, the appeals court affirmed the judgment of a post-conviction court denying Casey’s challenges to the convictions for actions committed in 1979 and 1980.
Casey’s bid for a new trial was denied in 2020 by Sullivan County Criminal Court Judge James M. Goodwin. Casey, a Greene County resident, was convicted in 2011 by a Sullivan County Criminal Court jury of the criminal sexual conduct and aggravated rape counts.
Victim of priest child sexual abuse case against David Huneck comes forward
In a statement released Monday, Mariella Warney identified herself as 'victim one' in a sexual assault of a minor case against Father David Huneck.
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WFFT) -- In a statement sent to FOX 55 on Monday, Mariella Warney identified herself as "victim one" in a sexual assault of a minor case against Rev. David Huneck.
Although Warney says she's emotionally devastated, she will no longer remain in the shadows.
David Huneck
This comes after Huneck resigned as chaplain at Bishop Dwenger High School and as a pastor at Saint Paul of the Cross Catholic Church.
Huneck is charged with child seduction, sexual battery and furnishing alcohol to a minor in Whitley County.
Investigators say the 31-year-old offered alcohol to and groped two young women, one 17 and one 19.
Melanie Sakoda with Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, SNAP, says this incident isn’t surprising.
“Although Catholic bishops say clergy sexual abuse is a thing of the past, it really isn’t. It’s really unfortunate that their response is to keep things hidden and secret,” Sakoda said.
Sakoda commended Warney’s bravery in coming forward.
“I think it’s important for victims to come forward if and when they’re ready. Whenever someone does come forward and share their story, they bring comfort to other people, whether or not they’re abused by the same person," she said.
Catholics4Change Launches Global Community
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — October 10, 2021
The founders of Catholics4Change, an online forum dedicated to the prevention of clergy child sex abuse, have launched the Catholics4Change Community. The virtual and global platform allows Catholics, survivors, and advocates to communicate and collaborate virtually.
“We didn’t want the efforts of these amazing people from around the world working to prevent child sex abuse to be limited by chain emails, conference calls and social media,” said co-founder Kathy Kane, a social worker who advocates for policy reform.
“During the pandemic, people have become more comfortable in virtual settings,” says co-founder Susan Matthews, who was an editor at The Catholic Standard and Times in the early 90s under publisher Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua. “We’ve built this private membership community to go way beyond a website, Zoom or online meetup group. It’s a fully-equipped international hub that can be customized by the members.
