June 18, 2018
BY JON O'CONNELL, The Times Tribune, June 18, 2018
Bishop Joseph C. Bambera apologized Sunday to victims ahead of a grand jury report expected to detail child sexual abuse by Catholic priests and attempts to conceal it.
In a written message published in church bulletins, the bishop offered his “deepest apologies to the victims of such abuse, to their families, to the faithful of our Church and to everyone impacted by the behaviors described in this report.”
Diocesan officials provided the insert to all of its parishes to keep members informed of the impending release, spokesman Dan Gallagher said in an email.
June 17, 2018
UNE 14, 2018
The Lafayette Diocese priest accused of sexually abusing a teenager turned himself in Wednesday to the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office, 10 days after the diocese publicly disclosed the allegation.
Michael Guidry, 75, confessed to assaulting the victim, who was 16 at the time, after serving the boy alcohol, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The abuse occurred at Guidry’s home in Morrow, authorities said.
June 16, 2018
By Rock Ronald Rozario and Stephan Uttom, Dhaka, Bangladesh, June 15, 2018, UCA News
Despite the Vatican judging allegations against William Christensen to be credible in 2010, he is still working with children
An American priest who was dismissed from the clergy by the Vatican after being accused of sexually abusing as many as 30 teenagers in Bangladesh is still in the country.
William Andrew Christensen, a priest in the Society of Mary, or Marianists, was removed from the priesthood in October 2010 after the Vatican judged allegations against him to be credible.
June 15, 2018
Meaghan M. McDermott, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, June 14, 2018
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian announced on June 6 that 15 men and two women have alleged they were sexually abused as children by eight priests assigned to parishes in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester between 1950 and 1978.
Three of the accused priests have been publically identified in the past: Eugene Emo, David P. Simon and Francis H. Vogt. Emo and Simon were removed from their ministry and Vogt has since died.
June 14, 2018
By Ivey DeJesus, June 14, 2018, PennLive
A little over 15 years ago, right after The Boston Globe published a bombshell investigation exposing decades of widespread sexual abuse of children at the hands of hundreds of priests in the Archdiocese of Boston, Lynne Abraham hit upon the notion that if it was happening there it was surely happening in her hometown.
Then Philadelphia's district attorney, Abraham launched what would become a legal benchmark in state history: She organized an investigation into child sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It would be the longest-running investigation into clergy sex abuse and put Pennsylvania on the map of jurisdictions that most aggressively have gone after child sex predators.
June 13, 2018
BY JACK EBLE, JUNE 12, 2018, FOX43 News
HARRISBURG, P.A. --- Survivors of childhood sexual abuse and advocated rallied Tuesday, pushing for reforms of the commonwealth statute of limitation rules.
Currently in Pennsylvania, someone who was sexually abused before their eighteenth birthday has until they're 30-years old to file a civil suit.
The age limit for a person to bring forward a criminal case is 50-years old.
House Bill 612 proposes to eliminate the criminal statute of limitations while providing a two-year window of opportunity for anyone seeking a civil lawsuit after exceeding the age limit, with the burden of proof going on the accuser.
June 11, 2018
By CLAUDIA LAUER, Associated Press, June 10, 2018
PHILADELPHIA — The results of a lengthy probe into the handling of sexual abuse claims by Roman Catholic dioceses throughout Pennsylvania, which victim advocates say will be the biggest and most exhaustive ever by a U.S. state, could be made public within weeks.
A statewide grand jury spent nearly two years looking into the abuse scandal, and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro has said he plans to address the panel's findings by the end of June.
June 10, 2018
By Lucy Scholey, June 8, 2018, APTN National News
A former St. Anne’s Indian Residential School student says she has lost faith in Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett after learning the federal government is seeking thousands of dollars in legal fees from a lawyer representing the survivors.
Angela Shisheesh, who attended the Fort Albany, Ont. school infamous for using a homemade electric chair as punishment and entertainment, said she thinks the federal government is warning other lawyers to back down from defending Indigenous people in court.
“I don’t trust anybody anymore,” Shisheesh says.
June 08, 2018
By AFP/The Local, June 8, 2018
Child abuse victims and human rights activists from 15 countries, including Switzerland, have launched a new pressure group to campaign against abuse by Catholic clerics.
"The church has got away with crime for too long," said Peter Saunders, a British survivor of abuse, announcing the creation of the Ending Clerical Abuse (ECA) group at a media conference in Geneva on Thursday.
"ECA stands to compel the Roman Catholic church to end clerical abuse, especially child abuse, in order to protect children and to seek justice for victims," added Saunders, a former member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
June 07, 2018
By Howard Thompson, June 6, 2018, RochesterFirst.com
ROCHESTER, NY (WROC) - An attorney claims eight Diocese of Rochester priest are responsible for sexual abuse against children.
Of the eight priests, accusations against three of them were already public knowledge: Father Eugene Emo, Father David P. Simon, and Father Francis H. Vogt.
During a Wednesday news conference, attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who says he is representing victims in the case, named the other five priests who face accusations of sexual abuse. He says 17 victims have come forward.