Italy's bishops pass Vatican-backed rule that child molestation does not have to be reported, Harris pleads not guilty to 2011 murder charge (practiced voodoo), Children of serial killer Robert Pickton’s victims will split $4.9M in compensation fund

- Italy's bishops pass Vatican-backed rule that child molestation does not have to be reported
- Harris pleads not guilty to 2011 murder charge
Harris trial in late June could take a week and a half (practiced voodoo)
- Children of serial killer Robert Pickton’s victims will split $4.9M in compensation fund


Italy's bishops pass Vatican-backed rule that child molestation does not have to be reported
Kashmira Gander Friday 28 March 2014

Italy's bishops have adopted a policy, with backing from the Vatican, that states they are not obliged to inform police officers if they suspect a child has been molested.

The Italian Bishops' Conference said the guidelines published on Friday reflected suggestions from the Vatican's office that handles sex abuse investigations.

Victims have denounced how bishops systematically covered up abuse by moving priests while keeping prosecutors in the dark.

Only in 2010 did the Vatican instruct bishops to report abuse to police — but only where required by law.

Italian guidelines cite a 1985 treaty between the Vatican and Italy stipulating that clergy aren't obliged to tell magistrates about information obtained through their religious ministry. The guidelines remind bishops, however, they have a ''moral duty“ to contribute to the common good....
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/italys-bishops-pass-vaticanbacked-rule-stating-they-do-not-have-to-report-if-a-priest-has-molested-a-child-9222501.html 

Harris pleads not guilty to 2011 murder charge
Harris trial in late June could take a week and a half
March 31, 2014

By Steve Fry

LYNDON — A defendant charged with using a garrote to kill an older man in 2011 pleaded not guilty to the murder charge Monday in Osage County District Court.

The trial of James Paul Harris, 29, will start June 23, and is expected to require 11/2 weeks....

A part of the victim’s skull was discovered March 24, 2012, at a house in rural Carbondale in Osage County. Shirley Johnson, who lives with Jeff Harris, the defendant’s father, testified she was searching for mushrooms when she found a “ball” — the top of Gerety’s skull — and took it inside to show Jeff Harris. He called police. Another witness, Topeka police Detective Brian Hill, testified Bobbie Williams, Harris’ girlfriend, told him during questioning that Harris kept the victim’s head nearby so he could talk to it. Harris was into voodoo and practiced it, Hill said Williams told him.
http://cjonline.com/news/2014-03-31/harris-pleads-not-guilty-2011-murder-charge

Children of serial killer Robert Pickton’s victims will split $4.9M in compensation fund
THE CANADIAN PRESS March 18, 2014
VANCOUVER — A man whose mother was the last to be reported missing in connection with serial killer Robert Pickton says $4.9 million in government compensation for the 98 children of women who disappeared provides some recognition for decades of pain.

"It's been a long battle to get this far," Troy Boen, 28, said Tuesday after the federal, B.C. and Vancouver governments announced the fund that will provide $50,000 for each of the children of 67 missing and murdered women, mostly Pickton's victims.

Boen's mother, Yvonne Marie Boen, went missing on March 16, 2001, soon after they'd planned to spend spring break together. He called her back repeatedly, but there was no answer.

A 2012 report from a public inquiry that outlined years of police failures made 63 recommendations, including compensating the offspring of the women who'd disappeared up to 2002, when Pickton was arrested.

Boen's DNA was later found on Pickton's pig farm in Port Coquitlam, where the killer lured vulnerable women from Vancouver's impoverished Downtown Eastside....
http://www.theprovince.com/news/Children+serial+killer+Robert+Pickton+victims+will+split/9631594/story.html