Six former wrestlers say Rep. Jim Jordan knew about abusive OSU doctor
By Curt Devine, Drew Griffin and Majlie de Puy Kamp, CNN Investigates Fri March 6, 2020
(CNN)Tito Vazquez says he still remembers the day three decades ago when, as a wrestler at Ohio State University, the doctor he'd gone to see about a bloody nose insisted on examining his genitals. He also recalls how one of his coaches dismissed his immediate complaint.
"'I have nothing to do with this,'" Vazquez quoted the assistant coach saying, as he effectively ended the conversation and went on with wrestling practice.
That coach, Vazquez says, was Jim Jordan, now an Ohio congressman and an influential voice in Republican politics, perhaps best known for his pugnacious defense of President Donald Trump during the recent impeachment proceedings.
Vazquez is one of six former OSU wrestlers who told CNN in recent interviews that they were present when Jordan heard or responded to sexual misconduct complaints about team doctor Richard Strauss. Eight others say Strauss' inappropriate behavior was an open secret in the athletic department and that Jordan, among others, must have known about it.
What Jordan and other coaches knew, and when they knew it, has been under scrutiny since 2018, when OSU announced an investigation into the allegations against Strauss. An independent report commissioned by the university concluded last year that Strauss "sexually abused at least 177 male student-patients" between 1979 and 1998. The doctor died by suicide in 2005.
A number of lawsuits have been filed against OSU over allegations related to Strauss. On Friday, OSU announced that it reached a monetary settlement with Strauss' victims in 11 out of 18 pending cases.
Since the scandal emerged, Jordan has emphatically denied that he knew anything about Strauss' abuse during his own years working at OSU, between 1987 and 1995. "Congressman Jordan never saw any abuse, never heard about any abuse, and never had any abuse reported to him during his time as a coach at Ohio State," his congressional office said in 2018....
The OSU-commissioned report did not reach conclusions regarding each coach's knowledge of Strauss' abuse, but it did note that "numerous" student-athletes said they "talked about Strauss' inappropriate genital exams and complained about Strauss' locker room and shower room voyeurism, directly to—or in front of—OSU coaching staff." The report stated that 22 coaches -- unnamed in the report -- said they were aware of rumors or complaints about Strauss....
Child sex abuse victim says Anglican Church fobbed her off, then offered payout in exchange for silence Exclusive by Josh Robertson 3/10/2020
Anglican Church officials wrongly told a woman who was sexually abused more than 60 years ago they had to hold off resolving her complaint, then offered a payout and an apology if she agreed to a gag clause.
Key points:
Beth Heinrich pressed the Anglican Church in Brisbane for redress after former archbishop Peter Hollingworth stood by the priest who sexually abused her
The diocese said it could not resolve her complaint because it would "prejudice" another church investigation of Dr Hollingworth
Church investigators denied this and the diocese then offered Ms Heinrich a payout and an apology if she kept it confidential
The church's Brisbane diocese has admitted to again failing Beth Heinrich over her 1995 complaint, which culminated in then-governor-general Peter Hollingworth publicly blaming her for a priest sexually exploiting her as a 15-year-old.
Its apology for causing her "additional trauma and distress" through "unacceptable delays" came a day after the ABC questioned its latest missteps in the case, which led to Dr Hollingworth's public downfall but still fuels calls for him to be stripped of millions of dollars of public benefits.
The diocese in January belatedly offered Ms Heinrich up to $30,000 for its mishandling of her complaint, which Dr Hollingworth dismissed repeatedly when he was archbishop of Brisbane.
The offer was a fraction of the $200,000 she sought — a figure she said was increased after independent legal advice and church officials in Melbourne advising that her original request for $50,000 was too little.
The Brisbane diocese also told her in January it was "happy to provide an apology" but this should be kept "confidential" until its Melbourne counterpart ended a separate investigation into whether Dr Hollingworth should be stripped of his Holy Orders.
Its request for secrecy contrasted with Dr Hollingworth's widely publicised 2002 comments on ABC TV's Australian Story program that it was "not sex abuse" by priest, and later bishop, Donald Shearman, but "rather the other way round"....
In 2001, Ms Heinrich saw Mr Shearman conducting Easter Mass on TV and asked Dr Hollingworth to strip Mr Shearman of his permission to officiate.
Dr Hollingworth refused, telling her Mr Shearman was "now well into his 70s [and] has sought to resolve the matter with you and exercised contrition in a Christian spirit".
"I am sorry that you cannot accept the efforts that he and we have made which does allow for a new start with a penitent heart," Dr Hollingworth said.
Ms Heinrich said after the failed mediation, Dr Hollingworth breached diocese protocol by refusing to give her a hearing before its sex abuse complaints committee.
She said a staffer for Dr Hollingworth gave repeated excuses for not providing a copy of the protocol, including that Brisbane weather made people "lethargic".
A 2003 Anglican board of inquiry was split on Dr Hollingworth's support of Mr Shearman.
The chairman found it "reasonable" and another member said he failed to show "proper moral leadership".
But the inquiry found it was "inappropriate and unfair" of Dr Hollingworth to repeatedly suggest Ms Heinrich was "acting unreasonably in not treating the matter at an end".
The inquiry condemned Dr Hollingworth for allowing another confessed child sex predator to remain a priest and he quit as governor-general.
In 2004, Mr Shearman was defrocked.
Pastor and wife jailed after he raped children in bogus religious ceremony over 20 years
Will Taylor ·News Reporter March 6, 2020
A “feared” pastor who raped children in a bogus religious ceremony over a 20-year period has been jailed.
Self-styled prophet Michael Oluronbi was found guilty in January of offences against six women and a man. Five of those attended his church.
He carried out his attacks by convincing his victims to take part in a “spiritual bathing” ritual, which he told them would “cleanse” them of evil spirits.
Judge Sarah Buckingham, sentencing him to 34 years behind bars, said his case was “one of the worst cases of sexual abuse of multiple children to come before the courts” and described him as an “arrogant, selfish and vain man”.
She said the “spiritual baths” were actually designed to “fulfil (his) insatiable sexual appetite”....
Oluronbi, who had blamed the devil for his actions, was convicted of 15 counts of rape, seven counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault, at Birmingham Crown Court.
Oluronbi’s wife Juliana was also convicted of three counts of aiding and abetting rape and helping arrange some of the abortions of his victims, with some becoming pregnant multiple times. She was jailed for 11 years.
As a pharmacist, he would take them to clinics to end the pregnancies.
During the trial, the jury was told how Oluronbi was linked to a Christian church in Birmingham, where he formed a splinter group for about 40 adults and children, separate to the church and in another location.
In that group, he had the victims take part in “spiritual bathing”....
How Father Flanagan spoke out about Irish abuse of children in 1946
Niall O'Dowd Feb 28, 2020
In his new book, A New Ireland, Niall O’Dowd traces the first-ever revelation about the savage treatment of children by church and state in Ireland during the 1940s.
How Boystown’s Father Flanagan Was First to Expose Ireland’s Dirty Secrets
“He talked about the Irish institutions as being like concentration camps for children.”
-Tom Lynch, Boys Town Archivist, on Father Flanagan’s view of Irish industrial schools and orphanages.
Those looking for the seeds of what later became the near destruction of the Irish church over child mistreatment and abuse would have found it in the clarion voice of Monsignor Edward Joseph Flanagan—the founder of Boys Town, made famous by the Spencer Tracy movie of the same name, visited Ireland on a specific mission in 1946.
The Irish-born Flanagan, though an international figure and beloved by all for his amazing work, found himself a forlorn voice when he traveled to Ireland to inspect their facilities for treating orphans and needy children.
Flanagan’s connection to Ireland was deep, and he knew what he spoke about. He was born on July 13, 1886, in the townland of Leabeg, County Roscommon, to John, a herdsman, and Honoria Flanagan. In 1904, he immigrated to the United States, entered the priesthood and, in 1917, created Boys Town in Omaha, Nebraska....
But Flanagan was plunged into despair about what he found in Ireland, especially the Victorian orphanages and reform schools where young offenders were sent. He found them “a scandal, un-Christ-like, and wrong.”
He spoke to a large audience at a public lecture in Cork’s Savoy Cinema and said, “You are the people who permit your children and the children of your communities to go into these institutions of punishment. You can do something about it.”
He called Ireland’s penal institutions “a disgrace to the nation,” and later said, “I do not believe that a child can be reformed by lock and key and bars, or that fear can ever develop a child’s character.” He even attacked the Christian Brothers—the teaching order founded in Ireland to educate the masses and revered as an institution.
Tom Lynch, Boys Town archivist, told the late Mary Raftery, a journalist, who herself did incredible, groundbreaking work on church scandals:
“It was very well known that he was shocked by what he discovered in Ireland.
He talked about the Irish institutions as being like concentration camps for children.”
As Raftery subsequently wrote in the Irish Times in 2004, “[Flanagan] had a profound sense of outrage at how children were treated within these institutions.”
His own words, written in 1947, sum Flanagan’s thoughts on Ireland:
… [U]njust incarceration, unequal distribution of physical punishment both inside and outside the prisons and jails, and the institutionalization of little children, housed in great big factory-like places, where individuality has been and is being, snuffed out with no development of the personality of the individual, and where little children become a great army of child slavery in the workshops, making money for the institutions which give to them a little food, a little clothing, very little recreation, and a doubtful education."....
Survivorship Ritual Abuse and Mind Control announces the speakers at the May 2020 Conference - Dr. Karol Darsa, Neil Brick, Cristina Mardirossian, LMFT and Dr. Randy Noblitt and Pamela Perskin Noblitt - Special Prices Until March 20, 2020
The conference location is Reconnect Integrative Trauma Treatment Center in Pacific Palisades, California. This conference provides attendees opportunities to learn about severe abuse research and resources.
Conference Speakers will include:
Dr. Randy Noblitt and Pamela Perskin Noblitt will speak about Extreme Abuse Survivors, Social Security Benefits, and Ethical Practice - They will discuss how many trauma survivors have debilitating psychological and physical symptoms that prevent them from maintaining gainful employment. This workshop provides an introduction to SSA requirements for healthcare providers and survivors. Pamela Perskin Noblitt is a non-attorney claimants representative for individuals applying for SSDI and SSI benefits. Randy Noblitt is a clinical psychologist and professor of clinical psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) at Alliant International University, Los Angeles. https://ritualabuse.us/smart/randy-noblitt/
Cristina Mardirossian, LMFT will discuss Identifying the Personality Systems of Mind Control Survivors and Trauma Treatment - She will explain how therapists are increasingly starting to see that many of their clients have histories of complex and chronic abuse. Cristina Mardirossian is the owner and director of Pasadena Trauma Therapy, Inc. Cristina is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Pasadena, CA.
Neil Brick will speak about Misinformation Campaigns Against Survivors. He will discuss how child and ritual abuse survivors and their advocates have been attacked by misinformation campaigns the last several years. Neil Brick is a survivor of ritual abuse and mind control. His child and ritual abuse newsletter S.M.A.R.T. https://ritualabuse.us has been published for over 24 years. http://neilbrick.com
Dr. Karol Darsa will speak about the 5 Common Mistakes in Trauma Treatment - She will discuss how trauma treatment is becoming one of the top areas to specialize in and how it is important to have proper training to work with unprocessed trauma to achieve good outcomes for clients. Dr. Karol Darsa, licensed psychologist and founder and executive director of Reconnect Integrative Trauma Treatment Center. She has about 20 years of clinical and administrative experience in trauma and mental health disorders.
Research information:
