Archdiocese of Los Angeles agrees to pay $880 million to victims of clergy sexual abuse

 

Archdiocese of Los Angeles agrees to pay $880 million to victims of clergy sexual abuse October 16, 2024

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $880 million to victims of clergy sexual abuse dating back decades, in what an attorney said was the largest single child sex abuse settlement with a Catholic archdiocese, it was announced Wednesday.

After the announcement of the agreement in principle, Archbishop José H. Gomez said in a statement, “I am sorry for every one of these incidents, from the bottom of my heart.”
“My hope is that this settlement will provide some measure of healing for what these men and women have suffered,” the archbishop added. “I believe that we have come to a resolution of these claims that will provide just compensation to the survivor-victims of these past abuses.”

Attorneys for 1,353 people who allege that they suffered horrific abuse at the hands of local Catholic priests reached the settlement after months of negotiations with the archdiocese, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The agreement caps a quarter-century of litigation against the most populous archdiocese in the United States. The archdiocese has previously paid $740 million to victims in various settlements and had pledged to better protect its church members, so this settlement would put the total payout at more than $1.5 billion, the Times said.

Attorney Morgan Stewart, who led the negotiations, said in a statement that the settlement is the largest single child sex abuse settlement with a Catholic archdiocese....

https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-archdiocese-clergy-sexual-abuse-bf23e8967410017c036f765bb83910f6 

Convicted abuser Larry Nassar stabbed in prison, Sue FBI $1 billion over Nassar investigation, Clergy sexual abuse crisis at forty with 100 bishops out of office

 

- Convicted abuser and ex-gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar stabbed in prison

- Simone Biles and others to sue FBI for $1bn over Larry Nassar investigation

- The clergy sexual abuse crisis at forty with 100 bishops out of office

 

Convicted abuser and ex-gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar stabbed in prison – report by Edwin Rios July 10, 2023

Larry Nassar, the former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor who was convicted of decades of abuse of women and girls under the guise of medical treatment, was reportedly stabbed at a federal prison in Florida on Sunday....

In 2018, in an end to the biggest sexual abuse scandals in US sports history, hundreds of women and girls gave victim impact statements against Nassar, detailing allegations of abuse as far back as the 1990s.

Several athletes, including the Olympians Jordyn Wieber, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney, testified that they relayed allegations to coaches, trainers and others which were not reported to authorities.

More than 100 women, including the Olympian Simone Biles, sued the US government for more than $1bn over the FBI’s failure to take action after learning of allegations against Nassar in 2015. That inaction allowed Nassar to continue to abuse women and girls for more than a year before he pleaded guilty in 2017.

Michigan State University, whose president, Lou Anna Simon, and athletic director, Mark Hollis, resigned amid fallout from the scandal, agreed a $500m settlement with more than 300 women and girls, a sum far larger than the $60m Penn State University paid to victims of the former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

MSU had been accused of ignoring and failing to act to stop Nassar during his decades of abuse.
USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee agreed a $380m settlement with more than 500 women and girls.
In 2018, a judge in Michigan sentenced Nassar to more than 175 years in prison..... https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/convicted-abuser-and-ex-gymnastics-doctor-larry-nassar-stabbed-in-prison-report/ar-AA1dFU1a

 

Simone Biles and others to sue FBI for $1bn over Larry Nassar investigation
Published 8 June 2022 By Holly Honderich BBC News, Washington

Women who say they were sexually assaulted by a disgraced US national gymnastics team doctor plan to sue the FBI for $1bn (£800m).
Claimants say the FBI mishandled credible complaints of sexual assaults by Larry Nassar.
They include Olympic gymnastics gold medallists Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney.

Nassar is serving up to 175 years in prison for molesting gymnasts.
The agency's own watchdog found the FBI disregarded allegations about Nassar and made early errors in its investigation.

Last year, a long-awaited report from the US justice department's Office of the Inspector General gave a scathing assessment of the federal agency's investigation into Nassar.

Various missteps and cover-ups by FBI agents allowed Nassar's abuse to continue for more than a year after the case was first opened in 2015, the report found.

The majority of claimants in these suits say Nassar assaulted them after his abuse was reported to the FBI in 2015. Most were athletes with the USA Gymnastics programme or with Michigan State University, where Nassar maintained a clinic. The FBI field office Nassar's abuse was reported to took limited action and did not document any investigation or alert other authorities.

"My fellow survivors and I were betrayed by every institution that was supposed to protect us - the US Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics, the FBI and now the Department of Justice," McKayla Maroney, an Olympic gold medallist, said in a statement.
"It is clear that the only path to justice and healing is through the legal process."
Two weeks ago, the US Justice Department decided not to prosecute the two FBI agents accused of mishandling the investigation. The plaintiffs are seeking different amounts in damages but their total claims are expected to exceed $1bn.

The Collective Administrative Claims are being filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows people who have been harmed by negligent or wrongful actions of the federal government to seek compensation.
Under federal law, the FBI has six months to respond to the claims. Lawsuits may follow, depending on the FBI's response. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61735319

The clergy sexual abuse crisis at forty with 100 bishops out of office

 

Gilbert Gauthe’s case, back in July 1983, marks the beginning of the sexual abuse crisis; we reach its 40th anniversary with no end on sight
English Edition Rodolfo Soriano-Núñez Sábado, 01 Julio, 2023

On the 40th anniversary of the sexual abuse crisis, Bishop Richard Stika of Knoxville, Tennessee, is the 100th bishop forced to resign.

Religion and public life: Jason Berry and Richard Sipe provided two key elements to understan the clergy sexual abuse crisis an accountability-centered-narrative and the so-called scarlet bond.

Sometime in July of 1983, then priest Gilbert Gauthe was relieved from his duties at the St. John parish in the Lafayette diocese in Louisiana. His dismissal, accurately depicted by Jason Berry in a series of stories published in 1985 started what we now see as the 40-year long crisis of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

For the last four decades a deluge of news about sexual predator priests has been inundating news outlets all over the world. In all its misery, the crisis has helped make the global public opinion aware of the crisis in the Catholic Church, in other religious organizations, and in many other institutions and settings....

If Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward proved how “the most powerful man in the world” could be forced out of office by the media, Jason Berry and his colleagues in news outlets all over the world have played a role in forcing out of office at least 100 Catholic bishops and countless priests, because of their role in the sexual abuse crisis.

Thanks to Berry and those who followed him, like the journalists at The Boston Globe’s Spotlight team, a narrative on the need to make clergy accountable of their behavior took hold.
Https://losangelespress.org/noticias/the-clergy-sexual-abuse-crisis-at-forty-with-100-bishops-out-of-office-20230629-5731.html 

Two Satan worshiping middle school girls plotted to kill fellow students, Dozens of clergy sex abuse victims waiting on answers about compensation

 

-  Two Satan worshiping middle school girls plotted to kill fellow students and drink their blood

-  Dozens of clergy sex abuse victims waiting on answers about compensation

Two Satan worshiping middle school girls plotted to kill fellow students and drink their blood

New York Daily News Brian Niemietz Oct 24th 2018

 

Two satanic knife-wielding school girls were arrested in central Florida, where cops say they were hiding in a bathroom waiting for smaller students to walk in so they could kill them and “leave body parts at the entrance” before taking their own lives. The goal was to murder 15 classmates.

 

Bartow Police Department thwarted the bizarre plot after a middle school resource office caught wind of the girls’ intentions, according to CBS.

A teachers at Bartow Middle School reportedly heard on Monday that one of the girls, an 11-year-old, had warned another student to avoid a certain area of the campus when she came to class Tuesday....

 

According to police, that’s when the girls confessed to the plan. Both were said to have been armed with cutlery including a butcher’s knife and a pizza cutter. They “were planning in attacking and killing as many students as possible.”

Hall said the girls wanted to kill “at least” 15 people.

 

“Both students stated they are practicing satanists,” Hall said. He added, “They made comments they were willing to drink blood and possibly eat flesh.”....

The girls’ cell phones corroborated the plan.

 

“Today is health lessons. Thank Satan we are doing this in a bit,” one girl texted the other.

 

The girls are charged with conspiracy to commit murder, weapon possession and disruption of a school function....

 

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2018/10/24/two-satan-worshiping-middle-school-girls-plotted-to-kill-fellow-students-and-drink-their-blood/23570847/

 

Dozens of clergy sex abuse victims waiting on answers about compensation
Jenn Schanz Oct 24, 2018

 

News 4 has learned that at least 54 local clergy sex abuse victims are still waiting on a substantive response from the Buffalo Diocese regarding their claims for compensation through the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, or IRCP.

 

The program was announced several months ago, after the Buffalo Diocese released the names of 42 priests accused of child sexual abuse.

 

The list was published after a South Buffalo man, Michael Whalen, went public with his story of alleged abuse as a child at the hands of Fr. Norbert F. Orsolits.

Since then, several other victims have come forward and News 4 has reported on at least a dozen additional priests being put on administrative leave following accusations of abuse.

 

The Diocese has said a new, updated list will be released in the near future, but has not said when exactly it will be released, or how many names will be on it....

 

We were referred back to the Diocese's website on the program. We asked the Diocese how many victims they have responded to; we are still waiting on a response.

 

"They have in all likelihood, hundreds of survivors who are waiting and have been waiting for months and months since the deadline to even know if they're eligible for the program. And that's something that's really hard when this is an institution that already failed them," Reck told News 4....

 

https://www.wivb.com/news/local-news/dozens-of-clergy-sex-abuse-victims-waiting-on-answers-about-compensation/1546925553

 

 

Boy died in religious ritual, Over 1,000 victims of priest abuse - more than 300 clergy, Ritual Abuse Conference, Ritual Abuse YouTube videos

 

Boy found at New Mexico compound died in religious ritual, officials say
Monday, August 13th 2018

AMALIA, N.M. — New details emerged Monday about the fate of one of the children found at a New Mexico desert compound raided by police 10 days ago. It came at a court hearing for five adults arrested on charges of abusing 11 other children at the compound.

 

At the bond hearing for Siraj Ibn Wahhaj and four others, prosecutors presented a disturbing update about his son, 3-year-old Abdul Ghani, whose body was found buried on an apocalyptic-looking compound authorities raided last week. Other children found there told investigators the boy died during a religious ritual.

 

"Some of the children have stated these rituals were intended to cast out demonic spirits from Abdul Ghani's body. All five defendants knew about these rituals,'" said Taos County Prosecutor John Lovelace....
http://www.ktva.com/story/38876582/boy-found-at-new-mexico-compound-died-in-religious-ritual-officials-say

 

Grand jury report identifies over 1,000 victims of priest abuse
Tuesday, August 14th 2018

 

HARRISBURG, Pa. — More than 1,000 children — and possibly many more — were molested by hundreds of Roman Catholic priests in six Pennsylvania dioceses, while senior church officials took steps to cover it up, according to a landmark grand jury report released Tuesday.

 

The grand jury said it believes the "real number" of abused children might be "in the thousands" since some records were lost and victims were afraid to come forward. The report said more than 300 clergy committed the abuse over a period of decades.

 

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said the two-year probe found a systematic cover-up by senior church officials in Pennsylvania and at the Vatican.

 

"The cover-up was sophisticated. And all the while, shockingly, church leadership kept records of the abuse and the cover-up. These documents, from the dioceses' own 'Secret Archives,' formed the backbone of this investigation," he said at a news conference in Harrisburg.

 

Significantly, the report faulted Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the former longtime bishop of Pittsburgh who now leads the Washington archdiocese, for what it said was his part in the concealment of clergy sexual abuse. Wuerl defended himself, releasing a statement Tuesday that said he had "acted with diligence, with concern for the victims and to prevent future acts of abuse."....

 

The report cites 99 priests in Pittsburgh's diocese alone, and of those 99 a group of four groomed and violently sexually assaulted young boys, Shapiro said....

 

Because of an ongoing legal battle, more than a dozen names and identifying information have been redacted. But the report shows a consistent pattern of bishops having prior knowledge of the actions of predatory priests, reassigning them and not alerting law enforcement....
http://www.ktva.com/story/38885579/grand-jury-report-identifies-over-1000-victims-of-priest-abuse

East Coast Child and Ritual Abuse Conference is this weekend

 

On August 18 - 19, 2018 SMART’s 2018 Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference will be occurring at the DoubleTree Hotel in Windsor Locks, CT. This conference will give attendees an opportunity to learn about severe child abuse issues. These issues include human trafficking, cult abuse and ritual abuse occurrences. The presentees come from a wide variety of educational backgrounds and trainings. Reduced prices are available for low income attendees.

Speakers Include:
• Dr. Randall Noblitt
• Neil Brick
• Jillian Jackson
• Manjot Singh Khalsa
• Mike Skinner – Musician
http://ritualabuse.us/smart-conference/ 
https://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=227335 

 

You tube videos about ritual abuse:

 

Proof Satanic Ritual Abuse and Ritual Abuse Exists by Neil Brick
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knSAmGobbD8 

 

Neil Brick - Survivorship Conference 2017 - How to Avoid Being Mind Controlled at a Conference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGoaYw3pEZs  

 

Survivorship You Tube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjWmq050zbA3HaytUTJmesw 

 

Neil Brick - Survivorship Conference 2017 - Freedom from Mind Control
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxBO2HU4R_M

 

Pennsylvania Catholic diocese covered up decades worth of child abuse, grand jury says, Pell blames bishop for Australia child abuse cover-up

has graphic descriptions of abuse

Pennsylvania Catholic diocese covered up decades worth of child abuse, grand jury says
A new grand jury report claims two Roman Catholic bishops in a central Pennsylvania diocese helped cover up the sexual abuse of hundreds of children by over 50 priests or religious leaders over a 40-year period.
by Steve Esack and Laurie Mason Schroeder 
March 1, 2016

From Boston to Philadelphia to the United Nations, the Catholic Church has been accused of covering up and protecting priests and other religious leaders who sexually abused children.

Now add a slice of western Pennsylvania to the list.

A grand jury report released Tuesday accuses two bishops who ran the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown of allowing at least 50 priests and other religious leaders to sexually abuse hundreds of children for decades.

“These predators desecrated a sacred trust and preyed upon their victims … where they should have felt most safe,” state Attorney General Kathleen Kane said.

The report says the late Bishop James Hogan and former Bishop Joseph Adamec kept filing cabinets with 115,042 secret documents detailing victims’ abuse claims. It tells how church officials ordered priests to undergo treatment while transferring them to other parishes, or intervened when local and state police made inquiries starting in the mid-1960s.

The report also outlines a diocesan “payout chart” of $10,000 for victims fondled over their clothes, and up to $175,000 for victims of forced sodomy or intercourse.

The grand jury report uses those documents to explain in extraordinary detail how one priest “hypnotized” children by rubbing his genitals on their feet, another priest choked boys if they refused his advances at his cabin in the woods, and another priest plied a child with alcohol and then raped him until he bled....

After his own 2002 investigation, Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli was critical of the way the church handled abuse claims before Cullen was installed as bishop in 1998.

Before that, he said, the diocese was focused more on the priest than on the alleged victims.

“Even when priests admitted sexual abuse with minors, they were often sent to treatment centers and continued to function as priests,” Morganelli said in a 2002 report. “A number of the priests had multiple incidents involving more than one victim.”

Like Martin, Morganelli found no basis for criminal charges against church officials who oversaw priests. Also like Martin, he noted the diocese has created a policy requiring the immediate review of allegations against priests and the instant removal of those priests if the allegations are deemed credible....

Every Catholic community — including the Allentown Diocese — has its hidden information.

Such secrets go back centuries to the mid-1600s or early 1700s, when the Vatican created Canon Law 489. It is a legal mechanism that allows Catholic religious orders to keep from public view a trove of documents, including personnel and financial files, that only the local bishop and his trusted few could access, according to testimony from sex-abuse prosecutions and lawsuits that rocked the Los Angeles Archdiocese in 2013.

In 2014, the United Nations accused the Vatican of “systematically” protecting predator priests from being brought to justice for the sexual “torture” of tens of thousands of children around the globe.

In 2012, some of the Philadelphia Archdiocese’s secrets came to light when a 1994 memo was uncovered that showed the archdiocese’s top clergy — including Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and Bishop Edward Cullen, who later headed the Allentown Diocese — ordered the shredding of a list of 35 priests suspected of sexually abusing children....
http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-pa-catholic-priest-abuse-johnstown-altoona-20160301-story.html 

Pell blames bishop for Australia child abuse cover-up
1 March 2016

Cardinal George Pell says he was deceived by a senior clergyman over the activities of a paedophile priest.

Australia's most senior Catholic is presenting evidence from Rome via video link over several days to an Australian Royal Commission into child sex abuse.

On Tuesday Cardinal Pell was questioned about paedophile Gerald Ridsdale, a priest who was repeatedly moved between parishes in the 1970s and 80s.

He accepted no responsibility for the failure to report Ridsdale's abuse....

Cardinal Pell repeatedly criticised Ronald Mulkearns, who was bishop of Ballarat between 1971 and 1997, for withholding information about Ridsdale.

Cardinal Pell was one of the consultors who gave advice to Bishop Mulkearns from 1977 to 1984.

Particular attention was paid to a meeting of the consultors that Cardinal Pell attended in 1982, where a decision was taken to move Ridsdale for a sixth time.

Counsel assisting the commissioner, Gail Furness, said it was "implausible" that Cardinal Pell and other priests at the meeting did not know the reason for Ridsdale's relocation.

Cardinal Pell responded: "That is complete nonsense."....

He said that responsibility for Ridsdale's relocation lay "overwhelmingly with the bishop", who used "gentle and euphemistic language" to disguise the truth of Risdale's actions.

"I can't nominate another bishop whose actions are so grave and inexplicable … His repeated refusal to act is, I think, absolutely extraordinary," Cardinal Pell said.

The cardinal provoked gasps from survivors earlier in testimony when he said the news of Ridsdale's abuse was "a sad story and it wasn't of much interest to me".

"The suffering, of course, was real and I very much regret that but I had no reason to turn my mind to the extent of the evils that Ridsdale had perpetrated," he said....

Cardinal Pell, who is not accused of sexual abuse, denied knowing about paedophile priests who were active in the Ballarat diocese during his time there as a priest in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse is holding its second round of inquiries into child sex abuse that occurred in the city of Ballarat in Victoria state.

Cardinal Pell was a priest in Ballarat and lived in a seminary with a notorious paedophile priest, Gerald Ridsdale, in the early 1970s.

Ridsdale committed more than 130 offences against young boys while working as a chaplain at Ballarat's St Alipius school between the 1960s and the 1980s....
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-35692810 

Catholic bishops not obliged to report clerical child abuse, Vatican says, Beyond clergy: Ex-Boy Scouts tap Minn. law to press sex abuse claims

Catholic bishops not obliged to report clerical child abuse, Vatican says
Vatican guide says ‘not necessarily’ bishop’s duty to report suspects to police despite Pope Francis’s vows to redress Catholic church’s legacy of child abuse

Cardinal Bernard Law, who was forced to resign over sexual abuse scandals in his Boston archdiocese, where 150 priests were accused of molesting children.

Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome
Wednesday 10 February 2016 

The Catholic church is telling newly appointed bishops that it is “not necessarily” their duty to report accusations of clerical child abuse and that only victims or their families should make the decision to report abuse to police.

A document that spells out how senior clergy members ought to deal with allegations of abuse, which was recently released by the Vatican, emphasised that, though they must be aware of local laws, bishops’ only duty was to address such allegations internally.

According to the state of civil laws of each country where reporting is obligatory, it is not necessarily the duty of the bishop to report suspects to authorities, the police or state prosecutors in the moment when they are made aware of crimes or sinful deeds, the training document states.

The training guidelines were written by a controversial French monsignor and psychotherapist, Tony Anatrella, who serves as a consultant to the Pontifical Council for the Family. The Vatican released the guidelines – which are part of a broader training programme for newly named bishops at a press conference earlier this month and is now seeking feedback.

Details of the Catholic church’s policy were first reported in a column by a veteran Vatican journalist, John Allen, associate editor of the Catholic news site, Cruxnow.com.

Allen noted that a special commission created by Pope Francis, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, had appeared to play no role in the training programme, even though it is supposed to be developing “best practices” to prevent and deal with clerical abuse.

Indeed, a church official familiar with the commission on abuse said it was the committee’s position that reporting abuse to civil authorities was a “moral obligation, whether the civil law requires it or not”. The official said the committee would be involved in future training efforts....
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/10/catholic-bishops-not-obliged-report-clerical-child-abuse-vatican-says


Beyond clergy: Ex-Boy Scouts tap Minn. law to press sex abuse claims
Todd Melby Feb 10, 2016
Jim McDonough is suing the Boy Scouts of America and its North Star Council claiming he was sexually abused by his scoutmaster....

Many stories like McDonough's have come to light in the nearly three years since the Legislature passed the Minnesota Child Victims Act. Most have been focused on the hundreds of claims made against priests accused of sexually abusing children.

But the law, which extends the statute of limitations for older abuse claims, wasn't written to respond exclusively to clergy abuse. And the Catholic Church hasn't been the only target of lawsuits aimed at shedding light on a hidden past. Boy Scout organizations are also grappling with accusations of child molestation.

McDonough decided to use the law to sue the Boy Scouts of America and one of its local affiliates, the Northern Star Council. At least 16 lawsuits are pending in Minnesota against the Boy Scouts, including McDonough's civil action. Most target the Northern Star Council. Three other lawsuits list another council as a defendant. At least 12 additional suits are expected to be filed before the law's May 25 deadline....

McDonough's suit seeks at least $50,000 from the Scouts. The Northern Star Council, which represent troops in 21 Minnesota counties and four counties in western Wisconsin, declined to talk about abuse suits filed by McDonough and others....

One of McDonough's lawyers, Peter Janci, won a $19.9 million verdict against the Boy Scouts in 2010 in Portland, Ore. Janci says that when it comes to sexual abuse against children, the Boy Scouts have some things in common with the Roman Catholic Church.

"They both involve organizations that really believe in their mission. At times, that has led to them to make decisions where they put reputation of the organization above safety and health of individuals," he said.

In the case of the Boy Scouts of America, that included the creation of what it called "ineligible volunteer" files, Janci said. When the Scouts learned that a volunteer had sexually molested or raped a child, it often created a file so it could bar that person from volunteering in another city or state.

Between 1955 and 1984, the Boy Scouts of America created 1,300 of these files. A judge ordered those files released, with some information redacted, after the Portland trial.

A small percentage of the "ineligible volunteer" files were atheists or homosexuals. The Scouts barred gay men and lesbians from the organization until just recently. But the vast majority of files focused on sexual molestation. They became known as the "Perversion Files."

The Boy Scouts has been keeping secret tabs on suspected abusers since the 1920s, but it didn't routinely report those people to police. The organization began requiring "mandatory reporting of suspected abuse" in 2011....
http://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/02/10/ex-boy-scouts-tap-minnesota-sex-abuse-law

Ritual abuse still going on, say charities, Children in Scotland have been filmed being murdered by paedophiles in so-called ‘snuff movies’, Archdiocese of Chicago - 350 incidents of child abuse from dozens of priests

- Ritual abuse still going on, say charities
- Children in Scotland have been filmed being murdered by paedophiles in so-called ‘snuff movies’
- Archdiocese of Chicago publishes 15,000 pages of documents detailing more than 350 incidents of child abuse from dozens of priests dating back to 1950

Ritual abuse still going on, say charities
Victoria Weldon
Reporter
Monday 10 November 2014

LEADING charities have claimed that children in Scotland have been subjected to ritual abuse, including rape, murder and even the production of so-called "snuff films".

Campaigners say the sadistic abuse has been carried out by paedophile networks and "cults", with many victims who come forward facing scepticism and disbelief.

Although many of the incidents are understood to have taken place many years ago, it is believed that a number of ritual abuse rings are still operating today.

The claims came as rep-orts suggested the Scottish Government was looking into setting up a public inquiry into historical child abuse, with talks said to be centred on the remit and timing of such an investigation.

Kate Short, founder of charity Break the Silence, said the depravity experienced by some of her clients - who are now aged 30 to 55 -was unbelievable.

She added: "In the worst cases they have been forced to watch the making of snuff movies. It's the extreme, barbaric type of terror that can lead to ­serious personal disorder.

"Sadly many of these victims lack the confidence to engage the authorities because they think no-one will believe them."

The shock claims were backed by another abuse charity, Izzy's Promise, whose project coordinator Joseph Lumbasi described having to deal with people who have been involved in gang rape ceremonies and animal slaughters.

He said: "Their recollections of what has taken place, when and where are muddled. But it is happening here, in Scotland, as we speak and must be exposed."....
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/ritual-abuse-still-going-on-say-charities.25817567


Children in Scotland have been filmed being murdered by paedophiles in so-called ‘snuff movies’     Nov 09, 2014     By David Taylor

A LEADING charity says often brothers and sisters are made to have sex with each other, and that animals are also involved.

CHILDREN in Scotland have been filmed being murdered by paedophiles in so-called ‘snuff movies’.

Two leading charities say they have spoken to victims of ritual abuse including rape and murder stretching back decades.

Kate Short, founder of Kilmarnock-based childhood abuse charity, Break the Silence, said: “In the worst cases (people) have been forced to watch the making of snuff movies. It’s the extreme, barbaric type of terror that can lead to serious personal disorder.”

Kate also said, often brothers and sisters are made to have sex with each other, and that animals are also involved.

She added: “This is something that has been going on forever and I can’t see it ever stopping.”

The claims were reported by the Scottish Sunday Express.

Scotland is the only part of the UK which doesn’t currently have an investigation into historic child sexual abuse.

Another leading charity, Dundee-based Izzy’s Promise, also backed the claims.

Project co-ordinator Joseph Lumbasi said: “Eighty per cent of people who contact us are brought up right here in Scotland. Children are born that are never registered. There is pornography, sick films. Horrific things are happening and nobody is getting caught.”....
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/real-life/children-scotland-been-filmed-being-4597107



Archdiocese of Chicago publishes 15,000 pages of documents detailing more than 350 incidents of child abuse from dozens of priests dating back to 1950
“We cannot change the past but we hope we can rebuild trust through honest and open dialogue," wrote Francis Cardinal George on the website this week. "Child abuse is a crime and a sin."

BY Marc Weinreich
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Thursday, November 6, 2014

The Archdiocese of Chicago published approximately 15,000 pages of documents to its website on Thursday that detail how the organization internally dealt with dozens of priests over the course of more than half a century who had been the subject of substantiated allegations of sexual misconduct with minors.

In total, 36 archdiocesan priests were publicly named on Thursday in the documents, which can be seen here.

The Archdiocese of Chicago has named 66 priests in 2014 who had substantiated claims brought against them alleging sexual misconduct with a minor that date back to 1950.  The publication on Thursday comes after the ministry released documents in January detailing alleged sexual misconduct with minors involving 30 other priests.

The January release was the product of a mediation agreement conceived approximately six years ago by the archdiocese and attorney Jeff Anderson, who was representing victims of the 30 priests named in the first wave of files published earlier this year....

In the case of Rev. Alexander Baranowski, the priest allegedly sexually abused a victim for more than four years until the victim graduated from high school. He had reportedly provided alcohol to teenage girls on several occasions, and had taken each of them individually to a hotel room to engage in sexual acts. He had also taken boys with him on vacation and one of them accused him of "solicitation," according to the documents.

"In short, Father thinks there is no sin, but imprudence," wrote Monsignor F.W. Byrne in September 1963....
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/chicago-archdiocese-publish-docs-child-abuse-incidents-article-1.2001626


Archdiocese of Chicago
Clergy Sexual Misconduct with Minors
2014 Document Publication
The Archdiocese of Chicago has voluntarily released documents related to 36 Archdiocesan priests who have at least one substantiated allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor. These documents are in addition to those released in January on 30 other priests.
http://docinfo.archchicago.org/

‘7th Heaven’ actor under investigation for child abuse, Files on Winona Diocese clergy who abused children are made public

- ‘7th Heaven’ actor reportedly under investigation for child abuse
- Stephen Collins Network Yanks '7th Heaven' From Schedule
- '7th Heaven' Dad Stephen Collins Confesses on tape to Child Molestation
- Files on Winona Diocese clergy who abused children are made public
- 'Terror mixed with homesickness meant I cried myself to sleep, night after night'

‘7th Heaven’ actor reportedly under investigation for child abuse
By Mark Shanahan and Meredith Goldstein
Globe Staff   October 07, 2014
Actor Stephen Collins, who played the Rev. Eric Camden on the long-running WB family show “7th Heaven,” is reportedly under investigation for child molestation after an alleged recording surfaced of him confessing in couples therapy to exposing himself to young girls and molesting an 11-year-old, according to TMZ and the New York Daily News. (TMZ has posted the alleged audio on its website. The Daily News reports an NYPD investigation has been confirmed with an unnamed department source.)
http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2014/10/07/says-stephen-collins-dropped-out-weeks-ago/1qK9xbya309zOuloQOEllJ/story.html


Stephen Collins Network Yanks '7th Heaven' From Schedule 10/7/2014 BY TMZ STAFF
Stephen Collins' confession he molested young girls is already causing collateral damage ... episodes of his most famous TV show, "7th Heaven" are being yanked off the air.

A rep for TV Guide Network -- which airs re-runs of the show -- tells TMZ the two episodes remaining on the schedule will not air -- nor will any future episodes of "7th Heaven."

We're told ... programming honchos dropped the hammer on the show ... after seeing our story that Collins was recorded during a therapy session ... confessing to acts of molestation years ago....
http://www.tmz.com/#Article/2014/10/07/stephen-collins-child-molestation-7th-heaven-audio-tape-nypd-investigation

'7th Heaven' Dad Stephen Collins
Confesses on tape to Child Molestation
NYPD Investigating [AUDIO]
BY TMZ STAFF
EXCLUSIVE

Stephen Collins -- who played the pastor/dad on "7th Heaven" -- confessed to his estranged wife he was a child molester, and it's all on tape ... a tape obtained by TMZ. And the New York Police Dept. is now conducting an active criminal investigation involving sexual contact with multiple children.

Collins -- who is in the middle of a nasty, prolonged divorce with actress Faye Grant -- revealed to her in 2012 he had molested and/or exposed himself to several underage girls years before. Collins and Grant went to a therapist where she peppered him with questions about the incidents ... and he not only answered, he was specific.

Here's what Collins didn't know at the time. Grant taped the therapy session. We're told her lawyer advised her it was legal to secretly record the conversation because in California you're allowed to secretly record conversations to gather evidence the other person committed a violent felony ... and molesting a child under the age of 14 qualifies....

TMZ has learned ... the NYPD is in possession of the tape, and last Wednesday 2 NYPD detectives from the Special Victims Unit flew to L.A. to interview Grant. We're told they asked her about the tape and about other potential witnesses....
http://www.tmz.com/2014/10/07/stephen-collins-child-molestation-7th-heaven-audio-tape-nypd-investigation/ 


Files on Winona Diocese clergy who abused children are made public
JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune  October 7, 2014
Newly unsealed papers expose child sexual abuse by 14 priests in the Winona Diocese.

Winona Bishop John Quinn said the diocese “has worked diligently” to enforce abuse prevention protocols.

The 14 priests worked in all four high schools in the Diocese of Winona and at 45 parishes across southern Minnesota. But the paper trail exposing their sexual abuse of boys and girls had long been sealed — until Tuesday, when a court order pried open the records.

For the first time, the priests’ mental health reports, sexual abuse complaints and hundreds more documents were made public as part of a groundbreaking lawsuit making its way through Ramsey District Court.

The documents also show that the Winona Diocese “anticipates eventual bankruptcy” as a result of that lawsuit and others being filed under the new Minnesota Child Victims Act.

The files indicate that the diocese did not report claims of child sex abuse to law enforcement, did not remove offenders from ministry, and continued to financially support them even as abuse was known.

The document release comes in response to a lawsuit filed last year by a man who said he was abused by former priest Thomas Adamson in the 1970s. Adamson was accused of molesting boys in the Winona Diocese before being transferred to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, where he allegedly abused the man in St. Paul Park....

While many files about Adamson were released in recent months through the archdiocese lawsuit, the Winona documents shed light on a different set of offenders.

The sexual abuse ranged from oral sex to fondling to rape, the documents showed. Emotional abuse often accompanied the physical abuse.

For example, the Rev. Richard Hatch would force one of his boy victims to have oral sex and then make him go to confession and confess it as if he were the cause of it, documents showed.

Like other dioceses, Winona kept the priests on the move, even after serious allegation of abuse....
http://www.startribune.com/local/278388541.html


'Terror mixed with homesickness meant I cried myself to sleep, night after night'
Ivan Yates Published 05/10/2014

In 1968 - as a very young boy, Ivan Yates was sent to a boarding school in Bray. In the early part of his book he describes his misery there -and the borderline abuse he suffered:

The worst aspect of it was the constant fear. Charles Mansfield, headmaster and owner of the school, flattered himself that he was a disciplinarian. In fact, he was a sadist, liberally administering corporal punishment for any infringement of a forest of rules. Beatings were meted out with a slipper or a hairbrush on bare buttocks.

In my second year, I was in a dormitory adjacent to the headmaster's office. If we were caught talking at night or early in the morning, he would come in and beat us. It became a familiar ritual. When he came round to each bed, we would turn over, pull down our pyjamas and receive our beating, faces in our pillows, counting the blows. Some boys got punished much worse than I did. One boy was black and blue from constant thrashings. At eight and nine years old, I was out of my depth. It was unremitting torture.

As I grew up, I remembered the beatings, but not the overwhelming sadness. It took therapy for me to recall the day, when I was about 11, when Mr Mansfield asked me to come and see him in the French room.

When I arrived, he was in the room, alone, standing by a table in the corner. He asked me to pull up a chair and sit down in front of him, explaining that as part of his sex education duties, he had individual consultations with the boys. He needed to see that we were developing properly. He asked me to take down my trousers and pants, so that he could examine me. I vividly recall that we were standing so close together that I could see the tiny blood vessels on his cheeks and could smell him. I did as I was told.
http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/terror-mixed-with-homesickness-meant-i-cried-myself-to-sleep-night-after-night-30633240.html

At UN, Vatican sex abuse compared with torture, Vatican Defrocks 848 Priests in 10 Years of Abuse, Disturbing new internet child abuse sees toddlers raped and burned live on webcam

- At UN, Vatican sex abuse compared with torture
- Vatican Defrocks 848 Priests in 10 Years of Abuse
- Disturbing new internet child abuse sees toddlers raped and burned live on webcam as paedophiles use Bitcoin to stop being traced, warns police chief

At UN, Vatican sex abuse compared with torture Monday, May 5, 2014
GENEVA — A U.N. committee compared the Vatican's handling of the global priest sex abuse scandal with torture Monday, raising the possibility that its failure to investigate clergy and their superiors could have broader legal implications.

But the Vatican's top envoy in Geneva, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, claimed that the Holy See was getting its house in order after a decade-long effort to deal with a global priest sex abuse scandal.

"There has been, in several documentable areas, stabilization and even a decline of cases in pedophilia," he told a committee of experts in charge of the U.N. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which the Vatican ratified in 2002.

At the Holy See's first appearance before the committee, experts mainly peppered the Vatican with tough questions to be answered Tuesday. For instance, they asked why the report on its implementation of the treaty was almost a decade late, and why the Vatican believes its responsibility for protecting against torture only applies within tiny Vatican City, a nation of less than 1,000 inhabitants....
http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/international/2014/05/at_un_vatican_sex_abuse_compared_with_torture 

Vatican Defrocks 848 Priests in 10 Years of Abuse
GENEVA May 6, 2014 By JOHN HEILPRIN and NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press

The Vatican revealed Tuesday that over the past decade, it has defrocked 848 priests who raped or molested children and sanctioned another 2,572 with lesser penalties, providing the first ever breakdown of how it handled the more than 3,400 cases of abuse reported to the Holy See since 2004.

The Vatican's U.N. ambassador in Geneva, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, released the figures during a second day of grilling by a U.N. committee monitoring implementation of the U.N. treaty against torture.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/vatican-defrocks-848-priests-10-years-abuse-23605974

Disturbing new internet child abuse sees toddlers raped and burned live on webcam as paedophiles use Bitcoin to stop being traced, warns police chief

    Rob Wainwright, director of Europol, warned of depraved new trend
    Paedophiles pay for sick online 'shows' using untraceable Bitcoin
    Mr Wainwright warned that police and politicians struggle to keep up

by Kieran Corcoran  21 April 2014

One of Europe's top police officers has warned of a sickening online trade in child torture porn.

Rob Wainwright, the director of Europol, said offenders are using the untraceable online currency Bitcoin to pay for depraved 'shows', performed live on webcams, which see young children raped and burned.

He said: 'The level of depravity seems to be descending year on year, frankly, including what seems to be in vogue now, which is live webcam 'shows' of toddlers not just being raped but being burnt with cigarettes.
Sorry, but it's happening online and it's extremely difficult for us to identify.'

Mr Wainwright warned that Bitcoin - a 'crypto-currency' based on mathematical formulae and independent of any government or central bank - is propping up a criminal black market.

He also warned that police and politicians were struggling to keep up with the pace of online crime, thanks to widespread anonymity online, and easy access to encryption technology which can make criminals almost impossible to track down....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2609971/Disturbing-new-internet-child-abuse-sees-toddlers-raped-burned-live-webcam-paedophiles-use-Bitcoin-stop-traced-warns-police-chief.html 

Vatican to craft sex abuse protocols

Vatican to craft sex abuse protocols

May 3, 2014 VATICAN CITY (AP) - Members of Pope Francis' sexual abuse advisory board said Saturday they will develop "clear and effective" protocols to hold bishops and other church authorities accountable if they fail to report suspected abuse or protect children from pedophile priests.Victims groups have long blasted the Vatican for refusing to sanction any bishop or superior who covered up for priests who raped and molested children. They have listed accountability as one of the key issues facing Francis and a key test for his new advisory board....

Victims groups have long cited the case of O'Malley's predecessor in Boston, Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in disgrace as archbishop after the sex abuse scandal exploded publicly there in 2002. But Pope John Paul II then appointed Law to the plum assignment as archpriest of one of the Vatican's four major basilicas in Rome. Even today, another U.S. bishop remains in office despite having been convicted of misdemeanor failure to report suspected child abuse....

The commission met on the eve of a U.N. committee meeting in Geneva in which the Vatican is expected to come under a second round of criticism for its handling of abuse. A U.N. committee monitoring implementation of a key treaty on children's rights blasted the Holy See earlier this year, accusing it of systematically placing its own interests over those of victims by enabling priests to rape and molest tens of thousands of children through its own policies and code of silence.

It recommended the Vatican immediately remove any priest suspected or known to have abused children, open its archives on abusers and the bishops who covered up for them, and turn the cases over to law enforcement.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/05/03/vatican-sexual-abuse/2128958/ 

Pope Francis asks forgiveness for priests who sexually abused children, Pa. bill expands list of those required to report child abuse

Pope Francis asks forgiveness for priests who sexually abused children
By Daniel Burke and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN
Fri April 11, 2014

(CNN) -- Pope Francis made his strongest condemnation yet of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy on Friday, asking for forgiveness and pledging to impose penalties on "men of the church" who harm children.

"I feel compelled to personally take on all the evil which some priests -- quite a few in number, obviously not compared to the number of all the priests -- to personally ask for forgiveness for the damage they have done for having sexually abused children," the Pope said in remarks quoted by Vatican Radio....

The U.S.-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said it may be the first time a pope has spoken of sanctioning "complicit bishops."

"But that is all it is: talk," said Barbara Dorris, SNAP's outreach director.

"We beg the world's Catholics: Be impressed by deeds, not words. Until the Pope takes decisive action that protects kids, be skeptical and vigilant."

The Pope's new comments, made Friday to members of a Catholic nongovernmental organization, the International Catholic Child Bureau, represent a shift from his previous statements on sexual abuse....
http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/11/world/europe/vatican-pope-sex-abuse/ 

Pa. bill expands list of those required to report child abuse  By Oscar Gamble 04/11/14

NORRISTOWN — A bill sponsored by Rep. Todd Stephens to expand the list of professionals required to report suspected child abuse and increase penalties for those who shirk the obligation has unanimously passed the Pennsylvania Legislature and is headed to Gov. Tom Corbett’s desk.

House Bill 436, the Child Protection Act, is a companion to Senate Bill 21, sponsored by Sen. Kim Ward, R-39th Dist., which includes Stephens’ language expanding and clarifying the list of professionals required to report abuse....

The bill requires child care providers and school personnel at every educational level, religious leaders, doctors and health care professionals, social and emergency service workers, librarians, law enforcement and the lawyers and independent contractors representing all of these entities to report suspected cases of child abuse or neglect. It also imposes stiffer penalties for noncompliance.“I think the penalties will get people’s attention,” said Stephens. “In some cases, not reporting (child abuse) will be a felony ... In every case, it’s in the best interest of organizations that care for children to report instances of child abuse”....
http://www.pottsmerc.com/government-and-politics/20140411/pa-bill-expands-list-of-those-required-to-report-child-abuse 

Notorious pedophile priest convicted again, The Shame of the Church

Notorious pedophile priest convicted again  8 Apr 2014

More than half a century after he started sexually abusing the sons and daughters of his parishioners, Australia's worst pedophile priest has learnt he is likely to die in jail.

Gerald Francis Ridsdale, 79, was given an eight-year sentence after pleading guilty to 30 new charges against 14 boys and girls between 1961 and 1980, conduct described by the judge as "evil hypocrisy."

But the notorious pedophile, already serving time for a campaign of abuse dating back to 1961 when he was ordained, will not be eligible for parole until April 2019.

The protection of the Catholic church, which moved him from parish to parish throughout his career, meant his offending spanned three decades.

He abused 53 children in that time.

They included children of parishioners, wards of the state, altar servers, twin brothers and a girl as young as four-years-old.

It wasn't until 1993 that he was de-frocked.

Two years later, he was jailed for 18 years....

Ridsdale portrayed himself as the "friendly priest", luring his victims with inducements such as lollies and money to gain their trust.

He befriended victims and set up an after-school boys gathering, which was the setting for crimes against five children.

Many of Ridsdale's victims were extremely vulnerable - some being wards of the state or from broken homes....

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/04/08/notorious-pedophile-priest-convicted-again 


The Shame of the Church
By Retro Report March 30th, 2014

Sexual abuse in the Catholic Church has been making headlines for years. Some priests have been punished, but what about the bishops who shielded them?
http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000002794204/the-shame-of-the-church.html 

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

Catholic diocese to file for bankruptcy protection

Catholic diocese to file for bankruptcy protection
Matt Volz, Associated Press January 31, 2014

HELENA, Montana (AP) — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena planned to file for bankruptcy protection Friday as part of a proposed settlement of $15 million for hundreds of victims who say clergy members sexually abused them over decades while the church covered it up.

Diocese spokesman Dan Bartleson said the bankruptcy reorganization plan comes after confidential mediation sessions with the plaintiffs' attorneys and insurers, resulting in the deals to resolve the abuse claims.

The settlement details are being worked out, but the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Montana would be responsible for approving and supervising the disbursement of $15 million to compensate the 362 victims identified in the two lawsuits.

In addition, at least $2.5 million will be set aside for victims who come forward later, Bartleson said....

The Helena diocese is the 11th in the nation to seek bankruptcy protection in the face of sex-abuse claims

The two lawsuits filed in 2011 claim clergy members groomed and then abused the children from the 1940s to the 1970s. They claim the diocese shielded the offenders and knew or should have known the threat they posed to children....

In one of the lawsuits, the plaintiffs said they were repeatedly raped, fondled or forced to perform sexual acts while at school, on the playground, on camping trips or at the victims' homes.

The second lawsuit, filed a week after the first in 2011, contained similar allegations against priests, but also alleged that nuns at the Ursuline Academy in St. Ignatius abused dozens of Native American children....
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/31/catholic-diocese-files-for-bankruptcy-protection/5078991/ 

Catholic Whistleblowers Join Forces on Abuse, Ex-swim coach accused of abuse

Church Whistle-Blowers Join Forces on Abuse
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN May 20, 2013

They call themselves Catholic Whistleblowers, a newly formed cadre of priests and nuns who say the Roman Catholic Church is still protecting sexual predators.

Although they know they could face repercussions, they have banded together to push the new pope to clean house and the American bishops to enforce the zero-tolerance policies they adopted more than a decade ago.

The group began organizing quietly nine months ago without the knowledge of their superiors or their peers, and plan to make their campaign public this week. Most in the steering group of 12 have blown the whistle on abusers in the past, and three are canon lawyers who once handled abuse cases on the church’s behalf. Four say they were sexually abused as children.

Their aim, they say, is to support both victims and fellow whistle-blowers, and identify shortcomings in church policies....

But the whistle-blowers’ group contends that vigilance is necessary because some bishops are violating the zero-tolerance policies, and abusive clergy (who now number 6,275, according to the bishops’ count of those accusations that they deem credible) still have access to children. They point to the revelations in the last month that a priest in Newark who was a convicted sex offender restricted by a court order from working with children had been ministering in a Catholic parish in Trenton, taking confessions from children and going on weekend youth retreats.... 

The whistle-blowers’ group plans to hold its first news conference this week in New York, and some members are bracing for the reaction. They said they know priests who spoke up and were removed from their parishes, hustled into retirement or declared “unstable” and sent to treatment centers for clergy with substance-abuse problems or sexual addictions.....
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/21/us/catholic-church-whistle-blowers-join-forces-on-abuse.html 


Ex-swim coach accused of abuse appears in court
By Peter Schworm    Globe Staff    May 20, 2013

MEDFORD — When the young boy joined the Arlington Boys & Girls Club swim team in the late 1970s, his coach was Paul Collins, who also dated his family’s neighbor and would sometimes fill in as baby sitter.

On those occasions, when the boy went to sleep, Collins would sit at his bedside and “begin rubbing his back and chest,” according to allegations detailed in court documents released Monday. ­Collins would then massage the boy below the waist and tell him he should not talk about it to anyone else.

It was, he told the boy, “our ­little secret.”

The boy, now a middle-aged man, is one of four adults who in recent weeks have accused Collins of sexual assault, part of an expand­ing investigation into child abuse at the youth club. The men came forward after club officials announced in February that another former employee, William Sullivan, had allegedly sexually abused children at the club ­between the 1970s and 1990s. ­Sullivan is deceased.

On Monday, two days after being arrested in his Long Island home, Collins, 62, was arraigned in Cambridge District Court on charges of sexually assaulting the boys and ordered held on $250,000 bail. Collins pleaded not guilty to the accusations, but prosecutors said he had admitted to sexual contact with two accusers and told investigators he may also have had contact with the other two....
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/05/20/new-york-man-charged-with-sexually-abusing-children-arlington-boys-girls-club-late/dQnWc6GwgfQDC1WtXq5iMI/story.html 

Catholic child abuse: 187 allegations against 98 priests have led to zero convictions, Abuse survivor demands state inquiry, Restitution Returns to the United States Supreme Court (again) (child p_rn victims), Court hears details of satanic ritual, Girl’s satanic horror

Catholic child abuse: 187 allegations against 98 priests have led to zero convictions  4/24/13
“I am one of the fortunate survivors to have succeeded in securing a criminal conviction against one of two Spiritan priests who sexually abused me,” writes campaigner Mark Vincent Healy.

THE DIOCESES OF Clogher, Elphin, Killala and Waterford join the infamous group of seven Catholic Church authorities, including Derry, Dramore and Limerick, where not one priest has been convicted for having committed an offence or offences against a child or young person despite numerous allegations since 1 January 1975. From the 16 dioceses reviewed to date by the National Board for Safeguarding Children, there have been 187 allegations made in relation to 98 priests where there have been no convictions. This represents a third of the church authorities examined where not one priest was held to account....

To date there have been four reviews of missionary orders where a total of 113 priests have had 287 allegations raised against them but only seven priests have ever been convicted. The sad reality is that only 6.2 per cent of accused Irish missionaries are ever convicted. I am one of the fortunate survivors to have succeeded in securing a criminal conviction against one of two Spiritan priests who sexually abused me from the ages of nine to 12 and then tried to cover it all up. Forty-seven Spiritans had 142 allegations made against them in the second tranche of audits, and only three were convicted....

Fr Andrew Greely, a professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago believes there could be up to 50 victims per priest. Meanwhile, Richard Sipe a psychotherapist in Maryland, has said 250 victims may suffer over the lifetime of a paedophile. Shockingly, the 106 priests accused in the third tranche could possibly have abused between 5,300 to 26,500 potential victims. Just 271 came forward....
http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/catholic-child-abuse-187-allegations-against-98-priests-have-led-to-zero-convictions-883536-Apr2013/

Abuse survivor demands state inquiry Sarah Stack and David Young – 24 April 2013

AN abuse survivor who alleges an uncle of the former Bishop of Clogher was one of his attackers has demanded a state inquiry into clerical sex crimes in Northern Ireland. The Stormont Executive has established a statutory probe into abuse committed in state and church-run institutions, but its remit does not cover criminal acts committed by priests outside of children's residential facilities.

Michael Connolly claims he was victimised for five years of his childhood in Donagh, Co Fermanagh, by parish priest Peter Duffy, who was later promoted to canon. The deceased cleric was the uncle of the former Bishop of Clogher, Joseph Duffy, who was today heavily criticised for unsatisfactory responses to child abuse allegations and risky behaviour of priests in the diocese....http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/abuse-survivor-demands-state-inquiry-29220069.html

Restitution Returns to the United States Supreme Court (again)
By James R. Marsh on April 24, 2013

Today, James R. Marsh of the Marsh Law Firm and Paul G. Cassell of the University of Utah College of Law Appellate Legal Clinic, filed a brief in the United States Supreme Court in their latest effort to convince the Court to consider the critical issue of criminal restitution for victims of child pornography.

The case, Doyle Randall Paroline v. Amy Unknown, arises out of a long-fought extensively litigated restitution action which started almost four years ago before Judge Leonard Davis in the Eastern District of Texas Tyler Division. In January, the defendant filed a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari in the Supreme Court seeking review of last year's landmark Fifth Circuit en banc decision which significantly expanded the rights of child pornography victims to receive criminal restitution.
http://www.childlaw.us/2013/04/restitution-returns-to-the-uni.html 

Court hears details of satanic ritual
April 24 2013  By Sandy Moeketsi

Johannesburg - Phrases were chanted before Kirsty Theologo and her friend were set alight, the High Court sitting in the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court heard on Wednesday. Her alleged murderers stood at the points of a satanic star, where candles burnt. In the middle of the star was a burning Bible, where blood would be shed, Lester Moody told the court. Moody was testifying against four people accused of setting Theologo and her friend alight in an apparent satanic ritual on October 21, 2011....
http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/court-hears-details-of-satanic-ritual-1.1505823

Girl’s satanic horror April 24 2013 By SUSAN DU

Johannesburg - Kirsty Theologo thought that she was going to a party with friends she trusted on the night of October 21, 2011.

She brought another girl along.
She had a drink.
She trusted her friends when they told her they needed to stop by a petrol station to get sweets, then again when they said there had been a change of plans and that they would be going into the “mountains of Linmeyer” instead.

The “party” turned out to be a satanic ritual in which Kirsty was drugged, bound, drenched in petrol and burnt so severely that she died later in hospital.  Her friend, now 16, survived. She can’t be named due to her age....

Kirsty and her friend - the only two people not dressed entirely in black - lost consciousness due to the brake fluid that had been secretly added to their drinks.  The two victims were then bound and left to one side while the accused created a “satanic star” in the ground and lit candles at each of its five points, Moody testified.... 
http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/girl-s-satanic-horror-1.1505350

Pope: Stopping child sexual abuse key to 'credibility' of Catholic Church, Leesburg child p_rn suspect had more than 500,000 images and videos at his home

Pope: Stopping child sexual abuse key to 'credibility' of Catholic Church

By Philip Pullella, Reuters  Fri Apr 5, 2013

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis wants the Catholic Church to "act decisively" to root out sexual abuse of children by priests and ensure the perpetrators are punished, the Vatican said on Friday.

Francis, in a meeting with the Holy See's doctrinal chief, Archbishop Gerhard Mueller, had declared that combating sexual abuse was important "for the Church and its credibility", a statement said.

Francis inherited a Church mired in problems and a major scandal over priestly abuse of children. It was believed to be the first time he had taken up the issue of sex abuse with a senior member of his staff since his election on March 13....
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/05/17614945-pope-stopping-child-sexual-abuse-key-to-credibility-of-catholic-church

Judge could order Leesburg child porn suspect to pay for own attorney
Friday, April 5, 2013  LEESBURG, Fla.

A man who the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said downloaded the most child pornography in the state of Florida was denied bail Friday morning.

Officers said John Shearen had more than 500,000 images and videos at his home in Leesburg.

He was arrested Thursday, on his 51st birthday, at his home in the Lakeside Pointe apartment complex, FDLE said. Agents said they identified Shearen last month while monitoring child porn websites, and they caught him at his computer Thursday morning as he was downloading more videos....

"We were able to seize anywhere from 500,000 to 1 million images and videos. They were stored on several computers and external hard drives to actually being transferred from the computers to separate DVDs, and he has a DVD collection of child pornography. So, we have a lot of work to do. Those initial cases will be charged today," said Special Agent Jeff Duncan.

Agents said Shearen admitted his crimes....
Shearen faces 20 counts each of distribution and possession of child porn, but agents said there may be more charges filed as the investigation continues.

"He is the No. 1 person who can distribute child pornography throughout the world," said Duncan. "And he's been doing it."
http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/fdle-man-who-downloaded-most-child-pornography-sta/nXCb3/


No bond for Leesburgh child porn suspect
A man who the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said downloaded the most child pornography in the state of Florida was denied bail Friday morning.
http://www.wftv.com/videos/news/no-bond-for-leesburgh-child-porn-suspect/vxQyP/

Sex Abuse Cases - Marci Hamilton, Capturing the Friedmans - The Victims speak out

Sex abuse cases: 'I have a personal stake in this' (Video)
Mar 28, 2013  Jeff Blumenthal     Reporter- Philadelphia Business Journal
   
Last week, I interviewed Marci Hamilton, a lawyer representing victims in the Sandusky and Philadelphia Archdiocese child abuse scandals, as part of our Inside the Reporters Notebook series....

Hamilton’s pointed response explained what she says is a personal reason for her involvement. She is a professor at Cardozo School of Law and not a litigator by trade. But she said she was incensed on February 10, 2011, when a Philadelphia Grand Jury released a report following an investigation into allegations that two priests and a teacher sexually abused a 10-year-old boy at St. Jerome Parish in Philadelphia, and that another priest assigned to St. Jerome sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy.

It was that report, Hamilton said, that caused her to contact her co-counsel Jeff Anderson, and say she wanted to participate in the litigation.

“I have a personal stake in this,” Hamilton said. “My children are Catholic. My daughter was baptized by a pedophile priest. I have family pictures with a pedophile at one of the most important ceremonies of a child’s life. So I am in it, yes, in Philadelphia. Because its the only way to make this Archdiocese to do the right thing.”
http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/blog/jeff-blumenthal/2013/03/sex-abuse-cases-i-have-a-personal.html 

Capturing the Friedmans
At a time when child sexual abuse has been identified as a major public health crisis, the new film "Capturing the Friedmans" takes a skeptical attitude regarding believing children. The 1989, Arnold Friedman and his son Jesse plead guilty to multiple charges of sodomy and sexual abuse against young boys who took computer classes taught in the basement of their home. Jesse now claims he was wrongly convicted.

Our research into the case shows that the director of the film sacrificed truth in favor of creating artistic ambiguity. Clear evidence is omitted and facts are distorted. In addition, the film  relies on  popular but erroneous myths about child sexual abuse. As a result, uncertainty is created about the guilt of two confessed pedophiles -- who are recast as victims -- while the real  victims -- the boys and their families -- are portrayed as  untrustworthy.
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/ctf/1.html

In Their Own Words:  Jesse's Victims Speak Out
....The Film "Capturing the Friedmans" about a case of child molestation in Great Neck, Long Island has been nominated for an Academy Award.  We are two of the victims of Arnold and Jesse Friedman writing to you, asking you to hear out side of the story, writing on behalf of the other victims and ourselves. We were abused, tortured, and humiliated by Arnold and Jesse Friedman in computer classes in Arnold's basement.  Many of us have physical scars from what was done to us; all of us have psychological scars. Although it has been 16 years, we live with the knowledge of these crimes every day of our lives. Some of us have had bad dreams, some of us slept with baseball bats under our bed for years for fear of reprisals.  Many years ago, we thought we could not tell what was happening to us because we felt too guilty and embarrassed and were constantly threatened. Our parents thought Arnold was calling our houses so often because he was such a concerned teacher. His calls were to make sure we were not telling and to repeat the constant threats.
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/ctf/vict.html

Pope 'complicit in child sex abuse scandals' , UK top cardinal accused, "The story of Sybil is true, not fictional or fraudulent." they refute the sociocognitive model of DID

- Pope Benedict 'complicit in child sex abuse scandals', say victims' groups
- UK's top cardinal accused of 'inappropriate acts' by priests
- Lessons not learned on abuse therapy
- Republic accused of sex abuse 'cover-up'
- Sybil in her own words: The untold story of Shirley Mason, her multiple personalities and paintings "The story of Sybil is true, not fictional or fraudulent."
- A New Model of Dissociative Identity Disorder "They also refute the sociocognitive model of DID."
- Delhi High Court commutes death penalty of man who killed father


Pope Benedict 'complicit in child sex abuse scandals', say victims' groups
Pope Benedict XVI 'knew more about clergy sex crimes than anyone else in church yet did little to protect children', say critics
    Ian Traynor in Brussels, Karen McVeigh in New York and Henry McDonald in Dublin
    guardian.co.uk, Monday 11 February 2013

For the legions of people whose childhoods and adult lives were wrecked by sexual and physical abuse at the hands of the Roman Catholic clergy, Pope Benedict XVI is an unloved pontiff who will not be missed.

Victims of the epidemic of sex- and child-abuse scandals that erupted under Benedict's papacy reacted bitterly to his resignation, either charging the outgoing pontiff with being directly complicit in a criminal conspiracy to cover up the thousands of paedophilia cases that have come to light over the past three years, or with failing to stand up to reactionary elements in the church resolved to keep the scandals under wraps.

From Benedict's native Germany to the USA, abuse victims and campaigners criticised an eight-year papacy that struggled to cope with the flood of disclosures of crimes and abuse rampant for decades within the church....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/11/pope-complicit-child-abuse-say-victims



UK's top cardinal accused of 'inappropriate acts' by priests
Three priests and former priest report Cardinal Keith O'Brien to Vatican over claims stretching back 33 years
    Catherine Deveney
    The Observer, Saturday 23 February 2013
Three priests and a former priest in Scotland have reported the most senior Catholic clergyman in Britain, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, to the Vatican over allegations of inappropriate behaviour stretching back 30 years.

The four, from the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, have complained to nuncio Antonio Mennini, the Vatican's ambassador to Britain, and demanded O'Brien's immediate resignation. A spokesman for the cardinal said that the claims were contested.

O'Brien, who is due to retire next month, has been an outspoken opponent of gay rights, condemning homosexuality as immoral, opposing gay adoption, and most recently arguing that same-sex marriages would be "harmful to the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of those involved"....
One of the complainants, it is understood, alleges that the cardinal developed an inappropriate relationship with him, resulting in a need for long-term psychological counselling....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/23/cardinal-keith-o-brien-accused-inappropriate




Letters
Lessons not learned on abuse therapy
The Guardian, Monday 11 February 2013

In 1995 a 13-year-old boy committed suicide having been told he could not have counselling in the long run-up to his abuser's trial. His mother said: "He was desperate to talk to someone. But social workers said there was no possibility of discussing the abuse before the trial. They did not want to contaminate the evidence." His abuser was later jailed for four years for offences against other boys....

Malign attacks in the 1990s on psychotherapists by those accused of abuse in an effort to discredit their adult children's stories have left a false impression. The purpose of therapy is to provide a container for patients' often unbearable feelings and help them to move on. It leads to a more not less coherent witnessing of the past. Perhaps that is why it arouses such hostility in those who are desperate to bury what happened – accused abusers and their defence teams....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/feb/11/lesssons-not-learned-abuse-therapy


Republic accused of sex abuse 'cover-up'
11/09/2001
The Irish Government and judicial system conducted a ‘‘hideous cover-up’’ after a young girl was subjected to years of sexual abuse, it was claimed today.

Ian Paisley Jr (DUP, North Antrim) told the Stormont Assembly that 24-year-old Sarah Bland and her mother have spent the last two decades battling in vain to secure justice.

They had come to him in a desperate bid to right a terrible wrong, he said.

He declared: ‘‘For as long as this gross injustice, known as the Bland case, remains unresolved, anything the Irish authorities may say about rights, about equality, about honour, about truth, should be treated with contempt.’’

Mr Paisley’s motion expressing concern at the failure of the Irish judiciary to resolve the case of Sarah Bland, the daughter of a British citizen, was passed unanimously. He said the student and her mother, Trish, had given him a huge dossier on the abuse which began in 1980 when she was aged four and living in a stately home in the Irish midlands....
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/republic-accused-of-sex-abuse-cover-up-23261.html  




Journal of Trauma & Dissociation  
Sybil in her own words: The untold story of Shirley Mason, her multiple personalities and paintings
DOI:10.1080/15299732.2013.724611 Philip M. Coons MD
10 Oct 2012

Abstract
Suraci's Sybil in Her Own Words is almost as fascinating as the original book Sybil(Schreiber, 19732. Schreiber, F.R. 1973. Sybil, Chicago: Henry Regnery Company). The story of Sybil is true, not fictional or fraudulent. One early commentator actually suggested that Sybil and Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, her treating psychiatrist, were a case of folie à deux, or shared psychosis (Victor, 19753. Victor, G. 1975. Sybil: Grand hysteria or folie a deux? [Letter]. American Journal of Psychiatry, 132: 202). Having met Dr. Wilbur, listened to her presentations on multiple personality (now known as dissociative identity disorder or DID), and read the many critiques and reviews of Sybil, I have concluded that Sybil was not iatrogenically created by Dr. Wilbur. Documenting this, however, is beyond the purview of this book review.


Shortly after the death of Sybil in 1998, her identity as Shirley Ardell Mason was revealed. She had been living in Lexington, Kentucky close to the residence of her former therapist and had been running her art business out of her home. Patrick Suraci, Ph.D., had discovered Sybil's identity from a painting that he had inherited from a colleague at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. This colleague, Flora Rheta Schreiber, the author of Sybil, had died in 1988. Waiting until after the death of Dr. Wilbur in 1993, Suraci finally telephoned Shirley Mason and began a five-year telephone relationship with her until she died in 1998. This book grew from those telephone conversations and other research that Dr. Suraci conducted....
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15299732.2013.724611


A New Model of Dissociative Identity Disorder Paul F. Dell, PhD Psychiatr Clin N Am 29 (2006) 1–26

Summary
Data from 220 persons who had DID were used to compare three models of DID: the DSM-IV’s classic model of DID (ie, multiple personalities, switching, amnesia), the subjective/phenomenological model of DID (Box 1), and the sociocognitive model of DID. The DSM-IV narrowly portrays DID as an alter disorder; the subjective/phenomenological model portrays DID as a far more complex dissociative disorder. The data indicate that the subjective/phenomenological model of DID is a superior predictor of the dissociative phenomena of DID. The three studies [14,70] that corroborate the subjective/phenomenological model of DID are important. They show that the subjective/phenomenological model of DID is more comprehensive and more accurate than the DSM-IV’s classic model of DID. They also refute the sociocognitive model of DID. The subjective/phenomenological model of DID was deduced from a novel, empirically supported model of pathological dissociation [4] ; that model fully explains the empirical literature on DID, whereas the DSM-IV model of DID can account for little of that literature. 
http://www.copingwithdissociation.com/Dell_2006_ANewModelofDID1.pdf



describes crimes
Delhi High Court commutes death penalty of man who killed father
Press Trust of India  February 24, 2013
New Delhi: The death sentence of a man, who had killed his father as sacrifice to a deity in 2008, has been reduced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court....

According to prosecution, Jitender believed that if he offered a human sacrifice for the deity, his problem with his wife would be resolved.

The convict, however, had argued before the trial court that once in his dream, deity asked Jitender for a human sacrifice to ward off his problems with his wife....
http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/delhi-high-court-commutes-death-penalty-of-man-who-killed-father-334832