It’s working. This is exactly what needs to happen when survivors find the courage to come forward — more must follow. This is the only path to achieving mass shifts in the way child sex abuse cases are handled and the way institutional corruption is punished. The emergence of seven new victims of serial rapist Father Stephen Kiesle is a tragic yet indicative example of how this process works and we applaud them all for their courage. We also applaud those who came before and inspired these new victims to speak up.If you’re unfamiliar with the Kiesle case, it is a hallmark of Vatican sex abus
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It’s working. This is exactly what needs to happen when survivors find the courage to come forward — more must follow. This is the only path to achieving mass shifts in the way child sex abuse cases are handled and the way institutional corruption is punished. The emergence of seven new victims of serial rapist Father Stephen Kiesle is a tragic yet indicative example of how this process works and we applaud them all for their courage. We also applaud those who came before and inspired these new victims to speak up.If you’re unfamiliar with the Kiesle case, it is a hallmark of Vatican sex abus
Yesterday, in Indianapolis, Indiana, two men were convicted and sentenced for their roles in creating and maintaining the child pornography website called Cache. These arrests were a result of an international investigation that infiltrated this child pornography network . The Cache network had up to 1000 members who participated in a very sophisticated file sharing network of child pornography. Some of the pornography in Cache was created exclusively for the members. The two men received sentences of 30 years and 19 years in prison for their involvement with this website. Infiltrating and shu
Six women and one man who alleged they were sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest decades ago filed two separate lawsuits Wednesday alleging the Diocese of Oakland was negligent in hiring the priest and failed to warn parents of potential abuse.
Pope Benedict XVI has decided not to accept the resignations of auxiliary bishops Raymond Field and Eamonn Walsh of Dublin. Field and Walsh submitted letters of resignation last December in the wake of the Murphy Report , an investigative summary that revealed a culture of cover-up surrounding rampant clergy sex abuse in Ireland. Auxiliary bishops Field and Walsh resigned just 24 hours after having their competence directly and publicly questioned by their superior, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.Archbishop Martin says the two men are now to be assigned “revised responsibilities.” This sounds fami
This is a particularly sad story. A little over a year ago, Fr. Patrick Umberger of the Diocese of LaCrosse was kicked out of Noah’s Ark Water Park in Lake Delton, Wisconsin for following young boys to the bathroom. When water park personnel observed Fr. Umberger follow the boys into the bathroom, they called the police and revoked his season pass. Two days ago, it was revealed that the Diocese of LaCrosse knew about this incident, but never restricted Fr. Umberger’s involvement with kids. Instead, the Diocese allowed Fr. Umberger to continue as a pastor of a church, teach at the parish school
A recent case in Kansas City, Missouri exhibits just how important constant vigilance by everyone of the signs of child pornography is in combating this tragic problem. In the Kansas City case, two workers went to the house of Richard Volberding to fix his water heater. While in Volberding’s house, the workers noticed images of what appeared to be naked children on Volberding’s computer. The workers called the police who got a search warrant and seized multiple computers containing thousands of images of child pornography. Recently, Volberding pled guilty to multiple counts of possession of ch
One of the most promising lawsuits from sexual abuse victims seeking to link the Vatican to the American priest abuse scandal has imploded in Kentucky, but a prominent plaintiffs’ attorney says it shouldn’t affect two other lawsuits aimed directly at Rome.
The leader of a northern Minnesota Christian retreat center took advantage of his grandfather-like role in a girl’s life and inappropriately touched and kissed her, according to the girl’s attorneys.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the sexual abuse conviction of a once-prominent Jesuit priest who insisted he was unfairly prosecuted for acts dating to the 1960s.
A California man who alleges he was abused in the 1960s by a priest who belonged to the Salesian order of the Roman Catholic church filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the order and the Vatican, claiming officials covered for the cleric by shuffling him between three continents over three decades.
Press Conference Today Wednesday, June 30, 2010 – 1:00 P.M. Pacific [Omni Hotel, Downtown Los Angeles] California man first to sue Vatican after U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Foreign Sovereign Immunity case against Holy See Alleges cover-up of sexual abuse by high Catholic officials in the Vatican, superiors in the Salesian Society and Bishops affiliated with the high school in Bellflower The priest, Father Titian Miani, was known to have sexually assaulted students at a Native American boarding school in Canada, in Italy, and also in the California
Supreme Court won’t hear Vatican appeal over Oregon clergy sex abuse lawsuit
By Associated Press
June 28, 2010 | 8:46 a.m.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Supreme Court won’t stop a lawsuit that accuses the Vatican of conspiring with U.S. church officials to transfer a priest from city to city despite repeated accusations that the clergyman sexually abused young people.The high court Monday refused to hear an appeal from the Vatican, a decision that allows the lawsuit to move forward. No one has ever successfully sued the Vatican over sex abuse by clergy.Sovereign immunity laws
The St. Paul lawyer known for suing pedophile priests turns to those who look at abusive online images of kids. He vows to sue them and publicize their names.
A sixth lawsuit in North Dakota accusing a former religion teacher at Fargo Shanley High School of molesting a teenage boy in the 1970s was filed on Tuesday.