The Roman Catholic priest at the center of a public furor enveloping Newark Archbishop John J. Myers has resigned from ministry, a spokesman for the archdiocese said tonight. The Rev. Michael Fugee, who attended youth retreats and heard confessions from minors in defiance of a lifetime ban on such behavior, submitted his request to leave ministry this afternoon, said the spokesman, Jim Goodness. Myers promptly accepted the resignation, Goodness said. Fugee, 52, remains a priest but no longer has authority to say Mass, perform sacramental work or represent himself as an active priest, Goodnes…
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A San Antonio appeals court on Wednesday denied the Boy Scouts of America’s appeal of an order requiring the group to disclose years of so-called perversion files in a child abuse lawsuit. The 4th Texas Court of Appeals’ brief order Wednesday rejects the Scouts’ request for a reversal of a lower-court order on internal “ineligible volunteer” files of abuse complaints within the organization. Files from 1959 to 1985 were publicly revealed in an Oregon case and showed a decadeslong cover-up of sexual abuse allegations by Scout officials. Since then, courts in California and Minnesota have orde…
Rumors that the Roman Catholic church’s clergy sex abuse crisis is a problem of the past have been greatly exaggerated. “The bishops’ public relations machine has persuaded the people that it is a problem that was, not that is,” Jeff Anderson says, “and that is a living lie. There have been superficial changes, but not fundamental changes.” Anderson, one of the most well-known lawyers to bring a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic church, was part of a panel to promote the publication of Mortal Sins: Sex, Crime, and the Era of Catholic Scandal, a new book by journalist Michael D’Antonio. The…
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota House lawmakers on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of a bill that would allow victims of child sexual abuse more time to sue abusers and institutions that failed to protect them. The final tally – 115 votes in favor and seven opposed – came as a surprise to the bill’s author, Rep. Steve Simon, DFL-Hopkins. “I’m really, really pleased and gratified, and the margin in particular was a pleasant surprise to me,” Simon said. “I think it demonstrates that people know there’s something wrong with current law.” State law says victims of child sexual abuse mus…
Declaring “enough is enough,” a state senator this afternoon called on Newark Archbishop John J. Myers to step down, at least temporarily, while authorities investigate his supervision of a priest who has worked with children despite a binding agreement barring such interaction.Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex) said Myers’ handling of the Rev. Michael Fugee displays “arrogance” and defies common sense as the Roman Catholic church tries to regain the trust of parishioners in the wake of the clergy sex abuse crisis.“Based on everything that’s happened, not just in New Jersey but around the countr…
The Minnesota House could vote today on an overdue measure to allow victims of childhood sexual abuse more time to pursue justice through civil courts.The Minnesota Child Victims Act would relax the civil statute of limitations, which is unduly narrow and protective of sexual predators. The Senate is considering a similar measure.Sadly, those lobbying hardest to defeat the needed change include associations of schools, churches and child-care centers. They represent the very kinds of institutions that have dominated headlines for failing to protect children from sexual predators.Is there reall…
Amid calls for a Vatican investigation, Newark Archbishop John J. Myers came under fierce criticism Monday for his handling of a priest who attended youth retreats and heard confessions from minors in defiance of a lifetime ban on ministry to children.At the Monmouth County church where the Rev. Michael Fugee had been spending time with a youth group, angry parishioners said they were never told about Fugee’s background and they questioned Myers’ defense of the priest, the subject of a lengthy story in the Sunday Star-Ledger.”It’s complete craziness that the church can let this happen,” said J…
The Bronx district attorney’s office said Friday it could not pursue any cases of alleged sexual abuse at Horace Mann, an elite private school in the Bronx, because the statute of limitations had been exceeded. A 10-month investigation by the district attorney, prompted by an article in The New York Times Magazine in June, identified at least 12 possible abusers, more than had previously been accused. The alleged abuse took place over four decades, with the most recent case occurring in 1996, the district attorney, Robert T. Johnson, said in a statement. New York’s statute of limitations requi…
ST. LOUIS • A Roman Catholic priest from St. Louis, the Rev. William F. Vatterott, was indicted Wednesday on one federal child pornography charge, the U.S. attorney’s office said. The indictment says Vatterott, 36, possessed at least two images of an unidentified nude boy on his computer between June 2010 and June 2011. He is expected to appear in federal court late this week or early next week. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison. His attorney could not be reached for comment. Vatterott was ordained in 2003. He was associate pastor at Holy Infant Church in Ballwin, then be…
ST. LOUIS • A Roman Catholic priest from St. Louis, the Rev. William F. Vatterott, was indicted Wednesday on one federal child pornography charge, the U.S. attorney’s office said. The indictment says Vatterott, 36, possessed at least two images of an unidentified nude boy on his computer between June 2010 and June 2011. He is expected to appear in federal court late this week or early next week. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison. His attorney could not be reached for comment. Vatterott was ordained in 2003. He was associate pastor at Holy Infant Church in Ballwin, then be…
PHILADELPHIA — A judge is defending her decisions in the trial of the first Catholic Church official in the United States to be charged and convicted in the cover-up of the priest abuse scandal. Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina concluded in a recent opinion that Monsignor William Lynn lied to perpetuate a church cover-up of child sexual abuse. “The defendant learned that his predecessors handled clergy sex abuse in a way that prioritized shielding the church from scandal and … perpetuated the same system during his tenure,” she wrote in the 243-page decision, which summari…
Child abuse is a topic many find challenging to discuss or even think about, but it’s necessary, especially with the alarming statistics reported annually in this country. According to the Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, approximately 3.4 million reports of child abuse were filed in 2011 in the United States, which actually affects nearly 6 million children. However, it is estimated the actual number of incidents of abuse and neglect could be three times more than what is actually reported by professionals (police officers, social workers, attorneys, etc….
NEW YORK — A group of Horace Mann alumni who say they were sexually abused while students there are calling on the elite New York City school to appoint an independent investigator. The four men, along with attorney Gloria Allred, also called on the state Legislature on Monday to pass a bill that would eliminate the statute of limitations on sex abuse cases. The men, now in their 40s and 50s, said they were abused as teens. A woman who says she was an abused student was also at the event, but was not identified and did not speak. Allegations that the students in the school were abused over d…
Catholic Church officials in Milwaukee had known for 10 months that Father Robert Marsicek was under investigation on suspicion of molesting two children in California, according to the Sacramento diocese. But they did not move to suspend him from his duties at two local parishes and schools until a new allegation surfaced at a Wauwatosa school last month. Kevin Eckery, a spokesman for the Diocese of Sacramento, said officials there notified the Archdiocese of Milwaukee; Marsicek’s Milwaukee-based religious order, the Society of the Divine Savior; and attorneys for both of the organizations …
Save the date: Supporters of the Child Victims Act will gather in Albany next week to push New York State lawmakers to pass the bill inspired by sex-abuse scandals at Poly Prep Country Day School, Syracuse and other institutions. Current state law requires survivors of childhood sexual abuse to file a case by the time they are 23 years old. The bill by Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D-Maspeth) would eliminate the criminal and civil statute of limitations on sex-abuse cases. “I wanted to remind everyone about the Rally and Lobby Days for the Child Victims Act of New York that will tak…