News & Events

The lawsuit filed by Victim 6 from the Jerry Sandusky case will be allowed to proceed, a federal judge in Philadelphia said Monday. Judge Anita B. Brody denied Penn State’s and The Second Mile’s request to stay the lawsuit filed by the young man Sandusky forced to shower with him in a campus shower in 1998. The decision was the first stay Penn State has lost on a civil suit from an abuse claimant. In her court order, Brody said she ruled against the university and the charity because the young man “has already waited a long time for justice and would be burdened with further delay.” But Br…

Hours before the NCAA men’s basketball tournament ’s first play-in game, three retired professional athletes walked through the doors of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for the country’s most important sporting event. One, a Hall of Fame ex-Baltimore Oriole, had an idyllic childhood. The other two men, who used to play in the NFL and the NHL, went through hell, unable to admit for years the sexual abuse they suffered as kids. Cal Ripken Jr., Joe Ehrmann and Sheldon Kennedy played different sports. Their careers were as different as their demeanors and speech. But their…

 A former Roman Catholic priest who worked in Sonoma County, Eureka and Sacramento in the 1980s before settling down in Alameda was sentenced Friday to 18 months in prison for sexually assaulting two boys decades ago in his native Ireland. Patrick McCabe, 77, was living in an Alameda condominium when he surrendered in 2010 to U.S. authorities, who then sought his extradition to Ireland. One of his victims, James Moran, who is now 50 and chose to be identified publicly, wrote in a statement to Irish authorities that McCabe “changed the path of my life forever,” and that his life “had bee…

As we revealed in an exclusive investigation, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for years responded to some of the sexual abuse allegations against priests by moving them around from one parish to another. We wanted to find out just how many churches the accused men had lived at or worked at. In other words, we wanted to know how extensive the scandal had really become in our own back yard. We created the following map to give people another way of engaging with the records released by the archdiocese in January 2013. Where possible, we got assignment information directly from those priest files…

Thirty-two former students of the Horace Mann School have said they were sexually abused by teachers and staff members, and they have been meeting with school officials in the past two weeks to negotiate compensation, according to a person knowledgeable about the talks.  Last June, an article in The New York Times Magazine recounted episodes of abuse at the school from the 1970s to the 1990s, citing the accounts of several men who had accused former teachers of having sex with them or trying to seduce them. Since then, more students have come forward to say they had been sexually abuse…

 ST. PAUL, Minn. — A bill that would allow victims of child sexual abuse more time to file civil lawsuits was approved by the Minnesota House Judiciary Committee this afternoon. Under current law, victims of child sexual abuse need to file civil cases before they turn 24. The House bill would remove all civil statutes of limitations for future victims. It would also create a three-year window in which past victims of child sexual abuse could seek civil damages. The Minnesota School Boards Association opposes the bill. The group’s lobbyist, Grace Kelliher, told lawmakers the bill would c…

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — For 47 years, longtime NFL defensive tackle Joe Ehrmann kept secret the sexual abuse he suffered as a child. Just as he was coming to terms with what happened all those years ago, the plight of those like him became part of one of the biggest scandals in sports. “The Penn State issue re-traumatized me in a very profound way,” Ehrmann said Tuesday. “And it kind of blindsided me. I remember sending out a tweet one day that if you see any man dazed and confused, give them a hug because I think there was a re-traumatization around this country when that story broke.” “I admire,…

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A new civil lawsuit accuses a former Damien Memorial School chaplain of sexually assaulting two former students in the early 1980’s. Father Gerald Funcheon worked at the school from 1982 to 1984. He is accused of molesting the alleged victims, identified as John Roe No. 9 and John Roe No. 10, multiple times. The plaintiffs’ lawyers are also representing another former student, Kory Oakland, who filed a sex abuse lawsuit last year. The attorneys released excerpts of Funcheon’s testimony filmed under oath in September 2012 for that case. Attorney Jeff Anderson asked h…

HIBBING — A former elementary school teacher currently residing in Hibbing has been summoned to St. Louis County Court to face charges of prostitution and possession of pornography, among others. Albert “Al” A. Gangl, 65, is expected to be charged with one felony count of prostitution, 16 felony counts of possession of child pornography, one felony count of use of a minor in a sexual performance (manufacturing pornography) and one gross misdemeanor count of furnishing alcohol to a minor. The summons, which was filed Friday in Hibbing district court, compels Gangl to appear there at 8 a.m. Ap…

 ST. PAUL, Minn. — The child sexual abuse allegations involving a Shattuck-St. Mary’s teacher have become a focal point for state lawmakers backing a bill that would make it easier for victims of past abuse to file lawsuits against institutions that failed to protect them. Former teacher Lynn Seibel is in jail facing 14 felony counts for the alleged sexual abuse of six students at the Faribault boarding school from 1999 to 2003 and three related charges. The students are now adults, and state law prevents them from seeking civil damages against the school. Minnesota, like many states…

APPLETON — The Catholic Diocese of Green Bay agreed to pay $700,000 in settlement of a civil lawsuit brought by two brothers who were molested by the Rev. John Feeney in the 1970s.
Outagamie County Judge Nancy Krueger dismissed the case on Monday, based on the agreement reached by the diocese and Todd and Troy Merryfield. The settlement matches the verdict reached at a trial last year. Krueger subsequently overturned the verdict and ordered a new trial after finding a member of the jury was biased.
The case would have been re-tried in May.
Green Bay Bishop David Ricken issued a statement Tu…

APPLETON — The Catholic Diocese of Green Bay agreed to pay $700,000 in settlement of a civil lawsuit brought by two brothers who were molested by the Rev. John Feeney in the 1970s. Outagamie County Judge Nancy Krueger dismissed the case on Monday, based on the agreement reached by the diocese and Todd and Troy Merryfield. The settlement matches the verdict reached at a trial last year. Krueger subsequently overturned the verdict and ordered a new trial after finding a member of the jury was biased. The case would have been re-tried in May. Green Bay Bishop David Ricken issued a statement Tu…

It’s mind-numbing to hear that more than 65 percent of predators who have been identified as child sexual abusers were in positions of trust, such as coaches or clergy. It’s horrifying to hear football great Joe Ehrmann make that data real with his tale. Hundreds of leaders representing youth organizations, law enforcement groups and child protection advocates are gathering this week at Safe to Compete: Protecting Child Athletes from Sexual Abuse, a summit hosted by the Alexandria-based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation. The group discussed…