A judge’s ruling Monday requiring the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles to release thousands of pages of confidential records, including the names of church higher-ups, is an important victory for the public and victims of sexual abuse. The battle over the clergy files has dragged on for far too long. In 2007, the church agreed to settle hundreds of claims against it for $660 million. That deal also required the release of clergy personnel files, which include internal memos, Vatican correspondence and medical records. But the release of the files has been on hold. Last year…
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Another victim’s parent is coming forward to tell her daughter’s story. It’s been weeks since we first brought you the story of a popular Bemidji coach and teacher accused of allegedly sexually abusing multiple kindergartners. Now, the mother says, it’s time for something to be done to put the accused behind bars. It’s hard for these mothers to not get emotional; “my daughter is scared,” said one anonymous mother, “she is frightened.” They say their daughters were allegedly abused by their teacher, John Wangberg, abo…
A Superior Court judge has ruled the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles must release the names of high-ranking church officials in 30,000 pages of confidential records about priests accused of abusing children. In making the order Monday, Judge Emilie H. Elias reversed a key part of a 2011 ruling by a retired judge who said he feared including the names of the hierarchy could be used to embarrass the church further. Elias said the public’s right to know how the archdiocese, the largest in the nation, handled molestation allegations outweighed such concerns. She also reversed …
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Senate gave final legislative approval Thursday to legislation requiring local schools to conduct child abuse awareness education for both teachers and students.The measure, known as Erin’s Law, was cosponsored by state Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon. “This should be a priority… It’s a measure we all should support; it’s an investment in our young people we need to make,” McCarter told colleagues.House Bill 6193 requires schools to provide continuing professional development at in-service training programs on sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention. It …
It’s been almost two years since a Philadelphia grand jury probe of Catholic clergy sex abuse of children resulted in charges against four priests and a teacher. On Monday – after last year’s landmark, three-month trial ended in the first criminal conviction of a church administrator for covering up the crimes of deviate priests – the last two defendants, the Rev. Charles Engelhardt and former parochial schoolteacher Bernard Shero, are to go to trial. Prosecutors, defense lawyers, and Common Pleas Court Judge Ellen Ceisler will begin winnowing a large group of candidates down to a ju…
A Colorado man suing the Catholic Diocese of Bismarck for negligence over sexual abuse by a priest who has said he suffered in the 1970s has lifted his anonymity. Colorado resident Steven Crochet, 46, is alleging in civil documents filed in U.S. District Court in Hawaii that he was abused by the Rev. Maurice G. McNeely, who at the time was under the supervision of the Diocese of Bismarck, at an Army base in Hawaii in the mid-1970s. Crochet said he was an alter boy at a Fort Shafter chapel where McNeely ministered to soldiers and families. The complaint claims McNeely forced Crochet to perform …
Just as we think we know what an abuser looks like, we think we know what an abusive religious community looks like. We may think it is highly insular — like the Satmar Hasidic community in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, a prominent member of which was convicted last month of sexually abusing a young girl sent to him for help. Or it is hierarchical and bureaucratic: if the Roman Catholic Church did not have so many bishops and archbishops who refused to dismiss or defrock molesters in their ranks, would so many pedophile priests have been able to carry on for so long? But we don’t …
From the row houses of Milwaukee through the bare ruined choirs of Ireland’s churches, all the way to the highest office of the Vatican, it was an international and systematic conspiracy to silence victims of sexual abuse. MEA MAXIMA CULPA: SILENCE IN THE HOUSE OF GOD, directed by Alex Gibney (HBO’s Oscar-winning “Taxi to the Dark Side”), shows the face of evil that lurks behind the smiles and denials of authority figures and institutions who believe that they can do no wrong, because they stand for good. The shocking documentary debuts MONDAY, FEB. 4 (9:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HB…
Washington (CNN) — An international operation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement aimed at child pornography and sexual abuse has resulted in the arrest of 245 suspects, officials announced Thursday. All but 23 of the suspects were apprehended in the United States. The agency said that during the course of Operation Sunflower, law enforcement officers identified 123 victims of child exploitation and removed 44 of those children from their alleged abusers with whom they were living. The other cases involved victims who were exploited by people outside their homes or children w…
JEFFERSON CITY — A Missouri task force focused on preventing child sex abuse released nearly two dozen recommendations Thursday that included training, awareness, mental health services and changes to state law. Joy Oesterly, executive director of Missouri KidsFirst and the task force’s leader, said it will take a combination of the ideas to make a significant difference. She said implementing the changes will require cooperation from lawmakers, organizations and others. “Child sexual abuse is a very complex issue, and to think that there is one thing that will solve this problem is unrealist…